ABC News(HONOLULU) -- Parts of Hawaii's Big Island have already reported receiving more than 2 feet of rain as Hurricane Lane lurches northward at about 6 mph.



The biggest threat from the Category 3 hurricane remains life-threatening flash flooding that could lead to landslides or mudslides. The storm's wind speeds were last clocked at approximately 120 mph.



The center of the storm is about 165 miles southwest of Kailua-Kona and 215 miles south of Honolulu. Hurricane-force winds extend 35 miles from the storm's center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend 125 miles from the center. The eye of the storm may get very close to or even pass over the islands.



Lane is expected to remain a hurricane for the next 12 to 24 hours, but increasing wind shear could weaken the storm more quickly over the next two to three days. The storm is forecast to pull away from Hawaii by late Saturday.



Rainfall rates in the outer bands of the hurricane may reach 1 to 3 inches per hour, meaning flash flood watches will remain in effect through late tonight. Additional rainfall of 10 to 20 inches is possible in some areas. Isolated areas could see 40 inches.



The peak wind gust reported so far is 68 mph in Kohala Ranch on the Big Island.



Elsewhere, intense monsoon storms caused flash floods in Phoenix on Thursday, stranding drivers on roadways.



Later today, severe storms are expected from northern Missouri to southern Minnesota, with large hail and damaging winds the biggest Midwest threats.



Parts of Kansas saw more than 3 inches of rain on Thursday, leading to flash floods. Afternoon storms today could cause localized floods in sections of Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin.



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In today's global value chain, components and services are sourced from many countries, with almost everything now "Made everywhere". Therefore, putting up barriers to trade through tariffs and unilateral action hurts everyone, an APEC official said at the APEC Youth Innovation Summit 2018 on August 23 in Chengdu.

Antonio Basilio, executive director of the International Secretariat of APEC Business Advisory Council based in Manila, expressed his concern that unilateralism carried out by the United States over trade may put the global economy recovery at risk.

"We are worried about the raising trade tensions, if they are not resolved, it could put at risk the recovery we are seeing now," Basilio said.

He said that one of the challenges that his organization has been working on is addressing sustainable and inclusive growth.

Basilio pointed out that globalization and the multilateral trading system  represented by the WTO - is under threat in many economies.

"Yes it is true not all sectors of society have benefited equally and some have suffered losses. But to solely blame it for these negative consequences is also misplaced. In the main, this situation can only be tackled through structural reform to make economies more competitive as well as providing safety nets and adjustment assistance to enable individuals and communities to seize the new opportunities that are being created by globalization."

"If disputes need to be settled, there are dispute settle mechanisms in the WTO and if there are individual agreements, bilateral or regional mechanisms can settle disputes. If reform is needed to make them more effective, by all means, it needs to be done within the system," he said.

China, on the same day, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against U.S. tariffs on 16 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese goods under the Section 301 investigation, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

And China's Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen is in Washington for resumed talks.
1 hour ago

'Nothing else here': Why it's so hard for world to quit coal

DHANBAD, India (AP)  Every day, Raju gets on his bicycle and unwillingly pedals the world a tiny bit closer to climate catastrophe. Every day, he straps half a dozen sacks of coal pilfered from mines  up to 200 kilograms, or 440 pounds  to the reinforced metal frame of his bike.

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Wall Street analysts have given iShares Global Consumer Discretionary 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 Discretionary ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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Petrus Resources Ltd., an energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and exploitation of oil and gas development assets in western Canada. It primarily explores for natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil and condensate. The company primarily holds an average 51% working interest in the Ferrier/Strachan area comprise 43,159 net acres, which include 29,219 net acres of undeveloped and 13,940 net acres of developed land located in west central Alberta near the town of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. It also has an average of 64% working interest in the Thorsby/Pembina area consisting of 69,042 net acres of land covering 22,135 net acres of undeveloped land and 46,907 net acres of developed land located in the southwest of Edmonton, Alberta; and an average of 50% working interest in the Foothills area that consists of 30,748 net acres of undeveloped land and 6,687 net acres of developed land located northwest of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Petrus Resources Ltd. is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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MasTec, Inc. engages in the provision of infrastructure construction services. It operates through the following segments: Communications; Oil and Gas; Electrical Transmissions; Clean Energy and Infrastructure; and Other. The Communications segment performs engineering, construction, maintenance and customer fulfillment activities related to communications infrastructure, primarily for wireless and wireline/fiber communications, and install-to-the-home customers. The Oil and Gas segment offers services on oil and natural gas pipelines and processing facilities for the energy, and utilities industries. The Electrical Transmission segment deals with the energy and utility industries. The Clean Energy and Infrastructure segment serves energy, utility and other end-markets through the installation and construction of power generation facilities, including from clean energy and renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass, as well as various types of heavy civil and industrial infrastructure. The Other segment comprises of equity investees, other small business units that perform construction, and other services for a variety of international end-markets. The company was founded by

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The top anti-graft body of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday made public seven cases of the practice of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism in poverty alleviation work.

According to a statement of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the exposure is a part of the nationwide campaign against corruption and poor working styles in poverty alleviation, since the 19th CPC National Congress.

In one case, a former Party chief of a county in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was punished for neglecting problems in the supervision of funds for poverty relief. In April 2017, authorities found 34 such problems in the county, which involved over 200 million yuan (29.1 million U.S. dollars), resulting in the punishment of 27 Party officials.

Another case involved an official for poverty alleviation in the city of Gejiu of southwest China's Yunnan Province, who, according to the CCDI, "was careless and sloppy in investigating the impoverished population, passively evaded responsibilities, and arbitrarily left his post on multiple occasions." A total of 229 impoverished households were omitted from the poverty list as a result, and the details of about 59 households that returned to poverty were inaccurate.

The CCDI said all officials involved in the seven cases had been punished, which showed that the practice of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism still existed, and was particularly serious in certain regions and departments.

The problems severely damaged the interests of the impoverished people and the credibility of the Party and the government, and retarded the process of poverty alleviation, thus must be seriously investigated and punished according to the disciplines and law, the CCDI noted.
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, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.
The Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.24%. SO has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The Southern has been increasing its dividend for 20 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio of The Southern is 81.23%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, The Southern will have a dividend payout ratio of 74.37% next year. This indicates that The Southern will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

View The Southern's dividend history.
Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Brazil 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 Brazil ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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Wall Street analysts have given iShares China Large-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 China Large-Cap ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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The 2018 Smart China Expo kicked off at the Chongqing International Expo Center on Aug. 23.

People try out an unmanned driving simulator at the first Smart China Expo in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Aug. 23, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the expo. "We are currently in a period of gathering momentum for a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, with rapid changes in the new generation of information technology represented by the internet, big data and artificial intelligence," Xi said.



China is willing to actively participate in international cooperation on the digital economy and advance its healthy development together with other countries to create new drivers and new room for the world's economic growth, Xi said.

The inaugural expo is themed Smart Technology: Empowering Economy, Enriching Life. With the main venue covering 186,000 square meters, the expo is the largest ever in Chongqing.

The event includes not only exhibitions for cutting-edge smart technologies and products, but also conferences and forums to pool relevant insights in intelligent manufacturing, semiconductor, 5G, artificial intelligence, intelligent supercomputing and so on.

The expo also features competitions for self-driving vehicles, drones, open data application and internet plus innovation and entrepreneurship.

Moreover, reports on China's development indexes in big data and intelligence will be released at the expo, and achievements in these aspects will be showcased.

One highlight of the expo is a series of cutting-edge technologies based on big data analysis, including thought-controlled neuroprosthesis, medical nano-robots, laser-induced grapheme artificial throat, and non-invasive ablative technology that treats cancer with focused ultrasound surgery.

Participants of the expo had the opportunity to experience simulated future intelligent communities at the "wisdom experience plaza." In an outdoor exhibition area to the south of the expo center, participants could also experience living in a smart home.

The expo welcomed participants from 28 countries and regions, including 30 foreign politicians and high-ranking officials, over 80 renowned experts, 28 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and over 380 entrepreneurs from famous enterprises. More than 500 companies attended the event.

Somdy Duangdy, Laotian deputy prime minister, said the expo has a great potential to be a platform for the communication and cooperation among different companies, countries and regions in various fields, and will help to promote the constructive development of technologies in science, information and other areas.

Goh Chok Tong, Singapore's emeritus senior minister, also gave praise to the expo, and said the expo will inspire new ideas that can make society better.

The two-day expo is organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Chongqing municipal government.
United Internet AG, through its subsidiaries, operates as an Internet service provider (ISP). It operates through Consumer Access, Business Access, Consumer Applications, and Business Applications segments. The company offers landline-based broadband and mobile internet products, including home networks, online storage, telephony, and IPTV; and telecommunication products ranging from fiber-optic direct connections to tailored ICT solutions, which include voice, data, and network solutions, as well as infrastructure services to national and international carriers and ISPs. It also provides ad-financed and fee-based application products for consumer and business customers, including domains, Websites, Web hosting, servers, cloud solutions, and e-shops; personal information management applications, such as email, to-do lists, appointments, and addresses; and group works, online storage, and office software. The company offers its access products through the yourfone, smartmobile.de, 1&1, winSIM, maxim, simplytel, DeutschlandSIM, PremiumSIM, and 1&1 versatel brands; and applications through GMX, mail.com, WEB.DE, home.pl, Arsys, Strato, 1&1 IONOS, Fasthosts, InterNetX, united-domains, and World4You brand names. In addition, it offers customers professional services in the fields of active domain management under the Sedo brand; and online advertising services under the United Internet Media brand name. The company has operations in Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Poland, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, and Mexico. United Internet AG was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Montabaur, Germany.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Valero Energy: AIR BP-PBF DEL PERU SAC, BELFAST STORAGE LTD, CANADIAN ULTRAMAR COMPANY, COLONNADE TEXAS INSURANCE COMPANY LLC, COLONNADE VERMONT INSURANCE COMPANY, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY LLC, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OF CANADA INC., DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL HOLDINGS LLC, DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL LLC, DIAMOND K RANCH LLC, DIAMOND OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., DIAMOND SHAMROCK REFINING COMPANY L.P., DIAMOND UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., DSRM NATIONAL BANK, ENTERPRISE CLAIMS MANAGEMENT INC., GCP LOGISTICS COMPANY LLC, GOLDEN EAGLE ASSURANCE LIMITED, HAMMOND MAINLINE PIPELINE LLC, HUNTWAY REFINING COMPANY, MAINLINE PIPELINES LIMITED, MAPLE ETHANOL LTD., MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT GP LLC, MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT L.P., MRP PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, NECHES RIVER HOLDING CORP., NORCO METHANOL LLC, OCEANIC TANKERS AGENCY LIMITED, PARKWAY PIPELINE LLC, PENTA TANKS TERMINALS S.A., PI DOCK FACILITIES LLC, PICKARD PLACE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, PORT ARTHUR COKER COMPANY L.P., PREMCOR USA INC., PROPERTY RESTORATION L.P., PURE BIOFUELS DEL PERU S.A.C., PURE BIOFUELS HOLDINGS L.P., Parkway Pipeline, Premcor, Pure Biofuels Del Peru, SABINE RIVER HOLDING CORP., SABINE RIVER LLC, SAINT BERNARD PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, SUNBELT REFINING COMPANY L.P., THE PREMCOR PIPELINE CO., THE PREMCOR REFINING GROUP INC., THE SHAMROCK PIPE LINE CORPORATION, TRANSPORT MARITIME ST. LAURENT INC., ULTRAMAR ACCEPTANCE INC., ULTRAMAR ENERGY INC., ULTRAMAR INC., Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, V-TEX LOGISTICS LLC, VALERO (BARBADOS) SRL, VALERO (PERU) HOLDINGS GP LLC, VALERO (PERU) HOLDINGS LIMITED, VALERO ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO ARUBA ACQUISITION COMPANY I LTD., VALERO ARUBA FINANCE INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO ARUBA HOLDING COMPANY N.V., VALERO ARUBA HOLDINGS INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO ARUBA MAINTENANCE/OPERATIONS COMPANY N.V., VALERO BROWNSVILLE TERMINAL LLC, VALERO CANADA FINANCE INC., VALERO CANADA L.P., VALERO CAPITAL CORPORATION, VALERO CARIBBEAN SERVICES COMPANY, VALERO COKER CORPORATION ARUBA N.V., VALERO CUSTOMS & TRADE SERVICES INC., VALERO EAST BAY LLC, VALERO ENERGY (IRELAND) LIMITED, VALERO ENERGY ARUBA II COMPANY, VALERO ENERGY INC., VALERO ENERGY LTD, VALERO ENERGY PARTNERS GP LLC, VALERO ENERGY PARTNERS LP, VALERO ENERGY UK LTD, VALERO ENTERPRISES INC., VALERO EQUITY SERVICES LTD, VALERO FINANCE L.P. I, VALERO FINANCE L.P. II, VALERO FINANCE L.P. III, VALERO FOREST CONTRIBUTION LLC, VALERO GRAIN MARKETING LLC, VALERO H2 PIPELINE COMPANY LLC, VALERO HOLDCO UK LTD, VALERO HOLDINGS INC., VALERO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS INC., VALERO LIVE OAK LLC, VALERO LOGISTICS UK LTD, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY (PANAMA) LLC, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY COMPANY, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPY INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO MARKETING IRELAND LIMITED, VALERO MKS LOGISTICS L.L.C., VALERO NEDERLAND COOPERATIEF U.A., VALERO NEDERLAND COOPERATIEF U.A., VALERO NEW AMSTERDAM B.V., VALERO OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., VALERO OPERATIONAL SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO OPERATIONAL SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO OPERATIONS SUPPORT LTD, VALERO PARTNERS CCTS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS CORPUS EAST LLC, VALERO PARTNERS CORPUS WEST LLC, VALERO PARTNERS EP LLC, VALERO PARTNERS HOUSTON LLC, VALERO PARTNERS LOUISIANA LLC, VALERO PARTNERS LUCAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MCKEE LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MEMPHIS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MERAUX LLC, VALERO PARTNERS NORTH TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS OPERATING CO. LLC, VALERO PARTNERS PAPS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS PORT ARTHUR LLC, VALERO PARTNERS SOUTH TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS TEXAS CITY LLC, VALERO PARTNERS THREE RIVERS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WEST MEMPHIS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WEST TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WYNNEWOOD LLC, VALERO PAYMENT SERVICES COMPANY, VALERO PEMBROKESHIRE LLC, VALERO PEMBROKESHIRE OIL TERMINAL LTD, VALERO PLAINS COMPANY LLC, VALERO POWER MARKETING LLC, VALERO RAIL OPERATIONS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO RAIL OPERATIONS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO RAIL PARTNERS LLC, VALERO REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-ARUBA N.V., VALERO REFINING COMPANY-CALIFORNIA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-OKLAHOMA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-TENNESSEE L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-MERAUX LLC, VALERO REFINING-NEW ORLEANS L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-TEXAS L.P., VALERO RENEWABLE FUELS COMPANY LLC, VALERO SECURITY SYSTEMS INC., VALERO SERVICES INC., VALERO SKELLYTOWN PIPELINE LLC, VALERO TEJAS COMPANY LLC, VALERO TERMINAL HOLDCO LTD, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO TEXAS POWER MARKETING INC., VALERO ULTRAMAR HOLDINGS INC., VALERO UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., VALERO WEST WALES LLC, VRG PROPERTIES COMPANY, VTD PROPERTIES COMPANY, WARSHALL COMPANY LLC, and ZELIG COMMERCIAL INC..
You are here: China

The 16th Beijing International Book Festival raised its curtains on Aug. 22.

The event is co-hosted by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, and the People's Government of Shunyi District.

The festival will feature an international "Belt and Road" publishing summit, themed activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, lectures given by famous writers and experts, the Beijing International Children's Book Fair, and around 100 book release events.

The festival consists of multiple exhibition areas, each dedicated to publications on the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era, the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, the Grand Canal culture, the music culture and technology integration, digital books, brick and mortar bookstores, children's books, online literature, etc.

Festival goers have flocked to the digital interactive exhibition, where they have the opportunity to experience AR, VR, holographic projection, 3D projection, large spatial positioning, large screen interaction, artificial intelligence, and other new technologies.

In addition, the organizers are inviting authors such as Wang Meng, Liu Cixin, Zhu Yong and Lu Tianming to deliver speeches at the book festival.

The festival will last until Aug. 26.




The following companies are subsidiares of Textron: AAI Corporation, AAI Services Corporation, ALSTOM Gears, Able Aerospace, Able Aerospace Services Inc., Able Engineering & Component Services, Aeronautical Accessories LLC, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company LLC, Arctic Cat, Arctic Cat ACE Holding GmbH, Arctic Cat France SARL, Arctic Cat GmbH, Arctic Cat Inc., Arctic Cat Production LLC, Arctic Cat Production Support LLC, Arctic Cat Sales Inc., Arctic Cat Shared Services LLC, Arctic Cat UK Ltd., Arkansas Aerospace Inc., Avco Corporation, Aviation Service servis letal doo Ljubljana, Aylesbury Automation, B/K Navigational Equipment sro, Beech Aircraft Corporation, Beech Holdings, Beechcraft Defense Support Holding LLC, Beechcraft Domestic Service Company, Beechcraft Germany GmbH, Beechcraft International Holding LLC, Beechcraft International Service Company, Beechcraft New Zealand, Beechcraft Service Company UK Limited, Bell Helicopter GK, Bell Helicopter KK, Bell Textron Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Bell Textron Canada International Inc., Bell Textron Canada Limited/Limitee, Bell Textron Inc., Bell Textron Korea Inc., Bell Textron Miami Inc, Bell Textron Prague a.s., Bell Textron Rhode Island Inc., Bell Textron Services Inc, Bell Textron Supply Center BV, Bell Textron Technical Services Inc., Benzlers, Brazaco Mapri Industrias, Burkland, Cessna Aircraft Company, Cessna Citation European Service Center SAS, Cessna Dusseldorf Citation Service Center GmbH, Cessna Finance Corporation, Cessna Finance Export Corporation, Cessna Mexico S de RL de CV, Cessna Spanish Citation Service Center SLU, Cessna Zurich Citation Service Center GmbH, Citation Parts Distribution International Inc., Cushman Inc., Datacom Technologies, David Brown Group, Doncaster Citation Service Centre Limited, E-Z-GO Canada Limited, Energy Manufacturing, Flexalloy, HBC LLC, Hawker Beech de Mexico S de RL de CV, Hawker Beechcraft Argentina SA, Howe & Howe Inc., Howe and Howe Technologies, Industrial Technology Inc., InteSys Technologies, International Product Support Inc., KSB Annecy SAS, Kautex (Changchun) Plastics Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Chongqing) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Guangzhou) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Pinghu) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Shanghai) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Wuhan) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex Corporation, Kautex Craiova srl, Kautex Germany Holding GmbH, Kautex Inc., Kautex Japan KK, Kautex Shanghai GmbH, Kautex Textron (UK) Limited, Kautex Textron Benelux BVBA, Kautex Textron Bohemia spol sro, Kautex Textron CVS Limited, Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG, Kautex Textron Iberica SL, Kautex Textron Italia Srl, Kautex Textron Management Services Company de Puebla S. de RL de CV, Kautex Textron Portugal  Produtos Plasticos Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kautex Textron de Mexico S de RL de CV, Kautex Textron do Brasil Ltda., Kautex of Georgia Inc., Kaywood Products Corp., Klauke, LCI Corporation International, LLC Textron RUS, Maag, McCord Corporation, Mechtronix, Medical Numerics Inc., Midland Industrial Plastics, MillenWorks, MillenWorks Themed Technologies, MotorFist LLC, OPINICUS Simulation and Training Services LLC, OmniQuip International, Opinicus, Optical Boring Co., Opto-Electronics, Opto-Electronics Inc., Overwatch Systems Ltd., PEINER Umformtechnik, Pirelli Tyres - General Rubber Goods (GRG) division, Premiair Aviation Maintenance Pty Ltd, Progressive Electronics, Ransomes, Ransomes Inc., Ransomes Investment LLC, Ransomes Jacobsen France SAS, Ransomes Jacobsen Limited, Ransomes Limited, Ransomes Pensions Trustee Company Limited, Replacement Part Solutions LLC, Response Technologies LLC, Rotor Blades Limited, Sukosim Verbindungselemente, TRU Simulation & Training Spain SL, TRU Simulation + Training Inc., TRU Simulation + Training LLC, TekGPS Engineering Srl, Textron Airland LLC, Textron Atlantic LLC, Textron Aviation Australia Pty. 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Police in China and Vietnam have joined hands to break up a major cross-border armed drug trafficking ring and have detained a drug lord from Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday.

The 47-year-old alleged mogul-Wei Wenshi in Chinese-is from Lang Son province in Vietnam, the ministry said.

According to Vietnamese police, he was captured while hiding in a town in Vietnam's Nghe An province in July. Police confiscated 20.65 kilograms of heroin at the scene, and seized many guns and weapons at his home.

Police jointly captured a total of 40 gang members, including five Vietnamese. They confiscated 99.4 kg of heroin and 7.83 kg of ketamine, according to the ministry.

"Cross-border drug trafficking has seriously threatened public security and economic development, and we will work closely with our counterparts in Vietnam to fight against such crimes to maintain regional peace and development," said An Guojun, deputy director of the narcotics control bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.

The case dates to July last year, when frontier defense police in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region identified a suspect, Gan Yunfeng, from Pingxiang, who colluded with Vietnamese suspects and smuggled drugs to Pingxiang from Vietnam, then sold them to other provinces.

"We shared intelligence with our counterparts from Vietnam and requested assistance locating and arresting the suspects," said Yan Qiwei, head of the narcotics control department in Guangxi.

In March, when suspect Gan Yunfeng again contacted the Vietnamese suspects and smuggled drugs into Pingxiang, police captured him and seized 48.9 kg of heroin. Half a month later, under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security, police in Guangxi detained 21 gang members in Pingxiang, Dongxing and Qinzhou cities and confiscated 43.4 kg of heroin.

In May, police officers detained another 18 Chinese gang members and one Vietnamese suspect, then located drug lord Wei Wenshi.

Vietnamese police detained Wei and his three accomplices and confiscated 20.65 kg of heroin.

"The successful unearthing of the case shows that China and Vietnam have enough trust to carry out sincere law enforcement cooperation," said Nguyen Dich Nam, deputy director of the narcotics control department under Vietnamese ministry of public security.

"The case also sets a good example and makes a new start for later cooperation to destroy the major drug trafficking rings and capture the remaining drug lords," he added.
At a ground-breaking ceremony for a school in East New York on Monday, New York Citys self-proclaimed progressive Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, went out of his way to demand that New York residents respect the police. His comments were a direct response to a handful of videos of New Yorkers insulting cops.

In the videos New York residents have cursed out New York Police Department (NYPD) officers and expressed outrage with the police. In one video, Christian Roman, 20 years old, berates officers for searching him for a gun. In his video he is recorded saying to several cops, You searched me, didnt find no f**ing firearm on me, and you detained me. No, you guys took my freedom away from me for 15 f**ing minutes for no reason. He was then arrested for disorderly conduct.

Two other videos had also surfaced, one in which residents yell at police to leave their building and another where a man berates police while filming inside a police station. Nobody was arrested for activity in the other video; however, the NYPD has since issued a memo that officers can arrest individuals that refuse to stop filming inside police buildings.

The New York Post, a Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid, has documented such videos and claimed these outbursts against the police as the product of the NYPDs go-easy policy. The police unions have similarly claimed the outbursts are the product of politicians demonizing police officers and the supposed lawlessness under Police Commissioner James ONeill. Go-easy apparently means the scaling down of the hated NYPD stop-and-frisk policy that began in the last months of Michael Bloombergs tenure and the recent reduction on NYPD arrests for marijuana possession. Both policies overwhelmingly affected minority working-class youth.

De Blasio, in a move to solidarize himself with the police, stated on Monday, Respect for police is absolutely necessary. It doesnt matter what your views are, you have to respect police officers. He added in a supercilious tone, Ive seen some videos that disgust me. They are not acceptable. Anyone who thinks its cute, its not cute. Knock it off. Show respect.

The mayors recent comments are reminiscent of his statements in 2014, at which time he called on anti-police-violence protesters to show respect and support for our police He called for a halt to all protests against police violence following the killing of two cops by a mentally ill man. He soon faced a near-revolt by police officers, hundreds of whom literally turned their backs on the mayor in a series of events in the aftermath of the killings.

There is not much progressive sheen left to the Democratic mayor who ran for office in 2013 on a platform of fighting the inequality of a tale of two cities and explicitly calling for the NYPD to be reformed and even expressing sympathy with anti-police-brutality protesters.

Since then a pattern has emerged of feigning concern over police brutality, but quickly falling in line behind the police by defending their actions and arming them with military-grade equipment.

In 2014, de Blasio issued initial criticism of the NYPD after Eric Garner was choked to death in Staten Island by a plainclothes cop. But the following year de Blasio announced that he would veto any legislation that would designate the police use of chokeholds a misdemeanor, despite the hold being explicitly banned by the NYPD manual.

Earlier this year de Blasio told Gwen Carr, Garners mother, that only the plainclothes officer that put Garner in the chokehold, Daniel Pantaleowho was not charged with any crime in Garners death by a grand juryand his supervisor Sgt. Kizzy Adonis would face departmental charges.

In the video footage of Garner being choked, several officers can be seen pinning Garner to the ground and handcuffing him while he yells, I cant breathe! I cant breathe! Pantaleo, who had a record of misconduct before choking Garner, has worked desk duty for the past four years because the NYPD delayed proceedings, claiming a federal investigation was ongoing. If judged to have committed misconduct, Pantaleo faces penalties ranging from a warning, loss of vacation days, or loss of a job.

In 2015 de Blasio announced a plan to hire an addition 1,300 cops, out of which 300 officers would be part of a heavily-armed counterterrorism team. Soon afterwards the then-Police Commissioner William Bratton accidentally disclosed that they planned to use the counterterrorism team to deal with situations such as protests against police killings.

Last April, the mayor commented on the police shooting of Saheed Vassell, an unarmed mentally ill black man, claiming that police did not have enough time to realize Vassell did not pose a threat. Two of the three cops involved in the shooting were from the elite Special Response Group. De Blasio also defends his community policing programwhich is based on cultivating police informers in working-class neighborhoodsas a means of addressing police shootings.

The decision by the de Blasio administration and both the Democrats and Republicans to continually defend and militarize the police has been taken as a green light for cops to terrorize the population.

According to a report from the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, allegations of police misconduct increased in 2017 for the first time since 2009. Last year there were 4,487 allegations of police misconduct, and 55 percent of the complaints came from incidents that led to no arrests or summons issued.

The reflexive instinct of de Blasio to call for respect to the NYPD and the inability and unwillingness of his administration to introduce any serious reforms that address police brutality are an expression of deep disquiet in the entire political establishment about the growing discontent in the working class over pervasive social inequality in Americas largest city.
Morocco has renewed its crackdown against thousands of migrants attempting to enter Europe through Spains north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and by boat across the Mediterranean Sea. This comes after the European Union (EU) announced it was unlocking further funds for anti-immigrant operations in both Morocco and Tunisia.

According to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, raids by Moroccan security forces left two young people dead, one of whom, Moumoune, was just 16 years old. A video later emerged showing their beaten bodies lying on the floor handcuffed together.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights reports that for the past two weeks raids and arrests of migrants have intensified in Moroccan cities near Ceuta and Melilla. In Nador, Moroccan police have stormed immigrant camps and apartments without court orders and bussed them south, hundreds of miles from the coast.

This is an operation that is part of the fight against illegal immigration, said a Moroccan official, cynically claiming that those arrested had been moved to cities where living conditions are better.

The better place is none other than the Sahara Desert.

At the behest of Spain and the EU, the Moroccan government is now employing the murderous policy of neighbouring Algeria, which over the past year and a half has rounded up and dumped over 13,000 refugees and migrants in the desert where many of them have died from thirst, hunger and exposure.

The catastrophe unfolding in Morocco is a direct result of the EUs Fortress Europe policy and shutdown of other entry routes into Europe. According to the United Nations, more than 28,000 people have arrived in Spain from Morocco this year, close to the total for all of 2017.

The Moroccan governments brutal repression was sanctioned at the highest echelons of the EU. One of the key lobbyists for further funding for Morocco was Spains Socialist Party (PSOE), which was brought to power with the support of the pseudo-left Podemos party in June.

In early July, the EU approved a 55 million fund to assist Morocco and Tunisia in the crackdown. Last week, in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met PSOE Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. During their meeting Merkel declared, We have to intensify our support for Morocco and Tunisia. They are border countries, and they need our help. Sanchez said they had agreed to intensify dialogue and cooperation with countries of origin and transit of migrants, which can only mean further repression against migrant workers.

Two months ago, Sanchez was branded as the humanitarian alternative to the previous Popular Party (PP) government and far-right governments in the EU when he announcedin the immediate aftermath of his installation as prime ministerthat Spain would offer safe haven to 630 migrant workers on the Aquarius rescue boat, after they had been turned away by Italy and Malta.

Podemos defended Sanchezs fraudulent symbolic gesture knowing full well the despicable anti-migrant history of the PSOE. Podemos Congress deputy speaker, Ione Belarra, declared that the party was satisfied that the PSOE government had allowed Aquarius to dock, adding, We are pleased that this government has begun to advance on the path of human rights and the guarantee of the right to asylum. She pleaded with the PSOE to realise that it will always find us if we are talking about welcoming people who risk their lives at sea and who have the right to be saved.

No sooner had the ink dried on the Aquarius safe harbour authorization than the PSOE showed its true face.

Sanchez is now openly defending the summary deportation of migrants from the borders of Ceuta and Melillaa practice condemned by the European Court of Human Rights and United Nations. Last month, migrants who scaled the razor wire fence were arrested by the Civil Guard, handcuffed and returned to Morocco without their identities being checked. Their right to explain their personal circumstances or to receive assistance from lawyers, interpreters or medical personnel was ignored.

This policy took a new and ominous turn on Thursday with Spanish authorities carrying out an extraordinary mass expulsion of migrants, sending back 116 individuals within barely 24 hours of their managing to scale the fence separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

The operation, involving both the Civil Guard and National Police, was carried out under a 1992 bilateral accord between Spain and Morocco, which until now has been largely a dead letter because of the refusal of Moroccan authorities to observe its terms. Even Spain had previously sought to apply the accord solely to Moroccans, not to sub-Saharan Africans entering Ceuta. The Spanish Interior Ministry said Thursday that the accord has been reactivated, adding that it was a result of the good relationship with Morocco in terms of immigration policy.

The NGO Walking Frontiers denounced the action as a collective expulsion and a step further in the violation of human rights by Madrid.

The PSOE government has also defended the position of the former PP government, which appealed the European Court of Human Rights condemnation of Spains summary deportation of two migrants in 2014.

The PSOE employs the same arguments as the PP claiming that Spains policy is not expulsion but a prevention of entry and because the migrants failed to overcome the police line they had not entered Spanish jurisdiction.

Last week, the Sanchez government reacted to another rescue mission of 141 migrant workers by the Aquarius ship, claiming there was no longer an emergency and Spain was not the safest port. Only after negotiations with another six EU countries did Madrid say it would accept 60 people.

The PSOE government is continuing the partys well-trodden anti-migrant policy.

It was under the PSOE government of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez that Spain created its first migrant detention centres in 1985. Even though they became notorious for functioning as jails, where migrants are locked up in cells and subjected to mistreatment and abuse by the police, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, then a judge but now the current Interior Minister, ruled that they do not violate human rights.

The summary deportation policy was started under Gonzalez in 1995 and reaffirmed by every government since. It was enshrined in the 2015 Citizens Security Law by the PP government. The PSOE then posed as an opponent, with former spokeswomen Soraya Rodriguez pontificating that the PP government stop the deportations to Morocco, because they are illegal and cannot be kept up.

The original border fence erected around Melilla and Ceuta was built by the PSOE government of Jose Luis Zapatero in 2005. It consisted of 11 kilometres of parallel three-metre high fences with razor-wire, regular watch posts, CCTV, spotlights, noise and movement sensors and a road running between them for police patrols. Over the years it has been increased to six metres, with satellites and unmanned drones introduced.

The anti-migrant policies of the ruling class do not have popular support. Last year, hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets of Barcelona in opposition to the PP government under the slogan, No more deaths, open the borders. It was the largest rally held in Europe so far in defence of refugees and open borders.

A recent case reported by eldiario.org gives a glimpse of the huge sympathy that exists towards African migrants.

Journalist Violeta Munoz was enjoying the beach in Andalusia when she witnessed around 50 migrants arriving in a boat after the perilous crossing across the Mediterranean. People cheered them saying bravo, you are so brave and gave them drinks. They explained to the migrants as best they could in Spanish and in sign language how to leave the beach without being caught by the police.

When the police arrived and arrested them, people screamed at them, I would be so ashamed, They have done nothing, leave them be, The ones you have to get are those selling drugs. Others yelled but they are only children. A woman said shame, shame, have they done something wrong? I hope you cannot sleep peacefully.

Such a scene epitomizes the gulf that exists between the ruling class establishment, including the PSOE and Podemos, and the majority of the population, who are opposed to the attacks on democratic rights, austerity, war and militarism. It underscores above all that there can be no real defence of immigrants outside of an international, socialist movement of the working class against war and police state rule.
On August 22, the New Zealand Nurses Organisations (NZNO) Board posted a statement on its Facebook page lashing out at members who criticised the union bureaucracy on social media.

The post began by praising the dedication and passion of the union negotiators who recently pushed through a sellout pay deal for nearly 30,000 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants in public hospitals. It includes a paltry wage increase of 9 percent over three years for most workers, not enough to meet the soaring cost of living, and a promise of 500 extra staff spread across the entire country, which will do nothing to address the severe under-staffing in hospital wards.

The NZNO Board stated that it acknowledges the part social media played in the process, which at times directed negative and personal attacks towards NZNO members and staff. Without pointing to any examples of such personal attacks, the statement warned that individual nurses who used social media faced serious risks.

Hundreds of nurses have used Facebook to express anger and frustration over the NZNOs collusion with the Labour Party-led government and District Health Boards (DHBs) during the nine-month pay dispute. Four sellout offers were presented by the union and voted down by workers. No mass meetings were held to debate the offers and union leaders cancelled one of two strikes that members had voted for.

NZNO leaders also echoed the governments lie that there was no more money to address the crisis in the healthcare system, even as billions of dollars were set aside to strengthen the military.

The final agreement, secured by wearing down and demoralising health workers, is virtually identical to two offers previously rejected.

Despite the passage of the deal, the NZNO Boards statement underscores that it remains fearful about widespread opposition among rank-and-file health workers. Acting on behalf of the DHBs and the government, the union is desperately attempting to silence dissent by means of threats. It states that the Board takes very seriously the safety and wellbeing of its members and staff, and will do all in its power as invested by the [NZNO] Constitution to maintain that and the organisations professional reputation.

Not a shred of evidence is provided to back up the inflammatory implication that staff members safety and wellbeing was endangered by comments on social media.

According to the NZNO Constitution, it is an offence not only to threaten or assault a union member or official, but also to bring NZNO into disrepute or defame NZNO, its staff or officers. If the NZNO Board finds that an offence has been committed it can impose penalties, including a fine of up to $1,000, a severe reprimand, or expulsion from the union.

In other words, if the NZNO Board decides that a members Facebook comment has brought the union into disrepute, it can fine and expel the worker, potentially seriously damaging his or her career.

Many workers commented denouncing the Boards statement. David wrote: Smacks of threatening behaviour to any that would dare to make criticism of a process that has been quite rightly condemned by members. How many refused offers?

Helen said the statement was disappointing and shows how out of touch our union is from its members.

Steve wrote sarcastically: Yes we promise to remain submissive and obedient to your almighty glory, greater wisdom and power.

Julie commented:[I]t is disgusting to pat themselves on the back when so many are so unhappy with the results and to be so ready to stifle criticism by alluding to codes of conduct  It is disgustingly heavy handed and authoritarian. I am not intimidated and intend to speak up about the nursing profession and the tatters it is in.

The NZNO faced considerable difficulty imposing its sellout, largely because health workers organised protests and debated the union-backed offers on social media. The Facebook group New Zealand, please hear our voice (NZPHOV) attracted more than 46,000 members and became a forum for discussion.

The group administrators, however, have at various times deleted criticism of NZNO, including posts of World Socialist Web Site articles, and sought to promote the union. On August 18, the administrators declared they would no longer allow any discussion of the NZNO pay agreement because that ship has sailed and its time to move on. They also would no longer accept posts comparing the nurses dispute with the emerging struggle by teachers, who went on strike on August 15.

The NZPHOV administrators claimed these steps would prevent discussions from being divisive. In reality, the anti-democratic moves will assist the unions in preventing a united industrial and political struggle of health, education and other workers.

Internationally, the trade unions police the working class on behalf of big business and the state, which are terrified by the re-emergence of class struggle as workers seek to fight back against austerity measures imposed since the 2008 financial crisis.

The ruling elites are particularly alarmed by workers using the internet to share information and coordinate their actions independently of the unions. This year, teachers in the US have organised strikes and protests using Facebook. Hundreds of thousands of truckers in Brazil coordinated a strike using WhatsApp.

In 2015, the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the US denounced the role of social media in the rank-and-file rebellion by auto workers against the unions deals with Ford, Fiat Chrysler and General Motors. Information circulated by workers, including WSWS articles analysing the pro-company sellouts, was attacked by the union as fake news. It has since been revealed that UAW officials accepted millions of dollars in bribes from Fiat Chrysler to push through attacks on auto workers.

The campaign against fake news has since been taken up and vastly expanded by Facebook and Google, working closely with the US and its allies, to censor left-wing, anti-war and socialist websites.

The NZNOs bullying, anti-democratic manoeuvres and collusion with the government are not due to bad individual leaders, but the very nature of the trade unions. These organisations do not represent the working class but speak for a comfortable upper-middle class layer seeking to preserve its privileged position within capitalism.

The Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand) is holding an online forum to discuss the lessons of the NZNOs sellout, including the case for new organisations: rank-and-file committees controlled by workers themselves. The formation of such committees must be linked with a socialist strategy to unite workers in New Zealand and internationally against the capitalist system.

We urge workers to join this vitally important discussion on Saturday, September 1 at 4:30 p.m.

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Lessons of the New Zealand Nurses Organisations sellout

[18 August 2018]

Open letter to NZ nurses Facebook group: Reverse the ban on WSWS articles and criticisms of the union

[12 July 2018]
On Tuesday, August 21, the Russian parliament (Duma) held a hearing that made clear it is pushing forward with a deeply unpopular pension reform that would raise the retirement age for men from 60 to 65 and for women from 55 to 63.

The raising of the retirement age constitutes the most drastic assault on the living standards of the working class, intelligentsia and agricultural population under the Putin regime. Polls indicate that at least 90 percent of the population opposes it. The raising of the retirement age will mean that about a third of Russian men will not live to see their pensions.

It will slash the living standards of broad layers of the working class, as entire families are often dependent on the meager pensions as an addition to the miserable salaries they receive for their work. The state will effectively steal 1 million rubles (US$16,000) from every working woman and 1.5 million rubles (US$24,000) from every working man as a result of the reform (see: Outrage in Russia over pension reform).

The Duma hearing was dominated by proponents of the pension reform, which is, in the words of the newspaper Gazeta.Ru, essentially a settled issue.

It was held under conditions in which half the deputies were still on vacation because of the summer break. Some 600 people participated, among them Duma deputies, government officials and representatives of social organizations and trade unions. The Duma hearing was designed to provide the reform with a thin veil of democratic legitimacy with advocates of the reform dominating, and leaders of the loyal opposition, the Stalinist KPRF, the fascistic LDPR and the right-wing nationalist Just Russia trying to present themselves as men of the people.

The case in favor of the reform was made principally by Alexei Kudrin, the former finance minister of Russia (2000-2011) and current chairman of the Accounts Chamber. It is widely known, but was never made official, that the current pension reform plan is based on proposals elaborated by Kudrins think tank, the Center for Strategic Research.

Kudrin argued that Russia was facing an economic turning point: It could either raise taxes, something that was out of the question because big business was opposed to it, or take a new view on the situationi.e., implement the pension reform. He pointed to the growing number of pensioners relative to the working population as well as the rapidly shrinking Russian workforce, maintaining that low pensions could be raised if the retirement age was raised.

He insisted that the pension reform was necessary to maintain the Russian state budget and that it was long overdue. It should have been prepared 10 years ago, Kudrin argued. Indeed, Kudrin and others, especially among the pro-Western liberal opposition, have for a decade or more pressed for complete reversal of the pension system.

Deputies of the ruling United Russia party echoed his arguments, saying that the pension reform was necessary and long overdue, and that it had to be adopted as quickly as possible.

The head of the Stalinist and far-right nationalist KPRF, Gennady Zyuganov, denounced the reform as a law which, in defiance of all logic, splits society. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the fascistic LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), also denounced the reform before arguing that it was essentially necessary, but should be implemented in a different form. The head of Just Russia, Sergei Mironov, warned that they were facing an army of hungry people and called for a referendum on the reform. All of them have for decades served as key props of the Putin regime while acting as a loyal opposition. Their main role consists in diverting popular anger and channeling it in a right-wing, nationalist direction.

As a result of the Duma hearing, a working group was created that will include Kudrin, the labor minister Maxim Topilin; Valerii Fadeev, the secretary of the Social Chamber of the Duma; Vladimir Mau from the Economic Council under President Putin; and Mikhail Shmakov, the head of the state-controlled trade union federation FNPR.

The fact that the Kremlin, the government and the Duma are pressing ahead with the raising of the retirement age in defiance of overwhelming popular opposition signals a major escalation of the oligarchys class warfare against the working class in Russia. There is no question that the coming months will see a significant upsurge in social opposition to the Putin regime.

The arguments by Kudrin, which amount to the same old lie that there is no money other than that which is pumped out of the working class through austerity, is, of course, an offensive lie. The Russian mafia-oligarchy controls immense riches, much of which are not even declared but disappear somewhere along the way to the Virgin Islands through money laundering and other criminal activities.

According to a report from 2017, the countrys top decile owns a stunning 89 percent of all household wealth, compared to 78 percent in the United States and 73 percent in China. Russia has the worlds third-largest number of billionaires (96) and is home to around 79,000 dollar millionaires.

That the Russian economy, almost three decades after the destruction of the Soviet Union, borders on permanent recession, is anemic, and has extraordinarily low rates of labor productivity is above all the result of the restoration of capitalism in the USSR, which was accompanied by a historically unprecedented destruction of productive forcesoutside of periods of major wars.

Capitalist restoration has created an economy that relies largely on the export of raw materials, and in which almost 50 percent of GDP is generated in gray areas like human and drug trafficking, illegal financial transactions and other criminal activities.

The demographic crisis in Russia is a result of an ongoing social crisis that has taken its toll on the health and ability to work of several generations of Russians. Life expectancy in Russia plunged in the 1990s and still is among the lowest in the developed world.

Now, the Russian oligarchy uses this economic and social disaster that it has created through its rule over the past decades to justify further assaults on the working class.

It is telling that Western media and think tanks, always eager to portray Putin and his regime as anti-democratic and authoritarian, have essentially backed the pension reform, despite it being opposed by virtually the entire population. This type of assault on working class living standards is precisely what the imperialist powers and their media outlets, as well as Russias liberal opposition, have been pushing for all along when acting as democratic opponents of the Putin regime.

Tuesdays Duma hearing occurred just one day before the 14th anniversary of Putins signing the law on the monetization of benefits in 2004. This reform meant that social benefits for pensioners, veterans and others were monetizedi.e., free subway and bus rides, and many tickets for daily use and culture that had hitherto been free for these social groups were abolished, and their former recipients received meager substitutes in rubles. The ensuing mass protests by pensioners, workers and youth against this reform were the main motivator for President Putin to make his promise in 2005 that he would never raise the retirement age, a measure that was then already being discussed in the oligarchy.

Today, his regime feels forced to push ahead with this reform under conditions that are far more unstable and explosive, both in terms of social tensions and in terms of the economic and international situation as a whole.

So far, Putin has personally not made any public comment on the planned pension reform most likely out of fear of the consequences of his public backing for a reform that has been developed and pushed for by one of his longest-standing and closest allies, Alexei Kudrin. However, Putin did allow the ruling party United Russia, which is at this point the main driving force behind the pension reform, to declare itself the presidents party during the campaign for elections in some 80 Russian regions on September 9.

By contrast, in this years presidential elections in March, he had sought to distance himself from the widely detested party. His decision to now align himself with it is an expression of the deep crisis of his regime and the recognition that the party might otherwise suffer a catastrophic vote of no confidence in the regional elections. In polls, United Russia has plummeted already by some 13 points since early July, falling to 35.3 percent nationwide. Putins alignment with United Russia and its austerity policy in this situation will serve to further discredit Putin and his regime as a whole.

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[28 July 2018]
Norman Seabrook, the powerful former president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association (COBA), was found guilty on August 15 of charges of honest services wire fraud (i.e., bribery) and conspiracy in connection with a plot to receive a kickback from a failing hedge fund in return for investing millions in union funds. A previous trial of the former New York City jail guards union leader ended in a hung jury.

The charges on which Seabrook was found guilty are just one facet of a sprawling investigation by the New York Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that sheds light on the pervasive corruption not just in Albany, New York City and New York City law enforcement, but also in the unions, as well as the real estate and financial industries.

Seabrook wielded immense influence in New York City and New York state politics, backing Democratic and Republican politicians alike and securing legislative victories after being elected COBA president in 1995. He is also a former vice-chair of the Bronx Democratic Committee. He now faces up to 40 years in prison, but is likely to receive a much lighter sentence. According to his lawyer, Seabrook plans to appeal.

Seabrook used his power in New York politics to stymie any effort to reduce the brutalization of prisoners at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex. He used his influence in the New York City Department of Correction to force out political opponents, including Chief Investigator Florence Finkle, and had an iron grip on the COBA apparatus itself.

In 2014, the New York Times described how Seabrook vigorously resisted stiffer penalties for the use of excessive force by guards and has fought stronger screening measures designed to stop correction officers from smuggling weapons and drugs into the jails.

In a 2013 case of 10 officers charged with beating an inmate so severely his eye sockets and nose were fractured, Seabrook said the officers were merely defending themselves.

Seabrook managed to secure influential committee appointments, tapped by then-President George W. Bush to serve on a federal task force on making the United States Postal Service more efficient.

The publicly documented facts in the investigation, detailed in an April New York Times article that predates Seabrooks conviction, are likely just the tip of the iceberg.

Specifically, Seabrook was convicted of funneling $20 million in COBA funds into Platinum Partners, a hedge fund founded by Murray Huberfeld. In return, Seabrook was supposed to receive $100,000, although he ended up receiving only $60,000 in a designer bag. Huberfeld was Seabrooks codefendant in the trial that ended in a hung jury but has since pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy. Half of the $20 million investment was unknown to other union officials.

In the second trial, Huberfeld was allowed to plead guilty to a single charge of defrauding his hedge fund out of the $60,000 used to pay Seabrooks bribe. While previously he had faced charges that could have resulted in a 60-year prison sentence, federal prosecutors are recommending that he spend merely six to 12 months behind bars.

The COBA hedge fund deal was brokered by the prosecutions main witness, Jona Rechnitz, who turned states evidence after pleading guilty to honest services fraud. Rechnitz was a real estate developer who worked with Jeremy Reichberg, the NYPDs liaison to the Orthodox Jewish community who used his connections to help his associates with police matters, receiving fees in return.

Rechnitz and Reichberg were the nexus of a corrupt network of police, union and corporate-financial figures exchanging money and favors. Jeremy [Reichberg] would deal with more of the details, if something needed to be done, and I would be the guy to basically pay for it, Rechnitz would later say.

The two had friendships with four NYPD deputy chiefs, most of whom have since retired or were transferred. They also had a relationship with Philip Banks III, who was promoted in March 2013 to chief of the department, the highest uniformed position on the force, according to the Times. He was also the highest ranking black NYPD official. Rechnitz and Reichberg spent time with him at least twice a month, and bought him a ring that once belonged to boxer Muhammad Ali. Their relationship with Banks helped them procure favors from other NYPD officers.

Banks and Seabrook are friends, and the two of them traveled with Reichberg and Rechnitz (at the expense of the latter two) to the Dominican Republic in December 2013. During the trip, Seabrook reportedly said to Rechnitz, Its time Norman Seabrook got paid. After this trip, Rechnitz got Seabrook to invest $20 million in COBA funds in Platinum Partners, the hedge fund of his family friend Huberfeld, in exchange for a bribe.

Banks suddenly retired on October 31, 2014, the day after a wiretap had been ordered by investigators and just before he was due for a major promotion, indicating that he may have been tipped off by an ally.

Of the original $20 million COBA investment, $19 million was lost as the fund collapsed and declared bankruptcy.

Seabrooks conviction reveals the essentially corrupt nature of capitalist politics, particularly in New York, home to Boss Tweeds Tammany Hall of the mid-nineteenth century. Of note is that the exchanging of high-priced gifts and cozy relationships between police officials and financiers are not necessarily illegal, according to the Times. Occasionally, however, these relations are so naked that they constitute bribery and threaten the legitimacy of the political set-up, and particularly egregious figures are made examples of by the ruling classor at least there are token prosecutions.

The blatant misuse of COBA funds is not merely an aberration. Massive amounts of union fundsworkers dues moneyare invested on Wall Street. Some of these funds are used as slush funds to handsomely reward the bureaucracy, while labor-management centers provide opportunities for corporations to semi-legally funnel money to union officials. Occasionally officials enrich themselves too brazenly and directly, as in the case of Seabrook or that of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles bribery of United Auto Workers officials.

There are indications that the corruption in this case goes all the way to Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was elected in 2013 on the basis of phony progressive rhetoric about New York being a tale of two cities, a reference to the extreme social inequality in the home of Wall Street.

In exchange for contributions, Rechnitz and Reichberg expected access to de Blasio. They were given de Blasios personal cellphone number and email address, and were placed on his inaugural committee. De Blasio denies any wrongdoing and has denounced Rechnitz as a liar.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., investigated several close associates of de Blasio who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars through county committees to candidate committees, circumventing the limit on individual/union/corporate donations to candidate committees. Over $100,000 of this election money came from Rechnitz. However, because the investigated parties followed their legal counsel, they could not be held criminally liable.

Vance ultimately said that the facts here do not make out a provable violation of the Election Laws criminal provisions, although they appear contrary to the intent and spirit of the law, and recommended changes to the law to avoid a similar outcome in the future.
The APEC Youth Innovation Summit 2018 opened on August 23 in Chengdu with the theme of "Usher in a new era for Asia-Pacific region: Our mission." The summit was attended by some 120 Chinese youths competing to become the 2018 APEC Voices of the Future delegates, as well as APEC officials, senior Chinese officials, business leaders and university representatives.

Participants discussed through keynote speeches and panel discussions how young people can maximize their influence in the fields of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, education and public welfare under the four topics of: "Technology creates the future," "Education, not just within campus," "Industry innovation: Opportunities and challenges for young people in traditional industries," and "Why do young people want to join in public welfare."

The mission of APEC Voices of the Future China, which was launched in 2008, is to select the APEC Voices youth representatives from China and to train competitive talents in various fields for China.

Antonio Basilio, executive director of the International Secretariat of APEC Business Advisory Council, said that the APEC Voices program is a signature feature of the annual APEC Summit.

Basilio continued, "The program provides the opportunity and platform for 130 young leaders and educators from the 21 APEC Economies to attend the ABAC Meetings and the APEC CEO Summit, which is also organized by the ABAC host, to interact with policy makers."

Co-Chair of APEC Voices of the Future James Soh spoke highly of the quality of the APEC Voices of Future leaders from China.

"The selection of Chinese youth representatives to the annual APEC Voices summit is not an easy task. Participants have to go through multiple competitions before reaching the finals when organizers are selecting from the best of the best to represent China at the end of the APEC Voices program held in conjunction with the APEC Leaders' Meeting."

Gou Yue, a contestant in this year's selection from the No. 1 Middle School of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said that as a grade one high school student, it is a very precious opportunity to communicate with so many talented peers from different backgrounds.

"My hometown is an inland city. There weren't many chances for us to attend international activities of this kind. I really learnt a lot during this short period."

This year's APEC Voices of the Future attracted 107,000 Chinese youth applicants from 1,691 universities and colleges around the world. 120 participants made their way to the finals after many rounds of deliberation and ten of them will stand out in the seven-day final round.

The summit is co-hosted by the China Chamber of International Commerce and the APEC Business Advisory Council, and was organized by APEC Voices of the Future China, JD-Young (JD.com Inc's campus finance unit) and youth.cn, the official website under the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) Central Committee.




Seattle-area construction crane and heavy equipment operators, surveyors, stationary engineers, concrete pumpers, material hoisters, and lay pavers struck the Associated General Contractors (AGC) on Tuesday after rejecting a tentative agreement between International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 302 and management by a vote of 64 to 36 percent.

Earlier this month, the construction workers rejected the AGC offer of a 15.9 percent hike for three years along with a 13 percent rise in medical and pension benefits. The rejection of the offer followed the spurning of a previous offer in July by a tally of 67 to 33 percent. Managements offer was a pay hike of only 14.9 percent and a 9.2 percent increase for benefits. The striking workers currently have an hourly base pay range of only $37.70 to $43.13.

The strike is impacting all members of Local 302 in western Washington state working under the Washington Master Labor Agreement. The walkout by crane operators will stall many construction projects, since the hoisting of materials is critical to many aspects of the building process.

The last contract expired in June and provided for a 6 percent pay increase spread over four years. The workers are covered under a project labor agreement with the AGC. Project labor agreements that cover all workers on a project are favored by some employers because they guarantee a steady supply of labor and are protected by no-strike clauses.

The Seattle area has been in a construction boom with the development of Amazon, Google, Facebook, and other high-tech and biotech enterprises. Seattle proper for the last three years has held the record for the highest number of cranes in operation. Before the work stoppage, there were 65 cranes operating in Seattle, the most for any city in the US, while 14 were running in nearby Bellevue. The biggest project underway is Amazon-leased Rainier Square Tower, which will be Seattles second-tallest building.

The two contract offer rejections reveal the pent-up frustrations over wage levels in an area of the US that has one of the highest costs-of-living along with soaring home prices. The month of May marked the 21st consecutive month in which the Seattle area has led the rest of the country in the increase of home prices.

The typical price of a house in Seattle is now $813,000, while the price in Bellevue is $978,000. The three-year Washington Master Labor Agreement, which expired in June of this year, offered a miserly pay increase of only 6 percent. What is also revealed is the awareness on the part of every construction worker that they risk life and limb daily to put up offices for Amazon whose CEO, Jeff Bezos, is now raking in wealth at $3,000 a second or apartment high-rises to house those in the top 1 percent of the population.

The contract struggle could very well escalate. Teamster construction drivers rejected an AGC offer on July 7. The IUOE bureaucracy has sought to isolate the strike by allowing work to continue at worksites operating under other labor agreements.

For its part, the AGC expressed confidence that it could rely on the union to betray its members with a statement by the Washington AGC labor relations director, Doug Peterson, declaring, This union has been a longtime partner with us and were going to work with them. IUOE Local 302 Business Manager Daren Konopaski added, We have a longstanding relationship with the AGC and our contractors and we are hopeful a resolution will be reached soon.
The Trump administration descended deeper into crisis Thursday, with an unprecedented exchange of verbal attacks between the president and the attorney general he nominated 18 months ago, former Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

Trump vilified Sessions Wednesday in an interview with Fox News, claiming that Democratic Party holdovers are very strong in the Department of Justice and that Jeff Sessions never took control. He was responding to a question about Tuesdays plea agreement with Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, and the conviction the same day of Paul Manafort, his former campaign manager, both in cases prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Trump again denounced Sessions for recusing himself from any role in supervising the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Russia by the Trump campaign, the root cause of all his grievances against the attorney general. Sessions had little choice about the recusal, from the standpoint of traditional legal norms, since he had played a major role in the 2016 Trump campaignhe was Trumps first Senate endorser, and for a long time the only oneand was therefore a potential target of the probe.

Sessions responded Thursday morning with an unusually pointed public statement, albeit prefaced by a declaration of loyalty to Trumps policies. He wrote: I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the Presidents agenda

He then added, in the closest thing to a rebuke that any cabinet secretary has given to Trump since he took office, While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action. However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States.

This unusual exchange immediately touched off open discussion of the firing of Sessions by his former Senate Republican colleagues, who had previously urged Trump, after earlier anti-Sessions tweets, not to move against him. One possible successor to Sessions, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, flatly stated that Sessions would be removed after the November 6 election because he had lost the confidence of President Trump.

Trump has never followed up his Twitter diatribes against Session with action, in part, at least, because of Senate Republican opposition, and in part because firing Sessions would leave the Department of Justice headed for months by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is the day-to-day supervisor of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation. Rosenstein has been the target of frequent vilification from congressional Republicans and Trump himself for not closing down the Mueller probe.

The White House has hesitated to fire both Sessions and Rosenstein, or directly order the shutdown of the Mueller investigation, for fear that such a move would ignite a political firestorm that could lead to impeachment proceedings.

Trump openly discussed the possibility of impeachment for the first time Thursday, in the course of another interview with Fox News. Wallowing in self-delusion, he declared, I dont know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job.

He went on to address his real constituency, the financial oligarchy, saying, I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor because  you would see numbers that you wouldnt believe, in reverse. In effect, Trump is warning his fellow billionaires that the destabilization of his government would threaten their financial interests.

While Trump has raised the possibility of impeachment, the Democrats sought to block any discussion of such action as part of the 2018 election campaign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a conference call with the Democratic caucus Wednesday, emphasized this de facto gag order, which has been extremely effective. According to a survey by 538.com of the websites of 811 Democratic challengers running for state and federal office in 2018, only one called for impeachment.

The Democrats want to focus all opposition to Trump on the Mueller investigation, that is, behind the faction of the military-intelligence apparatus that has spearheaded the anti-Russia campaign. They are using the anti-Russia campaign both to channel opposition to Trump behind a right-wing foreign policy agenda and to justify unprecedented attacks on free speech through the censorship of the Internet.

The two newspapers that are most aggressively pushing the anti-Russia campaign, the New York Times and the Washington Post, published editorials appealing to congressional Republicans to take action against the president. The two editorials advanced identical arguments that Congressand in particular the Republican leadershipshould be spurred to action by the declaration by Michael Cohen, in the course of pleading guilty to two felony counts of violating campaign finance laws, that he had committed the crimes at the direction of Trump.

Under the headline, Its your move, Congress, the Post argued that if there is evidence of misconduct by the president, it must be disclosed to Congress and to the public

Congress also has the obligation to obtain this evidence, and gather its own. If congressional Republicans will not set aside partisan loyalties and start digging, voters will have reason to replace them in November.

Under the headline, Congress Do Your Job, the Times called for congressional Republican leaders to stop blocking legislation that would protect the Mueller investigation from White House interference. The editorial concluded, Republican lawmakers need to buck up, remind themselves of their constitutional responsibilities and erect some basic guardrails to ensure that  in a fit of rage, panic or mere pique  this president does not wake up one morning and decide to drive American democracy off a cliff.

Both Trump and his opponents seek to keep their raging conflict entirely within the boundaries of the official political system, where it can be controlled and manipulated by the corporate ruling elite. The issues in the conflict revolve around foreign policy, particularly in relation to the policy of confronting Russia, both in Syria and Eastern Europe, adopted in the second term of the Obama administration.

The biggest fear of the Democratic Party is that the mounting political crisis in Washington will create the conditions in which an entirely different social force, the working class, will intervene and assert its own independent interests.
In the run up to yesterdays formal launch of the campaign for Quebecs October 1 provincial election, many major unions joined forces in a pre-campaign aimed at channeling the mass opposition to Philippe Couillard's Liberal government and its savage austerity measures behind the big business Parti Quebecois (PQ).

Six of the largest Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ) affiliatesincluding the United Steelworkers (USW), Machinists (IAM), and Canadian Unions of Public Employees (CUPE)plastered swing electoral districts in Montreal, Quebec City, and smaller cities with posters bearing the slogan Libecaquiste, CaquiliberalOn merite mieux (LibeCAQ, CAQliberal, we deserve better). The posters show a two-faced head, split vertically, and comprised of half of Couillards face and half of the face of CAQ (Coalition Avenir du Quebec) leader Francois Legault.

For decades the unions have politically subordinated the working class to the pro-austerity, pro-independence PQ. And if there was any doubt their current anti-Liberal, anti-CAQ campaign is a continuation of this policy, Quebec CUPE President Denis Bolduc was quick to dispel it. Explaining the objectives of the unions campaign, he declared their message for working people is, Go to the Parti Quebecois or Quebec Solidaire, we are not saying which.

Formed in 2006, Quebec Solidaire is a pseudo-left party that is a junior partner of the PQ-led Quebec sovereignist (pro-independence) family. It is electorally competitive in less than a dozen of Quebecs 125 electoral constituencies.

The unions pre-campaign amounts to a desperate PR stunt on behalf of the PQ, a party so hated by workers that it could well be reduced to no more than a half-dozen National Assembly legislators after the October 1st election. For months, polls have consistently shown that the PQ has the support of 20 percent of the electorate or less, placing it a poor third behind the Liberals and the right-wing populist CAQ.

Earlier this summer the FTQ published an election platform that declares, The QFL and its affiliated unions wish the election of a government that is resolutely committed to promoting a system of social justice, human dignity and democratic freedom.

These hypocritical phrases serve to obscure the reactionary character of the union bureaucracys decades-long alliance with the PQ, whose claims to have a favourable bias for the working class it long touted, and which it continues to promote as a progressive party or, at the very least, a lesser evil as compared with the neo-liberal, pro-federalist Liberals and CAQ.

In reality, the entire history of the PQ, which was formed in 1968 out of a split-off from the Liberals, shows it to be a faithful and ruthless defender of the interests of the Quebec bourgeoisie.

The union-backed PQ: a pioneer of capitalist austerity

The PQ was a pioneer of capitalist austerity in Quebec and, indeed, across Canada. During its second mandate, from 1981 to 1985, which coincided with a major economic slump, the PQ violently attacked the working class. This included imposing wage-cutting contracts on public sector workers by government decree, threatening to fire striking teachers en masse, and using a record number of special or emergency laws to criminalize and break militant public sector strikes.

It was also during this period that the trade unions moved sharply to the right, systematically repudiating any traditions of independent struggle and integrating themselves ever more completely into management, to the point where today they function as an outright industrial police force of capital, imposing factory closures, wage cuts and other concessions to ensure corporate competitiveness. As part of this process, the union bureaucracy sought to develop new sources of income, intertwining its interests with those of the rising financial aristocracy.

In 1983, as it was suppressing public sector workers opposition to the PQ imposed wage-cuts, the FTQ leadership was negotiating with the PQ government for tax and other concessions so it could proceed with the launching of a union-run investment fund. With assets of more than $14 billion, the Fonds de solidarite FTQ is today Quebecs largest venture capital firm.

The corporatist reorientation of the unions and the brutal shift of the PQ toward austerity were bound up with global transformations in class relations and capitalisms mode of accumulation, henceforth based on the parasitic plundering of workers' past social gains and unbridled financial speculation.

Like the contemporaneous Chretien-Martin federal Liberal government and the Harris Conservative government, the Bouchard-Landry PQ government (1995-2003) slashed billions of dollars from social spending and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs in education and health care. The unions gave their blessing to the PQs attacks at national economic summits, and in 1999 when nurses rebelled against the impact of years of austerity they isolated them in the face of escalating government threats.

Despite the union bureaucracys continuing support, including their establishment in 2005 of a political club inside the PQthe SPQ Libre (Trade Unionists and Progressives for a Free Quebec)support for the PQ within the working class has hemorrhaged since the turn of the 21st century. For the past 15 years, the PQ has been consigned to the opposition benches for all but 18 months.

In September 2012, it won a plurality of seats and was able to form a minority government, after the unions, with the support of Quebec Solidaire and the student associations, channeled the mass movement triggered by the more than half-year long Quebec student strike behind the election of a PQ government.

In May 2012, at the very point when workers were taking to the street to oppose the Charest Liberal governments efforts to break the strike through savage state repression and the student movement threatened to become the catalyst for a broader working-class challenge to austerity, the unions, with the FTQ in the lead, came forward with the watchword From the streets, to the ballot box.

After re-stabilizing bourgeois rule, the PQ government of Pauline Marois quickly transitioned back to social spending cuts, imposed annual hikes in university tuition fees and in 2013 criminalized a province-wide construction strike.

During its year-and-a-half in power, the PQ sought to divert attention from its perpetuation of austerity and to split the working class by promoting anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant chauvinism. In the name of defending Quebec values and secularism it brought forward legislation to ban more than a half-million public sector workers from wearing religious symbols, while carving out an exception for Roman Catholic crucifixes

The PQ calculated it could use its chauvinist Quebec values campaign to win a majority in the April 2014 election. But instead the Liberals, exploiting disenchantment with the PQs austerity measures and widespread opposition to its demonization of immigrants, returned to power.

In 2015-16, mass working class opposition erupted against the Couillard governments anti-deficit campaign. But the unions again torpedoed the incipient mass movement, using the threat of government strikebreaking legislation to prevail on half-a-million teachers, health care workers and civil servants to accept contracts imposing real-wage cuts, pension rollbacks, and other concessions.

What accounts for the growth of the rightwing populist CAQ?

It is this record that explains the profound hostility of ordinary people toward the two traditional governing parties of the Quebec ruling class, the Liberals and PQ.

But because the unions have suppressed the working-class opposition to their austerity agenda, the right-wing populist CAQ has been able to benefit from the anger with the political establishment.

Developments in Quebec parallel those in Ontario, where the Conservatives were elected in June led by the Trump-admirer Doug Ford, the US and Europe. The growth of righting populist and ultra-right forces is the product of the right-wing shift of the ruling establishment as a whole, which is inseparable from the bankruptcy of the traditional left parties and the social devastation their policies have caused.

The PQ's recent call for robust economic nationalism and the anti-refugee remarks of its leader, Jean-Francois Lisee, are part of this resurgence of rightwing nationalist politics. This goes hand in hand with the PQ and BQs support for the militarist shift in Canadian foreign policy. They are fervent supporters of Canadian imperialisms participation in the US-led wars in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia and its implication in US military-strategic offensives around the world.

In contrast to the surge to the right of the traditional bourgeois parties, workers are increasingly using their own methods to defend their interests, and in so doing, they are coming into conflict with trade unions and the capitalist state. The recent wildcat strike of Quebec crane operators, and their refusal to return to work despite an order from the Labour Administrative Tribunal and repeated appeals by their own union leaders, took place shortly after the eruption of a mass movement of teachers in the United States. This movement was organized outside the unions, which had to face immense grassroots opposition before they were finally able to strangle it.

Already numerous throughout the world, such rebellions will only increase because they are the product of the crisis of the capitalist regime of exploitation which the unions support and help sustain, but which for the working class has become unsustainable.

In promoting the pro-big business and ever-more stridently chauvinist PQ, the unions are doubling down on the right-wing course they have pursued for the past five decades and which has facilitated an ever-widening big business offensive against the working class and is now opening the door to the most right-wing elements: the systematic isolation and sabotage of workers' struggles; the political subordination of workers to the profit system; and the use of ethno-linguistic differences to divide French-speaking workers in Quebec from their English-speaking brothers and sisters in the rest of Canada, the United States and internationally.

In order to defend their class interests and oppose austerity and war, workers must break with the nationalist, pro-capitalist and pequiste orientation of the trade unions, and take the path of independent political struggle against a putrefying capitalism on the basis of international socialism.
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BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP)  An Oregon man has been sentenced to 130 days in jail after pleading guilty to misconduct in two national parks, including harassing a bison that had stopped traffic in Yellowstone National Park.

Raymond Reinkes crimes drew national attention when at least one Yellowstone visitor caught his interaction with a bison on video.

Reinke, of Pendleton, Oregon, pleaded guilty...
For more than 25 years, Christy Miracks murder was shrouded in mystery  longer than the beloved Pennsylvania schoolteacher was alive. Mirack was found dead in her home just a few days before Christmas 1992, strangled and badly beaten, her clothes askew as if she had been sexually assaulted. The presents she had collected for her students were never delivered.

The ferocity and seeming senselessness of the crime stunned the community, including Miracks younger brother Vince, a medical device salesman. I always try to keep it out there in the forefront that she was a great person, Vince tells Rolling Stone. The children that she taught adored her, the parents did; her colleagues did. [Teaching] was something that she worked for her whole short life, and it was tragically taken away from her  just like that.

It was really one of the worst crimes we had. A nightmare crime, says Lancaster District Attorney Craig Stedman. We had this guy at large for all this time. And that was the rub: the wondering. No one could figure out why Miracks life had been taken, and the question haunted family and friends for decades.

This past June, however, popular local DJ Raymond DJ Freez Rowe, 49, was arrested in connection with Miracks brutal death  thanks to the melding of DNA technology and the work of an innovative crop of genealogists.

The schoolteachers murder wasnt the only cold case that recently heated up; at least eight arrests have been made over the last few months, and cold-case units are champing at the bit to tackle more. The magic bullet that has made it possible for law enforcement officials to find their targets? A pastime beloved by hobbyists the world over: the family tree. Specifically, law enforcement figured out that they could team with up with forensic genealogists to create DNA profiles from decades old suspect DNA and upload those profiles into genealogy databases, following a gnarled family tree until it bears fruit.

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The field of forensic genealogy was brought to the publics attention after the April 25th arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old retired cop from California, who is alleged to be the Golden State Killer. The GSK had been an obsession among law enforcement and criminology hobbyists for decades. He was suspected of committing at least 12 murders, 50 rapes and 100 burglaries in California between 1974 and 1986, according to crime writer Michelle McNamaras posthumously released 2018 book Ill Be Gone in the Dark. The Golden State Killer, a moniker McNamara gave him, was only one of his nicknames; he is also suspected of being the East Area Rapist, the Original Night Stalker and the Visalia Ransacker.

Recently retired detective Paul Holes had been on the case since the late 1990s, when he was a newly minted deputy sheriff in Californias Contra Costa County. I started working on this case as a hobby, he says. Nobody ever assigned this case to me; I just decided, Im going to take this and run with it. It just snowballed over the years until I was obsessed, to be frank, with getting this solved.

Advances in DNA technology since the then allowed Holes to connect the various aliases of the GSK, leading to speculation that all crimes were committed the same man. Still, that mans DNA was not found in the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, the FBIs program of support for criminal justice DNA databases. Holes started his foray into forensic genealogy in 2012, delving into the Y-chromosome DNA of the suspects sample  which can help uncover common last names and runs along the male line of a family  but that didnt get him anywhere. It was only when he first learned about autosomal DNA testing in February 2017 that doors started opening.

Autosomal DNA, according to pioneering forensic genealogist Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick of IndentiFinders International, is inherited from both parents and can be used for more all-inclusive research than Y-DNA. It can find cousins along every line of your family, she tells Rolling Stone. Because the coverage it provides for your family tree is so comprehensive, it has eclipsed [use of] the Y-DNA.

Holes assembled a crack team consisting of fellow law enforcement and an outside genealogy consultant who Holes says prefers to remain anonymous to assemble a comprehensive DNA profile from a sample collected at the scene of the 1980 double homicide of suspected GSK victims Lyman and Charlene Smith. That profile was then uploaded to a site called GEDMatch, and, after some genealogical digging  and after acquiring more DNA samples from DeAngelos car door handle and trash  a suspect was found.

His name never came up in the investigation, Holes marvels. We have a master suspect list of over 8,000 names. All the suspects that each of us investigators had drummed up And his name never was in that list.

According to Fitzpatrick, the battle to use genealogy databases for forensic work was a bit uphill in the beginning. Services like 23andMe started using autosomal DNA about 10 years ago, but due to their strict privacy policies, law enforcement couldnt really touch that info.

You can imagine it as a fence, she says. All of the genetic genealogy people  Ancestry, 23 [and Me] and My Heritage  all those people were on one side of the fence with all of their massive amounts of data, and the forensic people were on the other side, she explains. So the forensic people are looking over the fence at all this unbelievable data theyd love to get to catch the Golden State Killer [and other suspects].

Fitzpatrick opened a gate in that fence, however, when she teamed up with United States Marshal Pete Elliott in Ohio to find the true identity of Joseph Newton Chandler III, a mysterious Cleveland resident who killed himself in 2002. The man had stolen the identity of a long-deceased 8-year-old boy in the 1970s, and his true name was only revealed to the public in June of 2018 after Fitzpatrick cracked the code via Y-DNA and GEDMatch: he was Indiana-born Robert Ivan Nichols, a decorated World War II veteran who abandoned his family in the 1960s. The team is still trying to find out why Nichols went on the run, and, according to Fitzpatrick and Elliott, speculation among the Internet set has been extensice; its been hypothesized that hes everyone from the Zodiac Killer to mysterious hijacker D.B. Cooper. However the jury, Elliott says, is still out on that.

Its phenomenal, Elliott tells Rolling Stone. Its a whole new tool in our toolbox to be able to use forensic genealogy. The work that Dr. Fitzpatrick did not only put us in the ballpark, she gave us the exact seat that Joseph Chandler was sitting in.

The key ingredient in cracking both cases was undoubtedly a site that looks straight out of the early days of the Internet: GEDMatch, an open-source site that allows people to upload their raw genetic profiles  obtained via 23andMe and other services  and track down relatives and ancestors. Anyone can upload a genetic profile if it fits certain parameters  including the profile created by Holes team for the GSK suspect and the one IdentiFinders created for Nichols. If a family member also has their info in the database, a forensic genealogist like Fitzpatrick can trace a suspects family tree.

At first, GEDMatch co-founder Curtis Rogers was nervous about law enforcement using his site to nab the GSK and other suspects. Rogers, a Floridian in his late seventies, has been dabbling in genealogy since he was a teen. I was concerned about the privacy of our people, he tells Rolling Stone. Its taken me months to really settle that in my mind so that Im comfortable with the way were operating. On one hand, you have this guy who made Jack the Ripper look like a choirboy, and thank God hes off the streets. On the other hand, we do have a responsibility to our people to keep their privacy, whether its appropriate or not.

Rogers solution was to make it as transparent as possible that law enforcement could, in fact, use the site to track down suspects. According to the now-retired businessman, some people chose to leave the site, but numbers remain high; hes not sure how many users GEDMatch has, but he wagers somewhere around a million. Moreover, users have reached out to him the wake of the GSK arrest and praised his part in it, however tangential.

I got an email from a person who said, I want to make sure that my DNA is out there and is as visible as possible on your site, because my father was a serial killer. I want to make sure that any unsolved cases, the people can get some finality, he says. And I think thats an attitude that people have.

The popularity of cases like the GSK undoubtedly made it easier for forensic genealogists to justify working with law enforcement, like prominent genealogist CeCe Moore. Moores work up until recent months was mostly dedicated to cracking unknown identity cases: John and Jane Does and missing persons. Shes also worked as a consultant on shows like PBS Finding Your Roots.

Now, Moore is working with Parabon Nanolabs, located in Reston, Virginia, which does work for law enforcement in the field of DNA phenotyping, a process by which they can attempt to suss out what a person looks like based on their DNA. The method that Parabon uses to create a DNA profile is not the same as the one IdentiFinders employs, but the info that is derived from either method is GEDMatch compatible, which meant that Moore could widen her search from just missing people to suspects after the GSK case tore down the fence. She was, in fact, instrumental to nabbing Miracks suspected killer.

Thanks to the GSK case, I feel we went a very long way in establishing official consent from the participants in GEDMatch, she says. You couldnt have asked for a bigger case or more publicity. And, since DeAngelos arrest  and noting that her community felt widely positive about it  shes been making the papers herself: her work is in part responsible for seven arrests so far.

According to the District Attorney on the Mirack case, his team started working with Parabon in 2017 to create composite images to release to the public in hopes of IDing the murderer. Vince Mirack initially hopeful: I thought that was it, I thought that was going to be the piece of information that we needed to break the case. When we got a picture of an individual, and youre looking at somebody saying, Wow. This is really it. The science is supposedly really accurate. But it didnt happen that way.

Following the arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer, the real work began, when the D.A. asked Parabon and Moore to do their magic with GEDMatch. After testing a discarded water bottle and wad of chewing gum from the suspect, Pennsylvania police arrested Rowe in late June 2018 and charged the popular party DJ with criminal homicide.

Its come together so quickly, the D.A. says. Its just really amazing, game-changing technology for law enforcement. So its exciting in that sense that were looking not just as this case, but at the potential for other cases.

Despite generally positive response to the apprehension of the suspected GSK and other cold case suspects, not everyone is sold on the methods of forensic genealogists, including a contingent at the ACLU. The [GSK] investigators decision to upload a detailed genetic profile to GEDmatch  a public database that can be accessed by any person for any reason  raises troubling privacy concerns, Vera Eidelman, a William J. Brennan fellow with the ACLUs Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, tells Rolling Stone. Even if DeAngelo is found guilty of the crimes he is accused of, penalties for such crimes do not typically entail releasing a persons entire genetic makeup to the world. We may not be so troubled by such an intrusion when it comes to a serial killer, but imagine the implications of using this technique for other crimes, from shoplifting to trespass[ing].

Forensic genealogists, however, are energized. Fitzpatrick is looking to the horizon regarding how we might be able to profile would-be murderer and serial killers. We can psychologically profile these people that we havent been able to access, she says. Were going be able to start understanding crime, long term crime, long term criminals.  And then thats going assist investigations outside of the genealogy.

Moore hopes that these advances in her field will give those would-be murderers pause  and help solve murders that have thus far been gathering dust. Cold cases, I cant say they will be a thing of the past entirely, but if there is biological material available on a cold case, theres a very high likelihood that it can and will be resolved, she says. I hope that changes things. I hope that makes society a safer place.

Holes, for his part, can now put a two-decade-plus obsession somewhat to rest. At least that specific obsession.

For 24 years the case had taken over my life, he says. Having it solved is both thrilling and a relief. However, Im finding Im experiencing a bit of a void; I miss the thrill of the pursuit. I feel like I need to find another case to go after.

Despite the flurry of arrests in recent months, more work is still to be done  like taking all the suspects to trial  and those involved are not exactly resting easy. Vince Marick might have a while to wait for any sort of answers in the case of his sisters death, and Rowe, for his part, could be facing the death penalty.

When this happened, I told my wife, Ill do this day by day, Marick says. Because I dont want to try to predict the future, Im just going to go with what happens and whats in front of me; thats kind of how well approach this.
Everything to Know About the Investigations into Donald Trump Amid Calls for His Impeachment

In a week that saw the downfall of two of Donald Trumps top aides, even the president himself is discussing the possibility of his impeachment.

During an interview that aired Thursday on Fox & Friends, Trump, 72, defended himself amid calls for his impeachment, saying, I dont know how you can impeach somebody whos done a great job.

If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, he continued. I think everybody would be very poor because without this thinking you would see  you would see numbers that you wouldnt believe in reverse.

When asked what grade he would give himself for his job performance in the White House, he responded, I give myself an A+.

The comments come during an explosive week for the White House. On Tuesday, Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, 69, was convicted of eight felony counts of bank and tax fraud, and Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts, including tax fraud, false statements to a bank, and campaign finance violations.

Cohen implicated Trump when he said that a candidate for federal office (which is universally understood to be Trump) directed payments prior to the 2016 presidential election to two women who claim to have had affairs with him, porn star Stormy Daniels, 39, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, 47. (Trump has denied the affairs.) Cohen admitted to a federal judge that he made the payments for the purpose of influencing the election.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that Trump did nothing wrong and there are no charges against him.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders says Trump 'did nothing wrong' after being accused of directing Michael Cohen to commit a crime pic.twitter.com/CnKvfX5274  Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 22, 2018

In the latest development in the Cohen case, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the attorneys decision to break with Trump and plead guilty was motivated by a recent conversation Cohen had with his father, who said he did not survive the Holocaust to have his familys name sullied by Trump.

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A source familiar with the matter told the Journal that Maurice Cohen, a Polish Holocaust survivor, urged his son not to protect Trump.

After resigning as deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee on June 20, Cohen referenced his father in a tweet marking his first public criticism of Trump.

As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy [are] heart wrenching, Cohen said in a since-deleted tweet, according to the Journal.

Also on Wednesday, it was reported that one of Trumps most powerful allies, David Pecker, chairman of The National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., appears to have turned against the president as well.

Vanity Fair reported that, according to two sources briefed on the Cohen investigation, federal prosecutors have granted immunity to Pecker, as well as to A.M.I.s chief content officer, Dylan Howard, in exchange for explaining Trumps potential involvement in Cohens payments to Daniels and McDougal during the 2016 campaign.

Pecker and Howard did not respond to Vanity Fairs multiple requests for comment.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Peckers cooperation on Wednesday night, Vanity Fair noted.

The outlet also said that Pecker and Howards conversations with investigators seem to have informed the charging documents in the Cohen case.

RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack

Still, CNN has reported that Trump is likely not in legal jeopardy, noting that special counsel Robert Muellers office has apparently told the presidents legal team that they will adhere to Justice Department regulations saying a sitting president cant be indicted.

CNN argued that impeachment is a more likely threat to Trump. But some legal experts say this probably wont happen either.

Joshua Dressler, a law professor at Ohio State University, tells Vox that Cohens admission that he made the payments  at the direction of a candidate for federal office, clearly implicates the president in those campaign violations. But it may not matter.

If he were not a sitting president this would constitute grounds for indictment on those charges, Dressler argued. As a sitting president this constitutes, if Congress wishes to do so, impeachable offenses. But, as we know, impeachment is a political rather than a legal concept, and it would seem pretty clear that nothing will occur with the current Congress.

Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of former President Bill Clinton as deputy independent counsel during the Whitewater investigation, tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he believes Cohens plea deal leads Trump closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House.

But most Democrats have been reluctant to call for Trumps impeachment, especially those running in crucial midterm races, The Washington Post reports.

I dont want to see a two-year distraction, said Susan Wild, a Democratic nominee favored to win a key Republican-held House seat in Pennsylvania tells the Post. I think, honestly, impeachment proceedings would obviously derail getting other things done in Congress.

The Post also reports that most Democrats have come to believe that moral revulsion with political leaders is often only a deciding issue for voters who enjoy a level of economic security to look beyond their immediate needs  a lesson they learned from Hillary Clintons 2016 tactics against Trump.

The question of whats next for Trump also depends on what Cohen might tell Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trumps ties to Russia.

After Cohens guilty plea on Tuesday, his attorney, Lanny Davis, went on a media blitz in which he repeatedly suggested that Cohen has information that would be of interest to Mueller  specifically about the hacking of the Democratic National Convention during the 2016 election, and about Trumps son Donald Trump Jr.s mid-campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton.

On MSNBCs Rachel Maddow Show, Davis said that Cohen had knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on.

He elaborated to The Washington Post, A conspiracy to commit a crime becomes a crime if theres one overt act  meaning you do anything to implement the crime. If there is a conversation and a plan for there to be dirt on Hillary Clinton, and then someone knows the way youre willing to get the dirt is a Russian agent called WikiLeaks . . . and then WikiLeaks hacks into an email account, which is a crime, then you have committed a crime of conspiracy.

If Trump knew in advance about the meeting, he could be accused of having participated in a criminal conspiracy, the Post reports.

But, the newspaper adds, Its very unlikely Trump would be indicted on such a charge, especially given how speculative it is.

Meanwhile, though Manaforts conviction on eight felony counts of bank and tax fraud does not directly implicate Trump, it could strengthen the special counsel investigation and prompt Manafort to strike a deal and agree to cooperate with investigators, the Post says.

The combination of the Manafort conviction and the guilty plea by Michael Cohen creates a legal maelstrom for the presidents lawyers, who now have to do battle on two fronts, fending off unrelated charges that both involve individuals who were at one time close to the president, Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor who now works at the firm McCarter & English, tells the Post.

Timothy Belevetz, a former federal prosecutor now with the firm Holland & Knight, called the Manafort verdict an important milestone for Mueller.

So far, the office has charged more than 30 individuals and has secured a number of guilty pleas, which is not insignificant, he said. This is a big win for the special counsel.
Mollie Tibbetts died from multiple sharp force injuries, according to preliminary autopsy findings released on Thursday, though some other details in her mysterious slaying remain unclear.

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old psychology student at the University of Iowa, was found dead in a cornfield in Guersney, Iowa, on Tuesday morning, some 11 miles southeast of her hometown of Brooklyn. She vanished there on July 18 while going for a run.

Later on Tuesday police also charged Cristhian Rivera, 24, with Tibbetts first-degree murder. Police documents obtained by PEOPLE allege that Rivera abducted and killed Tibbetts after crossing paths with her while she was jogging.

However, it is still publicly unknown when, exactly, Tibbetts was killed and how well she knew her suspected murderer, if at all.

RELATED VIDEO: Man Is Charged in Connection with Mollie Tibbetts Murder

An autopsy on her body was conducted Wednesday by the Iowa State Medical Examiner. Some of the initial findings were announced on Thursday, such as the nature of her fatal injuries.

But more specific information was not released, including what weapon or weapons may have been used and the extent of Tibbetts wounds. Further examination may result in additional findings, state authorities said.

Sharp force injuries include cuts and stab wounds, according to the University of Wisconsins School of Medicine and Public Health, and they are caused by a sharp/pointed object.

 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.

Riveras arrest warrant affidavit is not more enlightening. It shows that he allegedly said he blocked his memory after Tibbetts grew unnerved by him when he began running around her.

The next thing he remembered was being in his car and then realizing that her dead body was in his trunk, her head bloody, according to the arrest affidavit.

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Rivera, who made his first court appearance on Wednesday, remains in custody in lieu of $5 million cash bond.

He has not entered a plea but his attorney reiterated that he is presumed innocent and no evidence has yet been presented in court.

A motive in the killing has not been confirmed.
A Texas man who was bit by a shark in early August has since developed a flesh-eating bacterial infection, and is back in the hospital.

Blaine Shelton was swimming alone off of Crystal Beach near Houston when a shark bit him about 200 yards from the shore.

I already saw the fin, and I knew it wasnt a porpoise, he told KHOU 11 News on Aug. 10. So I turn around to get out of there, and thats when he grabbed me by the leg.

Shelton was able to swim to the shore, and later learned that it was likely a seven-foot bull shark that had bit him. He told a friend that if the shark had bit him again he would have been fish bait.

Shelton was treated for the bite in the hospital, but a week after his release he started feeling severe pain around the wound, and went back in. Doctors told him that the wound was infected with flesh-eating bacteria.

Thank God theyre helping me with the pain because the other day when I came in I could hardly walk in here, he said in a second interview with KHOU 11 on Wednesday.

RELATED VIDEO: Instagram Model, 19, Bit While Posing for Photo Among Group of Sharks in the Bahamas

But Shelton said his hospital costs are becoming astronomical, and expects them to reach at least $100,000. He set up a GoFundMe page for additional help.

I honestly thought Id go, get super-glued up and sent out the door, he said.

Shelton now wants to warn others about the risk of an infection.

Id heard there was bacteria in the water, I just never treated it serious. But to tell you the truth, if youve got a scratch on your arm or your leg, I wouldnt get in that water, he said. And if you do, bring some alcohol with you to clean it the second you get out. Its nothing to play with.
Lane weakens to tropical storm; Hawaii has already seen over 31 inches of rain originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

As Lane lurches north, it has weakened to a tropical storm late Friday, but the storm has already dumped more than 31 inches of rain on Hawaii's Big Island, bringing catastrophic flooding.

Tropical Storm Lane currently has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and is moving northwest at 3 mph. Despite the rapid weakening of the storm, which was a Category 2 hurricane as recently as 2 p.m. Hawaiian time, there are no major changes to the track. The westward turn is still forecast to begin Saturday and Lane will pick up in speed and scoot out to sea, away from the islands, by Sunday.

Rain totals could reach over 40 inches in some spots.

The Big Island and eastern Maui are expected to be the hardest hit.

The dangerous storm could even lead to life-threatening landslides or mudslides.

#HawaiiIsland #Lane update 7:25 AM 8/24: Akoni Pule (HWY 270) landslide at MM 25 blocking both lanes, landslide on HWY 19 at MM 3.8 blocking one lane. pic.twitter.com/OgNnxEycsx  Hawaii DOT (@DOTHawaii) August 24, 2018

Work continues on Saddle Road above Hilo between MM 10.5 and 11. Water is currently 2-3 deep. #HawaiiIsland #Lane #hiwx pic.twitter.com/i9LrFCrKDJ  Hawaii DOT (@DOTHawaii) August 24, 2018

Peak wind gusts so far have been 68 mph on the Big Island and 50 mph on Maui and Oahu.

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Beaches facing the south and west could see waves up to 25 feet and a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet, which could lead to damaging beach erosion.

Lane -- which is moving very slowly -- will weaken over the next two to three days.

Maui County will feel the strongest effects from Hurricane Lane Friday afternoon through Saturday evening, and Oahu County will feel the strongest effects Friday night through early Sunday.

PHOTO: People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (John Locher/AP)

PHOTO: People watch for the arrival of Hurricane Lane in Miloli'i, Hawaii, Aug. 23, 2018. (Ronit Fahl/AFP/Getty Images)

(MORE: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season is now underway: What experts say is in store)

As crews battle the storm, they are also facing a fire. A brush fire broke out at about 1 a.m. Friday in Lahaina in Maui, prompting residents to be evacuated.

The cause wasn't immediately clear.

PHOTO: A bush fire broke out on the Island of Maui in Hawaii, Aug. 24, 2018. (Courtesy Jeffrie Hall)

We are in high gear at the Emergency Ops Center alongside our brave responders @Maui_EMA. Please heed evacuation orders as Lahaina fires blaze and preparations for #HurricaneLane continue pic.twitter.com/49RKlbQ5GR  Pacific Disaster Center (@PDC_Global) August 24, 2018

Before the rough winds and torrential rain set in, Hawaiian residents and visitors flocked to stores to stock up on food, water and gas.

There are 300,000 tourists in the state, Sen. Mazie Hirono said Thursday.

Empty shelves and plenty people at Target. This is what happens when a Cat5 threatens one of the worlds most geographically isolated island chains. #hiwx #hurricanelane pic.twitter.com/QTWN0EDIB7  Ben Nishimoto (@Ben_Nishimoto) August 22, 2018

The hurricane shuttered public schools and prompted evacuation centers to open in all four counties.

Over 1,500 people have sought shelter and more are expected to do so, American Red Cross officials said Friday.

Water, meals and generators are being delivered to the islands, officials said, and businesses and homes are being boarded up.

PHOTO: A home is seen borded up before the arrival of Hurricane Lane in Miloli'i, Hawaii, Aug. 23, 2018. (Ronit Fahl/AFP/Getty Images)

Officials warned residents and tourists to prepare for power outages, too.

Due to the magnitude of hurricane, there will likely be power outages. Please plan for it. We will do our best to restore power when it is safe to do so. Mahalo.  Hawaiian Electric (@HwnElectric) August 24, 2018

Heres a photo taken today, Aug. 24, showing some of the damage in Olinda due to the impact of #HurricaneLane passing near the Hawaiian Islands. As of 8 a.m. today, the hurricane is a Category 2 system. We're still expecting major impacts the storm passes through the weekend. pic.twitter.com/AKFRo4S4in  Maui Electric (@MauiElectric) August 24, 2018

President Donald Trump said he authorized an emergency disaster declaration to provide support to Hawaii.

"Our teams are closely coordinating with the state and local authorities," he tweeted Thursday. "You are in our thoughts!"

PHOTO: A man stands along the beach as waves crash on shore due to Hurricane Lane, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (John Locher/AP)

(MORE: Monster Hurricane Lane pummeling Hawaii with torrential rains, winds)

It's rare for hurricanes to hit Hawaii. An area of high pressure that sits to the northeast of the islands typically steers hurricanes away. This high pressure is the strongest from May through October, which is also prime hurricane season.

The Hawaiian islands are also surrounded by cool water, and tropical cyclones need ocean water temperatures to exceed 80 degrees to strengthen.

(MORE: How to know when a hurricane is coming and other things you want to know about hurricanes, answered)

The last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Iniki in 1992. Lane would be the third on record.

Category 1 Hurricane Dot hit in 1959 and catastrophic Category 4 Iniki came ashore in 1992. Both made landfall on the island of Kauai.

Category 1 Hurricane Iwa also had a major impact on Kauai in 1982 but because its eye did not hit the island, it wasn't officially counted as making landfall there.

ABC News' Crystal Muguerza, Max Golembo and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
The upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to take place this September in Beijing is of high significance as it will provide the opportunity for participating leaders to discuss new ways of collaboration and engagement between China and Africa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa hold talks in Pretoria, South Africa, July 24, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Symbolically, the meeting will be organized five years after President Xi Jinping gave his landmark speech in Kazakhstan proposing the future realization of the Belt and Road Initiative. The joint construction of the Belt and Road will be one of the main priorities of this year's FOCAC.

Many African countries view the Belt and Road Initiative positively as they are envisioning infrastructure works and investments that Chinese state-owned enterprises are able to implement. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), for instance, understands the win-win partnership framework. This is what Secretary General Sindiso Ndema Ngwenya recently said when welcoming Ambassador Li Jie as China's representative in the Authority.

Also, President of Madagascar and Chairman of COMESA Hery Martial Rajaonarimampianina spoke on the Belt and Road Initiative on the occasion of the 20th summit of the Group in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. He focused on the 'holistic development approach' it provides and encouraged COMESA members to benefit at the regional level. A few realized projects include the Doraleh port in Djibouti, the Mombasa-Nairobi railway in Kenya and the Suez economic and trade cooperation zone in Egypt.

Beyond investments and infrastructure works, Sino-African relations are largely based on trade. According to China Customs statistics, the volume amounted to $170 billion in 2017, from which Chinese exports reached $94.74 billion and imports $75.26 billion. Ten years ago, in 2007, the trade volume was $73.57 billion.

While China is mainly interested in importing energy resources such as oil, African countries largely import machinery, transportation and communications equipment, manufactured goods as well as food including rice. In 2009, China surpassed the U.S. as Africa's largest trade partner while the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative has certainly boosted sales in both directions.

From another perspective, the role of China in supporting Africa's development is steady and unquestionable. It is therefore expected that this year's FOCAC will be in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

Generally speaking, China is providing aid to Africa via instruments such as the China-Africa Development Fund which was founded in 2007. It is also granting loans through banks like the China Export-Import Bank. In addition, China regularly offers humanitarian assistance, sends medical teams and efficiently takes part in the fight against diseases such as Ebola.

On another front, China's leading contribution to U.N. peacekeeping operations in Africa deserves attention. For example, China is in the a top-10 in terms of troop contributions in South Sudan and Darfur missions with military personnel of 1,034 and 365 as of April 2018 respectively.

The bright evolution of Sino-African relations has caused some concern in the U.S. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed fierce criticism against Chinese policies in his trip to the Continent last March. However, the presence of China in Africa is being facilitated not only by the determination of African leaders but also by the positive attitude of African public opinion.

Afrobarometer  a pan-African, non-partisan research network  carried out research across 36 African countries on the image of China between 2014-2015. The results outline a favorable stance as 63 percent of the respondents say the country's influence is 'somewhat' or 'very' positive. And reports by influential companies such as McKinsey analyze the importance of Chinese companies doing business in Africa in terms of job creation.

All in all, the September 2018 Beijing FOCAC could evolve as the most successful one since its very formation in 2000. This institutional vehicle might seal the intentions of China and Africa to build a community with shared future around themes discussed above. Of course, this community will not be a Sino-African affair per se but its character will be inclusive where other powers will be able to participate.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Man arrested for 6 cold case rapes through same type of testing that caught 'Golden State Killer' suspect

Man arrested for 6 cold case rapes through same type of testing that caught 'Golden State Killer' suspect originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A North Carolina man has been arrested for a string of rapes committed a decade ago, police said, after he was tracked down through the same technology used to catch the suspected "Golden State Killer."

Darold Wayne Bowden, 43, was charged in connection with six cold case rapes perpetrated from March 2006 to January 2008 along the Ramsey Street corridor area of Fayetteville, according to a Wednesday statement from the Fayetteville Police Department.

Charges against Bowden include: first-degree forcible rape; first-degree forcible sex offense; first-degree statutory rape; indecent liberties with a child; and first-degree kidnapping.

PHOTO: Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Departments Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit have charged and arrested a suspect, Darold Wayne Bowden, in connection with six cold case rape investigations that occurred between March 2006 and Jan. 2008. (Fayetteville Police Department)

(MORE: How DNA and genetic genealogy are becoming 'major' game-changers in decades-old cold cases)

Bowden, of Linden, North Carolina, was arrested at his home Wednesday and taken to the Cumberland County Detention Center where he remains on $18.8 million bond, police said Wednesday.

He has not entered a plea. His first court appearance is set for Thursday, said Sgt. Shawn Strepay of the Fayetteville Police.

PHOTO: Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Departments Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit have charged and arrested a suspect, Darold Wayne Bowden, in connection with six cold case rape investigations that occurred between March 2006 and Jan. 2008. (Fayetteville Police Department)

(MORE: How DNA from family members helped solve the 'Golden State Killer' case: DA)

Bowden was found through Parabon NanoLabs' genetic genealogy testing -- the same type of technology used to arrest the suspected "Golden State Killer" in April, police said -- though Strepay declined to comment further on how Bowden was identified.

Multiple arrests have been made throughout the country this year through this technology, in which investigators can cast a wide net, searching distant relatives of an unknown suspect by analyzing the DNA submitted voluntarily to a genetic genealogy database, according to CeCe Moore, chief genetic genealogist with Parabon NanoLabs.

This allows police to create a much larger family tree than using law enforcement databases like CODIS, in which an exact match is needed in most states, Moore said.

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(MORE: DNA on gum, water bottle leads to DJ's arrest 26 years after teacher killed)

Genetic genealogy "is a major game-changer" for cold cases, Moore told ABC News earlier this year, "because in a genetic genealogy database we can reverse engineer the [suspect's family] tree from their distant cousins who have tested."

"So it doesn't matter that they haven't had their DNA tested through another arrest or crime scene, we don't need their DNA," she said. "We need somebody from their family to have tested in order to resolve these cases."
Mom's frantic 911 call to save her baby trapped in a hot car goes unanswered, police chief apologizes originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A Michigan police department is apologizing after a mother's frantic 911 call to help her baby locked in a hot car went unanswered.

As Lacey Guyton was leaving her grandmother's home in Waterford on Saturday, she put her 2-month-old daughter, Raina, in her car seat with the diaper bag and shut the door, she said.

Guyton was walking around the car when she heard all the doors lock, and realized that the keys were inside the diaper bag. When she tried using a key fob to unlock the doors, it didn't work, either, she told ABC News on Thursday.

PHOTO: Raina Guyton is seen here in an undated file photo. (Lacey Guyton)

(MORE: 9-month-old boy dies after father finds him in hot car on driveway)

Guyton, 25, said she immediately grabbed a big chunk of asphalt and tried to smash the car window as her grandmother called 911.

Her grandmother told the dispatcher there was a 2-month-old baby in the car, but the dispatcher replied that the department doesn't unlock vehicles or break windows, and instead offered to send a towing company, according to Guyton.

Guyton said she knew she didn't have time for a tow truck, as the car was getting hotter by the moment and her daughter was crying.

Guyton called 911 back and pleaded for the fire department to come and smash the window as her daughter sweated inside, she said. "The fire department doesn't come out for that," the dispatcher said.

The temperature reached 85 degrees in Waterford that day.

PHOTO: Raina Guyton is seen here in an undated file photo. (Lacey Guyton)

(MORE: 'This too can happen to you': Heartbroken mother urges parents to prevent hot car deaths)

The frantic mother tried using a window breaker, but she said the window didn't budge. And that's when Raina stopped crying and her eyes started shutting  Guyton said she didn't "know if she's dying right now or just going to sleep."

Guyton ran to the back windshield and was able to shatter it with the window breaker after one or two hits. She jumped in to grab Raina, who was safe, and the terrifying, roughly 15-minute ordeal came to an end.

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PHOTO: Lacey Guyton said she broke her car's back windshield after her child was locked inside in Michigan, Aug. 18, 2018. (Lacey Guyton)

(MORE: 'Forgotten Baby Syndrome': A parents nightmare of hot car death)

Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood has since apologized for the incident and promised to learn from the "mistake."

"While it is true we do not normally respond when people lock their keys in their vehicle and we do offer to contact a wrecker service for them, this is a completely different situation," Underwood said in a statement Wednesday. "We should have responded in this case and we should respond in any similar case when there is a concern for the health, safety or welfare of any person, especially a young child."

"We acknowledge our mistake and are doing everything we can to make sure we do not repeat it," Underwood said. "We will learn from this and correct the problem."

PHOTO: Lacey Guyton said she broke her car's back windshield after her child was locked inside in Michigan, Aug. 18, 2018. (Lacey Guyton)

Guyton said she doesn't blame "the cops themselves or the fire department of Waterford. They didn't even have the chance to come."

"It was the worst day of my life," she said. "It's the most helpless feeling ... the dispatchers, their job is essentially one of the most important ... they are like the lifeline between someone potentially dying and people that are going to go save them. So it's not something to take lightly."

The dispatcher has not been back to work since the incident, the Waterford Police Department said, adding that it will address the situation directly with her through disciplinary processes and remedial training.

At least 35 children have died from being inside hot cars this year in the United States, according to the organization KidsandCars.org.

"It's easy to lock your keys in the car. My daughter just happened to be in there," Guyton said. "Obviously the police department had a policy where they don't unlock cars if the keys are in there but this time is different  there's a baby."

A lot of people around the country have been sharing stories with her about similar incidents, and she said she hopes the same mistake won't be made going forward.

"The protocol in police departments, I think, should be evaluated," she said. "If somebody calls in distress with a child in the car then somebody needs to be sent immediately."
Trump asks Pompeo not to go to North Korea citing lack of progress on denuclearization originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

President Donald Trump has asked his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, not to go to North Korea, as was previously planned for next week, he said in a series of tweets Friday.

Trump wrote, "I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were."

Just the day before, Pompeo announced that he would leave for Pyongyang with his new Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun. It would have been his fourth trip amid a deadlock in denuclearization talks over two months after Trump's Singapore summit with Kim Jong Un.

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

...Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

...Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

North Korea has made no public steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program, with some analysts saying Kim's regime has no intention to do so.

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This week, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, reported its "grave concern" with North Korea's "continuation and further development" of its nuclear program.

South Korea responded to the cancellation early Saturday U.S. time, calling it only a "delay."

"We feel deeply sorry about the delay, however, we feel it is of utmost importance that such U.S.-DPRK talks, including the planned visit this time, should contribute to reaching U.S.-Koreas final goal, which is 'complete denuclearization and implementing successful peacekeeping system in the Korean peninsula,' South Koreas Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Rather than meddling with small individual cases, it is important that we concentrate putting our efforts on diplomacy with North Korea from a long-term perspective, keeping up the momentum for successful dialogues and realizing the U.S.-North Korea Singapore summit's resolutions," South Korea's statement added.

After Pompeo visited North Korea in July, the North Koreans blasted the U.S.'s "robber-like" demands. In a statement last weekend, they said talks have been 'derailed' after the U.S. demanded the country reveal its secret nuclear facilities -- the existence of which North Korea called "a fiction."

PHOTO: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and Kim Yong Chol, a North Korean senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief, arrive for a lunch at the Park Hwa Guest House in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 7, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

(MORE: With new special envoy, Pompeo heading to N. Korea amid 'deadlock' over denuclearization)

Trump also cited his trade tangles with China, saying the country -- North Korea's strongest economic partner -- is not "helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were." The Treasury Department has announced three tranches of sanctions this month alone on Chinese and Russian companies and individuals for helping North Korea evade sanctions. While the administration says its "global pressure campaign" on North Korea remains in place, there is growing concern that other countries are shirking U.N. sanctions, given a window to restore economic ties in part because of the thaw in U.S.-North Korean relations.

That thaw is apparently still happening, with Trump again offering warm words for Kim in his tweets Friday: "In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" he added.

(MORE: North Korea blasts 'regrettable' US attitude and 'gangster-like' demands after talks with Mike Pompeo)

The president has consistently said he and the dictator have a strong relationship, but so far it has yielded little progress in changing the country's nuclear posture.

The State Department was not available for comment after the president's tweet. But Pompeo and his top adviser for North Korea, Andy Kim, were seen at the White House Friday morning two hours prior to the president's tweets, which were sent in rapid-fire coordination.

This is not the first time Trump has canceled plans with North Korea. In May, just weeks before the Singapore summit, he penned a letter to Kim canceling their meeting because of North Korea's "tremendous anger and open hostility." One week later, Trump said the summit was back on after meeting with Pompeo and North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Yong Chol.

It was unclear Friday if canceling Pompeo's trip was meant to be a similar negotiating tactic.

Pompeo has had his own meeting issues. Before that most recent trip in July, the White House said Pompeo would meet with Kim. But after two days of tense meetings, Pompeo departed with no face-to-face meeting with the chairman who has ultimate control in the Hermit Kingdom. Instead, Kim was photographed on a potato farm, inspecting crops.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Thursday that Pompeo did not have plans to meet Kim, saying the trip was about "regularizing these meetings and these conversations" between the two adversaries. Dismissing concerns that there should be more progress, Nauert told reporters, "I know you all want to speed up these things. I know you want it to happen overnight. But this thing, this issue, is going to take some time, and weve been very clear about that."

ABC News' Joohee Cho contributed to this report from Seoul.
Trump's nominee for science advisor pledges to protect scientists from political meddling originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

President Trump's nominee to lead the office that advises the president on science said he agrees that the administration has shown a "lack of appreciation" for keeping science independent from politics and that, if confirmed, he will lobby the administration to reverse some of its policies.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked President Trump's nominee to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology, Kelvin Droegemeier, if he would advocate for scientific integrity and against the administration "undermining the role of science in public policy, withdrawing from the climate accord, giving industry undue influence in certain decision making, challenges creating a hostile environment for some federal scientists" and reducing public access to scientific information.

Droegemeier said he agreed that everything Blumenthal mentioned are challenges and problems in the administration.

"I agree that all of the things you mentioned are challenges and problems," Droegemeier said. "Science has to be done with integrity so I would either advocate that they be undone or advocate for the positive. Maybe one is the same as the other, but to me, integrity in science is everything. We owe that to the American taxpayer, we owe it to science, and we owe it to the future of our country to be honest and to conduct science in the absolute most honest way, and full of integrity and without being encumbered by political influence."

PHOTO: Participants in the Science March on Washington march along Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Capitol, April 22, 2017. (Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE)

He said he will present unbiased scientific information to the president and work to make sure that politics does not play a role in government research.

Federal agencies have scientific integrity policies that prohibit political appointees from interfering with scientific researchers, but advocacy groups and lawmakers have raised concerns that the Trump administration was stifling research into topics like climate change.

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In a survey of scientists working at federal agencies, conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, some researchers, such as those from the Environmental Protection Agency, said that political or business interests were interfering with science-based decisions.

(MORE: Environmental, health advocates speak out against EPA 'secret science' rule)

Droegemeier is a meteorologist who currently holds the position of Oklahoma Secretary of Science and Technology and until recently was vice president of research at the University of Oklahoma. His research focuses on predicting severe storms and tornadoes, and he co-founded a center for storm research at the National Science Foundation in 1994.

As a meteorology student in 1978, he even appeared in an episode of the science Leonard Nimoy-narrated show "In Search Of..." about tornadoes.

Droegemeier said he became interested in meteorology after he witnessed a tornado in Texas when he was 19. In Oklahoma, he focused on improving early warning systems for severe weather  work that Sen. James Inhofe has credited with saving lives in the tornado-prone state.

He told the Senate Commerce Committee that he wants to use his background as a weather forecaster to bring the weather and climate communities together so that they can improve climate forecasts and address climate change, including improving cities' resilience to extreme weather.

"I'm really focused as sort of a guy that does weather modeling at predicting the future. I'm really looking at what we do in the future. So absolutely I'm very excited to work on that. I think we need improvements in climate models. We need lots of things going forward," he said.

Droegemeier has previously been nominated to the National Science Board by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and was confirmed both times.
The Montana Club in Missoula gives a generous discount to anyone celebrating their birthday: Whatever your age, take that percentage off your bill. (Photo: Yelp)

The Montana Club in Missoula offers a generous gift if you make it to their restaurant on your birthday: your age as a percentage off your bill. For example, if youre turning 50, 50 percent comes off your check.

And if youre like Helen Self and turning 109, youre actually making money.

Self has been taking advantage of her discount since she passed the century mark, according to Montana Right Now. Once she turned 101 she informed me that I had to come in and pay her for her meal, said Nick Alonzo, the owner of the Montana Club.

Self celebrated her 109th birthday last week with two dozen family members and friends. When the bill arrived, Alonzo honored the birthday discount, giving Self a free meal and handing her 9 percent in cash, about $1.25.

Self, who was born in Hamilton, Mont., in 1909, credits hard work and family for her long life. Well, I just worked hard all my life  and took care of grandkids and more kids, she said. She currently lives with granddaughter Diane Gunter.

Self may also owe her extended years to her natural ability to party. For her 100th birthday, she rode a Harley-Davidson. At 102, she took up a fishing resorts offer for a free stay. A sign outside Camp Tuffit reads, Free cabins to persons over 80 years old. (If accompanied by parents.) Selfs daughter had just turned 80, so the offer was honored. At 106 she floated down the Clark Fork River, and and at 108, she was giving TV interviews.

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Actress Asia Argento was one of the first women to accuse movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein of sexual violence last year, becoming a leading voice of the #MeToo movement. Now, Argento stands accused of sexual assault, which the actress-director denies, and of allegedly covering up the assault by paying off the accuser. The alleged victim is 22-year-old Jimmy Bennett, an actor who was a teenager at the time of the alleged assault. A few days after the story broke in the New York Times, Bennett has spoken out.

The New York Times story about the alleged assault reveals that Argento is accused of sexually assaulting Bennett five years ago when Bennett was 17 years old. Argento also reportedly paid Bennett $380,000 in a legal settlement last year. Bennett posted a statement to his Instagram account on Wednesday, addressing what happened to him and the stigma of surviving sexual abuse as a man.

Despite the prevalence of female survivors, sexual violence against men is common. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, one in 10 rapes committed in the US are against men. Men between 18 and 24 who are also college students are statistically likeliest to experience sexual abuse.

Bennetts statement begins by acknowledging the many people  both men and women  who have recently come forward to name their powerful abusers, and said that he did not initially speak out about my story because I chose to handle it in private with the person who wronged me. After the story of Argentos alleged abuse broke this week, Bennett writes that he was ashamed and afraid to be a part of the public narrative. Bennetts statement also confronts the stigma that comes with being a male survivor of sexual violence.

Many survivors deal with stigma, shame, gaslighting, and all kinds of harmful messaging because sexual abuse is still not always taken seriously, or even seen as a problem, by some people. Coming forward about an experience of sexual violence as a man can mean having your masculinity and possibly sexuality called into question, in addition to the possibility of being told nothing bad happened or to just get over it.

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In a statement sent to New York journalist Yashar Ali, Argento refuted the claims of abuse. She also said that her partner, the recently deceased author, chef, and TV star Anthony Bourdain gave financial support to Bennett so that Bennett would not damage either Bourdains or Argentos reputations while the resurgence of #MeToo was playing out last year.

This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD. Why? Because this kind of thing happened to ME. (1/Cont.)  terrycrews (@terrycrews) October 10, 2017

Actor Terry Crews was among the first prominent male actors in Hollywood to speak out about sexual abuse perpetrated against men in the wake of accusations against Weinstein. In October last year, Crews wrote in a series of tweets that he was groped by a Hollywood executive at a party years ago.

Crews says he didnt tell his story at the time because he feared being ostracized. Some asked Crews why he didnt just use physical force against the abuser, to which he responded that he feared being arrested or worse if the situation escalated and police came to the scene. This summer, Crews testified about his experience in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights.

Bennett, too, said he will move forward from the alleged abuse, no longer in silence.

What do you think? Tell us on Twitter @BritandCo.

(photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty)

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Growing up, many of us were taught to refer to our elders as maam and sir, especially if you were raised in the South. However, while some may think of the terms as a polite way to show respect, others find them to be outdated  and possibly even offensive.

Parents Teretha Wilson and McArthur Bryant were shocked to find out that their 10-year-old son, Tamarion, was punished by his fifth-grade teacher at North East Carolina Preparatory School in Tarboro, N.C., because he called her maam.

When Tamarion got off the school bus, Wilson said, she could tell something was wrong with him. Then the boy showed his mother a sheet of paper with the word maam written numerous times, according to WTVD. His teacher asked him to write it, he told his mother, and return it with a parents signature after he repeatedly called her the word despite being told not to do so.

A family member shared a picture of Tamarions paper along with a statement from his mother on Facebook, where many chimed in, wondering why a respectful gesture had been met with this kind of punishment.

At the end of the day as a father, to feel kind of responsible for that, knowing that I have been raising him and doing the best that I can, its not acceptable, said Bryant.

Tamarion completed his assignment during class hours, which made Wilson worry that it had interfered with his real schoolwork. According to Wilson, the teacher also told Tamarion that if she had something, she would have thrown it at him.

After Wilson signed the paper, she had Tamarion write down the definition of maam (a term of respectful or polite address used for a woman, according to Oxford Dictionaries) and hand that in as well.

Wilson then met with the teacher, who has a number of years of experience, and the principal to discuss the incident; the teacher told Wilson that she believed Tamarion had been aware that she was not serious. Wilson requested that her son be moved to a different classroom, and the principal agreed.

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An official with the school released a statement to WTVD that read, This is a personnel matter which has been handled appropriately by the K-7 principal.

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Thousands of young people benefited from free rail travel around the EU this summer  but few disabled people were among them (Getty)

Less than 1% of free European rail passes given to teenagers by the EU this summer went to people with disabilities, it has been revealed.

The European Commission provided 15,000 passes for 18-year-olds as part of its new 12 million Discover EU scheme, designed to foster European identity among young people.

Unsurprisingly, the offer proved hugely popular with teenagers across the continent and the commission received six times as many applications as there were places on offer.

But the commission has now revealed that just 27 of the successful applicants were people with reduced mobility or special needs  thats 0.18% of the total number of passes.

The figure was disclosed by Tibor Nacracsics, the EU commissioner for education, youth, culture and sport, in answer to a written question by Slovak MEP Jana Zitnanska.

Zitnanska, who is in the same political group as British conservative MEPs, said she was very disappointed with the result after repeatedly trying to drag their [the commission] attention to the special needs young people with disabilities have.

She told Yahoo Finance UK: I think that this number is shockingly low and among other reasons, I feel like it is also the consequence of lack of the targeted campaign and failure to raise awareness about this program among young people with disabilities.

Tibor Navracsics, the European commissioner responsible for the Discover EU scheme (Getty)

Applicants had to answer five quiz questions about the EU and then guess what the total number of applications would be. Applications were then whittled down by an evaluation committee made up of commission officials.

The commissions Q&A for the scheme said it would assess the costs of providing additional support to applicants with special needs on a case by case basis. In that respect, costs of special assistance (accompanying person, dog for visually impaired participants, etc.) might be covered, it said.

The commission has told us that a further 21 applicants with disabilities were on the reserve list of 9000 people. We have asked for the total number of applicants with disabilities but have not yet received the figure.

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Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said: Not many people with disabilities applied for the free travel tickets in the DiscoverEU pilot initiative.

We hope that after the overall very successful first round, more young people  including more people with disabilities  will become aware of the project and will apply in the second round starting this autumn.

We will of course look into additional possibilities on how to promote Discover EU project among young people with disabilities and to encourage them to apply for the tickets.

The commission said it is working with the European Disability Forum and European Network for Accessible Tourism to make the scheme more accessible.

Kamil Goungor of the European Disability Forum said the fantastic initiative is going in the right direction but that the numbers show not everything is perfect.

He said: From the 15.000 youngsters in this phase, only 27 disabled were selected. A very low number which shows the existence of many barriers that hinder their participation on a totally equal level.

Accessibility of the trains and stations, as well as the assistance provided there, are only some to name. We have to continue to work together to make sure that these barriers will be eliminated, so everyone have the opportunity to live this lifetime experience.

MORE: Exclusive  UK had lowest take-up for EUs rail pass giveaway to teens
Air France and British Airways announced Thursday that they will halt flights to Tehran next month, citing low profitability as the US reimposes sanctions on Iran.

Air France, which had run connections to the Iranian capital via its low-cost operator Joon, said it would axe the route on September 18, blaming "poor commercial viability".

The French carrier had already cut down on its Paris to Tehran connections from three a week to just one earlier this month, its communications service said.

British Airways had announced shortly earlier that it was axeing its London to Tehran service as it was "currently not commercially viable".

The last outbound flight to Tehran will be on September 22, and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on September 23, the British flag-carrier added.

British Airways said its decision was unrelated to US President Donald Trump's imposition of new sanctions on Iran, which has affected foreign businesses operating in the country, with many pulling out altogether.

Dutch carrier KLM said last month that it was also suspending Tehran flights due to "negative results and financial outlook".

The airline said it was in discussions with partner airlines to offer customers rebooking options, or would offer full refunds.
PARIS (Reuters) - The French arm of Franco-Dutch airlines group Air France KLM <AIRF.PA> said Thursday it will stop its flights to Tehran in September for business reasons.

Air France will stop flying to Tehran from September 18 because of "the line's weak performance," a spokesman said.

The U.S. government is due to reinstate sanctions on Iran in November, which has pushed some international companies to end their activities in the country.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Editing by Sarah White)
 Flash

A meeting between U.S. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton and his Russian counterpart, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, concluded Thursday afternoon in Geneva without reaching a joint statement though both sides cited "progress".





Speaking to journalists at a press briefing inside the U.S. mission in Geneva, Bolton said that they had made some progress, and identified specific areas "in which it is possible to restore communication lines and conduct more work within the relevant departments".





The senior U.S. official told reporters that they discussed "the whole range of issues", like non-proliferation and arms control, bilateral issues, the fight against terrorism, illegal migration, topics related to cyberspace, regional issues such as Syria, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Ukraine.





Bolton said that he also warned his Russian counterpart not to intervene the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, saying that he made it clear the U.S. wouldn't tolerate election meddling in 2018 and they were prepared to "take necessary steps to prevent it from happening".





The U.S. has imposed a series of sanctions and expelled a number of Russian diplomats due to the alleged Russian election interference, but Moscow has denied the accusations.





As for the Syrian issue and the role of Iran, Bolton said that the U.S. position is that "all Iranian forces return to Iran", adding that he and his Russian counterpart talked about a variety of ways in which it might be accomplished through a series of steps.





Thursday's meeting, lasting for more than five hours, was the first such talks since the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Helsinki last month.





While describing the meeting with his U.S. counterpart as "constructive", Patrushev said that he had invited U.S. officials to Moscow or any other Russian city for a new round of talks, but no agreement had been reached on the timing for further talks.





"An agreement has been reached that those channels that were suspended -- between the defense ministries, the defense ministers, chiefs of general staff and other working groups -- will resume work. Contacts between the foreign ministries will resume as well," Patrushev was cited as saying by Russian media after the meeting.
Ryanair said it would charge passengers 8 for cabin luggage (Rex)

Ryanair is to introduce charges for passengers who fly with a small suitcase.

The Dublin-based airline said it is overhauling its baggage rules to reduce delays  the second time it has done so this year.

Passengers who do not pay for priority boarding are currently permitted to take a small bag on board, while a second larger bag such as a wheelie suitcase up to 10kg can be put in the hold free of charge.

This policy was introduced in January as flights were being delayed by people struggling to find space for their luggage in overhead lockers.

But Ryanair said the change has resulted in up to 120 bags being tagged at gates for each flight, meaning departures are still being disrupted.

Ryanair boss Michael OLeary (Rex)

There will be no luggage carried in the hold free of charge from November, with passengers having to pay 8 to check in a 10kg bag. The existing charge of 25 for putting luggage weighing up to 20kg in the hold will remain.

The move did not go down well with passengers.

Some took to social media to complain that they would no longer use the low cost carrier. Others sarcastically claimed this was the start to charging for other things found on board.

Soon enough they will charging us for the life vest too @Ryanair pic.twitter.com/yywfyKqU0A   T  (@tatiluusworld) August 24, 2018

The maximum size of small bags allowed on board  such as handbags or laptop bags  will be increased by 40% but they must still fit under the seat in front.

Passengers who pay for priority boarding  which costs 6  will continue to be allowed to take a small bag and small suitcase as hand baggage.

Ryanair believes some customers may prefer the 8 option because they do not want to drag a wheelie case through airport security.

It claimed most passengers will be unaffected by the changes, as 30% already buy priority boarding and a further 30% only travel with a small carry-on bag.

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The airlines chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said: This new policy will speed up the boarding and cut flight delays.

Sixty percent of customers will be unaffected by these changes and we expect that the other 40% will either choose to buy priority boarding or a 10kg check bag or will choose to travel with only one free small bag, as 30% already do so today.

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The new charge is the second time the Irish carrier has changed its policy this year alone (Rex)

The new policy will be implemented at boarding gates from November 1 and for all bookings made from September 1.

Non-priority customers who booked flights before September 1 for travel after November 1 and want to check in a bag can either add priority boarding or pay to have luggage in the hold. Alternatively, they can cancel their booking for a full refund.

Ryanair insisted it does not expect to make more money from the new rules, as it will lose revenue from passengers with checked bags switching from the 25 fee to the 8 option.
Manafort was convicted the same day Trumps ex-lawyer pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations. Heres what we know so far



The same day a guilty verdict arrived in the case of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, the presidents former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations. Photograph: AP

On any given day the Trump administration has proven itself capable of compressing what would under any other presidency be weeks worth of news into a few scant hours. The sheer rate of controversies compels us to move onto the next before the last has been fully digested. Its safe to say that Tuesday, however, was not just any other day, as Donald Trumps longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a raft of campaign finance violations shortly after a guilty verdict arrived in the case of Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, for bank and tax fraud.

To update Lenin, sometimes there are minutes when decades happen. It may yet take a while to fully unpack the extent of yesterdays overstuffed news cycle, but heres what we know so far.

Cohen guilty

While Manaforts conviction had long been anticipated, it was Cohens guilty plea that triggered the most significant shockwaves on Tuesday afternoon. Cohen, who pleaded guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance violations, admitted that he attempted to circumvent campaign finance laws by hiding hush money payments he made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, on behalf of Trump, and disguising them as legal services rendered, among other financial crimes.

Cohen, who will be sentenced in December, is expected to serve between four to five years in prison.

Was Trump involved?

Most potentially troublesome, Cohen told prosecutors he specifically made the payments at the behest of the president, though he referred to him in court simply as the candidate, something Trump has changed his own story on multiple times.

What next for Cohen?

The presidents Michael Cohen problem may have only just begun. Long one of his most trusted advisers, Cohen seems to have significantly soured on Trump. Cohens lawyer, Lanny Davis, said yesterday Cohen would not accept a pardon even if offered.

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Not only is he not hoping for, he would not accept a pardon, Davis said. He considers a pardon from somebody who has acted so corruptly as president to be something he would never accept.



Of more confounding interest to Trump, is that Davis has suggested Cohen might have evidence to that effect. He told MSNBC his client has both knowledge about a conspiracy to corrupt American democracy by the Russians, and the failure to report that knowledge to the FBI.



The Senate Intelligence Committee has stated that it would like to speak to Cohen again regarding reports that he knew about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, Manafort and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.



Manaforts conviction

Manafort was likewise convicted of financial crimes, including eight counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account. The conviction of Manafort, who put himself and his money above the law, as the court heard, stemmed from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into alleged connections between Trumps campaign and the Russian government, with whom the onetime campaign chairman has had extensive dealings.

Has Trump turned on Manafort?

Quite the contrary. While he didnt mention either at a rally in West Virginia on Tuesday evening just a few short hours after the jurys verdict, speaking beforehand to reporters the president insisted: This has nothing to do with Russian collusion. These are witch hunts and its a disgrace, he told reporters, and continued by calling Manafort a good man and listing off his lengthy resume of working for figures such as Ronald Reagan.

He praised Manafort, saying he was brave and that he had refused to break by cooperating with Mueller or taking a plea deal.



Wait, how many guilty Trump associates is that now?

Manafort and Cohens undoing brings the number of Trump campaign or administration officials that have either been convicted or pled guilty to crimes to five. Previously, Michael Flynn, briefly the national security adviser, pled guilty to lying to the FBI, for which he struck a plea deal with Mueller and awaits sentencing.

Rick Gates, a co-conspirator of Manaforts, and his deputy on the campaign, admitted to committing financial crimes at his behest. He has yet to be sentenced. George Papadopoulos, the former foreign policy adviser to Trump, has also confessed to making false statements to the FBI and reportedly can expect to be sentenced to six months prison time.



How are Republicans reacting?

As you might expect! Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, released a statement saying he was aware of the outcome of the Cohen case, but would need more information before commenting.

Senator Lindsey Graham attempted to highlight the failure to tie any of the legal mess to Russia. Thus far, there have yet to be any charges or convictions for colluding with the Russian government by any member of the Trump campaign in the 2016 election, he said.



What now for Trump?

More of the usual. In an interview with Fox News he denied the payments Cohen made came from campaign funds. Audio recordings of Trump instructing his longtime fixer to make the payments were revealed last month.
The Arsenal striker missed a couple of glorious chances in their defeat to Chelsea.

Unai Emery admits Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang needs to rediscover his confidence but has backed the Arsenal forward to hit the goal trail before too long.

The Gabon international missed two glorious chances during last weekends 3-2 defeat at Chelsea, which condemned the Gunners to back-to-back defeats in Emerys first two games in charge.

Aubameyang, 29, is Arsenals record signing having joined from Borussia Dortmund in January and Emery feels the striker requires a boost in confidence to start scoring goals this season.

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Aubameyang needs to find the confidence, then to score and score another, he said.

The strikers, they need, I know a lot of strikers in my career and its about the moment, they need (to be in) the moment, and hes the same.

But Im sure now that Aubameyang, (Alexandre) Lacazette, Danny Welbeck, they will score more goals in here, for us, in Arsenal.

The two strikers could be deployed together as the new Gunners manager looks to return to winning ways

Aubameyang certainly did not struggle in front of goal in the second half of last season as the

forward netted 10 times in just 13 Premier League outings for Arsenal.

Last year, Aubameyang scored goals here and for that I spoke with him more times and I have given him my confidence with his work, added Emery.

He is going to find goals. The first six months for him here is good and he was doing goals last year and for that I am sure he is going to do the same this time.

READ MORE: Gossip  Mourinho reveals he would have quit other club by now

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Aubameyang has been preferred to fellow striker Alexandre Lacazette in Emerys opening two games, the Frenchman coming off the bench in the losses to Manchester City and Chelsea.

But, with West Ham the visitors to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Emery does not believe it is time to send out the duo as a strike partnership.

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At the moment, no, he replied when asked if he could be tempted to play a front two against the Hammers.

At the moment, I think we need to have the control with the possession, with the positioning on the pitch, with more players inside.

After this possession, to do the attacking moments and defending moments with this balance.




Sydney (AFP) - Scott Morrison was sworn in as Australia's seventh prime minister in 11 years Friday after a stunning party revolt against Malcolm Turnbull, which the new leader admitted had left the government "bruised and battered".

Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-winger, was the driving force behind the move to oust Turnbull after a Liberal Party backlash against his more moderate policies.

But after a torrid week of political manoeuvring in Canberra it was Morrison, a Turnbull ally who served as treasurer, who won a party vote 45-40. He was officially sworn in as Australia's 30th prime minister late Friday in a ceremony in the capital.

Environment minister Josh Frydenberg -- who was elected as the deputy Liberal leader -- was sworn in as treasurer.

Morrison -- an evangelical Christian known as "ScoMo" -- replaced a man who became the latest in a long line of leaders knifed in the back by ambitious colleagues.

The fresh outbreak of political instability was met with renewed public disgust towards the political class -- already among the least trusted profession in the country despite an unprecedented era of prosperity.

Morrison admitted the extraordinary scenes in the nation's capital had taken a heavy toll on parliament and the Liberal Party.

"Our job... is to ensure that we not only bring our party back together, which has been bruised and battered this week, but that will ensure we bring the Parliament back together, that we can continue to work to ensure that our country stays close together."

He said his top priority was to help farmers in New South Wales struggling through one of the worst droughts in half a century.

"This is our most urgent and pressing need right now," Morrison said.

Dutton, who Turnbull accused of bullying and intimidation in the move to knife him, pledged "absolute loyalty" to Morrison.

Turnbull, who vowed to quit parliament after his near three-year reign came to an end, survived one attempt to oust him on Tuesday, but ministers then began defecting, throwing the government into crisis.

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His departure from politics will spark a by-election for his Sydney seat, threatening the government's wafer-thin one-seat parliamentary majority.

He used his final press conference to lash out at the "wreckers" in his party.

"There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by voices, powerful voices, in the media," he told reporters, in reference to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's conservative News Corporation.

"It was described as madness by many, and... in so far as there has been chaos this week, it has been created by the wreckers."

- Thwarted ambitions -

Dutton, who favours slashing migrant numbers and even pulling Australia out of the Paris climate agreement, was the sole candidate to be prime minister until Thursday when Morrison entered the fray to try to halt his power grab.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott, an arch conservative widely seen as the instigator of the move to get rid of Turnbull, said it was now important to "save the government" with national elections due by the middle of next year.

Morrison, a former immigration minister, who took credit for "stop the boats" -- a harsh policy to halt asylum-seekers from entering Australia -- is further to the right than Turnbull but not as hardline as some in the party.

Politics expert Rob Manwaring of Flinders University said Morrison was likely to continue Turnbull's economic agenda, of which he was one of the main architects as treasurer.

But he could shift the government's environment policy to the right as a consistent voter against the introduction of a carbon price.

"In one sense I think there would be continuity (in the economic portfolio), in another sense, (he'll be) trying to downgrade or shift any radical action on climate policy," he told AFP.

The unrest is the latest chapter in a turbulent decade for Australian politics, which has frequently descended into squabbling that has alienated voters.

No leader has managed to serve out a full term since former Prime Minister John Howard lost the 2007 election, in a remarkable revolving door at Canberra's parliament house.

One minister was so disillusioned with the push to oust Turnbull that he took to Twitter to apologise to the Australian people.

"Australia. We owe you an apology. I'm sorry. You deserve better than many of the things our Federal Parliament has served up to you for the past 10 years," wrote Nationals MP Darren Chester, whose party is in coalition with the Liberals.
By Colin Packham CANBERRA (Reuters) - New Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised generational change in the warring Liberal party on Friday, seeking to end an internecine battle that has scarred the conservative government ahead of an election due by May 2019. Morrison, who was treasurer under outgoing prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, emerged the surprise winner in a three-way challenge for the leadership of the Liberal party brought on by a right-wing rival this week. Stepping up to become Australia's sixth prime minister in less than 10 years, Morrison has inherited leadership of a coalition between the Liberal and National parties whose one-seat majority will have to be defended when a by-election is held for a safe Sydney seat that Turnbull is set to vacate. "Our job ... as we take forward this mantle of leadership as a new generation, is to ensure that we not only bring our party back together, which has been bruised and battered this week, but that ... we bring the parliament back together," Morrison said in his first appearance after his party-room victory. "The new generation of Liberal leadership is on your side", he told Australian voters, many of whom are angry and frustrated with a decade of political instability in which no sitting prime minister has lasted a full term. Morrison was sworn into office shortly after 6 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Friday. He ruled out calling a general election in the near term but will still face an early electoral test, as Turnbull is set to resign from parliament, forcing a by-election in a Sydney seat that has been a safe seat for the Liberals. Turnbull blamed his demise on "vengeance, personal ambition, factional feuding" in his party, led by conservative lawmakers including former prime minister Tony Abbott, the man he toppled in a party-room coup in September 2015. "Australians will be dumbstruck and so appalled at the conduct of the past week," said Turnbull. Liberal party member Warren Enserch said after the leadership vote: "This revolving door of prime ministers has got to stop". The Liberal party is the senior partner in the Liberal-National coalition government that has consistently trailed opposition Labor in opinion polls in recent months. Bookmakers on Friday had Labor a favorite to win the next poll. Australia politics IMG - https://tmsnrt.rs/2OZsms0 BREAK FROM THE PAST Morrison's victory marks the chance for a break from a decade of leadership clashes between Turnbull and Abbott in both government and opposition, but ideological divisions in the party over issues such as climate change, energy policy, immigration and even globalization remain stark. Indeed, after Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was eliminated after the first round of the leadership ballot, Morrison only defeated Peter Dutton, his more conservative rival, by 45 votes to 40. Three changed votes would have altered the result. Dutton was at the center of the political turmoil this week. Seeking to head off his push for the top job, Turnbull unexpectedly called a leadership vote at a Liberal party meeting on Tuesday and won 48 to 35. The victory margin was seen as unconvincing and Dutton and his influential supporters regrouped and pressed for a second vote, and seemed to be building momentum. Morrison emerged on Thursday as a candidate and quickly won favor with moderates. While originally from the conservative wing of the Liberal party, Morrison is widely seen as a centrist and has rejected prominent right-wing policies, including limits on immigration. "He is the compromise candidate, a bridge between the conservative and moderate wings of the party," said Haydon Manning, a political science professor at Flinders University in South Australia state. "He can heal the wounds that threatened to fracture the coalition government and allow the government time to prepare for an election," he said. But Morrison faces a series of policy decisions that could reopen old wounds within the government, including an impasse on energy, a topic that acted as a catalyst in Turnbull's demise. Turnbull this week sought to placate conservative anger by stripping requirements for reducing greenhouse emissions from his centerpiece energy policy but the influential right-wing government lawmakers remain opposed to the policy. Morrison will therefore need to find a way to meet Australia's commitment to reduce emissions by 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 under the Paris accord without stoking old divisions, a challenge Turnbull said would be difficult. "The truth is that the coalition finds it very hard to get agreement on anything to do with emissions," said Turnbull. FINANCIAL MARKETS COMFORTED Morrison's victory was welcomed by financial markets, which have been shaken by the political instability. Australian shares edged higher on Friday, rebounding after three days of losses that saw the benchmark fall 1.5 percent. "PM Morrison is the most market-friendly option," said Annette Beacher, Chief Asia-Pac Macro Strategist at TD Securities in Singapore. However, Beacher said markets would be looking to see whether Morrison can narrow the gap with opposition Labor. "The skew toward the Labor party at this stage ensures they will form government at the next election," she said. It was also hoped Morrison would end the political instability that has plagued Australia. "The political turmoil of the past decade has come at the cost of our global competitiveness ... the business community needs policy certainty to promote investment and improve business confidence." said Tony Johnson, chief executive officer of Ernest & Young. (Reporting by Colin Packham in CANBERRA, Swati Pandey and Wayne Cole in SYDNEY, and Sonali Paul in MELBOURNE; Editing by Michael Perry and Paul Tait)
Stepping into year one like [Photo: PA Images]

Prince Georges summer holidays are drawing to a close, early next month his royal cuteness will be donning his adorable school uniform and stepping into year one at Thomass Battersea.

The five-year-old royal spent his first school year settling into school life, but year one will be a whole different ball game with the learning of new subjects, like ballet, the introduction of homework and a much more structured regime.

As the schools curriculum guide explains, Year 1 sees the beginning of a more formalised learning program. Children in Year 1 become increasingly independent and confident and begin to relish the opportunity to tackle new challenges presented to them across the broad curriculum.

While we already know that Prince George kicked off his learning in subjects such as French, Computing, Art, Music and Drama, he will be building on those initial skills and tackling some new ones including handwriting, better speech and basic Maths skills.

And the creative classes dont stop there as George will also have a 35-minute ballet lesson each week.

The schools website states that the learning of ballet develops students physical skills, stamina, creativity, expression and musicality, using a range of sounds and musical styles.

This strong foundation prepares students for a successful transition to Ballet and other dance genres.

According to Hello!, other new subjects the Prince will be dabbling in include science, history, and geography. He will also take on religious studies for the first time, and drama.

Of course if he needs any help with acting he can always turn to his aunt Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, who is a former Suits actress.

Not only will George be taking on more complicated learning as the curriculum switches up a notch, hell also have to settle into a new classroom and meet his new teacher.

Prince Georges first day of school was almost a year ago [Photo: PA Images]

The leap from Reception to Year One will also mean that Prince George can expect more homework, something the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will likely have to help out as it will be in the form of 10 minutes reading each night and a spelling rule each week.

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Parents contribution to their childrens education is something the school is keen to encourage as the schools curriculum guide highlights; the importance of a healthy home/school partnership and values the role of parents in the home.

It also provides opportunities for them to contribute to the personal and social development of the children through active involvement in the life of the school.

Its hard to believe that is was almost a year ago that a nervous looking Prince George was greeted by the head of the lower school Ms Haslem when he arrived for his very first day of school.

The young Prince was accompanied by William only as the Duchess of Cambridge was too unwell to attend due to the extreme morning sickness she was suffering from her pregnancy with Prince Louis.

Kensington Palace hasnt revealed if the Duchess will accompany George to school this year, but its hoped she might, as she was on hand to take pictures of Princess Charlotte when she started nursery school earlier this year.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

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Daniel Craig as 007 (Credit: Eon)

The release of Bond 25 could be delayed by as much as a year following the departure of director Danny Boyle, according to reports.

The movie was slated for a release in November, 2019, but now sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that it now may not appear in cinemas until late 2020.

Its said that even prior to Boyles exit, producers were already mulling pushing the film back to early 2020.

The problems facing the movie will be further exacerbated by the fact that Boyle leaving the production may mean that the planned script, penned by his longtime collaborator John Hodge, may go too.

Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, along with Daniel Craig, officially tweeted the shock confirmation of Boyles exit earlier this week.

Danny Boyle (Credit: Wireimage)

But shifting the movies plotted release date could have further ramifications, notably for the millions of pounds in sponsorship deals that surround the Bond movies.

An insider told The Sun: The idea of delaying the film is a disaster and could cause huge fall outs with sponsors and endorsement clients.

Producers have actively been locking in deals for cars, clothing, beverages, phone and watches since the announcement of Daniels return.

These deals are worth millions with major brands who are building campaigns around the 2019 release.

In the marketing world, those plans are already being reviewed and prepped at the cost of even more millions.

If the film gets delayed, there could be the nightmare scenario of these brands taking legal action.

Brands like Omega, Sony, Bollinger and Heineken had prominent deals in the last movie Spectre, while the likes of Landrover, VW, Audi, and Macallan whisky spent huge sums to appear in Skyfall.

It is potentially a huge embarrassment and stress levels are high, the insider added. The top tier executives are now having to reassure them that everything is on track.

Its been claimed that Boyle quit the movie after disagreeing over casting with the movies producers and Daniel Craig.

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Polish actor Tomasz Kot was Boyles pick for the movies Russian baddie, but the the Daily Telegraph reported that the director butted heads with Craig on the choice.

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(Photo: Alex Wroblewski / Reuters)

If Judge Brett Kavanaugh becomes Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, activists who regularly use the courts to protect wildlife will need to rethink their legal strategies.

An analysis of Kavanaughs 12-year record on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit finds that he has consistently ruled against measures to protect species. In the 18 significant, species-related suits that have come before Kavanaugh, hes decided against protections in 17 or about 95 percent of the time.

This analysis comes from William Snape, an assistant dean at American Universitys Washington College of Law and senior counsel with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). The group is supporting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in an Endangered Species Act case set to go before the Supreme Court this October, one that advocates say could have a lasting impact on species protections.

In Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the worlds largest timber company is challenging a federal decision to designate 1,544 acres of land in Louisiana as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog, of which only 100 or so are left in the wild. Recently-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy was a centrist whose swing vote sometimes landed environmental cases like Weyerhaeuser in favor of protection. But Kavanaughs confirmation to the court would give it an even stronger 5-4 pro-business majority, dramatically stacking the odds against species in future decisions.

Kavanaughs record so far suggests hes among the most conservative to come from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. CBDs analysis compared him to Judge David Sentelle, whom President Ronald Reagan appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 1987. Sentelle decided against protections in around 57 percent of relevant cases.

By comparison, Judge Merrick Garland, whom President Bill Clinton appointed to the same court in 1997, favored wildlife protection in about 54 percent of his species-related cases. President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016, only to have the Republican-controlled Senate refuse to consider his nomination.

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In writing the Endangered Species Act as it did in 1973, Congress largely deferred to the expertise of the Interior Department in protecting endangered species, said Snape. But Kavanaughs past decisions have tended to ignore that, particularly in cases that affect how private land can be developed.

One such case was 2011s Otay Mesa Property v U.S. Department of Interior decision, in which Kavanaugh led a majority of judges in reversing a lower courts decision that federal wildlife scientists had properly determined that 143 acres of land owned by developers near Chula Vista, California, along the states border with Mexico, were critical habitat for the endangered San Diego fairy shrimp.

Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion that one lone sighting across eight surveys of the tiny aquatic animals  about the size of ants, with a life span of only about 30 days, was inadequate proof that the species habitat included the land the Interior Department was proposing to protect.

Adult male and female fairy shrimp. (Photo: Wild Horizon via Getty Images)

The ruling came despite the fact that the species was, by definition, rare and that the Interior Departments own experts had concluded the opposite  that given their tiny size and documented low hatching rate, finding even one fairy shrimp in Otay Mesa was good evidence that the species still occupied the area.

Kavanaugh decided, Snape said, essentially to second guess the scientists determination of where a species could recover.

Snape argues that such judgements are in line with Kavanaughs arch-conservative political beliefs, which prioritize property rights above all else.

I would say that its a hostility towards public interest science and the notion that there actually are any limits to economic growth, said Snape. He just never  almost never  disagrees with those corporate legal arguments.

Kavanaughs past votes display a striking pattern of deciding against the interest of the species, said Sarah Krakoff, a law professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.

There is no pattern of either deferring or not deferring to the government, added Krakoff. The pattern really is that whoever is asking for more protection for the species loses.

When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act and President Richard Nixon signed it into law 45 years ago, there was no partisan divide on saving species or creating science-backed policies to do so. But in the decades since theres been a lot of very successful advocacy by property rights groups like the Federalist Society that makes it seem as if the Endangered Species Act is pitted strongly against individual rights and freedoms, individual property and paints the specter of the big, bad government preventing people from doing what they want with their property, Krakoff said.

And while the idea that species protections are trampling on the rights of homeowners and small businesses has become popular, often the real movers and shakers behind opposition to the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws are much bigger players, Krakoff said, pointing to major real estate and natural resource developers.

In the upcoming Weyerhaeuser case, a ruling against the Department of Interior could lead to new hurdles in creating species recovery plans, such as requiring new cost-benefit analyses.

Krakoff doesnt think this would substantially weaken the core protections of the Endangered Species Act. But she worries that before the end of the term, Republicans in Congress may manage to pass a suite of bills that would gut the laws core provisions.

She also worries about the broader effect of Trumps two dozen nominees to federal judgeships in district courts across the country, which will affect lower court cases for decades to come.

Its worrisome, even with a statute as powerful as the Endangered Species Act, if we have more judges in the lower courts, and now perhaps the Supreme Court, that [are] very willing to second-guess agency decisions that are protective of species and therefore in the main, following statutory directives, said Krakoff. It may just mean that advocates have to get even more strategic than theyve been with the kinds of cases they raise.

Being more strategic could include avoiding suits that turn on sections of the law that Congress worded broadly, as a way of giving future agency chiefs and researchers room to factor scientific advances into saving species and their habitats.

Patrick Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law School, is more wary of tying Kavanaughs decisions to a particular political bias.

Hes skeptical of agencies asserting authority based on ambiguities, or claimed ambiguities, in statutory language, Parenteau said. And much like one of his predecessors on the court, Antonin Scalia, Kavanaugh sees to be very skeptical of agencies asserting authority where the impacts of their authority have significant or at least perceived significant economic consequences.

But a decision like Kavanaughs in Otay Mesa does suggest he may be dismissive of scientists conclusions about species protections. When you see a judge continually refer to a species as as big as an ant, you know what hes thinking: This is ridiculous, Parenteau said. So hes imposing some of his value judgments on what constitutes good science.

While the courts more liberal justices would give the benefit of the doubt to the species and the agencies charged with protecting them, Parenteau said, Kavanaughs past rulings suggest he is less inclined to do so.

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The endangered dusky gopher frog. (Photo: Handout . / Reuters)

Such an approach certainly wouldnt bode well for the dusky gopher frog whose fortunes are at stake in Weyerhaeuser. The current population of the frog is located over the Mississippi state line. But the Louisiana land contains breeding pools within the frogs historic range that wildlife biologists have determined would be a good place to establish a new breeding population and ideally allow the species to be removed from the Endangered Species list.

Weyerhaeuser argues that the Fish and Wildlife Service is overreaching  theres no natural way the frog can relocate to the area, and designating the land as essential critical habitat would cost the company up to $34 million in lost development value. Weyerhaeuser said in a statement that while it strongly supports species conservation and the Endangered Species Act  in this case, designation was applied to a tract of land where the species has not been present for decades and where the specific habitat conditions it requires do not exist.

Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court highlights how much disagreement remains over the economic costs and benefits of environmental regulations, Snape said. American law doesnt yet account for the ways in which protecting a frog or a tiny fish benefits the public interest, or how to balance that effectively against corporate political power.

That is why Snape and other advocates are nervous about a case like Weyerhaeuser going before a court that includes Kavanaugh.

This is not just about gopher frog ecosystems in Louisiana, said Snape, but about federal authority to use the best available science to create critical habitat and recovery plans nationwide. This is absolutely about shooting an arrow through one of the major pillars of the Endangered Species Act.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
British Airways on Thursday said it would suspend its London to Tehran service from next month as it was no longer "commercially viable".

"We are suspending our London to Tehran service as the operation is currently not commercially viable," said the flagship carrier.

The last outbound flight to Tehran will be on September 22, and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on September 23, it added.

The airline said the decision had nothing to do with US President Donald Trump's imposition of new sanctions on Iran, which has affected foreign businesses operating in the country, with many pulling out altogether.

Dutch carrier KLM said last month that it was also suspending Tehran flights due to "negative results and financial outlook".

The airline said it was in discussions with partner airlines to offer customers rebooking options, or would offer full refunds.
 Flash

Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday said that Germany supports Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and will do its best to help peacefully resolve the conflict.





At a press conference after a close-door meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Merkel said Georgia is a very important partner in the context of the Eastern Partnership and Germany will always support Georgia.





"Georgia is a very important partner in the context of the Eastern Partnership: there is the Association Agreement with the EU, the free trade agreement, the broadening and reinforcement of relations between our countries", said the German Chancellor, stressing that Germany's support the territorial integrity of Georgia.





For the Georgian-Russian relations, Merkel said "we should not tolerate such a situation," vowing to do its best to help peacefully resolve the conflict.





Merkel also stressed the importance of deepening bilateral relations between Germany and Georgia and noted that her visit to Tbilisi will promote it.





For his part, Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze thanked Germany's support and vowed to continue strive to join the European Union and NATO.





German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday started her maiden visit to Georgia, which is the first stop of her South Caucasian tour. She will also visit Armenia and Azerbaijan in the coming days.
Montreal (AFP) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed concern Thursday over reports that human rights activists in Saudi Arabia face the death penalty.

The two countries are locked in a diplomatic dispute triggered by Canadian criticism of the kingdom's human rights record, but Trudeau said Canada continues to "engage diplomatically" with Saudi Arabia.

Human rights groups say Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for five human rights activists, including, for the first time, a woman.

The five stand accused of inciting mass protests in mainly Shiite areas of the Sunni-ruled kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province. Human rights groups say that the execution threat is a calculated bid to stifle dissent.

"I think it's important to have positive relationships with countries around the world," Trudeau told a press conference in British Columbia.

"At the same time, we have expressed our concern with the sentence handed down by Saudi Arabia, our concern for defending human rights and our shared values all around the world," he added.

"Canada will continue to stand up strongly for human rights," said Trudeau.

The Saudi government has not confirmed that the activists face the death penalty.

Two weeks ago Canada sparked fury in Riyadh by calling for the immediate release of detained activists, including award-winning women's rights campaigner Samar Badawi.

Saudi Arabia froze all new trade and investments, moved to pull out thousands of Saudi students from Canadian universities and pledged to stop all medical treatment programmes in Canada. State airline Saudia also suspended flights to Toronto.

In the end the Saudis gave its students an extension until September 22, according to several universities.
Its the retail investor frenzy luring U.S. cannabis companies to Canadas junior stock exchange, according to a Colorado-based venture capitalist, not a sense that the pot industry north of the border offers superior growth opportunities.

Five American-headquartered marijuana firms have listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) so far in 2018, the most prominent being MedMen Enterprises Inc. (MMEN.CN), a California-based chain of marijuana retail stores across three U.S. states, with an expanding cultivation footprint.

Micah Tapman, co-founder and managing director of the US$18 million venture fund Canopy Ventures, said its obvious the growth opportunities in Canada pale in comparison to U.S. states where recreational marijuana is legal.

The Canadian market is essentially micro, he told Yahoo Canada Finance. Its equivalent to investing in one state in the U.S. Its a very small market.

CIBC analyst John Zamparo forecast in May that the legal adult-use cannabis market in Canada will approach $6.5 billion in retail sales by 2020. A report released a month earlier by Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics titled California: The Golden Opportunity projected sales in the sunshine state would grow to US$7.7 billion by 2021.

Still, the notion that Canada will emerge as a global marijuana leader once the drug is legalized in the fall is a popular one.

Canopy Growth Corporations (WEED.TO) $5 billion deal with beer and spirit giant Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ.N) sent shares of the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based weed company to record highs. Canopys market value is now roughly on par with plane and train-maker Bombardier Inc., (BBD-B.TO) and retailer Canadian Tire Corp. (CTC.TO) Its now the biggest company on Canadas health-care index, surpassing Bausch Health Cos. (BHC.TO), formally Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

Constellation Brands expanding stake in Canopy has ignited investor interest in other marijuana players. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ.TO), which tracks a basket of cannabis companies, has added more than 20 per cent since the deal was announced on Aug. 15.

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Canadas cannabis clout is even getting recognized by rock and roll royalty. David Crosby recently told The Globe and Mail, I think Canadians could congratulate themselves for having a country that was smart enough to wind up being where all the marijuana companies are based.

Tapman isnt convinced Canadas pending marijuana legalization on Oct. 17 will be enough to solidify the country as a global industry leader.

There is a lot of hype in this belief that Canada is going to be able to leverage its position as a first-mover for the developed countries on legalization into this lock on the global cannabis market, he said. To put it bluntly, Canada doesnt lead the world in anything in particular. Its a small place.

Small has been the operative word for U.S. cannabis companies when it comes to tapping into investment through the CSE.

MedMen is among the string of U.S. cannabis players to complete a reverse takeover of a tiny publicly-traded Canadian company to get on the exchange. In MedMens case, it was Ladera Ventures Corp., a company involved in the decidedly un-groovy business of operating oil and natural gas properties in Alberta.

For Tapman, that low barrier-to-entry means retail investors can expect the excitement around pot stocks to continue, for better or worse.

In Canada, there is this history of micro companies with minimal revenues and nothing really on the balance sheet throwing their stock up on the the CSE, or even the TSX Venture, and bringing in many, many retail investors, he said. The reality is, there will be a major market correction as the reality of Oct. 17 hits, and people realize that these companies arent producing great revenues or profitability yet. This was a lot of hype and a lot of stories.

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NANAIMO, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that his government is engaging diplomatically with Saudi Arabia, but did not back down on his concerns about human rights, two weeks into a spat over Ottawa's calls for the release of Saudi activists from detention. "We continue to engage diplomatically with Saudi Arabia, I think it's important to have positive relationships with countries around the world," Trudeau told reporters after Cabinet meetings in British Columbia. Trudeau was responding to a question on reports that Saudi Arabia's prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against rights activists. "At the same time - we have expressed our concern with the sentence handed down by Saudi Arabia, our concern for defending human rights and our shared values all around the world," he added. Saudi Arabia, furious over a tweet sent by Canada's foreign minister and translated into Arabic by the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh, earlier this month froze new trade with Canada, blocked grain imports, expelled Canada's ambassador and ordered all Saudi students home. In a slight reprieve, five Canadian universities said on Wednesday that Saudi trainee doctors enrolled in their programs had been granted an extra three weeks in the country, as nearly 1,000 people scramble to wrap up their affairs. (Reporting by Julie Gordon in Nanaimo, British Columbia, editing by G Crosse)
By Andrea Hopkins OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's opposition Conservatives face a potential split a year ahead of national elections after a prominent former cabinet minister quit the party on Thursday to form his own right-leaning faction, focused on limited immigration and promoting free trade. Maxime Bernier, who failed in his bid to lead the Conservative Party more than a year ago, said he hoped to have an alternative party up and running within weeks to challenge Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the 2019 election. "He has decided today to help Justin Trudeau," Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer told a news conference, condemning the defection as one driven by personal ambition. "Other conservatives and Canadians who want a responsible government in power will continue to work with us." Trudeau, speaking with reporters after Cabinet meetings in British Columbia, dodged direct questions on Bernier. "I'm going to let Conservative focus on themselves, as they are right now, and we're going to stay focused on Canadians," he said. The Conservatives - recently neck and neck in polls with Trudeau's Liberals - split into two factions in 1987, but reunified the party in 2003 and later held power for nearly a decade under former prime minister Stephen Harper. Speaking out against "fake news" and saying the Conservatives under Scheer were "too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed," Bernier announced his split in Ottawa just as the party was gathering in Halifax for its annual convention. "The Conservative party has abandoned conservatives. It does not represent them anymore. And it has nothing of substance to offer Canadians looking for a political alternative," Bernier said. Bernier sparked a fierce debate earlier this month when he posted a series of tweets denouncing the prime minister's push for diversity, saying Trudeau's "extreme multiculturalism" will destroy Canada. Scheer, who defeated Bernier in a leadership race to replace Harper, sought to distance the party from the tweets. Canada's ethnic vote is crucial to all three major parties, particularly in densely populated and immigrant-rich communities in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Bernier also opposes the system of supply management that supports Canada's politically powerful dairy farmers and which has been attacked by U.S. President Donald Trump. He said he could make a trade deal with Trump by abandoning the system. Bernier is a second-generation politician and former foreign minister, a libertarian free-market champion who is also remembered for being dumped from Harper's cabinet after leaving confidential documents at the house of a girlfriend with links to organized crime. "Whether Bernier becomes a real or phantom political force in Canada - the narrative that the Conservatives may be divided will be a major distraction for Conservative leader Scheer," said pollster Nik Nanos in an email. (Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Nanaimo, British Columbia, editing by G Crosse)
Madrid (AFP) - Catalonia's deposed president Carles Puigdemont arrived in Scotland on Friday, in his first trip abroad after a Spanish court dropped a European arrest warrant for him.

"He landed in Edinburgh from Brussels on Friday afternoon," Catalan's regional government, which had kept the visit secret, said in a statement.

Puigdemont will take part in international diplomatic forum Beyond Borders on Sunday at the invitation of its organisers, the statement said.

Sacked as Catalan president after a failed secession bid on October 27, Puigdemont and several members of his executive fled to Brussels several days later.

He was then arrested in Germany at the end of March and freed on bail 10 days later, waiting for a German court decision on an extradition request by Spain, where he is wanted over his role in the independence drive.

Puigdemont returned to Belgium when Spain's Supreme Court dropped the arrest warrant in late July.

He can now travel where he likes, except to Spain, where he is still wanted for rebellion, which carries up to 25 years in jail, and for misuse of public funds.
By Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - A Catholic conference on family issues that Pope Francis is due to address this weekend heard a plea from a U.S. priest on Thursday for the Church to welcome gay members, who he said had been made to feel like lepers. At the first major speech on the issue at the World Meeting of Families, which is organized by the Vatican every three years and is being held in Dublin this year, U.S. Jesuit priest James Martin told delegates that excluding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics violated the teachings of Jesus Christ. "Let your LGBT brothers and sisters know that you stand with them... Be courageous," Martin told about 1,000 delegates, before listing concrete steps for priests to take to welcome gay parishioners. "By excluding LGBT Catholics, you are breaking up God's family," he added. The Church teaches that homosexual tendencies are not sinful but homosexual acts are, and that homosexuals should try to be chaste. "WHO AM I TO JUDGE?" In 2013 Pope Francis, who arrives in Dublin on Saturday for a two-day visit, said the Church should seek forgiveness from homosexuals for the way they had treated them. "If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge," he said. Martin was criticized by Vatican clerics for his 2017 book "Building a Bridge", in which he argued for the Church to better engage with the LGBT community. Organisers of the Dublin conference have been accused of excluding LGBT groups after the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics and We are Church Ireland said they had failed to receive responses to requests to have stands at the event. A conference spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment but was quoted by The Times Ireland as saying that space was limited and preference had been given to groups that met certain criteria. Members of gay-rights groups protesting outside the conference said Martin's speech was a hollow gesture. "There are a lot of nice words being spoken, but in reality nothing really changes on the ground," said Jim O'Crowly, a 77-year-old gay man who said he attends Catholic Mass every week. "If they want to do something, they should start by changing the very offensive language that is in Church teaching about homosexuality, regarding it as being disordered and intrinsically evil." Martin in his speech gave a list of steps that priests could take to help LGBT Catholics in their parishes feel more welcome, including referring to them in sermons as full members of the community, asking them about their experiences and organizing LGBT events. Martin told Reuters it was the first time the phrase LGBT had been used officially at the Catholic Conference. He also said there has been "great progress" on the issue in recent years, firstly because of Pope Francis' attitude and secondly due to a growing number of Catholics coming out as gay. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Terror on a Tokyo subway, 1995; attacks on Syrian civilians, 2013 and 2017; assassinations in an airport in Kuala Lumpur, 2017; attempted assassination in London, 2018. Tremors, foaming at the mouth, seizures, respiratory shutdown, sometimes death. What do these events have in common? Poisoning via a nerve agent  a chemical warfare substance that disrupts communication between the nervous system and muscles and organs.

A major concern for survivors of nerve agent poisoning is the potential for permanent brain damage caused by seizures. Because the brain cannot easily repair such damage, there is a critical need for an antidote that can enter the brain and reverse the early biochemical effects before harm occurs. Current antidotes, such as 2-PAM, the only FDA-approved reactivator drug in the U.S., cannot do this because it is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier, a layer of cells between the blood and the brain which prevents many chemicals, such as some drugs, from moving blood into the brain.

I am Janice Chambers, a toxicologist in the Center for Environmental Health Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University.

I initially worked on toxic responses in laboratory animals to organophosphate insecticides  a widely used class of crop protection chemicals. Organophosphate insecticides have a similar mechanism of action to nerve agents, but are much less toxic and are only approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency for uses that are not going to be harmful to humans or the ecosystem.

For the past eight years, my team has been developing antidotes that improve survival rates after nerve agent exposure, and weve shown the potential of our new molecules to enter the brain in tests with animals. If approved, these antidotes would give more confidence to both war-fighters and civilians that not only could their lives be saved but also their brain function could be preserved.

From Insecticides to Chemical Warfare

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Because pesticides are so important to successful agriculture, my group was initially interested in toxic responses to organophosphate insecticides (OPs). My lab focused on the more biological effects, while my husband, Howard Chambers, synthesized chemicals useful to study the toxic effects of these insecticides.

OPs were originally developed as insecticides in Germany prior to World War II. This agricultural effort was co-opted by the Nazis to create the first nerve agents: tabun and sarin. Although these agents were not used during World War II and were banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, they have been used occasionally in conflicts such as in the Iran-Iraq war.

States parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2007. Light colored territories are those states parties that have declared stockpiles of chemical weapons and/or have known production facilities for chemical weapons.

However, scientists in some countries have continued to design even more dangerous OP compounds. The Novichok agents, suspected of being used in the attempted poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, for example, are estimated to be between eight and 10 times more potent than VX, one of the most toxic of the traditional nerve agents. These highly toxic chemicals are a danger not only to the military but also to civilians who may be exposed during terrorist attacks by assassins or rogue governments.

In 2010, the direction of my research changed course when one of my former Ph.D. students, who then worked in the Department of Defenses Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), returned to MSU for a visit and mentioned that one of the militarys most pressing needs in warfighter defense was a brain-penetrating AChE reactivator.

During that conversation in a local sandwich shop, Howard pulled out his ever-present mechanical pencil and sketched out an oxime  a molecule that could grab the nerve agent and remove it from its target  that he thought would be able to cross the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is an almost impenetrable layer of cells that make up the brain capillaries that prevent many foreign chemicals from entering the brain, particularly if they are electrically charged.

The former student was impressed and encouraged us to apply for funding from DTRA for synthesizing and testing a platform of novel oximes, based on the structure on that napkin. The oximes that we have invented in our lab are positively charged, like 2-PAM, but are less water soluble, which may prevent the brains transporters from exporting them out of the brain once they enter.

After initial successes, we are now supported by the National Institutes of Healths CounterACT program, whose goal is protecting civilians from terrorist attacks or chemical accidents.

Nerve agent effects

Nerve agents like sarin, VX, and Novichok are organophosphate chemicals, and they wreak havoc by inhibiting a critical enzyme in the nervous system called acetylcholinesterase (AChE). What AChE does for a living, so to speak, is to rapidly degrade acetylcholine (ACh), an important chemical that mediates precise and rapid information flow within the brain and to muscles and glands.

When AChE is inhibited, acetylcholine builds up and leads to inappropriate and massive stimulation within the nervous system, resulting in life-threatening symptoms: paralysis of the respiratory muscles, narrowing of the trachea, and excessive mucus production throughout the respiratory tract so that air cannot pass through.

This causes the foaming at the mouth that we see in news coverage of chemical attacks. Death usually results from respiratory failure. The incredible potency of the nerve agents makes them among the most poisonous synthetic chemicals ever produced.

In survivors, prolonged and repeated seizures caused by high quantities of ACh in the brain can cause permanent brain damage.

The antidote for OP poisoning has traditionally included artificial respiration and injections of the drug atropine, which helps the victim to keep breathing. In the US, medics also use an oxime reactivator  called 2-PAM  which restores AChE activity by removing the nerve agent; and benzodiazepine is used to suppress seizures.

The most effective oxime reactivators have a positive charge. But the blood-brain barrier which exists between brain cells and blood capillaries does a good job of blocking these charged chemicals from infiltrating the brain, either by preventing entry or escorting them out once they enter. Therefore, 2-PAM and other approved oximes do not reach high enough levels in the brain to reverse the deadly grasp of OP nerve agent.

A Promising New Antidote

To protect people from nerve agent poisoning, we need a brain-penetrating molecule to reverse the AChE inhibition. Our lab group and several others worldwide are attempting to create such an antidote that restores AChE activity in the brain following severe OP poisoning.

To date, several of our oxime drugs have been as good as or more effective than 2-PAM for increasing 24-hour survival for animals exposed to lethal doses of OPs, using highly relevant mimics of two nerve agents sarin and VX, as well as an insecticidal chemical in a laboratory animal model.

We have convincing evidence that our oximes can get through the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain after OP exposure, and that our laboratory animals show more normal activity of AChE with our novel oximes but not with 2-PAM. Our animals also recovered more quickly from seizure-like behavior with our oxime antidote compared to 2-PAM. Our lead oxime seems likely to remain in the brain, and it has prevented some damage to brain structures, while 2-PAM did not  a finding we describe in an upcoming publication.

Normal action: A neuron releases ACh which activates its receptor (orange) on receiving cell  a neuron, muscle or gland  triggering the movement of a muscle, the release of a hormone or some type of behavior (yellow arrow). The ACh is then split into its two components by AChE (green) to prevent it from overstimulating the system. OP poisoning: The OP nerve agent (red) binds to AChE and prevents AChE from breaking down ACh, which then builds up, activating more of its receptors which leads to seizures, breathing trouble and brain damage. Oxime antidote: Oxime (light blue) binds to OP, pulling it off AChE, and restores AChEs action, allowing the receiving cell to return to normal level of activity.

This oxime platform has been patented by MSU and licensed by Defender Pharmaceuticals. Sadly, my long-term collaborator, Howard, passed away in December 2016; my team continues to pursue the research needed to develop his novel oximes into antidotes.

What value could these novel oximes bring to the arsenal of chemical weapon antidotes? Either alone, or in combination with 2-PAM, they could contribute to survival and, uniquely, they could reduce or prevent the brain damage caused by the prolonged seizures induced by OPs.

In other words, with our novel antidotes we could save lives and save brains.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by Janice Chambers. Read the original article here.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons, Janice Chambers, CC BY-ND, Pixabay, Unsplash / Ginji Ito, Unsplash / Scott Rodgerson, Unsplash / Pawe Czerwinski

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Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen addresses the media after El Salvador cut its ties - REUTERS

On the face of it, this weeks break in diplomatic relations between tiny Taiwan, population 23.5 million, and even tinier El Salvador, population 6.3m, did not herald a dramatic shift in global politics. But the Central American nations sudden switch in allegiance to China has clearly rattled its US neighbour.

Accusing China of destabilising cross-Strait relations, the White House said: "This is a decision that affects not just El Salvador, but also the economic health and security of the entire Americas region."

It reiterated that the US would reevaluate its ties with the Central American country as a result.

Reacting to the news earlier, high profile US Senators Marco Rubio and Cory Gardner, representing Florida and Colorado respectively, immediately hit out with threats via their Twitter accounts.

El Salvador has made the wrong decision regarding Taiwan, and it will negatively influence US relations with El Salvador. The US government must stand up to Chinas campaign to bully Taiwan with every tool we have, said Mr Gardner.

Mr Rubio told his 3.6 million followers on Twitter: I have joined @SenCoryGardner in an amendment to end foreign aid to #ElSalvador after their leftist government decided to abandon #Taiwan in favor of #China. I also spoke to @realdonaldtrump about cutting off their aid just a few minutes ago. "

They faced immediate charges of hypocrisy. El Salvadors defection has left Taiwan, an island democracy which Beijing claims as its own territory, with only 17 formal diplomatic allies in the world, and the US is not one of them.

I have joined @SenCoryGardner in an amendment to end foreign aid to #ElSalvador after their leftist government decided to abandon #Taiwan in favor of #China. I also spoke to @realdonaldtrump about cutting off their aid just a few minutes ago.  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 21, 2018

Washington has not officially recognised Taiwan since 1979, when it shifted its recognition to Chinas communist government to suit its own strategic and economic interests.

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But the senators comments join a narrative of growing concern within the US administration that China is acting in a predatory manner on Washingtons doorstep.

President Trumps National Security Strategy has described Beijing as seeking to pull [Latin America] into its orbit through state-led investments and loans, while Rex Tillerson, the former secretary of state, once denounced China as a new imperial power in Latin America.

Taiwans foreign ministry offered some candid insights into its own rift with El Salvador late on Tuesday night, revealing that it had faced repeated demands for funds to develop the La Union commercial port which would have held tremendous debt risks for both countries.

Only last month, Jean Manes, the US ambassador to El Salvador, warned that China had intentions to turn the Pacific-facing port into a military base, reported the South China Morning Post.

Its a strategic matter, and we all need to keep our eyes open to what is happening, she said.

China has previously sparked suspicions about the motivations behind its port investments after opening its first overseas military base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, last year, and over the possible development of a second in Gwadar Port in Pakistan.

Members of the Taiwanese community in Paraguay greet President Tsai during a visit last week Credit: Jorge Adorno/Reuters

However, analysts including Bonnie Glaser, senior director for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in DC, are more sceptical of the view that China is eyeing La Union for its strategic military interests, arguing that Beijings motives in Latin America are more commercially driven.

I dont think China is looking to turn every port in the world into a Chinese base. It would be strategically stupid in my mind to be building a base in what America has always considered to be its backyard, Ms Glaser told The Telegraph.

The notion that China would like the countries in Latin America to have a good relationship with China and be less dependent on the United States, that could certainly be one of Chinas objectives, she said.

Thats what China has done around the world, certainly closer to home in Southeast Asia. China has used its economic clout to try and pull some countries away from the United States, at least positioning them in a way that theyre more neutral, so thats certainly possible.

Speculation is rising as to which of Taiwans diplomatic allies Beijing may successfully pick off next in its quest to isolate the island nation on the global stage.

But aside from the psychological impact on its population, Taiwan has tangibly little to worry about by losing its formal allies, several of whom have demanded funds in exchange for their loyalty, while offering little in return.

Taipei already enjoys strong informal relations with more powerful friends including the US and Japan.

As China seeks to undermine the legitimacy and global influence of Taiwan, a democratic ally of the West located in a regional flashpoint, it is perhaps Taipeis western friends who should be more concerned.

A Pacific island may be next to switch its allegiance from Taiwan to China, which has grand strategic ambitions in the Pacific region.

People talk about the Solomon Islands, said Ms Glaser. That would be seen as very significant not only by the US but also by Australia and New Zealand, who are very worried about Chinas growing influence in the region.
Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE have effectively been banned from rolling out Australia's 5G network after Canberra warned of security risks with companies beholden to foreign governments, prompting Beijing to denounce "ideological biases".

Huawei -- one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers -- has been under scrutiny in some countries, including the United States and Australia, over its alleged close links to Beijing.

It was blocked from bidding for contracts on Australia's ambitious national broadband project in 2012, reportedly due to concerns about cyber-security.

The company has long disputed claims of any links to the Chinese government.

Canberra said in a statement that the "involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law" posed a security risk.

Acting Home Affairs Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield added that there was "no combination of technical security controls that sufficiently mitigate the risks".

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China was "gravely concerned", accusing Canberra of making "all types of excuses to create hurdles and taking discriminatory measures".

"We urge the Australian side to abandon ideological biases and create a sound environment for the fair competition of Chinese enterprises in Australia," Lu said.

Huawei Australia tweeted that the decision was an "extremely disappointing result for consumers".

"Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely & securely delivered wireless technology in Aust for close to 15 yrs," the firm said.

The move came amid tensions between Beijing and Canberra that have seen Australia refocus its foreign aid programmes to win hearts and minds in the Pacific, where China has been flexing its muscles too.

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Beijing has extended loans to the impoverished nations in the region, with Canberra raising fears some might get trapped with unsustainable debts, handing China influence.

Australia in June said it would negotiate a security treaty with Vanuatu and also fund and build an undersea communications cable to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

The Solomons arrangement came after the Pacific nation was convinced to drop a contract with Huawei.
On Chris Cuomo Prime Time on Thursday night, Chris Cuomo got into it with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway about, among other things, the Trump administrations response to University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbettss alleged murder by an undocumented immigrant. President Trump seemed to take advantage of the tragedy to promote his anti-immigration policies at a West Virginia rally Tuesday night. After mentioning Tibbetts briefly, Trump said, Weve had a huge impact, but the laws are so bad. The immigration laws are such a disgrace, were getting them changed.

When Conway said of Tibbetts, God rest her soul, Cuomo responded, God rest her soul? Youre not letting her soul rest. Youre waving her like a flag. He then accused the administration of hijacking grief, and he had a point. On Wednesday, the White House sent out a tweet that included the sentence, The Tibbetts family has been permanently separated  an obvious allusion to the outrage over the administrations policy of separating children from their parents at the border.

Cuomo also took issue with that: Is that the time to play ugly politics, because hes upset about what happened with him putting kids in cages? Permanently separated?

The anchor isnt the only one angry about many others, not just those in the administration, using Tibbettss murder to promote anti-immigration views. Several of her relatives have posted on social media against doing that. Tibbettss aunt reminded those who need reminding that evil comes in every color and a second cousin has tweeted about it many times, partly because shes had to deal with those who ignore the fact that she has just lost a loved one and instead focus on the suspect.

To those emphasizing the race and legal status of the alleged killer, Cuomo said, Over 17,000 murders in this country in 2016. How many times has he [Trump] stood up and said, This is an atrocity, what happened? Only when the people who killed them are someone he wants to target.

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Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 on CNN.

Check out the glorious internet reactions to Kellyanne Conway calling Trump the commander of cheese:

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Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
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The Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has announced to provide 200,000 U.S. dollars in emergency aid to the victims of the recent earthquakes in the Indonesian island of Lombok, local media reported Thursday.







The QRC will provide non-food relief goods, including shelter packages, such as plastic sheets, blankets, mosquito nets, and water-savng containers, to the Indonesian quake victims, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported.





The Qatari assistance will also include providing first aid, personal hygiene and awareness packages for 700 affected families, the report said.





On Aug. 5, a 6.9 magnitude quake hit Lombok, which was hit by another 6.2 magnitude quake on Aug. 9. A third quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale shook the island again on Aug. 19.





Indonesia lies on the Ring of Fire - a significant region in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.




Dubai (AFP) - Civilians were killed in western Yemen on Thursday in a missile strike for which the Huthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition fighting them traded blame.

The rebel-run Saba news agency said women and children were among at least 31 people killed or wounded in an air strike that hit a bus and a home in the Al-Durayhimi district, south of the strategic port city of Hodeida.

But the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the Saudi-led coalition, said the Huthis launched a "ballistic (missile) made in Iran".

A child was killed and dozens of others were wounded, three of them seriously, according to Emirati state news agency WAM.

It was not immediately possible to independently verify the accounts given by the two sides.

The Al-Durayhimi area lies some 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Hodeida, and has seen two weeks of fighting between the rebels and pro-government forces backed by the UAE.

But the wider offensive to retake Hodeida from the Huthis has been halted pending the outcome of negotiations, the coalition has said.

The latest civilians deaths comes after 40 children and 11 adults were killed in an attack in northern Yemen earlier this month.

The August 9 air strike sparked international condemnation and the Saudi-led coalition announced an investigation.

The coalition has been accused of causing numerous civilian casualties in the civil war in Yemen.

It has admitted a small number of mistakes, but accuses the Huthis of routinely using civilians as human shields.

A report published by Human Rights Watch on Friday said the coalition's investigations into alleged war crimes "have lacked credibility".

"For more than two years, the coalition has claimed that (its investigative body) JIAT was credibly investigating allegedly unlawful air strikes, but the investigators were doing little more than covering up war crimes," HRW's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement.

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The coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as he fled into exile in the face of a rebel offensive in 2015.

It has recaptured most of the south and stretches of the Red Sea coast but the capital Sanaa and much of the north remain in the hands of the rebels.

The conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people and triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Michael Cohen, Lanny Davis. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images, Martin DivisekI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Michael Cohens lawyer Lanny Davis says that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee failed to ask the right follow-up questions when his client appeared before the panel last year and therefore failed to elicit crucial answers about President Trumps prior knowledge of Russian hacking of Democratic emails during the 2016 election.

Davis was questioned on the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery about Cohens testimony to the Senate intelligence panel last September in which Cohen testified, in a prepared statement: I never saw anything  not a hint of anything  that demonstrated [President Trumps] involvement in Russian interference in our election or any form of Russian collusion.

But Davis, in multiple television appearances this week, gave an apparently conflicting account, suggesting that Cohen has information he is now prepared to tell special counsel Robert Mueller about Trumps prior knowledge of the hacking.

Was he telling the truth? Davis was asked during the Skullduggery interview about Cohens previous testimony to the Senate.

He was telling the truth, but theres a problem in some of the words used there, Davis replied.

Those were his words, it was pointed out to Davis.

Davis then replied that the senators failed to ask the right follow-ups to Cohens prepared statement  about Trumps level of awareness of the hacking, seeming to draw a distinction between awareness and involvement.

If he were asked, Were you aware of Mr. Trumps level of awareness before the hacking illegally done by a foreign government? Were you aware that Mr. Trump might have known and didnt call the FBI? I dont think you wouldve gotten the answer that you just read. But that question wasnt asked.

Daviss response was significant because Cohens previous denials of any knowledge of Russian collusion could expose him to a further felony charge and additional prison time if he now says something else to Mueller. And Senate Intelligence leaders have already flagged the issue, saying this week they wanted to reinterview Cohen after he pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including campaign finance crimes for paying hush money during the 2016 campaign to women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

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Download or subscribe on iTunes: Skullduggery by Yahoo News

But Davis insisted that when the time comes for Cohen to tell his new story to Mueller  and the special counsel is able to digest it and piece it together with other evidence  it could be an impeachable offense on the part of the president.

Davis, who has practically beseeched Mueller this week to call his client as a witness, has steadfastly refused to specify what Cohen would say about Trumps knowledge of Russian hacking. He also declined to say whether Mueller has even reached out to Cohen yet, despite Daviss repeated television interviews offering his clients testimony.

Davis then wrapped up the Skullduggery interview by saying: Being on this podcast and being asked questions, especially by Michael Isikoff, no offense intended, is the functional equivalent of a root canal without anesthetics.
The United States capital of Washington, D.C., burned on this day in 1814, but it may have been an act of nature that forced the British from the besieged city.

The story of the brief British occupation of an undefended Washington, D.C. is well-known. During the War of 1812, the British were urged to attack the former colonies after American troops attacked Canada and burned government buildings. Washington was picked as the target because of its symbolic importance, its easy access from the sea, and the inability of inexperienced American troops to defend it. President James Madison and his wife, Dolley, were aware of the threat, and they made prearranged plans to escape the city if the British attacked.

On August 24, 1814, troops from both armies met outside of Washington, and the British Army easily defeated a volunteer American force at the battle of Bladensburg. President Madison and Secretary of State James Monroe were nearly captured. As the British troops moved onward, Dolley Madison gathered belongings, including her silver, from the White House.

The British troops set fire to the Capitol, the White House (then called the Presidential Mansion,) the Library of Congress, and other government buildings that day, (but not before taking the time to finish off a meal that had been left out at the White House.)

The next morning, the British invaders sought out ammunition and other supplies to burn. But, after an accident with gunpowder barrels led to the death of 30 British soldiers, the British decided to leave Washington.

Then came a fortuitous act of nature: a massive storm swept through the burning city. There is anecdotal evidence of a tornado, which touched down in the middle of the city on August 25, 1814, from the National Weather Service.

George Robert Gleig, a British soldier on the scene, detailed the scene in his memoirs as the severe thunderstorm rolled into the city in the afternoon.

Of the prodigious force of the wind it is impossible for you to form any conception. Roofs of houses were torn off by it, and whisked into the air like sheets of paper, while the rain which accompanied it resembled the rushing of a mighty cataract rather than the dropping of a shower, Gleig wrote. He said the incident produced the most appalling effect I had ever, or probably shall ever witness.

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The severe weather lasted for two hours, he said, dumping torrential rain on the city. At least two British troops were killed, and Gleig was knocked off his horse. He also said two cannons were picked up in the air and tossed around during the most violent part of the storm.

Gleig recalled that as the rains doused the fires set by the British, they were able to use the confusion caused by the storm to cover their quick withdrawal from Washington that night.

In the storms aftermath and subsequent British departure, Madison and the American forces returned to Washington to examine the destruction. The White House and Capitol were rebuilt, and Thomas Jefferson donated his book collection to restock the Library of Congress.

On September 1, Madison said in a proclamation that the attack showed a deliberate disregard of the principles of humanity and the rules of civilized warfare, and which must give to the existing war a character of extended devastation and barbarism. He also noted that the invasion happened at the same time the British invited the Americans to start peace talks.

Two weeks later, the British failed to invade Baltimore in a similar attack that is best remembered today for its connection to the nations anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Major General Robert Ross, who led the British attack on Washington, was killed by American snipers in Baltimore as the battle began.
Washington (AFP) - The Democratic Party said Thursday that a reported attempt to hack its voter database using a fake website ahead of the November mid-term election was an unauthorized test by a third party.

DNC Chief Security Officer Bob Lord said in a statement that the party and its security partners "now believe it was built by a third party as part of a simulated phishing test on VoteBuilder," the party's crucial computerized files on voters.

"The test, which mimicked several attributes of actual attacks on the Democratic party's voter file, was not authorized by the DNC, VoteBuilder nor any of our vendors," Lord said.

The phishing website, which if real could have helped attackers siphon off data, steal passwords and insert malware, revived the specter of Russia's hugely consequential cyber-theft of party communications in the 2016 presidential election.

US intelligence bodies say that in 2016 hackers from Russia's GRU intelligence agency broke into Democratic Party networks, stealing documents and communications that were later leaked out to embarrass Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Lord said the DNC in any case took quick action to protect its systems once the phishing website was reported.

"There are constant attempts to hack the DNC and our Democratic infrastructure," he said.

"While we are extremely relieved that this wasn't an attempted intrusion by a foreign adversary, this incident is further proof that we need to continue to be vigilant in light of potential attacks."
Best Life

Despite our best efforts, the call of nature isn't something we can anticipate with any accuracy. Anyone who has tried to plan a long car ride or sit through a three-hour movie knows how difficult it can be to time your schedule just right to avoid an emergency. But according to doctors, there's one bathroom habit you should avoid for the sake of your long-term health. Read on to see what you should know before you go pee.RELATED: Never Do This When You Shower in the Morning, Doctors Warn. You s
UPDATE: Aug. 30  A federal judge ruled Thursday to end FEMAs Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, through which more than 2,000 displaced Puerto Ricans have been living in hotels on the U.S. mainland.

Families still in hotels must check out by Sept. 14. In the ruling, the judge wrote: I strongly urge the parties to work together to find temporary housing, or other assistance to the [evacuees] prior to that date.

PREVIOUSLY:

Since fleeing her native Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria tore through her roof and cut off her power last fall, Myrna Reyes has been staying in a government-subsidized hotel in New York. But the federal funds paying for that housing are scheduled to stop on Aug. 31, stranding the 62-year-old, who suffers from diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.

Its terrible, she told HuffPost in Spanish this week as the deadline approached. I cant sleep, I cant eat  its the uncertainty.

Reyes is one of 2,436 displaced Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland still in hotels paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA)s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. In response to a lawsuit from the advocacy group Latino Justice, a federal judge has repeatedly extended the program, most recently through the end of August.

That judge is expected to weigh in yet again sometime in the next week about whether the program should be extended once again.

If the program isnt extended, displaced Puerto Ricans face grim options: accept the governments offer to pay for a ticket back to Puerto Rico, or stay in the U.S. mainland and face possible homelessness.

Its a choice between the lesser of two evils, said Peter Gudaitis, executive director of nonprofit New York Disaster Interfaith Services, which has been helping Maria evacuees. Stay here and be homeless, or move to Puerto Rico and be unemployed or have no home and struggle there.

Many relying on FEMAs housing funds are in precarious financial situations, Gudaitis said. Some have medical conditions, others have young children and havent been able to afford daycare, keeping them from finding a job. Even evacuees who have found work on the mainland struggle to save enough for a security deposit and first and last months rent.

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Many, like Reyes, dont have family or friends who can take them in, and may be forced into the local shelter system, which is already strained to capacity.

What am I going to do? asked Reyes. They cant leave us in the street.

Waleska Rivera, 42, looks at her sleeping 9-year-old son as she undergoes her dialysis treatment in a hotel room in Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 7, 2017. (Photo: Alvin Baez/Reuters)

When Hurricane Maria hit last September, Reyes was living by herself in a rented apartment. The storm damaged her roof, flooded her apartment and cut off power. She has asthma, and the heat combined with no working fans or air conditioners made it impossible to sleep. She often felt like she couldnt breathe.

She was getting desperate, so she sold her car and bought a flight to New York. There, local nonprofits helped connect her to the FEMA housing program. Shes been able to attend doctors appointments nearby three to four times a week and get the medical attention she needs.

But the FEMA programs repeated deadlines and extensions have stressed her out. The agency first planned to stop paying for hotels for evacuees in April, before extending the deadline to June 30. Then a court ruling extended it to July 5. Then July 23. Then Aug. 6. Now its set for Aug. 31.

The Latino Justice lawsuit alleges that FEMA is ending the program without a plan to transition the evacuees to longer-term housing, even though returning home is not a viable option for many displaced Puerto Ricans.

FEMA said in a statement that it has been working to comply with the order extending the deadline to Aug. 31. But it will not comment on pending litigation beyond that, the agency said.

Now is the worst possible time to push Puerto Rican hurricane survivors out of the program, Reyes said  because its hurricane season again. Experts say the islands recovery process will take years. Repeated power outages still plague the island, and the health care system has not fully recovered.

You tell me in what world are they going to send us back there? she asked.

Roughly 135,000 Puerto Ricans fled to the U.S. mainland after Maria, according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. The highest concentration of evacuees is in Florida, followed by Massachusetts and New York.

Of the nearly 2,500 displaced Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland still in hotels funded by FEMA, 30 families are in New York City. Half have told Gudaitis group that they plan to move in with family if the program ends, while the rest expect to move into the citys shelter system.

Puerto Rican evacuees are not chronically homeless. Theyre here for safety reasons, Gudaitis said, noting that many of those who evacuated the island were elderly people, families with kids, or people who had lost jobs on the island, which was already struggling economically before the storm. Until things improve in Puerto Rico, most of these families are going to stay here.

Meanwhile, FEMA has either denied or still not approved housing aid for thousands of Puerto Ricans on the island who submitted applications for help fixing storm-ravaged homes, NBC reported last month.

The Trump administration has been criticized for its slow and uneven response to Maria compared to disasters on the mainland. A March report in Politico showed the Trump administration had sent far more support to Texas after Hurricane Harvey last year than it did to Puerto Rico, both in terms of the speed and size of assistance.

Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello and more than a dozen members of Congress have called for FEMA to further assist displaced Puerto Ricans by implementing the Disaster Housing Assistance Program, which funds longer-term housing for disaster survivors.

FEMA has so far refused, stating the program was inefficient and not cost effective.

But Gudaitis criticized FEMAs current hotel program as the biggest waste of money on the planet. The price of a couple months in a New York City hotel is equivalent to a years worth of rent, he said, and the governments money would be better spent on longer-term housing.

In October, Congress approved about $36 billion in aid for disaster relief for Puerto Rico, Texas, and states struck by last years wildfires. Congress also allocated around $15 billion to Maria recovery in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this year, but the total relief amounts to much less than the estimated $95 billion in damages Puerto Rico suffered, Rossello has said.

Reyes worries about having to move into New York Citys shelter system at the end of the month. She already did it for one night last month, before she got word that the hotel program had been extended. Her medical conditions force her to use the restroom several times per night, but the toilet in her room didnt work  and no one came to fix it until the next day. The food at the shelter was also high in sodium and bad for her blood pressure.

Were supposed to be U.S. citizens, Reyes said. Its not that I need a fancy hotel  Im just asking for a place with dignity.

Related Coverage

Miami's Displaced Puerto Ricans Offer A Glimpse At America's Looming Climate Crisis

More Than 1,000 Puerto Rican Families Are Still Living In Hotels After Maria. We Can Do Better.

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With a cross rising from a red pagoda roof and two lion statues guarding the entrance, a Catholic church in southern Taiwan could easily be mistaken for one of the ubiquitous temples dotting the island.

Taiwan embraces freedom of religion and has one of the highest densities of temples in the world, with close to 70 percent of the population believers in Taoism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk traditions.

About six percent of Taiwan's 23.57 million population are Christian, with 300,000 of those Catholic.

There are more than 1,000 churches across the island but the Holy Spirit Church is particularly unique.

Located on a quiet road in the rural town of Yanshui, about an hour's drive from southern Tainan city, it started life as a simple wooden structure, built by a German missionary more than six decades ago.

However, in 1986 it was reconstructed by Chinese pastor Li Shaofeng who had a very different vision, melding features of a typical Chinese temple into the design, including lanterns, red pillars, and painted dragons motifs.

"The pastor thought of building a more Chinese-style church to adapt to the local environment," said Joseph Chung, the church's current pastor.

"He built this church hoping to attract more followers," said Chung, 67.

- 'Blessed place' -

Several other churches in Taiwan incorporate some temple-like characteristics, but none to the same extent.

Murals cover almost all of the interior walls of the Holy Spirit Church, depicting teachings from the Bible, but with a twist -- most of the figures look Asian and wear Chinese-style clothing.

Even the bread in the church's mural of "The Last Supper" -- the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of Jesus and his apostles -- is replaced with baozi, Chinese steamed buns.

At the back of the main hall, next to the confessional, is a shrine with candles and a Chinese incense bowl to commemorate the church's late pastors.

Burning incense is a common Chinese tribute to deities or ancestors.

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Chung says the number of regular followers attending services has dropped in recent years as Yanshui residents move to bigger cities.

But masses are still held daily, with special events drawing believers from all over southern Taiwan.

The music for the services is performed by Catholic nuns from the attached Monastery of St Clare, which was started in 1990.

Churchgoer Cecilia Huang has been a regular visitor to the Holy Spirit Church for 20 years and says she particularly likes praying with the nuns.

Huang says she appreciates the church's design aesthetic and says it does not change the nature of her religion.

"The essence is the same," said Huang, 66.

"It's only the appearance that looks like it's integrated into Taiwan's environment, bringing blessings to this place."
By Jolyn Rosa

HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hurricane Lane, a powerful Category 3 storm, lashed Hawaii on Thursday with high winds and torrential rain, causing flash floods, landslides and raging surf as residents hunkered down to ride out the storm.

The storm spun in the Pacific Ocean about 165 miles (260 km) southwest of Kailua-Kona and nearly 20 inches (51 cm) of rain had fallen on the eastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

"There's lots and lots of rain, torrential rain, with a lot of moisture in the atmosphere," NWS meteorologist Chevy Chevalier said, noting there were reports of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) wind gusts. "We're in it now."

There were no reports of injuries, but roads were closed because of flash floods and landslides in the Pacific island state. Tourists were advised to stay away from a popular attraction on the island of Maui called the Seven Sacred Pools, a scenic cluster of waterfalls and grottos.

"Life threatening flash floods. This is a very dangerous situation. Avoid unnecessary travel," Governor David Ige said on Twitter.

Evacuations were underway on parts of Molokai and Maui islands while power outages were being reported on social media.

The latest predictions showed the eye of the storm twisting west of the Big Island on Friday morning before glancing past Maui and several other islands later in the day on its way to Oahu. But authorities warned the islands could still expect to be hit hard.

Lane shifted from heading northwest and was headed north at 6 miles per hour as the Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale was packing winds of 120 mph (195 kph), the service said in an evening advisory.

"We're telling everybody to take the storm seriously, make your final preparations, and be prepared to ride out what is going to be a prolonged rain event," said Andrew Pereira, communications director for the city and county of the state capital Honolulu.

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REMEMBERING INIKI

The National Hurricane Center warned storm surges could raise water levels 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) above normal along the western shores of the Big Island and that extreme rainfall could mean "numerous evacuations and rescues."

Ige has urged residents to set aside a 14-day supply of water, food and medicine. All public schools, University of Hawaii campuses and non-essential government offices on the islands of Oahu and Kauai were closed at least through Friday.

"We are in our room at Alohilani Resort waiting for Hurricane Lane to arrive," said Janina Ballali on Twitter. "Hopefully, the hurricane will have mercy with our beloved Oahu."

Par Pacific Holdings Inc said it had shut its 93,500 barrel-per-day refinery in Kapolei due to the storm.

In Hanalei on Kauai, rain fell Thursday as residents and businesses prepared for the hurricane while tourists continued to shop and dine in places that were still open.

Dave Stewart, owner of Kayak Hanalei, had boarded up the windows on his shop by mid-afternoon and moved the company's rental kayaks to high ground.

He said he wasn't taking any chances, having lived through severe flooding on Kauai's North Shore in April and through Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

"That was total destruction," he said of Iniki. "Seven out of 10 telephone poles were down, so even if your house was OK, you couldn't get out."

Iniki was the most powerful hurricane on record to hit Hawaii, making landfall on Kauai island on Sept. 11, 1992, as a Category 4. It killed six people and damaged or destroyed more than 14,000 homes.

The shelves of a downtown Honolulu Walmart were stripped of items ranging from canned tuna to dog food, bottled water and coolers full of ice.

Video footage showed whipping palm trees and darkening skies in Maui. In the Manoa Valley neighborhood in Honolulu, sidewalks typically full of joggers and dog walkers were empty as residents stood outside their homes watching the skies and businesses closed early for the day.

President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for Hawaii and ordered federal authorities to help supplement state and local responses, the White House said on Thursday.

The Coast Guard has ordered all harbors to close to incoming vessels and the U.S. Navy moved most of its fleet out of Pearl Harbor, where ships could provide aid after the storm.

Since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has made changes to how it works, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said at a briefing in Washington, making sure generators are in place so they can provide power to residents and quickly restart the water system.

"It's not just providing food and water. If you fix the power first, you solve 90 percent of the problems," he said.

(Reporting by Jolyn Rosa; Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert in Washington and Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, shakes hands with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila in November 2017. The two world leaders have seen their relationship deteriorate since this international meeting. Photo from Getty Images.

The president of the Philippines is taking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to task for his human rights concerns.

The outspoken Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte referenced the Canadian government while speaking about a botched deal for the Philippines to purchase a fleet of attack helicopters from Canada.

The story was first reported in Canada by Global News. In a video posted online Tuesday, the Filipino leader can be seen slamming Trudeau for allegedly not fully understanding the situation in the Philippines.

For Gods sake, Mr. Trudeau. My own citizens are rebelling against us, killing my soldiers and policemen and civilians. And I cannot use the helicopter because they are citizens but they are out to overthrow my government, an exasperated Duterte said.

If you cannot understand, you should not be there in that mighty post of yours. Because you do not know the history of the world and geopolitics, the president added.

The Southeast Asian country has been battling rebels and drug dealers for some time, but the conflict escalated in 2016 when Duterte won the presidency.

In January, Human Rights Watch released a report claiming more than 12,000 lives have been lost in the Philippines since the apparent drug war began in 2016. Critics say many of the reported executions have taken place without due process. In 2017, Amnesty International called Duterte a human rights nightmare.

The criticism hasnt deterred Duterte, who mocked Trudeau and called him corny for his stance on the matter.

This is a troubled world. It has always been a troubled world ever since, Duterte said, adding internal and exterla forces are making it hard for Filipinos.

Not the first squabble

In 2012, the Philippines agreed to purchase 16 attack helicopters from Canada for $233 million. However, the deal was cancelled by the Philippines earlier this year after Canadian officials ordered a review of the deal, which became controversial after Duterte reportedly admitted he wanted to use the helicopters to finish off rebels.

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Canadian officials said they were initially told the aircraft would be used for humanitarian missions and search-and-rescue operations.

Joe Pickerill, a spokesman for International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr, told CTV News via email the statements made by the Filipino government earlier this year remain deeply troubling.

This isnt the first time Duterte has expressed displeasure with his Canadian counterpart.

In March, Duterte reportedly slammed Trudeau over his human rights concerns that eventually led to a botched agreement for the fleet of Canadian-made helicopters.

My God, you Canadians, how stupid can you get? Our citizens are joining the ISIS so we have every right to kill our citizens because we do not want to destroy the community with apathy, Duterte reportedly told local officials in Manila, as reported by GMA News, a network based in the Philippines.

Last November, Trudeau said he confronted Duterte about the bloody conflict taking place in the Philippines. Duterte responded publicly by referring to the incident as a personal and official insult, without mentioning the foreigner by name.
Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian authorities have arrested seven people including a former diplomat who had proposed a referendum on the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a defence lawyer said Friday.

Masom Marzok, a former assistant foreign minister who had publicly criticised Sisi, called this month for a poll on the former military chief remaining in power.

Marzok and the other detainees were arrested Thursday and remanded for 15 days pending investigations, defence lawyer Khaled Ali wrote on his Facebook page.

They were accused of several crimes including partnering with a terrorist organisation and colluding to commit terrorist acts, he said.

One of them, Amr Mohamed, was accused of joining a terrorist group.

Ali said Marzok's had family called him Thursday and told him that a large number of security personnel and vehicles had surrounded the house.

Initially they said they just wanted to talk to Marzok, but later they detained him and took him to a location they did not disclose at the time, Ali told AFP.

He said questioning of the detainees would continue until Monday.

Former armed forces chief Sisi won the presidency in 2014 after leading the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, following mass protests against the Islamist's rule.

Sisi was re-elected with 97 percent of the vote in March, beating a single opponent widely seen as a token challenger.

Critics say Sisi's government has carried out a widespread crackdown on dissent.
 Flash

Chinese mining firm Nonferrous China Africa (NFCA) on Wednesday launched production work for its greenfield project in Chambishi town on the Copperbelt Province with Zambian President Edgar Lungu hailing it as an example of serious investment.





The South East Ore Body is the latest project of the Chinese firm since its acquisition of Chambishi Mine 20 years ago. About 870 million U.S. dollars has been invested in the new project.





"This project is an affirmation of the seriousness that Nonferrous China Africa attaches to investing in our country. It is also a signal that Zambia's investment climate is conducive for the mining industry," the Zambian leader said at the commissioning of the project.





The Zambian leader commended the Chinese firm for its resilience in ensuring that the project comes to fruition despite the country going through turmoil following depressed copper prices on the international market and an energy crisis the country faced.





The coming on board of South East Ore Body will make up for the decline in production in other operations due to depletion of resources or other challenges being faced, he added.





The commencement of mining, he said, was significant to the local people in the town as the new project was expected to boost the mine's life span by about 24 years, adding that the extension of operations implies more business opportunities for the local people.





He further commended the Chinese firm for reviving mining operations in the town following its acquisition of Chambeshi Mine which had been on care and maintenance.





Li Jie, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, said the development of the new project was significant not only for the mining firm but the country's mining industry as well as practical cooperation between the two countries.





The Chinese envoy said the firm has invested 1.17 billion U.S. dollars since resumption of operations of Chambishi Mine, adding that the new project was the third body built by the firm.





He further said Zambia was now being considered as a conducive environment destination in Africa for Chinese enterprises because of its stable political situation, among other things.





Wang Tongzhou, Chairman of China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group), the parent company, said Zambia was the most critical area for its overseas investment.





The firm, he said, has 14 subsidiaries in the southern African nation which have invested in three mines, three smelters and an economic facility zone.





He further commended the Zambian government for its unwavering support to the company's investment in the last 20 years, adding that more than 5, 000 jobs will be created at the new project.





According to him, the China-Zambia cooperation was an ongoing process which will never stop and that the forthcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit next month will open a new chapter for closer ties.
(BLOOMBERG)  Elon Musk has hired Morgan Stanley to assist him in his potential bid to take Tesla Inc. private, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Musk, 47, shocked the financial world Aug. 7 when the chief executive officer tweeted that he wanted to take the electric-car maker private and had funding secured. The tweet has drawn a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

By hiring both Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, Musk has tied up the top two merger advisers in the U.S. this year.

Tesla didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Brussels (AFP) - The EU hit back Friday at Italian "threats" after the deputy prime minister warned that Rome would pull funding for the bloc if Brussels fails to relocate migrants from a coast guard ship.

Luigi Di Maio said Thursday that his government is prepared to drop its annual contribution to the EU if an emergency meeting of key states in Brussels does nothing for the migrants blocked aboard the Diciotti vessel at the Sicilian port of Catania.

"Unconstructive comments, let alone threats, are not helpful and they will not get us any closer to a solution," European Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein told a briefing.

"The EU is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats."

Winterstein said the European Commission urged "all the parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution for the persons on board in the spirit of good cooperation."

The migrants have been blocked at Catania since Monday night as the Italian government refuses to allow them to disembark without commitments from the EU to take some of them in.

High-level officials from a dozen EU member states were meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss what EU officials said was the broader issue of the disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea.

EU sources said they did not know whether the delegates would strike a deal on the Diciotti during their talks in Brussels.

Italy's new populist government has taken a hard line on migration since coming to power, demanding the EU do more to share the responsibility of caring for migrants who land on its shores as one of the main entry points to Europe.

Di Maio said in an interview published on Facebook on Thursday evening that "if they decide nothing regarding the Diciotti and the redistribution of the migrants, I and the whole Five Star Movement will no longer be prepared to give 20 billion euros ($23.1 billion) to the European Union every year."
People rescued by the Italian coastguard waiting for a diplomatic stand-off to be resolved so they can disembark (Getty)

The EU has hit back at the Italian governments unprecedented attempt to hold it to ransom in the latest stand-off over who should take responsibility for migrants rescued at sea.

The European Commission told Rome that threats wont help resolve a situation which has seen 150 migrants waiting to disembark an Italian coastguard vessel, the Diciotti, for three days.

It comes after Italys deputy prime minister, Luigi Di Maio of the 5-Star Movement, vowed yesterday to withhold the countrys contributions to the EUs budget unless other member states agreed to take the migrants after a meeting being held in Brussels today.

If tomorrow nothing comes out of a European Commission meeting on redistributing migrants from the Diciotti ship, the 5-Star and I will not be willing to give 20bn each year to the EU, he said in a video message posted on Facebook.

Italy was a net contributor to the EU budget last year. But Commission figures show the country paid in 12bn  far less than Di Maio claimed  and received 9.7bn back.

MORE: EU hits back at claims it is to blame for Italy bridge tragedy

No country has ever withheld one of its monthly payments to the EU budget.

The commission issued a combative response at its daily press conference, saying it would not respond well to threats.

Its deputy chief spokesperson, Alexander Winterstein, said: Finding a solution for the persons on board is our main priority, that is what we are focused on  and that is what we think everybody else should be focused on.

Lets not engage in finger pointing. We also believe that unconstructive comments, let alone threats, are not helpful and they will not get us any closer to a solution.

The European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules  not threats. So, we would call on all parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution for the persons on board in the spirit of good cooperation.

Luigi Di Maio, Italys deputy prime minister, has threatened to withhold payments to the EU budget (Getty)

The Diciotti docked in Catania three days ago after rescuing 177 people in the Mediterranean. The Italian government allowed the 27 children to leave the boat but have forced the 150 adults to remain on board.

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The International Organisation for Migration has called for their release, saying migrants arriving from Libya are often the victims of violence, abuse and torture.

A Doctors without Borders psychologist who spoke to the children reported that they had spent more than a year in detention, where they were abused and mistreated.

The commission says it has been coordinating intense contacts between member states to find a solution.

A similar situation was resolved earlier this month when six other EU countries offered to take-in 141 migrants who had been rescued in the Mediterranean by the Aquarius rescue ship.

MORE: Stand-off over Aquarius rescue ship ends as six countries offer help

Italy had pointed the finger at the UK on that occasion, saying the government should take responsibility for the people on board because the Aquarius was flying under a Gibraltar flag.

A meeting of representatives from 12 member states is taking place in Brussels today in a bid to agree on a permanent process for people rescued at sea, but the commission stressed it was not designed to resolve the latest stand-off.

In June, the European Council proposed control centres should be set-up across the EU where migrants would be taken upon arrival.

Once there, they would assess who were refugees with a right to claim asylum and who were economic migrants with no right to remain.

No EU country has yet come forward to say they will house such a centre on their territory. EU leaders also agreed to investigate the possibility of having processing centres in north Africa.




Leaders from Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants will meet on Friday to strategize ways to avoid messing up the 2018 midterm elections as royally as they did the 2016 presidential election.

Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebooks head of cybersecurity policy, reached out to employees from a dozen tech companies last week to coordinate a strategy meeting on curbing misinformation, Buzzfeed News reported. The tech giants are expected to gather at Twitters headquarters in downtown San Francisco on Friday, just days after Facebook announced it had removed 652 accounts, groups, and pages for coordinating disinformation campaigns.

Mark Zuckerberg after testifying before Congress in April.

The companies that will meet have faced varying levels of criticism for how their platforms were used to spread misinformation during the 2016 presidential election, particularly by Russian intelligence groups. Ahead of Novembers midterm elections, leaders from Facebook and Twitter are expected to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next month to answer questions about the two social media companies roles in protecting voters from misinformation.

Gleichers emailed invitation said that the meeting will have a three-part agenda, beginning with a presentation from each company on the work their teams are doing to counter misinformation. This will be followed by a discussion period where company leaders can share their ongoing problems and workshop new ideas for solutions. Lastly, the meeting will explore the possibility of becoming a regular occurrence, creating an intercompany task force across the countrys largest tech platforms.

Not only has Facebook deleted hundreds of accounts for building misinformation campaigns this week, but on Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it had shut down several web domains believed to be registered by Russian intelligence for phishing operations. Two days later, Google announced that it had removed several fake news accounts from YouTube.

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Ahead of next months hearing, its clear that Facebook will want to appear proactive in its strategy to combat foreign meddling and misinformation. While the plans discussed in Fridays meeting have not been made public, the fruits of their labor will most likely be presented before the Senate Intelligence Committee in September.

Photos via Flickr / ahhhnice, Wikimedia / SecretName101

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ACCRA (Reuters) - Former United Nations chief and Noble prize laureate Kofi Annan will be buried in his home country Ghana on Sept 13, the West African nation's president said on Friday. Nana Akufo-Addo told a delegation of Annan's family that Annan would have a full state burial, "befitting his status as a global icon, diplomat and statesman". Annan died in a Swiss hospital in the early hours of Saturday at the age of 80. He was surrounded in his last days by his second wife Nane and children Kojo and Nina, his foundation and close associates said. After rising through the ranks of the United Nations, Annan served two terms as U.N. Secretary-General in New York from 1997-2006 and retired to live in a Swiss village in the Geneva countryside. His 10-year-old foundation promotes good governance and the transformation of African agriculture. Annan and the United Nations shared the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to reform the world body and give priority to human rights issues. (Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Derrick Peters, 58, was jailed for six years at Isleworth Crown Court after fabricating a story about Grenfell. (PA/Rex)

A repulsive fraudster who posed as a Grenfell Tower victim to dodge jail for burglary has been sentenced to six years.

Derrick Peters, 58, was put up in the Park Grand hotel in Paddington, west London, after claiming he lost his friend and all his possessions in the blaze.

He ran up a 40,000 bill in the 192-a-night room, including 5,000 spent on food, drink and laundry.

Peters was later arrested on August 10 after burgling a nearby flat, stealing jewellery and other items worth around 3,000.

Council bosses continued to pay for his room for two months while he was held on remand in Wandsworth prison.

The fire at Grenfell Tower, pictured here in June, claimed 72 lives. (Rex)

He returned to the hotel having been handed a community order after repeating his Grenfell lies in mitigation to the judge sentencing him at Isleworth Crown Court on October 16.

Shameless Peters continued the pretence and was even offered a flat meant for genuine victims of the disaster that left 72 people dead.

However, his story unravelled after Rebecca Ross, a Grenfell survivor whose father Steve Power perished in the fire, confirmed Peters had not lived with them and their three dogs as he had claimed.

Peters admitted perverting the court of justice and two counts of fraud at Isleworth Crown Court and was sentenced on Friday. He was also re-sentenced for the original burglary charge.

The fire ripped through Grenfell Tower in West London on June 14 last year. (Rex)

Derrick Peter ran up a 40,000 hotel at the Park Grand in Paddington. (Google Street View)

Jailing firm for six years, Judge Robin Johnson told serial criminal Peters he was sure he had been previously spared jail because of his brazen lie to the judge.

It was designed to pull heart strings. It succeeded, just as the similar lies were providing you with hotel accommodation and money, he said.

Your conduct from June last year was utterly disgraceful. You cheated and lied for your own ends, trading on others misery. There can be little mercy in such a case.

Derrick Peters was jailed for six years after admitted perverting the course of justice. (PA)

The judge said Peters crimes had reached such depths as any right-minded member of the public would find repulsive.

Not only did you burgle a persons house, but when caught you latched on to the same idea that had enriched you for weeks, he continued.

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You advanced bogus mitigation which was designed to, and which did, spare you from condign punishment.

On hearing your mitigation, the sentencing judge was sufficiently moved to spare you, a person who has a long and unenviable criminal record, from prison.

The court heard Peters has 40 convictions for 90 offences, including 73 for dishonesty offences including fraud and theft.

He is the sixth person to be sentenced for fraud relating to the Grenfell fire and received the longest prison term yet.

In a statement read in court, Edward Daffarn, a member of the Grenfell United survivors group, said he was left sickened by what Peters had done.

It is upsetting beyond words to learn the tragedy of Grenfell Tower is being used by individuals so that they can exploit our misery for their own gain, he said.

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It is pouring salt on the wounds of the bereaved and ex-Tower residents to know that the deaths and trauma we have had to endure is seen simply as an opportunity for others to profit and exploit.

Corrinne Jones described escaping from the towers 17th floor with her two young children as one of the most horrific things that I have experienced.

I find people lying about living in a building where a considerable amount of people died as disrespectful and distasteful, she said in a statement.

The judge told Peters: The facts of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy are well known. The effect on those who died, their families and friends, cannot be imagined by those who were not directly affected.

Members of the public, indeed the nation, were shocked by the dreadful event.

The fact that the unscrupulous sought to enrich themselves with accommodation, room service and money is the more shocking in the light of the outpouring of grief and sympathy that followed the disaster.
Paris (AFP) - 2018 is shaping up to be a vintage year for French wine -- the best for almost a decade.

The near perfect combination of a wet spring followed by a long hot summer has left winemakers rubbing their hands with glee.

The earliest harvest in 15 years is already in full swing in the Champagne region with the first grapes picked in equally northerly Alsace on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of schedule.

With global sales of champagne alone likely to pass five billion euros ($5.8 billion) this year, government expert predicted Friday that the overall French harvest could be up by as much a quarter.

And with the quality of the grapes said to be high, a truly vintage year to match 2009 could be in the offing.

All the wine producing areas of the country except Corsica, Languedoc-Roussillon and the Riviera coast have reported more and better grapes compared to the last five years.

Winemakers, however, were quick to insist that they will not be celebrating until they have the grapes in the barrel.

"A lot can happen," said Charles Bonnafont of the Peyres Roses winery at Cahuzac sur Vere near Gaillac in southwest France.

"Yes, it is looking very good. If we had a little rain now and than some more sunshine before the harvest it might be even more perfect," he told AFP.

- Bumper harvest -

Like many winemakers, his organic vines were hit by mildew after a very soggy spring but "the long dry hot summer has helped us to halt it and allow the grapes to ripen really well".

Other organic winemakers, however, have struggled to stay on top of the parasite even with the help of the heatwave. Laurent Herlin, from Bourgueil in the Loire valley, said even drought "did not totally stop the march of mildew", which can eat away and wither bunches of grapes on the vine.

The French government agency FranceAgriMer said that mildew and violent spring storms had also hit the harvest along "the Atlantic coast and particularly along the Mediterranean".

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Yet that would not stop 2018 being a bumper year -- if the weather holds up for a few more weeks, it said.

While the harvest is very early in many of the country's most famous grape-growing regions -- with pickers out in the renowned vineyards around the Burgundy village of Meursault on Tuesday -- it is not the case everywhere.

Some domains around Bordeaux have begun harvesting grapes for their white wines, but Bonnafort said that further to the east in Gaillac picking was likely to start between September 5 and 10 -- "which is not that far ahead of the norm".

- Never-ending summer -

The harvest in Fitou, traditionally the first in France, actually began a little late.

Even so Laurent Maynadier was still the first French winemaker to put his secateurs to work on August 7 as he harvested by hand on the hillsides overlooking the Mediterranean near Narbonne.

Fitou may be known for its strong smooth reds but it was the first ripe muscat grapes for its lesser known white wines that Maynadier was picking.

Sales of white wines from the area have "doubled in four years", according to Jerome Villaret, of the Languedoc AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee), which certifies wines in the huge southern wine region.

"Winemakers here have been working extremely hard on the quality and their efforts are being recognised with their white wines now being widely exported to the US and Japan," he said.

"Vines love the sun," said Bernard Farges, head of the union of winemakers in the prestigious Bordeaux region, as he rejoiced at the seemingly never-ending French summer.

Despite the mildew which took a toll particularly on the merlot grapes used in its famous claret reds, production is still likely to be hugely ahead of the disastrously small crop of 2017.

Like some other big-name regions, Bordeaux was devastated last year by frosts and hailstone storms.

Still experts are waiting to see how the final ripening of the grapes goes before they uncork something special to celebrate.
By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - General Mills Inc agreed to stop calling the oats in its Nature Valley granola bars 100 percent natural to settle a lawsuit by three consumer groups that said the bars contained small amounts of the pesticide commonly known as Roundup.

Beyond Pesticides, Moms Across America and the Organic Consumers Association on Thursday said the settlement calls for General Mills to remove the phrase "Made with 100% Natural Whole Grain Oats" from Nature Valley labels.

The groups said independent tests showed that the granola bars contained 0.45 parts per million of glyphosate, and that oats were the "most likely" source of the pesticide.

While this was below the maximum 30 parts per million that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends, the groups said General Mills' label was deceptive and that "no reasonable consumer" would expect the bars to contain anything unnatural.

"Nature Valley is confident in the accuracy of its label," General Mills spokesman Mike Siemienas said in an email.

He said the Minneapolis-based company settled to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation, and focus on making Nature Valley products "with 100 percent whole grain oats."

The settlement came 13 days after a San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto Co to pay a school groundskeeper $289 million after he said his exposure to its Roundup weed killer and another glyphosate herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Bayer AG , which now owns Monsanto, has said it would appeal the jury's verdict.

The General Mills lawsuit was one of many accusing food companies of using deceptive labels, including terms such as "natural" that do not have clearly understood meanings, to induce consumers to buy or pay more for their products.

In July 2017, a Minneapolis federal judge dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit over General Mills' "100% Natural" label, saying that even if the oats contained traces of glyphosate, "there is no allegation that the oats, themselves, are not natural."

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A subsequent appeal was dismissed.

The consumer groups had sued General Mills two years ago in Superior Court in Washington, D.C.

The Organic Consumers Association sued Unilever Plc in the same court on July 9 over its labeling for Ben & Jerry's ice cream, including a claim over the use of glyphosate.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Phil Berlowitz)
(Photo: YinYang via Getty Images)

A Georgia county has fired a consultant who had recommended closing almost all of its polling places, prompting accusations that he was trying to disenfranchise the countys majority-black population, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Associated Press.

Michael Malone, who was hired in April, publicly presented plans to close seven of nine polling locations in Randolph County, which is more than 60 percent black. Malone said the measure would save the county money and was appropriate because the seven polling locations were not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

However, a HuffPost public records request revealed that the county had no formal study of the ADA issues at the polling places or what it would take to fix them, even on a temporary basis.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and other civil rights groups warned the county against implementing the proposal, saying it was discriminatory and that they would likely sue. The ACLU noted the countys racial makeup and that some voters lived in areas without public transportation and were unlikely to have a car.

Malones dismissal comes as the county is set to vote on his proposal to close to polling places.

Tommy Coleman, a lawyer representing the county, told the AJC he would be the most surprised person in Georgia if the proposal passed.

Coleman did not immediately return a request for comment. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the proposal to consolidate polling places initiated the conversation about Malones dismissal among the county commissioners.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
After Tristan Burns and Luke Karshagen said their vows on Saturday, their photographer suggested they take their wedding party to a nearby picturesque park for great lighting and a beautiful backdrop. That much is typical for any wedding photo scenario. But this couple got an extra scenic addition to their shoot at Areena Riverside Resort near East London, South Africa: a curious giraffe named Abby.

Areena always has wildlife roaming around, but I really wasnt expecting Abby to pop his head among the trees, Burns tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Honestly, I was a little worried at first. I didnt want anyone to get hurt, nor did I know the nature of Abby. He just popped his head out of the trees. He must have heard us and just came waltzing into our party.

Luke Karshagen and Tristan Burns had an unusual guest star in their wedding photos. (Photo: Stephanie Norman)

Photographer Stephanie Norman has shot at Areena before, but this was the first time her subjects had ever been photobombed by a giraffe. While the wedding party was all rather startled by the enormous creature  even in South Africa, this is rather unusual  he soon put them at ease.

Abby the giraffe is ready for his close-up. (Photo: Stephanie Norman)

We could then see he was very relaxed and just nosy, so we all relaxed a bit and started taking some selfies, but we were still mindful of his space and not wanting to get in his way, Norman tells Yahoo Lifestyle. When I saw how relaxed and friendly he was, I knew I had to take the chance to get them an amazing photo, so I quickly asked them to stand in the path and was just hoping to get a pic with him in the background. That was when he came closer, bent his head, and gave them a little nuzzle! It was amazing and more than we could have ever hoped for.

According to Areenas website, Abby (which originally stood for abnormally big baby) arrived at the reserve when he was just a few months old, so he was hand-reared and grew up with the goats in the petting zoo. Even though as an adult hes free to roam the grounds, he always returns to the entrance and main road, where he can get extra attention from the humans there. Apparently, his kisses are famous.

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When Norman initially shared her photos on Love What Matters, she described how Abby walked away after posing for the perfect photo with the newlyweds, but then he popped up again moments later.

Burns thinks the bouquets she and her bridesmaids were holding were what attracted Abby to their shoot, but he stuck around for almost half an hour.

I think the squealing and laughing kept him entertained, says Burns, who was friends with Karshagen before they started dating three years ago.

Luke Karshagen and Tristan Burns (Photo: Stephanie Norman)

Sure, most brides and grooms want their wedding to be like a fairy tale, but how many actually get that ultimate Disney touch, a kiss from a friendly wild beast?

[Abby] showed us how gentle nature can be, Burns says. Luke and I feel so blessed with the whole situation.

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More than 40,000 giraffe parts have been imported into the United States in recent years to make luxury pillows, cowboy boots and other items even as populations of the gentle giant have plummeted throughout Africa, according to a report released Thursday.

The Humane Society of the United States discovered a thriving market for giraffe trophies around the country as part of an undercover investigation into a currently unregulated market. The organization found retailers hawking a custom-made giraffe jacket for $5,500, hide pillows for $200, a duffle bag made from the animals skin for $400 and leather Bible covers for $400. The most common items were Western boots and bone-handled knives.

Giraffes are strikingly beautiful animals, with distinct patterns and long legs and necks, the Humane Society wrote in a release. Unfortunately, that beauty has also made them a new exotic and sparked a market in giraffe leather, bone and trophies, especially as other wildlife products, like elephant ivory, have been regulated.

Investigators said several makers of giraffe products told them the animal parts come from trophy hunters. The main threats to the creatures are habitat loss and poaching for meat.

Nearly 4,000 #giraffes killed by trophy hunters were imported into the US over the last decade. 



A new undercover investigation has revealed the scale of the US market for giraffe knife handles, Western boots, furniture, taxidermy & even bible covers: https://t.co/0nuOVCVYhu pic.twitter.com/Uxl21QtAOE  The Humane Society of the United States (@HumaneSociety) August 23, 2018

Populations have fallen by as much as 40 percent since the 1980s in whats been dubbed a silent extinction, according to a 2016 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). There are now fewer than 100,000 giraffes left in the wild, and some subspecies have seen population numbers sink by 50 percent or more.

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We cant afford any additional pressure amidst what experts have dubbed the silent extinction, Adam Peyman, a manager of wildlife programs at Humane Society International, told The New York Times. These are products that most people wouldnt be interested in, but I think its important to raise awareness among the public to the fact that these things are sold across the country.

The animals are not listed under the Endangered Species Act but are classified as vulnerable by IUCN. The group notes that giraffes have been historically overlooked in terms of research and conservation, but in the past five years, considerable progress has been made in compiling and producing a species-wide assessment of population size and distribution.

Giraffe feet and partial legs for sale at Atlantic Coral Enterprises in St. Augustine, Florida, in March. (Photo: The Human Society of the United States)

HSUS has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add giraffes to its list of protected species alongside the lists from other conservation agencies, which would force the implementation of a near-total restriction on imports and sales of giraffe parts.

The agency has not yet responded to the petition.

Americans expect their government to be a leader in conservation, and it is high time that the USFWS acts on the petition to prevent a further decline in the worlds giraffe population, The Humane Society said. With more public awareness, we can make this deplorable trade in giraffe parts and products extinct, and save this gentle giant from extinction.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Harley Wants You to Crack Open a Cold 115th Anniversary Beer

An all-American beer for an all-American company

If you haven't heard, Harley-Davidson is celebrating its 115th anniversary this year, not a small milestone as far as motorcycle companies go. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the celebrations will culminate between August 29 and September 2. For the occasion, three breweries have teamed up to create a limited edition Harley-Davidson beer so Harlistas can raise a glass of Milwaukee lager to their favorite brand.

The Harley beer is the result of a joint effort of US breweries Milwaukee Brewing, Third Space Brewing, and Good City Brewing. It uses pure Milwaukee barley roasted in Milwaukee, tossed with brown rice. Is that enough Milwaukee yet?

Matching Harley's new ambitions to become a cross-generational brand not limited to the loyal middle-agers anymore, the beer is also an attempt to meet the expectations of young and young at heart. The fruity lager is a balance between a more mainstream lager and a more elaborate brew that aims to appeal both to craft beer enthusiasts and old-school beer drinkers.

THE FUTURE: Harley Finally Enters the 21st Century with Big News

Andy Gehl of Third Space explains in the promotional video that they wanted something super balanced and easy to drink that some people can enjoy on a hot day after a ride. The goal was also to highlight the city's history by bringing together the 115-year-old motorcycle company and newly established breweries, representing the past and the future.

THE POLITICS: What New Metal Import Tariffs Mean for US Motorcycle OEMs

The beer will be distributed at Harley-Davidson's events, in bars, and restaurants, and is also sold by certain retailers in the Milwaukee area. The beer is a limited edition so for the all the curious out there, you might want to get your hands on one sooner rather than later. At the risk of sounding like your mother, if you plan on giving this Harley a try, leave the other one home.

Source: Food and Wine
A high school principal is drawing criticism for connecting sexual abuse to dressing provocatively and suggesting that dress codes would solve the problem. (Photo: Getty Images)

A public school district is denouncing one of its principals after she suggested that a stricter dress code could prevent sexual abuse of girls.

Melanie Beatty-Sevier, principal of Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. College Prep High School in the Bronzeville area of Chicago made the stunning remarks at a recent school council meeting recorded by a parent, who re-played the audio during a Board of Education meeting Wednesday.

The dress code  as we already stated, there have been sexual abuse cases throughout the city of Chicago, said Beatty-Sevier on the footage obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. These things are put in place to, why, why should we allow students to dress provocatively? According to local news station ABC 7, some girls claimed to have been told at freshman orientation that they must be covered from shoulder to knee.

On the recording, parents can be heard protesting, saying Woah! and Come on!

"Why should we allow students to dress provocatively," said King College Prep High School's new principal when justifying a change in dress code to prevent sexual abuse. CPS officials are reviewing the remarks, @bylaurenfitz reports: https://t.co/zWGMbCSdko pic.twitter.com/Ev3VwALUgC  Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) August 22, 2018

Melanie Beatty-Sevier, principal of Chicagos Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. College Preparatory High School. (Photo: ABC 7/Chicago Sun-Times)

Emily Bolton, press secretary for academics at the Chicago Public Schools district, sent the following statement to Yahoo Lifestyle: The district strongly disagrees with Principal Beatty-Seviers comments and we are evaluating appropriate disciplinary options. Supporting students must be the first priority of every principal, teacher and staff member and comments like these do not align with the districts values or approach to supporting and protecting students.

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On Thursday night, ABC 7 reports, the local school council met to discuss the remarks. Former parent and council member Kwesi Kuntu told the news station, I dont think shes trying to objectify students with their dress apparel, with sexual misconduct. However, another woman expressed regret to hear her say, and to allude, that somehow dress is responsible or is connected to rap culture.

Tiana Redmond, 18, an elected student representative on the council who recently graduated from King College Prep tells Yahoo Lifestyle: The majority of the community is upset and want their former principal back. How students dress does not dictate sexual assault.

A school council meeting was called at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. College Prep to discuss controversial remarks made by the principal. (Photo: ABC 7/Chicago Sun-Times)

Several people tweeted their dismay about a philosophy that appeared to burden young girls with preventing their own abuse.

Rape is universal and this will not deter rapists from raping people. You are victim blaming girls. How about classes on consent and healthy relationships? @kingcollegeprep https://t.co/igloTgw2id  unbothered gucci femme for liberation#august21 (@disabledbih) August 24, 2018

No maam! Victim blaming, not raising young men to have appropriate attitudes towards women, and refusing to hold them accountable for their actions, are the issues. Try to fix that, instead.  ClassicallyBeezil (@BeezilTheGreat) August 24, 2018

And its happening more to black and Latina girls for having natural curves, attacking our natural curves, our hairstyles, our music, our skin solid all euros tactics of forced assimilation. Change us but not themselves!  ChiTownLioness (@Blk_Cat713) August 22, 2018

As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Beatty-Sevier assumed her position in June and began making suggestions about the dress code (which is not available online) at the school that  ironically  prides itself on engaging scholars to become social and cultural activists, according to its website.

There are many school dress codes that emphasize how girls look in their clothing, but its rare to hear an educator so openly acknowledge a policys sexist nature. A statement like this reflects our societal belief that girls are the bearers of morality, whether it means accepting or rejecting a date or managing others sexual frustration, Christia Brown, a professor of developmental psychology and author of Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. This, of course, is much of why the #MeToo movement was born.

One-sided dress codes are often written without consulting the researchers who study  and have proven  that clothing and sex crimes are largely unrelated. Both schools and scientists do a poor job of reaching out, says Brown. There are people dedicated to studying dress codes, yet somehow policies are written without the science.

Sexual harassment and assault policies should be approached similarly to bullying, she says. We wouldnt tell bullied children to change their behavior, yet we still give boys a pass when it comes to sex-related policies  a frustrating fact, considering that 90 percent of girls are sexually harassed at school during adolescence, according to a study co-authored by Brown and published in the journal Child Development.

We have an aversion to having honest conversations about sexual misconduct, says Brown, Yet we allow it to occur at rampant rates.

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The education system in India has been the topic of many a hot debate on television news channels, but little has been done for any positive change.

According to an article written by educationist Lina Ashar, founder of Kangaroo Kids, the Indian education market is expected to almost double to $180 billion by 2020, buoyed by the rapid expansion of the digital learning market and the worlds largest population in the age bracket of 6 to 17 years inspite of this section being plagued by poor infrastructure and shortage of trained teachers.

Increase in number of expensive private schools

But its not only poor infrastructure and shortage of trained teachers that is plunging the education system in India into chaos: in todays India, there is a huge increase in exclusive private schools  with sky-high annual fees. No doubt the use of technology and teaching methods may be top of the line, the fully air-conditioned schools may be luxurious, but one has to ask, is it necessary for a child to be exposed to all that at such a young age?

More information, less knowledge

Educationist Sonam Wangchuk, who is known to be the inspiration behind the film 3 Idiots, told DNA, Good quality education should not just be restricted to the rich in private schools, but should be available in public schools too. Paper knowledge, paper evaluations, paper degrees all too papery and all too theoretical; it has very little that prepares us for real life in the real world.

Sounds a lot like Phunsuk Wangdu in 3 Idiots; the problem we face is aptly explained by Empower India Alliance (EIA)  India has approximately 250 million children going to about 1 million schools. Just under one-quarter of the students in grade 5 could solve a two-digit subtraction, such as 46-17, in India. This is the problem of an outdated syllabus, a culture of memorising than understanding.

Sad state of teachers and government spend in education sector

In a study done in the state of Karnataka by the department of public instruction (DPI), it was revealed that 229 teachers working in 261 lower primary public schools all reported zero student admissions throughout the state.

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According to a CNBCTV18 report, a study by the Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability (CBGA) reveals a shortage of more than five lakh teachers in government elementary schools. Furthermore, we as a country are spending less on education in comparison to other countries. According to World Banks data, the Indian government spent $142 per student in 2013. Our developing neighbour Indonesia spent $432 per student that year. South Africa spent $1,290, Brazil $2417 and Thailand $1437 in the same year.

Bullying, fringe elements, rapes & murders

Now add to that the horror of increasing rapes and murders of children in schools by the staff and even by the peers  remember the Ryan School Gurugram murder? Even the rate of suicides among children, especially after examinations, is an alarming reality in India.

And what about bullying? Not only is bullying among peers rampant in our schools (no, it is not a western concept), it is slowly becoming a cause for political mud-slinging.

Schools being bullied by fringe elements has brought about a bad taste in the mouth. In 2017 December, according to a news report by IANS, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad affiliated activist group warned Christian schools in Aligarh of dire consequences if they celebrated Christmas. The Hindu Jagran Manch, in a letter to all city schools, has said that if the festival is celebrated by them they would be doing it at their own risk. All this, to avoid conversions.

Why homeschooling could be the answer

A key point made by Lina Ashar, in her article written for Qrius (formerly, The Indian Economist), that all traditional methods of teaching will no longer work, and education professionals must (shift) their focus towards personalising education for each child.

According to a recent report by the Indian Express, while there are no clear data on students being taught at home, experts in the field believe that around 15,000 families in the country have chosen to homeschool their kids.

Sudha Acharya, Principal, ITL Public School, New Delhi, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN), says, The teacher stands as a lifelong learner; as a facilitator who guides the student and filters information. The ever compelling addicts to all kind of information play havoc to young mind. It is precisely at this crucial juncture that the facilitators guide through a series of age appropriate informal for intellectual growth.

Could this facilitator be a parent or guardian (instead of a teacher), as they teach their children within the safe and nurturing environment of their own homes?

Take the example of Malvika Raj Joshi, a 17-year-old from Mumbai who was accepted into the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The teen had dropped out of school in standard VII, so that she could be homeschooled by her parents. However, the computer science enthusiast continued to participate in science competitions, especially the International Olympiad of Informatics, and even won two silver and one bronze medal. MIT noticed it and offered her a computer science program.

Lets look at some ways homeschooling could be the answer to our education woes in 2018.

According to Chris Weller, of Business Insider, some of the most compelling reasons to opt for homeschooling include:

Personalised learning and learning by choice

As parents customise teaching for their kids, it is quite easy for them  after a point  to realize what comes naturally to their child, how much they can absorb in a day, what are the subjects they are more interested in and even what are the out-of-syllabus subjects they can learn. For example, a child with aptitude for psychology can begin classes as early as in the 4th standard.

Homeschoolers network

One of the biggest reasons parents dont opt for homeschooling is that they think that their kids will isolated from the real world of peers and pressure. But that is not true either. A reasonable (and healthy) workload helps a child thrive. And a homeschoolers support network of parents and children are encouraged to meet up and discuss best practices and methods.

Here are some Facebook support groups:

Say no to bullying, regimented lifestyle

According to a The Telegraph, Kolkata edition, report, Parents cite stress, competition and a regimental lifestyle for taking their kids out of school. A facilitator who also teaches schoolgoing children said the parents of homeschooled kids were more open to experimentation. A schoolgoing child is always bound by a routine. The focus is on exams. I found homeschooled kids more confident and eager to learn.

Weller, in his article, also says that homeschoolers dont deal with all the downsides of being around kids in a toxic school environment. Plenty of critics argue these downsides are actually good for toughening kids up, but kids who are bullied more often face symptoms of depression and anxiety, do worse in class, and show up to school less frequently.

In conclusion, in his blog post, Enabling a Right to Education of Choice: Homeschooling in India, Vineet Bhalla writes, while there has been no study conducted on how home-schooled children in India go on to do in their lives, studies conducted on home-schooled children abroad have yielded that such children perform substantially better than their conventionally educated counterparts in areas of development such as verbal fluency, independence and like skills. You can read the entire post here.

Kevin and Sonali Michael have homeschooled their two children for several years. Their son is now enrolled in a Mumbai-city college, and their daughter has gone back to mainstream school life at standard ninth. Here is a one-on-one with them about their experience with homeschooling.

As a parent, the onus now lies on you.
Sao Paulo (AFP) - In the sprawling greenery of the Brazilian Amazon, near the border with Peru, a group of people -- small in the distance -- walk through a clearing.

These are isolated tribe members, and little do they know, they're being watched -- drone footage revealing their existence to the world.

The video -- recorded in 2017, but published this week -- is just one element of the material that Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) collected during missions to the Javari Valley.

The hard-to-access area of southwestern Amazonas state is home to the majority of the more than 100 confirmed isolated tribes in the vast South American nation.

FUNAI has made contact with eight in the Javari Valley -- but says that there are 11 more, detected via signs including a huge hut, handmade axes and canoes crafted out of palm tree trunks.

To get to the region, FUNAI officials and police had to cover 180 kilometers (110 miles) by river and dirt road, and then another 120 kilometers on foot through the jungle, the agency said in a statement.

The project, which aims to protect isolated tribes, relied on the in-depth local knowledge of the Kanamari tribe.

During the mission, they also encountered two groups of poachers, forcing them to release wild animals.

"Vigilance and control must be stepped up in the region to... guarantee total possession of the territory for indigenous peoples," said coordinator Vitor Gois.

Last month, FUNAI released video of what it believes to be the only survivor of one Brazilian Amazon tribe.

The man lives in the state of Rondonia -- which borders Bolivia -- and it is thought he has spent 22 years living along in the jungle, after his village fell victim to landowners and loggers.

That footage was recorded in 2011, but only just released. Evidence discovered this year suggests that he is still alive.

His situation, like that of other peoples, alarms specialists who warn of pressures from the agricultural and mining industries, who seek to overtake indigenous lands.

Over 800,000 indigenous people -- who belong to 305 groups and speak 274 languages between them -- live in Brazil, according to official data.
Vilnius (AFP) - Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday asked Baltic state leaders for help in convincing the EU to step up pressure on Iran and slammed a Brussels aid package for Tehran.

Lithuania's prime minister had earlier proposed talks between the EU and Israel on terror threats and security issues amid tensions over Iran and with the Palestinians.

"I unabashedly asked for the help of my friends here in correcting what I think is a distorted position, a distorted view on Israel in the EU," the Israeli premier told reporters at a news conference in Vilnius with his Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts.

Netanyahu said the EU failed to "fully understand" Israeli policy on Iran, insisting that Thursday's announcement by the bloc of an initial payment 18 million euros ($20.9 million) for Tehran was "a big mistake".

The EU said the funds, part of the landmark nuclear pact concluded with Tehran in 2015, was the first of a wider package of 50 million euros ($58 million) for Iran intended to help it "address key economic and social challenges".

But Netanyahu urged a tough approach, hailing the renewed US sanctions on Tehran.

"All countries should join the efforts to restore sanctions on Iran in order to press them to stop their aggression and desist on their terrorist activities," he said.

Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear pact between world powers and Iran on May 8, reinstating Washington's sanctions on the Islamic Republic and on companies with ties to it.

The EU, however, has vowed to keep providing Tehran with the economic benefits it received from the nuclear deal, although many of its bigger companies have already pulled out of Iran for fear of US penalties.

- Iran sanctions -

Speaking to AFP, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Vilnius would push for Israel's public security minister to address the EU home affairs council "over terrorism threats and other security issues".

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"We want the discussion to happen as it would help to seek compromise on complicated international issues," he said, without going into further detail.

Netanyahu is in Vilnius for a four-day visit -- the first-ever by an Israeli premier -- to boost bilateral ties and build support for Israel's interests in the Middle East.

Although Lithuania backs the EU position on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the status of Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal, Skvernelis has said he wants more direct dialogue between the EU and the Jewish state.

Lithuania, one of Israel's stronger allies in the European Union, was behind Netanyahu's invitation to meet with EU foreign ministers last December, irking some Brussels officials.

- 'Minds and hearts' -

Officials said no date had been set for the proposed talks and that the format would depend on reaction from Brussels and other capitals in western Europe, which tend to take a more critical line on Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territory.

The prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia joined Netanyahu and Skvernelis for talks later on Friday.

"We have had not only a meeting of the minds but also a meeting of the hearts," Netanyahu said following the talks, noting that his family "came from Lithuania over a century ago to what is now Israel".

"The fact that the governments here have taken a strong position both on restoring Jewish sites and on fighting anti-Semitism so unequivocally, so clearly, is something that we appreciate deeply."

Netanyahu will also meet members of Lithuania's Jewish community and visit a memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims there.

Lithuania was once a hub of Jewish learning and home to more than 200,000 Jews before World War II.

Over 90 percent of Lithuania's Jews died during the 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of Nazis and local collaborators.

Today, Lithuania has a population of 2.9 million population with its Jewish community numbering around 3,000 people.
Rome (AFP) - Italy's deputy prime minister has threatened to pull the country's EU funding if the bloc does not come to the aid of 150 people stranded aboard an Italian coastguard ship.

The migrants have been blocked at the Sicilian port of Catania on the Diciotti vessel since Monday night because the Italian government is refusing to allow them to disembark without commitments from the EU to take some of them in.

A meeting of high-level representatives from around a dozen EU member states is due to be held on Friday to discuss the issue, according to the Commission.

"In recent months we have had the chance to see how a soft line with the European Union worked and how a hard line works," Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said in an interview published on Facebook on Thursday.

"If tomorrow (Friday) nothing comes out of the European Commission meeting, if they decide nothing regarding the Diciotti and the redistribution of the migrants, I and the whole Five Star Movement will no longer be prepared to give 20 billion euros ($23 billion) to the European Union every year."

EU figures for 2016 say Italy contributed just under 14 billion euros to the EU budget -- less than one percent of its gross national income -- while the bloc spent 11.6 billion euros in Italy.

Di Maio, who heads the anti-establishment Five Star, said Italy didn't want the "mickey taken out of us by the union's other countries" on the distribution of migrants.

"The EU was born of principles like solidarity. If it is not capable of redistributing 170 people it has serious problems with its founding principles," he said in an interview with state broadcaster RAI.

- 'We've had enough' -

Friday's meeting follows Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's decision to leave the majority of the migrants on board the Diciotti after they were rescued on August 15.

His only concession has been to allow 27 unaccompanied minors off the boat Wednesday.

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Migration is a hot-button issue in Italy, where hundreds of thousands of people have arrived since 2013 fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Salvini said in an interview with Corriere Della Sera that the only way the migrants would be let off the Diciotti was "with a nice big airplane from one Europe's capitals landing in Catania".

"Europe needs to understand that the Italian government is irritated. We've had enough with their many words and few results," he said, claiming that the other nations had only taken in 12,000 of the 35,000 people they had promised.

Opinion polls suggest that Salvini's stance has boosted his far-right League party's approval rating to around 30 percent -- over 10 points up from its showing in the March election -- and is now level with the Five Star Movement with which it has governed Italy since the start of June.

However, according to Salvini's own ministry, migrant arrivals are more than 80 percent down on the same period last year, with just over 19,500 arriving up to August 23, compared to to 98,000 in 2017.

In an interview with La Stampa, European Investment Bank vice president Dario Scannapieco said that as of the end of 2017 Italy had spent just 2.5 billion of the 38 billion euros allocated to it by the EU's Regional Development Fund.
Senator John McCain, one of the longest-serving and best-known US politicians, will stop receiving treatment for his brain cancer, his family has said.

The progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict, the family said of the 81-year-old senator in a statement. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue treatment.

Mr McCain, a US senator of more than 30 years, was diagnosed with an aggressive former of brain cancer in July 2017. He has been receiving treatment at the Mayo Clinic near his home in Arizona, and has surpassed expectations for his survival, according to his family.

Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from Johns many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers, the family said.

The congressman and US Navy veteran has received a flood of well-wishers at his Arizona ranch in the last year, from former vice president Joe Biden to longtime friend Senator Lindsey Graham.

The senator last visited Capitol Hill in December, following a dramatic appearance over the summer when he cast the deciding vote against his partys attempts to repeal Obamacare.

Very sad to hear this mornings update from the family of our dear friend Senator McCain, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague.

Mr McCains wife, Cindy, also released a statement, thanking everyone who had helped their family and saying: I love my husband with all of my heart.

My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year, his daughter Meghan tweeted. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you  youve given us strength to carry on.

President Donald Trump did not immediately respond to the news. The two have had a tense relationship since Mr McCain pulled his support from then presidential candidate Trump over an Access Hollywood tape in which the president admitted to sexually assaulting women.

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Mr Trump also famously mocked the five years Mr McCain spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, saying he preferred people who werent captured. He also released a torrent of criticism after the senator shot down the Obamacare repeal effort last July.

Mr McCain, for his part, has reportedly told family members he does not want Mr Trump at his funeral.

Long known for his outspokenness and willingness to challenge his own party, Mr McCain has issued several statements since his last Senate vote. In June, he called the separation of immigrant families at the border an affront to the decency of the American people, and last month deemed Mr Trumps press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin a low point in the history of the American presidency.

His memoir, The Restless Wave, was released in May.
John McCain in October 2017 - AP

John McCain, the US senator and former Republican presidential nominee, has decided to discontinue treatment for brain cancer.

It was a signal that the war hero had lost his battle and, after a long illness, people close to him said his death was imminent.

In a statement his family said: Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious.

"In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

Mr McCain was surrounded by his family in Arizona.

In 2008 he was the Republican presidential nominee, losing to Barack Obama.

Mr McCain left Washington at the end of last year but had remained a prominent critic of Donald Trump, particularly over his approach to Russia.

His daughter Meghan McCain said: "My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year.

"Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you - you've given us strength to carry on."

Mr McCain has represented the state of Arizona in Congress for 35 years.

His cancer was discovered in July 2017 and he has not been at the US Capitol in Washington this year.

He developed a reputation for speaking his mind, which led to a running feud with Mr Trump.

The feud escalated in 2015 when Mr McCain said that Mr Trump's candidacy had "fired up the crazies".

Mr Trump retorted that the senator was "not a war hero" and added: "I like people who weren't captured."

Mr McCain's spent five-and-a-half yeas as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Family says Arizona senator, who was diagnosed with aggressive cancer last year, is showing usual strength of will

John McCain speaks on Capitol Hill last year. Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

John McCain will no longer receive treatment for brain cancer, the Arizona senators family said in a statement on Friday.

The 2008 Republican nominee for president, who is 81, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer, last year. He has been absent from the Senate.

The McCain family statement said: The progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

McCains wife, Cindy McCain, said on Twitter: I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey.

His daughter Meghan McCain, an analyst for ABC, wrote: My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year.

The progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict McCain family statement

Even in his absence from Washington McCain has been a strong and prominent critic of Donald Trump and his administration, drawing regular fire from the president. Last week, Trump snubbed McCain by not mentioning his name during the signing of a defence spending bill named in the senators honour.

Long known as an independent-minded presence in Republican ranks, in July 2017 McCain made a dramatic late-night return to Capitol Hill from treatment, to cast the vote that sank an attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He subsequently supported Trumps package of tax cuts.

On Friday, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Twitter: Very sad to hear this mornings update from the family of our dear friend  We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour.

McCain and Sarah Palin campaign in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 2008. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

In his sixth term as a senator from Arizona, McCain is a key figure in a Senate chamber narrowly held by Republicans. If his seat is vacated before the end of this year, Republicans believe Governor Doug Ducey will appoint a successor to serve until 2020, when a special election would be triggered.



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Several possible replacements have been mooted, the most notable McCains wife, Cindy. Ducey, a Republican up for re-election this year, has refused to engage in speculation. On Friday, he saluted McCain as an American hero and commended his spirt of service and civility.

Joe Lieberman, a former Democratic senator from Connecticut who was Al Gores running mate in 2000, said becoming John McCains friend has been one of the great blessings of my life.

McCain first ran for president the year Lieberman ran with Gore, losing the Republican nomination to George W Bush. He ran again in 2008, losing the White House to Barack Obama.

McCains selection of the little-known Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his pick for vice-president has provoked endless debate, particularly regarding the emergence of the hard-right Tea Party movement and Trumps capture of the party.



McCain discussed that decision and other key moments from his life in a memoir, The Restless Wave, that was published earlier this year. A documentary about his life, For Whom the Bell Tolls, was also released.

One of the Republicans defeated by McCain in 2008, former Massachusetts governor and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, said on Friday no man this century better exemplifies honour, patriotism, service, sacrifice, and country first than McCain.

Since 2015, McCain has chaired the Senate armed services committee. A navy pilot during the Vietnam war, he endured torture and refused early release during more than five years as a prisoner in the North. Trumps repeated criticism of McCains war record has stoked controversy and earned the president, who did not serve in Vietnam, rebukes from veterans and opponents alike.

On Friday, Trump did not immediately comment, not responding to shouted questions as he left the White House for a Republican fundraiser in Ohio.

Another Vietnam veteran, former senator, secretary of state and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, said McCain was a brave man showing us once again what the words grace and grit really mean.
Arizona Sen. John McCain has chosen to stop treatment for his brain cancer, a condition he has been battling for more than a year.

Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news that our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious, the McCain family said in a statement Friday. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

The Arizona lawmaker, 81, said earlier this year that his current term in the Senate would be his last. McCain, who has been going through treatment for the glioblastoma, has not been in Washington D.C. since December.

Members of McCains family spoke out about his decision to end treatment on Twitter.

I love my husband with all of my heart, McCains wife Cindy McCain wrote in a tweet. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey.

McCains daughter, Meghan McCain, wrote: My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you  youve given us strength to carry on.

My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you - you've given us strength to carry on. pic.twitter.com/KuAQSASoa7  Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 24, 2018

A prisoner of war during the Vietnam War for more than five years, McCain became a notable figure in the Republican party over his terms in the Senate. He was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee in a race he lost to former President Barack Obama.

In recent years, McCain, who revealed his cancer diagnosis in July 2017, has drawn repeated attacks from President Donald Trump. Days after announcing he had brain cancer, McCain broke with the Republican party and cast the deciding vote against the partys skinny repeal for the Affordable Care Act last July. Trump has frequently mocked McCain for his no vote, and was harshly criticized in 2015 for saying McCain was not a war hero because he was captured.

McCain has also criticized Trump and the White House. Following Trumps joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July, McCain called the presidents remarks one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.
by Diksha Dwivedi

In October 1954, the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, issued an order granting special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

This order, very famously, has been contested by Jammu & Kashmir Study Centre that claims that the President of India does not have legislative powers to do so and thus, he cannot amend the Constitution. They also claim that this article violates Article 14 of the Constitution stating Equality before the Law, where no citizen or non-citizen can have any special rights and privileges.

If the above is not contradictory enough for you, I want to state here that this word azaadi and the fight over it in Kashmir is not only fatal, its contagious. I say it because I felt it.

Let me give you some context here.

I was in Srinagar recently. As we moved from Leh to Kargil to Dras to, finally, Srinagar, I could not help but notice the sudden shift in the vibe. Ladakh is an Indian-army loving zone and Srinagar, the opposite I noticed this time. But I also realised why this is no surprise  nobody likes to live in a state thats terror-stricken 24*7. We protest over things in more peaceful states in this country every day. Visiting Kashmir makes you cry for help on the locals behalf. In other words, that place is frustrating. Frustrating enough to not think rationally. Frustrating enough to act in the most aggressive manner.

Just two steps into Srinagar from Sonmarg and I saw walls painted with slogans that made me cringe. The kind you see on television in Syria. Go back, Indian Army, Dogs, go back, Al-Qaeda recruiting soon, We want freedom, and similar stuff. Is this the India or, more specifically, the state that my father fought for? I guess, yes.

That road trip made me feel more azaad in my regular life than Id felt for a while. I swear.

With CRPF jawans at every turn and armed soldiers everywhere, Srinagar and its outskirts felt like a place that truly needs help.

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Once upon a time, this used to be a place thriving with tourists. I spent many of my summer vacations their since my father was posted in Kheru in 1998-99.

What went wrong in so many years of technological advancement in India? Why is Kashmir left so far behind?  I couldnt help but wonder.

As curious as a cat that I am, I started picking conversations with young Kashmiris as did my co-traveler friend. He was as surprised as I was, probably more. After all, this was the first time he was visiting this place, often called jannat (paradise).

We were quick to decide not to spend a night in Srinagar as planned, but this didnt mean we didnt want to know more. We did and we asked the most difficult questions of every Kashmiri we got a chance to spend time with on our trip from Awantipur to Gulmarg, and back to Srinagar: from our cab driver to a school teacher to our tour guide to a co-passenger on the flight. They all quoted the word azaadi as casually as we say the F word these days.

Some laughed about it, some spoke like outright separatists.

With such a long history of chaos and numerous political groups working on ground, it seemed as if the word azaadi changes its meaning even for the locals based on their respective agendas. The one emotion I found to be common among all the people I spoke with was a sense of their right to self-determination and complete demand for autonomy over the region. Therefore, removing Section 370 is a no-go for them even though I think it may help in the economic development of the state.

They said, The Indian government should take responsibility and deliver justice. But more often than not when the Indian army was mentioned, human rights violation was brought up but against civilians and not against the Indian soldiers themselves.

When I brought up this point once, our tour guide said, Taali do haath se bajti hai maam. And in that moment, I realised were all blinded in this world. We see what we want to see.

While the young tour guide tried to justify why domestic militants are being born every day in Kashmir because of lack of education and job opportunities (which I fully agree with), he did not try to justify why Indian soldiers sometimes had to inspect homes of the innocent in the middle of the night and carry out investigations.

They all knew militancy is not the solution but they also justified why its happening. The lack of opportunities to earn their bread and butter. While their apples are left to rot in their backyards because of no ways to export them anymore, they are left with empty minds to pass their time, which then turned to arms and soon ammunitions.

It is not easy and neither is it fair to fight the worlds second largest army with sticks and stones but its also not easy to live like that, they say. They wish to establish a dialogue and seek a political solution to the crisis but they need politicians wholl listen. Congress was way better, they said.

I dont know if there were more contradictions than facts in their arguments; I really dont know, but it made my stomach churn with emotions sometimes.

With rising militancy, especially after the Burhan Wani incident in 2016, the Indian Army has had to resort to much stricter regulations. Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat has stated on record that azaadi is not an option and the Kashmiri youth must understand why. But how do you explain such a complex situation to a 13-year-old whos very much a part of the so-called democracy called India? Definitely not by saying freedom is not an option I guess.

Truth is its mind-numbing to think about what to believe and more than that, what to feel about the Kashmir issue.

Political groups like All Parties Hurriyat Conference uphold the cause of Kashmiri separatism, it has massive support from the youth on the ground and it has declared itself the sole representative of the Kashmiri people. APHC opposes the claim of the Indian government over the state of Jammu and Kashmir and, thus, it is ideologically supported by Pakistan.

I heard this phrase many times, Until the politicians leave, we cant have any freedom; this will go on. And all I could do in that moment was think how this was both ironic and unfortunate that despite being one of the most beautiful places on earth, Kashmir has witnessed some of the ugliest political and regional disputes of all times.

Kashmiri youth, who are pro-azaadi, assert that this condemnation of Article 35A is founded on communal-minded majoritarianism. They further quote that several amendments to the Constitution provide special status to residents of many states and Article 35A protects the demographic status of the Jammu and Kashmir state in its prescribed constitutional form.

Each generation has seen blood and gore from the moment they have opened their eyes. Every child can narrate stories of horror inflicted on at least one of their family members. In a village, I was told that, amidst curfew times, they are not allowed to even organize funerals of their deceased and, hence, many households have small graveyards in their backyards.

Truly, seeing those people discussing these morbid events with such ease as if they are discussing weather makes the situation there all the more chilling.

These questions will keep me awake for many nights.

On my way back from Srinagar, I was thinking that Kashmir is a place of amazing contradictions and their definition of azaadi is beyond all of us. Sitting at a place where we fight for freedom of speech, its difficult to imagine what its like to fight for your identity everyday but whats also difficult is to curb militancy in a place where thats the most well paid or the only paid alternative for the youth.

Maybe azaadi in Kashmir means the freedom to study and earn a living in a peaceful state after all? Or maybe it means just the freedom to be. Whatever it is, I hope they get it one day, someday, because independence in this country is as much theirs as its mine.
Katie Piper, pictured in June, said shes experiencing a difficult time as it emerged her attacker is set for release. (Rex)

Strictly Come Dancings Katie Piper described her difficult time as it emerged her acid attacker is to be released from prison.

Stefan Sylvestre, now 30, from Shepherds Bush, west London, was given a life sentence in 2009 for the attack and was told he must serve a minimum of six years before he would be eligible for parole.

Piper, currently training for the 16th series of Strictly, suffered horrific injuries in the acid attack that left her permanently scarred.

The presenter, 34, took to Twitter this morning as it was revealed that Sylvestre has been approved for release after a parole hearing.

Stefan Sylvestre was given a life sentence in 2009 but has been recommended for release. (PA)

She tweeted: I am trying to come to terms with the decision and this is something I have to deal with.

Over the past two weeks Strictly has already given me such a welcome and positive distraction from my past.

Whilst there is never a good time to hear this news, I am glad I have this new journey to concentrate on.

Piper was left fighting for her life after obsessive ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch arranged for Sylvestre to throw the corrosive liquid in March 2008.

A spokeswoman for the Parole Board said: We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Mr Stefan Sylvestre following an oral hearing.

Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release.

The panel will have carefully looked at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change.

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We do that with great care and public safety is our number one priority.

The Parole Boards decision summary said Sylvestres case was considered at an oral hearing, adding that Piper read statements in person to the panel.

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The panel took full account of the content of these statements and the supporting documentation, the summary says.

The document adds: The panel considered that there were a number of things that reduced Mr Sylvestres risk of causing serious harm in the future.

Daniel Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years for rape and organising the acid attack. (Rex)

Mr Sylvestre is now 30 years of age and was just 19 when he committed the index offence.

He was drawn into a criminal lifestyle in his teens and was involved with drugs.

During his time in custody, Mr Sylvestre has actively avoided anti-social behaviour within the prison and has avoided violence, despite being under threat.

He has behaved well to distance himself from such influences.

He has repaired his relationship with his family, has gained employment-related skills and improved his education.

He has not been involved in drugs in prison and has completed relevant offence-focused work to challenge and change his attitude and thinking.

Recovery: Katie Piper pictured in 2009. (Rex)

The summary said a forensic psychologist told the panel that there were factors which would protect Sylvestre from returning to offending and a criminal lifestyle, including his improved relationship with his family and his plans for the future.

Mr Sylvestre displayed empathy for the victim and expressed remorse and shame for his actions, the summary said.

The Parole Board summary said Sylvestre became eligible to be considered for release on April 8 2014, and had a previous review by the Parole Board in 2015.

Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years for sexually assaulting Piper and telling Sylvestre to throw acid over her.

The pair had dated briefly before steroid-fuelled martial arts fan Lynch, who had a previous conviction for pouring boiling water over a man, became obsessively jealous.

In court, Lynch and Sylvestre were told by Judge Nicholas Browne QC they were the face of pure evil.

Piper, a former model, is best known for sharing her story about surviving the attack in the documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face.
PHOENIX (AP)  The Latest on the immigration activists with the Abolish ICE movement and protests in Phoenix (all times local):

6:30 p.m.

Four activists who chained themselves to each other outside one of the entrances to a county jail in Phoenix have been arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

Authorities say the four were sitting down and blocking the entrance Wednesday evening and refusing to leave.

TV video showed Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies dressed in riot gear pulling the four activists into the jail before the doors closed.

About 100 protesters and a smaller group of counter-protesters have gathered outside the downtown Phoenix jail as the immigration debate continues to be front and center in the United States.

The protesters want Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone to end his relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is allowed to question jail detainees about their legal status.

___

5:10 p.m.

About 100 protesters and a smaller group of counter-protesters have gathered outside a county jail in Phoenix as the immigration debate continues to be front and center in the United States.

Police are closely monitoring the at-times tense situation.

Four activists have chained themselves to each other outside one of the entrances to the county jail, hoping to get arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

The protesters want Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone to end his relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is allowed to question jail detainees about their legal status.

Supporters of ICE incorrectly say immigrants in the country illegally have no rights.

3:40 p.m.

Immigration activists who say the new Phoenix-area sheriff is the not much different than former Sheriff Joe Arpaio are protesting at the county jail Thursday in an ongoing effort to get immigration authorities out of there.

The Abolish ICE movement has come to Phoenix, although local activists have been working for years to end cooperation between local police and the feds.

Puente Arizona, the area's largest organization of immigrant advocates, is urging Democratic Sheriff Paul Penzone to stop allowing ICE officers in county jails, where they can ask anyone about their legal status.

But Penzone, who handily beat former Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 2016, is doubling down on his cooperation with ICE, saying it's for the safety of the community. Penzone says about 1,600 people in his jails have been flagged by ICE for immigration violations.
HONOLULU (AP)  The Latest on Hurricane Lane (all times local):

5 p.m.

The National Weather Service is downgrading a hurricane that has been threatening Hawaii for most of this week to a tropical storm.

But meteorologists warned Friday that heavy rains from Tropical Storm Lane could still bring more flooding and damaging winds to the island chain.

Lane was packing maximum sustained winds close to 70 mph (110 kmph) as it churned slowly west toward Oahu.

Lane dumped nearly 3 feet of rain on parts of the Big Island, triggering landslides and flooding homes. Some Maui roads suffered landslides. But Oahu residents have so far experienced wind gusts and scattered rain showers.

____

2:20 p.m.

The National Weather Service has downgraded Hurricane Lane to a Category 1 storm.

But meteorologist Gavin Shigesato says Hawaii isn't yet out of the woods as the hurricane moves toward the island of Oahu on Friday.

He says it's too early to tell if any islands are safe. He says a chance of heavy rains and strong, gusty winds remain threats statewide.

Lane is packing winds of 74 to 95 mph and is 120 miles (190 kilometers) south of Honolulu.

Wind shear is weakening the storm as the moves north. Shigesato says Lane is expected to turn west Saturday.

A hurricane warning remains in effect for the islands of Oahu, Maui and other smaller islands.

___

1:45 p.m.

Wildlife officials have transferred about 2,000 rare Hawaiian snails from a mountain marsh to offices in Honolulu as Hurricane Lane approaches.

Some of the snails are the last of their kind, like one named George. He's the sole remaining Achatinella apexfulva in captivity. Department of Land and Natural Resources staffers are trying to keep him safe in case he is able to reproduce.

Some snails being moved have a little more breathing room than George, with some species numbering in the teens or hundreds.

Entomologist Cynthia King says the snails are being moved because they are biologically important and have a place in Hawaiian culture.

Story continues

During their stay in downtown Honolulu, they will get the royal treatment. A staffer will spend the night and place ice around the cages in case the air conditioning cuts out.

___

1:45 p.m.

A Big Island resident woke up to what sounded like someone rifling through her backyard, then heard water.

Margaret Collins said Friday that she looked out her bedroom window and saw water "3 feet high gushing past my window."

She says she realized she was standing in water, which reached up to the doorknob of her front door.

Hurricane Lane has dumped nearly 3 feet of rain on the mostly rural Big Island before it started moving north toward Maui and Oahu.

Collins called a neighbor for help Thursday night. He helped her out of her house, and emergency crews then guided her out through gushing water to a shelter after the heavy rains subsided.

She says debris that rolled down the mountains seemed to clog a brook next to her house. The gushing water was so forceful it knocked down a 3-foot-high, 30-foot-long cement wall.

She spent Friday surveying the damage. She said her insurer told her it wouldn't be covered.

___

12:45 p.m.

A resident says he's trapped in his house in an exclusive neighborhood with million-dollar homes in the main town on Hawaii's Big Island.

Joel Lawson lives in Hilo and said Friday that he can't get out because "there's a river at the end of our driveway."

He heard what sounded like bricks falling Thursday night. It turned out to be strong water that made the pavement peel up and left a gaping hole.

Lawson says he watched as firefighters used ropes to pull out two people trapped in a car that got stuck in the hole.

Authorities knocked on his door and said he should voluntarily evacuate, but he's staying put because he has electricity and food.

___

12:45 p.m.

Honolulu officials say a brush fire is burning near a power plant as a hurricane moves closer to the Hawaiian island.

Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Scot Seguirant says the flames reported around 11 a.m. Friday don't threaten structures in Waianae, on the west side of Oahu.

He says it's not known if the fire is related to Hurricane Lane but more wind would spread it quicker.

It's burning on a dry side of Oahu that's prone to brush fires. The only highway in and out of the west side of the island is closed in both directions because of the fire.

Two brush fires are burning on Maui, forcing people to evacuate homes and storm shelters and burning one woman on her hands and legs. She was flown to Oahu for treatment but her condition isn't known.

___

12:20 p.m.

The National Weather Service says Hurricane Lane is starting to weaken as it slowly moves north toward the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Oahu.

But Hawaii Gov. David Ige told reporters Friday that it's still a powerful and potentially damaging storm. He says President Donald Trump called him to pledge full support from federal agencies.

He warned people to stay indoors.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell says too many tourists are still swimming and surfing and are "endangering themselves."

Authorities have closed Honolulu's famed Waikiki Beach, but it was still packed with beachgoers and swimmers Friday.

Officials are repeating over loudspeakers: "Please get out of the water! It's very dangerous! Thank you."

___

12:20 p.m.

Officials in Maui say they are battling two brush fires as a hurricane moves closer to the Hawaiian island.

One fire forced people to leave a storm shelter and burned one woman in the tourist town of Lahaina.

Fire Battalion Chief Michael Werner said Friday that it's not clear whether a second blaze in the bordering community of Kaanapali started because of the first blaze.

He says both fires are close to being contained but doesn't have estimates yet on whether houses burned.

Werner says it's starting to drizzle but "the wind is cranking" and poses problems for crews battling the flames.

___

11:20 a.m.

Hawaii health officials warn that Hurricane Lane has caused storm-water runoff to enter the ocean, posing possible health risks to swimmers and surfers.

The state Department of Health issued a statewide advisory Friday about brown water. Officials warn the public to stay out of floodwaters and storm-water runoff because of possible overflowing cesspools, sewers and manholes, along with chemicals, pesticides and dead animals from flood debris.

They say if the water is brown, stay out.

Dozens of people are still swimming and surfing off the famed Waikiki Beach in Honolulu despite police or fire vehicles blasting out periodic warnings that the beach is closed and everyone needs to leave.

___

11:20 a.m.

Hurricane Lane is forcing the cancellation of a Honolulu comic book convention this weekend.

The Hawaii Convention Center said in a statement Friday that the Amazing Comic Con will not be held at its venue on the edge of Waikiki as planned. It had been scheduled to run Friday through Sunday.

Comic artists, writers and voice actors were among those originally expected to attend.

The hurricane also is prompting the closure of schools and Honolulu's biggest shopping malls. Public bus service on Oahu has been suspended.

___

9:55 a.m.

U.S. officials say a hurricane hitting Hawaii is likely to bring severe flooding and mudslides and they are preparing for the worst.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Friday that three urban search-and-rescue teams are in the state, plus food for up to six days and at least 80 generators, with more available after the storm clears.

The agency also has plans to move supplies to the islands hit hardest after the storm. It says about 2,000 people are in shelters, mostly in Oahu.

FEMA is tracking a brush fire in Maui that forced people to evacuate a storm shelter and said dozens of Coast Guard ships and helicopters on the island are ready to assist.

It's not clear what caused the fire, which ignited as rain and wind lashed the island.

___

9:55 a.m.

A woman who lives on the same street where six people were rescued from flooding as a hurricane hit Hawaii says "it was just like a torrent of water."

Jessica Henricks said Friday that a normally low or dry creek bed on the Big Island overflowed and that water was surrounding the people who were rescued Thursday night.

She says trees and boulders blocked emergency vehicles from getting through, and officials warned neighbors to leave the area while they could.

Henricks and her family decided to stay for now. She says she's lucky her house hasn't flooded, though waters have receded a bit.

Hurricane Lane unleashed nearly 3 feet (1 meter) of rain over two days on the mostly rural Big Island, triggering flooding and landslides.

___

9:15 a.m.

Hurricane Lane has knocked out electricity to thousands of people across the Hawaiian islands.

Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said Friday that about 6,000 customers in Maui's Lahaina community have lost power, though some have had it restored.

About 2,600 customers lack power on Molokai, a small island with about 7,000 residents. Rosegg say they may be without it for a long time.

Power outages affected about 4,000 people on the Big Island, which has seen nearly 3 feet (1 meter) of rain over two days.

More than 3,000 lost power overnight on Oahu as strong winds downed tree branches, but most of them had service quickly restored.

Rosegg says crews are trying to restore power to as many as possible before the worst of the storm hits the state's most populated island. He says workers will be out until it's no longer safe.

___

8:40 a.m.

The National Guard and firefighters on the Big Island have rescued six people who were trapped in a flooded home as a hurricane unleashed torrential rain.

Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe says no one was injured during the rescue Thursday night in Hilo, the largest town on the mostly rural island.

It's still raining on the east side of the island, where crews are busy responding to landslides. Hurricane Lane has dumped as much as 35 inches (89 centimeters) of rain over 48 hours.

Okabe says there's waist-high flooding all over Hilo.

Hawaii County Civil Defense spokeswoman Kelly Wooten says it's too early to tell how devastating the flooding is because it's still occurring.

Road closures "seem to be changing by the minute." She says when crews clear a road, landslides block other roads.

___

6:30 a.m.

Hurricane Lane is taking a toll on roads on Hawaii's Big Island.

Officials say three major roads were closed Friday because of flash flooding. Numerous secondary roads also were closed.

More than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain associated with the hurricane has fallen on the Big Island with some areas recording 35 inches (89 centimeters) in 48 hours.

Multiple landslides could force more closures. Officials say there's currently only one highway for travel across the island.

On Oahu, winds picked up Thursday night and rain began falling shortly after the 6:13 a.m. sunrise.

On Maui, county spokesman Rod Antone says a brushfire spread to nearly 0.5 square miles (1.3 square kilometers).

He says hills and valleys of west Maui are dry and prone to burning and winds are fueling the flames.

Antone says homes may have been destroyed but that had not been confirmed.

A woman burned on the hands and legs was flown to Honolulu.

___

6:10 a.m.

A brushfire on Hawaii's island of Maui has forced the relocation of a shelter for people who were staying there as Hurricane Lane approaches.

Maui County officials say there's a rapidly spreading fire Friday in the community of Lahaina Friday on the island's western side. Nearby residents are being evacuated.

Officials as a precaution moved 26 people who evacuated because of the hurricane from a shelter at a Lahaina school to a civic center.

Maui County spokesman Rod Antone says it's not clear if the fire is hurricane related.

___

5:40 a.m.

A National Weather Service meteorologist describes flooding on Hawaii's Big Island as catastrophic, with parts of the island soaked with 35 inches (89 centimeters) of rain in 48 hours.

Chevy Chevalier says the "the sponge is full," meaning the ground is so wet that additional rain to will pond up and flood.

The hurricane is moving away from the Big Island but could still drop more rain there.

The hurricane center is about 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of Honolulu and moving north at 5 mph (8 kph).

Oahu island before sunrise was getting slammed with wind gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph). Chevalier says Oahu and Maui are will face hurricane or tropical storm conditions later Friday.

Chevalier says a big concern is heavy rain flowing fast off the islands' mountains and joining anticipated high surf and storm surge.

He says that leaves coastal areas vulnerable to flooding.

___

5:05 a.m.

The National Weather Service says Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane as it approaches Hawaii.

The hurricane's maximum sustained winds are now near 110 mph (175 kph) with higher gusts.

The service says some weakening is expected Friday but that the hurricane is expected to remain dangerous as it approaches Hawaii's islands.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for the islands of Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe. Hawaii's Big Island has a tropical storm warning.

The service says Lane's center will move dangerously close to some islands later Friday and Friday night.

___

4:50 a.m.

Federal officials say it's still unclear exactly how close Hurricane Lane will come to Hawaii. The storm is barreling north and was expected make a sharp Western turn, possibly passing dangerously close to the island chain.

The Category 3 hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (193 kph).

Federal Emergency Management Administrator Brock Long said Friday morning at a briefing in Washington that emergency workers were focused on the safety and security of people and urged Hawaiians to heed warnings and get out of the storm's path.

He says FEMA is ready to provide food, water and shelter. U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Meredith Austin says emergency aid and other goods have already been flown in ahead of the storm. The Coast Guard is waiting to survey any damage to ports and will prioritize vessels heading into port to get resources in quickly.

Lane was already lashing Hawaii with strong winds and rain. Emergency crews rescued five California tourists from a home they were renting in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed and it flooded Thursday.

___

2:25 a.m.

Hurricane Lane is thrashing Hawaii's Big Island with heavy rain and strong wind gusts.

The National Weather Service says early Friday that the storm has dumped more than 31 inches (78 centimeters) of rain at Hakalau Station in about 24 hours. The service says a 67 mph (107 kph) wind gust has been recorded at Kohala Ranch on the Big Island's northern side.

The NWS says wind gusts of 51 mph (82 kph) have been recorded on Oahu, and 49 mph (78 kph) on Maui.

The dangerous Category 3 hurricane is heading north with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (193 kph). Forecasters say it will move close to or over portions of Hawaii's main islands late Friday.

___

12 a.m.

Forecasters say Hurricane Lane will move close to or over parts of Hawaii's main islands late Friday.

The dangerous Category 3 hurricane is heading north with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. It has lashed Hawaii's Big Island with nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain in about 24 hours.

Sirens wailed while workers piled sandbags in front of hotels and police blared warnings to tourists to leave the world-famous Waikiki Beach on Oahu island.

Emergency crews rescued five California tourists from a home they were renting in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed and it flooded Thursday.
Government officials are damaging any future effort to seat an unbiased jury in the case of slain Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, the lawyer for accused killer Cristhian Rivera argued in court documents.

Defense attorney Allan Richards filed a request for a gag order on Wednesday barring the government from referring to Rivera as anything but [a] documented resident. Richards pointed to comments by President Donald Trump, who has used the young womans death to push his immigration agenda.

Sad and sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national media which will poison the entire possible pool of jury members, Richards wrote in a Wednesday filing in Poweshiek County, Iowa, court.

The lawyer was referring to comments made this week by Trump and other government officials.

You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico and you saw what happened to that incredibly beautiful young woman, the president told the crowd at a Tuesday night rally in Charleston, West Virginia. Should have never happened. Illegally in our country. Weve had a huge impact, but the laws are so bad, the immigration laws are such a disgrace. Were getting it changed but we have to get more Republicans.

The loss of Mollie Tibbetts is a devastating reminder that we must urgently fix our broken immigration laws. pic.twitter.com/0Kaz0FQw36  The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 22, 2018

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reiterated Trumps comments during a Wednesday press briefing.

Sadly, the individual believed to be responsible for the murder is an illegal immigrant, making this an unfortunate reminder of why we need to strengthen our broken immigration laws, Sanders said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) shared similar views in a statement: We are angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community, and we will do all we can [to] bring justice to Mollies killer.

Story continues

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old majoring in psychology at the University of Iowa, was found dead Tuesday. Her body was hidden under cornstalks in a Poweshiek County cornfield, police said. The young woman had been missing since July 18, when she went jogging in Brooklyn, a rural town located about 70 miles northeast of Des Moines.

Authorities said they retrieved Tibbetts body after interviewing Rivera, who admitted to abducting Tibbetts, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Cristhian Rivera is seen in a booking photo released by the Iowa Department of Public Safety on Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Handout / Reuters)

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security said Rivera has been in the U.S. without proper legal documentation for four to seven years. State law enforcement has described him as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.

In his new court filing, however, Richards claims that Rivera is in the country legally.

During Riveras first court appearance on Wednesday, Richards said his client was a minor with a seventh- or eighth-grade education when he entered the country. Rivera has no prior criminal record and paid taxes, his attorney said.

A Wednesday statement from Riveras former employer, Yarrabee Farms, described him as an employee in good standing who was vetted through the governments E-Verify system.

Yarrabee Farms follows all laws related to verifying employees are legal to work in the United States, and we regularly seek outside counsel to ensure we stay up-to-date on employment law matters, reads the statement, obtained by the Des Moines Register. We keep records on all employees and have shared that information with authorities.

Richards pointed to the E-Verify system as proof that his client is not undocumented.

However, Yarrabee Farms has since backtracked on its original statement. During a news conference on Wednesday, manager Dane Lang, son of farm co-owner and prominent Republican Craig Lang, said the E-Verify system wasnt actually used to vet Rivera. Instead, the farm used a program connected to a Social Security Administration database, which apparently didnt flag any problems.

Cristhian Rivera is escorted into the Poweshiek County Courthouse for his initial court appearance on Aug. 22, 2018, in Montezuma, Iowa. (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)

According to Dane Lang, Rivera provided a state-issued photo identification and a Social Security card when he applied for the job, which he held for nearly four years. Lang said its since been determined that those documents were false.

Our employee was not who he said he was, Lang said. This was shocking to us.

Neither Lang nor the authorities have disclosed the name that Rivera used to get the job.

Tibbetts death has been ruled a homicide. She died as a result of multiple sharp force injuries, according to the Iowa State Medical Examiner.

Rivera faces a life sentence if he is ultimately convicted of first-degree murder. Iowa does not have a death penalty.

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Before Michigan State interim president John Engler demanded changes, the original cover of the special issue of Spartan magazine featured a tribute to the victims of the Larry Nassar scandal. (The State News)

Michigan State Universitys interim president John Engler hasnt handled the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal very well, often appearing insensitive and uncaring about the victims. And yet its even worse than you think.

After ordering that the cover and content of the summer 2018 issue of the alumni magazine be changed so it focused less on Nassars crimes and victims, a copy of the original issue has been leaked to The State News. And when you compare the original, unpublished issue to the issue that landed in alumni mailboxes, it makes Engler and Michigan States administration look somehow worse than they did before.

The original issue of Spartan focused on the victims

The State News obtained the original summer 2018 issue of Spartan, which was labeled as a special issue. There were three possible covers: a black and white photo of a victim wearing bright teal lipstick (teal is the color of sexual assault awareness), and two all-teal covers featuring teal ribbons. But each had the same words:

Finding Our Way

Sexual assault and harassment allegations have rocked our community to its core and changed how we thought of ourselves as Spartans. In our quest for answers, we will build a path to a better future.

A letter to readers from editor Paula Davenport explained why the staff of the magazine had decided to dedicate an entire issue to sexual abuse and harassment at Michigan State.

In this issue, weve done our best to share the diverse voices, insights, responses, and recommendations in hopes of helping Nassars survivors, the university, and our Spartan community to recover from harm and banish such abuse from ever again happening here. We expect to follow this story in the issues to come.

The issue included a timeline of the Nassar scandal called Exposing a Predator, and an examination of the gender inequalities that allow men like Nassar to abuse for so long without getting caught. Theres a section about the psychological impact of sexual abuse, and one that examines how alumni have reacted and how they can stand by the victims. Englers new policies are examined, and the issue closes with a six-step guide on how to support a suvivor of sexual abuse.

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None of the articles shy away from holding Michigan State responsible where appropriate, and theres an emphasis on the responsibility of alumni to demand better from their alma mater.

The published issue erases the victims

Comparing the two issues starkly shows how Michigan State wants alumni to think about the scandal. While the original covers emphasized the victims, the cover of the published issue is in spartan green, with a quote from Engler in large font.

The published cover of the summer 2018 issue of Spartan magazine doesnt acknowledge the victims or the scandal, but instead features a quote from embattled interim president John Engler. (MSU Alumni Association)

Its not about the scandal or the victims, but how Engler has seemingly tried to make things better. The letter from the editor is also very different. The original letter from Davenport recalled Penn States own devastating scandal and how its alumni magazine chose to deal with it, and explained to readers why they were choosing to focus on the victims and the scandal. The letter in the published issue is different in length, content, and tone.

Weve done our best in this issue to update you on significant changes to MSU policies, new building projects, and stories of Spartans doing good for the benefit of others. But first, youll find letters sent to us earlier this year when news of abuses by Larry Nassar went global.

Nearly everything about the issue is different. Entire essays about the victims, the culture of silence, and other stories of sexual harassment and abuse at Michigan State were removed and replaced with articles about the universitys recent accomplishments.

Beyond the letters to the editor and a letter from the vice president of advancement, the only article that even touches on the scandal is a Q&A with Engler. In the interview, he doesnt discuss the scandal or the victims, but focuses on the new policies hes enacted, the budget, and where the university will get the money to pay out $500 million in victim settlements. The magazine completely erases the victims from their own story.

Engler forced the changes in the magazine

In June, the Detroit Free Press reported that interim president John Engler and his top advisers directed the staff of the alumni magazine to change pretty much everything about their sexual abuse-focused issue.

while the upcoming magazine will still talk about the crisis, it will showcase the positive moves Engler has made since taking over, like adding more counselors.

According to sources who spoke to the Free Press, Engler made the changes because he wanted to pivot toward positive news. Positive news about a decades-long sexual abuse scandal. And as it turned out, the magazine barely talked about the crisis. When it did, it focused entirely on Englers response to it.

If Englers sole responsibility is to protect the institution, he probably feels like hes doing a great job. But his responsibility isnt just to the institution, its also to the alumni. Englers desire to see positive news essentially erases the scandal and the victims and denies alumni the chance to examine how it affects them. And the alumni magazine should be allowed to play a role in examining how the scandal affects alumni  some of whom are survivors of Nassars abuse. But with John Engler around, it doesnt look like any of that will be allowed happen.

     

Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter at @lizroscher.

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Edinburgh (AFP) - The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman being held in prison in Tehran, told AFP on Friday there was "light at the end of the tunnel" after she was released for three days.

She has been in prison for more than two years on sedition charges, but was released from Evin prison on furlough on Thursday following campaigning from her family.

"From a very despondent position where we thought that (it would be) perhaps five years, or even longer, suddenly Nazanin was released," Richard Ratcliffe told AFP in Edinburgh, where a play is being put on highlighting his wife's plight.

"It was a great day yesterday... it feels like there's a light at the end of the tunnel," he added.

The couple talked for the first time in more than two years, and she was reunited with four-year-old daughter Gabriella, who has been living with Nazanin's parents in Iran.

"She slept next to Gabriella for the first time in more than two years," Ratcliffe said.

"Gabriella woke up and said 'oh, it's you mummy, I thought it would be granny', they had breakfast together, Nazanin did her bath, and then brushed her hair.

"They were reading stories together, it's been a long time waiting for that kind of family moment."

The charity worker is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition -- a charge she has always denied, claiming she was arrested while on holiday with her daughter.

- 'Joyful spirits' -

Her case took a turn for the worse after the Iranian regime pounced on remarks made last year by then foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who said she had been training journalists.

But a new foreign secretary and Britain's commitment to the Iran nuclear deal appear to have improved her chances, said Ratcliffe.

"Hopefully, if the politics improve then our (situation) will as well," he said.

Despite spending eight-and-a-half months in solitary confinement and suffering from severe depression, Ratcliffe said his wife appeared to be healthy when they spoke on video calling service Skype.

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"She looked well, she looked happy, she looked a little bit thinner but she looked like the Nazanin I remember, a big radiant smile, giggling and in joyful spirits.

"Gabriella said 'you look older than you do in the pictures', which obviously offended her mum hugely," he joked.

"There are ups and downs, she often has panic attacks. But there's nothing like being with your family for picking your spirits up."

Ratcliffe is hoping that her release may be extended.

"We are still in that celebratory day and we will get to tomorrow... and we will be getting more tentative and checking with the lawyer, has it been extended?"

The Free Nazanin campaign said that after several weeks of bureaucracy over her possible temporary release, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told on Thursday morning that she had 10 minutes to get ready because she was being freed.

She was not allowed to call her family and had to borrow a phone from someone outside the prison to call her brother, who lives in Tehran, to pick her up.

Bail for her temporary release was set at 1 billion rials ($23,840, 20,590 euros), with her family's home in Tehran used as collateral, according to the campaign.
Yerevan (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to find a peaceful solution to the ex-Soviet republics' long-running territorial conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region.

"It is important that the conflict is resolved peacefully," Merkel told a press conference in Yerevan, on the second day of her regional trip to the South Caucasus.

"Germany stands ready to contribute to the peaceful resolution" of the decades-long conflict, she added.

Karabakh has been under Armenian control since it was seized during a bloody war in the early 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Baku and Yerevan remain locked in a bitter dispute with frequent exchanges of fire along the volatile frontline nearly spiralling back into all-out war in 2016.

The international community still views Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and no country has recognised it as an independent nation.

Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force.

Moscow-allied Armenia has vowed to crush any military offensive.

On Saturday, Merkel will travel to Azerbaijan, where she is expected to discuss energy cooperation with the oil-rich Caspian nation which is seen as an alternative to Russian supplies of natural gas and oil to Europe.

She arrived in Yerevan from Georgia where she denounced Russian military presence in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Russia's "occupation of the 20 percent of Georgia's territory and a great injustice".
Mr Cohen and Mr Trump previously enjoyed a close working relationship: REUTERS

In less than 48 hours, an online campaign has raised more than $130,000 to help Michael Cohen as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump.

Cohen, the presidents former personal lawyer and purported fixer, pleaded guilty to eight felony charges on Tuesday, claiming in the process that the president had directed him to make unlawful payments to two women to buy their silence during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The GoFundMe campaign was set up in the aftermath of Cohens appearance a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, and has already attracted more than $136,800 towards its goal of $500,000.

The Michael Cohen Truth Fund is a transparent trust account, with all donations going to help Michael Cohen and his family as he goes forward on his journey to tell the truth about Donald Trump, a description of the fundraiser, which was launched by Cohens lawyer, says.

The hostility that language suggests towards the president represents a dramatic change in rapport between Cohen and his former client. Before July, when he publicly declared his independence from Mr Trump, Cohen had been considered to be the former businessman and celebritys fixer. He even suggested he would take a bullet for the president.

The bad blood appears to be mutual these days.

Just a day after Cohen pleaded guilty to felony charges, Mr Trump insulted his personal lawyer in a tweet, saying that he would not recommend hiring Cohen for legal counsel.

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you dont retain the services of Michael Cohen! he wrote.

Cohens guilty pleas contributed to one of the worst days for Mr Trump, legally speaking, since he took office in 2017. Within minutes of his appearance in court, a jury in Virginia found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty on eight charges brought against him by the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

That verdict for Manafort represented the first trial victory for special counsel Robert Muellers team, which the president has frequently attacked as a witch hunt that is hell bent on taking down his presidency.

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Cohens charges were not brought against him by the special counsels team, and were instead litigated by federal attorneys with the US Southern District of New York.

His charges  which also included tax and bank fraud accusations, in addition to the campaign finance violations for the payments to two women  shocked the New York courtroom where he pleaded guilty on Tuesday, admitting that the president had instructed him to make a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The payments were made to keep both women quiet about alleged affairs between them and Mr Trump, and occurred in the home stretch of the 2016 election.

Mr Trump has denied the affairs occurred.
Moscow (AFP) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Friday that seeking a military solution in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib would lead to disaster.

"A military solution there will cause catastrophe," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Moscow with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"Not only for the Idlib region but for the future of Syria, it will cause catastrophe and the clashes may last a long time."

He cited the risk to the region's large civilian population.

"Civilians will be harmed. Where will the 3.5 million civilians go?"

Speculation is increasing that there could be a Russian-backed government assault on the northwestern province, home to Syria's last major rebel stronghold.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey nevertheless considers "it is very important that those radical groups, terrorists are rendered ineffective".

"It's also important for Turkey because they are on the other side of our border. They pose a threat to us first."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to meet with the Turkish and Russian defence and foreign ministers on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by Interfax news agency.

The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance controls around 60 percent of Idlib, which borders Turkey, while other Turkey-supported rebel groups hold most of the rest.

Idlib is one of the so-called "de-escalation" zones set up by Russia, Turkey and Iran last year.

Analysts say any regime offensive will probably be limited to a small area of Idlib, with a deal between Russia and Turkey likely to determine the fate of the rest of the province.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Friday that the situation was "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures."

"When the de-escalation zone was created in Idlib, no one proposed using it for terrorists to hide behind the civilian population like a human shield.

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"Especially as they aren't just lying low there. Raids constantly come from there and firing on the positions of the Syrian army."

He said he was sure Turkish and Russian presidents would "talk in detail on this topic."

burs-am/ma/txw
Days before Mollie Tibbetts body was discovered in a cornfield  more than a month after she bafflingly vanished while on her regular evening jog in Brooklyn, Iowa  dad Rob Tibbetts reportedly said he was very reluctantly returning home to California.

He did so at the urging of law enforcement who, weeks into their investigation, had asked Mollies family to try and resume their daily routines.

But Rob was ready to return at a moments notice should there be an update in the search for his daughter.

She was out there, according to her dad, who believed she was alive.

Well still find Mollie and bring her home. And I still feel that way, we all still feel that way, Rob told Iowa TV station KCRG on Saturday. Thats why its difficult for me to leave knowing that theres a good chance that were going to bring her home. And I want to be there when she arrives.

On Tuesday, the Tibbetts family learned the truth: Mollie, a 20-year-old psychology student at the University of Iowa, had been killed  her body hidden in a cornfield some 11 miles southeast of Brooklyn, where she was last seen the night of July 18 on her run.

Mollie Tibbetts

The same day Mollies remains were discovered, 24-year-old Cristhian Rivera was charged with her first-degree murder. Police documents obtained by PEOPLE allege that Rivera abducted and killed Mollie after crossing paths with her while she was running.

Rivera appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday. While he has not entered a plea, his attorney reiterated that he is presumed innocent and that no evidence had yet been presented in court.

It remains unclear when, exactly, Tibbetts was killed and how well she may have known her suspected murderer, if at all.

An autopsy was completed Wednesday but a cause of death has not been released. Motive has also not been confirmed.

RELATED VIDEO: Man Is Charged in Connection with Mollie Tibbetts Murder

In the four-plus weeks between Mollie going missing and the discovery that she was dead, her family gave numerous interviews  urging the public to stay vigilant and to send in tips, to not forget about their daughter.

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They were also active participants in searches and on-the-ground efforts. Rob himself handed out missing-persons flyers.

Speaking with PEOPLE in early August, he said the busyness kept his mind from darker thoughts.

Its at 10 p.m., when youre driving home in your car, or when you wake up at 1 a.m. and cant get back to sleep  thats when you think about the worst-case scenarios, he said. We all have our moments. We all break down privately and together. But our feelings are immaterial right now. Breaking down is not going to help bring Mollie back.
Friday, August 24, 2018

What to watch today

At 10:00 a.m. ET, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium with a speech set to take on the topic of monetary policy in a changing economy. In a note ahead of the report, Brett Ryan at Deutsche Bank said, At Jackson Hole, we do not expect Fed Chair Powells speech to move market expectations in either a more hawkish or dovish direction. In our view, Powells discussion will likely focus on longer-term issues for monetary policy, much as Wednesdays FOMC minutes did.

Read More

Top news

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Microsoft hit with U.S. bribery probe: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is being investigated by U.S. authorities over potential bribery and corruption related to software sales in Hungary, according to people familiar with the matter. The investigation follows a series of similar probes into Microsoft business partners that surfaced in 2013 in five other countries. [The Wall Street Journal]

China to keep hitting back at U.S. over trade: China will keep hitting back at Washington as more U.S. trade tariffs are imposed, but its counter-strikes will remain as targeted as possible to avoid harming businesses in China  whether Chinese or foreign, Finance Minister Liu Kun said. He said that the Chinese government will increase its spending to support workers and the unemployed who are hurt by the trade conflict. [Reuters]

Govt acts to stop high-tax states from skirting $10K cap: The Trump administration has laid down rules aimed at preventing residents in high-tax states from avoiding a new cap on widely popular state and local tax deductions. The action under the new Republican tax law pits the government against high-tax, heavily Democratic states in an election-year showdown. [AP]

Alibaba says its well-positioned in a US-China trade war: The U.S.-China trade war doesnt seem to be hurting Alibabas bottom line for now. On Thursday, the e-commerce giant reported a strong quarter with revenue growth of 61%, sending the stock (BABA) up by as much as 4% in early Thursday morning trading. [Yahoo Finance]

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Google removes YouTube channels and web accounts tied to Iran: Google has deleted 39 YouTube channels and 19 other web pages connected to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, a state-run media outlet, citing attempted state-sponsored hacking and influence campaigns. The move comes after Facebook and Twitter pulled hundreds of social accounts tied to Iran for similar reasons. [Bloomberg]

For more of the latest news, go to Yahoo Finance

People gather on a bridge to watch the Wailuku River flood waters on the Big Island on August 23, 2018 in Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane has brought more than a foot of rain to some parts of the Big Island which is under a flash flood warning. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division troops listen as President Donald Trump speaks before signing the National Defense Authorization Act at Fort Drum, New York, U.S., August 13, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Paul R. Pillar

Politics, Americas

It would be the ultimate diversionary tactic.

What If the Mueller Investigation Pushed Trump to Attack Iran?

Michael Cohens guilty plea directly implicating President Trump in the commission of a crime has stimulated new talk about possible impeachment. Given how the case involves sexual liaisons, it also has stimulated comparisons with the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Most such comparisons focus on the domestic politics of each episode, and on such questions as whether Democrats who downplayed the significance of Clinton's dalliance with a White House intern would be inconsistent if they now went after Trumpalthough Clinton's behavior did not involve an election and violation of campaign finance lawwhereas Cohen's allegation about Trump does.

Those more interested in foreign and security policy might focus instead on another dimension of how Clintons caper with Monica Lewinsky was discussed at the time. When Clinton, following al-Qaedas attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam twenty years ago this month, ordered cruise missile attacks against facilities associated with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Sudan, some of his political opponents accused him of using the strikes to boost domestic support that was sagging amid the Lewinsky affair. The accusation was stimulated partly by the timing of the missile strikes, which occurred just three days after Clinton admitted in a televised address that he had misled the public about his relationship with Lewinsky.

Although it is impossible to know every factor affecting Clintons thinking at the time, it would be difficult to make a persuasive case that political diversion was the main motivation. A terrorist group had just bombed two U.S. embassiesthe sort of attack on U.S. interests in which a forceful response is widely considered not only justified but even mandatory, as it surely would be today. Clintons ordering of the missile strikes received considerable bipartisan support in Congress, including from Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who said the president did exactly the right thing. The timing of the missile strikes was determined by the reported presence of Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders at one of the targeted sites in Afghanistan.

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The suspicion that Clintons decision had more to do with his domestic political problems than with terrorism was nonetheless so persistent that it acquired a short-hand labelthe Wag the Dog scenario. That label was named after the title of a then-popular movie, the plot of which involved the White House concocting a phony war to divert attention from a presidential sex scandal. Furthermore, the long history of foreign wars bolstering political leaders domestic support and giving them the benefit of a rally-round-the-flag effect make it legitimate to ask whether a politically beleaguered leader in our own day might be tempted to use a military campaign in this way.

If Donald Trump were so tempted, a military attack against a mere terrorist group probably would be insufficient to achieve the desired political effect. A military strike against al-Qaeda today, in Afghanistan or elsewhere, would look little different from ongoing U.S. military operations overseas. The same goes for any attacks on the remnants of the mini-state established by the so-called Islamic State or ISIS.

The likely adversary of any such Trumpian war would be Iran. The administration already has an ongoing campaign of ratcheting up tension with, and hostility toward, Iran, thus laying the political and psychological groundwork for a war. The consciously elevated tension has increased the probability of incidents that could spark a war or provide an excuse for initiating one.

So a question of the moment is: will Donald Trumps domestic political and legal troubles lead him intentionally to start such a war, as the ultimate diversionary tactic of his presidency?

He probably does not regard his troubles as having yet reached that point. Trump does not currently look like he is actively seeking a war. Endless hostility toward Iran already serves most of the purposes that having a foreign bete noire serves. Unrelenting tension with Iran, short of open warfare, that precludes any U.S.-Iranian rapprochement also serves most of the Iran-related objectives of the regimes in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, whose lead Trump has followed as far as policy on Iran is concerned.

Some members of Trumps administration probably would welcome a war with Iranmost notably the national security advisor, John Bolton, who still believes the Iraq War was a good idea. These advisers are also in a position to push Trump in that direction. They will be countered, however, by others, probably including Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who loathes Iran as much as anyone but also seems to understand the immense downsides of such a conflict.

If criminal investigations surrounding Trump tighten to the point that his political base starts to show signs of cracking, then he may decide that the time has come to try that ultimate diversionary tactic. For two reasons, Trump is even more likely to go that route than other presidents under similar pressures would be. One is that Trump already has shown a strong inclination to rely on destructive diversion, mostly through tweets and oral statements. One explanation for why the outrages of his presidency have not engendered more opposition with staying power is that they are followed so fast and so frequently by other outrages that steal attention from whatever came before them. As a result, it is hard to stay worked up over any one behavior or policy of Trump when it quickly is eclipsed by something else.

The other reason is that Trump is always tactically focused on whatever immediately affects his personal standing and support, and he shows little sign of thinking strategically about what is in the larger and longer-term interests of the nation. It thus is quite plausible that he would launch a U.S.-Iranian war with little or no appreciation of the disastrous consequences of such a conflagration.

Paul R. Pillar is a contributing editor at the National Interest and the author of Why America Misunderstands the World.

Image: Reuters

Read full article
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP)  Nicaragua on Thursday named as its National Police director a high-ranking officer sanctioned by the United States for alleged abuses against protesters opposed to President Daniel Ortega's government.

New police chief Francisco Diaz, who is also related to Ortega through the marriage of their children, replaces Aminta Granera, who months earlier left the top police job. An announcement in the government's official Gazette said Diaz assumes the post Sept. 5.

At least 317 people have been killed since April in protests demanding Ortega leave office, with most of the deaths blamed on security forces or armed, allied civilians, according to local and international rights groups.

On July 5, the U.S. State Department announced that Diaz was being sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act for what it called "serious human rights abuse against the people of Nicaragua" during the crackdown by police under his command.

Ortega has accused protesters of attempting a coup against him and vowed to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in 2021. Vice President and first lady Rosario Murillo has called the demonstrators "terrorists."

Several other Nicaraguan officials have also been sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act for alleged rights abuses or corruption.

Also Thursday, Carlos Pastora, general manager of Channel 10 TV, said in a statement that a media boss from the government-aligned Channel 8 was sent to his studios and tried to install himself in the same job there and get involved in editorial decisions.

"They want to force me to hire a journalist from Channel 8 who comes to see and regulate the news broadcasts," Pastora said in the letter addressed to the human rights commissioner of Honduras. Pastora is Honduran.

He added that he tried to return to Honduras due to the situation but was not allowed to.

Nicaraguan authorities say he is under investigation for possible money laundering.

Channel 10 is owned by Mexican businessman Remigio Angel Gonzalez, considered an associate of Ortega. U.S. lawmakers have called for Magnitsky sanctions against him as well.
Tbilisi (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday ruled out any fast-track NATO membership for Georgia, ten years after the alliance's leaders pledged the ex-Soviet nation would join the club.

"I do not see Georgia's prompt accession to NATO (membership), this is the position of Germany," Merkel said during a meeting with students at the Tbilisi State University in the Georgian capital.

"Things come gradually," she said of the country's NATO integration during the first leg of her regional trip to the South Caucasus.

At a summit in Bucharest in 2008, NATO leaders said Georgia would become a NATO member at some point, but -- under pressure from Merkel and France's then-president Nicolas Sarkozy -- refused to put the tiny Black Sea nation on a formal membership path.

Georgia's bid to join the 29-nation military alliance has infuriated its Soviet-era master Russia.

Years of increasing tensions culminated in August 2008 with a brief war over Georgia's Moscow-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The war -- which saw Russian troops routing Georgia's small military in just five days -- claimed the lives of hundreds of people from both sides.

After the conflict, Russia recognised the two enclaves as independent states and stationed permanent military bases there.

The move constitutes "an occupation of 20 percent of Georgia's territory and a great injustice," Merkel told students.

In a symbolic move, Merkel on Friday also went to the administrative boundary with South Ossetia, where Russian border guards have set up barbed wire fences.

On Friday evening, she will travel to Armenia and on Saturday to Azerbaijan, where she will encourage "a peaceful and consensual solution" to the two countries' long-running territorial conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region, her office has said.

In Azerbaijan she is expected to discuss energy cooperation with the oil-rich Caspian nation, which is seen as one option for reducing Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas and oil.
Washington (AFP) - A former contractor for the US National Security Agency who leaked information on Russian hacking of election systems to journalists was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in prison.

The 63-month sentence that a federal judge in Augusta, Georgia handed Reality Winner in exchange for her guilty plea was the stiffest ever for a single charge of leaking classified information to the media, according to her lawyers.

It came despite the same information she leaked later being divulged officially by Washington after US states demanded it.

"The defendant schemed to take and disclose classified information she had sworn to protect - and then did so almost as soon as she had the chance, said Assistant Attorney General John Demers in a statement.

The former Air Force linguist was arrested in June 2017 hours before The Intercept, an online publication that frequently breaks national security-related stories, published a story based on documents she took.

They discussed in detail attempts by hackers from Russian military intelligence to penetrate a company that sells voter registration software, as well as the computers of local election officials.

Three months after Winner's arrest, under pressure from state election officials, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that Russians tried to hack systems in 21 of the 50 states in 2016.

Prior to the decision Thursday, Winner's lawyers told the court that the proposed sentence was well over previous sentences in leak cases.

"There is no allegation or evidence of actual spying or treason" against her, they said.

"This was not a WikiLeaks-like 'dump' of massive amounts of sensitive data, nor was it a disclosure of military secrets," they added.

That was a reference to the case of Chelsea Manning -- at the time known as Bradley Manning -- who as an army intelligence analyst in 2010 leaked a massive amount of highly secret defense and diplomacy documents to the transparency group.

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Manning was ultimately sentenced in February 2013 to 35 years in prison on 17 counts that included espionage and other charges.

In January 2017 President Barack Obama commuted her sentence as having been disproportionate and she was freed.

Winner's case was one of a string of breaches at the National Security Agency, the powerful signals intelligence body still smarting from Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosures of its global surveillance programs.

The sentence appeared to reflect in part the Trump administrations pledge to crack down on leaks of classified information.

Media activists criticized it as excessive.

"Reality Winner is a whistleblower who alerted the public about a critical threat to election security," said Freedom of the Press Foundation Executive Director Trevor Timm.

"Winner performed a public service by alerting the public and state officials to dangerous vulnerabilities in election infrastructure, and it's shameful the Justice Department would seek any prison time for her doing so --let alone the longest sentence for such an act in history."
Donald Trump, Omarosa Manigault Newman. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Andrew Harnik/AP, Mary Altaffer/AP)

WASHINGTON  Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman says she is ready to testify to Congress anytime, anyplace about what she knows about Russian ties to President Trumps campaign and offered to appear as a witness at a potential Senate impeachment trial.

I have the truth on my side as well as a hundred emails and documents and other things, said Newman in an interview with the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery.

Asked specifically about serving as an impeachment witness against the president, she replied: I think Ive made it very clear that I am fully willing and ready to testify, to cooperate, to help advance this investigation.

Even though Manigault Newman first floated the idea that she had information relating to the Russia investigation 10 days ago, she said that so far none of the congressional committees have reached out to her to seek her testimony. It remains far from clear, what she knows  if anything  that might be relevant to the Russia probes.

While Manigault Newman insisted she has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation since the spring, she only hinted at her role on the last page of her new bestselling book, Unhinged: An Insiders Account of the Trump White House. In that passage, she wrote that in early 2018 I, too, received a call from the FBI. But she has been coy about what that cooperation has consisted of  and what she has to say about Trumps knowledge of Russian assistance to his campaign. I dont want to compromise Muellers probe, Manigault Newman told Skullduggery. (She also said she wanted to include more details in her book but her publishers lawyers made her take them out.)

But Manigault Newman  who was fired as a White House staffer last December  was more than willing to discuss Michael Cohen, Trumps longtime lawyer who pleaded guilty this week to eight federal felonies, including arranging hush money payments to two women in violation of federal election laws.

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Download or subscribe on iTunes: Skullduggery by Yahoo News

According to Manigault Newman, Trump habitually mocked and belittled Cohen over the years, even humiliated him at his sons bar mitzvah.

Michael wanted Donald Trump to come to his sons bar mitzvah, Manigault Newman said. And he basically begged the president to come  it would mean so much to his son  And Donald came and in front of the entire group said that the only reason I came is because Michael begged me to be here. He literally begged me.

Trump said this in front of all of Michaels sons, friends, peers, Michael Cohens family, added Manigault Newman, who also attended the bar mitzvah. And he was very demeaning about it He could have just shown up and said, Yeah, Im here, OK, lets go. But instead, in front of his family, in front of his friends, peers, in front of his religious community, Donald Trump took a shot at him.

Manigault Newman said she called Cohen on Wednesday, the day after his court appearance. Michael Cohen and I are still close, she said. I talked to him today and I wanted him to know and reassure him that his friends are still his friends. We still have his back.

The interview with Skullduggery took place not long after Trump, in a Wednesday morning tweet, once again mocked Cohen.

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you dont retain the services of Michael Cohen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018

(In another tweet that same morning, Trump contrasted Cohen with his just convicted former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, noting that unlike Michael Cohen, Manafort refused to break  make up stories in order to get a deal.)

Manigault Newman said she was very upset about the presidents tweet commenting on Cohens skills as a lawyer. Why kick a man while hes down, you know? This man is facing jail time, he has a family, he has a beautiful wife. His daughter was my intern at the White House. I love this family and, youre right, Michael Cohen was 100 percent loyal to Donald Trump. And so I have to tell you that the way hes been portrayed is completely inaccurate.

She added: He would not be paying off porn stars if Donald Trump had not slept with them and had these illicit relationships with them and If Donald Trump had not directed him to pay these women off.

_____

More Skullduggery from Yahoo News:
By Syed Raza Hassan and Asif Shahzad KARACHI, Pakistan/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has disputed Washington's account of a phone call between new Prime Minister Imran Khan and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, denying that there was any discussion on militants operating in Pakistan. Pakistan's foreign ministry called for the United States to amend its statement, but U.S. State Department said it stands by its account. The row comes ahead of a planned visit by Pompeo to Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister last week. The U.S. State Department readout of the call said Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked Khan to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan". "...the impression, which was given... where they're saying that they mentioned terrorists' presence in Pakistan, that is against the reality," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday. "I'm saying it with full confidence." U.S. officials routinely raise the issue of Taliban and other militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan, where they plot attacks on U.S. and Afghan troops across the border. Pakistan regularly denies that the Afghan Taliban operates from its soil. And overnight on Thursday, Pakistan's foreign ministry asserted that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call between Pompeo and Khan. "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by U.S. State Dept on today's phone call," the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter. "There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected." However, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert indicated there would be no correction in response to Pakistan's complaint. "I can only say we stand by our readout," Nauert told a news conference on Thursday, calling Pakistan "an important partner" in the region. "The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future," Nauert added. Pompeo is expected in Islamabad on Sept. 5, and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet with Khan since he was sworn in. Khan is well known for his criticism of U.S. military policy in Afghanistan, but he said after winning elections last week that he seeks better relations with the United States after a series of aid cuts and the suspension of U.S. military training. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Ros Russell)
Brits could still be EU citizens if this initiative is successful (Getty)

Theres been a huge increase in the number of UK citizens applying for passports from other EU countries since Brexit.

The number successfully applying to become citizens of Germany is up fourfold and the number seeking Irish passports is up by 70%.

The rush is being driven by people desperate to keep their rights to travel, live, work and access services across the EU after Britain leaves next March.

But it could soon be possible to keep all of those benefits without acquiring a different nationality thanks to a British initiative for permanent EU citizenship.

MORE: 165% increase in Brits becoming citizens of other EU countries after Brexit vote

A group based in Nottingham have successfully kicked-off a European Citizens Initiative  thats the official term for the EUs formal petition mechanism.

Under a policy introduced in 2011, the EUs executive  the European Commission  is obliged to consider an official petition that is supported by at least a million people across the EU.

Only four of these citizens initiatives have ever achieved the required level of support.

The British initiative for permanent EU citizenship has made a good start, gaining the support of 38,000 people within 24 hours of its formal launch.

Theyve also received big political backing from Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister who is now the European parliaments Brexit coordinator.

EU citizenship does not replace our national citizenship, it is additional to it. If you believe in Churchill's vision of a common citizenship uniting Europe, please sign & #RT. Let's make this the most popular citizen's initiative ever! #IamEuropean https://t.co/cclLv6Jxjk  Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) August 23, 2018

If signatures continue at this rate then it could clear the 1 million hurdle within a month.

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But theres one problem  too much of the support so far is coming from the UK. It accounts for almost 60% so far.

To be successful, the petition will also need to attract a minimum number of signatures from six more member states.

For example, the minimum number of signatures required in Germany is 72,000. So far, the petition has the support of just over 1,200.

In Spain, where there is a large British expat community, it has achieved 3% of the signatures required.

MORE: Raab criticised for forgetting expats living in Brexit limbo

The biggest support overseas so far is from Belgium, where 4% of the more manageable 15,750 target has been reached.

The group behind the initiative say its not only for UK citizens, but they have some way to go in getting the attention of citizens of other EU countries and convincing them to support this idea.

Even if they succeed in gaining the support they need, theres no guarantee permanent EU citizenship will become a reality.

The European Commission is only obliged to reply within three months to say whether or not it will fulfil the request.

So, for now, its likely that those passport applications numbers will keep increasing.




President Donald Trump wrote a tweet mentioning the word Africa for the first time in his presidency late Wednesday.

That tweet conveyed the news that he had just instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to look into farm seizures and the large scale killing of farmers in South Africa.

Posted at just past 10 p.m., the tweet credited Fox News host and commentator Tucker Carlson  who had presented a piece about South African farmers earlier that evening.

Carlson claimed that South African president Cyril Ramaphosa had begun seizing land from his own citizens because they are the wrong skin color, and complained that the Trump administration had not weighed in on the issue. Hours later, Trump responded.

I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers. @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2018

At a press briefing Thursday, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters that Pompeo and Trump had discussed the issue of land seizures in South Africa and said Pompeo would take a look at it.

Nauert added that the State Department thinks the expropriation of land without compensation would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path.

Is there really large scale killing of farmers in South Africa?

Right-wing commentators have claimed there is an unpublicized white genocide unfolding in South Africa, but statistics say the opposite.

A recent study showed that, in fact, killings of farmers in South Africa are at their lowest level in 20 years. Last year, 47 farmers were reported killed, the lowest number in a steady decline since 1998, the peak of the violence, when 153 were killed. To add to that, statistics are not kept by race  so there is no guarantee that all of those killed were white.

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And because statistics are not kept on motivations for killings either, it is impossible to know whether the killings are racially motivated  although news of brutal slayings often leads to speculation of revenge as a motive in the media.

It is also important to remember that the murder rate in South Africa is exceptionally high. In 2015, the homicide rate was 34 killings per 100,000 people, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime  about seven times higher than the U.S. homicide rate.

But, the vast majority of South African victims are black. In fact, whites are less likely to be murdered than any other race group, says the fact-checking organization AfricaCheck.

One study suggests less than 2% of murder victims in the country are white, despite white South Africans making up about 9% of the population.

Trumps statement is really about American politics, its not about South African politics, says Chris Vandome, a Southern Africa expert at Chatham House, a think tank. Over the course of the last 18 months, there has been an increase in right-wing international attention on the situation in South Africa, manipulating whats going on in order to suit an international agenda.

That attention, Vandome says, suits right-wingers attempting to discredit liberal critiques of racism, but doesnt fit with the facts on the ground.

How have South Africans reacted to Trumps tweet?

In a statement, the South African government said it totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.

South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past. #landexpropriation @realDonaldTrump @PresidencyZA  South African Government (@GovernmentZA) August 23, 2018

Nkosi Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, said Thursday: Trump once again demonstrates a total ignorance of reality. We will not be dictated to, threatened or pressured into accepting a land deal that perpetuates the injustices of the past.

So why is South African land reform in the news?

On Aug, 1, Ramaphosa announced that his party, the African National Congress (ANC), intended to push forward with a change to the constitution that would allow the seizure of land without compensation (called expropriation in South Africa), to address what the ANC calls the historic injustice of landlessness. That would be an expansion of the states current powers, which allow it to force landowners to sell at fair rates. The reasons for those laws lie in South Africas history.

Until 1994, South Africa was ruled under a system known as Apartheid, a state-sanctioned form of institutional discrimination. Under Apartheid, black people  the majority of South Africans  were legally unable to own land in most of the country, and faced discrimination almost everywhere else in their daily lives too.

When Apartheid came to an end in 1994, nearly 90% of South African land was owned by the white population. Despite over two decades of attempts to address this imbalance by successive governments, white people still own 72% of agricultural land in the country, according to a recent government land audit.

Partially as a result of this, and partially because of other economic legacies of Apartheid, white South African households remain 5.5 times richer than their black counterparts on average. This is one of the key reasons the ANC wants to pursue land reform.

The majority of people in South Africa understand the need for reform, says Vandome of Chatham House. They also understand that it needs to be done in a delicate way that is cognizant of maintaining food security.

Have land seizures and expropriations begun?

Contrary to Carlson and Trumps claims, seizure of land without compensation has not yet begun.

However, if the ANC gets its way, it will start soon. Critics say that if that happens, it will not only violate internationally-recognized property rights but also possibly impact food security, drawing comparisons to Zimbabwes economic crash following Robert Mugabes 2000 decision to force white farmers off their land.

But Ramaphosa has promised that any expropriations will be conducted with food security in mind. In a statement released on Wednesday, the ANC said it would ensure that land reform is implemented in a way that increases agricultural production, improves food security and ensures that the land is returned to those from whom it was taken under colonialism and apartheid.

Despite this, analysts have warned that if the ANC does go through with the plans it could deter investment and trigger credit downgrades from international credit rating agencies, which would affect the prices of government loans and potentially cause an economic crisis.

Why is the ANC pushing for a change in the law?

Because its overwhelmingly popular. Land expropriations with compensation at market rates have been going on for decades, but have so far done little to shift the balance of land ownership and economic power in the nation.

The reason for the issue being put back on the table is that for a long time there has been a lack of progress, says Vandome. The overall sense of where South Africa is now compared to where it was 10 years ago is there is a slower rate of change than people were expecting.

The push for seizures without compensation, he says, has come about largely because of a mixture between internal ANC politics and frustration at continued lack of progress.

When Ramaphosa became party leader in February, the ANC was split. Although he was victorious, Ramaphosa was not seen as the candidate for the rural poor. As a concession, he has since pushed forward efforts on land reform in an attempt to capitalize on widespread dissatisfaction at the current situation.

And elections scheduled for next year are a factor, too. The left-wing party Economic Freedom Fighters, which calls for land expropriation without compensation, has surged in popularity recently. Ramaphosas push is also seen as a political calculation to fend off that electoral threat.

Despite right wing capitalization on the issue of land, Vandome says, foreign influence is unlikely to play much of a role in that contest.
New York (AFP) - Michael Cohen turned on Donald Trump this week, but he's just one in an army of lawyers who have defended the scandal-prone US president over the past four decades.

From mob lawyer Roy Cohn in the 1970s to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in today's Russia probe, Trump has shown an abiding love of combative lawyers.

Before the 2016 election, USA Today reported that Trump and his companies had been involved in 4,095 lawsuits over the previous 30 years.

"Does anyone know more about litigation than Trump?" the Republican candidate told a campaign rally in January 2016. "I'm like a PhD in litigation."

He has brought that penchant to "lawyer-up" into the Oval Office, hiring a rotating cast of legal eagles to defend his personal interests, in addition to White House counsel Donald McGahn.

Here is a look at some of Trump's most colorful lawyers over the years.

Roy Cohn

Cohn shot to fame as chief counsel for Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign to root out Communists in the United States, and played a role in the 1951 conviction of Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Trump hired Cohn, also a lawyer to the mob, in the 1970s when he was starting out in Manhattan real-estate. The aggressive litigator quickly became a mentor.

In 1973, when the Department of Justice charged the Trump Organization with housing discrimination, Cohn fired off a $100 million countersuit, honing the Trump maxim that when attacked, hit back harder.

Trump ultimately settled without pleading guilty. The tycoon reportedly called Cohn a "genius" but "a lousy lawyer."

Cohn was charged multiple times with misconduct, including perjury, but was never convicted. He died in 1986 as a result of complications from AIDS.

He has been immortalized as a power-crazed hypocrite in the play "Angels in America," played by Al Pacino in the TV miniseries of the same name.

"You knew when you were in Cohn's presence you were in the presence of pure evil," lawyer Victor Kovner has been quoted as saying by Vanity Fair.

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Rudy Giuliani

A long-time friend, Giuliani was appointed to the president's personal legal team in April. An attack-dog of the style favored by Trump, the 74-year-old is his chief lawyer for the TV cameras, strenuously defending his boss.

He has attracted ridicule for some of his more controversial remarks, most recently for his "truth isn't truth" comment.

He was mayor of New York from 1994-2001, presiding over a massive drop in crime and was feted for his leadership after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

He was US Attorney in Manhattan in the 1980s, famous for launching a crackdown on the mafia and chairs an international security consulting firm.

Jay Goldberg

The 85-year-old Harvard Law School alumni was Trump's divorce lawyer in his multi-million-dollar splits from first and second wives, Ivana and Marla.

An expert trial lawyer, praised for his killer instincts, his other famous clients have included Mick Jagger, Johnny Cash and The Rolling Stones.

"I'm a killer. I can rip skin off a body," he was quoted as saying in a 1990 column in The New York Post. Trump is quoted as calling him "the best lawyer that I ever saw."

Goldberg has apparently been shopping around a "tell-all" memoir and told CNN that the president can't be counted on to tell the truth.

Marc Kasowitz

Litigating cases for Trump for more than 15 years, he has been described by CNBC as the "toughest lawyer on Wall Street" and has represented the president in connection with the Russia investigation.

The 66-year-old was forced to apologize for firing off profanity-laced emails to a critic in 2017, including the threat: "Watch your back, bitch."

Jay Sekulow

He also represents Trump on the Russia investigation. A staunch defender of Christian causes, he has argued 12 cases before the US Supreme Court, and has side gigs as a radio host and a weekly television program.

The 62-year-old has defended Israel at the International Criminal Court and written a best-selling book about the Islamic State extremist group.
Dushanbe (Tajikistan) (AFP) - Tajikistan on Friday freed a prominent human rights lawyer as Western governments and rights groups stepped up pressure on the authoritarian Central Asian country.

Shukhrat Kudratov, a renowned rights lawyer involved in defending Tajikistan's battered opposition was released early on Friday after spending nearly four years behind bars on embezzlement charges in this landlocked former Soviet republic.

In 2015, he was sentenced to nine years in prison although it was later shortened to three years and eight months.

Kudratov's supporters insisted his real offence was representing a wealthy former government official Zaid Saidov, who had branched out politically by attempting to form his own party in 2013.

Saidov's arrest heralded the beginning of a renewed crackdown in Tajikistan, where 65-year-old President Emomali Rakhmon has been in power since 1992.

The businessman and former industry minister is currently serving a 29-year sentence on charges of financial fraud, polygamy, and statutory rape.

Although Kudratov's sentence was shortened, another lawyer also known for defending the opposition, Buzurgmehr Yorov, had his jail term extended from 25 to 28 years in 2017.

Yorov was initially convicted in 2015 on an array of charges that critics denounced as trumped up after he began defending members of an opposition group the government had banned the same year.

His term was extended after prosecutors charged that he publicly insulted officials including the president and was found to be in contempt of court during his trial.

Earlier this week, a Tajik appeals court released Khayrullo Mirsaidov, a popular but critical journalist serving 12 years for embezzlement in an apparent climbdown following robust criticisms from rights groups and noises of concern from the West.

Ahead of his release, British Ambassador Hugh Philpott had described Mirsaidov's case as "politically important", saying it could impact international cooperation with the country.

Amnesty International hailed the verdict as a "rare victory for freedom of expression" while noting he should never have been charged in the first place.

In recent years, rights groups have criticised the silence of Western governments as repression intensifies in Tajikistan, a poor majority-Muslim country of nine million people that borders Afghanistan.
Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told leaders of the Georgian separatist republics South Ossetia and Abkhazia that Moscow would do all it could to guarantee their security, a decade on from a Russia-Georgia war.

South Ossetia's Anatoly Bibilov and Abkhazia's Raul Khajimba were at the Kremlin for talks, 10 years after Russia became one of the few countries to recognise independence claims made in the 1990s.

"We are striving to do all we can to guarantee the security of South Ossetia, to give it economic support," Putin said during a meeting with Bibilov.

"Despite all the difficulties, and there are many, the republic is developing," he said.

Later he told Khajimba: "We attach great importance to our work together aimed at guaranteeing the security of Abkhazia."

"This involves cooperation between the armed forces and border security," he said.

Georgia and its Soviet-era master Moscow have long been at loggerheads over Tbilisi's bid to join the European Union and NATO with the spiralling confrontation culminating in a full-out war on August 8, 2008.

After the short war -- that claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and civilians from both sides -- Moscow recognised South Ossetia and another separatist enclave, Abkhazia, as independent states where it then stationed permanent military bases.

The two regions constitute 20 percent of Georgia's territory.

Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia's continued "occupation" of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

During a visit to Georgia on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the Russian presence in the region "a great injustice".
Reality Winner, the U.S. intelligence contractor charged with leaking classified National Security Agency material, is seen in these undated booking photos in Lincolnton, Georgia. (Photo: Handout . / Reuters)

A former government contract employee who leaked information to the press about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in prison.

Reality Winner, 26, worked for federal contractor Pluribus International Corp. in Augusta, Georgia, when she was arrested last year after removing classified materials from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet, a criminal complaint said at the time.

The former Air Force linguist sent a National Security Agency memo that detailed Russias attempts to gain access to multiple U.S. state or local electoral boards to The Intercept.

She had faced a maximum of 10 years in prison, but reached a plea deal with prosecutors. Still, her sentence of 63 months is the longest yet for a government leaker, prosecutors said when requesting the sentence.

U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine said Winner knowingly and intentionally betrayed the trust of her colleagues and her country in a statement following the sentencing.

Make no mistake: THIS WAS OT[sic] A VICTIMLESS CRIME, the statement from Trump-appointed Christine said. Winners purposeful violation put our nations security at risk.

During her sentencing, Winner apologized to the government, the court and her family.

Since her arrest, Winner has spent every day in jail after being denied bail. In June, Winner pleaded guilty to a charge of violating the Espionage Act, a law passed more than 100 years ago in an effort to combat foreign spies. Barack Obama was the first president to use the act to target whistleblowers.

People automatically hear espionage and think shes a traitor to her country, and I dont want people thinking that shes a traitor to the U.S., her mother, Billie Winner-Davis, told HuffPost in June. I dont agree with how the government uses the Espionage Act. She should not be labeled a traitor.

During her time in county jail, Winner has had limited access outside, has shared a shower and toilet with multiple other inmates, and was only recently given a second pair of pants to wear, her mother said. Transferring to a new prison system is going to improve her situation drastically, Winner-Davis said.

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I think she has maintained her strength and sanity [while incarcerated,] Winner-Davis told HuffPost on Tuesday before her sentencing. She maintains her sense of humor which helps her through it. People who have written to her have helped keep her going, kept her strong.

Winner-Davis added she hopes her daughter will be moved to a prison closer to her and her family in Texas.

After completing her 63 months in prison, Winner has been ordered to serve three years of supervised release.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Dijonee Sandoval was 15 when she first began to bake. Growing up being Mexican-American, you know, my grandma cooked, my mom cooked, but nobody really baked, she told Yahoo. Now the sweet entrepreneurs mixed her Latina culture and passion for confections to create one of the most adorable, and her most popular, treats  Frida cake pops.

Dijonee Sandoval, aka Momma Dee Sweets, holding her Frida Kahlo creations. (Photo: Gisselle Bances)

The treats are a one-of-a-kind homage to Mexican artist and icon Frida Kahlo. I decided to do Frida because I feel like shes such an important part of our community, Sandoval said. Shes bold, she really didnt care what people thought, and I feel even being part of the baking industry you kind of have to stand out. Sandoval, known as Momma Dee Sweets on social media, is following suit with her colorful cake pops  and bonus, she also has caramel apple Fridas!

This Frida Kahlo cake pop has chocolate cake inside. The outside is a combination of white and dark chocolate. The edible flowers are made of fondant. (Photo: Gisselle Bances)

Sandovals cake pops come in many flavors. The outer part is covered in chocolate: white chocolate for Fridas face and dark chocolate for her hair. The young Latina baker beautifully showcases her decorating skills in bringing Fridas face to life. I would say the most challenging part, whether its the cake pop or even the apples, is definitely the eyebrows, she said. Thats what everybody knows her for, so I definitely have to make sure I live up to that standard, and make sure theyre just right. Momma Dee, you nailed Fridas signature brows.

Dijonee Sandoval decorates a Frida cake pop. (Photo: Gisselle Bances)

The colorful flower crown is also a must, and Sandoval unfailingly includes this very important detail. The individual flowers are made out of fondant and the earrings are sugar pearls. Her Frida pops have been a favorite among customers. Sandoval is taking her Momma Dee Sweets to the first-ever LatinaFest in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, a monumental event celebrating Latinas who are making an impact.

Dijonee Sandoval of Momma Dee Sweets adds colorful flowers to complete Fridas look. (Photo: Gisselle Bances)

To me, food is love, and what better way to do that than through Frida or any other type of dessert?

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Monterey Car Week is the perfect place for truly luxurious vehicles to become acquainted with potential future owners. That's why any automaker worth its exotic luxury salt packs up its finest wares and treks to Northern California once a year. For Rolls-Royce, the surrounds of the Pebble Beach community is playing host to a range of the automaker's latest and greatest, and that includes the new Cullinan SUV, which is being shown locally for the first time.

Unveiled in the United Kingdom in May, the Cullinan is Rolls-Royce's answer to a question asked by those with means seeking a way to stay fancy and enjoy the countryside. It's perfectly boxy and brash, yet still somehow dignified. Part of that is owed to the behemoth stance of thing while the rest of the credit can be given to that mighty twin-turbocharged V-12 lurking just below and behind the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament.

While Rolls-Royce trots out its 563-horsepower Cullinan, the SUV won't be alone in Montereythe British automaker doesn't pack light for Monterey Car Week. A number of bespoke offerings will be shown off, including a Phantom prepared for renowned collector Michael Fux. This Phantom marks the tenth vehicle specially ordered by the mattress king, and it joins a collection of cars that are used to help raise funds for Michael's own charity, The Michael Fux Foundation. The goal of the organization is to raise money for families at the Miami Children's Hospital.

Rolls-Royce Paradiso Collection

Besides helping out philanthropically where it can, Rolls-Royce is clearly expressing its love of the Black Badge collection of cars for 2018. In Monterey, you'll find the Umbra Black Badge Dawn, Ghost, and Wraith. There's the Dawn Black Badge Adamas collection, which is inspired by the invincible nature of diamonds, because why not? A trio of Paradiso Collection cars are finished in brilliant Quail Blue paint, and finally the Nebula Collection trio of the Dawn, Ghost, and Wraith. Sadly, those cars are not inspired by Nebula from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, it's a lineup of exclusive machines paying homage to 20th-century pioneers and space explorers.

The best part is probably the clock in the Nebula Collection. It features a portion of the night sky. Specifically, it's a part of the Northern Hemisphere from March, and it's back lit yet also has a slight glow to it. The idea is that you'd be watching stars through the window of a spacecraft. Now that's a cool touch. And it's yet another example of the sort of attention to detail that sets Rolls-Royce apart from... well, everyone.

Monterey Car Week concludes Sunday with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. For our complete coverage on the event, head to our dedicated hub.
Evangelical Christian Scott Morrison, who emerged as prime minister Friday after a ruling party bun fight, is a key architect of Australia's controversial "stop the boats" policy to halt the arrival of seaborne asylum-seekers.

Morrison, an ambitious man who has always dreamed of the top job, snatched the leadership from the hands of hardline conservatives who had engineered the ouster of incumbent moderate Malcolm Turnbull.

Morrison, who was immigration minister before becoming treasurer, was reportedly quietly canvassing support among his colleagues as Turnbull feuded with his rivals during the week.

The 50-year-old's stealth candidacy reflected aspirations he has had since he entered parliament in 2007, representing the Sydney seat of Cook -- the site of Australia's last race riots in 2005.

"I look forward to it. I relish it," he said after rising to the country's highest political role.

The son of a policeman, Morrison -- known as "ScoMo" -- becomes Australia's seventh prime minister in 11 years, replacing a man who became the latest in a long line of leaders knifed in the back by their allies.

He built his reputation in the party as a tough but effective operator when he took on the immigration portfolio from 2013-14, implementing the controversial "Operation Sovereign Borders" to stop asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat.

They were either sent back to where they had come from or transferred to remote Pacific island camps, a policy roundly criticised by the United Nations and rights groups.

A defiant Morrison stared down his critics and enforced a veil of secrecy around the military operations to turn back boats, sometimes to countries with dodgy human rights records.

As doctors and advocates slammed the conditions in the camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru, where some asylum-seekers were held for several years, Morrison celebrated the fall in the number of arrivals.

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He stressed that the policy had stopped the tide of boats and prevented people from drowning at sea when they undertook the long, treacherous journey to Australia.

Even so, critics questioned how the man in charge reconciled his worn-on-the-sleeve Christian faith with his uncompromising immigration stance.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who has pleaded for politicians to consider the plight of asylum-seeker children held on Nauru, said Friday that Morrison's policy had left a "toxic legacy of cruelty to vulnerable people".

- 'Family and faith' -

Born May 13, 1968 in the beachside Sydney suburb of Bronte, Scott John Morrison was the younger of two sons, whose parents ran church youth programmes.

Morrison himself was an active church member, and met his wife Jenny as a young teenager through the church. The pair married when he was 21.

It took 18 years and multiple rounds of IVF before the first of two children was born, and Morrison dedicated his maiden parliamentary speech to his daughter Abbey Rose.

Morrison worked in the tourism sector at home and in New Zealand before being selected to contest the seat of Cook in 2007.

He credited his win to the "most significant influences on my life -- my family and my faith".

After serving as shadow immigration minister, Morrison moved straight into the government job when the Liberal party took power in 2013.

A short stint in the social services portfolio followed, before he took over the treasury when Turnbull became leader in September 2015.

Morrison presided over Australia's economy as the government sought to return the budget to surplus and simultaneously cut personal income and small business taxes.

On social issues, Morrison has stood to the right of the more moderate Turnbull, and opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage last year.

But he has also tried to soften his image, appearing on a cooking-with-politicians series that airs on national broadcaster ABC.
BOSTON (AP)  U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has posted 10 years of her tax returns online.

The decision to release the federal and state returns on Wednesday came a day after the Massachusetts Democrat called for sweeping anti-corruption laws in Washington. Warrens bill would require the IRS to release tax returns for congressional candidates from the previous two years and during each year in office.

The posted 2017 returns show the former Harvard University law professor and her husband reported an adjusted gross income of $913,000. The couple filed jointly and paid $302,000 in taxes and was eligible for a refund of almost $34,000.

Warren has been mentioned as a possible 2020 presidential candidate but says shes focused on her Senate re-election campaign this year. She frequently spars with President Donald Trump, who has refused to release his tax returns.
Sens. Robert Menendez and Jeanne Shaheen want to know what Donald Trump said to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. (Photo: Tom Williams via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  What the hell happened in President Donald Trumps private, two-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month?

Top Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for all relevant documents  including notes from the U.S. interpreter in the room  to try to figure it out.

In view of the Presidents comments and the inability of senior officials to provide a clear and complete description of any commitments that President Trump may have made during this two-hour conversation, we respectfully request that you provide relevant materials including all classified and unclassified cable traffic, memoranda of conversations, interpreters notes and policy directives related to the meeting, reads the letter to Pompeo from Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

Heres the full letter:

Menendez-Shaheen letter re: Helsinki meeting on Scribd

Lawmakers still know very little about what Trump told Putin in that meeting, after which he publicly trashed U.S. intelligence and praised the Russian leader. Among those in the dark: the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

Wed like to understand what was agreed to when the leaders of our two countries sat down in Helsinki, Corker said Tuesday in a committee hearing on U.S. relations with Moscow. Were there discussions regarding current or future arms control agreements? What other promises or assurances were made? To date we have received no real readout, even in a classified setting, of this meeting.

Shaheen has been pushing to hear from the U.S. interpreter who was in the room with Trump and Putin.

That translator is an official of the U.S. government, she told reporters last month. It is imperative that the American people and this Congress know precisely what the president shared or promised the Kremlin on our behalf.

Republicans dont seem interested in bringing in the interpreter, though, even as Trump continues to lavish Putin with praise amid the ongoing investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election. Its also not clear whether the president could claim executive privilege to prevent the interpreter from testifying.

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Corkers spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he supports the Democrats request for documents from Pompeo.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
San Francisco (AFP) - Sony on Thursday announced that its Aibo robotic dogs infused with artificial intelligence will be unleashed on the US market by the year-end holiday season, with a price tag of $2,899.

The sixth-generation mechanical pup combines robotics with image sensors and artificial intelligence, enabling it to learn behaviors and recognize faces, according to the Japanese consumer electronics giant.

Aibo robot personalities develop based on interactions with people, giving each a unique character depending on its human companions, Sony said.

"This is truly a one-of-a-kind product designed to connect with its owners on an emotional level," Sony Electronics North America president Mike Fasulo said in a release.

Similar to real-life dogs, Aibo can learn tricks and will seek out owners, reacting to words of praise or scratches on the head, according to Sony. Aibo will also play with toys, which Sony will sell you.

Unlike real-life dogs, Aibo has an application owners can use to adjust system settings or add new tricks, and can connect to the internet cloud to store memories.

Aibo owners will also be able to check on internet-linked canine companions while away from home, glimpsing life through their robotic eyes, according to Sony.

Sony will begin taking US orders for "First Litter Edition" Aibo next month, with deliveries promised by the holiday season.

Aibo became available in Japan early this year, more than a decade after it culled earlier models from its product line.
By Pablo Rodero and Isla Binnie MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's government took a step closer on Friday to removing the remains of dictator Francisco Franco from a grand mausoleum that it intends to turn into a memorial to victims of the country's brutal civil war. Transforming the "Valley of the Fallen" site, marked by a 152-metre (500-foot) cross on a mountainside near Madrid and criticized as Europe's only remaining monument to a fascist leader, is a longstanding ambition of the Socialist Party which returned to office in June. The government issued a decree that reduces the risk of legal claims, including from Franco's descendants, preventing the exhumation. The Franco era remains a sensitive topic in Spain, more than 40 years after he died. During his 1939-1975 rule, tens of thousands of his enemies were killed and imprisoned in a campaign to wipe out dissent, and as many as 500,000 combatants and civilians died in the preceding civil war, which split the nation in two. "Only the mortal remains of people who died as a result of the Spanish Civil War will lie in the Valley of the Fallen," deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo told a news conference. Past political crimes were pardoned as part of Spain's transition to democracy in the late 1970s, fostering resentment among victims' families, very few of whom have managed to start the process of unearthing the remains of soldiers from both sides from the Valley of the Fallen. Franco's exhumation should be completed by the end of this year, with a view to turning the monument into "a place of commemoration, remembrance and homage to the victims of the war," Calvo said. Following their unexpected ouster of Mariano Rajoy's conservative People's Party (PP) administration, the Socialists hold just a quarter of the seats in parliament. That puts major economic and political changes out of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's reach, and he sustained a painful defeat over his budget last month. Instead, he has bet on high-profile measures likely to appeal to left-wing voters: naming a majority-female cabinet and receiving more migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, as well as pushing through the Valley of the Fallen plan. TURNING A PAGE The site has long been a pilgrimage for far-right groups. A man at the site on Friday morning wore a t-shirt bearing the eagle-adorned flag in use during Franco's rule, and fresh flowers lay on the dictator's tomb. "Now is the time to turn a page," said Eduardo, a 25 year-old from the Canary Islands, walking in central Madrid. "It's good to go ahead with the exhumation and to convert that place into somewhere for everyone and not just for one faction." The decree needs to be approved by parliament, but even in the face of opposition or likely abstention from the PP and center-right Ciudadanos, it is unlikely to be voted down. Recent polls suggest the Socialists would easily win a national election now, some indicating a lead of almost 10 percentage points over the PP. "We don't want to dig up ghosts we have happily forgotten," PP leader Pablo Casado said on Thursday, adding his party would appeal against the decree but had not decided how to vote on it. Parliament passed a non-binding motion last year to remove the remains from the mausoleum despite the PP's abstention. Sanchez resorted to passing a decree on the exhumation after failed negotiations with Franco's seven grandchildren, who reportedly engaged a notary to formalize their opposition. Carmen Martinez Bordiu, the eldest of his heirs, declined a Reuters request for comment. The abbot who runs the site and had appealed against other exhumations also declined to comment. The family will have 15 days from the end of August to decide where they want Franco's remains to be taken. If they do not make a joint decision in that time, the government will decide where the new grave will be. (Additional reporting by Belen Carreno, Andres Gonzalez and Marco Trujillo; Editing by John Stonestreet)
Saqba (Syria) (AFP) - In a town outside the Syrian capital, Abu Suleiman dusts off his work table and pulls cobwebs from a cupboard he started making before the war.

Prior to the outbreak of the seven-year conflict, his hometown of Saqba near Damascus was famed for its carpenters and their handmade furniture.

But Abu Suleiman was forced to shutter his workshop after rebels overran the town in 2012, sparking years of deadly regime bombardment and a crippling siege.

A 2011 calendar still hangs on the wall.

"I started making this bedroom set for my son Suleiman eight years ago, but I never finished it," says the 53-year-old carpenter, removing cobwebs from a cupboard festooned with wooden flowers.

"I'm waiting for him to return for us to finish it together, so I can give it to him as a wedding gift," he says.

After protests against President Bashar al-Assad first broke out that year, Abu Suleiman encouraged his son to flee in case the situation escalated.

Suleiman headed to Germany, where he remains today.

His craftsman father only returned to the dusty workshop last week, after regime forces retook control of Saqba in March and the wider region of Eastern Ghouta the following month.

It was a welcome return to his craft after five years of doing other jobs to survive the devastating siege.

Regime forces completely surrounded Eastern Ghouta in 2013, making any furniture shippings impossible as well as causing severe shortages of food, medicines and fuel.

During the winter, many were forced to burn their furniture to keep warm, Abu Suleiman says, his voice wavering.

Fellow carpenter Abu Nader says others smashed it up to sell as tinder.

"I would stop people carrying their furniture to chop it up for firewood, and beg them not to do it," he says.

"I felt like every piece of wood I had worked with my hands was a chunk of my heart."

- 'Trade of the future' -

The siege of Ghouta was one of the bleakest episodes of the conflict, which has killed more than 350,000 people and caused millions to flee.

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But today, Saqba's workshops have sprung back to life.

Electric saws and sanding machines spew out sawdust, their high-pitched whirring filling the street once again.

In the town centre, Yussef al-Qabuni has also gone back to work, fixing doors, windows and pieces of furniture for a handful of customers.

As he gently raps on the door of a cupboard to check its condition, he says he is delighted to be back doing a job that makes him proud.

"I've being working in this trade since I was 10," the burly 50-year-old says.

Saqba used to produce hundreds of complete bedroom sets before the war broke out, he says.

Hundreds of businesses drew in tradesmen from neighbouring Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, the Gulf -- even Cyprus.

Not far off, Hussam Obayd nails two planks of wood together at a right angle.

A large majority of Saqba's inhabitants are carpenters, the lean 46-year-old says.

"In each family, there are two or three carpenters at least," says Obayd, who recently reopened his workshop with the help of his teenage son.

Even if orders are still few and far between, he is excited about teaching 16-year-old Alaa the secrets of the trade.

"This is a trade of the future," he says.

With fighting over, "everybody is going to want to rebuild their home, and fix its windows and doors."
Elon Musk should reconsider his plans to take Tesla private, because the companys planned autonomous taxi service could boost its share prices tenfold over the next five years. Thats according to Catherine Wood, ARK Invest CEO and Tesla investor, who claimed in a Tuesday open letter that taking the company off the markets now could prove a mistake.

Musk announced plans earlier this month to take Tesla private at a valuation of $420 per stock, a 20 percent premium over the $350 stock price of that day, with investors also having the option to remain investors in a newly-private company. Wood estimates that if Tesla remains public, it will be worth $700 to $4,000 within five years, based on its transformation from a company with 19 percent gross margins to one with around 80 percent margins. This is based on Musks 2016 master plan where he explained how autonomous Teslas could join up with a larger network and work as a self-driving Uber-like system.

Thank you for the thoughtful letter  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2018

See more: Elon Musk Predicts Teslas Self-Driving Cars Could Become Robo-Uber

However, Wood describes this as a conservative assumption. The $4,000 figure only covers the taxi service and cars, and does not factor in potential moves into mobility-as-a-service in China, nor profits from utility-scale energy storage or drones and trucks. Tesla announced its $150,000 Semi truck at a November 2017 event, due to hit roads next year, while its energy storage systems recently completed the worlds biggest battery in South Australia and plans several smaller projects for the same state based on its success.

The taxi service central to this valuation forms part of the upcoming autonomous driving feature. Every car manufactured since October 2016 offers what Tesla claims are the necessary cameras and sensors to enable full autonomy, with a computer upgrade set to enable the feature. It costs $3,000 when bought with the car, and costs $5,000 to unlock after purchase. The feature is dependent on also purchasing Enhanced Autopilot, which costs $5,000 at purchase or $6,000 thereafter. Musk explained in May 2018 that with the robo-taxi service, you can say its available to anyone to use it whenever youre not using it, you can recall it at will, you can limit its use to friends and family. However, the Free Software Foundation has criticized Tesla for seemingly planning to limit autonomous taxi rides to use with its own network only, removing owners choice over how to make money from their self-driving car.

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Its unclear when the network will launch, as the company will face regulatory hurdles before the service goes live. The in-house computer chip to enable full autonomy, however, is set to launch in the next four to six months.

Investors arent the only people skeptical of Musks plan to go private. One JPMorgan analyst said that the plan appears much less developed than we had earlier presumed.

More From Inverse
I beat my wife again, because she gave birth to a girl. These are the words my grandfather wrote in his diary on the day my mother was born in 1958. He was angry because he now had two daughters but still no son to continue the bloodline. This attitude was not unusual among Japanese men of his generation.

While he regularly beat my grandmother, my aunt and my mother, my grandfather never raised his hand to my uncle, born four years after my mother. He was cherished as the family heir.

Its been 60 years since my mother was born. Though Japan has made enormous economic progress during that time, theres been little progress in attitudes toward women.

I was born and raised in the Tokyo area. The recent revelations that a leading medical school in Japan had manipulated entrance exam scores to exclude women for more than a decade generated global headlinesbut it hardly shocked me. While it is rare for such clear evidence of institutional discrimination against women to emerge in Japan, I am still constantly reminded of a womans traditional role in Japanese society, whether its coming from lawmakers or ordinar acquaintances.

The same discrimination based on gender in academic institutions can be found in Japanese high school entrance exams. Schools often offer equal numbers of places to boys and girls through examinations. However, because girls tend to score higher in those examinations, schools require them to have higher scores than boys for enrolment.

What was shocking to me is that more than 65% of Japanese medical doctors who responded to a survey said reducing the entrance exam scores for women is unavoidable, since the extreme working hours make it impossible for female doctors to work full time while taking care of their children. Japanese society still sees household chores and childcare as the main responsibility of women, whether or not they are in paid employment.

The same survey revealed that many female doctors were told by colleagues not to get pregnant because it would increase the burden for others in the workplace. This pattern can also be seen in other sectors with labor shortages, such as childcare.

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For too long, many women internalized such discrimination and took it as a given. I was no exception. When I was job-hunting with Japanese corporations during university, the recruiters often asked: Do you have a boyfriend? and Will you give up your job when you get married or get pregnant?

Rather than recognizing these questions as a clear example of gender-based discrimination, I took them as a routine set of questions all female students are asked by recruiters. In Japan, having both a successful career and a family is rarely seen as feasible.

When I sought career advice from alumnae at my university, the women told me that they had little option but to stop working after giving birth. This is because it is still far too common for women to have to take care of the household chores and child-raising on top of working full time. With limited support from their spouses, a shortage of publicly funded day-care and few policies or practices to enable flexible ways of working, many consider it impossible to continue their career.

Once children are old enough to stay home on their own after school, women re-enter the job market as part-time workers with low earning potential and limited prospects for career advancement despite their education and capability.

Increasing numbers of young women are no longer willing to give up their own career aspirations to raise a family, one reason behind the sharp drop in the number of marriages in Japan and the lowest birth rate for decades.

Under existing gender norms, in other words, giving birth and raising children is still considered a womans main contribution to Japanese society. This view is deeply ingrained. In 2007, the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Hakuo Yanagisawa, said publicly that women are child-bearing machines.

Just last month, Mio Sugita, a parliamentarian from the ruling party, used gender stereotypes around child-bearing to attack same-sex marriage. Sugita sparked widespread criticism after a magazine article in which she challenged the use of taxpayers money to support same-sex marriages, writing that, because same-sex couples dont produce children  they lack productivity and, therefore, do not contribute to the prosperity of the nation.

These are just two examples of stereotypes that are commonly shared throughout Japan.

Japanese journalist Shiori Ito, who accused a television newsman of raping her in 2015, poses for a picture in Tokyo on January 30, 2018.

Things are starting to change. In August, 57 lawyers across Japan formed a coalition to support redress for students who applied for the medical school. Yet the movement to challenge gender discrimination in Japan is not yet broad enough to bring about significant reforms. There was only tepid support in Japan for the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment, compared to the impact it had elsewhere in world.

In 2017, journalist Shiori Ito became the first Japanese woman to speak publicly about the sexual violence she had experienced, after prosecutors decided to drop the case. Ito alleges that in 2015 she was raped by prominent Japanese TV journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi. (He denies the allegations.)

Instead of being praised for her courage in speaking out, she faced a public backlash including death threats. Women and men branded her an embarrassment and she was mocked on television by Japanese officials for immoral behavior and accused of sleeping around to advance her career. Anonymous threats made her feel so unsafe that she eventually moved to the U.K.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made creating a society where all women shine a key message in his growth policy for Japan, but the country will need a much stronger foundation if it hopes to achieve this. Women in Japan manage to shine in spite of the systemnot because of it.

The government of Japan has legal obligations under international human rights standards to eliminate discrimination against women and girls and guarantee equality, including in the fields of education and employment. It is also obliged to take all appropriate measures to modify social and cultural beliefs and patterns to eliminate practices that are based either on ideas of the inferiority or the superiority of either sex, or on gender stereotypes.

Even more important is for all womenmyself includedwho have internalized everyday gender discrimination to consider what steps we can take to bring about the changes needed in society. Rather than silently enduring discrimination, Japanese women must hold the government to account and demand respect for our rights.

Correction: The original version of this story misstated the year that the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare made a statement saying women are child-bearing machines. It was in 2007, not 2009.
Zimbabwe's top court on Friday dismissed an opposition bid to have presidential election results annulled over alleged rigging in favour of Robert Mugabe's successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

In a verdict widely predicted by analysts, Chief Justice Luke Malaba strongly criticised the MDC party's case and upheld Mnangagwa's win.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa Credit: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/

"The court finds the applicant has failed to place before it clear, direct, sufficient and credible evidence" of irregularities, Malaba said in his ruling at the Constitutional Court in Harare.

"There was no proof of the happenings of these irregularities as a matter of fact."

Mnangagwa, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, won the July 30 election with 50.8 percent of the vote - just enough to meet the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off against MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3 percent.

His inauguration would now take place on Sunday, justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told AFP.

Lawyers for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had argued that the results should be annulled due to alleged "massive doctoring" of the vote.

But the court backed lawyers representing Mnangagwa, ZANU-PF and the election commission who rubbished claims that the opposition had produced any substantial evidence of fraud.

"I once again reiterate my call for peace and unity," Mnangagwa said in a television address after the ruling.

"Let us put whatever differences we might have behind us. It is time to build our nation and move forward together."

Paul Mangwana, a ZANU-PF spokesman, said outside the court: "We are ecstatic... President Mnangagwa won and that can no longer be disputed.

"He is now ready to deliver on his mandate to usher in a new Zimbabwe."

Mnangagwa, who has vowed to revive Zimbabwe's ruined economy, had hoped the elections would draw a line under Mugabe's repressive 37-year rule and open up a stream of foreign investment and aid.

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Campaigning was more open and peaceful than previous votes under Mugabe.

But the election was marred by the army opening fire on protesters, killing six, allegations of vote-rigging and a violent crackdown on opposition activists.

The MDC had cited a catalogue of alleged discrepancies including incorrect counting, fake "ghost" polling stations, and at some polling stations more ballots being counted than there were registered voters.

Police gather outside the Constitutional Court after the court upheld Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa' s narrow victory in Harare Credit: AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

The party issued a statement saying it would respect the court verdict despite being the victim "of chicanery and electoral pilferage".

"The sombre mood in the country in the wake of today's court verdict is in itself a telling statement," it added.

Derek Matyszak, a legal expert at the University of Zimbabwe, had predicted that the opposition faced an uphill struggle given the courts' historic tilt towards ZANU-PF, which has ruled since independence from British colonial rule in 1980.

"The outcome (was) pretty predictable," Matyszak told AFP.

The MDC's appeal, which was lodged hours before the deadline on August 10, forced Mnangagwa's inauguration - planned for August 12 - to be postponed.

International monitors largely praised the conduct of the election itself, although European Union observers said that Mnangagwa, a former long-time Mugabe ally, benefited from an "un-level playing field".

After the ruling, the EU issued a statement saying all parties should accept the verdict, adding that the new government needed to push through electoral reforms after a vote that had "revealed improvements as well as challenges."

Some ZANU-PF supporters celebrated at the party headquarters in Harare.

The nine judges delivered the unanimous verdict at the court amid tight security, though no protests were reported after the case.

Armed police patrolled in the second city of Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold.

The court could have declared a winner, called another election, or ordered a run-off or recount.

In a first for the country, the proceedings were broadcast live on state television.
Kiev (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's national security advisor on a visit to Kiev Friday condemned the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany which will bypassing Ukraine, stressing Europe was taking a strategic risk by relying on Russian gas.

"It's not just the economic significance of being heavily dependent on Russia for the supply of natural gas and petroleum, but the strategic significance of it as well," John Bolton told journalists after meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a visit to Kiev.

He said that one of the concerns Trump has about Nord Stream 2 is "why Europe would voluntarily tie itself even more to Russian energy supplies."

Trump has repeatedly condemned the Nord Stream 2 project which the Russian gas giant Gazprom hopes to launch by the end of 2019.

It is expected it will double the delivery capacity between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and therefore avoid the route via Ukraine.

Currently Gazprom supplies 35 percent of the EU's gas and half of that goes through Ukraine.

"One alternative there for Ukraine and for other countries is to look for other sources of natural gas," Bolton said.

"There are other potential sources of natural gas as well from the major gas fields found in the eastern Mediterranean off Israel, from America's capacity to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a variety of other possible sources," he added.

At a meeting on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel said Ukraine should "play a role in the transit of gas to Europe" even after Nord Stream 2 is launched.

Putin said the pipeline project "addresses the growing demand of the European economy for energy resources".

On Wednesday, he said he was ready for "honest" competition with all countries.

The United States, a major producer of natural gas, has recently embarked on a commercial offensive in search of new markets, an idea which is supported by Trump.
Kiev (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's national security advisor on Friday said Washington does not "exclude" the possibility of territorial adjustments in the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, a notion Western powers have staunchly opposed in the past.

"If the two parties can work it out between themselves and reach agreement -- we don't exclude territorial adjustments," John Bolton said during a press conference in Ukraine's capital Kiev.

"And I do not think anybody in Europe would stand in the way if the two parties reach the mutually satisfactory settlement," he said. "I think they both can be congratulated for the early tentative discussions that they had."

Bolton's comments signal a shift in the US position on border changes in the fragile region still haunted by the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia.

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo are in EU-brokered talks to overcome a bitter diplomatic stalemate that has thwarted both governments' aspirations to join the bloc.

At the heart of the "frozen conflict" is Belgrade's refusal to recognise Kosovo -- an ethnic Albanian majority province that broke away from Serbia after a bloody guerilla conflict in the late 1990s, declaring independence in 2008.

Another sticking point is Belgrade's desire to keep strong links with the Serb minority in northern Kosovo.

Recent talk by both parties about possible border adjustments raised fears of potential conflict in the region still simmering with ethnic tensions, with both Germany and the UK warning that such rhetoric can lead to instability.
Donald Trump has said that he only hired Jeff Sessions for his loyalty during his presidential campaign, as he continued to publicly air his grievances with the attorney general.

The US president lambasted Mr Sessions for his role in the Justice Department insisting he never took control of the department.

Mr Trump further criticised Mr Sessions for recusing himself from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation on whether Russia meddled in the US 2016 presidential election  a move Mr Trump has repeatedly slammed.

Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldnt have done, said Mr Trump in an interview with Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt. Or he shouldve told me. Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions shouldve told you that he was going to recuse himself'.

He added: What kind of man is this?

Mr Trump continued his attacks on Mr Sessions, charging that it was the attorney generals loyalty that got him the job at the Justice Department.

And by the way he was on the campaign, you know the only reason I gave him the job is because I felt loyalty  he was an original supporter, he said. He was on the campaign, he knows there was no collusion.

When asked during the interview if he plans to fire Mr Sessions and Rod Rosenstein, the US deputy attorney general overseeing Mr Muellers investigation in the Russia investigation, Mr Trump did not explicitly say yes or no.

I wanted to stay uninvolved, Mr Trump said before adding he now puts justice in quotes when referring to the Justice Department.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump discussed pardoning former campaign chairman Paul Manafort during a White House meeting in early June, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Thursday  contradicting White House statements a day earlier denying that any such discussions had taken place.

Giuliani said he initiated the meeting after Trump issued a string of pardons this spring to Scooter Libby, Dinesh DSouza, and Alice Marie Johnson, whose life sentence for a nonviolent drug conviction was brought to Trumps attention by Kim Kardashian. Giuliani said those pardons raised questions about whether Trump was sending a signal to his allies caught up in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian assistance to Trump during the 2016 election.

I decided: Lets go get an answer, Giuliani said in a phone interview with HuffPost during his Scotland golfing vacation.

At the time, more questions were coming to Giuliani from the media about potential pardons for Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn and personal lawyer Michael Cohen than about Manafort, but those individuals and others were discussed at the meeting, Giuliani said.

We both agreed that it made sense not to pardon anybody during the pendency of the investigation, Giuliani said. It was kind of a quick meeting.

He said Trump had every right to pardon anyone he wanted, and could well consider pardoning Manafort and others after Muellers probe is wrapped up. Giuliani said he would not speculate regarding a hypothetical scenario in which Mueller recommends impeachment and Manafort is a key witness.

He also said he had not discussed pardons with Manaforts lawyer or anyone who has been convicted or indicted in the Mueller probe. I wont entertain those conversations, he said.

One important consideration: Mueller is looking at Trumps previous pardon offers as potential evidence of obstruction of justice. Mueller had wanted to question the president about previous discussions of pardons for Manafort and Flynn, who is now cooperating with Muellers team.

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Giulianis confirmation of the pardon discussion comes only a day after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that there had not been one.

Thats not something that has been up for discussion, she said. There have been no discussions at the White House on that matter.

Huckabee Sanders did not respond to a HuffPost query about her Wednesday statement. But The Washington Post reported Thursday that she provided a new statement saying: This pardon is not something being discussed in the White House and the president has not made a decision on pardoning Paul Manafort or anyone else.

Paul Manafort, then chairman of the Trump campaign, at an event on June 22, 2016. (Photo: Drew Angerer via Getty Images)

Flynn had already pleaded guilty in Muellers investigation for lying to the FBI by time of the June meeting. Cohen, whose office and home had been raided earlier in the year, had not been charged with anything at the time, but this week pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including violating campaign finance laws by making payments to silence a porn star and a Playboy model who were ready to go public about affairs they say theyve had with Trump.

Trump has made it clear in recent days that he believes his former campaign chairman was mistreated and praised Manafort for being brave and refusing to break despite all of the charges he faced. Last week, while the jury was still deliberating, Trump brushed off a question about whether hed pardon Manafort but called the situation very sad.

Manafort, 69, was convicted in a Virginia federal court Tuesday on eight tax and bank fraud charges. A single juror prevented his conviction on 10 other counts, according to a Trump supporter who sat on the jury. Manafort will face yet another trial in Washington, D.C., next month on separate charges, including one involving a rarely enforced law requiring foreign agents to register with the Justice Department.

Giuliani claimed Thursday that Manafort could not have any information useful to Mueller against Trump. The guy has nothing to cooperate on, he said.

That assertion notwithstanding, legal experts believe that despite his convictions, Manafort still likely holds information that would be valuable to Muellers team.

This is not an ordinary case, and if the witness tells you, I can give you the president of the United States, if your purpose is to investigate whether there was collusion at the top levels of the campaign, how could you say no? Harry Sandick, a former federal prosecutor, told HuffPost.

So it would make sense for Trump and his legal team to send Manafort a message that he has nothing to worry about in the long run and that hell be pardoned down the line, Sandick said.

But neither Manafort nor Trump can let on that pardoning Manafort is about protecting the president, his son Donald Trump Jr. or his son-in-law Jared Kushner, he added.

Youd say these crimes are old, the jury didnt convict on every count, most people arent prosecuted for tax fraud, he was selectively prosecuted, Sandick said. Not like, by the way, hes going to send your son to jail if you dont pardon him.

Trump Jr. and Kushner both attended a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer who had offered dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Trump has already used presidential clemency to benefit his political allies. In addition to DSouza, he has also pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a former Navy sailor who suggested pardoning him would be a good way to antagonize Clinton, and a pair of convicted arsonists whose treatment sparked the occupation of a federal wildlife ranch by right-wing extremists in 2016.

Trump has also said he has the right to pardon himself, a claim few Republicans were willing to contest.

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Ryan Reilly is HuffPosts senior justice reporter covering the Justice Department, federal law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261.

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President Donald Trump boosted a white nationalist conspiracy theory he saw on Fox News to his 54 million Twitter followers. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

After watching a Tucker Carlson segment on Fox News on Wednesday, President Donald Trump boosted the unfounded claim that white farmers in South Africa are being systematically killed as the government steals their land.

I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers. @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2018

Its unlikely Trump knows much about South Africa  he has yet to name an ambassador to the country  but his claim is a favorite conspiracy theory among white nationalists and South African far-right groups, some of which have gained influence in the White House in recent months.

Far-right groups in South Africa  and Tucker Carlson  have seized on land reform proposals by South Africas parliament aimed at accelerating black ownership to claim the emergence of a white genocide by the countrys black majority. They warn that white farmers are not only at risk of losing their land but are also targeted for violence.

There is no evidence that this is happening. A government land audit released last year showed that white South Africans still own 72 percent of privately held farmland  an enduring effect of apartheid. And the claim that white farmers make up a disproportionate number of the countrys victims of violent crime is not backed by statistics. The State Departments own human rights reports on South Africa makes no mention of white citizens being the targets of violence or land theft. Instead, it documents several instances of discrimination against black South Africans. But on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert declined to disavow the notion that white people are under attack in South Africa. The expropriation of land without compensation, Nauert told reporters, would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path.

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Yet far-right groups in South Africa have been working hard to find traction for their ideas in the U.S. In May, the leaders of AfriForum, an Afrikaner rights organization that has referred to apartheid as a so-called historical injustice, visited Washington and met with officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, staffers in Sen. Ted Cruzs (R-Texas) office, and policy analysts at the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. They also did an interview with Carlson at the time.

On Thursday, far-right South Africans  and white supremacists around the world  were overjoyed to see their claims gaining the presidents attention, as documented by Right Wing Watchs Jared Holt.

ITS HAPPENING: Trump Tweets About WHITE GENOCIDE in South Africa, neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin wrote in the Daily Stormer, a white supremacist site.

This is huge, wrote Lauren Southern, who traveled to a white part of South Africa to create a documentary praising the concept of a white ethno-state and warning of white genocide in South Africa.

Wonderful, tweeted Red Ice TV, a white nationalist outlet.

Is white genocide about to enter mainstream discourse? Do you realize what Trump just did? tweeted Lauren Rose, another white nationalist.

God bless Donald Trump, tweeted Scott Greer, a Daily Caller contributor and a white nationalist.

To AfriForum Deputy CEO Ernst Roets, Trumps interest in South Africas land distribution policies is evidence that his groups messaging is working. We are making progress, Roets wrote, retweeting Trump. Will communicate with the US government and visit Washington again in the months to follow.

Roets insists he is not a white nationalist  but prominent white supremacists have long shared his alarmist claims about South Africa. Back in 2012, a group of white supremacists launched the South Africa Project, a nationwide protest effort aimed at stopping what they called genocide of the Whites in South Africa. Earlier this year, American white nationalist leader Richard Spencer described a war that is currently being waged on South African whites. In April, Identity Evropa, a white supremacist group, posted pictures of a protest they staged in front of the South African embassy in Washington, D.C., against the slaughter of White farmers.

Related Coverage

Donald Trump Sparks Outrage By Tweeting White Nationalist Talking Point

South Africa Admonishes Trump's Racist Conspiracy Theory Tweet

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By Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday abruptly canceled his top diplomat's planned trip to North Korea, publicly acknowledging for the first time that his effort to get Pyongyang to denuclearize had stalled since his summit with North Korea's leader.Trump partly blamed China for his lack of progress with North Korea and suggested that talks with Pyongyang, led so far by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, could be on hold until after Washington resolved its bitter trade dispute with Beijing. It was a dramatic shift of tone for Trump, who had previously hailed his June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a success and said the North Korean nuclear threat was over, despite no real sign Pyongyang was willing to give up its nuclear weapons. But Trump still kept the door open to a second summit with Kim, with whom the president recently said he has "great chemistry.""I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump wrote on Twitter. Negotiations have all but deadlocked since the summit in Singapore. Pompeo has pressed for tangible steps toward North Koreas abandonment of its nuclear arsenal while Pyongyang is demanding that Washington first make concessions of its own. Trump's statement came just a day after Pompeo said he would again visit North Korea and would take his new special envoy, former auto industry executive Stephen Biegun, with him. But Trump asked Pompeo not to go during a Friday meeting and they crafted the tweets together, White House officials said. National security adviser John Bolton, considered a leading North Korea hawk, weighed in by speakerphone during a visit to Ukraine, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many other key officials learned of Trumps decision by seeing the crawl across a television screen, some during a meeting on North Korea negotiations, officials said. Some U.S. intelligence and defense officials had considered Pompeos latest trip to be premature and said the prospects for significant progress appeared dim. Pompeo, who would have been making his second visit to Pyongyang since the summit, had not been due to meet Kim this time. Trump himself was still open to another meeting with Kim, in hopes of advancing the process, but was not pleased with the latest signals from North Korea, a White House official said. ONUS ON CHINA Trump put some of the onus on China, North Korea's biggest trading partner and which is crucial to enforcement of sanctions to keep pressure on Pyongyang. "Because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," Trump tweeted. "Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved," Trump wrote. "In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" Trump told Reuters on Monday he believed Kim had taken specific steps toward denuclearization and that they would "most likely" meet again. Kelly Magsamen a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian affairs, said Trump was undermining his leverage with Kim as well as that of Pompeo and his new envoy. It's fine to not send the Secretary due to lack of progress, but don't then also talk about how you are eager to meet with KJU and how China is thwarting you," she tweeted. Christopher Hill, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, tweeted: "Looks like @realDonaldTrump has begun to worry about #NorthKorea intentions. Good decision especially if otherwise Pompeo would have returned empty handed." Kim made a broad, vague commitment in Singapore to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but has given no sign of willingness to give up his arsenal unilaterally. Talks since then have made little headway, with the two sides far apart on denuclearization and the U.S. demand for this to happen before North Korea sees any sanctions relief. On his last visit to Pyongyang, in July, Pompeo left saying progress had been made, only for North Korea within hours to denounce his "gangster-like demands." U.S. officials have been trying without success to persuade North Korea to detail the extent of its nuclear arsenal. Trump's decision came just days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported it did not find any indication that North Korea had stopped its nuclear activities. However, some analysts suggested Trump's move may also be a negotiating ploy. In May, Trump announced he was calling off his planned summit with Kim, citing Pyongyang's "open hostility, only to reverse himself eight days later. The cancellation follows two days of U.S.-China trade talks in Washington that ended with no sign of progress toward resolving a deepening trade war between the worlds two largest economies and no plans for more talks in the near term. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom, Steve Holland, David Lawder, John Walcott and Tim Ahmann in Washington; writing by Matt Spetalnick; editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish)
Rome (AFP) - US President Donald Trump promised to help Italy finance its public debt, which is the largest in Europe, the daily Corriere della Sera reported Friday.

The paper quoted Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who visited Washington at the end of last month, as saying: "Donald Trump offered Italy help from the United States to finance its debt next year."

The newspaper did not provide any more details about the circumstances in which the alleged promise was made.

Corriere della Sera said Italy needs to sell around 400 billion euros ($463 billion) in bonds next year.

That is nearly 18 percent of its debt which totalled 2,263 billion euros last year, according to Eurostat data. At 132 percent of GDP, Italy has the second highest level of debt compared to its economic output in the eurozone after Greece.

"Conte doesn't seem to have explained what exactly the US offer consists of or the chances it will materialise," said Corriere della Sera

"The US administration doesn't have its own sovereign wealth fund and doesn't have the power to coordinate banks and private funds," noted the newspaper, in an implicit indication that Trump may find it difficult to keep the promise.
By Lesley Wroughton and Tiisetso Motsoeneng WASHINGTON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The United States warned South Africa on Thursday that seizing land without compensation risked sending the country down the wrong path, deepening a spat over Pretoria's efforts to fix a glaring racial disparity almost 25 years after the end of apartheid. South Africa accused U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday of stoking racial divisions in a late-night tweet in which he said he had asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study South African "land and farm seizures" and the "killing of farmers". Washington's charge d'affaires in South Africa, Jessye Lapenn, was summoned by the ministry of foreign affairs over the tweet, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Trump's comments inflamed an already heated debate over land ownership in South Africa, a country that remains deeply racially divided and unequal nearly a quarter of a century after Nelson Mandela swept to power at the end of the apartheid era. Trump's tweet appeared to be a response to a Fox News report on Wednesday that focused on South Africa's land issue and murders of white farmers. The expropriation of land without compensation, our position is that would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Thursday. "We continue to encourage a peaceful and transparent public debate about what we consider to be a very important issue in South Africa." South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Aug. 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own most of South Africa's territory. Writing in the London-based Financial Times on Thursday, Ramaphosa said: "This is no land grab. Nor is it an assault on the private ownership of property." He has said any measures would not hit economic growth or food security. No land has been "seized" since the reform plans were announced, the ANC said. His spokeswoman said Trump was "misinformed" and the foreign ministry would seek clarification from the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria. "South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past," a tweet from South Africa's official government account said. At public hearings, suggestions for expropriation included unused land, derelict buildings, circumstances where occupiers have strong historical rights, informal settlements and abandoned inner-city buildings, Ramaphosa wrote on Thursday. And he said that the country would not make the same mistakes that other countries have made, alluding to the violent land seizures seen in neighboring Zimbabwe. All of us would be concerned if they went the direction that Zimbabwe did. Right now its just a proposal in parliament, U.S. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Africa subcommittee, said. The State Department's Nauert pointed out that Zimbabwe's government had squashed civil society, shut down the media and destroyed an independent judiciary. "We have not seen that happen in South Africa," she said. South Africa's far-left opposition firebrand, Julius Malema, who has led calls for the seizure of white-owned land, told Trump to stay out of the debate. "You have caused enough problems in Africa," he told journalists. Senator Cory Booker, the top Democrat on the Africa subcommittee, said Trumps tweet showed a painful ignorance. The ANC has long had a strained relationship with the U.S. Republican administration, mainly over U.S. support for Israel. AfriForum, which mostly champions white people's rights in South Africa, welcomed Trump's announcement. "Everyone in South Africa should therefore hope that the pressure from the USA will lead to the ANC reconsidering the disastrous route that they want to take SA on," AfriForum's CEO, Kallie Kriel, said. He added that Trump's comment came just three months after the organization sent a delegation to the United States to brief Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson, and the Cato Institute think tank, on the situation in South Africa. VIOLENT CRIME Violent crime is a serious problem across South Africa and 47 farmers were killed in 2017-18, according to statistics from AgriSA, an association of agricultural associations. However the same figures show that farm murders are at a 20-year low. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has followed a "willing-seller, willing-buyer" model under which the government buys white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks. Progress has been slow and most South Africans believe something has to be done to accelerate change, providing it does not hurt the economy or stoke unrest. "Reforming the land distribution and ownership will be good for South Africa," said independent political analyst Nic Borain. "That there will be instability and worries about property rights is inevitable, but we don't expect that the government will act in a way that radically destabilizes investor security." Trump's tweet came days after it was announced that his wife, Melania, would travel to Africa in October for her first major solo international trip as first lady. In January, South Africa protested to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria about reported remarks by Trump that some immigrants from Africa and Haiti came from "shithole" countries. This is a guy that calls those countries s-hole countries," Booker said. "Hes shown a level of not just ignorance, but meanness, bigoted ideas." (Editing by James Macharia, Andrew Heavens and Susan Thomas)
Donald Trump faces mounting pressure as Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation moves closer to the White House.

Still reeling from the double blow of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleading guilty to campaign finance violations during the presidents 2016 campaign, and his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, being convicted of eight financial crimes, Mr Trump struggled to contain the fallout on Wednesday.

Mr Cohen had implicated Mr Trump in his crimes of paying hush money to women who claim the president had extramarital affairs with them as part of a guilty plea deal agreed with Mr Muellers team, and his legal team looked to dig a deeper hole for Mr Trump in a number of television interviews.

Mr Cohens lawyer Lanny Davis suggested that Mr Trumps former confidant had information of interest to Mr Mueller and his probe into Russian election meddling in 2016 and any possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Moscow. He said that Mr Cohen would be happy to speak to investigators even though his plea deal did not explicitly call for co-operation.

Michael Cohen knows information that would be of interest to the special counsel, in my opinion, regarding both knowledge about a conspiracy to corrupt American democracy by the Russians, and the failure to report that knowledge to the FBI, Mr Davis said told the MSNBC cable channel. Mr Davis has also set up a GoFundMe page which has raised thousands of dollars for Mr Cohen's legal fees and to help him "tell the truth about Donald Trump".

Mr Davis repeated his accusation that Mr Trump had committed a crime in allegedly directing the payments to payments to the two women - adult film star Stormy Daniels and former playboy model Karen McDougal. Mr Trump has denied any allegations of affairs.

[Mr Cohen] said under oath the most damaging, definitive information yesterday  that the president of the United States directed him to commit a crime, Mr Davis said in a separate interview on NBCs Today show.

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Critics were quick to raise the spectre of impeachment over the payments, which Mr Cohen said were made to try and influence the presidential election that lead Mr Trump to the Oval Office. We have to act, said Representative Al Green, who has previously brought impeachments papers to the House floor. However the Democrat leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi suggested that impeachment was not a priority for the party even if they win back control of Congress from the Republicans in crucial midterm in November.

However, Democrats were against making some political capital, members of the Senate demanded that upcoming confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh be delayed over the crisis, with some calling Mr Trump an "co-conspirator."

The charges against Mr Cohen, the two campaign finance violations and six other bank and tax crimes, and the separate guilty verdict for Mr Manafort stunned Washington. They have also dented Mr Trumps repeated claims that the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt.

Republicans and Democrats alike have called on Mr Trump not to open himself up to abuse of power allegations by pardoning either Mr Manafort or Mr Cohen. Mr Trump has called the verdict against Mr Manafort unfair. Although a pardon for Mr Cohen seems unlikely after Mr Trump lashed out at his former long-time confidant via Twitter, accusing his former fixer of making up stories in order to get a deal from federal prosecutors.

Mr Cohens lawyer, Mr Davis, said a pardon would not be accepted, even if Mr Trump were to offer one. Not only is he not hoping for, he would not accept a pardon, Mr Davis said.He considers a pardon from somebody who has acted so corruptly as president to be something he would never accept.

Aware of the outcry about the verdicts and any possible pardons, Mr Trump and the White House were on the defensive for most of the day.

Mr Trump sought to dismiss two of the counts of campaign finance violations that Cohen had pleaded guilty to, saying in a tweet that they are not a crime.

He elaborated during an interview with the conservative network Fox News due to be broadcast on Thursday. Asked if he knew about the payments, Mr Trump said: They didnt come out of the campaign, they came from me. And I tweeted about it. You know, I put  I dont know if you know but I tweeted about the payments. But they didnt come out of campaign.

In fact, my first question when I heard about it was did they come out of the campaign because that could be a little dicey. And they didnt come out of the campaign and thats big. But they werent  thats not a  its not even a campaign violation. If you look at President Obama, he had a massive campaign violation but he had a different attorney general and they viewed it a lot differently.

Mr Trump said he knew of the payments made by Mr Cohen later on but did not elaborate. After first denying that he knew anything about Mr Cohen's actions, Mr Trump acknowledged earlier this year that he reimbursed Mr Cohen for the payments. In July, CNN released an audio recording reportedly made by Cohen that features the lawyer and Trump in September 2016 discussing whether to buy the rights to the story of Ms McDougal.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders labelled accusations that Mr Trump had lied about the Cohen payments "a ridiculous accusation"

Mr Trump has insisted that he only found out about the payments after they were made, despite the release of a taped conversation by Mr Davis from September 2016 in which Trump and Cohen can be heard discussing a deal to pay former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story of an alleged 2006 affair.

"The president has done nothing wrong. There are no charges against him," Ms Sanders repeated.

Asked if Mr Trump was concerned about what Mr Cohen might tell Mr Mueller, Ms Sanders replied: I dont think the president is concerned at all. He knows that he did nothing wrong and that there was no collusion.

But there seems little sign of the dark cloud over the White House disappearing. While Ms Sanders would not entertain questions about a potential pardon for Mr Manafort, he is due to be sentenced next week. Mr Muellers team will also have to decide whether to re-charge him over the 10 counts the jury could not decide a verdict on, while he also faces a second, larger trial, in September.

As for Mr Cohen, also on Wednesday, New York investigators issued a subpoena to the presidents former personal lawyer in connection with the state's unrelated criminal investigation of the Trump Foundation, a state official said.
President Trump on Friday escalated his long-running feud with his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, by urging the nations top law enforcement official to investigate alleged corruption by his perceived enemies.

The president did so in a tweet that quoted Sessionss declaration that the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, Trump tweeted, only to use the same tweet to ask Sessions to look into all of the corruption on the other side.

According to Trump, the other side includes Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, former FBI Director James Comey, special counsel Robert Mueller, ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, current Justice Department employee Bruce Ohr, ex-British spy Christopher Steele  who wrote the so-called Trump dossier  and alleged Russian collusion by the Democratic Party.

Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the other side including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

.FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems  and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

The president also complained about the sentence for Reality Winner, the former National Security Agency contractor who was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison after pleading guilty to leaking a top-secret government report on Russian hacking.

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Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over classified information, Trump tweeted. Gee, this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.

Trump and Sessions at the FBI National Academy graduation ceremony in Quantico, Va., on Dec. 15, 2017. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

In a Fox & Friends interview that had aired Thursday, the president castigated Sessions, who shortly after he was appointed attorney general recused himself from Muellers investigation into the Trump campaigns contacts with Russia.

I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department, Trump said. Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department, and its a sort of an incredible thing.

Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldnt have done  or he should have told me, Trump continued. Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself, and then you wouldnt have put him in. He took the job and then he said, Im going to recuse myself. I said, What kind of a man is this?

Trump said the only reason he gave Sessions the nations top law enforcement officer post was because he worked on the presidents campaign and was the first sitting senator to endorse him.

You know the only reason I gave him the job: because I felt loyalty, Trump said. He was an original supporter.

Vice President Mike Pence swears in Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general on Feb. 9, 2017, with President Trump and Sessionss wife, Mary, watching. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Sessions, who rarely responds to the presidents public criticism, fired back in a carefully worded statement.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the presidents agenda  one that protects the safety and security and rights of the American people, reduces violent crime, enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances religious liberty, Sessions said.

Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions. (Yahoo News photo Illustration; photos: Leah Millis/Reuters, Donald Trump via Twitter, Wilfredo Lee/AP, Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, AP)

He continued: While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action. However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States. I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law.

Shortly after the statement was released, Sessions met with Trump at the White House for a previously scheduled meeting to discuss prison reform. According to CNN, their public sniping was not discussed.

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Read more from Yahoo News:
By Jeff Mason and James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House pushed back forcefully on Wednesday against suggestions that a plea deal struck by President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen implicated Trump in a crime. "As the president has said, we've stated many times, he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him," press secretary Sarah Sanders said at a White House briefing. "Just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal doesn't mean that that implicates the president on anything." Cohen on Tuesday pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges of tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. He told a federal court in New York that Trump had directed him to arrange payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence two women who said they had had affairs with Trump. In the wake of Cohen's plea, Senate Democrats on Wednesday demanded that upcoming confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh be delayed, with some calling Trump a "co-conspirator." The president lashed out at his former attorney in a Twitter post and said the campaign finance violations to which Cohen pleaded guilty were not a crime - even though prosecutors and Cohen agreed they were. Trump made the claim without offering any evidence. "If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen," Trump wrote. At the same time, Trump used the social media site to praise his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on Tuesday of multiple counts of fraud, as a "brave man" for not cooperating with federal authorities. Fox News reporter Ainsley Earhardt, who interviewed Trump, said he had told her that he would consider pardoning Manafort. She said on the Fox's "Hannity" program that Trump "said he would consider" a pardon. "I think he feels bad for Manafort. They were friends," Earhardt said. Fox News has been airing excerpts of the interview with Trump, which is scheduled to be shown in its entirety on Thursday morning. After first denying knowing anything about Cohen's actions, Trump this year acknowledged he reimbursed Cohen for payments he made in 2016 to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Daniels has alleged she had a relationship with Trump. In July, CNN released an audio recording reportedly made by Cohen that features the lawyer and Trump in September 2016 discussing whether to buy the rights to the story of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who also has alleged an affair with Trump. The president has insisted he paid Cohen out of personal funds and that the payments were not intended to benefit his campaign but to resolve a personal matter. "They weren't taken out of campaign finance. That's a big thing," Trump told Fox. "They didn't come out of the campaign; they came from me." TIMING QUESTIONED Trump critics have argued that the case made by the president that the payments were personal do not hold up given the timing  only weeks before the 2016 election. "If this was a personal matter, why wasnt she paid off after the affair or in the intervening decade?" said Paul S. Ryan, the head of litigation at Common Cause. "The election was what made her story valuable." Cohen attorney Lanny Davis said his client had information that would be of interest to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether the 2016 Trump campaign conspired with Russia to influence the election. Davis set up a website to collect donations for Cohen's legal expenses. Asked at the briefing if Trump was concerned about what Cohen might tell Mueller, Sanders replied: "I dont think the president is concerned at all. He knows that he did nothing wrong and that there was no collusion." New York investigators on Wednesday issued a subpoena to Cohen in connection with a criminal investigation of the Trump Foundation, a state official said. Trump has granted pardons to conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza and former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, but Davis said his client would not accept one. "Mr. Cohen is not interested in being dirtied by a pardon from such a man," Davis told National Public Radio. Cohen's plea came as Manafort was found guilty on eight charges in a financial fraud trial in Virginia, stemming from the federal investigation into Russia, the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump's campaign. The Cohen and Manafort cases ratchet up political pressure on Republicans ahead of November elections in which Democrats hope to take control of Congress. Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said at the group's summer meeting in Chicago that Democrats need to retake power to install "guard rails" against Republican corruption. PRESSURE FROM DEMOCRATS Democrats found new grounds in Cohen's plea to question Trump's Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer insisted that Kavanaugh's early September confirmation hearing be pushed back. Other Senate Democrats said they were canceling meetings with Kavanaugh and considered his nomination tainted. Schumer said he was concerned that Kavanaugh told him presidents should not be subject to criminal or civil investigations  or even be required to comply with related subpoenas  while in office. "A president identified as a co-conspirator of a federal crime, an accusation not made by a political enemy but by the closest of his own confidants, is on the verge of making a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, a court that may someday soon determine the extent of the presidents legal jeopardy, Schumer said in a Senate speech. But Trump's fellow Republicans targeted Cohen. Senator John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said Cohen's "credibility is in tatters because he's basically been all over the map in terms of what his story is." Cornyn said Congress would continue investigating claims of Russian election interference, but noted, "Nothing we heard yesterday has anything to do with Russia, or the reason why director Mueller was appointed special counsel." Russia has denied U.S. intelligence findings that it interfered with the election to boost Trump and hamper Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump has denied collusion by his campaign with Moscow and repeatedly called Mueller's investigation a witch hunt. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Jim Oliphant; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker, Susan Cornwell, Karen Freifeld, Ginger Gibson, Susan Heavey, and Lisa Lambert in Washington and Tim Reid in Chicago; Writing by Jim Oliphant and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Tim Ahmann, Bill Trott and Leslie Adler)
Moscow (AFP) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Russia on Friday that seeking a military solution in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib would be disastrous.

"A military solution there will cause catastrophe," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Moscow with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Not only for the Idlib region but for the future of Syria, it will cause catastrophe and the clashes may last a long time," he warned.

Speculation is increasing that there could be a Russian-backed government assault on the northwestern province, home to Syria's last major rebel stronghold.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime still holds Idlib's southeastern tip and he has set his sights on retaking control of the region, which borders Turkey, calling this one of his priorities.

Cavusoglu warned of the risk heavy fighting would pose to the large civilian population.

"Civilians will be harmed. Where will the 3.5 million civilians go?" he asked, as Turkey has already taken in more than three million refugees from Syria.

- 'Halt refugee influx -

Idlib is one of the so-called "de-escalation" zones set up as a result of talks by Russia, Turkey and Iran last year.

Cavusoglu stressed the need to keep the de-escalation zone in place "to halt any refugee influx".

"It's also important for Turkey because they are on the other side of our border. They pose a threat to us first," he added.

Nonetheless rebel-backer Turkey considers "it is very important that those radical groups, terrorists are rendered ineffective," he said.

Putin later met both the Turkish foreign and defence ministers in Moscow.

In televised comments the Russian leader said that through the efforts of Russia, Turkey and other countries, they had "managed to seriously move forward in settling the Syrian crisis".

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Yet the situation in Syria remains one of the "burning questions" for Russia, he admitted.

Russia's Lavrov on Friday called the situation in Idlib "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures".

"When the de-escalation zone was created in Idlib, no one proposed using it for terrorists to hide behind the civilian population like a human shield," he said.

"Especially as they aren't just lying low there. Raids are constantly coming from there as well as firing on the positions of the Syrian army".

- Strategic role -

The Turkish foreign minister said Ankara would still rely on talks with Russia and Iran, known as the Astana peace process, widely seen as an attempt to circumvent largely fruitless UN talks on Syria.

The high-level visit to Russia by Turkish ministers comes as Turkey is feuding with NATO ally United States over an American pastor held for two years on terror charges.

US President Donald Trump this month announced sanctions against Turkey that caused the lira to plunge in value.

Idlib is a strategically important province adjacent to Latakia, a regime stronghold on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad's clan.

The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance controls around 60 percent of Idlib while other Turkey-supported rebel groups hold most of the rest.

Analysts say any regime offensive will probably be limited to a small area of Idlib, with a deal between Russia and Turkey likely to determine the fate of the rest of the province.

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.

Russia began a bombing campaign in support of Assad's regime in September 2015 and has helped him win back large parts of the country.

burs-am/ma/klm
My Life has many Misfortunes, wrote French philosopher Michel de Montaigne in the 16th century, most of which never happened. Not coincidentally, Montaigne is also considered the father of the personal essay, which has these 500 years later begotten a populous line of literature: the parenting memoir in which nothing terribly bad happens.

The newest arrival in this family is Kim Brooks Small Animals: Parenting in the Age of Fear. The misfortune that befell Brooks was that when she left her 4-year-old son in a perfectly safe and cool car to run into Target for less than 10 minutes, someone reported it to the police, and a warrant was put out for her arrest. Nasty, but not life-threatening. She wrote an essay in 2014 that went viral about how impossibly judgy parenting has become, and received, for her troubles, a whole lot more judgment.

Small Animals attempts to assess how modern American parenthood has become synonymous with fear and has made people worse, or at least, worse to each other. Brooks arrives at many possible answers. Perhaps its because raising children is a much more intensive and intentional activity now than it has been. Or because the media play up stories of the calamities that parents visit upon children (and readers devour them), so people are more apt to think kids are perpetually in danger. Maybe Americas disavowal of state-sponsored child care is to blame, because it often puts parents, particularly mothers, in an impossible squeeze. No matter which is true, with ever present cameras and social media, what was once a domestic matter is now very public.

The result is that parents live in fear of being shamedeven highly educated, straight, white parents like Brooks, who are afforded the benefit of the doubt in a way low-income and minority parents are not. And it changes how they behave.

Its all Great Stuff for an essay, with the perfect Montaigne level of narrowly averted misfortune. As a book, however, its strangely thin. Brooks seems to lack confidence not just in her (perfectly valid) parenting decisions but also in her own sprightly voice, and she quotes long and tedious passages from experts, friends and social-media acquaintances. Parents, time-poor as they are, have scant need for a book-length recitation of the ways in which child rearing blows.

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The confidence that seems to have been shaken out of Brooks and her peers might possibly be restored by KJ DellAntonias cheerful, practical How to Be a Happier Parent. DellAntonia worked the parenting beat for the New York Times while raising four children on a New Hampshire horse farm, which may explain her pragmatic outlook.

She identifies the main challenges of parenting (not including judgment) and deals with each, one at a time: mornings, discipline, chores, sibling fights, screens and so on. She explains why each dilemma is worse today and then offers realistic, often research-backed nuggets on how to reduce the misery. Mornings are better if you get to bed earlier. Chores will get done if youre consistent and dont expect to be liked. Being a good parent doesnt require intervening in every sibling scrap. One of her mantras: You dont have to go in there. None of her ideas is revolutionary, but her cheerful assurance that these issues are surmountable and that parents are up to the task is like a restorative drink of fresh water in a sea of misery. So many parenting memoirs read like an employee whining about the boss; Happier Parent reads like a CEO who rolls up her sleeves and says, Which problems next?

Americans are not likely to give up judging fellow Americans for their parenting anytime soon. But with a little confidence, you can graciously ignore them. You dont have to go in there.

This appears in the September 03, 2018 issue of TIME.
By Mark Weinraub

SCHODACK LANDING, N.Y. (Reuters) - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Thursday that details of a planned $12 billion aid package for U.S. farmers hurt by the Trump administration's trade wars will be disclosed on Monday.

Perdue, who previously told Reuters the plan would include between $7 billion and $8 billion in direct cash relief for farmers, said it was being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.

During a trip to upstate New York, Purdue said he hoped to have the program, which will provide relief exclusively from tariffs, up and running after Labor Day.

"It's not going to make everybody whole. It's not going to make everybody happy," he said at a dairy farm in Schodack Landing.

The aid package, announced in July, was expected to include cash for farmers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs. It also was to include government purchases of fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk for distribution to food banks and nutrition programs.

Perdue has said it would include some $200 million for a trade promotion program to develop new markets.

Trade publication Agri-Pulse reported this week that the preliminary proposal was for a payment rate of $1.65 per bushel to soybean farmers and 1 cent per bushel for corn farmers, citing officials close to the decision-making process. Perdue declined to comment on the report.

Based on the USDA's forecast for a soybean crop of 4.586 billion bushels, that would be worth $7.6 billion in aid for soybeans alone.

China has traditionally bought some 60 percent of U.S. soybeans but has been out of the market since implementing retaliatory tariffs.

"It's not going to seem like it's equitable," Perdue said of the aid allocation.

He said soybeans, pork and dairy were the three major commodities affected by the tariffs. Other commodities have also posted sharp price declines, but were related to over production, he noted.

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The aid plan is intended only for the current crop cycle,

The package was seen as a temporary boost to farmers as the United States and China negotiate trade issues. It has divided Republicans, some of whom favor free trade and were troubled by what they viewed as the kind of welfare their party has traditionally opposed.

The United States and China escalated their trade war on Thursday, implementing punitive 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other's goods, even as mid-level officials from both sides resumed talks in Washington.

(Reporting by Mark Weinraub; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Dan Grebler)
By Jeffrey Dastin

(Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Friday said it would push for foreign postal carriers to pay the U.S. Postal Service more to deliver small parcels within the United States, taking up a longtime complaint by Amazon.com <AMZN.O>, UPS <UPS.N> and others who have alleged the current system is unfair.

The State Department also said it would push foreign postal services to furnish data that would help customs officials detect opioids and other illegal shipments entering the United States. That task could also add to their costs.

If successful, the effort would benefit U.S. merchants and shippers who say they are undercut by foreign postal services' access to low rates. U.S. shoppers could see higher bills for foreign goods ordered online.

The move may face pushback during meetings next month of the United Nation's Universal Postal Union, from countries like China and Brazil, which already face price hikes for mail to Europe and the United States.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a memorandum on "terminal dues," or rates one country's postal service pays another for finishing an international delivery.

"The current system of terminal dues distorts the flow of small packages around the world by incentivizing the shipping of goods from foreign countries that benefit from artificially low reimbursement rates," the memo said.

It added that the U.S. Secretary of State "shall include recommendations for future action, including the possibility of adopting self-declared rates," if insufficient progress is made with the Universal Postal Union.

The policy makes Trump a surprise ally of Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, which he has accused of turning the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) into its "delivery boy."

Amazon did not return a request for comment. UPS called the administration's actions "a positive step" toward addressing "longstanding imbalances in the global postal market."

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Those companies and industry groups have sought White House meetings since last year to attack arcane postal agreements they say make it cheaper to air-mail goods to Los Angeles from Beijing than from New York.

Others say the issue is not so simple. USPS claims to save money on outbound shipments thanks to the Universal Postal Union's exchange system, and rates for countries such as China have already been negotiated to rise by 2021 to a significant percentage of USPS's costs, the same rate USPS pays other countries.

Mighty Mug CEO Jayme Smaldone, who has found merchants in China cheaply shipping knock-offs of his products directly to U.S. consumers, said, "This isnt something that should be phased out over years. This is something that's gone on for long enough."

It was not clear if the memorandum followed recommendations, not yet made public, of the postal task force Trump set up this year to examine USPS's business.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by David Gregorio)
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. investigative team that will collect and preserve evidence of acts by Islamic State in Iraq that may be war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide started work this week, nearly a year after the Security Council created it. At last September's annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, the council unanimously adopted a British-drafted resolution - after a year of talks with Iraq - asking U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to create the team "to support domestic efforts" to hold the militants accountable. U.N. experts had warned in June 2016 that Islamic State was committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the minority religious community through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes. Guterres notified the 15-member Security Council in a letter that the U.N. team, led by British lawyer Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, would start work on Aug. 20. Guterres announced in May that he had appointed Khan after the Security Council approved the scope and limitations for the team in February. He said in the letter, released on Thursday, that Khan visited Iraq earlier this month. Use of evidence collected by the team in other venues, such as international courts, would "be determined in agreement with the Government of Iraq on a case-by-case basis." Evidence is for primary use by Iraqi authorities, followed by "competent national-level courts," according to the 2017 U.N. resolution. International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters in Mosul, have long pushed Iraq to allow U.N. investigators to help. Islamic State, which until last year controlled large areas in Syria and Iraq, has since been driven into the desert by successive defeats in offensives by international allies in both countries. The U.N. investigative team's mission does not include Syria. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Andrea Januta and Joshua Schneyer NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eight U.S. senators are pushing for a federal review of the military's plans to protect children from exposure to lead, citing a Reuters report on lead poisoning in military housing. In an amendment filed this week to a defense funding bill, the senators, including senior members of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs committees, are asking the Government Accountability Office to examine the military's handling of lead poisoning risks nationwide. Most military family housing has been privatized and is operated by corporations in partnership with the branches of the armed services. "The recent reports regarding lead poisoning in some military housing units is disturbing and must absolutely be corrected," Georgia Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said in a statement Thursday. "Our military families sacrifice greatly in service to our country, and it is our responsibility to do everything we can to ensure their safety." Isakson sponsored the amendment with Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The U.S. Army did not respond to a request for comment on the amendment. The congressional push follows an August 16 Reuters investigation detailing dangerous lead levels and cases of childhood poisoning on several Army bases across the country, including at Fort Benning, Georgia. At least 1,050 small children tested high for lead at Army hospitals and clinics in recent years, Reuters found, but many of these results were going unreported to state health authorities. The Army told Reuters it has since begun reporting the test results. Reuters conducted its own lead testing in homes at several Army bases and found severe poisoning hazards, such as deteriorating lead-based paint within reach of small children. Exposure to the potent neurotoxin, once a common ingredient in household paint, can cause lifelong health impairments. Poisoning is preventable if housing is well-maintained. Yet Reuters found failures in remediating risks on military bases, and a culture some say discourages families from speaking out. The amendment would be part of a larger defense bill, the 2019 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, currently on the Senate floor. Under the amendment, the GAO would have a year to complete its report and submit it to Congress. Last week, four of the senators proposing this amendment wrote to the Secretary of the Army demanding action https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-senate/u-s-senators-demand-answers-from-army-after-reuters-report-on-lead-poisoning-idUSKBN1L22DG and answers to address lead hazards. The Army said it is "committed to providing a safe and secure environment on all of our installations." (Editing by Ronnie Greene.)
The Hague (AFP) - Iran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UN's top court Monday, as Tehran seeks to avert painful punitive measures that could hurt its still fragile economy.

Tehran filed a suit against US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose economic sanctions at the Hague-based International Court of Justice last month.

After unilaterally pulling out of a historic hard-won deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in May, Trump slapped a first round of sanctions on the country in early August.

And a second round is set to come into effect in early November, this time blocking Iran's valuable oil and energy sales.

But Tehran argues that Washington has no right to reinstate such measures and is calling on the ICJ to order the US to "immediately suspend" them.

It is also demanding compensation.

The ICJ is expected to take a couple of months to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling, while a final decision in the case could actually take years.

International sanctions against Iran were lifted in 2015 when it a struck a landmark accord with the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, agreeing to rein its nuclear ambitions.

- 'One-sided deal' -

But Trump described it as a "horrible one-sided deal (that) failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb."

And even though all of the other parties pleaded with him not to abandon the pact, Trump pulled out and announced he would reinstate sanctions.

Tehran -- which argues that the move violates a little-known Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations signed by the two countries in 1955 -- says that the new sanctions are already hurting its economy. And its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April.

A raft of international companies -- including France's Total, Peugeot and Renault, and Germany's Siemens and Daimler -- have already suspended operations in Iran in the wake of the US move.

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Washington "is besieging Iran economically, with all the dramatic consequences that a siege implies for the besieged population," Tehran said in court papers.

Iran "requests that, pending final judgement in the case, the Court indicate... that the USA shall immediately take all measures at its disposal to ensure the suspension of the implementation of all the May 8 sanctions," it said.

Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that the support of many European states for the nuclear deal meant that "Iran's position is strengthened."

And the publicity generated by Iran filing a lawsuit at the ICJ could work in Iran's favour, the expert suggested.

"One of the objectives is to publicly denounce the acts of the United States," De Brabandere told AFP.

- 'Malign' activities -

In his executive order, Trump argued that the sanctions would turn up the financial pressure on Tehran to come to a "comprehensive and lasting solution" regarding the activities that the international community regarded as "malign", such as its "ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorism."

But earlier this month, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to rule out any immediate prospect of talks, saying "there will neither be war, nor negotiations," with the US.

Meanwhile, both the US and close ally Israel have called on European countries to do more to pressure Iran.

A separate 2016 complaint lodged by Iran against the US for freezing around $2 billion of its assets abroad is due to begin in October, when the United States will argue the ICJ has no authority to hear the case.
From Harley-Davidson motorcycles and American bourbon to Chinese parts and machinery, the world's two largest economies have exchanged punitive tariffs that slice through a wide swath of products.

As of Thursday, the United States is charging 25-percent import duties on an additional $16 billion in Chinese products, bringing the total to over 1,000 items valued at about $50 billion in trade a year.

China has responded dollar-for-dollar on hundreds of US products, putting the total value of affected goods at $100 billion, one-seventh of total annual US-China trade.

- Top Chinese imports targeted -

The Trump administration says its aggressive stance is to pressure Beijing to change policies that allow the theft of US technology and undercut American producers.

The tariffs are aimed at Chinese goods -- such as aircraft parts and computer hard drives -- that Washington says have benefited from unfair trade practices.

China has accused the United States of starting the "largest trade war in economic history".

Computers, electronics and machinery are among the hardest-hit, including $1.1 billion in imports of computer processors, and the same amount of electrical machines.

The next biggest victims are $700 million in integrated circuits, $500 million in solar cells, and $400 million in computer memory.

- Motorcycles, milking machines -

Also on the US hit list are milking machines for dairy cows, incubators for baby chicks, flight data recorders, x-ray tubes, bulldozers and arc lamps as well as motorcycles and mopeds.

- Ghost products -

While the top five targeted Chinese products total about $9 billion, there are dozens of products that have seen no imports -- or in very small amounts -- over the past two years.

Spacecraft, helicopters, microwave tubes, nuclear reactor parts, telescopes, locomotives and retread tires are among the goods subject to tariffs but unlikely to be hit by them in practice.

- US feels the pain -

Ironically, the goods the United States has targeted are mostly intermediate products manufactured in China by multinational companies imported by US-based manufacturers, and miss Chinese firms, according to analysts.

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The Peterson Institute for International Economics says nearly all of the US tariffs imposed on China to date are on intermediate goods and capital equipment needed by US industry.

- China hits back -

China so far has retaliated in kind, hitting American agricultural goods and autos in July, along with new taxes on more than 300 US products Thursday.

Beijing's latest volley is aimed at 333 US exports like hybrid electric and off-road vehicles, coal, dump trucks, asphalt, MRI machines and motorcycles, among other items.

Harley-Davidson will have to bump up the Chinese price of its iconic motorbikes at least 20 percent, a store representative in Beijing said.

That adds to the American beef, pork, many types of fish, and dozens of fruits and nuts that were taxed in July.

The most painful perhaps is the tariff on US soybeans, which chokes off a key export market for American farmers, who shipped $14 billion of the beans to China last year.

- More coming -

The $50 billion in goods now subject to tariffs is only the first round.

The office of the US Trade Representative is looking into 25-percent duties on another $200 billion in goods, with hearings underway this week. Those could take effect as soon as next month.

And as China has vowed to retaliate further, Trump has threatened to target all $500 billion in goods the US imports from the Asian giant.
Vatican City (AFP) - Gay people in the Catholic Church are sometimes "treated like dirt", according to a priest invited by the Vatican to address a conference on families in Dublin on Thursday ahead of a visit by Pope Francis.

US Jesuit priest James Martin preaches openness towards gay Roman Catholics -- in the face of some traditionalists who have tried to shut him down.

He spoke at the 2018 World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Dublin, a global Catholic gathering that takes place every three years, which opened on Tuesday.

"The inclusion of a talk called 'Showing Respect and Welcome in Our Parishes to LGBT Catholics and their Families' is a huge step forward," Martin told AFP.

"It is a sign to all Catholics that the Vatican considers LGBT Catholics part of the Church," said the author of a bestselling book which reaches out to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians.

Pope Francis closes the WMF on Saturday and Sunday.

The gathering has featured talks and speeches, including that given by Martin, who runs the Jesuit magazine entitled America.

However, several groups, including the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, which brings together LGBT associations from around the world, said they have been denied a platform.

Meanwhile, the Irish branch of a traditionalist US Catholic movement had called for the Archbishop of Dublin to cancel Martin's visit.

"What kind of Jesuit would I be if I let online hatred prevent me from speaking about compassion?" said the priest, who has also been targeted with a boycott in the United States.

- Insulted from the pulpit -

The pope's visit to Ireland to celebrate families inevitably revived the debate on homosexuality and the Church, especially given that Ireland voted to legalise same-sex marriage in 2015.

Pope Francis sticks with Church tradition on marriage: the union of a man and a woman to procreate.

"Today -- it hurts to say this -- we talk about 'diversified' families: different types of families... But the human family as an image of God, man and woman, is only one," he said in June.

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But in 2013, just months after assuming the papacy, he said: "If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?", signifying a softer tone.

Martin deplores the Church's treatment of homosexuals in certain countries as "pariahs" in their own parishes.

"I've heard the most incredible stories of LGBT people being treated like dirt," he said.

"They are often insulted: both publicly, from the pulpit, and privately, in one-on-one conversations."

He added: "I'm not challenging any of the church teachings on homosexuality. But we do have to ponder why so many LGBT Catholics have set aside church teaching."

- Change of tone -

Martin said Pope Francis's stance on homosexual relationships was the same as that of his predecessors.

"What has changed is the tone, approach and language," he said.

"His five most famous words may be 'Who am I to judge?,' which were first said in response to a question about gay priests, and were later expanded to include all gays.

"Francis is the first pope, for that matter, to even use the word 'gay'."

Martin continued: "I would not categorise him as a 'progressive' but simply as a compassionate man.

"Pope Francis is trying to reach out to those on the margins both in society -- refugees, migrants, the poor -- and in the Church.

"And in the Church there is no one more marginalised than the LGBT person."

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is openly gay, was a strong backer of legalising same-sex marriage in the country's 2015 referendum.

He has pledged to press the cause of gay and single-parent families with Pope Francis when he meets the pontiff on Saturday.
New York (AFP) - Tom Frieden, a leading public health expert instrumental in the US response to the Ebola crisis and to legislating against smoking, was arrested and charged with sexual harassment on Friday.

The executive, who served as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under president Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, appeared before a Brooklyn criminal court and was released without bail, prosecutors said.

He was arrested on charges of forcible touching, sexual abuse and harassment of a 55-year-old woman in upmarket Brooklyn Heights.

He is accused of touching the woman's buttocks and squeezing without her consent in October 2017. The woman filed a complaint in July, police confirmed to AFP.

Judge Michael Yavinsky prohibited him from having any contact with the victim. Frieden surrendered his passport and is next due in court on October 11, prosecutors said.

He is currently president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million initiative at global health non-profit Vital Strategies, which is funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In his former job, he led CDC work that is credited with helping to end the Ebola epidemic.

He served as New York city health commissioner from 2002-2009 under billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg, leading efforts to legislate against smoking.

A physician by training, he has degrees from Columbia University, completed an infectious disease fellowship at Yale University and has authored more than 200 scientific publications.
The United States is "deeply concerned" about China's treatment of foreign and domestic journalists, the US embassy said Friday, after Chinese authorities declined to renew the visa of BuzzFeed News's Beijing bureau chief.

Megha Rajagopalan, who is American and had been in China for six years, was effectively forced out of the country after officials decided not to extend her journalist visa.

She has reported extensively on China's security crackdown in the far-west region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs are believed to be held in internment camps.

"The United States is deeply concerned that foreign and domestic journalists in China continue to face excessive restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs," the US embassy said in a statement to AFP in response to questions about Rajagopalan's case.

Reporters face "delays in processing foreign journalist visas, overboard restrictions on travel to certain locations deemed 'sensitive' by Chinese authorities and, in some cases, violence at the hands of local authorities", it said.

China's foreign ministry on Friday warned the US embassy to stick to its diplomatic mission in China.

"As to China's internal affairs, the US embassy in China should know that it should abide by the Vienna convention and not engage in activities that don't correspond with their capacity," spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing.

Rajagopalan said on Twitter that the reasons for the government's decision to deny her a visa extension remain unclear, with authorities telling her it was a "process thing".

Lu played down the decision during Thursday's briefing, saying "this problem of a visa being 'cancelled' doesn't exist".

"She is not like you, she was never a resident journalist in China," Lu told reporters, referring to the fact that Rajagopalan had worked in China on a six-month renewable visa rather than the one-year visa given to most journalists posted in the country.

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The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in a statement Wednesday that Rajagopalan had "conducted herself according to the highest journalistic standards while in China".

The foreign ministry "declined to give a clear and transparent reason for denying her a visa", it added, accusing authorities of "effectively ejecting" Rajagopalan from China.

But in an editorial about the government's decision, nationalist tabloid the Global Times lashed out at Rajagopalan for what it described as "distorted reports" about the government's treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

"Some Western media outlets believe they are entitled to do whatever they want, but such nonsense is unacceptable," it said, adding that "relevant agencies in China are not going to step aside and do nothing when it comes to Western media's treatment of China".

It is not the first time that a foreign journalist has been denied a new visa.

Al-Jazeera reporter Melissa Chan had to leave China in 2012 after authorities refused to renew her visa.

At the end of 2015 French reporter Ursula Gauthier was forced to leave the country after she criticised government policy in Xinjiang and the authorities refused to renew her credentials.
Dave Majumdar

Security, Asia

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army and Mongolia will also contribute forces to the East-2018 wargames, which highlights the growing closeness between Beijing and Moscow as the two great powers make common cause to challenge Washingtons dominance of the liberal international world order.

Vostok-2018: Russia (with China Making a Guest Appearance) Set for Largest Wargames in over Three Decades

Russia is set to conduct what it says will be its largest wargames in over three decades during Vostok-2018 (or East-2018).

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army and Mongolia will also contribute forces to the East-2018 wargames, which highlights the growing closeness between Beijing and Moscow as the two great powers make common cause to challenge Washingtons dominance of the liberal international world order.

"It is going to be the largest one since Zapad-81 [or West-81], Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the state-owned TASS news agency on August 20. It will be unprecedented in terms of geographic scope and the strength of command and control centers and forces due to participate.

While the Russian wargames will likely be significant, they are not likely to match the scale of the 1981 Soviet Zapad exercises. Shoigu said it would be the largest exercise since Zapad, but not necessarily on that scale, Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses specializing in Russian military affairs, told The National Interest. The MoD has a tendency to inflate the participant count, particularly for exercises in the Far East.

The Russians tend to use creative methods to inflate troop counts during major exercises such as Vostok. Well, immediately after [the last] Vostok they claimed they had 100,000 participating, which is a oddly round number, and then later on they claimed 155,000, Kofman said. That figure was not believable and appeared to be creative accounting.

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Nonetheless, the Vostok-2018 wargames are likely to be far larger than the overhyped Zapad-2017 exercises that caused much consternation in Eastern Europe last year. I'd expect a quite larger exercise than Zapad 2017, which was small compared to expectations, Kofman said.

Shoigu added that in addition to Russian forces, Chinese and Mongolian forces would also participate in the massive wargames. Involved in the exercise will be the Eastern and Central military districts, the Northern Fleet, Airborne Troops, and long-range and military transport aircraft, as well as command centers and forces of Chinas and Mongolias armed forces, Shoigu told TASS.

One of the reasons that Russia invited Chinese forces to the exercise was to defray any concern in Beijing that the wargames are directed towards China. They had to involve the Chinese to make sure this didn't appear to be a counter-China exercise, but the scenario will be revealing, Kofman said. China's participation was a must to avoid the optics that such an exercise might generate, and a good way to solve the inherent distrust between powers is to have them be a part of it.

Beijing confirmed that its forces are taking part in the East-2018 wargames at the Tsugol training range in Russias Trans-Baikal region from September 11 to 15. The drills are aimed at consolidating and developing the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, deepening pragmatic and friendly cooperation between the two armies, and further strengthening their ability to jointly deal with varied security threats, which are conducive to safeguarding regional peace and security, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense told the Chinas official Xinhua news service. The military exercises are not targeted at a third party.

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The Chinese PLA expects to deploy some 3,200 troops, more than 900 pieces of weaponry and 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the East-2018 exercise. The Chinese expect to conduct fire strike and counter-attack training, among others, Xinhua said, citing the Chinese Defense Ministry. Indeed, the Russian Defense Ministry has noted that some Chinese forces have already started to arrive in Trans-Baikal for the wargames.

The first four echelons with military equipment and servicemen of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army arrived in Transbaikal to participate in Vostok-2018 large-scale exercises, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on August 21. About 120 units of military and special equipment arrived in the military echelons. After unloading, some of the military equipment has already marched to the Tsugol training ground for field camp equipment. During the march of the Chinese army column, was accompanied by military police units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

While some Russian commentators like to point to joint training exercises between Beijing and Moscow as evidence of the growing strategic partnership between the two great powers, the Chinese are generally more subdued. However, in the case of the East-2018 wargameswhich were until this year limited to Russian (and Soviet before 1991) forces onlyChinese official media are also pointing to the exercises as evidence of the new Moscow-Beijing entente. The Chinese troops participation in the Russian military drills shows that China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is further deepening in the military and security fields, wrote authors Guo Yuandan and Liu Yupeng in the Chinese Communist Partys Global Times paper, which was also republished on the PLA-sponsored ChinaMil.

And while Beijings official line might be that the East-2018 exercise is not directed at any other power, Chinese editorials republished on official government sites clearly indicate that China hopes that it can partner with Russia to challenge the United States. Objectively, the purpose of the large military drills by China and Russia is self-evident, reads an op-ed republished on the PLAs ChinaMil site. Some hegemonic powers target China and Russia as their biggest threats, giving heavy blows to the two countries in political, economic and military areas. Such actions have severely threatened regional and even global peace and stability. Therefore, China-Russia alliance is a reasonable stance against the hegemonic impulse and for safeguarding peace and stability of the region and the world.

Even American experts on Russia are starting to accept the possibility of a genuine Beijing-Moscow entente directed against the United States. I think a strategic partnership is slowly in the offing, but is encumbered by the two sides' self-interest and transactional impulses, Kofman said. As such, the catalyst will be a third actor, namely the United States, and the extent to which those countries perceive a threat from Washington in common.

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for the National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar.

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A series of vulgar tweets has cost a young woman her dream internship at NASA. Photo: Twitter

A series of vulgar tweets has cost a young woman her dream internship at NASA following an exchange with a former engineer of the space agency.

Naomi H landed the job on Tuesday and hours after tweeted her excitement, saying: EVERYONE SHUT THE F*** UP. I GOT ACCEPTED FOR A NASA INTERNSHIP.

Former NASA employee, Homer Hickam replied to Naomis tweet, suggesting she watch her language.

But Naomi appeared to have no idea who Mr Hickam was and sent a vulgar response.

Suck my d*** and balls Im working at NASA, she wrote.

Mr Hickam responded to Naomis comment by informing her he was on the National Space Council that oversees NASA.

The post quickly went viral and Naomi reportedly lost her internship opportunity.

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In a blog post that was found by Buzzfeed News that has since been deleted, Mr Hickam explained he was trying to help her and was not responsible for her losing the internship.

I learned she had lost her offer for an internship with NASA. This I had nothing to do with nor could I since I do not hire and fire at the agency or have any say on employment whatsoever, he wrote, Business Insider reported.

As it turned out, it was due to the NASA hashtag her friends used that called the agencys attention to it long after my comments were gone.

Since the incident, Hickam said the pair had spoken privately about her future with NASA and saying she had apologised.

She reached out to me with an unnecessary apology which I heartily accepted and returned with my own, Hickam wrote. After talking to her, I am certain she deserves a position in the aerospace industry and Im doing all I can to secure her one that will be better than she lost.

Naomi H has since changed her Twitter profile to private.
President Trump at a rally in support of the Senate candidacy of West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Craig Hudson/Charleston Gazette-Mail/AP)

Since before he was elected president, Donald Trump has operated in the belief that he can control his narrative through sheer force of will  and words. Day after day, he floods the airwaves with messages  ad-libbed speeches, off the cuff remarks and incendiary tweets  whose effect is to keep the worlds attention squarely on him.

As he explained at a July rally in Granite City, Ill., the advantage of never relinquishing the spotlight is its covered live, much of it, and when I say it they cant do anything about it.

But this week, Trumps relentless stream of words seems to have come back to haunt him, and may yet make the president want to reconsider his its all about me communications strategy. Trumps problems largely grew out of things that he himself is alleged to have said.

It began on Sunday, when he issued a flurry of tweets blasting the New York Times for its report that White House counsel Don McGahn has been cooperating extensively with special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation.

McGahn has so far sat for 30 hours of questioning from Muellers team, detailing Trumps private statements about the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the presidents anger at Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself in the Russia investigation. Unlike Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani (more on him in a moment), McGahn represents the office of the presidency, and, according to the Times, felt compelled to testify to Mueller out of fears that the president was setting him up to take the fall on possible obstruction charges.

White House counsel Donald McGahn attends a Cabinet meeting in the White House, Aug. 16, 2018. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

The Times story clearly irritated the president, who claimed he had nothing to hide.

The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type RAT. But I allowed him and all others to testify  I didnt have to. I have nothing to hide  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

.and have demanded transparency so that this Rigged and Disgusting Witch Hunt can come to a close. So many lives have been ruined over nothing  McCarthyism at its WORST! Yet Mueller & his gang of Dems refuse to look at the real crimes on the other side  Media is even worse!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

It isnt known what McGahn told investigators. But its safe to assume he shared what he knew about Trumps outbursts against Comey, Sessions, disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and others.

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On NBCs Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd asked Giuliani why the president didnt simply meet with Mueller and tell the truth about what had transpired, which led the former New York mayor into the realm of postmodern philosophy, raising the novel defense that Truth isnt truth! That Orwellian turn of phrase brought to mind what Trump himself declared in a July speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars: What youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening.

Trump also stepped up his attacks on Mueller, likening the special counsels investigation to McCarthyism at its worst! In addition to the McGahn revelations, the backdrop to the increased volume of the presidents tweets was the imminent conclusion of the trial of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort. The White House braced for the possibility that Muellers team might secure its fifth conviction, not a bad tally for what Trump has frequently labeled a WITCH HUNT!

As a Monday interview with Reuters showed, the president was worried about how the prosecution could use his own words against him.

So if I say something and [Comey] says something, and its my word against his, and hes best friends with Mueller, so Mueller might say: Well, I believe Comey, and even if Im telling the truth, that makes me a liar, Trump said. Thats no good.

Oddly, though, Trump also assured the country that, if he wanted to, he could simply pull the plug on an investigation into his own campaigns ties with the Russian government.

I can go in, and I could do whatever  I could run it if I want, Trump said. But I decided to stay out.

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Trump, leaves federal court in New York after pleading guilty to eight charges, Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP)

On Tuesday, Trumps longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felonies, telling a federal judge that Trump had personally directed him to pay off two women to keep quiet about alleged extramarital affairs for the principal purpose of influencing the election.

Cohens stunning admission contradicted all the dissembling stories Trump, Giuliani and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told about the payments.

But Team Trumps bad day was far from over. A jury in Alexandria, Va., found Manafort guilty of eight felony counts that included tax fraud, bank fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts. But for a single holdout, the jury would have returned guilty verdicts on all 18 of the charges in the indictment. Mueller may yet decide to retry the remaining 10 with a new jury. Meanwhile, Manaforts trial on separate charges of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent is coming up next month in Washington, D.C.

The president ended the day in West Virginia, at a rally for Democratic Sen. Joe Manchins opponent, Patrick Morrisey. But when his crowd launched into the obligatory chant of Lock her up! at the mention of Hillary Clintons name, Trump seemed more distracted than usual. Often at his safe space gatherings, the president will relish the portion of his speech that he reserves for going after Sessions, Comey and Mueller by name and deed, but after the Cohen and Manafort bad news, he limited it to a passing afterthought: Where is the collusion? You know theyre still looking for collusion, Trump said. Where is the collusion? Find some collusion. We want to find the collusion!

On cable news, Cohens lawyer Lanny Davis was busy answering Trumps question. Mr. Cohen has knowledge of certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel, and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all he knows, Davis told MSNBCs Rachel Maddow. Not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democracy system in the 2016 election, which the Trump Tower meeting was all about, but also knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders at the daily White House press briefing, Aug. 22, 2018. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

On Wednesday, it was left to Sanders to try to explain exactly how what was being reported was not what was actually happening.

As the president has said and weve stated many times, he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him, and weve commented on it extensively, she told reporters gathered in the briefing room. Just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal, that doesnt implicate the president on anything.

The president went ever further on Twitter, saying that the acts Cohen admitted to werent actual crimes.

Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime. President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018

How one pleads guilty to noncriminal acts is something legal scholars may parse for generations to come. To make it so, however, one needs only to return to Giulianis truth isnt truth logical framework.

But as Thursday dawned, the administrations defense that it was Cohens word against Trumps was unraveling.

David Pecker, an executive at American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, reached an immunity deal with federal prosecutors to provide them with the details of Trumps hush-money payments to actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. That money was paid to the women in exchange for the rights to publish their stories, which the tabloid summarily buried.

In a Fox & Friends interview, Trump continued to fume over Cohens betrayal, with the president suggesting his formers lawyers cooperation with prosecutors should be outlawed.

Its called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal, Trump said.

The president also castigated Sessions, who recused himself from Muellers Russia probe shortly after he was appointed attorney general.

President Trump watches as Vice President Pence swears in Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Oval Office, Feb. 9, 2017. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department, Trump said. Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department, and its a sort of an incredible thing.

Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldnt have done. Or he should have told me, Trump continued. Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself, and then you wouldnt have put him in. He took the job and then he said, Im going to recuse myself. I said, What kind of a man is this?

Sessions, who rarely responds to Trumps public criticism, fired back.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, he said, adding: While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

Trump responded in a series of tweets urging the nations top law enforcement official to investigate a long list of his perceived enemies.

But the news, as it seemed to do all week for Trump, went from bad to worse. Late Friday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors in the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan granted immunity to Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. While Trumps latest defense is that those who flip to spare themselves from being prosecuted for the crimes they are accused of makes them a rat, its patently clear that even rats know when to jump a sinking ship.

Protester Bill Christeson at the trial of Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, at federal court in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

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President Donald Trumps administration once again propped up grieving family members in an apparent effort to defend this summers policy of separating immigrant children from their families at the border.

In a video posted to the White Houses official Twitter account Wednesday, several family members expressed sorrow over the death of their children whose assailants happened to be undocumented immigrants. Their pain and anger is real, however misguided it may be at the entire population of undocumented immigrants, which multiple studies have shown are not associated with an increase in crime.

Nearly 10 times, people in the video say theyve faced a separation or been separated from their family members  a clear allusion to the language critics used to describe Trumps since-axed policy of splitting children from their parents as they arrived at the U.S. border.

For 34 days, investigators searched for 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts. Yesterday, an illegal alien, now charged with first-degree murder, led police to the cornfield where her body was found.



The Tibbetts family has been permanently separated. They are not alone. pic.twitter.com/BBskwHEJoU  The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 22, 2018

The text of the tweet focuses on the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts. Law enforcement said Tuesday that an undocumented immigrant confessed to killing her  though the mans lawyer has contested his immigration status.

They are not alone, the White House wrote of Tibbetts family.

In a video Trump posted hours later, he reiterated that Tibbetts being permanently separated from her family sheds light on the need for his proposed border wall and stricter immigration laws.

Its not the first time Trumps administration has leaned on grieving families to defend his border separation policy, which ended more than two months ago, though many families are still dealing with the fallout from it.

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Amid the border crisis in June, he held a news conference flanked by several family members with similar stories to those in Wednesdays video.

These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones, Trump said, before sharing false statistics about immigrant crime. The word permanently being the word that you have to think about. Permanently. Theyre not separated for a day or two days. They are permanently separated.

Related Coverage

Trump Swaps His Family Separation Policy For Family Detention

Trump Props Up Grieving Parents To Defend Immigration Policy

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Chicago White Sox top prospect Eloy Jimenez has done more than enough to prove he deserves a shot at the majors. The 21-year-old has once again destroyed minor-league pitching, but the team has yet to call him up.

In an article for the Players Tribune on Thursday, Jimenez said what everyone in Chicago has been thinking for a while now. He believes he is beyond ready to play in the big leagues.

Eloy Jimenez says hes beyond ready to play in the majors

Looking at the numbers, its hard to disagree with Jimenez. He started the year in Double-A, where he hit .317/.368/.556 in 53 games. After being moved up to Triple-A, hes been even better, hitting .347/.391/.600 in 45 games.

Given his impressive pedigree and previous production in the minors, its safe to say Jimenez has nothing left to prove in the minors.

Why wont the White Sox call up Eloy Jimenez?

If Jimenez is ready, why havent the White Sox made the call? Its possible the team wants to manipulate his service time. By delaying Jimenezs promotion, the team can gain an extra year of control on Jimenez in the future. While thats a common-place strategy from teams, it could tarnish the White Soxs relationship with Jimenez, especially if he feels he is beyond ready to get called up.

Given that the team recently promoted pitcher Michael Kopech, Jimenez remaining in the minors is puzzling. Its possible the club is waiting until rosters expand in September to make the call.

White Sox prospect Eloy Jimenez doesnt lack for confidence

Its not the first time Jimenez has expressed confidence in his ability. In January, he told White Sox fans the team was going to win a lot of World Series.

Between that and declaring himself ready, Jimenez is making some bold claims before ever reaching the majors. In his defense, hes got the numbers to back up that confidence.

All thats left is to prove it at the highest level.

Eloy Jimenez thinks hes ready to play on the White Sox right now. (AP Photo)

      

Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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Dan Goure

Security,

The reason is simple: The West is in danger of losing the fight to operate effectively in contested airspace

Why America Desperately Needs as Many F-35s As It Can Get

There are reports circulating that the U.S. Air Force is considering major cuts to its planned procurement of 1,760 F-35As. This would be a colossal blunder. The F-35 is too good for the Air Force (as well as the Navy and Marine Corps) to not acquire their full allotment. If anything, the Air Force should increase its annual procurements to more rapidly improve its warfighting capabilities and lower unit costs.

The West is in danger of losing the fight to operate effectively in contested airspace.

Russia and China have developed and continue to improve their Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS) that can engage hostile air threats at all altitudes and ranges out to 400 kilometers. The Russian system, deployed in Western Russia, Belarus and Kaliningrad, places much of NATO airspace at risk. Both China and Russia are investing heavily in advanced aircraft programs designed to catch up with U.S. fifth-generation systems such as the F-22 and F-35. Russian advanced air defense missile systems are currently being marketed to major U.S. allies such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

(This first appeared last month.)

There is only one near-term answer to the growing IADS threat. It is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Together with the limited fleet of U.S. F-22s, the F-35, once available in sufficient numbers, holds the promise of maintaining U.S. air superiority for decades to come.

The former commander of the U.S. Air Combat Command, General Herbert Hawk Carlisle, boldly asserted that fifth generation aircraft are the keys to victory for U.S. forces in future wars.

The technologies in the F-22 and the F-35 provide situational awareness of a conflict that is unparalleled in modern war, and lethal tools that enable both aircraft to perform at a higher level. Fifth-generation assets employed by joint forces give the U.S. the asymmetric advantage we need to win our nations wars.

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The JSF has already demonstrated that it has the potential to totally change the balance of air power vis-a-vis potential U.S. adversaries. Although there is a misperception that the JSF is primarily intended for air-to-ground missions, its air-to-air capabilities are superb. In last years Red Flag combat exercises, the F-35 scored a stunning 20-1 kill ration. According to one experienced Air Force pilot, the F-35 totally dominates fourth generation aircraft:

The airplane has unbelievable maneuvering characteristics that make it completely undefeatable in an air-to-air environment. So if it's a long-range contact, you'll never see me and you'll die, and if it's within visual-range contact you'll see me and you're gonna die and you're gonna die very quickly.

As exercises and war games have demonstrated, an F-35 force can defeat several times its numbers of fourth-generation aircraft, including our own. In its role as a sensor and electronic warfare platform, the JSF can enhance the effectiveness of those same fourth-generation aircraft. A Norwegian Air Force pilot with much experience in the F-16 flew the F-35 and declared in a report to his government that this is an airplane that allows me to be more forward and aggressive than I could ever be in an F-16.

The JSF is much more than just a fighter. The sensors, avionics and other electronic systems on the relatively few F-35s in operation are already radically altering the way militaries around the world, including our own, think about air operations. Simply put, the F-35 makes everything a military does in the air better.

Recommended: Why No Commander Wants to Take On a Spike Missile

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The role of the F-35 as an information node, collecting and communicating data from multiple systems offers the potential for an entirely new level of near real-time intelligence sharing. Part of the remarkable effectiveness of the F-35 is due to its ability to exploit computerized information on threat systems. These Mission Data Files allow for extremely rapid identification and response to a wide variety of hostile sensors, weapons and platforms. In the hands of a dozen or more countries around the world, the F-35 holds forth the prospect for radically changing intelligence sharing by enabling massive collection and dissemination of threat information to U.S. forces and those of friends and allies.

According to NATOs Joint Air Power Competence Centre, the F-35 will be the backbone for next-generation NATO operations. The JSF will allow the Alliance to go deep into a double-digit air defense environment to destroy moving and mobile targets while outnumbered by sophisticated fighters equipped with advanced air-to-air weapons. In addition,

with its impressive sensor suite, net-centric design, and ability to carry more than 18,000 pounds of payload when loaded externally, the F-35 can be thought of as a 5th generation Strike Eagle: the advanced avionics of an F-22 combined with the range payload that nearly matches that of an F-15E. This allows the F-35 to shape a crisis throughout the conflict, beginning with the removal of the enemy IADS and continuing until the final day of sorties.

U.S. allies are acquiring the F-35, creating the potential for a worldwide confederation of like-minded and similarly equipped partners. The aircraft has been chosen by no fewer than six NATO member states  Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and the U.K.  and others such as Canada and Belgium are considering the F-35. It looks as if the JSF is set to become the mainstay of NATO air forces in the same way that the F-16 Fighting Falcon did during the 1970s and 1980s. Australia, one of the original partners in the program, plans to buy 100 F-35As. Japan and South Korea have announced plans to acquire 42 and 40 F-35As respectively and could purchase more.

Israel has committed to ordering some 50 F-35As. Although the first nine JSFs were only delivered to Israel in December 2017, the Israeli Air Force sent them into combat over Syria in May 2018. It was reported that the F-35s participated in strikes that destroyed Russian-made Syrian air defenses.

There are reports circulating that the U.S. Air Force is considering major cuts to its planned procurement of 1,760 F-35As. This would be a colossal blunder. The F-35 is too good for the Air Force (as well as the Navy and Marine Corps) to not acquire their full allotment. If anything, the Air Force should increase its annual procurements to more rapidly improve its warfighting capabilities and lower unit costs.

Daniel Goure, Ph.D., is a vice president at the public-policy research think tank Lexington Institute. Goure has a background in the public sector and U.S. federal government, most recently serving as a member of the 2001 Department of Defense Transition Team. You can follow him on Twitter at @dgoure and the Lexington Institute @LexNextDC. Read his full bio here.

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Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Leah Vukmir. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images, Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The record number of women running for office this midterm election year has led to a record number of races in which both major-party candidates are women, creating an interesting real-world experiment in political science. With nine states still to hold primaries, there are already 28 congressional contests in which voters will choose between two female candidates, compared with a previous record of 17. While still a small percentage of all races (178 House contests are between two men, and 139 are between a man and a woman), this cluster is serving as fertile ground for researchers who study the role of gender in politics.

It certainly is a cool time to have this as your specialty, says Mirya Holman, associate professor of political science at Tulane University, who is studying gender stereotypes in political matchups between women.

Races with two women have been so rare until very recently that there really hasnt been much real-world research at all, says Tessa Ditonto, assistant professor at Iowa State University, who specializes in gender and psychology in American politics. Nearly all the research to this point has been theoretical, and there isnt even much of that. This is a great chance to learn what weve had no data for.

While knowledge gained from these current races wont be complete until they are run, already it seems clear that the conventional wisdom  that gender ceases to be an issue in a race between two women  is wrong. Just because two women are running doesnt mean gender doesnt matter, says Kelly Dittmar, assistant research professor at the Center for American Women and Politics, part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

She says that as recently as three years ago she was told by one researcher, You can make the argument that the issue of gender was removed because you have two women running for governor.

But watching women navigate this years races, Holman says, illustrates that gender still matters. It just matters in different ways than in a contest where you have a woman running against a man.

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Among the preliminary takeaways from those who are paying academic attention:

Democrats stress the presumed female trait of compassion while Republicans stress the presumed male trait of strength even when both candidates are female. In Wisconsin, for instance, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the incumbent and the only openly lesbian senator, is running ads showing her surrounded by young children and discussing the harm done by repealing the Affordable Care Act. Her challenger, Leah Vukmir, in contrast, came out of the campaign gate with an ad showing her sitting alone at a table with a handgun in front of her, talking about the guts she will show standing up to threats around the world and at home.

Put another way, a woman running for office may need to establish she is just as tough as a man  but she doesnt have to prove she is tougher than her male opponent. There is a threshold of strength that candidates have to reach for the voters to trust them. But if elections were a comparative test of strength, then youd expect that when two women run, toughness would recede as an issue. Thats not whats happening, Dittmar says. If anything, many women running against women are literally flexing their muscles more.

In Arizona, for instance, Martha McSally  who is leading Kelli Ward in the Republican primary for Senate and is expected to face Democrat Kyrsten Sinema should she win the primary on Tuesday  launched her campaign with an ad that resembled the movie Top Gun, all metallic music and quick cuts of her piloting a combat aircraft. That she underscored her point in some very female ways  grow a pair of ovaries is how she describes her message to many in Congress  is essentially a tweak on an established meme.

But voters perceive a womans toughness differently when the race is against another woman, so the above assumption might not hold when all the research is in. When research subjects were presented with fictional articles about fictional candidates for governor in a research study from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Washington, they preferred the one who presented as a mix of traditional masculine and feminine traits, as opposed to the one who presented as more stereotypically masculine.

In a race between two women, the Republican candidate faces a more complicated challenge. Holman notes that voters make certain assumptions about candidates based on such categories as party and gender. Republicans, in general, are assumed to be tougher and more conservative than Democrats. Men, in general, are thought to be tougher and more conservative than women. Each candidate then uses those assumptions as a foundation on which to build a winning coalition.

Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Ross D. Franklin/AP, Matt York/AP)

For Democratic women, the challenge for them is that they have two pieces of information that cue voters to see them as more liberal  party identification and gender identification, Holman says. For Republican women it is the opposite. Her party label says conservative but her gender label says that she is liberal.

As a result, she continues, a female Democratic candidate can move to the right in the general election because her base will automatically assume, from her gender and party cues, that she still speaks for them. Republican women, on the other hand, not only have to convince independents and Democrats that she is not too conservative, which is her party cue, but also reassure members of her own party that shes not too liberal, which is her gender cue. In a race between two women, she says, that gives a Democrat more room to move and maneuver.

By way of example, Holman points to the Senate race in Wisconsin. The reason Vukmir sits at a table with a handgun, Holman says, is that she is trying to reassure her Republican base that she is conservative enough, that she knows how to navigate masculine issues, that she is man enough for the job. Baldwin, in turn, can claim all the traditionally Democratic issues plus all the issues in the middle, all while Vukmir is on the right trying to make it clear to her Republican base that she is enough of a Republican for them to vote for her in November.

The long-standing taboo against running attack ads against a female opponent is likely dead. This has long been a fundamental truth for men who are running against women, because theres a concern about men looking like a bully, Dittmar says. It is increasingly less true (see the ads by Nancy Pelosis Republican opponent, John Kelly, comparing the House minority leader to the Wicked Witch of the West) and, it seems, not at all true in contests between women.

True, some women candidates this season have said theyve received advice not to go negative because it risks looking like a catfight. But in general, women candidates seem to feel free to attack their female opponents.

Women are just as likely to go negative against each other as men are to go negative against men, Dittmar says, and in this election cycle so far there has been no outcry or backlash.

In her recent book, Navigating Gendered Terrain, Dittmar points to the 2010 Oklahoma gubernatorial campaign, in which Mary Fallin, the Republican, was accused of fueling a whisper campaign about the sexuality of her opponent, Jari Askins, by constantly pointing out that Askins was single and childless. I think my experience is one of the things that sets me apart as a candidate for governor. First of all, being a mother, having children, raising a family, Fallin said in a debate.

You know, in Oklahoma, all of our governors have been men. So none of them have been mothers, Askins responded. I think most of them have done a pretty good job  so I dont think thats a criteria.

Fallin won that race with 60 percent of the vote and is currently completing her second term.

Looks, on the other hand, still matter. In a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, Ditonto and her co-author write of their study in which subjects were shown headshot photos of actual opponents in actual completed races and asked which one looked more competent and which looked more attractive. In the races where both candidates were men, the one judged more competent by the majority of research subjects was the one who had actually won. In races where both candidates were women, in contrast, the one found to be more attractive by research subjects was also the one preferred by voters.

Voters have a feeling that a certain number of women is enough. A separate study by Ditonto and her Iowa State co-author, David Andersen, found that the more women there were on a ballot, the more it hurt those women who were lower down on that ballot. In other words, if there was a Republican woman running for Senate or governor, it statistically decreased the odds for a Republican woman running for the House of Representatives, the state legislature or county executive.

In their study, titled Twos a Crowd, the authors theorize that this is because our stereotypes are being activated by more women running simultaneously.

So what does that mean when the women in question are running against each other? Thats one of the many things this year might help us figure out, Ditonto says.

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The Hawaiian Islands are experiencing the effects of Hurricane Lane, a Category 4 storm with heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging winds. The Aloha State is no stranger to natural hazards, like Mount Kilaueas volcanic eruption that destroyed nearly 700 homes earlier this year.

But its unusual for Hawaii to face the threat of a hurricane, or what scientists call a tropical cyclone. Only two hurricanes have made landfall in Hawaii since the 1950s: Hurricane Dot in 1959 and Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

Heres why its rare:

The central Pacific Ocean doesnt see as many storms as the eastern Pacific or Atlantic.

Tropical cyclones are fueled by warm, moist air, and thrive in water temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NOAA. Storms that approach from the east often weaken near Hawaii because of cooler water temperatures and drier, more stable air. But Hurricane Lane is approaching from the south in warmer waters, after it formed 1,000 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, according to the Weather Channel.

The Hawaiian Islands are also a small target in the vast Pacific Ocean and arent often threatened. Forecasters say Hawaii gets a named storm within 60 miles of its coastline once every four years on average.
You've probably already heard about the reluctance Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding had when it came to auditioning for his role.

Despite his lack of acting experience, Golding was tracked down by the film's director Jon M. Chu and eventually given the lead role.

SEE ALSO: 'Crazy Rich Asians' and the immense pressure to feel seen

The smooth-talking actor can thank an accountant, Lisa-Kim Kuan, for all of his future Hollywood troubles. Kuan passed on Golding's name to Chu, which led to the discovery of the star.

"If youre out there Lisa Kim, I still owe you one. I love you Lisa!" Golding told Jimmy Fallon last week.

"She was like, I met this guy about five years ago in Malaysia. I dont know what hes doing now, but for me he was this character Nick Young.'"

Vulture got in touch with Kuan, who works at the film's Malaysian production office, where she revealed that the suggestion for Golding came about over a conversation with a line producer over budgets.

"When we got to Nick Youngs part, he mentioned they were having difficulties finding the right guy to play him. I thought of Henry right away," she told the publication.

Kuan said she first encountered Golding at an event in Kuala Lumpur, and imagined him as being the perfect Young when she read Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel Crazy Rich Asians later on. Of course, she's thrilled that Golding scored the role.

"My adik [Malay for sister] said to me after [Goldings appearance on] the Jimmy Fallon show, 'You built a bridge for Henry to get to the other side.' I thought that was sweetly appropriate; that was all I did. Everything else was down to Henry," she added.

Just another adorable story on top of the many adorable stories coming from Crazy Rich Asians, and proof you'll never know who you'll leave an impression on.
Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's top court on Friday dismissed an opposition bid to have presidential election results annulled over alleged rigging in favour of Robert Mugabe's successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

In a verdict widely predicted by analysts, Chief Justice Luke Malaba strongly criticised the MDC party's case and upheld Mnangagwa's win.

"The court finds the applicant has failed to place before it clear, direct, sufficient and credible evidence" of irregularities, Malaba said in his ruling at the Constitutional Court in Harare.

"There was no proof of the happenings of these irregularities as a matter of fact."

Mnangagwa, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, won the July 30 election with 50.8 percent of the vote -- just enough to meet the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off against MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3 percent.

His inauguration would now take place on Sunday, justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told AFP.

Lawyers for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had argued that the results should be annulled due to alleged "massive doctoring" of the vote.

But the court backed lawyers representing Mnangagwa, ZANU-PF and the election commission who rubbished claims that the opposition had produced any substantial evidence of fraud.

- 'Time to move forward'? -

"I once again reiterate my call for peace and unity," Mnangagwa said in a television address after the ruling.

"Let us put whatever differences we might have behind us. It is time to build our nation and move forward together."

Paul Mangwana, a ZANU-PF spokesman, said outside the court: "We are ecstatic... President Mnangagwa won and that can no longer be disputed.

"He is now ready to deliver on his mandate to usher in a new Zimbabwe."

Mnangagwa, who has vowed to revive Zimbabwe's ruined economy, had hoped the elections would draw a line under Mugabe's repressive 37-year rule and open up a stream of foreign investment and aid.

Story continues

Campaigning was more open and peaceful than previous votes under Mugabe.

But the election was marred by the army opening fire on protesters, killing six, allegations of vote-rigging and a violent crackdown on opposition activists.

The MDC had cited a catalogue of alleged discrepancies including incorrect counting, fake "ghost" polling stations, and at some polling stations more ballots being counted than there were registered voters.

MDC chief Chamisa tweeted "victory is not lost" and said that the party would listen to its followers in the continuing fight "to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption and dishonesty."

The party said that "the sombre mood in the country in the wake of todays court verdict is in itself a telling statement."

- 'Un-level playing field' -

Derek Matyszak, a legal expert at the University of Zimbabwe, had predicted that the opposition faced an uphill struggle given the courts' historic tilt towards ZANU-PF, which has ruled since independence from British colonial rule in 1980.

"The outcome (was) pretty predictable," Matyszak told AFP.

The MDC's appeal, which was lodged hours before the deadline on August 10, forced Mnangagwa's inauguration -- planned for August 12 -- to be postponed.

International monitors largely praised the conduct of the election itself, although European Union observers said that Mnangagwa, a former long-time Mugabe ally, benefited from an "un-level playing field".

After the ruling, the EU issued a statement saying all parties should accept the verdict, adding that the new government needed to push through electoral reforms after a vote that had "revealed improvements as well as challenges."

Some ZANU-PF supporters celebrated at the party headquarters in Harare.

The nine judges delivered the unanimous verdict at the court amid tight security, though no protests were reported after the case.

Armed police patrolled in the second city of Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold.

The court could have declared a winner, called another election, or ordered a run-off or recount.

In a first for the country, the proceedings were broadcast live on state television.
Comments made by British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2013 that British Zionists do not understand British irony have resurfaced, adding fuel to the fire as British Jews remain increasingly apprehensive of the controversial contender for the British premiership.

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The British Daily Mail published Corbyns comments, given at a conference in Friends House in Euston in 2013. The conference was attended by Islamic extremists and was featured on the website of Hamas's military wing. Among those attending were known anti-Semites, homophobes, and conspiracy theorists.

During his remarks at the conference, Corbyn, who was elected Labour Party leader in 2015, said that British Zionists clearly have two problems. One is they don't want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either. They need two lessons, which we could perhaps help them with.

Corbyn in 2013

Members of the British Jewish community were outraged by the comment. Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, said it shows the reality of what Jeremy Corbyn thinks of Jews, somehow a breed apart from normal English people."

Pollard added that he believed the Corbyn used the word "Zionist" to mean "Jews."

The idea that British Jews somehow haven't absorbed British values is outrageous, said Jonathan Sacerdoti, a founding trustee of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, and an anti-racism campaigner.

To doubt our Britishness because we disagree with your controversial views on Palestine, when you are the one fraternizing with extremists, is deeply anti-Semitic. British Jews are right to be scared, he added.

Corbyn's name has been repeatedly linked to anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli comments and events.

Earlier this week, the British media reported that he participated in a 2012 conference atteded by Hamas terrorists, some released as part of the 2011 Shalit deal. Corbyn described their words as "fascinating and electrifying."

Corbyn wrote in the Morning Star newspaper in praise of the conference, calling the terrorists "brothers and glorifying their speeches.
A South Korean appeals court sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in jail on Friday, the Yonhap news agency reported, in a case arising from a far-reaching corruption scandal that toppled her from power in 2017.

Park became South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office when the Constitutional Court removed her over a scandal that landed the heads of two conglomerates in jail.
Australia's prime minister says he will quit Parliament now the government has picked a replacement.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters: "I'll be leaving the Parliament ... not before too long."

His resignation would cause a by-election that could cost the government its single-seat majority. It could encourage the next Prime Minister Scott Morrison to soon call general elections.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees suggested that the United States slashed his budget early this year to punish the Palestinians for their criticism of the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but he warned that the Palestinian refugee issue will not go away.

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The comments by Pierre Kraehenbuehl came amid signs that the US, with Israeli support, is aiming to abolish the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in an apparent attempt to remove one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the negotiating agenda.

UNRWA head Pierre Kraehenbuehl (Photo:AP)

"One cannot simply wish 5 million people away," Kraehenbuehl, commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

In January, the US, the largest donor to the agency, slashed some $300 million from its annual contribution to UNRWA, prompting what Kraehenbuehl called an unprecedented financial crisis.

UNRWA provides flour to Gaza residents (Photo: MCT)

Although he has made up some of the deficit by raising money from other countries, the agency still lacks over $200 million. It recently laid off over 100 people in the Gaza Strip and cut back the hours of 500 other employees. The upcoming school year for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children across the Middle East has been threatened.

Kraehenbuehl said he was caught off guard by the American decision, which came just weeks after he had held what he described as a successful meeting with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and chief Mideast advisor.

He said he still has not received a straight answer from the Americans about why they made their decision.

But he said he believes it is connected to the uproar over the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December. The Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as their capital, condemned the decision and severed nearly all ties with the Americans.

Trump announces US recognition of Jerusalem (Photo: AP)

"I can say with a great degree of confidence that the decision was not related to UNRWA's performance, because in November I had received very constructive and openly positive feedback on those issues," he said.

"A few weeks later, tensions increased around the question of Jerusalem," he added. "It appears that the humanitarian funding to UNRWA got caught up in the deep polarization around that question."

The State Department said it is reviewing funding to UNRWA and has not decided whether to restore support in the future. It repeated its position that the agency's repeated financial crises are "unsustainable" and called on it to find other countries to share the funding burden and to undertake "fundamental reforms."

But privately, there are signs that the American agenda runs deeper and that the Trump administration seeks to abolish UNRWA altogether.

In an internal email recently published by Foreign Policy magazine, Kushner called for a "sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA."

"This (agency) perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn't help peace," he reportedly wrote.

Jared Kushner (Photo: EPA)

The Palestinians fear the US is putting pressure on host countries to absorb their refugee populations and eliminate the issue from future peace negotiations. The White House says it is working on a regional peace plan , though it has not said when it will be released.

UNRWA was established in the wake of the 1948 War of Independence surrounding Israel's creation. An estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the fighting.

Many were urged to leave by surrounding Arab armies and told they could return following what they expected to be the defeat of the nascent Jewish state.

In the absence of a solution, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate. The agency now provides education, health care and social services to more than 5 million refugees and their descendants. It serves populations in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Seen by the Palestinians and most of the international community as providing a valuable safety net, UNRWA is viewed far differently by Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the agency of perpetuating the conflict by helping promote an unrealistic Palestinian demand that refugees have the "right of return" to long-lost homes in what is now Israel. He has said UNRWA should be abolished and its responsibilities taken over by the main UN refugee agency.

Israel argues that UNRWA perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem by grossly inflating the number on bonafide refugees.

The agency includes descendants of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 War of Independence, thereby granting refugee status to Palestinians according to a criteria that is not adhered to in any other refugee question.

Some in Israel have even tougher criticism, accusing UNRWA of teaching hatred of Israel in its classrooms and tolerating or assisting Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

In July last year, the agency said it was investigating after finding 20 rockets hidden in one of its vacant schools in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters)

Kraehenbuehl said Israel has raised similar concerns for years, but that there has been a "strong intensification" of the criticism now that the Trump administration appears to be in agreement.

He rejected the Israeli claim that his agency is perpetuating the conflict, saying that it is carrying out a UN-mandated mission that reflects the will of the international community.

Kraehenbuehl said that Israeli claims that the Palestinians are the only people to pass down refugee status to their children also are unfounded, saying that Afghan refugees displaced decades ago have the same status.

He also noted that UNRWA has a committee to monitor the content of its classrooms and has condemned attempts by Gaza terrorists to use UNRWA facilities for cover.

An UNRWA clinic in the Shati refugee camp (Photo: AP)

Kraehenbuehl said the best way to solve these matters is to find a "political solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that addresses the fate of the refugees.

In the meantime, he said UNRWA's focus is for its schools to open on schedule in early September. For now, he said there are enough funds to keep the schools running only until the end of the month. An aggressive fund-raising effort is under way to ensure the schools operate for the entire academic year.

"I see the courage displayed by our students in the face of so much adversity," he said. "I really find it very difficult to imagine that I have to go back to them and tell them that I have failed and we have failed to mobilize the needed resources, to keep the one thing that gives them a certain prospect in life ... which is their education. So we will knock on every door, we will leave no stone unturned until we have good news on this front."
UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura has invited Iran, Russia and Turkey to talks on Syria's Constitutional Committee, to be held in Geneva on Sept. 11-12, a UN spokeswoman said on Friday.

The talks on forming a committee to draw up a new constitution for Syria are expected to be followed by parallel UN talks involving countries including the United States, but she had no date for those.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting Friday with three Baltic prime ministers in his quest to counterbalance European criticism of Israels actions in the West Bank and to increase pressure on Iran.

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Netanyahu will hold talks with Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, Estonias Juri Ratas and Maris Kucinskis of Latvia. He started the day by meeting Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.

PM Netanyahu with Baltic prime ministers (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Netanyahu lashed out at the European Union over its first financial support package to help bolster Iran's flagging economy, calling it "a big mistake" and "like a poison pill to the Iranian people."

Speaking on a trip to Lithuania, Netanyahu criticized the EU, which announced Thursday a first tranche of 18 million euros ($21 million), part of the bloc's commitment to keeping the Iran nuclear deal alive.

In May, US President Donald Trump withdrew from that deal, and began restoring US sanctions. The move has been exacerbating a financial crisis in Iran that has sent its currency tumbling.

Netanyahu meets Baltic leaders (: ")

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"I think that the decision yesterday by the EU to give 18 million euros to Iran is a big mistake. It's like a poison pill to the Iranian people and to the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and beyond the region," Netanyahu said.

"Iran attempted to conduct a terror attack on European soil just weeks ago... That is incredible," he told a press conference that followed a meeting with three Baltic prime ministers -- Lithuanian Saulius Skvernelis, Estonia's Juri Ratas and Maris Kucinskis of Latvia.

PM Saulius Skvernelis with PM Netanyahu (Photo: AFP)

Netanyahu was apparently referring to a suspected bomb plot against an Iranian opposition rally in France in late June that was thwarted by authorities. An Iranian diplomat is suspected of involvement.

A day earlier, he said that Israel was often mistreated by the EU, adding there were many distortions. Netanyahu, however, welcomed the decision by major international airlines to end their direct flights to Irans capital, Tehran, in September after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and began restoring US sanctions.

Skvernelis said in an interview with the Baltic News Service that after a meeting Thursday with Netanyahu, I believe Lithuania really has a better understanding of Israel and that understanding could be spread among other EU countries.

We need to better listen, hear them out and understand their position. We definitely lack a direct dialogue, he said.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and PM Netanyahu (Photo: AP)

But we have to admit that today Israel is not only waging war and defending its independence, the lives of its people, but is also fighting in a wider context, if we speak about terrorism and potential expansion of IS fighters to Europe, Skvernelis said.

Netanyahu arrived Thursday in Vilnius is on a four-day visit, the first to Lithuania by an Israeli prime minister.
Two policeman and a Sajur resident were lightly wounded overnight Thursday during violent clashes in the Druze town.

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A police force operating in Sajur, who were there as part of the campaign to eradicate illegal weapons possession and the phenomenon of residents firing guns into the air, spotted a shooting from one of the houses in the Druze community during a party.

The police force was attacked by several of the community's residents following its attempt to detain a suspect for firing his weapon, according to the police.

Police forces in Sajur, file photo (Photo: Almadar)

The suspect charged at the police force waving a knife while the force was being attacked.

In addition to the injuries, damage was caused to the police force's vehicle.

Sensing danger, the force opened fire, lightly wounding one of the men involved in the assault.

The man was detained after he had been evacuated to the hospital to receive medical attention.

Six more suspects were detained by the additional police forces that were called to the scene, including the man suspected of firing a shot into the air during the party.

The police confiscated the gun from which the shot had been allegedly fired.

The detainees were brought Friday morning before Haifa's Magistrate's Court where a hearing was held into the extension of their remand.

The police issued a statement saying, "We view gravely any attempt to harm public servants in their line of duty and we will act to fully exhaust the law with those endangering public security in general and the wellbeing of those serving the public in particular."
Turkey's Foreign Minister has warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining opposition stronghold.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, said that Russia and Turkey should work to separate opposition groups from "terrorists" in the northwestern province of Idlib. He warned against an offensive there, saying that it will cause a "humanitarian catastrophe."

Lavrov, however, indicated that Moscow is losing patience with the militants, who often target government positions from there.
Turkey has condemned Israel's decision to built some 1,000 housing unit in the West Bank, as reported by the Turkish news agency Andulo.

The Turkish Foreign Affair Ministry issued a statement saying, "The actions taken while ignoring the international law and the UN's decision is constantly harming the peace process."
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday that he does not believe in reaching an agreement with the Hamas terror group, as Israel works to achieve a ceasefire to end months of fighting that has repeatedly brought the two sides to the brink of war.

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I am not involved in the arrangement, I dont believe in the arrangement and the only arrangement is reality on the ground, Lieberman said during a visit to Kibbutz Kissufim adjacent to the Gaza Strip where he met with regional leaders.

The comments came ahead of expected weekly demonstrations by the Palestinians in Gaza on Friday afternoon, which have almost invariably descended into violence as rioters throw rocks, launch incendiary balloons and hurl improvised explosives, prompting IDF soldiers to open deadly fire against what Israel says are ringleaders.

Defense Minister Lieberman (Photo: Roee Idan)

I am trying to form the equation between security quiet and economy. If theres terror, theres no economy. If theres no terror, there will be an economy, the defense minister explained.

There has to be a direct connection. That is the important message that we are trying to communicate to the Gaza residents, to the average Gazan who is concerned with making a living and who thinks about how to provide for his family, he continued.

Therefore, if there is quiet this Friday, the (Kerem Shalom) border crossing will remain open. If there is no quiet, it will be closed.

(Photo: Roee Idan)

On Wednesday, Lieberman sent a message to Gaza residents after reopening the Kerem Shalom border crossing, following a temporary closure in retaliation for unabated violence. Medical supplies and humanitarian goods were still permitted to enter the strip.

On Monday, Israel announced that it was closing the main commercial crossing and limiting the Palestinian coastal enclave's fishing zone in a crackdown targeting the Hamas terror organization responsible for border protests now in their fourth month.

Illustrating his point, Lieberman noted that in the past few days, hundreds, if not thousands, of trucks had crossed the Kerem Shalom crossing each day since it had reopened because there was complete quiet. Therefore there is a correlation.

Anyone who intended to disrupt the prevailing quiet, he emphasized, must understand that it would only led to the crossings renewed closure.

Nevertheless, the defense minister doubled down on his insistence that there was little meaning in holding discussions with Hamas.

Kerem Shalom crossing (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

The fundamental aim of the Hamas terror organization is the destruction of the State of Israel, and thats why I dont think we have anything to talk about with Hamas, Lieberman said.

We are speaking through Egypt and through others and Hamas understands this. There is not, and there will not be any progress and there will be no new arrangements beyond the crossings and fishing zones until a solution is reached on the issue of the captive soldiers and civilians, Lieberman said in reference to two fallen IDF soldiers who remains are being held by Hamas and two Israeli civilians languishing in the strip.

We must bring Hamas around to the understanding that if they want to move forward in any area, then the first thing is about the missing soldiers and civilians.

The defense minister reiterated that Hamas must renounce its central goal of destroying Israel, cease its attempts to build up militarily, and stop behaving in a completely unreasonable way.

Even the little budget it gets it invests in tunnels and rocket production and they leave the entire issue of water and education and health to the international community and to others. It is not something we will tolerate and we will do, first and foremost, everything we need to in accordance with Israels security interests.

Lieberman also shared a small anecdote with his listeners about advice he received from former prime minister Ariel Sharon.

He said to me listen, when you are strong and the power is in your hands, speak calmly and quietly. When you need to hit, give the strongest and most painful blow. So when we decide that there is no choice and we need to lead a military move, we will do what we need to do. We will decide the timing and we will decide the conditions, Lieberman said.
Jordanian members of parliament are demonstrating fierce opposition to the appointment of a new ambassador to Israel, arguing that the peace treaty with the Jewish state should be scrapped and "Palestinians should be occupying Israel."

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Ghassan Majali is expected to replace the incumbent Ambassador to Israel Walid Obeidat, who is set to conclude his tenure after more than five years of service.

Officials from Jordan's Foreign Affairs Ministry claim that Israel has not yet approved his appointment as required by protocol.

Jordan's parliament against appointing new ambassador to Israel

MP Hazem Majaliwho is Ghassan Majali's cousinis leading opposition the opposition to the appointment of the new abassador.

"Our fundamental stance is that the peace agreement with Israel should be abrogated and that Palestine's occupation must immediately cease," the MP said.

"We seek to scrap the (peace) agreement and don't succeed. The Palestinians are the ones who should occupy Israel and not the other way around. We stand with them in their just fight," Hazem Majali added.

According to Hazem, if Jordan decides nevertheless to appoint an ambassador to Israel, it should change the nature of its position.

"The new ambassador should defend Jordan's interest, and mainly halt the activity of the occupation regime in Jerusalem," he concluded.

Majali served in the past as Jordan's ambassador to Spain, and currently runs the Jordanian academy for diplomats.

The Majali family is one of the most prominent and influential families in the Hashemite Kingdom and is known for its support of the royal family.

One of the family's members, Abd al-Hadi Majali, served as the chairman of the negotiations committee for signing the peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
The Hamas terror group threatened on Friday that Israel would pay the price if sanctions imposed on the Gaza Strip by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continue or worsen.

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Israel is responsible for ending the current situation in coordination with, and encouraged by, him (Abbas), a Hamas statement said.

The ultimatum comes on the heels of expected renewed indirect talks between Israel and Hamas as they work to reach a long-term ceasefire to end months of fighting that has repeatedly brought the two sides to the brink of war.

Palestinian President Abbas and Hamas leader Haniyah (Photo: AFP, Reuters)

The Hamas statement was a further cause for concern that the talks would break down before they started after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said earlier in the day that he does not believe in reaching an agreement with the Gaza-ruling terror group.

I am not involved in the arrangement, I dont believe in the arrangement and the only arrangement is reality on the ground, Lieberman said during a visit to Kibbutz Kissufim adjacent to the Gaza Strip where he met with regional leaders.

The comments came ahead of expected weekly demonstrations by the Palestinians in Gaza on Friday afternoon, which have almost invariably descended into violence as rioters throw rocks, launch incendiary balloons and hurl improvised explosives, prompting IDF soldiers to open deadly fire against ringleaders.

Over the last few days, we have seen that Hamas is in complete control of what goes on here. All the violence has decreased to almost zero, Lieberman stated.

I am trying to form the equation between security quiet and economy. If theres terror, theres no economy. If theres no terror, there will be an economy, the defense minister explained.

There has to be a direct connection. That is the important message that we are trying to communicate to the Gaza residents, to the average Gazan who is concerned with making a living and who thinks about how to provide for his family, he continued.

Therefore, if there is quiet this Friday, the (Kerem Shalom) border crossing will remain open. If there is no quiet, it will be closed.
Hamas condemned on Friday a thwarting of a serious terror attack over the last few days by the Palestinian security, involving the use of an extremely powerful bomb on Highway 443, which was intended to blow up an IDF convoy in a bid to sabotage efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The terror group issued an official statement saying it is "surprised at the continued security coordination, in light of what the Palestinian people are going through because of Israel's policies."
Bayit Yehudi chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, welcomed on Friday Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statement that he does not believe in an agreement with Hamas.

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"It is good that the defense minister now shares our perception and understands that we cannot allow Hamas extort us," Bennett exclaimed.

"It is essential now to prevent Hamas from rearming themselves with tens of thousands of rockets in order not to find ourselves with another Hezbollah on the Gaza border, stressed the education minister.

(Photo: Avi Roccah and Ohad Zwigenberg)

Bennetts remarks come in light of Hamass condemnation of a thwarting of a serious terror attack over the last few days by the Palestinian security, involving the use of an extremely powerful bomb near Highway 443, which was intended to blow up an IDF convoy in a bid to sabotage efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The terror group issued an official statement saying it is "surprised at the continued security coordination, in light of what the Palestinian people are going through because of Israel's policies."

Earlier on Friday, Defense Minister Lieberman said during a visit to Kibbutz Kissufim adjacent to the Gaza Strip that he does not believe in reaching an agreement with the Hamas terror group, as Israel works to achieve a ceasefire to end months of fighting that has repeatedly brought the two sides to the brink of war.

(Photo: Roee Idan)

I am not involved in the arrangement, I dont believe in the arrangement and the only arrangement is reality on the ground, the defense minister said.

Over the last few days, we have seen that Hamas is in complete control of what goes on here. All the violence has decreased to almost zero, he stated.

I am trying to form the equation between security quiet and economy. If theres terror, theres no economy. If theres no terror, there will be an economy, the defense minister explained.

Defense minister in Kibbutz Kissufim (Photo: Roee Idan)

There has to be a direct connection. That is the important message that we are trying to communicate to the Gaza residents, to the average Gazan who is concerned with making a living and who thinks about how to provide for his family, he continued.

Therefore, if there is quiet this Friday, the (Kerem Shalom) border crossing will remain open. If there is no quiet, it will be closed, Lieberman concluded.

The comments came ahead of expected weekly demonstrations by the Palestinians in Gaza on Friday afternoon, which have almost invariably descended into violence as rioters throw rocks, launch incendiary balloons and hurl improvised explosives, prompting IDF soldiers to open deadly fire against what Israel says are ringleaders.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said some members of oil producer group OPEC were acting in accordance with US policies, Iran's Khaneye Mellat news agency reported on Friday.

"Some members are interpreting the latest OPEC decision on oil output differently ... and are acting in accordance with the policies of the US," the agency quoted Zanganeh as saying.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed with Russia and other oil-producing allies in June to raise output from July, with Iran's arch-rival Saudi Arabia pledging a "measurable" supply boost but giving no specific numbers.
The Dutch prime minister on Friday distanced his government from a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest being organized later this year by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders.

Wilders "is not a member of the government. The competition is not a government initiative," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at his weekly press conference.

Rutte's comments came after angry reactions in Pakistan to the proposed contest, which Wilders plans to hold in November in his right-wing Party for Freedom's heavily guarded offices at the Dutch parliament.
A senior political source addressed on Friday the expected renewal of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas regarding a long-term ceasefire, saying that although there is still no agreement, the talks are ongoing and achieving a ceasefire, is the ultimate goal.

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The remarks come in light of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statement earlier saying he does not believe in an agreement with Hamas."

"Today we are still continuing the talks through the Egyptian and UN channels, as was the case during Operation protective Edge," the senior official went on to say.

"However, the main priority is achieving a ceasefire. If there is a cease-fire, we can examine broader options. If there will not be a ceasefire, we will not examine it. If we will be able to reach a comprehensive ceasefire, we will move on to the next stage and see how we can solve the humanitarian crisis," stressed the source.

Will the ceasefire last? No one knows. Is this progress temporary? Could be, concluded the source.

Gaza protest (Photo: Reuters)

Meanwhile, some 5,000 Palestinians protested in a weekly March of Return demonstration in the Gaza Strip. They hurled rocks at the IDF forces and burned tires in several locations along the border.

The Israeli troops responded with crowd dispersal measures and with live fire in accordance with the rules of engagement, targeting key instigators.

Gaza's Health Ministry says 50 demonstrators were wounded and dozens more were treated for tear gas inhalation.

In addition, Hamas threatened that Israel would pay the price if sanctions imposed on the Gaza Strip by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continue or worsen.

Mahmoud Abbas (: )

Israel is responsible for ending the current situation in coordination with, and encouraged by, him (Abbas), a Hamas statement said.

Earlier on Friday, Earlier on Friday, Defense Minister Lieberman said during a visit to Kibbutz Kissufim adjacent to the Gaza Strip that he does not believe in reaching an agreement with the Hamas terror group, as Israel works to achieve a ceasefire to end months of fighting that has repeatedly brought the two sides to the brink of war.

I am not involved in the arrangement, I dont believe in the arrangement and the only arrangement is reality on the ground, the defense minister said.

Over the last few days, we have seen that Hamas is in complete control of what goes on here. All the violence has decreased to almost zero, he stated.

Defense Minister Lieberman (Photo: Roee Idan)

I am trying to form the equation between security quiet and economy. If theres terror, theres no economy. If theres no terror, there will be an economy, the defense minister explained.

There has to be a direct connection. That is the important message that we are trying to communicate to the Gaza residents, to the average Gazan who is concerned with making a living and who thinks about how to provide for his family, he continued.

Therefore, if there is quiet this Friday, the (Kerem Shalom) border crossing will remain open. If there is no quiet, it will be closed, Lieberman concluded.

Bayit Yehudi chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, welcomed on Defense Minister Lieberman's remarks.

"It is good that the defense minister now shares our perception and understands that we cannot allow Hamas extort us," Bennett exclaimed.

"It is essential now to prevent Hamas from rearming themselves with tens of thousands of rockets in order not to find ourselves with another Hezbollah on the Gaza border, stressed the education minister.
Over the past few months, much has been said about Sydneys status for real estate investment  from the cooling of the market, to the very high property values, and to the lack of home supply.

As a result, many investors are left waiting for the next development before they enter the market again.

To help our readers make the best returns out of the Sydney market, which still has extraordinary potential, Your Investment Property talked to three property experts on how investors should weather the volatile market.

To buy, hold or sell?

To buy:

Rich Harvey from property show Buying Blind recommended that investors are in a great position to buy, emphasising the current low values and the rising demand in the market.

"The Sydney market has transitioned into a correctional phase and prices have softened after the boom. On the demand side, there are waves of downsizers, upsizers and first home buyers wanting to get into the market," he said.

Harvey pointed out that population growth, mainly driven by migration and jobs growth, will increase demand. Restrictive planning rules, meanwhile, will continue to limit supply growth in Sydney.

He also noted that there was no need to worry about the large volume of new dwelling approvals recorded lately.

"These are likely to be absorbed in the next two years and a deficit in supply [is] likely to return. The attraction of buying now is that vendors are far more negotiable on price as there is less competition amongst buyers."

Finally, Harvey suggested that the capital of New South Wales was also ideal for long-term investments. "If you are taking a long-term view of the Sydney market, then the same fundamentals of investing for growth will apply and will be underpinned by extensive infrastructure expansion, diverse employment opportunities, population growth and a world class city.

To hold:

Looking at things with a different perspective, John Lindeman of research firm Property Power Partners had some reasons for opting to hold in Sydney.

Concerned about the high costs of homes in the city, Lindeman said that people should wait until a hike in salaries happen.

"Sydneys population is growing at its fastest rate since the late Baby Boom years and most of our new households will be renters for some time, because four years of high price growth has made Sydneys housing market unaffordable for potential first home buyers."

"This will lead to a 'mark time' market in Sydney until wages and salaries rise sufficiently to generate another round of price rises or governments introduce new first home buyer incentives. Until these occur, rents will rise, prices will hold and so should property owners and investors."

To sell:

On yet another side of the coin, AMPs Chief Economist and Head of Investment Strategy Dr. Shane Oliver advised investors to sell now.

Noting that Sydney home prices have already dropped around 5 to 6% from their high in August 2017, Oliver said that he expects this trend to continue.

"The past 20 years have seen property prices go from around 20% below their long-term trend to nearly 30% above, average price to income ratios roughly double to around 8-9 times, and rental yields fall to around 1% after allowing for costs. This has gone hand-in-hand with a surge in the ratio of household debt to income from the low end of OECD countries to being at the top and until recently its been associated with a high share of new loans going to interest only borrowers. As a result, the Sydney property market is highly vulnerable."

Adding to these factors are stricter lending rules, the transition of a large number of borrowers from interest only loans to principle and interest loans, poor affordability, a "surge in the supply of units as the cranes top out," falling price growth expectations, Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO), and Fear Of Not Getting Out (FONGO). This confluence of factors is likely to cost the market another 10% or so of price decline over the next two years, according to Oliver.

It is also very important to keep in mind that increased lending standards help to heighten this uncertainty. Similarly, increased risk was observed among investors who re-evaluate their holdings as capital growth expectations decline. From then, these investors realise that rental yields alone are not high enough to deliver decent returns.

Oliver also discussed how falling rents and increasing vacancy are consistent with the background of a vulnerable property market  where the number of investors is at peak and unit supply is expected to grow.

"The old common sense investor adage buy low, sell high would be consistent with selling Sydney and buying property in bombed out cities like Perth or in other parts Australia that have lagged [behind] Sydney," he concluded.

In the end, the future of ones investment lies in his or her hands. Make careful choices and own them.

Harvey, Lindeman, and Oliver will be presenting at the Sydney Property Buyer Expo on 7-9 September at the ICC. Tickets and more info at: www.propertybuyerexpo.com.au - enter YIPVIP for your FREE ticket!
Arizona News

Tucson, Arizona - A Tucson man transporting four illegal aliens in a Ford Fusion fled from Willcox Border Patrol agents Thursday morning who were attempting to conduct an immigration inspection on Highway 80 near Tombstone.

When agents tried to stop the vehicle at approximately 7 a.m., the vehicle sped away toward Tombstone High School but stopped after crashing through a gate in front of the school. Five men bailed out of the vehicle in an attempt to escape on foot.

Helicopter flight crews from Air and Marine Operations and Cochise County Air responded to assist agents on the ground and soon all five suspects were apprehended.

Tombstone High School was briefly placed on lockdown as a precaution but the lockdown was lifted by 8:30 a.m.

The driver, identified as a 35-year-old U.S. citizen, now faces felony smuggling charges. The vehicles other four occupants, identified as Mexican nationals, will be processed for immigration violations.

A similar incident occurred the evening prior near Sunizona when agents from Willcox Stations Highway Interdiction Team attempted to stop a Chevy Malibu on Highway 191. A 22-year-old Douglas man driving the vehicle fled from agents during an immigration stop after two female Mexican nationals bailed from the vehicle.

Responding agents arrested the two women and later caught up with the Malibu on Highway 186, with the Douglas man and two other illegal aliens near the vehicle.

The Douglas man faces felony smuggling charges while the four Mexican nationals are being processed for immigration violations.

Willcox Station is committed to disrupting criminal activity within Cochise County and will continue working with our local law enforcement partners and the community to enhance the quality of life in southeastern Arizona, said Willcox Stations Patrol Agent in Charge John Scanlon. Units such as our Highway Interdiction Team and agents at our immigration checkpoints help make this county an undesirable place for criminals to operate.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials welcome assistance from the community. Citizens can report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol and remain anonymous by calling 1-877-872-7435 toll free. Reporting illicit activity could result in saving someones life.
Border News

Washington, DC - Exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery, is widespread.

The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico as U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to these areas.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from intercity travel after dark in many areas of Mexico. U.S. government employees are also not permitted to drive from the U.S.-Mexico border to or from the interior parts of Mexico with the exception of daytime travel on Highway 15 between Nogales and Hermosillo.

Read the Safety and Security section on the country information page.

Do not travel to:

Colima state due to crime.

Guerrero state due to crime.

Michoacan state due to crime.

Sinaloa state due to crime.

Tamaulipas state due to crime.

For all other states in Mexico, please see detailed information below.

If you decide to travel to Mexico:

Use toll roads when possible and avoid driving at night.

Exercise increased caution when visiting local bars, nightclubs, and casinos.

Do not display signs of wealth, such as wearing expensive watches or jewelry.

Be extra vigilant when visiting banks or ATMs.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter.

Review the Crime and Safety Reports for Mexico.

U.S. citizens who travel abroad should always have a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Travelers Checklist.

Aguascalientes state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling between cities at night. Additionally, U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Aguascalientes.

Baja California state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, remain an issue throughout the state. According to the Baja California State Secretariat for Public Security, the state experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Bystanders have been injured or killed in shooting incidents.

Due to poor cellular service and hazardous road conditions, U.S. government employees are only permitted to travel on La Rumorosa between Mexicali and Tijuana on the toll road during daylight.

There are no U.S. government restrictions in tourist areas in Baja California, which includes: Ensenada, Rosarito, and Tijuana.

Baja California Sur state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, remain an issue throughout the state. According to Government of Mexico statistics, the state experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Bystanders have been injured or killed in shooting incidents.

There are no U.S. government restrictions for travel in Baja California Sur, which includes the tourist areas of Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, and La Paz.

Campeche state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution. Police presence and emergency response are extremely limited outside of the state capital.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Chiapas state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

U.S. government employees are encouraged to remain in tourist areas and are not permitted to use public transportation. U.S. government employees are permitted to drive during daylight only.

There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees in tourist areas in Chiapas state, such as: Palenque, San Cristobal de las Casas, andTuxtla Gutierrez.

Chihuahua state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are widespread.

Travel for U.S. government employees is limited to the following areas with the noted restrictions:

Ciudad Juarez: Due to an increase in homicides during daylight hours in the downtown area, U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling to downtown Ciudad Juarez (i.e., the area south of Calle Malecon, west of Calle 5 de Mayo, north of Calle 18 de Marzo, and east of Avenida Francisco Villa) unless approved in advance by the Consulate Generals leadership. U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel after dark west of Eje Vial Juan Gabriel and south of Boulevard Zaragoza. U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to the areas southeast of Boulevard Independencia and the Valle de Juarez region. U.S. personnel must take the most direct route north of Boulevard Zaragoza to access the Ciudad Juarez Airport on Highway 45.

Within the city of Chihuahua: U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to the Morelos, Villa, and Zapata districts.

Ojinaga: U.S. government employees must travel via U.S. Highway 67 through the Presidio, Texas Port-of-Entry.

Palomas and the Nuevo Casas Grandes/Paquime region: U.S. government employees must use U.S. Highway 11 through the Columbus, New Mexico Port-of- Entry.

Nuevo Casas Grandes: U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel outside the city limits after dark.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Coahuila state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime is widespread. Local law enforcement has limited capability to prevent and respond to crime, particularly in the northern part of the state.

U.S. government employees are not permitted to travel in Coahuila state, with the exception of Saltillo, Bosques de Monterreal, and Parras de la Fuente. U.S. government employees can only travel to those cities using the most direct routes and maximizing the use of toll highways. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government employees must remain within Saltillo, Bosques de Monterreal, or Parras de la Fuente.

U.S. government employees are permitted to travel to Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuna but they must travel to these cities from the United States only.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Coahuila.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Colima state  Level 4: Do Not Travel

Do not travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are widespread.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to Tecoman or within 12 miles of the Colima-Michoacan border and on Route 110 between La Tecomaca and the Jalisco border.

There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees travel along Route 200 from the Jalisco border to Manzanillo, including the Manzanillo airport. There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees for stays in Manzanillo from Marina Puerto Santiago to Playa las Brisas.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Colima.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Durango state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity along the highways are common.

U.S. government employees may travel outside the city of Durango only during daylight on toll roads. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government employees must remain within Durango city.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Durango.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Estado de Mexico state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime is common in parts of Estado de Mexico.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to the following municipalities, unless they are traveling directly through the municipalities on major thoroughfares:

Coacalco

Ecatepec

Nezahualcoyotl

La Paz

Valle del Chalco

Solidaridad

Chalco

Ixtapaluca

Tlatlaya

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel on any roads between Morelos, Huitzilac, and Santa Martha, Estado de Mexico, including the Lagunas de Zempoala National Park and surrounding areas.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Guanajuato state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Guerrero state  Level 4: Do Not Travel

Do not travel due to crime. Armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero. Members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and may use violence towards travelers.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to the entire state of Guerrero, including Acapulco.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Hidalgo state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Jalisco state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Jalisco state.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to areas bordering Michoacan and Zacatecas states. U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling between cities after dark and from using Highway 80 between Cocula and La Huerta.

U.S. government employees may use federal toll road 15D for travel to Mexico City. However, they may not stop in the towns of La Barca or Ocotlan for any reason.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Jalisco.

There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees for stays in the following tourist areas in Jalisco state: Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Ajijic.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Mexico City  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Michoacan state  Level 4: Do Not Travel

Do not travel due to crime. U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel in Michoacan state, with the exception of Morelia and Lazaro Cardenas cities and the area north of federal toll road 15D.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel by land, except on federal toll road 15D.

U.S. government employees may fly into Morelia and Lazaro Cardenas.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Morelos state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Morelos state.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel on any roads from Huitzilac to Santa Martha, Estado de Mexico, including Lagunas de Zempoala National Park and surrounding areas.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Nayarit state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Nayarit state.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel in most areas of the state, with the following exceptions:

Riviera Nayarit (which includes Nuevo Vallarta and Bahia de Banderas)

Santa Maria del Oro

Xalisco

When traveling to permitted areas above, U.S. government employees must use major highways and cannot travel between cities after dark.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Nayarit.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Nuevo Leon state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Nuevo Leon state.

U.S. government employees may travel outside Monterrey only during daylight on toll roads, with the exception of travel to the Monterrey airport, which is permitted at any time.

U.S. government employees must remain within San Pedro Garza Garcia or Santa Catarina (south of the Santa Catarina river) municipalities between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Nuevo Leon.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Oaxaca state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

In Oaxaca, U.S. government employees are encouraged to remain in tourist areas and are not permitted to use public transportation.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel on Highway 200 throughout the state, except to transit between the airport in Huatulco to hotels in Puerto Escondido and Huatulco.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to the El Istmo region. The El Istmo region is defined by Highway 185D to the west, Highway 190 to the north, and the Oaxaca/Chiapas border to the east and includes the towns of Juchitan de Zaragoza, Salina Cruz, and San Blas.

Puebla state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Queretaro state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Quintana Roo state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.



According to Government of Mexico statistics, the state experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred.



There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees for travel in Quintana Roo state, which includes tourist areas such as: Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and the Riviera Maya.

San Luis Potosi state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of San Luis Potosi state.

U.S. government employees may travel outside San Luis Potosi city only during daylight hours on toll roads. U.S. government employees must remain within San Luis Potosi city between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in San Luis Potosi.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Sinaloa state  Level 4: Do Not Travel

Do not travel due to crime. Violent crime is widespread. Criminal organizations are based and operating in Sinaloa state.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel in most areas of the state. In areas where travel is permitted, the following restrictions are in place:

Mazatlan: U.S. government travel is permitted only in Zona Dorada, the historic town center, and direct routes to and from these locations and the airport or the cruise ship terminal.

Los Mochis and Port Topolobampo: U.S. government travel is permitted within the city and the port, as well as direct routes to and from these locations and the airport.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Sonora state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Sonora is a key location used by the international drug trade and human trafficking networks. However, northern Sonora experiences much lower levels of crime than cities closer to Sinaloa and other parts of Mexico. U.S. government employees visiting Puerto Penasco may use the Lukeville/Sonoyta crossing, and are required to travel during daylight hours on Federal Highway 8. U.S. government employees may also travel to Puerto Penasco from Nogales by using Federal Highway 15 south and east via Federal Highway 2 and State Highway 37 through Caborca during daylight hours. U.S. government employees may travel between the cities of Nogales and Hemosillo, however, travel is restricted to daylight hours and only on Federal Highway 15 through Imuris, Magdalena, and Santa Ana.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to:

The triangular region west of the Mariposa port-of-entry, east of Sonoyta, and north of Altar.

The district within Nogales that lies to the north of Ayenida Instituto Tecnologico and between Periferico and Corredor Fiscal, and the residential areas to the east of Plutarco Elias Calles. U.S. government employees are not permitted to use taxi services in Nogales, but bus travel is permitted. Movement around the city after dark is by vehicle only. U.S. government employees should avoid El Centro and all night clubs after 10:00 p.m.

The eastern edge of the state of Sonora, which borders the state of Chihuahua (all points along that border east of Federal Highway 17, the road between Moctezuma and Sahuaripa, and state Highway 20 between Sahuaripa and the intersection with Federal Highway 16).

San Carlos, Guaymas, Empalme, and all points south of Hermosillo via Federal Highway 15.



Travel of U.S. government employees to the following cities is permitted with the noted restrictions:

San Luis Rio Colorado: U.S. government employees must travel during daylight hours through the San Luis, Arizona port-of-entry and may not travel beyond the city limits.

Cananea: U.S. government employees must travel during daylight hours through the Naco, Arizona port-of-entry and along Route 2 to Cananea, including the Cananea mine, and may not travel beyond the city limits.

Agua Prieta: U.S. government employees must travel during daylight hours through the Douglas, Arizona port-of-entry and may not travel beyond the city limits.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Tabasco state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Tamaulipas state  Level 4: Do Not Travel

Do not travel due to crime. Violent crime, such as murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, extortion, and sexual assault, is common. Gang activity, including gun battles, is widespread. Armed criminal groups target public and private passenger buses traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers hostage and demanding ransom payments. Local law enforcement has limited capability to respond to violence in many parts of the state.

U.S. government employees are subject to movement restrictions and a curfew between midnight and 6 a.m.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Tamaulipas.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.

Tlaxcala state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

There are no travel restrictions on U.S. government employees.

Veracruz state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

U.S. government employees are encouraged to remain in tourist areas and are not permitted to use public transportation. U.S. government employees are permitted to drive during daylight only.

Yucatan state  Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution. Police presence and emergency response are extremely limited outside of the state capital.

There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees for travel in Yucatan state, which includes tourist areas such as: Chichen Itza, Merida, Uxmal, and Valladolid.

Zacatecas state  Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Zacatecas state.

U.S. government employees may travel outside Zacatecas city only during daylight hours on toll roads. U.S. government employees must remain within Zacatecas city between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from patronizing adult clubs and gambling establishments in Zacatecas.

Visit our website for Travel to High-Risk Areas.
Border News

Wellton, Arizona - U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Wellton Station Interstate 8 Immigration Checkpoint seized more than 42 pounds of hard narcotics in two separate smuggling events Thursday.

In the first event at approximately 8:40 a.m., Wellton Station agents referred a gray XPRESS shuttle van to the secondary inspection area for an immigration check of its passengers. During the inspection, a Border Patrol canine positively alerted to the odor it is trained to detect. One passenger on the van, a male 18-year-old United States citizen residing in Mexico was found to have 1.8 pounds of heroin. The heroin has an estimated value of $20,718.

In the second event at approximately 11:10 a.m., agents sent a gray Ford Expedition to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol canine positively alerted to an odor it was trained to detect. A subsequent search of the vehicle discovered 25 bundles with over 40 pounds of methamphetamine. The driver was a 38-year-old United States citizen male from San Luis, Arizona. The narcotics have worth over $125,000.

All subjects were arrested and all contraband was seized.

Federal law allows agents to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of criminal activity charges without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless or until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents effectively combat smuggling organizations attempting to illegally transport people and contraband through southwestern Arizona and California.
Border News

San Luis, Arizona - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizonas Port of San Luis arrested a United States citizen for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States Thursday.

CBP officers at the pedestrian crossing referred a 24-year-old woman for further inspection Thursday night. A CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the women and a subsequent search led to the discovery of two packages determined to be meth, concealed in her groin. The drugs weighed nearly one third of a pound, with an estimated street value of nearly $1,100.

Officers seized the drugs, and the subject was turned over to the Yuma County Narcotics Task Force following her arrest.

Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows for filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nations ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

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Accra Institute of Technology fees vary depending on the program and duration of a particular course. AIT University being a private University focuses on technology. The programs offered include Certificate of Technology (C.Tech), Diploma of Technology (D.Tech), Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) and many such industry-related programs. AIT Ghana is accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) of Ghana. It is considered to be one of the renowned institutes of Technology such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH). The Accra Institute of Technology was awarded as the Best Technology University in Ghana. In addition to this, AIT University is known for its research department as well, and over 250 candidates are enrolled under Ph.D. programs.

Source: ifntvonline.com

Accra Institute of Technology courses

Accra Institute of Technology courses offered under Campus Based undergraduate programs can be divided into four sections. To know more about the Accra Institute of Technology lemass and fee structure, here is a categorical description of each category -

Certificate of Technology (CTech)

You can find the detailed fee structure on the instituiton's official website. Click on the first letter of the course's name and the fee structure will show up for you.

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 863.00, Local Students - GHC 1,250.00

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Computer Engineering (CE)

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Civil Engineering (CVE)

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Electromechanical Engineering

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Industrial Engineering

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Telecommunications Engineering

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Software Engineering

READ ALSO: Best IT schools in Ghana

Diploma of Technology (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,020.00, Local Students - GHC 1,330.00

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Computer Engineering (CE)

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Civil Engineering (CVE)

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Electromechanical Engineering

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Industrial Engineering

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Telecommunications Engineering

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Software Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,573.00, Local Students - GHC 1,850.00

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Computer Engineering (CE)

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Civil Engineering (CVE)

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Electromechanical Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Industrial Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Telecommunications Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Software Engineering

Industrial-based (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition Fees - International Students - $ 1020.00, Local Students - GHC 1,330.00

DTech in Telecom Engineering Technology

DTech in Renewal Energy Engineering Technology

DTech in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology

DTech in Electrical Wiring Technology

DTech in Industrial Engineering Technology

DTech in Civil Engineering Technology

DTech in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology

DTech in Computer Engineering Technology

DTech in Mobile and Wireless Engineering Technology

DTech in Occupational Health & Safety Management

DTech in Oil and Gas Engineering Technology & Management

DTech in Software Engineering Technology

DTech in Web Engineering Technology

DTech in Manufacturing Technology Management

DTech in Computer-based Engineering Design & Modelling

DTech in Building Engineering Technology

DTech in Industrial Welding Engineering Technology

DTech in Broadcasting Engineering Technology

DTech in Modern Journalism and Technology

DTech in Surveying Engineering Technology

DTech in Quantity Surveying and Cost Engineering Technology

DTech in E-Waste Management Engineering Technology

DTech in Construction Management and Quantity Surveying Engineering Technology

DTech in Automobile Engineering Technology

DTech in Electronic and Communication Engineering Technology

DTech in Electronic Engineering Technology

UKEC Programs

UK Engineering Council Certificate

UK Engineering Council Graduate Diploma

UK Engineering Council Post Graduate Diploma

Advanced Diploma Programs

Advanced Diploma (C&G) in Oil and Gas Operations (Engineering)

READ ALSO: List of tertiary institutions in Ghana 2018

Computer Science and Information Technology Programs

Certificate of Technology (CTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 758.00, Local Students - GHC 1,050.00

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Information Technology (IT)

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Computer Science (CS)

Diploma of Technology (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 855.00, Local Students - GHC 1,085.00

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Information Technology (IT)

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Computer Science (CS)

Bachelor of Science (BSc)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,308.00, Local Students - GHC 1,531.00

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Information Technology (IT) (Network Systems)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Computer Science (CS)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Information Technology (IT) (Web Dev. & Engineering)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Information Technology (IT) (Multimedia Systems)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Information Technology (IT) (E-Commerce)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Information Technology (IT) (Software Development)

Industrial-based (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 855.00, Local Students - GHC 1,085.00

DTech in Software Applications Development Technology

DTech in Computer Hardware Systems Technology

DTech in Computer Networks Technology

DTech in Software Development Technology

DTech in Computer & Network Security Technology

DTech in Information Systems Techn

DTech in Multimedia Engineering Technology

Business and Accounting Programs

Certificate of Technology (CTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 758.00, Local Students - GHC 1,050.00

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Business Administration (BA)

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Accounting and Finance

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Marketing & Information Technology (IT)

Certificate of Technology (CTech) in Management Information Systems (MIS)

Diploma of Technology (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 855.00, Local Students - GHC 1,085.00

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Business Administration (BA)

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Acounting and Finance

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Marketing and Information Technology (IT)

Diploma of Technology (DTech) in Management Information System (MIS)

Bachelor of Science (BSc)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,308.00, Local Students - GHC 1,531.00

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Business Administration (E-Commerce)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Human Resource Management and Information Technology

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Banking and Finance and Information Technology

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Marketing and Information Technology

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Entrepreneurship and Information Technology

Industrial-based (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 855.00, Local Students - GHC 1,085.00

DTech in Entrepreneurship and Information Technology

DTech in Marketing and Information Technology

DTech in Business Accounting Technology

DTech in Human Resource Management &IT

DTech in Management Science and Information Systems

Education Programs

Industrial-based (DTech)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 863.00, Local Students - GHC 1,250.00

D.Tech in Educational & Instructional Technologies

Open University Undergraduate Program

Another provision of Open University Undergraduate Program is also available at AIT Ghana for Students to enroll in different categories mentioned below:

Source: africapolicyreview.com

Engineering Programs

Bachelor Degree Programs (SATES)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 650.00, Local Students - $ 1,000.00

Bachelor of Occupational Health & Safety Management

Bachelor of Manufacturing Management

Computer Science & Information Technology Programs

Bachelor Degree Program (ASSDAS)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 650.00, Local Students - $ 1,000.00

Bachelor of Information Technology with Software Engineering (Honours)

Bachelor of Information Technology with Network Computing (Honours)

Bachelor of Information Technology and Management (Honours)

Bachelor of Information Technology with E-Commerce (Honours)

Bachelor of Information Technology with Accounting (Honours)

Bachelor of Computer Science

Bachelor of Multimedia Communications

Business and Accounting Programs

Bachelor Degree Programs (ABS)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 650.00, Local Students - $ 1,000.00

Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) in Marketing

Bachelor of Hospitality Management

Bachelor of Accounting Tourism Management

Bachelor of Human Resource Management

Bachelor of Business administration (BBA)

READ ALSO: Best medical schools in Ghana

Education Programs

Bachelor Degree Programs (SEIT)

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 650.00, Local Students - $ 1,000.00

Bachelor of Education (Educational Administration) (Honours)

Bachelor of Education with Honours (Science)

Bachelor of Education (Mathematics) with (Honours)

Open University Postgraduate Programs

AIT University has also provided a separate wing for Open University Postgraduate Programs; the following are the courses to be enrolled under:

Engineering Programs

Masters Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,475.00, Local Students - $ 1,275.00

Master of Engineering (Research Only)

Master of Environmental Science

Master of Occupational Safety & Risk Management

PhD Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,760.00, Local Students - $ 1,560.00

Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering)

Computer Science & Information Technology Programs

Masters Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,475.00, Local Students - $ 1,275.00

Master of Information Technology

Master of Software Engineering

Master of Multimedia Communications

PhD Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,760.00, Local Students - $ 1,560.00

PhD (Information Technology)

Business and Accounting Programs

Masters Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,475.00, Local Students - $ 1,275.00

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Master of Management

MSc in Business Administration (Research Only)

Master of Project Management

Master in Human Resource Management

PhD Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,760.00, Local Students - $ 1,560.00

PhD (Business Administration)

Education Programs

Masters Programs

AIT Ghana Tuition fees - International Students - $ 1,475.00, Local Students - $ 1,275.00

Master of Instructional Design and Technology

Master of Education

MSc (Science)

PhD Programs

AIT Ghana Fee Structure - International Students - $ 1,760.00, Local Students - $ 1,560.00

PhD Education

Doctor Programs

AIT Ghana Fee Structure - International Students - $ 1,760.00, Local Students - $ 1,560.00

Doctor of Education (DEd)

Doctor of Philosophy (Science)

Source: Yen News
- The Asantehene has paid he rare visit to Kyebi

- The visit was made during the grand durbar for the 75th Anniversary of Nana Ofori Atta's death

- The Asanteman and Okyeman have been rumoured to be enemies since colonial times

It was a historic moment rich in culture and tradition. The rare visit of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to Kyebi.

For several years now, there have been rumours of a silent feud between the Asenteman and Okyeman - following the ancestral wars fought between their forefathers in colonial Ghana.

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary (Photos courtesy the presidency)

Historians say the two powerful ethnic groups became enemies after pre-colonial politicians such as Captain George Maclean and Commander Hill pitched them against each other.

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary (Photos courtesy the presidency)

READ ALSO: Kofi Adams finally spills the secret to make sure that Mahama becomes NDC's flagbearer

But Otumfuo Osei Tutu II believes this has never been the case of these two parties.

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II embracing the Okyenhene (Photo courtesy the presidency)

The grand durbar, which was held at Kyebi in the Eastern Region to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the death of Nana Ofori Atta, Okyenhene penned down a different story.

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary (Photo: Presidency)

In fact, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II recounted the numerous contributions of Nana the late Okyenhene (Nana Ofori Atta) to Asanteman.

Nana Ofori Atta did a lot for the Ashanti kingdom. Even my uncle Agyeman Prempeh thanked him in the past; Im also here to thank him for what he did for Asanteman. He was the lead advocate for the release of Nana Agyeman after he was exiled to Seychelles. I want all to understand that Ashantis and Akyems have no issues. We have a long-standing relationship. Our forefathers related very well. And we all came from Adansi and built our communities. Indeed, we are one people, Otumfuo said.

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary (Photo: presidency)

The Otumfuos visit comes on the back of an earlier one by the Okyenhene to the Manhyia palace on the invitation of the Otumfuo some months ago.

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary

READ ALSO: Mahama explains why he decided to contest as NDCs flagbearer

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary

The grand durbar was rich in culture and power as the president and other high-powered state officials.

All the royal pictures captured at the grand durbar of Nana Ofori Attah's 75th anniversary

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Source: Yen
- Jerry Rawlings has chided Alban Bagbin for making 'unacceptable' utterances against John Mahama

- Alban Bagbin has stated that Mahama's defeat in the 2016 elections was because he appointed a blind man as head of the house of chiefs

- Rawlings says these words subsequently affect party unity

Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry Rawlings, has chided Alban Bagbin for the harsh words he used against John Mahama.

Alban Bagbin had stated that the cause for the NDC's defeat in the 2016 elections was mainly due to the decision to appoint persons with disability to top roles.

Jerry Rawlings has found these comments as unacceptable and contrary to the values and principles of social inclusion of the NDC party.

READ ALSO: List of MPs who have expressed their support for Mahama finally out

In a press statement, Jerry Rawlings stated that  such utterances have the tendency to negatively affect the unity and cohesion of the party,

So far, top executives of the NDC have called for Alban Bagbin to be summoned to the party's disciplinary committee to answer questions on the motive behind his utterances.

Mr. Bagbin had earlier described the Mahamas administration as an animal farm government which did not bode well for hard working party members.

Bagbin's road to election 2020

A special aide to Alban Bagbin, Konoba Joe, has revealed that the second deputy speaker of parliament will be picking nomination forms to contest the flagbearship position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the 2020 elections.

Konoba Joe reveals that what Hon. Alban Bagbin has done since 1992 is to serve his people and that call is emanating again. That call is for him to even occupy a higher position to serve the party well and that is the position of the NDC flagbearership.

Konoba in an interview with the media revealed that everything has its season and this is a season for the re-organization of the party.

The revelation made by the aide comes in the wake of speculations by the Alhajj newspaper that founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings is planning to kick out the former president, John Mahama from leading the party in the 2020 elections.

A publication by the Al-Hajj newspaper, which was picked up by YEN.com.gh claims that some key personalities of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) secretly meeting the Rawlingses at Ridge to launch image smearing campaign against Mahana to make him unpopular.

Mahama's 2020 journey

John Mahama has made known his intentions to contest the 2020 elections. The former president has stated in a latest video that he is ready to serve Ghana again.

Mahama, is reported to have been massively endorsed by members of parliament under the party. Details of the votes show that 94 out of 106 NDC legislators want the former president to contest the 2020 elections.

The former president, John Mahama, earlier paid a courtesy call on the founder of the NDC, Jerry John Rawlings. This move can be seen by all as a very strategic one if indeed the former one-term president is poised to contest elections yet again in the 2020 elections. ]

It is no secret that Jerry Rawlings has been the fulcrum upon which several elections are positioned hence the strategy by Mahama to pay a courtesy call on him. Already, Jerry Rawlings has had his take on the politics of the NDC as he attributed their defeat in 2016 to greed and corruption.

There have been various pictures of an obvious rift between the former president and some key officials of the party. Looking at the entire composure of John Mahama, it is clear he has gained the support from Jerry Rawlings and thus eager to win the hearts of Ghanaians.

Looking at the entire composure of John Mahama, it is clear he has gained the support from Jerry Rawlings and thus eager to win the hearts of Ghanaians.

READ ALSO: List of MPs who have expressed their support for Mahama finally out

Already, all ten regional party chairmen of the NDC have endorsed Mahama and also advised him to lead the party. In a draft letter, all chairmen signed in approval of John Mahama being the next flag bearer of the NDC yet again.

Ghana News Today: Mensa Otabil Commented His Role In Capital Bank Collapse | #Yencomgh

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Source: Yen
- NDC's Central Regional Chairman, Allotey Jacobs, has advised the party's General Secretary, General Mosquito, to resign

- According to Allotey Jacobs, General Mosquito needs to leave to pave way for others to contribute to the party

- He said that NDC needs youthful ideas to pull it out of opposition

The Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has called on the partys General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, to retire.

Speaking on Okay FM, Allotey Jacobs argued that there is the need for Asiedu Nketiah, better known as General Mosquito, to give way for fresh ideas for the party.

He added that other equally capable people who are endowed with new ideas have to move the party forward.

Asiedu Nketiah, NDC's General Secretary Source: Supplied

READ ALSO: List of 94 MPs who have publicly declared their support for John Mahama

In his opinion, there is a new breed of political youths who appeal more to the new generation of electorates and can therefore bring in more votes.

Such people, he went on, should be allowed to contest the available positions in the party.

Asiedu Nketias time is over. His time has elapsed. His presence is preventing younger people in the party from contesting various positions, a situation which is very worrying, he lamented bitterly.

He went on to say that There are younger people in the party who are capable of working so they should stop the musical chairs and shifting cultivation and allow new people in the party [to contest], he added.

Allotey Jacobs comments follow those of General Mosquito, who has revealed his intention to contest for his position as General Secretary.

According to General Mosquito, he is the best person to pull the party out of position.

He explained that he stands tall and unmatched when it comes to the partys history and operational strategies.

But Allotey Jacobs, who accused General Mosquito of being the cause of the defeat of the NDC in the Central Region, says he prefers Koku Anyidoho who is the Deputy General Secretary to General Mosquito.

READ ALSO: Delay reveals the number of houses she bought in 2017 alone

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Source: Yen
- Nana Ama McBrown has been reported to be pregnant after two years of marriage

- The actress has released a new post stating that she is not worried about what people say about her

- It is unclear if Nana Ama is confirming the pregnancy rumours or otherwise

YEN.com.gh reported earlier that actress Nana Ama McBrown is expecting her first child after two years of marriage.

According to that report, Nana Ama is expected to travel abroad as she prepares for the arrival of her first baby.

But her pregnancy reports have triggered wild reaction among Ghanaians.

READ ALSO: Emelia Brobbey, Obaapa Christy, and 4 other celebrities who have been rocked by divorce

Some of them believe that she is not pregnant, while others believe it and have also wished her well.

Her husband, Maxwell Mensah, was said to have allegedly impregnated Nana Amas colleague Kumawood actress Benedicta Gafah.

For this reason, the affable actress was said to have unfollowed Benedicta on Instagram.

READ ALSO: Ahuofe Patri releases another wild bikini photo

Perhaps due to this hullabaloo and others surrounding her life and marriage that Nana Ama has said openly that she doesnt worry about what people say about her.

According to a new post sighted by YEN.com.gh, Nana Ama says everything about her life is a blessing and it is God who has made her however she is now, therefore she cant be worried about what people say about her.

She wrote: Everything about my Life is a blessing and I cant worry about what you say because God made Me So..

READ ALSO: Fans criticize Fella Makafui over her hairstyle in latest photo

READ ALSO: Becca reveals the only thing that can stop her marriage

YEN.com.gh cannot independently say if Nana Ama is indeed pregnant, and if her statement is to confirm or deny it.

She got married to Maxwell Mensah in 2016 at a plush wedding ceremony held privately in a location in Accra.

Their age difference has been topical in Ghana for some time now.

Controversial Counselor Lutterodt, for instance, stated that the marriage will collapse due the alleged six year age gap between Nana Ama and her husband.

But the actress countered Lutterodts evil prophecy, asking God to forgive him.

Nana Ama has said on many occasion that her marriage is fortified with Gods blessing and love, therefore, age difference cannot tear her and her husband apart.

READ ALSO: Sandra Ankobiah accused of wearing fake backside in latest photo

In My Feelings Drake: Stop It! | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Man chases woman naked after taking Tramadol to teach her a 'lesson' in bed

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- Psalm Adjeteyfio said he was suffering from various ailments including an enlarged heart

- Some Ghanaians pledged their support for him on social media

- But Adjeteyfio said he has still not heard from those who promised him

Earlier this year, YEN.com.gh reported the story of veteran actor Psalm Adjeteyfio who is battling many different ailments.

He was suffering from enlarged heart, prostate, shrinking manhood, and others, as he revealed in an interview on the Delay show and reported by YEN.

Consequently, veteran actor Psalm Adjeteyfio was moving from one media house to the other pleading with benevolent Ghanaians to come to his aid financially due to deteriorating health condition.

Psalm Adjeteyfio . Photo credit: Sourced

READ ALSO: Nana Ama McBrown speaks on reports that she is pregnant

Following this, some Ghanaian celebrities went haywire on social media, and on television with all sort of promises to help TT, as Adjeteyfio is fondly called.

But in a new report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Ghanaweb, TT has said he has not heard from those who promised to help him.

According to the veteran actor, those who promised to help him have not lived to expectation

He revealed, however, that just a few of the many who promised him have reached out to him with some form of support, but like Oliver Twist, he needs more help.

READ ALSO: Fans criticize Fella Makafui over her hairstyle in latest photo

Psalm Adjeteyfio has told the sad story of how he left his wife and children for another woman he described as a demon.

According to him, this woman demon caused him to neglect his children, forfeiting his responsibilities toward them, not even making any effort to take them to school.

For this reason, the children, who managed to survive and obtain education by the help of their mother have alienated themselves from him.

They have also neglected TT, now that he has grown old, with the demon woman nowhere around to help him.

TT further apologized to his children, asking them to forgive him.

READ ALSO: Ahuofe Patri releases another wild bikini photo

In My Feelings Drake: Stop It! | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Emelia Brobbey, Obaapa Christy, and 4 other celebrities who have been rocked by divorce

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Source: Yen
- Ex-president John Mahama's brother, Alfred Abdullai Mahama, has shed light on how businesses of family members fared during his time as president of Ghana

- According to him, Mahama did not run a family and friends government

- He added that the family was fully in support of John Mahama's return to the presidential race

A brother of Former President John Mahama, has opened up about how businesses of family members fared during his time as president.

Alfred Abdullai Mahama, speaking on Adom FMs Dwaso Nsem on Friday, August 24, 2018, stated that his brother did not run a family and friends government.

According to him, even though they tried separating their businesses from politics, they still suffered from the negative ramifications.

READ ALSO: I was offered $200,000 to support the AMERI deal - MP drops a bombshell

He went on to say that some family members even rejected genuine contracts because of their relationship with the ex-president.

He however added that the family never lost hope and continued to sacrifice for the John Mahama administration.

During my brothers tenure, he was not running family and friends government. No brother nor a member of the Mahama family was a part of his government not to even talk of boards. We were all engaged in private businesses even before Mahama became president, he explained.

Abdulai Mahama went on to say that contracts were sometimes rejected because of their relations with Mahama.

His comments come less than 48 hours after John Mahama announced his interest in contesting as flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He said the family fully supports his brothers intention and will do everything to support him.

According to him, ex-President Mahama has better perspective of the economy and would be the right person to lead the country.

READ ALSO: Popular journalist reveals how Chief Iman almost stopped Anas from showing Number 12

Ghana News Today: President Akufo-Addos Tour | #Yencomgh

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Source: Yen News
- Pastor Love says Obaapa Christy is a demon

- According to Pastor Love, he doubts the spirit Obaapa Christy sings with

Pastor Love has described his former wife, Obaapa Christy, formerly Christiana Love as demon.

The rift between Pastor Love and the gospel musician can be dated as far back as 7 years ago at the latter part of their marriage when things went bad.

The duo didnt care about the future as they washed their dirty linen in the media by narrating their part of the story.

READ ALSO: Emelia Brobbey, Obaapa Christy, and 4 other celebrities who have been rocked by divorce

Pastor Love has ignited another fight, according to the man of God, Obaapa Christy is a demon.

He says the only way Christy could have cheated on him whilst they were still married was because she is a demon and doubts strongly what is behind her ministry.

Because of what Obaapa Christy has been doing and what she did, I doubt the spirit, she sings with, I doubt it 100%.

READ ALSO: I cant worry about what you say about my life  Nana Ama McBrown speaks on pregnancy rumours?

If you are jealous of someone because of her husband and go to the extent of snatching him, then you must be possessed by an evil spirit, marine spirt or other things, Pastor Love told Kofi TV.

If a married woman is able to sleep with another man, then Pastor Love, I can confidently say, that person is a demon, He added.

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh had reported a story of a naked man under the influence of Tramadol with an erected manhood chasing another naked young lady in Sunyani.

READ ALSO: Strika's former headmaster reveals why the actor ended up on the streets

The two naked young people were arrested around midnight by the police, they were sweating profusely but the young man insisted that the police should leave him to go and teach the young lady a lesson.

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Controversial Dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale, has revealed that he earned an amount of $15,000 from producers of Beasts of No Nation.

According to him, he was offered that amount as payment for most of the boys using his songs during the making of the movie in Ghana about four years ago.

YEN.com.gh cannot say which of Shatta Wales songs were sang when the movie was being produced.

READ ALSO: John Dumelo, 2 other celebrities pledge support for John Mahama ahead of election 2020

Meanwhile, Beasts of No Nation has been in the news for some time now following a revelation by one of the actors, Strika, that some people have pocketed his money as published by YEN.com.gh.

According to Strika, also called Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye, one Kofi Rabbit, a co-actor, and Zowi, an American cast of the movie agreed with him to keep his money in the bank while they acted as signatories.

Per the agreement, the account would be kept and manned by the two men because Strika, at that time, was not yet eighteen and so could not operate a bank account.

READ ALSO: Nana Ama McBrown addresses reports that she is pregnant

However, now eighteen and almost turning nineteen, Strika said calls on Kofi Rabbit and Zowi to hand over the management of his account to him have not yielded positive results.

Zowi, Strika explained, is not in Ghana at the moment and so seems dull with his request to manage his own account, but Kofi Rabbit, who lives here in Ghana, has totally ignored his calls to have his account details handed over to him.

Strika also revealed in another story published by YEN.com.gh that his manager, Mr. Mawuko, defrauded him by claiming to have used an amount of $10,000 to buy a suit for him.

READ ALSO: Coconut oil is pure poison  Harvard professor

That money was the payment he allegedly received after starring in another movie, Jungle Justice.

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh also published the reaction of Strikas management following the allegations and accusations he made.

READ ALSO: Emelia Brobbey, Obaapa Christy, and 4 other celebrities who have been rocked by divorce

In My Feelings Drake: Stop It! | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Fans criticize Fella Makafui over her hairstyle in latest photo

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Fundatia Est-Europeana anunta lansarea Programului de granturi pentru sustinerea fondurilor de antreprenoriat pentru tineri, inclusiv unul in Gagauzia
Google(NEW YORK) -- A 22-year-old man accused of firing a handgun at a high-rise building on Manhattan's Upper East Side has turned himself in to police.



Farris Koroma has been charged with two counts each of criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief following two separate incidents, police told ABC News. A woman seen in a surveillance video and considered a possible suspect is being treated as a witness and will not face charges.



Police said on Tuesday that the shots appeared to be coming from Roosevelt Island. Koroma, previously without a reported criminal history, lives on Roosevelt Island, police said.



Koroma, accompanied by an attorney, turned himself in at the 114th Precinct in Queens. His arraignment is expected Friday.



He is believed to have intended to shoot his handgun into the water but instead hit the building, authorities said.



The first shooting was reported last week after a resident on the 14th floor of One East River Place awoke to find shattered glass in a living room, ABC New York station WABC reported. An apartment on the 32nd floor was hit on Saturday.



No one was hurt in either shooting.

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When the people of Manchester awoke on Monday, August 16, 1819, it was already shaping up to be a hot day.

By mid-morning, protesters were streaming past the mills and chimneys towards St Peter's Field in the town centre.

Many were women, dressed all in white. Everywhere were flags and banners, woven in bright silk. 'Annual Parliaments', they read, 'Universal Suffrage', 'Vote by Ballot'.

By lunchtime, tens of thousands were packed into the field, under the eyes of hundreds of yeoman cavalry and sabre-wielding hussars.

The BFI London Film Festival is set to premiere director Mike Leigh's new film Peterloo in Manchester, with Maxine Peake (right) addressing crowds in Manchester (left) gathered to pay tribute to the historic 1919 massacre on August 16

The mood was buoyant. But then something went horribly wrong.

The horsemen charged, the sabres flashed, and suddenly the air was full of thundering hooves and the screams of the injured.

The Peterloo Massacre lasted just ten minutes. By the time it was over, 15 people lay dead while hundreds were wounded victims, it was universally agreed, of a drunken rampage.

Today, Peterloo is back in the headlines.

With next year marking the 200th anniversary of those dreadful ten minutes in Manchester, film director Mike Leigh, who grew up in nearby Salford, has been working on a cinematic version of the story.

A great admirer of Jeremy Corbyn, he claims the story of Peterloo is more relevant than ever.

Now, as then, he says, Britain is divided between: 'Those who have power and those who don't. Those who have wealth and those who are on the breadline.'

British soldiers charge the crowd at St Peter's Fields in Manchester during the political protest in 1819

That strikes me as a simplistic way of talking about what is one of the most prosperous and successful countries on earth. But that is an argument for another day.

Back to Peterloo. Leigh thinks it is a disgrace that more people have not heard of the massacre, blaming schools for refusing to teach it.

Meanwhile, his star, the hard-Left actress Maxine Peake who is so fervent in her beliefs that she probably has a Jeremy Corbyn duvet cover, says Peterloo is a reminder that 'protest is really important'.

It could happen again, Ms Peake, who hails from Bolton, told a rally in Manchester last weekend: 'I feel it might not be long before we have another Peterloo incident.'

I'll come back to Ms Peake's claims in a moment, but first it is worth digging into the history.

The passions behind the Peterloo Massacre had been brewing for years. Poor economic conditions since the Napoleonic Wars had fuelled dissatisfaction in Lancashire's cotton towns. By the late 1810s tension was mounting.

'In Manchester,' wrote the radical journalist James Johnson at the time, 'nothing but ruin and starvation stare one in the face, the state of this district is truly dreadful, and I believe nothing but the greatest exertions can prevent an insurrection.'

Like many people, Johnson thought the answer was to give the cotton weavers representation in Parliament. Back then, the vast majority of the British people could not vote.

Most MPs owed their seats to rich patrons or corruption. And not surprisingly, pressure for reform was growing every year.

I don't doubt that Mike Leigh, whose films about Gilbert and Sullivan and the artist J.M.W. Turner were brilliantly done, will do a fine job of telling the story. But some perspective is in order. Contrary to Leigh's claims, it is not true that Peterloo is never taught in schools

Johnson's solution was a mass meeting, to be addressed by radical speaker Henry Hunt. But when Lord Liverpool's Tory government got wind of it, they jumped to the conclusion that he was planning a revolutionary uprising.

Even as the crowds were arriving at St Peter's Field, Manchester's magistrates were meeting at the nearby Star Inn. Terrified the rally would turn into a riot, they had mobilised the local yeomanry, while the government had also sent a detachment of hussars.

The yeomanry were not, it has to be said, good adverts for the British establishment. One observer called them a band of 'hot-headed young men, who had volunteered into that service from their intense hatred of Radicalism'.

Meanwhile, the crowds had swelled to unprecedented proportions, with some estimates putting them at more than 100,000.

So dense were the ranks of men, women and children, wrote one eyewitness, that 'their hats seemed to touch'.

Contrary to what Left-wing writers sometimes suggest, the massacre was not planned, but was almost certainly an accident.

When Hunt took the stage to huge cheers, the chairman of the magistrates panicked and ordered his arrest.

At that, Captain Hugh Hornby Birley, a local factory owner, spurred the yeomanry into action. But the crowds were too tightly packed for the horses to pass, and in the chaos and the heat, something snapped.

Some said Birley and his men were drunk. What is certain is that they lost all self-control, lashing out wildly with their sabres.

Even the hussars were shocked by their indiscipline. 'For shame! For shame!' one officer shouted. 'Gentlemen: forbear, forbear!'

Within a few minutes it was all over. After that, wrote the radical Samuel Bamford, 'the field was an open and almost deserted space,' strewn with 'caps, bonnets, hats, shawls, and shoes, and other parts of male and female dress, trampled, torn, and bloody.'

In the awful silence, Bamford remembered: 'Mounds of human beings remained where they had fallen, crushed down and smothered. Some of these still groaning, others with staring eyes, were gasping for breath, and others would never breathe more.'

The exact casualty figures were never determined. Probably 15 people were killed, and 500 more injured.

Four members of the yeomanry went on trial, only to be acquitted. In a bitter irony, though, five of the radical organisers were sent to prison.

No wonder people called it 'Peterloo', making a grim comparison with the battle of Waterloo, four years earlier.

There is no doubt, then, that Peterloo was a very dark day.

And given it took decades for most people to get the vote  not until 1918 could all adult men vote, while women only gained equal rights ten years later  it is hardly surprising that it became part of radical legend.

I don't doubt that Mike Leigh, whose films about Gilbert and Sullivan and the artist J.M.W. Turner were brilliantly done, will do a fine job of telling the story.

But some perspective is in order. Contrary to Leigh's claims, it is not true that Peterloo is never taught in schools.

After his comments, the Guardian's letters pages simmered with outrage  from readers who'd studied the massacre at school and from teachers who taught it.

I can even remember seeing George Cruikshank's scathing cartoon of the yeomanry in action ('Chop 'em down, my brave boys!') in my school textbook in the mid-Eighties.

And if the massacre fails to resonate with the public, there is a very obvious reason why. Tragic as it was, Peterloo was not, by historical standards, a particularly big deal.

That may sound callous. But remember the date: 1819. Only a few years before, Europe had been convulsed by the French Revolution, where perhaps 17,000 people were guillotined, while at least 1,400 were murdered by the Parisian mob and 170,000 were killed fighting in western France.

By these standards, Peterloo was not even a sideshow. Far from representing some hidden history of radicalism and repression, its notoriety is actually a testament to the relative contentment and stability of Britain's past.

The idea that British history was a gloomy succession of failed uprisings  the Levellers, the Chartists, that sort of thing  was debunked long ago.

By all means tell those stories, but don't pretend they were the whole picture. The truth is that Peterloo was the exception, not the rule. By the standards of Britain's neighbours, it was barely a massacre at all.

As for Maxine Peake's claim that Peterloo 'could happen again', it is simply risible. She may be a superb actress, but Mystic Meg she is not. Every year sees marches and protests of one kind or another.

Are they regularly marked by carnage and bloodshed? Are dozens of people routinely ridden down by mounted policemen? Are cemeteries crowded with the victims of the State?

This is hysteria, pure and simple.

Yes, Peterloo is a fascinating subject. But we should not allow the Left to twist our past into a simplistic fairy tale of protest and repression.

Nor should we allow Corbyn's fan club to use our history as a weapon in their campaign to turn Britain into an East German theme park.

Unlike some Corbyn supporters, the people who died at Peterloo believed in parliamentary democracy.

They were not Marxists; they were patriots who simply wanted to be represented. And they deserve better than to be co-opted into his hysterical cult.
Most people will never have heard of Halesworth, a small market town deep in the Suffolk countryside that 5,000 people call home.

Better known are the seaside resorts of Aldeburgh and Southwold, and the ports of Lowestoft and Yarmouth.

Halesworth is rarely mentioned in the national news, though the director Danny Boyle (lately of James Bond fame) and writer Richard Curtis (Four Weddings And A Funeral) recently attracted attention when they filmed scenes there for a comedy.

In a previous age, the TV presenter David Frosts grandfather ran an ironmongers shop near the bridge over the River Blyth. The Thirties Labour Party leader George Lansbury, grandfather of actress Angela, also grew up there, in a house on the main street, which is known as Thoroughfare.

Halesworth in Suffolk is a market town of around 5,000 inhabitants and just one policeman

Sacrifices

Good things tend to happen slowly in Halesworth. But bad things come in a rush.

In the past 18 months, two of the towns bank branches have closed. First my wifes bank, HSBC, shut suddenly, telling her and other account-holders to use a branch 12 miles away in a town she never visits. Then Lloyds followed suit.

Now the last one, Barclays, says it will axe its Thoroughfare branch in November.

This final insult is the worst. Barclays is an institution with strong links to East Anglia, founded by Quaker families in the 19th century when, like today, people were wary of sharks in the City of London. But they did trust country Quakers with their money  for the Society of Friends, to use their real name, were famous for their probity and honesty, as they still are.

That used to be a heritage of which Barclays, now commanding a market value of at least 33 billion and employing almost 120,000 staff around the world, was proud.

But looking after shire account-holders is no longer a priority. A wave of branch closures across the country has left thousands of people without a local bank, and thousands of towns and villages no longer have a free cashpoint.

HSBC in Halesworth was the first to go - telling customers to travel 12 miles to nearest branch

Worse is to come. Yesterday, former Barclays boss Antony Jenkins said banks had underestimated the pace of automation.

Weve seen something like 25 per cent of branches close between 2011 and 2015. My expectation is that at least another 50 per cent of branches will close over the next five to ten years.

As ever with the banks, it seems profits come first and customer service last.

How different it was in their hour of need during the financial crisis in 2008, when taxpayers were expected to make huge sacrifices to fund bailouts running into tens of billions of pounds.

Look how these thankless banks now repay us.

Barclays and HSBC were not saved from bankruptcy by taxpayers, but Lloyds was, with a 20.3 billion bailout.

The announcement last December that Lloyds would close its Halesworth branch  along with those in Southwold and Bungay  was said by the bank to be due to declining customer numbers.

But Southwolds then mayor, Matthew Horwood, countered: The Lloyds branch was open three days a week and on each day there were queues. Over-55s made up 60 per cent of their customers.

Typically, these closures come at a time when the bosses of Britains biggest banks have seven-figure pay packages and record perks.

Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays, reportedly earned 3.8 million last year, including 2.35 million in salary, a 1 million bonus, almost 400,000 towards his pension and 62,000 in benefits. In his spare time, he sails his 90 ft custom-made yacht.

In the space of 18 months Lloyds had joined HSBC in shutting in Halesworth, Suffolk

How such opulence contrasts with the lives of the banks hard core of pensioner customers. They were told of the closure of the Barclays branch in an odious letter from its regional director.

The decision, she explained, was never an easy one. The bank blamed an 11 per cent reduction in personal counter transactions in the last two years. Weasel words, of course, because it seemed an easy decision to ignore the wishes of its customers.

Typical of those is Alexander Carr, 73, who runs the Market Place Wine Shop. He fears the closure will kill Halesworth because people will begin to stop shopping in town.

Banks, like post offices and local libraries  also being closed at a depressingly fast rate across the country  act as focal points for communities. People meet, chat and plan their lives there.

When they close, community spirit starts to die.

Demand

Ann Green, who runs a second-hand bookshop next to Halesworths Angel Hotel, despairs. Most of her sales are for small cash sums. Where is she supposed to deposit her takings at the end of the day?

Barclays says only 217 customers use the branch exclusively for their banking. So dont those 217 matter?

So much for the banks mission statement that it measures and rewards people not just on commercial results, but on how they live our values and bring them to life every day.

Despite mostly banking online, sometimes I use my local branch  and there are always five or six people in front of me, even with three cashiers on duty.

If that doesnt prove the demand for a fully functioning branch with trained staff, what does?

Across Britain, 300 more bank branches will shut this year, following a record 800 closures last year.

The banks are doing it for one reason only: to boost their profitability in the quickest way, by cutting costs.

Barclays Halesworth branch will be the latest bank to shut its doors , it will close in November

Betrayal

But customers are not fools. They dont like being told to bank online when they know rural areas have notoriously poor internet coverage.

To make matters worse, there are an estimated 5,000 villages and towns without a free cashpoint, and some of the rest are under threat.

Businesses that offer cash facilities are being charged extra council tax, so they are removing the cashpoints. This is especially problematic in the countryside, where cash is still king.

By closing local branches, the banks continue to treat us with contempt.

Why hasnt anyone explained to these arrogant fools that they should start putting the customer back into their calculations? Because, if we have another banking crisis, the public will rightly refuse to see them bailed out again.

It doesnt seem so long ago that banks respected their customers and branch managers were held in esteem.

In the 19th century, the Suffolk & Halesworth Bank printed its own banknotes. The well-to-do would tuck an S&H five-guinea note into their hatband as they walked into the Angel for lunch with their bank manager.

The bank was open from 1782 until 1896, when it became part of Barclays. The new partners were H. E. Buxton, C. S. Orde, F. E. Babington, A. R. Buxton and G. F. Buxton.

What would Messrs Buxton, Orde and Babington think of their successors betrayal of their customers?
While some women fork out a small fortune for bigger designer handbags to store their many items, others have turned to a more affordable option.

Global accessories company Cuyana has made headlines in recent times thanks to its AUD $130 Tote Insert - a simple organisation tool that is so popular stock keeps selling out.

The handy organisational tool is designed to put in large tote size bags to ensure all items have a specified place and can be found easily; the gadget perfect for busy mums and those who find themselves constantly on the move.

While some women fork out a small fortune for bigger designer handbags to store their many items, others have turned to a more affordable option

Global accessories company Cuyana has made headlines in recent times thanks to its AUD $130 Tote Insert (pictured)

The insert - which comes in four stylish colours - makes handbags more efficient as it includes a clip for keys, a laptop sleeve, a side pocket for your phone and water bottle holder with an elasticated to.

Once it is organised women can simply slip the insert effortlessly into their bags and head on their way.

According to a review on Business Insider, the insert has been a hit thanks to its 'minimalist and unobtrusive' style and convenient structure.

The handy organisational tool is designed to put in large tote size bags to ensure all items have a specified place and can be found easily; the gadget perfect for busy mums and those who find themselves constantly on the move

'The micro-suede looks high-end and low-profile so it's not immediately obvious it's an insert rather than the purse itself, and it's portable so I can pop it into other totes I own without removing everything first,' the review reads.

Available online in Australia, the insert is constantly being restocked - but you have to be quick.

'Insert is back in-stock, but not for long. (We have a few left, grab one before they are gone. More coming in the next couple of weeks, be sure to sign up for early access,' a recent post on the company's Instagram page read.

Available online in Australia, the insert is constantly being restocked - but you have to be quick

A hit in the online mum community, the insert has been praised by thousands of women for its simplicity.

'My tote bag organiser has arrived and it's a perfect fit. So if you're in need of an ALL leather tote with no branding on it check this out,' a customer wrote recently.

'The price point is unreal for the quality.'
The Kent fire chief has supported calls for Fireman Sam to be renamed Firefighter Sam as part of a movement to encourage more women to join the service.

Ann Millington, the Chief Executive of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire brigade is 'missing 50 per cent of the talent' they could recruit by having low numbers of women.

On ITV's Good Morning Britain she was asked if she supported changing the name of the cartoon character, and she responded: 'Yes I would.'

He comments were criticised by GMB viewers, who said the suggestion was proof 'the world's gone mad'.

Ann Millington, the Chief Executive of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said she would support claims for Fireman Sam to be renamed Firefighter Sam to encourage more women to join the service. Pictured on Good Morning Britain on Friday

The show was discussing the issue after the London Fire Brigade began campaigning to change outdated perceptions of firefighting to encourage women to join the service.

They recently criticised a scene in this year's Love Island when male contestants performed a sexy routine dressed as firemen to impress the female stars.

Ms Millington, who isn't a firefighter herself, said it encourages the stereotype that firefighting is just for muscular men and is not a job for women.

She said: 'It's down to really entrenched views about what the job is about and also a long, long, long history as being male. The same way you say nurse: female, people say firefighter: male. That's been going on for a long time.'

He comments were criticised by GMB viewers on Twitter (pictured), with one saying the suggesiton was proof 'the world's gone mad'

London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said using the world 'firefighter' instead of 'fireman' would encourage more women to sign up. Pictured: Cartoon character Fireman Sam

When Ranvir asked if female firefighters would like Fireman Sam to have a name change, she said: 'We would and when Love Island's on next year it'd be fabulous to see some women carrying some men across the piece as well.'

GMB viewers, however, were against changing the name, with many taking to Twitter to criticise Ms Millington's comments.

One tweeted: 'Oh give it a rest. He is supposed to be a man who fights fires he is a fireman. He is not a firemanwoman.'

'When will this PC stuff stop? He is a man #giveitarest,' another posted.

A third said: 'He is a man? cartoon character is male therefore he is fireman Sam and has been for years, this is just PC gone mad.'

'Oh please!!! The world's gone bloody mad!!!!!' another wrote.

Ms Millington was supporting calls made by London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton, who launched a campaign to stop people using the term 'fireman' and to use the gender neutral 'firefighters' instead.

She told The Guardian last year: 'One single thing that would help bring more women into the service? Stop saying 'fireman'.

Firefighters have criticised Love Island for featuring a scene in which male contestants did a sexy fireman routine for the female stars (pictured). Ms Millington said she wants next year's female contestants to do a firefighter routine instead

Just 5.3 per cent of firefighters in England are women and London Fire Brigade are campaigning to change the perception of the job so more women join. Pictured: Women firefighters in World War Two, during which there was 90,000 women doing the job

'Why did they have to go for Fireman Sam? What's wrong with Firefighter Sam?'

Just 5.3 per cent of firefighters in England are women, and Ms Millington said the service is 'missing out' on hiring talented women.

She said: 'In reality when you're in a fire you almost don't care who comes. What we care about is we're missing 50 per cent of the talent that we could recruit.

'When we go out to find firefighters something like 7,000 people applied the last time we went out in Kent.'
A mother has gone viral after sharing a revealing a series of Instagram versus reality images showing the truth behind snaps of her picture perfect family home.

Interiors blogger Katie Woods has amassed 70,000 online fans thanks to her swoon-worthy photos of her stunningly-decorated five-bedroom Edwardian house in Leeds.

But the 40-year-old has now lifted the lid on what her dreamy abode really looks like most of the time as she juggles her part-time job as a dentist with the day-to-day to life as a mother-of-four.

And her posts, confessing to her followers the real facts behind her carefully-curated Instagram grid, have since racked up hundreds of likes and shares.

 Slide me  Interiors blogger Katie Woods has shared a series of revealing before and after shorts showcasing the difference between her Instagram snaps and the reality of every day life

Katie, who has twins Maxwell and Felix, eight, Toby, four and two-year-old Dottie with husband Chris, said: 'My carefully curated Instagram grid is mighty different to the everyday view.

'The clear surfaces and toy-free carpets are all an enigma. The made beds, the perfectly positioned cushions - all for the camera.

'If there is one thing for certain, it's that just out of shot there will be a pile of plastic toys, a mountain of dirty laundry and one very sweaty middle-aged woman holding the camera.

 Slide me  The mother-of-four admits that her snaps she shares with her 70,000 strong following are 'carefully curated' and don't reflect the house on the day to day

 Slide me  Katie's bedroom looks like a tranquil paradise but once her kids get a hold of it, it looks like a different room entirely

'You see, this is our home. We live here, we have fun here and we make one heck of a lot of mess here.

Katie says that she was keen to encourage people 'not to overthink' what they see on Instagram

'The strive for perfection is futile and totally unattainable, especially in a busy family home.

'If we lived our lives trying to 'keep up' with other peoples' squares, it'll have us crying into our scatter cushions every day.'

Katie, who blogs at Instagram handle @ComeDownToTheWoods, is now encouraging her followers to share photos of their real non-curated homes on social media as part of the #MyHappyMess campaign.

The campaign was started by robot vacuum company Neato Robotics revealed 76 per cent of millennials feel pressured to have a perfect home, with 68 per cent laying the blame for this with social media.

Katie added: 'One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how do I keep my house so clean and tidy.

'To this my answer is 'I don't' - and the last thing I wanted was to show people on social media that this curated grid is how I live.

'I wanted to encourage people not to overthink these little squares; in an imperfect world, it's important not to strive for perfection.'

 Slide me  Katie's son bedroom looks immaculate for an 8-year-old in her Instagram snap but the second photo proves he is like any other child his age
Earlier this week Adrian Chiles opened up about his reliance on alcohol, but today the full extent of his drinking was revealed during an shocking segment on GMB.

The TV presenter, 51, recorded his drinking for a new documentary and discovered that he was drinking 100 units a week, and once consumed 33 units of booze in a single day.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Chiles said he didn't think he had a problem with drink because it didn't seem to be affecting him; he didn't get hangovers, drink alone or get in fights while drunk.

The show brought out dozens of glasses of beer and wine to reveal what a hundred units actually looked like, with Chiles admitting that it made him question why he had chosen to drink so much.

Adrian Chiles, 51, said he didn't realise how much he was drinking after discovering he drinks up to a hundred units of alcohol a week. Pictured on Good Morning Britain on Friday

Chiles, who is a Radio 5 Live presenter, had 'niggles' of worry about his drinking habits before he found out how much he actually drinks.

He said: 'I kind of knew, it niggled away at me, that a day without drink didn't really feel like a proper day. I was just aware I kind of needed it, but I thought, "why did I need it?".

'Why did I need those one or two pints early evening, why, if I had a party tonight with a hundred of my best friends, why would I be looking forward to it less if I couldn't drink?

'I just thought it was a bit odd. I thought, hang on, I'm 51 now, I've been drinking since I was 15, it's always been a massive part of my life.'

The show brought out dozens of glasses of beers and wine (pictured) in the GMB studio to show what a hundred units of booze actually looks like

Chiles didn't think he had an alcohol problem because it didn't seem to be affecting him; he didn't get hangovers, drink alone or get in fights while drunk. Pictured enjoying a bottle of beer in a snap posted to Instagram

In Drinkers Like Me he discovered that in one Saturday he drank four pints of Guinness in the morning, then a couple of beers, a bottle of wine and then more beer at a friend's birthday party.

This added up a whopping 33 units, which made him realise he was 'in trouble'.

Chiles continued: 'I thought, I'm in trouble here, I didn't realise how much I was drinking. Superficially I had no bad effects from it, it didn't affect me, I was kind of too good at it.

'I don't get hangovers, I don't fight, I don't wake up with strangers, I don't drink during the day, I don't drink alone. All these things I didn't do, but in fact I was a very heavy drinker without realising it.'

He admitted that looking at all the glasses of alcohol was shocking to him as it made him wonder if he had needed all the booze he used to drink. Pictured: 100 units of alcohol on Good Morning Britain

Chiles explores his reliance on alcohol in new BBC documentary Drinkers Like Me, which airs on Monday. Pictured: A promotional picture for the show

When he looked at the amount of glasses of beer and wine in the studio, he admitted that it made him think about the alcohol he'd consumed in his life.

He said: 'I'm looking at that now, I'm looking at all the drinks I've had in my life and I'm thinking how many of those drinks did I really need, or want, or enjoy and how many were out of habit?

'Just because I was out and somebody wanted me to have one and I was just doing it because I couldn't think of anything else to do. I just want to shrink it down to the drinks that I really want and need.'

In his new documentary he learns that his drinking puts him at risk of liver failure, cirrhosis and death.

He admitted he'd had 'niggles' of worry about his drinking habits before he found out how much he actually drinks. Pictured with Good Morning Britain presenters Ranvir Singh and Charlotte Hawkins

He recently called himself 'undoubtedly dependent' on alcohol and vowed to cut back his drinking. Pictured: A promotional picture for Drinks Like Me

Adrian, who split from wife Jane Garvey in 2009 has decided to address the normality of drinking in the new documentary, revealed he doesn't 'drink more' because he's divorced now and said his love of booze wasn't a factor in the demise of their marriage.

Speaking to the Radio Times, he said he was 'undoubtedly dependent' on alcohol.

He said: 'The word 'alcoholic' is outdated, but I am undoubtedly dependent on alcohol to some extent  and if I am, thousands of others are.

'The only days I literally drank nothing were when I was broadcasting in the evening.'
From gif to hors d'oeuvres, most people have a word that they just can't seem to pronounce correctly.

And now people from around the world have revealed the tricky spellings that never fail to trip them up in a hilarious online thread.

Twitter user @byepoleher, from Washington DC, kicked off the discussion on Friday when she posted: 'Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading.'

Within hours her tweet had gone viral, with more than 13,000 re-tweets and a flood of replies from linguistically challenged people sharing the words they struggled to get their heads around.

So how many of them can you pronounce?

Tongue-tied? Twitter users have revealed the words that they struggle to pronounce - from apropos to quinoa (file photo)

One Twitter user admitted they struggled to pronounce the words segue (pronounced 'swe') and demense (pronounced 'dmen') in an online thread which has gone viral

Hubris 'hjubrs' is pronounced differently to debris ('dbri') despite similar spellings

Sew, so and sow, are pronounced differently to sow and sough, as this user discovered

Apropos ('aprp') tripped up Twitter user Holly Alem, she confessed in the thread

Akua confessed to pronouncing the world posthumous like the popular Greek dip

Massachusetts ('mastusts') is notoriously hard to pronounce as this woman learned

Twitter user Assilem confessed to pronouncing archive phonetically, as 'our chive'

This woman admitted to getting annoyed at colleagues mispronouncing 'mocha' and 'breve'

Twitter user Marty Ward couldn't understand why 'rhetoric' is not pronounced in the same way as 'rhetorical'

Ethereal ('rl') is not an easy word to pronounce as Lisa Leach learned the hard way

This Twitter user inadvertently reads the word Pilates as 'pilots' leading to much confusion

Erin reeled off a long list of words she struggled to pronounce, from vinyl to quinoa

Twitter user Lin Rowan pointed out possible confusion attached to the phrase 'military coup'

This man mistakenly pronounced French word hors d'oeuvre ('dvr(') as 'whores do-ever'

'Inevitable' and 'queue' were the two words that tripped up Twitter user Maddie, she confessed

The word lieutenant is pronounced differently in UK and US English, as this man pointed out

Chihuahua is a tricky one to say out loud but it's certainly not pronounced as 'chi-who-a-who-a'
Argos celebrates its 45th birthday this year and its status as an iconic British retailer has only been cemented by its famous catalogues.

But while a flick through its pages in 2018 means browsing phones, games consoles, smart technology and hi-tech toys, in the past its retail offering looked rather different.

From hooded 1970s hairdryers and his-and-hers matching outfits, and a dressing that doubled up as a bedspread, these hilarious vintage product listings from yesteryear show just how much Britain's tastes and trends have changed over the years.

A spokesperson for Argos said: 'Since it first launched in 1973, the Argos catalogue has been a social barometer of the nation's changing tastes, habits and interests.

'A delve into our archive is a fascinating experience, revealing how technology, home decor, fashion trends and leisure pursuits have evolved over the years. In some cases, the findings were laugh-out-loud hilarious.'

Here, we reveal the funniest images from the Argos catalogue archive.

Hair on the go: It's not uncommon to see ladies with their hair half-done walking down the street, but these portable hooded hairdryers from 1975 are something else entirely

Multi-purpose bedding: For true 2-in-1 functionality, look no further than the Jaguar Snug Sack from 1982, which could either be worn as a comfy gown or converted into a bedspread

Fitness fads: From 1975on the left you have the Automasseur Electrical Massage Machine with slip resistant foot mat - a steal at 15.95. In the centre you have the Bullworker, and to the right a Sculling Exerciser - could it make a comeback in 2019?

Men's athleisure, 1970s style: Back in 1973, you could get your hands on one of these beauties for under a tenner - bargain! 70s hairstyles not included

Another page from the men's athleisure section featuring matching tracksuits and cheesy grins. Argos celebrates its 45th birthday this year and its status as an iconic British retailer

Is it a blanket or a dress? The Luxury Princess Towelling Lounger, available in the 1978 catalogue for 19.95, came with wide sleeves and a zipper (left)

In the early years, the men and women of the Argos catalogue weren't afraid to get their kit off to flog bathroom essentials, solariums (pictured) and shower screens

DIY tan: This Argos model strips off in the name of beauty as she advertises a solarium. In the past there were some bizarre products on offer in the Argos catalogues

A shower advert in this vintage Argos ad was the perfect excuse for this model to strip off. An Argos spokesperson said: 'Who wouldn't want a jaguar snug sack that doubles up as a convenient bedspread throw? Or carpet tiles in various shades of brown and beige?'

A man strips off for an Argos shower advert. Argos catalogues from the past show just how much our tastes and trends have changed over the years

A model advertises a nifty beauty gadget in a vintage Argos catalogue. 'Since it first launched in 1973, the Argos catalogue has been a social barometer of the nation's changing tastes, habits and interests,' said an Argos spokesperson

His and hers bathrobes were all the rage according to this 1980s era Argos advert

Matching sportswear from all the family from brands including Adidas as seen in this Argos ad. The chain store has released the vintage photos to celebrate its 45th anniversary in 2018

Headphone hair: Throughout the 80s, the essential accessory for your portable cassette player was a backcombed barnet held up with lashings of hair spray or gel. And the real fashion-conscious threw a mullet in the mix too

Who said matching isn't cool? What woman wouldn't want to wear the exact same thing as her man? Whether it was bathrobes, boot-cut jeans or warming gilets, Argos' early catalogues had the perfect fit for every family. And as the 80s gave way to the 90s, even the kids got involved as families nationwide sported matching tracksuits. You might laugh, but these would fly off the rack at a vintage sale today

Tiles for every occasion: These loose-lay carpet tiles - 4.19 for a pack of nine in 1979 - were the perfect DIY flooring solution

Rugs and mats, 1973: Seeming to take inspiration from The Lord of the Rings' Eye of Sauron, these rugs are sure to darken any living room, and are typical of traditional early 70s decor

Bed spreads, 1970s: If you wanted a bedspread that looked like a tablecloth, the 1974 catalogue had you covered. Some readers will still be familiar with these, with many grandparents still getting them out for overnight guests at Christmas
A woman has dedicated her life to caring for thousands of adorable guinea pigs.

Saskia Chiesa, 49, set up Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue 20 years ago in Chatsworth, California.

After discovering that there was no place for rescued guinea pigs to go in LA, Saskia knew she had to set up her own to save her spirit animal.

Passionate: Saskia Chiesa, 49, set up Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue 20 years ago in Chatsworth, California

Helping: Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue is now home to up to 350 guinea pigs at a time and the organization is always taking in more rescues and surrendered pigs

Care: The sanctuary puts all the guinea pigs up for adoption and Saskia is passionate about educating people on how to give them the best care possible

The guinea pig lover expected to start slowly, but found herself with 20 guinea pigs with health problems within the first month.

'I decided to rescue guinea pigs because it's my spiritual animal! The memory of my first guinea pig, I picked it up and I was just so taken,' she said.

'I was just totally mesmerized, it was just this beautiful creature. Ever since then, you know, my whole life's gone to the pigs!'

Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue is now home to up to 350 guinea pigs at a time and the organization is always taking in more rescues and surrendered pigs.

'Life here at the sanctuary is hectic, it is very hectic. There's never a moment where there's nothing to do, it's an ongoing thing!' she said.

'You know, I decided to rescue guinea pigs because I started looking for the guinea pig rescue because it's my spirit animal, and there wasn't any.

'I was expecting one or two to start with but there were 20 of them! They all had skin diseases so I was thrown in the deep right away.'

Care: At the sanctuary, the guinea pigs can receive health checks and get their nails as well as their hair taken care of

Benefits: Volunteer Melissa Brown (pictured left next to Saskia) says the pigs have changed her life and helped her cope with anxiety and depression

Adoption: Visitors can come to the shelter to choose a guinea pig of their own

Activities: People who own guinea pigs can bring them to the shelter for play dates

Volunteer Melissa Brown says the pigs have changed her life.

'I just love this place. I call this pig paradise, this is my home away from home,' Melissa said.

'I love when kids come in and families come in here, and they're just so excited and overwhelmed because there's a lot of guinea pigs in here!

'They're life changing  I have suffered with anxiety, depression, just a lot of emotional problems growing up, and I feel now that the therapy that they give me, I definitely could have benefited in my earlier years and I wish I could've known that.'

The sanctuary also provides health checks for the guinea pigs, and services such as manicures and a dash of hair styling.

Bonding: Families looking to adopt a guinea pig can visit the shelter to find their new pet

Needed: Saskia expected the shelter to have a slow start, but found herself with 20 guinea pigs with health problems within the first month

Manicure: Guinea pigs get their nails trimmed regularly at the shelter

The spa treatment: Saskia also trims and cares for the guinea pigs' hair

Instructions: The guinea pig lover insists that the pets shouldn't be kept in small cages and are best left to run around instead

Falling in love: Saskia says she was 'mesmerized' the first time she picked up a guinea pig

'We do health checks, where we just do a little scan, a nail clip and, of course, we do adult matchmaking services,' Saskia said.

'So, if we have a guinea pig that's lonely then you can bring the guinea pig and we'll just have a few play dates. Same-sex of course because we don't breed here!'

The sanctuary puts all the guinea pigs up for adoption and Saskia is passionate about educating people on how to give them the best care possible.

'The pigs require a lot of space, so the small guinea pigs cages that the pet stores sell, that they say is the perfect set up or a starter kit for the guinea pigs, they're not,' she said.

'It's cruel, actually, to have them in the smaller cages because they do want to walk around.'
French actor Vincent Cassel, 51, has tied the knot with 21-year-old model Tina Kunakey in a low-key ceremony today.

The couple, who started dating in 2016, were the picture of newly-wedded bliss as they shared a kiss following the nuptials at the city hall in Bidart, south-west France.

The bride looked breathtaking in a strapless ivory gown with a plunging strapless sweetheart neckline and a full princess skirt.

Wedding bells: French actor Vincent Cassel, 51, has tied the knot with 21-year-old model Tina Kunakey in a low-key ceremony at the city hall in Bidart, south-west France, today

Here comes the bride! Cassel's draw dropped as he saw Tina in her dress for the first time

Sealed with a kiss: The couple shared a tender moment after exchanging their vows inside

She wore her trademark natural curls loose and accentuated her stunning facial features with just the lightest touch of make-up.

Tina couldn't keep the smile from her face as she left city hall, carrying a simple bouquet of white blooms in one hand and clutching Cassel's hand in the other.

The Black Swan actor, who has two daughters with ex-wife Monica Belluci, looked effortlessly cool in a cream linen suit and an open pink shirt.

Radiant: Tina, who is represented by IMG models, beamed as she was welcomed by the groom

Well-wishers: Dozens gathered to celebrate the bride as they made their way into the city hall

Newlyweds! Cassel and Tina couldn't keep the smiles from their faces as they emerged

He finished the look with a pair of black sunglasses which made him look every inch the Hollywood movie star.

Photographers were on hand to capture the moment Cassel first laid eyes on his bride.

Images show the actor with his mouth open in wonderment as she stepped out of a black car, the train of her dress draped elegantly across the back seat.

After the ceremony the couple were happy to pose for photos as dozens well-wishers and residents gathered to share in the excitement of the big day.

Hand-in-hand: The beaming newlyweds were greeted by friends and family blowing bubbles

Look of love: The model's happiness was clear to see as she gazed lovingly at her new husband

Showstopper: Tina dazzled in a plunging strapless gown with a large princess skirt

The couple, who live in Brazil, were first linked back in July 2016 when Tina, then 19, shared a social media snap of herself cuddling up to the then 49-year-old actor while smoking a cigarette.

Cassel rose to fame in Matthieu Kassovitz's 1995 film La Haine (Hate) and starred in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as Eastern Promises and Black Swan.

He married Italian actress Bellucci, 53, in 1999 after meeting on the set of their 1996 film The Apartment.

The couple welcomed two daughters, Deva, 13, and Leonie, eight, before divorcing in 2013 after 14 years of marriage.

You may now kiss the bride! Cassel leaned into kiss his stunning new wife for the cameras

Effortlessly chic: The stylish couple, who met in 2016, were the picture of laid-back cool
Lara Trump has revealed that she is fostering a new pup, and she celebrated the newest addition to her family by taking her dogs and her 11-month-old son, Luke, for a stroll through Central Park this week.

The 35-year-old wife of Eric Trump dressed casually in a black T-shirt, camouflage leggings, and flip flops while holding two of her three dogs' leashes for the scenic walk in New York on Thursday.

Little Luke, who was pushed in his stroller by his nanny, was barefoot and matched his mom with his camouflage leggings.

Helping hand: Lara Trump was joined by her nanny as she took her 11-month-old son for a walk through Central Park in New York City on Thursday

Hand full: While the nanny pushed Luke's stroller, Lara walked her rescue Ben (left) and Caesar (right) the new dog she is fostering

Too cute: Little Luke was barefoot while sitting in his stroller during the outing

Lara's friend walked her beagle Charlie, while she took care of her rescues Ben and Caesar, the dog they are fostering.

The mother-of-one shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of mirrored aviators, which she occasionally wore resting on the top of her head.

She wore minimal jewelry aside from her engagement ring and a gold bangle that she had on her left wrist.

Despite her casual look for her trip to the park, her long blonde hair looked like it had been freshly blown out.

Group outing: Lara was also joined by a friend, who was seen holding her dog Charlie's leash

On the go: Lara carried her cellphone in her hand as she wrangled the two dogs she was walking

Covered: The mother-of-one shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of mirrored aviators

Outfit of the day: Lara donned camouflage leggings, a black T-shirt, and flip flops for the casual outing

Lara spent most of the outing talking on her cellphone, and she appeared to be having quite the conversation.

She and her dogs walked ahead of Luke while she was on the phone, and at one point, her jaw dropped over something that was said on the other line.

When she wasn't on her cellphone, she held it in her hand while walking between her nanny and her son and her friend.

Her baby boy, who will be celebrating his first birthday next month, looked perfectly content in his stroller while he was pushed by his nanny.

The group was closely followed by two Secret Service agents as they made their way to Central Park's vintage carousel, but it was already closed when they arrived.

In a hurry? The mom walked slightly ahead of the group during the walk

Multitasking mom: Lara spent most of the walk chatting on her cellphone

Say what? At one point, her jaw dropped over something that was said on the other line

Mommy and me: Little Luke matched his mother in camouflage pants

Milestone: Luke will be celebrating his first birthday on September 12

Added touch: Despite her casual look for her trip to the park, her long blonde hair looked like it had been freshly blown out

Protected: The group was closely followed by two Secret Service agents (right)

Lara and her friend were seen speaking with someone inside the pavilion that houses the carousel, but little Luke never ended up getting a chance to ride it.

Earlier in the day, the proud mom took to Instagram to share a heartwarming video of her three dogs swarming around Luke while he is eating his breakfast in his high chair.

It looks like Caesar is already feeling comfortable with Luke, and the video shows him jumping up and putting his front legs on the tray of the little boy's high chair while looking for food.

'Excuse me Caesar, excuse me,' she says. When the foster dog finally gets down, she thanks him.

'Just 4 dogs having breakfast #DogCentral,' she captioned the cute clip.

End game: Lara and her team were headed to Central Park's vintage carousel

Doting mom: Lara stopped to check on Luke when the arrived at the pavilion that houses the carousel

Too late: The carousal was already closed by the time they got there

Waiting game: Lara's nanny and a Secret Service agent watched over Luke while she talked to someone working the carousal

Casual Friday: The next day, Lara's husband, Eric Trump, 34, was seen grabbing an iced coffee as he made his way to work at Trump Tower

On Wednesday, Lara posted a snapshot of herself cuddling Caesar as well as a picture of him posed with her dogs Charlie and Ben while revealing that she is currently fostering him.

'Welcome to our (foster) family, Caesar! We may only have you for a few days, but we will love you forever! #FosterSavesLives #UnderBite #rescuedogsrocknyc,' she captioned the image.

Although she made it clear that she was only fostering Caesar, it's possible that she may change her mind about keeping him.

Two years ago, Ben was brought to her home as a foster, but she and Eric, 34, and up making him a permanent member of their family.

Lara was spotted out with Caesar on Friday morning as well, while her husband was seen getting an iced coffee from Starbucks as he made his way to work at his Trump Tower office.

Right at home: Before their walk on Thursday, Lara posted a cute video of Caesar having breakfast with baby Luke

Animal advocate: Lara shared a photo of herself cuddling Caesar on Wednesday to announce that she was fostering him

One of the gang: The dog lover couldn't resist sharing a snapshot of Caesar with Charlie and Ben

Eric looked like he was feeling casual Friday in his light blue Trump International Dubai polo shirt and khaki pants.

Lara is an advocate for animals, and earlier this month, she joined an animal rights crusade to end greyhound racing in Florida alongside the state's Attorney General Pam Bondi.

President Trump's daughter-in-law made a special guest appearance at the fundraiser 'Protect Dogs - Yes on 13,' which took place in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The fundraiser was sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States and GREY2K USA, a non-profit organization that promotes the protection of greyhound laws.

Lara has played a role in several other animal rights campaigns  most notably Pets for Vets, which couples mentally and physically ill veterans and homeless pets.
It may still be August, but the Danish royals were forced to wrap up against a wintry chill as they continued their tour of the Faroe Islands.

Leading the way was Crown Princess Mary, 46, casually clad in a gilet and cosy grey knit with a woollen beanie.

She was joined by husband Crown Prince Frederik and their children Princesses Josephine, 7, and Isabella, 11, plus Princes Christian, 12, and Vincent, 7.

While the young princesses were on their best behaviour, their brothers were clearly in a mischievous mood, tussling play-fighting for the cameras as their parents looked on.

The family is paying a four-day visit to the Danish island after the couple touched down in the Island's capital of Torshavn on Thursday.

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Denmark's Crown Princess Mary is joined by her daughter, seven-year-old Princess Josephine, on the second day of the royal family's visit to the Faroe Islands archipelago

Denmark's Princess Isabella, right, and her little sister Princess Josephine snuggle up to keep warm amid chilly temperatures in the Danish archipelago on Friday

While the young princesses were on their best behaviour, Princes Christian and Vincent were in a mischievous mood, tussling play-fighting for the cameras as their parents looked on

Prince Christian and Prince Vincent play fighting in the Faroe Islands on Friday. The family is paying a four-day visit to the Danish island after the couple touched down in the Island's capital of Torshavn on Thursday

Crown Princess Mary was joined by husband Crown Prince Frederik (pictured) and their children Princesses Josephine, 7, and Isabella, 11, plus Princes Christian, 12, and Vincent, 7

Family portrait! Crown Princess Mary, Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Princess Josephine, and Prince Vincent pose in front of the statue of the Selkie (Seal Woman) during their visit to the Faroe Islands on Friday

Steeped in controversy: The family's visit came just two days after dozens of pilot whales and white-sided dolphins were slaughtered as part of the annual hunting season on the Faroe Islands

There the Crown Prince Couple participate in an official greeting ceremony on the quay, where the prime minister will deliver a speech welcoming them before paying a visit to the rowing club Knrrur.

They will later visit the government buildings on the Tinganes peninsulal. They will take part in a second welcoming ceremony at the square Vagli in the city centre.

The family's visit came just two days after dozens of pilot whales and white-sided dolphins were slaughtered as part of the annual hunting season on the Faroe Islands.

Every summer, some 800 pilot and beaked whales, as well as dolphins, are killed for their meat across the Faroe Islands, a Danish archipelago located hundreds of miles off the Scottish coast between Norway and Iceland.

Motherly love: Crown Princess Mary shared a tender moment with her youngest son, Vincent

The Danish royal couple with their four children. The family's visit came just two days after dozens of pilot whales and white-sided dolphins were slaughtered as part of the annual hunting season on the Faroe Islands

Whale driving on the Faroe Islands date back to the late 16th century and involve residents herding pods of whales into shallow waters.

They are then killed using a 'spinal lance' that is inserted through the animal's neck to break its spinal cord.

Locals carry out the hunts ahead of the sparse winter months, with the meat served salted or cut into steaks and the blubber sliced up and eaten raw.

The family of six arrived on the Faroe islands for the start of their four-day visit on Thursday.

Princess Josephine looked rather morose as she wrapped up against the autumnal chill

Prince Christian looked all grown up as he explored the Faroe Islands with his family on Friday

Mary, along with the rest of the family, was dressed in traditional Faroe costume in honour of her visit.

She and her two daughters wore the female dress of a dress and open sweater laced together using silver buttons and finished with a cape.

Meanwhile her husband and their two sons wore a waistcoat and felt coat with silver buttons, blue stockings and the famous floppy hat.

The family travelled from their home in Copenhagen by boat waving to the islanders as they approached the shore.

The family were greeted by the island's locals who had gathered in anticipation of their arrival, presenting Mary with an elegant posy as she stepped from the boat.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a beloved Disney classic, but a devastating fan theory suggests that the film's heroine actually dies at the end  and the prince is the Grim Reaper whose kiss is actually the kiss of death.

Inspired by a 19th-century German fairy tale, the movie was released in 1937 as Disney's first full-length animated film, but Snow White's so-called 'happy ending' might not have been so happy.

The disturbing theory that is making its way around the internet appears to have originated from the comments section of a 2016 Buzzfeed article, and it has undoubtedly broken more than a few hearts.

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No! A Snow White fan theory suggests that film's heroine actually dies at the end

Heartbreaking: The theory also states that the prince was basically the Grim Reaper, and he was giving Snow White the 'kiss of death' at the end of the film

The in-depth argument that Snow White actually dies at the end of the flick was written by a commenter named Matt Morgan, who claimed there are many people who believe the raven haired beauty's 'happily ever after' is all a lie.

'It looks like she dies at the end of the movie, just like the real Snow White, but it's done in a way to look like a happy ending to little kids so they don't freak out,' he explained. 'Re-watch as an adult and see for yourself.'

Matt went on to reference the 16th century German aristocrat Margaretha von Waldeck, who some believe was the inspiration behind the fairy tale.

Margaretha lived in a mining town that employed child workers, so it was theorized that the seven dwarfs in the story are actually a reference to child labor.

In -depth: The disturbing theory that has resurfaced appears to have originated from Matt Morgan's lengthy comment on a 2016 article about the origin stories of Disney films

When she was a teenager, she moved out of her father's home and her beauty attracted the attention of Philip II of Spain while she was in Brussels.

She became mysteriously ill and died at the age of 21. It was widely thought that she was poisoned because someone didn't want her marrying Philip. Sound familiar?

'They were sad when she died and immortalized her with the story of Snow White,' Matt explained. 'The Brothers Grimm didn't actually write stories, rather they traveled and recorded local tales, eventually coming across Snow White.'

However, while Margaretha did have a strict stepmother when she was growing up, the woman was already dead and thus not a suspect.

Could it be? In his argument, Matt referenced the 16th century German aristocrat Margaretha von Waldeck (pictured), who some believe was the inspiration behind the fairy tale

Not so happy: Margaretha lived in a mining town that employed child workers, so it was theorized that the seven dwarfs in the story are actually a reference to child labor

It's also important to note that Matt's theory focuses solely on Margaretha, but she is not the only woman who is believed to be the real-life Snow White.

'So in the movie, the prince is supposed to be kind of like an angel of death, basically a happier version of a grim reaper,' he argued. 'When Snow is being careless around the well at the beginning of the movie, the "prince" hears her and goes to investigate.

'She gets her first glimpse at the prince when she gets her first glimpse at death; when she almost falls into the well and dies.'

To argue his point further, he went on to say that the prince came to see Snow White a second time after she bit the poison apple and was lying in a coffin.

Heaven? Matt claimed that the castle-shaped cloud that Snow White and the prince ride off to at the end of the film represents the afterlife

'He arrives on a pale white horse (which is what Death was often portrayed riding at the time). He kisses her,' he wrote. 'The "kiss of death" is a way people knew someone had passed before they knew about taking pulses.

'When you die, the air is expelled from your lungs. Folklore said this was death kissing you to take the "breath of life" from you.'

As for the final scene, Matt said Snow White's death was the reason why the seven dwarfs had to stay behind.

'Snow and the Prince say goodbye to the dwarfs rather than bring them along because they're going somewhere the living can't follow,' he added.

'They then ride off to heaven or a heaven-facsimile afterlife, where we see the last shot of the movie: a castle-shaped cloud surrounded by golden light.'

Whether people choose to believe it or not, it is probably safe to say that many adults are seeing the film in a whole new light.
It's every chocoholic's dream - a cake made entirely from milk chocolate biscuits.

And that was exactly what food blogger, Marie Phitidis - more commonly known as Phoodie online - set out to make, when she created an incredible Tim Tam engagement cake.

Using more than 2000 different-flavoured Tim Tam biscuits and four kilograms of milk chocolate, Phoodie revealed how she made the chocolate masterpiece - which is the dessert of every Australian couple's dreams.

Using more than 2000 different-flavoured Tim Tam biscuits, Phoodie revealed how she made a chocolate engagement cake (pictured)

To make the cake, the food blogger required 182 packets of different-flavoured Tim Tams (pictured)

'The cake was made for an engagement party with 250 guests that was held at The Royal Oak Hotel in Sydney,' Marie said (pictured: the cake in progress)

'Two thousand and nine Arnott's Tim Tams were used in the making of this cake,' Phoodie wrote on her blog.

'The cake was made for an engagement party with 250 guests that was held at The Royal Oak Hotel in Sydney.'

To make the cake - which was specially created for her brother - Marie said she used many different flavours of Tim Tams, including Original, Honeycomb, Double Choc Vanilla, Turkish Delight, and Choc Orange.

She later bound together the biscuits with around four kilograms of milk chocolate, which helped to make the five tiers.

She later bound together the biscuits with around four kilograms of milk chocolate (pictured), which helped to make the five tiers

'About 400 Tim Tams were consumed on the evening of the party, leaving over 1600 for the guests to take home,' Marie said

How to make a Tim Tam engagement cake 1. Buy roughly 2009 Tim Tams of different flavours. 2. Decide how many tiers of cake you want and arrange the Tim Tams in order. 3. Bind together the different layers with melted milk chocolate. 4. Leave to set. 5. Garnish as desired with ribbons and flowers. Allow five hours Advertisement

'About 400 Tim Tams were consumed on the evening of the party, leaving over 1600 for the guests to take home (and for me to nibble on),' Marie posted on her recipe.

While the cake would have cost her more than $700 had she bought the 182 packets of Tim Tams required at $3.65 per packet as well as the milk chocolate, Marie said she made the recipe in collaboration with Arnotts:

'These biscuits were sent to Phoodie courtesy of the fabulous and VERY generous folks at Arnotts,' she posted.

The creative food blogger added that the entire procedure took her around five hours to put together.

The creative food blogger added that the entire procedure took her around five hours to put together piece by piece

Phoodie has made a name for herself, thanks to her three-ingredient recipes that are super easy to put together and require little skill

Sharing the recipe on her blog, Marie was quickly met with praise.

'Absolutely AWESOME. I know what I want when I get married!,' one person posted.

'Pardon me for the fact that I am not a big Tim Tam fan; but I must admit this cake is absolutely marvellous and a genius idea. Well done,' another added.

This isn't the first viral recipe Marie has created.

In the past, she has gained fame for her three-ingredient recipes, including a three-ingredient KitKat fudge slice and a Cookies and Cream Nutella-filled chocolate.

To follow Phoodie, visit her Instagram page here.
Big tobacco has 'hoodwinked' governments worldwide and is smuggling cigarettes in 'one of the industry's biggest scams', new research suggests.

Leaked documents reveal the lengths cigarette manufacturers go to in order to undermine the Illicit Trade Protocol; an international agreement that was set up in 2012 to ensure tobacco companies pay their taxes.

The ITP requires all tobacco products are marked so their origin can be traced.

The world's four major tobacco companies developed their own 'track and trace' system and hatched a joint plan to use third parties to promote this system to governments under the pretence it was independent of the tobacco industry.

The study, by the University of Bath, also linked two-thirds of smuggled cigarettes to big tobacco firms.

Study author Professor Anna Gilmore, director of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the university, said: 'This has to be one of the tobacco industry's greatest scams.

'Not only is it still involved in tobacco smuggling, but big tobacco is positioning itself to control the very system governments around the world designed to stop it from doing so.'

Big tobacco has 'hoodwinked' governments worldwide and is smuggling cigarettes in 'one of the industry's biggest scams', new research suggests (stock)

IS THE END OF SMOKING 'IN SIGHT' IN THE UK? The end of smoking is finally 'in sight', officials claimed in June 2017 following figures that suggested another drop in rates across the UK. Just one in six adults now regularly light up cigarettes - with 680,000 having given up the habit completely in 2016. The numbers of smokers dropped from 19.9 per cent in 2010 to just 15.5 per cent in 2016 in England alone, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Across all ages smoking prevalence is in decline, with the largest fall in 18-to-24 year olds, while e-cigarette use is on the rise in this age group. Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said the UK has the second lowest smoking rate in Europe after Sweden, which proves that the Government's tobacco-control policies are effective. Advertisement

'Governments have been hoodwinked by tobacco tactics'

Research, published in the BMJ, further suggests big tobacco companies paid for misleading data and reports that overestimate smuggling.

After reviewing industry-funded data on the illicit tobacco trade, the scientists found concerns with the research's quality and accuracy.

They add the tobacco industry may deliberately produce misleading information.

Lead author Allen Gallagher, from the Tobacco Control Research Group at Bath, explains: 'Our latest findings fit with the tobacco industry's long history of manipulating research, including its extensive efforts to undermine and cause confusion on science showing the negative health impacts of smoking and second-hand smoke.'

Co-author Dr Karen Evans-Reeves added: 'Despite far-reaching concerns over industry-funded data on this topic, tobacco companies continue to spend millions of pounds funding research into the illicit tobacco trade.

'As recently as 2016 Philip Morris International's PMI IMPACT initiative pledged $100 million for this purpose.

'Yet, if industry-funded data consistently fails to reach the expected standards of replicable academic research, we must question if it has any use beyond helping the industry muddy the waters on an important public health issue.'

The researchers are calling on governments to crack down on big tobacco's tactics in order to ensure tobacco smuggling control methods are kept independent of the industry.

Senior author Professor Gilmore said: 'Governments, tax and customs authorities around the world appear to have been hoodwinked by industry data and tactics. It is vital that they wake up and realise how much is at stake.

'Tobacco industry funded research cannot be trusted. No Government should implement a track and trace system linked in any shape or form to the tobacco manufacturers.'

Leaked documents reveal the lengths cigarette manufacturers go to in order to undermine the Illicit Trade Protocol; an international agreement that was set up in 2012 (stock)

Tobacco and alcohol are the biggest threats to human health of all addictive substances

This comes after research released last May suggested tobacco and alcohol are by far the biggest threats to human health of all addictive substances.

Worldwide, tobacco is responsible for 110 deaths per 100,000 people, while alcohol causes 33 fatalities, according to a study by University College London.

This is compared to just 6.9 deaths from cocaine per 100,000 members of the public, the research adds.

Results further suggest nearly one in five adults worldwide drink heavily at least once a month, while 15 per cent smoke tobacco every day.

Yet, just 0.35 per cent of people have taken cocaine in the past year, the study found.
British women have been ranked among the heaviest female drinkers in the world.

A global alcohol league table showed they drink around 30g of alcohol a day  or three standard drinks.

The table put British women in eighth place for alcohol consumption, just behind Irish women. Ukrainian women came in first, with more than four drinks a day.

British men, meanwhile, came 62nd in the male category, drinking a similar amount to British women.

British woman have been ranked among some of the heaviest drinkers in the world consuming an average of 30g of alcohol a day

The findings, published in the Lancet, were part of the most comprehensive global study on alcohol to date.

The researchers claimed there is 'no safe level' for drinking  and that even one drink a day increases risk of ill health.

The team behind the study claimed their findings should lead public health bodies 'to consider recommendations for abstention'.

Experts believe that the trend for going out clubbing in the Eighties and Nineties has led to British 'ladettes' being ranked so highly for alcohol consumption  as they have not changed their drinking habits.

The researchers' claims of the impact of drinking on health were ridiculed last night.

For every 100,000 people who drink a bottle of beer or small glass of wine daily, just four more people develop health problems each year than if all 100,000 remain teetotal, the research showed.

But the study, led by the University of Washington, said: 'Any health benefits of alcohol are outweighed by adverse effects.'

For every 100,000 light drinkers, 918 people each year develop one of 23 alcohol-related health problems. For every 100,000 non-drinkers, 914 develop the same problems  a difference of just four.

The numbers rapidly increase for heavier drinkers, but critics last night said the statistics go to the heart of the public debate around moderate drinking.

David Spiegelhalter, professor for the public understanding of risk at the University of Cambridge, said: 'Claiming there is no 'safe' level does not seem an argument for abstention.

British women came in eighth in the world just behind Irish women in a league table published by Lancet

There is no safe level of driving, but the Government do not recommend that people avoid driving.

'Come to think of it, there is no safe level of living, but nobody would recommend abstention.'

Professor Spiegelhalter said the impact was so low that it would take 25,000 people drinking 400,000 bottles of gin before a single extra health problem emerged.

'Presumably people who choose to drink alcohol moderately get some pleasure from it, and any risk needs to be traded off against this enjoyment,' he said.

He added that the study  which gathered data from 28million people in 195 countries over 26 years  also cast doubt on UK official guidelines.

THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE HEAVIEST DRINKING MEN (Average drinks per day, 2016) Romania (8.2) Portugal (7.3) Luxembourg (7.3) Lithuania (7) Ukraine (7) Bosnia & Herzegovina (6.5) Belarus (6) Estonia (6) Spain (5.8) Hungary (5.5) 20. Australia (4.8) 49. United States (3.2) 62. United Kingdom (3) Source: The Lancet Advertisement

THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE HEAVIEST DRINKING WOMEN (Average drinks per day, 2016) Ukraine (4.2) Andorra (3.4) Luxembourg (3.4) Belarus (3.4) Sweden (3.2) Denmark (3.2) Ireland (3.1) United Kingdom (3) Germany (2.9) Switzerland (2.8) 34. Australia (2.1) 47. US (1.9) 49. New Zealand (1.7) Source: The Lancet Advertisement





Drinking limits were cut in 2016 for men from 21 units to 14 units a week  bringing them in line with the guidelines for women.

But the new study found for every 100,000 people who consumed two drinks a day, there would be an extra 63 cases of ill health a year.

Professor Spiegelhalter said: 'This analysis seems to strongly support the idea of the current UK guidelines being described as very low-risk.'

Above the two-drink level, the risks start to rise rapidly. For those who consume five small glasses of wine a day, 1,252 people in 100,000 a year suffer health problems  37 per cent more than among teetotallers.

The researchers calculated alcohol is linked to 2.8million deaths a year around the world.

HOW MUCH MEN DRINK AROUND THE WORLD, RANKED BY AVERAGE NUMBER OF ALCOHOLIC DRINKS PER DAY RANKING COUNTRY/TERRITORY AVERAGE DRINKS PER DAY 1 Romania 8.2 2 Portugal 7.3 3 Luxembourg 7.3 4 Lithuania 7 5 Ukraine 7 6 Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.5 7 Belarus 6 8 Estonia 6 9 Spain 5.8 10 Hungary 5.5 11 Bermuda 5.4 12 Vietnam 5.4 13 Latvia 5.2 14 Slovakia 5.1 15 Russian Federation 5.1 16 Croatia 5 17 Czech Republic 5 18 France 4.9 19 Moldova 4.8 20 Australia 4.8 21 New Zealand 4.7 22 Austria 4.7 23 Finland 4.6 24 Ireland 4.5 25 Denmark 4.5 26 Greece 4.5 27 Bulgaria 4.4 28 Andorra 4.3 29 Serbia 4.3 30 Slovenia 4.2 31 Poland 4.2 32 Montenegro 4.1 33 Lesotho 4.1 34 Germany 4 35 Cambodia 4 36 Cyprus 4 37 Italy 4 38 Georgia 3.9 39 Belgium 3.9 40 Ecuador 3.7 41 Puerto Rico 3.6 42 Namibia 3.6 43 Mexico 3.4 44 Venezuela 3.4 45 Paraguay 3.4 46 Kazakhstan 3.3 47 China 3.3 48 Botswana 3.2 49 United States 3.2 50 Colombia 3.2 51 Netherlands 3.2 52 Suriname 3.1 53 Burundi 3.1 54 Guyana 3.1 55 Azerbaijan 3.1 56 Belize 3.1 57 Virgin Islands, U.S. 3 58 Canada 3 59 Thailand 3 60 Taiwan 3 61 Saint Lucia 3 62 United Kingdom 3 63 Brazil 3 64 Dominica 2.9 65 Panama 2.9 66 Switzerland 2.9 67 Chile 2.9 68 Peru 2.8 69 Barbados 2.8 70 Ghana 2.8 71 Albania 2.8 72 Grenada 2.7 73 Kyrgyzstan 2.7 74 Sweden 2.7 75 Costa Rica 2.7 76 South Africa 2.7 77 Argentina 2.6 78 Cuba 2.5 79 Norway 2.5 80 Jamaica 2.4 81 Equatorial Guinea 2.4 82 Malta 2.4 83 The Bahamas 2.4 84 Nigeria 2.4 85 Mauritius 2.3 86 Iceland 2.3 87 Greenland 2.3 88 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2.3 89 Haiti 2.2 90 Uruguay 2.2 91 Mongolia 2.2 92 South Korea 2.2 93 El Salvador 2.2 94 Uzbekistan 2.2 95 Seychelles 2.1 96 Dominican Republic 2.1 97 Papua New Guinea 2.1 98 Nicaragua 2.1 99 Rwanda 2.1 100 Honduras 2 101 Turkmenistan 2 102 Sri Lanka 1.9 103 Armenia 1.9 104 Fiji 1.9 105 United Arab Emirates 1.9 106 Philippines 1.9 107 Sierra Leone 1.9 108 Trinidad and Tobago 1.9 109 Gabon 1.8 110 Sao Tome and Principe 1.8 111 Japan 1.8 112 Tanzania 1.7 113 Cameroon 1.7 114 Zimbabwe 1.7 115 Cape Verde 1.6 116 Swaziland 1.6 117 North Korea 1.5 118 Laos 1.5 119 Guatemala 1.5 120 Congo 1.5 121 India 1.5 122 Burkina Faso 1.4 123 Cote d'Ivoire 1.4 124 Bolivia 1.4 125 Uganda 1.4 126 Antigua and Barbuda 1.4 127 Malaysia 1.3 128 Central African Republic 1.3 129 Liberia 1.3 130 Zambia 1.3 131 Macedonia 1.3 132 Lebanon 1.2 133 Northern Mariana Islands 1.2 134 Samoa 1.1 135 Angola 1.1 136 Malawi 1.1 137 Myanmar 1.1 138 Kenya 1 139 Guam 1 140 American Samoa 1 141 Bhutan 0.9 142 Guinea-Bissau 0.9 143 Kiribati 0.9 144 Ethiopia 0.9 145 Chad 0.9 146 Qatar 0.9 147 Israel 0.8 148 Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.8 149 Marshall Islands 0.8 150 Sudan 0.8 151 Togo 0.7 152 Mozambique 0.7 153 Madagascar 0.7 154 Bahrain 0.7 155 Singapore 0.7 156 Nepal 0.7 157 Federated States of Micronesia 0.7 158 Tajikistan 0.6 159 Turkey 0.6 160 Tonga 0.6 161 Solomon Islands 0.6 162 Maldives 0.6 163 Tunisia 0.5 164 The Gambia 0.5 165 Morocco 0.5 166 Eritrea 0.5 167 Vanuatu 0.4 168 Djibouti 0.3 169 Oman 0.3 170 Syria 0.3 171 Benin 0.3 172 Algeria 0.3 173 Iraq 0.2 174 Mali 0.2 175 Egypt 0.2 176 South Sudan 0.2 177 Jordan 0.2 178 Niger 0.1 179 Guinea 0.1 180 Timor-Leste 0.1 181 Somalia 0.1 182 Indonesia 0.1 183 Afghanistan 0.1 184 Senegal 0.1 185 Brunei 0.1 186 Saudi Arabia 0.05 187 Yemen 0.05 188 Mauritania 0.05 189 Palestine 0.04 190 Bangladesh 0.03 191 Libya 0.02 192 Comoros 0.02 193 Kuwait 0.02 194 Iran 0.004 195 Pakistan 0.0008
More than 15,000 pregnant women a year are needlessly having labour induced because their blood pressure is measured incorrectly, experts have warned.

High blood pressure is a major red flag during pregnancy as it may be a sign of pre-eclampsia  which can threaten the lives of mother and child.

If high blood pressure is detected late in pregnancy, labour is usually induced so the child is born as soon as possible.

Thousands of pregnant woman a year are needlessly being induced because their blood pressure is high (file photo)

But experts at St Georges Hospital in London have warned that many women are having inducements unnecessarily because their blood pressure has been raised artificially by the stress of being in hospital. This problem  white coat syndrome  could be averted by measuring blood pressure at home.

The team has developed a blood pressure cuff that connects to a mobile phone and allows women to accurately test their levels at home.

Today the NHS is launching an app which, combined with the cuff, helps to distinguish between women who need to go to hospital for further assessment and those who can continue with their pregnancy until labour starts naturally.

Professor Asma Khalil, a consultant obstetrician at St Georges, said: At home, many women are calmer  and this yields a much more accurate result.

We induce the majority  more than 90 per cent  of women who develop high blood pressure in pregnancy unless they go into labour early. Around 63,000 women have labour induced every year because of high blood pressure.

Studies suggest around 25 to 30 per cent of these  15,000 a year  suffer from white coat syndrome.

A study led by Professor Khalil, which appears in the Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynaecology journal, found blood pressure readings from women in hospital which required medical intervention were up to five times higher than those who had them taken at home using the app.

The app  called Hampton  has been launched by St Georges, Leicester University Hospital and Bolton NHS Foundation Hospital.

Experts at St Georges Hospital said blood pressure may have been raised artificially by the stress of being in hospital (file photo)

It is available on the NHS at some hospitals but from today can also be downloaded by patients for 14. A cuff costs roughly 20.

Professor Khalil said: Hampton is revolutionising the way we look after pregnant women, by empowering expectant mothers to be involved in their own care while potentially saving the NHS millions.

Pre-eclampsia is caused by reduced blood flow in the placenta, which restricts the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the baby and prevents growth.

Although experts know the warning signs  protein in the urine, headaches and swollen ankles  these symptoms often appear in healthy pregnancies.

This means it is often missed until blood pressure soars, at which point labour is likely to be induced.

Inducing childbirth can be an unpleasant procedure, with labour triggered either by rupturing a womans membranes or by inserting artificial hormones.
A doctor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has contracted Ebola in 'no-go' zone dogged by militia violence, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The unnamed medic has been hospitalised with the disease after catching the viral infection from his wife when she traveled from their home in Oicha, North Kivu, to the nearby city of Beni, where the outbreak is thought to have begun.

Oicha is almost entirely surrounded by Ugandan Islamist militia, with aid workers, priests and government officials being held hostage in the area.

Dr Peter Salama, from the WHO, said: 'For the first time really we have a confirmed case and contacts in an area of very high insecurity. It really was the problem we were anticipating and the problem at same time that we were dreading.'

Across the DRC, 63 people are feared to have died to date in the outbreak that began on August 1.

Virologists have warned the situation is 'hard to control' due to cases being in a conflict zone roamed by armed militias. Such patients are at risk of being displaced to refugee camps where the virus can thrive.

Aid workers are battling round-the-clock to contain the outbreak, which has struck the east of the country on the border with Uganda

'We are going to have to operate in some very complex environments'

The doctor initially tested negative for Ebola tests, however, classic symptoms of fever and vomiting have led to his hospitalisation. The results of a new test are pending.

To date, 97 of the medic's contacts who may have been exposed to the virus have been identified. Vaccination has also begun in his town.

Dr Salama said: 'We know from that incident now in Oicha we are going to have to operate in some very complex environments due to security and access concerns.'

Health workers are dying

Since the last bulletin on August 14, 32 of the deaths have been confirmed as being due to the virus, which is considered one of the most lethal pathogens in existence, while the remaining fatalities are 'probably' a result of Ebola.

As many as 103 are thought to be living with Ebola, which causes agonising diarrhoea and unexplained bleeding, in the DRC.

Some 39 patients are being treated in specialist Ebola centres, 36 of which are in Mabalako and the remaining three in Beni, which is the epicentre of the outbreak in the North Kivu province. Ten patients have recovered from the disease and are back living at home.

People in their 30s are the most affected, with 28 per cent of patients being 30-to-39, with women making up more than half of sufferers.

Free treatment to encourage patients to seek help

Last week, health authorities in the DRC started administering a treatment known as mAb114 to Ebola patients for the first time.

Ten patients have received the experimental drug so far and have experienced a 'positive evolution', according to the health ministry.

DRC's ethics committee has also approved Remdesivir, which is manufactured by the US-based Gilead Sciences. One patient has received the drug and is said to be doing well.

The other experimental drugs approved for use are: ZMapp, an IV treatment made by San Diego's Mapp Pharmaceutical; the Japanese drug Favipiravir; and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' Regn3450  3471  3479.

Beni's mayor Jean Edmond Nyonyi Masumbuko Bwanakawa announced treatment for Ebola will be free in the region for three months as of Monday.

He hopes the move will 'remove the financial barrier that could dissuade the population from going to the health centre'.

Emergency: A health worker gets ready to perform medical checks inside an Ebola Treatment Centre run by The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) in Beni

An Ebola patient is lead by two medical workers into CUBE, which has being constructed by The Alliance for International Medical Action in response to the Ebola outbreak

HAS THE DRC HAD AN EBOLA OUTBREAK BEFORE? DRC escaped the brutal Ebola pandemic that began in 2014, which was finally declared over in January 2016 - but it was struck by a smaller outbreak last year. Four DRC residents died from the virus in 2017. The outbreak lasted just 42 days and international aid teams were praised for their prompt responses. The new outbreak is the DRC's tenth since the discovery of Ebola in the country in 1976, named after the river. The outbreak earlier this summer was its ninth. Health experts credit an awareness of the disease among the population and local medical staff's experience treating for past successes containing its spread. DRC's vast, remote geography also gives it an advantage, as outbreaks are often localised and relatively easy to isolate. Advertisement

Fears outbreak is reminiscent of 2014 epidemic

The current Ebola outbreak is the 10th to strike the DRC since 1976, when the virus was first identified and named after a river in the north of the country.

The outbreak on the border of Uganda was announced just days after another was declared over in the north-west of the DRC at the start of this month.

Virologists feared it was 'reminiscent' of the 2014 Ebola pandemic, which decimated West Africa and killed 11,000 people.

Yet the new outbreak has already dwarfed the one earlier this summer and has stoked more fears among the medical community.

Calls to end violence

In a desperate attempt to stem the outbreak, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief called for an end to the fighting in the DRC last week.

Dr Tedros Adhanom travelled to east DRC to examine the situation in person and told reporters in Switzerland he was 'actually more worried after the visit than before'.

He added: 'We call on the warring parties for a cessation of hostilities because the virus is dangerous to all. It doesn't choose between this group and that group.'

Professor Paul Hunter, a virologist at the University of East Anglia, last week praised an experimental vaccine being distributed in the DRC that stops the spread of Ebola.

Yet, he also raised fears that conflict in the region might make the outbreak hard to control, as those infected could be displaced to refugee camps where the virus can thrive.

Professor Hunter said: 'The effectiveness of any immunisation campaign depends on the ability to deliver that vaccine to the appropriate people is a timely manner.

'Unfortunately the latest outbreak is in an area of armed conflict and this poses substantial difficulties for effective prevention.'

Aid workers have been told they will have to navigate their response among more than 100 armed groups.

A WHO spokesperson said: 'This is an active conflict zone. The major barrier will be safely accessing the affected population.'

An Ebola patient is being checked by two medical workers after being admitted into a Biosecure Emergency care Unite (CUBE) in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo

Unsafe burial of patient triggered the outbreak

According to the WHO, the unsafe burial of a 65-year-old Ebola sufferer triggered the latest DRC outbreak.

After she was buried, members of her family began to display symptoms of the virus 'and seven of them died'.

Genetic analysis confirmed the virus in the latest outbreak is the Zaire strain, which is the same as the one earlier this summer.

Yet, Peter Salama, WHO's deputy director for emergency preparedness and response, revealed last week the pathogen is genetically different to the virus seen before.

Officials in the African nation have confirmed nine deaths so far (pictured: Doctors Without Borders team members walk through an Ebola security zone at the entrance of a hospital in DR Congo, where a fresh outbreak of the virus was declared in the east of the country)

Vaccination programmes underway

Vaccinations began two weeks ago following the success of the jabs in Equateur province, which declared its Ebola outbreak over two weeks ago.

Some 33 people were feared to have died in that outbreak, which started in the poorly-connected regions of Ikoko-Impenge and Bikoro.

The outbreak then travelled 80 miles (130km) north to Mbandaka, a port city on the river Congo  an essential waterway with around 1.2 million inhabitants.

There was a concern it would spread to Kinshasa  364 miles (586km) south, which has an international airport and 12 million residents.

All neighbouring countries were alerted about the outbreak of Ebola before it was declared over amid fears it could spread easily.

Officials hailed the use of an experimental vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBOV, in stemming the Ebola outbreak in north-west DRC in July.

More than 3,000 doses remain in stock in Kinshasa, allowing authorities to quickly deploy it to the affected areas near the Ugandan border.

Barthe Ndjoloko, who oversees the health ministry's Ebola response, claims officials are working to identify those who may be infected.

He revealed last week the vaccination campaign will focus on healthcare workers and those who have come into contact with confirmed cases.

The 2014 international response to the Ebola epidemic drew criticism for moving too slowly, prompting an apology from the WHO.
It's hard to spot a moment of relief for our self-esteem.

Each generation seems to have an existential battle on their hands - whether it's the angst of teens, the 'quarter life crisis', the panic of the 30th birthday, the mid-life crisis or the 'loneliness epidemic' commonly associated with old age.

But a study by the University of Bern in Switzerland has identified when adults are happiest in their own skin: at 60.

The researchers say their meta-analysis is the first to show that while self-esteem is a highly personal battle, it does appear to follow a general pattern in all people - a theory that has been gaining traction in the last couple of decades.

Self-esteem, they acknowledge, is 'by no means an immutable characteristic of individuals'.

It fluctuates significantly in everyone, derailed or stabilized by all kinds of things, from interactions and relationships to achievements and losses, weight gain, weight loss, medical issues - to name a few.

Until the 1980s, psychologists generally agreed that adults don't experience any significant changes in self-esteem.

However, in the last 40 years, that idea has been called into question.

It was already widely accepted that, over time, our sense of control - both physical and emotional - strengthened over time, peaked around 60, then weakened.

Psychologists who study the Big Five personality traits have found the same: our openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness strengthen over time, then wane, as our neuroticism does the opposite.

While those things may sound obviously linked to self-esteem, studies confirming that have been few and far between.

In particular: studies started to show an arc-like pattern to self-esteem, but had not studied broad enough populations to pinpoint a general 'peak'.

To map out the pattern of self-esteem, researchers analyzed data from almost 200 previously published research articles, which included 165,000 people aged four to 94.

They found that while we may feel moments of crisis in all the years leading up to 60, our self-esteem rarely suffers a catastrophic dip; it is generally always strengthening, though in some periods it remains steady or the increase is not as sharp.

From four to 11, there is a significant and steady increase.

In our 20s we see a sharper increase in self-esteem than in any other period of our lives as we get to grips with independence - a trend halted abruptly by the big 30.

That's still not enough to deliver us to our peak, though: it takes another three decades of slow progress for our egos to gradually relax, and our sense of self-worth to build up strength, until we reach the heady heights of 60.

At 60, they found, most people are the happiest they have ever been, and remain so until 70, at which point our confidence begins to slide ever so slightly. At 90, we suffer the sharpest dip in self-esteem of our lives.

'Midlife is, for many adults, a time of highly stable life circumstances in domains such as relationships and work,' psychology professor Ulrich Orth, who co-authored the study, told TIME.

'Moreover, during middle adulthood, most individuals further invest in the social roles they hold, which might promote their self-esteem.

'For example, people take on managerial roles at work, maintain a satisfying relationship with their spouse or partner, and help their children to become responsible and independent adults.'
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first US clinical trials using psilocybin from magic mushrooms to treat depression today.

Psilocybin is one of several psychedelic drugs that have recently reemerged from the shadows as they show promise to treat mental illnesses and addictions.

The Peter Thiel-backed health and life sciences startup, Compass Pathways, is the latest to test the 'brain-resetting' power of the schedule I drug on patients.

Already approved in three other countries, the first wave of the trial is set to begin in the UK later this month with studies in Canada, the Netherlands and the US to follow.

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic magic mushrooms, has shown promise for treating depression. Today, the FDA approved US involvement in a major trial of the drug

Psychedelics may be the latest novel approach to mental health making headlines, but they are far older than the most widely accepted treatments for illnesses like depression and anxiety.

Portrayals in stone carvings and rock paintings that predate recorded history suggest that people discovered the hallucinogenic powers of 'magic' mushrooms as early as 9000 BC.

The fungi were once the center piece of religious ceremonies, but in 1959, a chemist at the pharmaceutical company, Albert Hofmann, was able to identify and separate out the psychoactive compound in mushrooms: psilocybin.

For a brief period between 1961 and 1965, Sandoz sold the compound as a psychotherapeutic medicine called Indocybin.

It was quickly discontinued because it was widely misused to 'trip,' or hallucinate.

Psilocybin has since been tightly regulated in the US where it is treated as equally illicit to heroin.

Until recently the properties of the compound were hardly studied except by fringe groups.

But as depression continues to surge and hinder the lives of some eight percent of Americans, scientists are looking increasingly inventive options to treat the disorder.

We are still mapping out depression and the chemical, structural and environmental factors that cause it, but the involvement of serotonin is fairly undisputed at this point.

And psilocybin is shaped similar to the regulating neurotransmitter, and binds to some of the same receptors in the brain.

This suggested to researchers that it might have a role to play in the treatment of depression.

The most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants are SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The idea behind these drugs is that they prevent the neurochemical from being reabsorbed too quickly, leaving more of it available to the brain.

Billionaire Peter Thiel backs Compass Pathways, the life sciences startup conducting the psilocybin trial

In particular, this is thought to help the amygdala, the brain's control center for emotions, from over-reacting to negative experiences and feelings.

And the drugs are fairly effective for many people, but the treatment can come at the cost of positive emotions as well, leaving patients feeling a bit numbed.

Paradoxically, psilocybin appears in brain scans to treat depression by making the amygdala more responsive to emotions, but somehow patients are better able to process them and feel relief from their depressive symptoms weeks later.

Other research has suggested that the drug 'resets' neural circuits that create negative feedback loops in patients' brains.

The growing body of evidence supporting the usefulness of psilocybin means that its made its way from lab tests to larger and larger clinical trials.

In 2016, scientists at New York University did a trial with 29 patients who had developed depression related to advanced cancers.

Over the entire eight weeks the researchers watched them, the patients who got the drug had marked improvements in their depression symptoms.

The NYU study was notable because it was double blinded, meaning that neither the patients nor the researchers knew which participants had gotten psilocybin and which had gotten a placebo.

Compass Pathways newly-approved study will be the largest of its kind to date.

The startup is in the process of recruiting patients who have tried multiple antidepressants and gotten little to no relief.

Eventually, 216 participants will be recruited from several countries, including at least the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, and now the US.

Researchers at each of the 12 to 15 study sites will administer a single dose of psilocybin 'in a quiet, ambient room with two therapists/chaperones present for the entire session which will last up to six hours,' Compass's Tracy Cheung told Daily Mail Online in an email.

For 12 weeks, the research team will continue to check on each patient.

'We are excited to be starting this landmark trial which has the potential to transform lives,' said Compass's chairman and co-founder, George Goldsmith in a statement.

If all goes well, the study could open the door to a phase III clinical trial, comparing psilocybin treatment not to a control, or placebo, medication, but to currently approved and prescribed drugs.

'Depression is the leading cause of ill-health and disability worldwide, and treatment-resistant depression affects more than 100 million people. It is a huge unmet need and the trial will teach us more about how this new approach might address it,' Goldsmith said.
More than 500 people have been sickened by McDonald's salads, new CDC figures reveal - and health officials believe the outbreak is far from over.

The number of cases has rocketed up 731 percent in the last six weeks, as diners in 16 states have come down with 'explosive diarrhea' after eating one of the chain's four salads.

Despite McDonald's pulling its salad blend on July 20, the number of cases keeps climbing, and today the FDA said it is zeroing in on the origin of the romaine and carrots used to cultivate the calorie-laden meals.

In the last two weeks, the outbreak has reached New York City and Connecticut, and the number of cases in the South and Midwest have continued to soar.

Currently, West Coast chains are the only ones untouched by the Cyclospora parasite, which causes vomiting and 'explosive' diarrhea a week or even more than a month after eating the offending food.

At least 24 of the victims have needed hospital treatment for their painful symptoms. They range in age from 14 to 91. More than 66 percent of them are women.

Scroll down for video

As of August 17, more than 500 people in 15 states had been sickened by McDonald's salads. Pictured: the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad (350 calories)

When the outbreak was first reported in May, it was localized to Illinois and Iowa.

Now, it has spread across the country - with new infections reported as recently as Thursday, even though McDonald's swapped its salad blend for another on July 20.

Three months into the saga, the chain still has yet to identify the offending ingredient, since infections had been linked to all four of the salads on the menu.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which deals with regulation, said on Friday that agents are working with McDonald's to understand what the source of the infection could be.

Meanwhile, agents at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which deals with citizens' health, is grappling to tally up all of the cases.

'Illnesses that started after June 14, 2018, might not have been reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. For cyclospora infections, this can take up to six weeks,' the CDC said in a statement.

They warn the number may be much higher than currently quoted, since they are still fielding all the reports in the last week or so.

Currently, outbreaks have been reported in Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Connecticut, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia residents have also reported illnesses, but those salads were bought in Illinois while traveling.

Nationwide, there are four salads on the menu - two indulgent ones, and two 'healthier' versions - as well as a side salad.

The Bacon Ranch Salad with Buttermilk Crispy Chicken (490 calories) features chicken fillet, bacon, and two types of cheese, as well as romaine, kale, baby spinach, red leaf lettuce, carrots, tomatoes - topped off with ranch dressing.

There is also a Bancon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad (320 calories), which is the same but with grilled instead of breaded chicken.

The Southwest Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Salad (520) pairs the breaded chicken with black beans, corn, tomatoes, and peppers with two types of cheese, tortillas strips cilantro, lime and ranch dressing - on top of the same lettuce blend as before.

Lastly, there is the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad (350 calories), swapping out the buttermilk crumbs for a grilled fillet.

The salads have been a significant part of McDonald's bid to jump on the health-conscious bandwagon - though they are not that much healthier compared to the rest of the menu. A double cheeseburger has 440 calories, and a Bacon McDouble has 450 calories.

The Iowa Public Health Department said it identified 15 cases linked to the same illness and parasite who ate there in June and July.

Dr Patricia Quinlisk, Iowa's public health medical director and epidemiologist, said anyone with symptoms who ate a McDonald's salad should get tested.

'Anyone who ate these salads since the middle of June and who developed diarrhea, especially watery diarrhea and fatigue, should see their health care provider,' she said.

McDonald's replaced its lettuce blend on July 20, after pulling a blend from 3,000 stores in 15 states that they feared might be to blame.

It remains to be seen whether that will do the trick.

Symptoms of Cyclospora infection include watery diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight, cramping, bloating or increased gas, nausea, fatigue, and low-grade fever.

People can become infected by consuming food or water contaminated with the microscopic parasite.

The parasite is usually found in developing countries but there have been several outbreaks in the US in the past few years.
Bad reactions to antibiotics send nearly 70,000 children to the emergency room a year, new research reveals.

Few drugs are prescribed more often than antibiotics, which treat many bacterial infections.

Children are particularly susceptible to these infections, but even more so to viral infections.

Doctors write some 74 million antibiotic prescriptions a year, the latest data reveals - and many of them are likely useless against illnesses that are actually caused by viruses.

And the medications make tens of thousands of those kids sick in a different way, according to the analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 70,000 children wind up in US emergency rooms with bad reactions to antibiotics they probably didn't need in the first place, new research warns

Humans in general, and Americans in particular, take too many drugs.

It's not just the opioid epidemic that poses dangers to our health; in fact, taking too many antibiotics to help us fight of infections may be doing the greatest harm of all.

Antibiotic over-prescribing is setting the stage for the next plague-level pandemic, public health experts have warned.

Humans are rapidly becoming resistant to every antibiotic, meaning that the bacteria the drugs are intended to fight have been exposed to the medicines and evolved to outsmart them.

And the youngest children are likely the ones that doctors over-prescribe to the most.

Children under two have less developed immune systems, so they tend to get sick more often than older children and adults do.

Being new parents, their mothers and fathers may also be more likely to be anxious about their children's health, which likely adds to the expectation pressure on physicians to send them home with a medication.

WHAT IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE? Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned if nothing is done the world is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era. It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate solutions to the growing crisis. Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are given out unnecessarily. Former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism. Figures estimate that superbugs will kill 10 million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs. Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria across the world. Concerns have repeatedly been raised that medicine will be taken back to the 'dark ages' if antibiotics are rendered ineffective in the coming years. In addition to existing drugs becoming less effective, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years. In September, the WHO warned antibiotics are 'running out' as a report found a 'serious lack' of new drugs in the development pipeline. Without antibiotics, C-sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements will become incredibly 'risky', it was said at the time. Advertisement

As a result, children under two are prescribed twice as many antibiotics as older kids get.

And the under-twos are far more likely to end up in the emergency room with a bad reaction to one of these drugs.

'Antibiotics are life-saving medications used to treat and prevent bacterial infections, but it's very important to only use all medications when the benefits are going to outweigh the risks,' study co-author Dr Katherine Fleming-Dutra told Daily Mail Online.

'There's the antibiotic resistance risk, but you can also have adverse side effects like allergic reactions.'

For amoxicillin, for example, one of the most commonly prescribed treatments for sicknesses like strep through, ER visits were four times more common among children under two than for those between 10 and 19.

More than 85 percent of the 70,000 estimated annual children's ER visits were for allergic reactions, involving symptoms as mild as a rash or as serious as anaphylactic shock.

The majority of these reactions on the mild side, so the allergies themselves pose a minimal danger in most cases, though the more severe reactions can prove fatal.

And there is really no way for a doctor to know whether a child - especially those under two with no medical history to speak of - will have an allergy without administering tests to that effect (which takes more time, and money, for the family).

But, the study authors advise, there is one way to avoid children's bad reactions and trips to the ER over antibiotics: prescribe them less.

About one third of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, according to the latest data from the CDC.

Recent public health initiatives sounding the alarm over antibiotic resistance - especially to pediatricians - have helped to reduce over-prescription to the youngest children, a fact that the study authors are tepidly encouraged by.

The high number of children that wind up in the ER after taking an antibiotic that may not have done anything to clear their infections any way underscores the need to further reign in prescription rates.

'Not all [adverse reactions to antibiotics] can be avoided, minimizig unnecessary antibiotic prescribing can reduce the burden of acute antibiotic-related harms and help preserve antibiotic efficacy,' the authors wrote in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
ScottishPower has become the fourth of the Big Sex energy suppliers to hike bills twice this year, after it announced today its standard variable gas and electricity tariff would go up by by 3.7 per cent.

The power giant said the changes will come into force on October 8 and add an average of 46 a year to the energy bills of 900,000 customers.

The move follows British Gas, EDF and Eon, which each announced second price hikes this summer after raising tariffs earlier in the year in response to higher wholesale costs.

ScottishPower is hiking bills again (Peter Byrne/PA)

Scottish Power blamed 'continued increases in wholesale energy costs' for its second hike of 2018.

Neil Clitheroe, chief executive of ScottishPower's retail arm, said: 'We have seen significant increases in wholesale energy costs since April, and, like others in the industry, this means that we need to increase our prices.

'More than two-thirds of our customers are on fixed-price products or other tariffs not impacted by this price change.

'Those customers affected by the price change will be contacted and offered the opportunity to move to a fixed-price tariff alternative and avoid this increase.'

The Big Six energy company, which is owned by Spanish multinational Iberdrola, had already increased its standard variable gas and electricity prices for around a third of its customers from June 1, with 950,000 households hit by an average increase of 5.5 per cent.

BIG SIX TOTAL PRICE HIKES SO FAR in 2018 Supplier SVT Tariff Name Previous SVT price New SVT price Difference E.ON* E.ON Energy Plan 1,123 1,208 85 7.5% British Gas British Gas Standard Variable Tariff 1,101 1,205 104 9.4% EDF Energy Standard (Variable) 1,142 1,227 85 7.4% Scottish Power Standard 1,147 1,257 110 9.6% npower Standard SC 1,166 1,230 64 5.50% SSE** Standard 1,109 1,196 87 7.90% *E.ON price change represents removal of 15 per fuel paperless and dual fuel discounts **SSE price change includes removal of 6 per fuel paperless discount Source: uSwitch.com. Correct as of July 5 2018

The latest hike comes just weeks after British Gas said it is raising its standard variable tariff by 3.8 per cent.

Energy regulator Ofgem has also recently increased its price cap on variable tariffs due to rising wholesale prices.

Its safeguard tariff, which protects five million households from overcharging, will go up by 47 per year in October to 1,136.

The watchdog said it was increasing the cap due to rising oil prices, which have fed through to wholesale gas prices.

Beat the energy price hikes: Switch now to save 371 per year Energy companies take advantage of customers inertia, moving you on to expensive out-of-contract deals known as standard variable rate tariffs, once a fixed term deal ends. These cost much more than their cheapest deals and are vulnerable to price hikes. The average standard variable rate tariff from the big six - EDF, E.On, British Gas, Scottish Power, Npower and SSE - now costs households 1,1 97 per year. This is hundreds more than they could be paying on the cheapest deals for the same amount of energy used. The cheapest tariff on the market at the moment in fact costs 857 per year from Usio Energy. Below is a table showing the cheapest deals on the market at the moment, but you can use your postcode in our energy comparison tool (right) powered by energy helpline, our expert partner service to find the best deal for you. You can read more about how to switch and the top energy saving tips. By Emma Gunn BEST BUY ENERGY DEALS Rank Supplier Plan name Average bill size Tariff type Cancellation fees 1 Usio Energy Green Lite 0.2 857 Variable . 2 Outfox the Market Zapp! July Tariff (medium consumption) 859 Variable . 3 People's Energy The People's Tariff 864 Variable . 4 Solarplicity Solarplicitys 12month Fixed April 2018 866 Fixed 30.00 per fuel 5 Avro Energy Simple and Glory 870 Fixed . 6 Igloo Energy IGLOO PIONEER 871 Variable . 7 Pure Planet 100% Green 872 Variable . 8 Together Energy Together Fixed April19 872 Fixed 30.00 per fuel 9 Nabuh Energy Online Tariff Rose (12 month fixed) 883 Fixed . 10 One Select OneSelect Secure WF 12 Month Fixed 2018 887 Fixed . Source: uSwitch.com. Correct as of July 5 2018

Several energy companies have ramped up prices over the summer, affecting millions of households.

Consumer groups have warned energy customers about the rising tariffs, saying they should switch to a better deal.

Victoria Arrington, a spokeswoman for energyhelpline, said: 'Consumers can hardly keep up with the tsunami of price hikes this year. This second ScottishPower price rise is yet another bitter pill to swallow for millions of households.'
Shares in Johnston Press, the owner of a stack of newspaper titles including The i and The Scotsman, soared amid rumours of a mystery buyer.

The company ended the day up 49.3 per cent, or 1.8p, at 5.45p, as an unusually large number of shares changed hands.

Christen Ager-Hanssen, the Norwegian investor who is Johnston Presss largest shareholder through his firm Custos Group, denied he had been buying up more stock.

Big names: Johnston Press, owns a stack of newspaper titles including The i and The Scotsman

But he speculated that the hefty trades could be a sign of a new investor hoovering up shares.

He said that buying shares on a Thursday was a classic move which allows an investor planning to buy a big stake to stay anonymous for as long as possible.

Stock market rules dictate that an investor must let the market know when it owns more than 3 per cent of a company, within two trading days of crossing that threshold.

But by working its way up to 2.9 per cent on Thursday, an investor could then scoop up more and more shares on Friday and Monday before having to notify the market on Tuesday.

Johnston Press already has two activist investors in its top ten shareholders  Custos and investment fund Crystal Amber  who are looking to drive change at the newspaper business.

The media groups chief executive Ashley Highfield resigned in May, and in June it said that revenues for the year so far were down 9 per cent. Ager-Hanssen said: Im not impressed by the board at all. I think this company has the potential to do something, its a very important industry player in the UK market, but I think its sad that the board has been mistreating the company so extremely.

He added that his firm had ideas of what we want to do, but we want to see what the board comes up with first.

Yesterday, almost 3.4m Johnston shares changed hands, as opposed to just 1.5m in the entire three preceding days.

In the FTSE 100, pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca slipped by 0.9 per cent, or 56p, to 5881p as investors were given a bitter pill to swallow. It announced that its new drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease did not do as well as expected in its most recent trial against competitors.

AstraZenecas Colin Reisner said the findings were inconsistent with previous data, and that the firm was analysing the results.

The UKs FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.2 per cent at 7563.22 points, as the renewed spectre of a trade war dragged down heavyweight mining stocks.

But in the FTSE 250, telecoms company TalkTalk soared as Barclays raised its recommendation for the stock. TalkTalk ended the day up 8.4 per cent, or 10.4p, at 134p, as the analysts said operating trends were set to improve and noted its customer base was growing.

Infrastructure investor John Laing climbed to a record high after releasing strong results, firmly distancing itself from the woes of bust outsourcer Carillion as it said it was continuing to reduce its business in the UK.

Profit before tax rocketed from 36.6m to 174.3m in the first half of the year, and it added it had a strong pipeline of 2.3bn of investment opportunities. Its shares flew 6.6 per cent, or 19.4p, to 312.6p

But gambling software firm Playtech had a hard time impressing shareholders, as its chief executive defended the chairmans secret hefty pay rise despite two profit warnings in the past year.

Chairman Alan Jackson, 74, has been given a pay boost worth 66,000 a year, taking his annual salary to 450,000. Though revenue at Playtech still rose 4 per cent to 393.1m in the first half, shares dipped 1.6 per cent, or 8p, to 525.2p.
Oilfield company Petrofac has warned that it take a 43 million hit to its books on the sale of its stakes in some North Sea oil projects.

It is to offload its 20 per cent stake in the Greater Stella area development as well as its 25 per cent stake in a floating rig project. Both projects are located in the North Sea.

Energy firm Ithica is to take on the assets and will pay up to 227 million.

Mixed fortunes: While some firms have had to accept losses, others are benefiting from oil

Ithaca will pay 113 million on completion and a further 93 million between 2020 and 2023.

The remainder of the amount will be paid depending on performance.

Petrofac chief executive Ayman Asfari said This disposal marks a further milestone in our journey back to a capital-light business and, along with recently-agreed transactions in Mexico and Tunisia, marks the significant progress we are making on our stated strategy.

The announcement comes as Premier Oil enjoys abundant oil from the Catcher field, demonstrating the mixed fortunes being experienced by companies in the North sea.

It is understood that discussions are underway with contractors about raising production further.
John Bolton confronted his Russian counterpart over election meddling in 2016 when the pair met in Geneva on Thursday.

The National Security Adviser said he warned Nikolai Patrushev against any effort at interfering in the 2018 mid-terms and that America is 'prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening.'

While Bolton would not be drawn on what punishments might be leveled against Russia should interference be detected, he did say that no new sanctions would be put in place if the elections go smoothly.

He is now in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev where he will attend a parade to mark the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

John Bolton met with Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Geneva on Thursday, where the National Security Adviser warned him against interference in America's elections

Bolton's meeting with Patrushev is the first between the two men since Trump met with Putin in Helsinki in July, and was a 'concrete' result of that summit, Bolton said.

The meetings are aimed toward 'opening up channels' and 'break through some of the difficulties we've had,' he added.

Speaking about election meddling, he said: 'I raised that this morning,' before suggesting that the Russians reacted with stone faces: 'They didn't respond at all.'

'I'm going to make sure that they understand how strongly we feel about this,' he said, adding that he would 'tell them how firm the position of the U.S. is that there is no election meddling.'

Bolton told reporters later: 'I made it clear that we wouldn't tolerate meddling in 2018, and we were prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening.'

Asked if there would be consequences for Russians who might do so, Bolton demurred, saying the 'focus' was 'to make sure that's no repetition of 2016.' He said bilateral issues were on tap for his afternoon session.

But he appeared to offer a bit of an olive branch.

'There won't be any new sanctions if there's no further interference,' he said, before specifying that 'how we resolve the interference in the past remains to be seen.'

Bolton cautioned that 'people who are accused of having violated the sanctions could be indicted,' alluding to a possible follow-up of the U.S. indictments of 12 Russian officials as part of an investigation by U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller.

Patrushev said after the meeting in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that he and Bolton didn't agree on a joint statement because the U.S. wanted to mention the alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

'The Americans wanted to mention what they see as our meddling in their elections, and we deny that,' he said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.

He said that the meeting was constructive, adding that Russia will look at the U.S. proposals made during the meeting and expects the US to consider Russian initiatives.

Patrushev said he invited Bolton to have the next meeting in Russia, but no specific time frame was set. He added that they also agreed to resume contacts between defense and foreign ministries.

Bolton said the pair discussed Syria, Iran, North Korea, nuclear nonproliferation

Bolton said he and Patrushev had discussed nuclear nonproliferation, Iran, North Korea, arms control, and Middle East issues including Syria and Afghanistan.

He said he had expressed the U.S. 'priority of getting all Iranian forces out of Syria,' and reiterated that Putin had told Bolton in a recent meeting that the Russians too 'would like to see the Iranians go home as well, we (the Russians) are just not sure we alone can accomplish it.'

Bolton said he and Patrushev had discussed 'a number of ideas' about how to do that, without specifying. 'We're not going to solve Syria here,' he said.

Iran and Russia are two leading backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Bolton is a fervent critic of Iran's leadership, saying it supports terrorism, and has defended the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

Bolton told reporters the U.S. was considering a number of possibilities for the future of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, including whether it should be extended or renegotiated.

He said the U.S. was 'very, very early in the process' of considering the future of the new START or the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.

Bolton insisted that recent U.S. political turmoil over guilty pleas and verdicts against by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen - 'doesn't have any effect' on his job.

He said there was 'no weakening of my position, no weakening of the United States, and no weakening of the Trump administration' as a result of the developments that have arguably caused the greatest political crisis of Trump's 19-month presidency.

Asked about whether the issue had been addressed Thursday, he said the Russian officials 'haven't brought it up' in Thursday morning - and suggested they shouldn't at the later session either.

Bolton, a frequent critic of the United Nations who served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under George W. Bush's administration, also offered tough new language about the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council based in Geneva.

The Trump administration pulled out of the 47-member body in June, accusing it of anti-Israel bias and of allowing countries with poor human rights records to be among its members.

In a new development, he also said the United States will cut funding for the U.N. human rights office, where former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is set to become the new High Commissioner for Human Rights next month.

'We are going to de-fund the Human Rights Council,' Bolton said, while warning that other U.N. agencies could also be up for cuts in U.S. funding.

Bolton rejected claims by some U.N. officials who insist the council gets its funding through the regular U.N. budget - meaning that its operating expenses can't be specifically targeted.

The United States pays about 22 percent of the U.N. budget as part of what's known as an 'assessment' based on economic weight and other factors.

Bolton said 'we'll calculate 22 percent of the Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner's budget, and our remittances to the U.N. for this budget year will be less 22 percent of those costs - and we'll say specifically that's what we're doing,' he said. 'We expect that impact to occur on the Human Rights Council.'
Two men have been convicted of murder over the fatal shooting a high school honor student just days after she performed at Barack Obama's 2013 inauguration

Hadiya Pendleton, 15, died from a bullet wound in the back after being mistaken for a rival gang member while sheltering from the rain in a Chicago park with her friends.

Micheail Ward, who was 18 at the time and now aged 23, fired the fatal shot while 25-year-old Kenneth Williams, 20 at the time, acted as the getaway driver.

Williams was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday while a second jury returned a guilty verdict against Ward on Thursday.

Micheail Ward, who was 18 at the time of the attack, has been convicted of first-degree murder for firing the shot which killed 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton

Kenneth Williams, who was 20 at the time, was also convicted of first-degree murder for driving the getaway car that Ward used

Hadiya had performed at Barack Obama's second inauguration ceremony just a week before she was shot in the back while sheltering from the rain in a park

Ward and Williams also were convicted of aggravated battery for the wounding of two others.

During the trial, jurors watched a video in which Ward confessed to killing the teenager a little more than a week after she returned from Washington.

She had performed as a majorette with her high school band at President Barack Obama's inauguration festivities.

'There is justice for Hadiya,' her mother, Cleopatra Cowley, said through tears after the verdict was delivered. 'She did not deserve what happened to her.'

Ward said he did not want to open fire at the park on the city's South Side where Pendleton and friends were gathered after completing their final exams.

But he said Williams told him if he did not do it, then he would be killed.

Ward said he got out of the car he and Williams were in and walked over to a fence and opened fire on the group of young people whom he believed were members of a rival gang.

Cleopatra Cowley, Hadiya's mother, wept as she said justice had been served for her daughter, five years after she was killed

The court heard how Ward indiscriminately fired at Hadiya and her friends after mistaking them for rival gang members

None of the teens who were shot at were actually affiliated with any gang.

The case against Ward and Williams was further bolstered by grand jury testimony from two friends implicating them.

During the trial, the friends backed off their grand jury and police statements, saying they did not remember.

Prosecutors read their grand jury testimony into the trial record.

Ward's mother, April Ward, claimed police coerced her son into a confession.

'I'm disappointed how they just harassed these kids into a confession,' she said. 'They just sat there and manipulated him into saying what they wanted to hear.'

During closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutors highlighted statements Ward made both to fellow gang members and to detectives.

One example used was Ward's false statement that the teen was shot because a rival gang member had used her as a shield.

'You saw as he tried to justify killing a 15-year-old innocent girl,' said Assistant State's Attorney James Papa, who told jurors there were no other gang members in the park at the time of the shooting.

Defense attorneys countered with the argument that the detectives focused solely on Ward and Williams because they were under intense pressure to solve a case that had become a major national news story.

Hadiya's death caught national attention amid the gun violence debate and she was mentioned in Obama's State of the Union address that year

April Ward, mother of defendant Micheail Ward, appeared impassive as she watched her son during his murder trial

'They blocked out everything else,' claimed one of Ward's attorneys, Gina Piemonte, who said the fact that Ward in his confession got numerous facts wrong suggests detectives coerced him into admitting his guilt.

But the quick verdict suggests that the jury had little trouble discounting the contention by Ward's attorneys.

The death of Pendleton came to symbolize random gun violence in Chicago because of the girl's own history and because of her connection to the then-president of the United States and first lady.

The park where the teen was killed was about a mile from the Obama's childhood Chicago home.

Though the teen was just one of more than 3,000 homicide victims in the city since 2013, and was killed before the number of homicides in Chicago increased dramatically, her killing stood out because of the reaction from the White House.

Obama spoke of the girl's death during his 2013 State of the Union address.

The killing prompted Michelle Obama to return to Chicago, first to attend the teen's funeral and then later to tell an audience gathered not far from where she herself grew up, 'Hadiya Pendleton was me, and I was her.'
A white Texas police officer who shot at a car full of unarmed black teenagers outside a house party leaving a 15-year-old dead says he had no choice but to fire.

Roy Oliver, who has already been fired from the Balch Springs Police Department over the shooting in April 2017, spoke out as he stood trial for murder over the death of Jordan Edwards.

On Thursday Oliver told jurors that he decided to fire on the car when he saw it moving toward his partner, Officer Tyler Gross.

Roy Oliver, a former Texas police officer, claimed he had 'no choice' but to fire his gun at a car full of unarmed black teenagers outside a house party in April last year, leaving one dead

Oliver said he decided to use deadly force after seeing the car move toward his partner Tyler Gross while Gross was ordering the vehicle to stop

Oliver said he thought Gross was in danger, but Gross previously testified that he didn't fear for his life and never felt the need to shoot.

In the lead up to the shooting, both officers responded to the house party in Balch Springs attended by high-school aged youths.

Oliver said he was inside the house when gunshots were fired outside the residence, leading him to believe there was an active shooter.

It was later determined that the shots were fired near a nursing home in the area.

When Oliver went outside, he said he found Gross with his weapon drawn ordering a car to stop, saying he had a sense of urgency in his voice.

Jordan Edwards, 15 (pictured as a child), died after being shot by Oliver

Oliver testified that he saw the car back up and stop for a second before moving forward and going toward Gross.

Oliver testified he saw movement from a passenger's silhouette inside the vehicle, and thought Gross had found a shooter or shooters or at least some information on the gunfire.

He said a vehicle can be considered a deadly weapon, so he was left with no choice but to fire his rifle.

Oliver testified it was 'very sickening' when he realized he had killed the boy. 'I was in shock for days,' he said.

Two teenagers who were at the party testified last week that they were across the street when Oliver fired.

The teens, Eric Knight and Jeremy Seaton, said they could not see a justification for the gunfire.

Seaton said the car was not facing an officer at the time and had steered into the wrong lane of traffic to avoid officers.

The prosecution said all five shots were fired by Oliver after the car had passed Gross.

Philip Hayden, a use-of-force expert called by the prosecution, said Oliver used excessive force when he shot and killed Edwards and testified that a reasonable officer would not have opened fire.

Edwards's step-mother previously told the court how he was a studious child who was getting A and B grades before he was killed (pictured left with father Odell Edwards, right)

Defense attorney Bob Gill told the jury in an opening statement Thursday that the law requires them to view the situation through Oliver's perspective.

Oliver also testified the shooting could have been prevented if one of the bystanders had waved at him and reported the shooters near the nursing home had left the scene.

'It would have changed the outcome,' he said.

The defense also asked Oliver about an April 2017 incident in which he was rear ended while off duty and drew his weapon.

Police say he pointed the weapon at the ground after the collision. He was later indicted on two counts of aggravated assault tied to the incident.

Oliver, who said he was driving with his wife and young son at the time, testified he did hold his firearm up against his chest during the encounter.
A police dog handler has been banned from working with animals after he left his canine in his patrol car and it died of heat stroke.

Master police officer David Hurt left bomb-sniffing dog Turbo, a 22-month-old Labrador-retriever mix, in the vehicle for six hours without checking on him despite heat of up to 94F.

When he finally returned after six hours, Hurt found that Turbo was foaming at the mouth and listless.

Officer David Hurt has been banned from working with animals after bomb-sniffing dog Turbo died when Hurt left him in his patrol car for six hours without checking on him

He rushed the dog to a vet, but Turbo had to be put down two days later after suffering organ failure.

Hurt was taking part in gun training in South Carolina along with other dog handlers who also left animals in their vehicles, but returned to check on them regularly.

Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said Hurt failed to check on Turbo once that day, only returning after the training was completed.

Hurt had left the windows rolled down and the air conditioning on, but disabled a heat alarm in the vehicle.

'He didn't give any logical reason,' Holbrook said, adding that the behavior shocked seasoned dog handlers.

Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said Hurt offered no explanation for his actions, calling it 'a mistake of the heart he will have to deal with the rest of his life'

'It was a mistake of the heart he will have to deal with the rest of his life.'

Hurt was suspended for five days without pay while an investigation was carried out, before being thrown off the bomb squad and banned from working with animals ever again.

But prosecutors decided that while Hurt used terrible judgement, his actions were not criminally negligent and he will face no charges.

Hurt accepted the punishment and remains heartbroken at what happened, Holbrook said. He has children who loved the dog.

'It's like losing a partner or a family member,' the chief said. 'It is devastating.'
Retired Indianapolis fertility doctor Donald Cline (pictured) was banned Thursday from ever applying for a license in Indiana again

A retired Indianapolis fertility doctor who lied about using his own sperm to impregnate possibly dozens of women surrendered his medical license Thursday to a state board that also barred him from ever seeking its reinstatement.

After an attorney for Dr. Donald Cline surrendered his expired license to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, the panel voted to prohibit 79-year-old Cline from ever applying for a license in Indiana again.

Indiana's supervising deputy attorney general, Laura Iosue, asked the seven-member board before that vote to consider the impact of Cline's actions.

'It's particularly egregious. The important thing is that Dr. Cline doesn't practice anymore,' she said.

Cline, who retired from practice in 2009, was given a one-year suspended sentence in December after pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice.

He'd used his own sperm to impregnate as possibly dozens of women after telling them the donors were anonymous.

No other charges were filed against Cline because Indiana law doesn't specifically prohibit fertility doctors from using their own sperm.

Cline, who retired in 2009, lied about using his own sperm to impregnate possibly dozens of women

Cline was charged after lying to investigators, and he had faced up to three years in prison on each count.

The charges stemmed from two confirmed cases of paternity, but children of women treated by Cline have said DNA tests show he's likely the biological father of as many as 20 of them.

Cline apologized 'for the pain my actions have caused' during his December sentencing, although he didn't specify how often he used his own sperm in procedures.

But court documents state that he told one of his biological daughters, Jacoba Ballard, that he had done so about 50 times in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ballard said at Thursday's hearing that Cline's actions have 'affected me in every possible way'.

Liz White (above) was just one of the women who were said to be impregnated with Cline's sperm

Liz White and her son, Matt White, are shown above in this undated photo

Jacoba Ballard, Matt White and Julie Harmon (left to right) were among those linked through DNA tests, which they say proves ex-fertility doctor Donald Cline is their biological father

'He's portrayed as this man that's remorseful,' she said.

A total of 10 people who believe Cline is their biological father attended Thursday's hearing with their mothers.

Many of Cline's former patients and their children are now focusing on persuading Indiana lawmakers to pass a measure that would deem a fertility doctor's use of his own sperm as a crime.

Matt White, who learned as an adult that the 'anonymous' sperm donor who impregnated his mother was actually Cline, called the surrender of Cline's already expired license 'a slap on the wrist.'

But he said he appreciated the board barring Cline from ever seeking to seek reinstatement of his license.

'That was a small victory,' he said.
Investigative historian and author Dr. Peter Vronsky has predicted a wave of serial killers in the United States in the year 2035, thanks to the War on Terror and the economic crisis of 2008, in his new book, 'Sons of Cain'

An investigative historian and author has predicted a wave of serial killers in the United States in the year 2035, thanks to war and the economic crisis of 2008.

Dr. Peter Vronsky writes that these conditions, which we've been existing in now, create serial killers in his latest book, 'Sons of Cain,' a conclusion he has come to after decades of research.

In support of this claim, he references what he calls the 'golden age' of serial killers spanning from 1970 to 1999, which revealed the horrific acts of Ted Bundy, David Richard Berkowitz ('Son of Sam') and more, as he predicts the country is on pace for a similar outbreak of depraved behavior in just under 20 years.

'What worries me is are we facing a generation of children who are going to hit the average age of 28 in some 20 or 15 years from now and are we going to see an increase in serial homicides along with other societal problems,' Vronsky told Vice.

'It's not automatic that one becomes a serial killer but we know that behavioral problems in adults are often a result of childhood traumas. Whether theyre serial killers or burglars or drug users, broken families produce broken children and broken children grow up to be broken adults.'

The Canadian academic started his career in the study of murderers after a 1979 run-in with Richard Cottingham, the so-called 'Times Square Torso Ripper' that forever changed his life.

Since that time, he's developed the notion that serial killer instincts are in all of us.

In support of this claim, Vronsky references what he calls the 'golden age' of serial killers spanning from 1970 to 1999, which revealed the horrific acts of Ted Bundy and more, as he predicts the country is on pace for a similar outbreak of depraved behavior in just under 20 years; Ted Bundy watches intently during the third day of jury selection at his trial in Orlando for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, in 1980

'Just know that serial killers are us. We met the enemy and it's us. They come from our society. They come from our world. They are our neighbours. They are our teachers. They're our husbands. They're our wives,' Vronsky said.

'They've always been with us partly because we had to be a serial killing species to survive.'

Vronskly literally ran into one of 'us' in the hotel lobby of the Travel Inn on West 42nd Street, on December 2, 1979.

The killer was Cottingham, and he was rushing out of the elevator next to where Vronsky was trying to check into a room, after the killer had just completed the horrific double murder of Deedeh Goodarzi, 22, and another woman in a room on the fourth floor, according to the New York Daily News.

Vronsky literally ran into one of Richard Cottingham, known as the 'Times Square Torso Ripper,' in the hotel lobby of the Travel Inn on West 42nd Street, on December 2, 1979; Cottingham is shown here in an undated photo taken in a New Jersey prison

Goodarzi was known to have been a high-priced sex worker, a category of women which Cottingham was known to have a targeted.

In his usual fashion, which earned him his moniker, Cottingham had decapitated and amputated the appendages of his victims, and set the bodies on fire.

'He had a bag with him, there were heads in there. He kind of walked through me, it was kind of only a ten-second long encounter,' Vronsky said, explaining that he only later realized that man who he had locked eyes with was the cold-blooded killer.

'He seemed just like one of us and I learned later who he was. From that point on I was very interested in where these monsters come from.'

Cottingham is officially known to have killed six people, but claims to have been behind anywhere from 85 to 100 murders.

In his study of what creates a serial killer, Vronsky noted that 82 percent of serial killers emerged between 1970 and 1999, a time period he and others refer to as the 'golden age of serial killers.'

'Think the Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer era of the serial killer when they were prominent in society,' he said. 'When it was at its zenith in popular culture.'

That's also when the term was coined, he said.

Bundy was a serial killer, rapist and necrophiliac who was executed in Florida's electric chair in 1989.

His known victims were typically college-aged women, but his last victim was 12-year-old girl named Kimberly Leach, who he kidnapped and killed after escaping a second time from custody and feeling to Florida.

While he admitted to killing 36 women across several states, it's estimated he killed closer to 100 women, according to Biography.com.

In his study into the hearts and minds of these monsters, Vronsky said he realized that while serial killers most often commit their first murder at the age of 28, their violent ideations start much earlier.

Bundy was known to have had an interests in knives as early as the age of three. It's believed he killed his first victim in 1974, when he would have been right around 28 years old.

The first shooting attributed to David Berkowitz, known as 'Son of Sam,' occurred on July 29, 1976, when Berkowitz was 23 years old.

Berkowitz murdered six people in New York City in 197677, claiming he was taking orders from a demon-possessed dog, according to Biography.com.

The dog, named Harvey, belonged to Berkowitz's neighbor, Sam Carr. Berkowitz reportedly mixed up the dog's name with Sam's name, and called himself 'Son of Sam,' Newsweek reported. Berkowitz claimed the dog demanded the blood of 'pretty young girls.'

Vronsky argues that those kind of thoughts originate between the ages of five and 14, when violent fantasies start developing for these boys, and that took him back to examining the 1940s and '50s, when the killers of the 'golden age' were developing.

In his study into the hearts and minds of these monsters, Vronsky said he realized that while serial killers most often commit their first murder at the age of 28, their violent ideations start much earlier; New York mayor Abraham Beame (1906 - 2001, left) looks on as police detective Edward Zigo (right) holds up a .44 caliber revolver, the alleged murder weapon of the 'Son of Sam' serial killer, David Berkowitz, at New York Police headquarters on August 11, 1977

The first shooting attributed to Berkowitz (pictured) occurred on July 29, 1976, when Berkowitz was 23 years old

'If you look to when they were growing up there were two major eventsthe Great Depression which decimated a generation of men that should of been the breadwinners and WWII which would have traumatized a lot of fathers and left a lot of broken families,' Vronsky said.

'We think of the second war as a "good war" but it wasn't, it was hell, and it broke a lot of men. There was also this culture change going with these magazines celebrating what feminists would, rightfully, call rape culture.'

He added: 'There were similarities of these factors in other time periods, for example, serial homicides in the late 19th centurythe Jack the Ripper era and slightly before. Very similar things were going on.'

And now, Vronsky said he fears we're on pace for something similar in the very near future, thanks to less than optimal conditions for those growing up in the wake of perpetual war sending their parents away, and generally unstable home lives.

'Recently it appears there was a decline in homicides and parallel to that there's been a decline in serial homicides as well. But then you think of the War on Terror, it's not just fathers over there fighting but mothers as well,' he said.

'We also had the 2008 financial crash crisis that devastated millions of families in the United States. People lost their homes, you have a generation of kids living in motel rooms, essentially. That whole generation of earners lost their pride and ability to provide for their families.'

'Sons of Cain- (left) was released in paperback by Penguin Random House on August 14; His initial book on the subject of the murderous among us, ' Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters' (right), was first published in paperback in 2004

Vronsky's theory about the making of serial killers also leads him to believe we each have that kind of violent proclivity inside of us.

'Essentially my argument is that we as children have these kinds of primitive animal "I want it now" instincts and good parenting, happy childhoods, environmental stability, all these different things ween us off those instincts and teach us to inhibit them,' he said.

'Those people left behind, they become kind of the violent players in our society. They're not necessarily serial killers but they're the people who perpetrate violence beyond its necessity for self-preservation. So in that sense, all of us are kinda unmade as serial killers.'

Vronksy said that serial killing has become what it is today, in much the same way that obesity is a plague on modern society.

'Obesity is an artefact of our survival because it's our ability to store fat at times when there were shortages of food. Now, in the western world, that fat-storing capacity becomes a destructive thing,' he said.

'I think that's what serial killing today is. It's something that was naturally necessary for us but in our modern society, serial killing is destructive.'

Vronsky is currently a professor at Ryerson University in Toronto.

His initial book on the subject of the murderous among us, 'Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters,' was first published in paperback in 2004.
Chet Lloyd, 34, was arrested Wednesday and charged with domestic assault and drug possession, and later released on bond

The father of a three-year-old boy who was found dead in a clothes dryer has been arrested for assaulting the child's mother.

Virginia man Chet Lloyd, 34, was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend Amanda Ray, who is the boy's mother, and broke her cellphone.

He reportedly attacked her last week outside a funeral home where the two were making arrangements for their son Brantley Lloyd who was found dead in the clothes dryer on August 7.

He was charged with domestic assault of a family member, damaging the victim's cellphone, as well as drug possession as he was found with one gram of cocaine. He was later released on bond.

Ray confirmed to AP that Lloyd assaulted her outside the funeral home.

A funeral for three-year-old Brantley was held on Saturday which Lloyd did not attend, according to The Virginia Pilot.

Lloyd allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend Amanda Ray, the mother of his son Brantley Lloyd (above), last week outside a funeral home where they were making arrangements for the child. Lloyd claims he found Brantley dead in the clothes dryer machine of his home on August 7

Brantley had been living with his father (center) since his parents' break-up in 2017

Lloyd (pictured with his three children) claimed Brantley (seen in his dad's arms as a baby) had been up all night having tantrums and throwing up before he was found unresponsive in the clothes dryer

The investigation into Brantley's death continues after his father claims the child must have climbed out of his crib and entered the machine.

The day before was the child's birthday and the father said Brantley was in a bad mood, throwing tantrums.

Lloyd said he slept late the following day and didn't go to work after staying up all night with his son, who was throwing up. When he woke up he found the child unresponsive.

Lloyd said he had been doing laundry the day beforehand and that the little boy must have climbed inside the dryer.

'He was unresponsive and covered in sweat and extremely hot,' Lloyd told The Virginia Pilot. 'I don't know if he panicked and couldn't get out. He had asthma.'

Brantley's mother Amanda Ray (pictured left with her son) didn't live at the home with Lloyd and reveals she doesn't believe her ex's claims saying: 'Nothing is adding up'

Amanda Ray said she does not understand how he died and wants answers. Police are still investigating the child's death

The child's mother Amanda Ray doesn't live at the home and says that her ex's claims make little sense.

'Nothing is adding up,' she said to ABC. 'I don't understand how my baby was in a dryer. I don't understand how he died.'

Ray said she lived with Lloyd, Brantley and her two other children in his home before the relationship ended in early 2017.

Lloyd was evicted from his townhome a week after the boy's death.

An autopsy has been completed but the cause and manner of death are yet to be determined, according to Donna Price, regional administrator for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Norfolk.

Virginia Beach Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Kathy Hieatt said Lloyd was booked around 8.30pm Wednesday and released on bond two hours later.

He is scheduled to appear in court on September 4.
People living on a quiet suburban street are being fined for parking outside their homes.

Residents living in Cranbourne, in Melbourne, are becoming fed up with being unable to park on the street which is surrounded by no stopping signs.

Sophie Lang was visiting her partner who lives on the estate and parked on Willow Glen Boulevard.

Residents of the Cranbourne street in Melbourne are becoming fed up with being unable to park on the street which is surrounded by no stopping signs (Pictured: Willow Glen Boulevard)

She said she was issued with a $159 fine at 8.30pm from the City of Casey.

Ms Lang told A Current Affair: 'When I sent them a letter to review the fine they sent me what was a computer generated emailing that said "no, you still have to pay and here is the date".

'I don't understand why they didn't just make the road a bit wider, because it's high density living.'

Sophie Lang (pictured) was visiting her partner who lives on the estate and parked on Willow Glen Boulevard

Ms Lang isn't the only driver that's been fined.

Delivery driver, Mernice, who hasn't had a parking fine in ten years, was left 'annoyed' when he got a letter in the mail.

While another resident said: 'It is the last thing you want to have on your mind - "Can't I park in my own street".'

The residents of the new development said that despite the no stopping signs poor planning is forcing them to park on the street.

Narrow streets and unit blocks are forcing residents to park on the grass outside their home.

One resident was concerned about what would happen in an emergency due to the parking situation.

Previously residents were parking down side streets but they have also become off limits with no standing zones now put in place.

City of Casey spokesperson Gerard Scholten told Daily Mail Australia: 'Council responded to complaints from neighbours of cars blocking the footpath and nature strips restricting access for waste contractors on their weekly run.

She said she was issued with a $159 fine at 8.30pm from the City of Casey and when she contacted them about it she was told she still needed to pay

'However, following a visit to Willow Glen Boulevard on Wednesday, Council has launched a review of parking arrangements in the street to see how we can address residents concerns.

'While the review is conducted, Council will withdraw all infringements issued in the street.

'We apologise to the residents effected.'

Mr Scholten said that the development permit was approved in line with the Victorian Government planning controls and that the developer took 'maximum advantage' of what's allowed.

He also said that there is an overflow carpark available.
A man has been was stabbed in the neck and chest in a vicious attack on a train in Sydney's northern suburbs.

The 19-year-old man, who was travelling from Newcastle to Central station, was stabbed in the neck and chest as the train neared Epping station about 11pm on Thursday.

It's believed the victim didn't know and his attacker prior to the attack, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A 19-year-old man (pictured) is in a serious but stable condition after he was stabbed in the neck and chest on a train in Epping in Sydney's northern suburbs

Emergency services treated the man at the scene for what police described as 'non life-threatening' stab wounds before taking him to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

A hospital spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia a 19-year-old male had been admitted overnight with stab wounds but declined to provide further information.

Officers from Ryde Police Area Command are currently speaking with witnesses and investigating the matter - including reviewing CCTV footage from the train station.

Police are urging anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
Two white supremacists have been jailed for more than five years for brutally beating a black man during the Charlottesville rally.

Alex Ramos of Georgia was jailed for six years and Jacob Goodwin of Arkansas for eight years on malicious wounding charges.

DeAndre Harris was severely injured when the pair bashed him with sticks, a riot shied, and their fists in the Market Street Parking Garage on August 12, 2017.

Two white supremacists have been jailed for more than five years for brutally beating DeAndre Harris, a black man, during the Charlottesville rally

He suffered a gash to his head that needed staples to close, a broken wrist, and numerous cuts and bruises.

Video of the sickening beating showed Mr Harris being chased into the garage before Goodwin knocked him to the ground with the shield.

The pair and several other men then savagely bashed him as he tried to crawl away before leaving him for dead.

Judge Richard Moore accepted a jury recommendation that Goodwin be jailed for 10 years and get $20,000 fine and empathy training.

However, he suspended two years of the sentence, added five years of probation on top, and cut the fine to $5,000.

Jacob Goodwin was jailed for eight years with two extra suspended, plus five years probation and a $5,000 fine. He knocked Mr Harris to the ground then laid into him

Ramos was jailed for six years with an added three years suspended and more in probation, with the judge calling his actions 'evil'

He said the video showed one of the most brutal one-sided beatings he'd ever seen and did not buy that Goodwin attacked him out of fear.

'You had the appearance of military or riot police. You had no rational reason to be afraid,' he said in rubbishing Goodwin's argument, according to Daily Progress.

Judge Moore said Ramos' actions were 'evil' and cited a Facebook post where he bragged about the attack on Mr Harris.

Mr Harris suffered a gash to his head that needed staples to close, a broken wrist, and numerous cuts and bruises

'We stomped some ass getting some was f**king fun,' the post read.

Judge Moore added three years of suspended time to Ramos' sentence so he could give him probation that would not double up with the suspended years.

'I am not bound by the jury verdict, I find it to be correct in this case; in my view, you caused more harm,' he said.

Daniel Borden and Tyler Davis were also charged with malicious wounding for their part in the beating, who are yet to be convicted.

Borden did not admit his guilt but acknowledged the prosecution had enough to convict him, sending the case straight to sentencing. He faces up to 20 years jail.

Davis pleaded not guilty and is out on bail, next due to appear in court on October 3 with a trial date not yet set.

Mr Harris was found not guilty of misdemeanor assault in a separate incident earlier in the day when video showed him hitting a man with a flashlight.

He successfully testified that he thought the man was attacking his friend with a flagpole and tried to knock the weapon out of his hand but missed.
A Utah man is sitting behind bars after he was chased down by an angry mother who allegedly caught him peeking under her 12-year-old daughter's changing stall.

The mother, Doris Stiles-Scown, ran after Jorge Leon-Alfaro into the Rue 21 parking lot on Saturday and filmed the entire incident for a video that has since gone viral.

'This right here is what a predator looks like,' Stiles-Scown says at the beginning of the video, which has since received 15 million views and 380,000 shares.

'I caught this guy underneath my daughter's stall while she was changing,' she continues, focusing the camera on Leon-Alfaro as he sits on the ground in shame.

Jorge Leon-Alfaro, 36, (pictured) has been arrested after he was chased down by an angry mother who allegedly caught him peeking under her 12-year-old daughter's changing stall

Doris Stiles-Scown (pictured left) ran after Jorge Leon-Alfaro into the Rue 21 parking lot on Saturday and filmed the entire incident for a video that has since gone viral

Stiles-Scown had gone to get her daughter a different size when she returned and saw Leon-Alfaro under the stall and grabbing her child's legs, she reveals.

The outraged mother then explains that she chased down Leon-Alfaro after he ran off into the parking lot of the Salt Lake City store.

'Thankfully I got him,' she says. 'Not today buddy, not today.'

'I'm going to make sure your face gets out so that you're not in any more stalls looking under little girls dressing.'

Stiles-Scown then demands that Leon-Alfaro look at the camera, but he only mumbles something in reply.

Stiles-Scown had gone to get her daughter a different size when she returned and saw Leon-Alfaro under the stall and grabbing her child's legs, she reveals

Security officers and bystanders helped Stiles-Scown detain Leon-Alfaro at the parking lot until police arrived around 7.30pm

'I don't care, I'm going to make sure you go viral,' she shoots back. 'You're a sick pervert.'

'A 12-year-old girl. That's what she gets for her birthday, it's her birthday in two days and she gets some sick pervert looking under her stall, trying to grab her.'

Stiles-Scown, now in tears, then tells Leon-Alfaro he's 'so lucky' that she isn't going to hurt him.

'Because that's what I want to do right now,' she continues. 'Because what you did to her, you're going to leave a scar on my daughter permanently.'

Stiles-Scown was in tears throughout the video and told Leon-Alfaro he was 'lucky' she wasn't going to hurt him

'Are you happy with yourself? And you better bet your a** I'm going to be at every single court date.'

Stiles-Scown then switches the camera to her face and says she's 'going to lose it'.

'Not today, he didn't get away from this mom,' she says. 'It took everything for me not to run him over.'

Security officers and bystanders helped Stiles-Scown detain Leon-Alfaro at the parking lot until police arrived around 7.30pm.

An employee of Rue 21 also validated Stiles-Scown's account of the incident.

Authorities had enough evidence on the scene to arrest Leon-Alfaro and charged him with voyeurism. He is currently being held at Salt Lake County Jail.
Commuters have narrowly escaped being hit by a panel that fell from the roof of a bus and exposed wiring.

The seemingly unaware bus driver continued to pick up passengers on its Sydney route despite the hazard and safety risk.

A photo of the inside of the bus was shared to Reddit on Tuesday, where social media users responded to the Transport for NSW blunder.

A panel fell from a Sydney bus and the driver continued to pick up passengers despite the hazard (pictured)

The commuter who shared the picture wrote: 'It was like that when I boarded the bus, only a few stops from the start.'

'No blood or corpses in sight, except maybe hoodie guy.'

Some Reddit users questioned the safety standards of the buses and the danger posed to commuters.

'TransportNSW is so lucky this didn't hit someone. Or did it?'

'This is it. We are looking at the peak of Sydney public transport. Right here, in this moment, will be written in the books for the rest of time,' another Reddit user wrote.

Others joked about the incident, claiming it was another typical day on Sydney transport.

'This is it. We are looking at the peak of Sydney public transport. Right here, in this moment, will be written in the books for the rest of time.

''Where is it's opal card? That's fare evasion if you didn't beep or low balance,' shared another user.

A Transport For NSW spokesman told Daily Mail Australia safety of commuters was taken 'extremely seriously.'

'We expect all operators to have the safety of passengers as a top priority,' he said.

The incident was shared to Reddit where it was captioned: 'panel fell off the bus? She'll be right mate' (stock image)

'Transport for NSW does not want any mode of public transport being used in service if there are any maintenance concerns.'

The spokesperson said the exposed wires did not pose a threat to commuters as they are low voltage.

The incident comes months after a Sydney bus travelling from the inner-west to the eastern suburbs was held together by gaffer tape.
Katie Piper has spoken of her agony after learning the man who doused her in acid 10 years ago will soon be released from prison.

The model and TV presenter, 34, went to a parole board meeting to beg officials not to free Stefan Sylvestre, 30, from jail.

But officials decided he was no longer a danger to the public and could be released in a matter of weeks, despite being given a life sentence with a minimum six-year term in 2009.

Today the mother-of-two took to Instagram to tell her followers how devastated she is, but that her new challenge of being on Strictly Come Dancing is helping her through.

Katie Piper (pictured right this week outside training for Strictly Come Dancing) went to a parole board hearing in a failed bid to convince officials not to release her acid attacker Stefan Sylvestre (mugshot pictured left) from prison

Today mother-of-two Katie Piper took to Instagram to tell her followers how devastated she is

She wrote: 'Hi everyone, I felt it was important to put a message out to my friends, supporters and followers.

'This is a really difficult time for me. I am trying to come to terms with the decision and this is something I need to deal with.

'Over the past two weeks Strictly has already given me such a welcome and positive distraction from my past.

'Whilst there is never a good time to hear this news I am glad I have this new journey to concentrate on.

Ms Piper is pictured at Chelsea Flower Show in London in May

'Thank you for your continued support, I really appreciate it. Love Katie x'

Sylvestre left Piper partially blind, with severe scarring to much of her body after throwing sulphuric acid at her face on the orders of her former partner.

Daniel Lynch, an obsessed fan who had a brief relationship with Piper, raped the aspiring model and presenter and ordered Sylvestre to attack her with acid in 2008.

After a trial the following year, Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years at the age of 33. Sylvestre, then 20, received life with a minimum of six years.

Ten years after her horrific ordeal, Ms Piper, now a mother-of-two, is preparing to appear on Strictly Come Dancing.

Last week she posted a defiant message on Instagram. She shared a pictured with a caption that read: 'When the world says, 'give up', hope whispers, 'try it one more time'.'

A spokesman for the Parole Board said: 'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Mr Stefan Sylvestre following an oral hearing.

'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release.

'The panel will have carefully looked at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change.

'We do that with great care and public safety is our number one priority.'

The Parole Board's decision summary said Sylvestre's case was considered at an oral hearing, adding that Piper read statements in person to the panel.

'The panel took full account of the content of these statements and the supporting documentation,' the summary says.

The document adds: 'The panel considered that there were a number of things that reduced Mr Sylvestre's risk of causing serious harm in the future.

'Mr Sylvestre is now 30 years of age and was just 19 when he committed the index offence.

'He was drawn into a criminal lifestyle in his teens and was involved with drugs.

Daniel Lynch (mugshot pictured) an obsessed fan who had a brief relationship with Piper, raped the aspiring model and presenter and ordered Sylvestre to attack her with acid in 2008

'During his time in custody, Mr Sylvestre has actively avoided anti-social behaviour within the prison and has avoided violence, despite being under threat.

'He has behaved well to distance himself from such influences.

'He has repaired his relationship with his family, has gained employment-related skills and improved his education.

'He has not been involved in drugs in prison and has completed relevant offence-focused work to challenge and change his attitude and thinking.'

The summary said a forensic psychologist told the panel that there were factors which would protect Sylvestre from returning to offending and a criminal lifestyle, including his improved relationship with his family and his plans for the future.

Last week Ms Piper posted a defiant message on Instagram, sharing a picture that reads: 'When the world says 'give up', hope whispers 'try it one more time''

'Mr Sylvestre displayed empathy for the victim and expressed remorse and shame for his actions,' the summary said.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Our heartfelt sympathies are with Katie Piper for the ordeal she has suffered.

'Acid attacks are abhorrent and those convicted can face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Sylvestre left Piper (pictured in 2009 a year after being attacked) partially blind, with severe scarring to much of her body after throwing sulphuric acid at her face on the orders of her former partner

'The release of indeterminate sentenced prisoners is a matter for the independent Parole Board, which carries out a full risk assessment before making a decision.

'Public protection is our priority and while we understand public concern, it is vital that we respect the independence of the Parole Board.

'That is why we are carrying out a full review of the Parole Board rules, which will build on the work we have already done to increase transparency and ensure victims are supported.'

The Parole Board summary said Sylvestre became eligible to be considered for release on April 8 2014, and had a previous review by the Parole Board in 2015.

Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years for sexually assaulting Piper and telling Sylvestre to throw acid over her.

The pair had dated briefly before steroid-fuelled martial arts fan Lynch, who had a previous conviction for pouring boiling water over a man, became obsessively jealous.

In court, Lynch and Sylvestre were told by Judge Nicholas Browne QC they were 'the face of pure evil'.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's most loyal lieutenant has called on Liberals to vote for challenger Peter Dutton.

Former Finance Minister Mathia Cormann has backed Mr Dutton as the man to win over John Howard's battlers and unite the fractured party.

Mr Cormann's resignation from cabinet on Thursday was a turning point in the crisis engulfing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's leadership.

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Former Finance Minister Mathia Cormann has backed Mr Dutton as the man to win over John Howard's battlers and unite the fractured party

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's most loyal lieutenant has called on Liberals to vote for challenger Peter Dutton

But the former Turnbull supporter is confident tensions will be brought to a head on Friday at a partyroom meeting where he'll back Mr Dutton to be Australia's next prime minister.

'Peter Dutton connects very well to hard-working, aspirational Australians,' Mr Cormann told Sky News on Friday.

'I believe he will be able to reconnect with the Howard battlers - bring them back in the Liberal fold.

'He knows what it takes to win margin seats, he knows what it takes to connect to families around Australia looking to get ahead.'

'Peter Dutton connects very well to hard-working, aspirational Australians,' Mr Cormann said

WHO IS PETER DUTTON? * Born November 18, 1970 in Brisbane. * Married to Kirilly and has three children. * Joined Young Liberals in 1988. * Unsuccessfully ran in 1989 Queensland state election in Labor-held seat of Lytton. * Queensland police officer 1990-99, serving in the drug squad, sex offenders squad and National Crime Authority. * Studied a business degree at Queensland University of Technology. * Childcare centre company director 1993-01. * Won seat of Dickson in 2001 and re-elected in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016. * Elevated to Minister for Workforce Participation in Howard government in 2004. * Took on Revenue and Assistant Treasurer position 2006. * Entered shadow cabinet after Howard's 2007 election loss. * Appointed Health and Sport Minister by Tony Abbott in 2013. * Took on Immigration and Border Protection from December 2014. * Minister for Home Affairs from December 2017. * Outer Brisbane seat of Dickson held with a margin of 1.6 per cent. Source: AAP Advertisement

Mr Cormann, who is a close friend of Mr Dutton, said the former home affairs minister was best equipped to unite the Liberals and win the next federal election.

It comes as Mr Dutton handed Mr Turnbull legal advice confirming he is eligible to sit in parliament.

The former Home Affairs Minister is fending off questions about his family's financial interests in two Brisbane childcare centres, which receive federal government subsidies.

This could put him in breach of section 44 of the Constitution, which bans from parliament persons who have 'any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the public service of the Commonwealth'.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference

PETER DUTTON'S POLICY PRIORITIES IMMIGRATION * Cut the annual permanent migration intake. * Push migrants towards Western Australia, South Australia and regional areas to reduce congestion in major cities. ENERGY * Lower power prices by removing the GST on electricity bills. * Establish a royal commission into the fuel and energy sectors. TAX * Abandon corporate tax cuts and deliver more relief to wage earners and small businesses instead. DROUGHT * Deliver more water to drought-stricken farmers. Source: AAP Advertisement

Mr Dutton released advice to the contrary from his own barrister on Thursday and overnight released another opinion by former solicitor-general David Bennett, which he says 'clearly states' he can sit in parliament.

Mr Cormann said the doubts were 'absolute rubbish'.

'Of course Peter Dutton is validly elected to the Australian parliament,' he said.

Mr Dutton said the fresh legal advice is in addition to earlier legal advice from Guy Reynolds QC.

'Mr Bennett's unequivocal advice puts to rest the spurious and unsubstantiated allegations raised against by eligibility' he posted on social media.

Mr Turnbull asked the current Solicitor-General of Australia Stephen Donaghue to examine the issue.

That advice was handed to his office on Friday morning, ahead of an expected midday meeting of Liberal MPs to determine the party's leadership,

If the Prime Minister receives a letter with 43 signatures accounting for a majority of Liberal MPs calling for a spill, as he has requested, Mr Turnbull will trigger the meeting in Canberra.
A hospital security guard has been arrested after he was caught having sex with a woman's corpse, police say.

Cameron Wright, 23, is accused of violating the body of 37-year-old April Parham at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis on Wednesday.

Ms Parham had died suddenly just hours earlier and her body was being prepared for organ donation when Wright allegedly carried out his crime.

Cameron Wright, 23, was allegedly caught having sex with the body of 37-year-old April Parham just hours after she died at a hospital in Memphis

Parham passed away suddenly on Wednesday morning, according to her family, and her body was being prepared for organ donation that evening when Wright allegedly violated it

Two other security guards walked into the body storage room on Wednesday night and saw him having sex with the corpse, police records show.

Wright was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, and has also been fired by his employer.

Police say he has admitted to his crime. He is due to make his first court appearance via video-link on Friday.

Father James said he is 'devastated' by the news and is calling for someone to be held responsible

It is not clear how Ms Parham died, but posts on her family's social media pages reveal the death was sudden and 'completely unexpected.'

Now, as well as dealing with the sudden loss of a loved one, Parham's family are also trying to cope with this news.

Father James Parham told WMCA 5: 'After you pass, we think finally she's not suffering, she's not hurting no more and to find out this. It's devastating. It hurts.'

Speaking to Fox13, he added: 'What we need is some answers. We need some concrete answers, and somebody held accountable.

'That is what we need right now. It's hard enough.'

Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis said Wright had undergone a background check and was contracted through U.S. Security Associates.

A statement from the hospital said: 'Treating those we serve with dignity and respect is our top priority.

'The behavior of this individual does not represent what our hospital stands for, and these actions are completely unacceptable.

'We are saddened by this incident, and we are empathetic and sympathetic to the family of the patient.'
A senior constable has been jailed after he punched a teenager in the jaw and then faked charges against him.

Senior Constable Simon Mareangareu was found guilty of punching the boy in the face and attempting to pervert the course of justice after the Christmas Day attack in Melbourne.

He was sentenced to 12 months behind bars and to pay a $5,000 fine.

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Senior Constable Simon Mareangareu (pictured) was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months in jail for punching a teenager in the face and attempting to pervert the court of justice after the Christmas Day attack

The officer stopped Stuart Laird, 16, and his friend Kyan Foster, 17, in Ringwood, east Melbourne, during the early hours of Christmas morning in 2014.

The pair had left a friend's when they were stopped by the officers and accused of being involved in burglaries.

In a video of the incident Sen Con. Mareangareu could be heard saying, 'Hey, sonny, don't get smart' before assaulting the teen and shoving him to the ground.

The video was released by County Court Judge Jeanette Morrish who stipulated that it must be reported the footage was not complete, had been enhanced and was not properly synchronised.

The victim's friend, who filmed the incident, attempted to capture further footage of the struggle, but appeared to have his phone struck out of his hand by a second policeman, officer Dennis Gundrill.

Mr Gundrill could be heard pressuring the teen to deleting the footage, moments before the teen vocally accused the police officer of twisting his arm.

Sen Con. Mareangareu was suspended from the police force on unpaid leave until the case's completion

The footage was allegedly deleted after the boys were taken to the Ringwood police station, Yahoo reported.

False charges were then laid in order to pervert the course of justice.

Prosecutor Bruce Walmsley QC said the video was recovered after the teen's father paid a 'significant sum' to experts, prompting Victoria Police to investigate.

Outside of court, speaking to 9 News, Mr Forster said: 'This case - it is not just about an assault.

The officer stopped Stuart Laird, 16, and his friend Kyan Foster, 17, (pictured) in Ringwood, east Melbourne , during the early hours of Christmas morning in 2014

'It is about false accusations against my person and an abuse of power in order to make those claims legitimate.'

County Court Judge Jeanette Morrish described the father-of-two's actions as 'disgraceful'.

The decorated officer's wife cried as he was taken from the dock.

Previously Sen Con. Mareangareu's defence lawyer asked he be spared jail and given a community corrections order.

Sen Con. Mareangareu could be heard saying, 'Hey, sonny, don't get smart' before assaulting the teen and shoving him to the ground (pictured)

When Sen Con. Marengareu appeared in court earlier this month, Judge Morrish noted he saved three people's lives during his time in the service.

'Does that not entitle him to the exercise of considerable mercy? Does he not deserve a chance?' she said.

'He has saved three lives, does he get a chance to have his life of freedom saved?'

Sen Con. Mareangareu was suspended from the police force on unpaid leave until the case's completion.
Canadian York Regional police are seeking the help of anyone with information about a woman who was seemingly abducted at gun point in the town of Richmond Hill.

The woman was captured on camera ringing a doorbell and begging for help at 2.50am on Thursday.

She could be heard saying 'I think I'm going to die' as a person who appeared to be a man approached and dragged her away by her hair.

No one answered the door at the home, located in the area of the intersection of High Tech Road and Silver Linden Drive.

York Regional police can be contacted at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7241.

Anonymous tips can be made through CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

The woman can be seen in the video approaching the doorbell and looking over her shoulder at car parked on the street with its lights on.

A person appearing to be a man then comes into view in front of the car, approaching the woman on the porch.

She steps away from the door as he approaches quickly, as she's heard telling him to stop.

Canadian York Regional police are seeking the help of anyone with information about a woman who was seemingly abducted at gun point in Richmond Hill at around 2.50am on Thursday

The woman was captured on camera ringing a doorbell and begging for help near the intersection of High Tech Road and Silver Linden Drive, but no one answered

The person then says, 'Stop? You gunna stop? Be like (inaudible) you should slam one in your heard right now.'

The two are out of the view of the camera for a moment.

When they reappear, the person is pulling the woman by her hair toward the car, as she is doubled over.

She steps away from the door as he approaches quickly, as she's heard telling him to stop

The person's face can't be clearly seen in the video, so police are asking for help

'I think I'm gonna die,' the woman says, to which the man replies, 'Good'

'Get in the (inaudible) car right now,' the person says.

'I think I'm gonna die,' the woman says, to which the man replies, 'Good.'

As the person drags the woman away, an object in the shape of a gun appears to be in the person's hand.

The woman is dragged by her hair down the path in front of the house, up to the parked car

The two appear to struggle at the door of the car, as the person says 'Get in the (expletive) car'

The woman is dragged down the path in front of the house, up to the parked car.

The two then appear to struggle at the door of the car, as the person says 'Get in the (expletive) car.'

Police said she was put in the car, and driven away.

Anyone with information related to this alleged abduction is asked to contact the authorities immediately.
Britain's largest police force will not use spit guards on suspects in the street.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the protective hoods should only be fitted to those in custody.

The move comes despite the Home Secretary saying earlier this year it was 'ridiculous' that the masks were not in widespread use.

Sajid Javid said: 'I cannot understand why any chief constable would put public perception before protecting police officers.'

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick, said the protective hoods should only be fitted to those in custody and not to suspects on the street (pictured Joshua Beadle, 2010, and UFC Fighter Jon Koppenhaver 2010)

Spit guards are used by around half of all forces in England and Wales but have been labelled 'cruel and degrading' by campaigners.

Sussex Police came under fire when officers used a spit hood on a disabled 11-year-old girl.

Proposals to introduce the masks in London two years ago were suspended after they were criticised by the mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Ken Marsh, of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said officers are regularly spat at and deserve to be protected.

However, Gracie Bradley, of the human rights group Liberty, said the decision was a 'step in the right direction' and claimed that the guards were 'degrading and dangerous'.
A high school has erupted in violence as at least 150 students and parents believed to be affiliated with the feared Mongrel Mob and Black Power battled it out in the playground.

Shocking footage recorded on Wednesday from a mobile phone shows a mob of students from Rosehill College in Papakura punching and kicking each other.

Another brawl erupted at the school in south Auckland just after 2pm on Thursday - which saw the school locked down.

Police told Daily Mail Australia that one of the parents allegedly involved in the incident yesterday has been identified and is affiliated to a gang.

Extra security was hired on Friday over fears violence will erupt again.

'This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable. Parents have an expectation that their children will go to school and be safe,' Inspector Tony Wakelin of Counties Manukau Police told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are ensuring that we have a strong presence at the school as a precaution as we want our community to feel safe.

'I am confident after talking to the principal this morning that the school and police will be working together to ensure the safety of our children, which remains our priority.'

Footage shows students of Rosehill College battling it out on the school's grounds

Security at Rosehill College in south Auckland has been tightened following the bust-up

Students of the college claim that the recent brawls represent a growing trend of violent incidents at the school.

Inspector Wakelin has told Daily Mail Australia that it is 'concerning' that previous incidents have not been reported. Police inquiries into the violence at Rosehill College are ongoing.

Mongrel Mob is one of New Zealand's most notorious street gangs. It was formed in the 1960s and has a reputation for violent dealings. Many of its members have been kicked out of Australia.

Its main rival, Black Panther, is largely involved in organised crime in New Zealand and its members are mainly of Maori and Polynesian descent.

The two rivals have had a number of violent run-ins over the years.

Mongrel Mob is known by many as one of New Zealand's most notorious street gangs
are urged to be cautious when selling to new and unknown buyers

Opportunist scammers posing as beef wholesalers are ripping off battling Australian farmers, offering inflated returns for perishing cattle.

It has left a number of farmers at breaking point, who are already struggling to survive financially.

Queensland police have revealed fraudsters are contacting farmers on the phone or online, before quickly working out an agreement to purchase stock.

Farmers are being targeted by scammers who are offering high prices for perishing cattle

Payments are then not lodged, leaving drought stricken farmers further out of pocket.

Producers are being urged by police to be highly cautious when attempting to sell to new and unknown buyers.

Cyber criminals have also previously targeted farmers offering machinery at cost price.

NSW Police revealed scammers, purporting to be based abroad, advertised machinery on online sales sites, with payment via Western Union.

In some instances, scammers also impersonated servicemen, in an attempt to build trust.

The farm equipment subsequently never turned up, with the 'seller' proving to be fake.

A NSW farmer surveys the harsh land conditions which have accompanied the drought

Police are also reporting more instances of trespassers on rural properties across Queensland.

Detective Inspector Mick Dowie told The Bulletin people were often found driving on remote areas of large properties and could face hefty fines if trespassing.

'We often find that people committing opportunistic theft when they come across machinery such as pumps, generators and quad bikes and will use the excuse they are only hunting if challenged by the farmer,' he said.

'These thieves and reckless hunters give legitimate hunters with appropriate approvals a bad name and farmers and producers simply close off their properties to protect themselves and their interests.

'We will prosecute trespassers on rural properties to protect property owners and industry as they have enough on their hands with the current drought conditions.'

Australian citizens lost an estimated $340 million to scammers last year.
Three major fashion brands will stop selling their products at Myer, in another blow for the struggling department store giant.

Country Road, Politix and Mimco, all operating under the Country Road Group, will now be exclusively sold at David Jones stores.

The fashion brands are set to disappear from Myer's shelves within 12 month.

Myer cops another blow as three major fashion brands are going to cease distribution from the department store

David Jones chief executive David Thomas (pictured) said that the company was proud to offer the brands exclusively to their customers

Woolworths Holdings, the owner of David Jones and the Country Road Group, made the announcement on Thursday.

The decision comes after David Jones' profits were halved to $63 million over the last financial year, the Herald Sun reported.

David Jones chief executive David Thomas said the company was proud to offer the brands exclusively to their customers.

BRANDS LEAVING MYER Country Road

Politix

Mimco Advertisement

'(This) will be a major step in differentiating our unique brand portfolio and providing our customers with an unrivalled department store experience,' he said.

David Jones also announced new partnerships with international luxury brands including Burberry Beauty and Christian Louboutin Beauty.

'We look forward to announcing more exclusive brand partnerships in the weeks to come as we build on this offer,' Mr Thomas said.

The company has also moved its head office from Sydney to Melbourne.

Woolworths Holdings, the company that owns David Jones and the Country Road Group made the announcement on Thursday (pictured is a Mimco store)

Earlier this year, Myer reported a record-breaking $476.2 million loss over just six months.

Following this loss, they tried to lure back their 'traditional' customers rather than high-spending, fashion-forward shoppers.

Myer was also reported to cut their retail staff drastically, which saw up to 29,000 shop assistants losing their jobs across the country.
Labor leader Bill Shorten is set to become the biggest winner from the Liberal Party's leadership crisis, giving him to power to push ahead with tough greenhouse targets and unwind the offshore processing of asylum seekers.

Scott Morrison has emerged as Australia's next prime minister, to become Australia's fifth leader in just five years.

The 50-year-old Hillsong parishioner defeated Peter Dutton 45 votes to 40 in the run-off ballot, after the people's choice in opinion polls Julie Bishop was knocked out in the first run of voting.

The government's leadership debacle has seen Labor's betting odds of winning the next election shorten to $1.30, with Ladbrokes putting the Coalition out at $3.40.

Labor leader Bill Shorten (pictured with his Chloe) is set to become the biggest winner from the Liberal Party's leadership crisis in Canberra

Bill Shorten, who brought down Labor PMs Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard as a factional numbers man, is set to benefit from Australia's revolving door of prime ministers

Malcolm Turnbull resigned as prime minister ahead of the noon ballot.

While he lost 38 Newspolls in a row to Labor, he still regularly trounced Mr Shorten as preferred PM.

A snap Roy Morgan poll taken on Wednesday showed Mr Turnbull having the support of 54 per cent of respondents preferring him as prime minister, compared with 46 per cent for the Labor leader.

With Mr Turnbull set to leave politics, Mr Shorten has lost his biggest obstacle to becoming prime minister.

Ironically Mr Shorten, who was instrumental in bringing down Labor PMs Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, is the key beneficiary of Australia now moving to its fifth prime minister in just five years.

Scott Morrison has emerged as Australia's next prime minister, to become Australia's fifth leader in just five years

The latest bout of leadership instability in the Liberal Party is a huge bonus for Labor, ahead of a federal election which must be held by May.

Against Mr Turnbull, Labor had already won 38 consecutive Newspolls and the latest run of instability could prolong the government's misery.

While the Coalition's margin after preferences has been a narrow 51 to 49 per cent, the Liberal Party's knifing of two leaders in less than three years could help Labor win the biggest landslide since 1996, when John Howard's Coalition swept to power with almost twice as many seats as Labor.

The third Liberal prime minister in less than three years, following the knifing of first-term PM Tony Abbott in September 2015, is unprecedented, with no party in government going through three living leaders in such a short time since Federation in 1901.

The Coalition is now resembling the New South Wales Labor government of 2009, which had three premiers in just 15 months, leading to the party losing the next election in a landslide March 2011.

Unless the polls improve, Labor would have a mandate to implement higher emission reduction targets, which could push up electricity bills, and possibly wind back the offshore processing of asylum seekers.

While Mr Shorten, from Labor's right faction, has vowed to continue sending asylum seekers to Nauru and Manus Island, he would face pressure from the party's left faction to unwind the Pacific solution.

In government, Kevin Rudd gave in to pressure from the left, leading to the number of asylum seeker boats surging from 21 in 2007 before he became prime minister to 4,597 by the time Julia Gillard knifed him as a first-term PM in 2010.

By 2012, during Labor's last full year in office, the number of illegal boats had surged to 18,365, prompting Mr Rudd in 2013 - during his second, brief stint as PM - to declare asylum seekers arriving on boats would never settle in Australia.

Labor when it was last in government was able to soften asylum seeker laws despite lacking a Senate majority.
A graduate has taken to the streets armed with his CV in an unusual attempt to get himself a full-time job.

Samuel Warren, originally from Britain, completed his physics degree at the University of Leeds in 2017 and says he is desperate to get in to the workforce.

The 22-year-old, who is living in Sydney, was spotted by the city's finest professionals holding a sign which reads 'ask for a CV'.

'I got the inspiration from when I was in London - I was working on Pitt Street and noticed no one was doing it,' Mr Warren told the Daily Mail Australia.

Samuel Warren, 22, (pictured left) has just completed a physics degree at the University of Leeds and is desperate to get in to the workforce

'I got to the station at around 6.30am and held the sign - you get some dirty looks, laugh and ask you what you are doing.'

Mr Warren's photo was posted to LinkedIn on Thursday and shared by multiple business professionals supporting his proactive measure to find a position.

The image posted by Hamish Stephenson read: 'Its an incredibly daunting experience to put yourself out there like this, which I commend wholeheartedly. If I had the capacity to recruit a grad within my team I would, but sadly I dont.'

The post amassed more than 300 likes and comments of support and potential job offers.

Mr Warren's photo was posted to LinkedIn on Thursday and shared by multiple business professionals supporting his proactive measure to find a position

'Great PR exercise and love Sam's motivation! Brings back memories of when I used to work in North Sydney and use this station. Love Australia - Love Sam's attitude,' one person wrote on the post.

'Good on him, my cousin is in the same position and hes probably sat in his underpants playing FIFA right now,' another said.

Despite the exposure on the professional website - Sam was still promoting himself at Martin Place station on Friday.

He said: 'I was there yesterday, this morning and I think I will go to Wynyard on Monday morning.'

Sam moved to Sydney this year and instantly fell in love with the beach-side Australian lifestyle.

The surfer who hails from the Isle of Wight hopes this courageous act to secure a job in Australia helps him continue living his dream.

You can contact Sam on his LinkedIn account.
A Labour MP waded into a row over a Japanese-themed cocktail bar after it was accused of 'cultural appropriation'.

Rosie Duffield accused the Tokyo Tea Rooms, in Canterbury, Kent, of being culturally insensitive after white women dressed as geisha girls in kimonos at it's opening night.

The Labour MP for Canterbury also praised students who boycotted the bar after they claimed it is 'disgusting and offensive'.

Labour MP Rosie Duffield has accused the Tokyo Tea Rooms in Kent of being culturally insensitive

She praised students who boycotted the bar they branded 'disgusting and offensive'

Tokyo Tea Rooms had white women dressed as geisha girls in kimonos at it's opening night

She wrote on Facebook: 'I was disappointed to see that Canterbury's latest venue, Tokyo Tea Rooms took such a culturally insensitive approach on their opening night last weekend.

'Guests were welcomed into the Japanese-themed nightclub by white hosts wearing kimonos and geisha-style makeup.

'By doing this, Tokyo Tearooms owners crossed the line from cultural appreciation to cultural appropriation. I'm disappointed that certain Canterbury City Councillors took part in the evening without calling out this error.

'I'm really pleased to see Student representatives from Kent Union and Canterbury Christ Church University have spoken out against the nightclub and discouraged students from attending.'

The row comes after Labour frontbencher Dawn Butler accused Jamie Oliver of cultural appropriation over his 'Punchy Jerk Rice' dish last week.

Easily-offended students have started a campaign to boycott the Tokyo Tea Rooms bar.

Vice-president of welfare Omolade Adedapo of Kent Students' Union said it was 'uncalled for' and a 'mockery and festishization' of Japanese culture.

Meanwhile, the Vice-President of activities Sasha Langeveldt, labelled the venue 'disgusting, ignorant and offensive'.

Matthew Jones-Roberts, manager of the Tokyo Tea Rooms bar, said the jibes are starting to feel 'like a personal attack'.

He said: 'We are a small local business. Some people have brought to our attention in a calm and private way explaining why they thought the geishas were inappropriate.

He added: 'I don't think the theme of the bar is an issue. There's a real ethos behind the venue of cultural appreciation.

'We really looked into it and the culture is so interesting and rich. We wanted to bring something new to the City of Canterbury.

'There are other themed restaurants and bars all across Canterbury. None of our managing team are from Japan but there are lots of places that don't have people from that particular country working there.

'People are entitled to their opinion. But it's a new business, something we have worked really hard on. All the feedback we have had so far is that the business is a breath of fresh air.'
Meighan Cordie, 27, was found dead Thursday morning in Oregon. Cordie is pictured in this photo taken Saturday, hours before she disappeared

The body of an Oregon woman who was last seen Saturday night when she stormed out of a vehicle during a heated argument with her mom has been found.

Police in Yamhill County confirmed the body of Meighan Cordie was discovered by joggers early Thursday along an embankment on Oregon Route 18.

The location is roughly eight miles from the wedding venue where Cordie and her family were celebrating with relatives before she disappeared after darting out of the car on the drive home.

Cordie, who is the daughter of a Clackamas fire caption, got out of the car around 10.30pm and walked the dark highway without shoes on, police said, according to her family.

The mother-of-one also left her cellphone behind in the vehicle.

Her body was found Thursday after a five-day search that saw more than 60 people, including volunteers.

Police said Cordie was found this morning wearing the black and blue floral-printed pantsuit she had on the night of the wedding.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Scroll down for video

Police in Yamhill County said Cordie stormed out of a car Saturday night after a wedding and argument with her mother

Her body was found Thursday after a several-day search that involved more than 60 people

Cordie is pictured right, with a woman described in the comments as her mom. Cordie's toddler-aged daughter is also pictured

Employees at the Bobs Grand Island Grocery & Outlet in Dayton released surveillance video that shows Cordie seemingly purchasing drinks before the Saturday celebration.

Cordie's brother, Jacob, described his sister as a 'strong, loving, and compassionate individual' while speaking to Fox 12 this week, while the search was still on.

'She has gone through many trials and tribulations in her life and always seems to come out better... she's a gorgeous sister, amazing daughter, and an extraordinary mother to my three-year-old niece.

'There's nothing she wouldn't do for the people she loves and is always trying to be a better person for those that love her.'

Surveillance video shows Cordie getting drinks before the wedding celebration on Saturday

Employees at the Bobs Grand Island Grocery & Outlet in Dayton released the footage

Cordie is pictured on her personal Instagram page smiling in photos alongside her toddler daughter, friends and family.

Her family released a statement Thursday after the search had ended.

'It is with very heavy hearts that we are sharing our beloved daughter Meighan has been found deceased by the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office,' the statement said.

'The pain our family is experiencing is unimaginable and we ask for privacy as we process this information and continue to grieve as a family.'
THE criminal trial of nine senior officials with Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), including National Chairman Freeman Mbowe, on 11 seditious charges yesterday took a new turn when the defence lawyer, Advocate Jeremiah Ntobesya, recused himself from the case.

Such a dramatic turn of events occurred few minutes after the Kisutu Resident Magistrates Court in Dar es Salaam dismissed the application lodged by the opposition party officials, who are the accused in the trial, seeking orders to suspend the proceedings by way of adjournment of the case.

The accused had sought for the adjournment in their application, pending determination of twocourt actions they filed before the Court of Appeal. Principal Resident Magistrate Wilbard Mashauri turned down the application in question for lack of merit.

Before the Court of Appeal, the accused lodged a notice of appeal against the decision of the High Court, which dismissed their application for revision of orders and proceedings of the Kisutu Court, over refusal of the magistrate to disqualify himself from the case and dismiss some of the counts.

The accused have also filed before the Appeals Court, the highest temple of justice in the country, another application for stay of Kisutu Court proceedings, pending hearing and determination of their appeal they would file in an attempt to fault the findings of the High Court.

In his ruling, the Magistrate pointed out that the provision of section 225 of the Criminal Procedure Act, cited to support the application, could not confer any powers to the court to adjourn the criminal proceedings and that such law related to prevention of delay of hearing of criminal cases.

This is a calculated move to delay these proceedings. It is a mere hunching from the bar to delay the case. This court cannot entertain such trend by the defence, the Magistrate said, noting that there was a similar application that was previously raised to stay the proceedings which was rejected.

Therefore, the Magistrate said, his court was functus officio and could not anymore entertain such kind of application. For the court to be functus officio means such institution has accomplished its mandate on a particular matter and it cannot sit on it again.

Following such ruling, the prosecution, led by Principal State Attorneys Faraja Nchimbi and Dr Zainabu Mango as well as State Attorneys Wankyo Simon and Mutalemwa Kishenyi rose up and requested the court to proceed conducting preliminary hearing of the case.

However, Advocate Ntobesya objected to the request and asked the court to adjourn the case to next Monday, to allow his clients prepare for the session.

However, the Magistrate refused to allow the adjournment and called upon the prosecution to present facts of the case to the accused persons. It was at that point in time when Advocate Ntobesya announced to the court his decision to withdraw his services of defending the accused on reasons that the court was being bulldozed by the prosecution and that he was not prepared to see justice failing to be done to the accused under his presence.

Following such move, the Magistrate adjourned the case to next Monday for preliminary hearing to give the accused persons opportunity to communicate with their other lawyer, Advocate Peter Kibatala, who was not in court during yesterdays proceedings.

Other accused persons in the trial apart from Mbowe are Vicent Mashinji, the partys Secretary General, John Mnyika, Deputy Secretary General (Mainland) and Salum Mwalimu, Deputy Secretary General (Zanzibar).

The rest are Peter Msigwa (Member of Parliament (MP) for Iringa Urban, Ester Matiko (Tarime Urban MP), Halima Mdee (Kawe MP), John Heche (Tarime Rural MP) and Ester Bulaya (MP for Bunda Urban).

Accused are charged with 11 counts of conspiracy to commit offences, unlawful assembly, rioting after proclamation, and inciting commission of offences, raising discontent and ill-will for unlawful purposes and sedition allegedly committed between February 1 and 16, 2018 in the city.
A senior Network Rail engineer has exclusively told MailOnline that passengers were left as sitting ducks on a partly derailed train for seven minutes before being hit by another intercity service after a 'major' flaw occurred in the signalling system. The employee, who has worked for the rail operator for over 10 years, said that the signalling system should've made the train stop but that it suffered a catastrophic failure which led to the crash. Rail workers last night demanded to know how the second train wasn't stopped by red signals before the carnage unfolded close to Salisbury station. The GWR train travelling from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads hit an object as it went through Fisherton tunnel and caused the rear carriage to derail (inset, map of the incident). But the engineer claimed that a major flaw in the signalling system meant a South Western Railway train coming from London Waterloo towards Honiton was not stopped from entering the site of the derailment. Seventeen passengers were injured in the collision and a newborn baby had to be pulled from the wreckage. The driver of the derailed GWR train also had to be freed from his cabin before being taken to hospital. The incident, one of the most serious in recent years, is set to be investigated by the Office for Rail and Road and the Rail Accident Investigations Branch.
The son of former decathlete Daley Thompson made his father proud yesterday after scoring the highest mark at his school in  surprise, surprise  PE.

Alex Clayton also scored 9s in double science and maths.

Arriving at Brighton College with his parents, the 16-year-old rugby player said: 'I'm absolutely chuffed with the results. It's much, much better than I was expecting, so I am delighted.'

Mr Thompson, who won the decathlon gold medal at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games, praised his son's dedication.

The son of former decathlete Daley Thompson Alex Clayton made his father proud yesterday after scoring the highest mark at his school in  surprise, surprise  PE

He said: 'He's worked hard, it's a great score. He's put in the time and he got the results. In life you get what you deserve.'

The four time world record breaker, 60, said he was fully supportive of his son's love of rugby, but added: 'For his mum and me, the exams are more important at the moment. It will set him up for later on.

'He's put in the work and he's got the results so we're really pleased.'

Alex's school led the GCSE charge yesterday, with ten pupils gaining a clean sweep of 9s.

A staggering 38 per cent of all grades at the private school hit the top score under the new tougher grading system.

For now, Alex will return to Brighton College to study maths, physics and DT at A-level, with hopes of studying aeronautical engineering at Loughborough University.

But his sights are set on rugby  he has been a youth team member of the Harlequins for five years and plans to go professional. He added: 'I would love to play rugby professionally. That's the goal. I suppose I'm following in dad's footsteps a bit, but more rugby-focused.'

He also scored an 8 in geography, 6 in English literature, and received an A* in design and technology.

Gordon Ramsay couldn't resist joking online that his youngest daughter Matilda only 'scores a D for cooking'

She may have scooped a host of As and A*s but Gordon Ramsay still couldn't resist joking online that his youngest daughter only 'scores a D for cooking'.

The proud TV chef posted a photo of Matilda, who has appeared in a CBBC cookery show, on Instagram holding her results (above).

It was the second exam delight in a week for the family, with Ramsay's twins (right) receiving their A-level results last Thursday. The majority of Matilda's GCSEs were marked under the old system and included four A*s, three As and two Bs.

A busy TV acting career did not prove any study distraction for Charleigh Adams, who bagged 11 outstanding grades.

The 16-year-old, right, who attends the independent Bolton School Girls' Division, has starred in Peter Kay's Car Share (circled above). She also appears in Coronation Street, playing Amy Barlow's friend, Jessica Bedford.

Charleigh also played one of the main characters, Emily, in CBBC's Bafta-winning comedy Class Dismissed

The actress gained six grade 9s and five grade 8s in her GCSEs.

Charleigh also played one of the main characters, Emily, in CBBC's Bafta-winning comedy Class Dismissed.

She will now study French, Spanish, English literature and religious studies at A-level. She hopes to make acting her career but aims to study languages at university first. Charleigh said: 'I did a lot better than I expected. It means I'm able to do what I want at A-level and I'm not as scared about getting into university'.

Finn Elliot, who starred as the young Prince Philip in Netflix series The Crown, said getting his results made him more nervous than being on television.

As the 16-year-old opened his envelope, he said: 'I'm shaking, I really am, this is much scarier than being on TV  this is important for the rest of my life. 'Even when I am doing drama, school has always been the priority.'

Finn Elliot, who starred as the young Prince Philip in Netflix series The Crown, revealed his score of three 9s, three 8s, and a 7  as well as two A*s and an A

Revealing his score of three 9s, three 8s, and a 7  as well as two A*s and an A  he said: 'I'm stoked with my results, this is a massive weight off my shoulders.'

The actor, pictured left with his mother Mini and in The Crown, will now do his A-levels at Portsmouth Grammar School  but wants to carry on acting.

His mother, from Chichester, West Sussex, said: 'He's totally proved he can juggle acting and school, he actually keeps them separate.'
Government Minister Christopher Pyne has refused to address public fury over the leadership drama that has paralysed Australia.

The Minister for Defence Industry, a staunch supporter of the Prime Minister, fended off questions from reporters at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday.

'I don't like the tone of your questions,' Mr Pyne snapped when asked about rising anger among voters.

A letter with the required 43 signatures was handed to the Prime Minister, who then insisted they be verified

Mr Pyne earlier refused to say who he would support in Friday's leadership spill, and said he was fond of all three contenders.

'Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton, Julie Bishop, they are all good friends of mine and all good colleagues of mine. I think I will keep my vote to myself,' he said.

He hit out at people acting in their own 'self interest and ambition' but would not rule out serving in a Dutton Cabinet.

'I joined the Liberal Party when I was 17 years old. If I was given a position in a new government I will consider the offer and if it seem as fair only take it,' he said.

'I don't like the tone of your questions,' Mr Pyne snapped when asked about rising anger among voters

But when repeatedly asked about who he would vote for, and pressed on the reaction of the Australian people to the crisis, Mr Pyne lashed out.

He then stormed down a flight of stairs after telling the reporter he did not like the tone of his questions.

The Liberal partyroom will vote on a motion to spill for the leadership at noon on Friday, set to be a three-way contest between Peter Dutton, Julie Bishop and Scott Morrison.

A letter with the required 43 signatures was handed to the Prime Minister, who then insisted they be verified.
Australia is staring down a summer of blackouts and power shortages with what is expected to be a brutally hot summer.

Victorians are at greatest risk of suffering blackouts because they don't have enough supply to meet the expected multiple days of extreme 40-degrees days, according to the the Australian Energy Market Operator report released on Fridays.

Blackouts are expected to hit at least 250,000 households through January and February next year between 4pm and 7pm - when power stations are forced to close down.

The closure of the Hazelwood Power Station in 2017 will cause Victoria to suffer from blackouts

Authorities are feeling the pressure to deliver power to the state so are seeking emergency reserves to manage the expected power shortages.

Victoria's power supply has been under pressure since the State Government decided to close the coal-powered Hazelwood Power Station in early 2017.

Energy bills have increased by almost 16% - prompting warnings of power shortages and need to source alternative supplies.

But the AEMO believes the risk of blackouts will decrease substantially after the summer of 2017/18 as alternative energy sources from both wind and solar come onto the Victorian grid.

Temporary diesel generation from South Australia installed last summer will be the last resort available for use to avoid load shedding although it is not available to the market.

Close to 50 000 homes across the state suffered blacked outs in late January this year, as temperatures hit the high 30s throughout the night.

What is load shedding? The AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator), which directs power companies, force an electricity shutdown by switching off a customer's power to conserve supply due to risk or shortage. Advertisement
A 196-foot wind turbine toppled over after a powerful typhoon tore through Japan.

The structure in Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park was built in 2002 in memory of the Great Hanshin Earthquake which devastated parts of Hyogo prefecture in 1995.

It was uprooted early this morning as powerful Typhoon Cimaron hit the western part of the country.

The turbine was pictured lying fragmented on its side with pieces littered across a road running alongside the park.

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A windmill tumbles down at Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park after Typhoon Cimarron hit Awaji, Hyogo prefecture, western Japan

Worship hall of Taishogun-jinja Shrine tumbles down after Typhoon Cimarron hit the area in Kyoto, western Japan

A partially damaged roof of an apartment building is seen after Typhoon Cimarron hit the area in Nishinomiya, western Japan

A landslide site is seen near railroad tracks after Typhoon Cimarron hit the area in Kobe, western Japan

The storm caused scattered damage, flooding and landslides as it swept across western Japan.

A worship hall collapsed at a Shinto shrine in Kyoto, leaving the roof almost on the ground.

Strong winds also tipped over trucks on the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge that connects Awaji Island and Honshu.

Japan's disaster agency tallied 30 people injured, two seriously.

More than 300 flights have been cancelled and high-speed bullet train service was suspended in the region.

Passengers wait for delayed trains after Typhoon Cimarron hit the area at Osaka Station in Osaka, western Japan

High wave hits a breakwater in Aki city, Kochi prefecture, western Japan as a typhoon Cimaron approached the area

High waves hit a fishing port in Aki, Kochi prefecture, western Japan

People gather as high wave hits the coast in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, western Japan

The Japan Meteorological Agency said Cimarron, now a tropical storm, was back at sea and heading for northern Japan after bringing heavy rain and high winds to the port city of Kobe and elsewhere in western Japan overnight.

The agency said Cimarron was moving north with maximum sustained winds of 56mph with gusts to 78mph.

It was forecast to reach the northern island of Hokkaido on Friday night.

Three students were believed to have been dragged into the ocean by strong waves while setting off fireworks at a beach in Shizuoka City as the typhoon approached Wednesday night.

Japanese media said the search for them resumed Friday.

Rice paddies are flooded after Typhoon Soulik dumped heavy rains in Haenam, South Korea

A ferry terminal is deserted in Incheon, South Korea

High waves crash onto Haeundae Beach in Busan, South Korea

Meanwhile, South Korea's weather agency said Typhoon Soulik's force had diminished as it moved northeast.

But it was still expected to pound the country's mountainous eastern region with strong rain and winds before exiting the peninsula.

About 22,000 power outages were reported at homes, buildings and farms in the southern regions and more than 700 flights were canceled on Thursday.

North Korea reported heavy rain in its east coast city of Wonsan and in neighboring Munchon, which were lashed by 13 inches and 24.5 inches of rain respectively.

Residents gather under umbrellas as rain falls in Pyongyang, North Korea

Residents gather under umbrellas and shelter as rain falls in Pyongyang, North Korea
Taxpayers have already forked out $8 million this week to run Parliament as 85 Liberal Party politicians on base salaries of $207,000 claimed an extra $24,000 in daily travel allowance to decide on a new prime minister.

Parliament doesn't normally sit on Friday but government members stayed in Canberra another day to decide that Scott Morrision would replace Malcolm Turnbull in a leadership spill.

With Foreign Minister Julie Bishop knocked out in the first round of voting, taxpayers footed the bill for Peter Dutton to be eliminated in the second round.

Federal politicians are entitled to $285 a day in travel allowance, on top of their accommodation, which means 85 Liberal MPs in the national capital are costing taxpayers an extra $24,225 because they couldn't resolve the issue on Thursday.

Taxpayers have already forked out $8 million this week to run Parliament as 85 Liberal Party politicians on base salaries of $207,000 voted to dissolve party to decide to next PM

The Liberal Party's second leadership ballot in just three days occurred as parliament passed no new major laws, despite costing taxpayers an average of $8 million to run during sitting weeks.

Government MPs also used their numbers in the House of Representatives to dissolve parliament so Liberal members could discuss their leadership crisis.

On Thursday, they resolved to delay the Liberal party room meeting until Friday, with 45 of the 85 in the room voting to go ahead with a spill motion.

Three cabinet ministers, on salaries of $382,000 a year, had fought to replace Mr Turnbull as prime minister in the Liberal Party's first three-way leadership contest since 2009.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is putting herself forward to become prime minister in a three-way leadership ballot

Mr Turnbull, who earnt $538,000 a year as prime minister, will continue to receive a taxpayer-funded office and staff for life along with free first class flights.

The Department of Parliamentary Services costs taxpayers $149 million a year to run, average at close to $8 million a year during the 19 sitting weeks.

Were Mr Dutton to prevail, he would be Australia's youngest prime minister since November 1975, when Malcolm Fraser took over following the dismissal of Labor's Gough Whitlam.
A father has been charged after he allegedly injured a seven-week-old baby who's been left with permanent disabilities as a result of brain, eye and spinal injuries.

The newborn was rushed to Children's Hospital in Westmead, Sydney, after suffering ongoing seizures on April 17, police said.

After a lengthy investigation, a 30-year-old man was arrested in Ryde on Thursday.

A father has been charged after he allegedly injured a seven-week-old baby who's been left with permanent disabilities as a result of brain, eye and spinal injuries (pictured)

Detectives allege the man injured the boy who suffered seizures for at least 24 hours before medical attention was sought.

He was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and not providing for child causing danger of serious injury, NSW Police.

The 30-year-old was granted bail and is due to appear at Burwood Local Court on September 17.

A 27-year-old woman was also charged in June and remains before the courts.

The boy is now in the care of relatives.
Malcolm Turnbull has left a ticking time bomb for Australia's new prime minister Scott Morrison that will explode when he leaves Parliament.

Mr Turnbull confirmed he would soon be quitting Parliament for good, forcing a crucial by-election in his wealthy Sydney eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth and putting at risk the government's wafer-thin majority.

Mr Morrison became Australia's fifth prime minister in five years on Friday afternoon, after a week of bitter factional infighting within the Liberals which saw Malcolm Turnbull overthrown after less than three years in the job.

In his first speech as Australia's 30th prime minister shortly after 4.20pm Mr Morrison, the former treasurer, declared he would be a leader for workers.

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Malcolm Turnbull has left a ticking time bomb for Australia's new prime minister Scott Morrison that will explode when he leaves Parliament

In his first speech as Australia's 30th prime minister, Scott Morrison declared he would be a leader for workers

'I'm on your side, that's what matters,' he said at his first media conference as PM.

'Were on your side because we share beliefs and values in common.'

Mr Morrison prevailed in a three-way battle with former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Ms Bishop was eliminated first after getting the lowest vote, and Mr Morrison then defeated Mr Dutton in the next round by five votes, 45 to 40.

Government Whip Nola Marino announced the results and revealed the deputy position was won 'overwhelmingly' by Josh Frydenberg with an absolute majority.

Mr Dutton congratulated Mr Morrison and Mr Frydenberg.

'I thank Malcolm Turnbull very much for his service as prime minister of this country and Julie Bishop who's been an amazing Foreign Affairs Minister and deputy leader of our party,' he said.

'My course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison, to make sure we that we win the election and defeat Bill Shorten and make sure he's never prime minister.'

Mr Morrison takes charge of a severely divided party after a week of ugly infighting.

His first job will be to try to bring the warring factions together and present a united front to voters ahead of an election due before May 2019.

Mr Morrison also faces the challenge of maintaining the Government's majority ahead of a crucial by-election in the Sydney seat of Wentworth.

Mr Turnbull went on to slam what he called an 'insurgency by a number of people, both in the party room and backed by powerful voices in the media' determined to destroy his prime ministership

Scott Morrison (pictured, right, with new Liberals deputy leader Josh Frydenberg) has become the new Prime Minister of Australia

Ms Bishop (pictured with Mr Turnbull) was eliminated first after getting the lowest vote, and Mr Morrison then defeated Mr Dutton in the next round by five votes, 45 to 40

Mr Morrison (pictured) prevailed in a three-way battle with former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop

Senator Mathias Cormann and former Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton arrive for the Liberal Party room meeting

Malcolm Turnbull held a press conference after the leadership spill in which he congratulated Scott Morrison and thanked Julie Bishop

WHO IS SCOTT MORRISON? * Born May 13, 1968 in Sydney * Married to Jenny and has two daughters * Often referred to as ScoMo * Studied an economics and geography degree at the University of NSW * General Manager of Tourism Council between 1996-1998, then Director of the New Zealand Office of Tourism and Sport 1998-2000. * State Director of the NSW Liberal Party 2000-2004 * As director of Tourism Australia 2004-2006 he presided over the campaign featuring the slogan 'Where The Bloody Hell Are You? * Elected as the Federal Member for Cook in 2007 after first losing the preselection to Michael Towke, who was disendorsed over reported branch stacking * Appointed to the front bench by federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull in 2008 * Took on shadow minister for immigration and citizenship in 2009 following Tony Abbott's leadership spill * Appointed by Tony Abbott as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection from September 2013, then Minister for Social Services from December 2014 * After Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as prime minister he was made Treasurer from September 2015 * Holds the safe seat of Cook in southern Sydney with a margin of 15.4 per cent.

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Mr Morrison will be sworn in by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Friday afternoon.

The rebellion against Mr Turnbull was sparked by the conservative wing of the party, which feared the Government's drift to the left was hurting its electoral chances.

SCOTT MORRISON'S VICTORY: WHAT THEY SAID * 'My course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison, to make sure we that we win the election and that we defeat Bill Shorten to make sure he's never prime pinister.' - Liberal leadership ballot runner-up Peter Dutton * 'The people who chose - Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott and others who chose - to deliberately attack the government from within, they did so because they wanted to bring the government down. They wanted to bring my prime ministership down.' - Outgoing prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. * 'I think what we have now is a new generation, a next generation of leadership' - Greg Hunt, who failed in his bid to be deputy leader. * 'We have lost the prime minister but there is still a government to save.' - former prime minister Tony Abbott. * 'My sincere congratulations to Scott Morrison on his election as leader of the Liberal Party. We must now all unite and move forward together working hard for the Australian people.' - Key Dutton supporter Mathias Cormann. * 'I am certain that he will lead a more consultative parliamentary party, be more responsive to issues raised with him and actively seek to bring back together our broad church.' - Conservative Liberal Eric Abetz. * 'Scott Morrison is someone I know well and I feel that in terms of competence and experience, he will be an excellent Prime Minister.' - Dutton supporter and Liberal senator Jim Molan. * 'I congratulate @ScottMorrisonMP and @JoshFrydenberg on their election as Leader and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.' - Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. * 'Sadly the result of this vote means the Liberals will remain divided and intent on payback and revenge. They have no climate policy, no energy policy and no economic policy and the paralysis is likely to continue. They are unfit to govern.' - Greens leader Richard Di Natale. * 'I look forward to building a really strong relationship with him.' - NZ PM Jacinda Ardern, after getting off the phone with Morrison. Advertisement

Mr Morrison has served as Treasurer for the past three years and was previously the Minister for Immigration.

He entered Parliament in 2007 after a successful business career, where he was managing director of Tourism Australia and the man behind the controversial 'So where the bloody hell are you' advertising campaign.

The spill took place in a partyroom meeting at 12.20pm, after 45 members voted in favour of spilling and 40 against, resulting in the Liberal leadership being declared vacant when Mr Turnbull resigned, as he promised on Thursday.

Mr Turnbull, who has not said exactly when he will retire from Parliament, addressed the media shortly after the spill.

An immediate retirement would trigger a by-election in the New South Wales seat of Wentworth.

'It may surprise you on a day like this but I remain very optimistic and positive about our nation's future, and I want to thank the Australian people,' he said.

He congratulated new Prime Minister Scott Morrison, praising him as a 'very loyal and effective Treasurer' and thanked Julie Bishop, who he called a 'dear friend'.

'In the party room meeting today I was impressed by how many of my colleagues spoke or voted for loyalty above disloyalty,' he said.

'How the insurgents were not rewarded by electing Mr Dutton, for example.'

Mr Turnbull went on to slam what he called an 'insurgency by a number of people, both in the party room and backed by powerful voices in the media' determined to destroy his prime ministership.

'The people who chose Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott, who chose to deliberately attack the Government from within, they did so because they wanted to bring the Government down,' he said.

'Insofar as there has been chaos this week, it has been created by the wreckers. I have done everything I can to maintain the stability of government and the stability of the party.

'But, of course, if people are determined to wreck then they will continue to do so.'

Former prime minister Tony Abbott, who lost the leadership to Mr Turnbull in 2015, looked shocked as he said the party now faced the task of saving the government.

'We've lost a prime minister but there is still a government to save. That is what we will all try our best to do now,' he said.

Mr Turnbull congratulated new Prime Minister Scott Morrison, praising him as a 'very loyal and effective Treasurer' and thanked Julie Bishop, who he called a 'dear friend'

Government Whip Nola Marino said the deputy position was won by Josh Frydenberg (pictured) with an absolute majority

Treasurer Scott Morrison (pictured, right, with Mr Turnbull) prevailed against Mr Dutton and Ms Bishop in Friday's spill

THE REVOLVING LEADERSHIP DOOR IN AUSTRALIAN POLITICS SINCE 2007 OPPOSITION LEADER BRENDAN NELSON, 2008 After Peter Costello declined to stand for the Liberal leadership after the 2007 election defeat, Brendan Nelson tried to fill the giant shoes of John Howard and failed. Malcolm Turnbull took over in 2008 for his first iteration as Liberal leader. OPPOSITION LEADER MALCOLM TURNBULL, 2009 Climate change was to be the undoing of Turnbull the first time around. Kevin Andrews moved a spill on November 26, 2009 and lost. The next day Tony Abbott challenged but then declared he would back Joe Hockey. But when Hockey refused to oppose a carbon emissions trading scheme, Abbott stood at the December 1 ballot and defeated Turnbull by one vote. PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD, 2010 Labor's Kevin Rudd became one of the few Australian prime ministers to be dumped while in office when Julia Gillard rolled him in 2010 just before an election. She claimed government after 17 days of negotiation to win crossbench support. PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD, 2013 Three years later, Australia's first woman prime minister was gone when Rudd finally took his revenge after a failed 2012 coup attempt. In March 2013, Gillard called a spill but no-one challenged. Four months later on June 26, Gillard called Rudd's bluff again at 4pm and was gone in a caucus vote a couple of hours later. Rudd and Labor lost the election as expected. PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT, 2015 Abbott led the Liberal-National coalition to a storming victory over Rudd's Labor in 2013. He called a spill in February 2015, but it wasn't until September that Malcolm Turnbull finally moved after Abbott had lost 32 Newspolls in a row. PRIME MINISTER MALCOLM TURNBULL, 2018 Turnbull won a vote on his leadership 48-35 against Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on August 21. Although he survived, the result wasn't considered strong enough and the Dutton camp muscled its way to a more dramatic showdown at high noon on Friday August 24. Turnbull spilled the leadership and quit. But Dutton's campaign backfired when he lost the second contest to Turnbull's treasurer Scott Morrison by five votes. Source: AAP Advertisement

The meeting followed a tense morning in Canberra during which the Solicitor-General said challenger Peter Dutton was likely clear to sit in Parliament.

Attorney-General Christian Porter on Friday said he had received advice from Solicitor-General Stephen Donoghue QC about Mr Dutton's eligibility over his financial interests in Commonwealth-funded childcare centres.

Mr Donaghue found there is 'some risk' the High Court would find Mr Dutton has a conflict of interest over federal payments to the childcare centres, but Mr Dutton was likely 'not incapable' of sitting.

The advice was given to both Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, before the 43 signatures needed to force the leadership spill were secured.

Mr Dutton defeated deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop (pictured) and Treasurer Scott Morrison in a three-way battle for the prime ministership

Mr Turnbull resigned from the Liberal party leadership after 45 members voted in favour of a spill motion

Mr Dutton released a statement saying the SG's finding's were consistent with his previous legal advice on the matter.

'The consistent and strong advice which I have received puts to rest the false, unsubstantiated and malicious claims regarding my eligibility to sit as a Member of Parliament,' he said.

Section 44 of the Constitution bans from parliament persons who have 'any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the public service of the Commonwealth'.

Mr Donaghue said it was not possible to reach a definitive conclusion without more detailed information.

Legal advice confirming Peter Dutton's eligibility to sit in Parliament was handed to Malcolm Turnbull ahead of the spill which saw Scott Morrison become Prime Minister

THE FULL LIST OF AUSTRALIA'S PRIME MINISTERS SINCE 1901 * Edmund Barton * Alfred Deakin (three times: 1903-04;1905-08;1909-10) * Chris Watson * George Reid * Andrew Fisher (three times: 1908-09;1910-13;1914-15) * Joseph Cook * Billy Hughes * Stanley Bruce * James Scullin * Joseph Lyons * Earle Page * Robert Menzies (twice: 1939-41;1949-66) * Arthur Fadden * John Curtin * Francis Forde * Ben Chifley * Harold Holt * John McEwen * John Gorton * William McMahon * Gough Whitlam * Malcolm Fraser * Bob Hawke * Paul Keating * John Howard * Kevin Rudd (twice: 2007-10; 2013) * Julia Gillard * Tony Abbott * Malcolm Turnbull * Scott Morrison Source: Nationals Archives of Australia website Advertisement

The legal advice came after one of Mr Turnbull's most loyal supporters, former Finance Minister Mathia Cormann, declared his support for Mr Dutton.

Mr Cormann said the Member for Dickson in outer Brisbane is the man to win back John Howard's battlers and unite the fractured party.

'Peter Dutton connects very well to hard-working, aspirational Australians,' Mr Cormann told Sky News on Friday.

'I believe he will be able to reconnect with the Howard battlers - bring them back in the Liberal fold.

'He knows what it takes to connect to families around Australia wanting to get ahead.'

Mr Cormann, who is a close friend of Mr Dutton, said the former home affairs minister was best equipped to unite the Liberals and win the next federal election.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop arrives for a vote to adjourn the House of Representatives
A woman who allegedly stole 4,000 tins of baby formula and raked in $250,000 has been charged as police close in on more members of the alleged theft ring.

Lie Ke, of Carlingford in Sydney's north-west, has been pinned as the alleged kingpin of the alleged slick Sydney operation.

The 48-year-old allegedly stole baby formula and vitamins from supermarket shelves and sold them on at an inflated price.

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Lie Ke, 48, (pictured) of Carlingford, in Sydney's north-west has been charged with the alleged theft of 4,000 tins of baby formula and vitamins

Two people were arrested on Wednesday after the 48-year-old allegedly stole baby formula and vitamins from supermarket shelves and sold them on at an inflated price

Police, who have monitored Ke since February, arrested the 48-year-old as she allegedly made a deal at a train station. Officers allege she had 20 cans of formula in her car.

A 52-year-old male was also arrested at the station car park.

'The criminal network has on-sold this product and has made a fair profit out of it,' Detective Super Intendent Danny Doherty told 9NEWS.

Investigators were tipped off to the alleged coordinated theft of baby formula and vitamins across the city in February.

Police raids allegedly uncovered thousands of tins of the product inside two homes.

More than $215,000 in cash was hidden throughout one of the homes, believed to be the proceeds from the alleged crime.

The New South Wales State Crime Command's robbery and serious crime squad were alerted to the alleged thefts by retailers.

A 48-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man were arrested about 10pm on Wednesday at Carlingford, north-west Sydney

Investigators were tipped off to the alleged coordinated theft of baby formula and vitamins across the city in February

The woman was charged with directing activities of a criminal group, participating in a criminal group and recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

She was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Burwood Local Court on September 17.

The man was released pending further inquiries from Strike Force Dungv.
The Manhattan district attorney's office may pursue criminal charges against the Trump Organization in regards to Michael Cohen's payment to an adult film actress.

On Tuesday Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in a bombshell confession to campaign finance violations linked to paying off porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Donald Trump.

New York district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr may now go after the Trump Organization and two senior company officials for how that payment was handled, according to the New York Times.

The Manhattan district attorney's office is considering criminal charges against the Trump Organization in regards to the $130,000 payment to an adult film actress

New York district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr, above, may seek charges in regards to how two Trump Organization executives handled Daniels' payment, recording it as 'legal fees'

The state investigation would look into the $130,000 payment made to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in exchange for her silence on the alleged affair.

However two officials that broke the news say that the charges are in its 'earliest stages' and prosecutors have not decided if they will proceed.

The Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen for paying off Daniels, saying that it was a 'legal expense'.

Cohen confessed in a stunning statement that he paid off an adult film actress 'in order to influence the 2016 presidential election'.

Federal prosecutors said the reimbursement payments were for sham legal invoices.

Following Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen's confession to campaign finance violations linked to Stormy Daniels on Tuesday, the DA may seek charges against the Trump Organization's handling of that payment

Prosecutors have reviewed court papers regarding payments to Cohen to see if they were falsified by two Trump executives who handled the reimbursement, Cohen pictured leaving federal court Tuesday after making a plea deal

Cohen received $420,000 from the Trump Organization, said to reimburse him for the Stormy Daniels payment as well as taxes, a bonus, and other campaign expenses reimbursements.

Cohen also issued monthly invoices for $35,000 to the Trump Organization as 'pursuant to retainer agreement'.

According to the Times, prosecutors have reviewed court papers regarding the campaign finance charges Cohen pleaded guilty to on Tuesday. Those documents provide detail about how two Trump executives handled the reimbursement and recorded them as legal fees.

The focus will be on whether the records were falsified. If they were, it could result in a low-level felony or misdemeanor.

But it could evolve into a felony if the records are found to have been falsified to conceal another crime.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had an affair with Trump. Among the charges Cohen will plead guilty to are campaign finance violations in connection to a $130,000 payment he made to Daniels

Although Trump has talked about pardoning his aides who face federal charges, he would be helpless and unable to pardon those convicted of state crimes.

'On its face, it certainly would be problematic,' one of the officials familiar with the district attorneys office review said.

The Trump Organization is yet to comment on the potential charges.

The New York State attorney general's office is also considering a criminal investigation into Cohen over whether he violated state tax law, violations unrelated to the tax evasion he pleaded guilty to on Tuesday.

The DA's move to pursue criminal charges could become complicated as the president is already being investigated for Russian interference in the 2016 election and his charity the Trump Foundation faces a lawsuit by the state attorney general.
WITH the industrial drive in full throttle, the 5th Tanzania Health Summit (THS) has set an agenda for the industrialisation of the health sector in the country. Inspired by the theme, Tanzania Health Sector Industrialisation: Progress review and unlocking persistent challenges, THS eyes quality healthcare for all in the industrial era.

THS President, Dr Omary Chillo said at a press conference, yesterday, that for many years now the health sector in the country has been going through industrialisation. However, the stage had not been set to evaluate how the process can better be achieved, the challenges it is currently facing and how to mitigate risks associated with it.

The summit which will take place on November 13 and 14, this year, at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) has set a platform that will attract over 1,000 stakeholders, who will lay down the right direction on how quality healthcare can be achieved in the era of industrialisation, added Dr Chillo.

Tanzanias Development Vision projects that the country will be transformed into middle income economy by 2025, which is not far from now; and since we already have political commitment, as exemplified by President John Magufulis determination, we now need to set strategies to get there, he said.

He added that investors in hospitals, distributers, healthcare researchers and NGOs are expected to take part in the major event, which is also expected to expose healthcare stakeholders to investment opportunities through giving chances to showcase innovative health projects.

THS member, Mr Joseph Mhagama said that it is important for health sector to move along with industrialisation as it brings about new progress, but as well as diseases, hence the health sector needs to be well equipped to cope.

It is an important summit and I expect a great turn out and positive results at the end, with solutions and directions on way forward of incorporating health matters and the era of industrialisation, said Mr Mhagama.

Meanwhile, Dr Chakou Halfani, Chairman of this years summit, said that with the countrys progress towards industrialisation, and the goal to reach middle income economy, peoples life style is bound to change, new diseases will rise, and hence the health sector needs to be ready to cope with the situation.

The government has done a lot to rectify challenges associated with industrialisation, including fast-tracking licensing and registration process, introduction of single processing centre, making an open ground for any Tanzanian interested to participate in the industrialisation era, and now we want the health sector to be well equipped to cope with the outcomes and impacts brought about by the industries, explained Dr Halfani.

One of the major stakeholders, Director of Health, Social Welfare and Nutritional Services (DHSWNS) Presidents Office (RALG), Dr Ntuli Kapologwe explained that it is very important for all actors in the health industry to take seriously the health industrialisation agenda as they can tap into opportunities emanating from it.

On the other hand, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Private Health Facilities of Tanzania (APHTA), Dr Samwel Ogillo said that the summit has proved to be a national platform that brings together healthcare players from public and private sectors over the years, from Tanzania and beyond.

Further elaborating, Dr Chillo said that the pharmaceutical industry has been poorly progressing since 1962, when health care industrialisation began. Hence this years summit is about how to revive the industry and move forward.

Recommendations and what will be agreed upon from the summit will be included in the working documents, and participants will discuss key actions to becarried out so as to influence the countrys industrialisation agenda, ensuring activities align with achieving the goal, he explained.
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Hurricane Lane unleashed torrents of rain and landslides that blocked roads on Hawaii's mostly rural Big Island on Thursday as residents and tourists in the state's biggest city braced for the dangerous storm to come their way.

Emergency workers rescued five people from a flooded house in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed, said Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe. They weren't injured and were taken to a shelter, he said.

On the state's most populated island, which is about 200 miles north of the Big Island, employees of the Sheraton Waikiki resort filled sandbags to protect the Oahu oceanfront hotel from surging surf.

Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for heavy rain and flash flooding.

Hurricane Lane, which was still offshore, already lashed the Big Island with nearly 20 inches of rain in nearly 24 hours and was moving closer, putting it and Maui 'in the thick' of the storm, according to forecasters.

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Hurricane Lane, which dumped nearly 20 inches of rain in the Big Island on Thursday, remains dangerous even as its been downgraded to a Category 3, which means it has winds from 111 to 129mph. Pictured is flooding at Wailuku River in Hilo

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane Thursday

Forecasters said 'excessive' rain will continue into the weekend over the island and hurricane warnings remain in effect for Hawaii County, Maui County, and Oahu

The storm has weakened to a Category 3 but can still cause major damage, packing sustained winds of 120 mph.

Forecasters said 'excessive' rain will continue into the weekend over the island and hurricane warnings remain in effect for Hawaii County, Maui County, and Oahu.

Hurricane Lane's center was last recorded around 260 miles south of Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds still recording near 125 mph.

Lane is expected to move close to or over portions of the main islands later Thursday or Friday, bringing dangerous surf of 20 feet, forecasters said.

The storm itself is only moving at 6 mph, which forecasters warn could actually raise the risk for 'life-threatening flash flooding and landslides' across the islands. Some areas could see up to 30 inches of rain.

A bird flies as others perch above floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island on Thursday afternoon

Forecasters warned the storm was coming 'perilously close' to the main Hawaiian Islands as a hurricane on Friday. Pictured is a woman taking photos of floodwaters from Lane on the Big Island on Thursday

Park fields are flooded from heavy rains in Hilo on Thursday. The storm itself is only moving at 6 mph, which forecasters warn could actually raise the risk for 'life-threatening flash flooding and landslides' across the islands

'Rain has been nonstop for the last half hour or so, and winds are just starting to pick up,' said Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island. 'Our usually quiet stream is raging right now.'

Beimler, who posted videos of trees being blown sideways, said staying put is about the only choice he has. The road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides, he said.

'Hurricane Lane is still a dangerous and powerful storm,' Hawaiian Gov Dave Ige said in a news conference on Thursday.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell likewise warned that Lane was 'wide and very moist' and 'going to hang around for awhile'.

People gather on a bridge to watch the Wailuku River flood waters on the Big Island as rain pours on Thursday afternoon

Hurricane Lane's center was last recorded around 260 miles south of Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds still clocking near 125 mph. Pictured is the Wailuku River flood waters running downstream on the Big Island

A man avoids getting splashed by a large wave on a walkway along a beach ahead of Hurricane Lane in Honolulu

Tourists and residents gather on the beach despite it being ordered closed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach

A chicken hops through floodwaters in Hilo in this still image from a video that was obtained from social media

Oahu prepared to set off a siren warning at 4pm on Thursday for those who needed to seek shelter before nightfall and buses were made available to transport people to safety.

Some airlines also began canceling flights, with United Airlines grounding planes to and from Maui on Friday.

The airline added two additional flights from Honolulu to San Francisco on Thursday to help transport people off the islands.

Hawaiian Airlines decided to cancel all Friday flights by its commuter carrier, Ohana by Hawaiian, on Friday. It canceled Ohana flights to Kapalua and Lanai airports on Thursday.

United is also taking steps to secure its hangar at Daniel K. Inouye Airport in Honolulu.

A gas station remains closed after running out of gas as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu on Thursday afternoon

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane

Visitors take photos of the waves crashing upon the seawall along Alii Drive in Kailua Kona Hawaii on Thursday afternoon

Tourists Debbie Michon and Cannily Buchanan bring supplies back to their hotel as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach

Nina Roberts shops for last minute supplies while shelves remain empty as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu

A homeless man sleeps on a picnic table along Waikiki Beach as others prepare for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

While no injuries have yet been reported, two campers have become trapped in a Hawaii valley due to Lane's heavy rainfall.

Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe says the campers called to report they were trapped Wednesday in Waipio Valley on the Big Island's northern coast.

Emergency workers haven't been able to contact the campers since then because of poor cellphone reception.

And crews cannot search for the trapped campers because of landslides and rivers of rain blocking the roads.

epa06967158 Visitors watch the rising surf generated by Hurricane Lane, crash upon the Kailua Kona coastline

Honolulu police officer Chad Asuncion monitors the water conditions and warns surfers about the conditions as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu

Some airlines also began canceling flights, with United Airlines grounding planes to and from Maui on Friday. Pictured is a boy viewing floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island in Hilo

Dangerous, heavy rains and flooding are occurring in east Hawaii as Lane slows down and Okabe said the south shore of the Big Island was seeing 31-foot swells as the storm approached.

Forecasters revealed early on Thursday that Hurricane Lane had shifted course and was moving closer to Hawaii.

The hurricane will likely weaken in time due to possible terrain interaction and other factors that will destroy its core. But forecasters said the timing of the decay remains uncertain.

People enter a Red Cross shelter at McKinley High School ahead of the arrival of hurricane Lane in Honolulu

US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Hawaii as landslides and flash flooding left roads blocked

Employees of the Sheraton Waikiki fill sandbags along the beach in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Forecasters revealed early on Thursday that Hurricane Lane had shifted course and was moving closer to Hawaii

National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said the shift would put the Big Island and Maui 'in the thick' of Hurricane Lane over the weekend

Workers stack sandbags in front of a closed store in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon in Honolulu

A woman tapes up a sign letting people know a store with stacked sandbags will close soon in preparation for Hurricane Lane

People stand outside of a partially boarded up McDonalds in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Steve Goldstein, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a news conference on Thursday that Lane is expected to soak the Big Island before heading toward Maui and Oahu.

Goldstein said a direct strike is not needed to see a significant impact from such a strong hurricane.

Meanwhile, federal officials said they were prepared to help people on the islands.

Brad Kieserman, of the Red Cross, said there were 16 emergency shelters open and 283 people across the island already in them.

People stand near flood waters from Lane making the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue and Pauahi Street impassable

A landslide from heavy rains blocks the Hilo bound lane at the Honolii bridge on Highway 19 on Thursday in Hilo

The Big Island is being pummeled by gusty winds and torrential rains on Thursday. Pictured: rising surf generated by Hurricane Lane crashes upon the Kailua Kona coastline

A car is partially submerged in floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island on August 23 in Hilo, Hawaii

A man takes photos of floodwaters in Hilo. Hurricane Lane has brought more than a foot of rain to some parts of the Big Island, which is under a flash flood warning

US Navy ships and submarines based in Hawaii were also instructed to leave port to avoid damage.

All vessels not currently undergoing maintenance were being positioned to help respond after the storm, if needed.

Navy aircraft will be kept in hangars or flown to other airfields to avoid the storm.

Unlike Florida or Texas, where residents can get in their cars and drive hundreds of miles to safety, people in Hawaii are confined to the islands and can't outrun the powerful winds and driving rain.

Hawaii state workers clean debris and open up streams around Honolulu, in preparation for heavy rainfall and flash flooding on Oahu on August 23

This image taken from NASA shows Hurricane Lane on August 23, 2018, as it heads to the Hawaiian Islands

This satellite image from NOAA shows Hurricane Lane near Hawaii on Thursday, August 23, and the The National Weather Service warned that some areas could see up to 30 inches before the system passes

This map from NOAA show's Hurricane Lane's projected trajectory for the next five days

Instead, they must stay put and make sure they have enough supplies to outlast prolonged power outages and other potential emergencies.

'Everyone is starting to buckle down at this point,' said Christyl Nagao of Kauai. 'Our families are here. We have businesses and this and that. You just have to man your fort and hold on tight.'

Living in an isolated island state also means the possibility that essential goods can't be shipped to Hawaii if the storm shuts down ports.

'You're stuck here and resources might not get here in time,' Nagao said.

The Hawaiian government began positioning generators and other aid in Hawaii well before Lane's anticipated arrival.

FEMA administrator Brock Long said Thursday the supplies arrived in Hawaii after a volcano began oozing lava into neighborhoods in May and in preparation for a recent hurricane that bypassed the islands.

Empty shelves of a supermaket are seen as residents of Oahu are re-stocking their water and non-perishable food supplies as preparation for the looming threat of Hurricane Lane in Oahu, Hawaii, on Wednesday

Loren, right, and Ruby Aquino, of Honolulu, load water into their car ahead of Hurricane Lane, Wednesday, August 22, 2018 in Honolulu. Hurricane Lane has weakened as it approaches Hawaii but was still expected to pack a wallop, forecasters said Wednesday

People stand in a line waiting to fill up propane tanks at a local hardware store on Wednesday in Honolulu

Aly Klein, right, and her mother Clarice Klein walks out of a local hardware store with several buckets of hurricane supplies on Wednesday

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, a FEMA report noted that one of its main issues was not having enough generators and other emergency aid on the island before the storm.

In response, officials stockpiled such items in hard-to-reach areas such as Hawaii and Alaska.

FEMA says the agency had also been talking with grocers to make sure food sources are stocked.

Shelters opened Wednesday on the Big Island and on the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Officials urged those needing the Molokai shelter to get there soon because of concerns that the main highway on the island's south coast could become impassable.

Officials were also working to help Hawaii's sizeable homeless population, many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis said there's not enough shelter space statewide and advised people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

Authorities also warned that the shelters are not designed to withstand winds greater than about 40mph and that for most people they should be a 'last resort.'

'Whenever possible, the public should plan to shelter in place or stay with family or friends in homes outside of these hazard areas that were designed, built or renovated to withstand anticipated conditions,' the city and county of Honolulu said in a statement.

Public schools were closed for the rest of the week and local government workers were told to stay home unless they're essential employees.

This satellite image provided by NOAA on Thursday, August 23, 2018 shows Hurricane Lane bearing down on Hawaii from the south

A handout image made available by NASA on 22 August 2018 and taken by an Expedition 56 crew member from the International Space Station shows Hurricane Lane in the Central Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii, August 22, 2018

'We're planning on boarding up all our windows and sliding doors,' Napua Puaoi of Wailuku, Maui, said after buying 16 pieces of plywood from Home Depot. 'As soon as my husband comes home - he has all the power tools.'

Molokai real estate agent Pearl Hodgins said she expected the island's two stores to soon run out of bottled water and batteries.

Melanie Davis, who lives in a suburb outside Honolulu, said she was gathering canned food and baby formula.

'We're getting some bags of rice and of course, some Spam,' she said of the canned lunch meat that's popular in Hawaii.

She was organizing important documents into a folder - birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards, insurance paperwork - and making sure her three children, all under four, have flotation devices such as swimming vests - 'just in case.'

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration Wednesday, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to coordinate disaster-relief efforts with the state.
Scott Morrison is now the most powerful Pentecostal parishioner after being sworn in as Australia's 30th prime minister.

The 50-year-old son of a policeman today defeated former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, a former policeman, 45 votes to 40 to take over the Liberal leadership from Malcolm Turnbull, after MPs knocked out Julie Bishop in the first round of voting.

A year before entering parliament in 2007, Mr Morrison was the boss of Tourism Australia who made little-known 19-year-old bikini model Lara Bingle famous with controversial TV ads with the tagline, 'Where the bloody hell are you?'.

Ironically, the former child actor and self-confessed fan of Australian crooner Tina Arena would go on to become an immigration minister charged with turning foreigners away from Australia if they arrived in leaky boats.

Shortly after 6pm, he was sworn in by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at Government House in Canberra.

Scott Morrison is now the most powerful parishioner to emerge from the Pentecostal church

The 50-year-old son of a policeman today defeated former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, a former policeman, 45 votes to 40 to take over the Liberal leadership from Malcolm Turnbull

In first press conference as Australia's 30th prime minister, Mr Morrison declared he represented generational change within the Liberal Party, four hours after his 63-year-old predecessor announced he would quit parliament.

'I'm on your side, that's what matters,' he said shortly after 4.20pm.

'Were on your side because we share beliefs and values in common.'

Flanked by new Liberal deputy leader Josh Frydenberg, the father-of-two from Sydney's Sutherland Shire mentioned the need to fund disability services.

Without mentioning his brother-in-law Gary Warren, who has multiple sclerosis, he said he had 'always been a big fan of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

'I have also been so keen to ensure it is funded,' he said.

Ironically, it was Labor leader Bill Shorten who was instrumental in setting up the NDIS as a parliamentary secretary for disabilities in the Rudd government.

In first press conference as Australia's 30th prime minister, Scott Morrison declared he represented generational change within the Liberal Party

The new prime minster, who holds the seat of Cook in Sydney's deep south, used his local rugby league team to outline his vision of smaller government, as espoused by former Liberal prime minister John Howard.

'We all want to be able to make our own choices in life,' he said.

'Whether it is about who comes to our country, as John Howard famously said, or what school you want your kids to go to, or what team they want to follow,' he said.'

'I suggest the Sharks.'

The former Treasurer, who worships at the Horizon church at Sutherland, in Sydney's deep south, met his future wife Jenny at a Sydney church when they were just 12.

They started dating at age 16 before marrying at the age of 21.

The devout Christian couple had to wait another 18 years before they conceived their first child, with 14 of those years spent enduring IVF attempts to become parents.

Their two daughters, however, were born naturally without IVF.

A year before entering parliament in 2007, Mr Morrison was the boss of Tourism Australia who made little-known 19-year-old bikini model Lara Bingle famous with controversial TV ads with the tagline, 'Where the bloody hell are you?'

Mr Morrison, who turned 50 in May, described the birth of his first daughter as a God-given 'miracle' after multiple procedures.

'After 14 years of bitter disappointments, God remembered [Jenny's] faithfulness and blessed us with our miracle child, Abbey Rose,' he said.

As a child, Jenny would reportedly mock Scott about coming from the exclusive side of town.

Jenny was raised in the working class St George area in Sydney's south, while Mr Morrison grew up in Bronte in the city's ritzy eastern suburbs.

Mr Morrison attended the prestigious Sydney Boys High School and embarked on a short-lived career as a child actor.

Jenny and Scott Morrison met at a Sydney church when they were just 12 years old, before marrying at the age of 21

As a child, Jenny would mock Scott about coming from the exclusive side of town. The Morrisons are pictured welcoming a new dog to the family

He graduated from the University of New South Wales and worked in tourism, playing roles in the '100% Pure New Zealand' and Australia's 'Where the bloody hell are you?' campaigns before winning in the seat of Cook in Sydney's south in 2007, following the retirement of Bruce Baird, a Liberal MP who was a critic of the Howard government's hardline stance on border protection.

Mr Morrison, who was the NSW director of the Liberals, did this by having the party install him as a candidate in the safe seat in the Sutherland Shire, after he lost a preselection ballot to right-wing candidate Richard Towke by 82 votes to eight.

In September 2015, he ironically supported Tony Abbott in the Liberal leadership ballot but became Mr Turnbull's most trusted lieutenant.

'After 14 years of bitter disappointments, God remembered [Jenny's] faithfulness and blessed us with our miracle child, Abbey Rose,' Mr Morrison said after the birth of their first child

The socially-conservative opponent of gay marriage, who also stopped the boats as immigration minister, won over conservative Liberal MPs, who would otherwise have supported Mr Dutton.

Mr Dutton, whose eligibility to remain in parliament was in doubt as the director of childcare centres receiving government subsidies, was the preferred candidate of the right faction.

Mr Morrison was able to appeal to them along with moderate Liberal MPs from his home state of NSW, who would otherwise have supported Ms Bishop.

He is the fifth consecutive federal Liberal leader to hail from Sydney since January 1995, following John Howard, Brendan Nelson, Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull.

Unlike former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello, Mr Morrison never delivered a surplus budget.

As treasurer, Mr Morrison argued against the idea of cutting Australia's high net annual immigration rate of 200,000 a year, openly contradicting Mr Abbott.

He is also hated by Sydney radio 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley, who banned himself from appearing on his show for a previously friendly weekly chat.

Jenny was raised in the working class St George area in Sydney's south, while Mr Morrison grew up in Bronte in the city's ritzy eastern suburbs. The pair are pictured with their children
Mystery surrounds the death of a former Playboy model who was found strangled in her bedroom in Pennsylvania Wednesday night.

Christina Kraft, 36, has been identified as the victim of the suspicious homicide that occurred in her condo on Sibley Avenue in the west side suburb of Ardmore.

Lower Merion Township Police were called to Kraft's residence around 9.15pm to perform a welfare check on the brunette bombshell and she was found dead in her bed. Police have not confirmed who initiated the wellness check.

An autopsy report revealed the lingerie model died by 'ligature strangulation.' As of late Thursday night, police had not made any arrests.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Lower Merion Township Police Superintendent Michael McGrath confirmed in a Thursday statement there does not appear to be a threat to other residents of the upmarket neighborhood at this time.

Christina Kraft is shown in this July 2015 Facebook photo catching rays while on an Italian vacation

The model just moved into this Philly condo, the Cambridge Square Condominiums, a week ago

A photo from the scene is shown above. Police discovered Kraft's strangled body late Wednesday during a wellness check

A resident who also lives in the building told Philly.com that Kraft just moved a week ago.

And just three days ago, Kraft reported to police that several pieces of jewelry and designer bags had been stolen, according to ABC 6.

Ardmore resident, Dave Farina, was utterly shocked to learn of the homicide in his community, which he has long considered safe.

'We never had that type of thing in Ardmore. Hardly ever. It's enough to make me cry,' Farina said in a statement to ABC 6.

'I'm praying for them that they find out who did it... and bring them to justice.'

Aside from her stint with Playboy, the model appeared in Maxim Magazine, Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret and Smashbox Cosmetics during her glamorous career, her Model Mayhem bio states.

Kraft described her nationality as Russian, German, with a hint of Swedish in her professional bio.

Kraft (center) shared this photo to her Instagram page in May with the sassy caption: 'Nice for what'

(L-R) Stuff Magazine Model Search winners, Christina Kraft, Danielle Marcos, Eva Kirchstein are photographed by Charlie Langella during the Maxim Magazine Presents 'Fantasy Island' at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, on June 27, 2004 in Atlantic City, New Jersey

(L-R) Stuff Magazine Model Search winners, Kraft, Marcos, Kirchstein are photographed by Langella in 2004 in Jersey

She said in the bio: 'I've done runway shows, print work, commercials for jewelry and evening gowns, and I did a tasteful photo shoot for Playboy that was beyond Hollywood glamour!

'I would like to build my portfolio with some more creative photographers who specialize in glamour and very high fashion!

'I really do enjoy photo shoots for swim wear and tasteful lingerie. I'm willing to travel and I love to meet new exciting people with high energy and a kind heart.

'I look forward to working with you and hope to make this a great experience!'

In 2016, Kraft was slapped with temporary assault charges after she drunkenly attacked a restaurant manager while dining with a male friend in New York in March of that year.

Kraft (pictured right in New York, April 2010) posed for Maxim, Victoria's Secret and Smashbox during her career. Her autopsy report confirmed her death to be from 'ligature strangulation'

Kraft (pictured in September 2016) struck a deal with prosecutors who agreed to drop assault charges against her after she struck a restaurant manager in the back and kicked him in the groin in March of that year

Kraft wore a gray A-line dress and patterned white and black pumps to the September 2016 court appearance in Manhattan

The bizarre incident happened at The Smith, an American Brasserie on the Upper West Side.

The assaulted manager, Sergey Anokhin, said he was left with 'redness and substantial pain' after Kraft struck him in the back and kicked him in the groin.

'The guy didn't want to pay... the manager interceded,' a source told the New York Post about the violent incident at the time.

'She was intoxicated, and she claimed that the manager pushed her - but there was video of the incident that showed she was lying.'

Prosecutors in September 2016 offered to drop charges against Kraft - so long as she stayed out of trouble for the following six months.

The five-foot-nine model was pictured in photographs by DailyMail.com wearing a gray A-line dress and patterned white and black pumps for the Manhattan hearing in which her charges were dropped.

Kraft was initially charged with misdemeanor assault, attempted assault and harassment.

The model posted this photo to her Facebook page in March 2015 with the caption: 'Beach house'
A charity is offering to send Peter Dutton a 'dirty potato' for every $1 donated to refugees.

The campaign, called Send Dirty Dutton a Potato, said it would send all the profit to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

The tongue-in-cheek campaign was launched on Friday, the day Mr Dutton was sensationally defeated in the Liberal leadership spill.

A charity is offering to send Peter Dutton a 'dirty potato' for every $1 donated to refugees

The tongue-in-cheek campaign was launched on Friday, the day Mr Dutton was sensationally defeated in the Liberal leadership spill

The now former home affairs minister cut Australia's immigration intake by 10 per cent in the last year to 162,417, its lowest number in 10 years.

Mr Dutton has courted backlash for his immigration policies, which have seen families and their children detained at the Nauru Detention Centre.

After his failed attempt to oust Malcolm Turnbull from the top job on Friday, Parliament of Potato created the campaign.

The website offers one potato for $1, a dozen potatoes for $10 and a crate of potatoes for $39.

After his failed attempt to oust Malcolm Turnbull from the top job on Friday, Parliament of Potato created the campaign

The website offers one potato for $1, a dozen potatoes for $10 and a crate of potatoes for $39

A crate of dirty potatoes is being advertised as $39 on the page - with all money raised going to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

'The Parliament of Potato will remind Peter Australia is a potatocracy,' the campaign said.

The head of the campaign, Chief Potato Officer, said the campaign was 'no joke'.

'Australian politics is pretty baked right now. We are deadly serious about delivering these beautiful, starchy golden nuggets right to the doorstep of the biggest spud of them all,' he told Pedestrian.

'Our government might be distracted from the real issues right now, but that doesn't mean us small fries can't send our pollies a big message (and a few potatoes).'

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said it did not set up the campaign, but was happy to receive as much funding as possible.

The campaign raised more than $3,000 within a few hours of its launch.
Peter Dutton took just a moment to swallow his pride on Friday just hours after losing his second attempt to become Australia's 30th Prime Minister.

The former Home Affairs Minister, now at least temporarily relegated to the backbench after his leadership tilt, sat down with his family just after 3pm at a Canberra restaurant.

The photograph was posted on Twitter by Sydney Morning Herald journalist, Bevan Shields.

The sulking former Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton was spotted having a bite to eat with his family after his defeat at about 3pm at a Canberra restaurant

Mr Dutton sought comfort in the loss to former Treasurer Scott Morrison in the leadership spill with his wife Kirilly, his two young sons, Harry and Tom, and teenage daughter, Rebecca.

After losing the leadership ballot, a humbled Mr Dutton promised to support the new Prime Minister.

'My course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison, to make sure we that we win the election and defeat Bill Shorten and make sure he's never prime minister,' Mr Dutton said.

Mr Dutton insists he has no regrets after trying to overthrow former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and walking away holding nothing but his marginal seat.

Peter Dutton is pictured with wife Kirilly, the couple's two young sons, Harry and Tom, and daughter Rebecca from a previous relationship

PRIME MINSTER SCOTT MORRISON'S FIRST STEPS Enter into renewed coalition agreement with the Nationals. Work on a new cabinet and ministry over the weekend. Ministers sworn in next week. Meet with national drought co-ordinator Stephen Day. Meet with Liberal strategists on Wentworth by-election and timing of Malcolm Turnbull retirement. Ensure rogue Nationals MPs who threatened to quit if a Liberal spill occurred do not go to the crossbenches. Rejig policies on power prices, aged care, health and small business. Source: Australian Associated Press Advertisement

Mr Dutton was philosophical after the embarrassing loss, describing the leadership coup as a turning point for the Liberal Party.

'I'm pleased that Scott Morrison has been elected prime minister - I think it's a good day for our country," he told the ABC while at the restaurant.

'I think it's a turning point and a healing point for the Liberal Party, I think we now look forward instead of back.'

Mr Dutton said animosity had run deep within the party ever since Mr Turnbull deposed Tony Abbott in 2015.

'We now draw a line under all of that,' he said.

Lack of loyalty in the days and weeks leading up to his second failed challenge drew a sharp slap from Mr Turnbull on his way out the door.

'Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott and others who chose to deliberately attack the government from within, they did so because they wanted to bring the government down,' he said.

Mr Dutton brushed off the fierce criticism from his former leader.

'I would rise above it because there's a lot of emotion and rewriting of history,' he said.

'I only nominated because I believe that I was a better person and a person of greater strength and integrity to lead the Liberal Party.'

Questions were also raised over his eligibility to stay in parliament over his financial interests in commonwealth-funded childcare centres.

In a tumultuous and bitter week for Australian politics, Peter Dutton (pictured) on Friday lost to former Treasurer Scott Morrison

Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC found there is "some risk" the High Court would find Mr Dutton has a conflict of interest over federal payments to the centres.

Mr Morrison's first job will be to try to bring the warring factions together and present a united front to voters ahead of an election due before May 2019.

Prime Minister Morrsion, who was sworn in at 6pm on Friday evening, outlined his vision for a more compassionate nation and declared he represented 'generational change' within the Liberal Party.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Derek Holland issued an apology Thursday after speaking in a mock Asian accent during an appearance on the MLB Network program 'Intentional Talk' a day earlier.

While wearing a wig and a shirt emblazoned with the imaged of deceased artist Bob Ross, Holland on Wednesday attempted a skit with the team's Japanese massage therapist Haro Ogawa serving as his 'hype man.' During the interview, Holland spoke in the mock Asian accent, at one point uttering 'much respect' while bowing sarcastically.

Ogawa did appear to be in on the joke, even if the audience was not.

The southpaw can be heard asking if Ogawa would 'kiss a giraffe' and if he likes water. At one point MLB Network host and former player Kevin Millar yelled 'Konnichiwa.'

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

During the interview, Giants pitcher Derek Holland (right) spoke in the mock accent, at one point uttering 'much respect' while bowing sarcastically alongside the team's masseuse

As criticism for the skit circulated through social media, the Giants addressed it in a statement to Deadspin:

'The Giants organization does not condone that type of behavior in any way. We spoke to Derek regarding his interview yesterday and he completely understands the severity of the situation and apologizes if it offended anyone.'

Holland then personally addressed the issue prior to the Giants' afternoon game against the New York Mets.

'I want to make sure it's clear that was all on me,' Holland told reporters. 'Now it's become a distraction to the team. I don't want that. I don't want to have offended anybody.'

Holland, 31, is in his first season in San Francisco after nine years with the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox. He does have a good reputation within the league. In 2014 Holland started the 60 Feet 6 Foundation, which takes its name from the distance between the pitching rubber and home plate, and helps raise awareness and fund research for pediatric leukemia

Giants pitcher Derek Holland (left) has apologized to team massage therapist Haro Ogawa (right) and another Asian team employee for the skit, which many deemed offensive

Holland said he also apologized to Ogawa and another Asian team employee for the skit.

'They understand we were just doing a bit but it was too far,' he said. 'With that, I want to make sure that everybody understands that those were not the intentions. ...

'I apologize for what I have done. Whatever I have to do to take care of the situation, I will do it.'

Previously Holland wore a shirt that read 'Ho Lee Chit' while speaking with reporters.

Holland, 31, is in his first season with the Giants after nine years spent between the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox.

Holland does have an otherwise good reputation within the league. In 2014 he started the 60 Feet 6 Foundation, which takes its name from the distance between the pitching rubber and home plate, and helps raise awareness and fund research for pediatric leukemia.

Not everyone was surprised to see that Derek Holland offended people of Asian descent
A teenage boy has been shot after he was lured outside of his home in what police believe was a targeted attack.

Police and paramedics were called to the scene on Martins Road, in Salisbury Downs, north Adelaide just after 6.15am after reports of a shooting.

The 16-year-old sustained a minor injury to his arm after the incident and was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital where he is in a stable condition.

A teenage boy has been shot in north Adelaide after being lured outside of his home in what police believe to be a targeted attack

The victim was allegedly lured out of his home by a person yelling outside, and was shot when he went to the front door, Clinton Lees, the teenager's brother told Nine News.

'He came to the front door to see who it was, they shot at him and then he jumped the back fence,' he said.

South Australia Police believe that the shooting is linked to a prior altercation at the property earlier in the morning about 1am.

They understand that those involved in the altercation returned to the property just after 6am and fired the shot.

Neighbour John Middleton told reporters that he let the injured teenager into his house after the shooting and called the police.

'That's all we could do,' he said.

A spokeswoman for South Australia Police told Daily Mail Australia that those involved were 'pretty feral' and are 'not cooperating' with police as they continue their investigation.

Police have told the local community that this is not a random incident.
Malcolm Turnbull has bowed out of politics by cleverly engineering his preferred replacement as prime minister and returning to his Sydney Harbour mansion and a $200 million fortune.

The 63-year-old former television journalist, lawyer and merchant banker took former home affairs minister Peter Dutton by surprise on Tuesday when he declared the Liberal leadership vacant.

This move exposed how unprepared Mr Dutton was to lead to both his panicked colleagues and the public after he was caught on the back foot.

Malcolm Turnbull (pictured with granddaughter Alice) has bowed out of politics by cleverly engineering his preferred replacement as prime minister

Mr Dutton then made some crucial errors, specifically when he said hed take the GST off power bills during a 3AW interview.

This knee-jerk statement allowed the now Prime Minister Scott Morrison to expose Mr Dutton's leadership aspirations by stating such a plan would cost the county $7.5 billion over four years.

His predecessor, a millionaire from Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs, who before politics did business with the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner on behalf of billionaire media mogul Kerry Packer, was certainly no stranger to naked ambition, at least in politics.

Mr Dutton, the preferred choice of right-wing Liberal politicians who admired his hard-line stance on immigration, then called another challenge for Thursday.

Peter Dutton challenged on Tuesday and came within seven votes

The lawyer in Mr Turnbull prevailed, demanding a petition signed by a majority of the Liberal Party's 85 federal members of parliament be presented before a spill motion could be voted on.

The delay of the party vote until Friday gave Mr Turnbull the time to draft his ultimate replacement Scott Morrison into the race.

Mr Morrison, who ironically supported Tony Abbott in September 2015 when Mr Turnbull knifed a first-term prime minister, would go on to become the immediate former PM's preferred candidate.

The millionaire from Sydney, who before politics did business with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner on behalf of billionaire media mogul Kerry Packer, certainly knew about naked ambition

The Turnbull government treasurer, who turned 50 in May, was the consensus candidate, who was able to appeal to both moderates and conservatives within the Liberal party room.

A day before the race, the Turnbull government's attorney-general Christian Porter raised questions about Mr Dutton's constitutional eligibility to remain in parliament, as a childcare centre group director who received taxpayer subsidies from the commonwealth.

He referred the matter to the solicitor-general, which may have convinced MPs who voted for Mr Dutton on Tuesday to switch their support to Mr Morrison on Friday.

Julie Bishop, the Liberal Party's deputy leader from December 2007 until today, ran in the contest but was knocked out at the first round, as the candidate for moderates.

Malcolm Turnbull (left) was able to engineer the numbers so Scott Morrison prevailed as his replacement

In his final speech as prime minister in the courtyard of Parliament House in Canberra, Mr Turnbull praised both Mr Morrison and Ms Bishop, but wasn't so kind to Mr Dutton.

He took aimed a right-wing 'insurgents' within the Liberal Party who destabilised his leadership, as proxies for his bitter predecessor Mr Abbott.

'The people who chose - Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott and others - who chose to deliberately attack the Government from within, they did so because they wanted to bring the Government down,' Mr Turnbull said.

However in a parting shot at these destabilising elements in the Liberal Party, he gloated at how Mr Dutton had lost to his preferred candidate Mr Morrison.

Turnbull, accused of being too close to Labor personally and ideologically, can at least go home to his mansion at Point Piper on Sydney Harbour, in Australia's most expensive suburb

'I was impressed by how many of my colleagues spoke or voted for loyalty above disloyalty, how the insurgents were not rewarded,' he said.

While Mr Turnbull lasted less than three years as prime minister, he at least was the richest man to ever hold that office with the Business Review Weekly magazine in 2009 estimating his worth at $200 million.

The former prime minister, who once asked former PM Bob Hawke and powerbroker Graham Richardson about being a Labor senator, served 1,074 days as PM, three more than Gough Whitlam, who was dismissed from office in November 1975.

Before going into politics, Mr Turnbull was in business with the former Labor PM's son Nick Whitlam, running a merchant bank with him during the late 1980s and 1990s.

The former Liberal leader, accused of being too close to Labor personally and ideologically, can at least go home to his mansion at Point Piper on Sydney Harbour, in Australia's most expensive suburb and spend more time with his grandchildren.
A model has admitted to illegally slandering a photographer she once worked for while he had an apprehended violence order against her.

Emma Lousie Swinson, from Byron Bay, pleaded guilty to breaching the AVO to protect photographer Robin Merritt, 56, after 'abusively' texting his assistant.

The 43-year-old's AVO, imposed in September, banned Swinson from using social media to verbally assault, threaten, harass or intimidate him or incite anyone else to do so, Daily Telegraph reported.

Emma Lousie Swinson (pictured) has admitted to breaching an AVO put in place to protect a photographer she once worked for

Swinson (pictured), 43, pleaded guilty to breaching the AVO to protect photographer Robin Merritt, 56, after 'abusively' texting his assistant

Mr Merritt took legal action following a 'fall out' with Swinson, who worked with him for three months before he claimed she started a 'hate campaign' against him online.

'I worked with her over three months before deciding to terminate her services due to a falling out and our business relationship was no longer appropriate,' his AVO application read.

The AVO banned Swinson from using social media to verbally assault, threaten, harass or intimidate him or incite anyone else to do so (Mr Merritt pictured)

'In August 2016 (Swinson) began a hate campaign against me stating things like 'Robin Merritt is disgusting, sexually lecherous, and a predator and has unwanted sex with women'.'

He alleged the model, who he hired in April 2016 as a make up artist and assistant for Gold Coast photo shoots, made a series of damaging posts over a 12 month period.

She was ordered by the Bankstown Local Court in September to remove all posts relating to Mr Merritt, but less than two months later breached her conditions.

Swinson sent Mr Merritt's new assistant a series of abusive texts on November 27, which police later found breached the AVO against her.

'And I thought you were lovely and stuck up for you...omg I was wrong,' one of the messages read.

She pleaded guilty in Mullumbimby Local Court on July 23 and was handed a nine month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded.

Swinson sent Mr Merritt's new assistant a series of abusive texts on November 27, which police later found breached the AVO against her (one of the texts pictured)

Mr Merritt (right) alleged the model, who he hired in April 2016 as a make up artist and assistant for Gold Coast photo shoots, made a series of damaging posts over a 12 month period

Mr Merritt, a 2014 Australian of the Year nominee, had been in the photography trade about 40 years when he claimed Swinson caused 'irreparable' damage to his reputation.

He said he went a year without paid work and suffered a 'devastating impact' to his well being and reputation, which he feared would take at least a decade to repair.

Posts about him online also lead to threats to his personal safety, he claimed, with people saying they would bash him up.

He announced to his Facebook followers he would be setting his photography business aside to study law and criminology at university.
Qantas has been accused of withholding bonuses for staff as a bribe to agree to lower wages.

The airline's profits have soared to a record $1.6billion following the success of the new non-stop Perth to London service.

Qantas said that they set aside $67million in bonuses to be given to 27,000 staff, but they will have to agree to new wage deals to receive it.

Qantas announced that they would be gifting each of their employees with a $2500 bonus, but it comes with a catch

There are now accusations that the $2500 bonus was offered in an effort to entice staff to accept the low-standard pay deals.

Secretary of the Flight Attendant's Association of Australia international division, Teri O'Toole, told the Sydney Morning Herald that members of the association felt the bonus was a slap in the face, as their wage deals don't expire until 2021.

'Our tier-two flight attendants are paid $27 an hour to run towards the fire, so this is a lot of money for them,' she said.

'Let's say we get a $2500 bonus every year for the next four years, and the [new] EBA is appalling - it has terrible conditions and it doesn't benefit my members. How do I get them to vote no, and take action at the thought of losing $10,000? It is absolutely appalling.'

Ms O'Toole said that she was investigating whether the offer was in line with Fair Work Act rules against coercion in industrial negotiations.

When the bonus was announced, Qantas said that they were 'pleased to reward our people with a bonus for this fantastic result'.

Qantas said that they set aside $67million in bonuses to be given to the 27,000 staff, but it was revealed that they had to agree to new wage deals to receive it (pictured Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce)

'Ultimately our success relies on the great service and dedication to safety from our people, which is supported by continuing to invest and innovate,' Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.

The announcement didn't include the conditions of the bonus, which Fairfax say were outlined in a letter they saw.

The letter says that the bonuses will only be paid once the employee's post wage-freeze collective agreement is approved.

However, staff are going to be handed $500 of the bonus as a staff travel voucher.

'Qantas has paid bonuses to non-executive employees in each of the past four years totalling more than $300 million,' a Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are surprised unions are attacking a company for setting aside $67 million to rewarding employees above and beyond what they are entitled to.'
TANZANIA and Uganda have gained great success in the Joint Permanent Commissions (JPC), which took place in Arusha in April, 2017 and the ongoing meeting in Kampala, Uganda.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga and his Ugandan counterpart, Sam Kutesa said during the opening of JPC in Kampala that the two countries have benefited from the JPC.

Among the successes mentioned by the two Ministers include the signing of nine agreements, which comprise the construction of natural gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Uganda as well as cooperation in Education and trainings, which were signed yesterday during the JPC in Kampala.

The Ministers informed the public that the signed agreements have been implemented well by both sides. They said the implementation of the agreements is aimed at speeding economic growth, which is in line with President John Magufuli and his Ugandan Counterpart, Yoweri Musevenis ambitions, which is to boost trade and economy among the two countries.

The signed agreements include developing infrastructure, which comprise roads especially at borders, electricity supply, railway line, ports and air transportation. Following such agreements, various projects have been implemented and some of them are on different implementation stages including Kikagati/ Murongo power generation, which is set to be completed in 2020.

Moreover, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL)is set to launch its direct flight from Dar es Salaam to Entebbe at the end of August following the signing of an agreement on air transportation in April, this year, in Arusha.

Other projects include the renovation of Bell and Bukasa port and face-lift of Kagawa and Pamba vessels in Uganda, which is expected to boost business after the completion of Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The two Ministers insisted that there is need for the two governments to invest in the central corridor, so as to boost businesses in the area. They also insisted on resolving all available challenges and make sure trade barriers are removed to enable traders and other stakeholders to participate fully in economic growth.

The two sides were represented by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries. On the side of Tanzania, Dr Mahiga was accompanied by the Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Mr William Lukuvi, Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, Eng Isack Kamwelwe, Minister for Industries, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage and Deputy Minister for Energy, Ms Subira Mgalu.
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Notting Hill Carnival will fill the streets of west London with the colours and sounds of the Caribbean for the 59th time this Bank Holiday weekend.

From Notting Hill Gate to Ladbroke Grove sound systems will blast out everything from reggae and samba to drum and bass, as dancers parade the streets in their carnival best and revellers sip rum out of pineapples.

The two-day event has been celebrating the best the capital's West Indian population has to offer since 1966, promoting cultural unity, diversity and inclusion.

After the Notting Hill race riots of 1958, when working class white people clashed with their new Caribbean neighbours who had arrived in London as part of the Windrush generation, carnival celebrations were a way of trying to bring people together.

Last year's event was made poignant by the Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed the lives of 72 residents just a stone's throw away from where the festivities take place.

As the blackened shell of the high-rise towered above, the 2017 carnival went 'Green for Grenfell' as neighbours showed resilience and solidarity for all those affected.

With preparations already underway for this weekend's celebrations, MailOnline takes a look back at the Notting Hill Carnivals of years gone by.

Joining the fun! One policeman is pictured smiling as he gets stuck between two costume-wearing carnival-goers on the streets of west London for Notting Hill Carnival in the 1980s. A man is seen drinking to the left as others look on excited

A carnival-goer gets a lift from a police officer on duty at Notting Hill Carnival in 1980 (left) as another is lucky enough to get a kiss on the lips by one excited female reveller in 1979 (right). The first ever carnival took place in Notting Hill in 1966 to promote cultural unity after racial tension and the riots of 1958. It was held in west London as it was home to many of the West Indians who had arrived in London from the Caribbean after the war ended - known now as the Windrush generation

During the 1970 Notting Hill Carnival a protest was staged by residents waving banners saying 'hands off black people' in response to police repression. Tensions were high at the time of the first carnival in 1966. Mass immigration of people from the Caribbean to areas like Notting Hill and Brixton angered many of the white working class residents

Jam packed! Hundreds of thousands of people are pictured enjoying Notting Hil Carnival in 1977 as steel drum players look down on crowds from above. The first ever carnival took place in west London in 1966 to create cultural unity and inclusion

Dancing on the rooftops! A group of four women enjoy the music from their flat in west London in 1988 as Notting Hill Carnival takes place in the streets below. Although it is a time of celebration there have been repeated incidents of violence at the carnival over the years. This year there will be the most police officers the event has had in six years - 13,000 over two days

Don't let us stop you: Policemen are pictured carrying riot shields as members of the Caribbean community dance alongside them for Notting Hill Carnival on August 29 1979. Race riots were the original reason for creating the event after 108 were charged in relation to unrest in the area in 1958. The founder believed the carnival would promote cultural unity

Groovy! A group of women enjoy the blasting sound systems in Tavistock Crescent in west London for Notting Hill Carnival in 1975. The festivities take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Sunday is traditionally the more family-friend day of celebrations, with the Monday more notorious for unrest and violence

Getting down through the ages: Two young women are pictured in their carnival finest dancing to the music at Notting Hill Carnival in 2005 (right) while a man and woman in costume dance together in the same area in August 1994

Party ready! Three young women are pictured wearing black, white and red hot pants and crop top combinations at carnival

Too loud! Two young boys are pictured covering their ears as they sit below one of dozens of booming sound systems placed around west London for Notting Hill Carnival in 1999. This year there will be 37 official static sound systems for revellers

A group of four men use the boarding outside shops on the streets of west London as urinals at carnival in the 1990s

What are you looking at? A group of punks are pictured making the most of the carnival festivities in Notting Hill at carnival in 1983. The first ever Notting Hill Carnival took place in 1966 in the aftermath of race riots in the area in 1958

Carnival crew: A group of women dress in colour as they walk the streets of west London for Notting Hill Carnival 1997

Crowds are pictured filling the streets of west London at Notting Hill Carnival in 1991 as festivities get underway in the sun

University of dub! From reggae to samba and dub to drum and bass, there is a wide variety of music at Notting Hill Carnival every year. Pictured is a Rastafarian man singing into the microphone with a 'university of dub' banner behind him

All in white: A man and a woman cover themselves in glitter and feathers, cutting a striking figure as they dance their way through west London for Notting Hill Carnival in the 1990s. Outfits are similar to those worn at other big carnivals worldwide

Picture perfect: A woman poses for the camera as she revels in her colourful outfit made of feathers and gems at last year's Notting Hill Carnival. The 2017 event was made poignant by the Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed the lives of 72 residents

Matching! Two women from Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica smile for cameras as they perform in all their carnival finery at last year's event. Police officers are pictured monitoring a cordon as revellers whip out their camera phones to take pictures

Hot weather saw hundreds of thousands come out to enjoy Notting Hill Carnival in 2017, with over thirty static sound systems, food stalls and people in spectacular costumes (woman pictured in feathers and gems at the event last year)

Last year's event was made poignant by the Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed the lives of 72 residents just a stone's throw away from where the festivities take place. A woman is pictured wiping a tear from her eye at 2017 Notting Hill Carnival. As the blackened shell of the high-rise towered above, the 2017 carnival went 'Green for Grenfell'

Carnival-goers are pictured walking by a sign at the 2017 event. It reads: Grenfell, London is one, after the tragedy in the area

Green for Grenfell: Residents of Notting Hill and the surrounding area dressed up in green for carnival last year to show solidarity and resilience after the fire at Grenfell Tower that killed 72 people and devastated the entire nation

Doves were released at last year's Notting Hill Carnival as a symbol of hope to those neighbouring residents affected by the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, where 72 people were killed in a fire that devastated the whole country

A reveller dressed as a Catholic priest costume and covered in paint shares a joke with a police officer at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016

Let's dance! Four women are pictured dancing together as they don bright colours and drink at carnival in the early 2000s

A HISTORY OF LONDON'S NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL Notting Hill Carnival has become one of the biggest in the world since it started in west London in 1966. It has taken place every year across Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove, Westbourne Park, Bayswater and Royal Oak with hundreds of thousands crowding the streets to enjoy the celebrations each time. The carnival is characterised by dancers in colourful costumes, similar to those in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and other carnivals around the world. West London was chosen as the location because it is home to a large proportion of the capital's Caribbean community, as well as areas like Brixton. The first Caribbean immigrants arrived in London on a boat called HMS Windrush in 1948. They had been allowed to settle in Britain as a result of the British Nationality Act passed that year, which stated any citizen of a British colony had the right to stay in the UK. Over the next two decades there was increasing racial tension between the white working class population of London and their new Caribbean neighbours. Incidents of racially-motivated crime were on the rise and the 1958 Notting Hill race riots saw 108 people charged. A 'Caribbean carnival' took place on January 30 1959, designed to ease race relations in London. It was held indoors at the St Pancras Town Hall and was televised by the BBC. It wasn't until several years later in 1966 that the first carnival took place in Notting Hill. It was organised by Rhaune Laslett, who wasn't aware of the previous event at St Pancras. She is credited with creating the festival, intended to promote cultural unity and inclusion and celebrate the best of what London's minority communities have to offer. The carnival has been plagued by violence over the decades, with stabbings and other assaults common year on year. Policing has improved since its inception, with new measures introduced to stop weapons being brought into the area. In 2017 the festival 'went green for Grenfell' after the tragedy at Grenfell Tower a few months before. The high-rise, just a stone's throw away from where carnival festivities take place, caught fire in June 2016, killing 72 people. Carnival-goers dressed up in green, released doves and held a minute's silence in solidarity with all those affected. Advertisement

Knife-detecting arches are set up for first time ahead of Notting Hill Carnival 2018 as 13,000 police will patrol festival amid wave of violence in London

Notting Hill Carnival will have knife arches placed around the event for the first time as the highest number of officers in six years will police the parade.

It is hoped that the 'tried and tested' method will put off those planning to attend the Bank Holiday weekend event armed with knives and offensive weapons.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police did not disclose where the arches would be but said that not everybody will be expected to pass through them. The move follows a wave of violent crime in the capital in recent months.

Knife-detecting arches will be in use at Notting Hill Carnival for the first time ever this year. File image of an arch in Vauxhall, south London used

Workmen are pictured putting up boards outside shop and house fronts in west London this week ahead of Notting Hill Carnival

Some 13,000 officers will be deployed to the two-day event - around 450 more than last year and more than the parades over the past five years.

Almost 7,000 officers, some from the Metropolitan Police's newly-formed Violent Crime Task Force, will be policing Monday's event to 'combat the threat of violent crime'. This will be up from 6,100 on-duty officers on Sunday's less busy family day.

Undercover police officers as well as officers from the Force Firearms and Dog Unit will be in place.

The west London street party is expected to attract more than one million revellers to its floats, food stalls and music.

Partygoers are advised to plan their journeys ahead, avoid bringing valuables and not to carry too much cash.

A shop front is pictured boarded up and spray-painted ahead of carnival festivities in west London this Bank Holiday weekend

Commander Dave Musker, police gold commander for the event, said: 'The Met seeks to support Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Carnivalists and local communities to deliver a safe and spectacular event over the Bank Holiday weekend.

'Our continued major effort directed against violence across the Capital will continue.

He added: 'Let no one be in any doubt that if you have the intention to come to Carnival and be involved in crime or violence, my officers will robustly and proactively target you to keep Londoners safe.'

Supt Elisabeth Chapple, Met spokeswoman for Carnival, urged those who know of anyone planning to cause troube to contact police.

'Whilst there's no specific threat to this event, we are keeping the situation under constant review' she said.
This is the horrifying moment a bull gores a woman during a traditional Spanish event where the animal's horns are set on fire.

Footage from the scene shows the animal charge at the woman, who has not been named, and lifting her into the air by the horns before she crashes to the ground.

During the toro embolado town festival in Sumacarcer, in the eastern Spanish region of Valencia, the animal is fitted with wooden balls on its horns which are then set alight.

A bull gored a woman (pictured above) during a traditional Spanish event where the animal's horns are set on fire

Footage from the scene shows the animal charge at the woman (pictured above), who has not been named, and lifting her into the air by the horns before she crashes to the ground

The toro embolado town festival, translated as 'bull with balls' in Sumacarcer, in the eastern Spanish region of Valencia, involves the animal being fitted with wooden balls on its horns which are then set alight

Footage shows event organisers cruelly lighting the bull's horns and setting it loose within the arena as spectators look on from behind metal fences.

As the bull runs across the arena a young woman, who was reportedly taking photos, emerges at the far end of the arena and is tossed into the air by the animal.

As the audience screams in horror, several spectators are seen running over to the aid of the injured woman who now lies on the ground and cautiously move her out of harms way.

The injured woman was attended to by local paramedics before being rushed to the Lluis Alcanyis Hospital in the nearby city of Xativa.

The Spanish festival is celebrated in many towns across the country but is particularly popular in the Valencian and Southern Catalonian community

As the audience screams in horror, several spectators are seen running over to the aid of the woman who now lies on the ground and cautiously move her out of harms way. She was rushed to the Lluis Alcanyis Hospital in the nearby city of Xativa and has since been described as 'stable'

The casualty was sent to intensive care but her condition has since been described as 'stable'.

The Spanish festival is celebrated in many towns across the country but is particularly popular in the Valencian and Southern Catalonian community.

Translated as 'bull with balls' it involves a bull being tied to a post as balls of flammable material are put on the animals's horns and set alight.

This is not the first time, spectators have been attacked during such festivals.

Earlier this month a 45-year-old man was treated in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Zaragoza after being attacked at the Bous al Carrer (Bulls on the Street) festival in the village of Ademuz near Valenica in eastern Spain.

In recent years, animal welfare activists have attempted to stop the practice due to the cruelty to the animal.
When Marlon finished high school in Germany, a military career seemed far more appealing than working on a car production line.

So, a few months before he turned 18, he joined the German army, becoming one of more than 10,000 minors to sign up since mandatory military service ended in 2011.

'I wanted to experience something and to get to know my own limits, to see how far I can go,' Marlon, who asked for his last name not be used, told Reuters at a base in Viereck, near the Polish border in northeastern Germany.

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The German military has targeted youngsters with slick online video campaigns to attract recruits

The German military, or Bundeswehr, has dramatically stepped up its recruitment efforts as part of a broader reset following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In 2017, Germany said it would increase the size of its armed forces to 198,000 active soldiers by 2024 from 179,000.

Pressure on Berlin to beef up its military mounted again in July when U.S. President Donald Trump told a NATO summit that Washington could withdraw support for the alliance if Europe did not boost military spending.

To help attract new recruits, the military has targeted youngsters with slick online video campaigns, drawing criticism from some left-wing politicians and child welfare advocates in Germany, where the army remains a sensitive career choice more than 70 years after World War Two.

But the campaigns are paying off.

More than 10,000 minors to sign up since mandatory military service ended in 2011

In 2017, 2,128 people under 18 joined the German army, up 11.4 percent from 2016 and accounting for 9 percent of new recruits, according to government data.

With lively music and scenes showing the lives of young soldiers, the Bundeswehr's shows on YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, have attracted more than 64 million views.

In October, traffic at the Bundeswehr jobs website increased 60 percent during a six-week broadcast of 'Mali', a YouTube series centred on eight soldiers serving in the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission in the West African country.

The Bundeswehr Exclusive YouTube channel has over 330,000 followers and its latest production portrays the lives of a group of young paratroopers. The army is also active on other sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

According to a Trendence Institut survey of 20,000 school students across the country, the military is now considered Germany's third most attractive employer, behind sportswear maker Adidas and the police in first place.

Overall, the army spent about 35 million euros ($40 million) on recruitment last year, more than double its spending in 2011, the year compulsory military service ended, annual parliament reports about the Bundeswehr showed.

'The Bundeswehr today is a volunteer army ... Therefore, it must approach young people to win them over,' a spokeswoman for the personnel management department at the Bundeswehr said.

Before signing up, Marlon said he browsed the army's website and watched a series of YouTube videos.

He needed his mother's consent to join because he was under 18, but she was happy to give it and is now pleased her once-messy son has become more organised, Marlon said.

German Bundeswehr armed forces recruits of the Mechanized Infantry Battalion 411 receive a debriefing by an instructor during a drill at a military training area in Viereck, Germany

German Bundeswehr armed forces recruits Marlon S. (right) and Max H. of the Mechanized Infantry Battalion 411 run for cover during a drill

The Bundeswehr says the YouTube content aims to offer a realistic and authentic image of life in the military, but some politicians and children's rights advocates argue the glossy marketing gives minors a false impression.

'The entire advertising efforts of the Bundeswehr are more adventurous than a realistic description of the job,' Tobias Pflueger, defence policy spokesman for the pacifist Left Party.

More than 30,000 people signed a letter delivered to German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen a year ago that urged the Bundeswehr to stop recruiting minors.

She said then that the army must have the same chance as other employers to attract people before they turn 18, adding that minors were trained in safe spaces and didn't handle weapons alone until they turned 18.

Recruits Marlon S. (left) and Max H. of the Mechanized Infantry Battalion 411 pose for a portrait

'This is embarrassing and sends a wrong signal to the world,' said Ralf Willinger from rights group terre des hommes.

'It weakens the international 18-year standard, encouraging armed groups and armies from other countries to legitimate the use of minors as soldiers.'

Recruits under 18 in Germany undergo military training like other adult trainees, but they have special provisions such as not being allowed to participate in guard duty or foreign missions, and weapons are only used for educational purposes.

Ilka Hoffmann, a board member at the GEW union that represents about 280,000 teachers, social workers and education workers, says the nature of military work meant there should be more caution about hiring under 18s.

'This is not a normal profession. In no other profession does one learn to kill, and is one confronted with the danger of dying in war. That is the one difference,' Hoffmann said.
In a case of 'painful irony', a man who was caught speeding at 212km/h has had to delay his sentencing to care for a family member who was recently struck by a car.

New Zealand man Tepiwa Michael Peter Keremete Riwai, 32, faced the Hutt Valley District Court for sentencing on Friday when Judge Arthur Tompkins accepted a plea to have his two month home detention.

'In what must be a painful irony for Mr Riwai, his [family member] has recently been injured as a result of being struck by another vehicle,' Judge Tompkins said.

In a case of 'painful irony' a man who was caught speeding at 212km/h has had to delay his sentencing to care for a family member who was recently struck by a car

On March 8 Riwai was clocked speeding at 212km/h by New Zeland Police during an illegal drag race between Avalon and the Haywards Hill interchange in the Hutt, the NZ Herald reported.

Riwai was only on his learners licence at the time and the passenger in his car was on a restricted license, meaning Riwai was already driving illegally.

The two cars sped past innocent motorists along the highway however defence lawyer Chris Nicholls told the court the roads were not busy and no one had to take evasive action.

Both drivers were issued with 28 day licence suspensions and had their cars impounded after police pulled them over.

Riwai pleaded guilty in July to operating a vehicle in a race or exhibition of speed and received the home detention sentence and an 18 month licence disqualification.

Judge Tompkins said Riwai was putting lives at risk.

On March 8 Riwai was clocked speeding at 212km/h by New Zeland Police during an illegal drag race between Avalon and the Haywards Hill interchange (pictured) in the Hutt

'Despite his own inflated views of his skills as a driver, [he] presents as ongoing hazard to all other road users,' he said.

However he has pleaded not guilty to the racing charge so will appear in court on a later date for that alleged offence.

Riwai's home detention was postponed for a week so he could rush to the hospital and see his injured family member.
A leading Russian university covered up nude statues to spare the blushes of Orthodox Church priests, sparking a dispute among clerics.

The classical sculptures depicting men and women have long adorned the foyer of Novosibirsk State Academy of Architecture and Fine Arts.

But they were deemed too risque for senior churchmen attending a meeting who welcomed the censorship.

A leading Russian university covered up nude statues to spare the blushes of Orthodox Church priests. Pictured left, before a statue was covered, and right, after

Sheets pinned with paperclips were draped over naked torsos, although heads were visible

Orange and white sheets pinned with paperclips were draped over the naked torsos, although the heads remained visible.

A spokesman for the university, which is one of the most prestigious in Russia, was coy about the move, saying: 'Why did we have to cover them? I can't tell you that.'

But a witness was told that a church delegation was visiting and the draping was undertaken 'not to hurt their feelings.'

Archpriest Alexander Matruk, who was among the attendees, supported the cover-up.

'Why are these sculptures there? What are they for? Art? So what that this is art? People have different views of art,' he said.

The classical sculptures depicting men and women have long adorned the foyer of Novosibirsk State Academy of Architecture and Fine Arts

A witness was told that a church delegation was visiting and the draping was undertaken 'not to hurt their feelings'

The sight of the naked statues might have 'disturbed' the priests, Archpriest Alexander Matruk said

'I think the academy's officials made the right step by ordering the statues to be covered.'

The sight of the naked statues might have 'disturbed' the priests, he added.

After they left, university officials were seen undressing the statues and the university announced they were 'back to normal.'

After they left, university officials were seen undressing the statues and the university announced they were 'back to normal.' Pictured, inside the academy

A Russian Orthodox Church spokesman said the university (pictured) had 'gone too far' in protecting priests from embarrassment

But the Russian Orthodox Church itself criticised the move.

Press secretary Vladimir Legoida said the university had 'gone too far' in protecting priests from embarrassment.

The church did not expect top museums to cover-up statues whenever priests visited, he said.
Concerns are mounting over the welfare of two young children and their parents who have been missing for nearly a week.

Lauren Bevington, Tyler Milner and their children Lyla, four months, and Bailey, two, were last seen earlier this week.

They are all understood to be living in the Warragul area of Victoria and police are concerned about the safety of the young children in particular.

Lauren Bevington (pictured) has been missing for nearly a week with her two young children

Police have released images of the parents in hope that somebody may recognise them.

Victoria Police believe that Lauren, Tyler and the children often visit the Latrobe Valley and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Anyone who sees the children or their parents is requested to contact Warragul Police Station on 5622 7111.
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Authorities pleaded with locals and tourists in Hawaii to stay indoors and avoid the world-famous beaches as Hurricane Lane unleashed torrents of rain and landslides.

But many appeared unconcerned as they went for a dip in the wild ocean and drove their cars through floodwaters as almost two feet of rain fell on the Big Island.

The storm was still spinning in the Pacific Ocean about 180 miles southeast of Kailua-Kona, downgraded to a category 3 hurricane but still likely to do a lot of damage with winds of 125mph.

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People take a dip while they watch the sunset from Waikiki Beach in Honolulu on Thursday night despite authorities warning them to stay inside to be safe from the coming Hurricane Lane

A car gets stuck after its owner tries to drive it though floodwaters in Hilo on the Big Island as almost two feet of rain fell

Tourists and residents gather on the beach despite it being ordered closed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach

'Lane, while it's been downgraded, is wide and very moist and it's going to hang around for a while, because it's moving slowly. That's why we're taking so much precaution here,' Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.

There were no reports of injuries, but at least 14 roads were closed because of flash floods and landslides in the Pacific island state.

Tourists were advised to stay away from a popular attraction on the island of Maui called the Seven Sacred Pools, a scenic cluster of waterfalls and grottos.

'Life threatening flash floods. This is a very dangerous situation. Avoid unnecessary travel,' Governor David Ige said in a Tweet.

Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for heavy rain and flash flooding.

Police on loudspeakers told surfers and swimmers to get out of the water, saying the beach would be closed until further notice.

Hurricane Lane, which dumped nearly 20 inches of rain in the Big Island on Thursday, remains dangerous even as its been downgraded to a Category 3, which means it has winds from 111 to 129mph. Pictured is flooding at Wailuku River in Hilo

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane Thursday

Forecasters said 'excessive' rain will continue into the weekend over the island and hurricane warnings remain in effect for Hawaii County, Maui County, and Oahu

A joke photo showing residents strapping down their flip-flops so they don't blow away in the hurricane

Hawaii's biggest hotels are confident they can keep their guests safe as long as they stay inside, said Mufi Hannemann, chief executive of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association.

'The only concern is those that venture outside of the properties, that would like to hike on a day like this or who would like to still go into the ocean and see what it's like to take a swim or surf in these kind of waters,' he said.

Emergency crews rescued five California tourists from a home they were renting in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed and it flooded Thursday.

Suzanne Demerais said a tiny waterfall and small stream flowed near the home when she first arrived with four of her friends from the Los Angeles area.

But the stream turned into a torrent and the river rose rapidly over 24 hours. Hawaii County firefighters, who were in touch with the home's owner, decided to evacuate the group before the water rose further. They floated the five out on their backs, Demerais said.

'It was quite an experience because we weren't planning to have a hurricane during our vacation time,' Demerais said.

The National Hurricane Center warned that storm surges could raise water levels three to five feet above normal along the western shores of the Big Island and that extreme rainfall could mean 'numerous evacuations and rescues.'

Ige has urged residents to set aside a 14-day supply of water, food and medicine. All public schools, University of Hawaii campuses and nonessential government offices on the islands of Oahu and Kauai were closed at least through Friday.

A bird flies as others perch above floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island on Thursday afternoon

Forecasters warned the storm was coming 'perilously close' to the main Hawaiian Islands as a hurricane on Friday. Pictured is a woman taking photos of floodwaters from Lane on the Big Island on Thursday

Park fields are flooded from heavy rains in Hilo on Thursday. The storm itself is only moving at 6 mph, which forecasters warn could actually raise the risk for 'life-threatening flash flooding and landslides' across the islands

People gather on a bridge to watch the Wailuku River flood waters on the Big Island as rain pours on Thursday afternoon

Hurricane Lane's center was last recorded around 260 miles south of Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds still clocking near 125 mph. Pictured is the Wailuku River flood waters running downstream on the Big Island

A man avoids getting splashed by a large wave on a walkway along a beach ahead of Hurricane Lane in Honolulu

A chicken hops through floodwaters in Hilo in this still image from a video that was obtained from social media

On the state's most populated island, which is about 200 miles north of the Big Island, employees of the Sheraton Waikiki resort filled sandbags to protect the Oahu oceanfront hotel from surging surf.

'Rain has been nonstop for the last half hour or so, and winds are just starting to pick up,' said Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island. 'Our usually quiet stream is raging right now.'

Beimler, who posted videos of trees being blown sideways, said staying put is about the only choice he has. The road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides, he said.

Forecasters said 'excessive' rain will continue into the weekend over the island and hurricane warnings remain in effect for Hawaii County, Maui County, and Oahu.

Lane is expected to move close to or over portions of the main islands later Thursday or Friday, bringing dangerous surf of 20 feet, forecasters said.

The storm itself is only moving at 6mph, which forecasters warn could actually raise the risk for 'life-threatening flash flooding and landslides' across the islands. Some areas could see up to 30 inches of rain.

Oahu prepared to set off a siren warning at 4pm on Thursday for those who needed to seek shelter before nightfall and buses were made available to transport people to safety.

A gas station remains closed after running out of gas as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu on Thursday afternoon

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane

Visitors take photos of the waves crashing upon the seawall along Alii Drive in Kailua Kona Hawaii on Thursday afternoon

Tourists Debbie Michon and Cannily Buchanan bring supplies back to their hotel as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach

Nina Roberts shops for last minute supplies while shelves remain empty as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu

A homeless man sleeps on a picnic table along Waikiki Beach as others prepare for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Some airlines also began canceling flights, with United Airlines grounding planes to and from Maui on Friday.

The airline added two additional flights from Honolulu to San Francisco on Thursday to help transport people off the islands.

Hawaiian Airlines decided to cancel all Friday flights by its commuter carrier, Ohana by Hawaiian, on Friday. It canceled Ohana flights to Kapalua and Lanai airports on Thursday.

United is also taking steps to secure its hangar at Daniel K. Inouye Airport in Honolulu.

While no injuries have yet been reported, two campers have become trapped in a Hawaii valley due to Lane's heavy rainfall.

epa06967158 Visitors watch the rising surf generated by Hurricane Lane, crash upon the Kailua Kona coastline

Honolulu police officer Chad Asuncion monitors the water conditions and warns surfers about the conditions as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu

Some airlines also began canceling flights, with United Airlines grounding planes to and from Maui on Friday. Pictured is a boy viewing floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island in Hilo

Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe says the campers called to report they were trapped Wednesday in Waipio Valley on the Big Island's northern coast.

Emergency workers haven't been able to contact the campers since then because of poor cellphone reception.

And crews cannot search for the trapped campers because of landslides and rivers of rain blocking the roads.

Dangerous, heavy rains and flooding are occurring in east Hawaii as Lane slows down and Okabe said the south shore of the Big Island was seeing 31-foot swells as the storm approached.

Forecasters revealed early on Thursday that Hurricane Lane had shifted course and was moving closer to Hawaii.

The hurricane will likely weaken in time due to possible terrain interaction and other factors that will destroy its core. But forecasters said the timing of the decay remains uncertain.

People enter a Red Cross shelter at McKinley High School ahead of the arrival of hurricane Lane in Honolulu

US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Hawaii as landslides and flash flooding left roads blocked

Employees of the Sheraton Waikiki fill sandbags along the beach in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Forecasters revealed early on Thursday that Hurricane Lane had shifted course and was moving closer to Hawaii

National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said the shift would put the Big Island and Maui 'in the thick' of Hurricane Lane over the weekend

Workers stack sandbags in front of a closed store in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon in Honolulu

A woman tapes up a sign letting people know a store with stacked sandbags will close soon in preparation for Hurricane Lane

People stand outside of a partially boarded up McDonalds in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Steve Goldstein, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a news conference on Thursday that Lane is expected to soak the Big Island before heading toward Maui and Oahu.

Goldstein said a direct strike is not needed to see a significant impact from such a strong hurricane.

Meanwhile, federal officials said they were prepared to help people on the islands.

Brad Kieserman, of the Red Cross, said there were 16 emergency shelters open and 283 people across the island already in them.

People stand near flood waters from Lane making the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue and Pauahi Street impassable

A landslide from heavy rains blocks the Hilo bound lane at the Honolii bridge on Highway 19 on Thursday in Hilo

The Big Island is being pummeled by gusty winds and torrential rains on Thursday. Pictured: rising surf generated by Hurricane Lane crashes upon the Kailua Kona coastline

A car is partially submerged in floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island on August 23 in Hilo, Hawaii

A man takes photos of floodwaters in Hilo. Hurricane Lane has brought more than a foot of rain to some parts of the Big Island, which is under a flash flood warning

US Navy ships and submarines based in Hawaii were also instructed to leave port to avoid damage.

All vessels not currently undergoing maintenance were being positioned to help respond after the storm, if needed.

Navy aircraft will be kept in hangars or flown to other airfields to avoid the storm.

Unlike Florida or Texas, where residents can get in their cars and drive hundreds of miles to safety, people in Hawaii are confined to the islands and can't outrun the powerful winds and driving rain.

Hawaii state workers clean debris and open up streams around Honolulu, in preparation for heavy rainfall and flash flooding on Oahu on August 23

This image taken from NASA shows Hurricane Lane on August 23, 2018, as it heads to the Hawaiian Islands

This satellite image from NOAA shows Hurricane Lane near Hawaii on Thursday, August 23, and the The National Weather Service warned that some areas could see up to 30 inches before the system passes

This map from NOAA show's Hurricane Lane's projected trajectory for the next five days

Instead, they must stay put and make sure they have enough supplies to outlast prolonged power outages and other potential emergencies.

'Everyone is starting to buckle down at this point,' said Christyl Nagao of Kauai. 'Our families are here. We have businesses and this and that. You just have to man your fort and hold on tight.'

Living in an isolated island state also means the possibility that essential goods can't be shipped to Hawaii if the storm shuts down ports.

'You're stuck here and resources might not get here in time,' Nagao said.

The Hawaiian government began positioning generators and other aid in Hawaii well before Lane's anticipated arrival.

FEMA administrator Brock Long said Thursday the supplies arrived in Hawaii after a volcano began oozing lava into neighborhoods in May and in preparation for a recent hurricane that bypassed the islands.

Empty shelves of a supermaket are seen as residents of Oahu are re-stocking their water and non-perishable food supplies as preparation for the looming threat of Hurricane Lane in Oahu, Hawaii, on Wednesday

Loren, right, and Ruby Aquino, of Honolulu, load water into their car ahead of Hurricane Lane, Wednesday, August 22, 2018 in Honolulu. Hurricane Lane has weakened as it approaches Hawaii but was still expected to pack a wallop, forecasters said Wednesday

People stand in a line waiting to fill up propane tanks at a local hardware store on Wednesday in Honolulu

Aly Klein, right, and her mother Clarice Klein walks out of a local hardware store with several buckets of hurricane supplies on Wednesday

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, a FEMA report noted that one of its main issues was not having enough generators and other emergency aid on the island before the storm.

In response, officials stockpiled such items in hard-to-reach areas such as Hawaii and Alaska.

FEMA says the agency had also been talking with grocers to make sure food sources are stocked.

Shelters opened Wednesday on the Big Island and on the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Officials urged those needing the Molokai shelter to get there soon because of concerns that the main highway on the island's south coast could become impassable.

Officials were also working to help Hawaii's sizeable homeless population, many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis said there's not enough shelter space statewide and advised people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

Authorities also warned that the shelters are not designed to withstand winds greater than about 40mph and that for most people they should be a 'last resort.'

'Whenever possible, the public should plan to shelter in place or stay with family or friends in homes outside of these hazard areas that were designed, built or renovated to withstand anticipated conditions,' the city and county of Honolulu said in a statement.

Public schools were closed for the rest of the week and local government workers were told to stay home unless they're essential employees.

This satellite image provided by NOAA on Thursday, August 23, 2018 shows Hurricane Lane bearing down on Hawaii from the south

A handout image made available by NASA on 22 August 2018 and taken by an Expedition 56 crew member from the International Space Station shows Hurricane Lane in the Central Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii, August 22, 2018

'We're planning on boarding up all our windows and sliding doors,' Napua Puaoi of Wailuku, Maui, said after buying 16 pieces of plywood from Home Depot. 'As soon as my husband comes home - he has all the power tools.'

Molokai real estate agent Pearl Hodgins said she expected the island's two stores to soon run out of bottled water and batteries.

Melanie Davis, who lives in a suburb outside Honolulu, said she was gathering canned food and baby formula.

'We're getting some bags of rice and of course, some Spam,' she said of the canned lunch meat that's popular in Hawaii.

She was organizing important documents into a folder - birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards, insurance paperwork - and making sure her three children, all under four, have flotation devices such as swimming vests - 'just in case.'

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration Wednesday, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to coordinate disaster-relief efforts with the state.
David Lidington defended Philip Hammond today amid a furious onslaught from Brexiteers over his warning that no-deal Brexit could wipe up to 10 per cent off the UK's national income.

The Cabinet Office minister moved to shore up the Chancellor after his dramatic intervention reopened the bitter splits in Theresa May's senior team.

Just hours after the government unveiled a slew of papers designed to kill off 'scare' stories about the consequences of crashing out of the EU, Mr Hammond issued a letter saying no-deal scenario would have 'large fiscal consequences' and could mean an extra 80billion of borrowing.

Incandescent Tory Eurosceptics accused Mr Hammond of a 'concerted effort' to undermine the government's position, while Downing Street made the PM's frustration clear by the letter was not cleared with her before being published.

But Mr Lidington tried to cool the flaming row this morning, insisting that Mr Hammond had merely been highlighting 'provisional analysis' that the Treasury had released earlier this year.

Mr Hammond published a letter to fellow Remainer Nicky Morgan, the head of the Treasury select committee, referring to a cross-Whitehall analysis on the financial impact of Brexit in the same day Mr Raab tried to play down fears over a no-deal

Downing Street has made clear Theresa May's (pictured left earlier this month) displeasure at the timing of Mr Hammond's intervention. But Cabinet Office minister David Lidington (pictured right in Scotland yesterday) played down the significance of his letter

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the data was 'nothing new' and that Mr Hammond was 'absolutely committed' to the objectives that the Government had set out in the Chequers agreement.

He said: 'This is provisional analysis that the Treasury published back in January this year and I think all Philip was doing was simply referring back to that in response to a senior member of Parliament.'

Brexiteer members of the Treasury select committee dismissed Mr Hammond's predictions, pointing out how wrong his department had been about the immediate effects of the referendum, while Charlie Elphicke accused the Treasury of 'reheating dodgy figures'.

Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries said: He will do anything in his power to stop Brexit.

'The timing of his intervention and his undermining of Dominic Rabb, proves that he is working against the wishes of 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit.

'The fact that he is still chancellor is probably an indication that No10 is not as committed to Brexit as they would like us to believe.'

Mr Hammond's dire warning came just hours after his colleague Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, delivered an up-beat message and dismissed 'wild' scare stories about the effect of leaving the EU without a deal.

No-deal Brexit would not be 'end of world', says trade chief A no-deal Brexit would 'not be the end of the world', the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said today. But director general Roberto Azevedo did warn that a no-deal would not be 'a walk in the park either' - suggesting the UK would not be able to move seamlessly on to new trading terms after March 29. He said: 'It will be very ambitious to have that kind of outcome. 'It is very unlikely that you're going to have 100% agreed outcome for all WTO members between now and March.' Former European commissioner for trade Karel De Gucht, speaking to the Today programme, later said he believed a no-deal Brexit was 'highly unlikely'. He said: 'In the end there will be a deal, whether this is a solution is quite a different question. 'I believe it will be a very vague deal and immediately afterwards start what is exactly in the agreement. Politically I think it's highly unlikely that this process will end with a no-deal on 29 March.' Mr De Gucht said the transition period may have to be extended as what the UK was asking for in negotiations was 'contradictory'. He added: 'What the UK's asking for is in fact contradictory, they want to be out of the European Union, out of the internal market, no customs union but nevertheless they would like that the situation after 29 March is largely similar to the present situation.' The Belgian said that these demands make the negotiation 'extremely difficult', adding: 'It will certainly take more than the time that has been envisaged now.' Advertisement

He published a series of technical papers detailing how the Government is preparing for the prospect of failing to reach an agreement with Brussels.

Mr Raab suggested most consumers would not notice the impact of a 'no deal', and rejected suggestions people would not be able to enjoy sandwiches after Brexit.

He also warned Brussels to put 'lives and livelihoods' ahead of politics and make compromises to reach a deal with the UK.

But his words were undermined just hours later by Mr Hammond, a prominent Remain supporter, who said a no-deal scenario would hit the food and drink industry as well as manufacturing and carmakers.

The Chancellor warned that the biggest negative impacts would be felt in the North East of England and Northern Ireland.

Mr Rees Mogg, said: 'The Treasury once more regurgitates its failed attempt at Project Fear.

'As a dog returneth to its vomit, so a fool returneth to its folly. The Treasury is desperate to stop Brexit. Everything the Treasury does has to be read in this light.'

Mr Hammond's intervention came in a letter to Nicky Morgan, the Remain-backing Tory MP and chairman of the Treasury select committee.

The Chancellor pointed to disputed provisional analysis, released earlier this year, which claimed Britain's gross domestic product could be between 5 and 10 per cent lower in 15 years if there is no deal.

This also calculated that borrowing could be around 80billion a year higher by 2033/34 under a scenario in which Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation terms for trade after failing to reach agreement with the EU.

Mr Hammond noted that scenarios involving higher barriers to trade with the EU are expected to have a 'more damaging effect' on the economy and public finances.

He also mounted a defence of the Government's preferred approach, which was outlined in a white paper following a Cabinet summit at Chequers, by saying the economic and fiscal impacts of this would be 'substantially better' than no deal.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab had suggested Britain's failure to secure a working arrangement with the EU prior to its departure on March 29, 2019 'would not be doomsday'

Mr Hammond wrote in his letter: 'This January provisional analysis estimated that in a no-deal/WTO scenario, GDP would be 7.7 per cent lower (range 5.0 per cent to 10.3 per cent) relative to a status quo baseline.

'This represents the potential expected static state around 15 years out from the exit point.

'The analysis did not estimate the path the economy and different sectors might take under no deal and the potential for short-term disruption.'

Mr Hammond added: 'Under a no-deal/WTO scenario, chemicals, food and drink, clothing, manufacturing, cars, and retail were estimated to be the sectors most affected negatively in the long-run, with the largest negative impacts felt in the North East and Northern Ireland.

'GDP impacts of this magnitude, were they to arise, would have large fiscal consequences.

'The January analysis estimated that borrowing would be around 80billion a year higher under a no-deal/WTO scenario by 2033/34, in the absence of mitigating adjustments to spending and/or taxation, relative to a status quo baseline.

'This is because any direct financial savings are outweighed by the indirect fiscal consequences of a smaller economy.'

Mr Hammond published his letter just hours after Mr Raab insisted the 'vast majority' of consumers will not even notice the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

The Brexit Secretary said: 'I am absolutely clear that the UK will be better off outside of the EU in any scenario in the long-term but I recognise the risks in the short-term.

'I think there is good reason to think that even in a no deal scenario there would be good faith. If you look at the example of pensioners, it is hardly in the interests of Southern Spain to do harm to the UK pensioners out there.

'You would expect cooler heads prevailing. For the vast majority of consumers in this country there is not going to be much change at all, if it's noticeable.'

Mr Raab criticised scaremongering over a no-deal scenario, such as the suggestion that it could spark a 'sandwich famine' in the UK due to shortages of ingredients, or that the Army will have to deliver food supplies.

'Let me reassure you all that, contrary to one of the wilder claims, you will still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit,' he said.

He also warned Brussels not to be 'vindictive' in its negotiations, calling on the EU to be more 'responsible'.

'We are raising this issue with the EU, to impress upon them our joint responsibility to work together to minimise any harm to UK and European citizens and businesses,' he said.

'Those lives, those livelihoods, on both sides, should be put ahead of any narrow political interests.'

In his letter to Nicky Morgan, Mr Hammond said: The January analysis estimated that borrowing would be around 80 billion a year higher under a no-deal/WTO scenario by 2033-34, in the absence of mitigating adjustments to spending and/or taxation, relative to a status quo baseline'

EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein hit back, saying: 'We don't operate according to concepts of vindictiveness or forgiveness.

'We are working very hard continuously, from day one, for the orderly withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.'

Mr Hammond's intervention came days after it was claimed that some of the 'no deal' papers had had to be rewritten because the Treasury had made the original versions too gloomy.

Last night critics asked why the Chancellor had chosen to issue his letter on the day Mr Raab was publishing his papers.

Last night Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, a member of the Treasury select committee, hit out at Mr Hammond.

'Here we go again with dodgy figures being reheated by the Treasury on the very day the government publishes its plan for trading on global deal terms,' he said.

'In the referendum the Treasury said everyone would lose their jobs and the country would plunge into a deep recession if we voted out. Instead Britain is growing faster than the EU and we have record employment.

'It's time the Treasury started to believe in Britain and focus on the opportunities for global trade. That's why we need to Chuck Chequers and seek an advanced trade deal - first with the EU and then the world over.'

Fellow Conservative MP Simon Clarke, also a member of the Treasury committee, added: 'Before the referendum the Treasury said the economy would nosedive with GDP 3.6 to 6 per cent down. They said 500,000 to 800,000 jobs would be lost.

'They were completely wrong. Instead we have record jobs with 32.4million in work while unemployment is at a 42 year-low.

'It's unbelievable that the Treasury continue to talk down our country and our economy by conning the public with their discredited Project Fear yet again.'

Government reveals Brexit No Deal Doomsday plans: Ministers admit online shoppers and tourists visiting EU could face millions of pounds in credit card charges... and we could even run out of SPERM

James Tapfield, Political editor for MailOnline

Ministers unveiled a raft of plans today to prevent 'no deal' Brexit causing carnage - admitting that credit card charges could rise and expats could be locked out of pensions.

There are even concerns of shortage in donated sperm as imports from Denmark might be hampered, and dramatic health warning photographs on cigarette packets will have to be replaced as the EU holds the copyright.

Danish semen made up almost half of all non-British male reproductive material imported to the UK in 2017, a paper from the Department of Health and Social Care revealed.

The potential pitfalls of failure to strike a deal with the EU were spelled out in documents that warned losing access to shared IT systems could mean millions of pounds in extra charges for online shoppers and tourists visiting the bloc.

Ex-pats could also struggle to access pensions and accounts administered by UK-based banks, while medicines could be delayed by regulatory upheaval.

Launching the first tranche of 25 'technical notes' on the consequences of no deal, Dominic Raab tried to play down the picture they painted, insisting the government was just making sure Britain was 'ready'.

The Brexit Secretary also stressed he was still 'confident' an agreement would be reached.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured giving his speech in Westminster today) dismissed 'doomsday' scenarios about the consequences of failing to strike a broad trade deal with the bloc

Mr Raab said there did have to be a blueprint for how to 'wind down our membership' of the EU with the minimum possible 'disruption'

Among the main points in the dump of documents issued by ministers today are:

British consumers could face 'increased costs and slower processing times' for euro transactions and 'the cost of card payments between the UK and EU will likely increase'. More VAT could be charged on parcels coming into Britain from EU firms.

An extra six weeks of medicines will be stockpiled on top of the current level of three months to avoid any disruption. Batch testing and EU certifications will also be recognised to reduce bureaucracy.

New picture warnings could be introduced on cigarette packs 'as the copyright for the existing picture library is owned by the European Commission'.

British firms are being urged to 'consider whether you will need advice from the Irish government about preparations you need to make' in case of no deal.

Organic food producers face a 'cliff edge' of exporting to the EU only if certified by a body approved by the European Commission, with certification taking up to nine months after Brexit.

The government will commit to underwrite EU funding for aid and other projects that could be withdrawn.

In his speech, Mr Raab said the Government would not risk triggering a tit-for-tat battle with Brussels by imposing new border checks or travel restrictions.

He said: 'I remain confident a good deal is within our sights, and that remains our top, and overriding, priority. If the EU responds with the level of ambition and pragmatism, we will strike a strong deal that benefits both sides.

'But, we must be ready to consider the alternative. We have a duty, as a responsible government, to plan for every eventuality.

'These technical notices - and the ones that will follow - are a sensible, measured,and proportionate approach to minimising the impact of no deal on British firms, citizens,charities and public bodies.'

He added: 'They will provide information and guidance. Our overarching aim is to facilitate the smooth, continued, functioning of business, transport, infrastructure, research, aid programmes and funding streams.

'In some cases, it means taking unilateral action to maintain as much continuity as possible in the short term, in the event of no deal - irrespective of whether the EU reciprocates.'

Mr Raab said the UK, in the event of a no-deal, would 'diverge when we are ready, on our terms' from the European Union.

The Brexit Secretary stressed there was already planning talks between the Bank of England and the European Central Bank for a no-deal scenario and called for talks to begin on data protection and between port authorities.

Credit card charges and online shopping

One document released today considers the risks facing UK banking and payments customers if the Government fails to clinch a trade agreement that covers financial services.

In the case of a no-deal Brexit, UK-based payment service providers would lose direct access to the EU's payment infrastructure.

Customers, including businesses using providers to process payments in euros, could also 'face increased costs and slower processing times for euro transactions', the Government paper warned.

'The cost of card payments between the UK and EU will likely increase, and these cross-border payments will no longer be covered by the surcharging ban,' it added.

The ban prevents businesses from charging customers for paying by the likes of PayPal or debit or credit cards, which Treasury earlier this year characterised as 'rip-off fees'.

Consumers shopping in the EU or buying online from an EU company with a UK card, could be hit with surprise charges on their purchases, with some retailers charging more than the cost of processing payments.

Consumers shopping in the EU or buying online from an EU company with a UK card, could be hit with surprise charges on their purchases, with some retailers charging more than the cost of processing payments

The Treasury estimated that surcharging cost Britons around 166million in 2015.

The EU surcharge ban came into force in January. The Government said it is looking to align domestic law around payments with rules already set up in the EU in hopes of remaining a member of the Single Euro Payments Area.

However, that would only ensure that 'lower value euro transactions are processed in the same amount of time as they are today', meaning larger payments may still face delays.

Consumers would face another potential cost increase when online shopping, with parcels arriving in the UK no longer liable for Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) on VAT.

Medical supplies face checks and delays

The pharmaceutical industry should ensure they have an additional six-week supply of drugs in the event of disruption caused by a no-deal Brexit, the Health Secretary has said.

Matt Hancock has told drug companies that supply chains for products could be affected by changes to border processes and stockpiles would be needed to cope with potential delays.

Hospitals, GPs and community pharmacies in the UK do not need to stockpile additional medicines and doctors should not write longer prescriptions, he said.

Patients should also be advised that they do not need to store additional medicines at home.

Steve Bates, chief executive of the UK Bioindustry Association (BIA), said the request would be 'a massive challenge' for the industry.

In a letter to pharmaceutical companies, Mr Hancock said: 'In the unlikely event we leave the EU without a deal in March 2019, based on the current cross-Government planning scenario we will ensure the UK has an additional six weeks' supply of medicines in case imports from the EU through certain routes are affected.

'This is the current planning assumption but will of course be subject to revision in light of future developments.'

He asked companies 'to ensure they have a minimum of six weeks' additional supply in the UK, over and above their business as usual operational buffer stocks' by March 29.

Mr Hancock said the 'same risk exists in the EU' and countries such as France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands will also need to prepare for disruption.

In an open letter to NHS staff, Mr Hancock said hospitals, GPs and community pharmacies in the UK 'do not need to take any steps to stockpile additional medicines, beyond their business as usual stock levels'.

He added: 'Local stockpiling is not necessary and any incidences involving the over-ordering of medicines will be investigated and followed up with the relevant chief or responsible pharmacist directly.

'Clinicians should advise patients that the Government has plans in place to ensure a continued supply of medicines to patients from the moment we leave the EU.

Matt Hancock has told drug companies that supply chains for products could be affected by changes to border processes and stockpiles would be needed to cope with potential delays

'Patients will not need to and should not seek to store additional medicines at home.'

Mr Bates said: 'We have stressed and recognise that endeavouring to deliver on this in less than 200 days will be a massive challenge for industry and the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) alike.

'Given that over 150 BIA members are actively involved in clinical development in the UK we will pay particular attention to the implications of this work with regard to ongoing clinical trials.

'A 'no-deal' Brexit would mean the biggest dis-integration of the complex regulated medicines market in Europe in terms of regulation, cross-border movement of goods, comparative pricing and intellectual property.

'On behalf of patients we encourage all participants to be as prepared as possible for a scenario industry really does not want, but we should be under no illusions that this will be easy or smooth.'

The papers also raised the alarm about a potential sperm donor shortage and restrictions on transferring other biomaterials.

One points out that the UK imported 3,000 sperm samples from Denmark last year, along with smaller quantities from other countries in the bloc.

'UK licensed establishments working in this area, such as hospitals, stem cell laboratories, tissue banks and fertility clinics would continue to work to the same quality and safety standards as they did before exit but some would need new written agreements with relevant EU establishments,' the paper said.

Expats could lose access to pensions

UK citizens living in Europe face the possibility of losing access to their pension income and other financial services, according to technical papers on no-deal Brexit preparations.

Lending and deposit services, insurance and annuities - which people rely on for a regular pension income - are among the financial products which expats could struggle to access, according to the documents.

One said that 'in the absence of action from the EU, EEA-based customers of UK firms currently passporting into the EEA, including UK citizens living in the EEA, may lose the ability to access existing lending and deposit services, insurance contracts (such as life insurance contracts and annuities) due to UK firms losing their rights to passport into the EEA'.

Insurers said millions of customers, including pensioners overseas, could be affected.

The papers said the Government has committed to putting unilateralaction in place if necessary to resolve issues as far as possible on the UK side.

For UK-based customers who access banking, insurance, investment funds and other financial services with EEA firms currently passporting into the UK, temporary permissions will enable these firms to continue to provide these services to UK customers for up to three years after exit - allowing firms time to apply for authorisation to continue operating in the UK, the documents said.

British expats in Europe face losing access to their pension income and other financial services, according to technical papers on no-deal Brexit preparations

Banking red tape could mean EU clients lose UK-based services

The technical papers also echoed warnings from the Bank of England which earlier this summer said the EU needed to do more to prevent Brexit causing havoc in financial markets.

The Government said clients across the European Economic Area would no longer be able to use the services of UK-based investment banks, while cross-border contracts may no longer be valid.

It puts a key industry at risk, with financial services having contributed more than a quarter of the UK's services exports to the EU, accounting for 27 billion out of 90 billion in 2016.

A number of banks have made efforts to secure licences and offices in EU financial hubs to continue serving clients on the continent.

Lending and deposit services, insurance and annuities - which people rely on for a regular pension income - are among the financial products which expats could struggle to access, according to the documents.

One said that 'in the absence of action from the EU, EEA-based customers of UK firms currently passporting into the EEA, including UK citizens living in the EEA, may lose the ability to access existing lending and deposit services, insurance contracts (such as life insurance contracts and annuities) due to UK firms losing their rights to passport into the EEA'.

Insurers said millions of customers, including pensioners overseas, could be affected.

The papers said the Government has committed to putting unilateral action in place if necessary to resolve issues as far as possible on the UK side.

For UK-based customers who access banking, insurance, investment funds and other financial services with EEA firms currently passporting into the UK, temporary permissions will enable these firms to continue to provide these services to UK customers for up to three years after exit - allowing firms time to apply for authorisation to continue operating in the UK, the documents said.

This means these firms will be able to continue as before if they receive authorisation covering the full scope of services they currently provide.

The UK's savings safety net, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), protects money held by customers of UK-authorised firms when firms go bust, including some products with EEA firms.

Regulators will consult this autumn on arrangements for coverage to continue, the documents said.

Mr Raab (pictured with Michel Barnier in Brussels this week) said he was still 'confident' there would be an agreement - but the government was taking steps to 'protect the UK'

Farming subsidies guaranteed but 'cliff edge' for organic produce

Government moved to reassure landowners they would continue to get farming subsidies, currently controlled by the EU, in the case of no-deal, until new agriculture legislation is brought in.

The funding will remain at existing levels until the end of this parliament, expected in 2022, for the whole of the UK, a technical notice on payments reiterates.

People receiving subsidies will have to conform to the same standards and rules, including on-site farm inspections, in order to receive the payments.

But organic food producers will face a 'cliff edge' over exporting to the European Union in the event of a no-deal Brexit, farming leaders warned.

According to technical guidance published by the Government, UK businesses would only be allowed to export to the EU if they were certified by an organic certification body approved by the European Commission.

But UK organic bodies will not be able to apply for recognition until after Brexit - and approval could take up to nine months to secure.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said the situation for organic produce served as a warning on future trade in all food and agricultural products between the UK and the EU.

On organic produce, the Government said it was exploring 'alternative approaches' to speed up the process.

The Government expects to negotiate an arrangement which would allow free movement of organic produce between the UK and EU, because European regulations will remain in UK law.

Logos on packaging would also need to change, with the EU organic label in the shape of a green leaf of stars stripped off, though UK labels would remain.

Graphic cigarette warnings could disappear

Stark images of blackened lungs and dead bodies on cigarette packets would disappear under a no-deal Brexit.

Copyright for the current images is owned by the European Commission so the UK could no longer legally use them and new images would need to be created.

A no-deal Brexit would also mean new systems to register tobacco and e-cigarette products, according to a technical paper on labelling tobacco products.

The paper states: 'If there's no deal we would introduce new picture warnings for tobacco products as the copyright for the existing picture library is owned by the European Commission.

'Manufacturers will need to ensure that tobacco products which include picture warnings produced from Exit Day onwards will be labelled with new picture warnings.'

New regulations would be needed to give the Government power to update domestic legislation in response to emerging threats, changing safety and quality standards and technological advances.

A consultation will be held in September on labelling and notification.

The paper adds: 'Inevitably under a no-deal scenario, the close working relationships that exist with our European partners would not be the same.

'The UK will, of course, continue to play an active role in the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.'

Dramatic health warning photographs on cigarette packets will have to be replaced as the EU holds the copyright (file picture)

Brexit deal not likely until end of the year, says Cabinet minister There is unlikely to be a Brexit deal until the end of the year, a Cabinet minister suggested today. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington said he was not surprised by Michel Barnier playing down the prospects of agreement before November. He said: 'I was Europe minister for six years, I have seen enough of these negotiations to know that these deadlines slip. 'I think there definitely will need to be an agreement by the end of 2018.' However, speaking during a briefing with reporters in Edinburgh, Mr Lidington added that he did not believe the March date for Britain's exit from Europe would be pushed back. 'Article 50 is a matter of EU law, it is not a matter of political judgment,' he said. 'I think there is a real pressure from the end of the year because, with the European Parliament going into election mode it will just become more difficult to get enough MEPs in a plenary from January onwards to have the numbers to pass the super majority that is needed. 'And you've got to get legislation through Westminster as well to implement a withdrawal agreement.' He added: 'I just don't think that seeking to extend Article 50 is going to help... the Treaty is absolutely clear that it is two years or when a withdrawal agreement is reached or ratified if that is earlier.' Advertisement

Earlier, Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he wanted to move on from the 'latest incarnation of Project Fear'.

'Some of those promoting the worst scare stories around no deal... are assuming that the EU will act in a vindictive way,' he said.

'I'm still confident a good deal is within our sights,' Mr Raab said.

'We have got agreement on about 80 per cent of the issues.

'We have made clear that if negotiations don't achieve the optimum outcome we will continue to be a responsible European neighbour and partner.'

Playing down the threat of shortages in hospitals, Mr Raab said a stockpile of 200 medicines already exists, thanks to longstanding arrangements with pharmaceutical companies to cope with disruptions at the border, such as strikes by French lorry drivers.

'There are potential issues around the border in the worst case scenario,' he said.

'So it's right, too, we will be working with industry around stockpiling of medicines for a working assumption of six weeks.'

Mr Raab admitted that talks remain deadlocked over the Northern Irish border, with the UK continuing to press for a bespoke customs agreement on goods and services.

'They're still asking questions and probing the proposals, but that's good,' he said.

'They are not knocking them away in principle - they are asking questions on the practical detail.

'They understand very clearly that we will not allow a customs border or any other form of border to be drawn down the Irish Sea.'

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer dismissed the documents as a distraction, saying a no deal would be 'catastrophic'.

He said: 'A no deal Brexit would be a complete failure by the Government to negotiate for Britain. These documents should not distract us from that.

'No deal would be catastrophic for people's jobs, the economy and for the border in Northern Ireland. It is irresponsible for anyone to casualise no deal.'

Simon Lewis, chief executive of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), said: 'The consequences of a no-deal Brexit scenario could mean prolonged disruption to the smooth functioning of Europe's capital markets, which would affect investors, borrowers and savers across Europe and beyond.

'The financial services industry is keen to see both negotiating parties agree on a deal which locks in an agreement on a transition period and the future trading relationship in order to minimise the risks to financial stability.'
An elderly man told his wife, 'I've got something for you' before attempting to stab her to death and then driving his car in front of an incoming train.

Albert Tedford, 77, left his wife, Bridie, with 13 stab wounds - and also tried to slash her throat with a kitchen knife.

Tedford was sentenced in Melbourne's Supreme Court on Friday to nine years in prison and is required to serve six years before becoming eligible for parole.

Albert Tedford (right), 77, told his wife Bridie (left), 'I've got something for you' before attempting to stab her to death and then driving his car in front of an incoming train

Justice John Champion said Tedford's then 62-year-old wife had been caring for her husband in the moments immediately preceding the assault.

Tedford told her they would both die that night but she responded that while he might, she would not.

The assault came after Mrs Tedford suggested to her husband that they should sell their home.

The pair had a tumultuous marriage for eight years and had been in a relationship for 25. Mrs Tedford moved into the rear bungalow of their home, where he locked her in before coming back with a knife.

Mrs Tedford fought back and pushed her husband away, grabbing the knife and stabbing him before running for help.

A teenage neighbour heard her screams and alerted her father, who called the police.

While his wife was treated, Tedford took her car and drove around for an hour while a dash camera recorded his angry conversations with himself, upset that he'd failed in his murder attempt.

When he reached a Coburg train station he drove onto the tracks and accelerated into the path of an oncoming train, which rammed into the driver's side of his car.

While Tedford pleaded guilty to attempted murder, the court heard there was doubt over whether he was truly sorry for what he had done or regretted the situation he found himself in.

Tedford was sentenced in Melbourne's Supreme Court on Friday to nine years in prison and is required to serve six years before becoming eligible for parole

Mrs Tedford (left) suffered no life-threatening injuries but has since suffered ongoing pain, scarring, terrifying nightmares and finds herself afraid of shadows

Tedford suffered only minor cuts in the crash and pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering serious injury.

The train driver and passengers all escaped unharmed.

Mrs Tedford suffered no life-threatening injuries but has since suffered ongoing pain, scarring, terrifying nightmares and finds herself afraid of shadows.

Justice Champion said the attack was a dreadful example of domestic violence and a spurious breach of Mrs Tedford's trust.

'Your actions were extremely violent toward your intimate partner who was entitled to feel protected, even though the relationship between you was failing,' Justice Champion told Tedford.

Anyone in need of help due to a domestic violence matter should contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline 13 11 14.
A huge elephant was rescued from a mud pit after it slipped into it after the slippery edge gave way under its weight.

Touching footage shows the moment villagers try to haul him out with ropes before excavators with a JCB were called to dig him out.

Shivasankaran the tusker elephant was taken to have a bath in a rainwater tank in the town of Pathanamthitta in southern India.

The huge mammal saw a muddy pit nearby and went to drink water from it, but was too heavy for the soft ground around it.

The elephant struggled frantically to make a way out for itself but slipped back repeatedly due to its heavy weight.

Appu the dog which accompanied the beast kept barking until the mahout who looked after him came to help.

An elephant was freed from a mud pit after it fell in while trying to take drink as the slippery edge gave way under its weight

Shivasankaran the tusker elephant was taken to have a bath in a rainwater tank in the town of Pathanamthitta in southern India but went to the pit instead

The huge mammal saw a muddy pit nearby and went to drink water from it, but was too heavy for the soft ground around it

Villagers arrived with an excavator to dig Shivasankaran out but the machinery also got bogged in the muddy ground, making it useless.

Villagers arrived with an excavator to dig Shivasankaran out. The first one got bogged but a second one proved effective

They then attached several ropes to the elephant's body to pull him out once the pit was opened up

Dozens of villagers grabbed ropes they tied around the elephant in an effort to haul him out of the pit

Hundreds of others watched on as the elephant rescue became the most interesting event in the town

They eventually got a bigger excavator that could be positioned on firmer ground and finally freed the stricken elephant uninjured.

Dozens of villagers grabbed ropes they tied around the elephant in an effort to haul him out of the pit while hundreds of others watched on.

Appu never left his big companion's side as the rescue was underway, prompting villages to call Shivasankaran a 'big guy with a little friend'.

Shivasankaran was eventually freed uninjured form the pit and stood upright
THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Director General, Dr Albina Chuwa, has reiterated the importance of following rules and regulations in collection of administrative data.

Speaking at a recent Regional Medical Officers (RMOs) and District Medical Officers (DMOs) meeting here, Dr Chuwa said administrative data, including that of the health sector, must follow rules and regulations. We have moved from opinion based to evidence based decision- making, so we need quality data to make right decisions, she said.

Dr Chuwa told the meeting that the only way to address challenges facing collection of administrative data from ministries, departments and agencies was to establish an integrated database system or a one stop data centre which will be easily accessible to stakeholders.

For health sector, the data will comprise all statistical information on births and deaths, number of medical doctors and all health workers; their qualifications and experience, available facilities, medicines and the like, she explained.

She noted that among sources of health statistics is administrative data, which like in other sectors; more efforts were needed to strengthen its collection and management.

Dr Chuwa informed that the role of NBS was to coordinate and provide guidance to ministries, departments and agencies in order to make sure collection of administrative data was done according to the laid down rules and regulations.

Ministries and departments have monitoring and evaluation units, which among their duties they collect administrative data and our duty then is to provide them with technical support to make sure the data collection process concurs with the law, she said.

The NBS boss named sources of health statistics as Population and Housing Census, Social surveys like Tanzania Demographic Survey (TDHS), Tanzania Malaria Indicator Survey (TMIS) and Tanzania HIV Indicator Survey (THIS).

She mentioned other sources of data as Tanzania Service Provision Assessment (TzSPA), Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), Health Management Information System (HMIS), Health Insurance Systems, National Accounts and supportive supervisions.
A couple who pleaded guilty to being part of a drug syndicate may have been lying when they said they had turned their lives around, according to a judge.

Topless waitress Nateesha Barlin and her muscle-clad boyfriend Dylan Shaw were poised to escape prison time for their part in a 'criminal enterprise' importing illegal steroids and growth hormones from their Central Coast home.

Judge Michael Bozic said in June he was satisfied both had showed remorse and was considering an intensive corrections order (ICO) for the pair rather than prison time.

Nateesha Barlin (left) and Dylan Shaw (right) were arrested in November 2016 at a Central Coast granny flat and pleaded guilty to being part of a 'criminal enterprise' importing and distributing steroids, testosterone and human growth hormones

At a sentencing hearing in June, a judge said the pair could avoid jail as they showed remorse - but Shaw (pictured) was arrested in July after police found $200,000 in his car - and later charged with eight counts of drug supply

Barlin (left), who suffered from mild body dysmorphia according to a psychological report, could still be charged following Shaw's (right) arrest last month

An ICO would be served as an alternative to prison in the form of community work, random drug tests and other restrictions.

But Shaw, 24, was arrested last month in southwest Sydney after police found $200,000 in his car and a search of his home uncovered steroids and drug paraphernalia - police allege.

Shaw was charged with eight counts of drug supply and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime following the arrest - and the couple's sentencing has since been delayed.

At a sentencing hearing on Friday at Gosford District court, Judge Bozic expressed his 'profound unease' with the pair's remorse - according to The Daily Telegraph.

Barlin's lawyer said Barlin (pictured in 2009) had had a difficult childhood and was bullied for being an 'ugly duckling'

Barlin's solicitor said she 'fell into' gym culture which introduced her to steroids - and blamed her low self-esteem for her offending

The judge had taken into consideration a letter Barlin, 23, wrote to the court in June, as well as a psychological report claiming she suffered from mild body dysmorphia.

Barlin's solicitor Michael Mantaj said her low self-esteem was the driving factor behind her offence - and that she had been bullied during her childhood for being an 'ugly duckling'.

He added a desperation to fit in with gym culture led to an introduction to steroids.

Barlin (pictured) had low self-esteem and turned to steroids due to a desperation to fit in with gym culture - according to her solicitor Michael Mantaj

Performance and imaging enhancing drugs (PIEDs) were seized by Australian Border Force officers during the investigation into the couple's drug empire

The pair were raided in November 2016 and ABF officers intercepted imports including 3, 672 tablets and 11.2 litres of testosterone

The court also heard the investigation which led to Shaw's arrest last month were still 'in its infancy' and could lead to Barlin also being charged.

The pair's rented granny flat behind a property in Jiliby property was raided by the Australian Border Force in November 2016.

They imported and distributed steroids, testosterone and human growth hormones, and were caught out when ABF officers intercepted 13,672 tablets, 11.2 litres of testosterone, 600ml of anabolic steroid, and 20 vials and 55 ampoules of human growth hormone.

Sentencing for the pair has been adjourned until December 13.
Disturbing new pictures of killer George Koh posing with a teddy bear while wearing a pair of ear-muffs and snuggling up to women can be revealed today.

Koh is facing a life sentence for stabbing to death a fashion rival in a shocking street attack caught on CCTV. Friends told MailOnline he was a 'strange guy'.

The 24-year-old was photographed smiling and laughing with other students during his first year at University before embarking on his modelling a career.

Killer George Koh posing at university with a teddy bear while wearing a pair of ear-muffs

George Koh snuggling up to women in a picture taken when he was at university

A selfie taken by George Koh while at De Montford University in Leicester in November 2012

The photos were taken at De Montfort University in Leicester in November 2012 by another student.

Koh dropped out of college after less than three months to pursue a modelling career.

He was convicted at the Old Bailey last week of killing 25 year old Harry Uzoka after becoming obsessively jealous of his success as a Vogue model.

The victim, who was described as Britains most successful black model, was stabbed through the heart after a confrontation outside his home in Shepherds Bush, in January.

Friends who remember Koh from his time at the university described him as strange guy.

The photos supplied to Mail Online emerged as the girlfriend of Uzoka said she had never met Koh, who stabbed her boyfriend in the heart while she was working in Los Angeles and Sweden.

She wrote online: 'Harry died because a man had a jealous obsession with Harry. He came to his house with his two friends, knives and intentions to kill.

'Since this event has happened I'm so sad and heartbroken. I had finally found someone I was so happy with and he was taken from me.'

Ms Campbell did not give evidence at the trial but has spoken on social media

Harry Uzoka (left) was knifed in the heart, shoulder and back after a confrontation with George Koh (right) in Shepherd's Bush, west London, in January this year

CCTV captured Harry Uzoka, being chased by (left to right) Merse Dikanda, George Koh and Jonathan Okigbo

George Koh was found guilty of stabbing Harry Uzoka to death (Met Police/PA)

Ms Campbell said the tragedy has been 'twisted' by the press and social media users 'to make it seem like I was the bad guy in this situation or this was a fight about me'.

Her post continued: 'This makes me so sad. I have had a hard time this year grieving and I am still grieving.

'Harry was my love. I have never lost a person in my life and I'm receiving multiple death threats and multiple social media accounts using a tragedy as click bait.'

Mr Uzoka was described during the trial as Britain's 'most famous black model',and was counted catwalk star Jourdan Dunn among his friend.

He had recently returned from a holiday in the Caribbean with his girlfriend and had landed a film role shortly before he was killed on January 11.

Mr Uzoka also starred in campaigns for Zara and Mercedes and regularly modelled for clothing line Everlane.

He was signed up by world renowned agent Premiere Model Management, who helped launched the career of Naomi Campbell.

A former college friend said:' He was always so laid back but was a nice guy. He would be in the room and then would suddenly disappear. He was quite mysterious but had a lot of friends and was a nice guy.

'He did talk about his modelling , but not many people really believed him until he left to become a full time model.'

Koh was enrolled on a business degree course but quit during the first term at the university in Leicester.

Koh, a former Louis Vuitton and Paul Smith model, previously posted a photo on Instagram of David Beckham standing in front of his photo at London Fashion Week.

The defendant claimed he acted in self-defence and only wanted to meet face to face for him to apologise to his rival for thinking he had bedded Ms Campbell.

The court heard that Koh had falsely bragged to Paris-based model Annecetta Lafon that he had sex with Ms Campbell.

Prosecutor Richard Horwell QC said: 'Koh claimed that he knew Uzoka well and then said that he had sex with Uzoka's girlfriend and that was the reason why they no longer talked.'

Koh was found guilty of murder, along with machete-wielding Merse Dikanda, 24.

Personal trainer Jonathan Okigbo, also 24, was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

All three men will be sentenced on September 21.
A number of police recruits have resigned after an off-site and off-duty orgy was exposed to officials by another recruit who was not involved.

After the recruits resigned, Victoria Police launched an investigation into the potential misconduct.

The orgy had occurred away from the Glen Waverley campus and while all involved were off duty, and subsequent investigations of the recruits phones found all were willing participants, the Herald Sun reported.

It was reported that the orgy happened away from the Glen Waverley campus (pictured) while the recruits were off duty

It wasn't until one of the recruits returned to campus and 'bragged' about the encounter that campus officials were made aware.

'Police became aware of misconduct relating to a small number of recruits from the same squad,' a spokeswoman told the Herald Sun.

'The incidents happened off duty. There has never been an allegation of, or evidence of, a sexual assault.'

'The incidents happened off duty. There has never been an allegation of, or evidence of, a sexual assault.' a police spokeswomen said

'Inquiries were conducted and a number of people resigned. No criminal offences were committed.'

When recruits were questioned by media some said there were less than eight people involved while others said at least four recruits were involved.

Another described the incident as 'an old-fashioned orgy'.
Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment a lone man beats up seven men in a nightclub brawl after one bumps into him.

The incident happened in the early hours of last Sunday morning in nightclub Studio Private Place on Karl Marx St in the south of Moscow.

After the brawl finished, three men are knocked out on the dancefloor.

Two of the men seen in the footage were treated in hospital. A 23-year-old is said to have fractured his skull, while a 20-year-old received head and facial injuries.

The footage begins when two men bump into each other on a crowded dance floor.

The larger man immediately turns around and punches the man, who's dancing in a group of friends, in the face.

The smaller man pushes him and the fight escalates when a friend of the smaller man tries to pull them apart but is struck himself and knocked onto the nightclub floor.

The fight starts after one of the men, who's dancing in a group of friends accidentally knocks into the large man on the dancefloor

The brute then launches a vicious attack, punching the man in the face and then slipping to the floor, he then gets up and punches three of the men hard in the face

Another man is then hit by the attacker as he carries on, knocking out a third man who falls next to the first.

The brawl then moves to a seated area where a fourth and fifth man are attacked after trying to intervene and stop the man.

The third man to have been attacked lies unconscious on the floor and the attacker carries on his rampage. Two men were brought to hospital with one suffering a fractured skull

The fight moves over to the seated area as a further four men are attacked. One is punched repeatedly in the back and stomach as he cowers away

He then goes on to punch a sixth man who punches the attacker, but is then punched and knocked onto the sofa.

A seventh man tries to intervene but is also punched repeatedly as he cowers on the sofa as the brute continues away from the seated area.

According to local media, the attacker could face up to eight years in jail for the assaults.
Former Royal Marine Eric Vaughan, 94, holding one of his service medals, had returned to where he landed in 1944 when a neighbour told him about the break in

A D-Day hero who was making his first visit back to the beaches of Normandy was forced to cut his trip short because burglars ransacked his home.

Former Royal Marine Eric Vaughan, 94, of Prestatyn, north Wales, had returned to where he landed in 1944 when a neighbour told him about the break in.

Mr Vaughan, awarded the French Legion d'honneur went home to find thieves had stolen his laptop, a jack knife issued to him in 1942, and old German Reichsmark coins.

They also stole a rotary wrist watch given to him as a 70th birthday present by his wife Beryl.

The World War Two veteran, who luckily took his service medals with him on the cruise, said he now feels unable to make the trip again.

He said: 'I'm very disappointed by what happened.

'You can't take everything with you. You lock up your house and think it's secure.

'I haven't lost hundreds of pounds worth of stuff but things which to me meant a lot.'

He said: 'I felt anxious and broken hearted when I came back and I am still down.

'It has taken a lot out of me, I do not feel the same. This has really shattered me.'

The former Royal Marine, left, say he now feels unable to make the trip again. Pictured right: Mr Vaughan (left) with a fellow Marine in 1945

His wife added to the Daily Telegraph:said: 'What is the point of fighting for your country if this is what happens to you?

'He saw some terrible sights in the war and thought he was doing his best for his country, but people just couldn't care less.'

Mr Vaughan, a former factory worker, joined the Royal Marines in 1942. He was part of commando reinforcements that stormed the beaches of Normandy in France on June 6 1944.

He served with the Marines until 1946, and also service in North Africa and Italy.

Mr Vaughan, top left, pictured with his Royal Marine comrades in 1945

The former Royal Marine Commando's service certificate issued to him in 1946

The couple's house, in a retirement community in Prestatyn, was broken into after burglars forced a lock open through a kitchen window.

After being told of the sickening raid in North Wales, he and wife Beryl left the cruise ship on a tender to St Malo.

They then took a taxi to Dinard before flying back to East Midlands airport.

A North Wales Police spokesman said they were alerted to reports of a burglary on July 14 by a neighbour of the victim.

Mr Vaughan, pictured inside his home, left, received the French Legion d'honneur in 2016. Pictured right: A letter informing him he had been given the award

The couple's house (pictured) in a retirement community in Prestatyn, was broken into after burglars forced a lock open through a kitchen window.

He added: 'Jewellery, a cash card and an insurance certificate were stolen.

'It is under investigation and we are working with the family on a number of lines of enquiries.'
A restaurant has apologised after posting a photo of 'worried' cow Daisy ahead of a new steak night.

Twenty Nine Park Place, in Cardiff city centre, was called out on Twitter for the 'offensive' tweet by a user called That Cardiff Girl - who is a meat eater herself.

The tweet, which has now been deleted, was originally posted on Wednesday.

It featured a picture of a cow and the restaurant's steak night menu, with the caption 'Daisy is a little bit worried! Why? It's steak night!'.

The tweet was shared by That Cardiff Girl, who said in response to the tweet 'I'm not even a veggie and I'm offended by this Tweet'.

The 'offensive' tweet was posted on Wednesday by Twenty Nine Park Place, a restaurant based in Cardiff city centre. The business has since apologised

Twitter user That Cardiff Girl tweeted about Twenty Nine Park Place's social media posting. She claimed to be 'offended' by the tweet

People were quick to respond to the tweet.

Replying to That Cardiff Girl, a twitter user called Josie said: 'Oh my god, this is dreadful.'

While another called Sophie Marie Manners said: 'So cruel and immoral.'

Others were less scathing of the restaurant, labelling That Cardiff Girl a 'snowflake'.

The Great Cornholio said: 'Probably time for you to give up meat if you're offended by the thought of where it comes from.'

While Gavin said: 'I'm sorry but you need to get a grip. Meat is produced from animals? It doesn't come from the supermarket shelf.'

Twenty Nine Park Place had only recently been taken over by the Knife & Fork group which runs a number of others pubs in Cardiff including The Conway in Pontcanna and The Discovery in Lakeside.

Other Twitter users were quick to respond to That Cardiff Girl's complaint. One labelled the restaurant's tweet 'really poor' while another branded it 'dreadful'

Others were less offended by the restaurant's actions and instead called out That Cardiff Girl over her complaint. One user labelled her a 'snowflake' while another laid into the youth of today

Twenty Nine Park Place was recently taken over by the Knife & Fork group which runs a number of others pubs in Cardiff. The previous owners had to close in January blaming rising business rates and a debt of more than 200,000

Wednesday night is steak night at all Knife & Fork venues.

Customers are asked to choose from a T-bone, sirloin or rib-eye steak.

The meal comes with 'all the trimmings' and a pint or glass of house wine.

It costs 15.

The restaurant's previous owners, Croesy Bards Ltd, closed the bar in January 2018 blaming rising business rates and a debt of more than 200,000.

The refurbished bar and restaurant opened its doors on July 27 but this recent debacle may have upset potential customers.

Apologising for the tweet, a spokesperson from Twenty Nine Park Place said: 'We would like to sincerely apologise for the misjudgment of this tweet and we recognise the offence it has caused.'
A four-year-old girl found dangling by her neck from a six-storey window grille has been saved by firefighters and her neighbours in south-east China.

The girl was discovered by shocked residents, who later said the child was left home alone by her mother and slipped through the metal bars after she climbed onto the balcony.

A resident and a firefighter were seen desperately hanging onto the child as rescuers worked to free the girl. She was freed after being trapped for 30 minutes.

The girl in south-east China's Guangdong province was discovered by shocked residents, who later said the child was left home alone by her mother and slipped through the metal bars

The team of six firefighters on scene used a hydraulic shear to cut through the metal bars

Video footage of the incident on Tuesday in Yangjiang city, Guangdong province shows the girl hanging in mid-air with her head wedged between the metal slats outside her home at about 11:30am.

She was also seen grasping onto the grilles while swaying dangerously from side to side.

One of the residents, Mr Lin, who lives on the second floor, told Yangjiang TV Station that he and both his sons rushed to the fifth floor after hearing the girl crying.

Mr Lin said the girl's mother also arrived home at the same time and was able to unlock the door.

The girl was seen grasping onto the grilles while swaying dangerously from side to side

The four-year-old was finally freed after being trapped for 30 minutes and was unhurt

The team of six firefighters on scene used a hydraulic shear to cut through the metal bars as officers and residents propped the little girl up with blankets to relieve pressure from her neck and arms.

The girl was not injured during the scare, according to the report.

It added that her mother had gone downstairs to pick up a parcel when her daughter started to look for her.

The girl had dropped her shoe on the balcony and was trying to retrieve it when she slipped through the window grilles.

Parents in China face punishment for negligence if found guilty of leaving minors unattended at home.
Madrid is set to open the world's first publicly-funded retirement home for gay people.

A building in the Villaverde district in south Madrid has been earmarked for the home, which authorities aim to have open by the end of the year, the thelocal.es reports.

The centre, funded by Madrid's regional government, will house 66 permanent residents and have a day centre for a further 30.

Federico Armenteros started the December 26th Foundation eight years ago to campaign for a dedicated retirement home for elderly gay people

Federico Armenteros has spent almost eight years campaigning for a residential centre for elderly LGBT people.

He launched the December 26th Foundation, named for the date in 1979 when the law to imprison homosexuals in Spain was repealed, in 2011.

Armenteros, who is now in his 70s, has spoken of how he launched the campaign after he was ostracised by other residents in a care home because of his sexuality.

He says elderly gay people are forced to go back into the closet when they enter retirement homes.

'They started to steer clear of me and insult me,' he told the BBC in 2011 about his own experience.

'They called me 'queer' and it made me feel awful. My room has two beds but no-one wants to share with me. So I'm alone and it's bad.'

A building in the Villaverde district (above, file photo) in south Madrid has been earmarked for the home

He added that he was forced to make himself 'as invisible as possible' so he wasn't targeted.

Earlier this month, he said 'something had to be done' so elderly LGBT people could enjoy their final days.

Although the new retirement home will be funded by the regional government, it will be managed by the December 26th Foundation.

Armenteros says it will be the first publicly funded centre for LGBT elderly people in the world.

But although it is designed to be LGBT-friendly, it will be open to anyone regardless of their sexual orientation, he said.

'There are some people who are now 80-years-old and have never experienced the freedom of the LGTB movement because it didn't exist until 2005, when same-sex marriage law saw homosexuality removed from the criminal code,' Armenteros told La Vanguardia.

'Something had to be done so that these people could live out their last moments with as much dignity as possible,' he said.
Allan MacCallum, 46, was on his croft with two of his sons when the accident happened

A father of three has died after becoming trapped in a baling machine.

Allan MacCallum, 46, was on his croft with two of his sons, Sean, 22, and Bradley, 13, when the accident happened.

He had been inspecting the new machinery on Saturday night following its delivery that morning to his property on Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides.

Last night, heartbroken Sean told how he had tried in vain to free his father.

He said: 'I was on the phone in the caravan when I heard this shouting. I ran out and I went straight to my father. I grabbed his hand and said, 'Dad, are you there', but there was nothing back.'

He said he ran to try to open the back door of the baler but saw oil leaking out, which signalled a burst in the mechanism.

So he got into another tractor as a friend of his father, who was also working on the croft, came to help.

Mr MacCallum said: 'I jumped into the tractor with a loader and pushed stuff out of the way to get hold of the door.'

Father-of-three Mr MacCallum has died after becoming trapped in a baling machine

His father's friend had been 'inside the baler trying to push it'.

Mr MacCallum said: 'I tried everything I could and eventually I got the strap on the door and I lifted it right out and my father just dropped.'

In a statement, Mr MacCallum said he and Bradley  along with their other brother Darren, 15  were 'heartbroken'.

He said his father  who had split from their mother Lynn seven years ago  'adored his boys and they thought the world of him and still do, today and for ever'.

Tributes to Mr MacCallum were posted on a crowdfunding page, which had raised nearly 15,000 for funeral costs by this morning.

Mr MacCallum lived in a property in this area of Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides

A friend said: 'The people of Tiree are absolutely devastated for the family. It's really, really, tragic.'

A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'Emergency services attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

'Inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident. A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).'

A spokesman for the HSE said: 'HSE is aware of the incident and making initial inquiries.'

A JustGiving crowdfunding page had raised nearly 15,000 for funeral costs by this morning

John Dickson, National Farmers Union Scotland's regional chairman for Argyll and the Islands, said: 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends at this time.

'Every loss of life through a tragic accident of this kind has a huge impact but in a tight-knit island community the feeling of loss goes deeper.

'It is a sad reminder that farming and crofting is dangerous and it is important that everyone living and working in the countryside take the necessary steps to keep themselves, their family and their staff safe while working.'

Tiree resident Megan Cowling wrote on the Justgiving page she set up: 'We have all been shocked and deeply saddened on the island by the sudden passing of Allan.

Tributes to Mr MacCallum were posted on the crowdfunding page following his death

'He leaves behind three young boys, and together we can all help them through this difficult time.'

Norma and Murray Omand, in a Justgiving post, said: 'Not very often you met Allan without one of his boys by his side. Big cloud over our isle.'

It is not the first time tragedy has hit the family.

Mr MacCallum's brother, Alexander, who was known as Alasdair, died after a road accident at Benderloch, near Oban, Argyll, in 2010.
Jeremy Corbyn has been hit with a backlash over his 'power grab' on the free press today - after he demanded tighter controls on media firms and a state funded version of Facebook.

The Labour leader took aim at the media in a keynote speech after a torrid spell of coverage over his handling of the party's anti-Semitism crisis.

He mooted a nationalised 'British Digital Corporation' to take on Facebook and Netflix - and urged 'enforced shareholder dilution' with the public getting a stake in big publishers.

The proposals were condemned by critics as 'sinister' and a 'wholesale plan for more state control'. Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said Mr Corbyn wanted to avoid 'legimitate scrutiny' and Labour former head of press Jo Green questioned his 'motivation'.

But bizarrely they did win approval from a former Klu Klux Klan chief, who said Mr Corbyn was 'right'.

The Labour leader (pictured in Edinburgh yesterday) took aim at the media in a keynote speech after a torrid spell of coverage over his handling of the party's anti-Semitism crisis

In his speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday, Mr Corbyn called for the BBC to publish more information about the social class of its workforce - drawing jibes about the wealthy background of his own inner circle.

The veteran left-winger suggested journalists working for private outlets that had a 'certain audience share' should elect their editors.

'You could take this further at a higher audience share, with enforced shareholder dilution with equity and seats on the board awarded to workers and the readers, viewers or listeners,' he added.

He suggested that would be a way to end the 'stranglehold of elite power and billionaire domination over large parts of our media'.

Key proposals from Corbyn's media speech A new British Digital Corporation (BDC) that would exist alongside the BBC, and could host 'public social media platforms' similar to Facebook or Twitter. Editors of private sector publications should be elected by journalists. Media firms with large audiences could face 'enforced shareholder dilution', with equity and seats on the board awarded to workers and members of the public. Tech firms such as Facebook and Netflix should be taxed to fund 'independent' journalism and the BBC. Advertisement

The new British Digital Corporation (BDC) would exist alongside the BBC and provide free access to digital content and information, Mr Corbyn said.

That could include 'public social media platforms' similar to Facebook or Twitter, as rivals for streaming services like Netflix.

He said the body would work with other organisations Labour wanted to set up to find ways for the public to take 'control of key levers of our economy'.

He added: 'The BDC could work with other institutions that the next Labour government will set up like our National Investment Bank, National Transformation Fund, Strategic Investment Board, Regional Development Banks and our public utilities to create new ways for public engagement, oversight and control of key levers of our economy.'

The Labour leader denied that the plans were revenge on the national press for coverage of the Labour antisemitism crisis.

Tory chairman Mr Lewis said: 'Dressed up as press freedom, this was nothing more than a wholesale plan for more state control over our media.

'From forcing BBC journalists to state their social class, to a nationalised Facebook, these measures are an attempt to hamstring our free press and legitimate scrutiny of Jeremy Corbyn.

'Only the Conservatives will defend our free press, a vital function of a healthy democracy.'

Labour's former head of press Mr Green said on Twitter: 'Perhaps it's just being an old cynic, but I find elements of these media reforms rather sinister.

'And I don't believe for a second that they are motivated by a belief that a future govt should be held to greater journalistic scrutiny.'

But Mr Corbyn was praised by a former Ku Klux Klan leader for his attack on the media.

The Labour leader took to Twitter last night to spell out his determination to 'break the stranglehold of elite power and billionaire domination over large parts of our media'.

David Duke, a former Grand Dragon of the white supremacist KKK, retweeted Mr Corbyn saying: 'He's right, you know.'
LAST weekend, the world awoke to the sad news of the passing away of Kofi Annan, the first African to become Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In a light touch, one evidence of how much he was well known is the fact that even my computer knows his name  Kofi Annan  as there is no red ink alert of misspelling or something around his name! I had no problem also looking for his biography as there was plenty online immediately after the newsbreak of his death.

Immediately, I landed on a tribute attributed to one global news organisation, CNN, penned by one, Jeffrey Sachs who wrote saying he had worked with Kofi Annan at the United Nations. Headed: Kofi Annan protected us from our worst instincts Mr. Sachs wrote - excerpts: In every generation we depend on a few people of supreme decency and intelligence to hold the world together.

Kofi Annan was one of the righteous people, a man of extraordinary intelligence, decency, warmth and joy of life. He helped to keep our world from blowing itself apart, or dividing mercilessly between the rich and the poor.

Kofi Annan the UN into the 21st century with a momentous two terms of office between 1997 and 2007. I was profoundly privileged to work for Kofi during that period, first as an adviser on an economic report, then as a director of a commission at the World Health Organisation and then as his special adviser on the Millennium Development Goals for six years  from 2001-2007.

It is perhaps superfluous to say that watching and learning from Kofi greatly enriched my life; he did that for all of us. Kofis core idea was that our crowded, interconnected world requires economic justice, peace and human rights.

He would often say that there could be no development without security, no security without development and neither security nor development without human rights. He saw the need for the world to join together to deliver the end of poverty, the cessation of wars and the protection of human dignity.

He believed that the United Nations was a unique global institution that could support these immense ambitions and he made it his lifes work to fashion a UN of our times. Kofi opened up the doors of the UN to the people of the world.

While the UN Charter appropriately begins with the words  we the peoples, the members of the UN are in fact the worlds governments. Kofi made sure that people all over the world would regard the UN as theirs, not merely their governments.

Most poignantly, urgently and successfully, he put the worlds focus on the least among us, as the worlds great moral traditions bid us to do. Kofis greatest achievements for the poor was to mobilize global energies to fight poverty, hunger and disease through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)  which Kofi put forward to the worlds governments at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000.

The MDGs inspired scientists, doctors agronomists, community leaders, academics, business leaders, working people and youth everywhere to work together in the great challenge of ending poverty. With the persuasive powers of the worlds consummate diplomat, Kofi signed up the world to this great mission.

Extreme poverty declined rapidly during the MDG period, from 37 percent in the 1990s baseline year to below 10 percent at the MDG finish line in 2015. I watched Kofis second term when he faced the nightmare of the US war on Iraq.

After 9-11, the Bush White House immediately took aim at Iraqs leader Saddam Hussein. The US beat the drums of war with Iraq ever more loudly in 2002. Kofi implored Saddam to let the UN arms inspectors do their work to check whether Saddam government had abandoned weapons of mass destruction and implored the UN administration to give the inspectors time.

Kofi strongly urged the US to seek the approval of the UN Security Council for any military action against Iraq, as required by the UN Charter. Consequently, the US pressures on Kofi were nearly unbearable. The White House was determined to overthrow Saddam, no matter the evidence or lack thereof and irrespective of the UN Security Council.

The US decision to invade Iraq, which will surely be recorded as one of the greatest failures of the US foreign policy, unleashed wave upon wave of violence, conflict unrest and mass refugee movements across the Middle East and into Europe. Kofi paid a personal price for standing up to the US empire.

When he declared that the US action in Iraq was against international law, the response from prominent Republicans was swift and unrelenting, attacking Kofi personally by going after his sons business dealings.

The attacks reflected the US at its worst, Kofi at his bravest and the UN at its most vulnerable, trying to maintain international law against a lawless White House. Kofi never retired. Thats why his death is so shocking.

There was no physical or mental decline at age 80 when he has passed away. Kofi has worked tirelessly around the world even after retirement from the UN with his unmatched skills to save lives, tamp down conflicts and avoid spread of wars.

End excerpts from commentator Jeffrey Sachs. As the heading of this perspective reads, Kofi Annan is our pride in Africa, a great son from the African continent. He goes bravely in African history as a great son of Africa in the same way his countrys founder President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana is highly regarded.

For us in Africa and rest of the developing world, the best we should do now is resurrect our unity in the same organized way we used to be in the past when we had the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) in bi-polar past.

Today, it is even more urgent to stand up together given the uni-polar global disposition today when we have a sole super power calling the shots and dictating how we should walk the tight rope.

As the father of the Tanzanian nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere lightly spoke once upon a time that a seemingly powerful person would be scared if he were to face a herd of chickens in their thousands hurtling towards him along his path! Unity is strength.

This is the best way to learn from the comprehensive lifetime textbook Kofi Annan has left behind for us to emulate.
Jagdev (pictured outside court) caused a woman to have a fit with her unruly behaviour on the Tenerife flight

A drunken aeroplane passenger caused a fellow holiday-maker to have a seizure after screaming 'we are all going to die'.

Kiran Jagdev had drunk up to eight beers and six wines before the outburst while the Jet2 flight from Tenerife circled over East Midlands Airport.

It came after Jagdev continually kicked the seat in which the womans 15-year-old autistic daughter was sitting.

The 41-year-old former personal assistant, who had gone on holiday alone, even flirted with an off-duty police officer who stepped in to monitor her behaviour.

Her problems with drinking began when she lost her unborn child and split from her husband in 2015.

Prosecutor Zoe Lee said Jagdev started shouting when the plane was unable to land the first time round and had to circle.

'The defendant screamed: "We are all going to die",' she told the court. 'The defendants unruly behaviour directly brought about the stress which caused the mother of this girl to have a seizure on the flight.

'The family asked to be moved and were accommodated. Jagdev was repeatedly spoken to by fellow passengers and cabin crew but did not calm down.'

Mrs Lee said that Jagdev had had between six and eight beers before she boarded the plane then drank four to six glasses of wine on the fight.

'The cabin crew could see she was intoxicated and refused to serve her any more alcohol,' she said.

'She was then seen to be drinking alcohol she had brought onto the plane herself.'

The 41-year-old's outburst occurred as the plane was circling above East Midlands Airport (pictured)

At one point, an off-duty police officer on the plane offered to sit next to her for the rest of the flight to try to placate her.

Mrs Lee said: 'To start with it sort of worked. Then she became flirtatious and he refused her advances. Then she became abusive and became much louder.'

When the plane landed at East Midlands Airport police boarded the flight and arrested Jagdev.

She told police she said she had been in party mode and blamed the cabin crew for serving her alcohol. Jagdev, of Leicester, pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft on January 28.

The prosecutor told the court how Jagdev had been convicted in a Spanish court of a violent offence and had received a suspended sentence while on holiday. That conviction came just five days before the flight to East Midlands Airport.

The passenger blamed Jet2 staff for serving her alcohol- despite the fact she'd brought her own on the flight

Mrs Lee said that Jagdev had previous convictions for alcohol-related offences and threatening behaviour.

Ahmed Khan, defending, said his client had an alcohol problem. He added that she had turned to alcohol when she lost an unborn child and split from her husband in 2015.

'She initially turned to drink then stopped,' he said. 'After stopping drinking she was able to save some money.

'She used this money to make improvements to her property and to treat herself to a holiday.

'She went on holiday and fell off the wagon. She is ashamed of what happened. She would like to apologise to everyone who was on that flight.

'My client clearly has an alcohol problem and needs help to tackle her issues.'

District Judge Sally Fudge said: 'I view this extremely seriously. By law I can only impose a financial penalty in this court for this offence.

'I feel that my sentencing powers are not sufficient to deal with this case.'

Jagdev was given unconditional bail. She is due to be sentenced at Leicester Crown Court next month.
After a week from hell, Malcolm Turnbull spent his final night as the nation's leader drowning his sorrows in liquor.

In an interview with KIIS FM on Friday, Australian Liberal MP Craig Laundy admitted he joined Mr Turnbull on Thursday night, consoling the 'shattered' ex-prime minister in Canberra.

'We were having some glasses of red wine and champagne. He's shattered basically, I would say,' news.com.au reported.

After a week from hell, Malcolm Turnbull spent his final night as the nation's leader drowning his sorrows in liquor

Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy (pictured) have faced public scrutiny this week as rumours of a coup circled

Mr Turnbull's chaotic week hit it's pinnacle on Friday, as Scott Morrison was voted in as Australia's 30th prime minister, ahead of contenders Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop.

Kyle Sandilands clarified with Mr Laundy that he was 'on the p*** with the prime minister... going out on a blinder.'

Mr Turnbull's annihilation had been building throughout the week, with tensions rising to boiling point on Thursday.

Mr Turnbull's annihilation had been building throughout the week, with tensions rising to boiling point on Thursday

Mr Turnbull's exit from parliament will force a crucial by-election in his wealthy Sydney eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth and put at risk the government's wafer-thin majority

Mr Laundy said the leadership debacle gave voters the right to be livid with their government.

'The Australian public should be cranky with us. While we're fighting among ourselves, we're not thinking about them.'

Mr Turnbull wasn't the only one out of the town, with Peter Dutton also spotted.

Mr Dutton was seen at dinner with Senator Mathias Cormann.

The former supporter of Mr Turnbull was one of 43 parliamentarians who withdrew their support of the party's ex-leader on Thursday.

Mr Turnbull confirmed he would soon be quitting Parliament for good, forcing a crucial by-election in his wealthy Sydney eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth and putting at risk the government's wafer-thin majority.
Paul Adney, 53, pictured outside Birmingham Magistrates Court, has pleaded guilty to being drunk onboard an aircraft and to using abusive or insulting words

A drunk grandfather spurted out vile racist abuse onboard a flight heading to Birmingham Airport - with some of the insults aimed at the disabled and children.

Foul-mouthed Paul Adney first of all targeted a disabled woman who was waiting for her mobility scooter to be placed on board when he ranted 'just leave her here.'

He then continued with racist foul mouthed abuse saying 'why the hell are we letting on all these f****** P**** and b*****.'

During the flight from Turkey's Antalya Airport, the 53-year-old constantly kicked the seat in front of him where a 13-year-old girl was sitting.

When her mother protested Adney told her to shut up and said: 'You know I will punch her.'

Adney, from Shirley, pleaded guilty to being drunk onboard an aircraft and to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress with a racially aggravated factor.

The court heard how a number of passengers were reseated during the May 25 flight to Birmingham Airport and when some remonstrated about Adney's behaviour he told them: 'I will take all of you on - I used to be a boxer.'

Miss Helen Shipley, prosecuting, told the court: 'His behaviour was very threatening during the flight and left many passengers including vulnerable disabled people and children feeling scared and upset.

'When the plane landed police arrested the defendant where he continued to be abusive and aggressive.

'He was taken to Solihull Police Station and when he was later questioned he said he was sorry for his actions.

'He said he was drunk and couldn't remember what he had said.

'When he was told what he had said and done he said he was very embarrassed about how he had behaved.'

Magistrates at Birmingham Magistrates Court (pictured) deemed the charge of being drunk onboard an aircraft as too serious and committed his case to Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing

Mrs Bashir Kalsoom, defending, said Adney was 'deeply ashamed of his actions.'

She said: 'He is a reforming alcoholic and was in rehabilitation a number of years ago. He had been off the drink for quite some time and had given up alcohol because of this very reason.

'He can get abusive and aggressive when he has had a drink. He had a drink before the flight.

He knows how stupid this was.

'He is a 53-year-old grandfather and he is deeply upset about the distress it has caused his children and grandchildren.'

Magistrates handed Adney a 120 fine and told him to pay court costs of 135 in relation to using threatening, abusive words and behaviour which was racially aggravated.

They deemed the charge of being drunk onboard an aircraft as too serious and committed his case to Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing.

He will appear at crown court on September 20.
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian nurse working for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) after the man opened fire on troops at the Gaza border, and allegedly also threw a grenade.

The medical charity has confirmed that Hani Al-Majdalawi was one of its employees and said it is investigating his death, as Israel slammed MSF as 'Terrorism Without Borders'.

Al-Majdalawi's family has since taken to social media to call the 28-year-old a 'martyr' and said he 'bought the weapon with his own money'.

#Israel claims Hani al-Majdalawi, who was killed Monday in a firefight with #IDF troops had been a nurse with @MSF. Statement from @CogatArabic claims he opened fire towards troops & threw an IED at them. It cites his brother as saying he used his own money to purchase the rifle pic.twitter.com/4vFsp666qD  Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) August 24, 2018

'Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms that one of its employees, Hani Mohammed Almajdalawi, was killed in Gaza on Monday, August 20, 2018,' the organisation said in a statement.

'MSF is working to verify and understand the circumstances regarding this extremely serious incident, and is not able to comment further at this stage,' it added.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for activities in the Palestinian territories, issued a statement late Thursday slamming MSF as 'Terrorism Without Borders'.

'Hani al-Almajdalawi, who tried to infiltrate through the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip while he was armed with a rifle, opened fire toward military forces and even threw an explosive device at them,' it said.

COGAT said Almajdalawi was 'a nurse who worked for the international organisation Doctors Without Borders.'

Palestinian protesters gather along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip on August 3, 2018

Responding to Israeli media reports on al-Majdalawi's killing, his brother, Osama, described the married 28-year-old on Facebook as a 'martyr' who had 'bought the weapon with his own money' and acted 'completely independently'.

The Facebook post confirmed that he had worked for Doctors Without Borders and added that he had been 'the most socially, psychologically and economically stable among his brothers'.

MSF has around 200 local and foreign staff in Gaza and in May the charity condemned Israel's use of force in border protests as 'unacceptable and inhuman'.

It described the army's policy as 'shooting with live ammunition at demonstrators, on the assumption that anyone approaching the separation fence is a legitimate target.'

At least 172 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border in mass protests which began on March 30.

One Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper in July.

Israel maintains that its use of force is necessary to defend the border and stop infiltrations and attacks.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests on Friday to confirm Almajdalawi's death and detail where his body was being held.

The Israeli military on Monday released a terse statement on a border gunfight which did not name Almajdalawi or confirm that he has been killed.

'A terrorist shot at IDF troops in the northern Gaza Strip, in response IDF troops shot towards the terrorist,' the army said, referring to the Israel Defence Forces.

It said that no soldiers were wounded but made no mention of any Palestinian casualties.

The border incident occurred despite attempts by Egypt and UN officials to reach a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip.
Kyall Parnell was the first victim of London's year of violence, he was stabbed on the night of New Year's Eve

Vijay Patel was beaten to death in January after refusing to buy Rizla cigarette papers for a teenager

January

1) Kyall Parnell, 17, was attacked in front of horrified revellers on his way to a New Year's Eve party and died after being chased through traffic in Tulse Hill, south London. A murder investigation was opened in 2018.

2) Steve Frank Navarez-Jara was the first person to be killed in 2018. The 20-year-old was stabbed on New Year's Day in Old Street, north London.

3) Elizabeta Lacatusu, 44, who came to London from Romania to work, was stabbed in Redbridge, east London on January 3.

4) Vijay Patel, 49, died on January 6 after being attacked outside a shop in Mill Hill Broadway after refusing a teenager trying to buy Rizla cigarette papers.

5) Daniel Frederick, 34, died after being stabbed in Hackney on January 8 while walking home after attending a hospital check-up with his pregnant partner.

6) Harry Uzoka, 25, worked as a model in London and was knifed in the heart in Shepherd's Bush on January 11.

7) Seyed Azim Khan's body was found in Ilford Cemetery with extensive head injuries in February after he went missing on his way home from work on January 24.

8) Yaya Mbye, 26, died in hospital after being stabbed in Stoke Newington. east London, on January 28.

9) Juan Olmos Saca, 39, was stabbed in the chest in Peckham, south east London, on the January 29 and died a week in hospital.

10) Khader Saleh, 25, was stabbed at Wormwood Scrubs prison on January 31.

11) Eleven-week-old Lily-Mai Saint George was found unresponsive at an address in Tottenham on January 31. She died at Great Ormond Street Hospital three days later.

February

12) Hassan Ozcan was just 19 when he died from multiple stab wounds in Barking, east London, on February 3.

13) Kwabena Nelson, 22, a youth worker from Tottenham, died after being stabbed near his home on February 3.

Elizabeta Lacatusu had her throat slashed in Ilford

Hannah Leonard was stabbed in a flat in Camden in February

14) Hannah Leonard, 55, was stabbed in a flat in Camden on February 8.

15) Sabri Chibani, 19, was stabbed in the chest in Streatham, south west London, on February 11.

16) Bulent Kabala was the first victim to be shot dead in 2018. The 41-year-old was gunned down on February 12 and died at the scene in Barnet, north London.

17) Saeeda Hussain, 54, was stabbed at a house in Ilford on February 13 and died from her injuries.

18) Lord Promise Nkenda was just 17 when he was stabbed in Canning Town, east London, on Valentine's Day.

19) Mark Smith, 48, died from multiple injuries after being found unconscious in Waltham Forest on February 15.

20) Lewis Blackman, 19, was stabbed in the early hours of February 18 after going to a house party in Kensington. He died outside the former home of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

21) Jozef Boci, 30, suffered serious head injuries after being attacked on the street in Greenwich on February 17 and died in hospital just under a week later.

22) Rotimi Oshibanjo, 26, was stabbed in Southall on February 19 and died from his injuries.

23) Sadiq Mohammed, 20, died after being stabbed in Camden on February 20.

24) Abdikarim Hassan, 17, a friend of Sadiq, died on the same night after also being stabbed in Camden.

25) Amir Ellouizi, 24, was shot in Westminster on February 20 and died seven days later on February 27.

March

26) Michael Boyle, 44, died from a single stab wound to the chest. He was attacked on 25 February and died in hospital on March 10.

27) Christopher Beaumont, 42, was stabbed at a house in Hammersmith on March 1.

28) Laura Figueira, 47, was found dead at her home in Richmond, south west London, on March 5th having suffered stab wounds.

29 and 30) Later the same day, her husband Adelino Figueia de Faria, 57 and two young sons Claudio, 10, and Joaquin, 7, were discovered at the bottom of Beachy Head at Birling Gap, East Sussex, with all three having died from 'multiple injuries consistent with falling from a height'.

Russian socialite Nikolai Glushkov was strangled at his home in New Malden

31) Kelva Smith was 20 when he died after being stabbed in the stomach in Croydon, south London.

32) Kelvin Odunuyi, 19, was shot outside a cinema in Wood Green on March 8.

33) Julian Joseph, 36, died in hospital 11 days after being attacked and suffering a serious head injury on a night bus in New Cross just after midnight of March 13.

34) Nikolai Glushkov, 68, died from compression to the neck in New Malden on March 13.

35) Joseph William-Torres, 20, was shot in a car in in Essex Close, Walthamstow on March 14. Two teens, 15 and 17, charged with murder.

36) Lyndon Davis was 18 when he was stabbed in Chadwell Heath on March 14.

37) Naomi Hersi, 36, was found with stab wounds at a hotel near Heathrow Airport on March 16 and was pronounced dead 30 minutes later.

Jozef Boci, 30, was assaulted in Greenwich and later died from his injuries

38) Russell Jones, 23, died after suffering from stab injuries and a gunshot wound in Enfield, north London, on March 17.

39) Tyrone Silcott, 41, died after being stabbed in Hackney on March 18.

40) Balbir Johal, 48, was admitted to hospital with stab wounds after being attacked in Southall on March 19 and died a few hours later.

41) Jermaine Johnson, 41, was stabbed to death an an address in Walthamstow on March 19.

42) Beniamin Pieknyi, 21, was found with stab wounds at the Stratford shopping centre in East London, on March 20 and was pronounced dead at the scene.

43) Abraham Badru, 26, was shot in Dalston on March 25.

44) Wieslaw Kopcynski, 59, died on March 27th two days after being found lying in bed in Barking with serious head injuries following a suspected assault. A post-mortem found the cause of death was a complex skull fracture

45) David Potter, 50, was found dead inside a house in Tooting High Street on March 26 after suffering from stab injuries.

Hersi Hersi was stabbed in Hounslow in March

46) Reece Tshoma was 23 when he was stabbed in Plumstead, south east London, on March 29.

47) Leyla Mtumwa, 36, was found with stab wounds at a home in Haringey on March 30.

48) Ourania Lambrou, 80, died in hospital after being pushed to the ground by her attacker in a drunken rage in Camden on March 31.

April

49) Devoy Stapleton, 20, stabbed outside bar in Wandsworth in the early hours of April 1.

50) Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was shot in the chest on April 2 after a drive-by shooting in Tottenham, north London.

51) Amaan Shakoor, 16, was shot in the face, also on April 2 in Walthamstow and died a day later in hospital.

52) Career criminal Henry Vincent, 37, died after being stabbed in the chest as he burgled Richard Osborn-Brooks' house in Lewisham on April 4. The 78-year-old was initially arrested for murder but cleared of all charges and faces no further action.

53) Babatunde Akintayo Awofeso, 53, died after fight at a bookmakers in Upper Clapton on April 4 following reports of an altercation with another man.

Russell Jones, 23, became the eighth person in a week to be killed in London in March when he was ambushed outside shops in Enfield

54) Israel Ogunsola, 18, in Hackney after being stabbed, also on April 4. The victim approached police who performed first aid but he died at the scene after 25 minutes.

55) John Maclean, 35, stabbed at a flat in the Isle of Dogs on April 12th.

56) Raul Nicolaie, 26, stabbed to death in Zenith Close, Colindale at 6pm on Sunday, April 15th.

57) Natasha Hill, 18, found dead with head injuries at an address in Sewell Road, Abbey Wood at 4.22am on Sunday April 15.

58) Samantha Clarke, 30s, stabbed to death in Sudbourne Road, Brixton, at 6:30pm on Sunday, April 15th.

59) Sami Sidhom, 18, who studied law and history at Queen Mary University, was stabbed in the back just yards from his home in Forest Gate, east London, after going to the West Ham v Stoke game on April 16.

60) Builder John Woodward, 47, found dead on the roof of the Pressman Mastermelts building in Hatton Garden on April 17. Post-mortem gave cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head.

61) Aaron Springett, 32, died after street fight outside bookies in Merton, south west London, after suffering from a blunt force trauma to the chest on April 20.

There was outcry in April when Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was shot in the chest in Tottenham

62) Kwasi Anim-Boadu, 20, stabbed during a mass brawl in Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, north London, on April 21.

May

63) Leon Maxwell, 38, shot outside Queensbury tube station on May 1. A 26-year-old man also shot went to a north London hospital.

64) Rhyhiem Barton, 17, shot dead in broad daylight near his family's flat in Kennington on May 5th.

65) Onees Khatoon, 71, murdered at her home in Gade Close, Hayes, on May 13. Her son Majid Butt, 51, has been charged.

66) Rosina Coleman, 85, found battered to death at her home in Romford on May 15.

67) Abdulrahman Nassor Juma, 24, known to friends as Mani, fatally stabbed in the chest in Barking on May 17.

68) Osman Shidane, 20, stabbed repeatedly in Ruislip on evening of May 15, died three days later on Friday May 18.

69) Homeless Arunesh Thangarajah, 28, stabbed to death in Mitcham in early hours of Sunday May 20th.

Rosina Coleman was battered to death at her home in Romford in May

70) Sophie Cavanagh, 31, viciously attacked at an address in Bromley around 6pm on Sunday May 20.

71) Father-of-two Marcel Campbell, 30, from Tottenham, fatally stabbed outside an ice cream parlour in Islington on Monday May 21st.

72) Gerry Gaffney, 46, died in hospital on May 21st, eight days after being repeatedly stabbed near The Oval cricket ground in south London on Sunday May 14th.

73) Molly Frank, 61, a care worker, suffered fatal head injuries at an Islington residential home on May 24 and died in hospital the next day. A special post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as intra-cerebral haemorrhage.

74) Aspiring actress and singer Bethany-Maria Beales, 22, fell to her death from the 19th floor of The Heron, a 36-storey residential skyscraper in the City on May 26.

75) Mark Fontaine, 41, from Walthamstow, repeatedly stabbed in Chelsea on May 30.

June

76) Andra Hilitanu, 28, who was seven months pregnant with her third child, found stabbed in the neck at her flat in Brent on June 1st. The Romanian national's family revealed that her unborn child also died.

77) Edmond Jonuzi, a 35-year-old Albanian, was knifed in park and collapsed near Turnpike Lane station in north London on the evening of Saturday June 9th.

Katerina Makunova, 17, was stabbed to in Camberwell in July

78) Gitana Matukeviciene, 50 and originally from Lithuania, found with multiple injuries at a residential address in Dagenham on Saturday June 9th never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on Tuesday June 12th.

79) Mark Tremain, 52, died from his injuries on June 14th two weeks after being badly beaten near his home in Albert Square, Stockwell, on May 31st.

80) Apprentice lift engineer Joshua Boadu, 23, died in hospital on June 18th, seven days after being repeatedly stabbed in Bermondsey.

81) Matthew Thomas, 39, died shortly after being found with multiple injuries at a flat in Pimlico on Thursday June 21st.

82) Slawomir Weglarski, 39, died after a fight outside a pub in Greenford in the early hours of Saturday June 23rd.

83) Gita Suri, 56, found with stab wounds to her back in the garden of a house in Greenwich on Saturday June 23rd.

84) Schoolboy Jordan Douherty, 15, from Chafford Hundred, stabbed to death after a birthday party in Romford on Saturday June 23rd.

85) Ishak Tacine, 20, of Enfield, repeatedly stabbed in Edmonton following reports of an altercation between men armed with baseball bats on June 27th.

July

Drill rapper Latwaan Griffiths died of stab wounds after he was dumped in a Camberwell street by a moped rider

86) Elderly woman Shuren Ma, 72, found with a fatal head injury at a house in Woolwich on July 1st.

87) Janek Brakonecki, 57, a Polish national, found critically injured in a car park off Leytonstone High Road on Saturday July 7th.

88) Katerina Makunova, 17, stabbed to death in a block of flats in Camberwell on Thursday July 12th

89) Latwaan Griffiths, 18, from Southwark, died in hospital hours after being found with stab wounds in Denmark Road, Camberwell, on July 25. He had been dumped in the street by a moped rider.

90) Sheila Thomas, 69, was found stabbed to death at her home in Casino Avenue, Herne Hill on Tuesday July 31st.

August

91) Drill rapper Sidique Kamara, 23, aka Incognito, stabbed to death in Camberwell in an alleged gang feud on August 1.

92) Thomas Peter, 50, of Valentines Way, Dagenham, has been charged with murder and arson with intent to endanger life after woman found dead in east London on Thursday August 2nd.

Joel Urhie was found dead inside the burnt-out shell of his family home in Deptford

93) Malik Chattun, 22, from Surbiton, stabbed to death in group fight in Kingston just after 2am on Aug 5.

94) Seven-year-old Joel Urhie died in arson attack on his family home in Adolphus Street, Deptford, just before 3.30am on Tuesday August 7th.

95) Simonne Kerr, 31, A nurse who starred as part of a the B Positive choir who reached the final of this year's Britain's Got Talent, stabbed to death at an address in Grayshott Road, Battersea, on Wednesday August 15th.

96) Joseph Cullimore, 42, died after being repeatedly stabbed at a house in Chingford in the early hours of Friday August 17th.

97) Gary Amer, 63, a plumber of Holborn, found with multiple knife wounds at an address off the Old Kent Road on the afternoon of Friday August 17th.

98) Leroy 'Junior' Edwards, 66, found with multiple stab wound at an address in Catford in the early hours of Saturday August 18th.

99) Kaltoun Saleh was badly burnt in a fire at a flat in Finsbury Park on July 5th and died at a specialist burns hospital on Tuesday August 21st.

100) Carole Harrison, 73, found dead inside her house in Teddington following a fire on Wednesday August 22nd. A post-mortem found she had suffered injuries consistent with an assault.
A university researcher has hit out a shoe company after it gave away condoms with trainers emblazoned with 'If in doubt, f**k it?' on the inside.

Christopher Lyon, who is based at the University of Leeds, slammed Goodwin Smith for the 'vile message' and 'cheap cologne' that also came with the shoes.

He suggested the firm was 'cheerleading men toward dubious consent practices' and others on Twitter claimed the company was promoting a 'sexist' image.

Lancashire-based shoe company Goodwin Smith has sold trainers emblazoned with 'If in doubt, f**k it?' on the inside, provoking a furious response from one customer

The firm has been slammed for selling the shoes with a free condom and 'cheap cologne'

But Goodwin Smith, based in Stacksteads, Lancashire, hit back to insist that the quote was a 'reference to life in general' and had 'no sexual connotation'.

Dr Lyon tweeted: 'Returned a pair of shoes from Goodwin Smith due to the vile 'If in doubt, f**k it?' printed in the shoe and the condom and cheap cologne that came with it.

'A shoe company cheerleading men toward dubious consent practices?! Disgusting. #MeToo #Feminism #Consent.'

Others echoed his concerns, with Maggie McQueen from Sheffield saying: 'What a horrible, sexist image this company are promoting. Please stop it.'

Coralie Alison, the director of Collective Shout, an Australian-based campaign group against the objectification of women, was also unimpressed.

She tweeted: 'This is shocking. Where is the corporate social responsibility? And the response is just a cop out. This is #RapeCulture.'

Tweeting the firm, postdoctoral research associate Dr Lyon added: 'I just hope some drunk-dumb lad hasn't raped someone and ruined a life because your shoes encouraged him past the 'hey, maybe s/he's a little too drunk' moment.'

And he told the company: 'An option might be to discontinue that phrase and marketing strategy, provide a sizeable corporate donation and a percentage of each purchase to rape crisis charities. Set the standard.'

The firm replied: 'Hey Christopher, we're really sorry to hear your disappointment - we value and respect everyone's opinion so thank you for reaching out.'

Mr Lyon and others on Twitter have claimed the company was promoting a 'sexist' image

It later added: 'We'd like to clarify that the quote in the shoe has no sexual connotation and we as a brand most certainly would not promote anything that has been implied. The quote is a reference to life in general.'

And others on social media defended the company, with Tony Dabell from Leicestershire saying: 'Oh behave, will you little snowflakes?

'For a start they're depicted like that on the website, secondly you won't see the writing when you've got them on, and the condom thing is a bit cheeky as a first thing a woman looks at is a men's shoes, if she likes them then there's a chance.'

Alan Eastlake added: 'Whoever finds this offensive/inappropriate needs to have a serious word with themselves. Goodwin Smith aren't encouraging 'dubious consent practices'.'

But some Twitter users have defended the company, with one saying it was not offensive

The company itself later added that the line printed on the inside of the shoe was inspired by John Parkin's self-help book: 'F*** It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way'

A representative for the firm told MailOnline that the 'addition of the condom is to promote safe sex', adding that the cologne is 'a promotional sampler'.

The spokesman continued: 'Mr Lyon's beliefs and concerns regarding rape are, of course, right and commendable and we admire his sense of morality.

'But his comments in regard to Goodwin Smith are based on wild and far-fetched assumptions.

The company said the quote was a 'reference to life in general' and had 'no sexual connotation'

'The tweet and subsequent accusations, particularly that reading a five-word phrase could push someone on the fence to commit rape is ridiculous, and an insult to both free speech and our customers.

'Such comments are perhaps more representative of some people on social media whose objective is purely to bang the virtuous drum for their own good and ego.

'We strongly support women's rights. That includes their right to dress and behave as they wish. And any campaign we have run in the past involving women has been scripted, run, and directed by women.

'If Mr Lyon was offended by the words in our shoes he has the right to return them.'

In November last year, the company's ad campaign featuring female nudity alongside the phrase 'fancy a pair?' was banned for being 'degrading' to women

It comes nine months after the company's ad campaign featuring female nudity alongside the phrase 'fancy a pair?' was banned for being 'degrading' to women.

Watchdogs ruled last November that the adverts for Goodwin Smith  along with an image of three models wearing just knickers - 'objectified' women.

The firm also hit the headlines in February 2017 after sending Donald Trump a pair of 100 brogues along with a condom and a note calling him a 'lad with swagger'.

MailOnline has contacted the company for comment this morning.
These shocking images show dozens of horses starving to death on a man-made nature reserve outside Amsterdam, as activists campaign to be able to save them.

Dutch animal activists are suing the state to force it to care for the thousands of wild horses, deer and cattle who live on the Oostvaardersplassen, outside Amsterdam.

In an attempt to 're-wild' the Oostvaardersplassen marshes in the 1980s, a few dozen horses, cattle and red deer were planted into the area, a population which grew to 5,230 last year.

Fight: A campaign has been launched to save the horses of Oostvaardersplassen after visiting the 'reserve' in February to find it littered with carcasses and the surviving animals starving

Devastating: Images taken by Cynthia Danvers and Annemieke van Straaten who are running the campaign to save the animals shows carcasses lying in the marshes

Critique: The 'Dutch Serengeti' where thousands of animals were able to roam in a bid to 'rewild' them has come under criticism

A harsh winter saw their numbers decimated by nearly 3,400, with 90 per cent of these shot dead by park rangers to prevent them starving to death.

The lawsuit demands that the state takes action to prevent a repetition of last year's deadly winter months, by allowing the animals on the 23.1 sq.m Oostvaardersplassen to be fed.

The land is estimated to be able to feed 1,100 horses, deer and cattle - about half of the current numbers of animals - and so the lawsuit asks for the surplus to be relocated.

Friends Cynthia Danvers and Annemieke van Straaten launched their campaign to save the animals on Oostvaardersplassen, also known as the 'Dutch Serengeti', after visiting the 'reserve' in February this year.

The harsh winter months had left the marshes littered with carcasses, and those animals that survived it clearly starving, with protruding ribs and shoulders.

Cull: Nearly 3,400 animals died during the last winter, with 89 per cent of them shot by rangers to prevent them from starving to death

A horse walking around the marshes is seen looking painfully skinny in February

Heartbreaking: A filly appears to have died giving birth on Oostvaardersplassen

A horse carcass is left to rot in the marsh water in the 'man-made nature reserve'

'I've never seen such skinny horses,' Ms Danvers told NBC News.

'We saw so many dead animals. It was unbelievable.'

The 'project' to implant domesticated animals on a large space to make them 'wild again' has been criticised several times in the past.

Earlier this year biologist Patrick van Veen slated the project, telling The Guardian that 'this experiment has absolutely failed'.

'You'd expect 20 or 30 per cent to die of natural causes including starvation each year but the population grows in summertime and there is no control mechanism  normally you'd have predators such as wolves but it's too small an area to have predators.'

The land is estimated to be able to feed 1,100 horses, deer and cattle - about half of the current numbers of animals

Experiment: Dozens of animals - horses, cattle and deer - were put in the marshlands in the 1980s to 'make them wild again'

Protesters have taken it upon themselves to feed the animals in a bid to save their lives - heaving bales of hay across railway lines to reach the creatures.

One protester, Jamie Wiebes, said: 'If you put up a fence, you have to take care of what's behind the fence  you do in zoos, and even in prisons you have to provide child molesters with food and water. You cannot do a 'project' with animals. They are living things.'

However, some think that the animal deaths are just part of the process. Han Olff, an ecology professor, argues that the wildlife is changing and will adapt.

He said: 'People tend to focus on what you lose and ignore what you gain. It's just changing, it's not better or worse, it's just something different.

'Traditional conservation managers make a plan saying 'This is what we want to keep  period'. This dynamic way of managing nature is new, it's different but it's not an experiment.'
Dizzee Rascal has praised a Drill rap that mentions grabbing knives and boasts of 'samurais in batches' as violence continues to blight the capital.

The rapper called the song 'strong' and hailed the genre as some of the UK's best music in the last century despite concerns about links to gang violence.

He took to Instagram to compliment the track as a 'f****** tune' and shared the video, which includes the lyric 'samurais in batches' and mentions grabbing 'a few nanks (knives)'.

He called for an end to the shootings and stabbings blighting London, which today saw its 100th murder investigation of the year launched.

Dizzee Rascal (pictured, below) shared the video on his Instagram account, posting his praise for the genre underneath the clip

Slick music videos feature masked gangsters brandishing weapons, rapping about real-life stabbings and threatening their rivals.

Sharing the song Homerton B - named after an area in Hackney, East London - Dizzee wrote: What a f****** tune! I know people have all sorts of feelings on Drill music but I think its some of the best music to come out the UK in the last hundred years. Yeh I said it! These kids are too wavy Im a fan.

The Homerton B song's first verse opens with the 'samurais in batches' and was praised by Dizzee Rascal online

Dizzee Rascal (right) praised Drill music as some of the best to come out of the UK in the last century and called this particular song (left, a still from the video) a 'f****** tune'

We can all agree the violence needs to stop and these kids just need to get money and enjoy the world but f****** hell the music is Strong.

Before you moan please bare in mind all the rappers that come over here imitate these kids then fill out our biggest venues night after night, get all the radio play, dominate our charts and nobody says anything. This is not a rant.'

Some community leaders have criticised Drill music because they argue that it glorifies violence

The song - recorded by Unknown T - opens its first verse with the line 'samurais in batches' before continuing: 'Whack, whack, pull up, skrrt, reverse. Bang, the ting goes back in the jacket. Hope the clip or the spinner can backflip.'

His post follows concerns about the genre's promotion cross social media and internet platforms such as YouTube.

It comes after Carole Harrison, 73, was found dead in her house in Teddington on Wednesday, with a post-mortem revealing injuries 'consistent with assault', sparking 2018's 100th murder investigation in the capital.

The grime star praised the song on social media despite concerns about the genre's links with violence in London

Above is the list of the 100 London murder victims whose deaths have sparked investigations this year amid fears Drill music encourages some of the violence

The song is named Homerton B, after a place in Hackney, East London, and was praised as the capital saw its 100th murder this year

Earlier this year members of one Drill group - 1011 were jailed for plotting to attack a group of rivals with machetes and knives.

The gang - once praised by former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood - were banned from making any music glorifying violence.

A Mail On Sunday investigation revealed that the site makes cash from adverts aimed at children that appear when Drill videos are viewed on YouTube.

Police have called for the removal of up to 60 videos over the last two years but the site has only removed around half that it found to violate its policies.

In May Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick called on social media sites to remove the music because she says the genre 'glamourises' violent crime.

She said they have a 'social responsibility' to take down the videos that she insists has 'terrible effect' on the surge in knife and gun attacks.

Armed officers were seen breaking up a Drill music video shoot in Hackney's London Fields this summer amid claims of a gun sighting but no arrests were made after the group was searched.

In February London's murder rate overtook that of New York for the first time since records began in the 1990s.
Labor leader Bill Shorten has thanked Malcolm Turnbull for his service to Australia, as he prepares to become the biggest winner from Liberal's leadership crisis.

Mr Shorten released a statement on social media, describing politics as 'a brutal business.'

The gratuitous response to Mr Turnbull's time as the prime minister comes as people are widely discussing Mr Shorten's supposedly imminent success in the next federal election, with the Liberal party remaining divided.

'For Malcolm, for Lucy, for their family and for his personal staff, who are as loyal and as close as family, this is a very hard day indeed,' the Labor leader said.

Labor leader Bill Shorten (pictured with his Chloe) is set to become the biggest winner from the Liberal Party's leadership crisis in Canberra

Labor leader Bill Shorten has thanked Malcolm Turnbull (pictured with his wife, Lucy) for his service to Australia

'For all our verbal conflict, for all the fierce words we've exchanged, I hope Malcolm knows that I have always respected him as a formidable opponent... as an advocate of great intellect and eloquence and as someone who came to parliament, relatively late in life, because he was driven by the desire to serve.

'Australian politics will always need people like that, on all sides.'

In a sentiment Mr Shorten described as small but significant, the opposition leader discussed Mr Turnbull's love for his nation.

'I don't think any Australian prime minister has used the word 'love' more frequently in his public remarks,' he said.

Bill Shorten, who brought down Labor PMs Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard as a factional numbers man, is set to benefit from Australia's revolving door of prime ministers

In a sentiment Mr Shorten described as small but significant, the opposition leader discussed Mr Turnbull's love for his nation and his family

'Anyone who listened to him speak could always hear his deep and profound love for his wife Lucy, for their children and grandchildren but also his abiding love for our country.'

Prior to the leadership coup, Mr Shorten told reporters: 'What we have seen here is the very brutal conduct of a campaign to tear down the leader of the Liberal Party in a most cold and unfeeling way,' news.com.au reported.

'Changing leaders does not mean you can change division in the Liberal Party. You can change leaders but you can't change division.'

Scott Morrison has emerged as Australia's next prime minister, to become Australia's fifth leader in just five years.

Mr Shorten released a statement on social media, describing politics as 'a brutal business'

The 50-year-old Hillsong parishioner defeated Peter Dutton 45 votes to 40 in the run-off ballot, after the people's choice in opinion polls Julie Bishop was knocked out in the first run of voting.

The government's leadership debacle has seen Labor's betting odds of winning the next election shorten to $1.30, with Ladbrokes putting the Coalition out at $3.40.

Malcolm Turnbull resigned as prime minister ahead of the noon ballot.

While he lost 38 Newspolls in a row to Labor, he still regularly trounced Mr Shorten as preferred PM.

A snap Roy Morgan poll taken on Wednesday showed Mr Turnbull having the support of 54 per cent of respondents preferring him as prime minister, compared with 46 per cent for the Labor leader.

With Mr Turnbull set to leave politics, Mr Shorten has lost his biggest obstacle to becoming prime minister.

Ironically Mr Shorten, who was instrumental in bringing down Labor PMs Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, is the key beneficiary of Australia now moving to its fifth prime minister in just five years.

Scott Morrison has emerged as Australia's next prime minister, to become Australia's fifth leader in just five years

The latest bout of leadership instability in the Liberal Party is a huge bonus for Labor, ahead of a federal election which must be held by May.

Against Mr Turnbull, Labor had already won 38 consecutive Newspolls and the latest run of instability could prolong the government's misery.

While the Coalition's margin after preferences has been a narrow 51 to 49 per cent, the Liberal Party's knifing of two leaders in less than three years could help Labor win the biggest landslide since 1996, when John Howard's Coalition swept to power with almost twice as many seats as Labor.

The third Liberal prime minister in less than three years, following the knifing of first-term PM Tony Abbott in September 2015, is unprecedented, with no party in government going through three living leaders in such a short time since Federation in 1901.

The Coalition is now resembling the New South Wales Labor government of 2009, which had three premiers in just 15 months, leading to the party losing the next election in a landslide March 2011.

Unless the polls improve, Labor would have a mandate to implement higher emission reduction targets, which could push up electricity bills, and possibly wind back the offshore processing of asylum seekers.

While Mr Shorten, from Labor's right faction, has vowed to continue sending asylum seekers to Nauru and Manus Island, he would face pressure from the party's left faction to unwind the Pacific solution.

In government, Kevin Rudd gave in to pressure from the left, leading to the number of asylum seeker boats surging from 21 in 2007 before he became prime minister to 4,597 by the time Julia Gillard knifed him as a first-term PM in 2010.

By 2012, during Labor's last full year in office, the number of illegal boats had surged to 18,365, prompting Mr Rudd in 2013 - during his second, brief stint as PM - to declare asylum seekers arriving on boats would never settle in Australia.

Labor when it was last in government was able to soften asylum seeker laws despite lacking a Senate majority.
DEVELOPMENT of mobile money services has seen a significant evolution in mobile services; what was once considered a niche market product, focusing on voice, data and SMS, to a catalyst for increased financial inclusion.

According to the Bank of Tanzania, formal financial inclusion in Tanzania is said to have grown to 65 per cent in 2017 up from 58 per cent in 2013 and 44 per cent in 2009  a year after the first mobile money platform MPESA was launched in Tanzania.

This ease in transacting subsequently ushered in a number of risks ranging from fraud, infringement of customer rights and terrorism financing; with interoperability in mobile money transactions adding to the potential risk associated with transactions.

The evolution in mobile money that was pioneered by Vodacom a decade ago, allowed mobile network users to transact with ease and reduce the risk associated with carrying physical cash.

According to statistics by the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), M-PESA which is operated by Vodacom Tanzania continues to be the market leader in digital money services controlling 43 per cent of the market share with 8.2 million active subscribers.

The TCRAs Director for Consumer and Industrial Affairs, Dr Reynold Mfungahema, explained that Tigo Pesa is second with a market share of 36 per cent with 6.9 million users. Mobile money services in Tanzania have made major transformation in financial inclusion, Tanzania has made significant strides in digital money services, he explained.

According to the official, Airtel-Money by Airtel Tanzania is third on the list at 17 per cent of the market share with 3.2 million active subscribers while Helo-Pesa has a market share of 0.3 per cent with 600,000 subscribers.

Easy Pesa which is operated by Zantel has 300,000 subscribers and thus enjoying one per cent of the market share in digital money services in Tanzania. Dr Mfungahema hailed M-Pesa for innovation and revolution it has brought in Tanzania, stressing that TCRA will continue to ensure there is level playing field for all players in the industry.

The industry regulator will continue to ensure that there is safety in services provided by operators and that is why we are planning biometric registration for all SIM cards in the country, he explained.

As a way of mitigating the risk associated with mobile money transactions, GSMA created a global initiative to bring safer, more transparen and more resilient financial services to millions of mobile money users around the world through its Mobile Money Certification.

During the Mobile 360 event held in Abidjan in April; Vodacom M-PESA received its GSMA Mobile Money Certification which demonstrates the companys commitment to providing safe and secure transactions for its customers as well as an intentional effort to protect their rights and to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

According to GSMAs website, the Certification defines and promotes excellence in the provision of mobile money services. It is based on independent assessments of a providers ability to deliver secure and reliable services, to protect the rights of consumers and to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

These efforts are measured against global industry best practice. This Certification should hence enhance consumer trust, accelerate commercial partnerships and set a public bar to which all providers can aspire.

Security related to mobile money accounts is a joint effort between mobile money operators and its consumers. On their part the operator needs to ensure all customers are registered while ensuring security and privacy; while consumers need to ensure they secure their password and avoid performing transactions to numbers new to them without verification of the recipient.

Consumers should also adopt the use of Mobile money apps in performing transactions, with simplified innovative methods such as, scanning QR Codes and directly retrieving contact details from ones phone book  which help reduce possible errors a consumer of mobile money services can make while transacting.

The introduction of selfinitiated transaction reversal is also a commendable value add given at lengthy wait times associated with contacting call centres and having transactions reversed.

The do - it - yourself transaction reversal option should aim at easing the reversal of wrong transactions but at the same time have checks and balances in place to ensure it is not misused by those who want to take advantage of the system.

In a nutshell, while advancements in mobile money continue to develop and ease customer transactions, it remains paramount that both operators and consumers play their part in mitigating the evolving risks that may be associated with the platform; while leveraging off of accreditation by reputable global organisation such as GSMA to reinforce the consumers confidence in the services provided by mobile money operators.

Available statistics indicate that Sub-Sahara Africa accounts for more than half of all mobile money deployments worldwide and is pioneering a range of new mobile money services, according to the new data by GSMA.

The latest State of Mobile Money in Sub-Saharan Africa presentation, made available during the GSMA Mobile 360 conference in Dar es Salaam this year reveals that the number of mobile money schemes in the region had reached 140 across 39 countries at the end of last year, accounting for more than half of the 277 mobile money deployments worldwide.

The new study points to a decade of growth in mobile money services in the region following the launch of MPesa in Kenya in 2007. It notes that there are now seven markets in the region where more than 40 per cent of adults are active mobile money users: Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Mobile money is now achieving mass-market adoption in all corners of Sub-Saharan Africa, enabling millions of people to access financial services for the first time and contributing to economic growth and social development, said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.

Adding; Mobile operators in the region today are using mobile money to create new financial ecosystems that can deliver a range of innovative new services across multiple industry sectors, including utilities and agriculture.

The latest data highlights how the mobile money market in the region has evolved from primarily being used to top-up airtime and make person-to-person transfers to becoming a platform that enables additional financial services, including bill payments, merchant payments and international remittances.

The volume of these new types of ecosystem payments almost quadrupled between 2014 and 2016 and now accounts for about 17 per cent of all mobile money transactions, driven by a significant rise in the number of mobile-based bill payments.

There were 277 million registered mobile money accounts across Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2016, plus 1.5 million registered agents. Mobile money users have historically been concentrated in East Africa which is a home to major mobile money markets namely Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

However, the latest data suggests that user growth is now being driven by other markets in the region, notably West Africa. Almost 29 per cent of active mobile money accounts in Sub-Saharan Africa are now based in West Africa, compared to just 8 per cent five years earlier.

The 2017 GSMA Mobile 360 Series  Africa is the third in a series of eight industry- focused events held in major cities across the world.
This hilarious footage shows the moment a bungling burglar was knocked out by one of his own accomplices with a brick as they tried to break into a property in London.

The clip shows the three men enter the enclosed area on a motorbike just before midnight on August 8.

While one stays on the bike, the other two- one wearing a bike helmet and the other wearing a beanie- swiftly jump off the motorbike.

The three would-be burglars arrive at the commercial property in London on a motorbike

Two of the men jump off the bike and one starts hitting the door with a brick while the other in the bike helmet, prepares himself behind

Unbelievably the man behind him does not wait for his friend to move out of the way before hurling the brick at him

The first man wearing the hat starts smashing his brick against the window of the commercial property in London.

But his dimwitted accomplice launches his brick while his friend is still at the window, so it hits him in the head.

He quickly raises his hands to his helmet in despair as his fellow crook collapses to the floor and lays prone in pain.

He then appears to lose consciousness as his bungling buddy desperately tries to get him up off the floor.

The brick strikes the man in the face in what has to be one of the most bizarre bungled burglaries of all time

His accomplice appears to be in pain and then lose consciousness while the third member of the their group sits on his motorbike looking on

A security guard turns up and starts chasing the man who has KO'd his friend with a brick while the man on the motorbike makes a swift exit

As he is trying to pull him up a security guard notices the dopey trio and races after the man who KO'd his friend with a brick.

He attempts to leap onto the back of his friend's motorbike but misses and is chased by the guard.

All while his friend continues to lay on the floor seemingly knocked out cold.

Bizarrely the security guard is the only man left to tend to the knocked out would-be burglar. He helpfully drags him into the recovery position while speaking on his radio

The security guard comes back empty handed and is seen on the radio.

He checks on the man laying on the floor and begins rolling him into the recovery position.

The man appears to start moving again, and when he wakes up, will surely regret his choice of accomplices.
Ryan Halsey was cleared of assaulting the then teenager in a bedroom after he asked her to take off her T-shirt and bra

A clairvoyant who told a woman he trained at a Harry Potter school has been cleared of sexually assaulting her while attempting to free her body of a 'demon.'

Ryan Halsey, 27, from Hull, who also works at B&Q, was accused of assaulting the then teenager in a bedroom after he asked her to take off her T-shirt and bra.

He was contacted to help the woman's grandparents who for seven years had experienced 'strange things' in their home such as hearing footsteps and seeing a male figure, a court was told.

An 'old lady sitting in a chair' in the conservatory was also seen by the teenage granddaughter and her boyfriend.

A jury yesterday took just half an hour to find him not guilty after a four day trial at Hull Crown Court.

As the verdict was read out it was met with applause from his supporters in the public gallery.

Mr Halsey, who claims he was born with a 'gift' had told the court he had an 'altercation' with a spirit when he visited the home and was 'poked in the eye.'

He said he had seen an 'old woman' in a corner and the spirits of two orphaned children.

Halsey said he had cleared the house of a spirit and cleansed it of 'negative energy,' but was called back for a second visit in August 2016 when problems continued.

Halsey, pictured outside Hull Crown Court yesterday, (left and right) denied touching the woman's breasts or sexually assaulting her in any way during the cleansing procedure

It was then that Halsey was accused of assaulting the granddaughter during a 'spiritual cleansing ritual'

Halsey had told the young woman she had a 'demonic attachment' and set about trying to heal her after writing a 'Do Not Enter' sign which he placed on the bedroom door, the court heard.

The complainant told police Mr Halsey had performed 'chanting' during their session, which was 'like something out of Harry Potter', and sounded like 'parseltongue', which in the fictional series is the language of serpents.

Proscutor Claire Holmes said he had been in the bedroom for two hours.

The woman later told police Halsey asked her to remove her T-shirt and bra and get comfortable on the bed.

Halsey allegedly said he was trained at a 'Harry Potter' school and his chanting was compared to 'parseltongue'. Hogwarts is pictured in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

He then used a 'crystal pendulum' and said it was 'going crazy' around her back to indicate the spirit's presence.

Later, with her breasts partially covered, he was 'was feeling her up and down her body' and touched her breast area over her top for about 40 minutes.

He chatted to the complainant and complemented her on her breasts and said the demon would go to her 'boobs' to try to 'turn her on,' said Miss Holmes.

She was said to become 'increasingly uncomfortable' and when the session finished the defendant hugged her and told her she was beautiful and attractive, the court heard.

When interviewed by police Halsey denied touching the woman's breasts or sexually assaulting her in any way during the cleansing procedure.

The 'psychic medium clairvoyant', who said he had been 'born with a gift', claimed he was later stabbed by a demon during this second visit to the haunted house.

Under cross-examination he was asked about his altercation with the spirit who poked him in the eye.

Mr Halsey said: 'It was just one of those things where they can try and - they get a bit angry shall we say - and like, try and attack me unfortunately, but I'm well protected anyway so it won't harm me, but there was a few bangs, or whatever.'

Although he didn't charge for his services, Halsey was given 20 on both visits to the house, the jury was told.

During the first visit Halsey and a female assistant he described as his 'student' were inside the property for four hours while the family waited outside.

After he finished the family joined him and they all walked around with a white sage joss stick to 'cleanse the house of any negative energy', said Miss Holmes.

Halsey denied sexual assault and there were tears from supporters in the public gallery when the verdict was announced. He refused to comment after the case.
Alex Salmond vowed to sue the Scottish government today after claims surfaced that he sexually assaulted staff members.

Mr Salmond hit out after it emerged that two complaints had been made against him dating from 2013, when he was still First Minister.

Launching a court challenge to the 'unfair' investigation process, Mr Salmond protested his innocence and said he had not even been told details of the allegations.

However, SNP leader and current First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insisted the complaints could not be 'swept under the carpet', making clear the Scottish government would fight Mr Salmond's objections.

The accusations came to light during an internal inquiry by the Scottish government last year into its handling of complaints in the workplace - triggered by the scandal that erupted at Westminster.

Formal complaints were made against Mr Salmond in January, and he was notified about them in March.

The complaints are reported to have been passed on by officials to Police Scotland - although the force refused to confirm they are investigating.

However, they did not come to light publicly until Mr Salmond himself posted a lengthy blog last night.

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond (pictured speaking to journalists in West Lothian today) has been accused carrying out two assaults while in office in 2013

Nicola Sturgeon (pictured in Edinburgh today) admitted she was struggling to 'come to terms' with the claims against her SNP predecessor and they would be 'upsetting for the party

Mr Salmond, 63, dismissed the allegations as 'patently ridiculous' and said he had launched a judicial review challenging the legality of the Scottish Government's investigation.

'I can't specify what the complaints are because I'm going to court, and I specifically and absolutely deny any suggestion of criminality,' he told journalists today.

'That's my position. I'm going to court, the Scottish Government are going to have to account for themselves at court.

'Let the Court of Session do its job. If I lose then I publicly answer the complaints, if I win then we're in a different situation altogether, but at least we'll have established some semblance of fairness.'

Mr Salmond said he is still a member of the SNP.

'I met Nicola Sturgeon several times over the last few months and this (the allegations) is one of the subjects that came up, as you would expect when Nicola and I have been close colleagues for many years,' he said.

'She was the deputy first minister when these events are purported to have occurred so you'd expect that to happen.'

In a statement overnight, Mr Salmond said 'for many months' he had been trying to persuade the Scottish government's Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans that she was 'behaving unlawfully in the application of a complaints procedure'.

'This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence,' he said.

'I have tried everything, including offers of conciliation, mediation and legal arbitration to resolve these matters both properly and amicably.

'This would have been in everybody's interests, particularly those of the two complainants. All of these efforts have been rejected.

'The Permanent Secretary chose to deny me contact with any current civil servant, many of whom wished to give evidence on my behalf and access to documentation to allow me to properly challenge the complaints, all of which I refute and some of which were patently ridiculous.

The 63-year-old has denied the accusations and has asked for a judicial review challenging the legality of the Scottish Government's investigation (pictured Bute House, the official residency of the first minister of Scotland)

But Ms Sturgeon responded today: 'These complaints have been considered since then under a procedure covering ministers and former ministers that was agreed by me in December 2017 in the wake of public concern about harassment.

'Although I have been aware for some time of the fact of the investigation - initially from Alex Salmond - I have had no role in the process, and to have referred to it before now would have compromised the integrity of the internal investigation, which I was not prepared to do.'

Nicola Sturgeon's statement in full This is the statement issued by Nicola Sturgeon today: 'These complaints have been considered since then under a procedure covering ministers and former ministers that was agreed by me in December 2017 in the wake of public concern about harassment. 'Although I have been aware for some time of the fact of the investigation - initially from Alex Salmond - I have had no role in the process, and to have referred to it before now would have compromised the integrity of the internal investigation, which I was not prepared to do.' Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government 'refutes' Mr Salmond's criticisms of the process and 'will defend its position vigorously'. 'However, this focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet. 'I have been clear on many occasions that all organisations and workplaces must make it possible for people to come forward to report concerns and have confidence that they will be treated seriously. 'For that principle to mean anything it cannot be applied selectively. It must be applied without fear or favour, regardless of the identity, seniority or political allegiance of the person involved. 'My relationship with Alex Salmond obviously makes this an extremely difficult situation for me to come to terms with. I am also acutely aware how upsetting this will be for my party. 'However the over-riding priority must be to ensure fair and due process. I would also ask that the privacy of those who have complained be respected.' Advertisement

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government 'refutes' Mr Salmond's criticisms of the process and 'will defend its position vigorously'.

'However, this focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet,' she said.

Ms Sturgeon went on: 'I have been clear on many occasions that all organisations and workplaces must make it possible for people to come forward to report concerns and have confidence that they will be treated seriously.

'For that principle to mean anything it cannot be applied selectively. It must be applied without fear or favour, regardless of the identity, seniority or political allegiance of the person involved.

'My relationship with Alex Salmond obviously makes this an extremely difficult situation for me to come to terms with. I am also acutely aware how upsetting this will be for my party.

'However the over-riding priority must be to ensure fair and due process. I would also ask that the privacy of those who have complained be respected.'

Ms Sturgeon declined to answer questions on whether Mr Salmond would be suspended by the SNP, saying only: 'These matters will be considered in the fullness of time.'

Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary at the Scottish Government, said an internal review was launched last year into the Scottish Government's procedures for handling complaints in the workplace in light of wider concerns about harassment at Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.

As part of that review, a new procedure on handling harassment complaints involving current or former ministers was introduced.

She said two complaints were raised in January against Mr Salmond and he was notified in March about an investigation.

Mr Salmond was elected First Minister in 2007 in the SNP's first ever Holyrood election victory.

He stepped down seven years later in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum defeat.
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This is the moment a protective mother hippo carried her calf across a river in her mouth to protect it from other animals in Kenya.

The massive creature looks like she could crush her infant in an instant as she clamped her jaws around its head to make her way across the Talek River in the Masai Mara.

But she successfully protected the young hippo from harm and safely reached the other side of the water.

A protective mother hippo carried her baby across a river in her mouth to protect it from other animals in southwestern Kenya

Wildlife photographer Ingo Gerlach spent two hours watching the hippos and managed to capture the moment between the mother and baby hippo.

'The hippobaby is in its mouth because it finds protection and security there,' the 65-year-old, from Betzdorf, Germany, said.

'The other hippos around it could be dangerous for the baby. In a so-called hippopool, a large collection of hippos gathered.

'I have never experienced such behaviour before on my numerous trips to Kenya.'

The massive creature looks like she could crush her calf in an instant as she clamped her jaws around its head

The mother hippo (pictured) successfully protected the young hippo from harm and reached the other side of Talek River

He snapped the images standing around 100m away from the hippos one afternoon.

'There were around 50 animals surround the hippopotamuses - I couldn't tell if the dad was there,' he said.

'The hippos were snorting very loudly. I spent about two hours watching them.'
The woman and two men were seen handcuffing a man at a flat in County Durham

Vigilante paedophile hunters have caused outrage after appearing to dress like police before handcuffing a suspect in footage streamed live on Facebook.

The woman and two men were allegedly seen handcuffing a man at a flat in Billingham, County Durham, telling him they were carrying out a citizen's arrest.

The man was said to have been led to the back of a car park and questioned at length about alleged child grooming, before police turned up at the scene.

Cleveland Police confirmed a 20-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of grooming a girl aged under 16 before being released under investigation.

But the style of the raid by the vigilantes was slammed by Guardians of the North and Dark Justice, two other paedophile hunter groups which operate nearby.

The 25-minute long clip - streamed live on Facebook - allegedly begins as three people, who can be apparently seen wearing blue forensic gloves, knock on the door of the flat.

A man allegedly answers and is asked to step outside by a man wearing a black top and what looks like a protective vest, with a radio hanging from it.

The man was allegedly led to a car park and questioned about alleged child grooming

Handcuffs apparently hang from his belt, and he can alllegedly be seen to be wearing an earpiece.

The man is then handcuffed and told that the group are carrying out a citizen's arrest. The man in handcuffs then remarks: 'Are you even proper coppers?'

He is led downstairs, still with hands cuffed behind his back, and led to the back of a car park, it was claimed.

The handcuffs are briefly removed before his hands are again allegedly shackled in front of his body, where he is questioned at length about 'child grooming'.

The footage - said to have been hosted on the Innocence Project NW page - was live streamed but has since been taken down.

The style of the raid by the vigilantes was slammed by two other paedophile hunter groups

North East paedophile hunters Guardians of the North said on its Facebook page the video had 'totally shocked our team'.

What is the law on impersonating police? Impersonating a police officer is an offence in England under section 90 of the Police Act 1966. It covers impersonating a police officer, making a statement or doing anything to suggest membership of a police force, wearing a police uniform calculated to deceive, and possessing an article of police uniform. The Crown Prosecution Service says the motive of the defendant should be considered - and prosecutions should be made where the impersonation 'involves a threat to the safety of any person, or to property, or is done with a view to financial gain'. Advertisement

It told Teesside Live: 'We don't agree with their methods, we work within the law they are going to spoil it for the good teams like ourselves and Dark Justice.'

And fellow North East vigilante group Dark Justice warned that those using handcuffs must be trained, regulated and insured.

A statement on its Facebook page said: 'We don't mind other groups catching people, but don't be idiots about it.'

Vigilante groups have proven controversial, but the work of Guardians of the North and Dark Justice has led to numerous convictions in the North East.

However, Cleveland's Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger said last year that groups should not receive police training to catch perverts.

A police spokesman said: 'A 20-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grooming a girl under 16 years of age and failure to comply with notification requirements at an address in Billingham on Monday August 20. He has been released under investigation whilst enquiries continue.'

In May, MailOnline got access to Sunderland-based Guardians Of The North and Dark Justice, who between them have caught multiple high-profile suspects around the country including soldiers, teachers and a mayor. Read the story here.

MIKE BARNES: Paedophile hunter behind the Innocence Project NW explains why he used handcuffs on a suspect

By Mike Barnes, founder of the Innocence Project NW

I made the decision to use handcuffs in order to safeguard the man from running or attacking members of the team I was with.

In the using of handcuffs, there needs to be reasonable force.

I explained that the suspect was under arrest. This is what is expected and I placed the cuffs on him and double locked them for his safety and comfort.

When he asked if we were coppers, I explained that I was making a citizens arrest.

While there is general guidance available online on how to carry out a citizens arrest in the correct words to use, often this is either forgotten by members of the public or words to the same effect are used.

In effect, we are restricting someones liberty and freedom and so we need to be aware of certain rights - especially articles two, three and five of the Human Rights Act.

Other dangers in using restraints that must be taken into consideration are things like positional or restraint asphyxia as well as the possibility of excited delirium etc.

Once restraining somebody, from that point onwards, each and every move will be scrutinised and will most definitely have to be justified.

This is classed as a civil enforcement action.

First of all we need to concentrate on a good physical intervention and restraint, handcuffing the subject in a safe and appropriate technique.

Once the subject is safe, its time to think about the spoken word that goes with the situation.

Firstly, you saw that I told the subject my name. The law requires you to identify yourself in some way.

'OK, listen to me, my name is Mike. You are under arrest. I am arresting you to prevent further online grooming. I am making a citizens arrest. Listen carefully to what I am saying please.

You dont have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say can and will be used in a court of law.

From this point, I took the suspect down the stairs and led him to a place where we could supervise him away from the public, who, even at 2am were hanging around the tower block.

The man explained that the cuffs were hurting his shoulders and so I took the decision to release them from his back but restrain at the front.

He remained compliant at all times, even when complaining of the cold, I went to the car and fetched my coat and in order to keep him warm, wrapped this around him.

I dont know any vigilantes who would offer someone suspected of such a serious crime, their own personal coat.

Keeping in mind that while someone is under a section 24a PACE arrest, it is my responsibility to safeguard and offer a duty of care.

Many teams would have allowed him to freeze and would have sworn at him.

The man is always told that they are under no danger or threat of attack, theyre always told that the police have been called. In this case the police arrived within 20 minutes.

The police have been on the whole, accommodating when we have called them in all of our cases, and those where Ive assisted other teams. This has now risen to approximately 50 stings I have been involved in.

The last 12 cases I have been involved in, I have worn protective equipment including handcuffs and have even had jokes from the police that my handcuffs were better that theirs.

Never once have I had any claims that I have impersonated a police officer. I dont have Police stamped on my vest and I never say I am the police.

Having worked very closely with the police, I know what they need in order to work effectively and I know what is expected of me both civilly and legally.
Two tourists were caught frolicking in a fountain outside an international airport just days after two Britons sparked a manhunt by doing the same thing in Rome.

The incident took place outside the Palma de Mallorca Airport in the holiday hotspot of Majorca in the eastern Spanish region of the Balearic Islands.

In the video footage, recorded by eyewitnesses and uploaded to social media, the male tourists are seen splashing around the shallow fountain while wearing only tight trunks.

Two tourists (pictured above) were caught frolicking in a fountain outside the Palma de Mallorca Airport in the holiday hotspot of Majorca in the eastern Spanish region of the Balearic Islands

In the video footage uploaded to social media the male tourists are seen splashing around the shallow fountain and pretending to swim while wearing only tight trunks

The man on the right springs to his feet as a young family walks past. This is not the first time tourists have been filmed larking around at the Majorcan airport

The hair-raising holidaymakers pretend to swim on their fronts and play up to the camera, before the man on the right springs to his feet as a young family walks past.

The men then kick water at each other and the person on the left then runs the length of the fountain, reported to be 20 centimetres deep.

It is not the first time that tourists have been filmed larking around outside the Majorcan airport.

Previously visitors have been seen frolicking in a fountain in Son Sant Joan while another cheeky tourist arrived at the international airport wearing a bright red 'mankini'.

The men kick water at each other and the person on the left then runs the length of the fountain, reported to be 20 centimetres deep

This year, new rulings in the city of Palma imposed a ban on walking around topless, pub crawls and the sale of alcohol between midnight and 8am after locals complained about tourists' behaviour

Earlier this week two British tourists caused a stir in Rome when they were filmed stripping off in the fountain outside the iconic Altare della Patria monument.

The men were filmed by a tour guide frolicking in the fountain, with one pulling down his underwear and posing for photographs in front of bemused tourists.

Their antics at the monument originally built in honour of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy, led to a police manhunt and even sparked a comment from Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini who said: 'Italy is not their home bathroom'.

Earlier this week two British tourists caused a stir in Rome when they were filmed stripping off in the fountain outside the iconic Altare della Patria monument

One of the unnamed men was seen removing his underwear as they frolicked in the water in the Italian capital

It sparked a police hunt of the pair after their antics were captured on camera by a tour guide at the landmark - a monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy

People on social media had a lot to say about the recent tourists display and their brazen behaviour.

One user said: 'They should ban alcohol on planes and not let anyone on board who appears to have been drinking.

'Those men seem to have had more than a couple of drinks.'

Another commented: 'It is the authorities' fault. A fine of a 1,000 EUR and they would not do it again!'

Last year one of Spain's popular towns attempted to tackle anti-social behavior exhibited by tourists by introducing punitive measures, including monetary fines.

San Pedro del Pinatar, which is south of popular tourist destinations Alicante and Benidorm, introduced cash penalties for nudism, riding bikes and even playing ball games on the sand.

This year, new rulings in the city of Palma imposed a ban on walking around topless, pub crawls and the sale of alcohol between midnight and 8am after locals complained about tourists' debauched behaviour in the island's capital.




A Dutch man had to be rushed to hospital after taking chemsex drug GHB and stuffing 15 hard-boiled eggs up his rectum.

The 29-year-old had taken the 'date rape' drug along with his partner, but ended up needing emergency surgery after their ovum adventure.

The 15 hard-boiled eggs caused a tear in his intestinal wall, leaving him in excruciating pain.

Painful play: After taking GHB, the man inserted 15 hard-boiled eggs into his rectum

The man told doctors they had boiled 15 eggs, and when the eggs were ready, they were peeled and inserted in his anus, the Dutch Magazine for Healthcare reports.

Later that evening, the man began feeling stomach pains and went to his local hospital.

One of the doctors said: 'Upon arrival the patient had tachycardia [high heart rate] and tachypnoea [rapid breathing].

'Physical examinations showed abdominal guarding over the entire stomach.'

The doctors suspected abdominal sepsis and performed a CT scan, which showed a perforation of the pelvic colon and giant amounts of air and fluids in his abdominal cavity.

Danger: The man had taken gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a drug notably used in 'date rapes' as well as recreationally

The doctor said: 'This is why we deemed an emergency laparotomy necessary.'

The laparotomy, a surgical procedure involving a large incision through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity, was performed successfully.

The doctor said: 'The eggs were removed as well as we could and the abdominal cavity was thoroughly rinsed.'

The eggs caused a giant rapture of the gastrointestinal wall, which was sewn up by the doctors.

Luckily, the bizarre drug-fuelled adventure ended well for the patient.

The doctor said: 'After the operation, the patient was monitored in intensive care for a short time.

'After several days he could leave the hospital in a clinically good condition.'

Gamma hydroxybutyrate - GHB - is commonly used as a date rape drug or as a recreational chemsex drug alongside crystal methamphetamine and mephedrone.
A man in Taiwan is lucky to be alive after an out-of-control cement mixer truck crashed inches away from him.

The quick-thinking pedestrian dodged the overturned vehicle with a life-saving hop and managed to avoid serious injuries.

CCTV footage of the dramatic incident shows the man, later identified by his surname Liu, standing behind his parked van on the side of the road when the massive truck came crashing towards him.

The man in Taiwan avoided being crushed to death after a concrete mixer truck overturned

The truck overturned on its right side and crushed onto the row of parked vehicles on the street in Taipei city on Thursday, causing damage to two small lorries and 14 scooters

The incident occurred at about 11am on Thursday at the intersection of Zhonghua Road and Juguang Road in the capital city Taipei.

The large concrete mixer was travelling too fast while turning a corner and the driver, Huang, lost control of the truck, according to Taiwan newspaper Liberty Times Net.

The truck overturned on its right side and crushed onto the row of parked vehicles on the street, causing damage to two small lorries and 14 scooters.

Liu, 56, was seen being swept backwards by the overturned truck but miraculously avoided being crushed to death.

Liu was behind his parked van when the concrete mixer suddenly came crashing towards him

Pictures of the accident's aftermath shows overspilled concrete all over the pavement

The truck overturned on its right side and crushed onto parked vehicles on the street

He sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Pictures of the accident's aftermath shows overspilled concrete all over the pavement as firefighters cleaned the scene with a hose.

Huang, the 74-year-old driver of the concrete mixer, climbed out of the truck without help and was not seriously injured.

He was cleared of drink-driving but could face dangerous driving charges, according to the report.
The alleged Golden State Killer appeared gaunt and frail as he was summoned to court on Thursday to face more than two dozen murder and kidnapping charges.

Joseph DeAngelo, 72, stood ramrod straight in a courtroom cage in Sacramento Superior Court as prosecutors consolidated charges against him from around California into a single case.

DeAngelo is accused of murdering 13 people and committing more than 50 rapes during a two-decade reign of terror that spanned six counties.

Joseph DeAngelo, 72, who is accused of being the Golden State Killer, looked gaunt and stony-faced as he appeared in court on Thursday charged with murder and kidnapping

He appeared to have lost weight since his initial court appearance back in April this year

DeAngelo pictured during his time serving as a police officer in Exeter, where he was stationed between 1973 and 1976

He will never face trial for the rapes since the statute of limitations has long expired on the crimes which happened between the late 70s and mid-80s.

Instead, prosecutors chose to charge him with 13 kidnappings because the crimes have no time limit. He is also facing 13 counts of first-degree murder.

DeAngelo remained stony-faced throughout the proceedings and never once looked at the courtroom, which was packed with his alleged victims and their relatives.

District attorneys from five of the six counties where the crimes took place were in the courtroom but did not speak.

D'Angelo has yet to enter a plea. Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty, but said they will fight his use of a public defender and try to require him to pay for his own defense at his next hearing in December.

His public defender, Diane Howard repeatedly declined comment.

'That was very, very intense and really tough,' said Jennifer Carole of Santa Cruz, the daughter of victim Lyman Smith, a lawyer who was slain at age 43 in Ventura in 1980.

His wife, 33-year-old Charlene Smith, was raped and murdered at the same time.

DeAngelo refused to look at relatives of his alleged victims who packed the courtroom, including Jennifer Cole, the daughter of Lyman Smith, who was murdered

Margaret Wardlow, left, the youngest victim of alleged serial rapist DeAngelo, leaves the courthouse on Thursday afternoon

DeAngelo appeared in court as prosecutors consolidated charges from around California into a single case, to be heard in Sacramento (pictured left is Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, and right is Sacramento County DA Anne Marie Schubert)

'Even those few words don't begin to summarize what happened during the crimes. They were heinous, what everybody went through was really horrible.

'So to hear it, that black-and-white, to hear it get listed, it was hard - it was harder than I thought it was going to be,' she said. 'My heart is pounding right now. I'm feeling it.'

She welcomed having the trial consolidated in Sacramento, which she and prosecutors said would make it easier for victims.

'I think it's going to be healing for all of us,' Carole said.

Other survivors and supporters did not comment, but one held a hand-lettered sign reading 'Remember the Victims' toward cameras as she filed out of the courtroom.

Carole said the number of survivors and family members is growing with each court hearing as they learn to support each other.

Attorney Joe Cress leaves court following the arraignment of DeAngelo on Thursday

Diane Howard, the public defender assigned to DeAngelo, leaves court. Prosecutors are asking to have the public defender withdrawn and force DeAngelo to pay for his own defense

DeAngelo, who was identified using DNA evidence more than three decades after the Golden State Killer spree ended, is facing 13 first degree murder charges and 13 kidnapping charges

Survivors have been told a trial may be five to seven years away, she said, but she said they aren't disturbed by the expected legal wrangling.

'To me, his life is already over. It's done,' she said. 'The rest of us have moved on. The survivors have done remarkably well.'

DeAngelo was arrested in April at his home in Sacramento County after investigators linked him to several of the slayings using DNA evidence.

Prosecutors said a sadistic stalker also known as the East Area Rapist and Visalia Ransacker, among other nicknames, would sneak into suburban homes through windows at night and surprise sleeping victims who ranged in age from 13 to 44.

If the assailant found a couple, he would tie up the man and pile dishes on his back, threatening to kill both victims if he heard plates crash to the floor while he raped the woman.

He ransacked homes, taking souvenirs like coins and jewelry, before fleeing.

DeAngelo worked as a police officer in towns near two of the sprees that authorities said terrorized neighborhoods during a time when children rode bicycles to school and played outside until dark and people didn't lock their doors at night.
Jeremy Corbyn has been praised by former BNP leader Nick Griffin as he desperately struggles to contain another anti-Semitism row today.

Mr Corbyn was hit with a wave of condemnation after MailOnline revealed he had complained at a 2013 meeting that British Zionists 'don't understand English irony'.

Labour MP Luciana Berger branded the jibe 'inexcusable' and said it made her feel 'unwelcome in my own party'.

But he has received support from an unwanted quarter in the form of a tweet from Mr Griffin. The far-right activist wrote: 'Go Jezza! I wonder how many Labour activists the hysterical #Zionist media campaign against Corbyn is re-pilling (sic)?'

Labour MP Wes Streeting said the endorsement was 'sickening'. 'All the wrong people are cheering,' he said.

Jeremy Corbyn has been under fire over remarks made about British Zionists at a 2013 conference in London (pictured)

Mr Corbyn received support from an unwanted quarter in the form of a tweet from former BNP leader Nick Griffin

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell was deployed in a bid to defuse the growing row, saying Mr Corbyn had been taken 'out of context'.

He suggested the veteran left-winger's remarks were part of his efforts to 'secure peace'.

Why is Labour's new code of conduct on anti-Semitism so controversial? The Labour anti-Semitism row erupted again after the party leadership refused to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition. The party's code explicitly endorses the IHRA definition, but it omits four examples from the IHRA list: - 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. Labour insisted that while the examples are not reproduced word-for-word, they are covered in the new code. But critics say the decision allows anti-Semitism to continue to fester. Advertisement

In footage from the 2013 conference, Mr Corbyn says: '[British Zionists] clearly have two problems: one is they don't want to study history and, secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either.'

Labour MP Luciana Berger said the video contained 'inexcusable comments' which made her feel 'unwelcome in my own party'.

She wrote on Twitter: 'The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments - defended by a party spokesman - makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party.

'I've lived in Britain all my life and I don't need any lessons in history/irony.'

But Mr McDonnell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think this has all been taken out of context: whatever Jeremy has said throughout the years has always been about how to secure peace, particularly within the Middle East and also peace with justice for all concerned - both members of the Jewish community and also members of the Palestinian community.'

'In that context Jeremy has devoted his life, so I think this would take expressions out of context in that way are not helping.'

Ms Berger received support from fellow Labour backbenchers, with Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell tweeting: 'Standing right with you @lucianaberger.'

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson wrote: 'Right beside you @lucianaberger.'

The Labour leader has been under massive pressure over the wave of vile anti-Semitism that has been wracking Labour, and the party's refusal to adopt the international definition of the abuse.

Corbyn hailed by ex-KKK leader for attack on media Jeremy Corbyn has been praised by a former Ku Klux Klan leader for his attack on the media. The Labour leader took to Twitter last night to spell out his determination to 'break the stranglehold of elite power and billionaire domination over large parts of our media'. The messages were posted after he delivered a speech proposing a nationalised 'British Digital Corporation' to take on Facebook and Netflix - and urged 'enforced shareholder dilution' with the public getting a stake in big publishers. The proposals were condemned by critics as 'sinister' and a 'wholesale plan for more state control'. Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said Mr Corbyn wanted to avoid 'legimitate scrutiny' and Labour former head of press Jo Green questioned his 'motivation'. But David Duke, a former Grand Dragon of the white supremacist KKK, retweeted Mr Corbyn saying: 'He's right, you know.' Advertisement

He has also come under fire over contacts with Palestinian extremists.

A spokeswoman for Mr Corbyn said: 'Jeremy is totally opposed to all forms of anti-Semitism and is determined to drive it out from society.

'At this event, he was referring to a group of pro-Israel activists misunderstanding and then criticising the Palestinian ambassador for a speech at a separate event about the occupation of the West Bank.'

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn has been praised by a former Ku Klux Klan leader for his attack on the media.

The Labour leader took to Twitter last night to spell out his determination to 'break the stranglehold of elite power and billionaire domination over large parts of our media'.

The messages were posted after he delivered a speech proposing a nationalised 'British Digital Corporation' to take on Facebook and Netflix - and urged 'enforced shareholder dilution' with the public getting a stake in big publishers.

The proposals were condemned by critics as 'sinister' and a 'wholesale plan for more state control'. Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said Mr Corbyn wanted to avoid 'legimitate scrutiny' and Labour former head of press Jo Green questioned his 'motivation'.

But David Duke, a former Grand Dragon of the white supremacist KKK, retweeted Mr Corbyn saying: 'He's right, you know.'

Jewish families 'ready to leave the UK' Jewish families are considering quitting the UK if Jeremy Corbyn becomes PM, senior figures warned today. Former Tory chairman Andrew Feldman said people were reluctantly making 'contingency plans'. Writing in the Evening Standard, Lord Feldman, who is Jewish, said: 'Mr Corbyn, I want you to know that many Jewish people in the United Kingdom are seriously contemplating their future here in the event of you becoming prime minister. 'This is because they can see that Labour, a party with a proud tradition of tolerance and inclusiveness, is now a hotbed of feelings against Israel and therefore the Jewish people. 'Quietly, discreetly and extremely reluctantly they are making their contingency plans. And this would be a tragedy.' Advertisement

Luciana Berger, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, slammed the Labour leader for his comments from 2013 at a London conference promoted by the propaganda website of Hamas

Ms Berger left no doubt about her anger at the comments Mr Corbyn made at the conference
AIR Tanzania is expected to resume passenger flights to Entebbe-Uganda and Bujumbura- Burundi routes on Sunday and Tuesday next week, respectively.

The Companys Chief Executive Officer Mr Ladislaus Matindi said in a statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday that ATCL will be providing four frequencies per week to Entebbe namely on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday connecting passengers from Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Arusha.

The wings of Kilimanjaro is proud once again to have an opportunity to serve East African cities with a direct flight and smooth connection to Tanzania, he said adding that this move will further strengthen the existing trade and commercial ties between Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.

The flight will be departing DAR at 9:30hrs and arrive EBB at 11:55hrs via Kilimanjaro and will be departing EBB at 12:25hrs and arrive DAR at 14:50hrs via Kilimanjaro once again. The national flag carrier will fly three times a week to Bujumbura on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday connecting passenger via Kilimanjaro and Kigoma.

The flight will be departing DAR at 9:30hrs and arrive BJM at 11:40hrs via Kigoma and will depart at BJM at 12:10hrs and arrive DAR at 16:20hrs via Kigoma. Currently, Air Tanzania provides the Tanzania market with a minimum of daily flights to each of 11 destinations from Dar es Salaam and three times a week to Hahaya-Comoro.

We continue extending the wings of Kilimanjaro over Africa and beyond so that the investment, trade and tourism opportunities presented by the resumption of these flights and expansion of the network will certainly add value to both countries as we strive to offer affordable and improved connections between Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, he said.

Soon in the quarter four, ATCL will be connecting you to Mumbai (India), Johannesburg (South Africa), Bangkok (Thailand) and Guangzhou (China) via Dar es Salaam,
Derrick Peters was today jailed for six years after pleading guilty to perverting the court of justice and two counts of fraud

A 'repulsive' fraudster who pretended he was a victim of the Grenfell Tower fire to dodge a jail sentence for burglary has today been jailed for six years.

Derrick Peters, 58, was put up in the Park Grand hotel in Paddington, west London, after claiming to have lost his friend and all his possessions in the blaze on June 14 last year.

He ran up a 40,000 bill while staying in the 192-a-night room, including more than 5,000 spent on food, drink and laundry.

Peters was arrested on August 10 after burgling a nearby flat, stealing a 3,000 TAG Heuer watch, other jewellery, a passport, an Apple laptop and a Bose speaker.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea continued to pay for his room for two months while he was held on remand in Wandsworth prison.

He returned to the hotel having been handed a community order after repeating his Grenfell lies in mitigation to the judge sentencing him at Isleworth Crown Court on October 16.

The judge, who had no reason to doubt his story, said: 'How on earth can one even begin to understand what it is like to lose a friend in a tragedy like Grenfell?'

Peters, of no fixed abode, continued the pretence and was even offered a flat meant for genuine victims of the disaster that left 72 people dead.

However, his story unravelled after Rebecca Ross, a Grenfell survivor whose father Steve Power perished in the fire, confirmed Peters had not lived with them and their three dogs as he had claimed.

Derrick Peters became the tenth person to be charged with falsely claiming benefits given to those caught up in the Grenfell disaster in July

Peters pleaded guilty to perverting the court of justice and two counts of fraud at Isleworth Crown Court and was sentenced to six years in jail today. He was also re-sentenced for the original burglary charge.

Judge Robin Johnson told Peters he was sure he had been previously spared jail because of his 'brazen lie' to the judge.

'It was designed to pull heart strings. It succeeded, just as the similar lies were providing you with hotel accommodation and money,' he said.

'Your conduct from June last year was utterly disgraceful. You cheated and lied for your own ends, trading on others' misery. There can be little mercy in such a case.'

The judge said Peters' crimes had reached 'such depths as any right-minded member of the public would find repulsive'.

'Not only did you burgle a person's house, but when caught you latched on to the same idea that had enriched you for weeks,' he continued.

'You advanced bogus mitigation which was designed to, and which did, spare you from condign punishment.

'On hearing your mitigation, the sentencing judge was sufficiently moved to spare you, a person who has a long and unenviable criminal record, from prison.'

The court heard Peters has 40 convictions for 90 offences, including 24 for fraud and 73 for theft.

He is the sixth person to be sentenced for fraud relating to the Grenfell fire and received the longest prison term yet.

Elaine Douglas (left) and Tommy Brookes (right) falsely claimed they lived in Grenfell Tower to claim more than 120,000

In a statement read in court, Edward Daffarn, a member of the Grenfell United survivors group, said he was left 'sickened' by what Peters had done.

'It is upsetting beyond words to learn the tragedy of Grenfell Tower is being used by individuals so that they can exploit our misery for their own gain,' he said.

'It is pouring salt on the wounds of the bereaved and ex-Tower residents to know that the deaths and trauma we have had to endure is seen simply as an opportunity for others to profit and exploit.'

Corrinne Jones described escaping from the tower's 17th floor with her two young children as 'one of the most horrific things that I have experienced'.

'I find people lying about living in a building where a considerable amount of people died as disrespectful and distasteful,' she said in a statement.

The judge told Peters: 'The facts of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy are well known. The effect on those who died, their families and friends, cannot be imagined by those who were not directly affected.

'Members of the public, indeed the nation, were shocked by the dreadful event.

'The fact that the unscrupulous sought to enrich themselves with accommodation, room service and money is the more shocking in the light of the outpouring of grief and sympathy that followed the disaster.'

As of August 2018, ten people have been charged with fraud offences relating to Grenfell, with five people put behind bars.

Among them were Elaine Douglas and Tommy Brookes, who falsely claimed they lived in Grenfell Tower to claim more than 120,000.

The illegal immigrants spent eight months living in a four-star hotel, with taxpayers footing the 400-a-night bill.

They also spent more than 20,000 on meals and clothing on pre-paid credit cards which were given to them by Kensington and Chelsea council.
A woman who was chained in a shipping container by a man who killed seven people in South Carolina has won more than $6million from his estate.

A judge on Thursday awarded Kala Brown $6.3million in actual and punitive damages in her lawsuit against her capturer Todd Kohlhepp.

The 31-year-old had been missing for two months before cellphone data led authorities to Kohlhepp's property in November 2016.

Brown said she was raped each day of her captivity. Her rescue helped authorities solve seven killings in the area, including that of her boyfriend.

The court-appointed receiver of Kohlhepp's assets is still determining their value. It's unclear how much money Brown and plaintiffs in five other lawsuits against Kohlhepp would actually receive.

Kala Brown, 31, was awarded $6.3million in actual and punitive damages from Todd Kohlhepp's estate

Kohlhepp kidnapped Brown in 2016 and held her captive for two months

Police found Brown chained up in a shipping contained on his land, she faced her kidnapper in court last month

Kohlhepp's string of crimes was uncovered after police rescued Brown from a storage container where she was chained at the neck and investigators found a body buried in a shallow grave.

Brown told investigators she saw Kohlhepp shoot and kill her boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles Carter, who went with her for a cleaning job on Kohlhepp's property in rural Spartanburg County.

Kohlhepp raped Brown while holding her against her will, and told her he had also killed a husband and wife in December 2015, burying their bodies on his land.

Johnny Joe Coxie, 29, had been killed immediately, and Kohlhepp kept 26-year-old Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie alive for six days before shooting her in the back of the head on Christmas, Solicitor Barry Barnette said.

Police found Brown chained up in a shipping contained on his land where she said he raped her each day

He is serving seven life sentences after he confessed to killing seven people since 2003

Kohlhepp admitted to her that he had killed four people in the Superbike motorcycle shop in November 2003, the prosecutor said.

The owner, Scott Ponder, 30; Beverly Guy, 52; Brian Lucas, 30; and Chris Sherbert, 26 were killed because Kohlhepp thought they were making fun of him. Guy was Ponder's mother and worked as a bookkeeper.

Lucas was a service manager, and Sherbert was a mechanic at the shop.

Kohlhepp is serving seven consecutive life terms plus 60 years on kidnapping, sexual assault and other charges. He will not be eligible for parole, and he also agreed not to appeal the sentence.

Deputies accompanied by cadaver dogs and X-ray equipment converged on this area off of Interstate 26 in Spartanburg County last week to search for the two bodies

Kohlhepp told Brown he killed Joe Coxie, 29, and his wife, Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie, 26 (pictured together), in 2015 and buried their bodies on his land

Kohlhepp has told a television documentary crew that he has two additional victims buried near an interstate, sparking a large-scale search.

Last week at 9am, 20 deputies with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office converged on the heavily wooded, snake-infested area near Enoree, based on the limited information that convicted killer Todd Kohlhepp had provided to a TV crew, which then notified the authorities.

Cadaver dogs and an industrial X-ray machine were also brought to the location to aid with the search.

'We're trying to get a game plan together to find out exactly where and what to do. Investigators have been talking to him,' Sheriff Chuck Wright told Greenville News.'We're not going to try to keep that quiet. We're going to go search.'

Kohlhepp, 47, has alleged that two unidentified victims are interred near Interstate 26 in Spartanburg County in the northwest part of the state.

'We haven't been able to confirm anything he's claimed yet,' Wright said. 'It's not to say that the details are not sketchy because it's been so long, but we're obligated to go check.'

30-year-old Brian Lucas (left) and 26-year-old Chris Sherbert (right) were killed by Kohlhepp
A female primary school head-teacher, who received flowers from parents after her suspension because they believed she was ill, is facing jail after admitting making illegal sexual images of children.

Rhian Desouza, 43, appeared in court on two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child in May and June of this year.

The 43-year-old appeared before Llanelli Magistrates' Court on August 15 where she indicated guilty pleas to the charges.

Desouza's case has been adjourned until September 14 as her barrister has requested a report.

Rhian Desouza, 43, (pictured) is facing jail after admitting making illegal sexual images of children

Desouza is suspended from her role as head of Gellionnen primary school in Clydach, Swansea.

Swansea council said the court proceedings 'do not relate to any pupil, past or present, at any school DeSouza has taught at'.

Parents at her school - and another neighbouring school where she had been deputy head - were described as 'stunned and disgusted' at the charges.

She was suspended in July before the end of term with parents believing she was off on sick leave.

One mum said: 'We even sent her flowers on the day of the school prom because we all thought she was off ill.

'It is just disgusting to think what has been going on - nobody had a clue.'

Some parents at the school have been sent letters stating that the police investigation is not directly connected to any children at the school.

But parents of the children on school holidays are outraged that it took the authorities weeks to inform them of the reasons she was away.

Desouza is suspended from her role as head of Gellionnen primary school in Clydach, Swansea (pictured). Swansea Council said the court proceedings 'do not relate to any pupil, past or present, at any school Desouza has taught at'

Another parent said: 'If you can't trust your kids' own head teacher, you honestly can't trust anyone.'

On Facebook another mum said: 'This is just horrific - you expect your children to be safe at school! Despite rigorous DBS checking, sadly people only have a record once court. Absolutely shocking.'

The married mother-of-two has also been described as a 'pillar of the community'.

Her husband Mike has worked as a digital photographer and owns a media company called Skaface Ltd, he is a keen runner and Desouza is involved in a local choir.

He has worked in TV and cinema as a production accounts.

On social media he lists his credits as Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and The Mummy.

The couple were not at home today with neighbours believing they had gone away.

One said: 'Rhian is a pillar of the community and this is a complete shock.'

She was previously deputy head at Trebanos School nearby where parents were also assured no pupils were involved in the charges.

In a joint statement, the school and Swansea council, said: 'We would like to reassure parents that the court proceedings do not relate to any pupil, past or present, at any school the individual has taught at.

'As soon as we were made aware of the investigation by police she was suspended and remains so.

'An acting head teacher is in place and support is being given to ensure there is no impact on the day to day running of the school.'

Desouza, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, has been head of the Welsh-speaking school - formally known as Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Gellionnen - for more than five years.

It has 187 full-time pupils aged three to 11 including a nursery.

She was given bail and must report to Llanelli Police Station between noon and 1pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

A Swansea council spokesman said: 'An acting head teacher is in place and support is being given to ensure there is no impact on the day-to-day running of the school.'
Tourists were stunned as a 20-tonne humpback whale breached just metres away from their tiny boat in Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach.

Wildlife photographer John Goodridge captured the moment while on a 'Go Whale Watching' cruise.

Mr Goodridge, a UK expat, told Caters News that it was 'one of the most spectacular' breaches he had ever seen, given that the whale almost 'swamped' the tiny boat nearby.

Wildlife photographer John Goodridge captured the moment while on a 'Go Whale Watching' cruise

Mr Goodridge said it was 'one of the most spectacular' breaches he had ever seen, given that the whale almost 'swamped' the tiny boat nearby

It was a good day for whale watching, as Mr Goodridge says that there were over 30 whale breaches in just a little over an hour.

'The whales were really playful. Sometimes you can sit out there and not even see one, so we were really lucky,' he said.

'To see a whale breach is really amazing. They actually do it to clean their skin of all the barnacles and parasites that have built up'.

Over 33,000 whales are expected to migrate from May to November along the New South Wales coastline.

At least 45 species of whales and porpoises are in Australia's waters, but humpback whales and southern right whales are the ones most commonly spotted.

Other species include minke whales, orcas, pygmy sperm whales, Bryde's whales and dolphins.

Tourists were stunned as a 20-tonne humpback whale breached just metres away from their tiny boat in Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach

The annual migration takes the whales from Antarctica to Australia in order to mate and breed in warmer waters, where they have been found as far north as Queensland.

The whale migration is often anticipated by Australian locals and tourists, with many businesses offering cruise services for whale-watching.
Comedian Trevor Noah has finally explained why he made a joke about Aboriginal women being ugly - but still refuses to apologise for telling it.

Footage of the now Daily Show host making the joke about the appearance of Indigenous women in a 2013 stand up show resurfaced earlier this month.

Noah, who is currently touring Australia, appeared on weekly radio show Wild Black Women on Brisbane station 98.9FM on Friday morning- where the presenters Chelsea Bond and Angelina Hurley explained how the joke was hurtful.

Trevor Noah appeared on community radio show Wild Black Women on Brisbane station 98.9FM on Friday morning, where he said a 2013 controversial joke he made had been taken out of context

In the joke, Noah said: 'Women of every race can be beautiful.

'And I know some of you are sitting there now going, ''Oh Trevor... I've never seen a beautiful Aborigine''.

'But you know what you say? You say, "Yet." Because you haven't seen all of them, right?'

Noah refused to apologise for making the joke on the show, saying that 'People have cut out the context of the joke because of expediecy on the internet, headlines and clickbait'

'Plus it's not always about looks, maybe Aborigine women do special things, maybe they'll just like, jump on top of you,' Noah concluded, before imitating the sound of a didgeridoo while inferring oral sex.

While the South African comic admitted the joke had taught him a lot, he stopped short of making an apology.

He said: 'My intention was to try and create a world where I said all women are beautiful.

In the 2013 joke, footage of which has recently emerged, Noah joked about Aboriginal women being considered ugly and imitated oral sex

'I don't believe anybody can say anybody is unattractive as a group - and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

'People have cut out the context of the joke because of expediecy on the internet, headlines and clickbait.'

Hurley said the joke's logic made it so offensive, while Bond said it had 'currency for certain people - whether or not you (Noah) intended it to'.

Noah appeared on Triple J's drive-time show in July and said if he were to make the joke again 'he would make it better' and thanked people for educating him on 'how differently it can be seen in Australia'.

He also refused to apologise in the appearance, though.

When the footage emerged, social media erupted with calls for the comedian's Australian tour to be boycotted.

One Twitter user said: 'How dare you call the women of our families such words. Don't make us the butt of your joke for some cheap laughs.

Another accused him of grossly objectifying First Nations Australian women for a 'joke'.

'An official apology is in order before you even step on our land.'
Advertisement

As millions enjoy a three day weekend and an extra day off work for the August Bank Holiday, an interactive map has revealed just how many Britain gets each year compared to the rest of Europe.

Researchers have created a graphic showing the number of public holidays enjoyed by every EU nation, as well as the amount of hours in the average working week.

The results reveal a contrasting picture across the continent - with some workers able to down tools for up to 15 days a year, while other countries only have eight.

And it lays bare just how hardworking each nation really is, with the longest working week hitting 42.1 hours, and the shortest being just 37.8 hours.

Scroll over the map below, and use the plus and minus keys in the top left to zoom in or out. Click on the circles to access the information on each EU country. The larger the circle, the more public holidays, and the darker the green, the longer the working week.

The map was created by mapping and analytics company Esri UK, which found that England and Wales have the least bank holidays in the EU, with just eight a year. Ireland is next with nine, along with Scotland, and Northern Ireland and Belgium have ten.

On the other end of the scale, Cyprus enjoys 15 public holidays ever 12 months, the same as Slovakia, with Greece, Lithuania and Malta all having 14.

It is also a dismal picture for England and Wales on how many hours workers spend at their job. It tops the list of EU countries, with 42.1 hours a week. Cyprus are second with 41.6 hours, Austria third with 41.3hours and Greece and Portugal on 41 hours.

Denmark have the shortest working week at 37.8 hours - 4.3 hours shorter than England and Wales. It means on average, England and Wales work 28.5 days, or 5.5 weeks more than Denmark over a year.

The interactive graphic uses circles to represent the number of bank holidays and working hours. The larger the circle, the more public holidays, and the darker the green, the longer the working week

Britain and Ireland appear very different to mainland Europe, with small dark circles, showing fewer public holidays and longer working weeks

Other countries making up the top five shortest working weeks in the EU include the Netherlands and Italy on 39 hours, and Belgium and France on 39.1 hours.

Jess Houghton, Technical Research Consultant at Esri UK which compiled the statistics, said: 'Mapping is a powerful way of visualising data as it brings it to life, revealing patterns and trends that would otherwise lay hidden.

'More than one data source can be analysed on the same map so the relationship between the two can be seen. The map clearly shows England and Wales have the least bank holidays coupled with the longest average working week in Europe.'

There have been numerous calls for more public holidays in Britain, although experts say it can have a huge impact on the economy, potentially costing it billions.

Cypriots parade in Nicosia to mark the 192nd Greek Independence Day parade, which is one of the country's 15 public holidays

Spain have 10 public holidays a year. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia and Princesses Leonor and Princess Sofia inspecting the troopsSpanish Royals during the army parade on Spain's National Day on October 12, 2015

Members of the Lithuanian armed forces prepare to take part in a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the restoration of Lithuanian Independence on February 16 this year. It is one of the Lithuania's 14 public holidays

Bastille Day is a public holiday in France. (Pictured, soldiers, sailors marines and airmen march down the Champs Elysees on June 14 last year

Earlier this year Labour revealed plans for four extra public holidays on all the patron saint's days.

It would see March 1, March 17, April 23 and November 30 all declared public holidays. They would be added to the existing eight bank holidays British workers get each year.

Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would give 'Britain's workers the break they deserve' if they got power.

He said: 'If we win the next election, St George's Day will become a national holiday for Britain's workers.

'It will be a day where we can all show our pride and celebrate our country's tradition of fairness, inclusivity and social justice.'

Greece has 14 public holidays a year, the second most in the EU. Pictured: A military parade takes place on Independence Day. It is the commemoration of the revolution of Greeks against Ottoman occupation on March 25, 1821

Earlier this year Labour revealed plans for four extra public holidays on all the patron saint's days which includes St George's Day (pictured, Trafalgar Square celebrations) marked in England on April 23

It was estimated by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in 2012 that in a normal year, each bank holiday costs 2.3billion. Pictured: St George's Day celebrations, currently not a public holiday

'Our values of a fair and inclusive society are our country's best values, and those shared values will be celebrated by making St George's Day a national holiday.'

It was estimated by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in 2012 that in a normal year, each bank holiday costs 2.3billion.

However, experts say this figure will have changed in recent years with the growth of flexible working weeks, and people working from home.

In 2012, there was a bank holiday for the Queen's diamond jubilee, which the government estimated would cost the UK 1.2billion.

The nation also enjoyed an extra day off a year earlier when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got married.
Spain's government has approved legal amendments ensuring the remains of former dictator General Francisco Franco will be dug up and removed from a controversial national mausoleum honoring its civil war dead.

The minority Socialist government is certain that parliament will endorse the amendments, probably in a debate next month, deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo told a news conference.

The amendments to Spain's Historical Memory Law of 2007 grant the government power to exhume Franco's body.

Spain's government has approved legal amendments ensuring the remains of former dictator General Francisco Franco (pictured) will be dug up

Dictator Francisco Franco in his open casket after his death on 20 November 1975

That change aims to thwart legal efforts by Franco's descendants and supporters to block the exhumation in the courts.

Removing Franco's remains from the Valley of the Fallen, a mausoleum he ordered built 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Madrid, would be a momentous event in Spain which still bears social and political scars from the 1936-39 civil war.

The vast Valley of the Fallen complex is most conspicuous public legacy of Franco's rule. It was built by Franco as a tribute to those killed in the 1936-39 civil war when he deposed Spain's democratic government in what he called his 'glorious crusade.'

Some 34,000 people from both sides of the fighting are buried at the site, most of them never identified.

Flower are placed on the tomb of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco inside the basilica at the the Valley of the Fallen monument near El Escorial, outside Madrid

'Having Franco's tomb (at the complex) shows a lack of respect ... for the victims buried there,' Calvo said. She noted that a visiting United Nations delegation said four years ago that 'democracy is incompatible with a tomb which honors the memory of Franco.'

The Memory Law, which outlawed public events supporting the Franco regime, fell short of addressing the broad demands of civil war survivors and victims' relatives for exhumations and reparations.

A couple take a photo at the Valley of the Fallen monument at El Escorial, in El Escorial, Spain

People stand around the tomb of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco inside the basilica

Franco's descendants will be consulted and will have 15 days to say where they would like the remains to be placed after exhumation. If they do not reply, the government will choose a 'dignified place,' Calvo said after the government's weekly Cabinet meeting.

Francisco Martinez-Bordiu, a grandson of Franco, described the exhumation plans as 'barbaric,' telling Antena 3 in an interview Friday that descendants would assess their legal options for halting it.

An exhumation of Franco's embalmed body - possibly as early as October - would cement the government's reformist and liberal credentials after taking power last June.

The Valley of the Fallen is a mausoleum General Franco ordered built 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Madrid

Removing Franco from the mausoleum, which is owned and operated by the cultural heritage agency, a public-funded body, has long been discussed in Spain.

Calvo said the government is fast-tracking the exhumation because it wants to 'end a state of affairs which cannot go on any longer.'

At next Friday's Cabinet meeting, the detailed administrative procedures for the exhumation will be set out, she said.

The Valley of the Fallen complex includes a mausoleum and basilica in a neoclassic style and is a popular pilgrimage site for people who are nostalgic for the dictatorship. It has a 150-meter (500-foot)-tall cross that can be seen from many kilometers (miles) away.

Franco, who died in 1975, is in a tomb in the basilica's central nave beneath a 1.5-metric ton tombstone.
A massive black bear was caught on video wandering through the lobby of the Colorado hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining.

The front desk supervisor at The Stanley Hotel captured the nail-biting moment on video.

In the clip, the bear is seen standing on top of a table in the hotel's lobby as the terrified employee stands silently behind the desk.

A massive black bear was caught on video wandering through the lobby of The Stanley Hotel in Colorado that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. The bear was seen standing on the hotel lobby's table

Within moments the bear is on the go again as it climbs off the table and walks past a hotel desk supervisor who recorded the encounter

Within moments the bear is on the go again as it climbs off the table and walks past the hotel employee.

At one point the bear stops and stares at the desk supervisor before walking away.

The Stanley Hotel vice president Reed Rowley told KDVR-TV that 300 guests were sound asleep as the bruin figured out how to open the door and climbed over the furniture.

There was no damage, but the furniture got rearranged before the bear walked out of the lower level door.

Rowley said the bear seemed afraid of humans and they were able to shoo it away.

None of the guests or employees were ever in any danger from the bear.

At one point the bear stops and stares at the desk supervisor before walking away

The hotel in Estes Park opened in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

King wrote The Shining after he and his wife stayed at The Stanley in 1974. The 1980 horror film was not shot there.

The Stanley is just a 10-minute drive from the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Black bear sightings have increased throughout the park over the past several years.

The hotel (pictured) in Estes Park opened in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The homeless veteran who won millions of hearts last year when he used his last $20 to buy a woman gas is back on the streets despite having $400,000 pledged to him because the woman and her boyfriend are keeping the money from him.

Johnny Bobbitt made headlines around the world in November after he used his last money on gas for New Jersey woman Kate McClure.

McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico set up GoFundMe page dedicated to changing Bobbitt's life and it attracted thousands of donations.

They made promises to set up two trusts for him - one which he could draw a salary from and another for his retirement- , vowed to buy him a house, SUV and set him up with a lawyer and a financial adviser.

But nine months on, the couple have admitted to spending $200,000, they say on 'care' for him, and are keeping the remaining $200,000 from Bobbitt because they say he is not responsible enough to have access to it.

'Giving him all that money, it's never going to happen. I'll burn it in front of him,' D'Amico said bluntly in a recent interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Johnny Bobbitt, 35, is back living on the street nine months after Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure raised $400,000 for him through a GoFundMe page because they have spent half the money, apparently on his care, and are withholding the rest

Nearly 15,000 people donated $402,000 to get Bobbitt off the street after he used his last $20 to buy McClure gas in Philadelphia. Now, GoFundMe is looking in to whether or not the money has been mismanaged

GoFundMe is now working with a team of lawyers who have agreed to work pro-bono for Bobbitt to determine whether the money has been mismanaged.

Instead of a house, which they vowed to buy during appearances on Good Morning America and in the GoFundMe updates section of their page, the couple bought Bobbitt a camper which they put on land owned by McClure's family.

They have since asked him to leave it, claiming he has stolen from them and blown through the few cash handouts they have given him on drugs.

Giving him all that money, it's never going to happen. I'll burn it in front of him' Mark D'Amico

Only half of the $400,000 is left. They insist they haven't spent any money on themselves but the figures do not add up.

The couple say they spent $200,000 on the camper, the hotel Bobbitt stayed in beforehand, an SUV, TV, laptop, two cell phones, $25,000 in cash which they claim he blew through and a $30,000 fee taken by GoFundMe.

They've now sold the camper and the SUV but Bobbitt has not received a penny from the sales.

In the meantime, the couple have enjoyed trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and McClure has purchased a new BMW. They insist they used their salaries.

He is a carpenter and she works as a receptionist for the state department of transportation. They both say they took 'significant' time off from work to help Bobbitt and they have not explained how they funded their lives during that hiatus.

In April, they took Bobbitt to New York City from New Jersey. They were pictured there together smiling happily for photographs.

D'Amico has been arrested on traffic violations and he has also frequented casinos, once dipping into the GoFundMe money to take $500 which he claims he replaced afterwards.

In January, the couple went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon where they enjoyed a $500 per person helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. McClure said it was a gift from D'Amico

They rang in the New Year at a James Bond themed party at the Delano hotel. General admission for the event was $195 per person but tables for two cost up to $2,400

McClure also took her mother on a trip to Los Angeles where they were collected by a limousine at the airport

The couple say they paid for their trips, her new BMW and his casino trips with their salaries. He is a carpenter and she is a receptionist for the state department of transportation

McClure is shown at Disney earlier this year

Bobbitt, who said his only dream was to use the money to leave Philadelphia and go back to his home state of North Carolina to buy a plot of land, is back on the streets and has returned to drugs.

He has not been able to donate to homeless causes, as he'd hoped, because he has not been given access.

He says he feels betrayed by the pair and thinks their greed got the better of them once the money started pouring in.

'I think it might have been good intentions in the beginning, but with that amount of money, I think it became greed,' he said.

Homeless advocates have enrolled him in two rehab programs to try to rid him of his opioid addiction. He spends $15 a day on drugs and is living beneath a bridge.

In April, they took Bobbitt to New York City for the first time. It is 80 miles from their home in New Jersey

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO? McClure and D'Amico say they spent $200,000 on 'care' for Bobbitt which included; A stay in a hotel A camper they have now sold An SUV which was not the one he wanted Two cell phones A TV A laptop $30,000 for GoFundMe's fee $25,000 on cash he spent $200,000 being held back Advertisement

When contacted by DailyMail.com on Friday morning, McClure did not immediately respond.

She told The Philly Inquirer she did not want to lose her job over the dispute.

GoFundMe spokesman Bartlett Jackson said the company was investigating the disagreement.

'When there is a dispute, we work with all parties involved to ensure funds go to the right place. We will work to ensure that Johnny receives the help he deserves and that the donors' intentions are honored,' he said.

Nearly 15,000 people donated to the page. It is no longer accepting donations.

In her last update on it, McClure wrote: 'Now lets get down to some business. We've received a lot of comments and questions about what Johnny's plans are for this money and how it will be used.

Bobbitt is shown (left) before he became homeless and (right) after making the news for helping McClure. He said he believes the couple began wanting to help him but that they got carried away with the amount of money raised

McClure and Bobbitt appeared together on Good Morning America at the time. She insists that they only ever wanted to help him and says she now does not want to lose her job

'Hopefully this will answer them while keeping his privacy and the privacy of the people he is helping also.

'The first thing on the list is a NEW Home which Johnny will own!! He will never have to worry about a roof over his head again!! Second will be the dream truck he's always wanted... a 1999 ford ranger (yes I'm serious).

'There will also be 2 trusts set up in his name, one essentially giving him the ability to collect a small "salary" each year and another retirement trust which will be wisely invested by a financial planner which he will have access to in a time frame he feels comfortable with so when the time comes he can live his retirement dream of owning a piece of land and a cabin in the country.

'A bank account will be set up for him with funds for every day needs that will get him through until he finds a job. And lastly, he will be donating to a few organizations and people who over the last couple of years have helped him get through this rough patch in his life.

'This is a well thought out plan that Johnny his lawyer and financial advisor came up with in order to give Johnny the means to acclimate back into a "normal" life and also to protect him and ensure he has a bright future.'

Bobbitt said he was never given a lawyer and met once with a financial adviser.
A Dubai court will this weekend make a key ruling on the release of a Russian oligarchs 350 million superyacht, which has been at the centre of a global legal battle over the UKs biggest divorce settlement since being dramatically seized in Dubai in February.

Commercial courts at the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) ordered the arrest of Luna, which formerly belonged to Roman Abramovich, in February when she put into emirates globally renowned dockyard for routine maintenance.

Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov, who is at the centre of Britain's costliest divorce, has had his 300m super yacht Luna seized after his former wife won a court order to seize his assets

Bailiffs acting for the High Court in London took control of the 115m yacht named Luna (pictured), which is owned by oil and gas tycoon Mr Akhmedov when it docked in Dubai

Luna's 50-man crew, who live on board (pictured) have not been allowed to leave the UAE and are believed to be staying on the yacht since it was seized on Valentine's Day

The Luna  which boasts the largest swimming pool on any of the world's super yachts  is considered one of the prize assets of 61-year-old Akhmedov's 900million fortune

Divorce: Billionaire Akhmedov (left) has been ordered to pay his ex-wife Tatiana (right) 453m by a divorce judge making the split the most expensive ever in Britain

The move followed Russian oil and gas billionaire Farkhad Akhmedovs refusal to pay his former wife Tatiana a penny of the 453 million awarded to her in divorce proceedings in the London High Court in 2016.

He insists the couple were divorced in Moscow in 2000 over her infidelity with English web designer Mark Isle, nine years her junior.

He continued to provide lavishly for Tatiana and their two sons, enabling her to live like royalty, until she sought a new divorce settlement 12 years later under English law.

Last month, in a major legal victory for the family trust which owns Luna and for Mr Akhmedov, a practising Muslim, Dubais most senior judges ordered that all proceedings involving Luna be transferred from the DIFC courts to the emirates local Sharia courts.

The judges of Dubais Joint Judicial Committee ruled that the DIFC should have never been involved since the proceedings involved divorce rather than principally financial matters.

Following the move to the local courts, Luna was allowed to leave the dry docks for the open waters of Prince Rashid harbour in preparation for her release.

In another significant move, the yachts 50-strong, mainly British, crew had passports which had previously been seized by armed coastguards returned to them in readiness for leaving Dubai.

These moves have come as a blow to Tatiana and her legal team and financial backers.

In a bid to secure the English settlement, Tatiana assigned the debt to litigation financiers Burford Capital, a London AIM listed company in return for their receiving up to 30 per cent of any money recovered.

Mr Akhmedov has always said the High Court in London was misguided in awarding Tatiana a second divorce settlement following the Moscow divorce.

His ex-wife began proceedings in London in 2012, just days after her oil and gas tycoon former husband had added to his fortune with the billion pound sale of his oil and gas assets in Russia.

Tatiana, who took up UK citizenship following the Moscow divorce, now lives in a multi-million pound Surrey mansion.

Mr Akhmedov retained his Russian citizenship and only ever visited the UK to see his young sons with Tatiana  both now in their 20s.

Mr Akhmedovs legal fight to thwart orders seeking to freeze his assets and those of the family trust now involves complex litigation around the world.

Gas and oil tycoon Akhmedov bought the yacht called Luna (pictured) from his close friend Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in 2014

The tycoon spent more than 50m on a refit for the vessel, which boasts nine decks and has two helipads as well as 10 VIP rooms and sumptuous bedrooms (pictured)

The boat boasts a huge swimming pool, which is the largest on any of the world's super yachts

The yacht is being held in Dubai as part of Akhmedov's ongoing divorce battle with his ex-wife
TANZANIA Private Sector Foundation will hold a meeting next week to discuss ethical challenges in doing business amid growing mistrust with the government due to allegations of widespread corruption by some of its members.

The TPSF Executive Director, Geoffrey Simbeye told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that they would discuss what fuels corruption practices in the private sector and what needs to be done to restore government trust on the private sector.

We have decided we should discuss openly what is fuelling corruption in the private sector...is it about cumbersome bureaucratic constraints or inefficient provision of regulatory services, or just greedy on our part, he said.

We know there is still corruption in the private sector. We will discuss what needs to done to combat those practices and restore public trust, he said.

Mr Simbeye said corruption in procurement and construction works, tax avoidance and evasion, transfer pricing, under-invoicing are some of the issues that will be discussed in the meeting to be held under the theme titled Responsible Business Leaders for enhancing public- private cooperation for sustainable economic development.

They would also discuss proposal to have a code of conduct in the private sector that would set up values, responsibilities and ethical obligations for their members, he said.

Do we need a code of conduct or code of ethics in the private sector? That also will be discussed, he said noting the discussions may most likely lead to adoption of a code of ethics to be followed by all TPSF members. The TPSF Executive Director said the meeting would also be used to elect their new chairman after Reginald Mengi four-year tenure came to an end.
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One brave photographer has embarked on a daring adventure to swim along one of the world's deadliest beasts - a nine-foot-long American crocodile.

Stunning images taken by Eldad Cohen, 42, reveal the 500lb croc's razor-sharp teeth up close.

Eldad, a Los Angeles-based apparel company owner, traveled to Cuba for the remarkable encounter as a birthday celebration.

'I wanted to do something different for my birthday so I called my friend Tim Yeo from Bluewater travel and join him on the Cuba trip he organized,' he said.

Eldad Cohen, 42, went diving with crocodiles in Cuba to do something 'different' for his birthday

The Los Angeles-based apparel company owner snapped remarkable shots of the beast by getting as close as possible

'Jardines de La Reina is one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world and It was a dream for me to dive there,' Eldad said.

'We knew that there are American Salt water crocodiles there and we were hoping for a chance to get in the water with them,' he added.

American crocodiles are apex predators, making Eldad and his diving buddies perfect prey as they entered the croc's habitat.

The croc's only real threat is the American alligator, which have been seen killing and eating American crocodiles.

Images from the dive show the diver swimming within just a few feat of the predator, with a close up look into its beady eyes.

Video shows Eldad and his friends perilously close to the croc as they swim together in the open ocean.

He and friends swam within just a few feet of a nine-foot, 500lb American crocodile

Its huge teeth up are seen close as it grins for the camera

The local dive boats call these crocodiles 'nino', which means boy in Spanish.

'On the first day we thought there is only one Nino but turns there were like eight in the mangroves around us,' Eldad said.

Though the signs of danger are clear, Eldad said the most important thing in underwater photography is to get as close as possible to the subject you're shooting.

'The closer you get the better chance you have for a great shot. I was lucky to spend six hours in the water with the crocodiles and that helped me perfect the shots,' he said.

'The first time I tried to get close the crocodile I got stuck in the mud of the mangroves. Luckily I managed to get out of there fast as the crocodile was coming towards me,' he said.
A boy has narrowed escaped death after large chunks of concrete fell from heights and smashed to the ground just inches away from him.

It is reported that the concrete had collapsed from the side of a high-rise residential building.

The boy was trying to leave the building before he saw the debris came crashing down on him on Sunday in a Chinese city.

The boy stands at the gate of the high-rise building in China before the concrete collapses

He runs as quickly as he can after seeing large slabs of the exterior wall falling off the building

A video, shared by Shanghai-based Shine.cn, shows that the child hesitated a little before deciding to run out of the building. The concrete slabs landed by his feet as he made the dash for life to the other side.

Several residents were seen sitting and relaxing outside the building, but they made a quick escape after seeing that part of the exterior wall was about to fall.

The incident took place in the Xiyinmen Estate in Bengbu in east China's Anhui Province, according to Anhui Net.

It is said that there are 30 buildings in the estate, and six of them have seen part of its outer walls crumbling and falling off.

Residents in the estate have expressed serious concerns of their safety, according to the report.

It is said that the insulation material in the wall is faulty, which causes the wall to crack and collapse (left). The debris smashed to smithereens after falling dozens of feet (right)

A spokesperson from the management company of the estate told Anhui Net it was likely that the insulation material in the wall was faulty, which caused the wall to bulge and crack.

Wu Changfei, the manager of the Bengbu Urban Construction Investment Company, said the residential towers were built five years ago by the government.

Mr Wu agreed that the quality of the insulation material was not up to standard. He suspected that the material had failed to sustain the changes of temperature between seasons.

The construction company is set to start renovation works on the relevant buildings as soon as possible.
A North Carolina woman accused of trying to bite off her ex-boyfriend's testicles has been found not guilty of malicious castration.

A jury also cleared 54-year-old Martinne Delavega on an assault charge Thursday.

Her ex-boyfriend testified Tuesday that he punched her head to stop her as she bit his chest and arms and ripped open his scrotum during an argument in September 2015.

But when Delavega took the stand Wednesday, she asserted she was defending herself from his assault.

Martinne Delavega, 54, bit her boyfriend's testicles in 2015 during an argument

Delavega is pictured after being arrested in 2015. She was cleared Wednesday of malicious castration and assault charges

Delavega claimed she thought she was biting his leg as he tackled, hit and choked her.

'He was extremely angry, yelling, screaming profanities at me,' Delavaga told jurors while on the stand.

'I thought, he's gonna kill me,' said Delavaga. 'I couldn't get away from him. I just started biting.'

Her unidentified ex-boyfriend said he still has psychological and physical problems.

'I live in this community. I work in this community. It's embarrassing,' he told jurors.

After being arrested in 2015, Delavega's mugshot showed her with blood on her shirt and a bandage around her head.

Jurors deliberated for four hours and found Delavega not guilty on all charges.

If Delavega was found guilty she could have spent up to eight years in prison.

Her attorney Matt Silva says the verdict is 'a poor definition of victory,' given that she 'endured three years of being vilified.'
A mummified body found in a hoarder's home was found to have been shot, with investigators probing the possibility the victim was a cat burglar who was executed on the spot after being caught in the act.

The body, which was identified to be a man named Shane Snellman, had been shot in the shoulder with a rifle, according to Yahoo 7 News.

The theory is that the property's reclusive owner, Bruce Roberts, who died of a heart attack last year, shot the burglar when he entered his home.

A mummified body found in a hoarder's home was found to have been shot, with investigators speculating that the man was a 'was executed on the spot after being caught in the act'

The body, which was identified to be a man named Shane Snellman, had a gunshot wound in his left shoulder

Shane Snellman's body, which was wrapped under a roll of carpet, was in the property for 16 years until it was found by cleaners last May

Mr Snellman's body, which was wrapped under a roll of carpet, was in the property for 16 years until it was found by cleaners last May.

Mr Snellman was a small-time criminal who was released from jail in 2002 for a number of break-and-enter cases, Yahoo 7 News reports.

'This is particularly a bizarre case. Extreme unusual,' Detective Chief Inspector Simon Jones said.

'We did find some air fresheners that were located around his body, which obviously would indicate someone in the house knew he was there.'

Police also reported that over time, household items and rubbish piled up near Mr Snellman's body.

Detective Jones also added that the mummified body was found with injures following a preliminary post-mortem examination.

The property's owner, Bruce Roberts, died from a heart attack last year, leaving the house up for sale

Mr Roberts was known to be a recluse hoarder - police found that household items and rubbish were piling up near Mr Snellman's body

'We did find some air fresheners that were located around his body, which obviously would indicate someone in the house knew he was there,' Detective Chief Inspector Simon Jones said

Shane Snellman (pictured) was a small-time criminal who was released from jail in 2002 for a number of break-and-enter cases

It was a chilling twist in a case that shocked and puzzled many, especially after more eerie photos of the North Sydney home emerged after it went on sale for $1.8 million.

Real estate agents are treating the house's 'interesting history' as a selling point, with photos of the house showing blood-stained floorboards, a burnt kitchen and holes in its peeling walls.

The home, which is located at 31 Greendale St. in Sydney's Greenwich suburb, will go to auction on Saturday, August 25.




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Hurricane Lane has continued its slow crawl across Hawaii on Friday, drenching the main islands with up to three inches of rain per hour and threatening to bring catastrophic flash flooding and 20-foot surf.

Popular tourist destinations Maui and Oahu, the state's most populated island, are preparing for the thick of the storm to pass over this weekend, bringing heavy rains and winds of up to 105mph.

Red Cross officials reported that as of Thursday night, more than 1,500 people across the state have checked into shelters to they wait out the 'perilously close' storm.

The Category 3 hurricane is heading north after having unleashed 31 inches of rain on the Big Island through Wednesday and Thursday.

Stunning drone footage shows the large swaths of flooding in the town of Hilo, where rivers and streams are overflowing and roads and fields - including the high-traffic Bayfront Highway - have been overwhelmed with rainfall.

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Drone footage shows large swaths of flooding in the town of Hilo after Hurricane Lane passed through Hawaii's Big Island

Roads and fields across the Big Island have been overwhelmed with flooding after Lane dumped 31 inches of rain on the island

People watch from the Puueo Street bridge as the Wailuku River rages below them in Hilo, Hawaii, on Thursday afternoon

The Wailuku River swelled dramatically after Hurricane Lane brought two days of unrelenting to Hawaii's Big Island

The storm has weakened to a Category 3 but can still cause major damage, packing sustained winds of 120 mph

The onslaught of rain on the Big Island caused waterways to rise rapidly and spill over into populated areas in Hilo, which sits on the island's eastern short.

Five California tourists had to be rescued from a flooded holiday home after a nearby gulch overflowed on Thursday.

Suzanne Demerais described the tiny waterfall and small stream that was flowing near the home when she and four friends from the Los Angeles first arrived - a stark contrast from the torrent it has become in just 24 hours.

Hawaii County firefighters, who were in touch with the home's owner, decided to evacuate the group before the water rose further, floating the visitors out on their backs.

Hilo residents carry their dogs through high floodwaters on Thursday as the Category 3 hurricane passed through

Chelsea Jitchaku watches a once-small stream overflow onto Akolea Road in upper Kaumana, near Hilo, Hawaii on Thursday

A man leaves behind his car after it was stranded in floodwaters in Hilo, Hawaii, on Thursday amid Hurricane Lane's onslaught

As the storm moves northward, emergency personnel have been closing down beaches amid warnings of 20-foot surf

Despite having been downgraded to a Category 3 storm on Thursday, experts warn Lane has the potential to become the single-costliest hurricane in Hawaii's recorded history - as well as the costliest in all of the US for the 2018 hurricane season, which runs from June to November.

'Lane could potentially cause in excess of $10billion in damage due to its forecast impacts as well as the increase in population, property, property value and infrastructure on the Hawaiian Islands since then,' AccuWeather President and Founder Dr Joel Myers said.

The damage from Hurricane Lane will be caused mainly by flooding, high tides and beach erosion rather than winds, which are still clocking in at near 125mph.

A graphic updated by meteorologists Friday highlights areas of the Hawaiian Islands that may be affected in the next five days

Hurricane Lane barreled through the Pacific Ocean as a Category 4 storm before being downgraded to Category 3 Thursday

Stunning video shows a waterspout churning off of the Big Island's eastern shore near Paukaa on Thursday afternoon. Officials have warned of the dangers the spout poses to swimmers and boaters

A waterspout is defined as a tornado that forms over water due to the instability created by the presence of a thunderstorm

A stunning video captured by local resident Victoria Naboa shows a waterspout churning off of the Big Island's eastern shore on Thursday afternoon.

Officials have warned of the dangers posed by the spout - a tornado that forms over water due to the instability created by the presence of a thunderstorm.

Tornadic waterspouts 'are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,' according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

They can be particularly dangerous for boaters and swimmers because they create swirling winds at the water's surface.

Biggest threat from Category 3 Hurricane Lane remains life-threatening flash flooding as parts of Hawaii's Big Island report receiving over two feet of rain. https://t.co/ASIi6sEGcI pic.twitter.com/F686a57Jjb  ABC News (@ABC) August 24, 2018

Torrential downpours have caused water levels in rivers and streams on the Big Island to rise dramatically in the past two days

Floodwaters cascade over a hill as flash flooding from Hurricane Lane overwhelms Hawaii's mostly-rural Big Island

Buildings sit in floodwater several feet deep following Hurricane Lane's onslaught of rain this week in Hawaii

Forecasters said 'excessive' rain will continue into the weekend over the island and hurricane warnings remain in effect for Hawaii County, Maui County, and Oahu.

The storm itself is only moving at 6mph, which forecasters warn could actually raise the risk for 'life-threatening flash flooding and landslides' across the islands. Some areas could see up to 30 inches of rain.

Lane is forecast to pull away from Hawaii by late Saturday due to increasing wind shear weakening the storm.

In response to the erratic weather, airlines have been waiving fees, capping fares and tweaking flight schedules through Monday.

Some flights have been canceled, but others were added to help travelers get from Hawaii to the mainland.

United grounded all of its Maui flights on Friday after adding two additional flights from Honolulu to San Francisco on Thursday.

The storm remains dangerous even as it's been downgraded to a Category 3, which means it has winds from 111 to 129mph

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags as Hurricane Lane hits Honolulu

A bird flies as others perch above floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island on Thursday afternoon

Forecasters warned the storm was coming 'perilously close' to the main Hawaiian Islands as a hurricane on Friday

Park fields are flooded from heavy rains in Hilo on Thursday. The storm itself is only moving at 6 mph, which forecasters warn could actually raise the risk for 'life-threatening flash flooding and landslides' across the islands

'Rain has been nonstop for the last half hour or so, and winds are just starting to pick up,' said Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island. 'Our usually quiet stream is raging right now.'

Beimler, who posted videos of trees being blown sideways, said staying put is about the only choice he has. The road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides, he said.

'Hurricane Lane is still a dangerous and powerful storm,' Hawaiian Gov Dave Ige said in a news conference on Thursday.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell likewise warned that Lane was 'wide and very moist' and 'going to hang around for awhile'.

President Donald Trump has issued an emergency disaster declaration, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to coordinate disaster-relief efforts with the state.

'Our teams are closely coordinating with the state and local authorities,' he tweeted Thursday. 'You are in our thoughts!'

People gather on a bridge to watch the Wailuku River flood waters on the Big Island as rain pours on Thursday afternoon

Hurricane Lane's center was recorded around 200 miles south of Honolulu on Friday morning, with maximum sustained winds still clocking near 125 mph. Pictured is the Wailuku River flood waters running downstream on the Big Island

A man avoids getting splashed by a large wave on a walkway along a beach ahead of Hurricane Lane in Honolulu

Tourists and residents gather on the beach despite it being ordered closed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach

A chicken hops through floodwaters in Hilo in this still image from a video that was obtained from social media

In Oahu, employees of the Sheraton Waikiki resort were seen filling sandbags to protect the ocean-front hotel from heavy rain, flash flooding and surging surf - just as many stores along the towns glitzy Kalakaua Avenue have done.

Police on loudspeakers told surfers and swimmers to get out of the water, saying the beach would be closed until further notice.

A siren alarm went off on Thursday afternoon to warn those who needed to seek shelter before nightfall and buses were made available to transport people to safety.

A gas station remains closed after running out of gas as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu on Thursday afternoon

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane

Visitors take photos of the waves crashing upon the seawall along Alii Drive in Kailua Kona Hawaii on Thursday afternoon

Tourists Debbie Michon and Cannily Buchanan bring supplies back to their hotel as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach

Nina Roberts shops for last minute supplies while shelves remain empty as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu

A homeless man sleeps on a picnic table along Waikiki Beach as others prepare for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

While no injuries have yet been reported, two campers have become trapped in a Hawaii valley due to Lane's heavy rainfall.

Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe says the campers called to report they were trapped Wednesday in Waipio Valley on the Big Island's northern coast.

Emergency workers haven't been able to contact the campers since then because of poor cellphone reception.

And crews cannot search for the trapped campers because of landslides and rivers of rain blocking the roads.

epa06967158 Visitors watch the rising surf generated by Hurricane Lane, crash upon the Kailua Kona coastline

Honolulu police officer Chad Asuncion monitors the water conditions and warns surfers about the conditions as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu

Some airlines also began canceling flights, with United Airlines grounding planes to and from Maui on Friday. Pictured is a boy viewing floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island in Hilo

People enter a Red Cross shelter at McKinley High School ahead of the arrival of hurricane Lane in Honolulu

US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Hawaii as landslides and flash flooding left roads blocked

Employees of the Sheraton Waikiki fill sandbags along the beach in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Forecasters revealed early on Thursday that Hurricane Lane had shifted course and was moving closer to Hawaii

National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said the shift would put the Big Island and Maui 'in the thick' of Hurricane Lane over the weekend

Workers stack sandbags in front of a closed store in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon in Honolulu

A woman tapes up a sign letting people know a store with stacked sandbags will close soon in preparation for Hurricane Lane

People stand outside of a partially boarded up McDonalds in preparation for Hurricane Lane on Thursday afternoon

Steve Goldstein, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a news conference on Thursday that Lane is expected to soak the Big Island before heading toward Maui and Oahu.

Goldstein said a direct strike is not needed to see a significant impact from such a strong hurricane.

Meanwhile, federal officials said they were prepared to help people on the islands.

Brad Kieserman, of the Red Cross, said there were 16 emergency shelters open and 283 people across the island already in them.

People stand near flood waters from Lane making the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue and Pauahi Street impassable

A landslide from heavy rains blocks the Hilo bound lane at the Honolii bridge on Highway 19 on Thursday in Hilo

The Big Island is being pummeled by gusty winds and torrential rains on Thursday. Pictured: rising surf generated by Hurricane Lane crashes upon the Kailua Kona coastline

A car is partially submerged in floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on the Big Island on August 23 in Hilo, Hawaii

A man takes photos of floodwaters in Hilo. Hurricane Lane has brought more than a foot of rain to some parts of the Big Island, which is under a flash flood warning

US Navy ships and submarines based in Hawaii were also instructed to leave port to avoid damage.

All vessels not currently undergoing maintenance were being positioned to help respond after the storm, if needed.

Navy aircraft will be kept in hangars or flown to other airfields to avoid the storm.

Unlike Florida or Texas, where residents can get in their cars and drive hundreds of miles to safety, people in Hawaii are confined to the islands and can't outrun the powerful winds and driving rain.

Hawaii state workers clean debris and open up streams around Honolulu, in preparation for heavy rainfall and flash flooding on Oahu on August 23

Instead, they must stay put and make sure they have enough supplies to outlast prolonged power outages and other potential emergencies.

'Everyone is starting to buckle down at this point,' said Christyl Nagao of Kauai. 'Our families are here. We have businesses and this and that. You just have to man your fort and hold on tight.'

Living in an isolated island state also means the possibility that essential goods can't be shipped to Hawaii if the storm shuts down ports.

'You're stuck here and resources might not get here in time,' Nagao said.

The Hawaiian government began positioning generators and other aid in Hawaii well before Lane's anticipated arrival.

FEMA administrator Brock Long said Thursday the supplies arrived in Hawaii after a volcano began oozing lava into neighborhoods in May and in preparation for a recent hurricane that bypassed the islands.

Empty shelves of a supermaket are seen as residents of Oahu are re-stocking their water and non-perishable food supplies as preparation for the looming threat of Hurricane Lane in Oahu, Hawaii, on Wednesday

Loren, right, and Ruby Aquino, of Honolulu, load water into their car ahead of Hurricane Lane, Wednesday, August 22, 2018 in Honolulu. Hurricane Lane has weakened as it approaches Hawaii but was still expected to pack a wallop, forecasters said Wednesday

People stand in a line waiting to fill up propane tanks at a local hardware store on Wednesday in Honolulu

Aly Klein, right, and her mother Clarice Klein walks out of a local hardware store with several buckets of hurricane supplies on Wednesday

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, a FEMA report noted that one of its main issues was not having enough generators and other emergency aid on the island before the storm.

In response, officials stockpiled such items in hard-to-reach areas such as Hawaii and Alaska.

FEMA says the agency had also been talking with grocers to make sure food sources are stocked.

Shelters opened Wednesday on the Big Island and on the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Officials urged those needing the Molokai shelter to get there soon because of concerns that the main highway on the island's south coast could become impassable.

Officials were also working to help Hawaii's sizeable homeless population, many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis said there's not enough shelter space statewide and advised people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

Authorities also warned that the shelters are not designed to withstand winds greater than about 40mph and that for most people they should be a 'last resort.'

'Whenever possible, the public should plan to shelter in place or stay with family or friends in homes outside of these hazard areas that were designed, built or renovated to withstand anticipated conditions,' the city and county of Honolulu said in a statement.

Public schools were closed for the rest of the week and local government workers were told to stay home unless they're essential employees.

This satellite image provided by NOAA on Thursday, August 23, 2018 shows Hurricane Lane bearing down on Hawaii from the south

A handout image made available by NASA on 22 August 2018 and taken by an Expedition 56 crew member from the International Space Station shows Hurricane Lane in the Central Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii, August 22, 2018

'We're planning on boarding up all our windows and sliding doors,' Napua Puaoi of Wailuku, Maui, said after buying 16 pieces of plywood from Home Depot. 'As soon as my husband comes home - he has all the power tools.'

Molokai real estate agent Pearl Hodgins said she expected the island's two stores to soon run out of bottled water and batteries.

Melanie Davis, who lives in a suburb outside Honolulu, said she was gathering canned food and baby formula.

'We're getting some bags of rice and of course, some Spam,' she said of the canned lunch meat that's popular in Hawaii.

She was organizing important documents into a folder - birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards, insurance paperwork - and making sure her three children, all under four, have flotation devices such as swimming vests - 'just in case.'

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.
A fifth-grade boy has been punished for calling his teacher 'ma'am' after she asked him not to use the term of respect.

Student Tamarion Wilson, 10, was made to write out the word 'ma'am' repeatedly during class on Tuesday at North East Carolina Preparatory School in Tarboro, North Carolina.

His mother Teretha Wilson was shocked when he returned home from the public charter school with the sheet of paper, for her to sign in order to complete the punishment.

'I asked him what happened. He said he got in trouble for saying "yes ma'am",' the mother told ABC 11.

Tamarion Wilson, 10, was told to write out the word 'ma'am' on a sheet of paper after calling his teacher by the term when she asked him not to. He had recently been hospitalized (right) with a seizure disorder that included memory issues

Tamarion had to write 'ma'am' four times per line filling the sheet front and back, and then have it signed by a parent. An outraged family member shared the above photo on Facebook

The teacher had apparently warned the class not to call her 'ma'am', although the reason for the prohibition is not entirely clear.

While the term of respect is sometimes reserved for married women, or those presumed old enough to have children, in many parts of the South it is used for women of all ages.

Tamarion was hospitalized last month for a seizure illness that included hallucinations and memory loss, although the teacher was not aware of his condition, Wilson said.

When the boy called the teacher 'ma'am' after she had prohibited it, the teacher said that if she had something to throw, she would have thrown it at the boy, according to Wilson.

Parents Teretha Wilson and McArthur Bryant (together above) said that they had raised their children to address their elders as 'sir' and 'ma'am'

The teacher, who has several years of experience, admitted in a parent conference to saying she would like to throw something, but said it was a joke, Wilson said.

Wilson and Tamarion's father, McArthur Bryant, said that they had raised their children to address their elders as 'sir' and 'ma'am'.

'As a father, to feel kind of responsible for that...knowing that I have been raising him and doing the best that I can, it's not acceptable,' Bryant told the ABC affiliate.

North East Carolina Preparatory School (above) is a public charter school with grades kindergarten through 12

Wilson met with the teacher and the principal on Wednesday, and requested that Tamarion be placed in a different classroom.

The principal granted the request, Wilson said.

The school released a brief statement, saying: 'This is a personnel matter which has been handled appropriately by the K-7 principal.'

North East Carolina Preparatory School is a public charter school with grades kindergarten through 12. Enrollment was 960 at the beginning of the school year.
Malcolm Turnbull is out and Scott Morrison is now the new Australia Prime Minister.

Australia gets its fifth Prime Minister in the last five years after Peter Dutton tried to oust Turnbull, only to find himself beaten by Morrison, Australias treasurer, 45 votes to 40.

Morrison quickly outlined his vision for Australia, saying: Our plan, my plan is for an even stronger Australia.

Scott Morrison becomes Australia's fifth PM in as many years, replacing Malcolm Turnbull

He said he was on the side of everyday Australians working to make a living. 'I'm on your side, that's what matters,' he said in his first media conference leading the nation.

'We're on your side because we share beliefs and values in common.'

He described the Australian people as ambitious and aspirational and promised to heal the divisions in the Liberal Party.

Here is all you need to know about Scott Morrison including who he is, his political leanings and family.

Who is Scott Morrison?

Scott Morrison was born in Sydney in 1968 and for a brief period tried to make it as a child actor.

He studied at the Sydney Boys High School and later went on to study economics and geography at the University of New South Wales, before working in the tourism industry.

He played a role in crafting the 100% Pure New Zealand and Australias controversial Where the bloody hell are you campaigns. The latter featured a then-unknown model Lara Bingle.

Morrison is a devout Christian and attends service at the Hillsong Pentecostal mega church.

He met his wife at a Sydney church at the age of 12; they began dating at the age of 16 and were married by 21.

However, they then had to wait 18 years for their first child. He described the birth of his first daughter as a miracle'.

The couple went through 14 years of IVF procedures, but Morrisons two daughters were ultimately born naturally, without IVF.

'After 14 years of bitter disappointments, God remembered [Jenny's] faithfulness and blessed us with our miracle child, Abbey Rose,' he said.

Morrison never shied away from discussing the importance of religion in his life. In his maiden speech in Parliament, Morrison said: Growing up in a Christian home, I made a commitment to my faith at an early age and have been greatly assisted by the pastoral work of many dedicated church leaders, adding that his religion is not a political agenda.

Morrison is a supporter of the NRL Cronulla Sutherland Sharks and says he is a fan of Australia musician Tina Arena.

Scott Morrisons political life

Before Morrison became the director of Tourism Australia, during which time he presided over the Where the bloody hell are you campaign, he was the State Director of the NSW Liberal Party for four years between 2000 and 2004.

Morrison was first elected as an MP in 2007, when he won the Cook seat, located in the southern Suburbs of Sydney.

Three years later, Morrison moved up to the frontbench, before being promoted to the Cabinet by Tony Abbott in 2013, becoming the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.

In December 2014 he became the Minister for Social Services.

Despite backing Tony Abbott in the 2015 election, the eventual winner, Malcolm Turnbull appointed Morrison as the countrys treasurer.

He held that position until August 2018, when he became the 30th Prime Minister of Australia, and the fifth in five years.

What are Scott Morrisons policies?

Scott Morrison, better known as ScoMo, is a mainstream socially conservative politician who opposes gay marriage, saying at the 2017 referendum that he would back a new religious protections bill, and is famously tough on immigration.

In his time as the Immigration Minister, Morrison implemented the controversial stop the boats policy, officially known as the Operation Sovereign Borders, which involved using the military to stop asylum seekers landing in Australia by boat.
RAF fighter jets interrupted the path of a Russian maritime patrol aircraft over the Black Sea in the second such incident this week, the MoD revealed today.

The RAF Typhoons scrambled from Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Romania on Thursday in response to a Russian Be-12 plane which was heading southwest over the Black Sea from Crimea.

The Royal Air Force has deployed Typhoons to the Baltic States in recent years as part of a mission to protect NATO airspace in the region.

British fighter jets interrupted the path of a Russian maritime patrol aircraft over the Black Sea in the second such incident this week, Britain's defence ministry said on Friday (stock image)

In the previous incident on Tuesday, it scrambled two typhoons in Romania to shadow two suspected Russian Su-30 Flanker aircraft.

Britain's Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster, spoke about 'an ever more assertive Russia' in a speech in London in July.

He said the RAF has had to intercept Russian military aircraft more than 80 times over the last decade.

Last week the RAF intercepted six Russian bombers flying close to NATO airspace over the Black Sea and forced them to turn back.

The Eurofighter Typhoons launched early on Monday from their base in Romania after the Russian Su-24 Fencer planes were spotted, the RAF said.

It said there was 'significant Russian air activity through most of the night' until the aircraft eventually turned towards Crimea.

The RAF said the operation was in accordance with the NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission with NATO ally Romania.

Last week the RAF intercepted six Russian bombers flying close to NATO airspace over the Black Sea and forced them to turn back (stock image of Typhoon)

RAF jets helped 'deter Russian aggression, reassure our friends in Romania, and assure NATO allies of our commitment to collective defence,' it said.

Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor earlier said such 'provocations' by Russia became 'frequent' in recent months.

RAF fighters intercepted Russian bombers eight times in the past two years - five in 2016 and three in 2016 - headed towards British airspace.

Most recently two Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack bombers were intercepted by Typhoons just 30 miles from British airspace.

Four RAF Typhoons are deployed at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in southeast Romania where several hundred U.S. troops are also stationed.

The move was part of NATO's beefed-up defences on its eastern flank following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The U.S. Air Force has four F-15C Eagles based in neighbouring Bulgaria.
A Washington State family is facing criminal charges for staging an elaborate abduction stunt which police thought was real and investigated.

The family has not been identified and prosecutors are yet to decide whether to charge them.

On Wednesday night, they were reported to police after being seen at Heritage Park near Capitol Lake.

Five or six male family members were dressed in white hazmat suits. They were filmed putting three other individuals in the back of a red truck.

Authorities tracked the family down through their red car which was filmed leaving the park after six men were filmed putting three 'screaming' people in the back

At around 10.30pm, emergency services received a 911 call reporting the stunt. It remains unclear if the person who called them was in on the prank or if they believed it was a genuine abduction.

The caller was a woman. She whispered as she told the operator: 'Um, there's something going on. I'm by the Capitol Lake. I don't know what's going on.

'People are screaming.'

The car was filmed by traffic cameras a short while afterwards. Through that, police were able to track down the family.

They told the officers it was merely a stunt and that they wanted to recreate a 'panic room' style abduction 'for fun'.

Police passed on their findings to the local prosecutor who is now weighing up whether to press charges.

'We can't and won't treat it like a hoax until we can absolutely confirm that.

'I think that it could've went really bad and especially when you're talking about children being abducted.

'That's not a joke,' Sgt. James Prouty told WSBTV.
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Luxury ill-gotten goods with an estimated value of 2.4 million that were once owned by criminals are set to go under the hammer this month.

The expensive items that were seized by police include Rolex watches, gold jewellery, Cartier and Hermes belts and a diamond worth 22,000.

Wilsons Auctions will sell off the items which also include designer clothes and shoes from Christian Louboutin, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, and Versace.

Criminal goods that were have been seized by police will be sold at auction later this month. A Rolex GMT Master II No with an estimated worth of 9,300 is among the loot

A diamond (pictured) worth 22,000 is one of the precious stones that will be auctioned. Others include emeralds and sapphires

Bidders will even have the opportunity to purchase a three-bedroom house in London, a four-bed detached house in Norfolk and a first-floor flat in Liverpool with guide prices as low as 45,000.

The range of high-end items will have no reserve price meaning prices will start at the highest bid giving the public a chance to own gold jewellery, diamonds, emeralds and a sapphire.

Cars including a BMW 320D and a Mercedes C250 and E220 and cherished number plates will also be sold to the highest bidder during the sale.

A 'prestigious' white Audi Q7 seized from a pair of drugs crooks who peddled cocaine and heroin across the country will also go up for auction.

Designer shoes will go under the hammer including suede pink Gucci high-heeled shoes (pictured) worth an estimated 495

Pop the champagne: A bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne (pictured) from the 2004 with box worth 300 will be sold later this month

A modern Georgian style detached house (pictured) situated in a popular residential area of Downham Market, Norfolk was seized and shall be auctioned with a reserve price

Mark Burke, 39, and Callum Brayton, 27, from Huyton, Merseyside, were jailed for a combined total of 18 years last year for a drug conspiracy that stretched across the UK.

Drugs valued at almost 200,000, as well as 20,000 in cash were seized at Burke and Brayton's homes when they were busted by detectives in a 2016.

The pair, who lived in the same block of flats but were rarely seen in public together, oversaw a cocaine and heroin plot that stretched from coast to coast.

Burke controlled the flow of the drugs while Brayton was described by police as his 'trusted lieutenant'.

Criminals once owned these camouflage trainers by Valentino Garavani trainers (pictured) worth 550 that was seized by police

Brayton would arrange for North Wales taxi driver Paul Williams to drive to Huyton, Merseyside, to collect high-purity cocaine to sell to street dealers.

But they were only sentenced in November 2017, with Burke jailed for 10 years, Brayton jailed for eight years and seven months and Williams for five.

The auction house works with over 40 law enforcement agencies and over 170 government bodies across the UK and Ireland and has returned millions of pounds back to the public through the selling of seized items.

Wilsons Auctions' Asset Recovery Executive, Michael Streight said: 'We have a gem of an auction this month with bidders having the chance to purchase a selection of precious gem-stones including diamonds and emeralds as well as gold bars and jewellery.

A white Audi Q7 that belonged to drug dealers from Merseyside who peddled cocaine and heroin across the UK will be sold at auction in Belfast

Callum Brayton, 27, and Mark Burke, 39, from Huyton, Merseyside, had thousands of pounds worth of belonging seized from their homes from police after drug conspiracy

'With all items going under the hammer with no reserve, this is a great opportunity to purchase quality goods for an affordable price.

'Each month Wilsons Auctions plays an important role in realising a large quantity of assets on behalf of our government clients which has seen us responsible in returning 100 million back into the public purse.'

Items will be sold to the highest bidder during the auction, which will take place at Wilsons Auctions' Belfast branch on August 30.
PRECISION Air has signed a new partnership with Akemi Restaurant and Southern Sun Hotel to award their loyal customers through its frequent flyer Programme PAA ROYAL.

Under the partnership Precision Airs customers will enjoy up to 20 per cent discount from Akemi Restaurant and Southern Sun Hotel through their PAA ROYAL membership ID.

Precision Air has Frequent Flyer Programme, with more than 20,000 registered members, while Southern Sun Hotel and Akemi Restaurant are known for their best services in their fields.

Commenting on the partnership Precision Airs Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Mr Hillary Mremi said, the new partnership will give Paa Royal members more options on how they want to redeem their points.

We Precision Air, our customers comes first and that is why we always make sure they have the best experience flying with us. Our partnership with Akemi Restaurant and Southern sun hotel will transform the benefits and the awards package for our PAA Royal members, he said.

Southern Sun Managing Director, Mr Michael Phillipson said, Southern Sun is delighted to partner with Precision Air and award PAA Royal Members with 20 per cent discount on food and beverage and 10 per cent discount on their Best Available Rate on a Bed and Breakfast basis.

Southern Sun Dar es Salaam has been a leader in the Hotel Industry in Tanzania for more than 17 years offering the very best in accommodation and cuisine. As a Premium hotel located in the heart of the hustle and bustle of the city, Southern Sun Dar es Salaam is looking forward to welcoming PAA Royal members, he said.

Akemis General manager Brett Mullins said, We are looking forward to serve Precision Air customers, one of the fastest growing airlines in East Africa at the moment. We are Tanzanias only revolving restaurant and take pride in being a trend setter in the hospitality industry, and serve various cuisines and cater for a variety of events. We look forward to a fruitful partnership.
A married couple who failed to conceive were told they had been having anal sex for four years after a doctor realised the wife was a virgin.

The unnamed husband and wife, aged 26 and 24, sought out obstetrician Liu Hongmei earlier this year when a team of medics visited their village in Bijie city in China's south-western Guizhou province.

She was quoted as saying: 'The couple were very young, the man 26 and the woman 24. They were very healthy, but, despite being married for four years, couldn't conceive.'

'Their family was giving them a lot of stress because of it,' she added.

A couple in China who were struggling to have babies had been having anal sex (file photo)

While asking about the wife's medical history during the village visit, Liu was told that the couple had sex regularly.

The wife also revealed that the experience was 'unusually painful' for her every time, but she suffered through it in the hope of becoming pregnant.

The woman's symptoms led Doctor Liu to believe that she may have had some sort of gynaecological disease.

An obstetrician found out the situation after the couple sought out help from her (file photo)

Liu said she was 'shocked' when an examination revealed the wife to be a virgin.

According to China's Guiyang Evening Post, Liu's 'experience' led her to inspect the woman's anus, which she claimed 'could fit three fingers.'

It was then that the medic is said to have learned the couple had been mistakenly having anal sex for four years, resulting in their failure to conceive.

Doctor Liu reportedly handed the couple each a sex-ed handbook and also gave them 'guidelines' before they were sent home.

The doctor gave the couple sex education and the wife has reportedly got pregnant (file photo)

The advice appeared to work, as news of the wife's pregnancy arrived just a few months later. They reportedly informed the now retired doctor that they were finally expecting - by sending 100 eggs and a live hen as gifts to her former hospital.

Liu said: 'Four years of marriage and neither the husband nor wife knew how to get pregnant. Couples so lacking in general knowledge are very rare.'

She added: 'But it is not uncommon for people to lack or have misconceptions regarding sexual knowledge.'
A jilted lover on trial for shooting her boyfriend in the face claims she killed him in self defense after their abusive relationship broke down.

Shayna Hubers is accused of 'cackling' as she shot attorney Ryan Poston six times just before he was due to meet Miss Ohio 2012 Audrey Bolte for a date.

The 27-year-old testified at her trial on Thursday she killed him in his penthouse in Cleveland on October 12, 2012, because she 'feared him'.

That was soon after he demanded she talk 25 per cent less, get a hobby, and have threesomes with him and other women if they were to get back together.

Hubers recounted how they went on their first date on her 20th birthday in April 2011 after meeting on Facebook months earlier.

She said even then she was rattled by his physicality and how forward he was and called a taxi from the bathroom of a bar to get away.

Shayna Hubers, 27, cried in court on Tuesday (pictured) during her retrial for allegedly murdering her boyfriend Ryan Poston after he started dating a beauty queen

'I remember thinking that he had a strong personality. I feared him. I felt like I need to do what he was telling me to do,' she said, according to Fox 19.

However, they kept dating on and off and often had rough sex when drunk, and everything went downhill when she refused to do a sexual act in 2012.

'It felt degrading... I didn't know if I trusted him... I feared him,' she said.

Hubers also said he was 'callous' when she told him she was sexually assaulted by a stranger in a restroom in 2007 and molested by her father.

She claimed Mr Poston once threw her out of the window of his condominium in the spring of 2012, repeatedly slammed the door on her body when she tried to get back in, and then threw her keys and purse at her.

Hubers admitted that she was also violent with him as their fights escalated over the course of the year.

'I smacked or hit him in the face around his mouth. He shoved me, he shoved me back,' she said.

The pair tried to get back together about a month before the murder, but Mr Poston had conditions that would drastically change their relationship.

'He wanted me to be his incognito girlfriend and he wanted me to talk 25 percent less, he always said I talked too much,' Hubers testified.

'And he wanted me to get a hobby while I was at his condo and he wanted me to also to agree to have threesomes with other girls.'

Hubers will speak about the day of the murder and events leading up to it when the trial resumed on Friday.

The court earlier heard that according to her cellmates, she boasted in jail that she gave Poston the 'nose job he always wanted' afterwards and cackled once he was dead.

Their testimony was similar to that heard at her first trial in 2015, which found her guilty of murder only for the verdict to be thrown out because one of the jurors had a prior felony conviction.

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Hubers allegedly shot Poston six times - including once in the face - at his penthouse apartment in Ohio. They are pictured together in an undated image

Donna Dooley, Holly Nivens, and Cecily Miller all told the court Hubers still showed no remorse for the killing, Cincinnati.com reported. Miller said she once cracked a joke about having given him 'the nose job he had always wanted'.

The former University of Kentucky psychology major, who was 21 at the time, broke down crying during a recess on Tuesday before hugging one of her attorneys.

It was the most emotion she had shown in a courtroom, where she usually sits stony-faced while flashing the occasional smile at relatives she recognizes.

Hubers' cellmates presented the defendant as an unrepentant murder who still believed she was right to kill Poston for dumping her for Bolte, now 29, and also a former Miss USA.

Nivens said she overheard Hubers on the phone to her mother saying Poston's family was rich enough to buy another son.

Poston died shortly before due to meet Miss USA and Miss Ohio 2012 runner-up Audrey Bolte for a date on October 12 of that year. She is pictured at Miss USA in Las Vegas on June 3, 2012 (left) and in New York City on September 7 of that year

'She would get on the phone and cry and sing to her mom and say there's worse crimes than murder,' Dooley said of the defendant.

Miller said Hubers would regularly talk about Poston in jail and joked that he was so vain he would be grateful for having been given 'the nose job he always wanted'.

The prosecution also summoned a forensics expert, who said Poston had been shot first in the forehead, twice in the back from three feet away while still seated, and a further three times in his torso from the same distance while he lay on the floor.

Details about the dysfunctional relationship between Hubers and Poston where heard in court on Monday.

Highland Heights Police Chief Bill Birkenhauer said Hubers would log onto Poston's Facebook and blocked women. He also said Hubers bombarded Poston with a hundred texts for every one he send after one of their regular break-ups.

Texts Birkenhauer read to the jury included several from a phone number that was not in his contacts which insulted his ability as a lawyer and accused him of lacking in sexual prowess. The number was later revealed as that of a female friend Hubers lived with.

'Lose the beer gut and get better at your job,' was one of the messages read out in court, according to Cincinnati.com.

Details about the dysfunctional relationship between Hubers (left) and Poston (right) where heard in court on Monday. Photos undated

Hubers is pictured watching a court hearing in 2015. The guilty verdict reached at that trial was thrown out because a juror was found to have had a previous conviction

This was found as a screenshot on Hubers phone alongside a text sent from the device saying 'I texted Ryan this from a friend's phone'.

After the first trial, Hubers was sentenced to 40 years in prison without the opportunity for early parole on account of showing no remorse. Campbell County Circuit Judge Fred Stine branded the killing 'as cold-blooded an act as I've seen'.

A retrial was ordered after it emerged that Dave Craig, 53, who had served as a juror, had a criminal past.

Proceedings have been constantly interrupted by a loud noise from courtroom speakers intended to hide discussions between attorneys and the judge from the jury.

On Wednesday, the judge threw out a defense request to have the latest proceedings also declared a mistrial after prosecution witnesses referenced the earlier trial.

David Eldridge requested the mistrial after two witnesses called by the prosecution referenced the prior trial, which was thrown out after it was found a juror had a prior felony conviction.


Revelations that National Enquirer CEO David Pecker kept a safe of information on Donald Trump and reached an immunity deal with prosecutors raises the likelihood Robert Mueller's investigators have gained access to potentially damaging information on the president.

Word of the American Media Inc. publisher and longtime Trump friend's immunity deal broke Thursday, as Trump railed against the practice of prosecutors enticing witnesses to 'flip' in order to bring charges against major figures.

It followed longtime Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's guilty plea to eight counts  including campaign finance violations related to payments to two women who claim they had affairs with Trump.

The extent of the terms of the immunity deal are unknown. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Pecker 'kept a safe containing documents on hush-money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election.'

Long time friends: Donald Trump and David Pecker have a long relationship. They were pictured together in 2004 when Trump presented Pecker with a distinguished alumnus award from Pace University, in New York, which the AMI publisher graduated in 1972.

Trump referenced Pecker in a recording made by Cohen of discussions surrounding a $150,000 payment by AMI to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Prosecutors included substantial information about the payment in the charging document against Michael Cohen.

But the AP's story on the safe notes that Pecker and chief content officer, Dylan Howard  who also got immunity  removed the documents from the safe in the weeks before the election, citing a person 'directly familiar' with events.

The documents contained information about hush payments and potentially damaging stories.

They were fearful the documents could be used against the company, according to the report.

Now, the story notes, it is unclear 'whether the documents were destroyed or simply moved to a location known to fewer people.'

Holy s***, I thought Pecker would be the last one to turn, a Trump friend told Vanity Fair.

Cohen - seen in new York Friday - helped negotiate a deal that gave Playboy model Karen McDougal a $150,000 payment in exchange for 'life rights' to any story about an affair with a married man. She claims she had a year-long sexual affair with Trump

Trump can be heard discussing the talks with Pecker in a September 2016 call obtained by CNN.

'I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David, you know, so that  Im going to do that right away. Ive actually come up and Ive spoken,' Cohen tells Trump.

'And, Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up,' Cohen adds, mentioning the Trump Organization CFO.

'So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty,' Trump replies.

Cohen mentions funding, then adds: ''Um, and its all the stuff.'

Coverage: How the National Enquirer put Trump on the cover in January 2016 and again in December 2016 - after he had won the election

Trump then replies, 'Yeah, I was thinking about that,' without clarifying what stuff he may being referring to. 'All the stuff. Because  here, you never know where that company  you never know what hes,' Cohen explains, prompting Trump to observe: 'Maybe he gets hit by a truck.'

Trump's comment appears to address what would happen to the 'stuff' were Pecker no longer around, such as if he left the company.

The New Yorker in April published a detailed account of AMI's actions to buy stories that were potentially damaging for Trump. Pecker was so close to disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who also worked to kill damaging stories, that he was known as an 'F.O.P.' or 'friend of Pecker's,' the New York Times reported in 2017.

Cohen pleaded guilty to two campaign finance violations  one of which was 'causing an unlawful corporate contribution' to a campaign.

Charging documents lay out in great detail details of an agreement where former Playboy model Karen McDougal got a $150,000 payment from American Media Inc., which is the parent company of the National Enquirer, and which Pecker heads.

The documents revealed what was known 'catch and kill' - an arrangement to prevent the story being published elsewhere.

It identifies 'Corporation-1' which was to 'advance a payment of $150,000 to Woman-1' with the promise of reimbursement, 'so as to ensure that Woman-1 did not publicize damaging allegations before the 2016 presidential election and thereby influence that election.'

The Wall Street Journal reported the grant of immunity to Pecker - and also to Dylan Howard, editor-in-chief of AMI.

Trump and Cohen can be heard discussing the deal in a September 2016 audio tape released by Cohen and seized by authorities during an FBI raid in April.

'So what are we gonna pay,' Trump says.

'Yes, um, and it's all the stuff,' Cohen responds. 'All the stuff, all the stuff because you never know where that company -- you never know where he's gonna be.'

Trump then inquires what if he [Pecker] 'gets hit by a truck?' - meaning if he were no longer in charge.

'Correct. So I'm all over that,' Cohen responded.

Trump fumed about prosecutorial tactics in an interview with 'Fox and Friends' that aired Thursday.

'People make up stories. This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years I've been watching flippers. Everything's wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they -- they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go,' he said.

'It almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair. Because if somebody's going to give -- spend five years like Michael Cohen or 10 years or 15 years in jail because of a taxi cab industry, because he defrauded some bank -- the last two were the tiny ones.

'You know, campaign violations are considered not a bit deal, frankly.

'But if somebody defrauded a bank and he's going to get 10 years in jail or 20 years in jail but if you can say something bad about Donald Trump and you'll go down to two years or three years, which is the deal he made,' the president said.

The Journal reported in June Pecker and AMI's chief content officer Dylan Howard had received subpoenas from prosecutors.

At the time, the firm said: 'American Media Inc. has, and will continue to, comply with any and all requests that do not jeopardize or violate its protected sources or materials pursuant to our First Amendment rights.'

Pecker visited the White House in July 2017 and met with Trump in the Oval Office. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was also there.

He brought along guest French businessman Kacy Grine, who advises the richest man in Saudi Arabia, the New York Times reported in March.

AMI CEO David Pecker - seen (center) with his wife Karen and DuJour Media's Jason Binn - got a grant of immunity from prosecutors who secured details of a deal that resulted in a $150,000 payment to a former Playboy model who claims she slept with Donald Trump

The details of 'catch and kill' were set out in federal court documents released after Cohen's appearance in front of a judge in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Trump himself was referenced obliquely but unmistakably as 'Individual 1' - a man who prosecutors note, in formulaic but wry phrasing, began his bid for office 'on or about June 16, 2015.'

Just two months later, as Trump stunned the political world with his rise, the chairman of a tabloid media company offered the campaign some assistance, the documents said. That company was no named, but is AMI.

The company agreed to flag for Cohen and the campaign unflattering, unpublished stories about Trump's relationships with women 'so they could be purchased and their publication avoided,' prosecutors said.

The company eventually did exactly that, allowing for Cohen throughout the campaign to arrange for stories to be bought and suppressed with the express purpose of 'influencing the election.'

The timing and amount of the payments line up with those paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to buy their silence in the weeks and months leading up to the election.

Although the plan was in place nearly a year earlier, the first arrangement began in June 2016, weeks after Trump had clinched the Republican nomination.

McDougal, prosecutors allege, began attempting to sell a story of a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006 and 2007.

The timing and amount of payments Cohen pleaded guilty to line up with those paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal

As promised, it didn't take long for Cohen to be notified - and to take action, promising to reimburse his tabloid friends for the purchase of her tale. That August, prosecutors allege, AMI struck a $150,000 deal with McDougal to buy her story, feature her on two magazine covers and publish more than 100 magazine articles she authored.

'Despite the cover and article features to the agreement, its principal purpose, as understood by those involved, including Michael Cohen, the defendant, was to suppress Woman-1's story so as to prevent it from influencing the election,' prosecutors wrote.

The pattern repeated that October, this time with Daniels, who had her own story of a sexual relationship with Trump she was eager to tell.

In that case, Cohen and a lawyer for Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, negotiated a $130,000 payment to buy her silence.

According to the government, the deal nearly fell apart just weeks before the election.

Cohen was slow in finalizing the payment and was warned Daniels was close to completing a separate deal with another outlet to make her story public. An unidentified editor texted Cohen to say it 'could look awfully bad for everyone' if a deal was not struck.

Cohen received an encrypted telephone call from someone matching Pecker's description and from another top editor at the publication before agreeing to make the payment and calling Daniels' lawyer to finalize the arrangement, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 26, 2016, just weeks before the election, Cohen drew down $131,000 from a home equity line of credit he obtained by lying about his debt and cash flow.

He wired funds to a lawyer for Daniels, falsely saying it was for a 'retainer,' and one week before the election, received copies of a signed confidential agreement with the actress.

Prosecutors allege Trump Organization executives ultimately reimbursed Cohen for both the $130,000 payment to Daniels and another $50,000 for 'tech services' that Cohen solicited on the campaign's behalf.

Prosecutors cited an email in which one unnamed Trump Organization executive told another to pay Cohen $420,000 out of 'the trust,' disguising the money as payment owed to the lawyer under a legal retainer agreement.

'In truth and in fact, there was no such retainer agreement,' prosecutors wrote.

For federal prosecutors who have spent months investigating the president's lawyer, the timing of the payments was no accident.

They don't say specifically Trump directed Cohen to make the payments, an allegation Cohen made in court, but the documents do note Cohen 'coordinated with one or more members of the campaign.'

The money, the government says, was intended 'to influence the 2016 presidential election.'

The intent is essential to the case. Corporations aren't permitted to contribute to campaigns and money intended to influence an election must be reported as a contribution. The money to Daniels and McDougal was not.

All told, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight crimes, including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and false statements to a bank. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12.

As for Trump, personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said there 'is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government's charges against Mr. Cohen.'

The revelation of the catch-and-kill arrangement and immunity for Pecker and Howard came as people familiar with the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they signed non-disclosure agreements, that it had a safe full of stories which had been 'caught and killed'.

They said the safe was a great source of power for Pecker, the company's CEO.

The Trump records were stored alongside similar documents pertaining to other celebrities' catch-and-kill deals, in which exclusive rights to people's stories were bought with no intention of publishing to keep them out of the news.

By keeping celebrities' embarrassing secrets, the company was able to ingratiate itself with them and ask for favors in return.

But after The Wall Street Journal initially published the first details of Playboy model Karen McDougal's catch-and-kill deal shortly before the 2016 election, those assets became a liability.

Fearful that the documents might be used against American Media, Pecker and the company's chief content officer, Howard, removed them from the safe in the weeks before Trump's inauguration, according to one person directly familiar with the events.

The AP cannot say whether the documents were destroyed or simply were moved to a location known to fewer people.

American Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Former Enquirer employees who spoke to the AP said that negative stories about Trump were dead on arrival dating back more than a decade when he starred on NBC's reality show 'The Apprentice.'

In 2010, at Cohen's urging, the National Enquirer began promoting a potential Trump presidential candidacy, referring readers to a pro-Trump website Cohen helped create.

With Cohen's involvement, the publication began questioning President Barack Obama's birthplace and American citizenship in print, an effort that Trump promoted for several years, former staffers said.

The Enquirer endorsed Trump for president in 2016, the first time it had ever officially backed a candidate. In the news pages, Trump's coverage was so favorable that the New Yorker magazine said the Enquirer embraced him 'with sycophantic fervor.'

Positive headlines for Trump, a Republican, were matched by negative stories about his opponents, including Hillary Clinton, a Democrat: An Enquirer front page from 2015 said 'Hillary: 6 Months to Live' and accompanied the headline with a picture of an unsmiling Clinton with bags under her eyes.

Mueller's final tally: Trump's inner circle of convicts and turncoats - and 25 wanted Russian trolls GUILTY: MICHAEL FLYNN Pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017. Awaiting sentence Flynn was President Trump's former National Security Advisor and Robert Mueller's most senior scalp to date. He previously served when he was a three star general as President Obama's director of the Defense Intelligence Agency but was fired. He admitted to lying to special counsel investigators about his conversations with a Russian ambassador in December 2016. He has agreed to cooperate with the special counsel investigation. GUILTY AND JAILED: MICHAEL COHEN Pleaded guilty to eight counts including fraud and two campaign finance violations in August 2018. Pleaded guilty to further count of lying to Congress in November 2018. Sentenced to three years in prison and $2 million in fines and forfeitures in December 2018 Cohen was investigated by Mueller but the case was handed off to the Southern District of New York,leaving Manhattan's ferocious and fiercely independent federal prosecutors to run his case. Cohen was Trump's longtime personal attorney, starting working for him and the Trump Organization in 2007. He is the longest-serving member of Trump's inner circle to be implicated by Mueller. Cohen professed unswerving devotion to Trump - and organized payments to silence two women who alleged they had sex with the-then candidate: porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. He admitted that payments to both women were felony campaign finance violations - and admitted that he acted at the 'direction' of 'Candidate-1': Donald Trump. He also admitted tax fraud by lying about his income from loans he made, money from taxi medallions he owned, and other sources of income, at a cost to the Treasury of $1.3 million. And he admitted lying to Congress in a rare use of the offense. The judge in his case let him report for prison on March 6 and recommended he serve it in a medium-security facility close to New York City. GUILTY AND JAILED: PAUL MANAFORT Found guilty of eight charges of bank and tax fraud in August 2018. Sentenced to 47 months in March 2019. Pleaded guilty to two further charges - witness tampering and conspiracy against the United States. Jailed for total of seven and a half years in two separate sentences. Additionally indicted for mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney, using evidence previously presented by Mueller Manafort worked for Trump's campaign from March 2016 and chaired it from June to August 2016, overseeing Trump being adopted as Republican candidate at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He is the most senior campaign official to be implicated by Mueller. Manafort was one of Washington D.C.'s longest-term and most influential lobbyists but in 2015, his money dried up and the next year he turned to Trump for help, offering to be his campaign chairman for free - in the hope of making more money afterwards. But Mueller unwound his previous finances and discovered years of tax and bank fraud as he coined in cash from pro-Russia political parties and oligarchs in Ukraine. Manafort pleaded not guilty to 18 charges of tax and bank fraud but was convicted of eight counts in August 2018. The jury was deadlocked on the other 10 charges. A second trial on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent due in September did not happen when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and witness tampering in a plea bargain. He was supposed to co-operate with Mueller but failed to. Minutes after his second sentencing hearing in March 2019, he was indicted on 16 counts of fraud and conspiracy by the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., using evidence which included documents previously presented at his first federal trial. The president has no pardon power over charges by district and state attorneys. GUILTY AND GOING TO WEEKEND JAIL: RICK GATES Pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and making false statements in February 2018. Sentenced to 45 days weekend jail and three years probation, December 17, 2018 Gates was Manafort's former deputy at political consulting firm DMP International. He admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government on financial activity, and to lying to investigators about a meeting Manafort had with a member of congress in 2013. As a result of his guilty plea and promise of cooperation, prosecutors vacated charges against Gates on bank fraud, bank fraud conspiracy, failure to disclose foreign bank accounts, filing false tax returns, helping prepare false tax filings, and falsely amending tax returns. GUILTY AND JAILED: GEORGE PAPADOPOLOUS Pleaded guilty to making false statements in October 2017. Sentenced to 14 days in September 2018, and reported to prison in November. Served 12 days and released on December 7, 2018 Papadopoulos was a member of Donald Trump's campaign foreign policy advisory committee. He admitted to lying to special counsel investigators about his contacts with London professor Josef Mifsud and Ivan Timofeev, the director of a Russian government-funded think tank. GUILTY AND JAILED: RICHARD PINEDO Pleaded guilty to identity fraud in February 2018. Sentenced to a year in prison Pinedo is a 28-year-old computer specialist from Santa Paula, California. He admitted to selling bank account numbers to Russian nationals over the internet that he had obtained using stolen identities. GUILTY AND JAILED: ALEX VAN DER ZWAAN Pleaded guilty to making false statements in February 2018. He served a 30-day prison sentence and was deported to the Netherlands on his release Van der Zwaan was a Dutch attorney for Skadden Arps who worked on a Ukrainian political analysis report for Paul Manafort in 2012. He admitted to lying to special counsel investigators about when he last spoke with Rick Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik. His law firm say he was fired. GUILTY: W. SAMUEL PATTEN Pleaded guilty in August 2018 to failing to register as a lobbyist while doing work for a Ukrainian political party. Sentenced to three years probation April 2019 Patten, a long-time D.C. lobbyist was a business partner of Paul Manafort. He pleaded guilty to admitting to arranging an illegal $50,000 donation to Trump's inauguration. He arranged for an American 'straw donor' to pay $50,000 to the inaugural committee, knowing that it was actually for a Ukrainian businessman. Neither the American or the Ukrainian have been named. CHARGED: KONSTANTIN KILIMNIK Indicted for obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. At large, probably in Russia Kilimnik is a former employee of Manafort's political consulting firm and helped him with lobbying work in Ukraine. He is accused of witness tampering, after he allegedly contacted individuals who had worked with Manafort to remind them that Manafort only performed lobbying work for them outside of the U.S. He has been linked to Russian intelligence and is currently thought to be in Russia - effectively beyond the reach of extradition by Mueller's team. INDICTED: THE RUSSIANS Twenty-five Russian nationals and three Russian entities have been indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States. They remain at large in Russia Two of these Russian nationals were also indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 11 were indicted for conspiracy to launder money. Fifteen of them were also indicted for identity fraud. Vladimir Putin has ridiculed the charges. Russia effectively bars extradition of its nationals. The only prospect Mueller has of bringing any in front of a U.S. jury is if Interpol has their names on an international stop list - which is not made public - and they set foot in a territory which extradites to the U.S. INDICTED: MICHAEL FLYNN'S BUSINESS PARTNERS Bijan Kian (left), number two in now disgraced former national security adviser Mike Flynn's lobbying company, and the two's business partner Ekim Alptekin (right) were indicted for conspiracy to lobby illegally. Kian, an Iranian-American was arrested and appeared in court charged with a conspiracy to illegally lobby the U.S government without registering as a foreign agent. Their co-conspirator was Flynn, who is called 'Person A' in the indictment and is not charged, offering some insight into what charges he escaped with his plea deal. Kian, vice-president of Flynn's former lobbying firm, is alleged to have plotted with Alptekin to try to change U.S. policy on an exiled Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and who is accused by Turkey's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of trying to depose him. Erdogan's government wanted him extradited from the U.S. and paid Flynn's firm through Alptekin for lobbying, including an op-ed in The Hill calling for Gulen to be ejected. Flynn and Kian both lied that the op-ed was not paid for by the Turkish government. The indictment is a sign of how Mueller is taking an interest in more than just Russian involvement in the 2016 election. GUILTY AND AWAITING SENTENCE: ROGER STONE Roger Stone, a former Trump campaign official and longtime informal advisor to Trump, was indited on seven counts including obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and lying to Congress about his communications with WikiLeaks in January 2019. Convicted on all counts November 15, 2019, awaiting sentence Stone was a person of interest to Mueller's investigators long before his January indictment, thanks in part due to his public pronouncements as well as internal emails about his contacts with WikiLeks. In campaign texts and emails, many of which had already been publicly revealed before showing up in Mueller's indictment, Stone communicated with associates about WikiLeaks following reports the organization had obtained a cache of Clinton-related emails. Stone, a former Nixon campaign adviser who has the disgraced former president's face permanently tattooed on his back, has long been portrayed as a central figure in the election interference scandal. 'They got nothing,' he said of the special counsel's investigation. Stone gave 'false and misleading' testimony about his requests for information from WikiLeaks. He then pressured a witness, comedian Randy Credico, to take the Fifth Amendment rather than testify, and pressured him in a series of emails. Following a prolonged dispute over testimony, he called him a 'rat' and threatened to 'take that dog away from you', in reference to Credico's pet, Bianca. Stone warned him: 'Let's get it on. Prepare to die.' CLEARED: GREG CRAIG Greg Craig, President Barack Obama's White House counsel, was indicted for failing to register as a foreign agent. Mueller's investigators uncovered Craig's work on behalf the government of Ukraine while probing Manafort, who did business with Craig. Prosecutors released a grand jury indictment of Craig in April 2019, after Craig's law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP agreed to pay more than $4.6 million as part of a settlement. The prominent firm also acknowledged it had failed to register, and placed much of the blame on Craig, a senior partner there. Craig's lawyer blasted the decision as an abuse of prosecutorial discretion, and prepared to argue that omission of information during an interview is not tantamount to making false statements. The charges stem from a 2012 report Craig and the firm produced on behalf of the Ukrainian government on opposition figure and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. She was an opponent of Manafort's client , former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Craig was cleared on September 9 2019. Advertisement
Former BHS owner Dominc Chappell, pictured in May 2017. He was not at today's hearing

The former owner of collapsed high street giant BHS was the victim of 'political pressure' when he was prosecuted for breaching pensions laws, a court heard.

Dominic Chappell, 51, who had no previous retail experience, bought the high street chain from billionaire Sir Philip Green for just 1 in March 2015.

The company crashed with the loss of 11,000 jobs 13 months later leaving a pensions black hole of around 571million.

In the wake of the collapse The Pensions Regulator, which has a responsibility to safeguard pensions, moved to protect the pensions of 19,000 members and requested vital documents from Chappell.

He was sent two statutory notices for information by the regulator, known as section 72s, in March and April 2016 before a warning notice was issued on November 2 of that year.

When the ex racing driver failed to comply with the request they took him to court and he was found guilty after a trial and fined.

Three time -bankrupt Chappell of Blandford Forum, Dorset, has now launched an appeal against the conviction.

At a preliminary hearing at Hove Crown Court today his solicitor Michael Levy said the Regulator's requests for 'thousands and thousands' of documents were 'disproportionate' and Chappell had been bound to fail.

Mr Levy claimed in court that the Regulator was under 'political pressure' to take action against Chappell over the collapse.

Chappell, left, at his sentencing at Barkingside Magistrates Court, east London, on February 23, 2018. He bought the high street chain from billionaire Sir Philip Green (right) for just 1 in March 2015

Mr Levy said: 'Some issues are political. We say it has a relevance. The Pensions Regulator was under pressure to do something and be seen to be responding politically at the time.'

He said that under the Section 72 notice the Regulator made a request for a huge amount of documentation relating to the pensions but gave him less than a fortnight to supply the paperwork.

He said Chappell employed a team of experts to go through the material but they were unable to meet the deadline.

Mr Levy said a second 'disproportionate' Section 72 notice issued weeks later made similar requests which he was unable to comply with.

BHS crashed with the loss of 11,000 jobs in 2016 leaving a pensions black hole of around 571million

Mr Chappell giving evidence to the business, skills and innovation parliamentary select committee in June 2016

He said: 'When the TPR makes a request the question is does it have to be reasonable and proportionate and our position is that it does. Some regard has to be had with regard to the size of the task involved.

'In this case there is thousands and thousands of documents. There were 17 lever arch files of documents and thousands and thousands and thousands of pages are attached to the notice.'

In January Chappell was fined 50,000 with 37,000 costs after being found guilty of failing to disclose vital details to the pensions watchdog as part of its investigation into the collapse of the high street chain. Chappell told the court he had was ordered to pay 2,500 a month.

The following month Chappell was hit with a bill of around 10m by The Pensions Regulator as it attempts to claw back money for the pension scheme.

It had earlier agreed a deal with Sir Philip Green that he should pay around 363million towards the pension deficit.

Chappell, who was not in court today will appeal his conviction on September 17.
More than half of those convicted of rape or attempted rape in Sweden last year were born in a foreign country, new statistics reveal.

In cases of rape where the victim was set upon and did not know their attacker or attackers, the figure rises to 85 per cent. Four in ten had been in Sweden less than a year.

The figures have been revealed following an investigation by Sweden's public service channel SVT, which has seen opposition politicians demand expulsion of convicted foreign-born rapists.

Statistics: Four in ten convicted of raping a stranger last year had been in Sweden for less than one year. This picture shows a group of migrants escorted by Swedish police officers as they arrive in Malmo in 2015

The findings by the public broadcaster SVT has led to demands from opposition politicians that Sweden adopts a hard line with foreign born rapists.

A disproportionate amount of foreign-born attackers came from Afghanistan, with a total of 5.3 per cent of all convicted rapists born there.

'Sweden needs to put its foot down. If you are a convicted rapist and a foreign citizen, you should be expelled,' said Tomas Tobe, shadow Minister for Justice.

'We must also dare to acknowledge that there are cultural and normative problems, such as with some young guys from Afghanistan, with whom we need to deal with.'

Researchers for the programme examined all convictions in district courts across Sweden for rape and attempted rape in the last five years.

In cases of rape where the victim was set upon and did not know their attacker or attackers, 85 per cent or rapists were born outside Sweden

Their findings revealed that where the victim did not know the offender 97 out of 129 convicted were born outside Europe.

The documentary revealed that in the last five years out of 843 cases involving rape 427 of the offenders were from a country other than Sweden.

The figures produced showed that almost 40 per cent of those convicted were born in the Middle East or Africa.

The most common nationality of appearing in court  apart from Swedes  were asylum seekers from Afghanistan with 45 men either jailed or sent to a juvenile detention centre.

The documentary also revealed that the number of reported rape cases has increased by 35 per cent in the last ten years, but has not had a conviction rate to match.

In 2016 there were 6,175 rapes reported to police but just 142 men convicted.

As part of the documentary a rape victim who was assaulted by three migrants waived her right to anonymity.

Sofia Naslund was attacked in 2015 in her home town of Strangnas, about 100km from the capital Stockholm. Police arrested two of her attackers, while a third has yet to be captured.

Both men  an Algerian and Syrian  denied carrying out the assault but were convicted with the help of DNA evidence.

The Algerian was jailed for two and half years while the Syrian national was given a five years sentence. Both men will be deported after completing their sentence. Ms Naslund said the attack changed her life.

'In order to try to survive, one tries to shut down those memories. I ended up in a complete chaos of feelings and the body reacted, 'she said.

'I'm still thinking about it and that's one of the reasons I chose to move from my home town Strangnas.

'Before I had a social life, I would go out with my friends. I don't do that today.'

The documentary has caused a storm in Sweden where immigration and integration are key issues in the forthcoming election which takes places on September 9th.

Both opposition parties, the Moderates and the far-right anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, said the figures showed the Government had failed to tackle the problem of immigrants and crime.

Sweden's Minister for Justice, Morgan Johansson slammed claims by the opposition that the government had been deliberately hiding figures showing the number of immigrants involved in sexual crimes.

'The opposition is trying to create a conflict that is not there. Well, it is election fever, simply. The assertion that there would have been some data that has been kept secret is completely untrue and taken out of thin air'

When the migration crisis in Europe erupted in 2014 the country's then Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's called on Swedes to 'open their hearts' to asylum seekers.

Sweden welcomed more asylum seekers than any other European country in relation to its population.

A record 163,000 applied for asylum in 2015 but due to a tightening of policies the number of applications has dropped to below 30,000 for 2017.

Voters have said immigration is their biggest concerns in next month's election followed by healthcare and law and order.
A man suspected of randomly shooting out the apartment windows of a luxury Manhattan high-rise on two occasions from across the East River on Roosevelt Island has surrendered to police.

Farris Koroma, 22, surrendered at the 114th Precinct in Queens' Astoria neighborhood early Friday, saying he was the man caught on surveillance video firing at the building.

He is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Koroma surrendered with an attorney present and did not answer questions from reporters as he was transferred to central booking.

The surveillance video released by the NYPD shows a man and a woman walking on Roosevelt Island along the East River at 1am on Saturday, before the man appears to take out a gun and fire repeatedly across the river.

Farris Koroma, 22, (front) surrendered at a Queens police station early on Friday, saying he was the man seen in a surveillance video shooting across the East River

Koroma made the above post on Facebook about four weeks before the shootings

Koroma (left) is seen being escorted from the 114th Precinct to Central Booking early Friday

This surveillance video still shows a man and woman walking together near the East River on Roosevelt Island early on August 18, shortly before the man appeared to shoot across the river

Police said the woman seen in the surveillance video is considered a witness and is not being sought for arrest.

Although a motive in the shootings remains unclear, Koroma wrote on his Facebook page, which has now been deleted, on July 14: 'This summer is trash. Im bout to shoot somebody'

He repeatedly claims affiliation with the Crips street gang, in particular a set called the Rich Blocc Crips.

He wrote on July 11: 'I joined a gang cause i felt that love, i felt unity, and i felt loyalty amongst my brothers.... I never HAD to turn crip... It was a choice.'

Koroma lives on Roosevelt Island and works selling what are known in New York City as 'nutcrackers', homemade cocktails sold surreptitiously by street vendors during the summer.

He was making $500 to $600 a week in the venture, and had ambitious plans for expansion, according to a video he posted to Facebook.

'I am going to turn this small business into something big and extraordinary', Koroma said in the video. 'These nutcrackers right here is gonna run all alcohol services and stores out of business, I guarantee it.'

Koroma also in the video, without explanation, offers a 'shout out' to the 'diplomats' at the United Nations, which is located about 20 blocks south of the luxury high rise that was terrorized by the shootings last weekend.

He has posted several photos in front of United Nations flags, and his family has ties to the Sudanese, Libyan and Lesotho embassies, sources told the Roosevelt Island Daily.

Koroma (above) is seen making 'nutcrackers', as the homemade cocktails sold surreptitiously by street vendors in New York City are colloquially known

Koroma said in a video that he charged $5 per bottle for the homemade cocktails, which are seen above in a promotion he posted to Facebook

Koroma is seen selling nutcrackers from a cooler in this photo he posted in June

There are multiple published reports that a Farris Koroma who resides on Roosevelt Island was arrested by state police on October 11 in upstate Deposit Villiage and charged with marijuana possession - but police records list that person as a woman.

Not far from Deposit Village, in Binghamton, a 22-year-old Farris Koroma was arrested on December 3 for marijuana possession, court records show. That case is still pending.

Though nobody was injured in the two shootings on August 17 and 18 in Manhattan, the apparent randomness of the crime left residents of One River East on the Upper East Side in fear.

Two windows of separate apartments in the complex were pierced by bullets from across the water on Roosevelt Island within 24 hours of each other.

One tenant who lives on the 14th floor of One River East woke up on morning of August 17 to find their living room completely covered in glass.

On the floor was a .38-caliber bullet that authorities believe was most likely fired from a Smith & Wesson handgun.

Then that night, the window of another apartment on the 32nd floor of the 50-story building was struck by a bullet around 1.15am on August 18.

Neither tenant were injured by the bullets, which shattered their living room windows.

The residents of luxurious Manhattan high-rise apartment One River East (pictured) are living in fear after a mystery gunman began randomly shooting into their windows last week

Two windows of separate apartments (pictured in file photo) at the complex were pierced by bullets from across the water on Roosevelt Island within 24 hours of each other

'They were lucky they weren't up late watching television,' a law enforcement source told the New York Post.

The shootings have terrified the residents of One River East, where two-bedroom apartments can rent for more than $7,000 a month.

Ilene Epstein, whose apartment on the 22nd floor faces the river, said she was 'petrified for my life'.

'I moved into this apartment because of the river. I have beautiful views. But I'll move out of my building before I walk around with a bulletproof vest.'

'I'm paying close to $10,000 a month in rent so I can use the fitness center and be shot in the head in my apartment,' another resident said.

Authorities were baffled by the shootings until they discovered that the second apartment was hit at the same time two 911 calls were placed on Roosevelt Island.

Authorities have discovered that the gunshots are coming from Manhattan Park (pictured), a complex on the island 1,400 feet away and directly across from One River East

Two overnight workers heard gunshots coming from Manhattan Park, a complex on the island 1,400 feet away and directly across from One River East.

Officers found that the two living room windows that were hit were clearly visible from the building, where two-bedroom apartments rent for around $3,000 a month.

Authorities believed the gunman could be someone 'standing on a balcony, shooting across the river', an NYPD source revealed.

The surveillance video of the second shooting appeared to reveal that the shots were fired from the waterfront by the buildings.
Chris Inghams name has been buzzing around online and its not because one of his YouTube videos went viral.

The 34-year-old, who runs a channel called The Ingham Family, has been accused of sending inappropriate messages to young girls. In some cases, the father of three allegedly went as far as seeking nude photos, vowing to make stars of the teens.

Chris, whos married to a woman called Sarah, is accused of asking one girl to drop her towel and send a photo. He also allegedly urged a 16-year-old on holiday with her mother to sneak out of her room and meet him in the middle of the night.

Chris Inghams name has been buzzing around online and its not because one of his YouTube videos went viral

Ingham, whos married to a woman called Sarah, allegedly asked one girl to drop her towel and send a photo

A third allegation against him suggests he sent a photo of himself to a 19-year-old girl, asking for a naked picture in return. He claimed he could make the woman famous.

The Ingham Family is a popular YouTube channel with about 1 million subscribers. The page is family-oriented, featuring videos that star Chris, his young children and his pregnant wife.

Chris and his family started vlogging about three years ago.

Heres what you need to know about Chris Ingham, his YouTube channel and more.

Who is Chris Ingham?

Chris Ingham is a well-known British YouTuber. He runs a channel called The Ingham Family with wife Sarah, 32, and his three children: Isabelle, Esme and Isla.

His children are aged 12, nine and six.

The Ingham Family YouTube account is known for featuring wholesome family content that focuses on the real life trials and tribulations of bringing up a family in this day and age.

Chris Ingham messages

According to The Sun, Chris Ingham messaged a 16-year-old who was vacationing in Florida with her family. He allegedly told the girl she was mega pretty, adding: I bet I can make you feel a lot better about things.

Chris also said: If you can sneak out without waking anyone then deffo come meet me!

Later, the YouTuber reportedly messaged her again asking if she was home alone saying: Im going over for a party, telling the teen he hoped to do some skinny dipping.

A fan by the name Bella Fearn, 19, shared Snapchat direct messages she said she got from Chris after they met this May. In one message, obtained by The Sun, the person urged Bella to drop that towel and resend a photo of herself.

In another, he wrote: Anywaysbottom line, I like you. And I like helping people. And I have the powers and the people to help turn yourself into a massive role model to thousands on Instagram and maybe even YouTube too.

Despite these detailed allegations, Chris has said: A lot of people have wrongly jumped to so many conclusions about me and wrongly and ignorantly labelled me so many things.

They have twisted so much and made so many presumptions that are completely wrong and disgusting.

Chris Ingham YouTube

Chris has been accused of sending inappropriate messages to teen girls, seeking nude photos and even urging one to sneak out of her hotel room late at night to meet him.

He has deleted his social media presence in response to the allegations, but continues to share videos on YouTube. On a personal YouTube account, Chris shared a video called The Reason For My Silence.

In it, he claimed he hadnt addressed the allegations against him because he received legal advice urging him to stay quiet.

He did not address The Suns initial story about him and appeared to suggest that things are fine.

Addressing claims he groomed young fans, Chris said: Have I ever done anything that could be classed as sexually grooming somebody? No. Hell no. Of course I havent.

Am I a paedophile? No. Hell no. Am I a sexual predator? No. Have I ever done anything that could be classed as being sexually inappropriate to anybody? No.

Sussex Police released a statement to Newsbeat saying: Police received a report on July 9 that a 16-year-old girl had been contacted on social media while on holiday.

The person who made contact with her was also believed to be a British man.

The statement continued: The contacts were of a sexual nature, however they did not meet in person. As the girl was over 16, no offences have been committed.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump put on a united front Friday following one of the most difficult weeks of Trump's presidency, after the world learned Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg got an immunity deal.

The couple left the White House Friday en route to Ohio as yet another key player from Trump's inner circle was revealed to have made a deal with investigators.

Federal prosecutors granted an immunity deal to Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, in their probe that secured a guilty plea from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, it was revealed Friday.

He is both a bookkeeper and a key executive running the organization who is familiar with major aspects of the organization.

LET'S GET OUT OF HERE: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn prior to their departure from the White House August 24, 2018 in Washington, DC on a day it was revealed the CFO of the Trump Orgnanization was granted immunity by prosecutors

News of Weisselberg's immunity deal comes a day after it was revealed American Media Inc. publisher David Pecker received immunity. Pecker's firm paid McDougal $150,000 and promised magazine covers and work in exchange for the 'life rights' of her story about an affair with a married man.

Although Cohen himself has no known cooperation agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to eight counts and said he was 'directed' by an individual (Trump) to violate campaign finance laws. Trump has taken to calling his longtime lawyer a 'RAT,' while praising convicted former campaign chair Paul Manafort for not 'breaking' under pressure. A Virginia jury convicted Manafort on eight counts this week.

Trump's trip to Ohio may be a welcome diversion from the encirclement. He attends a fundraising roundtable with supporters in Columbus. He also is attending the Ohio Republican Party State Dinner. He carried the Buckeye State in 2016, though the govenor, John Kasich, will snub him by skipping the event.

CFO: Michael Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis said invoices were submitted to the chief financial officer  position held by Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg

WE'LL BE BACK SOON: Trump waves as he and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for a trip to Columbus, Ohio. The couple plan to return to the White House Friday night rather than go to one of the president's golf courses

First lady Melania Trump walks to Air Force One with U.S. President Donald Trump to depart for travel to Ohio from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., August 24, 2018

BUFFETED: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are buffeted by the wind as they emerge from Air Force One arriving in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., August 24, 2018

HARD TO TIE DOWN: Trump waves to supporters as he lands in Ohio

The Trump's landed in Ohio after a tumultuous week in Washington

He and the first lady will also visit Nationwide Childrens Hospital where they will visit the neonatal intensive care unit to focus on special programs for babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). The syndrome is linked to the nation's opioid epidemic.

Weisselberg is the executive who runs the Trump Organization along with Don Jr. and Eric under a trust created by the president after the 2016 election.

The Wall Street Journal reported his immunity deal  just a day after it was revealed National Enquirer publisher David Pecker has received an immunity deal himself. Both men were involved in talks to secure a $150,000 payment for a former Playboy model who claims she slept with Donald Trump.

LAST YEAR IN JERUSALEM! The first lady wore a Michael Kors outfit that she wore previously on the president's trip to Israel

Cohen spoke to Weisselberg about negotiations with former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

'Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. So, Im all over that. And, I spoke to Allen about it, Cohen told Trump in a tape recording from September 2016 obtained by CNN.

And Weisselberg was identified as the executive from whom Cohen sought reimbursement from company funds after using a home equity loan to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels.

It was not immediately clear what was the extent or nature of the immunity deal he secured. Weisselberg was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury investigating Cohen earlier this year.

President Donald Trump colors during a visit with a group of children at the Nationwide Children's Hospital, Friday

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump talk with a group of children during a visit the Nationwide Children's Hospital

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit the Nationwide Children's Hospital, Friday

The first couple spoke to staff at the Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio during their Friday trip

His grant of immunity may have been related to cooperation in limited matters relating to Cohen. But word of the immunity deal raised immediate prospects that prosecutors had secured the cooperation of someone with intimate knowledge of how the Trump Organization operates.

Weisselberg began working for Trump's father, Fred, in the 1970s. He also worked on the board of the Trump Foundation  the subject of a probe in New York, while serving on the board of the Miss Universe pageant, which Trump previously owned.

The elder Trump hired him as an accountant right out of college.

He is deeply passionate, fiercely loyal and has stood alongside my father and our family for over [three] decades,' Ivanka told the Wall Street Journal in a 2016 profile of him. A former Trump executive said in the article Weisselberg would handle household expenses, along with purchases of boats and planes, for Trump.

Authorities in New York State have subpoenaed Cohen in connection to their own probe of the Trump Foundation.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators handed off the Cohen case to the Southern District of New York. Previous reports have shown investigators have shown an interest in some Trump Organization business that Weisselberg may conceivably have information about, such as discussion of a Trump Tower Moscow during the 2016 campaign.

Cohen communicated with the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization when successfully seeking reimbursement for his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, his attorney revealed this week.

Both Daniels and McDougal claims they had affairs with Trump, which he denies.

Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis mentioned Weisselberg, the powerful Trump Organization CFO, in an interview onCNN Wednesday, after government charging documents revealed that two different executives had knowledge of the payments.

WIRED: Daniels got $130,000 that an LLC set up by Cohen wired to her lawyer

News of Weisselberg's immunity deal comes a day after it was revealed American Media Inc. publisher David Pecker received immunity

Cohen forwarded his first invoice in February, 2017 to a person identified only as 'Executive-1'  and who passed it on to 'Executive-2' for approval.

Davis revealed that the invoices went to the person 'who was the controller, the individual, the chief financial officer.'

Interviewer Wolf Blitzer then aided Davis in his brief memory lapse by noting Allen Weisselberg is the powerful CFO who had been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury.

Cohen paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels, then got reimbursed $420,000, making sure he wouldn't get hit with a tax bill that would apply to income. He also got a $60,000 bonus

'Weisselberg,' Davis replied  before observing that 'I always have a problem,' likely with recalling or pronouncing certain names.

Davis then backtracked: 'I'm guessing, and I don't know that the invoices were sent to Mr. Wesselberg.'

Weisselberg is the executive who runs the Trump Organization along with Trump's two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Weisselberg, an accountant and key figure who spent decades working for Trump, made payments to Cohen but did not know about Cohen's $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, citing a source familia with his thinking.

The Trump Organization did not respond to requests Wednesday and Thursday about who Cohen's invoices were directed to.

But the process he followed was laid out in detail by the government under the section headed 'campaign finance violations' in the charging document.

Michael Cohen attorney Lanny Davis identified the Trump Organization CFO as getting the invoices, then hedged that he didn't know

Cohen set up an LLC and wired $130,000 to the porn star's attorney on Oct. 27, 2016.

In January 2017, Cohen sought reimbursement from the Trump Organization. He provided a bank statement reflecting the $130,000, plus a $35 wire fee, which further established what the payment was for.

He hand wrote an additional '$50,000,' according to the charging document, claiming payment for 'tech services.'

Executives then 'grossed up' the total so that Cohen wouldn't have to incur taxes, to $360,000. They also added a bonus of $60,000, for a total of $420,000.

Weisselberg is the executive who runs the Trump Organization along with Trump's two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. (pictured) and Eric Trump. The charging documents did not identify any of the executives mentioned by name, and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment

On Valentine's Day, 2017, Cohen sent 'Executive-1 his first invoice 'pursuant to a retainer agreement.'

It was for 'services rendered,' billing $35,000 for each of two months.

The exec forwarded the invoice to 'Executive-2' that same day via email. This exec sent it to another Trump employee, adding: 'Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses. Put "retainer for the months of January and February 2017" in the description.'

The Trust likely refers to the Trust Donald Trump set up for his holdings after the election, which is being overseen by his two sons and Weisselberg.

The document says Cohen later sent invoices to 'one or more representatives of the Company' monthly.

However, 'in truth and in fact, there was no such retainer agreement, and the monthly invoices COHEN submitted were not in connection with any legal services he had provided in 2017.'

Cohen's guilty plea to campaign violations has raised questions about whether any other person or entity who 'coordinated' with him might get charged. Justice Department guidelines state that a sitting president can't get charged.

Another corporation involved with payments to women negotiated by Cohen, American Media Inc., may have received another form of protection. The Wall Street Journal reported that AMI's CEO David Pecker had gotten an immunity agreement. The firm said it was cooperating with prosecutors.
Senator John McCain is discontinuing treatment for his aggressive terminal brain cancer, his family revealed Friday morning.

The 81-year-old's daughter Meghan McCain posted a statement on Twitter revealing that her father has made the decision to stop treatment for the glioblastoma he's been fighting for a year.

The full statement, which McCain's office also distributed, said: 'Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious.

'In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

'Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John's many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers. God bless and thank you all.'

Senator John McCain is discontinuing treatment for his aggressive terminal brain cancer, the 81-year-old's family revealed in a statement Friday morning

The Arizona Republican was diagnosed with aggressive glioblastoma last summer

Meghan, pictured above with with her father, tweeted: 'My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year'

Meghan said in a tweet that accompanied the statement, 'My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year.'

'Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you - you've given us strength to carry on,' she said.

McCain's wife Cindy also tweeted the statement minutes after her daughter.

She said: 'I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey.'

The White House declined to comment on McCain's declining condition. McCain has said he doesn't want Trump, who claimed he's not a 'war hero' as a candidate for office, to attend his funeral. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to deliver remarks at the service, instead.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, his closest confidante in the Senate, did not immediately comment on the McCain family's announcement, either.

Graham said after a trip to Arizona in May that McCain was upbeat and looking healthy following a hospitalization and a daunting operation.

'It's a tough diagnosis, not going to sugar coat this, but the guy came through the surgery and he's getting stronger,' Graham told CNN.

The South Carolina senator said that he and McCain did not talk 'about funerals' or early retirement.

'We talked about what we could do this summer. Maybe doing some events, if he gets a little stronger, at the McCain Institute. We were talking about the future. We're not at 2022 yet, but who knows,' Graham said.

McCain's seat is up for reelection in 2022. He was last elected to the Senate in 2016.

The senator has been battling cancer for the past year and relocated indefinitely to his home in Arizona last December. Hopefully that he would recover, McCain neither resigned his position nor gave up his chairmanship of the Senate's armed services panel.

As McCain lingered in Arizona, a bitter political battle erupted over how to fill his seat if he passes away in office.

The rules currently state that the governor - Republican Doug Ducey - has the power to appoint a new senator who will remain in office until the next general election. The appointee must be a member of the vacating lawmaker's political party, The Arizona Republic reported.

It's too late, Arizona law says, for a special election to take place this year.

For an election to take place in November when the state's other U.S. Senate seat will coincidentally be on the ballot, the senator would have had to step down 120 days before the Aug. 28 party primary, by May 31.

Republican Jeff Flake occupies that seat, although he said in the wake of Donald Trump's rise that he would not seek reelection. Three Republicans with ties to Trump are vying to replace him - Congresswoman Martha McSally, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Arizona state senator Kelli Ward.

McCain's wife Cindy and daughter Meghan posted the family's statement to Twitter on Friday

Ward, who challenged McCain for the Republican Party nomination in 2016, had not commented on the senator's announcement as of early Friday afternoon. Neither had Arpaio, whose Twitter account was business as usual.

McSally highlighted the ailing senator's life of 'service and sacrifice' and said she had 'been praying for Senator McCain and his family during this difficult time.'

It was not clear on Friday how badly McCain's health had deteriorated. His family's statement, however, acknowledged a dire prognosis in his cancer battle.

In July 2017, McCain revealed that he had undergone a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.

After testing the removed tissue, it was determined that McCain had glioblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor.

The average life expectancy post glioblastoma diagnosis is 14-16 months, and McCain has been fighting the cancer for 10 months.

The senator has undergone radiation and chemotherapy treatment, while performing his senatorial duties from Arizona.

Since relocating, he has been enjoying 'frequent visits from his family, friends, staff and Senate colleagues,' according to his office,

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed sadness at the McCain family's news

Earlier this year the Arizona Republican revealed in his memoir 'The Restless Wave' that he expected his current term in office to be his last due to the aggressiveness of the cancer.

McCain has served alongside six U.S. presidents during his 36 years in the Senate after being elected in 1986. He ran for president himself twice, in 2000 and 2008, winning the Republican Party nomination the second time to face off against fellow senator Barack Obama.

His relationship with the current president has been strained for years, going back to the first days of Donald Trump's candidacy when the former businessman who avoided the draft because he had 'bone spurs' said McCain, a former prisoner of war, is not a 'war hero.'

'Hes a war hero because he was captured,' Trump said. 'I like people that werent captured.'

The fight started when McCain sad in an interview that Trump has 'fired up the crazies' in Arizona with his immigration rhetoric. Trump said in tweet that McCain was a 'dummy' who should be defeated in his primary.

Their already-strained relationship took another hit when McCain jetted back to Washington last summer to cast the deciding vote against the repeal of Obamacare. Trump has never let the slight go, and brings it up at nearly every rally he holds.

'I had Obamacare done except one guy at two o'clock in the morning. Went in and said. He went, thumbs down,' Trump told a crowd in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, this month while making an exaggerated thumbs-down gesture and grimacing.

The president did not name McCain, but the reference was clear as he was the sole GOP no vote.

In May of this year, Trump came under intense scrutiny from the McCain family after former White House communications aide Kelly Sadler joked during a staff meeting that the senator's vote no longer mattered because he's dying of cancer soon anyway.

After that incident, sources close to the senator said that McCain did not want Trump to attend his funeral.
A belligerent man had to be restrained by passengers and crew members before he was handcuffed and escorted off a flight after starting a mid-air brawl.

The incident took place on an Austrian Airlines flight that departed from Vienna, Austria, at 6.45am on Thursday.

A passenger, who did not want to be identified, told MailOnline that 20 minutes after the plane took off, a man stood up and approached people nearby.

A video captured the moment a man allegedly started a fight on a plane from Austria to Italy

'A guy stood up and came to the people sat behind me and started yelling that he wanted his phone and money back and that he had been in prison for two months in Austria,' the passenger said.

The air steward attempted to calm the man down, but he became aggressive, the passenger said.

'Eventually a fight broke out during the flight,' the passenger said.

The video footage shows a number of passengers get involved to break up the fight.

The incident took place on an Austrian Airlines flight that departed from Vienna on Thursday

The passenger added that the steward then handcuffed the man with the help of other passengers.

'Once we landed the Italian police arrested him,' the passenger said.

The man was then handcuffed and escorted from the plane when it landed in Milan after the hour-long flight landed.

The passenger added: 'I thought the whole situation was weird.

Video showed a number of other passengers got involved to break up the mid-air brawl

'At first, I was worried that someone would be injured but then I realised that all the bags had been checked before we boarded so there wasn't anything dangerous on the flight with us.

'The airline staff handled the situation really well and calmed everyone down and they were very apologetic.'

It was not immediately known what charges the man, who has not been identified, may face.

MailOnline has contacted Austrian Airlines for comment.
John McDonnell fueled speculation of a big Labour shift on Brexit today as he backed calls for a second referendum to be kept 'on the table'.

The shadow chancellor, Jeremy Corbyn's closest ally, refused to rule out the prospect of another national vote.

The comments echoed the views of shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer - but contrasted sharply with those of frontbench colleague Barry Gardiner who suggested re-running the referendum could spark civil unrest.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr McDonnell said: 'It's not Labour Party policy to have another referendum, we respect the past referendum.

'But we recognise that when the Government comes forward with its proposals, if it does I'm worried we might be in a no-deal situation, but when the Government comes forward with its proposals, Parliament will decide the next step.

'So we're not saying any options (are) off the table when that debate happens.'

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell (file picture) today refused to rule out the prospect of another national vote on Brexit

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer (left) dismissed suggestions from frontbench colleague Barry Gardiner (right) that re-running the national vote could spark civil unrest

Yesterday, Sir Keir said there had to be a 'meaningful vote' in parliament on any Brexit package.

'If that vote is to reject the Article 50 deal then Parliament must decide what happens next and, in my experience, it's best to keep your options on the table,' he said.

The manoeuvring comes as Remainers from across parties mount a massive push to force another vote on the terms of the final Brexit deal.

Senior Labour figures have been urging the leadership to join the drive, but Jeremy Corbyn has so far resisted.

Mr Gardiner appeared determined to kill off the idea earlier this week, voicing fears that people would lose faith in the ballot box and turn to the extreme right if the 2016 result was not honoured.

He pointed out that both Remain and Leave campaigners informed the public two years ago that their decision would be final.

'If we then go back on that, yes, it may well be - and I certainly believe - that we will in the short and medium term be worse off economically as a result of Brexit, and certainly the way the Government is going that is what is happening,' he said in an interview on Tuesday.

'It's not about happily putting us in that position, it's saying there's more to this than simple economics.

'There is also the social, the democratic principles at play here.

'If you then say to people 'We did give you a vote and actually we, the Remainers, lost the vote, but because you were stupid enough to do what you wanted rather than what we wanted... ' that undermines the whole principle of democracy in this country.

'You never give as much succour to the extreme right as when you cut off the mechanism of democratic change.

'If people want to be able to achieve change through democratic means, if they feel that that is being denied to them, they then turn to other more socially disruptive ways of expressing their views, and that is the danger here.'

Pressed on what would happen if there was a second EU referendum, Mr Gardiner replied: 'I didn't say violence on the streets.

'What I'm saying is that in any situation, if people feel that the route to change is no longer a democratic route, then you look to social disruption, perhaps civil disobedience, in a different way.

'This is playing with our democracy - it's playing with the foundations of our country in a way that is really, really damaging.

'We have to respect people's vote in that referendum. We told them we would, we must do it.'

Senior Labour figures have been urging the leadership to back a second referendum, but Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Falkirk this week) has so far insisted it is not his favoured policy
Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed nearly 30 people in Yemen on Thursday, including four women and 22 children, Shiite rebel media reported.

Four families were evacuating their homes in a car when the airstrikes hit, according to Houthi-owned media.

One survivor said: 'Four people were killed in the strike before, that's why they fled.

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes (pictured) killed nearly 30 people in Yemen on Thursday, including four women and 22 children, Shiite rebel media reported

Four families were evacuating their homes in a car when the airstrikes (pictured) hit, according to Houthi-owned media

'They wanted to save their lives, their children's lives. Is nowhere safe for us?'

One resident of al-Duraihmi, where the strikes hit, told CNN: 'Anything that moves dies.'

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the Houthi rebels, said on Twitter the coalition attack took place in the ad-Durayhimi district, 12.5 miles from the port city Hodeida in the country's west.

Other Houthi officials provided lower initial figures saying at least nine were killed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

However, the state media of United Arab Emirates, a key coalition member, disputed the claim and said the rebels launched the attack, killing one child and injuring dozens.

The UAE's official news agency WAM reported that the Houthis launched a ballistic missile in the area killing one child and injuring dozens.

A Yemeni man stands over a crater next to the destroyed bus at the site of a Saudi-led coalition air strike on 10 August

Neither side's claims could be independently verified.

Earlier this month, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the country's north killed dozens of people.

Tebel-run Al-Masirah reported at least 51 people, including 40 children, were killed and 79 others, including 56 children, were wounded in the airstrike, citing the Yemeni Health Ministry in the capital Sanaa, which is under rebel control.

The Saudi-led coalition said it would investigate.

Also on Thursday, the Houthis claimed to have hit a Saudi target in the kingdom's waters but the coalition said the attack was thwarted.

Al Masirah TV reported that the rebels 'hit a military target with a suitable weapon.' It quoted an unnamed Houthi official as saying the target was hit 'accurately.'

Yemenis gather next to the destroyed bus at the site of a Saudi-led coalition air strike, that targeted the Dahyan market earlier this month

The Saudi state-run al-Ekhbariya TV channel, citing the coalition, reported that an attack by an explosives-laden boat was thwarted and that 'necessary measures' were taken to protect the coalition's commercial vessels.

Houthis attacked Saudi oil shipments last month prompting the kingdom's state oil company to temporarily halt shipments before resuming them later.

Impoverished Yemen has been embroiled in the war pitting the coalition against the Iran-aligned Houthis since March 2015.

Civilians have been enmeshed over the years in the conflict which has killed over 10,000, crippled the country's health system and pushed it to the brink of famine.
Darrell Burnside, 49, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly killing his girlfriend

A Mississippi man has been arrested and charged with capital murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend.

Darrell Burnside, 49, was arrested Wednesday for the murder of his mistress Ashley George, 25, in April.

George's body was found in a park in Clear Lake, Texas, near her abandoned car.

Both Burnside and George were the prime suspects in the murder of Burnside's wife Carol back in January.

Carol Burnside, 47, was found dead in their Mississippi home and police believed there to be foul play.

Harris County Sheriff's Office said George allegedly took part in that murder.

It's unclear what charges he faces in his wife's case.

Ashley George, 25, (right) was found stabbed to death at a park in Texas in April. George allegedly helped Burnside kill his wife Carol, 47, (left) in January

Pictured is George's abandoned car which was found with blood on the door handle

Burnside is currently being held in custody in Lake Charles, Louisiana, after being arrested in Texas Wednsday.

One day after Carol was found dead in January, her husband spoke to WTOK, saying: 'The world is not going to be the same without her.'

'If you were a part of the community, if you were a part of the family, if you were a part of the church, if you were a part of her life, you felt her love,' Burnside said of his wife.

At the time the family had no clue as to who could have killed Carol.

'The thing about it is you really don't know who did it,' George Burnside, her brother-in-law said. 'No reason. No cause. It just has the community on a standstill.'

Carol left behind her daughter Aleka, who was at the time helping her step-father Darrell through the 'tough time'.

'I love my wife,' Burnside said. 'I miss my wife.'

Burnside went on television after the death of his wife in January saying he loves her

The couple are pictured together before Carol was found dead in her Mississippi home

In April, authorities found George's body on a jetty on the water's edge with multiple stab wounds.

Authorities said the night before, George told her parents she was going to meet a friend to workout.

After 10pm, once the park closed, surveillance video shows George driving her SUV into a parking lot at Clear Lake Park.

By 4.15am, her car was found abandoned, with blood on the door handle and items in her purse scattered around but nothing was missing.

George's father joined the search, and he found his daughter's body around 6am that day.

Police are calling George's death a 'retaliation murder' by Burnside.
An Indiana woman who claims she was tricked into traveling to Syria where her husband was killed fighting for the Islamic State, was charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting the terrorist group.

Samantha Elhassani's son, Matthew - a child from her previous relationship with a US soldier - appeared in an ISIS propaganda video and she previously admitted she had bought sex slaves.

However, the 32-year-old's lawyer says the mom-of-four, whose children are now in the care of the state, is a victim of the man who died in a drone strike while fighting for ISIS.

The Elkhart woman and her children were held in a Kurdish detention camp after her Moroccan husband, Moussana Elhassani, died.

Her family had traveled to Syria from their Turkey vacation in April 2015.

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Samantha Elhassani has been charged with aiding and abetting the terrorist group ISIS

Samantha Elhassani's lawyer says the mom-of-four, whose children are now in the care of the state, is a victim of her husband who died fighting for ISIS

Elhassani, 32, was charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting the militant group

Elhassani's son appeared in IS propaganda videos and her husband, Moussana, (left) was an ISIS sniper before he was killed in a drone strike

She is accused by the US Attorney's Office of conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and aiding and abetting individuals in providing material support for the group's mission.

Specifically, Elhassani is charged with providing tactical gear and funds to two unidentified Islamic State fighters between the fall of 2014 and the summer of 2015.

It's believed she knew the group was an active terrorist organization.

She was accused of lying to the FBI March 19.

Elhassani remains in federal custody according to Ryan Holmes, a spokesman for the US Attorney's office in Hammond.

'The seriousness of the charges reflect the gravity of Elhassani's alleged conduct,' US Attorney, Thomas Kirsch II, stated in news release.

Their son, Matthew - a child from her previous relationship with a US soldier - appeared in an ISIS propaganda video (pictured)

Elhassani's children are now under the care of the state of Indiana while their mom is detained

Elhassani claims her husband deceived her into taking their children (pictured November 2013) from Turkey to Syria

Her Chicago-based attorney, Thomas Durkin, said: '[Elhassani is] a victim of her jihadist husband [who] should be receiving treatment rather than incarceration,'

He added the accusations were 'wrong-headed and cruel'.

The family was transferred into American custody by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

In an April interview with the PBS show Frontline, Elhassani said she was forced to go to Syria after her husband threatened the lives of their children.

At the time, Samantha had Matthew from her previous relationship, Sarah with her husband, and gave birth to two more children in Raqqa.

'We ended up in Raqqa,' she said while in custody under the auspices of the Kurdish authorities.

'The first thing I say to him is, "You're crazy and I'm leaving," and he said, with a big smile on his face, "Go ahead. You can try, but you won't make it."'

However her son later appeared in a chilling ISIS propaganda video.

Calling Donald Trump 'a puppet of the Jews', the then seven-year-old threatened terrorist attacks on the West.

'Allah has promised us victory and promised you defeat,' Matthew is seen saying while standing on the rubble of bombed buildings in Raqqa.

'The battle is not going to end in Raqqa or Mosul, its going in your lands. By the will of Allah, we will have victory, so get ready for the fighting has just begun.

Commander Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department provided aircraft and aircrew to fly the detainees from Syria to the United States.

In an interview from prison, she spoke of her life in the Caliphate as a 'prisoner' and said her husband once took her to a Yazidi slave market after suggesting they could help keep her and the children company while he was off fighting.

Over time, she said the couple bought two female teenage slaves and a young boy. The first slave was a girl named Soad, now aged 17, who Elhassani said she paid $10,000 for.

Elhassani said her husband repeatedly raped the two girls but she defended her decision to purchase them because she offered them protection.

The first Yazidi slave Elhassani said she bought at a market for $10,000 was a 17-year-old girl named Soad (pictured above) but Samantha will not apologize for it

'In every house that she was in before that was the same situation, but she did not have the support of someone like me,' Elhassani told CNN.

'I would never apologize for bringing those girls to my house. They had me and I had them.

'In any other situation they would be locked in a bedroom and fed tea every day. We cooked together, we cleaned together. Drank coffee together. Slept in the same room together. I was like their mother.'

She says she would never apologize for bringing sex slaves to her house in Syria

Samantha had two children before she went to Syria and two while she lived there from 2015
A grandfather to 19 children was killed by a speeding father-to-be who tried to 'beat the lights' on a busy road so he could surprise his partner ahead of her first baby scan.

Kevin Tanner, 32, was jailed today for mowing down 71-year-old Patrick Gerrard Hughes, known as Gerry Hughes - even though he was wearing bright high-visibility clothing as he crossed the road.

A court heard Tanner was dashing to see his pregnant girlfriend who was due to have the first scan on their unborn child.

Father-of-five Mr Hughes was wearing the full high-visibility gear as he walked home to his family from his job as a machine operator.

Father-of-five Gerry Hughes was described by his wife Frances 'as a gentle giant' and a 'very hard working man'

James Wilson, prosecuting, said: 'Mr Hughes should have been visible to him. However, Tanner went through the red light.

Mr Hughes - described as a 'proud family man' - died of his injuries in hospital a fortnight later.

Witnesses saw Tanner 'flying' around the roundabout in his Audi A3 trying to 'beat the lights'.

Mr Hughes was sent flying three feet in the air and landed on the windscreen of Tanner's Audi at the roundabout on the A48 in Newport, Gwent, in January.

Tanner told police: 'I had no idea the lights had changed.'

But collision investigators concluded that the lights had been on amber and then red for at least six seconds.

Tanner had been looking over his shoulder while racing to beat the lights.

Mr Wilson said: 'If the defendant had been driving properly, he could've avoided the collision but he wasn't and he did not even have time to even attempt to brake.'

In a victim personal statement, Mr Hughes' wife Frances described the 'absolute devastation' caused by his 'cruel and untimely death.'

She said: 'He was known as a gentle giant and a very hard working man.'

Nicholas Gedge, defending, said Tanner had been driving to surprise his partner in Newport ahead of the first scan of their then unborn child.

He added: 'Perhaps the excitement of what was supposed to be a happy occasion got the better of him.

Tanner, of Gaer, Newport, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at Cardiff Crown Court (pictured) today

'He has been off work since the incident, suffering from anxiety and depression.'

'Mr Tanner has huge regret and shame for the incident on that day and it's consequences.'

Tanner, of Gaer, Newport, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at Cardiff Crown Court today.

He was jailed for three years and four months by Judge Jeremy Jenkins.

Judge Jenkins said: 'You created a substantial risk of danger.

'You were driving at a speed inappropriate for the situation and failed to show regard for other road users.'

In a statement after his death in February, the family of Mr Hughes, paid tribute to him: 'Gerry was a proud Irishman who loved rugby.

'He was a devoted husband to Frances, dad and grandad, a good family man.'

He leaves behind five children and 19 grandchildren.

Tanner will also face a six year driving ban.
Tony Abbott may not have stood in Friday's leadership spill to replace Malcolm Turnbull, but he could still get his revenge on the man who ousted him two years ago.

The former prime minister's sister could be in line to replace Malcolm Turnbull when he vacates the Sydney seat of Wentworth.

Christine Forster said once Turnbull leaves parliament, which he says will be 'not before too long', she will consider entering the preselection fight.

Christine Forster is considering running for Malcolm Turnbull's seat of Wentworth in eastern Sydney once the former prime minister vacates it when he leaves parliament

'I have colleagues encouraging me to stand and I am considering doing that if and when the seat is vacated,' she told AAP on Friday.

Businessman and former Australian ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma is considered to frontrunner for the Liberal candidacy - and NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich is also considering running.

Mr Greenwich said he remained focused on retaining his seat of Sydney in the March 2019 state election but when pushed wouldn't rule out standing in Wentworth.

The Greens have revealed local councillor and First Nations advocate Dominic Wy Kanak will be their candidate.

Ms Forster (pictured right) will compete with businessman Dave Sharma for the Liberal Party candidacy should she run for the vacant seat

Cr Wy Kanak lives in Bondi and is deputy mayor of Waverley Council.

'It's time for a fresh start for Wentworth,' he said in a statement on Friday.

Mr Abbott has held a grudge against Mr Turnbull since he was ousted in a leadership spill in 2015.

Queenland MP Warren Entsch accused Mr Abbott with fuelling division within the Liberal party through his constant criticism of party policy in the past week.

Mr Abbott has held a grudge against Mr Turnbull since he was ousted in a leadership spill in 2015. Lucy Turnbull and Malcolm Turnbull are pictured in 2016

Ms Forster has disagreed with her brother's opposition to same-sex marriage, and filed to marry her long-term partner a week after Australia legalised it in December 2017.

Ms Forster said when the bill was passed, however, that they 'have a great relationship as brother and sister'.

The Liberals have held Wentworth since the party's creation in 1944. Mr Turnbull first won the seat in 2004 and claimed victory in 2016 with 62 per cent of the primary vote.
The shaken former girlfriend who turned up to support the alleged killer of Mollie Tibbetts at his first court appearance has told friends: I only went for the sake of our daughter.

Iris Monarrez says she split up with Cristhian Bahena Rivera two years ago but stayed in close contact with him because of their little girl, Jamilet, three.

Monarrez took Jamilet with her when she attended Poweshiek County Court Wednesday to see alleged illegal immigrant Rivera, 24, face a first-degree murder charge.

The toddler cried out and repeatedly asked her mom what was happening as her father was led into the courtroom in shackles and a jail-issue striped jumpsuit.

'Iris wanted to go because of her daughter. At the end of the day that's her little girl's father and she may not be able to see him for a very long time,' dished a confidante.

Cristhian Rivera's ex-girlfriend Iris Monarrez, with whom he shares a daughter, says she split up with Rivera two years ago but stayed in close contact with him because of their little girl, Jamilet, three. Monarrez took Jamilet with her when she attended Poweshiek County Court Wednesday to see alleged illegal immigrant Rivera, 24, face a first-degree murder charge

Rivera worked on a dairy farm less than four miles from where Mollie's body was found Tuesday under a pile of cornstalks, some 34 days after she vanished while on her evening jog

'Iris has been balling her eyes out. She's having a really bad time but her family are all rallying around her. Jamilet is everyone's priority now - not Cristhian.' Mollie and

Monarrez lived around two miles from one another in Brooklyn, Iowa and both went to Brooklyn, Guernsey, and Malcom High School only which only has around 250 pupils.

Monarrez graduated in 2016, a year ahead of Mollie, and was on the schools cheerleader squad. Mollie, meanwhile, ran track and competed on the school debate team.

The pair actually appear on opposite sides of the same page in the 2015-16 edition of the Make It Count yearbook.

Monarrez was dating Rivera between 2013 and 2015 however investigators don't think the high school connection brought Rivera into direct contact with Mollie. They think it's more likely the Mexican National had only seen her on a handful of occasions, possibly when she was out jogging or on social media.

'I don't know if Iris and Mollie were close friends at school but she obviously heard about her going missing,' the friend of Iris added.

'She's just really sad about what happened to Mollie. Everyone is.'

On Tuesday, Rivera led police to Mollie Tibbetts' body. She had been missing since July 18

Rivera worked on a dairy farm less than four miles from where Mollie's body was found Tuesday under a pile of cornstalks, some 34 days after she vanished while on her evening jog.

After investigators identified him as the driver of a suspicious vehicle seen following her, Rivera confessed to trying to speak to Mollie, chasing her down on foot, then 'getting mad' when she tried to dial 911.

He told investigators he 'blacked out' and can't remember what he did but said he came round shortly afterwards, found her body in the trunk of his Chevy Malibu and hid it in a field, according to charging documents.

Autopsy results have since confirmed that the 20-year-old college student's death was a homicide caused by 'multiple sharp force injuries'.

Rivera has not been charged with any type of sexual offence but the Iowa Department of Public Safety has warned that 'further examination may result in additional findings'.

Those examinations could take a further six to eight weeks, according to a law enforcement source.

The 5ft 6in defendant was also warned in court that he could be placed on the sex offender registry for life when the case concludes, as well as being deported.

Federal authorities believe Rivera, originally from the Mexican Pacific Coast town of Guayabillo, has been in the US illegally for between four and seven years.

Rivera, 24, was living in a trailer on a remote plot of land located four miles from where Mollie Tibbetts was abducted while jogging

Friends of his told DailyMail.com he crossed the border around six years ago with a cousin, although Riveras attorney Allan Richards has insisted his client is in the US lawfully.

Rivera's employer for the past four years, Yarrabee Farms, said he applied for his job using false name and social security number. DailyMail.com revealed exclusive images of the dilapidated trailer where Rivera had been living for the past couple of years, next to a two-story farmhouse also owned by Yarrabee Farms.

The surrounding plot was strewn with beer cans, rusting chairs and other assorted junk.

Both the trailer and the house were searched Monday after his arrest and then for a second time Thursday, when FBI agents took photos and scoured the site with a dog.

Rivera has extended family living in Brooklyn as well as an aunt and uncle in the nearby city of Tama, who were both in court this week to support him.

When reached by phone they told DailyMail.com his attorney had advised them not to speak with the media. Rivera is being held on $5 million cash only bond and is yet to enter a plea to first degree murder. His preliminary hearing takes place August 31.
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State-of-the-art weapons were among 250 units of hardware being showcased today in a display of military strength marking the 27th anniversary of Ukraines independence.

The event took place just one day after an outbreak of fighting in Ukraines rebel-held east killed four troops and left another seven wounded. The separatist conflict in the east has resulted in more than 10,000 people being killed since it began four years ago.

Spectators at today's solemn military parade in Kiev saw an impressive procession of about 4,500 military personnel, accompanied by an array of military hardware.

This included the Sapsan  a mobile short-range ballistic system  along with T-64BV modernised battle tanks, and the 155mm advanced wheeled self-propelled howitzer (SPH), an artillery system developed by Ukraine to destroy command posts and armoured and mechanised units.

On August 24, 1991, Ukraines border with Russia became an international boundary after the country declared its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Todays marking of that anniversary was hailed as the largest ever military parade in Kiev, as 30,000 members of Ukraines law enforcement agencies kept order, and 18 foreign delegations attended.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: We bow to every Ukrainian family that lost husbands, sons, mothers and sisters. Eternal memory to the heroes deceased in the battles for our free, independent Ukraine. Eternal glory to them.

Ukrainian servicemen march on Khreshchatyk Street in Kiev, during a military parade on August 24, 2018, to celebrate Independence Day

Mobile missile launch systems rolled out in force during today's parade which marked 27 years since Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union

Todays event was hailed as the largest ever military parade in Kiev, with about 4,500 military personnel taking part, including members of the Armed Forces, above

Self-propelled howitzers rumble along the main thoroughfare in Kiev. Some 250 pieces of military hardware, including advanced Ukrainian weapons the Bohdana 155-mm self-propelled howitzer and the Vilkha multiple-launch rocket system, were shown to the thousands of spectators who waved Ukrainian blue and yellow flags

A Ukrainian soldier holds a Javelin, in a US Portable Anti-Tank Missile, as he takes part in a parade marking the Independence Day celebrations on Kiev's Independence Square, Ukraine

Ukrainian servicemen take part in the military parade in Kiev. The Independence Day of Ukraine is celebrated on August 24 in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence (from the Soviet Union) of 1991

The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain said: 'Congratulations on the 27th anniversary of Independence of Ukraine! Today is a great national holiday, during which we honour the heroes of all generations of the Ukrainian people who... fought for the will and the unity of their state'

Ukrainian battle tanks take part in a parade marking the 'Independence Day' celebrations on Kiev's Independence Square. President Petro Poroshenko said today: 'The people are proud of their army. Our Ukrainian Army is an army of peace'

After a moment of silence, the president paid tribute to those who have died: 'We bow to every Ukrainian family that lost her husband or son, mother or sister. The eternal memory of the heroes who fell in the battles for our free, independent Ukraine. Eternal glory to them'

On August 24, 1991 Ukraines border with Russia became an international boundary after the country declared its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Leonid Kravchuk became the independent states first president

Kievs main thoroughfare, Khreshchatyk Street was closed to traffic for the parade, a 'mixture of military officers, political leaders, and proud citizens while the Ukrainian National Anthem plays,' said the Google Doodle for August 24, 2018, in celebration of Ukraines Independence Day. It added: The Ukrainian flag seen in todays Doodle is an abstract depiction of blue sky over golden wheat fields'. Google Doodles are small illustrations or animations that appear in the Google logo on the search engine's homepage

Leaders of countries from all over the world sent congratulations on the Independence Day of Ukraine to President Petro Poroshenko. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow wished Ukrainians peace, progress and prosperity. The President of India Ram Nath Kovind noted friendly relations between the two countries in a letter which added: 'We look forward to further strengthening our bilateral ties in the coming years'

A Ukrainian Naval Forces military unit marches on Kiev's Independence Square, Ukraine, during today's parade marking the 27th anniversary of the country's Independence Day

President Petro Poroshenko today met with National Security Advisor of the United States, John Bolton, with the pair discussing sanctions against Russia. 'This is a motivation for Russia to return to a civilized society, to withdraw its troops from Crimea and Donbas, not to use chemical weapons against other states, carry out a civilized foreign policy and respect international law,' Poroshenko said

Members of the US Army military unit march through Kiev, above. About 250 units of military equipment were showcased during the event that featured around 4,500 military personnel

The Ukrainian Armed Forces military unit marched in front of spectators lining the street. A contingent of British Airborne soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade also marched alongside their Ukrainian and international counterparts, from 18 countries, in a show of solidarity and partnership as part of Independence Day celebrations taking place in the capital, Kiev

A military transport aircraft IL-76 escorted by Mig-29 fighters flies above Kiev's Independence Square to help mark the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991

Although she did not attend the anniversary parade, the Queen was among the many dignitaries and heads of state wishing Ukrainians 'greetings and best wishes' for today's anniversary

Ukrainian battle tanks thunder past scores of spectators in Kiev on August 24. Ukraine has today marked 27 years of independence with its biggest ever military parade in central Kiev, as war continues against Russian-backed separatists in the country's east
A former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arraigned on charges related to allegedly groping a woman during a dinner party at his Brooklyn Heights apartment.

Dr Thomas Frieden, 57, was seen leaving Brooklyn Criminal Court on Friday afternoon after having been taken into custody that morning.

The married father-of-two is accused of grabbing the buttocks of a 55-year-old woman he knew as she was leaving the party at his home at 180 Montague Street last October.

During the hearing the judge reportedly ordered Frieden to stay away from the woman who has accused the married father-of-two of the assault.

A spokesman for Frieden said in a statement: 'The allegation does not reflect Dr. Frieden's public or private behavior or his values over a lifetime of service to improve health around the world.'

Former CDC Director Tom Frieden was arraigned on Friday in Brooklyn after a woman accused him of forcibly grabbing her buttocks in his home last October

The father-of-two appeared unfazed as he was escorted out of Brooklyn Criminal Court following a hearing on Friday afternoon,where he was arraigned on one count of forcible touching, one count of sex abuse in the third degree and one count of harassment in the second degree; He is seen in court at left, and leaving court at right

A law enforcement official told CNN the party was wrapping up and people were saying goodbyes when Frieden reached over and groped the 55-year-old woman without her consent.

The two have known each other for more than 20 years, sources told the New York Post.

The woman is said to have reported the incident to police in July, and the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office interviewed her and found the claim to be credible.

Frieden appeared in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Friday afternoon to face one count of forcible touching, one count of sex abuse in the third degree and one count of harassment in the second degree.

Throngs of photographers and press swarmed Frieden and his attorneys when he left court

Frieden's arraignment was held in Brooklyn criminal court on Friday

He is shown here, with officers behind him, during the court hearing in Brooklyn on Friday

The former New York City health commissioner, who was tapped to run the CDC by President Barack Obama in 2009 and left the agency in 2017 on the day President Donald Trump was sworn into office, currently leads a global health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives; He is seen here with legal counsel in court in Brooklyn on Friday

The former New York City health commissioner, who was tapped to run the CDC by President Barack Obama in 2009 and left the agency in 2017 on the day President Donald Trump was sworn into office, currently leads a global health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives.

Across his career, Frieden has been praised for his work on reducing smoking rates and bringing the Ebola epidemic to its end.

The 57-year-old had met his wife Barbara Chang when the two attended Oberlin College in the early 80s. The Post reports that it is unclear if they are still married.

The president of the company that houses Frieden's initiative, Vital Strategies' Jose L Castro, came out in support of the former CDC head after the news broke.

He said Frieden informed him in April that 'a non-work-related friend of his and his family of more than 30 years accused him of inappropriate physical contact.'

The president of the company that houses Frieden's initiative, Vital Strategies' Jose L Castro, came out in support of the former CDC head after the news broke; Frieden confers with his lawyers after an appearance in Brooklyn's criminal court for his arraignment in New York on Friday

Earlier this month Vital Strategies hired an investigator to interview Resolve to Save Lives employees even though the woman didn't work there, and the investigator found no inappropriate workplace behavior; Frieden is seen here after the hearing in Brooklyn on Friday

The Brooklyn Heights apartment where the alleged assault occurred is shown above, center

'I have known and worked closely with Dr Frieden for nearly 30 years and have seen first-hand that he has the highest ethical standards both personally and professionally,' Castro said in a statement. 'In all of my experiences with him, there have never been any concerns or reports of inappropriate conduct.'

Nonetheless, earlier this month Vital Strategies hired an investigator to interview Resolve to Save Lives employees even though the woman didn't work there. Castro said the investigation found no inappropriate workplace behavior.

'Vital Strategies greatly values the work Dr. Frieden does to advance public health and he has my full confidence,' Castro said.

The judge ordered Frieden to refrain from any contact with the woman and to surrender his U.S. passport. Frieden was freed on his own recognizance, leaving in a car with his attorney. His next court appearance is Oct. 11.

Frieden was tapped to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009; He is seen here leaving a press conference about swine flu on May 15, 2009 in Queens, New York
A runaway schoolgirl from South Wales is feared to have run off with an older man she met online - and police believe the pair could be hiding anywhere in Britain.

Detectives tonight appealed for Naomi Rees, 15, and Tomas Baker, 20, to contact them to make sure she is safe.

Naomi's family are distraught after the teenager went missing nine days ago from her home in from Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd.

Naomi Rees has not been seen or heard from since the morning of August 15

CCTV footage shows Naomi taking a bus into Pontypridd, South Wales

The 15-year-old, who was wearing a dark jacket, dark jeans and black trainers, got off the bus at Bridge Street

Footage then shows Naomi walking into the town's War Memorial Park

CCTV footage shows Naomi taking a bus into Pontypridd before walking into the town's War Memorial Park.

Police believe that she could be with Mr Baker, who is from Tamworth, Staffordshire, who she is believed to have met online.

Naomi, who is 5ft 6ins, was wearing a long scarf, dark jacket, dark jeans and black trainers. She was also said to be carrying a holdall.

Police believe that Naomi could be with Tomas Baker who is from Tamworth, Staffordshire

Detective Inspector Gareth Davies said: 'We are very concerned for Naomi as it is now over a week since she was last seen by her loved ones.

'Naomi has not made contact with her family who are deeply distressed.

'Our message to her is that we believe that you left on your own accord but we must know that you are okay.

'Your family and friends are extremely worried but you are not in any trouble whatsoever, so please make contact and let your parents know you are safe and well.

'If Naomi is with Mr Baker then my message to him is that it is not too late to do the right thing.

'Our priority is to know that Naomi is safe and to get her back home to her family so if he is in a position to help make that happen then he should make contact with us immediately.'

Officers have circulated the descriptions of Naomi and Baker to other police forces, while Naomi's photo has also been circulated nationally by the Missing People charity.

Detective Inspector Davies said: 'We have released pictures of them both in the hope that the public can help us locate them.'

Police have issued a statement today on behalf of the family in Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, which said: 'Please let us know where you are and that you are safe. Come home, we are all so worried about you.'
THE government has described National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) 20218-2030 as a catalyst towards improving the issuance of climate information and stimulates socio-economic growth in the country.

Launching the NFCS in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, the Minister of State in Prime Ministers Office tasked for Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Youth, Labour and Disabled, Ms Jennista Mhagama who was represented by her Deputy Minister Antony Mavunde, said Tanzania has joined the world in issues related toclimate services.

National Framework for Climate Services has a lot to do in the national economic growth and development of the country, Ms Mhagama said in a speech read on her behalf by her deputy, who also praised Tanzania Disaster Management Council (TADMAC) and Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) for good work.

The historic event was also attended by the Executive Secretary of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Prof Petteri Taalas and several dignitaries who strongly commended the current development.

It is an undeniable fact that NFCS will play a significant role for the government when it comes to issues of planning and enabling the country get prepared to withstand disasters emanating from climate changes, she explained.

She said TMA has been well prepared in providing information pertaining to climate through NFCS, in which Tanzania was better placed to implement the fifth phase governments ambitious plan of transforming the country into a medium sized and industrial based economy by 2025.

Climate changes have adversely affected several areas in the world, and through the launching of NFCS, our country is in a better position to access information on climate and be able to mitigate the effects of climate changes, she stressed.

Speaking at the same occasion, the WMO boss, Prof Taalas said he was very happy to witness the historical event where Tanzania launched its NFCS as part of implementation of Global Framework For Climate Services (GFCS).

We have brought GFCS very close by building an office in Nairobi which will serve the entire East African countries, with the view of bettering our services, including release of expert climate information to all stakeholders, Prof Taalas said.

Earlier, the TMA Director General, Dr Agnes Kijazi stressed the significance of NFCS for a country like Tanzania in enabling people to get timely and reliable information on climate.

Preparations for NFCS started way back 2014, and today (Tuesday) all of us are present to witness the launching ceremony. We extend our special thanks for Norwegian Embassy for funding the project, Dr Kijazi explained.

She said the climate information has been improved from time to time, and that TMA is also prepared to sensitise the public on the importance of information released by her agency so that they can be prepared.

Tanzania Disaster Management Council (TADMAC) has been managing the implementation of Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) 2014-2016, whose results led to the launch of NFCS on Tuesday.

There is a strategy geared towards minimising the impacts of disasters called Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 which stresses the need of availability of system suitable for reporting calamities.
If President Trump decides to pardon Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager will still be on the hook for millions of dollars in back taxes and civil penalties to the IRS  and may have to sell off his pricey clothing and luxury real estate to pay the tab.

Trump has dodged questions on whether he will pardon Manafort, who was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud this week.

On Thursday, the president did not answer directly when asked about a potential pardon, but said he had 'great respect' for Manafort and argued that 'every lobbyist in Washington probably [committed]' the crimes Manafort was charged with.

Manafort is also facing a second criminal trial for failing to register as a foreign agent in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors may also decide to retry him on 10 counts of tax and bank fraud that the jury was unable to reach a consensus on.

Even if Manafort is pardoned by Trump, he will likely still be liable for substantial civil fines from the IRS  including the back taxes he owes, plus an additional 75-percent penalty, according to legal experts. The total could be as high as $11 million.

Trump has dodged questions on whether he'll pardon Paul Manafort but the former campaign manager will likely still be liable for substantial civil fines from the IRS

'Whatever the nature of the pardon that might be bestowed upon Manafort, he remains liable for the federal income taxes, plus interest, plus penalties,' said Julian Block, a New York-based tax attorney and former special agent at the IRS.

Block said Manafort would also be liable for any state income taxes he failed to pay.

Going by the top income tax bracket  which is a 39.6 percent income tax  Manafort would owe an estimated $6.3 million in back taxes.

That is in addition to any civil penalties Manafort would owe. When taxes are not paid due to fraud  rather than mere negligence  the IRS code tacks on an additional 75 percent fine.

That means Manafort could owe an additional $4.7 million  pushing his overall liability to around $11 million.

Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud charges on Tuesday

Manafort made $60 million working for Ukraine's Putin-allied political party, the Party of Regions, between 2010 and 2014. But witnesses testified at his trial that he spent the money on luxury items as quickly as it came in, and was left broke after 2014 when his top Ukrainian client lost power.

After a 2015 stint at an Arizona psychiatric hospital, Manafort became manager of Trump's presidential campaign in March 2016. He lasted five months on the job, which was reportedly unpaid.

Despite Manafort's financial difficulties, he still has substantial money invested in real estate.

Manafort owns a condo in Trump Tower, which he purchased for $3.6 million in 2006. He also owns a $1.5 million home at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach and a mansion in Bridgehampton.

Manafort also purchased a $3 million Brooklyn brownstone and a $2.8 million loft in SoHo, in addition to a 5-acre horse farm and a condo in northern Virginia.

He has other valuable assets as well. Two luxury menswear retailers testified during his trial that Manafort spent over $1.5 million on custom made clothing between 2010 and 2014  including a $15,000 ostrich skin jacket that federal investigators photographed after raiding his home.

The owner of a Florida electronics company also testified that Manafort paid him over $2 million for electronic equipment, including audio and TV systems.

That included an $18,000 karaoke machine and specialty TV screen from the New York-based luxury audio visual company Sensoryphile.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has already filed a request to seize Manafort's property as part of the upcoming criminal charges Manafort is facing in Washington, D.C. His indictment requests that Manafort forfeit his homes in Brooklyn and SoHo.

Soon-to-be for sale? Witnesses testified at his trial that he spent the money on luxury items such as $18,500 python coat from Alan Couture (left) and a $15,000 ostrich skin jacket (right)

Manafort still has a considerable amount of money invested in real estate including his mansion in Bridgehampton (pictured)

If Trump pardons Manafort, the former political consultant could avoid having his assets seized. But that won't necessarily protect him from civil penalties associated with his tax fraud convictions.

These penalties substantially outweigh the annual taxes Manafort claimed he was unable to pay in 2015, after his lucrative consulting contracts with Ukrainian politicians dried up.

Manafort balked when he was told he would have to pay an additional $215,000 in taxes for his 2014 salary, according to emails between him and his former deputy Rick Gates.

'WTF? How could I be blindsided like this?' wrote Manafort after learning of the tax bill. 'You told me you were on top of this. We need to have options. This is a disaster.'

Trump has not said whether or not he'll pardon Manafort but tweeted saying he felt 'very badly' over the verdict

He referred to the trial as a 'witch hunt'

After Gates consulted with his tax preparers, Manafort disguised $900,000 of his income as a loan to reduce his tax liability.

At the time, Manafort was having serious financial problems and struggled to pay his bills, according to his personal book keeper.

Heather Washkuhn, who managed Manafort's personal and business income and expenses from 2011 to 2018, said Manafort became delinquent on many of his bills around 2015 and didn't have enough money in his accounts to cover them.

That was after the fall in 2014 of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president who Manafort had advised and prosecutors had previously called his 'cash spigot'.

Prosecutors produced emails between Manafort and Washkuhn that discussed his failure to pay home insurance, medical insurance, and property taxes, leading to threats of penalties and suspended coverage.

Washkuhn noted that on a few occasions Manafort also failed to pay her own bookkeeping fees  which she said were about $100,000 per year.

The former Trump campaign chairman had also used up his entire line of bank credit, leaving nothing left to cover his expenses, according to Washkuhn.

Manafort's financial situation was so dire by the end of 2015 that he needed to rely on income from his daughter's rental apartment in SoHo, New York, being put on Airbnb to pay outstanding bills.

During Manafort's trial, IRS agent Michael Welch testified that the former Trump campaign manager neglected to report at least $16 million in income that he had stashed in offshore accounts between 2010 and 2014.

Manafort has yet to be sentenced by Judge T.S. Ellis for the eight counts of tax and bank fraud. The crimes carry a combined maximum sentence of 80 years in prison, in addition to any financial penalties the court decides to impose.
This is the moment a overly relaxed biker eclines on his bike while doing 50 miles per hour down a Florida freeway - with his feet.

Astonishingly, the bandanna clad motorcyclist seems very relaxed in his flat out position as he rests his head against a propped up backpack and steers with his bare feet.

The incident occurred on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida in the US. The person who took the video said: 'I was driving on 95 south at the J Turner Butler exit in Jacksonville.

'I was with my son and we were baffled when we passed this guy. I slowed down a little so we could take a video of him riding past.

'It was crazy. It was really neat to see something like that, but I didnt hang around after taking the video because I knew it wouldnt take much for that to become a mess and I didnt want to risk being involved in an accident.'

The video was shot at around 50-60mph on a freeway in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday

Rashand Anderson Glespen was travelling on southbound 95 near Jacksonville with her son when she captured the footage and posted it on Facebook and Instagram.

Her Facebook post read: 'JJ and I had the pleasure of witnessing this on 95 about 15 minutes ago... wth??? This guy was flying.'

The Jacksonville resident told the Miami Herald she and her son were 'baffled' when they saw the easy rider.

She said: 'I was with my son Joseph and we were baffled when we passed him. I gave him (Joseph) my phone and slowed down a little (probably 50-60mph) so he could take a video of him riding past. It was crazy.'

Rashand's son Joseph also videoed the biker nonchalantly overtaking their car at up to 60mph

Rashand also confirmed to the Herald that the biker was a Florida resident as he had state plates on his bike.

A Florida lawyer told the paper that the unidentified biker would have been in a lot of trouble had police spotted his stunt.

'The rider in the video could be cited for several violations. He could be cited for not having his legs and feet positioned on each side of the bike,' the lawyer said.

'I would imagine most police officers would also cite him for careless or reckless driving,' they added.
This is the moment a legendary Soviet WW2 tank toppled off a trailer during a parade to commemorate one of the Soviet Union's biggest battles against Nazi forces.

The T-34 was being loaded on to the back of a lorry of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk at a parade that Russian President Vladimir Putin was attending.

The incident happened in the city of Kursk, about 450 km southwest of Moscow. No injuries were reported.

The T-34 was being loaded on to a lorry of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk

The incident happened in the city of Kursk, about 450 km southwest of Moscow yesterday

T34's became a legendary after the Red Army's defeat of invading Nazi forces so this scene in front of swathes of people in Kursk will have embarrassed the driver trying to load the tank on to a transport trailer.

This tank was actually an updated version of the T34 which were manufactured way back in 1943 by the Chelyabinsk Tractor Factory

Mr Putin laid flowers at the Unknown Soldier's Tomb in Kursk yesterday and talked to war veterans.

The T34 seemed to suddenly accelerate before leaning precariously on the edge of the trailer

The T34 tumbled off the edge of the trailer as Russian soldiers scurried to avoid being crushed

The tank was totally upended but no injuries were reported to foot soldiers or the driver

'It was a definitive turning point in WWII,' Mr Putin said.

He also praised volunteers who help find and identify the remains of the fallen Soviet soldiers.

'We still know the names of only half of soldiers who died, we need to do a lot more to preserve the memory of our WWII heroes,' Mr Putin added.

The parade also included a flyover of aircraft of Russias army, transport and tactical aviation at an altitude of over 150 meters and at a speed of up to 600 km/h.
Dr. Mark Jackson, 59, was arrested on Wednesday in New York City

A doctor in Harlem has been accused of sexual misconduct with a female patient during a breast cancer screening.

Primary care doctor Mark Jackson, 59, was arrested and charged with forcible touching and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse on Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Prosecutors claim that Jackson placed his mouth on the patient's breast during the cancer screening in September 2017, and then placed her hand on his penis, saying 'See how hard you got me?'

The alleged encounter took place at Starting Point Clinic, an addiction treatment facility that offers primary healthcare.

Jackson reportedly told investigators he did nothing wrong, but he did admit to calling the patient at home later. He said it was because she had given him her number.

Jackson (above) is charged with forcible touching and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse

'Patients place a unique trust in their medical practitioners to conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism and care,' said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance in a statement.

'As alleged here, Mark Jackson betrayed that trust when he sexually abused a patient seeking a simple breast cancer screening.

Having attended to numerous patients over the course of his three years at this clinic, many of whom were grappling with substance use disorder, there is reason to believe there may be additional survivors of his alleged conduct,' the prosecutor said.

Vance urged anyone who had experienced misconduct to contact the Manhattan DA's Sex Crimes Unit at 212-335-9373.

The alleged encounter happened at the Starting Point Clinic (above) on West 124th Street

However, some of Jackson's patients spoke out in media interviews, saying they could not imagine the doctor behaving inappropriately with patients.

'He's very cordial, he does an exam the way a doctor is supposed to do an exam, and then you leave. I've never had him do anything disrespectful towards me and I've been here 12 years,' one woman told WABC.

After the alleged incident in September, Jackson was placed on unpaid leave from the clinic, and then fired in October when he tried to enter the facility without his ID card, the clinic said.

Jackson is being represented by a public defender and is being held pending cash bail of $1,500, records show. He is next due in court on Monday.
President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of a planned trip to North Korea by secretary of state Mike Pompeo, citing a lack of 'progress' in stalled denuclearization talks.

The president issued the rare admission of a standoff after initially cheering an loosely-defined agreement reached at his summit with dictator Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June.

Pompeo had been planning a trip next week after North Korea said talks had 'derailed.' It would have been his fourth visit there.

'I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,' Trump wrote on Twitter Friday, minutes before he was set to leave town.

'I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time,' President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Friday

President Donald Trump flew to Ohio Friday after announcing the cancellation of Pompeo's trip

He continued in a second tweet: 'Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place).'

Trump kept open the possibility of a future visit by the nation's top diplomat, writing that: 'Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!'

Trump's tweets come as international inspectors have raised concerns about the north's continuing weapons program.

resident Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) as they sit down for their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

Trump announced the cancellation of Pompeo's visit after cheering about progress with North Korea at his campaign rallies

In this undated photo, provided on Aug. 19, 2018, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits a construction site during a visit to the city of Samjiyon, a remote northern city near the Chinese border

North Korea said the talks had 'derailed' over demands they reveal secret nuclear facilities.

Trump hailed an agreement and proclaimed 'KOREAN WAR TO END!' following his April summit with dictator Kim Jong-un.

The two men inked an agreement calling for the 'complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula' but leaving out most of the details on how to get there, leading to immediate criticism that Trump was trying to declare victory prematurely and that Kim was stalling U.S. negotiations as his regime had done effectively for years.

Pompeo outlined the trip just a day before Trump shot it down, as ABC News reported Thursday.

The fired off tweets about North Korea Friday afternoon

He said he planned to go with his new Special Representative for North Korea, Steve Biegun, whose role he announced Thursday. Biegun is a former executive in Ford Motor Company's government relations shop.

They planned to go 'to make further diplomatic progress toward our objective' of complete denuclearization, he said, as well as 'laying the groundwork to hold North Korea accountable to the promises that Chairman Kim has made.'

'Using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Trump's greatest priorities,' Pompeo said.

Trump proclaimed after the June summit that North Korea was 'no longer a nuclear threat.'
This is the stomach-churning moment a tiny snake regurgitates a massive frog in India.

The snake, a green keelback, managed to hunt and swallow the giant India bullfrog frog before deciding it was too much to stomach.

The one-and-a-half ft snake was reportedly spotted by a farmer in his backyard at a village in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.

The snake started to regurgitate its prey and a huge six-inch long frog came out of its mouth

Thinking that the snake was venomous the terrified farmer called a snake rescuer, Akash Jadhav, to catch the reptile.

Jadhav spotted a huge bulge in the snake's stomach and noted that it couldn't move freely. It soon became clear why.

The snake started to regurgitate its prey and astonished villagers watched a huge six-inch long frog came out of its mouth.

The snake was reportedly one-and-a-half feet long while Indian bullfrog was six inches long

The tiny snake was dwarfed by the huge India bullfrog. Snake was captured and then released

Jadhav identified the snake as a green keelback and told the villagers that it was not venomous at all.

'Snakes turn sluggish after feeding. If they feel threatened, they throw up their meal to escape quickly,' said Jadhav, who handled the snake during the video.

He put the snake in a bag and released it later in a nearby forest.

The video comes as hospitals in India are readying anti-venom as flood waters leave behind a glut of snakes.

Flood victims returning home in the Indian state of Kerala have been told to stay alert as receding waters give rise to the risk of being bitten.

Local media reports warned that snakes may be "hiding in cupboards" or under carpets, among clothes or inside washing machines in homes previously submerged by floods, reported Channel News Asia.
A ripped Miami model has been filmed clubbing a panhandler to death with a fish bat after refusing to give him money at a gas station.

Hivo Gonzalez, 32, has been charged with second degree murder for attacking Pedro Cruz at a gas station in Miami in June.

Cruz had asked the man for money and the pair began arguing when he refused.

As Cruz stood to the side of his pick-up truck shouting at him and his friend, Gonzalez retrieved the small bat from the front seat and chased him with it.

The argument began with Hivo Gonzalez standing by his car and panhandler Pedro Cruz further away

After arguing by the car, he retrieved his bat and chased Cruz then hit him with it

Gonzalez chased Cruz down and hit him in the head a second time, delivering the fatal blow

After hitting him, Gonzalez left Cruz lying motionless on the ground and ran back to his car

He hit him once then carried on running after him before delivering a second, fatal blow.

Gonzalez then sprinted back to his vehicle and drove away, towing a small boat behind him, leaving Cruz lying motionless on the ground.

The male model was later charged. He claims he feared for his life and thought that Cruz would attack him if he did not move first.

Gonzalez works as a fitness model. His lawyer said he feared for his life and attacked Cruz because he thought he would be hurt if he did not move first

The Miami Herald obtained footage of the incident and published it on Friday.

Gonzalez now faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars if convicted

In court, Gonzalez's lawyer described him as a non-violent man.

'This is a really good-natured guy who believed he was put into a life-or-death situation.

'We are deeply sorry about what happened to Mr. Cruz. The bottom line: Hivo Gonzalez is no killer.'

The police report said that Gonzalez did not render aid did not call 911.

He now faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars if convicted.

Gonzalez is a fitness model but also operates fishing tours in Miami.
A clothing store in Belgium has been ordered to pay a male jobseeker more than 11,000 in damages for refusing his candidacy because it wanted to hire a woman.

The rejected potential employee, of Leuven, near Brussels, lodged a complaint with the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men for discrimination in employment.

The Leuven Labor Court found that the only reason for him being refused the managerial role was his sex, and this constituted direct discrimination, it said.

The store  which has not been named for legal reasons  was sentenced in accordance with Belgiums Gender Law, to pay the plaintiff more than 13,000 (11,800) in damages, the equivalent of six months' gross remuneration, and a nominal allowance of 1 to the institute.'

A clothing store in Belgium has been ordered to pay a male jobseeker more than 11,000 in damages for refusing his candidacy because it wanted to hire a woman (stock image)

Sex does not determine candidates professional skills, said Michael Pasteel, director of the institute, adding, Very often, employers are still convinced that women are more destined to certain functions, and men to others.

These beliefs are preconceived ideas that are based on stereotypes and sexist prejudices that must disappear.

In this case, it became clear that the jobseeker's sex was the only reason for refusing his candidacy.

However, any refusal of recruitment because of gender, gender identity or gender expression constitutes direct discrimination, protected by the Gender Law.

This legislation applies to the entire recruitment process, from the job being advertised, to the actual selection of someone to fill a position in Belgium.

The Gender Law applies to the entire recruitment process, from the job offer to the selection in Belgium, but recruitment is a phase where men report being discriminated against almost as much as women

The institute explained: 'Gender stereotypes still have a great influence on the recruitment process, not just when it comes to female candidates: these stereotypes can also have a negative impact on the chances of men getting a job.'

It said that four out of ten reports of complaints it receives relate to recruitment and selection, with women the main victims of discrimination in the workplace, but recruitment seems to be a phase where men report being almost as discriminated against as women.
Heads solemnly bowed, these four retired soldiers surround the tomb of the Unknown Warrior at dawn to pay their respects to the heroes who lost their lives for Britain.

The Chelsea Pensioners silent ceremony in Westminster Abbey was held in the run-up to the centenary of the Armistice of the First World War on November 11.

Former Royal Marine David Griffin, 77, said: Some of our members are almost 100 years old  they know what it was like after the First World War and during the Second.

Heads solemnly bowed, these four retired soldiers surround the tomb of the Unknown Warrior at dawn to pay their respects to the heroes who lost their lives for Britain

We wanted to do something really special for the centenary. Before the doors are open to the public, the cavernous silence by the grave is profound. We arrived around 6am, before the cleaners and the crowds, and stood in just total emptiness and deadly silence  as it should be.

I think the picture of us exudes this loneliness and silence which emphasises the fact that so many of those who died were never found after being blown to pieces. They never came home.

Mr Griffin was joined at the grave by John Denton, 81, who served in the Royal Engineers in Cyprus, Ray Pearson, 82, another Royal Engineer, and Fred Rook BEM, 92, who joined the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers in 1944.

They were invited to perform the vigil by John Hall, the Dean of Westminster Abbey, as part of its commemorations for the Armistice centenary.

All four men now live at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, alongside 300 other veterans. Any former British soldier over the age of 65 who faces spending their advanced years alone can apply for residence.

The Unknown Warrior represents all those who died who have no other memorial or known grave

Mr Griffin said he believes the centenary is a vital chance to educate younger generations of the horrors of war. More than 700,000 British soldiers died in the Great War.

He added that the Chelsea Pensioners represent the essence of the Army of old and the anniversary is a brilliant opportunity to remind people of the importance of the Armed Forces. Despite the moving ceremony, Mr Griffin has a dark cloud hanging over him  he is among Northern Ireland veterans facing possible murder charges in a police review of decades-old cases.

The Unknown Warrior represents all those who died who have no other memorial or known grave.

The body in the tomb was chosen from four unknown servicemen exhumed from the battle areas of Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. It was brought back from France and was buried on November 11, 1920 during a service attended by King George V and other dignitaries and ministers.

The marble tombstone was unveiled a year later, with the inscription: Beneath this stone rests the body of a British warrior unknown by name or rank brought from France to lie among the most illustrious of the land.
Two men who converted imitation guns from the Czech Republic into live firearms and sold them to criminal gangs for between 1,500 and 2,000 have been jailed.

Firearms supplied by Matthew Harwozinski, 29, and Ricky Garner, 48, have been linked to multiple shootings - including one at a McDonald's restaurant in Luton and another in Romford, east London.

The shootings could be considered as attempted murder, Luton Crown Court heard.

James Lachkovic, prosecuting, said Harwozinski imported more than 80 blank-firing handguns and 1,800 rounds of blank ammunition from the Czech Republic under a false name between May 2017 and January 2018.

Firearms supplied to gangs by Matthew Harwozinski, 29, and Ricky Garner, 48, pictured, were linked to multiple shootings

Some of the weapons recovered by police who were investigating Matthew Harwozinski, 29, and Ricky Garner

The weapons were then converted by Garner, an engineer at a metal fabricator factory, so they could fire modified live ammunition, Mr Lachkovic said.

The blank firearms are legal in the Czech Republic, but their possession is illegal in the UK given the way they work, Bedfordshire Police said.

Guns were sold to at least one Luton-based gang, and their weapons and ammunition have also been recovered in London and the West Midlands.

Harwozinski imported more than 80 blank-firing handguns, two of which are pictured

Harwozinski, who admitted importing and converting firearms, manufacturing ammunition and possessing firearms with intent to enable others to endanger life, was sentenced to life in prison - and must serve a minimum of 11 years and eight months before being considered for release.

Harwozinski also imported more than 1,800 rounds of blank ammunition. Some of it can be seen in the picture

Garner, who admitted converting the weapons, manufacturing ammunition and possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, was jailed for 20 years and three months and must serve up to half of this in prison and the rest on licence.

The two men, both of Abbey Fields, Bedfordshire, admitted to the offences at an earlier hearing.

Ballistics testing found the converted weapons were capable of firing lethal shots, and some of them were fully automatic and able to fire around eight bullets per second, police said.

The weapons were linked to a shooting at a McDonald's in Luton, in October 2017, where a shot was fired into the restaurant's window.

They were also linked to a separate incident in which shots were fired through two car windows in Luton in December 2017.

No-one was injured in either incident.

Police said bullets found at the scene of a shooting in Romford, east London - in circumstances amounting to attempted murder, match the weapons supplied by Garner and Harwozinski.

After the weapons were sold, buyers returned to Garner and Harwozinski for their unique ammunition.

Inspector Justin Dipper, from Bedfordshire Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said after the hearing: 'The fact these weapons have been repeatedly fired in public shows the huge danger Garner and Harwozinski placed innocent people in, and we are glad the court has responded with such strong sentences for those involved in organised crime.'

The court heard both men had been under pressure due to drug debts.

The pair were sentenced by Judge Andrew Bright QC at Luton Crown Court on Friday.
MSG Director General, Ambassador Amena Yauvoli (Standing 5th from the right) at the opening of the APCC COCOTECH Conference & Exhibition.
A woman in her eighties (pictured) who does not want to be named tripped after her foot was caught in a hole next to a cable in West Sussex

Councils are exploiting a legal loophole to avoid compensating residents injured after tripping over wonky pavements.

Amid growing concerns over Britains crumbling roads, town halls have relied on a get-out clause to reject thousands of claims from members of the public.

More than 10,300 claims have been made over the past twelve months for pavement injuries  but just one in 20 are successful.

One reason is that council officials are routinely citing Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 to ensure they settle the bare minimum of compensation claims.

The legislation states that councils are not liable if they had not previously been alerted about the defect, and if the pavement was scheduled to be repaired at some point in future.

This means they can avoid paying compensation no matter how badly injured someone is or how dangerous the pavement.

The ruthless approach, which is also used when drivers damage their vehicles or suffer injuries after hitting potholes, came to light after a woman in her eighties had her claim rejected by West Sussex County Council.

The woman  who does not wish to be named but shared pictures of her injuries with the Mail  was on her way to visit a friend on a dark evening last November. Shortly after parking, she tripped after her foot was caught in a hole next to a cable cover where the pavement had crumbled away.

The council fixed the section of the pavement (pictured) but rejected her claim

She avoided breaking her ankle because she was wearing slip-on shoes which came off. However, she fell face-forward on the pavement, hitting her head and the back of her hands. She lay dazed and bleeding for more than ten minutes before she was able to get up and notify her friend, who called an ambulance.

Due to her severe head injuries, she was forced to spend the night at Worthing hospital and has suffered from headaches ever since.

Angry and anxious to prevent further injuries, she complained to her local council and applied for compensation, sending pictures of the bruises to her face and the offending section of the pavement.

The council fixed the section of the pavement but rejected her claim. In a letter, it said a successful claim must establish that not only was the accident caused by a dangerous defect but that the defect also existed as a direct result of negligence on the part of the County Council.

The pensioner was told that the pavement was inspected on August 8 and that no defects were found to be present. Between that date and the accident on November 26 of that year, the council said it had received no complaints or reports indicating the presence of a hazard in the area.

The West Sussex County Council offices in Horsham, West Sussex

It added that an inspection of the pavement was carried out after it was notified about her fall  and that it was subsequently repaired.

The woman said: This needs exposing. The pavement and roads are in a disgusting state yet we are all taxed up to the eyebrows. You wonder where it all goes.

This has really knocked my confidence but I was lucky. Someone could easily have fallen over and broken their neck. A spokesman for the Local Government Authority blamed the state of pavements on a lack of funds.

They said: Councils do a huge amount to maintain pavements with the resources available. Any deterioration of our roads and pavements is down to decades of underfunding from successive governments and recent severe winters.

An inspection of the pavement was carried out after it was notified about her fall  and that it was subsequently repaired

Earlier this month a Freedom of Information request from the AA revealed the disastrous state of Britains pavements.

Councils said there had been 10,329 claims for trips and slips on pavements over the last twelve months, but only 859 of these have been successful. Despite this, councils still had to pay more than 2.1million in compensation for the successful claims.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: The state of the pavements means walkers are expected to run the gantlet of pavement hazards that are just as dangerous as the potholes that can kill cyclists and damage cars.

West Sussex County Council said it takes all claims seriously but ensures that public funds are used for compensation only when it is clear we have not adequately met our responsibilities.
A Minnesota man who conned multiple women out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his crimes.

Derek Alldred, 47, posed as a US Navy pilot, professor, defense analyst, attorney, doctor and firefighter during his time scamming more than two dozen women out of their money.

'This defendant left a trail of tears, emotional devastation, and financial ruin behind him,' US Attorney Joseph Brown said on Wednesday, according to the Star Tribune.

Derek Alldred (pictured), 47, of Minnesota, who conned multiple women out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his crimes

According to Linda Dyas (left), she met Alldred in 2016 under the identity of 'Richard Peterson' dating site OurTime.com. Missi (right) said she also met 'Peterson' on OurTime.com

'It is clear that he will never change, and we expect his sentence to reflect that. We are glad we were able to get some level of justice for these women.'

Nine women spoke at Alldred's sentencing, including JoAnn Venhuizen, whom he stole nearly $18,000 from while they lived together in 2014.

Venhuizen, who met Alldred on Match.com, said that he claimed to be an international business attorney.

Dyas said Alldred (pictured, dressed as a Navy pilot) stole her credit cards and spent her retirement savings

She said the theft all started when he stole her Social Security number and opened an American Express credit card account.

'He was taking me out to dinner, buying me flowers, and we had a trip to Hawaii that was probably close to $9,000 by itself,' Venhuizen told the court.

Venhuizen said she grew suspicious when Alldred said he was taking her to Hawaii meet his daughter, a meeting that never occurred.

She then started searching for his daughter online, and found the troubling articles about Alldred's scandalous past.

'I got very, very sick to my stomach, of course,' she told the Tribune.

According to Linda Dyas, she met Alldred in 2016 under the identity of 'Richard Peterson'. He claimed to be a Navy officer.

Dyas had just divorced her husband in February 2016 when she met Alldred on the dating site OurTime.com.

'Everybody wants to believe that they're going to meet their 'Prince Charming' - that they're going to meet a good Christian boy who's a lot like their dad,' Dyas told KARE 11.

But instead, Dyas said he stole her credit cards, opened new accounts in her name and spent her retirement savings.

Dyas wasn't the only woman to meet Alldred as 'Peterson', the Navy officer.

Missi said she also met 'Peterson' on OurTime.com. She told KARE 11 that she started questioning some of Alldred's stories after she noticed his suspicious behavior.

Dyas said Alldred would dress in what she believed to be a naval uniform and showed her certificates and honors (pictured)

Alldred (pictured during two separate arrests) was given the maximum sentence allowed on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity fraud. He was also ordered to pay nearly $255,000 in restitution

One day she decided to look through his wallet while he was in the shower and found two credit cards belonging to Dyas.

'I opened up his wallet and the first thing I see is a social security card that said Derek Mylan Alldred and I was like, "oh my gosh,"' she said.

That's when she alerted Dyas that she had found her cards on Facebook.

'I just needed her to understand that he was being a fraud,' Missi said.

Cindi Pardini of San Francisco rallied the victims up to bring Alldred to justice, according to the US Attorney's Office in Texas.

She told the Tribune that she connected with Alldred in 2012 on Facebook.

At the time he was posing as a financier of hotels in Lake Tahoe and Maui, Pardini said.

'He asked, "You mind if I stay at your house? I want to move back to San Francisco,"' she told the newspaper. 'I said, "Sure, no problem."'

In the month he lived there, Pardini lost $250,000.

Alldred was given the maximum sentence allowed on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity fraud.

He was also ordered to pay nearly $255,000 in restitution.
A federal judge has shot and killed himself after holding terrified family members at gunpoint in a 10-hour standoff with police SWAT teams.

Timothy Maher, 51, ended the standoff with a self-inflicted gunshot wound around 8.20am on Friday morning in a home outside of Miami, allowing the 13-year-old girl and her parents to escape uninjured.

Maher, a federal administrative judge with 10 years on the bench, had spiraled out of control in recent days, drawing an arrest and multiple police contacts over a dispute with the estranged mother of his four-year-old son.

Police said Maher was related to the hostages, but it is unclear how. Neighbors said that the homeowner may have been the judge's brother-in-law.

The standoff began late Thursday with a plaintive text message to 911 reading simply: please help.

Timothy Maher (right) is seen in a bond hearing last week on a domestic violence charge. The federal judge killed himself on Friday after holding a family hostage for 10 hours

A Miami-Dade police officer patrols after a standoff with a local judge on Friday. Authorities say a Social Security judge shot and killed himself after an hours-long standoff with police

Police surrounded the two-story stucco home in Princeton, on the southern outskirts of Miami, after receiving the pleas for help at about 11pm on Thursday.

Land records show the home is owned by a man named Jose M. Rodriguez.

Neighbors were roused from their beds and rushed outside the police perimeter, as cops tried to reason with the deranged judge.

Police said there were several hours of direct communication with Maher, but that the talks suddenly ceased.

Hostage negotiators proceeded appealing to Maher using a megaphone, allowing cameras from CBS4 to capture parts of their pleas.

'Jose, Tim or Ana, we are not going anywhere. All you have to do is turn your lights on and off so that we know you are okay - a simple request please,' the police negotiator said through the megaphone.

The home where the hostage stand-off took place is seen in a file photo. Homeowner Jose Rodriguez was said by a neighbor to be Maher's brother-in-law

When nothing happened, the request was repeated: 'Your honor if you are in that residence, please you or someone else inside the house turn the lights on so that we know everyone is okay, we don't need to escalate this at all.'

At that point the lights flicked on, and the negotiator pleaded with Maher to release the teen girl.

'I know you are a good father Tim. Do me a favor, as a sign of good (faith), please be willing to let Sara come out the front door. She is a 13-year-old girl and does not need to go through all of this. You're a father, please let the girl out the front door,' said the negotiator.

The negotiator asked Maher to flash the lights if he would consider releasing the girl, and the lights flashed, but no one emerged.

The standoff ended around 8.20am when police heard a gunshot inside the house. As officers rushed toward the residence, the three hostages emerged.

Police found Maher dead inside the home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A police spokesman said no officers fired their weapons during the incident.

A Miami-Dade police officer drives near a home after the standoff. Police say Timothy Maher held three hostages for about 10 hours Friday inside the home

Maher's troubles apparently date from his April breakup with a girlfriend he had been seeing for at least four years, and who was the mother of his son.

On August 15, the ex-girlfriend told police that when she went to pick up their son from Maher's home in El Portal, he greeted her holding the boy and wearing a handgun on his hip, according to a police record reported by the Miami Herald.

The ex said that Maher waved a flashlight in her eyes and verbally threatened her. When she took the boy and drove away, she said that Maher pointed a gun towards the rear of her car.

Police responded to the ex-girlfriend's complaint and found Maher locked inside his home and hiding behind a wall.

A perimeter was set up, but the supervisor on the scene was able to coax Maher from the home, and he was arrested.

Maher was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, child abuse with no great bodily harm and resisting arrest without violence.

In an emotional appeal to a criminal judge, he said that he had worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney and senior counsel to the Treasury Department prior to taking the bench as an administrative judge for the Social Security Administration.

'The mother of my child has called the police not less than five times prior to last night,' Maher told the judge in bond court. 'Each time making more incendiary and fantastic allegations against me. I did not have a gun on me last night. I did not point a gun at anyone.'

'It is astonishing to me that one person can make an accusation so fantastic and not grounded in reality that the result of me spending the night at TGK [the Miami jail]. This is horrifically embarrassing,' he said.

Maher was released on $13,000 bond and ordered to stay away from his ex-girlfriend.

The next day, police went to retrieve his firearms and another incident ensued when Maher again barricaded himself, before eventually being talked out and handing over the weapons.

On Tuesday, a worker at the Social Security Administration building in downtown Miami, where Maher worked reviewing disability claims, received a death threat.

The threat, which police immediately assumed came from Maher, shut the building down on Tuesday and Wednesday. But Maher remained in the wind until surfacing during the hostage crisis on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, neighbors near the standoff scene were relieved that the crisis was over, but baffled about why it had occurred in the first place.

'Why would a man choose to kill himself? Thats the question around here. Why would he choose to kill himself,' neighbor Claudette Reid told the CBS affiliate.

'My reaction is at least he didnt take a family member with him. Hes got his own problems, let him go by himself.'

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line: 1-800-273-8255
The heartbroken father of the former Playboy model found strangled in her Philadelphia apartment told DailyMail.com that he believed 'somebody took advantage of his daughter's happiness and kindness'.

Christina Kraft, 36, was found dead in the bedroom of her ground-floor apartment in Ardmore, Pennsylvania on Wednesday at 9.15pm.

Her father, Stuart Kraft, 65, told DailyMail.com: 'She was a happy-go-lucky lady, she loved life. She loved to be around people and she liked to enjoy herself with people and that's what I think occurred. I think that somebody saw her happiness and took advantage of that.'

Lower Merion Township Police were called to Christina Kraft's residence on Wednesday to perform a wellness check.

Police have not confirmed who initiated the wellness check to DailyMail.com.

Playboy model Christina Kraft, 36, was found dead in the bedroom of her ground-floor apartment in Ardmore, Pennsylvania on Wednesday at 9.15pm.

Christina's boyfriend of 14 years, Alexander Ciccotelli, is questioned by a detective outside of his Philadelphia home

Kraft is seen in this July 2015 Facebook photo posting with Ciccotelli. in Italy. Her father, Stuart Kraft, said that he was very close with Ciccotelli

Three days prior to murder, Christina Kraft reported to police that jewelry had been stolen from her apartment.

Her father, who lives in Linwood, New Jersey, said that she had gotten in touch via text to tell him about the break-in.

'A few days before, somebody had broken into the apartment and stole all her jewelry,' he said.

'I didn't speak to her after that. She texted me a little bit. She didn't want to bother me with her troubles and how I wish she did.

'She sent a text to her stepmom that same evening, saying we needed to get together.'

Kraft said that he did not believe that his daughter had ever had any problems with stalkers. The model had appeared in Maxim Magazine, Vanity Fair and for brands Victoria's Secret and Smashbox Cosmetics during her glamorous career, according to her Model Mayhem bio.

She said in the bio: 'I've done runway shows, print work, commercials for jewelry and evening gowns, and I did a tasteful photo shoot for Playboy that was beyond Hollywood glamour!

'I would like to build my portfolio with some more creative photographers who specialize in glamour and very high fashion!

'I really do enjoy photo shoots for swim wear and tasteful lingerie. I'm willing to travel and I love to meet new exciting people with high energy and a kind heart.

Christina, left, poses up with Hugh Hefner. The model had appeared in Maxim Magazine, Vanity Fair and for brands Victoria's Secret and Smashbox Cosmetics during her career

Christina Kraft is shown in this July 2015 Facebook photo catching rays while on an Italian vacation

'I look forward to working with you and hope to make this a great experience!'

Her father said: 'We talked all the time, her and I. We just went out to dinner a couple of weeks ago at Somers Point. She had me take her to Margate, so she could enjoy herself a little bit. At 11 o'clock I was ready to go home but she stayed on and partied with her friends.

'That was the last time I was with her. That was about two weeks ago.'

An autopsy report concluded the model died by 'ligature strangulation.' As of Friday afternoon, police had not made any arrests nor named any persons of interest.

A resident who also lives in the building, told Philly.com that Kraft just moved a week ago.

Montgomery Country District Attorney's Office, which is handling the case, told DailyMail.com on Friday there were 'no updates'.

Kraft said that he was very close with Christina's boyfriend, Alexander Ciccotelli.

'They had been together a long time, 14 years,' he said. 'He's devastated. He got that apartment for her. They have a house in Margate on the beach and they would come down on little vacations.'

'When she came we would always get together and hang out on the beach, go out to dinner. She was a delight. She was my everything.'

The model just moved into this Philly condo, the Cambridge Square Condominiums, a week ago

Scene where Christina Carlin-Kraft, a former Playboy model, was found dead in her Pennsylvania home with signs of strangulation

Her boyfriend, Alexander Ciccotelli, was seen speaking with police at his family home in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania on Friday.

He was unavailable for comment but an unidentified woman at his family home told DailyMail.com: 'This is a tragedy. No comment.'

Mr Kraft said that his wife of 27 years, Casey, 50, was too upset to speak. She is stepmother to Christina and her brother Brian, 35. The couple also have two younger children, aged 24 and 18.

Christina Kraft's mother, Dawn Ann Carlin passed away in 1990 at the age of 30.

'I lost Christina's mom in 1990. I was devastated. She was a very healthy young lady, she just liked to go out and be seen and enjoy herself. I wish I could take it all back now and make sure somebody was with her at every moment.'

Kraft added: 'You always think of a way you can make it better, later, after the fact.'

The father said that his son was speaking with detectives on the investigation.

'My son is working with the detectives right now. I pray that they find who did this. To take her life, it's unimaginable. She was such a nice person. I don't know what occurred, I don't know what was said, but I'm sure it will unfold.'

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Lower Merion Township Police Superintendent Michael McGrath said on Thursday there was no threat to other residents

In 2016, Kraft was slapped with temporary assault charges after she drunkenly attacked a restaurant manager while dining with a male friend in New York in March of that year.

The incident happened at The Smith, an American Brasserie on the Upper West Side.

The assaulted manager, Sergey Anokhin, said he was left with 'redness and substantial pain' after Kraft struck him in the back and kicked him in the groin.

'The guy didn't want to pay... the manager interceded,' a source told the New York Post about the violent incident at the time.

'She was intoxicated, and she claimed that the manager pushed her - but there was video of the incident that showed she was lying.'

Prosecutors in September 2016 offered to drop charges against Kraft - so long as she stayed out of trouble for the following six months.

Kraft was initially charged with misdemeanor assault, attempted assault and harassment.

A photo from the scene is shown above. Police discovered Kraft's strangled body late Wednesday during a wellness check

The model posted this photo to her Facebook page in March 2015 with the caption: 'Beach house'




Princess Diana at the christening of Domenica Lawson in 1995

With characteristic care, she sent each of her 17 godchildren a card and presents on their birthday and every Christmas  followed by a visit laden with hugs and kisses.

For these youngsters, Princess Diana was the best godmother in the world.

But then, on August 31, 1997, the presents stopped. Tragically, too, after Dianas death there was an unseemly row over her godchildrens inheritance which saw them end up with little more than trinkets despite her 21 million estate.

Today, those adored youngsters  aged between two and 15 in 1997  are now mostly in their 30s. The churlish ignoring of Dianas instructions that were carefully written into a letter of wishes accompanying her will is buried in the past.

Their warm memories are more important than the money. The ten girls and seven boys were mainly the offspring of Dianas oldest friends  classmates and flatmates, with a sprinkling of newer friends or via a dynastic link.

Here, on the anniversary of the Princesss death, CHRISTOPHER WILSON looks at what has happened in the lives of Dianas godchildren . . .

PRISON REFORMER MARRIED TO THE BBCS HISTORY HUNK

Lady Edwina Snow, 36, is the daughter of the Duke of Westminster

Lady Edwina Snow, 36

Daughter of the Duke of Westminster who died of a heart attack two years ago, aged 64, leaving an estate estimated to be worth 9.35 billion.

It centred around 300 acres of some of Londons most expensive land plus the 1,800-acre Halkyn Estate on the Flintshire/Denbighshire border and the 11,500-acre Eaton Estate just outside Chester. Edwina and her two sisters (Tamara Van Cutsem and Viola Grosvenor) were left 20,000 each with their brother becoming 7th Duke of Westminster.

Edwina is married to TV presenter Dan Snow  described as the man who put hunk into history. Hes the son of former BBC2 Newsnight presenter Peter  famed for his Swingometer on General Election nights. Dan got a double first in History at Oxford and rowed three times against Cambridge in the Boat Race.

The couple met ten years ago when sitting next to each other at a wedding. He says: The person who did the seating plan set us up. I knew straight away she was the one for me. There was both a physical attraction and a remarkably deep and wonderful companionship.

They wed in a low-key ceremony in Liverpool and are now parents to three young children.

Edwina is a criminal justice advocate who advises the Government. A prison reformer, she became passionate about penal issues while working in a jail in Nepal during her gap year.

She gives money to a range of projects such as The Clink, a restaurant chain based in prisons and staffed by prisoners, and Pathways, a programme in London with sustainable businesses run by ex-offenders.

Home is a 7 million house in the New Forest. But they have been through what her husband calls difficult times: her fathers death, her mother suffering breast cancer from which she has recovered, and her own late miscarriage.

WILLIAM'S FIRST SWEETHEART

Lady Alexandra Hooper, 35, on her wedding day

Lady Alexandra Hooper, 35

Senior director of City-based FTI Consulting, which describes itself as a global risk and investigations practice. Studied theology at Oxford before doing another degree in international security at Georgetown, U.S.

As the great-granddaughter of Earl Mountbatten, its likely shell inherit Broadlands in Hampshire, where the Queen and Prince Philip spent their honeymoon. Once described as Prince Williams early sweetheart. His mother, Diana, was a consoling presence when Alexandras sister, Leonora, died of cancer at the age of five in 1991.

Married in 2016 to Thomas Hooper, founder of Third Space Learning, an online maths tutoring organisation. Alexandra was given away by Prince Charles after her father, Lord Brabourne, who attended the ceremony, had thrown the family into disarray.

He had left Alexandras mother, Penny (Prince Philips carriage-driving friend) and had a four-year affair in the Bahamas with a fashion designer.

Last month, 97-year-old Prince Philip became godfather to her son, Inigo.

IMPORTS TEXTILES FROM AFRICAN TRIBES

Sussy Cazalet, 34

Daughter of Dianas Norfolk childhood friend Isabel Dawnay. Her father is merchant banker Victor Cazalet. Her grandfather, Peter, was the Queen Mothers racehorse trainer.

Her mother said: Diana never forgot her birthday, always sent cards and presents, and took her out on treats whenever she could. She really was the most wonderful godmother, and would have been  even if she hadnt been who she was.

Sussy trained at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York before returning to Britain to set up her own interior design company in London.

Her studio works on furniture and has designed the interiors of a radio station in East London and a South Kensington members club. She says: Im interested in creating something that might change someones life.

She sources materials made by women in a textile company in India and a firm staffed by tribes of women in Madagascar.

Camilla Shirley-Beavan, left, and Sussy Cazalet with Joseph Turnbull in November 2015

THE WIFE OF A HUNTING PIN-UP

Camilla Shirley-Beavan, 33

Daughter of Old Etonian farmer Reuben Straker and Dianas pre-marriage schoolfriend and flatmate, Sophie Kimball. She is married to Charlie Shirley-Beavan, Master of Tynedale Hunt in Northumberland.

Described by Tatler magazine as a hunting pin-up, hes descended from the Vestey baronets. He was once arrested (but not charged) during a protest march against the fox-hunting ban.

SON OF THE DEPOSED KING OF GREECE

Prince Philippos, 32

Youngest child of King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie of Greece and named after his paternal cousin (and godfather), Prince Philip. Educated in London and Washington DC.

Single, he is a New York-based financial analyst for Ortelius Capital, which was founded by Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, whose sons godfather is Prince William.

Leonora Lonsdale, 31, right, is the daughter of Laura Lonsdale, who was Dianas school friend and left is Prince Philippos, the youngest child of King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie of Greece

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL WINNER

Leonora Lonsdale, 31

Daughter of Laura Lonsdale, who was Dianas school friend, flatmate and one of her ladies-in-waiting.

Leonora is a film director and one of her movies, Beast, starring Billie Piper, won Best Drama Short at the Voice of A Woman Film Festival at Cannes Lions this year.

Shes also worked with Whoopi Goldberg on Black Dog, Red Dog while her documentary Ziona, about a cult in the Himalayas, recently premiered in the U.S. Descended from the 3rd Lord Raglan and married to film producer Jack Sidey.

DOWNTON ABBEY 'HEARTTHROB'

Jake Warren, 31, the son of the Queens racing manager, Michael Warren

Jake Warren, 31

The son of the Queens racing manager, Michael Warren. One of William and Harrys closest friends, and grandson of the 7th Earl of Carnarvon.

Educated at Ludgrove prep school and Eton (like the princes).

With his father, he runs the Highclere Stud, in the shadow of the family-owned High- clere Castle which was the set for the ITV drama Downton Abbey.

Many years ago he was described by Tatler as the heartthrob who lives in the coolest house in Edinburgh and has the initials of all his best friends tattooed on his thigh . . . You can touch them but hell make you buy shares in the racing syndicate he co-owns . . . Good in bed, we hear.

Now married to qualified yoga instructor Zoe Stewart, 34.

Their two-year-old daughter, Zalie, was the youngest bridesmaid at her godfather Prince Harrys wedding to Meghan Markle.

POSED NAKED AS A MERMAID

Lady Mary Luise Wellesley, 31

Daughter of 9th Duke of Wellington and niece of Lady Jane Wellesley, once tipped to marry Prince Charles.

Unmarried but has familys extraordinary good looks.

Took an English degree at Oxford and then studied a 15th-century poet for her PhD.

Her sister-in-law is supermodel Jemma Kidd and she herself posed nude twice  once mermaid-style  for the portrait artist Howard Morgan.

Lady Mary Luise Wellesley, 31, left, is the daughter of the 9th Duke of Wellington and pictured right is George Frost, Eton and Newcastle-educated son of late TV host Sir David Frost

TV HOST'S SON WITH OWN BRAND OF RUM

George Frost, 30

Eton and Newcastle-educated son of late TV host Sir David Frost.

Created his own Jamaican/Barbadian blend rum, but known for helping raise 1.5 million to create a national testing service for rare heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, from which his brother died while jogging at 31.

His mother, Lady Carina, is sister to the Duke of Norfolk. But down-to-earth George has said he never felt constrained by his parents celebrity or aristocracy.

HEDGE FUND MANAGER AND SON OF THERAPIST

Benjamin Samuel, 29

Son of Dianas close friend, Julia Samuel, the author, grief therapist and founder of Child Bereavement UK. His father, Michael, is one of the Hill Samuel banking family. Educated at Westminster and Oxford. Works for Egerton Capital, a Mayfair-based hedge fund with 20 billion of managed assets.

'BRAINIEST ROYAL' AND ELIGIBLE BACHELOR

Edward Downpatrick, 29

Grandson of the Duke of Kent whose title he will one day inherit. Eton and Oxford-educated financial analyst said to be the brainiest member of the Royal Family.

His mother, Sylvana Tomaselli, is a Cambridge don while his father, the Earl of St Andrews, worked as a Foreign Office diplomat. One of Britains most eligible bachelors.

Lady Amelia Windsor and Brother Edward Windsor Lord Downpatrick (pictured left) at The National Service of Thanksgiving held at St Pauls Cathedral in London during the Queen's 90th Birthday Celebrations and pictured right is Jack Bartholomew

WINE CONNOISSEUR STARTED AS A BARMAN

Jack Bartholomew, 28

Son of posh party organiser Carolyn Pride, Dianas flatmate and close confidante, and her husband William Bartholomew. After Stowe public school, he worked as a barman before launching into the drinks business, starting the EJB Wines shop in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, which specialises in the Loire valley.

LIFESTYLE GURU AND WEIGHT-LOSS EXPERT

Antonia Trower, 28

Granddaughter of the 11th Lord Suffield, a war hero and Norfolk squire who was a member of the Queens ceremonial bodyguard.

Her mother was at school with Diana while father, Audley Twiston-Davies, is a Herefordshire landowner.

Studied cancer biology and immunology at Bristol University and wed Edward Trower, an account manager for Deloitte, in 2016.

Works for a bio-tech firm helping people manage their weight and health.

Antonia Trower, 28, in May 2013, pictured right and Jack Falkner (left), 27, son of another of Dianas school friends

SON OF DIANA'S SCHOOL FRIEND

Jack Falkner, 27

Son of another of Dianas school friends, the former Izzy McDowell, who married Colonel Simon Falkner of the Life Guards.

HORSEWOMAN WITH TEAM GB

Antonia Harington, 26

Diana attended the marriage blessing of Antonias father, Jonathan Harington, and Susan Fenwick in 1989. Is an inner London primary school teacher and keen horsewoman who was part of the Great Britain eventing team.

Antonia Harington (left) is an inner London primary school teacher and keen horsewoman who was part of the Great Britain eventing team, and right is Daisy Soames

Cousin Kit earned a reputed 2 million an episode for playing Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones.

WINSTON CHURCHILL'S GREAT-GRANDCHILD

Daisy Soames, 26

Domenica Lawson, 23, pictured in November 2017, with her mother Rosa Monckton

Winston Churchills great-granddaughter. Brainy (ex-Trinity College, Dublin) and brave, she loves riding horses in Kenya where she trained to be a Horse Safari Guide and runs her own business with the motto: Kick on, hang on, and look behind you  there could be lions!

MOTHER WAS DIANAS CLOSEST FRIEND

Domenica Lawson, 23

The youngest daughter of Mail columnist and former newspaper editor Dominic Lawson, and his wife Rosa Monckton, daughter of 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley.

When Domenica was born with Downs syndrome on June 1, 1995, Diana immediately offered to be her godmother: Rosa (ex-boss of Tiffany & Co in London) was Dianas closest friend in her latter days.

Domenica has completed a catering course and works at Team Domenica, a Brighton-based cafe and training centre founded by Rosa to provide employment training for young adults with learning disabilities.
A California woman is looking at spending the rest of her life behind bars after authorities caught up to her scams, jailing the career con artist for stealing over $160,000.

During a four-year period, Eblin Balver presented herself as Eblin Balverde, the lawyer, or real estate agent Evelyn Rodriguez.

Regardless of what name she used at any given moment, the 51-year-old woman had one goal in mind, defrauding as many as she possibly could.

Eblin Balver used two different aliases to swindle 26 people out of $160,000, claiming she could offer immigrants and homeowners in California legal services

Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office charged Balver last Friday with 40 felony counts, including 35 counts of grand theft.

Balver, of Baldwin Park, who had also previously been arrested for two fraud related crimes, could to the maximum of 34 years and four months in a state prison is she is convicted. She is being held om a $1 million bail bond, and will see a judge September 6.

'Between July 2014 and March 2018, Balver allegedly developed relationships with individuals in order to lure them into business arrangements for legal services,' according to Deputy District Attorney Ryann Gerber Jorban of the Consumer Protection Division.

The career criminal would zero in on innocent victims from Inglewood, Pico Rivera and La Puente, areas with a high Latino concentration.

The unidentified man said Eblin Balver tricked him into paying for services to secure legal immigration documents

The con went around spreading word that she was an employee of the judicial system with close ties to the immigration system, as far a being able to secure 'petitions and visas and in buying homes'.

One victim entered an agreement with Balver, who promised to alleviate the immigrant legal standing.

'She told us she was going to give us (legal) documents and she didn't comply,' the man told Univision. 'She just conned us.'
Rudy Giuliani suggested Friday that the president was generalizing when he said that 'flipping' should be outlawed and did not mean that Justice should stop offering incentives for suspects to cooperate.

'The President is not a lawyer,' Trump's attorney told the New York Daily News, indicating that the president may not have understood the legal ramifications of what he was proposing.

Giuliani explained, 'I dont think hes against the idea of cooperation.'

'Hes against the idea of getting people to lie,' Giuliani said.

Rudy Giuliani suggested Friday that the president was generalizing when he said that 'flipping' should be outlawed and did not mean that Justice should stop offering incentives for suspects to cooperate

Trump disparaged the practice in an interview a day after learning that his ex-attorney Michael Cohen had copped to eight crimes, including two that Cohen says he committed at the direction of the president, to cut down on his expected amount of jail time.

Trump said he understands why someone in Cohen's position would want to turn on a former boss or friend: 'In all fairness to him, most people are going to do that, and I've seen it many times.

'They make up lies,' he said. 'They make up things and now they go from 10 years to they're a national hero. They have a statue erected in their honor. It's not a fair thing, but that's why he did it.'

The president said that 'flipping' on an associate to broker a better deal, like he claimed Cohen did to him, is 'not a fair thing, but that's what he did it,' and the Justice Department should consider making the process illegal.

'This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years I've been watching flippers. Everything's wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail,' he said. 'They flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go. It almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair.'

Trump disparaged the practice in an interview a day after learning that his ex-attorney Michael Cohen had copped to eight crimes, including two that Cohen says he committed at the direction of the president, to cut down on his expected amount of jail time

Fox conducted its interview with Trump on Wednesday morning, less than 24 hours after Cohen pleaded guilty to fraud charges and campaign finance violations. The very same hour, a jury convicted the president's ex-campaign manager, Paul Manafort, on eight of 18 counts of fraud in a financial crimes case.

The president adamantly claimed in the interview that he is innocent of the crimes that Cohen said in a guilty plea that he committed at the 'direction' of an unnamed presidential candidate.

'He made the deals,' said Trump of payments to two women, Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. 'Later on I knew.'

He noted that he wasn't personally 'charged with anything' even though Cohen all but named him as a conspirator.'

'Liar': Michael Cohen was seen near his New York apartment on Thursday after Trump suggested he had made up elements of his guilty plea

Trump said that Cohen 'made a very good deal' for himself with prosecutors, 'a great deal,' in fact in order to escape greater charges.

'Because he was in another business, totally unrelated to me, where I guess there was fraud involved and loans and taxi cabs and all sorts of things. Nothing to do with me,' Trump said. 'Michael Cohen had I guess a taxi business and somebody reported him for some things in his taxi business and that's how this started.'

He claimed Cohen made a deal with the government to wiggle out of the other, unrelated charges.

'People make up stories,' he said, in order to shave time off their sentences. 'It's called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal.'
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Donald Trump escaped his troubles in Washington during a visit to a children's hospital in Ohio with Melania, as special counsel Robert Mueller's net closes in.

The president and first lady put on a united front Friday following the most challenging week of Trump's presidency.

The Trumps toured the neonatal intensive care unit of an Ohio children's hospital that treats babies affected by the opioid epidemic. The opioid crisis, which claims the lives of tens of thousands of people a year, has been a key focus for Trump.

Donald Trump escaped his troubles in Washington during a visit to a children's hospital in Ohio with Melania, as special counsel Robert Mueller's net closes in

Trump sat with slightly older children as they colored pictures of American flags and hearts with red, white and blue

The president and first lady joined the children as they colored and praised their work

US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump sit with children during a tour Nationwide Children's Hospital on August 24, in Columbus, Ohio

Melania and Trump, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, visited the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus before attending a fundraiser and delivering the keynote address at the Ohio Republican Party's state dinner.

After touring the medical unit, Trump sat with slightly older children as they colored pictures of American flags and hearts with red, white and blue. He appeared to be concentrating intensely as he colored his flag, before telling the kids they were doing a 'great job.'

Trump last visited Ohio on August 4 to rally for U.S. House candidate Troy Balderson, a GOP state senator. Balderson was certified Friday as the winner of a special election to fill the unexpired term of longtime Republican congressman Pat Tiberi, who retired in January.

Trump's trip to Ohio may be a welcome diversion from a difficult week as two of his closest aides, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former lawyer Michael Cohen were convicted of serious crimes

But they appeared to leave their worries behind on the trip to the hospital in Columbus, Ohio

Trump's trip to Ohio may be a welcome diversion from a difficult week as two of his closest aides, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former lawyer Michael Cohen were convicted of serious crimes.

Manafort was found guilty of eight charges of bank and tax fraud, while Cohen admitted campaign finance violations over hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal during the 2016 election.

His guilty plea also implicated Trump, while Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis, said that his client also had information about the Trump Foundation.

First lady Melania Trump smiled as she walked into the Nationwide Children's Hospital, Friday, August 24

The first lady war a white skirt suit, with matching white heels and a black and white polka dot blouse

Melania Trump met one of the children at the hospital, while White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway looked on

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit the Nationwide Children's Hospital, Friday

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway sits with children while US President Donald Trump and US first lady Melania Trump toured Nationwide Children's Hospital

On Friday, the world learned Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg got an immunity deal in a move that does not bode well for Trump.

Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, is both a bookkeeper and a key executive running the organization who is familiar with major aspects of the organization.

News of Weisselberg's immunity deal comes a day after it was revealed American Media Inc. publisher David Pecker received immunity. Pecker's firm paid McDougal $150,000 and promised magazine covers and work in exchange for the 'life rights' of her story about an affair with a married man.

Although Cohen himself has no known cooperation agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to eight counts and said he was 'directed' by an individual (Trump) to violate campaign finance laws. Trump has taken to calling his longtime lawyer a 'RAT,' while praising convicted former campaign chair Paul Manafort for not 'breaking' under pressure. A Virginia jury convicted Manafort on eight counts this week.

Melania and Donald Trumo later took a tour through the hospital wards at the hospital that treats babies affected by the opioid epidemic

Melania and Trump, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, visited the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus before attending a fundraiser and delivering the keynote address at the Ohio Republican Party's state dinner

The first couple spoke to staff at the Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio during their Friday trip

LET'S GET OUT OF HERE: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn prior to their departure from the White House August 24, 2018 in Washington, DC on a day it was revealed the CFO of the Trump Orgnanization was granted immunity by prosecutors




Andre Melton, 31, is wanted to burglarizing the Philadelphia home of 36-year-old model Christina Kraft three days before she was found strangled to death

Police are searching for the man who broke into and robbed the home of a former Playboy model, who was found murdered in her bedroom on Wednesday night.

Andre Melton, 31, is wanted to burglarizing the Pennsylvania apartment of 36-year-old model Christina Kraft, days before she was killed.

Kraft had just moved into her condo on Sibley Avenue in the west side suburb of Ardmore a week ago, her neighbors say.

She called police on Sunday to report a robbery where her designer bags and jewelry were stolen.

Police used surveillance footage at the apartment complex to connect robbery to Melton, who was believed to be driving a rented 2018 burgundy Kia Sorento with Virginia license plates, according to ABC.

That car was spotted in the neighborhood on Friday afternoon.

Police tracked down Melton (left) for the Sunday burglary and found Kraft's (right) handbags during a search of his apartment in Southwest Philadelphia on Wednesday morning

Wanted: Police say Melton (above) robbed her home three days before her death. However he has not been named a suspect in her murder investigation as it's unclear if the robbery and murder are connected

After authorities linked the surveillance footage to Melton, a search warrant was issued to his home in Southwest Philadelphia Wednesday morning where her belongings were found, but Melton was not.

It was later that night at 9.15pm that she was discovered dead.

Police say surveillance cameras at the apartment show a man following Kraft into the building the night before she was discovered strangled to death in her bedroom.

However the man is not seen on surveillance footage leaving the apartment and cops believe he likely escaped by jumping off the balcony.

Police have not identified that man. Investigators are also not sure if the robbery and the murder are connected.

Melton is not being named a suspect in her murder case as police are yet to list potential suspect names.

Lower Merion Township Police made the shocking discovery of her body when they performed a welfare check on the brunette bombshell Wednesday evening and found her dead in bed.

Police have not named any suspects in Kraft's murder. Aside from her stint with Playboy, the model appeared in Maxim Magazine, Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret and Smashbox Cosmetics during her glamorous career

Christina Kraft is shown in this July 2015 Facebook photo catching rays while on an Italian vacation

The model just moved into this Philly condo, the Cambridge Square Condominiums, a week ago

A photo from the scene is shown above. Police discovered Kraft's strangled body late Wednesday during a wellness check

Police have not confirmed who initiated the wellness check.

An autopsy report revealed the lingerie model died by 'ligature strangulation.' As of Friday, police had not made any arrests.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Lower Merion Township Police Superintendent Michael McGrath confirmed in a Thursday statement there does not appear to be a threat to other residents of the upmarket neighborhood at this time.

A resident who also lives in the building told Philly.com that Kraft just moved a week ago.

Ardmore resident, Dave Farina, was utterly shocked to learn of the homicide in his community, which he has long considered safe.

'We never had that type of thing in Ardmore. Hardly ever. It's enough to make me cry,' Farina said in a statement to ABC 6.

'I'm praying for them that they find out who did it... and bring them to justice.'

Aside from her stint with Playboy, the model appeared in Maxim Magazine, Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret and Smashbox Cosmetics during her glamorous career, her Model Mayhem bio states.

Kraft described her nationality as Russian, German, with a hint of Swedish in her professional bio.

Kraft (center) shared this photo to her Instagram page in May with the sassy caption: 'Nice for what'

(L-R) Stuff Magazine Model Search winners, Christina Kraft, Danielle Marcos, Eva Kirchstein are photographed by Charlie Langella during the Maxim Magazine Presents 'Fantasy Island' at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, on June 27, 2004 in Atlantic City, New Jersey

(L-R) Stuff Magazine Model Search winners, Kraft, Marcos, Kirchstein are photographed by Langella in 2004 in Jersey

She said in the bio: 'I've done runway shows, print work, commercials for jewelry and evening gowns, and I did a tasteful photo shoot for Playboy that was beyond Hollywood glamour!

'I would like to build my portfolio with some more creative photographers who specialize in glamour and very high fashion!

'I really do enjoy photo shoots for swim wear and tasteful lingerie. I'm willing to travel and I love to meet new exciting people with high energy and a kind heart.

'I look forward to working with you and hope to make this a great experience!'

In 2016, Kraft was slapped with temporary assault charges after she drunkenly attacked a restaurant manager while dining with a male friend in New York in March of that year.

Kraft (pictured right in New York, April 2010) posed for Maxim, Victoria's Secret and Smashbox during her career. Her autopsy report confirmed her death to be from 'ligature strangulation'

Kraft (pictured in September 2016) struck a deal with prosecutors who agreed to drop assault charges against her after she struck a restaurant manager in the back and kicked him in the groin in March of that year

Kraft wore a gray A-line dress and patterned white and black pumps to the September 2016 court appearance in Manhattan

The bizarre incident happened at The Smith, an American Brasserie on the Upper West Side.

The assaulted manager, Sergey Anokhin, said he was left with 'redness and substantial pain' after Kraft struck him in the back and kicked him in the groin.

'The guy didn't want to pay... the manager interceded,' a source told the New York Post about the violent incident at the time.

'She was intoxicated, and she claimed that the manager pushed her - but there was video of the incident that showed she was lying.'

Prosecutors in September 2016 offered to drop charges against Kraft - so long as she stayed out of trouble for the following six months.

The five-foot-nine model was pictured in photographs by DailyMail.com wearing a gray A-line dress and patterned white and black pumps for the Manhattan hearing in which her charges were dropped.

Kraft was initially charged with misdemeanor assault, attempted assault and harassment.
Britain's most elite universities are considering scrapping or changing their list of preferred A-level subjects

Britain's most elite universities are considering scrapping or changing their list of preferred A-level subjects following an intervention by art-world luvvies.

Former Tate boss Sir Nicholas Serota and other high-profile figures have claimed the arts are being squeezed out as a result of the advice.

For seven years the 24 universities of the Russell Group have published guidance on which subjects most often form part of degree requirements  and so are most useful for those who have not yet decided on a course.

These are English literature, maths and further maths, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, languages and classics.

The list of these facilitating subjects  often seen as the most academically rigorous  states that those studying at least one of the subjects have a better chance of getting into top universities.

Advocates say it has helped stop poorly advised students from taking the wrong A-levels to get into academic courses.

But now leading figures in the art world have launched an attack on the list.

They say it encourages schools to abandon subjects such as art, music and drama, and could harm the UKs creative industries.

Former Tate boss Sir Nicholas Serota (above) and other high-profile figures have claimed the arts are being squeezed out as a result of the advice

Documents released through a Freedom of Information request show the Russell Group is considering scrapping the list.

Among options put to members, the group proposes dropping the list altogether or expanding it to include more options.

One document says: Following a discussion  at the RG board away-day with guest Sir Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England, we have agreed to revisit the concept of facilitating subjects.

A number of institutions  including the University of York  want the list to go. Internal documents from the university reveal it is lobbying strongly against promoting a narrow range of A-levels.

An open letter signed by 70 art-world figures, including actress Zoe Wanamaker (above), expressed concern arts subjects would be squeezed out by the EBacc

One academic said the Russell Group has sold the arts down the river.

The Government has used the list to justify its EBacc performance measure, which encourages schools to promote the subjects.

However, headteachers have warned it is forcing schools to narrow the curriculum.

In 2016 an open letter signed by 70 art-world figures, including actress Zoe Wanamaker, expressed concern arts subjects would be squeezed out by the EBacc.

However, the Campaign for Real Education yesterday said the list should stay because pupils need to know what is required to pursue a Russell Group degree.

A spokesman added: Its not good advice to tell pupils it doesnt matter what subjects you do.

The Russell Group said it was reviewing the list because it is developing a website that offers pupils more personalised advice.

A Record number of private school pupils took vocational alternatives to A-levels this year.

More than a thousand private pupils completed BTECs in subjects such as engineering and agriculture, according to the Independent Schools Council.

This is a rise of 16.8 per cent on the year before. The number of private schools offering the vocational qualifications has almost doubled in three years  from 53 in 2015 to 93.

BTECs were once looked down upon in some elite circles because they are more job-focused.

However, it is understood private school pupils are becoming increasingly more open to BTECs, as they realise they can be more appropriate for some career paths.
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Rick Franklin, 27, is the only person Chicago police has charged after 75 people were shot during a single weekend

Three weeks after 75 people were shot in Chicago, making it the deadliest weekend of the year in the city, police have charged only one man - and are asking for the public's help in order to make more arrests.

Rick Franklin, a reputed gunman for the street gang Black Souls, was taken into custody on August 4, hours after police say he fired a shot at an intersection striking a 26-year-old man.

Franklin, 27, is charged with three felonies, including aggravated discharge of a firearm, being an armed habitual criminal and unlawful use of a weapon.

He was initially arrested for aggravated battery with a firearm but because the victim, who survived, would not cooperate with officers the charge was dropped, the Chicago Tribune reports.

During that first weekend in August, the Chicago Tribune reports that 75 people were shot - a dozen of them fatally.

Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel suggested that the public's lack of help has made it difficult for officers to make arrests.

We have to continue to get out in the community, engage them and know them better, Johnson told the outlet in an interview on Thursday. We have to just be better at building relationships with people to make them more comfortable to talk to us.

Police investigate a crime scene on August 5 in Chicago. The first weekend of August was declared the deadliest weekend of the year for the city

Twelve people were killed in Chicago during the first weekend of August. Pictured above is officers at a crime scene on August 5

According to the outlet, a tip or a statement from a witness did not help officers arrest Franklin. They were able to catch him by using a multi-million dollar system which detects gunfire and sends an alert to officers.

Police sad the system, called ShotSpotter, detected the shots Franklin fired on August 4 and sent an alert to the Harrison District's Strategic Decision Support Center.

Once officers at the center received the alert, they turned on the city's surveillance cameras near the intersection and caught images of the crime scene. According to the arrest report, officers saw someone getting into a blue Ford Focus and cameras tracked the vehicle until two officers spotted it and arrested Franklin.

While police have not charged anyone else in connection to the shootings from that weekend, authorities said they are making progress and have narrowed down suspects.

The city said it needs residents to come forward with information to help them solve more crimes. An officer is seen above walking by a crime scene in Chicago on August 5

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel (front) has deployed an extra 600 officers to patrol the streets of Chicago

A 27-year-old man was arrested on August 3 for a shooting in the South Side but has not yet been charged. Police said a 'concerned citizen' gave them a description of the shooter which led them to the 27-year-old.

A 26-year-old woman was also arrested on August 5 in connection to a shooting. Police said she drove the victim to the hospital and was seen on surveillance placing two handguns in a backpack. Authorities have not found the person responsible for that shooting.

In recent weeks, Emanuel has deployed an extra 600 police officers to patrol the streets as he faces mounting pressure to take action against the rampant violence or resign.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken out about the violence in Chicago blaming the crime rate on Emanuel. In a statement earlier this month, Trump said community bonds with law enforcement need to be stronger.

'That's bad stuff happening. And probably, I guess, you have to take it from the leadership, it's called bad leadership,' he added. 'There's no reason in a million years that something like that should be happening in Chicago.'
Alex Salmond admitted yesterday that he is no saint but denied allegations of sexual misconduct towards two female members of staff while he was Scotlands first minister.

The former leader of the Scottish National Party allegedly carried out one assault at Bute House in Edinburgh, the first ministers official residence, in December 2013.

Yesterday Mr Salmond, 63, told the BBC he had made many mistakes in his life, political and personal, adding: Im no saint, Ive got flaws  I understand that.

But he insisted: I have not sexually harassed anyone and I certainly have not been engaged in criminality.

Alex Salmond pictured at a news conference yesterday after he denied allegations of sexual misconduct towards two female members of staff while he was Scotlands first minister

The allegations are understood to have been passed to police by Scottish government officials after an internal inquiry. Police Scotland said it was not going to comment on whether an inquiry is ongoing.

Mr Salmond claims he has been prevented from properly challenging the allegations by Scottish government procedure and intends to take court action to contest the complaints process against him.

He said: I took the legal action Ive taken with the greatest reluctance  for five months Ive been going through this and my legal team have advised me that this process is defective, unjust and doesnt allow you to state your case.

You dont get access to witnesses, you dont see witness statements. More than that, you dont get to present your own case.

He has called elements of the complaints against him patently ridiculous. But yesterday he said he could not specify what the complaints against him were because of the legal action he is taking.

Nicola Sturgeon, his former protegee who replaced him after he stepped down in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum, said the complaints cannot be swept under the carpet despite the extremely difficult situation created for her and the SNP.

She added that the complaints were investigated through a system she agreed to and that the focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored.

Mr Salmond claims he has been prevented from properly challenging the allegations by Scottish government procedure and intends to take court action to contest the complaints process against him (pictured at a kilt fashion show in New York in 2006)

Asked by the BBC if Mr Salmond was still a member of the SNP, she said: These matters will be considered in the fullness of time. This has not been a party investigation.

I have limited information  for legal reasons that information I am not able to pass to the party, so the situation will undoubtedly develop as more information becomes available.

As news of the claims emerged in Scotlands Daily Record newspaper on Thursday night, Mr Salmond issued a lengthy statement on Twitter denying any wrongdoing and revealing that he was seeking a judicial review of the internal inquiry.

He said that for many months, on the advice of senior counsel, he had been trying to persuade the permanent secretary to the Scottish government, Leslie Evans, that she was behaving unlawfully in the application of a complaints procedure introduced by her more than three years after I left office.

He added: This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence.

Miss Evans said yesterday that Mr Salmonds statement contained significant inaccuracies and that the Scottish government will defend its position vigorously.

She confirmed two complaints relating to Mr Salmond were received in January. They came after an internal review of Scottish government procedures on workplace complaints was launched in November 2017 in the light of wider concerns about harassment in Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.

Alex Salmond and his wife Moira arrive for a national service of thanksgiving for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee at St Paul's Cathedral in London on June 5, 2012

As part of that review, a new procedure on handling harassment complaints involving current or former ministers was introduced.

Miss Evans said: Mr Salmond was notified of the complaints in March and the details of the procedure under which the complaints would be addressed.

At a news conference yesterday in Linlithgow, Mr Salmonds home town, the former first minister said his wife, Moira McGlashan, a former civil servant who is 17 years his senior, remains firmly behind him.

Asked if he had done anything to warrant an apology to her, Mr Salmond said: I will tell you one thing that has encouraged me  friends and family, today and in the case of Moira over the last few months, have been incredibly supportive.

Asked if he had been drinking before the incidents that led to the complaints, he said: I think we will just not answer that question. You shouldnt suppose the timescale which was printed in the Daily Record  I am not confirming that.

Bute House is a listed building in Edinburghs Charlotte Square and is the equivalent of 10 Downing Street for Scotlands first minister.

A career peppered by innuendo and rumour about wine and women

By Jonathan Brocklebank

The third time the journalist met Alex Salmond, they were well enough acquainted, in his book, for a kiss full on the lips.

After planting the smacker on writer Vicky Allan, he decided they should do their interview in the Palace of Westminsters Pugin Room over brandies, fruitcake and profiteroles.

Making himself at home in the chandeliered cafe, he kicked his shoes off under the table and engaged the waitress, who he knew by name, in a dialogue in which he seemed to hang on her every word.

In 1999, he was photographed on the campaign trail in Stirling giving a 17-year-old student a lick of his Solero ice lolly as he draped his jacket over his shoulder

Then, turning back to his interviewer, he sweetly reminded her of the time and the place where they last met.

Not once in the long career of the totemic figure of Scottish nationalism has any allegation of infidelity ever appeared in print.

But that Mr Salmond, 63, comes to life in the company of women  preferably with a glass in his hand  no one, not even he, could deny. How the Press and political rivals tittered when, in 1999, he was photographed on the campaign trail in Stirling giving a 17-year-old student a lick of his Solero ice lolly as he draped his jacket over his shoulder.

I remember that Mrs Salmond wasnt pleased, he shuddered years later. I tried to hide those newspapers.

How much fun was had on Twitter in 2015 when he was pictured with the SNPs Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh taking a ride in a hot air balloon  as Mrs Salmond remained firmly in the background at the couples Aberdeenshire home

And how much fun was had on Twitter in 2015 when he was pictured with the SNPs Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh taking a ride in a hot air balloon  as Mrs Salmond remained firmly in the background at the couples Aberdeenshire home.

Now Mr Salmond faces allegations more serious than the innuendo, rumour and speculation about women and wine which has peppered much of his political career.

He is accused of sexual misconduct towards two members of staff during his time as first minister, in his then- official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh  claims which he describes as patently ridiculous.

What is undeniable is women have been a prominent fixture in Mr Salmonds life. It was a political argument with a girlfriend at St Andrews which prompted him to join the SNP in the first place.

It was a partnership with one  his wife  which helped make him electable. And a close working relationship with another  Nicola Sturgeon  nearly resulted in the dismantling of the United Kingdom.

After that failure, a working relationship developed with married Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh as both won seats at Westminster in 2015. At Mr Salmonds behest, Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh travelled to the Bahamas to meet Sir Sean Connery and help record a plug for the Alex Salmond autobiography, The Dream Shall Never Die.

Alex Salmond is pictured at North Berwick Golf Club with professional golfer Kylie Walker

But what of Mrs Salmond? At 81, is she not anxious to have her husband home in Strichen, Aberdeenshire, more often?

The days when either one would speak openly about their marriage are long in the past, but what is clear is he is fiercely protective of her and, in his own way, utterly devoted. I am public property, Mr Salmond used to say when asked about her. She is not. They met in the late 1970s when West Lothian-born Mr Salmond was working in the Scottish Office. Moira French McGlashan, already past 40, was his boss, yet somehow they clicked and were married within three years.

According to Mr Salmonds biographer David Torrance: Everyone who knew either Alex or Moira at this time recalls them being a perfect match, while their 17-year age gap was barely perceptible. Yet political contemporaries regarded the Salmond marriage with bemusement.

It was so out of character, so out of style with Alex, said Mr Torrance. This young radical working-class person marrying someone not only 17 years older than him but, by her own admission, of a more Conservative-leaning background and so much more proper than he was.

By choosing to marry a woman of 43, Mr Salmond appeared to have turned his back on the prospect of fatherhood  and so it proved. Some in his party believed that children would have made him a more rounded, patient man, but perhaps a less effective leader.

Few doubt, however, it was the behind-the-scenes work of Moira  as a sounding board, hostess, wardrobe consultant and more  that helped mould Mr Salmond into an electable MP.

But it was clear from the beginning she preferred to be in the background. Only once, in 1990, did the couple agree to a joint interview and the immediate impression was both regretted it.

It was a partnership with one  his wife  which helped make him electable. And a close working relationship with another  Nicola Sturgeon (pictured)  nearly resulted in the dismantling of the United Kingdom

He hasnt a clue about the colours of ties, shirts or socks, Mrs Salmond said. Sometimes I switch on the six oclock news and Im horrified by what he is wearing. And when oh when, she went on, was he ever going to put up that new pole for her curtains?

It was her first and last interview. But later in Mr Salmonds career, as the SNP became a more powerful force, a clear picture of Mrs Salmonds power over her husband and, by extension, the political landscape emerged. Mr Salmond, who had resigned from his first term as SNP leader in 2000, said he would never have entered the party leadership race four years later if his wife had said no. Perhaps she realised, as his friends and foes alike do, that Mr Salmond cannot bear not to be where the action is.

Much as he plays the dutiful husband in his converted mill house in Aberdeenshire, he is no less at home in a Westminster cafe with a glass in his hand turning on the charm.

And it is not only in the company of women that the alcohol flows. Weeks before the May 2015 General Election, he was demanding flutes of pink champagne during interviews with the Spectator and New Statesman magazines. Red wine, meanwhile, was his preferred tipple before an interview with Sky Newss Adam Boulton in 2014.

According to a Scottish journalist who has socialised with him: He certainly likes his wine. Hes not a massive boozer, but certainly knocks them back when he does drink.

On the rare occasion Ive had a drink with him, he literally pours it down his throat. And its always wine or champers, never anything as common as beer.

For all the alcohol-fuelled bonhomie and occasionally grating attempts at charm, Mr Salmond is rarely comfortable discussing his emotions or private life.

And if gossiped-about friendships with flavour-of-the-month SNP women have raised eyebrows in the past, there have been bitter enmities too.

Chief among them was his toxic relationship with Roseanna Cunningham, who seemed destined to lead her party in 2004 before Mr Salmond spiked her guns by throwing his lot in with her opponent, Miss Sturgeon, who romped to victory. The pair barely spoke to each other for years.

In all, the out-of-work politician, accused of two counts of sexual misconduct, is something of an enigma.

Is he an incorrigible ladies man, the SNPs resident roue, now more often than not soaked in fine wine and chandelier light?

Those who know him well think not. The real Alex Salmond, says one who has known him for decades, is a political anorak  a man without many meaningful friendships and few hobbies beyond the odd flutter on the horses.

Little wonder, when defeat came last year, that Mr Salmond did not take it lying down. No gentle retirement to Aberdeenshire and Moira for him.

Instead, a defiant speech and a typically Salmond-esque quote from a Walter Scott poem. So laugh, false Whigs, in the midst of your glee, you have not seen the last of my bonnets and me, he promised as his fiefdom in north-east Scotland fell to the Tories.

How humiliating for this deeply proud man to find himself in his current predicament.
Earlier this week, at least 19 former pageant winners stepped forward to demand that the entire Miss America board resign following Mund's accusations

Mund said that Miss America chairwoman Gretchen Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper sought to 'silence' and 'erase' her

In April, Mund resigned as Miss America after claiming she's been bullied, manipulated and silenced by the pageant's current leadership

Kayla Kline said that she was stepping away from her position in solidarity with Miss America Cara Mund

The winner of the 2018 Miss Denver beauty pageant publicly renounced her crown on Friday.

In a message posted to her Instagram account, Kayla Kline said that she was stepping away from her position in solidarity with Miss America Cara Mund, who claimed earlier this year that she was abused by senior leadership of the Miss America Organization.

'With a heavy heart I resign. I sent my letter to be received at the national level this afternoon. The national organization that the current [Miss America Organization] board of directors has made Miss America into is not one that I recognize. Miss America deserves a voice, and if you can't hear her, I'll stand and shout with her.'

Kayla Kline said that she was resigning the title as Miss Denver in solidarity with Miss America Cara Mund

'With a heavy heart I resign,' Klein wrote in the post, adding: The national organization that the current MOA board of directors has made Miss America into is not one that I recognize'

In April, Mund resigned as Miss America after claiming she'd been bullied, manipulated and silenced by the pageant's current leadership, including former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson.

'Let me be blunt,' Mund states in the letter, 'I strongly believe that my voice is not heard nor wanted by our current leadership; nor do they have any interest in knowing who I am and how my experiences relate to positioning the organization for the future.'

The beauty queen continues: 'Our chair and CEO have systematically silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis.'

'After a while, the patterns have clearly emerged, and the sheer accumulation of the disrespect, passive-aggressive behavior, belittlement, and outright exclusion has taken a serious toll,' Mund adds.

Carlson is chairwoman of the Miss America Organization; Regina Hopper is its CEO.

In April, Cara Mund (R) resigned as Miss America after claiming she's been bullied, manipulated and silenced by the pageant's current leadership including Gretchen Carlson (L)

The Miss America Organization said in response to the allegations that it would reach out to her directly to address her concerns.

'The Miss America Organization supports Cara,' the group said in a statement. 'It is disappointing that she chose to air her grievances publicly, not privately. Her letter contains mischaracterizations and many unfounded accusations.'

Mund said she's been left out of interviews, not invited to meetings and called by the wrong name.

When she obliquely hinted at trouble with pageant leadership in an interview earlier this year with The Press of Atlantic City, Mund said she was swiftly punished by having her televised farewell speech cut to 30 seconds, and was told a dress she had been approved to wear in the traditional 'show us your shoes' parade cannot be worn.

In a Twitter post made by Carlson last week, the former Fox News host and vocal #MeToo activist wrote that she was 'surprised and saddened beyond words' by Mund's claims.

'I have never bullied or silenced you,' Carlson wrote, addressing Mund directly. 'We've acknowledged your grievances and taken many steps to try to make your experience a good one.'

Former Miss America Caressa Cameron-Jackson went on GMA on Monday (left) and demanded that Gretchen Carlson and Miss America Organization CEO Regina Hopper step down. Cameron-Jackson won the title in 2010 (pictured during her coronation, right)

Carlson tweeted out this statement addressing Mund' claims on Sunday

She continued: 'Actions have consequences. Friday, as an organization, we learned that $75,000 in scholarships which would have been the first scholarship increase in years is no longer on the table as a direct result of the explosive allegations in your letter.

'The impact won't stop there. We are already seeing a negative ripple effect across the entire organization, and I am so concerned that it will dilute the experience for the next woman selected to wear the crown.

On Monday, at least 19 former pageant winners stepped forward to demand that the entire Miss America board resign following Mund's accusations.

Mund (pictured) said she's been left out of interviews, not invited to meetings and called by the wrong name

Caressa Cameron-Jackson, who won the Miss America title in 2010, went on Good Morning America Monday and demanded that Carlson and Miss America Organization CEO Regina Hopper step down.

'I feel as though all of the leadership is complicit in this, and in order for us to move forward and to actually heal, we need to do the right thing right now, so that we can move forward and focus on who's gonna be crowned Miss America on September 9,' Cameron-Jackson told GMA's Paula Faris.

Mund, who was Miss North Dakota and won the crown on a platform of increasing the number of women elected to political office, said she was treated better by the previous Miss America leadership that was forced from power after sending emails ridiculing the appearance, intellect and sex lives of former Miss Americas.

She cites examples of mistreatment including being excluded from the nationally televised announcement that swimsuits were being eliminated  even though she was with Carlson at the TV studio where it was made.

She says pageant handlers ridiculed her clothing choices and chided her for wearing the same outfits too often.

When she reached out to former Miss Americas to see if they had been treated similarly, 'I was reprimanded by Regina who told me that problems and concerns had to be kept 'in the family.' '
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) has been accused of failing to tackle the racism among his supporters

The anti-Semitism scandal has dogged Labour since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.

Here is a timeline of the controversies:

April 2016:

Labour MP Naz Shah is suspended for anti-Semitic posts - including one in which she appeared to endorse calls for Israelis to be deported to the US.

She apologised and was given a formal warning.

Ken Livingstone goes on the radio to defend Ms Shah - but sparks fresh controversy by claiming that Hitler supported Zionism.

He is suspended by Labour but refuses to apologise and has repeated the claim many times.

He eventually quits Labour two years later, saying his suspension has become a distraction.

June 2016:

A two-month inquiry by civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti finds that Labour is not overrun by anti-Semitism.

But the launch is overshadowed when Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth flees it in tears after being accused by Corbyn supporter Marc Wadsworth of colluding with the press.

Critics accuse the report of being a whitewash and Ms Chakrabarti is widely criticised for accepting a peerage from Jeremy Corbyn shortly afterwards.

October 2016:

The Home Affairs Select Committee says Labour is guilty of incompetence over its handling of anti-Semitism and of creating a safe space for people with 'vile attitudes towards Jewish people'.

March 2018:

It is revealed that Jeremy Corbyn defended an artist who painted an anti-Semitic mural and said the offensive art should be removed.

He apologises saying he did not properly look at the picture before he made the post.

Jewish leaders take the unprecedented step of holding a demonstration outside Parliament protesting Mr Corbyn's failure to tackle anti-Semitism.

Several Labour MPs address the crowds.

April 2018:

Marc Wadsworth is expelled from Labour after being accused of anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile, Labour Jewish MPs tell of the anti-Semitic abuse they have suffered in a powerful parliamentary debate - and round on their leader for failing to tackle it.

July 2018:

The Labour leadership sparks fresh anger by failing to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism

Peter Willsman, a strong ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is secretly taped ranting that Jewish 'Trump fanatics' invented the anti-Semitism storm engulfing Labour.

In an angry diatribe at a meeting of Labour's ruling executive committee, he said he was 'amazed' there was evidence party members hated Jews.

He claimed 'some of these people in the Jewish community support Trump  they are Trump fanatics' before shouting: 'So I am not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up duff information without any evidence at all.'

August 2018:

Jeremy Corbyn issues a video insisting he is committed to tackling the racism - but it is panned by Jewish leaders.

Corbynistas mount a social media campaign to get deputy Labour leader Tom Watson to quit after he criticises the party's handling of anti-Semitism.

The Daily Mail exclusively publishes photos of Jeremy Corbyn holding a wreath at a ceremony where a terrorist linked to the Munich massacre was honoured.

The Labour leader insists he was there to honour others killed - but faces fresh calls to quit over the scandal.

February 2019:

Nine MPs including Luciana Berger, Joan Ryan and Ian Austin are among those who quit the Labour Party with broadsides at inaction over anti-Semitism under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Berger, the Jewish Liverpool Wavertree MP, had faced a barrage of attacks from members of her own local party as well as wider abuse, said Labour had become 'institutionally anti-Semitic'.

Enfield MP Joan Ryan was attacked because she was the chairwoman of Labour friends of Israel. And Dudley's Ian Austen, who adoptive father was Jewish, said he had become 'ashamed' of what the party had become under Mr Corbyn's leadership.

November 2019:

MP Chris Williamson, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, quits the party after being blocked from restanding in his Derby North seat at the general election. He had been suspended after saying that Labour had been 'too apologetic' about anti-Semitism.

Mr Corbyn later faced an anti-Semitism row of his own after a major intervention by the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. He accused the left-winger of allowing the 'poison' of anti-Semitism to take root in Labour. His comments were later backed up by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Mr Corbyn declined repeatedly to apologise to British Jews in a searing interview by the BBC's Andrew Neil and said that Mr Mirvis was 'wrong'.
Italy has been accused of holding 150 migrants 'hostage' on a coastguard ship 'as a way of blackmailing Europe'.

Many of those stranded aboard the vessel - the Diciotti - for a ninth day, began a hunger strike today.

Their reaction is out of frustration that Italy continues to refuse to let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by Italy's anti-migrant interior minister.

Migrants pray aboard the Italian coastguard ship Diciotti as they enter their ninth day on board

Matteo Salvini, right, with Italian premier Giuseppe Conte. Salvini has repeatedly said the migrants should be not allowed to disembark in Italy

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refused to bow to pressure to accept the migrants, and responded to their threatened hunger strike via Twitter that they can 'do as they believe'

Salvini also said on Twitter that his 'goal is to block boats...following the Australian model'

The Diciotti rescued the large group on August 16 while they were sailing on a foundering human trafficker's boat in the central Mediterranean. Since then, they have been docked in the port of Catania in Sicily.

An opposition lawmaker, Sen. Davide Faraone, said today that Catania port officials told him 'there's tension' on the ship and that migrants have stopped eating.

But Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refused to bow to pressure to accept the migrants, and responded to their threatened hunger strike via Twitter that they can 'do whatever they believe.

'In Italy there are 5 million people living in absolute poverty (1.2 million children) who go on hunger strike every day'.

Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama.

On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania.

But Salvini has been adamant that Italy's populist government will not allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking in the asylum-seekers.

He has professed admiration in the past for Hungary's tough stance on migrants.

All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean; the others are from Somalia, Syria and Sudan.

Migrants rest while waiting to disembark from Italian coastguard ship Diciotti in the port of Catania, Sicily

The Diciotti rescued the large group on August 16 while they were sailing on a foundering human trafficker's boat in the central Mediterranean

They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya while waiting to leave that lawless country aboard smugglers' boats.

Another opposition lawmaker who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20, who are still on board.

Appealing to Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: 'As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off' the Diciotti.

Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch on Friday but the men refused their meal.

Italy's populist government said today that it would cut funds for the European Union unless other states take in boat migrants stranded at the port, earning a rebuke from Brussels for making unacceptable 'threats'.

A meeting in Brussels of advisers from 12 countries held today, including representatives from Italy, grappled with how to share the migrant burden in general among EU members.

When it ended, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte complained on Facebook that no progress was made.

'Yet again, we take the measure of the dysfunction, which morphs into hypocrisy, between words and deeds,' he said.

Conte said EU members at the meeting 'lost a good occasion' to make progress toward solidarity and responsibility 'even though they are constantly proclaimed as fundamental values' of the bloc.

'The worst thing is that (the migrants) are being held hostage as a way of blackmailing Europe,' said Laura Boldrini, who is a lawmaker for the left-wing Free and Equal party

The meeting's official agenda did not include the Diciotti's drama.

Salvini, who heads the anti-immigrant League party, has insisted the migrants will not be allowed ashore until other EU states agree to take them in - prompting a criminal investigation into whether the migrants are being held against their will.

'The worst thing is that (the migrants) are being held hostage as a way of blackmailing Europe,' said Laura Boldrini, who is a lawmaker for the left-wing Free and Equal party.

Water and other essential supplies are being loaded on the Diciotti, where migrants wait for permission to disembark, in the port of Catania

More than 650,000 people have reached Italian shores since 2014 and Rome has begun to take a rigidly anti-immigration line

The Italian foreign ministry said that Hungary has rebuffed Italy's request that it take some of the migrants aboard the Diciotti

More than 650,000 people have reached Italian shores since 2014 and Rome has begun to take a rigidly anti-immigration line, saying it will not let any more rescue ships dock unless other EU states agree to take the people in.

In Brussels, EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein retorted that 'the European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats.'

He urged 'all parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution.'

EU Parliament president Antonio Tajani told Sky TG24 that standoffs over rescued migrants would not happen any more if EU countries, especially in Eastern Europe, had favoured reform of the so-called Dublin arrangement, which requires migrants seeking EU asylum to apply for it in the country where they arrive.

Separately, the Italian foreign ministry said that on Thursday Hungary had rebuffed Italy's request that it take some of the migrants aboard the Diciotti.
Japanese farmers are testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields and perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time it takes a labourer.

The drone applies pesticides and fertilizer to a rice field in 15 minutes - a job that takes more than an hour by hand and requires farmers to lug around heavy tanks.

Developers of the new agricultural drone say it offers high-tech relief for rural communities facing a shortage of labour as young people leave for the cities.

They plan to release the $36,000 (28,000) Nile-T18, which farmers can control through an iPad app, next year.

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Japanese farmers are testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields and perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time it takes a labourer. Pictured is a farmer in Japan's Tome region trialling the new technology

'Our ultimate goal is to lower rice farming costs to one-fourth of what it is now,' Hiroshi Yanagishita, President of Nileworks, the Tokyo drone start-up behind the technology, told reporters Thursday.

Nile-T18 was recently tested in Japan's Tome area  a region that has supplied rice to Tokyo since the 17th century.

'This is unprecedented high technology,' said Isamu Sakakibara, a 69-year-old rice farmer in Tome and head of JA Miyagi Tome, the local agricultural cooperative.

'As we face a shortage of next-generation farmers, it's our mission to come up with new ideas to raise productivity and farmers' income through the introduction of cutting-edge technologies such as drones.'

Compared to larger radio-controlled mini-helicopters that cost around $136,000 (105,000) with spray equipment, the drone is smaller and cheaper.

It can quickly analyse a rice stalk and determine how much pesticide or fertiliser it needs, making it easier for farmers to judge input needs and estimate crop size.

The drone (pictured) applies pesticides and fertilizer to a rice field in 15 minutes - a job that takes more than an hour by hand and requires farmers to lug around heavy tanks

The technology runs on mapping software that is simple to operate, meaning it can be controlled with an iPad.

The firm plans to start selling the drone next May, with an annual target of 100 units in year one and 4,000 in five years.

The technology runs on mapping software that is simple to operate, meaning it can be controlled with an iPad

Nileworks is currently negotiating with authorities to allow operators to fly its drone without a license.

Its aim is to ease the physical burden and improve productivity in rural areas battling decades of falling birth rates and migration to urban areas.

In Tome, farmers are an average 67-68 years old and they may only have another 4-5 years of farming left, Sakakibara said.

'It's a matter of whether the body breaks down first, or the tractor,' Mr Sakakibara said.

Other drone makers such as SkymatiX Inc, jointly owned by trading house Mitsubishi Corp and electronics maker Hitachi Ltd, are offering drone services on farms.

Shota Chiba, a 29-year-old farmer in Tome, said technology can modernise farming and lure young people back to the land.

'People still have a strong stereotypical image of farming as a dirty and hard-labour job, but it's no longer all true thanks to gradual mechanization,' Chiba said.

'New technology like diagnostic drones could help change this old image and attract more young people to farming, which I truly enjoy,' he added.
Waymo is beefing up its presence in China.

Alphabet Inc's self-driving unit has set up a subsidiary in Shanghai, according to a business registration filing, the latest sign that the U.S. internet giant is attempting to make new inroads into China.

Waymo established a wholly-owned company called Huimo Business Consulting Co on May 22 in Shanghai's free trade zone with registered capital of 3.5 million yuan ($509,165), according to China's National Enterprise Information Publicity System.

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Waymo's move comes as China makes a major push into autonomous smart vehicles to keep pace with the United States in a global race to develop self-driving vehicles

Its scope includes business and logistics consultancy as well as services related to the design and testing of self-driving car parts, said the document, which also listed the firm's legal representative as Kevin Bradley Vosen.

Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alphabet Inc's Google, which quit China's search engine market in 2010, has been actively seeking ways to re-enter the sector in the country where many of its products are blocked by regulators.

In August, Reuters reported that the company plans to launch a version of its search engine in China that will block some websites and search terms.

Google's Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has told staff that development is in an early stage.

Waymo recently doubled its operations center in Chandler, Arizona and test autonomous vehicles in the state. Pictured is its fleet of self-driving cars before hitting the road

HOW DOES WAYMO TEST ITS SELF-DRIVING CARS BEFORE PUTTING THEM ON PUBLIC ROADS? Waymo built 'Castle,' a hidden mock city that can quickly be configured to test different scenarios. It's located north of the Merced metro area where the Castle Air Force Base used to be an has been rented by Google since 2014. As part of the initial two-year lease, the firm rented 80 acres from Merced Country for $456,000, being paid in $19,000 monthly installments. It has different driving environments including residential streets, expressway-style streets, cul-de-sacs, and parking lots. The Waymo test site is located north of the Merced metro area, where the Castle Air Force Base used to be At Castle, the roads are named after famous cars, such as DeLorean, Bullitt, Thunderbird, Fury, and Barbaro. For the structured testing, Waymo looks at how self-driving cars perform on real roads to determine how they need to practice - then they build what's required at Castle. The fake city has no buildings except one - a converted military dorm Waymo employees sleep in when they're too tired to make it back to San Francisco. It's hidden, and you need GPS coordinates to find it. Castle is located north of the Merced metro area where the Castle Air Force Base used to be, 2.5 hours from the company's headquarters. There, Waymo is testing several types of self-driving cars, including Chysler Pacificas minivans Advertisement

Google has also joined an investment in Chinese live-stream mobile game platform Chushou and launched an artificial intelligence game on Tencent Holdings Ltd's social media app WeChat.

Waymo's move also comes as China makes a major push into autonomous smart vehicles to keep pace with the United States in a global race to develop self-driving vehicles.

Earlier this year, Beijing issued licenses to automakers allowing self-driving vehicles to be road-tested in Shanghai, including Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp Ltd and electric vehicle start-up NIO. ($1 = 6.8740 Chinese yuan)
One of the rarest birds in the world has been re-discovered in the Bahamas more than two years after the species was thought to have died out worldwide.

The elusive bird, known as the Bahama nuthatch, was thought to have been wiped from existence following Hurricane Matthew back in 2016.

The storm devastated the archipelago with gusts of wind of hitting speeds of 120mph.

Ornithologists believed the destruction caused by the storm wiped out the remaining population of the critically-endangered bird.

However, the rare animal has been spotted again after two years of obscurity.

The sighting has been compared to finding a 'needle in a haystack', however experts are concerned it may still not be possible to bring the Bahama nuthatch back from the brink of extinction because there are too few animals still alive.

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One of the rarest birds in the world has been found in the Bahamas more than two years after the species was thought to have died out. The elusive bird, known as the Bahama nuthatch (pictured), was thought to have been wiped from existence following Hurricane Matthew Worlds most critically endangered birds spotted in Florida

Experts have delighted at the sighting of the rare bird, but it is feared there could only be two left  making it one of the world's most critically endangered animals.

The Bahama Nuthatch is only known to exist in a small area of native pine forest on Grand Bahama Island, which lies approximately 100 miles (160 km) off Palm Beach, Florida.

There has been an unprecedented population decline in recent years, with numbers plummeting from around 1,800 in 2004 to just 23 birds in 2007.

The problem is believed to have started in the 1950s as a result of habitat loss due to deforestation on Grand Bahama Island.

It was feared Hurricane Matthew was the final straw for a species already teetering on the brink of annihilation.

However, a new example of the bird species has been found and shot on film as part of an extensive search by two masters students from the University of East Anglia, who trawled the islands as part of a three month search.

Matthew Gardner and David Pierra undertook what is believed to be one of the most extensive searches for the species ever undertaken.

Dr Diana Bell, from UEA's School of Biological Sciences, said: 'The Bahama Nuthatch is a critically endangered species, threatened by habitat destruction and degradation, invasive species, tourist developments, fires and hurricane damage.

'Our researchers looked for the bird across 464 survey points in 34,000 hectares of pine forest. It must have been like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

'They played out a recording of the bird's distinctive call in order to attract it.'

In spite of the miraculous discovery, Dr Bell is concerned the likelihood of bringing the species back from the brink remains 'slim'.

This is because of the very low numbers left alive, and because scientists are not entirely sure of the precise drivers for its decline.

The Bahama Nuthatch has a long bill, distinctive high-pitched squeaky call, and nests only in mature pine trees.

In order to track down the bird, the pair traipsed through thick vegetation known as 'poisonwood'  a thick layer of foliage that grows beneath the main forest canopy.

Experts have delighted at the sighting of the bird but it is feared that there could only be two left, making it one of the world's most critically endangered animals

The sighting has been compared to finding a 'needle in a haystack' but scientists are concerned it may not be possible to bring the animal back from the brink of extinciton

WHAT IS THE BAHAMA NUTHATCH? The bird has a long bill, a distinctive high-pitched squeaky call, and nests only in mature pine trees. The Bahama Nuthatch is only known to exist in a small area of native pine forest on Grand Bahama Island, which lies approximately 100 miles (160 km) off Palm Beach, Florida. There has been an unprecedented decline in population numbers in recent years, with numbers plummeting from around 1,800 in 2004 to just 23 birds in 2007. The decline is believed to have started in the 1950s as a result of habitat loss thanks to deforestation. It was feared Hurricane Matthew was the final straw for a species that was already on the brink of annihilation. The storm decimated the archipelago with gusts of wind of around 120mph and ornithologists had not spotted the critically endangered bird since. Advertisement

They worked in partnership with Nigel Collar and David Wege from Birdlife International and the Bahamas National Trust, the organisation which works to protect the habitats and species of the Bahama Islands.

A similar search was being conducted on the opposite side of the island by Bahamian students, led by Zeko McKenzie of Loma Linda University.

The UEA team made six sighting and the Loma Linda expedition contributed an additional five.

Both groups used different methods and the Bahamas-natives were fortunate enough to glimpse what appeared to be two of the birds together.

Mr Gardner said: 'We had been scouring the forest for about six weeks, and had almost lost hope. At that point we'd walked about 248 miles (400km).

The bird was found and captured on film as part of an extensive search by two masters students at the University of East Anglia who were trawling the islands for three months

In order to track down the bird, the pair traipsed through thick vegetation known as 'poisonwood' - a thick layer of foliage that grows beneath the main forest canopy

Another search was being conducted on the opposite side of the island by Bahamian students, led by Zeko McKenzie of Loma Linda University. The UEA team made six sighting and the Loma Linda expedition contributed an additional five.

'Then, I suddenly heard its distinctive call and saw the unmistakable shape of a nuthatch descending towards me. I shouted with joy, I was ecstatic.

'During three months of intensive searching we made six Bahama nuthatch sightings. Our search was extremely thorough but we never saw two birds together, so we had thought there might only be one left in existence.

'The other team have claimed to see two together so that is promising. However, these findings place the species on the verge of extinction and certainly amongst the world's most critically endangered birds.

'We also don't know the sex of the birds. In many cases when birds dwindle to such small numbers, any remaining birds are usually male.'

Both teams made their sightings in May and Michael Parr, president of American Bird Conservancy and a UEA alumnus, claims the proof is incontrovertible due to the unique markings on the bird.

Mr McKenzie said: 'Although the Bahama nuthatch has declined precipitously, we are encouraged by the engagement of conservation scientists who are now looking for ways to save and recover the species.'

The Bahama Nuthatch is only known to exist in a small area of native pine forest on Grand Bahama Island, which lies approximately 100 miles (160 km) off Palm Beach, Florida
An enormous Roman villa has been uncovered beneath a field in Oxfordshire packed with trophies, including coins and boar tusks alongside a sarcophagus containing the skeletal remains of a unnamed woman.

Amateur detectorist and historian Keith Westcott found the ancient remains beneath a crop in a field near Broughton Castle near Banbury.

A team of archaeologists unearthed the remains of the historic building, which is bigger than the mausoleum at the Taj Mahal, as part of a four-month excavation project.

The foundations measure 85metre by 85metre (278ft x 278ft)  the second largest ever discovered in Britain  and date back to 99 AD.

The mausoleum at the Taj Mahal is 57metre x 57metre (187ft x 187ft).

The land previously belonged to Lord and Lady Saye and Sele, the parents of Martin Fiennes, who now owns the land.

He works as a principal at Oxford Sciences Innovation and is second cousin of British explorer Ranulph Fiennes and third cousin of actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes.

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A metal detectorist has uncovered one of the largest Roman villas ever discovered in Britain  and it was found on land belonging to the family of the actor Ralph Fiennes

The new structure is believed to be the second largest Roman villa ever found in Britain, behind only the Fishbourne Palace in West Sussex, which dates back to 75 AD was discovered in 1960.

Mr Westcott, 55, decided to investigate the site after being told by local farmer John Taylor that he had ploughed his tractor into a large stone in 1963.

Mr Taylor said he saw a hole had been made in the stone and when he reached inside he pulled out a human bone.

Incredibly, the farmer had uncovered a sarcophagus of a high-status woman who had died in the third or fourth century.

Fascinated by the story, Mr Westcott set off in October 2016 to explore the site properly.

His eureka moment came when he found a 1,800 year-old tile from a hypocaust system, which was an early form of central heating used in high-status Roman buildings.

A team of archaeologists unearthed the remains of the historic building, which is bigger than mausoleum at the Taj Mahal, following a four month excavation project. Pictured is Martin Fiennes on the north range wall

The 85m by 85m (278ft x 278ft) foundations date back to 99 AD and lie beneath a crop in a field near Broughton Castle near Banbury, Oxfordshire

A wealth of artifacts including coins, coffins and a large boar tusk were also found during the dig which was led by detectorist and historian Keith Westcott. Pictured is an artifact discovered at the archaeological dig site

The land belongs to the family of actor Ralph Fiennes (pictured). The historic building is bigger than the mausoleum at the Taj Mahal

Very little is currently known about the site (pictured). Experts say the villa would have been the centre of rural industry and agriculture at the time

It is believed to be the second largest Roman villa ever found in Britain since Fishbourne Palace in West Sussex which dates back to 75 AD was discovered in 1960. Pictured is the site

How England spent almost half a millennium under Roman rule 55BC - Julius Caesar crossed the channel with around 10,000 soldiers. They landed at a Pegwell Bay on the Isle of Thanet and were met by a force of Britons. Caesar was forced to withdraw. 54BC - Caesar crossed the channel again in his second attempt to conquer Britain. He came with with 27,000 infantry and cavalry and landed at Deal but were unopposed. They marched inland and after hard battles they defeated the Britons and key tribal leaders surrendered. However, later that year, Caesar was forced to return to Gaul to deal with problems there and the Romans left. 54BC - 43BC - Although there were no Romans present in Britain during these years, their influence increased due to trade links. 43AD - A Roman force of 40,000 led by Aulus Plautius landed in Kent and took the south east. The emperor Claudius appointed Plautius as Governor of Britain and returned to Rome. 47AD - Londinium (London) was founded and Britain was declared part of the Roman empire. Networks of roads were built across the country. 50AD - Romans arrived in the southwest and made their mark in the form of a wooden fort on a hill near the river Exe. A town was created at the site of the fort decades later and names Isca. When Romans let and Saxons ruled, all ex-Roman towns were called a 'ceaster'. this was called 'Exe ceaster' and a merger of this eventually gave rise to Exeter. 75 - 77AD - Romans defeated the last resistant tribes, making all Britain Roman. Many Britons started adopting Roman customs and law. 122AD - Emperor Hadrian ordered that a wall be built between England and Scotland to keep Scottish tribes out. 312AD - Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal throughout the Roman empire. 228AD - The Romans were being attacked by barbarian tribes and soldiers stationed in the country started to be recalled to Rome. 410AD - All Romans were recalled to Rome and Emperor Honorious told Britons they no longer had a connection to Rome. Source: History on the net Advertisement

It was then he knew that whatever ruins lay beneath the soil were of 'unimaginable quality and significance.'

Along with a team from Oxford Archaeology, Mr Westcott spent two weeks on the field in April this year, digging five trial trenches to gauge the scope of the remains.

Using technology such as magnotomerty  which acts like an x-ray through soil  walls, room outlines, ditches and other infrastructure was uncovered.

The villa's accommodation would have included a bath-house with a domed roof, mosaics, a grand dining room, kitchens and a living accommodation.

Along with a team from Oxford Archaeology, Mr Westcott spent two weeks on the field in April this year, digging five trial trenches to gauge the scope of the remains. Pictured is drone footage of the site

In 55BC Julius Caesar crossed the channel with around 10,000 soldiers. They landed at a beach in Deal and were met by a force of Britons. Pictured is a coin found at the site

Pictured is a Roman coin found at the Broughton Castle villa dig site. A farmer first stumbled upon the site over half a century ago

In 122AD Emperor Hadrian ordered that a wall be built between England and Scotland to keep Scottish tribes out. Pictured is a wild boar tusk found at the site

Pictured is an unidentified object from the site. The cost of the project could be in the region of around two million pounds

Mr Westcott, 55, decided to investigate the site after being told by local farmer John Taylor that he had ploughed his tractor into a large stone in 1963

Mr Taylor said he saw a hole had been made in the stone and when he reached inside he pulled out a human bone

Incredibly, the farmer had uncovered a sarcophagus of a high-status woman who had died in the third or fourth century. Fascinated by the story, Mr Westcott set off in October 2016 to explore the site properly

Martin Fiennes is a principal at Oxford Sciences Innovation and is the third cousin of actor Ralph Fiennes and also second cousin to the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes (pictured)

In total 178 items of significance were uncovered, cleaned and cataloged including coins bearing the mythological twins Romulus and Remus as well as bone china.

Mr Westcott, who is director of The Association of Detectorists, said: 'It truly is a remarkable find of incredible historical significance.

'We've only uncovered about one per cent so the possibilities of what we still might find are endless.

'The only bigger one is at Fishbourne Palace in West Sussex  but that is a palace and we think that parts of it could date back to the second century.

'All other sites of this significance  with the exception of North Leigh near Witney  have a visitor centre and/or a museum, so it really is a big deal.'

'We've only uncovered about one per cent so the possibilities of what we still might find are endless', said Mr Westcott (pictured)

Martin Fiennes and his parents Lord and Lady Saye and Sele. Mr Westcott is director of The Association of Detectorists

It total 178 items of significance were uncovered, cleaned and cataloged including coins bearing the mythological twins Romulus and Remus as well as bone china. Pictured is Keith Westcott with a wild boar tusk

Mr Westcott (pictured), who is director of The Association of Detectorists, said: 'It truly is a remarkable find of incredible historical significance'

Mr Westcott says that it is possible Roman dignitaries visited for the sporting purposes

He says that it is possible Roman dignitaries visited for the sporting purposes.

'Most of the other big courtyard villas were discovered in the 1800s and excavated using Victorian techniques', said Mr Westcott.

'All of the other discoveries had been done so by accident but in this instance I had a theory and went with it.

'The villa would be the real centre of rural industry and agriculture and although the persons living there would have been very wealthy and powerful there would have been all sorts of things going on from the cooks to slaves.

'The more we're finding out about this part of north Oxfordshire, we're realizing at the head of the triangle between Fosse Way, Akeman Street and Watling Street was a very important Roman area', he said.

The land previously belonged to Lord and Lady Saye and Sele  the parents of Martin Fiennes  who now owns it (pictured)

Unlike many other sites, this one has nothing built on top. Universities, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Roman archaeology are now being approached to take part in a full excavation

Unlike many other sites, this one has nothing built on top.

Universities, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Roman archaeology are now being approached to take part in a full excavation.

The cost of the project could be in the region of around two million pounds.

Martin Fiennes, who was also central to the operation and took part in the dig, said: 'The next step will be for me to reach out to various universities, starting with Oxford, to see if they are interested in leading a project to do a full excavation over a period of years.

'Obviously we would like someone to do it who can involve the local community as much as possible as well as comprehensively recording the site.

'If no-one wants to do it, then it stays happily undisturbed for another 50 or 100 years until someone comes up with the money and interest.'

The cost of the project could be in the region of around two million pounds. Pictured are artifacts discovered at the dig

Martin Fiennes (right), who was also central to the operation and took part in the dig, said: 'The next step will be for me to reach out to various universities, starting with Oxford, to see if they are interested in leading a project to do a full excavation over a period of years'
Ambassador Designate of Thailand to Vanuatu, Nantana Sikakua presenting her Letter of Credentials to Head of State Obed Moses this week.
An enormous new telescope aims to finally solve a mystery surrounding cryptic signals that pelt Earth every day from unknown sources across deep space.

The 3.8 million ($4.9 million) Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) project is being built to explore 'Fast Radio Bursts' or FRBs.

These rapid and bright signals appear temporarily and randomly, making them tricky to find and study  with just 20 signals ever detected since their discovery in 2001.

However, using the new HIRAX telescope, scientists hope to scan as many as 12 FRBs per day in an attempt to shed light on the origins of the elusive radio emissions.

HIRAX's instruments will be more likely to catch FRBs as they flash across the sky because of large proportion of the sky that can be observed with its instruments.

Experts speculate FRBs could originate from a number of sources, with possible explanations including advanced extra-terrestrial civilisations and debris created by exploding black holes.

An enormous new telescope aims to finally solve a mystery surrounding cryptic signals that pelt Earth every day from a location in deep space. Pictured are the first four dishes that will eventually make up the 1,000-dish array spread across two sites in Australia and South Africa

Scientists hope the HIRAX project  an array of 1,000 six-metre-wide (20ft) satellite dishes spread across two sites in the southern hemisphere  will provide answers.

The dishes will combine to form an interferometer array, which combines signals from many telescopes to provide the resolution of a much larger telescope.

Researchers have already built four test dishes at a site Karoo, South Africa, and a further three have been built at a site in Western Australia.

HIRAX will probe the characteristics of the universes dark energy 7 billion to 11 billion years ago.

To do this, it will operate between 400 and 800 MHz in order to map the neutral hydrogen in the universe.

Neutral hydrogen gas, which scientists believe is directly proportional to the amount of dark matter found in galaxies, emits a signal at 1420 MHz  around the same frequency as mobile phones and television channels.

However, this signal gets stretched to lower frequencies as the universe expands.

By operating at a lower 400 and 800 MHz, scientists should be able to map neutral hydrogen in the universe from around seven to 11 billion years ago.

Dark energy is a phrase used by physicists to describe a mysterious 'something' that is causing unusual things to take place in the universe.

The 3.8 million ($4.9 million) Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) project is being built in South Africa to explore 'fast radio bursts' (FRBs). Pictured is an artist's impression of the eventual South Africa site

Researchers hope the telescope will also be able to locate Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) in their host galaxies for the first time.

The team will look for FRBs, which will be easier to spot using HIRAX in part because of its exceptionally wide field of view.

Part of what makes the bursts so hard to catch is that they're so brief, and most telescopes only observe a very small portion of the sky at any given moment.

FAST RADIO BURSTS ARE BRIEF RADIO EMISSIONS FROM SPACE WHOSE ORIGIN IS UNKNOWN Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are radio emissions that appear temporarily and randomly, making them not only hard to find, but also hard to study. The mystery stems from the fact it is not known what could produce such a short and sharp burst. This has led some to speculate they could be anything from stars colliding to artificially created messages. Scientists searching for fast radio bursts (FRBs) that some believe may be signals sent from aliens may be happening every second. The blue points in this artist's impression of the filamentary structure of galaxies are signals from FRBs The first FRB was spotted, or rather 'heard' by radio telescopes, back in 2001 but wasn't discovered until 2007 when scientists were analysing archival data. But it was so temporary and seemingly random that it took years for astronomers to agree it wasn't a glitch in one of the telescope's instruments. Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics point out that FRBs can be used to study the structure and evolution of the universe whether or not their origin is fully understood. A large population of faraway FRBs could act as probes of material across gigantic distances. This intervening material blurs the signal from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the left over radiation from the Big Bang. A careful study of this intervening material should give an improved understanding of basic cosmic constituents, such as the relative amounts of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy, which affect how rapidly the universe is expanding. FRBs can also be used to trace what broke down the 'fog' of hydrogen atoms that pervaded the early universe into free electrons and protons, when temperatures cooled down after the Big Bang. Advertisement

HIRAX's wide field of view will be more likely to catch FRBs as they flash across the sky daily, with researchers expecting to read up to a dozen signals per day.

The telescope will boast the unique capability of being able to figure out exactly where in the sky these fast radio bursts occur, by working with several other Southern African countries to build 8-dish outrigger arrays.

Combined with the main array, this system will help scientists pinpoint where the bursts came from in their host galaxies.

To pinpoint the exact location, HIRAX will have to record, store and analyse a swathe of information, predicted to hit around 6.5 Terabits per second at its peak.

Researchers have already built four test dishes at a site Karoo, South Africa, (pictured) and a further three have been built at a site in Western Australia

Full construction on HIRAX will begin next year in the Karoo desert, with the array initially comprising 128 dish-like elements.

This group will be expanded to 1,024 dishes by 2020.

The experiment is being managed by South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and is the result of a large global collaboration.

'This radio-astronomy telescope aims to describe the effects of dark energy on the distribution of galaxies,' UKZN principal Dr Albert van Jaarsveld said.

'The project is led from UKZN by a dynamic young team of astronomers that are breaking new ground and leveraging the SKA investment to grow a new generation of young astronomers in KZN and South Africa.'
Russian archeologists have found an exceptionally rare 'beard kopek' - a coin that men had to buy under Peter the Great if they wanted to remain unshaven.

Minted in 1699, the copper money is only the second known example of the coin that still survives today, and has been described by experts as 'priceless'.

It shows an image of a beard and moustache and the words 'Money Paid'.

The kopek was part of Peter the Great's 'beard tax' imposed soon after he returned from an incognito trip to Britain in 1697 to learn about Western ways in his bid to modernise Russia.

As part of the modernisation imposed after his trip, Peter the Great banned all facial hair unless people paid for a special coin that made them exempt from the rule.

The newly found coin was discovered in a ruined 17th Century building in the Russian city of Pskov alongside a haul of 5,000 other ancient coins.

Minted in 1699, the copper money is described as 'priceless' and shows an image of a beard and moustache as well as the description the words 'Money Paid'. It shows an image of a beard and moustache (right) and the words 'Money Paid'

The wealthy had to fork out high sums but peasants paid one kopek - the lowest coin of the realm.

The 'beard kopeks' acted as a token proving those with facial hair had paid and were expected to be carried at all times.

Currently only one other example is known to exist of these coins - and it is held in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

The new discovery is better quality, say archeologists.

The new find was among a haul of 5,000 ancient 18th and 19th Century coins discovered in Pskov in 2016.

Marina Kulakova, head of the Pskov archeological center, said at the time that the find was 'sensational'.

Researchers have only now noticed the rare beard coin among the treasure which acted as 'protection' for those with facial hair.

In 1698, Emperor Peter I of Russia instituted a beard tax to bring Russian society in line with Western European models. To enforce the ban on beards, the tsar empowered police to forcibly and publicly shave those who refused to pay the tax

Treasure with coins found in Pskov, Russia. Theywere first unearthed two years ago but the unique coin went unrecognised among the masses of other coinage

WHO WAS PETER THE GREAT? Peter the Great (pictured) lived between 1672 and 172) Peter the Great lived between 1672 and 1725. He ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May 1682 until his death. Through a number of successful wars, he expanded the Tsardom into a much larger empire and became one of the major European powers. He implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernising Russia. Peter was heavily influenced by his advisers from Western Europe and he reorganised the Russian army along modern lines. He faced much opposition to his policies and brutally suppressed rebellions that questioned his authority. Peter's reforms made a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of Russian government trace their origins to his reign. Advertisement

The new find was among a haul of 5,000 old coins discovered in Pskov in 2016. Researchers have only now noticed the rare coin among the coins which acted as 'protection' for those with facial hair

'Those who did not carry such a token with them, were forced to shave,' said Tatiana Ershova, senior scientist of Pskov Archaeological Centre.

'Nobody would dare to name its price on this,' she said.

'It is truly a unique find.'

Currently only one other example is known to exist of these coins - and it is held in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg - the country's premier museum. The new discovery is better quality, say archeologists

In 1728 - three years after Peter's death - the beard tax coins were removed from circulation, melted down, and made into other money.

Two years ago the eccentric leader of Tajikistan - a former Soviet republic - ordered police to shave off the beards of 13,000 men.

Emomali Rahmon indicated the measure was to stem the tide of Islamic extremism in his country.

Archeologists working in Pskov found the coins among the ruins from a Russian settlement in Pskov
Executives from Silicon Valley's top tech companies will meet on Friday to discuss how to prevent meddling on their platforms during the 2018 midterm elections.

Facebook invited a dozen firms to convene at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, according to BuzzFeed News, which obtained an email detailing the meeting.

It comes as Facebook, Google and Twitter have all taken steps this week to remove accounts believed to be linked to Iranian and Russian information operations.

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Executives from Silicon Valley's top tech companies will meet on Friday to discuss how to prevent meddling on their platforms during the 2018 midterm elections

'As I've mentioned to several of you over the last few weeks, we have been looking to schedule a follow-on discussion to our industry conversation about information operations, election protection, and the work we are all doing to tackle these challenges,' Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, wrote in the email.

In addition to Facebook, representatives from Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Snapchat are all expected to be in attendance, BuzzFeed said.

Some have expressed concerns that the meeting is being held only a few months before the midterm elections in November.

The meeting will be split into three parts, Gleicher explained in the email.

First, each company will have a chance to present the work they've been doing to prevent misinformation, then attendees will discuss any problems they're facing, and finally, they'll consider whether these meetings should be held regularly.

It's not the first time that such a meeting has occurred, however.

Facebook invited a dozen firms to convene at Twitter's San Francisco office (pictured). Reps from Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Snapchat are all expected to be in attendance

In May, representatives from Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter met with Christopher Krebs, an undersecretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, and Mike Burham from the FBI's foreign influence taskforce.

The meeting was focused around security strategies for the midterm election, but it was said to be a relatively one-sided discussion, as tech firms provided information about their activities, yet they received few details from federal intelligence officials.

Since then, pressure has ramped up considerably for Facebook, Google and Twitter to beef up tools for preventing future misinformation campaigns.

Each firm has reported several new meddling attempts in the course of this week alone.

Google yesterday announced it had removed 58 accounts believed to be tied to Iran's state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

Among the accounts Google deleted were 39 channels on YouTube that had 13,466 total US views, 13 Google+ accounts and six blogs on Blogger.

A Facebook exec called the meeting and described that it would be broken into three parts. Each company will present the work they're doing to prevent misinformation campaigns, then they'll discuss problems they're facing, as well as whether to hold similar meetings regularly

WHAT ARE THE CLAIMS ABOUT RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE ON FACEBOOK DURING THE US ELECTION? Google, Twitter and Facebook have come under fire for allowing the spread of bogus news - some of which was directed by Russia - ahead of the 2016 US election and in other countries. In a blog post in September 2017, Facebook said that more than 3,000 advertisements posted between June 2015 and May 2017 had Russian links. These ads came from a Russian company called Internet Research Agency. According to CNN, Russia-linked Facebook ads were targeted to reach people living in Michigan and Wisconsin, both of which were won narrowly by Trump. Facebook told Congress that the apparent political meddling included use of its image-sharing application Instagram. Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch told a hearing that Instagram posts by suspect Russian accounts were seen by some 20 million Americans last year. 'I've expressed how upset I am that the Russians tried to use our tools to sow mistrust,' Zuckerberg said The data on Instagram is on top of the estimated 126 million Americans exposed to Facebook posts from Russian entities seeking to create divisions during the election campaign. 'I've expressed how upset I am that the Russians tried to use our tools to sow mistrust,' Zuckerberg said. 'What they did is wrong and we are not going to stand for it.' Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg addressed criticism over allowing disinformation and manipulation during the US presidential election, just hours after the company's top lawyer faced a grilling at a Washington congressional hearing at the end of last year. 'Our community continues to grow and our business is doing well,' Zuckerberg said. 'But none of that matters if our services are used in ways that don't bring people closer together. Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits.' Advertisement

Facebook and Twitter also shut down hundreds of accounts that were linked to Russian and Iranian misinformation campaigns.

Facebook removed a total of 653 inauthentic pages, groups and accounts, while Twitter suspended 284 accounts linked to Iran.

Still, many believe the tech giants were too slow to respond to foreign meddling attempts on their platforms.

Facebook became a hotbed for such activity during the 2016 presidential election, when Russian 'troll factory' the Internet Research Agency used the platform to spread false information and sow discord among users.

Earlier this year, tech executives from Twitter, Facebook and Google faced Congressional and Senate hearings to discuss how their platforms were central to foreign meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The Google Doodle for August 24 celebrates Ukraines Independence Day on what is its 27th anniversary.

The countrys origins date back to the 800s, a time since which Ukraine struggled for autonomy from the likes of the Mongols, Poland and the Soviet Union.

Here is all you need to know about Ukraines Independence Day including its history, what happens on the day and what is a Google Doodle.

When did Ukraine become independent?

Although Ukraine declared independence in 1991, it was not the first time the country did so.

Tracing its origin back to the 9th Century, Ukraine has a long history of foreign domination.

The Mongols invaded in the 13th century, while a century later Poland annexes most of modern-day Western and Northern Ukraine.

Another 100 years later, there is a Cossack uprising that leads to the establishment of Hetmanate, the precursor to modern Ukraine.

In 1654, the region became a vassal of Russia and in the late 1780s most of Ukraine becomes absorbed in the Russian Empire.

In the 19th century, Russia banned Ukrainian language in its own borders and Habsburg-controlled Galicia becomes the cultural and political hub of Ukraine.

In the 20th century, the Central Rada council is set up in 1917, following the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Ukrainians join the Thanks to You campaign dedicated to military veterans, their sacrifices and courage to protect independence of Ukraine in Donbas. Thank you and happy Independence Day! # pic.twitter.com/WQfzTKsgdg  Ukraine /  (@Ukraine) August 24, 2018

A year later, Ukraine declared its independence, sparking a civil war. In 1921 the Red Army invades two-thirds of the country, leading to the establishment of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The western third becomes part of Poland.

Millions of Ukrainians died during Stalins catastrophic collectivisation policy and western Ukraine gets annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939/s Nazi-Soviet Pact. Two years later millions more die as Ukraine is invaded by the Nazis.

Over five million Ukrainians died fighting Nazi Germany, with 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews getting killed by the Nazis.

On August 24, 1991 Ukraines border with Russia became an international boundary after the country declared its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Leonid Kravchuk became the independent states first president.

Throughout the 1990s, a quarter-of-a-million Crimean Tatars and their descendants return to Crimea.

In 1994 Leonid Kuchma is elected President, replacing Kravchuk. Two years later, a new democratic constitution is adopted and the hryvnya currency introduced.

Where to celebrate Ukraines Independence Day

There many places to celebrate Ukraines day of independence.

As the Google Doodle points out: Kievs main thoroughfare, Khreshchatyk Street will be closed to traffic for the Independence Day Parade, a mixture of military officers, political leaders, and proud citizens while the Ukrainian National Anthem plays.

  Ukraine /  (@Ukraine) August 23, 2018

Many other events take place on the day in Ukraines capital Kiev, including the Vyshyvanka Run, a charity event where runners wear the vyshyvankas, traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts.

There is also a new flower exhibition called Charming Ukrainian Myth at the Pechersk Spivoche Pole Landscape Park, which is dedicated to Ukraines Independence Day.

The aforementioned Independence Day Parade will feature around 4,500 servicemen and servicewomen, representing the armed forces. The parade starts at the Khreschatyk Street, proceeding to Independence Square.

There will be flower-laying ceremonies held at several monuments in Kiev including at the monument to Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, the great Ukrainian scholar and statesmen.

The Google Doodle for Friday August 24, 2018 celebrates Ukraines Independence Day

What is a Google Doodle?

The Google Doodle for August 24, 2018 celebrates Ukraines Independence Day and reads: The Ukrainian flag seen in todays Doodle is an abstract depiction of blue sky over golden wheat fields.

These colors fly all over the country during Ukrainian National Day, observed on this day ever since the Eastern European nations Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada, or parliament, in 1991.

Google Doodles are small illustrations or animations that appear in the Google logo on the search engine's homepage.

The first time a Google Doodle was used was in 1998, when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin visited the 1998 Burning Man Festival. To commemorate their trip, the founders drew a stick-man standing behind the second o in the Google logo.

Recent Google Doodles include Ismat Chughtai, Hungary State Foundation Day and Qixi Day.
There was wide-scale migration in the ancient Viking settlement of Sigtuna, analysis of bone fragments has revealed.

Half of the population were migrants to Sweden, according to analysis of the remains of 38 people who lived and died in the town during the 10th, 11th and 12th century.

The study is the largest of its kind so far in Sweden and used a combination of several methods, including DNA analysis and strontium isotope analysis of teeth.

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Half of the population were migrants to Sweden, according to analysis of the remains of 38 people who lived and died in the town during the 10th, 11th and 12th century

Sigtuna was formally founded around 980AD when Swedens first Christian king, Olof Skotkonung, resided in the city.

More unknown is the fact that the picturesque town, which today is home to around 10000 people, was a distinctly cosmopolitan place back then.

Researchers led by Stockholm University have analyzed the remains of 38 individuals from six different burial sites in Sigtuna.

The analysis is based on a combination of methods including strontium analysis of the teeth which meant researchers could find out where the individual lived in their youth.

Researchers found that around half the population of Viking age Sigtuna originated from outside Malardalen, according to the study published in Current Biology.

'Were used to thinking of the Vikings as a travelling kind, and can easily picture the school books with maps and arrows pointing out from Scandinavia, as far as Turkey and America, but not so much in the other direction', said Maja Krzewinska, a researcher at the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University and primary author behind the study.

Roughly half of the individuals examined grew up in or around the Sigtuna area.

The other half is equally divided in to regional immigrants (from southern Scandinavia, Norway and Denmark) and long-distance immigrants from further away.

They were found to have come from the British Isles, Ukraine, Lithuania, northern Germany and other parts of central Europe.

Researchers found that around half the population of Viking age (stock image) Sigtuna originated from outside Malardalen, according to the study published in Current Biology

Roughly half of the individuals examined grew up in or around the Sigtuna area. The other half is equally divided in to regional immigrants (from southern Scandinavia, Norway and Denmark) and long-distance immigrants from further away

WHAT WERE THE VIKING VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY? The Vikings made many many voyages of discovery during their history, including stops across Europe and North America. 789AD Vikings begin their attacks on England 840AD Viking settlers found the city of Dublin in Ireland 844AD Vikings raid Seville but are repulsed 860AD Rus Vikings attack Constantinople 866AD York is captured by a Viking army 870AD Vikings colonise Iceland 981AD Erik the Red discovers Greenland 986AD Bjarni Herjolfsson sights North America after being blown off course 1002AD Leif Ericsson, son of Erik the Red, explores the coast of North America, named them Karland, Helluland and Vinland 1492AD Italian explorer Christopher Columbus lands in the New World when he stumbles across the islands now known as The Bahamas Advertisement

The immigration to Sigtuna was common for both males and females.

Approximately 70 per cent of the female population was immigrants, compared to 44 per cent of the men.

'The archaeological record from Sigtuna never ceases to fascinate as it shows such a wide variety of cultural expressions', said Anna Kjellstrom, osteologist at Stockholm University and one of the authors of the study.

Sigtuna (stock image) is well known as one of the earliest cities in the area. It was formally founded around 980AD when Swedens first Christian king Olof Skotkonung resided here

'And here we see who grew up there and who moved to Sigtuna', she said.

'I especially like that we find 2nd generation immigrants among the buried, that kind of migratory information has never been encountered before as far as I know', said Anders Gotherstrom, one of the leaders of the ATLASproject in which this study was conducted.

Similar studies even further back in history would be very difficult since before the arrival of Christianity the deceased were normally cremated.

This means there is insufficient material for DNA analysis.

It is currently not known if the migrants wanted to be on the island and MailOnline has contacted the researchers for more information.
Tim Cook will receive 560,000 shares of Apple's stock Friday earning him a sizable windfall of approximately $120 million.

Tim Cook is poised to cash a $120 million check.

The Apple boss will receive 560,000 shares of the iPhone maker's stock on Friday as part of his restricted stock award, which is given to him each time he completes another year as CEO.

Cook stands to make as much as $120.6 million from the 560,000 shares based on Thursday's closing price of $215.49.

The original agreement called for Cook to receive 280,000 shares as an award for another year of service.

He will now receive an additional 280,000 shares on top of that since Apple's stock has outperformed two-thirds of the companies in the S&P 500 over the past three years.

Apple's total shareholder return was 119 percent from August 25, 2015 through Tuesday's closing bell, so Apple has outperformed more than 80 percent of companies in the S&P 500, according to Bloomberg.

The company's stock will most likely close higher on Friday, meaning Cook will almost certainly receive the full 560,000 shares.

The company's stock will most likely close higher on Friday, meaning Cook will almost certainly receive the full 560,000 shares, earning him at least $120 million

Cook was gifted the restricted stock award in 2011 when he succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died that year.

His annual awards have only increased over the years.

In 2017, Cook received $89 million worth of company stock as part of his compensation for completing another year as CEO.

Again, he received the full amount because Apple's shared outperformed more than two-thirds of companies in the S&P 500 index over a three-year time period.

This year will mark the fifth consecutive year of him earning a payout at the high end of the range, Bloomberg said.

Apple's total shareholder return was 119 percent from August 25, 2015 through Tuesday's closing bell, so Apple has outperformed more than 80 percent of companies in the S&P 500

It's unclear if Cook will cash out the shares he has been awarded this year.

The Apple chief said in 2015 that he intends to donate most of his fortune to charity, however.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday stated that Cook donated roughly 23,000 shares to charity, which amounts to approximately $5 million.

Should Apple's stock continue to be a leader in the S&P 500, Cook will receive an additional 560,000 shares in each of the next three years.

That's also contingent upon him remaining CEO of Apple in the near future.

Cook's net worth now stacks up at about $700 million. He earns an annual salary of $3 million and was given a $9.33 million bonus in 2017, according to regulatory filings.

Should Apple's stock continue to be a leader in the S&P 500, Cook will receive an additional 560,000 shares in each of the next three years. It's also contingent upon him remaining CEO

THE TRILLION DOLLAR RISE OF APPLE The company's journey to the summit of the technology industry has been a rocky one, having seen Jobs (pictured right in 1976) leave the firm in the mid-1980s after his pet project, the first Macintosh computer, struggled and he attempted to oust then chief executive John Sculley. Wozniak is pictured left 1976: Founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne created the company on April 1 1976 as they set about selling computer kits to hobbyists, each of which was built by Wozniak. The first product was the Apple I. 1977: Apple released the Apple II in June, which was the first PC made for the mass market. 1981: Jobs became chairman. 1984: The Macintosh was introduced during an ad break for the Super Bowl and later officially unveiled during a launch event. It was discontinued a year later and Jobs left the firm. 1987: Apple released the Macintosh II, the first colour Mac. 1997: Apple announces it will acquire NeXT software in a $400 million deal that involves Jobs returning to Apple as interim CEO. He officially took the role in 2000. 2001: Apple introduced iTunes, OS X and the first-generation iPod. The first iPod MP3 music player was released on October 23, 2001, at an event in Cupertino and was able to hold up to 1,000 songs. Steve Jobs unveils Apple Computer Corporation's new Macintosh February 6, 1984 in California. The then Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Steve Jobs, with the iPhone 2007: Apple unveils the iPhone. 2010: The first iPad was unveiled. 2011: Jobs resigned in 2011 due to illness, handing the CEO title to Tim Cook. Job died in October from pancreatic cancer. 2014: Apple unveiled the Apple Watch. It also unveiled its first larger iPhones - the 6 and 6 Plus. 2015: After purchasing Beats from Dr Dre, Apple launched Apple Music to compete with Spotify and other music streaming services. Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks at an Apple event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. 2016: Apple returned to its roots and announced the 4-inch iPhone SE. Meanwhile, the firm is embroiled in a legal battle with the FBI, involving the agency demanding access to the locked phone used by Syed Farook, who died in a shootout after carrying out a deadly December attack in San Bernardino, California with his wife. The court order was dropped on March 28 after the FBI said a third party was able to unlock the device. 2017: Apple introduces the iPhone X, which removes the home button to make way for a futuristic edge-to-edge screen design and a new FaceID system that uses advanced sensors and lasers to unlock phones with just the owner's face. 2018: In a first for the company, Apple introduces new features in its latest operating system, iOS 12, that encourage users to manage and spend less time on their devices. The move was spawned by a strongly worded letter from shareholders that urged the firm to address the growing problem of smartphone addiction among kids and teenagers. 2019: In January, Apple reports its first decline in revenues and profits in a decade. CEO Tim Cook partly blamed steep declines in revenue from China. 2020: In March, Apple closes all its bricks and mortar retail stores outside of China in response to coronavirus. Advertisement

Under his leadership, Apple became the first company to reach a $1 trillion market cap.

Apple hit the historic mark earlier this month and has managed to hang onto the $1 trillion-plus valuation since then.

Despite the landmark achievement, Cook told employees it was 'not the most important measure' of the company's success.

Instead, he believes it happened because of Apple's continued focus on products, customers and company values instilled by Jobs.

'Steve founded Apple on the belief that the power of human creativity can solve even the biggest challenges - and that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do,' Cook wrote in a letter to employees.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has revealed his hopes for long-term human settlement on the moon.

In a meeting with reporters at the Johnson Space Center in Houston this week, Bridenstein elaborated on plans to build Gateway modules that will orbit the moon and, ultimately, close the gaps in space exploration.

We want lots of humans in space, Bridenstine said, according to Space.com.

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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has revealed his hopes for long-term human settlement on the moon

The Gateway craft will initially support brief science missions of about 30-60 days, and will be key to exploring the moon in greater detail than ever before.

And, in the years to follow, a second module could be used to carry astronauts to Mars.

The first Gateway is about the moon, but I think the second Gateway, being a deep-space transport, again using commercial and international partners, enables us to get to Mars, Bridenstine said.

What we dont want to do is go to the surface of the moon, prove that we can do it again, and then be done.

We want to go to stay. And the Gateway, in my view  Ive been convinced  enables us to take advantage of commercial and international partners in a more robust way so we are there to stay, it enables us to get to more parts of the moon than ever before, and it enables us to get to Mars.

Earlier this week, Bridenstine outlined a vision for renewed and 'sustainable' human exploration of the moon, citing the existence of water on the lunar surface as a key to chances for success.

'We know that there's hundreds of billions of tons of water ice on the surface of the moon,' Bridenstine said in a Reuters TV interview in Washington on Tuesday, a day after NASA unveiled its analysis of data collected from lunar orbit by a spacecraft from India.

WHAT IS THE LUNAR ORBITAL-PLATFORM GATEWAY? The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, previously known as the Deep Space Gateway, will orbit the moon. Nasa says it will open up opportunities for future exploration of deep space, as well as a return to the moon and missions to Mars. The first modules of the station will be completed as soon as 2025 with construction starting in 2022. Similar to the International Space Station, this new space station will be open to to astronauts and cosmonauts globally. It could provide a staging point for the proposed Deep Space Transport vessel, which is designed to send astronauts and cosmonauts around the solar system. China and India as well as other members of the BRICS Nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) may join. The mission will give more information about the moon and also allow easy access to Mars. Advertisement

The findings, published on Monday, mark the first time scientists have confirmed by direct observation the presence of water on the moon's surface - in hundreds of patches of ice deposited in the darkest and coldest reaches of its polar regions.

The discovery holds tantalizing implications for efforts to return humans to the moon for the first time in half a century.

The presence of water offers a potentially valuable resource not only for drinking but for producing more rocket fuel and oxygen to breathe.

Bridenstine, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and Oklahoma congressman tapped by President Donald Trump in April as NASA chief, spoke about 'hundreds of billions of tons' of water ice that he said were now known to be available on the lunar surface.

But much remains to be learned.

NASA lunar scientist Sarah Noble told Reuters separately by phone that it is still unknown how much ice is actually present on the moon and how easy it would be to extract in sufficient quantities to be of practical use.

Bridenstine, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and Oklahoma congressman tapped by President Donald Trump in April as NASA chief, spoke about 'hundreds of billions of tons' of water ice that he said were now known to be available on the lunar surface.

'We have lots of models that give us different answers. We can't know how much water there is,' she said, adding that it will ultimately take surface exploration by robotic landers or rovers, in more than one place, to find out.

Most of the newly confirmed frozen water is concentrated in the shadows of craters at both poles, where the temperature never rises higher than minus-250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Although the moon was long believed to be entirely dry or nearly devoid of moisture, scientists have found increasing evidence in recent years that water exists there.

A NASA rocket sent crashing into a permanently shadowed lunar crater near the moon's south pole in 2009 kicked up a plume of material from beneath the surface that included water.

A study published the following year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that water is likely widespread within the moon's rocky interior, in concentrations ranging from 64 parts per billion to five parts per million.

HOW DID SCIENTISTS DISCOVER WATER ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON? Experts from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, used near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to find surface water at the moon's polar regions. NIRS makes use of the near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, from about 700 to 2,500 manometers. By measuring light scattered off of and through a sample, NIRS can be used to quickly determine a material's properties without damaging it. They used an imaging technique that can tell apart different types of water, including that on the surface, absorbed into the soil, or bound in minerals. This images shows the distribution of water ice bearing pixels (green and cyan dots) overlain on a mosaic from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for the (a) northern and (b) southern polar regions It can also distinguish between different types of water, including surface, ice, surface adsorbed, liquid or bound in minerals. The data was acquired by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, India's first lunar probe. Ice in the form of H20 was detected in areas of permanent shadow in the moon's polar regions and only in around 3.5 per cent of the moon's shadow covered area. Advertisement

Bridenstine spoke to Reuters about making the next generation of lunar exploration a 'sustainable enterprise,' using rockets and other space vehicles that could be used again and again.

'So we want tugs that go from Earth orbit to lunar orbit to be reusable.

'We want a space station around the moon to be there for a very long period of time, and we want landers that go back and forth between the space station around the moon and the surface of the moon,' Bridenstine said.

NASA's previous program of human moon exploration ended with the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Trump last December announced a goal of sending American astronauts back to the moon, with the ultimate goal of establishing 'a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars.'

The Trump administration's $19.9 billion budget proposal for NASA for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 includes $10.5 billion for human space exploration.

The budget supports development of NASA's new Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft designed to carry a crew into space.

The administration envisioned a SLS/Orion test flight around the moon without a crew in 2020, followed by a fly-around mission with a crew in 2023.

As part of the budget proposal, NASA also is planning to build the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway - a space station in moon orbit - in the 2020s.

NASA said the power and propulsion unit, its initial component, is targeted to launch in 2022.

In May, NASA canceled a lunar rover that was under development, a project envisioned as the first mission to conduct mining somewhere other than Earth.
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a lost city in China that thrived more than 4,000 years ago.

On a ridge above Chinas Tuwei River, researchers found a massive stepped pyramid that once served as a palace center, along with defensive stone walls, tool-making debris, and several pits filled with sacrificial human skulls.

The Bronze Age discoveries challenge our understanding of early Chinese civilization and settlement, suggesting the loess highland was home to a complex society long before the traditionally assumed centers emerged in the Central Plains.

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a lost city in China that thrived more than 4,000 years ago. The pyramid was build out of a loess hill, with 11 massive steps tapering as they ascend, as shown above

The ancient city dubbed Shimao was home to a pyramid that stood at least 230 feet tall (70 meters), and was guarded by a huge inner and outer wall.

Thousands of years ago when it flourished, from about 2300 BC to 1800 BC, the city spanned about 988 acres.

The pyramid was build out of a loess hill, with 11 massive steps tapering as they ascend, the researchers write in a paper published to the journal Antiquity.

Beyond the entrance, they found a large open plaza where rituals and political gatherings may have been held.

According to the researchers, palaces were built atop the huge pyramid out of rammed earth with wooden pillars and roofing tiles.

The ancient city dubbed Shimao was home to a pyramid that stood at least 230 feet tall (70 meters), and was guarded by a huge inner and outer wall. Thousands of years ago when it flourished, from about 2300 BC to 1800 BC, the city spanned about 988 acres

On a ridge above Chinas Tuwei River, researcher found a massive stepped pyramid that once served as a palace center, along with defensive stone walls, tool-making debris, and a pit filled with sacrificial human skulls

Its thought that the ruling elites lived atop the pyramid complex, which was likely also the site of artisanal or industrial craft production.

Eyes and anthropomorphic stone faces were found carved into the facade of the pyramid.

With its imposing height of at least 70 m, the pyramid could be seen from everywhere within the settlement, from the suburbs and even the rural fringes.

Thus it could well have provided a constant and overwhelming reminder to the Shimao population of the power of the ruling elites residing atop it  a concrete example of the social pyramid.

Its thought that the ruling elites lived atop the pyramid complex, which was likely also the site of artisanal or industrial craft production

Researchers say mass sacrifices were also commonplace at Shimao, with six pits containing decapitated human heads discovered at the site on the outer rampart alone.

Human remains and jade objects associated with sacrifice were found at other Shimao monuments, as well.

The jade objects and human sacrifice may have imbued the very walls of Shimao with ritual and religious potency, amplifying its significance as a monumental center, enhancing the protective efficacy of the walls and making this a place of power in every sense, the authors wrote.

Beyond the entrance, they found a large open plaza where rituals and political gatherings may have been held. According to the researchers, palaces were built atop the huge pyramid out of rammed earth with wooden pillars and roofing tiles

WHAT HAVE RESEARCHERS FOUND AT THE SHIMAO RUINS? The Shimao Ruins is the site of a neolithic stone city in the northern province of Shaanxi, China. The site was first discovered in 1976 when archaeologists thought it was a small town, but more of the city has since been recovered. Measuring 4 square kilometres, it is the largest of its kind in Neolithic China, China.org reported. They believe it had magnificent stone walls for inner and outer structures. Experts have also discovered large quantities of precious carved jade, which indicate it was a wealthy and important city at the time. Archaeologists have also found a mural at the site, which they think could be among the oldest in China at around 4,000 years old Advertisement

Notably, the researchers say the discoveries are indicative of Shimaos status as carefully constructed civilization.

This research reveals that by 2000 BC, the loess highland was home to a complex society representing the political and economic heartland, the authors wrote.

Significantly, it was found that Later Bronze Age core symbols associated with Central plains civilization were, in fact, created much earlier at Shimao.
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Tokyo has been named as the world's most reputable city in a survey that ranks places on safety, beauty and leadership.

The Japanese capital beat Sydney into second place and Copenhagen into third.

The study also ranked London in 17th place with researchers saying it had fallen 11 places this year due to ongoing Brexit negotiations. The highest ranked US city is San Francisco in 20th place.

The famous Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, which has been named as the world's most reputable city for 2018 in terms of safety, beauty and leadership

The ranking was carried out by the Reputation Institute for its 2018 City RepTrak, which assessed cities based on the reputations of their beauty, leaders, government and how safe they are.

A total of 56 large cities from around the world were included in the 2018 study, which saw six new cities enter the top 10.

Following Tokyo, Sydney and Copenhagen, Vienna and then Stockholm round off the top five.

In sixth place is Venice, while Rome is in seventh and the Swiss city of Zurich is in eighth.

The top ten also features Munich and then Canadian city Montreal in 10th.

When it came to UK cities Edinburgh also slipped down the rankings, as with London, due to perceptions regarding Brexit leadership.

The full ranking of the 56 cities that the Reputation Institute assessed. The worst ranked city is Moscow

It fell six places to 21st, however Manchester rose four places to 35th place, thanks to the poor performance of other major cities around it in the list.

In the US, after San Francisco, the next highest ranked is New York in 24th place.

Also included in the list are Seattle (29th), Boston (32nd), Miami (34th), Orlando (36th), Los Angeles (38th) and Washington D.C. (40th).

Meanwhile Moscow is this years least reputable city, even though it maintains a strong reputation among the Russian population.

The Japanese capital beat Sydney, pictured, into second place and Copenhagen into third

Mexico City is perceived as the least safe city, following its most violent first quarter in the past two decades.

Enrique Johnson, managing director at Reputation Institute, said: 'The competition for city reputation as the foundation for attracting businesses, a talented workforce, and tourists, is only becoming more intense.

'Fostering and developing an effective government is a key priority for cities to attain a strong reputation. Cities must also promote safety, beauty, and leadership, which are key attributes driving city reputation and stakeholder support.

'Those with the highest reputation attract the most visitors and gain the greatest support from their stakeholders, including intentions to live, work, invest, and organise and attend events there.'
It looks like Lara Bingle is turning sleepwear into the new streetwear.

The Australian model, 31, was seen sporting a rather unconventional ensemble on Wednesday as she stepped out in Sydney.

Despite being back in her home city, she appeared downcast en route to a lunch date with a friend in Potts Point.

Happy to be home? Lara Bingle looked downcast in Potts Point, Sydney on Wednesday as she stepped out in a pyjama-inspired outfit for lunch with a friend

Sleepwear is the new streetwear! The Australian model, 31, wore a rather unconventional outfit

Is everything OK? Despite being back in her home city, Lara appeared downcast en route to a lunch date with a friend in the upmarket suburb

Lara wore a leaden blue two-piece featuring a loose-fitting shirt and a pair of relaxed tailored trousers.

She teamed her pyjamas-inspired outfit with a crossbody red bag.

Keeping her accessories to a minimum, the red-headed socialite wore dark sunglasses and quirky stud earrings.

Comfortably chic: Lara wore a leaden blue two-piece featuring a loose-fitting shirt and a pair of relaxed tailored trousers

Pop of colour: She teamed her pyjamas-inspired outfit with a crossbody red bag

Elegant: Keeping her accessories to a minimum, the red-headed socialite wore dark sunglasses and quirky stud earrings

She completed her unusual look with statement black heels, which featured beaded bow details at the front.

Meanwhile, Lara opted for natural-look makeup consisting of a matte complexion, rosy cheeks, defined eyebrows and a pop of red lipstick.

She styled her silky, auburn hair in a straight blunt bob, tucking a few locks behind her right ear.

Catching up? Later, Lara was spotted walking beside her friend before they dined together at Italian restaurant Fratelli Paradiso

The chop: She styled her silky, auburn hair in a straight blunt bob, tucking a few locks behind her right ear

Later, Lara was spotted walking beside her friend before they dined together at Italian restaurant Fratelli Paradiso.

It comes after the beauty entrepreneur admitted she was losing interest in social media - despite boasting more than 484,000 Instagram followers.

She told Harper's Bazaar recently: 'I feel that as I get older, the less people know about me, the better.'

Tired of it all? It comes after the beauty entrepreneur admitted she was losing interest in social media - despite boasting more than 484,000 Instagram followers

'I still use Instagram, but I've stopped posting too much about my life  just work stuff. To be honest, I don't know if it bores me  maybe I'm over Instagram, or is it because I have my family and it feels like I'm wasting time?'

Lara is married to Australia actor Sam Worthington. The couple share two sons, three-year-old Rocket and Racer, one.

The family have recently been living in Los Angeles, after relocating from New York.

Private: She told Harper's Bazaar recently: 'I feel that as I get older, the less people know about me, the better. I use Instagram but I've stopped posting too much about my life, just work stuff'
Australias in crisis and its affecting The Bachelor audiences.

Rather than tune in to watch Nick The Honey Badger Cumminss continued search for love on Wednesday, viewers tuned in to news networks like ABC News24 to follow stories about Prime Minister Malcom Turnbulls leadership issues.

The ratings dip came after a huge premiere week for Channel 10. The Bachelor drew in an average of 1.25 million viewers the night the latest series began.

The Bachelor Australia saw a major dip in viewership on Wednesday, with viewers tuning in to news stations instead

Last night, however, news networks pulled in the big numbers. Channel 10s Head of Programming Hugh Burke told The Betooda Advocate that if things kept on the way they were, the network would pull Thursdays episode of The Bachelor.

It will be pointless putting on the air. No one will be watching. We will just save it til next week when all these pollies go on holiday, he said.

Alison Little, a Bachelor fan, told the outlet the countrys latest bout or political problems are comparable to  if not better than  the shows drama.

Look, I love watching the Bachie in order to see wanna-be-famous Insta models with lip filler tee off on each other over the most nonsensical things, but it wouldnt compare to whats going down in the bush capital, she said.

Its so good. Embarrassing for us as a country, but still so good. Its like they dont even care about running the country anymore, they just want to have tiffs about whose side they are on.

Who left The Bachelor?

Despite the network stating that they were considering holding off on episode four of The Bachelor, the show aired as planned on Thursday. During the show, Nick Cummins bonded with Dasha on their first one-on-one.

Despite being an underdog at first, the mother-of-one managed to score a kiss from Nick and a rose.

Steph and Aleksandra werent so lucky, as they were sent home in the end. Before leaving the mansion for good, Steph made sure to cement her legacy in the hearts of viewers by uttering one last epic one-liner.

Staring Nick in the face, she said: I cant believe I shaved my legs for this.

Nick stared back, bewildered by her comment, before her responded: Fair enough.

This moment is easily amongst the finest parting words any lady has ever said on #TheBachelorAu. 10/10 I love this. pic.twitter.com/MI4V96Z0bx  Osher Gunsberg (@oshergunsberg) August 23, 2018

Who else left The Bachelor?

Kayla, Christina and Kayla were sent packing in a surprise triple elimination during episode three.

Fans were shocked that Vanessa Sunshine, who looks unamused each time she spends time with Nick Cummins on the show, and Cass, who had it out with Vanessa during the episode and forced Nick to look through her diary with her, were given roses.

When is The Bachelor on TV?

The Bachelor Australia is on every Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm on Channel 10.
Rumours are swirling that a gay-themed Bachelor series could be coming to Australia - with a local celebrity in the lead role.

On Friday, it emerged that Kyle and Jackie O Show newsreader Brooklyn Ross had signed on to appear in a mystery dating show.

Speaking on KIIS FM, the openly gay journalist, 30, confirmed that he was involved in a romance-related TV project but declined to provide further details.

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Is this Australia's first gay Bachelor? Speculation is growing that an LGBT-themed dating show could be coming soon, as Kyle and Jackie O's newsreader Brooklyn Ross (centre) signs on to a mystery dating show. Pictured with Kyle Sandilands (left) and Jackie 'O' Henderson (right)

'It's in the works... give me a month or two and I'll let you know what's going on,' he told hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson.

Brooklyn confirmed he wasn't taking part in Channel Seven's upcoming Take Me Out, saying, 'This one's more secret'.

'Yeah, I don't think anyone knows about this one yet!' added Jackie.

'It's not a big, Married At First Sight [show] or anything like that,' Brooklyn replied.

Will you accept this rose? On Friday, it emerged that Kyle and Jackie O Show newsreader Brooklyn Ross (pictured) had signed on to appear in a mystery dating show

When approached for comment, Kyle and Jackie's reps refused to deny that Brooklyn was Australia's first gay Bachelor.

'Unfortunately we can't give any more details besides what was already spoken about on air  as soon as they can say more they will,' said a spokesperson.

There has never been an official LGBT-themed version of The Bachelor or Bachelorette.

How exciting! When approached for comment, Kyle and Jackie's reps refused to deny that Brooklyn (right) was Australia's first gay Bachelor. Pictured at a press event with former 2GB reporter Katie Kimberley (left) in July 2015

Mystery project: 'It's in the works... give me a month or two and I'll let you know what's going on,' Brooklyn told KIIS FM hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson on Friday

However, a show with a similar format featuring gay contestants aired on American cable television in 2016.

Finding Prince Charming was hosted by former NSYNC member Lance Bass and interior designer Robert Sepulveda Jr. was cast as the suitor.

Before the show aired, it emerged that Robert had previously worked as an escort to pay his way through university.

Looking good! Brooklyn (left) is pictured on the KIIS 106.5 float at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in March 2018 with Jackie 'O' Henderson, Kyle Sandilands and Imogen Anthony
He has a proven track record of reinventing himself.

Now Snoop Dogg is taking a page from Martha Stewart and can add cookbook author to his lengthy resume. The hip-hop legend announced on social media that he releasing 'From Crook to Cook' this fall.

'Platinum recipes from the boss doggs kitchen... the first ever snoop cook book comin soon to @ChronicleBooks,' the 17-time Grammy nominated rapper shared on Instagram and Twitter.

'Platinum recipes from the boss doggs kitchen': Snoop Dogg will release his first-ever cookbook 'From Crook to Cook' in October

The cookbook will feature 50 of Snoop's favorite recipes that includes things like baked mac and cheese, chicken and waffles, soft flour tacos, easy orange chicken and baby back ribs.

'You know it's blazin' up in my kitchen,' he boasted in his official press release. 'I'm takin' the cookbook game higher with a dipped and whipped collection of my favorite recipes, ya dig?'

He has even added some of his go-to snack choices when he gets the munchies.

'From chewy Starbursts to those glorious Frito BBQ Twists, you should have an arsenal of snacks that'll satisfy. And of course, no party is complete without that Gin and Juice and other platinum ways to entertain,' according to publisher Chronicle Books' website.

Despite his penchant for everything marijuana, all of the recipes in the publication are cannabis-free.

Of course this isn't Snoop's first foray into the kitchen. He has co-hosted, alongside Martha Stewart, on the VH1 show 'Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party' since 2016.

The boss dogg's kitchen: Snoop's cookbook will feature 50 of his favorite recipes

Master Reinventor: The legendary rapper has co-hosted the VH1 show 'Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party' since 2016

What's in a name? The Grammy nominated rapper went by the name of Snoop Lion after converting to Rastafarianism following a trip to Jamaica in 2012

Man of many talents: Snoop has appeared in 35 movies and 31 television shows during his career; pictured with Method Man in the 2004 movie Soul Plane

Snoop has released 16 studio albums since being discovered by Dr. Dre in 1992 and has sold over 23 million records in the United States and 35 million worldwide.

Never one to shy away from a business endeavor, Snoop has also appeared in numerous films and television episodes. He also gotten into director and producing pornographic movies, reality television and even went by the name of Snoop Lion after announcing his conversion to Rastafarianism following a trip to Jamaica in 2012.

From Crook to Cook is available for pre-order right now and will be available for purchase October 23.
He's the father to three-year-old Rocco, who's best known for playing the role of Will Gardner on The Good Wife.

And Wednesday saw Josh Charles and his wife Sophia Flack, 34, add a daughter to his brood.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 46-year-old shared a video of his Straight White Men dressing room decked out in celebratory pink decorations.

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Baby joy! The Good Wife's Josh Charles welcomed baby number two, a daughter, with wife Sophie Flack on Wednesday

'Our daughter timed her birth so I could make yesterday's doubleheader,' he joked.

'It was a day I'll never forget.'

The room was filled with countless balloons, streamers and signs that read: 'It's a girl!'.

Broadway musical and a baby! 'Our daughter timed her birth so I could make yesterday's doubleheader,' he joked

Time to celebrate! The room was filled with countless balloons, streamers and signs that read: 'It's a girl!'

The beauty also took to Twitter to share the exciting news with a hilarious GIF.

'Pushed my daughter out like,' she captioned the serious looking man.

Sophia, a former ballet dancer and author, broke the happy news on social media back in February.

She was wearing a black T-shirt that read: 'I woke up like this' and rolled it up to showcase her burgeoning baby bump.

Baby's here! The beauty also took to Twitter to share the exciting news with a hilarious GIF

Back in June, Sophia once again joked about her life in a hilarious tweet that read: 'Shoutout to the guy who just asked if I was single while I had a UPS box propped on my baby bump as I pushed my dog in my son's stroller.'

Earlier in the month, she posted a video of a young man who she claims verbally harassed her on the street and called her 'fat a**'.

Charles and the Bunheads author married in 2013 before welcoming their son Rocco the following year.

Mum-to-be: Sophia, a former ballet dancer and author, broke the happy news on social media back in February

Family: Gushing over Charles on Father's Day, Sophia posted a sweet monochrome shot of her boys on Instagram

Although the couple continue to keep their home life mostly private, every no and then they share sweet moments on their respective social medias.

Gushing over Charles on Father's Day, Sophia posted a sweet monochrome shot of her boys on Instagram.

'You make all the other dads look bad at nursery school pickup,' she captioned.

The New York resident recently spoke to the New York Times about his very simple home life and Sunday morning tradition.

Dad life: 'I make waffles or pancakes, or I've made slow-cook oatmeal the night before,' he said as a Sunday morning tradition

'I make waffles or pancakes, or I've made slow-cook oatmeal the night before,' he said.

'It's a nice way to wake up. The house smells like cinnamon.'

And then after a home cooked breakfast filled with love, he takes Rocco to his swimming lessons.

'He's learning to feel comfortable in the way, blowing bubbles, ducking his head under, sort of diving into your arms. It's a really nice experience,' he said in April 2017.

Josh currently stars in Broadway's Straight White Men with Armie Hammer.

He was best known for his role in the seven-season Emmy winning political-drama as lawyer Will Gardner in The Good Wife alongside Julianna Margulies, Christine Baranski and Matt Czuchry.
Love has bloomed between The Walking Dead's meek housewife-turned-warrior Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) and The Kingdom leader King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), who packed on the PDA in season nine images unveiled by AMC on Thursday.

During The Talking Dead preview special, the zombie drama's new showrunner Angela Kang hinted at a love triangle - noting that Carol would also have 'special time' with crossbow-wielding biker Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus).

Eagle-eye witnesses on the Atlanta set informed The Spoiling Dead Fans Facebook page this month that Carol and Ezekiel get married along with another couple this season, which is set 18 months after season eight.

'Her smile': Love has bloomed between The Walking Dead's meek housewife-turned-warrior Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) and The Kingdom leader King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), who packed on the PDA in season nine images unveiled by AMC on Thursday

Love triangle? During The Talking Dead preview special, the zombie drama's new showrunner Angela Kang said Carol would also have 'special time' with crossbow-wielding biker Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus)

Among the 12 new stills is a shot of another power couple Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) on horseback leading their gang, which now includes grieving Scavengers leader Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh).

Rick's gang has apparently ditched the idea of transportation by gas-guzzling cars in favor of a pre-industrial pioneer wagon, which they apparently stole from a Georgia museum.

After proving his loyalty to his old friends by crafting compromised bullets, ex-Saviors Lieutenant Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt) looked confident and in control showing off the newly-revamped Sanctuary to Carol, Ezekiel, and Rick.

Warrior Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos) underwent a hair makeover, rocking boxer braids (rather than a ponytail and hat) as she mysteriously tagged a county sign with the letter B.

Spoiler alert! Eagle-eye witnesses on the Atlanta set informed The Spoiling Dead Fans Facebook page this month that Carol and Ezekiel get married along with another couple this season, which is set 18 months after season eight

Blended: Among the 12 new stills is a shot of another power couple Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) on horseback leading their gang, which now includes grieving Scavengers leader Jadis (2-L, Pollyanna McIntosh)

Old fashioned: Rick's gang has apparently ditched the idea of transportation by gas-guzzling cars in favor of a pre-industrial pioneer wagon, which they stole from a Georgia museum

Mullet man: After proving his loyalty to his old friends by crafting compromised bullets, ex- Saviors Lieutenant Eugene Porter (L, Josh McDermitt) looked confident and in control showing off the newly-revamped Sanctuary to Carol, Ezekiel, and Rick

Beware? Warrior Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos) underwent a hair makeover, rocking boxer braids (rather than a ponytail and hat) as she tagged a county sign with the letter B

Holy man: And Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) is also sporting a new look this season with a new felt hat, clean-shaven face, and a clouded eye from his injury

And Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) is also sporting a new look this season with a new felt hat, clean-shaven face, and a clouded eye from his injury.

Fans can only expect six more episodes of Rick as the 44-year-old Englishman told San Diego Comic-Con last month: 'These guys have been the best surrogate family I could have hoped for. But I do have a real family and it is time for me to go home.'

Fans will also see the exit (but not death) of Hilltop leader Maggie Rhee after six episodes as Lauren Cohan has signed on to a series regular role as CIA operative Francesca Trowbridge in ABC's new spy series Whiskey Cavalier.

Meanwhile, Reedus' rugged tracker will reportedly 'have a wiser voice' and 'a lot to say' this season thanks, in part, to his hefty $20M paycheck to continue on as the fan favorite.

Fans can only expect six more episodes of Rick (R) as the 44-year-old Englishman told San Diego Comic-Con last month: 'These guys have been the best surrogate family I could have hoped for. But I do have a real family and it is time for me to go home'

Not being killed off: Fans will also see the exit of Hilltop leader Maggie Rhee after six episodes as Lauren Cohan (2-R) has signed on to ABC's new spy series Whiskey Cavalier

Money talks: Reedus' rugged tracker will reportedly 'have a wiser voice' and 'a lot to say' this season thanks, in part, to his hefty $20M paycheck to continue on as the fan favorite

Last month's trailer teased Rick's inevitable downfall, which may very well happen at the hands of friends - Maggie and Daryl - or perhaps by the new villains - The Whisperers.

But there's still no sign of two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (Fantastic Beasts) in her new series regular role as The Whisperers ruthless leader Alpha.

The calculating, bald baddie and her cold, lethal gang communicate only by whispering and they wear the skins and faces of walkers to disguise themselves.

The Walking Dead's time-hopping, 16-episode ninth season premieres October 7 on AMC.

Terrified: Last month's trailer teased Rick's inevitable downfall, which may very well happen at the hands of friends - Maggie and Daryl - or perhaps by the new villains - The Whisperers

Bald baddie: But there's still no sign of two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (Fantastic Beasts) in her new series regular role as The Whisperers ruthless leader Alpha
Holly Willoughby is said to be confirmed to co-host this year's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! with Declan Donnelly, amid Ant McPartlin's break from TV.

TV insiders told the Mirror: 'Holly is 100% confirmed to be going into the Jungle this year as Ant's stand-in', as speculation continues to mount surrounding the signing...

'It's been in the works for weeks as ITV were really keen on getting her in. They've taken their time announcing it as they wanted to be sure Holly could fit it in with her family and other work commitments.'

New team? Holly Willoughby is reportedly the 'frontrunner' to co-host this year's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! with Declan Donnelly, amid Ant McPartlin's break from TV (pictured February 2015)

Shortly before the apparent confirmation, further sources told The Sun that talks about the presenter's potential stint are at an 'advanced stage', as the 37-year-old is said to be the 'only star in talks for the role'.

The ITV star, who is on a six-week break from This Morning, 'is in secret negotiations with show bosses', after being pipped as the 'firm favourite' for the role.

Holly has worked with ITV for nearly two decades as a presenter for the network's most-viewed shows, which feature Celebrity Juice and Dancing On Ice.

An insider told the publication: 'Holly is far and away the front-runner and talks are at an advanced stage.

Who's next in line? TV bosses confirmed Ant, 42, will be replaced for the forthcoming season of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and that Dec, also 42, won't be hosting alone

Reports: According to The Sun, talks about the presenter's potential stint are at an 'advanced stage', as the 37-year-old is said to be the 'only star in talks for the role'

Speaking on the mother-of-three's strong relationship with Ant, 42, they continued: 'Not only is she loved by ITV bosses and the nation, but she is also one of Ants closest friends.'

The source added: 'Flying the flag for him in his absence means the world to her.' MailOnline has contacted ITV and Holly's representatives for comment.

Following Ant's drink-drive charge earlier this year, Holly spoke out about their close bond, admitting that she 'loves him to bits.'

In an interview with The Guardian, the blonde shared: 'Everybody knows that Ant is a very good friend of mine and Ive known him for a very long time.'

She also touched on her decision to refuse from speaking about his arrest: 'Out of respect for him, I love him to bits, its not something that I find very easy to talk about. Because its a friend. His is not my story to tell.'

Close pals: Following Ant's drink-drive charge earlier this year, Holly spoke out about their close bond, admitting that she 'loves him to bits' (pictured June 2016)

Holly's possible stint has been much-talked about since Ant announced he will take a break from presenting for one year.

TV bosses recently have confirmed that Ant will be replaced for the forthcoming season of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and that Declan Donnelly won't be hosting alone.

Ant and Dec, also 42, were split up for the first time earlier this year after the star suffered a relapse during his addiction recovery and had to take a break from his career to focus on his health.

Impressive resume: Holly has worked with ITV for nearly two decades as a presenter for the network's most-viewed shows, which feature Celebrity Juice and Dancing On Ice

Following the embattled star's revelation, fans were left to speculate who would replace him alongside co-host Dec for the show's 18th series.

While Ant was absent for the final shows of his and Dec's series, Saturday Night Takeaway, Dec remained at the helm and hosted it by himself.

On Thursday, it was suggested that the host of the show's Australian incarnation - Julia Morris - would be replacing Ant on the British version of the show, as well as Scarlett Moffatt.

Gogglebox star Scarlett, 28 - who won the show when she was a contestant on it in 2016 - was 'ruled out' of the job last week, The Sun claimed, seemingly leaving the position vacant.

Will this woman replace Ant McPartlin on I'm A Celebrity? Comedian Julia Morris emerged as a favourite to take the troubled star's role after UK viewers went wild for her one-liners on the Australian version

The replacements? Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt - who won the show when she was a contestant on it in 2016 - was 'ruled out' of the job last week, The Sun claimed

Earlier that day, speaking at The Edinburgh International Television Festival in Scotland, TV Director of Television Kevin Lygo said: 'Well find someone to stand by [Dec's] side. The good news is [Ant is] doing well; he's doing everything he should be doing to get better.

'We collectively thought let's give it a good enough time off because this thing is a slow procedure so that's what we've decided to do. He's not going to go to the jungle but Dec is, we'll find someone to go with Dec. He'll do it with somebody.

'I have [decided who that person is]. It's going to be Piers Morgan... no! No I don't know. It could be Jeremy Corbyn! I don't know who it is but, erm, I can't say.'

Despite the struggles to pinpoint the right person for the job, Lygo explained that he doubts a brand new face will be given the position.

Up for grabs: On Thursday at a TV event in Edinburgh, executive Kevin Lygo said 'He's not going to go to the jungle but Dec is, we'll find someone to go with Dec. He'll do it with somebody'

Going solo: While Ant was absent for the final shows of his and Dec's series, Saturday Night Takeaway, Dec remained at the helm and hosted it by himself last spring

'I don't see it as our primary function to bring on new talent and I think it can be counter-productive. If I was an agent and I had an exciting new presenter I'd be quite worried about putting them into the white heat of the spotlight of a big show on ITV.

'Frankly if you don't get above four million viewers it's not great.'

After a campaign went viral urging ITV to give 50-year-old comedienne Julia the job, she sparked speculation by 'liking' a tweet suggesting she would be an ideal candidate and admitting she would take the job 'in a heartbeat' during a breakfast TV appearance.

Julia first emerged as a possible candidate after a montage of her presenting the Aussie version of the show, alongside co-host Dr Chris Brown, went viral on Tuesday.

After racking up over one million views in just 24 hours thanks to Julia's razor sharp wit and hilarious one-liners, British fans began campaigning for her to replace Ant.

Open to offers? After a campaign went viral this week urging ITV to give the 50-year-old comedienne the job, Julia appeared to confirm she is in the running by 'liking' a tweet suggesting she would be an ideal candidate

And on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain, the presenter expressed her wish to join Dec in the jungle.

She said: 'Id take the job in a heartbeat, I am a huge huge fan of the show, I lived in the UK for seven years and when I came home to Australia and I heard they were doing an Australian version I was lock stock and two smoking barrels for it because it always looked like they boys were having so much fun so I was lucky enough to land it.'

Despite the Australian star being unfamiliar to the majority of British viewers, it appeared her charisma and humour quickly won them over.

One UK fan wrote on Twitter: 'Campaign for this lady to replace Ant on the British #ImACelebrity. (I think her name's Julia Morris?)'

BBC Radio One's Scott Mills and comedian James Barr also threw their support behind Julia by sharing her I'm A Celebrity Australia showreel with their followers.

Familiar with the format: Julia is no stranger to the show's format, having presented all four seasons of the Aussie version, which is filmed in South Africa. Pictured with her co-host Dr Chris Brown on November 19, 2015 in Sydney

As the campaign gained momentum across Twitter, Julia appeared to hint that she could join Dec when the UK show starts filming in Australia later this year.

Tellingly, she 'liked' a fan's tweet that read: 'Loved you when you were over in England those years ago. You fancy standing in for Ant while he has time off for our [I'm A Celebrity] this year?'

Julia is no stranger to the show's format, having presented all four seasons of the Aussie version, which is filmed in South Africa.

She is also well acquainted with the British Isles too, spending seven years living there after marrying UK comedian Dan Thomas.

During this time she had a stint presenting BBC's Liquid News show in 2002 and also appeared on QI, Not Going Out and Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List.

'Campaign for this lady to replace Ant': Julia first emerged as a possible candidate after a montage of her presenting the Aussie version of the show went viral on Tuesday

'Seriously, what do we have to do to get Julia Morris on British television?' BBC Radio One's Scott Mills and comedian James Barr also threw their support behind Julia by sharing her I'm A Celebrity Australia showreel with their followers

In a statement to MailOnline earlier this month, Ant shared details of his recovery following his drink-drive charge in March.

'My recovery is going very well and for that to continue, having spoken to Dec and ITV, I have made the decision to take the rest of the year off.

'I'd like to thank both Dec and ITV for their continued support and I look forward to getting back to work in the new year.'

Lygo said at the time: 'ITV is completely supportive of Ant taking as much time as he needs in his recovery and of this mutual decision to rest Takeaway in 2019.

'Ant is clearly making good progress and we wish him all the very best and look forward to him returning to ITV next year. An announcement on I'm A Celebrity plans will be made in due course.'

Disaster: Ant's career break follows the collapse of his marriage to Lisa Armstrong and a four-week treatment in rehab in the wake of a drink-drive charge (pictured April 2015)

Lygo backed the decision to take a year off from Saturday Night Takeaway in 2019 yet again on Thursday. He said: 'I think it was important from Ant's point of view to not worry about doing any work. They're proud of it and they want to do it perfectly, bigger and better every series.

'So they just felt they were getting constrained the time was getting a bit cramped and so we took the decision not to have it this year. And otherwise it's great. They will be back next year.' It will return in 2020, all going to plan.

Ant's career break follows the collapse of his marriage to Lisa Armstrong and a four-week treatment in rehab in the wake of the drink-drive charge.

In April, he was fined a record breaking 86,000 ($151,000) after he was caught more than double the legal limit in a car crash.
Rachael Finch knows a thing or two about posing on the catwalk, having appeared in countless fashion shows and even placing runner-up at Miss Universe 2009.

But a moment of excitement caused the 30-year-old to loose her footing and injure herself after walking the runway for Myer in Sydney on Thursday night.

Taking to her Instagram Story, the mother-of-two revealed she had hurt her ankle and later had to be carried up the stairs by her husband Michael Miziner.

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'Not all glitz and glamour!' Rachael Finch suffered a nasty ankle injury and was carried up the stairs by her husband Michael Miziner after storming the runway for Myer on Thursday night

'Definitely not all glitz and glam... did my ankle' Rachael said in the clip. 'Came off the runway before, and we've had a mishap.'

The video showed Rachael holding a bag of ice over her left foot in the moments after her accident.

Later, she shared more footage of dancer Michael helping her up the stairs of their home after her foot had been bandaged up.

'This is what true love is all about, baby,' she said. 'This is true love at it's finest'.

'Through sickness and health': After the show, Rachael revealed her dancer husband offered a helping hand when she tried to climb the stairs on her injured ankle

In the next clip, Rachael offered a glimpse of her bandaged ankle while sitting on the floor of her bathroom - still wearing her outfit from the runway show.

She explained: 'So what exactly did I do? Well, I came off the runway in the last look in the last show and I've just jumped in my high heels and twisted my foot.'

As Michael wrapped his wife's foot up, Rachael said: 'The ankle doesn't hurt, it's just the bottom of the foot.'

Ouch! Rachael explained she 'jumped in high heels and twisted [her] foot' at the end of the Myer show in Sydney on Thursday. Later, husband Michael wrapped her foot up in a bandage

Earlier that evening, Rachael paid tribute to her friend and fellow Myer ambassador Jennifer Hawkins.

'Getting to work alongside this angel Jen Hawkins has been pretty surreal,' Rachael wrote on Instagram.

'In the 10-ish years I've known Jen, I've been blown away at her work ethic, professionalism, kindness and loyal attitude to those close to her.'

She added that Jennifer's departure 'marks the end of an incredible era' for Myer.
Copenhagen (Minerva, Chichester)

Rating:

Verdict: Humanity overcomes horror

The excitement of scientists transcends borders and forges passionate alliances and gratitudes.

But how can it, when a devastating new power hovers at the edge of human understanding, and warring nations might use it?

In the Twenties and Thirties, nuclear science was roaring ahead: physicists across Europe met at conferences, talked, argued, teased out discoveries about energy and light and waves and particles, rejoiced in the new alchemy.

Then came Hitlers war: hard to be a friend across hostile borders, tantalising to wonder what progress old colleagues are making.

Michael Frayns wonderful, tense, humane play is about two such friends. The German Werner Heisenberg was Jewish, but still tolerated as a valuable asset, unlike others (such as Albert Einstein) who fled or died under the boorish Nazi rejection of Jewish science.

But in 1941 Heisenberg visited old friend Niels Bohr and his wife in Copenhagen. Nobody knows why. But both were working on nuclear fission, the key to what became the horror of Hiroshima.

In a bare circle of light we see the men and Margrethe Bohr as ghosts in an afterlife, talking out why he might have come, enacting three versions of that evening.

Reluctant warriors (from left): Paul Jesson, Charles Edwards and Patricia Hodge

And it is awkward, of course: Denmark was under harsh Nazi occupation, Bohr was being watched. But they had been friends, Heisenberg almost an extra son to the couple. They worked together, walked, skied, took Bohrs children to the beach. Warm laughter flares in reminiscence.

Why did he come? What was said on the brief walk, from which Bohr came back angry? Did the German come to warn, to ask advice scientific or ethical, or fish for information on the Allied nuclear programme?

Did Germany fail to make the atom bomb and devastate London and Paris because of a scientists moral scruples, or because of his failure to make a key calculation in kilogrammes?

Frayn cannot answer. But round go the conversations.

Paul Jesson is a peppery, patriarchal Bohr; Charles Edwards, as Heisenberg, is perfect in his fading boyishness: movingly awkward, loving his fatherland but aware of its evil.

Patricia Hodge is a devastating Margrethe, sardonically observing the men and outspokenly aware of the horror they might unleash by taking the idea of fission one step further. They talk of complementarity, particle uncertainty, chain reactions, critical mass, old arguments.

She says flatly: The shining springtime of the 1920s produced a machine to kill every man, woman and child in the world.

The play, perfectly realised here, is neat in physics metaphors, profound in ethical philosophy, sharp and sometimes funny in its human insight. But it is more than clever. When the three ghosts at last stand in the circle of dimming light, you shed a tear.

Not just for the horror that science unleashed on us, but for human love, curiosity and the burden which politicians place on innocent scientists who only want to know . . .

The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice (Park Theatre, North London)

Rating:

Verdict: A lovely revival

Weve just had Edward and Freddie Fox as father and son in An Ideal Husband, so now heres a mother and daughter in Jim Cartwrights tale of a drunken mum and her boyfriend who exploit a girls gift for singing like the divas.

Rafaella Hutchinson is LV  Little Voice  nicknamed for her shyness. She is grieving for her dead father, tending his precious vinyl record collection and channelling the pain and yearning of the songs.

When she sings The Man That Got Away, hairs rise on your neck. But face to face with the boorish agent (Kevin McMonagle, splendid in a bad brown suit), she is a terrified, damaged rabbit, shoved at a club microphone in an exploded-custard frock, abused until she erupts.

Fighting back fear: Rafaella Hutchinson in Little Voice is a timid sparrow who's longing to soar

Hutchinson has a fine voice and air of inward sorrow, but it must be admitted that if anyone carries the show it is her mum. Sally George, as Mari, is a crazy, slaggy, high-voltage menace. She enters with a shriek, lurches round the set and summons her lover with Coom on, lets roll around!

Shes a victim, too: stuck in a dead-end job, plaything of careless men, frustratedly uncomprehending of her quiet late husband, and afflicted by so much destructive unfocused energy that nowadays shed be on Ritalin.

But she is also a classic monster.

With Jane Horrocks as LV, this became a hit film with its themes of showbiz, manipulation and family misery. But in the Parks small space, as the crackling house wiring becomes tacky club lights, what you feel more intimately is the howling emotional need for beauty.

Even slobby Sadie the neighbour (Jamie-Rose Monk) senses it, once she hears LV singing alone.

Touchingly, the big woman manages to get two real, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

Sweet young Billy, the telephone engineer (Linford Johnson), finds his beauty in light . . . the Blackpool Illuminations.

In the final moments, amid the ashes, song and light come together to take LV over the rainbow. Lovely.

Sweet Charity (Watermill Theatre, near Newbury)

Rating:

Verdict: Still hot to trot

It's a steamy night at the Fandango club, with the dance hostesses thrusting and beckoning, belting out Big Spender.

Its business, not love. Except for little Charity Hope Valentine, who soldiers on trustfully seeking true love, armed only with a cracking voice and unquenchable humour.

Gemma Sutton in the title role is a pocket phenomenon, sweet-faced and resolutely optimistic, in contrast to her taller, mockingly comradely colleagues (flame-haired Vivien Carter, as sarcastic, sardonic Nickie, is one to watch).

Paul Harts cast is an ever- moving orchestra of actor- musicians: sexy on sax, foxy on flute, tearing it up on trumpet.

There are neat musical jokes: an instrument suddenly handed to a character in the nick of time for their solo; bad boyfriend Charlie with a piccolo as Charity follows him round the stage like one of the Pied Pipers rats.

When I saw it in the West End, my companion left at the interval, saying that musicals were all very well but why must they make a song and dance about everything? She had a point.

For all its brassy exuberance, the first half keeps erupting into big numbers without moving the story on, except for an empty farcical sequence where Charity hides in a film stars closet.

But the love story develops with geeky boyfriend Oscar, as mirrored walls roll us from place to place, making us a club audience or comrades in the dressing room.

In the 1957 Fellini film, the heroine was a streetwalker, fragile, tender and unfortunate. Neil Simons cleverness is in making her funny and tougher, laughing at the fickle finger of fate, bobbing up like a cork in a swamp of gropey men.

Although Hart has updated it to now, it hardly needs that. Girls will always get stuck in the flypaper of life. Heres to them all.
That '70s Show alums Wilmer Valderrama, Laura Prepon and Topher Grace took to social media on Thursday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of That '70s Show, which debuted on Fox on August 23, 1998.

Prepon, who played Donna Pinciotti on the retro comedy, posted a shot of the show's ensemble cast of shooting stars, which included now-married couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, as well as Topher Grace and Danny Masterson.

In the image, the cast members were posed on a bus that bared a promotional shot for the program.

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Throwback: That '70s Show alums Wilmer Valderrama, Laura Prepon and Topher Grace took to social media on Thursday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of That '70s Show, which debuted on Fox on August 23, 1998

'#ThrowbackThursday to the first press tour for #That70sShow - we were all blown away when we saw this bus!' Prepon wrote. 'Cant believe the show came out 20 years ago todaysuch a special group of people. So lucky to have been a part of it. I think Hyde is taking the pic! #tbt.'

Valderrama, who played Fez on the series, posted a series of ensemble shots of the show, saying, 'I love you guys always, you guys made me who I am today.. and we will always have each other.'

He wrote: August 23, 1998.. this was the first picture we ever took together, 20 years ago today... We had just met and had no idea what was ahead of us, or if it would even last.. but we knew it was gonna be fun.

Retrospective: Valderrama, Prepon and Grace all took to social media with memories of their time on the show, which first aired 20 years ago today

Valderrama said the cast 'grew up together' and 'traveled the world' spending '8 years and 200 episodes together' on the series, which was set in Wisconsin in the 1970s.

Valderrama said the cast was 'a family, and will always be,' hailing the show's creative higher-ups for 'believing in these young hooligans' and the show's fans who 'who followed and went on this wild ride with us.'

Valderrama cited members of the cast and their resumes prior to being on the show, which launched a number of careers that continue going strong today.

The way things were: The young group posed together in these late 90s promotional shots for the series

All grown up: Valderrama was snapped last month in NYC at SiriusXM Studios

He hailed Grace as 'the kid who had the two scenes in Traffic,' Masterson as 'the cat with the curly hair that was in Dracula 2000,' Kunis as 'that Russian girl who said she was 18 but was actually 14 in the pilot,' Prepon as 'the chick on Orange is the New Black,' Kutcher as 'the guy who hosted Punkd,' and others.

Grace, who portrayed Eric Forman, also posted a retro shot on social media, with a message.

'Ultimate #tbt - Hard to believe That 70s Show premiered 20 years ago today,' he wrote. 'Few people can say they owe everything to one small group, but in my case its true.

'To quote the 78 Point Place High yearbook What a long strange trip its been... in Formans basement #hellowisconsin.'
She never fails to turn heads on an outing.

And Christine McGuinness certainly got the attention of her Real Housewives Of Cheshire co-star Tanya Bardsley as she stepped out in a figure-hugging pink midi dress on Thursday.

Filming new scenes for the ITVBe reality show at a Wilmslow car showroom, the 30-year-old reality star ensured she'd have all eyes on her in the scenes.

All eyes on her: Christine McGuinness got the attention of her Real Housewives Of Cheshire co-star Tanya Bardsley as she stepped out in a figure-hugging pink midi dress on Thursday

Struggling to contain her ample assets, the blonde bombshell slipped into a plunging pink midi dress that highlighted her hourglass curves.

Falling just above the knee, the dress also showed off her tanned and toned pins, which were elongated with a pair of perspex heels.

Christine finished off the look by styling her glossy golden locks in loose waves, whilst she slung a small gold cross body bag over her shoulder.

Head turner: Filming new scenes for the ITVBe reality show at a Wilmslow car showroom, the 30-year-old reality star ensured she'd have all eyes on her in the scenes

Christine is clearly maintaining her gruelling fitness routine, despite it being the school holidays for her kids Penelope and Leo, five, and daughter Felicity, one.

Speaking on Instagram recently, the RHOC star admitted she is torn over the idea of having more children with husband Paddy McGuinness.

When asked whether she would like to expand her brood, the blonde simply said: 'My heart says yes my head says no!'

Pretty in pink: Struggling to contain her ample assets, the blonde bombshell slipped into a plunging pink midi dress that highlighted her hourglass curves

Christine revealed in July last year that the twins had been diagnosed with autism, and that her youngest daughter has started to show signs of the same condition.

Speaking on Loose Women earlier this year, the former Miss Liverpool said the twins' diagnosis came as an 'instant shock', despite the pair showing classic signs.

'We had absolutely no idea they had autism even though the signs were there,' she said. 'They were non-verbal until they were three, they both walked on their tip toes, they didnt socialise very well.

'They still do struggle with socialising with other children, and thats probably one of the most heartbreaking parts of it because thats just something you expect your children to do, go and make lots of friends.'

Blonde bombshell: Christine finished off the look by styling her glossy golden locks in loose waves, whilst she slung a small gold cross body bag over her shoulder

Busy: After finishing the filming the stars were reportedly seen leaving the showroom at around 11pm

Lovely: The duo still looked effortlessly glamorous as they finished shooting and headed home
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Charlotte Dawson and Megan McKenna have been busy getting their hands dirty as part of Celebs On The Farm.

And fans were so enamoured with the pair after their stint on the latest episode of the 5STAR show that they've called for them to get their own series.

Learning how to move pigs into a pen using the 'suck and blow method' on Thursday night's instalment, the pair were tasked with washing animals Tara and Leila, much to the public's delight.

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Celebs On The Farm: Fans called for Charlotte Dawson and Megan Mckenna to have their own show after hilarious pig challenge on Thursday night's episode

The 'suck' method sees the celebrities try to prompt the swine to move with the promise of food, while to do the 'blow' technique they have to push a board gently on the pig's back.

While Louie Spence opted for the 'suck' method, Charlotte and Megan, both 25, chose to use the 'blow' technique which didn't seem to work as well.

Struggling to get their sow to leave the grassy plane they were feeding on, Megan asked farmer Chris: 'Is there, like, a certain thing you say to them to get them going?'

Helping out: Learning how to move pigs into a pen using the 'suck and blow method', the pair were tasked with washing animals Tara and Leila, much to the public's delight

Prompt: The 'suck' method sees the celebrities try to get the swine to move with the promise of food, while to do the 'blow' technique they have to push a board gently on the pig's back

The professional farmer then responded: 'No, you just be nice to them.'

Taking the advice to heart, Charlotte was determined to bond with her pig Tara and said: 'You are the most amazing, special, rare pig in the world, youre a ginger princess!'

When the pig still didn't move, because she was too busy eating, the reality star joked: 'Our Tara likes food, like her mother!'

Fans were left in stitches after the pair's hilarious challenge, and took to Twitter in their droves to call for them to get their own show.

Struggle: While Louie Spence opted for the 'suck' method, both Charlotte and Megan chose to use the 'blow' technique which didn't seem to work as well

What to do? Struggling to get their sow to leave the grassy plane they were feeding on, Megan asked farmer Chris: 'Is there like a certain thing you say to them to get them going?'

One user wrote: '@CharlotteDawsx and @Megan_Mckenna_ need a show like #TheSimpleLife next'

While another added: '@Megan_Mckenna_ and @CharlotteDawsx need their own show (heart emoji) crying'

Viewers also applauded the pair for their compatibility, as one wrote: 'Okay.. @Megan_Mckenna_ and @CharlotteDawsx your bond is the cutest'

Another user mirrored the comment, and said: 'Really hope they keep Megan & Charlotte on the farm they are hilarious'

Enamoured: Fans were left in stitches after the pair's hilarious challenge, and took to Twitter in droves to call for them to get their own show

After the show went on air, Charlotte took to her Instagram to gush about her new friend as she shared a snap with the pig and wrote: 'Me n my babe Tara x (sic)'

The Ex On The Beach star shared a glimpse of the pair filming their challenge, and getting ready to wash the farm animals, in a behind-the-scenes clip on Instagram.

Clearly finding the whole thing amusing, she wrote: 'Im done, feel like Im washing my boyfriend @matt_sarsfield soz babe (sic)'

Celebs On The Farm airs weekdays at 10pm on 5Star.
Axed Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole has reportedly been banned from visiting the set or attending any of this year's live shows.

A source told The Sun that due to many of this year's professional dancers being good friends with Brendan, bosses have prohibited him from appearing on any friends or family guests lists.

Brendan revealed in January that he had been axed from Strictly after 14 years on the show, as sources said producers had finally had enough of his behaviour on the show.

Not coming back: Axed Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole has reportedly been banned from visiting the set or attending any of this year's live shows

The insider said: 'Execs know a number of the dancers are still friendly with Brendan so have issued a firm 'no' on anyone having ideas that he will come down to the studios on their friends and family lists.

'They don't want any awkward moments and want the professionals to focus on giving the best they can to the show rather than being distracted by people from the past.

'They dont want to fuel talk hell come back as thats definitely not going to happen.'

Despite the reports, a representative for Strictly told MailOnline: 'Brendan is part of the Strictly family, and no one has ever said he cant be at rehearsals'. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Brendan for comment.

Banned: A source told The Sun that bosses don't want to fuel talk that Brendan could return, and so this year's stars are not allowed to have him on their friends and family list

The reports came as this years Strictly Come Dancing pros begin rehearsals for the upcoming 16th series, which is set to kick off this September.

Brendan was noticeably absent from a snap featuring all of this year's dancers back together in the studio.

However he did take to Instagram to post a video from his poolside getaway in Mallorca to wish 'all the best.'

He said: 'This is a message to all of my Strictly friends who are back in the studio today, today is day one of season 16. Guys, wishing you all the very best for the brand new season.'

Naughty: It was reported that Brendan's breach of royal protocol by dancing with the Duchess of Cornwall was the last straw and led to his axe

Brendan revealed back in January that he had been axed from Strictly Come Dancing after 15 series on the show, admitting he had been kept in the dark on why producers decided not to renew his contract.

He said: 'This is hard to talk about. The BBC haven't renewed my contract. They have made an editorial decision not to have me back on the show. I have had 15 incredible series on the show, they are a great team.

'I am very disappointed. It's an editorial decision. I will never know the ins and outs.'

Done: The New Zealand dancer announced back in January that he had been axed from Strictly after 14 years on the show

The BBC told MailOnline at the time: 'We'd like to thank Brendan for being part of the show since the beginning - winner of the first series - and for the contribution he has made to its success. We wish him all the very best for the future.'

However sources also told MailOnline:'The judges did not want him back. The rows he had in the last series with judges Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli were the last straw.

'Brendan was stubborn and did not back down, which created an atmosphere backstage at the last series.

'The producers believe no one is bigger than the show. Not one judge has reached out to him which says a lot. He was not popular. His time was up and it seemed like Brendan was the last to know.'
They are being dogged by rumours amid claims they have been faking their romance.

Yet Ellie Brown defiantly hit back at split speculation as she insisted the couple 'weren't miserable' in a honest Instagram accompanied with a snap on Thursday.

The Love Island bombshell, 20, sat in the lap of her man Charlie Brake, 23, when they posed for a selfie before they discussed having the 'cutest blue eyed' babies.

Fashion faux pas! Love Island's Ellie Brown risked a wardrobe malfunction as she and Charlie Brake put on a defiant show of unity on boozy night out... (and they're even discussing babies)

'We look sexy': The Love Island bombshell, 20, sat in the lap of her man Charlie Brake, 23, when they posed for a selfie before they discussed having the 'cutest blue eyed' babies

Ellie wrote in the caption: 'Babe look sexy @charliebrake1 (no we are not miserable we are just posing and yes we look alike, cutest babies pending ).'

Unfazed by her baby talk, Charlie quipped 'blue eyed' babies were on the way for the Love Island couple.

Accompanied with a cheeky emoji, he penned beneath the comments: 'Blue eyed baby inbound.'

The lovebirds took time out of their boozy dinner to snap the cosy couple selfie inside Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea.

Wild night? Shortly after their loved-up display, the Love Island star, 20, appeared worse-for-wear as she headed into a taxi without her 23-year-old partner

Fans were divided, with some supporting the couple in the face of split rumours while others branding the pair are 'fake'.

'They're just jealous their babies won't be as gorgeous as urs,' one fan wrote, leading the troops.

Another added: 'Fed up of poor @brown.elle having to defend herself and their relationship. U know what if u can't say anything nice don't say it at all.

Cheeky! Ellie wrote in the caption: 'Babe look sexy @charliebrake1 (no we are not miserable we are just posing and yes we look alike, cutest babies pending ).

In the throes of love: Ellie looked smitten as she enjoyed a romantic date night with her boyfriend Charlie at Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea on Thursday evening

During her glitzy night out, the former business development manager flaunted her gym-honed frame in a satin pink dress, which featured an sizzling cut-pit detail and a low-cut neckline.

The blonde added to her petite frame as she strutted along the street in a pair of nude strappy heels.

Injecting even more glamour into her look, Ellie carried her possessions in a sleek designer bag by Prada.

Daring: The former business development manager flaunted her gym-honed frame in a satin pink dress, which featured an sizzling cut-pit detail and a low-cut neckline

Stunning: The blonde added to her petite frame as she strutted along the street in a pair of nude strappy heels

The Newcastle beauty styled her tresses into glamorous waves and kept accessories to a minimum.

Ellie intensified the beauty of her natural features as she opted for neutral-toned make-up.

Meanwhile, Charlie appeared in high spirits as he enjoyed the low-key stroll around the Chelsea district.

Looking good: Injecting even more glamour into her look, Ellie carried her possessions in a sleek designer bag by Prada

All eyes on her: The Newcastle beauty styled her tresses into glamorous waves and kept accessories to a minimum

Striking: Ellie intensified the beauty of her natural features as she opted for neutral-toned make-up

Beaming: Meanwhile, Charlie appeared in high spirits as he enjoyed the low-key stroll around the Chelsea district

The socialite looked typically stylish as he sported a khaki green jumper, black jeans and suede trainers.

The pair were joined by Ellie's BFF and co-star Zara McDermott, 21, who stunned in an off-shoulder mini dress.

Former government adviser Zara looked every inch the bombshell as she displayed her leggy pins in the thigh-skimming frock.

Suave: The socialite looked typically stylish as he sported a khaki green jumper, black jeans and suede trainers

In good company: The pair were joined by Ellie's BFF and co-star Zara McDermott, 21, who stunned in an off-shoulder mini dress

Legs for days! Former government adviser Zara looked every inch the bombshell as she displayed her leggy pins in the thigh-skimming frock

Enhancing her statuesque frame, Adam Collard's girlfriend sported a pair of brown heeled sandals.

The Essex beauty complemented her tanned complexion with a silver necklace, and wore her locks in her signature curls.

Zara maintained her stunning display in the make-up department with thinly-applied eyeliner, rose-tinted cheeks and faint pink lipstick.

Towering: Enhancing her statuesque frame, Adam Collard's girlfriend sported a pair of brown heeled sandals

Radiant: The Essex beauty complemented her tanned complexion with a silver necklace, and wore her locks in her signature curls

Glowing: Zara maintained her stunning display in the make-up department with thinly-applied eyeliner, rose-tinted cheeks and faint pink lipstick

Heading off: Zara appeared in great spirits as she headed off to her next location in a pair

Hours later: After the group's cosy display, Ellie looked worse-for-wear as she headed out of eatery with a pal

After the group's cosy display, Ellie looked worse-for-wear as she headed out of eatery with a pal.

Charlie followed shortly after as he continued his lively night out and headed to Kensington's Mahiki club with his friends.

Ellie and Charlie's display comes as their fledgling romance was dogged by rumours of a secret split and that they faked their romance by setting up an intimate photoshoot.

Separate directions: Ellie looked downcast as she hopped in a black taxi after her dinner

Bleary-eyed: Charlie followed shortly after as he continued his lively night out and headed to Kensington's Mahiki club with his friends

According to OK! Magazine, an insider close to the couple told the website that Charlie dumped Ellie earlier this month with the couple reconciling shortly afterwards, which was denied by a representative for the couple.

The source also alleged photos of the couple kissing at a hotel in early August had been set up by Charlie.

They said: 'Charlie did dump Ellie and kicked her out of his flat, and she was trying to find somewhere else to stay.'

Off he goes: He appeared to put on an energetic display as he ran from the eatery

Did he forget anything? The reality star ensured he didn't leave his drink behind as he held a shot glass on his way of the restaurant

Oops! Ellie appeared to suffer from an unfortunate nipslip as she flashed her cleavage in her plunging bra

Troubles? Ellie and Charlie's display comes as their fledgling romance was dogged by rumours of a secret split and that they faked their romance by setting up an intimate photoshoot

'Charlie later asked her to meet him at a hotel, where he'd set up a paparazzi to take photos of them 'making up' and kissing. From what I hear, she didn't know it was happening.

'They're still together as a couple now, so it was probably just damage control.

A representative for the couple denied they had split but declined to comment on whether the shoot had been set-up.

Reports: According to OK! Magazine, an insider close to the couple told the website that Charlie dumped Ellie earlier this month with the couple reconciling shortly afterwards

This comes after Charlie was seen 'flirting' with a gaggle of women on a night out with Islander Frankie Foster, as she put on a loved-up display with the handsome star.

The night of the alleged flirtation was the same night that saw Frankie being filmed kissing another girl in video footage exclusively obtained by MailOnline, leading to heartache with his girlfriend Samira Mighty and their eventual split.

An onlooker told The Sun: 'Charlie was flirting with a lot of girls on Saturday  but unlike Frankie he didn't get caught. He looked like he was having a great time, a lot of women were interested in him and like most men Charlie loved the attention.

Hmmm: The source also alleged photos of the couple kissing at a hotel in early August had been set up by Charlie

On the rocks? This comes after Charlie was seen 'flirting' with a gaggle of women on a night out with Islander Frankie Foster, as she put on a loved-up display with the handsome star

The insider added: 'The only issue is that Charlie is in a relationship with Ellie and she may not have felt comfortable seeing him surrounded by so many other girls.

Charlie and Ellie have had something of a rollercoaster relationship so far, with them falling out spectacularly on the night of the wrap party.

The pair were forced to defend their romance, amid claims they were on the rocks after a fierce row during the show's reunion.

Ups and downs: Charlie and Ellie have had something of a rollercoaster relationship so far, with them falling out spectacularly on the night of the wrap party

Rocky: The pair were forced to defend their romance, amid claims they were on the rocks after a fierce row during the show's reunion

Stumbling over his words, Charlie said on ITV: 'Couples do have their tiffs. And literally from day one we have not had one day where we haven't woken up in the same bed together...'

With Charlie skirting around the issue, Ellie then chimed in: 'Basically Charlie got too drunk and [I] was sober.

'He wasn't just in trouble with me. He was mortal drunk and that's not good when you're going on live TV. I was fuming, ITV were fuming, but we're okay.'

Honest: Charlie said on ITV : 'Couples do have their tiffs. And literally from day one we have not had one day where we haven't woken up in the same bed together...'

Uh oh: Charlie had allegedly threatened to embarrass Ellie live on air during the show

Charlie had allegedly threatened to embarrass Ellie live on air during the show, with a source telling MailOnline: 'Producers were forced to cut his microphone off after he threatened to embarrass her and walk off the show while it was being aired.

'He had been out drinking tequilas with Frankie earlier in the day and they turned up to the studios wearing the same shirt which was also posted on their social media accounts.

'Charlie and Ellie had a huge row. They looked incredibly frosty during the programme and everyone could see it.'

However, Ellie affirmed of their romance: 'People are constantly trying to tear us apart. And I take everything to heart. But I'm 100 per cent sure I want to be with him.'
She practically lives in a bikini.

And it's easy to see why Former Miss Universe Australia contestant Natalie Roser likes to get around in her togs.

The stunning model showed off her perfect posterior and incredibly toned and tanned figure in a g-string swimsuit as she continued her trip to Cancun, Mexico on Thursday.

Peachy keen! Natalie Roser shows off her pert derriere in a racy g-string bikini as she continues to enjoy her trip to Cancun

The blonde beauty has headed to the idyllic destination to join a slew of other beauties forMode Around The Globe Influencer Getaway.

Natalie has worked prolifically overseas, and was one of a handful of Australians walking the runway at Miami Swim Week in July this year.

Speaking with The Sunday Telegraph at the time, she revealed why she believes local models are so in-demand at the US swimwear event.

Working holiday: The blonde beauty has headed to the idyllic destination to join a slew of other beauties forMode Around The Globe Influencer Getaway

'I think a lot of the designers are looking for good energy so I like to think we bring that for them,' she said.

'I also think the designers of Swim Week respond really well to a fit and healthy body shape, which so many Australian girls have.'

Meanwhile, Natalie's personal life is also blossoming following her move to LA with her boyfriend Harley Bonner, 27, earlier this year.

Before the move, the model shared a loved-up snap of herself and boyfriend Harley, where she admitted they are 'ready for our next chapter.'

Getting noticed! Natalie has worked prolifically overseas, and was one of a handful of Australians walking the runway at Miami Swim Week in July this year

'Today we are re-locating to Los Angeles!' Natalie, who was previously based in Melbourne, said.

She continued: 'I'm so excited to watch this man chase his dreams while I chase mine - could not be more excited to take this journey with you, @harleympbonner.

The blonde bikini model finished: 'Look out L.A. we are coming your way.'

The pair first announced they were together in March of last year, and have been going from strength-to-strength since they debuted their romance.
The Spy Who Dumped Me (15)

Rating:

Verdict: It's Spy, lite

Alpha (12A)

Rating:

Verdict: Doggedly scenic adventure

Luis And The Aliens (U)

Rating:

Verdict: Sub-Pixar cartoon

Some of the funniest films to come out of Hollywood in the past five years have been action comedies featuring female comedians, such as Spy, the hilarious espionage spoof starring Melissa McCarthy and Miranda Hart.

The Spy Who Dumped Me is firmly in this mould, except it replaces the peerless McCarthy and Hart with Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon so it has less than 50 per cent of the laughs.

The action begins when Kunis, playing a jaded 30-year-old, discovers that the boyfriend whos just chucked her (Justin Theroux) is a CIA operative.

One thing leads to another and before long Kunis and her best friend (McKinnon) embark on a whistle-stop tour of European capitals to deliver a stolen zip drive to an undercover agent.

On the way they encounter an implausibly handsome MI6 officer (Sam Heughan), an Eastern European gymnast assassin (Ivanna Sakhno) and an ageing Lothario (Fred Melamed) who tries to seduce McKinnon by asking her what she thinks of Balzac. Less and less with every experience, she says.

Guns and gags on offer in this 'hit-and-miss' espionage affair, starring Kate McKinnon (left) and Mila Kunis

To make that joke work, Melamed has to pronounce the first syllable of Balzac so it rhymes with fall rather than pal  and if I tell you that its one of the more solid gags in the film youll get a sense of just how many fall flat.

The Spy Who Dumped Me keeps the jokes coming at a mile-a-minute and they miss the target almost as often as Kunis and McKinnon do when theyre firing their guns. But just enough of them land to make the film quite amusing.

ALPHA is set 10,000 years ago and, according to the portentous voiceover by Morgan Freeman, documents the historical moment when early man first decided to domesticate dogs.

The man in question is actually a boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and he befriends the dog when he finds himself stranded hundreds of miles from home by a father (Johannes Haukur Johannesson) whos written him off for dead.

What follows is an arduous trek across a hostile wilderness  a childrens version of The Revenant. The cinematography is breathtaking and Smit-McPhee gives a solid performance, but the sense of being on an epic adventure never quite takes flight, perhaps because it lacks a villain.

LUIS And The Aliens is an animated feature about a neglected boy saved from being carted off to the orphanage when three aliens touch down yards from his home.

Its the kind of thing young children might enjoy, but God help any adults who have to sit through it alongside them.

Best thing about it is its running time of less than 90 minutes.
It's already been revealed that Debra Messing's character will be romanced by former Friends star David Schwimmer in the new season of Will & Grace.

And on Thursday came news that her co-star Eric McCormack is also getting in on some action.

NBC announced that White Collar actor Matt Bomer will appear on the show as 'a smooth-talking TV news anchor' who dates Will.

Love interest: White Collar star Matt Bomer, left, will guest star on NBC's Will & Grace as a 'smooth-talking TV news anchor' who dates Will, played by Eric McCormack, right

Excited: Bomer, 40, tweeted 'Dream come true!!' after the news broke Thursday

Right back at ya: McCormack responded on his own Twitter with: 'And you are so freakin funny, @MattBomer!'

Bomer, 40, tweeted 'Dream come true!!' after the news broke, prompting a tweet back from McCormack: 'And you are so freakin funny, @MattBomer!'

It wasn't the only casting news to be revealed.

Olympic ice skater Adam Rippon is set to make a cameo in a season 10 episode.

It will be the first scripted TV appearance for the athlete who has found a niche in reality TV, appearing on ABC's Dancing With The Stars and being named a judge on its spin-off DWTS Juniors.

Rebooted: Will & Grace starring McCormack and Debra Messing, went off the air in 2006 after eight seasons and returned in the fall of 2017

New gig: It was also announced Thursday that Olympic ice skater Adam Rippon is set to make a cameo in a season 10 episode of the sitcom in his first scripted television appearance

She's back: Returning to the popular sitcom this season will be Minnie Driver, who plays Lorraine Finster, the stepdaughter of Megan Mulally's character Karen

Returning to the popular sitcom this season will be Minnie Driver, who plays Lorraine Finster, the stepdaughter of Megan Mulally's character Karen.

Will & Grace has become guest star heavy since it reboot in the 2017-18 season with a roster including Alec Baldwin, Chelsea Handler, Jon Crywer and Mary McCormack.

The comedy went off the air in 2006 after eight seasons and returned in the fall of 2017 with all four original castmembers - Messing, Eric McCormack, Megan Mulally and Sean Hayes.

The first season finale left roommates Grace and Will in existential crisis over the engagement of their parents, played by Robert Klein and Blythe Danner, according to THR.com.

Friendly: Earlier this month, Messing shared this selfie with David Schwimmer from the set. The former Friends star has been cast as her character's love interest

Behind-the-scenes: Will & Grace co-creator shared a photo from rehearsals as he teased Schwimmer's recurring role

Speaking about plans for the second season, co-creator Max Mutchnick told the Hollywood Reporter more celebrity guest stars would be showing up on screen.

'Once theyre on the show and when they fit in as well as they do, we hope to see these people over and over again because we feel like the audience likes it as much as we do,' Mutchnik said.

Will & Grace, nominated for five Emmys at next month's awards show, is set to return on October 4 on NBC.
Trial By Kyle has rated well against other shows aired during Network Ten's Pilot Week.

The Judge Judy style program, fronted by Kyle Sandilands, 47, was watched by 385,000 across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

The five City Metro ratings revealed interest from viewers, who tuned in to see Kyle serve some justice against the likes of Nasser Sultan and Skye Wheatley.

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Will it make it back on air? Trial By Kyle rates well against other shows in Channel 10's Pilot Week as 385,000 viewers tune in to see Judge Kyle Sandilands rule cases for Nasser Sultan and Skye Wheatley

Kyle's big TV return, which was praised as "trashy gold" by fans, comes a close second to Troy Kinne's program, Kinne Tonight, in the Pilot Week ratings battle.

Troy's comedy skit show has proved to be the most popular - attracting a 404,000 viewers in the metro ratings.

As for the other Pilot Week programs, Sunday evening's Skit Happens managed 350,000 viewers, Mumbrella report.

Sam Dastyari's Disgrace saw 229,000 metro viewers tune in and Drunk History, an Australian spin-off of the American comedy series, scored 366,000 metro viewers.

Top pick: Troye Kinne's comedy skit show, Kinne Tonight, has proved to be the most popular Pilot Week offering - attracting a 404,000 viewers in the metro ratings

Biggest flop: Sam Dastyari's Disgrace saw 229,000 metro viewers tune in while Drunk History in the Pilot Week ratings battle

Sidekick: During the show, Judge Kyle was presented with cases on a variety of subjects as he made a ruling alongside criminal lawyer Anna Heinrich

During the show, Judge Kyle was presented with cases on a variety of subjects as he made a ruling alongside criminal lawyer Anna Heinrich.

Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan stormed out of court at one point, after failing to win $15,000 in damages to his '$100,000' brand.

The controversial reality star chucked the tantrum on Thursday's premiere when he appeared as the plaintiff in a case against paparazzo Jayden Seyfarth - he later returned to court and was rewarded $1,200.

Controversial choice: Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan stormed out of court at one point, after failing to win $15,000 in damages to his '$100,000' brand

Back on TV: Skye Wheatley also took to the stand following a botched boob job

Skye Wheatley also took to the stand following a botched boob job.

The former Big Brother star was attempting to sue Dani, owner of medical travel agency Medi Makeovers, for $35,000 in damages to fix her breast augmentation.

She claimed the company gave her a botched boob job, and shared a new naked image of what she called a 'double-bubble breast'.

During the episode, Kyle even judged a pair of feuding porn stars and took a break from the 'trial' to go back to his chambers and watch their raunchy porn tape.
It's no secret that reality TV producers select cast members carefully to maximise entertainment value and create engaging storylines.

And this week, a leading producer with more than 17 years' experience has offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the casting process for your favourite shows.

Speaking on Tim Dormer's Popcast podcast, Marion 'Maz' Farrelly revealed there are 'vigorous' psychological tests applicants must pass before they are allowed on television.

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Are YOU mentally stable enough to be on reality TV? A top producer has revealed the psychological tests applicants must pass before they're allowed on screen. Pictured: Former Bachelorette contestant Jarrod Woodgate

Maz, a TV producer since 2000, has worked on Australian versions of Big Brother, Dancing With the Stars, The X Factor and The Farmer Wants a Wife.

'We send people off to be psych tested and there's "green", "amber" and "red". And "red", you don't follow those people up,' she explained.

She claimed producers 'vigorously psych test' potential contestants to determine whether they can handle being on TV and the public scrutiny that comes with it.

'We psych test people, not to know whether they're going to be angry or sad, we psych test them to make sure they're emotionally robust, and that they understand what they're getting into,' she said.

Behind-the-scenes secrets! Marion 'Maz' Farrelly, a reality TV producer with more than 17 years' experience, revealed there are 'vigorous' psychological tests applicants must pass before they are allowed on television. Pictured: MKR 'villains' Sonya Mefaddi and Hadil Faiza

'We make sure they're emotionally robust': Maz claimed that producers 'vigorously psych test' potential contestants to determine whether they can handle being on TV and the public scrutiny that comes with it. Pictured: Love Island Australia contestant Justin Lacko

She also recalled her 'favourite psych test' story to Tim, revealing that it occurred while searching for UK Big Brother housemates back in the early 2000s.

Maz claimed that one male applicant was so 'magnetic' and 'charismatic' in his audition tape that all he producers wanted to cast him.

However, she was given the shock of her life when the psychologist revealed the result of his psychological examination.

Expert: Maz (pictured), a TV producer since 2000, has worked on Australian versions of Big Brother, Dancing With the Stars, The X Factor and The Farmer Wants a Wife

The psychologist apparently said: 'In my career, I have never met someone more likely to become a serial killer. He has no empathy, if you put him in the house that's exactly what he would do - he would cause conflict.'

While psychological testing is one step in the casting process, Maz revealed she also delivers to the 'talk of doom' to potential reality TV stars.

She explained: 'I'll say to people: "You will be too famous to go back to your job, but you won't be famous enough to be famous. You're probably not going to work for two years."'

Words of warning! While psychological testing is one step in the casting process, Maz revealed she also delivers to the 'talk of doom' to potential reality TV stars. Pictured: Married At First Sight contestant Troy Delmege

'You'll be in the papers, everyone you've ever slept with come and sell their story,' she added.

In the lengthy podcast, Maz also admitted that while reality TV producers have a reputation as 'evil geniuses', she was 'actually extraordinarily lovely' in real life.

Despite her enthusiasm for her profession, she concluded by saying: 'I wouldn't wish fame on anyone.'
On the latest episode of the Shahs Of Sunset, the stars rallied around Mercedes Javid, who is mourning the loss of her father, Shams Javid.

The death was a tragic blow for Mercedes, who had long hoped her father would recover from his health struggles in time to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day.

Though Mercedes was still determined to organize the big day, she broke down into tears while trying on her wedding dress as the news of her father's death continued to sink in.

Grieving: On the latest episode of the Shahs Of Sunset, the stars rallied around Mercedes Javid, who is mourning the loss of her father, Shams Javid

The day had started out well, and Mercedes was excited to begin shopping for dresses with her friends Reza Farahan and Mike Shouhed at Mon Amie in Orange County.

Mike popped open a bottle of champagne as an employee explained the fitting process to Mercedes, who tried on some sexy lace lingerie in addition to the traditional gowns.

But after a while, friends noticed Mercedes was still in the dressing room, and Mike went in to check up on her where he noticed she was sobbing.

'No, I'm not okay,' Mercedes cried from inside.

Emotional: The star wiped away tears inside the dressing room

Concerned: Mike and Reza came to Javid's side during her moment of need

Big moment: Javid had driven all the way to Orange County with her friends to try on wedding gowns

Broken heart: 'I just wanted to share this with my father,' an emotional Mercedes told her friend

Mike and Reza went inside to comfort Mercedes, who was already wearing a wedding dress.

'I just wanted to share this with my father,' an emotional Mercedes told her friend.

In a one-on-one interview with the camera, the star admitted her father's death was starting to sink in.

'My dad isn't going to walk me down the aisle': In a one-on-one interview with the camera, the star admitted her father's death was starting to sink in

Her time to shine: Mercedes tried on an elaborate white wedding gown at Mon Amie

Started off well: Javid and Rezar imagined what her dress would look like

'My dad isn't going to walk me down the aisle. Boom, crash,' she explained.

Expressing compassion for his good friend's loss, Mike assured Mercedes her father was watching her now.

Reza attempted to cheer her up by presenting her with a luxurious Cartier bracelet.

Good gesture: Reza attempted to cheer her up by presenting her with a luxurious Cartier bracelet

Promises: In his one-on-one interview, Mike admitted he had promised her father on his death bed that he would protect Mercedes until the day he died

Happier times: The family looked at a photo of Shams as a younger man

In his one-on-one interview, Mike admitted he had promised her father on his death bed that he would protect Mercedes until the day he died.

Mercedes broke the news about her father's death to her loved ones early in the episode.

Reza and Mike stepped in to lift Mercedes' spirits by organizing a get-together at their home and inviting all of their friends.

Showing their support: Reza and Mike stepped in to lift Mercedes' spirits by organizing a get-together at their home and inviting all of their friends

Awkward! There was also a bit of drama when Mona celebrated her birthday with friends at a bar, including Nema, GG, and Erica

There was also a bit of drama when Mona celebrated her birthday with friends at a bar, including Nema, GG, and Erica.

The awkwardness was evident as Nema's new girlfriend Erica hung out with GG, the woman he was tempted to kiss during their recent trip to Big Bear.

GG, meanwhile, consulted with a family law attorney regarding her divorce from Shalom Yeruoshalmi.

The meeting seemed to intimidate GG, who appeared overwhelmed by the amount of work involved with going through a divorce.
Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller took a little time out in her battle against cancer.

The 51-year old got some fresh air and sunshine outside an Los Angeles hospital on Thursday.

And from the looks of it, she seems to be making the best of the situation as she cruised around in her wheelchair.

Out and about: Abby Lee Miller was spotted outside a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday

Abby was pictured wearing a black t-shirt, matching black cutoff shorts with white leggings underneath and some black slip-on shoes.

She also wore a black knit hat to help keep the blazing sun off of her head.

The reality star has been working on strengthening her back and legs following some taxing rounds of cancer treatments in recent months.

On the mend: The Dance Moms star was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in April

Road to recovery: Abby Lee Miller used a dance pun in an Instagram post: 'I'd like to Grand Jete' right over this Hump Day! How about you guys?,' she wrote on Wednesday

Never give up: The 51-year old was diagnosed with Burkitt Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in April; it is a fast-moving type of cancer

In fact, it's been a long and tough road to recovery for the Pittsburgh native. She has endured two emergency surgeries and five rounds of chemotherapy since being diagnosed with Burkitt Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in April.

According to The National Institutes of Health, Burkitt's starts in immune cells, spreads very rapidly and is typically associated with the fastest growing human tumor.

Just this past week, she announced she was dealing with a low white blood cell count and a 103 degree fever.

On Wednesday, Abby used a little playful humor in the caption of an Instagram photo that was taken during a physical therapy session.

'I'd like to Grand Jete' right over this Hump Day! How about you guys?,' she wrote in a reference to the popular dance move.

Miller was transferred from a prison to a halfway house in California in March after spending over eight and a half months in federal prison for concealing bankruptcy assets and not reporting an international monetary transaction.

Physical therapy: Abby has been working on strengthening her back and legs following some taxing rounds of cancer treatments
She is known across the globe as 'the world's hottest grandmother'.

And Gina Stewart lived up to her raunchy reputation on Thursday night when she shared a suggestive video of herself posing topless in a hot tub.

The 47-year-old model covered her double-E cup assets with her arm before tossing aside her bikini top in the racy Instagram clip.

The 'world's hottest grandma' stripped bare! Australian model Gina Stewart, 47, left little to the imagination while posing topless in a hot tub on Thursday night

She's certainly not shy! Gina covered her double-E cup assets with her arm before tossing aside her bikini top in a racy Instagram clip

It comes after Gina stripped down to a skimpy pink bodysuit for a photo shoot last Monday.

Posing for a series of risque snaps, the Gold Coast mother-of-four flaunted her eye-popping cleavage in the daring ensemble.

The captioned the pictures on Instagram: 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but squats will make me bad a**! Daily workout, use it or lose it.'

Sizzling hot! It comes after Gina stripped down to a skimpy pink bodysuit for a photo shoot last Monday

Gorgeous gran! Posing for a series of risque snaps, Gina flaunted her eye-popping cleavage in the daring ensemble

Despite having breast implants, the top-heavy model has previously claimed that she believes in 'ageing gracefully' and has never had Botox or fillers.

She also leads a 'chemical-free lifestyle,' which includes never drinking from plastic bottles, using natural underarm deodorant and eating organic foods.

As for her beauty regime, Gina swears by coconut oil and rosehip oil.

'Macro Organics coconut oil is my hair product, my product that I cook with and my moisturiser - $5, all organic, no chemicals,' she previously told Daily Mail Australia.

The social media sensation is currently planning to have her breast implants removed, after claiming that they're affecting her health.

Sporty and sexy: Flaunting her sun-kissed figure in the skintight one-piece, she completed her look with a pair of white designer sneakers

'It's not about the size of my breasts any more. It's about my health,' she told Channel Seven's Sunday Night last month.

Gina added that she didn't care about losing Instagram followers, insisting that her health takes priority.

'They will probably delete me. Unfollow me and probably be disappointed. I don't know, and I don't really care,' she said.

Gina - who has two sons and two daughters, aged 27, 25, 23 and four - became a grandmother at the age of 46.

Natural approach: Despite having breast implants, the top-heavy model has previously claimed that she believes in 'ageing gracefully' and has never had Botox or fillers
XXXTentacion's mother has revealed that the rapper was expecting a baby boy.

The rapper - who was shot dead at the age of 20 in Deerfield, Florida back on June 18 - died knowing that he was going to be a father according to reports at the time.

His mother Cleopatra Bernard took to her Instagram on Wednesday to post a snap of a baby bump which is assumed to be XXXTentacion's unknown girlfriend.

She captioned the snap: 'Its a boy. baby x'

XXXTentacion's mother has revealed that the rapper was expecting a baby boy before he was shot dead at the age of 20 in Deerfield, Florida back on June 18

His mother Cleopatra Bernard took to her Instagram on Wednesday to post a snap of a baby bump which is assumed to be XXXTentacion's unknown girlfriend

Since the rapper's death four suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

The Instagram post comes just weeks after it was reported that the rapper knew weeks before his death that his girlfriend was pregnant per a Friday report fromTMZ.

XXXTentacion had been dating the unidentified woman for months.

According to the publication the Instagram of an ultrasound shared by the late rapper's mother Cleopatra is 'definitely' his girlfriend's.

One last thing: Back in June the rapper's mother Cleopatra shared a cryptic message that seemed to suggest the rapper had a baby on the way online Thursday, writing: 'left us a final gift'

On Thursday the mom took to Instagram to share the image as she hinted that the rapper 'left... a final gift' for the world.

The post came as Florida man Dedrick Devonshay William was arrested for the Changes artist's murder.

No other details were provided.

People are speculating about the identity of the mother with some claiming it's ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala, who accused the rapper of brutally assaulting her while she was pregnant in a 2017 case.

Sources close to the rapper told TMZ, however, she is not the woman in question.

Random crime: The rapper (above May 2017) was gunned down in Deerfield, Florida Monday afternoon, from what police believe was a 'possible robbery'

Guessing game: People are speculating about the identity of the potential baby's mother with some claiming it's ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala, above

After the news of the rapper's death broke, the 20-year-old rapper's music rapidly climbed the charts.

On Tuesday, the recording artist's only two albums occupied the top two slots on Amazon's Movers And Shakers Digital Music list.

The rapper's most recent album, ? - which dropped in March - saw a 41,306% spike as it charged to number one on the Seattle-based company's digital list.

RIP: XXXTentacion's mom shared several heart-wrenching post about her son after his death

Meanwhile, his debut studio LP, 17, which was unveiled in August of 2017, was up about 9,000%.

His move up the chart isn't limited to digital, as he is also receiving plenty of attention in the hard copy sales section.

He holds the number two and three spots on the CDs and Vinyl category, where the vinyl LP of ? jumped 542,566% and the CD spiked 54,057%.
She's been the picture of glamour while promoting her new movie, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, in London as of late.

But Chloe Moretz parred things down a notch as she enjoyed a spot of shopping in the capital of England on Thursday in a grey sweatshirt and ripped jeans.

Even though Chloe cut a casual figure, the actress added an elaborate touch with her flashy, $4,000 Louis Vuitton bag.

Jean-ius! Chloe Moretz parred things down as she enjoyed a spot of shopping in the UK capital on Thursday in a grey sweatshirt and ripped jeans

The actress looked cool and comfortable as she stepped out in her white sneakers with a pair of stylish sunglasses to shade her eyes.

She wore her blonde hair down in sleek and straight style that swept partially over her head.

The actress appeared relaxed and in good spirits as she enjoyed some time out in the big city.

Chloe has been in the UK promoting her latest movie, The Miseducation of Cameron post.

Cool and collected: The actress appeared relaxed and in good spirits as she enjoyed some time out in the big city

Chloe - who is one of five children and has two gay brothers - plays the titular role of Cameron Post, a teen whose guardians place her into gay conversion therapy.

Explaining why she wanted to work on the film, she said on The One Show: 'I took about a year and a half off after working 15 years straight, it struck me in a personal way because I have two gay brothers.

'And the story of a young woman who is sent to a Christian conversation therapy camp, it focuses on the interpersonal relationships of meeting other people for the first time'.

'It struck me in a personal way': Chloe - who is one of five children and has two gay brothers - plays the titular role of Cameron Post, a teen whose guardians place her into gay conversion therapy (pictured August 2018)

She is thrilled the film has received a positive response from critics and cinema-goers alike and is proud to be bringing the subject matter to 'the masses'.

Chloe said: 'Whats beautiful about it doesnt focus on the obstacles, it finds the comedic moments in the hypocrisy of it all.

'The beauty of this is that is shows that people will see you for who you are, and they will love and accept you unconditionally.

'I think its a very rare thing to see in film currently, especially under the administration were under in America, its probably one of the most important acts of activism that we can do is push this film out for the masses.'

The Miseducation of Cameron Post was released in the US on August 3.
She's in the limelight as the newest member of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast.

Denise Richards on Thursday was snapped picking up groceries at Malibu's Vintage Grocers, looking tank and healthy during summer's waning days.

The 47-year-old actress was clad in a shoulder-less lemon yellow dress and sandals, with her dark blonde locks parted and black sunglasses as she exited the establishment with a cart packed with grocery bags.

Out and about: Denise Richards, 47, on Thursday was snapped picking up groceries at Malibu's Vintage Grocers with daughter Lola, 13, during summer's waning days

The mom-of-three was accompanied by her two younger daughters Lola Rose Sheen, 13, and Eloise Joni Richards, seven - she also has a daughter named Sam Sheen, 14 - as the sun shined in the luxe beach community.

Denise, best known for her roles in 1997's Starship Troopers, 1998's Wild Things, and the 1999 James Bond thriller The World Is Not Enough, said earlier in August that she's the newest member of the cast of the Bravo series in the wake of weeks of rumors.

She's already getting to know her new co-stars, as she was in an Instagram shot with castmates Dorit Kemsley, Camille Grammer and Lisa Rinna. Dorit posted the shot, writing, 'Support your local girl gang #90210.'

Busy day: The Wild Things actress also had her youngest daughter Eloise Joni Richards, seven, on the trip to the market

She's currently in a romance with Aaron Phypers, who finalized his divorce this week from Desperate Housewives actress Nicollette Sheridan. The pair tied the knot December 12, 2015 and filed for divorce June 19, 2016 in Los Angeles.

The official judgement was issued last Friday, with the two agreeing on how they would divide their property, as well as paying one another spousal support.

Sheridan will keep the home they shared in Hidden Hills, California, a horse named Leo they owned, and 'clothing, jewelry, artwork, antiques, and other items of a personal nature in possession,' according to court docs obtained by People.

Loved up: The prior night Denise was spotted on a date night with hunky boyfriend Aaron Phypers

Just us: The two were dressed casual cool

Phypers walks away from the relationship with 'all clothing, jewelry, artwork, antiques, and other items of a personal nature in [his] possession,' and any property or vehicles that were in his name, per the court docs.

Richards was married to Charlie Sheen from 2002 until 2006, and past romantically-linked to musicians Richie Sambora and Nikki Sixx, and actor John Stamos.
Jason Bateman celebrated his two Emmy Award nominations alongside his wife Amanda Anka at the second season premiere of Ozark at ArcLight Hollywood on Thursday.

The 49-year-old New Yorkers - who co-starred in the 2003 rom-com Sol Goode -coordinated in not-so-basic black ensembles after recently ringing in an impressive 17 years of marriage on July 3.

The Golden Globe winner and the Andre Balazs accuser were enjoying a rare date night without the company of their two daughters - Francesca Nora, 11; and Maple Sylvie, 6.

Congrats! Jason Bateman celebrated his two Emmy Award nominations alongside his wife Amanda Anka at the second season premiere of Ozark at ArcLight Hollywood on Thursday

Amanda happens to be the nepotistically-privileged daughter of Canadian crooner Paul Anka, and she hasn't had an acting gig since a 2014 episode of Freeform's The Fosters.

Jason produces, directs, and stars as Mexican drug cartel money launderer Marty Byrde in the 10-episode continuation of the Midwestern crime drama, which starts streaming August 31 on Netflix.

Bateman 'got pretty close to crying' when he realized he was nominated for both his acting and directing efforts on Ozark at the Emmy Awards airing September 17 on NBC.

Coy smiles: The 49-year-old New Yorkers coordinated in not-so-basic black ensembles after recently ringing in an impressive 17 years of marriage on July 3

Still going strong! The black-clad couple have only acted together once - in the 2003 rom-com Sol Goode

Taut tummy: Amanda is the nepotistically-privileged daughter of Canadian crooner Paul Anka, and she hasn't had an acting gig since a 2014 episode of Freeform's The Fosters

Princesses: The Golden Globe winner and the Andre Balazs accuser were enjoying a rare date night without their two daughters - Francesca Nora, 11; and Maple Sylvie, 6 (pictured in 2015)

'My daughters were looking at me like I was some sort of narcissistic monster that I was not in the car yet to get them to camp,' the eighties teen idol recalled to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month.

'You know, because they were late. As soon as I heard my category announced I slammed the computer, jumped in the car and tried to get them there on time. When I talked to my publicist later, she said, "You know you got director too," and I actually got pretty close to crying.

'It was such a surprise even though the entire draw for me to the project was as a director. That was just really nice of the directors in the television category to say "good job."'

Starts streaming August 31! Jason produces, directs, and stars as Mexican drug cartel money launderer Marty Byrde in the 10-episode continuation of Netflix's Midwestern crime drama

Will he win? Bateman 'got pretty close to crying' when he realized he was nominated for both his acting and directing efforts on Ozark at the Emmy Awards airing September 17 on NBC

The eighties teen idol recalled to the LA Times: 'When I talked to my publicist later, she said, "You know you got director too," and I actually got pretty close to crying. It was such a surprise even though the entire draw for me to the project was as a director. That was just really nice of the directors in the television category to say "good job"'

The Arrested Development funnyman was also joined on the red carpet by his castmate Julia Garner - who plays teen thief Ruth Langmore - wearing a jewel-collared Miu Miu LBD selected by stylist Danielle Nachmani.

Hairstylist Bobby Eliot slicked the Bronx-born 24-year-old's signature platinum-blonde curls while make-up artist Jenna Kristina applied her red pout.

Jason and Julia made sure to pose with co-stars Skylar Gaertner and Sofia Hublitz, who play Marty's 13-year-old son Jonah and 15-year-old daughter Charlotte in the show.

The fuchsia-haired 19-year-old later Insta-storied a bathroom selfie alongside The Waco actress as well as their singer-songwriter gal pal Lily Kershaw.

Plays Ruth Langmore: The Arrested Development funnyman was also joined on the red carpet by his castmate Julia Garner wearing a Miu Miu LBD selected by stylist Danielle Nachmani

Doll face: Hairstylist Bobby Eliot slicked the Bronx-born 24-year-old's signature platinum-blonde curls while make-up artist Jenna Kristina applied her red pout

Cast: Jason and Julia made sure to pose with co-stars Skylar Gaertner and Sofia Hublitz, who play Marty's 13-year-old son Jonah and 15-year-old daughter Charlotte in the show
Grant Crapp was slammed on social media on Friday, after he referred to former Love Island co-star Kim Hartnett as his 'wifey'.

The 23-year-old tradie commented underneath Kim's latest sultry Instagram photo, before fans noticed and unleashed on the reality TV star.

It comes after he split with Love Island's Tayla Damir, only to reignite his relationship with 'secret girlfriend' Lucy Cartwright.

'Decide if you want your ex or not mate!' Love Island fans slam Grant Crapp for calling Kim Hartnett (pictured) his 'wifey'... after reuniting with 'secret girlfriend' Lucy Cartwright

'Wifey': Fans noticed and unleashed on the reality TV star

'Decide if you want your ex or not mate,' one fan commented.

One fan said that his comment makes them want to 'puke'.

In the photo, Kim stuns with her hair out and over her shoulders, showing off her curves in leather-look pants and a black crop top.

Ouch: 'Decide if you want your ex or not mate,' one fan commented

Got his eye on her? Grant reveals his bulging biceps, defined pecs and six-pack abs

Are they together? Meanwhile this week, Grant also took to his Instagram Story to share a shot of Kim, writing: 'I would couple up with this girl because...'

Meanwhile this week, Grant also took to his Instagram Story to share a shot of Kim, writing: 'I would couple up with this girl because...'

The pair appeared to enjoy a night out with Married At First Sight's Dean Wells and Ryan Gallagher, with Grant tagging them in his stories.

This week, Tayla, 21, told WHO magazine about the painful moment she realised she had no choice but to end her relationship with Grant, just weeks after the show's finale.

The brunette beauty said she discovered text messages on Grant's phone that proved he was still in touch with his 'secret girlfriend' Lucy Cartwright, despite him insisting they had ended things.

Awkward! It comes after he split with Love Island's Tayla Damir (pictured) only to reignite his relationship with 'secret girlfriend' Lucy Cartwright

She recalled: 'I'd ask him, "Have you spoken to her?" and he'd say, "No", but then there were text messages proving that he was. I would see it on his phone.'

'My gut was telling me to get out, so I listened. I knew I had to get out. Everything we've seen that's come out since the break-up has really proven my gut was right,' Tayla confessed.

While on Love Island Australia, 23-year-old Grant declared his love for Tayla and repeatedly denied rumours he had a 'secret girlfriend' back home in Canberra.

But after filming the show, the electrician confessed that he was in fact dating Lucy, 21, until right before he flew to Spain - and Tayla dumped him soon afterwards.

Following the public break-up, Grant confirmed he and Lucy were back together and had 'basically picked up where they left off'.

Back on: Grant is pictured with Lucy

Tayla claimed that she believes Grant was always in love with Lucy - something she says is proven by the fact he never fought for her after she dumped him.

She told WHO: 'All I got was one text message [after the split], so he never fought for me... He was still in love with Lucy - which is fine, if that's where his heart is, then I really do hope they work. At my expense. But what a charade!'

Meanwhile, Tayla and Grant's Love Island co-stars Eden Dally and Erin Barnett told Who they believe Grant had never broken up with Lucy at all, and that he appeared on the show to promote his clothing business.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Grant's management for comment in relation to this story.
What was supposed to have been a joke ended up costing Julia Morris a gig.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, the 50-year-old Australian comedienne revealed her controversial #MeToo performance at this year's Logie Awards had come at a price.

Taking to the stage at television's night of nights in July, Julia turned out a song and dance act set to MC Hammer's 90's hit, U Can't Touch This.

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Backlash: Julia Morris revealed her controversial #MeToo performance at this year's Logies had come at a price

But it seems not everyone was laughing.

Julia said she was forced to turn down a gig hosting a mental health charity lunch shortly after the performance, when the charity's CEO contacted her and asked her to 'clarify my position on sexual assault'.

Clearly fed up by the backlash she'd endured as a result of the performance, Julia told him he should probably find someone else to host the event.

'No thanks. It's like if you didn't get it, I can't help you,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Lost work: The comedienne said she was forced to turn down a gig hosting a mental health charity lunch shortly after the performance

'It's like, uh, I wonder what my position on sexual assault and the #MeToo movement would be, being a woman who's worked in this business for 35 years. I wonder what my position would be, idiot.'

And according to Julia, the backlash is all symptomatic of a bigger problem.

'Everybody's scared, no one knows what to say anymore... It's a straining time to be in television,' she added.

Sign of the times: 'Everybody's scared, no one knows what to say anymore... It's a straining time to be in television,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald

As reported by Daily Mail at the time, fans were quick to criticise the star on social media following her envelope-pushing Logies performance.

'Making fun of the #MeToo movement was terrible. Poor choice there Logies and Julia Morris,' commented one disgruntled viewer.

But the TV star is putting it all behind her, with a role hosting Ten's new dating show, Blind Date, as well as a return to her role as co-host of I'm a Celebrity Australia next year.
Clint Eastwood's handsome mini-me son Scott candidly discussed his sex life with relationship expert Emily Morse during his weekly Live Life Better podcast on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old action star boasted about having 'lots of sex,' admitted he was 'single and dating,' but when asked how many he replied: 'It depends on when you ask me.'

'I remember in early-on relationships - when I was in my early, early 20s - I felt more sexually advanced than some of the people I was with,' the Pacific Rim: Uprising hunk explained.

Sex-pert: Clint Eastwood's handsome mini-me son Scott candidly discussed his sex life with relationship expert Emily Morse (R) during his weekly Live Life Better podcast on Tuesday

'So then trying to reverse-engineer to grow with them, it can be tough.'

Eastwood continued: 'Sex is healthy, people. Don't shame it. Embrace it. Embrace it. Yes, that's right. We're talking about everything sex. How to have healthy sex.

'How to have some not-so-healthy sex. Dirty sex. More sex. Everyone should be having sex with themselves or with someone else.'

Scott also weighed in on slut-shaming, stating: 'Instead of embracing sexual culture, women put each other down. And it's like, "Why the f*** would you call them that? Just because they f***ed somebody? Don't do that  you're bringing down the culture."'

The 32-year-old action star boasted about having 'lots of sex,' admitted he was 'single and dating,' but when asked how many he replied: 'It depends on when you ask me'

The Pacific Rim hunk explained: 'I remember in early-on relationships - when I was in my early, early 20s - I felt more sexually advanced than some of the people I was with. So then trying to reverse-engineer to grow with them, it can be tough' (pictured in 2016)

Eastwood continued: 'Sex is healthy, people. Don't shame it. Embrace it. Embrace it...Everyone should be having sex with themselves or with someone else' (pictured May 3)

The LMU grad previously confessed to GQ Australia that it was 'harder to date' after his girlfriend Jewel Brangman was killed four years ago from a defective airbag in her car.

The third-generation Californian has also been romantically linked in the past to Sara Leal, Jana Kramer, and Brittany Brousseau.

Scott doesn't fall far from the tree as his 88-year-old dad was a notorious womanizer, having secretly fathered him with flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves.

Eastwood has acted in four of the four-time Oscar winner's films - Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Grand Torino (2008), Invictus (2009), and Trouble with the Curve (2012).

Tragedy: Scott previously confessed to GQ Australia that it was 'harder to date' after his girlfriend Jewel Brangman (R) was killed four years ago from a defective airbag in her car
He has been dazzling audiences with his portrayal of an unhinged Irish terrorist in The Lieutenant Of Inishmore since June.

And Aidan Turner looked positively giddy following another intense performance of the black comedy at London's Noel Coward Theatre on Thursday.

The Irish actor, 35, flashed a beaming smile while greeting his fans after the show, and happily stopped to sign autographs and take photos.

Giddy: Aidan Turner, 35, flashed a huge smile as he greeted his adoring fans following another intense performance in The Lieutenant Of Inishmore in London on Thursday

Aidan cut a casual figure in a navy blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans, while his black curls sat in wild curls.

The TV stud showed off his chiselled jaw with a close shave as he met up with patient fans who were eagerly waiting outside the venue.

Aidan looked completely in his element as he signed photos for his loyal fan base, and didn't mind stopping for a quick chat with those who waited.

Nice guy: Aidan cut a casual figure in a navy blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans, while his black curls sat in wild curls

Smiles: The TV stud showed off his chiselled jaw with a close shave as he met up with patient fans who were eagerly waiting outside the venue

The hunky star was in great spirits despite stepping out without girlfriend Caitlin Fitzgerald.

Aidan and Caitlin met while playing lovers in the forthcoming fantasy film The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot, which opens in the US next month.

It is thought they became close while filming scenes in Massachusetts, and sources claimed they rarely mingled with other cast members while staying at the historic Deerfield Inn, near Boston.

Happy to wait: Aidan looked completely in his element as he signed photos for his loyal fan base, and didn't mind stopping for a quick chat with those who waited

Riding solo: The hunky star was in great spirits despite stepping out without girlfriend Caitlin Fitzgerald.

Hailing from the States, it was then revealed that the actress has a colourful history - with her grandfather, Desmond FitzGerald, a high-ranking CIA officer who tried to assassinate Fidel Castro.

The romance comes after Aidan split from artist Nettie Wakefield, 30, in June last year, following his five-year relationship with Sarah Greene, 32.

Meanwhile Caitlin, best known for her roles in Masters Of Sex and Sweetbitter, has previously dated Welsh actor Michael Sheen.

The pair's relationship only emerged in June, but the film's principal photography kicked off in mid 2017.
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She's known for her flamboyant sense of style.

And Rita Ora garnered lots of attention for her vibrant attire as she enjoyed a low-key night out in New York on Thursday.

The pop star, 27, had all eyes on her as she donned a 225 canary yellow Prada bucket hat, teamed with a vibrant hot pink blouse.

All eyes on her: Rita Ora, 27, showed off her flamboyant style in a canary yellow bucket hat and hot pink shirt for low-key outing in New York on Thursday

Rita paired her eccentric attire with toned-down black slacks, while box-fresh monochrome sneakers polished off the look.

The Hot Right Now songstress upped the ante with layers of glittering accessories as her icy blonde locks cascaded in beachy waves.

Rita flaunted her flawless complexion with nude make-up, but had concealed her eyes with retro-inspired angular shades.

Bright: The pop star had all eyes on her as she donned a 225 canary yellow Prada bucket hat, teamed with a vibrant hot pink blouse

Changing it up: Rita teamed her eccentric attire with toned-down black slacks, while box-fresh monochrome sneakers polished off the look

Wrapping up for the evening, Rita later donned a classic oversized blazer as she wandered through the night with a friend.

It comes as Rita was spotted looking stony-faced while emerging from a New York hotel alongside her boyfriend Andrew Watt last week.

The couple, who have been linked since earlier this year, appeared united despite allegations that she was seen 'getting cosy' with her ex Tyrone Wood - son of Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie - despite their relationship supposedly being finished.

Sleek: The Hot Right Now songstress upped the ante with layers of glittering accessories as her icy blonde locks cascaded in beachy waves

Chic: Rita flaunted her flawless complexion with nude make-up, but had concealed her eyes with retro-inspired angular shades

According to The Sun, the pair, who remain good friends, were seen in North London, looking close, at The Abbey Tavern after a gig at RiZE Festival in Essex.

A source told the publication: 'Rita arrived at about 7PM and made a beeline for Tyrone. They were with friends but stood right next to each other and were giggling and whispering...

'There was undeniable chemistry between them, they couldnt keep their hands off each other. She and Tyrone kept ordering shots of tequila and stayed until the pub closed. Ritas boyfriend wouldnt have been impressed.'

Tyrone is an art consultant, known for dating Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Daisy Lowe in the past. MailOnline have previously contacted a rep for Rita for comment.

Upset? It comes as Rita was spotted looking stony-faced while emerging from a New York hotel alongside her boyfriend Andrew Watt last week

This is the second iffy sighting in less than a week for Rita, who turned heads when she seemed to get tactile with One Direction's Liam - who only just broke up with Rita's former X Factor co-judge Cheryl.

Liam - who has been dating model Cairo Dwek - couldn't keep his hands off glam Rita at the MTV VMAs.

Both artists were in New York City for the musical event and had performed onstage at Bebe Rexha's VMA kickoff concert on Sunday.

But the pair were later spotted getting cosy backstage, dancing and chatting closely to each other.

In exclusive footage obtained by DailyMail.com, filmed by fan Michal Jacobs, the 24-year-old heartthrob is seen with his arms draped over Rita's shoulders. The pair were also seen whispering in each other's ears as they swayed to the music.

Michal, from Englewood, New Jersey, said: 'I was standing right at the front and at the end Liam and Rita were standing by the side and dancing together.

'They were standing there talking, laughing, smiling and dancing.

'She was in front of him and his arms were wrapped around her. It definitely could have been something romantic but they didn't kiss or anything.'
She admitted she finally feels confident after having her second breast enhancement two months ago.

And Yazmin Oukhellou ensured all eyes were well and truly on her when she joined the TOWIE cast at the Grand Hotel Porto Cervo, in Sardinia, Italy on Wednesday.

The brunette bombshells put on incredibly busty displays in their very different looks and while Shelby Tribble donned a swimsuit, Yazmin slipped into a one-piece.

Oozing confidence: TOWIE's Yazmin Oukhellou exhibited her EYE-POPPING cleavage in a risque keyhole jumpsuit as she joined swimsuit-clad Shelby Tribble in Sardinia on Wednesday

Yazmin put her surgically-enhanced cleavage on display in her very plunging jumpsuit which had a keyhole neckline slashed to her navel.

She oozed confidence as she stole the limelight in her raciest outfit of the Sardinia break yet, putting all the focus on her jaw-dropping bust.

The Only Way Is Essex beauty let her brunette mane tumble down to her waist to draw eyes to her toned stomach on display in the sexy cut-outs of the jumpsuit.

As well as the racier elements of her garment, the flares of her one-piece were slashed to her knees to give onlookers a sneak peek at her studded nude platforms.

Fashionable foot forward: Yazmin oozed confidence as she stole the limelight in her raciest outfit of the Sardinia break yet, putting all the focus on her jaw-dropping bust

She made the cut! The Only Way Is Essex beauty let her brunette mane tumble down to her waist to draw eyes to her toned stomach on display in the sexy cut-outs of the jumpsuit

Keeping cool: Yazmin kicked back and relaxed on the sunbed while she held her iced beverage in the Italian sunshine

Eye-popping: Two months ago, Yazmin unveiled her transformation after she proudly confirmed she had her second boob job

Shelby channelled Pamela Anderson in her Baywatch-style red swimsuit which clung to every inch of her sensational shape.

The raunchy lace-up detailing running down the side panels of the costume teased a glimpse of the TOWIE star's bare skin beneath her one-piece.

Bringing the hottest trends of the catwalk to her looks with her basket handbag, Pete Wick's girlfriend pulled off a trendy look.

Peachy! The TOWIE starlet worked every angle as she stood from behind to show off her rounded derriere in her fitted jumpsuit

Together: Yazmin joined forces with the glamorous Shelby as they enjoyed their afternoon out in the Italian sunshine

Strong style game: The TOWIE stars sauntered out in nude platforms with similar glittering studs decorating her shoes

Friendship goes a long way: The pair wrapped their arms around each other as they posed for snaps

Revealed: She wrote: 'Theres been a lot of speculation recently in regards to my boobs and whether or not Ive had them re-done. Well...... the answer is YES'

Two months ago, Yazmin unveiled her transformation after she proudly confirmed she had her second boob job.

She wrote: 'Theres been a lot of speculation recently in regards to my boobs and whether or not Ive had them re-done. Well...... the answer is YES.

'Following my first augmentation I was left with scarring that not only affected me physically but mentally as well and really knocked my confidence.'

Close: Yazmin held her hand out to Georgia Kousoulou as they had an emotional chat away from the rest of the TOWIE stars

Titillating: The jumpsuit was semi-sheer teasing a glimpse of her white briefs beneath the sexy garment

Pals: The girls enjoyed sunbathing together with their drinks in hand

Girls day out! The bevy of TOWIE beauties lounged around the poolside as they chatted to each other

Cheers! Shelby, Yazmin and Georgia toasted with iced beverages while she relaxed at the pool

Revealing that while she might appear confident on TOWIE, Yazmin insisted that she suffers with insecurities like anybody else.

She added: 'Many people think that just because youre on TV, you are body confident but they are so wrong.'

But the star said her latest operation has left her feeling positive about the way she looks as she gushed it was the best she'd ever felt about herself.

Two's a crowd, three's a party! The ladies were all enjoying their holiday in Italy

Fabulous fun: The TOWIE cast had descended on Sardinia to shoot scenes for The Only Way Is Essex

Forever friends: The TOWIE cast made the most of their sunshine break away

She explained: 'I finally feel body confident, have felt the best I ever have done on my recent holiday to Dubai and love my new boobs in bikinis.'

As well as her two breast augmentations, the reality star also admitted having rhinoplasty last year after breaking her nose.

Aside from plastic surgery, Yazmin is in a long-term relationship with James 'Lockie' Lock.

Hey good looking! Georgia Kousoulou showed off her bare skin in her semi-sheer flares when she headed out with her TOWIE stars

Breast attraction! The TOWIE star showed off a whole lot of sideboob as her cleavage threatened to spill out the side of her microscopic crop top

Trendy: Picking up the hottest trends of the catwalk, Georgia toted a basket bag when she stepped out with the bevy of TOWIE beauties

Chin chin! The blonde bombshell lounged on the sunbed in her crop top and flares

Bust-ing out: Shelby was catching rays in her Pamela Anderson-inspired swimsuit
He popped the question to back in 2014, but has kept quiet about any impending nuptials.

And Mohamed Hadid, 69, looked totally smitten with fiancee Shiva Safai, 37, as they enjoyed a glamorous date night together in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The real estate developer and father of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, cut a dapper figure in a black blazer teamed with a matching jumper and skinny slacks.

Complementing: Mohamed Hadid, 69, and fiancee Shiva Safai, 37, rocked matching ensembles for an ultra chic date night in Los Angeles on Thursday

Mohamed teamed his sleek ensemble with patent leather loafers. The handsome star concealed his eyes with stylish tinted circular shades.

The luxury property mogul slicked back his salt-and-pepper tresses while he stayed close to Shiva who complemented his look perfectly with her own stylish black ensemble.

The Second Wives Club star flaunted her slender pins in a curve-hugging black mini-dress, with emerald velvet shoes elongating her statuesque frame.

Sharp:The real estate developer and father of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, cut a dapper figure in a black blazer teamed with a matching jumper and skinny slacks

Stepping out: Mohamed teamed his sleek ensemble with patent leather loafers as he concealed his eyes with tinted circular shades

Shiva toted a glamorous faux snakeskin handbag and styled her glossy chocolate tresses in stunning Hollywood curls.

The couple looked close as Mohamed wrapped an arm around his love before they made their way inside.

Mohamed popped the question to Shiva back in 2014, but the couple have remained silent on any wedding plans.

The property tycoon was previously married to Dutch beauty Yolanda Hadid, 54, and the couple share their three model children Gigi, 23, Bella, 21, and Anwar, 18.

Prior to his union with Yolanda, Mohamed was married to Mary Butler, with whom he had two daughters, Marielle Hadid, 37, and Alana Hadid, 32.

Bold in black: The luxury property mogul slicked back his salt-and-pepper tresses while he stayed close to Shiva who complemented his look with her own stylish black ensemble

Elegant: The Second Wives Club star flaunted her slender pins in a curve-hugging black mini-dress, with emerald velvet shoes elongating her statuesque frame
They sparked romance rumours when they were spotted getting 'cosy' during a night out in Spain.

And Gemma Chan did little to dispel the whispers as she was seen packing up from her sun-kissed getaway with Dominic Cooper last week.

The Crazy Rich Asians star, 35, and her rumoured love Dominic, 40, sported matching stripped ensembles for their farewell, with both stars piling their luggage into the back of a car.

Trekking home: Gemma Chan and her rumoured new boyfriend Dominic Cooper were seen heading back to the UK together on Thursday following a 'cosy' trip to Spain

Gemma looked ultra chic in her off-white stripe blouse, and teamed her low-key look with causal denim shorts.

The actress tied her raven tresses back with a sweet yellow bow while toting some of her possessions in a black backpack.

Gemma concealed her eyes from the sun with sophisticated circle shades and sported minimalist make-up.

Matching: Dominic looked just as stylish in his stripped shirt paired with dark denim shorts and white sneakers

Loved up? Dominic and Gemma first sparked new romance rumours after he was spotted 'getting cosy' with Gemma Chan during a night out in Spain las t week.

Dominic looked just as stylish in his stripped shirt paired with dark denim shorts and white sneakers.

The English stud quaffed his dark locks up while kicking a touch of scruff around his sharp jawline.

Dominic and Gemma first sparked new romance rumours after they were spotted cuddling up during a night out in Spain last week.

Getting cosy?: The Mamma Mia! star, 40, was seen laughing and holding onto Jack Whitehall's ex's, 35, waist (Gemma pictured with ex Jack in 2016)

The Mamma Mia! star, 40, was seen laughing and holding onto Jack Whitehall's ex's, 35, waist.

Gemma's arms were wrapped around Dominic's neck as they walk on the pavement.

A source told The Sun: 'They seemed to be having a great time.

'Dominic is very recognisable  especially with Mamma Mia 2 out at the minute  so it didnt take long for people to notice him.

Split: Dominic parted ways with ex-girlfriend, Ruth Negga (pictured), in April after eight years with reports claiming the romance had simply 'run its course'

'He and Gemma looked as though they were having a great time  laughing loudly and cuddling up while taking pictures.'

MailOnline has contacted Dominic and Gemma's representatives for comment.

The duo both starred together in the film, Stratton, last year where Dominic played the main part of John Stratton.

Earlier this month, Dominic's ex, Ruth, 36, insisted that they had left things on good terms and are still 'super-supportive' of each other.



More than friends?: While another photo sees Gemma's arms wrapped around Dominic's neck as they walk on the pavement

Friendly: A source told The Sun: 'He and Gemma looked as though they were having a great time  laughing loudly and cuddling up while taking pictures.'

Speaking to Marie Claire,the actress admitted it wasn't difficult to work with her former boyfriend on their recent TV series Preacher.

While Gemma and her ex Jack Whitehall called time on their relationship after six years together last year.

The pair is said to have split in September because of their increasingly hectic schedules.

An insider told The Sun that the couple remain friends despite the break-up, and decided to go their separate ways after finding it more and more difficult to spend time together.

On good terms: Earlier this month, Dominic's ex, Ruth, 36, insisted that they had left things on good terms and are still 'super-supportive' of each other

Jack and Gemma first began dating after meeting on the set of Jack's comedy-drama series Fresh Meat in 2011, and both have gone on to have hugely successful acting careers.

Jack is a hugely successful stand-up comedian and stars on the Sky One hit A League of Their Own, he has also starred in Bad Education and Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father.

Meanwhile Gemma has had roles in Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Sherlock, as well as stunning fans as a synth on drama Humans, which just aired its third series.

However, Dominic and Gemma's 'potential romance' could create awkwardness between the actor and Jack.

The two stars know each other through James Corden and both attended his stag party in 2012.
Earlier this year, she revealed plans to work on a musical with Simon Cowell.

And on Thursday night, Rebel Wilson solidified her new friendship with the American Idol mogul at a party celebrating his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mingling with a host of celebrity well-wishers including Mel B, the Pitch Perfect star shared a selection of photos to Instagram from the lavish affair at LA's AGO restaurant.

Friends in high places! Rebel Wilson parties it up with Simon Cowell to celebrate his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at lavish affair at LA's AGO restaurant

Declaring her 'love' for the British showbiz magnate in the caption, the 38-year-old actress cut a chic figure in a black bustier with lace overlay.

Allowing her golden locks to cascade past her shoulders, Rebel flaunted a dewy complexion accentuated by a nude glossy lip.

Meanwhile Simon, 58, flashed a blinding smile while draping his hulking frame in a signature fitted black T-shirt

Glowing: Allowing her golden locks to cascade past her shoulders, Rebel flaunted a dewy complexion accentuated by a nude glossy lip

The Bridesmaids star also shared an image of herself cuddling up to America's Got Talent judges, Howie Mandel and Mel B.

Resplendent in a showstopping sequinned gown, Scary Spice was seen attempting to pucker up to the reluctant bespectacled US personality while Rebel smiled sweetly.

Speaking to Vogue Australia earlier this year, Rebel revealed plans to produce a new movie musical with Simon focusing on K-pop or Korean pop music.

Three's a crowd: Resplendent in a showstopping sequinned gown, Mel B was seen attempting to pucker up to the reluctant bespectacled US personality Howie Mandel while Rebel smiled sweetly

Chatting about the project, she said: 'We are making a film about K-pop, because he is very musical. It will star primarily an Asian cast.'

Elsewhere, the single star admitted she'd consider finding love on the Bachelorette after binging on Sophie Monk's season.

During an appearance on The Project in April, she said: 'I'm not joking. I watched every episode of Sophie Monk. I'm the same age. I have the same problems as her so I wouldn't mind (giving it a go).'
She's one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

And on Friday, Cameron Robbie proved he has the perfect gift for his famous sister, Margot, who turned 28 in July.

Taking to Instagram, the handsome 23-year-old shared a clip of himself holding two llamas for the A-lister.

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'Why are llamas only a bad idea in hindsight?' Cameron Robbie, 23, the younger brother of Hollywood movie star Margot, has gifted the actress two llamas for her birthday

In the clip, a sheepish looking Cameron arrives on a doorstep clad in a red denim jacket, holding onto the animals, calling them the 'perfect present'.

The Hollywood actress need not worry, however, as the gift was just part of the aspiring actor's latest collaboration with money transfer app, Beemit.

Clearly sharing a close bond with his famous sibling, Cameron told the Courier Mail in May that his older sister taught him 'a lot about life'.

'She's taught me a lot in life, and I'm the little joker of a brother who'll always look up to her,' he said.

In June, he appeared on Channel Seven's The Morning Show to talk about his famous sister, going on to recall a prank when she attempted to electrocute him with electrodes.

In a clip from a surprise interview Cameron conducted with his sister for the Peter Rabbit film, the social media star accused the starlet of trying to kill him as a child.

New pet? The I, Tonya actress need not worry, as Cameron was only buying the llamas as part of an advert for money transfer app, Beemit

'When? Oh, yes! I did! Have you ever seen a TENS machine?' the blonde actress laughed helplessly.

Margot explained that their mother Sarie was a physiotherapist who used the electronic device with her patients, but one day she turned it on Cameron.

'We were really small. I put the electrode on his stomach because it seemed like a particularly sensitive place, and I cranked it up to 10,' she laughed.

Surprise: 'When? Oh, yes! I did! Have you ever seen a TENS machine?' the blonde actress laughed helplessly, while recalling the time she almost electrocuted her brother, Cameron

'I thought I'd killed him! He jumped so high!' Margot concluded.

After the clip was played, Morning Show host Larry Emdur laughed that the pair were, 'like something out of the Addams Family'.

Cameron explained that the large Robbie household was indeed chaotic.

'There was four kids in the family plus mum. She had a run for her money. We were always playing different crazy pranks on each other. It was really fun, really good,' he told the host.

Cameron then explained he'd surprised his big sis on the set of the interview while doing some hosting work for MTV.
She was one of the world's original supermodels.

And Claudia Schiffer proved she very much still has it on Thursday as she enjoyed a bikini-clad jaunt on the high-seas while joined by her family in Tuscany.

The 47-year-old German stunner looked sensational in her barely-there bikini which perfectly showed off her figure with the balcony bra boosting her cleavage and highlighting her taut abs.

Sizzling: Claudia Schiffer proved she very much still has it on Thursday as she enjoyed a bikini-clad jaunt on the high-seas while joined by her family in Tuscany

Claudia looked incredible for the jaunt as she made the most of her age-defying frame by opting for the smallest possible swimwear.

The floral details on the swimsuit added a flouncy edge, while she drew further attention to her assets with the addition of the white frill across the top.

Going high-fashion, Claudia was also rocking white-trimmed sunglasses and also going totally make-up free to flaunt her glowing complexion.

Sleek: The 47-year-old German stunner looked sensational in her barely-there bikini which perfectly showed off her figure with the balcony bra boosting her cleavage and highlighting her taut abs

The blonde beauty has daughters Clementine, 13, and Cosima, seven, and son Caspar, 15, with husband of 16 years, film director Matthew Vaughn, 47.

Claudia rose to fame in the 1990s, but had first been spotted at just 17 years of age while in a nightclub in Dusseldorf and was signed to Metropolitan Model Agency, before joining Elite Model Management.

Gracing the cover of ELLE magazine shortly after finishing high school, she went on to model designs for a number of major fashion houses, including: Chanel, Versace, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabanna and L'Oreal.

Hot stuff: The blonde beauty has daughters Clementine, 13, and Cosima, seven, and son Caspar, 15, with husband of 16 years, film director Matthew Vaughn, 47

The mother-of-three confessed she thinks its much harder to be a supermodel now days compared to when she first rose to fame in the 1990s.

She told VOGUE last year: 'I think whats really different nowadays is the much faster pace. It makes it more difficult.

'Ive read some interviews where models are described as "supermodel of the moment" You have to work so much harder, I think, in comparison.'

Jaw-dropping: Claudia had her jaw-dropping figure on full display in the sexy two-piece as she collected some snaps of her own on her camera

Sexy: Flaunting her impossibly flat stomach, the model sizzled in the revealing two-piece
Netflixs latest YA TV series, The Innocents, is out today.

The eight-episode show that features Guy Pearce follows a young girl, June, who escapes her oppressive family with her secret boyfriend, Harry, only to discover she has supernatural abilities.

The show was created by screenwriters Haina Elkington and Simon Duric, the latter of which worked as a storyboard artist on shows like McMafia, Black Mirror and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Guy Pearce attends a special screening of "The Innocents" at The Curzon Mayfair in London

It fills the young adult gap currently left by other Netflix shows such as 13 Reasons Why and Stranger Things, both of which return in 2019.

Elkington described the supernatural element of the show, Junes shapeshifting powers, as the perfect device through which to explore the tribulations of being a teenager.

Your body is changing, you're trying to figure out who you are, she told BBC News.

Some elements of your emerging personality or psyche might frighten you or feel disconnected from you, so it's about self-acceptance, it's about unconditional love for another person, and shapeshifting seemed a very good way to explore that.

Co-creator Duric added: Shapeshifting hadn't been explored, and I'm a bit of a genre hound, and I thought 'oh, there's a gap here.

Here is all you need to know about The Innocents including what is the show about, when is it released and who's in the cast.

Watch The Innocents trailer here

Netflix released the first trailer for the show back in April 2018, and it has been viewed over half a million times.

The Innocents plot

The show follows Harry and June, a teenage couple who escape their oppressive lives to live together.

However, things are complicated when June begins to exhibit supernatural abilities including shapeshifting. As the trailer implies, Junes mother, who seemingly abandoned her family three years prior, has similar abilities.

The answers to what is happening to June, and more importantly why, appear to lie with Guy Pearces professor called Halvorson.

The show will certainly rock a strong Nordic feel, where some of the show was filmed.

The overall tone of The Innocents appears to lean on bleak scenery, with other set locations including Yorkshire and remote areas of Scotland.

The shapeshifting premise of the show is based on the Norse mythology of the Berserkers, Norse warriors who would enter such a trance-like state of pure rage during battle that they would shapeshift into the form of a bear.

The official Netflix plot for the show reads: June's adventure starting a new life in London becomes a LOT more complicated than she could have ever expected.

'Suddenly she finds herself the subject of a kidnap plot, their intentions unknown. Faced with extreme stress her body and identity begin to shift in ways she could have never imagined. The question is not just how...but why?

When is it released on Netflix?

The Innocents is released on Netflix on August 24. All eight episodes will be released at the same time.

Whos in the cast?

Newcomer Sorcha Groundsell plays June, the teen who escapes with her boyfriend, only to discover she has a supernatural ability she cant control.

Groundsell quit school in Glasgow to pursue acting at the age of 16. She moved to London two years later and appeared in the BBC show Clique and indie film Iona.

Groundsell recalls that her audition for The Innocents did not go as planned, telling British Vogue she completely tanked it and didnt hear back from the production for weeks.

Percelle Ascott, Sorcha Groundsell and Guy Pearce play the main characters on The Innocents

However, three months later she was invited back for a chemistry test with Percelle Ascott. According to producer Elaine Pyke, Groundsell was the penultimate actress they auditioned.

Ascott plays Junes boyfriend Harry, who escapes their community with her. Ascott is most famous for his role on the CBBC series Wizards vs Aliens, as well as appearances on shows such as Silent Witness and Doctors. Like Groundsell, this is Ascotts first lead role.

Guy Pearce is the most high-profile actor working on the series. Pearce, who go this big break on Australian soap Neighbours, plays Halvorson, a man who may have the answers to whats happening to June.

Other cast-members include Laura Birn, Hohannes Haukur Johannesson, Sam Hazeldine and Lise Risom Olsen.
Ariana Grande has lashed out at a publication for criticizing her Crohn's disease-suffering fiance Pete Davidson for his appearance.

On Friday, the songstress took to Twitter to respond to an article entitled 'Does Pete Davidson Have Butthole Eyes?', as she highlighted that he has the autoimmune disease, which is known to impact appearance, including eyes.

The star, who announced her whirlwind engagement in June, responded to the article, writing: ''yall do kno this man has an auto immune disease ...... right ? ..... like you do understand what youre doing when u do this right ? jus wanna make sure'.

Hitting back: Ariana Grande has lashed out at a publication for criticising her Crohn's disease-suffering fiance Pete Davidson for his appearance

Shocking: On Friday, Ariana Grande took to Twitter to respond to an article titled: 'Does Pete Davidson Have Butthole Eyes.' She highlighted that he has an autoimmune disease, which is known to effect appearances, including eyes

Funnyman Pete was diagnosed with Crohn's in his late teens and receives intravenous treatment for the disease, as well as using medical marijuana as a pain reliever - a fact he candidly revealed in 2016.

He announced: 'I got Crohn's disease when I was 17 or 18. And I found that the medicines that the doctors were prescribing me and seeing all these doctors and trying new things... weed would be the only thing that would help me eat.'

Among many other devastating side-effects, Crohn's sufferers may experience a host of problems with their eyes including the possibility of Episcleritis/Scleritis.

Health website Discover Therapies details: 'Episcleritis and scleritis are characterised by red, inflamed-looking whites of the eye, mild pain, and watery eyes. Of course, mild pain is subjective. Some patients may experience itching or burning.'

Ouch! Davidson shared a story on Instagram about a time when Ariana poked him in the eye

'You were like I've never touched a cornea before. Pop! Bucket list crossed,' he said while reenacting the moment

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Pete and Ariana for comment.

In May, Pete was forced to release a statement regarding his health following his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

He wrote: 'Normally I wouldn't comment on something like this cause like f--k you. But I've been hearing a lot of 'people with BDP can't be in relationships' talk...

'I just wanna let you know that's not true. Just because someone has a mental illness does not mean they can't be happy and in a relationship. It also doesn't mean that person makes the relationship toxic...

Heartfelt: In May, Pete was forced to release a statement regarding his health following his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder

Moving on: He wrote: 'Normally I wouldn't comment on something like this cause like f--k you. But I've been hearing a lot of 'people with BDP can't be in relationships' talk'

The happy couple: 'It's not their fault and it's the wrong way for people to look at things. I may be crazy but at least I'm aware of it and not afraid to be honest about it and I'm not hiding behind a Twitter or Instagram account'

"I just think it's f--ked up to stigmatize people as crazy and say that they are unable to do stuff that anyone can do...

'It's not their fault and it's the wrong way for people to look at things. I may be crazy but at least I'm aware of it and not afraid to be honest about it and I'm not hiding behind a Twitter or Instagram account...

'I'm simply writing this because I want everyone out there who has an illness to know that it's not true and that anyone who says that is ill and full of s**t.

'Mental illness is not a joke it's a real thing. There's kids out there killing themselves. And it's f--king horrific. For all those struggling I want you to know that I love you and I understand you and it is going to be okay. That's all. Love to everyone else.'
He tied the knot with his younger girlfriend Stephanie Gouveia in a secret ceremony in the Maldives in May.

And Heston Blumenthal stepped out for the first time since the lavish nuptials as he embarked on a casual stroll in London.

The celebrated chef, 52, looked in great spirits as he stepped out in a simple grey T-shirt and jeans while sporting his signature spectacles.

Great spirits: Heston Blumenthal, 52, was pictured for FIRST time since marrying younger girlfriend Stephanie Gouveia in a lavish secret Maldives ceremony back in May

Heston toted his belongings in a black rucksack while stepping out in a pair of light grey boots.

Sporting his trademark close shave, the Michelin Star cook also kicked a touch of scruff around his jawline.

Heston was without girlfriend Stephanie for the stroll, which came just weeks after the couple tied the knot on the luxury island of Soneva Fushi in the Maldives.

Stepping out: Heston toted his belongings in a black rucksack while stepping out in a pair of light grey boots

Loved up: Heston was without girlfriend Stephanie, which came just weeks after the couple tied the knot on the luxury island of Soneva Fushi in the Maldives (pictured together 2017)

According to The Sun, Heston begged resort staff to 'Marry us now!' before they laid on a colourful banquet and a local official to conduct the service.

A representative confirmed to the newspaper: 'Heston and Stephanie are delighted to announce theyve got married.

'They were spending some quality time together and decided to seize the moment.'

The exclusive resort is loved by fellow celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, as well as megastars Madonna, Guy Ritchie and Liv Tyler.

Chilled out: Sporting his trademark close shave, the Michelin Star cook also kicked a touch of scruff around his jawline

MailOnline contacted representatives for Heston for further comment at the time.

His romantic wedding comes just weeks after the newspaper claimed that Heston and Stephanie were already 'on the rocks'.

They were understood to be going through a 'rough time' not long after it emerged that the French estate agent Stephanie had welcomed their newborn - Blumenthal's fourth child.

It was claimed that the celebrity favourite was determined to work through their issues.

The star hasn't been involved in any TV or restaurant projects for a while.

Back in February, The Daily Mail's Richard Eden revealed the owner of Michelin-starred Fat Duck in Bray had become the father of a baby with Stephanie.

Blumenthals spokesman told Eden: I can confirm Heston and Stephanie have had a child at the end of last year, but we wont be giving any further information.

The child was born just a few months after his divorce absolute was granted from his wife of 28 years Zanna, 52 - mother to their kids Jack, 25, Jessie, 22 and Joy, 20.

Heston and Zanna split in 2011 after meeting as teenagers when he was a credit controller and she was a nurse. They married in 1989.

After the couple split seven years ago as Blumenthal went through a self-confessed crisis and began to question everything in his life.
She's the entrepreneurial blonde who has managed to create one of Sydney's most in-demand public relations firms.

But on Friday, Roxy Jacenko, 38, proved it isn't just all work and no play for herself and her oh-so-stylish employees.

The business dynamo took to Instagram to show a more playful side, sharing a photo of herself and Holly Asser and Grace Garrick.

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Capping off a big week? Sweaty Betty PR founder Roxy Jacenko, 38, posed with her employees Grace Garrick and Holly Asser (R), styling their high-end clothes with a shower cap

Proving they're never too busy for a laugh, Roxy and her blonde sidekicks donned a shower accessory over their perfectly coiffed hair.

The high-glam trio added a touch of luxury with Grace carrying an olive green Hermes handbag and Holly wearing a Kenzo pullover.

'To the week that's been CHEERS,' Roxy captioned the photo.

On the lookout! It comes as the entrepreneurial blonde let fans know she's hiring a new publicist and intern for Sweaty Betty PR

It comes after Roxy revealed she's set to hire a new face for her flagship business Sweaty Betty PR, saying candidates must be 'confident and efficient' with a 'hunger to succeed'.

Candidates only require '1-2 years experience' in public relations, but need top notch social media skills and must have their own contacts in media and hospitality.

Always thinking ahead, Roxy is also focused on expanding Sweaty Betty with some young talent.

Working it! Turning it into the spectacle, Roxy had an open casting call for her potential new employees. Pictured: Roxy on 30 November 2017 in Sydney

In addition to searching for a full-time publicist, the blonde businesswoman is also after a new intern.

Roxy put out an 'open casting call' on Instagram and revealed interviews would be taking place on the same day.

'Today we recruit our next intern,' she announced on Friday. 'Open casting call. Bring your CV and be at our HQ at 3pm for interviews.'

The glamorous life! Roxy is known for her love of glamour, which is often fused with her business interests as a publicist. Pictured here on a recent holiday in Europe

The internship lasts for a period of three months.

The job opportunities come after former employee Gemma Oldfield launched her own Sydney PR firm, four months following her resignation from Sweaty Betty.

Gemma, 22, appears eager to follow in the footsteps of her ambitious former boss, who launched Sweaty Betty PR firm at the tender age of 24.
Idris Elba may not be the next James Bond, but the Luther and The Wire actor is now a director.

The actors directorial debut is Yardie, a film set in 1970s Jamaica and 1980s London and follows a young mans struggle between the righteous path and a path of crime, violence and revenge.

Elba took time at the films London premiere to address the persistent James Bond rumours, in which he played no small part having put himself forward for consideration after Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said its time for a black Bond.

Idris Elba's Yardie film marks the Luther and The Wire actor's directorial debut

Although he tweeted following Broccolis statement my names Elba, Idris Elba the actor told Good Morning Britain reporters at the Yardie premiere that he would not be Daniel Craigs replacement.

The actor has recently been signed up to appear as the villain in the Fast and Furious Dwayne Johnson-Jason Statham spinoff Hobbs and Shaw.

Here is all you need to know about Idris Elbas Yardie film, including what is it about, when is it released and whos in the cast.

Watch the Yardie trailer

Watch the trailer for Idris Elba's directorial debut here.

When is Yardie released?

Yardie is released in the UK on Friday, August 31.

Yardie plot

The film follows a young Jamaican man D who gets sent to Londons Hackney in the 1980s to deliver a package to notorious gangster Rico. It is based on the 1992 book by Victor Headley.

Ten years prior, D watched his beloved brother get killed in Kingston. As an adult, still scared the tragedy, D tries to navigate the streets of London as well as reconnect with his former girlfriend and young daughter.

Along the way things get complicated when D comes upon the man who murdered his brother, sparking a burning desire for revenge and retribution.

The official plot from the films distributor, Studio Canal reads: Set in '70s Kingston and '80s Hackney, Yardie centres on the life of a young Jamaican man named D , who has never fully recovered from the murder, committed during his childhood, of his older brother Jerry Dread. D grows up under the wing of a Kingston Don and music producer named King Fox.

Fox dispatches him to London, where he reconnects with his childhood sweetheart, Yvonne, and his daughter who he's not seen since she was a baby. He also hooks up with a soundclash crew, called High Noon.

But before he can be convinced to abandon his life of crime and follow "the righteous path", he encounters the man who shot his brother 10 years earlier, and embarks on a bloody, explosive quest for retribution - a quest which brings him into conflict with vicious London gangster Rico.

Who is in the cast?

Aml Ameen plays the Yardie protagonist, D. Ameen is most famous for his breakthrough role in Noel Clarkes 2006 film, Kidulthood. He featured in the first season of Netflixs Sense8 and Hollywood film, The Maze Runner. He also appeared in several British and American shows including EastEnders, Holby City, CSI Miami and Harrys Law.

Shantol Jackson plays Ds estranged girlfriend Yvonne in what is her first feature-film role.

British actor Stephen Graham plays the gangster Rico. Graham first rose to prominence in Guy Ritchies 2000 film Snatch and has since gone on to appear in hit shows such as Boardwalk Empire (playing Al Capone) and This is England, as well as films like Gangs of New York, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Damned United and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Other cast-members inclide Mark Rhino Smith, Calvin Demba, and Fraser James.

Yardie reviews

Reviews for Elbas Yardie have been mixed. While Radio Times gave it four stars, The Guardian described it as an uneven and lacking emotional resonance.

IndieWire described Elbas directorial debut as limp and lifeless, while Variety said it was a proficient, slightly predictable one.

Yardie is a rather listless gangland saga, lacking the muscularity that the genre demands, said The Hollywood Reporter.

The film currently holds a 36 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Former 16 and Pregnant star Farrah Abraham has been open about her cosmetic enhancements, including labiaplasty and butt plumping injections.

And in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Australia this month, the 27-year-old revealed that she takes daughter Sophia to her appointments to 'watch and learn'.

The reality star turned entrepreneur also said that the nine-year-old has been vocal about getting cosmetic dentistry.

EXCLUSIVE: 'It's like a mini science trip': Farrah Abraham takes daughter Sophia, 9, to her surgery procedures, and says the youngster has been vocal about getting cosmetic dentistry

Farrah told Daily Mail Australia that she takes Sophia to most of her cosmetic surgery appointments, so that she's aware of what's involved.

'I actually bring Sophia with me most of the time to the offices so she sees and she learns. It's like a little mini science trip,' she said.

Having received 'some flack' by the public for her decision to include her daughter, Farrah said that education is what will help prevent any surgery regrets.

'Education': Farrah told Daily Mail Australia that she takes Sophia to most of her cosmetic surgery appointments, so that she's aware of what's involved

She explained: 'Otherwise when they're older, they're just going to go crazy with it [surgery], ruin their face, hurt themselves... there's a lot of things.'

Farrah went on to say that Sophia already knows what work she wants to have done, when at an acceptable age.

'Sophia has been very vocal about getting cosmetic dentistry on her teeth. I guess you have to be 16 [years-of-age] for that.'

Farrah added: 'I think like every normal woman, a lot of people want something done on their face. I know my daughter will be most educated and filled in, so she can make the right and safe choice.'

Online: The former 16 and Pregnant star has been open about her cosmetic enhancements. Farrah is pictured getting some of the filler removed from her lips

In April this year, Farrah live-streamed herself going under the knife to improve her lady parts, opening her legs for labiaplasty surgery in Beverly Hills, California.

Farrah, who gives masterclasses on entrepreneurship, gave fans a first-person perspective of the procedure, which she explained was 'only enhancing what God gave' her.

After applying some numbing cream to the region, she made it clear that she was 'doing the surgery for [her]self' and no one else.

This wasn't Farrah's first time getting her privates worked on, having underwent vaginal rejuvenation in 2017, which was also streamed for the public.

Farrah has also been open regarding butt plumping injections and having some of the filler removed from her lips.
After around a year as a couple, they welcomed their first child in May.

And Chloe Green looks more in love with her 'Hot Felon' beau Jeremy Meeks, as they were spotted enjoying an idyllic stroll in Saint Tropez on Friday while accompanied by his young son Jeremy, Jr, who he shares with ex-wife Melissa Meeks.

The billionaire heiress was showing off her incredible post-baby body as she rocked tiny denim shorts with a sheer leopard print top while her former convict beau opted for a crew-neck white T-shirt and box-fresh trainers.

Happy days: Chloe Green looks more in love with her 'Hot Felon' beau Jeremy Meeks, as they were spotted enjoying an idyllic stroll in Saint Tropez on Friday while accompanied by his young son Jeremy, Jr, who he shares with ex-wife Melissa Meeks

Chloe looked sensational during her outing as she strutted her stuff in the tiny shorts which made the most of her lithe legs while the high-waisted detail showed off her flat stomach - no doubt the result of hours in the gym after Jayden's birth.

She was preened to perfection with her trademark long locks pulled over to one side while peeling on a pair of over-sized sunglasses.

Jeremy, who shot to fame after his meanwhile was rocking an edgy look comprising of a white crew-neck T-shirt and a pair of complementary white shorts.

Meanwhile Jeremy, Jr, was sporting a similar ensemble to his dad, with a white T-shirt paired with a pair of blue shorts as he joyously skipped along the promenade.

Happy days: The billionaire heiress was showing off her incredible post-baby body as she rocked tiny denim shorts with a sheer leopard print top while her former convict beau opted for a crew-neck white T-shirt and box-fresh trainers

Short shorts: She was displaying her lithe physique as she enjoyed her stroll with her baby daddy

Hitting the streets: The duo looked totally loved-up as they held hands

Step mummy dearest: Showing her bond with her stepson, she held hands with Jeremy

Jeremy has been warmly welcomed into the Green family since he began romancing Chloe and was seen sharing an awkward high-five with the stoic Philip Green aboard the yacht earlier this month.

The smitten couple took to Instagram in June to reveal that their first child together, a baby boy called Jayden Meeks-Green, had been born on May 29th, as they shared a sweet photo of them holding hands with him.

Chloe had kept her pregnancy under wraps until June, when she unveiled her eye-popping baby bump during a holiday on her father Sir Phillip's super yacht in Monaco, confirming the baby rumours.

Happy days: Meanwhile Jeremy, Jr, was sporting a similar ensemble to his dad, with a white T-shirt paired with a pair of blue shorts as he joyously skipped along the promenade

Happy days: Appearing as loved-up as ever, Chloe clutched on to her beau's arm affectionately

Happy days: Meanwhile, more recently, the loved-up duo have sparked rumours they're engaged after the 27-year-old was spotted flashing a jaw-dropping diamond ring on her wedding finger earlier this month, which she wore again on Thursday

Having a giggle: The stunner was feeling playful as she beamed at her beau

Meanwhile, more recently, the loved-up duo have sparked rumours they're engaged after the 27-year-old was spotted flashing a jaw-dropping diamond ring on her wedding finger earlier this month, which she wore again on Thursday.

The Topshop heiress' enormous rock could not be missed as it glistened in the sunshine during her stroll around the centre of the Mediterranean resort town, as she hunted down baby clothes for her little boy.

Chloe and Jeremy have previously denied that they are engaged, after Chloe was spotted wearing another dazzling diamond ring on numerous occasions.

However, this new, much larger sparkling rock will surely set tongues wagging once again. MailOnline previously contacted representatives for Chloe and Jeremy for comment.

Hold me close: Jeremy has been warmly welcomed into the Green family since he began romancing Chloe and was seen sharing an awkward high-five with the stoic Philip Green aboard the yacht days earlier
Channel 5 bosses have hinted that Big Brother may be coming to an end, after revealing it's contract with the broadcaster is set to come to an end in December.

Network boss Ben Frow announced the news during the Edinburgh TV Festival and told members of the audience that the current series could be the last viewers might see of the reality stalwart.

He said: 'I have planned for a year without Big Brother. But never say never. The contract runs out at Christmas.'

Coming to an end? Channel 5 bosses have hinted that Big Brother may be coming to an end, after revealing it's contract with the broadcaster is set to come to an end in December

MailOnline have contacted a Big Brother and Channel 5 rep for comment.

The news comes after the latest instalment saw just two million viewers tune into the last Thursday's launch night, a 100,000 less than January's figures.

The reality stalwart has come under fire despite only being on-air for seven days and already has received over 1100 complaints to Ofcom.

It has also been reported that the latest series of CBB is the most expensive one to date - with show bosses forking out 2.3milllion for this year's controversial housemates.

According to The Sun, Stormy Daniels reportedly was offered 750,000 for a week-long stay while soap stars Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas were paid 750,000 and 500,000 respectively.

Could be the last? Network boss Ben Frow announced the news during the Edinburgh TV Festival and told members of the audience that the current series could be the last viewers might see of the reality stalwart

Ker-ching: According to The Sun, soap stars Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas were paid 750,000 and 500,000 respectively

Former Arsenal star Jermaine Pennant, American actress Kirstie Alley, psychic Sally Morgan, are said to be earning 200,000 for their time in the Channel 5 compound.

While enemies Chloe Ayling and Natalie Nunn are reported to be getting the same pay packet of 100,000 as 'Human Ken Doll' Rodrigo Alves and Dan Osborne are believed to have pocketed 60,000.

Love Island's Gabby Allen and Nick Leeson are said to have earned 40,000 for her time and Married at First Sight's Ben Jardine getting a cool 50,000.

Most recently, the show was slammed by a domestic violence charity over referencing Dan Osborne's previous abusive phone calls he made to a former flame in 2014, in his VT.

Reports: Former Arsenal star Jermaine Pennant and American actress Kirstie Alley are said to be earning 200,000 for their time in the Channel 5 compound

Pay packet: Chloe Ayling is reported to be earning 100,000

Earning: Love Island's Gabby Allen (L) is said to have earned 40,000 while 'Human Ken Doll' pocketed 60,000

The former TOWIE star, 27, entered the Borehamwood house for its latest Eye Of The Storm series, featuring a line-up of celebrities who have each become embroiled in a scandal.

In 2015, fans were left shocked after audio recordings of Dan emerged threatening his former girlfriend Megan Tomlin in expletive-laden phone calls - for which he issued a public apology.

This led to him losing his job on TOWIE and lucrative endorsements including a show with the Dream Boys.

When he entered the CBB compound, the scandal was referenced in his VT, which saw Dan smiling and voicing his belief that he would win the competition.

He said of the 2015 incident: 'Most people say things when they're angry that they never mean. I said something that I never ever meant, I'm embarrassed by it. It was a horrible time. I think it was my children that kept me going.'

Criticism: Most recently, the show was slammed by a domestic violence charity over referencing Dan Osborne's previous abusive phone calls he made to a former flame in 2014, in his VT

Controversy: In 2015, fans were left shocked after audio recordings of Dan emerged threatening his former girlfriend Megan Tomlin in expletive-laden phone calls - for which he issued a public apology (pictured in 2013)

Solace Women's Aid, a charity which provides help and support to survivors of domestic violence told MailOnline they were saddened by CBB recruiting Dan for the show, and the threatening phone calls referenced in his VT.

A spokesman said: 'We are disappointed that Celebrity Big Brother have taken this stance particularly when TOWIE removed (Dan Osborne) from the show.

'ITV took a strong position that domestic violence is never acceptable and any influential broadcaster has a social responsibility to take a stand against it, otherwise this kind of behaviour is normalised and womens lives are at stake.

'In this case the victim came forward with evidence of abuse and whether a charge was brought against Osborne or not is immaterial. A threat to kill will have a devastating impact, its frightening and never okay, and the trauma will stay with the victim for years after.

Eye of the storm: When he entered the CBB compound, the scandal was referenced in his VT, which saw Dan smiling and voicing his belief that he would win the competition

'By having Osborne on Celebrity Big Brother is an opportunity to rehabilitate his image, not his behaviour and what message does this send to the public and especially to the 1.9 million people affected by domestic violence every year in the UK.

'We look to channels like 5 to move on from this decision and become amazing and strong advocates for women.

'We invite them to come and meet some of the women and children affected by domestic violence and come behind the scenes at Solace to gain insight into womens lived experience of abuse.

A representative for Channel 5 declined to comment to MailOnline.

In November 2014, Dan was reportedly arrested after a fight with Megan before being released without charge. The reality star and his ex got into a row which reportedly ended with Dan's arrest on suspicion of assault.

Statement: Solace Women's Aid told Grazia they were saddened by CBB recruiting Dan for the show, and the threatening phone calls referenced in his VT

The then-23-year-old was allegedly questioned by police after his altercation with Megan Tomlin in her Essex home. A police spokesman said: 'A man was arrested at around 11.30am on Monday 10 November. He was later released without charge.'

Back in February 2015, an expletive-laden audio-taped recording - heard by MailOnline and allegedly secretly taken by Megan in November 2014 at her home in front of their young son - was released by one newspaper.

Dan can be heard referring to Megan as his 'property' before threatening to 'knife' her if she met another man.

For his part, Dan recently took to his Twitter account to deny allegations of violence toward his ex.

Ensuring he made his point clear, Osborne, who engaged in a few back and forth conversations with his followers added: 'Wasn't and never have been violent towards any woman. Ever.'

He said: 'It has taken me a while to find the right words but I would like to say that I am truly sorry to anyone who was offended by what they heard.'

'I am ashamed and embarrassed that I allowed myself to reach such a dark place that I behaved in a way that even I didn't recognise.

'While I acknowledge that there is absolutely no excuse for my deeply regrettable behaviour, I plead for some understanding that I had no intention of violence.'

He went on to explain that all steps were being taken to resolve all issues for the benefit of his son Teddy.

He added that the words said in the tape allegedly given to the Sun on Sunday were 'said in anger and desperation' but that there are two sides to every story.

Dan and Megan dated for 18 months before splitting in April 2013 but had remained close for the sake of their son, who was born that December.

Dan went on to have two daughters with wife Jacqueline Jossa, but the couple went their separate ways in May, although have sparked reconciliation rumours.

Split: Dan went on to have two daughters with wife Jacqueline Jossa, but the couple went their separate ways in May, although have sparked reconciliation rumours

This comes as Life Water pulled out of their involvement with the show, over producers failing to evict housemate Rodrigo Alves for using the n-word.

In a statement to MailOnline the company said: 'Life Water has regrettably ended its sponsorship of Celebrity Big Brother after six series following the producers' failure to evict housemate Rodrigo Alves for using deeply offensive racist language.

'Life Water continues to urge Celebrity Big Brother to reconsider its decision.'

A CBB spokesman told MailOnline: 'We're naturally disappointed to hear that Life Water will no longer be connected to Big Brother in a product placement capacity but we respect their right to take this decision.

'To be clear about our position, Big Brother finds any kind of racially offensive language completely unacceptable and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in the Big Brother house.'

Complaints to Ofcom over the show hit 1138, 1077 of which regarding 'Human Ken Doll' Rodrigo's use of the offensive language.

The star was reprimanded by Big Brother just hours after entering the house on Thursday, as he received a formal warning for his use of inappropriate language.

In an evening which saw him flirt up a storm with Ben Jardine and grill Gabby Allen on her love life, the media personality caused viewer outrage after saying 'I prefer n***** boys.'

Controversy: This comes as Life Water pulled out of their sponsorship of the show, over producers failing to evict housemate Rodrigo Alves for using the n-word

The exchange came as Rodrigo and Bad Girls Club star Natalie Nunn were bombarding Gabby with questions about her relationship with Dan Osborne, as she proclaimed they were nothing more than friends.

As Rodrigo admitted the ex-TOWIE star was 'nice to look at,' Gabby said: 'That was what the most annoying thing, we got on great as mates, my ex-boyfriend said something went on. We couldn't really be friends after that but that was it.'

Referring to his relationship with actress Jacqueline Jossa, Dan said: 'I am married yeah, but we separated.'

Rodrigo then left his housemates outraged by saying: 'I prefer n**** boys!'

The scene then cut to Rodrigo being spoken to by Big Brother the following day, as they gave him a formal and final warning.

Rodrigo admitted: 'I do understand. Last night I was very excited to be here, and I had quite a lot to drink, and I was intoxicated. I was drunk. In fact I was very drunk, and today I'm very hungover, I've been drinking a lot of water.

'I obviously regret that, the fact that I used the N-word. That was not necessary at all. It was just excitement, I'd had quite a lot to drink.'

Big Brother responded that his drunken state was 'not an excuse,' and later tweeted a statement which read: 'Big Brother does not tolerate the use of highly offensive, racially charged language in the House.

'Rodrigo has received a formal and final warning and if he uses such language again, he will be removed immediately. Rodrigo has apologised for his comments.'
Her blossoming relationship with Sam Bird has been progressing at a speedy pace.

Yet Georgia Steel opted to leave her beau at home on Thursday evening as she held her own while making a glamorous entrance for her personal appearance at Club Cookies in Bedfordshire.

The Love Island star, 20, wowed in a skin-tight charcoal grey bardot dress, with her peachy posterior and endless legs on full display.

All eyes on her: Love Island's Georgia Steel, 20, flaunted her slender pins and perky posterior in a skin-tight charcoal dress as she partied in Bedfordshire on Thursday

Georgia elongated her petite frame in a pair of sparkling black stilettos and glitzed up her ensemble with classic hoop earrings.

The TV star swept up her chestnut locks into a sleek half up 'do, while nude lipstick and lashings of mascara highlighted her stunning green eyes and natural beauty.

Georgia showed off her sun-kissed glow having returned from the Mallorcan villa, and worked her best angles for the cameras while making her entrance.

Her schedule has been jam-packed since leaving the villa a month ago, with TV and radio appearances squeezed in alongside the club nights.

Hot stuff: Georgia elongated her statuesque frame in a pair of sparkling black stilettos and glitzed up her ensemble with classic hoop earrings

Peachy: The reality TV star swept up her glossy chestnut locks into a sleek half up 'do, while nude lipstick and lashings of mascara highlighted her stunning green eyes and natural beauty

Georgia has found plenty of time for her relationship with villa beau Sam. Georgia and Sam may have had a hiccup in the villa when they initially decided to split up to stay on the show but now they are stronger than ever.

The couple - who only became official 30 days ago - have embarked on a whirlwind romance as they have already collected the keys to their new Essex home last week.

Already settled in, the pair shared a glimpse into their love nest via Instagram stories as they gave their fans a walking tour around their home.

Strut her stuff: Georgia sported her sun-kissed glow having returned from the Mallorcan villa, and worked her best angles for the cameras while making her show-stopping entrance

Sultry: Her schedule has been jam packed since leaving the villa a month ago, with TV and radio appearances squeezed in alongside the club nights

Smitten: Georgia and Sam may have had a hiccup in the Love Island villa when they initially decided to split up to stay on the show but now they are stronger than ever

Elsewhere, Georgia left her fans fretting over whether things had finished with her love after she posted a cryptic post on social media with a sultry snap.

Accompanied with the snap, she wrote: 'I'm a good believer in everything happens for a reason, and what is meant to be will be. Feeling so lucky and blessed. Goodnight and hold tight for the future.'

Georgia eased their fears in her Instagram story, however, where she shared a video of Sam enjoying a cocktail during a date night.

Flying solo: The couple - who only became official 30 days ago - have embarked on a whirlwind romance as they have already collected the keys to their new Essex home last week
She starred with a string of celebrities in camp horror franchise, Sharknado.

But Tara Reid has revealed her favourite cameo in the smash hit movie series...and her choice may surprise you.

'I think her acting is fantastic, she was spot on with her lines,' Tara, 42, told Herald Sun on Friday.

'She was really believable!' Tara Reid has revealed her surprise favourite celebrity cameo in the Sharknado franchise - and her choice may surprise you

The American Pie star continued: 'She knew everything and she was really believable. The big one for me was Kelly Osbourne. She was great.'

The former MTV reality star, 33, had a brief role in the first 2014 sequel as an air hostess who gets decapitated in a toothy encounter.

And after the first Sharknado movie was released in 2013 to rave reviews, Tara has since starred alongside a slew of names including Jerry Springer, David Hasselhoff, Olivia Newton-John and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.

'I think her acting is fantastic!' The former MTV reality star, 33, had a brief role in the first 2014 sequel as an air hostess who gets decapitated in a toothy encounter. Pictured - Tara and Kelly Osbourne on the set of Sharknado 2

Meanwhile, the one-time Hollywood ingenue insisted she's in 'great health' after slurring through an interview on Today Extra with Deborah Knight and David Campbell last week.

In a live cross from New York, the troubled star - who looked noticeably slender in a sleeveless, black sequin top - appeared rather tired and distracted while promoting her upcoming film The Last Sharknado.

Squinting with a fixed smile on her face and often nodding languidly, Tara spoke in a slow drawl about the sci-fi comedy movie.

A-list cast: After the first Sharknado movie was released in 2013 to rave reviews, Tara has since starred alongside a slew of names including Jerry Springer, David Hasselhoff, Olivia Newton-John and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi. The actress is pictured here with Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering

Following the interview, viewers expressed concern for Tara's well-being on Twitter.

'OMG she looked and sounded totally out of it - slurring her words. And so thin, she can't be well,' one fan Tweeted.

Other comments included, 'Is she OK?' and 'She's out of her tree'.

Feeling fine: Tara released a statement assuring everyone she was in 'great spirits and health' after a bizarre interview on Australian TV saw the star slurring her words, above

But in a Wednesday statement, Tara tried to temper fans worries, saying it was 'unfortunate' to hear 'negative press' about her troubling talk show appearance and insisted she is in 'great spirits and health'.

She didn't address the segment specifically, however, writing: 'While it's unfortunate to see some of the recent negative press following a successful week of promoting and supporting the film, I'm happy to know that my fans continue to stand by me  this is for them!'
Camila Mendes has split with boyfriend Victor Houston.

The Riverdale star, 24, ended her brief romance with her hometown boyfriend 'very recently' according to E!.

'Camila ended things with Victor after ComicCon, when she realized she wasn't ready to be in this relationship anymore,' the source said.

The end: Camila Mendes, 24, has split with boyfriend Victor Houston; (pictured August)

'Victor was completely blindsided and is very heartbroken,' the insider added.

'He has been receiving a lot of backlash from the Riverdale community, even though it was actually Camila's choice to end the relationship.'

The couple - childhood friends from Florida - started the romance rumors back in June as they posted messages to each other's social media accounts.

Camila spoke to Nylon recently about dating someone outside her Hollywood industry.

Reasons:'Camila ended things with Victor after ComicCon, when she realized she wasn't ready to be in this relationship anymore,' a source said

Heartbroken: 'Victor was completely blindsided and is very heartbroken,' the insider added

'Its just dating people in the industry is tough,' she explained.

'I did for a little bit. Ive just dated actors. Its hard when thats your world. You only meet people through work and that can be really tough, because youre not necessarily meeting people that youre similar to.

'Its just people that youre with because youre working on the same project. Ive learned to not do that. Thank god nothing bad has ever happened from those experiences.

'I realize that I dont think I like actors. Actors are really emotionally complicated. You would think they would be more in tune with their emotions, but sometimes theyre just not. I just really need to get out of this industry with someone who is in a stable environment,' she added.

Camila is currently in Vancouver shooting season 3 of the hit show Riverdale.
As a working model she's used to rocking the latest fashions.

But off duty, Stella Maxwell prefers a more casual look - rocking baggy Levis and a crop top for lunch with a friend on Thursday.

The New Zealand-born beauty showed off her slender frame in the outfit, which she teamed with trendy cats eye sunglasses.

Stepping out: Stella Maxwell shows off her slender frame in baggy Levis and a crop top while out to lunch in Los Angeles on Thursday

The 28-year-old Victoria's Secret star was pictured dining with an older male friend, then stopping by a candy store to browse.

Stella, who has been dating actress Kristen Stewart since 2016, was carrying a black bag, having recently turned her hand to handbag designing.

She and her model pal Irina Shyakteamed up with The Kooples - who previously collaborated with Emily Ratajkowski - to create a new accessory each to accompany the brand's autumn/winter 2018 collection.

Stella said that her years of experience in the fashion industry will help her become a good designer.

Model style: The New Zealand-born beauty showed off her slender frame in the outfit, which she teamed with trendy cats eye sunglasses

She told Vogue.co.uk: 'Throughout the years I've been working as a model, I've gathered lots of information on the process of creating fashion without even trying.'

The brand wanted two celebrities to adhere to its concept of photographing pairs of people, and when the retailer asked who the blonde beauty wanted to collaborate with, she knew straight away.

She said: 'Obviously Irina... we have very different personalities and styles, so our designs didn't clash.'

The Stella shoulder bag - which has a metallic clasp and chain strap - channels the runway star's more edgy aesthetic, and is created from studded calfskin manufactured in Italy.
Clips from Wild 'N Out revealed what sparked a racially-charged and homophobic outburst by Azealia Banks last month.

The rapper, who often courts controversy, lashed out on social media after the MTV series co-host DC Young Fly for making what she called 'anti-black' digs in his raps, as seen in video obtained by TMZ.

During a segment of the rap battle show called So Petty, which was filmed in July, Fly joked that host Nick Cannon 'couldn't get Cardi B [on the show] so he got Azealia's ugly ass.'

What sparked it: A leaked clip from Wild 'N Out reveals one reason Azealia Banks took aim at the MTV rap battle show on Instagram last month. The rapper is seen in 2015 above

Azealia wasn't amused, responding: 'Can I just say that was very anti-black... I didn't think that was funny.'

She accused the joke of being 'anti-black' for suggesting the light-skinned Afro-Latina Cardi was better looking than 'ugly' Azealia and other darker-skinned black women.

After taping the show in July the star, who is known for her brash internet tactics, took to social media to skewer the former Vine star in a racially-charged and homophobic post.

'I did Wildin' out today. There were tons of pre-planned colorist jokes and of course .... cry baby cried,' she wrote.

First choice? During a segment of the rap battle show called So Petty, Fly joked that host Nick Cannon 'couldn't get Cardi B [on the show] so he got Azealia's ugly ass.' Cardi is seen at Monday's MTV VMAs above

Not amused: Banks accused Fly's (above in 2017) joke of being 'anti-black' for suggesting the light-skinned Afro-Latina Cardi was better looking than 'ugly' Azealia and other darker-skinned black women

'Some little scrawny black Atlanta t***k was prepared for me. They planned this - hit me on short notice, told me I didn't have to participate in the coon a** freestyle battles, (not my style) and I was to sing my song and go home.'

Defending herself in on Instagram immediately after, the 212 rapper told followers: 'If I were to make fun of nick cannon [sic] for having lupus and being weak and sickly...

'If I made a joke that said he'd be dead by the end of the year... Then Azealia Banks is the bad guy... right?'

Wild 'N Out host Nick Cannon wasn't having it, suggesting Banks was a hypocrite in a repost of her Instagram.

Pot, kettle: Wild 'N Out host Nick Cannon suggested Banks was a hypocrite in a repost of her Instagram with his own commentary in the caption

He put his commentary in the caption, writing: 'Don't you hate when you create your own storms but forget your umbrella??? @azealiabanks We are praying for you Queen. #speedyrecovery #Healing. She #Wildnout for real. #Karma.'

She continued to make digs at the show via her well-used Instagram Story on Thursday during the lead up to her episode's airing Friday.

This is far from Azealia's only recent controversy.

His two cents: Nick commented in his caption, writing: 'Don't you hate when you create your own storms but forget your umbrella??? @azealiabanks We are praying for you Queen

She recently made waves for making a wild series of accusations against Canadian electro-pop Grimes and her boyfriend, Tesla founder and venture capitalist Elon Musk.

Banks' claimed the couple made her wait 'for days' at Musk's home and posted extensive screenshots from personal text conversations with Art Angels artist Grimes.

Azealia's episode of Wild 'N Out airs Friday at 10pm on MTV.
He has vowed to be sober following his drunken outburst aboard a plane last month.

And Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked happy and healthy as he stepped out in Calabasas, California on Thursday afternoon.

The actor, 41, showed off his clean-shaven look after heading to the barbers for a haircut and trim.

Dapper: Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked happy and healthy as he stepped out in Calabasas, Calif on Thursday afternoon

Jonathan cut a dapper figure in black chinos which he paired with a white t-shirt.

The Tudors star complemented his stylish ensemble with a denim jacket, tan holdall and leather brogues.

Jonathan's hair looked slightly tousled with gel adding more texture to his newly-trimmed 'do.

Handsome: The actor, 41, showed off his clean-shaven look after heading to the barbers for a haircut and trim

His solo outing comes after the actor recently shared details on the 'frustrating' series of events that led to his drunken outburst on a flight earlier this month.

In an interview on Larry King Now, the actor admitted drinking doesn't 'suit' him as he spoke about the incident, which led to him being detained at Los Angeles' LAX airport when his plane touched down on the runway.

The Dracula 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.

Detained: The actor was detained by police at LAX last month after allegedly getting into a drunken row with his wife and trying to smoke his e-cigarette on the flight from Miami

'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.'

Jonathan 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'.

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'.
She stars as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the hit series Modern Family.

But on Wednesday, Sofia Vergara took a break from her booming acting career for lunch at Kreation Juicery in Los Angeles.

The 46-year-old actress cut a chic figure in a strapless black top tucked into a patterned skirt while stepping out with pals.

Fancy: Sofia Vergara took a break from her booming acting career for lunch at Kreation Juicery in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Sofia chose a calf-grazing blue, white and black patterned skirt that flared at the hemline.

She tucked her strapless ruffled top into the waistline, adding clear plastic slip-on heels.

Sofia carried a black Hermes Birkin handbag in one hand with brown tinted sunglasses shielding her eyes, adding gold hoop earrings.

The star rocked a gold watch with her wedding ring for added sparkle.

Lovely: The 46-year-old actress cut a chic figure in a strapless black top tucked into a patterned skirt while stepping out with pals

Sofia chose a calf-grazing blue, white and black patterned skirt that flared at the hemline

Natural beauty: She tucked her strapless ruffled top into the waistline, adding clear plastic slip-on heels

Sofia styled her long brunette locks loose, opting for a center part.

The mother of one painted her pout a pink hue, adding a touch of rose colored blush on her cheeks.

One day later, Sofia shared a series of snaps to her Instagram stories in honor of Throwback Thursday.

Sofia carried a black Hermes Birkin handbag in one hand with brown tinted sunglasses, adding gold hoop earrings

So pretty: Sofia carried a black Hermes Birkin handbag in one hand with brown tinted sunglasses shielding her eyes, adding gold hoop earrings

Sofia posted pictures from her holiday to Bora Bora, which took place around New Years 2017.

In one image, the brunette beauty rocked a floral garland on her head as she snapped a selfie.

The star also posed with her actor husband Joe Manganiello, who she married on November 21, 2015.

She donned a floral patterned dress with a straw hat and woven purse in another.

Vibes: Sofia posted snaps from her trip to Bora Bora, which took place around New Years 2017

Views: In one image, the brunette beauty rocked a floral garland as she snapped a selfie

Beaming: The star also posed with her actor husband Joe Manganiello, who she married on November 21, 2015

Fashionable: She donned a floral patterned dress with a straw hat and woven purse in another

Wow: She showed off a stunning new handbag she received as a gift from Dolce & Gabbana

Wow: She shared a photo of a snack she received; she captioned the picture: 'They brought me wafers from Miami'
It is the hotly-anticipated final film in the latest Star Wars trilogy, set for release in December 2019.

And Star Wars fans got a first look at Episode IX as Chewbacca, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac were pictured filming outside London on Thursday.

John, who plays former Stormtrooper Finn in the film series, looked focused as he chatted with Oscar (Resistance Commander Poe Dameron) on a hillside, surrounded by the film crew.

A galaxy far, far, away: Star Wars fans got a first look at Episode IX as Chewbacca, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac (above) were pictured filming outside London on Thursday

Chewie! Wookiee Chewbacca, played by Joonas Suotamo, toted a gun as he stood alongside an armed horse covered in grey fur

Talented John, looked ready for action in a maroon t-shirt, paired with a khaki gilet, blue trousers and leather boots.

Oscar, 39, showed off his hunky physique in an open-necked shirt teamed with tan trousers and knee-high boots.

He completed his look with a leather shoulder bag.

May the force be with you: John, who plays former Stormtrooper Finn in the film series, looked focused as he chatted with Oscar Isaac (Resistance Commander Poe Dameron) on a hillside, surrounded by the film crew

Out of this world: Chewbacca was seen filming scenes with a fearsome looking guard on the hillside

Hunky: Talented John, looked ready for action in a maroon t-shirt, paired with a khaki gilet, blue trousers and leather boots

Talented: Oscar, 39, showed off his hunky physique in an open-necked shirt teamed with tan trousers and knee-high boots

Different sight: At one point he sheltered under an umbrella to keep his costume dry when rain poured down

Dynamic duo: John and Joonas looked magical as they filmed scenes for the new film

Going to war: Chewbacca looked stern as he toted a gun alongside an extra

Wookiee Chewbacca, played by Joonas Suotamo, was also spotted on the set, toting a gun as he stood alongside an armed horse, covered in grey fur.

At one point he sheltered under an umbrella to keep his costume dry when rain poured down.

The star also took off the top part of his costume as he chatted with crew members.

Newcomer to the franchise, and British actress, Naomi Ackie looked amazing in her impressive outfit

Extras were dotted on the hillside, clad in oversize camouflage coats.

Ready: John and Oscar looked prepared for the day's busy filming schedule

Mystery: A cast of actors, whose characters could potentially play a part in the resistance, stood on the hill patiently

Professional: The two actors embodied their characters as they shot scenes

Other-worldly: Joonas and his scene partner could be seen with horses which had been decked out in woolly fur and orange tape so that CGI could be added in during post-production

Stylish: The actors looked incredible in their costumes as they walked up the hill

Exciting: John and Oscar could be seen walking away from the other actors in the scene

Other members of the cast donned dirty black and grey coats as they listened intently to instructions from the team.

The film is directed by J.J Abrams who said he 'wanted to go beyond, and do better than we did in 7', (The Force Awakens).

The last film in the Star Wars franchise, The Last Jedi was released in 2017.

In July it was announced Abrams will use unreleased footage of Carrie Fisher in the next Star Wars film to give the latest trilogy a 'satisfying conclusion.'

New character: British actress Naomi Ackie looked amazing in her impressive outfit

Discussing: John and Oscar were busy chatting about the scene while they rested

Unexplored territory? The grassy plain was a surrogate setting for an unknown planet

Relaxing: During a break from filming, Joonas could be seen waiting in the rain

In character: John and Oscar looked stylish in their respective ensembles

Beaming: Naomi appeared to giggle as a gust of wind picked up

Waiting for their cue: Naomi, Joonas and another actor were ready to film

Lucasfilm and Abrams shared the news on Friday that footage of Fisher shot for 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be used in the ninth film in the space opera's core trilogies about the Skywalker family.

Fisher died in 2016 at the age of 60 after she finished work on The Last Jedi. She has played Leia Organa since the first Star Wars film, which debuted in 1977.

'Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character,' Abrams said in a statement.

Keeping warm: The actors wore military-print jackets to protect themselves from the wind

Touch up: The actors were looked over by the make-up team in between takes

Filming: John and Oscar were clearly in character as Finn and Poe

Cool outfit: Naomi's look included a fascinating semi-sheer cape

What's happening? Smoke could be seen being blown out onto set

'With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carries legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.'

It's not much of a surprise that Billie will also appear in IX, reprising her role as Lieutenant Connix.

The 26-year-old blonde star was in the last two films as well.

Friday's announcement also confirmed that Billy Dee Williams will be returning to the franchise as Lando Calrissian, a hero of the rebellion who hasn't been seen in the latest trilogy.

Prepared: The actors were keen to get filming, as Naomi adjusted her headgear

Busy: The cast seemed to film the same scene several times over the day

Rebel fighter: John's character Finn is clearly ready for his role as a figure of the resistance

Everything is set: The cast were ready for whatever came their way in the scene

Hectic: There was a lot going on behind the scenes with the crew hurriedly getting ready

Watching: The cast stared at John and Oscar as they made their way down the hill

Cosy: Extras kept warm with coffee and loose-fitting clothing as they waited to film

A younger version of Lando was played by Donald Glover in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, will also appear in the film.

Anthony Daniels will reprise his role at C-3PO. Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant have also joined the cast.

It is also likely that droid BB-8 will be back.

Other returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyongo, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kelly Marie Tran.

Abrams co-wrote Episode IX with Chris Terrio. John Williams will return to score the film.

This comes on the heels of the spinoff movie Solo: A Star Wars Story which was released in May to mixed reviews.

Go Chewie: Joonas looked perfect in his Chewbacca costume

What could it be? It was unclear what was happening out on set as the actors shot their scenes

Talkative: The cast members chatted away in between takes

Now what? Chewbacca turned to his fellow characters after Finn and Poe had left

Getting ready: The other castmembers were prepared as they waited on the sidelines

Protected: When it began raining Joonas used an umbrella to protect his outfit
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They've been soaking up the sun on their well-deserved break after a mere few months of dating.

And Chris Pine and Annabelle Wallis appeared to take their relationship to the next level as the English beauty, 33, met the Wonder Woman star's parents, actor and actress Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, aboard a luxury yacht in Positano, Italy on Thursday afternoon.

During their idyllic getaway, the Unstoppable actor, 37, flaunted his rock hard abs and muscular physique in a pair of bright vibrant shorts as he strolled along the massive watercraft.

Sun-soaked: Chris Pine (left) and Annabelle Wallis (right) appeared to take their relationship to the next level as the English beauty, 33, met the Wonder Woman star's parents aboard a luxury yacht in Positano, Italy on Thursday afternoon

Chris put on a trendy display in his holiday attire, which featured a beige trilby hat, square-framed sunglasses and a gold pendant necklace.

The Into the Woods star appeared to be in full relaxation mode as he reclined on the yacht's luxurious off-white sofas with his pals.

Meanwhile, The Tudors actress flaunted her taut midsection and perky cleavage as she slipped into a leopard print bandeau top, tied in with a pair of scanty black briefs.

Smitten: The 37-year-old's parents, actor and actress Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, looked in the throes of love as they took snaps on the yacht

Toned: During their idyllic getaway, the Unstoppable actor, 37, flaunted his rock hard abs and muscular physique in a pair of bright vibrant shorts as he strolled along the massive watercraft

Beaming: Chris put on a trendy display in his holiday attire, which featured a beige trilby hat, square-framed sunglasses and a gold pendant necklace

Deep in thought: The Into the Woods star appeared to be in full relaxation mode as he reclined on the yacht's luxurious off-white sofas with his pals

The Oxford native tied in her skimpy ensemble with all-black sunglasses, which complemented her bright red nails and dainty selection of bracelets.

Annabelle displayed her naturally radiant complexion with minimal make-up, and wore her blonde tresses in effortless waves.

Looking every inch the busy bee, The Mummy actress engaged in a phone conversation before relishing in the sunshine with her beau.

All eyes on her: Meanwhile, The Tudors actress flaunted her taut midsection and perky cleavage as she slipped into a leopard print bandeau top, tied in with a pair of scanty black briefs

Commanding attention: The Oxford native tied in her skimpy ensemble with all-black sunglasses , which complemented her bright red nails and dainty selection of bracelets

Simply stunning: Annabelle displayed her naturally radiant complexion with minimal make-up, and wore her blonde tresses in effortless waves

Pensive: Looking every inch the busy bee, The Mummy actress engaged in a phone conversation before relishing in the sunshine with her beau

Double talk: Annabelle appeared to engage in two conversations at once as she spoke to a relaxed Chris amid her phone discussions

Lapping up the sunshine: The bombshell showcased her gym-honed frame as she relaxed on a huge sofa bed

Tranquil: Annabelle appeared to jot down notes in her small book during her yacht ride

In good company: Chris appeared in high spirits as he chatted with his shirtless pal

Meanwhile, legendary thespians Robert, 77, and Gloria, 72, appeared smitten as they took a series of loved-up snaps during the family boat ride.

The adorable couple are set to celebrate their milestone 50th wedding anniversary next year after tying the knot in 1969.

Opting for a comfy appearance, CHiPs star Robert donned an oversized striped shirt, denim jeans and box-fresh canvas trainers by Vans.

Cosy: Meanwhile, legendary thespians Robert, 77, and Gloria, 72, appeared smitten as they took a series of loved-up snaps during the family boat ride

Chic: Fade To Black actress Gloria cut an elegant figure as she was clad in a bright pink shirt, white slacks, and black loafers

Relaxed: Opting for a comfy appearance, CHiPs star Robert donned an oversized striped shirt, denim jeans and box-fresh canvas trainers by Vans

Long-term: The adorable couple are set to celebrate their milestone 50th wedding anniversary next year after tying the knot in 1969

Hopping on: The group were pictured transporting from a smaller boat to the luxurious yacht hours earlier

Fade To Black actress Gloria cut an elegant figure as she was clad in a bright pink shirt, white slacks, and black loafers.

The couple appeared happy and relaxed on their Italian break, which came four months after they were first rumoured to be dating back in April.

A source told US Weekly at the time: 'They kept it casual for the beginning. Chris was very attentive and wooed her.'

Fresh relationship: The couple appeared happy and relaxed on their Italian break, which came four months after they were first rumoured to be dating back in April

Reports: 'They kept it casual for the beginning. Chris was very attentive and wooed her', a source told US Weekly at the start of their relationship

Budding relationship: The couple were pictured together for the first time later that month when they attended a dinner party in Malibu, California, but have remained under the radar ever since

Romance: 'Chris and Annabelle hardly separated throughout the evening and couldn't take their eyes off each other', a source divulged

The couple were pictured together for the first time later that month when they attended a dinner party in Malibu, California, but have remained under the radar ever since.

A source divulged: 'Chris and Annabelle hardly separated throughout the evening and couldn't take their eyes off each other.'

Annabelle was previously in a long-term relationship with Coldplay's Chris Martin, 41; the couple dated for two years before calling time on their romance in June 2017.

The blonde bombshell has explained in the past that she prefers to keep her dating life private.

Past: Annabelle was previously in a long-term relationship with Coldplay's Chris Martin, 41; the couple dated for two years before calling time on their romance in June 2017

Candid: The blonde bombshell has explained in the past that she prefers to keep her dating life private

Speaking out: 'It becomes hard when you know about someone's personal life - it's just distracting. It's a whole other job in itself if you go down that road,' Annabelle said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in June 2017

Honest: 'I love the person I love, but it means so much to me that I like to keep it safe. I have nothing to hide', she continued

Love life: 'It's just that when you have people in your life that you care about, you get very protective of them, and it's not about you any more, it's about other people, and the ones you love are the ones you protect like a lioness', Annabelle went on

Previous romance: Chris was most recently linked to actress Sofia Boutella, 36, and in the past has dated model Dominique Piek, Big Little Lies star Zoe Kravitz and actress Olivia Munn

'It becomes hard when you know about someone's personal life - it's just distracting. It's a whole other job in itself if you go down that road,' she said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in June 2017.

'I love the person I love, but it means so much to me that I like to keep it safe. I have nothing to hide.'

'It's just that when you have people in your life that you care about, you get very protective of them, and it's not about you any more, it's about other people, and the ones you love are the ones you protect like a lioness.'

Chris was most recently linked to actress Sofia Boutella, 36, and in the past has dated model Dominique Piek, Big Little Lies star Zoe Kravitz and actress Olivia Munn.

Working hard: Netflix recently released a dramatic trailer for Outlaw King - the historical drama starring Chris as Scottish outlaw-turned-king Robert The Bruce

Transformation: The film - which is set for release in November on the streaming site - sees a bearded and gruff-looking Pine, worlds away from his iconic role as the clean-cut Captain Kirk in the Star Trek film franchise

Claims: It was recently reported that the movie star may be walking away from the fourth Star Trek sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter

Legendary portrayal: In the science fiction staple, Pine was set to reprise his role as the dashing and iconic Captain Kirk
It seems Real Housewives Of Dallas star Brandi Redmond really wants her new show to be a success.

Posing naked for an Instagram shot, she used a strategically placed Bravo pillow and two Watch What Happens Live coasters to preserve her modesty.

The Housewives' go-to hairstylist Julius Michael posted the daring snap of the 40-year-old wearing little more than her birthday suit.

Risque shot: Hairstylist Julius Michael posted this revealing Instagram snap of Real Housewives Of Dallas star Brandi Redmond on Wednesday, captioned, ' Who needs clothes when you have good hair and makeup'

Julius styled her strawberry blonde hair in gentle waves that he swept to the side of her face.

Make-up artist Priscilla DiStasio teamed the reality star's smoky eye with a nude lip and bronzed cheekbones.

But it wasn't all about the glam  indeed, it had a good dose of Brandi's risque sense of humor, according to Bravo.

Mixing and mingling: The 40-year-old chatted with her RHOD co-star LeeAnn Locken at a cast party in 2017

In his caption, Julius asked: 'Who needs clothes when you have good hair and makeup?'

The answer: Not Brandi.

The former Dallas Cowboys cheer leader is married to her high-school sweetheart Bryan Redmond and they share daughters Brinkley, nine, and Brooklyn, six.

With her beau: Brandi posted a gushing tribute to her husband Bryan Redmond in a caption with this picture of them taken on Sanibel Island, Florida, in July

This winter they adopted a baby boy, Bruin Charles, born on December 31.

Bruin even has strawberry blonde locks, which match the brood of Redmond redheads.

'Its crazy,' Brandi told People in May. 'Hell always look like he came from me, which he did  he came from my heart.'
Billie Faiers' mum Sue put on a sizzling display in a revealing navy swimsuit on Thursday as she joined her daughter's raucous hen party in Ibiza.

The 48-year-old appeared smitten with her beau as they shared a passionate kiss during a racy swimming session in the sea.

Sue has been getting involved in the festivities as she prepares to take on the role of mother of the bride, as Billie prepares to tie the knot with fiance Greg Shepherd.

Glamorous: Billie Faiers' mum Sue put on a sizzling display in a revealing navy swimsuit on Thursday as she joined her daughter's raucous hen party in Ibiza

Ooh-la-la! The 48-year-old appeared smitten with her beau as they shared a passionate kiss during a racy swimming session in the sea

Sue had her amazing figure on full display as she sported the plunging navy swimsuit with a long silver chained necklace.

Going barefoot as she strolled along the jetty, the blonde beauty joined her beau in taking a dip in the water, with her wet blonde tresses slicked back out of the way.

Sue looked in the throes of love as she engaged in a racy kissing session with her partner.

Showing off her signature Essex tan, the family matriarch had her ageless complexion on full display in the look as she emerged dripping wet from the water before returning to the beach.

Sensational: With her blonde hair slicked back Sue looked sensational after the cooling swim, finishing her beach look with a silver chain necklace

Loved-up: Going barefoot as she strolled along the jetty, the blonde beauty joined her beau in taking a dip in the water, with her wet blonde tresses slicked back out of the way

Her hunky boyfriend sported his muscular physique as he sported a pair of skimpy black shorts.

Billie is preparing to marry businessman Greg, who she shares daughter Nelly, four, and 18-month-old son Arthur, in the Maldives after whopping four year long engagement and much divisive chat over the nuptials.

After finally settling on the plans, the couple have been throwing themselves into their pre-wedding festivities, with Greg having flown to Las Vegas earlier this month.

Things were obviously set to get wild for Billie and her gal pals as they jetted to Ibiza in the wee hours of Thursday morning, during which they certainly made an impact on the airport with all the ladies rocking stylish matching denim shirts.

Passion: Sue looked in the throes of love as she engaged in a racy kissing session with her partner

PDA: The grandmother-of-four was not afraid to showcase her love for her beau during their raunchy PDA-fest

Drenched: The couple were soaked in water as they hopped out of the sea

Follow my lead! Sue appeared in high spirits as she enjoyed a romantic walk, with her partner following behind

All in the details: The youthful-looking star kept accessories to a minimum as she sported a selection of white bracelets

Bride-to-be! Sue's partner appeared to be in good company as he engaged in a conversation with Billie, who is set to tie the knot to Greg Shepherd soon

Sam has two children Paul, aged two, and Rosie, with her love of more than three years Paul Knightley.

Just weeks ago, Sam claimed she ended her feud with former BFF Ferne after they famously fell out over rival ITV2 programmes documenting motherhood. They put their problems aside on attending Billie's bridal shower and the former pals managed to heal the rift in their friendship.

Sam told The Sun: 'We were both at my sister's bridal shower - Ferne was there. It was fine. It was nice. We were just catching up on the babies really. So we are fine.'

Squad: Sue joined many of Billie's friends and family in celebrating her upcoming wedding, as they jetted to Ibiza for the boozy getaway

Not too cold? She showed off her Essex tan in the blazing hot Ibiza sunshine as she made her descent into the water
She tied the knot with her new husband in a glitzy wedding ceremony in June.

And Millie Mackintosh was clearly relishing in newlywed bliss as she attended some time off work duties with Hugo Taylor at Kingham's Big Feastival on Friday afternoon.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, narrowly avoided an awkward run-in with her ex husband Professor Green, who later took to the stage at the annual event.

Smitten: Millie Mackintosh was clearly relishing in newlywed bliss as she attended some time off work duties with Hugo Taylor at Kingham's Big Feastival on Friday afternoon

Oozing with love, the TV personality looked smitten as she strolled around the field hand-in-hand with her partner, 32.

The reality star nailed festival glamour as she donned a khaki green bomber jacket, skinny jeans, and a trendy cami top.

Millie added to her biker chic display with a pair of black ankle boots, and accessorised with a polka dot scarf, leopard print sunglasses and a sleek trilby hat.

Awkward! The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, narrowly avoided a run-in with her ex husband Professor Green, who later took to the stage at the annual event

Loving life: Oozing with love, the TV personality looked smitten as she strolled around the field hand-in-hand with her partner, 32

Putting her naturally radiant complexion on display, the London native opted for her signature minimal make-up look, and wore her tresses in a straight fashion.

Sunglasses designer Hugo looked effortlessly stylish in a light-wash denim shirt and a beige top, teamed with a leather jacket and black slacks.

Meanwhile, Professor Green, 34, who split from Millie in 2016 after three years of marriage, debuted his newly-dyed pink 'do as he made a bold appearance at the festival.

Turning heads: The reality star nailed festival glamour as she donned a khaki green bomber jacket, skinny jeans, and a trendy cami top

Working it! Millie added to her biker chic display with a pair of black ankle boots, and accessorised with a polka dot scarf, leopard print sunglasses and a sleek trilby hat

Striking: Putting her naturally radiant complexion on display, the London native opted for her signature minimal make-up look, and wore her tresses in a straight fashion

Dapper: Sunglasses designer Hugo looked effortlessly stylish in a light-wash denim shirt and a beige top, teamed with a leather jacket and black slacks

Commanding attention with his eccentric fashion sense, the rapper sported a pair of camouflage bottoms, an off-white parka jacket with a slogan hooded jumper.

The festival is held on Alex James' Farm in The Cotswolds from Friday till Sunday, with guests expecting to see a star-studded line-up, featuring the likes of Paloma Faith, The Undertones and Spice Girls' Mel C.

Professor Green - real name Stephen Manderson - and Millie announced their split in February 2016, and the heiress was pictured cosying up to her former flame Hugo just three months later.

After confirming their on-again romance, Millie and Hugo became engaged in June 2017, fourteen months after her divorce from Stephen was finalised.

Wedding bells: Millie tied the knot with her new husband in a glitzy wedding ceremony in June

Making a statement: Meanwhile, Professor Green, 34, who split from Millie in 2016 after three years of marriage, debuted his newly-dyed pink 'do as he made a bold appearance

Fresh look: The musician sported peroxide blonde hair earlier this month (left, August 16)

Quirky: Commanding attention with his eccentric fashion sense, the rapper sported a pair of camouflage bottoms, an off-white parka jacket with a slogan hooded jumper

Former lovers: Professor Green and Millie announced their split in February 2016 (pictured May 2012)

Split: The star broke up with model Fae Williams in May after 18 months together (pictured August 2017)

In a candid interview with Closer Magazine, the I Need You Tonight hitmaker appeared to take a swipe at his ex-wife as he criticised her for publicising her romance with Hugo online.

He told the magazine: 'I'm not cynical about love and romance at all - I just don't feel the need to plaster it everywhere, it's a bit crass.'

Despite his recent split from girlfriend Fae Williams, the star insisted he's not unlucky in love as he believes he's young enough to 'find that one person'.

Energetic: The artist captivated the crowd as he put on a lively performance hours later

Passionate: Professor Green ensured he could prance around the stage in comfort as he donned a pair of black trainers

Annual event: The festival is held on Alex James' Farm in The Cotswolds from Friday till Sunday, with guests expecting to see a star-studded line-up

Fan favourite: The Lip Sync Battle host looked onto the crowd as he performed a series of his chart-topping hits

Putting on a show: The rapper looked in his element as he performed his chart-topping hits

True professional: Professor Green seemed to put all his romantic woes behind him as he took to the stage following his split from girlfriend Fae

Unlucky in love: During a discussion on Lorraine earlier this month, Professor, who broke up with the model in May after 18 months together, was asked by Christine if he was unlucky

During a discussion on Lorraine earlier this month, Professor, who broke up with the model in May after 18 months together, was asked by Christine if he was unlucky.

He replied: 'No, not at all, everything is a lesson. Im just about young enough and healthy enough to find that one person. Learning what you dont want goes hand in hand with what you do want.'

As well as revealing all about his love life, he also admitted he is enjoying being back in the studio as it's having a good affect on his own well-being, which he admits he had neglected in the past.

His time had been occupied with raising awareness of mental health through producing documentaries - including for the BBC about the important issues affecting Britain.

Commanding attention: Becky Hill, who appeared on series one of The Voice, stunned fans as he donned a heavily feathered jacket
Emma Willis was putting on a sensational display in leather trousers on Friday as she hosted the first Celebrity Big Brother live eviction of the series.

The 42-year-old TV presenter flaunted her trim figure in a black off-the-shoulder top and maroon pants as she took to the stage to present the Channel 5 mainstay.

Emma hosted the show as Natalie Nunn and Hardeep Singh Kohli faced the public vote to stay in the house.

Gorgeous: Emma Willis was putting on a sensational display in leather trousers on Friday as she hosted the first Celebrity Big Brother live eviction of the series

Emma was every inch the style icon she has become since beginning to host the show, rocking a one-shouldered black top with the maroon leather trousers.

The mother-of-three teamed the look with a quirky chained belt and black suede heels.

She had her honey blonde tresses pulled into a voluminous quiff, and highlighted her flawless complexion with a smoky eye and plum lip.

Flawless: The 42-year-old TV presenter flaunted her trim figure in a black off-the-shoulder top and maroon pants as she took to the stage to present the Channel 5 mainstay

Beautiful: Emma had her honeyed blonde tresses styled into a dramatic quiff, and highlighted her flawless complexion with a dramatic smoky eye and plum lip

Emma was presenting yet another episode packed full of celebrity action, as she prepared to reveal who was the first housemate to be evicted.

'Human Ken Doll' Rodrigo Alves was at the centre of plenty of the gossip in the show, as he admitted to thinking Ben Jardine wants to get intimate with Roxanne Pallett.

Natalie Nunn appeared curious about Ben and Roxanne's strong connection as they wash the dishes together, causing her to ask Rodrigo: 'I want them to show true colours, it's a big thing! I'm seeing a lot of flirting. Have you seen Roxy talk about her fiance [Lee Walton]?

'A few times', he responds, before insisting her relationship hasn't stopped her from getting to know Ben.

Close: In a preview for Friday's show, Rodrigo admitted he thinks Ben Jardine wants to get intimate with Roxanne Pallett' as he brands their 'flirty' relationship 'beautiful'

In favour: In a discussion with Bad Girls Club star Natalie Nunn, the TV personality, 35, said the pair 'can't leave each other's side' as they continue to grow closer in the house

'She was running after him and chasing him like Tom and Jerry...he said he fancies her!'

The Brazilian star suggested his close friend wants to get hot and heavy between the sheets with the former Emmerdale actress, stating: 'Ben is a man, he doesn't care... he just wants to get in her knickers...when he sees her, his eyes light up.'

Gushing over their relationship, he continued: 'It's quite beautiful seeing them two together like that'.

Noting Roxanne's current relationship status, the Hair Battle Spectacular star interrupted: 'But she has a man... but that's none of our business.'

The cosmetic surgery enthusiast responded: 'If she never told us, I would have been like kisses now, I like seeing love! We need some love in the house. But maybe they're in love, maybe they have that already?'

Strange: American TV star Natalie, 33, appeared curious about Ben and Roxanne's strong connection as they washed the dishes together
She's set to star as Cameron Post, a lesbian teenager whose guardians place her into gay conversion therapy during the 1990s, in her new film The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

And Chloe Grace Moretz, who is one of five children and has two gay brothers, has opened up about her new movie role, as well as her close bond with her elder siblings Colin and Trevor.

Talking to Gay Times, the actress, revealed: 'The healthiest relationship that I've ever seen and grew up with was not that of my parents, it was that of my brother and his boyfriend who have been together  still to this day  for 11 years.

Proud sister: Chloe Grace Moretz, who is one of five children and has two gay brothers, has opened up about her new movie role, as well as her close bond with her elder siblings Colin and Trevor

'That has been my most healthy parental relationship that I've ever seen. It gave me faith and hope that you can find someone to be with for a long period of time who you truly love.

'But for me, it's interesting that it wasn't your typical nuclear family unit  it's my gay brother and his boyfriend.'

She added: 'I grew up fighting on their behalf because it broke my heart to see that yes, they can stand up for themselves, but people wouldn't listen.

Family: She's set to star as Cameron Post, a lesbian teenager whose guardians place her into gay conversion therapy during the 1990s, in her new film The Miseducation of Cameron Post (pictured with her four brothers and mother earlier this year for her 21st birthday)

'So I took it upon myself with their blessing to go out there and talk about it, and to tell people, "Hey, being gay is not a big deal at all. But be proud and be out there and raise the flag high. Be a part of the community, and be for the community."

'So it was never a question to me whether or not I was ever going to be an advocate, and what that meant to my heart and how it shaped me.'

Chloe went on to reveal that she is taking her new film, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, to politicians in Washington, D.C.

In the film, the actress plays a lesbian teenager whose guardians place her into gay conversion therapy during the 1990s.

Smitten: She told Gay Times: 'The healthiest relationship that I've ever seen and grew up with was not that of my parents, it was that of my brother and his boyfriend.' (pictured with her brother Trevor in 2016)

She said: 'In the current state of America, if you don't have a message that you're pushing out, if it's not some sort of activism, then why are you doing it?

'I want this movie to be a platform. I want this movie to start a conversation and to help lobby against conversion therapy in America.

'I'm actually flying to DC to do a screening and to have an open conversation with a couple of politicians, and to talk about lobbying against gay conversion therapy in America.'

Important: Chloe went on to reveal that she is taking her new film, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, to politicians in Washington, D.C (Chloe with her brother Trevor in 2014)

Only recently, Chloe explained the reason why she wanted to do the film after taking a year and a half off.

Talking on The One Show, she said: 'I took about a year and a half off after working 15 years straight, it struck me in a personal way because I have two gay brothers.

'And the story of a young woman who is sent to a Christian conversation therapy camp, it focuses on the interpersonal relationships of meeting other people for the first time'.

Pre-order the September 2018 issue of Gay Times at gaytimes.co.uk/buy
Although she married Olympian Ryan Lochte in January, she's still celebrating the nuptials seven months later.

And on Thursday afternoon, Kayla Rae Lochte was spotted flaunting her incredible bikini body while enjoying a swim in Miami Beach.

The 27-year-old star, who is in the Florida city for her bachelorette party, donned a revealing red bikini that highlighted her toned form.

Wow: Kayla Rae Lochte was spotted flaunting her incredible bikini body while enjoying a swim in Miami Beach on Thursday

The beauty sported the Rib Tide top and skimpy bottom set by Beach Bunny Swimwear, which included $120 high-cut bottoms with silver accents.

The $130 bikini top looked like a crop top with buttons down the front and knotted near the hemline.

She sported her diamond wedding ring and cat eye sunglasses for her beach day with pals.

The stunner left her blonde tresses loose, opting to go makeup free to reveal her natural beauty.

Amazing: The 27-year-old star, who is in the Florida city for her bachelorette party, donned a revealing red bikini that highlighted her toned form

Sizzling: The beauty sported the Rib Tide top and skimpy bottom set by Beach Bunny Swimwear, which included $120 high-cut bottoms with silver accents

What a life: After her swim, she headed to a beach lounger to take in some sunshine and relax

The model welcomed son Caiden Zane Lochte with her professional swimmer beau on June 8, 2017.

They were revealed to be dating during the 2016 Summer Olympics; the lovebirds got engaged in October 2016 before they wed in early January.

Kayla and Ryan tied the knot in January at a courthouse in Gainesville, Florida, according to TMZ.

Looking great: The $130 bikini top looked like a crop top with buttons down the front and knotted near the hemline

Despite making it official seven months prior, the star decided to have a bacherlorette party - which kicked off Friday in Miami.

She chronicled her bachelorette party with her friends on her social media, with the hashtag #LochtedinLove.

She shared a snap of her look for the beach, adding a Zara cover up over her bikini.

Cover girl: She sported her diamond wedding ring and cat eye sunglasses for her beach day with pals

Toned: The stunner left her blonde tresses loose, opting to go makeup free to reveal her natural beauty

Incredible post baby body: The model welcomed son Caiden Zane Lochte with her professional swimmer beau on June 8, 2017

With pals: She was joined by two friends during her ocean dip

After: Post swim, Kayla lounged by the water while chatting with her friends

Kayla, who cheekily captioned the snap 'Beach, please' posed at the SLS South Beach.

The star also shared Instagram stories of herself and her pals enjoying iced beverages at the beach.

The model added a straw hat to protect herself from the sun.

Chic look: She shared a snap of her look for the beach, adding a Zara cover up over her bikini

Beach beauty: The model added a straw hat to protect herself from the sun

Time for fun: The star also shared Instagram stories of herself and her pals enjoying iced beverages at the beach

Beach day: It looked like one fun day at the beach for Kayla and her crew

Kayla revealed on her social media her plans after flying into Miami: 'Can't wait to see all my girlfriends and have so much fun, lay on the beach, get a tan, ya know... the usual.'

She finally arrived to the city after her original flight was canceled; Kayla showed off her hotel room, which included gift bags and champagne, to her followers on Instagram stories.

She posed with her Bridesmaids gifts as well a row of pink bathing suits with each person's last name emblazoned on it.

However, Kayla and her friends went to Barry's Boot Camp before hitting the beach.

Making memories: Kayla revealed on her social media her plans after flying into Miami: 'Can't wait to see all my girlfriends and have so much fun, lay on the beach, get a tan, ya know... the usual'

All good now: Her original flight was canceled but she was able to take another flight to Miami

So cool: She posed with her Bridesmaids gifts as well as pink bathing suits with each person's last name emblazoned on it

Fitness first: Kayla and her friends went to Barry's Boot Camp before hitting the beach

Working up a sweat: She sported white leggings with a matching sports bra

Party mode: A pal posted a picture of Kayla after she arrived to the decorated hotel room, with signs that read 'Bride To Be' and 'Love'

Close up: A sign on the welcome set up in her room read 'Kiss the Miss goodbye'

So nice: The room had all the bridal shower gifts ready to go
She's been pictured sharing a loving kiss with Cara Delevigne.

But while the two are widely thought to be a couple, Ashley Benson is playing it coy.

Asked if she was dating the British model, Ashley said she would neither confirm or deny the reports.

'I think it's the best way in any relationship,' the 28-year-old told People. 'I've always been very private about them, and I think it's just better.'

Keeping quiet: Ashley Benson has refused to confirm or deny she's dating Cara Delevingne

Keeping quiet: Ashley and Cara Delevingne are seen together earlier this month

Despite her reticence, Ashley has not been hiding her relationship with the 26-year-old, after the two grew close while filming their upcoming movie Her Smell, which is set to be released in 2019.

She has taken to wearing a pendant baring the initials C and A, and has been spotted meeting Cara's family.

Meanwhile Ashley has been talking about her role on the 2012 indie movie Spring Breakers, revealing that she was paid barely anything for the role, which she took for the experience.

Not a money maker: Ashley, right, with Rachel Korine, Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez in the 2013 film Spring Breakers

The Pretty Little Liars actress told Eonline: 'One ] that I didn't get paid forreally, at allwas Spring Breakers, which turned out to be one of my favorite projects I've ever done.

'In the indie film world, I would rather get paid nothing to work with someone like Harmony Korine and have an amazing experience and the outcome be an incredible film I'm really proud of.'
He's a man who likes the finer things in life.

So Tommy Hilfiger seemed in great spirits as he enjoyed a luxurious holiday in Italy's Almafi Coast with his family on Friday.

The 67-year-old American fashion designer was all-smiles on the outing as he headed off on a boat ride with glamorous wife Dee, 50, and his brood.

Living the high life: He's a man who likes the finer things in life. So Tommy Hilfiger seemed in great spirits as he enjoyed a luxurious holiday in Italy's Almafi Coast with his family on Friday

Proving that less is more, Tommy kept things classic in a crisp white shirt teamed with cherry red chinos and a panama hat.

Dee also looked stylish for the outing as she dazzled in a billowing bardot style dress that cinched in at her tiny waist.

Injecting some glamour into her ensemble former fashion model-turned financier donned a pair of red chandelier earrings that peeked out beneath her golden locks.

Fun outing: The 67-year-old American fashion designer was all-smiles on the outing as he headed off on a boat ride with glamorous wife Dee, 50, and his brood

Tommy - born Thomas Jacob 'Tommy' Hilfiger - has been overseeing his fashion empire since 1985.

He got his start with trendy T-shirts that sold like crazy; later he went into preppy clothing and made his image with nautical wear.

In the 1990s he branched out to perfumes and even wrote a book.

Stylish: Proving that less is more, Tommy kept things classic in a crisp white shirt teamed with cherry red chinos and a panama hat

Dressed to impress: Dee also looked stylish for the outing as she dazzled in a billowing bardot style dress that cinched in at her tiny waist

Glamorous: Injecting some glamour into her ensemble former fashion model-turned financier donned a pair of red chandelier earrings that peeked out beneath her golden locks

In the past decade the style icon has been smart to use some of the top names in the modeling world in his campaigns.

He has often used rock stars as well as he long been fascinated with the music world.

As far as his personal life, in 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the Peoples Place in Ithaca, and they married in 1980.

They had four children together. In 2000 they divorced. In 2008, Hilfiger married his second wife Dee. They had a son in 2009.
Sofia Richie is no longer a teenager.

And to celebrate turning 20, Sofia's doting older boyfriend Scott Disick, 35, whisked her off to Mexico this week as an early birthday present.

The duo stayed at Kardashian-favorite holiday spot Casa Aramare, the Punta Mita beachside villa owned by Scott's pal and Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis.

Special trip: Scott Disick whisked girlfriend Sofia Richie away on a trip to Mexico this week for her 20th birthday. They are seen in a photo from Scott's 35th birthday in May

According to E! News, the couple went boating and visited the Marietas Islands where they did some snorkeling and enjoyed a private beach.

Along with them for the trip was Scott's two children Mason, eight and Penelope, six, who he co-parents with ex-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, 39.

The couple didn't share too many pictures of their trip but Sofia made sure to post sizzling bikini snap.

Seemingly heading back home on Thursday Scott posted one of Mason stood on the steps of their private jet.

'Lil lord.' he captioned the image in reference to his own longtime nickname 'Lord Disick'.

Vacation vibes: On Thursday the birthday girl shared a sizzling bikini snap as she sunned herself in Punta Mita at Joe Francis' villa

Snoozing: Scott also shared some Instagram stories showing his kids Penelope and Mason sleeping on the plane as they presumably made their way back to Los Angeles on Thursday

Scott also shared some Instagram stories showing his kids sleeping on the plane as they presumably made their way back to Los Angeles.

'My poor babies' he wrote on the image of the tots snuggled up in blankets.

Sofia looked like she was definitely in vacation mode as she posed in a coral pink two-piece in her Instagram Thursday.

She quoted The Weeknd's 2016 track Reminder in her caption, writing, 'I'm like goddamn b***h, I am not a teen choice #20'

Scott and Sofia have been dating for around a year and have taken numerous trips together in that time.

The couple celebrated Scott's 35th birthday in May with a tropical getaway and shared loved up snaps on Instagram.

Jet setters: Scott posted a snap of his son Mason, eight, standing on the steps of their private jet on Thursday
A man has been charged after police seized drugs, guns and almost $400,000 in cash in a raid on a home in northern Sydney.

Officers allegedly uncovered a large stash of cocaine, MDMA and GBL, two firearms and $370,000 in cash when they searched the home in Macquarie Park on Thursday afternoon.

The 37-year-old man will face Burwood Local Court on Friday on a string of charges including three counts of supplying a prohibited drug, two counts of possessing an unauthorised firearm and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The end-of-season rugby league Test match between Australia and Tonga is reportedly close to being given the green light, with an announcement expected next week.

NRL boss Todd Greenberg met with NZRL chief executive Greg Peters and chairman Cameron McGregor in Sydney on Wednesday to broker a deal for the historic match in Auckland to go ahead, the Daily Telegraph reports.

New Zealand representatives were reportedly keen to block the Australian-Tonga fixture, slated for October 20, due to fears it would impact crowd numbers for Kiwis match against the Kangaroos the week earlier.
Police are calling on Gold Coast residents to cast their minds back to 1983 and come forward with information that may bolster their case against Linda Reed's accused killer.

Troy James O'Meara, 51, was this week charged with murdering the newly-married 21-year-old, who disappeared almost 35 years ago when she took a lunch break at the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on December 13.

Cold case detectives want to hear from anyone who recalls seeing a man behaving suspiciously at the centre that day between 9am and 1pm, or on Gaven Way near the Habana Street intersection between midday and 3pm.
"Let's kill all the lawyers," a Shakespearean character famously said. And that was without watching Australia's hilarious 45th parliament.

Never before have lawyers, mainly of the constitutional variety, been so active.

The great honey pot is Section 44 of the Constitution, which has wrecked careers and launched unlikely ones.

Most S44 victims have been caught by the dual citizenship trap.

A conga line of MPs and senators have learnt to their cost that dual citizenship can be acquired in the most obscure ways and filling in a form and leaving it to the relevant diplomatic bureaucracy isn't good enough.

The High Court, an assemblage of particularly elevated lawyers, has been very strict about this.

Overall, eight senators and seven lower house were either kicked out by High Court ruling or pre-emptively resigned.

They included then deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Senate President Stephen Parry.

An interesting by-product was that all seven lower house by-elections maintained the status quo. Six of the S44 offenders were voted back in and the seventh seat, Batman, was retained by Labor with a new candidate.

Voters obviously didn't hold dual citizenship, or slackness, against their members.

But there's more to S44 than dual citizenship.

Another part of it says you can't be an MP if you're getting money from the taxpayers (apart from salary and expenses).

This caught Family First's Bob Day, who was also in strife because he was bankrupt.

Now it's becoming seriously famous because it might have caught Peter Dutton over his family's child care centres which receive Commonwealth subsidies.

The Solicitor-General, in 26 dense pages of lawyer-speak, has concluded that Dutton is probably safe.

But he can't be definitive. No-one can be when it comes to the High Court.

However, it's not all weighty constitutional stuff.

For senators Sarah Hanson-Young and David Leyonhjelm it's defamation lawyers at close quarters.
The greyhound industry has received another funding boost from the NSW government, with the coalition contributing $700,000 to provide a short-term home for Canberra owners and trainers moving across the border.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says the money will go towards safety improvements at the Goulburn Greyhound Racing Club to allow for night racing meets.

The track will provide a temporary home for the Canberra Greyhound Racing Club, which has been forced to relocate to NSW after the industry was banned in the ACT, Mr Barilaro says.

"Greyhound racing is a favoured pastime for many and by improving the Goulburn racetrack we are supporting the relocation of the club in the short term," the Nationals leader said in a statement on Friday.

The coalition has committed $700,000 to the upgrade, with another $500,000 to come from Greyhound Racing NSW.

The industry was banned in Canberra from May after legislation to make the sport illegal passed the ACT parliament in November 2017 over concerns for animal welfare.

Greyhound racers were able to apply for transition support packages until the end of June.

Then-premier Mike Baird attempted to ban the industry in NSW two years ago before backflipping on the decision.

Mr Barilaro announced on Friday the coalition was preparing a business case to build a new track in Queanbeyan, which is just 10km from Canberra but inside NSW.

"A new track will inject spending, generate jobs and give the greyhound industry a new home in our growing city," he said.

Greyhound Racing NSW has commissioned PwC to conduct an independent feasibility study.

NSW Racing Minister Paul Toole says the study will look into building the track within an existing sporting facility capable of hosting a greyhound "centre of excellence", including dog rehoming.

Friday's announcement comes less than a month after the government contributed $500,000 in prize money to the inaugural Million Dollar Chase at Sydney's Wentworth Park, which will be the richest greyhound race in the world.
WINNERS

* SCOTT MORRISON

Set to become Australia's 30th prime minister after defeating Peter Dutton 45-40 in a partyroom vote. The treasurer rose to prominence as the tough face of the immigration portfolio. Morrison now faces an almighty fight to cling to power at the next election.

* JOSH FRYDENBERG

The energy minister's star has risen to deputy leader of the Liberal party with an "overwhelming" vote. He is likely to become treasurer under Morrison, making the moderate Frydenberg an unlikely beneficiary of a conservative campaign to terminate Turnbull.

* BILL SHORTEN

As the Liberals tore themselves to shreds, Shorten became a short-priced favourite to lead Labor to victory at the next election. Having played his part in his party's own leadership crises, Shorten is now set to benefit from the Liberal party making the same mistakes.

LOSERS

* PETER DUTTON

All the agitating, destabilising and campaigning couldn't get Dutton the keys to The Lodge. Morrison now faces a fascinating choice: return Dutton to cabinet or let him languish on the back bench to punish his disloyalty.

* JULIE BISHOP

After more than a decade as deputy leader, Bishop's tilt at the top job fell flat when she was bundled out of the race in the first round of voting. Holding on as foreign minister is the best result she can hope for but it's speculated she will retire from parliament at the next election.

* MALCOLM TURNBULL

His reign as prime minister is over and so is his political career. There were no tears from Turnbull but some anger directed at the "insurgents" who waged a campaign against him.

* TONY ABBOTT

Abbott will be happy to see the back of Turnbull, who deposed him as prime minister three years ago, but sad his man Dutton got beaten. Under Dutton, Abbott was tipped to return to cabinet but now his future is uncertain.
Tony Abbott's sister could replace Malcolm Turnbull in the Sydney seat of Wentworth, with the city councillor considering a tilt for Liberal Party preselection.

Christine Forster says once the seat is vacated by Mr Turnbull she'll consider entering the preselection fight.

"I have colleagues encouraging to me to stand and I am considering doing that if and when the seat is vacated," the City of Sydney councillor told AAP on Friday.

Mr Turnbull is yet to confirm exactly when he'll leave the parliament but says it will be "not before too long".

NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich says he too is being urged to run in the eastern suburbs seat and he thinks an independent could win a by-election.

"A good community-based independent could win," Mr Greenwich told AAP in a statement on Friday.

"We do well at state and local elections."

Mr Greenwich said he remained focused on retaining his seat of Sydney in the March 2019 state election but when pushed wouldn't rule out standing in Wentworth.

The Greens have revealed local councillor and First Nations advocate Dominic Wy Kanak will be their candidate.

Cr Wy Kanak lives in Bondi and is deputy mayor of Waverley Council.

"It's time for a fresh start for Wentworth," he said in a statement on Friday.

"I know residents here care about action on climate change, Aboriginal justice and tackling the excessive power corporate interests have on national policy."

NSW Labor has been contacted for comment.

The Liberals have held Wentworth since the party's creation in 1944. Mr Turnbull first won the seat in 2004 and claimed victory in 2016 with 62 per cent of the primary vote.
INCOMING PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON'S PLANS

DROUGHT

* Morrison's top priority is meeting national drought co-ordinator Major-General Stephen Day (retired) to review the government's plans to tackle the big dry.

ELECTRICITY PRICES

* Continue to consider ways to bring down energy bills.

HEALTHCARE

* Morrison said he's "distressed" by chronic illness in Australia.

* He also nominated affordable medicines, aged care and Medicare as priorities.

ECONOMY

* Support for enterprise ethic and a fair go for small and medium businesses.

WELFARE

* Said he's a "big fan" of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and is keen to see it well funded.

NATIONAL SECURITY

* A key concern for Morrison, a former hard-nosed immigration minister.
Bridie Tedford was entitled to feel protected by her husband even as their marriage broke down but instead she she found herself fighting to survive his violent attack.

Albert Tedford, 77, was sentenced in Melbourne's Supreme Court on Friday to at least six years behind bars for the shocking attack in October last year.

Justice John Champion said Tedford's then 62-year-old wife had been caring for her husband in the moments immediately preceding the assault, which left her with 13 stab wounds plus self-defence injuries.

Tedford told her they would both die that night but she responded that while he might, she would not.

"In my opinion she only survived what would have been a fatal attack on her because she fought hard for her life and was able to overcome it," he said.

While Tedford pleaded guilty to attempted murder, the court heard there was doubt over whether he was truly sorry for what he had done or regretted the situation he had now found himself in.

The pair had been in an acrimonious relationship for 25 years and married for eight, but Mrs Tedford had moved into the rear bungalow of their Reservoir home and told him on the night of the attack they should sell their home.

Tedford's reaction was to get a knife from the kitchen and, having earlier locked the bungalow door to trap his wife inside, began repeatedly stabbing her and at one point dragging the blade across her throat.

Fighting back, she was able to push Tedford away, grab the knife and stab him before running for help.

A teenage neighbour had heard her screams and alerted her father, who called police.

While his wife was treated, Tedford took her car and drove around for an hour while a dash camera recorded his angry conversations with himself, upset that he'd failed in his murder attempt.

When he reached a Coburg train station he drove onto the tracks and accelerated into the path of an oncoming train, which rammed into the driver's side of his car.

Tedford suffered only minor cuts in the crash and pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering serious injury in relation to the train driver and passengers who all escaped unharmed.

Mrs Tedford suffered no life-threatening injuries but has since suffered ongoing pain, scarring, terrifying nightmares and finds herself afraid of shadows.

Justice Champion said the attack was a dreadful example of domestic violence and a spurious breach of Mrs Tedford's trust.

"Your actions were extremely violent toward your intimate partner who was entitled to feel protected, even though the relationship between you was failing," he told Tedford.

Tedford was sentenced to nine years in prison and must serve six years before he becomes eligible for parole.

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Some of the hardest-hit regions of the NSW drought are predicted to receive some relief, with rain forecast to fall over parts of NSW.

Up to 60mm is predicted to fall on parts of northern NSW on Saturday as a low pressure system moves its way through the state from South Australia.

The rain is expected to continue through the week as another cold front emerges from the Tasman Sea.

Between five and 15mm is also forecast for the state's Central West, where farmers have been battling to feed livestock and others face the prospect of not harvesting a crop.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a wet week for Sydney, which could receive almost 20mm on both Saturday and Sunday and more through the week.
Police are searching for four vandals who smashed the front of Peter Dutton's electorate office and sprayed offensive comments about him on a nearby footpath.

The Brisbane office was extensively damaged on the eve of the Canberra party room vote brought on when the former home affairs minister mounted a failed challenge to topple then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Footage released by police shows four people in track pants, hooded jumpers and with their faces covered throwing brick pavers at the office and smashing windows with a baton around 1.45am on Friday.

Four reinforced glass windows, two glass doors and walls were extensively damaged.

A nearby footpath was also defaced with the words: "Deport Dutton" along with an obscene comment.

Detectives are calling on witnesses to suspicious behaviour in the area at the time to come forward.

It's not the first time Mr Dutton's office has been targeted.

In March, a man and a woman hurled a rock and paint at the front of the premises when three people were inside. No one was hurt.
Jason Day has clawed his way back into contention midway through the second round at the US PGA Tour's Northern Trust event in New Jersey.

After a lacklustre even par 71 on day one, former world No.1 Day fired a 66 on Friday to rocket up the leaderboard with a five-under-par total.

Day, the 2015 winner of this event, currently sits just two shots off the pace with play still underway at Ridgewood Country Club just outside of New York City.

Overnight pacesetter Sean O'Hair secured the clubhouse lead with a second round of 69 elevating him to seven-under the card.

He is joined by Jamie Lovemark atop the leaderboard with Lovemark midway through his round.

One shot back is Peter Uihlein (68), Canadian Adam Hadwin (65), and five-time major winner Phil Mickelson (68), Tony Finau (67) and Patrick Cantlay (67) while Kevin Tway is also at six under out on course.

Teeing off the ninth hole due to the awkward tournament routing of Ridgewood, Day got off to a flyer with four birdies in his first eight holes before a disastrous double-bogey six at the par-four 18th.

But the 30-year-old Day birdied his final two holes to ensure he will at least be in contention going into Saturday's third round.

"I started off strong and finished strong," Day said after his round.

"Just one little hiccup in the middle of the round, which is understandable.

"You can't be perfect all the time, even though I'd like to think I am," Day joked.

Joining Day at five under is fellow Australian Adam Scott, who has picked up three shots in his first seven holes.

Two shots back of Scott is fellow Queenslander Cameron Smith at four under (through seven holes), while Marc Leishman remains even for the day and two-over for the tournament.

Leishman is playing with 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, who is even with the card and attempting to enter the mix early during his second round.

The Northern Trust is the first of four events which comprise the $US67 million ($A92 million) FedEx Cup playoffs series.
US President Donald Trump's administration has congratulated Scott Morrison on becoming Australian prime minister.

A US State Department spokesperson said on Friday "the United States has no better friend than Australia" and looked "forward to working with the new prime minister and his cabinet".

The US also wished former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull the best.

"We enjoyed a very close and positive relationship with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, and we are confident that close working relationship under Prime Minister Morrison will continue," the spokesperson said.
The International Court of Justice will hear Iran's challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States

Iran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UN's top court Monday, as Tehran seeks to avert painful punitive measures that could hurt its still fragile economy.

Tehran filed a suit against US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose economic sanctions at the Hague-based International Court of Justice last month.

After unilaterally pulling out of a historic hard-won deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in May, Trump slapped a first round of sanctions on the country in early August.

And a second round is set to come into effect in early November, this time blocking Iran's valuable oil and energy sales.

But Tehran argues that Washington has no right to reinstate such measures and is calling on the ICJ to order the US to "immediately suspend" them.

It is also demanding compensation.

The ICJ is expected to take a couple of months to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling, while a final decision in the case could actually take years.

International sanctions against Iran were lifted in 2015 when it a struck a landmark accord with the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, agreeing to rein its nuclear ambitions.

- 'One-sided deal' -

But Trump described it as a "horrible one-sided deal (that) failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb."

And even though all of the other parties pleaded with him not to abandon the pact, Trump pulled out and announced he would reinstate sanctions.

Tehran -- which argues that the move violates a little-known Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations signed by the two countries in 1955 -- says that the new sanctions are already hurting its economy. And its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April.

A raft of international companies -- including France's Total, Peugeot and Renault, and Germany's Siemens and Daimler -- have already suspended operations in Iran in the wake of the US move.

Iran says the sanctions are already hurting its economy and its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April

Washington "is besieging Iran economically, with all the dramatic consequences that a siege implies for the besieged population," Tehran said in court papers.

Iran "requests that, pending final judgement in the case, the Court indicate... that the USA shall immediately take all measures at its disposal to ensure the suspension of the implementation of all the May 8 sanctions," it said.

Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that the support of many European states for the nuclear deal meant that "Iran's position is strengthened."

And the publicity generated by Iran filing a lawsuit at the ICJ could work in Iran's favour, the expert suggested.

"One of the objectives is to publicly denounce the acts of the United States," De Brabandere told AFP.

- 'Malign' activities -

In his executive order, Trump argued that the sanctions would turn up the financial pressure on Tehran to come to a "comprehensive and lasting solution" regarding the activities that the international community regarded as "malign", such as its "ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorism."

Trump described the 2015 nuclear deal as "horrible" and "one-sided"

But earlier this month, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to rule out any immediate prospect of talks, saying "there will neither be war, nor negotiations," with the US.

Meanwhile, both the US and close ally Israel have called on European countries to do more to pressure Iran.

A separate 2016 complaint lodged by Iran against the US for freezing around $2 billion of its assets abroad is due to begin in October, when the United States will argue the ICJ has no authority to hear the case.
Nasa Hataoka of Japan putts on the fourth green during the first round of the CP Womens Open, at the Wascana Country Club in Regina, Canada, on August 23, 2018

Japanese teenager Nasa Hataoka produced a final-hole birdie to grab a share of the first round lead at the Canadian Women's Open on Thursday with a scintillating eight-under-par 64.

The 19-year-old prodigy joined a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard at Wascana Country Club in Regina after carding nine birdies and one bogey in a superb opening round.

Hataoka capped her strong start after nailing a birdie on her 18th hole to move alongside Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn and Colombia's Mariajo Uribe at eight under.

All three members of the leading group equalled the course record at Wascana.

World number two Ariya, who bagged the second major of her career with victory at the US Women's Open in June, drained nine birdies and only one bogey for her 64.

Uribe, ranked 173rd in the world, produced a flawless round with eight birdies and 10 pars.

Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand hits her 2nd shot on the fourteenth fairway during the first round of the CP Womens Open, at the Wascana Country Club in Regina, Canada, on August 23, 2018

Ariya made a dream start after teeing off on the 10th, reeling off four consecutive birdies to drop to four under early on.

She dropped a shot on her seventh hole of the day but then unleashed another birdie blitz on her inward nine, with five more birdies to finish on eight under.

The 22-year-old from Bangkok credited a relaxed approach for her low-scoring round.

"I feel I've been playing pretty good for the last few weeks and I didn't finish the way that I wanted," Ariya said.

"Today my goal is just like don't worry about the future too much. Don't think about what I'm going to shoot today. Just try to focus on things I can control."

Uribe meanwhile said she had been determined to exploit benign weather conditions which are expected to give way to strong winds in Friday's second round.

"I took advantage of that good weather we had this morning," Uribe said. "No wind; a little cold, but nothing crazy.

"It's nice to get it done and actually take advantage of the great weather we had, because tomorrow seems like it's going to be windy."

Hataoka, Ariya and Uribe were one stroke clear of Angel Yin of the United States and Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who both shot 65.

Behind Yin and Madsen lurked a menacing chasing pack of seven players on six under, including Canadian youngster Brooke Henderson, former world number one Lydia Ko and Australia's Minjee Lee.
Syrian furniture maker Hussam Obayd measures wood at his workshop in the town of Saqba

In a town outside the Syrian capital, Abu Suleiman dusts off his work table and pulls cobwebs from a cupboard he started making before the war.

Prior to the outbreak of the seven-year conflict, his hometown of Saqba near Damascus was famed for its carpenters and their handmade furniture.

But Abu Suleiman was forced to shutter his workshop after rebels overran the town in 2012, sparking years of deadly regime bombardment and a crippling siege.

A 2011 calendar still hangs on the wall.

Yussef al-Qabuni trims a piece of wood at his workshop

"I started making this bedroom set for my son Suleiman eight years ago, but I never finished it," says the 53-year-old carpenter, removing cobwebs from a cupboard festooned with wooden flowers.

"I'm waiting for him to return for us to finish it together, so I can give it to him as a wedding gift," he says.

After protests against President Bashar al-Assad first broke out that year, Abu Suleiman encouraged his son to flee in case the situation escalated.

Suleiman headed to Germany, where he remains today.

His craftsman father only returned to the dusty workshop last week, after regime forces retook control of Saqba in March and the wider region of Eastern Ghouta the following month.

A Syrian furniture worker measures wood at Yussef al-Qabuni's workshop

It was a welcome return to his craft after five years of doing other jobs to survive the devastating siege.

Regime forces completely surrounded Eastern Ghouta in 2013, making any furniture shippings impossible as well as causing severe shortages of food, medicines and fuel.

During the winter, many were forced to burn their furniture to keep warm, Abu Suleiman says, his voice wavering.

Fellow carpenter Abu Nader says others smashed it up to sell as tinder.

"I would stop people carrying their furniture to chop it up for firewood, and beg them not to do it," he says.

"I felt like every piece of wood I had worked with my hands was a chunk of my heart."

- 'Trade of the future' -

Syrian furniture maker Hussam Obayd and an assistant measure wood in his Saqba workshop

The siege of Ghouta was one of the bleakest episodes of the conflict, which has killed more than 350,000 people and caused millions to flee.

But today, Saqba's workshops have sprung back to life.

Electric saws and sanding machines spew out sawdust, their high-pitched whirring filling the street once again.

In the town centre, Yussef al-Qabuni has also gone back to work, fixing doors, windows and pieces of furniture for a handful of customers.

As he gently raps on the door of a cupboard to check its condition, he says he is delighted to be back doing a job that makes him proud.

"I've being working in this trade since I was 10," the burly 50-year-old says.

Saqba used to produce hundreds of complete bedroom sets before the war broke out, he says.

Hundreds of businesses drew in tradesmen from neighbouring Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, the Gulf -- even Cyprus.

Not far off, Hussam Obayd nails two planks of wood together at a right angle.

A large majority of Saqba's inhabitants are carpenters, the lean 46-year-old says.

"In each family, there are two or three carpenters at least," says Obayd, who recently reopened his workshop with the help of his teenage son.

Even if orders are still few and far between, he is excited about teaching 16-year-old Alaa the secrets of the trade.

"This is a trade of the future," he says.

With fighting over, "everybody is going to want to rebuild their home, and fix its windows and doors."
Park Geun-hye is the third former South Korean president to be convicted on criminal charges after leaving office

A South Korean appeal court on Friday extended ex-president Park Geun-hye's prison sentence for corruption and abuse of power by one year.

The decision by the Seoul High Court means the former head of state, who was ousted after a sprawling graft scandal triggered mass protests, faces 25 years in jail in the case.

Park was convicted in April of receiving or demanding more than $20 million from conglomerates, sharing secret state documents, "blacklisting" artists critical of her policies, and firing officials who resisted her abuses of power.

Her 10-month trial highlighted shady links between big business and politics in South Korea, with Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil accused of taking bribes from corporate bigwigs in exchange for preferential treatment.

At the time she was given a 24-year sentence but the prosecution appealed, seeking a 30-year term.

The Seoul High Court said Friday that Park had collaborated with Choi to "demand money and other business favours" from companies and and browbeat them into hiring Choi's friends.

Park had "seriously abused" the powers "bestowed on her by the people" as president, it said.

"Such unethical dealings between political power and economic power ruins the fundamentals of our democracy and distorts the order of the market economy," it added, "leaving South Koreans with a deep sense of loss and sowing the seeds of deep distrust in our society".

It upheld the original verdict, this time sentencing her to 25 years in prison and a fine of 20 billion won ($18 million).

Park -- who did not appeal against her conviction -- has been boycotting the court, accusing the judicial process of being politically motivated, and was not present to hear the ruling.

Her conviction completed a dramatic fall from grace for the country's first female leader, the conservative daughter of a former dictator who grew up in the presidential palace only to have both her parents assassinated and later become a figure of public fury and ridicule.

Outside the court building Friday, a few small groups of her diehard supporters protested, chanting "Release Park now!" and "Down with the leftist Communist government!"

Park has also been given eight more years for a separate conviction on charges including illegally receiving funds from the country's spy agency.

The penalties apply consecutively, meaning that unless she has them commuted the 66-year-old will be approaching 100 by the time she is due for release.

In a separate ruling, the court upheld Choi's conviction but left her prison sentence unchanged at 20 years.

Park is the third former South Korean leader to be convicted on criminal charges after leaving office, joining Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who were both found guilty of treason and corruption in the 1990s.

In addition former president Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide in 2009 after being questioned over graft allegations involving his family.
President Joseph Kabila, left, has remained in office since the end of his two-term tenure in 2016, invoking a caretaker clause in the constitution. He says he will support former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, right, in the Dec. 23 elections

Mountainous hurdles face the Democratic Republic of Congo as it prepares for elections, just four months away, that will shape the future of one of the world's powder-keg countries.

Organising elections among some 40 million voters in a troubled, impoverished state nearly five times the size of France is a huge challenge.

But, prickly about intrusion, the DRC is rejecting offers of advice, oversight and election funding from abroad.

On Monday, it was regional neighbour South Africa's turn to be spurned.

The authorities rejected the appointment of South African former president Thabo Mbeki as "special envoy" to the December 23 ballot, a role announced in the press but not officially confirmed by Pretoria.

"I can tell you that there will be no special envoys to the DRC, even if they are Thabo Mbeki" -- the host of peace negotiations that ended the Second Congo War in 2003 -- President Joseph Kabila's diplomatic advisor, Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, told AFP.

Observers "tend to behave like proconsuls. They don't respect the DRC's autonomy. We want to mark our sovereignty," added Communications Minister Lambert Mende.

- Frosty to UN -

The DRC's electoral commission has also said it is refusing help offered by the UN mission, MONUSCO, which proposed using its helicopters and planes to ferry imported voting machines to polling stations nationwide.

"We won't impose ourselves," a MONUSCO spokesman said -- a marked contrast to the situation in 2006, when Kabila was elected by the people after coming to power. The UN played an important role that year in lending logistical assistance.

Kinshasa wants to see MONUSCO gone by 2020, ending a 20-year presence including more than 16,000 pairs of boots on the ground at an annual cost of more than a billion dollars.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has vast mineral wealth -- but corruption and ethnic tensions have entrenched it in wars and poverty

In July, Kabila's aides said a potential visit by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres would be "inopportune".

On August 8, Kabila, 46, eased months of tension when he signalled he would not stand again for the office he has held since 2001.

He threw his support behind a close ally as the candidate of his political majority -- former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is permanent secretary of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).

The DRC opposition, which shed blood in protests against Kabila's grip on power after his mandate ended in 2016, remains deeply suspicious.

It has raised concerns about nuts-and-bolts issues such as the electoral roll and the voting method, and fears Kabila is simply plotting to remain the power behind the throne.

"Our people cannot and will not accept a sham election where Joseph Kabila, while not himself being a candidate, remains absolute master of the electoral process," the pro-democracy movement Lucha (Struggle for Change) said on Monday.

- 'Cheating machines' -

One of the trigger points is the novel use of touch-screen voting machines which the DRC election commission says are crucial, given the problem of printing, distributing and tallying ballot sheets in a sprawling country with communications problems.

Lucha, though, has branded the South Korean-made devices "cheating machines." It is urging the public to march on the commission's headquarters on September 3.

DRC election commission officials in January showed off a touch-screen voting machine which they said would resolve technical problems for tallying the Dec. 23 ballot. Critics say the machines are vulnerable to breakdowns, power cuts and hacking

The European Union, like the UN and US, is closely following the election buildup.

It has frozen assets and denied visas to a dozen Congolese figures -- including Shadary -- on the grounds of human rights abuses since the constitutional end of Kabila's second and last mandate in December 2016.

"Obviously we would like to send an observer mission from the European Union," said a diplomat.

"But to do that, we need an invitation from Kinshasa. In the present climate, I find that hardly likely."
Some 390,000 people are still displaced after a series of earthquakes in Indonesia in July and August

A string of deadly earthquakes that rocked Indonesia's Lombok island this summer killed 555 people and injured nearly 1,500, the disaster agency said Friday, with hundreds of thousands left homeless.

The picturesque island next to holiday hotspot Bali was hit by two deadly quakes on July 29 and August 5. On Sunday it was shaken by a string of fresh tremors and aftershocks, with the strongest measuring 6.9 magnitude.

Indonesia's disaster agency said Friday most of the deaths occured in the northern part of Lombok, with several also killed in neighbouring Sumbawa island.

Many victims were killed by falling debris as the tremors rippled across the island, causing widespread devastation.

Whole communities were flattened, leaving cracked streets lined with rubble, caved-in roofs and collapsed buildings.

Some 390,000 people remain displaced after the quakes, the disaster agency said.

Aid organisations have vowed to step up humanitarian assistance on the island as devastated residents struggle in makeshift displacement camps.

They warned that access to food, shelter and clean water has been insufficient for some residents displaced by the disasters.

"We've deployed troops to isolated villages that are difficult to reach," disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

"There are many villages... that are hard to access with motorbikes. Some aid has to be delivered on foot."

Rebuilding costs are estimated to top seven trillion rupiah ($478 million).

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

In 2004, a massive 9.1 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including 168,000 in Indonesia alone.
There are more than 1,000 churches across Taiwan but the Holy Spirit Church is particularly unique

With a cross rising from a red pagoda roof and two lion statues guarding the entrance, a Catholic church in southern Taiwan could easily be mistaken for one of the ubiquitous temples dotting the island.

Taiwan embraces freedom of religion and has one of the highest densities of temples in the world, with close to 70 percent of the population believers in Taoism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk traditions.

About six percent of Taiwan's 23.57 million population are Christian, with 300,000 of those Catholic

About six percent of Taiwan's 23.57 million population are Christian, with 300,000 of those Catholic.

There are more than 1,000 churches across the island but the Holy Spirit Church is particularly unique.

Located on a quiet road in the rural town of Yanshui, about an hour's drive from southern Tainan city, it started life as a simple wooden structure, built by a German missionary more than six decades ago.

Statues of saints displayed in a Chinese-style pavilion in the Holy Spirit Church

However, in 1986 it was reconstructed by Chinese pastor Li Shaofeng who had a very different vision, melding features of a typical Chinese temple into the design, including lanterns, red pillars, and painted dragons motifs.

"The pastor thought of building a more Chinese-style church to adapt to the local environment," said Joseph Chung, the church's current pastor.

"He built this church hoping to attract more followers," said Chung, 67.

- 'Blessed place' -

Murals cover almost all of the interior walls of the Holy Spirit Church, depicting teachings from the Bible

Several other churches in Taiwan incorporate some temple-like characteristics, but none to the same extent.

Murals cover almost all of the interior walls of the Holy Spirit Church, depicting teachings from the Bible, but with a twist -- most of the figures look Asian and wear Chinese-style clothing.

Even the bread in the church's mural of "The Last Supper" -- the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of Jesus and his apostles -- is replaced with baozi, Chinese steamed buns.

The bread in the church's mural of "The Last Supper" -- the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of Jesus and his apostles -- is replaced with Chinese steamed buns

At the back of the main hall, next to the confessional, is a shrine with candles and a Chinese incense bowl to commemorate the church's late pastors.

Burning incense is a common Chinese tribute to deities or ancestors.

Chung says the number of regular followers attending services has dropped in recent years as Yanshui residents move to bigger cities.

In 1986 Holy Spirit Church was reconstructed by Chinese pastor Li Shaofeng who had a very different vision, melding features of a typical Chinese temple into the design

But masses are still held daily, with special events drawing believers from all over southern Taiwan.

The music for the services is performed by Catholic nuns from the attached Monastery of St Clare, which was started in 1990.

Churchgoer Cecilia Huang has been a regular visitor to the Holy Spirit Church for 20 years and says she particularly likes praying with the nuns.

Huang says she appreciates the church's design aesthetic and says it does not change the nature of her religion.

"The essence is the same," said Huang, 66.

"It's only the appearance that looks like it's integrated into Taiwan's environment, bringing blessings to this place."
Scott Morrison scrambled to the front of the pack after a conservative coup ousted Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Liberal prty and Australian prime minister

Evangelical Christian Scott Morrison, who emerged as prime minister after a bun fight in Australia's ruling party Friday, is an ambitious man who has always dreamed of the top job.

Behind the scenes of a battle for the leadership of the Liberal party that erupted this week between ousted Malcolm Turnbull and right-wing former policeman Peter Dutton, Morrison was quietly canvassing support among his colleagues.

The hardline former immigration minister, who took credit for "stop the boats" -- a harsh policy to prevent asylum-seekers from entering Australia at its sea ports -- billed himself as a man of faith and family who could get things done.

The 50-year-old's stealth candidacy reflected aspirations he has had since he entered parliament in 2007, representing the Sydney seat of Cook -- the site of Australia's last race riots.

The son of a policeman, Morrison -- known as "ScoMo" -- becomes Australia's seventh prime minister in 11 years, replacing a man who became the latest in a long line of leaders knifed in the back by their allies.

His supporters point to his success with the immigration portfolio from 2013-14, where he implemented the controversial "Operation Sovereign Borders" to stop asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat.

They were either sent back to where they had come from or transferred to remote Pacific island camps.

The policy was credited with eliminating sea-borne arrivals.

But it also attracted fierce criticism, fuelled by Morrison's refusal to release details of the military operations to turn back boats, sometimes to countries with dodgy human rights records.

Conditions in the camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru were slammed by rights groups, with some asylum-seekers languishing there for years.

Critics questioned how the man in charge reconciled his worn-on-the-sleeve Christian faith with his uncompromising immigration stance.

- 'Family and faith' -

Born May 13, 1968 in the beachside Sydney suburb of Bronte, Scott John Morrison was the younger of two sons, whose parents ran church youth programmes.

Morrison himself was an active church member, and met his wife Jenny as a young teenager through the church. The pair married when he was 21.

It took 18 years and multiple rounds of IVF before the first of two children was born, and Morrison dedicated his maiden parliamentary speech to his daughter Abbey Rose.

Morrison worked in the tourism sector at home and in New Zealand before being selected to contest the seat of Cook in 2007.

He credited his win to the "most significant influences on my life -- my family and my faith".

After serving as shadow immigration minister, Morrison moved straight into the government job when the Liberal party took power in 2013.

A short stint in the social services portfolio followed, before he took over the treasury when Turnbull became leader in September 2015.

Morrison presided over Australia's economy as the government sought to return the budget to surplus and simultaneously cut personal income and small business taxes.

On social issues, Morrison has stood to the right of the more moderate Turnbull, and opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage last year.

But he has also tried to soften his image, appearing on a cooking-with-politicians series that airs on national broadcaster ABC.
Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so

China lashed out on Friday at "irresponsible" US accusations that Beijing was destabilising cross-Strait relations after El Salvador cut ties with Taiwan in favour of the Asian giant.

The White House also scolded the Central American country in a statement released Thursday, warning that the decision was made in a "non-transparent fashion" and affects "the economic health and security of the entire Americas region".

Taiwan and China have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition.

"The United States will continue to oppose China's destabilisation of the cross-Strait relationship and political interference in the Western Hemisphere," the White House said.

"The El Salvadoran government's receptiveness to China's apparent interference in the domestic politics of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a reevaluation of our relationship with El Salvador."

Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have worsened since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016, as her government refuses to acknowledge the island is part of "one China".

China has stepped up its poaching of Taiwan's dwindling official allies, with El Salvador becoming the fifth diplomatic loss under Tsai's presidency and the third this year.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday that El Salvador's decision to adhere to the "one China principle" was "right, proper and above-board".

"Some country takes this and makes irresponsible remarks, is this not interfering in the internal affairs of El Salvador? Isn't this, rather, politically meddling in the region? This is self-evident," Lu told a regular press briefing.

While most countries have established formal ties with Beijing rather than Taipei in recent decades, Taiwan still has unofficial relationships with powerful countries.

Its most important unofficial ally is the US, which remains Taiwan's leading arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.

Ties have warmed between the US and Taiwan in recent months, incensing Beijing.

Some analysts saw the poaching of El Salvador as an indirect slap in the face to the Trump administration and a warning against further friendly overtures.
Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border, a year after the latest crackdown saw hundreds of thousands flee Rakhine state

With a repatriation plan in tatters and funding evaporating for a million refugees with ever-growing needs, Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh face a grim future one year after the latest eruption of a decades-old conflict.

Raids by Rohingya militants on August 25 last year across Myanmar's Rakhine state spurred an army crackdown which the United Nations has likened to "ethnic cleansing".

Around 700,000 of the Muslim minority fled by foot or boat to Bangladesh, their villages ablaze behind them, in an exodus unprecedented in speed and scale.

The crisis has heaped enormous pressure on Bangladesh's impoverished Cox's Bazar district, which already hosted around 300,000 of the stateless group.

Myanmar says it is ready to take those who fled back.

But it refuses to recognise the Rohingya as citizens, falsely labelling them "Bengali" illegal immigrants.

Life in the refugee camps for Rohinga looks set to get harder. A UN-led appeal for around $1 billion to fund the refugees until March has yielded only a third of that sum

A deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to start sending them back has also gone nowhere, caught up in bureaucracy and mistrust, with fewer than 200 having been repatriated so far.

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week said it was up to Bangladesh "to decide how quickly" repatriation can be done, while insisting the "terrorist threat" posed by Rohingya militants remains "real and present".

Without safety, citizenship and compensation for homes and land torched or commandeered by the army since they fled, the Rohingya do not want to go back.

- Funding crunch -

But life in the camps, among the most densely populated places on earth, looks set to get harder.

A UN-led appeal for around $1 billion to fund the refugees until March has yielded only a third of that sum.

The slow response has alarmed experts.

Raids by Rohingya militants on August 25 last year across Myanmar's Rakhine state spurred an army crackdown which the United Nations has likened to "ethnic cleansing"

"Giving generally peaks in that first year (of a crisis)... then it's much harder to fund," Dr Peter Salama, the emergency response chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), told AFP.

Without a major cash injection, "remarkable" success in controlling outbreaks of diphtheria, cholera and other diseases could be undone, he said, and provision of non-life saving help -- such as family planning and mental health -- will likely evaporate.

"Bangladesh's government really deserves more regional and international solidarity and support," he added.

The World Bank has pledged $500 million to help with infrastructure, health and education of the Cox's region.

But Bangladesh is tiring of its role as host and insists it will soon relocate around 100,000 Rohingya from Cox's to a remote, flood-prone island.

- 'History of darkness' -

Myanmar has driven out its Rohingya since the late 1970s.

"Our history is of darkness," said Mohammed Kashim, 27, one of thousands of Rohingya refugees born in Bangladesh, but denied citizenship by both countries.

"I have never stepped on Myanmar soil."

And he probably never will.

The crisis has heaped enormous pressure on Bangladesh's impoverished Cox's Bazar district, which already hosted around 300,000 of the stateless group

First he must be "verified" as someone who belongs in Myanmar -- near impossible given he was born outside the country.

Refugees who are verified are required to take a 'NVC' card that does not grant them full citizenship or rights.

Myanmar is unrepentant about last year's crackdown and denies widespread human rights violations, murders, rapes and mass arson of Rohingya villages despite reams of evidence.

But international pressure for accountability is mounting.

Last week Washington hit four Myanmar military commanders and two infantry divisions with punitive financial sanctions over rights abuses and "ethnic cleansing".

The UN Security Council is set to meet next week to discuss the issue, while testimony is being gathered across the camps to press the International Criminal Court (ICC) into launching proceedings against Mynamar.

"There is finally a recognition (in Myanmar) that they cannot merely outlast the opprobrium," Aaron Connelly from the Lowy Institute think tank told AFP.

But Myanmar is shielded at the UN by ally China, a permanent member of the Security Council. Meanwhile state media reported that the Myanmar military's Commander-in-Chief was in Russia -- another permanent member -- on the eve of the anniversary of a crackdown he ordered.

- Security high in Rakhine -

Myanmar has remade northern Rakhine state without the Rohingya, redistributing land and building new security posts.

It has built massive "transit" camps -- some with room for 30,000 -- for any returnees.

Rohingya refugees fear without citizenship those camps will become permanent, like the ones holding 129,000 Rohingya since 2012.

Bangladesh is tiring of its role as host and insists it will soon relocate around 100,000 Rohingya from Cox's Bazar to a remote, flood-prone island

"We are citizens by birth," said Nay Lin Aung, 35, among hundreds of Rohingya living on a patch of no-man's land between the two countries.

"We won't go back as they (Myanmar) are not calling us with a sincere mind."

Inside Rakhine fear, tension and hatred are razor sharp.

"Both communities (of remaining Rohinya and eEthnic Rakhine Buddhists) have their worries now... so the government has reinforced security," ahead of the anniversary said Ye Htoo, deputy administrator of Maungdaw district on a government-steered trip to Rakhine this week.

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Chinese authorities declined to renew the visa of BuzzFeed News's Beijing bureau chief

The United States is "deeply concerned" about China's treatment of foreign and domestic journalists, the US embassy said Friday, after Chinese authorities declined to renew the visa of BuzzFeed News's Beijing bureau chief.

Megha Rajagopalan, who is American and had been in China for six years, was effectively forced out of the country after officials decided not to extend her journalist visa.

She has reported extensively on China's security crackdown in the far-west region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs are believed to be held in internment camps.

"The United States is deeply concerned that foreign and domestic journalists in China continue to face excessive restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs," the US embassy said in a statement to AFP in response to questions about Rajagopalan's case.

Reporters face "delays in processing foreign journalist visas, overboard restrictions on travel to certain locations deemed 'sensitive' by Chinese authorities and, in some cases, violence at the hands of local authorities", it said.

China's foreign ministry on Friday warned the US embassy to stick to its diplomatic mission in China.

"As to China's internal affairs, the US embassy in China should know that it should abide by the Vienna convention and not engage in activities that don't correspond with their capacity," spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing.

Rajagopalan said on Twitter that the reasons for the government's decision to deny her a visa extension remain unclear, with authorities telling her it was a "process thing".

Lu played down the decision during Thursday's briefing, saying "this problem of a visa being 'cancelled' doesn't exist".

"She is not like you, she was never a resident journalist in China," Lu told reporters, referring to the fact that Rajagopalan had worked in China on a six-month renewable visa rather than the one-year visa given to most journalists posted in the country.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in a statement Wednesday that Rajagopalan had "conducted herself according to the highest journalistic standards while in China".

The foreign ministry "declined to give a clear and transparent reason for denying her a visa", it added, accusing authorities of "effectively ejecting" Rajagopalan from China.

But in an editorial about the government's decision, nationalist tabloid the Global Times lashed out at Rajagopalan for what it described as "distorted reports" about the government's treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

"Some Western media outlets believe they are entitled to do whatever they want, but such nonsense is unacceptable," it said, adding that "relevant agencies in China are not going to step aside and do nothing when it comes to Western media's treatment of China".

It is not the first time that a foreign journalist has been denied a new visa.

Al-Jazeera reporter Melissa Chan had to leave China in 2012 after authorities refused to renew her visa.

At the end of 2015 French reporter Ursula Gauthier was forced to leave the country after she criticised government policy in Xinjiang and the authorities refused to renew her credentials.
Sri Lanka's ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse, who was questioned by police last week, denies any wrongdoing

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse's chief of staff was indicted Friday for embezzling millions of dollars from a state insurance firm.

A new court set up to investigate major corruption began its work by hearing the case against Rajapakse's top aide Gamini Senarath and three others accused of siphoning off 500 million rupees ($3 million).

The four took the money during the construction of a hotel in the capital Colombo that was meant to be managed by the Hyatt group, prosecutors said.

Sri Lanka's government announced in May the creation of a special court to accelerate high-profile cases, following criticism of the slow pace of justice since President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in 2015.

He had pledged to punish members of the former administration accused of stealing vast sums during Rajapakse's decade-long rule.

Stringent security was in force on Friday at the court, which released all four men on bail of 1.1 million rupees each.

The judges also allowed a defence plea for more time to study the indictments and fixed the next hearing for September 19.

Rajapakse's top civil servant, Lalith Weeratunga, has already been convicted of misappropriating $4 million and sentenced to three years in prison.

Two of the former president's three sons have also been charged with money-laundering and other relatives face corruption allegations.

Rajapakse was questioned by police last week in connection with the abduction and torture of a journalist in 2008.

The ex-president denies any wrongdoing and has accused the new government of a witch-hunt.
Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in April became the first ever Japanese shuttler to achieve the global top ranking

Japan's former badminton world number one Akane Yamaguchi has vowed to put her poor team performances behind her as she bids for individual gold at the Asian Games, after she won her opening match Friday without breaking a sweat.

The 21-year-old Yamaguchi, who in April became the first ever Japanese shuttler to achieve the global top ranking, humbled Afghanistan's Lidaa Saraj 21-0, 21-3 in just 17 minutes in Jakarta.

It was her first win in this edition of the regional Olympics after losing three straight games in the team event. Despite her losses Japan won the team gold after overcoming Asian powerhouse China, and Yamaguchi praised her team-mates' attitude.

"I don't know if I changed my mind (from the team event) or not but my team-mates said, 'we won so never mind'. That helped me switch gears," Yamaguchi told reporters after her round-of-32 win.

"Although there was a difference in ability (between my opponent and I) I did what I had to do. That is play good badminton," she said with a smile.

Yamaguchi had lost to India's PV Sindhu, Indonesian favourite Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and then Chen Yufei of China in the team event.

If she defeats Nepal's Nangsal Tamang on Saturday, Yamaguchi is expected to meet world number five Yufei again in the individual quarter-finals, but the Japanese player is only taking it step by step.

"In individual event it does not matter to win or lose but I want to do my best 100 per cent," said Yamaguchi.

"If I have to play against Chen again then I have to play hard. She is a very strong player," she added.
Malaysian financier Jho Low, now at the centre of a corruption scandal and charged with money-laundering, speaking in 2014

A fugitive Malaysian financier at the centre of a massive corruption scandal that helped bring down the last government was Friday charged with money-laundering, police said.

The move is seen as a key step in trying to get baby-faced businessman Low Taek Jho, who allegedly played a central role in plundering state fund 1MDB, extradited to Malaysia to face justice.

Reports say he is currently in China.

The corruption allegations were a major factor in the defeat of Najib Razak, who set up and oversaw 1MDB, and was booted from power in May elections.

Amar Singh, head of the police commercial crimes unit, told AFP that the businessman, known commonly as Jho Low, was hit with eight charges in absentia at a court in the administrative capital Putrajaya.

The charges were under anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing legislation. His father was also charged with one count of transferring money to his son.

Warrants were also issued for their arrest. Reports said the moves will pave the way for authorities to seek the men's extradition, as the pair must be present in court for a trial to proceed.

A spokesman for Low said he maintained his innocence.

"It is abundantly clear that it would be impossible for Mr. Low to get a fair trial in Malaysia, where the government has proven time and time again that they have no interest in the rule of law," the spokesman said, in a statement via the financier's lawyers.

Najib and his cronies were accused of plundering huge sums from 1MDB, and new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has reopened investigations into the controversy.

The US Justice Department, which is seeking to recover assets allegedly bought with looted money, alleges that $4.5 billion was stolen.

Low, who held no official role at 1MDB but was believed to exert great influence over the fund, was allegedly responsible for many big-ticket purchases.

These include a $250 million luxury yacht that was returned to Malaysia earlier this month after being seized in Indonesia.

A Malaysian court on Friday agreed to a request by the government to sell the 300-foot (90-metre) Equanimity, which boasts a swimming pool, a helipad, and a cinema.

The court will decide later who receives the proceeds from the sale.

Since his election defeat, Najib has been arrested and charged over the scandal. He denies any wrongdoing.
Hurghada on the Red Sea is one of Egypt's main seaside tourist resorts

Tour operator Thomas Cook moved all its customers from a hotel in Egypt after a British couple staying there died in circumstances their daughter on Friday called "suspicious".

The company said it was unclear what had caused the deaths on Tuesday of the Britons, named by Egyptian authorities as 69-year-old John and Susan Cooper, 63, from the town of Burnley in northern England.

The family had been staying at the plush Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

Kelly Ormerod said both her parents fell ill suddenly, and her father had died in his hotel room while her mother passed away hours later in hospital.

"They had no illness, no stomach upset, no vomiting, no illness whatsoever -- they were in perfect health when they went to bed," she told Sky News.

"I watched them die before my very eyes and they had exactly the same symptoms.

"I believe something suspicious has gone on... something has happened in that room and caused them to be taken away from us."

Ormerod added the family were in "utter shock" and "devastated".

Thomas Cook said it was "deeply saddened" by the deaths, while adding the circumstances "remain unclear".

- Company 'fobbed off' guests -

Red Sea regional governor Ahmad Abdallah told AFP there was no "criminal motive" behind the deaths.

The tour company said Thursday it had received reports of "a raised level of illness" among some of its other 300 customers at the Steigenberger.

"Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel," a spokesperson added.

It had given guests the choice of relocating to another hotel in Hurghada or returning home and almost all had decided to leave Egypt on Friday, according to the company.

The BBC said there were a total of 1,600 guests at the hotel.

Alison Cope, a Thomas Cook customer staying at the Steigenberger, said the company had "fobbed off" guests who had complained "about sickness, illness, low level standards of the food, the hygiene of the glasses".

Cope, from Birmingham in England, said her group were returning home Friday night.

- 'Heart attack' -

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism said a medical examination showed that John Cooper "experienced an extreme drop in the blood circulation and a sudden stop of the heart muscle".

An Egyptian security official added he died "of a heart attack" before reaching hospital, while his wife passed away four hours later.

A health inspector examined Cooper's body "and documented in his report that the cause of death is the halt of the blood circulation and her respiratory functions, and that there was no criminal suspicion," according to the tourism ministry.

"She fell ill with fatigue and sadness and was transferred to the hospital and died," the security official said, adding their bodies "have been handed over to the prosecution".

Investigators from the local prosecutor's office reviewed both bodies and the couple's hotel room and found nothing abnormal, according to a judicial source.

"An (initial) autopsy found no signs of criminal violence or of a struggle," the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office said.

"The necessary samples were taken so laboratory tests can be run to determine the cause of death."

- 96-percent rating -

Dieter Geiger, general manager at Steigenberger Aqua Magic, told AFP the hotel was "deeply saddened" by the incident.

He added: "The doctor's preliminary report indicates that death was due to natural causes. There are no indications to support allegations of an increased incidence of illness at the hotel."

Egypt

Britain's foreign ministry said it was assisting the deceased couple's family.

"We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in Hurghada, Egypt and we are in contact with the local tour operator," it said in a statement.

Thomas Cook said customers due to travel in the coming weeks to the hotel -- which the tour operator gave a 96-percent rating in an audit last month -- would be offered alternative holidays.

Egypt's key tourism industry has been recovering from a devastating blow in 2015 when jihadists bombed a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 on board.

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A nine-year-old Buddhist novice died after a beating by a Thai monk who allegedly battered him with a stick and slammed his head against a pillar, officials said.

Monk Suphachai Suthiyano, 64, flew into a rage during a prayer session last weekend when the young disciple disrupted the ceremony with his 'playful' behaviour.

The monk allegedly assaulted Wattanapol Sisawad with a bamboo stick at the temple in Kanchanaburi, two hours west of Bangkok, striking him on his back several times before bashing his head into a pillar.

The child fell into a coma and passed away late on Thursday, a hospital worker at Kanchanaburi provincial hospital said on Friday, requesting anonymity.

Nine-year-old Buddhist novice Wattanapol Sisawad (left) died after a beating by a Thai monk

The incident comes as Thailand, a majority-Buddhist country, grapples with multiple other scandals among its clergy, including cases of extortion, sex and drug use.

The suspect, who was defrocked on Sunday following his arrest, was charged earlier this week with assault.

Police Captain Amnaj Chunbult said the charge will be revised to 'assault resulting in death' once he receives official confirmation.

The boy's mother Sukunya Tunhim told Thai media in a taped phone call that she 'will not forgive him (the monk)'.

An official from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the National Police Office in Bangkok confirmed an autopsy had already taken place, and that the boy's relatives have reclaimed his body.

Suphachai Suthiyano, 64, has been charged with assault after he allegedly struck the boy with a bamboo stick at the temple in Kanchanaburi

The Buddhist faith is bound with everyday life in Thailand, making it commonplace for most men, even children, to spend some time in a monastery as a novice.

Monks are virtually beyond reproach in the country's villages, but the ruling junta has taken a strong line against clergy who break the law.

Earlier this month, Thailand's infamous 'jet-set monk' - so-called after footage emerged of him carrying a Louis Vuitton bag on a private jet - was sentenced to 114 years in prison for money-laundering and fraud.

In May, the abbot of the popular 'Golden Mount' temple in Bangkok surrendered to police after $4 million was found in bank accounts in his name.

The case came on the heels of an ongoing investigation into whether the National Office of Buddhism had misused millions of dollars under its control.

Authorities last year floated the idea of introducing digitised ID cards to better track monks with criminal convictions.
The inquiry, which opened this week, is probing allegations that Zuma organised systematic plunder of government coffers in a scandal known as "state capture"

A former South African deputy foreign minister told Friday how a businessman close to then president Jacob Zuma had threatened to kill him, in dramatic testimony to a corruption inquiry.

The inquiry, which opened this week, is probing allegations that Zuma organised systematic plunder of government coffers in a scandal known as "state capture".

Mcebisi Jonas said he had been taken by Zuma's son to a meeting in Johannesburg at the home of the Guptas -- a wealthy family accused of having a corrupt relationship with Zuma.

"At the end of the meeting Mr Gupta repeated that they had information on me, and if I suggested that the meeting had occurred they would kill me," Jonas, who was in post between 2014 and 2016, told the judicial inquiry.

"I was very shaken by what had happened."

Zuma was forced to resign in February over graft scandals centred around the Guptas, who won lucrative contracts with state companies and were allegedly even able to choose Zuma's cabinet ministers.

Jonas on Friday repeated allegations that at the meeting in 2015, Ajay Gupta told him he was to be appointed finance minister and would help the family to make money.

When Jonas refused, Ajay allegedly offered him 600 million rand ($42 million) and asked if Jonas had a bag to take away 600,000 rand in cash immediately.

- 'We are in control of everything' -

Jonas said Ajay Gupta told him: "You must understand that we are in control of everything... and the old man (Zuma) will do anything we will tell him to do."

"I said I was shocked and angered by this statement and I had no interest in becoming the minister of finance," Jonas told the inquiry.

"He said that if I worked with them I could become very rich... He pointed at Mr Duduzane (Zuma's son) and said they had made him a billionaire."

Zuma's successor President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle corruption in South Africa, which has been led by the ANC party since Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 after the end of apartheid rule.

Both Zuma and the Gutpas deny all wrongdoing.

It has not been confirmed if Zuma will appear at the inquiry headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo which could take two years to deliver its findings.

The ANC faces a general election next year after a recent sharp fall in support.

Zuma has also been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arms deal from before he became president and will next appear in court on November 30.
Uganda's former police chief Kale Kayihura is facing a raft of charges, including arming a criminal gang and allowing refugees to be abducted by police.

Uganda's once-powerful police boss on Friday pleaded not guilty in a military court to a raft of charges, including arming a criminal gang and allowing refugees to be abducted by police.

Kale Kayihura, 62, was sacked by President Yoweri Museveni in March and arrested in June.

Military prosecutor Major Raphael Mugisha accused him of allowing arms and ammunition to be issued to a notorious gang which operated among motorcycle taxi drivers in Kampala, as well as failing to secure weapons issued to specialised police units.

Kayihura, a serving general, was also charged with aiding the kidnapping of Rwandan refugees, including President Paul Kagame's one-time bodyguard Lieutenant Joel Mutabazi who disappeared from a UN refugee camp in 2013 and is now serving a life prison sentence in Rwanda.

Human Rights Watch at the time accused the Ugandan police of having "utterly failed" to protect a refugee "clearly at serious risk".

Kayihura was once viewed as among the most powerful men in Uganda, acting on the direct orders of Museveni, alongside whom he had fought during the rebel war which brought him to power in 1986.

Since his appointment as police chief in 2005, Kayihura oversaw what many critics viewed as the politicalization of the police force into an institution loyal to the president.

Kayihura's arrest came after a period in which he had been increasingly blamed for failing to solve a string of high profile murders, kidnappings and robberies.

He was denied bail and will reappear in court on September 4.
Medical workers at the Alliance for International Medical Action have been treating Ebola patients in specially erected clinics

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to a city surrounded by rebels, creating challenges responders were "dreading," the World Health Organization said Friday.

One probable case and one suspected case have emerged in the city of Oicha in DRC's North Kivu province, WHO's emergency response chief, Peter Salama, told reporters.

While Oicha itself is not under rebel control, Salama said the city is entirely surrounded by territory held by a feared Ugandan insurgent group known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

"For the first time we have a confirmed case...in an area with high insecurity," Salama said.

"It really was the problem we were anticipating and the problem at the same time we were dreading."

Large numbers of civilians have been killed by unrest around Oicha, while aid workers, priests and government employers are currently being held hostage there by insurgents, according to Salama.

The outbreak, the 10th to hit DRC since 1976, began on August 1 in the North Kivu town of Mangina.

The virus has killed 63 people so far -- out of 103 confirmed or probable cases -- but Salama warned health workers were expecting "at least one additional wave of cases."

The Oicha cases have made containing the virus more difficult.

"We are going to have to operate in some very complex environments," Salama said.

UN teams are only allowed to travel to Oicha with armed escorts.

If the number of patients, or contacts of patients, in the city surges, the logistical hurdles and costs will mount.

After its widely-criticised handling of the 2013-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic that killed 11,300 people, WHO pledged to revamp its response systems.

The UN agency was widely praised for quickly containing an outbreak in DRC's northern Equateur province earlier this year, but said from the outset that restive North Kivu in the east of the country posed additional challenges.

"We are at quite a pivotal moment in this outbreak," Salama said. "We are truly at the crossroads."
An armed bodyguard patrols the premises of the leader of an armed group in the volatile PK5 district of the capital Bangui.

Leading human rights movements have united to oppose any amnesty for atrocities by fighters in armed groups in Central African Republic as a trade-off for peace, they stated on Thursday.

"It is unthinkable that individuals implicated in the most serious crimes should be able to secure themselves amnesty at the negotiating table, and this idea should be forcefully rejected outright by the government," said Mathias Morouba, chairman of the Central African Human Rights Observatory (OCDH).

The joint statement -- co-signed by the Central African Human Rights League (LCDH), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) -- comes ahead of further efforts by the African Union to end violence in a country battered by years of brutality.

The latest conflict erupted in 2013 when a mainly Muslim rebel alliance ousted the regime of President Francois Bozize, a former general who seized power in a coup in 2003.

Civilians became the main victims of rival armed gangs when militias emerged in communities of the Christian majority to avenge atrocities blamed on Muslim fighters. Both sides are accused of savage violence and destruction.

"The armed groups at the negotiating table are suspected of having committed numerous grave abuses against civilians, such as murder, rape, sexual slavery, torture, looting, persecution, and destruction of religious buildings," the joint statement said.

Last May, the UN refugee agency put the number of people who had fled the country and the internally displaced at a total of some 1.2 million, about a quarter of the population.

Before political dialogue resumes between armed groups and the African Union on Monday, belligerent forces presented a panel of AU experts a list of almost 100 demands. Apart from a general amnesty for their members, most of the groups sought a role in the government.

- Justice first -

Envoys from the groups are due to meet the panel in the western town of Bouar to coordinate claims before presenting them to the government, but in a working paper, the AU and Central African authorities have noted "that impunity has never constituted a durable solution to the current crises."

"In 2015, the Bangui Forum (made up of) more than 800 representatives of civil society, community organisations, political parties, and armed groups from all over the territory, prioritised justice as one of its main recommendations, specifying that 'no amnesty' would be tolerated for those responsible for and acting as accomplices in international crimes," the rights movements said.

The CAR has never known lasting stability since independence from France in 1960. Its history is chequered with coups and coup bids, army mutinies and rebellions, as well as strikes.

Despite rich reserves of diamonds, gold and uranium, most of the population lives in deep poverty. While armed groups battle over land and resources, the government has control of only a small part of national territory.

Seven peace deals have been signed for the CAR since 2012, but no mediation bid has yet resolved the interwoven crises.
Russian soldiers display the remains of what they said was a drone belonging to rebel fighters shot down over the Russian air base in Hmeimim in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia on August 16

Rebel and jihadist drone attacks on an airbase in Syria used by Damascus ally Russia have increased since last month but all were shot down, a monitor said Friday.

"Drone attacks against Hmeimim have increased" since July, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, referring to Russia's main military base in the war-torn country, where it intervened on the regime's side in 2015 to help fight the armed opposition.

The Britain-based Observatory reported 13 assaults in July and five this month, out of a total of 23 since the start of the year.

In such attacks, small unmanned aircraft have been loaded with explosives.

But "most of the drones are downed by Russian or Syrian air defences before reaching their target", Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. The others were also downed.

Hmeimim lies just west of rebel and jihadist-held territory in the northwestern province of Idlib, which President Bashar al-Assad has said he intends to bring back under his control.

The attackers "are sending a message to Russia that they are able to directly target the main centre for Russian forces in Syria", Abdel Rahman said.

On Thursday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blamed "terrorists" for the attacks, using Damascus and Moscow's term for both rebels and jihadists.

"The drone attacks they have launched have become regular in Hmeimim. Our air defences have downed 45 of them," she said.

Earlier this month, Russian army spokesman General Igor Konachenkov also reported a spike in these attempts in July.

"Last month, we observed an increase in attempted drone attacks" against Hmeimim, he said on August 16.

"Our destruction rate is 100 percent," he said.

Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham controls more than half of Idlib while a string of rebel outfits hold most of the rest.

Analysts say Russia-backed regime forces will likely only target a small part of Idlib with any upcoming military campaign, around the town of Jisr al-Shughur.

Sam Heller, from the International Crisis Group think-tank, told AFP last week that "the Russians are convinced that the drones that have targeted their airbase... are emanating from the area around Jisr al-Shughur".

Talks between rebel backer Turkey and Russia are expected to determine the fate of the rest of Idlib, the last province still under rebel control.
Indonesia's Jonatan Christie matched his senior rival serve-to-serve and smash-to-smash as a partisan crowd erupted in deafening applause at each Indonesian point

Indonesia's Jonatan Christie lay flat on the court with disbelief after his shock win over top-seeded Chinese Shi Yuqi in front of a raucous home crowd at the Asian Games badminton Friday.

Christie, 20, edged out world number two Yuqi 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in an enthralling one-hour eight-minute battle in the first round of the regional Olympics in Jakarta.

Ranked 15th in the world, Christie matched his senior rival serve-to-serve and smash-to-smash as a partisan crowd erupted in deafening applause at each Indonesian point.

"It's like Yuqi did not move fast enough. Maybe because he went after Anthony (Sinisuka Ginting) in the team event match. So the feet movement is a bit slower than before," Christie told reporters.

"The audience was amazing as they gave me the necessary boost to go harder in the match," he said, adding that it will be "step by step" for him.

Despite the difference in their world rankings, Christie now leads Yuqi 4-3 in head-to-head encounters.

Yuqi argued with the umpire on a couple of line decisions and his frustration was clearly visible.

Yuqi rallied to win the second game but Christie kept his calm to take the third game and set up a round-of-16 meeting with Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab.

"Both of us played well. I tried my best, could have played better had I committed fewer mistakes, but that's the way it stands now," said Yuqi.

"The applause (from the crowd) didn't affect me ... but there were several scores that were a little disputed."

In another major upset, Hong Kong's Vincent Wong Wing Ki served out Indian heavyweight Kidambi Srikanth 23-21, 21-19 in 41 minutes.

Srikanth, who last year became the first Indian to win four Super Series world tour titles in a season, was undone by a determined Wing Ki.

"I have played him many times before but did not know what really went wrong," said a stunned Srikanth. "I played well in the first set but couldn't finish it up."

"He played really well in the crucial moments and he deserved to win," the world number eight added.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist alliance controls around 60 percent of Idlib province

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Friday that seeking a military solution in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib would lead to disaster.

"A military solution there will cause catastrophe," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Moscow with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"Not only for the Idlib region but for the future of Syria, it will cause catastrophe and the clashes may last a long time."

He cited the risk to the region's large civilian population.

"Civilians will be harmed. Where will the 3.5 million civilians go?"

Speculation is increasing that there could be a Russian-backed government assault on the northwestern province, home to Syria's last major rebel stronghold.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey nevertheless considers "it is very important that those radical groups, terrorists are rendered ineffective".

"It's also important for Turkey because they are on the other side of our border. They pose a threat to us first."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to meet with the Turkish and Russian defence and foreign ministers on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by Interfax news agency.

The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance controls around 60 percent of Idlib, which borders Turkey, while other Turkey-supported rebel groups hold most of the rest.

Idlib is one of the so-called "de-escalation" zones set up by Russia, Turkey and Iran last year.

Syrian regime tightens noose on rebel-held Idlib

Analysts say any regime offensive will probably be limited to a small area of Idlib, with a deal between Russia and Turkey likely to determine the fate of the rest of the province.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Friday that the situation was "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures."

"When the de-escalation zone was created in Idlib, no one proposed using it for terrorists to hide behind the civilian population like a human shield.

"Especially as they aren't just lying low there. Raids constantly come from there and firing on the positions of the Syrian army."

He said he was sure Turkish and Russian presidents would "talk in detail on this topic."

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Vilnius on a four-day trip, the first such visit by an Israeli premier

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday asked Baltic state leaders for help in convincing the EU to step up pressure on Iran and slammed a Brussels aid package for Tehran.

Lithuania's prime minister had earlier proposed talks between the EU and Israel on terror threats and security issues amid tensions over Iran and with the Palestinians.

"I unabashedly asked for the help of my friends here in correcting what I think is a distorted position, a distorted view on Israel in the EU," the Israeli premier told reporters at a news conference in Vilnius with his Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts.

Netanyahu said the EU failed to "fully understand" Israeli policy on Iran, insisting that Thursday's announcement by the bloc of an initial payment 18 million euros ($20.9 million) for Tehran was "a big mistake".

The EU said the funds, part of the landmark nuclear pact concluded with Tehran in 2015, was the first of a wider package of 50 million euros ($58 million) for Iran intended to help it "address key economic and social challenges".

But Netanyahu urged a tough approach, hailing the renewed US sanctions on Tehran.

"All countries should join the efforts to restore sanctions on Iran in order to press them to stop their aggression and desist on their terrorist activities," he said.

Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear pact between world powers and Iran on May 8, reinstating Washington's sanctions on the Islamic Republic and on companies with ties to it.

The EU, however, has vowed to keep providing Tehran with the economic benefits it received from the nuclear deal, although many of its bigger companies have already pulled out of Iran for fear of US penalties.

- Iran sanctions -

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the strong position taken by the Baltic states on anti-Semitism at a news conference with Latvia's Maris Kucinskis (L), Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis and Estonia's Juri Ratas (R)

Speaking to AFP, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Vilnius would push for Israel's public security minister to address the EU home affairs council "over terrorism threats and other security issues".

"We want the discussion to happen as it would help to seek compromise on complicated international issues," he said, without going into further detail.

Netanyahu is in Vilnius for a four-day visit -- the first-ever by an Israeli premier -- to boost bilateral ties and build support for Israel's interests in the Middle East.

Although Lithuania backs the EU position on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the status of Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal, Skvernelis has said he wants more direct dialogue between the EU and the Jewish state.

Lithuania, one of Israel's stronger allies in the European Union, was behind Netanyahu's invitation to meet with EU foreign ministers last December, irking some Brussels officials.

- 'Minds and hearts' -

Officials said no date had been set for the proposed talks and that the format would depend on reaction from Brussels and other capitals in western Europe, which tend to take a more critical line on Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territory.

The prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia joined Netanyahu and Skvernelis for talks later on Friday.

"We have had not only a meeting of the minds but also a meeting of the hearts," Netanyahu said following the talks, noting that his family "came from Lithuania over a century ago to what is now Israel".

"The fact that the governments here have taken a strong position both on restoring Jewish sites and on fighting anti-Semitism so unequivocally, so clearly, is something that we appreciate deeply."

Netanyahu will also meet members of Lithuania's Jewish community and visit a memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims there.

Lithuania was once a hub of Jewish learning and home to more than 200,000 Jews before World War II.

Over 90 percent of Lithuania's Jews died during the 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of Nazis and local collaborators.

Today, Lithuania has a population of 2.9 million population with its Jewish community numbering around 3,000 people.
Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch (L) performs during a rehearsal conducted by US conductor Leonard Bernstein (R) for a concert at the Champs Elysees theatre in Paris on November 8, 1976

Top names in the classical music world are converging on the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home of Tanglewood to celebrate the legacy of Leonard Bernstein on his centennial.

On what would have been the 100th birthday on Saturday of Bernstein, widely seen as musical history's most influential US-born conductor, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will throw one of its biggest-ever galas at Tanglewood, its restful oasis in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts.

The orchestra will take the celebrations to France on September 15-16 with the "Boston Weekend" at the Philharmonie de Paris, playing Bernstein's "Serenade" based on Plato's "Symposium" alongside other works including symphonies of Mahler and Shostakovich.

The events cap a year of commemorations for Bernstein's centennial that included the publication of a revealing memoir by his daughter on growing up with her larger-than-life father and a festival inspired by Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic, the institution with which the conductor is most closely identified.

Bernstein was born in Massachusetts and had a long association with Tanglewood, where he studied and conducted his final concert before his death in 1990.

Conductors for Saturday's Bernstein celebration will include Andris Nelsons, the star music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as leading American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams, best-known as the composer of scores to "Star Wars" and other Hollywood hits.

Among soloists will be leading cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Kian Soltani, violinist Midori and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham.

The performance will be recorded by US public broadcaster PBS for its "Great Performances" series to be aired later in the year, the Boston Symphony said.

The orchestra -- which, like most US cultural bodies, constantly works to secure funding -- said that a gala dinner ahead of the concert raised $780,000, a quarter more than its goal.

Bernstein became the epitome of an orchestra conductor for many US audiences as he lived out the music with a palpable intensity while wielding the baton.

Bernstein was also a major composer and the Tanglewood gala will feature selections from a number of his works such as his Symphony No. 3, a musical take on the Jewish kaddish prayer for the dead that was dedicated to slain president John F. Kennedy, and his popular musical "West Side Story."
US President Donald Trump has blamed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia election meddling probe

Donald Trump tore into Attorney General Jeff Sessions again Friday, mocking him viciously a day after Sessions took the rare step of fighting back against criticism from the president.

In a burst of early morning tweets, Trump quoted from a statement Sessions issued Thursday in what was seen as a veiled jab at Trump, who has made the Department of Justice head his punching bag for recusing himself from the Russia election meddling probe.

"'Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.' Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the 'other side,'" Trump wrote.

He then listed what he said were examples of such foul play: Hillary Clinton emails that were deleted, what he called lies by former FBI director James Comey, and what Trump described as conflicts of interest affecting Robert Mueller -- the special counsel who is investigating Trump's ties to Russia.

In a later tweet, Trump listed more things he said Sessions should investigate including a dossier said to include salacious details about Trump as well as what the Republican leader said was illegal surveillance of his campaign while Barack Obama was president.

"Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!" Trump wrote.
Critics of Indonesia's blasphemy laws say they are frequently misused to target ethnic and religious minorities

Indonesia's jailing of a woman for complaining about the volume of a mosque loudspeaker has sparked a wave of criticism, with a petition calling for her release gaining more than 100,000 supporters.

Rights groups and the Muslim-majority country's biggest religious organisation slammed the 18-month blasphemy sentence handed out Tuesday to the defendant, an ethnic Chinese Buddhist, in Medan on Sumatra island.

The 44-year-old woman named Meiliana was found guilty of insulting Islam for asking her neighbourhood mosque in 2016 to lower its sound system because it was too loud and "hurt" her ears.

There are hundreds of thousand of mosques across the Southeast Asian archipelago nation, with the five-times-a-day call to prayer heard everywhere in the biggest cities and smallest towns.

An online petition to Indonesian president Joko Widodo calling for the woman's release had more than 115,000 supporters as of Friday evening.

"Eighteen months in prison for asking people to lower the call to prayer volume? Come on!" wrote one petition supporter.

The verdict is likely to aggravate concerns that Indonesia's moderate brand of Islam is coming under threat from increasingly influential radicals.

The case triggered riots two years ago that saw angry Muslim mobs ransack Buddhist temples as some ethnic Chinese fled the area.

Amnesty International has denounced Tuesday's ruling as "ludicrous", while Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's biggest Muslim organisation, said the noise complaint "did not constitute blasphemy".

"I don't see it as hate speech or showing animosity toward a certain group or religion," Robikin Emhas, head of the group's legal and human rights division, said in a statement on its website.

Critics of Indonesia's blasphemy laws say they are frequently misused to target ethnic and religious minorities.

"Meiliana is a victim of injustice," Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice chairman of think tank Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, told AFP Friday.

Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, is officially pluralist with six major religions recognised, including Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism. Freedom of expression is guaranteed by law.

But criticising religion -- particularly Islam, which is followed by nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 260 million citizens -- can land offenders in jail.

Last year Jakarta's former governor -- the city's first Christian leader of Chinese descent -- was sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy for comments he made about a verse in the Koran.
US Senator John McCain -- seen here in January 2015 -- was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and will no longer seek treatment

Veteran US senator and war hero John McCain -- a towering figure in American politics for decades -- has stopped treatment for brain cancer, his family announced Friday, one year after the Republican went public with his diagnosis.

The announcement signals the beginning of the end of a tough battle with an aggressive form of cancer -- and of a storied life that took the Naval Academy graduate from a Hanoi prison to the doorstep of the White House.

"The progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict," the 81-year-old senator's loved ones said in a statement.

"With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

McCain has spent more than three decades in the upper chamber of Congress, looming large in debates over war and peace and the moral direction of the nation.

The Navy fighter pilot spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam after being shot down while on a bombing mission over Hanoi.

He lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, and was pilloried for selecting controversial Alaska politician Sarah Palin as his vice presidential runningmate.

"No man this century better exemplifies honor, patriotism, service, sacrifice and country first than Senator John McCain," said fellow Republican Mitt Romney.

"His heroism inspires, his life shapes our character. I am blessed and humbled by our friendship."

- Trump critic -

US President Donald Trump holds the "John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019" after signing it at Fort Drum, New York on August 13, 2018 -- but refused to say McCain's name as he did so

With no more elections to run, since 2016, he has been a rare and outspoken Republican critic of President Donald Trump.

Known for his combustible temper, he has accused the 45th president of "naivete," "egotism" and of sympathizing with autocrats.

Following Trump's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, McCain caustically described the US leader's behavior as "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

That has earned him the ire of Trump, who regularly blames McCain for his failure to reform Obama-era health care laws and refused to say his name when signing the eponymous "John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act."

- 'Strength to carry on' -

McCain has not been on the Senate floor in months, remaining at his Arizona home for treatment of glioblastoma -- the same form of brain cancer that took the life of another Senate giant, Democrat Ted Kennedy, in 2009.

"I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey," his wife Cindy said.

His daughter Meghan thanked the public for an outpouring of support.

McCain -- shown here in November 2017 moving through the US Capitol in a wheelchair -- has not been on the Senate floor in months

"My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year," she tweeted.

"Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you - you've given us strength to carry on."

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was "very sad to hear this morning's update from the family of our dear friend."

"John, Cindy and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour."

Democrats, too, weighed in.

"Senator John McCain is a warrior in every sense of the word," said Congressman Joe Kennedy III -- a scion of the American political dynasty.

"To an inspiring man and a loving family, our thoughts are with you."

- 'Untreatable levels' -

John Boockvar, director of the Brain Tumor Center at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, said the type of cancer is "incurable."

"He is probably at the terminal part of his disease," Boockvar, who has not treated McCain but is an expert in the field, told AFP.

"They have decided not to extend any other options to him for treatment because at some point, the risks outweigh the benefits."

Treatment usually consists of chemotherapies, with a low chance of success.

Boockvar said the cancer had likely "spread to untreatable levels and he is seeking comfort care, which is a very reasonable point of his battle against this disease."

In an interview with CNN last year, when asked how he might like to be remembered, McCain said of himself: "He served his country and not always right. Made a lot of mistakes. Made a lot of errors, but served his country. And I hope we could add honorably."
After meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (R), US National Security Advisor John Bolton told journalists that the dependence on Russian energy supplies is one of President Trump's main concerns about the Nord Stream 2

US President Donald Trump's national security advisor on a visit to Kiev Friday condemned the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany which will bypassing Ukraine, stressing Europe was taking a strategic risk by relying on Russian gas.

"It's not just the economic significance of being heavily dependent on Russia for the supply of natural gas and petroleum, but the strategic significance of it as well," John Bolton told journalists after meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a visit to Kiev.

He said that one of the concerns Trump has about Nord Stream 2 is "why Europe would voluntarily tie itself even more to Russian energy supplies."

Trump has repeatedly condemned the Nord Stream 2 project which the Russian gas giant Gazprom hopes to launch by the end of 2019.

It is expected it will double the delivery capacity between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and therefore avoid the route via Ukraine.

Currently Gazprom supplies 35 percent of the EU's gas and half of that goes through Ukraine.

"One alternative there for Ukraine and for other countries is to look for other sources of natural gas," Bolton said.

"There are other potential sources of natural gas as well from the major gas fields found in the eastern Mediterranean off Israel, from America's capacity to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a variety of other possible sources," he added.

At a meeting on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel said Ukraine should "play a role in the transit of gas to Europe" even after Nord Stream 2 is launched.

Putin said the pipeline project "addresses the growing demand of the European economy for energy resources".

On Wednesday, he said he was ready for "honest" competition with all countries.

The United States, a major producer of natural gas, has recently embarked on a commercial offensive in search of new markets, an idea which is supported by Trump.
The Pantelena, a Panamanian-flagged tanker owned by a Greek company, was last seen off the coast of Gabon but has been found in Congo's territorial waters and is heading to the port of Lome in Togo

A tanker with 19 Georgian and Russian sailors that went missing for over a week in the Gulf of Guinea has been found off the coast of Congo, Tbilisi said on Friday, although the reason for its disappearance remained unclear.

The Pantelena, a Panamanian-flagged tanker owned by a Greek company, "has been found in Congo's territorial waters and is heading to the port of Lome in the Togolese Republic," Georgia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The lives and health of Georgian sailors are not under threat," the ministry added.

On August 14, the ship "turned off its locator beacon," a device that tracks a vessel's position by satellite, a regional military source in Africa said, adding that "the first thing that pirates do when they board a ship is to cut off this beacon."

The Gulf of Guinea has in recent years become the epicentre of maritime piracy in Africa.

Georgia's foreign ministry said earlier that a search operation was being conducted with the help of the British maritime authorities and that there were concerns for the 17 Georgian and two Russian sailors onboard.

But a senior Georgian diplomat told AFP on Friday on condition of anonymity that "what happened at the Pantelena probably wasn't an instance of piracy."

"The incident is now settled," the diplomat said without giving further details.
The journalist worked as the director of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) TV network, a Lebanon-based satellite channel that Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, pictured July 2018, has declared a terrorist organisation

A Palestinian journalist with a Hamas-linked television channel has been released from Israeli custody but banned from working for two months, his family said Friday.

Alaa Rimawi, director of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) TV network in the West Bank, was freed Wednesday after being detained in late July along with three other journalists, his wife said.

Israel accuses the channel, affiliated with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, of inciting violence.

He was released but banned from returning to work for at least two months and from speaking to the media, his wife said.

The other journalists arrested in nighttime raids on their West Bank homes by the Israeli army have already been released.

There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli army.

Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman last month signed an order declaring the Lebanon-based satellite channel Al-Quds a terrorist organisation.

Israeli authorities have carried out a series of raids against Palestinian media organisations it accuses of incitement, drawing criticism from press freedom advocates.
Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo (R) and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have been meeting for five weeks on revising NAFTA

US and Mexican negotiators will continue meeting through the weekend to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement and Canada is set to rejoin the talks as soon as they are called, Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Friday.

Guajardo and Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray have been shuttling back and forth to Washington for more than a month for meetings with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to try to iron out bilateral issues, such as rules for the auto market, before the end of August.

But Guajardo told reporters that Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was ready at any point to proceed with the NAFTA negotiations.

"I have confirmation that she would be available the moment we believe we can enter into the trilateral" discussions, he said.

Freeland said earlier in the week that she was encouraged by the progress between Washington and Mexico City and would rejoin the talks once the bilateral discussions concluded.

However, her office announced Friday she would travel to Europe August 26-30 for visits in Germany, France and Ukraine.

The Mexican official declined to go into detail on the topics remaining with the United States but said the agreement could happen at any time.

"The idea is that we are staying because we know there are issues to resolve," he said. "And we have to make sure that everybody feels comfortable with this agreement."

Earlier Friday, Guajardo said officials were "very far" along in efforts to deal with the US-Mexico issues but added "there are trilateral issues that have to be solved in a trilateral context."

A contentious proposal by the United States -- which would require the nearly 25-year-old trade pact be reauthorized every five years -- is one that must include all three partners, Guajardo said.

Jesus Seade, an economic advisor to Mexico's incoming president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been participating in portions of the NAFTA talks and said the sunset clause "is going out," according to press reports from Mexico City.

Guajardo declined to comment on Seade's remarks but said the teams were working together on behalf of Mexico.

A senior Canadian official told AFP on Thursday there had been "no indication of flexibility from the US on this issue."

The three countries have been negotiating for a year to salvage the trade pact that President Donald Trump says has been a "disaster" for the United States.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, seen here in a handout picture released by his office on July 20, 2018, has been accused of a crackdown on dissent

Egyptian authorities have arrested seven people including a former diplomat who had proposed a referendum on the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a defence lawyer said Friday.

Masom Marzok, a former assistant foreign minister who had publicly criticised Sisi, called this month for a poll on the former military chief remaining in power.

Marzok and the other detainees were arrested Thursday and remanded for 15 days pending investigations, defence lawyer Khaled Ali wrote on his Facebook page.

They were accused of several crimes including partnering with a terrorist organisation and colluding to commit terrorist acts, he said.

One of them, Amr Mohamed, was accused of joining a terrorist group.

Ali said Marzok's had family called him Thursday and told him that a large number of security personnel and vehicles had surrounded the house.

Initially they said they just wanted to talk to Marzok, but later they detained him and took him to a location they did not disclose at the time, Ali told AFP.

He said questioning of the detainees would continue until Monday.

Former armed forces chief Sisi won the presidency in 2014 after leading the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, following mass protests against the Islamist's rule.

Sisi was re-elected with 97 percent of the vote in March, beating a single opponent widely seen as a token challenger.

Critics say Sisi's government has carried out a widespread crackdown on dissent.
More than 20 children and four women have been killed in two separate Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen, similar to this one pictured in September 2016, according to the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs

Two Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen have killed at least 26 children, UN officials said Friday, renewing calls for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war.

At least 22 children and four women died in an attack Thursday while fleeing fighting in the Al-Durayhimi district, south of the rebel-held city of Hodeida, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said.

In addition to that strike, four other children were killed in a separate air strike in Al-Durayhimi, also on Thursday.

"This is the second time in two weeks that an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition has resulted in dozens of civilian casualties," Lowcock, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement.

A coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada on August 9 killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation.

Lowcock renewed the UN appeal for "an impartial, independent and prompt investigation" and said "those with influence" over the warring sides must ensure that civilians are protected.

The rebel-run Saba news agency said the air strike on Thursday hit a bus and a house but the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the coalition, blamed the Huthi rebels for the attack.

Al-Durayhimi lies some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Hodeida, and has seen two weeks of fighting between the rebels and pro-government forces backed by the UAE.

"I had hoped that the outrage that followed the Saada attack in Yemen two weeks ago would be a turning point in the conflict. Yesterday's reported attacks in Al-Durayhimi, killing 26 children, indicate that it was not," said Henrietta Fore, the director of the UN children's agency UNICEF.

Fore urged the warring sides, their foreign backers and the Security Council to "take action and end this conflict once and for all."

- Covering up war crimes -

After widespread condemnation of the August 9 bus attack, the coalition announced that it was opening an investigation, but rights groups insist any probe should be impartial.

In a 90-page report, Human Rights Watch said the coalition had failed to properly investigate war crimes allegations stemming from attacks on civilian targets.

HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said the coalition's investigators "were doing little more than covering up war crimes."

The European Union urged Yemen's warring sides to "prioritise the protection of civilians in all instances" following the attacks in Al-Durayhimi and stressed the need to end the war, according a statement from the EU foreign affairs spokesperson.

UN-brokered talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago.

The Security Council has called for a "credible" investigation of the bus attack in Yemen, but did not demand an independent probe.

Three of the five permanent council members -- Britain, France and the United States -- are supporting the coalition in its military campaign, while non-permanent member Kuwait is part of the coalition.

Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition has been fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen since 2015 to return President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The war has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Trump also stepped up his rhetoric against China,which has grown harsher as November congressional elections approach

China on Saturday called Donald Trump "irresponsible" after the US president cancelled his top diplomat's trip to North Korea and suggested Beijing was stalling efforts to disarm Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to make his fourth visit to the reclusive state next week for what he described as the next step towards the "final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea".

But Trump -- facing a slew of domestic problems and independent reports that North Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear programme -- vetoed the plan.

The US leader said Friday he had asked Pompeo not to go to Pyongyang "because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

Trump also stepped up his rhetoric against China, which has grown harsher as November congressional elections approach and as a trade war rages between the world's top two economies.

"Because of our much tougher trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearisation as they once were" despite UN sanctions against Pyongyang, he added.

Beijing hit back at Trump's "capricious" accusations and said it had lodged an official diplomatic complaint over the comments.

"The US statement is contrary to basic facts and is irresponsible. We are seriously concerned about this," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement posted on the ministry website.

"All parties concerned should... show more sincerity and flexibility, instead of being capricious and putting the blame on others."

China and the US are engaged in an escalating trade war, exchanging tit-for-tat tariffs on $100 billion worth of goods, with the most recent levies imposed by both sides on Thursday.

- Stalling progress -

Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un made a vague commitment to the "denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula" at landmark talks in Singapore this year.

The US leader, who relishes unpredictability in negotiating, had at one point cancelled that meeting, citing North Korea's "open hostility".

But he soon backtracked and the summit went ahead on June 12.

Trump has touted his talks with Kim as a historic breakthrough, but both sides have since complained of stalling progress.

Washington has called for the economic embargo on North Korea to be maintained, saying the sanctions must remain in place until Pyongyang dismantles its atomic arsenal, and could even be tightened.

But China and Russia have argued that North Korea should be rewarded with the prospect of eased sanctions for opening up dialogue with the US and halting missile tests.

A UN agency recently reported it had not seen any indication that nuclear activities in North Korea have stopped.

"The continuation and further development of the DPRK's nuclear program and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern," said a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), using the initials of North Korea's official name.

North Korea is believed to be close to developing a miniaturized nuclear device and the ballistic missile capabilities to carry it anywhere in the continental United States.

Trump said on Friday that Pompeo would still head to North Korea "in the near future," saying this would likely occur when the US-China trading relationship is "resolved."

Earlier this week, Pompeo named a Ford Motor Co. executive as special envoy for North Korea to try to get disarmament back on track.

Stephen Biegun, 55, who is retiring as Ford's vice president for international governmental affairs, had been considered for the post of Trump's national security advisor before it went to John Bolton.
A Burundi UN peacekeeper has been killed in an ambush in the Central African Republic

A Burundi UN peacekeeper has been killed in an ambush in the Central African Republic, the UN's MINUSCA mission announced on Friday.

The ambush, believed to be by so-called "anti-balaka" vigilantes, occurred on Thursday evening around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the town of Alindao in the centre of the country, MINUSCA said in a statement.

Armed men had "attacked MINUSCA personnel who had been assuring the safety of a vehicle belonging to a contractor of the mission," the statement said.

"Blue helmets had been sent as reinforcements... and it was here that they were ambushed by another anti-balaka group," it said.

The incident brings the total number of blue helmets killed in the CAR this year to five.

On August 18, three peacekeepers were injured in an anti-balaka attack in Mbres in the centre of the country. Two days later, other blue helmets were fired at by members of the armed rebel FPRC group in Bria, in the east.

One of Africa's poorest countries, the CAR descended into violence in 2013 following the ouster of the majority-Christian country's president, Francois Bozize, by a coalition of Muslim-majority rebel groups called the Seleka.

In response, Christians, who account for about 80 percent of the population, organised vigilante units dubbed "anti-balaka".
The conflict in Yemen has killed nearly 10,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and injured more than 55,000 in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis

A Saudi-led coalition launched military operations in Yemen in 2015, helping the government to push back against rebels who had taken control of the capital and seized several provinces.

The conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and injured more than 55,000, according to the World Health Organization.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera and the conflict has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

- Saudi air strikes -

The Saudi-led coalition launches air strikes on Shiite Huthi rebels in March 2015, who had taken Sanaa six months earlier and now controlled large swathes of Yemen.

The coalition aims to restore to power the internationally-recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

In July, Hadi's embattled administration announces its forces have retaken the southern province of Aden in their first success since the coalition stepped in.

Having lost Sanaa, Hadi makes Aden the country's de facto capital.

By mid-August 2015, loyalist forces have retaken five southern provinces.

In October, government forces reclaim control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's busiest and most strategically sensitive shipping routes.

- Rebels kill ex-president -

Splits emerge in the rebel camp in 2017, resulting in the assassination of Hadi's predecessor and former Huthi ally, Ali Abdullah Saleh, by Huthi fighters in December.

The rebels strengthen their grip on the capital.

Splits also emerge in the government camp, with fierce clashes erupting in Aden in January 2018 between southern separatists and fighters loyal to Hadi.

- Missiles on Saudi Arabia -

From November 2017, the rebels intensify missile attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which accuses its arch-foe Iran of supplying them with weapons. Iran denies the charge.

Yemenis take part in a demonstration in November 2017 calling to lift the Saudi-led coalition's blockade after the coalition shut down Yemen's borders in response to a missile attack by Huthi rebels that was intercepted near Riyadh airport

Seven missiles are fired into the kingdom on March 25, 2018 alone, including three at Riyadh.

On June 9, three civilians are killed in the kingdom's southern province of Jizan by a rebel missile.

According to the coalition, in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also plays a key role, the rebels have fired 165 ballistic missiles.

- Advance on aid port -

In December 2017, government forces make a breakthrough in efforts to reconquer the key port of Hodeida when they drive Huthi fighters out of a town en route called Khokha.

Hodeida -- a vital entry point for the bulk of the country's food and aid -- has been in rebel hands since October 2014, taken without opposition from government forces soon after rebels captured Sanaa.

Government forces press their advance and in April the insurgents' second-in-command, Saleh al-Sammad, is killed in a coalition air raid in the province.

On June 13, government fighters, backed by Saudi and Emirati forces, launch an offensive on Hodeida city.

On June 20, they say that they have taken control of Hodeida airport on the southern outskirts.

- Heavy civilian toll -

Civilians, in particular children, pay a heavy price during the conflict.

Several raids blamed on the coalition have left civilian victims, including on a wedding hall in the town of Mokha in September 2015, killing 131 people. The alliance denies responsibility.

In October 2016, a coalition air strike at a funeral in Sanaa kills 140 people.

The coalition has admitted responsibility for certain raids, but accuses the rebels of using civilians as human shields.

Yemenis gather next to the destroyed bus, pictured August 10, 2018 at the site of a Saudi-led coalition air strike on August 9, 2018, which killed 51 people, including 40 children

In July, Amnesty International says human rights violations in a string of Yemeni prisons run by the UAE could amount to war crimes, in a report rejected by Abu Dhabi.

On August 9, 51 people, including 40 children, are killed in an attack on a bus in rebel-held northern Yemen, the Red Cross says.

The coalition opens an investigation into that incident.

On August 23, at least 22 children and four women are killed by a coalition air strike while fleeing fighting in the Al-Durayhimi district south of rebel-held Hodeida city, the UN says.

That same day, another four children are killed in a separate air strike on the same district.
The United States said Friday that it had canceled more than $200million in aid for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, leading their ambassador to accuse President Donald Trump's administration of being 'anti-peace.'

A senior State Department official said the decision, made 'at the direction of the president,' came after a review of aid programs to the Palestinian territories.

The funding previously allocated for programs in the West Bank and Gaza will 'now address high-priority projects elsewhere,' said the official.

The move 'takes into account the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gaza's citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation,' he said.

Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian General Delegation to the United States said: 'This administration is dismantling decades of US vision and engagement in Palestine'

US President Donald Trump's administration is canceling more than $200 million in aid for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Pictured last summer are Palestinian protestors holding portraits of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Trump during a rally in support to the Fatah movement in the West Bank city of Nablus

In January, the United States had already made drastic cuts to its contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

Relations between the US administration and the Palestinian Authority took a nosedive after Trump announced the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Palestinians have suspended contacts with the administration and consider that it can no longer play a mediation role in the Middle East peace process.

'This administration is dismantling decades of US vision and engagement in Palestine,' Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian General Delegation to the United States said in a statement.

'After Jerusalem and UNRWA, this is another confirmation of abandoning the two-state solution and fully embracing (Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin) Netanyahu's anti-peace agenda.'

The decision to cut Palestinian funding comes amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has seen a surge of violence since Palestinian protests began in March.

A USAID mural, to commemorate the building of supportive walls and road shoulders, is pictured in the village of al-Badhan

At least 171 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations near the border with Israel.

The US administration is pressing on with work on a peace plan that has been under discussion for months, leaving a vacuum in the Middle East in the meantime.

'Weaponizing humanitarian and developmental aid as political blackmail does not work,' Zomlot said.

'Only a recommitment from this administration to the long-held US policy of achieving peace through the two-state solution on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Palestine, and respecting international resolutions and law will provide a way forward.'

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy accused the White House of engaging in a 'series of provocative and harmful acts' instead of coming up with a coherent policy to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump has tasked his son-in-law Jared Kushner and lawyer Jason Greenblatt to draft the peace proposals, saying earlier this week that there would be something 'very good' for the Palestinians.

The Palestinians see the eastern part of the disputed city as the capital of their future state.
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Airbnb sued the city of New York on Friday, denouncing as "an extraordinary act of government overreach" a new law forcing home-sharing platforms to disclose data about hosts.

It was a dramatic escalation in the battle between the $30 billion company and authorities in America's most populous city, amid a global backlash against "sharing economy" startups disrupting traditional industries.

The rental site filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Manhattan, asking for the law to be scrapped and branding it a product of a "multimillion-dollar campaign funded by the city's powerful hotel lobby."

The law, which comes into effect on February 2, 2019, requires home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb to disclose information about hosts and imposes hefty fines for non-compliance.

The 29-page suit called the ordinance "illegal" and argues that it "breaches critical privacy protections" for both home-sharing platforms and New Yorkers.

"No probable cause, notice, or legal review is contemplated in connection with the bulk collection of this data, and no real restrictions are placed on its use or dissemination," the suit argued.

City Hall hit back hard Friday.

"This law provides the city with the critical data it needs to preserve our housing stock, keep visitors safe, and ensure residents feel secure," said Christian Klossner, executive director of the mayor's office of special enforcement. "This city will defend it."

Supporters say the legislation will clamp down on illegal short-term rentals, which they argue drive up rents and make housing even less affordable.

Airbnb contends that most users in the city are hard-pushed New Yorkers trying to make ends meet by renting out rooms in their homes. New York is the company's biggest US market.

The state of New York already tightened the rules in 2016, slapping steep fines on those who let out unoccupied apartments for fewer than 30 days -- which is against the law unless the owner or lessor is present.

According to the lawsuit, "entire home" Airbnb listings make up only around 0.8 percent of homes in the city of 8.5 million people.
An F/A-18 Super Hornet takes off from the USS George H.W. Bush as it conducts joint training operations with the French navy

The US Navy on Friday marked the official resurrection of a disbanded, Cold War-era fleet that was scrapped in 2011 and is returning amid heightened tensions with Russia.

In May, the Navy announced it was bringing back the 2nd Fleet, which played a key role during the Cold War years with operations in the North Atlantic and supporting US naval forces in the Mediterranean.

The fleet, first stood up in 1950, was scrapped for cost-saving reasons during a time of reduced tensions with Moscow.

It played a key role during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when its ships set a blockade to stop Soviet ships reaching the island.

The fleet will be responsible for US naval forces along the US East Coast as well as the North Atlantic region.

"This is the United States' and the US Navy's dynamic response to a dynamic security environment," Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, said at a ceremony aboard the USS George H.W. Bush.

"The 2nd Fleet will be our spearhead... for the Atlantic, maintaining America's maritime superiority that will lead to maintaining our security, our influence and our prosperity around the world."

The national defense strategy of President Donald Trump's administration names China and Russia as America's biggest threats and points to their increasing assertiveness and drive for new weapons such as hypersonic missiles and advanced torpedoes.

Russian planes and ships have in recent months made multiple incursions in the North Atlantic close to the airspace and territorial waters of US NATO allies, including Britain.

NATO naval officials late last year also reported Russian submarines probing underseas data cables in the North Atlantic.

Separately, the US military also marked the official activation of a new command to innovate and prepare to counter new types of weapons being developed by Russia and China.

The Army Futures Command is headquartered in Austin, Texas and will be headed by a four-star general, with a staff of about 500 civilian and military personnel.
Tom Frieden appeared before a Brooklyn criminal court and was released without bail

Tom Frieden, a leading public health expert instrumental in the US response to the Ebola crisis and to legislating against smoking, was arrested and charged with sexual harassment on Friday.

The executive, who served as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under president Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, appeared before a Brooklyn criminal court and was released without bail, prosecutors said.

He was arrested on charges of forcible touching, sexual abuse and harassment of a 55-year-old woman in upmarket Brooklyn Heights.

He is accused of touching the woman's buttocks and squeezing without her consent in October 2017. The woman filed a complaint in July, police confirmed to AFP.

Judge Michael Yavinsky prohibited him from having any contact with the victim. Frieden surrendered his passport and is next due in court on October 11, prosecutors said.

He is currently president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million initiative at global health non-profit Vital Strategies, which is funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In his former job, he led CDC work that is credited with helping to end the Ebola epidemic.

He served as New York city health commissioner from 2002-2009 under billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg, leading efforts to legislate against smoking.

A physician by training, he has degrees from Columbia University, completed an infectious disease fellowship at Yale University and has authored more than 200 scientific publications.
YREKA, Calif. (AP) - Northern California authorities have arrested a man they say started a deadly wildfire last month.

California's fire agency said Thursday that it arrested 32-year-old John Colin Eagle Skoda after investigators concluded that a debris fire he started turned into a 60-square-mile blaze that killed one person and destroyed 35 homes.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Suzi Brady said Skoda quickly lost control of the unpermitted debris fire he started in Siskiyou County about 300 miles (485 kilometers) north of San Francisco.

This undated photo provided by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's office shows John Skoda. Skoda has been arrested for allegedly starting a wildfire that killed a man in California. (Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The July 5 wildfire also forced thousands of residents to evacuate and temporarily shut down Interstate 5, a major north-south corridor.

Skoda, of San Francisco, was booked on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and fire-related charges. Jail records don't indicate if he is represented by an attorney.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate has unanimously approved legislation to require disclosure of certain "crimes of character" on lobbying forms.

The Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act, or JACK Act, that passed Thursday "seeks to provide greater transparency and accountability" in lobbying.

It aims to close a loophole that allowed former lobbyist Jack Abramoff to lobby again without disclosing his corruption conviction.

The bill from Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia would require lobbyists with convictions for "bribery, extortion, embezzlement, and other crimes of character" to disclose that criminal history on lobbying forms.

The bill says that in 2017, a decade after Abramoff was convicted, he registered to lobby for the Republic of Congo. There was no requirement that he or others disclose prior convictions.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and Senate leaders agreed Thursday to hold off on compromise criminal justice reform legislation until after the midterm elections.

The delay is intended to head off a nasty debate in the lead-up to the midterms and give supporters more time to hash out details and rally support.

The agreement was reached during a series of meetings on Capitol Hill and at the White House, where Trump met with top aides, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to discuss the proposals, which include prison reform measures aimed at reducing recidivism as well as sentencing reform measures that would affect policies like mandatory minimum sentencing.

President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable on the "Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act" in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Washington. From left, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Rep. Jeb Hensarling, and Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The meeting came as the simmering rift between Trump and Sessions exploded again into public view, with Trump saying in a TV interview that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department" and Sessions issuing a statement saying he and the DOJ "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump has been livid with Sessions since he recused himself from the investigation into Russian election interference.

Nevertheless, the dispute did not come up during the meeting, according to two people familiar with the conversation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversation.

A senior administration official said the president is on board with the prison reform proposals but raised concerns in the meeting about taking on more controversial sentencing reform issues.

Conservatives like Sessions and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have for years staunchly opposed sentencing reform efforts, with Cotton blasting the latest proposal as a "jailbreak" that would "let serious felons back on the streets."

The president is wary of supporting any policy that would leave him open to charges that he's "soft on crime," but appeared open-minded to the framework and seemed on board with each of the specific proposals included the plan, said the senior administration official, who was not authorized to discuss the conversation.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores appeared to dispute the characterization that Trump was open to sentencing reform.

"We're pleased the President agreed that we shouldn't support criminal justice reform that would reduce sentences, put drug traffickers back on our streets, and undermine our law enforcement officers who are working night and day to reduce violent crime and drug trafficking in the middle of an opioid crisis," she said in a statement.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Trump "remains committed to meaningful prison reform and will continue working with the Senate on their proposed additions to the bill."

Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who has been leading the White House's criminal justice reform efforts, also traveled to Capitol Hill, where he met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate leaders, including John Cornyn, Mike Lee and Chuck Grassley. The president joined a second meeting by phone.

During the discussions, McConnell told the group that he was willing to allow a formal whip count on the proposal to gauge support - but only after the fall elections.

Ames Grawert, senior counsel with the New York City-based Brennan Center's Justice Program, criticized the delay on reform legislation, saying people continue to suffer from unfair sentencing laws.

"Progress is being stalled for the sake of politics, and it's not right," he said. "In a divided time, broad criminal justice reform remains overwhelmingly popular, and today the White House squandered an opportunity to get something meaningful done."

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's new prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Friday promised a stable government at the end of a tumultuous week in which his predecessor was forced out of office, 13 ministers resigned and Parliament was shut down for an afternoon.

Disgruntled government lawmakers forced former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from office on Friday, arguing that most had lost faith in his leadership. Turnbull became the fourth prime minister dumped by his or her own party since 2010 in an extraordinary period of political instability that frustrates most Australians.

Morrison distanced himself from the turmoil, saying he had not been part of the push led by fellow lawmaker Peter Dutton to oust Turnbull over four chaotic days that was inspired by a feud between hard-right conservatives and moderates.

Incoming Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is sworn in at Government House, Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

"We will provide the stability and the unity and the direction and the purpose that the Australian people expect of us," Morrison told reporters.

"The work of government continues. I want to assure all Australians that those normal wheels are turning," he added.

The political civil war shocked business and industry that want crucial energy and tax policy reforms finalized. It's also an international embarrassment for a nation that prides itself on being a safe and stable democracy in which to invest.

It is not clear who if anyone will take Turnbull's place on an important trip he planned next week to regional neighbors Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which was to end at an annual forum of 18 Pacific island nations on Nauru on Sept. 5.

China hopes the change of leader will thaw bilateral relations that have been chilled for months by Turnbull's crackdown on covert foreign interference in domestic politics and on industrial espionage.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang congratulated Morrison on his new role and said Beijing would work with him to develop China-Australia ties "along the right track."

Morrison has been dubbed the "accidental prime minister" because he had no plans to nominate until Thursday, when Turnbull declared he would not recontest his job. Morrison on Friday declined to detail any policy changes that he might make.

He played down speculation that he might call an election before it's due early next year.

"We intend to be governing ... so I don't think anybody should be making any plans for any elections any time soon," Morrison said.

Turnbull said he would quit politics "not before too long."

His resignation would force a by-election that could cost the government its single-seat majority. It could also provide an incentive to call an early general election.

Turnbull, a centrist leader who takes credit for Australia legalizing gay marriage, blamed his downfall on a campaign by hard-right lawmakers backed by "powerful voices" in the conservative media.

"There was a determined insurgency from a number of people," Turnbull said. "It was extraordinary. It was described as madness by many and I think it's difficult to describe it in any other way."

Turnbull said he was impressed by his party's decision not to reward Dutton and to elect Morrison, whom he descried as a "very loyal and effective treasurer." Morrison defeated Dutton 45 votes to 40.

Dutton's failure prevents Australian policy from shifting to the hard right, although there has been little policy discussion in the leadership struggle.

Dutton later suggested that the crisis was driven by personalities rather than policy differences.

"For me, I only ever nominated because I believed I was a better person and a person of greater strength and integrity to lead the Liberal Party," Dutton told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Morrison was officially sworn in as prime minister later Friday and his deputy leader, Josh Frydenberg, as treasurer, Morrison's old portfolio. Morrison said the rest of his Cabinet would be sworn in next week.

Dutton's and Turnbull's camps waged the most chaotic, frenetic and at times farcical leadership struggle that Australian politics has seen in years, closing down Parliament on Thursday so that the government could focus on its rapidly escalating internal crisis.

Parliament does not sit again until Sept. 10.

Turnbull's leadership was vulnerable because his government was trailing in opinion polls. Analysts expect the polling to worsen due to the clumsy and bungled way the leadership was challenged.

Australia's next Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

CORRECTS DATE - Incoming Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is sworn in at Government House, Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability.(AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

New Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, and new Australian Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg congratulate each other after been sworn in at Government House in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

Treasurer of Australia Scott Morrison, right, walks with Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, left, after a party meeting in Canberra, Australia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

New Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison with daughters, Abigail, second from right, and Lily, second from left, and wife Jenny after being sworn in at Government House, Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

Australian Treasurer and new leader of the Liberal Party Scott Morrison, right, and new deputy leader Josh Frydenberg, left, leave a meeting in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor, Pool)

Treasurer of Australia Scott Morrison, second from right, is congratulated by Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, second from left, after a party meeting in Canberra, Australia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

Treasurer of Australia Scott Morrison, center, arrives for a party meeting in Canberra, Australia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

Outgoing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during a final press conference before leaving Parliament in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

Outgoing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull waves while holding his granddaughter Alice during a final press conference before leaving Parliament in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

Outgoing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during his final press conference before leaving Parliament in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

CORRECTS SPELLING OF TURNBULL - Outgoing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull holds a final press conference before leaving Parliament in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, center, arrives for a party meeting in Canberra, Australia Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, center, arrives for a party meeting in Canberra, Australia Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. (David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

Australian former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, right, arrives for a party meeting in Canberra, Australia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Australia government lawmakers on Friday elected Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next prime minister in a ballot that continues an era of extraordinary political instability. Morrison defeated the key challenger Dutton by a vote 45-40.(David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

New Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is sworn in at Government House in Canberra, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor)
NEW YORK (AP) - Mired in financial woes, Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up $50,000.

Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president.

It's also the latest sign that Cohen is broke.

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2018 file photo, Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, leaves federal court after reaching a plea agreement in New York. Investigators in New York state issued a subpoena to Cohen as part of their probe into the Trump Foundation, an official with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Aug. 22. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

Trump's former personal lawyer owes at least $1.4 million to the IRS after pleading guilty Tuesday to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and bank fraud, and has racked up millions of dollars in debt. Because of his plea, he's being forced to give up his New York City taxi medallions, which have shrunk in value as Uber and Lyft shake up the industry.

"He's without resources and owes a lot of money," Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in a battery of television interviews on Wednesday.

Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, commented in court on Tuesday that Trump directed him to arrange payments of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election.

While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday that he knew about payments "later on."

By Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe page dubbed the "Michael Cohen Truth Fund" had raised more than $145,000 from about 2,600 donations. Most reaction on social media was incredulous and unsympathetic, but one $5 donor was encouraging, writing: "The USA would love you for your honesty."

Confusion over the web address for the fundraising page, michaelcohentruthfund.com , led someone on Wednesday to anonymously register a shorter version, michaelcohentruth.com , that redirects to Trump's re-election campaign website.

Cohen's crowdfunding campaign, which has a goal of raising $500,000, could be a way for Cohen to bolster his whistleblower status by appealing to Democrats and others who want to see Trump taken down.

It's not the first time someone who felt wronged by Trump has asked the public to pony up. Fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe raked in more than $500,000 in just five days of his legal defense campaign, and Daniels funded her lawsuit against the president with about $500,000 raised from nearly 17,000 donors.

Cohen could ultimately need much more to wipe his books clean.

Court papers filed in connection with Cohen's guilty plea detailed his precarious financial state, as well as his side gigs as a taxicab magnate, high-interest lender and broker of real estate and handbag deals.

In one arrangement, according to the papers, Cohen used a line of credit he obtained at 5 percent interest to float a $6 million loan to a Chicago taxi operator at 12 percent interest.

Later, when applying for the $500,000 home equity credit line used to finance the Daniels payment, the papers say Cohen failed to disclose $14 million in medallion-related debt. Cohen and his wife claimed on the loan paperwork that they had a positive net worth of more than $40 million.

In April, transaction records show, Cohen put up his multimillion-dollar Trump Park Avenue home - valued at $9 million - as collateral on some of his taxi-related loans.

The value of medallions, the physical plates affixed to cabs that owners are required to display, have dropped precipitously in recent years from highs of over $1 million apiece in New York just a few years ago to nearly a quarter of that amount today.

Cohen has been involved in the gritty New York City yellow cab industry since the 1990s. He's owned about 30 medallions with his wife and father-in-law, as well as a fleet of 22 cabs in Chicago, records show. Some of them are held through companies with names such as Love Bug Cab Corp. and Tailgater Cab Corp.

In addition to his Trump and taxi work, the court papers say Cohen made $100,000 in 2014 for brokering the sale of a piece of property in a Florida aviation community and $30,000 in 2015 for brokering the sale of a Birkin bag, a highly coveted French handbag.

Davis, who is listed as the creator of Cohen's fundraising page, told The Associated Press last month that Cohen was footing the bill for his defense after pivoting from loyalty to Trump to looking out for himself, but was "thinking of trying to get some help."

A description on the GoFundMe page describes it as a "transparent trust account, with all donations going to help Michael Cohen and his family" as he goes forward with telling the truth about Trump.

Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson said crowdfunding campaigns raise ethical concerns because they allow people to contribute to a political cause similarly to a campaign contribution, but without the same transparency and regulation.

"Who does the lawyer and client feel grateful to?" Levinson said. "Right now, there is no clear way of finding out."

GoFundMe no longer allows fundraisers to download a list of donor's information such as email addresses, citing new data protection regulations. Fundraisers can communicate with donors through the GoFundMe site. And although there is an option to make donations appear anonymously on the public-facing part of the website, it appears that the fundraiser can still view the name of these donors.

GoFundMe did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The money also could add to Cohen's already sizeable tax bill.

Robert Rizzi, a lawyer specializing in tax and government ethics, said the law is unclear whether Cohen would have to pay taxes on the fundraising proceeds. Taxes would apply if the money counts as income, but not if it's a gift - but gifts must be given "out of detached and disinterested generosity," Rizzi said.

"There would be an irony in being taxed on money he raised to defend himself for tax evasion," Rizzi said.

___

Follow Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak and Groves at twitter.com/stephengroves
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - A former government contractor sentenced to more than five years in prison for mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization has received what prosecutors are calling the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

Reality Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information. The sentence handed down Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall was in line with a plea agreement between Winner's defense team and prosecutors, who recommended she serve five years and three months behind bars.

The former Air Force translator had worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency's office in Augusta, Georgia, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose. Winner told the FBI she mailed the document to an online news outlet.

Reality Winner arrives at a courthouse in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, after she pleaded guilty in June to copying a classified U.S. report and mailing it to an unidentified news organization. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)

Wearing an orange jail uniform and shackles in court, Winner said Thursday that she took responsibility for her actions. She said she had made "an undeniable mistake."

"I would like to apologize profusely for my actions," she told the judge. "My actions were a cruel betrayal of my nation's trust in me."

Authorities never identified the news organization. But the Justice Department announced Winner's June 2017 arrest the same day The Intercept reported on a secret NSA document. It detailed Russian government efforts to penetrate a Florida-based supplier of voting software and the accounts of election officials ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The NSA report was dated May 5, the same as the document Winner had leaked.

U.S. intelligence agencies later confirmed Russian meddling.

U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine told reporters Winner's punishment is the longest sentence ever given for a federal crime involving a leak of secret information to the news media. Winner will get credit for having spent more than a year in jail already, he said.

Christine said Winner's leak harmed national security by revealing "sources and methods" that impaired U.S. efforts to gather similar information.

"She was the quintessential example of an insider threat," said Christine, the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Georgia.

Among other leak cases cited by prosecutors in court documents, the stiffest prior sentence was three years and seven months in prison given to former FBI explosives expert Donald Sachtleben. Secret information he leaked included intelligence he gave to The Associated Press for a story about a U.S. operation in Yemen in 2012.

One famous leaker received a harsher sentence from a military court-martial for giving classified materials to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in a military lockup, but served only seven years until then-President Barack Obama granted her clemency.

Winner's defense attorneys said they were grateful the judge agreed to the sentence recommended by prosecutors. The charge she pleaded guilty to carried a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison. Winner attorney John Bell noted she will be in her early 30s when she's released.

"It's a serious matter and she can now get on with her life," Bell said.

Despite prosecutors' warnings that Winner may have stolen other U.S. secrets, she was never charged with any additional crimes.

Winner grew up in Kingsville, Texas, and enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from high school. Her parents have said she became a linguist, speaking Arabic and Farsi, and spent four years assigned to the NSA at Fort Mead, Maryland. During that time, Winner provided real-time translation to Americans conducting field missions.

After leaving the military, Winner moved to Augusta to become a civilian contractor for the NSA, which has operated a $286 million complex in the Georgia city since 2012. Court records say Winner translated documents from Farsi to English for the agency.

After her arrest, prosecutors used Winner's own words against her, including a Facebook chat in which Winner once wrote to her sister: "Look, I only say I hate America like 3 times a day."

Winner's social media postings also included some scathing opinions on President Donald Trump

Winner confessed to leaking the classified report when FBI agents questioned her at her home in June 2017. Winner said she was frustrated at work and had filed complaints "about them having Fox News on."

Prosecutors later made the 77-page transcript of Winner's FBI interview part of the court file in her case. Any details about the document she leaked and the organization she mailed it to were redacted. But the rest of her confession to FBI agents became public.

"Yeah, I screwed up royally," Winner told the agents before she was arrested.

___

Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization, walks out of a courthouse in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, after being sentenced to more than five years in prison. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)

Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization, walks out of a courthouse in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, after being sentenced to more than five years in prison. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)

Reality Winner arrives at a courthouse in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, after she pleaded guilty in June to copying a classified U.S. report and mailing it to an unidentified news organization. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)

Reality Winner arrives at a courthouse in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, for her sentencing after she pleaded guilty in June to copying a classified U.S. report and mailing it to an unidentified news organization. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nancy Pelosi is the chief villain of Republican campaign ads. The leader some Democrats promise to vote against. The subject of much speculation that her grip on power is coming to an end.

Nevertheless, she says she's not going anywhere - and certainly not while President Donald Trump is in the White House.

Pushing back on those who say her leadership position is in jeopardy, Pelosi all but dared her doubters to envision any other House Democrat sitting across the table to negotiate with Trump.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi waves to the audience before speaking at the Public Policy Institute of California Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Pelosi said in an interview with The Associated Press - quote - "I have a following in the country that's unsurpassed by anybody, unless they're running for president."
HOUSTON (AP) - Although many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston, daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest-hit communities.

In the Houston area, where more than 150,000 homes were flooded, the mountains of debris that lined streets for months after Harvey are gone. Rockport, where the storm made landfall, had rebuilt enough by this summer to welcome back the tourists who fuel the local economy. In Port Arthur, where few buildings escaped Harvey unscathed or were insured against flooding, many are living in trailers as they rebuild their homes one room at a time and finding hope in small victories.

While it could take a decade to fully recover from Harvey, which came ashore Aug. 25, 2017, as a Category 4 storm, officials say Texas has already made great strides. However, they acknowledge that federal recovery funding has been slow in coming for some residents and that many are feeling frustrated and forgotten.

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2017, file photo, floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey surround homes in Port Arthur, Texas. Many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey, a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston. But daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest hit communities. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Parts of Houston, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the coast, remained flooded for weeks after Harvey, which caused an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas and killed 68 people, including 36 in the Houston area. But Marvin Odum, who is overseeing the recovery efforts in the nation's fourth-largest city, said it's been "fairly amazing" how quickly Houston got back to business.

Houston has received a total of $4.3 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency individual assistance funding, payouts from the National Flood Insurance Program and Small Business Administration, or SBA, loans.

Across Texas, $14.7 billion has been awarded to residents through FEMA, flood insurance and SBA loans, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The state is expected to get another $10 billion in federal funding for housing and infrastructure needs.

Odum said he's mindful that the recovery is far from over and that the process can be very slow. He also worries that people will forget about "those pockets of the city that are still heavily devastated from the storm."

Harvey's 130 mph (210 kph) winds destroyed 30 percent of the buildings in coastal Rockport, laying waste to hotels, restaurants and affordable housing used by the workers who kept the tourism community's service industry humming, said Mayor Pat Rios. With a lack of housing, many workers left, which has meant some restaurants can no longer stay open seven days a week and the local Walmart can't stay open 24 hours a day.

But the city is open for business, and this summer it has welcomed "volunteer tourists" who work a few days on rebuilding efforts and then spend the rest of their time vacationing, Rios said.

"We know we're going to rebuild, and we'll be better and stronger than we were before," Rios said.

Recovering from a storm like Harvey is a long process, but now that people see it's going to take time, "they realize how far we've actually come," said Pete Phillips, senior director for community development and revitalization at the Texas General Land Office, which is in charge of the state's long-term recovery action plan.

Harvey damaged up to 85 percent of the structures in Port Arthur, a coastal city of about 55,000 people near the Louisiana border. While Port Arthur has replaced flooded garbage and police vehicles and restored city services, many residents are still living in FEMA trailers or tents on their property as they rebuild their homes, said Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman.

"Folks are doing what they can with what they have ... getting one bathroom up and going, one bedroom, getting a mattress for your kids. It's the small victories that people are looking to right now," he said.

Freeman said he's hoping that a $1 million check he recently got for federal aid from Hurricane Ike in 2008 doesn't signify how long it will take to get Harvey recovery aid.

"It's going to be a long process. But our folks are hardworking, blue collar, strong, resilient people. We're going to be OK," he said.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2017, file photo, Paul England Jr., right, helps Michael Brown move bedroom furniture floating in his flooded home in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey, in Port Arthur, Texas. Many families across Texas are still struggling a year after Hurricane Harvey's destructive winds and biblical rainfall. But daily life has for the most part returned to normal routines in many of the cities hit hardest by the storm. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2017, file photo, a man walks past debris from homes on his street damaged in flooding from Hurricane Harvey as an oil refinery stands in the background in Port Arthur, Texas. Although many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston, daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest hit communities. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2017, file photo, flood damaged debris from homes lines the street in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. While it could take a decade to fully recover from Harvey, which came ashore Aug. 25, 2017, as a Category 4 storm, officials say Texas has already made great strides. However, they acknowledge that federal recovery funding has been slow in coming for some residents and that many are feeling frustrated and forgotten. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2017, file photo, a Texas flag hangs outside a home damaged by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. While it could take a decade to fully recover from Harvey, which came ashore Aug. 25, 2017, as a Category 4 storm, officials say Texas has already made great strides. However, they acknowledge that federal recovery funding has been slow in coming for some residents and that many are feeling frustrated and forgotten. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2017, file photo, volunteers Brock Warnick, right, and Colten Roberts remove drywall and insulation from a home which was damaged by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. Although many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston, daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest hit communities. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2017, file photo, workers continue clearing debris from the home of Houston resident Chris Slaughter, whose house in the suburb of Kingwood was flooded by 5 1/2 feet of water during Harvey's torrential rainfall. Although many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston, daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest hit communities. (AP Photo/Juan Lozano, File)

FILE - This Oct. 19, 2017, file photo shows two workers removing equipment that is being used to clean up and dry the $13 million Harris County Jury Assembly Building in Houston, which is located underground and flooded during torrential rainfall after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas and inundated the Houston-area as a tropical storm. Although many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston, daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest hit communities. (AP Photo/Juan Lozano, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2017, file photo, a stack of sheetrock sits in the living room of Mary and Paul Daulong's home in Houston as they continue rebuilding after it was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Although many Texas families are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey a year after it caused widespread damage and flooding along the Gulf Coast and in and around Houston, daily life has mostly returned to normal in many of the hardest hit communities.(AP Photo/Juan Lozano, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2017, file photo, workers pick up debris in a staircase of a four-story hotel exposed when the wall fell during Hurricane Harvey, in Rockport, Texas. While it could take a decade to fully recover from Harvey, which came ashore Aug. 25, 2017, as a Category 4 storm, officials say Texas has already made great strides. However, they acknowledge that federal recovery funding has been slow in coming for some residents and that many are feeling frustrated and forgotten. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - On one of the worst days of his presidency, Donald Trump was chatting aboard Air Force One when the conversation took a detour into gallows humor.

Trump was returning from a rally in West Virginia just hours after two former members of his inner circle were found or pleaded guilty, when one passenger quipped that a news story would surely soon be breaking about the president fuming onboard. Everyone laughed, including the president.

Despite the momentary levity, though, Trump is increasingly frustrated and isolated as the investigations that have long dogged his White House plunge into the personal territory he once declared off-limits.

President Donald Trump speaks to the Ohio Republican Party State Dinner, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

One by one, the president's men have turned against him.

It was a bruising week for Trump, with a trio of men who are intimately familiar with his secrets and business dealings now cooperating with prosecutors. First, Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, implicated him in testimony about hush money payments to two women who allege affairs with him. On the same day, his former campaign chairman was found guilty on a slew of financial charges. At least Paul Manafort had nothing to say about Trump or his campaign.

But then came revelations that his longtime friend, David Pecker, the CEO of National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., had been granted immunity from prosecution to provide information, followed by news that Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg, who had once worked for Trump's father, was cooperating as well.

There is no indication their cooperation extends beyond the scope of the Cohen probe. But for Trump - who has long demanded loyalty from those around him - the revelations have only added to long-simmering fury about the investigations that began with questions about Russian election meddling but have broadened from there.

Allies wonder what Trump might do if the pressure continues to increase.

"This is a bridge too far. They are trying to undo this president," said former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg.

As the president exited Washington for a day trip to Ohio on Friday, a White House official said Trump was unhappy with what he perceived as disloyalty but far from melting down. Another person with knowledge of Trump's thinking said the president continues to direct much of his ire at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who infuriated him by recusing himself from the Russia probe. Both people, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private discussions.

Trump tweeted at Sessions on Friday demanding that he investigate a litany of perceived wrongs, declaring insultingly, "Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!"

Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio says the president may be surprised that he can't exert more control from the West Wing over his former friends and employees.

"He's less powerful in these relationships now than he was before he became president. That must just amaze him," said D'Antonio, author of "Never Enough, Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success." ''He's sitting behind the Resolute Desk and he can push a button and get a Coke but he can't control Michael Cohen."

Within the West Wing, aides have grown increasingly numb to the drumbeat of bad news, though the revelation of Cohen's plea and the immunity deals took some by surprise.

Cohen pleaded guilty this week in federal court in Manhattan to campaign finance violations alleging he coordinated with Trump on a hush-money scheme to buy the silence of a porn actress and a Playboy model who alleged affairs. It was later reported that, as part of the probe into Cohen, immunity was granted to Weisselberg and Pecker.

The probe into Cohen was triggered in part by a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, who separately is looking into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, has said Cohen has information "that would be of interest" to the special counsel.

The White House official insisted that West Wing staffers continue to keep their heads down and do their jobs. On Thursday evening, the person said, dozens of staffers gathered on Chief of Staff John Kelly's porch to celebrate the recent birthdays of a trio of staffers: Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow.

While they snacked on homemade cakes and chatted, the staffers welcomed a surprise visit from the president, who delivered a speech and made jokes, acting like nothing was wrong and winning cheers from aides as he left.

Still, the week's developments brought the investigations up to the doorstep of Trump Tower - a place that Trump has warned Mueller is a no-go.

Weisselberg, the 71-year-old Trump Organization CFO, is intimately familiar with Trump's business dealings, having overseen his corporate ledgers through his rise in the New York real estate world and his international dealings in the years before he launched his presidential bid.

The chief financial officer has worked for Trump companies since he joined the president's father, Fred Trump, in the 1970s as an accountant, and is a rich repository of knowledge of the family company. The possibility of him answering questions from investigators poses a new danger for the president as federal prosecutors in Washington and Manhattan dig deeper into Trump's business affairs.

A year ago, Trump told The New York Times that Mueller would be crossing a "red line" if he began to look at Trump's and his family's finances unrelated to Russia.

Asked if he would fire Mueller if that were to happen, Trump responded, "I can't, I can't answer that question because I don't think it's going to happen."

As the negative news mounted throughout the past week, allies also expressed frustration with the lack of a coordinated pushback effort. The White House said it's up to Trump's outside lawyers to deal with much of the news. They argued that the president was not directly implicated, even though Cohen said in court that he and Trump had coordinated.

Some also questioned just how Trump would react if the bad news continued to roll in. Nunberg specifically cautioned against his making any speedy moves.

"The only thing I would say to the president is do not do anything rash because Mueller would love for you to fire him, so that you will be impeached," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas and Stephen Braun contributed to this report.

___

Follow Lucey and Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/catherine_lucey and https://twitter.com/colvinj

President Donald Trump speaks to the Ohio Republican Party State Dinner, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump visits with a group of children during a tour of the Nationwide Children's Hospital, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Education Department says it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators.

If approved, the plan would likely generate a lot of controversy at a time when a string of especially deadly school shootings earlier this year led to the rise of a powerful student-led gun control movement.

A senior Trump administration official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the agency is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants to see if the money can be used to buy firearms.

FILE - In this May 22, 2018, file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Education Department said Aug. 23 that it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the bipartisan Every Student Success Act, passed in 2015, does not expressly prohibit or allow the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the purchase of firearms. The official said the agency received several letters asking it to clarify what those funds could be used for and began researching the issue.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who chairs a federal commission on school safety, has previously said that schools should have the option to arm teachers. The commission, formed in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, has been criticized for omitting the topic of gun control.

The plan, first reported by The New York Times, prompted swift condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and many educators on Thursday, who accused the Trump administration of wanting to deprive students of much-needed mental health support and other resources in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the idea "one of the most egregious, short-sighted and dangerous executive branch abuses of our education system in modern history."

"Secretary DeVos continues to lead an anti-student and anti-teacher campaign on behalf of special interests and the NRA that rejects proven and effective initiatives to ensure a safe, welcoming school climate for children," she said.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, which was the site of the Sandy Hook school shooting, swiftly introduced an amendment that would block the Education Department from using the funds to arm schools.

"The Secretary of Education cares more about the firearms industry's bottom line than the safety of our kids, and that should scare parents to death," he said.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, accused DeVos of trying "to do the bidding of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers."

"Instead of after-school programs or counselors, programs that are critical for creating safe and welcoming schools and addressing the mental health needs of kids, DeVos wants to turn schools into armed fortresses and make kids and educators less safe," Weingarten said in a statement.

"She wants to turn the U.S. government into an arms dealer for schools. That's insane," she added.

Martin West, professor of education at Harvard University, expressed skepticism.

"It seems very hard to imagine that members of Congress drafting Title IV envisioned that the funds would be used to arm teachers," West said.

One of the requests for clarification came from Texas, where many school districts allow staff to carry weapons on campus. The Texas Education Agency said in a statement Thursday that it asked Washington for guidance in April after schools started asking whether they can use the grant money to cover the cost of guns. The problem took on even greater urgency in Texas after 10 people were killed in a school shooting outside Houston in May.

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Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
BROOKLYN, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa college student who was allegedly abducted by a stranger while running last month in a small town died from stab wounds, a medical examiner says.

Authorities announced Thursday that preliminary autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office show 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts was the victim of a homicide who died from "multiple sharp force injuries."

State medical examiner Dennis Klein said in an interview that the finding means a sharp-edged or pointed object such as a knife was used to attack Tibbetts. He declined comment on the details of her injuries, and said that his office would hire consultants, including forensic anthropologists, to analyze her remains further and make additional findings.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera speaks with his attorney during his initial court appearance, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 from Brooklyn, Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP, Pool)

The man charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts' death, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, allegedly led investigators to her body early Tuesday in a cornfield outside of Brooklyn, Iowa, the town where the University of Iowa psychology major was last seen one month prior. While investigators were confident then that the body was that of Tibbetts, the autopsy definitively confirmed her identity.

Prosecutors allege that Rivera abducted Tibbetts while she was out for an evening run in Brooklyn on July 18, killed her and disposed of her body in the secluded location.

A criminal complaint alleges that Rivera confessed during a lengthy interrogation that began Monday to following Tibbetts in his car, getting out on foot and chasing after her. Rivera told investigators that he panicked after Tibbetts threatened to call police on her cellphone, he blacked out and later came to when he was unloading her bloody body from the trunk of a car, it says.

Rivera worked for the last four years at a dairy farm a few miles from where Tibbetts was last seen. He and Tibbetts have no known connections other than that Rivera allegedly told investigators that he saw her running previously. Investigators zeroed in on him as the suspect after obtaining footage from surveillance cameras showing a vehicle connected to him circling the area of Tibbetts' running route.

Earlier this week, investigators said they were uncertain how Tibbetts was killed or whether she was sexually assaulted. They've made no mention of recovering a knife or other weapon linked to the death.

Rivera, a native of Mexico who is suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, made his initial court appearance Wednesday and is being jailed on a $5 million cash-only bond. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

Within hours of the arrest, President Donald Trump seized on the news that Rivera was allegedly in the country illegally to call for stricter immigration laws. And in an interview that aired Thursday, he said on "Fox & Friends" that Tibbetts was a "beautiful young girl" killed by a "horrible person that came in from Mexico, illegally here."

Trump has claimed that people living in the U.S. illegally often commit crimes, but studies by social scientists and the libertarian Cato Institute reject that assertion. The studies show that states with higher shares of people living in the country illegally have lower violent crime rates.

The president also said the suspect was "found by" agents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, an agency that some liberals have called for abolishing because of tactics they view as overly harsh. An ICE spokesman said Thursday that its agents worked with state and local investigators in "identifying, locating and interviewing the suspect."

Division of Criminal Investigation spokesman Mitch Mortvedt agreed that ICE played a "significant role" in the case, particularly in helping confirm Rivera's identity and immigration status.

Rivera's defense attorney, Allan Richards, has denounced Trump for prejudging his client's guilt, saying the president's comments would make it hard for Rivera to get a fair trial.

"Let's let the process go," he said Thursday. "The process is about truth-finding in a rational, peaceful and efficient manner. We're only at the very preliminary stages."

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Cristhian Bahena Rivera is lead into the courtroom for his initial court appearance, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 from Brooklyn, Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP, Pool)

Cristhian Bahena Rivera is escorted into the Poweshiek County Courthouse for his initial court appearance, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Montezuma, Iowa. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 from Brooklyn, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The arrest of a Mexican farmworker in the death of an Iowa college student renewed calls to change immigration laws, but it also focused attention on the immigrant workers whose labor is essential to the state's agricultural industry.

Hours after authorities found the body of Mollie Tibbetts and charged the suspect with murder, politicians including President Donald Trump, the Iowa governor and two senators expressed outrage that Cristhian Bahena Rivera had been able to live illegally in the U.S. for years. They urged a wider crackdown on illegal immigration.

The response from farming groups was more muted, reflecting the difficulty in hiring people for the physically demanding work at dairies, slaughterhouses and other agricultural operations.

Craig Lang, co-owner of Yarrabee Farms, left, speaks to the press with his son and co-owner Dane Lang, on their families farm on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 in Brooklyn. Cristhian Rivera, a former employee at the farm has been charged with the murder of Mollie Tibbetts. (Brian Powers /The Des Moines Register via AP)

The day after Rivera's arrest, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley acknowledged that some of the most intense opposition has come from his own state's agriculture industry because of its need for workers.

"We're the No. 1 egg-producing state, and I can't talk to the egg producers without this being a problem," said Grassley, a Republican. "With big dairy farms - and they're getting bigger all the time in Iowa - but even in smaller dairy farms, you hear it. You hear it in the industrial hog production that we have, and then you also hear it from the processing of our agricultural products."

Fellow Republican Sen. Joni Ernst noted, "A lot of our agricultural industry does rely on many laborers, and we just don't have enough of that labor pool in the state of Iowa."

According to the Labor Department's most recent National Agriculture Workers Survey, about 47 percent of hired crop farm workers in the U.S. lack proper authorization to work here. The most recent data available was released in December 2016 based on surveys from 2013 to 2014. The survey showed that 68 percent of hired farmer workers were born in Mexico.

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Farm Bureau declined to comment, but the American Farm Bureau Federation said that it would support a mandatory electronic employee verification system only if the federal government also created an agriculture worker program, protected employers who may have inadvertently hired workers not in the country legally and allowed workers already hired to remain on the job under a new program.

In response to Trump's criticism of existing immigration laws, Craig Lang, a former farm bureau president whose dairy employed Rivera, said laws need to be changed to identify and track immigrant workers while also providing essential labor.

"That is the kind of immigration we need not only for agriculture but for many other industries," said Lang, who was a Republican candidate for Iowa agriculture secretary but lost in the primary.

Lang's family said Wednesday that Rivera had provided false documents with a different identity when he was hired four years ago and that he had been a good employee.

The Iowa State Dairy Association took a similar stand, calling for a more effective way to verify that potential workers can legally be hired.

"In today's tight economy, labor is scarce, and finding employees for open positions can be difficult," the association said in a statement. "Legal immigrants fill a wide variety of jobs and often provide relief needed for employers."

State Sen. David Johnson, who worked on an Iowa dairy farm for 20 years, said Iowa's dairy and meatpacking industries could not survive without immigrant labor. He said improvements must be made in worker vetting to ensure that documents and identities are not faked or stolen.

"It's got to be a comprehensive approach that takes as much of these things in as possible," he said. "Set something up so everybody understands what the rules are because we have to maintain ourselves as a nation of laws."

He said he's known many hardworking Hispanic employees at dairies seeking only a better life for their families.

In Brooklyn, Iowa, where Tibbetts was last seen, residents seemed more focused on the loss of a beloved young woman who had grown up in the town of 1,500 than the citizenship of the man arrested in her death.

Brad Hohensee, school superintendent in the Brooklyn area, said the district's message to students is that the alleged kidnapping and murder of Tibbetts has nothing to do with "race or color."

"We are staying positive here and focusing on Mollie," Hohensee said. "Let's focus on what Mollie did for our school and community. She was very positive and we are staying positive."

Tibbetts' aunt took a similar approach, writing on her Facebook page: "Evil comes in EVERY color. Our family has been blessed to be surrounded by love, friendship and support throughout this entire ordeal by friends from all different nations and races."

Rusty Clayton, a City Council member and owner of the True Value hardware store in Brooklyn, Iowa, said Tibbetts' death "just put a big hole in everybody's heart."

Clayton hopes his town's tragedy will lead to changes that could enable employers to hire immigrant workers while also ensuring public safety.

"We've got trouble in the system somewhere," Clayton said. "We just have to decide how we're going to handle it all. Not as a community. The country has to decide. How do we handle this stuff? It can't keep going on."

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This story has been corrected to show Craig Lang was a Republican candidate for Iowa agriculture secretary but lost in the primary.

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Associated Press writer Ryan J. Foley also contributed from Brooklyn, Iowa.
JERUSALEM (AP) - The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees suggested that the United States slashed his budget early this year to punish the Palestinians for their criticism of the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but he warned that the Palestinian refugee issue will not go away.

The comments by Pierre Kraehenbuehl came amid signs that the U.S., with Israeli support, is aiming to abolish UNRWA in an apparent attempt to remove one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the negotiating agenda.

"One cannot simply wish 5 million people away," Kraehenbuehl, commissioner of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, the head of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Pierre Kraehenbuehl speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Jerusalem. Kraehenbuehl said Thursday that he believes the U.S. slashed his budget early this year to take out its frustration with the Palestinian Authority but warns that the millions of people served by his organization cannot be wished away. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

In January, the U.S., the largest donor to the agency, slashed some $300 million from its annual contribution to UNRWA, prompting what Kraehenbuehl called an unprecedented financial crisis.

Although he has made up some of the deficit by raising money from other countries, the agency still lacks over $200 million. It recently laid off over 100 people in the Gaza Strip and cut back the hours of 500 other employees. The upcoming school year for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children across the Middle East has been threatened.

Kraehenbuehl said he was caught off guard by the American decision, which came just weeks after he had held what he described as a successful meeting with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and chief Mideast adviser.

He said he still has not gotten a straight answer from the Americans about why they made their decision.

But he said he believes it is connected to the uproar over the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December. The Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as their capital, condemned the decision and severed nearly all ties with the Americans.

"I can say with a great degree of confidence that the decision was not related to UNRWA's performance, because in November I had received very constructive and openly positive feedback on those issues," he said.

"A few weeks later, tensions increased around the question of Jerusalem," he added. "It appears that the humanitarian funding to UNRWA got caught up in the deep polarization around that question."

The State Department said it is reviewing funding to UNRWA and has not decided whether to restore support in the future. It repeated its position that the agency's repeated financial crises are "unsustainable" and called on it to find other countries to share the funding burden and to undertake "fundamental reforms."

But privately, there are signs that the American agenda runs deeper and that the Trump administration seeks to abolish UNRWA altogether.

In an internal email recently published by Foreign Policy magazine, Kushner called for a "sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA."

"This (agency) perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn't help peace," he reportedly wrote.

The Palestinians fear the U.S. is putting pressure on host countries to absorb their refugee populations and eliminate the issue from future peace negotiations. The White House says it is working on a regional peace plan, though it has not said when it will be released.

UNRWA was established in the wake of the 1948 Mideast war surrounding Israel's creation. An estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the fighting.

In the absence of a solution, the U.N. General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate. The agency now provides education, health care and social services to more than 5 million refugees and their descendants. It serves populations in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Seen by the Palestinians and most of the international community as providing a valuable safety net, UNRWA is viewed far differently by Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the agency of perpetuating the conflict by helping promote an unrealistic Palestinian demand that refugees have the "right of return" to long-lost homes in what is now Israel. He has said UNRWA should be abolished and its responsibilities taken over by the main U.N. refugee agency.

Some in Israel have even tougher criticism, accusing UNRWA of teaching hatred of Israel in its classrooms and tolerating or assisting Hamas militants in Gaza.

Kraehenbuehl said Israel has raised similar concerns for years, but that there has been a "strong intensification" of the criticism now that the Trump administration appears to be in agreement.

He rejected the Israeli claim that his agency is perpetuating the conflict, saying that it is carrying out a U.N.-mandated mission that reflects the will of the international community.

Kraehenbuehl said that Israeli claims that the Palestinians are the only people to pass down refugee status to their children also are unfounded, saying that Afghan refugees displaced decades ago have the same status.

He also noted that UNRWA has a committee to monitor the content of its classrooms and has condemned attempts by Gaza militants to use UNRWA facilities for cover.

Kraehenbuehl said the best way to solve these matters is to find a "political solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that addresses the fate of the refugees.

In the meantime, he said UNRWA's focus is for its schools to open on schedule in early September. For now, he said there are enough funds to keep the schools running only until the end of the month. An aggressive fund-raising effort is under way to ensure the schools operate for the entire academic year.

"I see the courage displayed by our students in the face of so much adversity," he said. "I really find it very difficult to imagine that I have to go back to them and tell them that I have failed and we have failed to mobilize the needed resources, to keep the one thing that gives them a certain prospect in life ... which is their education. So we will knock on every door, we will leave no stone unturned until we have good news on this front."

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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2014 file photo released by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), shows residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, lining up to receive food supplies, in Damascus, Syria. The head of UNRWA Pierre Kraehenbuehl said Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in an interview with The Associated Press in Jerusalem, that he believes the U.S. slashed his budget early this year to take out its frustration with the Palestinian Authority but warns that the millions of people served by his organization cannot be wished away.(UNRWA via AP, File)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, the head of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Pierre Kraehenbuehl speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Jerusalem. Kraehenbuehl said Thursday that he believes the U.S. slashed his budget early this year to take out its frustration with the Palestinian Authority but warns that the millions of people served by his organization cannot be wished away. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2009 file photo, workers ready a shipment of relief aid to Gaza provided by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), at the warehouses of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, in Amman Jordan. The head of UNRWA Pierre Kraehenbuehl said Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in an interview with The Associated Press in Jerusalem, that he believes the U.S. slashed his budget early this year to take out its frustration with the Palestinian Authority but warns that the millions of people served by his organization cannot be wished away. (AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Ghosh, File)
HONOLULU (AP) - Hurricane Lane weakened to a tropical storm on Friday as it headed toward the Hawaiian islands. But it still brought torrential rains that immersed a city in waist-deep water and forced people to flee flooding homes, while others jumped off seawalls with boogie boards into the turbulent ocean.

As many dealt with flooding and even brush fires, swimmers and surfers ignored warnings from authorities and plunged into powerful waves at Oahu's famed Waikiki Beach, which was closed.

Emergency officials said repeatedly over loudspeakers: "Please get out of the water! It's very dangerous!" Honolulu's mayor pleaded with tourists that they were putting themselves in danger as the storm churned closer.

Bodyboarders jump into the surf along Waikiki Beach ahead of Hurricane Lane, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/John Locher)

The National Weather Service downgraded the storm to a tropical storm with winds of up to 70 mph (110 kmph) as it headed north toward the islands. It was expected to veer west, skirting the islands, but still threatened to bring heavy rains and strong, gusty winds statewide, meteorologist Gavin Shigesato said.

A hurricane watch for Oahu and Maui was downgraded to a tropical storm watch. Still, meteorologists warned that Lane could trigger flash flooding and inflict wind damage.

The outer bands of the hurricane dumped as much as 3 feet (1 meter) of rain in 48 hours on the mostly rural Big Island. The main town of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded Friday with waist-high water as landslides shut down roads.

Margaret Collins, 69, woke up Thursday night to the sound of moving water in her Hilo backyard.

"So I got up out of bed and looked out my bedroom window and saw water 3 feet high gushing past my window," she said. "And that's when I realized I was standing in water."

She called a neighbor for help, who crawled through bushes to bring her out of the house, half-carrying her as she clutched a plastic bag with medication.

The gushing water knocked down a cement wall and lifted her truck out of the carport, sending it toward her neighbor's house, she said.

"My house is completely inundated with mudwater," said Collins, who was told the damage wouldn't be covered by insurance. She hopes she can get federal assistance.

Elsewhere on the Big Island, the National Guard and firefighters rescued six people and a dog from a flooded home, while five California tourists were rescued from another house.

A different type of evacuation took place on Oahu - the state's most populated island.

Officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources transferred about 2,000 rare Hawaiian snails from a mountain marsh to offices in downtown Honolulu. A staffer will spend the night and place ice around their cages in case the air conditioning goes out.

Some of the snails are the last of their kind, including one named George that's the sole remaining Achatinella apexfulva in captivity. Staff members are trying to keep him safe in case he's able to reproduce.

As flooding hit the Big Island, brush fires broke out in areas of Maui and Oahu susceptible to flames.

Some residents in a shelter on Maui had to flee when a fire got too close and another forced people from their homes. A woman got burns on her hands and legs and was flown to Honolulu, Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said. Her condition wasn't clear.

A man posted a video on Instagram showing flames several stories high starting to envelop parked cars. Josh Galinato said he was trying to sleep when he smelled smoke in his apartment in the tourist town of Lahaina.

"I opened up my front door, and I just saw the fire spreading and coming downhill," Galinato said. He and neighbors honked horns to alert others to the danger.

Joseph Azam, who was vacationing in Maui with family and friends, hoped rain from the hurricane arrived before the flames did.

"Trying to figure which comes first, the fire or the rain," said Azam, who's from Oakland, California, and is staying at a hotel. "We're praying the rain arrives soon."

Others prayed it to stay away.

In Waikiki, the man-made Ala Wai Canal is likely to flood if predicted rains arrive, said Ray Alexander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The canal marks the northern boundary of the Waikiki tourist district. Worries that it could overflow in heavy rains have prompted plans to mitigate the risk.

"The canal has flooded in the past, and I believe it's safe to say based on the forecast of rainfall it's likely to flood again - the impacts of which we aren't prepared to say at this time," Alexander said.

Major flooding could damage 3,000 structures and cost more than $1 billion in repairs, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper reported, citing corps estimates.

Officials received $345 million last summer to build detention basins, a flood wall and pumping station, beginning in 2020 and expected to be completed in 2023, Alexander said.

Employees have filled sandbags to protect oceanfront hotels from surging surf. Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for flash flooding, while residents lined up at stores to stockpile supplies.

Away from the high-rise hotels of Waikiki, Crystal Bowden, a tourist from California, watched powerful waves crash against cliffs on Oahu's southeast coast.

"I came in to visit, got here just in time for the hurricane," Bowden said. "We're kind of excited."

Almost 16,000 homes and businesses on the islands lost power, but service was restored to some, Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said about 2,000 people were in shelters, mostly in Oahu.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

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Associated Press writers Brian Skoloff and Caleb Jones in Honolulu, Mark Thiessen and Dan Joling in Anchorage, Alaska, Colleen Long in Washington and Alina Hartounian and Annika Wolters in Phoenix contributed to this report.

A boogie boarder walks near the surf at Makapu'u Beach, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Waimanalo, Hawaii. As Hurricane Lane approaches Oahu, large ocean swells have impacted the coastline. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

This photo provided by Jessica Henricks shows damage from Hurricane Lane Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, near Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane barreled toward Hawaii on Friday, dumping torrential rains that inundated the Big Island's main city as people elsewhere stocked up on supplies and piled sandbags to shield oceanfront businesses against the increasingly violent surf. The city of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded with waist-high water. (Jessica Henricks via AP)

In this photo provided by Jessica Henricks, is flooding and damage from Hurricane Lane Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, near Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane barreled toward Hawaii on Friday, dumping torrential rains that inundated the Big Island's main city as people elsewhere stocked up on supplies and piled sandbags to shield oceanfront businesses against the increasingly violent surf. The city of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded with waist-high water. (Jessica Henricks via AP)

Swimmers get tossed around at Makapu'u Beach, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Waimanalo, Hawaii. As Hurricane Lane approaches Oahu, large ocean swells have impacted the coastline. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

A beachgoer lets her towel fly in the wind on Kailua Beach, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Kailua, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane weakened Friday as it headed toward the Hawaiian islands, bringing torrential rains that immersed a city in waist-deep water and forced people to flee flooding homes, while others at Honolulu's famed Waikiki Beach jumped off seawalls with boogie boards into the turbulent ocean. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

This photo provided by Jessica Henricks shows damage from Hurricane Lane Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, near Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane barreled toward Hawaii on Friday, dumping torrential rains that inundated the Big Island's main city as people elsewhere stocked up on supplies and piled sandbags to shield oceanfront businesses against the increasingly violent surf. The city of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded with waist-high water. (Jessica Henricks via AP)

A line for a Convenience Store snakes on to the sidewalk near Waikiki Beach ahead of Hurricane Lane, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Honolulu. Many of the stores in the area were closed ahead of the storm. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A woman walks by a boarded up store near Waikiki Beach ahead of Hurricane Lane, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand along sea cliffs on the southeast shore of Oahu as Hurricane Lane approaches, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, near Honolulu. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, an official with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources transfers about 2,000 rare Hawaiian snails from a mountain marsh to administrative offices in Honolulu as Hurricane Lane approaches. (Department of Land and Natural Resources Photo via AP)
Muslims gather for Eid al-Adha prayers at Jama Masjid in New Delhi to mark the Feast of Sacrifice, one of the most important Islamic holidays.

In other images from the Asia-Pacific region this week, a 92-year-old South Korean weeps during a brief reunion with his 71-year-old North Korean son.

Members of the Indonesian navy take part in a flag hoisting ceremony to commemorate the country's 73rd independence anniversary.

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, pigeons fly past as Muslims gather to offer Eid al-Adha prayers at Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, by sacrificing animals to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

Two men row through a flooded paddy field in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where more than 200 have died and 800,000 are displaced by the worst monsoon flooding in a century.

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This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Toru Takahashi in Tokyo.

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In this Monday, Aug. 20, 2018, file photo, South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, left, weeps as she meets with her North Korean son Ri Sang Chol, 71, during the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea. Dozens of elderly South Koreans crossed the heavily fortified border into North Korea on Monday for heart-wrenching meetings with relatives most haven't seen since they were separated by the turmoil of the Korean War. (Korea Pool Photo via AP, File)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, South Koreans on a bus wave at their North Korean relatives to bid farewell after the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea. Hundreds of elderly Koreans tearfully said their final goodbyes Wednesday at the end of the first round of rare reunions between relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. (Lee Ji-eun/Yonhap via AP, File)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, an elderly Rohingya refugee walks toward a makeshift mosque to offer Eid al-Adha prayers at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are celebrating Eid al-Adha in sprawling Bangladeshi camps where they have been living amid uncertainty over their future after they fled Myanmar to escape violence and a massive crackdown. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, people who affected by earthquake attend a morning prayer marking Eid al-Adha in Kokokputek, Lombok Island, Indonesia. People in the world's most populous Muslim country celebrate Eid al- Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice by slaughtering sheep, goats, and cows whose meat will later be distributed to the poor. (AP Photo/Fauzy Chaniago, File)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, file photo, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. The beleaguered prime minister warned he will quit Parliament on Friday if his disgruntled party continues to try to oust him, forcing a by-election that could cost the government its single-seat majority or push his successor into immediately calling general elections. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP, File)

In this Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, file photo, El Salvador's Foreign Minister Carlos Castaneda, left, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands at a signing ceremony to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Taiwan broke off diplomatic ties with El Salvador on Tuesday as the Central American country defected to rival Beijing in the latest blow to the self-ruled island China has been trying to isolate on the global stage. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

In this Monday, Aug. 20, 2018, file photo, two men row a boat through a flooded paddy field next to an inundated structure in Alappuzha in the southern state of Kerala, India. Kerala has been battered by torrential downpours since Aug. 8, with floods and landslides. About 800,000 people now living in some 4,000 relief camps. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, file photo, a girl who has left her flood affected home rests on her baggage at a relief camp set up inside a school in Kochi, in the southern Indian state of Kerala. A political battle is brewing in flood-ravaged south India, with the ruling party in Kerala state protesting the central government's refusal to accept more than $100 million in foreign relief. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

In this Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, file photo, Sinead of Australia, left, and Tarjei Naess Skrede of Norway walk past North Korean soldiers during a hike arranged by Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea on Mount Paektu in North Korea. Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, Shepherd, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, a man walks in shade of a building in Tokyo. Hot weather continues in the metropolitan area as the temperature may rise to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Japan's meteorological bureau. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

In this Friday, Aug. 17, 2018, file photo, members of Indonesian Navy take part in a flag hoisting ceremony held to commemorate the country' 73rd anniversary of independence at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia gained its independence in 1945 from the Dutch colonial rule. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, Japan's Dalya Seto swims in the men's 400m individual medley final during the swimming competition at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Bernat Armanguem, File)
TOKYO (AP) - She was one of the more than 90,000 Koreans and their relatives in Japan who went to North Korea decades ago seeking what the country promised: "paradise on earth."

As North and South Korea make reconciliatory gestures and hundreds of war-separated relatives are reunited, Eiko Kawasaki and others like her feel forgotten.

Kawasaki, 76, who was born in Japan and lived for 43 years in North Korea before defecting, has not seen her children, still in North Korea, for years.

Eiko Kawasaki, a Korean born in Japan, speaks during an interview in Tokyo Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Kawasaki was born in Japan and lived 43 years in North Korea before defecting. She has not seen her children, still in North Korea, for years. Kawasaki and four other defectors filed a lawsuit against North Korea's government this week in Tokyo District Court, demanding 500 million yen, or about $5 million, in damages for human rights violations. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

She and four other defectors filed a lawsuit against North Korea's government this week in Tokyo District Court, demanding 500 million yen, or about $5 million, in damages for human rights violations.

"Hardly anyone knows what happened," Kawasaki told The Associated Press on Friday in an interview at a Tokyo coffee shop. "Everyone is stunned to hear it."

Kawasaki is determined to keep telling her story to send the message Koreans living abroad must unite in a first step toward reunification.

Kawasaki was born in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, the eldest daughter of a Korean laborer.

In the years before and during World War II, imperialist Japan colonized Korea and brought Koreans, many forcibly, to work in Japan. About 450,000 ethnic Koreans live in Japan, including third- and fourth-generation descendants of those laborers.

Kawasaki was 17 when she signed up for the repatriation program, which began in the 1950s and was backed by an aggressive campaign in Korean communities in Japan for people to take ships to go live in North Korea.

Although she exceled in school, her family was poor. All she wanted was to continue her education. North Korea promised a scholarship.

Like many others, she realized she had been duped as soon as she landed. The port was shabby, everyone was terribly thin, and children wore rags.

"You cannot express your opinion at all," she said, adding that everyone lived in fear, even of getting killed for saying the wrong thing. "You can't get out of there."

She became an engineer and married another engineer. He died, but they had five children, four of whom still live in North Korea. She defected in 2003, first to China and then to Japan in 2004, with the help of her younger brother.

Telling her story has been her life, going on a lecture circuit, including appealing to human rights organizations, and writing a book. She started her own group called Korea of All.

The lawsuit is her latest battle.

Kawasaki said she has great hopes for President Donald Trump's efforts on North Korea. She acknowledged she was a bit disappointed by his meeting with Kim Jong Un in June.

"I want him to stand firm," she said of Trump. "Only America can solve this problem."

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
LONDON (AP) - Alex Salmond, the former leader of Scotland, is promising to take legal action against the Scottish government over the way it handled sexual harassment allegations against him.

Salmond described the allegations dating backing to 2013 over his conduct toward two staff members as "patently ridiculous." The Daily Record newspaper reported the case has been handed to police.

"This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me," he said on Twitter. "I have not been allowed to see the evidence."

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 file photo, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond enjoys a drink in Ellon, Scotland. Salmond, the former leader of Scotland, is promising to take legal action against Scotland's government over the way it handled sexual harassment allegations against him. Salmond described the allegations dating backing to 2013 over his conduct toward two staff members as "patently ridiculous." (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)

Salmond has been a big figure on the Scottish political stage for decades and led the 2014 campaign to make Scotland independent of the United Kingdom. Salmond stood down as Scotland's first minister soon after voters backed remaining part of the U.K. in the referendum.

The party is now led by Nicola Sturgeon, a politician who long served as Salmond's deputy - and her unease at the allegations was evident Friday. However, she insisted in a statement that organizations and workplaces must make it possible for people to report concerns with the confidence that complaints would be treated seriously.

"My relationship with Alex Salmond obviously makes this an extremely difficult situation for me to come to terms with," she said. "I am also acutely aware how upsetting this will be for my party. However, the over-riding priority must be to ensure fair and due process."

The Scottish Government said Friday that it was vital any harassment allegations are thoroughly investigated, and said Salmond's promise of court action came as the government made clear the allegations would be made public.

"His statement contains significant inaccuracies which will be addressed in those court proceedings," said Leslie Evans, the permanent secretary at the Scottish government. "The Scottish Government will defend its position vigorously."
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) - Forged over generations in villages in Myanmar, Rohingya communities are now held together in calls over crackling phone lines.

"Mummy! Mummy!" 15-year-old Abdullah Razzaq shouted to his mother earlier this week in their once-a-week call, nearly a year after he and his brother, along with more than 700,000 other Rohingya Muslims, fled waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and crossed the border into Bangladesh. "Why don't you guys come here?"

"Here" is a ramshackle sprawl of refugee camps built amid low rolling hills and endless monsoon-season mud. First erected more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks about Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border.

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 photo, a Rohingya refugee bathes, as a girl waits to fill water from a hand pump at Kutupalong refugee camp, a ramshackle sprawl of camps built amid low rolling hills and endless monsoon-season mud, in Bangladesh. First built more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps in Cox's Bazar district exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks around Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

One year later, despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agencies, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon.

"I can't see my mother or my brother and am unable to receive a mother's love," said Abdullah. "I miss them a lot."

The family was broken apart in the chaos that began with a series of Aug. 24 attacks on Myanmar police posts by a small Rohingya militant group that left a dozen security personnel dead. Soon after, Myanmar security forces and Buddhist mobs responded with brutal indiscriminate attacks on Rohingya villages, burning many down and driving villagers away in what many rights activists see as a calculated attempt to drive the Rohingya from the country.

Abdullah and his 17-year-old brother thought their mother had also fled their village in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where most Rohingya had long lived. Only later did they realize she'd been left behind, and remains in their village with their eldest brother.

The brothers call once a week to check on her. But she tells them the separation has been hard.

"I miss you guys a lot. I can't eat or sleep properly. I am getting by somehow," she said.

The Rohingyas' woes can seem never-ending. They have long been treated as illegal migrants in Myanmar, denied such basic rights as the freedom of movement, even though some of their families have lived in the Buddhist-majority country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless.

Anti-Rohingya pogroms have been a part of life in the region for years, and violence against them began ratcheting up again in October 2016, as the Myanmar government started complaining about violence by Rohingya militants. In late August 2017, an influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh became an unstoppable flood.

Now, separated families depend on mobile phones to remain together.

"My son can't call me whenever he wants. He has to call secretly" because he's being watched by his Buddhist neighbors, said 70-year-old Dildar Begum, who waited all day Wednesday for a call from her son on Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.

The call never came.

Her family was also divided by chaos.

She, her son and his family had fled to the Myanmar-Bangladesh border as the crackdown grew more brutal. She climbed onto a boat to cross the Naf River with a group of refugees, but when her son went back to shore to grab his children, he was surrounded by a Buddhist mob and hustled away.

So she came to Bangladesh alone.

One year later, she just wants to see her son.

"If Allah wants we will meet again. My son might die, or I might die. Whatever is Allah's will we have to accept."

Myanmar has promised to take back all the Rohingya refugees, and has built camps for them on its side of the border, while Bangladesh says it will temporarily shelter and feed them. The two countries agreed to begin repatriating them in January, but that was called off amid concerns among aid works and the Rohingya that their safety wasn't guaranteed.

The U.N. refugee agency has said that "conditions in Myanmar are not yet conducive for returns to be safe, dignified, and sustainable."

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning leader of Myanmar, who has seen her image deeply tarnished by her government's reaction to the crisis, defended its actions again earlier this week, saying Rohingya militants remained a serious threat.

"We who are living through the transition in Myanmar view it differently than those who observe it from the outside and who will remain untouched by its outcome," she said in a speech in Singapore.

"The danger of terrorist activities, which was the initial cause of events leading to the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine, remains real and present today," she continued. "Unless this security challenge is addressed, the risk of intercommunal violence will remain."

Diplomats and aid workers say that while the Rohingya militants have launched some small-scale attacks, the counterstrikes by Myanmar have been overwhelmingly more destructive and deadly.

Myanmar, the international community says, now must create a situation where Rohingya feel safe to return home.

The Rohingya "need to have safety and security when they come back. They need to have freedom of movement. They need to also have a predictable and a clear pathway to a citizenship, to those who are eligible," Knut Ostby, the U.N. resident coordinator in Myanmar, told The Associated Press in an interview. "Basically, they need to be able to exist in society, as normal people when they come back."

A year after the flood of refugees, the camps have become functional towns, with shops, roadside restaurants and pharmacies. There are playgrounds for children and makeshift schools run by development agencies. More medical clinics are being built and many shanties have solar panels. Most people have at least some protection against monsoon landslides.

But people are still terrified and angry, facing a profoundly uncertain future. Many doubt they will ever go home.

Mohammad Arif ran a small grocery store in Myanmar and was comparatively well-off. Now, the only way he can see his old house is through video calls he makes to relatives and friends still living on the other side.

On Thursday, as he spoke to a cousin in Myanmar on a video call, he was told there was still a strong military presence in their village.

"I think there are anywhere between 100 to 700 (soldiers) here right now," his cousin told him.

"Ever since I came here, I have been suffering and have lots of tensions," he said. "But people who are still there are suffering even more than we are, because they are constantly thinking if they are going to survive or be killed."

___

Associated Press video journalist Min Kyi Thein in Yangon, Myanmar contributed to this report.

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, 15-year-old Rohingya refugee Abdullah Razzaq, speak on the phone to his mother who still lives in Myanmar, as his elder brother Abdur, 17, sits beside him at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. "Mummy! Mummy!" Razzaq shouted to his mother earlier this week in their once-a-week call, nearly a year after he and his brother, along with more than 700,000 other Rohingya Muslims, fled waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and crossed the border into Bangladesh. "Why don't you guys come here?" (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, a Rohingya refugee woman sits at the door of her makeshift bamboo and tarp shelter at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. First built more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps in Cox's Bazar district exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks around Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 photo, an elderly Rohingya refugee man crosses a makeshift bamboo bridge at Kutupalong refugee camp, a ramshackle sprawl of camps built amid low rolling hills and endless monsoon-season mud, in Bangladesh. First built more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps in Cox's Bazar district exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks around Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees sit inside a newly setup barber shop at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. A year after they were set up, the sprawling camps have become fully functional in Cox's Bazar district with new shops, roadside restaurants and medicine stores cropping up. Despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agences, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees, left, watch 29-year-old Mohammad Arif speak to his cousin, who still lives in Myanmar, via WhatsApp Video Call in front of a grocery shop at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. Arif, who was once a well-to-do grocer in Myanmar's Buthidaung township, said he was informed by his cousin that there was still a strong military presence in his village. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees are silhouetted against the sky at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and crossed the border into Bangladesh nearly a year ago. Despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agences, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, an elderly Rohingya refugee man crosses a muddy street at Kutupalong refugee camp, Kutupalong refugee camp, a ramshackle sprawl of camps built amid low rolling hills and endless monsoon-season mud, in Bangladesh. First built more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps in Cox's Bazar district exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks around Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, 70-year-old Rohingya refugee woman Dildar Begum waits for a call that never came from her son, who still lives in Myanmar, on Eid al-Adha festival at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. A year after she fled to Bangladesh amid a brutal crackdown by Myanmar's military, she fears for the life of her son. And despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agences, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees watch television at a restaurant in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and crossed the border into Bangladesh nearly a year ago. Despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agences, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Bangladesh military personnel check vehicles for Rohingya refugees on the road that connects refugee camps to the nearby tourist town of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and crossed the border into Bangladesh nearly a year ago. Despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agences, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, a Rohingya refugee woman sits under an umbrella as she sells fruit at a playground in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and crossed the border into Bangladesh nearly a year ago. Despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agences, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 photo, a young Rohingya refugee girl stands near elders digging a fresh grave at a cemetery in Kutupalong refugee camp, a ramshackle sprawl of camps built amid low rolling hills and endless monsoon-season mud, in Bangladesh. First built more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps in Cox's Bazar exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks around Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees play a game at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. A year after some 700,000 Rohingya fled attacks by Myanmar security forces and Buddhist mobs, a divided community, some in Bangladesh and some in Myanmar, sees little hope that their lives will improve. There have been months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agencies, but there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees play in a playground at Kutupalong refugee camp, a ramshackle sprawl of camps built amid low rolling hills and endless monsoon-season mud, in Bangladesh. First built more than 20 years ago by earlier, smaller waves of Rohingya refugees, the camps in Cox's Bazar district exploded in size last year when Myanmar's army launched its attacks around Aug. 25, and hundreds of thousands of Rohingya began flooding across the border. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
MOSCOW (AP) - The leader of Russia's Chechnya has vowed to bar human rights activists from visiting his region once the trial of a prominent activist wraps up.

Speaking at a meeting with law enforcement officials in a video released on Thursday, Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to make Chechnya a "no-go zone" for human rights activists, whom he compared to "terrorists and extremists" and accused of "harming Chechnya" on the orders of the West.

Kadyrov, who has been barred from visiting the United States and Europe, said he will impose similar travel bans on "everything and everyone who stands in the way of a peaceful life of our people."

Many international human rights activists who had been unable to work in Chechnya because of constant threats and intimidation have been visiting the region this year to attend the trial of local human rights advocate Oyub Titiyev, who has been charged with drugs possession. Titiyev's supporters dismiss the charges against him as a political vendetta, while Kadyrov has been calling him "a drug addict."

Not a single human rights activist will be allowed into Chechnya once the trial wraps up, Kadyrov said, adding that members of the rights groups "have no right to set foot on my land."

Kadyrov's comments come just days after the predominantly Muslim region was rattled by a series of attacks by five teenage militants who targeted police officers. The Kremlin has relied on Kadyrov, who has trampled out all dissent in that region, to keep Chechnya in check after two separatist wars there in the 1990s.

Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since the 2004 assassination of his father, a separatist leader who switched sides to support the Russian government after two devastating wars in the 1990s. In the past decade, Kadyrov's opponents have been killed or driven into exile; disappearances and extrajudicial killings have become mundane; families of suspected militants have been forced to leave Chechnya; and their houses have been burnt down.

Last year, activists documented a broad crackdown on gay people in Chechnya in which at least 100 suspected gay men were round up and tortured and at least three were killed. A federal investigation found no proof of those reports while Kadyrov insisted that there were no gay people in Chechnya at all.

Tanya Lokshina, associate director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, on Friday called Kadyrov's statement "vicious" and noted that the Kremlin could always stop Kadyrov if it wanted to.

Lokshina told The Associated Press that the rights activists were allowed to travel to Titiyev's trial on Kremlin orders - "this also means that the Kremlin can make it clear to Kadyrov that human rights defenders should be able to work there anytime, safely, which is precisely what it should do, including by ensuring Titiyev's immediate release."

The Kremlin on Friday sought to play down Kadyrov's statement, saying that it may have been "taken out of context."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that he is convinced that Kadyrov's comments "cannot be about all human rights activists" and added that many rights advocates "do a very important job."
BERLIN (AP) - Austrian media are reporting that the asylum application of a 27-year-old Iraqi who said he fled his home country because of his homosexuality was rejected because local authorities said he was behaving "like a girl."

Austrian broadcaster ORF reported Thursday that officials in the country's Styria region said the Iraqi man appeared to be "faking" his homosexuality.

Gay rights groups criticized the explanation, the second such decision to spark criticism in Austria.

Last week, an official in Lower Austria province rejected an Afghan man's asylum application, saying "neither your walk nor behavior nor clothing indicate in any way you might be homosexual."

The country's asylum authority later said it has disciplined the employee in charge of the Afghan's decision, and regretted "linguistic lapses" on his part.
MOSCOW (AP) - Turkey's foreign minister on Friday warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining stronghold of opposition against President Bashar Assad, while Russia indicated that it's losing its patience with the rebels.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was in Moscow for talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, said that Russia and Turkey should work to separate opposition groups from "terrorists" in the northwestern province of Idlib. He warned against a government offensive there, saying that it will cause a "humanitarian catastrophe."

"Our goal is to alleviate the concerns of our Russian counterparts and get rid of the terrorists in that area," he told a briefing in Moscow. "We can work together but we could be putting civilian lives at risk while eradicating those radical groups.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Turkey's Foreign Minister on Friday warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining stronghold of opposition against President Bashar Assad, while Russia indicated that it's losing its patience with the rebels. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russia, which has been a key backer of Assad, launched its operation in Syria in 2015, ultimately helping to turn the tide of the war in Assad's favor.

Turkey, which supports some of the opposition groups along its border with Syria, has mediated cease-fire deals in several areas in Syria, including Idlib. Russia and Iran, who back Assad, have also mediated cease-fires of their own. In most such cases, opposition groups on the verge of surrender gave up their fight and were evacuated to the remaining areas outside government control, namely Idlib.

Taking Idlib by force would be a difficult challenge for Assad's forces. As talk of a new government offensive swirled earlier this week, the leader of Syria's al-Qaida affiliate that is based in the province vowed to fight on there. Abu Mohammed al-Golani said on Wednesday that state-sponsored surrenders of rebel groups won't happen in Idlib like they did elsewhere, because they would be considered "treason" by his fighters.

Russia's Lavrov on Friday indicated that Moscow was losing patience with the Idlib militants, whom the Kremlin has accused of targeting government positions as well as Russia's Syria military base from there.

Lavrov said on Friday that when Turkey, Iran and Russia originally negotiated the cease-fire zones, Moscow did not expect militants to be "using it as a human shield" from which they could attack the government.

Lavrov acknowledged that the situation in Idlib is "complex" and called for the separation of militants from legitimate opposition groups.

Separately in Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hosted his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar and Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan for a meeting that, according to the Russian military, discussed "ways to stabilize the situation in Syria" and military cooperation between the two countries.

The three top Turkish officials stayed on after their afternoon meetings in Moscow to discuss the situation in Idlib with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

Putin in comments released by his office Friday evening hailed Russia's cooperation for making progress in solving the Syria crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu shake hands during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Turkey's Foreign Minister on Friday warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining opposition stronghold while Russia indicated that it's losing its patience with the rebels. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov smiles during his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Turkey's Foreign Minister on Friday warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining opposition stronghold while Russia indicated that it's losing its patience with the rebels. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

This undated photo released by the militant group Levant Liberation Committee on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, shows Abu Mohammed al-Golani of the militant Levant Liberation Committee and the leader of Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, left, talking with a fighter, in the countryside of Latakia, Syria. Al-Golani vowed to fight on in Idlib province, the country's last major rebel stronghold, in the face of a possible government offensive in a video posted online to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, shortly before midnight Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2018. (Militant UGC via AP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu salutes Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrives to attend their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Turkey's Foreign Minister on Friday warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining stronghold of opposition against President Bashar Assad, while Russia indicated that it's losing its patience with the rebels. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, second left, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, second right, and Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Turkey's Foreign Minister on Friday warned against a possible Syrian government offensive on the last remaining stronghold of opposition against President Bashar Assad, while Russia indicated that it's losing its patience with the rebels. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A retired Indianapolis fertility doctor who lied about using his own sperm to impregnate possibly dozens of women surrendered his medical license Thursday to a state board that also barred him from ever seeking its reinstatement.

After an attorney for Dr. Donald Cline surrendered his expired license to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, the 7-member panel voted to prohibit the 79-year-old Cline from ever applying for a license in Indiana again.

Indiana's supervising deputy attorney general, Laura Iosue, asked the board before the vote to consider the impact of Cline's actions.

FILE - In this March 29, 2007 file photo, Dr. Donald Cline, a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist, speaks at a new conference in Indianapolis. Cline, a retired Indianapolis fertility doctor who lied about using his own sperm to impregnate as many as dozens of women, has surrendered his medical license. An attorney for Dr. Donald Cline surrendered his license Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board. (Kelly Wilkinson/The Indianapolis Star via AP File)

"It's particularly egregious. The important thing is that Dr. Cline doesn't practice anymore," she said.

Cline, who retired from practice in 2009, was given a one-year suspended sentence in December after pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice. He'd used his own sperm to impregnate as possibly dozens of women after telling them the donors were anonymous.

No other charges were filed against Cline because Indiana law doesn't specifically prohibit fertility doctors from using their own sperm.

Cline was charged after lying to investigators, and he had faced up to three years in prison on each count. The charges stemmed from two confirmed cases of paternity, but children of women treated by Cline have said DNA tests show he's likely the biological father of as many as 20 of them .

Cline apologized "for the pain my actions have caused" during his December sentencing, although he didn't specify how often he used his own sperm in procedures. But court documents state that he told one of his biological daughters, Jacoba Ballard, that he had done so about 50 times in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ballard said at Thursday's hearing that Cline's actions have "affected me in every possible way."

"He's portrayed as this man that's remorseful," she said.

A total of 10 people who believe Cline is their biological father attended Thursday's hearing with their mothers.

Many of Cline's former patients and their children are now focusing on persuading Indiana lawmakers to pass a measure that would deem a fertility doctor's use of his own sperm as a crime.

Matt White, who learned as an adult that the "anonymous" sperm donor who impregnated his mother was actually Cline, called the surrender of Cline's already expired license "a slap on the wrist." But he said he appreciated the board barring Cline from ever seeking to seek reinstatement of his license.

"That was a small victory," he said.
BERLIN (AP) - A Berlin zoo is celebrating the birth of four rare Sumatran tiger cubs earlier this month.

The Tierpark Berlin zoo said Friday that 7-year-old Mayang gave birth to two female and two male cubs Aug 4. It is her first litter with 10-year-old male Harfan.

The zoo said the cubs are about "bunny size" and will remain secluded from the public until the end of October.

The Aug. 23, 2018 photo provided by Tierpark Berlin Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 shows four rare Sumatran tigers - two female and two male cubs - who were born on Aug. 4. (Steffen Freiling/Tierpark Berlin via AP)

Sumatran tigers are regarded by conservationists as critically endangered. About 350 to 450 animals exist in the wild.

Zoo director Andreas Knieriem said the cubs are genetically valuable to European zoos trying to prevent the extinction of the Sumatran tiger.
NEW YORK (AP) - Police say a man suspected of shooting at a luxury apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side has turned himself in.

Authorities say 22-year-old Farris Koroma walked into a police precinct house with an attorney early Friday. He is charged with charged with criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.

He did not respond to questions from reporters.

Koroma lives on Roosevelt Island, which is across the East River from the 50-story building in which windows were shattered by bullets. No one was injured.

Police on Wednesday tweeted surveillance video of two people who may know something about the shootings. WNBC-TV reports that police said that the man in the video is Koroma, but that the woman isn't being sought because she is a witness.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump dispute with Attorney General Jeff Sessions (all times local):

8 a.m.

President Donald Trump is again complaining that social media companies are "silencing millions of people."

President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable on the "Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act" in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Washington. From left, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Rep. Jeb Hensarling, and Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump tweeted Friday: "Can't do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!"

The president has made similar complaints recently. His commentary comes as many outlets have banned "Infowars" conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from their platforms. Jones is being sued for saying the 2012 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was staged.

Trump appeared on Jones' program during the 2016 campaign and praised his "amazing" reputation.

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6:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is escalating his feud with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, calling on him to investigate a litany of grievances he has long held against those investigating his administration and Democrats.

Trump tweeted Friday that he wants Sessions to "look into all of the corruption on the "other side."" He added: "Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!"

It was the latest in days of verbal sparring between the two.

In an interview with "Fox and Friends" that aired Thursday, Trump accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department. Sessions punched back, saying his department will not be "improperly influenced by political considerations."

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference regarding the country's opioid epidemic, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this video image released by Fox News, President Donald Trump is interviewed for the "Fox & friends" television program by Ainsley Earhardt, shot Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at the White House in Washington. (Fox News via AP)

Michael Cohen leaves Federal court, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in New York. Cohen, has pleaded guilty to charges including campaign finance fraud stemming from hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A Florida judge abruptly retired after calling a black defense attorney "a gorilla" during a court hearing.

Public Defender Carey Haughwout tells the Palm Beach Post that Judge Peter Evans uttered the word so quickly and innocuously that Assistant Public Defender Sheldon Graves didn't even hear it.

An unidentified person reported the slur to Chief Circuit Judge Krista Marx, who listened to a tape of the six-minute hearing where Evans refers to Graves as "the other gorilla defense counsel."

Marx tells the newspaper that Evans was contrite when they discussed it, and both recognized the slur as "a career-ender." He retired Aug. 17.

Evans, who is white, was the lone judge in a predominantly black community. He had planned to retire when his term ended in January.
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Police Department says two men have been wounded by gunfire outside a New York state senator's campaign office.

The shooting took place in Brooklyn, just outside the office of Sen. Jesse Hamilton, at around 7 p.m. Thursday. The New York Post reports both victims were taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The Democratic lawmaker says in a Twitter video that his staff feared for their lives when stray bullets landed inches from the front door of his campaign office in Crown Heights.

Hamilton says gun violence is a problem in the community he serves.

Police are searching for the gunman.

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Information from: New York Post, http://www.nypost.com
ROME (AP) - Many of the 150 migrants stranded aboard a coast guard ship for a ninth day began a hunger strike Friday out of frustration that Italy won't let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by Italy's anti-migrant interior minister.

"They can do whatever they believe," Interior Minister Matteo Salvini tweeted, shrugging off the development that migrants were refusing meals aboard the Italian coast guard vessel Diciotti. The ship rescued them on Aug. 16 from a foundering human trafficker's boat in the central Mediterranean, and for days now has been docked in the port of Catania, Sicily.

An opposition lawmaker, Sen. Davide Faraone said that on Friday Catania port officials told him "there's tension" on the ship and that migrants have stopped eating.

Migrants aboard the Italian Coast Guard ship Diciotti talk as they await decisions in the port of Catania, Italy, Friday, Aug. 24 2018. An Italian lawmaker says rescued migrants stuck aboard an Italian coast guard ship are starting a hunger strike. Rescued on Aug. 16 in the Mediterranean Sea, 150 migrants are still on the ship after minors and the sick were allowed off in recent days. (Orietta Scardino/ANSA via AP)

Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama. On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania. Salvini has been adamant that Italy's populist government won't allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking the asylum-seekers.

All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean; the others are from Somalia, Syria and Sudan. They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya, while waiting to leave that lawless country aboard smugglers' boats.

Another opposition lawmaker who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20, still there.

Appealing to Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: "As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off" the Diciotti.

Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch Friday but the men refused the meal.

But Salvini was staying tough, as was fellow deputy premier, Luigi Di Maio, who heads the senior coalition partner, the euro-skeptic 5-Star Movement.

A meeting in Brussels Friday of advisers from 12 countries, including Italy, grappled with how to share the migrant burden in general among EU members, and when it ended Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte complained on Facebook that no progress was made.

"Yet again, we take the measure of the dysfunction, which morphs into hypocrisy, between words and deeds," Conte said of the latest discussion in Brussels.

Conte said EU members at the meeting "lost a good occasion" to make progress toward solidarity and responsibility "even though they are constantly proclaimed as fundamental values" of the bloc. The meeting's official agenda didn't include the Diciotti's drama.

Di Maio threatened that Italy could withhold some of its yearly 20 billion euro ($23 billion) contribution to the bloc if EU nations didn't make good on promises earlier this year for more solidarity toward the Italians, who have seen more than 600,000 rescued migrants brought to Italian shores in recent years.

If the European Commission meeting doesn't "decide anything about the Diciotti ship and the re-distribution of the migrants, I and all the 5-Star Movement are no longer willing to give 20 billion to the European Union," Di Maio said.

Similar standoffs in recent weeks both involving rescue ships reaching Italy and Malta have been resolved when other EU members agreed to take some of the migrants.

In Brussels, EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein retorted that "the European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats." He urged "all parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution."

EU Parliament president Antonio Tajani told Sky TG24 standoffs over rescued migrants wouldn't happen any more if EU countries, especially in Eastern Europe, had favored reform of the so-called Dublin arrangement, which requires migrants seeking EU asylum to apply for it in the country where they arrive.

Separately, the Italian foreign ministry said that on Thursday Hungary had rebuffed Italy's request that it take some of the migrants aboard the Diciotti.

Salvini has professed admiration in the past for Hungary's tough stance on migrants.

Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
MATTOON, Ill. (AP) - A teenager who shot another student in an Illinois school cafeteria has pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm.

The News-Gazette reports the 15-year-old boy was in a Coles County courtroom on Thursday. He'll be sentenced on Oct 11. His attorney says he expects the teen to remain in juvenile detention for four to five months.

The shooting occurred nearly a year ago at Mattoon High School. Police say a teacher grabbed the boy's arm as he fired at a girl. The gunshot missed the girl but hit another student.

Prosecutor Brian Bower says he can ask the judge to impose an adult sentence of decades in prison if the teen doesn't successfully complete juvenile detention.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com
ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say a model found dead this week in the bedroom of her apartment in Philadelphia's affluent Main Line suburb was strangled.

Lower Merion police say officers conducting a wellness check found 36-year-old Christina Carlin-Kraft around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday inside her first-floor unit at the Cambridge Square apartments in Ardmore. Her death has since been ruled a homicide.

A motive for the slaying remains under investigation. But the Montgomery County District Attorney's office says there "doesn't appear to be any current concern" for area residents.

This undated photo provided by the Kraft family shows Kelsey Kraft, left, and her sister Christina Carlin-Kraft. Authorities say Christina Carlin-Kraft, a model found dead Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in the bedroom of her apartment in Philadelphia's affluent Main Line suburb, was strangled. (Courtesy of the Kraft family via AP)

Neighbors say Carlin-Kraft had just moved into her apartment last week. Her modeling profile lists her credits as photo shoots for Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret, Playboy and Maxim.
An original micro movie titled Tiao Dong De Xin (Beating Heart) recently started shooting at Baotou Youth Development Center, according to a July 23 Baotou Daily report.

The movie, backed by the youth development center, stars students from primary schools in Qingshan district and other regions of Baotou city. The actors starring in the production are all taking part in their first ever movie.

The movie is expected to last a total of 30 minutes and its script was written by Yuan Daiyue, a young director at Baotou Youth Development Center.

It is expected to be released by the end of August.




THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch prime minister on Friday distanced his government from a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest being organized later this year by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders.

Wilders "is not a member of the government. The competition is not a government initiative," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at his weekly press conference.

Rutte's comments came after angry reactions in Pakistan to the proposed contest, which Wilders plans to hold in November in his right-wing Party for Freedom's heavily guarded offices at the Dutch parliament.

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 file photo, Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders addresses the media at the Belgian federal parliament in Brussels. The Dutch prime minister has distanced his government from a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest being organized later this year by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 that Wilders "is not a member of the government. The competition is not a government initiative." (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, file)

Authorities in Pakistan have lodged a diplomatic protest against Wilders' plan, calling it an attempt to defame Islam.

Opposition lawmaker Wilders is well known for his fierce criticism of Islam and has previously sparked fury in Muslim nations with a film about Islam. He lives under a round-the-clock guard following years of death threats.

Physical depictions of God or the Prophet Muhammad, even respectful ones, are considered blasphemous under mainstream Islamic tradition.

Rutte questioned Wilders' motive for organizing the contest, saying "his aim is not to have a debate about Islam. His aim is to be provocative."

However, he added that people in the Netherlands have far-reaching freedom of speech rights.

"This man, Geert Wilders, is known for testing the limits of freedom of expression. He is free to do that," Rutte said. "The Cabinet wants to make clear it is not a Cabinet initiative."

In a tweet, Wilders said the reaction of Rutte and the Dutch foreign minister "show that we are ruled by Islam cuddlers." He said the contest was not meant as a provocation "but to show that we do not bargain with our freedom."
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A two-term state lawmaker who was backed by President Donald Trump but who also promoted his ties to Trump critic Gov. John Kasich won a previously deadlocked congressional special election in Ohio, retaining a coveted open U.S. House seat long held by Republicans.

State Sen. Troy Balderson, of Zanesville, was certified Friday as the voters' pick over Democrat Danny O'Connor, the Franklin County recorder, in Ohio's sprawling 12th District. He'll complete the unexpired term of former long-time U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican who retired in January.

After final absentee and provisional ballots were counted, Balderson defeated O'Connor by 1,680 votes - a mere 0.8-percent margin in a district Trump won by 11 points two years ago. The result fell a few hundred votes outside the margin that would have triggered an automatic recount.

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2018, file photo, Ohio state Sen. Troy Balderson, left, the Republican candidate running to succeed former Republican U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi in Ohio's 12th District, clasps hands with President Donald Trump as Balderson speaks during a rally at Olentangy Orange High School in Lewis Center, Ohio. Balderson, a two-term state senator backed by Trump but who also promoted his ties to Trump critic Ohio Gov. John Kasich, has won a previously deadlocked congressional special election in Ohio, retaining a coveted open U.S. House seat long held by Republicans. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Balderson said he was humbled by the victory.

"Danny O'Connor ran a hard-fought race," he said, "but I look forward to earning the support of voters for a fourth time in November as I share my track record of getting things done for Ohioans."

Balderson and O'Connor, who's from Columbus, must face off again for the full two-year term representing a meandering central Ohio district that stretches from Democrat-heavy Columbus into Trump-supporting suburban and rural areas north and east of Columbus. The race pits a 56-year-old Trump supporter with political experience against a 31-year-old challenger who, if elected, would be the youngest member of Congress.

O'Connor said he'll fight on.

"We went door to door, we went house to house, we made our case for change, and the grassroots army we've created is not done yet," he said in a statement. "In fact, we're just getting started. We have eleven weeks to keep talking to voters, listening to their ideas, and to bring home a win for working families in central Ohio this November."

The special election was viewed a test of voter sentiment before November's high-stakes general election, which will decide which political party controls the House. A key issue was the Republican tax cuts, which Balderson embraced in seeking to win the state's wealthiest district and O'Connor criticized as a threat to Medicare and Social Security.

Balderson's victory buoys Republicans concerned over how Trump might be playing among voters, especially in political battleground states such as Ohio. O'Connor's odds were considered long in the district held by Republicans for nearly 35 years. A third candidate, the Green Party's Joe Manchik, won 1,165 votes, or 0.56 percent of the total.

Balderson won while walking a careful line between the Trump-averse traditionalists in his party, including Kasich and Tiberi, and the president's stalwart supporters.

The governor, a 2016 presidential contender and among the GOP's most outspoken critics of Trump, touted his and Balderson's strong working relationship in campaign ads.

Kasich is particularly well-known in the district, which he represented for 18 years before Tiberi was elected in 2000. But the popularity that he's maintained statewide has shifted to coming more from Democrats than from Republicans in recent years.

Tiberi, who also backed Balderson, was among a group of establishment Republicans who left office or announced their retirements from Congress under Trump.

The support from Kasich and Tiberi was perhaps key, but so was that of Trump, who performed well among district voters in 2016.

Balderson now has the advantage of incumbency headed into the November rematch, but both major parties are expected to fight hard for the seat over the next several months.

Trump visited Ohio to campaign for Balderson in the days leading up to the special election and was back in the state Friday to headline the Ohio Republican Party's annual dinner.

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2018, file photo, Franklin County, Ohio, Recorder Danny O'Connor, center, the Democratic candidate running to succeed former Republican U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi in Ohio's 12th District, speaks to volunteers and supporters at his campaign headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Two-term Republican Ohio state Sen. Troy Balderson was certified Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, as the winner of a previously deadlocked congressional special election, defeating O'Connor to fill the final months of Tiberi's unexpired term, but both will face off again in the Nov. 6, 2018, general election to win a full, two-year term. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Authorities in Wisconsin's water-logged capital city warned residents Friday that they may need to head for higher ground to escape another round of flooding as more storms headed toward the area.

Madison and the rest of surrounding Dane County are struggling to recover after torrential storms settled over the area on Monday night, dumping more than 11 inches of rain in some areas.

The deluge flooded streets, causing power outages and sending cars floating away. A 70-year-old Madison man was killed when he got out of his car and was swept underwater by the current.

Austin Eppli with Gebhardt Development setting up barricades on Livingston Street and East Washington Ave. in Madison, Wis. Madison continues to deal was high water issues Friday Aug. 24, 2018. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Outlying municipalities in the county were hardest hit, with brown water as high as truck cabs filling streets. Preliminary estimates put the damage at $108 million, countywide.

The rain has caused long-lasting problems on Madison's isthmus, a narrow strip of land that runs between lakes Mendota and Monona and is home to the Capitol building and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The rain has driven both lakes to historic levels, Mayor Paul Soglin said at a news conference Friday. City workers have been trying to release water from Lake Mendota through a lock-and-dam into Lake Monona and the Yahara River, but low-lying streets remained flooded as of Friday afternoon. Soglin predicted commuters will struggle with road closures for days and urged people to work from home through Wednesday.

National Weather Service forecasts called for showers and thunderstorms to dump between a quarter-inch and half-inch of rain in the area on Friday night. Sunday night could bring the same amount.

Soglin said 5 inches of rain or more would force mass evacuations around the lakes. Two to 3 inches of rain would likely result in isolated evacuations, the mayor said.

About a dozen Wisconsin National Guard troops as well as Wisconsin prison inmates worked Friday to fill sandbags, Soglin said. City crews still spent the day taping flyers on the doors of some 1,700 homes warning that the houses are in danger of flooding and residents should be prepared if told to evacuate, the mayor said.

He also warned residents to move important items out of their basements and stop buying perishable food for the next few days in case they lose power and can't refrigerate it.

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Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trichmond1

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, file photo, vehicles are stalled on a flooded area of Greenway Boulevard after record rainfall Monday in Middleton, Wis. Officials in Dane County say this week's flooding caused more than $100 million in damage. (Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

FILE - This Aug. 21, 2018, file photo, shows a milk truck damaged after it fell into the missing section of a bridge over Highway 14 in Black Earth, Wis. More than 11 inches of rain fell overnight in places in or around Madison, according to the National Weather Service. Officials in Dane County say this week's flooding caused more than $100 million in damage. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Marta Staple hauls sandbags along Sherman Avenue to her home on Baldwin Street in preparation for flooding in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. Sandbags were made available to area residents in the parking lot at Tenney Beach. Madison city officials are warning residents that rising lake levels will lead to flooding, including main roads in and out of the city center around the state Capitol. (Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Ryan Kessens rides his bike through a flooded East Johnson Street on his way home from work in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. Madison city officials are warning residents that rising lake levels will lead to flooding, including main roads in and out of the city center around the state Capitol. (Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid and everything that depends on electricity in America's hyper-connected society.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security detailed last month how Russian hackers have targeted the nation's energy grid. Officials said they could have caused major blackouts, but instead, the hackers appeared more focused on reconnaissance.

The concern over cyber-threats comes as power companies shift focus to pursue extensive upgrades in software, switches and wires to enable a much more flexible distribution of electricity.

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018 power transmission lines deliver electricity along the Interstates 40 and I-85 corridor in Orange County near Hillsborough, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

That means the likelihood of rate increases for consumers. Utilities have long based their business on building power plants and selling the juice to customers, adding a regulator-approved profit margin to pay for it all. But the need for big generation projects has fallen after decades of energy conservation, fewer factories and the swapping of coal-fired power plants for cheaper and cleaner-burning natural gas.

So electricity companies are telling Wall Street they're shifting their business plans. Now they're having customers pay to replace aging equipment, block malicious hackers, minimize outages, accommodate the upsurge of wind and solar power and allow consumers more control over when and how much power they use.

The investment research firm SSR projects that increased investment in the distribution grid will be the primary source of growth for most utilities over the next five to 10 years. Those investments mean a stream of new revenue that could last decades.

"This infrastructure will provide significant benefits to our customers, including improved customer control and convenience, and cyber and physical security enhancements while creating thousands of jobs and supporting the state's economy," Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good told Wall Street analysts this month. Her spokesman declined an interview request.

The message that big spending is needed is amplified by U.S. government warnings of dire consequences if the grid isn't refashioned to make it tougher to black out and easier to restore. The Department of Energy's latest cybersecurity plan, a National Academy of Sciences report last year and advocacy groups like Protect Our Power are among the voices calling for sustained federal support for grid improvements.

Congress created grants for "smart grid" investments a decade ago, but hasn't appropriated funds for them since the 2009 stimulus package.

"The grid" was essentially built to carry electricity in one direction, from power plants to homes and businesses over a network of poles, wires and high-voltage transmission equipment. Now it has to be updated to accommodate renewable energy that can surge and flow in many directions, be stored in massive batteries and even move in reverse as solar-equipped homes and businesses sell their excess power.

Key pieces of equipment, such as transformers and transmission wires, are 25 years or older. And hackers aren't the only threat: The power supply must be protected against physical attacks, from criminals shooting out transformers to severe weather and even solar storms.

"Old infrastructure needs to be replaced. It's that simple. And that's terrific for the industry, because companies do earn a very competitive rate of return on new investment and so there's a reason to invest," said Ronald Silvestri, managing director of global equity research at investment management firm Neuberger Berman. "This gives the sector a very long tail of attractive growth for many years."

More than three dozen regulated electric companies last year devoted almost half their more than $120 billion in total capital spending to grid improvements, according to the Edison Electric Institute, the trade association for investor-owned utilities. Spending on new power plants fell to less than a third of the total, the trade group said, as electricity demand decreased to its lowest since Recession-marred 2009.

Some of the fastest-growing utilities over the past decade, including American Electric Power, California's Edison International and Florida's NextEra Energy, are the same ones that led the way into grid upgrades, said Eric Selmon of SSR. Profits over the next decade will hinge on increased investment in updating and modernizing the distribution grid, Selmon said.

"We're at the early stages of infrastructure modernization. It's a multi-decade theme that I believe is being vastly underappreciated," Silvestri said.

Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power plans to invest nearly $18 billion in grid improvements in the next four years, across 11 states from Virginia to Oklahoma. AEP said it delivered a total shareholder return of 21 percent in 2017, and the investments will help keep profits growing at 5 percent to 7 percent year after year, chairman and chief executive officer Nicholas Akins said.

Charlotte-based Duke Energy plans to invest $25 billion on grid improvements over the next decade across its territories in the Carolinas, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Utilities won't say exactly how they plan to thwart hackers, but their defenses partly include installing more "smart-grid" communication technology across the network, such as remote sensors and transmission equipment that can better detect suspicious activity and automatically reroute power around outages, Duke Energy said.

Duke Energy already is collecting grid modernization charges in Florida, Ohio and Indiana. But North Carolina regulators this year wouldn't approve the company's proposal to start charging the average household an extra $3,000 to $4,000 over the coming decade to bury power lines and modernize electricity delivery systems.

Good has told analysts Duke Energy can deliver profit growth of around 6 percent a year if state regulators approve the spending and associated profit margins the company wants on grid investments. That compares to an average annual return of 8.3 percent over the past decade for companies on the S&P 500 Index. Including stockholder dividends, Duke Energy's return should be more like a steady 8-10 percent a year, the company is telling investors.

"I see over the next decade more investment in the grid, relatively, than any other part of the supply chain of electricity," Good said in June at a talk in Washington.

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Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio. His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio.

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018 power transmission lines carry electricity along the Interstates 40 and I-85 corridor in Orange County near Hillsborough, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018 power transmission lines deliver electricity to rural Orange County near Hillsborough, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

In this photo taken Friday, July 13, 2018 Grid One Solutions employee Spencer Powell holds a smart meter prior to an installation for Duke Energy Progress at a residence in Raleigh, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. Utilities have long based their business on building power plants and selling the juice to customers to pay for it all. With energy conservation making big new plants less necessary, utilities are banking on future profits from updating the power grid. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

This photo taken Friday, July 13, 2018 shows a newly installed smart meter at a residence in Raleigh, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. Utilities have long based their business on building power plants and selling the juice to customers to pay for it all. With energy conservation making big new plants less necessary, utilities are banking on future profits from updating the power grid. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

In this photo taken Friday, July 13, 2018 Grid One Solutions employee Spencer Powell installs a new smart meter for Duke Energy Progress at a residence in Raleigh, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

In this photo taken Friday, July 13, 2018 Grid One Solutions employee Spencer Powell removes an older electric meter to install a new smart meter for Duke Energy Progress at a residence in Raleigh, N.C. Electric utilities are pouring billions of dollars into a race to prevent terrorists or enemy governments from shutting down the power grid while also making the delivery system ready for a world with much more renewable energy. Utilities have long based their business on building power plants and selling the juice to customers to pay for it all. With energy conservation making big new plants less necessary, utilities are banking on future profits from updating the power grid. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
BERLIN (AP) - Workers have laid the final section of a massive new bridge across the Mosel River in western Germany that has drawn criticism from conservationists.

German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer on Friday described the 1.7-kilometer (1 mile) bridge over the Mosel valley as a "masterpiece of German engineering."

The 175 million euro ($203 million) bridge is up to 160 meters (525 feet) high and contains some 32,000 metric tons (35,270 tons) of steel. Once it's completed next year, it will link Germany's Rhine-Main region with the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

A man and a woman look down to the construction site of the Hochmoselbruecke, a bridge over the river Mosel near the village Zeltingen-Rachtig, Germany, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Thomas Frey/dpa via AP)

Conservationists, however, have complained that the bridge ruins the landscape in the region, which is known for its picturesque vineyards that are popular with tourists.
FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. (AP) - It was five days before ballots will be counted in his bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and former Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio had no idea what he was doing.

The final days of a campaign are usually frantic, with candidates' every moment scheduled to ensure they meet as many voters as possible. But Arpaio had nothing planned Thursday until a 4:30 p.m. meeting.

"I ought to go to a Mexican restaurant and see how they treat me," Arpaio, 86, said as he sat in his strip mall office. So he and his aides piled into the newly-rented campaign bus in the latest stage of what is likely to be the controversial lawman's long goodbye.

U.S. senatorial candidate and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio walks to his campaign tour bus Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Fountain Hills, Ariz. Arpaio's Senate run will likely be the former sheriff's last political act, as he is expected to finish well outside the running in the GOP Senate primary. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Arpaio served six terms as sheriff of Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. He won national acclaim and condemnation for his hardline policies. He jailed inmates in tents in the desert heat. He directed deputies to hunt people in the country illegally, a practice a court found to be racial profiling. He lost his 2016 re-election bid after being convicted of contempt of court for continuing that profiling. He was pardoned by President Trump last year.

Now he's disappointed some supporters with his erratic GOP Senate primary bid in which he lags badly in polls behind U.S. Rep. Martha McSally and former state Sen. Kelli Ward. Arpaio's legacy, they fear, will be splitting the conservative vote Tuesday, letting McSally, the favorite of establishment Republicans with whom Arpaio has long feuded, win the nomination.

"It is a kamikaze mission," said Constantine Querard, a political strategist and former Arpaio supporter who supports Ward. "The only question is, is it malpractice, or is the candidate in on it?"

The Republican nominee will most likely face Democratic U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Synema, a formidable opponent whose party hopes can flip the seat from the GOP. Arpaio, analysts say, has become a mere sideshow.

"No one really understands why he's in the race," said Stan Barnes, a Republican lobbyist. "The whisper around Arizona political circles is this is the kind of thing that an 86-year-old egomaniac would do because no one can control him."

As he climbed onto the bus emblazoned with his face and a classic Arizona desert landscape, Arpaio dismissed the criticism. He fumed that McSally, an Air Force Colonel, the country's first female combat pilot and a onetime Trump critic turned supporter, has gotten all the money and attention.

"They're going for her rather than me - the loyalty I showed these people, endorsing them, getting them jobs," Arpaio said in his gravelly monotone. "Anybody in their right mind, if they were hiring, somebody would hire me, not these two novices," he added of McSally and Ward.

The bus was largely empty. The driver was the campaign manager, Chris Hegstrom, Arpaio's former spokesman at the sheriff's department. In the back were a handful of volunteers, including a former Republican candidate for Missouri's U.S. Senate who finished eighth in that primary race and brought his pistol along during the ride.

Hegstrom angled the bus into a nearby Costco parking lot. He needed to pick up hot dogs for a campaign barbecue, and the former sheriff wanted to look for votes.

Arpaio climbed down, removed his snap-on tie and immediately caused a traffic jam.

Victor Antablian, 77, stopped his black Mercedes and climbed out to shake Arpaio's hand.

"What a guy!" he cried. He coaxed his wife Jan out -- she discovered Arpaio had grown up in a western Massachusetts town near her own. Both pledged to vote for the former sheriff.

As Arpaio's aides snapped pictures other cars slowed down. Arpaio waved at the gawkers.

"Don't wave to me, I don't wave to felons," shouted a man in another Mercedes before driving past. (Arpaio's conviction of contempt of court was a misdemeanor.)

Most onlookers were thrilled to see Arpaio. One took a sheet of campaign stickers to give to her extended family. Another said his parents owned a horse ranch near Arpaio's house. Leonardo Venegas, 38, gave Arpaio a straw hat to sign, saying it was in the style of his hometown of Puebla, Mexico.

Delighted, Arpaio told Venegas in broken Spanish that he lived in Mexico for four years while working for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Venegas, an immigrant in the country legally, dismissed complaints that Arpaio has been racist to Latinos. "We have to recognize that a country or state without laws becomes like Mexico,' Venegas said in Spanish.

John Dach had just moved to Arizona from California, drawn by the state's reputation. "When I think of Arizona and the politicians and the voters, Joe Arpaio is one of the local celebrities you think of," he said.

Dach, 34, was surprised that the former sheriff was an underdog now. "He might be more popular outside the state than inside," Dach said.

As sheriff, Arpaio became an icon for hardline immigration supporters and raised millions of dollars nationwide. He traveled to Iowa and flirted with a presidential run. But his margins of victory back home shrunk as his legal troubles grew.

Maricopa County paid tens of millions of dollars in settlements against Arpaio's agency, which piled up unsolved sex crime cases as it focused on enforcement against people in the country illegally. Arpaio arrested one Republican county supervisor who criticized him (ultimately, no charges were filed). Much of the county's growing Latino population and others mobilized against him. Arpaio lost his re-election bid in 2016 by 12 percentage points even as Trump won Arizona.

"The longer he stayed, the more people grew tired of his antics," Barnes said.

Republican voters now wonder whether the former sheriff is too old -- he'd be the oldest person ever elected to a first term in the U.S. Senate and would be 92 when his term would end.

Scott Reed, 57, a contractor, shook Arpaio's hand and said: "You should be on a beach somewhere taking it easy."

"I'll race you around the block," Arpaio countered.

Reed revealed he was a Democrat. "I'll get your vote in November," Arpaio said.

Reed looked at the sheriff sympathetically. "Good luck to you, Joe," he said.

Energized by the largely supportive crowd, Arpaio climbed back on the bus. It headed for the Mexican restaurant.

The bus arrived too late for a big reaction - the lunch rush had ended. The owner greeted the sheriff warmly and asked what he wanted.

"Spaghetti and meatballs," Arpaio quipped. He got a bean and cheese tostada.

The scene inside was muted, a far cry from the Costco frenzy. A few people stopped to thank the former sheriff and snap pictures. Others averted their eyes.

After eating, Arpaio and his entourage piled back into the bus. Time to head back for that scheduled meeting.

"I don't feel like I'm in my 80s," a contemplative Arpaio said as the bus cut through the afternoon heat and haze. "I work continuously. I don't have any hobbies."

"I've got one more shot."

U.S. Senate candidate and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks with voters at a campaign stop Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Arpaio's Senate run will likely be the former sheriff's last political act, as he is expected to finish well outside the running in the GOP Senate primary. (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Senate candidate and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is greeted by his wife, Ava, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Fountain Hills, Ariz., after a morning of campaigning throughout Maricopa County. Arpaio's Senate run will likely be the former sheriff's last political act, as he is expected to finish well outside the running in the GOP Senate primary. (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Senate candidate and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks to a voter at a campaign stop Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Arpaio's Senate run will likely be the former aheriff's last political act, as he is expected to finish well outside the running in the GOP Senate primary. (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Senate candidate and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks with a voter at a campaign stop Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Arpaio's Senate run will likely be the former sheriff's last political act, as he is expected to finish well outside the running in the GOP Senate primary. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Leonardo Montera places his sombrero on the head of U.S. senatorial candidate and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at a campaign stop Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Arpaio's Senate run will likely be the former sheriff's last political act, as he is expected to finish well outside the running in the GOP Senate primary. (AP Photo/Matt York)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - A decline in migrants from Eritrea is expected after the country and Ethiopia have made peace, Germany's development minister said Friday after visiting the long-reclusive country.

Gerd Mueller spoke to reporters in Ethiopia after meeting Eritrea's longtime President Isaias Afwerki.

Eritrea has been a major source of migrants fleeing toward Europe and elsewhere, but a dramatic diplomatic thaw in recent months with Ethiopia and its new prime minister has brought fresh attention from the international community.

Germany currently has about 75,000 asylum-seekers from Eritrea and some 15,000 young Eritreans have sought asylum "in the course of this year" alone, Mueller said.

The minister said he hoped Eritrea's system of years-long military conscription, long criticized by human rights groups, will be reduced and that the country will move toward "democratic structures" so people no longer will feel the need to leave.

Eritrea's people are now "full of hope," he said.

Mueller also praised Ethiopia's recent reforms under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, saying he hoped Eritrea would follow suit, and announced 100 million euros ($116 million) in development assistance.

Following on Abiy's moves to open up state-owned companies to outside investment in one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, the German minister said Deutsche Telekom should step in and make an offer.

"Also, Volkswagen is finally starting the production of components here in Ethiopia. The next step would have to be the production of entire automobiles here," Mueller said.

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Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa
NEW YORK (AP) - One of the nation's most respected medical experts, who led the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, entered a courtroom on Friday in handcuffs, arrested on sexual-harassment charges after a woman accused him of grabbing her behind late one night last year.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, who for years informed the public about dangers to their health, sat stone-faced as a judge warned him not to approach the woman, who accused him of groping her on Oct. 20, 2017, in his Brooklyn home.

Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, was arrested earlier Friday on three charges: forcible touching, sex abuse and harassment. His attorney, Laura Brevetti, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Thomas Frieden, center, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Reuters Photo/Lucas Jackson, Reuters Pool)

The 55-year-old accuser, who knew Frieden, reported the encounter in July, and he was taken into custody after an investigation.

The judge ordered Frieden to refrain from any contact with the woman and to surrender his U.S. passport. Frieden was freed on his own recognizance, leaving in a car with his attorney. His next court appearance is Oct. 11.

Frieden leads a health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives, which is housed by nonprofit global health organization Vital Strategies.

"The allegation does not reflect Dr. Frieden's public or private behavior or his values over a lifetime of service to improve health around the world," said a statement issued by a spokesman on his behalf.

The president of Vital Strategies, Jose L. Castro, came out in support of Frieden. He said Frieden informed him in April that "a non-work-related friend of his and his family of more than 30 years accused him of inappropriate physical contact."

"I have known and worked closely with Dr. Frieden for nearly 30 years and have seen first-hand that he has the highest ethical standards both personally and professionally," Castro said in a statement. "In all of my experiences with him, there have never been any concerns or reports of inappropriate conduct."

Nonetheless, earlier this month Vital Strategies hired an investigator to interview Resolve to Save Lives employees even though the woman didn't work there. Castro said the investigation found no inappropriate workplace behavior.

"Vital Strategies greatly values the work Dr. Frieden does to advance public health and he has my full confidence," Castro said.

Frieden was a disease investigator at the Atlanta-based CDC, the nation's top public health agency, in 1990 when he was assigned to New York City and worked on a large outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis. He stayed, taking a job heading the city's tuberculosis control.

In 1996, he began working in India with the World Health Organization on tuberculosis control.

Frieden became New York City's health commissioner in 2002 and was known for his aggressive measures to attack chronic diseases. In 2003, New York banned smoking in almost all workplaces, a precedent-setting move that inspired other cities to do the same. In 2006, it became the first U.S. city to ban restaurants from using artificial trans fats and required hundreds of eateries to post calorie counts on their menus.

In 2009, President Barack Obama's administration picked Frieden to head the CDC. Frieden led U.S. public health efforts during a range of high-profile national and international health crises, including pandemic flu, Ebola and Zika.

Frieden was CDC director until January 2017, when he resigned as part of the turnover to President Donald Trump's administration.

In September 2017, Frieden announced he had moved back to New York City to head the $225 million Resolve to Save Lives initiative.

___

Associated Press writers Kiley Armstrong and Mike Stobbe in New York and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

Thomas Frieden, right, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, right, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Thomas Frieden is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

FILE - In this April 1, 2016, file photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden speaks during a news conference in Atlanta. The New York Police Department says Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, was arrested on Friday morning in Brooklyn on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - In this May 26, 2016 file photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. The New York Police Department says Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, was arrested on Friday morning in Brooklyn on a sex abuse charge.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal judge on Friday delayed a trial over Arkansas' lethal injection method after an attorney for the state said it is "highly unlikely" the state will be obtain new execution drugs or set execution dates before next spring.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker granted the state's request to delay until April 2019 the trial challenging the state's use of midazolam, a sedative used in executions that a group of death row inmates claim couldn't render them unconscious and might expose them to excruciating pain. The trial was originally set for November.

In a brief hearing before Baker, Senior Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt noted that prison officials have previously said they won't seek new execution drugs until the Legislature adds manufacturers to a law that keeps Arkansas' source of execution drugs secret. The Legislature convenes for its regular session in January.

"As a practical matter, it is highly unlikely that the state will search for, acquire drugs and set executions prior to spring of next year," Merritt said.

Attorneys for the inmates initially asked Baker to order Arkansas to not schedule executions using midazolam until there was a ruling in the case. But the federal public defenders agreed to the delay after Merritt's comments at the hearing.

Arkansas prison officials said in July that they hadn't been actively seeking new execution drugs since their supply of vecuronium bromide, which stops the lungs, expired in March. Its supply of potassium chloride, which stops the heart, expires at the end of this month and its midazolam supply expires at the end of January.
Art performance at the event (Source: toquoc.vn)

The event is being organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and Central Group, with the cooperation of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

It has attracted some 60 Vietnamese enterprises, with more than 50 booths displaying processed fruits, coffee, instant noodles, mushrooms, and handicrafts.

Tourism is a new highlight of this years event, with the participation of several tour operators and airlines, including Vietjet Air, Thai Airways, Air Asia, Bangkok Airways, Centara Hotels & Resorts, ASIANA travel and Accor Group. The event is expected to open the door for Vietnamese travel firms to interact with Thai customers and introduce Vietnams tourist destinations and attractions to them.

In addition, traditional art performances, traditional foods and fashion programs are also held to popularize Vietnamese culture among the Thai people./.
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - A judge is dismissing the most serious charges filed in a pledge's fatal injuries suffered inside a Penn State fraternity house.

District Judge Carmine Prestia on Friday dismissed charges including involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, saying the evidence is insufficient. But Prestia says six of the seven remaining defendants can be tried on less serious misdemeanor hazing charges.

Tampering, hindering apprehension and obstruction charges were dismissed against the seventh defendant. Two others previously pleaded guilty.

FILE - This Nov. 9, 2017, file photo shows the shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity house on Penn State University's main campus in State College, Pa. Former members of the fraternity are due in court for a preliminary hearing on charges related to the February 2017 death of a pledge after a night of hazing and drinking. The hearing Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, before a district judge will determine if there's enough evidence to send charges against several of the defendants in the case to county court for trial. The charges relate to the death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza, of Lebanon, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The seven Beta Theta Pi fraternity members were going through another hearing because a county judge reinstated charges previously dismissed by a district judge.

The charges stem from the 2017 death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza of New Jersey.

Piazza died of severe head and abdominal injuries. Authorities say he consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump said Friday he has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a planned trip to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on denuclearization.

Trump put some blame on Beijing, saying he does not believe China is helping "because of our much tougher Trading stance."

The surprise announcement appeared to mark a concession by the president to domestic and international concerns that his prior claims of world-altering progress on the peninsula had been strikingly premature.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk to board Air Force One for a trip to Columbus, Ohio to visit the National Children's Hospital, and to speak at the Ohio Republican State Party dinner, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump tweeted Friday, barely two months after his June meeting with the North's Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

Trump's comment followed a report issued Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining "grave concern" about the North's nuclear program. It came a day after Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun, a senior executive with the Ford Motor Co., to be his special envoy for North Korea and said he and Biegun would visit next week.

The State Department never confirmed details of the trip, but it had been expected that Pompeo would be in Pyongyang for at least several hours Monday, according to several diplomatic sources familiar with the plan.

White House officials declined to specify what prompted Trump to call off Pompeo's trip or what had changed since the president's rose-colored-glasses assessments of the nuclear situation just days ago.

A senior White House official said Trump made the decision to cancel the visit Friday morning during a meeting with Pompeo, Biegun, chief of staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton, who joined by phone. Intelligence and defense officials were not in the meeting, the official said, seeming to indicate that the breakdown was diplomatic in nature. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the matter and referred questions to the White House.

Trump laid unspecified blame on China, North Korea's leading trade partner, which is widely believed to hold the greatest sway over Kim's government.

The U.S. and China have been locked in a trade dispute for months, with each side ratcheting up tariffs on imports from the other country in what may be the opening salvos of a trade war.

Trump tweeted that "Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved." He added: "In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!"

After more a year of escalating tensions defined by nuclear and missile tests, new sanctions and "fire and fury" rhetoric, Trump made history meeting Kim earlier this year. In the run-up to the summit both nations engaged in hard-nosed negotiation, with Trump publically calling off the meeting in an effort to push Kim to agree to nuclear concessions. During the summit, the pair signed a vague joint statement in which the North agreed to denuclearize, but which left nearly all details undefined.

"There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea," Trump declared on Twitter after the meeting.

"Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem," he added. "No longer - sleep well tonight!"

Pompeo would have been hard pressed to return from Pyongyang with anything resembling progress on the denuclearization front.

Although it has halted nuclear and missile testing and taken some unrelated steps - dismantling portions of a missile engine facility and returning the suspected remains of American servicemen killed during the Korean War - its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile development remain intact, according the U.N.'s atomic watchdog and intelligence agencies.

In addition, recent statements from North Korean officials have ruled out any new concessions until it sees a reciprocal gesture from the U.S. beyond suspending military exercises with South Korea. North Korea has been demanding that the U.S. ease or lift crippling sanctions - something Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton have flatly ruled out until the its nuclear program is fully and verifiably dismantled.

Other than sanctions relief, the North, backed by South Korea, has been seeking a declaration of the end of the Korean War. The conflict stopped with the signing of an armistice rather than a peace treaty, meaning the war is not technically over. Both the North and South have vowed to end the open state of hostilities, and Seoul had been hoping to persuade the Trump administration to sign off on a non-binding end-of-war declaration as a goodwill gesture that would give Kim Jong Un domestic cover to proceed with denuclearization moves.

Pompeo and other administration officials have suggested some concessions short of easing or lifting sanctions are possible before verified denuclearization, but have refused to be specific about what they could be. And they have been skeptical about an end-of-war declaration in the absence of any progress on the nuclear matter.

At the same time, lawmakers from both parties, including GOP hawks who generally support Trump, have expressed concerns about such a move, as it could be used by the North to demand the removal of U.S. troops from South Korea and potentially Japan without anything in return.

Trump had kept up the positive tone as recently as Tuesday at a campaign rally in West Virginia. There Trump maintained "we're doing well with North Korea."

"There's been no missile launches. There's been no rocket launches," he added.

At the same rally, Trump seemed to take a different tone too on China, saying he had withheld some criticism of China because "I wanted them to help us with North Korea and they have."

__

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - In a story Aug. 22 about a mother accused of killing her 7-year-old son and then attempting suicide, The Associated Press misattributed the information about the boy's diagnosis. That information was provided by KTVZ-TV, not family friend Dianna Hansen.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Authorities: Mom shot disabled son, then attempted suicide

Bend police say a mother fatally shot her disabled son and then attempted suicide

By GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A single mother fatally shot her severely disabled 7-year-old son and then attempted suicide after years spent caring for her child, authorities and family friends in Oregon said Wednesday.

A relative found Tashina Aleine Jordan, 28, unconscious Monday at the Bend home she shared with her son and mother. Authorities found the boy, named Mason, and pronounced him dead. Notes at the scene indicated Jordan was the shooter, police spokesman Lt. Clint Burleigh told KTVZ-TV.

Jordan remained hospitalized Wednesday and clinging to life after taking a combination of pills, said Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel.

The woman was the primary caretaker of her son, who suffered brain bleeds as an infant and lapsed into a coma before reawakening. He was unable to feed, bathe or dress himself and used a wheelchair, said Dianna Hansen, a close family friend. Mason's father left after his diagnosis and Jordan lived with her mother to make ends meet, said Hansen, the executive director of the Central Oregon Disability Support Network.

Jordan was on the network's board of directors and volunteered as much as she could to help other families with disabled children, Hansen said. She also homeschooled Mason after deciding that public elementary school wasn't right for him and came up with elaborate lesson plans tailored to his abilities, she said.

"She was just an amazing, amazing mother who dedicated her whole life to him. Everything that she could possibly do for him, she did," Hansen said.

Mason had cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus, according to KTVZ. He required multiple surgeries, including two or three so far this year, but always seemed happy, Hansen said.

His mother showed no signs of depression or of feeling overwhelmed, she added.

"None of us saw it coming at all. It's a total shock. It's not something that's uncommon for caregivers to talk about and try to work through and share that they've had thoughts of that, but generally by the time they're talking about it . then they're less likely to do it," said Hansen, who also has a disabled child.

"There was no talk or sign to any of us that were her friends."

KTVZ-TV interviewed Jordan when her son was 4, after viewers raised $4,000 to buy the child a specialized bicycle that he could operate himself.

"I told the doctors to keep going, and shortly after that Mason came out of his coma and was able to have his heart surgery," she told the station in 2016. "I was told that he was never going to walk or do anything, and here we are now."

A GoFundMe page to assist the boy's grandmother with funeral and related expenses has been set up by the Central Oregon Disability Support Network.

Bend is about 160 miles (258 kilometers) southeast of Portland.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in Connecticut has resigned amid allegations that he violated church policies on contact with children, although diocesan officials stress he is not accused of sexual misconduct.

The Diocese of Bridgepoint announced Friday that the Rev. Frank Gomez of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Bridgeport opted to resign rather than undergo "treatment and assessment" at a facility in Canada.

Diocese officials say Gomez texted children without their parents' knowledge, offered them gifts and made physical contact that was not sexual but made people uncomfortable.

Bishop Frank Caggiano says Gomez was accused of "serious boundary violations" but nothing "illegal or immoral."

Gomez was previously placed on leave. He has been pastor at St. Charles Borromeo since 2015. He did not return an email requesting comment.

___

Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com
NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on the arrest of a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

A judge has ordered former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Thomas Frieden (FREE'-den) to stay away from a woman he's accused of groping at his New York home last October.

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Frieden appeared stone-faced in court on Friday to face sexual-harassment charges. His lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

He was ordered to refrain from any contact with the woman and to surrender his U.S. passport. He was freed on his own recognizance and is due back in court Oct. 11.

The former New York City health commissioner was taken into court with his hands cuffed behind his back. He didn't speak to reporters after and left court in an SUV with his attorney.

A statement released earlier for Frieden says the allegation against him "does not reflect" his "public or private behavior or his values."

___

3:30 p.m.

The head of a nonprofit global health organization says he has "full confidence" in the arrested former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vital Strategies CEO Jose L. Castro issued a statement Friday in support of Dr. Thomas Frieden (FREE'-den), who's accused of groping a woman's buttocks at his New York home last October.

Frieden is awaiting a court appearance in connection with the woman's claim.

Vital Strategies houses a health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives, led by Frieden.

Castro says Frieden informed him in April a longtime family friend had accused him of inappropriate contact, a claim Frieden denies.

Castro says Vital Strategies hired an investigator to interview Resolve to Save Lives employees even though the woman doesn't work there. He says it found no inappropriate workplace behavior.

___

2:15 p.m.

The arrested former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a denial in response to a woman's allegation he groped her buttocks at his New York home.

A statement released Friday on behalf of Dr. Thomas Frieden (FREE'-den) says the allegation "does not reflect" his "public or private behavior or his values." It notes his "lifetime of service to improve health around the world."

Frieden was awaiting a court appearance on Friday in connection with the woman's claim he groped her buttocks at his Brooklyn home on Oct. 20, 2017. The woman reported it in July, and he was taken into custody after an investigation.

The accuser is a 55-year-old woman who knew Frieden.

Frieden also is a former New York City health commissioner. He's charged with forcible touching, sex abuse and harassment.

___

12:35 p.m.

A former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge.

The New York Police Department says Thomas Frieden (FREE'-den) was arrested on Friday morning in Brooklyn.

WABC says Frieden surrendered to face charges that he grabbed the buttocks of a woman he knew in his home last October. It says she reported it in July.

Frieden also is a former New York City health commissioner and is charged with forcible touching, sex abuse and harassment.

Frieden leads a global health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives. An email sent to a representative for Frieden there hasn't received a reply.

There's no information on an attorney who could comment on Frieden's behalf.

___

12:20 p.m.

A former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge.

The New York Police Department says Thomas Frieden (FREE'-den) was arrested on Friday morning in Brooklyn.

WABC says Frieden surrendered to face charges that he grabbed the buttocks of a woman he knew in his home last October. It says she reported it in July.

Frieden also is a former New York City health commissioner and is charged with forcible touching, sex abuse and harassment.

There's no information on an attorney who could comment on Frieden's behalf.

An email sent to the place where it's believed Frieden works hasn't received a reply.

Thomas Frieden, right, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, center, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Reuters Photo/Lucas Jackson, Reuters Pool)

Thomas Frieden, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, right, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Thomas Frieden is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, is seen during his arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters via Pool)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Thomas Frieden, center, leaves Brooklyn federal court, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in New York. Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been arrested in New York on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

FILE - In this May 26, 2016 file photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. The New York Police Department says Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, was arrested on Friday morning in Brooklyn on a sex abuse charge.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - In this April 1, 2016, file photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden speaks during a news conference in Atlanta. The New York Police Department says Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, was arrested on Friday morning in Brooklyn on a sex abuse charge. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A Utah man accused of killing a city worker and setting her body on fire after she mailed him notice to clean up his yard has pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges.

An attorney for 64-year-old Kevin W. Billings entered the pleas during a court hearing Friday in Salt Lake City. Billings appeared via video from jail but didn't speak. He was in a wheelchair and sported a long, gray beard.

Public defender Nick Falcone told the judge that Billings would be pleading not guilty to all charges.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office shows Kevin W. Billings. Billings, the Utah man accused of killing a code enforcement officer and setting her body on fire after she mailed him notice to clean up his yard is pleading not guilty to murder and arson charges. (Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office, via AP, File)

Police say Billings killed code enforcement officer Jill Robinson on Aug. 9 in West Valley City and said she "got what she deserved" after "years of harassment."

Billings is charged with 13 counts, including aggravated murder, which carries the possibility of the death penalty.

FILE - In this June 20, 2008 file photo, West Valley Code Enforcement Officer Jill Robinson checks a home for violations in West Valley City, Utah. The Utah man accused of killing Robinson and setting her body on fire after she mailed him notice to clean up his yard is pleading not guilty to murder and arson charges. An attorney for the 64-year-old Kevin W. Billings entered the pleas during an initial court appearance Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Salt Lake City. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP, File)
RENO, Nev. (AP) - A lawyer for Burning Man organizers sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs calling for an end to what he called the unconstitutional tactic of stepped-up traffic stops of vehicles bound for the annual counter-culture festival in the Nevada desert, the Reno Gazette Journal reported Friday.

Special counsel Adam Belsky also demanded federal officials preserve all records related to the stops and searches on a state highway through Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal land.

The weeklong event that begins at midnight Sunday is expected to attract 80,000 people to the Black Rock Desert on land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

File - In this Aug. 25, 2014 file photo, Jeff Difabrizio, left, and Jahliele Paquin of Yellowknife, Canada, load up provisions in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., on their first trek to Burning Man. Burning Man organizers are threatening to sue federal officials over a dramatic increase in traffic stops of vehicles bound for the annual counter-culture festival in the Nevada desert 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Reno. The Reno Gazette Journal reported Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, the organization's lawyer sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs calling for an immediate halt to the "unconstitutional" tactic. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner, File)

Belsky says many of the traffic stops are attempts to intimidate and harass travelers doing nothing more than passing through the reservation on a state-maintained highway.

"It appears that the BIA agents are unconstitutionally targeting attendees of the Burning Man event in violation of their First Amendment rights of free expression and of freedom to assemble," Belsky wrote.

Burning Man organizers argued in the letter to acting Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Daryl LaCounte that the stops have slowed internal preparations for the event and could affect their ability to provide ice, portable toilet maintenance and public services at the event.

Federal authorities insist they are not targeting Burning Man travelers. Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, said the stops are part of an effort to crack down on a nationwide opioid epidemic on tribal lands.

"It's a serious problem that Indian Country has, that the country has. This is an opportunity to help the tribe," Darling told the Gazette Journal.

"It has nothing to do with Burning Man," she said. "If they are driving through and they're not breaking the law, then they should have no problem."

Billed as the largest outdoor arts festival in North America, Burning Man is a psychedelic adventure that combines wilderness camping with avante-garde performance - a Mardi Gras-like celebration on what appears to be the surface of the moon.

This year, so-called Burners making their trek to the ancient dried up lake bed have experienced stops in the area of Nixon, a small town halfway between Reno and the Burning Man site. A long stretch of State Route 447, which passes through Nixon, is the only main road to the site.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has not been involved in enforcing the law in years past, but BIA officers in partnership with tribal officers have been accused of stopping vehicles for minor infractions, Belsky said, adding that law enforcement officers are also searching some vehicles, sometimes with K9 units.

Burning Man attendees have been known to partake in controlled substances during the event, as evidenced by arrest and citation records. More than 50 people are arrested each year at the event, most on drug-related charges, and dozens more are cited for drug-related violations.

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Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - As Sen. John McCain's family announced that the ailing veteran is stopping treatment for brain cancer, the Army paid tribute Friday at the opening of a new warfare modernization headquarters in Texas that he played a driving role in creating.

"None of this would be happening without someone who's not here today, and that's Sen. John McCain, an American hero," said Gen. Mark Milley, the Army's chief of staff.

The activation of the Futures Command in the downtown heart of tech-savvy Austin came just hours after McCain's family said in a statement that the Senate Armed Services chairman had surpassed expectations for survival but that the progress of the disease and McCain's age "render their verdict." McCain turns 82 next week

Sen. John Cornyn speaks speaks during an activation ceremony for the U.S. Army futures Command, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The headquarters will be located at the University of Texas Systems Building in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

McCain's condition worsened last fall and the Arizona Republican has been in his home state since December.

Two members of McCain's staff attended the ushering in of what the Army says amounts to its most significant restructuring in more than 40 years. The command is tasked with modernizing everything from combat vehicles to weapons and helping soldiers adapt to emerging threats from powers such as Chine and Russia.

Among the first signature initiatives that should come out of the command in the next few years, Army leaders say, is new optical headwear for soldiers that can display maps or simulate missions.

Milley and other Army leaders described McCain, a former Navy pilot who was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years, as a guiding force in making the command a reality. Discussions on establishing a Futures Command began about two years ago.

McCain, a long-term survivor of the deadly skin cancer melanoma, underwent surgery in July 2017 to remove a blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumor called a glioblastoma.

"I wish he could be here. I know from talking to Gen. Milley that he was key," said Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn. "I know that he would love to be here and be pleased."

About 500 people are expected to work at the command, most of whom will be civilians. The command for now will operate out of the University of Texas System's new downtown headquarters that is surrounded by nearby startups and tech incubators. The Army says it wanted to tap into that workforce.

Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Raleigh, North Carolina, were also on the Army's shortlist of finalists.

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Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber

Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Crosby, left, unfurls the new flag during an activation ceremony for the U.S. Army futures Command as Gen. Mark A. Milley, center, Gen. John M. Murray, right, and Secretary of Army Mark Esper, second from right, look on, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The headquarters will be located at the University of Texas Systems Building in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chile of Staff of the Army, speaks during an activation ceremony for the U.S. Army futures Command, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The headquarters will be located at the University of Texas Systems Building in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott passes a row of flags after speaking during an activation ceremony for the U.S. Army futures Command, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The headquarters will be located at the University of Texas Systems Building in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

United States, Texas and military flags are removed following an activation ceremony for the U.S. Army futures Command, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The headquarters will be located at the University of Texas Systems Building in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Crosby stands with the new Army Futures Command flag during an activation ceremony for the U.S. Army futures, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The headquarters will be located at the University of Texas Systems Building in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue headlines of the week. None of these stories is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts:

NOT REAL: "Mitt Romney: 'Trump has some very serious emotional problems, he must resign before we...'

THE FACTS: Mitt Romney did not say Trump should resign over sexual harassment allegations despite what an article circulating online suggests. The article, published on a website made to mimic a regional newspaper, claims Romney, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, made the comments during an appearance on CNN's "AC360," an apparent reference to "Anderson Cooper 360." Romney is quoted as saying: "I think you've got a president who has some very serious emotional problems." But Romney didn't make the comments, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders did during an appearance on Cooper's show in December. Shimrit Sheetrit, public relations director for the show, said that "Mitt Romney hasn't been on our show in many months."

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 26, 2018 file photo, Mitt Romney, former GOP presidential nominee, addresses supporters at during an election night party in Orem, Utah. On Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, The Associated Press has found that stories circulating on the internet that Romney said Trump should resign over sexual harassment allegations, are untrue. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

NOT REAL: "I am sending troops to South Africa, and they will not leave until the killings stop and the land issue is resolved," Donald Trump

THE FACTS: President Donald Trump did not say that he would send troops to South Africa and keep them there "until the killings stop and the land issue is resolved," despite reports circulating online. The reports, which appear to have originated on a South African satire site, are now being shared more widely on Facebook. The false information follows a tweet by Trump on Wednesday saying his administration would look into seizures of white-owned farms and the "large scale killing of farmers." Trump tweeted after Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa had already started "seizing the land from his own citizens without compensation because they are the wrong skin color." An AP Fact Check found the number of murders on farms is down from 2001-2002 when police recorded 140 farm killings. South Africa has been looking into land expropriation and redistribution to black farmers as a way of righting the injustices of apartheid. No legislation has been put forward and there have been no government seizures of agricultural land.

NOT REAL: WestJet not giving out free coupons

THE FACTS: WestJet Airlines is not giving out two free tickets to celebrate its birthday despite an offer circulating on social media. The scam asks users to fill out a survey to receive a pair of 332 remaining tickets. Afterward, users are asked to share the ad and type "Thanks for tickets #Westjet!" in the comments field. It then says users can click the "Claim Now" button to enter their personal details. The advertisement "is not a legitimate offer," WestJet spokeswoman Morgan Bell told The Associated Press in an email. Bell said more information about dealing with scams is available on the airline's advisory page. Similar coupon offers involving companies from Dunkin' Donuts to Toyota have circulated across social media platforms in recent months.

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This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.

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Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck

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Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) - Chad Brown's roots run deep at the Travers Stakes.

"It's the biggest race for me. It's my home track," said Brown, a trainer who grew up in nearby Mechanicville, New York. "It's very special to me. Going to Saratoga as a kid, and going to many Travers growing up, it would mean ... a lot to me personally to be able to win this race."

The 39-year-old Brown has a great shot at a breakthrough victory in the $1.25 million Midsummer Derby on Saturday. He has the top two favorites in Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic and Gronkowski for the 1-mile Grade 1 test for 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course.

FILE - In this May 1, 2018, file photo, trainer Chad Brown stands in his barn after a morning workout at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Ky. Brown doesn't mince words when it comes to the Travers Stakes. "It's the biggest race for me. It's my home track. It would mean ... a lot to me personally to be able to win this race." (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Good Magic, fresh from his victory in the $1 million Haskell, will break from post position 9 with jockey Jose Ortiz. Gronkowski, the surprise runner-up to Triple Crown winner Justify in the Belmont Stakes in his first start with Brown, goes from post No. 3 with jockey Joel Rosario.

"Real happy with both posts," said Brown, whose best finish in six previous Travers starts was with Gift Box, fourth two years ago. "It's a strong field. Either of these horses will have to run their A race."

A field of 11 is entered for the 149th edition of the oldest major race in the country. Good Magic, last year's Juvenile champion, was listed at 2-1 and Gronkowski at 4-1.

Wonder Gadot is the first filly entered in the Travers since Davona Dale finished fourth as the favorite in 1979. She is the third choice at 5-1, with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time. Wonder Gadot is coming off wins in the first two legs of Canada's Triple Crown - the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes.

The rest of the field includes: Jim Dandy Stakes winner Tenfold, with jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., and Catholic Boy, with Javier Castellano, both 8-1 choices; Vino Rosso, with John Velazquez, at 10-1; Bravazo, with Luis Saez, and Mendelssohn, with Ryan Moore, both 12-1 choices; King Zachary, with Robby Albarado, at 15-1; and 30-1 longshots Meistermind, with Manny Franco, and Trigger Warning, with Irwin Rosendo.

Trainer Bob Baffert, winner of the last two Travers, does not have an entry.

This summer Saratoga has been Brown country in a big way. Heading into Friday's card, he led Todd Pletcher in wins - 33 in 113 starts to 16 in 96 for Pletcher - as Brown seeks his second training title in three years. In 2016, Brown saddled 40 winners to end Pletcher's streak of six straight Saratoga training titles.

"I have great assistants, a great staff," Brown said. "I enjoy working with horses. I enjoy working with people. I have great clients that give us great horses to work with.

"You have to have everything in place. If you don't have all of those things, one can't work without the other, so I work hard at maintaining those things."

Among the entries, Wonder Gadot is the most intriguing. The Canadian-bred daughter of 2002 Travers winner Medaglia d'Oro will be trying to become just the eighth filly to win the Travers, a tall task. Lady Rotha was the last, in 1915, and she won by disqualification.

Trainer Mark Casse is up for the challenge, as is owner Gary Barber.

"Gary is never afraid to step out of the box," Casse said. "We believe the 1  miles really suits her. We get five pounds. We have an extra week off. Why not? We're all right with trying to make history."

Wonder Gadot, named after "Wonder Woman" actress Gail Gadot, has eight starts this year heading into the Travers and Casse knows she's more than able to hold her own against the colts.

"On numbers and ability, I think it's a very competitive race, but I think we have as good a chance as anybody," Casse said. "She doesn't have any quit in her. I really feel ... that she's as good as any of them, and to be able to accomplish something that hasn't been accomplished in a hundred years, I mean, I think it makes sense and Gary thinks it makes sense. When you go and look in the paddock, she may be the biggest, strongest horse in the race."

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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Vietnamese coffee products were introduced at many trade fairs in India

Of this, Vietnams export turnover to India was estimated at USD3.92 billion, up 96% compared to USD2 billion of the same period last year, while Indias exports to the country were valued at USD2.44 billion, up 9.2%. Trade surplus reached USD1.48 billion.

Over the past 7 months, exports of Vietnams main commodities continued to grow sharply. Machinery, equipment and spare parts affirmed the leading position with export value of USD1.23 billion, up 586.9% over a year earlier or 31.5% of Vietnams total export turnover to the market.

It was followed by mobile phone and components at USD469.45 million (up 71.6%); computer, electronic products and spare parts at USD379.54 million (up 25.5%); and common metals and products at USD352.96 million (up 38.9%).

Export turnover of some Vietnamese goods such as bamboo, iron and steel products, transportation and equipment, plastic and rubber products also increased stably.

Meanwhile, imports from India were valued at USD2.44 billion, a year-on-year rise of 9.2%. Vietnam mainly imported materials to serve domestic production, thus cotton seized the largest import turnover at USD314.55 million, up 43.7%; followed by corn and animal feed.

In addition, import turnover of ordinary metal, automobile spare parts, plastic materials, ore and minerals from India continued to rise. Specifically, Vietnam imported 5.222 CBU autos, worth USD24.88 million./.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - A top Republican fundraiser whose firm works for several prominent immigration hardliners is the partial owner of the land where the Mexican man accused of killing Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts lived rent-free, a farm spokeswoman said Friday.

Nicole Schlinger has long been a key fundraiser and campaign contractor for GOP politicians in Iowa and beyond, including this cycle for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart.

Schlinger is the president of Campaign Headquarters, a call center that makes fundraising calls, identifies supporters and helps turn out voters for conservative candidates and groups. Her business is one of the largest in Brooklyn, the central Iowa town where Tibbetts disappeared while out for a run on July 18.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera is escorted into the Poweshiek County Courthouse for his initial court appearance, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Montezuma, Iowa. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 from Brooklyn, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Schlinger is married to Eric Lang, the president of the family-owned dairy that has acknowledged providing employment and housing for the last four years to Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the man charged with murder in Tibbetts' death.

The couple - along with her husband's brother Craig Lang and his wife - own farmland outside Brooklyn that includes trailers where some of the dairy's employees live for free as a benefit of their employment, farm spokeswoman Eileen Wixted confirmed.

She said Rivera lived there for the duration of his employment, and about half of the farm's other 10 workers do so as well. Under the arrangement, the farming company pays the couples to rent the land but workers do not have to pay, she said.

In an email Friday, Schlinger said that she was "shocked and deeply saddened" by Tibbetts' death and had never met Rivera. "The perpetrator should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, and when he meets his maker, suffer the consequences he deserves," she wrote.

She said that she was gifted an ownership interest in the land many years ago from her husband's family and that she has no role in the farming operation.

Still, the fact that one of its own operatives has indirect ties to the case could complicate GOP efforts to highlight the gruesome slaying in its political messaging ahead of the November midterm election. Dairy co-owner Craig Lang also was a Republican candidate for Iowa agriculture secretary, finishing third in a five-way race in the June primary.

Republicans such as President Donald Trump and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds called for stricter immigration laws and enforcement almost immediately after Rivera, who is suspected of being in the country illegally, was charged Tuesday. Some have blamed Democratic policies for the slaying, even though studies have disputed the notion that those in the country illegally are more likely to commit violent crime.

"Every victim below would be alive today if we enforced our immigration laws," U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa tweeted Friday, above a picture of Tibbetts and other victims. "Leftists sacrificed thousands, including their own, on the altar of Political Correctness."

Schlinger's business calls itself "the best conservative call center in America." Her biography claims she is the most prolific fundraiser in Iowa GOP history, having brought in more than $50 million for politicians and causes. She has said her business has made millions of phone calls for candidates seeking offices ranging from president to city council since its founding in 1999. Her firm's client list includes several politicians who routinely call for stricter immigration enforcement.

Federal Election Commission records show that Cruz's re-election campaign has paid CampaignHQ nearly $1.7 million since the beginning of 2017. A Cruz campaign spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Stewart, who has made stepping up deportations of immigrants in the country illegally a major campaign theme, has also employed the firm, along with the campaigns of Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina. The now-defunct Stop Sanctuary Cities PAC paid the firm $3,449 for its services in March.

In an interview Friday, Stewart said he had no problem with Schlinger's property ties to the suspect, saying her firm does a "great job" raising money.

"I hire people for their ability to do the work for my campaign," he said. "Whatever she does in her personal life is her business."

After Rivera was charged, Reynolds denounced an immigration system that "allowed a predator like this to live in our community." CampaignHQ was a top vendor for the campaigns of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who selected Reynolds as his running mate in 2010, and has also done some work directly for Reynolds' campaigns, state records show.

Investigators say that Rivera came to the country from Mexico illegally several years ago when he was in the late teens. He is accused of stalking Tibbetts while she was out for a run a few miles from his home, killing her after she threatened to call police on him, and dumping her body in a cornfield. Preliminary autopsy results show that Tibbetts died from multiple "sharp force injuries."

Schlinger and her husband have managed to largely avoid the intense media spotlight that has followed the case. They did not speak at a press conference Wednesday when farm manager Dane Lang said Rivera presented an out-of-state identification and Social Security number with a different name when he was hired in 2014. Dane Lang said he was shocked to learn to that Rivera's allegedly not in the country legally.

But others around town, including Rivera's defense lawyer, question whether the family had to have had suspicions, if not known, about Rivera's immigration status.

"They are taking a blind eye to what's going on," said defense lawyer Allan Richards. "At some point a reasonable person would have been more diligent in determining whether or not these folks are legal."

A ribbon for missing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts hangs on a light post, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in Brooklyn, Iowa. Tibbetts was reported missing from her hometown in the eastern Iowa city of Brooklyn in July 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Special Agent Rick Rahn, of the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation, speaks during a news conference about the investigation of missing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in Montezuma, Iowa. Police say a man in the country illegally has been charged with murder in the death of Tibbetts, who was reported missing from her hometown in the eastern Iowa city of Brooklyn in July 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Cristhian Bahena Rivera is escorted into the Poweshiek County Courthouse for his initial court appearance, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Montezuma, Iowa. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 from Brooklyn, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois' attorney general is planning to meet with Chicago Archdiocese officials to discuss seven priests with links to the state who were included in a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse.

The report released this month found that about 300 Catholic priests abused at least 1,000 children over the past 70 years, with claims of a systematic cover-up by senior church leaders that used similar methods unearthed in the initial clergy sex-abuse story that broke nationwide in 2002.

"The Catholic Church has a moral obligation to provide its parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois," said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. She also plans to contact other Illinois dioceses and will work with state's attorneys and law enforcement to investigate them if bishops don't fully cooperate.

Among the Chicago-area priests named in the recent report are the Revs. Raymond Lukac, Gregory Furjanic, Jerry Kucan and Robert Spangenberg. All four priests are dead.

Lukac was a known "problem priest" accused of abusing an 11-year-old girl in the rectory of Posen's St. Stanislaus parish in the early 1960s, the report said. Furjanic has unspecified accusations predating his 2003 arrival to Chicago to serve the Croatian Franciscan Friars. Kucan is accused of a series of abuses in Pennsylvania before he was placed in Chicago's St. Jerome parish in 1982, St. Anthony in 1986, Sacred Heart in 1994 and St. Anthony's Friary 1995. Spangenberg was accused of abusing boys in Pennsylvania after serving in the 1980s as chaplain at Chicago's St. Francis de Sale High School.

Chicago Archdiocese officials said Thursday they "look forward to discussing" misconduct policies with Madigan.

"Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Chicago has reported all abuse allegations to the proper civil authorities," the archdiocese said in a statement. "We also met with members of the office of the Cook County State's Attorney and they reviewed our clergy files in 1992, 2002 and 2015."

Madigan's counterpart in neighboring Missouri also announced more potent action this week . Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said he was launching an investigation into sex crimes within the Catholic Church in his state. The St. Louis Archdiocese has pledged to open its files for investigation, Hawley said.
NEW YORK (AP) - Two pitchers and an outfielder in the rookie level of the minor leagues have been suspended because of drug violations.

The commissioner's office announced the penalties Friday.

Houston outfielder Carlos Diaz, with the Gulf Coast League Astros, was suspended 56 games after testing positive for Boldenone, a performance-enhancing substance.

Milwaukee pitcher Franklin Hernandez, on the roster of Helena in the Pioneer League, was banned 76 games after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Braxton Light, who's with the Arizona League Cubs, was penalized 50 games testing positive for Amphetamine, a stimulant.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump in Ohio (all times local):

8 p.m.

President Donald Trump didn't mention Arizona Sen. John McCain during his speech at a Republican party dinner in Ohio Friday, hours after the family of the ailing senator said he had chosen to discontinue medical treatment for brain cancer.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the Ohio Republican Party State Dinner, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The White House didn't address McCain's announcement and the president didn't make any references to the senator. Trump has frequently criticized McCain for voting against a 2017 plan in the Senate to replace the so-called "Obamacare" law.

The two Republican leaders have had a strained relationship dating back to 2015, when Trump suggested the Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war was not a war hero.

McCain has been critical of Trump even while undergoing medical treatment in Arizona, slamming Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "tragic mistake."

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7 p.m.

President Donald Trump is branding Democrats as "left-wing haters and radicals" who are trying to "tear down our institutions."

He also says they're "nasty."

Trump unleashed the string of insults in a speech Friday at the Ohio Republican Party fundraising dinner in Columbus. The speech was meant to help unite fractious state Republicans heading into the November midterm elections.

Trump says that with Democrats, "it's always negative, nasty, the way they come after me."

Polls show that large majorities of Democrats disapprove of Trump's performance in office, but he says they need to get over it and accept that he's president.

Adds Trump: "We won the election. We're going to win again in 2020. ... These are nasty people."

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6:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump is talking about the Iowa college student was found slain about a month after she disappeared.

Trump raised the case in a speech Friday at an Ohio Republican dinner. The family of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts has asked that her death not be politicized.

Authorities have charged Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a Mexico native suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, with first-degree murder in Tibbetts' death.

Trump raised Tibbetts' case as justification for his attempts to crack down on illegal immigration to the U.S.

He refers to Rivera as "this horrible illegal immigrant" and claims erroneously that journalists didn't want to cover the story after questions were raised about Rivera's status.

Trump says "what happened to Mollie is a disgrace."

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6:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump is predicting victory in November as he opens a keynote speech at a fundraising dinner for Ohio Republicans.

Trump is trying to help unite a fractious state GOP with Friday's speech in Columbus. But the annual event is being skipped by Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich. Kasich challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 and remains one of Trump's sharpest critics.

Trump says: "This November, we're going to win really big. It's going to be one big Ohio family."

He is stressing the importance of electing more Ohio Republicans in November to help the party keep its hold on both houses of Congress.

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5:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump will seek to unite a fractious state Republican Party in Ohio on Friday in an address to GOP loyalists at a dinner that was being skipped by Gov. John Kasich, one of the president's 2016 primary opponents and sharpest critics.

Trump's appearance at the annual fundraiser sought to project an image of common purpose in the nation's premier battleground state despite deep internal divisions. Ohio holds a number of high-stakes races for governor, Senate and several U.S. House seats that could factor into GOP control of Congress this fall - and importantly for Trump, linger into the next presidential campaign.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump talk with a group of children during a visit the Nationwide Children's Hospital, Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Comcast and the Fox Networks Group announced they have reached an agreement for the cable carrier to continue to make the Big Ten Network available to its customers.

The companies announced Friday they also agreed Comcast will carry all Big Ten games that are shown on Fox's all-sports network, FS1. The standoff between the two companies threatened to leave Comcast customers in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin without cable access to some of their teams' games.

Xfinity customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia will also continue to get BTN.

Comcast customers outside Big Ten states can access the BTN in a premium package of channels.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In a settlement with environmental groups, the Trump administration has agreed to designate critical Pacific Ocean habitat for endangered humpback whales.

The animals face threats from getting tangled in fishing gear, oil spills and being struck by ships. Federal authorities have designated three groups of West Coast humpbacks as endangered or threatened.

The suit by the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Wishtoyo Foundation, a nonprofit that represents Native American tribes, was settled Friday in federal district court in San Francisco.

FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 7, 2017, file photo, a humpback whale breeches off Half Moon Bay, Calif. In a settlement with environmental groups, the Trump administration has agreed to designate critical Pacific Ocean habitat for endangered humpback whales. The suit by the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Wishtoyo Foundation, a nonprofit that represents Native American tribes, was settled Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in federal district court in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg,File)

The National Marine Fisheries Service agreed to designate critical habitat for the animals by mid-2019 and finalize those boundaries a year later.

The environmental groups say endangered species with protected critical habitat are twice as likely to show signs of recovery as those without it.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A U.S. Naval Academy official's letter alerting a tenured professor of his termination says the professor sent students shirtless photos.

The Washington Post reported Friday that it obtained a copy of the Aug. 15 letter to 64-year-old ex-professor Bruce Fleming.

Academic Dean and Provost Andrew T. Phillips also says in the letter Fleming touched students during class without consent. Fleming says this refers to hugs and shoulder pats. It also says Fleming called some students "right-wing extremists," which Fleming denies.

Fleming says one photo he shared was a "meme" of him flexing an arm. He says the other was from his modeling days and was shared while referring to body imagery in a poem.

Fleming says his firing is an attempt to silence his criticism of the school, and he plans to appeal.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com
Thomas Cook holidaymakers will be removed from a hotel in Egypt following the death of a British couple.

John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire, died while on holiday in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The couple had been staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the popular coastal destination.

Thomas Cook will remove all its holidaymakers from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Thomas Cook said the tour operator would be offering customers alternative hotels within Hurghada from Friday onwards, as well as giving them the option to return home.

A spokesman said: We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers that were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

The circumstances of their deaths are still unclear. We have also received further reports of a raised level of illness among guests.

The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96%.

Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel.

The spokesman added on Thursday night: For those customers who choose to come home, we have made arrangements to fly them back tomorrow, August 24. While we understand this is upsetting for those on holiday, we believe this is the right thing to do.

We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations.

The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96%.

We will be contacting those customers due to travel to the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in the next four weeks to offer alternative holiday options.

Mrs Cooper worked at the tour operators Burnley branch, which was closed on Thursday.

The listing for the hotel on the Thomas Cook website includes a line saying: Sorry, there is currently no availability.
The civil rights movement in Northern Ireland was one of the most successful political exercises in Irish history, former MP Austin Currie has said.

Mr Currie, who played a key role in the first civil rights march, said it rivalled the campaign for Catholic emancipation in the 1820s that was spearheaded by the famous Irish political leader Daniel OConnell.

He made the remarks on the 50th anniversary of the first march, which the Tyrone native organised from Coalisland to Dungannon on August 24 1968.

Austin Currie is a former MP (Brian Lawless/PA)

It was a historic occasion and one of the most successful political exercises that there has been since OConnell and 1829, Mr Currie said.

Prior to that first march, he said unionists had been in total control of Northern Ireland.

They had a permanent majority in parliament and in government, he said.

They had control of the political scene and the justice system and the voting system. They had everything they wanted.

Born in Co Tyrone, Mr Currie was brought up in the small Catholic town of Coalisland.

He was elected as a Nationalist MP for East Tyrone from 1964 until 1972 and was one of the founders of the SDLP.

Police at a civil rights demonstration in 1968 (PA)

He moved to the Republic in 1989 and was Fine Gael TD for Dublin West.

In June 1968, Mr Currie occupied a house in Caledon in Co Tyrone in protest as what he described as the discriminatory allocation of houses by the local council.

When he saw a 19-year-old girl who happened to be a Protestant and a unionist and worked at a unionist politicians solicitors office being allocated a home ahead of 269 others on the waiting list he said he felt compelled to take action.

I just felt it was unfair, unjust, intolerable and something had to be done and I did it, he said.

Mr Currie said he made the decision to organise the march after taking part in the protests against the housing situation, hoping the event would be similar to those witnessed in the southern states of the United States.

Austin Currie was an early supporter of the civil rights movement (Brian Lawless/PA)

Two months after that march, another civil rights protest ended in violent scenes when police clashed with protesters in Londonderry.

Mr Currie said organisers had actually been disappointed with the numbers that turned out for the march, which had been banned, yet he said it has since become one of the catalysts for the entire civil rights movement in Northern Ireland.

The RUC acted absolutely stupidly and in front of the television cameras, particularly RTE, they ran awry, they ran mad and it was on the television and was seen around the world and that really effectively gave the boost which became the very successful civil rights movement, he said.

The former TD for west Dublin said he regretted the loss of lives during the Troubles that ensued after the marches.

It wasnt inevitable that it would happen, he said, insisting non-violence was at the heart of the civil rights movement.

It was very unfortunate and was not inevitable. But I wish it hadnt happened, he said.

Mr Currie added: The civil rights campaign was an extremely successful organisation and it actually changed the whole political scene as far as Northern Ireland was concerned and of course I dont regret that.

The former MP and TD criticised the powersharing impasse at Stormont.

He said it was a totally hypocritical situation that elected representatives were being paid when the Assembly was not sitting.

Veteran Democratic Unionist Nelson McCausland has a very different interpretation of the civil rights movement.

Nelson McCausland said the civil rights movement was not welcoming to unionists (Niall Carson/PA)

The former Stormont minister said: It may be the anniversary of the first civil rights march but he said it was certainly not their first appearance on the streets in that they had been out in Easter in 1968 against the banning of the republican Easter Rising parade.

That in a sense was part of the problem that right from the start the civil rights movement was so closely aligned with Irish nationalism and republicanism.

He said the movement was never going to be a place that was welcoming to unionists.

He added: The tragedy is that it led on eventually to a situation which broke out into violence that led to more than 3,000 people dead.

The former MLA claimed that there are a lot of inaccuracies when it came to the housing statistics from the time.

Much of what was put forward as fact to justify claims of discrimination was actually manipulated, he said.

He said there was some examples where there was an unbalance but he maintained that overall there was a fairly reasonable spread of council housing going to Catholic and Protestants at the time.

Its not the picture that was portrayed at the time.
Being a firefighter is not always about carrying people out of burning buildings, a Government minister has said, as he launched a new drive to improve the diversity of the service.

Nick Hurd urged prospective recruits to forget TV depictions, saying the role is becoming more about engaging with communities and fire prevention work as blazes have become less frequent.

The Home Office has drawn up a guide to help potential new recruits prepare for fitness tests, while a set of mythbusters will be published in an attempt to clear up common misunderstandings around the role.

The steps are part of the Governments efforts to transform the diversity of fire and rescue services in England.

Workforce figures show that in March last year women made up 5.2% and ethnic minorities 3.9% of the total number of firefighters.

A fireman practises his technique at Nottingham Road Fire Station, Derby (Rui Vieira/PA)

In one service, 36% of female candidates left the recruitment process at the physical assessment day stage as they did not believe they would be fit enough despite engaging in regular exercise.

The new fitness guide sets out examples of the tests applicants need to pass, and exercises they can do at home or in the gym to help boost their chances, including swimming, running, press-ups, yoga and pilates.

Mr Hurd, the Policing and Fire Minister, said: Forget what you see on TV, being a firefighter is not always about carrying people out of burning buildings.

As fires have become less common, the role is becoming more about engaging with communities and doing work to prevent fires from happening in the first place.

So if you care about your community and enjoy connecting with people, then give a taster day a go.

I am always impressed by the bravery and dedication of firefighters.

But its time for the workforce to fully reflect the public it serves.

General view of equipment in a fire engine (Rui Vieira/AP)

The Home Office said the mythbusters planned for release later this year will challenge the idea that only men can do the job, making clear that women have worked as part of fire and rescue services for decades.

Ann Millington, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) workforce committee, said: I am delighted to see this new campaign from the Home Office encouraging a more diverse fire service, which the NFCC has helped to develop.

The fire service is accessible to everyone, regardless of gender, background and ethnicity; this new campaign will hopefully encourage more people to apply to become firefighters.
President Tran Dai Quang meets with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa (Photo: VNA)



The host expressed his belief that the visit will help enhance political trust and mutual understanding between the two countries as well as create an important premise to bring the bilateral cooperation to a new level in a pragmatic and effective manner for the aspirations and benefits of their people.

President Quang hailed efforts by the Ethiopian government and PM Abiy Ahmed in reforming the economy and building a peaceful and stable environment for development.

The two leaders agreed to further promote cooperation via increasing the exchange of Party, State, National Assembly and government delegations in addition to people-to-people exchange.

Regarding economic cooperation, both Vietnam and Ethiopia boast huge population of around 100 million people, large market, abundant source of labour, and high speed of development.

The two sides will make better use of cooperation opportunities, promote trade exchanges, and expand the list of high-quality goods with competitive prices while increasing information sharing and facilitating businesses investment promotion.

President Quang suggested Ethiopia enable Vietnamese firms, including the telecom group Viettel, to seek investment cooperation opportunities in Ethiopia in telecommunications, trade, agriculture, aviation, and construction of small and medium-sized hydropower plants.

As regards agriculture, the host and guest said Vietnams experience in agricultural cultivation could be applied in Ethiopia to help the country ensure food security and agricultural development.

PM Abiy Ahmed said 80 percent of the Ethiopian population relies on agriculture for their livelihoods, so the country places a high premium on the sector.

Ethiopia highly values Vietnams agricultural experience and development, especially rice and coffee cultivation, he said, expressing his hope that Vietnam will assist his country in human resources training and share experience in agriculture, which is the main cooperation orientation in the coming time.

The Vietnamese leader hailed the active role of Ethiopia as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2017-2018 period as well as its crucial role in Africa.

He proposed Ethiopia serve as a bridge to connect ASEAN and Vietnam in particular with African countries and the African Alliance.

He suggested the two countries enhance coordination, experience sharing, and mutual support at international forums and within the framework of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the South-South cooperation as well as share experience in UN peacekeeping activities.

On the occasion, President Quang conveyed the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the Ethiopian Prime Minister to visit Vietnam in an appropriate time.

Vietnam and Ethiopia established diplomatic ties in 1976.

They have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in culture and another on collaboration in economy and science-technology, as well as a cooperation deal between the Vietnamese and Ethiopian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Bilateral trade hit USD11.3 million in 2017, of which Vietnam exported USD2.2 million worth of goods, mainly garment-textiles, footwear, and chemical products.

In April 2014, Ethiopia recognised Vietnams market economy status./.
A gown worn by Natalie Portman in Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones is to go on display at the new V&A Dundee museum.

Film and fashion fans will be able to view the embroidered dress modelled by Portmans character Padme Amidala when the 80 million attraction opens its doors on September 15.

The outfit was created by costume designer Trisha Biggar and features an ornate copper plated headdress and burgundy silk cloque coat.

The gown and cloak worn by Portman in Attack of the Clones (Michael McGurk/PA)

Known as the travel disguise costume, it was worn by Padme as she secretly travelled with Anakin Skywalker to her home planet of Naboo.

The gown is being loaned to V&A Dundee for six months from The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, currently under construction in Los Angeles.

Biggar, from Glasgow, said she took inspiration from a Paisley pattern swatch she found in her home city.

Trisha Biggar said she is delighted to have the gown go on display (Michael McGurk/PA)

She said: By the time we were constructing the costumes for Star Wars I had collected a large quantity of vintage fabrics and trims, a lot sourced in Glasgow, to decorate and embellish the elaborate pieces being created.

The textile design of this gown was inspired by a vintage Paisley pattern swatch. Around three quarters of all Padme dresses have got a touch of Scottish vintage on them somewhere.

The designer added: Everything for every planet and culture was being created anew.

We used references and drew on a multitude of influences from all over the world, from every culture, country, civilisation and period, mixing them up to shape new fashions.

By reinterpreting ideas and drawing on history the audience would  albeit subliminally  recognise and identify with the myriad of Star Wars styles.

A close-up of the gowns embroidered detail (Michael McGurk/PA)

Biggar started her career in costume by chance after a family friend suggested she apply for a summer job sewing costumes at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Perthshire.

She went on to work at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow before studying costume at Wimbledon College of Arts.

She worked with Lucasfilm Ltd on the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles before being asked to take part in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

The designer will soon begin working on the next series of Outlander.

The intricate headpiece worn by Portman in the film (Michael McGurk/PA)

Joanna Norman, director of the V&A Research Institute and lead curator of the Scottish Design Galleries, said: This dress is fascinating, like all of Trishas Star Wars costumes, because it includes so many different elements and draws on a range of influences to convey the otherworldly qualities of the Star Wars world through its costumes.

Many visitors to the new museum will have no idea that the costumes for the Star Wars prequel trilogy were designed by a Scottish designer, or that they include references to the countrys rich design heritage.
Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has denied claims of harassment made against him.

The Daily Record reported that allegations about his conduct towards two staff members in 2013  while he was in office  have been handed to police.

In a statement, Mr Salmond denied the claims and said he has been prevented from properly challenging them by Scottish Government procedure.

Former Scotland first minister Alex Salmond released a statement on Twitter (Danny Lawson/PA)

He has launched a court action to contest the complaints process that was activated against him.

The Scottish Government said it was vital any allegations of harassment were investigated thoroughly.

Mr Salmond said: For many months now, and on the advice of Senior Counsel, I have attempted to persuade the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government that she is behaving unlawfully in the application of a complaints procedure, introduced by her more than three years after I left office.

This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence.

He went on: The Permanent Secretary chose to deny me contact with any current civil servant, many of whom wished to give evidence on my behalf, and access to documentation to allow me to properly challenge the complaints, all of which I refute and some of which were patently ridiculous.

Statement from Alex Salmond pic.twitter.com/DUOTS7MriX  Alex Salmond (@AlexSalmond) August 23, 2018

The procedure as put into operation by the Permanent Secretary is grossly unfair and therefore inevitably will lead to prejudicial outcomes.

It is therefore with great reluctance that I have today launched a Judicial Review in the Court of Session which will decide the issue of the lawfulness of the procedure which has been used against me.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: We can confirm that Alex Salmond has initiated legal proceedings against the Scottish Government and as a result we are restricted in what we can say.

However, the Scottish Government will defend its position vigorously. As a matter of principle and integrity, it is vital that any allegations of harassment are treated seriously and investigated thoroughly, regardless of the identity of the party involved.

Police Scotland did not comment on the Daily Record report.
Philip Hammond features prominently on the front pages on Friday after warning that a no-deal Brexit would damage the economy.

The Chancellor dismissed claims of a Brexit dividend just hours after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab had insisted that leaving the EU without an agreement would deliver positive opportunities, The Times reports.

Tomorrow's front page: Brexit splits in cabinet laid bare by Hammond #tomorrowspapertoday pic.twitter.com/3iOFticVTX  The Times (@thetimes) August 23, 2018

The Daily Telegraph says Mr Hammond was accused of undermining Theresa Mays Brexit strategy after published a letter to the Treasury select committee saying a no-deal Brexit could increase borrowing by 80 billion a year by 2033.

What the papers say - August 24

A photo of a smiling Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe also features on the papers front page after the British-Iranian mother was given three days of freedom from prison.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Hammond under fire for no-deal warning' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/KV3mUTMjpg  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 23, 2018

She enjoyed a joyous reunion with her four-year-old daughter Gabriella, the Daily Mail says.

The paper leads on Mr Hammond, reporting that he was accused of reviving Project Fear, and that he had triggered a major Cabinet split.

The i also leads on the so-called Cabinet rift, while the Daily Express asks: What does Hammond think hes playing at?

The Metro says the dangers of a no-deal Brexit were laid out as official documents were released.

METRO: Its a big deal if its no deal #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/JB9sBV792k  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) August 23, 2018

In other news, The Guardian leads on a study which says Russian trolls have deliberately spread disinformation about vaccines on Twitter.

Guardian front page, Friday 24 August 2018: Russians spreading discord and lies about vaccine safety online pic.twitter.com/1AxaF3hiAu  The Guardian (@guardian) August 23, 2018

The Daily Mirror reports that Katie Pipers acid attacker is to be released from prison.

Elsewhere, the Financial Times says Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund is primed to choose international banks to lend it 11 billion dollars (8.6 billion) to help finance the crown princes economic reforms.

Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Friday 24 August https://t.co/XjfG7pD7i3 pic.twitter.com/nsq0unegse  Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) August 23, 2018

And the Daily Star leads on the news that Declan Donnelly will get a new sidekick to replace Ant McPartlin in this years Im A Celebrity.
Philip Hammond faced claims of launching a dodgy Project Fear as Tory tensions over Brexit erupted after the Chancellor warned that no deal could cause major economic damage.

Brexit-backing Tories reacted furiously after Mr Hammond pointed to disputed provisional analysis, released earlier this year, which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 under a scenario in which Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms due to no agreement with the EU.

Mr Hammond added that this initial January analysis was undergoing a process of refinement ahead of a parliamentary vote on any deal, noting scenarios which have higher barriers to trade with the EU are expected to have a more damaging effect on the economy and public finances.

He also defended the Governments preferred approach, which was outlined in a White Paper following a Cabinet summit at Chequers, by saying the economic and fiscal impacts of this would be substantially better than no deal.

Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that a no-deal Brexit could cause major economic damage (Brian Lawless/PA)

Eurosceptic Tories have railed against the Governments proposals, which include a common rulebook with the EU on goods, amid fears that it could restrict the UKs ability to do trade deals.

Mr Hammonds comments in a letter to Conservative MP Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of the Treasury Select Committee, emerged hours after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab attempted to play down the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit while outlining the impact of such a scenario via a series of technical papers.

Mr Raab also cited the risks as potential short-term disruption rather than longer-term, contrary to what Mr Hammond outlined.

I remain confident a good deal is within our sights, and that remains our top and overriding priority. If the EU responds with the level of ambition and pragmatism, we will strike a strong deal that benefits both sides." - Secretary of State @DominicRaab pic.twitter.com/k2ZIlpofOZ  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) August 23, 2018

Tory MP Marcus Fysh, writing on Twitter, referred to the Treasurys previous dubious forecasts, before adding that the Chancellor seemed determined to wheel them out again for yet another instalment of dodgy project fear.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, said on BBC Twos Newsnight: I think a free trade deal can be achieved, but that leaving on WTO terms is not as absurdly frightening as the Chancellor of the Exchequer thinks it may be.

He also said: The Treasurys Brexit panic means you can no longer trust the Treasurys forecasts.

Mr Hammond had written: This January provisional analysis estimated that in a no-deal/WTO scenario, GDP would be 7.7% lower (range 5.0%-10.3%) relative to a status quo baseline. This represents the potential expected static state around 15 years out from the exit point.

The analysis did not estimate the path the economy and different sectors might take under no deal and the potential for short-term disruption.

Mr Hammond added: Under a no-deal/WTO scenario, chemicals, food and drink, clothing, manufacturing, cars, and retail were estimated to be the sectors most affected negatively in the long-run, with the largest negative impacts felt in the North East and Northern Ireland.

GDP impacts of this magnitude, were they to arise, would have large fiscal consequences. The January analysis estimated that borrowing would be around 80 billion a year higher under a no-deal/WTO scenario by 2033-34, in the absence of mitigating adjustments to spending and/or taxation, relative to a status quo baseline.

This is because any direct financial savings are outweighed by the indirect fiscal consequences of a smaller economy.

The initial, January cross-Whitehall analysis is now undergoing a process of refinement in the run-up to a parliamentary vote on the deal.

However, we expect the analysis to show that for scenarios in which we have higher barriers to trade with the EU there will be a more damaging effect on the economy and public finances.

On the Governments preferred approach, Mr Hammond went on: It is expected that the economic and fiscal impacts of the White Paper model will be substantially better than no deal, protecting jobs and livelihoods and supporting both the UK and EUs commitments to no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Pro-European Mrs Morgan said of the letter: The Chancellor has confirmed that the Government forecasts a disastrous hit to our economy and living standards in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

In New York, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain was cautiously hopeful rather than wildly hopeful of securing a Brexit deal.
Scott Morrison was elected by the ruling Liberal Party to become Australias next  and 30th  prime minister.

The 50-year-old overcame Peter Dutton, who was the key challenger to incumbent PM Malcolm Turnbull, to win a leadership ballot by 45 votes to 40.

He is expected to be sworn in by Governor-General Peter Cosgrove after Mr Turnbull officially resigns.

Born in Sydney in 1968, Mr Morrison has been Australias Treasurer  the equivalent of the UKs Chancellor  since September 2015.

(PA Graphics)

He was first elected as an MP in 2007 when he won the seat of Cook, located in the southern suburbs of Sydney.

He was appointed to the frontbench after the 2010 election, before being promoted to the Cabinet by Tony Abbott three years later, taking on the the role of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.

In that role, Mr Morrison launched Operation Sovereign Borders, a tough military-led operation aimed at stopping illegal boats carrying asylum seekers from arriving in Australia  a policy which attracted huge media attention.

It was credited with eliminating maritime arrivals  but also attracted criticism from refugee activists and human rights groups.

Scott Morrison with UK Chancellor Philip Hammond (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

A short stint as Minister for Social Services between 2014 and 2015 followed, before Mr Turnbull appointed him to the prize position of Treasurer after taking over from Mr Abbott as PM in 2015.

A biography on the Australian Treasury website reads: As Treasurer, his achievements have included reducing the deficit, getting debt under control, maintaining Australias AAA credit rating, record jobs growth, cutting corporate and personal income taxes, ensuring multinationals pay their fair share of tax and reforming Australias banking and financial system.

After last years referendum on same-sex marriage, Mr Morrison, a church-goer, said he would back a new religious protections bill.

Before beginning a career in politics, Mr Morrison worked in tourism and was managing director of Tourism Australia between 2004 and 2006.

Better-known as ScoMo, he lives in Sutherland in Sydneys south with his wife Jenny and their two young daughters. He supports the NRL Cronulla Sutherland Sharks, and says he his a fan of Australian musician Tina Arena.
Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington has defended the Chancellor over accusations he launched another dodgy Project Fear with warnings that a no-deal Brexit could cause major economic damage.

Brexit-backing Tories reacted furiously after Mr Hammond, in a leaked letter to Tory Nicky Morgan, pointed to provisional analysis which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 under a no-deal scenario.

Mr Lidington, speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme, said the data was nothing new and that Mr Hammond was absolutely committed to the objectives that the Government had set out in the Chequers agreement.

David Lidington (David Mirzoeff/PA)

He said: This is provisional analysis that the Treasury published back in January this year and I think all Philip was doing was simply referring back to that in response to a senior member of Parliament.

Mr Hammonds comments emerged hours after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab attempted to play down the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit while outlining the impact of such a scenario via a series of technical papers.

Mr Lidington later said that a no-deal was not a desirable objective and said he was optimistic the UK could achieve a deal.

When asked about International Trade Secretary Liam Foxs assessment that the chance of a no-deal Brexit was 60/40, Mr Lidington responded: I am not a betting man. I remain both determined and optimistic about this.

His comments came after the chief of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said a no-deal Brexit would not be the end of the world.

But WTO director general Roberto Azevedo did warn that a no-deal would not be a walk in the park either and challenged the view that the UK could begin trading seamlessly on WTO terms after March 29.

He said: It will be very ambitious to have that kind of outcome.

It is very unlikely that youre going to have 100% agreed outcome for all WTO members between now and March.

Former European commissioner for trade Karel De Gucht, speaking to the Today programme, later said he believed a no-deal Brexit was highly unlikely.

He said: In the end there will be a deal, whether this is a solution is quite a different question.

I believe it will be a very vague deal and immediately afterwards start what is exactly in the agreement. Politically I think its highly unlikely that this process will end with a no-deal on 29 March.

Mr De Gucht said the transition period may have to be extended as what the UK was asking for in negotiations was contradictory.

He added: What the UKs asking for is in fact contradictory, they want to be out of the European Union, out of the internal market, no customs union but nevertheless they would like that the situation after 29 March is largely similar to the present situation.

The Belgian said that these demands make the negotiation extremely difficult, adding: It will certainly take more than the time that has been envisaged now.
Viewed by many as the SNPs most successful leader during his time as First Minister, Alex Salmond bounced back after defeat in the independence referendum.

Born in Linlithgow in 1954, Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond was educated at Linlithgow Academy and St Andrews University, where he first joined the SNP in 1973.

Within a few years his left-wing views saw him play a prominent role in the breakaway faction known as the 79 Group  with Mr Salmond expelled by nationalists for a short while for his involvement.

Graduating with a degree in economics and history, he worked as an economist for both the Government Economic Service and the Royal Bank of Scotland before going to Westminster in 1987.

Alex Salmond entered the House of Commons in 1987 (PA)

He became leader of the party for the first time in 1990 and when the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999 he also held a seat there, becoming MSP for Banff and Buchan.

He served as leader of the opposition at Holyrood, while retaining his seat at Westminster, but he stood down as SNP leader in 2000 and left the Scottish Parliament in 2001.

In 2007 he returned to the Edinburgh parliament, not just as the MSP for Gordon but as the new First Minister.

After the SNP won an unprecedented overall majority at Holyrood in 2011, he led the Yes campaign in the independence referendum in 2014.

However, the result  a 55% to 45% vote to stay in the UK  led to his resignation on September 19 and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon took the helm as SNP leader and First Minister by November.

Those who thought he would step back from frontline politics were mistaken, with Mr Salmond announcing his intention to return to Westminster by standing in the 2015 general election.

Alex Salmond became MSP for Banff and Buchan in 1999 (Owen Humphreys/PA)

In May 2015 he became the new MP for Gordon, overturning decades of Liberal Democrat rule. He returned to the House of Commons, standing down as an MSP at the 2016 Scottish elections.

Mr Salmond served as the SNPs foreign affairs spokesman in Westminster and campaigned to keep the UK in the European Union.

However, he lost his seat to the Conservatives in the general election last year when he was defeated by Colin Clark in Gordon.

He has remained a prominent figure over the last year and has faced controversy since he began hosting The Alex Salmond Show on the Russian state-backed television channel, RT, formerly known as Russia Today, last November.

He was criticised for continuing to host the show following the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

In March, LBC announced that Mr Salmond would no longer present his Sunday afternoon political debate show after his six-month contract ended.

In July the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom ruled Mr Salmonds chat show on the Kremlin backed RT TV channel had breached rules by presenting messages as having come from viewers when they had been written by members of production staff.
Jeremy Corbyns suggestion that British Zionists dont understand English irony have been taken out of context, the shadow chancellor has claimed.

John McDonnell defended the Labour leader  saying he had devoted his life to securing peace in the Middle East  after Mr Corbyn was heavily criticised for the remarks.

In footage published on the MailOnline from a conference in 2013, Mr Corbyn says: [British Zionists] clearly have two problems: one is they dont want to study history and, secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they dont understand English irony either.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised by Luciana Berger (David Cheskin/PA)

Labour MP Luciana Berger said the video contained inexcusable comments which made her feel unwelcome in my own party.

She wrote on Twitter: The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments  defended by a party spokesman  makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party.

Ive lived in Britain all my life and I dont need any lessons in history/irony.

The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments - defended by a party spokesman - makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party. Ive lived in Britain all my life and I dont need any lessons in history/irony.  Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) August 23, 2018

Mr McDonnell told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the video had been taken out of context.

I think this has all been taken out of context: whatever Jeremy has said throughout the years has always been about how to secure peace, particularly within the Middle East and also peace with justice for all concerned  both members of the Jewish community and also members of the Palestinian community, he said.

In that context Jeremy has devoted his life, so I think this would take expressions out of context in that way are not helping.

Ms Berger received support from fellow Labour backbenchers, with Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell tweeting: Standing right with you @lucianaberger.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson wrote: Right beside you @lucianaberger.

In recent weeks, the Labour leader has come under increasing pressure over a number of issues linked to anti-Semitism and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, including the partys definition of anti-Semitism, his 2014 visit to a Palestinian cemetery in Tunisia and meetings with those connected to the Palestinian cause.

A spokeswoman for Mr Corbyn said: Jeremy is totally opposed to all forms of anti-Semitism and is determined to drive it out from society.

At this event, he was referring to a group of pro-Israel activists misunderstanding and then criticising the Palestinian ambassador for a speech at a separate event about the occupation of the West Bank.
Bean counters are pushing for the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the body that regulates accountants, to have powers over top executives following a series of high-profile corporate failures.

The FRC has come under fire on the back of the collapse of Carillion and BHS, insolvencies which sparked criticism of auditors from MPs.

Responding to a Government review of the FRCs role and powers, the Press Association understands accountancy firms including Grant Thornton, BDO and Mazars have argued the regulator must be able to punish errant company bosses, as well as auditors.

The Government is reviewing the role of the accountancy regulator (Ian West/PA)

Accountancy firms have argued that chief executives and finance directors play a central role in the auditing of companies, and should face heavy sanctions for botched audits.

It is understood that Grant Thornton believes the FRC should be able to fine directors who mislead auditors, and that fines should be related to the seriousness of the misconduct.

In its submission to the so-called Kingman review, accountancy firm BDO said the FRC had no authority over the majority of those responsible for good governance and financial reporting.

In this, the FRC is like the director of a play with only a small number of the full cast of actors on the stage, taking directions from them, BDO said.

Currently, those actors taking direction comprise the corporates audit firm, accountants within that firm, and any individuals at the corporate who are accountants.

They do not include, for example, the CEO of a company who is not an accountant. They do not include the CFO who is not an accountant.

The accountancy firm suggested handing the FRC powers over directors of listed companies and firms which are of interest to the wider public.

The regulator could even sanction any advisers involved in corporate reporting, BDO said, including the surveyors responsible for valuing assets.

Accountancy firm Mazars has also proposed giving the FRC more clout in boardrooms, arguing it could play a broader role in corporate governance.

Mazars said regulators should scrutinise the governance of listed companies and large private companies, if there were cause for concern, and take action against irresponsible directors.

This board should also have the ability to call for necessary improvements and, where necessary, to seek enforcement action against board members and not just, as at present, professional accountants and actuaries on boards, Mazars said.

The Insolvency Service, part of the Governments Business Department, is the regulator charged with investigating bosses when a company falls into administration, and disqualifying those found to be incapable of running companies.

However, the FRC has argued that executives must be on the hook for their role in the auditing, and not just the sound management, of their companies.

A spokesman for the FRC said: The FRC and others have called for powers over all directors who are responsible for preparing financial statements, and not just members of accountancy bodies.

The so-called Big Four accountancy firms  Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG  have been criticised by the FRC for an overall decline in audit inspection results.

They were also savaged by MPs earlier this year for feasting on the carcass of Carillion after collecting more than 70 million before its demise.
Aid workers have begged Britain not to forget almost one million Rohingya stranded in makeshift refugee settlements a year after the most recent mass exodus from Burma.

Fiona MacGregor has been in southern Bangladesh since December last year with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled violence last August.

The UN agency is one of the biggest medical providers in the camps, having carried out more than half a million consultations, and is also co-ordinating the management of the weather-beaten site.

Ms MacGregor, from Edinburgh, praised the extraordinary response of the international community, which helped protect the Rohingya during months of heavy monsoon rains, but said more funding is needed to avert another disaster.

Stand with people living in the world's biggest refugee camp. Share our fundraiser >>> https://t.co/SZzwittsKv pic.twitter.com/ITXuq70wUY  DEC (@decappeal) August 22, 2018

Speaking from Coxs Bazar, near the camps, she said: We are desperately short of funding, and a year on  for me the message is Dont forget Rohingya, dont turn your back on them, because a year ago the international response was so generous, and the government of Bangladesh and local communities have been extraordinary in their generosity in the way theyve welcomed people in, and weve done all this work, but if we cant keep on doing the work then were just facing another disaster again.

She went on: In a response of this size, everything is reliant on everything else, and what you have is a city-size population that just wasnt here a year ago, and were still putting in the latrines and the drains and the roadways and all the things that make life safer  but if we dont get more funding those services will stop.

Theres been so much done but if we arent able to keep working at this level, theres a severe danger that we just go back and this population that have survived so much and showed such resilience are once again facing another tragedy.

The recent spasm of violence in Burma began when Rohingya insurgents staged a series of attacks on August 25 security outposts and other targets, sparking a crackdown described by UN officials as ethnic cleansing.

Some 919,000 Rohingya were estimated to be living in Coxs Bazar as of August 2018  more than 700,000 of them arriving since August 25 last year.

A shack dug into a hillside in the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh (Jemma Crew/PA)

Since the monsoon rains began in earnest this summer there have been hundreds of small landslides and soil collapses, but no sign of the large-scale destruction that was aid workers worst fear.

This, Ms MacGregor said, was testament to the vast amount of preparation in the lead-up to the rainy season, which included moving people who were most at risk to safer ground.

The Red Cross is also calling for greater certainty around future funding, with basic needs barely being met one year on from the violence.

It said: This response is vast, it is expensive, and agencies on the ground need the security of long-term funding in order to provide long-term and appropriate support.

Julia Brothwell, who spent three months managing a mass sanitation programme for the British Red Cross, returned from Bangladesh a few weeks ago.

Flood waters up to hip level; @BritishRedCross team found another way to their site in Balukhali camp today. The brick layers and bridge buildings were out in force trying to finish off some of infrastructure work, despite the horrendous rain today. pic.twitter.com/qBqC4iuagN  Julia Brothwell (@Poshfrock) July 26, 2018

She said refugees were well aware of how long they had been in the camps, where the atmosphere was one of resignation.

She said: It seems very far away and its perhaps not of personal interest to people living in the UK  unlike other refugee populations where we see they are actively trying to get to Europe, or to the UK specifically, theres a level of interest that that generates  but with the refugees from Myanmar, they just want to go home and they just need somewhere safe to live until they can do that.

They are living in this camp, they are making the best of it, but their ultimate goal is to return from where they came, she added.

The Department for International Development said the UK had been at the forefront of the response, contributing 129 million since last August.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said: There is no doubt that this is a protracted crisis and the British public have enabled hundreds of thousands of lives to be saved through their taxes, and through huge sums raised in voluntary donations.

I want to thank all who have stepped up and donated or worked to bring hope to so many.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions, presides over a meeting of the leading group in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 21, 2018. Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions, also attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for more efforts to boost growth momentum and improve people's livelihood in the country's less-prosperous western regions.

Western areas should continue with reform and opening-up and vigorously innovate to achieve high-quality development, said Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions.

At a meeting of the leading group on Tuesday, the premier acknowledged the economic and social achievements in the regions, which have supported the country's development and offered significant assistance for the national strategy.

Li described the development in western regions as "a crucial and difficult point" for China to become a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieve modernization.

Western areas should channel more energy into industrial upgrades, and make more contributions to a stable national economy, Li said.

Li pointed out local governments should continue to foster a more competitive "soft environment" in a bid to improve their endogenous development capacity.

More efforts are required to further streamline administration and enhance services, address sore points for enterprises and individuals, and reduce government-imposed transaction costs.

Entrepreneurship and innovation should be promoted in a practical manner, Li said, urging measures to raise industrial competitiveness in western regions and greater steps to cultivate new growth drivers and restructure traditional sectors.

The inland regions should also vigorously push forward opening-up based on their own characteristics, according to Li.

The premier said China would accelerate a raft of major construction projects in western regions as part of the efforts to better economic structure, improve weak links and expand domestic demand. The central government will pump more capital into the areas and encourage local governments to attract private investment.

Li cited transport projects including the Sichuan-Tibet railway, power grids, oil and natural gas pipelines, internet infrastructure, and water diversion projects.

Governments should innovate in investment and operation mechanisms for urbanization projects that concern the environment and people's well-being, such as sewage treatment and refuse disposal.

Consumption environment will be improved to further unleash the potential of western markets, with online shopping and spending on cultural products and healthcare services promoted.

Li highlighted the people-centered development and the fact that China remains as the world's largest developing country, calling for continued efforts to improve people's livelihood in western regions.

China will take solid, precise actions to win the tough battle against poverty and work for equality in public services, Li said. Internet technologies will be used to let remote poor regions enjoy better education and medical services, and the employment and old-age care in western regions will also be enhanced.

Vice Premier Han Zheng attended the meeting. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions.

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]
The clerical child sex abuse scandal has rocked the Catholic Church over the last two decades.

Allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic institutions and clerics began to emerge from the late 1980s.

However, it was not until the 1990s that revelations of paedophile priests and sex abuse in childrens homes was publicly exposed following pressure from victims and survivors as well as public opinion and media reports.

Abusive priest Brendan Smyth leaving court (Brian Little/PA)

A number of criminal cases and Irish government inquiries exposed the extent of horrific crimes and uncovered details of how hundreds of priests abused thousands of children over decades.

 Paedophile priest Brendan Smyth

One of the most infamous cases was Belfast-born paedophile Brendan Smyth who abused over 140 children over four decades.

Smyth was arrested in 1994 in Belfast but went on the run to the Republic of Ireland where he spent three years.

The mishandling of his extradition led to the collapse of the Irish government.

The revelations led to a number of inquiries set up in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

 The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse

Commonly known as the Ryan Report, the inquiry looked into child abuse in institutions run by religious orders.

It was established in May 2000 and went on to detail horrific neglect by religious congregations who were left to look after children.

It documented the rape and sexual assault of children, who were kicked, physically assaulted, and forced to carry out labour.

More than 90% of witnesses reportedly being physically abused.

The report, published in 2009 made a number of recommendations including those to help protect children.

The redress scheme cost more than 1.25 billion euro.

 The Ferns Report

The report, published in October 2005, documented more than 100 allegations of child sexual abuse made between 1962 and 2002 against 21 priests in the Diocese of Ferns.

The report, which addressed how allegations were handled, and stated that between 1960 and 1980 it appeared that Bishop Donal Herlihy treated child sexual abuse by priests of his diocese exclusively as a moral problem.

 The Murphy report

The 2009 Murphy report investigated allegations of child sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin over the period 1975 to 2004.

Released by Judge Yvonne Murphy, the report examined complaints about the alleged sexual abuse of over 320 children.

The report consisted of three volumes and cost a total of 3.6 million euro.

It stated that the four archbishops, John Charles McQuaid, Dermot Ryan, Kevin McNamara, and Desmond Connell, who were serving during that period, handled complaints badly.

One of the priests who admitted abuse stated he did so more than 100 times.

Another did so fortnightly for 25 years.

Along with clergy, the Gardai were accused in the report of covering up the scandal.

 The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry

The HIA looked into historical allegations of abuse in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995.

The largest number of complaints stemmed from four different Catholic-run institutions.

Chaired by Sir Anthony Hart, it found found that priests and lay people sexually abused children.

Last year, Sir Anthony recommended compensation, a memorial and a public apology to abuse survivors.

However, the collapse of the Northern Ireland government has led to a delay in implementing his findings.

 Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was set up following claims of mass burials of hundreds of children at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway.

There has also been evidence of illegal adoptions in Church-run institutions.

It is ongoing.

 Pope apology

In March 2010, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a pastoral letter of apology for all of the abuse that had been carried out by Catholic clergy in Ireland.

In May 2010, Pope Benedict established a formal panel to investigate the sex abuse scandal, saying that it could serve as a healing mechanism for the country and its Catholics.

In August 2018, Pope Francis apologised in an open letter to victims of clerical abuse saying that no effort will be spared to prevent abuse and its cover up in the future.
Two men accused of attempting to smuggle 1.6 tonnes of cocaine into the UK are to face trial next year.

Dutch nationals Maarten Peter Pieterse, 59, and Emile Adriaan Jeroen Schoemaker, 44, appeared at Bristol Crown Court, where they were each accused of a drug importation offence.

The pair are charged with being knowingly concerned in the carrying or concealing of controlled drug of Class A, namely cocaine, on the SY Marcia knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect that the drug was intended to be imported or had been exported contrary to Section 3(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Maarten Peter Pieterse, left, and Emile Adriaan Jeroen Schoemaker appearing at Bristol Magistrates Court in July (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

They were arrested last month after the Netherlands-registered SY Marcia was intercepted off the coast of south-west Cornwall and escorted to Newlyn.

The National Crime Agency called the operation a significant seizure of cocaine but has yet to disclose the exact quantity recovered, although a court has previously heard that 1.6 tonnes of cocaine was found.

Pieterse and Schoemaker, who are of no fixed address in the UK, appeared before the court via video-link from HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire.

The Netherlands-registered SY Marcia which was intercepted off the coast of Cornwall (National Crime Agency/PA)

They did not enter pleas and Judge Martin Picton told them they would face a two-week trial beginning on January 14.

No applications for bail were made and the two defendants were remanded into custody to attend a further plea and case management hearing on September 21.
More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees who survived months of monsoons in makeshift settlements in Bangladesh are now a potential sitting target for a cyclone, a charity has warned.

It is a year since more than half a million refugees fled Burma to neighbouring Bangladesh, gathering in the south of the country to form the biggest refugee camp in the world.

After months of heavy rain battering the flimsy shacks they now call home in Coxs Bazar, the Rohingya now face a cyclone season that could threaten their lives.

One year on since families began fleeing violence in #Myanmar, this humanitarian crisis needs your help more than ever. https://t.co/SatKgNSV01 #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/Ap0oFHlRFh  British Red Cross  (@BritishRedCross) August 24, 2018

Julia Brothwell, programme manager for the British Red Cross, returned from Bangladesh a few weeks ago after three months she described as a constant battle repairing damage and warding off disease outbreaks.

She has been overseeing work to clear and repair latrines, decontaminate waste and promote good hygiene.

Julia Brothwell, programme manager for the Red Cross, walks through the Rohingya camps in Coxs Bazar (Farzana Hossen/British Red Cross/PA)

A direct cyclone hit in the coming months would be catastrophic, she said  for both the refugees and the surrounding Bangladeshi population.

She said: In Bangladesh, every cyclone season people may recognise that houses will be lost, land may be damaged, livestock may also be killed, but if you can get the people into a cyclone shelter  you can at least protect the lives and then help people recover by replacing their assets later.

But if you have nowhere for the people to flee to thats safe, then were also looking at the risk to lives, not just the loss of assets, and I think thats the most worrying thing  whether people in the mega camp are a sitting target essentially for a cyclone.

Housing, yes, that can be replaced; people can be relocated. But you cant replace people.

Flood waters up to hip level; @BritishRedCross team found another way to their site in Balukhali camp today. The brick layers and bridge buildings were out in force trying to finish off some of infrastructure work, despite the horrendous rain today. pic.twitter.com/qBqC4iuagN  Julia Brothwell (@Poshfrock) July 26, 2018

Bangladesh sees two cyclone seasons each year  March to June and September to November.

The country has a national cyclone preparedness programme, with concrete structures such as schools and government buildings that can shelter people temporarily.

The storms have struck Coxs Bazar annually for the past three years, but for almost a million Rohingya they pose a significantly different level of vulnerability, according to the humanitarian service ACAPS, which is part-funded by the UK Government.

However, ACAPS said there are no plans to evacuate the refugees and insufficient shelters to cover the host communities.

Hard to capture the scale of this. 600k very dignified people living on steep slopes, prone to landslides. >50% are children. Tube wells are 200m deep. No lighting at night. @BritishRedCross support for water, sanitation, hygiene essential as monsoon & cyclone season imminent. pic.twitter.com/FMKXsBNZoe  Mike Adamson (@MichaelAdamson5) July 18, 2018

Ms Brothwell said: Certainly weve been informed that the government would not really allow the refugees to leave the camp to seek safety in any shelters.

So youve got 700,000 people living in the mega camp and their houses are built of bamboo and tarpaulin, and theyre emergency houses not designed to be there long term or withstand any disastrous events, so (there is a) great concern about the safety of the population there.

Volunteers in the camps are being trained to sound the alarm if a cyclone is imminent and tell people what they might expect.

They will also act as first responders, carrying out limited search and rescue and first aid, as part of a programme between the Red Cross and Bangladeshi government.
When the Pope celebrates Mass before half a million people in Dublin on Sunday, the relics of one of his greatest inspirations will be situated nearby.

Francis has expressed devotion for the late 19th century Saint Therese of Lisieux, who was renowned for showing great love and doing good, and whose remains have been taken to Ireland for the visit.

Many of the pontiffs years of ministry have been dedicated to doing good for the poor in his native Argentina.

By embracing Gods love, we change the world and transform history.  Pope Francis (@Pontifex) August 17, 2018

Pope Francis was the first leader of the Catholic Church to hail from the Americas.

He is a member of the Jesuit Order, the missionary Society of Jesus charged with taking the gospel to every corner of the globe.

While Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998, Jorge Bergoglio travelled around the capital by bus and was described as a simple pastor, the Vatican newspaper LOsservatore Romano said.

The son of Italian immigrants rose to prominence in Argentina after strongly criticising capitalism during a financial crisis which rocked the country in 2001.

His representations on the treatment of the poor came despite the Churchs long-standing opposition to godless Marxism.

He regularly visited the slums around Buenos Aires and emphasised the importance of social outreach.

Bergoglio led the Jesuits during the years when a military junta held power in Argentina and has opened up Vatican archives to victims of the ruthless regime.

Pope Francis will make the first papal visit to Ireland since 1979 as clerical sex scandals continue around the world (Brian Lawless/PA)

The Pope has defended the rights of the children of single mothers to baptism but also criticised his home countrys decision to legalise gay marriage.

His spare lifestyle has been described as almost ascetic.

He shunned an ornate mansion in Buenos Aires.

Upon his election as Pope in 2013 as an outside bet he eschewed the grand Apostolic Palace.

Francis instead lived in the Vatican guesthouse and was driven around in a Ford Focus.

His papacy has enjoyed high popularity ratings, with almost 18 million followers on Twitter.

He was seen as largely socially liberal but conservative on sexual issues, opposing female priests, gay marriage and abortion.

A papal declaration 50 years ago that artificial birth control is wrong has not been repudiated.

The Pope has said the Church should apologise to gay people for the way it has treated them.

He has attempted to reform the Vatican bureaucracy known as the Curia, tackle corruption in the Vatican bank and address the legacy of child sex abuse.

Countless revelations of clerical sex scandals around the world, the US, Chile, Ireland, have arguably presented the greatest challenge to this politically astute leader.

Heres a #Stand4Truth avatar if youd like to use it as your profile pic for the next 2 weeks. Our solidarity event takes place 2 weeks from today. #papalvisit https://t.co/pJkMCZhnmh pic.twitter.com/zBIeXbcSsC  Colm O'Gorman (@Colmogorman) August 12, 2018

The Pope has apologised for grave errors in how the Catholic Church handled sex abuse in Chile, where a bishop was accused of covering up the crimes of another priest.

Earlier this month a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailed decades of sexual abuse by priests and cover-up by bishops.

The Vatican expressed shame and sorrow but the Pope is almost certain to face more protests about decades of clerical sex abuse in Ireland which have seriously damaged the Churchs reputation there.

Campaigners will want to know whether the Popes devotion to Saint Therese translates into true love for a section of the faithful who have suffered grievous wrong in Ireland.
Hundreds of thousands of people line the streets of west London each year for Notting Hill Carnival  a flamboyant celebration of Caribbean culture.

Celebrations include a parade of costumed performers dancing to traditional music reggae, calypso and rumba, with steel bands and sound systems stationed around the route.

Street food vendors sell a variety of fare including jerk chicken and fried plantain, which can be washed down with rum.

The festival opens early on Sunday with a Jouvert celebration where revellers douse each other in paint, coloured powder and chocolate.

A Carnival 2016 reveller after joining a paint party in the early morning (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Spread over the August bank holiday weekend, the family event culminates with a main parade on Monday through the streets of W10.

Here are some of the key moments in the history of Notting Hill Carnival.

Participants take part in a rainswept Notting Hill Carnival in 2014 (John Stillwell/PA)

1959  Claudia Jones, editor of Britains first black weekly newspaper, holds a Caribbean cabaret-style event at St Pancras Town Hall.

The gathering is seen as a rebuttal to race riots that had torn through the area a year earlier with white gangs attacking immigrants.

1966  Social worker Rhuane Laslett is largely credited with organising the first bona fide carnival.

Crowds dance to steel bands and saxophones alongside horse-drawn floats as the parade gathers momentum.

A nun gets into the carnival spirit by dancing in the street with a reveller from the Ebony Steel Band float in west London in 1986 (PA)

She tells Time Out magazine her vision is to take to the streets using song and dance to ventilate all the pent-up frustrations born out of the slum conditions.

1970  Police and black demonstrators clash after protests about police raids on the well-known Caribbean restaurant Mangrove, something of a hub for organisers.

1976  Scores of people and officers are injured in running battles said to have started after police tried to arrest a pickpocket.

Police with their truncheons drawn and using dustbin lids as shields in Notting Hill, West London, after violence broke out in 1976 (PA)

Violent scuffles between demonstrators and police last for several hours, with bottles and missiles thrown, windows smashed and fires lit.

Along with riots in Brixton and Toxteth that year, it leads to the implementation of the Race Relations Act 1976.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the area becomes increasingly wealthy and gentrified, moving further away from its run-down, tenement roots.

Police constable John Corbett joining an impromptu knees-up with revellers in 1982 (PA)

Attendance numbers swell and the West Indian-inspired celebration draws in more of the middle-classes and more diverse groups.

But despite the growing popularity, there are complaints about negative press coverage unfairly linking it to violence and crime.

Notting Hill Carnival passing down Ladbrooke Grove in 1998 (Ben Curtis/PA)

2000  Then-London mayor Ken Livingstone creates a carnival review group, leading to increased policing and safety measures, after the murder of two young men.

Fears are raised about the safety of the event and whether it should continue. More open locations are suggested as being more secure than Notting Hills narrow streets.

Two women watch the 2015 parade from a window in west London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

2016  Facial recognition cameras are trialled to scan the faces of potential troublemakers.

Human rights group Liberty criticises the intrusive move and queries the transparency of the practice.

Festivities are marred by more than 400 arrests and four stabbings.

2017  Celebrations are underpinned by a sombre tribute to victims of the fire at Grenfell Tower, just half a mile from the parade route.

People observe a minutes silence in memory of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire during last years celebrations (Yui Mok/PA)

Dozens of white doves are released, a minutes silence is observed and the public are urged not to take photographs at the site of our great loss, something which has distressed locals.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan takes part in a release of doves as a show of respect for those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire (Yui Mok/PA)

The police are criticised by grime artist Stormzy for linking a series of drugs busts to the carnival on Twitter, when he asks: How many drugs did you lot seize in the run up to Glastonbury or we only doing tweets like this for black events?.

During the weekend, more than 300 arrests are made, and 28 officers are injured, with bottles thrown at them and blood spat at them.
A fire at a city centre car park has damaged six vehicles  a year after a blaze in the same location.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing out of the NCP car park in Nottinghams Lace Market district after a blaze took hold just after 12pm, on Friday.

Residents living in flats close-by were urged to keep windows closed and office workers in nearby buildings had to leave their desks.

At least one person was seen running into the car park in Stoney Street, as the fire blazed, to drive their car away from the multi-storey building.

Nicki Unwin, who works at Littlefish IT consultancy located opposite the scene, said emergency services responded quickly, and saw at least five fire engines.

The 30-year-old, from St Anns, Nottingham, said: I was walking past it, then the smoke hit me in the face. Then I immediately called 999.

Mr Unwin said: One person even ran into the car park and drove out.

He added that colleagues had vehicles parked in the 280-space building, which is surrounded by office and residential blocks.

The car park was the scene of a fire in August last year, which left several vehicles damaged.

A Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said crews from six stations were dealing with the blaze.

One car owner dashed back into the car park to recover their vehicle. (Nicki Unwin/PA)

The police said officers were assisting the fire brigade after a report of six cars on fire.

In a statement, Nottinghamshire Police said: A cordon is in place and people will be unable to enter the car park at this time.

Residents in the block of flats behind the car park are advised to keep their windows closed.

Anyone with information about the fire is being asked to contact police on 101.
Arsenals Unai Emery needs to avoid defeat against West Ham on Saturday to avoid adding sharing an unwanted Premier League record.

The Spaniard saw the Gunners lose to Manchester City and Chelsea in his opening two games in charge and only two other foreign managers in the last decade have started their first job in the Premier League with three successive defeats.

Frank de Boer lost all four of his games in charge of Crystal Palace at the start of last season before being sacked after just 77 days in the job, the Eagles failing to score in that time.

Unai Emery has seen his Arsenal side lose both of his Premier League games in charge (Nick Potts/PA)

The only other incoming manager to lose their first three matches since 2008 is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer  whose ill-fated reign at Cardiff began with losses to West Ham, Manchester City and Manchester United.

City won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on the opening day of the campaign before a spirited display from Emerys side still ended in a 3-2 loss at London rivals Chelsea last weekend.

In stark contrast to Emery, new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri could become just the sixth foreign manager in the last 10 years to start with three wins, joining former Blues chiefs Antonio Conte and Carlo Ancelotti on the list.

Former Sevilla and Paris St Germain boss Emery said on Thursday his side need to win against the Hammers  and three points would prevent him joining De Boer and Solskjaer.

Even a draw would represent a poor start, with only 11 other managers coming in from overseas unable to mastermind a victory from their opening three league outings.

The most notable among them are former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, who started with defeat at home to Swansea before draws at Sunderland and Burnley, and current Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino whose Southampton tenure began with draws with Everton and Wigan sandwiching a defeat to United.

Defeat to West Ham, themselves without a win under Manuel Pellegrini  who began life at Manchester City with two victories from three  would also set an unwanted record for Arsenal as a club.

If Jack Wilshere returns to inspire his new club to victory in north London, Arsenal would become just the second side in the history of the Premier League to finish in the top six and begin the next campaign with three straight defeats  the only other team to do so being Aston Villa in 1997-98.
A Banksy rock painting has returned to the British Museum more than 10 years after it was planted there as a hoax.

Entitled Peckham Rock, the painting depicted a primitive man pushing a supermarket trolley.

The work was placed by the anonymous art terrorist in one of the museums galleries in 2005, three days before its staff were alerted to the piece stuck to a wall in a room of artefacts from Roman Britain.

It is going back on show  this time with the institutions permission  as part of a new exhibition examining objects which challenge the official version of events and defy established narratives.

Curated by Have I Got News For You star Ian Hislop, I Object features over 100 objects from the museums vast collection and is accompanied by a three-part BBC Radio 4 series, which begins next week.

The British Museum is also displaying, for the first time since 2012, an ostracon with a scene of sex for the show.

A pink knitted "pussyhat" will also feature in the show (British Museum)

The limestone rock features an explicit sketch, drawn by an ancient Egyptian workman, with a mocking inscription reading a satisfied foreskin means a happy person in hieroglyphics.

Other items on show will include a pink knitted pussyhat, newly acquired by the museum, which was worn at the Womens March in Washington in 2017 following Donald Trumps inauguration as US president.

A Roman oil lamp depicts a woman, believed to be Cleopatra, having sex with a crocodile and is thought to have been made as a propaganda piece against the Egyptian ruler.

The Citi Exhibition, I Object: Ian Hislops Search For Dissent runs from September 6 2018 to January 20 2019 at the British Museum.
A Dublin man has been charged with a money laundering offence in Northern Ireland.

John Gilligan, 66, was arrested on Thursday evening by Border Force officers while attempting to board a flight to Spain at Belfast International Airport, a National Crime Agency (NCA) statement said.

Approximately 23,000 euro (20,800) were recovered at the scene, the organisation added.

A Dublin man has been charged by the National Crime Agency with a money laundering offence in Northern Ireland (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The defendant, from Greenforth Crescent, is accused of attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland, a statement from Northern Irelands Courts and Tribunals Service said.

The NCA confirmed: National Crime Agency officers in Northern Ireland have today charged a man with money laundering offences.

Gilligan appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court in Co Londonderry on Friday and deputy district judge Alan White remanded him in custody at Maghaberry Prison.

He is expected to appear before Antrim Magistrates Court on Tuesday September 4.
Lewis Hamilton was beaten to top spot by Kimi Raikkonen in second practice for the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday.

Hamilton, who has a 24-point lead over Sebastian Vettel as the Formula One season roars back into life at the historic Spa-Francorchamps Circuit following its traditional one-month summer shutdown, finished 0.168 seconds slower than Raikkonen.

Valtteri Bottas, due to start towards the back of the field on Sunday following a series of grid penalties for exceeding engine parts, was third for Mercedes ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Kimi Raikkonen impressed in practice (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Vettel finished at the top of the time sheets in the opening running, but settled for only fifth in the afternoon, three quarters of a second off his Ferrari team-mates pace.

A good day at the office for @ScuderiaFerrari as Kimi takes top spot in FP2 #BelgianGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/xCwn2LugFY  Formula 1 (@F1) August 24, 2018

Hamilton is armed with a new engine this weekend at the high-power 4.35-mile track, but Ferraris pace in both sessions suggests that the Italian team may hold the advantage heading into the remainder of the weekend. Indeed, Ferrari traditionally hold a little in reserve during practice.

Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo spent all but the final minutes of the first session in the garage with an engine issue.

The Australian, who stunned Red Bull by announcing he will leave the team to join Renault next year, enjoyed a trouble-free second session and finished sixth, nine tenths down on Raikkonen.

Sergio Perez finished seventh for the re-branded Racing Point Force India team ahead of Carlos Sainz in the Renault as the two Sauber cars of Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc completed the top 10.

We back. The energy and focus in the garage is unbelievable as always. You excited?  #F1 #BelgianGP @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/wrjXPOrJID  Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) August 24, 2018

Earlier, British teenager Lando Norris made his grand prix weekend debut for McLaren as he deputised for Fernando Alonso in the opening 90-minute session.

The 18-year-old, who is in the frame for a full-time drive with the struggling British team next year, finished 18th of the 20 drivers, three seconds slower than the front-runners.

Norris, however, was faster than Stoffel Vandoorne in the sister McLaren after the Belgian finished last. Vandoorne, whose future at McLaren is under increasing scrutiny, was also bottom of the pile in the second running.

Alonso, who will bring the curtain down on his 17-season career at the end of the year, finished 16th.
The event aims to remind the generations of today and tomorrow to study and follow the late Presidents ideology, morality and lifestyle, together with lessons learned from his great revolutionary cause and divine Testament.

The programme also contributed to encouraging the entire Party, people and army to continue successfully implementing Uncle Hos Testament and teachings in the new revolutionary situation, especially in national construction and Party rectification in line with the spirit of the Resolution of the fourth plenum of the Party Central Committee (12th tenure).

Those messages will be shown through a special reportage produced by Nhan Dan Television with a number of clips, including one on Uncle Hos art of human to use.

The programme will also feature a few scenes of the short plays performed by popular artists of the Hanoi Drama Theatre, through which Uncle Hos ideologies about the construction of the Party, administration and morality of revolutionary cadres, are reflected in a simple but vivid fashion.

Within the framework of the programme, there are also some special works performed by artists of the Vietnam Contemporary Art Theatre, praising President Ho Chi Minh, his feelings for the country; and the Vietnamese peoples love for the nations great Father".
The lawyer acting for charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is confident her temporary release from prison in Iran will be extended beyond three days, her husband said.

The British-Iranian mother was released from Evin jail in Tehran on Thursday and is staying with family outside the capital until Sunday.

Reunited with her four-year-old daughter Gabriella after more than two years in jail, her husband Richard Ratcliffe said they were all well and happy after speaking to them on Friday.

Richard Mr Ratcliffe will attend two Edinburgh Fringe shows featuring his wifes case (Yui Mok/PA)

On a visit to Edinburgh, Mr Ratcliffe said he expects to hear on Saturday whether an application to extend the three days leave will be granted.

He said on Friday: Her lawyer is very confident that it will be extended. I think well know by lunchtime tomorrow.

I would expect that if it is extended, that its extended for a couple of weeks.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north London, was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying by Tehrans Islamist regime.

She denies the allegation and said she was on holiday in Iran to allow her daughter to spend time with relatives there.

Gabriella has been staying with family since Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was detained at Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016.

Mr Ratcliffe, who will attend two Edinburgh Fringe shows featuring his wifes case, said: I spoke to her this morning, shes very happy.

Shes given Gabriella a bath and dried her hair, and brushed her hair. I think shed really been looking forward to doing that.

Mrs. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been granted a three-day release from prison in Iran to reunite with her family. She immediately joined her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella who welcomed her mom with flowers. Lovely picture pic.twitter.com/aST1efpJCJ  Hamid Baeidinejad (@baeidinejad) August 23, 2018

He said his wife had seen media coverage about her temporary release, and was pleased to see the Iranian ambassador to the UK had tweeted a picture of mother and daughter as they were reunited.

Mr Ratcliffe said: Its great for Nazanin today to be seeing all the news attention and realise how much care there is out there.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday the temporary release was extremely positive and called on Iranian authorities to allow her to return to her family in the UK.

The play Nazanins Story is being staged as part of the Fringe this weekend, and an Amnesty International benefit, The Secret Policemans Podcast, on Friday and Saturday will focus on her case.
UK seed potatoes will be imported by China for the first time following a trade deal.

An agreement was signed by the UK Government on Friday which will see the potatoes exported to China, now the largest global consumer of potatoes.

The deal is expected to bring major benefits to Scotland, ministers said, with around 70% of the 100,000 tonnes of seed potatoes exported annually from the UK coming from Scottish farms.

UK seed potatoes will be imported by China for the first time following a trade deal (Steve Parsons/PA)

The potato is now Chinas fourth staple crop after rice, corn and wheat.

Following a multi-million pound win for UK dairy, China has also agreed to allow UK seed potato exports.

 is the worlds largest consumer of potatoes & this deal brings major benefits to Scotland with over 70% of  potato exports coming from Scottish farms. #FreeTradeUK pic.twitter.com/gcQYu8BJrA  Dr Liam Fox MP (@LiamFox) August 24, 2018

The agreement was signed by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox during a visit to China.

He said: With China expected to have 220 cities with a population of more than a million by 2030, that is a huge market that UK potato farmers will now be able to make the most of.

Im delighted that this latest deal is set to boost our 67.5 billion trading relationship with China even further.

Rob Burns, head of Crops Export Trade Development at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), said: Its a real coup to be one of the first western countries able to export seed to China and its been achieved through a lot of hard work and the great reputation of UK seed potatoes which are rightly renowned around the world for their high health status and high quality.

I expect the Chinese market will be particularly interested in processing varieties used for chips and crisps as there is a big demand for those products.

Scotlands Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: This is welcome news for the Scottish seed potato sector and further recognition of its global renown for producing high-quality seed potatoes.

The signing of this trade agreement has the potential to lead to its expansion to the rest of the UK, opening up the possibility of market diversification and contributing towards further sustainable growth in the sector.
President Donald Trump says he has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a planned trip to North Korea, claiming that there is insufficient progress on denuclearisation.

President Trump put some blame on Beijing, saying he does not believe China is helping because of our much tougher trading stance.

The surprise announcement appeared to mark a concession by the president to domestic and international concerns that his prior claims of world-altering progress on the peninsula had been strikingly premature.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Cliff Owen/AP)

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, president Trump tweeted, barely two months after his June meeting with the Norths Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

President Trumps comment followed a report issued on Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining grave concern about the Norths nuclear programme.

It came a day after Mr Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun, a senior executive with Ford, to be his special envoy for North Korea and said he and Mr Biegun would visit next week.

Excited to announce that Steve Biegun is joining our team as the Special Representative for #NorthKorea. He'll lead our efforts to achieve @POTUS' goal of final, fully-verified denuclearization of DPRK, as agreed to by Chairman Kim. pic.twitter.com/rUNCsiyscU  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 23, 2018

The State Department never confirmed details of the trip, but it had been expected that Mr Pompeo would be in Pyongyang for at least several hours on Monday, according to several diplomatic sources.

White House officials did not immediately comment on what prompted President Trump to call off Mr Pompeos trip. The State Department had no immediate comment on the matter and referred questions to the White House.

President Trump laid unspecified blame on China, North Koreas leading trade partner, which is widely believed to hold the greatest sway over Mr Kims government.

The US and China have been locked in a trade dispute for months, with each side ratcheting up tariffs on imports from the other country in what may be the opening salvos of a trade war.

President Trump tweeted that Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. He added: In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!
A senior Labour MP has told colleagues he will quit the party, it has emerged, hours after he called Jeremy Corbyn a 'racist antisemite'.

Mike Gapes, a former chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told fellow MPs it was 'over' for him and said he was 'not prepared to support' Mr Corbyn.

Mr Gapes is said to have posted in a WhatsApp group on Thursday to say he would leave the party, adding: 'all that remains is the timing of my announcement', The Times reported.

He did not deny the claim when approached by MailOnline, saying: 'I'm not making any comment'.

The Labour leader has been at the centre of yet another anti-Semitism row this week after footage showed him saying British Zionists 'didn't want to study history' and had 'no sense of English irony'.

Mike Gapes, a former chairman of the foreign affairs committee (right), has slammed Jeremy Corbyn over a video of him making controversial comments in 2013 (still from video on left)

The Conservatives have reported Mr Corbyn to the parliamentary standards watchdog over a video of him at the Palestinian Return Centre in 2013.

Speaking at the London conference promoted by the propaganda website of terror group Hamas, he said British Zionists did not 'understand English irony'.

Mr Gapes, who has previously been targeted by online trolls after he suffered a heart attack, told fellow MPs: 'I am not prepared to support the racist antisemite. Period. It's over for me.'

But far-right leaders rallied behind Mr Corbyn.

Former British National Party head Nick Griffin and ex-grand wizard of the Klu Klux Klan David Duke posted supportive tweets.

Former British National Party head Nick Griffin came out in support of Mr Corbyn

'Go Jezza! I wonder how many Labour activists the hysterical Zionist media campaign against Corbyn is re-pilling?' Mr Griffin wrote.

Mr Corbyn said in the clip published by MailOnline: '[British Zionists] clearly have two problems. One is they don't want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either.'

He added: 'They needed two lessons, which we could perhaps help them with.'

The Tory party claim Mr Corbyn's comments breach the code of conduct and bring Parliament into disrepute.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Mr Corbyn said he had been defending the ambassador from 'what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations' by people 'for whom English was a first language, when it isn't for the ambassador'.

He said: 'I described those pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense and not as a euphemism for Jewish people  and that is made clear in the rest of my speech that day.

'I am now more careful with how I might use the term 'Zionist' because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by anti-Semites as code for Jews.'

Jeremy Corbyn makes his controversial remarks. On the far right is Daud Abdullah, who called for attacks on the Royal Navy and led a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day. In the centre is Stephen Sizer, who suggested that Israel was behind the 9/11 attack

Jeremy Corbyn listens attentively to another of the speakers at the 2013 conference in London

Meanwhile a Jewish blogger who was targeted in Mr Corbyn's attack on 'Zionists' has demanded an apology from the Labour leader.

Richard Millett, whose father founded the Millets chain of outdoor clothing stores, said Jewish people were 'scared on a physical level' amid Labour's ongoing anti-Semitism crisis.

Mr Millett, 50, called it a 'racist comment' and said Mr Corbyn had implied Jewish people were 'not part of his Britain'.

Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger had earlier said that the video contained 'inexcusable comments' which made her feel 'unwelcome in my own party'.

She wrote on Twitter: 'The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments - defended by a party spokesman - makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party. Ive lived in Britain all my life and I dont need any lessons in history/irony.'

She was supported by fellow Labour backbenchers, with Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell tweeting: 'Standing right with you @lucianaberger.'

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson wrote: 'Right beside you @lucianaberger.'

Jewish blogger Richard Millett, whose father founded the Millets clothing chain, demanded an apology from Mr Corbyn.

He said: 'I am English. I have been part of English irony, humour, culture, for the last 50 years. It just seems to be that I am not part of Jeremy Corbyn's Britain.'

Luciana Berger, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, slammed the Labour leader for his comments from 2013 at a London conference promoted by the propaganda website of terror group Hamas

In recent weeks, the Labour leader has come under increasing pressure over a number of issues linked to anti-Semitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This includes the party's definition of anti-Semitism, his 2014 visit to a Palestinian cemetery in Tunisia and meetings with those connected to the Palestinian cause.

But senior Labour figures defended the party leader, with shadow chancellor John McDonnell saying he had devoted his life to securing peace in the Middle East.

Mr McDonnell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think this has all been taken out of context: whatever Jeremy has said throughout the years has always been about how to secure peace, particularly within the Middle East and also peace with justice for all concerned  both members of the Jewish community and also members of the Palestinian community.

'In that context Jeremy has devoted his life, so I think this would take expressions out of context in that way are not helping.'

Helen Grants letter to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner asking her to investigate Jeremy Corbyn

Helen Grant, the Tory vice chairwoman for communities, has written to Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone asking that Mr Corbyn be investigated over the comments.

The Maidstone MP argues it contravenes Clause 17 of the MPs' code of conduct, which states: 'Members shall never undertake any actions which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its members generally.'

She said the comments had been branded 'xenophobic and anti-Semitic' by the chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, and praised by Nick Griffin, the former leader of the far-right British National Party.

She wrote: 'Mr Corbyn has undoubtedly brought this House and its members into disrepute.

'This country has rightly always demanded more from our parliamentarians.

'It is clear that Mr Corbyn has not reached the bar set by the Code of Conduct for members, and I therefore ask that you investigate.'
LONDON/PARIS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - British Airways and Air France said on Thursday they would halt flights to Iran from September for business reasons, months after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would re-impose sanctions on Tehran.

British Airways said it was suspending its London to Tehran service "as the operation is currently not commercially viable".

BA, which is owned by Spanish-registered IAG, said its last outbound flight from London to Tehran will be on Sept. 22 and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on Sept. 23.

Air France will stop flights from Paris to Tehran from Sept. 18 because of "the line's weak performance," an airline spokesman said.

"As the number of business customers flying to Iran has fallen, the connection is not profitable any more," the spokesman said.

German airline Lufthansa said it had no plans to stop flying to Tehran.

"We are closely monitoring the developments ... For the time being, Lufthansa will continue to fly to Tehran as scheduled and no changes are envisaged," it said in an emailed statement.

The European Union has tried to keep an international deal on the Iranian nuclear programme alive despite Trump's decision in May to withdraw the United States from the agreement.

Some new U.S. sanctions on Iran took effect this month.

The EU, which is working to maintain trade with Tehran, agreed 18 million euros ($20.6 million) in aid for Iran on Thursday, including for the private sector, to help offset the impact of U.S. sanctions.

Despite this, a number of European companies have announced they are pulling out of projects or scrapping investment plans in Iran.

Air France is the French arm of Franco-Dutch airlines group Air France KLM. KLM, the group's Dutch arm, had previously announced it was halting flights to Tehran.

The airlines' decision was welcomed by Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

"Today we learned that three major carriers, BA, KLM, and Air France, have discontinued their activities in Iran. That is good, more should follow, more will follow, because Iran should not be rewarded for its aggression in the region, for its attempts to spread terrorism far and wide ...," he told a news conference during a visit to Lithuania.

The BA route was reinstated in the wake of the 2015 accord between western powers and Iran under which most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on the country's nuclear programme.

Air France had re-opened the Paris-Tehran route in 2016.

Iran's ambassador to Britain expressed regret at BA's decision.

"Considering the high demand ... the decision by the airline is regrettable," Hamid Baeidinejad wrote on his official Twitter account. ($1 = 0.8744 euros) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru, Costas Pitas in London, Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Inti Landauro in Paris, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius and Emma Thomasson in Berlin Editing by Stephen Addison and Adrian Croft)
PARIS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary probe on Thursday into possible building violations by a publishing house co-founded by culture minister Francoise Nyssen, a judicial source said.

Investigators launched the probe after Le Canard Enchaine satirical weekly reported that Nyssen and her husband had enlarged Actes Sud's Paris office without informing city and tax authorities.

The publishing house said in a statement that it would take "all necessary action" to bring its offices in line with building regulations.

Nyssen told journalists that Actes Sud's statement required no further comment and said that "no company is above the law".

Eager to keep sleaze from weakening his reform drive, President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that he would hold ministers to the highest ethical standards.

Though government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux has said Nyssen fully enjoyed Macron's support, the investigation is an embarrassment for a minister in charge of setting standards for protecting historical buildings and other sites.

(Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; writing by Leigh Thomas, Editing by Sarah White)
By Nellie Peyton

DAKAR, Aug 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Pregnant schoolgirls in Sierra Leone will be banned from classes and exams despite sweeping new government measures to improve access to education for all, a state spokesman said on Thursday.

The West African country introduced the ban on pregnant girls in 2015 after a rise in rape, abuse and poverty during the deadly Ebola outbreak fuelled a spike in teenage pregnancies.

Activists say the law has increased shame and stigma for pregnant girls and set thousands back in their studies. Some hoped the change of government in April, when President Julius Maada Bio took office, would bring a change of policy.

The new government announced this week that it will make education free for all starting in September, hoping to reduce drop-out rates that are driven by girls. But it will still enforce the ban on pregnant students, education ministry spokesman Brima Turay told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"They are not allowed to go to mainstream schooling. It still remains a policy," Turay said by telephone.

Only 56 percent of Sierra Leonean girls aged 15 to 24 are literate, compared to 73 percent of boys in the same age range, according to the United Nations.

The previous government set up alternate, part-time learning centres for visibly pregnant girls, saying that allowing them to attend regular schools would undermine their ability to do well, expose them to ridicule and encourage others to get pregnant.

Those learning centres will re-open this fall with more funding, Turay said, but they will still have classes only three days a week so as not to tire the girls.

"You would not want to overload a pregnant person when they probably don't even want to be there," Turay said.

Rights activists said the state should address the prejudice rather than ostracise the girls.

"The fact that they may be stigmatised is not an opt-out for the government. They have a duty to address this, such as by making sure teachers make pregnant girls feel welcome," Sabrina Mahtani, a researcher for rights group Amnesty International, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The launch of free education will still benefit many girls, said aid group Save the Children, since unaffordable school fees are one of the reasons why many drop out and marry young.

Others questioned the initiative.

"Is education really free if a huge proportion of children of school-going age have been banned from school?" said Judy Gitau-Nkuranga of women's rights group Equality Now.

Equality Now and partners in May sued the government for its pregnancy ban in West Africa's regional court. The case is pending. (Reporting by Nellie Peyton; editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's presidency on Thursday summoned U.S. charge d'affaires Jessye Lapenn to protest a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump on South African land policy, a person familiar with the matter said.

Trump tweeted late on Wednesday that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to "closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and large scale killing of farmers." A spokeswoman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accused Trump of stoking racial divisions.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton)
VALENCIA, Venezuela, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities on Thursday arrested two managers of paper packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group, a government source said, two days after the government temporarily took over its local unit in the city of Valencia.

State price control agency Sundde said in a Twitter post that two citizens had been arrested and charged with price speculation, boycotting, destabilizing the economy, and smuggling. The government source said they were managers.

(Reporting by Tibisay Romero Writing by Angus Berwick Editing by Toni Reinhold)
The host expressed his belief that the visit will help to enhance the political trust and mutual understanding between the two countries while creating an important premise to bring bilateral cooperation to a new level in a pragmatic and effective manner for the aspirations and benefits of their people.

President Quang hailed the efforts of the Ethiopian government and PM Abiy Ahmed in reforming the economy and building a peaceful and stable environment for development.

The two leaders agreed to further promote cooperation by increasing the exchange of Party, State, National Assembly and government delegations in addition to people-to-people exchange.

Regarding economic cooperation, both Vietnam and Ethiopia boast huge populations of around 100 million people, large markets, abundant sources of labour, and a high speed of development.

The two sides will make better use of cooperation opportunities, promote trade exchanges, and expand the list of high-quality goods with competitive prices while increasing information sharing and facilitating businesses investment promotion.

President Quang suggested Ethiopia enable Vietnamese firms, including the telecom group Viettel, to seek investment cooperation opportunities in Ethiopia in telecommunications, trade, agriculture, aviation, and the construction of small and medium-sized hydropower plants.

Regarding agriculture, the host and guest said Vietnams experience in agricultural cultivation could be applied in Ethiopia to help the country ensure food security and agricultural development.

PM Abiy Ahmed said 80 percent of the Ethiopian population relies on agriculture for their livelihoods, so the country places a high premium on the sector.

Ethiopia highly values Vietnams agricultural experience and development, especially in rice and coffee cultivation, he said, expressing his hope that Vietnam will assist his country in human resources training and share its experience in agriculture, which is the main cooperation orientation for the near future.

The Vietnamese leader hailed the active role of Ethiopia as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2017-2018 period as well as its crucial role in Africa.

He proposed that Ethiopia serve as a bridge to connect ASEAN and Vietnam in particular with African countries and the African Alliance.

He suggested the two countries enhance coordination, experience sharing, and mutual support at international forums and within the framework of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the South-South cooperation as well as sharing experience in UN peacekeeping activities.

On the occasion, President Quang conveyed the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the Ethiopian Prime Minister to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time.

Vietnam and Ethiopia established diplomatic ties in 1976.

They have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in culture and another on collaboration in economy and science-technology, as well as a cooperation deal between the Vietnamese and Ethiopian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Bilateral trade hit US$11.3 million in 2017, with Vietnam exporting US$2.2 million worth of goods, mainly garment-textiles, footwear, and chemical products.

In April 2014, Ethiopia recognised Vietnams market economy status.
By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Canada ought to require stronger tank cars for transporting flammable liquids sooner than the current deadline in 2025, Transportation Safety Board Chair Kathy Fox said on Thursday, noting that crude-by-rail shipments are expected to rise in the country.

"We understand that it can't happen all at once. But we'd like to see it sooner," Fox said in an interview, without giving a specific alternative date. "We do have an ongoing concern that flammable liquids be transported in the most robust tank cars."

Canada and the United States have introduced new requirements to more safely transport flammable liquids, after a 2013 runaway train explosion carrying crude killed 47 in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Older DOT-111 cars, used during the tragedy in Lac Megantic, Quebec, have already been replaced in Canada by CPC-1232 cars for moving crude oil, but even these must be completely phased out by May 1, 2025 for the transport of flammable liquids, according to the TSB.

They will need to be replaced by TC-117 cars, or retrofits that meet the same standard, which has thicker steel.

The U.S. Department of Transportation expects flammable liquids to be carried in comparable DOT-117 rail tank cars, or retrofits, by May 1, 2029.

Canada has not experienced a major derailment of a crude train since 2015, Fox said. But in the United States, a BNSF Railway Co freight train carrying crude oil derailed in northwest Iowa in June, sending some 230,000 gallons of oil into a state waterway.

Crude-by-rail transports, which have declined in Canada in recent years on declining oil prices, are showing signs of a resurgence.

Canada exported a record 204,558 barrels per day of crude by rail in June, the National Energy Board said on Wednesday, as oil shippers coped with congested pipelines.

That volume jumped 86 percent from a year earlier, but expanding oil producers have said they need to move much more to reduce a steep discount on their heavy crude prices.

Recommendations following Lac Megantic have led to improved oversight and standards for tank cars, Fox said. But she remains concerned over a recent rise in uncontrolled train movements that could be prevented with better training, less reliance on air or hand brakes and improved physical defenses.

"We're encouraged to see the progress made since Lac Megantic," she said. "But there is still more work to be done." (Additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by David Gregorio)
Umair Wolid  Reporting from Galaxy Note 09 unpack event Delhi, India

Samsung's flagship phone is back and it is better than ever, it comes with a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen, a dominant speed and an excellent camera with some fascinating AI features to top it up. Samsung launched its Note 09 for the Sub continent market at a grand event held in Delhi, India which was hosted by DJ Koh, The President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division , Samsung Electronics.

The galaxy note is very close to my heart, It is not just another smartphone, It is packed with speed and power performance" stated DJ Kho stated.

With many competitor flagship phones lined up we looked at some key features of the phone.



01. Massive Battery

Do you have a charger cable..? Yes this is a common question you would hear in your office environment. NOTE 9 would possibly have rectified this problem as it comes with a massive 4000mAh Li-Po battery which should last a whole day and get your day in day out work without worrying about charging. The battery is the biggest ever built in a Galaxy flagship phone.



02. Store more  Delete less

With the NOTE 09 you do not have to worry about which photo to keep or which photo to delete in order to save space, NOTE 9 comes with fascinating storage options, one is a 128GB and the other with a massive 512GB hard space, further you have the ability to add an external memory card and extend it up to 1TB.

You could store up to 500,000 images, 200,000 songs, 500 movies and now it is safe to say you can say bye bye to your external hard disk stated Asim Warsi Senior VP , Mobile Business , Samsung India



03. The Improved S-PEN



The S-PEN comes with some bright and charming colors and backs its style with some captivating features such as a remote shutter operation for the camera which lets you take the perfect selfie or a groupie, it further works as a music controller where you can play your media as well as a You tube controller plus it works as a presentation clicker where you can run through your presentation just using your S PEN

S-PEN full charges in a mere 40 seconds when embedded in the phone and with the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) built-in the S-PEN it works from up to 30 feet away.



04. Packed with Speed and Power



Note 09 is a super powerful smartphone with cutting edge 10mm processor and support for the fastest network speed available in the market (upto 1.2gigabits per second) to stream and download without slowing down. Asim Warsi states that the future of internet is now ready with the note 09 speed and power.



05 An intelligent camera



Note 09 backs up its features with an intelligent camera which detects the flaws (Flaw detection) and notifies you immediately so you dont have to worry if the picture is not perfect. The Galaxy Note 9 camera also has a new feature that will automatically detect one of 20 scenes  like food, a flower, a person or a landscape and then adapt the settings to take the best picture it can.

Samsung claims that note 09s camera is Samsungs smartest yet and the results of some of the Note 09 camera captures are quite stunning with bold colors and dynamic definition. Note 09 camera is technically a DSLR camera in your pocket.

Colors



Note 09 comes to the Sri Lankan market with 3 bold and vibrant colors , Metallic Copper, Midnight Black and Ocean Blu

Price



The 128GB Note 09 priced at Rs. 162,990/= and the 512GB priced at Rs.203,990/=

The Note9 is shaping to be the best flaghship level professional smartphone on the market, and that's not a stretch - the previous Notes also have been known for being excellent versatile pros. The premium Galaxy technologies come standard with Note09, fast wireless charging, Samsung Dex which makes you use your phone as a Laptop and many more powerful features and its safe to say it could be the next gen smart phone.
Apart from finding a solution to the current problem we have to address that future problem as well

Ven. Keenapelesse Upali Gnanissara Thera, the chief incumbent of the Ambala, Peraketiya Sri Isipathanaramaya in the Kandy District

Those who commit crimes during ethnic violence must be punished irrespective of their ethnicity, but there is a danger of their children along with the children of their victims carrying the problem to the future.

Apart from finding a solution to the current problem we have to address that future problem as well.

This observation is a part of an hour long sermon by Ven. Keenapelesse Upali Gnanissara Thera, the chief incumbent of the Ambala, Peraketiya Sri Isipathanaramaya in the Kandy District delivered to a group of trainee journalists recently.

Ambala was in the news some five months ago as the death of one of its residents, M.G. Kumarasinghe had triggered the anti-Muslim riots in many places in the Kandy District, causing destruction to properties worth millions of rupees and threatening lives.

Following a road rage between Kumarasinge, who was a lorry driver and four drunken Muslims, who had been travelling in a three wheeler, Kumarasinghe was assaulted at Teldeniya on February 22 and was admitted to Teldeniya hospital before being transferred to the Kandy General Hospital, where he died.

The four Muslims had been arrested by the Police. It was when he explained this incident that the Ven. Thera expressed his concern over the children of those four men and those of Kumarasinghe carrying the hatred to another generation.





When a Sinhalese man dies because of Muslims, for whatever reason or for no reason, it would be very difficult to assure the safety of Muslims living in the deceaseds village



The trainee journalists met the Ven. Gnanissara Thera during a field visit to Ambala as a part of their training. There was a special reason for them to choose Ambala for their field visit and to meet Ven. Gnanissara Thera.

Ambala, the village of Kumarasinghe was in the news again after those riots as well, since its people had maintained peace there, while some groups had created mayhem in other areas torching houses, shops and vehicles in Kumarasinghes name.

The person behind this peace initiative in Ambala and its surrounding areas was none other than the mentor of the Ambala residents, Ven. Gnanissara Thera, who had toiled day and night for two weeks since Kumarasinghe was assaulted to see that no untoward incidents would take place in his village and nothing would disturb the ethnic harmony that the people of the village had preserved for generations.

His concern about the children carrying the hatred and the present problem to the future is something unique as any peace activist would be concerned only about how to tackle the present situation.

Such an activist would suggest penalizing any wrongdoer irrespective of their ethnicity or race but would not think about the children, especially those of the wrongdoers. But the Thera thinks out of the box, beyond penalizing.





Ambala, was in the news again after those riots as well, since its people had maintained peace there, while some groups had created mayhem in other areas torching houses, shops and vehicles in Kumarasinghes name







Those who assaulted Kumarasinghe and burnt Muslims houses and other properties must definitely be punished. However, when they are sent to the jail their families would be devastated, the future of their children would be ruined.

Already the future of Kumarasinghes children is ruined. This would create a situation where those children would take the problem to the future. It is our duty to find a solution to that problem as well.

There are about seven to eight thousand Sinhalese people living in Ambala and surrounding areas, while the village has been the house to only 36 Muslim families.

Therefore when a Sinhalese man dies because of Muslims, for whatever reason or for no reason, it would be very difficult to assure the safety of Muslims living in the deceaseds village.

Nevertheless, no Muslim in Ambala had been subject to physical or verbal attacks after Kumarasinghe was assaulted, nor had a single Muslim left the village during or after the riots, seeking safety and security.





There should be hotels and eateries where people of all communities eat and drink. That should be a place of trust and not a place of suspicion, he contended



Further, the small mosque in the village was intact while so many mosques situated some ten to fifteen kilometers away were attacked.

The only difference was that the Ambala, mosque authorities had stopped reciting Azan (Call for the prayer) using loudspeakers, for about three days after Kumarasinghe died at the Kandy General Hospital. These facts were confirmed by the mosque authorities as well.

Responding to a question as to how he managed to prevent communal clashes in Ambala Ven. Gnanissara Thera said as he sensed that it would be difficult to save Kumarasinghes life when he was admitted to the Kandy General Hospital, measures were taken to create a forbearing environment and understanding among the villagers, which he said had been successful when the unfortunate news about his death reached the village.

He went on to explain how he and the elders along with a group of youth in the village prevented untoward incidents in the area.

Kumarasinghes extended family is quite large and we felt the danger in case of doctors failing to save Kumarasinghes life. Therefore we approached his relatives from the day he was assaulted to instill in them forbearance and restraint.

With the respect and recognition to the religious leadership among the villagers we were able to persuade them to understand the situation without agitation when the bad news came.

We sent Kumarasinghes parents to the Police Station where they were briefed by the OIC on the consequences including the sympathy possibly turning into vilification. We also invited the DIG to the village where the heads of households were educated on the need for restraint and the DIG explained the new laws governing the communal clashes, which are severe in respect of law breakers.

Bodhi Poojas had been organized here during the all nine days the assault victim was in the hospital and the monks who led the poojas focused on the peace that had been preserved by the village elders for generations during their sermons. We made the possible unruly persons engage in various duties in order to minimize the spread of hatred. There is a group of very progressive youth in the village who too went house to house taking the message of peace.

Thus, when what should not happen had happened to Kumarasinghe, who was a very helpful man to all irrespective of ethnicity, the village was prepared to bear it up.

However, we cannot be proud to say that nothing happened. Two small incidents took place but the progressive youth and the elders in the village were able to nip them in the bud. I was near the village mosque almost the whole night of the day Kumarasinghe breathed his last. I returned to the temple after the last suspected person withdrew from the vicinity at about 2.45 a.m. on the next day.

We took about 300 people from the village to the Police Station where the Police officers explained how they should work towards communal amity. Even the theme of the sermons at the Pansukoola Rites after the death had been the much needed peace.

Ven. Gnanissara Thera insisted on the need to identify the problem when an incident takes place, without unnecessarily finding out the race or religion of those involved.

He regretted people doing their day-today activities ethnically divided.

They come together only during clashes, he observed.

The Thera criticized the notion of ethnicity based schools and political parties.

There should be an environment where people of all ethnicities go to the same school and politicking in the same party he opines.

An important point Ven. Gnanissara Thera stressed several times was the need for the Buddhist monks, Christian clergy Hindu Kurukkals and the Muslim Mowlawis of each area to have close relationship among them.

They must have their telephone numbers with each other. And they must show their close relationship to their respective followers. We, in this village have such an understanding which helped us to maintain peace, Gnanissara Thera stated.

He argued that the hotels and eateries were very important in building reconciliation among communities.

There should be hotels and eateries where people of all communities could eat and drink together amicably. That should be a place of trust and not a place of suspicion, he contended.

Commenting on the fear of so-called contraceptive pills, the Ven. Thera said that there were people without children and when a rumour starts to circulate they might hurriedly clinch those stories, leading to mutual suspicion.

That is why the eateries must be places of trust, he asserted.
SYDNEY AFP Aug 23, 2018- Defiant Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull vowed not to give in to bullies Thursday in the face of a new leadership challenge, but said he will quit politics if his party no longer supports him.



Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-wing conservative, said he was confident he now had the numbers to unseat Turnbull, considered a moderate.



And with senior ministers defecting, Turnbulls near three-year grip on power is tenuous despite surviving a snap ballot on his leadership on Tuesday, winning the vote 48-35.



He said Dutton had yet to prove he has majority backing from the Liberal Party -- a requirement for him to force another meeting to have a second crack at the top job ahead of national elections due by mid-2019.



If a petition arrives showing that support --and reports late in the day said Dutton was closing in on his target-- the meeting will be held at midday on Friday (0200 GMT).



Turnbull said that if that happens, he will not stand as a leadership candidate and will leave parliament, sparking a by-election which could be problematic for the government which has a wafer-thin one-seat parliamentary majority.

DJulie Bishop set to run for PM

Sydney, (Daily Mail), Aug 23, 2018 - Popular Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is set to throw her hat into the ring for tomorrows looming leadership ballot, making it a three-way fight with Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison for the nations top job.

Were Ms Bishop to prevail, she would become Australias second female prime minister and the first from Western Australia since 1945.
BRUSSELS AFP, Aug 24 2018- The EU hit back Friday at Italian threats after the deputy prime minister warned that Rome would pull funding for the bloc if Brussels fails to relocate migrants from a coast guard ship.



Deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said Thursday that his government is prepared to drop its annual contribution to the EU if an emergency meeting of key states in Brussels does nothing for the migrants blocked aboard the Diciotti vessel at the Sicilian port of Catania.
Future Automobiles (Pvt) Limited. CEO Chamath Tennekoon (left) handing over the sponsorship to World Vision Lanka National Director Dhanan Senathirajah World Vision Lanka National Director Dhanan Senathirajah

 World Vision Lanka will use the grant to provide year round access to clean potable water for residents in underserved Uchchamunai islands, Kalpitiya

 Grants programme in Sri Lanka is part of Fords broader conservation and CSR programmes across Asia Pacific

Ford Motor Company and local distribution partner, Future Automobiles (Pvt) Limited, today announced aUS$ 10,000 grant to World Vision Lanka under the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants initiative. This is the third project that Ford Motor Company and World Vision Lanka are collaborating on this year.

World Vision Lanka is a non-profit organization that dedicates to work with children, families and communities in Sri Lanka to overcome poverty and injustice, currently serving 16 Districts in the country.

The US$ 10,000 grant from Ford Motor Company Fund  the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company  will be used to provide sustainable safe water sources for local residents in Uchchamunai islands.

The facilities will help reduce the daily challenges that more than 40 families face in obtaining daily water supply as the available well water is not potable due to its high salinity.

Serving the communities where we live and work has always been important for Ford and we are proud of our ongoing efforts and contributions that help provide real and long-term benefits to the people of Sri Lanka, said Chamath Tennekoon, Chief Executive Officer, Future Automobiles (Pvt) Limited.

Our mission is to reach the most vulnerable communities and, this partnership with Ford Motor Company has given us the opportunity to do so. added Kushmin Perera, Corporate Engagement lead for World Vision Lanka. We are extremely grateful to Ford for their support and we will continue to build on this partnership.

The two organisations are also working together to implement a Rainwater Harvesting and Replenishment System in the Kalingavila village of the Magulpokuna Grama Niladhari Division, which is part of the Welikanda Divisional Secretariat. Additionally, in keeping with Ford Motors' annual "Global Caring Month" initiative, a staff volunteer program has been scheduled for September 2018 where volunteers from Future Automobiles (Pvt) Ltd will join the Board members of World Vision Lanka to benefit one of the most remotely-located primary schools in Jaffna.

Expressing his views on the latest project, Dhanan Senathirajah - National Director of World Vision Lanka stated, Fords commitment to creating sustainable impact in vulnerable and remote communities has made them an invaluable partner of World Vision Lanka. Building on our joint work last year to provide 220 families in Vaharai with access to water, and our current project with a community of 25 families in Welikanda, this Kalpitiya project will continue to change lives of people across Sri Lanka  making generational impact.

Over the past few years, Ford and Future Automobiles (Pvt) Limited have contributed to several local water conservation and drought mitigation projects in Sri Lanka including raising communities awareness on sustainable farming and water saving method through an agricultural livelihood project in Kilinochchi and implementing a rainwater harvesting and replenishment system in Welikanda to increase access to clean water for over 100 residents.

Founded in 1983, the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants programme was created to empower individuals and non-profit groups to conduct research and projects which help preserve the environmental well-being of their communities and provide solutions contributing to a sustainable planet.

In the Asia Pacific, Ford has played a pivotal role in advancing environmental initiatives for more than a decade across multiple markets, from protecting wildlife and preventing forest fires, to funding cultural heritage projects and replenishing resources in rural communities.
The Cabinet of Ministers this week approved a proposal to set up a temperature-controlled storage facility with an investment of Rs.475 million in Dambulla, a key farming region in the countrys North Central Province.



The proposal in this regard was submitted to the Cabinet by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the National Policies and Economic Affairs Minister.

The government of India has agreed to provide Rs.300 million as a grant to partly finance the storage facility.



A lot of vegetables and fruits that arrive at the Dambulla Economic Centre perish prematurely due to lack of refrigeration facilities.
(Hindustan Times), Aug 22, 2018 - A Rs 700 crore offer by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to aid Kerala acquired political undertones on Wednesday as parties in the flood-ravaged state came together to urge the Centre to relax a current policy that bars bilateral financial assistance for rescue and relief operations.



Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he will talk to the Prime Minister on the issue. Our people contributed immensely in building that nation (UAE) so it cannot be considered as a different country. There is a strong emotional boding between two nations, he tweeted.



The Congress, too, urged the Centre to reconsider, saying rejecting the aid will send the wrong signal to the country where more than 600,000 Indians are employed.



The CPI(M) also asked the Union government not to cling on to technicalities. Rules are there to be changed. If somebody commits a mistake it doesnt mean others should also do it. 
Construct Exhibition 2018 ,organized by the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL) in collaboration with a number of Ministries including the Housing and Construction Ministry, was launched at the BMICH today under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ministers like Sajith Premadasa, Vajira Abeywardena and several others were present at the event. Pix by Pradeep Pathirana
Every single cell, tissue and organ leads to the organisation of various vital body systems that ensure proper functioning of the human body. A discrepancy in one organ could lead to the collapse of the body system thereby affecting the functioning of the human body as a whole. A dysfunctional organ brings about the domino effect, ultimately deteriorating the quality of health. One important organ that needs attention is the kidney. The bean shaped organ is mainly responsible for excretion of toxic waste substances from the body and regulating water levels in the blood. Kidney complications are not rare in the island with more kidney patients springing up every day. Dr. Nalaka Gunawansa, Consultant Vascular, Endovascular and transplant surgeon, National Institute of Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation and National Hospital of Sri Lanka sheds light on kidney failures and the treatment used for these conditions in this weeks edition of Health Capsule.



Kidney damages and failure

Dr. Gunawansa mentioned that there are many ways through which the kidneys could get damaged. Conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which are long standing illnesses, infections such as repeated urinary infections in particular are some causes for kidney damage. Urinary stones (also known as calculi) is another factor that leads to damaged kidneys. Rare conditions such as autoimmune diseases, where the body itself produces antibodies that can harm the organs including kidneys as well as congenital illnesses, are some other reasons for this condition, he added.

The congenital kidney diseases often affect younger children. Infections can also affect the kidneys in younger children; especially in those who have a structural abnormality in the urinary tract

Are you at risk?

Upon inquiry Dr. Gunawansa warned that kidney damage can occur at any age. However young children seem more susceptible to certain conditions compared to adults. The congenital kidney diseases often affect younger children. Infections can also affect the kidneys in younger children; especially in those who have a structural abnormality in the urinary tract, he explained. He further added that infections, stones and autoimmune disease affecting kidneys are commonly seen in young adults who are between the ages 20-40. Chronic illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure affecting kidneys is usually seen in adults above 40 years of age, he stated.



According to Dr. Gunawansa, damaged kidneys do not show partiality towards a specific gender. Therefore both males and females should equally take proper care of their kidneys. However, urine infections are generally more common among females due to the short urinary tract. Autoimmune diseases affecting kidneys are also slightly more common among females, the surgeon highlighted.



Consequences and complications

Needless to say, a damaged kidney will lead to adverse consequences and complications. Dr. Gunawansa explicated that this could happen in two ways. This can occur as an acute kidney injury or a chronic kidney injury. The kidney damage is of short duration and is often reversible in acute cases. Chronic kidney injuries are more serious where the injury is more long standing and gradually progresses to a state where it becomes irreversible, he explained.



Kidney failure leads to a multitude of symptoms including water retention, loss of appetite, loss of energy and anaemia which results in low haemoglobin levels in the blood, he continued.



Dr. Gunawansa further went on to say that later on they could become very sick due to accumulation of toxins in the body. These toxins could be substances like urea, potassium and acid.



Treatment and recovery

Surgery stands as a method of treatment for damaged kidneys. Dr. Gunawansa spoke about different types of surgery available for extreme



kidney damage.Calculi could lead to damaged kidneys and hence should be treated immediately. Urine stones can be treated in many ways including surgery, laser and other minimal invasive techniques, he mentioned.



The surgeon stated that in cases of infected kidneys initial treatment is performed by the prescription of antibiotics. If a patient does not respond positively to antibiotics, the condition is treated by nephrostomy. Here the infected urine can be drained out by a needle and catheter to allow the kidneys to heal, Dr. Gunawansa explained.



He continued that kidneys may be removed very rarely in cases like severe circumstances of cancer, large stones, extreme infections etc.



Kidney Transplant is the ultimate treatment for kidneys that fail completely and for patients who end up with end stage kidney failure. The doctor explained that a kidney from a donor (either living or dead) is transplanted after matching the blood group and tissue antigens.



Kidney transplant is the most successful treatment for end stage kidney failure anywhere in the world. Our own results are also in keeping with most advanced canters and we have patients who have now lived 15-20 years or more following transplants. They can return to their normal lives, occupation and studies successfully after a transplant, affirmed Dr. Gunawansa.



Post-surgery care

After a surgery following a kidney complication, patients need to exercise caution and alter habits which is necessary to maintain health. Controlling blood sugar, blood pressure, drinking plenty of water to minimize dehydration, treating infections early and maintaining close follow ups with your kidney doctor regularly are some factors that should be paid attention to, he pointed out.



Prevention is always the better option especially in the case of kidney complications. Similarly to the above mentioned precautions, a person should always check his or her blood sugar levels and blood pressure.



Drinking plenty of water helps avoid many health complications. If people suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure in particular, it is important to highlight that they are exposed to a higher risk of kidney failure. You need to control these illnesses well and have close follow-ups with your doctors, advised Dr. Gunawansa.
President Aliyev stated that his visit to Vietnam in 2014 and President Truong Tan Sangs visit to Azerbaijan in 2015 were significant events, helping to open a new chapter in their bilateral relationship.

He added that Azerbaijan values its cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region in general and Vietnam in particular, affirming that the two countries should foster their cooperation in traditional areas, especially in the oil industry.

The president also noted that the two-way trade value remains modest and suggested increasing merchandise exports, while concretising the results of the second meeting of the joint committee for economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation, held in Baku last June.

For his part, Ambassador Manh expressed his wish that various activities would be held in 2019 to mark the 60th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minhs first visit to Azerbaijan, an idea that President Aliyev said he fully supports.

The Vietnamese diplomat also affirmed that he will focus on activities to foster bilateral cooperation, connect enterprises of the two countries and promote visits between the two countries ministries and agencies in the future.
The attainment of Arahantship by Buddhas Agraupastayake - Chief Attendant, Ven. Ananda Maha Thera, the commencement of the first Dharma Sangayana and the convocation to settle the Buddhist cannon Pasu Vas or the commencement of the Vas period -- rainy season sojourn by Buddhist monks who have not commenced it on the Esala Full Moon Poya Day -- are some of the significant occasions marked on the Nikini Full Moon Poya Day.



RAINY SEASON SOJOURN BY ASCETICS - PERA VAS AND PASU VAS

The rainy season in Dambadiva, India begins during the month of Esala (July/August). It is extremely cold in the snowy peaks of Himalayas and in the valleys where ascetics meditate under the shade of trees. Due to cold weather and heavy rain, it is not convenient for ascetics to sit under trees and meditate. Even birds build sheltered nests to live in during this season. Some of them even migrate to other countries where there is less rain and where the cold is not so severe. There is provision for Buddhist monks also to sojourn with householders during this season.



The Pali word Vas means rain and Viseema means dwelling. Hence Vas Viseema means the sojourn during the rainy season of three months which begins on Esala Full Moon Poya Day. Commencing the vas on this day is called the Purmikawa or Pera Vas. However, the Buddhist monks who fail to commence their vas period on the Esala Full Moon Poya Day are allowed to start observing Vas on Nikini Full Moon Poya Day. This late commencement of Vas or rainy season sojourn is called Pasu Vas.



SANTHAHA KARANAYA  HARDSHIPS CAUSED TO MONKS DUE TO RAIN

Buddhist monks commence their Vas on Nikini Full Moon Poya Day in keeping with the enactment Santhaha Karanaya. The circumstances which led to the enactment of Santhaha Karanaya were the hardships caused to some Bhikkhus due to rain. After the establishment of the Buddha Sasana, Bhikkhus engaged in the propagation of Dharma and meditation during all four seasons -- spring, summer, autumn and winter -- in spite of adverse weather conditions during the rainy season.

People were concerned about the hardships caused to Bhikkhus and pains taken by them which they thought was Attakilamathanuyogaya  giving extreme pain to the body or physical exertion. Some people went to the extent of criticizing the extreme pains taken by Bhikkhus. These criticisms reached the ears of King Bimbisara.



VAS IN RAJAGAHANUWARA COMMENCING FROM NIKINI FULL MOON POYA

On the day before the Nikini Full Moon Poya Day, King Bimbisara requested the Buddha to sojourn for the rainy season in his kingdom - Rajagahanuwara from Nikini Full Moon Poya Day. The Enlightened One accepted this invitation. Pasuvas or the custom of sojourning for the rainy season from Nikini Full Moon Poya came into being in that manner. Thus, Bhikkhus who fail to commence Vaswiseema or sojourning for the rainy season from Esala Full Moon Poya Day can sojourn for the Vassana Kala from Nikini Full Moon Poya Day.



Buddha himself had to be away from his place of rainy season sojourning for about a week when he went to Rajagahanuwara on the invitation of King Bimbisara. On this occasion, the Enlightened One allowed his followers to be away from the place of rainy season sojourn for a week if they had to comply with the invitation of devotees.



THE FIRST DHARMA SANGAYANA

It was on the Nikini Full Moon Poya Day, three months after the Buddha Parinibbana that the first Dharma Sangayana or the convocation was held to protect the Buddhist cannon. The immediate cause for conducting the first convocation or Dharma Sangayana was the behaviour of a monk by the name of Subaddha after Parinibbana of the Enlightened One.



LAMENTATION OVER PARINIBBANA OF THE ENLIGHTENED ONE

All ordinary bhikkhus who had not attained Arahantship excepting monk Subaddha lamented over the Parinibbana of the Buddha. Buddhas Agra Upasthayake, Dharma Bhandagarika- the treasurer of Dharma, Ananda Maha Thera was among those who lamented. Monk Subaddha had become an ascetic during his old age not actually to practice it but because he had no other way of living. He had requested the monks not to mourn but to be happy as there was no one after Buddha to give them orders.



REASON TO HOLD THE FIRST CONVOCATION

Arahants led by Maha Kassapa Thera felt that the behaviour of ascetic Subaddha was an indication of problems among members of the Sangha community and on Esala Full Moon Poya Day, two months after the Parinibbana of the Buddha, decided to hold the convocation to settle the Buddhist cannon. This was the first Dharma Sangayana.



It was conducted during a period of seven months from the following Nikini Full Moon Poya Day. Even during the time of Buddha, problems arose among the Bhikkhus such as the Sangha Beddha or division among bhikkhus (those versed in morals) and Vinayadhara bhikkhus (those versed in and observed the precepts of property of conduct) but the Buddha settled them amicably.



ARAHANT MAHA KASSAPA THERA

Arahant Maha Kassapa Thera was a Bhikkhu who spent most of the time in Himalayas as an ascetic. This he did presumably to avoid being mistaken by the people for the Buddha as he was physically identical with the Thathagatha.



Maha Kassapa Thera was in the city of Pavaat the time of Buddhas Parinibbana. As soon as he heard about the Maha Parinibbana, he came to Kusinara with his followers. Maha Kassapa Thera consoled the ordinary monks who mourned the Parinibbana of Gautama Buddha and after the funeral of the Thathagatha he made arrangements for the first Dharma Sangayana.



By that time Arahant Sariputta and Arahant Moggallyana had attained Parinibbana and the convocation was held under the patronage of Arahant Maha Kassapa and the royal patronage was provided by King Ajasatta. As unanimously decided by all the Bhikkhus, the first convocation was held at Saptapanni cave at the foot of the Vehara rock Rajagahanuwara, Five hundred Arahants participated in the convocation. Arahant Maha Kassapa Thera originally selected 499 Arahants and after attaining Arahantship by Ananda Maha Thera on the previous day the vacancy was filled by him.

The convocation was held at Rajagahanuwara in Magadha Rata. Presumably, Arahant Maha Kassapa Thera was confident of Ananda Maha Theras attainment of Arahantship before the commencement of the Dharma Sangayana. It was because of this reason that a place was kept for him.



ATTAINMENT OF ARAHANTSHIP BY ANANDA MAHA THERA

Ananda Maha Thera had gained eminence in erudition and possessed a lot of knowledge in Dharma and was second only to Buddha in preaching. Buddha appreciated him when he preached Dharma to a group led by King Mahanama Sakya. He was Dharma Bhandagarika - treasurer of Dharma having heard all the discourses of the Buddha. He was second only to Buddha in intelligence, good sense, prudence and circumspection. He had reached the apex in understanding and apprehension. In serving as Agra Upasthayake - Buddhas chief attendant, he did everything possible for the safety and comfort of the Buddha.



ANANDA MAHA THERAS DETERMINATION TO SAVE BUDDHA FROM ELEPHANT NALAGIRI

When the furious elephant Nalagiri came chasing after the Buddha, the Thera stood in between the Buddha and the elephant exhibiting his courageousness when he felt the need. He was second only to Buddha in rationalism, prudence and wisdom. In spite of such virtues and good qualities, he did not attain Arahantship by the time of Buddhas Parinibbana, presumably due to his desire and ambition to tender aid, to serve and wait upon the Buddha.



He had attained Sowan - the first of four paths to Nirvana, having heard the Dharma preached by Arahant Punnamattanipatha Thera a few days after entering priesthood. Since he had not attained Arahantship, he could not bear the pain of mind when he heard about Buddhas decision to attain Parinibbana. He leaned against the door at the temple and started crying.



ANANDA THERA REMINDED ABOUT THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF ALL EXISTING THINGS

Buddha summoned Ananda Maha Thera and consoled him, reminding him about the transitory nature of all existing things from which even the Thathagatha cannot deviate. Buddha said Ananda Maha Thera had accumulated enough merit to attain Arahantship before long and advised him to be courageous. Ananda Maha Thera made up his mind and did everything what ought to have been done.



ANANDA MAHA THERA INDISPENSABLE FOR THE CONVOCATION

When the first Dharma Sangayana was held, Ananda Maha Thera attained Arahantship and was qualified to fill the vacancy kept reserved for him by Arahant Maha Kassapa Thera. The vacancy was kept reserved because Ananda Maha Thera was indispensable for the successful convocation of the

Buddhist cannon.



He was the most knowledgeable person in the doctrine being the Dharma Bhandagarika- the treasurer of Dharma and having listened to all the discourses of the Enlightened One.



SEVEN MONTHS SPENT FOR THE CONVOCATION

The convocation went on for seven months. Dharma Pitake and Vinaya Pitake were classified into Digha Nikaya, Majjima Nikaya, Sanyutta Nikaya, Anguttara Nikaya and Kuddaka Nikaya.



They were learnt by heart. The responsibility for each part was entrusted to leading participants of the convocation. Arahant Ananda Maha Thera and his followers were entrusted with the responsibility for Digha Nikaya. The followers of Arahant Sariputta Maha Thera were entrusted with the Majjima Nikaya. Sanyutta Nikaya was entrusted with Arahant Kassapa Maha Thera and his followers.

Anguttara Nikaya was the responsibility of Arahant Anuruddha Maha Thera and his followers. All the Theras were made responsible for the Kuddaka Nikaya. Vinaya Pitake was entrusted with Arahant Upali Maha Thera. At this convocation, the preludes or introduction to Dharma Sangati, Vibhanga Dhatukata, Puggala Pragnappti and Yamaka Pattan of Abhidharma were also rehearsed.
The Joint Opposition yesterday said Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry was in an attempt to proceed with the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) during the discussions that were scheduled to be held today with the related parties.

JO member MP Kanaka Herath told a news conference that Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama and the Ministrys Secretary was trying to sign the ETCA which was detrimental to the country.

The Ministry has signed the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the same manner concealing its true nature to the country as the ETCA. The discussions scheduled for today will prove fatal to the country, he said.

He said as per the experts' views, Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA had enabled the import of waste materials released by other countries to Sri Lanka and added that the country would face many issues if such predictions would turn to be real; We already have garbage disposal issues in Sri Lanka, especially in Colombo, he added.

He said the entire service sector and occupations of Sri Lanka would be at a risk if the government would proceed with the trade agreements such as ETCA and Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA.

Meanwhile, another JO member MP Kanchana Wijesekera said the Independent Experts Committee on Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA to conduct a special study was a mere eye-wash.

We have made an official request to the said committee in order to express our views on this FTA. The committee has not made any response so far, he said. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)

Video by Sanjeewa
The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) said yesterday they were yet to finalise a list of missing persons during the war in Sri Lanka since 1983 but it could be about 20,000.

However, OMP Chairman Saliya Pieris PC said they had several reports compiled by the commissions and institutions on the number of missing persons in the country.

We have data of previous reports released on missing persons. The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) says it is about 16,000 people including 5,100 military and police personnel. The Paranagama Commission says 21,000 people have gone missing while the government had received 13,000 complaints through Grama Niladharis on missing persons. These numbers may overlap, he told a news briefing.

He said there was no need for those who have already complained about missing persons to make fresh complaints to the OMP. However, if there are any who have previously not complained to any entity about their missing family members can send complaints to us, Mr. Pieris said.

He said the first interim report complied by the OMP would be released next week with recommendations to the government on the safety of the family members of missing persons and finding out the truth about what had happened to them.

Mr. Pieris said the recommendations would also focus on how to deliver justice to the family members of the missing.

The interim report will be released on August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, and will be handed over to the President and the Prime Minister, he said and added that the interim report would be based on views expressed by the missing persons family members during the OMPs outreach meetings as well as the findings of the previous commissions including the Paranagama Commission, the LLRC and the Manouri Muttetuwegama Commission.

Mr. Pieris said they would organise a meeting at the J.R. Jayewardene Centre in Colombo on August 30 at 3.00 p.m. to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.

We expect the family members of missing persons to attend this meeting and express their views. The keynote speech will be delivered by Human Rights Commission (HRC) Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama. The reason for holding this meeting is to make people aware about the issue of missing people and the disappeared and to acknowledge the sufferings of their families, he said.

Commenting on the Mannar mass grave site, Mr. Pieris said they intervened in the matter and that the excavation process had been delayed due to lack of funds.

Funds should be allocated to expedite the excavation being carried out by Judicial Medical Officers and archaeologists. First, the era to which these skeletal remains belong should be identified. Then, the identification of the skeletal remains can be done. If necessary we can also look into the mass grave site in Matale. We can obtain foreign expertise, especially in the field of forensics, he said.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Nimalka Fernando said they were optimistic about beginning the recruitment of employees to the OMP in January next year. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
by john wagner

President donald trump predicted in an interview broadcast thursday that the stock market would crash and everybody would be very poor if he were to be impeached by the U.S. house of representatives next year. Trump was asked about the prospect during an interview on fox & friends by host Ainsley Earhardt, who noted that democrats are vying to take control of the house in the November elections.



you know, i guess it says something like high crimes and all. . . . i dont know how you can impeach somebody whos done a great job, trump said in the interview, which was recorded wednesday.

ill tell you what, if i ever got impeached, i think the market would crash, he said. i think everybody would be very poor because without this thinking, you would see numbers that you wouldnt believe. he went on to tout the performance of the U.S. economy under his stewardship and suggest it would have fared far worse if democrat hillary clinton had been elected in 2016.



under the U.S. constitution, presidents may be removed for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.



talk of possible impeachment of trump has accelerated this week with the guilty plea of trumps former personal lawyer, michael cohen, in federal court in manhattan, and the conviction of trumps former campaign manager, paul manafort, in federal court in alexandria, virginia.



(c) 2018, the washington post aug 23, 2018 -

washington -

Trump considering pardon for Paul Manafort

Washington, (Reuters), Aug 23, 2018 - US President Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on Tuesday of bank and tax fraud, according to a Fox News reporter who interviewed Trump. Fox News reporter Ainsley Earhardt said Trump told her in an interview on Wednesday that he would consider pardoning Manafort.
USS Anchorage arrived in Trincomalee today as part of a scheduled port visit. The US Navy personnel and US Marines of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit onboard the ship, will participate in partnership building exercises with the Sri Lanka Navy and the newly minted Sri Lankan Marines, with a major focus on increasing efficiency of joint relief efforts during Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief missions. USS Anchorage is part of the Essex ARG (Amphibious Ready Group) and is deployed in the 7th fleet area of operations. (Pix courtesy US Embassy)
However the goals of making the Northern Provincial Council dysfunctional and preventing a socio-economic renaissance through development activities have succeeded to some extent due to Chief minister Wigneswaran and a few provincial councillors, some officials and sections of the Tamil media



Wigneswaran may have been a Supreme Court judge but he proved to be absolutely incompetent as a chief minister and was thoroughly inefficient as an administrator



He wrote to the President saying he will not participate in the Task Force and released it to the media. He also urged the TNA not to attend Task Force meetings Wigneswaran began exerting pressure on TNA leader Sampanthan to comply with his call for a boycott





By

D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the kings horses and all the kings men

Couldnt put Humpty together again.

- Nursery Rhyme



Northern Province Chief Minister Canagasabapathy Viswalingam Wigneswaran is a retired Supreme Court judge. Much was expected of CV Wigneswaran when he was first elected chief minister of the Northern Province on behalf of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in September 2013. Sadly those hopes turned into dupes very soon. Wigneswaran adopted a confrontational political approach that left much to be desired. Projecting himself as a Tamil hardliner, the chief minister engaged in all types of disruptive politics while the Northern provincial administration deteriorated. The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) became the worst-run provincial administration in the country. Today the NPC board of ministers is in a virtual state of paralysis due to Wigneswarans obstinate refusal to comply with a court directive. The people of the North who welcomed the advent of the NPC in 2013 are waiting eagerly for its term of office to end in October 2018.

The NPC became the worst-run provincial administration in the country. Today the NPC board of ministers is in a virtual state of paralysis due to Wigneswarans obstinate refusal to comply with a court directive

The provincial councils of Sri Lanka do enjoy a certain quantum of devolution. They may not have maximum devolution but the powers available are adequate to plan and implement a reasonable amount of development projects. The provincial council representing the war-afflicted people of the war-ravaged North had an extra responsibility and duty to harness all available resources for the betterment of the province. But this is not what happened. Instead of passing necessary statutes, the NPC busied itself with passing hundreds of useless, irrelevant resolutions. Finances allocated by the Treasury for development work in the province were under-utilised resulting in the remainder being returned to the Treasury. When major projects with international aid for the benefit of the North were initiated by the Government in Colombo, the NPC did not cooperate and instead obstructed them. When concerned Sri Lankan expatriates came up with blueprints to establish employment-oriented, income-generating schemes they were rebuffed and rejected. The credo adopted by Wigneswaran and his cohorts was Abilaashaigalae Mukkiam, Abhiviruthiyalla (Aspirations are only important not Development).



There was a sinister method in this seeming madness. Wigneswaran may have been a Supreme Court judge but he proved to be absolutely incompetent as a chief minister and was thoroughly inefficient as an administrator. His tough political posture helped divert attention away from his inadequacies and failures. More importantly his conduct seemed to be part of a calculated design, endorsed and encouraged by hawkish elements in the global Tamil Diaspora.



Hardliners in the Tamil Diaspora and their fellow-travellers in Sri Lanka have a three-fold objective. Firstly they want to sabotage the working of the Northern Provincial Council and depict it as a worthless white elephant incapable of delivering the goods to the Tamil people. Secondly they want to prevent economic, educational, social and cultural upliftment of the Tamil people and keep them in a state of perpetual want and despair. Thirdly they dont want normalcy to prevail in the Northern and Eastern provinces and try as much as possible to foment violence and strife in the Tamil- speaking regions. The various attempts to trigger violence in the North-East have been contained and checked by the law-enforcement authorities in the past. However the goals of making the Northern Provincial Council dysfunctional and preventing a socio-economic renaissance through development activities have succeeded to some extent due to Chief minister Wigneswaran and a few provincial councillors, some officials and sections of the Tamil media.



Premier Political Configuration

This sad state of affairs does not mean that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which is the premier political configuration of the Sri Lankan Tamils, approves of all what Wigneswaran has been doing. The chief constituent of the TNA is the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK). The TNA contests elections under the House symbol of the ITAK. The ITAK president and senior Jaffna district MP Somasundaram Maavai Senathirajah and TNA spokesperson and Jaffna district parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran have been openly critical of Wigneswaran. Sumanthiran in fact called for disciplinary action against Wigneswaran for allegedly violating party discipline. There is little love lost between NPC Chairman C.V.K. Sivagnanam and Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran who are often at loggerheads with each other. Three out of four in the original board of ministers were opposed to the chief minister. One has successfully filed legal action against the chief minister. Most of the ITAK representatives in the NPC are hostile to Wigneswaran and estranged from him. On another level the NPC Opposition Leader Sinnathurai Thavarajah exposes the alleged lies, half truths, contradictions and shortcomings of chief minister Wigneswaran both within and outside the provincial council. Wigneswaran has been unable to get along with the present Northern Governor Reginald Coorayas well as past Governors H.M.G.S. Palihakkara and Maj-Gen (Retd) G. A. Chandrasiri.



In spite of all this opposition towards him within the ITAK which nominated him as chief ministerial candidate, Wigneswaran has been able to carry on as chief minister so far due to the strength and support of TNA parliamentary group leader and Leader of the Opposition Rajavarothayam Sampanthan. For reasons which shall be discussed in detail later, Sampanthan has been mollycoddling, shielding and protecting Wigneswaran from the slings and arrows of disgruntled ITAK party members in the past. In 2015 Sampanthan restrained efforts by TNA provincial councillors to present a no-confidence motion against Wigneswaran. In 2017 Sampanthan was taken unawares when a sudden no-confidence motion against Wigneswaran was put to the vote. Sampanthan however intervened and prevented further follow-up action against the chief minister. According to Hindu mythology the snake around Lord Shivas neck (Paramasivan Kazhuthup Paambu)feels secure enough to tauntingly greet its sworn enemy the brahmini kite bird (Karudan). Likewise Wigneswaran protected by Sampanthan has been able to cock a snook at his critics within the TNA so far.



The silver lining in this dark cloud seems to be the prospect of change looming on the horizon. In spite of the octogenarian Sampanthans authoritative hold on the party there are increasing signs of assertive independence within the parliamentary folds of the party. Parliamentarians of the TNA are no longer ready, able and willing to follow Sampanthan blindly. This was vividly illustrated at the time of the deputy-speakers election a few months ago.

This sad state of affairs does not mean that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which is the premier political configuration of the Sri Lankan Tamils, approves of all what Wigneswaran has been doing



The deputy-speakers post fell vacant after Thilanga Sumathipala along with 16 SLFP parliamentarians quit Government ranks in the aftermath of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Sumathipala resigned as deputy-speaker on May 25, 2018. Since the Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is from the UNP the Deputy-speaker post was allocated to the SLFP. Therefore the vacancy should have been filled by that party.



Deputy Speakers Election

President Maithripala Sirisena wanted to nominate national list MP Angajan Ramanathan as the SLFP deputy-speaker. But Sampanthan objected to Ramanathan who was the SLFP chief organizer in Jaffna being appointed deputy speaker. President Sirisena then gave in and the UNP nominated Moneragala district MP Ananda Kumarasiri for the deputy speaker. The SLFP group of 16 MPs who had quit the government nominated Gampaha district MP Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle for the post and canvassed with both the SLFP in government and within the joint opposition. The 16 MPs also had discussions with Sampanthan at which meeting no other MP from TNA was present. It was reported then that the SLFP sixteen had assured Sampanthan that they had no objection to him continuing to remain opposition leader.



When the deputy speaker election was to be held, Sampanthan spoke out against the UNP candidate and extolled the virtues of Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle who would have made history as the first woman deputy speaker if elected. Furthermore Sampanthan said that the deputy speaker post should go to the SLFP and faulted the UNP for contesting. A chagrined Ranil Wickremesinghe retorted by pointing out that it was Sampanthan who had vetoed the earlier SLFP nominee Angajan Ramanathan. When it came to voting time, Sampanthan indicated that the TNA would vote in favour of Sudharshani Fernandopulle.



This was an arbitrary decision of Sampanthan who had not consulted the TNA parliamentary group. Most of the TNA parliamentarians spontaneously revolted against Sampanthan by telling TNA spokesman Sumanthiran that they will not vote for Sudharshini. The TNA parliamentarians voted with their feet by walking out en masse. Sampanthan too was compelled to save face by following his fellow MPs reluctantly.



A seemingly similar situation of TNA parliamentarians defying Sampanthan on crucial issues may have developed on Thursday August 23 too. Fortunately it was averted by Sampanthan himself who fell in line with the opinion of his fellow MPs instead of trying to impose his will upon them. Again the controversial bone of contention was Wigneswaran. The issue was about the Task force appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to oversee development work in the Northern and Eastern provinces.



Presidential Task Force

President Maithripala Sirisena had earlier appointed a high-level 48-member task force to direct, coordinate and monitor development activities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The task force, chaired by the President, would review the development projects so far launched in the Northern and Eastern Provinces since the end of the conflict and accelerate the development process.The task force members included Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, 15 Cabinet ministers, the Governors of the two provinces, the Chief Ministers of the two provinces, secretaries to several ministries and Commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force.



The task force is expected to review the status of progress of various sectoral plans, programmes and projects now being implemented in the two Provinces. It would also initiate and formulate new plans, programmes and subjects targeting sectors and groups that need priority attention. It will facilitate finances for projects and programmes and encourage and enlist the support and participation of the private sector, bilateral and multilateral development institutions, for investing and implementing development projects and programmes in the two Provinces.



The task force will also coordinate work between the Government and provincial administrations and among Public and private sectors and non-governmental and civil society sections and carry out overall monitoring of the implementation of the development activities in the regions.It will also identify any constraints which impede expeditious implementation of development programmes in the regions and advise the relevant authorities on speedy solutions to overcome them. Former Rehabilitation Ministry Secretary V. Sivagnanasothy has been appointed as the task force secretary.



A singular defect in constituting the Task force was the apparent exclusion of Parliamentarians. No elected or appointed MP from the Northern and Eastern provinces was appointed to the Task force. It is uncertain as to whether this omission was deliberate or merely an inadvertent oversight. The two chief ministers and Governors were included. There was a hitch in this too as the Eastern Provincial council is now dissolved and there is no chief minister. The Northern Provincial councils term of office too is scheduled to end in October this year. Thus Wigneswaran as chief minister was entitled to participate in the task force.



Track Record of Non-Cooperation

Any responsible chief minister of a war-battered province and war-shattered people would have jumped at the chance to be part of a Presidential task force overseeing development activity. But Wigneswaran with a track record of non - cooperation said he would boycott it. He cited the exclusion of TNA parliamentarians and inclusion of defence services chiefs in the Task Force as reasons for his decision. He also reiterated that a political settlement was necessary before economic development. It was apparent that the Northern Province chief minister was all out to undermine the Presidential Task force charged with Provincial development.



Saner counsel prevailed within the upper echelons of the TNA who did not take umbrage at being kept out of the Task Force. Instead of confronting, the president and Prime Minister were informed by the TNA that parliamentarians from the North - East had to be accommodated in the Task Force as the Eastern Provincial council stood dissolved and the Northern Provincial council term of office would end in October. Thus participation of elected Parliamentary representatives from the two provinces was essential for the smooth functioning of the Task Force. This was accepted and the composition of the Task Force was enlarged to accommodate MPs also. Invitation letters were sent out to the 16 MPs elected from the TNA to participate in the Task Force meetings.( Wanni district MP Sivasakthi Ananthan has dropped out of the TNA).



The main reason cited by Wigneswran in refusing to attend the Task Force meetings was the non-inclusion of TNA parliamentarians in it. Now the matter had been rectified. Even though his stated raison detre for spurning the Task Force was now removed, Wigneswaran remained adamant. He wrote a letter to President Sirisena saying he would not participate in the Task Force and released it to the media. He also called upon the TNA not to attend Task Force meetings. Wigneswaran began exerting pressure on TNA leader Sampanthan to comply with his call for a boycott.



Politics First;Economics Next

An official from the chief ministers office in Jaffna contacted Leader of the opposition Rajavarothayam Sampanthan and informed him that Wigneswaran would be in Colombo on Sunday August 26th. It was suggested that Sampanthan and Wigneswaran should meet in Colombo on Aug 26th and discuss issues including the Economic Task Force matter. Wigneswaran also wrote a personal letter to Sampanthan on August 22nd. Wigneswaran informed Sampanthan that he was boycotting the Presidential Task Force and wanted Sampanthan and other TNA parliamentarians to do the same. He said that the quest for a political settlement should receive priority over economic upliftment activity. Wigneswaran urged Sampanthan to adopt the principle of Arasiyal Theervu Mudhalil; Porulaathaara Munnetram Adhan Pinnar (Political Solution First;Economic Progress Next).



It was against this backdrop that the TNA parliamentary group met in Colombo on Thursday August 23. The meeting was held in the morning at the opposition leaders office in Parliament with Sampanthan presiding. Eleven of sixteen TNA Parliamentarians were present. The five absentee MPs were Dharmalingam Siddharthan, Sivasakthi Ananthan, E.Saravanabavaan, Dr. S. Sivamohan and Ms. Shanthy Sriskandarajah. When the Economic Task Force issue was taken up Sampanthan informed the MPs of Wigneswarans call for a boycott and read out portions of his letter. Sampanthan also said that a meeting with Wigneswaran on Sunday was on the cards.

It was against this backdrop that the TNA parliamentary group met in Colombo on Thursday August 23. The meeting was held in the morning at the opposition leaders office in Parliament with Sampanthan presiding

Sampanthan was somewhat taken aback by the vehement reaction of his party MPs to Wigneswarans boycott call. Almost every MP present condemned Wigneswarans boycott call and emphasised that TNA parliamentarians should participate fully in the Task Force and ensure the speedy economic upliftment of the people. They pointed out that the people were facing much economic hardship and that the economic task force provided a very good opportunity for the MPs to remove bottlenecks and enact positive measures. Some Northern MPs pointed out that the Provincial council with chief minister Wigneswaran was elected to work out schemes and projects for the economic emancipation of the people but Wigneswaran had neglected his duties and engaged in

disruptive politics.



They said that because of this, they as MPs had a duty to cooperate with the Govt and ensure the economic needs of the people were met. Wigneswaran was also criticised for interfering with the political duties of TNA parliamentarians. One MP quipped that Wigneswaran like the fox in the fable was asking them to cut their tails because he had lost his own tail.

Politically Isolated Within Party

The rising tide of discontent and criticism displayed against Wigneswaran demonstrated clearly that the TNA parliamentarians were in an angry mood. It also showed that Wigneswaran was becoming politically isolated within the party that elected him as chief minister. After each MP had his say, Sampanthan addressed the parliamentary group. The veteran Trincomalee district MP said that he too was of the opinion that the TNA should participate in the Task force instead of boycotting and cooperate with the govt to develop the North and East. Thereafter the TNA parliamentary group passed a unanimous resolution rejecting Wigneswarans boycott call and emphasising that all MPs should participate whole-heartedly in the Task Force to expedite the economic progress of the people in the Northern and Eastern provinces.



The antipathy of the TNA parliamentarians towards the politics of Wigneswaran was so great that some of them even asked Sampanthan not to communicate with the chief minister about the TNA parliamentary group decision. They told the TNA leader respectfully that if Wigneswaran approached Sampanthan then the chief minister could be informed about what had happened but it was not necessary for him to inform Wigneswaran first. They also requested Sampanthan not to reply Wigneswarans letter in writing and to simply ignore it. When some MPs raised the matter of an envisaged meeting between Sampanthan and Wigneswaran, the TNA leader was quick to respond He has only requested that we meet. I have said I will only consider it. I have not agreed yet. It appears therefore that the chances of a one to one meeting between Sampanthan - Wigneswaran meeting are very slim.



The TNA parliamentary group hullabaloo over Wigneswarans political conduct and the unanimous rejection of his boycott call illustrates clearly that the Northern chief minister is increasingly becoming politically isolated within the TNA in general and ITAK in particular. Wigneswarans sheet anchor within the party and benefactor -protector has been TNA leader Sampanthan. Although Wigneswaran has bitten the hand that fed him on more than one occasion, the diplomatic Sampanthan has been extremely patient and tolerant about the chief ministers antics. There are two reasons for this stance. One is that Wigneswaran was brought into politics and crowned chief minister by Sampanthan. Though Wigneswaran runs amok at times, Sampanthan does not find fault publicly because he does not want to acknowledge the fact that he had erred grievously in his choice of a chief minister. The second reason is Sampanthans concern that Wigneswaran may break away and align with other forces thereby endangering and fracturing overall Tamil political unity.



Three Options Before Wigneswaran

Wigneswaran too has been relying on Sampanthan in this respect. The chief minister has made it clear that he intends repeating his dismal performance by becoming chief minister for a second time too. Wigneswaran has said that he has three options before him. The first is to be nominated by the TNA/ITAK as chief ministerial candidate again. The second is to align with like minded parties and individuals and form a new political front and contest. The third is to form his own political party and contest. Notwithstanding the triple choices outlined by Wigeswaran, his preference is to be the TNA/ITAK chief ministerial candidate. His references to the second and third options is only a calculated ruse to intimidate and compel Sampanthan into giving him the chief minister nomination again. That is why he has not engaged in any spadework to form a new party or shown signs of aligning with other parties. He has been pointedly ignoring the public pleas of Tamil Congress leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam that Wigneswaran should take a firm decision and team up with him.



Recent events however show that the political isolation of Wigneswaran within the party is so great that even Sampanthan may not be able to help him out in this regard. The anger and resentment towards Wigneswaran within party circles is of gigantic proportions. Hence Sampanthan may very likely face an internal revolt if he dares to nominate Wigneswaran as chief ministerial candidate again. Besides ITAK leader and senior Jaffna district MP Maavai Senathirajah has staked his rightful claim to be the Chief ministerial candidate at the next elections. In 2013 the overwhelming desire in the TNA was for Senathirajah to be the chief minister candidate. Sampanthan however insisted that Wigneswaran should be the candidate. Senathiraja gracefully stepped down in deference to Sampanthans wishes. This time Senathirajah is determined to contest and even Sampanthan cannot replace Maavai with Wigneswaran even if he wants to. But there is little chances of Sampanthan backing Wigneswaran this time because the veteran politician will not support what appears to be a lost cause.



In such a situation it is obvious that Wigneswaran has fallen from grace politically within party folds. He has his coterie of supporters in Sri Lanka and abroad nd also the backing of sections of the Tamil media. These elements have succeeded in projecting a larger than life image of Wigneswaran. An illusion has been created that Wigneswaran is widely popular and that any party or political front supported by him would be victorious. This however is a myth. The ex - Judge who got more than 130,000 preferences when he contested Provincial polls on the ITAK ticket in 2013 will find his vote tally drastically reduced if he dares to go against the TNA/ITAK. Of course he and his supporters can win a few seats but it will not be adequate to make him chief minister. The majority of people in the North are so disappointed and disgusted with Wigneswarans performance as chief minister that they are unwilling for a repeat performance again. The bloated balloon blown up by Wigneswarans acolytes will burst in such a trial of strength. It is a moot point as to whether Wigneswaran will have the political courage to venture on such a risky political course despite his verbal bravado.The ITAK however seems ready to call his bluff this time.



Writing is on the Wall

It appears therefore that the days of CV Wigneswaran as Northern Province chief minister are numbered. Politically isolated within his party, the chief minister appears to be on his way out permanently. The TNA parliamentary group reaction to the chief ministers boycott call shows that the writing is on the wall for Wigneswaran. A political downfall seems inevitable unless of course something unexpected happens.



D.B.S. Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com
The government will develop the Colombo Port's East Container Terminal (ECT) to be the largest and deepest container terminal in South Asia without any foreign funding, Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said yesterday.

He said he would submit the proposal and blueprint of the development plan to the Cabinet shortly.

The Hambantota Port is being operated and managed by two Sri Lankan and Chinese companies -- Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) owned by the CMPort of China and the Hambantota International Port Services (HIPS) owned by the SLPA on a 90-year lease agreement. The majority shares are held by the Chinese company. The biggest container terminal at the Colombo Port, the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT), is also operated and managed by a conglomerate that includes Maersk Group and John Keells on a 30-year lease agreement signed during the Chandrika Kumaratunga government. Funding for the development of ECT will be provided by the SLPA and the Treasury, he said.

When asked about the cost of the development project, the minister said it would be known only after the tender was offered to produce machinery and a minimum of 15 months was needed to produce and deliver the machinery.

After obtaining Cabinet approval, I will call worldwide tenders for machinery to be set up at the ECT. It will take a minimum of 15 months to manufacture, deliver and fix the machinery. But we cannot wait for that long to begin the development and expansion programme. I hope to obtain machinery on lease after calling tenders only for the interim period, he said.

The minister said the three terminals at the Port of Colombo, the Jeya Container Terminal, SAGT and ECT cannot take massive ships and tankers because they are fully-occupied round the clock.

Besides, the depth of three terminals does not permit access to big vessels. Once the ECTs development project is concluded, the ECT will provide berthing facilities to some of the biggest ships and tankers in the world. The development project of the ECT will be launched in three months, he said. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)
The host leader welcomed his guests working visit to Vietnam, which is being made amid the growing strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Noting that Busan is well developed in various fields, especially economics and trade, he expressed his hope that the trip would considerably contribute to the citys cooperation with Vietnamese localities and businesses.

The Honorary Consul General said his delegation includes representatives of many prestigious Busan businesses, who have come to seek cooperation and investment opportunities in Vietnam. He highly valued Vietnams rapid socio-economic development under the management and direction of the Government led by PM Phuc.

Park asked his host to support the opening of a direct air route linking Vietnams central city of Nha Trang city with Busan, in order to create more chances for trade, cultural exchange and tourism partnerships between the two nations. He also called for PM Phucs support for the cooperation activities between Busan and Vietnamese localities and enterprises in the future.

At the meeting, PM Phuc said the Vietnamese Government appreciates Parks contributions to the bilateral relations, asking him to continue to help protecting the legitimate interests of Vietnamese people working, studying and living in the Busan-Gyeongnam region, especially the Vietnamese  Korean families, and encourage local universities and businesses to grant scholarships for students and recruit workers from Vietnam.

The Honorary Consul General was also asked to encourage more RoK businesses to invest in the Southeast Asian country or partner with Vietnamese firms to import high-quality agricultural products, which are a strength of Vietnam and are also in demand in the RoK.

The host leader added the Vietnamese Government and himself are always ready to assist Park to fulfil his role as Honorary Consul General of Vietnam in the Busan-Gyeongnam region.

Park pledged to persuade the major and capable businesses in the region to increase their investment in Vietnam. He also promised his utmost efforts to develop the two countries strategic cooperative partnership in all fields.
At the annual event, the two sides briefed each other on the current situation of their respective countries, while reviewing the outcomes of major cooperation areas as well as the affiliation of the two ministries during the 2014-2020 period.

Both deputy FMs showed their pleasure at the recent progress in the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, especially the increasing political trust and fruitful collaboration in security, defence, trade, investment, and education and training.

The success of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2017 contributed to cementing ties between the two nations, creating a firm foundation for the younger generations to continue promoting the Vietnam-Laos special relations, they said.

The consultation also discussed developments in the region and the world, with the two sides agreeing to continue working closely at regional and international forums, especially within the ASEAN and other sub-regional cooperation mechanisms in Southeast Asia.

They also sought measures and orientations to enhance the efficiency of implementing high-level agreements, thus continuing to deepen bilateral collaboration in all fields.

They stressed the need for the two ministries to promote their advisory and connection roles, together with other ministries and localities, towards removing obstacles facing investment projects and ensuring their ongoing quality and progress.

Both sides also concurred to strengthen the close, practical, and effective affiliation between the two ministries, as well as smaller agencies, while coordinating closely to prepare for the annual consultations between the two foreign ministers in December this year in Laos.

Lao Deputy FM Khamphau Ernthavan congratulated Vietnam on the success of the 30th Vietnam Diplomatic Conference, lauding the achievements of Vietnam in foreign relations over the past few years which he held had helped Vietnam raise its position and role in the region and across the world.

Earlier, on August 23, three seminars were held for the functional bodies of the two foreign ministries to discuss the external policies of each country, measures to improve cooperation in personnel organisation and training, as well as regional and global issues of shared concern.
Meeting the Ethiopian head legislator in the capital city of Addis Ababa on August 24 as part of his first visit to the African country, the Vietnamese State leader spoke highly of Ethiopias success in maintaining political stability, national development, and reaching the highest economic growth rate in the continent over the past 10 years.

He proposed that Ethiopias House of Federation support and encourage the open policies of its government, creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese firms to seek cooperation and investment opportunities in the country, particularly in areas that play to Vietnams strengths and experience, such as agriculture, trade, telecommunications, aviation, and small and medium-sized hydropower plant building.

President Quang told his host that Vietnam has already enjoyed fruitful agricultural cooperation with some African countries including Guinea, Benin, Mozambique, and Angola. He suggested that the two sides consider the implementation of a tripartite partnership or the public-private partnership model in agriculture.

Vietnam is willing to create the most welcoming conditions for Ethiopian enterprises to engage in local business and investment, the President said.

Regarding parliamentary cooperation, President Quang asked the legislative bodies of both sides to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, while coordinating with and supporting each other at international and regional forums, sharing information and legislative and supervising experience, and enhancing their role in promoting signed agreements and deals between the two countries.

For her part, Keria Ibrahim lauded the Vietnamese leaders visit, and was clearly impressed by the countrys rapid and stable economic growth over the past year, climbing to become the worlds leading exporter of key agricultural products, such as rice and coffee.

She said she hopes that Vietnam will share with Ethiopia their experiences in economic development, especially in areas of strength such as agriculture and aquaculture.

She said that Ethiopia, with its position as a key economic centre for Africa and a gateway to the Horn of Africa, is willing to act as a bridge for Vietnamese businesses to access other nations on the continent.

She proposed that Vietnam re-open an embassy in Addis Ababa to strengthen bilateral cooperation, as well as affiliation between Vietnam and the African Union.

The House of Federation Speaker pointed to similarities between Vietnam and Ethiopia as developing countries with young and abundant workforce, as well as a mutual determination to boost economic growth and improve the living conditions of local people.

The two leaders agreed on the need to further strengthen the collaboration between the legislative bodies of the two countries, thus contributing towards enhancing their economic, trade, and investment partnership to match the already sound political partnership between the two sides. The two countries should continue maintaining close coordination at multilateral forums such as the United Nations and the International Parliamentary Union (IPU).

On the occasion, President Quang conveyed National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngans visit invitation to Keria Inbrahim, and received her acceptance.

Earlier the same day, President Quang and his spouse visited the National Museum of Ethiopia.
ROME, 24 August 2018 (AP)  Many of the 150 migrants stranded aboard a coast guard ship for a ninth day began a hunger strike Friday out of frustration that Italy wont let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by Italys anti-migrant interior minister.

They can do whatever they believe, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini tweeted, shrugging off the development that migrants were refusing meals aboard the Italian coast guard vessel Diciotti. The ship rescued them on 16 August 2018 from a foundering human traffickers boat in the central Mediterranean, and for days now has been docked in the port of Catania, Sicily.

An opposition lawmaker, Sen. Davide Faraone said that on Friday Catania port officials told him theres tension on the ship and that migrants have stopped eating.Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama. On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania. Salvini has been adamant that Italys populist government wont allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking the asylum-seekers.All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean; the others are from Somalia, Syria, and Sudan. They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya, while waiting to leave that lawless country aboard smugglers boats.Another opposition lawmaker who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20, still there.Appealing to Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off the Diciotti.Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch Friday but the men refused the meal.But Salvini was staying tough, as was fellow deputy premier, Luigi Di Maio, who heads the senior coalition partner, the euro-skeptic 5-Star Movement. [more]
By Ryan Rumbolt

23 August 2018

(Calgary Herald)  Just days after smashing the previous record for the number of smoky days in Calgary, Environment Canada issued another severe air quality warning for the city and many communities in southern Alberta.Skies briefly cleared in the city before another advisory was issued on Wednesday. As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Environment Canada rated Calgarys air quality at 9, which is considered high risk. Thats expected to jump to 10+ this evening, meaning some people with heart and lung problems will be at risk and should stay indoors.According to the air-quality monitoring smartphone application Sh**t! I Smoke, breathing the air in Calgary today will be roughly the equivalent of smoking about seven and a half cigarettes.Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Carlsen says Calgary will be back in the soup until at least Friday as smoke from more than 550 raging wildfires in B.C. will reduce visibility and leave a lingering campfire smell across the city.Thats going to continue like that and its just going to get worse for the next 24 hours, Carlsen said. The smoke plumes coming out of B.C. are really large, really dense smoke. []Carlsen, who is from B.C., says he has been tracking wildfires for years and is shocked by the level of smoke.This has been the smokiest summer in Calgarys history  so that would speak to the fact that theres been a lot more (fires) this year than have been observed since observation began. [more]
16 August 2018 (UN News)  A group of United Nations rights experts are urging the Japanese government to urgently protect tens of thousands or workers hired to help decontaminate the Fukushima nuclear plant, who are reportedly being exploited and exposed to toxic nuclear radiation.Workers hired to decontaminate Fukushima reportedly include migrant workers, asylum seekers, and people who are homeless, said the three UN Special Rapporteurs.We are deeply concerned about possible exploitation by deception regarding the risks of exposure to radiation, possible coercion into accepting hazardous working conditions because of economic hardships, and the adequacy of training and protective measures, they added.An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan in March 2011, which was followed by a tsunami that inundated everything along the eastern coastline around Fukushima Prefecture.Subsequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed of an explosion at one of the reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that leaked radioactive material. Three of the reactors failed, and hundreds of thousands were evacuated from the area.Seven years after the nuclear meltdown, contamination and exposure to radiation remain a hazard for workers trying to make the area safe.We are equally concerned about the impact that exposure to radiation may have on their physical and mental health, the experts asserted.Since that time, tens of thousands of workers have been recruited under a decontamination programme.Japans Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare indicated on its website that 46,386 workers were employed at Fukushima during 2016; and the Radiation Worker Central Registration Centre of Japan showed that as many as 76,951 decontamination workers were hired in the five-year period up to 2016.The people most at risk of exposure to toxic substances are those most vulnerable to exploitation: the poor, children and women, migrant workers, people with disabilities and older workers, the experts continued. They are often exposed to a myriad of human rights abuses, forced to make the abhorrent choice between their health and income, and their plight is invisible to most consumers and policymakers with the power to change it.The UN rights experts have engaged in a dialogue with the Government since last year, taking into account a reply to their most recent concerns, including detailed reports flagging that decontamination contracts were granted without relevant experience.These arrangements, together with the use of brokers to recruit a considerable number of the workers, may have created favourable conditions for the abuse and violation of workers rights, the UN experts said.As part of its Universal Periodic Review, Japan recently agreed to follow-up on a recommendation to restore pre-radiation levels to protect the health of pregnant women and children.The experts offered their services on how to address the ongoing issue of workers exposed to toxic radiation.In September, one of the UN experts, Baskut Tuncak, who covers environmental management and disposal of hazardous substances, will present a report to the UN Human Rights Council, calling on States and employers to strengthen protection for workers from exposure to toxic substances.The two other UN experts in discussion with the Japanese Government are Urmila Bhoola, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, and Dainius Puras, who champions the right to physical and mental health.
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Speaking at the event, Singaporean Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Leow Siu Lin said the event not only reviews achievements that ASEAN has made over the past more than five decades but also looks toward the next period in a path to peace, stability, growth and dynamism in the region.

As rotating Chair of ASEAN, Singapore focuses on the themes of Resilience and Innovation to shape a united ASEAN which is able to effectively address geo-political instabilities and brace for opportunities and challenges in the digital revolution, including establishing the network of smart cities, including Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, toward the common goal of sustainable urban development to improve urban environment and business opportunities for nearly 630 million people in the bloc, she said.

Phan Thi Hong Xuan, Chairwoman of the municipal Vietnam-Southeast Asia Friendship Association, said the past achievements proved that ASEAN has become important and indispensable to peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia, a driving force for dialogue, cooperation and connectivity among member states as well as comprehensive development in East Asia and Asia-Pacific.

She said the get-together is one of the people-to-people diplomatic activities, contributing to tightening solidarity in the grouping.

On the occasion, representatives from the ASEAN countries Consulate Generals in Ho Chi Minh City presented 30 scholarships to local disadvantaged students with outstanding academic performance.

* Nearly 100 athletes from embassies of ASEAN member states in Cambodia recently took part in the Bowling ASEAN sport exchange in Phnom Penh.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh stated it is a meaningful activity to celebrate ASEANs 51th founding anniversary and Cambodias 20 years of ASEAN membership.

He said the sporting event connects participants and consolidates solidarity within the bloc.

The exchange was an opportunity for ASEAN diplomats to gather and learn from one another to boost mutual understanding and collaboration.
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SEATTLE  The Deering Apartments, at 4321 S.W. Genesee St., have sold for almost $5.6 million, according to King County records.

The seller was the Vornbrock family, which acquired the property in 2002 for $2 million.





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SEATTLE  The Monterey apartments, at 4022 California Ave. S.W., have has sold for over $3.8 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Ponderosa Ventures LLC, which acquired the property in 2016 for $2.6 million.





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Nov. 1:

Nov. 2:

Image by Element5 Digital via Pexels.com

Find out how to vote where you live.

Nov. 7:

November is here! Finally, some cooler, relatively speaking, weather and fall festivities. Some get-togethers still might need to be modified, at least a bit, because the COVID-19 pandemic just won't let go. Help change that by getting vaccinated! Info about the shots and where to find them is near the end of this column.Regardless of whether you celebrate Thanksgiving in person with a group with whom you're comfortable or Zoom in the full family or decide to safely travel to your childhood haunts, enjoy your Turkey Day and be thankful.Also, don't forget to take advantage of this month's cornucopia of tax tasks that could help lower your 2021 tax bill.It's a busy day for some filers in Michigan and Mississippi who earlier this year endured major natural disasters. They were given until Nov. 1 to complete myriad duties.Nov. 1 also the day for recipients of advance Child Tax Credit payments to opt out of the remaining monthly deliveries or make income changes online that affect the credit amounts they'll get the rest of the year.It's Election Day across the country, with decisions to be made on ballot issues and candidates for office.Tax matters will be decided in many states, so be sure to vote.This first Sunday of November means we get an extra hour. Of course, we'll use the 60 minutes gained in our shift back to Standard Time on tax tasks, right?

via GIPHY



An easy but important tax move to make now is reviewing and adjust your payroll withholding. The goal is to avoid owing a lot or getting a refund next filing season. Tweaking withholding is an especially good idea if you have a gig work, either full-time or to supplement your wages that took a hit during the coronavirus pandemic.



Nov. 10: Many restaurants are welcoming patrons back to their dining rooms. Other eateries are sticking with curbside pickups and delivered meals. Whether you're able to dine in or still getting food brought to your house, remember to tip your restaurant server or delivery person.







If a tip isn't included in your food delivery charge, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.



Nov. 11:

Nov. 17:

Nov. 22:

Nov. 25:

As for servers who now are back on the job, remember that your tips are taxable income. If you worked at least some of October at a job where you got gratuities, you need to account for them today if they came to at least $20 last month. Use Form 4070 to report your tips today to your employer.It is Veterans Day, one of the few federal holidays that isn't shifted to Monday. The date marks the official, formal end of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The commemoration eventually evolved into a day to recognize veterans of all armed conflicts.On this federal holiday, honor veterans however you feel is appropriate. If you're a business owner, consider hiring a veteran. Adding a new military -trained worker to your staff also might provide your firm a tax benefit thanks to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Speaking of work, it's been a tough earnings year for many. If you're looking for or have already landed a seasonal job to make up income you've missed due to COVID closures or to pick up a little extra holiday spending cash, pay attention to how you're paid. How you are classified , either as an employee or contractor, makes a difference in your taxes. If you're unsure about your employment status, the Internal Revenue Service has some guidelines on when each work status applies.Yes, it's Thanksgiving week. If you are able to be with your family, enjoy. Also think about those who can't, and if you can afford it, consider giving to the many charities, both national and those in your own neighborhood, that help the less fortunate. As long as the group is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit, you might be able to claim your gifts on your taxes next year.Happy Thanksgiving!

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Take a break from taxes for turkey, football, and time with your family and friends. If you also happen to have a little cash on some fantasy or, thanks to the Supreme Court, real games  even the NFL is okay with betting now  remember that wagering wins on sporting events, like all bet payoffs, are taxable income.



Nov. 30: Finally! The Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico hurricane season officially ends today. But don't be lulled into disaster complacency as the countdown clock below clicks down to zero.







Although November tropical storms tend to be less severe as the oceans cool down, even a weaker system can cause lots of damage. And all sorts of disasters occur worldwide and year-round. So stay prepared.





Small Business Tax Calendar:

The ol' blog's special Storm Warnings section can help. The multi-page collections of posts offer tax advice on preparing for, recovering from and helping those who sustain damages from the many ways that that weather goes wild.Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. You can get more tax calendar information at the IRS' online calendar page and view the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Publication 509
*Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Thursday (August 23) that he and other political party leaders have agreed to form a Supreme Council for Consultations and Recommendations, which will serve as a consultation forum between the government and political parties on the matters of national interests.

* China's top observatory on August 23 issued a blue alert for heavy rain from now to August 24, the lowest level in the country's four-tier warning system. Heavy rain is expected to hit parts of the northeast and southwest China, as well as the southeastern province of Fujian, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

* The Republic of Korea (RoK)s President Moon Jae-in ordered chiefs of local governments and ministers Thursday to maintain an emergency management stance as typhoon Soulik was set to make landfall on the Korean Peninsula.

* Embattled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Thursday he would resign from the parliament if a second vote challenging his leadership in the ruling Liberal Party was convened Friday.

* Russia is the optimal natural gas supplier to European markets given the amount and distance of Russian supplies, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday (August 22).

* According to a statement issued by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on August 22 met with his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt to discuss "a number of global issues, including the ongoing threat posed by Russia's dangerous and destabilizing activity and Iran's malign behavior, the defeat ISIS campaign, as well as the humanitarian situation in Yemen."

* International Organization for Migration (IOM) on August 22 discussed means with the Libyan border authorities to manage and strengthen Libyan border crossings.

* Increasing domestic pressure was put on Italian government on August 22, asking it to authorize the disembarkation of an Italian coast guard ship with migrants and refugees in Sicily.

* President Cyril Ramaphosa said on August 22 that BRICS partnership offers South Africa significant opportunities to expand and diversify its trade, to attract investment and develop its economic infrastructure.

* Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stressed on Wednesday his country's firm stance to fight terrorism and extremism to ensure security and stability in the region and the whole world, Saudi Press Agency reported.

* South Sudan's conflicting parties have reached consensus on a final peace deal draft expected to be signed with initial letters in Khartoum on August 27, South Sudan's Information Minister said Wednesday.

* Israeli authorities on Wednesday approved the building of 1,004 housing units in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an Israeli settlement watchdog said.

*The Ukrainian government during its meeting on Wednesday has approved an intergovernmental agreement with Qatar on cooperation in the military-technical sector, local media reported.
In 2015, Republican legislators sought to consolidate their enormous political advantage (through gerrymandering) by eliminating straight ticket voting in Michigan, something Michiganders have been able to do since 1891. This move, in addition to suppressing the votes of Black Michiganders, had the advantage of increasing the probability that Republicans would win statewide seats like the State Board of Education and University Boards of Regents and Trustees. These are races that are often decided on by voters based on the political party the candidates belong to.

In the summer of 2016, a federal judge struck down the ban, putting a stay on Public Act 268. In the well-written and well-reasoned decision, U.S. District Court Judge Gershwin A. Drain found that PA 268 inordinately impacts Black voters and that African-Americans are much more likely to vote Democrat than other ethnic groups, and many feel this is largely due to racially charged political stances taken by Republicans on the local, state and national level since the post-World War II era.

If youre interested in why this law would be so detestable, have a look at the terrific essay from Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum HERE.

After that decision, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Attorney General (and current candidate for governor) Bill Schuette, both hardcore, ideological Republicans, appealed the decision and sought to have the stay lifted in time for the 2018 general election in November. Earlier this month on August 1st, in a stunning rebuke, Judge Drain permanently barred Johnson from enforcing a straight-ticket voting ban, saying that the law reflects racial discriminatory intent harbored by the Michigan Legislature, and disparately impacts African-Americans opportunity to vote in concert with social and historical conditions of discrimination..

Ouch.

Naturally, Johnson appealed and, yesterday, was denied yet again in another of Judge Drains impressive decisions

In his decision, Judge Drain had this to say:

After trial in this case and on August 1, 2018, the Court issued a 103 page Opinion and Order and held that the Plaintiffs had proven all three of their claims. There, the Court concluded that the Plaintiffs proof, including their evidence regarding current voting conditions in Michigan, entitled them to a permanent injunction of PA 268. The Court did not hold that the Michigan Legislature can never eliminate straight-ticket voting, regardless of any changes in the voting patterns of Michigan residents or in the States voting laws easing access to the polls, e.g. the adoption of no-reason absentee voting, early voting, or both. The Court instead determined that as long as access to the polls in Michigan remains as restricted as it is today and current straight-ticket voting rates persist, PA 268 is both unconstitutional and unlawful.

In his August 1st decision, Judge Drain referred to comments made by then-Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. Heres how the Detroit Free Press reported on it:

Evidence in the case included depositions, text messages and other exchanges involving lawmakers, Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, who now heads the Republican National Committee, and current state Chairman Ron Weiser. Ronna Romney McDaniel conceded that she supported PA 268, in part, because it would help Republican candidates win elections, Drain wrote.

In her motion to stay, Johnson contended that the Court should NOT have considered Romney McDaniels statements. Judge Drain had some pointed words in response to that bit of nonsense:

The Court should ignore the testimony from Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Secretary says, because McDaniel was not a member of the Michigan Legislature which passed PA 268. But if the Court were to accept the Secretarys invitation, the Court would miss crucial context for the enactment of PA 268. McDaniel was the chair of the Michigan Republican Party for much of the relevant time period. Notably, the legislator who sponsored PA 268 said that he did not have the votes to obtain the laws passage and so he asked McDaniel to help him secure the votes, and she delivered. Given her integral role in the legislative process, the Court rightly examined her statements.

Another argument made by Johnson is a bald-faced confession that effort to end straight ticket voting was politically motivated (despite Republican protestations otherwise) and, therefore, the ruling based on racial discrimination was wrong. Again, Judge Drain wasnt having it:

The Court previously held that the Michigan Legislature, as an avenue to win elections, intentionally discriminated against African-Americans through suppressing their predominately Democratic Party votes. The Secretary responds that a finding of politically-based discrimination is a defense to, and defeats, a racial discrimination finding. Plaintiffs alleging intentional discrimination based on voting rights legislation need not show that discriminatory purpose was the sole[ ] or even a primary motive for the legislation, just that it was a motivating factor.  [] Thus, the Secretary is mistaken when she asserts that, in this litigation, political discrimination is a defense to racial discrimination.

It is refreshing, at least, that a Republican leader finally admitted that the ban on straight ticket voting was done to harm Democrats chances in elections.

Johnson also argued that people all across the state, including non-Black voters, use straight ticket voting so this wasnt harm directed specifically at Black voters. Judge Drain, once again, called BS:

She again asserts that, because straight-ticket voting is popular statewide, PA 268 will not disparately impact African-Americans. But Kurt Metzger  who worked for thirty-seven years as a Regional Information Specialist with the United States Census Bureau  found that every community with a high percentage of African American voters had extraordinarily high straight-ticket voting rates relative to those of Michigan as a whole. And contrary to the Secretarys representations, the Court explicitly held that PA 268 will create dramatically longer lines and increased wait times, which will in turn deter African Americans from voting.

Finally, Judge Drain summed up the entire argument against banning straight ticket voting and its intent to suppress the votes of Black Michiganders:

All Michigan voters will wait in significantly longer lines and will encounter much greater wait times if Michigan were to implement PA 268. These effects would deter a substantial number of people from voting by discouraging them from attending the polls or having them arrive at a polling station only to leave because of long lines and wait times. And African-Americans would disproportionately bear all of these consequences.

Its possible that Ruth Johnson and Bill Schuette will once again appeal, this time to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. In his bid to become governor, Schuette has much to gain from suppressing the votes of Black voters and Johnson appears to be the Republicans designated water carrier for this blatant, crass, craven, and anti-democratic political maneuvering. However, absentee ballots must be finalized by September 7th  just 14 days from now  and be printed and mailed shortly after that so theres little time for that to happen. Also, as Judge Drain pointed out in his decision, Courts tend to favor the status quo on the eve of an election:

Furthermore, the public interest in denying the stay finds support in the continuation of Michigans tradition of straight-ticket voting. The status quo, the Secretary maintains, is the elimination of straight-ticket voting. To the contrary, since 1891 Michigan voters have been using the straight-ticket option. Implementing PA 268 at this date would engender a significant change in Michigan residents exercise of their voting rights, and courts have cautioned against making such changes close to an election. See Johnson III, 833 F.3d at 669 (This case does not involve the potential disruption of complicated election-administration procedures on the eve of Election Day; rather, denying the Secretarys request for a stay here will merely require Michigan to use the same straight-party procedure that it has used since 1891.); see also Veasey v. Perry, 769 F.3d 890, 895 (5th Cir. 2014) (observing that [t]he Supreme Court has repeatedly instructed courts to carefully consider the importance of preserving the status quo on the eve of an election).

Although Ruth Johnson somehow thinks that changing the voting rules at the 11th hour right before an election is somehow status quo, Judge Drain correctly status quo is to maintain a way of voting that Michiganders have been using for 127 year.
I grew up in Ukraine and studied English in school every day from age 7. Speaking English fluently was by far the most valuable skill I acquired during my school career. It provided access to better education and a wider range of career opportunities. It enabled professional development beyond what my own country and my native language could offer.

When I built my first website in 1995, it was in English and in Ukrainian. Back then, 80% of all online content was in English, and I was determined to fit in with this trend. I wanted my website to be accessible to anyone in the world, and going global meant writing in English.

Fast-forward 20 years, English is still the most-studied second language in the world and the most popular language online. More people speak and understand English today than ever before. This might give an impression that publishing useful, usable content in English is a good strategy to acquire new customers globally, but is this really the case? Lets take a look at the numbers.

Only 25.3% of all internet users speak English, and the majority of online buyers (60%) wont purchase from a website thats not in their native language. By contrast, adding one of the top nine languages (Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Arabic, Portuguese, Korean, and Italian) to English will increase your organizations presence by 2.4% to 21%. A webpage in 23 languages will reach 90% of global web users.

Global audiences need content in a language that it can understand, otherwise whatever you do is irrelevant to them and you will miss opportunities to expand your outreach, says Yousef Elbes, multilingual communications manager at WHO (World Health Organization). Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish were established as official languages at WHO by a World Health Assembly resolution in 1978. Multilingualism at WHO is not a matter of choice; its a policy.

Any organization that hopes to reach new customers needs to consider localization, Seth Gottlieb, a content management analyst, points out. New markets represent new opportunity. Conversely, incursions by competitors from other markets present new threats to your home territory. Given the time we spend obsessing over the smallest aspects of user experience, it makes no sense to force prospective customers to struggle with a language that they dont feel comfortable using.

Although the case for a multilingual digital presence is clear, adding languages multiplies the complexity and cost of maintaining a website. Delivering an effective international presence can be broken down into three broad categories:

 Global contentcontent translated to different languages and available in different regions

 Regional contentcontent adapted to accommodate regional preferences and specifics (such as currency and delivery information)

 Local contentcontent unique to a particular region

This categorization doesnt reduce the amount of work involved, but it creates structure and emphasizes the need for a range of skills required for successful delivery.

Audiences in different markets have different content needs and tastes, says Gottlieb. Translating all of your source language content not only clutters the experience for readers who have no use for it all, it is also expensive. For each piece of source language content, you need to decide whether it should be available for each market you support. Some content will need to be adapted beyond a direct translation. Some markets will need original content. Despite all these local variances, each site needs to appear cohesive, complete, and consistent. Effectively connecting with different markets requires levels of awareness, strategy, and organization that are far above what is required for monolingual publishing.

At the end of the day, its companies that put the multilingual requirement at the heart of their strategy that reach the widest global audience. Googles search page is available in more than 100 languages, Wikipedia has more than 300 language editions, and the most translated website in the world is Jehovahs Witnesses (jw.org), with extraordinary linguistic diversity of more than 900 languages and dialects. If you want to engage with people around the world, you need to speak their language. There is no shortcut.

Even when the content isnt text and doesnt need translating in the literal sense, the challenges still remain. Suitsupply is a mens fashion brand, with stores in 24 countries and localized websites in 14 languages. It is shipping to 180 countries across the globe. Its recent marketing campaign, Find your perfect fit, features gay men holding hands and kissing. Even though the photography and video at the core of this campaign dont require translating per se, the fact that this content is perceived differently in different countries cannot be ignored. When Fokke de Jong, the founder and CEO of Suitsupply, was asked about the potential risks of running this campaign in countries where LGBT+ communities are not accepted, he admitted that there is potential for negative impact, especially in countries where we have a significant presence, that are known for contrasting viewpoints. The campaign ran in most countries where Suitsupply has a presencewith the exception of Russia and the United Arab Emiratesand generated strong reactions (both positive and negative) on social media.

Expanding into new markets and multilingual communication is no longer a choice; its the only way to remain relevant in todays global world. Organizations that have been slow to adopt a multilingual approach increasingly miss out on the opportunities for growth.




US poultry industry seeking to retaliate against South Africa



The US poultry industry is asking the US government to consider retaliation should South Africa proceed to suspend a quota that excludes US imports from an anti-dumping tariff, according to the head of a poultry trade group.

The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the government to suspend the quota in response to Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from South Africa.



"We will certainly be encouraging our government to take appropriate action," James Sumner, president of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, reiterated.



The trade conflict could put at risk duty-free access to the US market for nearly US$2 billion worth of South African exports, government officials and trade experts say.



South Africa levies a tariff on "bone-in" poultry that it says is exported by major world producers, including the United States, at prices below the cost of production.



The U.S. poultry industry believes the anti-dumping tariff is illegal.



Susceptibleto losing its benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), South Africa agreed to a quota in 2015 allowing some 65,000 tonnes of meat from US producers to be imported tariff-free each year.



AGOA grants qualifying countries duty-free access to the US market for thousands of goods. More than US$1.8 billion in South African exports to the US were covered by AGOA last year.



However, South Africa's poultry association is arguing that tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium imports imposed by Washington earlier this year violate the quota agreement by curtailing AGOA benefits.



"We hope that the US and South Africa will amicably resolve differences they have over the (steel and aluminium) tariffs but it should not interfere with agreements already reached on poultry trade," Sumner said.



Source: Channel NewsAsia
* The European Commission on August 23 adopted a support package for Iran, with a focus on the private sector for the sustainable economic and social development. The package includes 18 million worth of projects (8-million-euro assistance to the private sector).

* US State Secretary Mike Pompeo on August 23 named Stephen Biegun to be the new special envoy for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

*With major concerns over cross-border smuggling, the Indonesian military will send 450 personnel to its border with Papua New Guinea (PNG) on August 26.

* The United States reaffirmed Thursday (August 23) that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan in an earlier phone conversation to combat "terrorists," despite denial by Islamabad of the content.

* The Islamic State (IS) remains a cause of a serious and significant concern despite the great losses the terrorist group has suffered, said Vladimir Voronkov, undersecretary-general for UN Counter-Terrorism Office, on August 23.

* A meeting between US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton and Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev kicked off in Geneva Thursday morning. Earlier this week, Bolton told reporters that he planned to discuss at the meeting "a broad range of issues that may be open for discussion between Washington and Moscow", in particular, discussions of the situation in Syria and Iran's role there.

* At least 22 children and nine women were killed in a Saudi-led airstrike on a camp of internally displaced families south of Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on August 23, Houthi rebel-controlled Saba news agency reported.

* US State Department said on Thursday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier had spoken with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland on phone to discuss Canada's diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia, urging the two sides to solve their disputes quickly.

* The Russian Central Bank said Thursday that it has decided not to purchase foreign currency on the domestic market from August 23 to the end of September in order to counter market volatility.

* Ukraine may postpone next year's presidential election, a Ukrainian parliament member said Thursday. Earlier, local media citing experts reported that the presidential election, slated for March 31, 2019, may be postponed because the constitutional powers of current Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expire in June 2019.

* Saudi border guards have foiled an attack targeting an oil distribution station of Saudi Oil Company Aramco in border city Jazan, Sabq local news reported on August 23.

* Libya's UN-backed government on August 23 declared a high state of security alert shortly after a deadly attack by Islamic State (IS) militants on a security checkpoint in the western city of Zliten.
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Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attends the opening ceremony of the first Smart China Expo and reads a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Aug. 23, 2018. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

CHONGQING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The first Smart China Expo opened in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Thursday, attracting more than 500 domestic and international companies as exhibitors and more than 100 foreign guests from 28 countries and regions.

With "Smart Technology: Empowering Economy, Enriching Life" as its theme, the expo runs from Thursday to Saturday focusing on new products, technologies and modes in the global development of big data and intelligent industries, according to its organizing committee.

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the event.

Xi emphasized that China attaches great importance to innovation-driven development and is firmly committed to its new vision for development by accelerating the industrialization of the digital economy and digitization of industries to promote high-quality development and pursue better lives for the people.

China is willing to actively participate in international cooperation on the digital economy and advance its healthy development together with other countries to create new drivers and new room for the world's economic growth, Xi said.

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng attended the opening ceremony.

President Xi's congratulatory letter "fully demonstrated that the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council highly value the development of smart technology," Han said when addressing the ceremony.

"Information technology and smart technology have seen remarkable development in China," Han noted.

Han called for using smart technology to innovate core technology, modernize manufacturing, improve social governance and create high-quality life for the people. He also proposed strengthening cooperation on smart technology in research and development, industry and security.

The expo has five display zones with a total area of 186,000 square meters. The exhibitors include several technology heavyweights, such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Qualcomm.

Nine forums on subjects such as the industrial internet and semiconductors, as well as seven corporate activities, will be held during the expo.

This year's Smart China Expo is jointly organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China Association for Science and Technology, and Chongqing municipal government.

The event is a combination of China Chongqing International Auto Industry Fair and China (Chongqing) International Cloud Computing Expo and will be held annually in Chongqing starting this year.

With nearly 800 million internet users, China has the world's largest market for smartphones, mobile payment and online retail sales.

The country has been the top consumer of industrial robots for six consecutive years, with the size of its artificial intelligence market growing over 40 percent annually on average.

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attends the opening ceremony of the first Smart China Expo and reads a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Aug. 23, 2018. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
14 July 2019

14 July 2019  When Elizabeth Hoff was appointed as WHO Representative in Syria in 2012, she didnt expect that she would spend the next several years leading the emergency health response in what has been described as the worlds largest and most complex humanitarian emergency. After seven years of working in the war-ravaged country, the next chapter of her career will take her to Libya, where she has been nominated WHO Representative. I leave Syria with a heavy heart, she says. This has been the richest and most rewarding position...
"If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor," Trump says.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Thursday that any effort to impeach him would have dire economic consequences.

If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor," Trump said in an interview with Fox News. "I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job." he said.

TRUMP WARNS ABOUT ECONOMY

Trump was responding to speculation that Democrats would seek to impeach the president should they re-take the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections.

The effort gained renewed energy after Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen told a district court judge in New York that he made hush money payments to an adult film actress and a former Playboy model "at the direction" of Trump with the intent to "influence the election."

Cohen did not name the two women, nor did he directly name Trump, but said he was working "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office."

TRUMP'S CONTRADICTIVE FUTURE

The timeline, however, matches up with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal who allege affairs with Trump.

The president has denied having affairs with the women, and he and his team have denied he had any knowledge of the payments before they were made.

But Cohen's testimony, coupled with the conviction of Trump's former campaign chairman on eight financial charges Tuesday, has increased the prospects that Democrats would seek to oust the president should they take the House -- where impeachment proceedings must begin.

Should impeachment be approved by a simple majority in the chamber proceedings would commence in the Senate where two-thirds of senators would have to find the president guilty for him to be removed.

Seeking to downplay his relationship with Cohen, Trump said his self-described "fixer" only worked for him part-time.

"He was a lawyer for me, one of many," Trump said. "Hes been a lawyer for me. Didnt do big deals, did small deals. Not somebody that was with me that much.

Trump tore into Cohen during the Fox & Friends interview for what he called "flipping," saying Cohen "makes a better deal when he uses me, like everybody else."

For 30, 40 years Ive been watching flippers. Everythings wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go, Trump said. It almost ought to be outlawed. Its not fair."

Trump meanwhile continued to heap praise on his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. He did not say whether he would pardon Manafort, who at 68 faces an essential life sentence of up to 80 years in prison.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned Trump against issuing Manafort a pardon, however, telling reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday he does not think it "would go over well."

"A pardon in this circumstance would be perceived by many Americans as interfering with an investigation," he said.

Amid the growing pressure, Trump took aim at his top law enforcement official, saying Attorney General Jeff Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department."

The comments prompted Sessions to issue a highly unusual rebuke of his boss, saying in a statement he "took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the Presidents agenda."

"While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations," Sessions said. "I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for more efforts to boost growth momentum and improve people's livelihood in the country's less-prosperous western regions.

Western areas should continue with reform and opening-up and vigorously innovate to achieve high-quality development, said Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions.

At a meeting of the leading group on Tuesday, the premier acknowledged the economic and social achievements in the regions, which have supported the country's development and offered significant assistance for the national strategy.

Li described the development in western regions as "a crucial and difficult point" for China to become a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieve modernization.

Western areas should channel more energy into industrial upgrades, and make more contributions to a stable national economy, Li said.

Li pointed out local governments should continue to foster a more competitive "soft environment" in a bid to improve their endogenous development capacity.

More efforts are required to further streamline administration and enhance services, address sore points for enterprises and individuals, and reduce government-imposed transaction costs.

Entrepreneurship and innovation should be promoted in a practical manner, Li said, urging measures to raise industrial competitiveness in western regions and greater steps to cultivate new growth drivers and restructure traditional sectors.

The inland regions should also vigorously push forward opening-up based on their own characteristics, according to Li.

The premier said China would accelerate a raft of major construction projects in western regions as part of the efforts to better economic structure, improve weak links and expand domestic demand. The central government will pump more capital into the areas and encourage local governments to attract private investment.

Li cited transport projects including the Sichuan-Tibet railway, power grids, oil and natural gas pipelines, internet infrastructure, and water diversion projects.

Governments should innovate in investment and operation mechanisms for urbanization projects that concern the environment and people's well-being, such as sewage treatment and refuse disposal.

Consumption environment will be improved to further unleash the potential of western markets, with online shopping and spending on cultural products and healthcare services promoted.

Li highlighted the people-centered development and the fact that China remains as the world's largest developing country, calling for continued efforts to improve people's livelihood in western regions.

China will take solid, precise actions to win the tough battle against poverty and work for equality in public services, Li said. Internet technologies will be used to let remote poor regions enjoy better education and medical services, and the employment and old-age care in western regions will also be enhanced.

Vice Premier Han Zheng attended the meeting. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions.
ASSURANCE must be provided to WA sheep producers over the future of the live export trade as soon as possible to allow time for the industry to adapt to any potential market changes.

Thats the view of Durack MP Melissa Price, who like everyone involved in the live export industry, wants clear direction for the industrys future, including the licence status of exporter, Emanuel Exports.

Emanuel Exports is Australias largest live sheep exporter and is under investigation after 2400 sheep died due to heat stress on board a shipment from Fremantle last August.

The live export trade has been brought to a halt since the suspension of the companys licence, with WAs second largest exporter, Livestock Shipping Services, also out of action as a result of regulatory changes that have made the business unviable in Australia at certain times of the year.

The Assistant Minister for Environment said several concerns had been raised from her constituents over the fate of the live export trade, which she described as critically important to the sustainability of the sheep and cattle industries.

Its ultimately (OConnor MP) Rick Wilson and my electorates where the majority of the live sheep exports come from, so for people in my electorate this is a very important issue and I want it resolved urgently, Ms Price said.

Whatever the outcome of that is  and Im hoping that thats determining some improvements to the system  we need to come out very clearly and articulate what that is so that people can then start making business decisions.

Its not just the likes of Emanuels and other exporters but the people who own the livestock  they need to know what the pathway is for the future.

This is a very important issue and I want it resolved urgently.

Ms Price said while some of her Federal colleagues were against the live export of sheep out of Australia, she had continued to advocate for the continuation of the trade.

She said many people on the East Coast did not fully understand the consequences of the cessation of the trade on the entire agricultural sector, as it predominantly affected Western Australians.

Ive had numerous conversations with my colleagues  there are some of my colleagues who wont be moved on their perspective  but Ive certainly spoken with them and made my opinion known, Ms Price said.

More broadly speaking with people on the east coast, especially wearing my Environment Ministers hat, I get a chance to speak to a whole raft of people and try to dispel some of the myths that are surrounding this industry.

The Durack MP said she was looking forward to further discussion surrounding live export and other issues impacting agricultural sector at next weeks Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the DOJ and SEC are investigating potential bribery and corruption involving the sale of Microsoft products in Hungary.

Microsoft said in a statement to the Journal that it moved quickly to investigate itself after it became aware of potential wrongdoing at its Hungarian operations in 2014.

The DOJ and SEC are looking at how Microsoft sold software such as Word and Excel to middleman firms in Hungary that then sold those products to government agencies there in 2013 and 2014, the WSJs Drew Hinshaw and Jay Greene said.

Microsoft has already disclosed FCPA-related investigations and its cooperation with U.S. enforcement at least three times, according to FCPA Tracker.

In its April 27, 2017 Form 10-Q, Microsoft said:

From time to time, we receive inquiries from authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere and reports from employees and others about our business activities outside the U.S. and our compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws. Specifically, we have been cooperating with authorities in the U.S. in connection with reports concerning our compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in various countries.

(italics added)

The same or similar disclosures also appeared in Microsofts January 26, 2017 Form 10-Q and its July 28, 2016 Form 10-K, according to FCPA Tracker.

Before Thursday, Microsoft hadnt specifically said sales activities in Hungary were under review.

In 2013, the company didnt deny a Wall Street Journal report that the DOJ and SEC were investigating a whistleblower complaint about alleged bribes by business partners to officials in Italy, Romania, and China.

So far, the DOJ and SEC havent brought enforcement actions related to the earlier investigations.

Thursdays Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter, said Microsoft sold some of its products to intermediaries at steep discounts, and then these firms sold the products to the Hungarian government at closer to full price.

Investigators are probing whether the middleman companies used the difference to pay bribes and kickbacks to government officials, according to the Journals sources.

Microsoft told the WSJ Thursday that it fired four employees, including the country manager, related to its probe in Hungary and terminated business relationships with four partners in Hungary.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
What is Health Tourism?

A growing number of people are opting to take advantage of whats being dubbed as health tourism  the process of leaving the country where you live to access medical services abroad.

Why travel abroad for treatment?

One of the major (and obvious) benefits to medical travel is that you can combine your next hospital visit with a much-needed holiday. Many patients like the fact that it gives them the chance to rest and recuperate after an operation, away from the day-to-day stresses of daily life.

Where to go for health treatment

There are a rising number of international hospitals and healthcare centers around the world providing a range of treatments and a high quality of care. Many of these hospitals look to attract international customers to their facilities for service.

Here in Fethiye, we have our own centre for Health Tourism

Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital

Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital began as a small Polyclinic in 1997. It was created as a partnership between the Chamber of Artists and Artisans, the Chamber of Drivers and Automobiles and Lokman Hekim Inc. In 2012 they moved to the new premises from where today, the 9000m2 complex provides international service with highly trained and experienced staff combined with advanced medical technology. Besides their highly trained consultants they have around 420 front line nurses, medical staff and administration.

Patients from both Turkey and abroad choose Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital for diagnosis and treatment.

Treatments

Within the hospital there are 50 Consultants offering treatments within 23 areas of medicine.

Ward rooms

The hospital has 108 beds, spread over the wards, Observation Room and Coronary, General and Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

All the ward rooms are private and fitted with en suite bathroom, air conditioning, satellite TV, refrigerator, telephone and WIFI.

Put your mind at ease with check-ups

Check-up programs are important for both your quality of life and life span. With a simple blood test and other studies, the risk of heart disease or other serious illness such as cancer can be diagnosed in the early stages. For this reason it is recommended that you have a check-up every year.

Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital offers a range of check-ups from General to VIP.

Early diagnosis can save your life.

What about the language?

One of the things that people are concerned about when undergoing procedures in a hospital abroad is the language barrier.

Foreign Patient Department

The Foreign Patient Department is there to help you with translation and is open 24 hours a day. The department provides a reassuring and professional service and translators are available for English, German, French, Russian and Romanian.

For more information about Health Tourism please contact:

Call +90 533 669 80 39 or +90 533 896 6501

Email: hospital@esnafhastnesi.com

For more information about the hospital visit: www.esnafhastanesi.com

The information in this article was correct at the time of publication
iPrice Group, a Southeast Asian product discovery and comparison platform, has extended its latest funding round with the investment of Naver Corp., South Koreas leading Search Engine and parent company of mobile messenger app, LINE.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Navers direct investment comes three months after its subsidiarys VC arm, LINE Ventures, led iPrices Series B funding round.

Led by David Chmelar, CEO and Co-Founder, iPrice Group is Southeast Asias leading product discovery and comparison platform, connecting consumers with hundreds of e-commerce merchants. Since October 2014, the platform has established itself across seven markets: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong.

Naver is a search portal provider in Korea. Based on know-hows earned from providing search service for years, it has launched various global services like LINE, Webtoon, and SNOW. Its R&D subsidiary, NAVER Labs, is developing future technologies like autonomous driving, robotics, and AI. In addition, AI platform Clova, which is developed with LINE, is contributing to the expansion of the AI eco-system via devices like smart speaker.

Naver is executing R&D on future technologies globally, mainly in Grenoble, France, and in Hong Kong.

FinSMEs

24/08/2018
Paladina Health, a Denver, CO-based healthcare company, closed a $165m growth equity funding round.

The round was led by existing investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from new investors Oak HC/FT, Alta Partners, Greenspring Associates and other strategic investors.

The company plans to use the funding to further scale operations, grow the executive team, expand within existing and new markets, and continue to enhance the quality of care delivered by investing in technology.

Led by Chris Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Paladina Health is a physician-access model of health care that wants to improve patient care and satisfaction by providing patient-centered care and a broad scope of services. Employers who offer the companys services to their employees provide high-quality benefits while keeping a long-range view of improving the health and wellness of their covered population.

Paladina Health currently operates more than 50 physician offices in Colorado, Washington, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, New Jersey and Florida, with plans for continued expansion.

FinSMEs

23/08/2018
SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd, part of the Siam Cement Public Company Limited (SCG), one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in Thailand and a key industry leader in Asia, which offers a full range of petrochemical products, has joined the Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund (CSCF) as limited partner.

The Press Release

Capricorn Venture Partners announces SCG as limited partner in the Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund

Bangkok, Thailand and Leuven, Belgium: 23 August 2018  SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd, part of the Siam Cement Public Company Limited (SCG), one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in Thailand and a key industry leader in Asia, which offers a full range of petrochemical products, has joined the Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund (CSCF) as limited partner.

SCG has a strong commitment in creating sustainability along with innovations. SCG Chemicals has focused on developing innovation and advanced technology to create high value-added products (HVA), services and solutions.

Cholanat Yanaranop, President of Chemicals Business, SCG: CSCF matches SCGs focus on innovation and circular economy. Investing in the CSCF will bring us further corporate venturing insights and both early and later stage potential co-investment opportunities in the sustainable chemicals field.

Jos Peeters, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Capricorn Venture Partners says, We already have a financially very strong shareholder base from which we can leverage significant co-investment for the fund investments. With SCG we are not only strengthening the shareholder base of CSCF further, but we have also a partner on board that brings insights, innovation and access to new markets.

Jacques van Rijckevorsel, chairman of the CSCF: As a former corporate executive I know what the added value of a fund investment can be for the innovation capability of a corporate investor. It does not only improve the reach of the innovation field, but it also broadens the view of the corporation beyond its current business areas. It provides a good view on technology and business possibilities that may arise beyond the horizon of the normal corporate business planning cycles and allow for early stage option development.

About Capricorn Venture Partners

Capricorn Venture Partners is an independent licensed European manager of venture capital and equity funds, investing in innovative European companies with technology as competitive advantage. The investment team of Capricorn is composed of experienced investment managers with deep technology expertise and a broad industrial experience. Capricorn Venture Partners is investing out of the private venture capital funds Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund, Capricorn Cleantech Fund, Capricorn Health-tech Fund and Capricorn ICT Fund. In addition, it is the management company of Quest for Growth, quoted on NYSE Euronext Brussels, and the investment manager of Quest Cleantech Fund and Quest+, sub-funds of Quest Management SICAV. (www.capricorn.be)

About SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd

SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd is one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in Thailand and a key industry leader in Asia. SCGs chemicals business offers a full range of petrochemical products ranging from upstream production of olefins to downstream production of 3 main plastics resins; polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride.

To better serve customers requirements, SCG assigns prime importance to the development of new technology and innovation for the creation of high value-added products (HVA) and service solutions. (www.scgchemicals.com)

FinSMEs

24/08/2018
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- China has extended good faith in settling its trade dispute with the United States. As Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen accepted the U.S. invitation and led a delegation here for resumed talks, the ball is in Washington's court to make this dialogue not another exercise in futility.

The two-day conversation merits applause and aspiration as the world's two largest economies came back to the table after over two months' escalation of confrontation. Its implication of a mutual desire to manage the current divergences and curb further spillovers into the global growth and financial stability is a matter of course.

Yet it always takes two to tango. Any fruit that might come from this round of exchange requires bonafide interactions and stand-in-your-shoes thinking on both sides. This is by no means a one-way street for China.

Although the U.S. delivery of invitation to China has shown its readiness for negotiating deals, the soul of "the art of the deal" lies more on ungrudging concession than on forced bargain. The maximum pressure approach featuring my-way-or-no-way logic and zero-sum mentality has proved infructuous to China, and risks a renewed no-win prospect.

Previous trade talks between the two countries have offered abundant lessons for both to circumvent misunderstanding and misjudgment while engaging in this hard-won opportunity for negotiations.

Among them is the requisite of a more sensible approach on the U.S. side that highlights mutual understanding rather than one-sided pressuring. Any mutually acceptable results of this round of talks must depend on two-way efforts, with two parties meeting each other halfway.

Also, as the saying goes, Rome was not built overnight. The different phases of development in China and the United States make the settlement of issues such as market access unattainable at one stroke; yet with vast areas of overlapping interests, the two sides should be more patient and seek common ground while putting aside differences.

The success of the discussions also requires a mutually recognized priority list of problems. However, Washington remains nubilous in this regard, given that the U.S. authorities such as the White House, the Treasury Department and the Office of the United States Trade Representative have been at cross purposes regarding their priorities with China.

As U.S. President Donald Trump said in his book on making deals, "the point is that you can't be too greedy." The two sides would hence be advisable to define their top concerns in this round of talks and outline a roadmap, in a bid to find a way out of the current impasse and towards the final settlement of the issues.

Moreover, since the significance of trustworthiness is second to none in negotiations, the U.S. side should be ready to re-engage in its commitments than renege on them, if it really means it. Any fruits of the bilateral dialogue will once against come to naught if Washington goes back on its word as it did before. Credibility for a state plays the role of character for a human being, and it's in a country's interests to keep faith with others.

While mulling its trade strategy on China, Washington cannot overlook the cries of U.S. industries affected or to be affected by its current confrontation with China. Warns of U.S. tactics' backfire effects, such as the disruption of global supply chain, the disability of U.S. private sector, job losses, and damage to the interests of consumers, have dominated the ongoing six-day public hearings process, which solicits business and industrial comments on the proposed tariffs on Chinese imports worth 200 billion U.S. dollars.

In fact, unilateral tariff tactic has never made its way in the U.S. history. Spillovers of a trade faceoff with the world's second largest economy will from each and every aspect be more biting than Washington could ever imagine.

Washington's huff-and-puff bluster and now-or-never ultimatum will only cut short the odd of a productive dialogue. The United States should rationally review the China-U.S. trade relations, look for a win-win solution to the dispute through equal negotiation with China, and jointly safeguard the open and rules-based multilateral trade system.
Sotera Medical Corp., a Cleveland, OH-based company developing a novel device for use in cardiac procedures to treat atrial fibrillation, added Valley Growth Ventures to its seed funding round.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

With this investment, VGV  a fund based in Youngstown, Ohio, that supports high-growth, early-stage companies across the state, with a preference for those in Northeast Ohio  joins other seed round investors including JumpStart Inc., North Coast Angel Fund, Northwest Ohio Tech Fund II managed by ProMedica Ventures, private investors, and the State of Ohio.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to develop its device to achieve its first clinical milestone in 2019.

Led by William Fuller, CEO and co-founder, Sotera is advancing a device that addresses an important unmet clinical need in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat that, if left untreated, can lead to blood clots, stroke, or heart failure. AF is often treated with a procedure called catheter ablation, which is not without risk to the esophagus.

To address this risk, Dr. Emile Daoud, co-founder of Sotera and director of electrophysiology and professor of clinical medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center  along with a team of physicians  developed a device to better protect the esophagus during catheter ablation.

FinSMEs

24/08/2018
WASHINGTON, Aug.23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said in a TV interview aired Thursday that he appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions because he was "loyal".

"The only reason I gave him the job is because I felt loyalty. He was an original supporter," Trump told Fox news anchor Ainsley Earhardt.

Trump's remarks came as part of an attack on Sessions' performance in the Justice Department.

" I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department, " Trump said, adding it's "an incredible thing".

Trump was also frustrated with Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russian probe, which saw the conviction of Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and guilty plea of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen earlier this week.

"Sessions recused himself, which he shouldn't have done or he should have told me," Trump said, alleging that had Sessions told him his intention, he would not have appointed Sessions to the position.

"He took the job and then he said, 'I'm going to recuse myself.' I said, 'What kind of a man is this?'" Trump said.

Trump did not give clear answers to whether Sessions is in danger of being fired.

Sessions, an early supporter of Trump, was one of the first to be nominated by Trump to a key cabinet position. Despite fierce opposition, Sessions was able to clear the Senate with a thin majority.

After the Russian probe was launched against the Trump campaign, Sessions recused himself, leaving the reins to his deputy Rod Rosenstein, infuriating Trump.

Relationship between Sessions and Trump deteriorated in the following months, with Trump frequently bashing Sessions, prompting widespread rumor in Washington that Session may be heading toward an exit.
.    .      .           .       3 ,           10 .          ,        ...
China's tariffs on 16 billion US dollars' worth of US goods took effect at 12:01 pm BJT simultaneously with the US initiating additional 25 percent tariffs on a similar amount of Chinese goods at 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT) on Thursday, according to Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

The US tariff list includes commodities such as semiconductors, electronics, plastics, chemicals and railway equipment, while China's tariff list covers automobiles, energy, and chemical raw materials.

China strongly opposes the US move of imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods and is forced to fight back, according to a statement by China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

Trade talks between China and the US are currently underway in Washington, with delegations led by China's Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and senior US Treasury official David Malpass, respectively.
Consumers understand that fibers are good for them as they increasingly make better food choices. However, higher prices of fruits and vegetables and the convenience of... Read More
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Early voting in advance of Tuesdays Primary Election has been going very slow, according to the Elections Office, which says thats similar to previous years.

I think weve got a total of 6,000 voters who have voted early, Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle said Wednesday afternoon.

As of late Thursday, lee.vote reported 7,927 votes cast via early voting at the polls. Another 66,217 ballots had been received by mail, for a total turnout thus far of just shy of 17 percent.

Early voting continues today and Saturday, which Doyle predicts will be a strong day.

In Cape Coral, early voting locations include Cape Coral Elections Office, 1039 S.E. 9th Avenue, Cape Coral Lee County Library, 921 S.W. 39th Terrace and Northwest Regional Library, 519 Chiquita Boulevard, North. The polls are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day during early voting.

As of Thursday afternoon, 20,591 Democrats had voted as had 44,726 Republicans, 8,647 of no party affiliation and 189 other voters of the 436,915 active registered voters.

The mail-in ballots, which can be turned in until 7 p.m. Election Day, have received a good response. Doyle said they had already received 50 percent, or 63,653, of the requested mail-in ballots as of Wednesday.

That is pretty good for a Primary, Doyle said, adding that they probably have more vote-by- mail returns than any county in the state of Florida.

We pay for postage return, he said.

One hundred and twenty-seven polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 28.

During the week people are working, so they dont want to stop and vote. People are worried about making a living and taking care of their families, Doyle said.

He said the school board races dont seem to be drawing voter interest.

There are 130,000 registered NPAs (No Party Affiliation). The only thing they have to vote for is school board, Doyle said, adding that some are voting.

There are four school board seats on the Primary Election ballot with a total candidate field of 15.

Three of the non-partisan races  those for Districts 1, 4 and 5  are limited to voters registered within the district.

All voters, regardless of party affiliation or the district in which they live, can cast a ballot in District 6 where candidates are running at large, or countywide.

The relatively new format went into effect two years ago after voters passed an amendment that changed the five-member, all-elected-at-large board into a seven-member board with five elected within their district and two elected district wide.

The new seven-member board still makes decisions, and sets policy for, all schools within the School District of Lee County.

There are four candidates running in at-large District 6; two candidates in District 1, which will be decided Aug. 28; four candidates in District 4; and five in District 5, which is mostly Lehigh Acres.

Voters residing in parts of Cape Coral, Pine Island and Sanibel, regardless of their party affiliation, can vote for a District 1 candidate.

Voters residing in parts of Cape Coral, North Fort Myers and Dunbar, regardless of their party affiliation, can cast their vote for District 4 school board candidate.

Doyle predicts that voter turnout will hit between 20-21 percent turnout for the Aug, 28 Primary. In 2014, the Primary Election had a 21 percent turnout of voters.

Normally weve been having about 10,000 people vote on Election Day, Doyle said.

The local races on the Primary ballot include:

** County-wide Republican primary races (only Republicans may vote on the contests):

* United States Senator: Roque Rocky De La Fuente and Rick Scott

* Governor and Lieutenant Governor: Don Baldauf; Ron DeSantis; Timothy M. Devine; Bob Langford; John Joseph Mercadante; Bruce Nathan; Adam H. Putnam and Bob White

* Attorney General Fiscal General: Ashley Moody and Frank White

* Commissioner of Agriculture: Matt Caldwell; Denise Grimsley; Mike McCalister and Baxter Troutman

* State Attorney 20th Judicial Circuit: Chris Crowley and Amira Fox

* * District-only primaries

* Representative in Congress District 17 (Only Republicans residing in District 17 may vote) Bill Akins; Julio Gonzalez and Greg Steube

* State Representative District 79 (only Republicans residing in District 79 may vote) Matthew Shawn Miller and Spencer Roach

** County-wide Democratic Primary races (only Democrats may vote):

* Governor and Lieutenant Governor: Andrew Gillum; Gwen Graham; Jeff Greene; Chris King; Philip Levine; Alex Lundy Lundmark and John Wetherbee

* Attorney General Fiscal General: Sean Shaw and Ryan Torrens

* Commissioner of Agriculture: Nicole Nikki Fried; Jeffrey Duane Porter and Roy David Walker

* * District-only primaries

* Representative in Congress District 19 (Only Democrats residing in District 19 can vote): David Holden and Todd James Truax

* Representative in Congress District 17 (only Democrats residing in District 17 may vote) April Freeman and Bill Pollard

* State Representative District 76 (Only Democrats residing in District 76 can vote): Neilson Croll Ayers and David Bogner

** County-wide, all voters regardless of party affiliation:

* Circuit Judge 20th Judicial Circuit Group 8: James Wesley Chandler and John Owen McGowan

* County Judge Group 7: Maria E. Gonzalez and David McElrath

* School Board Member District 6 (at large; everyone votes): Nicholas Alexander; Lori Fayhee; Betsy Vaughn and Karen Putman Watson

** School Board races, non-partisan, district voters only

* School Board Member District 1, (Only voters residing in District 1, mostly Cape Coral, Pine Island and Sanibel; regardless of party affiliation): Charles B. Dailey and Mary Fischer

* School Board Member District 4, (Only voters residing in District 4, mostly Cape Coral, North Fort Myers and Dunbar, regardless of party affiliation:) Don H. Armstrong; Debbie Jordan; Louis Navarra and Geraldine Gerri Ware

* School Board Member District 5, (Only voters residing in District 5, mostly Lehigh Acres, regardless of party affiliation): Gwynetta Gwyn Gittens; Moses Jackson; Pamela LaRiviere; Taruas Pugh and Jon Larsen Shudlick
The 2019 Honda Insight is a very normal-looking car, which is kind of strange.

Its a far cry from the 2000 edition, which was a tiny, two-seat, streamlined suppository with skirted rear wheels that was Americas first hybrid and is still the most efficient car without a plug to putter down her highways at 61 mpg. (Its EPA combined rating of 53 mpg was only surpassed last year.)

Sales were much lower than its fuel economy, however, with a high of just 4,700 in 2001. So the Insight was put on hiatus a couple of years later, but rebooted in 2009 as a four-door hatchback that looked like a bad copy of the Toyota Prius it was trying to be. Unfortunately, it arrived at a time when Honda was off its game, delivering cars with refinement far below what was expected of the brand. Popular in its Japanese homeland, not even a perfect storm of The Great Recession and the highest gas prices in a generation could turn it into a hit here. Honda put out of its misery at the ripe old age of five in 2014.

Since then, the Insight badges were left sitting on the shelf at American Honda as the Civic and Accord and CR-Z hybrids did their best to take on Toyota in the gas-electric space. Without much luck.

But now, staying true to its decade or so lifecycle, the Insight is back, and youd never recognize it. Its based on the platform of the Civic sedan, but has a more sophisticated style than its sibling and none of the visual quirks of its previous generations.

The interior is even more distinct from the Civic and has a high-end feel. There are large puffy inserts in front of the passenger and on the doors, and the driver is treated to an instrument cluster that pairs an analog speedometer with a multi-functional digital display. As with the Civic, the Insight is spacious for a compact and has a low and wide stance.

Priced at $23,725, the Insight falls between the similarly subdued $23,085 Hyundai Ioniq and odder-than-ever Toyota Prius at $24,395 in the hybrid price hierarchy. But its true position among them is tougher to peg.

The Insights ride quality is unsurpassed by any car at this price point, regardless of whats under the hood. Its smooth around town, composed in curves and sportier than most, if not exactly sporty. Its also quiet, at least when its operating under pure electric power. Which is often, but not often enough.

Honda uses an uncommon drivetrain layout that combines a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gas engine with a unit comprised of a generator and electric drive motor. The motor draws its energy from the lithium-ion battery tucked inconspicuously under the rear seats until the charge gets too low, then summons the four-cylinder to crank the generator. As there isnt a conventional transmission, there also isnt any annoying vibration when the engine starts up as there is in most hybrids, which is a boon in stop and go traffic.

There is noise, however. Sometimes lots of it. The engine, which is a little gruff, sets itself at whatever rpm it deems necessary to meet the power demands and just sits there groaning. Going uphill, its as if you have your foot to the floor and need to change gears, but dont. No hybrid is perfect in this regard, but the Insight isnt even close.

Its much better suited the Midwest than the mountains. On flat terrain, the engine is used less frequently and runs slower when it is. The payoff for any pain is at the pump. I hit 50 mpg in the top of the line Touring I tested, which has an EPA combined rating of 48 mpg, while lower trims are listed at 52 mpg. Thats short of the Prius and Ioniq, which max out at 56 mpg and 58 mpg, respectively, but both are less powerful than the 151 hp Insight.

All Insight models are well-equipped, and even the EX comes with a standard safety package that includes automatic emergency brakes, lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control, but without Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration. The mid-level LX gets those, along with the camera-based Lane Watch passenger blind spot monitor and a 60/40 rear seat pass-through to a large flat trunk made possible by the modern slim battery pack design. Leather upholstery, premium audio, heated seats and those automatic windshield wipers that I know you must have kick in with the Touring at a max price of $28,985.

Youll spend thousands more on a loaded Ioniq or Prius, so the efficiency advantages are pretty much a wash for your wallet. Youll have to decide about saving the planet, not to mention your hearing.

2019 Honda Insight

Base price: $23,725

As tested: $28,985

Type: 5-passenger, 4-door front-wheel-drive sedan

Engine: 1.5-liter 4-cylinder with electric motor

Power: 151 hp, 197 lb-ft

Transmission: Direct drive

MPG: 51-55 city/45-49 hwy
A proposal for a road-rail tunnel across Qiongzhou Strait linking Guangdong and Hainan provinces has been submitted to China's top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, for approval after 20 years of research, reports China Ocean News.

The road-rail tunnel would help with the further development of links between the economies of the two provinces, and also ease traffic congestion during peak seasons such as the summer holiday and Spring Festival. And the road-rail tunnel will incorporate Hainan province into China's road and railway system: At present, travelers to Hainan have to travel by plane or ferry.

More than two decades and 12 million U.S. dollars have been spent researching the geography of the Qiongzhou Strait since China's Ministry of Transport first assigned the project to the Guangdong government in 1994. It is reported that some 20 billion U.S. dollars would need to be invested into the tunnel program to make it a reality.
Retired Indy 500 and Formula One driver Derek Daly was fired from his job as a TV racing analyst this week after news of his use of a racial slur 35 years ago resurfaced, but he says the story being told about him is all wrong.

The controversy started last week when longtime Indianapolis Colts radio play-by-play announcer Bob Lamey, 80, was overheard telling someone about an interview he remembered from the Indy 500, in which a racing driver was asked if he thought anyone was holding back during qualifying, to which the he allegedly answered there arent any n---ers in this race."

Lamey apologized to those around him, but retired from his job in the wake of the incident.

The Colts deplore and do not tolerate the use of any racial slur  in any context, the team said in a statement.

It was later reported that Derek Daly, an Irishman who now lives in Indianapolis, was the source of the comment, and his employer, WISH-TV, immediately severed ties with him. However, while Daly admitted using the word, he said Lameys recounting of the incident was incorrect and slanderous.

Daly told Fox59 that what actually happened was that radio reporter Larry Henry asked him what it was like being a rookie foreign driver on an American team, and Daly said if anything went wrong the only n---er in the wood pile would be me.

Henry told the Indianapolis Star he remembers the interview, and that he froze for a moment on air before tossing the segment back to the studio.

Daly claims he had no idea that the term was considered offensive in the United States, and that it was commonly used in Ireland when he was growing up.

I quickly learned what a derogatory term it was. When I was first informed of this, I was mortified at the offense I might have caused people. I have therefore never used the word since. I made this mistake once, but never again, Daly told Fox59.

Lamey has not yet commented on Dalys version of events.

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A Wisconsin woman never expected her recent car trouble to be caused by a large python.

Officials with the Omro Police Department were called Wednesday after a woman, who has not yet been named, pulled over because her SUV was running strangely, according to the police departments statement on Facebook.

NEW YORK MAN TRYING TO JUMP-START CAR GETS A VENOMOUS SURPRISE

After opening the hood, the woman was stunned to find a large snake in the engine compartment, police said, which added that the GMC Tahoe was not running correctly because its serpentine belt, ironically, was thrown off.

Two officials -- Officer Peeters from Omro and Lieutenant Sauriol from Winneconne -- arrived at the scene and attempted to remove the python. Unsuccessful, a snake expert, identified by the Omro Police Department as Steve Keller, was called to help out.

Eventually, the snake, which slithered its way between the engine and the skid plate, was removed.

The reluctant reptile is alive and doing well, but is "tired and scared, police said. They identified it as a ball python.

CAT SURVIVES BEING STUCK IN CAR GRILLE FOR 9 DAYS

It is not currently clear where the snake came from or how it made its way under the hood.
The term catch and kill has become increasingly popular in recent weeks as reports surface that the National Enquirer used the practice to keep potentially damaging stories about then-candidate Donald Trump out of the news.

But what does it mean?

The term is simple and refers to the practice of buying the rights to a story without ever publishing it. This practice is typically done as a favor to prominent people who wants to bury negative news and its frequently used in tabloid publications.

National Enquirer publisher David Pecker used catch-and-kill deals to help Trump and other celebrities, according to the Associated Press. He would buy the rights to the stories with no intention to publish, but instead use them to get in the subjects good graces and acquire favors, the AP reported, citing people familiar with the routine.

Its I did this for you, now what can you do for me, Jerry George, a former Enquirer reporter, told the AP. They always got something in return.

George also told the AP that Enquirer reporters hate the practice because it keeps scandalous stories out of the publication.

Former Enquirer employees told the AP that Trump stories, dating back more than a decade, were killed on arrival. However, the Enquirer isnt the only organization to allegedly partake in the practice that has been around for years.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow, whose upcoming book is titled "Catch and Kill," helped launch the #MeToo movement with a detailed expose in the prestigious New Yorker on now-disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. But when Farrows reporting began, he worked for NBC News.

The Peacock Network claimed that Farrows story as theyd seen it did not meet their editorial standards, but the celebrity scion has taken a series of jabs at NBC News for refusing to air his Weinstein reporting, implying that the network had maintained a veil of silence.

Fox News Benjamin Brown contributed to this report.
Did David Cross cross a line?

The liberal comedian is facing backlash after making jokes about the traditional undergarments worn by Mormons and for saying he wants to beat Donald Trump to a bloody pulp and defacate on him.

Cross joked about several topics including genocide, AIDs and terror attacks in his controversial show at the University of Utah on Wednesday night.

After the 54-year-old tweeted a promotional image for his show last week wearing undergarments sacred to the Mormon faith, calls for his show to be cancelled went unheard. Cross addressed the backlash in his show saying I "dont give a s---" before launching into his set.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Cross said the controversy was just a reminder of how thrilled and satisfied and happy it makes me to know that I will never be affected by a photoshopped picture of a dude in long johns that you can get at a Target. You can go to a Target and get something that looks very similar."

He also said that he had never seen the words "underwear" and "sacred" in the same sentence, "but when theyre put together, theyre hilarious."

Cross' offending remarks didn't stop there. According to the outlet, he went on to make fun of abortion, the Holocaust, and also said he wanted to beat up Trump and then urinate and defecate on the president.

A rep for Cross did not immediately return Fox News' request for comment.

Many fans found Cross' joke "disrespectful" and "not funny," expressing their outrage on Twitter.

"[You're a] Disrespectful person and youre not funny," one user tweeted at the comedian."

"Making fun of things people find sacred is never ok in my book," another person wrote.

Another chimed in, "Here's the thing about David Cross - he's not funny. He can joke about whatever he likes, but they're usually not jokes and they're always not humorous."

Another said before his show, "I'm a Mormon who enjoys some good humor about my faith. But this isn't good humor. Not that you care, but you lost another fan tonight."

College president Ruth Watkins released a statement prior to Cross' performance saying she resisted calls to cancel Wednesday's performance and that his tweet was protected by the First Amendment.

The university is a public college and has many Mormon students. The performance isn't sponsored by the university, but Watkins says she won't censor those who rent its facilities.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wear white, two-piece cotton undergarments daily considered similar to holy vestments in other faiths, like a Catholic nun's habit or a Muslim skullcap.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In the 10 months since Harvey Weinsteins sexual misconduct scandal, only Scarlett Johansson and Vanessa Hudgens have dared to wear Marchesa, the brand designed by the disgraced producers ex-wife, Georgina Chapman, on the red carpet.

But attitudes toward the brand appear to be shifting. Speaking to Womens Wear Daily, a number of high-profile celebrity stylists confirmed that by the time the Emmy Awards roll around in September, we could see some of their famous clientele wearing Chapmans designs again.

I think its about whats happening now. What happened before is irrelevant, George Kotsiopoulos, whos dressed celebrities like Kerry Washington in Marchesa in the past, told the publication. If Georgina can start fresh, wipe the slate clean, I think she has a huge chance because who wouldnt want to support her? People liked Georgina and Keren [the brands co-founder]. That goes a long way. And they were pretty dresses.

Stylist Christina Pacelli, who works with Laverne Cox and Danielle Brooks, told WWD, Obviously, there has been a settling out. I would not be surprised if we saw some amazing Marchesa moments with the Emmys, and I think that supporting their work at this point should continue. Im excited about the new collection. Its romantic and on trend.

And according to Sarah Silvermans stylist, Micah Schifman: I think people have turned the corner. I think the support for [Georgina] is so much greater than the ill will for him. Talking to other stylists at dinner, they are really rooting for the brand and Georgina right now and I would not be surprised to see one, maybe two, big girls wearing it at the Emmys.

We are all following each others leads on which associations are too dangerous or who still needs to make up for bad behavior, Shifman concluded. The bottom line is everyone loves a comeback, especially in Hollywood. We are the quickest to turn our backs and even quicker to open the door on them.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post.
Lady Amelia Windsor, often dubbed the most beautiful royal, took a break from the catwalk to celebrate her 23rd birthday Friday at the beach.

The young royal, who is 38th in line to the British throne, shared some photos of herself leading up to the big day relaxing in what appears to be Ibiza.

Serene sea side squinting, she captioned in one of the photos, joking about the sun in her eyes.

In another snap taken by her older sister, Lady Marina Charlotte, 25, Windsor was seen on a rocky beach in a patterned blue bandeau bikini.

Mare meditation, she wrote about her relaxing getaway.

Windsor, who has walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana, has been letting loose in Ibiza, a Spanish island known for its picturesque beaches and non-stop party atmosphere.

Earlier this month, she was spotted strolling around Ibizas Santa Eulalia beach in nothing but light-pink bikini bottoms. Windsor didnt seem to mind the paparazzi was capturing her nature outing as she ate lunch and read from a book all while topless.

Windsor and her sister are Princes William and Harrys third cousin and the granddaughters of the Duke of Kent, who is Queen Elizabeth IIs cousin.

However, the siblings were not deemed close-enough relatives to score an invite to Harrys wedding to American actress Meghan Markle in May.

A friend of the top model told The Sun in the days leading up to the wedding that they were a little surprised not to be invited as they were looking forward to going.

Lady Kitty Spencer, the niece of Harrys late mother Princess Diana, was invited to attend the high-profile nuptials at Windsor Castle.

Like Windsor, Spencer has stirred headlines for her head-turning looks.

Back in February, Spencer, who is signed with Storm Management, walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbanas Secret & Diamonds show, along with other royals, wearing a tiara.

Storm Management is recognized in the fashion world for discovering British it girls Kate Moss and Cara Delevinge, as well as signing Windsor.
When Marilyn Monroe filmed her last completed movie, 1961s The Misfits, she chose to strip down opposite Clark Gable  a scene that director John Huston decided not to include.

But 57 years later, the blonde bombshells infamous nude scene, which many believed was destroyed, has been uncovered.

Charles Casillo, who wrote a book about Hollywoods most iconic sex symbol titled Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon, tracked down some of the last living people who befriended Monroe before she passed away in 1962 at 36.

During his research, the author arranged an interview with Curtice Taylor, the son of the films producer, Frank Taylor. It was then that the 71-year-old revealed the sought-after footage has been stored away in a filing cabinet since his father died in 1999 at age 83.

[Curtice Taylor] was a child when The Misfits was being made, and he was on the set, Casillo told Fox News. He knew Marilyn a little bit So I was interviewing him about that. While we were talking, he just mentioned casually that he had the famous nude scene that people thought was destroyed, that was long speculated about.

He just said it so casually, I dont think he realized what it was I knew it was something special, and I just was really excited about it. It was one of the things that I was unable to uncover for the book.

The Misfits, which was written by Monroes then-husband, playwright Arthur Miller, told the story of a divorcee who falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his lifestyle. The love scene called for Monroe to be in bed as Gable walks into the bedroom to kiss her. But the actress had an idea to heat things up.

In one take, she let the sheet drop, described Casillo. Marilyn Monroe was so insecure. She always wanted people to like her. The one thing that she was rock solid in, with her lack of confidence, she knew that her physicality was pleasing to people, that people liked to look at her, and people liked to look at her body.

However, Huston was not swayed by a naked Monroe. Despite Miller, Taylor and Gable insisting that Monroes take would break new ground for the film, Huston felt it was too distracting. The scene ended up on the cutting room floor.

The movie was being made in 1960, pointed out Casillo. It would have ushered in everything that was going to happen in the late 60s with nudity, and the fall of censorship.

"But John Huston  had the final say. He decided not to keep the scene in. He used a different take. The producer, Frank Taylor, thought that it was so groundbreaking and extraordinary that a major mainstream actress would do that, he saved it.

Casillo added that Curtice is being very, very cautious with the footage, which is in mint condition and includes sound. Taylor, who was still hopeful the scene would make the final cut, had it fully edited and prepped for viewing.

We dont know for sure if it will ever be released, admitted Casillo. But with the amount of interest in Marilyn Monroe I cant say how, where or when, but it will not be kept under wraps forever. Somehow, some way, this will be seen.

Monroe never got the chance to be the star of the first nude scene in a major American movie. In 1961, she and Miller called it quits. Monroe, who was battling a crippling depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, was under the round-the-clock care of a psychiatrist.

It was reported that around this time the actress was also struggling with substance abuse, as well as physical ailments, including endometriosis, which resulted in a public miscarriage during her marriage to Miller.

Then in 1962, Monroe, who was in the middle of filming Somethings Got to Give, was fired from the romantic comedy after she was consistently late or absent for days at a time. She would be found dead from an apparent overdose just two months later.

Casillo described Monroes last day alive as chaotic.

She had been living a very chaotic and frantic existence in her last months, he explained. She was on a downward spiral She was 36 years old, and for her, that was devastating In that era, a sex symbol, a love goddess, like Marilyn was, to be 36 was considered to be at the end of her rope.

"For someone like Marilyn [whose] whole identity and whole persona came from being sensual the idea of losing that was very frightening to her Also on the last day, she was furious about a lot of things She was very angry, she was very frightened.

On the night before she died, Monroe met a 25-year-old Warren Beatty, who was a mutual friend of fellow actor Peter Lawford. While the now-81-year-old actor told Vanity Fair in 2016 that he hadnt seen anything that beautiful, the buxom blonde felt differently about herself.

From her point of view, she was over the hill, because thats what the media was saying about her, said Casillo.  She said, Im 3-6 and Im frightened. She couldnt even say her age. Thats how devastating it was for her She said, My life is becoming more and more disorganized. Im becoming more and more unable to sleep. Im up all night and Im sleeping during the day. Everything I try, I just cant control it.'"

Casillo claimed the conversation haunted Beatty for years.

He was also known for his beauty and sex appeal, said Casillo. He started wondering, What will happen when I lose it? Will I be in the same situation that Marilyn Monroe is in?  Will I have friends? Will people still love me?

Beatty himself said he noticed Monroe was already tipsy from the champagne even before the sun had set.

Casillo shared part of Monroes emotional turmoil stemmed from her life-long quest to develop a relationship with her father after enduring an erratic childhood in a series of foster homes where she was sexually abused, only to be brutally rejected.

She was born illegitimately and her mother was in and out of mental institutions, he explained.  Her mother would show her a photo of a man with a fedora, a handsome guy, saying, This is your father. At that time, Marilyn was shuffled from one foster home to another.

"She was in orphanages. She felt like she didn't belong anywhere, and her father came to represent security and someone who would love her and take her away from the kind of miserable existence that she had.

 When she became an adult, she did try to contact him, and he wouldnt talk to her. He wouldnt see her. He said, Talk to my lawyer. So he wouldnt recognize her as being his daughter. I think that Marilyn spent her whole life trying to find a man to be a substitute for her father, someone who would be a savior, someone who would protect her, someone who would comfort the little girl that was always inside of her.

Toward the end of her life, Monroe received an unlikely phone call from her alleged rival  Elizabeth Taylor. The actress, who was filming 1963s Cleopatra, reached out to Monroe from Rome after hearing she had been fired from Somethings Got to Give.

She said, Marilyn, everything that youre going through, Ive gone through, said Casillo. I will walk off this film in solidarity with you. Ill call the press, Ill tell them Im walking off because Marilyn is being treated unfairly. Thats astonishing to find out about Elizabeth Taylor that she would hold up this epic movie, tens of millions of dollars in debt, to help Marilyn.

Monroe declined the offer, explaining there was no reason for both actresses to hurt their careers. But Taylor offered one piece of advice.

She said, No matter what they say about me, no matter how they criticize me, I just smile and I keep on walking, claimed Casillo. Just smile and keep on walking. Elizabeth Taylor was able to do that. Marilyn wasnt.
To the world, Princess Dianas marriage to Prince Charles was a real-life fairy tale. But to the heartbroken royal, she was living a nightmare.

Princess Dianas biographer Andrew Morton penned the 1992 biography Diana: Her Story, which was based on the secretly recorded conversations between the princess and her friend, James Colthurst, before her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996.

The British journalist told People Magazine Friday Diana was reportedly at her wits end when she decided to detail how her husband was having an affair with his ex-girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles.

The former school teacher, who became the Princess of Wales, also revealed her secret battle with bulimia, suicide attempts, as well as her ongoing struggle to fit in within Britains monarchy.

The book was published in the same year Diana separated from Charles. The magazine added that at the time of the books original publication, no one knew that Diana herself had spoken out. That remained a closely guarded secret until after her death in 1997 at age 36.

It explained Dianas feelings, her sense of isolation, her sense of being a prisoner, said the 65-year-old about the shocking tell-all. Once that leached into the popular imagination and people got to understand who she was as a three-dimensional character, then people responded to her.

While it was unheard of for a royal to bare such secrets from the palace, Morton insisted the book allowed Diana to be free from her private turmoil as her marriage publicly crumbled.

You could see that people wanted the Diana monarchy, one that was more approachable, a bit looser, he said. A little bit more empathetic to their own issues and problems.

Back in 2017, Morton told Fox News Diana was reportedly desperate to get her story out, no matter the consequences she would potentially face. He explained Diana felt the public truly didnt know who she was as she suffered a lonely miserable life in a loveless marriage.

It was incredibly frustrating as far as she was concerned because everyone still believed the fairy tale, said Morton. And she knew it was a nightmare.

Even before Diana married Charles in a televised wedding that attracted about 750 million viewers worldwide in 1981, she long suspected he was having an ongoing affair with Bowles, claimed Morton.

Here is Prince Charles telling Diana that hes going to give a bracelet to his old lover just before the wedding, said Morton. Just a few days before the wedding. And then keeps pictures of Camilla in his diary on their honeymoon.

"What woman is not going to be incensed by this crass and insensitive behavior? Diana was very suspicious of Charles relationship with Camilla right from the get-go. And who could blame her? He left her behind, but the fact that hes been [currently] married for 12 years to Camilla shows that he still had plenty of love in his heart for his former mistress.

Charles, now 69, would go on to marry Bowles, 71, in 2005. She is now Britains Duchess of Cornwall. Once Charles mother, Queen Elizabeth II, passes away and her son becomes king, Camilla will be hailed as the queen consort.

Morton has gone on to publish several biographies on other famous figures that impacted Britains royal family, including Wallis Simpson, Dianas eldest son Prince William, as well as Meghan Markle.
Comedy Centrals Daily Show star Trevor Noah wouldnt apologize for  but attempted to explain to Aboriginal radio hosts Friday -- a recently unearthed joke about the appearance of Aboriginal women that he made earlier in his career.

Noah made the controversial joke back in 2013 to a South African audience when he explained that women of every race can be beautiful before adding, And I know some of you are sitting there now going, ''Oh Trevor, but I've never seen a beautiful Aborigine.

Noah then joked that the word yet should be added to the comment, Because you haven't seen all of them, right? He added that its not always about looks.

Maybe Aborigine women do special things, maybe they'll just like, jump on top of you, he said before mimicking oral sex with the microphone.

Australians unsuccessfully called for Noah to cancel his current tour of the continent when the joke resurfaced. A YouTube clip of the routine remains online.

Noah appeared on an Australian radio station owned by the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association on Friday when Wild Black Women hosts Angelina Hurley and Chelsea Bond spoke with the comedian about the offensive bit and declared he had told them he wouldnt apologize prior to the interview.

I feel like sorry has too much currency."  Trevor Noah

I feel like sorry has too much currency, Noah said. Actions speak louder than words.

The Brisbane Indigenous Media Association  known as BIMA  prides itself on promoting the cultural and economic aspirations of Aboriginal people in Australia. The hosts told Noah that his joked was frowned upon by many members of the community and invited the Comedy Central star to react to the backlash.

Noah asked, As Aboriginal women in Australia what part of the joke offended you?

The female co-hosts agreed that the logic that underpinned the joke bothered them because white men have long joked about their entitlement to sexual violence with Aboriginal women and a common stereotype that Aboriginal women are not desirable or attractive remains prominent in Australia.

Noah explained that it was the first time hes heard that side of the argument and said hes learning that the context of the joke varies in different parts of the world. He said the context is often removed because of expediency on the internet, headlines and clickbait. Noah said the joke was inspired when he was offended by a South African newspaper headline that ranked racial attractiveness.

I use humor to process things that are otherwise painful for me, he said before saying that the joke is that people havent seen an attractive Aboriginal women yet because you cant simply write off an entire race of people unless you have met them all.

Noah said he didnt know about the sexual connotation with Aboriginal women in Australia prior to appearing on the program and the hosts quickly noted that white men have taken advantage of minorities for centuries.

Coming from a black persons point of view, I wasnt making the joke from that perspective, he said. My intention was to try and create a world where I said, All women are beautiful.

Noah said that he wouldnt tell the joke the same way nowadays and he never told the joke in Australia because he met an Aboriginal woman who explained how hurtful the joke is to members of her community.

Thats whats powerful, learning these things as you move through the world, he said. The context in South Africa is not the same.

Noah and the Wild Black Women went on to discuss a variety of issues that Aboriginal women face, and the Daily Show host said he learned a great deal from the conversation.
Though Chick-fil-A may urge fans to "eat mor chikin, management at the fast-food chains latest Kansas location is barring professional campers from staking out ahead of the grand opening in hopes of scoring free food for a year.

When the newest Chick-fil-A at 7320 W. Taft St. opens its doors at 6 a.m. on Aug. 30, the store is slated to give away cards to the first 100 people who arrive, good for 52 Chick-fil-A meals through the upcoming year, as a part of its First 100 series, the Wichita Eagle reports.

FLORIDA CHICK-FIL-A RESTAURANT OPENING UP RIGHT NEXT TO OTHER CHICK-FIL-A RESTAURANT

That being said, the Chick-fil-As owner and operator, Jason Lansdown, says he has no patience for any funny business.

In First 100 events past, so-called professional campers have traveled from city to city trying to score the free meal vouchers, thus lessening the chances for local residents to win and support their local chain, the Eagle reports.

They have to be from our area, Lansdown told the outlet. Some people would travel the country all summer just to go to openings, and although we love them, too, we thought it would be better to have local people win, to connect with our community.

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According to the official rules for the 7320 W. Taft St. locations grand opening, residents of 75 zip codes near the establishment are welcome to camp out, and take their chances. ID's will be checked for verification.

Reps for Chick-fil-A returned Fox News' request for comment with the following statement:

"Each Chick-fil-A restaurant is locally owned and operated. The First 100 celebration is our franchise owner-operator's introduction to the local community. We want to ensure those neighbors, whom they will be serving at that location in the future, have a seat at the table in welcoming and getting to know their neighborhood Chick-fil-A," a spokesperson said.

"The local participation criteria for Chick-fil-A First 100 events is nothing new and is not limited to the Wichita location. For the past several years, participation has been open to local residents in established zip codes," they added.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday expressed serious concern about 5G security rules published by the Australian government, calling the move "a wrong decision."

An MOC spokesperson said in a statement that the rules will exert negative influence on the interest of both Chinese and Australian companies.

The Australian government has issued an order to expand its security regulations on the 5G network, which will block Chinese telecom equipment producers from the Australian market, according to media reports.

"Australia should look at the big picture of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, rather than easily interfere with and restrict normal business activities in the name of national security," the spokesperson said.

China hopes Australia will uphold the principles of fairness and openness to create a sound business environment for Chinese companies, according to the spokesperson.
This gives a new meaning to out of the office.

Starbucks launched a new program where selected employees will split their time working with nonprofits, the coffee giant announced Thursday.

Dubbed the Starbucks Service Fellows program, it's a partnership with the nonprofit organization Points of Light, which describes itself as the worlds largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, according to its website.

The initial six-month pilot, launching this month, includes 36 Starbucks store partners (employees) from 13 cities across the U.S. who will serve with a Points of Light affiliate in their community, collectively providing more than 17,000 hours of community service, Starbucks said in a release.

Participants will work 20 hours in their store each week, while spending another 20 hours each week with a Points of Light local affiliate organization, it said.

'RACIST' MISSOURI SECURITY GUARD FIRED AFTER ALLEGEDLY ORDERING 'TRAYVON MARTINI' FROM BAR

The 13 organizations, chosen by Points of Light, serve U.S. cities including Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Seattle, Phoenix and more.

The nonprofit picked groups which would benefit from focused service efforts that align with Starbucks global social impact priorities, with a focus on opportunity youth, refugees, veterans and military families, hunger, environment and disaster recovery, the release said.

Program participants also qualify for company benefits, Starbucks added.

CNN reported that the program has already kicked off and that Points of Light will use a Starbucks Foundation grant to pay the fellows.
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Americans are bitterly divided on many issues today, creating a poisonous atmosphere filled with charges and countercharges. We have weaponized social media to question the patriotism, honesty and morality of one another. We argue incessantly about all sorts of things. There seems little consensus on anything.

Sadly, many of us seem to have forgotten that our strength lies in our differences  and our ability to see beyond those differences to our similarities and appreciate the ties that bind us together as one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, as the Pledge of Allegiance so beautifully states.

And we have forgotten the motto developed for the first Great Seal of the United States in 1776  created to make the point that the 13 British colonies rebelling against their colonial master were now the United States of America. The motto: the Latin phrase e pluribus unum. It translates to out of many, one.

E pluribus unum is inscribed on our currency. And today it signifies not just the unity of our 50 states, but the unity of our nation of immigrants  people from every ethnic, racial and religious background imaginable. People with great diversity of thoughts and beliefs.

We are different  yet we are one.

The wonder of the out of many, one motto was instilled in me very early in my life as the son of immigrants. My parents were born in Italy, immigrated to America in the 1930s and never went back.

My paternal grandparents lived with us as well, reinforcing the appreciation of my roots and their perspectives of the privilege of being Americans. Those two sentiments were never held in tension in my family. They represented the two sides of a coin of the strength of our nation.

My father was 16 when he came to the United States. He had vivid memories of growing up in Italy, living in a small mountain town in Calabria in clear sight of the sea. He would tell me about his idyllic life as a child, especially during the summer months, when he and friends would walk down the mountain and spend several days at the beach without coming home.

My father would take some salami and cheese from the cellar, catch fish in the sea, and sleep under the stars on the beach. Members of his family were self-sufficient because they grew or raised everything they needed. It was their version of Mayberry.

It sounded so good.

But then my father would tell me stories of how hard it was in the winter when he got here to America, especially getting by through the Great Depression. He had to go without a coat one winter because he couldnt afford one.

My father told me that my grandfather would get up at 4 a.m. to walk five miles to a neighboring town to arrive at work at 6 a.m. I asked why he didnt take a bus. My father said they always walked in Italy, and it was easier on flat land with sidewalks than in the mountains. Plus, my grandfather could save the 5 cents it cost for the bus ride and buy some food with that nickel.

So I asked my father one day: Why even come to America and face the hardships of living in a foreign environment, starting all over, working into the night, and all the other things that accompany an immigrants new life in a new land?

And his answer was simple. First, members of his family could sense that war was coming in Europe. Plus, America was the land of opportunity. It afforded a person through hard work what luxury and ease cannot bring  identity and self-realization.

You see, there is something within the heart of each of us that yearns to realize what we are wired to be and do. And then we want to be free to do it.

That heartfelt yearning is exemplified best in these stirring lines of the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Inherent to our national motto is an understanding of the greatness of plurality and the necessity of having people who are different from each other work together and respect one another. We can only act upon this if we believe that we are all made in Gods image and are therefore equal.

America was founded upon the realization that we must have differences to be more fully one. When differences come together in an appreciation of our God-given opportunities, the resultant outcome is strength, not weakness.

This is just the opposite of what many seem to think today. We should not believe the same way or even the same things. We get along best when we have to interact with each other and rely on each other for our sustenance.

I am much more likely to get to know you, appreciate you and even befriend you when Im sweating alongside you for a common goal. I may even learn from you and appreciate things I would never be confronted with unless I heard your voice, listened to what you said, and sensed the hope in your soul, which sounds a lot like my heart and soul.

There is no adequate substitute for looking into your eyes to see eternity in your soul and to hear the heartbeat of your dreams.

So this brings us back to my fathers idyllic life in that small nondescript Italian mountainside town. Why leave Shangri-La for potential hardship, sweat, and uncomfortable surroundings? Why leave behind ones family to live among strangers?

Simple. Because the search for a better life has driven human progress through the ages. This has made our great nation a magnet to people from all over the world since it was founded, drawing men and women to America to reinvent themselves, enjoy unparalleled freedom, and become part of our great experiment in democracy. E pluribus unum!
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U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami took a few moments in his Tuesday statement about Michael Cohens plea deal to sing neutralitys praise: His day of reckoning serves as a reminder that we are a nation of laws, with one set of rules that applies equally to everyone.

Noble words, and they used to mean something. But a disparity of justice is at the heart of our current crisis of faith in institutions. Americans arent outraged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation felt obliged to investigate allegations leveled at campaigns, or that a special counsel is looking at Russian electoral interference. They are instead furious that Lady Justice seems to have it in for only one side.

The country has watched the FBI treat one presidential campaign with kid gloves, the other with informants, warrants and eavesdropping. Theyve seen the Justice Department resist all efforts at accountability, even as it fails to hold its own accountable. And dont get them started on the one-sided media.

And they are now witnessing unequal treatment in special counsel Robert Muellers probe. Yes, the former FBI director deserves credit for smoking out the Russian trolls who interfered in 2016. And one can argue he is obliged to pursue any evidence of criminal acts, even those unrelated to Russia. But what cannot be justified is the one-sided nature of his probe.

Keep reading Kimberley Strassel's column in the Wall Street Journal.
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The United States is home to the worlds highest-ranking colleges and universities. Indeed, our higher education system is one of our greatest assets. Yet we do too little to defend it.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 20 million students planned to attend U.S. colleges and universities in 2017. And the National Science Foundation reported that more than 800,000 international students were enrolled in institutions of higher education in the U.S.

Most of these international students, faculty members and researchers are here to capitalize on Americas educational opportunities. However, some are here to exploit the openness of our higher education system.

According to an advisory warning released by the FBI in 2011, foreign intelligence services target American universities to recruit students and faculty members to be agents of espionage and attempt to steal technical information and products. The FBI also reported that certain foreign actors illicitly exploit the student visa program and use universities as hubs to spread false information and political propaganda.

For example, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in February that China uses nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting, whether its professors, scientists, students, we see  in almost every field office that the FBI has around the country.

Wray added that China is exploiting the very open research and development environment that we have, which we all revere. But theyre taking advantage of it.

In March, nine Iranians were charged by the Justice Department after computer systems at 144 American universities were targeted in a cybertheft conspiracy.

Additionally, in 2014 the FBI issued an advisory stating that the Cuban intelligence services are known to actively target the U.S. academic world for the purposes of recruiting agents, in order to both obtain useful information and conduct influence activities.

These are only a few examples. Many other countries are looking to infiltrate and take advantage of the United States, so more must be done domestically to counteract this rising threat  while still maintaining the integrity of Americas higher education institutions.

One path forward is the Stop Higher Education Espionage and Theft Act of 2018 (SHEET), which he introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the Senate on May 22. If passed, the SHEET Act will give the director of the FBI the authority to formally designate a foreign actor as a foreign intelligence threat to higher education.

In order to receive such a designation, a foreign actor must have exploited the resources of an institution to engage in illicit activities such as espionage, fraud, theft of trade secrets, or interception of communications.

The SHEET Act would help by defining and identifying threats to American institutions of higher education, while still ensuring the protection of civil liberties of those suspected or accused.

Following the model contained in the Foreign Terrorist Organization statute, the SHEET Act also outlines a specific process whereby the designee can appeal the designation to court for a timely review.

Lastly, to ensure full transparency, the SHEET Act issues stricter reporting requirements for institutions of higher education in disclosing gifts from and contracts with entities that have been designated as foreign intelligence threats.

Congress must pass the SHEET Act to help ensure that American institutions of higher education are no longer infiltrated and exploited by foreign intelligence threats. Doing so will allow such institutions to continue to be worldwide leaders for discovering, challenging, and growing new students, faculty, researchers and ideas.
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The Army has exonerated a decorated Fort Bragg chaplain and his assistant after they were accused of discrimination against a same-sex couple.

The chaplain  Army Maj. Scott Squires  and Sgt. Kacie Griffin, his assistant, had been facing dereliction of duty charges for declining to lead a marriage retreat that included a same-sex couple.

We are grateful that the Army has rejected and abandoned these baseless charges, First Liberty Institute attorney Mike Berry told the Todd Starnes Radio Show.

The United States military is no place for anti-religious hostility against its own military chaplains, said Berry, who is representing both the chaplain and the assistant. Chaplains like Scott Squires and Kacie Griffin do not have to give up their First Amendment rights in order to serve their fellow soldiers.

Squires said in a statement that he looks forward to resuming his military career and serving his fellow soldiers.

I am eternally grateful to First Liberty for covering my six and fighting to restore my religious liberty, Squires said.

The plight of Squires generated national outrage and thousands of my readers and listeners inundated the Pentagon with telephone calls and emails. And several members of Congress urged the military to take swift action.

The case of Chaplain Scott Squires highlights how imperative it is that we protect freedom of conscience for every individual in the U.S. military  including the chaplains who minister to them as they carry out the militarys mission together, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., said in a statement.

In January, a same-sex couple asked to participate in a military-sponsored marriage retreat called, Strong Bonds. Squires had been scheduled to lead the retreat.

Squires is endorsed as a chaplain by the Southern Baptist Conventions North American Mission Board (NAMB). According to NAMB policy, chaplains are prohibited from conducting Strong Bonds events for same-sex couples.

The NAMB policy clearly states that endorsed chaplains will not conduct or attend a wedding ceremony for any same-sex couple, bless such a union or perform counseling in support of such a union  nor offer any kind of relationship training or retreat, on or off a military installation.

When Squires realized he could not participate in the Strong Bonds event, he rescheduled the conference to accommodate the lesbian couple with a chaplain who could oversee the retreat. However, the same-sex couple chose not to attend.

Had Squires participated in the marriage retreat he would have risked losing his endorsement by the Southern Baptists. Likewise, the Army requires its chaplains to adhere to their endorsers rules and religious tenets.

I simply did what Im required to do under Army regulations and my endorsers rules, Squires said. I am shocked that I would even be investigated, let alone threatened with punishment, for following the rules.

The Pentagon was fundamentally transformed during the Obama administration. It became an institution rife with anti-Christian sentiment.

I documented countless instances of military personnel who were subjected to investigations and punishment because of their religious beliefs.

The Trump administration is working diligently to undo the damage that was done during the Obama administration.

However, some parts of the Pentagon are still stuck in muck and mire of the so-called swamp.

Just ask Chaplain Squires and his assistant.
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Cristhian Rivera, who entered America illegally from his native Mexico, is charged with first-degree murder in the brutal killing of college student Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa. Yet few news organizations call him an illegal alien or an illegal immigrant. They either call him undocumented or avoid drawing attention to his illegal status.

The terms illegal immigrant and illegal alien are considered too harsh and too politically incorrect by the mainstream media arbiters of good taste.

Undocumented is so much more polite. It makes it sound like a man stopped by police simply left his drivers license in another pair of pants at home, or a woman traveling lost her passport when her purse was stolen.



No, dont say these folks are illegal entrants at all  just say they dont have their documents handy.

This is absurd and seeks to minimize the fact that people are breaking the law every day by entering the U.S. from Mexico and elsewhere without authorization. And many have documents  as Rivera did  but the documents are fake or stolen.

As The Washington Post reported Wednesday: Yarrabee Farms manager Dane Lang said Rivera provided a state-issued photo identification and a Social Security card when he applied for a job nearly four years ago. But those documents were false, Lang said.  Lang would not disclose the name that Rivera used to get a job. Rivera spent four years working at the dairy farm under his false identity, authorities said.

And just before news of the 20-year-old Tibbetts' tragic death, the story of a man arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in California while driving his pregnant wife to the hospital to give birth made headlines with the same coddling euphemism: "undocumented immigrant."

What wasnt originally reported was that the federal laws enforcement officers arrested Joel Arrona-Lara on a homicide charge based on a warrant from his native Mexico. He is suspected of involvement in the beating death of a man in Mexico in 2006  which, by remarkable coincidence, the same year his wife stated she and her husband arrived in the United States from Leon (in Mexico) without proper documentation, CBS reported.

In the Tibbetts killing, as with the Arrona-Lara incident, priority has been to preserve the hagiographic portrait of minorities, legal and "undocumented."

As the son of Mexican immigrants, let me be the first to say this is unnecessary, condescending and paternalistic. Maintaining the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants  especially criminal aliens  is vital.

Grouping me with the likes of Rivera and Arrona-Lara, both illegal immigrants and alleged murderers, is unfair and deceitful, even if it happens to appeal to some peoples politically correct sensibilities.

Indeed, placing legal immigrants and illegal aliens  even criminals  in the same column based on minority status alone has become a loathsome cornerstone of progressive policy. It's not hard to see how this is counterproductive.

Well-intentioned though it may be, the reality is that progressives are cultivating  rather than discouraging  animus for law-abiding immigrants, because the lines between the lawful and the unlawful have been blotted out.

In this manner, Rivera and Arrona-Lara are considered as worthy as World War II hero Pedro Cano, the recipient of two Bronze Star medals, a Purple Heart, and the Medal of Honor. How is corralling the sheep in with the wolves helpful?

Here is something progressives need to accept, if they do not want to do more harm than good: some noncitizens, like some citizens, deserve no sympathy and no mercy. When one person robs another of life by committing a murder, he dehumanizes himself in the process.

Do progressives really want to treat murder suspects as just undocumented immigrants? Do they want to make accused killers martyrs in the immigration debate?

When my father came to the United States in the 1950s as an authorized worker from Mexico, he did so because he admired this country and believed that he could make it on his own volition. Most of all, he believed that America might provide his children with more security than they would have in Mexico.

My fathers hometown of Apatzingan, Michoacan, is an impoverished area blighted by civil unrest. Apatzingan made international headlines in 2013 when a member of the state Legislature was hacked to death "with a machete while he was being interviewed by a journalist."

My father knew this sort of violence intimately. Three of his five brothers were murdered in Mexico. Little did he know that one day, the perpetrators of similar horrific violence (now being imported into his adopted homeland) would be lionized, while their innocent victims would recede into the background  mere footnotes or irrelevant details in the progressive narrative.

But it is the natural consequence of the current progressive agenda that prizes clever euphemisms and Orwellian doublespeak over truth-telling and harsh realities.

Thus, the Mexican victim of Arrona-Lara, along with Mollie Tibbets, have become casualties in the progressive war both on truth and the rule of law  sacrificial offerings to the cult of victimhood.
The otherwise-quiet opening day of the Democratic National Committees summer meeting was jolted wide awake with a late afternoon surprise visit by seemingly omnipresent lawyer Michael Avenatti.

But instead of talking about his representation of adult-film star Stormy Daniels and her legal fight against President Trump, he focused remarks to DNC members elsewhere, and answered questions from reporters about his own flirtation with a 2020 White House run.

Ive never understood this idea of not shooting straight with people. You [reporters] know which candidates are likely to enter the race. You know what people are doing behind the scenes. Its no big secret in Washington or here or anywhere else. Why dont people just come out and say, Yeah, Im seriously considering running for president.

No other 2020 contender is scheduled to attend the three-day meeting.

Avenattis visit, which he said will continue Friday, immediately followed several political events in Iowa, just the latest in a tour of local Democratic Party gatherings across the country.

The issue Avenatti addressed to members of the DNCs Ethnic Council was the crisis of separated illegal-immigrant families. He represents several dozen families in their reunification attempts. I dont know about each of you, but thats not my America. And thats not the principles and the values upon which this nation was founded hundreds of years ago.

Many Democrats publicly have condemned such separations, but Avenatti said there are other immigration issues that make him stand out against potential primary opponents.

He said calls by Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, for instance, to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement are misguided.

Talking about abolishing ICE is similar to talking about abolishing the police force, and I dont think thats the right message, and I dont think thats the right position.
California Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar was barely on anyones radar last week in his longshot bid against GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, in an overwhelmingly Republican district.



But after Hunters indictment Tuesday on corruption charges, including allegations of lavish personal spending with campaign funds, Campa-Najjar is suddenly a contender.

With his boosted chances, though, has come scrutiny of his dark family past -- his grandfather was a member of the Palestinian Black September terror group that killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

The 29-year-old political neophyte, who has both Mexican and Palestinian heritage, has been quick and unequivocal in separating himself from Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar.



Campa-Najjar is keen to point out he has never met his grandfather, whose death at the hands of Israeli commandos happened 16 years before Ammar was born. In a statement this week, the former Obama administration Labor Department official used his disavowal of his grandfather to take a not-so-subtle dig at his opponent.



"I'm happy to take responsibility for my own choices and my own decisions," he said. "I think other men are responsible for their own crimes, whether it's somebody who I share a lineage with and nothing else, or a sitting congressman whose being indicted and could be facing serious charges in the future."



His campaign also says while hes proud of his heritage, he is American first.



In an interview, Campa-Najjar told Fox News he isnt concerned that his family history could harm the campaign.



Im not concerned, but I think it shows Hunter is concerned, he said. My opponents have to go back three generations to attack me. I can go back three days to highlight something pretty damning about him.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER PLEADS NOT GUILTY, CLAIMS INDICTMENT 'POLITICALLY MOTIVATED'

Israeli media first drew attention to his family ties in early 2018, with reports noting he advocates a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict -- unlike his grandfather.

Hunter and his wife, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to the charges against them on Thursday, and Hunter has declared the prosecution to be politically motivated. But with a lengthy list of personal spending totaling up to $250,000, Hunter has struggled to explain the charges.



On Thursday, he was asked about spending by his wife, Margaret, and appeared to distance himself from her actions, saying it was her that handled the campaign finances.



"She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did that'll be looked at too, I'm sure," Hunter told Fox News Martha MacCallum. "But I didn't do it. ... I didn't spend any money illegally."

But even with Hunter's legal problems, Campa-Najjar faces a tough climb to victory. He picked up only 17.5 percent in the districts jungle primary and will need to convince a lot of Hunter voters to switch.

His website advocates for an eventual shift to 'Medicare for all,' a popular rallying cry on the left that may be a tough sell in this district. This week, liberal darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Campa-Najjar her "progressive brother."

However, the candidate is not embracing hard-left rhetoric publicly and even criticized his party for ignoring Trump voters on Friday.

Those Trump supporters who voted for him voted not because they're ignorant but because they've been ignored, by my party and by the country, he said.



On immigration, while he does not back Trumps border wall and believes in a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, he supports tougher fines for employers who break immigration laws and does not support growing calls in his party to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).



He brushed off the question of whether he was a moderate or a left-wing progressive in the model of Ocasio-Cortez.



I dont really care for labels, I've been labeled under the sun, and Im not one who really fits into anyones label. I am who I am, Im comfortable in my skin and my views come via my life experiences, he said.

Campa-Najjar, who is Christian, is the son of a Palestinian Muslim father (he spent part of his childhood in Gaza) and a Catholic Mexican-American mother.

As for Hunter, he is careful not to go overboard in his criticism of his embattled opponent. Campa-Najjar repeatedly called Hunter a hero for his service to the country in the Iraq War.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
As part of Nikki Haley's push to advance the Trump administration's America First agenda at the United Nations, the hard-charging ambassador is fighting for U.S. businesses to get a bigger slice of the more than $18 billion in contracts the world body hands out each year.



The U.S. already is the biggest recipient of these procurement contracts, but officials say that number is growing since Haley took office. In 2017, the U.S. won $1.74 billion in contracts -- approximately 9 percent of the $18.6 billion available. The next highest was India, which picked up 4.8 percent of all contracts.



That marks almost a 10 percent uptick in contracts awarded to U.S. businesses from 2016.



But Haley and the U.S. Mission arent done, and are looking at ways to get more lucrative contracts awarded. Its part of a broader effort by Haley and the Trump administration to make sure the United Nations' biggest contributor gets a better deal there.



We are very proud of our American companies, from the quality of their products to the efficiencies of their services. We will continue to use all of the resources we have available to help our companies win U.N. contracts, Haley told Fox News.

Her office is not necessarily strongarming the U.N. into awarding contracts to American companies -- it is a competitive process -- but is urging those companies to seek U.N. business while facilitating meetings between them and U.N. officials.

Cherith Norman Chalet, the U.S. representative for U.N. Management and Reform, told Fox News that the U.S. Mission is increasing the number of seminars across the country that feature business representatives and officials from U.N. agencies, including UNICEF and the World Food Program.

It's to try to help companies understand the process, what the opportunities are at the U.N. and what the needs the U.N. are looking for, so really trying to matchmake in the best possible way, she said.



Whereas in recent years there would be a few general seminars a year, all in New York, this year the U.S. Mission -- working with the Commerce Department -- is holding a number of state-specific seminars across America.

So far, these have been held in Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Mississippi. On Thursday, a seminar in Detroit, Mich., featured more than 150 companies along with representatives from the Secretariat, U.N. Development Program, the World Food Program and UNICEF.



In October, there will be a private-sector day, which will also include discussions and information about the policy side of the U.N. and the impact on businesses.



Another more general seminar is being planned in New York this fall on the subject of aviation, in hopes of leveling the playing field on a contract area that traditionally has been dominated by Russia.



The goal, Chalet said, is "to increase visibility of the U.S. Mission led by Ambassador Haley, showing that were going to go further in ensuring that U.S. companies have equal opportunity at the U.N. and that we will continue to be the number one in procuring those contracts.

HALEY PRESSURES ARAB STATES TO STEP UP ON PALESTINIAN AID: 'WE ARE NOT FOOLS'

Weve done well and were doing better and we have more to go, she said.



While the numbers on 2018 contracts are not yet available, officials say they are hopeful for continued growth and the seminars have seen a significant increase in attendance.



In addition to the 9 percent increase in procurement contracts, the U.S. says the number of U.S. companies registered as vendors on the U.N. Global Marketplace -- where companies register to bid on U.N. contracts and to be alerted about available contracts -- spiked from 10,545 in 2016 to 16,004 in 2017



From what we can tell based on the seminars, as well as interaction with U.N., what these have done this year is really match the needs and increased awareness of companies so they can be even better prepared to put in the bids, and be more successful in being selected, Chalet said.



The Better World Campaign, which pushes for better relations between the U.S. and the U.N., hailed the developments and noted that while the top states that benefited from contracts were New York, New Jersey, Maryland and California, the benefits were being felt across the country.



Forty-two states plus Washington D.C. are home to American companies that were awarded UN contracts in 2017, President Peter Yao said in a statement.



This new data confirms that the U.N. is not only in Americas foreign policy and national security interests, American corporations also benefit more than any other country in the world from procurement contracts with the U.N, he said.

The push represents part of the broader effort by the U.N.-skeptical administration to get a better value at the organization, even as it moves to punish some arms of the world body.

NIKKI HALEY SECURES SOUTH SUDAN ARMS EMBARGO THAT ELUDED OBAMA



While Haley has been a primary driver of action at the Security Council on areas such as North Korea and South Sudan, the U.S. has also pulled back where it doesnt see that value.

The administration has withdrawn from the Human Rights Council, calling it a "cesspool of political bias," and has gutted funding to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA). The U.S. has also demanded cuts to the U.N. budget.

This week in a speech in West Virginia, Trump praised Haley for securing a $1.3 billion cut in U.N. spending since taking office -- which he said had saved taxpayers $350 million.
China is facing an arduous poverty alleviation task as it aims to extricate 30 million rural residents out of poverty, said by Han Jun, a Chinese official in a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Monday.

As the deputy director of the office of the central agricultural work leading group, he also pointed out that the difficulty of the tasks would go up with time, and each year the government would aim to eliminate impoverished population by over 10 million.

There is still space for improvement in accountability and implementation in poverty alleviation efforts, Han added when introducing the recent-released guideline on winning the battle against poverty by 2020 together with Ou Qingping, the deputy chief of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

He elaborated that the government needed to make more targeted measures, abandon formalism and bureaucratism, as well as punished those who had fabricated statistics and misappropriated poverty relief funds.

Implementation is the highlight of the guideline, Han noted, adding that every task in the document has its correspondingly initiating and executing departments.

The guideline focuses on extremely poor regions and special impoverished groups, the toughest part of the poverty alleviation tasks, he said, further pointing out that it requires the government to offer policy support for these regions, which is another highlight of the document.

In addition, the guideline stresses that solid efforts must be made for the groundwork of poverty alleviation, calling for more accuracy in the confirmation of impoverished households and their deregistration.

According to the guideline, top-level design must be reinforced to win the tough battle against poverty in the next three years.

The document requires policy makers to focus on extremely impoverished regions and special impoverished groups, improve development conditions for impoverished regions and address the special demands of people in these areas.

Stressing the importance of improved policies and effective measures, the document requires efforts to enhance targeted alleviation measures at the level of each village, each family and each individual, and accelerate infrastructure construction in impoverished regions.

The document says that planning and coordination must be strengthened, and the government should enhance its support for multiple areas including finance, land, human resources and technology, to mobilize the whole society to conquer poverty.

Statistics shows that most of the 30 million registered poor people are seniors, sickened, and disabled. Over 40 percent and 14 percent of them are poor-stricken because of illness and physical disabilities respectively, and seniors above the age of 65 account for more than 16 percent of the total, said Ou.

With further implementation of poverty alleviation, the ratio of such special groups will go higher and higher, Ou noted, adding that it would take a very high cost to eliminate such extreme poverty.

Many of the poor from such groups are not able or conditioned to work, and there is also no industry to help them out. As a result, changes must be made since the development-oriented approaches will no longer suit the situation.

Against such backdrop, to tune the development-oriented policy to the combination of development and security is a clear-cut requirement raised by the guideline.

This doesnt mean China will just provide all the poor with basic living allowances, but it will establish a comprehensive security mechanism for those who have completely or partially lost their capacity to work and are not able to shake off poverty through businesses, based on social security, social aid and social welfare systems and supported by charity and social workers, Ou highlighted.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, in the Decision on Winning the Fight Against Poverty issued three years ago, wrote that by 2020, the country is committed to ensuring that the impoverished rural population has stable access to adequate food and clothing, compulsory education, basic medical services and housing, and to achieving indices of major basic public services close to the national average level.

Han said that such goal is totally in line with Chinas national conditions and is achievable. The country will focus more on the goal in the next three years and reach the standard in the 2015 Decision.

The stable access to compulsory education, basic medical services and housing must be correctly understood, Han pointed out, elaborating that the country should mainly offer 9-year compulsory education to children from impoverished families, rather than full-range free schooling.

The country should offer basic medical services to impoverished population, enabling them to receive timely treatment of severe and chronic diseases and lowering their medical expenses down to a reasonable level, rather than a bulk billing that applies to all diseases, explained by Han.

He added that satisfing the basic demand for living for impoverished people, does not mean to refurbish their old houses into big and luxurious ones .

To ensure a precise grasp of the standard, the guideline proposes to cancel irrelevant tasks assigned in the name of poverty alleviation which are prevalent in many departments and industries. As a result, the tasks that go beyond the demand of the 2015 Decision will all be abolished.
Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, the self-styled "maverick" of the Senate who has served three decades in Congress, will discontinue medical treatment for brain cancer, his family said in a statement Friday.

The Vietnam War veteran, who survived five years as a prisoner of war and went on to become his party's presidential nominee in 2008, was diagnosed last July with a brain tumor following a procedure earlier in the year to remove a blood clot from above his left eye.

He has not voted since last December. In Friday's statement, his family revealed how the disease has worsened:

Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict."

They said, "With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

Reaction poured in after the family's announcement.

"The entire McCain clan is doing exactly what the McCains have done through generations  rise to the meet the challenge," said South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close McCain friend.

"John McCain is an American hero, always putting country before self. From Vietnam to the halls of the U.S. Senate, the spirit of service and civility that has guided Senator McCain's life stands as a model for all Americans, regardless of political affiliation," Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tweeted: "Very sad to hear this mornings update from the family of our dear friend @SenJohnMcCain. We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour."

The Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix last summer said that the original blood clot was associated with a primary brain tumor, known as a glioblastoma.

McCain, 81, has served in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades and ran for president twice. He lost the GOP nomination to George W. Bush in 2000 and was the Republican nominee in 2008 before losing to Barack Obama in the general election.

McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years. Injuries from being tortured left him unable to lift his arms above his head.

Last December, McCain returned to the Senate for the first time since his brain cancer diagnosis. He delivered powerful remarks on the Senate floor addressing the need for bipartisanship amid gridlock in the chamber.

Make no mistake, my service here is the most important job I have had in my life. And I am so grateful to the people of Arizona for the privilegefor the honorof serving here and the opportunities it gives me to play a small role in the history of the country I love, McCain said, acknowledging senators hes known and admired. But they knew that however sharp and heartfelt their disputes, however keen their ambitions, they had an obligation to work collaboratively to ensure the Senate discharged its constitutional responsibilities effectively.

McCain has criticized the Senates deliberations in the last year, calling them more partisan, more tribal than any time he remembered.

McCain blamed both sides for the lack of cooperation.

Earlier this year, McCain penned a memoir titled The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations, written by himself, and Mark Salter, who had collaborated with McCain on all seven of his other books.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be here. Maybe I'll have another five years. Maybe, with the advances in oncology, they'll find new treatments for my cancer that will extend my life. Maybe I'll be gone before you read this. My predicament is, well, rather unpredictable," he wrote. "But I'm prepared for either contingency, or at least I'm getting prepared. I have some things I'd like to take care of first, some work that needs finishing, and some people I need to see. And I want to talk to my fellow Americans a little more if I may."

McCain, who has repeatedly been at odds with President Trump and criticized his rhetoric and leadership, said this year that he doesnt want the president to attend his funeral, and prefers that Vice President Pence be there instead.

Last week, Trump signed a $716 billion defense policy bill, titled John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, though did not mention the senator.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Thursday an investigation into clergy sex crimes within the Roman Catholic Church.

The states top attorney will be given unfettered access to the records of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Archbishop Robert Carlson said shortly after Hawleys announcement.

Anything that we have we will turn over, Carlson said.

Word of the investigation came after multiple survivors of clergy sexual abuse protested outside Hawleys office Wednesday, demanding a statewide probe. The survivors were encouraged by the findings of the grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania that revealed the widespread abuse of more than 1,000 children by 300 predator priests over the last 70 years, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Hawleys announcement also came as the Republican is running for a U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, with the latest polls showing the candidates virtually deadlocked.

The extent to which sexual abuse by priests exists in the state is unclear as there have been few convictions. But David Clohessy, 61, a longtime victims rights advocate in the state who was abused as a child, claims that more than 170 priests in Missouri have been accused in recent decades.

He blamed prosecutors who haven't been assertive or creative enough in exposing and pursuing these wrongdoers.

"It would be possible to conduct a thorough and robust investigation of potential clergy abuse if the various dioceses were willing to cooperate,  Missouri AG Josh Hawley

Hawley said that while the prosecution authority lies with local authorities, his office will investigate the crimes, publish a report and refer the credible cases to the authorities.

While my office does not have jurisdiction at the present time to prosecute any criminal acts of this nature, or again to issue subpoenas to investigate it, it would be possible to conduct a thorough and robust investigation of potential clergy abuse if the various dioceses were willing to cooperate, Hawley said.

He added that the Archdiocese of St. Louis will open to my office their files and allow us to conduct a thorough, impartial review of potential clergy abuse and invited the states other dioceses to cooperate similarly with this offices investigation, so that our report can be truly comprehensive and statewide.

"The majority of the people said, Tell us what youve been doing and make sure it is not done by you but by an independent agency."  Archbishop Robert Carlson

The archdiocese opened up its records for state officials after a number of people called on the archbishop to invite an independent review to clear the churchs name.

The majority of the people said, Tell us what youve been doing and make sure it is not done by you but by an independent agency, the archbishop said in a news conference. And it is my feeling that the attorney general would be the appropriate agency to do this. Obviously its going to be at arms length. Were going to have to meet and see what their protocols are going to be, but were looking forward to that process beginning.

But other dioceses in Missouri  with the exception of the Diocese of Jefferson City  have yet to follow the suit and open up their records to the state attorney general's office.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph said before the announcement that although it will cooperate fully with law enforcement and are eager to do so in order to prevent and eliminate dangers to children and vulnerable adults, it will use its own independent ombudsman who will report accusations of abuse to law enforcement.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph will cooperate with any review the attorney general requests, a diocesan spokesman told the Kansas City Star after Hawleys announcement.

The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, according to the Springfield News-Leader, will also launch its own independent inquiry into the abuse by its clergy. The Springfield diocese said its aware of nine inactive priests who have faced previously reported credible allegations of abusing a minor and a pastor was recently placed on administrative leave for sexual misconduct over the Internet.

Following the release of the Pennsylvania report, Pope Francis promised Monday that no effort must be spared to root out clergy sex abuse and cover-up from the church, and begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The National Enquirer kept a safe of documents related to hush-money payments and other potentially damaging stories about then-candidate Donald Trump, according to a report.

The Associated Press, citing people familiar with the Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc., reported Thursday that the safe was a great source of power for publisher David Pecker -- who, in addition to so-called catch-and-kill deals with Trump, would also obtain exclusive rights to embarrassing stories about other people, including celebrities.

Pecker would buy the rights to the stories with no intention to publish, but instead use them to get in the subjects good graces and acquire favors, according to the AP.

Its I did this for you, now what can you do for me, Jerry George, a former Enquirer reporter told the AP. They always got something in return.

Over fears of liability, the alleged documents were reportedly removed from the safe by Pecker, and the companys chief content officer, Dylan Howard, leading up to Trumps inauguration following a Wall Street Journal report about a catch-and-kill involving McDougal, the AP reported, citing a person directly faimilar with the events.

What exactly happened to the documents was unclear.

The Enquirer was allegedly involved in hush-money deals with Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen involving porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to shut down allegations of affairs with the Trump.

Sources confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that Pecker struck an immunity deal with federal prosecutors in New York in exchange for information in the investigation into hush-money payments by Cohen.

Trump has repeatedly denied the affairs. He told Fox News on Wednesday that he wasnt aware of the payments made by Cohen until later on, while maintaining they were not campaign funds.

Later on I knew. Later on. What he did  and they werent taken out of the campaign finance, thats the big thing. Thats a much bigger thing, Trump said Wednesday. Did they come out of the campaign? They didnt come out of the campaign, they came from me."

Previously in April, Trump said he did not know about the Daniels payment. Last month, an audio conversation between Trump and Cohen was obtained by CNN that discussed purchasing the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougals story of her 2006 affair with Trump.

Vanity Fair first reported the immunity deal.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Pecker, who like Cohen was close with Trump, provided information on Cohen and the president in the criminal probe.

Cohen plead guilty to eight counts Tuesday, including campaign finance violations connected to the hush money payments at the direction of then-candidate Trump.

Former Enquirer employees told the AP that Trump stories, dating back more than a decade, were killed on arrival.

According to the AP, Cohen began pushing the Enquirer in 2010 to promote the idea of a potential Trump presidency, and was involved with the outlets decision to start questioning President Barack Obamas birthplace.

Fox News' John Roberts and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Aaron Schock, the former Republican congressman who resigned from office in 2015 amid spending scrutiny, told Fox News on Thursday that the U.S. Attorneys Office for Central Illinois has shown a lack of judgment throughout its investigation and called its current case a "fishing expedition."

The 36-year-old from Peoria was indicted in 2016 on charges of misusing funds. He resigned amid scrutiny of his spending, including to redecorate his Capitol Hill office in the style of the television show "Downton Abbey."

Schock told Fox News The Ingraham Angle that he was unfairly targeted by a district attorneys office that saw him as a rising Republican star and could not resist a chance to move up the ladder in the Justice Department.

He said the Department of Justice often defers to local district attorneys to run their little fiefdom.

Schock said the office wired up an informant illegally during its investigation and used his Fifth Amendment rights against him.

In 2017, federal Judge Colin Bruce concluded that the lead prosecutor, Timothy Bass, appeared to give inaccurate information to the court about prosecutors informing a grand jury that Schock was subpoenaed and did not appear, Politico reported.

In fact they had used my Fifth Amendment rights against me 11 times on 11 different occasions, he told Fox News.

Schock said the case has national implications because it involves the Justice Department reinterpreting House rules.

They [DOJ] infringed upon the Constitutional Rights of Congress, as well, to make and interpret its own rules, he said.

He said some of the accusations against him are almost laughable.

According to House rules, you can buy fixtures and not furniture, and so the government has come in and said, thats not a fixture, thats a piece of furnitureagain a false statement to a federal agent-- a 20 year felony.  Aaron Schock on The Ingraham Angle

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment when reached by Fox News.

Schock has been investigated for how he spent his office allowance and campaign funds. He used two examples to claim the government is reaching with its charges.

He said the Congress Finance Office accepted his office's estimate of the amount of miles he drove in his district to be reimbursed. The government, however, would not accept the estimates.

He said he faces another 20 years for identifying a light in his office as a light fixure.

According to House rules, you can buy fixtures and not furniture, and so the government has come in and said, thats not a fixture, thats a piece of furnitureagain a false statement to a federal agent -- a 20-year felony.

The New York Times reported that Schock's office was painted blood red and had a plume of pheasant feathers. He personally paid back $40,000 for the renovations, the report said.

The Urbana-based Bruce was removed from hearing all his criminal cases after it was revealed he exchanged emails with an employee at the U.S. attorney's office in which he commented on and joked about one of his trials in progress at the time.

It isn't known what the change in judges and several pending motions will do for the case timetable, which has a trial beginning early next year.

Fox News' Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Recent First Amendment rulings by the Supreme Court could force courts and university administrators to take a closer look at controversial practices that have marginalized certain political views  often conservative ones  on campus.

Free speech on campus has emerged as a hot debate in recent years, amid a rash of speakers being disinvited or violently protested. These issues are often handled in-house  but now, the courts could hold sway.

We should expect college campuses to truly be marketplaces of ideas where students learn to value free speech and open inquiry and take that lesson with them as they become the next generation of judges, legislators, teachers and voters, Casey Mattox, senior fellow for free speech and toleration at the libertarian Charles Koch Institute, told Fox News.

One key ruling could be in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, which struck a direct blow to public-employee unions by holding government workers dont have to pay certain fees to labor groups.

But it included a free-speech component that could have a ripple effect on campus.

Most public universities require students to pay student activity fees, which in some cases support lopsided politics, according to a report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a campus free speech legal group.

The Supreme Court had rejected a 2000 challenge to such fees, determining a school could require students to pay for the expression of views with which they disagree, as long as the university doesnt engage in viewpoint discrimination when allocating funds. However, the Janus decision more broadly prevents forcing one person to pay for someone elses political expression.

Mattox argued schools may have to then take a close look at whether their student fees are used in a partisan way. Ironically, cracking down on these fees could free up student groups to bring more speakers onto campus  in turn, representing a more diverse set of views.

Currently, many universities limit student group fundraising and prohibit dues  essentially requiring groups to be funded from these mandatory fees, said Mattox, also the former senior counsel for academic freedom at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberty group. If student groups could raise their own funds for speakers and have members pay dues, they could fund their own speakers even without mandatory dues.

Public universities have long made news for blocking speakers, mostly from the right, such as Ben Shapiro, Dennis Prager and Ann Coulter -- but also some on the left including Bill Maher and William Ayers. FIRE, the legal group, even assembled a Disinvitation Database of blocked speakers.

Similar to Janus, other recent cases dont directly speak to campus free speech, but could establish new precedents, Mattox said.

The Supreme Court, in Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky, struck down a Minnesota law that prevented anyone in close proximity of a polling place from wearing certain political-oriented clothing and apparel. The high court held the Minnesota law gave too much discretion to the interpretation of a polling worker or election judge. But, it said states can regulate expression near polling places if it is guided by objective, workable standards.This could push public universities and colleges to set more finite guidelines to determine how student fees are spent to avoid viewpoint discrimination, Mattox said.

The Mansky decision means that universities will need to guarantee they have systems in place to prevent discrimination against student groups seeking recognition, funding, or to reserve meeting space, Mattox said.

The states of Missouri, Arizona, Virginia, Utah, Colorado and Tennessee, North Carolina and Wisconsin all passed free speech laws for college campuses, according to an American Association of University Professor report in April. Most of these laws prohibit limiting speech to free speech zones and bars viewpoint discrimination.

However, the AAUP opposes these laws and proposals.

Even if the current political environment poses significant problems for free speech, the view that the free exchange of ideas no longer occurs on campuses is grossly exaggerated, the AAUPs April report concludes. Many of the most difficult issues surrounding free speech at present are about balancing unobstructed dialogue with the need to make all constituencies on campus feel included.

The Supreme Court, in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) v. Becerra, also struck down a California law regulating professional speech by requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to provide information on abortion. Mattox anticipates this could impact how certain professional schools and university degree programs have used professional ethics codes as speech codes for students.

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for the Daily Signal.
The Trump Organizations chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to testify in the Michael Cohen case, a source with knowledge of the investigation confirmed to Fox News Friday.

The source told Fox News that Weisselbergs immunity agreement was in conjunction with the criminal investigation as part of a grand jury probe into Cohens personal business dealings. Weisselberg was granted immunity prior to Cohens guilty plea this week.

The revelation of Weisselbergs immunity deal comes one day after sources confirmed to Fox News that prosecutors also struck an immunity deal with publisher David Pecker, who is the CEO of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer.

The company was allegedly involved in the hush-money deals involving payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to shut down allegations of affairs and sexual encounters with President Trump.

Peckers immunity agreement allows him to speak on any involvement Cohen and Trump may have had in those payments.

While both Weisselberg and Peckers immunity deals are connected, specifically, to the Cohen case, it is unclear whether they will provide federal prosecutors additional information about Trump.

A spokesman for the Southern District of New York declined to comment to Fox News.

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Fox News request for comment.

Cohen, Trumps former personal attorney and self-described fixer, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count linked to an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count stemming from an illegal campaign contribution. The tax fraud charges were tied to his dealings with a taxi business, while the campaign finance charge was related to arranging payments to Daniels and McDougal at the direction of then-candidate Trump in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

MICHAEL COHEN PROSECUTORS GRANTED IMMUNITY TO PUBLISHER DAVID PECKER

Cohen admitted to making hush money payments on behalf of Trump in what prosecutors say amounted to campaign violations. Legal experts, though, have argued that the payments could be interpreted as personal transactions, rather than moves connected to influencing the outcome of the election.

Cohen faces up to 65 years in prison on all the counts, but prosecutors have pledged to reduce his sentence sharply as part of the plea deal.

Cohen made a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the weeks prior to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged one-time sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Cohen also was involved in the $150,000 payment to McDougal, who was given the six-figure lump sum by American Media Inc., for the rights to her story about an alleged 2006 affair with Trump, which it never published.

The presidents knowledge of these payments has evolved over the last several months.

Trump initially said in April that he did not know about these payments. By May, upon the release of a financial disclosure revealing a $130,000 payment, the president admitted to knowing about the payments.

Trumps attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News at the time that Trump didnt know the details of this until we knew the details of this, adding that Trump thought it was to cover unspecified expenses, following the release of the disclosure.

Trump posted on Twitter that day, addressing the payments.

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, Trump tweeted in May. These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels).

TRUMP RIPS COHEN FOR 'FLIPPING,' PRAISES MANAFORT IN EXCLUSIVE FNC INTERVIEW

Trump continued that The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair.

Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll [sic] in this transaction, he said.

Trump, in those tweets, was referring to a letter written and signed by Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in January, stating with complete clarity that allegations of an affair with Trump were completely false.

But this week, in an exclusive interview with Fox & Friends Ainsley Earhardt, Trump said he only knew about the hush-money payments made by Cohen later on.

Later on I knew. Later on. What he didand they werent taken out of the campaign finance, thats the big thing. Thats a much bigger thing, Trump said this week. Did they come out of the campaign? They didnt come out of the campaign, they came from me.

In the interview, Trump also blasted Cohen for flipping, a strategy he thinks should be outlawed, and suggested his former attorney [made] up stories.

[Cohen] makes a better deal when he uses me, like everybody else, Trump said. People make up stories. This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I know all about flipping.

He added: It almost ought to be outlawed. Its not fair. Because if somebodys going to givespend five years like Michael Cohen, or 10 years, or 15 years in jail because of a taxi cab industry, because he defrauded some bankthe last two were tiny ones.

You know, campaign violations are considered not a big deal, frankly. But if somebody defrauded a bank and hes going to get 10 years in jail or 20 years in jail, but if you can say something bad about Donald Trump and youll go down to two or three years, which is the deal he made.

In a separate case, the Manhattan district attorneys office in New York City is reportedly considering pushing criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two senior officials at the company over the Daniels hush money payment.

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., would reportedly look at how the Trump Organization accounted for its reimbursement to Cohen for the $130,000 paid to Daniels.
So how much does all this sound and fury affect the midterms?

Ordinarily, the conviction of a president's former campaign chairman and guilty pleas by his ex-national security adviser and former personal lawyerwho accused said president of directing one of his crimeswould detonate like a neutron bomb.

But as with all matters involving President Trump, the normal rules may not apply and what happens in November is anything but clear.

It's not hard to imagine a blue wave developing that would carry Democrats to control of the House. It's also not that hard to imagine that Trumps Teflon, which has remained undented by so many past crises, enables the GOP to hang on to control. The president's grip on his base seems as strong as ever, although ambivalent Republicans could always opt to stay home.

The Michael Cohen plea, and his testimony that Trump directed him to arrange hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, has dramatically changed the political conversation.

The same goes for the Wall Street Journal revealing that Trump pal David Pecker, the CEO of American Media who runs the National Enquirer, has spoken with prosecutors under a grant of immunity. That could unravel what happened when Trump and Cohen were trying to buy the rights to McDougals story, which the tabloid had bought and buried for $150,000 toward the end of the 2016 campaign.

Before Tuesday, the White House and its allies had good success in keeping the focus on the lack of evidence of Russian collusion emerging in Robert Muellers probe. But that is changing.

Trump, for his part, told Fox's Ainsley Earhardt that he only learned of the payments "later on," which contradicts not just Cohen's version but one of his tapes. The president also said this:

"Almost everybody that runs for office has campaign violations. But what Michael Cohen pled to weren't even campaign related. They weren't crimes ...

"You know, campaign violations are considered not a big deal, frankly. But if somebody defrauded a bank and he's going to get 10 years in jail or 20 years in jail but if you can say something bad about Donald Trump and you'll go down to two years or three years, which is the deal he made. In all fairness to him, most people are going to do that."

While pundits and legal scholars debate that view, how much does all the swampiness break through to actual voters?

Both parties are struggling with ways to deal with the shadow cast by the Trump-related investigations, especially for their most vulnerable members.

The New York Times reports: "Senior Republican Party leaders began urging their most imperiled incumbents on Wednesday to speak out about the wrongdoing surrounding President Trump, with Representative Tom Cole, a former House Republican campaign chairman, warning, 'Where theres smoke, and there's a lot of smoke, there may well be fire.'"

The Washington Post: "A day after President Trump's former lawyer implicated him in directing a crime, Democratic leaders sharpened their election-year attack on the GOP as the party of corruption. But in an effort to keep the electoral focus on bread-and-butter issues, they largely steered clear of any discussion of impeachment.

"Party leaders encouraged candidates and elected members to talk instead about demanding protection for the ongoing Justice Department investigations of Trump and his allies, offering a clear sign that they feel confident that grass-roots energy against Trump will show up at the polls without the need for a divisive rallying cry from the stump."

Politico goes with this headline: "'A New Cherry on Top': Trump Scandal Fallout Hangs Over Midterms."

But the actual story is anticlimactic:

"However momentous, even the conviction of Donald Trumps former campaign chairman, a guilty plea involving hush money by his personal lawyer and the indictment of a key congressional ally wasnt enough to dramatically alter the trajectory of the midterm elections."

The truth is that no one really knows how this is going to play out.

The situation is somewhat reminiscent of 1998, when some Democrats distanced themselves from Bill Clinton as he was in the process of being impeached, but the party won five seats in the House because Newt Gingrichs GOP was seen as overreaching.

The situation is very different because Clinton had sex with a former intern in the White House, while Trumps alleged encounters took place more than a decade ago, although the hush money was paid during the last campaign.

The situation is also very different because Trump has an almost iron grip on most of his party, who view the investigations and media coverage of the president as unfair.

The question this fall will ultimately be whether a majority of voters want to put a check on the Trump presidency or, despite the controversies and prosecutions, leave him in full control of Washington.
President Trump on Friday told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his planned trip to North Korea, citing a lack of sufficient progress with the rogue regime on denuclearization, while also slamming China.

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Trump tweeted. Additionally, because of our much stronger trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place).

He added moments later: Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!

The presidents directive came after Pompeos announcement Thursday that he would travel to the country next week.

A state department spokesperson told Fox News that both Pompeo and Special Envoy Beiguns travel to North Korea has been postponed, and that the decision was made by the President in consultation with his national security team.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un engaged in a historic summit in June in Singapore, where the dictator promised to work toward complete denuclearization. Despite that agreement, the rogue regime is possibly constructing new intercontinental ballistic missiles.

A U.S. official with knowledge of the intelligence assessment told Fox News late last month that Kims regime is pushing forward with building ICBMs.

Also last month, The Washington Post reported that satellite images appeared to indicate North Koreas possible construction of ICBMs at the same facility the country produced its first long-range missiles, including the Hwasong-15, which may have the capability of hitting the U.S. East Coast.

North Korea launched its first successful ICBM on July 4, 2017.

Fox News Lucas Tomlinson and Benjamin Brown contributed to this report.
Remarkable drone footage offers a rare glimpse of an isolated tribe in the Brazilian Amazon.

In the 51-second clip released by FUNAI, the Brazilian government's Indian Affairs department, tribespeople are shown moving through a deforested area in the jungle and one tribe member appears to be carrying a bow and arrow.

The agency said it captured the drone shots during an expedition last year to monitor isolated communities, but only released them on Tuesday to protect their study. FUNAI also released still images showing the tribespeoples existence in the remote region.

AMAZING AMAZON SIGHTING: 'WORLD'S LONELIEST MAN' SPOTTED IN REMARKABLE VIDEO FOOTAGE

Researchers monitored the tribe in Vale do Javari, an indigenous territory in the southwestern part of the state of Amazonas. There are 11 confirmed isolated groups in the area, more than anywhere else in Brazil.

The footage has racked up more than 129,000 views since it was posted on YouTube.

The agency has been studying the community in the images for years, but this was the first time it was able to catch it on camera.

INCREDIBLE PHOTOS OFFER GLIMPSE OF UNCONTACTED AMAZON TRIBE

"These images have the power to make society and the government reflect on the importance of protecting these groups," said Wallace Bastos, Funai's president.

Sarah Shenker, a senior researcher at tribal advocacy group Survival International, told Fox News that the images like the ones released by FUNAI are a powerful tool. Glimpses of uncontacted tribes "galvanize public support for the need to protect their lands," she said, noting that FUNAI has suffered drastic budget cuts. "We're calling for the teams that are on the ground ... to have the resources they need to do their job properly," Shenker added.

Earlier this year, FUNAI released extremely rare video footage showing the last surviving member of an uncontacted tribe that was massacred in 1995.

Dubbed the worlds loneliest man, the solitary figure is also known as the Indian of the hole, according to FUNAI, on account of the stave-filled holes he digs to trap animals.

PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES INCREDIBLE IMAGES OF ISOLATED AMAZON TRIBE

The incredible and undated video quickly went viral.

FUNAI says that it has evidence of 107 isolated Indian groups within the Amazon.

In 2016, incredible aerial images were released showing an uncontacted tribe that experts warn could be in danger of being wiped out.

The photos revealed a village in northern Brazils remote Yanomami indigenous territory that is estimated to be home to around 100 people.

In the same year, photos emerged of tribespeople living deep in the rainforest of the western Brazilian state of Acre.

The Associated Press and Matt Roper contributed to this article.

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry holds a press conference on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2018 Beijing Summit in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 22, 2018. Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the FOCAC 2018 Beijing Summit on September 3, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced at the press conference Wednesday. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will introduce new concepts and proposals for ties between China and Africa, and announce new actions and measures on practical cooperation with Africa during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing summit September 3-4, with Chinese experts saying that China will further cultivate Africa's autonomous development capability and help boost modernization.

A media briefing hosted on Wednesday by Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave more insights on what to expect during the two-day summit.

Xi will deliver a keynote speech during the summit's opening ceremony on the afternoon of September 3, in which he will make a comprehensive introduction to new concepts and proposals for ties between China and Africa, and announce new actions and measures on practical cooperation with Africa, focusing on industrial development, infrastructure, trade and investment, human resources development, science, educational, cultural, and health undertakings, environmental protection, and peace and security, Wang said.

Song Wei, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday the new set of proposals and measures are likely to be "based on the actual development needs of both sides, and further combine China's development experience and African countries' development potential."

"This will further cultivate Africa's autonomous development capability and help boost Africa's modernization," she said.

Wang said that the summit is expected to build a closer community of shared future between China and Africa, connect the Belt and Road initiative to African development, lay down a path for China-Africa cooperation at a higher level and boost friendship between the two sides.

Xu Weizhong, deputy director of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China and Africa share a similar history of being colonized and have the same goal of peaceful development.

Direct communication and cultural exchange are of importance as the Chinese and African peoples often only get information on each other via Western media, which could be twisted and not objective, Xu said.

The summit will see the signing of the Declaration of the Beijing Summit on building a closer community of shared future between China and Africa and the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2019-21) on September 4, Wang said.

The declaration will guide development of China-Africa relations in the next three years, Song said.
An extremely rare 170-million-year-old dinosaur footprint has been found in Scotland. Paleontologists, however, are keeping its precise location secret until they can complete their research.

The footprint was discovered earlier this year by Dr. Neil Clark, curator of palaeontology at the University of Glasgows Hunterian Museum. Clark told Fox News that he had just given a talk in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands and decided to visit the Jurassic rocks in the area.

After about a half hour looking, I spotted the footprint and was able to immediately recognize it as the footprint of a sauropod dinosaur, he told Fox News. I had to do a double take on the footprint as I couldnt believe that such an obvious footprint had not been seen previously, considering the number of researchers who visit the coast each year.

RARE DINOSAUR PRINTS MADE 170 MILLION YEARS AGOFOUND IN SCOTLAND

Sauropods were huge dinosaurs with long necks and long tails. The footprint is about 30 inches by 20 inches.

While dozens of dinosaur footprints have been found on the Isle of Skye, the footprint spotted by Clark is the first to be found on the Scottish mainland. Previously all the dinosaurs that have been found in Scotland have been found in the west of the country and belong to a different geographical area called the Hebrides Basin, Clark explained. The new discovery adds dinosaurs to another geographical area called the Moray Basin.

Dating back to the Middle Jurassic period about 170 million years ago, Clark described the footprint as extremely rare. Palaeontologists, he said, will use the footprint to gain insight into distribution of dinosaurs.

The precise location of the footprint is being kept secret while Clark raises money for his research. I have been trying to crowdfund the project in order to do some accurate mapping of the area by drone to pinpoint the dinosaur footprints, he told Fox News. The research will be commenced once we are able to crowdfund enough to cover the costs.

INCREDIBLE DINOSAUR 'ROAD' DISCOVERY: 'MOTHER LODE' OF DINO TRACKS FOUND AT NASA SITE

The discovery of the dinosaur footprints on the Isle of Skye was announced earlier this year.

On the other side of the Atlantic, an incredible dinosaur path, which even shows the tracks of a baby dinosaur, has been found at NASAs Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Last year, vandals wrecked a dinosaur footprint in rock at a renowned paleontology site in Australia.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
The Air Force is massively revving up efforts to defend stealth fighters, nuclear-armed missiles, air-launched weapons and crucial combat networks from crippling wartime cyber attacks by taking new steps with a special unit put together to find and fix vulnerabilities.

The service has now solidified key weapons development procedures for its Cyber Resilience Office for Weapons Systems, or CROWS. The concept for the office, established by Air Force Materiel Command, is grounded upon the realization that more and more weapons systems are increasingly cyber-reliant.

CROWS has completed an acquisition language guidebook to support program offices in development of contracting documents ensuring cyber resiliency is baked into acquisition efforts, Capt. Hope Cronin, Air Force spokeswoman, told Warrior Maven.

This phenomenon, wherein cybersecurity threats continue to rapidly expand well beyond IT and data systems to reach more platforms and weapons systems, is often discussed in terms of a two-fold trajectory. While advanced computer processing, sophisticated algorithms and better networked weapons and fire control bring unprecedented combat advantages, increased cyber-reliance can also increase risk in some key respects.

For instance, successful hacking or cyber intrusions could disrupt vital targeting and guidance systems needed for precision weapons, derail computer enabled aircraft navigation and targeting, or even seek to change the flight path of a drone or ICBM. CROWS is also designed to harvest the best thinking when it comes to anticipating potential enemy cyberattacks.

By working to think like and enemy, CROWS experts work with weapons developers to find vulnerabilities and areas of potential attack. As part of this, the rationale for the effort is to therefore bake in cyber protections early in the acquisition process so as to engineer long-term cyber resilience.

CROWS efforts have been successful in identifying the highest risk cyber vulnerabilities and then working with the program offices to develop mitigation solutions to reduce those risks, Cronin said. The CROWS has also developed multiple cyber training courses and published a cyber assessment methodology to be used in support of testing processes, Cronin added.

More Weapons and Technology - WARRIOR MAVEN (CLICK HERE)---
Amazon is trying to clean up its reputation by unleashing a small army of Twitter fanatics to praise the company.

The tech giant has built a creepy online community of warehouse staff who defend Amazon's notoriously brutal working conditions.

These workers reply to complaints about Amazon's warehouse jobs, declaring the punishing conditions as a myth.

The mysterious online sect was first spotted by Twitter user Flamboyant Shoes Guy, later detailed by TechCrunch, and then confirmed by Amazon to The Sun.

Every single account has a Twitter bio in the exact same format: [Job title] @ [Warehouse Location]. [Length of service] Amazonian. [List of things they like outside of work].

And all of their accounts link out to a website for Amazon warehouse tours.

Click on The Sun for the full story.
The next time your child sings "How much is that doggy in the window," you can finally answer them  $2,900.

After first being introduced last century, and being reintroduced in Japan earlier this year, Sony took the wraps off its "First Litter Edition" version of Aibo on Thursday. In addition to being autonomous, Aibo is connected to a cloud-based artificial intelligence that allows it to understand new sights and sounds and interact with its owner in a more lifelike manner than previous editions.

Aibos charming personality, dog-like behaviors and ability to intelligently interact with family members help to create a personal bond," said Mike Fasulo, president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics North America, in a statement. "Bringing aibo back to the U.S. reflects Sonys broader commitment to provide consumers with products that not only entertain them, but also enrich their lives.

GOOGLE EMPLOYEES REVOLT OVER CENSORED SEARCH ENGINE PROJECT FOR CHINA, REPORTS SAY

Sony was cognizant to point out that each Aibo will be individual to its owner and no two dogs will be alike, even if they look alike, consisting of two OLED displays used for eyes and a white and gray body.

This is truly a one-of-a-kind product designed to connect with its owners on an emotional level, Fasulo added.

For the hefty (adoption) fee, consumers will get Aibo, a charging station, paw pads, a pink ball, an "aibone," an individually numbered commemorative dog tag and access to the aibo app.

People who don't buy Aibo can also download the app and use its features, Sony said.

Also included is a three-year subscription to the AI Cloud Plan 2, which updates each Aibo's personality, allowing for each robot dog to have their own individuality, growing and evolving over time.

Artificial intelligence is key

The robot dog is outfitted with a host of upgraded technology, including touch sensors, cameras and microphones to make it seem more lifelike to its owners.

It contains 4,000 parts, 22 axes and "its adaptable behavior is made possible through deep learning AI technology in the form of built-in sensors that can detect and analyze sounds and images."

It's also highly responsive when you pet it and can be taught new tricks when it interacts with its owner, as well as the changing seasons and events. It can also recognize its owners' faces and detect praise and smiles, Sony said.

While the hardware is costly, Sony believes its cloud-connected AI will give it a leg up (pun intended) and allow for it to be a unique experience for its owners.

"As Aibo interacts with people over time, it develops its own unique personality through everyday interactions, enabling it to remember what actions make its owner happy and form a deep bond with members of the household," the company said.

STRATOLAUNCH: WORLD'S LARGEST PLANE FINALLY EMERGES

Aibo's history

The latest version of Aibo is a major step up from the previous five generations of the robot, which Sony discontinued in 2006 at a time when the company was undergoing serious cost cutting measures and a slumping stock price.

The company even staged a mock funeral for Aibo, widely seen as a sign the company had lost its risk-taking ways

Only 150,000 units of the robot dog were sold from 1999 to 2006, according to Japanese media company The Mainichi.

Aibo has been a hit in Japan, where it was reintroduced in January. In May, the company said it sold 11,111 units in the first three months of availability.

The Japanese version is significantly cheaper, coming in at 198,000 yen (approximately $1,800). However, Aibo owners also have to spend roughly $25 a month on the cloud-based services, which are bundled in the U.S.

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia
Steve Jobs daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs describes the difficult relationship with her famous father in her new memoir Small Fry, but says that she forgives the tech icon.

The Apple co-founder had rejected Brennan-Jobs during the early years of her life, denying paternity. Even after he accepted her as his daughter and court-ordered child support, however, Brennan-Jobs says that their relationship was often a tough one. The memoir, out Sept. 4, paints Jobs as repeatedly being hurtful to his daughter and others around her, according to The New York Times.

In one widely-circulated excerpt, Brennan-Jobs claims he told her that she smelled like a toilet, when she visited Jobs on his deathbed. However, Brennan-Jobs later said her father was telling the truth. I wasnt aware of it," she told the New York Times. "Sometimes its nice of someone to tell you what you smell like.

APPLE COULD LOSE $16 BILLION IN WAR TRIGGERED BY NETFLIX

The memoir reportedly depicts Jobs as extremely demanding and cold. Brennan-Jobs describes, as a teenager, attending a therapy session with her father and stepmother Laurene Powell Jobs. Crying, Brennan-Jobs told the therapist that she felt lonely and wanted her parents to say goodnight to her.

In the memoir, Brennan-Jobs alleges that Powell Jobs told the therapist: Were just cold people.

Powell Jobs had three children with the Apple co-founder. A prominent philanthropist, she founded and leads the Emerson Collective, an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, health, and other social justice initiatives. Powell Jobs has an inherited fortune of $21 billion, according to the New York Times.

TEEN HACKS APPLE, HAS EXCELLENT FOLDER NAME

Powell Jobs, her children and Steve Jobs sister Mona Simpson issued the following statement in response to the forthcoming memoir:

Lisa is part of our family, so it was with sadness that we read her book, which differs dramatically from our memories of those times. The portrayal of Steve is not the husband and father we knew. Steve loved Lisa, and he regretted that he was not the father he should have been during her early childhood. It was a great comfort to Steve to have Lisa home with all of us during the last days of his life, and we are all grateful for the years we spent together as a family.

Steve Jobs lost his battle with cancer in 2011.

Brennan-Jobs told the Times that, despite her challenging childhood and adolescence, she forgives her father. She also wants to highlight happy times that they spent together, describing the dearness of my father, and the outrageous pleasure of being with him when he was in good form.

I was afraid of him and, at the same time, I felt a quaking, electric love, she writes, in her memoir.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
Go ahead, make my day.

Impeach me, and it will ruin yours.

President Trump telling our Ainsley Earhardt it would be a big mistake.

But not for the reason you might think.

So: end Trump-- you end the Trump rally.

Lower the boom on me, there goes the boom for you.

That is quite a threat. And it might even happen.

The longest bull market in history just could be history, if Democrats dare to make the president history.

What the president is saying is we're all making gravy. So why stop the train?

I don't know, maybe because the train rests on shaky tracks?

Or the conductor of that train has said and done some shaky things? Or at least said some inconsistent things.

Look, good times should never be used to ignore bad things.

I'm not saying unconstitutional things or even illegal things, but enough things to give pause.

Yes, even in the face of a market rally that does not.

Making money should never get in the way of simply getting answers.

Not answers that topple a government, maybe just clarify it. Or force the government to clarify itself. That's all.

All I'm saying is you don't prevent a constitutional crisis by threatening a financial one.

But Mr. President, you guarantee both, when your very actions and words create that crisis, or make people think you're hiding one.

Like when you say you knew nothing about payments to a stripper and a former Playboy model, until you did.

Then explained your former lawyer Michael Cohen made those decisions, until we heard on tape you did.

Just like you said you knew nothing about a Trump Tower meeting back in June 2016 that included your son Donald Trump, Jr. and some Russian officials.

Then clarified that meeting really wasn't about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton, but about Russian adoptions.

Then clarified yet again, that nothing came of that meeting of which you knew nothing, so there's nothing to see here. Move on.

But you see, that's the problem here. We can't move on. Lots of stuff like that that keeps popping up here. Getting added here. Getting re-explained here.

Some are big and worrisome. Others, consistent and tiresome.

Like when you argued that Ohio Governor John Kasich was unpopular when he wasn't.

Or U.S. Steel was building six new steel mills when they weren't.

Or said your poll numbers were higher than when Abraham Lincoln was president, even though we didn't have polls when Lincoln was president.

Or argued crime was way up in Germany when it was the lowest in decades.

Said foreigners were screwing us with 20-plus percent tariffs on our cars, but not a word about the 20 percent tariffs that we slap on their trucks.

Argued we have a massive trade deficit with Canada when we're actually running a current accounts surplus with Canada.

Said you enacted the biggest tax cuts in American history when they weren't.

Didn't personally benefit from your tax cut, but you did.

Said you signed more legislation than anybody, but you haven't.

Loved, loved Michael Cohen until you didn't.

Said he was a great lawyer until he wasn't.

None of these make the market any less impressive. Maybe just the guy overseeing it all.

You're right to be frustrated, Mr. President.

But you are part of what's frustrating.

It's not about stepping on your message. It's about constantly changing it.

You're right to say your critics should be held accountable.

But that doesn't mean you should hold this economic boom you hold so dear hostage.

It cheapens your argument and it cheapens this country.

I like tax cuts and soaring markets as much as anybody.

But what good is it to fatten your wallet, if you've lost your soul?

If you forget your friends and you embolden your enemies?

You're right to say some are out to get you.

But oftentimes, Mr. President, the problem is you. What you say. And how you keep changing what you say.

I know you'll call this fake. But the implications of what you're doing, Mr. President, are very real.

You're so darn focused on promoting a financial boom that you fail to see that you're the one who's creating this moral bust.

And we all could be the poorer for it.
As Hurricane Lane charges toward the Hawaiian Islands, several major airlines have canceled trips and waived change fees ahead of the destruction that the Category 2 storm is expected to bring.

Hawaiian Airlines has extended its waiver of rebooking fees for passengers flying with the carrier and its codeshare partners between Aug. 21 and Aug. 28. The airline tweeted that staffers are working diligently to respond to guests calling our reservations line to the best of their abilities.

AIRLINES ARE INSTITUTING NEW FEES, SO HERE'S HOW TO AVOID THEM

United Airlines has canceled all flights in and out of Kahului Airport. The carrier has also reduced fares for flights departing the island state and waived change fees for passengers who planned to travel between Aug. 21 and Aug. 26. Additional flights to from Honolulu to San Francisco have also been scheduled.

Delta Air Lines has waived rebooking fees for customers who reschedule their flights, even if their flights to or from Hawaii were not canceled. Customers have until Aug. 27 to cancel their trip for a refund or rebook their flight.

Passengers flying with Alaska Airlines have until Aug. 30 to rebook flights originally scheduled for Aug. 22 through Aug. 25, traveling to or from Kaauai, Kona, Maui and Oahu airports.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

Fox News Elizabeth Zwirz and the Associated Press contributed to this report
It was just two weeks ago when the SPCA called Vacaville, Calif., police for help in evacuating around 60 dogs and some cats as the fast-moving Nelson Fire threatened the area.

Captured by their body cameras, Officer Carly Stone and Officer Jennings, along with animal control and the SPCA, quickly evacuated all the animals within 12 minutes.

We didnt have much time. That fire was coming down that hill, Stone recalled.

But amid all the chaos, it was at one certain moment when Stone met a dog named Sean. She lifted him out of his cage and outside to the safety of her patrol vehicle.

Little did she know, Sean would be more than just a dog she rescued.

In the moment, I dont think Officer Jennings and I, or any of the other people that were there trying to get them out, animal services, the SPCA employees, I dont think we were really thinking about things, Stone told FOX40. We just knew that we had to move and we had to move fast.

Once all the animals were safe, Stone put two big dogs in her back seat and Sean in the front then began evacuating residents across Peabody Road.

He kept trying to sit on my lap a lot, Stone said. I had to keep moving him to the other side.

Then Stone described that fateful moment she got hooked on the 2-year-old dog she described as an Ewok from Star Wars.

I was looking something up on the computer. He came over and he kinda stood up on the center console and put one of his little paws on my arm or on my hand and kinda looked and wagged his tail. So I was like, Youre kinda cute, Stone said.

So the very next day, Stone and her wife went to the SPCA to see Sean. Staff said he was brought in as a stray the day before the fire. No one had claimed him.

Click for more from Fox 40.
The attorney of Mollie Tibbetts' suspected killer fought back Thursday night against investigators' statements that his client, Cristhian Rivera, is an illegal immigrant, calling it "rhetoric."

"That's your rhetoric on it," attorney Allan Richards told Fox News' Martha MacCallum on "The Story." Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Wednesday that Rivera, 24, has been in the U.S. illegally, and lived in Iowa for four to seven years.

MOLLIE TIBBETTS KILLED BY 'SHARP FORCE INJURIES,' PRELIMINARY AUTOPSY REVEALS

MacCallum argued that his immigration status is "just a fact," but Richards pushed back  continuing to refer to it as the anchor's "point of view."

"You want to jump to say theyre facts," Richards said. "Have these people been under oath? Have these people provided the opportunity to Cristhian to present his point of view on the matter?"

When questioned about the Iowa State Medical Examiner's preliminary autopsy results, which stated Tibbetts died of "sharp force injuries," Richards called it simply "a report" that he needed to review before commenting on it.

TIBBETTS MURDER SUSPECT ELUDED A FLAWED SYSTEM, SAYS MELANIA TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION LAWYER

"As far as the death, I'm real sorry about the death," Richards told Fox News. "I'm not going to make any comment on a report until somebody testifies to, in more detail, concerning the matter."

In addition to speaking to Richards, Fox News on Thursday interviewed the aunt of Iris Monarrez  Rivera's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, who went to high school with Tibbetts.

The aunt said that Rivera  whom she described as a good father to his daughter  lived with Monarrez until about a year and a half ago, when the couple broke up. Monarrez has since moved out of the area.

"He was a good person. He was a jokester," the aunt said of Rivera, through a translator. "For us, he was a good and normal person. Not aggressive or violent, no. He was normal just like us."

Relatives, according to Monarrez's aunt, "can't believe" Rivera's alleged involvement, and said they were hoping "it's probably an error and we'll wake up from this nightmare."

In the weeks when Tibbetts was missing, Rivera didn't act differently, the aunt said. She added that when the family would get together, "we would talk about the situation," and Rivera "would comment as well and we would all say that we were surprised and scared because this is a quiet town."

"This has never happened around here and we were all sad while awaiting, pleading to God that she would be found alive and that everything would be fine," she told Fox News. "He never displayed signs for us to suspect that he had anything to do with this."

The aunt said that if Rivera is guilty of the crimes of which he's accused, she just wants to know, "Why?"

"Why did you do this? You're a talented young man. You had a future ahead of you. Why? Why did it have to come to this? That's what I would ask him," the aunt said. She said the family was awaiting DNA results, which she hoped would clear Rivera's name.

Fox News' Martha MacCallum, Melissa Chrise and Tomas Vazquez contributed to this report.
As Hurricane Lane barrels towards the Hawaiian islands drenching parts of the state with rain, officials said Thursday they received a call about two campers stranded in a valley on the Big Island.

The pair reported being stuck in Waipio Valley, on the northern coast of the island of Hawaii, known as the Big Island, on Wednesday, Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe said.

Severe conditions, including landslides and flooded roadways, have made it unsafe for emergency response workers to launch a search for the campers, Okabe said, adding that theyve been unable to get in touch with them.

We can't go in because the roads  there's a river of water down there.

Officials also said Thursday the storm was downgraded to a Category 3, still considered a major hurricane with maximum sustained winds between 111 and 129 mph.

Hurricane Lane, situated about 260 miles south of Honolulu, has maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, according to a 8 p.m. ET update from the National Weather Service's Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC). The "slow moving" storm is heading north-northwest at 6 mph.

HURRICANE LANE THREATENS HAWAII: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE RARE STORMS PATH

Hurricane warnings remained in effect for Oahu, Maui County and Hawaii County, with a hurricane watch issued for Kauai County, CPHC said.

On the forecast track, the center of Lane will move over, or dangerously close to portions of the main Hawaiian islands later today through Friday, Thursdays update said. Some weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, but Lane is expected to remain a hurricane as it draws closer to the islands.

The storm has dumped nearly 20 inches of rain on parts of the Big Island so far, the update said, with excessive rain to continue into the weekend over Hawaii. The heavy rainfall also brings with it the possibility of life-threatening flash flooding and landslides.

Road closures were reported by the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency on Twitter, which urged residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. A reported landslide triggered the closures of both lanes of Highway 19 at mile 13, the agency tweeted, citing the Hawaii Police Department.

HURRICANE LANE LASHING HAWAIIS BIG ISLAND WITH HEAVY RAIN, LANDSLIDES REPORTED AS STATE BRACES FOR THE WORST

Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island, told The Associated Press that the road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides.

"We essentially have one way in and out of our towns so sheltering in place is the priority," Beimler said.

Flash flood warnings were also in effect for multiple locations on the Big Island and Maui County, according to the National Weather Service Honolulu's Twitter.

President Trump on Thursday said he authorized an emergency disaster declaration to provide Hawaii the necessary support before the approaching storm. Hawaii Gov. David Ige said Wednesday he requested a presidential disaster declaration.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year and Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992.

Fox News Travis Fedschun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
With the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) scheduled for September 3-4, China is gearing up to receive delegates from the African continent to discuss progress in the strategic relationship and map out the future of a win-win model that is at the core of China's engagement internationally.

That calls for efforts to seek out the opportunities that the FOCAC platform offers to Chinese and African state and non-state actors with regard to the 21st century's economic changes, as well as their impact on restructuring the partnership model from trading and infrastructure to a technology-based partnership. It is also important to contemplate seriously the structural challenges that African nations face to engage in the new era of the Fifth Industrial Revolution.

The new era - as played out by Chinese policymakers - focuses on bringing world economies on an equal footing to deal with the Fifth Industrial Revolution.

If there is one continent that is benefiting from China-driven global economic partnerships, it's Africa. Through the Belt and Road initiative and the FOCAC platform, African nations have seen their infrastructure transformed to meet the needs of a better global, integrated economy.

A good example of the positive role that China is playing in Africa is Kenya's new standard gauge railway linking Mombasa and Nairobi, which is intended to connect in the future with the Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti line.

The Chinese cooperation policy, however, does not stop at pure construction projects. Indeed, African nations have benefited from cultural and education exchanges and China has offered more scholarship programs for African students than any Western country. Chinese giants like Huawei have established local centers to train young African engineers with the latest technological tools in communication. Due to China-driven technologies, African small and medium-sized enterprises are using the latest mobile technologies to reach international markets.

Private-sector companies such as Alibaba and Tencent are positioned as the favorite providers for e-commerce opportunities meant to reach Chinese consumers as well as global ones.

From these examples, we can see clearly the progressive evolutionary approach that Chinese policymakers are taking with regard to win-win cooperation.

While the focus has and will be on trade numbers, China is shifting its support in a comprehensive manner to include social and economic development and integration of the African dream into its global network and the Fifth Industrial Revolution, where technological advances will be the focal point of growth.

The issue is how China can support Africa to engage in this new era. As an African who has written extensively on China-Africa relations, I see an opportunity to take this relationship to a new level and a new paradigm.

African nations are ready to establish a new core growth concept that will go beyond the challenges involved in establishing traditional infrastructure, into a world where artificial intelligence, robotics and a knowledge-driven economy is taking shape.

This is the challenge that Africa faces - prioritizing its development plans and working with capable nations that are ready to share their technologies.

China offers through the FOCAC platform a reliable and capable partner that has never failed Africa in its drive to make progress.

China has been steady in its economic approach to the continent. It has seen the potential of working closely with young African entrepreneurs and policymakers to integrate their economies to reduce poverty, share knowhow and make Africa an economic powerhouse.

There is a sense of urgency for African nations to ensure they do not miss the opportunity to jumpstart their Fifth Industrial Revolution with the help of China. The reality is that even with the progress made, Africa is still struggling in its economic policy with regard to the new economic era.

Its challenges are structural: Africa lacks the institutions to provide guidance on developing a technology-driven society. This is where the future lies between China and Africa.

African policymakers are pushing for more constructive involvement by China and the exchange of expertise on how to transform African institutions to deal with emerging economic realities and plan for a shared destiny.

The author is director of Education, International Bachelor Program at the International School under China Foreign Affairs University.
Search operations for a Seattle hiker missing since Aug. 1 have been suspended, officials said Thursday, but family and friends say they're not giving up.

Samantha Sayers, 28, went missing during a solo hike at Vesper Peak in the North Cascades in Washington state.

"We have exhausted all leads and tips," Sgt. John Adams of the Snohomish County sheriff's Search and Rescue unit told Seattle's Q13 FOX. Weve interviewed all witnesses who have come forward. We have checked and double-checked the possible routes we believe Sam could have taken."

Sayers' boyfriend, Kevin Dares, told Fox News that Vesper Peak was her favorite mountain. He wrote in a post in the "#findsamsayers" Facebook group that "Sam isn't gone and we haven't forgotten her."

Dares previously told Fox News that Sayers had lunch with an unidentifed male prior to her disappearance. Dares said the man reached out to authorities after he learned of Sayer's disappearance.

The sheriff's office also told Q13 FOX that another hiker reported seeing Sayers at lunchtime the day of her hike at the 6,220-foot summit, and that "she had walked to the south, rather than east back to her car."

If there was a place we thought she could get to, we put people there to look for Sam, often putting our volunteers and personnel at great risk due to the rugged, remote and dangerous terrain, Adams said.

Sam's mother, Lisa Yax Sayers, told Q13 FOX that not knowing the whereabouts of her daughter was the "most painful thing I've ever been through."

"I've been through cancer. I would do cancer again over this," Lisa said.

The search that began Aug. 2 included 357 hours for air operations, 329 hours for sheriff's office Search and Rescue personnel and 105 hours for drone operations, the sheriff's office said, citing preliminary numbers.

Thousands of volunteer hours from search and rescue agencies across Washington also aided in the search, officials said.

Spot checks of the area will continue in the area as snow continues to melt, the sheriff's office said.

Earlier this month, residents and businesses in Sayers' hometown of Girard, Pa., tied yellow ribbons around poles in the town's downtown area to draw attention to the search, Erie, Pa.'s WJET-TV reported. Aug. 13 was Sayers' 28th birthday.

A GoFundMe page set up for the search has raised more than $39,000 so far, surpassing a $35,000 goal. Nearly 1,000 people have donated.
A New York police union is offering cash rewards to everyday people who intervene to help officers involved in violent confrontations, an initiative the citys police department is against staunchly.

Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins said at a press conference that the program is designed for people to get involved in their communities to support the police, but not to act as vigilantes, Fox 5 reported.

We dont want civilians to come out and start beating people with bats, Mullins said. We want you to help restrain, and follow the direction of an officer that is out there.

The union is offering a $500-cash reward for those who take part in the program.

The New York Police Department, however, is warning the public against getting involved in violent altercations.

The NYPD encourages people to support their cops by calling 911, the NYPD said in a statement. The department doesnt want to see people put in harms way unnecessarily to collect a reward.

Dr. Darrin Porcher, a retired NYPD lieutenant, told Fox 5 that in most cases civilians would be at risk.
North Caroline Police filed charges Friday against three people they say played some part in tearing down a century-old Confederate statue during a protest this week.

Hundreds of student protesters gathered at the University of North Carolinas campus in Chapel Hill Monday night to bring down the statue known as Silent Sam.

Using ropes and violent force, the protesters toppled the statute which had stood that ground since 1913.

The university said in a news release that the unidentified individuals were not affiliated with the school and they have been charged with misdemeanor charges of rioting and defacing a public monument.

A police spokesman said no arrests in connection with the 3 being charged had been made as of Friday afternoon but that more arrests could be possible.

Another protester was charged earlier in the week with misdemeanor counts of resisting officers and wearing a mask shortly before the statue came down.

University and legislative leaders have condemned the protesters' actions as "mob rule," demanding a hard look at the police response and a full criminal investigation. The State Bureau of Investigation has been brought in to assist.

University leaders have also noted the protest was highly organized and "unlike any" they'd seen before.

On Thursday, Chancellor Carol Folt told reporters the university had expected a smaller demonstration and was taken by surprise.

"I will tell you absolutely that we had no anticipation of any plans to tear down the statue," Folt said.

The statue is in temporary storage, and its future is unclear.

Before it was torn down, it had been under constant, costly police surveillance after being vandalized in recent months. Many students, faculty and alumni argued that "Silent Sam" symbolized racism and asked officials to take it down.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Authorities in northwest Oregon say a body discovered by joggers Thursday morning is likely that of a young mother who has been missing for nearly a week.

Based on the physical descriptors and clothing, the body appears to be that of Meighan Cordie, Yamhill County authorities said in a statement.

Cordie, 27, the daughter of a Clackamas fire captain and the mother of a 3-year-old girl, was last seen Saturday night after a quarrel with her mother.

The mother and daughter were driving home from a wedding near Dayton, 33 miles outside Portland, when they began arguing, the Oregonian reported.

Authorities said Cordie exited the vehicle without her shoes or cell phone and was wearing a blue floral paint suit.

On Thursday, the body was found at the foot of a highway embankment near an onramp in Dayton, about 8 miles north of the wedding site, Oregon's FOX 12 reported. But authorities would not say how they believe the woman died.

A search and rescue team comprising more than 300 people was launched earlier this week, but the search was suspended Wednesday, the Statesman Journal of Salem, Ore., reported.

It is with heavy hearts that we are sharing our beloved daughter Meighan has been found deceased by the Yamhill County Sheriffs Office, Cordies family said in a statement. The pain our family is experiencing is unimaginable and we ask for privacy as we process this information and continue to grieve as a family.

Cordie was remembered Thursday as outgoing and devoted to her daughter.

"She lit up a room when she came into it, making jokes, smiling, she made so many friends," friend Ashli Johnston told FOX 12. "She really was the person everyone wanted to be friends with.

"I know she would try to get home. She loves that little girl more than anything. Theres no reason she would just disappear for no reason."

Authorities said aditional information will be released upon conclusion of their investigation, FOX 12 reported.
Authorities in Pennsylvania found the body of a former Playboy playmate dead Wednesday night in the bedroom of her suburban Philadelphia home and determined she had been killed, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Authorities made the discovery during a routine wellness check of the former models Ardmore condominium, about 10 miles northwest of Philadelphia. By Thursday evening, police confirmed the womans identity as Christina Carlin-Kraft, 36, according to her booking page. Her cause of death was ruled ligature strangulation.

One neighbor told police that Carlin-Kraft had moved into the condominium last week, The Inquirer reported.

Carlin-Kraft called police on Saturday to report a robbery, FOX 29 reported, citing unnamed sources. But it wasnt immediately clear what alerted police to her residence Wednesday night.

There does not appear to be any current concern for residents in the area, read a joint statement from the county district attorney and police superintendent.

The one-time Playboy model had at least one minor brush with the law, according to court papers. In 2016 Carlin-Kraft assaulted a waiter at an upscale Manhattan restaurant, the New York Post reported. Carlin-Kraft was charged with misdemeanor assault, attempted assault and harassment. Prosecutors later dismissed the charges.

Authorities requested anyone with information related to Carlin-Krafts death call Lower Marion Police Department at (610) 649-1000 or the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at (610) 278-3368.
One man, accused of a trio of weapons violations, remains the only person charged in connection with the carnage wrought three weeks ago in Chicago, when 75 people were shot -- 12 fatally -- during the city's bloodiest weekend of the year.

Rick Franklin, 27, was arrested Aug. 4, and charged with three felony weapons charges, including aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The offenses were linked to Franklin due to the latest technology being monitored by police and civilian analysts, the Chicago Tribune reported.

After Franklin allegedly fired a gun near an intersection, the shots were detected by acoustic sensors in the area, and an alert was soon sent to a monitoring center more than a mile away. Cops then immediately used surveillance cameras at the intersection to track down a blue Ford Focus seen fleeing the scene, officials said.

CHICAGO'S PREDATORY FUNERAL HOMES TARGET HOMICIDE VICTIMS, CASH IN ON TAXPAYER-FUNDED EXPENSES

But Franklin is the only alleged shooter who's been charged after a weekend so violent it prompted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to deploy an extra 600 officers to patrol the streets.

Chicago polices clearance rate for solving homicides was around 17 percent in 2017 and is on pace for similar numbers this year, according to the Tribune.

Other cities are a lot better than us, said Brendan Deenihan, deputy chief in the detective division. And we have to take ownership for our low clearance rate and I understand that. And we will do so."

He added: However, every single study I have read, the most difficult cases to solve are outside violence with a handgun, gang involvement. And, unfortunately, in the city of Chicago that is the vast number of shootings.

PICTURE OF SNOOZING CHICAGO COPS GOES VIRAL AFTER VIOLENT WEEKEND

Meanwhile a 25-year-old man was killed early Thursday morning when another vehicle pulled up to him at a red light and fired multiple shots, striking the man in the head, shoulder, arm and thigh. The victim drove off but crashed his vehicle into a tree. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, FOX32 Chicago reported.

Emanuel is under increasing pressure to take action or resign as the crime problems mount.

Last week he drew criticism for blaming a lack of moral structure in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods for the crime spree.

This may not be politically correct," he said, "but I know the power of what faith and family can do....Our kids need that structure...I am asking...that we also dont shy away from a full discussion about the importance of family and faith helping to develop and nurture character, self-respect, a value system and a moral compass that allows kids to know good from bad and right from wrong.

Chicagos chief of police, Supt. Eddie Johnson, this week blamed the violence epidemic on judges and prosecutors who refuse to jail repeat offenders.

Johnson said his department can only do so much, noting it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out why shootings continue to be a problem in Chicago.

He continued: If people dont give us the information we need, and our judicial partners dont hold them accountable, would you stop if thats what you wanted to do? You know, its ridiculous.

Chicago residents on Friday morning were bracing themselves for another what could be another violent weekend. Last weekend was the second bloodiest of the year, with 58 people shot and seven killed.
A Wisconsin family is turning to crowdfunding to save their dairy farm, which dates all the way back to 1873.

Dale Cihlar, a fourth generation dairy farmer and grandfather of nine grandkids, had reached a new low  with several prized dairy cows dying, the price of milk plummeting, and another $1,600 monthly payment for the manure storage system the county required them to install. So he and his wife Karen were pressed to take out a loan.

When Dale and Karen went to take out a $35,000 loan to purchase half a herd of cows from a fellow farmer who was going out of business, they were denied time and time again because of projected milk prices. But the last banker they talked to gave Karen an idea.

The last one said to me to do what you have to do and dont worry about what others think, so that night I did the GoFundMe page, Karen told Fox News, adding she didnt know what to expect but put it in Gods hands.

I am asking for help to keep [our] small family dairy farm going, Karen wrote in her plea to save the family farm. My husband is to[o] proud to come on here, but my gut says give it a try.

And immediately they started seeing people help out. Following the publishing of this article, they exceeded their goal of $35,000 - as of Friday night, more than $75,000 had been raised.

Wow, it was awesome to get blessings, good luck, and well wishes from so many strangers and fellow farmers, Karen said.

Dale told his wife he didnt think theyd get a single penny, so he said it was overwhelming to see people care about a farmer.

Its also really sad, he said. Ive been milking cows for 40 years now. I always seemed to have money and be able to help other people out. Now I guess Im on the receiving endFarmers are pretty independent. We dont like asking for help unless its really necessary.

The couple said the money will go towards getting more milk cows, hay, and other farm loans.

But even with the help, the Cihlars still face an uphill battle.

Dale had foot surgery Thursday, putting him off his feet for the next four to six weeks, while his wife, sons, and 13-year-old grandson are giving extra help around the barn to pick up the slack. Karen has had to take time off work to help while Dale can't go to his part-time job he started a few months ago, delivering parts for manufacturers, but through it all, the Cihlars know theyre not alone in their struggle.

Over the past year, the state known as Americas Dairyland has lost 500 dairy farms, according to the State Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and something Dale has seen firsthand.

When I first started dairying in the 1980s there were 13 farms and were down to four farms now, Dale said. Theres a lot of empty barns.

While Governor Scott Walker convened a task force to help address the problem, Dale said he believes the price of milk is more of a federal problem that needs a federal solution.

Dale said that, while hes not a fan of tariffs, he believes Trumps work on fair trade deals is going to help farmers.

Trump is president of the whole United States, and I think as a whole hes doing whats best for the country right now, he added.

And while the farm is still not what it used to be, the couple remains hopeful.

"We just keep praying and one day at a time, were better off today than we were six months ago," Karen said. "My goal with all of this is that we can pay it forward, that someday we can help out someone else the same way so many people have donated to help us."
A Florida judge who was arrested on firearms charges last week reportedly shot and killed himself amid a hostage standoff with police Friday.

Federal administrative law judge Timothy Maher barricaded himself inside a Princeton home with family members, the Miami Herald reported, citing law enforcement sources. SWAT team negotiators reportedly had been trying to coax Maher out of the home.

It wasnt immediately clear who Maher was with inside the home or what kind of weapon he was armed with. Police didnt confirm the name of the alleged hostage taker, but those on the scene heard police negotiators address the man as Tim and your honor, according to CBS Miami.

Police and emergency personnel entered the home after hearing the gunshot, according to the Miami Herald. Family members in the home were reportedly not injured.

Maher was arrested last week after he was accused of threatening his ex-girlfriend with a firearm at his home in El Portal, according, the Herald reported. Maher barricaded himself in his home at that time, too, and had to be talked out. He had to again be talked out when authorities went back to the home to seize his weapons.
A Tallahassee, Florida, man demanded more than just cash when he allegedly attempted to rob a Krispy Kreme in Gainesville on Friday. According to police, he also asked for some donuts.

The suspected robber, identified as Siwatu A. Wright, 45, by The Gainesville Sun, allegedly tried to rob the donut shop around 1:20 a.m. on Friday, demanding $10s, $20s and some donuts, an employee told officers with the Gainesville Police Department, according to a statement posted to Facebook.

TEXAS VETERAN DIES AFTER MYSTERIOUS GUNMAN OPENS FIRE, POLICE SAY

She was shocked and didn't respond and then the robber repeated the same demand. The clerk summoned another employee and the robber made the same demands again, the police department said.

The two clerks then called for their male colleague, who was in the back of the donut shop when Wright made his demands. When the male clerk arrived, he told Wright to leave.

Wright left, but was found by police walking south of Krispy Kreme and was arrested shortly after.

MICHIGAN MAN, A NON-COMPLIANT REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER, ALLEGEDLY URINATED ON 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL, USED RACIAL SLUR

According to the Gainesville Police Department, Wright admitted to asking for the money and wanted a donut off the secret menu.

Instead of a secret menu donut and cash he got a trip to the county jail, police said.
A Florida mayor and his girlfriend were jailed on domestic battery charges, FOX13 Tampa reported.

Thursdays arrests of Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad, 68, and the woman, Caj Joseph, 57, followed an argument that allegedly became physical, according to the station.

The Pasco County Sheriffs Office reported that Joseph had an injury to her neck and under her arm consistent with domestic violence, the station reported.

She admitted hitting Massad in the back of the neck and the middle of his back, according to the station. She also said Massad shoved her.

Massad was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery. Joseph was charged with battery on a person older than 65, WFLA-TV reported.
Chinas agriculture and rural departments have devoted great efforts to promote high-quality, green and branded agricultural products, by following the principle of high-quality development, implementing rural rejuvenation strategy and carrying forward supply-side structural reform in agriculture.

These efforts have deepened rural reform and increased farmers income.As a result , the countrys agriculture and rural economy embrace a good opening with steady growth.

Zeng Yande, head of the crop production management department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said a stable summer grain production this year indicates a bumper autumn harvest.

Despite a slight decline of the average output of per unit area of products, the countrys summer crops yielded a generally good harvest this year with the total area for planting summer crops remaining stable.

The total yield of summer crops stayed high at 138.7 billion kilograms, down 3.05 billion kilograms from the last year.

Currently, the harvest of early season rice in southern China has ended with good yields. According to statistics by the ministry, the production and sales of livestock, poultry and aquatic products in the country were generally balanced.

In the first half of this year, the total output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry meat was 39.95 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 0.9 percent. The total output of aquatic products reached 27.4 million tonnes, up by 0.86 percent from the same period last year. Chinas agriculture and animal husbandry sector is thriving in general.

Besides rising agricultural production, the countrys agricultural structure has been further optimized, with a more balanced supply and demand.

Zeng introduced that the adjustment of agricultural structure, including reducing rice-growing area, expanding the land to grow soybeans-growing land and enlarging the area to grow crops for feeding animals, is proceeding well.

According to the adjustment plan, rice-growing area in the low-yield and cold regions in northeastern China and areas producing low-quality rice along the Yangtze River Basin will altogether be reduced by more than 10 million mu, or 666,667 hectares, and the planting area of soybeans in Northeast China and Huang-Huai-Hai region will be significantly increased.

The corn planting area in certain regions that produce low-yield and low-quality products will continue to be reduced, while the planting area of fodder grass in these regions such as alfalfa and silo corn will be markedly expanded.

Steady advance has been made for green agriculture development, and new steps have been taken for agricultural transformation and upgrading.

The agricultural production environment has been improved, thanks to the efforts to push forward the replacement of chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizers, and the utilization of resources such as crop straws and livestock and poultry manure.

The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides continues to be reduced, and the comprehensive utilization rate of livestock and poultry manure has exceeded 60 percent.

It is known that over 90 percent of straws in Henan and Anhui provinces have been re-utilized as fertilizer, and rural peoples living environment has been improved.

With accelerated promotion of green production, over 200 million mu of green food production sites have been monitored for environmental purposes, accounting for about 10 percent of the countrys total arable land. The area of rice-fish farming is expected to surpass 28 million mu.

In addition, the supply of high-quality agricultural products has remarkably increased that over 97 percent of agricultural products are proved eligible in routine quality and safety assessment. Over 8,000 agricultural products have been newly added to the certified green and organic argo-products and received geographical indications, adding the total number to 35,000.

The primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas have accelerated their pace for integration, adding new drives for growth of rural economy. In the first half of the year, agricultural product processing industry in rural China has seen steady growth.

The main business income of agricultural product processing enterprises above designated size amounted to 7.8 trillion yuan (about $1.14trillion), up by 6.1 percent year on year, with the total profit reaching over 500 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent.

The business climate index of processing enterprises for edible agricultural products was 131.9, an increase of 2.5 percentage points over the same period last year.

Rural e-commerce has thrived. The country now has more than 9.8 million rural vendors running business online, creating more than 28 million jobs.

The first 6 months of the year also witnessed a prosperous leisure agriculture and rural tourism. The rural areas received 1.6 billion tourists in total and reported an income of 420 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent.

Development potential of Chinas rural areas has been released step by step, with a faster growth in consumption and investment.

The growth of consumption in rural areas has outpaced that in urban areas. Retail sales of consumer goods in rural China increased to 2.593 trillion yuan, increasing by 10.5 percent from a year ago, which is 1.3 percentage points more than the rate in urban areas.

Investment in agriculture and rural areas of China has maintained a rapid growth. The countrys fixed-asset investment in the primary industry climbed to 987.2 billion yuan in the first half of the year, up by 13.5 percent over the previous year. The growth rate was 9.7 and 6.7 percentage points higher than that of the secondary and tertiary industries respectively.

The first half of the year also saw a steady rise in China's imports and exports of agricultural products.

From January to May, the total value of agricultural imports and exports reached 564.57 billion yuan, up by 4.1 percent year on year, among which exports were 199.37 billion yuan, 2.5 percent more than that of the previous year, and imports reached 365.2 billion yuan, up by 5.1 percent year on year.

In addition, new export growth points were brought to China by countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. In the Jan.-May period, Chinas agricultural exports to ASEAN members increased by 7 percent over the previous year.

In the first half of the year, Chinese farmers saw a steady income growth and the salaries of migrant workers continued to increase.

According to Chinas National Bureau of Statistics, rural residents of China enjoyed a per capita disposable income of 7,142 yuan in the first half year, an increase of 6.8 percent after deducting the price factor. The growth of rural per capita disposable income was consistent with the countrys GDP growth, and outpaced that of urban residents by 1 percentage point.

The urban-rural per capita income ratio was 2.77:1, narrowing by 0.02 year on year. During the first half of the year, total labor force of Chinas rural migrant workers reached 180 million, an increase of 0.8 percent year on year. The average income of migrant workers was 3,661 yuan per month, up by 7.5 percent over the last year. The growth rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year.
A fugitive wanted since June for allegedly threatening President Trump and others may have been spotted in eastern Pennsylvania early Friday, officials said.

Shawn Christy, 26, may have been spotted in Rush Township, about 3 miles south of his home in McAdoo, the Morning Call reported. Rush is about 112 miles north of Allentown.

Yeah, were working on it, Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark told the newspaper. Nothings been confirmed.

Christy has been the subject of a large-scale search by the U.S. Marshals, FBI and U.S. Secret Service for allegedly threatening to put a bullet in the presidents head as well as making a death threat against a local district attorney.

A man described as having a scruffy beard broke into a house near the Still Creek Reservoir after removing an air conditioner, according to the Morning Call. He was reportedly chased by the homeowner around 2 a.m.

Residents said they believe the man was looking for food.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Christy on June 19 when he allegedly posted a message on Facebook saying, Keep it up Morganelli, I promise Ill put a bullet in your head as soon as I put one in the head of President Donald J. Trump, referring to Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli.

The Facebook post has since been deleted, Washington's FOX 5 DC reported.

The manhunt has taken officials to several states. The FBI said Christy is believed to have numerous stolen handguns.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A security guard at a Tennessee hospital had sex in a storage room with a dead womans body, authorities said Thursday.

Cameron Wright, 23, was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse after at least two witnesses saw him having sex with a dead body inside a body storage area at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, the Shelby County Sheriffs Office said.

Police said Wright admitted to the crime. His bond was set at $3,000.

St. Francis Hospital-Memphis said in a statement obtained by FOX13 Memphis that Wright has since been fired.

Treating those we serve with dignity and respect is our top priority, the hospital said. The behavior of this individual does not represent what our hospital stands for, and these actions are completely unacceptable. We are saddened by this incident, and we are empathic and sympathetic to the family of the patient.

Wrights sister, who asked to remain anonymous, told WREG-TV in Memphis that her brothers personality was child-like and raised questions about his mental state.

I think hes still a good person, he just needs help, she said. I mean, because anybody that does something like that, theres got to be something wrong with them."

"I'm not only dealing with her death, I'm dealing with this and its not fair.  Victim's father

The dead woman, age 37, died Wednesday of a heart attack, WMC-TV of Memphis reported. The body of the kindergarten teacher and organ donor was being held in the storage room ahead of having her organs removed when her corpse was assaulted.

"I'm not only dealing with her death, I'm dealing with this and its not fair, the dead woman's father told the station.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hurricane Lane weakened to Tropical Storm Lane on Friday evening, as strong gusty winds that brought torrential rains to the Hawaiian islands began to lose strength, officials said.

According to a 5 a.m. ET update from the National Weather Service's Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC), the center of the storm was about 140 miles south-southwest of Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm was moving north-northwest at 3 mph.

But Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell warned that residents needed to remain vigilant and not let their guard down. Still, he was happy to hear the storm had been downgraded.

"The good news is Lane got weak and fell apart. We dodged a bullet," he said at a news conference Friday.

"The good news is Lane got weak and fell apart. We dodged a bullet."  Kirk Caldwell, Honolulu mayor

Rain bands were still expected to bring more flooding and other damage to the islands.

As it approached Hawaii, the storm forced residents to flee flooded homes, while others jumped off seawalls with boogie boards into the turbulent ocean.

HURRICANE LANE THREATENS HAWAII: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE RARE STORMS PATH

The storm has churned up sizable swells, which were expected to create high and possibly damaging surf along exposed south shorelines today through Saturday, the CPHC said.

The outer bands of the hurricane dumped as much as 3 feet of rain in 48 hours on the mostly rural Big Island.

The city of Hilo, with a population of 43,000 and located on the Big Island, was flooded with waist-high water.

A statewide brown water advisory was also issued amid the storm, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health.

Not all coastal areas may be impacted by runoff, but if the water is brown stay out, the department warned in a tweet.

As flooding hit the Big Island, brush fires broke out in areas of Maui and Oahu susceptible to flames.

Some residents in a shelter on Maui had to flee when a fire got too close and another forced people from their homes. A woman got burns on her hands and legs and was flown to Honolulu, Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said. Her condition wasn't clear.

The Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) also responded to a wildland fire near the Kahe Power Plant Friday morning when 14 HFD units staffed with 40 personnel were assigned to the incident, Fire Capt. Scot Seguirant said in a statement obtained by Fox News.

Due to the weather conditions, the fire was "proving difficult to contain" and no air resources were available for water drops on the fire, Seguirant said.

HURRICANE LANE: AIRLINES CANCEL FLIGHTS, WAIVE CHANGE FEES

President Trump on Friday tweeted that he'd spoken to Hawaii Gov. David Ige "to express our full support for the people of Hawaii as the State is impacted by #HurricaneLane."

"The Federal Government isi fully committed to helping the people of Hawaii," he continued.

On the island of Oahu, gusts rattled windows and roofs in Honolulu's hillside neighborhood of Nuuanu and scattered tree branches, palm fronds and at least one downed electrical line across roadways.

Almost 16,000 homes and businesses on the islands lost electrical power as the outer edges of the hurricane battered the islands, but service was restored to a portion of them, Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said.

Officials from Hawaiian Electric also cautioned residents against being closer than 30 feet to any fallen power lines and said power outages will likely happen due to the hurricane.

Please plan for it, the company said. We will do our best to restore power when it is safe to do so.

West Maui residents and businesses were strongly urged to conserve water into Saturday.

The Department of Water Supply was unable to operate its pumps due to the power outage, as the surface water treatment facilities could not process the muddy water inflow, Fox News has learned.

Even after power is restored, it will take some time to restore tank levels, so people should use water for health and safety purposes only until Sunday.

As the storm neared the Hawaiian islands, several major airlines  including Hawaiian Airlines, United and Delta  canceled trips and waived flight change fees.

Fox News Amy Lieu, Ray Bogan, Dan Gallo, Janine Puhak and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hawaii residents and visitors are bracing for Hurricane Lane as the now Category 1 storm continues on its path toward the Pacific state.

Hurricanes are rare in Hawaii, but Lane is expected to bring heavy rain and flooding, dangerous surf and strong winds as it continues to churn toward the islands.

Read on for a look at its path, and what to know about the hurricane as it barrels closer to Hawaii.

Where is Lane now?

Lane is approximately 115 miles west-southwest of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in an 8 p.m. ET advisory Friday. It is about 120 miles south of Honolulu, Hawaii.

With maximum sustained winds around 85 mph, Lane is moving north at approximately 2 mph as of Friday evening.

"A turn toward the west is anticipated on Saturday, with an increase in forward speed, an earlier advisory said.

WHAT IS THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE?

Lane is currently a Category 1 hurricane.

"The center of Lane will remain dangerously close to portions of the central Hawaiian islands later today and tonight, the advisory said.

What else should I know about the hurricane?

A hurricane warning is in effect for Oahu and Maui counties.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for Hawaii County, while a tropical storm watch is in effect for Kauai County.

HAWAII VOLCANO ERUPTION SPEWS LAVA ACROSS BIG ISLAND: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FISSURES, EVACUATIONS AND MORE

Isolated maximum rainfall amounts of more than 20 inches is possible in certain areas, according to Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean. Its becoming increasingly likely all of the islands will experience at least tropical storm-force winds, she said.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed an emergency proclamation Tuesday declaring a disaster emergency relief period through August 29, which would provide relief for damages, losses and suffering as a result of the storm.

He also is allowing for nonessential state employees on the Big Island and Maui to go on administrative leave from Wednesday to Friday as the hurricane approaches. However, employees on Hawaii and Maui islands who work in disaster response and in hospitals or prisons are required to report to their jobs.

Michael Lowry, a strategic planner at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, stressed the storm should be taken seriously.

This isnt Florida. The landscape and infrastructure are different, Lowry said in a tweet.

The storm, initially listed as a Category 5, was progressively downgraded throughout the week before becoming a Category 1 by Friday.

HAWAII BRACES FOR HURRICANE LANE, AS OFFICIALS SAY THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SHELTERS FOR EVERYONE

Kauai resident Mike Miranda was 12 when Hurricane Iniki hit, and she said people already are comparing that storm to Lane.

I remember how very little rain fell. But I remember the wind being the strongest force of nature Ive ever witnessed, and probably the scariest sounds Ive ever heard in my life, he told The Associated Press.

Utility poles were down all over the island, and his seventh-grade classes were held in Army tents for several months.

Fox News Travis Fedschun, Amy Lieu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Illinois' attorney general is planning to meet with Chicago Archdiocese officials to discuss seven priests with links to the state who were included in a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse.

The report released this month found that about 300 Catholic priests abused at least 1,000 children over the past 70 years, with claims of a systematic cover-up by senior church leaders that used similar methods unearthed in the initial clergy sex-abuse story that broke nationwide in 2002.

"The Catholic Church has a moral obligation to provide its parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois," said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. She also plans to contact other Illinois dioceses and will work with state's attorneys and law enforcement to investigate them if bishops don't fully cooperate.

Among the Chicago-area priests named in the recent report are the Revs. Raymond Lukac, Gregory Furjanic, Jerry Kucan and Robert Spangenberg. All four priests are dead.

Lukac was a known "problem priest" accused of abusing an 11-year-old girl in the rectory of Posen's St. Stanislaus parish in the early 1960s, the report said. Furjanic has unspecified accusations predating his 2003 arrival to Chicago to serve the Croatian Franciscan Friars. Kucan is accused of a series of abuses in Pennsylvania before he was placed in Chicago's St. Jerome parish in 1982, St. Anthony in 1986, Sacred Heart in 1994 and St. Anthony's Friary 1995. Spangenberg was accused of abusing boys in Pennsylvania after serving in the 1980s as chaplain at Chicago's St. Francis de Sale High School.

Chicago Archdiocese officials said Thursday they "look forward to discussing" misconduct policies with Madigan.

"Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Chicago has reported all abuse allegations to the proper civil authorities," the archdiocese said in a statement. "We also met with members of the office of the Cook County State's Attorney and they reviewed our clergy files in 1992, 2002 and 2015."

Madigan's counterpart in neighboring Missouri also announced more potent action this week . Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said he was launching an investigation into sex crimes within the Catholic Church in his state. The St. Louis Archdiocese has pledged to open its files for investigation, Hawley said.
An arrest was made early Friday in connection with gunfire aimed at a New York City high-rise apartment building, police said.

Farris Koroma, 22, was arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, police said.

According to police, Koroma walked into a Queens precinct around 2 a.m.

A $2,500 reward had been offered for information in connection with the person who was firing from Roosevelt Island into the posh Manhattan high rise before the arrest, FOX 5 NY reported.

Gunfire was first reported early Aug. 17. A tenant in a 14th floor apartment at One East River Place in Manhattan found their living room strewn with shattered glass, according to the New York Post.

Nearly 24 hours later, another bullet struck an apartment on the 32nd floor of the high rise.

Neither tenant was injured.

Police released footage Thursday of two persons of interest, a man and a woman, in connection with the shooting. Police told NBC New York the man was Koroma, but the woman wasnt a suspect.
A Grand Rapids, Michigan man accused of urinating on a 5-year-old girl was cleared of all charges Friday after police determined the child's story was fabricated.

A police spokesperson for the Grand Rapids Police Department confirmed to Fox News Friday night that no charges would be filed against 60-year-old David Allen Dean.

A 5-year-old girl, who was not identified, falsely claimed the man urinated on her as she was hiding in bushes while playing hide-and-seek with friends.

INSTAGRAM FITNESS MODEL KILLED MOPED RIDER WHILE DRUNK AND HIGH BEFORE FLEEING, POLICE SAY

Dean was arrested Wednesday on a charge of felony sex offense excluding assault and commercializing, WWMT News reported.

Katrena Rapier, whose two sons were playing with the young girl that day, told WWMT she came home soaking wet," smelling like urine.

It was later determined that one of the children urinated on the girl  not the man, as the kids previously alleged, according to Fox 17.

CHICAGO POLICE HAVE ONLY CHARGED 1 PERSON WEEKS AFTER BLOODIEST WEEKEND OF THE YEAR

The Grand Rapids Police Department and Kent County Prosecutors Office discovered the children made the story up after the local Children's Advocacy Center followed up with the children through a series of interviews about the alleged crime, the news station reports.
A U.S. judge ordered a convicted killer from Montana's Crow Indian Reservation released from prison on Thursday after part of his conviction was overturned for not meeting the definition of a violent crime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek wept as she told the court, including the victim's three daughters, that she had no legal basis to ask to keep Quinton Birdinground Jr. behind bars.

Birdinground served 15 years of his original 24-year sentence for assaulting his estranged girlfriend and killing his uncle, Emerson Pickett, after a night of drinking in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters expressed unease over Birdinground's release but said she was bound under a 2015 Supreme Court ruling and encouraged prosecutors to appeal.

"'How in the world could second-degree murder not be a crime of violence?' I get that," Watters said to Pickett's family during Thursday's hearing. "I have to follow the law."

Birdinground was found guilty of assault and murder, but the issue hinges on his conviction of using a firearm during a violent crime.

Watters threw out the firearm conviction last month, citing the 2015 ruling and saying the U.S. law behind the weapons charge was so vague as to be unconstitutional.

She had written that neither second-degree murder nor assault is itself considered a "crime of violence" under federal law. That's because the assault and murder may have been committed recklessly rather than intentionally, as is required to be considered a violent crime.

The legal explanations behind Birdinground's release provided scant solace for Pickett's family.

His 72-year-old aunt, Myra Lefthand, said she had always assumed Birdinground would remain in prison until after she died. Pickett's daughter, Jena, said the release brought back all the pain she felt when she was 13 and her father was killed.

"We're not healed, and we're never going to heal," Jena Pickett said.

Under his new sentence, Birdinground will be supervised by a probation officer for the next five years. He expressed no remorse over the killing but said he would "try to stay as far away as I can" from the reservation.

He was ordered to have no contact with the victim's family and to remain in Billings for now. Pickett's daughters live across the street from the defendant's mother on the Crow reservation and were worried that he would want to return home.

Suek, the prosecutor, pledged to keep pursuing the case and try to send Birdinground back to prison.

"We do believe Mr. Birdinground will be back in the courtroom, and we will be able to revive the original sentence," she said.

Prosecutors in Montana will be consulting with the U.S. Solicitor General's Office to decide on an appeal, said Leif Johnson, first assistant U.S. Attorney for Montana.

The full ramifications of the 2015 Supreme Court ruling are still being determined, and it's already come up in other cases.

The justices overturned an enhanced sentence given to Samuel Johnson, a white supremacist whose crimes included being a felon in possession of a firearm. Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said Johnson's right to due process had been violated because the 1984 federal law on which his sentence was based included sections so vague that the law could be misused.

Numerous appeals are pending to determine how broadly the ruling applies to other federal laws that use the same or similar language to define a violent felony, the federal prosecutor in Montana said.
Authorities in New Jersey were still without a suspect nearly two weeks after a mother of five was fatally shot in broad daylight as she sat inside her vehicle.

Richard Huelas flagged down police in Camden around 4 p.m. Aug. 11 to inform them that his wife, Michelle Huelas, had been shot inside their car, NJ.com reported this week, citing information from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Huelas was pronounced dead shortly after being rushed to a nearby hospital, according to the news site.

The prosecutors office did not disclose any details about the death for 12 days, which is unusual as the office typically releases homicide information within 24 hours, the report said.

Law enforcement is required to release basic information about homicides following next-of-kin notifications, according to the report.

Click here for more from NJ.com.
A 26-year-old police officer in New Hampshire said he didnt expect to be handed a stage-four cancer diagnosis at his age, which reportedly came soon after starting a new job.

Rollinsford Officer Shawn DePasquale joined the department in December shortly before he unexpectedly learned he had colon cancer, Boston 25 News reported.

I mean I'm 26, didnt expect to come down with this, DePasquale said. You hear you have stage four cancer and immediately everything just fades out.

DAD WRONGLY DIAGNOSED WITH TERMINAL CANCER SUES DOCTORS

In order to get the necessary treatments, the young officer has reportedly had to use unpaid time off since he hasnt been with the department that long.

Being the new guy on the force, his vacation time, his sick time was quite limited, Chief Bob Ducharme told Boston 25 News, adding he is so humbled by the community support the 26-year-old has received in wake of his diagnosis.

Aside from cancer-fighting treatments, DePasquale told the news outlet a positive attitude and some strong fighting music is helping him rally, as the disease moves toward his liver.

GEORGIA DADS TOUCHING DANCE WITH 2-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER BATTLING CANCER GOES VIRAL

Its a combination of chemotherapy, I went through five weeks of radiation five days a week and then the chemotherapy the surgery, and now starting the chemotherapy for the liver, DePasquale said. A positive attitude and some strong fighting music seems to do the trick for me.

A GoFundMe page was set up in order to help offset some of DePasquales medical bills, in addition to a fundraiser and silent auction, the report said. The GoFundMe page, which was activated in June, has since surpassed its $5,000 goal.
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A telephone call made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to congratulate Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan has stirred controversy, with Washington saying it "raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists" operating in the country.

Islamabad said late Thursday "no issue relating to terrorists in Pakistan" was raised.

Pakistan's foreign ministry termed the statement as "factually incorrect" and said it wants a correction from Washington.

Hours later, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi insisted that Pompeo did not mention terrorists operating in Pakistan when he spoke with Khan by phone a day earlier. He said Pompeo expressed his desire for "constructive engagement" with Pakistan's government.

Qureshi said Pompeo will arrive in Pakistan on Sept. 5 for talks with government officials and that he looked forward to meeting with him.

His comment came hours after the State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert described the call as "good" and says the United States stands by its statement.

She said Pompeo expressed willingness to work with Khan toward a productive bilateral relationship.

The U.S. often accuses Pakistan of harboring militants who carry out attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies, saying the criticism is unfair.

Qureshi said Pompeo's visit could help improve bilateral relations between Washington and Islamabad.

He said Pakistan also desired good neighborly relations with India and other countries.

He called for an early resolution of the issue of Kashmir, which has been the cause of two of their three wars with India.
A suspect who claimed he was forced to kill a 15-year-old high school honor student in Chicago's South Side in 2013 was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder.

The jury concluded that Micheail Ward was guilty of firing the fatal shot that struck Hadiya Pendleton in the back, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The verdict -- in a case that drew national attention and came to symbolize Chicago's rampant gun violence -- brought a sense of relief to Pendletons family.

"There is justice for Hadiya," Pendletons mother, Cleopatra Cowley, said after the verdict was delivered. "She did not deserve what happened to her."

"There is justice for Hadiya. She did not deserve what happened to her."  Cleopatra Cowley, mother of slain honor student Hadiya Pendleton

On Wednesday, a separate jury found the man accused of driving the getaway car, Kenneth Williams, guilty of first-degree murder.

During the trial, jurors watched a video in which Ward confessed to killing Pendleton in a South Side park. Pendleton had recently returned from Washington, where she performed as a majorette with her high school band at President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

Ward said Williams would kill him if he didnt open fire, because he believed Pendleton and her group of friends were a rival gang. Ward said he got out of the car he and Williams were in and walked over to a fence and opened fire on the group.

Wards mother insisted her son, who was 18 at the time of Pendletons death, is innocent and was coerced by Chicago police detectives into confessing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Im disappointed in our criminal system, she said following Thursdays verdict. Im disappointed by how they just harassed these kids into a confession.

Despite being one of 3,000 deaths that year, Pendletons murder drew national attention when it was mentioned by President Obama during his 2013 State of the Union address. The killing, which happened within a mile of the Obamas' Chicago home, prompted Michelle Obama to attend Pendletons funeral.

Hadiya Pendleton was me, and I was her, the first lady told an audience afterward.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A man charged with fatally shooting a San Francisco Bay Area police officer in July 2015 is facing the death penalty.

The decision was disclosed at a public hearing Thursday in the case of Mark Estrada, 24, but was made around the end of Estradas preliminary hearing in May 2017, the Bay Area's FOX 2 reported.

Estrada is accused of killing Hayward Police Sgt. Scott Lunger, 48, during a routine traffic stop July 22, 2015, in Hayward.

Around 3:15 a.m., Lunger pulled over a Chevrolet Silverado truck because it had been swerving and almost hit other vehicles, prosecutors said.

Lunger, a 15-year veteran and father of two, was fatally shot in the head and thigh after he approached the vehicle. Lungers partner, who was some distance back, fired at the vehicle before it got away. Lunger was later pronounced dead at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.

Estrada was arrested and charged with murdering a peace officer during the course of his duties, committing a murder while lying in wait and committing a murder by discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle.

Estrada avoided a plea deal for 13 months before finally pleading not guilty on Aug. 25, 2016, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In court Thursday, Estrada sought to fire his two attorneys. Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer allowed Estrada to fire his lead attorney but not his second, and referred him to the Public Defenders Office for new representation.

The Public Defenders Office will disclose Monday whether it will represent him. Estrada's trial date is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 26.

His case is only the second for which Nancy O'Malley, the current Alameda County district attorney, has sought the death penalty, the East Bay Times reported. In 2016 OMalley's office sought the death penalty in the case of a man who was convicted of killing an 8-year-girl and a 22-year-old man in separate incidents in 2013.

O'Malley has been the county's DA since 2009.
It took roughly 15 minutes to recite the 26 new murder- and rape-related charges filed Thursday against suspected "Golden State Killer" Joseph DeAngelo.

Prosecutors decided to consolidate into one case the charges filed in counties across the state against DeAngelo, 75, whose suspected reign of terror involved dozens of rapes and murders during the 1970s and 1980s

The former police officer sat expressionless in a courtroom cage as the charges were read at a Sacramento County Superior Court hearing -- while survivors looked on.

He was slapped with 13 kidnapping-related charges as the statute of limitations has expired for the suspected rapes of nearly 50 women. He was also hit with consolidated murder charges previously filed in five other California counties.

"The complaint alleges numerous crimes over multiple counties and dates," Judge Michael Sweet said before reading each of the 26 charges.

One family member described the moment hearing the litany of charges to the Associated Press as very, very intense and really tough.

Jennifer Carole of Santa Cruz is the daughter of victim Lyman Smith, a lawyer who was slain at age 43 in Ventura in 1980, and whose wife, 33-year-old Charlene Smith, was raped and murdered at the same time.

"Even those few words don't begin to summarize what happened during the crimes. They were heinous, what everybody went through was really horrible. So to hear it, that black-and-white, to hear it get listed, it was hard  it was harder than I thought it was going to be," she added. "My heart is pounding right now. I'm feeling it."

DeAngelo has not yet entered a plea, and prosecutors plan to fight to prevent his use of a public defender to make him pay for his own defense at his next hearing in December. Prosectuors are still debating whether to seek the death penalty.

His public defender, Diane Howard, repeatedly declined to comment.

Investigators were able to use DNA evidence to link DeAngelo to several slayings that led to his arrest in April at his home in Sacramento County.

In addition to the Golden State Killer, other nicknames for DeAngelo include the East Area Rapist and Visalia Ransacker. Prosecutors said he would sneak into suburban homes through windows at night and surprise sleeping victims who ranged in age from 13 to 44.

The attacker would tie up the man and put dishes on his back, while threatening to kill both victims if he heard the plates crash to the floor while he raped the woman. He also looted homes, taking little souvenirs before making his escape.

DeAngelo worked as a police officer during two of the sprees that authorities said terrorized neighborhoods during a time period when people often left their doors unlocked.

Although survivors have been told a trial may not happen for another five to seven years, Carole said it didsnt bother her as "his life is already over. It's done."

"The rest of us have moved on, she told the Associated Press. The survivors have done remarkably well."

Carole also was in support of having the trial consolidated in Sacramento, which prosecutors believe would make it easier for victims.

"I think it's going to be healing for all of us," Carole said.

While other survivors and supporters did not comment, one held a hand-lettered sign reading "Remember the Victims" toward television cameras as she filed out of the courtroom.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Three suspects are accused of shooting and killing an Indianapolis pizza delivery driver for his pizza, which they then took home to eat, investigators said.

Papa John's driver and manager LaVon Drake, 24, reportedly hadn't been scheduled to work Monday night, but had come in to help his co-workers.

The suspects were identified as Juwuan Terry, 18; Jason Epeards, 18; and Jasean Dale, 19. They are suspected of killing Drake with two different weapons, officials said, according to Fox 59 of Indianapolis.

"It's devastating. ... He was a good young man, a great employee and a great manager. I'm going to miss him so much."  Cheyenne Pryor, LaVon Drake's co-worker and friend

"It's devastating," Drake's co-worker and friend Cheyenne Pryor told the Indianapolis Star. "He was a good young man, a great employee and a great manager. I'm going to miss him so much."

A neighbor saw Drake walk up to a vacant rental house, then noticed the suspects' car parked near her house and jotted down the plate number, the report said.

Another witness saw the three suspects leave the house with a rifle and a pizza bag, Fox 59 reported.

Police tracked the car to a nearby apartment complex where the men confessed to robbing and killing Drake, police said, according to the report.

The suspects had gone home "to eat the pizza," investigators told the station.

Drake was the manager at the local Papa John's and wasn't scheduled to work, "but his co-workers needed him," the Indianapolis Star reported.

"He knew being a manager that he had to do what is needed from him, and if it was to fill in or stay later he would," Pryor told IndyStar. "They called him in to help with delivery."

Pryor added that all Drake did was "work and go home."

"He never hardly went out. He was too busy taking care of his family, from biological to his Papa John's family," she said.

I mean it really makes me sad, you know were just out here doing our job, Tyler Gadberry, a Topper's pizza delivery driver, told Fox 59.

The story left drivers like him "shaken," the station reported.

Anything can happen at any time.

Kimberly Charles, a team leader at Topper's pizza, told the station they have "an entire delivery area that we don't go to because of reasons like that."

I feel so sorry for his family, Charles said of Drake. If we were to ever lose somebody here, which hopefully never happens, we would probably shut our store down, because we're that big of a family.

She stressed precautions such as carrying no more than $20 and delivering with a co-worker.
An 84-year-old Korean War veteran died Sunday  days after a mysterious gunman opened fire and shot him in the back.

The incident occured on August 15 when Sam Wingate was taking an early-morning walk along the 800 block of Bayou Woods in the Pinehurst Subdivision with a good friend, an activity the two typically did each morning, according to the Baytown Police Departments statement on Facebook.

FLORIDA MAYOR, GIRLFRIEND ARRESTED ON DOMESTIC BATTERY CHARGES

Tragically this morning walk ended far different than all the others. At approximately 6:20 a.m. 84-year-old Sam Wingate was senselessly shot in the back, a cowardly act that had Sam flown to Herman Hospital to be treated for his injuries, according to the police department.

Wingate was paralyzed from the waist down due to the injury. Despite telling doctors he would walk out of the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries Sunday night.

His death made this cowardly shooting even more tragic, the police department continued.

Authorities are now offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who can provide information that will lead to the arrest of the suspected shooter.

FLORIDA JUDGE DEAD AMID HOSTAGE STANDOFF AFTER WEAPONS ARREST, REPORTS SAY

"I want to look the guy in the eye and find out what's the motive. I want to know why," Wingates son said, according to KHOU 11. The news station did not name Wingates son.

Wingate served in the Navy during the Korean War and was a respected member of the Pinehurst community for over 20 years, according to the statement.

Anyone with information can call Baytown Crime Stoppers at 281-427-TIPS (8477).
Tom Frieden, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an ex-New York City Health Commissioner, has been arrested amid allegations he sexually harassed a woman in his Brooklyn apartment.

Police confirmed to Fox News that Frieden, 57, surrendered to the NYPD's Special Victims Unit at the 77th precinct Friday and has been charged with forcible touching, sexual abuse and harassment.

The charges stem from allegations he groped a woman he knew last October at his home in Brooklyn Heights, ABC7 reported.

Following his arrest, Friedan was ordered by a judge to stay away from woman he's accused of groping in New York.

Frieden, who now works at Vital Strategies, a non-profit global health organization, was the head of New York's health department from 2002 to 2009 and the CDC from 2009 to 2017. He resigned from the CDC on the day of President Trump's inauguration.

EBOLA OUTBREAK IN THE CONGO SPREADS TO MAJOR CITY, HEALTH OFFICIALS CONFIRM

Frieden worked with Michael Bloomberg when he was mayor of New York. In 2003, the city banned smoking in almost all workplaces under his tenure, while in 2006 the city became the first in the U.S. to ban restaurants from using artificial trans fats.

He was head of the CDC during the major Ebola and Zika epidemics, undertaking what he called the "largest mobilization of CDC in history."

One person who used to work with him told the Washington Post they were "shocked" to hear of the allegations.

"I never, ever heard of any instances in the past, or any kind of accusations like this in the past," the person said. "It's totally out of the character that I knew and worked with."
What appeared to be an abduction near a Washington state park Wednesday night turned out to be an elaborate prank involving members of the same family, officials said.

Washington state troopers responded to a report of a possible kidnapping in downtown Olympia near Heritage Park at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Q13 FOX. Witnesses told police about six men in white plastic jumpsuits grabbed three people, zip-tied their arms and threw them into the back of a truck. Police release surveillance footage of the truck used in the frightening incident early Thursday.

But about 10 hours later, state troopers received a call saying the abduction was fake. The prank was planned three weeks in advance and involved six members of a family, ages 20 to 28, officials said. The group targeted an 11- and 15-year-old in what they called an escape-room style kidnapping, officials said. A 17-year-old led the youngsters through the park to set up the "kidnapping," police said.

The family thought it would be fun and didnt think there would have been any consequences to their actions, according to investigators. A member of the group was the person to initially tell officials what happened.

We take this seriously when people have been abducted, especially a child, we want to make sure that person is safe, Washington State Patrol Sergeant James Prouty told reporters. Its a relief you dont have a child out there thats been abducted. Definitely a relief.

The case will be turned over to Thurston County prosecutors to determine whether charges will be filed.
A Wisconsin driver could be forgiven for jumping out of his skin when he popped the hood of his SUV only to discover a four-foot python slithering near the engine.

Chris Nguyen, from Omro, discovered the unwelcome passenger on Wednesday, when he borrowed his mothers vehicle only to begin experiencing engine trouble on Highway 21.

He called me, to say, Mom your truck is broke down,' Liz Nguyen told WBAY. Oh my God. So I ran over there and said Whats going on? And he said when he opened the hood he sees the big snake.

SNAKE IN CAR VENT REPORTEDLY SPOOKS VIRGINIA WOMAN

The snake, later identified as a ball python, a species native to Africa, had rather aptly damaged the serpentine belt and worked its way between the engine and the skid plate.

Officer Peeters from Omro and Lieutenant Sauriol from Winneconne responded to a call and attempted to get hold of the snake, before resorting to calling in The Snake Man Steve Keller, from Menasha, for help.

Keller, who rescues and adopts snakes, told WBAY: This is not an unusual place to find a snake, but its the first time Ive ever been called in.

FLORIDA SNAKE HUNTERS MARK 1,000TH PYTHON KILL TO FIGHT EVERGLADES INFESTATION

He was able to wrangle the snake out of the car with both of them remaining unscathed.

Owning exotic pets is illegal in Omro. The owner came forward but will not be able to take home the snake, Chachi, according to the Oshkosh Northwestern. Keller, who says he has more than 30 snakes in his home now, plans to adopt it.

The owner was fined but police said they would dismiss the fine if he paid for the damage to the vehicle.

A statement on Omro polices Facebook page said: You just never know what will happen on patrol in Omro.

It added: The reluctant reptile is alive and well, just tired and scared.
A Thai boy was beaten to death by an incensed Buddhist monk after the child displayed "playful" behavior during a temple prayer session, Thai police said Friday.

Monk Suphachai Suthiyano, 64, allegedly assaulted Wattanapol Sisawad, 9, with a bamboo stick and slammed the boy's head against a pillar before Sisawad fell into a coma last weekend, AFP reported. Sisawad died as a result of his injuries on Thursday.

Suthiyano reportedly flew into a rage after the young boy disrupted a Buddhist ceremony at the temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, two hours west of Bangkok.

Thai police originally charged Suthiyano with assault when he was arrested Sunday, but, after the boys death, the charge will be revised to assault resulting in death, authorities said.

Suthiyano lost his status as a monk following the arrest.

Sisawad's mother told Thai media she will not forgive" Suthiyano.

POLICE OPEN PROBE INTO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CLAIMS AGAINST MONK

This monk's alleged attack on the child comes amid investigations into sexual misconduct, extortion and drug use accusations leveled at high-profile monks in Buddhist-majority Thailand and China.
A low-ranking police officer was suspended from work after a video showing him assaulting a young boy selling tissues boxes in the metro went viral on social media, an informed security source told the Ahram Arabic website on Thursday.

According to the source, the incident is being investigated and the police officer will be suspended until the end of the investigations.

Earlier this week, a video surfaced on Facebook showing a low-ranking policeman beating and dragging a boy who was selling tissue boxes in a women's only metro carriage in Cairo.

In the video, the boy, who refused to move from the carriage, cried and begged the officer to leave him alone because he wanted to enjoy the Eid holiday.

The video went viral, causing anger among social media users who rejected the brutality of the police officer.

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A nurse for aid group Doctors Without Borders launched a terror attack on Israeli troops near the Gaza border Monday, shooting and throwing an explosive device at soldiers before being shot dead, Israeli officials said.

Hani al-Majdalawi was killed during a gun battle with Israel Defense Forces as he tried to slip past a border fence and gain entrance to Israel.

No Israeli troops were injured in the incident, The Times of Israel reported.

He who takes part in saving lives should assist in humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip, and should not take part in terrorism, Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon, the head of Israel Defense Ministry body COGAT, said in a statement. COGAT coordinates government activities with Palestinians.

Al-Majdalawis brother, Osama, wrote on Facebook that al-Majdalawi was recently married, expecting a child and not affiliated with any militant groups. Osama also noted, however, that his brother had purchased a rifle.

Doctors Without Borders confirmed al-Majdalawi had worked for the group and was killed by Israeli troops. But the group didnt comment on why al-Majdalawi put down his medical kit and picked up a rifle, with a spokesperson telling the Associated Press the organization was still working to verify and understand the circumstances regarding this extremely serious incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Germany faces a growing threat from children raised in Salafist families, according to the countrys domestic intelligence service.

A recent report issued by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), warned that these children are educated from birth with an extremist world view that legitimizes violence against others and degrades those who arent part of their group.

The radicalization of youngsters is happening faster and earlier, according to Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germanys BfV.

Frank Jansen, a journalist with Berlins centrist paper Der Tagesspiegel, and an expert on extremism in Germany, notes that most of the Salafist minors in the BfV report are younger than eight-years-old. According to Jansen, the report calls these children ticking time bombs.

ANGELA MERKEL ADMITS THAT 'NO-GO ZONES' EXIST IN GERMANY

"Their education is especially fanatic when militant parents propagate holy war, Jansen wrote.

Salafism is an Islamist ideology that advocates the replacement of democratic government and law with a theocratic state based on Sharia. Since it first appeared in Germany in 2004, the number of Salafists has nearly tripled to 10,800, with nearly a quarter of them under the age of 26. It is the fastest growing Islamist trend in Germany.

Although not all Salafists advocate violence, the report stresses, the affirmation of violence is an inherent part of Salafist ideology.

Many Salafists are German converts to Islam. Others come from Turkish Muslim families who have lived in Germany since the late 1960s. The report does not take into account the 1.5 million Muslim refugees who came to Germany from Syria and Afghanistan in 2015-16, according to a BfV spokesman.

Salafism has special allure for marginalized Muslim adults and youth.

ANTI-MUSLIM TWEET LANDS GERMAN MINISTER IN HOT WATER WITH POLICE

Its like an ersatz family for some youths, said Claudia Dantschke, an expert on Islam and head of the Office for Islamism and Ultra-Nationalism, a Berlin-based NGO. Its where they find recognition and security.

It also appeals to those who feel they are victims of bias in German society. The movement asserts that devotion to Islam enables Muslims to have an identification beyond the nation where they live.

Salafist recruiters are effective because, unlike the imams at most German mosques who preach in Arabic or Turkish, they preach in German, often using teenage slang. The indoctrination and radicalization are also effective because recruitment often takes place in small circles and online, according to the report.

Salafisms growing infiltration of the Berlin public schools also corresponds with an increase in anti-Semitism in the classrooms, according to an August 2017 study by the American Jewish Committee Office in Berlin.

Anti-Semitism is an essential element in the ideology of the entire Islamist spectrum, according to the BfV report. This propaganda uses age-old stereotypes and prejudices, prevalent from medieval times through the Nazi era.

Conservative members of the German parliament have reacted to the Salafist threat with a call for police monitoring of Muslim children under age 14, the lowest age currently permitted in most German states. Civil rights organizations, however, have voiced strong objections to such surveillance. Humanist Union, a civil rights group, says it is unreasonable to consider children a threat because their ideas and opinions are not fully developed and are subject to change.

This is not about criminalizing people under the age of 14, counters Patrick Sensburg, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democratic Union, But about warding off significant threats to our country.

Gotz Nordbruch, co-head of Ufuq, a German-based organization that deals with primary prevention in the realm of religious extremism, objects to the amount of attention that is being focused on Salafist youngsters.

Nordbruch noted that the 24,000 rightwing, neo-Nazi extremists in Germany are more numerous than the Salafists and sworn to a more visible violence. No one would consider investigating their children, he said, pointing out that the debate stigmatizes Muslim youngsters and makes them afraid to talk about the things that are relevant to them.

While acknowledging that the relatively small number of Salafists may be reaching as many as 300,000 people through social media, Nordbruch is working to train teachers to engage constructively with vulnerable children.

My view is that this exaggerated attention on these kids is actually polarizing society more than necessary, he said, referring to the calls for police investigation of young Muslim children.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out Friday at the European Union over its first financial support package to help bolster Iran's flagging economy, calling it "a big mistake" and "like a poison pill to the Iranian people."

Speaking on a trip to Lithuania, Netanyahu criticized the EU, which announced Thursday a first tranche of 18 million euros ($21 million), part of the bloc's commitment to keeping the Iran nuclear deal alive.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from that deal, and began restoring U.S. sanctions. The move has been exacerbating a financial crisis in Iran that has sent its currency tumbling.

"I think that the decision yesterday by the EU to give 18 million euros to Iran is a big mistake. It's like a poison pill to the Iranian people and to the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and beyond the region," Netanyahu said.

"Iran attempted to conduct a terror attack on European soil just weeks ago... That is incredible," he told a press conference that followed a meeting with three Baltic prime ministers  Lithuanian Saulius Skvernelis, Estonia's Juri Ratas and Maris Kucinskis of Latvia.

Netanyahu was apparently referring to a suspected bomb plot against an Iranian opposition rally in France in late June that was thwarted by authorities. An Iranian diplomat is suspected of involvement.

Earlier, Netanyahu met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite who reiterated the EU position that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory violate international law.

A day earlier, Netanyahu said that Israel was "often mistreated by the EU," adding there were "many distortions." Netanyahu, however, welcomed the decision by major international airlines to end their direct flights to Iran's capital, Tehran, in September, after Trump's sanctions move.

Skvernelis said in an interview with the Baltic News Service that after a meeting Thursday with Netanyahu, "I believe Lithuania really has a better understanding of Israel and that understanding could be spread among other EU countries. "

"We need to better listen, hear them out and understand their position. We definitely lack a direct dialogue," he said.

"But we have to admit that today Israel is not only waging war and defending its independence, the lives of its people, but is also fighting in a wider context, if we speak about terrorism and potential expansion of IS fighters to Europe," Skvernelis said.

Netanyahu arrived Thursday in Vilnius on a four-day visit, the first to Lithuania by an Israeli prime minister.

___

Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.
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Many of the 150 migrants stranded aboard a coast guard ship for a ninth day began a hunger strike Friday out of frustration that Italy won't let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by Italy's anti-migrant interior minister.

"They can do whatever they believe," Interior Minister Matteo Salvini tweeted, shrugging off the development that migrants were refusing meals aboard the Italian coast guard vessel Diciotti. The ship rescued them on Aug. 16 from a foundering human trafficker's boat in the central Mediterranean, and for days now has been docked in the port of Catania, Sicily.

An opposition lawmaker, Sen. Davide Faraone said that on Friday Catania port officials told him "there's tension" on the ship and that migrants have stopped eating.

Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama. On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania. Salvini has been adamant that Italy's populist government won't allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking the asylum-seekers.

All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean; the others are from Somalia, Syria and Sudan. They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya, while waiting to leave that lawless country aboard smugglers' boats.

Another opposition lawmaker who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20, still there.

Appealing to Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: "As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off" the Diciotti.

Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch Friday but the men refused the meal.

But Salvini was staying tough, as was fellow deputy premier, Luigi Di Maio, who heads the senior coalition partner, the euro-skeptic 5-Star Movement.

Di Maio threatened that Italy could withhold some of its yearly 20 billion euro ($23 billion) contribution to the bloc if EU nations didn't make good on promises earlier this year for more solidarity toward the Italians, who have seen more than 600,000 rescued migrants brought to Italian shores in recent years.

If the European Commission meeting doesn't "decide anything about the Diciotti ship and the re-distribution of the migrants, I and all the 5-Star Movement are no longer willing to give 20 billion to the European Union," Di Maio said.

In Brussels, EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein retorted that "the European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats." He urged "all parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution."

A meeting in Brussels Friday of lower-officials from 12 countries, including Italy, was grappling with how to share the migrant burden among EU members. The meeting wasn't called to deal with the Diciotti standoff, but was expected to discuss it.

Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Thank you so to all the families that stopped the Grunion for the Belmont Shore Business Association's Trick-Or-Treat on Second Street! We saw some fantastic costumes this year, did we catch you on the Grunion camera? Check out our photo...
Goodbye to super summer? : Weather turnaround expected for Bonn and region on Friday

Bonn/Region That warm summer weather decided to hang on for awhile, giving the Rhineland a few more sunny days. But come Friday, we can expect a drop in the temperatures.

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On Thursday, temperatures in the Rhineland and even in the higher elevations were still inching towards the 30 degree Celsius mark. But on Friday comes a big shift in the weather pattern.

Increasing cloud cover overnight means it can get wet, with localized thunderstorms possible. It will be a stretch for temperatures to reach even 20 degrees. At higher elevations, it will be even cooler. The major change in the weather pattern will prevail everywhere this weekend. Even so, an end to the ongoing drought doesnt seem to be in sight.

Meteorologist Simon Trippler from the German Weather Service (DWD) explains it like this, Temperatures will reach 16 to 21 degrees, which could feel like an early fall for many people because of the weeks of heat and warm weather. Contributing to that are showers and thunderstorms, which will be especially active on Saturday, and could provide some relief from the dryness. But we still have to see just how long-lasting this change of weather will be.
The US Senate passed a bill to honor Egypt's late President Anwar Sadat for his role in achieving peace in the Middle East, the Egyptian Embassy in Washington D.C said in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Thursday.

Last night, the US Senate unanimously passed a bill to honor former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the statement read.

The bill, titled Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act S266, awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Sadat in recognition of his historic achievements and courageous contributions to peace in the Middle East, the statement added quoting the bill.

The late President Sadat is the first and only Egyptian ruler to receive the honor.

The 1918-born Egyptian president was also jointly awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1978 with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for signing a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel a year earlier.

In September 2017, the senate hosted a ceremony to rally for the bill on the 100th anniversary of Sadats birth as well as the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Camp David Accords, according to Egypt's foreign ministry.

Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Ben Cardin, Representative Chris Stewart and Representative Grace Meng introduced the bill to Congress in January 2017.

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Minister of Tourism Al-Mashat said Egyptians are saddened by the death of the holidaymakers, vowing to take all precautions to ensure safety of other tourists as well as an inquiry to eliminate concerns about their health

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism said in a statement on Friday morning that a preliminary medical examination report shows that the British couple who died on Tuesday in the Hurghada in the Red Sea governorate died of natural causes and that there was no evidence of criminal foul play.

The ministry explained that it was coordinating with the local authorities from the governorate, tourism police, and Thomas Cook, the holiday company that organized the trip for the deceased couple, to follow up on the case.

In the evening, Egypt's Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat issued a statement saying: Everyone in Egypt is extremely saddened at the deaths of British holidaymakers John and Susan Cooper in Hurghada and our thoughts and prayers are with their family at this extremely difficult time. 

On Tuesday, John Cooper, 69 died at his hotel room at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada and the preliminary medical examination shows that the cause was respiratory heart failure, and there was no evidence of criminal foul play, the statement said.

According to the ministry's statement, shortly thereafter, his wife Susan Cooper, 64, was transferred to the local Aseel hospital after she suffered loss of consciousness, but the efforts to resuscitate her failed. Preliminary medical report shows she died of respiratory failure, and there was no evidence of criminal foul play

Meanwhile, Egypt's prosecutor general Nabil Sadek issued a statement on Friday saying that the medical examiner assigned by the prosecution in the case of investigating the death of the two British tourists, who had arrived in Hurghada on 14 August as part of a tour group, found no signs of criminal violence or defensive wounds on the two bodies during the preliminary, visual autopsy.

Earlier on Friday. Thomas Cook issued a statement saying that "we are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers who were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt. The circumstances of their deaths remain unclear."

"We are aware of the speculation in some of todays media that their deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. Currently we have no evidence to support this," Thomas Cook said.

In her statement, Minister Al-Mashat promised: "We will take every precaution to make sure other tourists are safe and a senior working group will shortly conduct a detailed investigation to eliminate any other possible concerns about the health and well-being of other holidaymakers in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel."

Meanwhile Egyptian prosecutors, who are currently investigating the matter, are expected to interview the couples daughter for more information on the case.

The prosecutors have ordered an autopsy for the deceased, and notified the British embassy to take its measures to return the bodies of the deceased, the statement explained.

Thomas Cook said it offered its 300 customers at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel, where the incident took place, the choice to move from the hotel as a precautionary measure after the death of the Coopers or to fly them back to Britain instead.

Minister Al-Mashat said in her statement: Most have decided to continue with their holidays in Hurghada," and promised that Further updates will be provided as and when any new information is available.

Thomas Cook explained in its Friday statement it had last audited the hotel in late July 2018 and it had received an overall score of 96 percent.

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Egypt's prosecutor-general ordered on Friday a 15-day detention for former diplomat Maasoum Marzouk, university professor Yahia Kazaz, economist Raed Salama and four others pending investigations into aiding terrorism charges.

The prosecution accused the defendants, who were arrested on Thursday, of aiding a terrorist organization in achieving its goals, receiving funds for terrorist goals, and conspiring to commit a terrorist act.

Marzouk was a leading member of the Nasserist Popular Current and the spokesperson of the 2014 presidential campaign of Hamdeen Sabahi.

Yahia Kazaz is professor at Mansoura University, while Raed Salama is an economic researcher and writer.

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Churches across China are facing increased pressure to align with the Communist Party, including replacing crosses with the national flag and displaying pictures of Chinese President Xi Jinping.



Persecution watchdog China Aid reports that all churches in Xinyu County, Jiangxi have been ordered to display the national flag as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping's picture and posters on socialist values. Additionally, children in the area have been forbidden from attending church, and the government has threatened to cancel the welfare of low-income residents should they refuse to comply.



In Shangrao, another area of Jiangxi, more than 40 churches have hung a slogan that reads "Non-locals are prohibited from preaching; no underage people allowed in church." In Leqing, Zhejiang, churches have been forced to pay homage to the Party by singing patriotic songs and hanging the national flag.



Government officials in other regions of China are also forcing churches to tear down their crosses and replace them with the national flag.



"All religious venues should raise China's national flag to strengthen awareness of respect to the flag and preserve the flag's dignity," Radio Free Asia (RFA) quoted China's Global Times newspaper as saying, adding that "places of worship [that] do not follow the practice could face scrutiny."



China recognizes only five religions legally-Protestant Christianity, Catholic Christianity, Islam, Taoism, and Buddhism. This year, the government has tightened religious regulations in efforts to align "religion with Chinese characteristics." According to new regulations, "China's Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief," religious leaders "must conduct religious activities in the Chinese context, practice core socialist values, carry forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation, and actively explore religious thought which conforms to the reality in China."



As a result, China hs increased its persecution of unofficial "house" churches, forcing many of them to close.



Aaron Ma, an Asia-based researcher for Open Doors International, told World Watch Monitor that Christians are an "enigma" to the government,



"The CCP believes the Church is a de-stabilizing force, but not because it is bad; in fact, local communities and authorities tend to believe Christians are good people. Some suggest that because Christians' allegiance is first and foremost to God and not the Communist Party, there is a conflict of interests that the party believes can potentially hinder the process of unification. Others are more concerned by what they perceive as potential 'chaos' arising from the huge number of Christians," he said.


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.
The Trump administration has delivered another blow to California.The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department on Thursday moved to block efforts by lawmakers in California and other Democratic-controlled states to help their residents avoid a new limit on state and local tax deductions.The proposed rule targets legislation in those states that would allow taxpayers to claim a charitable deduction for state and local tax payments above the $10,000 limit set in the tax cuts passed by Congress last year.The Treasury Department said the legislation being considered in various state s amounts to a tax dodge for wealthier Americans."Congress limited the deduction for state and local taxes that predominantly benefited high-income earners to help pay for major tax cuts for American families," Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said."The proposed rule will uphold that limitation by preventing attempts to convert tax payments into charitable contributions," he said.The IRS will accept comments on the rule through Oct. 11 and then will hold a public hearing on it Nov. 5.Thursday's announcement escalated a partisan battle over the tax-cut law that was pushed through by President Trump and congressional Republicans with no Democratic support.California and New York are among the states that have been looking for ways around the limit on state-and-local tax deductions that Republicans included in the $1.5-trillion tax-cut law that took effect Jan. 1.Many of the states hardest hit by the limit are high-tax ones controlled by Democrats, and leaders there have complained the tax bill targeted the deduction for political reasons.A bill from state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) would allow California residents to circumvent the new $10,000 deduction limit through a complicated process involving state tax credits for contributions to school districts, charter schools, child-care centers operated by local educational agencies and community college districts.Under the bill, taxpayers would be able to deduct 100 percent of the contributions on their federal tax returns because there are no limits on charitable deductions.But the Treasury rule released Thursday would require taxpayers to reduce the federal charitable tax deduction they are claiming by the amount of any credit they receive on their state and local taxes. That would effectively prevent taxpayers from circumventing the cap through the workaround programs.It also would hit some existing, limited programs in dozens of states that offer federal charitable deductions for contributions to fund schools and other programs.The federal state-and-local tax deduction had been unlimited until this year, with the new limit projected to generate billions of dollars a year in additional revenue to the U.S. Treasury to help offset money lost by the bill's cuts to corporate and individual rates.Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), a lead author of the tax bill, cheered the new rule."These Treasury regulations rightly close the door on improper tax evasion schemes conjured up by state and local politicians who insist on brutally taxing local families and businesses," he said.However, the limits on state-and-local tax deductions will hit some families hard. The average state-and-local deduction taken by the 6.1 million California residents who filed for it in 2015 was $18,438, according to the Tax Policy Center. Only New York and Connecticut had a higher average deduction.Eight tax experts released a 44-page research paper in January arguing that California and other states would be allowed to turn state and local tax payments into charitable contributions based on previous IRS rulings and court opinions.Some tax law experts also have said that it would be very difficult for the IRS to prohibit efforts designed to circumvent the state-and-local tax-deduction limit without also disallowing the federal tax deduction for contributions to more than 100 existing charitable programs in 33 states.Those programs, many of them in Republican-controlled states, fund state-supported activities such as public schools and college scholarship programs.The Treasury Department said Thursday that it expected some spillover effect on those other programs, but that only about 1 percent of taxpayers would see an effect on tax benefits for donations to school tax credit programs.
With less than three months to the midterm elections, American voters remain vulnerable to the same type of information warfare that Russia used to interfere with the 2016 presidential race. Election officials say voting systems are better protected against hackers than they were two years ago, but intelligence experts say the federal government hasn't tackled the threat of foreign-created disinformation on social media.The risk endures after Russian nationals used hundreds of fake social media accounts to stoke political discord in the U.S. in 2016, according to an indictment earlier this year by Special Counsel Robert Mueller."The spreading of misinformation and disinformation is one of the single greatest threats to our democratic process," says National Association of Secretaries of State President Jim Condos, a Democrat who is also Vermont's Secretary of State. "As we saw in 2016, our foreign adversaries used these tactics to sow doubt with voters and weaken voter confidence in the integrity of our elections."Now the nations most populous state is pushing back, launching an unprecedented effort to address the issue.Earlier this month, the California legislature approved the creation of an Office of Elections Cybersecurity to be overseen by Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla. He expects Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to support the new office, which Padilla says would be "the first of its kind in the nation, as far as we understand."In addition to addressing cyber threats toCalifornia's voting systems, the office would proactively root out false information online about the states electoral process, includingwhere and how to vote. Staffers would monitor social media platforms like California-based Facebook and Twitter, then coordinate with local election authorities -- or directly with those companies -- to remove the falsehoods.The office would also work with the press and through its own social media channels to provide the public with accurate information."Any dynamic out there that causes voter confusion is bad for voting rights and bad for elections," says Padilla, "and we have a responsibility to address it."Ample evidence of the nation's vulnerability to misinformation surfaced just this week.Microsoft announced that it found and shut down half a dozen websites created by a Russian-affiliated group impersonating the U.S. Senate and conservative think tanks. Facebook nixed hundreds of accounts, pages and groups it said were part of disinformation campaigns from Russia and Iran. And Twitterremoved hundreds of accounts, including many linked to Iran, engaging in what the social media company called " coordinated manipulation ."Last year, Congress held hearings on election disinformation that appeared on social media during 2016, including a doctored photo of comedian Aziz Ansari urging Americans to "vote from home" via Twitter. Another posting encouraged voters to cast ballots for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by text. (Neither of these are viable voting options.)Democratic California Assemblyman Marc Berman, who introduced the bill creating the elections cybersecurity office, stresses that it wont get involved in the substance of political debates between candidates and campaigns."We're not trying to play police on who's exaggerating their resume, or lying about their opponent, or anything that could be more subjective," he says. "You'd have to appropriate a billion dollars, and you'd run into tricky First Amendment issues." (The new office will cost California taxpayers $2 million annually, according to StateScoop .)Social media companies are already grappling with First Amendment issues around political speech. YouTube, Facebook, Apple and Spotify all recently decided to pull content from right-wing media personality and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones,angering some conservatives and free speech advocates.Given that President Trump downplays Russias role in influencing his election and often refers to the media as "fake news," some Republicans may diminish the need for California's effort. Chris Powell, a spokesman for Arkansas Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin, questions whether it's the state government's role to help remove election-related online content."People are free to post whatever they like in our country. We don't censor things like China," he says, adding that "Russian meddling is not anything new in American politics. They've been doing it for decades. They didn't change any votes."But Padilla argues the balance hes attempting to strike is straightforward."I believe in freedom of speech," he says. "I also believe in the right of voters to have good, accurate information about elections and their opportunity to vote."Even if it's successful, Californias effort wont be easily replicated in other states, according to Eric Covey, a spokesman for National Association of Secretaries of State President Jim Condos."We certainly applaud Secretary Padillas efforts," Covey says, "but the reality is that most states do not have the resources that California has to do something as grand in scope. However, that isnt to say that we dont dedicate daily resources to this issue with our whole team. Cybersecurity and election integrity are top priorities, and something we think about and work on every single day."Clint Watts, a distinguished research fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, says, "It really takes a federal solution, working with social media companies." But he says, "if any state could do it, it would be California," given its size and the presence of Silicon Valley.Berman acknowledges that it's unusual for California to take such an aggressive role to preserve election integrity. "But," he says, "we're in incredibly unusual times."
Update: The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph says it will allow Missouri Attorney Josh Hawley to investigate priest sexual abuse locally.Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said Thursday that his office is launching a "thorough and robust investigation" of potential clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, with full cooperation from church officials, and he encouraged other dioceses in the state to allow similar probes."Today, I have received a letter from the archbishop confirming that he and the archdiocese will open to my office their files and will allow us to conduct a thorough, impartial review of potential clergy abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Louis," Hawley told reporters in an afternoon telephone news conference."So we intend to gather extensive evidence from the church, as well as from victims and their families and other persons who are not associated with the archdiocese. At the conclusion of this investigation, my office will issue a formal report setting out our findings. That report will also include any charging recommendations based on the evidence we discover in our investigation."Hawley said the investigation will be staffed by career prosecutors and led by Christine Krug, head of the attorney general's public safety division and a longtime sex crimes prosecutor in St. Louis. He said he was heartened by the archdiocese's willingness to cooperate with his office and permit "a thorough and fair investigation. ""I am firmly of the view that full transparency benefits not only the public but also the church and most importantly, it will help us expose and address potential wrongdoing and protect the vulnerable from abuse," he said. "I would invite the state's other dioceses to cooperate similarly with this office's investigation so that our report can be truly comprehensive and statewide."Hawley said that under Missouri law, only locally elected prosecutors have the power to subpoena or to convene a grand jury."While my office does not have jurisdiction at the present time to prosecute any criminal acts of this nature or issue subpoenas to investigate it," he said, "it would be possible to conduct a thorough and robust investigation of potential clergy abuse if the various dioceses were willing to cooperate."David Clohessy, former head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the attorney general's investigation."Law enforcement needs to use subpoena powers to get at all church abuse records, not just the ones one archbishop decides to share behind closed doors," Clohessy said. "And it's important that Catholic officials are questioned under oath, like in a grand jury, instead of relying solely on sanitized church records."The priest sex abuse issue erupted last week when a grand jury in Pennsylvania released a report that said church leaders had covered up sexual abuse by hundreds of priests over seven decades.The report said the grand jury had investigated child sex abuse in six of the state's eight Roman Catholic dioceses, heard testimony from dozens of witnesses and examined half a million pages of internal diocesan documents.More than 1,000 child victims were identifiable from those documents, the report said, adding that because records were lost and other victims were afraid to come forward, the actual number is likely much higher.The report contained horrific details of some of the abuse and prompted calls for accountability from Catholics and non-Catholics alike. On Monday, Pope Francis released a 2,000-word letter admitting that the Vatican hadn't done enough to address the issue.Calls have been going out across the country for other states to conduct similar investigations into clergy sexual abuse, including in Kansas City, where on Monday sex abuse victims called for Kansas and Missouri authorities to launch their own probes.Rebecca Randles, a Kansas City attorney who has handled hundreds of clergy sex abuse cases, said she has counted more than 230 priests throughout Missouri and the Kansas City area who have been accused of sexual abuse. But only a handful, she said, have been charged and one bishop punished. Given the population of the area, Randles said, it is possible that there could be a bigger problem here than in Pennsylvania.Two former Kansas City area priests are among those named in the Pennsylvania grand jury report: the Rev. Mark Honhart, who served in numerous parishes in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese from 1980 to 2001; and the Rev. Marvin Justi, who was co-pastor of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Shawnee in 1972. Both priests later ended up in dioceses in Pennsylvania.Ordained in 1980, Honhart was the subject of three sexual abuse lawsuits stemming from his time in Kansas City. The civil suits were part of a $10 million settlement the diocese agreed to in 2014 involving 32 claims that alleged sexual abuse by priests. Justi, who was ordained in 1958, died of cancer in 2009.Many also are calling on states to eliminate their statutes of limitations on child sexual abuse crimes so priests involved in older cases can be criminally prosecuted. In the Pennsylvania investigation, the grand jury said it was only able to charge two priests with sex abuse crimes because the other cases were all too old."We are not satisfied by the few charges we can bring, which represent only a tiny percentage of all the child abusers we saw," the Pennsylvania grand jury said in its report. "We are sick over all the crimes that will go unpunished and uncompensated.... And we are going to make our recommendations for how the laws should change so that maybe no one will have to conduct another inquiry like this one."Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said on Tuesday that local authorities have primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting child sex abuse crimes in the state."The Office of Attorney General by law houses the statewide Victims' Rights Coordinator," Schmidt said in a statement. "Any victim of child sexual abuse by a person in authority, including a member of the clergy, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred, is encouraged to contact our statewide Victim Assistance Hotline at (800) 828-9745 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to discuss what help may be available."Any victim also may report abuse to any local law enforcement agency," Schmidt said. "Within the limits of the law, state and local law enforcement agencies in Kansas are committed to enforcing the criminal laws against physical and sexual abuse of children -- and our office can assist local authorities upon their request and as resources allow -- regardless of when a crime may have occurred or who may have committed it."
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is proceeding with its plans to amend stringent Obama-era rules requiring cities to come up with a blueprint for eradicating segregation in their communities.The announcement comes in the wake of a federal court ruling upholding HUDs overhaul of its desegregation regulations. Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance, Texas Appleseed and Texas Low Income Housing Information Service.In particular, the lawsuit sought to reinstate an interactive computer mapping tool used by cities to identify patterns of segregation, which housing advocates have said was essential to desegregation efforts. HUD says the tool was confusing to use.In a statement, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said, I am tremendously gratified that the Court agreed with HUD on all its legal arguments. My approach to regulations is that they should work in practice and not just in theory. Fairness is baked into our DNA. Whether its making sure our regulations work in the real world, or challenging discrimination where we find it, HUD stands for fairness.Earlier this month, HUD published a notice inviting public comment as it seeks to overhaul the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule.Despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, racial segregation remains entrenched in the United States. Some of the nations most diverse cities are among the most segregated. To remedy this, the Obama administration in 2015 approved stringent guidance that gave communities a blueprint for addressing racial segregation aggressively  and threatened the denial of millions of federal dollars if they failed to do so.But in January, the Trump administration suspended the rule. Some cities and counties are proceeding with their desegregation plans, but housing advocates have said the delay could make things harder for them on several levels.
Description

GIS  24 August 2018: Government is committed to provide the appropriate environment and support that are essential to encourage the production of locally cultivable food crops that are safe and healthy for consumption and meet the demands under the food security programme.

The Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, made this statement yesterday at the launching of two new locally developed varieties of green beans at the Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (FAREI) in Reduit. The two varieties are: the FAREI Bean Selection 1 (FBS1); and, the FAREI Bean Selection 2 (FBS2) which produces string less pods.

According to the Minister, such endeavours must be encouraged to decrease our high dependency on importing vegetables which accounts to 77% and be self-sufficient on the production of food crops. Mauritius, he emphasised, must be in a position to produce its own local crops as the potential exists.

Minister Seeruttun further recalled the Sheltered farming scheme as enunciated in Budget 2018-2019 which provides for the setting up of 100 farms over the next two years to cater for the local production of food crops. Under that scheme, FAREI will give the necessary technical assistance and mentoring to young graduates and SMEs in developing their agri projects.

The Minister also spoke of giving a boost to the food security programme whereby a total amount of Rs 30 million has been earmarked for the establishment of a new Crop Insurance Scheme for planters to be operated by the Small Farmers Welfare Fund. He encouraged the youth to join the agri-business sector with the use of modern technology to cultivate the land.

About FBS 1 and FBS 2

The two new locally produced varieties of beans FBS 1 and FBS 2 have been produced following a snap bean breeding programme initiated since 2015 by the Agronomy Division of the FAREI where the first series of crosses were made between the Long Tom variety, currently widely grown in Mauritius and selected parents (Sodwana and Highway) with good agronomic characteristics. During successive years a pedigree method was used for the selection of the best progenies.
Description

GIS  24 August, 2018:  24 August, 2018: A delegation from Japan, led by the Member of the House of Representatives of Japan and President of the Japan-AU Parliamentary Friendship Association, Mr Ichiro Aisawa, paid a courtesy call this morning on the Deputy Speaker of the Mauritius National Assembly, Mr Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram, at the National Assembly in Port Louis.

Discussions focused on the different means to further promote bilateral relations between Mauritius and Japan as well as to identify new areas of cooperation.

Other issues evoked pertained to: collaboration between the two countries in Expo 2020 Dubai; Mauritius role in the regional economic integration process of the Africa Strategy; the African Business Education Initiative; and the health sector.

About Mr Ichiro Aisawa

Mr Ichiro Aisawa, a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, is a native of Mitsu District, Okayama , and a graduate of Keio University . He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1986. In 2003, he was appointed as Senior Vice-Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs .

He was also appointed as Chairmen of several Standing Committees of the House of Representatives , namely: Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1997; Committee on Rules and Administration in 2006; Committee on Budget in 2007; and, Committee on Fundamental National Policies in 2014.
Description

GIS 24 August, 2018: Climate change is one of the most serious and pressing challenges of our times. It has evolved from a mere environmental issue into one which threatens the very foundation of mankind and is now affecting all aspects of the development agenda from poverty eradication to human health and from economic growth to enhanced preparedness to alleviate suffering. Climate change is one of the most serious and pressing challenges of our times. It has evolved from a mere environmental issue into one which threatens the very foundation of mankind and is now affecting all aspects of the development agenda from poverty eradication to human health and from economic growth to enhanced preparedness to alleviate suffering.

This statement was made yesterday by the Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity, and Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr Etienne Sinatambou, at the opening of a two-day capacity building workshop for the preparation of climate finance and bankable projects held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava.

Referring to the latest World Risk Report 2017, he underpinned that Mauritius is ranked as the 13th country with the highest disaster risk and 7th on the list of countries most exposed to natural hazards. Hence the need, he stated, to deal with climate change which requires a multipronged approach both with regard to its understanding and implementing appropriate actions at different levels.

According to Minister Sinatambou, Mauritius is doing its fair share to contribute to the global effort to combat climate change despite its limited resources. Mauritius has signed and ratified under the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016, the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which pledges for a quantified economy-wide target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% by the year 2030, he recalled. The sectors for adaptation include land drainage and infrastructure, coastal zone, water, food security, health and biodiversity. For mitigation, the sectors include renewable energy, energy technologies, low emission transport, waste management, and embellishment and greening campaign for Mauritius.

The Environment Minister pointed out that Mauritius has already embarked on the implementation of the NDC with the assistance of various donor agencies such as Agence Francaise de Developpement, the European Union and the Commonwealth. He added that resources from the national budget are being mobilised to build resilience so as to move to a low carbon development pathway. The implementation of the NDC for the Republic of Mauritius will require over 1.5 Billion USD for mitigation measures and about 4 Billion USD for adaptation measures across all the sectors, in the form of finance, investment, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building, he underscored.

Mr Sinatambou however deplored that capacity building remains a constraint and challenge for the Government of Mauritius although the country is witnessing large investment and substantial development partners support. We need sustained capacity development to deliver adequate services, manage the environment, address the problem of climate change and support development, he underlined.

The workshop

The workshop is aimed at training and building capacity for identified institutions with need to access climate finance for new or on-going programmes and projects with relevant sectors to climate change adaptation strategies and mitigation measures. The workshop will provide background information on international institutions such as the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, their operational modalities, terminologies used and templates used for providing project data or information.

Resource experts are from the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, key Ministries including Finance and Economic Development and Donor agencies.

Participants will be equipped with useful skills drawn from their practical experience working on identification and formulation of projects. The workshop will also focus on training and engaging participants in discussion to share and exchange experiences. They will benefit from increased awareness on project as well as programme preparation for climate finance, practical skills on working on own projects and institutional capacity building.
(TNS)  The Lake County School District's safety team is ready to activate a new security system that scans millions of social media postings for potential threats at public schools, if the School Board votes Monday night to approve it.The proposed Social Sentinel software searches public posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media for suspicious words that could signal a potential incident in any county public school. The program uses a proprietary algorithm that searches for key phrases, say "kill" or "bomb," which would trigger an immediate alert to the school system's safety office. Schools officials can choose to investigate  or act swiftly to coordinate with local police if needed."I was on the lookout for this kind of service," said Jimmer Roy, the district's safety and security specialist. "They're one of the only products out there that do what they do."The software is the latest school safety tool developed by the Burlington, Vermont, based company behind Campus Sentinel, a similar social media threat tracking system used by colleges and universities nationwide and designed by the former police chiefs at the University of Vermont and Princeton University.Roy said he is working with the company on a preliminary basis, and is testing the system with key words and phrases unique to Lake County, such as "LHS" for Leesburg High School and "THS" for Tavares High School. The key phrases added by the schools range from initials to phrases, providing a net to catch threats from anyone, anywhere."We aren't concerned with location," Roy said. He explained that some previous incidents were caused by people outside of the area, but who still sometimes posted to social media.If the Social Sentinel service catches a potential threat, it can forward the entire message alongside information about the poster. This allows the safety and security office to quickly identify the relevant parties, such as the person making the threat and the places or people who are potentially threatened. If necessary, they could contact police as well.The office can also determine if an alert is a threat or something benign that just happened to trigger the algorithm.Roy said he was quite confident in the service and the process they had set up for it. Prior to proposing the service to the School Board, he spent time speaking with his peers at other Central Florida school districts already using the service, including Seminole and Flagler counties. They only had to positive things to say about Social Sentinel, he said.The district's operations budget will be used to pay for the service, which will cost $70,000 per year for three years.If the contract with the company is approved by the School Board at Monday night's meeting, the school district will have access to Social Sentinel immediately.
(TNS)  As the Franklin County Auditor's Office prepares to become the first in Ohio, to use blockchain technology to transfer property deeds, lawmakers say it's time for the state to capitalize on what some call the Internet's next leap forward.Blockchain, which is most often associated with Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, holds the promise of not only improving government efficiency and security, but, if pursued correctly, can make the state a magnet for high-tech jobs, said House Speaker Ryan Smith."This is so new and just starting to take shape that we can position Ohio out front and, most importantly put it out in a way that gives our kids...an opportunity to stay in Ohio and not have the brain drain to the West Coast," Smith, R-Bidwell, said Thursday. "It's a great opportunity for Ohio to really start the economic engine on a different perspective."Smith said he wants to soon start convening meetings around the state to get people more comfortable with the technology and better understand how it can be applied to state government services and records.Blockchain stores and distributes information across a network of computers, making it widely accessible but also decentralized and more secure. Under the concept, instead of stealing from a person by robbing his bank, a person's money is kept in hundreds of banks, and stealing it would require robbing each one at the same time.Franklin County Auditor Clarence Mingo says the technology will one day be as significant to businesses as the development of email in the early 1990s."It's important that government be forward-thinking and keeps pace with this new technological development," Mingo said.Mingo envisions a day when all property transfer records are done via blockchain in a fully digital process where the buyer, seller, bank, appraiser and title company never meet, but still complete the sale of a home."It's nearly hack-proof, but still gives each party total control of their aspect of that transaction," Mingo said. "The speed of that is remarkable. If things happen faster, they generally cost less."Mingo is working with Columbus startup SafeChain on Tuesday to test blockchain on the transfer about three dozen properties via the office's forfeited properties sale.Tony Franco, CEO of SafeChain, said his 18-month-old company also is working with county officials in Washington and Perry counties."You need to have government partners who are willing to test, build out and learn while the infrastructure is being built," he said. "The state signaling that they are open to do business and willing to collaborate is incredibly important."Mingo said having state government explore the use of blockchain also signals to local governments that "it's a prudent use of taxpayer dollars to begin exploring and eventually using this type of technology."Lawmakers passed a bill in June to include blockchain in the section of state law dealing with electronic signatures and electronic records.Smith also said the state could combine efforts to draw blockchain jobs with federal opportunity zones that use tax incentives to encourage investments in low-income areas."There are a very short list of states and government entities, internationally and in the U.S. that are actually embarking on this journey," said Bernie Moreno, president of Ownum in Cleveland and a leader in trying to make the city a hub of blockchain activity."There is a lot money sitting out there to take advantage of opportunity zones and make investments in (Ohio cities),"Franco said Ohio is taking small steps in the right direction.Getting the state interested in the technology "certainly will, in the long term, open pipelines for jobs, venture capitalists and companies," he said. "We're seeing public-private partnerships with government happen more and more."
Utilities that invest in data technology today are better equipped to meet requirements and public demand for transparency.
In order to protect the gateway, the AGs office has a three-strike policy for agencies that fall victim to cyberattacks. The AG does not have a remediation to restore gateway access after a third strike. The attacks in April and May count as strikes No. 1 and No. 2, meaning if Riverside is hit again, the department will be permanently blocked from the gateway, unless the AGs office is satisfied the issues are remedied.

Agencies that use the gateway are required to notify the AGs office of security breaches, but an AG spokeswoman said the state was not contacted about either ransomware attack. City Manager Mark Carpenter this week said he was surprised by the spokeswomans statement, because city staff had internal discussions about the need to alert the state. Assistant City Manager Chris Lohr later acknowledged Riverside may have overlooked notifying the AG.

The AGs office learned about the attacks through news reports and suspended Riversides gateway access on May 14  four days after the Dayton Daily News revealed the second attack to the public and 10 days after Riversides computer network was compromised for the second time. Matthew Curtin, a Columbus-based cybersecurity expert, applauded the AGs office for yanking access, calling it a pretty good example of how a provider of sensitive information governs access to its information.

Presently, one Riverside records clerk is authorized to access past reports on the gateway from computers in Huber Heights. The same day the Dayton Daily News reported the police department lost gateway access, the city manager emailed the police chief to move quickly to establish gateway access in Huber Heights. The limited access was granted on July 26, a day later.

Riversides data at rest  essentially information stored on, but not in transit over, the police departments network  uses very basic controls with no encryption, according to an email from Riversides IT contractor. Encryption uses a cipher, or code, to protect data and prohibit unauthorized parties from being able to read it.

(TNS)  Two cyberattacks on Riversides fire and police department servers have hamstrung law enforcement in ways previously unknown to the public, including the possibility Riverside could permanently lose access to one of the states police computer networks if attacked again, a Dayton Daily News investigation found.The ransomware cyberattacks in April and May  which have cost the city tens of thousands of dollars  shut down the police departments records management system used to create and store investigative reports.The attacks forced Riverside police officers to use a backup system on the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, a statewide computer database operated by the Ohio Attorney Generals Bureau of Criminal Investigation for local police departments. But four days after the Dayton Daily News revealed the May cyberattack hit the city , the AGs office revoked the citys access to the gateway to shield the network from damage and protect confidential information from exposure, a spokeswoman said.Theinvestigation found police not only lost the ability to access and print past reports  as acknowledged by police Chief Frank Robinson in public statements  but at one point lost the ability to make digital reports altogether. Losing the gateway forced officers to hand write reports and type incident narratives into Microsoft Word so that they could be scanned into the system once restored, an internal memo said.By the time Robinson made his statement in July, the ability to make digital reports was resolved by getting the usual records system back up and running, he said. But the AGs office had not then  and still has not now  fully restored access to the gateway network, meaning the department cant fully use other gateway functions unmentioned by Robinson to the public.The gateway is our backup reporting system, the system we use to create photo lineups for investigations, how we enter evidence that needs to be processed at the BCI lab and the quickest way to obtain criminal history on suspects, Major Matt Sturgeon wrote in a May 24 email to the fire chief and assistant city manager. This is really hampering (our) effectiveness.This is vital! Sturgeon wrote nearly a month later.In a memo to the chief this week after the Dayton Daily News brought its findings to the department, Sturgeon told the chief that the gateways loss has impacted operations, but we have found the means to make due by other paths.Officers now use another computer program to create photo lineups, according to the memo. Instead of directly accessing criminal history on the gateway, officers now radio dispatch and wait to obtain the information. And instead of using the gateway to make state crime lab requests and receive finished lab reports, the department had to make handwritten lab requests. Until last month, officers had to pick up the completed reports at the state crime lab in Madison County.The loss in no way leaves our citizens vulnerable when they call for police services, Sturgeon wrote in the memo.Robinson reiterated this in an interview Tuesday: I think the main thing we want to make sure people understand is that we are doing exactly what we should be doing every day to make sure the public is as safe as possible. Theres no slack in how were responding or prioritizing our calls or anything like that.Theused Ohios public records laws to obtain more than 250 pages of internal city emails and memos. The newspapers examination and subsequent interviews also found:Lohr, the assistant city manager, said the city is considering encrypting the data in coming months. He said paramedics transfer HIPAA-protected information over an encrypted connection to a web-based cloud program not hosted by the city.Curtin, who founded Interhack Corp., called it a bad practice for any police department not to encrypt sensitive data.If you have sensitive information and you dont protect it with anything more than a password, you are doing nothing to protect it from a number of attacks, including just stealing the thing, said Curtin, a former Ohio State University computer science senior lecturer. The fact that you have the password is irrelevant.City officials estimate gateway access could be fully restored in the next 30 to 90 days, once Riverside meets the stringent security guidelines dictated by the AGs office.We have to take action, and we want to make sure we do it right, Carpenter said this week.Were looking to invest in some new equipment and building a more secure network, Carpenter said. In order to make the network secure, initial investment will be in the neighborhood of $50,000.Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts, or locks, digital files and demands a ransom to release them, according to the FBI. Atlanta is among the largest municipal victims . Everyday users of computers can fall victim to malware, too.Readers should understand that cybersecurity is not an IT problem, Curtin said. The vast majority of the kind of problems were seeing right now come down to users being fooled into the wrong thing, including clicking on the wrong thing, going to websites that dont make sense for them to go on, and generally doing things that are stupid.
F1 commercial boss Sean Bratches has declared himself an "optimist" as talks with Hockenheim about a 2019 race continue.

Talks between Liberty Media and Hockenheim about a German grand prix for next year had completely broken down.

But then F1's plans for an inaugural event in Miami next year also fell through, reinvigorating efforts to rescue Hockenheim.

"I'm an optimist," Bratches said when asked about the German GP talks.

"We have not yet published a calendar for 2019, but we will do that shortly," he revealed. "And while my German is not faultless, the talks have been quite good."

Hockenheim marketing boss Jorn Teske agreed: "We very much hope that we will have a grand prix again next year, but I cannot say more about it now.

"The discussions are still going on," he said.

"It's clear that both negotiating parties are trying to find a solution, and that's very positive because it means there is serious interest on the F1 side in having the German GP.

"So we're optimistic too, but that's all I can say at the moment," Teske added.

At the same time, Bratches said Liberty Media remains committed to putting together a race in Miami for 2020.

"I am working closely with Stephen Ross and his team, as well as those in the relevant districts, to get the race going. We've made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot to do," he said.

(GMM)
Michael Schumacher's former manager says he has "closed the chapter" on the stricken F1 legend.

The condition of Schumacher, the most successful driver in F1 history, is basically unknown as he recovers from brain injuries at his home on Lake Geneva.

One unnamed relative has this week told the Paris Match news magazine: "When we put him in his wheelchair with a beautiful panorama view of the lake, Michael sometimes cries."

But Schumacher's former manager Willi Weber says he has been completely excluded from the great German's life by the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver's family and current management.

Weber spoke to Bunte magazine from Mallorca, where it is tipped Corinna Schumacher may move her husband to live.

"On one hand, people would be happy if Michael is in Mallorca," Weber said.

"On the other, no one knows how he is doing or whether he would notice anything about the beauty that surrounds him.

"I just wonder why his family bought an estate here. Michael never felt good in Mallorca. It was far from his dream island," he added.

"After a long mourning, I have closed the chapter on the subject of Michael, otherwise I would go crazy," said Weber.

"We had the best, most successful time together, going through thick and thin for 20 years."

(GMM)
An earthquake is set to hit the F1 driver market.

After the chequered flag waves on Sunday's Belgian grand prix, there could be a plethora of mid-season driver changes for Monza a week later.

Firstly, with Force India now renamed Racing Point, Lance Stroll is set to leave Williams and join the team now owned by his billionaire father Lawrence.

"We'll see what my father decides to do with me," Stroll, 19, said at Spa. "I hope he'll take me."

It is believed Stroll's place at Williams will be filled by reserve driver Robert Kubica.

As for 'Racing Point Force India', the driver tipped to make way for Stroll is Esteban Ocon.

The Frenchman had just got over the shock of not being signed up by Renault for 2019.

"We had a chance there and now it's gone," Ocon said at Spa.

"What's next I don't know. I leave the negotiations to my management and Toto Wolff."

The big rumour is that Ocon will actually move immediately to McLaren, ousting Stoffel Vandoorne.

"So far it's only a rumour. We'll see," Ocon said. "But if there is a chance, let's see. If there is an opportunity to stay at Force India, I'd be happy too."

Vandoorne, the potential victim of Ocon's arrival at McLaren, rejected the speculation.

"I've been close to Alonso all season. That's why I am sure that I will drive in Monza," said the Belgian.

"But in formula one you are never 100 per cent certain about your seat, even if your results are good," Vandoorne told RTBF.

(GMM)
BC Hydro has launched seven electric vehicle fast-chargers on Vancouver Island. They will allow electric vehicle drivers to travel between Ucluelet, Campbell River and Sidney without range anxiety.

The seven locations are now open to the public:

Nanaimo Superstore  Nanaimo

Qualicum Foods  Qualicum

No Frills Foods  Port Alberni

Pacific Rim Visitor Centre  Ucluelet

Courtenay Superstore  Courtenay

Campbell River Community Centre  Campbell River

Sidney Municipal Lot  Sidney

These electric vehicle fast-chargers are part of Natural Resources Canadas $1.05-million investment to BC Hydro for a total of 21 stations through the first phase of the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative to help expand the provinces electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The funding builds on the Governments $182.5-million total investment to grow Canadas electric and alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure so that using electric and alternative fuel vehicles is easier and more convenient for Canadians.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) August Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts that US crude oil production will average 10.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018 and 11.7 million b/d in 2019. If realized, both of these forecast levels would surpass the previous record of 9.6 million b/d set in 1970.





Source: US Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, August 2018

This national increase is almost entirely driven by tight oil. In particular, the Permian region in western Texas and eastern New Mexico is expected to account for more than half of the growth in crude oil production through 2019.

EIA expects Permian regional production to average 3.3 million b/d in 2018 and 3.9 million b/d in 2019. Although favorable geology combined with technological and operational improvements have contributed to the Permian region becoming one of the more economically favorable regions for crude oil production in the United States, recent pipeline capacity constraints have dampened wellhead prices for the regions oil producers. Lower wellhead prices in the region are contributing to slower growth in Permian crude oil production in 2019 compared with 2018.

EIA forecasts Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production to grow by 158,000 b/d in 2019 to average 1.9 million b/d, making this region the second-largest contributor to STEOs forecast growth from 2018 to 2019.

The forecast growth is driven by the ramping up of 2 new fields that started producing in 2017, the anticipation of 10 new fields starting up in 2018, and 6 new fields coming online in 2019. These 18 fields are expected to contribute 480,000 b/d of the total 1.9 million b/d of GOM production in 2019.

EIA expects the Bakken region to hit record-high production in 2018, averaging 1.3 million b/d and growing to 1.4 million b/d in 2019. Although the Bakken region is geographically large, spanning approximately 200,000 square miles in North Dakota and Montana, it contains fewer identified producing formations and is significantly more affected by winter weather than the Permian. The recent production growth in the Bakken has been supported by the removal of pipeline capacity constraints that affected the region before 2017.

EIA forecasts production in the Eagle Ford region in Texas to increase by about 105,000 b/d from 2018 to 2019 to average 1.5 million b/d. The Eagle Ford region covers a smaller geographic area with fewer prolific formations and fewer opportunities to drill compared with the Permian region. However, the Eagle Ford region does not have the same pipeline capacity constraints as the Permian region. EIA anticipates that producers may move away from the Permian in mid-to-late 2018 and in 2019 into the Eagle Ford while the Permian region pipeline transport is constrained.

EIA expects Niobrara and Anadarko regional production to average 670,000 b/d and 550,000 b/d, respectively, in 2019. EIA forecasts that drilling activity will continue increasing in both of these regions through 2019, although at a slightly slower rate than in 2017 and 2018.

EIA expects production in Alaska to remain steady, averaging 480,000 b/d in 2018 and 2019. In the rest of the United States, EIA expects production to decline slightly (by 81,000 b/d) as a result of drilling activity that is insufficient to offset declining output from currently producing wells. If crude oil prices continue to increase, these areas could become more profitable, spurring the pace of drilling.
Hyundai Motor Company completed South Koreas first domestic highway journey with an autonomously navigated semi-trailer truck. Hyundais Xcient truck drove approximately 40 km (25 miles) on the highway between Uiwang and Incheon, carrying a large semi-trailer simulating cargo transportation.





This successful demonstration proves that innovative autonomous driving technology can be used to transform the trade logistics industry. At this stage, a human driver is still used to control the vehicle manually in certain situations, but I think we will achieve level 4 automation soon as we are constantly upgrading our technological capability. Maik Ziegler, Ph.D., Director of Commercial Vehicle R&D Strategy Group at Hyundai Motor Company

The demonstration, which took place on 21 August, was conducted using Hyundais Xcient model truck, which has a maximum load capacity of 40 tons. This was semi-equipped with a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standard Level 3 autonomous driving system, enabling it to steer, accelerate or decelerate, and maneuver through traffic, all without human input. A human driver was on-board to take over manual control when required.

The vehicle was equipped with innovative technology features, which enabled it to maintain and change lanes during the natural flow of traffic, detect lane changes made by vehicles in front of it, navigate through tunnels, and perform a complete halt or accelerate according to road traffic.

For the demonstration the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) issued a temporary autonomous driving license for the first time to a heavy-duty truck. Hyundai Motor, in cooperation with its trade subsidiary Hyundai Glovis, utilized this opportunity to test the application of autonomous driving for use in the trade logistics industry.

The test route is Hyundai Gloviss parts transportation most frequently travelled section for vehicles heading to the Port of Incheon. This includes 40km in total of automobile highway. The truck successfully completed the journey, travelling 40km in 1 hour, while abiding strictly to the expressway speed limit of 90 km/h (56 mph).

Hyundai Motor is planning to undertake further autonomous navigation technology tests in future in a variety of areas like Busan, and plans to concentrate on its enterprise development capabilities with the aim of early commercialization of the technology.

Expressways headed toward the Port of Incheon display heavy traffic even during weekdays, due to a high quantity of goods being exported. Therefore the vehicles autonomous technology and know-how had to be sufficient enough to adapt to unprecedented situations throughout the journey.

In addition, the semi-trailer truck is approximately 3.5 times longer, 1.4 times wider, and 9.2 times heavier than the average compact sedan, when comparing to an empty trucks weight. This requires an advanced and detailed autonomous navigation system. Accordingly, Hyundai Motor equipped sensors similar to the ones featured in autonomous sedans, and additional sensors optimized for heavy-duty trucks, like a hitch angle sensor and trailer rear radar sensor.

10 different sensors, including 3 front and side-rear cameras, 2 frontal and rear radars, 3 Lidars in the front and sides, and a hitch angle sensor in the trailer coupler which computes the change in angle between the truck and trailer in real-time, allowing the truck to be safely stabilized upon sharp turns.

The data collected by each sensor collaborates with the HD map and sends information to the electronic control module for localization. The module makes accurate decisions for each situation, controlling the speed, steering, and breaking accordingly.

A new steering control system (MAHS, Motor Assist Hydraulic Steering) developed by Hyundai Mobis was also implemented, providing a precise steering mechanism that controls the steering angle depending on the decision made by the electronic control unit. This minimizes the effort required to steer the vehicle, reducing driver fatigue.
Light truck market share in Q2 2018 in California was 55.5%, up from 50.4% in Q2 2017, according to a new report released by the California Center for Jobs & the Economy. The growing consumer preference for larger vehicles continues to be a contra-trend affecting the states ability to achieve its ZEV goals, as fewer models are available in this market component at price points that would achieve broader sales.

The few models that are now offered in this class tend to be in the high end of the market, the report notes.

Consumer shifts to light trucks for the US outside California was even more pronounced, accounting for 69.6% of new light vehicle sales in this quarter.

The potential for Californias ZEV policies to have much of an effect beyond its borders are increasingly limited as a consequence, as few models are being offered for the types of vehicles consumers prefer to buy, according to the report.

The trend towards light trucks came even in spite of higher fuel prices. The average California price for regular gas in Q2 2018 was $3.66 a gallon, 21.0% higher than the prior years $3.03.
News

Marriage of 12-year-old Iraqi girl sparks outrage, mother worried

The girl's mother, who is separated from her husband, appealed through a video clip, to the people and the authorities to save her daughter, but the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said that "Sharia and the law allows the marriage of a minor by proxy of her father."






Haiti - FLASH : A fire destroys the 2 generators of the TNH in Boutilliers





The General Direction of the National Television of Haiti (TNH) deplores the fire which destroyed the generators which serve to power its diffusion site in Boutilliers. Fire that occurred in unknown circumstances early Thursday morning, according to the testimony of the site guard.



An incident likely to disrupt the smooth operation of the broadcast public service channel.



An investigation was opened so that all the light is shed on the origin of this fire.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : Moise seeks funds from the IMF, WB and IDB





On Wednesday, Jovenel Moise, accompanied by Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant, met with representatives in Haiti of the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the head of operations of the Inter-American Development Bank ( IDB) to discuss cooperation in tax and monetary matters and the support of multilateral partners for the social programs to be put in place to alleviate the needy populations.



During this meeting, Moise reiterated his Administration's commitment to deep institutional reform, to free up resources to increase national agricultural and industrial production, attract direct investment and create jobs.



However, as the Head of State had pointed out during the signing of the "Staff Monitored Program" (SMP) Reference Program with the IMF last February https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23659-haiti-economy-moise-accepts-the-program-of-control-and-the-requirements-of-the-imf.html he reminded multilateral donors that structural reforms must be accompanied by substantial social assistance measures that could improve the living conditions of the population in the short term.



It is in this perspective that the Head of State has presented a certain number of measures taken by the Government (limiting the state of life, strengthening the recovery of public revenues among others) in order to obtain more resources to finance social safety nets for the most vulnerable segments of the population.



At the end of this meeting, the multilateral partners reiterated their support for the Head of State's determination to finance the social safety nets and to pursue the structuring public investments.



In addition, representatives of the World Bank and the IDB's operations manager in Haiti have indicated their intention to provide budget support, taking into account the Government's efforts to undertake structural reforms, while considering the need to respond urgently to the expectations of the population.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Security : Haiti strengthens security at the border of Belladere





Following the border incident of 18 August at the border crossing of Carrizal (Elias Pina Province) and Belladere (Central Dept., Haiti), which resulted to 6 wounded by bullets on the Haitian side https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25284-haiti-flash-military-confrontation-at-the-border-at-least-7-victims.html , Gyler C. Delva, the resigning Minister of Communication, announced that the Government had taken measures to strengthen security in the region and reduce recurring conflicts between the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.



According to Minister Delava, more police are present at Belladere, which contributes in addition to the security of the Haitian population, to also fight against smuggling at the border which is losing the Haitian Public Treasury millions of dollars of tax revenue.



Delva also stated that a Commission had been set up to investigate these events and that the Commission is working with the Dominican authorities to see how to solve the border problems.



Still according to the Minister, a binational meeting should be held in the coming days to discuss the events.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25292-haiti-flash-shootout-at-the-border-the-details.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25284-haiti-flash-military-confrontation-at-the-border-at-least-7-victims.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Eastern Uusimaa Police Department said yesterday in a press release the incident is being treated as possible aviation misdemeanour and obstruction of an official, but stressed that the offences may be clarified during the course of the investigation.

A pre-trial investigation has been opened into an incident caused by Aino Pennanen, the administrative secretary of the Green League, aboard an aircraft at Helsinki Airport on 31 July.

Pennanen was escorted out of the aircraft by police officers after she declared that she would not sit down until a fellow passenger who she believed was being escorted out of the country has been removed from the aircraft.

She was given a verbal warning by the officers, who at the time did not know all the details of the case such as the demands of the plaintiff, reads the press release from Eastern Uusimaa Police Department.

No further information about the case will be disclosed until the pre-trial investigation has been wrapped up.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Timo Jaakonaho  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
(JTA)-You know what Oreos are. They're two delicious chocolate cookies sandwiched around a creme filling. Oreos also come in Double Stuff, vanilla, birthday cake and pumpkin spice (really).

There is debate on how they should be eaten, but everyone knows they're best when dunked in milk.

What you might not know is that Oreos are just a copycat of Hydrox, a sandwich cookie first sold in 1908, four years before Oreos appeared on shelves. Even though (or maybe because?) they were second, Oreos came to dominate the market, becoming a fixture in America's grocery stores.

But for most of the past century plus, Hydrox has held on. And at least in part it's because of the Jews.

Until a glorious day in 1998, Hydrox was the premiere kosher sandwich cookie on the market, while Oreos remained "treif," lacking a kosher heksher, or seal of approval. Growing up, I genuinely thought Hydrox cookies were knockoff Oreos produced specifically for religious Jews. Oreos were the forbidden fruit, and I still vividly remember when, shortly after they became kosher certified, my mom snagged a sleeve of Oreos from a Jewish event. We gobbled them up.

Hydrox stopped production in 2003, giving Oreo 12 years of a monopoly, give or take a 100th anniversary promotion by Hydrox's then maker, Kellogg's. A Pax Oreana, if you will. But in 2015, Hydrox, now part of Leaf Brands, sprang back like a phoenix and has been trying to duke it out with Oreo, David and Goliath style.

And now it's taking that battle to the government.

Hydrox posted on Facebook that it has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission accusing employees of Oreo's parent company, Mondelez, of blocking Hydrox from view when it stocks Oreos on supermarket shelves. The Facebook post says Mondelez uses a system called "direct store distribution" in which employees of the brand, rather than supermarket attendants, stock the food. This allows the Oreo stockers to push Hydrox aside when they place Oreo boxes on the shelves.

Loyal Hydrox customers have sent in pictures of the cookies being boxed out by Oreos, moved behind other products or otherwise obscured from customers. Hydrox claims a major supermarket chain brought up the problem at a meeting.

"We believe in competition and choice but we firmly believe the folks @Mondelez (the owners of Oreo) have been undertaking a national program to damage our brand and stop us from competing," Hydrox's posts says. "Many of you over the last few years have been great at taking pictures when you see #hydroxcookies being moved or blocked from store shelves and we really appreciate your help."

Mondelez sounds unconcerned about the complaint, telling Gizmodo that it is "confident that this accusation has no merit. The OREO brand is an iconic one, with a proud and rich history of delivering great tasting products and exciting innovations to our consumers for more than a century. This focus, and our commitment to operating with integrity, has made OREO America's favorite cookie."

So who will win, the original kosher sandwich cookie or the giant it's fighting? Only time, and maybe a government agency, will tell.
This article ran in the Nov. 18, 2016 issue of the Heritage shortly before Myrtle turned 106. She passed away on Aug. 18, 2018.

As I pulled into Myrtle Rutberg's driveway at the house she has lived in for 30-some years, her son, Gerald, greeted me at the door.

"My mother likes visitors to come in through the front door," he said as he led me to the front porch. Myrtle's dear friend Karnine greeted me at the door. Karnine stays with Myrtle and their relationship is like a mother and daughter.

Myrtle was standing on her back patio, gazing out into her backyard. She wore a royal blue dress. Her straight white hair was combed in a fashionable side sweep. She is very petite, and because of her height, she said people always thought she was younger than she was. She usually hung around with younger people, and her husband, Albert, was younger than her. Karnine and I teased her, telling her that women who marry younger men are called cougars. She laughed hardily. And even as I was talking with her, she seemed younger than her 105 years. I kept forgetting her age as she shared so many stories in such detail. She has a gift for storytelling-like painting a picture.

Myrtle Skop was born Sept. 17, 1911, in St. Louis, Mo., and she had a twin brother, Arthur, whom they called Archie.

"I have three older siblings," Myrtle shared. "My mother gave birth one and a half years apart for all three elder children. Then three years later God gave her two!" Myrtle gave a youthful giggle, which she often did as she talked about her life. Archie was born 10 minutes before she was, making her the baby of the family.

Myrtle's oldest brother, Morris Skop, became Congregation Ohev Shalom's first seminary rabbi in 1937. Two years later, when Myrtle came to Orlando, he introduced her to the congregation as his baby sister.

"When I came in, my brother announced 'here comes my baby sister!' Everybody turns around expecting to see a baby (she gleefully laughs) and here they see a 28-year-old lady!"

Myrtle treasures living in the United States. "People clamor to get into the United States. They'll do it every which way they can. I was very fortunate that my parents came here in 1904 from a small shtetl in Poland."

Her parents arrived in New York on July 4. "My mother saw those firecrackers go off and they got her very, very nervous. She said, 'Is this what America's all about?"

Her parents settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where the first three children were born. They moved to St. Louis, Mo., then back to Cleveland after the birth of the twins. Myrtle lived in Cleveland until she came to Orlando in 1939.

"These are all stories in themselves and it's hard to tell you individual stories because I'd be talking all night!" she repeatedly said throughout the interview as we changed from topic to topic.

Myrtle had just turned 18 when the Depression struck in September 1929. "We counted every penny we had because without that extra penny we couldn't buy certain items. Those weren't good memories. The song they were singing was 'Brother Can you Spare A Dime,' and they were selling apples in downtown Cleveland to make five cents. I was lucky to have a job. Men were being paid $8 a week, as was I, believe it or not."

Later, to get her to move to Florida, her brother helped her get a job at The Lerner Shop in Jacksonville. She arrived Nov. 10, 1939 and her brother contacted someone in Jacksonville to watch over her. "I was walking down the street and someone came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, asking if I was Myrtle Skop. 'How did you know?' I asked. He said because no one wears a coat and hat in Florida!"

After training in Jacksonville, she became the assistant manager and window decorator in The Lerner Shop in Daytona Beach, and soon transferred to a Lerner Shop in Orlando.

"Orlando was called the City Beautiful. And it really was the city beautiful. There were lakes all around, and wherever we went, I thought we were riding around in circles because I was forever seeing a lake!"

When her parents came to Orlando, they bought a house on Park Lake Avenue. "We used to catch the bus on Hyer Street to go downtown or we would walk. Orange Avenue was a beautiful avenue."

Her father moved a business that her twin brother owned on Park Avenue in Winter Park to the corner of East Church St. and Division St. It was called The Myrtle Shop ("after me," she interjected).

Myrtle remembered The Lerner Shop was next to Yowell Drew Ivey on the corner of Central and Orange. On the other side of Lerners was Butler Shoe Store. "Rutland's was on Jefferson and JC Penneys was across the street. What else do I have to remember?" she suddenly asked. "Oh, the stores were open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. I asked, 'Don't they have labor laws in Florida?' We had labor laws in Ohio! We were not allowed to work more than 40 hours a week!"

Some of her happiest memories of Orlando include becoming part of the Jewish community.

"We had Jewish organizations like the B'nai B'rith, women and men, two different organizations. Hadassah, and what they refer to as the Ladies Auxiliary of the Synagogue. All three were important to any Jewish person who came to Orlando. And we would join all three. I've been active in the Jewish community all through the years."

In February 1941, Myrtle met her husband-to-be, Albert Rutberg.

"I was part of a young people group-eight girls and eight boys. We called ourselves the Stags and Does. We were planning a Valentine's Party and each committee had jobs. I was on the decorating committee, making Valentine hearts to string up."

Orlando was a popular place for Jewish kids. COS was downtown on Church Street and the party was open to all the Jewish young people from all over. Albert lived in Daytona and had just purchased a car. He and some friends drove to Orlando, knowing there was to be a party at the synagogue later that evening. However, they arrived early.

As Myrtle was still decorating, a girlfriend of hers introduced Albert to her as Myrtle Skop.

"Are you the rabbi's wife?" asked Albert.

"'No! I'm the rabbi's sister!' I said. He put two and two together and figured I must be single."

He asked if he could bring her to the dance. As it turned out, Myrtle already had a date with a lieutenant from the base and she was double dating with her girlfriend, but she told Albert they could 'mingle together.'

"My girlfriend and I, we walked into the synagogue looking like a million bucks. We were dressed to the hilt-and the rest is history!"

Albert wanted to take her home. "I said no. I came with this lieutenant. I better let him take me home. But we exchanged phone numbers."

Albert asked if she would go for coffee with him around 10:30. "Oh no, I can't do that. I have to stay until the end when the lieutenant will take me home."

As it turned out, the lieutenant had to be back at base by 11 p.m.

"Well," said Myrtle laughing, "I was sorry I didn't tell him to come to the house and pick me up afterwards!"

Albert was not dissuaded. The very next day Myrtle received a seven-page letter from him.

"What did it say?" Karnine and I pressed her.

"It was a real love letter, believe me. He had fallen for me hook, line and sinker," she said straightforwardly, then added,"I think that he was more interested in the fact that I was the rabbi's sister!" she said giggling. "That impressed him! But none-the-less ..."

It was a long-distance courtship. Albert came over twice a week from Daytona to see her. A short while later, he proposed.

"The way he proposed to me-we were at Lake Estelle by the Florida Hospital and Sanitarium, and we sat on the seats along the shore of Lake Estelle. He asked me, 'How would you like to be a June bride?'"

Myrtle didn't want to be a June bride. She really wanted to get married in September. "So, when he proposed the way he did, I didn't know whether to say yes or no!"

"You didn't want to be a June bride, but you wanted to get married?" I asked.

"That's exactly what happened!" Myrtle stated.

"So, when did you get married?" I asked.

"I got married in June," she said matter-of-fact. We all laughed like school girls.

On June 15, 1941-only four months after they met-Albert and Myrtle got married at her parents' home on Park Lake Avenue with her brother, Rabbi Skop, performing the ceremony and five other rabbis in attendance.

The couple moved to Daytona and Myrtle came back to Orlando to stay with her parents when Albert was drafted into the Army. After he returned from duty after only six months ("that's a story in itself"), the Rutbergs moved back to Daytona.

During the war, the Rutbergs experienced black outs in Daytona Beach. "We used a room that was blacked out. We feared the enemy could see the smallest twinkle of light."

Myrtle recalled standing on the beach and seeing oil on the sand. "It was a reminder that ships had been blown up close to shore. Such a rude awakening," she solemnly said.

One of her happiest memories was when her twin, Archie, returned from the war. He served under Gen. Mark Clark, who came to prominence with the planning and execution of the North African invasion of November 1942 and led the capture of Rome in 1944.

"We always got together for our birthdays or we called each other. My son was eight months old when my brother came home and saw him for the first time. I was so glad to have him home."

The son whom Archie saw was Gerald who was born at Orange Memorial, now Orlando Regional Medical Center.

"We had a circumcision in a downstairs room," Myrtle recalled. "It was during Passover. They dressed up my baby on the eighth day of his life, which is when the circumcision takes place. And my mother had bought him a little bonnet for a boy. I still have that in my possession."

Archie died in 1995. "Uncle Archie was electric!" said Gerald. "During the last 20 to 25 years of his life he was a TV actor and in commercials. When I would drive to Tampa, I'd see billboards with my Uncle Archie's picture!"

Eventually the Rutbergs moved back to Orlando. They bought their first home on Yates Ave. Gerald was five years old. Reluctantly, Myrtle had to ride in a car or take a bus to COS, which was on the corner of Church Street and Eola Drive-too far from College Park. Her parents moved to Anderson St. "It was a lovely two-story house," she remembered. Later the house was moved because the east-west expressway came through.

Eventually the family moved to Kennison Drive in Orlando, and Myrtle was able to walk to shul again. COS was only about eight blocks away. "My husband drove, I walked!" she said with laughter.

"I would walk every Friday night and Saturday morning and on holidays. I did a lot of walking in my lifetime," she said, attributing all this walking to the possibility of her longevity.

"Mom enjoyed walking," said Gerald. "She would take in all the scenery and talk with people."

When Myrtle first met Albert, he was working in his brother Joe's deli in Daytona. "Everybody knew Joe and everyone thought he had an interest in the business-which he didn't. He was just a waiter."

What kind of work did Albert do? "That's a story in itself," Myrtle said. He bought a general merchandise store on Broadway Street in Oviedo. "There was a refrigerator for sale on the porch, and he bought the store!

"It was 16 miles away. Today it's simple [to get there]-from UCF it's a straight line, but at that time there was just a dirt road and my husband was up at 5:30 to get on the job by 6:30. Most customers were up early because they worked the fields."

That was also the first time Myrtle saw women wearing pants.

"I laughed," she said. "They were wearing pants under their dresses. I'd never seen anything like it! But it wasn't too long before I was doing the very same thing because you needed to cover up, especially early in the morning and you have to wear a dress to be presentable. That became the regular style at the time."

In 1972, COS broke ground to build a new synagogue, and in 1974, the new building on Goddard Street was dedicated.

"When the synagogue moved, my mother moved," said Gerald. It took a while, but she did move to Alfred Street in the late 70s, a few years after Albert died in March 1975.

"That was quite a walk from Alfred Street," Gerald stated, explaining that she had to cross Lee Road to get to the shul.

Rabbi Rudolph and Rose Adler, who lived close by, would walk with her to services.

The Adlers and Rutbergs were very close friends.

"That's a story in itself," Myrtle prefaced telling of first meeting Rabbi Adler.

"Al picked up Rabbi Adler at the airport when he first came to town. He stayed with us until the family moved here. We were close to the Adlers to the very end. My husband was his second hand and we got in on all the bar and bat mitzvahs because of the Adlers.

"Rabbi had three children -ages 9, 6 and 3. My husband picked them up on Saturday mornings and brought them to the house and we had lunch. Gerald was like a big brother to the Adler children."

What people remember most about Myrtle was learning their Torah portions for their bar or bat mitzahs from her.

There are people in the community who studied Hebrew with Myrtle whose parents and grandparents also studied Hebrew with her. She even had an adult class at Winter Park High School. When that class was terminated, she continued to teach adults in her home.

"She would have the lessons and afterward have coffee or cake and ice cream for everyone to enjoy," said Karnine, explaining that the custom was that when children used to finish learning a page in the Torah the rabbi would put a drop of honey at the bottom of a page to make learning sweet.

"That was before my time," quipped Myrtle.

"But she still made learning sweet," said Karnine.

Myrtle learned Hebrew when she lived in Cleveland. She was playing out in the yard with Archie when their mother came out and told Archie he was going to Hebrew School. They were 8  years old. Myrtle's mother looked at her and asked, "Do you want to come along?"

"Yes!" Myrtle replied. When they got to the school, Myrtle noticed a classroom full of girls and told her mother she wanted to attend Hebrew school too.

"Mother had saved enough money to enroll my brother and told me to wait until she saved enough send me," she said.

"Mother sold real estate and she got $50 for selling a house, and the builder told her he would give her $50 for each house she sold."

That's how Myrtle got to go to Hebrew school.

Teaching was a joy for Myrtle and she learned quite a few important things: "Silence is gold. Sweets are gold and silence is silver or visa versa. And for every expression there is a counter expression and I've found that is very true."

Myrtle stopped talking and sat quietly.

"Would you like a sip of water?" Karnine asked.

Myrtle sipped the water and remained quiet.

"I'm gonna have to take a break," she said. "I can't talk anymore right now."

We'd been talking for over an hour. Karnine tried to encourage her to continue.

"Do you want me to give her the whole 105 years in five minutes?" responded Myrtle to Karnine.

It was an honor to sit and listen to Myrtle Skop Rutberg share much of her life with me that day. And no, there is no way a whole 105 years of life can be shared in five minutes!

Some of Myrtle's memories came from the Orange County Library System's oral history profiles. JTracy interviewed Myrtle on Jan. 8, 2012, when she was 100 years old. For more of Myrtle's memories, visit http://www.orlandomemory.info.
Alan B. Berman, an architect responsible for scores of prominent Central Florida buildings, passed away on Aug. 10, 2018. For nearly four decades, starting in 1960-a period of rapid growth in Central Florida-Berman designed homes, office buildings, shopping centers, and hotels. His keen sense of design was put to use by several of the regions most successful real estate developers.

"Alan was a very talented architect and human being," said James Russell, a retired developer. "He made great use of space. His work and his life were honest."

Berman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 18, 1930. He was the son of George Berman and Myra Gingold, Jewish immigrants from Belarus. Berman became an only child at that age of four after his nine-year-old sister, Gloria, died.

As a young man, Berman developed a keen interest in photography and jazz. His trips as a teenager into Manhattan to see the popular music stars of the day, including Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, inspired Berman's lifelong love of jazz crooners. Berman also was an avid photographer throughout his life-delighting family and friends with images from his travels.

Berman enrolled as an undergraduate in engineering at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. When his parents retired to Miami Beach, Berman transferred to the University of Florida, where he graduated with a degree in architecture in 1952. Soon after graduating, Berman served as a captain in the United States Air Force in San Antonio, Texas, and Biloxi, Miss. As he was preparing to deploy to the Korean War, the conflict ended in July 1953.

After his discharge from the Air Force, Berman moved to Miami Beach to start his architectural career. One of Berman's first jobs in 1954 was to design the roadside sign for the Ocean Palm Motel, which was developed and owned by his father. Berman's mid-century modernist sign became a beloved local landmark.

In August 1957, Berman met Marcia Gibbs of DeLand, Fla., when their parents set them up on a blind date. He proposed marriage to Gibbs, then a student at Emory University, just six weeks after their first date. The couple married on Feb. 17, 1958, at the Elinor Beach Country Club in Ormond Beach, Fla. In 2018, Marcia and Alan celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

In 1960, the couple relocated to the Orlando area. Berman opened his architectural firm in downtown Orlando. In the ensuing four decades, Berman designed numerous award-winning buildings, including the Sheraton World Hotel at SeaWorld Orlando, hotels in Atlantic City, N.J., and Durham, N.C., and many iconic, modern, custom homes in the area.

Berman's triplex on Park Avenue, where he lived for the past 15 years, won a Grand Aurora Award-a design competition of the Southeast Building Conference, a program of the Home Builders Association. Berman also designed the Home Builder Association's Central Florida headquarters.

Berman was an active member of the American Institute of Architects. In 1981, he represented the Orlando branch in an exchange program with the Swiss Institute of Architects, which brought Berman on a tour to Switzerland, including Zurich and Geneva.

The couple raised their three children in Maitland. Vicki, an attorney, and Reid, a real estate developer and investor, live in Winter Park. Bradley, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., is a writer.

Berman retired in 2005, after which he traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Baltics, Iceland and South America with his wife and close friends, Marvin and Myrna Newman.

"His wit and his goodness were contagious," said Newman, a retired attorney and professor at Rollins College.

Berman is survived by his wife, Marcia; three children-Vicki, Reid, Bradley and his wife, Angela; brother-in-law, Gus and his wife, Arlene; and five grandchildren-Joey, Nadira, Sasha, Isaac, and Oliver.

Funeral services were held at Congregation of Reform Judaism with Rabbi Steven W. Engel officiating. Interment followed at Palm Cemetery in Winter Park.

In memory of Alan Berman, the family requests contributions to The Jewish Pavilion, 421 Montgomery Road, Suite 231, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.

Arrangements were entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando FL 32810. 407-599-1180.
As it gears up to celebrate its milestone 18th anniversary at its Gems and Jeans Gala on Oct. 28, The Jewish Pavilion and its Friends of the Pavilion Board are looking back with nostalgia and gratitude on the many dedicated and hardworking volunteers who have given so much of themselves since its earliest days. Two of its longest serving and most devoted volunteers are Elise Schilowitz and Gloria Newberger.

Schilowitz has been an active member of Orlando's Jewish community since she moved here with her husband and young children in 1971. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Forest Hills, Queens, she married Henry Schilowitz in 1962, having graduated college a year early so she could work as a teacher while he was in medical school.

After her husband completed his residency at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga., during the height of the Vietnam War, they visited Orlando and decided to settle here. Schilowitz raised her children-two sons and a daughter-and worked as the office manager in her husband's private practice in obstetrics and gynecology.

When her husband closed his practice in 2004 and went to work for Orlando's VA hospital (he retired in March at the age of 80), Schilowitz was looking to volunteer, and her friend Ruth Bernstein recommended that she join the Friends of the Jewish Pavilion Board. She jumped in with both feet and has been integral to the Pavilion's operations ever since, including joining the board of directors and serving a term as its president.

Schilowitz has made many individual visits to residents and also helped with Shabbat and holiday programs, especially during the many years her mother was a resident at Brookdale Lake Orienta and later at Oakmonte Village. She helped with programs at Savannah Court for a long time and has substituted as service leader at other living facilities. She tends to make light of her contributions, but Nancy Ludin, the Pavilion's executive director, knows how much she brings to the seniors whose lives she touches.

"She's the life of the party," said Ludin. "She comes in, she smiles, she gives everybody kisses. She's really warm and she makes people feel good about things, and she brings this light wherever she goes."

For many years, Schilowitz chaired the Pavilion's annual gala, an enjoyable evening of food, friends and fun, as well as an important source of funding for the organization's work in the community. Bringing together all the elements for such a big event takes hard work and long hours, but it's a job Schilowitz very much enjoyed.

"It's fun!" she said. "You're making parties and having a good time."

In the Pavilion's early days, before it was well known in the community, she and Friends Board member Corinne Brail worked together to get ads for the tribute book and organize the donations for the auctions. "We had very few things that were donated," Schilowitz recalled. In their effort to put those items in the most appealing light, "we made poems up for all the things that we were going to auction off."

Each year for many years, Schilowitz has stored the items for the Gala's auction at her home as they were collected over several months, devoting most of a little-used room to the growing piles. Ludin appreciates the work Schilwitz puts into documenting and organizing the items, saying that when it comes time for Gala Committee members to finalize and wrap the items, it makes that big job so much easier.

Along with longtime Friends Board member Miriam Josephs, Schilowitz also chaired the Pearls of the Pavilion Luncheon for many years. The annual event invites the Pavilion's significant donors for a fun afternoon of food and culture. Under the guidance of Schilowitz and Josephs, past themes have included an "Antiques Roadshow"-like experience, a jewelry designer, and a formal tea served on antique china.

Schilowitz enjoys her involvement with both Jewish Pavilion boards because she finds the meetings to be so pleasant. "The board members enjoy what they're doing," she said. "And they're just nice to be with." Ludin is thankful for Schilowitz's dedication to The Jewish Pavilion's mission. "Lots of her wonderful friends have bowed out from volunteering as they've aged," said Ludin, "but she's continued to serve diligently and keep up wonderful relations with everybody."

For her part, Schilowitz finds her commitment to The Jewish Pavilion to be a satisfying part of her life.

"You make people's lives happier," she noted, especially for the many people who don't have family living in town. And as she ages, she realizes that it's likely that "someday, I'm going to very happy when they visit me."

That's something that Gloria Newberger can attest to. A volunteer and Friends of Jewish Pavilion Board member since almost immediately after she moved to Orlando in 2004, she moved to Oakmonte Village's independent living building about 2 years ago and is a regular attendee of-and helper for-the very popular and well attended Jewish Pavilion programs there.

Newberger grew up in a small town in Ohio until age 12 and then in Philadelphia until college. After she married, she and her husband, Edward, moved around with their two sons to New York and the Chicago area before settling in Philly, where their daughter was born.

That daughter is Nancy Ludin, who at the time her mother moved to Orlando was the campaign director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando and was an avid Jewish Pavilion volunteer. Inspired by the Pavilion's mission and its potential to reach many seniors who need a friend, Newberger quickly became active in the organization.

Recalled Ludin, "some of the seniors she visited at the very beginning had not been visited by the Jewish community ever." The first person Newberger was sent to visit, Shirley Sonne, had been very active in the Jewish community before moving into senior living. Newberger vividly remembers the first time they met. "When I walked in the door, she said, 'I thought the Jewish community had completely forgotten me.'"

Newberger was determined to make Sonne feel like part of the community again. "My mom came every week," Ludin said. "Whatever Shirley asked for, my mother brought her. She said, 'I like gefilte fish,' my mother brought her gefilte fish; she said 'I like chopped liver,' she brought her chopped liver. She did that with many people over the years."

Newberger began visiting Regent Park several days a week to visit with Sonne and other residents. Then she started going to Savannah Court. "For over 10 years, every Monday I did a happy hour," Newberger said. Other Friends Board members began helping as well, including Susie Stone, Shirley Schoenberger and Corinne Brail. "We would visit with the residents, sing some songs, and serve refreshments," Newberger said.

Newberger's sunny personality is a big asset as she makes these visits. Ludin was often at the Savannah Court and other events and is very proud of her mother's impact: "She'd walk in the building and people who were dozing would wake up with big smiles on their faces. She'd walk around and hug everyone when she got there." When it was time to sing, said Ludin, her mother would "face each person as she sang and sing with them, then she'd move to the next person and sing with them, so they were getting individual attention. She was just wonderful with making people feel really special."

Knowing her mother's wonderful warmth, Ludin encouraged her to be a greeter at Jewish Pavilion events, along with another especially warm volunteer, Riva Shader. They took that role very seriously, said Ludin. They thanked people for coming as they came in the door, and "they hugged them and kissed them, even if they had no idea who they were," Ludin said.

They even did that at the Pavilion's Annual Fashion Show, standing at the top of the escalators at Bloomingdale's to greet guests as they arrived at the second floor. "But our fashion show wasn't the only thing going on at Bloomingdale's-some of the people were just shopping," laughed Ludin. "And these two older ladies would hug and kiss them when they got off the escalator. And they must have thought, 'Bloomingdales must be the nicest store in America! I can't believe I'm being hugged and kissed just to shop here!'"

Gloria Newberger (l) celebrates at a Jewish Pavilion Rosh Hashanah party.

Even when some of the people told them they weren't there for the fashion show, Newberger and Shader were unfazed and continued to treat them warmly. Said Ludin, "We really miss them doing that job. Nobody does it they way that they did it-it takes a special talent to hug a stranger."

Although Newberger no longer drives since moving to Oakmonte, her volunteering continues. She walks over to Oakmonte's assisted living and memory care buildings twice a month to help with Shabbat programs and looks forward to those days. In memory care, "they don't have that much to say sometimes," she said. "But when you start singing songs like 'Ain Keloheinu,' they do come around, and they seem to look forward to it."

Newberger has enjoyed her Jewish Pavilion volunteering very much and values the time she has devoted to it. "It's why I haven't played cards-I was so busy going to these various things," she laughed. "I felt very good about it."
The first mention in JTA of the Hebrew word hasbarah was in 1988, at the height of the first intifada. The article focused on Israelis and American Jews and their deep concern that the media were distorting the unrest and showing the Israeli military in a bad light.

The answer, interviewees agreed, was better hasbaraha Hebrew word, explained the author (OK, it was me), whose meaning falls somewhere between information and propaganda.

Israel has never actually looked at hasbarah as an integral part of policymaking, said Dan Pattir, a former press secretary to prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin.

Fast forward 30 years. Writing last week in the Los Angeles Times, Noga Tarnopolsky makes a convincing case that Israels public diplomacy efforts are flawed, unprofessional, scattershot and out of touch. Critics tell her that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies too much on social-media videos to defend Israel. They say its military spokespeople are ill prepared to answer questions about controversial events, like Mays deadly riots on the border with Gaza.

There is... no single authority that coordinates and supervises these various activities, complains Michael Oren, who is (wait for it) Israels deputy minister in charge of public diplomacy.

The critics, however, dont make a convincing case why any of this matters.

Complaints about Israels hasbarah efforts are as regular and ritualistic as the Jewish holidays. Without answers from a strong PR campaign, the theory goes, the litany of anti-Israel charges gains traction.

But among whom? Israel remains hugely popular among the American public. According to Gallup, 64 percent of the U.S. population sympathizes with the Israelis over the Palestinians, and only 19 percent say they sympathize more with the Palestinians. Congress remains firmly pro-Israel. Yes, a Pew survey in January showed a wide partisan divide over Israel, with 79 percent of Republicans and only 27 percent of Democratic sympathizing more with Israel than with the Palestinians. But the poll questions forced respondents to choose between Israelis and Palestinians (why not both?), and the results may have reflected only the deeply partisan nature of American politicsnot anything you can hasbarah away.

Despite wide publicity and Jewish consternation, the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement hasnt taken root outside the far left. As of June, 25 states have enacted anti-BDS laws. In fact, the whole point of BDS is that Israel has a positive image that needs to be undermined. You wouldnt know about BDS if celebrities didnt regularly include Israel on their world tours.

The charge of pinkwashingthat Israel touts its relatively progressive record on LGBT rights to distract the world from the occupationtargets what the BDS folk think is a positive and effective means of hasbarahotherwise, why would they bother? And paradoxically, every charge of pinkwashing only reminds the casual reader of Israels strong LGBT record.

Two kinds of critics, often overlapping, criticize Israels hasbarah.

The first is convinced that the media have in it for Israel. Such critics also hold the mistaken notion that the medias role is to tell a story as they would have it told. Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hardly perfect, and examples abound of stories becoming stories only when Palestinians are the victims, or headlines that ignore cause (a terror attack) for effect (the Israelis response). In general, however, Palestinians have a point when they complain that the media often shape the narrative according to an Israeli point of view, depicting Palestinian life with an Israeli gaze. If you want to see what coverage of the conflict would look like otherwise, read a pro-Palestinian website like Electronic Intifada or a far-left Israeli site like +972. Its nothing like the Israel coverage you see in the mainstream media.

The other kind of critic blames unpopular policy on bad hasbarah. Good hasbarah, they insist, could presumably have forestalled the brouhaha over the Israeli nation-state law (a brouhaha, Id wager, that most Americans never even heard about). That story got legs not because of a bad marketing rollout, but because the law was a policy decision that fed directly into a perception that Israels right-wing government was growing less democratic and more nationalistic.

Passage of the law capped a week in which the Knesset allowed the education minister to bar groups critical of government policies from speaking in public schools, made it harder for Palestinians to win land disputes and blocked single men and gay couples from having children through surrogacy. More broadly, Netanyahus close ties with President Donald Trump may be understandable and justifiable, as is his outreach to European nationalists, but there is a political and PR price to be paid for such embraces.

Netanyahu has good instincts for English-speaking audiences, and sometimes he realizes that a positive pitch can only get you so far. In the past few weeks, left-wing activists have complained that Israeli airport security have detained them and asked specifically about their activism and their political beliefs. On Monday, after the liberal Zionist writer Peter Beinart said he was stopped and interrogated, Netanyahu issued a statement saying it was an administrative mistake, adding that Israel is the only country in the Middle East where people voice their opinions freely and robustly.

The latter statement is a staple of pro-Israel hasbarah. Its a terrific policy, as long as it has the added benefit of being true. But when actions prove unpopular, PR wont save you. The root meaning of hasbarah is explanation, not alchemy.
(JNS)U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday the founding of the Iran Action Group, which will be responsible for directing, reviewing and coordinating all aspects of the State Departments Iran-related activity.

For nearly 40 years, the regime in Tehran has been responsible for a torrent of violent and destabilizing behavior against the United States, our allies, our partners, and indeed, the Iranian people themselves, said Pompeo.

Our hope is that one day soon we can reach a new agreement with Iran. But we must see major changes in the regimes behavior, both inside and outside of its borders. The Iranian people and the world are demanding that Iran finally act like a normal nation.

He added that the Iran Action Group will drive daily progress on these objectives and I hope do much more.

Benham Ben Taleblu, an Iran analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told JNS that he views the creation of the group as a positive sign that the United States is prioritizing the Iran issue.

The need for an Iran action groupor any entity specializing in streamlining, coordinating and implementing Iran policyis due to the challenge of balancing the myriad threats posed by the Islamic Republic, as well as the attention the president and other administration officials have rightly given to that threat, explained Ben Taleblu.

He added that there have been White House czars before, study groups, as well as unconfirmed reports about Secretary Pompeo having a similar group to deal with the North Korea problem set in his previous government position [as CIA director]. The most important takeaway here is that its a good thing when the U.S. prioritizes assets and resources towards a problem set.

Hopefully, the Iran Action Group will strive to empower and better stand with the Iranian people as they contest the clerical regime in Tehran, said Ben Taleblu.

Brian Hook, who had served as director of policy planning under Pompeo and his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, will lead the initiative as the Special Representative for Iran, reporting directly to the secretary of state, Pompeo said.

Since the presidents decision to withdraw from the Iran deal in May, Brian has played an important role in shaping our strategy of maximum diplomatic and economic pressure, said Pompeo. We are going to continue to rely on him and his team to lead our efforts to counter the Iranian regimes malign activity, to support Iranian voices and to galvanize international support for our efforts.

Hook accused Iran on Wednesday of being a force for instability and violence, and said he would be open to talks, but added that American efforts to sanction Tehran economically and diplomatically would continue until its leadership changed course.

The move by Pompeo also comes as America reimposed sanctions on Aug. 6 after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May.

The creation of the Iran Action Group indicates that the Trump administration seeks to mobilize all of Washingtons institutional resources to advance its maximum pressure campaign against the regime in Iran, Tzvi Kahn, senior Iran Analyst at FDD, told JNS. At the same time, it also sends a resolute message to Tehran that the United States will remain unrelenting in its efforts to change the mullahs behavior.

Kahn added, In other words: Dont underestimate us.
On Sunday, Aug. 26, Jewish National Fund and The Roth Family JCC will host a town hall meeting about the Gaza border crisis. JNF is bringing three residents of Gaza border communities to Florida, to share their personal stories of living under attack, with hundreds of incendiary kites, balloons, and rockets steadily raining down on them. While there will not be a live event in Orlando, JNF will be live-streaming the event from Miami at The Roth Family JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave., from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Attendees will hear about the needs in their communities and the issues they face on the ground: their experiences running to bomb shelters and sleeping in safe rooms, their fears of a ruined economy, and their challenges dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder -both their children's as well as their own.

The Israeli speakers are:

 Michal Uziyahu, the assistant to the mayor of the Eshkol Regional Council, which shares some 65 kilometers of border with Gaza. She has witnessed firsthand the effects of trauma stemming from rocket fire and terrorism.

 Sarit Khanoukaev, a 21-year old young professional who was born and raised in Sderot, less than a mile from the Gaza border. Today, she works in her hometown for counseling at risk-youth as well as young children impacted by PTSD.

 Yedidya Harush, a representative from the Halutza communities and the entire Gaza Envelope region. Harush was born and raised in the community of Atzmona in Gush Katif and his family relocated to Halutza after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. He served in one of Israel's elite military units, the 890th Paratroopers Brigade.

This barrage of terror has destroyed nearly 10,000 acres of agricultural land and forests in Israel that people rely on as their main source of income and economic development for the region. Families and their children have been confined to bomb shelters, and PTSD is impacting residents throughout the region.

"Unfortunately, as the danger increased over the last 3.5 months, the Gaza Envelope residents watched their region become largely reduced to an ecological disaster area. They are running to bomb shelters and safe rooms as rocket alerts blare and it's evident that the work of our Task Force is more important than ever," said Betsy Fischer, chair of the Gaza Envelope Task Force. "We are thrilled that Jewish National Fund-USA is taking on the bold move to bring residents from the region who will cross the country and share their stories about what life on the border with Gaza is like during this most difficult time."

Please note that for security purposes, government-issued photo identification will be required for entry. All bags are subject to search and absolutely no backpacks or large bags will be allowed.
A hostel in Jerusalems Old City has published a list of haters of Israel who have been banned because of crimes committed against the Jewish people, drawing derision and ridicule from those blacklisted.

The Jerusalem Heritage House describes itself as an institution that provides warm and comfortable accommodations for Jewish travelers in the heart of the Old City for a nominal fee. It boasts of having hosted more than 60,000 guests since 1985.

Posted on Twitter by journalist Jacob Kornbluh, the list includes figures such as comedian Jon Stewart, politician Bernie Sanders, former Obama administration ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and actress Bette Midler. Also banned are members of the media including the staffs of The Times of Israel, Haaretz, CNN and The New York Times, as well as the heads of the Anti-Defamation League and the Reform movement.

The Jerusalem Heritage House hung up when contacted by a Jerusalem Post reporter.

Members of the Israeli press corps responded with sarcasm, with The Times of Israels Judah Ari Gross tweeting Shucks, no Jerusalem Heritage House for me and The Jerusalem Posts Amy Spiro joking that Bette Midler has been banging on the doors of the Jerusalem Heritage House for hours begging to be let inside.

In response, Daniel Sugarman of the Jewish Chronicle tweeted at Spiro to be quiet, jokingly inquiring if she wanted to get the Jerusalem Post on the list too.

Finding that his outlet was listed above other organizations on the list, Times of Israel Deputy Editor Joshua Davidovich sarcastically tweeted Were #8 Wooooh! Suck it, @haaretzcom and @ADL_National.
Ronald Lauder speaking next to a lit menorah at a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Poland, April 19, 2018.

(JTA)-It's gotta hurt when the guy who used to fund your political career writes two op-eds criticizing you in The New York Times.

Benjamin Netanyahu would know-that's what's happening to him right now.

On Monday, Netanyahu was the target of a scathing column by Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir who heads the World Jewish Congress. Lauder lamented Israel's recent nation-state law, which Netanyahu defends as a safeguard of Israel's Jewish character but critics see as a slap in the face to the country's minorities. Lauder wrote that Israel's turn to the nationalist right is betraying its, and the Jewish people's, commitment to democratic, humanistic ideals.

"The Jews of the new era have fused our national pride and religious affiliation with a dedication to human progress, worldly culture and morality," Lauder wrote. "Conservatives and liberals, we all believe in a just Zionism and a pluralistic Judaism that respects every human being. So when members of Israel's current government unintentionally undermine the covenant between Judaism and enlightenment, they crush the core of contemporary Jewish existence."

It's the second time Lauder has taken to the pages of The Times to lambaste Netanyahu's agenda. In March, he lamented the demise of the two-state solution under Netanyahu and the power of Orthodox parties in Israel, warning that "[b]y submitting to the pressures exerted by a minority in Israel, the Jewish state is alienating a large segment of the Jewish people."

Lauder may fear Netanyahu's policies now. But without Lauder's support, It's possible Netanyahu never would have been prime minister at all.

In 1996, the first time Netanyahu ran for the office, he was a major underdog facing a 30-point deficit to incumbent Shimon Peres. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's prime minister, had been assassinated months earlier by a Jewish extremist opposed to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Beyond the national sympathy for Rabin's Labor Party, some saw Netanyahu as complicit in the incitement that led to the assassination. A month beforehand, he participated in an anti-Rabin rally where some people waved photos of Rabin in an S.S. uniform and chanted that he was a traitor. It was Peres' election to lose.

Enter Lauder, a Netanyahu ally since the man nicknamed Bibi was Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s. Lauder reportedly was a major donor to Netanyahu's 1996 run. More crucial, he brought Republican campaign strategist Arthur Finkelstein to work on the campaign.

Finkelstein came up with the slogan "Peres will divide Jerusalem" in peace negotiations and it worked. A stark attack ad, complete with a black screen, red text and ominous narration, warned that Peres had failed while a Netanyahu victory would mean a "secure peace." A string of suicide bombings in the weeks before the election damaged the public's faith in Peres, and Netanyahu won in a shocking upset, beating Peres by 1 percent.

Lauder remained in Netanyahu's corner for more than a decade, at one point even offering to buy every unsold copy of one of Netanyahu's books. In 1998, Netanyahu enlisted Lauder to pass on sensitive messages to then-Syrian President Hafez Assad in a failed attempt to broker a peace pact.

During Netanyahu's 1999 re-election campaign, when Lauder chaired the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the mogul praised Netanyahu's economic policies in a speech to the Shalem Center, which some took as an endorsement of his candidacy.

Police investigating Netanyahu for corruption reportedly questioned Lauder last year about gifts he has given the prime minister.

So why the falling-out? In 2011, Israeli Channel 10 aired an unflattering investigation into Netanyahu's wife, Sara, accusing her of an inappropriately extravagant lifestyle. Lauder has a partial stake in the channel, but refused to pressure Channel 10 to drop the segment.

In the meantime, Bibi got a new benefactor: Sheldon Adelson. In 2007, the casino mogul and Republican mega-donor threw his heft behind Netanyahu. Adelson funds Israel Hayom, a free daily newspaper that supports the prime minister. Adelson also donated to President Donald Trump's campaign, helping bridge the two leaders.

Since Trump took office, Lauder reportedly has tried to use his rapport with Trump, Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to restart peace talks. But the effort so far has gone nowhere.

So now Lauder has taken twice to the op-ed pages of The New York Times, slamming the man he once helped bring to power.

"Israel is a miracle," Lauder wrote on Monday. "The Jews of the diaspora look up to Israel, admire its astonishing achievements and view it as their second home. However, today some wonder if the nation they cherish is losing its way."
and United with Israel

US President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday, which includes $550 million in assistance to Israel and temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between Washington and Ankara, which is currently holding an American pastor hostage, among other political moves.

The $717 billion Act includes a bipartisan measure honoring a decade-long Memorandum of Understanding between America and Israel, with the US giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish state.

The NDAA, titled the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for 2019, authorizes funds for research and development pertaining to weapon-defense systems, including the Iron Dome, Davids Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 that help Israel defend against missile and rocket threats.

Additionally, the law provides $50 million for joint US-Israeli work on counter-tunnel technology, which has emerged as a major security threat to Israel in recent years from the Palestinian Gaza-based terror group Hamas.

Facing constant threats on its borders, Israel is forced to spend more on defense as a percentage of GDP than any other nation in the industrialized world.

The vast majority of the security assistance is spent purchasing American products, and therefore the aid is essentially an investment in the US economy.

The annual military blueprint also temporarily blocks the US delivery of the F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in response to the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, whom the country accuses of participating in the failed 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Jewish worshipers cover themselves with prayer shawls as they pray in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, during the Cohen Benediction priestly blessing at the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Oct. 8, 2017.

(JNS)-The future of prayer at the Western Wall has become one of the most contentious issues among Diaspora Jewry in the past year, mainly as a result of the Israeli government's June 2017, suspension of a plan, which would have changed the status quo at one of Judaism's holiest site.

Leaders of Diaspora Jewry from the non-Orthodox streams, along with the Women of the Wall organization, a group that holds monthly controversial prayer services at the Western Wall, were enraged by the last-minute shelving of the proposal.

The plan had suggested enlarging and solidifying the current temporary egalitarian prayer section constructed in 2013 near Robinson's Arch on the south side of the wall, while creating a common opening from the main Western Wall plaza to make the entrance more prominent. At the same time, a joint committee of Reform, Conservative and non-Orthodox female representatives was established to oversee the area.

Yet while the issue of Western Wall prayer generated such strong emotions in the Diaspora and within sectors in Israel that work directly with Diaspora Jewry, why has the Israeli public as a whole been substantially less committed to-in fact, downright unenthusiastic about-changing the status quo?

The American Jewish Committee's 2018 groundbreaking survey on the attitudes of American and Israeli Jews shows that while 73 percent of American Jews, a strong majority, favor providing a space near the Western Wall for mixed-gender prayer, with just 21 percent opposed, within Israeli Jewry that statistic was 42 percent in favor with 48 percent opposed.

'Resentment on core issues'

Knesset member Michael Oren, deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office, says that he is in the midst of a major undertaking, researching why the issue of prayer at the Western Wall isn't a burning issue for average Israelis.

He tells JNS that while he believes that most Israelis feel there should be a recognized egalitarian section at the Western Wall, it's not something they are passionate about. He points out that 100,000 Israelis joined a rally in Tel Aviv in support of surrogacy rights for male gay couples last week, but asks rhetorically, "How many would come out for a rally in support of Reform/Conservative rights at the Kotel [Western Wall]? Maybe a couple dozen."

Oren adds that while many in Israel took issue with various aspects of the recently passed Nationality Law, including wording when it comes to Jewish settlements and minority rights, "there wasn't any real discussion in Israel over Article Six," which discusses non-Israeli Jews.

The third bullet point in Article Six states that "the State shall act to preserve the cultural, historical and religious heritage of the Jewish people among Jews in the Diaspora," implying that the rights of Diaspora Jews while in Israel weren't covered under the law.

Oren explains that the original text didn't say "Diaspora," but included the phrase "among Jews wherever they are." It was revised to include the word due to pressure from ultra-Orthodox Knesset parties. He says "there was no interest [in fighting] to make a change back to the original text," proving Israeli indifference on these issues, including prayer the Western Wall for non-Israelis, most whom are affiliated with the non-Orthodox movements.

Oren feels that it is his responsibility to awaken the Israeli public on the importance of these topics, though he realizes his goal is difficult; the divide between Israelis and Diaspora Jewry on many issues is currently wide.

"There is resentment here on core Israeli issues, such as the Iranian nuclear deal and the U.S. moving its embassy to Jerusalem, because they [U.S. Jews] backed the first and opposed the second," he says.

Oren gives several other examples supporting this schism, but feels passionately that Israelis "have a responsibility and should be working with Diaspora Jewish movements from all streams to strengthen Jewish identify and promote aliyah," among other issues.

'Changing what they know is unacceptable'

Rabbi Ken Spiro, a historian and a licensed tour guide from the Israel Ministry of Tourism, says that the bottom line regarding the attitude of the majority of Israelis about prayer at the Kotel and why there isn't a significant outcry for change is that "Israelis, in general, are more traditional than Jews in the Diaspora."

He explains that the major difference between Israel and the Diaspora is that in the Jewish state, there is a large population of Sephardim (Jews from the Arab world) who are generally more traditional and historically have had no exposure to Reform or Conservatism Judaism-movements that originated in Western European-as well as American Ashkenazi Jewish communities of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Spiro says most traditional or Orthodox Israelis "want to preserve status quo; that's what's normal for them. Changing what they know is 'unacceptable,' as it is a departure from the long-accepted practices of the past."

He believes that having separate sections for genders in synagogue is a long-accepted practice, noting the old joke about Israelis and synagogue attendance: "The shul I don't go to is Orthodox."

Ran Baratz, former director of communications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says the reason Israelis are less interested in creating change at the Western Wall is due to the "Orthodox or traditional attitude of most Israelis." He cites anecdotal proof in "the fact that the large majority of the visitors to pray separately, while the mixed [egalitarian] section is mostly empty."

This leads Baratz to state that "this means that the drama [about the Western Wall] is in essence symbolic rather than real, and people are more tolerant to real-life problems and less tolerant in regard to symbolic battles."

'It is practically empty 365 days a year'

One Jerusalemite who feels that it is unnecessary to change the status quo is Joshua Wander, a public-relations consultant and Temple Mount activist who lives on the Mount of Olives in the eastern side of the city. Wander has shared videos on social media of a completely empty egalitarian section of the Western Wall, entirely free of worshippers.

"It is practically empty 365 days a year he says. If you go there any day of the year, you will find it abandoned," he says.

To be fair, the entrance can often be overlooked, and many visitors simply don't know it's even there.

Wander adds that those who want to change the arrangements, "will never be satisfied with what they are given. Their goal is to breakdown what they refer to as the 'Orthodox monopoly of the Kotel.' "

Wander has also been to the wall during the monthly prayer sessions held on Rosh Chodesh (the new month) by the Women of the Wall, whose members often don phylacteries and wear prayer shawls, and attempt to sneak over Torah scrolls from the men's section to be used in their services. Sometimes, those gatherings lead to verbal confrontations and scuffles with others at prayer, along with conflicts with the authorities in charge of keeping the peace.

He says that "what they are doing is making a mockery of the Western Wall. This is clearly a publicity stunt."

Wander tempers his word by adding, "I'm sure there are members of the group who are sincere, but it's clear from the 'scene' that they are trying to make a statement. Unfortunately, that statement is very offensive to the vast majority of visitors to the Kotel, who are not interested in a fight, but in a spiritual uplifting experience. Their [Women of the Wall's] scene takes away from that."

While the full government plan for the Western Wall remains frozen, earlier this month Netanyahu himself was approved to head a ministerial committee to implement part of the plan to expand the current egalitarian site thus creating a permanent mixed prayer space.

As JNS reported, Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev, who originally headed the panel along with Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, both resigned from the committee in protest over its mission.

But as Rabbi Susan Silverman, a member of Women of the Wall, has said: "Whether Miri Regev stays on the committee or leaves the committee is incidental."

Silverman, an American native who lives in Jerusalem, says Regev "is part of the problem in the sense that the people in power in our government are doing everything they need to do to keep themselves in power without a sense of vision for the active, liberal, vibrant democracy that we could be."

While the resignation of the ministers from the committee caused further uproar among the non-Orthodox spiritual leaders of the various branches of Judaism in the Diaspora, once again, the reaction by the average Israeli was muted. Netanyahu may or may not succeed in fulfilling the committee's mandate, but it seems that for now, most Israelis won't be actively lobbying for change.
How would you feel if your child came home from school and said that he/she had to memorize and recite the Apostles Creed? The Apostles Creed is a statement of faith that many Protestant Christians recite in church every Sunday.

What if your child was required to make rosary beads for a class art project and recite the Hail Mary prayer, commonly called the Ave Maria or Angelic Salutation, a traditional Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

By refusing to do the art project or recite the creed or prayer in class, your child would receive a failing grade on that portion of the course.

My hope is that you would be furious and youd call the teacher, the superintendent, the school board, the media and demand to know why these religious beliefs are being taught in a public school. After all, we do have the protection of the Establishment Clause, dont we?

The establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment concerning public schools, simply put means this: Neither a state nor the federal government can force nor influence a person to... profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.

Let me explain that it is constitutionally permissible for public schools to teach about religions. In fact, religion plays a significant part in world history. Many cultures were developed based on religious valuesour United States was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. However, it is unconstitutional for public schools to promote religious beliefs.

The Clause explains that schools may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view: Teaching religion amounts to religious indoctrination or practice and is clearly prohibited in public schools. Teachers must be extremely sensitive to respect, and not interfere with, a students religious beliefs and practices. Students must not be encouraged to accept or conform to specific religious beliefs or practices. A program intended to teach religion, disguised as teaching about religion, will be found unconstitutional.

So, we can relax. Right? Public schools cant make students create prayer beads or memorize the Apostles Creed or make Muslim prayer rugs. That would be forcing children to entertain a religious belief. To be clearchildren in public schools are not making prayer beads or reciting the Apostles Creed.

But waitwhat has been going on in public schools for a number of years? Tenth graders in Seminole and Orange counties are being told to recite the shahadathe Muslim profession of faith. They are learning the Five Pillars of Islam. They are not learning about the history of Islam or its spread across the Middle East. Students used to have to make a prayer rug, but from what I understand, they no longer are required to do that art project (thanks to parents outrage).

Back to the shahada, this is a serious problem. Muslims take this statement of faith very seriously. I will not state it (ever) but in explanation, it says that their god is the only god and their messenger is the only messenger. This is a statement said by those who wish to convert to Islam.

Students in Seminole and Orange county must recite this for a grade. If students refuse to recite it and object because they do not believe this statement, a failing grade can be incurred.

Ask someone on the Seminole School Board about this, and the topic is down played. And if students in 10th grade are being taught Islam, where is the balance with other religions? Oh, they learn about Judaism and Christianity in seventh grade. So, if a student wanted to do a religious comparison, hed have to recall what he learned in seventh grade?

Libby Hilsenrath of New Jersey is boiling mad at the Chatham School District and Board of Education, and she is suing because of the teaching of Islam (not as a belief but as facts) to her seventh-grade son in his World Cultures and Geography class.

Hilsenrath had a more serious problem. Her son was required to view two videos on YouTube, Intro to Islam Video and The 5 Pillars of Islam, that she claimed were an explicit and direct call to the children for conversion to the religion of Islam. Were talking about public schools here!

The Chatham School District tried to have the claim dismissed, but federal Judge Kevin McNulty refused to dismiss the lawsuit, stating the untested scenario merits further exploration.

https://gellerreport.com/2018/06/islam-is-school-lawsuit.html/

I shared this news article because this study of Islam isnt happening only in Florida. It is across the country through the distribution of textbooks published by Pearson Education, a British-owned education publishing company.

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder of the nonprofit organization Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, recently spoke in Orlando about corruption in school textbooks. She enlightened the audience comprised of Christians and Jews about the world history, geography and social studies textbooks distributed by Pearson Publishers to public schools across the country. The mission statement of this publisher is to change the way America thinks, by indoctrinating children to globalization standards.

Do parents have a say in what their children are being taught in public schools? One drastic measure would be to have a tort lawsuit brought up to the school board stating this teaching of Islam must be removed, as Hilsenrath is doing in New Jersey. Another measure, certainly doable by all parents right now, is to read your childrens textbooks, see what they are being taught. Discuss the material and reinforce your views and beliefs with your children.

There is a lot at stake here.
(JNS)There is two-stage subversion project at work against Israel and its Zionist-base ideology. The first stage seeks to cozy up, in a sense, and to equalize, falsely, two movements: Zionism and Palestinianism. If we are equal, then we are the same.

Here is a first-stage formulation:

...you [Israel] will never be free until the Palestinians are...

That has an emotional as well as philosophical/moral message. We are just like you. And for you to be really you, we must be we.

If that reads a bit confused, that is the point. Who among our younger generation of students and young adults will not be taken by that phraseology?

The second stage, pushed after they have confounded and weakened the support for Israel and Zionism, is the type of freedom/liberation they intend to achieve?

Having unmoored their target audience from Jewish history, our religion and ethnic community national identity and the chronicles of the Jewish connection with Eretz-Yisrael (the Land of Israel) they move in for the kill, literally. They are talking about eliminationism. This is the prologue from the National Committee for the Heads of the Arab Local Authorities in Israels recent The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel.

We are the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, the indigenous peoples, the residents of the States [sic! we dont have two states yet] of Israel, and an integral part of the Palestinian People and the Arab and Muslim and human Nation.

It continues:

Israel is the outcome of a settlement process initiated by the Zionist-Jewish elite in Europe and the west and realized by Colonial countries contributing to it and by promoting Jewish immigration to Palestine, in light of the results of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Are they truly indigenous? Where else are there Palestinian people? Or are those the refugees from 1948? How many nations are there? Arab, Muslim and human?

Isnt all that, though, an echo of the Palestine National Covenant?

Article 1:

Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation.

Article 2:

Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.

To highlight how they first establish equality between Zionist and Palestinian, ask yourselves if you could imagine the Knesset adding to that Jewish Nationality Bill this, from that Palestinian Covenant (original wording crossed out):

Article 7:

Jews Non-Jews of Palestinian Land of Israel origin are considered Palestinians Israelis if they are willing to live peacefully and loyally in Palestine Israel.

What is prohibited to we Jews/Zionistsand labeled imperialist, colonialist, etc.is quite permitted to the Arabs-called-Palestinians. That the Arabs in the seventh century were imperialists, colonialists, and yes, even occupiers, is ignored.

And therein lies the deadly trap.

First, they attack ideologically. Then they present a false history and reality. And after that, they make their seemingly logical demands, which are but a repeat of the Mufti and Arafats denial and destruction program.

Another declaration of national essence of the Arabs of Israel, the Haifa Document, refers to their identity truncated into a misshapen Israeli Arab one. Composed by so-called elite intellectuals, they cannot break free from a century-old misreading of Jewish national identity as well as a corruption of the historical record:

Towards the end of the 19th century, the Zionist movement initiated its colonial-settler project in Palestine. Subsequently, in concert with world imperialism and with the collusion of the Arab reactionary powers, it succeeded in carrying out its project, which aimed at occupying our homeland and transforming it into a state for the Jews.

They, too, engage in revolutionary progressive language, writing of an

historic reconciliation that requires... Israel to recognize the historical injustice that it committed against the Palestinian people through its establishment, to accept responsibility for the Nakba... recognizing the Right of Return... and recognizing the rights of Palestinian citizens in Israel, which derive from being a homeland minority.

And by homeland, they mean Israel is really Palestine. And it will eventually, they intend, replace Israel.

Our Jewish university student, our young adult and all too often our Jewish-establishment lay leadership are lured by such language and cannot grasp what is developing. And they are quite upset at Israels chutzpah not to be, in any verbal formulation and in any practical sense, to yield before such eliminationist programming.

And if you fellow Jews feel uncomfortable or even betrayed by our behavior, well forgive you in the end.

Yisrael Medad is an American-born Israeli journalist and author.
(JNS)When security breaches threaten airports, theres not much doubt about who is usually called in to deal with the situation. Israels prowess in dealing with threats to its borders, and especially its air-transportation system, is legendary.

What makes their methods so reliable?

Leaving aside the reputation for toughness, smarts and facial-analysis techniques that the Jewish states security services have cultivated both inside airports and during covert operations, its actually something that doesnt require much derring-do: a willingness to be politically incorrect.

In stark contrast to methods used in the United States, the Israelis practice what Americans call racial profiling without apology.

Which is why the current dustup about the questioning that liberal American Jewish writer Peter Beinart got when entering Israel recently made no sense. That said, however foolish the questioning of groups and individuals critical of the Jewish state may be, it shouldnt, as Beinart clearly intends, cause Israel to re-examine its approach to security.

In this context, racial profiling means security personnel are trained to look for the types of people and behavior that raise red flags. While personnel from the Transportation and Security Agency at U.S. airports are as likely to single out an elderly grandmother or a mother with a baby for special scrutiny as anyone else, the Israelis focus their attention on the types of people who are more likely to be terrorists.

Israelis ask pointed questions of all visitors to the country to ensure that they are who they say they are. Inevitably, that also means they single out people based on ethnicity and ageto take just two of the most prominent indicators of possible troublefor questioning or searches. In practice, that means that younger males who are Palestinian Arabs and/or Muslims are a lot more likely to get the third degree from Israeli security personnel than that proverbial harmless grandmother or nursing mother.

That strikes some as unfair. But Israels results, especially when compared to that of other security services that dont follow the same procedures, are outstanding.

Palestinian terrorists continue to strike whenever they can at vulnerable Israeli targets. But Israels transportation system, which is normally the weak point in any nations defenses, remains secure. Thats because trained security people have learned how to spot problems and are unashamed to single out the types who are most likely to commit mayhem. And they have continued doing so, even though it has earned the country a reputation for being unfriendly to Palestinian and Muslim passengers and tourists.

It also puts the controversies engendered by Israeli officials who have subjected people like Beinart or Simone Zimmerman, the co-founder of the anti-Zionist IfNotNow group to interrogations when entering the country, in a different context.

Israeli security is smart enough to know that even if his views demonstrate a shocking ignorance of the realities of the Middle East, as well as staggering self-regard, Beinart is no security threat. The same is true of Zimmerman, even though her views are odious.

While Beinarts account of an hour spent answering questions from what appears to have been a not-terribly-bright Israeli official when he arrived to attend a family simcha was overly dramatic, its equally obvious that the only purpose of such encounters that focus on politics is intimidation, not security.

These incidents are likely the result of an ill-advised law passed last year in which Israel banned BDS activists from entering the country. The legislation did nothing to enhance Israels security, but it does allow people whose ill intent is plain to play the martyr. Keeping them out in this manner does the Jewish state more harm than letting them wander about the country they want to boycott. It is far from unprecedentedeven for democraciesto keep out people who advocate their overthrow, such as Americas longstanding ban on Communists. But terrorism is the work of terrorists not peddlers of bad or even repugnant ideas.

Thats why Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is right to take notice of the Beinart incident. What happened to the liberal journalist was wrong. And if publicizing it leads to a crackdown on out-of-control security personnel who have been playing the inquisitor with American liberals who dont like the countrys democratically elected prime minister and government, instead of just worrying about potential terrorists, Israel will be the better for it.

The problem here is that in writing about his ordeal, Beinarts real purpose is not just to avoid similar incidents. To the contrary, he understands thatpetty harassment asidehe was in no danger of being locked up for his beliefs because as an American Jew and a well-known journalist, even the dimmest of border officials understood he posed no threat. As he put it, his national, religious and class privilege was such that he was never frightened.

What Beinart wants is to ensure that Palestinians also arent subjected to tough questioning, no matter whether they fit the racial profile of a potential terrorist. That is where he should lose the argument with anyone who cares about protecting Israel.

While this incident plays into left-wing narratives about Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump trashing democracy, there is a difference between wrongful harassment of political foes and smart policies that focus on actual threats.

While Beinart likes to complain about the decline of Israeli democracy, his real beef with Israel is that Israelis who share his views about the peace process havent won an election in 20 years. Moreover, the majority of Israelis not only disagree with him, they also sleep better knowing that those who are given the job to protect them are doing it without worrying about being politically correct.

Thats why Netanyahu should make sure that those who have that job stop playing politics, which inadvertently gives the countrys detractors undeserved publicity. Instead, they should stick to ferreting out actual terrorists by using profiling techniques that ought to have reminded them that Beinart wasnt a threat, whether the writer likes it or not.
JNS.org

Aish Hatorah Resources

Arabs came to the protest in Tel Aviv because they oppose the very existence of a Jewish state, including its most innocuous symbol.

Ever since Saturday nights demonstration against the nation-state law in Tel Aviv, which was organized by Israels Arab community, people have been talking about the presence of Palestinian flags. But too little attention has been paid to something even more disturbingthe enforced absence of Israeli ones.

Certainly, demonstrators who wave Palestinian flags while chanting slogans like With blood and fire, we will redeem Palestine merit attention. As Jonathan S. Tobin noted earlier this week, those protesters clearly werent seeking to reform Israel, but to eradicate the Jewish state.

Nevertheless, the demonstrations organizers explicitly asked people not to bring Palestinian flags since they hoped to attract Jewish moderates rather than just the usual far-left fringe, and understood that Palestinian flags would make Jewish moderates uncomfortable. Nor is it their fault that some people ignored this request; at any demonstration with tens of thousands of participants, some people will disregard the organizers instructions. So while the chants and Palestinian flags certainly say something about the intentions of those particular demonstrators, they dont necessarily indicate the views of the majority.

Whats far more telling is that the organizers also banned Israeli flags at the protest, arguing that they would make Arab demonstrators uncomfortable (here, too, some people disobeyed). They did this knowing that it would undermine their goal of strong Jewish participation since many Jews opposed to the nation-state law would still feel uncomfortable at a protest where Israeli flags were unwelcome. And this wasnt a decision by a few rebellious protesters; it was made by the Arab communitys most representative bodythe Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which consists of elected mayors, Knesset members and other community leaders.

In other words, the organizers believed that Israeli flags were unacceptable to most of their community. So they informed Jews that no partnership was possible, even over an ostensibly major shared concern, unless the Jews agreed to forgo even the most basic symbol of their Israeli identity.

If this doesnt immediately strike you as outrageous, try imagining, say, a protest against U.S. President Donald Trumps immigration policy at which protesters were forbidden to wave American flags. It would be ridiculous. After all, most of the policys opponents consider themselves proud Americans who object to the policy precisely because they think it contradicts Americas best values, and most of the immigrants themselves would like to become proud Americans. So why would anyone mind if American flags were present?

For the same reason, Israeli flags were much in evidence at the Druze communitys protest against the nation-state law the previous week. Those demonstrators, Druze and Jews alike, considered themselves proud Israelis, nor did they have any objection in principle to Israels Jewish identity. They merely thought the law as currently worded contradicts Israels best values as a Jewish and democratic state.

By banning Israeli flags, the Arab communitys protest sent the opposite message. Arabs didnt come as proud Israelis who felt that Israel was betraying its best values; they came because they oppose the very existence of a Jewish state, up to and including its most innocuous symbol: the flag. And they object to the nation-state law not because of any infelicitous wording, but precisely because it enshrines aspects of Israels Jewish identity in a quasi-constitutional law, thereby making it harder (at least theoretically) for the Supreme Court to continue eroding this identity by interpreting Jewish at a level of abstraction so high that it becomes identical to the states democratic nature (to quote former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak). In other words, Arab demonstrators were dismayed because they fear the nation-state law will impede their decades-long effort to erode Israels Jewish identitywhich, of course, is precisely why the laws supporters favor it.

Lest anyone think Im reading too much into a flag ban, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee said all this explicitly in a document it commissioned in 2006. The first operative paragraph of The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel reads as follows: Israel is the outcome of a settlement process initiated by the Zionist-Jewish elite in Europe and the west and realized by Colonial countries contributing to it and by promoting Jewish immigration to Palestine, in light of the results of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

In other words, Israel is an illegitimate colonialist enterprise that has no right to exist.

The document then proposed various mechanisms for eradicating Israels Jewish identity, such as demanding that the Arab minority be given veto power over any policy adopted by the Jewish majority. This, incidentally, would also destroy Israels democratic character: Countries where ultimate decision-making power rests with the minority rather than the majority arent generally classified as democracies.

Nevertheless, over the past decade, theres been a slow, grassroots movement toward greater integration in the Arab community. So one could simply argue that more time is needed before this sentiment trickles up to the communitys leadership.

But its never been clear whether this integrationist movement represented growing acceptance of a state thats both Jewish and democratic, or merely a growing belief that efforts to erase Israels Jewish identity were gaining momentum. After all, many Jews feel that the states Jewish identity is under siege, which is precisely why many supported the nation-state law. Thus it wouldnt be surprising if many Arabs had reached the same conclusion.

Unfortunately, the Israeli flag ban at Saturdays demonstration indicates that the pessimistic interpretation may be more accurate. The worrying part isnt that Arab demonstrators didnt want to wave Israeli flags themselves; nobody has to wave flags at a demonstration. Its that any Jew who wanted to do so was declared persona non grata. In short, the Arab community wasnt willing countenance any form of Jewish-Arab cooperation that didnt include the Jews completely abdicating their identity.

That is the real message of the missing Israeli flags. And its one that anyone dreaming of a glorious new era of Jewish-Arab civic partnership should keep in mind. Because no such partnership is possible as long as the price of entry for Jews is abandoning Israels Jewish identity.

Evelyn Gordon is a journalist and commentator living in Israel.
They say that silence is golden. Yet, now is a time that we cannot stay silent. For over four months, communities facing the Gaza border in Southern Israel have lived through a daily barrage of incendiary kites, balloons, and rockets. For these families, one night of silence would be welcome. Instead, they are woken up each night by the sound of sirens blaring as they gather their children and rush to bomb shelters. Children are afraid to take a shower in case a siren goes off. Farmers watch their livelihood burn as hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crops meant to support their family are gone in an instant. This is what normal life is like for close to 30,000 people living in these communities.

These are people who moved here to farm the land before 1948 and others who were seeking refuge from Yemen and other Arab countries and brought in 1949 and 1950 to make a home in Southern Israel during Operation Magic Carpet. Among these communities are also families who moved during the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, who are not filled with anger, but instead they moved on to build new lives. They are filled with the passion to build the State of Israel, for the Jewish people everywhere. Modern day pioneers who see the Negev through the same eyes as David Ben-Gurionthe place that holds the future for Israel.

We cannot sit silently by while thousands of men, women, and children have their physical and mental wellbeing put in jeopardy.

At Jewish National Fund we are standing up and calling attention to what has not made it into the headlines. We are gathering our voices together to share the story of these families. From Aug. 19 through Aug. 30, Jewish National Fund is bringing a farmer, a mother, and a student to share firsthand accounts of what life is like. The true story. This caravan will travel to communities across the United States and together we can make a sound that is louder than the sirens. Join us, invite your friends and family, share these stories on social media, and reach out to your local representatives. Together we can make sure that what is happening is no longer silent.

Jewish National Fund-USA has also launched an emergency campaign to further relief efforts and support the communities affected by this terrorism. In addition to funding trauma resilience centers and the JNF Sderot Indoor Recreation Center, we are also planning to add bomb shelters, paint 20 bomb shelters already in place to make them child-friendly, provide new fire trucks and firefighting wagons, purchase life-saving equipment, and fund special activities for children of the region.

Russell F. Robinson is CEO of Jewish National Fund.
Duty, honor and a fervent desire to uphold the fighting reputation of the Lone Star state drove Lees favorite shock troops.

On a sorrowful September day in 1862, Private Alexander Erskine of the 4th Texas Infantry paused to write a letter to his wife. He shared news of the recent Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Manassas, but admitted that his sense of triumph was tempered by the casualties the Texans had suffered. The day after the battle, Erskine noted, the sky was clothed in mourning & wept tears of pity for the great slaughter. In this rain I was detailed on the sad duty of burying the dead of our regiment. Despite his grief, a sense of determination ran through his words. Writing proudly on confiscated Union stationery, he embraced his likely fate as a soldier in a hard-fighting unit.

Brigadier General John Bell Hood had just told Erskine and the surviving members of the Texas Brigade that they did too much more than was ever asked of [them]. Despite this, and perhaps in recognition of it, Erskine clearly felt honored to be serving the Confederacy when he wrote: I do not suppose we will attack Washington but may invade Maryland. I trust we will. I shall remember with pride that I belonged to the great army that fought before Richmond so gloriously, that made twice memorable Manassas bloody plains & entered Maryland for its liberation.We have been fed very scantily & marched & fought hard but we are all satisfied since God has granted us in victory.

The letters written by Private Erskine and thousands of his fellow Texans are key to understanding what motivated the men of this legendary brigade to volunteer, to fight with such determination on the battlefield, and to stay with the army until the wars final hours at Appomattox. And understand them we should. While countless units fought valiantly throughout the war, only a handful earned elite reputations. In the past few decades historians, this author included, have become obsessed with studying the motivations and experiences of Civil War soldiers. In this questone that has revealed astonishing levels of bravery and ideological thoughtit is impossible not to become curious about the units that were recognized by their peers and by posterity as the finest to take the field. If we are to fully comprehend the military motivations of Billy Yank and Johnny Reb, we must first understand what drove the best of the best.

Part of the Texas Brigades fame can be attributed to postwar recognition by respected historians such as Douglas Southall Freeman, who christened the brigades men The Grenadier Guards of the South and Lees favorite shock troops. But the more telling acclaim came during the war, particularly when General Robert E. Lee, witnessing the collapse of the Confederate position at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, celebrated the units arrival on the field. Texans always move them, he exclaimed as the Texas Brigade stopped and then pushed back the Federal advance along the Orange Plank Road. Major General Dorsey Pender trained his North Carolinians with the Texans in mind, insisting that if any effort of mine can do it, this Brigade shall be second to none but Hoods Texas boys. He has the best material on the continent without a doubt.

While their place in history is secure, the question remains: What motivated the men of the Texas Brigade to fight so well and so bravely? Some of the answers are not unexpecteda strong sense of duty to family, community and the Confederacy; a thirst for adventure; and even a fear of being branded a coward. What is surprising is that a defense of slavery is not mentioned as a motivation until late in the war. Nor do the Texans cite religion as a critical catalyst for service, although they do reference their faith in God as a source of strength and solace in the face of overwhelming hardships. The most significant motivation of all for the brigade was the exceptionalism of Texas. While other Confederate soldiers took pride in their state heritage, the Texans were unique in their sense of obligation not just to their state, but also to its reputation for producing tough fighters. This pride drove them to fight heroically, sustained them in the harsh conditions of the field, and influenced their faith in their leaders, their comrades and themselves. It is essential to any understanding of this elite fighting force.

Why They Joined

Formed in the spring and early summer of 1861, the core units of the Texas Brigade were the 1st, 4th and 5th Texas Volunteer Infantry Regimentsthe only Texas units to fight in the Eastern theater. Other infantry regiments joined the brigade, including the 18th Georgia and 3rd Arkansas. Eight companies of infantry from Wade Hamptons South Carolina Legion eventually were attached as well. However, the unit became best known for its Texans and its hard-fighting commander, John Bell Hood, who led them through defining battles such as Gaines Mill and Antietam between March and November of 1862.

Many of the volunteers traced their roots to local militia units from east Texas with names like the Washington Light Guards the Crockett Southrons and the Livingston Guards. The ranks also included men from areas farther west, such as the Tom Green Rifles from Austin. Most of these companies reached Richmond, Va., in the summer of 1861, where they reorganized into the three core regiments.

Writing to his mother not long after arriving in the Confederate capital, Robert Gaston of the 1st Texas Company H reveals one of the most common motivations for enlisting. Gaston explained that he had heard of her depression and her fears for his safety and that of his brother William. I dont think you all ought to be at all dispirited because we have come off, he wrote. For I think that it will be a great deal better for us to toil through a long war or even to die on the battlefield than to stay at home & ever have the finger of scorn pointed at us as those who were afraid to contend for their rights. William Fletcher, who joined Company F of the 5th Texas, wrote about his early motivations years later. He relied on the advice of his father, who did not believe in secession but explained to his son: I have opposed it, but as it is here, I will say that you are doing the only honorable thing and that is defending your country.

There are other men, such as Malachiah Reeves, who never offered a clear explanation for their decision to join the Confederate Army. Reeves was happily attending school in Crockett, Texas, in June of 1861 when a Dr. Edward Currie marched a company he had raised through the school grounds under martial music, as Reeves recalled. I stepped into line of march, he later wrote, and enlisted for three years, or for the duration of the war.

James Rogers Loughridge of Corsicanna, however, recorded highly ideological motivations. In January 1862, camped with the 4th Texas near Dumfries, Va., he admitted to his mother: How long this unholy war will last I have no idea[but] It seems that God is on the side of the South.I do not desire to go home until my Country is free & independent. Mother I would far prefer to die than to live in a land overrun by base foes. You will not think strange of it when I tell you this. No mortal living has dearer and more loved ties to bind him to his house than I do. Yet I will give them all up & my life too, before I will live in a land that is not independent.

Loughridge also contemplated the great purpose of this war as a cleansing of the nation and a chance to refocus a lost land: It may be that God is displeased with both North & South. Corrupt men have multiplied in our land and caused an unholy state of manners and sentiment to exist. War will therefore probably be made a great blessing to us teaching us from whom we have received our noble land & the inestimable blessings given to us by our forefathers.

Early Grumblings

All blessings of war aside, some of the Texas volunteers began complaining soon after signing up. As Robert Gaston hinted from Richmond in the summer of 1861, It goes very hard with our boys to be kept under military rule. Private Harvey Pinson provides a case in point. According to D.H. Hamilton, who served with him in Company M of the 1st Texas, problems surfaced within days of Pinsons enlistment. At that time, Hamilton recalled, departing troops enjoyed grand parties, and young men in the enlisted ranks had raucous celebrations in camp the night before they left Texas. They brought out fiddles and boxed, wrestled, yelled and whipped the Yankees all night, preventing the older men from getting any sleep. Indeed, as Hamilton recalled, it was impossible to sleep [with]in a mile of that camp.

The next few days were not nearly as much fun. The men became footsore and tired, and some, like Pinson, decided they had already had enough of soldiering. Hamilton recalled that as far as Pinson was concerned, He had volunteered to go and he thought he could volunteer to go back. On about the fourth morning of their march, the men of Company M awoke to find him gone. The captain sent two men after him: Ephriam Dial (who was known more commonly as Eph Jenkins) and Willoughby Tullos. They found Pinson fairly quicklyand almost as quickly found a bottle of whiskey. All three proceeded to get drunk. During the revelry, Tullos managed to shoot off the tip of his right index finger. In their stupor, the injured soldiers compatriots decided to save him by removing more of the finger down to the second joint and proceeded to perform the operation with a pocket knife. Then Jenkins, the surgeon of the evening, decided they needed to treat it and went to find the necessary supplies. A nearby family did not have the turpentine and sugar (the makings of a classic home remedy) Jenkins was hoping for, but they did have salt. After Tullos received his salt bandage, the three men sat down to toast the evenings excitement and then drifted off to sleep. They caught up with Company M a few days later, and all three went on to serve in the war. Pinson made a good soldier, despite his dislike for military discipline, and died in service. Tullos and Jenkins survived, though the former became known for his unique habit of using his middle finger for pulling the trigger.

Pinson wasnt the only soldier to complain of rough discipline and horrendous conditions. Nearly every company in the Texas Brigade, like many other units North and South, suffered from disease and discomfort. The realities of camp often surprised men who previously had glorified military life, but many of the early recruits were determined to make the best of it. Shortly after departing Texas, Robert Gaston confirmed as much in a letter to his sister in July 1861. With a little sadness but strong determination in his voice, Gaston reported: Our company is in very good health & in tolerable spirits, for boys as far from home as we are. The nights are a great deal cooler here than in Texas and damp ground and wet blankets make a disagreeable bed. Yet we all bear it cheerfully, feeling that it is our duty and for our countrys good.

The Texans seemed to have little patience for those who failed to tolerate hardships and serve as they did. While they may have told humorous stories about men like Pinson, they remembered that he not only returned but also died in service. There was little forgiveness, however, for those who enlisted, enjoyed the parties and then failed to stick around for the grisly work to be done. In the fall of 1861, Adam Damm of the 4th Texas wrote to his family from Richmond with news from the front. After sharing general stories from camp, he closed noting, one individual I like to forgot Mr. W.H. Lawrence who has deserted us since since [sic] we Arrived here he has not been heard of since he left.

A Glorious Reputation

As the Texas Brigade took form, a tremendous sense of loyalty to their state and a desire to uphold the reputation of its soldiers inspired the men. The 4th and 5th Texas were organized primarily by Austin newspaper editor Jefferson Marshall to ensure that at least 2,000 Texans would serve in the Eastern theater, where Marshall believed the war would be decided. This concept of state pride and rivalry was hardly unheard of during the war, but the frequency with which the men of the brigadeas well as those outside itreferred to their impressive reputation is significant.

James H. Manahan of Company E, 4th Texas, offers a classic example. In late April 1861, he told the girl he would later marry that the men were all responding to the coming battle in different ways, but he was confident that they would fight well because, We have got a great reputation to sustain. Later that summer he reiterated his pledge and explained that though he had not yet seen combat, he was confident that he would fight well. As for myself, I do not know how I will feel, but be assured I will not disgrace myself nor the Lone Star Guards.

Robert Gaston made similar reports from Richmond in July 1861. The Texians have a great reputation here as fighters. The people here look upon a Texian ranger (as they call all Texians) as a person who dont care for anything. They say that they had as soon fight devils at once as Texians. We will have enough to do, if we do get into a fight, to sustain our reputation. We cannot gain much honor if we fight as bravely as men could. A few days later, Gaston had these expectations confirmed when Confederate President Jefferson Davis visited the men and commented on the already impressive reputation of Texas troops, reminding them that they would have to fight well to maintain it. The brigades first commander, Brig. Gen. Louis Wigfall, made a similar charge later that fall of 1861 when speaking to the 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas regiments. As William H. Lewis of the 5th Texas recalled, Wigfall was a little drunk, but he gave a good [speech]. He paid a high compliment to Texians, said they had a high reputation to sustain as fighting men. The Texans seemed more honored than overwhelmed by the challenge and responded to Davis and Wigfalls speeches with thunderous cheers.

In September 1861, 17-year-old John Marquis Mark Smither of Company D, 5th Texas, noticed that the Texas boys were a perfect curiosity to the citizens of Richmond and other Southerners all along the march to Virginia. The peoplecome from every direction to see the boys from Texasthey had great ideas of the Texans, Smither told his mother.

While numerous letters revealed the mens pride in the brigades fighting reputation, some of them occasionally contained complaints about it too. William P. Townsend of Company C in the 4th Texas told his wife in August 1862, Many of our men say they are tired of their character for bellicosity He joked that they assumed their next assignment would be to charge a fleet of Yankee gunboats. Even he, however, immediately went on to note the mens pride. Our Regt. has gained quite a reputation in the Armyso much so that every man and officer has 4 Texas written in his cap.

Proud Men, Proud Leaders

The Texans pride in their reputation was both a cause and effect of their faith in their leaders. They often praised officers to family at home, including commanders such as Hood and Jerome Bonaparte Robertson. The majority of the men shared a powerful devotion to Hood. James Murray of the 4th Texas insisted in October 1862 that Hood was one of the best generals we have in this army. If he could have had his way at the Battle of Sharpsburg, we would have routed the entire Yankee army in 3 hours. In Robertson, as both a regimental and brigade commander, the men found an equally brave and dedicated officer. At Gaines Mill, Arthur H. Edey, 5th Texas, noted that our loss was lessened by having Col. J.B. Robertson as brave a man as the service boasts. In front of this regiment as they went up the hill in the face of the fire, he proved to the boys that we were sure of an entrepid [sic] leader while he lived. Robertson maintained this reputation as he rose to command the brigade. In the days after the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863, Benjamin I. Franklin of Company I, 5th Texas, informed his wife: Genl. Robertson was to be seen on all occasions in front of his Brigade leading them on and exposing himself to every danger[. A] man never acted more gallantly[.] [H]e had two horses shot under him but escaped unhurt.

The men of the Texas Brigade also spoke fondly of regimental commanders such as the 5th Texas John C. Upton. One soldier described him as a daredevil[an] open hearted and brave Texan. As Private Robert Campbell recalled, Uptons battlefield dress consisted of an old pair of pants, a dilapidated pair of cavalry boots, and an old cotton shirt, a slouch black hata huge saber, with a pair of six shooterslooking less like an officer than any of this men. The men seemed to love his unusual style as much as his bold leadership, and they would mourn his loss while leading the 5th at Second Manassas.

The Texas soldiers loyalty was not lightly earned, however. The spring of 1862 found the men of the 4th Texas frustrated with their colonel, John Marshall. Some grumbled that he had not been elected by the regiment but instead had used his powerful political connections to obtain an appointment from President Jefferson Davis. Others complained about Marshalls inability to properly drill the men. No one questioned his bravery, but they did not appreciate his inexperience or their lack of input in the decision to make him their commander. In the weeks before the Battle of Gaines Mill, a number of the men and officers of the 4th Texas drafted a petition insisting on Marshalls resignation or removal from command. But they agreed to set aside their differences long enough to focus on their common enemy, and the 4th Texas marched into battle under Colonel Marshall on June 27, 1862. Ironically, the debate was settled for them. Marshall fell mortally wounded while leading men who did not want to serve under him.

It was, however, that same deadly June struggle that forever sealed Hoods reputation with the men and his identification with the Texas Brigade. He kept a promise he had made to his old command, the 4th Texas, to lead it into battle that day. He was also with the men that night as they searched among the wounded and dead. They made prideful note of the commander who celebrated and suffered with them. In the years after the war, it would be this battle, more than any other, that the Texas Brigade Association would commemorate with their annual reunions on June 27. As one soldier later noted, at Gaines Mill the Texas Brigade earned a reputation that nearly exhausted them to achieve, and nearly finished them to maintain.

Brothers in Arms

Pride in the brigades reputation also was influenced heavily by the mens faith in their comrades in the rank and file. The intense loyalty they shared with one another played a powerful role in their success on the battlefield. H.W. Berryman, who served in Company I of the 1st Texas, told his mother about their desperate fight at Gettysburg. He related that his brother Newt was wounded in the head. He was right by my side. It knocked him down. I thought he was killed, but he jumped up and kept to fighting harder than ever. I tried to persuade him to leave the field, but he would not leave. He told me if every man left for a slight wound we would never gain a battle.

Even non-Texans in the brigade identified with the Texans fierce state pride and comradeship. After the fight at Gaines Mill, James Lemmon of the 18th Georgia bought a silver star from a soldier in the 4th Texas and affixed it to his hat as a symbol of unity with his brothers.

Faith in the men beside them did not erase the Texans suffering, but it gave them the strength to work through their complaints and even, in the final months of the war, their fears of defeat. The men continued to write frequently of appalling conditions due to cold and a shortage of shoes, clothing and food. They occasionally questioned their ability to triumph in this struggle and even wrestled with the idea of deserting because their requests for furloughs were denied so often. Through it all, however, pride and an overwhelming dedication to cause, country and comrades kept them in the ranks.

The letters of General Robertson, commander of the brigade from November 1862 through the spring of 1864, indicate that morale was dangerously low during this period. His men were exhausted, depressed and homesick from their inability to visit family or even return to Texas to recruit replacements for their fallen comrades. In October 1863, James H. Kennedy of Company G, 1st Texas, confirmed Robertsons observations when he complained that his furlough had been denied, again. [I]f I was mean enough I could slip away and go home. Yet, typical of a Texan, he added, but to be marked as a Deserter I would rather die. A year later, on October 21, 1864after the fall of AtlantaKennedy was still optimistic and reported: The health of the army is very good and in fine Spirits. With Such a man as R. E. Lee at there [sic] head they Could not be otherwise. General Longstreet has Taken Command of his Corps again the troops are glad to have him back. This faith sustained Kennedy through the end of the war.

James Manahan expressed similar optimism in February 1864. Writing from the camp of Company E, 4th Texas, he reported: Winter has come and passed, bringing with it the coldest weather ever experienced by the soldiers in this Army and taking everything into consideration we have made the hardest campaign we have ever went through. We have made several long marches over frozen grounds and nearly all of the men barefooted, myself included. We have had hard corn issued to us for rations but not withstanding all this the men are still in fine spirits and as sanguine of success as they were when the war began. We all know that the darkest hour of our nations troubles is now upon us but we put our trust in the God of battles and our own right army.

Six grueling months later, Samuel S. Watson of the 1st Texas answered a friend: You wished me to write if I thought we could whip the yanks or notI think we can. We have done it every time we have fought them and I think will as long as they fight. The following month J.D. Caddell of the 4th Texas reported to his parents that times are quite lively in the camp near Richmond, and he added, I think by the 1st of January next the fate of the South will be decided. But by February 1865, the true fate of the South seemed clear even to menbers of the Texas Brigade. Watson admitted: Everything looks sad and gloomy at this time in and around Richmond, great many people have become dispondant and sum desertion, sum dissatisfaction in different ways. Sum for putting in the Negros to fight. He added, I do [wish] they will stop all thare foolishness and let the men go home. And yet, despite the increasingly obvious outcome, Samuel Watson would continue to fight with his brothers in the Texas Brigade until their surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865.

What They Didnt Fight For

Amid all of the reasons the Texans give for fighting, it may seem puzzling that they made so little mention of the wars seemingly inescapable issue: slavery. Throughout their letters and diaries the Texans and their Arkansan, Georgian and South Carolinian comrades rarely addressed the defense of the peculiar institution as a factor in their decision to volunteer or stay in the ranks. This fact does not necessarily mean that the men never considered the issue. They had dealt with it through their states popular referendum on secession (they were the only Deep South state to take such a vote) and through the increased property protections for slave owners in the new state constitution that Texas adopted in 1861. Still, the men of the Texas Brigade rarely referenced slavery in their letters home until late 1863 and 1864unless they were referring to the Federal governments attempts to enslave them.

However, the tone of the Texans conversation changed in late 1863apparently in reaction to the Union Armys use of AfricanAmerican soldiers. In November of that year, Jack Adam of Company C, 4th Texas insisted, King Abe has the sword and the purse in his hands now; and, backed by the conscript law which puts into the field now about three millions of Yankees both white and black.One thing that I can truly say that the more they send against us the less will go back. In a letter written on October 21, 1864, Samuel Watson described: them Blooddy Negroes of Grants made a charge on us and a charge it was. They came rite up till you could See the White of thare Eyes. the boys litterley coverd the ground with Dead nigs. dont think that I am braging for it is so.

Perhaps the men of the Texas Brigade never really believed that the North could destroy slavery. Perhaps they chose to face it only when it became clear that their world was drastically, uncontrollably and irreversibly changing.

The powerful determination and optimism of the men of the Texas Brigade remained with them in the fall of 1864 and well into 1865. Throughout this period, they continued to cite as abiding strengths the same motivations that had first inspired their service: honor, duty to the Confederacy, revolutionary concepts of life and liberty, and the exceptionalism of Texas. These factors, along with fearless leadership from their commanders, sustained the men in camp and in combat through four of the bloodiest years in history and helped earn them the well-deserved reputation as Robert E. Lees Grenadier Guards of the South.

Originally published in the September 2007 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
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Polito is joined by local officials and representatives from hospitals from across the state during the announcement.

Polito Announces $9.6M in Energy Resiliency Projects for Hospitals



Joe LaRoche provided Polito with a tour of the newly constructed co-generation system on the hospital's top floor. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  As the climate becomes ever more volatile, storms have forced the evacuation of hospitals in some areas.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito doesn't want to see that happen in Massachusetts.

She announced on Thursday some $9.6 million in grant awards to nine hospitals to build energy "resiliency" to protect themselves from such possibilities.

"The impacts of climate change are felt almost daily here in the commonwealth so we need to be more resilient," Polito said, outlining shifting weather patterns since the administration started.

Polito announced the grant awards at Berkshire Medical Center. The local hospital will receive $670,000 to create an "island mode" with its new co-generation system. According to Joe LaRoche, vice president of facilities and construction services, the interconnection system will ensure that the hospital can create its own electricity in emergency situations.

"This is a valuable piece to making our hospital much safer than it used to be," LaRoche said.

He said currently if there is a blackout then the diesel-powered generators are enough to power the facility for 96 hours. But should roads be blocked or fuel deliveries become impossible, the hospital would have to evacuate. This project eliminates that need.

The interconnection system to create that "island mode" is possible through the co-generation system that was recently installed. The hospital spent $3 million to get the new boiler system and engine installed. The co-generation system creates electricity.

"That engine now is providing electricity which won't have to pull from the grid in a normal scenario," LaRoche said.

It is estimated that about $500,000 is going to be saved each year in electrical costs.

"Berkshire Medical Center is the largest employer in the county. We need those funds you are saving. It is not like it is going to go in somebody's pocket. Those are dollars going right out to good-paying jobs, to great programs. When we invest in the environment, when we invest in energy savings, we are investing in economic development," state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said.

The hospital is also in the city's downtown and is included as part of a study for a micro-grid system. That would connect the core city facilities -- police and fire headquarters, City Hall and hospital -- to essentially an energy storage system in case of emergency. That is outside of the project at Berkshire Medical Center and would add another layer of redundancy to ensure there is power.



Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton serves as the emcee for the speaking portion. "We are really trying to be on the cutting edge of taking advantage of all of these opportunities," Mayor Linda Tyer said.

The mayor said the city has taken on a number of clean energy projects. She said the city is switching out all of the streetlights to LED to reduce costs and conserve more.

Polito said those efforts are happening across the state and that Massachusetts is a leader in energy efficiency. She said two-thirds of the cities and towns in the state are part of the Green Communities Act program. The recent environmental bond bill includes $75 million more for cities and towns to address vulnerabilities such as sea walls and dams.

The $9.6 million announced on Thursday is part of the $40 million Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative.

State Sen. Adam Hinds said the increased focus on renewable energy and energy conservation is more than just being environmentally friendly and saving money.

"It is also a statement of who we are as a commonwealth and what our principles are. We heard today our real emphasis and commitment to investing in renewable energy and addressing climate change," Hinds said.

State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli is the chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture. He said the environment is an important part of the county's economy and that the state's environmental bond bill brings millions back to the Berkshires in environmental projects.

The hospitals receiving awards include Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Heywood Hospital, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Milford Regional Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center, University of Massachusetts' Memorial HealthAlliance Hospital and Memorial Medical Center/Memorial Campus.

"We are honored to be among those on the cutting edge, one of only nine in the commonwealth that will have this technology," said Darlene Rodowicz, BMC's chief financial officer.

Gov. Charlie Baker was expected to join Polito in the Berkshires for the announcement but was unable to make it. He had joined Polito in Westfield for an update on broadband expansion followed by a stop at the new MGM casino opening in Springfield. Polito toured the BMC boiler rooms before the announcement and then went to tour the new Taconic High School. She returned to the city's downtown to meet the city's champion Little League team at the Highland Restaurant.




iciHaiti - Taiwan : Congratulations to the 33 new scholars





Guy Andre Junior Francois, the resigning Minister of Haitians Living Abroad, on behalf of President Jovenel Moise and the Government congratulates the 33 young scholarship recipients newly granted by Taiwan (Republic of China).



Minister Francois urges these sons and daughters of Haiti, who will leave the country next week, to work well so that at the end of their studies, back in Haiti, they put their knowledge and experiences at the service of the development of the country.



During the time they remain in Taiwan, the Minister invites them to be worthy ambassadors of the Haitian nation and assures them of all his attention.



IH/ iciHaiti






















iciHaiti - Social : Laureates of the project competition for the benefit of disabled people





Gerald Oriol Jr., Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities, met with the representatives of the 6 organizations of persons with disabilities, laureates of the project competition launched in February 2018 by the Office of the Secretary of State and Christian Blind Mission(CBM), through the Center for Inclusion.



Financed by the European Union, each of the 6 winning organizations has received a grant check: the National Federation of the Deaf of Haiti (FNASH), the Organization of Disabled and Disabled Children of Haiti (OEDHH), the Movement for the Social Integration of the Disabled of St-Marc (MISHS), the Organization for the Disabled of Bienac (OHB), the Social Action to the Blind of Monte Grande (ACSAM) and the Association of Peasants for the Development of Marmont (APDEM).



IH/ iciHaiti


















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Team Cantavits, of Delhi, won top honors at the 2018 Technovation World Pitch Summit held in San Jose, Calif. The team hopes to track and dispose of electronic waste in an eco-friendly manner through its Eedo app. (screen grab of YouTube video/SiliconANGLE theCUBE)
By Andrea Hotter The aluminium market has been thrust into a period of uncertainty that has become a feature of the trade in recent months because of tariffs and sanctions, a situation that seems unlikely to change, the head of Norwegian producer Norsk Hydro said. A key effect was to push aluminium premiums in the United States to near-record highs at one point, Svein Richard Brandtzg told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday August 22. The lack of clarity began in April, when the US announced sanctions against several Russian individuals and companies, including aluminium producer UC Rusal. These sanctions created a lot of uncertainty in the market, which in turn led to a price spike in April and high volatility, Brandtzg said. But since April, metal and alumina flows have resumed to a great extent, and prices have moderated, he added. The US Midwest aluminium 6063 extrusion billet upcharge reached an all-time high of 17-19 cents per lb in June, although since then it has eased to 15-17 cents per lb. "However, there is still uncertainty on how the sanctions may be resolved. Hydro has multiple business relations with Rusal, throughout the value chain, and we are initiating mitigating actions to address the situation," Brandtzg said. Hydro does not expect any significant negative short-term effect on its operational and financial performance as a result of the sanctions," he added. The company said in April that it had notified Rusal that it may have to declare force majeure on its contracts with the company because of the US sanctions. The market uncertainty continued in June, when the US implemented Section 232 tariffs against aluminium imports from Canada, Mexico and the EU, adding a 10% tax on aluminium from those areas. A round of retaliatory tariffs imposed by the affected regions has followed. Similarly, the US tariff added to uncertainty and pushed premiums higher, Brandtzg said. "As a short-term effect of the tariff, we have seen a significant increase in the US premium, while the long-term market effects remain uncertain," Brandtzg said, noting that the company expected only limited financial and operational consequences to arise from the US tariff in the short term. "So far, increased premiums have compensated for some of the increased tariffs," he added. The US Midwest aluminium premium was most recently assessed by Metal Bulletin at 20.75-21.25 cents per lb, down from a near-record high of 22-23 cents per lb in early April. There could be more disruption to come for the market, however. On May 23, the US Department of Commerce initiated a Section 232 investigation into imported cars, light trucks and car parts. "The outcome of this is still too early to assess," Brandtzg said. "In addition, there are other trade issues being discussed, further adding to the uncertainty, such as the Section 301 investigation into Chinese technology and intellectual property practice, and EU countermeasures."

Extrusions

According to Brandtzg, Norsk Hydro generally expects continued positive market developments in North America and Europe for aluminium extrusions and rolled products for the rest of 2018.

"In extrusions, the main sectors - building and construction, and transport and automotive - are growing steadily in Europe at 2-4%," he said.

"In North America, transport and automotive have seen higher-than-expected build rates for heavy trucks and trailers, as well as continued substitution [of aluminium parts for those more commonly made of steel], and as an effect we have adjusted upward our growth expectation for 2018 from our first-quarter reporting, to 6% from 3%," he told Metal Bulletin.

"These segments are the main contributors [toward] extrusions growth, expected at 3% in Europe and at 5% in North America. In rolled products, total growth is expected at around 4% for both regions," he added.

Building and construction are also seeing steady growth of 3% in Europe and 4-5% in North America.

Hydro has traditionally had a strong foothold in Europe with its rolled products and metal products businesses, but the $3.23 billion buyout of extruded aluminium business Sapa brought new downstream markets into the companys operations, especially in the US.

Hydro and Orkla International combined their aluminium profiles, building systems and tubing businesses into an equal joint venture in September 2013 to create Sapa, the worlds largest extrusions maker. Hydro later went on to acquire Orklas stake.

"Our Extruded Solutions business has a value-over-volume strategy, intended to increase the value after the press. I am pleased to see positive results from this strategy, with a general increase in net added value," Brandtzg said.

Egil Hogna, executive vice president of Hydro Extruded Solutions and a former chief executive officer of Sapa, will participate on a panel at Metal Bulletins 33rd International Aluminium Conference in Berlin on September 12-14. His discussion will focus on end-uses including extrusions, as well as electric vehicles, construction and packaging.

Hydro recently also acquired a new extrusions business in Brazil, the only country where it is represented throughout the full value chain from bauxite to extruded products.

Alunorte

There is still no certainty about when the Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazils northern state of Para will return to capacity although talks are continuing in an attempt to resolve issues at the site, Brandtzg said.

The refinery is the worlds largest, with nameplate capacity for 6.3 million tonnes per year. It has been operating at 50% of capacity since March, following an order by the countrys authorities prompted by environmental concerns.

The reduction in capacity came after a period of heavy rainfall that led to flooding in Barcarena, where the refinery is located. Authorities were concerned that this may have resulted in water contamination from Alunorte.

"Alunorte is currently producing at 50% following orders from environmental authorities and the court," Brandtzg said.

"We have a continuing dialogue with the government of Para, including the state environmental agency as well as the Ministerio Publico, trying to agree on a way forward and a solution [that would lead] to resuming production at Alunorte, The discussion is related to both technical and social matters," he added.

"We are in constructive dialogues with Brazilian authorities to find a solution to the situation at Alunorte, but we are still not able to be more precise on the timing of restarts," he said.

The cut in capacity led to a surge in alumina prices, with the Metal Bulletin fob Brazil index peaking close to $720 per tonne in mid-April before slipping to nearly $450 in June and then moving up to around $573 per tonne currently, amid strike action in Australia.

Metal Bulletins fob Australia alumina index currently stands at $567.33 per dry metric tonne, up from $524.13 per dmt before the strike began.

Hydro owns a 92.1% stake in Alunorte, having inherited the refinery following its acquisition of Brazilian state-owned miner Vales aluminium assets in the state of Para in 2011.

So far, there has been no evidence that the flooding did indeed lead to water contamination from the refinery.

"It is important to reiterate that internal and external surveys have confirmed that there were no harmful spills from Alunorte during the heavy rain in February," Brandtzg said. "This has been confirmed by the environmental authorities in Brazil."
August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Joining George on the Mother of All Talk Shows is Professor Norman Finklestein, who calls in to discuss the ongoing Antisemitism row within the Labour Party.

By If Americans Knew

August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Israeli editor David Horovitz says that UK Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is a racist and an antisemite because of Corbyns support for Palestinian rights. Horovitz writes that the Jewish community, which had previously kept a low profile, is now publicly mobilizing against Corbyn: It has moved out of the shadows and into the glare.

Prominent Israeli editor David Horovitz writes in the Times of Israel that opposition to UK Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn over his actions in support of Palestinian rights has caused Britains Jewish community to become publicly active as never before.

Horovitz, founding editor of the Times of Israel, writes that in the past Jewish Britons kept a low profile and were far less public in their support of Israel than American groups.

In the U.S, Horovitz says, pro-Israel groups would publicly demonstrate their power: At the pro-Israel lobby AIPACs annual conference in Washington, DC, a gala dinner would be held for all the thousands of participants that began with an extraordinary display of political muscle: the roll call.

At center stage in the vast hall of the convention center in the US capital, two or three AIPAC bigwigs would excitedly read out hundreds of names  of the senior administration figures, the members of Congress, the ambassadors, and the other notables who were in attendance  and the crowd would clap and cheer.

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Horovitz writes: The process would go on for ages; there were so many such importantly titled people to be name-checked and applauded for having turned out to show their commitment to US ties with Israel.

Horovitz says that having grown up in Britain, he was shocked by AIPACS ostentatious demonstration of political clout.

Things were very different in the UK, he writes. Even though many Jews have reached positions of prominence in Britain, and many prominent Britons have dedicated their energies to Jewish and Israeli causes, they didnt make that fact obvious.

Horovitz explains that in the 1980s, even with the philo-Semitic, staunchly pro-Israel Margaret Thatcher as prime minister, and the chief rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits as a key unofficial adviser, British Jewrys ongoing insistence on trying not to draw attention to itself still held sway.

This was exemplified, Horovitz reports, by the extent to which the various ministers in Thatchers governments who happened to be Jewish  Keith Joseph, Leon Brittan, Malcolm Rifkind and Nigel Lawson, to name four of the most prominent  downplayed their Jewishness.

Today, Horovitz writes, all that has changed.

According to Horovitz, The Anglo-Jewish community is deliberately making headlines like seldom, if ever, before. It is organizing marches and demonstrations. It is holding gatherings outside parliament. Its leaders are giving dramatic interviews. Its newspapers are issuing warnings and demands. It has moved out of the shadows and into the glare.

The reason?

Because of the actions Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has taken in support of Palestinian human rights. That makes him, in Horovitzs view, a racist and an anti-Semite.

In a long article entitled Corbyn, who sought Israels demise, is an anti-Semite. Labour must kick him out, Horovitz blasts Corbyn and the Labor Party in general.

Horovitz calls Corbyns 1980s sponsorship of a conference by the Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine horrifying (a founder of the group was Jewish). The conference, which called Zionism racist, was held not long after one of Israels several invasions of Lebanon, which killed thousands of civilians and maimed untold more.

Horovitz condemns Corbyn for opposing such actions and for being associated with groups who support equal rights for all regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or location.

Horovitz is also outraged that Corbyn has failed to fully go along with the new, Israel-centric definition of antisemitism that is being inserted in governments and entities around the world.

More than 80 groups in England have just issued a statement against the definition, saying that it would be used to suppress information on Palestine. A statement by 40 Jewish groups around the world noted that even a key figure in crafting the definition warned that it could encourage punishments of legitimate expressions of political opinion.

After repeating a long series of such alleged offenses claimed against Corbyn (many of which have been misrepresented), Horovitz concludes: Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour with him at its helm, are a threat to British Jews.

Many British Jews disagree.

This article was originally published by "If Americans Knew" -

==See Also==

BBC under fire over conflict of interest in Corbyn anti-Semitism row

The Lobby: Young Friends of Israel: Al Jazeera goes undercover inside the Israel Lobby in Britain. We expose a campaign to infiltrate and influence youth groups.
By Lawrence Davidson

August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Julian Assange is the Australian founder of Wikileaksa website dedicated to the publics right to know what governments and other powerful organizations are doing. Wikileaks pursues this goal by posting revelatory documents, often acquired unofficially, that bring to light the criminal behavior that results in wars and other man-made disasters. Because Wikileaks very existence encourages leaks, government officials fear the website, and particularly dislike Julian Assange.

Essentially, Wikileaks functions as a wholesale supplier of evidence. Having identified alleged official misconduct, Wikileaks seeks to acquire and make public overwhelming amounts of evidencesometimes hundreds of thousands of documents at a timewhich journalists and other interested parties can draw upon. And since the individuals and organizations being investigated are ones ultimately responsible to the public, such a role as wholesale supplier of evidence can be seen as a public service.

Unfortunately, that is not how most government officials see the situation. They assert that government cannot be successful unless aspects of its behavior are conducted in secret. The fact that those aspects in question thereby lose any accountable connection to the public is discounted. The assumption here is that most citizens simply trust their governments to act in their interests, including when they act clandestinely. Historically, such trust is dangerously naive. Often government officials, even the democratic ones, feel no obligation to their citizens in general, but rather only to special interests.

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One reason for this is that large and bureaucratic institutions that last for any length of time have the tendency to become stand-alone institutionsones with their own self-referencing cultures, loyalty to which comes to override any responsibility to outside groups other than those with particular shared interests. In other words, long-lasting institutions/bureaucracies take on a life of their own.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that many governments look upon Wikileaks as a threat to institutional well-being. And so, in an effort to cripple Wikileaks and have their revenge on Assange, the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), with the cooperation of Sweden, first sought to frame Assange (2010) on a sexual assault charge. This having failed, Assange was still left liable for jumping bail in the UK in order to avoid seizure and deportation to the U.S., where he would certainly be put on trial for revealing secrets. He escaped to the Ecuadorian embassy in London (2012), where he was given asylum. As of this writing, he is still there. However, a recent change in government in Quito has led to discussions between Ecuador and the UK that may well lead to Assanges eviction from the embassy.

The Ideals of Journalism

Some of the anger over Assanges fate has been directed at the journalistic profession which he has sought to serve. After all, Assange has ardently supported the notions of free speech, free press and the publics right to know. Nonetheless, as the documentary filmmaker John Pilger, a supporter of Assange, has noted, There has been no pressure [in support of Assange] from media in the United States, Britain, Australia or pretty much anywhere except in [media] programs  outside the mainstream.  The persecution of this man has been something that should horrify all free-thinking people. He is quite right. Unfortunately, there never have been many brave free-thinkers about, so no one should be surprised at Assanges poor prospects.

This brings up the difference between the ideals of the journalistic profession and the reality within which it operates. There is a model of journalism that presents it as a pillar of democracy. The journalist is a tough and persistent person who digs up facts, asks hard questions and explains the truth to his or her readers/viewers. Few seem to have noticed that, to the extent that this picture is accurate, the ideal model has alienated those readers/viewers who cannot tell the difference between the truth and their own opinions. Recently, this alienation has opened the entire media industry to the charge that it is really the enemy of the people because it peddles fake newsthat is, news that belies ones opinions.

To bring the idealistic journalist in line with real public expectations, editors put pressure on media workers to compromise their professional ideals. The result is most often manipulated reports aimed at fitting the particular outlook of the particular media operations target audience. Thus, it is simply wrong to think that, on the average, those who investigate, do research, write about things, and report through the various media are any braver or, ultimately, any more principled than the rest of the population. As Julien Benda showed us in his 1928 book The Betrayal of the Intellectuals, while it is in fact the job of those who research and report to remain independent of the ideologies and biases of both their community and their government, the truth is that most often these people end up serving power. This is particularly the case when there is an atmosphere of patriotic fervor, or just plain pressure from sources that can hurt ones career. At that point you will find that bravery does exist but it is the exception and not the ruleand the brave will, more often than not, stand alone.

That is what is happening in the case of Julian Assange. Many American news outlets are willing to selectively use the documented evidence made available by Wikileaks. To do so is to draw on what the website has placed in the public domain. But they will not stand up and publicly defend the whistleblower who makes the information public. I imagine publishers, editors, and media moguls, and the vast majority of those they employ, just dont have the courage to support the individual who breaks some unprincipled law or regulation designed to enforce silence in relation to official crimes and hypocrisy.

A Shared Problem

The United States is certainly not the only country facing this dilemma. To one extent or another this is a shared problem in all those lands claiming to have a free press. For example, a similar problem has long existed in Israel. Here one finds a whole ethnicity whose journalists are open to persecution.

Take the case of Omar Nazzal, a member of the board of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. In a 10 August 2016 report appearing in the on-line blog +972, and entitled Israeli journalists silent as their Palestinian colleagues are jailed, we are told that Nazzal was taken into custody by Israeli forces in April 2016, without charges. Like Assange, there has been an attempt, after the fact, to claim that Nazzal is a criminal. The Shin Bet, one of those Israeli security forces that only the naive or venal take at face value, claims that he is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which they consider to be a terrorist organization. No proof of this charge has been publicly presented (Shin Bet claims the proof is secret) and Nazzal denies any affiliation. As it turns out, the real reason he was arrested somewhat parallels Assanges activity. At the time of his seizure, Nazzal was on his way to Sarajevo for a meeting of the European Federation of Journalists. No doubt, the Israelis did not want him telling true, documentable, stories to an organization of European journalists. Most Israeli Jewish journalists, like their American counterparts, remain silent. So do their respective publics.

One might ask just how seriously the public wants a media that tells them the truth. The most watched cable news channel in the U.S. is Fox News, a media ally of Donald Trump that has no demonstrable interest in objective facts. It is more likely that Americans (and others) chose their news outlets on the basis of which one most often tells them what they want to hearin other words, the search for accurate reporting is really driven by a desire for confirmation bias.

Under these circumstances it is easy to understand why a for-profit media industry need not be beholden to the general citizenry or any ideal of supplying fact-based news. This situation puts truth tellers like Assange, and in the case of Israel, Omar Nazzal, in a bad position. They will have their defenders but they will be outside the mainstreambecause truth itself is also outside the mainstream. That is their predicament, and ours as well.

==See Also==

US Sanctions Shut Down The Empire Files with Abby Martin; As a result of US sanctions against Venezuela, The Empire Files has been forced to completely shut down operations.

The Governments Argument that Reality Winner Harmed National Security Doesnt Hold Up. Heres Why.

Statement on the Sentencing of Whistleblower Reality Winner for Disclosing NSA Report on Russian Election Hacking
By Finian Cunningham

August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Just like when the medieval executioners tortured their prisoners to scream out for "mercy", so today two former aides of US President Donald Trump are put being on the rack to extract a begging response. If they finger the president, then maybe mercy will be shown to the prisoners.



Trump's former lawyer and his campaign manager are facing lengthy prison sentences for financial fraud and political campaign irregularities. Michael Cohen could get five years in jail, while Paul Manafort faces a soul-crushing 80 years behind bars. A de facto death sentence, given his age.



The set-up here is so obvious and pathetic. Both men are being dangled by the feet ahead of their sentencing, with the blatant purpose of forcing them to incriminate Trump, and in that way, Trump's political enemies finally get their long-held objective of impeaching the president.



This is how the "American Dream" really operates. It's dirty, grim, and brutal, and has very little to do with democracy or rule of law. Forget the emblems of supposed American civility, the white-picket fences, apple pie in bourgeois comfort, old glory fluttering down at the courthouse, and all those other imaginary democratic virtues.



American politics has more in common with Francis Ford Coppola's classic movie, The Godfather, illustrating how organized crime is intertwined with politicians and lawmakers. Mob practices are more the currency of American politics than dainty civic duties. In reality, it's not the American Dream, it's the American Scream.

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The impossibly perfect American Dream is nevertheless so powerfully ingrained and inculcated in the popular psyche by Hollywood and national myth-making propaganda, it is hard to see the brutal reality.

When the American military obliterated Japanese civilians with atomic weapons, or incinerated children in Southeast Asia with napalm, or when it organized death squads to mutilate peasants in Central America, such practices can be easily obscured because of the opium that is the American Dream and its seductive, illusory vanity.

Even when an American president is hideously assassinated in broad daylight by his own security services, the people are not awakened from the impossible "dream".

American politics is as dirty and as criminal as it gets. Assassinating foreign leaders, overthrowing governments, subverting and rigging elections, brainwashing the public with lying news media and think tanks, militarizing "allied" societies in the name of "protection". These are some of the realities that define the US capitalist power system, at home and abroad.

One of America's most celebrated presidents John F Kennedy began his term in the White House under sordid conditions. Talk about interference? It is well-documented Kennedy's election was secured by the Chicago-based Mafia, under crime boss Sam Giancana, rigging the ballots in key states to give Kennedy the decisive vote over rival Richard Nixon in 1960.

Admittedly, JFK seemed to undergo a genuinely personal and political evolution during his brief presidency, when he subsequently desired to normalize Cold War relations with the Soviet Union. His perceived betrayal of the Mafia and the US military-security apparatus probably cost him his life when he was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, three years into his presidency. It is claimed that the CIA and Mafia worked together to organize the killing involving teams of snipers. The hapless Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged shooter, was only a patsy, which the "great and good" American media have used as an odious cover-up ever since.

Anyway, let's get back to Trump. It seems obvious that the prosecution of his former aides is all about a vendetta against Trump, to get him out of the White House. The US political establishment, or deep state, has never accepted this "outsider" as the president. His stated preference to normalize relations with Russia is a particular red line. The whole "Russiagate" saga has been concocted in order to delegitimize Trump's election and to have him "taken out" as the figurehead for the deep state.

Prosecuting two of Trump's former associates was bound to dig up plenty of dirt. Because dirt is endemic to how American big business and politics operate. It should not be surprising that Trump and his former friends are inculpated for bank and tax fraud and paying off hookers. That's how the system pretty much works, and those transgressions are only the surface.

Look at how Trump's rival Hillary Clinton was involved in political bribery and vote rigging, as well as soliciting foreign interference from trying to get "Russian dirt" on Trump. Not just Clinton, but the senior law enforcement and intelligence services under the Obama presidency were also involved in this massive subversion of American democracy.

What's going on with Trump's two associates facing jail time is the Mob's equivalent of threatening to cut ears off a hostage unless the hostage squeals to betray another, more important target.

Already, it seems the coercion is working. Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen is reportedly "ready to cooperating" with the so-called Russia probe led by former FBI chief Robert Mueller. Mueller is a long-time operator for the deep state with his own baggage of criminal skeletons, such as lying over the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction ruse to wage a genocidal war on that country. His appointment as the chief inquisitor to entrap Trump is therefore apt.

Cohen is said to have "interesting things" to tell the Mueller inquisition concerning Trump and allegations of collusion with Russia to get him elected. Those allegations are, for any sane person, a risible farrago of lies and fantasies. No evidence has ever been produced despite two years of investigation and prosecutions. The only crimes uncovered so far are financial fraud, American-style.

But, we can be sure, that Cohen, a sniveling, greasy attorney, will deliver "information" to hang Trump in order to save his own skin from five years in the clanger. Expect more and bigger lies about Russia.

By the way, there are no good guys in this squalid drama of American politics. Trump and his gang are as rotten as the rest of the barrel.

The former New York real-estate hustler may deserve some credit in that he at least is not psychotically anti-Russia. Another indirect credit to Trump is that the whole debacle he has provoked with the deep state goes to expose the profound decay and corruption in American politics.

Just to show how Trump is no better than the rest. This week he told media that he would consider lifting economic sanctions off Russia if Moscow made "concessions" on Syria and Ukraine. On Syria, the Trump administration wants Russia to use its leverage to get Iran out of the country in order to pander to Israeli concerns.

So there you have it. Just like the gangsters at home are leveraging Trump's associates with pain in order to get them to squeal and betray the president, we see the same sordid mentality and methods being played by Trump himself with regard to Russia. The sanctions he has slapped Russia with could be removed, he says, if Moscow does Trump's bidding on Iran.

The American Dream? It's a nightmare that screams with crimes and corruption. When will the people awake?

Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.
Gaza Without Cancer Medicine as Haley Blames Arabs for Washingtons Sins

By Ramzy Baroud

August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - On Sunday, August 12, news from Gaza was distressing: The Ministry of Health announced that it would no longer be able to treat cancer patients in the Israel-besieged Strip.

Colon and lung cancer, as well as lymphoma patients, cannot be provided with the necessary therapy now, said Dr Mohammed Abu Silmiya, director of Abdulaziz Al-Rantisi Hospital for Children.

Israel is ultimately responsible for the Gaza siege which has extended for more than 11 years. With direct US backing, Israel has launched three major wars on Gaza in the name of fighting terrorism, destroying much of the tiny regions infrastructure. A hermetic siege has punished ordinary Gazans, who are now lacking everything, including the most basic needs of clean water and electricity.

Now, even chemotherapy is no longer available.

But the war on the Palestinians has been a joint venture right from the start. The US has stood by Israel for many years and, as of late, orchestrated the demise of Gaza.

Washington has done everything in its power to isolate the impoverished Strip: It warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party against reconciliation with its Hamas rivals. It fueled and sustained the Israeli war and siege on Gaza. It backed Israel politically on every available platform to shield Tel Aviv from its war crimes in the Strip and throughout Occupied Palestinian Territories.

For many years, the US acted as if a peace broker. Although the American act failed to impress Palestinians, it perpetuated the illusion in the minds of US allies that US administrations are forces for good, standing at an equal distance between two parties in an even-handed conflict.

The arrival of Donald Trumps to the White House has ended the charade.

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While the new administration brazenly defied international law by moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it also took a series of measures to financially punish international bodies that extended recognition, political support or any sort of aid to Palestinians. In the course of a few months, the US took on the United Nations culture agency, UNESCO, pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council and has cut aid to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA.

The attack on UN organizations was led by the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who has played a central role in the new, anti-Palestinian discourse.

But she is not alone. In an article for CNN, Haley, along with US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the President and Jason Greenblatt, US representative for international negotiations, articulated an American point of view that read like textbook Israeli Zionist narrative.

They placed all the blame on Palestinians and spared Israel from any wrong-doing.

Unfortunately, they wrote, Hamas malign activity is pushing Israel to engage in increasingly significant acts of self-defence. As in the case of past conflicts, Hamas starts a clash, loses the battle and its people suffer. That is the reality that needs to change.

That was on July 23. A day later, Haley, using twisted language, chastised Arabs for failing Palestine and the Palestinians. In an 8-minute address to the UN, Haley spoke as if a pro-Palestinian activist, agonizing over the losses and suffering of the Palestinian people.

Country after country claims solidarity with the Palestinian people  Talk is cheap. No group of countries is more generous with their words than the Palestinians Arab neighbours, she said.

She lamented: But all of the words spoken here in New York do not feed, clothe or educate a single Palestinian child. All they do is get the international community riled up.

Welcome to post-truth America.

While the Arabs are expected  in fact, required  to stand in solidarity with their Palestinian brethren, the primary reason for the subjugation of the Palestinian people is the continued US support for Israel.

Since 1999, the US has supported Israel through 10-year long Memorandums of Understanding. According to these arrangements, support for Israel does not require Senate approval and, despite the massive aid, it still does not include missile defence funding.

The last US president to sign a decade-long commitment of funding to Israel, which is set to last between 2019-2028, was President Barack Obama, who provided Israel with more money than any other president in US history.

According to US Congressional Research Service, as of April 2018, Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. This means that, to date, the United States has provided Israel $134.7 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defence funding.

Most of that military assistance has been used to fight Palestinians and Arab neighbours, to support the Israeli military Occupation of Palestine and to reinforce the Israeli blockade of Gaza. For Haley to rebuke Arabs for not doing enough to help Palestinians is simply disingenuous.

As harmful as US military support for Israel and the manipulation of the comparatively limited aid to Palestinians as it has been, US interference in Palestinian political affairs has been equally destructive.

The blatant American interference in Palestinian politics is juxtaposed with complete insubordination to the Israeli government, regardless of the fact that Tel Aviv has moved sharply to the right, and is increasingly shedding any claims to true democracy.

Considering that the US anti-Palestinian and pro-Israel stances have accentuated in recent months, one is hardly moved by Haleys false sympathy with Gaza and the Palestinians.

Only weeks before she criticized the lack of Arab support, she lectured the international community on Israels benevolent approach to what she saw as Palestinian violence.

No country in this chamber would act with more restraint than Israel has, she said on May 15, shortly after many UN ambassadors stood up for a minutes silence to mourn 60 Palestinians who were killed while peacefully protesting the siege at the fence separating Gaza from Israel.

Haleys peculiar attacks on unsupportive Arab governments is designed to distract from the US own role that has emboldened Israel and held Palestinians prisoners to military Occupation and an inhumane siege for far too long.

This article was originally published by "MEM" -
By Paul Craig Roberts

August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Russiagate is an orchestration. It is the response of the military/security complex to Donald Trumps presidential campaign statement that he intended to normalize relations with Russia.

Trump recognized that the extreme Russiaphobia, which the hegemonic neoconservatives had whipped up since Vladimir Putins statement at the Munich Security Conference in 2007 that Russia was a sovereign country and intended to act like one, was a threat to life on earth. The neoconservatives, who have controlled US foreign policy since the Clinton regime, are unwilling to accept limitations by any other country on Washingtons ability to act unilaterally.

When Putin blocked the Obama regimes invasion of Syria and bombing of Iran, the neoconservatives paid Putin back by using NGOs and Ukranian politicians financed by Washington to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine and to put in office a government hostile to Russia. The intent was to use Ukraine, a Russian province for more than three centuries, to create problems for Russia that would absorb Russias attention and return a free hand to Washington and Israel in the Middle East and also to evict Russia from its Black Sea naval base in Crimea. When Crimeans voted to reunite with Russia, Washington misrepresented the democratic result of self-determination as a Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea. Such an extraordinary misrepresentation destroyed any remaining confidence the Russian government might have had in Washingtons veracity.

From here relations between the two nuclear powers deteriorated rapidly. As I and Stephen Cohen have emphasized, the danger of nuclear war is today far higher than ever during the long Cold War as there is today no trust whatsoever between the two governments.

Donald Trump is totally correct that nuclear war would be a terminable event and that nothing is more important than restoring a cooperative and mutually respectful relationship between the US and Russia.

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The problem is that the military/security complex sees it differently. After 70 years of entrenchment the military/security complex is an independent political force. President Eisenhower warned the American people about this likely outcome in 1961 to no avail. From the standpoint of the military/security complex, the problem of normalizing relations with Russia is that it downgrades the Russian threat that is so essential to the $1,000 billion annual budget of the military/security complex and the power that such a massive budget conveys. Only 16 countries in the world out of 195 countries have a GDP greater than $1,000 billion. The military/security complex is large enough to be a member of the G-20 and to have its own currency and military.

Obamas CIA director, John Brennan, quickly organized the Russiagate conspiracy against Trump. Comey, Rosenstein, Clapper, Mueller, McCabe, Peter Strzok and others were, and are, apparently implicated as active participants in orchestrating an alleged collusion between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to steal the US presidential election. Based on deception of the FISA Court, warrants were illegally obtained that became the basis for appointing Mueller as a special prosecutor to construct by whatever means possible a case against President Trump.

After two years the only evidence we have of Russiagate is that it is a conspiracy against President Trump and the American people. Indeed, Mueller, fully aware that there was no Trump-Putin conspiracy, has not bothered to look for any evidence as there can be no evidence of something that did not happen. He pulled out of a hat some phony and meaningless indictments of some Russians in order to make it look like there was a conspiracy without having to prove it, but his main focus has been on framing Paul Manafort.

Muellers investigation of Manafort has nothing to do with the Russiagate story line. Manaforts alleged crimes are far outside Muellers mandate and took place, if they did, years before the alleged events of Russiagate. Manaforts conviction by a jury on 8 of the 18 counts is being misrepresented by the Trump-hating presstitutes as vindication of the Russiagate investigation and as A dark day for Trump, with the presstitutes suggesting a Watergate parallel that will force Trump from office.

Manafort was found guilty not of Russiagate, but of income tax evasion and misrepresenting his financial position on a loan application.

We do not know if Manafort is guilty or is simply a victim of Muellers frameup and an incompetent jury. American juries are notoriously incompetent, which is why 97% of felony indictments are settled with a plea bargain. Even the innocent had rather work out a plea arrangement and admit to something that they did not do than to face an insouciant American jury. Remember the jury that condemned the survivors of the FBIs massacre of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, to be locked away for many years so that they could not talk and tell of the mass murder inflicted on a religious group by the FBI.

It is unclear how much of a crime it can be to misrepresent your financial position on a loan application when one of the causes of the mortgage-backed derivative crisis was the misrepresentation of mortgage applicants on the loan documents by the companies issuing the mortgages. Instead of prosecution, Washington relied on the Federal Reserve to bail out the banks holding the misrepresented loans.

Income tax invasion is the purview of the IRS, not of a special prosecutor who is supposed to be looking for evidence of a Trump-Putin conspiracy.

So, why did Mueller focus on Manafort? Let Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz tell you:

All the Special Counsel needs, in order to charge a subject of an investigation with lying to a prosecutor, is a single witnesses willing to contradict the subject.

The witness may not only be singing, he may also be composing  that is, making up or embellishing a story because he knows that the better his story, the better the deal.

Under federal law, the testimony of such a flipped witness need not be corroborated in order to secure a conviction.

Even one question that results in an answer that is contradicted by one witness would be enough to spring the perjury trap. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12896/is-the-truth-the-truth-when-it-comes-to

President Trump has made various statements disputing the orchestrated Russiagate accusations that, if Manafort as witness for the Special Prosecutor contradicted, could send the President of the United States to prison for perjury.

Knowing this, Mueller, in my opinion a proven corrupt person, decided to put the squeeze on Manafort in order to force Manafort to save himself by giving false testimony against Trump.

This tactic is used every day by state, local, and federal prosecutors. Americans who believe the indictments and convictions are unaware that 97% of the time the convictions rest on self-incrimination in order to avoid worse punishment.

In Manaforts case it didnt, or hasnt, worked. Yet. Manafort is due for a second trial, this time for allegely acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Ukrainian interests and for making false statements not under oath to the US government. Reportedly, Manafort is being held in solitary confinement, a form of torture designed to break a persons spirit.

Like Manaforts first trial, his second trial has nothing whatsoever to do with Russiagate, but you will never learn that from the presstitute media or from the Democratic Party. Manafort can still be coerced to say something that can be used to drive Trump from office.

What about Michael Cohen, a former attorney for Trump? Mueller saw no value in the Cohen case and passed it off to a regular US attorney to prosecute. Therefore, it would appear not to be part of the Russiagate investigation.

Cohen avoided a jury and said he was guilty of five counts of personal income tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a financial institution in order to get a loan, and two counts related to illegal campaign contributions. With regard to the campagin contributions, he contradicted his previous statements. He said that on Trumps instruction, he paid off two women who were claiming sexual affairs with Trump.

The intricacies of American laws relating to politics are often unclear. Apparently, the charge is that Cohen used monies raised for a political campaign to pay off two women, who saw and capitalized on an opportunity to extort Trump for money, and this was an illegal use of the money. Why a lawyer would pay off women, whose stories might or might not be true, in an illegal way when his client is a multi-billionaire doesnt make much sense.

But these are not the kind of questions that the presstitutes are interested in.

Nevertheless, Cohens plea is associated with a case brought by another prosecutor, not by Special Prosecutor Mueller. I am not sufficiently familiar with US legal procedures to be able to say how this gets brought back into Muellers investigation.

The facts are this:

The US military/security complex will not permit any normalization of relations with Russia. Period. At some point Putin and Lavrov and the idiot Russian Atlanticist Integrationists will have to acknowledge this fact, or Russia will be destroyed.

Trump, by declaring normalization of relations as one of his two principal goals for his presidency, earned the emnity of the powerful military/security complex. By defeating Hillary for the presidency, Trump inflamed the US medias hatred, committed as the presstitutes are to Identity Politics and hatred of the white male oppressors who elected Trump. Trump will never be forgiven for preventing the election of the first female president of the United States, an unpardonable crime by a misogynist white male who grabs women by the pussy.

The hatred of Trump by the military/security complex and by the white male hating Identity Politics of the Democratic Party is giving the world the spectacle of an American democratic presidential election being overthrown by a conspiracy between the military/security complex, the Democratic Party, and the whores who constitute the American print and TV media.

President Trump stands up for himself on Twitter  I am surprised that Tritter hasnt suspended his account  but otherwise seems powerless. Whoever advised Trump to appoint Rosenstein, a person committed to Trumps destruction, as deputy attorney general, which is the ruling position in view of the weak and stupid AG Sessions who recused himself from the Russiagate investigation, intended Trumps destruction. A disreputable person committed to Trumps destruction is appointed by Trump to destroy Trump. How can a person so unclued survive?

As I wrote during the presidential campaign, Trump has no idea of Washington and no idea who to appoint who would support him rather than work against him. Consequently, he has a government working against him.

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are working to prevent the Republican Party from supporting the partys president. They could easily succeed. The entirety of the House and Senate of both parties is in thrall to the campaign donations of the military/security complex.

What can President Trump do? He could fight, not with words on Twitter, but with the powers of the presidency. There is far more evidence that Russiagate is a conspiracy against the President of the United States than there is evidence that it is a Trump-Putin conspiracy to steal the election from Hillary. If Mueller can indict on the basis of no evidence, Trump can order the Attorney General to indict on the basis of massive evidence that Russiagate is a conspiracy against the President of the United States.

Brennan, Comey, Clapper, Mueller, Rosenstein, McCabe, Strzok, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, the New York Times, Washington Post, et. al., are all members of the conspiracy to overthrow democracy in America and establish the undisputed rule of the military/security complex.

The idiot presstitutes hatred of Trump might leave them unaware of the conspiracy in which they are participating, but there is no doubt that the American presstitutes are engaged in the overthrow of American democracy, however little of American democracy still exists.

This column is not an endorsement of Trump. It is an endorsement of truth, and it is an endorsement of the American people who in their distress and with the best information that they could acquire elected Donald Trump their President.

Trump is wrong on the environment. Environmental protections put in place after years of struggle are being eviscerated by industry polluters who have gained controll over the environmental regulatory agencies. This is not a unique happening of the Trump presidency. It began under VP Dick Cheney, the real president during the 8 years of the George W. Bush regime. Cheney turned the environmental protection regulatory agencies over to industry polluters.

Trump is wrong on Iran. He is in Israels hands, hoping that the power of the Israel Lobby can shield him from the presstitutes and the military/security complex. What Israel is doing by attempting to use US military force against Iran is unifying a new alliance that is too powerful for the Washington/Israeli alliance. Russia, China, Syria, Turkey, Iran, India, and Pakistan are the locations of populations that massively outnumber Washingtons empire. Each of these countries are being united by Washingtons stupid and inexplicable actions against each.

Militarily, Israel is of no consequence. Twice the vaunted Israeli Army, capable of nothing but murdering unarmed women and children, were defeated and driven out of southern Lebanon by a few thousand Hezbollah militia. Israel is too cowardly to try it a third time, and is relying on the stupid Americans to do the job for them.

The entire world looks at America and Israel, and what does the world see? Two countries, both the result of exterminating the native populations, distrusted and universally hated, both of which survive by purhasing the governments of other countries and by endless lies that describe everyone but themselves and their vassals as evil criminals that must be destroyed.

For example, the Gaza Strip, the largest concentration camp ever in the world, is being systematically destroyed along with all life within it by Israel under cover of the obvious and transparanent lie that all within Gaza are terrorists outfitted with bomb belts who are committed to the destruction of Israel. Not only men of fighting age, but also old men, pregnant women, children, all Palestinians are being murdered by the Israeli military. The United States Secretary of State agrees with Israel that all Palestinians must be destroyed, the sooner the better.

The Chinese are busy taking advantage of the financial opportunities that the idiot Americans forfeit, but otherwise do not seem to have any strategic sense of how to proceed in the drama unfolding in front of their eyes. For China, money is now all.

The Russians are infected with the American propaganda infused into their veins during the Yeltsin era when Russia was an American puppet state. Slowly, if not surely, the Russians are coming to their senses and realizing that they have no American partner.

If Trump is defeated and moved off the table, what happens when Russia and China finally realize that there is to be no conciliation with Washington? When all the false hopes and bets of the Russian and Chinese governments of conciliation on the basis of mutual economic interests come to naught, what happens?

It will be the end of life on earth.

The Russiagate investigation appears to be timed to influence the midterm elections with unsubstantiated accusations made just before the elections in an attempt to produce a Democratic Congress that would impeach President Trump on false charges. The presstitutes would cover up the frameup. In other words, the real election meddling is being done by the Russiagate investigation. https://www.americanlibertyreport.com/articles/americans-should-brace-for-mueller-election-meddling/ See also: https://beforeitsnews.com/v3/survival/2018/2704912.html

Such an impeachment would be a coup. The consequence would be deep and permanent divisions in American political life and more rabid Russiaphobia that would result in war.

The danger is real that the Democrats Russiagate investigation aided and abetted by the presstitute media will result in nuclear Armageddon.
Home Search ICH What the Brennan Affair Really Reveals By Stephen F. Cohen August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Valorizing an ex-CIA director and bashing Trump obscures what is truly ominous. Ever since Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, every American president has held one or more summit meetings with the Kremlin leader, first and foremost in order to prevent miscalculations that could result in war between the two nuclear superpowers. Generally, they received bipartisan support for doing so. In July, President Trump continued that tradition by meeting with Russian President Putin in Helsinki, for which, unlike previous presidents, he was scathingly criticized by much of the US political media establishment. John Brennan, CIA director under President Obama, however, went much further, characterizing Trumps press conference with Putin as nothing short of treasonous. Presumably in reaction, Trump revoked Brennans security clearance, the continuing access to classified information usually accorded to former security officials. In the political media furor that followed, Brennan was mostly heroized as an avatar of civil liberties and free speech, and Trump traduced as their enemy. Leaving aside the missed occasion to discuss the revolving door involving former US security officials using their permanent clearances to enhance their lucrative positions outside government, Cohen thinks the subsequent political media furor obscures what is truly important and perhaps ominous: Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Brennan's allegation was unprecedented. No such high-level intelligence official had ever before accused a sitting president of treason, still more in collusion with the Kremlin. (Impeachment discussions of Presidents Nixon and Clinton, to take recent examples, did not include allegations involving Russia.) Brennan clarified his charge: Treasonous, which is to betray ones trust and to aid and abet the enemy. Coming from Brennan, a man presumed to be in possession of related dark secrets, as he strongly hinted, the charge was fraught with alarming implications. Brennan made clear he hoped for Trumps impeachment, but in another time, and in many other countries, his charge would suggest that Trump should be removed from the presidency urgently by any means, even a coup. No one, it seems, has even noted this extraordinary implication with its tacit threat to American democracy. (Perhaps because the disloyalty allegation against Trump has been customary ever since mid-2016, even before he became president, when an array of influential publications and writers - among them a former acting CIA director -began branding him Putins "puppet," agent, client, and Manchurian candidate. The Los Angeles Times even saw fit to print an article suggesting that the military might have to remove Trump if he were to be elected, thereby having the very dubious distinction of predating Brennan.) Why did Brennan, a calculating man, risk leveling such a charge, which might reasonably be characterized as sedition? The most plausible explanation is that he sought to deflect growing attention to his role as the Godfather of the entire Russiagate narrative, as Cohen argued back in February. If so, we need to know Brennans unvarnished views on Russia. They are set out with astonishing (perhaps unknowing) candor in a New York Times op-ed of August 17. They are those of Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover in their prime. Western politicians, political parties, media outlets, think tanks and influencers are readily manipulated, wittingly and unwittingly, or even bought outright, by Russian operatives . . . not only to collect sensitive information but also to distribute propaganda and disinformation. . . . I was well aware of Russias ability to work surreptitiously within the United States, cultivating relationships with individuals who wield actual or potential power. . . . These Russian agents are well trained in the art of deception. They troll political, business and cultural waters in search of gullible or unprincipled individuals who become pliant in the hands of their Russian puppet masters. Too often, those puppets are found. All this, Brennan assures readers, is based on his deep insight. All the rest of us, it seems, are constantly susceptible to Russian puppet masters under our beds, at work, on our computers. Clearly, there must be no cooperation with the Kremlins grand Puppet Master, as Trump said he wanted early on. (People who wonder what and when Obama knew about the unfolding Russiagate saga need to ask why he would keep such a person so close for so long.) And yet, scores of former intelligence and military officials rallied around this unvarnished John Brennan, even though, they said, they did not entirely share his opinions. This too is revealing. They did so, it seems clear enough, out of their professional corporate identity, which Brennan represented and Trump was degrading by challenging the intelligences agencies (implicitly including his own) Russiagate allegations against him. Its a misnomer to term these people representatives of a hidden deep state. In recent years, they have been amply visible on television and newspaper op-ed pages. Instead, they see and present themselves as members of a fully empowered and essential fourth branch of government. This too has gone largely undiscussed while nightingales of the Fourth Branch - such as David Ignatius and Joe Scarborough in the pages of the Washington Post - have been in full voice. The result is, of course - and no less ominous - to criminalize any advocacy of cooperating with Russia, or detente, as Trump sought to do in Helsinki with Putin. Still more, a full-fledged Russophobic hysteria is sweeping through the American political-media establishment, from Brennan and - pending actual evidence against her - those who engineered the arrest of Maria Butina (imagine how this endangers young Americans networking in Russia) to the senators now preparing new crippling sanctions against Moscow and the editors and producers at the Times, Post, CNN, and MSNBC. (However powerful, how representative are these elites when surveys indicate that a majority of the American people still prefer good relations with Moscow?) As the dangers grow of actual war with Russia - again, from Ukraine and the Baltic region to Syria - the capacity of US policymakers, above all the president, are increasingly diminished. To be fair, Brennan may only be a symptom of this profound American crisis, some say the worst since the Civil War. Finally, there was a time when many Democrats, certainly liberal Democrats, could be counted on to resist this kind of hysteria and, yes, spreading neo-McCarthyism. (Brennans defenders accuse Trump of McCarthyism, but Brennans charge of treason without presenting any actual evidence was quintessential McCarthy.) After all, civil liberties, including freedom of speech, are directly involved - and not only Brennans and Trumps. But Democratic members of Congress and pro-Democratic media outlets are in the forefront of the new anti-Russian hysteria, with only a few exceptions. Thus a generally liberal historian tells CNN viewers that Brennan is an American hero. His tenure at the CIA was impeccable. We owe him so much. Elsewhere the same historian assures readers, There has always been a bipartisan spirit of support since the CIA was created in the Cold War. In the same vein, two Post reporters write of the FBIs once venerated reputation. Is this liberal historical amnesia? Is it professional incompetence? A quick Google search would reveal Brennans less than impeccable record, FBI misdeeds under and after Hoover, as well as the Senates 1975 Church Committees investigation of the CIA and other intelligence agencies' very serious abuses of their power. Or have liberals' hatred of Trump nullified their own principles? The critical-minded Russian adage would say, All three explanations are worst. Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. This article was originally This article was originally published by The Nation. Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
By Mac Slavo

August 23, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - CIA whistleblower Kevin Shipp says that the mainstream media is laser-focused on the recent Cohen plea and the Manafort conviction, both of which have nothing to do with Russian collusion. He says this is because the mainstream media are conspirators and have nothing to do with real news.

We know the mainstream media (MSM) is not interested in the news, said Kevin Shipp to USA Watchdogs Greg Hunter. They have, from their editors on down and their corporate owners, an objective and, in this case, to remove Donald Trump. He stands against everything that they are, the Left or the Dark Left as I call it. Trump is actually confronting the Shadow Government and Deep State, and he has them shaking. He has the news media shaking that pushes these really leftist things. So, they are intentionally and on purpose blocking the news and deleting the news about things like this soft coup, the (phony) dossier.

This is a very powerful interview. If you have the time, we suggest you watch it in its entirety. It is just over 37 minutes long.

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Shipp went on to detail the truth: The MSM will not tell you the latest revelation and that is Bruce Ohr, who was the fourth highest ranking official in the Obama Justice Department (DOJ), wrote the now infamous phony Trump Dossier which was used to apply for fraudulent federal wiretaps (with the FISA Court) to spy on Trump.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Shipp says all of this investigating started with Bruse Ohr, and hell be the next to lose his security clearance.

It all started from the fake dossier which led eventually to the appointment of Robert Mueller (Special Prosecutor) and the entire foundation is based on a falsity. . . . I understand the next revocation of security clearance is probably going to be Bruce Ohr because he crafted the fake dossier with Christopher Steele, and he may even have written the thing. . . . After the FBI supposedly fired Christopher Steele, Bruce Ohr had at least 70 communications (with Steele) back and forth talking about the firewall is still there to protect us. Recent accounts show that Bruce Ohr either wrote the dossier with Christopher Steele or he wrote it himself in communication with Christopher Steele. Kevin Shipp

When Hunter asked Shipp if the dossier meant to frame Trump came directly from the FBI and the DOJ, Shipp confirmed that it did.

Yes. Oh, they coordinated it for sure. There are 70 emails back and forth between Ohr and Steele crafting the dossier. So, the FBI and Department of Justice were intimately involved with the creation and publication of that dossier. They even went further than that. The FBI and CIA counter-intelligence even placed an agent inside the Trump campaign. -Kevin Shipp

Shipp concluded that a Civil War in the making right now. I think we are at the beginning of a civil war. Youve got the Dark Left and youve got the Conservative people, the Constitutionalists. In progressivism, one of its tenets is to change the Constitution, especially the First Amendment, and uproot traditional America. Whatever happens in November is going to intensify that. . . . Their attack is against Christians and the Constitution.

This article was originally published by "SHTFplan" -
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has come under serious backlash after a tweet from him, condemning President Muhammadu Buhari for undertaking the medical bills of a blind corps member.

Atiku, who in one tweet hailed the president for undertaking the corps members medical bills, also fired shots at the president for not investing the money used to fund medical tourism on the healthcare sector.

Atiku, in his tweet wrote:

I commend @NGRPresident @MBuhari for paying medical bills of a blind corps member 5 months to the 2019 election, but I remind him that if he had invested the public funds he spends on his London medicals on public healthcare, he wouldnt need to do this.https://t.co/eKmy0KoERm  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) August 23, 2018

The tweet immediately sparked annoyance amongst many Nigerians as they threw all sorts of jabs at the presidential aspirant.

They asked what he was able to achieve in his 8 years as Nigerias vice president. Some even teased him for hailing and wailing in just one tweet.

See 7 epic replies below

This guy has turned everything to politics, he is slowly descending to @GovAyoFayose's level of pettiness  Alabi I. Ayodeji (@damola_ade77) August 23, 2018

If the govt you served for 8 years and your party being in power for 16 years had invested in our public health system, the blind corper would not need Buhari's help to settle his bill and Buhari may not have the need to travel to UK. This pettiness will not fetch you presidency  Abubakar Sidiq Usman (@MrAbuSidiq) August 23, 2018

Unfortunately, your party in which you were VP for eight years could not initiate it, Buhari would have completed it. Instead, you guys were building private universities while in power using State resources and the universities were even outside the reach of people you govern  Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto) August 23, 2018

You are confused sir hailing, wailing and also envy in one tweet?   Abdul-Rahman (@A_Almuhamsay) August 23, 2018

Its a pity that we have people like you full of hypocrisy as our leader, what have you done in your 8 years as VP, Can you just name any of your achievement as VP sir? Even your boss confirmed how corrupt youre, one day all of you will pay for how that country deteriorated.  Ajibola Williams (@AjibolaWilliams) August 23, 2018

I thought you are competing with him, do your own na, go and pay medical bills of all the patients in LUTH please, we are looking for highest bidder o. Do quick  Emmanuel Iworah (@Iworahe) August 23, 2018
in the 2020 general election, bringing an end to months of speculations.

Mr. Mahama of the National Democratic Congress lost his seat to President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party in the keenly contested 2016 polls.

The former President said he intended to regain the countrys top job in order to rescue the country from dwindling economic fortunes and position it on the trajectory of prosperity and development

Our collective victory in 2020 will end the increasing hardships, expand the base of our economy, create more sustainable jobs, ensure shared prosperity for all and pursue good governance, including peace, unity and security, Mahama declared in a recorded video message.

The former president made his intention to contest official, following the presentation of his letter of intent at the partys headquarters in Accra, on Thursday.

The NDC is expected to choose its presidential candidate on December 7, this year. Not less than five persons have declared interest to lead the main opposition party to the 2020 ballot.

Some of Mahamas rival for the ticket are former Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah, Dr. Alban Bagbin, a Member of Parliament and a former Vice-chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Professor Joshua Alabi.
Vanguard



PORT HAR-COURT Leader of Rivers Unity HouOsun 2018: INEC presents voters register to political partiesse, RUH, Mr Kingsley Wali, yesterday, blamed his generation for introducing the culture of violence and destruction in elections in Rivers State

.

The Nation

President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that the combined efforts of defectors and their backers in the opposition will not distract his administration from taking actions for the benefit of Nigerians and the development of the country. The President spoke when he received five governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

ThisDay



Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi II, has urged registered voters to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in preparation for the 2019 general election. Sanusi made the call yesterday during the traditional Hawan Nasarawa at the Government House in Kano. The Emir also urged Nigerians to get their National Identification Cards.

Guardian



Arewa Youth for Peace and Security (AYPS) has told Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) to focus on helping to stop the killings, rather than getting involved in partisan politics.

The Sun



Abeokuta Senate President Bukola Saraki has said Nigeria as a nation, should draw lessons of love and unity exemplified by the annual Ojude Oba Festival in order for the country to progress. Saraki, who noted that the festival, though has its origin in Islam, is non-discriminatory as it has become a rallying point

Daily Times



The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday presented soft copies of voters register for the September 22, Osun governorship election to the 38 political

.

Daily Trust



The chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abdullahi Adamu Candido, has said more than 250 youths have been engaged and paid monthly stipends from his councils security votes

.

Leadership



Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the Board of Trustees (BoT) and Sarkin Fulani of Nasarawa State, Senator Walid Jubrin, yesterday upbraided the Miyetti Allah national coordinator in Benue State, Alhaji Garus Gololo, for threatening to forceful remove President of Senate, Bukola Saraki, from his position. He cautioned the ground against being agents

Tribune



Towards resolving the crisis created by the demolition of the Music House housing Fresh F.M radio by the Oyo State government, the chairman of the radio station, Dr Yinka Ayefele and Governor Abiola Ajimobi..
Nigerians have expressed their dissatisfaction over the continued imprisonment of 112 women who were arrested and remanded in prison were charged with reasonable felony.

The offence of the women was for demanding from government to know where the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu is.

The women currently in detention, have complained about being maltreated, as some say they have no pads for their menstration and sleep on their blood.

However, Imo State Federal Prison authorities have debunked the allegations, saying the IPOB women are being looked after.

The women who were remanded in prison after a Magistrate Court said it didnt have the power to grant them bail for their charges.

It appears the women may remain in custody until the Attorney-General speaks on the matter.

Nigerians have taken to social media to call the government for the treatment meted out to the women who only protested unarmed.

See reactions here below

The detained IPOB women: "We are menstruating on the floor." "We have no access to diapers or water to clean up." "We are sleeping with blood and our clothes are filled with blood." Even animals deserve better treatment!

Shame on Nigeria!#FreeBiafraWomen #FreeIPOBWomen pic.twitter.com/jqjQS2yE2Y  Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) August 24, 2018

All peaceful protesters must be protected and treated with dignity as citizens exercising their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the constitution of the country.When the constitution is religiously respected,the moral authority of a Government is reinforced.  Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) August 24, 2018

Where is Nnamdi Kanu? is a valid question that requires an answer from the Nigerian government. It doesnt matter whether you agree with whatever he represents or you dont. I heard some 112 women were arrested for asking this question. Thats an anomaly in a democracy!  JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) August 23, 2018

I have just left Owerri prison where I demanded the release of the 112 women detained for several days. We must not become a country where impunity by the authorities is the response to peaceful dissent. Freedom of association and expression should apply to all Nigerians.  Kingsley Moghalu (@MoghaluKingsley) August 24, 2018

112 women have been detained by the Nigerian state in Owerri. Kneeling down for a man shouldnt be top priority for now. That issue can wait. #FreeOwerri112  Dr. Dipo Awojide (@OgbeniDipo) August 23, 2018
A Nigerian woman based in Toronto has told of how she challenged cultural norms by choosing not to kneel down for her husband during her traditional marriage, and that Nigerian men are mad about it.

The gorgeous Yoruba bride said she and her husband spoke to the coordinators (Alagas) ahead of the wedding and asked that they do not ask her to kneel for her husband. The wedding day came and it was the way the bride and groom wanted it. There was no mention of submission and she didnt have to kneel.

She said her sister also took a stand at her own wedding which took place earlier this week.

According to her:

Speaking of submission, during my Yoruba engagement, my husband and I told the Alagas to not use that word or ask me to kneel for him. Everyone told me it wouldnt be possible because, culture. But guess whose knees didnt touch the ground?

My sisters wedding was earlier this week and she also warned against using the term ile oko (husbands house). Everyone is setting their house rules and removing the bs one act at a time. Looking forward to subversive no wedding family members lol

After she shared her story, some women who did the same thing came to share theirs. A few Nigerian men applauded her for challenging the status quo.

But the majority of Nigerian men were angry and called her out. Some even insulted her husband for supporting her.
As Hurricane Lane approaches the main Hawaiian islands, its supposed to decrease in strength from a Category Three storm to a Category Two or One, so the wind shouldnt be too extreme, said Andrew Higgins, senior regional technical & expertise manager at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). There will be some hurricane force winds, but the building code in Hawaii states buildings must be designed to withstand 105mph winds, so they should be OK if protocol has been followed.

Primarily what were looking at is a heavy rainfall and flood event. Were anticipating rainfall amounts of 10 to 20 inches and potentially 30 inches in localized areas, which is a lot of rain. So, flooding and landslides are probably going to be the primary cause of damage from this storm. Hopefully the islanders are prepared for a flood event.

For many on the Pacific Islands, dealing with Hurricane Lane will be a rare or first-time experience. In the past 50 years, Hawaii has only weathered landfalls from two tropical storms and two hurricanes. The states position in the middle of the Pacific Ocean helps, as Pacific cyclones tend to reach higher intensities when they strike further west.

Our insureds in Hawaii may not be quite as familiar with the process of preparing for hurricanes as our east coast clients, Higgins told Insurance Business. From the standpoint of a business, we would hope they took action on Thursday to shut down operations and business processes in order to protect staff and mitigate potential damages.

If its still safe to do so, we would encourage our business clients to carry out an inspection of their building, both on the ground outside and on the roof. They want to make sure that everything movable is tied down and that roof drains are clear and free to enable the flow of excessive rainfall. If roof drains become clogged, that can lead to a roof collapse.

As Lane slowly threatens insureds across the Hawaiian Islands, what can insurance brokers be doing? Nows the time to review insurance policies and to check whats covered and whats not, according to Higgins. As the storm is expected to be primarily a flood event, its a good idea for brokers to make themselves familiar with flood wording in order to help insureds through the claims process as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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Three Communist Party members died in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province on Monday of protecting military equipment and saving maintenance personnel in a devastating typhoon, with an expert suggesting their spirit showed the reason for China's rapid naval development.

Huang Qun, a member of a Communist Party of China (CPC) committee at the company's Institute 760, and the institute's deputy director, as well as Song Yuecai, the project leader, and Jiang Kaibin, the lead electromechanical engineer, drowned after they were thrown into the ocean by massive waves, according to a statement released by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation on Thursday.

Led by Huang, a team of 12 Party members went to the institute's port during Typhoon Rumbia to protect an experimental platform and four maintenance personnel working on the platform in Dalian on Monday.

The cables holding the platform were broken by strong waves. The platform was about to capsize.

The team successfully reinforced the cables to stabilize the platform, but three died despite attempts to rescue them after they fell into the ocean, the statement said.

Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday that the tragedy "shows the loyalty and love people in the Chinese military industry have for their country, that they would value their research over their own lives to make a selfless contribution to the country."

China still flows with the traditional spirit back in the "two bombs, one satellite" project days of the 1960s, in which many Chinese researchers willingly sacrificed their lives to help the Chinese military grow, he noted.

The experimental platform is a boost to China's shipbuilding capability in terms of multiple core technologies, the statement said.

The company paid tribute to the three at a meeting on Tuesday, and vowed to strive to build a world-class navy.

The Chinese navy is developing at an astounding speed within short decades, which could not be achieved without this kind of spirit, Song Zhongping said.
Member of China's first female 'blue helmet' infantry squad bonded with locals while in South Sudan

Guns, deaths, poverty and long patrols across foreign swamps and deserts under the baking sun, thousands of kilometers from home, should not be the daily life of a young woman.

Yet this was the life that Zhang Yuanyuan chose. She was 23 when she deployed in 2015 to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, as part of China's first female infantry squad to serve in a United Nations peacekeeping mission. The squad had 13 members.

Clockwise from top: Zhang Yuanyuan, a member of China's first female infantry squad to serve in United Nation peacekeeping mission, interacting with children from an elementary school in a village in South Sudan in 2015; Zhang patrols a mission area in South Sudan with her male colleagues in full combat gear in 2015; Zhang (left) is awarded the Honorary Medal of Peace by Ellen Margrethe Loej, head of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in South Sudan, in Juba on Nov 12, 2015. Photos Provided to China Daily

On Oct 2, 2015, Zhang went on her first long-distance patrol in an armored vehicle. The first two nights were quiet, but gunshots and flares broke the peace on the third night at around 4 am. The Chinese convoy had encountered a battle between the South Sudan military and anti-government rebels.

"Bullets were zipping above our camp and heads," Zhang says. "I didn't feel scared for my life, nor unusually brave and heroic - just really nervous, and a little bit excited."

The gunshots continued for three days, and Zhang's anxiety peaked when the convoy commander ordered everyone to load their weapons. It was then that Zhang spotted a South Sudanese man crawling toward the Chinese camp with a bullet wound to one of his feet.

By then, more than 700 refugees had come to the camp for safety, including a small boy named James, whom Zhang still remembers to this day.

"We gave James a piece of chocolate for helping us run errands and fetch water, but he gave it to his little sister, whom he held in his arms," Zhang says. "Our squad leader gave him another one, hoping he could eat it, but James gave it to someone else. What a nice kid."

Usually, each long-distance patrol takes around seven days, but Zhang and her group took 11 days to complete their first mission to make sure the combatants had ceased fire and the locals were safe.

The Chinese peacekeepers' rations were quickly depleted, but they salvaged what little they had to make rice porridge to help the refugees. At dinnertime, James held Zhang's hand, smiled to her and said, "Thank you, sister."

"It was at that time that I realized: Every hardship is worth it," Zhang says.

When her battalion finished its eight-month deployment and was ready to return home, Zhang wanted to give James a bit of money to help improve his life.

But James refused to accept the money. Instead, he carried pumpkins grown by the locals and traded them to the Chinese "blue helmets" at an extremely low price.

Zhang is now studying at the PLA University of Army Engineering, and she often pays attention to the situation of the Chinese peacekeepers, especially those in South Sudan. "I miss them all," Zhang says, adding that she still remembers educating the locals about sanitation and teaching children in refugee camps kung fu and painting.

Last year, Zhang received a photo of James with one of Zhang's fellow peacekeepers in South Sudan. "My friend told me James asked how I am doing, and he said he missed me," Zhang said.

"James' brother and father are in the government military, but James told me he did not wish to fight in wars; he wants to go to school and learn," Zhang says. "It is kids like James that embody the future hope of a peaceful South Sudan."

Zhang asked her colleague to carry a message to James, saying, "I will gladly visit you during time of peace. But if you ever need me, I would rush back to help without any hesitation."
Chinese United Nations peacekeepers were a "blessing" for Liberia, helping the country restructure its security architecture and leaving the country in a good position to maintain and improve its security sector, says Steve Zargo, a Liberian senator.

Zargo, a veteran security expert and now chairman of the Liberian Senate's Standing Committee on Security and Intelligence, says the expertise and logistical support given by the Chinese peacekeepers has affected every component of the country's security sector.

"I think the contribution of the Chinese peacekeepers to Liberia will forever be remembered," he says. "The Chinese contribution remains indelible on the lives of those of us who worked with national security institutions."

Members of the police unit of the Chinese peacekeepers perform at a wushu show in Monrovia in January. Alpha Daffae Senkpeni / For China Daily

He says that although Liberia's biggest foreign partner in the security sector has been the United States, "the Chinese peacekeeping force was very instrumental in strengthening the capacity of our agriculture and engineering battalions of our Army to the extent that most of the fleets that you see the Army using to convey troops were donated by the Chinese peacekeepers."

Chinese peacekeepers ended their mission in Liberia on March 1, when members of the 19th peacekeeping force, the last serving in the West African nation, began returning home.

The last of the troops consisted of an 11-member transportation detachment and an 80-member engineering team.

In December 2003, China sent its first peacekeeping force of 558 members to help restore stability to Liberia, which had been embroiled in two back-to-back civil conflicts, in which more than 200,000 people died and around 2.5 million were displaced.

While serving in the UN mission for 13 years in Liberia, the Chinese "blue helmets" surveyed and repaired 7,500 kilometers of road and built and maintained 69 bridges, while the medical detachment treated more than 50,000 cases.

However, it was the support to the security sector that Zargo values most, and he says it has strengthened the bond between the militaries of the two nations.

"The training that we acquired from them leaves a kind of institutional memory that remains alive and stronger," he says.

Among the military and paramilitary officials who acquired advanced skills training in China was private security consultant Peter Zazay, who served as deputy commissioner of Liberia's immigration services.

Zazay spent a month at Zhejiang Police College in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, learning about immigration entry and exit administration.

"Before me, there were several others Liberians from the immigration service, the national police, the drug enforcement agency and other security groupings in the country that benefited from the advanced training," he says.

"The Chinese (peacekeepers) were very much innovative in helping our security sector by providing medical support and training to the immigration service, and even conducting free medical services as well."

They supported the security sector in terms of logistics and training support to the Liberia Immigration Service, the armed forces of Liberia and the police.

The logistics support was even used during the election period to transport polling materials to hard-to-reach areas and helped ensure that Liberia's democracy remained on track, Zazay says.

"Those things that they gave us brought added value to the service and reduced the pressure on government to purchase these logistics, and it was able to impact our work on a very large scale," he recalls. "Indeed, the Chinese 'blue helmets' were a force for good in bringing our country's security sector back on track."

Meanwhile, Senator Zargo says sustaining the bond between the two nations will be fruitful for sustaining world peace and development.
FILE - In this March 2, 2017, file photo, Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio in New York. Carlson says he's shocked his segments this week on a South African policy on land reform should be considered an appeal to white nationalists - let alone spark an international incident. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Nation demonstrates responsibility expected of a great power, helping to ensure world stability and the security of Chinese abroad

Every May 29 is International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, while this year marks the 70th anniversary of the UN peacekeeping operation and the 28th anniversary of China's participation in UN peacekeeping activities.

In the past 28 years, China has been participating actively and firmly in the UN peacekeeping operation and serving as the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget. It contributes more troops to UN peacekeeping missions than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council.

So far, China has sent a total of more than 37,000 peacekeepers and participated in as many as 24 UN peacekeeping operations, and is regarded as the key force in UN peacekeeping activities.

Regional conflict and civil wars in some countries have long been a problem and threaten global peace and security. Therefore, UN peacekeeping is essential for stopping wars, resolving conflicts, easing tension and creating peace.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the world's second-largest economy, China has taken an increasingly active approach to fully engaging with and participating in UN peacekeeping operations.

2015 can be regarded as a landmark year in highlighting China's rise as a global security provider. President Xi Jinping announced at the UN Peacekeeping Summit at UN headquarters in New York in September 2015 that China would join the UN standby mechanism for peacekeeping capacity. He also committed China to providing 8,000 troops for the UN peacekeeping standby force - one-fifth of the 40,000 total troops committed by 50 nations.

In addition, help in training 2,000 peacekeepers worldwide was pledged, as well as $100 million in aid to building the African Union standby force and $1 billion to establish the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund.

So far, the 8,000 Chinese standby peacekeeping troops are ready and 1,600 peacekeepers worldwide have been trained.

Historically, China's foreign policy was to have less engagement and nonparticipation in international multilateral organizations and their operations, such as UN peacekeeping activities.

It was not until the 1990s that China's policy toward peacekeeping started to shift, and China joined its first military peacekeeping operation by deploying five observers in 1990 to the UN Truce Supervision Organization in the Middle East.

The reasons and motivations for China's increasing involvement in UN peacekeeping operations can be understood from three perspectives.

First, China is showing and bearing the responsibility expected of great powers. With rapid economic development and rising international influence, China needs and also is willing to make more contributions to international society.

By actively participating in UN peacekeeping operations, China's global reputation and its status as a cooperative, responsible global stakeholder can be strengthened. This will also be a powerful counter to the so-called "China threat" or "China's new colonialism". And by doing so, China's soft power can be increased.

Second, China is increasing the experience and capacity of Chinese peacekeepers. The Chinese military has been in a peaceful environment for decades and lacks experience dealing with tough situations. By participating in the UN peace mission, it can gain invaluable field experience, including how to effectively cooperate with the militaries of other countries. From sending noncombat peacekeepers such as engineers and medical staff to dispatching combat troops to South Sudan, the steadily improving participation in the UN peacekeeping mission shows clearly the strong determination of the Chinese government to deploy peacekeepers abroad, despite the risks.

Last but not least, with increasing Chinese overseas investment and more Chinese doing business or traveling abroad, joining the UN peacekeeping activities and safeguarding world peace and stability will certainly be beneficial for Chinese people and investment abroad.

In the era of globalization, international peace and security needs international cooperation and joint efforts from all countries in the world. China will certainly continue to play its role and make greater contributions to the UN peacekeeping service.
YREKA, Calif. -- Law enforcement officers in California arrested a man accused of causing the fatal Klamathon Fire which burned on the Oregon and California border early in the summer.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officers arrested John Skoda, 32. Skoda was booked into the Siskiyou County Jail Thursday, Cal Fire said.

RELATED: Crews from across Oregon battle Klamathon Fire

Investigators claim Skoda caused the fire by recklessly burning debris.

The Klamathon Fire started July 5 and burned 38,008 acres in and around Hornbrook. It destroyed 35 homes and 48 structures. An additional 12 structures were damaged.

MORE: Fast-moving wildfire kills 1 in California

One Hornbrook man died in the fire, and three firefighters were injured.
EUGENE, Ore. -- Eugene police arrested a suspect Wednesday in the most recent robbery of the U.S. Bank on West 18th Avenue.

James Lee Wood, 49, of Eugene was transported to the Lane County Jail on second-degree robbery charges.

Police said they responded to The Nile nightclub on Highway 99 after receiving a tip about the possible location of the suspect involved in the Aug. 19 robbery.

RELATED: U.S. Bank on West 18th robbed for 2nd time this summer

In the robbery, police said the suspect entered the bank located inside Albertsons, took cash and ran from the scene across West 18th and through Westmoreland Park.

Police contacted the suspect, James Lee Wood, age 49, of Eugene, and found information to arrest him for Robbery in the Second Degree. Thank you for assisting in the location of the suspect. https://t.co/EucYsLehbt https://t.co/lwidXadqmN  Eugene Police Dept. (@EugenePolice) August 23, 2018

The suspect was described as a white male in his 40s or 50s, approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing between 180 and 200 pounds.

READ MORE: Veneta man in custody for West 18th Avenue US Bank robbery

The West 18th location was previously robbed in July. Police said William Newman, 55, was arrested for that crime.

READ MORE: Eugene police search for bank robbery suspect

The U.S. Bank inside the Albertsons on Royal and Danebo avenues was robbed in May.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- A sheriff in a county in southwest Oregon is asking for money from the state to investigate illegal marijuana operations, saying his department lacks the resources to do so.

The Daily Courier newspaper of Grants Pass reports Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel is asking the state for $648,000 to help fund a team of detectives.

A bill passed by the Legislature this year assists cities and counties with costs incurred by local law enforcement agencies in addressing unlawful marijuana cultivation or distribution operations.

Daniel says illegal marijuana operations can hide as legal ones, and can go undetected without a task force dedicated to finding them.

Both recreational and medical marijuana production and sales are legal in Oregon, subject to licensing and regulation.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- A federal judge has dismissed a racketeering lawsuit filed by Oregon landowners who claim their neighbors are growing marijuana, causing them discomfort and reducing their property values.

The Capital Press reported Wednesday that several property owners in Lebanon filed a lawsuit last year accusing their neighbors of growing marijuana in violation of the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act.

Defendants say they stopped growing marijuana last October.

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ruled that the injuries alleged by the 10 plaintiffs including unpleasant noises, foul odors and reduced property values aren't the type that can be compensated under the act.

He says they are allowed to refile their complaint since the lawsuit has a constitutional standing.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The first debate in the Oregon governor race will be breaking new ground -- it will be the first time Oregons children will be asking all the questions.

Journalists from Portland will facilitate the event, but 100 percent of the questions will come directly from Oregon youth.

Children First for Oregon is soliciting applications from children and youth throughout the state who want to participate. To submit a question for the candidates and to learn how to submit a video, click here.

Organizers said the stakes are high for Oregons youth and while they cant vote, this will give them a voice in the 2018 election on economic security, health care, safety, education and other issues they face.

The Debate for Oregons Future will include the three major party candidates for governor in this years November election: Gov. Kate Brown (D) and challengers Rep. Knute Buehler (R) and Patrick Starnes (I).

Its happening Oct. 2 from 7 to 8 p.m. on Portland television station KOIN.
BEIJING, Aug. 24 (ChinaMil) -- The eighth meeting of the China-South Africa Defense Committee was held in Beijing from Aug. 21 to 23, 2018.

Gen. Li Zuocheng, member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the Joint Staff Department under the CMC, met with Gen. Solly Shoke, chief of the South African National Defense Force in Beijing on Aug. 22.

Deputy Chief of Staff of CMC Joint Staff Department Maj. Gen. Shao Yuanming and Gen. Solly Shoke co-chaired the meeting on Aug. 23.

The two sides exchanged views on issues of common concern including the security situation in Asia-Pacific and Africa, national defense and army building in China and South Africa, as well as bilateral military exchanges and cooperation.

The two sides unanimously stated that they will continue to give full play to the guidance and coordination role of the mechanism of the China-South Africa Defense Committee under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state.

China and South Africa will jointly promote the level of cooperation in defense affairs, and make positive contributions to the enrichment of the connotation of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era as well as the maintenance of international and regional security and stability.
MONTEZUMA, Iowa  The attorney for the man accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts is asking for private hearings and a gag order on the prosecution.

Allan M. Richards has filed two motions in Poweshiek County District court on behalf of Cristhian Rivera. One motion claims Riveras right to a fair trial is being harmed by media coverage and asks that everyone except the participants be excluded from the court room for any legal hearing on the case. The other asks the judge to order the prosecution to only refer to Rivera as a documented resident.

In his second motion, Richards argues the government is promoting the idea that Christian is not present in this jurisdiction legally and that will prevent any notion of a fair trial. Richards specifically refers to the Presidents comments on the case in stating Sad and Sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national media which will poison the entire possible pool of jury members.

The motion further claims Rivera has complied with his documented status since arriving in the U.S.A. as a minor and states Rivera has dedicated his efforts toward honorable work in the dairy industry, has been trusted in his work with the safety of our very important milk supply to Iowa, the various states and other nations.

Court records do not list any hearings scheduled so far on Richards motions but the judge has issued an order granting expanded media coverage of Riveras trial, which means cameras and other recording equipment will be allowed in the courtroom.

Authorities have said Rivera, a native of Mexico, is in the United States illegally, something Richards has disputed. The Iowa Department of Transportation said Thursday it never issued a drivers license or any other official state ID to Rivera.
MABEL, Minn.  The Newburg Township Board has voted for a moratorium on the construction of a large-scale hog confinement.

A meeting on the subject was held Thursday evening at the Mabel Community Center.

Iowa-based Catalpa is looking to build a 4,980-sow facility about 10 miles east of Harmony. Local residents have objected to the development, largely because it plans to produce more than seven million gallons of manure each year in a geologically porous region of southeastern Minnesota.

KIMT had a reporter at the meeting and will have more details at 10 oclock.
MASON CITY, Iowa- After the announcement of Mollie Tibbets death, politicians took the opportunity to make it a political issue.

Iowa Governor Reynolds posted a statement on Facebook speaking as a mother that she couldnt imagine what the family is going through. She then talked about a failed immigration system because authorities said Rivera is an illegal alien.

Iowa democratic candidate for governor, Fred Hubbell, posted a similar statement on his page commenting as a parent and a grandparent.

On Thursday while Hubbell toured NIACCs working farm and STEM Center that is under construction we asked him about the Tibbetts case being turning so political so soon.

This is really unfortunate that politicians all of a sudden are using this to politicize the event, he said. Let the family have time to grieve and deal with their loss. Take some time and give them some space.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The arrest of a Mexican farmworker in the death of an Iowa college student renewed calls to change immigration laws, but it also focused attention on the immigrant workers whose labor is essential to the state's agricultural industry.

Hours after authorities found the body of Mollie Tibbetts and charged the suspect with murder, politicians including President Donald Trump, the Iowa governor and two senators expressed outrage that Cristhian Bahena Rivera had been able to live illegally in the U.S. for years. They urged a wider crackdown on illegal immigration.

The response from farming groups was more muted, reflecting the difficulty in hiring people for the physically demanding work at dairies, slaughterhouses and other agricultural operations.

The day after Rivera's arrest, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley acknowledged that some of the most intense opposition has come from his own state's agriculture industry because of its need for workers.

"We're the No. 1 egg-producing state, and I can't talk to the egg producers without this being a problem," said Grassley, a Republican. "With big dairy farms  and they're getting bigger all the time in Iowa  but even in smaller dairy farms, you hear it. You hear it in the industrial hog production that we have, and then you also hear it from the processing of our agricultural products."

Fellow Republican Sen. Joni Ernst noted, "A lot of our agricultural industry does rely on many laborers, and we just don't have enough of that labor pool in the state of Iowa."

According to the Labor Department's most recent National Agriculture Workers Survey, about 47 percent of hired crop farm workers in the U.S. lack proper authorization to work here. The most recent data available was released in December 2016 based on surveys from 2013 to 2014. The survey showed that 68 percent of hired farmer workers were born in Mexico.

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Farm Bureau declined to comment, but the American Farm Bureau Federation said that it would support a mandatory electronic employee verification system only if the federal government also created an agriculture worker program, protected employers who may have inadvertently hired workers not in the country legally and allowed workers already hired to remain on the job under a new program.

In response to Trump's criticism of existing immigration laws, Craig Lang, a former farm bureau president whose dairy employed Rivera, said laws need to be changed to identify and track immigrant workers while also providing essential labor.

"That is the kind of immigration we need not only for agriculture but for many other industries," said Lang, who was a Republican candidate for Iowa agriculture secretary but lost in the primary.

Lang's family said Wednesday that Rivera had provided false documents with a different identity when he was hired four years ago and that he had been a good employee.

The Iowa State Dairy Association took a similar stand, calling for a more effective way to verify that potential workers can legally be hired.

"In today's tight economy, labor is scarce, and finding employees for open positions can be difficult," the association said in a statement. "Legal immigrants fill a wide variety of jobs and often provide relief needed for employers."

State Sen. David Johnson, who worked on an Iowa dairy farm for 20 years, said Iowa's dairy and meatpacking industries could not survive without immigrant labor. He said improvements must be made in worker vetting to ensure that documents and identities are not faked or stolen.

"It's got to be a comprehensive approach that takes as much of these things in as possible," he said. "Set something up so everybody understands what the rules are because we have to maintain ourselves as a nation of laws."

He said he's known many hardworking Hispanic employees at dairies seeking only a better life for their families.

In Brooklyn, Iowa, where Tibbetts was last seen, residents seemed more focused on the loss of a beloved young woman who had grown up in the town of 1,500 than the citizenship of the man arrested in her death.

Brad Hohensee, school superintendent in the Brooklyn area, said the district's message to students is that the alleged kidnapping and murder of Tibbetts has nothing to do with "race or color."

"We are staying positive here and focusing on Mollie," Hohensee said. "Let's focus on what Mollie did for our school and community. She was very positive and we are staying positive."

Tibbetts' aunt took a similar approach, writing on her Facebook page: "Evil comes in EVERY color. Our family has been blessed to be surrounded by love, friendship and support throughout this entire ordeal by friends from all different nations and races."

Rusty Clayton, a City Council member and owner of the True Value hardware store in Brooklyn, Iowa, said Tibbetts' death "just put a big hole in everybody's heart."

Clayton hopes his town's tragedy will lead to changes that could enable employers to hire immigrant workers while also ensuring public safety.

"We've got trouble in the system somewhere," Clayton said. "We just have to decide how we're going to handle it all. Not as a community. The country has to decide. How do we handle this stuff? It can't keep going on."

___

This story has been corrected to show Craig Lang was a Republican candidate for Iowa agriculture secretary but lost in the primary.

___

Associated Press writer Ryan J. Foley also contributed from Brooklyn, Iowa.
WASHINGTON (AP)  John McCain, the six-term Arizona senator and the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, has chosen to discontinue medical treatment for his brain cancer, his family said Friday.

In a statement, the family said McCain has surpassed expectations for survival, but "the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict." The family added, "With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

The senator, who would be 82 next week, has been away from the Capitol since December.

McCain, a former Navy pilot, was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years. He was elected to Congress in the early 1980s and was elected to the Senate in 1986, replacing Barry Goldwater who retired. McCain gained a reputation as a lawmaker who was willing to stick to his convictions rather than go along with party leaders. It is a streak that draws a mix of respect and ire.

He has been a frequent target of criticism from President Donald Trump, especially for his vote against a Republican replacement for "Obamacare."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Twitter that he was "very sad to hear this morning's update" from McCain's family.

"We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour," McConnell said.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey called McCain "an American hero" who always put his country before himself.

Ducey said a "spirt of service and civility" guided McCain's life, standing as a model for Americans regardless of political affiliation.

McCain's wife, Cindy, tweeted: "I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey."

McCain underwent surgery in July 2017 to remove a blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumor called a glioblastoma. It's the same type of tumor that killed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy at age 77 in 2009.

McCain rebounded quickly, however, returning to Washington and entering the Senate in late July to a standing ovation from his colleagues. In a dramatic turn, he later cast a deciding vote against the Republican health care bill, earning the wrath of Trump, who frequently cites McCain's vote at campaign events.

McCain's condition worsened last fall and he has been in Arizona since December.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  A man accused of having sex with a teen is pleading not guilty.

Efram Athony Abott Ciavarelli, 20 of Rochester, is charged with 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct. Rochester police say a 14-year-old boy created a profile on the dating site Grindr and Ciavarelli responded, going to the boys home and having sex.

Police say two younger juveniles interrupted the sexual encounter after seeing a strange vehicle in the driveway. Police say the juveniles got a knife, went downstairs, and found Ciavarelli naked in the bedroom.

Officers say Ciavarelli told them he thought he was meeting someone who was over 16.

His trial is set to being on January 2, 2019.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  After her co-defendant pleaded guilty, another Rochester woman is going to stand trial for burglary and assault.

Tianna Marie Amos, 23, and Tatiano Latrice Lofton Stewart, 20, were arrested on April 10 and accused of forcing their way inside an apartment and attacking a 16-year-old female.



Tatiano Lofton-Stewart Tatiano Lofton-Stewart

Lofton-Stewart pleaded guilty to 5th degree assault and received one year of supervised probation.

Amos pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of 1st degree burglary, two counts of 5th degree assault, and disorderly conduct. Her trial is scheduled to begin on January 28, 2019.
A new set of tit-for-tat tariffs imposed by the United States and China on each other's goods took effect Thursday.

The U.S. announced earlier this month that it would impose 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods, on top of the 25-percent tariffs it imposed on $34 billion worth of Chinese products in early July. Beijing has followed suit in each case with an identical percentage of tariffs in retaliation.

China's commerce ministry issued a statement Thursday criticizing the U.S. tariffs as a violation of World Trade Organization rules, and says it will file a legal challenge under the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism.

The new round of tariffs took effect the day after delegations from both nations met in Washington for first of two days of talks aimed at resolving the dispute, the first such formal discussions since June.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview this week he does not expect much progress from the discussions.
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are moderately up in early U.S. trading Friday, as a weaker U.S. dollar on this day is supportive for the precious metals markets. Still, the greenback bears have had the better week, which in turn has allowed the gold and silver markets to at least stabilize from recent downside pressure that pushed both metals to multi-month lows last week. December gold futures were last up $4.80 an ounce at $1,198.80. September Comex silver was last up $0.078 at $14.62 an ounce.

A highlight of the trading week is the annual meeting of world central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that begins in earnest today. Fed Chairman Powell is slated to speak this morning at 9:00 a.m. EDT at the symposium. However, many do not expect Powell to reveal much in terms of markets-moving comments. This years confab is being deemed as more low-key than past years, when the meetings have produced important proclamations from world central bankers.

Reports overnight said Asian demand for gold bullion is picking up, on perceived bargain hunting.

Low- to mid-level trade talks between the U.S. and China have ended with reportedly no significant results. Each country on Thursday levied new tariffs on each others products.

The other key outside market today finds Nymex crude oil prices higher and trading just below $69.00 a barrel.

U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes durable goods orders.

Technically, gold bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage amid a price downtrend on the daily bar chart. Gold bulls' next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close in December futures above solid resistance at $1,226.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at the August low of $1,167.10. First resistance is seen at Thursdays high of $1,203.40 and then at this weeks high of $1,208.40. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,189.50 and then at $1,180.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 2.0

September silver futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $15.50 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $14.00. First resistance is seen at Thursdays high of $14.75 and then at this weeks high of $14.875. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $14.45 and then at the August low of $14.315. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 2.0.
ROME/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italys populist government said on Friday it would cut funds for the EU unless other states take in boat migrants stranded in an Italian port, earning a rebuke from Brussels for making unacceptable threats.

Diplomatic sources told Reuters a meeting of EU state envoys in Brussels found no agreement on how to deal with the 150 mostly Eritrean migrants on board the Diciotti, an Italian coastguard ship docked in Catania since Monday.

More than 650,000 people have reached Italian shores since 2014 and Rome has begun to take a rigidly anti-immigration line, saying it will not let any more rescue ships dock unless other EU states agree to take the people in.

There has not been a deal on Diciotti, one diplomat said after the Brussels talks.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who heads the anti-immigrant League party, has said they will not be allowed ashore until other EU states agree to take them in - prompting a criminal investigation into whether the migrants are being held against their will.

Salvinis government ally, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who leads the 5-Star Movement, has said his party will not approve next years European Union funding if there is no action soon.

The soft line does not work, the hard line will be to withhold funds if they dont listen to us, Di Maio said.

Rejecting the Italian threats as unacceptable, the EUs executive European Commission said a solution to the Diciotti case was its main priority.

Unconstructive comments, let alone threats ... will not get us any closer to a solution, spokesman Alexander Winterstein told a news conference on Friday.

The issue of how to handle migrants has bitterly split the EU, although arrivals are down dramatically from their 2015 peak of more than a million.

Southern EU states like Italy and Greece feel overrun and the blocs eastern members refuse to host any of the new arrivals.

The easterners, who face cuts in EU development aid over their refusal to help on migration, did not attend the Brussels meeting on Friday. Malta, Italy, Spain, Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands were present.

CURTAILING ARRIVALS

In Italy, a campaign promise to further curtail arrivals helped propel the 5-Star and the League into office last June.

Deals were reached in June and July to distribute people from ships that carried rescued migrants to Italy and Malta.

But Salvini this week said countries were failing to keep their promises.

Opposition politicians who visited the Diciotti this week condemned Salvini and Di Maio.

The worst thing is that (the migrants) are being held hostage as a way of blackmailing Europe, said Laura Boldrini, a lawmaker for the left-wing Free and Equal party.

The migrants appeared to have started a hunger strike on Friday, Davide Faraone, a lawmaker in the opposition Democratic Party, said on Twitter.

Another opposition lawmaker, Riccardo Magi, said most on board could qualify for asylum.

Magi petitioned the Catania prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into whether the migrants were being held against their will. Agrigentos chief prosecutor has opened a probe against unknown persons for holding them.

On Friday, Salvini remained defiant in the face of the investigation and said it was his job to protect the country.

If someone is thinking about arresting me, theyre mistaken, because the Italian people are asking for order, rules, respect and controlled immigration, he said.
LUBIN, Poland Aug 24 (Reuters) - The Chief Executive Officer of copper producer KGHM Polska Miedz, Marcin Chludzinski, said he expected copper prices to rise to levels seen in the first half of this year, as geopolitical situations are expected to calm down.

"We assume stabilisation of the geopolitical situation, which means that the copper price should come back to levels from the first half of 2018," he told reporters late on Thursday.

(Reporting by Wojciech Zurawski; Writing by Marcin Goclowski; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Messaging: marcin.goclowski.reuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))
According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the number of Vietnamese patients increased eightfold from 921 in 2010 to 7,447 last year.

That is higher than the per capita national income of Vietnam last year of US$2,385, but the middle class is flush with cash in a booming economy.

Vietnamese tourists are flocking to Korea for plastic surgery. Young Vietnamese women enamored of K-pop come to have themselves chiseled into the strange pointy doll's faces of the starlets, splashing out W3-10 million per trip (US$1=W1,122).

On Aug. 16, a 30-year-old Vietnamese woman visited a plastic surgery clinic in Sinsa-dong in Seoul's swish Gangnam. She spent W8.5 million, including medical costs, accommodation and air tickets.

"Plastic surgery tourism to Korea is a trend among young Vietnamese women," she said. "I want to have a slim face and a prominent nose, just like a Korean girl group member."

Big plastic surgery clinics in Gangnam have hired Vietnamese translators, and Vietnamese pop songs vie with K-pop in the waiting rooms.

Some clinics even provide food to patients from nearby Vietnamese restaurants. A Vietnamese staffer at a plastic clinic in Sinsa-dong said, "Five years ago, fewer than 10 Vietnamese patients arrived each month. But there are too many Vietnamese recently for me to handle alone, so the clinic has employed another Vietnamese translator."

A clinic in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam said, "The number of Vietnamese patients has doubled since last year, and they now outnumber the Chinese."

Clinics turned their attention to Southeast Asia as the Chinese market dried up last year due to an unofficial boycott. That has also boosted business for medical tourism agencies, which often rely on viral marketing because most Vietnamese patients trust recommendations from acquaintances.

Huong Nguyen at a medical tour agency in Vietnam said, "Many Vietnamese women plan to visit Korea after seeing comments on plastic surgery on YouTube or social media."


Korean household debt is expected to surpass a record W1,500 trillion soon, though the pace of growth keeps slowing (US$1=W1,122).

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that households owed W1,493.2 trillion at the end of the second quarter, up W25 trillion from the previous quarter. At this rate, the amount is expected to surpass W1,500 trillion this quarter.

The main culprit was the loans from commercial banks, which grew W12.8 trillion, higher than both the W8.2-trillion increase in the first quarter and W12 trillion a year ago.

But overall the pace of debt growth has slowed to 7.6 percent, the lowest since the first quarter of 2015 and the sixth month of a slowdown.

"We expect the pace of debt growth to keep slowing," a BOK staffer said. "But we can't let our guard down since household debt is still growing faster than income."
Seoul apartment prices rise at fastest pace in 30 weeks



By Yoon Ja-young



As Seoul's housing market is showing signs of overheating, the government is renewing its fight against property speculation, including tax audits and designation of anti-speculation zones.



At a meeting Thursday on key economic issues presided over by Economy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, the government decided to additionally designate anti-speculation zones in Seoul, which will be subject to tougher regulations.



Currently, the metropolitan city's upscale southern districts of Gangnam-gu and Songpa-gu are designated as anti-speculation zones, as are Mapo-gu, Yongsan-gu, Seongdong-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu and Nowon-gu.



The market analysts expect districts of Jongno-gu, Jung-gu, Dongdaemun-gu and Dongjak-gu, which saw steep rise but are not designated as such as of yet are likely to be newly subject to the strict restriction. The designation may come as early as next week.



[0825_apartment price] /2018-08-24()



Seoul apartments have been showing signs of stabilizing following implementation of heavy capital gains taxes on owners of multiple homes starting in April as well as a property tax hike announced in July.



However, prices have been rising through the roof all around Seoul following Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's announcement of development plans.






A Seoul appellate court on Friday increased the sentence for former President Park Geun-hye by one year to 25 years in a massive corruption case that led to her removal from office.



The Seoul High Court also increased her fine by 2 billion won ($1.78 million) to 20 billion won.



The 66-year-old former president was sentenced to 24 years in prison and an 18 billion-won fine by a lower court on April 6 in a ruling that the prosecution appealed.



She was charged for conspiring with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, into forcing big conglomerates, including Samsung, to donate 77.4 billion won to two foundations under Choi's control.



The scandal led to her removal from office by the Constitutional Court in March last year.



In the appellant trial, the prosecution maintained its demand for a 30-year jail term and an 118.5 billion-won fine for Park on July 20.



As for Choi, the court maintained the lower court's 20-year sentence and raised the fine by 2 billion won to 20 billion won. The court commuted the sentence for Ahn Jong-beom, Park's former chief policy aide, by one year to five years and reduced his fine from 100 million won to 60 million won.



The court included part of Samsung's donations made to one of Choi's foundations as bribes, reversing the lower court's decision. It judged that there was "implicit understanding" between Park and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the heir to the business empire, about Lee's seeking of government backing for Samsung's merger of two group companies, deemed crucial to his control of the group.



The court agreed that Park exerted influence on the state pension service, a major stakeholder in one of the Samsung companies, to vote in Samsung's favor.



The court also acknowledged Lotte's 7 billion won provided to Choi's firm was a bribe paid in exchange for an illegal solicitation. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is serving a sentence with the appellate verdict slated for next Wednesday.



Park was not present at the trial. She has been boycotting what she calls "politically motivated" court proceedings since last October, when the court extended her presentencing detention.



She has criticized the judiciary and prosecution for not handling her case fairly.



Friday's trial was not broadcast live on television, unlike the lower court sentencing hearing. (Yonhap)




The Moon Jae-in administration seems to view the world through rose-tinted glasses. The public is tiring of its policymaking by trial and error, and many wish it would jettison the childish belief that it has a monopoly on righteousness, that the good guys are in charge at last while the bad guys in opposition are simply getting in the way. Such wishful thinking is suitable only for a Hollywood feelgood movie.

The first thing these good guys did was to strong-arm private businesses into granting temporary workers regular employee status. After all, in the government's idealistic view, temporary workers are the good guys and businesses the bad guys who have been exploiting them. But there is a reason why companies continue to hire workers on short-term contracts. In Korea, where trade unions wield tremendous clout, making it nearly impossible for employers to lay off regular staff, businesses have to keep hiring temporary workers.

In reality, the state-run company that was the first to tell Moon of its plans to grant regular status to all of its temporary workers continues to face conflicts with the established regular employees. It probably never imagined that they would cry foul. This phenomenon is happening in most state-run businesses and public schools.

The good guys also thought that shutting down evil nuclear power plants would progress smoothly and create a greener and happier world. They felt so morally justified in pursuing this major decision that they skipped the process of thorough professional scrutiny of the potential side effects. After all, we cannot let a Fukushima-type disaster to happen here, so solar and wind energy are tremendously enticing. But in fact the shortfall has to be shouldered by dirty coal since Korea does not get nearly enough sun and has no wind farms to speak of.

Korea's manufacturing industry was able to grow thanks to cheap electricity and ample water supplies. Now the government is threatening the supply of water. As soon as he assumed leadership, Moon vowed to open the floodgates of major waterways and even suggested that he would tear down dams.

The naive idea was that that would magically lead the recovery of ecosystems, returning rivers, streams and tributaries to their natural states. But the good guys refused to accept the fact that major waterways in the country had almost dried up. No matter how fraught ex-President Lee Myung-bak's four-rivers project was, it did increase the supply of fresh water from 800 million tons to 1.6 billion tons and another 1.2 billion tons if reservoirs are included.

Water is a precious resource in Korea where rainfall is relegated to just a few months of the year. But once the floodgates were opened, the rivers and streams started drying up again. The floodgates had served as safety pins for the nation during droughts and floods. But the Moon Jae-in administration transferred control of water management from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the Ministry of Environment. That is what the good guys would do in a Hollywood movie, but it is the wrong thing to do in Korea.

Moon applied the same approach to the real estate and housing problem. The good guys felt that the bad guys in the previous government failed to do their job regulating the housing market. Moon brought in punitive taxes, and the end result was paradoxically a surge in apartment prices in Seoul and the real estate market outside the capital entering perma-freeze.

The Moon administration has a knack for ignoring simple market principles. Raising property taxes resulted in depressing new construction and pushing up prices of existing housing stock, and it also led to a decline in jobs. The same naive approach led to failures in education policy and cryptocurrency regulation.

The administration has pumped a staggering W50 trillion into job creation but ended up boosting employment by a paltry 5,000 jobs (US$1=W1,122). The same naive approach to the minimum-wage hike led to the same disastrous results. Yet Moon has earmarked another W30 trillion in spending over the next three years to bolster state-funded medical coverage, another W120 trillion to provide affordable housing, and W50 trillion to redevelop cities. Will there be a happy ending to this movie or is it turning into an epic disaster film?

There can be no doubt that Moon sincerely wants to create a better future for Koreans. But he is going about it the wrong way. The world we live in is not that simple, and changes must be made through compromise if the views on both sides are extreme. The problem is that key Cheong Wa Dae officials are all former student activists from the 1970s and 80s, who are so used to thinking of themselves as the good guys that they can no longer see when they are, even in a purely practical sense, wrong.

Moon has said that it was collaborators with the Japanese occupation who ended up becoming rightwing industrialists and conservative politicians. Some were, and some were not. But with such a prejudiced view, the world can only be divided into good guys and bad guys. Recently, one of the good guys -- a Minjoo Party lawmaker who lashed out against the descendants of collaborators -- was found to be a descendant of a collaborator too. That is the checkered and complicated reality of this country. It is only when the government takes off its rose-tinted spectacles and sees it for what it is that this movie can have a happy ending.


By Lee Min-hyung





President Moon Jae-in plans to meet a group of mayors and governors next week to discuss creating jobs as the employment crisis weighs on the economy, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.







The decision comes a week after Statistics Korea unveiled data showing the number of newly added jobs came in at just 5,000 last month, the lowest since January 2010.







President Moon was supposed to hold the meeting on Wednesday with 17 chiefs of cities and provinces across the nation. But the presidential house decided to postpone the gathering as Typhoon Soulik swept across the Korean Peninsula, and the regional chiefs were bracing for disaster countermeasures.







At the meeting, the President plans to create proposals to resolve the deteriorating job market. Cheong Wa Dae will make public the plans as soon as possible after the meeting.







It will be the first time since February that President Moon has met the mayors and governors.







Earlier this week, Moon expressed regret that the nation's job market shows no sign of improvement.







"The government has laid out financing plans and carried out policy drives to alleviate the employment crisis and create more jobs, but the latest data showed our efforts failed to generate a satisfactory outcome," President Moon said in a meeting with presidential aides, Tuesday.







He called for Cheong Wa Dae and the government's economic teams to enhance efforts to tackle the employment issue so as not to lose public trust.






By Kim Ji-myung





My recent visit to the Tongdo Temple in southeastern Korea seemed to be more than five decades overdue. The head family of the Gyeongju Kim clan, my family clan, has lived just 40 kilometers from Yangsan City, where this 1,300-year-old temple stands.



The Gyeongju Kim clan village was very close to the small train station on the Seoul-Busan line. For the people of Yangsan, this station was their main passage to the outside world when roads were underdeveloped. Now that the area has been urbanized, most of it has been absorbed into the outskirts of Busan.



I heard that many family gatherings and big events on important occasions were held at nearby Tongdo Temple, one of the biggest and most beautiful Buddhist temples in the south. However, my father had left his hometown alone at the age of 12 to enter middle school in Seoul, and then advanced to a college in Japan. After graduation, he lived in Seoul and my family has remained detached from clan occasions, although we visited his hometown very often.



Throughout my career, my work involved creating or editing texts on Korean history and cultural heritage one way or another. Tongdo Temple always stayed somewhere in a corner of my mind. In Buddhist terms, my nidana with this old temple must not have been strong enough until now.



As I write this article, a long-forgotten story comes back to me. When I was of elementary school age, someone told me that "Tongdo Temple's iron cauldron is so big that when they boil red bean porridge, they go in a boat and stir."



If the seven selected sansa, Buddhist mountain monasteries in Korea, including Tongdo Temple (together with Diamond Precept Platform), failed to be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in June, I may have never visited the monastery.



On my way to Tongdo Temple two weeks ago by KTX train, I felt like I was visiting a long-separated close relative.



As is well known, the Three Jewels Temples are the three principal Buddhist temples in Korea, each representing one of the Three Jewels of Buddhism. Tongdo Temple represents the Buddha, Haein Temple represents the dharma or Buddhist teachings, while Songgwang Temple represents the sangha or Buddhist community.



Vinaya Master Jajang of the Silla Kingdom brought the relics, including part of the Buddha's robes, from China and enshrined them in the Diamond Precept Platform at Tongdo Temple in 646. This substitutes for an image of the Buddha.



The many beautiful structures, treasures and the natural environment of Tongdo Temple impress people with its ambience, which is possible only with time-honored depth and weight. But what amazed me more was the highest master monk of the temple. His disarming smile and quiet statements made me feel as if I really had come home.



Patriarch Seongpa, over 80 years old, was a born artist, with out-flowing talents and energy. He was test-producing silk prints using the ottchil (Korean lacquer) printing technique. The government awarded him the "2017 Merit for the Arts" for his contribution to the advancement of Korean culture.



Probably his most monumental achievement must be the 16,000 ceramic plates of the Tripitaka Koreana: 52cm wide, 26cm long and 1.5cm thick, each weighing four kilograms. He began the project in June 1991 as a sincere prayer for national unification. For more than 20 years, the master monk, five students and 20 engineers have devoted their bodies and souls to the endeavor.



Calligraphy, painting, pottery burning, lacquer art, textile dying and furniture design  in all of these genres he is beyond an ordinary craftsman. He is also a poet of the Korean sijo genre and operates a competition to encourage people to write sijo.



One revelation on this visit concerned the role of a Buddhist temple. It is not only a collector, user and repository, but it can function as a creator and producer of artistic Buddhist heritage.



However, you need not go all the way to Tongdo Temple to experience these masterpieces. From July 3 to Sept. 30, a special exhibition titled "Full Buddhist Temple and Tongdo Temple" will be held at the Buddhist Museum at Jogye Temple in Seoul.





The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is heritagekorea21@gmail.com.


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Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Mostly sunny this morning then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 47F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low 32F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Mostly sunny this morning then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 48F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 31F. Winds light and variable.
Three Chinese companies make Change the World list

From:ChinaDaily | 2018-08-23 14:15

Three Chinese companies  Alibaba, JD, and Didi Chuxing  have taken positions on Fortune's Change the World list this year, according to the business magazine.

India's telecom firm Reliance Jio topped the list, followed by US-based pharmaceuticals firm Merck and Bank of America.

The magazine said these 57 companies are not only earning large profits, but have also had a positive social impact.

E-commerce giant Alibaba ranks fifth on the list, and it wants to drive money to China's rural areas in a fairly straightforward way, according to Fortune.

In March, the Alibaba-backed map service provider Gaode launched a "poverty alleviation map" feature in China's Henan province. The online map marks local restaurants, petrol stations and stores, aiming to attract more day-trippers into remote villages.

JD, China's second-largest online shopping platform, took the 45th spot on the list. The firm is trying to create new delivery methods in China's villages.

The firm plans delivery via drone to complete long distance and last-mile deliveries for rural areas. After the logistics network has been built, 70 percent of delivery costs can be saved, said JD's CEO Liu Qiangdong. The savings will benefit customers and producers.

The ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing landed in 53rd place, and Fortune said the firm has a solution to China's endemic traffic problem.

Didi Chuxing is working with China's local authorities on a smart transportation program that includes installing smart traffic lights and "reversible lanes" to improve flow during traffic peaks.

The system will reduce delays by up to 20 percent, according to Fortune  an annual savings of 11.5 million commuter hours in some cities.
(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.)- Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Thursday he is beginning an investigation into alleged sexual abuse cases within some Missouri Roman Catholic churches.

After a Pennsylvania grand jury revealed decades of sexual abuse within the Church, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis sent a letter to Hawley, requesting his office investigate allegations within their church.

The church also pledged to open up its records and be as transparent as possible.

"While we don't know the protocols yet that the Attorney General's office will use," Archbishop Robert Carlson said, "Any files that they want to see will be available to them."

Attorney General Hawley has also said he invites other dioceses to cooperate with the investigation in order that the report may be state-wide.

And though state law does not allow the Missouri Attorney General's office to proseucte, Hawley said his office will provide legal proposals that local prosecutors can use.
Five years ago, Meshell Will's body was found near Keystone. But the cause of her death still eludes investigators.

Meshell Will, 38, was last seen August 24, 2013 in Keystone. Nearly a week later, her body was found, badly decomposed off Iron Mountain Road.

The Pennington County Sheriffs Office is asking the public for assistance. The case is still open but there are no new leads. The sheriff's department believes there are people who have information that can help solve this case.

Will was 58. She had brunette hair and was last seen wearing a t-shirt and capri-style sweatpants. She was originally from Wisconsin and had only been in Custer for about six months. She was last seen in the Keystone area, not far from where her body was found near the Pig Tail Bridge.

$5,000 from the Community Reward Fund is available for the person(s) who provide information to help solve this crime. Please call investigators with any information at 605-394-6115.
The Attorneys General of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico signed a letter on Thursday urging congress to pass legislation aimed at closing a deadly loophole in federal law being exploited by illegal drug traffickers.

Drug traffickers are constantly coming up with new chemical compositions that are more deadly but may be different enough that they dont constitute an illegal opioid under the Controlled Substances Act, said Alaska attorney general Jahna Lindemuth in a written statement.

Thursday's letter lends widespread bipartisan support to the Stopping Overdoses from Fentanyl Analogues Act, commonly referred to as the SOFA Act. The house version of the bill, HR 4922, was introduced in February and has since languished in committee. A senate version was introduced in July.

The SOFA act would allow the Drug Enforcement Agency to proactively criminalize new kinds of fentanyl, making it easier to prosecute traffickers.

The SOFA Act will close the loophole at the federal level and ensure traffickers will be held accountable, Lindemuth wrote.

Fentanyl, a drug much stronger than heroin, contributed to 76 percent of Alaskas synthetic opioid-related deaths in 2017. The states chief medical officer, Dr. Jay Butler, says new types of fentanyl end up on the streets fairly often.

They seem to show up every few weeks and it doesnt take a hi-tech chemistry lab to be able to do some of the tweaks that happen to these chemicals to make them basically new substances that may or may not have different biological effects," Butler said.

Butler says the SOFA Act would complement similar legislation thats been passed at the state level in Alaska. For example, he says with the recent passage of House Bill 312, the attorney general now has emergency regulatory powers to place new drugs on the controlled substances list soon after they hit the streets.

Were making progress in the opioid crisis. Were seeing leveling off and even some declines in deaths related to prescription opioids, some declines even in heroin overdose deaths, Butler said. But fentanyl is the latest threat and its probably the most dangerous part of this epidemic that weve seen to date.
Nod for world-class waterfront area

From:Shine | 2018-08-24 02:29

Shanghais landmark Waibaidu Bridge, spanning the Suzhou Creek at its confluence with the Huangpu River, is seen against the backdrop of skyscrapers in the Pudong New Area. Shanghai plans to further open up its riverside areas along the Huangpu River andSuzhouCreek to be on par with the waterfronts of international cities like Paris and Chicago.

Shanghai plans to further open up its riverside areas along the Huangpu River andSuzhouCreek to be on par with the waterfronts of international cities like Paris and Chicago.

The move follows the grand opening of a downtown Huangpu River section late last year.

The citys urban planning authority released a blueprint yesterday for its waterfront development campaign and began soliciting public opinions, a process that will last for a month.

According to the development plan titled Striving for a world-class waterfront area, continuous riverside zones will be created along both the Huangpu andSuzhouCreek by 2020, featuring more greenery, preserved historical buildings, cross-river bridges, sponge city technology and even harmonious hues.

Planners have studied 67 popular riverfronts across the world, including those in Paris and Chicago, in designing the blueprint for Shanghais waterfronts, said WuPanfeng, director of detailed planning at the Shanghai Planning, Land and Resources Administration.

Sidewalks stretching 45 kilometers on the banks of the Huangpu in downtown betweenYangpuBridge andXupuBridge have been opened. The city now plans to extend those paths both upstream and downstream, while improving services and scenery on the section that is already open.

Experts have attended six conferences where their opinions for the waterfront development plan were solicited, while some residents have been invited to walk along the river and creek to spot existing problems, he said.

I think more sculptures and bazaars should be added along the creek and river sidewalks to attract people to the waterfronts, said LeeYu-ming, a Taiwan artist living in the city.

Another local resident suggested planting traditional Chinese plants and flowers rather than cherry blossoms trees or tulips along the waterfronts that remind people more of Japan and the Netherlands, respectively.

According to the blueprint, the Huangpu waterfront  stretching for a total of 61km between theMinpuNo. 2 Bridge in suburban MinhangDistrict and theWusongkouin northern Baoshan District, at the mouth of the Yangtze River  is earmarked to be a demonstration zone for the development capability of the global city of Shanghai.

The Huangpu waterfront will become an international first-class public sitting room as well as an ecological corridor, saidZouJunwen, an urban planner with the Shanghai Urban Planning and Design Research Institute, who is in charge of the Huangpu River master plan.

Different functions such as tourism, shipping, scientific innovation, finance, cultural exhibition, media, ecological living, education and agriculture have been designed for each section of the Huangpu riverfront,Zourevealed.

The 125kmSuzhouCreek, which flows from Qingpu District to theWaibaiduBridge, is the biggest tributary of the Huangpu.

According to the plan, the riverside of the creek is being developed into a multifunctional and dynamic zone, featuring humanities, culture and ecological environment. SuzhouCreek is known for its narrow waterway, continuous bay areas, many bridges, riverside buildings and roads. These features will be highlighted during the planning for its waterfront, Wu said.

The riverside walkways along the creek are currently interrupted by 64 structures, either belonging to companies or residential communities. The planning authority will first remove these breakpoints, which will allow residents to walk along the creek freely.

As a highlight of the plan, the administration launched a trial operation for the first time to coordinate the colors and ambience of specific urban regions.

Some strict color control areas will be initially set up at historical conservation zones along the river and creek, such as theBund, where colors of newly built structures will be strictly regulated based on the regions existing ambience, Wu said.

The administration will issue color guidelines for second-level key color control areas. They mainly include waterfront zones that are currently under development, such as the middle and northern part of theYangpuDistrict waterfront, the SouthBundin Huangpu District as well as theQiantanarea in Pudong.

A color negative list will be issued for other areas, such as residential communities and industrial parks, to avoid major color contrasts.

Detailed plans for the waterfronts can be accessed on the official website of the administration (www.shgtj.gov.cn), and the public are encouraged to send their opinions by e-mail to YJYHGS@126.com.

Localexpatsare also welcome to give their suggestions.
Shanghai travel agencies restart South Korea route

By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2018-08-24 18:11

Some Shanghai travel agencies resumed their travel routes to South Korea yesterday after a 17-month-long suspension, with the earliest departure being on September 1.



For the Shanghai institutions that have restarted their South Korea travel business, they are still following the principle of no cruise, no charter flight, no subsidiary companies of the Lotte Group (such as hotels and duty-free shops).



In March last year, in order to protest South Koreas deployment of the US Sade missile defense system and the Korean Lotte Groups deployment of Sade, domestic travel agencies and online travel companies announced that they would suspend their travel to Korea. Subsequently, the National Tourism Administration issued a statement to remind Chinese citizens to know the risk of outbound travel and carefully choose the destination. Chinese tourists to South Korea have declined sharply in the past 17 months, severely affecting the Korean tourism industry.



According to data from the Korea National Tourism Organization, the number of Chinese tourists to Korea last year was just over 4.1million, a year-on-year decrease of 48.3%. According to local statistics in Korea, sales of Lotte Duty Free Shop last year were 5.5 trillion Korean won, a year-on-year decrease of 1 billion won (about 6 million yuan); and its operating profit was sharply reduced by 99.2% to 2.5 billion won (about 14.9 million yuan) from 330.1 billion won in 2016, its lowest level in history.


Home  Just In  Former Maoist combatant barred from leaving Nepal

Kathmandu, August 24

A former Maoist combatant who was heading to Thailand has been barred from leaving the country.

Lenin Bista, a former child soldier in the Maoist army, was heading to Thailand when immigration officials told him he cannot embark on his journey.

According to a Ministry of Home Affairs sources, the government barred him from going to Thailand as officials learnt that Bista was going to make a presentation on child soldiers at a programme. The source said that Bista was stopped because he was planning to show Nepal in bad light.

However Bista told Onlinkhabar that he was heading to Thailand to participate in a programme on youth in conflict and peace-building.

I was told that there were orders from higher officials to not let me go.

He was told that he had to seek permission from the government to take part in the event.
Almost all broadsheet dailies published in Kathmandu on Friday have given priority to reports related to the demonstrations in Kanchanpur in far-west Nepal in the wake of the rape and murder of a teenager last month. The nomination of Justice Om Prakash Mishra for Chief Justice has also received considerable attention. Heres a round-up of important, ignored and interesting reports that made it to the front pages of the newspapers on Friday:

Important

The Himalayan Times reports that the Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a probe committee to investigate the Nirmala Pant murder case. Pant (13) was raped and murdered in Bhimdutta Nagar last month. The Kathmandu Post says that the provincial Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Prakash Bahadur Shah has called on all parties to exercise restraint. Republica, reports that the victims parents have accused local police of negligence while handling the case. The paper quotes the victims mother Durga Devi Pant to say that police started a search for the missing teen late even after receiving complaints from the parents. Kantipur reports that police opened fire on protestors in Bhimdutta Nagar injuring at least 10.

Naya Patrika, meanwhile, uses examples from recent hi-profile cases to say that the members of the general public have lost faith in the police. The paper says that Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa recently told Parliament that two people have already been arrested in connection with the case. But police havent presented the two people before the people.

Mishra nominated for CJ

Kantipur reports that Justice Om Prakash Mishra has been nominated to take charge as the Supreme Courts Chief Justice. Mishra, who joined government service as an officer on 26 October 1985, was appointed to the Supreme Court on May 27, 2014. The paper says that Mishras nomination will now be discussed by members of the Parliamentary Hearing Committee. The committee had earlier rejected the nomination of Deepak Raj Joshee to the post.

Nepali Congress forms 11-member statute drafting committee

The Himalayan Times reports that the Nepali Congress has formed an 11-member committee to draft amendments to the party statute to restructure its organisation in view of the federal setup. The paper says that the committee will be led by General Secretary Purna Bahadur Khadka.

Ignored

Nepal Airlines fails to launch new destinations

Annapurna Post reports that plans of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to launch flights to new destinations following the procurement of its new widebody aircraft has hit a snag. The report says that the European Unions blacklisting of the airline is the major reasons why it hasnt been allowed to fly to major destinations in the region. The paper quotes NAC sources to say that although airports in Japan, Korea and the Middle-east have agreed to provide access to NAC, the countries air traffic regulators are hesitant to do so because the NAC remains blacklisted by the EU.

Interesting

Nepal, China agree on conducting DPR for railway

The Kathmandu Post reports that officials from Nepal and China, who met recently in the Chinese city of Xian, have agreed to prepare the DPR for the Kyirong-Kathmandu railway line. According to the report, it will take around one-and-half years to prepare the DPR for the project which is estimated to cost around Rs 257 billion. The paper quotes officials to say that the railway line, which will take nine years to complete. will pass through Langtang and Melamchi before terminating in Sankhu of Kathmandu.

Nepal ratifies Montreal Convention

Annapurna Post reports that Parliament has ratified the Montreal Convention, which has significantly increased insurance coverage for air passengers. According to the report insurance coverage per passenger in the international sector has been increased to 100,000 special drawing rights (current valuation of one SDR is around $1.39).

Before the convention was ratified, insurance coverage of passengers in the international sector was just $20,000 per passenger. As per the Montreal Convention, the carrier is also liable for damage sustained in case of death and bodily injury of passengers on condition that the accident took place onboard the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking and disembarking.
Here is the latest update from Maui County:

Hurricane Lane is a category 2 hurricane with winds of up to 105 miles per hour. A Hurricane Warning, High Surf Warning and Flash Flood Watch are still in effect for all of Maui County.

As Hurricane Lane continues its slow march, airlines continue to cancel their flights to and from Kahului Airport. American Airlines canceled all flights today, joining United Airlines, Ohana Airlines, Mokulele Airlines and Aloha Airlines Cargo. Alaska Airlines early flights between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today were also canceled.

In a major development, Maui police have reopened Honoapiilani Highway in both directions. The highway had been closed earlier due to a 300-acre brush fire. It is unknown at this time whether the fire is storm-related; however, wind gusts overnight helped to spread the fire quickly, said Maui fire fighters.

As a safety precaution, Maui police evacuated more than 100 households in the Puamana Subdivision as well as those living along Punakea Loop and Lahainaluna Road. The fire also forced the closure of the storm evacuation shelter at Lahaina Intermediate. Evacuees were transferred to Lahaina Civic Center. At this time, it is estimated that there are 300 evacuees inside the civic center with another 200 outside on the property.

Other shelter numbers are as follows: Maui High  225; Lokelani  75; King Kekaulike  64; Molokai High  21; Lanai High  17; and Hana High  2

Some time after the first fire began, a second fire popped up in the Kaanapali area, causing Maui police to evacuate Kaanapali Hillside homes. It is unknown at this time how many homes were evacuated from the second brush fire.

One person has been injured from the fire; a female with burns on her arms and legs was medivaced to Oahu early this morning. There is no other information on the victim at this time.

Because of the fires, the Department of Water Supply has asked that all county and private water customers in Lahaina, Launiupoko and Kaanapali conserve water. This will help ensure fire fighters have enough water to battle the two brush fires.

For the latest information, visit the Maui County website at www.mauicounty.gov.



From Maui Humane Society: FOR ANYONE READING THIS IN LAHAINA: Maui Humane Society was forced to leave all of our supplies at the school in evacuation and we are unable to get supplies to Civic Center to help storm and fire evacuees. If you are able to help with supplies, please deliver directly to the Civic Center, downstairs area across from police station. We need: crates for animals (can be pop crates or carriers), water/food bowls, DRY food for dogs and cats, litter boxes and kitty litter, poop bags and spare leashes. WE ALSO NEED WATER.

From Maui Electric (7 a.m.): Maui Electric crews have been redeployed this morning and are addressing the issue to bring customers safely back online as quickly as possible. Currently, there are about 4,000 customers in the West Maui area without power. On Molokai, about 2,600 customer are experiencing a power outage. Cause of the outages is being assessed.

Should weather conditions worsen, work may need to halt to ensure the safety of MECO folks in the field. Crews will continue to respond as long as conditions remain safe for them to do so.
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Octavio. Credit: Marcos Najera

A month ago, a vehicle pulling a trailer along Highway 299 in Northern California got a flat tire, the rim scraping the street. Sparks flew, hitting dry brush nearby and igniting what has become the sixth most destructive wildfire in California history. The Carr Fire has since killed seven people and burned nearly 230,000 acres.

State fire officials say hotter, drier weather conditions during a drought don't help -- but this might be the new normal as climate change continues. The fire is nearly completely contained, but it's still alive. For the people of Scott Valley, who live just 50 miles upwind of the fire's edge, dealing with droughts, wildfires and the forces of nature has become a way of life.

Now, it's the subject of a new play commissioned by the L.A.-based Circle X Theatre Company. It's called Hole in the Sky, by Octavio Solis, and it opens Friday.

"We really think we know drought. We haven't seen drought," Solis suggested. "And yet we confront it every time there is a full moon. There's a place that's beautiful, that gets sun almost every day. But not a drop of water. And we look at it and we forget. That's what this could be. There it is, like a hole in the sky."

Octavio and a castmember. Credit: Marcos Najera

Solis is multi-talented -- as an actor, he lent his voice to the Disney blockbuster Coco. He's mainly a successful playwright by trade, but he's also picked up a new profession: he's become a farmer.

"We decided to change our lives and just live in a more rural environment," Solis said. "We just needed a change from San Francisco, from the big city!"

Back in the early '90s, Octavio and his wife Jeanne Sexton bought a house in the Bay Area when it was still somewhat affordable. Fast forward to 2015: amidst skyrocketing mortgage payments, matched with a desire to get closer to nature, the couple cashed out and moved to a rural area near the California/Oregon border.

Solis and cast on break. Credit: Marcos Najera

"We've got anywhere from seven to nine goats," Solis explained. "I got seven chickens. We've got three dogs. We grow our own squash, our own chiles, and tomatoes -- all kinds of vegetables. We had bees, but they've all moved on."

Solis and his wife live on a three-acre ranch not far from his current artistic home-base: the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. They moved there about four years ago. That was also when he got a call from Circle X Theater's Kate Jopson.

Jopson had met Solis in 2010 when she worked on Solis' adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven in San Francisco. Solis encouraged her to pursue a directing MFA. She took his advice -- but after she finished, her life took a turn.

"I was just finishing grad school at UC San Diego," Jopson recalled, "and in my last month, as I was supposed to be finishing up my thesis, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

"I had to come to L.A. and find all new doctors, do all the surgeries, do the radiation, do all that in my first few months in Los Angeles. So that was really this shift for me and a big moment of change in my life. And that was the same time that I commissioned this piece from Octavio."

After receiving her cancer diagnosis, Jopson says being sick made her think more about wellness, including the health of our planet.

Kate Jopson. Credit: Marcos Najera

Note: A version of this story was also on the radio. Listen to it here on KPCC's The Frame .

Jopson told Solis that she wanted to create a piece of theater with him about water, people, fire -- and the strife those factors create for the Scott Valley, the area in rural Northern California she calls home. It's not far from where the Carr Fire still burns, and only about an hour's drive from Solis's ranch.

Solis interviewed ranchers, tribal members, environmentalists and politicians throughout Siskiyou County. He asked about their lives, their hopes and how they were addressing the problems that arise as the Earth's temperature climbs. Those conversations became his new play. Solis says the fictionalized story revolves around actual fights over local groundwater and streams.

"The Scott River is one of the rivers that people have been drawing from for years," Solis said. "For their water, their irrigation and for their cattle. Every year, that river has had less and less water in it. It's become kind of a problem, because there's less snowpack in the mountains every year. Sometimes, there is none, because it doesn't snow."

Octavio and castmember. Credit: Marcos Najera

Low levels in the waterways can mean tough times for local Native American tribes who depend on healthy salmon runs to keep their hatcheries and fisheries afloat. On the flip side, the farmers and ranchers need to use the river water and groundwater reserves to irrigate crops and hydrate cattle.

"They're all part of the same system," Solis said. "And if you are draining one, you are draining the other."

That's when conflicts come. From legal battles to town hall squabbles, fights over water rights can pit neighbor against neighbor.

"They're all kind of at odds with each other," Solis explained. "And somewhere in there is the truth. And somewhere in there, we have to find ways to take care of each other and not attack each other."

To capture the spirit of the rural area where the story's set, Solis and Jopson decided to stage the production at a working horse ranch in Los Angeles, the Courtship Ranch. It's fitting -- the Creek Fire came dangerously close to destroying it last December. That fire prompted officials to issue warnings that dry conditions and higher than normal temperatures signaled more trouble ahead.

But Solis is quick to point out that he was constantly surprised that the folks he interviewed for the play didn't seem to pay much heed to those warnings.

"The characters in my play, they say, 'Oh, come on! You are going to bring up global warming? That's fake news! That's a lie! That's a myth!'" Solis said. "The people who are seeing the effects the most are the ones who are immediately most resistant to say it's climate change. And why? It's because they've seen this before. They've been through droughts before.

"Nature has always stacked the odds against them. That's why they have pesticides. That's why they drill deep into the earth to find water there. That's why they don't spend money at Christmas time, because all the money they make goes right back into the survival of their farm."

"That's part of what this [play] is," Jopson explained. "How do we overcome our personal traumas and be able to really come together and face these larger issues like changing climates, droughts, fires -- these things that are happening to us that we feel powerless against sometimes? But it becomes harder when we are not actually working together as a community."

Jopson reviews lighting. Credit: Marcos Najera

The protagonist of the show is Connor Bledsoe. She's a prodigal daughter who comes home to find her town fighting over water and threatened by wildfire. The character is inspired in part by Jopson, who grew up with people always disagreeing about the environment. Jopson says her dad still raises trees back home, and her mom is a water biologist who's helped negotiate water trusts in the area.

"One of the projects my mom worked on when I was really little was getting the river in our valley fenced off from cattle so there would be clean water," Jopson said.

Jopson remembers how community members, including her mom, came to a compromise.

"It's not that you never bring cattle through the water, especially if your ranch is divided by the river. It's just that we find ways to minimize that, to fence different sections of it off. So it's finding those kind of compromises that aren't all-or-nothing solutions, that people can still live with."

Both Jopson and Solis hope their new play can offer glimpses into different viewpoints, where no one is right or wrong. But they want people to agree that there's a lot of work to do, and a lot more to learn.

Hole in the Sky will be performed Aug. 24-Sept. 23 at the Courtship Ranch in Lake View Terrace. Ticket information can be found here.

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Two people have died in a violent crash on the 105 Freeway in the Hawthorne area in which a tanker truck overturned and exploded in flames.

The fuel tanker exploded about 5:15 a.m. Friday after colliding with a Range Rover that was blocking a lane on the westbound side of the freeway near the Crenshaw Boulevard exit, according to California Highway Patrol officials.

The drivers of both vehicles were killed, said Joey Marron, an inspector with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The tanker fire spread to nearby brush, Marron added, but said firefighters were quickly able to put it out before it reached homes near the freeway.

All westbound lanes of the 105 were shut down as emergency crews let the fuel burn out and then mopped up. A crash investigation was also underway. Connections from the 110 and 405 freeways were also closed.

By evening, Caltrans officials were tweeting that they hoped to reopen all lanes by 7 p.m.

WB I-105/Crenshaw Blvd pressure washing of pavement. Going well. Vacuuming is next. Aim is to open all lanes by 7 p.m. @WestLACHP565 pic.twitter.com/GVaaugJYsO  Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) August 25, 2018

The crash and fire affected lines above the adjacent Metro Green Line, which has suspended service between the Hawthorne/Lennox and Vermont/Athens stations. Metro announced bus shuttles were running as an alternative.

This story is no longer being updated.

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Pacoima's own Ritchie Valens was just 17 when the charter plane he was on crashed in Iowa, killing him and everyone aboard -- including fellow musicians and icons Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. The tragedy became known as "the day the music died."

But this Saturday, Aug. 25 in Pacoima, Valens' music and legacy will be alive and well in his hometown as Los Angeles officials unveil the long-awaited Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway, with signs that will grace a section of the 5 Freeway between the 170 and 118. It's just part of an afternoon and night full of tributes to the Chicano rocker.

Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941 in the San Fernando Valley's Pacoima neighborhood. He attended what was then Pacoima Junior High School, then San Fernando High School, where he was discovered and, at 17, signed with a small Hollywood record label. He performed as Ritchie Valens at the suggestion of his producers, who felt he would appeal to a wider (whiter) audience by downplaying his Mexican heritage.

Valens first hit the charts with Come On, Let's Go in July 1958.

He followed that -- still at 17-years-old -- with the double A-side of Donna and La Bamba. The record went certified gold and La Bamba became one of the most iconic songs in rock 'n' roll history -- quite a feat in 1950s America for a tune sung entirely in Spanish.

Valens died in the 1959 plane crash just a few months shy of his 18th birthday.

Saturday's celebration kicks off at 3 p.m. at Ritchie Valens Park, 10731 Laurel Canyon Blvd. It runs until 10 p.m. and will include musical tributes, food trucks and a screening of Valens' 1987 biopic La Bamba, starring Lou Diamond Phillips.

The festival is free and open to everyone. You can learn more here.

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If Youlen Chan could have found a machine capable of handling his baking tasks and techniques, he would have bought it in a hot second.

"I was trained in high production and I have not found a thing that could make our products to our expectations," the second-generation baker says as he stands inside Chinatown's Phoenix Bakery.

Its precise opening date is a mystery. Kathryn Chan Ceppi, daughter of one of the original owners and part of the second generation of the family that runs the bakery, is still sorting through records. The year, though, was 1938, when Chinatown's Central Plaza debuted. Ceppi's parents had migrated to the United States from Guangzhou in Southern China and her father, Fung Chow Chan, opened the bakery with support from her mom, Wai Hing.

They began producing traditional wintermelon pastries, seasonal moon cakes, almond cookies and their own creations. By the 1940s, Ceppi's uncle, Lun F. Chan (Youlen's father), who had studied baking in Hong Kong, joined the business as its head baker. The rest is sweet history.

1950: The Joy Yuen Low restaurant at 425 Gin Ling Way in New Chinatown. The sign above the entrance reads "Genuine Chinese Dishes." The Phoenix Bakery is beside it at 409 Gin Ling Way. (Harry Quillen Collection/Los Angeles Photographers Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection)

It's A Family Affair

What we now know as Los Angeles's Chinatown wasn't the city's first such enclave. L.A.'s original Chinatown sprung up closer to Alameda and Cesar Chavez during the second half of the 1800s. Racist laws, including the Chinese Exclusion Act and the California Alien Land Law, prevented Chinese people from owning the land on which they lived and built their businesses. The first Chinatown was razed in the early 1930s, when Union Station was developed.

After that, the Chinese community pooled their finances to buy the land that would become today's Chinatown. Central Plaza, located between Broadway and Hill, had its grand opening on June 25, 1938.

Phoenix Bakery in L.A.'s Chinatown, Sept. 2021. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

Phoenix Bakery was originally located on Broadway then moved inside Central Plaza before ultimately settling into its Plaza-adjacent spot in 1977. On an exterior wall facing Broadway, you'll spot a large mural featuring the store's mascot, a young boy sheepishly smiling as he holds a package behind his back. It's the work of renowned artist Tyrus Wong, who was largely responsible for the look of the Disney film Bambi. His eight-decade career spanned animation, illustration and fine art before he died in 2016 at the age of 106.

Meeting with members of the second-generation of the Chan family, I learned about their history. In addition to Youlen and Kathryn, Kathryn's brothers Kelly and Ken are in attendance. All of them grew up at Phoenix.

"There were no nannies. There was no pre-school. No daycare," says Kathryn. When their parents were working, they were in the shop.

Kathryn worked in the front of the bakery, handling the display cases and cash register. The boys often worked in the back. Youlen remembers doing "whatever had to be done"  washing pans, cleaning strawberries, sweeping the floor. After a stint as an economics major, he began studying baking and ultimately took over the kitchen. Other members of the Chan family pursued various interests before returning to the fold. Kathryn is a retired pediatric occupational therapist. Kelly was an accountant for the IRS. Ken worked in several fields, including banking.

Wai Hing (left) and Fung Chow Chan (right), founders of Phoenix Bakery, on their 50th wedding anniversary. (Photo courtesy of Ken Chan)

Pour Some Sugar On Me

In the kitchen of Phoenix Bakery, an employee ices the bakery's signature dessert, a strawberry whipped cream cake, its side exposed to reveal a layer of deep red berries and airy cream separating the double-deckers of sponge. Since Youlen's father developed the recipe in the 1940s, generations of Angelenos have fallen in love with it. And why not? It's a taste of Southern California springtime served year-round.

The Chan family says they often hear from people who have moved out of Los Angeles but make it a point to visit Phoenix Bakery for a slice of nostalgia whenever they're in town. Stop by on any weekend and you'll notice employees adorning cake after cake with birthday messages. On Mother's Day weekend, when the bakery is at its busiest, you'll see dozens of the cakes being boxed and sent off with eager customers.

Youlen thinks the strawberry cake is popular because it's not too heavy, satisfying without being a gut-buster. The berries and whipped cream add sweetness without the cloying aftertaste of many frostings. The cake is also understated in style, white with a splash of color  frosted pink or red rosettes  on top and a carapace of golden, slivered almonds around the sides.

"We were more of a cake that tasted good than a cake that was a showpiece," Youlen says.

When I was a child, the strawberry whipped cream cake was my favorite. After moving to Chinatown about five years ago, I was excited to know I could have a slice whenever I felt like it. Then I started eating my way through the rest of Phoenix's menu. Eclairs with cloud-like tufts of cream sandwiched between chocolate-topped pastry. Large brownies frosted with chocolate mousse. Crisp almond and sticky butterfly cookies. Then there are the savory buns with fillings like barbecued pork or the surprisingly addictive combo of jalapeno, pepperoni and cheese.

Phoenix Bakery's display case is a microcosm of Los Angeles, a home for sesame balls, baklava and tres leches cake, although the bakery's roots are in traditional Chinese pastries. Two treats remain a special source of pride. "We're one of the few, I think, that can truly say that moon cakes and wintermelon cakes  Chinese pastries  are made by hand," Kathryn says.

Phoenix Bakery in L.A.'s Chinatown, Sept. 2021. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

Also known as a "sweetheart cake" or "wife cake," the wintermelon cake relies on the wax gourd, common in Asia and also grown in the U.S. At Phoenix, the small, round pastry has a flaky crust that gives way to thick filling infused with the delicate flavored of melon. While other items have come and gone from Phoenix's menu, this traditional pastry has been served for as long as the bakery has been in existence.

In September, the Phoenix rolls out its annual supply of moon cakes. These delicacies are only offered around the Mid-Autumn Festival, held in connection with the full moon in late September.

Phoenix Bakery in L.A.'s Chinatown, Sept. 2021. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

"You buy it and you bring it to your friends, relatives and you use them as gifts for the moon festival," says Kathryn. "You have tea and the moon cakes. It's a tradition that's been handed down from generation to generation."

Phoenix's moon cakes are made using wooden molds that were purchased in China decades ago and feature imported duck eggs in the filling.

Phoenx Bakery in L.A.'s Chinatown, Sept. 2021. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

Sweet Emotion

In the mid-20th century, before shopping malls mushroomed across America, Chinatown was bustling. "This was a very touristy area," says Kelly Chan. Inside the bakery, the family could expect to stay late, sometimes after midnight. "We didn't close until the last person was gone," says Kathryn.

The neighborhood was also a gathering spot for the Chinese-American community. "For some younger generations, they may have their parents or grandparents living in Chinatown," says Ken Chan. "On the weekends, they would come here and take them for dim sum or for lunch or dinner, do their shopping and then go home."

Phoenix Bakery in L.A.'s Chinatown, Sept. 2021. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

As Southern Californians moved into the suburbs and Chinese-American communities sprung up in the San Gabriel Valley, Orange County and other locations, Chinatown became less of a cultural and tourist hub. "We've seen it change because many of the people just don't come here anymore," Kathryn says. More recently, she and her family have begun to see another shift.

With new residential developments in the area, Kathryn has noticed people moving back to Chinatown from downtown L.A. and other neighborhoods. Chinatown has also built up a calendar of food and music events. The combination of factors is returning the neighborhood to its mid-20th century role as a day-tripping destination for Angelenos. What does that mean for Phoenix Bakery? The Chen family isn't sure.

Phoenix Bakery in L.A.'s Chinatown, Sept. 2021. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

Neighborhood revivals can bring new customers but they often lead to rising rents, displacement of longtime residents and significant changes to the character of an area. For now, the shop continues to forge its path with a mix of traditional and on-trend desserts. Even as the surrounding neighborhood changes, you can count on big, fluffy birthday cakes filled with strawberries and covered with whipped cream.
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President Trump slapped new tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods on Thursday.

Here's a look at how that may impact Southern California's economy:

WHAT AN ESCALATING TRADE WAR COULD MEAN FOR L.A.'S PORTS

L.A. is home to North America's busiest port, and China is, by far, its top trading partner.

The Port of Los Angeles handled $145 billion worth of cargo last year from China and Hong Kong alone. To put that in perspective, all of the cargo handled by the port in 2017 was valued at $284 billion.

With tariffs hanging over, business has actually been booming. The Port of Los Angeles just had a record July, perhaps due to goods being rushed in ahead of tariffs going into effect.

But now, Port of L.A. spokesman Phillip Sanfield worries about a slowdown at a time when retailers are typically gearing up for the holiday shopping season.

"If all this cargo is here now, things may begin to tail off in the months ahead," he said.

Sanfield estimates that as much as 23% of cargo coming into the Port of L.A. could be subject to tariffs as trade conflicts escalate.

People ride shared electric scooters in Santa Monica in July. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

TARIFFS COULD PUMP THE BRAKES ON ELECTRIC SCOOTERS

The new tariffs add 25% to the cost of everything from Chinese chemical products to auto parts.

Also on the list: those electric scooters that have been multiplying rapidly across L.A. streets.

Popularized by startups like Venice-based Bird, the dockless vehicles fall under the product category "Motorcycles (incl. mopeds) and cycles, w/electric motor for propulsion."

Bird's director of public policy Matthew Kopko traveled to Washington D.C. last month to weigh in on the proposed tariffs. He said a "significant disruption" to Bird's business model at this time could directly harm their users.

"Putting a sizable tariff on scooters will do little to impact the Chinese economy but risks the stratospheric growth of an American success story," Kopko said.

Terry Sherry, co-founder of Orange County-based electric bike company Pedego, said his business is in a tough spot.

"It's not like we can buy our products from a U.S. manufacturer," Sherry said. "There are no US manufacturers of electric bikes."

Pedego plans to raise its prices by about 8%. Sherry said the company will absorb some of the new costs, but the money spent on tariffs won't be going toward hiring or investments. He said there are already plans to move production from China to Vietnam.

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.
Opinion / Guest Commentary:

The Airport Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) held its regular meeting Aug. 15. La Jolla s rep, Cindy Greatrex, was absent. There are several takeaways from the meeting.

 The FAAs District Manager for Southern California, Michael Valencia, participated and met with several La Jollans afterward. Valencia is the most senior FAA official responsible for Southern California air traffic control from Santa Barbara and the Mexico border. He spoke candidly about the dust just settling on the MetroPlex rollout, the FAA efforts to now assess the consequences and impacts on affected communities and the existence of wiggle room to make flight path and procedure changes to accommodate and mitigate noise.

He described the pre-NextGen environment as a three-mile-wide swath of sky through which flights were dispersed for departures and landings. NextGen concentrated those flights on a rail, creating commercial jet freeways. There is strong cause for optimism that the FAA will work collaboratively with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (SDCRAA), La Jolla, Point Loma and other communities to fix the noise issues. Valencia also said that a rep from his office will try to attend ANAC meetings in San Diego, demonstrating the FAAs commitment to the process.

 The next Flight Path & Procedure Citizen and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting will be 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Aug. 30 at the ANAC offices, 2722 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. Your Citizenss Advisory Committee (CAC ) and TAC representatives, through Quiet Skies La Jolla, submitted a consultants report proposing common sense recommendations to reduce the noise impacts on La Jolla. These ask that the FAA make better use of the Pacific Ocean by routing departures further from the La Jolla coastline before turning north or south, and reducing noise over La Jolla Shores, UCSD and the Muirlands by routing arrivals further over the 805/52 Interchange, adjacent to the landfill and eliminating an unnecessary jog south closer to La Jolla.

SDCRAAs consultant will present the initial recommendations on Aug 30, taking into account La Jollas submission. Notably, the FAA Director was appreciative of La Jollas engagement and recognized the consultants qualifications and good reputation.

 Noise complaints spiked in July, particularly from La Jolla and Point Loma. ANAC encourages complaints to be filed because they enable objective fact-based reporting to the FAA. The more household complaints the better, even if it is only one per month. Most complaints were filed via the AirNoise button (airnoise.io). SDCRAA is rolling out a new noise complaint app and website upgrade called EMS that will purportedly yield more precise data about which flights are causing the most complaints and under what conditions.

ANAC and its vendor are holding five workshops to help people download and use the app or website, including one in La Jolla, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, at the Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave., and one in Pacific Beach, 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept 5, at the Taylor branch library, 4275 Cass St. People who cannot attend these workshops are invited to call the Air Noise Office (619) 400-2660 for a phone tutorial. We encourage use of either the SDCRAA app or the AirNoise button. The Webtrak complaint system is found at webrak.bkems.net/san and the app-based complaint system is viewpoint-app.emsbk.com/san4

 SDCRAA extended the comment date to Sept. 7 to address its Draft EIR, about the forthcoming construction changes to Terminal 1 and the surrounding airport infrastructure. Quiet Skies La Jolla has engaged counsel to represent us in this process and individuals may also submit comments to San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, Attention, Ted Anasis, via e-mail to the planning@san.org Comments may also be mailed to the SDCRAA, PO Box 82776, San Diego, CA 92138-2776 and postmarked by Sept. 7 or delivered to the SDCRAA offices at 3225 N. Harbor Drive, 3rd Floor, San Diego, CA 92101, or faxed to (619) 400-2459 by 5 p.m. Sept. 7. (For a draft proposed response, see our last column online at lajollalight.com or quietskieslajolla.org) Residents must speak up now to advocate for practical adjustments to the flight path and procedures associated with the anticipated increased air traffic.

 Maintenance on the runway will recommence on Oct. 18, decreasing the number of flights at night. There will be a temporary respite because construction begins at 8 p.m., reducing the number of aircraft operations in this post-summer, non-peak period. The full schedule will resume before the holidays, so dont become complacent.

 The Airport Noise Advisory Commission received a $12 million grant from the FAA to fund the Part 150 and Flight Path & Procedure studies about NextGen Metroplex. San Diego International Airport will kick-off the Part 150 study in September or October.

 The next ANAC meeting will be Oct. 17 at the Harbor Island Holiday Inn. We appreciate the communitys strong support. Please keep it up.
What if I get deported? asked Kim, who immigrated to the United States from Korea nearly a decade ago and has a 21-month-old child with her husband, a U.S. citizen. My baby and my family are here. What would happen to me?

Kim, who spoke using a pseudonym, was explaining why she has not signed up for Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program, even though shes eligible. Her decision means she cant get a mammogram because of the expense, even though doctors recommended an annual screening.

Kims fears arent unusual in Californias immigrant communities, even among naturalized citizens and lawful permanent residents (holders of green cards). The anxiety level spiked immediately after Trump was elected president on a platform including uncompromising hostility to immigrants. But over the last few months, a more specific concern has taken over, signified by a two-word shorthand: Public charge.

This will close the door to anyone except white, English-speaking, wealthy immigrants. Jackie Vimo, National Immigration Law Center

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The term refers to a draft proposal by the Trump administration that could deny permanent residency or even citizenship to immigrants who have accessed public assistance programs or are expected to do so in the future. The plans implicit assumption is that immigrants are a burden on the public purse, so its better to weed out the costliest newcomers. But the assumption is a canard. A 2016 study by the National Academies showed that while first-generation immigrants are more costly to state and local governments than the native-born  mostly because of the cost of education  members of the second generation are among the strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the U.S. population, contributing more in taxes than either their parents or the rest of the native-born population.

Although public charge rules long have been part of the immigration and naturalization process, leaked versions of the proposal indicate that the administration intends a major tightening of the federal standards. Its aim appears to be to vastly expand the list of programs that would be counted against applicants for residency or citizenship.

In addition to cash assistance programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which is commonly described as welfare, it would weigh programs such as the earned income tax credit (EITC), the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP), health plan subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and food stamps against applicants for the first time.

The change in policy would have a massive impact on California and Californians. The state is home to one-quarter of the 43.2 million foreign-born residents of the U.S., according to figures sent by Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney; half are naturalized citizens, and one-fourth each are legal permanent residents or undocumented. The 2 million California children enrolled in CHIP, a part of Medicaid, amount to 25% of all the programs enrollees in the nation.

As a result, California has been in the forefront of a pushback against the proposal. On June 1, six representatives of Becerras office met in Washington with OMB officials to outline the potential economic impacts. They were joined in the room or by phone by representatives of Gov. Jerry Browns office and state health officials. Four San Francisco officials held a teleconference with the OMB on Aug. 13. Whether they received more than a polite brushoff isnt clear  and wont be until the final rule is published.

Californias public services are designed to be inclusive; the bars to immigrant access of healthcare and other programs are lower here than in many other states. The leaked regulations would have an outsized effect on states which have reasonably generous eligibility, exactly like California, Michael Fix, a senior fellow and former president of the Migration Policy Institute, told me.

Some clinics serving immigrant communities across California and nationwide say theyve detected a marked dropoff in patients since earlier this year. Thats when rumors of the proposal intensified, following leaks of a policy draft submitted by the Department of Homeland Security to the OMB.

Patients eligible for Medi-Cal are shunning enrollment, figuring it would count against them in their applications. Others have simply stopped coming in for appointments. At Kheir Clinic, enrollments in Medi-Cal, Obamacare health plans, and My Health LA, a county program for low-income and uninsured residents, fell to 519 in July from 694 in March. Among the possible factors in the decline, the clinic believes that immigration policy issues play a role, according to Kirby Van Amburgh, its director of external affairs.

The first sign for us is that our waiting rooms get empty, says Isabel Cortez, operations director at Clinica Romero, which serves about 12,000 patients from two locations, including one on the edge of Boyle Heights across the street from Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. Cortez estimates that monthly patient enrollments fell by about one-third after Trumps election, and another 25% since the public-charge proposal leaked out.

The proposal hasnt yet been formally published, and could differ significantly from the leaked drafts. But immigration advocates see the leaked versions as an attempt to rewrite immigration rules that were enacted by Congress in 1996.

This is a radical proposal to do an end run around Congress, says Jackie Vimo, policy analyst at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington. This will close the door to anyone except white, English-speaking, wealthy immigrants. That means abandoning the principle of inclusion on which America was built: If the same standards were in effect in the past, Vimo observes, Most of us wouldnt be here today. The proposal is widely attributed to Stephen Miller, Trumps hardline anti-immigration advisor.

This column is one of a series on the conflicts between California and the Trump administration. Feel free to send comments or ideas to Calvstrump@latimes.com.

Serving immigrant communities can be difficult under the best circumstances, whether theyre documented or not. With irregular living arrangements and wariness about official authority, they can be hard for doctors to reach or to keep on prescribed medication, sometimes because of its unaffordability.

Since Trumps election, clinicians say, alarm has spread that immigration agents have been hanging around or trying to access personal information in the clinics files, or preparing to stage raids on the premises. The clinics have done their best to assuage their patients fears, but many still think its more prudent to stay away.

After Trumps election, So many patients came by just to say goodbye to their clinicians, says Erin K. Pak, CEO of the Kheir Clinic. They would tell us, As a family, we decided we shouldnt walk into any place but school and the grocery store.

Subconsciously you always have fear, says Maria (also a pseudonym), a patient at Clinica Romero. She emigrated from Mexico a few years ago, married an American citizen and has begun the application process for permanent residency. To have access to healthcare, you have to show your address, your name and your phone number.

A sufferer from diabetes, Maria hasnt signed up for any public program that could count against her except for My Health LA. Clinics say theyve been assured that enrollment in the program wont show up on the federal radar screen; county health officials told me theyre committed to safeguarding the privacy of patient personal information.

The climate of heightened fear poses a quandary for doctors and clinics geared to serving immigrants. At both the Kheir Clinic and Clinica Romero, diabetes and hypertension are their top treatment concerns. Both require regular follow-up visits to be effectively managed and kept from turning into acute episodes of illness. Thats obviously a problem when patients turn into no-shows.

If the patients are not following up, Cortez says, the next thing you hear is that theyre in the emergency room.

The Trump administration has been vague about when it might formally submit the public-charge rule or what it will look like once its made final  conceivably because the ambiguity makes it harder for critics to mount a campaign to block it.

California far outstrips other states in the number of immigrants in families receiving public services. (Migration Policy Institute)

The clinics are in a tough position, since it hasnt happened yet, Courtney Powers, director of government affairs at the Community Clinic Assn. of Los Angeles, told me. The latest rumor is that the rule will be submitted formally either just before Labor Day or within a few days after that.

All signs point to the administrations intention to fast-track the measure. The leaked draft describes the rule as merely a clarification of existing policy. OMB, which has the final say on the rule, has attested that the proposal wouldnt break the threshold of $100 million in annual impact that would make it economically significant, which would trigger a more detailed and public approval process.

The impact of a change in the public-charge definition could have an especially severe effect on mixed-status households  those comprising citizens and non-citizens, possibly including undocumented family members  because citizens and legal residents might steer clear of programs theyre eligible for in order to protect family members of lesser status. Those households arent uncommon: About half of Californias children have at least one immigrant parent.

Drafts of the proposed new policy would drive the number of immigrants subject to public-charge assessment from 3% of noncitizens to 47%. (Migration Policy Institute)

The Department of Homeland Security currently applies the rule to those primarily dependent on the government, which it defines as obtaining more than 50% of income from cash programs such as welfare. When the rules were last codified in 1999, what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service excluded non-cash programs from its calculation; its goal was to quell immigrants fears about using programs that enhanced public health or enabled them to find and keep jobs, such as transportation vouchers and child-care assistance.

In the most recent draft leaked publicly, Homeland Security suggests redefining the term to include any government assistance  not just 50%  from any means-tested program aimed at helping households meet needs for housing, food, utilities, or medical care, whether involving cash or not.

Under the existing regulations, Fix calculates, fewer than 3% of non-citizens living in the U.S. could have been designated public charges. The leaked proposal would increase that figure to 47%.

State and local officials and immigration experts consider OMBs assertion that the proposal would have an economic impact of less than $100 million a year to be transparently absurd. San Francisco Mayor London Breed informed OMB Director Mulvaney in a July 19 letter that the cost in her city alone would come to between $129 million and $368 million in lost spending from food stamp benefits, Medi-Cal benefits, child-care subsidies and EITC income due to families withdrawing from public supports  or not applying in the first place.

Breed also pointed out the folly of raising obstacles to programs that serve a broad community purpose.

This proposal, she wrote, will do irreparable harm to the productivity of our economy and compromise the health and safety of our communities.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

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The adage All politics is local often attributed to the late House Speaker Tip ONeill appears to be working its magic in the once-solidly Republican Orange County district of Rep. Mimi Walters.

Walters is facing a stiff challenge in November from Democrat Katie Porter, a UC Irvine law professor. So it may be no surprise that shes trimming her political sails to catch the prevailing winds. Most recently, Walters signed on to an Aug. 22 letter from the congressional climate solutions caucus observing that the western wildfires are being fueled by climate change and inviting Gov. Jerry Brown to a meeting to discuss policy options.

The assertion places Walters at odds with President Trump, who has called climate change a hoax and blamed the fires on bad environmental laws, and with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who has pointed the finger at environmental terrorist groups who interfere with government forest management programs.

Climate change is a significant contributing factor to the increased severity and frequency of California wildfires. Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine)

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It also places Walters at odds with her own record on environmental issues, which is one of the worst in Congress. As my colleague Evan Halper observed this week, the League of Conservation Voters gives her a lifetime score of 4% on legislative votes, and a 3% score for 2017.

That record probably wont help Walters in November. Election forecasters have moved her district from Republican-leaning to a toss-up. Although GOP voters outnumber Democrats by nearly 8 percentage points, the district went for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Weve asked Walters Washington office to comment but havent heard back.

District voters tend to be well-educated, which suggests that they dont hold much truck with climate change denialism. They also have close to firsthand experience with wildfires. The Holy fire has been burning for more than two weeks in remote parts of Orange and Riverside counties; although authorities say the fire was triggered by arson, climate change may play a role in its severity, as it has with other blazes during this ferocious fire season in California.

In the past, Walters has spoken out about wildfires, but largely to call for more resources for firefighters. The Aug. 19 letter, on which she affixed her signature along with five other caucus members  three other California members of Congress (all Democrats) and two from Florida  appears to be her most direct statement connecting the fires with climate change.

The caucus members would be very interested in hearing from you on the impacts of climate change that have contributed to the wildfires, drought, and extremely high temperatures that your state has been experiencing, the members told Brown. In a tweet about the letter, Walters wrote: Climate change is a significant contributing factor to the increased severity and frequency of California wildfires.

Although Walters is a member of the bipartisan climate solutions caucus in Congress, shes something of a latecomer  the caucus was established in 2016 and she didnt join until last fall. Other than that, Walters legislative record on climate change is abysmal. According to the League of Conservation Voters scorecard, in 2017, she voted to block an Obama-era rule requiring that the social cost of carbon be factored into reviews of major projects and in favor of delaying an ozone clean-air standard. She has advocated expanding oil drilling offshore and in Alaska, and has voted to cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and hamstring its scientific reviews.

Last year, she was a co-sponsor of the Stopping EPA Overreach Act, which stated that nothing in five major federal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Endangered Species Act, authorizes or requires the regulation of climate change or global warming.

Among her fellow co-sponsors were four other environmentally benighted California GOP members of Congress. All had lifetime ratings from the league as bad or worse than hers  Tom McClintock of Elk Grove (4%), David Valadao of Hanford (4%), Devin Nunes of Tulare (3%), and Doug LaMalfa of Richvale (1%). If Walters is really trying to distinguish herself from the Republican Partys appalling record on climate change, she has a steep hill to climb.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

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Old Navy has been Gap Inc.s savior in recent quarters, but its strength  along with a companywide jump in profit  wasnt enough to quell investors concerns about Gaps namesake brand.

The San Francisco company announced Thursday that its profit rose nearly 10% to $297 million for the quarter that ended Aug. 4.

But the Gap brand posted same-store sales that fell 5% in the quarter  more than double the decline projected by analysts. Although ongoing gains at the Old Navy value chain helped shore up results, the apparel retailers stock still dropped in after-hours trading after the results were announced.

Gap has increasingly relied on Old Navy and its Athleta brand while it works to revive its namesake unit. In June the company named Neil Fiske chief executive of the Gap brand, and his priority has been to fix problems with late deliveries that caused inventory to swell in the first quarter. That swollen inventory led the retailer to resort to discounts.

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Gap shares fell as much as 9.2% to $29.44 in after-hours trading. The stock had dropped 4.8% this year through Thursdays close.

Comparable-store sales at the Gap brand were expected to fall 2.3%, according to Consensus Metrix. The company has been unable to turn the unit around, with that measure falling in 16 of the last 18 quarters. Comparable-store sales, which measure results at established stores, are a key gauge of a retailers health.

At Old Navy, comparable-store sales rose 5%, beating the expectation of a 4% gain. Banana Republics comparable-store sales increase of 2% was in line with projections.

Companywide, sales at comparable stores improved 2%, compared with 1% in the same quarter last year.

Gap Inc. reported net income of $297 million, or 76 cents a share, in the quarter. That was up from $271 million, or 68 cents, in the year-earlier quarter, and it beat the 72 cents per share profit that the analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected.

The clothing company posted revenue of $4.09 billion in the period, which also topped forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected $3.98 billion.

The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.
What is it about the canyons of Los Angeles that they attract artists, musicians, writers, actors and an array of folks representing an astounding variety of spiritual pursuits?

How can one explain the remarkable concentration of creative energy  shot through with a general sense of good vibes  emanating from Topanga Canyon (and its countercultural cousin Laurel Canyon)?

Part of it has to be the free time available to the generally well-to-do people living there, enjoying a laid-back lifestyle and geographic isolation from the mellow-harshing realities of modern American life.

In the canyon, there is time to write, time to paint, time to take in the short mountain sunsets and think about what it all means.

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But its uncharitable to suggest that the peaceful, easy feeling flowing down Topanga Canyon and into the Pacific springs entirely from a bottomless well of privilege.

Struggling artists still struggle, even in the Santa Monica Mountains, and even if there are fewer of them now than there were 50 years ago. Then, restless young boomers prowled the canyon, acoustic guitars slung over their backs and psilocybin caps filling their buckskin shoulder bags.

They had come to Topanga for the same reason the more bohemian elements of 1920s Hollywood had braved long drives over dodgy mountain roads to their weekend cottages and cabins  to get away from L.A.

In those early years, it was not a place many people lived in year-round: too remote to commute into work in the city, spotty utilities coverage, no good restaurants. But it was a great place to recharge for a few days before heading back to the grind of early movie-making, which prized speed and volume in production above all else.

What the boomers who followed them were fleeing was altogether more unpleasant than the studio system. A season of tumult and division, caused by deepening American involvement in the Vietnam War and opposition by older whites to the Civil Rights movement, drove the young emigres into the mountains. There they formed a community reflecting their values of peace, equality and individualism.

Big-name artists and musicians, drawn by the scene, joined the new generation of movie stars who had taken up residence in Topanga. Dennis Hopper rubbed shoulders with Dennis Wilson, who smoked grass with his erstwhile houseguest Charles Manson, never suspecting a thing. Neil Young recorded After the Gold Rush in the basement of his Topanga Canyon home, and the Topanga Corral nightclub reputedly inspired Jim Morrison to write Roadhouse Blues.

By the time the 1970s staggered to a close, Topangas moment of peak cultural relevance had passed. In the fading afterglow, under strands of Edison bulbs on decks and patios across the canyon, current denizens toast the past, trading psychedelics for glasses of high-end organic Cabernet.

(Los Angeles Times)

Neighborhood highlights

A place above: The Tongva people held Topanga to be a sacred location, and anyone who has taken the stunningly scenic drive down the mountains to the bay can understand why.

Country living: The hills surrounding it may be filled with modern luxury homes, but Topanga itself clings to its rustic roots, eschewing chain restaurants and strip malls completely.

Hippie history: The luminaries of the Age of Aquarius are mostly long gone, but the canyons countercultural past is kept alive with events such as the Topanga Days music festival.

Neighborhood challenges

Far-out prices: your average poet or painter is going to have a tough time scraping together the bread to buy in a market where median prices are now well above $1.5 million.

Expert insight

Anne-Christine von Wetter, an agent with more than 30 years of experience in the area, has one message for potential newcomers: Dont try to change Topanga. Let Topanga change you.

Even if you wanted to change Topanga, good luck. The oak trees are protected, as is Topanga Creek.

Its very important that people here respect nature, von Wetter said. Consequently, daily concerns of its residents include the avoidance of mountain lions, coyotes, rattlesnakes and forest fires, but she said residents prefer that to being overrun by apartments and condo complexes.

This is a small community. Were not Venice or the Pacific Palisades, and we dont want to be those places, she said. We want to keep our uniqueness.

Market snapshot

In the 90290 ZIP Code, based on 13 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in June was $1.1 million, up 9.9% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

Report card

Four of the five public schools in the Topanga area scored above 900 on the 2013 Academic Performance Index. The highest is Woodland Hills Elementary, at 967, followed by Alice C. Stelle Middle, at 920, Bay Laurel Elementary, at 913, and Chaparral Elementary, at 907.

Calabasas High, the closest public high school, scored 875.

Times staff writer Jack Flemming contributed to this report.

hotproperty@latimes.com
Husband-and-wife writing team Mark Lonow and Jo Anne Astrow traipse down memory lane  and often stumble  in Jews, Christians and Screwing Stalin, having its premiere as a guest production at the Matrix Theatre.

According to the program notes, Lonow (who also directs) and Astrow based this comedy on their lives  Lonow the Brooklyn-raised Jew (who went on to become co-owner of the Improv), Astrow the titular Christian. Yiddish phrases inundate the play, while the setting  Brighton Beach in New York  is, intentionally or not, an hommage to Neil Simon, whose semi-autobiographical Brighton Beach Memoirs was a Jewish coming-of-age tale set during the Great Depression.

Jews is set in 1966, a time of great upheaval on the American scene. And, like Memoirs, the play concerns the domestic travails of an embattled Jewish family as its young male protagonist struggles to figure out his future within his colorfully dysfunctional family. Whereas Simons very human comedy was rooted in truth, however, Lonow and Astrow jettison emotional insight in their dogged pursuit of laughs.

The action, unraveling over Joel Daavids excellent set, begins with family patriarch Murray Grazonsky (John Pleshette), an atheistic Communist who survived the Russian Revolution, addressing us from beyond the grave. Now in Paradise, he enjoys regular happy hours with pal Leon Trotsky. Murray created his own revolution on Earth when he willed the family boarding house to his grandson, Joseph (Hunter Milano), much to the distress of Murrays wife, Minka (Cathy Ladman), who feels dissed by the sexist disenfranchisement. Its distressing also to Murrays feckless, seriously estranged, alcoholic son David (Travis York), who needs to float a loan on that same house to get some leg-breakers off his case.

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When that son arrives on the eve of Rosh Hashana with his pregnant Christian fiancee, Caitlin (Sammi-Jack Martincak), emotions run high and family secrets are spilled, with long-time boarder Lillie Feinstein (Laura Julian) hanging on every salacious disclosure.

Low points in the story include a character who appears out of nowhere, flatulates across the stage, then exits, never to be seen  or heard  again. (This is uproarious?) Also, strangely digressive dialogue about certain family members enormous, uh, endowments doesnt quite measure up. Unless youre doing a vaudeville sketch, even the broadest slapstick must be germane to the plot.

Subtler staging might have helped, but Lonow encourages excess at every turn. At least the droll and diverting cast  Pleshette as the patriarch, Ladman as his wife, Julian as the boarder  invest characters with a genuine humanity that transcends stereotypes and atones for much of the sophomoric silliness.

         

Jews, Christians and Screwing Stalin

Where: Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles

When: 8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, 8 p.m. Mondays; ends Sept. 23.

Tickets: $35

Info: (323) 960-4412, www.Plays411.com/Matzoballs

Running time: 2 hours

See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.
Laemmle Anniversary Classics Director George Stevens Shane, the classic 1953 Western about a mysterious gunslinger (Alan Ladd) who defends homesteaders from a ruthless, land-grabbing cattle baron. With Jean Arthur, Van Heflin and Jack Palance. A discussion with David Ladd, Alans son, will follow. Ahrya Fine Arts, 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 478-3836. Aug. 26, 3 p.m. $15.

Hollywood Home Movies: Treasures from the Academy Film Archive A program of rarely seen home movie segments from some of the 20th centurys biggest stars such as Jimmy Stewart, Betty Grable, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Old Town Music Hall, 140 Richmond St., El Segundo, (310) 322-2592. Aug. 26, 2:30 p.m. $10. No credit cards.

The Black Book Series James Spooners 2003 documentary Afro-Punk about black punk rockers experiences in the mostly white punk rock scene explores issues from interracial dating, racism within the punk community, and criticism from others in the black community. The doc, which spawned an annual Brooklyn-based music festival, also features interviews with members of the bands Fishbone, Dead Kennedys and TV on the Radio. Discussion to follow with Spooner and series organizers Tisa Bryant and Ernest Hardy. Hammer Museum, Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 443-7000. Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Cinecon 54 The opening night of the five-day annual festival will feature a new restoration of the 1924 silent Helens Babies, starring Baby Peggy and Clara Bow; Sweet and Low-Down (1944) which stars Benny Goodman and His Orchestra as themselves, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie; Scotland Yard (1941) with John Loder and Nancy Kelly. The festival will run through Sep. 3 and includes a program of Hal Roach shorts (Aug. 31), a nitrate print of the 1933 pre-code comedy He Learned About Women (Sep. 1), and director Tod Brownings Outside the Law, a reconstructed 1920 San Francisco crime drama starring Lon Chaney (Sep. 2). Cinecon 54, Egyptian and Spielberg Theatres, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 466-3456. Through Sept. 3. Festival pass, $200; day passes will be available.

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Rock & Animation The three-film series starts with the 1973 animated Japanese psychedelia Belladonna of Sadness (Aug. 30), a rape revenge tale in dreamy watercolors set to a jazz-rock score. Far more family-friendly is the 1968 animated Beatles romp Yellow Submarine (Aug. 31), which finds the Fab Four battling the Blue Meanies in Pepperland with tongue-in-cheek humor and not a small amount of whimsy. The series closes with Pink Floyd: The Wall (Sept. 1), which musical visionary Roger Waters penned based on the bands 1979 concept album. The 1982 film, now a cult classic, was directed by Alan Parker; animated segments by Gerald Scarfe. American Cinematheque, Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 260-1528. Each film starts at 7:30 p.m. with separate admission; $8-$12.

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First, they came for Shonda Rhimes.

Then, they came for Ryan Murphy.

And now Netflix has swallowed The Great British Baking Show into its gaping maw.

The streaming giant took another step forward Thursday in its quest for global domination by announcing it would be the exclusive American home for the next three seasons of the reality series, which previously aired on PBS.

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The sweet new era begins Aug. 31, when viewers will be able to binge a 10-episode season of the revamped series  minus original judge Mary Berry and hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc  and will be followed by fresh batches later this year and in 2019.

In addition, Netflix also has plans to release annual two-episode holiday specials for the next three years.

The show, in which contestants whip up their finest baked goods in a pastel-hued tent in the English countryside, is a huge hit in the U.K. and has also earned a passionate following among foodies, Anglophiles and pun enthusiasts on this side of the pond.

The fate of the show in the U.S. had been an open question since commercial broadcaster Channel 4 outbid the publicly funded BBC for rights to air the series in the U.K. in 2016. The move from the BBC prompted Berry, Perkins and Giedroyc to depart the series and sparked concerns that The Great British Bake-Off, as its known back home, would lose its charm.

Judge Paul Hollywood chose to remain with the series and was joined by presenters Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig and fellow judge Prue Leith. The revamped Bake-Off aired last summer on Channel 4 and remains popular with viewers.

Meanwhile, PBS aired its final episode of The Great British Baking Show last week. The episodes, which had not yet been seen in the U.S., were from a season that was broadcast in the U.K. in 2012.

Netflix has moved aggressively into the unscripted space in recent years with titles such as the Queer Eye reboot and Nailed It, a competition show which functions like The Great British Baking Shows evil twin and features amateur bakers who make hilariously bad attempts at elaborate desserts.

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I remember a very, very old, dog-eared, stained copy of The Joy of Cooking that we would turn to time and time again, says pastry chef and television host Candace Nelson, remembering her mothers primary source for recipes while living abroad in the pre-internet era. Nelson, who famously launched Sprinkles Cupcakes in 2005 and pizzeria Pizzana in Brentwood in 2017 (a second location is set to open on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood in early 2019), grew up mostly in Southeast Asia. It was there that she fell in love with dessert-making and discovered one of her favorite sweets, the meringue-based, whipped cream and fruit-topped Pavlova.

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nelson spent her infancy there before moving to Hong Kong until the first grade. After spending a few years in Michigan and Wisconsin, her fathers job brought her family to Medan on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It was then that Nelson longed for American desserts and as a fifth-grader began baking intensively.

We had this one little store called Toko Ben. Toko is the word for store in Indonesian, she explains, noting that the small neighborhood store was the only local importer of American products.

So if you wanted Frosted Flakes cereal or if you wanted Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, you went to Toko Ben. And it was this tiny store and everything came over on a boat. So by the time the products were at Toko Ben, as delicious as they looked, those Frosted Flakes were so soft. The humidity had gotten to them and it was like you didnt even care at that point because it was just a taste of home.

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It was this nostalgia for those familiar flavors that led Nelson to master dessert-making at a young age. As a child I wanted to re-create these things I loved that reminded me of America. But achieving this while living in Medan wasnt easy. So Nelson started baking brownies, chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes with her mom.

Candace Nelson fell in love with Pavlova when she lived in Indonesia. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Recipe: Candace Nelsons Pavlova 

But it wasnt just American desserts that Nelson loved. It was in Indonesia that she fell in love with the airy dessert, thought to be named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Though it likely first originated in Germany and the U.S., it is said to have been created in honor of the dancer during her tour of Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s and is popular in those countries. And thanks to the large population of Australians in Indonesia, Pavlova was a popular dessert there. Half of my friends growing up were Australian, says Nelson.

Although it is a little bit tricky to make in the tropics, once you had that meringue made, Pavlova is one of those desserts that feels lighter, although its not calorically lighter. Theres something about crisp meringue and then cream and fruit that lends itself really well to tropical fruit, which there was always an abundance of and definitely also lends itself well to the tropical heat.

Now, Nelson, who is both an executive producer and permanent judge on the Netflix show Sugar Rush, makes the dessert frequently. I rely on it constantly for dinner parties because it is such a cinch to whip up and it delights women, men and kids alike. Nelson adds vinegar, which she says keeps the interior of the meringue marshmallow-like.

While Pavlova in the U.S. often includes cream and berries, Nelson prefers the toppings she grew up with in Indonesia. Mango and kiwi were definitely key to a more traditional Pavlova, and passion fruit, says Nelson. I mean, listen, its all delicious. It doesnt really matter how you slice it.

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Located in the heart of San Ysidro, the white stucco church that once housed Nuestra Senora de Monte Carmelo  Our Lady of Mount Carmel  stands as a symbol of the border towns rich history and culture.

Built in 1927, the landmark is set to become the centerpiece of a small affordable housing project that will include spaces for services and programs geared toward the predominantly Latino community.

We want to integrate [the church] because of the huge historical significance in the community. Its seen as an icon in San Ysidro, said Teddy Cruz of Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, a research-based political and architecture firm that designed the project with Casa Familiar, a social services organization.

We believe that culture exists in a community  that you dont bring culture to a community, said David Flores, Casa Familiars community development director.

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Construction at the site on West Hall Avenue, just west of the San Ysidro Community Park, is expected to begin in October.

Cruz and Flores said they consider the small-scale development an important model for other housing projects in small communities such as San Ysidro  one that puts residents needs first and aims to spur community engagement.

Plans for the $8.7-million project, named Living Rooms at the Border, include 10 apartments  four three-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units and three one-bedroom units. Rents are estimated to be between $900 and $1,800.

In neighborhoods like San Ysidro, housing cannot just be units on their own, said Cruz, a public culture and urbanization professor at UC San Diego. They need to be embedded in an infrastructure of social, cultural, educational and economic programming.

To that end, plans call for the church to be restored and used for visual arts and theater programs run by Teatro Mascara Magica and UC San Diego. The space, which will be renamed el Salon, or the Hall, will include a recording studio.

Plans also include an open-air pavilion called Casa Patio, where the university intends to put on art-related programs and activities for the community.

This is about developing programs, developing participation and developing engagement, Cruz said.

Also included in the plans are five office spaces, reserved primarily for community services. Casa Familiar intends to use two spaces to offer immigration services and a third to house a coffee cart, which would provide barista jobs to young people.

Casa Familiar has not designated a use for the two other office spaces, although the nonprofit has considered leasing to San Ysidro Health for a small clinic.

Cruz and Flores said they hope the the project encourages more urban development in San Ysidro and beyond.

Its about respecting the small-scale fabric of the historic center, the heart of San Ysidro, Cruz said.

The project dates from 2000, when Casa Familiar purchased the land on which the church stands. In 2001, Casa Familiar bought an adjacent property, with a ramshackle house on it.

Cruz pointed to various aspects that contributed to the time frame of the project.

This is not a developer-driven project, which from the beginning has budgets and a process all in place, he said. For this project, Casa Familiar has to construct a process: advocating for the right housing agenda, fundraising for acquiring land, approaching policymakers to raise awareness about the relations between housing and social services, and developing outreach efforts in collaboration with others like UCSD and foundations. To put in place the right financial composition that could support an unorthodox housing project.

The project was one of five selected by the city of San Diego as part of a development planning effort called the City of Villages initiative. The initiative began in 2002 but fell apart. Despite the loss of support from the city, Casa Familiar moved forward with the project.

In 2010, the project gained national attention after it was showcased as part of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Casa Familiar, which has developed six housing projects, including two in National City, received funding for the project from the PARC Foundation and Civic San Diegos New Market Tax Credit program.

The project is expected to be completed in a year.

Hernandez writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Several high-ranking employees of the contractor that oversees the Orange County Jail phone system appeared in court this week to provide additional information about what was characterized as a human error that resulted in 1,079 privileged calls between inmates and their attorneys being improperly recorded over a three-year period.

Much of the hearing in Orange County Superior Court on Thursday focused on the technical details of how an update to the Global Tel Link Corp. system in January 2015 resulted in the calls being recorded in violation of state law.

But company officials also disclosed that the same issue happened twice before in Florida.

In the Orange County case, the company corrected what it initially called a technical error in July of this year and no longer is recording attorney-client phone calls, according to GTL and Orange County Sheriffs Department officials.

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George McNitt, vice president of technical services for GTL, testified that the issue in Orange County occurred because a list of some 1,300 phone numbers designated as do not record were not properly transferred as part of a system update.

When asked whether the company has notified its other clients that such issues have arisen, McNitt said, [W]e had no reason to believe it was happening anywhere else.

McNitt and other GTL employees were questioned initially by Joel Garson, defense attorney for Joshua Waring, son of former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Lauri Peterson.

Waring, 29, is facing three counts of attempted murder and other felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with a shooting at a former Costa Mesa sober-living home in June 2016. If convicted, he could face multiple life sentences.

Garson has been investigating allegations that law enforcement officials monitored and shared details of Warings phone calls in the Orange County Jail while he was representing himself in his criminal case. Garson is trying to have the case dismissed on grounds of improper governmental conduct.

Last week, it was revealed that at least one jailhouse phone call in 2016 between Waring and his then-defense attorney were among the communications recorded by law enforcement.

According to a list of recorded calls, a Sheriffs Department employee downloaded a recording of the call or calls to a computer storage disk in January 2017. Garson said the disk was then provided to Costa Mesa police officials who were investigating the allegations against Waring.

In a July letter to Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Darren Wallace, executive vice president of operations for Global Tel Link, wrote that Sheriffs Department staff, and in certain circumstances [GTL] for investigative or technical purposes, had accessed 58 of the 1,079 recorded calls a total of 87 times.

On Thursday, Garson expressed skepticism that the list of 1,079 calls was comprehensive. Several phone numbers  such as those for the Orange County public defenders office  hardly show up in those records, he said, even though there would probably be hundreds if not thousands of calls to that office over several years.

Doesnt that tell you that theres a problem somewhere other than human error? Garson asked Matthew McFalls, GTLs director of technical services.

No, it just tells me they didnt call that number, McFalls responded.

Regardless of how the problem started, Garson said theres no reason it should have lasted as long as it did.

Even if the initial negligence was with GTL, law enforcement had the duty to bring it to the attention of somebody, Garson said. He said the breach could lead to the dismissal of charges or even convictions in many serious criminal cases.

In a statement last week, Hutchens said she was deeply disappointed that this technical glitch by [GTL] occurred and is concerned about the serious consequences it may bring.

Although each call was prefaced with a warning that calls were subject to monitoring and recording, we know that these calls never should have been recorded by [GTL], she wrote.

In light of whats happened, Peterson said theres absolutely no way her son can receive a fair trial in Orange County.

What has occurred is cheating, she told reporters Thursday. And I hear today that they keep saying its human error, which is fine on the GTL side  that could be a human error  but the bottom line is the sheriffs department took these recorded phone calls, listened to them and then shared them.

luke.money@latimes.com

Money writes for Times Community News
Authorities have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of starting the deadly Klamathon fire in Siskiyou County last month, officials said. The blaze claimed a life, injured three firefighters and destroyed dozens of homes.

John Colin Eagle Skoda was booked into jail Thursday after investigators concluded that he caused the 38,000-acre blaze by recklessly burning debris, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The blaze began July 5 and burned down 35 homes and 48 other structures near the Oregon border. The fire jumped the Klamath River, forcing evacuations in Hornbrook, Calif., and several other communities as hundreds of firefighters battled flames. The fire temporarily closed Interstate 5.

Skoda, of San Francisco, was booked on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and fire-related charges. Jail records dont indicate if he is represented by an attorney.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek
A Marin County landlord and his agent are facing criminal charges for allegedly raising the rent on a home by more than $2,800 a month as a destructive wildfire gutted the region in October 2017.

Property owner Richard Scott Parke, 57, and Pamela Kelley, 55, a San Francisco-based Realtor and property manager, were each charged Thursday with four misdemeanor counts of price gouging for allegedly raising the rent on Parkes three-bedroom property in Novato by 58% in a week, according to the California Department of Justice.

The rent was raised, authorities allege, as the Tubbs fire raged in adjacent Napa and Sonoma counties. By the end of October 2017, the most destructive fire in modern state history had burned 36,807 acres, destroyed more than 5,000 structures and left 22 people dead, according to Cal Fire.

Parkes 1,740 square-foot single-family home was offered for rent at $4,950 per month before the fire. On Oct. 10, the day after Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the region, the asking rate initially rose to $6,800. Then, it was hiked again on the same day to $9,500 a month, according to the criminal complaint filed in Marin County Superior Court.

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Browns state of emergency declaration triggered price-gouging restrictions in the counties affected by the fire, as well as nearby communities where the demand for housing and other goods and services could be affected. Under the law, landlords are prohibited from raising the price of housing more than 10% from the rates set before an emergency begins for a set period of time.

The maximum Parkes property could have been legally rented for after the emergency declaration was $5,445, according to the California Department of Justice. The home eventually rented for $7,825 a month, according to the states complaint.

Using emergency situations to squeeze money from consumers is a disgrace and will not be tolerated, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said in a statement. Anyone who would exploit the fires ripping across our state to make a buck off the backs of Californians will be met with the full force of the law.

If convicted, Kelley and Parke each face a year in county jail and/or a fine up to $10,000. They could also face civil enforcement actions that include penalties up to $5,000 per violation and mandatory restitution.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry
A parent who volunteers at Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of embezzling money from the school, police and school officials said.

Veronica Gonzalez, 33, was arrested Friday at about 7:40 a.m. on suspicion of embezzlement, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Her bail is set at $20,000.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District said they were notified Friday that a parent volunteer at Walter Reed was arrested on suspicion of stealing money from the schools nonprofit Friends of Reed, which raises money for field trips and after-school programs.

Its unclear how much money was stolen.

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This is an unfortunate incident as we know the effort the parents pour in to help enrich the educational experience at Reed, the spokeswoman said in a statement.

We appreciate the support of all parents in the district, as the academic success of our students depends on the involvement of each and every family.

melissa.etehad@latimes.com

Twitter: @melissaetehad
This summers relentless California wildfires have claimed at least a dozen lives and destroyed more than 1,200 homes. But along with the loss of life and property, the blazes have also taken a tremendous toll on taxpayers and the states huge tourism industry.

In less than two months, California has nearly wiped out the emergency wildfire funds set aside for the entire fiscal year, spending about $405 million out of the nearly $443 million allocated.

Tourism officials, meanwhile, have complained that televised images of the wildfires are deterring visitors, especially international travelers.

We havent had a break, said Scott McLean, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. One fire is coming close to the end and another one starts right up. Its been a revolving door for our firefighters  and its definitely going to get into the funds.

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The financial hit comes well before whats supposed to be peak fire season, which means California will probably need to once again dip into its overall budget reserve, which is about $2 billion. The state has done so for seven of the last 10 years, said H.D. Palmer of the Department of Finance.

The deadly Carr fire  which ripped through almost 230,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes  cost a total of $152 million alone in firefighting costs, McLean said. He did not yet have totals for the Mendocino Complex, which consists of two blazes whose combined acreage make up the largest fire in California history.

Additional costs include fire prevention programs, damages and personal losses, many of which are handled by private insurance companies. The states Office of Emergency Services will sometimes allocate funds for relief and recovery of business and homeowners that suffer from large fires, Palmer said.

The finances highlight the effect climate change has had on California and the trouble of these catastrophic fires, Palmer said. On a budget basis it underscores the importance of maintaining an adequate budget reserve to cover the additional cost that occurs when you have fires of this scope and severity.

The annual emergency fund budget is calculated based on what was actually spent in the previous five years, but sometimes Mother Nature is going to ignore that trend, Palmer said.

Last year, California set aside nearly $427 million for wildfires, but the total cost to the state ended up being about $774 million, McLean said. With federal and local expenses, the total cost was about $896 million, according to the Department of Finance.

Its a dramatic increase from the 2007-08 fiscal year, when the wildfire emergency fund appropriation was about $82 million and the states total cost was $372 million. The emergency fund is separate from Cal Fires general fund, which covers expenses for daily operations and routine fires.

In large fires such as the Mendocino Complex, the federal government will typically cover about 70% of the cost, but that varies year to year.

We will never have a situation where you haggle over splitting the check when the restaurant is on fire, Palmer said.

Despite the growing cost of fighting fires, Palmer said dipping into the reserves is a standard practice. There will always be available cash on hand to make sure crews are deployed and tankers will fly, he said.

On the tourism front, a recent study found that 11% of would-be travelers to California said the fires have prompted them to cancel their trips, costing the industry as much as $20 million last month, said Caroline Beteta, head of Visit California, the nonprofit marketing agency for the state.

But Beteta, along with tourism officials in Oregon and Washington, said wildfires burning in the three states are primarily in rural regions, not most tourist destinations. Our visitor experience remains unaffected by the fires, she said. We want to welcome people back as soon as possible.

A notable exception was Yosemite Valley, which was closed for nearly three weeks as the Ferguson fire raged nearby during what is typically the busiest camping season of the year.

Sydney Zaph and her family traveled to California from South Dakota, but decided to cut Yosemite National Park from their list of road trip destinations because of the blaze.

Instead, they camped at ONeill Regional Park in Orange County. During their trip, though, the Holy fire erupted just a few miles away, charring more than 22,000 acres and destroying at least 18 homes. Authorities have said the fire was an act of arson and arrested someone accused of setting the blaze.

We just need to be aware of whats happening, said Zaphs sister, Robin Mischke, from a folding chair at the campsite.
Robin Leach, the veteran television host who titillated viewers with the rarefied perks of celebrity through Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, has died. He was 76.

The famed celebrity reporter died at 1:50 a.m. Friday after suffering a stroke on Monday while in hospice care in Las Vegas, his son Gregg Leach said by phone Friday.

Leach, who had been hospitalized after a stroke in November, was with family at the time of his death.

Despite the past 10 months, what a beautiful life he had. Our Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Uncle and friend Robin Leach passed away peacefully last night at 1:50 a.m., sons Steven, Gregg and Rick Leach said in a statement to The Times.

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Everyones support and love over the past, almost one year, has been incredible and we are so grateful, they added, saying memorial arrangements would follow.

The English star, who had been working as a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, made a name for himself stateside on the syndicated TV series from 1984 to 1995, always signing off with the catchphrase, Champagne wishes and caviar dreams, which was continually parroted to indicate largesse and glamour.

During the series run, Leach rubbed elbows with the likes of Lana Turner, Adam West, Lynda Carter, Tony Bennett, Karl Lagerfeld, Duran Duran and Michael Jordan.

Theres nothing wrong with being rich, Leach told The Times in 2003. Capitalism can do what governments cant.

TV personality Robin Leach and actor George Hamilton puff on cigars during the James Beard Foundation of New York benefit. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Leach was born in 1941 and raised in a lower middle-class London suburb, the son of a vacuum cleaner sales executive. He came to New York in 1963 and sold shoes before throwing himself into a career covering showbiz as a newspaperman.

At 18, he became the Daily Mails youngest Page One editor. He moved to New York in his early 20s and worked for the New York Daily News, Ladies Home Journal, People magazine and the Star.

On the TV side, he joined CNNs People Tonight show in 1980 and helped launch the syndicated Entertainment Tonight the following year.

But it was Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in 1984 that made Leach a household name  one associated with a proclivity for the finer things.

The over-the-top show, created with Star Search and Entertainment Tonight producer Alfred Masini, tapped into societys burgeoning fascination with celebrity and is believed to have paved the way for star-making reality television shows. It also earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for outstanding informational special the year it debuted.

Leach became a celebrity in his own right and later hosted two Lifestyles spinoff series, Fame, Fortune and Romance and The Surreal Life: Fame Games on VH1.

He popped into various entertainment, news programs and docuseries to provide commentary in his later years and also competed on the reality series Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Wife Swap and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

After falling into obscurity for a time, he set his sights in 1999 on the Las Vegas Strip, where he became a local celebrity who mingled with other famous faces while reviewing hotels and restaurants and covering showbiz for the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Las Vegas has gone from being a gaming city to the worlds No. 1 resort city, he told The Times. My business is resorts, my business is food, my business is TV. The thing that I love about Vegas is, you are within 45 minutes of Hollywood without having to deal with the 405 and state taxes and fees.

Singer Celine Dion, whose Vegas show has been an attraction for years, said Friday on Twitter that she was saddened to hear the news of Leachs death and remembered him as a thoughtful and considerate man, and a great supporter of the entertainment scene in Las Vegas.

Now an eternity of champagne and caviar. Weve lost a dear, dear friend and a wonderful man. Rest in peace Robin Leach, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman said on Twitter.

Leach is survived by his three sons and several grandchildren.

Notable deaths of 2018:

1 / 44 Notable deaths 2018 2 / 44 Penny Marshall costarred as a Milwaukee brewery worker in the 1970s sitcom Laverne & Shirley before becoming a director of hit movies such as Big and A League of Their Own. With Big, she made history as the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million. She was 75. 3 / 44 During George H.W. Bushs single term as president, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. In 1991, Bush formed a U.S.-led coalition that drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait, the U.S. militarys most successful offensive since World War II. But dissent within the GOP and economic woes hobbled his bid for reelection in 1992, and he lost to Bill Clinton. (Marcy Nighswander / AP) 4 / 44 Stephen Hillenburg created the animated Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants. The show won Emmys in the U.S. and Britain, was translated into more than 60 languages and sparked huge merchandising opportunities worldwide. He was 57. (Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for Paramount) 5 / 44 Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci infused politics and psychological depth into such era-defining films as Last Tango in Paris and The Last Emperor. The Oscar winner influenced a crop of emerging filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. He was 77. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 44 Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman penned the scripts for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the Presidents Men. His 1983 book, Adventures in the Screen Trade, asserted that there were no easy answers in show business. He was 87. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 44 Country star Roy Clark headlined the cornpone TV show Hee Haw for nearly a quarter century. The guitar virtuoso was known for such hits as Yesterday When I Was Young and Honeymoon Feeling. He was 85. (Mark Humphrey / AP) 8 / 44 Writer Stan Lee helped create Spider-Man and other superheroes, transforming Marvel Comics into a powerhouse brand. The blockbuster films based on his characters racked up billions at the box office. He was 95. (David Livingston / Getty Images) 9 / 44 Computer programmer Paul Allen, right, founded Microsoft with Bill Gates when he was 22. He walked away eight years later with what would become one of the largest fortunes in the history of American capitalism. He was 65. (Jim Hallas / Eastside Journal / Associated Press) 10 / 44 Hall of Fame slugger Willie McCovey was a career .270 hitter with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs in 22 major league seasons, 19 of them with the San Francisco Giants. He also played for the Athletics and Padres. He was 80. (AP) 11 / 44 Burt Reynolds reigned as Hollywoods wisecracking, good-ol-boy box-office champ in the late 1970s and early 80s in movies such as Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run. He made pop culture history as Cosmopolitan magazines first nude male centerfold. He was 82. (Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images) 12 / 44 Neil Simons comic touch in The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park and many other hits on stage and screen made him the most commercially successful playwright of the 20th century  and perhaps of all time. From Come Blow Your Horn in 1961 to 45 Seconds From Broadway in 2001, 30 of Simons plays opened on Broadway, including five musicals for which he wrote the book. He was 91. (Dan Grossi / Associated Press) 13 / 44 Arizona Sen. John McCain survived 5 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam to become one of the highest-profile, most confounding and pugnacious personalities in American politics. As a twice-defeated presidential candidate, he used his celebrity to heighten his influence in Congress and emerge as one of the GOPs most prominent leaders. He was 81. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 44 Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was one of the worlds most celebrated diplomats, despite presiding over some of the worst failures and scandals at the world body. He served two terms, from Jan. 1, 1997, to Dec. 31, 2006, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the U.N. in 2001. He was 80. (Shawn Baldwin / Associated Press) 15 / 44 Known as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin was nominated for 44 Grammy Awards, and won 18. Her hits include Respect, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, I Say A Little Prayer and Chain of Fools. She was 76. (Anonymous / Associated Press) 16 / 44 British author V.S. Naipaul, who was born in Trinidad, won the 2001 Nobel Prize in literature for his incorruptible scrutiny of postcolonial society. His books explored colonialism and decolonization, exile and the struggles of the everyman in the developing world. He was 85. (Chris Ison / Associated Press) 17 / 44 Jonathan Gold richly chronicled the citys vast culinary landscape as the Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times restaurant critic. One of the most widely admired voices in food criticism, Gold wrote about restaurants for four decades and became indelibly linked with the city in which he was born and raised. He was 57. (City of Gold) 18 / 44 John Mack rose to become one of L.A.s most influential black figures during his long tenure running the city chapter of the Urban League and later spent eight years on the Police Commission. He helped lead the city past the infamous Rodney King beating and 1992 riots and later helped oversee reform of the Los Angeles Police Department. He was 81. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 44 After spending more than two decades in New York kitchens, Anthony Bourdain rose to fame with his 1999 New Yorker essay, Dont Eat Before Reading This, which became the basis for his bestselling book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. His willingness to speak his mind and ability to connect with the people made him a likable TV personality on the Food Network, the Travel Channel and CNN. He was 61. (Andy Kropa / Associated Press) 20 / 44 Kate Spade left her job at Mademoiselle magazine in 1992 and started working on mock-up designs of boxy but stylish totes. The fashion world embraced her brand, which turned into a multimillion-dollar, multi-category lifestyle brand that included footwear, apparel, stationery, fragrance, small leather goods and home goods sold in stores around the globe. In 1996, Spade received the Perry Ellis Award for new fashion talent and two years later, was named accessory designer of the year. She was 55. (Natalie Caudill / Dallas Morning News) 21 / 44 Philip Roth was one of Americas preeminent 20th century novelists. He tackled self-perception, sexual freedom, his own Jewish identity and the conflict between modern and traditional morals through his novels. His work persistently blurred the lines between fiction and memoir, and often left readers both smitten and outraged, particularly in his portrayal of Jewish American life. Roths work over seven decades resulted in more than 30 novels and short-story collections. He was 85. (Nancy Crampton) 22 / 44 Margot Kidder was best known for her seminal performance as Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in the Superman franchise. The actress also became a mental health activist and received the Courage in Mental Health Award from the California Womens Mental Health Policy Council in 2001. She was 69. (Associated Press) 23 / 44 George Deukmejian served two terms as California governor and built his career on fighting crime, hardening the states criminal-justice stance and shoring up its leaky finances. He spent almost 28 years in Sacramento, enjoying a reputation as someone of unquestioned integrity but whose manner was so severe that he earned the nickname Iron Duke. He was 89. (Joe Kennedy/ Los Angeles Times) 24 / 44 Verne Troyer delighted legions of fans with his comically wicked portrayals of Mini-Me, a foil to comedian Mike Myers in the Austin Powers spy movie sendups. Other credits include Men in Black, Bubble Boy and the goblin Griphook in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Troyer, who was 32 inches tall, had achondroplasia dwarfism. He was 49. (Melinda Sue Gordon / New Line Cinema) 25 / 44 Tim Bergling, the Swedish DJ and producer who performed as Avicii, helped kick-start the electronic dance music explosion of the 2010s. Bergling was one of EDMs first crossover pop successes in the U.S. He was 28. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 26 / 44 Barbara Bush is the second woman in U.S. history to have been the wife of one president, George H.W. Bush, and the mother of another, George W. Bush. Though she wielded a behind-the-scenes influence, she was known for her wit, self-deprecation and work on literacy and volunteerism. She was 92. (Associated Press) 27 / 44 Stephen Hawkings contributions to theoretical physics are frequently compared to those of Albert Einstein. As the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, he changed the way the universe is viewed through his seminal theories about the nature of black holes and the origin of the universe. Hawking carried out complex mathematical calculations in his head and communicated through a speech-generating device because of a degenerative neuromuscular disease that gradually paralyzed him over the decades. He was 76. (Joe Giddens / TNS) 28 / 44 Milos Forman came of age as a filmmaker in postwar Czechoslovakia, and his memory of totalitarianism would forever be his muse. In every one of his films, including One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Ragtime, Amadeus, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon, Forman celebrated real-life outsiders and eccentrics who challenged the establishment with heroic self-expression. He was 86. (Clark, Robert / For the Times) 29 / 44 Mitzi Shore was regarded as the godmother of comedy in Los Angeles. Her Comedy Store was one of the most important showcases for stand-up in the country. She influenced the careers of comedians such as David Letterman, Jay Leno, Robin Williams, Bob Saget and dozens of other readily identifiable names. She was 87. (The Comedy Store) 30 / 44 The former wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was also a prominent anti-apartheid activist and politician. She campaigned relentlessly for her husbands release during his 27-year imprisonment, raised two daughters alone, faced harassment by South African security forces and served more than a year in prison. In later life, she was a member of South Africas parliament, but scandals cut her influence in the ruling African National Congress. She was 81. (Walter Dhladhla / AFP/Getty Images) 31 / 44 Steven Bochco was the driving force behind some of TVs most popular series for more than 30 years, with a specialty for serialized dramas with large ensemble casts and edgy plot points. The television writer-producer who brought Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue to the small screen was nominated for 30 Emmys and won 10. He was 74. Full obituary (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) 32 / 44 Appointed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, Stephen Reinhardt was dubbed the liberal lion of the federal circuit courts. His rulings in favor of criminal defendants, minorities and immigrants were often overturned by the more conservative U.S. Supreme Court. He was 87. Full obituary (Jamie Rector / For The Times) 33 / 44 Linda Browns desire to attend an all-white school prompted the 1954 Supreme Court decision that bore her fathers name and helped overturn racial segregation in the United States. She was 76. (Associated Press) 34 / 44 Charles Lazarus founded Toys R Us and transformed it into an iconic piece of Americana. The World War II veterans business model became one of the first retail category killers: big stores that are so devoted to one thing, and have such an impressive selection, that they drive smaller competitors out of business. He was 94. (Cheryl Chenet / Corbis via Getty Images) 35 / 44 Hubert de Givenchy dressed Audrey Hepburn for seven of her movies and once shipped a black dress overnight to Jacqueline Kennedy when she requested it for the funeral of her husband. One of the first French fashion designers to create an international empire under his signature, Givenchy had a statuesque physique, perfect grooming and Old World manners. He was 91. (Kiki Huesca / EPA / Shutterstock) 36 / 44 Billy Graham, the most dominant American pastor of the second half of the 20th century, lifted evangelism into the religious mainstream and through the power of his voice and personality united the often fractious worldwide evangelical community. He counseled nearly every American president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. He was 99. (Associated Press) 37 / 44 Wally Moon became part of the Dodgers lineup shortly after the team moved west from Brooklyn. The wiry outfielder with the old-school crew cut helped take the Dodgers to the World Series three times and became a crowd favorite for his towering Moon shots. He was 87. (Los Angeles Dodgers) 38 / 44 As the executive in charge of NBCs daytime programming in the early 1970s, Lin Bolen was the highest ranking woman in television and an agent of change. Bolen was so driven, so confident and so energetic that many co-workers were convinced that Faye Dunaways ratings-obsessed character in the film Network was based on her. She was 76. (Judd Gunderson / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 44 Warren Miller was a ski bum who became a prolific maker of skiing films. He released a 90-minute movie every year for more than five decades and built a media business that included commercials and promotional films. He was 93. (Associated Pres) 40 / 44 President Nixon appointed Romama Acosta Banuelos, center, as U.S. treasurer in 1971, the first Latina to hold that position. A founder of the first bank for Mexican Americans in California, she helped open doors that Latinos in the U.S. often found closed to them. She was 92. (Associated Press ) 41 / 44 Mathilde Krim rose to prominence as an AIDS researcher and global crusader in the early fight against the deadly disease. Both fascinated and horrified by the mysterious virus that was taking a heavy toll on gay communities across America, Krim sought to both understand the disease and raise funds for better and quicker research. She was 91. (Gino Domenico / For The Times) 42 / 44 In a 52-year career, Keith Jackson covered an array of sports for radio and TV, but he was best known as ABCs voice of college football  and for the homespun phrases he used in reporting it. Linemen were not guards and tackles, they were the big uglies. And, of course, there was Whoa, Nellie!, which became known as his signature phrase. He was 89. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 44 A Los Angeles art world fixture, Ed Moses was one of the citys most productive and experimental artists of the last half-century. Moses formed the Cool School of artists  which included Ed Ruscha, Robert Irwin, Larry Bell, Edward Kienholz, John Altoon, Ken Price and Billy Al Bengston  at L.A.'s influential Ferus Gallery in the 1950s and 60s. He was 91. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 44 Often called the Father of South African jazz, Hugh Masekela was also an anti-apartheid activist who succeeded in fusing politics with his music, making his songs and performances compelling and timeless. The trumpeter, flugelhornist, singer and composer was affectionately known locally as Bra Hugh. He was 78. (Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP/Getty Images)

UPDATES:

11 a.m.: This article was updated with details on Leachs life, including his journalism career.

This article was originally published at 9:05 a.m.
In a surprise announcement, President Trump on Friday conceded a lack of progress on denuclearization in North Korea and instructed Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo to scrap a planned visit to Pyongyang at this time, a setback in the emerging diplomatic detente between the two longtime adversaries.

Pompeo had announced Thursday that he planned to make his fourth visit to Pyongyang early next week and would take Stephen Biegun, the newly-appointed special representative for North Korea, to try to break the logjam in the nuclear negotiations.

But the State Department canceled the trip after Trump tweeted that he had asked Pompeo to stay home, for now, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The president blamed China, in part, for his decision to cancel the meeting. Beijing, he said, was not helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were, a reference to Chinas increasingly tense trade dispute with Washington.

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But Trump also held out an olive branch, saying Pompeo looked forward to returning in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. He added, In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!

A White House spokeswoman said Pompeo met with Trump at the White House shortly before Trump fired off the tweets, suggesting they were not off-the-cuff. A senior negotiator and Korea expert at the CIA, Andrew Kim, was seen entering the White House with Pompeo, CNN reported.

The tweets marked Trumps first public acknowledgement that North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un was not fulfilling pledges the White House says he made when Kim and Trump met June 12 at a landmark summit in Singapore.

The White House said Kim agreed to start the process of dismantling his nuclear infrastructure, starting by submitting a detailed list of its arsenal of nuclear weapons. Kim has never publicly confirmed that, and his government has pushed the Trump administration to agree to a formal peace treaty to end the Korean War as a precondition for further progress.

Until now, Trump has hailed the summit as a historic success, dismissing critics who said Kim failed to make any commitments he had not made in the past. Over the last two months, North Korea has continued to enrich uranium that could be used as bomb fuel, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency report released this week.

As recently as Monday, Trump was asked by Reuters whether North Korea had taken steps to denuclearize, beyond its highly-publicized destruction of entrances to an underground test site in May. I do believe they have, he said.

But administration officials expressed concern after Pompeos last visit to Pyongyang, on July 5, which was widely seen as unsuccessful. Kim did not receive Pompeo, as he had previously, and the North Koreans leveled tough criticism at Pompeo moments after he left the country.

Canceling the trip now might provide diplomats some breathing room. Another public failure in Trumps high-stakes diplomatic initiative would have embarrassed Pompeo and the White House and could make it more difficult to regain momentum.

In any case, the withdrawal follows a similar move last May. Shortly before the planned summit, officials in Pyongyang aimed harsh criticism at the White House, and Trump responded by cancelling the talks. He backtracked after a senior North Korean official brought a letter from Kim, and flew to Singapore for an expected two days of talks. Kim left after lunch the first day.

U.S. experts on North Korea have cast doubt over Trumps claims that the summit produced a meaningful disarmament agreement, noting that the two leaders agreed only to a brief and vague closing statement.

The two sides have never formally agreed on the meaning of denuclearization, providing diplomatic space but also leaving significant ambiguity about what it would entail. Moreover, U.S. presidents since the mid-1990s have made deals with Pyongyang only to later complain of cheating.

The summit clearly produced some progress. North Korea released four Americans it had incarcerated, and returned 55 sets of human remains that it said may be those of American soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War. It also ended months of personal insults between Trump and Kim, raising fears that a miscalculation could lead to war.

If Trump sticks to his tweet that the nuclear negotiations will not resume until after the U.S. and China resolve their dispute over trade and tariffs, denuclearization could become an even more distant prospect.

U.S. and Chinese officials, meeting in Washington for two days this week, failed to show progress in the mounting trade battle.

While few expected a breakthrough, analysts had seen the possibility that the lower-level meetings could lead to bilateral talks between senior officials and that the two sides could hold off on imposing more tariffs in the meantime.

Instead, it appears likely that the Trump administration will announce a new and much bigger round of tariffs as early as next month on as much as $200 billion of Chinese imports. That would ratchet up pressure on Beijing but risk economic harm to many American importers and manufacturers supply chains.

Trumps comments Friday, conflating the nuclear threat from North Korea with the trade dispute with China, reinforced concerns that the worlds two largest economies are heading for a bigger brawl in coming months.

It definitely conveys the impression that overall relations [with China] are quite bad right now, said David Dollar, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and former Treasury Department economic emissary to China.

Times staff writer Don Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

Twitter: @TracyKWilkinson

UPDATES:

4:05 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details about the cancellation and U.S.-China talks.

This story originally posted at 1:30 p.m.
Labor relations between the Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers union are at a testy point. Contract negotiations are deadlocked, according to the states Public Employee Relations Board, and United Teachers Los Angeles is in the midst of a strike authorization vote.

Its a long way from strike authorization to a strike; such votes are a common way for unions to pressure management. Still, this years negotiations, which actually started in 2017, are especially fraught. Declining enrollment and rising employee benefit costs threaten a financial crunch so severe, one analysis projects the district will be $400 million in the red in three years.

Teachers are understandably frustrated by large class sizes that have been reduced only slightly in recent years, and they seek a higher raise than other school unions have gotten. They want the district to use its reserves to make that happen; the district counters with financial forecasts showing that its going to need that money in two years.

L.A. Unified has to compete in order to attract and keep qualified teachers.

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Meanwhile, Supt. Austin Beutner strongly emphasizes that decisions must be guided by whats good for the kids. Thats true, but a crucial part of that equation is the ability to attract and retain excellent teachers, because nothing is better for the kids than a strong instructional staff. College graduates have more job options than they did several years ago, and L.A. Unified has to compete in order to attract and keep qualified teachers.

The teachers union also wants more say on whether and how charter schools will be allocated space on L.A. Unified campuses. The sharing of facilities often has been uncomfortable. It wants teachers to decide which standardized tests are given to their students beyond the ones required by state or federal law. And it wants teachers at each school to have veto power over whether a school will be converted into a magnet program with a specialized theme, such as medical studies, and for all teachers to be able to keep their jobs after conversion.

But decisions about the use of school facilities and magnet programs are rightly made by management. Among the districts stronger-performing schools, magnets have been a positive force in L.A. Unified, keeping families from leaving for charter schools. The union has reservations because teachers must reapply for their jobs when a school converts, and sometimes the openings are more specialized. But magnets provide a popular choice while keeping funding within the district, and keeping and growing magnet programs is clearly about making decisions for the benefit of students.

As for standardized tests, the district has to reserve the right to require and choose them, but it should be giving the teachers  the educators at the front lines  considerable voice in the matter. Mandates from on high dont always play out well in classrooms, and teachers are the ones who see that.

That of course leaves the biggest issue: money. Where L.A. Unified managers see a prudent reserve, union leaders see an untapped reservoir that could be used for salary increases and generous benefits packages.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

L.A. Unifieds finances have always been a murky business that few people have claimed to understand fully (this is a situation that Beutner has rightly said he intends to change). Its difficult for any outsider, including this editorial board, to say yes, the district can afford to do this, or no, it cant. When it comes to the end stage of labor negotiations, everyone draws lines in the sand, then moves them around to reach a compromise.

What is certain is that the district faces rocky financial times ahead unless it tightens its belt considerably or finds new infusions of money. Its a problem that wont go away no matter how many concessions one side or the other wins in the current negotiations.

Long term, it makes more sense for the teachers union and the district to work together on building a persuasive case in favor of a parcel tax, which the district may ask voters to approve in two years. That means reducing administrative costs and streamlining many of the districts bureaucratic entanglements. It means coming up with a sustainable long-term plan for benefits that wouldnt require additional tax measures every few years. And it should include some bold new accomplishments that excite the public about the future of L.A. Unified.

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Im still not used to a world without Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was born Aug. 25, 1918  100 years ago tomorrow; hes already been gone almost 30 years.

The thing is, Bernstein is irreplaceable. Its a cliche in the popular field of amateur Bernstein psychoanalysis that he thought the world revolved around him  descriptions of his ego usually have words like monstrous attached to them. But if thats indeed what Bernstein thought, he was at least in part going by the evidence. He was a giant international superstar  a brilliant and charismatic composer, pianist, teacher, writer, television pioneer and celebrity; a prodigiously prolific recording artist; and the first American conductor to achieve worldwide respect, honor and fame. There had certainly been no one like him previously, and theres been no one to match him since.

He was a complex character, to put it mildly. Some people, they say, are a little bit of everything. Bernstein was a lot of everything. More dramatically, vividly and certainly more publicly than most, he lived a life of dualities and apparent contradictions.

Nobody but Bernstein could have conceived of such a musical work, and no one but Bernstein could have brought it off.

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Bernstein grew up on music of the synagogue, but also on jazz. He remained tightly and warmly tied to his Jewish identity while consciously doing everything possible to universalize himself. He was a conductor and also a composer; a classical composer and also a Broadway composer; a devoted servant of music and also an extraordinarily  well, monstrously  egotistical exhibitionist; a promiscuous sexual adventurer and also a loving and devoted family man; a generous, humane, thoughtful human being and also a silly, childishly self-indulgent one; a lover of women and also, or primarily, of men; an astoundingly successful man who, by his own admission, was also a man of unfulfilled dreams and ambitions.

Some of Bernsteins qualities I observed firsthand because I was lucky enough to play under him several times as a member of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington. He would arrive at the Kennedy Center wearing a cape, trailed by an entourage of young men who brought him his cigarettes (which he smoked onstage, against all regulation and custom) and his drinks (water? perhaps), and he wasted time and told stories during rehearsals to make sure that he would cost the orchestra management extra money in overtime payments to the musicians.

It was all pretty funny, pretty pathetic or mildly revolting, depending on your point of view. But when he conducted  ah, when he conducted  it was with a combination of intelligence, depth, insight, joy and easy command of even the most complex passages that was simply staggering, not to mention inspiring.

And he was a composer of genius, a brilliant and original musical mind. If you need convincing, look no further than West Side Story s Cool, a song that represents an astonishing synthesis of musical languages, styles and influences, including traditional classical, avant-garde classical, popular song and jazz. The song includes a section known as the Cool Fugue. What could be more traditionally classical than a fugue? But there it is in the middle of a Broadway show, and its not just a simple fugue  the subject of the fugue is a 12-tone row, the kind of thematic building block that composer Arnold Schoenberg invented for his jarringly atonal music in the early part of the 20th century.

The whole song, with all its strange, spiky, jazzy rhythms, its weird harmonies and dissonances, its wailing muted trumpet, vibraphone and snapping fingers, manages somehow to work wonderfully both as an independent piece of music and as a dramatically effective traditional Broadway show song. Nobody but Bernstein could have conceived of such a musical work, and no one but Bernstein could have brought it off.

We already know that Bernsteins music will last, and by last I mean forever. About West Side Story and Candide theres no question, and a number of his other works, including Chichester Psalms, Fancy Free, the Symphonies No. 1 and 2 (Jeremiah and Age of Anxiety), and the Serenade (after Platos Symposium) for Violin and Orchestra, just to name a few, are awfully good bets.

Did Bernstein fail to live up to his potential as a composer, as so many have noted, distracted by his performing career and, later in his life, limited by a crippling self-consciousness? Well, sure, but how many people write one piece of music that lasts? What Bernstein perceived as his failures may have been an enormous emotional burden for Bernstein himself, but the rest of us, rather than focusing on what the man didnt do, should be grateful for the gifts he did leave us.

As for Bernsteins personal qualities and idiosyncrasies, they will fade in interest and relevance as the years go by. Already, in fact, they seem beside the point. The music he left us, what he did for music in our time, and what he meant for music in our time  those are the things that count, the contributions that will endure. In 1984 Bernstein conducted a Concert for Peace at the Washington National Cathedral. I was in the orchestra, and Ill never forget that at a certain point in the rehearsal  we were playing one of the great works of the symphonic repertoire  Bernstein stopped and said, You know, the only thing more important than what were doing this for  he paused  is what were doing.

Miles Hoffman is violist of the American Chamber Players, and classical music commentator for NPRs Morning Edition.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

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To the editor: Perhaps Cheesecake Factory Inc. could have better profit margins by saving on food costs. In other words, it should cut back on its ridiculous portion sizes. (Cheesecake Factory grapples with the cost of workers rising wages, Aug. 22)

We have seen this trend across all casual eateries. The average American probably doesnt even realize what a healthy portion size is anymore.

As Americans eat out more and more, these outlandish portion sizes surely are contributing to the frightening increase in obesity we have witnessed over the past few decades.

Andrea Spatz, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: When will corporations not blame labor costs for lower profits but take credit for increasing the pay for their employees?

Bill Brock, Agoura Hills

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To the editor: Children should not get to inherit their parents low property taxes. That was clearly not the intent of Proposition 13, which was passed in 1978 under the guise of preventing seniors from being taxed out of their homes  which is fine and good.

But the passage in 1986 of Proposition 58, allowing low-tax transfers to heirs, was simply wrong. Even the legislations author admits that lawmakers were shortsighted in not considering the long-term consequences.

I benefit from Proposition 58, having inherited my mothers house and its low property taxes; plus my children will benefit when I die and pass my greatly appreciated house and low taxes to them. But it shouldnt be so. Fortunate children already won the lottery by being born to successful parents, and society should not give us a perpetual unfair tax break too.

Randy Kirk, Hermosa Beach

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To the editor: One can always find instances where laws have unintended consequences. The Los Angeles Times focuses on people, like actors Jeff and Beau Bridges, who inherited multi-million-dollar properties from their parents and are renting them out.

But how many of the people who benefit from Proposition 58 are like the Bridges, and how many are able to live in the home or perhaps maintain a small business providing jobs or apartments in the community? This information is key to judging the law.

Gail Feuerstein, Irvine

..

To the editor: Proposition 58 allows people to inherit real estate and keep the cost basis of the person bequeathing the property. It allows the bequeathed to pay taxes on a low cost basis instead of the fair market value of the asset at the time of the bequest.

The Internal Revenue Service allows people receiving inherited real estate to step up the cost basis to the fair market value at the time of the bequeathers death, allowing inheritors to pay no capital gains tax on the sale of those assets at the time of the transfer.

This is an example of two tax breaks for the rich.

John Kuney, Ojai

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To the editor: Children inheriting property who decide to rent out the home are subject to tax on the rental income.

The article states that Jeff and Beau Bridges and their sister have listed their late fathers Malibu home for $15,995 per month. If they were to rent this home for one year, the income taxes to both the state and the federal government would be about the same as the property taxes after a reassessment.

It just proves you cant avoid paying taxes, unless you are Paul Manafort. And that has not gone very well for him either.

Robert Hoyt, Los Angeles

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Et tu, dude? Luis Campos, North Hollywood

To the editor: The Bridges did nothing wrong when they received a Proposition 58 exclusion from reassessment. Their mistake was not being willing to comment on the unfairness of it all.

Propositions 13, 58, 60, 90 and 193 are all ways to benefit well off older people and their families. Younger people struggling to buy are hurt by these laws.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., said, The average voter probably did not have in mind a multimillion-dollar property being given [to children] that they could use as income-producing property.

Proposition 58 was clear: There would be no reassessment on your home and the first $1 million of assessed value on other property. The Howard Jarvis bunch supported Proposition 58. What do they think of their endorsement now?

Steve Grimm, Long Beach

..

To the editor: Et tu, dude?

Luis Campos, North Hollywood

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Senate Democrats strategy for defeating President Trumps pick for the Supreme Court has so far largely relied on getting the American public to care about a procedural fight over millions of pages of archived documents.

Its a surprising, somewhat arcane topic to zero in on, particularly given the more high-profile issues many predicted would dominate the fight over Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination, including abortion, the Affordable Care Act, immigration, executive power and whether a president is subject to a subpoena.

But to the consternation of some Democratic activists, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and ranking Judiciary Committee member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have focused much of their public attention to date on a paperwork battle over how much of Kavanaughs extensive, archived White House records will be made available for senators to review.

Democrats want to review millions of pages before voting, including documents from Kavanaughs stint as staff secretary in the George W. Bush White House, and have threatened to sue if they dont get the papers through a Freedom of Information Act request. Republican leaders are moving ahead with a much more limited release, hoping to seat Kavanaugh in time for the courts opening in October.

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Elizabeth Beavers, associate policy director of Indivisible, a liberal anti-Trump group, said Democrats focus on the bureaucratic process for releasing documents was unlikely to inspire the kind of public backlash needed to block or slow a nomination that she said Republicans are intent on pushing through.

Chuck Schumer is bringing a FOIA request to a knife fight, Beavers said. Most ordinary constituents are not enraged and spurred to action by process.

Democrats insist theyll turn their focus to Kavanaughs judicial record closer to his confirmation hearings  slated to begin Sept. 4  and activists are gearing up for nationwide protests on social issues like abortion as early as this weekend. But with less than 11 days to go, they havent pivoted their attention from the document fight.

Feinsteins social media outreach has largely focused on the documents. Of the 59 tweets shes sent about Kavanaugh in August, 49 have been about the fight over his White House records.

Senate Democrats, including Californias Kamala Harris, have joined in, using hashtags on Twitter and Facebook like #ReleasetheRecords and #WhataretheyHiding.

Certainly theres been talk by senators about abortion rights, the Affordable Care Act and whether a president under investigation should even get to pick a justice. That line of argument picked up steam this week with the guilty plea by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and conviction of his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort.

Where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh stands on a variety of issues 

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Democrats are grasping at straws. Why the paper chase? Cornyn said. Well, the real answer is thats all they have left.

But Feinstein said the document fight is part of the larger battle.

It may seem trivial to debate how many pages we can or cant review, or what is public or not public, but withholding even a small number of documents from the Senate or public could prevent key facts from being known, Feinstein said. This is particularly true because so much is at stake with this nomination  [including issues that] define who we are as a nation and the extent of the freedoms that we all cherish under our Constitution and laws.

Brian Fallon, a former Schumer aide and Hillary Clinton campaign spokesman who now leads liberal leaning judicial advocacy group Demand Justice, said the Democrats focus on documents may be a deliberate calculation to emphasize a less controversial issue in order to provide political cover for moderates in both parties who are facing a tough vote on Kavanaugh.

Rather than being forced to base their vote on the fact that Kavanaugh would probably provide the fifth vote needed to limit abortion or rein in environmental regulations, moderate Democrats running in red states now have the opportunity to justify their opposition based on a less divisive issue.

If nothing else, these moderates have an ample argument available to them about the Republicans running a sham of a process, Fallon said.

Making the confirmation fight about abortion could backfire for red-state Democrats in the November election, Northwestern University Institute for Policy Research assistant professor Tabitha Bonilla said.

It seems like a good way for senators to express opposition to a nominee without having to select a partisan issue where the other parties voters will almost definitely disagree, Bonilla said.

But Heidi Hess, co-director of the progressive group CREDO Action, questioned whether such a strategy was wise in the long term.

They are more concerned about losing seats than losing the court, Hess said. To us, thats a leadership failure on Schumers part.

Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana are all running for reelection in November and face intense pressure in their conservative states to vote for Trumps nominee. All three voted for Trumps first high court pick, Neil M. Gorsuch.

Senate Democratic leaders may be making a long-term political gamble that its not worth putting those vulnerable colleagues in a tough position over a nomination battle they may lose anyway. Even with a slim 51-seat majority and GOP Sen. John McCain still at home in Arizona battling brain cancer, Republicans can confirm Kavanaugh if every other GOP senator votes yes.

Other progressive groups defended Democrats focus on the documents, saying they have little choice but to respond when Republicans effectively break with past practices.

Caroline Fredrickson, president of American Constitution Society, a liberal-leaning group focused on judicial nominees, said Senate Republicans refusal to make all of Kavanaughs White House records public caught Democrats flatfooted.

They were prepared to deal with the substantive issues. This is just completely unprecedented, Fredrickson said. Democrats are very angry about the abuse of process by the Trump White House and the Republicans by denying them documents.

After they rejected Democrats demands for all of Kavanaughs records from his five years in the White House, Republicans initially asked the National Archives to review and release only records from Kavanaughs years in the White House legal counsels office. But the National Archives said it couldnt complete even that smaller GOP request, totaling about a million pages, by late October, prompting Republicans to shift strategies.

Instead, for the first time, rather than waiting for the National Archives to vet and release the documents through the customary process, Republicans are getting the papers from Bushs presidential library by having longtime GOP attorney Bill Burck, once a former Kavanaugh deputy, vet them.

This man is hardly a fount of impartiality, said Schumer. Hes a partisan.

If Democratic leaders were hoping the document fight would give vulnerable Democrats a political lifeline, few so far appear to be reaching for it.

Manchin said hes been satisfied by what hes had access to. My staff has gone into great detail. Ive been satisfied with what theyve been able to share and show me, and weve been able to have shared with us. Everything weve asked for weve received, he said.

Heitkamps and Donnellys offices referred The Times to statements they have previously made that did not reference the documents.

And the Republican senators most likely to flip appear satisfied with the available records as well.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters in late July that the GOP position on documents was eminently reasonable.

I know that Democrats basically said [that] anything he has ever touched ... needs to be produced. I think there comes a point where the request is no longer reasonable, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told the Huffington Post.

Even so there are some signs that Democrats focus on the documents is resonating with voters and creating doubts about whether Kavanaugh is being fully vetted, San Jose State University political science professor Melinda Jackson said. Multiple polls have shown Americans are split on Kavanaughs nomination and are paying unusually close attention to how he could potentially change the leaning of the Supreme Court, Jackson said.

A poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling that was conducted on behalf of the healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care found that 62% of Maine voters want senators to fully review Kavanaughs White House and judicial record before voting, and 56% said Collins shouldnt vote to confirm Kavanaugh without a full review.

The American public understands that hiding something is bad, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Theres something about concealing stuff that raises suspicions in the minds of most Americans.

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How did you go bankrupt, a character in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises asks another.

Two ways, came the often-quoted response: Gradually and then suddenly.

For President Trump, this was the week gradual gave way to sudden.

The Constitution likely protects Trump from indictment, Republican senators form a bulwark against removal by impeachment. But as of this week, Trumps ability to avoid the political equivalent of bankruptcy sits seriously in doubt.

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FLIPPING

The gradual part for Trump has run for two years. FBI agents, first under the direction of Director James B. Comey and now at the behest of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, have methodically probed into possible links between Trumps campaign and Russian agents who sought to influence the 2016 election.

This spring, the pace accelerated. Mueller moved toward the first trial in his case, brought a spate of indictments and turned over part of the growing investigation to prosecutors with the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan. Early in April, agents working for those New York prosecutors raided the law office, home and hotel room of Trumps longtime associate and sometime lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Trump responded with rage, but insisted Cohen would remain loyal.

Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, he tweeted a couple of weeks after the raid took place. Sorry, I dont see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!

The sudden part for Trump arrived just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday and proved how wrong that prediction had been. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felonies involving tax evasion, loan fraud and violations of campaign finance laws, as David Willman wrote.

The last of those crimes involved hush money payments to two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump. As part of his guilty plea, Cohen announced he had acted in coordination with and at the direction of an unnamed but clearly identifiable candidate for federal office. The hush money was paid, he said, for the principal purpose of influencing the election for president in 2016.

At the same hour, as Chris Megerian wrote, a jury announced that it had found Paul Manafort, Trumps one-time campaign chairman, guilty on eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud.

Afterward, Trump praised Manafort as brave for risking prison rather than cooperate with federal law enforcement. He denounced Cohen for having flipped, using language, as many noted, that sounded more like outtakes from The Godfather than statements of a president.

As Noah Bierman and Eli Stokols wrote, Trumps reactions illustrated his everybody does it view of political corruption, which many of his supporters share.

So now what happens?

As Megerian and Willman wrote, Trump now faces legal assaults on two fronts. In the New York case, the Trump Organizations finances are coming under the microscope  something that could directly threaten the president and his family. Prosecutors have already taken extensive testimony from David Pecker, Trumps longtime friend who owns the National Enquirer and has used the supermarket tabloid to protect Trump and savage his enemies. Hes now another loyalist turned rat, in Trumps parlance.

By shifting that part of the investigation to the New York prosecutors, Mueller gave it political insulation. Even if Trump fired the special counsel  a move that would come at a high political cost, but one Trump has considered  the New York case would continue.

POLITICAL RECKONING

Ultimately, Trumps fate depends on politics as much as legal jousting. The Justice Department, since the Nixon era, has taken the position that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted. To have an unelected judge and jury convict a president would violate the constitutional idea that each branch of government has separate powers, the argument goes.

In the political realm, as Noah Bierman, Eli Stokols and I wrote, Trump now faces a reckoning.

The weeks developments have all but guaranteed that the fall elections will be a referendum on the president and his conduct. Republicans, who had hoped to run on tax cuts and the strong economy, watched unhappily as Trump spent the summer hijacking their campaign plans. They had hoped to move to safer ground in the fall. Now they know theres little chance of that.

All that has given another boost to Democratic hopes of taking control of the House in Novembers midterms. As Evan Halper and Sarah Wire wrote, Republican strategists pin their remaining hopes on the chance that Democrats will overreach and fail. Some Democrats fear that, too. For now, however, the wind is clearly at their backs.

A Democratic victory in November would not mean the end for Trump. Even if the House voted to impeach him, theres currently no prospect of two-thirds of the Senate voting to remove him. But a Democratic House would likely bring two years of investigations, hearings and further public disclosure of Trumps secrets, probably including the tax returns he has so fiercely withheld from public view. Lawmakers could also use control of the governments money to hobble at least some White House initiatives.

Escaping that form of political bankruptcy remains possible  ask Bill Clinton, who survived impeachment and managed to turn the political tide against his accusers. And Trump retains the support of his most ardent backers, about a quarter of the nations voters who tell pollsters they strongly approve of him.

Unlike Clinton, however, Trump has not demonstrated an ability to broaden his base of support.

In his business life, Trump has survived six bankruptcies and gone on to greater fame. Whether he has the skill or instincts to do the same in his political life will now be put to a supreme test.

REINFORCING THE BASE

So far, Trump has stuck to a playbook that calls for reinforcing the loyalty of those who already back him, rather than trying to reach out for new supporters.

All week, he has lashed out at perceived enemies, vociferously attacking the rigged witch hunt and belittling Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions.

Wednesday night, following the lead of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump tweeted criticism of South Africa for seizing land from white farmers and suggested that had led to large scale killing of farmers.

As Matt Pearce wrote, Trumps tweet amplified an allegation that has long been a talking point for white nationalists.

The president has also ratcheted up his already intense rhetoric on immigration. As Noah Bierman wrote, Trump believes Democrats have given him an opening with the calls by some in the party to abolish ICE.

CORRUPTION GRAND AND PETTY

Democrats would like to portray the Republicans as the party of corruption  a theme they successfully used in the 2006 elections and one that Republicans used against them in Clintons first term.

Right now, Republicans seem eager to help their opponents make that case. Earlier this summer, New York Rep. Chris Collins was indicted on insider trading charges. This week, San Diego County Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife were indicted for allegedly using campaign funds to finance their personal lives.

The indictment described a scheme of petty chiseling that in some instances was almost laughably corrupt  diverting money to pay for an airplane ticket for a pet rabbit, for example.

Hunter represents a heavily Republican district that covers the vast, mostly rural eastern swath of San Diego County. Normally, his would be among the safest of Republican seats. But, as Michael Finnegan and Christine Mai-Duc wrote, the indictment at least opens the door for the Democrats, giving Republicans yet another expensive seat to try to defend in the state.

Hunters Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, is clearly more liberal than the district. As Javier Panzar wrote, hes a 29-year-old Palestinian Mexican American who spent part of his childhood in the Gaza Strip. If he wins, he will have pulled off one of the upsets of the year and will be a hero to the Democratic left.

Campa-Najjar wasnt the first choice of Democratic Party officials, who preferred a more conservative candidate, former Navy SEAL Josh Butner, in the June primary. Hunter is clearly not the choice of Republican officials at this point.

But under the states top-two primary system, the parties have no real ability to tamper with the matchup that primary voters set. Unlike the New York case, where Collins was able to get off the ballot and allow the party to nominate a replacement, Republicans are stuck with Hunter. And as John Myers explained, in adopting the top-two system, lawmakers also removed write-in candidates from general election ballots.

A TURN ON HEALTHCARE

While corruption has been emerging as a theme for Democrats, the issue they have most frequently emphasized in the campaign so far has been healthcare.

As Jennifer Haberkorn wrote, thats a huge shift in the politics of healthcare, which for the past three election cycles was a rallying cry for Republicans.

Sen. Kamala Harris has begun pushing legislation aimed at addressing a separate health issue  the steady increase in mortality rates among women having babies in the U.S.

Black mothers are especially at risk. African American women in the United States are three to four times more likely than white women to die immediately before or after childbirth, Haberkorn reported. Thats a discrepancy that Harris says the country needs to face up to and address.

A BOON FOR COAL

Trumps appointees have continued to press ahead with undoing the Obama administrations efforts to combat global warming.

A few weeks ago, they proposed a halt in efforts to increase the fuel economy of cars and trucks and began trying to revoke Californias current authority to set its own, tougher rules. This week, as Evan Halper wrote, they moved to rewrite the rules for power plants to boost use of coal, giving coal-producing states more ability to set their own, looser rules.

The two moves underscore part of the administrations approach  they support states rights  as long as they are coal states.

ANOTHER ENTRY IN THE 2020 SWEEPSTAKES

Were still more than 16 months away from the first contests of the 2020 nomination race, and already roughly a dozen undeclared candidates have started touring states that have early primaries.

This week saw yet another entry  Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who has parlayed his representation of Stormy Daniels, the porn actress, into a ticket to national fame. He headed for New Hampshire, where he vowed to bring his cable TV debating skills to bear against Trump. Avenattis move showed how Trump has redefined whats considered possible in presidential politics, Finnegan wrote.

LOGISTICS

That wraps up this week. Until next time, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration with our Essential Washington blog, at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics.

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Sen. John McCain is suspending treatment for brain cancer, his family announced Friday.

The long-serving Arizona Republican announced last summer that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and often fatal form of brain cancer. He turns 82 next week.

John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment, his family said in a statement Friday.

Well wishes poured in from McCains congressional colleagues soon after. The six-term senator, and two-time presidential candidate, has sought treatment at home since December.

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On Twitter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was saddened by the news about our dear friend.

We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour, he said.

John McCain is going to finish the race the way he has done everything in his life, his way and on his terms, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on Twitter.

His fellow senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, said on Twitter: God bless and keep this wonderful man and his family.

McCains absence from the Capitol has narrowed Republicans 51-seat majority in the Senate, bolstering Democrats chances of stopping action with the support of just one wavering Republican. With McCain absent, for example, President Trumps pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, could only be confirmed if every Republican votes yes, assuming all Democrats vote no.

Because glioblastoma grows into brain tissue, complete removal is impossible. Radiation and chemotherapy are common treatments.

Median survival is 15 months, according to the American Brain Tumor Assn., although a 2009 study found that 1 in 10 patients can survive five years or longer.

McCain has made clear he intends to stay in office until his death.

Arizona law gives broad leeway to the governor in replacing McCain if he resigns or dies in office. The replacement has to be a Republican and would serve until voters have a chance to vote for a new senator in the next general election. At this point, its too late for 2018, so voters would get a say in 2020 for who would serve out the rest of McCains term that expires in January 2023.

It sets up the possibility that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who has ruled out appointing himself, could choose a replacement who might be more willing to toe the party line.

McCain has become a major figure in American politics since he was first elected in 1986, and has made a career of refusing to engage in business as usual, working with then-Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)  despite the objections of his party leaders  to overhaul federal campaign finance laws and ban the use of so-called soft money. He also led a war on earmarks, the practice of lawmakers slipping into bills high-dollar projects benefiting their congressional districts. And he broke with many in his party by proposing legislation with then-Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to create a pathway to citizenship for people who are in the country illegally.

His dramatic thumbs down to repealing the Affordable Care Act in July 2017 effectively killed the longtime party promise to end Obamacare, at least for now.

Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio, television and internet. To hell with them! They dont want anything done for the public good, McCain said in a fiery speech after the vote.

McCain and Trump have clashed repeatedly since Trump, during the 2016 presidential campaign, criticized McCains record as a POW in Vietnam, saying: Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured, OK? Since his July 2017 diagnosis, McCain has been increasingly willing to publicly criticize Trump.

During the Vietnam War, McCain suffered several broken bones and spent more than five years as a prisoner in North Vietnam, including two years in solitary confinement, after his Skyhawk was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi in 1967. The son of the U.S. Navy commander in the Pacific, McCain refused North Vietnamese offers for an early release because Americans captured before him remained prisoners of war.

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Even as President Trump launches new attacks on the Affordable Care Act, voters in four deep red states are poised this fall to expand access to government Medicaid coverage through the 2010 law, often called Obamacare.

Nebraska last week became the fourth state to qualify a Medicaid expansion initiative for the November ballot, giving voters there the chance to do an end-run around the states Republican political leaders who have fought the healthcare law for years.



For the record: A previous version of this story misnamed the governor of Utah. His name is Gary Herbert, not Bob Herbert.

Similar measures have already qualified in Idaho and Utah, where GOP officials for years have resisted Medicaid expansion, and in Montana, where a Medicaid expansion begun in 2016 is slated to sunset next year unless the state moves to extend it. Polling in the states shows widespread public support.

Healthcare is the most powerful force in politics today, said Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of the Fairness Project, a liberal activist group that is helping fund the Medicaid expansion efforts. These ballot measures are a game changer that is allowing us to go into states where politicians are opposed.  If we win in these states, we can win everywhere.

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The unprecedented number of Medicaid ballot measures underscores the enduring popularity of the half-century-old government health insurance program for the poor, which -- along with the related Childrens Health Insurance Program  now covers more than 70 million Americans.

In California, which was among the first group of states to expand Medicaid coverage in 2014 through the healthcare law, more than 12 million adults and children are now covered by the two programs.

The new state initiatives also represent another challenge to the president and his GOP allies in Congress, who continue to champion moves to roll back the law and the sweeping coverage gains it has made possible.

The Trump administration has endorsed a broad legal challenge from a group of conservative states led by Texas that are arguing in federal court that the whole law should be invalidated.

Trump recently boasted at a Cabinet meeting that his administration has been dismantling the healthcare law piecemeal following the collapse last year of the GOP effort in Congress to repeal it. Its going to be gone pretty soon, the president predicted.

But across the country, there is growing evidence that most Americans, even in many conservative states, want the health protections made available by the health law.

This spring, Virginia moved to expand eligibility for its Medicaid program, after a group of Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in the GOP-controlled legislature to back expansion.

And last year, more than 59% of voters in Maine backed a Medicaid expansion initiative, repudiating Republican Gov. Paul LePages longstanding opposition. LePage, a strong Trump ally, continues to resist, despite a court order to abide by the initiative.

Medicaid is a pillar of the 2010 laws program for guaranteeing coverage, and it has helped drive a historic drop in the nations uninsured rate. Surveys indicate that at least 20 million previously uninsured Americans have gained coverage since 2014, though polling suggests the coverage gains have slowed or even reversed since Trump took office.

The law makes hundreds of billions of federal dollars available to states to extend Medicaid coverage to poor adults, a population that had been largely excluded from the safety net program.

Medicaid eligibility historically was limited to vulnerable populations, such as low-income children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Most states moved to expand eligibility as soon as the healthcare law made additional federal aid available. To date, 33 states and the District of Columbia have elected to expand.

But GOP opposition  concentrated in the Deep South and the Great Plains  has left some 2.2 million low-income Americans without insurance in the states that havent expanded Medicaid, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

Many Republicans have argued that the program is unaffordable and ineffective, though a growing body of research shows Medicaid significantly improves poor Americans access to vital medical care.

A new study published this month in the journal Health Affairs, for example, found a dramatic increase in the prescription fills for diabetes drugs in states that expanded Medicaid, compared with states that did not expand, suggesting the coverage is helping many low-income diabetics get the medications they need.

Stonewalled in conservative state legislatures around the country, Medicaid supporters have instead found a receptive audience among voters.

The signature-gathering campaigns to get Medicaid-expansion measures on the ballot in Idaho, Montana, Utah and Nebraska delivered substantially more signatures than were needed. And organizers said they had little trouble finding supporters.

People understand this is about helping people who are dealing with chronic health issues or cancer treatment or epilepsy, said Meg Mandy, campaign manager for the Insure the Good Life Medicaid campaign in Nebraska. They see this can happen to a small-business owner or a mom who is going back to school.

The Nebraska campaign, which needed about 85,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot, turned in 135,000.

In Utah, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed by Utahpolicy.com backed the Medicaid initiative there.

The Medicaid expansion measure in Idaho drew similarly strong support in a December poll commissioned by expansion supporters.

The Idaho measure also has been backed by more than half a dozen Republican state lawmakers, including state Sen. Shawn Keough, who chairs the chambers finance committee. Keough called Medicaid expansion the fiscally responsible thing to do and  the humanitarian thing to do.

Toni Lawson, vice president for government affairs at the Idaho Hospital Assn., said proponents have stressed that the state is losing millions in federal tax dollars by not expanding coverage. That message resonates with Republicans and fiscal conservatives, she said.

A handful of GOP lawmakers in Nebraska and Utah have provided critical support to the Medicaid measures in those states as well.

In all four states, the initiatives have also picked up broad support from patient advocacy groups, physician and hospital associations and many churches.

The political tide is now so strong, in fact, that Nebraskas Republican governor, a longtime foe of Medicaid expansion, has not publicly opposed the Medicaid measure, and the two GOP politicians vying to be governor in Idaho next year have signaled they will abide by the results of the initiative there.

Republican Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert has previously supported Medicaid expansion, though his proposal was blocked in the GOP-controlled legislature.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is a Democrat who has strongly endorsed keeping the states Medicaid expansion.

Elsewhere around the country, Medicaid supporters are already eyeing potential ballot initiatives in other red states, including Florida, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Medicaid ballot initiatives are not possible under state election rules in the remaining eight states that have not expanded Medicaid: Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Texas, which has the highest uninsured rate in the nation.

Obamacare 101: A primer on key issues in the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. 

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UPDATES:

10:39 p.m. Sept. 1: This article was updated to include California healthcare statistics.
California lawmakers and civil rights advocates have significantly scaled back legislation aimed at holding police more accountable for killing civilians.

Under changes announced Friday, Assembly Bill 931 would no longer make it easier under state law for prosecutors to criminally charge officers if they use deadly force. Instead, the measure now seeks to toughen internal police policies across California, which would allow for departments to discipline officers and face civil lawsuits if new use-of-force standards are violated.



For the record: At least one additional prosecution is not included in the state Department of Justice data: the involuntary manslaughter conviction of a Paradise police officer in the 2015 fatal shooting of Andrew Thomas.

Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), the bills author, said the revised measure would still mark a key departure from the states existing rules for when police are allowed to kill civilians while on duty.

This will be a profound change in the culture of policing in California, a change based on the sanctity of life and the obligation to preserve it except under the most dangerous conditions, Weber said in a statement.

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After Stephon Clark shooting, California lawmakers push to make it easier to prosecute police officers 

The changes to the bill, which had not been formally made by 5 p.m. Friday, come as the legislation faces its final and most difficult hurdles with days left before the Legislature adjourns for the year. The proposal is currently in a state Senate committee and not scheduled for a vote by either house of the Legislature.

Debate over the measure has been fierce. Civil rights advocates have enlisted famous actors for online advertisements and held protests to push for passage. Law enforcement groups have blanketed airwaves with radio spots in Southern California and set up a memorial to fallen officers steps from the Capitol.

The bill would now require police departments across the state to update their policies to indicate when officers are allowed to use force. Under the bill, such policies would have to include rules stating that officers must exhaust reasonable alternatives, such as using verbal warnings and other deescalation tactics, before turning to deadly force.

If those provisions are violated, a department would be able to discipline an officer and departments could face civil lawsuits, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of California, which is a principal backer of the bill. Bibring said the intent of advocates was never to send more police to prison, and the changes to the bill reflect that.

The intention of the bill is to help save lives and reduce police shootings, Bibring said.

The bill now also wouldnt take effect until 2020, giving departments time to update their policies and allowing officers to be trained for the new standard.

Weber said in her statement that she did not receive substantive proposals from law enforcement groups indicating changes to the bill they would find acceptable. But unions representing rank-and-file officers in Los Angeles and across the state and the California Police Chiefs Assn. released a proposal they said would increase departmental standards for deescalating potentially violent encounters between officers and the public, among other changes.

Once again, Dr. Weber, the ACLU and other anti-police fringe groups are choosing to push falsehoods to the media as opposed to having a fact-based discussion about the dire implications of their proposals, proposals that will undermine the safety of law enforcement professionals and the public across California, said a statement from the board of directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Prior versions of the legislation would have made it easier to criminally prosecute officers for killing civilians in two key ways. It would have allowed prosecutors to take into account whether an officers actions prior to a killing were reckless in placing them in harms way. The bill also would have allowed officers to use deadly force only if necessary to prevent imminent or serious bodily injury or death, which could have encouraged prosecutors to consider whether officers could have handled the situation with verbal warnings or non-lethal force. This provision now would only apply to departmental policies and civil cases.

Police groups warned that the prior version of Assembly Bill 931 would have forced officers to hesitate in high-risk situations, which could lead to deaths.

It is simply unconscionable to ask a peace officer, when facing what he or she reasonably believes to be an immediate threat to their own life or the life of another, to stop and consider all other possible options, and to make sure the threat is real before using deadly force, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell wrote in a July letter to lawmakers.

Even with Fridays changes, Webers legislation still faces a difficult road to passage. Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) guided the bill out of a fiscal committee last week, allowing the bill to avoid a key deadline, and providing a greater opportunity to debate what she called in a statement a crucially important issue.

Weber said that Atkins has guaranteed the bill would get a vote on the Senate floor.

But should the bill pass the Senate, it would face a higher hurdle in the Assembly, where many Democrats have significant personal ties to law enforcement. Any negotiations over further changes to the bill must wrap up by Tuesday  under the state Constitution, the text of all legislation must be available for 72 hours before a final vote.

Weber introduced the legislation less than three weeks after Sacramento police shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man, while searching for a car vandal. The measure she and advocates announced was designed to help prevent further killings.

Sacramento prosecutors have yet to decide on whether to charge the officers involved in Clarks death. But as it stands, few officers face prosecution for killing civilians. From 2005 through the end of last year, California law enforcement officers killed 1,276 people while in the process of arresting them, according to state Department of Justice statistics.

Just two homicides were not considered justified, according to the department  the 2009 Oakland killing of Oscar Grant and the 2011 Orange County slaying of Kelly Thomas. The Bay Area Rapid Transit officer who shot Grant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and the officers involved in the Thomas killing were found not guilty or had charges against them dropped.

Coverage of California politics 

liam.dillon@latimes.com

@dillonliam

UPDATES:

6:10 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from the Los Angeles Police Protective League and timing about when the changes would be formally unveiled.

This article was originally published at 1:55 p.m.
When the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a proposal this week to give states more latitude in regulating pollution from power plants within their borders, it came with a sobering forecast of its likely impact on Americans health.

By 2030, adoption of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule could lead to 470 to 1,400 additional premature deaths each year because of an increase in tiny airborne particles. Children with asthma could wind up missing 21,000 extra days of school annually, and up to 48,000 more people could experience exacerbated asthma as air quality deteriorates.

Those estimates were made possible by decades-old studies that linked the rise and fall of microscopic airborne particulates  smog and other emissions from automobile tailpipes, factories and other industrial sources  to predictable patterns of premature death. Its the kind of analysis that federal regulators will be barred from considering if the EPA adopts a controversial plan ostensibly designed to enhance the quality of research.

The Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science initiative would allow rulemakers to base their decisions only on studies whose raw data is available to the public. That way, anyone who doubts the findings can make their own attempt to validate, or discredit, them.

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The era of secret science at EPA is coming to an end, former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said when he unveiled the initiative in April. Americans deserve to assess the legitimacy of the science underpinning EPA decisions that may impact their lives.

Who could possibly be against that?

Nearly 70 medical societies and public health groups, including the American Medical Assn., the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Lung Assn. and the American Assn. for Cancer Research. In their view, its a backhanded attack on the key air pollution studies that forced companies to spend billions of dollars on cleaner factories and better equipment.

I cant come up with any explanation other than that they want to make this data available to vested interests by making it available to everyone, said George Thurston, an environmental medicine researcher at New York Universitys Langone School of Medicine who opposes the EPA initiative. The problem is that people with an agenda can statistically manipulate the data and come up with really inappropriate conclusions. And if they have a profit motive, thats likely to happen.

Even the EPAs own Science Advisory Board is skeptical. The board, which was not consulted on the transparency proposal, voted in May to review the initiative itself.

Before a four-month public comment period closed last week, more than 6,000 people and organizations weighed in on the proposal. It is now in the final stages of deliberation and could be adopted as early as this fall.

To Thurston, the tactic has a familiar ring.

Twenty years ago, he said, the EPA was examining research on the health effects of secondhand smoke and whether they warranted new restrictions on smokers. In a bid to gain access to the research and cast doubt on the findings, tobacco-industry allies pressed the agency to adopt transparency measures. The measure found its way into a House appropriations bill in 1998, but never made it into law.

If you challenge the fundamentals, you challenge the finding, said Janice Nolen, assistant vice president of policy for the American Lung Assn. Thats why youre seeing this proposal.

The initiative comes at a vulnerable moment: In recent years, scientists have been grappling with the fact that in certain fields, too many landmark findings cant be replicated by independent researchers. Editors of peer-reviewed science journals have responded with calls for broader sharing of data to ensure the integrity of new research.

The EPA says those voices informed its transparency initiative.

Scientists acknowledge that such openness is the ideal in research. But its not always practical.

Researchers are often bound by requirements to protect the privacy of their subjects. New methods in data management have made it possible to maintain privacy while sharing personal data, they said. But those often dont help researchers whose subjects were enrolled decades ago.

Consider the 1993 Six-City Study and the 1995 American Cancer Society study, which both laid the groundwork for federal and state regulations aimed at reducing automobile and industrial emissions. They were based on the detailed tracking of air pollution exposures and health outcomes of 8,111 and 552,138 subjects, respectively.

The data on which the two studies rested were never wholly released to the public. The authors argued they could not do so without breaking a commitment to protect subjects privacy. That made it difficult for operators of coal-fired power plants, car manufacturers and other opponents of air pollution rules to challenge the studies findings.

While some kinds of technology may make it easier to shield the identities of research subjects, others may make it more difficult. Increasingly powerful computers can sift through genomes to find suspects, such as in the Golden State Killer case. It wouldnt be hard to strip away study participants anonymity in cases where several publicly available databases are used to characterize their exposure to possible toxins, Thurston wrote in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

The EPAs critics also say the proposal purports to fix a problem that scientists and regulators have generally addressed with other, less disruptive measures. For instance, if privacy concerns bar the public release of a research studys data, independent third parties can be paid to review and reanalyze the studys inputs and confirm or challenge its findings.

Thats what has happened to the two air pollution studies. In 2000, the EPA tapped an independent research group to conduct a reanalysis of the studies and their subsequent updates. The audit confirmed the original results.

Nolen said the transparency initiative appears to be part of a broader Trump administration assault on science.

Theyd like to be able to censor the science, to cast doubt on it by saying, Its not valid because its not transparent, she said.

Beyond discrediting past studies, the initiative would also undermine the quality of future environmental research, Thurston said.

If scientists cant promise to protect subjects privacy, fewer of them would agree to participate. Smaller study populations mean less convincing findings. Less convincing findings dont justify complex or costly environmental regulation to protect Americans health.

The scaring-off of research participants is already happening, Thurston said. The trend is most clear among immigrants and those in poverty  the kinds of people who were underrepresented in earlier research, yet tend to face more consistent exposure to environmental toxins.

Its very difficult to get those populations, he said. Its getting harder and harder.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATMelissaHealy
A Costa Mesa man pleaded not guilty this week to charges of monitoring a Jewish center in Chicago as well as American members of an Iranian opposition group as an agent of Iran.

A U.S. judge Tuesday ordered Majid Ghorbani, 59, held until trial, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Ghorbani, an Iranian citizen and permanent U.S. resident, was arrested Aug. 9 along with co-defendant and dual U.S.-Iranian citizen Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar, 38. Both were indicted Monday on charges of acting as agents of Iran, conspiracy and violating U.S. sanctions.

U.S. Magistrate Michael Harvey of the District of Columbia said Ghorbanis case bore hallmarks of state action.

The judge cited the alleged use of code names, countersurveillance tactics and tasking orders to infiltrate the Mujahideen-e Khalq, or Peoples Mujahideen of Iran, a dissident group that seeks regime change in Iran.

Though the defendants are not charged with espionage, prosecutors told the court that they intend to use information obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which allows collection of electronic communications overseas. Ghorbanis home and Doostdars luggage were searched surreptitiously, and U.S. authorities recorded conversations the men conducted on pay phones and in their vehicles, the Post reported.

In a statement Tuesday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a Paris-based group linked to MEK and two of whose members allegedly were targeted by the operation, called the defendants Iranian Intelligence Ministry agents.

The Iranian Resistance once again reiterates the need to prosecute and expel all the regimes Intelligence Ministry and Quds Force agents and all known and undercover agents and mercenaries who pursue the regimes plots in the U.S. and Europe, the group said.

In a hearing in federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson said Ghorbani poses a serious flight risk and that his charges carry a maximum of 35 years in prison if run consecutively, the Post reported.

Ghorbanis attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Mary Petras, denied that he is a flight risk, saying he has lived in the United States for 20 years since immigrating with his parents, sister and brother. He lives with his younger brother and was a waiter at the same restaurant for a decade, she said.

Petras noted that Ghorbanis daughter and her fiance were in the courtroom after traveling from their home in California to support her father.

According to authorities, Doostdar entered the United States in about July 2017 to gather intelligence about targets considered enemies of the Iranian government, and made contact with Ghorbani.

Prosecutors allege Doostdar paid Ghorbani $2,000 in late 2017 after Ghorbani turned over photographs of demonstrators at a Sept. 20 rally in New York City against the Iranian government. An FBI affidavit said Ghorbani traveled to Iran to conduct an in-person briefing in March and discussed covert methods to provide photos he took of an Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., on May 4.

Both events were supported by MEK, which was listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist group from 1997 until 2012.

However, Petras said Ghorbani is accused of taking photographs of two events and two known individuals with information that is available on the Internet, the Post reported.

Petras said there is no evidence that Ghorbani traveled to meet with any agent of the Iranian government.

miranda.ceja@latimes.com

Twitter: @newsmirand
An Orange County Superior Court judge has reversed his decision that a lawsuit to swap out arguments opposing a Newport Beach ballot proposition was filed too late in the day, but he didnt budge on his other reason for denying the suit.

That means the propositions informational pamphlet wont change.

Judge Timothy Gibbs revised his findings Tuesday, saying that the statutes he used to reach his conclusion were inconsistent.

He reevaluated after the plaintiffs, former Mayors Keith Curry, Rush Hill and Mike Henn and former Mayor Pro Tem Jean Watt, filed a motion for reconsideration after his initial denial Friday of their request to have their jointly written argument against Measure T run in informational pamphlets in place of one written by local activist Bob Rush.

Gibbs had concluded that their lawsuit should have been filed by 5:30 p.m. July 19. It didnt come in until 5:34 p.m. that day, according to a Superior Court time stamp on the cover page.

But the judge said the review periods for the substitution would have delayed publication of the pamphlet for up to three weeks, which he considered too late for the November election.

The groups lawyer, Phil Greer, told Gibbs about the printing deadline after the initial ruling.

Gibbs acknowledged the substitution would have cleared the Sept. 12 deadline for the November election but blamed the plaintiffs for not providing him with that information during the hearing.

This constitutes new evidence, Gibbs wrote in his Tuesday follow-up. Nevertheless, this is insufficient for the court to grant reconsideration  

Greer did not return messages seeking comment.

Measure T will ask voters to approve an amendment to Newports city charter to require 55% voter approval whenever the council wants to spend at least $50 million on capital projects using a financing method known as certificates of participation.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD
A 29-year-old Fountain Valley man whom law enforcement nicknamed the bladed bandit was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison for a series of bank robberies in Orange County and Long Beach.

Chad Dupape pleaded guilty in June to four counts of armed bank robbery and attempted bank robbery.

During a sentencing hearing Monday at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, Dupape also was ordered to serve five years of supervised release and pay $25,000 in restitution to the banks he robbed, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

Dupape was charged with robbing a Chase Bank branch in Seal Beach on Jan. 2 and a U.S. Bank in Fountain Valley on Jan. 18. He tried to rob a Farmers & Merchants Bank in Long Beach as well as a Wells Fargo branch in Fountain Valley on Jan. 16, authorities said.

The robber was given the nickname bladed bandit because he pulled out a knife at the Seal Beach bank, authorities said. Dupape admitted to showing a bank teller a handgun during one of the robberies.

Vincent Edward Wilson, 53, of Long Beach, who authorities said drove Dupape to two of the banks and acted as a lookout at one, also has pleaded guilty to robbery charges and is awaiting sentencing.

miranda.ceja@latimes.com

Twitter: @newsmirand
As representatives of the Orange County Needle Exchange Program wrapped up a town hall meeting Thursday evening, one thing became clear: They wished they had held the gathering earlier.

If we could go back in time and hold these town halls in February, we would, Dallas Augustine, a member of the programs board of directors, told the crowd at the Downtown Anaheim Community Center. We cant undo that, so thats why were here now, and were very sorry that we didnt come earlier.

That sentiment came as little comfort to some of the more than 120 people who attended the meeting. The four panelists were at times interrupted by jeers and cries of disbelief or indignation from the crowd.

The town hall was the first since the California Department of Public Health last month approved the programs proposal for a mobile needle-exchange service to distribute clean needles and other supplies to try to prevent the spread of diseases among intravenous drug users. The program would operate for two years in specified areas of Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana.

Though details are being finalized, Augustine said the program plans to hold similar community meetings in the three other affected cities.

According to representatives of the nonprofit organization, the goal of this weeks event was to provide additional information about the needle exchange and respond to questions and concerns from the public.

Anaheim resident Jennifer Lynch holds her 7-month-old daughter, Scarlett, as she voices her concerns during an Orange County Needle Exchange Program town hall Thursday. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

The meeting took place amid continuing backlash to the states approval of the program. Orange County, the county Flood Control District and the cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Orange are taking legal action aimed at stopping the program and filed a court motion Tuesday seeking a preliminary injunction.

Also this month, the Costa Mesa City Council adopted an urgency ordinance prohibiting needle exchanges anywhere in the city. Newport Beach announced plans to file its own lawsuit against the state.

Program board member Kelley Butler said at Thursdays meeting that the needle exchange is not the only piece of the puzzle in solving the nations drug epidemic but serves an important function by helping prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C.

Instead of going to an intravenous drug user  who is using some of the most addictive substances known to man, known to the medical community  and telling them Stop using, wed rather you just not suffer from a behavior that youre engaging in, she said.

However, members of the panel were sometimes drowned out by outbursts of Give them treatment, not paraphernalia! and Youre just making it easier for them to do it!

Panelists also said the program is a way for drug users to connect with resources that, hopefully, will set them on a path to recovery.

Everybody that goes through our line then gets referrals to treatment, housing, whatever else they might need, Augustine said. So not only do they get that, but they have a supportive community who is not judgmental, who is rooting for them.

A common criticism since the states approval has been about the locations selected for the program. In Costa Mesa, the service would operate on West 17th Street between Whittier Avenue and the city boundary  an area opponents say is inappropriate because of its proximity to homes, businesses and schools.

Carol Newark, another program board member, said the sites werent chosen thoughtlessly.

It wasnt like we just looked at a map and said, Oh, here it is, she said. We spent a lot of time selecting these locations and theyre based on our site visits, theyre based on zoning maps and theyre also based on data  of rates of HIV and overdoses.

Dallas Augustine, a board member for the Orange County Needle Exchange Program, speaks during the organizations town hall meeting in Anaheim on Thursday. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

Critics also have raised concerns about public health and safety, saying they fear the program will attract drug users to their communities and lead to needles being thrown away in neighborhoods and other places where children and families gather.

Needle litter emerged as an issue when the exchange operated out of the Santa Ana Civic Center. Officials in that city cited an increase in the number of discarded syringes as a reason for scrapping the program in January.

As part of the states approval, the needle exchange has agreed to work with the Orange County Health Care Agency to increase options for sharps disposal, provide additional collection services and operate a hotline for reports of improperly discarded syringes and other concerns.

Even if you shut down the needle exchange, people will still go and buy needles at CVS, at Walgreens, at Rite-Aid, and they will have nowhere to dispose of them, Newark said. All of the needles that have been found in the community in the last nine months were not given out by us.

For more information about the needle-exchange program, visit ocnep.org.

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoney
A Newport Beach man pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme and faces up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 16.

As part of a plea deal last week, Brandon Walton Stewart, 33, is expected to pay a $26,594,810 fine.

Stewart pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, 22 counts of using untrue statements in the purchase or sale of a security, 125 counts of money laundering, 38 counts of check fraud and multiple counts of tax fraud, according to court documents.

He was arrested in May 2015 in Dallas before being extradited to Orange County, where he faced charges that he ran a $13.5-million Ponzi scheme from April 2009 through January 2013.

A Ponzi scheme is when investors are offered high short-term returns on investments, but instead of the investments generating income or legitimate profits, the investors money is kept for the benefit of one person or is used to repay earlier investors.

Stewart was accused of misleading four victims, including a 92-year-old relative, into investing a total of $10.6 million by saying their funds would be added to a $100-million investment pool.

Instead, authorities said, Stewart used the funds for personal expenses such as flights to Las Vegas on a private jet and betting thousands of dollars in casinos.

He also was accused of defrauding banks by writing nearly $3 million in bad checks between November 2012 and July 2014, and of not filing state tax returns from 2010 to 2013.

miranda.ceja@latimes.com

Twitter: @newsmirand
Several high-ranking employees of the contractor that oversees the Orange County Jail phone system appeared in court Thursday to provide additional information about what was characterized as a human error that resulted in 1,079 privileged calls between inmates and their attorneys being improperly recorded over a three-year period.

Much of the hearing focused on the technical details of how an update to the Global Tel Link Corp. system in January 2015 resulted in the calls being recorded in violation of state law.

But company officials also disclosed that the same issue happened twice before in Pinellas and Charlotte counties in Florida.

In Orange Countys case, the company corrected what it initially called a technical error in July this year and no longer is recording attorney-client phone calls, according to GTL and Sheriffs Department officials.

George McNitt, vice president of technical services for GTL, testified that the issue in Orange County occurred because a list of some 1,300 phone numbers designated as do not record were not properly transferred as part of the system update.

When asked whether the company has notified its other clients that such issues have arisen, McNitt said we had no reason to believe it was happening anywhere else.

McNitt and other GTL employees were questioned initially by Joel Garson, defense attorney for Joshua Waring, son of former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Lauri Peterson.

Waring, 29, is facing three counts of attempted murder and other felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with a shooting at a former Costa Mesa sober-living home in June 2016. If convicted, he could face multiple life sentences.

Garson has been investigating allegations that law enforcement monitored and shared Warings phone calls in Orange County Jail while he was representing himself in his criminal case. Garson is trying to have the case dismissed on grounds of outrageous governmental conduct.

Last week, it was revealed that at least one jailhouse phone call in 2016 between Waring and his then-defense attorney were among the communications recorded by law enforcement.

According to a list of recorded calls, a Sheriffs Department employee downloaded a recording of the call or calls to a disk in January 2017. Garson said the disk was then provided to Costa Mesa police officials who were investigating the allegations against Waring.

In a July letter to Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Darren Wallace, executive vice president of operations for Global Tel Link, wrote that Sheriffs Department staff, and in certain circumstances [GTL] for investigative or technical purposes, had accessed 58 of the 1,079 recorded calls a total of 87 times.

On Thursday, Garson expressed skepticism that the list of 1,079 calls is comprehensive. Several phone numbers  such as those for the Orange County public defenders office  hardly show up in those records, he said, even though there likely would be hundreds if not thousands of calls to that office over several years.

Doesnt that tell you that theres a problem somewhere other than human error? Garson asked Matthew McFalls, GTLs director of technical services.

No, it just tells me they didnt call that number, McFalls responded.

Regardless of how the problem started, Garson said theres no reason it should have lasted as long as it did.

Even if the initial negligence was with GTL, law enforcement had the duty to bring it to the attention of somebody, Garson said.

He said he thinks the breach could cause convictions or charges to be dismissed in many serious criminal cases.

In a statement last week, Hutchens said she is deeply disappointed that this technical glitch by [GTL] occurred and is concerned about the serious consequences it may bring.

Although each call was prefaced with a warning that calls were subject to monitoring and recording, we know that these calls never should have been recorded by [GTL], she wrote.

In light of whats happened, Peterson said she believes theres absolutely no way her son can receive a fair trial in Orange County.

What has occurred is cheating, she told reporters Thursday. And I hear today that they keep saying its human error, which is fine on the GTL side  that could be a human error  but the bottom line is the Sheriffs Department took these recorded phone calls, listened to them and then shared them.

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoney
Nothing is simple these days in Newport Beach or Costa Mesa politics, not even the usually routine practice of candidates submitting ballot statements.

In Newport, candidate Mike Glenn  running against incumbent Councilwoman Diane Dixon  and Joy Brenner  opposing Councilman Scott Peotter  were both notified by City Clerk Leilani Brown that their ballot statements werent acceptable as submitted.

Glenn debated the ruling in emails this week with Brown.

Glenn claims Brown took issue with a comma he used to describe his profession in his ballot designation: Operator, SaveNewport.

  commas are not allowed unless part of an elected title, Brown wrote in an email to Glenn, which I reviewed.

When Glenn argued that the Election Code allows the comma, Brown took issue with using SaveNewport, the name of Glenns blog on his ballot designation. Instead she went with his alternate designation, Small Business Owner, on the ballot.

Glenn wasnt happy with the outcome.

It made no sense, he told me. It obviously wasnt about the comma in the first place.

Brenners ballot submission was also questioned. Brown sent her a letter stating that the following two parts of her candidate statement would be deleted:

We must stop playing partisan politics, which have no place in city governance. Pushed by a political agenda and outside forces. They lead to backroom deals and obscure the publics right to know.

And there was this: No more deals for political cronies, no more staff reorganization that diminish public service.

Brown cited California Election Code section 13308.

Any candidates statement submitted shall be limited to a recitation of the candidates own personal background and qualifications, and shall not in any way make reference to other candidates for that office or to another candidates qualifications, character, or activities, the code states.

Indeed Brenner doesnt confine the statement to her personal background and qualifications, but I dont see where she actually makes direct reference to her opponent, Peotter, or links him to the behavior she talks about, so Browns decision here seems like a stretch.

Unless this ends up in court, Brown has the final say.

In Costa Mesa, Mayor Sandy Genis has her own ballot statement battle brewing.

On Aug. 15 City Clerk Brenda Green wrote to Genis: (Councilwoman) Katrina Foley contacted me by phone late yesterday afternoon regarding your candidate statement. She also sent me the email below, which includes a letter from the City of Newport Beach City Clerk pertaining to one of their candidates. (The letter Brown wrote to Brenner)

The email from Foley to which Green refers states: The crony comments are nearly identical.

Foley was referring to the line in Genis statement that Costa Mesa residents have the right to clean open government and decisions free of cronyism. No backroom deals.

But in the end, Green wrote to Genis, the phrases she was reviewing in her ballot statement were, Only Mayoral Candidate, Only candidate to and Only Candidate.

Genis said Green consulted with attorneys contracted by the city, who found nothing objectionable. Green contacted her and Foley again.

My decision remains the same, and I will not seek a writ of mandate requesting material in the candidate statement to be amended or deleted,  Green wrote Aug. 19.

A writ of mandate, in this context, is a court order to a government agency that directs it to correctly follow the law or reverse a decision that is out of compliance with the law.

That wasnt the end of it.

Attorney Mark Rosen filed a writ of mandate petition in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of former Costa Mesa Councilwoman Wendy Leece on Aug. 20.

Lets not forget that Leece and Genis were once friends and political allies.

I am profoundly disappointed in Wendy Leece, Genis said.

Leece doesnt like the situation either but did what she thinks she had to do.

This was not an easy decision because weve been friends for more than 30 years, Leece said. But in politics, even friends can disagree sometimes. My sister and I disagree sometimes. Words matter.

The writ argues Genis candidate statement is false, misleading, and inconsistent with the law of candidate statements and cites, you guessed it, Election Code section 13308.

The writ takes exception with Genis claims that she is the only mayoral candidate to stand up against the Orange County Needle Exchange Program, vote to protect single-family neighborhoods from wholesale duplex conversion and vote no on high-density development in the 2015 general plan. It goes on from there.

The writ demands her cronyism line be deleted as well.

This is heading to court. Genis said it didnt have to go that way.

She was open to changing a word here and there when she initially spoke to Green. But after Green found no objection to her ballot statement language, Genis figured the matter settled.

She said she used a very similar ballot statement the last time she ran without objection.

Genis finds the whole situation an attempt to distract her and spend money on attorney fees that should be going to her campaign.

She said her opposition is trying to suppress her record on council.

Its a little disgusting, Genis said. You dont stab somebody in the back.

Leece said she just wants the voters to have accurate information.

I studied Sandys ballot statement and believe, according to election law, some of her statements are misleading and not accurate, she said. A voter would be confused. My concerns are legitimate as outlined in the writ. Well have to agree to disagree and let a judge decide.

Agreeing to disagree is the order of the day in Newport-Costa Mesa politics.

Barbara Venezia is an opinion columnist writing political and social commentary since 2007. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com
Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we start to get excited about all the good 2-year-olds.

Its never too early to start thinking who might be on next years Derby trail, although it is too early to be confident about anything.

On Labor Day, the Del Mar Futurity will be run and its a good indicator of which horses are going to be talked about. Three of the last four winners were Bolt dOro, Nyquist and American Pharoah. The other 2-year-old races in Southern California I like to look at are the FrontRunner (now the American Pharoah Stakes) at Santa Anita and the Los Alamitos Futurity, which used to be the Hollywood Futurity.

But, remember at this point last year, Justify hadnt run a race. So, it seemed like a good time to check in on a horse who will get a lot of attention, not necessarily because of equine reasons. A couple months ago, I wrote about Lebron J, the horse. (You can read the story here.)

Besides the name, the $1.2 million purchase price by Phoenix Thoroughbreds probably makes him a player. Trainer Doug ONeill was hoping to run him at Del Mar, but thats not going to happen. Lebron J has worked a few times at Santa Anita and four times at Del Mar, all at three furlongs.

Hes such a big boy, so talented and I keep working him 3/8ths, ONeill said in his office at Del Mar. I want him to just scream at us that hes ready to go a half-mile and beyond. So, Im just taking my time. The owners have been so patient. Hopefully sometime around Santa Anita. But hes a very special horse.

When you see his pedigree, his physique, his stride, his mind, ONeill said. When you pay the kind of money the owner paid for him, youre going to think hes the next big-time 3-year-old.

Thursdays feature was a $67,000 allowance for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. It turned out to be a good longshot race as Beau Recall, who I made a pronoun slip on in Thursdays newsletter, was so far back she could never get close when the running counted.

The winner was Sheeze Milky Way drew away in the stretch to win over Poster Girl. Barleysugar was third. Sheeza Milky Way paid $20.60, $8.80 and $6.00 for trainer Peter Eurton and jockey Gary Stevens .

As I say every Friday, its time for night-time racing during the daylight at Del Mar. But, its a 3:30 p.m. post because there is less sunlight. In fact, last weeks Friday night racing ended in the dark. Not good. Fridays eight-race card has three turf races and a minor stakes race.

The feature is seventh race, about 6:30 p.m., with the $75,000 Tranquility Lakes Stakes for fillies and mares going a mile. The favorite, at 2-1, is Way to Versailles, who is making her first U.S. start having run all her races at Woodbine. Shes won four of 10 lifetime and won her last race, a Grade 2, by a mile. Peter Miller is the trainer and Flavien Prat will ride.

The second favorite is very interesting in that she won 10 races in a row last year, most of them at Golden Gate. Her last four races, all this year, were stakes where she has finished second three times and third once. She was second in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita. John Martin is the trainer and Ricardo Gonzalez the jockey.

Lukewarm morning line choice from the Michael McCarthy stable turned in a solid third-place effort off the bench despite breaking from the far outside post going 5 furlongs on turf. She moves back to dirt (two-for-two on main track), is drawn much better inside and reunites with Flavien Prat , who rode her to a local victory here last summer.

The thoroughbred mare Miss Loujean will take on quarter horses in a 550-yard straightaway race in the featured event on Fridays card at Los Alamitos. Its a field of six in the $11,825 allowance dash, which also sees stakes placed quarter horse runners Well Good and Thats A Good Reason in action. First post for the eight-race card is 7:30 p.m.

Miss Loujean has four wins at 870 yards at Los Alamitos since May of 2017 and was second in an allowance optional claiming race at Del Mar in July of 2017. Bred to the quarter-horse stallion Kiddy Up in the spring of 2018, Miss Loujean returned with a third-place finish at 550 yards on July 7. She was fourth at the start, but made up ground in the final 100 yards. She figures to chase the quicker quarter horses during the early stages once again, but she could become the first thoroughbred to win at this distance here in 2018.

The condition book for the upcoming Los Angeles County Fair thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos is now online at losalamitos.com. The 12-day season will begin Thur., Sept. 6 and continue through Sun., Sept. 23. Racing will be conducted on a Thursday-Sunday basis with post time 1 p.m.

A new stakes race has also been added to the stakes schedule. The addition is the $100,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos Special. The race is for 3-year-olds and up at 1  miles. It will be on Sun., Sept. 16. The holdovers on the schedule are the $75,000 Beverly J. Lewis for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs (Sat., Sept. 8), the $75,000 E.B. Johnston for 3-year-olds and up  bred or sired in California  at one mile (Sat., Sept. 8), the $100,000 Barretts Debutante for 2-year-old fillies offered at any Barretts sale at 6  furlongs (Sat., Sept. 15) and the $100,000 Barretts Juvenile for 2-year-old colts and geldings offered at any Barretts sale at 6  furlongs (Sat., Sept. 22).

This 2-year-old colt debuts with a terrific 12.1 gate drill on August 7 when doing everything right. He broke very fast, was allowed to drift in under an easy hand ride during the final 1/16 and reached out with big strides while dusting his workmate, who was timed in 12.9. I also liked the trouble he overcame in prior 12.4 drill when getting bumped in after a sluggish start to outwork his rival by  length. I would single Favorite Motions in the Pick 4 and rolling Pick 3s and make exactas of 1-3 and 1-4.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter you can click here and sign up . Remember, its free, and all we need is your email, nothing more. Tell your friends, or even people you dont like that much.

Any thoughts, 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 Thursday, August 23. 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. 26th day of a 36-day meet. Clear & Fast

FIRST RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $34,000. Claiming. Fillies. 3 year olds. Claiming Prices $25,000-$22,500. Time 22.87 46.80 59.38 1:12.06

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 5 Spectacular Move 119 5 2 61 7 41 12 Mn Garcia 5.70 3 Twisted Rosie 120 3 6 7 6hd 7 2ns Desormeaux 1.40 6 Tapitha Bonita 119 6 4 1hd 1hd 1hd 3 Ceballos 11.00 7 Miss Unusual 119 7 1 21 2hd 3hd 4 Van Dyke 2.80 2 Lucky Val 119 2 7 5 3 2hd 5nk Pedroza 14.60 1 Bonneville Flats 114 1 5 3hd 41 5hd 61 Espinoza 5.40 4 Crown Kitten 119 4 3 4hd 51 6hd 7 Franco 15.50

5 SPECTACULAR MOVE 13.40 5.40 3.80 3 TWISTED ROSIE 3.00 2.10 6 TAPITHA BONITA 5.40

$1 EXACTA (5-3) $19.60 $2 QUINELLA (3-5) $16.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (5-3-6-7) $37.37 50-CENT TRIFECTA (5-3-6) $69.50

WinnerSpectacular Move B.f.3 by Alternation out of Best Practices, by Tough Knight. Bred by Justice Farm & Greg Justice (KY). Trainer: Simon Callaghan. Owner: Kaleem Shah, Inc.. Mutuel Pool $187,937 Exacta Pool $97,214 Quinella Pool $4,974 Superfecta Pool $41,068 Trifecta Pool $65,455. ClaimedTwisted Rosie by Huston Racing Stable, Sonora, Steve and Stute, Gary. Trainer: Gary Stute. ClaimedTapitha Bonita by Acker, Tom, Miller, Andy, Sommers, James and Yee, Glenn. Trainer: William Spawr. ClaimedMiss Unusual by Lo Hi Stable, Pearlstein, John and Traynor, Robert. Trainer: Michael Machowsky. Scratchednone.

SPECTACULAR MOVE reluctant to load, stalked off the rail then outside, swung five wide into the stretch, bid four wide under urging in midstretch to gain the lead past the eighth pole and won clear. TWISTED ROSIE chased outside a rival then off the rail, angled in some on the turn, lacked room behind foes from upper stretch to past the eighth pole, angled in and split horses in deep stretch to get the place. TAPITHA BONITA bobbled at the start, dueled off the rail then three deep between foes into and on the turn and into the stretch, fought back between horses in the stretch, could not match the winner and was edged for second. MISS UNUSUAL dueled outside a rival then four wide into and on the turn and into the stretch, battled between horses in midstretch and was outfinished for the show. LUCKY VAL broke in, bumped a rival and steadied at the start, stalked a bit off the rail, bid between horses into and on the turn, fought back just off the rail into the stretch and in midstretch and was outfinished for a minor award. BONNEVILLE FLATS steadied at the start, saved ground stalking the pace then bid inside into and on the turn, fell back a bit into the stretch, was momentarily in a bit tight nearing midstretch, went up inside again in deep stretch and also was outfinished for a minor share. CROWN KITTEN stalked outside a rival then between horses a half mile out, continued off the rail on the turn and four wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally.

SECOND RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $23,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $12,500-$10,500. Time 22.48 46.49 59.30 1:12.27

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 4 Brookes All Mine 119 4 2 51 5 32 11 Roman 5.40 3 Lucky Student 119 3 1 1hd 11 11 22 Stevens 1.50 7 Gemini Journey 119 7 5 44 2hd 2 3 Pedroza 2.30 6 Rockantharos 119 6 7 7 61 52 43 Quinonez 35.80 5 Scathing 119 5 6 61 7 7 5 Gonzalez 12.40 2 Forthenineteen 119 2 3 2hd 43 4hd 65 Pena 6.20 1 Cioppino Pasadino 120 1 4 31 3hd 6 7 Rojas Fernandez 9.10

4 BROOKES ALL MINE 12.80 5.00 3.00 3 LUCKY STUDENT 3.40 2.60 7 GEMINI JOURNEY 2.10

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (5-4) $94.80 $1 EXACTA (4-3) $20.10 $2 QUINELLA (3-4) $14.20 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (4-3-7-6) $28.04 50-CENT TRIFECTA (4-3-7) $20.70

WinnerBrookes All Mine B.m.5 by It's No Joke out of It'z All Mine, by Belong to Me. Bred by Susan F Woods (FL). Trainer: Bill McLean. Owner: Carpenter, Chris, Desimone, Fred, Forristall, Dino and Nicora, Nick. Mutuel Pool $185,264 Daily Double Pool $40,258 Exacta Pool $109,017 Quinella Pool $4,937 Superfecta Pool $47,686 Trifecta Pool $71,091. ClaimedGemini Journey by Chris Fosselman. Trainer: Charles Treece. Scratchednone.

BROOKES ALL MINE chased off the rail, came three wide into the stretch, rallied under a strong then steady hand ride to gain the lead outside the runner-up in deep stretch and proved best. LUCKY STUDENT dueled three deep, inched away on the turn, continued off the rail in the stretch, could not match the winner late but was clearly second best. GEMINI JOURNEY close up stalking the pace off the rail on the backstretch and turn, came three deep into the stretch to loom behind the runner-up in midstretch and held third. ROCKANTHAROS settled off the rail then inside leaving the backstretch and on the turn, came out into the stretch and again in midstretch and put in a late bid at a minor award. SCATHING settled outside then off the rail, came three deep into the stretch and lacked a rally. FORTHENINETEEN dueled between horses then stalked outside a rival leaving the turn, found the inside in the stretch and weakened. CIOPPINO PASADINO sent along inside early, dueled along the rail, stalked leaving the turn, dropped back in the stretch, came out in midstretch then drifted out late and also weakened.

THIRD RACE. 5 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $60,000. Maiden Special Weight. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Time 21.76 44.09 55.61

Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/16 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 2 Suspicious Spouse 120 2 4 1 11 11 11 Franco 5.70 4 Stradella Road 120 4 7 4 31 33 2hd T Baze 6.50 7 Storming Lady 120 7 2 21 21 21 32 Talamo 2.90 6 DHLucky Knickers 123 6 3 5hd 6 6hd 41 Roman 44.10 1 DHScreenshot 120 1 8 8 8 72 41 Gonzalez 5.40 3 Token Vow 120 3 5 61 51 41 61 Van Dyke 3.70 8 Come On Kat 115 8 1 3hd 4 51 73 Espinoza 10.10 5 Varanasi 120 5 6 72 71 8 8 Prat 4.80

2 SUSPICIOUS SPOUSE 13.40 7.20 4.40 4 STRADELLA ROAD 7.20 4.40 7 STORMING LADY 3.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (4-2) $99.60 $1 EXACTA (2-4) $42.20 $2 QUINELLA (2-4) $33.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (2-4-7-6) $142.17 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (2-4-7-1) $43.92 50-CENT TRIFECTA (2-4-7) $83.40

WinnerSuspicious Spouse B.f.3 by First Defence out of Foxysox (GB), by Foxhound. Bred by Williamson Racing, LLC (KY). Trainer: Peter Miller. Owner: Williamson Racing LLC. Mutuel Pool $263,808 Daily Double Pool $23,840 Exacta Pool $145,470 Quinella Pool $8,187 Superfecta Pool $52,394 Trifecta Pool $94,000. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (5-4-2) paid $268.90. Pick Three Pool $54,263.

SUSPICIOUS SPOUSE had speed inside to set a pressured pace, inched away on the turn, came a bit off the rail into the stretch and held gamely under some left handed urging and good handling. STRADELLA ROAD a step slow to begin, stalked between horses then inside on the turn, continued along the rail in the stretch and went on willingly late. STORMING LADY pressed the pace outside the winner then stalked off the rail on the turn and in the stretch and was edged for the place. SCREENSHOT a bit slow to begin, saved ground chasing the pace throughout and shared fourth. LUCKY KNICKERS chased outside then between horses into and on the turn, came out into the stretch and lacked a rally. TOKEN VOW saved ground stalking the pace, came out a bit into the stretch and could not offer the necessary response. COME ON KAT close up stalking the pace outside then off the rail on the turn, came three deep into the stretch and weakened. VARANASI broke a bit slowly, chased off the rail then three deep into and on the turn and into the stretch and also weakened.

FOURTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $23,000. Maiden Claiming. 2 year olds. Claiming Prices $32,000-$28,000. Time 22.91 47.24 59.88 1:12.93

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 8 Rickey B 120 7 4 31 31 11 13 Ceballos 9.40 5 Poppy's C Note 120 4 5 4 52 41 2 Quinonez 4.10 6 Agronomo 118 5 3 2 2hd 3hd 31 Vergara, Jr. 48.60 4 Shake N Fries 120 3 2 1hd 1hd 2hd 4 Van Dyke 2.10 7 Smokey Pirate 120 6 6 51 41 54 51 Talamo 1.50 3 Red Clem 115 2 1 6 61 65 612 Espinoza 8.90 2 Baja Warrior 120 1 7 7 7 7 7 Sanchez 13.00

8 RICKEY B 20.80 8.80 6.40 5 POPPY'S C NOTE 4.00 3.80 6 AGRONOMO 10.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (2-8) $119.40 $1 EXACTA (8-5) $41.80 $2 QUINELLA (5-8) $52.20 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (8-5-6-4) $261.41 50-CENT TRIFECTA (8-5-6) $471.20 $2 CONSOLATION DOUBLE (2-1) $12.20

WinnerRickey B Dbb.c.2 by Richard's Kid out of Madoffwiththemoney, by Tribal Rule. Bred by Frank Aldrich & Marysue Aldrich (CA). Trainer: Steven Miyadi. Owner: Aldrich, Frank, Aldrich, MarySue and Miyadi, Steven. Mutuel Pool $210,218 Daily Double Pool $26,774 Exacta Pool $116,676 Quinella Pool $5,875 Superfecta Pool $43,904 Trifecta Pool $70,463. ClaimedSmokey Pirate by Tokyo Owners Club. Trainer: Patrick Gallagher. ScratchedYou Must Chill. $1 Pick Three (4-2-8) paid $279.40. Pick Three Pool $29,383. $1 Consolation Pick Three (4-2-1) paid $44.70.

RICKEY B pressed the pace three deep then stalked into the turn, re-bid three wide leaving the turn to take the lead into the stretch, inched away under urging in midstretch and proved best. POPPY'S C NOTE pulled between horses then stalked a bit off the rail, came out in the stretch, was three wide in midstretch and edged a rival for the place. AGRONOMO dueled between horses then outside a rival, battled between foes again leaving the turn, continued between horses through much of the stretch and was edged for second. SHAKE N FRIES had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back leaving the turn and into the stretch and weakened late. SMOKEY PIRATE chased outside then three deep, ranged up four wide leaving the turn and three wide into the stretch and lacked the needed late kick. RED CLEM bobbled slightly at the start, chased inside, came out some into the stretch then angled back in and lacked a rally inside. BAJA WARRIOR settled inside then chased outside a rival leaving the backstretch and on the turn and a bit off the rail into the stretch and had little left for the drive.

FIFTH RACE. 5 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $62,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 21.71 44.42 56.47

Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/16 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 6 Ultimate Bango 118 6 3 4 3hd 2hd 1nk Fuentes 2.40 8 Hardcore Troubador 121 8 5 53 41 3hd 2hd Franco 5.40 2 Rocky Rogue 119 2 4 1hd 1hd 11 3 Pena 29.50 7 Joe Jackson 120 7 2 3hd 5 63 4hd Maldonado 4.80 3 From the Distance 113 3 7 6 62 5 52 Espinoza 22.20 5 Unpossible 118 5 6 75 76 75 6 Talamo 4.30 4 Hollywood Square 121 4 1 21 21 41 71 Gutierrez 2.80 1 Bear Down Cats 121 1 8 8 8 8 8 Roman 20.50

6 ULTIMATE BANGO 6.80 3.60 2.60 8 HARDCORE TROUBADOR 6.20 4.80 2 ROCKY ROGUE 9.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (8-6) $65.60 $1 EXACTA (6-8) $18.10 $2 QUINELLA (6-8) $21.00 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (6-8-2-7) $142.51 50-CENT TRIFECTA (6-8-2) $117.85

WinnerUltimate Bango B.g.3 by Uh Oh Bango out of Ultimate Summer, by Cee's Tizzy. Bred by Mitchell Dutko & Bob Abrams (CA). Trainer: Blake R. Heap. Owner: Abrams, Robert, Dutko, Mitchell and Paran, Michael. Mutuel Pool $249,505 Daily Double Pool $24,777 Exacta Pool $132,418 Quinella Pool $6,797 Superfecta Pool $53,468 Trifecta Pool $81,487. ScratchedCroissant, Forest Chatter, Mason B, Red Wine and Dine, Salient, Sir Eddie. $1 Pick Three (2-8-6) paid $274.80. Pick Three Pool $65,175. 50-Cent Pick Four (4-2-8-6/10/13/14) 4 correct paid $846.60. Pick Four Pool $194,487. 50-Cent Pick Five (5-4-2-8-6/10/13/14) 5 correct paid $6,907.85. Pick Five Pool $458,028. $1 Consolation Pick Three (2-1-6) paid $30.50.

ULTIMATE BANGO stalked off the rail, angled in some leaving the turn, came out and bid between horses past midstretch under urging, gained a slim advantage in late stretch and gamely prevailed. HARDCORE TROUBADOR close up stalking the pace outside and five wide on the turn, came four wide into the stretch, bid outside past midstretch and continued gamely four wide on the line. ROCKY ROGUE had good early speed and dueled inside, inched away and drifted out a bit despite right handed urging in midstretch, was between foes in deep stretch and continued willingly. JOE JACKSON stalked outside then four wide on the turn and three deep into the stretch, came out some in the drive and was edged for third four wide on the line. FROM THE DISTANCE broke a bit slowly, saved ground chasing the pace, bid along the rail in the drive and also was edged for a minor award inside. UNPOSSIBLE squeezed a bit at the start, chased outside a rival or off the rail, came three deep into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. HOLLYWOOD SQUARE dueled outside a rival, fought back leaving the turn and weakened in the final furlong. BEAR DOWN CATS broke a bit slowly, settled off the pace inside, saved ground on the turn and into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. HAND TIMED.

SIXTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $20,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $16,000-$14,000. Time 23.69 49.43 1:14.90 1:27.54 1:40.32

Pgm Horse Wt PP St    Str Fin Jockey $1 9 Road Test 118 7 3 3 2hd 1hd 11 1nk Espinoza 3.10 1 Midnight Lilly 123 1 6 62 5hd 4hd 21 23 Pereira 2.00 5 Warrior Vixen 123 5 4 4 4 52 41 3 T Baze 3.30 2 Angelina's Heaven 118 2 7 7 7 6hd 64 4 Orozco 11.70 6 Looking At Thelake 123 6 1 1 1 2hd 3 55 Gonzalez 7.30 4 Cee Sam's Girl 115 4 2 2hd 31 31 5 65 Payeras 11.40 3 Lethal Legacy 123 3 5 51 62 7 7 7 Franco 8.50

9 ROAD TEST 8.20 4.00 3.00 1 MIDNIGHT LILLY 3.60 2.60 5 WARRIOR VIXEN 3.00

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (6-9) $26.60 $1 EXACTA (9-1) $11.90 $2 QUINELLA (1-9) $11.00 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (9-1-5-2) $21.30 50-CENT TRIFECTA (9-1-5) $14.85

WinnerRoad Test Grr.f.4 by Bellamy Road out of Commercialize, by Robyn Dancer. Bred by Mueller Farms, Inc., J. D. Stuart, &P. C. Bance (KY). Trainer: Jack Carava. Owner: Chris Curtis. Mutuel Pool $211,834 Daily Double Pool $23,928 Exacta Pool $109,229 Quinella Pool $5,906 Superfecta Pool $38,061 Trifecta Pool $68,315. ClaimedMidnight Lilly by Marisa Lizza Racing. Trainer: Kristin Mulhall. ScratchedFlat Out Sassy, Misty Slew. $1 Pick Three (8-6-9) paid $140.00. Pick Three Pool $37,873.

ROAD TEST five wide early, pressed the pace three deep, took a short lead leaving the second turn, inched away into the stretch and held on gamely under urging. MIDNIGHT LILLY came off the rail into the first turn, chased outside a rival, came out leaving the second turn and four wide into the stretch and finished willingly to just miss. WARRIOR VIXEN pulled early, stalked between horses then a bit off the rail, continued between foes on the second turn, came out into the stretch and outfinished rivals for the show. ANGELINA'S HEAVEN angled in on the first turn and settled inside then a bit off the rail, came out leaving the second turn and four wide into the stretch and was edged for third. LOOKING AT THELAKE had good early speed and set a pressured pace between horses, fought back leaving the second turn and weakened in the final furlong. CEE SAM'S GIRL prompted the pace inside, also fought back leaving the second turn and weakened in the final furlong. LETHAL LEGACY saved ground chasing the pace, came out in the stretch and had little left for the drive.

SEVENTH RACE. 1 1/16 Mile Turf. Purse: $67,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $100,000. Time 23.95 49.00 1:12.66 1:35.95 1:42.18

Pgm Horse Wt PP St    Str Fin Jockey $1 7 Sheeza Milky Way 120 7 1 2 2 31 21 1 Stevens 9.30 1 Poster Girl 122 1 2 12 11 11 1 21 Roman 4.30 8 Barleysugar 120 8 5 31 31 2hd 32 31 T Baze 4.50 4 Pantsonfire 120 4 4 76 76 6 61 4hd Quinonez 5.30 3 Shehastheritestuff 120 3 7 51 51 4hd 41 5 Van Dyke 10.20 6 Beau Recall 120 6 6 8 8 8 8 6ns Franco 2.60 2 Bernina Star 122 2 8 6 6hd 76 5hd 711 Desormeaux 7.60 5 Melissa Jane 120 5 3 4 4 51 72 8 Blanc 10.40

7 SHEEZA MILKY WAY 20.60 8.80 6.00 1 POSTER GIRL (GB) 6.20 4.60 8 BARLEYSUGAR (IRE) 3.40

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (9-7) $92.80 $1 EXACTA (7-1) $68.40 $2 QUINELLA (1-7) $57.00 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (7-1-8-4) $185.16 50-CENT TRIFECTA (7-1-8) $221.25

WinnerSheeza Milky Way B.m.5 by Sidney's Candy out of Mother's Milk, by Silver Deputy. Bred by Jayne Johnson, Tom Flounders &Jeanne Flounders (KY). Trainer: Peter Eurton. Owner: Alesia, Sharon, Christianson, Robin, Ciaglia Racing LLC and Crusberg, Harry A.. Mutuel Pool $315,919 Daily Double Pool $27,242 Exacta Pool $152,915 Quinella Pool $10,418 Superfecta Pool $57,693 Trifecta Pool $98,009. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (6-9-7) paid $149.80. Pick Three Pool $33,134.

SHEEZA MILKY WAY angled in and saved ground stalking the pace, came out into the stretch, bid outside the runner-up under urging in midstretch, gained the lead a sixteenth out and gamely prevailed. POSTER GIRL (GB) sped to the early lead, set the pace along the inside, fought back when challenged in the stretch and went willingly to the wire. BARLEYSUGAR (IRE) three deep early, stalked outside the winner, angled three wide into the stretch and bested the others. PANTSONFIRE (IRE) stalked the pace outside a rival, went up three deep leaving the backstretch and outside a foe again on the second turn, came three wide into the stretch and was outfinished. SHEHASTHERITESTUFF was a bit slow to begin, pulled and was in a bit tight early, angled in then came out and tugged three deep into the first turn, chased outside a rival to the stretch and could not summon the necessary late kick. BEAU RECALL (IRE) allowed to settle off the pace and angled in, saved ground to the stretch, came out in upper stretch and found her best stride late. BERNINA STAR a bit slow to begin, settled inside then hit the rail leaving the chute, saved ground chasing the pace, came out into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. MELISSA JANE (GB) angled in after the chute and saved ground chasing the pace, dropped back in the stretch and weakened.

EIGHTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $23,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $32,000-$28,000. Time 22.33 46.31 59.14 1:12.32

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 2 Vintage Hollywood 120 2 6 5 51 3hd 1 Fuentes 24.90 7 I Am the Danger 123 6 9 3hd 2hd 1hd 2 Franco 1.40 3 All I Can Say 123 3 10 92 82 51 31 Quinonez 9.20 9 Wild Verse 113 8 3 21 32 21 4 Rodriguez 2.90 4 Pastorelli 115 4 8 10 10 8hd 5 Espinoza 12.60 5 Causeididitmyway 120 5 1 4hd 6 72 61 Roman 6.80 12 Smokin B 120 10 7 71 4hd 6 72 T Baze 9.60 8 Dude's Dude 123 7 2 6hd 71 97 81 Pereira 19.50 11 Snazzy Dresser 113 9 5 1hd 1hd 41 914 Payeras 42.00 1 Stay Golden 120 1 4 82 9hd 10 10 Mt Garcia 56.50

2 VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD 51.80 15.00 7.80 7 I AM THE DANGER 3.60 3.00 3 ALL I CAN SAY 4.40

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (7-2) $442.00 $1 EXACTA (2-7) $83.60 $2 QUINELLA (2-7) $51.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (2-7-3-9) $200.75 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (2-7-3-9-4) $5,528.00 50-CENT TRIFECTA (2-7-3) $251.40

WinnerVintage Hollywood Ch.g.3 by Country Day out of Hollywood and Wine, by Tactical Cat. Bred by Harry L. Landry (NY). Trainer: Victor L. Garcia. Owner: Garcia, Juan J., Moreno, Miguel and Zennedjian, Chris. Mutuel Pool $308,260 Daily Double Pool $99,641 Exacta Pool $184,040 Quinella Pool $8,152 Superfecta Pool $101,065 Super High Five Pool $21,731 Trifecta Pool $128,308. ClaimedI Am the Danger by R3 Racing, Rodriguez, Leo, Tucker, Terri and Westside Racing. Trainer: Doug O'Neill. ClaimedCauseididitmyway by Tricar Stables, Inc. Trainer: Sal Gonzalez. ScratchedMr Classical, Turnaround. $1 Pick Three (9-7-2) paid $756.60. Pick Three Pool $112,831. 50-Cent Pick Four (6/10/13/14-9-7-2) 4 correct paid $1,623.45. Pick Four Pool $433,670. 50-Cent Pick Five (8-6/10/13/14-9-7-2) 5 correct paid $16,001.50. Pick Five Pool $272,562. $2 Pick Six (2-8-6/10/13/14-9-7-2) 4 out of 6 paid $187.80. Pick Six Pool $73,824. Pick Six Carryover $39,440. $2 Pick Six Jackpot (2-8-6/10/13/14-9-7-2) . Pick Six Jackpot Carryover $38,836. $1 Place Pick All 8 correct paid $1,673.40. Place Pick All Pool $26,313.

VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD broke out and bumped a rival then was bumped by another foe early, stalked a bit off the rail, came three deep into the stretch, rallied under urging to the lead three wide in late stretch and proved best. I AM THE DANGER stalked between horses, bid three deep leaving the turn to gain the advantage in the stretch, fought back between foes late and held second. ALL I CAN SAY squeezed some at the start then in tight early, chased off the rail, angled in nearing the stretch and finished well along the inside. WILD VERSE angled in and dueled a bit off the rail then inside on the turn, came a bit off the fence in the stretch and was outfinished. PASTORELLI settled outside a rival then just off the rail, came out in the stretch and found his best stride late. CAUSEIDIDITMYWAY stalked between horses then outside a rival into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. SMOKIN B stalked outside then five wide into the turn, continued four wide on the turn and into the stretch and did not rally. DUDE'S DUDE chased between foes then three wide between horses on the turn, came three wide into the stretch and weakened. SNAZZY DRESSER dueled outside a rival, battled between foes on the turn as the rider lost the whip midway on the bend and weakened in the drive. STAY GOLDEN came out and bumped the winner just after the start, saved ground chasing the pace, dropped back on the turn and gave way.
Fare: From LAX to Guatemala City, $369 round trip, including all taxes and fees, on AeroMexico.

Restrictions: This sale fare, subject to availability, expires Sept. 2. It is valid for travel through March 31. Travel around the holidays is blacked out.

Info: AeroMexico, (800) 237-6639,

Source: Airfarewatchdog

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travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
After months of urging American travelers to avoid Cuba and noting that mysterious attacks caused ailments among U.S. Embassy workers there, the U.S. State Department on Thursday softened its language and instead recommended visitors use increased caution.

The agency continues to blame the maladies on deliberate attacks, perhaps sonic, in late 2016 and 2017, but we are unable to identify the source, the travel advisory noted.

The change in status moves the island nation from the State Departments Level 3 (reconsider travel to Cuba) to Level 2  the same label currently attached to Mexico and Colombia, where crime concerns are cited.

Its significant, said Tom Popper, president of tour company InsightCuba. Itll make some people feel more comfortable.

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The move follows four years of dramatically changing fortunes for Cubas travel industry.

Curious travelers raced in and airlines and cruise lines and hotels rushed to capitalize on then-President Obamas loosening of longstanding restrictions in 2014. Then came 2017, bringing tough talk about new restrictions by the Trump administration, revelation of the embassy illnesses and damages from Hurricane Irma in September.

Non-family visits by Americans to Cuba dropped 24% in the first half of 2018, Reuters has reported. Alaska Airlines, which started daily flights between LAX and Havana in January 2017, stopped them in January 2018.

Although nobodys certain what to expect next, experts say travelers can count on two things:

First, there will be cruise ships.

Second, its still possible to visit Cuba as an independent traveler or with a group. You can fly on a U.S.-based airline and, for that matter, return with cigars and rum. But fewer people are doing it.

By Reuters figures, about 266,000 travelers made the journey to the island from January through June. Overall tourism to the island nation was down about 5% during that time, despite a 45% increase in travelers arriving by cruise ship.

Cuba-watchers say you can blame some of the slump in American visitors on Hurricane Irma. Others say Cubas popularity was bound to cool off after the rush of first-time visitors in recent years. But several travel industry veterans said they trace most of the slowdown to fears over the embassy illnesses and the Trump administrations tough talk against the nations Communist leaders.

Even though the administrations revisions to Cuban travel policy wound up being relatively minor, they said, Trumps rhetorical attacks against the nations Communist leaders hit hard.

A lot of people seem to be under the assumption that Trump slammed the door shut, said author Christopher P. Baker, who wrote the current Moon Cuba guidebook and has led Cuba trips for six tour operators. For tour companies, its really been a bit of a disaster.

Janet Moore, owner of the Long Beach-based tour operator Distant Horizons, said in an email that her Cuba bookings are down about 40%, even though in reality the restrictions didnt really change at all.

Many statistics are hard to come by, partly because some Americans make covert visits to Cuba by way of Mexico. But Moore and Baker and two other Cuban travel and trade professionals said they thought American individual travel to Cuba also had decreased, though less steeply than group travel.

Trump first vowed to tighten limits on Cuba in June 2017, saying he was canceling the last administrations completely one-sided deal, made by President Obama in 2014. When the specific policy revisions went into effect in November, they were less dramatic than that. Airlines and cruise lines could still carry Americans to Cuba, for instance, and Americans could still bring back rum and cigars.

The only substantial change, tour operators said, was a new ban on direct dealings with dozens of hotels, stores, tourist agencies and other enterprises linked to Cuban military and intelligence agencies.

And then there were those ailing embassy workers. About 25 staffers reported maladies including hearing loss, headaches and fatigue, prompting the State Department to withdraw most of its personnel from Havana in 2017. FBI investigators were unable to find a cause for the injuries, and Cubans officials have denied responsibility.

After the Trump and embassy headlines, It was incredible, the amount of people who thought [Cuba as a destination] was done, said InsightCubas Popper, who estimated that his company took 5,500 passengers to the island in 2016 and about 3,000 in 2017.

Since May, Popper said, the slump has been turning around, and now were in our fourth straight month of double-digit growth.

Although the laws havent changed much, the hassle component is higher than with most other destinations, said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

The beneficiaries have been the cruise lines, Kavulich said, noting that they can give passengers a U.S. government-approved glimpse of the island while largely shielding them from the subtleties of U.S.-Cuba travel restrictions.

Cruise traffic to Cuban ports, which restarted in 2016 after a hiatus of nearly 40 years, these days include ships from Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and others.

What does all this mean for a traveler considering Cuba?

First, its still a illegal for Americans to be old-fashioned tourists there. Thats an outgrowth of a U.S. embargo that dates to the early years of Fidel Castros Communist regime in the 1960s.

Although many restrictions were loosened, an American traveler to Cuba still needs to build a trip that falls under one of 12 categories of authorized travel as defined by the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control. (Among them: family visits, government business, journalism, educational activities, religious activities.)

If your trip falls under one of those categories, you need not seek a license in advance. But it would be wise to keep good notes what you did on the island.

Second, solo travelers should know that Treasury officials have a new term for those who are permitted to visit Cuba on their own, without a group or family affiliation. Those trips used to be considered people to people educational activities. Now theyre known as Support for the Cuban People trips.

To legally make such a trip, the Treasury Department says, travelers must arrange and document a full-time schedule of activities that promote democracy or strengthen civil society and involve meaningful interaction with Cuban individuals.

This could include stays in private Cuban residences (known as casas particulares) and meals at privately owned Cuban restaurants (known as paladares). But no advance paperwork is required.

Anyone can go to Cuba as long as they tick the Support [for] the Cuban People box when buying their tickets, Moore said.

Third, despite the recent slump, the travel marketplace in Cuba has been growing fast for several years, which gives visitors more options.

Tourism officials counted about 4.7 million international visitors last year, about 619,000 of them Americans. Baker noted that Cuba has a growing variety of small lodgings and hundreds of Airbnb listings, many of which are priced below the rates at larger hotels.

Fourth, if you do go to Havana, the State Department urges visitors to avoid the Hotel Nacional and Hotel Capri, where some of the mysterious sonic attacks are said to have occurred.

Fifth, if youre thinking about slipping into Cuba by way of Mexico and withholding that information from the U.S. government when you return, remember that its still illegal.

The Treasury Department isnt the only U.S. agency that could punish you or withhold privileges.

As one couple recently learned after acknowledging a previously undisclosed Cuba trip, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials wont issue a Global Entry card (designed to speed the passage of trusted travelers through Customs lines) to anyone it believes is lying or withholding information.

christopher.reynolds@latimes.com

Follow Reynolds on Twitter: @MrCSReynolds
Zimbabwes highest court upheld the slim victory of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in last months historic election, dismissing the oppositions legal challenge to official results in a blow to millions of Zimbabweans who voted to end nearly four decades of rule under the party of former leader Robert Mugabe.

On Friday, the nine judges on the bench of the Constitutional Court in Harare unanimously ruled that opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change did not provide enough evidence to support his claim that he won the popular vote and election results were rigged in favor of Mnangagwa.

The court finds the applicant has failed to place before it clear, direct, sufficient and credible evidence that the irregularities that he alleges marred the election process materially existed, said Chief Justice Luke Malaba on Friday.

It is not for the court to decide elections.  It is the duty of the court to strive in the public interest to sustain that which the people have expressed their will in, he said, before declaring Mnangagwa the winner of the July 30 election.

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Mnangagwa, who took over after Mugabe was ousted in November, won the election with 50.6% of the vote to Chamisas 44.3%. He was expected to be inaugurated within 48 hours.

He and the ruling ZANU-PF party now face the onerous task of governing a deeply divided nation  and convincing people inside and outside Zimbabwe that the same party that has been in power since 1980 can improve on the dismal economic and human rights records of the Mugabe era.

Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first, Mnangagwa said in a statement on Twitter after the ruling. Let us all now put our differences behind us. It is time to move forward together.

On Friday, Chamisa tweeted to his supporters. I hear your cries & feel your pain, he said. I know you feel cheated, but take heart  your victory is not lost. Your will is sacred & well listen to you on the path of peace & course of action to be taken to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption & dishonesty.

For months, Zimbabweans have listened to similar campaign promises by both leaders: that they would work to bring international investment back to the country, solve the debilitating cash shortage, improve tired infrastructure and deliver much-needed jobs.

An unprecedented number of voters turned out to cast their ballots in last months election. Though voting day was mostly peaceful, two days later, the army opened fire on an opposition demonstration and bystanders in Harare, the capital, killing six people and injuring many more.

In the days that followed, opposition leaders and human rights groups said police and the military continued to crack down on opposition supporters around the country, arresting, harassing and beating people up in the middle of the night.

Chamisa said he was confident he had won the popular vote soon after the polls closed. On Aug. 10, he lodged his challenge with the courts, alleging multiple irregularities with the electoral process, including the recording of votes from ghost polling stations as well as from polling stations that recorded more votes than registered voters.

Its like a kid was playing with the figures, said Thabani Mpofu, a lawyer who represented Chamisa in court this week. That, with respect, is not how an election is conducted.

The court, however, ultimately disagreed, saying Chamisa not only failed to present sufficient evidence, but did not use the legal tools at his disposal to dispute the vote, including seeking an immediate recount and demanding to have the ballot boxes unsealed.

The lawmakers in their wisdom created an avenue for the applicant to ensure he had all the evidence necessary to prove his case if he so wished to challenge the result, Malaba said. Time was on his side to obtain such evidence.

Investors and international donors seen as pivotal to reviving the economy will now be watching closely to see the final reports on elections from international observer missions invited to monitor the polls for the first time in years.

Preliminary findings from European and U.S. monitoring teams praised the peaceful vote, but raised concerns over the overt bias in the state media in the run-up to the election and intimidation of opposition supporters, among other problems.

After the deadly postelection crackdown on protesters, which Mnangagwa pledged to investigate, several diplomatic missions condemned the violence.

Mahr is a special correspondent.

UPDATES:

1:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the opposition candidate whose challenge the court rejected Friday.

This article was originally published at 9:45 a.m.
Britain leaving the European Union without an exit deal could mean substantial disruption to everyday life, the government said Thursday, from higher credit card payments to a loss of banking and pension services and even to redesigned cigarette packages.

The government emphasized that an exit deal with the bloc of 27 other nations was still expected by early next year but said a series of technical documents would provide contingency plans in case no deal is reached.

In addition to financial services, the documents on planning for no deal cover areas including medical products and extra customs checks and duties at borders.

Dominic Raab, the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, tried to strike an upbeat tone during a speech in London in which he unveiled carefully worded technical notices.

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I am confident a good deal is within our sights, he said. That remains our top priority. It remains our overriding priority.

The Brexit chief also addressed concerns Thursday that have appeared in the British press about a so-called sandwich famine that would be caused by an ingredient shortage in a no-deal scenario.

Let me assure you that, contrary to one of the wilder claims, you will still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit, and there are no plans to deploy the Army to maintain food supplies, he said.

Raab stressed that he remained confident a good deal was not just possible but well within the governments grasp and that the documents were merely contingency plans so that all eventualities had been accounted for.

But they were promptly pounced on by the opposition Labor Partys Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, who said that if Britain bowed out of the EU without a concrete deal, it would signify a complete failure of the governments negotiating strategy.

The documents are the first of a series of papers that the government will be publishing in the coming months aimed specifically at dealing with what happens if the two sides cannot agree on what their future relationship will look like.

They cover a range of industries from farming to the financial services and medicine, and they represent the first time the government has so plainly laid out what could happen to the post-Brexit landscape if no deal is reached.

New health warnings would also have to be designed for cigarette packets, as the current images are copyrighted to the EU, and medicines would have to go through a national assessment process before they could be sold in the UK, which could cause delays.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged drug companies to stockpile six weeks worth of medicines in case certain routes through the EU face delays if no deal is reached.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, Britains finance minister, said in a letter to the Treasury Committee, also published Thursday, that there could be a 7.7% hit to gross domestic product if Britain leaves the EU without an agreement about how goods and services will flow after Brexit.

Britains membership in the European Union is expected to end March 29, 2019, when its access to the blocs single market and customs union would cease.

Negotiations aimed at ensuring a smooth transition from being a member to merely a trading partner have been underway since March 2017, when Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which formally began divorce proceedings.

There has been rampant infighting within Mays Conservative Party over what Brexit should look like and incessant rumors about leadership challenges. Two high-profile Cabinet members  former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and former Brexit Secretary David Davis  resigned in July in disagreement over the way the negotiations were being handled.

And despite Mays attempts to unite the country with her Brexit strategy, polls show the general public appears to be virtually as divided as it was the day after the 2016 referendum vote in which 52% of the country voted to leave and 48% voted to remain.

May has maintained that leaving the EU without any deal would be better than leaving with a bad deal, but until recently that seemed to be more rhetoric than reality.

Calls for a referendum on the final Brexit deal  the so-called Peoples Vote campaign  have started to gain pace amid fears from some voters that a no-deal scenario would be disastrous.

The multimillionaire owner of the clothing brand Superdry gave 1 million pounds, about $1.28 million, to the campaign last week saying he saw a genuine chance to turn [Brexit] around.

There have also been dire warnings about the effect that no deal could have from other groups, including police chiefs, emergency services and the farmers union.

Pro-Brexit campaigners describe doomsday scenarios as Project Fear, but Barney Scholes, spokesman for the Peoples Vote campaign, said Thursday that he believed a crunch point was approaching.

More and more people, from every region and nation, from all walks of life, are demanding a Peoples Vote on any Brexit deal or the outcome of negotiations, Scholes said.

Boyle is a special correspondent.
In an indication of how much U.S.-Mexico relations have deteriorated, a weeks-long pause in insults from President Trump apparently counts as progress.

I appreciate the respect that President Trump has shown us, Mexicos president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said Friday in a news conference. I am also thankful that until now he has been very prudent in referring to Mexicans and has not made offensive comments. All of this I have to recognize and appreciate.

Lopez Obrador, who won the presidency in a landslide last month and is scheduled to take office in December, also said that progress was being made in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the regional pact that Trump has repeatedly labelled a disaster for U.S. workers and industry.

Both countries have been trying to soothe the diplomatic discord that Trump began sowing even before he took office.

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Mexicos outgoing president, Enrique Pena Nieto, twice canceled planned trips to Washington to meet Trump because of the U.S. presidents demand that Mexico pay for his administrations planned wall on the U.S. side of the two nations lengthy land border.

People here of all backgrounds and political outlooks remain outraged at Trumps characterization of Mexicans as criminals and rapists and his insistence that Mexico pay for the wall.

Many observers once predicted that Lopez Obradors deeply nationalist stance and outspoken support for Mexican immigrants in the United States would put him on a collision course with Trump.

Now, thanks largely to Lopez Obradors conciliatory tone, they are talking about a possible reset of U.S.-Mexico relations.

We seek a very good relationship with the United States and with all the countries of the world, Lopez Obrador said on Friday. We think we need a good neighborhood, to achieve a relationship of respect and cooperation for progress, and until now things are going well.

Trump telephoned Lopez Obrador to congratulate him the day after his victory in early July and subsequently called him a terrific person. Both nations are talking about doing something very dramatic, very positive, for both countries, Trump said last month.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist populist, has invited Trump to his inauguration.

And as Lopez Obrador noted Friday, there has been a noticeable absence of anti-Mexico comments and tweets from the U.S. president.

The most recent blow-up was in June, when Trump complained that Mexico has failed to act to stop U.S.-bound migrants and is doing nothing for us except taking our money and sending us drugs.

In recent weeks, both Mexican and U.S. authorities have reaffirmed their desire to cooperate on a range of issues, including border security, drug trafficking and illicit immigration.

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and other U.S. officials flew to Mexico in July and met with Lopez Obrador and his top advisors.

During the visit, Pompeo acknowledged that there had been bumps in the road between our two countries, but said Trump was determined to make the relationship between our peoples better and stronger.

Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Twitter: @PmcdonnellLAT
A proposed 500-gallon gas tank at a boat rental place on Del Prado Boulevard has nearby residents protesting, afraid that an already polluted canal could get much worse.

The companys owners, though, are saying the pollution concerns are overblown, and that the business needs the tank to fill the boats they rent to remain profitable.

The Cape Coral City Council will consider both sides of the argument during a special meeting Monday at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Paradise Boat Rental, at 3013 Del Prado Blvd., is seeking a special exception to install a gas tank and pump near the canal for its own use, to fill the boats they are renting, said new owner Michael Dixon, who adds the pump will not increase boat traffic or increase pollution in the canal.

We agreed under the order we would not sell to the outside and only our own employees will be properly trained to dispense it, Dixon said.

It would be like a car rental place, in that if the car is rented to you with a full tank, you would return it with a full tank. The same would go for the boat, said Dixon, who added it has become a problem because some boaters dont want to wait to fill up.

The issue is when there isnt enough gas in the boat to rent it, we have to go to the Boat House to get gas or filling five-gallon jugs. Were trying to get away from that, Dixon said.

As for the pollution issue, Dixon, who became the owner in November, believes its more hyperbole than fact. It is something he said he has tried to tell the neighbors.

People have this idea it will be the next Exxon-Valdez and its not a good analogy. Its really bordering on the verge of hysteria with all the misinformation, Dixon said.

The owner of the building, Bob Gennaro, filed for a special exception to dispense fuel on the property.

The attorney representing the residents of the Cornwallis and Palaco Grande neighborhood associations, former Cape Coral mayor Eric Feichthaler, said their concerns are justified with more then 500 people signing a petition against the proposal, including some who live just a few yards from where the pumps will be.

The special exception has to be for a self-service gas station like a 7-Eleven. This isnt like that. A trained person will be refueling, Feichthaler said. Right there the application should fail on its face.

Feichthaler also said the way the building is situated, there is no room for a tank in regards to setback to follow the code of ordinances, and that the buildings owner has nothing to do with the business, so the applicant should be Dixon, even though he doesnt own the building.

Feichthaler said he agrees that the boat rental place should run like a car rental, but that renters should fill the tank at the nearby Yacht Club.

Its just not permitted under the law to allow for this full-service tank without proper setbacks to go next to a strip mall. It doesnt make sense, Feichthaler said. I hope the City Council will understand the ordinance on this and if they do, that they will deny it.
Residents have the opportunity to send their goodness to go this September without ever having to leave their home to take part, thanks to the new Sustainable Outreach Society.

Initiative leader and facilitator Chris Spiro said people had tired of paying money to attend the traditional Save Our Summer: Feed the Cape event and then donating more to take part.

We are at the time in the economy where people are being asked to do a lot of things right now, he said.

So they came up with a new idea for convenient giving at any level a participant might choose.

Spiro and his team envisioned an event where you dont have to dress up. You dont have to buy a drink. You dont have to pay an admission charge. You just have to go to a website.

Sept. 13 has been declared as Cape Coral and County Goodness to Go Day.

Organizers are encouraging people to visit sosgoodnesstogo.com and fill out a form, which includes a first and last name, address, phone number and email. On Sept. 13 a group of volunteers will visit those homes to pick up the bag of food, check or gift cards they wish to donate to the cause.

We are going to show up, pick it up and leave. We will leave a little card and tell you that you are a member of the Sustainable Outreach Society, Spiro said. Its the next evolution of the SOS event.

All participants need to do is place the items on their porch, or near their front door out of the sun on the designated Goodness-To-Go-Day Sept. 13.

The kickoff for the event began Thursday, Aug. 16, when many partners of SOS sent emails out about the event.

My firm coordinates and conceives the idea. We send out the material. All our partners have to do is e-blast and get involved and encourage their membership to take part in that day and we will help feed the Cape, Spiro, of Spiro & Associates, said.

He said he does not care if someone can just donate one can of food, $1, or a $5 gift card.

We will come and get it because every last bit of it will make a difference, Spiro said. Anybody of any age can be involved.

The Cape Coral Caring Center, partners for this event, turns every dollar into $8 of food. So, if $100 is donated, it turns into a $800 donation.

Now you are saving lives buying big boxes of peanut butter and big bags of rice, Spiro said.

In addition to people in need of food, those who are homeless often have dogs that keep them company and so they need dog food, too.

Non-perishable specialty food stuff is needed as well.

The Cape Coral Caring Center has dog food. A lot of our folks that are in need are diabetic because they have not eaten well their entire life. We have diabetic food, Spiro said.

Six years ago, Spiro was having lunch at Mels Diner on Pine Island Road with the new general manager of FOX TV. Their discussion included news regarding 70 percent of students receiving free and reduced lunches.

A follow up question, What happens during the summer time, eventually morphed into SOS: Save Our Summer.

From there, six individuals with the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce, the Cape Coral Construction Building Industry Association, Cape Coral Council for Progress, Spiro & Associates and FOX got together to do Save Our Summer: Feed the Cape.

I didnt know where we were going to bring the food and money, Spiro said, adding that the Cape Coral Caring Center presented itself.

The first event kicked off at Rumrunners. From there, it spawned in the fifth year with a goal of $50,000 and 50,000 pounds of food.

We exceeded that goal, Spiro said.

The SOS Smack Down was held where the local Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Realtors and individuals from the building industry competed to raise the most money and food for a blinged out $15 wrestling belt.

Its a competitive event. Thats how we got to 50,000 pounds of food, Spiro said.

After that, he thought he would put the event on the shelf for a few years because he is a firm believer to not to wear something out.

In the meantime, Spiro began serving on the board for the Cape Coral Caring Center where he heard local people and organizations wanting to know when the SOS event would take place.

Spiro has a passion for helping others because he said he knows hunger. His mother and father divorced while he was growing up. There were many nights they did not know if they were going to eat until their mother got home.

The pinnacle of what Spiro remembers from those earlier years was one night in particular where they had no money and had to find ingredients in the cabinet to make a meal. That meal consisted of a box of spaghetti, a couple of eggs, butter and Kraft parmesan cheese.

Once a year we have that meal to not forget what it was like to be hungry, Spiro said.

That memory is why he plays it forward to help feed those who are hungry today.

Spiro said there are 800 children in Lee County who sleep in a car with their family hungry at night.

One in six elderly residents cannot afford three meals a day in Lee County, he added.

I didnt look the other way. My merry band of volunteers, my best friends, best clients will be there in the front row, checks in hand, boxes of food in hand. They dont say no, Spiro said.

Its about getting everybody to donate that money, donate food and donate gift cards for the Sept. 13 event.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Those kids and families deserve to give thanks and celebrate, just like you and I, Spiro said.
Stock Market News

Brent Oil - Brent Crude Oil Price Tops $75 Per Barrel 24-08-2018 03:56



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Stock Market News

US Economic Data - Turkey's economic crisis has gone off the radar  but there's a huge chance it could get a whole lot worse 24-08-2018 04:12



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Congress president Rahul Gandhi today alleged a conspiracy behind the "mysterious death" and "hurried burial" of a key witness in the Unnao murder case involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar. Gandhi took to Twitter and cited a news report, claiming that a key witness in the case "died under mysterious circumstances" and was "buried hurriedly without getting his post-mortem done".

"The mysterious death and hurried burial without an autopsy, of the key witness in the Unnao case, involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, smells of a conspiracy," the Congress president said in a tweet. "Is this your idea of 'justice for our daughters', Mr 56?" he asked, taking a swipe at Modi's claim in the run up to the 2014 general election that he had a 56-inch chest.

Gandhi is currently on a two-day visit to Germany. Yesterday, in an interaction with students of the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, he said incidents of violence against women are rising in India and women do not feel safe. "India needs to change...Men have to start viewing women as equal and with respect. I am sorry to say that men do not," he said .However, he disagreed with the suggestion that India was the worst place for women in the world. PTI
New Delhi : The Supreme Court today ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139 feet till August 31 keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the Centre's submission that the sub-committee of the Mullaperiyar dam had met on August 23 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level is maintained at 139 feet, which is two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court.

The bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management and said that the decision to lower the water limit in the dam has been taken in view of the devastating deluge in Kerala. The observation came after Tamil Nadu government alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit. The bench fixed the matter for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses in the meantime.

The Kerala government had yesterday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state. It had said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods. The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river. Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the dam as the floods in Kerala have created a havoc.
DBP grants P2-b loan to Aklan hydro project

posted August 24, 2018 at 07:50 pm by Julito G. Rada August 24, 2018 at 07:50 pm

STATE-RUN Development Bank of the Philippines, the eighth-largest lender in terms of assets, signed a P2-billion term loan agreement with a renewable energy company for the development and construction of the 18-megawatt Timbaban hydropower plant in Madalag, Aklan province. DBP president and chief executive Cecilia Borromeo said Friday the loan to Oriental Energy & Power Generation Corp. was part of the banks efforts to help broaden access to reliable and affordable electricity, especially in the countryside. DBPs loan assistance to OEPGC reflects our continuing commitment to support the efforts of renewable energy firms in their quest to introduce clean energy technology, Borromeo said.The Timbaban hydropower project involves the construction and operation of a run-off river 18-MW hydropower plant in Barangay Ma. Cristina, Madalag, Aklan. It is the first hydropower project in the country to obtain a certificate of commerciality from the Department of Energy. It expected to be completed by April of 2019.

COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.
(From left to right: Teresita de Castro - votes received from Judicial and Bar Council: 6 Appointed to Supreme Court in December 2007 by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Chairperson of SC First Division; retiring in October 2018. twice bypassed for Chief Justice post during Arroyo and Aquino III administrations, 45 years in government, started as law clerk in Office of the Clerk of Court in 1973, and named Presiding Justice of Sandiganbayan in 2004; Diosado Peralta - votes received from Judicial and Bar Council: 6 Appointed to Supreme Court in January 2009 by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, second-most senior applicant for Chief Justice; retiring in March 2022, Justice Audrey Peralta, his wife, applying to become presiding justice of Court of Appeals, wrote the ponencia that granted a heros burial to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, vows to address gaps in drug cases so they are finished within 180 days; Lucas Bersamin- votes received from Judicial and Bar Council: 5 Appointed to Supreme Court in April 2009 by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, third-most senior applicant for Chief Justice; retiring in October 2019, was Associate Justice at Court of Appeals, Presiding Judge of Quezon City Regional Trial Court, brother of former Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr. and former Abra Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin, quizzed by JBC on remarkable increases in his net worth; said he would introduce reforms in the JBC to better screen applicants, weed out corruption in judiciary

The Judicial and Bar Council on Friday submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte a shortlist of three senior associate justices of the Supreme Court as candidates for the post of chief justice, which was left vacant following the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.The seven-member council chaired by acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio approved a shortlist of nominees composed of Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin for the top post of the judiciary. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the council, revealed that De Castro and Peralta got six votes each, while Bersamin received five votes from the JBC members. The JBC approved the shortlist and subsequently transmitted the names to President Duterte for his consideration in choosing the next chief justice. The JBC voted on the shortlist of nominees despite the filing of impeachment complaints filed by opposition lawmakers against seven Supreme Court justices, including the three nominees to the top judiciary post. The vote flew in the face of the claim of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who said the decision of the associate justices to oust Sereno through a quo warranto proceeding disqualified them for the post. The mere filing of the impeachment complaint is not enough to disqualify [them], Guevarra said. The two other aspirantsAssociate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Tagum City Judge Virginia Tejano-Angdid not make it to the shortlist. Reyes failed to get needed minimum four votes to be included in the shortlist, while Ang was disqualified due to an adverse finding against her in an administrative case. Guevarra also said there was an unwritten rule that a judge cannot apply for a position two levels higher than his or her current position. Aside from Carpio and Guevarra, the JBC is also composed of ex-officio member Senator Richard Gordon, who represents Congress. The regular members include former Supreme Court Justice Jose Mendoza, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines official Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, and former judge Toribio Ilao Jr. The three shortlisted chief justice nominees were among the eight SC justices who voted to oust Sereno, despite her calls for their inhibition. De Castro, Peralta, and Bersamin are the second, third, and fourth most senior magistrates of the 15-member bench. De Castro, who has been in government and judiciary work for 45 years, will retire in October. If she is appointed, she would occupy the seat for less than two months, but the short term did not seem to faze her. During the JBCs public interview for the chief justice aspirants last week, De Castro discussed her extensive work at the Supreme Court. It is not as if I am going to start today working on projects that will benefit the Court, De Castro said, when asked what she can do if appointed chief justice.Peralta still has until 2022 before retiring from the judiciary, while Bersamin will retire next year. President Duterte has until mid-September to choose his appointee. A last-minute bid to stop the voting did npt prosper. Private citizen Rhia Ceralde filed on Friday an opposition before the JBC seeking the disqualification of the applicants who voted in favor of the quo warranto ouster of Sereno. Ceralde said De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, and Reyes do not possess the constitutional requirements of integrity, probity and independence because they voted in favor of the quo warranto ouster, which was assailed by some legal groups supporting Sereno as an unconstitutional mode of removing a chief justice. On Aug. 23, opposition lawmakers led by Lagman filed an impeachment complaints against seven justices, including the four chief justice applicants, citing their refusal to inhibit themselves from the quo warranto proceedings as basis. Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, meanwhile, has asked the House committee on justice to begin deliberations on the impeachment complaint as soon as possible. The most important thing is to expedite it one way or another so that it does not disturb the legislative agenda, Arroyo said in an ambush interview in Pampanga, where she was delivering relief to an Aeta community Friday. Arroyo was expected to have signed the transmittal letter for the House committee on rules, which will refer it to the justice committee. Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon, the panels chairman, said his committee will act on the complaint filed by opposition lawmakers as soon as it is referred to them. The Palace on Friday said the impeachment complaints filed against the seven justices had no merit. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the Palace expects that the complaint will be discarded by the House committee on justice. The Constitution states that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over quo warranto petitions. So, I dont understand why this is an impeachable offense, Roque said. Solicitor General Jose Calida, who filed the quo warranto complaint against Sereno, said the impeachment complaints would fail.

The impeachment cases against Supreme Court Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr., and Alexander Gesmundo will not see the light of day, Calida said in a statement.
It would serve as a litmus test to our defense agreement with the US should President Duterte proceed with the plan to purchase arms from Russia and China. If the sale materializes, it could put to a test whether the US military assistance pact, which we signed in 1947, is still relevant or is already a scrap of paper designed to ward off potential arms sellers. Many are saying this for it seems the sentimentalist pro-US lackeys are quivering in fear that breaking that colonial chain might invite sanction from the US. Maybe our purchase of P400 million worth of 750 RPG-7B rocket-propelled launchers from Russias state-owned Rosobonexport constitutes a violation to our defense agreement. Nonetheless, it can never be interpreted to restrain us from exercising our sovereign right as an independent state. As in our right to freely engage in trade, our military assistance was not intended to supersede our right to secure arms for our own defense and security. This is why President Duterte had to reiterate that political mantra that the Philippines will deal with any other country provided there are no strings attached. Our purchase of arms with Russia, with China or with any country not under sanction by the UN Security Council is an exercise of our right as an independent state. This cannot be aligned to what is economically, militarily and politically beneficial to the interest of the US. The US threat of sanction to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea, for its support for the Assad government in Syria, and of the charge of alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election are issues that should be resolved exclusively between the two. That should not be stretched to include the Philippines even if the US has been dangling our unflinching loyalty through the years. It does not even have the right to block our arms procurement on the basis of the oppositions claim of alleged human rights violation by the Duterte administration for its vigorous campaign against illegal drugs which they claim to have killed thousands of our people. Except for the so-called ironclad interpretation by the US of our military assistance pact, the threat of sanction is rather symptomatic of its growing insecurity, characteristic of a declining economic power. To begin with, our military assistance pact with the US is a misnomer. All our arms procurement were all paid through arms sales credit and soft loans extended to us as client-state obligated in suppressing our own people to protect their interest and in doing the dirty job of fighting for them in countries where their imperial interest has gone awry. In other words, there has never been a free meal in our relationship with our former colonizer. The second consideration which many of us have failed to take into account is that the Philippines has become the most lucrative and profitable outlet to what President Eisenhower feared as the US military industrial complex. The Philippines has become their dumping ground for outmoded war materials. Often they are being sold under pressure to countries obligated as an ally to purchase them at extortionist prices. The Philippines has become the ready market for these weapons even if they would not serve to defend this country in the event of an all-out conflict. The Philippines is simply forced to buy them to allow their own bankrupt economy afloat. It is to break from that status that is considered threat to the US economy. Take for instance our purchase of the two Hamilton-class cutters that have been docked in the US at a staggering cost of P750 million. The cutters made their debut service 40 years ago with some even considering them worthy for consignment to the worlds biggest ship graveyard in Gadani, Pakistan to be cut to pieces for scrap metal. The purchase by that lackluster Aquino administration of a dozen T-50 trainer jets, a US made Lockheed Martin, but assembled in South Korea at a fantastic cost of more than P1 billion each. The jets were reclassified F 50 to denote that they have been converted to fighter jets just to make them palatable to the public. To this, day many are wondering just how could a dozen jets which lag behind by two generations to its present class of F 35 to intercept enemy planes that might cross our sea. Most dangerous, our military assistance pact with the US has been politicized to cater to the demands of their local lackeys. The end of the Cold War has redefined US role in the South China Sea emphasizing on the US presence than in winning over its enemies. Our procurement of arms to live up to our role has become dependent on the whims that it has become evident it is their interest than that of its allies it is trying much to protect.Take the case of the terrorists siege of Marawi City. One could clearly see the pattern in the disposition of US military assistance to which it has consistently and loudly proclaimed the country as its staunch ally. It was not until after June 2018 when the US decided to deliver humanitarian assistance and for the recovery work of the City in the amount of P296.2 million. While the country is nonetheless grateful, it was expecting a military assistance consistent to an existing defense commitment that calls for that situation. Instead, the US sent drones and communications equipment for their own use and Special Forces to help in the battle which meant their direct participation in the local conflict. The use of those mat materials were intended only for their exclusive use. While China, for which we have no military assistance agreement, it donated of P1.1 billion on Nov. 15, 2017. In addition, it gave P370 million worth of weapons and heavy equipment for the rebuilding efforts of the City. Most political analysts now predict US-Philippine relations could worsen should the Duterte administration insist in acquiring weapons other than from the US. The US would logically find it odd to continue the military assistance pact with while the Philippines persist in seeking assistance from other countries. The US would argue that its commitment to defend this country would only be good and effective for as long as we extend to them a monopoly in the purchase of their costly armaments, and observing certain guidelines on how we are to use them often contrary to our own national interest. On the other hand, the Philippines cannot continue these unequal relations that have already reached its peak of contradiction that aside from being costly would subject our leaders to political blackmail. In other words, the direction to which the Duterte administration is going is telling that our mutual defense agreement with the US has already outlived its usefulness and our parting of ways would be mutually advantageous. [email protected]
Ugandas next general election isnt due for another three years, but recent developments are showing President Musevenis increasing paranoia. The arrest on trumped-up charges of the main leader of the opposition, Bobi Wine, and the subsequent revelation that he was submitted to severe torture while in jail sparked a massive wave of protests, which represents the biggest challenge to Musevenis power since the 2011 Walk to Work protests.

Yoweri Museveni came to power in January 1986 on the back of a five-year-long bloody civil war, with hundreds of thousands of casualties. Since then, Museveni has kept a firm hold on power, basing his rule on the armys support and often resorting to repressive measures aimed at neutralising his political rivals. Now in his fifth term, he was first formally elected president in 1996. Additionally, since removing the cap on the age of presidential candidates, he will now be able to stand again in 2021.

Since coming to power, Museveni has been hailed by the West as one of a new generation of African leaders transforming the continent. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright described him as a beacon of hope running a uni-party democracy in 1997. Indeed, this beacon of hope has responded in kind by posing consistently as one of the most reliable allies of US imperialism in Africa.

Having navigated through several crises over the past decades, Museveni is resorting to his tried and tested methods of intimidating the opposition to preserve his grip on power, but this time its possible that his machinations were based on miscalculation.

The removal of the presidential age cap in December 2017 led to an important boost for the opposition, rallying around the figure of a former musician, Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine.

Bobi Wine has been an MP for less than a year. As a musician his lyrics often denounced the poverty and disease that plagues Uganda. However, whilst both his music and campaigning, were critical of the government, they were relatively harmless. In 2017, though, he moved his focus towards politics. By using radical slogans and confronting the regime he managed to mobilise an important base in the youth and won a by-election for Kyadono East in central Uganda by a huge margin. This was the first warning sign for Museveni, who was supporting his own more established candidate.

I come to Arua b'se there is a war here & across Uganda. A war between the oppressor & oppressed. That war has been won in Kyadondo,Jinja,Rukungiri,Bugiri & we must win it here. We have many fighters that we must decide which fighter to send on the frontline.... pic.twitter.com/3OaTzlBPiY  BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) August 12, 2018

Wine has been vocal about giving power and agency to the youth and, in a country that holds the worlds youngest population (55% of the population is under 18, 78% under 30), this is a message that is starting to take hold. Youth unemployment in Uganda is rising, and economic growth has been slowing year on year. Whilst the next general election isnt until 2021, the ruling class knows that once a movement starts it is hard to contain. The recent fall of Mugabe is sure to be playing on Musevenis mind, and it is on that backdrop we must analyse these events.

Last week, Wine was campaigning in Arua (northern Uganda) supporting Kassiano Wadri, a candidate running independent of the main political parties. Museveni was also campaigning for a candidate from his own party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), when his car was allegedly attacked with stones. As a result, Wine and Wadri were arrested by soldiers of the Special Forces Command (SFC), the presidents praetorian guard. Despite being in jail, Wadri was declared the winner of the election. Wines driver was also shot dead, which Wine claimed was an attempt on his own life.

However, it soon came to light that those arrested were tortured to such an extent that Wine was unable to walk or speak. Museveni publicly stated that Wine had suffered no injuries and this had been confirmed by army doctors, but when his wife was eventually able to see him, she claimed he was unrecognisable. Footage has since surfaced on social media which confirms he was tortured. Musevenis blatant lies have only emboldened the response of the Ugandan people.

This has resulted in wide-scale protests on the streets of both the capital and Arua on Monday. #FreeBobiWine began trending as the capital was shut down and all mainstream oppositionists were put under house arrest or taken into police stations. The movement has spread beyond the country, with students in Nairobi protesting at the Ugandan Embassy in solidarity with all political prisoners captured by the state.

The army has responded to the protests with brutal violence. In Kampala, soldiers used tear gas to smoke out traders from their shops before beating them. Innocent bystanders and journalists were attacked with sticks in an attempt to divide the protests and drive people out of the city centre. Museveni is attempting to beat the morale out of this new layer of young people who are tired of lies, bribery and violence.

Wine was nowhere near the presidents car when it was allegedly attacked but in order to take control of the situation, guns were found in his hotel room. This allowed the court to charge him with possession of illegal firearms. Yesterday, these charges were dropped and he was released from the military court in a visibly frail manner, but he was then immediately re-arrested on grounds of treason by the civilian court. He is now detained in Gulu Prison along with thirty others where he will remain until 30 August when re-appears in court.

The Ugandan Parliament has 426 seats and the NRM holds 300 of these. This means that Museveni could afford to lose these by-elections and keep his majority in parliament. However, after his battle to remove the age limit, Museveni has made it clear that he intends to run for a sixth term and, in thirty-one years of office, he has failed to lay the path for a clear successor. Without this, and with the rise of the likes of Bobi Wine, it is increasingly important that the NRM appear to have a stable base and cling onto their loyalties.

Yoweri Museveni with the Obamas / Image: Office of the White House, Amanda Lucidon

Leaders like Museveni with ties to the anti-colonial liberation movement, however feeble they may be, were sustained for a while due to old loyalties and respect. But as the regimes crisis deepens, these loyalties no longer have significance that they had before. The masses begin to see through the hypocrisy of these people. However, a change in leadership can prepare the way for a split in the ruling class. Once a split opens up, there is the potential for the masses to move into it. We saw the beginnings of this in Zimbabwe with the protests after Mugabe resigned. The point is that this transition is a dangerous moment for the ruling class. In Uganda, Museveni is desperate to placate the masses with reforms where he can, but as the crisis deepens, he is forced to simply crush these movements with force in the hope that it deters others.

Only a few months ago, he placed a tax on social media in an attempt to shut down open discussion. Museveni represents an old, dying layer of the independence movement, who once commanded the respect of the youth but have slowly unveiled themselves to be equally reprehensible criminals upholding a system of exploitation. This is a reflection of the crisis of capitalism and the legacy of British imperialism and colonialism. There is a burning unrest amongst the masses, that is bound to express itself soon. Museveni is just one man, and he will be swept aside, but in order for Uganda to free itself of poverty, the working class must destroy the capitalist system that causes it  and go about bringing a new socialist society that is free of such horrors.
A part of me wants to hold on to this secret, but Ill share it anyway. The Bob Marshall Wilderness is absolutely the best part of Montana, bar none.

Something magical happens as I ride away from the trailhead. Maybe it is the scent of the forest. Maybe it is the sound of the creek. Maybe it is the humbling majesty of the ancient rocks towering above me.

Lisa Schmidt, Prairie Pondering

https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2018/08/23/lisa-schmidt-recalls-magic-bob-thanks-daughters-first-pack-trip/1074567002/

***

Back Country Horsemen of Montana

We are a founding member of the national organization the Back Country Horsemen of America.

http://www.bchmt.org/
BDO (Kenya) has taken cognizance of the report of the Commission of Inquiry on the sale of shares in Britam HoldingsLtd (Kenya) published in Mauritius on 27th July 2021.

Sandeep Khapre and BDO (Kenya) are taken aback by the loops and whorls in the narrative of the Report characterized by astounding inaccuracies and take strong exception to the flowery comments and prejudicial findings contained therein.

Both Sandeep Khapre and BDO (Kenya) are intent in seeking appropriate redress before the relevant courts of law.

BDO (Kenya) shall never compromise on professional integrity.

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Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
Its Halloween, which means we must be talking about Christmas. And one of the most enduring songs of the season, Jose Felicianos bilingual classic Feliz Navidad. Since last year was completely shut down, now is the time to celebrate the...
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Berlin Reporter North Country Growers misses sales agreement deadline

by Jody Houle BERLIN  North Country Growers missed another deadline, July 31, on the sales and purchase agreement to construct two large-scale greenhouses.



The project was put to halt last year after a decision was made to delay construction that was set for September of last year. Richard Rosen, the Chief Engineer of Operations for North Country Growers parent company, American AG Energy, based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Rosen said that the delay was decided because the company did not want to construct during the heavy winter months. A groundbreaking was set for April, but didn't happen, and then a July 31 deadline was missed.



The Service Credit Union loaned North Country Growers $25 million, and has provided an additional $8.3 million, and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development will provide 60 percent of the $25 million to construct the two large-scale greenhouses on East Milan Road, a $50 million project. $17 million is coming from private investors.



On June 26 of last year, the Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority approved a Purchase and Sales agreement with North Country Growers LLC in a unanimous vote during a special meeting. The City Council later approved it.



In the agreement, North Country Growers would pay $680,000 for 172 acres of land on East Milan Road to construct two large scale hydroponic greenhouses that would take up about 10 acres each. That sale was expected to be completed by March and then July 31 deadline was set. The company paid $20,000 when they signed an option on the land in February last year.



The company met with city leaders and state agencies two winters ago and the project was "well received," according to a press release.



"We've had enormous support from the City and the surrounding area," said Marguerite Piret, Chief Financial Officer of the company.



Jim Wheeler, City Manager of Berlin, confirmed that there are still current discussions on a new option.



"There are no significant developments," he said. "NCG is still actively working on their financing."



The greenhouses would be built on East Milan Road on former Georgia Pacific land if a new purchase and sale agreement goes through. The City purchased the land and added it to the industrial park. The company would use about 43 of 172 acres. The rest of the land is mostly protected wetlands.



Plans are to produce 15 million heads of lettuce per year and eight million pounds of tomatoes at the East Milan Road site to sell to restaurants and grocery stores.



The company attempted six times in the past to make the greenhouses a reality at various sites, but each time, plans fell through. BERLIN  North Country Growers missed another deadline, July 31, on the sales and purchase agreement to construct two large-scale greenhouses.The project was put to halt last year after a decision was made to delay construction that was set for September of last year. Richard Rosen, the Chief Engineer of Operations for North Country Growers parent company, American AG Energy, based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Rosen said that the delay was decided because the company did not want to construct during the heavy winter months. A groundbreaking was set for April, but didn't happen, and then a July 31 deadline was missed.The Service Credit Union loaned North Country Growers $25 million, and has provided an additional $8.3 million, and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development will provide 60 percent of the $25 million to construct the two large-scale greenhouses on East Milan Road, a $50 million project. $17 million is coming from private investors.On June 26 of last year, the Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority approved a Purchase and Sales agreement with North Country Growers LLC in a unanimous vote during a special meeting. The City Council later approved it.In the agreement, North Country Growers would pay $680,000 for 172 acres of land on East Milan Road to construct two large scale hydroponic greenhouses that would take up about 10 acres each. That sale was expected to be completed by March and then July 31 deadline was set. The company paid $20,000 when they signed an option on the land in February last year.The company met with city leaders and state agencies two winters ago and the project was "well received," according to a press release."We've had enormous support from the City and the surrounding area," said Marguerite Piret, Chief Financial Officer of the company.Jim Wheeler, City Manager of Berlin, confirmed that there are still current discussions on a new option."There are no significant developments," he said. "NCG is still actively working on their financing."The greenhouses would be built on East Milan Road on former Georgia Pacific land if a new purchase and sale agreement goes through. The City purchased the land and added it to the industrial park. The company would use about 43 of 172 acres. The rest of the land is mostly protected wetlands.Plans are to produce 15 million heads of lettuce per year and eight million pounds of tomatoes at the East Milan Road site to sell to restaurants and grocery stores.The company attempted six times in the past to make the greenhouses a reality at various sites, but each time, plans fell through.


Berlin Reporter Superior Court announces indictments

by Jody Houle LANCASTER  The grand jury at Coos County Superior Court handed down a number of indictments recently.



Michael Bernard-Daisy, 32, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of controlled drug act: acts prohibited for possession of the controlled drug buprenorphine.



Benjamin Boutin, 30, of Groveton, was indicted on a charge of possession of five or more grams of the controlled drug fentanyl with intent to sell. He was also indicted on a two counts of selling fentanyl to an individual within 1000 feet of an elementary school.



Jessica Collins, 27, of Lancaster, was indicted on three counts of selling one or more grams of the controlled drugs heroin or fentanyl to a cooperating individual working with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force. She was also indicted on a charge of conspiracy to sell one or more grams of heroin or fentanyl.



Cody Curtis, 28, of Groveton, was indicted on one count of selling the controlled drug fentanyl to a cooperating individual working with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force within 1000 feet of an elementary school. He was also indicted on two counts of accomplice to the sale of fentanyl to a cooperating individual working with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force within 1000 of an elementary school.



Warren Doucette, 37, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of theft/willful concealment for stealing a large quantity of merchandise from Walmart in Gorham. Warren has two prior convictions of theft/willful concealment.



Allegra Dyer, 33, of Berlin, was indicted on two counts of controlled drug act: acts prohibited.



Vincent Frizzell, 45, of Stratford, was indicted on 8 counts of stalking/domestic violence in violation of a protective order for contacting the victim, an intimate partner, on social media.



Katie Fysh, 33, of Groveton, was indicted on a charge of transportation of a controlled drug, five or more grams of fentanyl, with intent to sell or disperse.



David A. Levchuk, 37, was indicted on a charge of burglary.



Sean McDaniel, 47, of Portland, Maine, was indicted on a charge of second degree assault: domestic violence.



Brian K. Perry, 37, of Berlin, was indicted on two counts of operating a motor vehicle after being certified an habitual offender.



Skylar Placey, 21, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of acts prohibited for possessing the controlled drug lisdexamfetamine.



Johnny Stanford, 26, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of felonious sexual assault of a thirteen year old girl.



Scott Towle, 33, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of acts prohibited for possession of a controlled drug, marijuana, with intent to sell. LANCASTER  The grand jury at Coos County Superior Court handed down a number of indictments recently.Michael Bernard-Daisy, 32, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of controlled drug act: acts prohibited for possession of the controlled drug buprenorphine.Benjamin Boutin, 30, of Groveton, was indicted on a charge of possession of five or more grams of the controlled drug fentanyl with intent to sell. He was also indicted on a two counts of selling fentanyl to an individual within 1000 feet of an elementary school.Jessica Collins, 27, of Lancaster, was indicted on three counts of selling one or more grams of the controlled drugs heroin or fentanyl to a cooperating individual working with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force. She was also indicted on a charge of conspiracy to sell one or more grams of heroin or fentanyl.Cody Curtis, 28, of Groveton, was indicted on one count of selling the controlled drug fentanyl to a cooperating individual working with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force within 1000 feet of an elementary school. He was also indicted on two counts of accomplice to the sale of fentanyl to a cooperating individual working with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force within 1000 of an elementary school.Warren Doucette, 37, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of theft/willful concealment for stealing a large quantity of merchandise from Walmart in Gorham. Warren has two prior convictions of theft/willful concealment.Allegra Dyer, 33, of Berlin, was indicted on two counts of controlled drug act: acts prohibited.Vincent Frizzell, 45, of Stratford, was indicted on 8 counts of stalking/domestic violence in violation of a protective order for contacting the victim, an intimate partner, on social media.Katie Fysh, 33, of Groveton, was indicted on a charge of transportation of a controlled drug, five or more grams of fentanyl, with intent to sell or disperse.David A. Levchuk, 37, was indicted on a charge of burglary.Sean McDaniel, 47, of Portland, Maine, was indicted on a charge of second degree assault: domestic violence.Brian K. Perry, 37, of Berlin, was indicted on two counts of operating a motor vehicle after being certified an habitual offender.Skylar Placey, 21, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of acts prohibited for possessing the controlled drug lisdexamfetamine.Johnny Stanford, 26, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of felonious sexual assault of a thirteen year old girl.Scott Towle, 33, of Berlin, was indicted on a charge of acts prohibited for possession of a controlled drug, marijuana, with intent to sell.


Coos County Democrat Community celebrates re-dedication of Our Lady of the Mountains

Local duo behind restoration efforts honored by Pope Francis

by Justin Roshak

As the community gathered last Sunday to celebrate the re-dedication of Our Lady of the Mountains Shrine in Bretton Woods, it also honored the efforts of a pair of local men who have devoted the last five years to spearheading a complete restoration and renovation of the historic church. (Courtesy Photo) (click for larger version) BRETTON WOODS  Last Sunday, two lay members of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal, conferred by Pope Francis, in recognition of the long hours they have spent over more than years to renovate the newly re-dedicated Our Lady of the Mountains shrine.



Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Joseph Orzech first served as a pilot in the Air Force, then transitioned to the civilian sector as a commercial pilot. He retired to Dalton, New Hampshire, where he helps lead retreats in his Gate of Heaven parish.



A native of Poland, Henry Tupaj immigrated as a teenager. Along with Orzech, he repairs parish buildings on his own time, calling on his years of experience in the construction trade.



Once both had retired, they found themselves brought together by a common call to serve. Together, they set to work in 2013 to the task of restoring the shrine of Our Lady of the Mountains. All told, they worked a combined 6,000 hours in the five years since, and restored the once and future religious jewel to its former splendor, and place in the lives of its parishioners.



Our Lady of the Mountains was built in 1907, and lies well within sight of Mount Washington. At the nadir of its condition, many expected the shrine to be torn down entirely. Indeed, it might well have been declared unsafe, given the state of its roof and structure. From foundations to the roof, there was rot, damage, and decay. Though the structure retained the outline of its former magnificence, a closer look revealed manifold problems both superficial and deep-rooted.



In the course of re-construction, which touched every surface of the Gothic Revival building's interior and exterior, the two men called on their construction and woodworking skills, as well as the assistance of a crowd of well-wishing aides and donations. Such contributions included scaffolding, which allowed the men to reach the crumpling ceiling and shaky stained-glass frames.



Both men serve in the Knights of Columbus, a charitable and fraternal Catholic organization, and is indeed the largest such group. The Knights organized several teams to assist the reconstruction effort, which became over time a truly community affair.



As a result, the shrine has been resurrected, and as of last Sunday, rededicated and re-opened. In recognition of the tremendous effort and dedication which the two men put into the shrine over the past five years, they received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from His Holiness, Pope Francis.



The Bishop of Manchester, Peter Libasci, nominated the pair earlier this year. The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal is awarded for long a distinguished service to the church, for which it is named: "For Church and Pontiff." The award makes no distinction between ordained members of the church and lay devotees; indeed, it is the highest medal that can be awarded to laity by the Pope.



The Medal was first awarded in 1888, and has been awarded to both men and women, including no fewer than six queens, as well as politicians, athletes, and poets on five continents.



Pope Francis is the first Pope from the Americas, and the first non-European pope in more than one thousand years. During his tenure, he has emphasized the need for the church to connect with people's lives, and to engage them where they are. He has also looked to strengthen the church in areas traditionally neglected by political and economic elites.



Our Lady of the Mountains has encouraged all to come and see its shrine, which is a testament to the power of a few people to commit themselves to a vision and a cause. BRETTON WOODS  Last Sunday, two lay members of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal, conferred by Pope Francis, in recognition of the long hours they have spent over more than years to renovate the newly re-dedicated Our Lady of the Mountains shrine.Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Joseph Orzech first served as a pilot in the Air Force, then transitioned to the civilian sector as a commercial pilot. He retired to Dalton, New Hampshire, where he helps lead retreats in his Gate of Heaven parish.A native of Poland, Henry Tupaj immigrated as a teenager. Along with Orzech, he repairs parish buildings on his own time, calling on his years of experience in the construction trade.Once both had retired, they found themselves brought together by a common call to serve. Together, they set to work in 2013 to the task of restoring the shrine of Our Lady of the Mountains. All told, they worked a combined 6,000 hours in the five years since, and restored the once and future religious jewel to its former splendor, and place in the lives of its parishioners.Our Lady of the Mountains was built in 1907, and lies well within sight of Mount Washington. At the nadir of its condition, many expected the shrine to be torn down entirely. Indeed, it might well have been declared unsafe, given the state of its roof and structure. From foundations to the roof, there was rot, damage, and decay. Though the structure retained the outline of its former magnificence, a closer look revealed manifold problems both superficial and deep-rooted.In the course of re-construction, which touched every surface of the Gothic Revival building's interior and exterior, the two men called on their construction and woodworking skills, as well as the assistance of a crowd of well-wishing aides and donations. Such contributions included scaffolding, which allowed the men to reach the crumpling ceiling and shaky stained-glass frames.Both men serve in the Knights of Columbus, a charitable and fraternal Catholic organization, and is indeed the largest such group. The Knights organized several teams to assist the reconstruction effort, which became over time a truly community affair.As a result, the shrine has been resurrected, and as of last Sunday, rededicated and re-opened. In recognition of the tremendous effort and dedication which the two men put into the shrine over the past five years, they received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from His Holiness, Pope Francis.The Bishop of Manchester, Peter Libasci, nominated the pair earlier this year. The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal is awarded for long a distinguished service to the church, for which it is named: "For Church and Pontiff." The award makes no distinction between ordained members of the church and lay devotees; indeed, it is the highest medal that can be awarded to laity by the Pope.The Medal was first awarded in 1888, and has been awarded to both men and women, including no fewer than six queens, as well as politicians, athletes, and poets on five continents.Pope Francis is the first Pope from the Americas, and the first non-European pope in more than one thousand years. During his tenure, he has emphasized the need for the church to connect with people's lives, and to engage them where they are. He has also looked to strengthen the church in areas traditionally neglected by political and economic elites.Our Lady of the Mountains has encouraged all to come and see its shrine, which is a testament to the power of a few people to commit themselves to a vision and a cause.

Coos County Democrat WMRHS Journalism class discusses morale amid COVID Tucker is prime sponsor of new landfill bill Thanks for visiting SalmonPress.com
Newfound Landing Forum highlights local resources available to victims of sexual abuse

by Donna Rhodes write the author ALEXANDRIA  As a result of the recent incident in Bedford where school guidance counselor Kristie Torbick was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student, Alexandria Police held a community forum on Aug. 9 to discuss the topic of children and sexual or domestic assault. Joining Chief Donald Sullivan and Officer David Suckling, who is also the Chief of Police in Danbury, was Meg Kennedy Duggan of Voices Against Violence and Jessica Eskeland from the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.



Sullivan said he was outraged by the Bedford case, especially to hear character witnesses not only defend Torbick, but call the student the "pursuer." He was also incensed to listen to people talk about the relationship between the two as an "affair" when the victim was not old enough to consent to such actions.



"I'm going to use the word rape here because that's what it was. It wasn't an affair, it was rape," he said.



Rape, Sullivan noted, is one of the most underreported crimes due to the lengthy process of evidence gathering and the rigors of testimony that victims are subjected to. He stated that in Alexandria however, the police are progressive in their approach for prosecuting such crimes and do all they can to get victims any help they may need along the way.



"We want people to know they're safe here," he said.



One of the biggest resources his department has for victims is Voices Against Violence, a nonprofit organization based in Plymouth where people can find safety and support when faced with domestic or sexual violence.



Duggan explained that Voices is one of 13 crisis centers in New Hampshire that operates under the Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and covers 18 towns in the region.



"We provide direct service to survivors of assaults, bullying, and sadly, even human trafficking," she said.



Voices Against Violence works with police departments, hospitals and mental health clinics to not only get victims the help they need but to go through it all with them if needed. They also operate a 24-hour crisis hot line where people don't even have to be in the midst of a crisis to reach out to them.



In addition to those services, Duggan said they also provide public education where issues such as sexual and domestic violence are discussed, assuring people there is help available if they ever find themselves in need.



"We believe people. We want them to know we are there for them," said Duggan.



As part of that education outreach, representatives of Voices Against Violence have established relationships with many area schools, especially those in the Newfound Area School District. "Tina" from Voices also meets with health classes at the high school where they discuss not only inappropriate behaviors and assaults but how to recognize if someone they know is being victimized. For younger children, they limit talks to simpler "safe touch" and "body safety" discussions and what to do if someone violates the rules of proper contact.



"We've worked with a number of students, staff and faculty at Newfound who have come to us for help," she said.



Those present that night were pleased to hear that Newfound area children are learning not only what to do but who they can turn to for help. They hoped that parents in other districts will encourage their schools to invite Voices in to educate their students on the subject as well.



Besides Voices, Sullivan said they also work with child advocacy centers where cases involving children are handled through a team approach consisting of representatives from law enforcement, prosecutors, medical personnel and mental health experts. When an assault is reported the child meets one-on-one with a specially trained interviewer as the others listen from another room and the child's statements are recorded.



"One huge benefit of this is that the child only has to tell the story once. It's been incredibly beneficial," Sullivan said.



He also pointed out that in the case of sexual assault on a minor, the statute of limitations is different than that of other crimes. A child victim has up to 22 years from the day they turn 18 to report it.



"Anyone who was assaulted as a child who is in their 20s's or 30's should know they can still come forward," said Sullivan.



The cost of seeking professional counseling, attending court procedures and other expenses incurred by victims is sometimes a barrier in reporting a crime but Sullivan said there is now help in that situation. A Victims Compensation Fund is available through the Attorney General's Office for people who suffer financial hardship as a result of an assault.



There is also a positive side to the Bedford case, the chief stated, as it is bringing the topic of an adult/child assault to the forefront so children learn what is inappropriate and where they can turn for help. He said he was glad to hear that students in Bedford also rallied to support their classmate by sending more than 60 letters to the court before the trial was held.



"Hopefully the next generation coming up is already well on their way to being on the right side of things like this," Sullivan said.



To learn more about Voices Against Violence or the N.H. Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence please visit their Web sites, ALEXANDRIA  As a result of the recent incident in Bedford where school guidance counselor Kristie Torbick was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student, Alexandria Police held a community forum on Aug. 9 to discuss the topic of children and sexual or domestic assault. Joining Chief Donald Sullivan and Officer David Suckling, who is also the Chief of Police in Danbury, was Meg Kennedy Duggan of Voices Against Violence and Jessica Eskeland from the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.Sullivan said he was outraged by the Bedford case, especially to hear character witnesses not only defend Torbick, but call the student the "pursuer." He was also incensed to listen to people talk about the relationship between the two as an "affair" when the victim was not old enough to consent to such actions."I'm going to use the word rape here because that's what it was. It wasn't an affair, it was rape," he said.Rape, Sullivan noted, is one of the most underreported crimes due to the lengthy process of evidence gathering and the rigors of testimony that victims are subjected to. He stated that in Alexandria however, the police are progressive in their approach for prosecuting such crimes and do all they can to get victims any help they may need along the way."We want people to know they're safe here," he said.One of the biggest resources his department has for victims is Voices Against Violence, a nonprofit organization based in Plymouth where people can find safety and support when faced with domestic or sexual violence.Duggan explained that Voices is one of 13 crisis centers in New Hampshire that operates under the Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and covers 18 towns in the region."We provide direct service to survivors of assaults, bullying, and sadly, even human trafficking," she said.Voices Against Violence works with police departments, hospitals and mental health clinics to not only get victims the help they need but to go through it all with them if needed. They also operate a 24-hour crisis hot line where people don't even have to be in the midst of a crisis to reach out to them.In addition to those services, Duggan said they also provide public education where issues such as sexual and domestic violence are discussed, assuring people there is help available if they ever find themselves in need."We believe people. We want them to know we are there for them," said Duggan.As part of that education outreach, representatives of Voices Against Violence have established relationships with many area schools, especially those in the Newfound Area School District. "Tina" from Voices also meets with health classes at the high school where they discuss not only inappropriate behaviors and assaults but how to recognize if someone they know is being victimized. For younger children, they limit talks to simpler "safe touch" and "body safety" discussions and what to do if someone violates the rules of proper contact."We've worked with a number of students, staff and faculty at Newfound who have come to us for help," she said.Those present that night were pleased to hear that Newfound area children are learning not only what to do but who they can turn to for help. They hoped that parents in other districts will encourage their schools to invite Voices in to educate their students on the subject as well.Besides Voices, Sullivan said they also work with child advocacy centers where cases involving children are handled through a team approach consisting of representatives from law enforcement, prosecutors, medical personnel and mental health experts. When an assault is reported the child meets one-on-one with a specially trained interviewer as the others listen from another room and the child's statements are recorded."One huge benefit of this is that the child only has to tell the story once. It's been incredibly beneficial," Sullivan said.He also pointed out that in the case of sexual assault on a minor, the statute of limitations is different than that of other crimes. A child victim has up to 22 years from the day they turn 18 to report it."Anyone who was assaulted as a child who is in their 20s's or 30's should know they can still come forward," said Sullivan.The cost of seeking professional counseling, attending court procedures and other expenses incurred by victims is sometimes a barrier in reporting a crime but Sullivan said there is now help in that situation. A Victims Compensation Fund is available through the Attorney General's Office for people who suffer financial hardship as a result of an assault.There is also a positive side to the Bedford case, the chief stated, as it is bringing the topic of an adult/child assault to the forefront so children learn what is inappropriate and where they can turn for help. He said he was glad to hear that students in Bedford also rallied to support their classmate by sending more than 60 letters to the court before the trial was held."Hopefully the next generation coming up is already well on their way to being on the right side of things like this," Sullivan said.To learn more about Voices Against Violence or the N.H. Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence please visit their Web sites, www.voicesagainstviolence.net and www.nhcadsv.org

Newfound Landing Fundraiser celebrates former Alexandria resident's love for animals Playoff battle of the Bears goes to Newfound Recent Donna Rhodes Fundraiser celebrates former Alexandria residents love for animals

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By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: With the 180-day deadline for resolving loan defaults ends on August 27, State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Arijit Basu on Friday said that lenders are reaching on a consensus over several stressed loans in the power sector. At least seven to eight power sector projects worth Rs 17,000 crore are expected to be resolved soon, he said.

We have examined 13-14 accounts that would entail changes in management and investment. Of these, we are looking into seven to eight accounts very closely, to get some consensus among the banks, Basu said on the sidelines of a Banking Conclave in New Delhi.

The SBI is in talks with other banks over the potential resolution and, Basu said, many investors have already expressed their interest.

There are investors who have expressed interest (in resolution of loan defaults) and we are in the advanced stage as far as these accounts are concerned. We should be able to conclude some of these very soon, he said.

On February 12, the Reserve Bank of India replaced a dozen asset resolution mechanisms with just one in tandem with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Under the rule, the central bank has set a strict timeline for classifying and resolving loan defaults, failing which the accounts will be transferred to the National Company Law Tribunal for resolution under the IBC.

According to the circular which came into effect on March 1, the 180-day deadline of many stressed loans would end on August 27. Analysts say around 70-80 accounts in the power sector may go to NCLT as banks are finding it difficult to resolve their bad loans.

When asked, Basu said that the banks have already referred many cases already.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Mahindra World City (MWC) is spreading its wings in Chennai launching its fifth mid-premium residential project Lakewoods on Thursday and on course to set-up a 270-acre industrial park in North Chennai.

MWC has already pumped-in over 5,000 crores in its landmark 1,500-acre integrated city near Chengalpattu, where over 65 global companies, including BMW, Infosys, Force Motors, Fujitec and Lear Automotive set-up their facilities.

Now, Lakewood comprising nine 14-storied towers, with 747 apartments in 2 BHK and 3 BHK configuration is drawing a good response. Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TN RERA) approval has been obtained for the first phase of the project, consisting of 249 units across three towers, said Sangeeta Prasad, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Lifespaces Developers Ltd.

She said a 2 BHK apartment can be purchased at `40 lakh, which is not exorbitant. We dont want to be labelled as elitist. Seventy per cent of the inventory is 2 BHK. P Vijayan, Business Head (Residential), MWC, said more than 2,000 families are staying in four residential complexes that are almost sold out.

On the proposed industrial park ORIGINS in North Chennai, Sangeetha said the good news is expected next quarter. We have seeded the market. We are in advance talks with a couple of customers. Shyam Kalyanasundaram, Business Head, ORIGINS, said the core infrastructure development was going on in full swing.
Vaishali Vijaykumar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Music has no barriers might be a cliched phrase, but three students from the Atomic Energy Central School in Kudankulam, stand testimony to that. Of the 200 students from the school  Rajesh Viswa Sudhan, Pavithra Anup, and Nishchita Bandekar  got an opportunity to be part of Nuclear Kids, an international musical programme held in Russia and Hungary. They were among the 79 kids, who were chosen from different countries.

This year we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Nuclear Kids project. The kids from India are naturally talented, and unbelievably creative when it comes to singing and dancing, said Andrey Shevlyakov, CEO, Rosatom South Asia. Nuclear Kids is also the International Childrens Creativity Project. It is organised annually by Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM). The children of Kudankulam school have participated in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2017.

The three students returned to India last week after a two-month trip. We had to record a music or dance performance in a CD, and give it to the school. The management chose three students. While we have not had the opportunity to tour our own country, the visit to Russia and Hungary was exhilarating. This was the first time we stayed away from our family. Our parents were nervous to send us initially, but were convinced as this was a one-time opportunity.

The experience has completely transformed us, shared Nishchita, a class 10 student. The kids parents work at the nuclear power plant in Tirunelveli district.

After a month-long rehearsal in Hungary, the kids trained to perform with children from other countries like Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Croatia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. This years musical performance was titled The Lomonosovs Scroll. It was a tribute to Mikhail Lomonosov, a popular Russian scientist of the 18th century.

The students performed in the premiere show held on August 4 in Szekszard (Hungary), followed by guest performances in Russia including Moscow, and Ekaterinburg. Rajesh played the role of a tough cop, Pavithra played a guest and Nishchita played the wife of a rich man.

It was a proud moment to perform before an international audience for the first time. Although the language was a barrier initially, we managed with Google Translator. The best part was fitting into the costumes meticulously designed for the roles. Given a chance, we can perform on any stage, says Rajesh, a class 9 student.

During their stay, the kids were split into six teams. Although ice-breaking was the first step, gradually they were trained through games and fun learning methods. Some of the sessions included coping mechanisms, body language movements, psychological guidance, personal acting sessions, and interactions. This helped the kids to not only perform with ease but also covered other aspects of personality development skills.

The students made us proud once again. The international environment helped shape their creative abilities. They learned to communicate better and were acquainted with different traditions. The parents of the girls were a little apprehensive, but everything went on smoothly, and the kids managed independently, says a teacher who accompanied and dropped them at Russia.

Recollecting the memorable days, Pavithra, a class 9 student said, We toured around Russia and also covered two secret cities  Mayak and Azov. During the trip, we fell in love with Russia especially for the discipline and road safety they followed. The weather was hot and we missed home food. Bidding good-bye was hard because we bonded together as a family.
By PTI

MUMBAI: The builder of a residential high-rise in Mumbai's Dadar area, where at least four people were killed in a fire, was on Thursday remanded to police custody till August 27 by a local court.

The builder, Abdul Razak Ismail Supariwala, was arrested by the Bhoiwada police on Wednesday, hours after the broke out at the 12th floor of the posh Crystal Tower building.

He was booked under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

Supariwala was also booked under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Act 2006.

He was produced before the Bhoiwada Metropolitan Magistrate Court which remanded him to police custody till August 27, a senior police officer said.

Twenty-one people were injured in the fire.

Nearly three dozen people were rescued from the building.

The 17-storey building did not have the mandatory Occupation Certificate granted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), but it was already occupied by around 58 flat owners, according to the civic body.

The civic body had in October 2016 issued a notice to the builder and the 58 occupants to vacate the building within seven days, but it was challenged in the court and the matter is still sub-judice, the BMC said in a statement yesterday.

Renovation work was underway on the affected floor but the exact reason behind the blaze would be known only after a thorough investigation, an official had said.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Once upon a time, there was a little girl, who, perched on the arm of her grandfather, would watch sounding rockets fly up into the sky. Ramakrishna Pillai, the grandfather, is no more, but his granddaughter has recently appointed the head of the ISRO directorate in Bangalore that is in charge of Gaganyaan - the space agencys ambitious human spaceflight programme (HSP).

He was a mathematician and he was interested in such things, recalls V R Lalithambika who hails from Thiruvananthapuram. In those days, there was a sounding rocket launch every Wednesday evening at 7.30 pm and you could see it fly. The control systems specialist who was until recently was deputy director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) has now shifted to Bangalore for her new assignment.

Two weeks back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a huge fillip to HSP with an Independence Day announcement that India would put an astronaut into space by 2022. The HSP has been in the works for some time with a team of scientists and engineers at VSSC and other ISRO units working on its various aspects. ISRO had tested the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III (GSLV Mk III) as well as the crew module prototype among other things.

Its a joint effort. A lot of people have been working on it for some years now. ISROs like a big family. Its my good fortune that I work in such a place, says Lalithambika who describes Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, as a great visionary.

With a career spanning three decades in ISRO, Lalithambika has been part of many of the space agencys historic missions. Lalithambika is an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET), where she did her BTech and MTech.

Her MTech was in control systems, which, in laymans terms, is what makes rockets fly accurately. Her PhD, which she took after joining VSSC, also was on the same topic.

Its a challenging task, she says of her job. Lalithambika had joined VSSC in 1988, after brief stints at the NIT and FACT. She rose to become a deputy director in 2014. Lalithambika is married to Pradeep Kumar, a former pollution control board senior engineer.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri says senior journalist Kuldip Nayar, who was an "encyclopedia of Indian politics", made him realise how much India had been exploited by "certain governments" for the benefit of "certain leaders" and told him a vital angle about former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's mysterious death.

Born on August 14, 1923, in Sialkot (Pakistan), Nayar was among the country's first syndicated columnists and wrote several books. Nayar, 95, breathed his last at the Escorts Hospital at 12.30 am on Thursday.

Agnihotri worked with Nayar on his ambitious project "The Tashkent Files", a film dedicated to Shastri.

The filmmaker says Nayar trusted him with a vital secret for the film, and hopes he can do justice to it.

"He was not just a tall man, he was a towering personality. He had seen India from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi to emergency to the current scenario. He was an old school journalist. Ideologically, many times I didn't like his 'liberal' ways but I always had utmost respect for his journalism," Agnihotri told IANS in an email interview.

ALSO READ: Here is the list of must-read books of late veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar

"He cracked mini jokes, narrated many uncomfortable anecdotes but not even once he used demeaning tone for anyone. He was an encyclopedia of Indian politics. I am sure too many inside stories and facts have gone with him," he added.

Recalling his meeting with Nayar, Agnihotri said: "For my film on Shashtri's mysterious death in Tashkent, we had figured out that the key of this mystery lies with Kuldip Nayar as he was the only witness to the whole episode. I knew that he knows more than what he has spoken or written about Shashtri's death."

Agnihotri chased the journalist for almost a year to get the story. "Finally I got a call from him sometime back and he asked me to come immediately. I was shooting in Connaught Place. He said 'I want to talk now'. I have no idea what made him change his heart, what made him break his own silence."

Agnihotri says Nayar had a lot of material ready for him.

"His memory was razor-sharp, he was full of humour and energy. Despite his drooping shoulders and wrinkled face, he carried an inspiring energy and commitment to his profession. When I asked him, what made him talk on this sensitive issue after so many years, almost at the fag end of his life, he said 'I have some unfinished works. Let me finish them'."

Agnihotri's investigative thriller will feature veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakaraborty, and will have two sides to the narrative.

Shastri died in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then under Soviet control, soon after signing a peace pact with Pakistan to end the 1965 India-Pakistan war. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.

Agnihotri says he changed the film's script after talking to Nayar.

"We thought he would tell us whatever was already in public domain or in his book. We had used his book as a reference for Shashtri's death. But when he spoke to us and as I heard startling facts from the horse's mouth, I realised how much this country has been exploited by certain governments for the benefit of certain leaders."

There were many questions like "What was the real mystery? Who was responsible?" in Agnihotri's mind.

"In his typical manner, Kuldipji shared some information which made us even change the script because this information is nowhere available. I told him I have filed several RTIs. He said, 'Even if you put people in jails, some secrets will never come out'. Why?"

Agnihotri said that he gave the answer. "And that became an important part of the film. Then came a surprise. He broke his silence after 50 years on a vital angle of Shashtri's mysterious death. This made us change our entire climax."

The "Buddha in a Traffic Jam" maker added: "He trusted me with a vital secret. I hope I can do justice by presenting it the way he had visualised. I hope the film 'The Tashkent Files' brings out the truth that took Kuldip Nayar 50 years to speak."

He said "the biggest tragedy of our country is that the corrupt governments of that time robbed Indians of their 'Right to Truth'," said the director pointing out that the film will be out on Shashtri's death anniversary on January 11 next year.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Eleven of the 36 meteorological subdivisions in the country have recorded deficient rainfall until now, with many of them falling in the east and northeast India, says the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Twenty-three meteorological subdivisions of the country have recorded normal rainfall, while two subdivisions--Kerala and coastal Andhra Pradesh-- saw excess rainfall, the IMD data said.

Of the seven meteorological subdivisions---Arunachal Pradesh; Assam and Meghalaya; the subdivision comprising Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura; sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim; Gangetic West Bengal; Jharkhand and Bihar---falling in east and northeast, six have received deficient rainfall, it said.

In northwest India, the Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh subdivision, Saurashtra and Kutch subdivision of Central India, Rayalseema, North Interior Karnataka and Telangana subdivisions of South Peninsula have recorded deficient rainfall, it said.

While Kerala has seen excessive rainfall, the deficiency is as high as minus 41 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively in Telangana and Lakshadweep, the weather body said.

The IMD has 36 subdivisions divided under four divisions---the East and the Northeast, Northwest, Central India and South Peninsula.

With devastating rain in Kerala last week and a low pressure area over Central India, the monsoon deficiency has dipped to minus 7 per cent, it said.

From June 1 until today, Kerala has received 41 per cent more rainfall than the normal.

The Southwest monsoon period in the country is from June 1 to September 30.

From September 15, the monsoon starts withdrawing from west Rajasthan, where it reaches last. June and July have recorded 5 per cent and 6 per cent less rainfall, respectively, the IMD said.

The IMD in its forecast for the second half of the Southwest monsoon rainfall said the months of August and September would receive normal rainfall.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Days after an Italian DJ Olly Esse alleged assault by the Air India's ground staff member at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), the airlines on Friday denied the allegations saying that though there was a scuffle, no one was physically attacked.



On August 19, DJ Olly Esse shared a video on her Facebook account and claimed that her flight was delayed by nine hours and no response was given to her when she asked for help. Esse also alleged that she was slapped by the staff member.



In a statement released, Air India said, "Our flight to Mumbai on Sunday (August 19) was delayed. Following that, the Italian lady (Esse) approached Air India SATS, who directed her to another counter. The lady from AI SATS, which is our outsourced agency at RGIA, was being filmed by the Italian DJ. So she objected to it and raised her hand to stop the filming and the mobile slipped from the Italian lady's hand and was caught by her. It didn't fall down."



"She (Esse) accused the AI SATS girl of assault. CISF also intervened and told the Italian lady that she cannot film the staff," the statement added.



The Air India further claimed that Esse was allegedly agitated because of the delay. "She (Esse) complained about police inaction, so the police enquired into the matter and after watching the CCTV footage concluded there was no assault," the statement further read.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Centre is considering hiking the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to meet the minimum wages of various state governments.

According to rural development ministry officials, the wages under the scheme and the minimum wages fixed by the state are generally revised simultaneously.

But this time, the Centre has decided to revise MGNREGS wages now as some states have already hiked the wages keeping an eye on the upcoming elections.

The revision, if it happens, will be the first one since 2009. The need for the revision became necessary as recently, Bihar hiked its minimum wages by 41 per cent. Haryana also hiked wages. The difference in the wages is causing logistical difficulties. Also, the MGNREGS wages need to be at par with the states minimum wages as the scheme is a key driver of growth in rural areas, a ministry official said.

The extent of the hike would be discussed by a sub-group of chief ministers, headed by Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The issue was first brought up at a regional meeting of the Niti Agyog.

The revision has been under the pipeline for the past four years. During this period, the government set up two committees  first, under Professor Mahendra Dev in 2013, and the second under Nagesh Singh in 2016. Both committees had different views on the revision.

The Dev panel wanted the MGNREGS wages to be in tandem with minimum wages of states or the consumer price index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL).

It suggested that the higher of the two be considered the benchmark for state-wise MGNREGS wages. But the committee headed by Singh said it was not imperative that the wages be equalised.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to double the grant to the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to Rs 2,000 crore to enable it to speed up construction work in the northern (Jammu and Kashmir) and eastern (Northeast) regions of the country.

Recently, the minister revised the targets of road and highway construction and it was found that the two regions were lagging. To speed up the work, NHIDCLs grant has been increased from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,000 crore for the current financial year, a ministry official said.

Officials attribute the slow progress of work to the bad terrain in the region. It (N-E) is a very difficult terrain to undertake construction. Also, there is a lot of tension in the region. Same is the case with Jammu and Kashmir, the official said.

The additional amount would be used to build roads and bridges, national highways and for the special accelerated road development programme in the Northeast.

With this fund, we can hire more technical expertise and speed up the construction and upkeep of roads in the two regions, the official said.

The entire fund would not be used for the eastern and northern regions, the official added We will use the fund to maintain the roads in other parts of the country as well, he said.
Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The row over the Centres decision not to accept the UAEs offer to help rebuild Kerala took another turn on Thursday with two former foreign secretaries challenging the governments stand.

While New Delhi officially stuck to its line that it could handle the devastating flood on its own, there were indications it might accept foreign aid for rebuilding infrastructure and long-term investments.

ALSO READ | Sudden release of Mullaiperiyar waters by Tamil Nadu worsened floods: Kerala tells Supreme Court

True that as country we can give rather than take assistance, but 80% of Indians in the Gulf are Malayalis, tweeted former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao. Offer of flood relief assistance must be treated with sensitivity. Saying no is simple, but for Kerala-in-crisis, its not so simple.

Responding to her tweet, another former foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said, The 2004 decision was to not accept foreign participation in relief but accept it for long term rehabilitation case by case. No rescue teams needing hand-holding and interpretation but yes to help rebuilding houses, bridges, roads etc. A way forward for Kerala?

Talmiz Ahmad, who served as Indias ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE, has a different take. Normally, India has not taken financial assistance on bilateral basis from foreign countries. Usually, where money is concerned, largely individuals, overwhelmingly Indian or Indian origin communities have contributed to the PMs relief fund in our embassies or sent funds directly. I dont recall any occasion where a foreign government has extended financial assistance.

True that as country we can give rather than take assistance,but 80% of Indians in the Gulf are Malayalis. Offer of flood relief assistance from region must be treated with sensitivity. Saying no is simple, but for Kerala-in-crisis, its not so simple. https://t.co/4ojS5gX3BH  Nirupama Menon Rao (@NMenonRao) August 22, 2018

According to Ahmad, the Centres is the correct position. It said we dont need financial assistance, were capable of looking after my own people. What we need is relief supplies. He added that during the earthquakes in Latur and Bhuj, India got a lot of material from the Gulf with prior consultation with the government.

Having said that, however, my view is that the UAE government offered this assistance spontaneously on the basis of television stories and may not have consulted anybody in the government.

Unfortunately, he says, Whatever happens in India acquires a political dimension, in this case because you have a different government in the centre and the state. Sadly, you cant get away from this. I would have personally preferred that these things were discussed quietly between officials concerned in Delhi and Kerala. If the politician has to posture in the public domain, let them. This is the sophisticated way to handle it. The people of Kerala are suffering a lot, they dont need this kind of crap in their lives.

Mohan Guruswamy, the founder president of the Center for Policy Alternatives, agrees. The government is playing politics here, he says. We could have quietly accepted the aid, or we could have said that invest that kind of money in long term assets in Kerala, instead of this very undignified way of saying we dont want your aid. Also, the central government is offering a meagre Rs 500 crore, which cant deal with even a fraction of the enormous devastation in Kerala.

If memory serves, the 2004 decision was to not accept foreign participation in relief but accept it for long term rehabilitation case by case. No rescue teams needing hand-holding and interpretation but yes to help rebuilding houses, bridges, roads etc. A way forward for Kerala?  Shivshankar Menon (@ShivshankaMenon) August 23, 2018

According to him, This is a gesture which cements friendships, investing in goodwill in a part of the country which is relevant to them. If there was a flood in Assam, I doubt if the UAE would have offered that kind of money. He also added that the Emirs might take this kind of thing as a slap on their face. An act of generosity which is voluntary and you say no it, it doesnt send a good signal, he said.

This is not Mother Teresa kind of aid, to provide succor to people on the streets. This is to mitigate an immediate circumstance, and I think it is a big mistake not to accept it. We could have told the sehiks this is very generous, but kerala will benefit more if you invest in infrastructure and stuff like that. But we said no. This is bad optics, bad politics. This alienation of the south just gets deeper and deeper because of this. I dont think there was any application of mind in Delhi. Its a misplaced sense of pride. Everybody knows we have ineffective governments and systems. We cant hide these things by refusing aid. Does that change the circumstances in India? 140 in the FDI index, 170 in the GDP index? Does it change the fact that 30% of India is below the poverty line? 68% below the UNDP mandated line?
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: With general elections coming closer, strange things are taking place. Large-scale anomalies have been found in voters' list in Ballia district of eastern UP. The revised list uploaded recently has photographs of a skimpily clothed woman, wild animals, elephant, parrot and deer against the listed voters. However, after the faux pas, district election office withdrew it and rectified the error.

While the list carries the picture of a woman resembling actor Sunny Leone in against the name of voter Durgawati Singh of Vevekanand Colony, picture of a deer could be found against the name of Kunwar Ankur Singh. Similarly, an African jumbo is representing Narad Rai, a former state minister and a pigeon is pasted against the name of Kunwar Gaurav.

Ironically, except the picture, all the other details of the voters in the list are correct. For example, Naradrai's house number (85), locality - Chandrashekhar Nagar Colony, Ballia - have been mentioned properly but the photograph.

While the district administration has ordered a probe into the origin of the mischief, when the glaring mistakes were brought to the notice of election officials, they immediately got the error rectified and initiated action against the date entry operator.

As per the district election office sources, the anomalies detected in Ballia Sadar tehsil might have gone in the final list in course of meeting the deadline of the Election Commission of India.

"It seems that the data entry operator was not provided with the pictures and he put a temporary photograph to be changed with actual pictures later. But it went into the final revised list and it was uploaded as it was without being cross-checked," said an official in the district election office on condition of anonymity.

Notably, as per the directive of the Election Commission of India, the revised voters' list had to be prepared and uploaded by July 15. "Action in this connection has already been taken even before my arrival here," said the Ballia Sadar SDM Ashwini Srivastava, who joined the office 20 days back. He said that the district election registration officer (ERO) and city magistrate Vishram Yadav transferred to data entry operator concerned to Belthra Road Tehsil.

Admitting the mistake, the ERO said that it was rectified on August 13 before the publication of the final list. He added that an FIR was lodged against the operator concerned with Ballia city Kotwali police station and further probe was on. He said that the final voters' list was to be published by August 15, but the deadline was extended for now.
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: Bihars main Opposition party RJD was deeply shocked as Jharkhand High Court on Friday refused to extend the provisional bail of the ailing party chief, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and directed him to surrender before the CBI court by August 30.

The 70-year-old Yadav, a former Bihar chief minister who has been convicted in four cases of the fodder scam and handed jail terms for over 27 years, is currently under treatment at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. He has been out of jail since May 11 when provisional bail was granted to him on medical grounds and later extended thrice.

We do not comment on judicial pronouncements, but the truth that is worrying all of us in the party is that his (Lalus) health remains critical and he badly needs medical treatment and care, said RJD legislator and spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav. We are yet to receive a copy of the high court order, and we will decide after studying it, he added.

Sources said Tejashwi Yadav, who is the RJD chiefs younger son and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, started the process of consulting legal experts to appeal against the high court order in the Supreme Court and get the bail extended.

Tejashwi had visited his father at the Mumbai hospital earlier this week and tweeted on Monday: Perturbed to see his falling health & increased infection. Praying that he may recover soon under the around-the-clock monitoring & continuous medical care of specialist doctors.

Denial of bail extension for Lalu came with another bad news for the family as Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed the chargesheet against 12 persons, including Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and Tejashwi, in the Railways hotel tender scam on Friday.

Lalu, who underwent a fistula surgery and spent 21 days at the Mumbai hospital since June 17, has been suffering from a number of health complications including diabetes, heart problems, kidney infection, high blood pressure and hypertension. He had undergone an open heart surgery in August 2014.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought response from the West Bengal government on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of three BJP workers in the state.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notice and sought response of the West Bengal government and CBI on a plea filed by BJP leader and advocate Gaurav Bhatia.

Bhatia, appearing in person, said the three disturbing murders of Shaktipad Sarkar, Tirlochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar have taken place in the state but police have not registered FIR and their family members have been allegedly threatened.

He said a CBI probe should be ordered and compensation of Rs 50 lakh should be directed to be given to the family members.

He also sought security for family members of the victims.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to give an urgent hearing on the plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of two BJP workers in Purulia district of West Bengal after panchayat polls.

The counsel had said that it is a serious matter as the killing of BJP workers have taken place after the panchayat polls in Purulia district.

On May 30, 18-year-old Tirlochan Mahato, a BJP worker from Balrampur village of Purulia district was found hanging from a tree with a poster written in Bengali struck on his back, saying he was killed for canvassing for the BJP during panchayat election.

Another death of one Dulal Kumar, also a BJP worker, had taken place on June 2 in a similar manner in the same district.

A local BJP leader in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district was hacked to death by unidentified miscreants in Mandir Bazar area of the district on July 28.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Al Jazeera, an international English news channel, may have to stop broadcast in India as the Home Ministry has withdrawn the security clearance given to it.

The Qatar-based channel has appealed to the government against the withdrawal of the security clearance and a final decision on it is awaited, a government official said.

Though the reasons for the action against Al Jazeera are not known, a documentary on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir telecast by the channel is believed to have upset the central security establishment, leading to the decision.

When contacted, a Home Ministry official said it is the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which takes the decision on the issue of broadcasting licence given to any media outlet.

"Our role is limited to matters related to security clearance.

The decision on cancellation of the broadcasting licence will be taken by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting," the official said.

Another official said the security clearance was given by the Home Ministry on December 3, 2010, and withdrawn on May 29, 2018.
By PTI

JAIPUR: Curfew was imposed in Malpura town of Rajasthan's Tonk district today where communal clashes erupted after members of the minority community pelted stones at Kanwariyas injuring 15 of them.

The attack that took place yesterday was followed by arson in which a vehicle was torched forcing the authorities to impose Section 144 of CrPC last evening.

However, the situation deteriorated today after some Hindus led by Tonk MP and Malpura MLA took out a Tiranga Yatra in the town against the attack on Kanwariyas.

The yatra was supposed to pass through a lane where a mosque is located. We anticipated a confrontation so tried to divert the rally but the crowd was adamant.

We had to disperse them, SHO Malpura Navnit said. Soon after, stone pelting began again and three shops were torched, he added.

Police had to lob tear gas shells to control the situation and curfew was imposed thereafter, he said further.

"It was our Tiranga Yatra and the Muslim community pelted stones at us which led to the tension,"Malpura MLA Kanhaiya Lal said.

Police said that 17 people including three from the minority community were detained.

"Situation in the town is tensed but under control," the police added.
Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in Nepal on August 30 and 31. The regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal is a key element of Indias Act East policy. Addressing a Press briefing in New Delhi on Thursday, the MEAs Secretary East, Preeti Saran, said the summit would be preceded by the 19th Senior Officials meeting on August 28 and the 16th Foreign Ministers meeting on August 29.

According to Saran, the meeting will begin with a joint call by leaders of all BIMSTEC members on the host, Nepals President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Then, In the afternoon of August 30, the BIMSTEC inaugural plenary session will be held, followed by gala dinner and a cultural programme hosted by the government of Nepal. In the forenoon, there will be a retreat, and in the afternoon there will be the closing session of the summit. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders of the member states on the sidelines of the summit.

Connectivity, improving relations within BIMSTEC, and ways to counter terrorism and radicalisation will be high on the agenda. Several MoUs in different areas are expected to be inked during the summit, and a declaration laying down the road map for the future is likely to be issued at the end of the summit, she said. Launched in June 1997 with four member states, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand in Bangkok, it was renamed as BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation) following the inclusion of Myanmar later that year. With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting in Thailand in February 2004, the name of the grouping was changed.
Harsha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Undeterred by personal trauma and other challenges post the floods, postmen and postwomen in Karnataka have started delivering mail and money orders to rightful recipients in government-run gruel centres. Mail services, which were hit for a few days in Kodagu region, resumed on Tuesday, and 339 out of the total 412 pending money orders were delivered in a single day. It was not an easy job, considering the fact that many villages are marooned and people have left their homes in search of safer places.

"Many of our staffers are themselves affected by the floods. Our visit to Madapura and post offices in eight surrounding villages revealed that the level of devastation caused by landslides was much more than what we had imagined. In such a situation, it wasn't so easy to ask and convince postal department staffers to resume their work. But when approached, they responded positively, and hence we were able to resume the services," Chief Postmaster General (CPMG), Karnataka Circle, Charles Lobo told The New Indian Express.

"One of the postmasters, Ramanna, wanted long leave in order to save his house in Kushalnagar which was submerged by the floods. Another postwoman from Hattihole, which is now a deserted village, wanted a transfer to Somwarpet post-office. We are flooded with many such requests," said Lobo, adding most of the demands have been met.

"Eight clerks from Mysuru post offices have been deployed to Kodagu district. Two more vehicles have been pressed into service to ensure that mail delivery services are not affected further," he said. Buses are not operating in the area since August 16.

Landslide leaves postman homeless

MP Ashok, a Gramin Dak Sevak from Kandankolli branch post office, was the first to alert his neighbours about the approaching catastrophe on August 16. After an eight-hour trek and covering nearly 15 kilometres, Ashok and villagers arrived at the gruel centre in Suntikoppa. The massive landslide left no trace of his house and four-acre estate. Ashok has another big concern now: What will happen to the education of my two daughters? His eldest daughter was studying in Standard II at a private school in Madikeri. The government should ensure hassle-free re-admission of children of flood-hit victims into schools, Lobo said.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU, MADIKERI: The loss due to the damage caused by heavy rains and landslides that left behind a trail of destruction in Kodagu district could go up to around Rs 2,500 crore, according to an initial assessment by the state government. Fifty-one relief camps have been set up in the district that are currently housing over 5,000 people.

District-in-charge Minister Sa Ra Mahesh, who is camping in Kodagu to supervise rescue and relief operations, said that the state government is likely to seek Central assistance to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore for rebuilding Kodagu.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit Kodagu district on Friday. She will hold meetings with the district administration and other officials at the DC office on the relief and rehabilitation work.

Several schools in South Kodagu, which were not severely affected by the devastation, re-opened on Thursday. As many as 61 schools, however, continue to remain closed for the time being as they are located in some of the worst-affected areas.
By Express News Service

MADIKERI:Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was in Madikeri on Friday to review the rain damage and rehabilitation work, lost her cool after she was prodded by Kodagu district in-charge minister Sa Ra Mahesh to conclude a meeting with retired defence officials and head to another meeting. A central minister follows the minister in-charge here. Unbelievable, she remarked.

While she was in conversation with ex-army officers including Air Marshal (retd) K C Cariappa, Wing Commander (retd) D D S Kumar, Major (retd) Nanda Nanjappa and others in Deputy Commissioner P I Sreevidyas chambers, the Kasthurirangan report on Western Ghats was brought up, following which MLA K G Bopaiah objected to the discussion. The discussion was also opposed by MP Prathap Simha, who later apologised to the minister. But what really got her goat was Mahesh pointing out that there were other officials, some of whom involved in relief work, waiting to submit a report. Nirmala was hurriedly led to chair a meeting with officials.

Entering the conference hall filled with media persons and officials, Sitharaman asked the Deputy Commissioner, Is there a minute-to-minute programme drafted for me? At which point, Mahesh said the officials in the conference hall were waiting for her. Nirmala replied, I am following the schedule drafted by you (DC). I do not want to violate that. If officials are important, my parivar (ex-army officers) are equally important. How many of them (officials) are from the field, taking care of the rehabilitation work? I dont want those whose absence on the field will upset the rehabilitation work to be present here.

Def Min could have maintained some decorum: Mahesh

Nirmala then replied, I am following the minute-to-minute schedule drafted by you (DC). I am following the same minute-to-minute schedule, minister (Sa Ra Mahesh). I do not want to violate that. If officials are important, my parivar (ex-army officers) are equally important... How many of them (officials in the conference hall) are from the field taking care of the rehabilitation work? I dont want one person who is going to be upsetting the rehabilitation work here (in the meeting).

Mahesh later told media persons that the Union Minister could have maintained some decorum in the presence of military officers and the public and said the entire issue was blown out of proportion when the district was struggling due to the natural calamity. The people elected to Upper House dont know the problems of the common people or understand poverty, he said. She is not an elected MP, but nominated to Rajya Sabha by Karnataka BJP. She should be more responsible, he shot back.

He also rued that Nirmala Sitharaman said a central committee will assess the damage before Centre announces a relief package for the district. The Centre did not conduct any such survey for Kerala before announcing immediate relief. Why is it different for Kodagu? he asked.

Former CM Siddaramaiah, who was in Hassan, too criticised the Defence Minister for failing to announce grants for Kodagu. He also said that PM Narendra Modi could have visit Madikeri on the lines of Kerala where he announced a special package for the affected families of that state.
By PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala should be treated on a different yardstick for extending flood relief assistance as its huge loss cannot be compared with damage in any other state at any point of time, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today.

Giving a detailed account of the havoc caused by the devastating floods and landslides since early this month, he said the preliminary assessment of losses was around Rs 20,000 crore which was equal to the state's annual Plan size for 2018-19.

READ| Maintain water level of Mullaperiyar dam at 139 ft, Supreme Court directs Tamil Nadu

The heavy rains and floods have claimed 231 lives in Kerala since August 8 and more than 10.40 lakh people are still in relief camps across the state.

In support of his stand that Kerala's case was unique, he said the state was densely populated and the entire state had infrastructure facilities such as good roads, communication network and hospitals.

Hence, the loss suffered in the floods was huge in nature and was something which cannot be compared to the damage suffered by any other part of the country at any point of time, Vijayan said, urging that the state should be treated on a different yardstick for extending assistance.

His stress on the magnitude of the calamity and assistance comes at a time when there is a standoff over accepting foreign aid for the flood-ravaged state.

While the state government was keen on receiving foreign aid, including USD 100 million offered by the United Arab Emirates, the Centre has taken the stand that it cannot accept any assistance from overseas governments and cited an existing policy.

Pushing for foreign assistance, Vijayan had earlier said there was no blanket ban and India, by law, could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity.

In his statement today, the chief minister said: "It is with a thankful heart that we take note of the fact that foreign countries ranging from the UAE to Qatar have come forward with their promise of assistance".

Vijayan also mentioned about the immediate release of Rs 100 crore by the Centre and further interim aid of Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately after his aerial survey of flood-affected areas on August 19.

The Centre has already released Rs 600 crore to the state. The chief minister said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and a preliminary estimate of losses comes around Rs 20,000 crore.

It goes without saying that the actual losses will steadily go up once the water recedes and the final assessment is made.

"To put it in a nutshell, the size of the loss caused by the calamity is equal to the size of the annual plan the state has chalked out for 2018-2019," Vijayan said.

More than 26,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed and crops spread over 40,000 hectares lost, Vijayan said, adding, "We have lost more than two lakh poultry and at least 46,000 milch animals.

"The magnitude of the havoc truly gets reflected in the fact that a vast area of the state still remains submerged in flood waters, the chief minister said. Floods have washed away several multi-storeyed buildings, shops, commercial establishments and even bridges," he said.

Telecommunication network and electricity lines have been damaged. The power sector suffered losses of around Rs 750 crore while damage to water supply infrastructure was close to Rs 900 crore, he said.

He also noted that more than 300 landslides have occurred, resulting in hills being razed in several places. Major rivers such as Bharathapuzha, Periyar, Chalakkudy and Pamba have altered course in many places.

Several parts of the state had been cut off, and remained as isolated islands, inaccessible by road or water transport, for days together.

People of the state came together and stood behind the government in evacuating the people stranded in flood waters and rehabilitating them in relief camps, the chief minister said.

Giving details of the rescue operations held with the active cooperation of the national disaster response force, defence forces, Coast Guard, police and others, Vijayan said it was for the first time that "such a massive rescue operation of this magnitude" was conducted anywhere in the country.

On post-flood health concerns, he said the health authorities were taking every precaution to ensure the wellbeing of the people and to ensure that there was no epidemic breakout.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is in talks with banks for disbursing interest-free loans up to Rs 1 lakh to the flood-affected to repair and refurbish their houses, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday. The interest will be borne by the government.

Briefing the media on the relief operations, he said the loans would be provided to the seniormost woman of the household. This is meant to ensure the families can restore living standards as much as possible to those of the pre-flood situation. The government is examining various aspects of the scheme, he said.

The government is giving priority to help flood victims return to their homes. In the cases of people whose houses have been destroyed, they will be shifted to other locations like halls until new houses are built. The current locations, mostly schools and colleges, will have to be vacated once the Onam vacation ends. Constructing new homes will take time. We have to find alternative space and instructions have been issued to district collectors in this regard, he said.

Special kits

People returning home from the camps will be issued special kits which contain, among other things, 5 kg of rice, the Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister had toured camps in Chengannur, Kozhenchery, Alappuzha, Paravur and Chalakudy on Thursday.

The people in the camps are satisfied with the arrangements and food in the camps, but, naturally, they are concerned about what faces them when they return home. Many houses have been destroyed. Many have become uninhabitable. The government views this situation seriously and plans to address it in a time-bound manner, Pinarayi said.

Regions vulnerable to disasters to be avoided



In rehabilitating the flood victims, the government plans to avoid regions vulnerable to disasters like river banks and landslip-prone regions, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

KSEB to hold water analysis



Though the southwest monsoon rainfall has abated, water levels in most of the hydel dams continue to be above 90 pc. The KSEB plans to hold a water analysis to compute the safety levels that can be achieved before the north-east monsoon.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Thomas Mar Athanasios, Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church, Chengannur diocese, passed away on Friday after he fell from the train he was travelling. He was 80. Mar Athanasios, a celebrated educationist and an efficient administrator, was returning from Baroda and was getting ready to get down at the Ernakulam Junction station when he slipped and fell on the railway track near Pulleppady overbridge, between Ernakulam Town and the Ernakulam Junction stations, officers said. The accident occurred around 5.45 am.

Though he had planned his travel to Kochi by air, the closure of the Cochin International Airport owing to flood forced him to reschedule his return journey by train. His funeral services will be held at the Othara Dayara Chapel, near Tiruvalla, at 3 pm. Born on April 3, 1938, to K T Thomas and Eliyamma Thomas, the Metropolitan was the founder-principal of Basil School, Baroda, and had founded six other schools in Gujarat.

ALSO READ | Heavy jerk at track intersection may have led to Chengannur bishop Thomas Mar Athanasios' death

These six schools, including The Gujarat Refinery English Medium School, are under the Trust of the Society of St Basil; the founder of the Society of St Basil was the late Geevarghese Mar Philoxinos of Puthencavu. He is the 42nd in the priestly generation and the fifth bishop in the Vadakkethalackal family. The other bishops in the family are Simon Mar Dionysios, Yuakim Mar Ivanios, Abraham Marthoma and Geevarghese Mar Philoxinos. As an educationist, his approach was completely child-oriented and nothing was more important to him than the welfare and all-round personality development of students.

He had novel ideas for improving teaching techniques and he inspired even the mediocre students to excel. Besides being the Metropolitan of the Diocese of Chengannur, he also served the Malankara Sabha in various capacities - such as the secretary of the Holy Episcopal Synod, the manager of the Catholicate & M D Schools, the president of Akhila Malankara Balasamajam, the president of Akhila Malankara Prarthana Yogam and the president of the Church Accounts Committee and the president of the Church Finance Committee.

Thomas Mar Athanasios became the first Metropolitan of the Diocese of Chengannur on August 1, 1985.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR:The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch on Thursday arrested two associates of gangster Sheik Usman Ali alias Tito and recovered a Toyota Fortuner SUV, Hyundai i20, Harley Davidson and an unlicensed pistol, from them.

The two have been identified as Saroj Pati of Mahipal in Kendrapara district and Batkrishna Pani alias Batu of Tamando. They had reportedly threatened a contractor of Rajnagar for extortion. While, Pani was looking after Titos illegal activities like tender fixing, extortion, committing murders and others, Pani was involved in cattle smuggling.

Pani was involved in cattle smuggling. The cattle heads were being smuggled to West Bengal, STF DIG Himanshu Lal said, adding, so far 20 associates of Tito have been arrested. A manhunt has also been laucnhed to trace and nab the absconding associates of Tito, he added. Officers of the STF said they recovered the pistol from Pani from Kalinga Nagar area in the Capital.
By Express News Service

RAMANATHAPURAM: A Sri Lankan court on Friday released the 27 Indian country-boat fishermen, including 22 from Nambuthalai in Ramanathapuram district, arrested on charges of poaching in the island nations territorial waters on August 10.

Sources said that the court imposed a fine of `2,000 each on seven country boats for using the mono-filament fishing net, which is banned in Sri Lanka. These fishermen from Ramanathapuram and Thanjavur districts ventured into the sea from Jegathapattinam. They entered the high seas to catch the expensive Kooral fish. However, the Sri Lankan Navy apprehended them and seized their country boats near Delft island. They were lodged in Jaffna prison, said sources.

A Sri Lankan court released all the fishermen on Friday. The penalty was paid by the Indian embassy. Fishermen will be brought back to India in a few days. However, we are yet to get an official communication, said an official of the fisheries department.
By UNI

KIEV: US President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said on Friday that US sanctions against Russia would remain in place until Moscow changed its behaviour.

Bolton was in Kiev to show Washington's support for Ukraine which celebrated the anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union with a military parade on Friday.

The United States has imposed sanctions against Russia to punish it for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea, support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, and meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, something Moscow denies.

Critics of President Donald Trump have accused him of being soft on Russia and there is a bipartisan push in Congress to impose more sanctions on Moscow.

Bolton, speaking before a new round of sanctions announced by the State Department took effect, set out what he cast as a tough approach by the administration to sanctions.

"The sanctions remain in force and will remain in force until the required change in Russian behaviour," Bolton told a news conference after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"I underlined what President Trump said in Helsinki to President (Vladimir) Putin that it was the position of the United States that we did not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea," he said, referring to a US -Russia summit in Finland last month.

"Our view and our policy remain as they have been."

'MORE TENSION'

The Russian rouble has been pushed steadily lower by US sanctions, the latest of which take effect on Monday, according to a notice posted on Friday in the US Federal Register.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the new sanctions, announced earlier this month over a nerve agent attack in Britain, would only create more tension in bilateral relations, the RIA news agency reported.

In comments likely to anger Moscow, Bolton said that Kiev had made progress in its efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and advised Ukraine to look for alternatives to Russian natural gas.

"A lot depends on Ukraine fulfilling the requirements necessary to meet all of the military and political tests to be a NATO member," Bolton said.

"I would say progress is being made but there is still more to accomplish," he added.

Russia strongly opposes NATO expansion towards its western borders and moved to annex Crimea in 2014 after Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's Russia-friendly president, was toppled in a popular revolution.

Bolton said it was important to resolve the Ukraine crisis and that it would be dangerous to leave the situation as it was in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has backed separatists in their conflict with Kiev.

Ukraine stopped buying gas from Russia in November 2015 and now imports gas mostly via Slovakia.

Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz says the gas is "European in origin."

Moscow says the gas is still Russian despite Slovakia's intermediary role.

Bolton mentioned US liquefied natural gas and other possible replacements to Russian supplies.

He said he had told Poroshenko that Moscow should not meddle in Ukraine's presidential vote next year.

"President Poroshenko and I agreed that we will look at steps that the United States and Ukraine could take to look at election meddling here," he said.
By ANI

SEOUL: North Korea on Thursday reiterated its demand to the United States to sign a declaration to formally end the over six-decade-old Korean War.

North Korea's external propaganda media also urged the US to lift the sanctions on Pyongyang, adding that improvement of ties and sanctions cannot go together, reported Yonhap News Agency.

A North Korean website, Uriminzokkiri, said that the end-of-war declaration would help in removing military tension between Washington and Pyongyang and would also lead to improvement in relations and mutual trust between the two countries.

"In return for its counterpart's genuine goodwill and magnanimity, the U.S. has not fulfilled any practical counteraction based on mutual respect and trust," the website said.

It added that signing a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War would be the first step towards achieving regional and global peace and security.

Another North Korean propaganda website, Meari, accused Washington's sanctions to be a deadlock in the relations with Pyongyang.

"Despite summit pledges by leaders of the US and South and North Korea to terminate hostilities, (the) bilateral relationship will never improve as long as the US sticks to its anti-DPRK (North Korea) sanctions and South Korea follows them. Sanctions and improvement of relationship with the US and South Korea will never be compatible," the website said.

Last week, North Korea's official newspaper, The Rodong Sinmun, commented that the US would play a key role in drafting an end-of-war declaration for the Korean War in order to establish long-lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

Both North Korea and South Korea are technically at war, as no peace treaty was signed between the two nations. The Korean War had ended in an armistice agreement.

In April, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to implement a permanent peace treaty to formally end the 65-year-old Korean War.
By IANS

ROME: A total 1,546 people died this year till August 22 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa while 65,576 migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea over the period, the UN migration agency said on Friday.

Spain, with 42 per cent of all arrivals through the year, was the leading destination in 2018. It has continued to receive seaborne migrants in August at a volume more than twice that of Greece and more than six times that of Italy, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported.

Arrivals to Italy through late August were the lowest recorded at this point of a normally busy summer season in almost five years, IOM noted, after anti-migrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini controversially barred charity and international rescue vessels from delivering migrants to Italian ports and set a target of zero arrivals.

Total arrivals to Europe this year are less than half 120,624 boat migrants who entered the region at the same point of 2017 and fewer than a quarter of the 271,951 who landed in 2016, IOM reported.

IOM said 12,998 migrants have been returned to Libya this year by the country's European Union backed Coast Guard.
By Reuters

WASHINGTON: Mexico has come "very far" in working through its list of outstanding issues with the United States in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday.

Guajardo was speaking to reporters at the offices of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer where the latest Mexico-U.S. talks on NAFTA are being held.

Since talks resumed last month, the two sides have focused on resolving their differences over U.S. President Donald Trump's complaint that NAFTA has benefited Mexico to the detriment of U.S. workers and manufacturing.

Trump has threatened to withdraw from the 24-year-old trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada if it is not reworked to the advantage of the United States.

Asked how far down the list of outstanding bilateral issues Mexico had come, Guajardo said: "very far."

Canada has sat out the latest leg of talks waiting for the Mexican and U.S. teams to reach common ground before rejoining.

Guajardo suggested earlier this week that an agreement between the two sides could be just "hours" away, though forecasts subsequently became more cautious.

"As you know, unfortunately, even as you are extremely engaged, there are always last moment things that can come between you and your goals," said Guajardo.

A sticking point of the talks has been new rules of origin for automobile manufacturing which are meant to bring more production to the region.

Industry officials have said the U.S. team had barely moved from its demands last May of a 75 per cent overall regional content threshold with 40-45 per cent content from high-wage zones, effectively the United States and Canada, with the only substantial change a slightly longer phase-in time.

Asked if talks had made headway on a U.S. "sunset" proposal that could terminate NAFTA after five years, which critics say could stymie investment in the region, Guajardo said it was an issue that would be dealt with once Canada rejoined talks.

"It is clear that there are trilateral issues that have to be solved in a trilateral context," he said.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: US and Mexican negotiators are making progress on revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement but will need to continue the discussions next week, Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Thursday.

The negotiations "are well advanced," he told reporters, but "we are not there yet."

Canada needs to reengage in the talks before the NAFTA rewrite can completed and "the only way that can happen is if we continue through the weekend and into next week," he added.

Guajardo and Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray have been shuttling back and forth to Washington for more than a month for meetings with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to try to iron out the bilateral issues, such as rules for the auto market, before the end of August.

Officials last week indicated they expected a breakthrough this week but "negotiations are highly complex," Guajardo said on his way into yet another meeting.

He has cautioned that some of the hardest issues were still on the table, including the US demand for a five-year "sunset clause," which would oblige the three countries to renew the pact regularly.

"There's been no indication of flexibility from the US on this issue," a senior Canadian official told AFP on Thursday.

Canada's top diplomat and chief NAFTA negotiator, Chrystia Freeland, said Wednesday she was encouraged by the progress and would rejoin the talks once Washington and Mexico City finish their bilateral discussions.

The three countries have been negotiating for a year to salvage the trade pact that President Donald Trump says has been a "disaster" for the United States.
By UNI

KATHMANDU: A murder convict who was pardoned and released from prison "for good conduct" by Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari earlier in June, allegedly raped and murdered a teenage girl last month, according to a report in The Kathmandu Post.

Dilip Singh Bista, who had spent 10 years in jail for committing a murder, was released on the recommendation of Nepal's Cabinet.

He was released in June and is suspected by police of having raped and murdered a teenage girl in western Nepal's Kanchanpur district on July 26.

Despite several public protests, on Nepal's Republic Day on May 29, President Bhandari had pardoned at least 1,000 prisoners, including convicts, undertrial prisoners and a Maoist lawmaker, Balakrishna Dhungel, sentenced to a life term for murder.

Bista was arrested last week and is in judicial custody.

Activists, legal experts had protested against Bhandari's decision to pardon the convicts.

The Nepali government had even concealed the list of people the Cabinet had recommended for pardon when the Supreme Court had asked for it, while hearing a public interest litigation on the issue.
By UNI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has disputed Washington's account of a phone call between new Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, denying that there was any discussion on militants operating in Pakistan.

Pakistan's foreign ministry called for the United States to amend its statement, but US State Department said it stands by its account.

The row comes ahead of a planned visit by Pompeo to Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister last week.

The US State Department readout of the call said Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked Khan to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan".

" the impression, which was given where they're saying that they mentioned terrorists' presence in Pakistan, that is against the reality," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday.

"I'm saying it with full confidence."

US officials routinely raise the issue of Taliban and other militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan, where they plot attacks on US and Afghan troops across the border.

Pakistan regularly denies that the Afghan Taliban operates from its soil.

And overnight on Thursday, Pakistan's foreign ministry asserted that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call between Pompeo and Khan.

"Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on today's phone call," the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected."

However, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert indicated there would be no correction in response to Pakistan's complaint.

"I can only say we stand by our readout," Nauert told a news conference on Thursday, calling Pakistan "an important partner" in the region.

"The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future," Nauert added.

Pompeo is expected in Islamabad on Sept.5, and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet with Khan since he was sworn in.

Khan is well known for his criticism of US military policy in Afghanistan, but he said after winning elections last week that he seeks better relations with the United States after a series of aid cuts and the suspension of US military training.
By PTI

JOHANNESBURG: A former South African deputy foreign minister told today how a businessman close to then president Jacob Zuma had threatened to kill him, in dramatic testimony to a corruption inquiry.

The inquiry, which opened this week, is probing allegations that Zuma organised systematic plunder of government coffers in a scandal known as "state capture".

Mcebisi Jonas said he had been taken by Zuma's son to a meeting in Johannesburg at the home of the Guptas -- a wealthy family accused of having a corrupt relationship with Zuma.

"At the end of the meeting Mr Gupta repeated that they had information on me, and if I suggested that the meeting had occurred they would kill me," Jonas, who was in post between 2014 and 2016, told the judicial inquiry.

"I was very shaken by what had happened."

Zuma was forced to resign in February over graft scandals centred around the Guptas, who won lucrative contracts with state companies and were allegedly even able to choose Zuma's cabinet ministers.

Jonas today repeated allegations that at the meeting in 2015, Ajay Gupta told him he was to be appointed finance minister and would help the family to make money.

When Jonas refused, Ajay allegedly offered him 600 million rand (USD 42 million) and asked if Jonas had a bag to take away 600,000 rand in cash immediately.

Jonas said Ajay Gupta told him: "You must understand that we are in control of everything and the old man (Zuma) will do anything we will tell him to do."

"I said I was shocked and angered by this statement and I had no interest in becoming the minister of finance," Jonas told the inquiry.

"He said that if I worked with them I could become very rich. He pointed at Mr Duduzane (Zuma's son) and said they had made him a billionaire."

Zuma's successor President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle corruption in South Africa, which has been led by the ANC party since Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 after the end of apartheid rule.

Both Zuma and the Guptas deny all wrongdoing.

It has not been confirmed if Zuma will appear at the inquiry headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo which could take two years to deliver its findings.

The ANC faces a general election next year after a recent sharp fall in support.

Zuma has also been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arms deal from before he became president and will next appear in court on November 30.
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).
Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Lovemore Sibanda

A TOP detective who allegedly approached Bulawayo businessman Lovemore Sibanda so that he could fraudulently tender his registered mining company documents to facilitate the release of 14 kilogrammes of gold kept at Plumtree Police Station as an exhibit through a court order, appeared in court yesterday.





The gold, which is part of the 28kg worth about $1 million intercepted from a suspect who was trying to smuggle it into Botswana through the Plumtree Border Post, belongs to one Jefat Chaganda.

Detective Assistant Inspector Ladislous Tinacho (50), who is in charge of the ZRP Minerals and Border Control Unit in Plumtree, allegedly linked Chaganda to Sibanda who then agreed to use his Qalo Syndicate Mine documents purporting to be the owner of the gold before securing a court order facilitating the release of 14kg of the gold worth $358 000.





Det Asst Insp Tinacho was given a $5 000 kickback for his efforts.

The gold, which was later sold at Fidelity Printers and Refiners, was seized by police while being smuggled to Botswana through Plumtree Border. It was subsequently taken to the police station where it was kept as an exhibit.





Det Asst Insp Tinacho yesterday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sithembiso Ndlovu facing a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice. He was remanded in custody to September 3.





Prosecuting, Chief Public Prosecutor Ms Nonhlanhla Ndlovu said on July 7 this year at Plumtree Police Station, gold weighing 28kg and worth $970 000 was stolen from the armoury through an act of unlawful entry.





The gold was later intercepted by police at One-Stop Shop leading to the arrest of Chaganda. He was found in unlawful possession of part of the stolen gold weighing 14 kg.

Chaganda was taken to court and during his trial, representations were made to the court that through Qalo Syndicate, he was the purported owner of the gold, which was the subject of the matter.

Det Asst Insp Tinacho assisted Chaganda to secure a lawyer. He also connected him to Sibanda whom he connived with and fraudulently used Qalo Syndicate documents to facilitate the release of the 14kg of gold. Det Asst Insp Tinacho was given $5 000 as a kickback.





The court heard that Chaganda was discharged at the close of the State case and the magistrate ordered the release of the gold.





Soon after the gold was released through a court order, Chaganda took the mineral to Fidelity Printers and Refiners where it was bought for $358 000. Det Asst Insp Tinacho was given $5 000 as a kickback, said Ms Ndlovu.





Sibanda was given $30 000 for the use of his mine documents while Chaganda and his accomplice shared the remainder.





By allowing such misrepresentations to be made before the court, the accused person prejudiced the trial proceedings, which resulted in the release of the gold into his possession, said the prosecutor.





Meanwhile, Sibandas application for bail pending trial was held in camera. He was remanded to September 24 and it could not be established whether he was granted bail or not.





The Officer-in-Charge of Plumtree Police Station, Inspector Ginger Vhiyano and six of his subordinates have since appeared in court in connection with the matter.





They were all remanded in custody to September 3 by Plumtree resident magistrate, Miss Sharon Rosemani. The seven allegedly hatched a plan to steal the gold and two FN rifles.

According to court papers, detectives from the Minerals and Border Control Unit arrested a suspect who was trying to smuggle 28 kilogrammes of gold through the Plumtree Border Post into Botswana.

The seven then took the gold as an exhibit and locked it at the police stations armoury for safekeeping.





The offence came to light on July 15 when Chief Inspector Mangena, who was reporting for duty, noticed that two FN rifles which were booked in the charge office were not physically there in the armoury. Chronicle
So likely there is just going to be the ruling without a full judgement to which the constitutional court will say it will give reasons later. The main issue is that the MDC Alliance lawyers should have brought the V11 forms to court. Constitutional law expert Greg Linington said all the lawyers were impressive, making it difficult to predict the trial ruling. United Kingdom-based Zimbabwean lawyer Brighton Mutebuka said Mpofu had a spectacular first half of the proceedings and a difficult second period when he came under sustained attack because of the absence of the V11 forms. He was also criticised for failing to ask for the residue or ballot papers to be unsealed in line with the Electoral Act.
In Rushinga, the company intends to invest about a million dollars in the mining of limestone, specifically making marble, which makes the same slates like black granite. It will be used for products like floor tiles, building blocks and other products.
DEPOSITORS no longer need to spend hours queuing at banking halls as they have an option of conducting their transactions digitally using online technology platforms, Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe chair, Mr Gregory Sebborn said yesterday.



He was speaking at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo where his bank officially handed over a borehole it sunk at the institution at a cost $15 000.



While scores of depositors continue to spend several hours seeking cash withdrawals at their banks across the country, Stanbic believes adoption of digital technologies is the solution to biting cash shortages.



Our industry is driven by technology and over recent years, we have developed our services to the point where most of our customers no longer need to go to a physical bank branch to access our services, said Mr Sebborn.





They can do most of their banking via our online digital platforms and in this regard, we believe we make life more convenient and hopefully better for those that our organisation serves.





Although Government and the central bank have been urging members of the public to embrace use of plastic money to ease the demand for cash, the appetite for cash remains high.





As such, Mr Sebborn said Stanbic Bank and other banks, have introduced a new banking system in which clients people do not have to physically go to banking halls to access financial services. He said the evolution of technology in the banking industry has brought about this inevitable change, which everybody should embrace.





Stanbic Bank has introduced a mobile banking app that can be accessed on Goggle play for android users and on the App store for IOS users. The app gives one full visibility of their accounts and total control over their money.





He said the borehole donation was part of the banks measures to assist the referral health centre to improve its access to clean water supply for backup purposes and enhancing hygienic standards. Mpilo senior officials paid tribute to Stanbic for the gesture. Chronicle
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(Newser)  The Iowa college student who was allegedly abducted by a stranger while running last month was killed by "multiple sharp force injuries," investigators announced Thursday. Preliminary autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office also determined that 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts was the victim of a homicide, the Division of Criminal Investigation announced in a press release, per the AP. The agency did not release additional details about the injuries she suffered or what caused them, but said further examination of the body may result in additional findings. Autopsy reports are confidential under Iowa law, except for the cause and manner of death. The man charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts' death, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, allegedly led investigators to her body early Tuesday in a cornfield outside of Brooklyn, Iowa.

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While investigators were confident then that the body was that of Tibbetts, the autopsy definitively confirmed her identity. Investigators allege that Rivera abducted Tibbetts while she was out for an evening run in Brooklyn on July 18. Investigators allege he killed her and then disposed of her body in the secluded location. Rivera, a native of Mexico who is suspected of being in the US illegally, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for next week. His attorney, Allan Richards, said Thursday that the public should give his client his day in court and not prejudge the case. "Let's let the process go," he said. "The process is about truth-finding in a rational, peaceful and efficient manner. We're only at the very preliminary stages of this matter."

(Read more Mollie Tibbetts stories.)
(Newser)  Ed Kinga founding member of '60s rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and, later, a guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrdhas died. He was 68. "It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of Ed King who died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee on August 22nd, 2018. We thank his many friends and fans for their love and support of Ed during his life and career," a post on King's Facebook page reads. King, who had recently been hospitalized, had lung cancer, the Guardian reports, though a cause of death has not been given. King joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1972, per Rolling Stone, and played on the band's first three albums until he "tired of the Skynyrd drama and propensity for fighting" and left the band in 1975. King is known for contributing to the Strawberry Alarm Clock hit "Incense and Peppermints," as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," according to AV Club. (Read more Lynyrd Skynyrd stories.)
(Newser)  Remember the hubbub over this trailer with NSFW puppets? Well, The Happytime Murders is out Friday, starring Melissa McCarthy as a detective probing a series of puppet murders with her puppet partner. Critics, meanwhile, are busy investigating why the R-rated film is, in their opinions, downright awful. (The film has a 26% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.) What they're saying:



While "there's a cheeky freshness in the early scenes," the film "too often comes across as a skit that runs for too long  probably because the plot is nonsensical and pointless," James Berardinelli writes at ReelViews. McCarthy surprisingly doesn't help, he writes. She "has the life of a piece of background furniture."

Brian Truitt argues "McCarthy is as sharp-witted as ever," but his praise basically ends there. With gags that "make Fozzie Bear a comedic genius by comparison," this "scattershot comedy isn't nearly as clever or subversive as it thinks it is," he writes at USA Today, adding "there are much better uses of your time than this travesty."

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"There's more fun to be had watching a kid play with some socks," Johnny Oleksinski writes at the New York Post, noting the film is "as stale as a neglected saltine." The prevailing problem: "It's not funny," Oleksinski writes. In fact, "the only cast member who earns some giggles is Maya Rudolph."

Mara Reinstein is just relieved her viewing experience is over. "The Happytime Murders simply goes for the lowest common denominator of comedy from beginning to end. And those 90 minutes in between are excruciating. Let me put it in italics for emphasis. Excruciating," she writes at US Weekly, calling out the "lazy use of gross-out humor."

(Read more movie review stories.)
(Newser)  Now that former Nazi prison guard Jakiw Palij is out of the US, the New York Times explores how he got in, and it wasn't through his efforts alone. As Nazi records of his SS membership weren't uncovered until the 1990s, Palij successfully applied for a visa under the Displaced Persons Act at the American consular office in Schweinfurt, Germany, in June 1949 alongside Jaroslaw Bilaniuk, whose SS identification number turned out to be only one digit away from Palij's, says Peter Black, a former Justice Department historian who worked on Nazi deportation cases. Both claimed to have worked in Germany during the warPalij as a factory worker, Bilaniuk as a farmhand.

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Mykola Wasylyk, who also served with the men at the Trawniki labor camp and who'd already arrived in the US after securing a visa, vouched for both. The records suggest Palij and Bilaniuk weren't coerced into joining the SS as Palij later claimed, but volunteered together in February 1943. Together with Wasylyk, they guarded prisoners who made uniforms and brushes at Trawniki, says Black, a camp known for having executed 6,000 Jews in a single day in November 1943. Upon their arrival in the US, Palij and Bilaniuk settled 100 miles from Wasylyk in Queens, NY. Bilaniuk and Wasylyk would each die in the US, even after officials uncovered their true past. Deported to Germany this week at President Trump's direction, per Reuters, Palij is unlikely to face charges. (Read more Nazis stories.)
(Newser)  You might think twice about heading to Twitter or Facebook to read about vaccinations. "A significant portion of the online discourse about vaccines may be generated by malicious actors with a range of hidden agendas," says George Washington University's David Broniatowski, author of a new study calling out Russian trolls for seeking to polarize Americans on the issue during 2016 election meddling. Already known to have stirred up issues relating to guns and race, Russia-linked Twitter accounts sent more than 250 tweets offering a pro- or anti-vaccine stance between 2014 and 2017, the BBC reports, citing the study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.

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Those identified as trolls tweeted about vaccines 22 times more often than regular Twitter users, according to the study, which notes that #VaccinateUS was "uniquely identified with Russian troll accounts associated with the [Kremlin's] Internet Research Agency," per the Guardian and New York Times. "You can't fix stupidity. Let them die from measles, and I'm for #vaccination!" one such tweet read. "Dont get #vaccines. Illuminati are behind it," read another. "By playing both sides, they erode public trust in vaccination, exposing us all to the risk of infectious diseases," says researcher Mark Dredze. But the tweets are really about sowing discord, says Broniatowski, noting that many IRA-linked tweets about vaccines also mentioned, race, class, and the US government. (Expect something similar as the midterms approach.)
(Newser)  The Mollie Tibbetts murder continues to emerge as a flashpoint in the immigration debate, even if some members of the Iowa student's family aren't happy about it, reports NBC News. The reason? US immigration officials say 24-year-old suspect Cristhian Bahena Rivera was in the country illegally, though his attorney continues to push back against that claim. A look at related developments:

Geraldo criticizes Fox: One of those criticizing Fox News for focusing so strongly on the immigration angle turns out to be one of its own hosts, Geraldo Rivera, reports the Washington Post. "We, at this network, are putting that spin on this story," Rivera said on the network Thursday night. "This is a murder story. It's not an immigration story." He added that he knows he's in the minority view in the Fox audience on this, "but I'm begging you to have compassion and not brand this entire population by the deeds of this one person."

One of those criticizing Fox News for focusing so strongly on the immigration angle turns out to be one of its own hosts, Geraldo Rivera, reports the Washington Post. "We, at this network, are putting that spin on this story," Rivera said on the network Thursday night. "This is a murder story. It's not an immigration story." He added that he knows he's in the minority view in the Fox audience on this, "but I'm begging you to have compassion and not brand this entire population by the deeds of this one person." Counter-view: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been among those on the right blaming too-soft immigration policies for the murder. "The CNNs, the MSNBCs, most of the print media in this country, and the Democrats, they are all accomplices in the death of this young girl and the death of everyone else," he said on Fox, per DallasNews.com. He also called out Geraldo Rivera, and the two plan to debate the issue.

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The politics: One comment in wide circulation is from Newt Gingrich, who told Axios, "If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble." President Trump, meanwhile, has used the murder to make another case for his border wall. "A person came in from Mexico and killed her," he said in an online video.

One comment in wide circulation is from Newt Gingrich, who told Axios, "If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble." President Trump, meanwhile, has used the murder to make another case for his border wall. "A person came in from Mexico and killed her," he said in an online video. Relatives respond: Some members of Tibbetts' family don't want her linked to the debate. "I don't want Mollie's memory to get lost amongst politics," aunt Billie Jo Calderwood told CNN. A second cousin, Samantha Lucas, posted an angry message online demanding that Tibbetts' death not be used for "political propaganda." Tibbetts' immediate family didn't address the issue in a statement asking for privacy, per Time.

Some members of Tibbetts' family don't want her linked to the debate. "I don't want Mollie's memory to get lost amongst politics," aunt Billie Jo Calderwood told CNN. A second cousin, Samantha Lucas, posted an angry message online demanding that Tibbetts' death not be used for "political propaganda." Tibbetts' immediate family didn't address the issue in a statement asking for privacy, per Time. Is he undocumented? The latest from ICE Thursday afternoon: "Law enforcement remains absolutely confident that we've correctly identified the suspect as an illegal alien from Mexico, based both on investigative interviews with him and on records checks," per a statement picked up by the Des Moines Register, which runs through how the details regarding suspect Rivera's citizenship status have changed. On Thursday night, his attorney, Allan Richards, dismissed these allegations as "rhetoric," per Fox News.

The latest from ICE Thursday afternoon: "Law enforcement remains absolutely confident that we've correctly identified the suspect as an illegal alien from Mexico, based both on investigative interviews with him and on records checks," per a statement picked up by the Des Moines Register, which runs through how the details regarding suspect Rivera's citizenship status have changed. On Thursday night, his attorney, Allan Richards, dismissed these allegations as "rhetoric," per Fox News. Another focus: While the case has put the spotlight on immigration laws, it also has focused attention on the importance of immigrant labor in farm states such as Iowa, reports the AP, which digs in.

The autopsy says "sharp force injuries" caused Tibbetts' death . (Read more Mollie Tibbetts stories.)
(Newser)  A UK couple's family wants answers after the pair suddenly died within hours of each other while vacationing in Egypt. Daughter Kelly Ormerod, who was on holiday with John Cooper, 69, and Susan Cooper, said to be in her early 60s, at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in Hurghada, says the two were "fit and healthy," reports the BBC. Egyptian authorities say John Cooper died in his hotel room around 11am local time after a "sharp drop in blood circulation and a sudden stop in the heart muscle"; the cause of death was "sudden failure in the heart muscle and respiratory failure." Just a few hours later, Susan Cooper began to faint and was taken to the hospital, where she died due to "drop of blood circulation and respiratory functions." Local officials say there doesn't seem to be anything criminal about their deaths.

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An executive for the hotel's parent company says the hotel's other 1,600 or so guests were not ill in unusual numbers, but a woman staying there tells the BBC that she's heard of about 40 people sick with vomiting and diarrhea. "A reasonable person can't help but wonder if there's a link between that illness and these deaths," she says. Past guests also tell the BBC they got sick after staying there. Ormerod, meanwhile, reportedly expressed concern to local officials that a malfunctioning AC may have contributed to her parents' deaths, per the Telegraph. Thomas Cook, the travel company the Coopers went through, issued a statement noting it was "deeply saddened" by their deaths and that it has no evidence to support rumors the couple may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The company says it's helping customers fly home or find other accommodations. (Read more mystery stories.)
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#unification ministry Unification ministry to discuss resuming Panmunjom tours with UNC The unification ministry said Monday it will begin discussions with the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) to resume tours to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom as Sou...
(Newser)  Volkswagen is facing new accusations. But they have nothing to do with cheating on emissions tests. Instead, farmers in Mexico are accusing the carmaker of causing a drought. Volkswagen uses so-called hail cannons to protect newly manufactured cars parked outside at its Puebla factory. The cannons shoot sonic booms into the air to purportedly prevent hail formation, CNN reports. Farmers and activists in the region say the cannons are also preventing rain, thereby ruining crops. A Volkswagen spokeswoman says that there is no evidence that the cannons reduce rainfall, but that the company will stop using them on automatic mode and, instead, use them only when "meteorological conditions determine imminent fall of hail."

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But one local official tells Agence France-Presse that any use of the cannons is "unacceptable." "They are not respecting their neighbors' request to definitively stop using hail cannons," says Rafael Ramirez. "The company can take other measures to protect its cars, but people here can't live off anything but their land." Volkswagen says that it does plan to install "anti-hail nets" over some 150 acres. Despite Volkswagen's apparent belief that the cannons prevent hail and the farmers' belief that they prevent rain, the scientific evidence is lacking on both counts, the Washington Post notes. A 2006 paper in a German metrological journal calls hail cannons "useless." Farmers want Volkswagen to pay some $4 million in compensation, per AFP. (Read more Volkswagen stories.)
(Newser)  The daughter of a TLC reality star bears sad news about her mom. TMZ reports 50-year-old Lisa Fleming, who appeared on the network's My 600-lb Life in the winter, died on Thursday. Deadline reports Fleming died at her home in Texas, of unknown causes. Danielle Fleming posted about her mom's death Thursday on Facebook, noting she'd held Lisa Fleming's hand for four hours that morning "knowing nothing I could've done would bring you back to me." TMZ reports that when the elder Fleming started out on the show, she weighed more than 700 pounds, but Danielle Fleming said her mom's weight actually wasn't the cause of her death. She says Lisa Fleming had lost more than 200 pounds since her appearance, and that different illnesses had just eventually taken their toll.

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"At the end she was sick and her body was tired and her body just gave out," Danielle tells TMZ. Page Six notes Lisa Fleming's weight issues were exacerbated by her parents' divorce, the murder of her brother, and four pregnancies one after the other. Fleming isn't the first star of the TLC show to die: Earlier this month, LB Bonner shot himself to death, and in November, New Jersey's Robert Buchel died during the filming of his episode. "She was my world and I was her #NumberOneGirl," Danielle Fleming wrote on Facebook. "Mommy, I love you from here to the stars and back!  I'm happy you're no longer in pain and stuck in that bed." (Read more TLC stories.)
(Newser)  An Oregon man who said he and his buddy were on a "last hurrah" tour through national parks before he entered alcohol treatment was sentenced Thursday to 130 days in jail for his drunken behaviorincluding harassing a bison that had stopped traffic in Yellowstone National Park, per the AP. Raymond Reinke's crimes drew national attention when at least one Yellowstone visitor caught his interaction with a bison on video. Reinke, of Pendleton, Oregon, pleaded guilty during a federal court appearance in Mammoth, Wyoming, where cases from Yellowstone park are heard.

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US Magistrate Judge Mark Carman sentenced him to 60 days in jail for harassing wildlife, 60 days for interfering with law enforcement, and 10 days for disorderly conduct. He was given credit for 21 days served. Reinke, 55, is banned from Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier national parks for a five-year probationary period during which he is not allowed to drink alcohol. His planned chemical dependency treatment is now court-ordered. "I'm sorry to the buffalo. He didn't deserve what I did to him," Reinke said, per ABC Fox Montana.

(Read more Yellowstone National Park stories.)
(Newser)  In what Courthouse News calls "a high-stakes legal and political drama," some 150 asylum seekers rescued from the Mediterranean Sea are being held on a docked Italian coast guard ship for a fifth day on Friday. Interior Minister Matteo Salvinian anti-immigrant politician who has refused to let the asylum seekers set foot on Italian soilhas threatened to send those aboard the vessel, which is named the Diciotti, back to Libya. Critics say Salvini is breaking both Italian and international law. And Italian media has reported that a public prosecutor was investigating an "unknown person" for illegal imprisonment, according to DW.com. In reply to potential legal jeopardy, though, Salvini said, "I'm not afraid of anything. I have a clean conscience," per Courthouse News.

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On Thursday, 27 children between 14 and 16 years of age were allowed to leave the boat, per DW.com. As for the rest of the migrants, Salvini, who has pledged to deport some 500,000 immigrants from Italy, is asking other European Union countries to accept them, even threatening to withhold payments to the EU. As of Friday, Belgian and Hungary had refused, according to reports, and Germany has not made a decision. While Salvini's hardline stance on immigration reportedly has popular support, not all Italians agree with him. Earlier this week, some 300 people brought arancini (fried rice balls) to the Sicilian port where the Diciotti is docked as, organizers said, "a symbol of welcome and assistance, The Local reports. Onboard the boat, the asylum seekers have begun a hunger strike to protest their detention, the Guardian reports. (Read more immigration stories.)
(Newser)  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday announced plans to travel to North Korea with newly hired special envoy Stephen Biegun next week. On Friday, however, President Trump said he asked Pompeo to cancel the trip. The reason for what the New York Times calls the "abrupt cancelation": "I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the president tweeted, adding that he does not think China is helping with the denuclearization process "because of our much tougher trading stance."

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Pompeo "looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our trading relationship with China is resolved," continues Trump. It would have been Pompeo's fourth trip to Pyongyang, per CNN. During a July trip, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "snubbed" the secretary of state and the visit went "as badly as it could have gone," sources told the network. (Read more North Korean nuclear weapon program stories.)
(Newser)  A 36-year-old who modeled for Playboy, Victoria's Secret, Maxim, and others has been strangled to death in her suburban Philadelphia apartment, reports local affiliate Fox 29. Police found Christina Carlin-Krafther Facebook page is herein the bedroom of her condominium in Ardmore about 9:15pm Wednesday, reports the AP. Officers discovered her body while performing a welfare check, following up on an apparent robbery of her condo on Saturday, according to Fox.

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It wasn't immediately clear if the two crimes were related. Police have not speculated about a motive or mentioned any suspects, but the Montgomery County District Attorney's office said there "doesn't appear to be any current concern" for other residents of the neighborhood. Carlin-Kraft had reportedly just moved into her condo. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be "ligature strangulation," suggesting the killer used some kind of a rope, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. (Read more Philadelphia stories.)
Mumbai:

Metals and mining giant Vedanta will spend around $ 300-400 million in recently acquired Electrosteel Steels to expand its capacity to 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), a top company official said.

This investment will be part of the companys overall $ 8-billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) capex plan over the next three years, according to Vedanta chairman Navin Agarwal.

Electrosteel Steels is currently processing at a full capacity of 1.5 mtpa, and we will soon start work to expand capacity to 2.5 mtpa at a very nominal capex of $ 300-400 million, Agarwal told reporters on the sideline of the firms annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday.

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In March, Vedanta acquired assets of Electrosteel Steels, which marked its entry into steelmaking in India.

Our acquisition of Electrosteel has lot to do with the integration of our iron ore business, said Agarwal.

Replying to a query on the firms troubled copper smelter at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Agarwal said, At this time our endeavour is to restart the copper smelter and discussion of expanding will happen afterwards.

The Tuticorin plant has been closed since May after 13 people were killed in a police firing during protests against the plant on allegations of it causing health and environmental issues.

Meanwhile, the company has chalked out a mega capital expenditure plans of $ 8 billion over the next three years on growth projects across its businesses.

The company is looking at growing its oil and gas business to about 400,000 barrels per day, from the current 200,000 barrels per day.

Similarly, the zinc business will grow to about 1.35 mtpa. The company is also looking at growing its international zinc business and aluminium and alumina refinery capacities, the chairman said.

Read More | UAE denies Rs 700 crore aid to flood-hit Kerala, says yet to decide on final amount

We will be spending $ 8 billion across all our businesses. Most of this capex will be funded through internal accruals as our cash flows stood at Rs 7,900 crore (as on March 31) and we have reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500 crore, Agarwal said, adding the company will not opt for external funding.

Following this expansion, he believes that the firms business size will grow by around 50 per cent.

Replying to a query on inorganic growth, Agarwal said, We have nothing on the plate on the acquisition side, but if good opportunity comes, which is synergic to our business, we will look at it.

Vedanta had posted 2.13 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,533 crore in June quarter, while its total income increased to Rs 22,624 core.

The companys shares ended 4.26 per cent up at Rs 223.95 apiece on the BSE on Friday, against 0.22 per cent decline in the benchmark.

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New Delhi:

Around 128 private schools in Delhi, including some big names, have decided to roll back their arbitrary fee hikes, an official at the chief ministers office said on Thursday.

Also Read | PM Modi, Shah hand urns with Vajpayee's ashes to party chiefs

The decision was taken as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued directions to the school authorities to roll back their arbitrary fee hike after receiving complaints.

The parents were satisfied as the government kept its promise of monitoring the private school fees under check and this action will enable the parents to breathe relaxation, according to the official.

In April, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the education department to issue notices to 195 private schools across the city and demanded that the authorities roll back their fee hike. In July, Kejriwal again asked the Directorate of education to submit a compliance report on whether the private schools had rolled back the fee hike as ordered by the government.

Out of 195 private schools, 128 have informed the directorate of education that they are rolling back their hiked fees. The move will benefit 2.03 lakh students studying at these 128 schools. Remaining 67 private schools will soon be served show-cause notices for not complying with the orders, a government spokesperson said.

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He said that the co-existence of private and government schools will only benefit the city, but the arbitrary fee hike had caused a grim concern.

In April, after the fee hike was issued, the CMs office was flooded with complaints regarding the issue. This demanded serious attention and hence directions were issued by the government to schools to roll back the fee hike.

Checking the arbitrary hike in school fees is one of the main promises of this government. It has been successful in not letting the schools increase their fees arbitrarily and in the past several schools had to return increased fees to the parents after governments intervention, the government official said.

The official informed that the education minister Manish Sisodia would meet the representative of all the 128 schools who had agreed to the governments orders and discuss how to take the education system forward in Delhi.

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Thimphu:

Naseeruddin Shah has often called Shammi Kapoor and Dara Singh among his favourite screen icons and the veteran actor says people are often surprised by this answer. Shah, 68, said before Kapoor, Hindi cinema actors lacked style when it came to being a part of songs, often looking "awkward" as they tried to dance.

Also Read | Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan among Forbes list of worlds highest paid actors 2018

"Whenever I am asked who my favourite actors are, I say Shammi Kapoor and Dara Singh. People expect me to say Balraj Sahni and Dilip Kumar. I admire them too but Dara Singh and Shammi Kapoor were my favourites.

"Shammi kappor is the man who gave a form to song picturisation in India, what men should do in a song. Post Shammi Kapoor, every actor has done a Shammi Kapoor or tried to do a Shammi Kapoor and every choreographer has tried to make them do a Shammi Kapoor," Shah said on Thursday while speaking at a session at the ongoing Mountain Echoes literary festival in Thimphu.

As someone, who by his own admission, is not good when it comes to being a part of a song, Shah said he loved watching Kapoor own one like a boss.

"There were actors singing songs, and they didn't seem like they were singing themselves, which they weren't, of course. All you saw was these rather awkward gents trying to look younger than they were.

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"The only one who I enjoyed watching in songs was Shammi Kapoor. I knew I could never be a Shammi Kapoor. When you see a performance and feel 'I couldn't have done it', that's the kind of performance you really admire. So when I watched Dilip Kumar and Balraj Sahni, I used to feel I could do this," he said.

Shah made his debut as a lead actor with Shyam Benegal's "Nishant" and went on to collaborate with him on a number of classics and the actor said the director told him to treat the camera as his audience, an advice that he follows even today.

"The most useful advice that Shyam (Benegal) gave me was that when you are on stage you try to be in contact with every single person, you got to create the same contact with the camera because the camera is the eye of every man in the audience.

"To me, that was really a mind opener and I learnt to make friends with the camera and that has helped me. (Though) When I had to do a song and dance number in front of the camera, it didn't work as much," Shah said.

Also read | Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas plan for destination wedding at THIS place

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New Delhi:

Ed King, the southern rock pioneer from the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on Thursday. The news of his demise was announced on his official Facebook page account. The co-writer of Southern rock anthem Sweet Home Alabama, died at his home in Nashville. The cause of death was not revealed but rock music bible Rolling Stone said he had been battling lung cancer. The former rock star was 68 when he breathed his last.

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The Facebook post of the official band account read, It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of Ed King who died at his home in Nashville, Tennesse on August 22nd, 2018. We thank his many friends and fans for their love and support for Ed during his life and career.

Guitarist Gary Rossington took to Lynyrd Skynyrd's official Twitter account to voice his shock over King's death. "Ed was our brother, and a great Songwriter and Guitar player. I know he will be reunited with the rest of the boys in Rock & Roll Heaven," he wrote.

Ive just found out about Eds passing and Im shocked and saddened. Ed was our brother, and a great Songwriter and Guitar player. I know he will be reunited with the rest of the boys in Rock & Roll Heaven. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sharon and his family. -Gary Rossington  Lynyrd Skynyrd (@Skynyrd) August 23, 2018

King, originally from California, spent three years in the band in the early 1970s, appearing on three albums, but quit after bust-ups with frontman Ronnie Van Zant. The band broke up after a 1977 plane crash that killed three of its members, including Van Zant. It reformed with King on board in 1987, with Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, on lead vocals.

Also Read | Claire Holt, Andrew Joblon tied the knot

King retired nine years into the reunion period and subsequently suffered various health problems. He was one of three writers of the anthemic "Sweet Home Alabama," from the 1974 album "Second Helping", and can be heard counting in the band at the start of the track.

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As the news of the guitarist's death reached his friends and fans, tributes started pouring in.

RIP Ed King pic.twitter.com/QdmpgqdvVA  marc maron (@marcmaron) August 23, 2018

Remembering the one and only Mr. Sweet Home Alabama, Ed King. Very sad to hear of his passing. His work with Strawberry Alarm Clock and ofcourse Lynyrd Skynyrd will forever be remembered. pic.twitter.com/VQ86DvxBvz  Black Stone Cherry (@BlkStoneCherry) August 23, 2018

RIP original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd Ed King. I really liked meeting him making that doc about the band with @VH1 back in the day. In this 3rd pic hes playing that great opening lick from Sweet Home Alabama. pic.twitter.com/t74YSCTqRf  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 23, 2018

Rest in peace, Ed King. pic.twitter.com/3tFU3aZVbm  Rock History In Pics (@RockHistoryPix) August 23, 2018

See Ed King play his final show with a reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 https://t.co/ZTd3wGUJxv pic.twitter.com/hqMY5jNgtW  Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) August 23, 2018

It deeply saddens me to hear that Ed King has passed away. He was a sweet friend & rock legend with a heart of gold. Helping his precious wife, Sharon, surprise him with this 1956 Fender Stratocaster at The Catbird Seat. Rest in Paradise Ed ai pic.twitter.com/3DPltCTaOZ

 Paige LaRae a (@paigelarae) August 23, 2018





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New Delhi:

Olly Esse, an Italian DJ, was allegedly assaulted by Air India Staff at the departure area of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on August 19. Esse had uploaded a video of her on Facebook complaining about the incident. She has also made allegations that even the police did not bother helping her when she went to register the incident.

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Esse alleges that her Air India flight was delayed by nine hours and when inquired about the status of her flight, the attendant at the departure gate did not respond to her query. Moreover, when she walked up to the Air India counter seeking for an answer, the employee at the desk refused to help her, saying that it was not her job. She argued that Esse should have made the bookings herself.

The DJ also alleged that when she threatened to file a complaint against the staff and demanded her to repeat her statement on video, the employee slapped her.

The sufferings of Esse did not end at the airport. After being assaulted, she went to the police station to lodge a complaint against the employee. But, the policemen refused to file a complaint as the inspector was not present at the time. Even the airport authorities denied helping the foreign DJ.

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Esse took to her Facebook account and posted her video with a caption that read, I went and asked a lady (I know name and surname) at the counter of air India how what should I do and she didn't reply, attracted her attention once again asking her to collaborate and she replied rudely that this is not her job and I should go to do bookings by myself - as I took out the cell phone and asked her to say that again cuz I'm going to file the complain to air India for that kind of treatment she SLAPPED ME SO HARD I FELT BACK AND MY CELL PHONE FELL FROM MY HAND! I literally started to scream from pain!

According to reports, Air India has denied the allegations of assault saying, The lady from AI Sats, which is our outsourced agency at RGIA, was being filmed by the Italian DJ so she objected to it and raised her hand to stop the filming and the mobile slipped from the Italian lady's hand and was caught by her. It didn't fall down. She accused the AI SATs girl of assault. CISF also intervened and told the Italian lady that she can't film the staff."

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Air India staff alleged that Esse was angry because of the delay.

The Inspector deputed at the airport apologised to Esse for the inconvenience caused to her. He wrote an apology on Twitter and said they will file an FIR if she files a complaint.

Good afternoon madam

I Mahesh Inspector of Police RIGA PS

I am very much available in the police station since morning. I enquired and came to know that you met a special police constable. Since he is on gaured duty he might have informed you to visit PS RGIA in shamshabad.  RGI Airport Police Station (@psrgia_cyb) August 19, 2018

Police officials are awaiting an official complaint to begin a probe into the matter.

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New Delhi:

The sudden and excess release of water from Mullaperiyar Dam by Tamil Nadu led to the devastating floods in Kerala, the Pinarayi Vijayan government told the Supreme Court on Thursday. In its response to a petition seeking reduction of water level at the Mullaperiyar Dam, the Kerala Government, told the apex court that the excess release from Mullaperiyar Dam caused an overload situation in Idukki reservoir and water had to be released.

Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose said that the Kerala government had suggested Tamil Nadu to gradually release water from Mullaperiyar dam when its level was 136 feet. The suggestion, however, was not accepted. He said the Kerala government again made the same suggestion when the water level reached 139 feet.

Also Read | After flooding, Kerala faces mammoth task of averting disease outbreak, rehabilitation

Tamil Nadu, however, asserted that it had released water on August 16, nearly a week after the flooding started in Kerala. Tamil Nadu is also likely to contend that it has a permission from the apex court to store water up to 142 feet.

Kerala has been facing the massive flooding since August 8. The worst floods in a century have caused the state a damage to the tune of nearly Rs 20,000 crore. So far, over 350 people have lost their lives and lakhs rendered homeless.

In the Affidavit, the Pinarayi Vijayan government also informed the apex court that the flooding has directly affected over 54 lakh people and left as many as 13 lakh taking shelter at relief camps. Nearly half of the states 1,564 villages spreading across 13 of the 14 districts were marooned in flood waters.

Also Read | Malayalam films industry suffers huge loss in Kerala floods

The Mullaperiyar dam, located in Kerala but operated by Tamil Nadu under an 1886 pact between the British and the Maharaja of Travancore, has long been an issue of contention between the states.

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New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday directed Tamil Nadu to maintain the water level in Mullaperiyar Dam at 139 feet till August 31. The Apex court also asked Tamil Nadu and Kerala to cooperate and follow the panels direction on Mullaperiyar Dam.

The directions came a day after Kerala told the apex court that the devastating floods in Kerala were caused by the sudden and excess release of water from Mullaperiyar Dam by Tamil Nadu.

Also Read | Malayalam films industry suffers huge loss in Kerala floods

Kerala has been facing the massive flooding since August 8. The worst floods in a century have caused the state a damage to the tune of nearly Rs 20,000 crore. So far, over 350 people have lost their lives and lakhs rendered homeless.

The Mullaperiyar Dam, located in Kerala but operated by Tamil Nadu under an 1886 pact between the British and the Maharaja of Travancore, has long been an issue of contention between the states.

Also Read | After flooding, Kerala faces mammoth task of averting disease outbreak, rehabilitation

The Supreme Courts directions also came after the disaster management sub-committee monitoring the water level of the dam, asked Tamil Nadu to keep the water level 2-3 feet below its maximum limit.

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New Delhi:

Heavy rainfall have been predicted by the Meteorological Department in many areas of 16 states, including the national capital, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Several parts of the country sufferred monsoon havoc. Kerala suffered its worst floods that left 13 of the 14 districts submerged and over 370 people dead in the deadly deluge.

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Rain alert in the next couple of days have been issued in some areas of Uttrakhand, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, as per the latest forecast by the Meteorological Department on Friday.

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Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh government has ordered the closure of schools and colleges in the Kangra district amid alert of heavy rainfall.

Some areas of Delhi-NCR also received light rainfall on Friday morning. Earlier on Thursday, poring rain lashed the national capital. Daily commuters suffered flooded road and traffic jam.

Meanwhile, Dharamshala has recorded its highest rainfall for a 24-hour period in August in the last 60 years, the MeT said on Friday. It said the place received 292.4 millimetres rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am. The earlier record for the month was 316.4 mm of rainfall in 24 hours on August 6, 1958, Met centre director Manmohan Singh said.

In view of forecasts of heavy rains, the Kangra district administration has closed all education institutions today as a precautionary measure. In other parts of the state, 127 mm rain was recorded in Jogindernagar in Mandi followed by 98 mm in Pamalmpur and 96 mm in Baijnath (both in Kangra), 81.2 mm in Kheri of Chamba district and 64.8 mm in Nagrota Surian in Kangra district since Thursday.

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New Delhi:

Fresh violence was reported on Friday in Malpura area of Tonk district in Rajasthan, as local pelted stones at Kanwariyas, forcing the police to impose curfew in the area. An unruly mob on Friday torched a shop in the town prompting the police to impose curfew in the area, Additional Superintendent of Police Goverdhan Sekaria said.

ALSO READ: Kerala BJP asks CM Vijayan 'to explain' UAE's Rs 700-crore help

Earlier on Thursday, people of a minority community had pelted stones and attacked the kanwariyas while they were passing through a Muslim-dominated area in Malpura. The incident was followed by high tension in the area due to which the police imposed the Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), prohibiting the gathering of crowds. After hurling stones at the Kanwariyas, the crowd also torched a vehicle.

ALSO READ: Massive 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Peru-Brazil border

After imposing the Section 144 of CrPC, the mobile internet services were also blocked in the area.

Meanwhile, at least 15 pilgrims on Kanwar Yatra were injured severely in the clash and a video of the incident has gone viral.

In the incident, an SUV was vandalised and set ablaze alongside a state roadway bus.

An additional police force has been deployed in the area to maintain the law and order.

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New Delhi:

In a major setback for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, convicted in four fodder scam cases, the Ranchi High Court on Friday dismissed his provisional bail plea. Lalu, who is currently undergoing treatment at the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai, will now have to surrender before the court on August 30, the court directed.

The high court told Lalus lawyer that he will now have to undergo treatment at RIMS hospital in Ranchi. Earlier on May 11, the high court had granted Lalu six weeks provisional bail on medical grounds and again extended it till August 14.

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Later on August 10, the court had extended the provisional bail till August 20 on medical grounds.



The former Bihar chief minister has been convicted in four multi-crore fodder scam cases- Chaibasa Treasury, Chaibasa Treasury (RC68A/96), Deoghar Treasury and Dumka Treasury (RC38A/96).

Also Read | Lalu Prasad Yadav's family plots in Patna are money laundering assets, claims PMLA authority

These cases pertain to illegal withdrawal of money from government treasuries in different districts of Bihar for animal husbandry in 1990s when the RJD was in power in the state.

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New Delhi:

Raksha Bandhan 2018 falls on according to the Hindu calendar this year, As the auspicious day of this Hindu festival that celebrates the special bond between sisters and brothers nears, the market is flooded with Rakhi goodies and Rakhi gifts. And there are special religious and cultural significance of Raksha Bandhan. But what is the origin of this festival celebrated by all Hindus across the world? What is story behind Raksha Bandhan celebration? Indian tradition and culture is full of folklores and myths and associated with religion. Here are some of the fascinating facts about Raksha Bandhan:

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Krishna and Draupadi

The story goes that one of the most beloved gods in the Hindu Religion, Krishna cut his little finger when handling sugarcane. While his queen Rukmini sent for bandages, Draupadi hurriedly tore a piece of her saree and tied it around his finger. In return for the generous act, Draupadi showed Krishna pledged to help her whenever a need requires. Hence, when Draupadi was asked to disrobe her saree in the Hall of Hastinapura, Krishna came to her aide. Although, Krishna and Draupadi were not brothers or sisters the pledge of care and protection Krishna vowed to Draupadi is the few stories behind the origin of Raksha Bandha.



Yama and Yamuna

Another mythical story of how Raksha Bandhan started and the association with the gods. Yama was the god of death while Yamuna the holy river that still flows in India. And the story goes that Yamuna tied a rakhi to Yama to which she was granted with immortality. Maybe, that is the reason why the river Yamuna still flows to this day. The story also goes that Yama was moved by the gesture of what Yamuna did for him. Hence, he sanctioned a ritual that any male or brother when tied a rakhi and vowed to safeguard his sister would become immortal.

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Goddess Laxmi and King Bali

This story is one that showed how a demon can also have his good side. King Bali was a demon king whom Lord Vishnu as part of his pledge had been protecting as a doorman. Being away from Vaikuntha, lord Vishnus consort, Laxmi began to miss him terribly. Making herself look like woman in need of shelter she approaches Bali who opens the door generously for the goddess of Wealth. And with her, she brought along prosperity. In the holy month of Shravana on a full moon, Laxmi tied a rakhi on Balis wrists in return for protection and happiness. Bali in return asks what she wishes for the most, to which she points to the gatekeeper. King Bali exposes his identity and so does the goddess. Bali requests Vishnu to return home to which he does.



There are hence many other myths and lores explaining as to how the Raksha Bandhan came into being. Regardless of how the story originates, Raksha Bandhan celebrates the bother-sisterly love. A day to express the love each sibling has for the other. It hence as a festival stretches to more than just tying rakhis and receiving gifts.

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New Delhi:

The Centres refusal to accept flood relief for Kerala from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ill-thought-out and needs to be re-examined with a dispassionate mind. As if in an after-thought, UAE envoy in New Delhi Ahmed Albanna has denied that any specific quantum had been offered though reports have been doing the rounds that the amount was Rs 700 crore. The question now is the principle regardless of the quantum.



It is folly to think that acceptance of help in an extraordinary calamitous situation would compromise the countrys self-respect.

Also Read | UAE denies Rs 700 crore aid to flood-hit Kerala, says yet to decide on final amount



Considering that nearly 80 per cent of the ethnic Indians in UAE hail from Kerala and their contribution to that countrys development has been stupendous, it is graceful of UAE to have offered to help tide over the tragedy. It bespeaks of the concern it has for the kith and kin of an important section of their population.



Even a developed country like the US had accepted foreign help when hurricane Katrina had struck parts of it. We ought to accept UAE aid with grace and dignity and not pull out a dusted old precedent when in 2004 the then prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had rejected all foreign aid to tide over the effects of the catastrophic tsunami which had struck the coastal areas of South India to assert Indias status as a rising power.



Also Read | Kerala Disaster: How natural calamities are turned into act of God

If 2004 had established a precedent, so should the National Disaster Management Plan not be brushed aside when it provided for accepting foreign assistance for natural disasters in 2016.



The Kerala floods were a disaster of a century and require a relief and rehabilitation effort that is not within easy means of the state and the Central government to meet adequately and comprehensively. There is no reason a prosperous neighbour should not be allowed to chip in to ameliorate the condition of a section of the globe from which a major part of its population originated.



Of course, Keralas is not the lone example of foreign assistance being refused. Earlier, aid from Russia, Japan and the US had been refused for relief and rehabilitation in the wake of the Uttarakashi earthquake in 1993, the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 and the Kashmir floods in 2014. But there have been precedents on the other side too of acceptance of aid, for the Gujarat quake of 2001, the Bengal cyclone of 2002 and the Bihar floods of 2004.

Also Read | Kerala Disaster: When government ignored the danger signs



Sticking to the rejection of UAE aid would send out a signal of arrogance which will not be conducive to cordial Indo-UAE relations. The External Affairs Ministrys stand that the government was committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation in Kerala through domestic efforts may sound very good but would put a strain on local resources. What must also be considered is the unique relationship of Kerala with the Gulf countries.



What former Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon has suggested is that we say yes for help in rebuilding houses, bridges, roads and not directly for flood relief. This is a suggestion worth pondering over.



More than the receiver, India believes that as a growing economic power, it has the capability of positioning the country as more of an aid donor. India has proven its donor credentials in disaster-hit nations like Haiti ($5 million after the 2010 earthquake) and Pakistan ($25 million following the 2005 earthquake) in the recent past.



Accepting UAEs help could lead to other countries offering help too. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too has made an offer and accepting one and rejecting another would create a piquant situation. This is hardly an insurmountable problem. The way out suggested by Shiv Shankar Menon can be a thumb rule.

Also Read | Who loves a good flood? Dealers eyeing luxury cars at throwaway prices



The Kerala chief minister has favoured acceptance of the UAE offer. That should obviate any doubts over the Opposition creating a convincing din over the acceptance of aid for infrastructure development.

READ more OPINION
New Delhi:

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday warned that the move to impeach him would have a big bearing on markets and everyone would be very poor.

In an interview with Fox & Friends, Trump said, I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job. I tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, I think everybody would be very poor."

Trump, pointing at his head, further said, "Because without this thinking, you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse."

The US president also hailed his economic measures saying had he not been elected the countrys economy was going downwards.

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"I freed up, I got rid of regulations, the tax cut was a tremendous thing," he said and added, "Had Hillary and the Democrats gotten in, had she been the President, you would have had negative growth. We picked up $10 trillion worth."

This was the first time the US president has spoken about the prospect of being impeached after his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty of violating elections law on his directions.

Cohen had said that he handled hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal during the 2016 US presidential elections at the direction of Trump. He said the money was given to the ladies for the principal purpose of influencing the election since they had alleged an affair with Trump.

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However, it was unlikely that the Opposition would try to impeach Trump before mid-term elections scheduled to held in November. Currently, Trump's Republican Party holds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

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New Delhi:

Tour operator Thomas Cook on Friday said it was evacuating all 301 of its customers from a hotel in Egypts Red Sea resort of Hurghada as a precautionary measure after two British guests at the hotel died within hours under unclear circumstances on Tuesday.

The move came after John Cooper, 69, and Susan Cooper, 63, from Burnley in northern England, died after a heart attack while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel.

Their daughter, Kelly Ormerod said that her father John, died in his hotel room while her mother, a Thomas Cook employee, died in the ambulance on the way to hospital, adding her parents were fit and healthy.

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Prior to going on holiday, Mum and Dad were fit and healthy. They had no health problems at all, Ormerod said.

As a family we are devastated. Mum and Dad meant the world to me and the children, and we are in utter shock over what has happened and what is happening, Ormerod told the Lancashire-based radio station 2BR.

On Thursday, Thomas Cook said in a statement that the circumstances of their deaths were still unclear and it had received further reports of illness among guests at the hotel.

The decision to evacuate 301 holiday makers from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel is a precautionary measure, the company said, adding that the guests will be offered alternative hotels or the option to return home.

We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations, it said.

Thomas Cook audited the Steigenberger Aqua Magic in July,2018 and received an overall score of 96 per cent.

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Thomas Cook said that while the company was aware of the speculation, there was no evidence to support this.

An Egyptian official told The Associated Press that an investigation was still underway but that the deaths were likely due to natural causes.

The prosecution on Friday ordered autopsies after the Coopers daughter requested blood analysis to further look into reasons behind their deaths. The Cooper family had spent seven out of their 10-day vacation in the hotel when the deaths occurred, the official said.

Forensic examination of John Cooper, who died on Tuesday, revealed he had suffered acute circulatory collapse and a sudden cardiac arrest, according to an official statement posted by the Red Sea governorate on Facebook on Friday.

The statement dismissed criminal motives as being behind the deaths and said legal procedures would be underway for the transfer of the bodies upon the conclusion of the autopsy.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Dubai : UAEs Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash yesterday slammed Qatar for promoting rumours that its neighbours are normalizing relations with Israel while Doha itself has contacts with it.

Doha spreads and promotes normalization rumours about its neighbours while its contacts are documented and ongoing (with Israel). The most ones were the series of communication with Tel Aviv about Gaza, Gargash said on Twitter, adding: Fake news and partisan blindness are exposed. Dr Gargash also criticised Qatar following Israeli reports of a secret meeting in Cyprus between top officials from Doha and Tel Aviv.

Israeli sources said Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman met secretly with Qatars Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the end of June. Its strange that Qatar and its media who spread rumours about its neighbours attempts to normalise relations with Israel, while there is documented evidence that Doha has been in direct contact with officials in Tel Aviv on the issue of Gaza, Dr Gargash said.

Where is Al Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaradawi on the normalisation of relations? It is of mutual benefit, Dr Gargash added. According to the sources, the meeting aimed to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip at a time when Israels leaders are discussing the ceasefire proposals with Hamas. Asharq Al-Awsat daily quoted Israeli media outlets as saying that the meeting which was held in Cyprus looked into the possibility of establishing a port for the Gaza Strip as part of the deal to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Strip.
#unification ministry Unification ministry to discuss resuming Panmunjom tours with UNC The unification ministry said Monday it will begin discussions with the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) to resume tours to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom as Sou...

#ITZY Girl group ITZY to debut in Japan next month K-pop girl group ITZY will debut in the Japanese market next month with a new album, according to its agency JYP Entertainment on Monday. The agency announced the group will rel...
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State has described the lawmaker representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Senator Ajayi Bo...

The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State has described the lawmaker representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, as a hater of the party.

The party accused the lawmaker of giving the erroneous impression that the party in the state is divided and disunited.





Senator Boroffice had during the week, warned that it will be suicidal for the APC in the state to contest the 2019 general elections as a divided house.





But reacting, to the partys Director, Media and Publicity, Steve Otaloro, in a statement yesterday, described the Senators statement as appalling and uncharitable.





The statement added, This statement gave the erroneous impression that the party is in a fray of sort and needed a peace maker to appease it.





Far from it as he has presented it. The party is in good shape and is at work in harmony to defeat the opposition in the coming general election.





Boroffices statement also passively expressed such lies that it was by his influence the APC was able to defeat the PDP in the 2016 gubernatorial election in the State.





Everyone living in Ondo State knew the overt anti-party activities perpetrated by him to subvert the APCs victory in the 2016 governorship election.





For a man, who worked assiduously to hammer out an action plan for the opposition against us to come back preaching party unity and cohesion, sparks stupidity.





We are definitely wary of such person and his Trojan horse.





Senator Ajayi Boroffice has continually demonstrated his open hatred for our party, hence, he is not in a position to advise us in any way. He can pocket that.





APC in Ondo State is already moving forward as one united family and working across the state to reach out to the electorate.




The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was divinely ordained.

The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was divinely ordained.





Okorocha said this when he and some governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) paid the President a visit in his hometown in Daura, Katsina State.





A statement by Buharis spokesperson, Garba Shehu said the governor also commended the President for his efforts in uniting the country and for being focused and unshaken by situations, this he said shows that your administration is approved by God.





The statement quoted Okorocha as saying, We are here to encourage you to keep doing what you are doing you as Nigerians are very, very pleased with you.




President Muhammadu Buhari is considering confirming Mathew Seiyefa as the substantive Director-General of the Department of State Service...

President Muhammadu Buhari is considering confirming Mathew Seiyefa as the substantive Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) or appointing a new head.





Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was in acting capacity while Buhari was in London, fired the former DG Lawal Daura.





The sack followed the siege at the National Assembly by DSS operatives, a development which sparked outrage across the country and abroad.





Prominent individuals, groups and members of the international community condemned what they described as an attack on the countrys legislature.





But the president is still under pressure to reinstate Daura or give him another role in government.





However, dailypost reports that while some forces want the retention of the office in the North, others are urging the president to confirm Seiyefa.





According to the latter group, elevating the Bayelsa-born top officer to substantive DG will boost the presidents image and quell feelings that he is an ethnic bigot who has allegedly favoured the Northern region in security appointments.





However, Seiyefa has just about one year before his retirement, having spent 34 years in service.





Seiyefa was said to have lost the position to former DG Ita Ekpenyong in 2010, who was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan.





Sources say he may be favoured this time as compensation for his hardwork over the decades.





Seiyefa is the most senior deputy Deputy Director-General out of the four incumbent DDGs.




The Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, has petitioned the embassies of five western countries in Nigeria seeking the revocation of the visas of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Senator Ovie Omo-Agege among others for their seeming actions to truncate the countrys democracy.The CLO, in the petition authored by its Executive Director Comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike, named Oshiomhole, Omo-Agege among others for their repeated actions to violate the sanctity of the National Assembly and other anti-democratic actions.The embassies petitioned included the British High Commission, Embassies of the United States of America (USA), France, Canada, European Union (EU), among others, requesting the missions to sanction those it described as anti-democratic elements bent on upturning Nigerias democracy.Others cited in the petition were Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, Senators Abu Ibrahim, George Akume, Abdullahi Adamu, Ali Ndume, Ovie Omo-Agege, Godswill Akpabio, Sunday Ogbuoji, Hope Uzodimma, Abdullahi Gumel, among others.In a four-page letter titled: Urgent Need to Rescue Nigerias Democracy: A Call to Sanction Anti-democratic Elements, and signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Ezike, CLO said: As non-partisans, we hold the legislature as the sanctuary of democracy. We believe that democracy perishes once the executive arm commandeers the legislature, which is the peoples arm of government.We are horrified that whereas Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) explicitly provides that There shall be a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by members of that House from among themselves, there have been resolute attempts by the APC to impose executive stooges as the presiding officers of the National Assembly since 2015.The most recent and brazen were the raid on the Senate in session by armed hooligans escorted into the chambers by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to steal the mace of the Senate; simultaneous siege to the official residences of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President; and a siege to the National Assembly by hooded security operatives in clear attempts at illegal regime change of the Senate leadership.Although, the wishy-washy report of the Police investigation refused to name the politicians that worked in concert with the Department of State Services, DSS, to forcefully take over the National Assembly premises, the inciting public vituperations of the APC National Chairman and some serving Senators and leaders leave no one in doubt of the key actors behind the heinous attempts to ruin the nations democracy.Without holding a brief for any of the political interests, Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution and Nigerias legislative convention allow bipartisan or even opposition headship of the parliament of which the APC has been the greatest beneficiary.CLO is, therefore, unable to figure out any justification, be it on grounds of law, convention, and morality, for the continuous overheating of the polity by APC leaders over the leadership of the Senate.Two presiding officers of the Senate have been removed since 1999, but on no occasion was any of them held hostage or the National Assembly overran by security agencies. Oshiomole has obviously overstepped his bound.We, therefore, urge your mission/government to not only help engage the APC-led Federal Government with a view to ending the rising political tension and barefaced impunity to an immediate stop, but also to suspend issuance of visas of your country to the listed anti-democratic elements and cancel all valid visas already held by them.CLO has continued to insist on calling the attention of the World and its leaders to the impending confusion in Nigeria because of the obvious monumental implications it will have on human rights and mankind at large in the event that such dastardly acts of these leaders drive our society into avoidable crisis.
Reno Omokri aide to the former President Goodluck Jonathan, has said that Jonathans administration outperformed the President Muhammadu Buharis administration.Reno in a statement titled Sadly, Nigeria has a Pinocchio for a Vice President! said It is a notorious fact that the Jonathan administration outperforms the Buhari administration in every sphere of governance and in every aspect of the human development index.He also called the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo liar for saying that President Muhammadu Buharis government has done more in terms of infrastructure development than the previous administration, despite earning little from the oil, which is the main stay of the economy.Reno reacting to Osinbajo said the recent comments by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that the administration of which he is a part of has achieved much more than the Jonathan government is another in a long line of lies that the Vice President has come to be known for.It beats my imagination why a man who claims to be an ordained pastor would have a habit of lying and lying so brazenly.It is a notorious fact that the Jonathan administration outperforms the Buhari administration in every sphere of governance and in every aspect of the human development index.I understand that the 2019 elections are just five months away and a desperate Buhari administration, like a student who has not read for his forthcoming examinations, is in panic mode, but they should please leave the good name of Dr Goodluck Jonathan out of their sordid mess.The only way Professor Osinbajo can be correct is if he is referring to the fact that Nigeria, under their administration, has become the world headquarters for extreme poverty after overtaking India as the nation with the highest number of extremely poor people according to the World Poverty Clock and the World Economic Forum.While former President Jonathan can point to exactly 8956 projects that he initiated, started and completed, I challenge the Buhari government to name just three projects that they have initiated, started and completed in the last three years.The super fast 187-kilometre Abuja-Kaduna railway, which President Buhari commissioned, was built by President Jonathan. The Abuja metro, which the incumbent President also commissioned, was conceived by President Obasanjo and finished by President Jonathan. So what exactly has the Buhari administration done that has exceeded what Jonathan did?According to UNICEF, there are 10.5 million out of school children in Nigeria with about 60% in the Northwest geopolitical zone, where President Buhari comes from. Has the Buhari administration built even one secondary school to cater for them?So by what logic can Vice President Yemi Osinbajo say that their administration has outperformed a Jonathan government that initiated, started and completed 165 almajiri schools as well as 12 new federal universities to cater for this mammoth out of school youth bulge?How can they say their administration, under which Nigeria suffered her worse retrogression in Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index (from 136 to 148) outperformed a government under which this nation made her best ever improvement in the CPI (from 144 to 136)According to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, in December of 2017, 7.9 million Nigerians had lost their jobs in the 21 months preceding that time. How can an administration with such an abysmal job record claim to have outperformed a Jonathan administration that, according to the same National Bureau of Statistics, created 6 million jobs through programmes like the YouWIN initiative, Local Content Law, Graduate Internship Scheme, Nagropreneurs and SURE-P?Under the Jonathan administration, Nigeria was a magnet for investment and was the number one destination for foreign direct investment in Africa as rated by the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). Today, Nigeria is not even included in the top 10 in Africa.If the current government is saying that by borrowing more money in three years than the Peoples Democratic Party borrowed in 16 years it has outperformed the Jonathan administration, then I am willing to concede that fact.But to say that an administration that has not built even one single power station has outperformed an administration that built and commissioned the 500 megawatts Omotosho Power Plant Phase 2 with four gas turbines in Ondo State on Saturday, October 19, 2013 and also built and commissioned the 750 megawatts Olorunsogo power plant on Friday the 20th of February, 2015, is to be economical with the truth.So widely known was the good governance of Nigeria under the Jonathan administration that at the Conservative Party Conference on October 10, 2012, the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said:Yes, weve been hearing about China and India for years but its hard to believe whats happening in Brazil, in Indonesia, in Nigeria too.Can anyone in their right minds say the same about Nigeria today? That is a question our Pinocchio Vice President may very well not want answered.Finally, let me say that the constant refrain by this administration of blaming their abysmal performance on the low price of oil is a case of a bad workman blaming his tools.Today, crude oil averages at $74 per barrel. In 2017, the average price of crude oil was $51 per barrel. Need I remind Nigerians that the PDP government of President Olusegun Obasanjo paid off Nigerias entire foreign debt in 2006 at a time oil sold at less than one third what it sells today.Sadly, the last three years has only shown that the Buhari administration promised Nigerians heaven on earth, but has literally turned Nigeria to hell on earth such that a nation that was rated by Gallup Polls as the happiest nation in the world in 2011 under former President Jonathan has dropped to being the 91st happiest nation in the world in 2018 according to the United Nations.
Manchester United star, Anthony Martial is set for a move to Sevilla.The forward would be allowed by the club to resurrect his career at the Spanish side this season.Premier League sides, Chelsea and Tottenham were linked with a move for the France star until the Premier League transfer window closed against the move.But with the Spanish transfer window still open until next week, Sevilla are hopeful of landing the player.Spanish newspaper, Marca reports that the La Liga outfit are still looking to sign an attacker and Martial is on their radar.The former Europa League winners are also looking at Julian Draxler who is surplus to requirements at Paris Saint-Germain.The newspaper claimed that Sevilla may only be able to commit to a loan deal.
Governor Samuel Ortom has raised concern over his safety following the enactment of the grazing law in the state saying that he got intelligence report that militant herdsmen were planning to kidnap him along the busy Makurdi-Lafia road and thereafter torture and kill him.Governor Ortom who made the revelation Friday while addressing a session of the Church leadership,the Traditional Institution and other Stakeholders in the state towards a peaceful 2019 elections organized by the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, said the armed militant herdsmen behind the plot had already taken over a part of Guma local government area of the state.He regretted that some indigenes of the state where working hand in hand with the enemies of the state to pull him down despite his selfless service to the people but assured the gathering that God would always defend him.He said, the armed herdsmen, according to the intelligence report, would ensure that all my security aides were killed after which they would Kidnap me, torture me before killing me. Already, l had reported the matter to the police and other security agencies and they are aware of this.Therefore anytime l sleep and wake up and my spirit doesnt allow me to travel by road, I would call flight operators but just a few days ago, the federal government issued a secular directing that no flight should land in Makurdi airport again.The Governor appealed to the federal government to urgently end the herdsmen killings in parts of the country to pave way for peaceful election in 2019 lamenting that most of the polling units in the crisis affected communities of Benue state were destroyed and taken over by herdsmen who converted them to grazing fields.According to him,The killings across Nigeria is a deliberate attempt by some people either Boko Haram, armed bandits or herdsmen working for the same purpose to disenfranchise large proportion of Nigerians from voting for the leaders of their choice.Amnesty international had come out to disclose that over 19,000 people have lost their lives in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau states to herdsmen attacks and this does not speak well of Nigeria nation especially as we are heading towards 2019, he said.Ortom who lamented that large number of Benue people had become refugees in their own land as a result of ceaseless herdsmen crisis said pockets of killings were still going on in Makurdi, Guma, Logo and Katsina Ala local government areas of the state despite efforts to stem the tide.He pointed put that most of Benues frontline border communities with Taraba and Nasarawa States had been taken over by herdsmen who sacked the indigenous people from their ancestral homes.This is unacceptable because even though, a goat doesnt bite, but when you continue to provoke the goat, the goat could turn around and bite you, he said.While calling on international community to show more concern on states affected by herdsmen crisis in the country, the Governor urged traditional rulers to enlighten their subjects on the need to register to obtain their PVCs stressing that it was the sure way to vote out leaders who failed to meet the expectations and yearning of the people.Reacting to the allegation by the Governor, National Coordinator of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Alhaji Garus Gololo disassociated the group from the plot.Gololo said, We dont have problem with anybody in Nigeria or Benue State. What business does MACBAN have with kidnapping? We are not kidnappers or a criminal organization. We are a peaceful organization and whoever gave such false information to Governor Ortom should stop dragging our name in the mud.
Jerry John Rawlings, former Head of State and President of Ghana, has said that Nigerians are still in love with their oppressors.

Jerry John Rawlings, former Head of State and President of Ghana, has said that Nigerians are still in love with their oppressors.

He stated this during a closed-door meeting with 2019 presidential aspirant, Omoyele Sowore, in Accra, Ghana.





A statement on Thursday by Rachel Onamusi-Kpiaisi, Director, PR, Media and Communications of the Sowore 2019 Campaign Organization, said both men spoke on a wide range of issues that bordered on youth and leadership in Africa, and about corruption and effective solutions to the menace.





The statement reads in part: It was a closed-door meeting, but one of the things that came out of it was that Rawlings said, Chief, you know your generation should be the ones in power but there is huge problem, things are gonna be tight!





Sowore quickly interrupted, asking if it was about money politics, after which Rawlings took a deep breath and after a long drawn silence, stated: You know, Nigerians are still in love with their oppressors.





If there is a reason that our leaders buy up luxurious apartments and send their children to school in Ghana, it is thanks in no small part to the tireless, uncompromising work of JJ Rawlings.




The Parliamentary Democrats Group (PDG), a group in the house of representatives, has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers...

The Parliamentary Democrats Group (PDG), a group in the house of representatives, has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the lower legislative chamber against an alleged move to remove Yakubu Dogara, the speaker.





In a statement on Thursday, Timothy Golu, a lawmaker from Plateau and spokesman of the group, said the attempt to oust Dogara would be met with fire.





Golu said Dogara has been performing well and is leading the house with the fear of God.





We believe that it is the aftermath of the gale of defections that had hit the APC in recent times, of which more are being expected that is affecting the members, the statement read.





However, any issue that concerns the larger house will not cease to get our attention, especially the accusation by one group that another group is contemplating the impeachment of the speaker.





We want to warn that such discussions should start and end at the APC secretariat or the secretariats of the various APC house groups. We are keeping our eyes and ears wide open for any such eventuality and to restate our readiness to return fire for fire on anyone thinking of it.





If they claim that someone is thinking of becoming speaker in 2019 when the current tenure has not ended, it will not be out of place to suspect such motives. This is especially so when the same people have been talking strongly on the urgent need to address critical legislative issues.





The lawmaker asked his APC colleagues not to distract the house from important issues.





Our colleagues leading various splinter groups in the APC to allow the House to go on smoothly until June 9, 2019 or thereabout, he said.




The police in Akwa Ibom State have killed four of the five armed robbers whose operation at a petrol station led to claims of attempted gu...

The police in Akwa Ibom State have killed four of the five armed robbers whose operation at a petrol station led to claims of attempted gunmen attack on the country home of Senator Godswill Akpabio last Tuesday.





The masked gunmen, who operated with motorcycles were killed during an operation in a bank at Ikot Ekpene, after robbing ATM users and shop owners at gun point in broad daylight.





The state Police Commissioner Mr Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, who disclosed this to journalists in Uyo at the commands headquarters Ikot Akpanabia Uyo, said that while four of the hoodlums were shot dead in a gun battle, one of them, Daniel Umoren, was captured alive after sustaining gunshot injuries.





According to the Commissioner, Yesterday, being the 23rd day of August 2018, at about 5pm, five notorious armed robbers led by Kingsley Peter a.k.a Morale who is the gang leader, using three motorcycles robbed some persons along Aba road by Ikot Osurua before proceeding to a banking area along the same road.





My men of Ikot Ekpene Division led by the Divisional Police Officer Benjamin Achegbani, trailed and engaged the hoodlums in a fierce shoot out , four of the armed robbers were shot dead while one Akwaowo Daniel Umoren of Ikot Inemme in Essien Udim LGA was arrested with an AK47 with 60 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.





 Items recovered from them include 5 locally made pistols, 8 live cartridges , 2 rounds of 5.5mm ammunition, 1 AK47 magazine,3 Expended cartridges , 2 masks, 6 assorted phones, three motorcycles and physical cash of N63,000.





Our preliminary investigation revealed that the same armed robbers were those responsible for the robbery at Gulfsafrin Filling station, located at Ukana Ikot Ntuen close to the residence of Senator Godswill Akpabio.





The commissioner attributed recent upsurge in robbery operations in Ikot Ekpene to infiltration of the commercial motorcyclists union by armed robbers who pose as commercial motorcyclists, warning that the curfew on motorcycles in the area would be sustained until the association fishes out fake members amongst them.




Abdulmumin Jibrin, a member of the House of Representatives, on Friday admitted that there were internal issues within the All Progressi...

Abdulmumin Jibrin, a member of the House of Representatives, on Friday admitted that there were internal issues within the All Progressives Congress, APC, caucus in the lower legislative chambers.





The lawmaker from Kano State however pointed out that the internal issues were nothing unusual.





In a tweet, Jibrin pledged his support for the House leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.





He wrote: Against the backdrop of media reports, I wish to state that there is no crack in APC caucus of the House.




South Africas government has summoned US Charge dAffaires Jessye Lapenn over US President Donald Trumps tweet on Pretorias land policy...

South Africas government has summoned US Charge dAffaires Jessye Lapenn over US President Donald Trumps tweet on Pretorias land policy.





On his Twitter on Wednesday, Trump said he had asked Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, to investigate South Africas land and farm seizures and expropriations and large scale killing of farmers.





Shortly after Trumps comment, South Africa responded in a tweet that it totally rejects this narrow perception, which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.





The South African government added that the country would speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide the nation.





Early this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was moving ahead with plans to alter the constitution in order to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as white South Africans still owned most of the countrys land nearly a quarter of a century after the collapse of the apartheid system in South Africa.





Ramaphosa is trying to accelerate land reform plans before the 2019 general election in order to undo a grave historical injustice against the black people during colonialism and the apartheid era that ended in 1994.





White community in South Africa constitute eight percent of the population possessing 72 percent of farms, while only four percent of the lands are owned by black people making up 80 percent of the population.





According to the AgriSA, an association of agricultural groups across South Africa, 47 farmers have been killed in South Africa since 2017.




Reno Omokri, a bestselling Nigerian author, says the mother of American model, Blac Chyna, stole his tweet word for word without giving him ...

Reno Omokri, a bestselling Nigerian author, says the mother of American model, Blac Chyna, stole his tweet word for word without giving him credit.

Omokri, former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, says he tweeted the allegedly stolen quote about marriage and sex in 2017.





Tokyo Toni, Blac Chynas mother, recently shared the quote on her Instagram page.





If sex can make men marry you, all prostitutes would be married. A man stays where hes well loved, not where he is well sexed, it read.





Omokri caught wind of the alleged plagiarism and addressed Blac Chyna on Twitter, sharing screenshots as evidence.





Dear Blac Chyna, Omokri tweeted on Friday.





Your mother Tokyo Toni, stole my tweet word for word.





She did not even attempt to hide her plagiarism. And she did not attribute my #RenosNuggets.





If she is going to use the wisdom God gave me, she should at least credit me! @TMZ I tweeted this a year ago!





Your mother Dear @BLACCHYNA Your mother #TokyoToni , stole my tweet word for word. She did not even attempt to hide her plagiarism. And she did not attribute my #RenosNuggets . If she is going to use the wisdom God gave me, she should at least credit me! @TMZ I tweeted this a year ago! pic.twitter.com/F80bEVQuEL August 24, 2018

Blac Chyna is famous for once dating Rob Kardashian and before that, rapper Tyga.





She also appeared on reality shows such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Rob and Chyna.





Neither the reality TV star nor her mother has responded to Omokris allegation.
Irate youths in Iwo, Osun State, have set a police station ablaze in the town for the alleged shooting of an undergraduate, Tunde Nofiu, by an officer attached to the Special Anti Robbery Squad.Nofiu was said to be spending holidays in the town.Our correspondent gathered that the students who was going to Iwo from Olupona was shot dead on Thursday night and the incident led to a protest.The name of the school of the deceased could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.But it was gathered that the youths of the town gathered and set ablaze the police station on Friday morning.The Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mr. Finihan Adeoye, when contacted on the telephone told our correspondent that he could not give the exact account of what happened.
Chemotherapy has many nasty side effects, and one that patients often find particularly frustrating is dysgeusia. This side effect causes food and drink to taste bland, bitter, or metallic. Now, a Prague based cancer advocacy group has come up with a solution to that problem  a non-alcoholic beer called Mama Beer.

Mamma Beer has been formulated to help breast cancer patients overcome the symptoms of dysgeusia. Its flavor profile has been engineered to make it taste good to those undergoing chemotherapy, but in addition to its great taste, the beer also contains a range of vitamins and minerals that have been known to help people deal with cancer treatment.

Photo: Mamma Beer

Not only does food often taste bad to chemo patients, but sometimes, they struggle to even eat at all. Jana Drexlerova, CEO of Prague-based breast cancer advocacy group Mamma Help, experienced this for herself when she went through chemotherapy. She developed painful mouth lesions, making it very difficult to eat.

When I finally got my appetite back, all I could eat was cold tomato soup, and even that was flavorless, Drexlerova said.

To help chemo patients get vital nutrition and vitamins, doctors may recommend drinking beer in moderation; the trouble is, dysgeusia makes beer taste incredibly bitter. Jana partnered with Tereza Sverakova (also a survivor of breast cancer) to brew a beer that is more palatable:

Photo: Mamma Beer

We thought it would be great to develop beer specifically for women undergoing chemobeer that has all the vitamins and nutrients, but has no alcohol and is made sweeter to kill the bitterness. A beer that would help counter this side effect of chemo and promote Mamma HELP at the same time. We approached nine breweries, but just one said yes: Zatec. It took them half a year to develop the beer. Those who tasted Mamma Beer have found it to be great. Thats the biggest reward.

The limited edition beer is brewed to be significantly less bitter than normal beer since chemotherapy makes everything taste exceptionally bitter. It also has an addition of apple juice in order to make it taste a little bit sweeter. Like most beer, it is also a great source of potassium and vitamin B.

So far, the beer has been served at several beer and food shows and has also been distributed to oncology wards and pharmacies in the Czech Republic. The beer should also be available for purchase in supermarkets around the country at some point in the future.

Are you hoping to get hold of Mamma Beer outside of the Czech Republic? Unfortunately, it will most likely remain a Czech-only phenomenon. Czechs consume a massive 142.6 liters of beer per capita, so even a niche beer such as Mamma Beer is likely to become a success.
A non-religious man in Oakland managed to virtually eliminate neighborhood crime with nothing more than a statue of Buddha bought from a local hardware store.

The neighborhood of 11th Avenue and East 19th Street was formerly a rough part of Oakland, riddled with a variety of illegal activities ranging from littering and vandalization to drug dealing, robberies, prostitution, and assaults. That is until one local, Dan Stevenson, purchased a 60-cm-tall stone statue of Buddha and placed it on the street corner opposite his home. People were constantly dumping mattresses, couches and other junk there, and all kind of shady characters would hang around, so he figured the statue would be an improvement. But, in this case, calling the effect of the statue an improvement would be a gross understatement.

The original Buddha of Oakland (Photo: Google)

I would have stuck Christ up there if he would have kept the mattresses off, Stevenson jokingly told Oakland North. Except Christ is so controversial with people. Buddha is a neutral dude. 

Initially, he had merely hoped that the presence of the figure would bring a sense of serenity to the troubled neighborhood, or, at the very least, make people think twice before littering . What Stevenson certainly didnt expect was the Buddha statue to create a ripple effect that would result in the utter transformation of his neighborhood.



Buddha of Oakland today

First, the littering stopped, much to the delight of most residents, but then something even more remarkable happened  locals started cleaning up the trash that was already there. Drug dealers and prostitutes started migrating away from the area as well, and vandals stopped painting graffiti on walls. Soon, local Vietnamese immigrants in the neighborhood began flocking to the statue, bringing offerings of fruit, garlands, and sticks of incense. Eventually, a neighbor named Vina Vo and her son Cuc Vo approached Stevenson with the request that they could care for the statue, to which he agreed.

First, they built a small platform for the Buddha to sit on and began to maintain the area around him.



In our religion, Buddha is not supposed to be on the ground, Cuc Vo told Oakland North.

In time they painted him as well, first just white, but then flesh-colored with a golden robe. The little shrine even has a name plaque that reads Phap Duyen Tu, meaning tranquility. Every time they want to make a change to the shrine the Vo family approach Stevenson for permission, but he keeps telling them Its your Buddha, Im out of this now. Nonetheless, hes always happy to receive a plate of fruit or a Vietnamese delicacy every time he lets them know that they can do whatever they want.

In the time since Stevenson erected the statue, the overall crime rate in the neighborhood had dropped by an incredible 82%. Police statistics showed that between 2012 and 2014 robbery reports went from 14 to three, aggravated assaults from five to zero, burglaries from eight to four, narcotics from three to zero, and prostitution from three to zero.

Its become this icon for the whole neighborhood, Dan Stevenson said. Theres a lot of people that are not Buddhist that really come and just talk in front of him, they walk their dogs, they stand thereits a place where people meet and talk. Its just cool.

Hes a popular little guy, Stevenson continued. Hes got a Facebook page. Hes got a Twitter account. Hes more connected socially than I am. Hes a great little guy, I guess. But its amazing, an amazing thing.
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Paducah, KY (42003)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 58F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Showers in the evening, then cloudy overnight. Low near 40F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Review: Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek are Just Fine in Papillon, a Remake That is Also Fine. Fine! Its All Fine.

By Roxana Hadadi | Film | August 24, 2018 |

Do not yell at me, but I havent seen the original Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman version of Papillon.

I know the 1973 film is a classic, I get it, I KNOW. But I cant bring that prior knowledge to this review! I cant make comparisons between this new version of Papillon, starring my husbands Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, with that work! What I will say is that this adaptation is  fine. The performances are fine. The pacing is fine. The direction is fine. Its all fine. But was a remake really necessary if there isnt anything spectacular about it?

Papillon begins its story with Henri Papillon Charriere (Hunnam)nicknamed Butterfly for the tattoo on his chest, and what a chest, you guyswho in 1931 is living the good life in jazzy, beautiful, Moulin Rouge-era Paris. A thief and safecracker who steals diamonds with slight-of-hand tricks, hes planning a future with his girlfriend Nanette (Eve Hewson), promising her that within six months hell have enough money for them to build something permanent together. But suddenly hes framed for murder and sentenced to a life sentence on Devils Island, telling Nanette that he is going to concentrate on breaking out before hes marched through the streets to the docks.

Its during that walk that he meets the wealthy counterfeiter Louis Dega (Malek), imprisoned for selling fake defense bonds, who is convinced that his wife and lawyer will secure his freedom. Wont last long, someone comments of Dega, and yet an idea comes to Henri: What if Dega bankrolled his breakout? Henri would protect him while on Devils Island, and Dega would pay for whatever resources needed to get out of the penal colony, and the partnership could be mutually beneficialespecially in a hellscape like Devils Island.

Because it is nightmarish, a place permeated with despair and hopelessness, a jungle island with sharks in the sea and starvation on land. When they arrive, the warden (Yorick van Wageningen, making me think, Were we too hard on David Finchers The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?) comes out of a decaying old palace in his white linen suit, an image of false cleanliness in this filthy, awful place, to announce You are the property of the penal administration of French Guinea, and the men are meant to serve their sentences doing hard labor on the island, building roads, pushing gigantic carts full of rocks, and destroying their bodies and their minds.

Feel free to try whenever you like, well be happy to shoot you, the warden says of escape attempts, and the consequences are dire: two years in solitary confinement for a first attempt, five years in solitary for a second attempt, and then finally a lifetime on the island for a third attempt. Forget France! he yells; no one has ever made it out.

Henri, of course, thinks hell be the first, and so Papillonbased on Charrieres sort-of fictionalized memoirs Papillon and Bancofollows his attempts to leave Devils Island and resume his life. But like so many films about imprisonment, Papillon needs to find ways to keep the story engaging while its characters are mostly siloed, and thats where the film infrequently makes an impact. Director Michael Noer creates a few moments that are starkly devastating and memorable (the look of joy on Henris face when he discovers a coconut in his rations, a pool of blood spreading out from underneath a guards body, and the bleak darkness of a solitary-confinement cell), but the movie cant maintain a consistent pace for 137 minutes, and the repetitive threats of violence and rape become decreasingly impactful.

Hunnam is, as always, full of swagger, but his particular sort of masculinity (which, I admit, I am very sexually into) feels anachronistic for this time period, and his character doesnt spend enough time with Maleks for Henri and Dega to really seem as if they share a believable friendship. They each have noticeable transformations (Hunnams Henri becomes worryingly gaunt during his imprisonment, while Maleks Dega gets even more wild-eyed), but their bond isnt developed, and without that strong emotional center or a unique visual language for communicating their despair, Papillon just kind of meanders.

But you know what, thank you for reading! You deserve a reward. Here! Let us objectify Charlie Hunnam together!

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Shave that thing off your face and we can talk, boo.

Oh, and I would never deprive you of Rami. Lets objectify him too!

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A step forward for the female gaze, right here.

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Roxana Hadadi is a Senior Editor for Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter.

Image sources (in order of posting): Bleecker Street, Bleecker Street, Bleecker Street
Fox News Is Showing Signs of Strain Under the Trump Presidency

By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 24, 2018 |

Last night on CNN, in a trainwreck of an interview with Kellyanne Conway (are there any other kinds with Conway?), Chris Cuomo said to her, I cant let you say things that are untrue. Thats Fox. Go to Fox if you want to do that.

Go to Fox is exactly what most inside the Administration do, including the President, who seldom seeks an audience with anyone outside of the Fox News bubble, where the editorial side of the network feeds conspiracy theories to the President, who tweets them, thereby giving Fox News the ability to call those conspiracy theories news.

Fox News juggernaut, however, is still a juggernaut, especially among older viewers. However, there are signs of strain. For instance, on Tuesday  the day that Manafort was convicted and Cohen pleaded guilty  it finished third in primetime ratings among the coveted 25-54 demographic, behind MSNBC and CNN, suggesting that when it comes to reality, either the typical Fox News viewers turns the television off or watches another network, because the other networks actually deliver the news of the day instead of hiding from it. On perhaps the roughest day of the Trump presidency, Fox News primetime spent most of its time on the Mollie Tibbets story (and a bizarre white nationalist conspiracy theory about South African farmers).

Moreover, the leader in cable news, Sean Hannity, is now regularly getting beat by Rachel Maddow, who had her second best day ever on Tuesday, amid all the turmoil (when the Cohen and Manafort news broke, how many of you thought, I cant wait to see Maddow tonight!)

The Mollie Tibbets story may play well with Trumps racist base, but its getting criticism from some even within the Fox News ecosystem. Yesterday, for instance, Geraldo Rivera criticized his own network on his own network for unfairly spinning the Tibbets story.

We, at this network, are putting that spin on this story, Rivera told Fox News host Martha MacCallum, who had commented that the suspect never should have been in the country. This is a murder story. Its not an immigration story. Rivera said he was well aware that most of the Fox audience disagrees with me  but Im begging you to have compassion and not brand this entire population by the deeds of this one person.

Geraldo is not wrong. Its not an immigration story. Its a toxic masculinity story.

Geraldo is not the only Fox News employee to go against the company line. The hard news division, while maintaining a conservative bent, still regularly criticizes the President when its appropriate, especially Shep Smith  who runs the hard news division  and Neil Cavuto, who yesterday railed against the President for suggesting that the stock market would fall if he was impeached, suggesting that morality was more important than the bull market. Meanwhile, Christopher Wallace was harder on Vladimir Putin a few weeks ago than the President.

Last night, we also learned that a Fox News on-air employee left the network over objections to the way the network covers the Trump presidency. Adam Housley became the second Fox News employee to leave in the last few weeks over frustrations with the direction of the network.

Housley believed that as the networks focus on Trump has grown  and the number of talking-head panels during news shows proliferated  it had become difficult to get hard reporting on air, according to one of those former employees. Hes not doing the type of journalism he wants to be doing, the former employee said. And he is unhappy with the tone of the conversation of the channel.

Some still inside Fox News are also anxious to leave.

A former Fox News employee still in touch with old colleagues said that several are itchy to get out. Many Fox News employees I talked to would jump at an opportunity to leave if there was one, just out of frustration, the former employee said. There is a frustration with being tied to the Trump administration. At the end of the day, journalists want to report facts.

Losing two reporters is hardly a big deal for a company that lost a lot of high-profile talent over the last couple of years to sexual misconduct scandals, but it does leave one to wonder what happens to Fox News once the President leaves office or is impeached? Back in 2008, Fox News had sense enough to put some distance between itself and the Bush Administration when it bottomed out, but how will it fare with so many of the most high-profile talents on the network  Hannity, Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Jeanine Pirro  so entrenched in the Trump administration? They all have a huge incentive to prop Trump up and provide him with cover, because their very jobs may depend upon it, but its hard to imagine how they survive in a post-Trump world. But its just as difficult to imagine that hard news side of Fox News being able to maintain its credibility after the tarnish of four years of Trump.

With a demographic advancing in age and a Trump presidency teetering, its also hard to imagine Fox News surviving the 2020s without some real dramatic changes.





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Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

Header Image Source: Getty
Iran sanctions are unjust and harmful, says UN expert warning against generalized economic war

08/23/18

Source: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

GENEVA (22 August 2018) - Sanctions must be just, and must not lead to the suffering of innocent people, says United Nations Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy.

"The reimposition of sanctions against Iran after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been unanimously adopted by the Security Council with the support of the US itself, lays bare the illegitimacy of this action," Mr. Jazairy observed.

"This illegitimacy was confirmed by the opposition of all other permanent members of the Security Council and indeed of all international partners. The UN Charter calls for sanctions to be applied only by the UN Security Council precisely to ensure such wanton attacks on nations are avoided.

"International sanctions must have a lawful purpose, must be proportional, and must not harm the human rights of ordinary citizens, and none of these criteria is met in this case," the UN expert stressed.

"These unjust and harmful sanctions are destroying the economy and currency of Iran, driving millions of people into poverty and making imported goods unaffordable," Mr. Jazairy stressed, while questioning whether the United States would provide food and medicines to the millions of Iranians no longer able to afford them.

"The current system creates doubt and ambiguity which makes it all but impossible for Iran to import these urgently needed humanitarian goods. This ambiguity causes a 'chilling effect' which is likely to lead to silent deaths in hospitals as medicines run out, while the international media fail to notice," Mr. Jazairy said.

"I appeal to the United States to demonstrate its commitment to allow agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices into Iran by taking real and concrete steps to ensure that banks, financial institutions and companies can quickly and freely be assured that relevant imports and payments are permitted," he said.

The expert applauded efforts by the international community to reject economic bullying. "I am grateful for the efforts of the European Union in tackling this injustice, both through diplomatic efforts and through legislation to protect European companies from American sanctions. I sincerely hope that the international community can come together to see that the world does not become a battleground for generalized economic war," said Mr. Jazairy.

The expert highlighted the UN Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, which urges States to resolve their differences through dialogue and peaceful relations, and to avoid the use of economic, political or other measures to coerce another State in regard to the exercise of its sovereign rights.

These unilateral sanctions, together with other recent developments led the Expert to warn against the generalisation of economic war at the world level.



Mr. Idriss Jazairy was appointed by the Human Rights Council as the first Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. He took office in May 2015. Mr. Jazairy has extensive experience in the fields of international relations and human rights with the Algerian Foreign Ministry, the UN human rights system and international NGOs. He holds a M.A. (Oxford) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and an M.P.A. (Harvard). He also graduated from the Ecole nationale d'Administration (France). Mr. Jazairy is the author of books and of a large number of articles in the international press on development, human rights and current affairs.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, country page: Iran
Too Little, Too Late: Iran Should Permanently Release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcilffe

08/23/18

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

August 23, 2018 - The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) urges the Iranian Judiciary to turn the three-day furlough it has granted to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe into permanent and unconditional release. "Three days of temporary release after almost three years behind bars under bogus charges is far too little and too late," said CHRI's Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.



Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella



"Iran's judiciary should immediately free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to end the tragic saga she and her family have been suffering through," he added.

Two and a half years after being arrested by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in April 2016, the Iranian British dual national was released on an unexpected and temporary leave from prison on August 23, 2018.

"Her lawyer is hopeful this can be extended," said Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, on August 23 in an email sent to CHRI, adding that she is currently with her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, and her parents in the city of Damavand.

"This was a very happy surprise after a number of false dawns recently, which had been increasingly unsettling," he added before thanking the UK's new Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt "for all his recent efforts and considerations."

It is standard practice in Iran for political prisoners to receive extensions or permanent release after being granted a brief leave from prison.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is not under house arrest but has been prohibited from giving interviews, leaving the country, or visiting the UK embassy in Iran as conditions of her furlough. She was also required to sign a document stating that she would return to the prison after the furlough period ends.

According to the Free Nazanin campaign, Zaghari-Ratcliffe's father had asked that she be given furlough for a month (her legal entitlement is currently 29 days) so that she and Gabriella could rebuild their relationship. The deputy prosecutor responded, "Let us take her out first, and then decide on a number of days after that."

#FreeNazanin campaign is pleased to confirm Nazanin was released from Evin prison on furlough this morning. Initially the release is for 3days -her lawyer is hopeful this can be extended. She is currently with her family in Damavand. Thanks to everyone who has carried us this far pic.twitter.com/VLGeCr1v1q  Free Nazanin (@FreeNazanin) August 23, 2018

On July 24, 2018, a judge had told Zaghari-Ratcliffe that she would not be permanently released until the UK paid an old debt it owes Iran.

"Judge Abbasi has confirmed what we have been suspecting for some time," said Ratcliffe in a statement sent to CHRI at the time. "His statements confirm that Nazanin is being held in prison as a bargaining chip. But to express it so bluntly is shocking to us."

A former staff member of the Thomson Reuters Foundation in London, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested by the IRGC's Intelligence Organization in April 2016 and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison under unspecified espionage charges in a trial severely lacking in due process.

She became eligible for release according to Iranian law in November 2017. However, in May 2018 she was charged with "propaganda against the state" by Judge Abolqasem Salavati of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran and ordered to hire a new lawyer.

"Releasing this mother of a little girl for three days after imprisoning her under trumped up charges for nearly three years is neither a favor nor a show of compassion," said Ghaemi.

"It is a reminder of the cruelty of a justice system that imprisons people with no respect for due process or the rule of law and rips apart families solely for political purposes," he added.

At least 11 other dual and foreign nationals as well as foreign permanent residents were imprisoned in Iran as of August 2018.
Iranian Sunnis Say Police Blocked Eid Prayers in Four Tehran Districts

08/24/18

By Michael Lipin, VOA

Iran's minority Sunni Muslims say authorities of the Shiite-majority nation have prevented some Sunnis from holding communal prayers in the capital, Tehran, to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.



"We won't betray this land"

Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid talking about discrimination

Source: Iranian deaily Etemad

The Council of Azeri Sunni Prayer Centers in Tehran and the neighboring province of Alborz issued a statement saying Sunnis were prevented from attending prayers for Wednesday's holiday in four districts of the capital: Khalij-e-Fars, Punak, Resalat and Yaft Abad. The statement appeared in a Thursday report by Iranian state-affiliated news site Shafaqna.

The council said the problems faced by Tehran-based Sunnis wanting to join Eid prayer services were similar to those they have faced in previous years. But it said Iranian authorities permitted Eid services to go ahead in several Sunni prayer centers in Tehran and Alborz.

Iran's main Sunni news site, Sunni Online, published a Thursday report saying Tehran police blocked Sunni prayers in the four above-mentioned districts by deploying at the entrances of the prayer centers and dispersing worshippers. Such centers often are in homes of Sunnis or in large rooms of other buildings.

Sunni Online quoted police as saying the order to block the entrances of the Sunni prayer centers came from Tehran's provincial security council, which is under the authority of Iran's interior ministry. There was no confirmation of such an order from Iranian officials in state media. But the Iranian government has ordered the closure of several Sunni prayer centers in the country in recent years, alleging they were engaged in extremist activity, an allegation rejected by Sunni community leaders.

Five to 10 percent of Iran's 82 million people are Sunni Muslims, according to the CIA World Factbook. Iranian Sunnis, whose main concentrations are in the country's southeast and northwest, long have complained of discrimination by Shiites who make up an estimated 90 to 95 percent of the population.

Iranian leaders reject charges of discrimination, pointing to the constitution that promises "full respect" to schools of Islam other than the official Twelver Ja'afari school, the nation's dominant Shiite branch. The constitution lists several other Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam by name, but does not use the terms "Shiite" or "Sunni."

Iranian state media also have asserted that Sunnis have nine mosques at which to pray in Tehran. But many Iranian Sunnis do not consider those to be "Sunni" mosques and long have sought to build a grand Sunni mosque in the capital. In its Thursday report, Sunni Online said Iran's Shiite Islamist leaders long have denied Sunni requests to establish such a mosque, forcing Sunnis to lease rooms as prayer centers.



This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Persian Service.

About the author: Michael Lipin covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV, specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Lipin
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has said government will ensure that persons responsible for the collapse of some local banks in the country are made to face the law.



He believes the collapse of these banks was not a failure on the part of the banks, but rather individuals who stole depositors funds for their personal use.



Speaking at press conference to inaugurate the Tax Dialogue Initiative yesterday, Mr Ofori-Atta maintained that those found culpable will be made to answer for their roles.



I think as a nation we are really soft about enforcement of laws, and hopefully what we are going to do in the banking sector, everybody will begin to realise that those periods are gone, and if I am going to have to spend GH5.76 billion to bail out the banking system because I have to protect depositors, the question is not one of a banking failure.



I need to be able to tell you that that managing director or that shareholder stole that money, and it has to be very upfront because thats GH5 billion that Im using as opposed to School Feeding, maternal issues; and the issue of sentiments are out of it.



It is not a bank failure. It is individuals who have done something to bring us to this compromising position, and I think it is that same sense of social justice that we should bring to bear in the tax administration system.



The assurance follows concerns that the funds, over GH8 billion, used in assisting the troubled banks may not be recovered.



Government is said to have issued about GH2.2 billion bond to support GCB as a result of the acquisition of the good assets of UT and Capital banks.



The country has also issued over GH5.76 billion to support the operations of Consolidated Bank, the financial institution that took the good assets of the five collapsed banks.



The Minister noted that, If I have to spend about GH5.76 billion to bail out the banking system, because I have to protect depositors, the question is not bank failure, but I should be able to tell you that the money was stolen by a director or shareholder, and it has to be proven very upfront.



Ofori-Atta said the Tax Dialogue Initiative has been necessitated by the never-ending tax administration issues between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the taxpaying public.



The ministry believes that building a cordial relationship between GRA and key taxpayers, consultants and advisors will help enhance tax administration in the country, Mr Ofori-Atta noted.

Source: The Finder









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Former workers of the defunct UT Bank and Capital Bank have once again appealed to President Akufo-Addo to help facilitate the payment of their severance packages a year after the collapse of their banks.



The ex-workers, in a statement issued yesterday and jointly signed by Phillip Yawson, Raymond Addai Danquah, Edem Adimado and Steven Aning, said: While we believe that the overall effect of the Bank of Ghanas action is to sanitize the banking industry, we believe that the innocent staff have just been thrown away with the bath water to wallow in poverty and distress and to suffer psychologically, physically and socially.



One year down the line, once again, we can only appeal to the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; Vice President of Ghana, His Excellency Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia; the Honourable Minister of Finance; Ken Ofori-Atta; Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison; Joint Receivers and other relevant stakeholders to look in our direction and intervene to ensure that our entitlements are paid to us to help us put our lives together.



According to them, they were still struggling to survive.



Our exit pay, which was negotiated on our behalf by UNICOF and agreed with the Joint Receivers on 15th January, 2018, has still not been paid to help us stay on our feet. Some of us who also believed that our working experience, skills and qualifications would help us return to the job market have been hit by a rude awakening. Not only have job opportunities been difficult to come by, we have been hanged with the albatross of collapsing our respective banks. The stigma seems to accompany us everywhere when we knew practically nothing.



On 14th August, 2017, staff of Capital Bank and UT Bank were hit with devastating news that turned their lives upside down.



At exactly, 6:00am on that fateful day, it was announced that in line with Section 123 of the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) Law 2016 (Act 930), their banks had been liquidated and that the Bank of Ghana had appointed Joint Receivers to execute a Purchase and Assumption agreement.



On 20th May, 2018, the former staff said they submitted a petition to President Akufo-Addo, but were yet to receive even an acknowledgement of the receipt of the petition.



We pray and hope the petition will be given the needed attention. Who stands with us? Who speaks for us? Who feels our pain and anguish? they quizzed.



Life has been tougher than many of us anticipated.



We are struggling to feed, pay medical bills, pay rent, pay school fees for our children and also cater for our other dependents. We are basically struggling to survive. Unfortunately, some have lost their lives within this torrid period, leaving behind children and other dependents.

Source: Daily Guide









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The Bank of Ghana has set up a special office to investigate its staff whose actions contributed to the collapse of seven banks.



The Office of Ethics and Internal Investigations, according to a statement from the Central Bank, will identify personnel who were directly or indirectly involved in the crisis in accordance with its Human Resource policies.



The regulator said staff found culpable will be prosecuted.



The Office will investigate all allegations of misconduct by staff including any role in respect of the collapse of the defunct banks. Staff found culpable will be dealt with in accordance with our Human Resource policies, and referred to law enforcement agencies, if necessary, the statement from the BoG said.



It added: To promote the highest standards of conduct in the industry, the Bank of Ghana has also recently issued a number of Directives to strengthen corporate governance, risk management, and the capital base of banks.



The Bank of Ghana remains committed to promoting a strong, stable, and viable banking industry built on the values of trust, confidence, and integrity, to support robust macroeconomic development.



Seven indigenous banks  Capital, UT, uniBank, Sovereign, Construction, Beige and Royal have had their licenses revoked for breaching banking regulations.



The BoG recently merged five of them into The Consolidated Bank of Ghana as part of moves to cleanse the banking industry.

Source: Daily Guide









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As part of efforts to make quality health care a topmost priority, Government has in the last two-weeks inaugurated ten new polyclinics in the Central Region.



The move forms part of government's renewed commitment to upgrade and extend state of the art infrastructural health facilities to all communities within every ten kilometre radius to reach out to the over two million people in the region.



The polyclinics are in Akonfodi in the Assin North, Etsii Sunkwa and Ajumako in Ajumako-Eyan-Essiam, Jamra in Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa and Narkwa in the Ekumfi District.



The rest are in Dawurampong in Gomoa West, Potsin in Gomoa West, Mankron, Awutu Senya Municipality, Twifo Praso in the Twifo Atimokwa District and Briwa in the Mfantseman Municipality.



The facilities which were constructed by VAMED-Ghana, a construction firm with financial support by the Czech Republic and the Government of Ghana comes with ultra-modern equipment and offices.



They include, wards, out patients department, consulting rooms, washrooms, morgue, mother and child service area and generator sets.



Mr Kweku Agyeman-Manu, the sector Minister, inaugurated the facilities at separate durbars of the chiefs and people amidst pomp and pageantry as many of the people applauded the government and all partners for working tirelessly for successful and timely completion of the projects.



He was accompanied by Mr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Alexis Nang-Beifubah, Regional Director of GHS, various Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), official of VAMED-Ghana, and a host of New Patriotic Party (NPP) executives.



Mr Agyeman-Manu reiterated government's commitment to improve quality health initiatives and strengthen, equip and upgrade health facilities throughout the country.



He urged the youth to stay away from drugs, particularly Tramadol, alcoholism and cigarettes smoking in order not to ruin their health.



The Health Minister also called on the public to cultivate the habit of always sleeping under the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) to help prevent malaria.



He said "LLINs continues to provide effective protection against disease vectors including mosquitoes that transmit malaria and admonished parents to take proper care of children - always sleep in treated mosquito nets to avoid mosquito bites."



Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) called on the traditional and religious leaders to intensify public advocacy on teenage pregnancies in the region to help reduce the high prevalence rate.



The region was experiencing the high incidence of child marriages mainly as a result of adolescent pregnancies and cohabitation of young girls who due to their unfortunate circumstances have had to live with men although not married.



He expressed concern about sexual promiscuity among the youth and warned that if teenage pregnancy was not controlled it would have adverse effects on the overall development of the region.



Regional statistics indicates that one out of every three girls in the region married or cohabited before attaining 18 years.



He urged pregnant women to register with the health facilities to ensure safe delivery and also practice family planning to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Source: GNA









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US First Lady Melania Trump will travel to Africa later this year, although it is not clear where or when she plans on visiting the continent.



She said in a statement.



This will be my first time travelling to Africa and I am excited to educate myself on the issues facing children throughout the continent, while also learning about its rich culture and history."



Mrs Trump is expected to focus on humanitarian work and "development programmes being done in many of the countries".



She will not be travelling with US President Donald Trump, who was criticised earlier for allegedly referring to some African nations as "shithole countries", though he denied he was being a racist.



Mr Trump has yet to make a trip to the continent since coming to office in January 2016.

Source: BBC









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The 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud who is also the deputy defence Minister and the first in line to the throne chats with the Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.



The Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud last Wednesday hosted Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at the end of this years Hajj.



Being a participant of this years Hajj, the vice-president was a special guest of the king. The two discussed important issues bordering on cooperation between their individual countries in a manner which would be mutually beneficent.



Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was in attendance during the discussions.



Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is reported to have used the rare opportunity to tell his host about the many development projects ongoing in the country; he invited investors in the oil-rich country to come and invest in Ghana.



The king was amused with the vice-presidents narratives about Ghana and showed interest in considering his guests proposals.



The Saudis have affinity for Muslim foreign dignitaries and are said to have invested in many a country with a large population practising the Islamic faith.



Ghana and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations shortly after independence and the latter has rendered support in varied areas such as health and agriculture.



Saudi Arabia has offered many scholarships to Ghanaians, and many have completed their courses and returned in various fields of study including medicine and engineering.



Currently, a Ghanaian, Abdul Jalal, works with the Islamic Development Bank from where he continues to show interest in directing investment opportunities to Ghana.



With the vice-president now offered such rare link to the Saudi King, it is envisaged that more investment opportunities would come the way of Ghana.



The petro-chemical industry is one area in which the comparative advantage the Saudis have can be supportive of our infant oil and gas investments.



Dr. Bawumias pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and the side attraction of meeting the king is being followed with interest by his Muslim compatriots who appreciate the many opportunities such a link with the royal family can bring to Ghana.



The vice-president is expected back home on 27th August, 2018, with his wife, Hajia Samira Bawumia.

Source: Daily Guide









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The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Friday, 24th August, 2018, paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at Jubilee House, the seat of the nations presidency.



Welcoming Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo noted that the Asantehene, since 1999, has visited each of his predecessor Presidents of the 4th Republic, and was happy that this is the first time that we have seen such a powerful delegation of Asanteman here at Jubilee House.



President Akufo-Addo used the opportunity to thank the Asantehene for the role he played in ensuring that the events of 7th December, 2016, were given a peaceful outcome.



I know all that took place behind the scenes, the role you played in making sure that everything went very smoothly in our country, and that the stability and peace, which has become associated with our nation, was maintained. The Ghanaian people will continue to be grateful to you for your intervention, he said.



The ability of the Asantehene to reduce tension and smoothen things over, according to the President, was again evident on Thursday, 23rd August, 2018, during the 75th anniversary celebration of the death of Nana Ofori Atta, at Kyebi.



President Akufo-Addo stressed that the presence of Otumfo in Kyebi is a signal that despite the attempt on some peoples part to put problems between the two traditional states, i.e. Asanteman and Okyenman, there is no problem, adding that on the contrary, unity and solidarity were the watch words in the relationship between the two states.



According to President Akufo-Addo, the lesson that was given in Kyebi is a lesson that should be taken across Ghana about the need for unity amongst our people, and for us to understand that, yes, we may be of diverse origins, history and culture, but essentially we are part and parcel of the Ghanaian family, and that is what we need to hold on to, to maintain the unity, coherence and stability of our nation.



The events at Keybi, the President added, should be a signal to the people of Ghana of the Asantehenes commitment to the One Ghana Project, and it is one for which the Ghanaian people appreciate and thank him for.



For his part, the President noted that the events of Kyebi signalled also his determination to ensure that all parts of the country are touched by the programme of transformation and development that his government is committed to.



Every part of Ghana will benefit from my mandate. We dont want it to be a mandate that will be exclusive to one side or another, so that when things need to be done, they will be done on their merit, and not as the result of any particular inclination for one set of Ghanaians or another, he added, the reason why he was happy to commission the Kumasi Roads Facelift Project, which will construct and rehabilitate some 260 kilometres of roads in the Kumasi Metropolis.



In thanking Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for the steadfast support given the government over the implementation of the Free SHS policy, he noted that it has not been an easy matter for the nation in finding the resources and the determination to do it.



But, I believe, if for nothing, my period on the stage of Ghana should be identified with ensuring that every Ghanaian child, no matter the circumstances of their birth, no matter where they live in our country, has access to a minimum of secondary school education, to be able to propel them to live in the 21st century.



It is a commitment I made, and I am not turning back on it. It is a commitment the Ghanaian people have accepted as part of the educational architecture of the country, the President stressed.

President Akufo-Addo was equally grateful for the Otumfuos support for the fight against illegal mining, popularly referred to as galamsey, and reiterated the commitment of Government to win the fight, and ensure the sanitization of our environment, of our water bodies, that all of us want to see.



The President was also confident that under the leadership of the Asantehene, a solution will be found to the Dagbon impasse.



I am hoping that, very soon, the people of Ghana will hear from your lips that a roadmap has been finally agreed upon, that will allow us to come out of this crisis, and install a new Ya Naa in furtherance of the peace and cohesion of Dagbon. It will be one of the most important contributions that you can make to the stability of our nation.



He assured Otumfuo Osei Tutu II that his administration will give him whatever support is required for this important task.



My wish is that, when the story of our countrys history is being told, it should be said that it was during the time of two friends, Otumfuo Osei Tutu and President Akufo-Addo, that Ghana and Asanteman were put on the path of progress and prosperity, President Akufo-Addo added.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Former United Nations Secretary General, Busumuru Kofi Annan will be given a state burial on September 13, 2018 in Accra, Ghana.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo suggested the date Friday at the Jubilee House and was readily accepted by the family led by Mr Isaac Hopper.



Mr. Hooper led a seven member family delegation of the international icon and diplomat, Mr Kofi Annan to call on the President to officially inform him about his passing on August 18, 2018 in Switzerland.



The President said the demise of Mr Kofi Annan was a sad development because he was one of the most illustrious citizens of this generation, international diplomat, and civil servant of a very high repute who occupied one of the most prestigious positions in the world.



He said his name has brought honour to Ghana and his departure led to sadness for Ghanaians and he personally, because he had known Kofi Annan since childhood as an elder brother with whom he had maintained friendship.



The President said Kofi Annan offered him a lot of counsel on how he should conduct himself on some sensitive issues and that his death was a big blow to him.



The President said that a man of Mr Kofi Annans stature should be given full honours and was happy that the family had accepted the states proposal.



He said it would be a major event for the country because a lot of world leaders have called him on phone to express their condolences and believed that most of them would come for the funeral.



President Akufo-Addo said there was going to be a committee aside the state protocol team to organise the funeral and that Ambassador Annan Catos name had been suggested to head the meeting and that if accepted, the rest of the team would be organised.



The President suggested that Burma Camp had created a cemetery with a portion created for VIPs where former Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur and J.H. Mensah were buried and that might be the place for Kofi Annans burial.



Family



Mr Hooper said Kofi Annan was for the country and that if the state has decided to take over and organise the funeral on September 13, 2018, the family will support it and help to ensure a successfull funeral.

Source: Graphic.com









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A natural resource governance expert has noted that Ghanas Parliament does not do due diligence on the bills and agreements on natural resources that come before it.



The expert, Mr Adams Fusheini, who is the African Parliament Capacity Officer for the Natural Resource Governance Institute, contended that the situation was such that the outcome of such agreements and bills did not inure to the interest of the country.



He cited the recent Bauxite for Infrastructure Agreement between Ghana and China, which he said was being rushed through Parliament, at the expense of the national interest.



Things are being done for electoral purposes, rather than the national interest, he said at a breakfast meeting on natural resources in Accra yesterday.



Meeting



The meeting was to discuss how Ghana could use its natural resources to drive its development as it pursued the Ghana beyond aid agenda.



Organised by the Institute of Green Growth Solutions (IGGS), with the support of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), an NGO, the meeting brought together participants from civil society organisations and policy makers to discuss the issue.



The government, in June last year, inaugurated a committee to draw up a road map for the achievement of the Ghana beyond aid vision that seeks to harness and prudently manage the countrys vast natural resources to finance its development agenda, without recourse to foreign assistance.



Due diligence



While being cautiously optimistic that the country could achieve the Ghanabeyond aid agenda, Mr Fusheini said he expected more due diligence from parliamentarians on legislation that went before them, alleging that the Legislature was partisan in a way that did not leave enduring legacies on legislation.



If you talk about Parliament, whether under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP), you notice that what the government brings to Parliament is rushed through, without proper consultation with stakeholders, he said.



Bauxite Development Authority



He cited the Ghana Integrated Aluminium and Bauxite Development Authority Bill which he described as a game changer in the country but lacked consultation.



The bill seeks to ensure that the aluminium and bauxite sector is properly governed to serve the countrys interest.



The authority is expected to play the important role of promoting responsible mining and regulating the development of the industry.



It will be responsible for the development of the necessary infrastructure, including rail, roads and energy, industrial parks and associated social infrastructure, to support related businesses in the sector.



Mr Fusheini said the development of the resource would present an enormous development opportunity to the country.



It will take us beyond decades. Therefore, we need more consultation before passing the bill. I am hopeful that there will be follow-up legislation on the sector, he said.



Local content



The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, in a speech read on his behalf, said the government was enforcing local content policies to ensure that the country benefited from its minerals, while local communities also benefited from the resources mined in their communities.

Source: Graphic.com









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The Minister of Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson, went berserk over the weekend, when a National Security operative asked her to learn how to join the presidential convoy, in order not to cause an accident.



This seemingly harmless statement did not, however, go down well with the government official, who responded back strongly, threatening to beat up the National Security operative.



In her fury, the Minister went bananas, using unprintable Ga words against the security personnel.



Not satisfied with the verbal assault in the Ga language, the tall and bulky Minister changed to Twi, ranting: Do you think somebody is afraid of you? We just respect you. Nonsense! Stupid man!



Madam Hawa Koomson, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu Senya East, who is known as Hajia by her admirers, told the man that she would teach him a lesson.



This happened at Aframso, where President Akufo-Addo toured the warehouse of Northern America Farms, which is owned by a Council of taste Member, Nana Owusu Achiaw Brempong.



The constant insults from the embattled Minister provoked the security personnel to also threaten to teach her a lesson, but he was stopped.



The security operative was heard shouting, while people tried to calm him down, but she is a Minister and cannot talk like that, he said.



The fight nearly caught the attention of the President when he was stepping out from the warehouse, but the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, swiftly intervened and calmed Mad. Hawa Koomson down.







Source: The Chronicle









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Former President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed why he decided to run for the flagbearer race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) come 2020.



In a facebook post, he said: as a servant leader, I have listened with deep respect to the elders of our party, to members of our party and Ghanaians from all walks of life, and I am honoured to avail myself for truthful, transparent, selfless, unifying and dedicated service to the National Democratic Congress and above all to the good people of Ghana,





Watch video below











Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Berekum West Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Peter Boampong, has accused Captain (Rtd) Nkrabea Effah Dartey, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Berekum, of authoring a distorted article in the 3rd August edition of DAILY GUIDE which was full of factual inaccuracies.



He disclosed that the said article captioned, Disaster in Jiniji was misleading and meant to throw dust into the eyes of the public.



Speaking at a press conference organised to set the records straight, the constituency chairman said in the first place, the headline Disaster in Jininini is misleading and an attempt to create confusion in the area.



He said historically, the female warrior, who brought her children and other family members to the town, was not called Serwaa but Nana Amma Miansa.



She came from Dormaa to settle at Jinijini because her hunters had discovered very clean water as stated in the said article by Capt Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey.



He stated that on arrival, the Krontihene of the hunters, created a settlement at Koraa and Jinijini.



The Krontre group of hunters met the strangers who had just arrived and as tradition demanded they informed Nana Berekumhene, who asked them to bring the strangers. They, therefore, sent the strangers to the overlord who welcomed the new group and accepted them.



He said when the colonial masters were registering the leaders in the town, they met the Denkyira Group, who had numerical strength and registered their leader as the chief of Jinijini and Krontre became the head of the town (Kro no ti).



Mr. Boampong said, Capt Effah-Dartey also stood for election in Berekum East when he lived in Berekum West.



The NPP executive quizzed: Did the former MP not give inducement funds to delegates when he contested in the parliamentary primaries in Berekum which he lost miserably to the incumbent MP, who doubles as the Deputy Minister for Railway Development, Agyenim Boateng?



Mr. Boampong revealed that the father of the Presidents nominee, Martin Obeng Adjei, donated his personal house to the NPP to be used as office under the 4th Republic.



Mr Adjei is the 2nd Vice Chairman of the NPP in the constituency. On the other hand, the father of Clement, the darling boy of Mr Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, is the NDC Chairman at Koraaso and his mother comes from Nkoranza.



For Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey to say Mr. Adjei does not live in the district is very laughable.



As a former legislator Capt Effah-Dartey should know that a person is not required to live in the district or constituency before he or she can be nominated for any position in the district or constituency.



He reminded Mr. Nkrabea that his successor in the person of Kwaku Agyenim Boateng, a citizen of Jinijini, was domiciled in the United Kingdom (UK) where he was an active member of the NPP.



He flew in to contest Capt (Rtd) Effah-Dartey, the then sitting MP during the NPP primaries and won hands down. He went on to win the parliamentary election and has since been in Parliament on three consecutive terms.



If Mr Clement is the partys choice and popular, why did he lose all the three parliamentary primaries in Berekum East and West Constituencies?



And why was he not included in the shortlisted persons submitted by the regional office to the national office for consideration? he quizzed.



Mr. Boampong seized the opportunity to advise Capt (Rtd) Effah-Dartey to leave out the current MP for Berekum West, Mr Agyenim Boateng in his future write-ups so that the MP would have the peace to serve the people of Berekum West and Ghana as a whole.



Mr. Boampong said the former MP has been restless since losing all the three parliamentary primaries to Mr Agyenim-Boateng, saying he continues to draw the MP into anything that happens in Berekum West which does not promote peace in the area.

Source: Daily Guide









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For many movie lovers, Kumawood actress, Clara Benson, popularly known as Maame Serwaa is like their own child.



This is because they have seen her in movies right from her childhood into her teenage years and she has grown into a beautiful young woman.



But over the last few months, her fans have noticed a change in her image. Not only has she relocated to Accra, she has been making appearances at a number of events and is looking all polished up.



Even her social media profile has undergone some changes and although very positive, it has left some of her fans wondering if she is abandoning Kumawood for Ghallywood(English speaking movie fold).



However, Maame Serwaa told Showbiz on Monday that she is still a Kumawood actor.



Oh my fans should not panic at all. I am still that Kumawwod actor who puts her all into everything she does.



Yes there have been some changes in my life, in terms of how I look and all that but it is simply because I now have a team that takes branding very seriously.



"Nothing has changed about me, I still get Kumawood scripts and act like I used to. I am someone who appreciates my roots and will not forget the people who helped me get to where I am today.



I still have a good relationship with directors and producers so the fact that I am in Accra and do things differently doesnt mean I am no more a Kumawood actor, she said.



Maame Serwaa turned 19 few days ago and although she has managed to remain relatively scandal free, there are many who feel like she is growing up too fast and may start engaging in some negative acts.



And she has dismissed that fear saying she will not go that way especially because she doesnt want to disappoint her late mother.



I can handle fame and I have been handling it since my career began as a child so there is no way I will do something that will bring shame to the people around me. I dont drink nor smoke, I am not someone who likes to go clubbing and all that.



The people I work with run my life and my late mom taught me a lot of things about life.



"If not for anything at all, for the love I have for my late mother, I need to live right so that I can make her proud, she said.



In April this year, Maame Serwaa appeared in a BBC documentary where she talked about her career. She spoke on the need for women, particularly in Africa, to be supported, and given opportunities that would make the world believe in them more.



She told Showbiz that it was a great experience. I was really excited when I got the opportunity and it was in line with one of the many things I want to achieve in this acting journey of mine.



"You know I have an NGO that has interest in Girl Child education so I took the opportunity to talk about it was well, she said.



Maame Serwaa has featured in many movies including Me Ba, School Girl, Sekina, Tumi, Ntaafo) Tumi, Otan Ne Bayie, Maame Serwaa Asuoden, Bayie Economy, My Mother My Jewel and many others.

Source: Graphic Showbiz









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), one of Ghanas leading beverage businesses has presented two hundred (200) packs of its non-alcoholic beverage, Orijin Zero, to the National Chief Imam, Sheik Nuhu Sharubutu as part of activities to mark the Eid Ul Adha festivities.



Orijin Zero, a non-alcoholic variant of the Orijin trademark was introduced two years ago by GGBL to satisfy the growing needs of Ghanaians who do not consume alcohol but given the cultural significance of herbs, would love the unique, natural taste the drink offers.



The non-alcoholic beverage made with honey, fruits and herbs such as cola nuts, prune, and oak wood was donated to cement the relationship between the two parties; Guinness Ghana and the Muslim Community.



Leading the delegation, Rita Agyeiwaa Rockson, Communications and Employee Engagement Manager of GGBL said about a year ago, when we launched Orijin Zero and presented the brand to the Chief Imam for his blessings and support, he gave his total support and blessings and today, we return to give him an update on the brand performance which has surpassed all expectations.



She also used the opportunity to wish the Chief Imam and all Muslims in Ghana and beyond a blissful Eid Mubarak.



The spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, Sheik Aremeyaw Shiabu, thanked Guinness Ghana for their donation and continuous support towards the office of the Chief Imam and the entire Muslim community.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The typical Ghanaian celebrity is one who basically loves to flaunt his or her wealth at the slightest opportunity gained.



Controversial TV and radio show host, Delay, who is popularly known for her biting questioning skills has however stated that she is not enthused about displaying her wealth on social media.



According to the producer of the Cocoa Brown television series and host of the Delay Show, she has not achieved a lot in life but she can say God has really bless her.



Speaking at iYES 2018 organised by the Brain Amoateng ministries at the National Theatre on Wednesday, Delay noted that even though she is happy about her achievements, she would rather want to keep them from the public eye.



I am one of the most modest personalities in our industry. I dont post my cars on social media. I dont post this and that on social media but I can comfortably say that Im blessed, she said.



Talking about how good God has been to her, Delay said she has been able to buy two houses and also owns businesses.



She also recounted how difficult life was for her in her bid to get into the media.



Around 2003, I was staying with my auntie in Tema and I had a little argument with her and her husband thought I was a bit difficult to control so they threw me out of the house. I was 21. I had nowhere to go. I ended staying with sone friends at a mechanic shop in Tema Community 2, she said.



Watch video below







Source: Ghanacelebrities.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A van believed to be linked to the Aug. 22 homicide of a woman near Boston Bar, B.C., is seen in an undated police handout photo. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is appealing for information from anyone who may have seen the 1994 Chevrolet Astro Van which was seized near the scene and is thought to be linked to the homicide. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-RCMP, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Asia Argento, one of the most prominent activists of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, recently settled a complaint filed against her by a young actor and musician who said she sexually assaulted him when he was 17, the New York Times reported. Read more

Myth-creation is a distinctive attribute of Americans. One of my favorite movies is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. John Ford's classic told the story of a man played by Jimmy Stewart, who was given credit for killing a homicidal thug in a small western town. In fact, it wasn't Stewart who killed villainous Lee Marvin but John Wayne. No one knew it, though, because Wayne was hidden from view when he pulled the trigger. Stewart got the glory, and a myth was born at the expense of a more complicated truth.

This celluloid masterpiece says more about the American character than most of the sociological theses published over the last century. We want heroes, and we want them to be perfect, and we have an amazing ability to forgive them for not living up to their reputations. Even when presented with strong evidence that these heroes have been lying to us, we defend them.

Some might call that honorable, but I call it hypocrisy. And with all due respect to mom, apple pie, and the flag, we Americans have perfected the art of being hypocritical.

That became obvious with such painful clarity this past month, with three glaring and highly-publicized examples.

The first case of what I call "#MeTwoFaced" is Asia Argento, the Italian actress most recently known as the girlfriend of Anthony Bourdain. Asia, while an accomplished artist in her own right, has always been defined by the men she knew, including her famous father Dario, who is known as the king of horror. It was revealed this week that Asia paid almost $400,000 in what some have called "hush money" to a young man who claimed she molested him when he was 17.

Asia, after an initial silence, came out and started attacking the victim as a liar, saying that she never had a sexual relationship with him. She even insinuated that the young man had essentially tried to blackmail her dead boyfriend Bourdain because she knew he was "a man of great perceived wealth."

Imagine if Bill Cosby had made those claims about his accusers.

Imagine if Al Franken had said that he'd been asked to grope the woman in the photo  by the woman herself.

Imagine if Kevin Spacey had said that the male actor he'd allegedly assaulted had "asked for it."

Imagine if Louis CK had said women had begged to get a good look at his penis.

Imagine, please, that the accuser was a woman and that she was treated the way that Asia Argento, the strident Joan of Arc of the #MeToo movement was treating an actor who, at the age of 7, had played her son. We would have hordes of ladies in black dresses and linked arms singing some random song from Lilith Fair.

Now consider the case of Avital Ronell, who was found responsible for sexually harassing a male Ph.D student by her employer, New York University. The professor of German and Comparative Literature denies the harassment and says that the relations between the two  a lesbian and a gay man  were consensual

And instead of supporting the victim, her feminist friends are outraged that a woman is being held accountable for abuse. One supporter suggested that women could never be abusers. According to Dana Bolger, an expert in Title IX policy, "the vast majority of Title IX cases are protecting male victims from male perpetrators, or female victims from male perpetrators."

Then we have Gretchen Carlson, the former Miss America who wrote a book about female solidarity, and who has now been credibly accused of bullying the current Miss America, Cara Mund, and other women.

So Asia Argento, who demanded that we believe victims of abuse, says the man accusing her of rape is a liar.

And a female professor says the student she is accused of harassing wanted it.

And a woman who says she was bullied is accused of bullying.

I think it's time to do to the #MeToo movement what John Wayne did to Liberty Valance.
City Hall courtyard memorial vigil for Linda Rios-Neuby, the City Council staffer shot dead by her ex-husband in a murder-suicide last week. Thursday, August 23, 2018. STEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer Read more

Linda Rios-Neuby could make anyone feel special.

"She had this way about her," said City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. "We're going to miss her big time."

Clarke spoke to nearly 200 friends, relatives, and colleagues who gathered in the City Hall courtyard Thursday for a candlelight vigil to honor Rios-Neuby, the longtime Council staffer who was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide in Northeast Philadelphia last week.

Members of the crowd, many wearing shades of purple for domestic violence awareness, wept as they embraced and handed out looped purple ribbons.

Rios-Neuby, 37, was a constant in City Hall for two decades, hired as a teenage summer intern and rising to director of human resources for Council.

About 7:30 a.m. last Friday, police arrived at her home on the corner of Meridian and Erdrick Streets in Holmesburg, where they found her dead from three gunshot wounds. Near the front door, officers found her husband, Haywood Neuby Jr., dead with a shot to the head.

At the time, investigators said that Rios-Neuby and her husband had separated in recent weeks, and that he had stopped by to see their twin daughters and a deadly argument ensued.

READ MORE >>> City Hall staffer killed in murder-suicide in Northeast Philadelphia

Homicide Capt. Jack Ryan said Rios-Neuby was the 21st woman slain in a domestic incident in the city this year, up from 14 this time last year.

At the vigil, her family was at a loss for words.

"It's hard for us as a family to put into words how we feel," said her brother Rick Sheaffer. "No words could replace our sister. Our hearts are broken."

Underscoring the messages from Sheaffer and others was a push for people to speak up if they know someone who is a victim of domestic violence.

Before the vigil, representatives from Women Against Abuse handed out purple wristbands, ribbons, and pamphlets on how to spot violence and help end it.

Rios-Neuby's case was "a painful reminder of the impact of domestic violence," said Mayor Kenney. She was "universally liked, beloved by all her colleagues," he said.

"Too many guns, too many angry people," Kenney said, getting visibly emotional.

Many city officials considered Rios-Neuby family, and reminisced about the years they had known her and her twin girls. For some, she was "the glue."

Rios-Neuby was "a child of the barrio," a "proud Latina" who was "always advocating  for her community," said Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez. "She took care of everybody else first, and then herself."

Some in the crowd called Rios-Neuby "the sweetest person you could ever meet."

She "was like that angel that was there on your shoulder guiding you through everything you had to do," said Norma Morales, who had known Rios-Neuby for 21 years and said she was "like a daughter" to her.

"I'm still wishing I could wake up" from this," she said through tears.
Members of the Philadelphia chapter of Outdoor Afro, on a recent outing. Read more

When Victoria Buitron ventured onto her first trail for a New Year's Day hike a few years ago, she said the ever-changing terrain transformed her.

The treadmills she was used to didn't stand a chance.

But Buitron, 29, noticed one aspect of the great outdoors that wasn't so great.

"I've hiked just about everywhere in the tri-state area, and it was really rare that I saw someone who looked like me," said the Connecticut native, who runs the @latinaswhohike Instagram page.

The lack of diversity in the outdoors, in the magazines and websites that cover the subject, and even in industry ads for hiking and camping gear has been slowly changing. According to the Kampgrounds of America 2018 North American Camping Report, the number of new Asian, Hispanic, and black campers has been increasing since 2012, and more and more, they're going outdoors together.

"We're not rescuing people from the 'hood and taking them to the woods to have some conversion experience," said Rue Mapp, founder of Outdoor Afro. "We're trying to make a generation shift, making sure parents are fully engaged. You have to be the one to make it happen to make a love for the outdoors last."

Mapp grew up in California and spent time hunting, fishing, and chasing livestock at a family ranch in Lake County. Nature, she said, pulled the family together there, but, like Buitron, she always noticed what statistics show: Whites made up 74 percent of the 142 million people who participated in outdoor activities, according to an Outdoor Foundation report from 2016. Non-Hispanic whites are 62 percent of the U.S. population.

"I was the only person who looked like me," Mapp said.

Mapp started Outdoor Afro in 2009 to give fellow outdoors enthusiasts a way to get outside in an organized way. Today, Outdoor Afro has groups in 26 states, including Pennsylvania, where Tarik Moore has led hikes along the Wissahickon and kayaking trips in West Philly.

"I grew up in Jersey City, and the only outdoorsy space we had was Liberty Park," said Moore, an accountant from Bucks County. "I guess I didn't become an outdoorsy person and explored until I was an adult."

When the Outdoor Foundation studied why people don't go outside, 26 percent of blacks said they thought it was too expensive. The study found 25 percent of whites and 22 percent of Hispanics agreed. Moore believes the cost of high-quality hiking and camping gear can be a detriment in poorer, inner-city neighborhoods, but every expedition, he noted, doesn't have to end atop a snowcapped mountain in $150 boots. Often, gear can be bought used or even rented.

"People might not have the means, and the cost of camping could be prohibitive, but there's parks that you can go to right in the city," he said. "When we went to the Wissahickon, people who lived just a few miles away were trying it for the first time."

Recently, Moore led an outing to the Johnson House historic site in Germantown, where participants needed only curiosity.

Mapp said she tries to educate Outdoor Afro members on the value of quality gear.

"You're investing in that experience," Mapp said. "You buy one tent one time, and that's going to last you 15 years."

The Outdoor Industry Association also noted that Hispanics tend to take more outings per year  49  than blacks, Asians, and even whites. Latino Outdoors, founded in 2013, now has 5,000 members nationwide, organizing group outings and promoting the myriad health benefits of nature.

"We exist to educate the community," said executive director Luis Villa.

According to the 2018 Outdoor Industry Association's participation report, fear of being hurt by other people, or even animals, ranks low across every demographic. Still, the outdoors can be a different experience for blacks and Hispanics.

Last year, writer Rahawa Haile detailed her solo Appalachian Trail hike from Georgia to Maine, both the joys of finding transcendence in the outdoors and the realities of being a black woman in nature when she headed into rural towns for a break.

"They say they don't see much of 'my kind' around here and leave the rest hanging in the air," Haile wrote.

A 2016 story about Latino Outdoors in High Country News detailed a moment when a group of hikers was stopped by Border Patrol agents southwest of Tucson, Ariz.

"We stop, are questioned by men in uniform about our citizenship status, then waved on. I cannot easily shake what feels like a profound violation," author Glenn Nelson wrote.

Villa said Latino Outdoors is trying to bridge the gap between Hispanics and park rangers.

"Some folks often have a negative impression of uniformed individuals," he said.

Love for the outdoors is often passed down from family, from new parents creating the same moments burned into memory from campfires of their youth. Moore, the Outdoor Afro leader for the Philadelphia and Harrisburg area, said he tries to bring his three children on every adventure, locking in a future where nature for them is the norm.

"It's the best thing for them," Moore said. "Black people have a connection with the outdoors, and they always did."
ISRO is no stranger to being slapped with a deadline and then banding together to meet it. The Mars Orbiter Mission was completed and launched in just 18 months. However, the country's human spaceflight program has been in the works for well over a decade now. The original plan, as decided in 2004, was to develop a two-stage-to-orbit reusable vehicle by 2020. But despite an initial budget of 15,000 crores ($2.1 billion), the program did not materialise due to lack of funding from the then-central government.

Since then, ISRO has managed to develop in-house tech over the years that helped shave the budget down to 9000 crores ($1.3 billion).

In an interview aired just three days before Prime Minister Modi's address, Chairman Sivan said that much of the tech needed for human spaceflight is already in place.

Several critical program components have already been developed and demonstrated. The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is purportedly ready. The crew module atmospheric reentry and heat shield were successfully tested in 2014, after a launch atop the GSLV Mk III. The Crew Escape System (CES) and its parachutes were tested successfully this July in a Pad Abort Test at Sriharikota. ISRO has also developed a prototype for a spacesuit, in the traditional orange color, though there aren't any details available about the suit yet.

The GSLV Mk III itself has flown twice successfully, once suborbital and once to geostationary orbit. Sivan said human rating the vehicle can be easily achieved, as it is "more reliable, requires less number of components, and is over-designed."

"What is required is infrastructure within ISRO like control centres, launch pad modifications, building the actual vehicle, and creating the module," said Sivan. What ISRO also has seemingly not ventured into yet with solid prototypes or results are crew support systems.

The organisation plans to perform at least two uncrewed tests before sending three people to low-Earth orbit (300 to 400 kilometres), where they would stay for a week. The first of these tests is expected to take place in 2020.
GULU  The lawyer of Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has described the release of the Kyadondo East MP from military detention as leaving the lions jaws.

Bobi Wine was on Thursday charged with treason in the Gulu Magistrates Court after the army court dropped charges of being in possession of firearms against him.

Although the legislator was remanded to Gulu Central Prison until 30th August, Mr Medard Ssegona said for now they were relieved that their client was no longer facing the military trial, which he described as President Musevenis tool of oppressing his political opponents.

Mr Museveni is just very desperate, we need to be careful with him but we should not relent in our struggle. We must work for our country and fear the constitution more than a mortal President Museveni, he told journalists on Thursday after the court session.

He also revealed that they have applied for bail of Bobi Wine and that of his co-accused in the Gulu High Court.

Mr Eddie Yawe, a brother to Mr Bobi Wine who was also at court, said as the family, they are relieved that Bobi is out of military detention. He said they will keep up the fight for his freedom.

Former president of Forum for Democratic Change party Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu said they have high hopes that the suspects will receive justice in the civil court.

Section 23 of the Penal Code Act states that a person commits treason when he/she levies war against Uganda, unlawfully causes or attempts to cause the death of the President or maim or disfigure him/her or aims at the person of the President any gun or offensive weapon whether it contains any explosive or destructive substance or not.

A person convicted of treason is liable to suffer death

The prosecution alleges that the pop star-turned-politician and his co-accused on August 13 in Arua Municipality and other places within Uganda, with intent to harm the President of Uganda, unlawfully aimed and threw stones, thereby hitting and smashing the rear windscreen of a presidential car.

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KAMPALA Buganda Road Chief Magistrates court has charged and remanded to Luzira prison a group of five youths for allegedly taking part in the Monday (August 20) demonstration at Kiseeka Market while protesting the arrest, detention and prosecution of the Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu alias Bobi wine.

Nicholas Kawagga, Muhammad Nsubuga, Abu Kalungi, Muhammad Walulya and Ismael Gulume have on Friday appeared before Buganda Road Court Grade one magistrate Mr Robert Mukanza and denied the charge of taking part in an unlawful assembly.

The suspects are jointly accused with others still at large of assembling and conducting themselves in a manner which causes people living in their neighborhood fear that a breach of peace or destruction of property is about to occur .

Mr Mukanza has sent them on remand until the September 6, as they had no sureties to stand for them.

You have a right to bail as this offence is bail-able in any court, since you have no sureties this court has no option but to remand you, Mr Mukanza said.

Prosecutions Patricia Cingitho also reported to court that police investigations are still on-going.

Police and the army on Monday engaged protesters in running battles in the afternoon in Kampala protesting over Bobi Wine detention.

The protesters, chanting Bobis slogan, People Power. Our power, lit bonfires in the middle of roads at Kiseka Market, Namirembe Road and Kikuubo Market Lane demanding for his release.

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KAMPALA After spending over 72 days in the military detention, Kale Kayihura, the former Inspector General of Police, on Friday been formally charged before the General Court Martial (GCM) with three charges which he has denied.

Kayihura who appeared before the GCM chaired by Lt Gen Andrew Gutti was charged with two counts of failing to protect war materials and aiding or abetting kidnapping from Uganda.

The court was filed to capacity as friends, family members and those who believed in the jailed general awaited for his fate.

Prosecution alleges that Gen Kayihura between the year 2010 and 2018 on various occasions allowed the issue of arms and ammunitions to unauthorized persons to wit members of Boda Boda 2010 headed by one Abudalah Kitata.

It is further alleged that between the same years, he failed to supervise and ensure accountability for the arms and ammunitions issued to units referred to as specialized under the office of the IGP to wit the flying squad unit, the specialized Operations Unit, Witness Protection Unit and the Crime Intelligence Directorate of Uganda Police Force.

It is also alleged that Gen Kayihura between the year 2012 and 2016 by omission and commission aided and abetted the actions of subordinate police officers and others on various occasions without hindrance to kidnap and illegally repatriated Rwandan exiles refugees and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda to wit, Lt Joel Mutabazi, Jackson Karemera alias Ndiga, Sgt Innocent Kalisa.

However after reading the charges to him, prosecution led by Maj. Rapheal Mugisha told court that inquiries in the matter are still on-going and court for an adjournment up to September for mention.

Although this did not go well with Kayihuras lawyers of Kampala Associates who asked court to have their client released after spending 72 days in the military barracks which they say is not in conformity with the Ugandan Laws.

Our client was aware of his rights and what to do, he knows the legal protection of the laws to defeat this unlawful detention. We are praying to this court to exercise its discretion by granting him bail, said Peter Kabatsi one of Kayihuras lawyer.

However Gutti informed Kayihuras lawyers to file a written formal bail application to court as per the procedure in the army court which will be considered on August 28.

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KIRYANDONGO  President Museveni has urged local leaders in Nwoya and Kiryandongo districts to identify land for skills training institutions that will empower youth to be employable.

The President was speaking to staff of Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) and the community around the 600MW Karuma hydropower project in Mutunda Sub-county, Kiryandongo district where he inspected the ongoing construction works.

Upon arrival, the president, who was received by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irene Muloni and a team comprising executives from UEGCL, UETCL and the Contractor Sinohydro; was taken on guided tour of the site starting at the Dam and intake section, the underground Powerhouse and other caverns through the labyrinth of ducts and tunnels.

The Presidents working visit to the project comes five years, since the groundbreaking ceremony he officiated at in August 2013.

I came here to see the progress of work and what I will not be able to see in future; the powerhouse and the dam before being swallowed by water. Karuma is a Uganda Government dam, built with our own money with a soft loan from China, he said shortly after a guided tour of the overland and underground construction work.

He commended the Chinese Government for enabling the soft loan. He also hailed Sinohydro, the main contractor of the electricity infrastructure for the good work of ensuring the provision of 600 megawatts instead of the initial 200 megawatts that was suggested by the other companies.

Museveni tasked the district officials of Kiryandongo and Nwoya to identify and allocate pieces of land for the establishment of industrial parks. He said that such parks would ensure value addition for various agro products and employment for the people.

He pointed out the need for skilling the youths especially at the Kiryandongo Technical Institute and asked the Ministry of Education to follow up the matter of imparting skills

The Chinese Ambassador to Uganda H.E. Zheng ZhuQiane said that the dam is testimony of the good economic relations between China and Uganda and has provided employment opportunities to hundreds of Ugandans.

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irene Muloni hailed the President for the guidance throughout the project which she says progress now stands at 80% completion achieved while that of the transmission line is at 42%

The minister, however, said the completion date for the whole project will be in July 2019 following insufficient funds to carry out compensations associated with the implementation of the resettlement action plan.

The progress of the interconnection project was hindered by insufficient funds to carry out compensations. Only about 70% of the required project land has been acquired to date. The delay to effect compensations has necessitated re-valuations of compensation packages thus escalating costs, she said. Muloni, however, said the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has now availed the funds in this financial year.

The project was initially planned to be complete by December 2018 as per existing contract but it has now been pushed to July 2019.

Karuma Hydro Power Project is financed by both the Government of Uganda and Exim Bank of China. The Government of Uganda contributed 15% as counterpart funding of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) cost, while the China Export and Import Bank is financing 85%. The total EPC Contract Price is USD 1,398,516,747 only for the Generation plant component of the Karuma Hydro Power Project.

The Karuma Hydro Power project shall also bequeath three Corporate Social Responsibility amenities to the adjoining communities; including two hospitals; a civilian hospital in Oyam and Military hospital in Masindi Barracks, refurbishment of Amaji Primary School in Oyam district, a study fund for orphans and contractors camps and offices that will be handed over to government

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Late last week, it was reported that Assembly Bill 931  a piece of legislation aimed at reducing the number of officer-involved shootings in California by modifying that state's legal standard for judging police officers' use of force from "reasonable" to "necessary"  was referred by the full Senate back to the Senate Rules Committee, temporarily halting its progress toward passage.

Upon hearing this news, police organizations across California expressed cautious optimism that the bill would not pass a full Senate vote in its current form.

The California Police Chiefs Association said in a written statement that the bill "still needs work in order to gain enough support to pass the full Senate."

The California Police Officers Association  which has more than 16,000 members of all ranks from municipal, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the state  said in an email to its members that the bill is "just bad legislation," adding that "legislative efforts like AB 931 put officers in harm's way."

Time will tell what ultimately happens with AB 931  but the news of this legislation suddenly and unexpectedly being derailed provides an opportunity to review the reasons to reject this controversial proposal.

Fatally Flawed

AB 931  otherwise known as the Police Accountability and Community Protection Act  is fatally flawed in its current form. Unpacking all of the problems in this piece of legislation is a monumentally difficult task, but I'll give it a shot  no pun intended.

The bill would directly conflict with existing case law  specifically, that which is established in Graham v. Connor  regarding the standard by which police use-of-force cases would be evaluated in the courts. More on Graham in a bit, but the Court's 1989 decision is the most important problem with AB 931.

The bill  which was authored by Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) and Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento)  was hastily written, largely in response to the officer-involved shooting of Stephon Clark in Sacramento in March. The word "reactionary" applies here.

The bill is a poorly written document that could  and probably would  create a litigious landslide of civil and criminal actions against police officers involved in violent confrontations with confrontational subjects. Cities across the state could go bankrupt just settling cases out of court.

The bill  which would embolden anti-police press and politicians in second-guessing police officers  will almost certainly worsen the problem of deadly hesitation, putting officers and civilians at greater risk of being hurt or killed by dangerous criminals.

Cops will disengage.

Crime will rise.

End of story.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

This bill is a bad idea.

Available Alternatives

All of the above doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity to pass legislation that achieves the well-intentioned outcomes of mitigating volatile situations, and minimizing the number of police use of force cases in the Golden State.

The legislature could pass legislation that mandates  and funds  an increase in the number of officers patrolling the streets. When police show up to a call in twos, threes, and fours, things tend to de-escalate. Not always  but there is strength in numbers, and we need more cops for that.

The legislature could pass legislation that mandates  and funds  more training for officers in areas such as verbal and non-verbal communication, less-lethal tactics and tools, and open-hand techniques that achieve compliance from resistive subjects. More training for police officers is always a good thing.

The legislature could pass legislation that mandates  and funds  mandatory "Civics Class" for every eighth-grade student in the state. Kids would learn about Graham v. Connor, which states that "the 'reasonableness' of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight." Kids might even learn about concepts like "comply and complain"  which is a very good strategy for going to bed at night with the same number of holes in their body as when they got out of bed in the morning.

But the California legislature will not propose  nor will they pass  any of those things.

And we all know why.

[Pregnant Pause].

Sigh...

Obvious Questions

The people who support Assembly Bill 931 freely and frequently use the term "de-escalation."

They talk about the use of "time and distance" to prevent confrontations from going loud.

They talk about the need to determine what force is "necessary" in a volatile situation.

Three obvious questions immediately arise:

What is the definition of de-escalation? If there's an active shooter running amok in a school or office building, fatally shooting the gunman would de-escalate the situation, would it not? De-escalation is not a tactic  it is an outcome. It is the result of the appropriate application of time-tested tactics.

How much "time and distance" is enough? Every situation  like the snowflakes who support wrongheaded bills like AB 931  is unique. How much time and distance do cops have in a living room with a sweaty naked guy  high on some unknown substance  swinging a steel fireplace stoker around?

Who decides what's "necessary" in a given situation? Is it the officer involved in a rapidly unfolding, high-stress encounter at oh-dark-thirty on a Sunday morning? Or the civilian  who has no police training or knowledge of the law  viewing the viral video of the incident at 0930 on Monday morning?

Bottom Line

Suffice it to say that there is far more complexity to the issues that AB 931 is trying to resolve than the bill actually addresses. In fact, AB 931  in its current form  adds unnecessary complexity to police use-of-force incidents.

The Graham decision was unanimous.

There were no dissenting comments from the Court on that day.

That fact alone is supremely telling.

Graham is the law of the land.

We don't need lawmakers from the People's Republic of California writing legislation that deviates from what has long been established as the standard by which police officers are judged following a use-of-force incident.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the campaign of Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous recently removed a "like" from a six-month-old tweet that mocked #BlueLivesMatter.

According to the Sun, Twitter user @CaponeOFFICIAL retweeted an @BenJealous tweet that linked to an article about corrupt Baltimore police. The Jealous campaigns tweet states, Among the many reasons to end the failed war on the drugs is the way it has corrupted too many police officers. The attached article from The Root included the mug shots of seven convicted Baltimore police officers.

@CaponeOFFICIAL then retweeted the Jealous post, saying, "Yet people still believe cops are saints, and Freddie Gray killed himself. F--- #BlueLivesMatter and all these dirty [expletive] cops. You aren't a cop if you're dirty...you're a target to the criminal world. If you get killed...thats on you."

A spokesman for the Democratic candidate for Maryland governor said the "like" was an accident by a staffer for the campaign.
MUMBAI, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Sodexo, the leader in digital employee benefit solutions has launched India's first-ever limited-edition festive gift cards for employee gifting. The company has launched these cards in 3 unique designs - one each for Diwali, Durga Puja and Ayudha Puja. Enabling a unique festive experience, these cards are personalized with employee name & company name, and come with an option to customize them further where the employers can write special messages on the envelopes, to add that extra touch of appreciation! The cards are designed to offer employees a seamless experience enabling corporates to drive better employee engagement.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/734494/Sodexo_Diwali_Gift_Card.jpg )



Sodexo with its unique gifting solutions is revolutionizing the employee gifting trend by addressing to the needs of the millennial workforce. Sodexo Premium Pass gift cards in partnership with IDFC Bank are accepted at 2 million retail outlets and 90,000+ online portals on the Rupay Network, offering a greater choice to employees. Sodexo's 11,000+ corporate clients across India can now enjoy one-touch ordering of the gift cards via the Sodexo Web Ordering System (SWOS). This makes employee gifting very simple and easy for organizations, right from order placement to issuance and delivery.

Sodexo believes in keeping its clients and consumers at the heart of everything the company does. To sweeten the nationwide festivities this year, there are exclusive deals worth Rs. 5,000/- as an instant joining bonus for all employees on opting for this most flexible and simple gifting solution.

Stephane Michelin, CEO, Sodexo BRS India said, "This year, festival-specific gift cards are a new addition to our employee gifting basket. Sodexo has introduced these limited-edition cards with the aim to offer more personalised and meaningful gifting solutions to our clients and consumers. Customising cards for three distinct festivals should help leaders connect better with their employees; the joining bonus will add to the festivities for them."

The newest addition to Sodexo's employee gifting range is the Sodexo Premium Pass Virtual Card, an ideal gifting solution for on-spot rewards and last-minute gifting. This revolution in employee gifting will deliver the cards on to employees' mobile app within 24 hours where they can manage all their benefits on a single mobile app. Also, the employees will be eligible for tax savings on Rs. 5,000 per year with these cards along with a multitude of deals and discounts.

About Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, India:

The Sodexo group works towards improving the quality of daily life for employees, partners and customers across the world. Sodexo BRS, India's no.1 Employee Motivation & Benefits Services provider is a partner to over 11,000+ HR Leaders. Our fully-compliant Multi-Benefit Digital Solutions are customized to meet specific needs of organizations and help them develop their best motivated workforce.

Sodexo BRS offers a range of 100% Digital Employee Benefit Solutions. The meal benefit offerings include Meal Cards and Cafeteria Cards. The company's fully-digital Gifting & Recognition offerings include the Premium Pass range of solutions that include the Premium Pass Celebrations for festive gifting & Premium Pass Rewards for ongoing Reward & Recognition programs. The company also has a revolutionary virtual B2B gifting solution, Sodexo Premium Pass - Virtual Card. Sodexo reaches out to over 3 million daily consumers in India across 1,500+ cities nationally including tier 3 & tier 4 cities making it India's largest Digital Meal Benefit Network with over 100,000 unique points of acceptance.

For more information regarding our services, please call our toll-free numbers 1800-267-3030 / 1800-103-3030 or visit our website http://www.sodexobenefitsindia.com

Media Contact:

Sharon Batliwalla

[email protected]

+91-224321-4321

Sodexo



SOURCE Sodexo
Cryptomarket Quickly Recovered From the SEC's Decision

The global market of cryptocurrencies quickly recovered from the downtrend after the SEC decided to ban the creation of Bitcoin ETFs.

According to NordFX, the BTC exchange rate is currently trading around 6562 USD/BTC, Ethereum  277 USD/, XRP (former Ripple)  0,325 USD/XRP, Bitcoin Cash  531 USD/BCH. Over the last 24 hours, they gained 1-2%.

If to take into account the TOP 40 digital currencies, Tether, USDT happens to be the only one showing negative performance over the last 24 hours. The overal market cap has increased all the way up to 212 billion dollars. Bitcoin is currently occupying over 53% over the entire cryptomarket.

On Thursday, the SEC rejected the request to launch the world's first Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds - ProShares Bitcoin ETF and ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF - as well as the same ETFs by Direxion and GraniteShares. This leads us to belive that we are not going to see a BTC ETF launch this year.

In the meantime, international experts have calculated the cryptomarket's losses since the start of the year. It turns out that the market has already lost some 110 billion dollars of its market capitalization since June 2018. In particular, as of June 1st, 2018, the cryptomarket cap used to be equal to 331 billion dollars, but now it has dropped all the way down to 210-220 billion dollars.

However, there's good news for crypto investors. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia that emitted the world's first blockchain-based bonds has recently reported about the higher-than-expected demand for their bonds. While the bank emitted 100 million Australian dollars in bonds earlier this year, shortly after that 7 major investors placed their orders for 110 million Australian dollars in bonds.

You are free to discuss this article here: forum for traders and investors
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
Trideum CVATE

Trideum Corporation, an Inc. 5000 company headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, has been awarded the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Assessment Test Environment (CVATE) prime contract with the Consortium Management Group/Consortium for Command, Control, and Communications in Cyberspace (C5) Other Transaction Authority (OTA). Trideums CVATE single award contract has a ceiling value of $37.2 million over a four-year period of performance.

Trideums role is to prototype the innovative cyber test environment that is part of an overall system of systems test capability being established at the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) at Redstone Test Center (RTC) in Alabama.

Trideum is proud to support the Army Test and Evaluation community under the CVATE contract, said Mr. Kurt Lessmann, Chief Technology Officer at Trideum. As we begin to prototype the cyber test environment, we look forward to putting the best creative talents to work to deliver a strong cybersecurity test capability for the Army.

About Trideum

Founded in 2005, Trideum is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, and specializes in test and evaluation, modeling and simulation, training, education, systems engineering and analysis, and information technology solutions.

http://ow.ly/4Pa130lwDmz
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Investigation into 13 alleged members of notorious Russian gang completed

 RIA Novosti, Ruslan Krivobok

10:33 24/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI)  Investigation into 13 alleged members of a notorious Russian gang charged with multiple killings and attempted murders has been completed, according to a statement made by the Investigative Committees press service.

Moreover, the defendants are charged with participation in a gang, racketeering, kidnapping, endangering the life law enforcement officers and ammunition trafficking, the statement reads.

Russian investigators claim that the gang allegedly organized by Georgian citizen Aslan Gagiyev has been operating since 2004 and includes over 50 members. Members of the gang committed more than 40 contract killings in Moscow, Moscow Region and North Ossetia including murders of high ranking officials, law enforcement officers and businessmen.

Gagiyev was extradited from Austria to Russia on June 20. He pleaded not guilty and refused to testify.

As of February 2018, 22 members of the gang were sentenced to long prison terms while two were sentenced to life and one was ordered to undergo compulsory treatment.




Russian court upholds detention of Orenburg mayor charged with corruption

 TASS, Sergey Arapov

11:47 24/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI)  The Orenburg Regional Court has upheld detention of Yevgeny Arapov, mayor of Orenburg, who is charged with receiving a large-scale bribe, the press-service of the court has told RAPSI.

The defendant is to stay in detention until October 16.

Earlier, the deputy head of the construction department for the city Gennady Borisov was charged with receiving a 2-million-ruble bribe ($30,200). According to the law enforcement, on August 8, the official received 2 million rubles from the CEO of a commercial organization, who sought help with construction and sale of real estate in Orenburg. Borisov was apprehended soon afterwards.

Investigators also believe that the mayor and his deputy received 600,000 rubles ($9,000) as a bribe with 400,000 rubles ($6,000) designated for Arapov and 200,000 rubles ($3,000) designated to Borisov.

Currently, investigators are establishing the origin of 4.2 million rubles ($63,000) found in the mayors working office.
Probe opened into calls for killing 50 Russian officials

 RIA Novosti

12:59 24/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI)  A criminal case has been opened against members of Right Sector nationalist organization banned in Russia over calls for killing 50 Russian officials, the Investigative Committees press service reports Friday.

According to investigators, on May 10, 2018, the extremist organizations own court delivered a judgment of death to 50 Russian public, law enforcement and court officials, who they argued that took part in the investigation into Right Sector member Alexander Kostenko.

In May 2015, a court in Simferopol sentenced Kostenko to 4 years and 2 months in prison for willful injuring a Berkut officer during mass riots in Kiev.

Russian investigators plan to bring charges against the suspects and put them on the international wanted list soon, the statement reads.

Right Sector is a Ukrainian association of radical nationalist organizations. In January and February 2014, its members clashed with police and seized administrative buildings in Kiev. Since April 2014, Right Sector has been involved in fighting the protest movement in eastern Ukraine.

In November 2014, Russias Supreme Court declared Right Sector an extremist group and banned its activity in Russia. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh for alleged incitement of terrorism.

In January 2015, Right Sector was added to the Russian register of prohibited organizations.
Former deputy head of Russias Tver sentenced to 4 years for embezzlement

 RIA Novosti, Vladimir Fedorenko

16:17 24/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI)  The former head of the Tver city administration Denis Gontaryov has been sentenced to 4 years in a penal colony for embezzling over 600 million rubles ($8.8 million), the press-service of the Investigative Committees directorate for the Moscow Region has stated.

Another defendant in the case, ex-chairman for the board of one of construction companies in the Tver Region Anatoly Semyonov has been sentenced to 3 years. Both defendants were found guilty of large-scale fraud.

The court found that from December 2011 till August 2012 Gontaryov, Semyonov and a Pushkino banks shareholder conspired to embezzle the banks funds. The conspirators used fraudulent real estate contracts,signed by the organizations under their contro for their own means as these organizations also entered loan agreements with the Pushkino bank claiming that the loans were related to real estate. As a result, the banks damages reached 600 million rubles.

Currently, the former shareholder of the bank is on the international wanted list.
The U.S. Army has awarded a second source contract to Winchester for 7.62mm ammunition. The second source contract is worth $8.1 million bringing the total value of orders placed on this contract to more $285 million since it was awarded in 2016.

The estimated completion date of the order placed by the U.S. Army is December 31, 2019.

More from Winchester:

The U.S. Army has recently awarded Winchester an $8.1 million order for 7.62mm ammunition under an existing Second Source contract. The ammunition will be manufactured in Winchesters state-of-the-art facility in Oxford, MS with an estimated completion date of Dec 31, 2019. Winchester has received more than $285 million in orders on this contract since it was initially awarded in January 2016.

Winchester has a proud history of developing products for the military and is honored to have a role in supporting the American war fighter with the ammunition they depend on. said Matt Campbell, vice president of marketing and sales for Winchester.

About Winchester

Winchester has a distinguished 150-year history of innovation in hunting, recreation, law enforcement and military ammunition products. In the field, on the range or in defense of freedom around the globe, Winchester has the right product for any ammunition need. Winchester is The American Legend, a brand built on integrity, hard work and a deep focus on its loyal customers. Learn more about the history of Winchester by visiting Winchester.com or connect with us on Facebook at Facebook.com/WinchesterOfficial.

For more information on Winchester Ammunition for Law Enforcement visit WinchesterLE.com.

Winchester Ammunition is a proud supporter of the NSSFs Project ChildSafe. For more information on the Own It? Respect It. Secure It.SM Initiative, please log on to: www.NSSF.org
According to current regulations, a companys buyback offer size cannot exceed 25 per cent of its paid up capital plus reserves

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubros board on Thursday approved the companys first buyback in its 80 years, for up to 4.29 per cent of its paid-up equity capital, aggregating to a value of about Rs 9,000 crore.

In terms of amount proposed, the buyback is the fifth largest by any Indian company.

The company, at its meeting on Thursday, approved a proposal to buy back up to 60 million equity shares at a maximum price of Rs 1,500 per equity share for an amount of Rs 9,000 crore, L&T said in its statement to exchanges.

S N Subrahmanyan, chief executive officer and managing director, said this was to ensure shareholders receive a better return on their investments.

There was a promise made to the shareholders, that we will increase the return on equity. We thought, why not return the money to the shareholders, whom it belongs to, Subrahmanyan said on the sidelines on the 73rd annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on Thursday.

Top company officials expect the buyback to be completed within 90 days after all approvals come in.

According to current regulations, a companys buyback offer size cannot exceed 25 per cent of its paid up capital plus reserves. As per Capitaline data, L&Ts networth (equity plus reserves) stood at Rs 49,200 crore at the end of FY18 on a stand alone basis.

It had debt of Rs 10,600 crore, while the combined figure of cash and bank balances, investment in quoted government securities, bonds, debentures and unquoted units stood at Rs 8700 crore at the end of FY18.

For L&T, which has divested from a couple of non-core assets in the past few quarters, a buyback will translate into cash outflows.

However, Subrahmanyan added the company was comfortable with its view on future expected cash flows, order execution and capital expenditure requirements.

The company is also in the process of selling some of its non-core assets, which would add to its cash balances.

The stock market reacted positively to the news, as the stock was up 6.6 per cent since last weekend (including 2.2 per cent on Thursday).

At its AGM, some of the shareholders shared with the management their unwillingness to sell their shares in the buyback offer.

The shareholders added they were confident of the companys future prospects and wish to hold on to their stocks.

Subrahmanyan, on the other hand, said the decision was taken after consultations and the majority view was that a buyback was a good decision.

Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters
Smaller Singapore- and US-based venture capital funds, retail associations and trader bodies such as the CAIT and SJM are all planning to approach the government to put pressure on the commerce ministry.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The governments draft e-commerce policy is likely to face a major hurdle, with foreign investors set to join hands with domestic retailers and traders against it.

The broad contours of the policy, discussed with stakeholders, have come under criticism for being protectionist and one-sided in favour of big players.

Battle lines are hardening with different interest groups facing off.

Foreign investors are rushing to secure their investments, totaling $75 billion (Rs 5.3 trillion in current exchange rates) invested over the past decade.

Sources said the commerce ministry could soon restart discussion with all stakeholders in the e-commerce eco-system, to incorporate their proposals into the final draft.

Plans to bring out the final draft by the end of this month seem to have been scuttled, with multiple ministries arguing against the proposal and the Prime Ministers Office scrutinising the draft.

As a result, the national think tank on e-commerce, chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, will now heed the final recommendations that come out of another inter-ministerial meeting to be held soon, a senior ministry official said.

According to sources, smaller Singapore- and US-based venture capital funds, retail associations and trader bodies such as the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) are all planning to approach the government to put pressure on the commerce ministry.

The idea is to make the ministry take on a different set of proposals which would keep in mind the interests of all these players.

Smaller venture funds also said they are in touch with representatives of major investors such as SoftBank Group and Tiger Global to get them into the discussions they plan with the government.

Individually, private equity players, venture funds, and traders are all fighting the policy, but, as of now, the government has not done anything to add our recommendations.

"If we come together and jointly talk with the government, they will have to consider our set of proposals. It needs to be balanced, said the vice-president of a US based venture capital fund that has investments in a food tech firm.

While CAIT and SJM are against some of the policies around foreign direct investment (FDI) and the business practices of online marketplaces, they are open to the idea of working with VC funds on the issue.

We have our reservations against FDI and online marketplaces but at the moment we share almost the same set of concerns as PE funds and retailers. We are ready to have a common set of proposals, said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of CAIT.

According to sources, SoftBank Group has already written to NITI Aayog, the commerce ministry and finance ministry to keep in mind the interest of investors before finalising the policy.

SoftBank is asking for a fair and balanced ecommerce policy. In a scenario where almost 95 per cent of the capital in a company is pumped by investors, they not having any say are a matter of grave concern for these global players, said a senior vice-president of a US-based investment firm.

The task force that has formulated the draft policy consists of founders and senior management executives of companies including Ola, MakeMyTrip, Zoho, UrbanClap, Paytm, and Snapdeal, among others.

In 2017, almost $21 billion (Rs 140 crore) worth of PE investments made its way into e-commerce companies and start-ups.
'We demonise the Others.'

'We are constantly reminded that they are different and are an existential threat to Us.'

'The toxin of Nellie in 1983, Delhi in 1984 and Gujarat in 2002 is not yet flushed out of our body politic,' says Shreekant Sambrani.

If you watch just one film a year, or for that matter, in a decade, Mulk by Anubhav Sinha is the one you can't afford to miss.

At one level, it is a superbly scripted, acted, directed and shot picture with an intense courtroom drama.

The plot jumps at you straight out of the daily headlines and the characters are what you see around you all the time -- in other words, you and I.

The ensemble cast of known and unknown actors is perfect for their respective roles. Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu have easily the best roles, the kind actors would die for, but all others are no less noteworthy.

But that is not why I recommend this movie. I do so partly because as Shekhar Gupta rightly observed, 'it brings to you the challenges of an ordinary Muslim family in modern India'.

My principal reason for appreciating and recommending Mulk is that at a fundamental level, it is a definitive statement of what India has become three-score and eleven years after it threw off the yoke of imperialism with a heavy price of division of not just a land mass but a people and their collective psyches.

It poses the existential question: Is India about us and them, the Other, or is it about us?

It easily bears comparison with M S Sathyu's Garm Hava (1973) and Govind Nihalani's Tamas, based on the novel by Bhisham Sahni (1987), the two best movies about Independent India.

What makes a nation, and not a mere legal or constitutional entity, when diverse cultures and identities cohabit given geographies with great discomfort is the central concern of these exceptional films, particularly Mulk.

History is replete with instances of nation-States constructed out of such situations falling apart.

Both the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics and Yugoslavia, despite apparently stable existence of over 50 years, could not overcome the fissures of cultures and ethnicity.

The original Pakistan was not homogeneous culturally and contiguous geographically. The shared religion of the two halves was not strong enough adhesive to hold them together beyond two decades.

The world's oldest republic, the United States of America, paid the heavy price of a four-year long bloody civil war to remain united thanks to Abraham Lincoln's extraordinary leadership.

Closer to our times, another leader, Nelson Mandela, whose birth centenary we are observing now, rose magnificently above the physical and mental torture he suffered for long to form a rainbow nation which would reconcile the former tormentors with their victims.

Tragically, another leader often compared to him, Aung San Suu Kyi has badly faltered by not being able to prevent when in power the persecution and driving out of Myanmar the Rohingya minority.

The vivisection of colonial India was accompanied by an exodus to both sides of the border, the largest mankind has known, and carnage of epic proportions. extraordinary leadershipThat left deep scars on the collective psyches of the entire people which have not heeled after 70 years.

We firmly believe that the abhorrence of India is what defines Pakistan. But we do not recognise that we too have similar emotions.

The chauvinist public prosecutor of Mulk thunderously pronounces, 'Mughal chale gaye magar jihadi chhod gaye (the Mughals may have gone but they left behind jihadi).'

That instinctively appeals to even those non-Muslims in India who have no connection whatsoever with Partition.

Mahatma Gandhi was the one leader whose conscience was too troubled to savour the celebration of Independence. He was in Noakhali tending to the refugees when we celebrated our tryst with destiny.

Even as we gear up for what would be a massive observance of the 150th anniversary of his birth next year, we have forgotten this legacy of his and trivialised it to mere illustrations on paper currency and the omnipresent graphic symbol for the Swachch Bharat campaign.

My mulk today is an odd collection of a million mutinies raging, large and small, as Sir Vidia Naipaul so aptly put it. Some of them arise from frustrated aspirations, which could well become productive drives.

But most arise from our wearing our supposed religious sentiments on our sleeves. A sickening succession of lynchings (with increasing evidence of collusion between vigilantes and local police) and wanton hooliganism in the name of religion are staple headlines of the daily news bulletins.

The rage feeds on itself. We demonise the Others.

We are constantly reminded that they are different and are an existential threat to Us. That is perilous at all times, but a majoritarian sense of victimhood could be explosive.

The toxin of Nellie in 1983, Delhi in 1984 and Gujarat in 2002 is not yet flushed out of our body politic.

A year ago, white supremacists rioted in Charlottesville, Virginia while Donald J Trump prevaricated and pontificated.

The Canadian psychoanalyst/evolutionary biologist Jordan Peterson is much in the news presently, thanks to his controversial new book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.

His recommendation of a return to Judeo-Christian teachings can be broadly interpreted as an advocacy of ethical and moral values based on a society's historical evolution.

Sadly, that is at a discount today in India.

In our pell-mell rush to modernity, we have placed techniques on a pedestal, completely ignoring humanities as integral parts of education. We have thus lost sight of a liberal compass.

Our leaders of all stripes issue perfunctory and at times delayed condemnations of violent lawlessness. But many stoke these fires covertly and at times even overtly in the hope of electoral gains.

The wise judge in Mulk advises us to check the calendar for election dates when we face an upsurge of violence.

The National Register of Citizenship is the latest buzzword. Fiery speeches about Bangladeshi infiltrators at the opposite end of the country from one set of leaders are matched by nightmarish images of civil war and bloodbath conjured up by the other side.

The denouement in the film Mulk is of a feel-good variety. But it is unlikely to occur in my real mulk.

Abraham Lincoln used just 227 words to summarise the essence of his idea of America in the 1865 Gettysburg Address. The 100 most eloquent of these are:

'Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us  that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.'

How one wishes on this Independence Day that we had heard such words from the ramparts of the Red Fort!

Shreekant Sambrani is an economist.
'The sorry image of a wailing leader visiting relief camps for riot victims was completely incoherent with what he did next, blaming the minority community for the disturbance.'

Utkarsh Mishra pens a tribute from the heart.

When revolutionary Jatin Das died in jail while playing an active role in the famous hunger strike by Bhagat Singh and comrades, Mahatma Gandhi wrote nothing in his newspaper Young India.

Subhas Chandra Bose writes in his book Indian Struggle that when he was asked by a follower why he did not write anything on Jatin Das's martyrdom, Gandhi replied that he purposefully avoided commenting on it because if he did, he 'would have been forced to write something unfavourable'.

I was in a similar dilemma while trying to write something about a leader who was so loved by the country he served and led.

I've been reading all kinds of obituaries since the evening of August 16; most of them admiring the persona, which can certainly be done in this case without indulging in cliches and hyperbole. But there were also a few, which included some critical element needed to make it more honest.

Not that I believe in de mortuis nihil nisi bonum (of the dead, nothing but good), and not that I do not hold critical views about the man, but somehow I did not want them invoked for the time being.

But it would be unfair to call oneself a journalist if one doesn't contribute a few lines to the conclusion of one of the most important chapters of Indian political history.

So, I thought the least I could write without being dishonest is how my understanding of one of India's greatest leaders was shaped over the years.

The generation to which I belong began to gain political understanding only during the P V Narasimha Rao years. I remember the summer evening when I heard the term 'prime minister' for the first time when my father told us that Rajiv Gandhi has been killed.

That day inculcated a life-long fear of firecrackers in the mind of my younger sister, and every Diwali she would remind us boys not to burst loud crackers, also called bombs, as Rajiv Gandhi was killed by one.

Our next few years passed in trying to remember, and sometimes making fun of, the full names of P V Narasimha Rao and H D Deve Gowda. (Yes, we North Indians do that with South Indian names. We not only 'sing' the names, we often corrupt them to the nearest Hindi equivalent.)

The first, 13-day, stint of new Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was followed by the Deve Gowda and I K Gujral era, which also came and went quickly. And it was only much later that some of us realised the folly of a man called Sitaram Kesri in destabilising a gentleman's government for silly reasons.

And that sequence of events once again brought Vajpayee to power, this time for 13 months. I distinctly remember the day when, glued to our TV screens, we learnt that Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence by a single vote.

The dramatic event had convinced the adults around me, all except my father, that they have to bring 'Atalji' back to power with a robust majority this time.

This resolve was strengthened by the way in which Vajpayee was appealing to everyone to vote for him. It was not in 2014 that the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign went 'hi-tech', it had happened earlier.

In 1998, one used to get phone calls from the BJP and a taped message in Vajpayee's voice played on, lending a personalised touch to the campaign.

I remember how every household was getting a telephone call 'from the prime minister'. In our family, I was the 'fortunate' one to pick up that call.

'Namaskar, main Atal Bihari Vajpayee bol raha hoon,' I heard, and, in extreme joy, woke up my mother who was taking a precious afternoon nap, and missed the next few lines in the process.

Nevertheless, the voice continued, 'inke ek vote ne meri sarkar ko gira diya hai; aapka ek vote meri sarkar bana sakta hai.'

If I had voting rights then, I would have certainly given him that one vote, which many gave so that a 'videshi' (a reference to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi) doesn't become India's PM.'

We youngsters were mesmerised by tales of Atalji's glory told to us by elder brothers or uncles (another trait of north Indian homes, where women seldom like talking politics); of the Golden Quadrilateral and telecom revolution etc.

But something of significance happened with me a few years later. I was asked to play the role of 'Leader of Opposition' in an inter-school 'youth parliament' competition. I had to bring in the no-confidence motion on the 'floor of the House'.

My subsequent 'research' introduced me to details of the Kargil coffin scam, the 'mishandling' of the IC-814 hijack, the 'UTI US-64 scam' etc.

And playing the LoP, I actually started criticising the government.

And then 2002 happened.

We felt pity for the leader against who a newly elected chief minister of his own party led a virtual coup d'etat, apparently with the blessings of the party's second senior-most leader.

But the sorry image of a wailing leader visiting relief camps for riot victims was completely incoherent with what he did next, blaming the minority community for the disturbance.

Why did he do that? Because he saw more radical elements drawing bigger support, sidelining him while he was still at the helm? Maybe.

Nevertheless, his enthusiastic lines saying 'Geet Naya Gaata Hoon' were changed to Geet Nahin Gaata Hoon, not mincing any words about how betrayed he felt.

As we entered the age of YouTube, we had his December 5, 1992 speech in Ayodhya one click away. That introduced me to a different Vajpayee I hadn't known till then. I also came to know about a similar speech he gave during the 1983 Assam election -- a few days before the Nellie massacre -- which even the BJP disowned.

Though I was disillusioned, I could see the change the man had gone through from calling for 'levelling the ground' in Ayodhya to weeping at a relief camp in Gujarat.

These are the few critical points the 'more honest' obituaries raise. There are others, a few personal ones. But if Vajpayee teaches us one thing, it is how not to become personal in political criticism.

Those who hve watched the Jeff Bridges starrer The Contender (2000) will understand why it shouldn't be done.

Once, during a discussion on Vajpayee, a very dear friend told me that if you set the bar that high for a politician that one should get no chance to criticise, then you'll be left with no politicians worthy of admiration.

It is the very nature of politics that it doesn't leave one untainted. It is for the observer to decide how it weighs upon the overall personality of a leader.

Vajpayee, in many ways, was a unique personality. A full-time RSS pracharak who admired Nehru almost like a fanboy.

As his biographer Ullekh N P writes, 'Despite his 'secular' statements in Parliament that bordered on the Nehruvian, Vajpayee has often taken brief excursions into the hard-line camp'.

That notwithstanding, in Vajpayee's case, as they say in law, the 'mitigating factors' outweigh the 'aggravating' ones.
'If Article 35A is scrapped, then Jammu's identity will be over.'

'I am the son of an army official. So, I dare to speak the truth.'

'Be it the BJP or Congress in power, Jammu is always discriminated (against).'

IMAGE: A protest in Kashmir against petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of Article 35A. Photograph: PTI Photo

Gagan Bhagat, the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from RS Pura in Jammu, has defied the party line and opposed the scrapping of Article 35A of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, which has been hearing pleas seeking the scrapping of Article 35A, has postponed the matter to the week beginning August 27, when it will be listed before a three judge bench which will also adjudicate if the Article violates the basic structure of the Constitution and if the case needs to be heard by a bigger, five judge bench.

Article 35A was introduced in the Constitution as part of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir, and under it no Indian resident can buy land in the state.

Also, if a woman from the state marries an outsider, then their children will not have the right to inherit or buy any property in J&K.

The BJP has historically been in favour of scrapping both Article 35A and Article 370, granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir. However, while it shared power in the state with the Peoples Democratic Party, the BJP had shelved its demand.

"We cannot behave like that pigeon which shuts its eyes when it sees a cat" Bhagat tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

Why are you defying your party line on Article 35A?

You know about Maratha reservations and must have understood that local issues are very important for residents of a particular area.

Today if you see Mumbai's population, you will find out that outsiders from states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar etc migrated to Mumbai and today, local Marathas feel that their jobs are being snatched (by migrants).

They are not getting jobs and therefore they are demanding reservation.

I am demanding the same thing in Jammu.

People who were ruling Jammu and Kashmir had a long vision and they knew about it, therefore they got this Article 35A.

They knew Jammu people are very innocent by nature and their jobs and property must be protected.

Therefore, they got this Article 35A in the state.

Maratha reservations are a completely different subject.

It is similar. You have to have a policy where local Jammu people must get benefits if you want to scrap Article 35A.

But your party speaks of one country, one law. So how can you say that other Indians should not be allowed to settle in Jammu?

Our party's ideology says country first. Jammu and Kashmir too is part of our country. I am fighting for my people of Jammu.

You take the example of Himachal Pradesh, you cannot buy property there, too. And now you see the logic.

On one hand we say that we want to throw the Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims out of Jammu and on the other if you scrap 35A, how will we throw them out?

Why can't you throw them out without 35A?

Once Article 35A is gone, they will all come to Jammu and build homes.

How will you identify these infiltrators? They have got Aadhaar cards and ration cards already.

The ground reality is that there are at least 25,000 illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims staying in Jammu.

You see Telangana. They are fighting for local issues and asking for special status.

Today, in Jammu, outsiders don't have rights to buy land and when they get it, the price of land in Jammu will increase manifold. And jobs which are available for locals will go to outsiders.

Mumbai developed because of immigrants. How can you say that immigrants will be a burden on Jammu?

Nobody from Mumbai will go and settle in Kashmir as they do not want to be in front of guns all the time.

Nobody will go to Kashmir to stay or to do business, they will only come to Jammu.

The burden will fall on Jammu only. In Kashmir, there are hartals almost every day. We could not conduct elections peacefully in Kashmir.

So, in such a scenario, who will go to Kashmir?

If Article 35A is scrapped, then Jammu's identity will be over.

We are trying very hard to preserve the Dogra culture in Jammu. If Article 35A is scrapped, Dogra culture will be extinct.

If every state says this, what happens to the Union of India?

If you are thrown out of your home, then that is not right, and that too in the name of development. That is not development, as locals need some safeguards.

Development cannot happen by killing the local ethos and culture.

If you want development, do public-private partnership. Nobody is stopping you.

At least give 50 percent partnership to some Dogra before you start a business in Jammu.

We are ready to say Atithi Devo Bhava (guests are like God), but the atithi must not throw out the owners of homes.

The BJP has more than 20 MLAs in Jammu and Kashmir. Why are you alone highlighting this issue?

People do not have guts to tell the truth.

In politics, bootlicking is a reality. The more you bootlick, the farther you go in politics.

But I am the son of an army official. So, I dare to speak the truth.

I am only telling the truth, democratically.

We want to speak to the central government about reservations for the Dogra community in Jammu.

Today the Marathas are asking for reservations. Therefore, we want a policy immediately mandating 50 per cent reservations in employment in every sector for the Dogra community.

I am not saying that the BJP's ideology is wrong nor am going against the party. I am just raising my voice to say what is true.

It is also said that Jammu has historically felt neglected vis a vis Kashmir.

We have been fighting (against) this for the last 70 years. We feel that Jammu was always ignored because of Kashmir.

And if Article 35A is scrapped, then the people of Jammu will be competing against the rest of India.

I am just saying that whatever policy you make, if you want to scrap Article 35A, take the people of Jammu into confidence.

You are talking more like the separatist leaders of Kashmir who do not want Article 35A to be scrapped.

Separatists do not want Article 35A to be scrapped. While I am saying you can do that, but take the Dogras of Jammu into confidence.

We are willing, but let the Government of India give some assurance to us.

If you are going to start factories in Jammu and not give employment to local Jammu people, then what is the point of that development?

If every state starts adopting a similar line, won't it lead to a huge problem?

When the Government of India gives special package to any state like Bihar, they do it to meet the regional aspirations of the people.

Every MLA wants his area to be developed. Regionalism will always be a part of national politics.

Why does the Congress or the BJP not succeed in the South? Because regional issues become more important.

Today, the people of Jammu are silent on Article 35A as they are not aware of the dangers (of it getting scrapped).

Jammu is treated like a stepson by the central government compared to Kashmir.

Recently, 12,000 vacant posts of police officers were filled by the central government, out of which 10,000 were from Kashmir and only 2,000 were from Jammu. So there is a huge difference.

Be it the BJP or Congress in power, Jammu is always discriminated (against).

Today, the BJP has 25 MLAs from Jammu. If Jammu does not develop now, when will it develop?

If Article 35A is scrapped, what will the Dogras of Jammu get? We want some kind of assurance for the people of Jammu before scrapping 35A.

Did you not speak to your party before bringing your dissent into the public domain?

I never did any press conference. I said all these things in the assembly.

You are talking like a rebel MLA, though.

We have to go to the people and ask for votes. How long can we fool the people?

We will face these questions and therefore I am putting all these questions to the BJP leadership.

In the age of social media, people are expressing their views openly and the youth of India knows what is right and what is wrong.

They ask us questions. We cannot behave like that pigeon which shuts its eyes when it sees a cat.

Whenever the national leadership comes to Jammu, the state BJP leaders say all is well, but on the ground all is not well.

What is the point of Jammu becoming a concrete jungle when the people of Jammu will not get a place to stay?
While his party binds the people of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh divides them and spreads hatred, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said.

IMAGE: Congress President Rahul Gandhi at Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, Germany. Photograph: PTI Photo

Addressing the Indian diaspora at a function organised by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin on Thursday, he said the Congress's thought of "unity in diversity" came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev.

Taking on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government in India, Gandhi said while long speeches were being given and hatred was being generated, farmers continued to commit suicide and youngsters were unable to see a future for themselves.

"The Congress belongs to all, works for everyone and our work is to spread the thought of unity in diversity. Today, the government in India is working differently," he said.

Gandhi said India's competition was with China and jobs would either go there or come here.

"The BJP-RSS people are dividing our own people. They are spreading hatred in our own country. Our job is to bring the people together and take the country forward and we have shown how to do it," he said.

The Congress chief once again claimed that while China gave jobs to 50,000 people in 24 hours, India gave employment to only 450 people in the said period.

"There are long speeches, spewing of hatred, but farmers are still committing suicide and the youth cannot see a future.

"We want India to go forward and you will never hear of any Indian spreading hatred or anger anywhere. This is our culture, this is your culture," he said.

Gandhi also noted that his thoughts emanated from those of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, and thanked the members of the Indian community living in Germany, many of whom are from Punjab, for supporting the Congress and helping the party form government in the state.

He told them it was their government in Punjab and his doors were open to them in case they needed something.

"When we needed you, you stood with us and helped us form our government in Punjab. A friend in need is a friend indeed and you have been true friends," he told the gathering.

The Congress chief also mentioned that a German MP had told him Europe's strength was unity in diversity.

"I thought, you are saying this today, we have been speaking of unity in diversity from the times of Guru Nanak. Our strength is listening to everyone, even the weakest, the poorest person. Every Indian religion talks about helping the last man in the line," he said.

Gandhi also cited the "langar" concept in Sikhism, which follows the philosophy that no one should go hungry, no matter how weak or poor.

"The work Guru Nanak used to do, we work on the same philosophy," he said.

The Congress chief was accompanied by party leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur, who has been an MP and a Union minister in the past.

Gandhi, who was on a two-day visit to Germany, will now head to the UK, where he is scheduled to address the students of the London School of Economics tonight and then the Indian Overseas Congress a day after.
IMAGE: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram leaves after a press conference at All India Congress Committee headquarters. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

The Enforcement Directorate again questioned former finance minister P Chidambaram for about six hours on Friday in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case, officials said.

Sources said Chidambaram's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after he appeared before the investigating officer of the case at the Enforcement Directorate's office in New Delhi.

The questioning went on for about six hours, they said. While the Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet in this case involving the politician in July, the ED is expected to file its own prosecution complaint within the next fortnight.

It is understood that the agency wanted to put a fresh set of questions to him regarding the deal and hence had asked him to appear.

The agency had earlier recorded statements of officials who were in Foreign Investment Promotion Board when this deal took place, and it is understood that Chidambaram would have been confronted with these versions.

Some specific queries on the circumstances and procedures adopted by the now-defunct FIPB, while giving approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal during his tenure, were put to him earlier.

His son Karti has also been questioned by the ED in this case twice.

Chidambaram, after a similar questioning by the ED in this case in June, had said that what he told the agency was already recorded in government documents. He also said that there is no first information report, yet a probe had been initiated.

'More than half the time taken up by typing the answers without errors, reading the statement and signing it!' he had said in his tweet.

The Aircel-Maxis cases pertains to grant of FIPB clearance to firm M/S Global Communication Holding Services Ltd in 2006 for investment in Aircel.

The Supreme Court had on March 12 directed investigating agencies -- the CBI and the ED -- to complete their probe into the 2G spectrum allocation cases, including the Aircel Maxis alleged money laundering case, in six months.

The agency had said that the FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March 2006 by Chidambaram even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

The ED is investigating 'the circumstances of the FIPB approval granted (in 2006) by the then finance minister'.

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of $800 million (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, the CCEA was competent to grant the approval.

"However, the approval was not obtained from the CCEA," the ED had alleged.

The agency said its probe revealed that the case of the said FDI was 'wrongly projected as an investment of Rs 180 crore so that it need not be sent to the CCEA to avoid a detailed scrutiny'.

The ED is probing the Aircel-Maxis deal under the PMLA after taking cognisance of a 2011 CBI FIR in the case.

The senior Chidambaram had earlier described the ED action in this case as a 'crazy mixture of falsehoods and conjectures' and said that the charge sheet filed by probe agencies was rejected by the court.

However, the agencies maintained that the FIR in the case had not been quashed.

In September last year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 1.16 crore of Karti and a firm allegedly linked to him in connection with this case.
Officials at the UAE embassy in New Delhi on Friday said the UAE had not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief.

However, Vijayan claimed there was no lack of clarity on UAE aid for the flood-ravaged state.

IMAGE: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during a visit to a relief camp at Kozhencherry, in Pathanamthitta. Photograph: PTI Photo

With water receding and more people returning home from relief camps, the Kerala government on Friday made a strong pitch for assistance and expressed hope that the Centre would accept the United Arab Emirates aid 'offer' of Rs 700 crore.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and preliminary estimate of losses comes around Rs 20,000 crore.

Kerala should be treated on a different yardstick for extending flood relief assistance as its huge loss cannot be compared with damage in any other state at any point of time, Vijayan said.

Giving a detailed account of the havoc caused by the devastating floods and landslides since early this month, he said the preliminary assessment of losses was around Rs 20,000 crore which was equal to state's annual plan size for 2018-19.

The state's harvest festival 'Onam' falls on Saturday, but this time around festivities will be the last thing on people's minds as they come to grips with the devastation caused by the unprecedented deluge that claimed 231 lives.

Even after lakhs of people have returned home, there are still 8.69 lakh people in 2287 relief camps across the state, officials said.

Amid a row over the Centre deciding not to accept any foreign donations for flood relief, officials at the UAE embassy in New Delhi on Friday said the UAE had not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief.

However, Vijayan claimed there was no lack of clarity on UAE aid for the flood-ravaged state and expressed hope the Centre would accept the 'offer' of Rs 700 crore.

Vijayan said NRI businessman M A Yusfuf Ali had informed him about the aid.

"When I asked him whether it could be made public, he said there is no problem in it," the chief minister told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after a meeting to review the post-flood situation and relief operations.

The UAE aid was communicated to Ali when he had met the crown prince to convey Bakrid greetings, Vijayan said.

Vijayan said the issue whether or not to accept the aid was a matter to be decided by the Centre.

"I hope that this will be accepted," Vijayan said replying to a question on the row.

There was no lack of clarity on the UAE aid to Kerala, he said.

The chief minister said he had nothing more to add to what he had stated on August 21 about the aid and added it was a matter discussed by Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Syed Al Nahian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both had informed the world about the aid issue, the chief minister said.

Officials in UAE embassy in New Delhi said no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala was finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the state.

UAE ambassador Ahmed Albannam, without mentioning financial aid, said his government only set up a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to people affected by flash floods in Kerala.

The gulf nation may come out with its plan in the next few days to extend assistance to flood victims, an official said.

IMAGE: BSF rescue and medical team assists in relief efforts in Kerala on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo

In support of his stand that Kerala's case was unique, Vijayan earlier said the state was densely populated and the entire state had infrastructure facilities such as good roads, communication network and hospitals.

Hence, the loss suffered in the floods was huge in nature and was something which cannot be compared to the damage suffered by any other part of the country at any point of time, Vijayan said, urging that the state should be treated on a different yardstick for extending assistance.

Pushing for foreign assistance, Vijayan had said there was no blanket ban and India, by law, could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity.

In his statement on Friday, the chief minister said: "It is with a thankful heart that we take note of the fact that foreign countries ranging from the UAE to Qatar have come forward with their promise of assistance."

Vijayan also mentioned about the immediate release of Rs 100 crore by the Centre and further interim aid of Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately after his aerial survey of flood-affected areas on August 19.

The Centre has already released Rs 600 crore to the state.

On rehabilitation and relief measures, he said the focus now was on taking care of those in relief camps.

To ensure that rehabilitation work goes on smoothly, it is essential to get the details of houses and shops destroyed at the earliest and the loss incurred by each individual has to be recorded correctly, he said.

The government was planning to utilise IT enabled solutions to get relevant data, Vijayan said.

Kerala has received donations totalling Rs 535 crore to help rebuild the state.
A soldier is never off duty.

The adage was proven true after an Indian Army man, on leave, flew to assist with the relief operations currently underway in flood-hit Kerala.

IMAGE: Major Hemant Raj has been helping out people in flood-hit Chengannur. He was to go off on leave when he decided to help the rescue ops. Photograph: @PRODefRjsthn

Meet Major Hemant Raj from the armys 28 Madras Sapth Shakti command, mobilised a team of retired defence personnel and local fishermen to shift hundreds of stranded people to safety.

According to reports, on August 18 -- his first day of leave -- when he reached Delhi, he came to know about the massive destruction in Kerala.

I got to know that my family members were in relief camps and my village was completely flooded. I was informed that my flight to Kochi was cancelled, Major Raj was quoted as saying.

He then convinced air officials to get him to Thiruvananthapuram from where he contacted Air Force officials and requested them to airdrop him at Chengannur, where he found the situation pitiable; roads were flooded and there was no way he could have reached the interiors. Mobile phones were not working.

Amid the destruction that the floods had wreaked, Major Raj swung into action and formed a team comprising of few ex-servicemen and students.

IMAGE: Major Hemant Raj's efforts in flood-hit Kerala has been widely appreciated. Photograph: @PRODefRjsthn

In three days, the major and his team arranged to drop 10 tonnes of food each day at accurate places.

Kerala is witnessing the worst floods in a century. Over 370 people have lost their lives and more than a million have been rendered homeless.

The flood water has now started receding and people returning home. However, more than 13.43 lakh people are still lodged in 3,520 camps across the southern state.

Over 12,000 litres of drinking water has also been dispatched to the affected areas as the next phase of bringing back and putting together the lives of the displaced is a concern.
These images prove we live in a wonderfully weird world.

IMAGE: People sitting inside a swimming pool play giant cards at a water park on a hot day in Chongqing, China. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

IMAGE: A performer with a mask of United States President Donald Trump hits a punching ball with a mask of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

IMAGE: Visitors pose for a photo at the CatCon cat convention in Pasadena, California. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

IMAGE: People dressed up as Vikings take part in the annual Viking festival of Catoira in north-western Spain. The festival re-enacts past Viking raids in the area and is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of August. Photograph: Miguel Vidal/Reuters

IMAGE: People gather near the scene where two vehicles have fallen into a sinkhole on a street in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

IMAGE: A western lowland gorilla eats ice cream in its enclosure at Prague Zoo, Czech Republic. Photograph: David W Cerny/Reuters

IMAGE: A competitor jumps into the water during a cliff diving competition near the central Bohemian village of Hrimezdice, Czech Republic. Photograph: David W Cerny/Reuters

IMAGE: People on inflatable boats enjoy the weather on the Lake Lucerne in Sisikon, Switzerland. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

IMAGE: Visitors take pictures of a bionic flying fox at Festo's booth at the World Robot Conference in Beijing, China. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

IMAGE: Performers wearing Pokemon's character Pikachu costumes take part in a night parade in Yokohama, Japan. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

IMAGE: Snake charmer Amier El Refaie looks into the eyes of a cobra during his show at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Refaie puts some of the worlds most dangerous snakes to sleep. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
A post on Thursday by the Congresss Twitter handle showing pictures of its president Rahul Gandhi looking in different directions at German Parliament invited a variety of responses, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party retweeting it, saying it couldnt resist doing so.

IMAGE: The Congress posted pictures of its president Rahul Gandhi looking in different directions at German Parliament, inviting various reactions from people online. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter

The retweet by the Bhartiya Janata Partys handle came as Twitterati trolled the Congress over the collage. Some, though, liked it too.

The Congress had tweeted a collage of four pictures of Gandhi at Bundestag, German Parliament, under the headline The many facets of Rahul Gandhi. #Bundestag.

IMAGE: The BJP reacted to the image in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Photograph: @BJP/Twitter

Even we couldnt resist retweeting this ;) the BJPs handle wrote- tongue-in-cheek- while retweeting the post a few hours later.
IMAGE: Congress president Rahul Gandhi speaks at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London on Friday. Photograph: All India Congress Committee via PTI Photo

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday likened the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world and alleged that the outfit is trying to 'change' the nature of India and 'capture' its institutions.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest political Islamist group in the Arab world. It is not allowed to operate as an official political party in some Arab countries.

Answering questions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Gandhi accused the RSS of trying to change the nature of India and capture India's institutions.

"We are fighting an organisation RSS which is trying to change the nature of India," he said.

"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions.

"The RSS' idea is similar to the idea of Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world," Gandhi told the audience at the London-based think-tank.

There is no other organisation in India which wants to capture India's institutions, he said.

When the Congress Party comes to power, Samajwadi (Party) comes to power, the Bahujan Samaj Party comes to power or the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) comes, they don't try to attack and capture India's institutions, he said.

"What we are dealing with is a completely new idea. It is an old idea being reborn and it is similar to the idea that exists in the Arab World with the Muslim Brotherhood - that one ideology should run through every single institution - one idea should crush all other ideas," Gandhi said.

"That is why you see the response -- four Supreme Court judges come out saying we are not allowed to do our work. You see Mr Raghuram Rajan (former Reserve Bank of India governor) expressing his shock at demonetisation.

"You can see India's institutions come down one by one and realisation that we are fighting now something that they are trying to destroy, the modern ideology," Gandhi said.

That requires a response that is more inclusive. A response has to include everybody who values India's achievements, everybody who values Indian institutions, more open to conversation, more open to building bridges. One does fear what is happening in India, the Congress president said.

"When you say something like India punches above its weight to be blunt the West did not believe in India in 1947. The West said India can not succeed as a democracy and India proved the West wrong.

"Thousands and thousands of people worked to build the institutions, where their businesses, courts are now under attack," Gandhi added.

He also criticised the demonetisation of the Modi government banning the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes.

"The idea of demonetisation came directly from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), bypassed the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and was planted in Prime Minister's head," the Congress president said.

Modi had claimed that the demonetisation would help curtail the shadow economy and crack down on the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.

Gandhi said India's economic power lies in millions of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as they create jobs.

"When one bypasses the entire institutional structure and decides to demonetise the nation, that is not maximising India's power," he said.

'Modi has no deeply thought-out strategy on Pak'

IMAGE: Gandhi warned against an 'attempt to impose a rigid, hate-filled ideology by forces like the RSS on India through a politics that excludes the country's lower castes and minorities'. Photograph: All India Congress Committee via PTI Photo

Gandhi also said that Modi does not have a 'deeply thought-out strategy' on Pakistan, but acknowledged that it was 'very difficult' to converse with Islamabad as there is no single institution there that holds supremacy.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to United Kingdom, talked about Indo-Pak relations which nosedived following a spate of terror attacks on Indian military bases by Pakistan-based terror groups since January 2016.

India has made it clear that it will not hold dialogue with Pakistan as terrorism and talks cannot go hand-in-hand.

Gandhi said that 'there is no deeply thought-out strategy by Prime Minister Modi when it comes to Pakistan'.

He also said that it was very difficult to deal with Pakistan.

Pakistan's powerful military has ruled the country for nearly half of its history since independence in 1947.

Gandhi said: "It's very difficult to converse with Pakistan because there is no one institution that holds supremacy."

"So we wait until they come to form a cohesive structure," he said at the London-based think-tank, apparently referring to the new government in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In a letter to Khan on August 18, the day he was sworn in as Pakistan's 22nd prime minister, Modi expressed India's resolve to build good neighbourly relations between the two countries.

On July 30, Modi telephoned Khan to congratulate him on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party's victory in the general elections and expressed hope that both countries will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties.

'India could've stopped Doklam stand-off if PM was careful'

The Congress president said the Doklam standoff with China was not an 'isolated issue' but part of a 'sequence of events' and if the prime minister was carefully watching the process, India could have stopped it.

Gandhi said that 'Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event'.

"Doklam is not an isolated issue. It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process.

"If he (PM Modi) was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it," Gandhi, who is also a member of the parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, said.

He claimed that the 'truth is the Chinese are still in Doklam today'.

'BJP attacks everything I say by default'

Gandhi hit back at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for misrepresenting his comments related to the Islamic State terror group, saying it has adopted a 'default position' of attacking everything he says.

The BJP accused Gandhi of 'belittling and insulting' India in his address in Hamburg on August 22, alleging that the Congress chief tried to justify terrorism and 'lied through his teeth' to criticise the Narendra Modi government.

The ruling party demanded that Gandhi apologise for his remarks.

During the interactive segment of his 'India and the World' event at the House of Commons complex in London, Gandhi said that the BJP has adopted a default position of attacking everything he says.

"All I said (in reference to ISIS) was that there are a number of ideas running around and we must make sure we are giving a vision to all those people or somebody else will... it is very important that we involve people and carry people with us so that they feel part of nation building.

"Now that is not how the BJP describes what I said".

IMAGE: Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to UK, spoke on a range of issues. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter

"The BJP attacks everything I say. It is their default position," he said in response to a question from the audience of the United Kingdom-based parliamentarians, local leaders and media.

The Congress president, who is on a two-day visit to the UK organised by the Indian Overseas Congress, tackled a range of subjects during his interaction in the UK Parliament complex.

The central focus of his message was on 'conversation and listening' to the needs of the people as well as the diaspora.

"The way I see it, India is millions of people's voices and it is important to listen to as many as you can and help structure them.

"Today the farmers in India are screaming, small businesses are screaming: 'please do something about the GST'. It is our duty to see what can be done to help them and not just imposing a vision on them, which is what is happening in India today," he said.

Gandhi also reiterated his message about job creation from his interactions in Germany earlier this week, attributing the so-called US-triggered trade wars to an underlying job crisis in the world.

"We are struggling to produce the numbers of jobs required. The western world can't answer how it will give jobs to its blue-collar workers. The Congress party has the vision for it," he said.

'We will win 2019 general elections'

Gandhi said his party will win the 2019 general elections by building a 'formidable alliance' to fight the BJP.

Speaking at the House of Commons complex, Gandhi warned against an attempt to impose a rigid, hate-filled ideology by forces like the RSS on India through a politics that excludes the country's lower castes and minorities.

"There is an attempt to impose a very rigid, hate-filled angry ideology on India... This is an ideological battle and the line is very clear -- there is the hate-filled ideology of the RSS on one side and there is all the Opposition on the other side, and you will feel the weight of this combined opposition," he said.

"We are going to win the election in 2019 and then we can start going back to India where people were respected and the whole country was carried together," Gandhi said.

He said that the Congress party was building a 'formidable alliance' to fight the divisive forces in power in India.

Stressing that the Congress is the party dedicated to 'protecting the weak', he attacked 'the forces in power' for crushing conversation and those opposed to their views.

Asked a question about the Congress party's 'involvement' in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Gandhi described the incident as a tragedy and painful experience, but disagreed that the Congress was 'involved'.

He said: "I think any violence done against anybody is wrong. There are legal processes ongoing in India but as far as I'm concerned anything done that was wrong during that period should be punished and I would support that 100 per cent".

Gandhi also said the 21st century should be defined by Mahatma Gandhi's message of compassion and non-violence.

The Congress president, who is the first foreign leader of Opposition to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament, said that India and the UK are connected as they fight people on ideas.

The other prominent speakers who have spoken at the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons are Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, former South African president Nelson Mandela and former president of erstwhile Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.

"What connects India and the UK is that we fight people on ideas... in the 21st century, the greatest idea is compassion and non-violence as laid out by my hero Mahatma Gandhi," he told an audience of parliamentarians and local political leaders.

"Even though the British ruled us, they left us with many ideas and some strengths as well," he said.

IMAGE: The Congress president, who is the first foreign leader of Opposition to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament, said that India and the UK are connected as they fight people on ideas. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter

He also hailed the Indian-origin politicians that are part of the British political establishment.

"It is rooms like this from where Britain governed India... and many Indian people are today helping run Britain. How far the world has come," he said at the event titled 'India and the World' attended by senior Opposition Labour party MPs Keith Vaz, Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra.

'A certain degree of arrogance crept into Congress after 10 yrs of power'

Gandhi said the Congress has learnt a lesson from the debacle in the 2014 general elections, admitting that 'a certain degree of arrogance' had crept into it after 10 years of power.

Answering a question after his address at the IISS, Gandhi said: "You have to listen -- the leadership is all about learning."

"A certain degree of arrogance had crept into Congress after 10 years of power and we have learnt a lesson," Gandhi said when asked what was the lesson his party learnt from the 2014 election debacle.

Noting that India can punch above its weight only by creating jobs, Gandhi said India has a 'job crisis'.

He said that while China produces 50,000 jobs every 24 hours, India produces 450 jobs during the same period.

"How can India punch above its weight when you ignore fundamentals. You do not support your agriculture sector.

"If you look at India's success, it is achieved when there is decentralisation. Best rulers in India and most successful rulers in India decentralised power," Gandhi said.

For the last 70 years, it is through decentralisation India achieved success and cited examples of Green Revolution, White Revolution and Telecom Revolution, he said.

"When India opens up, India's power surges. But during the last four years (of the Modi government) there is a massive centralisation of power," Gandhi claimed.

The Congress president said: "Broadly India has been in transition for the last 70 years -- a rural country, a country locked in its villages has transformed using democratic principles."

Noting that India has succeeded in a decent measure, he said 'our transformation has been through non-violent, peaceful manner ensuring that the benefits of these transformation will go to all Indians, all communities -- nobody will be left out'.

Gandhi said that the governments till 2014 believed in supporting the farmers and other weaker sections of the society. They were helped through farm loan waivers, guaranteed work programme, right to food programme and right to information.

"These were all structured, designed to help people, ease people of the pain of transformation," he added.
As the Supreme Court rejected pleas by opposition parties for cancellation of panchayat polls in over 20,000 uncontested seats in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday the verdict has quashed a 'false propaganda' aimed at defaming the state government even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said voters will have the last word against 'violent' means of the ruling party.

While the ruling party, Trinamool Congress, demanded that the opposition parties should apologise to the people of the state for making baseless allegations, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said the apex court verdict 'has not justified or nullified the violence' that took place during the elections.

The CPI-M and the Bharatiya Janata Party had alleged that West Bengal did not witness a free and fair election as their candidates were stopped from filing nomination papers.

The TMC had, however, rejected the charge while contending that not a single candidate approached any court with the grievance that he or she was stopped from filing nomination papers.

Elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in Gram Panchayats, 825 posts in Zilla Parishads and 9,217 posts in Panchayat Samitis and the TMC won about 34 per cent seats uncontested in May.

In an order passed on Friday, the Supreme Court turned down the pleas of the CPI-M and the BJP seeking cancellation of elections at uncontested seats.

It, however, took note of allegations and said the aggrieved candidate may file election petitions to challenge panchayat polls in courts concerned.

The court held that the 30-day limitation period for filing election petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results.

Earlier, the court had directed the West Bengal State Election Commission not to declare and notify the results in the wake of allegations of large-scale violence and alleged obstruction of filing nomination papers.

Hailing the supreme court verdict as a 'victory of democracy and of the people', Chief Minister Banerjee slammed the BJP, the Congress and the CPI-M for 'defaming' the state through false propaganda and alleged it was a planned move by the three political parties to gain political advantage.

Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat here, she said the three parties had deliberately resorted to a false propaganda.

"I think it is a victory of democracy and victory of the people. I want to dedicate it to the people of the country," she said.

The BJP said it accepted the verdict and would fight the TMC democratically.

"We accept the verdict of the Supreme Court. We'll fight against TMC democratically in the next Lok Sabha elections. The people of the state will have the last word," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

Senior CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty said the verdict has not at all justified or nullified the 'violence' that took place during the polls.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, "We all have seen how panchayat polls were held in the state. It has only proved that no elections can be held in the state without deployment of central forces."

Asking opposition parties to apologise to the people, state's Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said, "This is a historic verdict. This is a big lesson for the opposition parties. It has been proved that their allegations are baseless."
Men and women of the Indian Air Force who conducted rescue missions in Kerala's worst deluge speak to Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

The crew of a rescue team led by Wing Commander B K Sahu (in red), Co-pilot Squadron Leader J P Mothsra (on his right), Flight Gunner Sergeant Sudhir (far right) and Garud Commando Vikas (left) Photograph: Kind courtesy Wing Commander B K Sahu.

Two years after she was commissioned as an Indian Air Force pilot, Flight Lieutenant Swati Rathore was on her first rescue mission.

Among the youngest and the only lady pilot from her unit deployed in the Kerala flood rescue effort, the Ajmer native flew four sorties on day one with her commanding officer Wing Commander Shivang Kumar.

"It was raining and there was water everywhere. People were holding out cloth pieces as a signal and waving out. The first house we approached had two men and three ladies. We maintained a low hover position 10 metres above the roof and winched them up. They clapped in relief," says Flight Lieutenant Swati who also flew Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for aerial surveys of the affected terrain.

"The waters were rising so fast. Those people would not have survived the night if we had not reached them. When people desperate for survival look up to you save them, it is a great responsibility," she adds.

While flying the chief minister, Flight Lieutenant Swati had landed the Russian made Mi-17 V5 helicopter, the IAF's latest helicopter acquisition, in a school field. When the girl students discovered that she had flown the machine, they were amazed.

"I always try to speak to young girls and tell them it's not impossible and they can do it too," says the officer who wanted to be a pilot from the time she was in Class 8.

In Kerala's worst calamity, the young air force pilot served as a beacon of hope and inspiration.

Flight Lieutenant Swati Rathore speaks to college students after landing her helicopter at a helipad. Photograph: Kind courtesy Flight Lieutenant Swati Rathore

Pilots, engineers, commandos, technical and ground staff played an exemplary role in the relief and rescue operations. Two helicopter units from Sulur near Coimbatore, the nearest to Kerala, were pressed into service from August 15.

In the first three days, the 109 Helicopter Unit, to which Flight Lieutenant Swati belongs, rescued close to 300 people. Rescues had to be conducted from the rooftops of houses, even balconies because most homes in Kerala have slanting roofs.

Hauling people up with the aid of a winch motor that wheels out a cable attached with a harness to pick people one by one can take up to 3 to 4 minutes.

The helicopter is required to maintain a steady position in the air for the duration of the winching.

"Maintaining a steady hover over a spot without moving left or right needs a lot of concentration and skill. That's why helicopter pilots are supposed to have the best skills amongst pilots," says Wing Commander Shivang Kumar, the Commanding Officer of the 109 Helicopter Unit.

Wing Commander Shivang Kumar lands a Mi-17 V5 after ferrying citizens to safety. Flight Lieutenant Swati Rathore can be seen in the cockpit. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wing Commander Kumar

When young children and infirm elders have to be winched up, they are accompanied by a Garud commando whom they cling to while being hauled up.

Heavy rain, low visibility and Kerala's dense foliage posed the greatest difficulty for aerial rescue and relief operations.

"It was like a carpet of coconut trees. Twenty metres at times. Looking down for people in low visibility, strong winds, in between wires, poles, -- you had to ensure that you don't go into an obstruction and keep the machine safe," says Wing Commander Girish Komar, the Flight Commander of the Sarang Helicopter Display Unit also based in Sulur.

Sarang is the IAF's only helicopter aerobatic display unit and undertook rescue operations during Cyclone Ockhi. In the Kerala deluge, it conducted over 140 sorties and deployed 16 pilots, 6 engineers and 30 ground crew.

Rescued citizens being brought to safety in a Dhruv helicopter. The Sarang team rescued 226 people. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wing Commander Sachin Gadre

Pilots flew from day break at 6 am to night fall at 7 pm, doing as many sorties depending upon the limits of the helicopter and human endurance, sometimes exceeding both.

The HAL-made Dhruv helicopter flown by Sarang can fly for 3 to 3.5 hours with a full fuel tank. It can carry up to 14 people.

"I had never seen such a vast expanse of flooding before," says Wing Commander Sachin Gadre, Commanding Officer of the Sarang Unit.

"In the first 4 or 5 days, we knew however much we did, it won't be enough. My team was working for 16 hours a day, but no one said they were tired," says the Nashik native who graduated from the National Defence Academy in 1999.

The Sarang unit deployed in the rescue and relief work also had a lady pilot, Squadron Leader Sneha Kulkarni.

Roof landings are a close call for pilots, even if the area is clear of obstruction because it is difficult to gauge the strength of a roof. The downwash caused from a helicopter can generate winds up to 55 to 70 km per hour capable of blowing off fragile roofs and damaging property.

"The greatest thing for a helicopter pilot is to save lives," says Wing Commander S K Mishra, a Ranchi native who has served 14 years in the IAF. Recalling his experiences he says he has been touched by the humanity of the people in distress.

"There were occasions when people pointed out to the home next door indicating that there were others who needed more help than them. Or that they had enough food and directed us to someone else who needed it more, says Wing Commander Mishra.

The frail and elderly were carried by IAF personnel. Many thanked them with folded hands and a pat on their heads. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wing Commander Shivang Kumar

One of the precarious rescues undertaken by the unit was on a bridge over the raging Pampa river. A part of the bridge had submerged and people had congregated on one side. Many had driven their cars on to the bridge and taken refuge inside the vehicles.

Wing Commander B K Sahu spotted them after rescuing a woman and three children under the age of 5.

Since winching up people from the bridge would take considerable time, he took the decision to go down to the railing of the bridge.

"I lowered one skid of the helicopter just above the railing. It was about 4 or 5 feet above where people were standing. They had to hang on to my skid and then get pulled into the aircraft. One mistake and they could fall into the river," says Wing Commander Sahu, a test pilot who has flown 14 types of helicopters.

He had to slide his chopper towards the bridge so that even if anyone fell, it would be back on the bridge and not in the river.

The rotors spanning 13 metres had to be kept away from the poles on the bridge.

"I was half on the bridge and half on the river. My co-pilot, gunner were guiding me while another was pulling people inside. We took 8 people on board -- all this while executing a precise, steady hover during which the pilot and the helicopter are tested to their limits."

"I had to take a calculated risk to save people and military aviators are trained to take such risks. It was precarious, but at no point, man or machine was unsafe," the wing commander says over the phone from his hotel room in Kochi.

Wing Commander B K Sahu and his team rescued 8 people in a daring operation on a half submerged bridge over a raging river. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wing Commander B K Sahu

With flood waters receding and roads/trains opening, aerial relief work has reduced.

On August 26, Kerala plans to bid farewell to the defence personnel who worked admirably in helping the state cope with its worst calamity ever.

As they prepare to fly back to base, will they be getting a day off?

"A soldier is never off duty," says Wing Commander Sahu.

"When you save lives, you automatically sleep well and don't need extra rest."
Pasbola wound up his cross examination, tabling a new narrative in the murder case.

That Sheena Bora had been murdered not by her mother.

But by her brother.

Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora trial.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

207 calls exchanged between January and May 2012.

38 conversations over the telephone from May 16 to May 18, 2012, a few days before a murder.

Phone calls lasting as long as 1,500 seconds or 1,700 seconds. That's between 25 to 28 minutes.

Telephonic contact right till August 2015.

Their colourful but eerie phone call history illustrated the odd and somewhat suspicious relationship that Mekhail Upendra Kumar Bora shared with Shyamvar Pinturam Rai, till he was arrested.

Indrani Mukerjea's son and her former driver.

Why would a son, living 2,810 km away from Mumbai in Guwahati, Assam, keep in constant, steadfast touch with his mother's driver, whom he had met about four times?

Even nearly three years after the driver was no longer working for his mother? A driver the son claimed to be scared of.

Not because a man should not be friendly with someone from the driver class -- no, no, not for parochial class prejudices, banish that thought -- but because it was a tenuous connection, at best.

These were the absurd inconsistencies Indrani's lawyer Sudeep Ratnamberdutt Pasbola bit by bit uncovered, in his distinctive approach, on Thursday, August 23, at CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale's Courtroom 51, Mumbai city civil and sessions court, Kala Ghoda, in the Sheena Bora murder trial.

Mekhail didn't deny the number of calls he and Rai exchanged.

He just said, "Kiya hoga (Might have done so)" without providing any additional details.

Or clarify further why they had had this intense level of interaction, apart from what he said on Monday that Rai would call up to ask how Mekhail was handling taking care of his ailing grandparents.

In Rai's testimony last year there was no concrete explanation either of the reason for continuously being in touch with Indrani's son.

Pasbola, who had been slowly playing up the abnormality of this association over the past few days, finally strategically utilised it on Thursday to drive a firm, hard-to-ignore wedge of suspicion between the court and Mekhail, so you looked up once more into the face of this 28-year-old man and reassessed him yet again.

While closing his cross-examination, in a surprise rat-tat-tat AK-47-style attack, he swung towards Indrani's son and accused him of conspiring with Rai to do away with Sheena.

Pasbola, choosing slightly unusual words, announced loudly: "Mera yeh kehna hai ki aap dono conspire kar ke aap aur Shyamvar Rai Sheena ko gayab kar diya. Disappear karne ka karan aap ko unka property hadpne ka tha! (I declare that you and Shyamvar Rai conspired together and made Sheena disappear. You made her disappear because you wanted her share of the property!)"

Thursday's hearing started up at 11 am sharp.

The sessions court was still celebrating Bakri Eid. Families kitted out in their Sunday best came visiting their menfolk at the court.

Hordes of kids ran about. Some were playing dhapa in the courtyard below. It led you to wonder, given the pace of justice for undertrials, how many years for these children would spent coming to court and how would that change their lives.

Women, wearing the prettiest of kurtas, awaited the jail vans bringing their relatives. Mothers were there with food.

One couple was occupying the staircase leading up to the third floor. He was tall, bearded and wearing a spotless white pathan suit. She was in burkha, but had for the occasion a gay patterned gold scarf wrapped around her neck and a baby at her hip.

Their son, wearing a T-shirt that said Troublemaker on it, entertained himself running up and down the stairs, over and over again.

The eldest daughter, about six, wearing crimson and mustard and white patent leather shoes wouldn't leave her father's knee.

Father and daughter hugged many times and he would look into her eyes adoringly and pinch her cheeks or stroke her hair. Her father was the most important person in the world for her.

That's the thing about courts.

It is a place where people, perhaps guilty of heinous crimes, arrive to be tried, in hundreds, every day.

There is loads of: Sadness. Desolation. Frustration. Anger. Bewilderment. Horror. Pathos.

But there are those tiny, sparkling stolen moments of happiness too. Truly intense human moments.

Against this grim landscape of despair, they shine brighter and more beautiful than happiness you have seen anywhere.

The teary-eyed wife meeting a husband out on bail.

The mother bringing lunch for her imprisoned son.

Relatives of one prisoner sharing food with another prisoner.

Or that pathan-suited father, I observed on Thursday, spending precious, golden time with his daughter.

That narrative carries on one floor up too to outside Courtroom 51 amongst the accused in the Sheena Bora trial, where you see, court date after court date, a dependable sister bringing food and the news of home for her brother. And one cousin arriving with food, books, papers and clothes, faithfully week after week, for another cousin.

It is love of the rarest kind. And precious to behold.

Thursday's session began from where it left off rather abruptly on Tuesday: former Times Now anchor Arnab Goswami's interview.

On Monday it had been decided that a verified CD of the newscaster's one-hour conversation with Mekhail would be heard in court on Tuesday.

With great fanfare, after the sound failures of Monday, the defence produced a laptop with a booming Bose speaker on Tuesday. The CD was brought and Goswami's penetrating, strident voice filled the room.

But the defence then asked the prosecution for their certified copy of the transcript to use along with the CD. The prosecution had none, even though they had squarely rejected the defence's transcript on Monday.

Court orders were looked up and it was determined that Judge Jagdale's predecessor Judge H S Mahajan had ordered transcripts for this interview as well for Peter Mukerjea's interview to Goswami but there hadn't been 'compliance' of that order.

Sparring started up.

"Why did you not file it?"

"Why did you not raise objections at the time!"

To quickly settle the issue, CBI Special Public Prosecutor Kavita Patil, wearing a lovely gold and black sari on Tuesday, said she might have a copy of the transcript in her office. She said she would go back there and locate it and bring a copy to court after lunch.

The copies she brought after lunch on Tuesday had portions missing and were incomplete. Patil was given till Thursday 11 am to produce certified copies and Tuesday's hearing ended with much time wasted and nothing accomplished, often how it is in court, in spite of Judge Jagdale's sturdiest attempts to keep the proceedings happening at top gear.

The first two hours of Thursday went in the painstaking, time-consuming task of verifying/comparing the transcript the prosecution produced on Thursday with the CD in the judge's chamber, which had a few minor errors and needed mild corrections.

For two hours everyone sat around waiting. The accused, their guards, the judge and the court.

Time often stands so infinitely still -- you can quite clearly hear it tick by, second by second -- in a courtroom where cell networks are poor (Jio thready and iffy/Vodafone and Airtel non-existent), that one re-learns the simple yesteryear Art of Waiting, without fiddling with a phone to occupy you.

You are re-taught the art of simply sitting and contemplating your environment -- actually noticing the state of your unkempt toes or the perfect slate grey of the Mumbai monsoon sky or the view from a window of colonial buildings, without distractions.

That can be pleasant, calming and oddly freeing, since there is no compulsion to look at the last whatsapp forward or the latest corniest FB post or the cutest Twitter meme or a pressing e-mail.

But waiting in court, covering a trial that has been going on for 19 months, also imparts a slightly uneasy fear of eventually becoming part of the lumpy court furniture.

How many more years will I be waiting in this same room with the same accused, same clerks and same peons, missing birthdays, anniversaries, filing copy day after day? Could it be one? Two? Five? There is no knowing.

And the judge, in front of you, who is trying his level best to put a jaldi on this case is no doubt a hero for that reason.

If that is what you feel, how do the accused come to terms with this vacuum-like, suffocatingly enveloping limbo?

They say they are reconciled to losing many years as undertrials, but the limbo can be tough to grapple with. The 'what ifs' and the 'what wills'. Though they don't miss their cellphones.

The court re-convened at 3 pm to:

1. Argue Indrani's bail application.

2. For the defence to confront Mekhail with parts of this Goswami interview.

3. For Pasbola to close his cross examination of Mekhail.

Pasbola's argument for Indrani's bail focused on the alleged frail state of Indrani's health and the threats to her life.

Indrani, wearing a white and light green kurta-salwar and a light green bindi, sat very still and alert, in the accused box behind, through his arguments, hanging onto every word he said.

She looked wispy and wan -- you never see her eating anything more than an apple most of the time -- giving a certain bit of credence to her lawyer's statements.

Pasbola spoke, his statements punctuated by multiple "My lord"s about her "chronic" "small vessel ischemic disease" (abnormality of blood vessels in the brain) which if not consistently monitored could be harmful for her future well-being and did a rewind of her medical history over the past three years.

"Supply of oxygen to the brain can get cut off causing seizure or blackouts."

This had been established too by doctors attached to Byculla prison. Her general condition had also not been exceptionally good with fluctuations in BP, attacks of malaria and dengue, apparently some urological issues and loss of weight -- she lost 18 kg soon after entering the prison.

Pasbola spoke about her four visits to the hospital and her bail application of 2016 being rejected because it was said medical treatment was easily accessible.

"We cannot be waiting for deterioration. She requires constant care and medical treatment. Not a short-term treatment. She was to be examined quarterly which has not happened."

He also stressed that if she had be dispatched to the hospital urgently because of an emergency arising from her microvascular ischemic disease it was not possible in a prison set-up where the paperwork would delay her release.

"That may prove to be fatal in case of a brain stroke."

Threats to her were two-fold. For deposing against a politician. No names were mentioned. And for testifying as a witness against those who killed Manjul Shetye, the Byculla jail inmate who was killed in 2017 by prison guards.

"She has given a statement against a powerful person who was a central minister. Just because he is now an ex-minister doesn't mean he has become a non-influential person."

Judge Jagdale: "But the ex-minister is not in jail."

To which Pasbola explained it didn't matter because he was nevertheless influential.

He brought up the two episodes of drug overdose and said it was too far-fetched to suggest, as the CBI had, that she had received these drugs from persons she met in court.

"She is a witness in the Shetye case and their (the accused) associates are all around Maharashtra. She was a witness in the murder of a jail inmate and was instrumental in getting an FIR lodged."

He concluded with "Constant threat on her life. Her life is in danger. Can't wait", and he asked for her release on humanitarian grounds.

It was then the CBI/prosecution's turn to counter this argument. They -- represented by CBI Special Public Prosecutor Bharat Badami -- took time till Monday, August 27, since Patil was absent.

Pasbola playfully needled Badami: "Boss nahin hai! (Boss isn't in!)"

Badami, playacting back: "I am a small officer."

Another lawyer said wittily in a whisper: "Small officer, big man."

Mekhail then took the witness stand wearing the same mustard shirt and dark blue-back trousers, he has been seen in for the last four appearances, day after day.

Jokes were cracked that the defence was not paying for his dhobi or his Surf. And that the CBI had instructed him to wear just one shirt continuously to put across a poor, bechara look.

Through this last session of cross examination of Mekhail, Pasbola, in a fine killer mood, roamed his terrain, asking random, unsettling questions, without sequence, of Indrani's son.

Why had he said he took a direct flight from Mumbai back to Guwahati on April 25, 2012, when he came back via Kolkata?

Why had he answered he could not remember how he got home that day from Guwahati airport when he told the CBI and the police that his driver Sunil Hajog had picked him up?

Had he not travelled to Mumbai on April 24, 2012 under an assumed name?

Why hadn't he given his flight tickets to the police or the CBI? Did he still have copies of them?

When he came to Mumbai in August 2015 to give evidence to the Khar police, north west Mumbai, who were initially handling the investigation of this murder, where had he stayed?

What was the name of the hotel and how much had he paid? Hadn't he told Arnab Goswami he stayed with friends?

Where was his passport and why had he not brought it to the court as requested?

Wasn't his shoe size 8?

Why had he given so many interviews to the press?

Why had he sent a message from his grandfather's phone to Rahul Mukerjea, Peter's son from his first marriage, with whom Sheena was in a relationship with, telling him to improve his tone while talking to his Nana ("Iss tone mein mere Nanaji se baat mat karna. Stay out of my family matters")?

Why was he consistently rude with Rahul Mukerjea and often didn't take his calls?

Why had he told Rahul when he called in late April 2012 that Sheena was in Mumbai?

Did he know that his grandparents disapproved of the match between Sheena and Rahul?

Did he know an Arnab Sikdar? Why had he told Arnab Sikdar on Facebook Sheena was in the US and gave Sheena's gmail address to him, the same address he never used to find out how Sheena was in the three-and-a-half years that she was missing?

Hadn't his cook Kishore Barman come with him and his Nani, Durga Rani Bora, when they went to the sub-registrar's office in Kamrup, Guwahati, where she submitted a revised will on April 30, 2012, that reduced the portion she was leaving Sheena?

Had he told Kishore Barman to call Rahul Mukerjea and speak to him and ask him what Indrani was saying about where Sheena was.

Mekhail's blanket answers, not entirely convincing, to most of these questions ranged expectedly between he did not remember or he didn't know or since he was under tremendous stress in 2015, after just discovering the murder of his sister Sheena, he might have said a few odd things.

He did offer one or two either odd or rather random replies to some of Pasbola's gunfire of questions.

He never used his grandfather's cell phone.

He didn't initially acknowledge that he remembered the name of the cook worked for him.

Neither the CBI or the police had asked for copies of his flight tickets to Mumbai in April 2012. And he didn't have copies anymore.

He denied being rude to Rahul or telling him Sheena was in Mumbai. But he looked a tad edgy while replying, fidgeting, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, which was short-sleeved in any case.

His shoe size was 10, and when Pasbola challenged him, he said angrily he was willing to take off his shoes and show them to the lawyer.

That would be the second witness (remember Indrani's assistant Kajal Sharma) ready to wave a shoe at the lawyer?

He and Sheena had many friends called Arnab (none of them Arnab Goswami!) and he couldn't remember which Arnab Sikdar he had spoken to on Facebook.

He spent Rs 15,000 to Rs 16,000 staying in a hotel, he could not remember the name of, or the area, in 2015 for ten days when he came to give evidence to the Mumbai police. Nor did he have a bill.

About telling Arnab Goswami that he said he stayed with friends he pointed out it was semantics. "Dost ke saath thehra tha (I stayed with a friend)" meant he didn't come alone and had a friend with him.

His passport, that he told the court earlier he had in his possession, and would bring to Mumbai, he now said strangely: "Kahan par hai maloom nahi. Sure bhi nahin ki hai. Expired hai (I don't know where it is. I don't even know if I have it. It is expired)."

He said he didn't remember he was to bring it to Mumbai. And the judge said the court had not officially directed him to bring it, even if the defence had asked.

Pasbola angrily, accusing: "Jaan boojh ke (deliberately) you are trying to direct the attention of the court away from your passport. Court ke saamne nahin laana chahte ho (You don't want to bring it to court)."

He further darkly accused there was something in the passport that would implicate Mekhail seriously.

On interviews he gave to the press Mekhail brought a round of laughter when he said: "Bombay mein nahin diya. Guwahati mein chobees ghanta press gharke bahar rahte the. Kuch bolke nikal jaate the (In Mumbai I didn't give interviews. In Guwahati the press stalked my home 24 hours and when I left home I would say anything while leaving)."

Pasbola: "Interview mein jo bolte the sach-sach bolte the ya jhoot bolte the? (In these interviews did you say the truth or lies?)"

Mekhail, dismissively: "Har interview ko dekha nahin (I haven't seen each and every interview)."

Pasbola, mockingly: "Aap ek celebrity ho gaye (You became a celebrity)."

Judge Jagdale interjected, laughing, objecting: "Everyone can become a celebrity. Lawyers become celebrities in the media. Why can't a witness?"

Pasbola to Mekhail: "Big Boss mein bhi chale gaye? (You even went on Big Boss?)"

Judge Jagdale, who evidently watches very little television, bewildered but taken aback: "What is this big boss?!"

There was a moment of silence.

Mekhail looked mildly uncomfortable but also slightly defiant, bored with a so-what!-pal expression on his face.

Pasbola gave an explanation to the judge in three or four words.

Finally the transcript of Arnab Goswami's interview was pulled out and the laptop fired up with its mother of all speakers, so Mekhail could hear the interview he gave three years before.

Pasbola first asked him if it was his voice on the interview.

Mekhail peering at the screen, cockily pretending doubt: "Lag to raha hai mere jaise (Seems like mine)."

Pasbola, equally sarcastic: "Face is yours? Kisee aur ka toh nahin? (Not someone else's?)."

Mekhail, if one heard right, joked that he didn't look like that face any more (given that he had lost weight).

Pasbola then put about five questions over 10 minutes to him about this interview that took two days to bring legitimately into the courtroom.

Hearing his answers played back to him, Mekhail looked ill at ease at certain points, fiddling with his hands and looking down at them.

While agreeing they were his answers (they had to be!) he added that at that time: "Halat bahut kharab tha (I was in a bad state then)."

He snapped at the lawyer once asking him not to speak in English to him at which Pasbola pointed out that he was only referring to passages in an interview Mekhail had given in English.

The most interesting passage of his interview to Goswami, that Pasbola put to Mekhail was that, after saying Indrani would not have murdered Sheena for reasons relating to property, he said: "(For) Sheena, there was no phone number. Her phone was switched off. She didn't respond to any e-mails. Yes, I have tried to contact her from e-mails, sent her e-mails, tried to send her message through Facebook, but her Facebook account was deactivated at that point. Because sometimes it gets activated and other days if I try to search her name it gets deactivated."

"I have photographs in my possession which would give everyone a clear idea what was the reason behind the murder."

In conclusion the advocate made his accusations about Mekhail conspiring with Rai to make Sheena "disappear."

Mekhail closed his eyes calmly. He did not react.

Pasbola continued: "You wanted her share of the property. On the 25th (April 2012) you were not behosh (unconscious). On the 25th you did not go to the airport. On the 25th you did not buy any ticket. You kept your phone off on the 25th-26th. 24th tareek ko Sheena ka phone aap operate kar rahein the aur aap khud message bhej rahein the (On April 24 you were operating Sheena's phone and sending messages from it)."

Mekhail, strongly: "Galat! (Wrong!)"

Pasbola, smiling: "Aur apne ko bhejna bhool gaya (But you forgot to send a message to yourself)."

Pasbola wound up his cross examination, tabling a new narrative in the murder case.

That Sheena Bora had been murdered not by her mother.

But by her brother.

Her closest relative.

Can a murder case be more bewildering?
LA JOLLA, Calif., Aug. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX:PBAM) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary CalPrivate Bank, Bank, has established two separate Small Business Lending channels, utilizing the Small Business Administrations full suite of products.

We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to put together such a veteran group of professionals to grow our SBA business, Thomas V. Wornham, President & CEO of PBAM said. Our SBA Team includes the addition of 14 new hires this year. This includes Managers, Producers, Underwriters and Processers. The relationship banking channel is headed up by Rob Pedersen, SVP and SBA Division Head and our Private Business Capital is headed up by Steve Pollett, SVP, and Division Manager. Wornham, who also serves as CEO of the Bank, noted our enhanced SBA Team has exceeded our expectations for new loan production of 7a and 504 loans in the first quarter with us, and we look forward to continued success. CalPrivate remains a SBA Preferred Lender using its CalPrivate Bank branch network and the Banks Private Business Capital Division will primarily service our broker and financial partner network.

Rick Sowers, President of the Bank, said, These additions are another example of our ability to expand our geographic reach and add great people to our already outstanding team. SBA is an area where we had the infrastructure and support ready to scale. Adding the right people in the right markets has allowed us to accelerate that process. We continue to make other strategic hires in our Southern California Coastal footprint as they become available.

The expanded SBA Team offices in San Diego, San Marcos, Newport, Temecula and Riverside. Access to the Banks SBA products are available through the website calprivate.bank or by visiting any of the six locations.

About Private Bancorp of America, Inc.

Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX: PBAM), is the holding company for CalPrivate Bank. CalPrivate Bank provides a Distinctly Different banking experience through unparalleled service and creative funding solutions to high net worth individuals, professionals, locally owned businesses and real estate entrepreneurs. Customers are serviced through offices in Coronado, San Diego, La Jolla, Newport Beach and Beverly Hills as well as efficient electronic banking offerings. The Bank also offers various portfolio and government guaranteed lending programs, including SBA and cross-border Export-Import Bank programs. CalPrivate Bank is a SBA Preferred Lender and a Bauer Financial 5 star rated bank, as well as being in the Top 200 safest Banks as rated by Deposits.com.

Investor Relations Contact

Thomas V. Wornham

President/CEO

Private Bancorp of America, Inc. and CEO of CalPrivate Bank

(858) 875.6900

Safe Harbor Paragraph

This press release may include forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Private Bancorp of America, Inc. cautions readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forwardlooking statements. These factors include economic conditions and competition in the geographic and business areas in which Private Bancorp of America, Inc. operates, our ability to successfully integrate the operations of merged banks, inflation, fluctuations in interest rates, legislation and governmental regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forwardlooking statements and we undertake no obligation to update those statements whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.




GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a June 2018 survey of over 400 IT professionals, Blue Medora took a closer look at how various metric collection strategies and access to Dimensional Data impacts IT success.



The research wanted to test if increased access, data depth and context provided by a Dimensional Data stream positively impacted IT outcomes. Dimensional Data refers to a real-time metric stream provided by a monitoring integration as a service (MIaaS). A Dimensional Data stream will include highly granular behavioral detail  beyond what a single endpoint API connection might include  as well as rich relational context.

The big takeaway - many organizations are running multiple monitoring tools in an effort to get the appropriate data depth and context they need across their entire IT stack. Sixty percent of respondents are already running three or more monitoring systems. But despite that, two-thirds of IT ops teams still lack visibility into the external resource relationships and three-quarters lack access to component-level data resolution, resulting in more downtime than peers using monitoring integrations that provide this critical capability.

While VMware vRealize was the most common monitoring platform at 60%, other popular platforms were SolarWinds (44%), Microsoft SCOM (40%), Splunk (35%), Nagios (34%) and Microsoft Azure Manager (20%).

Seventy percent of respondents said most of their monitoring integrations were not compatible with more than one monitoring platform, a leading cause of metric silos in many organizations.

Only 9% of organizations have access to Dimensional Data across the majority of their integrations and are considered fully deployed. On average, 43% of organizations wish to increase Dimensional Data adoption within the next 18 months.

Impact

Nearly 40% of the top performers in utilization and productivity gains had fully deployed Dimensional Data.

Of those who fully deployed Dimensional Data, one in five saw more than $1m a year in savings and one in two saw more than $100k in savings.

Most monitoring research focuses on the efficacy of monitoring platforms or analytics engines but doesnt spend a great deal of time looking at the data that goes into them, explained Christian Fernando, chief products officer, Blue Medora. This research supports the idea that universal access to a Dimensional Data stream or other integration strategy that includes metric breadth, depth and context will likely have a positive context on key business measures like IT productivity, utilization, cost savings and downtime.

Blue Medora partnered with the VMware User Group (VMUG) to survey 410 of the groups members about the current and near-future state of monitoring integration in their environment. All had IT responsibilities at organizations with over 500 employees. 76% of respondents held an admin or architect role within the IT organization.

To learn more about Blue Medoras multi-platform monitoring service, visit our blog.

Blue Medoras mission is to advance delivering IT monitoring integration as a service. Since its founding, Blue Medora has innovated deep performance inspection capabilities across disparate enterprise technologies, at tremendous scale and quality. BindPlane now supports 146 distinct technologies, enhancing the monitoring and analytics engines of VMware, New Relic, Microsoft and others. Blue Medoras unique Dimensional Data approach to the monitoring integration challenge is designed for customers seeking best of breed telemetry and management across multiple IT teams and operating across hybrid/heterogeneous environments.

About Blue Medora

Blue Medoras pioneering IT monitoring integration as a service addresses todays IT challenges by easily connecting system health and performance data--no matter its source--with the worlds leading monitoring and analytics platforms. Blue Medora helps customers unlock dimensional data across their IT stack, otherwise hidden by traditional approaches to metrics collection.

Contact:

Ann OLeary

Blue Medora

ann.oleary@bluemedora.com

P: +1 650 996 0778

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Facebook.com/bluemedora

linkedin.com/company/bluemedora




Rothbiz reported in May that, just five months after opening a Bunnings Warehouse in Rotherham, Australian retail giant, Wesfarmers announced that it is selling up and pulling out of the UK market.Following a comprehensive review of the business, Wesfarmers announced that it had agreed to divest the Homebase business in the United Kingdom and Ireland to a company associated with Hilco Capital.The store at the Northfields Retail Park at Parkgate was formerly occupied by B&Q but was vacant since June 2016. Opening in December 2017, the first Bunnings opening in the North of England, created 80 new full and part-time jobs.The 70,000 sq ft has now been rebranded as Homebase.Hilco acquired all Homebase assets, including the Homebase brand, its store network, freehold property, property leases and inventory for "a nominal amount."Wesfarmers said that it expects to record a loss on disposal of 200m to 230m in the group's 2018 full-year financial results.In one of its first acts, the new owners of Homebase launched a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) this month to close 42 underperforming stores and reduce rents across the remaining portfolio. Creditors will vote on the CVA next and if not approved it is likely that the company will go into administration or liquidation.Damian McGloughlin, chief executive of Homebase, said: "Launching a CVA has been a difficult decision and one that we have not taken lightly."Homebase has been one of the most recognisable retail brands for almost 40 years, but the reality is we need to continue to take decisive action to address the underperformance of the business and deal with the burden of our cost base, as well as to protect thousands of jobs."The CVA is therefore an essential measure for the business to take and will enable us to refocus our operations and rebuild our offer for the years ahead."

Images: Tom Austen

Homebase previously operated at nearby Parkgate Shopping before closing the store in 2011. It has since been home to Best Buy and Kiddicare and is now home to a Millets outlet.Having only opened in 2009 after relocating from nearby Thornhill, the B&Q at Northfields closed in 2016 under plans by the owner, Kingfisher plc to "transform its offer" to customers.Adjacent to the retail units at Northfields, local speculative developer, EV Waddington is bringing forward a 3.6m scheme that involves creating 57,000 sq ft of industrial space on a remaining 1.15 hectare parcel of land.
New Zealand logged its biggest annual trade deficit in nine years on higher imports, data from Statistics New Zealand showed Friday.

The annual trade deficit for the year ended July 2018 was NZ$4.4 billion, the widest annual deficit since March 2009.

Annual imports rose NZ$6.9 billion or 13 percent from last year to NZ$60.7 billion. At the same time, annual exports totaled NZ$56.2 billion, up NZ$5.7 billion or 11 percent on a year earlier.

"The rise in imports in the past year reflect large rises in both imports of petroleum and products, and in mechanical machinery and equipment," international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. "Exports of dairy and meat products led the exports rise."

In July alone, the trade balance showed a deficit of NZ$143 million compared to a surplus of NZ$92 million a year ago.

Imports advanced 21 percent annually to NZ$5.5 billion, this was the second highest imports value ever. Exports rose 16 percent to NZ$5.3 billion.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Petrofac Limited (POFCF.PK,PFC.L) announced an agreement to sell Petrofac GSA Holdings Limited to Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited for a total consideration of up to $292 million.

Ithaca will pay approximately $145 million by or on completion and a further $120 million of non-contingent deferred consideration in the period 2020-2023. Ithaca will also pay a further $28 million of contingent consideration depending on field performance. This transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2019.

Petrofac GSA owns Petrofac's 20% interest in the Greater Stella Area development and its 24.8% interest in the FPF1 floating production facility. Petrofac GSA also owns Petrofac's long-term receivable from the GSA joint operation partners.

Petrofac expects this transaction to result in a post-tax impairment charge of approximately $55 million and to use the proceeds to reduce gross debt.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is being investigated by U.S. authorities over potential bribery and corruption related to software sales in Hungary, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The investigation follows a series of similar probes into Microsoft partners that surfaced in 2013 in five other countries. Microsoft made a push earlier this decade to expand in emerging markets, as well as smaller, middle-income countries like Hungary. In some cases, those bets have turned into legal and reputational challenges.

The U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are probing how Microsoft sold software such as Word and Excel to middleman firms in Hungary that then sold those products to government agencies there in 2013 and 2014, the journal reported.

Microsoft sold some of its products to these intermediaries at steep discounts, and then these firms sold the products to the Hungarian government at closer to full price, these people said. Investigators are probing whether the middleman companies used the difference to pay bribes and kickbacks to government officials, the report said.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
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PCI Biotech convenes an extraordinary general meeting to propose a fully underwritten Rights Issue of NOK 360 million

Oslo, August 24, 2018 - PCI Biotech Holding ASA's ("PCI Biotech" or the "Company") proposes to carry out a fully underwritten rights issue of NOK 360 million at a subscription price of NOK 30.00 per share, with pre-emptive subscription rights for existing shareholders (the "Rights Issue"). The Board of Directors has resolved to call for an extraordinary general meeting (the "EGM") to be held on 14 September 2018 to resolve the Rights Issue. The notice of the EGM will be distributed separately.

Per Walday, CEO of PCI Biotech, said: "We are very happy to announce this fully underwritten rights issue that provides PCI Biotech with the funds needed to perform the pivotal fimaChem study. The established underwriting syndicate shows that we both have a supportive shareholder base and significant interest from external investors, including a reputable international specialist investor. Our focus is now to bring fimaChem to the market as quickly as possible, through successful performance of the pivotal study.

Underwriting

The Rights Issue is fully underwritten, subject to customary terms and conditions, by an underwriting syndicate established by ABG Sundal Collier and Arctic Securities (the "Joint Bookrunners"). The Rights Issue is supported by the Companys largest shareholders Fondsavanse, MP Pensjon, Myrlid and Radiumhospitalets Forskningsstiftelse as significant underwriters. In addition, the international specialist investor Nyenburgh as well as other institutional investors have underwritten the remainder of the Rights Issue. The underwriters will receive an underwriting fee equal to 3.50 per cent of their respective underwriting obligations.

Stocken Invest AS, a company owned 100% by Lars Kare Viksmoen, a member of the Board of PCI Biotech, has entered into the underwriting agreement and has underwritten NOK 1.0 million of the Rights Issue. Stocken Invest AS currently owns 4,000 shares in PCI Biotech.

The Rights Issue

Completion of the Rights Issue is subject to shareholders' approval at the EGM to be held on 14 September 2018 and that an EEA-prospectus for the Rights Issue is approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway and published in accordance with applicable laws.

Through the Rights Issue, the share capital of PCI Biotech will be increased by NOK 36,000,000 through an issue of 12,000,000 new shares, each with a nominal value of NOK 3.00. Shareholders in the Company as at close of trading on Oslo Brs on 14 September 2018 (as evidenced in the VPS shareholder register on 18 September 2018, being the "Record Date"), who may lawfully participate in the Rights Issue ("Eligible Shareholders"), will be granted subscription rights giving a preferential right to subscribe for and be allocated new shares in the Rights Issue, meaning that the share will trade exclusive of the right to receive subscription rights from and including 17 September 2018 for trades subject to ordinary T+2 settlement in the VPS. Each Eligible Shareholder will be granted approximately 0.48 subscription rights for each existing share registered as being held by such existing shareholders in the VPS as of the Record Date. The number of subscription rights issued to each Eligible Shareholder will be rounded down to the nearest whole subscription right. Each subscription right will, subject to applicable securities laws, give the right to subscribe for and be allocated one (1) new share in the Rights Issue. Over- subscription by holders of subscription rights or subscription for shares without subscription rights will be permitted. Further details of the terms of the Rights Issue will be described in the prospectus to be released in connection with commencement of the subscription period for the Rights Issue (see indicative timeline below).

The subscription rights will be tradable and listed on Oslo Brs during the subscription period for the Rights Issue. Any subscription rights not used or sold during the subscription period will lapse and cease to carry any value.

The subscription price per new share in the Rights Issue is NOK 30.00 per share. The subscription price corresponds to a discount of approximately 34 per cent to the implied Theoretical Ex-Rights Price of NOK 45.61 based on PCI Biotech's closing share price on 23 August 2018. Following completion of the Rights Issue, the share capital of PCI Biotech will be NOK 110,984,670 consisting of 36,994,890 shares, each with a nominal value of NOK 3.00. The Rights Issue will result in gross proceeds to PCI Biotech of NOK 360,000,000.

Below is an indicative time table for the Rights Issue:

14 September 2018: EGM to resolve the Rights Issue

14 September 2018: Last day of trading in PCI Biotech shares inclusive subscription rights

17 September 2018: PCI Biotech shares trade excluding rights to participate in the Rights Issue

18 September 2018: Record date for determining the right to receive subscription rights, at which date the VPS shareholders register for trades with ordinary settlement in VPS (T+2) will show shareholders of the Company as per the end of trading on 14 September 2018.

On or about 19 September 2018: Publication of prospectus and first day of subscription period for the Rights Issue

On or about 03 October 2018: Last day of subscription period for the Rights Issue

On or about 08 October 2018: Allocation of new shares

On or about 10 October 2018: Payment for new shares

On or about 11 October 2018: Registration of share capital increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises

ABG Sundal Collier and Arctic Securities are acting as Joint Bookrunners in connection with the Rights Issue. Advokatfirmaet Selmer AS is acting as the Company's legal advisor in connection with the Rights Issue.

Update on PCI Biotechs development programmes

The emerging data from the fimaChem Phase I dose-escalation study in inoperable extrahepatic bile duct cancer continues to deliver positive early signs of efficacy. Cohort IV included six patients at the dose level selected for pivotal development and the results from this Cohort are now mature enough for presentation. Although the results are based on small patient numbers, the efficacy signs are very promising compared to the most relevant published comparator data on treatment with standard of care. Attached is a summary table with key Phase I data and references to the most relevant comparator data. The pivotal study is intended to include up to two fimaChem treatments and the safety of this regimen is studied in an extension to the Phase I study. By August 2018, four patients have passed the safety window after the second fimaChem treatment. The plan is to include an additional safety review by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) after eight patients. The pivotal study is expected to start early in 2019, with an interim analysis of progression free survival and objective response rate for potential accelerated/conditional approval available approx. 36 months after initiation. For further information on timelines and study design, see attachment.

The advent of effective immunotherapeutics in several disease areas have provided hope for a large number of patients, but therapeutic vaccination within oncology has faced several setbacks in late stage development due to insufficient efficacy. The fimaVacc technology has proven to be a strong inducer of the cellular immune responses needed for therapeutic effect in animal models and the initial clinical immune response results are promising. The Phase I results indicate enhanced T-cell responses, with early responses and high response rates at tolerable dose levels. There is a large commercial potential in this technology, as there is a need for improved T-cell responses in both therapeutic cancer vaccination and several infectious disease applications. The near-term focus of this programme is to further characterise the immune response.

The fimaNAc programme addresses a main challenge for the realisation of the vast opportunity in nucleic acid therapeutics  effective intracellular delivery of this class of large therapeutic molecules. Several of the key commercial players in this therapeutic area continue to show interest in the fimaNAc technology and the Company currently has six ongoing research collaborations. The most recent collaborations, with IMV and Bavarian Nordic, were established over the last couple of months. PCI Biotech intends to continue the collaborative strategy, with the aim to convert research collaborations to commercial partnerships with select companies.

Update on 2Q 2018 Financial Figures

The Company will report its full financial figures for 2Q 2018 on 30 August 2018.

Net results in 2Q 2018 amounted to NOK -7.1 million. At the end of 2Q 2018 the Companys cash and cash equivalents amounted to NOK 28.4 million, a net change of NOK -10.2 million relative to the figures reported for 1Q 2018.

Important Notice

The contents of this announcement have been prepared by, and are the sole responsibility of, the Company. The Company's financial advisors are acting exclusively for the Company and no one else, and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, or for advice in relation to the Rights Issue, the contents of this announcement or any of the matters referred to herein.

The information in this announcement is for information purposes only and does not purport to be accurate or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy or completeness.

Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "strategy", "intends", "estimate", "will", "may", "continue", "should" and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this announcement by such forward-looking statements.

The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice. Neither the publication and/or delivery of this announcement shall under any circumstances imply that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company or that the information contained herein is correct as of any date subsequent to the earlier of the date hereof and any earlier specified date with respect to such information.

A prospectus approved by the competent authority in Norway is expected to be published by the Company before the Rights Issue commences (if and when made) and, if and when published, can be obtained on the Company's website, subject to regulatory restrictions. Investors should not subscribe for any securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the prospectus.

Restrictions

Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be made or transmitted directly or indirectly into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong or South Africa or any other jurisdiction where to do so would be unlawful. The Rights Issue (if made) and the distribution of this announcement and other information in connection with the Rights Issue may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Any failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws. Persons into whose possession this announcement or other information should come are required to inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. The Company assumes no responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.

This announcement does not in itself constitute, and should not be construed as, an offer for sale or subscription of or solicitation or invitation of any offer to subscribe for or purchase any securities of the Company or its affiliates in any jurisdiction. The Rights Issue will (if and when made) not be made in any jurisdiction or in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful. No steps have been taken or will be taken relating to the Rights Issue in any jurisdiction outside of Norway in which such steps would be required.

The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with applicable state law. There will be no public offer of the securities in the United States.

This announcement is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons in the United Kingdom that are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order") or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Persons distributing this announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

Further information regarding restrictions applicable for the Rights Issue will be set out in the prospectus prepared for the Rights Issue.

About PCI Biotech

PCI Biotech is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on development and commercialisation of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer through its innovative photochemical internalisation (PCI) technology platform. PCI is applied to three distinct anticancer paradigms: fimaCHEM (enhancement of chemotherapeutics for localised treatment of cancer), fimaVACC (T-cell induction technology for therapeutic vaccination), and fimaNAc (nucleic acid therapeutics delivery).

Photochemical internalisation induces triggered endosomal release that is used to unlock the true potential of a wide array of therapeutic modalities. The Companys lead fimaChem programme consists of a clinical Phase I/II clinical study in bile duct cancer, an orphan indication with a high unmet need and without approved products. fimaVACC applies a unique mode of action to enhance the essential cytotoxic effect of therapeutic cancer vaccines, which works in synergy with several other state-of-the-art vaccination technologies. fimaNAc utilises the endosomal release to provide intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, such as mRNA and RNAi therapeutics, thereby addressing one of the major bottlenecks facing this emerging and promising field.

For more information visit: www.pcibiotech.com

Contact information:

PCI Biotech Holding ASA, Ullernchausseen 64, N-0379 Oslo

Per Walday, CEO, pw@pcibiotech.no, Mobile: +47 917 93 429

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which as such are not historical facts, but are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. These assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this announcement by such forward-looking statements. PCI Biotech disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.





Attachment
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaois administration has been urged to reconsider the Criminal Libel Act.

The call came from the Deputy Director of the International Press Institute (I.P.I.), Scott Griffen.

He was speaking during the celebration of the Samoa Observer News Groups 40th Anniversary at the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Greys Hotel at Beach Road last night.

Mr. Griffen, who travelled from Austria for the occasion, paid tribute to the work of the Samoa Observers Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa, whom in 2000 was named one of the World Press Freedom Heroes.

He highlighted the importance of press freedom and the role it plays in peoples lives every day.

Speaking about recent media developments in Samoa, Mr. Griffen said the Criminal Libel law, which the Government had recently returned to the law books despite abolishing it in 2013, is an obstacle for press freedom.

If the Government is concerned about abuse of media freedom, Mr. Griffen suggested that there are better alternatives than bringing back the Criminal Libel law.

The celebration of the Samoa Observers 40th birthday was well attended.

Among the guests in attendance was the Head of State, His Highness Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, Member of the Council of Deputies, Tapusatele Le Mamea Ropati Mualia, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, a host of Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps and the business community.

Speaking on behalf of the Government, Prime Minister Tuilaepa congratulated Gatoaitele Savea and Muliaga Jean Malifa for their perseverance.

The Prime Minister said the Samoa Observer has had to overcome many challenges during the past 40 years with the newspaper continuing to grow.

He went on to thank the Samoa Observer for playing a major role in growing the H.R.P.Ps popularity among the voters, noting that since1982, they have won eight General Elections with an increased majority each time.

In his speech, Gatoaitele acknowledged Samoas support over the years.

He spoke about how the Samoa Observers journey was conceived while he was living in Washington D.C., and the Watergate Scandal was threatening to drive President Richard Nixon, out of the White House.

As I was following with much interest Watergate spinning out of control, and how two young investigative reporters were redefining their roles in what were very turbulent time in America, it was indeed, fascinating reporting, and I was right there amongst it all.

Fast forward to today, Gatoaitele said the Samoa Observer is extremely grateful.

To Prime Minister Tuilaepa and his Government, we would like to express our gratitude for your patience and understanding of our work. Although we may come across as antagonistic now and then, deep down we know that your love for your country is sincere, he said.

We know that you believe in a free press and the vital role its playing in our little democracy, and for that reason we want to agree that the love hate relationship that seems to make a habit of showing up now and then, is nothing but a front thats hiding the respect we share.

All the speeches from last night will be published in full in tomorrows Sunday Samoan. Full coverage in tomorrows edition.
The role of the International Press Institute (I.P.I.) is to support press freedom and independent journalism, which lies at the core of Samoa Observer.

This is according to Deputy Director of the I.P.I, Scott Griffen, when addressing Samoa Observer reporters during its editorial meeting led by Editor-in-Chief, Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa yesterday.

Mr. Griffen spoke about the challenges to press freedom around the world and how Governments used libel laws to shut down the media or jailed journalists.

Part of our role is to stand up and defend independent media like the Samoa Observer, he said.

Mr. Griffen said part of their work involves running advocacy programmes to defend the media against politicians calling outlets fake news and attempting to deliberately undermine trust of the media.

Another challenge he highlighted is how readers trust the media and readers understanding of what journalism is about.

Here in Samoa and other countries the rise of social media and digital communication, where anyone can basically take to the internet, act as a journalist or represent themselves as a journalist.

All in all digital communication is good. More people have access to information, but there is a lot of disinformation out there and actual fake news which is a big challenge for journalists as less and less understand what it is that real journalists do and what independent journalism is.

If you go online, how do you as a reader and audience interpret that information and understand which sources are authentic, which sources have taken into account journalistic background and practices and compiled information.

And from our point of view there is a lot more work to be done, in explaining to the public why good journalism matters and the steps that go into putting together a story, he said.

Mr Griffen said the public needs to understand the process of compiling a story and checking facts.

We have to explain to people how that process works and why they should value it and why this is something to be treasured, he added.

The Deputy Director also noted the Samoa Observer is well versed with this issue.

I know that you also do a lot of public outreach and explain to people why they should care about reading the Samoa Observer and paying for content, which is a big issue in trying to convince people that journalism is something that has to be paid. It is not something for free. The work that you are doing costs money and its something we have to value.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump said Friday he has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a planned trip to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on denuclearization.

Trump put some blame on Beijing, saying he does not believe China is helping "because of our much tougher Trading stance."

The surprise announcement appeared to mark a concession by the president to domestic and international concerns that his prior claims of world-altering progress on the peninsula had been strikingly premature.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump tweeted Friday, barely two months after his June meeting with the North's Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

Trump's comment followed a report issued Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining "grave concern" about the North's nuclear program. It came a day after Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun, a senior executive with the Ford Motor Co., to be his special envoy for North Korea and said he and Biegun would visit next week.

The State Department never confirmed details of the trip, but it had been expected that Pompeo would be in Pyongyang for at least several hours Monday, according to several diplomatic sources familiar with the plan.

White House officials declined to specify what prompted Trump to call off Pompeo's trip or what had changed since the president's rose-colored-glasses assessments of the nuclear situation just days ago.

A senior White House official said Trump made the decision to cancel the visit Friday morning during a meeting with Pompeo, Biegun, chief of staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton, who joined by phone. Intelligence and defense officials were not in the meeting, the official said, seeming to indicate that the breakdown was diplomatic in nature. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the matter and referred questions to the White House.

Trump laid unspecified blame on China, North Korea's leading trade partner, which is widely believed to hold the greatest sway over Kim's government.

The U.S. and China have been locked in a trade dispute for months, with each side ratcheting up tariffs on imports from the other country in what may be the opening salvos of a trade war.

Trump tweeted that "Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved." He added: "In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!"

After more a year of escalating tensions defined by nuclear and missile tests, new sanctions and "fire and fury" rhetoric, Trump made history meeting Kim earlier this year. In the run-up to the summit both nations engaged in hard-nosed negotiation, with Trump publically calling off the meeting in an effort to push Kim to agree to nuclear concessions. During the summit, the pair signed a vague joint statement in which the North agreed to denuclearize, but which left nearly all details undefined.

"There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea," Trump declared on Twitter after the meeting.

"Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem," he added. "No longer - sleep well tonight!"

Pompeo would have been hard pressed to return from Pyongyang with anything resembling progress on the denuclearization front.

Although it has halted nuclear and missile testing and taken some unrelated steps  dismantling portions of a missile engine facility and returning the suspected remains of American servicemen killed during the Korean War  its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile development remain intact, according the U.N.'s atomic watchdog and intelligence agencies.

In addition, recent statements from North Korean officials have ruled out any new concessions until it sees a reciprocal gesture from the U.S. beyond suspending military exercises with South Korea. North Korea has been demanding that the U.S. ease or lift crippling sanctions  something Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton have flatly ruled out until the its nuclear program is fully and verifiably dismantled.

Other than sanctions relief, the North, backed by South Korea, has been seeking a declaration of the end of the Korean War. The conflict stopped with the signing of an armistice rather than a peace treaty, meaning the war is not technically over. Both the North and South have vowed to end the open state of hostilities, and Seoul had been hoping to persuade the Trump administration to sign off on a non-binding end-of-war declaration as a goodwill gesture that would give Kim Jong Un domestic cover to proceed with denuclearization moves.

Pompeo and other administration officials have suggested some concessions short of easing or lifting sanctions are possible before verified denuclearization, but have refused to be specific about what they could be. And they have been skeptical about an end-of-war declaration in the absence of any progress on the nuclear matter.

At the same time, lawmakers from both parties, including GOP hawks who generally support Trump, have expressed concerns about such a move, as it could be used by the North to demand the removal of U.S. troops from South Korea and potentially Japan without anything in return.

Trump had kept up the positive tone as recently as Tuesday at a campaign rally in West Virginia. There Trump maintained "we're doing well with North Korea."

"There's been no missile launches. There's been no rocket launches," he added.

At the same rally, Trump seemed to take a different tone too on China, saying he had withheld some criticism of China because "I wanted them to help us with North Korea and they have."
The J. Craig Venter Institute has filed to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by Human Longevity Inc. The biomedical research institute says Human Longevity has failed to identify any trade secrets allegedly stolen.

HLIs allegations are so vague and broad that its claimed trade secrets are impossible to identify, according to the filing, made Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

The lawsuit claims that J. Craig Venter, a cofounder of both La Jolla organizations, took trade secrets with him after being fired as CEO in late May. Venter himself was not sued.

Venter, known for his work in genomics, used a laptop computer for work in both the non-profit institute and the for-profit Human Longevity, which seeks to prolong the healthy portion of the human lifespan. The lawsuit says Venter left with the laptop, which was the companys property.

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The motion for dismissal disputes the claims. Venter used the laptop with the knowledge of both entities, and Human Longevity didnt ask for its return for weeks after Venter was fired, it says. If the company had truly been concerned with trade secrets, it would have asked much sooner.

Human Longevity was contacted Thursday for its reaction, but a spokeswoman said the company doesnt comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit says Venter used the information to attract investors and potential employees, with the goal of establishing a competitor to HLI, violating an agreement Venter signed with HLI.

The dismissal motion says none of these claims are backed up by the lawsuit.

HLI has not identified any purported existing or prospective relationships with which JCVI or (although he is not a named defendant), Dr. Venter have tortiously interfered, the motion says. The only investor the complaint mentions is the one that HLIs board of directors rejected on the same day they voted to remove Dr. Venter.

The motion for dismissal is scheduled to be heard on Sept. 24.

Related reading

Human Longevity sues J. Craig Venter Institute, alleging theft of trade secrets

Human Longevity names interim CEO

Human Longevity denied restraining order against J. Craig Venter Institute

Genome pioneer Craig Venter retiring from Human Longevity, returning to J. Craig Venter Institute

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
SARASOTA, Fla., Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ROP), a leading diversified technology company, announced that Neil Hunn has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2018. Mr. Hunn is currently Ropers Chief Operating Officer and has served as an Executive Vice President and Group Vice President since joining the Company in 2011. The Company anticipates that Mr. Hunn will be elected to its Board of Directors in the near future.



In accordance with the Companys long-term succession planning process, Mr. Hunn will succeed Brian Jellison, who will remain Executive Chairman of Ropers Board of Directors. Mr. Jellison has decided to step down from his positions as President and Chief Executive Officer to focus on his health following the diagnosis of a medical condition at the end of last week.

Mr. Hunn has been instrumental in driving Ropers performance and positioning the Company for future growth. He has played a key leadership role in a broad range of operational initiatives, including spearheading growth across all of the Companys software and medical technology businesses, and he has been instrumental in the Companys investment in and development of its application software platforms. Mr. Hunn has also improved both Ropers operating review and long term strategic planning processes.

Mr. Jellison said: In his seven years since joining Roper, including his time as our Chief Operating Officer, Neil has distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader. He and I have worked side-by-side, and I have watched him drive the growth of our businesses, expand our portfolio and develop our talent. Neil understands the strategic and operating disciplines that have driven Ropers success for almost two decades, and I am fortunate to be able to pass the torch to such a strong leader.

Though this recent development in my personal life has accelerated this transition, we have had a succession plan in place for several years and these changes represent the culmination of our disciplined plan. While its important for me to step away from the day-to-day responsibilities of the CEO role, I am very pleased to remain involved in charting Ropers long-term path forward as Executive Chairman and to serve as a resource for Neil and our Board, Mr. Jellison added.

Mr. Hunn commented: I am grateful to the Board for its confidence in me. Roper has demonstrated a unique ability to consistently compound cash flows and shareholder returns over the past 17 years. This performance is underpinned by governance and capital deployment processes that enable our results. A key part of my job will be to ensure our strategy is executed with continued discipline and rigor. We are thankful that Brian will remain as Executive Chairman and look forward to benefiting from his continued guidance and support.

Wilbur Prezzano, Ropers Lead Independent Director, added: On behalf of the Board of Directors and all of Ropers 15,000 plus employees, we thank Brian for his contributions over the past 17 years. Due to his leadership, Roper has evolved into a leading technology company with robust growth and a positive financial outlook. We are confident that under Neils leadership Roper will build on its industry-leading position, and continue its focus on creating exceptional shareholder value and long-term growth.

About Neil Hunn

Mr. Hunn joined Roper in 2011 as Group Vice President with the Companys medical segment and served as Executive Vice President before becoming Chief Operating Officer. He has been instrumental in driving the growth and capital deployment activities throughout Ropers businesses with a particular focus on the Companys application software strategies. Prior to joining Roper, Mr. Hunn served ten years at MedAssets, an Atlanta-based SaaS company, in a variety of positions, including as Executive Vice President and CFO and as President of its revenue cycle technology businesses. He successfully led MedAssets initial public offering and the execution of several M&A transactions. He was previously with CMGI, an incubator of Internet businesses, and Parthenon Group, a strategy consulting firm. Mr. Hunn earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his bachelors degree in finance and accounting from Miami University (Ohio).

About Brian Jellison

Mr. Jellison, age 72, has enjoyed a 50 year career of business success. Mr. Jellison joined Roper as President and CEO in 2001 and became Chairman of the Board in 2003. During his tenure, the Company has grown its market capitalization from $1.5 billion to over $30 billion. Prior to joining Roper, Mr. Jellison previously served as Corporate Executive Vice President at Ingersoll-Rand, a global diversified industrial company.

About Roper Technologies

Roper Technologies is a constituent of the S&P 500, Fortune 1000, and the Russell 1000 indices. Roper operates businesses that design and develop software (both license and software-as-a-service) and engineered products and solutions for a variety of niche end markets. Additional information about Roper is available on the Companys website at www.ropertech.com.

The information provided in this press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding Mr. Jellisons continuing role with the company, the expected timing of Mr. Hunns appointment, the execution of the companys succession plan, and the companys future performance and success. Forward-looking statements may be indicated by words or phrases such as "anticipate," "estimate," "plans," "expects," "projects," "should," "will," "believes," "intends" and similar words and phrases. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are not guarantees of future performance. They involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Such risks and uncertainties include our ability to manage risks associated with the chief executive officer transition and our ability to identify and complete acquisitions consistent with our business strategies, integrate acquisitions that have been completed, realize expected benefits and synergies from, and manage other risks associated with, the newly acquired businesses. We also face other general risks, including our ability to realize cost savings from our operating initiatives, general economic conditions and the conditions of the specific markets in which we operate, changes in foreign exchange rates, difficulties associated with exports, risks associated with our international operations, increased product liability and insurance costs, increased warranty exposure, future competition, changes in the supply of, or price for, parts and components, environmental compliance costs and liabilities, risks and cost associated with asbestos related litigation, potential write-offs of our substantial intangible assets, and risks associated with obtaining governmental approvals and maintaining regulatory compliance for new and existing products. Important risks may be discussed in current and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any of them in light of new information or future events.

Contact Information:

Investor Relations

941-556-2601

investor-relations@ropertech.com
T-Mobile, the nations third-largest wireless carrier, said late Thursday that it had discovered a data breach potentially affecting some of its customers account information.

No financial data was stolen in the incident, the company said, but some personal details such as customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and account numbers may have been compromised.

In a statement on its website, T-Mobile said it uncovered the hack Monday. The company said it promptly reported it to authorities and shut down the attack.

Affected T-Mobile customers are being notified directly via text message, the company said.

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About 3% of T-Mobiles 77 million customers were affected, the company said in a statement to the Washington Post. That translates to roughly 2 million customers.

Fung writes for the Washington Post.
Whatever your relationship with the person youre caring for, its important that you add the title caregiver to the list of things you are.

Without identifying yourself as a caregiver, you wont know to search for resources that can help you navigate this new role. And its harder to ask for help in your caregiver duties if you  and others  dont recognize you in that role. The Family Caregiver Alliance offers a thorough and realistic primer on what caregivers do at caregiver.org.

AARPhas a practical list to get you started:

1. Start with a candid conversation. Talk with your parents about how you will be helping them to meet their needs. Unless they are severely incapacitated, they should continue to make their own decisions and remain a central part of all discussions about their care. Encourage them to articulate their concerns: Most likely, your parents are worried about becoming a burden and losing control of their lives. Have an open conversation about what role your parents want you to play. Establish limits so they dont form unrealistic expectations.

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2. Set your priorities. Make a list of what needs to get done and how you plan to do it. An organized approach puts you in control, reduces stress and ensures that your parents get the assistance they need. Be sure to create backup plans, and ask others to serve as reinforcements if necessary. Write down your plans and schedules, and give a copy to all involved family members. Consider using an online scheduling tool such as Lotsa Helping Hands to organize and keep track of whos doing what, when.

3. Build a support network. In most families, one person assumes the role of primary caregiver. But that doesnt let others off the hook. Enlist the help of your siblings, of course, but also consider that cousins, nieces and nephews may be eager to help. Dont forget to include your friends, distant relatives, neighbors and acquaintances, such as members of your parents civic or religious groups. Not all of these folks will volunteer to help, but many will get involved if you ask. Some, in fact, may feel hurt or left out if you dont seek their assistance.

4. Dont be afraid to delegate. Ask a friend to pick up groceries or get books from the library, a neighbors child to adopt your parent as a grandparent, or a local teenager to help with yard work for a manageable fee. Investigate whether a civic group can provide free home repair or transportation services. Ask the newspaper carrier, a barber or an apartment superintendent to keep an eye out for your parents and to call you if anything seems wrong.

5. Offer alternatives. With family members, dont accept excuses for not helping without offering alternatives. A sibling who lives far away, for example, can help with paying bills, contacting doctors offices or seeking support from local agencies. Siblings who have young children can cook meals or bring kids along for visits and outings.

6. Hold family meetings. Schedule them regularly, and bring in distant family by phone. Choose a neutral party to moderate if necessary. Draw up a clear agenda for each meeting, and agree on rules of conduct  for instance, dont interrupt, stick to time limits, avoid argument and focus the discussion on how to care for your parents. If meetings tend to be contentious, consider hiring a geriatric care manager to run the meeting.

7. Involve your children. When you have parents and children who need your time and attention, you may feel pulled from both sides. Be honest with your children about the situation, and listen to their concerns. Encourage their questions, and answer them thoroughly. Carve out time for fun activities, and request your childrens help. Teenagers can drive Grandma to the store, and even a toddler can make her feel loved.

8. Talk to your spouse. Have a discussion with your partner about your caregiving responsibilities. What role do you expect him or her to play? Suggest specific ways your spouse can help, and show appreciation for his or her efforts. Recognize that your responsibilities affect your spouse, and encourage him or her to talk about any frustrations. Your relationship is a priority  keep it that way.
With products ranging from bread and beer to an algae-based egg substitute, local food and beverage businesses convened for a forum on food innovation Wednesday.

The event highlighted how the North County food industry is capitalizing on regional trends of healthy eating, craft beer and sustainability, along with some of San Diegos quirkier offerings.

Sponsored by Innovate 78, a consortium of the five cities that line the Interstate 78 corridor, the event featured samples of organic baked goods, salsa and small-batch almond milk, as well as local beer and spirits. And it highlighted stories of local entrepreneurs, who shared their experiences founding food companies.

The forum aimed to create community around food and beverage, said Cardiff investor Douglas Raggio. Its just easier when you have other people in the trenches with you.

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The event took place in a grove of oaks and palms off Twin Oaks Valley Road near San Marcos. The pastoral site houses rows of greenhouses, where the host company, Plantible, is growing a species of aquatic plant that has properties of egg whites, and can help meet global demand for sustainable protein.

The problem grows as our population grows, said Maurits Van de Ven, co-founder of tPlantible. We have more people, but not enough protein, less fresh water and less arable land.

He and his partners founded Plantible in their native Holland, and took the leap to California a year ago. They moved into the San Marcos site, where theyre conducting research and development on how to grow and process plant protein from lemna, a type of duckweed. The verstatile substance forms a thick, meringue-like foam when whipped, a solid gel when heated, and acts as an emulsifier if combined with liquids, he said.

I wanted to do something that really contributed on a bigger scale, rather than just owning a business, Van de Ven said.

The desire to make a difference in the world by changing what we put on the table was a consistent theme of the evening.

Five-and-a-half years ago I had a very nice job with a local company, Stone Brewing, having tons of fun said Chuck Samuelson, founder and board member of Kitchens for Good, a San Diego nonprofit. Nonetheless, he said, I kept waking up thinking Ive got to do more.

He co-founded the organization in order to feed local people in need, while combating the roots of food insecurity through job training. The program and kitchen caters events, donates healthy meals to the homeless, seniors and after school programs, and trains students for culinary careers.

Hunger is not about food, Samuelson said. Hunger is about poverty.

By schooling felons, foster youth and homeless people for jobs in the food industry, Samuelson said, the nonprofit provides food for the hungry, while reducing their ranks.

Other participants at the forum said they are trying to offer healthy, sustainable varieties of staple foods. Melissa and Adam Fineston sell cold-pressed almond milk at several farmers markets through their Oceanside-based company, the Mulk Co. With flavors including chocolate, strawberry and turmeric- and ginger-infused golden milk, they aimed to offer a tasty, unsweetened drink.

Melissa and Adam Fineston sell cold-pressed almond milk at several farmers markets through their Oceanside-based company, the Mulk Co.. (Deborah Sullivan Brennan)

Chocolate milk is high in sugar, and a lot of kids are lactose intolerant, said Melissa. We try to make an alternative milk product that rivals dairy.

Misadventures & Company, a San Marcos-based distillery, also puts a unusual spin on a common product, taking leftover baked goods from the San Diego Food Bank and turning it into vodka that they sell to local bars and restaurants.

Each bottle of vodka they produce keeps about two pounds of food out of a landfill, the company says. That allows them to sequester more carbon than they release to the atmosphere, co-founder and CEO Sam Chereskin said.

If I ever get to make a bourbon (from) corn tortilla, that will be the most California thing that ever happened, he said.

Well, almost. That distinction might actually belong to another pair of entrepreneurs who spoke Wednesday, sisters Anne Buehner and Mary Carr. The North County natives are developing The Cado, a pop-up museum built in homage to what they call Californias favorite fruit, the avocado.

The museum, to be constructed from shipping containers, was slated to open this summer at Liberty Station, but was postponed indefinitely due to construction delays. Buehner and Carr, with backgrounds in marketing and brand development, told the audience that dealing with building schedules was a big learning curve in their enterprise; after months of promotion, they had to refund tickets to the installation.

Still, they said, Californians passion for avocados  abundantly displayed on Instagram  has sustained the project during the hiatus.

The love of avocados is really universal, but not everybody knows why they love them or why theyre so important, Buehner said.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
It has to be difficult constantly having the details of your marriage aired in the court of public opinion. But for Jay-Z and Beyonce, when they say theyre working it out, they mean it literally.

Not only has the superstar couple addressed their much-discussed marital discord on recent albums of their own, it was still a hot topic when they surprise-released their 9-track collaborative debut, EVERYTHING IS LOVE, in June.

More than doubling the stops of their 21-date On the Run Tour four years ago, The Carters current OTR II tour will visit 48 cities, including the Sept. 27 stop in San Diego at SDCCU Stadium, before closing down in October.

Beyonce Knowles (left) performs on stage during the On the Run II tour opener on June 6 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images For Parkwood Entert)

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SDCCU Stadium: 9449 Friars Rd., Mission Valley, livenation.com

High notes

In 2012, the couples daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, became the youngest person ever to appear on the Billboard 100 when her cries in Jay-Zs song Glory debuted on the R&B/Hip-hop chart  just two days after she was born.

debuted on the R&B/Hip-hop chart  just two days after she was born. In anticipation of massive traffic jams surrounding the pairs recent OTR II concert at the University of South Carolinas 80,000-seat stadium, six local schools voted to close at lunchtime on the day of the show.

Jay-Z. (Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Live Nation)

On the Beat

A breakdown of the OTR II tour

2: Catwalks that extend into the audience

17: Dancers

26: Orchestra members

48: Tour stops

Social status

Beyonce

Facebook: 62,901,765 followers

Instagram: 117,070,382 followers

Twitter: 14,751,520 followers

Jay-Z

Facebook: 19,961,473 followers

Instagram: None

Twitter: 3,131,779 followers (but no Tweets since June 2017)

One of the most memorable moments for me on the On the Run II tour was the Berlin show at Olympiastadion, the site of the 1936 Olympics. This is a site that was used to promote the rhetoric of hate, racism, and divisiveness, and it is the place where Jesse Owens won four gold medals, destroying the myth of white supremacy. Less than 90 years later, two black people performed there to a packed, sold-out stadium. When Jay and I sang our final song, we saw everyone smiling, holding hands, kissing, and full of love. To see such human growth and connection  I live for those moments.  Beyonce talking to Vogue magazine, September 2018 issue

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Groove: September concert calendar
For the last year, construction on the corner of Avenue R and 40th Street East in Palmdale hummed along as a massive school campus took shape.

On its Facebook page, Guidance Charter School posted photos of students holding shovels adorned with yellow ribbons and contractors pouring the foundation for what would be an 87,000-square-foot campus with a swimming pool, library and playing fields  paid for with nearly $30 million in bonds.

Less visible was what was happening behind the scenes, as the local school system raised alarms that threatened Guidances existence.

The Palmdale School Districts board of trustees, which first authorized Guidance 17 years ago, voted in January to close the school, citing concerns about poor academic performance and questionable financial operations. As the new campus rose, charter officials launched a series of appeals, the latest of which came before the Los Angeles County Board of Education this week.

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On Tuesday, the board rejected Guidances last-ditch effort to open for the 2018-19 school year. Unless a court overturns Palmdales decision, Guidance Charter School will not be able to enroll students  or receive the state funding that comes with them. But it still will be responsible for repaying the debt.

Supporters say the school is a victim of a process that puts decision-making power in the hands of the very districts that compete with charters for students and funding. Opponents see it as proof that charter schools, regardless of the quality of the education they offer or the extent of oversight they receive, are able to access bond money too easily.

The schools executive director, Kamal Al-Khatib, blames its closure on the Palmdale School District, which he said purposely set the charter school up for failure in order to win students back. In the spring of 2017, less than a year before voting not to renew the school, the district had declared that Guidance was on solid ground, he said.

They gave the bondholders assurance that the Guidance Charter School is in good standing. And then when we submitted our charter, they denied our charter, Al-Khatib said. It was their plan from the beginning.

District officials dismissed these claims. We are not anti-charter, said Nancy Smith, president of the board of trustees. We have two other charters. The other two are doing great. This one is not.

Guidance was founded in 2001 by Muslim leaders who promised to offer students a secular education and Arabic instruction.

The school leased space from a mosque owned by the American Islamic Institute of Antelope Valley, a religious organization run by the charters founder and its executive director, which would later prompt a host of conflict-of-interest concerns. Guidances ties to the mosque  and the thin partitions erected to separate its students from a prayer room  drew criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti-Defamation League that there was not enough of a wall between church and state.

Regardless, the school grew. It had opened with 65 students but by last year had about 900 in grades K-12. And every five years, when its right to operate came up for renewal, the Palmdale school board voted to keep it open. Guidance also rented classroom space from the district.

In 2017, with assurances from the district that it was not in danger of being closed, Guidance set about building a permanent campus that could hold more than 1,000 middle- and high-school students.

To finance construction, more than $29.5 million in mainly tax-free bonds were issued by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, a public joint-powers authority. This money was then lent to the charter school, which agreed to pay off the debt over the course of several decades. The schools leaders expected that the bonds would cover most of the project, which they thought would cost $35 million.

According to financial documents that detailed the terms, investors were warned that Guidance had been the subject of several inquiries by the Palmdale School District, including one regarding invalid or improper teacher credentials. The documents noted, however, that in February 2017 school system officials had confirmed the school was in good standing with the District, other than with respect to the teacher credentialing issue.

The authority did not respond to requests for comment.

It is not uncommon for California charter schools to borrow money through bonds to build campuses. But unlike public school districts, they dont have access to additional public revenue streams such as parcel taxes when they have to find a way to pay back creditors.

Desks and chairs are stacked on the site of Guidance Charter Schools new campus. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

When district officials voted not to renew the charter, they cited Guidances lagging academic performance as their primary concern.

Although its students scores on the state English exam in 2017 were roughly comparable to their peers in the district, according to Palmdale, math was a different story. In that subject, scores at Guidance were worse than those at most other schools in the area; none of the charter schools 11th graders tested at grade level.

Many of Guidances students didnt graduate, according to county officials, who said its drop-out rate was about 23% for the class of 2016. Palmdale officials found that even when students did graduate, many were not prepared to go to four-year colleges. According to the district, of 32 students who graduated from Guidance in 2014 and 2015, 24 had not completed the courses required for admission to the University of California or California State University systems.

The district also flagged Guidances fiscal operations and governance structure. It accused Al-Khatib of having financial interests in several of the schools transactions, including its lease with the American Islamic Institute and a roughly $2-million loan from a related company called Guidance Charter School Services LLC.

Guidances lawyers disputed the claims and said Al-Khatibs role at the mosque was voluntary and unpaid.

The charters leaders also took issue with the district and countys data, saying Guidances information had been entered incorrectly by the charter schools own staff. They claimed to have a graduation rate of 97%, a figure that county officials said is actually 73%.

They tried to manipulate the data, Al-Khatib said.

The school districts findings were taken seriously enough that Guidances appeals to county and state officials failed.

In June, at the end of the school year, Guidances charter officially expired and the school closed. Families had no choice but to move on. Many parents decided to put their children back into the district-run schools they had tried to leave, while others looked for open seats at other charter schools in the area.

Marcia Ramos son and daughter attended Guidance for years, but she said she had to enroll them in their local schools this year or risk accusations of truancy. Palmdale students went back to school Aug. 15. Like Al-Khatib, Ramos blames the Palmdale school system, which she said didnt like the charter competition.

Im going to tell you straight  it was politics, she said. Palmdale was losing students.

Saddled with debt, Guidances leaders did not give up. They sued the Palmdale School District in an attempt to overturn its decision. A trial date has not yet been set. They also applied to open the new campus as a new school, Guidance Charter School 2, under the authorization of the Antelope Valley Union High School District, which encompasses the city of Palmdale.

When that district rejected them, they went to the L.A. County board.

It is unclear why the Palmdale district finally moved to close down Guidance after repeatedly renewing its charter. On Tuesday, Smith blamed former district Supt. Roger Gallizzi, who retired in 2013.

What I have been told is the former superintendent told the staff to ignore it and let it go, she said, referring to the charter schools problems.

Gallizzi called that a false statement.

I have been retired for five years, he said. If this was really an actual problem, why have they allowed it to go on for five years? A charter school can be revoked at any time.

Although Guidances charter is no longer valid, the organization that operated the school is still responsible for a multimillion-dollar debt and the empty campus that Al-Khatib estimated is 95% complete.

Its unclear how long the organization has before it runs out of cash and defaults on its payments.

Al-Khatib said he is focused on finding a way to reopen his school and retain ownership of the campus, possibly by getting another charter to rent it. Bankruptcy is not an immediate option, he said, but it could be a last resort.

Were still looking for opportunities, he said. It is a long shot, but theres nothing impossible.

anna.phillips@latimes.com

Twitter: @annamphillips

UPDATES:

4:40 p.m.: This article was updated to clarify that Guidance Charter School claimed that its own staff had incorrectly entered data about its students.

This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m.
A new squadron of MV-22B Ospreys has been activated at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, marking the end of a modernization transition for Marine aviation and the return of a historic unit to active flight status.

When the Marines deactivated Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 362 in 2012, it wasnt clear if  or when  the Ugly Angels would return.

Ive been extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to be the current last CO of the Ugly Angels, but my sincere hope is that Im not the last CO, said Lt. Col. Christopher Oliver, the Ugly Angels commanding officer at the squadrons deactivation in 2012.

The Ugly Angels have a long history. The helicopter squadron was commissioned in 1952 and was the first to deploy to Vietnam, where, beginning in 1962, it flew the workhorse UH-34 Huss, an aircraft remembered fondly by Vietnam-era Marines.

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UH-34D helicopter, the type flown by the Ugly Angels in Vietnam, lands in Quantico, Virginia in 2013. It was donated to National Museum of the Marine Corps that year. (U.S. Marine Corps)

After returning stateside for a few years, the Ugly Angels flew the Huss continuously in Vietnam from September 1965 until August 1969.

Dick Moser flew with the Ugly Angels in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He attended the reactivation ceremony at Miramar this month.

Its really moving, he said, remarking on seeing his old squadron fly again. The young men and women are really embracing our history. Were delighted to see them back.

In 1969, the squadron left Vietnam and was re-equipped with then-new CH-53 Sea Stallions, which it flew for the next 43 years.

An Ugly Angels CH-53D Sea Stallion operates in Afghanistan in 2011. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Decades later, the Ugly Angels became the last Marine squadron to fly the CH-53D Sea Stallion in combat, in Afghanistan in 2012. At the end of its life, Sea Stallions required about 20 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight. The Marines retired the Sea Stallion and the Ugly Angels were grounded.

In the Marines, the transition from older helicopter aircraft to the new tilt-rotor Ospreys began in 2005. With the reactivation of the Ugly Angels  now designated a Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron  the Marines 14-year transition is almost complete.

VMM 362 is the next-to-last Osprey squadron being activated by the Marines.

The Osprey requires pilots to be multi-skilled, according to 2nd Lt. Fredrick Walker, a spokesman for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

To fly the Osprey successfully, a pilot must think like  and have the skill sets of  both a fixed wing and rotary wing pilot, he said.

The Ospreys are not replacing heavy helicopters in the Marines completely. The CH-53E Super Stallion is still flown by several squadrons and the CH-53K King Stallion is under development.

Walker said the Ugly Angels would be fully outfitted with its compliment of Ospreys by 2020.

Former members of the Ugly Angels at the VMM 362 activation ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Aug. 17. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Contact Andrew Dyer via email or Twitter.
August 24, 2013 The San Diego Union-Tribune

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.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

In 2013 San Diego mayor Bob Filner resigned less than a year into his term amid a sexual harassment scandal. He later pleaded guilty to felony false imprisonment and two misdemeanor counts of battery.

Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:

MAYOR RESIGNS

Scandal ends Filners career; cost to City not yet known

By Craig Gustafson, U-T

Bob Filner announced his resignation Friday as San Diegos 35th mayor following a tumultuous six weeks in which lurid allegations of repeated sexual misconduct against women crippled his ability to lead and turned him into a subject of national ridicule.

Filner will step down on Aug. 30 as part of a deal approved by the City Council on a 7-0 vote Friday that limits his legal and financial exposure stemming from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former aide.

In a dramatic appearance before the council, Filner apologized to his supporters and the women he offended while at the same remaining defiant that he did nothing wrong. He blamed the downtown business establishment, the media and his fellow elected officials for concocting a political coup to force his exit.

For my part in causing all of this, I offer a deep apology certainly to all the citizens of San Diego, Filner said. To all the women I offended,I had no intention to be offensive, to violate any physical or emotional space.

He added, It was certainly never my intention to be a mayor who went out like this.

Filners reputation as a cantankerous and combative individual showed through as he then proceeded to cast doubt on the allegations levied against him.

I started my political career facing lynch mobs and I think we have just faced one here in San Diego and youre going to have to deal with that,said the activist who was a Freedom Rider during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Filners resignation completes a stunning fall for the longtime politician and former congressman. He took office in December as the first Democratic mayor in 20 years and promised to shake up City Hall for the betterment of the disenfranchised and downtrodden. Instead, his brief tenure was rife with conflict and questionable decisions before imploding last month amid numerous accusations of sexual impropriety.

This settlement represents an end to our civic nightmare and allows our city to begin to heal, Council President Todd Gloria said after Filner spoke.

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 latest investigation into Oscar winner Kevin Spacey under review by the Los Angeles district attorneys office involves an allegation that he sexually battered a man in Malibu in October 2016.

Prosecutors last month began reviewing the Los Angeles County sheriffs investigation of the allegation, which was reported in May. Law enforcement sources told The Times that the investigation concerns an allegation of sexual battery  an unwanted touching of another person for purposes of sexual arousal, gratification or abuse.

Spaceys attorney did not return calls or an email seeking comment.

Sexual battery can be considered a misdemeanor or felony charge depending on the seriousness of the offense. It often includes acts such as groping, though no further details on the investigation were available.

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If the allegation falls within a misdemeanor, the complaint against the actor would be too old to charge. But if it is a felony-level allegation, it would be within the statute of limitations.

Sheriffs spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said she could not discuss the specifics of the allegation against Spacey beyond that the incident is alleged to have taken place in Malibu in October 2016.

It is the second investigation of Spacey that prosecutors are reviewing. Prosecutors have not made a decision on the other incident, but it is alleged to have occurred in the 1990s and would fall outside the statute of limitations.

Spacey is also the subject of six police investigations in London, dating to 1996, and one in Nantucket, Mass., where he was accused of groping an 18-year-old man in a bar.

Dmitry Gorin, a former sex-crimes prosecutor In L.A. who now defends those accused of such crimes, said Penal Code 243.4 sexual battery is typically charged as a misdemeanor and that most of the time it involves touching over clothing.

It is rarely charged as a felony, he said.

The felony level of the crime usually involves touching on bare skin beneath clothing or restraining the victim while doing the touching, he said. In those cases, prosecutors will often pursue other more serious sex-crime charges, he said.

A misdemeanor conviction on sexual battery can result in a year in jail, but a felony conviction can lead to a sentence of up to four years in prison.
Police arrested a suspect wanted in a triple shooting that left two women dead and a third wounded in San Bernardino on Friday morning.

San Bernardino police received calls at 7:32 a.m. reporting a shooting at a triplex in the 100 block of West Wabash Street, said San Bernardino police spokeswoman Eileen Hards.

The body of one woman in her 30s was found outside one of the units and the body of a second woman, whom police believe is in her 60s or 70s, was located inside. A third woman, who police believe is a neighbor, was grazed by a bullet, Hards said.

Authorities did not provide a description of the suspected shooter, who was arrested about 1 p.m. Friday. Hards said the gunman and the women knew each other, but the extent of their relationships is not clear.

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hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry

UPDATES:

1:50 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from police.

This article was originally posted at 10:30 a.m.
TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BELGRAVIA CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INC. (CSE:BLGV) (OTCQB:BLGVF) (Belgravia) announces it has launched a website as part of its Proxy Solicitation to urge Tartisan Nickels shareholders to vote GREEN.



Background information regarding the solicitation of proxies can be found at:

http://www.aNewTartisan.ca

Further to Belgravias open letter to shareholders of Tartisan Nickel Corp. (Tartisan or the Company) (CSE:TN) notifying them on August 7, 2018 that Belgravia will attempt to replace the Tartisan board of directors at its annual general and special meeting of shareholders scheduled for September 17, 2018, Belgravia has commenced a proxy solicitation and has filed on August 22, 2018, a Dissident GREEN Proxy and Circular which can be found on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under both the Tartisan Nickel and Belgravia Capital profiles.

BELGRAVIA RECOMMENDS THAT TARTISAN SHAREHOLDERS VOTE USING ONLY THE GREEN PROXY FORM which is available under the Tartisan and Belgravia SEDAR profiles at www.sedar.com filed on August 22, 2018. All beneficial shareholders of Tartisan Nickel will receive a copy of the GREEN Proxy Form by mail.

If you are also a concerned shareholder or have questions on how to cast your vote for the GREEN Proxy please contact D.F. King at 1-800-926-4985 (toll-free Canada) or by email at inquiries@dfking.com

Protect your investment by voting only your GREEN proxy form today or no later than 5:00 p.m. (Toronto Time) on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 FOR the Belgravia Nominees.

Belgravias basis for the solicitation of proxies of Tartisan shareholders is threefold, Poor Performance, Poor Corporate Governance, and Poor Leadership.

Tartisans Poor Performance has led to shareholders losing approximately 64% of their share value since January 1, 2018. Future share performance is dim according to Tartisans most recent annual financial statements filed on the Companys profile on SEDAR, which identifies that over the last two-year period less than $35,000 was spent on exploration or advancing any project, while a staggering $2,098,144 has inexplicably been spent on marketing, promotional, management and professional fees and office, general and administrative expenses.

Basic corporate governance practices for public companies has not been followed by Tartisan including non-ratification of the companys Advanced Notice By-Law, failure to post amendments to the Companys by-laws and continuous late regulatory filings.

Belgravia estimates that a significant portion of the monies raised from the public has been wasted due to the existing boards Poor Leadership, decision-making and lack of oversight. Mr. Applebys leadership was previously questioned by shareholders, these shareholders subsequently replaced Mr. Appleby as a director of Green Environmental Technologies Inc. due to shareholder dissatisfaction, for various reasons, including a lack of strategic direction, stagnant operations and poor leadership, which lead to being delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange and Mr. Appleby subsequently being removed from the board by dissident shareholder vote.

Immediate action is imperative to create shareholder value for Tartisan Nickel shareholders. Tartisans Poor Performance over the past two years, Poor Corporate Governance and lack of proactive corporate governance, which is an essential component to ensure transparency, stewardship and long-term corporate performance, and Mr. Appleby and the current boards Poor Leadership and their failure to act in the best interests of Tartisans shareholders has led Belgravia to take action and proposes the replacement of the current board of Tartisan with four new Directors with deep knowledge in commodities, extensive capital market experience, and proven results in maximizing shareholder value.

Belgravia takes no position on the re-appointment of RSM Canada LLP or the approval of the Stock Option Plan. However, if Belgravias designates receive no instruction on these matters they will vote FOR the re-appointment of RSM Canada LLP as the Companys auditors and FOR the approval of the Companys existing Stock Option Plan.

About Belgravia

Belgravia Capital International Inc. is focused on three core business divisions: Incubator, Investments, and Royalty & Management Services. The three divisions of Belgravia are high risk business ventures and expose shareholders to financial risks. The Incubator division provides capital to support the development of early stage companies in the Biotech/Healthcare, Technology, Resources and Medical sectors. Belgravia Holdings, the Investments division, invests in various private and public companies with a focus on value. Belgravia Royalty & Management Services has a royalty and fee income model. Further, the cash and investment asset base provides capital to support expansion on a selective basis.

For more information, please visit www.belgraviacapital.ca

Additional Information:

Belgravia is relying on the exemption under section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102") to make this public broadcast solicitation. The following information is provided in accordance with corporate and securities laws applicable to public broadcast solicitations.

This solicitation is being made by Belgravia, and not by or on behalf of the management of Tartisan. Tartisans head office address is Suite 1060, 44 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5C 1Y2. Tartisan has announced that it has called an annual general and special meeting of shareholders to be held on September 17, 2018 (the "Meeting"). Belgravia intends to file a dissident information circular (the "Dissident Circular") in connection with the Meeting, or any adjournment or postponement thereof, in due course in compliance with applicable securities and corporate laws.

This press release and any solicitation made by Belgravia in advance of the Meeting is, or will be, as applicable, made by Belgravia and not by or on behalf of the management of Tartisan. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by Belgravia, provided that, subject to applicable law, Belgravia may seek reimbursement from Tartisan for Belgravias out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with a successful reconstitution of the Company's board of directors. Any proxies solicited by Belgravia may be solicited by way of public broadcast, including through press releases, speeches or publications and by any other manner permitted under applicable laws, including pursuant to a Dissident Circular sent to shareholders of Tartisan. Solicitations may be made by or on behalf of Belgravia, by mail, telephone, fax, email or other electronic means, and in person by directors, officers and employees of Belgravia or by the proposed nominees. Belgravia has engaged the service of D. F. King and may engage D. F. King as soliciting agent to assist with solicitation on behalf of Belgravia.

It is expected that any proxies solicited by Belgravia in connection with the Meeting may be revoked by instrument in writing by the shareholder giving the proxy or by its duly authorized officer or attorney, or in any other manner permitted by law. Belgravia has filed this press release, which contains the information required by section 9.2(4)(c) of NI 51-102 and Form 51-102F5 Information Circular in respect of the Proposed Nominees under Tartisan's company profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com.

For further information contact: Mehdi Azodi 416-779-3268 OR MAZODI@BLGV.CA or D. F. King at 1-800-926 4985.
It just doesnt add up.

Rep. Duncan Hunter says the indictments handed down on Tuesday against him and his wife, Margaret, are the result of a deep state conspiracy among partisan Democrat prosecutors.

Theres a problem with that. The indictments related to the alleged personal use of $250,000 in campaign funds had the approval of high-level Department of Justice officials, all Republicans.

Starting locally, the prosecution of the Hunters is happening under Adam Braverman, a Republican who is the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. He was appointed in November 2017 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, also a Republican.

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Hunter has based much of his claim on the fact that two federal prosecutors involved in the investigation  Alana Robinson and Emily Allen, both registered Democrats  attended a 2015 fundraiser for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

He has every right to raise questions about that. The U.S. Attorneys Office response that they attended at the behest of the Secret Service was curious. Former U.S. Attorney Charles LaBella didnt doubt the truth in that, but told The San Diego Union-Tribune he never recalled any such protocol of prosecutors needing to be at a fundraiser in all his years as a federal prosecutor.

The Department of Justice or the Secret Service owes Hunter and the public a more detailed explanation of this. Before the indictments, Hunters attorney Greg Vega asked that the local U.S. Attorneys Office recuse itself from the investigation because those prosecutors attended the fundraiser.

Vega sent the letter making that request not to Braverman, but to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, also a Republican, in Washington, D.C. Vega wanted to meet with Rosenstein, but was denied. Both the local office and the Justice Department in Washington rejected the recusal request.

Like President Donald Trump, Hunter has lashed out at Rosenstein, claiming he is part of a politically motivated crowd out to get the president and people who support him. Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and numerous people tied to Trump.

Mueller, also a Republican and former FBI director, has long been a target of criticism by Trump and more recently by Hunter, who is not under investigation by the special counsel.

The president has focused his ire on Rosenstein because he launched the investigation by naming Mueller as special counsel. Sessions recused himself and was not involved.

This is where Hunters story really falls apart.

Sessions has not recused himself from the Hunter investigation. Any notion that an attorney general doesnt sign off on an indictment of a sitting congressman is just plain silly. The same goes for the FBIs participation in an investigation of a member of Congress. FBI Director Christopher Wray, another Republican appointed by Trump, certainly would have pulled the plug if he didnt think it was legitimate.

Late last month, Hunter began honing his conspiracy case in a short House floor speech. He didnt mention Sessions or Wray, but accused Rosenstein and others of being part of a cabal.

In addition to adopting the commander in chiefs conspiracy theory, Hunter has also taken up some of the presidents language, becoming something of a Trump Mini-Me. Hunter has claimed to be the victim of a witch hunt by leftist government thugs.

Rather than federal prosecutors, Hunters real problem appears to be people close to him  perhaps his wife, former or current aides, or others who, to use Trumps lingo, may have ratted him out. Many of the rich and stunning details in the indictment appear to come from Hunter insiders.

Regardless of what happens, Hunters political future is in serious doubt.

He either loses re-election in November, wins but agrees to step down in a plea agreement or gets convicted and has to step down. Even if he is acquitted in a trial, his image would be so tarnished and the Republican leadership so fed up with him that there likely would be a prominent GOP candidate with no baggage but lots of support to take him on in 2020.

One more thing about the alleged conspiracy that doesnt wash. First, if you dont think there is one, suspend your disbelief and buy into it for a minute. Lets say there is a deep-state effort to put the Democrats in power. It would make sense to try to undermine the president, the most powerful person on earth, and maybe key members of the administration and Congress.

But Duncan Hunter? Hes essentially a backbencher with virtually no high-profile legislative accomplishments. He isnt a committee chairman nor is he in the top leadership ranks. For years, his standing has been colored by his personal behavior (vaping during a committee meeting, alleged carousing and drinking). A 2014 survey of House aides by the Washingtonian ranked Hunter as the top party animal in Congress. His father, the former congressman who essentially handed the seat off to his son, was a revered figure and constant presence in the region. His son, not so much and less so.

The criminal investigation of Hunter began at least a year and a half ago and must have cost who knows how many hundreds of thousands of dollars. And this is supposed to be part of an effort to take down the Republican-controlled government?

Sorry, hes just not that important.
The U.S. Secret Service on Friday explained why the agency asked federal prosecutors to attend a private fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in La Jolla, saying prosecutorial guidance might be immediately necessary in the event of a protective security related incident.

The attendance of at least two assistant U.S. attorneys at the event has been criticized by Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter of Alpine following the indictment of him and his wife on campaign fraud charges this week.

Both Hunter and his attorney, Greg Vega, have said that the attendance of the prosecutors, who were involved in the Hunter case, is evidence that the prosecution by the U.S. Attorneys Office in San Diego is politically motivated.

Hunter and his wife, Margaret, were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on allegations that they spent $250,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses, then covered up the source of the money. They have pleaded not guilty.

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In a statement Friday, the Secret Service said having prosecutors at such events was routine.

The Secret Service regularly requests representation from United States Attorneys Offices around the country during protective mission visits. The in-person representation provides for, and facilitates, real-time direct communications in the event of a protective security related incident where immediate prosecutorial guidance could be necessary.

The statement did not elaborate on what kind of incidents might require prosecutorial guidance.

The fundraiser in question was at the home of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan, on Aug. 7, 2015. Attendees paid from $1,000 to $2,700 for the chance to meet Clinton.

The two prosecutors named, Alana Robinson and Emily Allen  both registered Democrats  took photos with Clinton. They did not donate to her presidential campaign.

The Secret Service has supported a long standing practice of facilitating photograph opportunities for our emergency service and law enforcement partners which would include the U.S. Attorneys Office, the Secret Service said. These photograph opportunities are provided in limited numbers and typically offered to the leadership of the supporting law enforcement entity, fire department and/or emergency service provider, and the United States Attorney Office.

Vega responded Friday, saying: The explanation by the Secret Service actually raises more questions than it answers. He questioned why three prosecutors would be needed at the Clinton event, including whether there were specific security concerns.

He also asked whether the same assistance was requested for subsequent fundraisers held in San Diego County for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump or vice president candidate Mike Pence. If so, did prosecutors take photos with either candidate?

Neither the Secret Service nor U.S. Attorneys Office has provided further details.

Attorneys not involved in the Hunter investigation said having prosecutors on site in an official capacity opens them up to the possibility of being a witness to such an incident, which would then preclude the prosecutor from being involved in any future legal case that would arise.

Its why prosecutors are discouraged from being present when investigators are executing search warrants.

If something goes wrong now you are a percipient witness and cant be involved in the investigation anymore, said Chuck LaBella, a former U.S. attorney now in private practice in San Diego.

Vega asked U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman to review the situation for a possible conflict of interest in June, and Braverman concluded in a letter that there was no conflict that would call for the office to be recused.

Vega has also asked the U.S. Department of Justice leadership to look into the matter, and the complaint was reviewed and rejected.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
The data show that the majority of spending was done by both Hunters, with the largest chunk being the $116,000 paidpaid to Margaret Hunter as campaign manager. Some of the Hunters family vacations  trips to Italy, Hawaii, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.  were categorized this way.

For expenses that were attributed to separately to Margaret or Duncan Hunter, hers totaled more than four times as much as his. Margaret Hunter is identified as spending $92,506 while Duncan Hunter is identified as spending $19,981.

Methodology: Each of the alleged overt acts in the indictment was categorized based on the type of spending noted, and based on which of the Hunters made the charge. Several overt acts did not have dollar amounts. For Margaret Hunters salary, her monthly wage was multiplied based on how long she was paid as the campaign manager, which was from Sept. 12, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2012 at a monthly wage of $2,000 and then from Dec. 30, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2016 at a monthly wage of $3,000. Dates were not specified for vendors that had multiple transactions, and the sum was the data used in the chart
U.S. immigration authorities coerced dozens of parents separated from their children at the border to sign documents they did not understand, according to a complaint filed Thursday.

In some of the cases, parents gave away rights to be reunited with their children when the non-English speaking mothers and fathers signed documents in English they could not read, according to the complaint provided to The Associated Press before it was filed with the Department of Homeland Security.

In other cases, parents who had been reunited were threatened with another separation if they didnt agree to be deported with their children, the complaint said.

The complaint was filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council, who say attorneys spoke with 76 parents who said they were asked to sign forms affecting their rights to reunify with their children.

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All of them said they werent allowed to ask what would happen if they signed the form.

The U.S. government separated more than 2,500 children from their parents this year as the Trump administration adopted a zero-tolerance policy requiring anyone who crossed the border illegally to be prosecuted. That resulted in parents who had to go to federal court to face criminal misdemeanor charges of illegal entry to be separated from their children, often for months.

The policy ignited a worldwide furor and Trump eventually reversed course.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, who is overseeing a lawsuit against the government, gave authorities until July 26 to reunite all families, although as many as 343 parents who were deported to their home countries have yet to be reunited with their children.

Stories of parents who said they were coerced into signing off on their deportations and further separations have circulated for months and have been noted in continuing litigation under Sabraw.

Sabraw has put a freeze on family deportations while attorneys for both sides negotiate the possibility of allowing all children to pursue their own asylum claims in the U.S. Attorneys have also argued that the confusion and alleged coercion means parents should get another shot at asylum, although Sabraw has seemed less supportive of such an allowance.

The issue will be discussed further in a hearing in San Diego Friday.

The complaint to the Department of Homeland Securitys Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Inspector General claims several mothers said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers told them that if they didnt sign the form, they would never see their children again.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman declined comment Thursday on the complaint, saying that the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.

But a top agency official, Matthew Albence, denied similar allegations during a July 31 Senate committee meeting.

A great many of these individuals do not wish to have their child returned home with them. The reason most of them have come in the first place is to get their children to the United States, Albence said at the time.

The complaint claimed migrant parents separated from their children were subjected to verbal and physical abuse, including being deprived of food and water and being put into solitary confinement.

In one example, a Guatemalan mother who was separated from her 5-year-old son said an officer at the Port Isabel, Texas, detention center told her to sign a document to be returned to her home country so that she could get her son back.

The officer didnt explain what she was signing and the woman did so out of desperation, according to the complaint. The woman, like many others, also reported being threatened with solitary confinement because she was crying so much over being separated from her son.

The woman, referred to only as A.E. in the complaint, was eventually reunited with her son and is currently detained with him in Dilley, Texas.

Coercive tactics employed against a vulnerable population raises significant legal concerns and threatens the fundamental due process, statutory, and regulatory rights of parents who were separated from their children, the attorneys wrote in the complaint.

Rolando Antonio Bueso Castillo, the father of a 1-year-old boy, said he was told hed be reunited with his son if he signed off on his deportation.

But it would be five months before the boy, Johan, would be reunited with his parents in Honduras. That happened only after an immigration judge granted the boy a voluntary departure order, which allowed the government to fly him home.

Meanwhile, the effort to locate the hundreds of deported parents is well under way, attorneys reported Thursday.

Volunteers working alongside attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union have reached 231 parents outside of the country thus far, with 10 already reunifying with their children in their home countries and another 15 ready to do so. Additionally, 183 parents have indicated their desire to reunify with their children and are awaiting confirmation that their children wish to do the same.

Still, challenges lie ahead, including 41 parents without any contact information and 38 with phone numbers found to be inoperable. Another 102 have yet to be tried.

To find the hard cases, Justice In Motion, a nonprofit, has obtained birth certificates of parents and is sending representatives who speak indigenous languages to remote villages for in-person conversations. The efforts have reached six parents so far, with help from the nonprofit KIND and other service organizations, the ACLU reported.

Several children remain in government care because their parents have been deemed ineligible for various reasons, including not passing criminal background checks, having parentage red-flags or being in jail or prison.

Union-Tribune staff writer Kristina Davis contributed to this report.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
Two months after President Trump boasted that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat, growing evidence suggests that leader Kim Jong Un has not shut down the countrys illicit production of bomb-making material and other nuclear activities, raising concerns that the proposed denuclearization deal has stalled at the starting gate.

Hoping to pressure the government in Pyongyang, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said Thursday he would return to the reclusive nation next week and bring a newly appointed U.S. special representative, Stephen Biegun, to take over the challenging negotiations.



For the record: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that next weeks visit to North Korea would be Secretary of State Pompeos third since President Trumps summit with Kim Jong Un in June. It will be the second.

The visit will be Pompeos fourth to North Korea since March, and the second since Trump and Kim met in Singapore in June and agreed to a brief, vaguely worded statement that served to lower tensions in northeast Asia, but contained few specifics or clear promises.

The White House has asserted since the summit that Kim pledged to dismantle his nuclear infrastructure and give up his arsenal of several dozen nuclear weapons in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. Kim has not confirmed that publicly, focusing instead on his call to ease economic sanctions against his country.

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After the summit, Trump announced he would halt long-planned joint annual U.S. military exercises with South Korean forces as a goodwill gesture. North Korea, in turn, last month handed over the remains of 55 soldiers from the Korean War that it said were probably American. U.S. officials said it would take months to identify them.

While North Korea has not tested any nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles since the summit, the far more difficult goal of denuclearization has gone nowhere. On Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, said it had detected no signs that North Korea has begun to dismantle critical nuclear infrastructure or halt production of fissile material.

The IAEA report said Pyongyangs continued nuclear activities, including the operation of a reactor, a uranium enrichment facility and related infrastructure at the Yongbyon nuclear facility, were cause for grave concern and were clear violations of several U.N. resolutions.

North Korea has not abandoned its existing nuclear program in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner or ceased all related activities, the report said.

The IAEA also noted that it has no access to nuclear production and research sites in North Korea to carry out inspections, as Pompeo has said would be required. The agencys inspectors were kicked out of the country in 2009.

As further nuclear activities take place in the country, [the agencys] knowledge is declining, the report added.

The international 2015 Iran nuclear deal allowed the most intrusive IAEA inspections to date. But Trump walked away from that accord, saying it didnt go far enough in curtailing Tehrans support for militants in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Under the Iran deal, Iran gave up most of its ability to enrich uranium and disabled a reactor intended to produce plutonium, another bomb fuel. The IAEA has consistently said Iran was largely in compliance with the requirements of the accord, and the five other nations besides the U.S. that signed it have continued to abide by it.

Pompeo has repeatedly said progress was being made in North Korea, but has not offered evidence. On his last trip to Pyongyang, on July 5, he came away without new pledges of cooperation or a chance to meet with Kim, who had received him in March and June.

On Thursday, Pompeo made clear he would step aside from the day-to-day effort. He said Biegun would direct U.S. policy towards North Korea, lead negotiations with Pyongyang and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners in the effort to produce a final, verified disarmament deal.

Russia and China, which have voted for U.N. sanctions on North Korea, have begun to ease them in the wake of the summit. The Trump administration blacklisted several Russian shipping companies for allegedly supplying North Korea with oil in violation of the sanctions.

Biegun, who spent nearly two decades working on foreign policy issues in the Senate and in the George W. Bush White House, most recently worked as vice president of international government affairs at Ford Motor Co. In his comments, Biegun made clear the challenge ahead.

The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve, he said. But the president has created an opening, and its one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea.

It wasnt immediately clear if Pompeo had simply decided that the negotiations were going nowhere and he needed to hand them off to focus on other issues. One analyst argued that Bieguns appointment suggested negotiations have reached a critical point and Pompeo needs to beef up his team.

Their visit to Pyongyang is critical to regain momentum on the stalled denuclearization talks, said Bruce Klingner, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy director for North Korea.

By all accounts, Biegun is not particularly partisan. Writing for Foreign Policy magazine in 2009, he assessed the first 100 days of the Obama presidency in glowing terms.

Many solid personnel appointments, no apparent turmoil inside the administration, no noteworthy mistakes on the international stage, and Congress is following the presidents lead, he wrote. Four years of this would be great.

Foreign policy experts praised Biegun on Thursday as sharp and talented, and no stranger to tough negotiations.

Michael McFaul, a former ambassador to Russia and frequent critic of the Trump administration, called his appointment a terrific choice for a huge, hard, important job.

Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security think tank, with which Biegun is affiliated, said on Twitter it was hard to think of a better person to take on a harder challenge. Biegun, he added, will once again serve our country, this time tackling North Korea. Good news.

Pompeo has taken heat on Capitol Hill for the continued impasse with North Korea. Last month, he appeared before skeptical senators on the Foreign Relations Committee, who decried the absence of a coherent strategy.

Weve only seen a vague agreement of promises to make more promises, [and] of weaker commitments than North Korea has previously made, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the committee, told Pompeo. The United States and North Korea seem to remain far apart on even basic issues such as the definition of denuclearization.

On Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert defended the diplomatic effort.

Were on pretty solid footing here, she said. We continue to have conversations with them. Our goals have not changed.

Asked about the IAEA report, she said the Trump administration shared those concerns but was determined to work forward.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
Although most of the world long ago established diplomatic relations with China and not Taiwan, the Trump administration slammed El Salvador this week after it broke relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing.

In a statement, the White House condemned El Salvadors Aug. 20 announcement that it was switching diplomatic recognition to China in what the countrys president, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, said was an effort to conform to the inevitable trends of our times.

Only 16 countries plus the Vatican maintain full diplomatic ties with Taiwan. More than 170 other nations  including the United States  recognize the government in Beijing under the so-called One China policy, which states that Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.

Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province, not an independent state. Like many nations, Washington still has unofficial diplomatic and commercial ties to Taiwan, including large sales of military equipment.

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Until recently, Central America was one of the last bastions of support for Taiwan, thanks to years of lobbying and lucrative incentives from Taipei. But that backing has ebbed as Chinas international clout has grown, partly by spending hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and infrastructure programs overseas.

The U.S. government has expressed concern about Chinas inroads in Latin America and Africa, warning that Chinese investment can land poor countries in heavy debt, and China often seizes infrastructure it has financed.

The rebuke of El Salvador is unusual, however. When Panama and the Dominican Republic broke ties with Taiwan last year, the White House expressed no public criticism.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in a statement Thursday, said El Salvadors leftist ruling party made the decision to cement diplomatic ties with Beijing in a non-transparent fashion and it will have implications for decades to come for the region.

She accused San Salvador of receptiveness to what she called Chinas political interference in the Western Hemisphere. She said the Trump administration will reevaluate its diplomatic relations with El Salvador.

The party in the Salvadoran presidency, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, is partly made up of former Marxist guerrilla fighters who battled a U.S.-backed right-wing government in the 1980s until 1992, when the United Nations brokered a peace accord. Former guerrillas were incorporated into civilian life as part of the deal.

During the war years and since, Salvadorans have constituted one of the largest immigrant groups to arrive in the U.S., with the biggest concentrations in Southern California and Washington, D.C.

Until recently, relations between the two nations were cordial. But President Trump often has used harsh language to describe, and sometimes conflate, immigrants and the brutal MS-13 gang, which operates in part from El Salvador.

El Salvador is scheduled to hold presidential elections in March, and polls indicate that a right-wing party, Arena, which ruled through most of the war, will win.

The government did not respond immediately to the White House condemnation but has repeated the argument that the diplomatic shift was inevitable given the strategic importance and economic weight of China.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a hawk on Latin America who has emerged as a mover behind this administrations policies in the region, has demanded that U.S. aid to El Salvador be slashed as punishment and said he advised Trump on the matter.

Some officials worry that El Salvadors bustling La Union port could be refitted by China for military use. Senior Salvador officials say Beijing has offered to provide military weapons at a good price.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
The Mormon Church has played a quiet role in the fight against an effort to legalize medical marijuana in Utah, releasing measured statements and helping to bankroll lawsuits.

But on Thursday, leaders of the powerful Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came out from behind the scenes.

We are deeply concerned by the history of other states that have allowed medical and recreational use of this drug  and have experienced serious consequences to the health of its citizens, Elder Jack N. Gerard, flanked by politicians, medical professionals and other church leaders, said at a news conference at the state Capitol.

His comments marked the first time an official from the Mormon Church  which has deep roots in business and politics in the state  has made a public appearance to voice opposition to Proposition 2, a ballot measure that voters will consider in November.

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Some observers predict that the church will ramp up its campaign against the measure with news conferences and television and radio ads.

A recent Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll showed two-thirds of voters in Utah support Proposition 2. But more public opposition from the church could change that in a state where more than 60% of residents identify as Mormon.

Thirty states already allow the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes, and supporters of the Utah measure say the effort was born out of compassion for those suffering from chronic pain.

Opponents have characterized Proposition 2 as a dangerous step on the path toward legalizing recreational pot, as has occurred in eight other states, including California.

The churchs first public stance on the issue came in April, when leaders released a brief statement lauding a memo by the Utah Medical Assn. opposing the measure. The church praised the association of doctors for cautioning that the proposed Utah marijuana initiative would compromise the health and safety of Utah communities.

A month later, church leaders put out a document citing legal concerns, including significant challenges for law enforcement.

Several prominent Mormon politicians in the state, including Republican Gov. Gary R. Herbert, have also come out in opposition to Proposition 2.

On Thursday, Gerard, the high-ranking church leader, echoed the common concern that the initiative could open the way to broader legalization of marijuana and increase crime and addiction.

We want to prevent unwanted consequences in this state, he said.

Earlier this month, Walter Plumb, a well known local attorney and active member of the church, filed a lawsuit in state court arguing the ballot initiative would tread on his freedom of religion.

His religious beliefs include a strict adherence to a code of health which precludes the consumption and possession of mind-altering drugs, substances and chemicals, which includes cannabis and its various derivatives, the complaint states.

The churchs doctrine regarding health, referred to as the Word of Wisdom, asks members to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea and illegal drugs, though it does not directly address medical marijuana.

The court has yet rule in the case.

DJ Schanz, a Mormon and the director of the Utah Patients Coalition, the campaign spearheading the measure, said the most recent onslaught by the LDS Church to undermine our efforts to give patients relief is nothing new.

We are actually relieved that they are finally doing it in the open rather than behind the scenes, he said. We have great hope that the voters in Utah will side with patients and in favor of compassion and see through the smoke and mirrors surely to follow.

kurtis.lee@latimes.com

Twitter: @kurtisalee
The growing popularity of downtown San Diegos free shuttle is prompting city officials to explore expanding the service into Balboa Park, Hillcrest, Mission Hills, University Heights and Barrio Logan.

The electric open-air shuttles, launched by the city two years ago, have joined with app-rented bicycles and electric scooters to give people several new ways to conveniently get around without creating pollution or traffic congestion.

The shuttle, known by the acronym FRED for Free Ride Everywhere Downtown, set a record in July for most rides in a month with more than 17,000 thanks partly to hotels starting to encourage guests to download the FRED app.

 The downtown shuttle service cant meet total demand, but funding over the next three years will almost double fleet of tiny buses to 30.

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More people are also using the shuttle to solve the last-mile problem, when mass transit options like the Coaster or trolley get them close to their desired destination but not quite there.

In addition, the shuttle is in the middle of a three-year plan to nearly double the size of its fleet to 30 vehicles. There are now 22 shuttles in operation, with an increase to 25 scheduled for next year and then a climb to 30 in 2020.

That momentum has prompted officials from the city and the Civic San Diego downtown development agency to begin discussing an expansion to additional neighborhoods, said Ben Verdugo, Civic San Diegos project manager for parking, transit and transportation.

Wed love to see people travel outside the boundaries of downtown, Verdugo told members of the Urban Land Institute during a lunchtime forum this week. The city is very interested in going into Uptown, but also Balboa Park and some other outlying areas. Hopefully that materializes and takes shape.

Uptown San Diego includes Hillcrest, Mission Hills, Bankers Hill/Park West, University Heights and Middletown.

The shuttle, which is funded by advertisements on the outside of the vehicles and subsidies from the downtown parking district, would most likely need funding from the Uptown parking district to operate in those communities, Verdugo said.

It makes it a little bit tricky because youve got two different parking districts -- Uptown and Downtown -- how do you account for the money, where does the money go, how do you pay for the operation of FRED? he said.

Projections for 2020 show advertising revenue covering half the annual cost of $2.4 million to operate the shuttle in downtown, but ad revenue hasnt come close to reaching that level yet.

Ridership, however, has been steadily increasing, Verdugo said.

We had a big spike in July just due to people that were vacationing down here, he said, adding that hotels have begun encouraging guests to download the FRED app.

Verdugo said he also thinks the shuttle is being combined more often with mass transit.

There are a lot of people coming into downtown who get off at Santa Fe (Station) and they are able to take FRED throughout downtown, he said. I know there can be certain walkability issues in certain parts of downtown.

Civic San Diego doesnt have statistics to back that up, but Verdugo said they are on the way.

Were continually getting data analytics and were going to hopefully get a little better answers on specific uses, he said.

One drawback to FRED is that families with young children cant take advantage of the service because the five-seat, open vehicles cant safely accommodate car seats, Verdugo said.

More than 280,000 total rides have been given since the shuttles began running, and 450,000 vehicle miles have been traveled. Verdugo said that means the shuttles have prevented the use of 23,000 gallons of gas  with one caveat.

These numbers assume that all vehicle miles traveled by FRED are directly replacing a gas-powered vehicle, he said. Thats not necessarily the case, but it does show that we have a really low carbon footprint with this program.

Anyone can order a ride on FRED by using the app, which is similar to the apps for the Uber and Lyft ride sharing services. Pedestrians can also hail FRED, but app-based customers take priority.

FRED now serves all of downtown, from Little Italy down to the East Village and Convention Center.

This is something were really proud of, Verdugo said.

The app is called The Free Ride.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
ST HELIER, Jersey, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (Caledonia or the Company) (NYSE AMERICAN: CMCL; AIM: CMCL; TSX: CAL) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Fremiro Investments (Private) Limited (Fremiro) with the intention to purchase Fremiros 15% shareholding in Blanket Mine (1983) (Private) Limited (Blanket). The transaction remains subject to approvals from various Zimbabwean regulatory authorities and the execution of a legally binding sale agreement.



Highlights

Caledonia has entered into an MOU with Fremiro to purchase Fremiros 15% shareholding in Blanket.

Caledonia will acquire Fremiros shareholding in Blanket for a gross consideration of $16.667 million to be settled through a combination of:

 the cancellation of the loan between the two entities which stood at $11.467 million as at June 30, 2018; and

 the issue of 727,266 new shares in Caledonia at an issue price of $7.15 per share.

 the cancellation of the loan between the two entities which stood at $11.467 million as at June 30, 2018; and  the issue of 727,266 new shares in Caledonia at an issue price of $7.15 per share. On completion of the transaction, Caledonia will have a 64 per cent shareholding in Blanket and Fremiro will hold 6.42 per cent of Caledonias diluted equity.

Background

Fremiro acquired its 15% shareholding in Blanket when Caledonia implemented transactions in 2012 in compliance with the Zimbabwean Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act (the Act). As part of the transactions, Caledonia sold 41% of Blanket Mine to the following indigenous Zimbabwean shareholders:

Fremiro - 15% The National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund (NIEEF) - 16% Blanket Employee Trust Services (Private) Limited - 10%

The financing of these acquisitions was facilitated through approximately $30m of facilitation loans to the above parties apportioned pro rata between the parties based on shareholding.



In addition, 10% of Blanket was donated to the local community in the form of the Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust.

Following amendments to the Act passed in March 2018 which removed the 51% indigenisation requirement for gold mining businesses, Caledonia and NIEEF have agreed to enter into a transaction whereby Caledonia purchases Fremiros 15% shareholding in Blanket.

On completion of the transaction, Caledonia will have an effective 64% shareholding in Blanket with the constituent Blanket shareholders as follows:

Wholly-owned subsidiaries of Caledonia - 64% NIEEF - 16% Blanket Employee Trust Services (Private) Limited - 10% Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust - 10%

In line with previous public statements, Caledonia has expressed an interest in increasing its shareholding in Blanket, a strategy of which the above transaction forms a key component.



Commenting on the transaction, Steve Curtis, Chief Executive Officer, said:

We are delighted to agree to a transaction with Fremiro for the purchase of their 15% stake in Blanket; they have been a supportive shareholder of Blanket since 2012 and we welcome them as shareholders in Caledonia.

Blanket is well-advanced on implementing the investment programme which commenced in early 2015 and is expected to result in Blanket achieving an annual production rate of at least 80,000 ounces per annum by 2021, at a low cash cost. Caledonia is evaluating further investment opportunities in Zimbabwe. Such new opportunities, if they result in one or more transactions, are likely to be held directly by Caledonia and/or its subsidiaries rather than by Blanket. By moving its participation up from Blanket to Caledonia, Fremiro is well-positioned to participate with Caledonia in any further investment opportunities.

We are also very pleased to increase our shareholding in Blanket to a majority stake, moving from 49 per cent to 64 per cent following this transaction. Blanket Mine has been an excellent investment for Caledonia since we originally invested in Zimbabwe in 2006 and we are delighted to be able to increase our shareholding in this outstanding asset.

Todays transaction forms an important step in our stated goal of increasing our shareholding in Blanket since the Zimbabwean government removed the indigenisation requirement for gold mining businesses earlier this year.

We look forward to evaluating further investment opportunities in Zimbabwe as they become available.

Related Party Transaction

The acquisition of Fremiros shareholding in Blanket constitutes a related party transaction for the purposes of Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. Accordingly, the independent directors of Caledonia, being all of the directors, having consulted with WH Ireland Limited, the Companys nominated adviser, have concluded that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as the interest of shareholders are concerned.

Strategy and Outlook

Caledonia remains on track to achieve the production target of 80,000 ounces by 2021 at the mine operated by its Zimbabwean subsidiary, Blanket. The Companys strategic focus continues to be the implementation of the Investment Plan at the mine, which was announced in November 2014 and revised in November 2017 with an extension to the Central Shaft project and is expected to extend the life of mine by providing access to deeper levels for production and further exploration. Implementation of the Investment Plan remains on target in terms of timing and cost. Caledonias board and management believe the successful implementation of the Investment Plan is in the best interests of all stakeholders because it is expected to result in increased production, reduced operating costs and greater flexibility to undertake further exploration and development, thereby safeguarding and enhancing the mines long-term future. Caledonias cash position is expected to improve as a result of the implementation of the Investment Plan; Caledonia will continue to assess new opportunities to invest surplus cash.

Dividend Policy

A quarterly dividend of 6.875 cents is Caledonias current dividend policy which it is envisaged will be maintained.

For further information please contact:

Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc

Mark Learmonth

Maurice Mason Tel: +44 1534 679 800

Tel: +44 759 078 1139 WH Ireland

Adrian Hadden/ Ed Allsopp Tel: +44 20 7220 1751 Blytheweigh

Tim Blythe/Camilla Horsfall/Megan Ray Tel: +44 207 138 3204

Note: This announcement contains inside information which is disclosed in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Information

Information and statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation that involve risks and uncertainties relating, but not limited to Caledonias current expectations, intentions, plans, and beliefs. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as anticipate, envisage, believe, expect, goal, plan, target, intend, estimate, could, should, may and will or the negative of these terms or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Examples of forward-looking information in this news release include: production guidance, estimates of future/targeted production rates, and our plans and timing regarding further exploration and drilling and development. This forward-looking information is based, in part, on assumptions and factors that may change or prove to be incorrect, thus causing actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking information. Such factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: failure to establish estimated resources and reserves, the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from estimates, success of future exploration and drilling programs, reliability of drilling, sampling and assay data, assumptions regarding the representativeness of mineralization being inaccurate, success of planned metallurgical test-work, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and other factors.

Securityholders, potential securityholders and other prospective investors should be aware that these statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: risks relating to estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources proving to be inaccurate, fluctuations in gold price, risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers, refiners and other parties with whom the Company does business; inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards, employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; political risk; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining or maintaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities or grades of mineral reserves as mining occurs; global financial condition, the actual results of current exploration activities, changes to conclusions of economic evaluations, and changes in project parameters to deal with unanticipated economic or other factors, risks of increased capital and operating costs, environmental, safety or regulatory risks, expropriation, the Companys title to properties including ownership thereof, increased competition in the mining industry for properties, equipment, qualified personnel and their costs, risks relating to the uncertainty of timing of events including targeted production rate increase and currency fluctuations. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. By its nature, forward-looking information involves numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and various future events will not occur. Caledonia undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law.




A man robbed a Point Loma-area bank Thursday afternoon, then fled from police on southbound Interstate 5 before escaping across the border into Mexico, police said.

The heist happened just before 2 p.m. when the suspect used a demand note to secure money from a teller at the U.S. Bank branch at Rosecrans and Emerson streets, between Point Loma and Liberty Station, San Diego police Officer Steve Bourasa said.

The bandit was described as a roughly 50-year-old white man wearing an all-tan outfit, including hat, shirt and pants. He was believed to have fled in a white SUV.

Soon thereafter, law enforcement officers spotted a man matching the suspects description headed south on I-5 near National City in a white Ford Explorer, Bourasa said. Officers attempted to stop the Explorer, but the driver refused to pull over.

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A pursuit ensued (and) the driver led officers south ... where he fled across the border into Mexico in his vehicle, Bourasa said.

The FBI and San Diego Police Departments robbery division are investigating the heist.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
A $250,000 jewelry heist at a Mount Soledad home this summer left few clues except for blurry images of the getaway car and a figure in a dark hoodie.

San Diego police investigators on Thursday asked for the publics help in tracking down the thieves.

The white Nissan Rogue used by jewel thieves at a Mount Soledad home (San Diego police)

Authorities said security camera footage showed a newer-model white Nissan Rogue pull up in front of the house on June 16. A person in dark jeans and hooded sweatshirt got out of the passenger side.

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The front door of the house was pried open and more than a dozen gemstone pendant necklaces, white and black pearl chokers, earrings, rings and a diamond tiara were stolen.

Photos of the items show large jewels in distinctive, ornate settings.

A distinctive black pearl choker with a gold decorative piece (San Diego police)

Total value of the jewelry was said to top $250,000.

San Diego County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Anyone with information can call the police Northern Division investigators at (858) 552-1727 or Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477 or website at www.sdcrimestoppers.org.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard
Three people were killed and one was seriously injured Thursday evening in a fiery wrong-way crash that halted traffic for hours on northbound Interstate 805 near Sorrento Valley, authorities said.

The collision was reported about 4:35 p.m. near La Jolla Village Drive and Miramar Road, and all northbound lanes were blocked for about six hours, according to the California Highway Patrol. Northbound traffic was diverted off the freeway at the La Jolla Village Drive exit until two right lanes were reopened around 10:30 p.m.

Three people were killed in the collision, which left at least two vehicles engulfed in flames, CHP Officer Jake Sanchez said. Another person was seriously injured but expected to survive.

Nearly a dozen vehicles were involved, with multiple vehicles on fire, CHP Officer Mary Bailey said.

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The collision halted rush-hour traffic a little south of where Interstates 5 and 805 meet in the Golden Triangle.

Scorched vehicle parts litter the freeway as CHP investigators inspect a burned out vehicle Thursday evening on northbound Interstate 805 in the Sorrento Valley. (Courtesy San Diego Fire-Rescue Department)

One witness told officers the crash was caused by a driver in a black car, possibly a Chevrolet Corvette or Lamborghini, who was speeding the wrong way in a carpool lane, according to an online CHP incident log.

The car appeared to be going more than 100 mph when it crashed head-on with another vehicle. Other witnesses said a motorcyclist appeared to be involved, and at least three vehicles were on fire.

One person who called 911 told dispatchers the whole northbound side (of the freeway) is on fire.

Motorists told CHP officers they heard a collision and then saw at least one of the vehicles had exploded in flames.

Three people were killed and one was seriously injured Thursday evening in a fiery wrong-way crash that halted traffic on northbound Interstate 805 near Sorrento Valley, authorities said.

Mariwan Hama and his family were driving on the opposite side of the freeway when they saw dark smoke ahead of them, Hama told the Union-Tribune over the phone Thursday night. He thought the smokes source must be a roadside vegetation fire until they got closer and saw two vehicles engulfed in flames.

People were running around  and someone was on the ground, Hama said. They were trying to help him, he was raising his hand, and they were just surrounding him.

Police and paramedics had not yet arrived as Hama and his family drove past the wreckage. Hama said at least one person was using a small fire extinguisher to battle the heavy flames engulfing what appeared to be an SUV.

Large debris from the crash ended up in southbound lanes of the freeway, including what appeared to be an entire bumper, Hama said.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

11:15 p.m.: This article was updated to show that two freeway lanes were reopened.

7:55 p.m.: This article was updated with details and quotes from a witness.

6:45 p.m.: This article and its headline were updated to show three people were confirmed killed in the crash.

5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 5:10 p.m.
The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press.

The detail came as several media outlets reported on Thursday that federal prosecutors had granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.

President Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty this week to campaign finance violations alleging he, Trump and the tabloid were involved in buying the silence of a porn actress and a Playboy model who alleged affairs with Trump.

Several people familiar with the National Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc., who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because they signed nondisclosure agreements, said the safe was a great source of power for Pecker, the companys chief executive.

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The Trump records were stored alongside similar documents pertaining to other celebrities catch-and-kill deals, in which exclusive rights to peoples stories were bought with no intention of publishing to keep them out of the news. By keeping celebrities embarrassing secrets, the company was able to ingratiate itself with them and ask for favors in return.

But after the Wall Street Journal initially published the first details of Playboy model Karen McDougals catch-and-kill deal shortly before the 2016 election, those assets became a liability. Fearful that the documents might be used against American Media, Pecker and the companys chief content officer, Dylan Howard, removed them from the safe in the weeks before Trumps inauguration, according to one person directly familiar with the events.

The AP cannot say whether the documents were destroyed or simply were moved to a location known to fewer people.

American Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peckers immunity deal was first reported Thursday by Vanity Fair and the Journal, citing anonymous sources. Vanity Fair reported that Howard also was granted immunity.

Court papers in the Cohen case say Pecker offered to help deal with negative stories about [Trumps] relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided.

The Journal reported Pecker shared with prosecutors details about payments that Cohen says Trump directed in the weeks and months before the election to buy the silence of McDougal and another woman alleging an affair, porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels was paid $130,000, and McDougal was paid $150,000.

Although Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday that he knew about payments later on.

In July, Cohen released an audio tape in which he and Trump discussed plans to buy McDougals story from the Enquirer. Such a purchase was necessary, they suggested, to prevent Trump from having to permanently rely on a tight relationship with the tabloid.

You never know where that company  you never know what hes gonna be " Cohen says.

Maybe he gets hit by a truck, Trump says.

Correct, Cohen replies. So, Im all over that.

Pecker is cooperating with federal prosecutors now, but American Media previously declined to participate in congressional inquiries.

In March, in response to a letter from a group of House Democrats about the Daniels and McDougal payments, American Media general counsel Cameron Stracher declined to provide any documents, writing that the company was exempt from U.S. campaign finance laws because it is a news publisher and it was confident it had complied with all tax laws. He also rebuffed any suggestion that America Media Inc., or AMI, had leverage over the president because of its catch-and-kill practices.

AMI states unequivocally that any suggestion that it would seek to extort the President of the United States through the exercise of its editorial discretion is outrageous, offensive, and wholly without merit, Stracher wrote in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.

Former Enquirer employees who spoke to the AP said that negative stories about Trump were dead on arrival dating back more than a decade when he starred on NBCs reality show The Apprentice.

In 2010, at Cohens urging, the National Enquirer began promoting a potential Trump presidential candidacy, referring readers to a pro-Trump website Cohen helped create. With Cohens involvement, the publication began questioning President Obamas birthplace and American citizenship in print, an effort that Trump promoted for several years, former staffers said.

The Enquirer endorsed Trump for president in 2016, the first time it had ever officially backed a candidate. In the news pages, Trumps coverage was so favorable that the New Yorker magazine said the Enquirer embraced him with sycophantic fervor.

Positive headlines for Trump were matched by negative stories about his opponents, including Hillary Clinton: An Enquirer front page from 2015 said Hillary: 6 Months to Live and accompanied the headline with a picture of an unsmiling Clinton with bags under her eyes.
STORY TIPS

Blow the whistle

Are San Diego County institutions, and people in positions of trust, living up to their duties, their promises, the law and the expectations of the public?
An Oregon man was arrested for punching an ex-youth pastor during a sex abuse sentencing  and now supporters are raising money in support of the mans heroic actions.

Kevin Patrick Smith, 45, was charged Wednesday with obstructing governmental or judicial administration, disorderly conduct, and fourth-degree assault.

The ex-pastor, 40-year-old Donald Courtney Biggs, was punched in the face and fell to the floor in fetal position, according to the Mail Tribune.

Biggs pleaded guilty to one felony count in February after being accused of secretly recording dozens of underage victims changing, showering and using the bathroom during summer camps and church trips.

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Most of those young women attended the sentencing where the attack took place.

Before Smiths punch in U.S. District Court in Medford, victims opened up on how Biggs actions resulted in a fear of using others bathrooms.

Supporters have launched a GoFundMe praising Smith for doing what every person in that room wanted to.

The Hero punches pedophile GoFundMe has raised over $3,500 and was created to cover any charges he may face and just a good ol thanks for being a hero!

The federal courthouse  the Jackson County courthouse  they do a good job of checking people for weapons and so forth when they enter the facility. However you can never really predict for these things, Medford Police Lieutenant Justin Ivens said of the unexpected courtroom attack.

Ivens said Biggs was sent to the hospital to be medically cleared and checked for injuries.

Prosecutors want Biggs to get more than 15 years of prison time for the secret camera recordings.

The case will be reviewed by the Jackson County District Attorneys office and Biggs sentencing hearing was scheduled to resume Thursday.
BEIJING, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CreditEase, a Beijing-based leading FinTech company in China, announced today that its venture fund, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund (CEFIF) has recently led $62 million Series C round investment in Upgrade. Other investors in this round of financing include Apoletto, FirstMark Capital, NOAH, Ribbit, Sands Capital Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Union Square Ventures and Vy Capital.



Launched in 2016, Upgrade is a consumer credit platform, combining with affordable credit monitoring and education tools to help consumers better understanding of their credit potential. Upgrade employs over 300 team members and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an operations center in Phoenix, Arizona and technology centers in Chicago, Illinois and Montreal, Canada. The Upgrade platform has facilitated over $1 billion in originations of affordable consumer loans since inception.

Upgrade has raised $142 million in equity capital since its inception in 2016. The $62 million Series C round includes the conversion of all previously issued convertible notes and will help Upgrade continue innovating its products after the recently launched of Personal Credit Line, which is designed to combine the low cost, fixed rate and monthly amortization of personal loans.

Renaud Laplanche, former co-founder of Lending Club and the co-founder and CEO of Upgrade commented: We are thrilled that CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund led the Series C round investment. The new capital will enable us to continue our investments into product, credit analytics, compliance, risk management and expansion of our San Francisco, Phoenix, Montreal and Chicago offices. We are seeing a growing desire from consumers to better understand their overall credit situation and learn to make great financial decisions that gives them access to more affordable credit. This encourages us to keep building responsible consumer credit products that fit these trends. We believe that this partnership with CreditEase is the beginning of many great projects to come.

CEFIF has an equivalent of US$ 1 billion in total committed capital in both RMB and US Dollars and has recently been ranked No. 2 globally in The Most Active FinTech VCs list by CB Insights. This unparalleled achievement demonstrates CreditEases global investment capabilities and expertise in global FinTech innovation. Up till now, the Fund has invested in over 45 fintech companies globally, including Upgrade.

We are very proud to be leading this round. We believe Upgrade will grow into a mainstream consumer credit brand that is dedicated to help consumers better understand their credit, and encourages responsible credit behavior, and we are excited to be part of the journey. said Anju Patwardhan, Managing Director at CreditEase, who will be joining the Upgrade board.

As Upgrades CEO, Renaud presides over the companys business strategy and oversees its execution in developing consumer credit products that help consumers better understand their credit, so they can access more affordable credit products.

Renaud Laplanche pioneered online lending in the US over a decade ago, establishing personal loans as a mainstream affordable credit product for consumers looking for an alternative to high-interest credit cards. His vision to lower costs, dramatically improve user experience and transparency, and help people get access to more responsible credit products has set a standard for online lending. Renauds founding of Lending Club in 2006 and broader vision has sprung an entire industry and movement that has made credit more affordable for millions of families in America and around the world.

About CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund

Founded in February 2016, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund (CEFIF) is a venture fund investing in FinTech companies globally. CEFIFI has an equivalent of USD 1 billion in the total committed capital. The Fund was recently ranked the 2nd Most Active Fintech VC Fund globally by CB Insights and also nominated for Top Fintech Equity Investor Award at LendIt USA Annual Conference.

www.cefintechfund.com

About CreditEase

CreditEase is a leading FinTech company in China, specializing in wealth management and inclusive finance, in addition to payment technology, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, robo-advisory, insurance technology and blockchain products and services. CreditEase actively engages with global FinTech innovators through business incubation, commercial co-operation, and investment. Better tech, better finance, better world.

www.creditease.cn

About Upgrade

Upgrade is a consumer credit platform that combines access to affordable credit with credit monitoring and education tools to help consumers better understand their credit and unlock their credit potential. Upgrade employs over 300 team members and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an operations center in Phoenix, Arizona and technology centers in Chicago, Illinois and Montreal, Canada. Upgrade does not facilitate loans to residents of Connecticut, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont and West Virginia. All loans originated through the Upgrade platform are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC.

https://www.upgrade.com

Contacts:

CreditEase Corporate Communications

Shirley Xu yanxu14@creditease.cn
Mike Pence may want to have a serious talk with his boss.

While campaigning for Congress in 2001, the Vice President stated unequivocally that if a President has been caught committing a crime, he should be President no more.

Presidents (sic) who commit crimes should resign or be impeached, Pence wrote in a press release entitled, Why Clinton Must Resign or Be Impeached.

The soon-to-be Indiana congressmans campaign dropped the blistering statement in the wake of President Bill Clintons admission that he had been sexually involved with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton had previously denied having sex with Lewinsky  and Pence stressed that amounted to perjury.

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President Bill Clinton must resign or be removed from the office of President of the United States, Pence wrote. Perjury is a crime.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday.

In a damning guilty plea in Manhattan Federal Court, Donald Trumps former lawyer and personal fixer Michael Cohen directly implicated the President in committing campaign finance crimes by authorizing hush payments to two women who say they had sex with him over a decade ago.

The illegal pre-election payoffs were issued at Trumps direction for the principle purpose of influencing the 2016 election, Cohen testified.

If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldnt they be a crime for Donald Trump? Lanny Davis, Cohens attorney, tweeted on Tuesday night.

A spokeswoman for Pence did not return a request for comment.

But Pences 2001 comments may speak for themselves.

Our leaders must either act to restore the luster and dignity of the institution of the Presidency or we can be certain that this is only the beginning of an even more difficult time for our land, Pence said. For the nation to move on, the President must move out.
When it comes to flipping, Rudy Giuliani wont budge.

The former federal prosecutor  famous for coaxing New York mobsters into spilling the beans on their bosses  took a slight jab at President Trump on Friday over his claim that the longstanding legal tactic of flipping ought to be outlawed.

The President is not a lawyer, Giuliani told the Daily News.

In an unusual rebuttal of his own boss, the New York mayor-turned-top Trump attorney suggested the President might not have had a full grasp of what he was talking about when he went on Fox News on Wednesday and proposed outlawing witness cooperation agreements.

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I dont think hes against the idea of cooperation, Giuliani, 74, said. Hes against the idea of getting people to lie.

Im not troubled by his comments, Giuliani added.

Between 1983 and 1989, Giuliani served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the same office that is now prosecuting Trumps former personal fixer Michael Cohen.

During his time at SDNY, Giuliani made a name as a tough-talking prosecutor who fearlessly worked to dismantle New Yorks Italian mob.

Most prominently, Giuliani indicted 11 high-profile mobsters during the 1985 Mafia Commission Trial, including the heads of the so-called Five Families. Many of those indictments were made possible thanks to Giulianis insistence on getting low-level mobsters to flip on their bosses in exchange for reduced sentences.

But Trump appeared to have no respect for such legal tactics during his Fox interview, which came in the wake of Cohen submitting a guilty plea that directly implicated the President in committing campaign finance crimes by authorizing hush payments to two women who say they had sex with him. Cohens attorney has since said his client has information about Trump of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller that hed be willing to divulge in return for a reduced prison stint.

Its called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal, Trump said while talking about Cohen. I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years, I have been watching flippers. Everything is wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go.

I have seen it many times, Trump added.

The President had days earlier tweeted praise for his criminally convicted ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort because, unlike Cohen, he refused to break.

Legal experts said Trumps comments echoed language used by mob bosses  like the ones Giuliani prosecuted in the 1980s.
For those of us affected by the rhythms of the academic calendar, summer lends itself as a time for greater introspection. As an education researcher and educator deeply invested in the realization of a more just world, I invite us to pause and ask: Why are we sending our kids to college this fall?

Twenty years ago, as I left home for the university, I understood that a college education was the necessary means of getting a good paying job. Punto. My well-intentioned immigrant parents did not associate education as being liberatory and transformative. Unconsciously, I was passed a way of thinking that linked higher education solely to my individual upward mobility rather than as an opportunity to train and prepare for a life of socially responsible civic engagement. Thankfully, my freshman year, I took a sociology class with Jung Min Choi, a brilliant professor who shattered not only my perception of what it meant to be an educated successful person, he also debunked another inherited belief  that social inequalities such as racism, poverty and sexism were part of the natural order of things.

For the first time, I became interested in more than just obtaining a comfortable lifestyle, and began to consider how I might actively contribute to co-creating a different world. Not only have I experienced firsthand the galvanizing power of education, but I witness it semester after semester as students begin to critically examine society and come to understand that their choices will either perpetuate or change the status quo.

I have taught over 1,000 undergraduates. At the University of California, Berkeley, I am fortunate to work with bright and passionate students. Yet I find that the great majority of my students, regardless of their social background, have been given ideas similar to what my parents gave me about higher education. Due to the overwhelming pressures college students feel, they are often riddled with stress, and myopically concerned with grades and developing their income-generating capabilities.

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While your kids (and all kids) deserve good-paying jobs, if they were less obsessed with becoming competitive, they would have more time to ask themselves how they could be more cooperative  how their evolving knowledge in chemistry, coding, literature or biology  might contribute to eradicating environmental destruction, poverty, racism, mass incarceration and sexual violence, for example.

College students exude promise when they are encouraged to explore these kinds of questions. Renowned scholar and public intellectual Edward Said emphasizes the importance of being like the amateur, which is a way of being easily embodied by college students. For Said, an intellectual should be fueled by a sense of urgency to see social injustices redressed and like the amateur, she shouldnt be motivated by a paycheck or status, but moved by love and commitment to the task at hand. While a college education is not a requirement for edification, ones college years are an ideal time for youth to engage their amateur spirit and explore solutions to our shared social problems. One need not be an expert to raise questions and spark the collective human agency required for social change.

Students take ethics and social responsibility seriously when they see others doing so. How do we convey to our youth that eradicating injustice is a serious matter to us? Are we unconsciously passing our youth a mindset that prioritizes making money above all else?

Education has and never will be neutral when it prioritizes some values over others. Therefore, its not merely us who could use some self-reflection regarding the values we uplift. Our universities consistent entanglements in corruption scandals and the gutting of humanities programs, which encourage critical thinking and empathy for others, do not send a message that we value integrity and concern for the greater good. Yet despite their shortcomings, colleges still provide an infrastructure that facilitates collaborative action that has advanced the public good.

Students in 1984 helped end apartheid in South Africa. Students in 2015 secured divestment of millions of dollars in private prisons. Considering the persistence and normalization of violence we are witnessing in our politically polarized society, there is no better time than now to examine what messages our youth are inheriting from us about what it means to be an educated successful person.

While there is no way to know for certain what the future holds, its safe to assume that our social problems will persist unless we encourage our youth to craft their intelligence in ways that addresses them. Indeed, our collective future depends on it.

Rangel, a San Diego native, is a doctoral candidate in education at the University of California, Berkeley and hold a masters in sociology from San Diego State University. She is a researcher and educator who has taught sociology, education and ethics courses.
Hunter must be honest about his predicament

Re Do the honorable thing, Duncan Hunter (Aug. 22): It is hard to know where to begin, but the short story seems to be Duncan Hunter and his wife have viewed the donations of their supporters as their own private piggy bank.

Congressman Hunter has betrayed his fellow veterans and the hard-working residents of this district. Hunter and his wife are entitled to a fair trial, but I do not believe they are qualified to claim to represent us, the honest people who live in this community.

If Hunter has any integrity left, he should resign now. His claims of innocence, in light of the charges filed, and the fact that he has already repaid more than $60,000 for some of these abuses, are truly laughable. Is this the ethical code of the Marines?

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Carol Gendel

San Marcos

Who did Hunter hurt by spending donations?

Our good Congressman Duncan Hunter is criminally indicted for spending some campaign funds for personal use. As a public record that should be the extent of it. It was donated money. Its disappointing, but no one here was a victim.

Accordingly, I see no problem with a congressman choosing how to spend campaign funds for election probabilities. He may sacrifice in other ways no one is aware of.

Its how he votes that matters.

Arthur J. Devine

Escondido

Military service no excuse for malfeasance

Wow, another witch hunt? And politically timed? I dont believe the allegation of fraud adheres to any political, Gregorian or even Julian calendar.

The elder Hunters observation that because his son went into the Marine Corps after 9/11 and served combat tours somehow mitigates his behavior has no bearing on the charges.

Randy Duke Cunningham was also a combat veteran. At best, I think the younger Hunter should file for the Guinness Book of World Record in the Overdraft and Fees category. He may be unopposed and win in a landslide.

James M. Tiffany

San Diego

Trump backers faced a tough week in court

The front page of the August 22 U-T hit the trifecta: Cohen pleads guilty, Jury convicts Manafort, and best of all, Hunter, wife face criminal charges.

Duncan Hunter appears to be one of the more corrupt members of Congress, facing a 60-count indictment for illegal use of campaign contributions and lying about it.

A classic front page. Looking forward to your next best front page declaring President Impeached.

Lyman Christopher

San Diego

Problems of Manafort, Cohen are theirs alone

Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen were guilty of tax evasion and bank fraud under the Obama administration, and were brought to justice by the Trump Department of Justice.

Neither conviction had anything to do with either administration.

Daniel Hall

San Diego

What would Cunningham say about Hunter?

Duncan Hunter and his wife are charged with a 60-count indictment on fraud, and he blames the Democrats and a left wing conspiracy. I think Ill complain to my congressman, Randy Duke Cunningham.

Oops, I forgot what happens to public servants who defraud the public.

Mark Falcon

Rancho Penasquitos

Duncan Hunter must take responsibility and accountability for the trouble he is in with the federal court system. He has repeatedly blamed others for his indictment but, as an ex-militsary officer, he must know that the commanding officer is always accountable for the actions of his subordinates, whether he himself has taken any part in the actions.

Since he is essentially the commanding officer of his office, he is responsible and must be accountable for whatever actions his team does. He should man-up and accept the result by resigning - or stand for trial without blaming anyone else.

Charles Caldwell

Alpine

If we voters return Duncan Hunter to Congress after learning of his likely theft of $250,000 in campaign funds and learning the fact that he cannot even manage his own personal finances (more than 1,100 overdrafts in seven years), we will have collectively lost our minds. Duncan Hunter is not only morally bankrupt, he is woefully unqualified to hold office.

Ian Stuart

San Diego

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following issues have been halted by IIROC / LOCRCVM a suspendu la negociation des titres suivants :



Company / Societe : Red Eagle Mining Corporation TSX Symbol / Symbole TSX : R All Issues / les Titres: Yes/Oui Reason / Motif : At the Request of the Company Pending News / A la demande de la societe en attendant une nouvelle Halt Time (ET) / Heure de la suspension (HE) 8:00:00 AM

IIROC can make a decision to impose a temporary suspension (halt) of trading in a security of a publicly-listed company. Trading halts are implemented to ensure a fair and orderly market. IIROC is the national self-regulatory organization which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada.

LOCRCVM peut prendre la decision de suspendre (ou darreter) temporairement les operations a legard dun titre dune societe cotee en bourse. Les arrets des operations sont mis en oeuvre afin dassurer le bon fonctionnement dun marche equitable. LOCRCVM est lorganisme dautoreglementation national qui surveille lensemble des courtiers en placement et lensemble des operations effectuees sur les marches des titres de capitaux propres et les marches des titres de creance au Canada.

Please note that IIROC is not able to provide any additional information regarding a specific trading halt. Information is limited to general enquiries only.

Veuillez prendre note que l'OCRCVM n'est pas en mesure de fournir d'informations supplementaires au sujet d'une suspension des negociations en particulier. L'information est restreinte aux questions generales.

IIROC Inquiries

1-877-442-4322 (Option 2)
The farmers of the Central Valley have for years argued that they get little sympathy from state water bureaucrats despite their huge importance to Californias economy in arguably the worlds most fertile agricultural region. Given the political influence of Golden State environmentalists  some of whom consider Big Ag one of the worst aspects of modern civilization  these farmers have reason to worry about fair treatment. Its why on Monday, hundreds of them gathered at the state Capitol in Sacramento to protest a plan being considered by the California State Water Resources Control Board to divert some water supplies from farmers to the Low San Joaquin River and three of its tributaries from February to June to try to boost the declining population of salmon.

But instead of considering the vast number of variables in the water debate and carefully crafting a new approach, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to come up with far-reaching changes on short notice. On Aug. 17, Zinke issued a memo to his staff ordering the creation within 15 days of a plan to force federal and state officials to maximize water supplies to the Central Valley and to streamline how his department interprets relevant environmental laws, starting with the Endangered Species Act.

This seems much more like an invitation to protracted litigation than a constructive approach to effecting change. Dramatic shock and awe tactics may work for military attacks but seem less likely to be successful in public policy debates.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board wont judge Zinkes initiative until its specifics are issued. But our hopes are not high.

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Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Rep. Duncan Hunters only Republican colleague in San Diegos congressional delegation said Thursday he is concerned about the timing of the congressmans indictment, with just months left in his re-election campaign. Hunter and his wife Margaret on Tuesday were indicted on dozens of criminal charges including wire fraud and campaign finance crimes.

The timing so close to an election raises significant concerns, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, told The San Diego Union Tribune via email. Nevertheless, Im saddened by the news and what I know is a very difficult time for a colleague and his family whom I have known and served with for many years.

The couple, facing 60 counts, pleaded not guilty at their arraignment in San Diego federal court on Thursday, after Hunter told reporters the day before that he never used his campaign for personal expenditures  ever. Instead, he blamed what he called the deep state.

House Speaker Paul Ryan sought Hunters removal from his committee positions in the House of Representatives this week pending the resolution of this matter and Hunter has offered to temporarily step down according to reporting by Politico. He serves on three committees: Transportation and Infrastructure, House Armed Services and Education and Workforce.

We also reached out to Rep. Susan Davis, Rep. Scott Peters and Rep. Juan Vargas of the San Diego delegation for comment. We asked these questions:

What is your response to the indictment?

Should Hunter resign?

Should Hunter step down from his committee assignments as House Speaker Paul Ryan has requested?

Any other comment to make on the matter?

Heres how they responded.

Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego

These are serious charges that were a long time in coming. He has the right to a trial but could be distracted from properly serving his constituents.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego

Im very concerned about the nature of these charges. As public servants, we owe it to the people we represent to follow the campaign spending and disclosure laws, which keep elections fair and provide the transparency the public deserves. The public deserves an explanation, and any wrongdoing should be punished.

He needs to decide what is best for the people he represents and his family. Its difficult for me to see how he can represent his district at the same time he is consumed with defending himself in court.

If he resigns from his committees, there is little point in remaining in Congress.

Duncan and I have wide political differences, and I have endorsed his election opponent. Nevertheless, he and I, and our entire delegation, have managed to work together on San Diego matters. I certainly dont condone any of the alleged misconduct, but this is sad news for our region and for his children.

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego

I support Rep. Duncan Hunters decision to step down from his committee responsibilities. By removing himself, he is allowing for Members of Congress to return to Washington and get back to work without any distractions. I firmly believe that our judicial system will handle this case appropriately.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin


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BW Offshore will release its Q2 2018 results on Friday 31 August at 07:30 (CEST). The company will host a presentation of the financial results 09:00 (CEST) the same day at Hotel Continental in Oslo, Norway. The presentation will be given by CEO Carl K. Arnet, CFO Knut R. Sthre and Managing Director BW Energy Lin G. Espey.

The presentation will be broadcasted via webcast and will also be available for replay. Please visit www.bwoffshore.com for details.

For further information, please contact:

IR@bwoffshore.com

About BW Offshore:

BW Offshore is a leading provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry. The company also participates in developing proven offshore hydrocarbon reservoirs. BW Offshore is represented in all major oil & gas regions world-wide with a fleet of 15 owned FPSOs. The company has more than 30 years of production track record, having executed 39 FPSO and FSO projects. BW Offshore is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.





Further information is available on www.bwoffshore.com
TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline earlier today by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, please note that the Reason / Motif should be "Pending News / Nouvelle en attente" rather than "At the Request of the Company Pending News / A la demande de la societe en attendant une nouvelle" as previously stated. The corrected release follows:

IIROC Trading Halt / Suspension de la negociation par l'OCRCVM  R (All Issues)

The following issues have been halted by IIROC / LOCRCVM a suspendu la negociation des titres suivants :



Company / Societe : Red Eagle Mining Corporation TSX Symbol / Symbole TSX : R All Issues / les Titres: Yes/Oui Reason / Motif : Pending News / Nouvelle en attente Halt Time (ET) / Heure de la suspension (HE) 8:00:00 AM

IIROC can make a decision to impose a temporary suspension (halt) of trading in a security of a publicly-listed company. Trading halts are implemented to ensure a fair and orderly market. IIROC is the national self-regulatory organization which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada.

LOCRCVM peut prendre la decision de suspendre (ou darreter) temporairement les operations a legard dun titre dune societe cotee en bourse. Les arrets des operations sont mis en oeuvre afin dassurer le bon fonctionnement dun marche equitable. LOCRCVM est lorganisme dautoreglementation national qui surveille lensemble des courtiers en placement et lensemble des operations effectuees sur les marches des titres de capitaux propres et les marches des titres de creance au Canada.

Please note that IIROC is not able to provide any additional information regarding a specific trading halt. Information is limited to general enquiries only.

Veuillez prendre note que l'OCRCVM n'est pas en mesure de fournir d'informations supplementaires au sujet d'une suspension des negociations en particulier. L'information est restreinte aux questions generales.

IIROC Inquiries

1-877-442-4322 (Option 2)
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One song aimed to comfort a young boy dealing with turbulence in his family life. The other song cautioned against the use of violence in social change, yet somehow managed to anger both ends of the political spectrum. The 45 single they came on hit number one in 15 countries and ended 1968 as the number one release of the year in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States. The songs are Hey Jude and Revolution, and The Beatles released them 50 years ago on August 26th.

The seeds for Hey Jude were planted in May of 1968 when John Lennon split with his wife of six years, Cynthia, after beginning his affair with artist Yoko Ono. In June, Paul McCartney went to visit his bandmates soon-to-be ex-wife and their son, Julian. On the drive, a song occurred to McCartney that he called Hey Jules. It was meant to help make the separation easier on the young boy. Soon after, McCartney changed Jules to Jude, as he thought that latter was easier to sing and sounded better.

At the same time, Lennon was dealing with his own feelings and his increasing political consciousness. Vietnam War protests in the United States, protests against the communist government in Poland, and the May 1968 campus uprisings in France roiled together in a stew of news coverage that fed Lennons interest in expressing his own anti-war sentiments in song. As related in The Beatles Anthology book released in 2000, which collected interviews with the band, Lennon said, I thought it was about time we spoke about it [revolution], the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war.

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Lennon was also deeply influenced by what he and the rest of the band had experienced with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi earlier in the year. The Maharishi introduced Transcendental Meditation to the West and became the spiritual guide for the band in a period where they publicly rejected drugs in favor of their study of TM. In a pair of stories from 1968 by Lewis H. Lapham, The Saturday Evening Post documented the bands trip to India along with fellow musicians Mike Love of The Beach Boys and Donovan. Lapham wrote, Lennon referred me both to their photographs and to their records as diaries of their developing consciousness. In the recent photographs, he said, he hoped people might notice something going on behind the eyes other than guitar boogie.

The time in India proved to be a wellspring of creativity for the band. Ringo Starr finished his first tune as a songwriter, and the incredibly prolific Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison would write a total of 18 songs used on The Beatles, aka The White Album and two for the later Abbey Road. During the trip, the band would become disillusioned with the Maharishi over what was perceived to be self-interest and alleged impropriety with another famous student, Mia Farrow, though the group softened their split with him over time. Harrison later went so far as to publicly apologize for the way that The Beatles treated the Maharishi at the time.

After their time in India, the band returned to the studio in England in May. The recordings of Hey Jude and Revolution took place from July 9 to July 13 for Revolution and July 31 to August 1 for Hey Jude. As usual, George Martin sat in the producers chair. The version of Revolution that backed Hey Jude was actually the third version of the song recorded. The first version is the slower, more bluesy take that kicks off Side four on the double-album The Beatles, aka The White Album. The second, experimental version, named Revolution 9, is the next-to-last song on that side. Lennon wanted the first Revolution to be the single, but McCartney and George Harrison disagreed; McCartney wasnt sure about the political reception, and both he and Harrison had misgivings about the slower pace.

The compromise became the third, and arguably (perhaps also inarguably) most recognizable, version. The Amplifier/Boss Talk column at the Roland musical equipment company website broke down the recording technique used to achieve the legendary, distorted fuzz-tone guitar that opens the record. They reported that, According to Geoff Emerick (the studio engineer for that session), he had John Lennon and George Harrison running their guitars directly into the mixing desk. The guitar tone is a result of one channel on the mixing desk being run into another. Both of these channels were driven well beyond their normal operating capacity. Bad news for the desk (it could have overheated and caused permanent damage), good news for guitar tone history!

The official promotional film of Revolution by The Beatles.

The initial explosion of noise and the overdubbed scream that open the song make it instantly recognizable. Revolution remains an upbeat, straight-out rocker, inviting you to dance even as it traffics in remarkably heavy subjects for a pop song. McCartney and Harrison got their way: Revolution became the B-side. The song did engender political reactions; in fact, the far left thought that it was too soft and not radical enough, and the right misinterpreted the use of Chairman Mao in the lyrics. Despite being the B-side, the song got enough airplay on its own to chart separately in the U.S., where it reached number 78 on the Top 100 for the year; in Australia, it spent one week at number one.

Though the band would, excuse us, come together on the idea of Hey Jude being the A-side, they still needed to record it. For two nights prior to the official session, the band rehearsed the song, laying down 25 takes. During the actual recording, the band did four full takes, but chose the first one as the master for the song. Additional instrumentation and background vocals were added in the overdubbing phase, as was the final coda, which featured a 36-piece orchestra (producer George Martin provided the scoring for their parts). The final version of the single clocked in at 7 minutes and 11 seconds, a mammoth for its time.

Hey Jude

Hey Jude and Revolution saw release on August 26 as part of a four-single attack from the bands new label, Apple Records. In addition to Jude, the other singles were Those Were The Days by Mary Hopkin (soon to be a huge hit itself), Sour Milk Sea by Jackie Lomax, and Thingumybob by Black Dyke Mills Band. Hey Jude hit the U.S. charts in September for a 19-week run, including nine weeks at number one (Hopkin was at number two for three of those weeks). It was the 16number one for The Beatles, and it ended 1968 as the number one song of the year on the Top 100. The Beatles also shot a pair of promotional films for the songs at Twickenham Film Studios on September 4. The Hey Jude clip features an introduction by journalist and talk show host David Frost; the film would debut on his Frost on Saturday show on September 8. By November, the single had sold over six million copies worldwide.

Many musicologists and critics have tried to dissect the appeal of Jude over time. The sing-along aspect certainly contributes to its popularity. Its also a classic slow-build song in that it starts simply (McCartney on the piano, singing) as the other pieces gradually come in and build to the grand climactic combination of orchestra and stadium-pleasing Na Na NA Na Na Na NA refrain.

Music comes and goes, but The Beatles stubbornly refuse to fade. Dozens of their songs remain staples across a variety of radio formats, and surviving members McCartney and Ringo Starr have vital, ongoing concert and recording careers. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and each member has received an individual induction (as has Martin and their original manager Brian Epstein). As for Hey, Jude, Rolling Stone ranked it at number eight on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It may be, without exaggeration, one song that nearly everyone on the planet knows. It certainly seemed that way when McCartney performed it near the end of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. To create music that cuts across all cultures and political differences . . . maybe that was the biggest revolution of all.

Featured image: Shutterstock.com
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2018 -- Eyewear consists of products used to aid in vision correction, cosmetic enhancement and protection of the eyes.Corrective eyewear can be used to correct and alleviate refractive errors. Spectacles and contact lenses are the most common form of corrective eyewear, and are usually prescribed by an optometrist, ophthalmologist, or optician. They aim to improve the quality of life of patients, and can also be used for eye protection.



Factors such as rapid modernization in urban areas and rising consciousness about eye health conditions are responsible for driving the growth of the eyewear market in the Middle East.Consumers, especially the younger generation, are likely to try out newproducts as long as they provide real added value and contribute to their quality of life. Moreover, with a higher percentage of population being able to afford luxury goods, increasing disposable income is a major driving force for the expansion of the eyewear market.



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Colored contact lenses, high index eyeglasses, and high-end spectacle frames are now within the reach of a large section of the population. Customers frequently replace spectacle lenses by getting customized lenses to fit the same frame. Since lenses have a higher retail margin than frames, there is high renewal rate of lenses among consumers. Considering all these factors, the eyewear market in the Middle East is likely to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.



However, increasing acceptance rate towards refractive surgeries and treatments are expected to inhibit market growth, as these methodologies provide a complete alternative to the usage of corrective eyewear products. These procedures require a one-time investment, and omit periodicexpenses of eyewear and eye care products.

Eyewear productsare marketed through different distribution channels including optical shops, hypermarkets, department shops and online stores. Increasing availability of these products in stores and supermarkets are also promoting the growth of the eyewear market in the Middle East.Optical shops are having a substantial advantage over other channels.



Leading chains such as YateemOpticals, Al Jaber, and MagrabiOpticals are increasing their number of outlets in the Middle East.Strong marketing efforts, social media advertising, special offers and the promotion of new designs and concentration on recent trends are some of the major strategies implemented by these optical shops. However, affordable eye check-ups and increased awareness amongst the public are necessaryfor the widespread use of eyeglasses and contact lenses.



This market research study analyzes the eyewear market in the Middle Eastand provides estimates in terms of revenue (USD Million) from 2014 to 2023. It emphasizeson the drivers and restraints responsible for the growth of the industry and examines their impact during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. Moreover, it recognizes the important opportunities for the market expansion in the upcoming years.



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The report segments the eyewear market based on product type which includes spectacles, contact lenses and plano sunglasses. The spectacles segment is segmented into spectacle lenses and spectacle frames. The contact lenses segment is subdivided into rigid contact lenses and soft contact lenses. The plano sunglasses segment is further bifurcated into polarized and non-polarized plano sunglasses.By countries, the eyewear market in the Middle East is classified into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and rest of the Middle East.



The report offers company market share analysis of key industry participants. Major players have been profiled on the basis of company overview, financial overview, business strategies and key developments.Leading market players profiled in this report areLuxottica S.p.A. (Italy), Safilo Group (Italy), Essilor International (France), Johnson and Johnson Vision Care (U.S.) and Carl Zeiss A.G. (Germany).



The Middle EastEyewear Market: by Product Type



- Spectacles

- Spectacle Lenses

- Spectacle Frames

- Contact lenses

- Soft Contact Lenses

- Rigid Contact Lenses

- Plano Sunglasses

- Polarized Sunglasses

- Non-Polarized Sunglasses



The Middle EastEyewear Market: by Country



- Saudi Arabia

- Egypt

- UAE

- Qatar

- Oman

- Kuwait

- Bahrain

- Jordan

- Lebanon

- Turkey

o Rest of the Middle East
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2018 -- Global Annatto (Bixin/Norbixin) Market: Overview



Bixa Orellana L. Annatto plant majorly grown in the tropical countries is the primary source of annatto in the form of dried seeds. Annatto has found major applications in the food industry. Annatto is used as a condiment and for food coloring (imparts red or orange color to food products and beverages). Annatto's characteristics such as good heat stability and water and oil solubility are increasing the adoption of annatto globally. Properties such as flexibility applicability of the annatto including spices, culinary food, dairy products, dyes, cosmetic products, etc., have made annatto one of the consumer preference among other natural color ingredients. The governments of various countries have imposed stringent regulations on the use of artificial or synthetic food colors, which is expected to propel the demand for annatto, a natural form of food color, globally. The countries in Latin America such as Peru and Brazil are the leading producers of annatto. A majority of the production is exported to North America, where the demand for annatto is estimated to be high.



Global Annatto (Bixin/Norbixin) Market: Dynamics



The demand for processed food and beverage products is rising globally, creating a huge demand for food colors. Annatto is directly extracted from plants and thus does not contain any harmful chemical as that in the synthetic or artificial food colors. With the increasing preference for natural food colors in the food processing industry, government regulations towards consumption of artificial food colors is expected to drive the growth of the annatto market globally. With natural origin and coloring property, annatto has also found applications in the textile industry as a dyeing ingredient. However, annatto contains some residual proteins that may cause Ig-E mediated reaction, which is expected to restrain the growth of the global annatto market. Besides, availability of other natural food colors such as cochineal and turmeric are expected to hamper the demand for annatto globally.



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Global Annatto (Bixin/Norbixin) Market: Segmentation



The global annatto market can be segmented on the basis of form as:



Powder

Liquid

The global annatto market can be segmented on the basis of solubility as:



Norbixin or Water soluble

Bixin or Liquid soluble

The global annatto market can be segmented on the basis of the end-user industry as:



Food

Culinary

Bakery

Dairy

others

Beverage

Cosmetics

Textile

Pharmaceutical

Others (floor wax, furniture polish, etc.)

The global annatto market can be segmented on the basis of the geographic region as:



North America

US

Canada

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Argentina

Chile

Peru

Rest of Latin America

Europe

EU  4 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain)

UK

BENELUX (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg)

NORDIC (Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden)

Eastern Europe (Poland, Ukraine, Czech Rep., Etc.)

Rest of Europe

CIS & Russia

Japan

APEJ

Greater China

India

South Korea

ASEAN Countries

Rest of APEJ

Middle East & Africa

GCC Countries

Turkey

Iran

Israel

South Africa

Rest of MEA

Global Annatto (Bixin/Norbixin) Market: Regional Outlook



The U.S. annatto market is expected to account for high market share among all the countries in the world, majorly driven by high production of processed food in the country. The North America annatto market is followed by Western Europe. Latin America is the major producer of annatto, but majority of the annatto is exported to North America, the primary export destination. Eastern Europe, Latin America and MEA markets are estimated to show sluggish growth for annatto market over the forecast period.



Global Annatto (Bixin/Norbixin) Market: Key Players



Examples of some of the key players in the global annatto market are:



Wild Flavors

FMC Corporation

Amerilure, Inc.

Monterey Bay Spice Co.

Hansen Holding A/S

Vinayak Ingredients (India) Pvt. Ltd.

DDW The Colour House

Kalsec Inc.

AICA COLOR SAC

Aarkay Food Products Ltd.

Brief Approach to the Research



Our analysis will follow a modeling-based approach and triangulation methodology to estimate the data covered in this report. A detailed market understanding and assessment of the applications, types, forms, and end users 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-checked with the supply-side assessment of value generated over a pre-defined period. The statistics and data are collected at the regional level, consolidated and synthesized at a global level to estimate the overall market sizes.



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Key Data Points Covered in the Report



Some of the key data points covered in our report include:



An overview of the vegetable carbon including background and evolution

Macroeconomic factors affecting the vegetable carbon and its potential

Market dynamics, such as drivers, challenges, and trends in the market

Detailed value chain analysis of the market

The cost structure of the products and segments covered in the study of the market

In-depth pricing analysis, by key product segments, regions and by major market participants in the 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

Competitive landscape of the market, including detailed profiles of the top players

This analytical research study imparts an all-inclusive assessment on the market, while propounding historical intelligence, actionable insights, and industry-validated & statistically-upheld market forecast. Verified and suitable set of assumptions and methodology has been leveraged for developing this comprehensive study. Information and analysis on key market segments incorporated in the report has been delivered in weighted chapters. A thorough analysis has been offered by the report on



Market Dynamics

Market Size

Market Segments

Demand & Supply Trends

Current Issues and Challenges

Companies and Competitor Landscape

Value Chain

Technology

Regional Segments Analyzed Include



North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico. Brazil)

Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain)

Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)

Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, N. Africa)

Compilation of authentic and first-hand intelligence, insights offered in the report are based on quantitative and qualitative assessment by leading industry experts, and inputs from opinion leaders & industry participants around the value chain. Growth determinants, macroeconomic indicators, and parent market trends have been scrutinized and delivered, coupled with the market attractiveness for each market segment encompassed. Qualitative impact of growth influencers on the market segments across regions has also been mapped by the report.



Highlights from the Report



Elaborated scenario of the parent market

Transformations in the market dynamics

Detailed segmentation of the target market

Historical, current and forecast market size based on value and volume

Latest industry developments and trends

Competition landscape

Strategies adopted by the market players and product developments made

Potential and niche segments, along with their regional analysis

Unbiased analysis on performance of the market

Up-to-date and must-have intelligence for the market players to enhance and sustain their competitiveness
Uttar Pradesh, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2018 -- Space mining is set to usher in a new era of space exploration and commercialization. As more and more investors are pumping money into space mining firms and governments like Luxembourg and United States create conducive legal and policy environment, this industry is ready to take off.



The need to find alternative sources of depleting natural resources like rare earth metals, new nuclear fuels like Helium 3 and deep space exploration are driving factors for Global space mining market.



Ambarish Kumar Verma, Managing Director of NAVADHI Market Research Private Limited said "the global space mining industry is expected to be worth USD 14.71 billion between FY2018 to FY2025. The growth in this market is predicted on the basis of various factors like market drivers, current and upcoming space mining missions, current investment growth pattern, and market forecasts."



To know more about this newly launched market research report visit "Global Space Mining Market 2025"



This report provides in-depth analysis for the space mining market for the year FY2018 to FY2025, including market structure, market trends, market constraints and industry drivers.



Spanning over 103 pages and 68 exhibits, "Global Space Mining Market 2025" report presents an in-depth assessment of the Global space mining market from 2018 till 2025.



The report has detailed company profiles including their position in Global space mining market value chain, financial performance analysis, product and service wise business strategy and SWOT analysis for 7 key players in Global space mining market namely:



1. Deep Space Industries

2. Planetary Resources

3. Moon Express

4. ispace Inc

5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

6. European Space Agency (ESA)

7. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)



Scope of the Global Space Mining Market 2025 Report



- This report provides detailed information about Global space mining market including future market forecasts.

- This report identifies the need for focusing on space mining market

- This report provides detailed information on segment wise (asteroid mining and moon mining) growth forecasts for global space mining market up to 2025.

- The report identifies the growth drivers and inhibitors for global space mining market.

- This study also identifies various policies related to global space mining market.

- The report identifies various credit, policy and technical risks associated with global space mining market.

- This report has detailed profiles 7 key players in Global Space mining market covering their business strategy, financial performance, future forecasts and SWOT analysis.

- This report provides PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental) analysis for Global space mining market.

- This report provides Porter's Five Forces analysis for Global space mining market.

- This report provides SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis for Global space mining market.

- This report identifies the key challenges faced by new players in Global space mining market.

- This report provides information about current and future trends for Global space mining market.

- This report also provides strategic recommendations for policy makers, end users, service providers and investors.



For more information and purchase this report please visit:

https://www.navadhi.com/publications/global-space-mining-market-2025



About NAVADHI Market Research Pvt Ltd

NAVADHI is a market research company that helps global firms differentiate themselves, break market entry barriers, track their investments, develop business strategies and plan for future by providing actionable market research intelligence that helps them succeed.
Petaling Jaya, Selangor -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2018 -- RapidCloud one of the leading cloud hosting provider in Malaysia, is pleased to announce their partnership with SmarterTools Inc to resell SmarterMail, a collaborative mail server, SmarterStats, a provider of detailed Web analytics, and SmarterTicket, a feature-rich customer support ticketing system.



"With accelerated customer adoption of our email hosting offering, we have decided to go one step further to partner with SmarterTools on dedicated mail server service," said Tony Yim, Sales & Marketing Director, RapidCloud Malaysia.



SmarterMail is a cost-effective Microsoft Exchange alternative, bringing enterprise-level functionality to businesses, ISPs, and Web hosting environments. Features include a rich Webmail interface, file storage, detailed reporting, events/notifications, throttling, email archiving, intrusion detection/prevention, advanced synchronization, out-of-the-box antispam and antivirus and optional add-ons for Exchange ActiveSync, Cyren Premium Antispam, Cyren Zero-hour Antivirus, and Message Sniffer.



SmarterTrack is a powerful help desk application built for tracking, managing, and reporting on customer service and communications, including sales and support issues. Features include a ticket system, live chat, call logs, time logs, Who's On, branding and language support, cost analysis, data mining, reporting, surveys, a task management system, and a knowledge base.



SmarterStats is comprehensive Web log analytics and SEO software that cost-effectively delivers relevant, accurate, and detailed website statistics to help businesses increase conversions and maximize ROI.



About SmarterTools

Founded in 2003, SmarterTools Inc. is an information technology management software company based in Phoenix, Arizona. SmarterTools builds a Windows mail server, customer service software, and Web log analytics and SEO software that simplify and automate the day-to-day IT operations of businesses and hosting environments in over 100 countries.



Additional information about SmarterTools Inc. and the SmarterTools product line is available at the company website: http://www.smartertools.com.



About RapidCloud Malaysia

Since 1999, RapidCloud has been focussing on providing high quality and affordable services for our clients. We provide innovative solutions our hosting clients ranging from small and medium enterprises (SME) to large scale enterprises (LSE) and government institutions. Our modular design provides us the flexibility to only deploy modules with features and functions that is rightly suited to the requirements of our clients.



Detailed service offerings are available at http://www.webhosting.com.my.
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2018 -- Raw milk vending machine consists of an automatic dispenser which dispenses 'raw milk' to a container/bottle after successful payment from the end-user. Some vending machines also provide container/bottle with the milk. Raw milk vending machine dispenses milk collected from cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep.



The report provides both revenue and volume for each sub-geographic region. In terms of geographical regions, the report segments the Europe raw milk vending machine market into EU7, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Rest of Europe. EU7 is further segmented into the U.K., Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, while CIS is divided into Russia and Rest of CIS. Majority of Western European countries follow strict regulations regarding the consumption and sale of raw milk whereas Eastern European countries primarily do not comply with any regulation. Considering this variation in regulations across countries, the report also includes analysis of regulatory environment in the Europe market.



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The raw milk is directly sold to customers at farm in countries such as France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ireland and the U.K. Many dairy farmers produce traditional cheese, buttermilk, yogurt and chocolate from raw milk in their farms. The major countries that have adopted raw milk vending machine include Italy, France, Romania, Germany, the U.K., Slovakia, Slovenia and Czech Republic. The key reason for adoption of raw milk vending machine was due to the revisions in regulations of respective countries regarding raw milk sale.



Request to sample report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/1920



Furthermore, majority of end-users in these countries prefer drinking raw milk and consuming raw milk related products due to their nutritional benefits. Spain, Poland and Norway restrict the sale of raw milk due to reported cases of food poisoning. During the coming years, in order to help small farmers, these countries are anticipated to ease the regulations pertaining to the sale of raw milk through vending machines.



Furthermore, the report analyzes the factors that drive and restrain the growth of the raw milk vending machine market for each sub-region. The report also discusses the prevailing market trends, prospective growth opportunities, and major strategies increasing the popularity of raw milk vending machines. Also provided is the market share analysis and competitive strategies adopted by key players in the Europe raw milk vending machine market. Furthermore, the report also provide market share analysis of key players for each sub-geographic region.



Major business strategies adopted by key players, their market positioning, and product offerings have also been identified in the research report. The prominent manufacturers who offer raw milk vending machine in Europe include DF Italia S.R.L., Brunimat GmbH, Letina Inox D.O.O., Milk Automation S.R.O. and Risto Gbr.



The raw milk vending machine market is segmented as below:



Raw Milk Vending Machine Market



By Geography



- EU7 (The UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands)

- CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)

- Rest of Europe
Karnataka, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2018 -- Gokarna based popular yoga center, Shree Hari Yoga School has opened upon its pre-registration process. Participants will be offered 100USD in discounts for two months advance booking with further 100USD discounts to be offered for referrals. Started by the spiritual guru, Hari, "Shree Hari Yoga" currently teaches multiple styles of Yoga combining traditional Hatha Yoga with modern outlook of Ashtanga Yoga.



Under the new program, the school will be offering yoga alliance certified yoga teacher training courses for 100hrs, 200hrs, 300hrs, 500hrs and yoga retreats at their four centers, namely, Dharamshala, Goa and Gokarna. The potential candidates will be required to send an email to namaste@shreehariyoga.in and get all their queries answered. They will be reverted back with an attached application form that will need to be filled out by the candidate. The invoice will be sent via email with payment instructions.



The institute currently offers two modes of payments: Paying the full amount at the time of booking or paying a reservation deposit of $300 with remainder course fee to be paid atleast two weeks before the commencement of the course. The school made it clear during their announcement that no seat will be held for any candidates until they book a reservation spot.



A representative from the school was quoted as saying, "This is an opportunity for people of all ages and fitness levels who love Yoga to completely immerse themselves into the new yogic life with Shree Hari Yoga School and enjoy a heartfelt transformation in just one month. Our training ranging from Anatomy and Asana to Philosophy, Pranayama, Ayurveda and more, will prepare each participant for the real world of teaching yoga or even have their own yoga center in the future to take this spiritual tradition forward."



The school was started by renewed yoga guru, Hari who, having started yoga at the age of 11, surrendered himself to his Guru Ji "Tiger Baba" in Pashupatinath, Kathmandu, Nepal by 16. Influenced by the spiritual learning that came with serving many Gurus that came into his life, he founded the international yoga fellowship in 2012 and established "Hapi Hari Yoga Shala" in 2013. Hari is also a Chef of Ayurvedic and Sattvic Food.



About Shree Hari Yoga School

Shree Hari Yoga" teaches a multi style of Yoga. Traditional Hatha Yoga combined with Ashtanga Yoga, classical philosophical knowledge, experiential understanding and wisdom, as well as a modern outlook. This style of Yoga teaching by "Shree Hari Yoga" is essentially a Nath Lineage tradition which has been passed down through initiations by masters such as Gorakhnath and Patanjali Maharishi since the 9th Century.
A team of astronomers from the United States and the United Kingdom has found evidence that Milky Ways faintest satellites  including dwarf galaxies Segue-1, Bootes I, Tucana II and Ursa Major I  are in fact some of the first galaxies ever formed, thought to be over 13 billion years old. The findings are published in the Astrophysical Journal.

When the Universe was about 380,000 years old, the very first atoms formed. These were hydrogen atoms, the simplest element in the periodic table.

These atoms collected into clouds and began to cool gradually and settle into the small clumps or halos of dark matter that emerged from the Big Bang.

This cooling phase, known as the cosmic dark ages, lasted about 100 million years.

Eventually, the gas that had cooled inside the halos became unstable and began to form stars  these objects are the very first galaxies ever to have formed.

With the formation of the first galaxies, the Universe burst into light, bringing the cosmic dark ages to an end.

Dr. Sownak Bose of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Durham University astronomers Professor Carlos Frenk and Dr. Alis Deason identified two populations of satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.

The first was a very faint population consisting of the galaxies that formed during the cosmic dark ages.

The second was a slightly brighter population consisting of galaxies that formed hundreds of millions of years later, once the hydrogen that had been ionized by the intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by the first stars was able to cool into more massive dark matter halos.

Remarkably, the scientists found that a model of galaxy formation that they had developed previously agreed perfectly with the data, allowing them to infer the formation times of the satellite galaxies.

Finding some of the very first galaxies that formed in our Universe orbiting in the Milky Ways own backyard is the astronomical equivalent of finding the remains of the first humans that inhabited the Earth. It is hugely exciting, Professor Frenk said.

Our finding supports the current model for the evolution of our Universe, the Lambda-cold-dark-matter model in which the elementary particles that make up the dark matter drive cosmic evolution.

The intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by the first galaxies destroyed the remaining hydrogen atoms by ionizing them, making it difficult for this gas to cool and form new stars.

The process of galaxy formation ground to a halt and no new galaxies were able to form for the next billion years or so.

Eventually, the halos of dark matter became so massive that even ionized gas was able to cool.

Galaxy formation resumed, culminating in the formation of spectacular bright galaxies like our own Milky Way.

A nice aspect of this work is that it highlights the complementarity between the predictions of a theoretical model and real data, Dr. Bose said.

A decade ago, the faintest galaxies in the vicinity of the Milky Way would have gone under the radar. With the increasing sensitivity of present and future galaxy censuses, a whole new trove of the tiniest galaxies has come into the light, allowing us to test theoretical models in new regimes.

This is a wonderful example of how observations of the tiniest dwarf galaxies residing in our own Milky Way can be used to learn about the early Universe, Dr. Deason said.

_____

Sownak Bose et al. 2018. The Imprint of Cosmic Reionization on the Luminosity Function of Galaxies. ApJ 863, 123; doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aacbc4
Paleontologists in China have discovered a 228-million-year-old extinct species of turtle, known for its weird disc-like body without a shell and its toothless beak.

Named Eorhynchochelys sinensis, the newly-discovered turtle lived approximately 228 million years ago (Triassic period) in what is now southwestern China.

This creature was over 6 feet long (1.8 m), it had a strange disc-like body and a long tail, and the anterior part of its jaws developed into this strange beak. It probably lived in shallow water and dug in the mud for food, said Dr. Olivier Rieppel, a paleontologist at Field Museum.

Eorhynchochelys sinensis isnt the only kind of early turtle that paleontologists have discovered  there is another early turtle with a partial shell but no beak. Until now, its been unclear how they all fit into the reptile family tree.

The origin of turtles has been an unsolved problem in paleontology for many decades. Now with Eorhynchochelys sinensis, how turtles evolved has become a lot clearer.

The fact that Eorhynchochelys sinensis developed a beak before other early turtles but didnt have a shell is evidence of mosaic evolution  the idea that traits can evolve independently from each other and at a different rate, and that not every ancestral species has the same combination of these traits.

Modern turtles have both shells and beaks, but the path evolution took to get there wasnt a straight line. Instead, some turtle relatives got partial shells while others got beaks, and eventually, the genetic mutations that create these traits occurred in the same animal.

This impressively large fossil is a very exciting discovery giving us another piece in the puzzle of turtle evolution. It shows that early turtle evolution was not a straightforward, step-by-step accumulation of unique traits but was a much more complex series of events that we are only just beginning to unravel, said Dr. Nick Fraser, from the National Museums Scotland.

Fine details in Eorhynchochelys sinensis skull solved another turtle evolution mystery.

For years, paleontologists werent sure if turtle ancestors were part of the same reptile group as modern lizards and snakes  diapsids, which early in their evolution had two holes on the sides of their skulls  or if they were anapsids that lack these openings.

The skull of Eorhynchochelys sinensis shows signs that the species was a diapsid.

With Eorhynchochelys sinensis diapsid skull, we know that turtles are not related to the early anapsid reptiles, but are instead related to evolutionarily more advanced diapsid reptiles. This is cemented, the debate is over, Dr. Rieppel said.

Eorhynchochelys sinensis is described in a paper published online this week in the journal Nature.

_____

Chun Li et al. 2018. A Triassic stem turtle with an edentulous beak. Nature 560 (7719): 476-479; doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0419-1
English Lithuanian

Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, address of the head office Tilzes str. 149, Siauliai, Lithuania.

Siauliu bankas AB has received the notification of the person, closely associated with the manager, on transactions in securities issued by the bank (attached).

Director of Securities Accounting Department Jolanta Dobiliauskiene is authorized by the Issuer to provide additional information and is available on tel.: +370 41 595669.

Attachment
English French

Paris, August 24, 2018 - Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces that it has been named a 'Leader'* by global research and advisory firm NelsonHall in its latest NEAT analysis on Internet of Things (IoT) Services.

The NelsonHall NEAT vendor evaluation study assesses 20 of the most significant service providers that deliver and operate IoT services, against their 'ability to deliver immediate benefit' and their 'ability to meet future requirements'. Atos is positioned as a Leader in all 4 categories: Customer Experience, New Business Models, Efficiency Improvement, Offerings Enhancement.

Through Atos Codex, the Atos brand for advanced analytics, Internet of Things and cognitive solutions, Atos delivers, manages and secures the full IoT value chain from connected devices to edge computing to analytics to smart business solutions, the combined Atos domain and technology knowledge turning customers data into business outcomes, working with its extensive IoT partner ecosystem.

The NelsonHall profile of Atos in IoT services identifies the following strengths of Atos in IoT services:

Broad IoT offering that includes strategy, consulting, build, run and security

Executive sponsorship around IoT and adjacent offerings, i.e., cybersecurity and big data, now complemented by investment with AI - notably in cooperation with Siemens, one of the largest manufacturing conglomerates and an early example of IoT deployment

Large client base in IoT, with case study references across industries and geographies

According to Dominique Raviart, IT Services Research Director at NelsonHall: "Atos' position as a Leader in NelsonHall's IoT services NEAT evaluation is driven by its comprehensive offering and consulting capabilities in various markets - energy and utilities, manufacturing, retail, and transportation - with an emphasis on use cases."

Elaborating on Atos' role as a leader in IoT, Julien Bensaid, Global Head of Atos Codex said: "We are delighted to be recognized as a Leader in IoT services by NelsonHall. We offer an end-to-end approach to IoT thanks to Atos Codex, one of the strategic digital pillars of growth for Atos and a complete portfolio for our clients' data-driven business transformation."

Atos recently became the official IoT partner for Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (Coca-Cola HBC), one of the world's largest bottlers for The Coca-Cola Company with operations in 28 countries in Europe, Russia & Nigeria serving approximately 595 million consumers.

To find out more about Atos Codex, click here.

[1] NelsonHall, Vendor Evaluation & Assessment Tool (NEAT) for IoT Services, by Dominique Raviart, August 2018

*Leader defined in the report as 'vendors that exhibit both a high ability relative to their peers to deliver immediate benefit and a high capability relative to their peers to meet client future requirements.

***

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with approximately 100,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of around  12 billion. European number one in Big Data, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Digital Workplace, the Group provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across various business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Energy & Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

About NelsonHall

NelsonHall is the leading global analyst firm dedicated to helping organizations understand the 'art of the possible' in IT and business services. With analysts in the U.S., U.K., and Continental Europe, NelsonHall provides buy-side organizations with detailed, critical information on markets and vendors (including NEAT assessments) that helps them make fast and highly informed sourcing decisions. And for vendors, NelsonHall provides deep knowledge of market dynamics and user requirements to help them hone their go-to-market strategies. NelsonHall's research is based on rigorous, all-original research, and is widely respected for the quality, depth, and insight of its analysis.

Press contact
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (TSX-V: LIT, FSE: OAY2 [WKN: A0RK7E], OTC: PNXLF), Argentina Lithium or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on its recent lithium brine exploration programs at its three projects: Antofalla, Arizaro, and Incahuasi. The projects are located in the Lithium Triangle in Argentina, and have the potential for discovery of lithium brine resources.

Antofalla Norte:

The Company has received results from a recently completed CSAMT deep geophysical survey on the Antofalla Norte Lithium Project and have identified four initial drill targets with the potential for discovery of lithium-bearing brines. Several other companies are exploring properties on the Antofalla salar, including global lithium producer Albemarle. Previous operators of the Albemarle property delineated lithium in brines, which Albemarle believes will be certified as the largest lithium resource in Argentina1. Reported grades from the salar include 350 mg/l lithium and 6,400 mg/l potash2 .

[The reader is cautioned that that proximity to a discovery, past-producing mine, or mineral resource, does not indicate that mineralization will occur on the Companys property, and if mineralization does occur, that it will occur in sufficient quantity or grade that would result in an economic extraction scenario. Results from other companies are not indicative of expected Argentina Lithiums results, as there has been insufficient exploration on the properties by Argentina Lithium.]

The CSAMT geophysical survey was conducted on the northern part of the property. The survey consisted of three East-West lines and three North-South lines, ranging from 2.4 to 6.8 kilometres in length and totalling 23.8 kilometres, with a total of 16 soundings (see Figure 1).

CSAMT method is used to map deeper stratigraphic units (layers) ands provide information to interpret subsurface characteristics, including lithology, basement geology, faults, weak or weathering zones, depression zones, groundwater level, and brine bearing formations. This information is used to select drill targets.

The survey identified targets with high conductivity in the first 100 metres and moderate conductivity at deeper levels (see example, Figure 2). Four drill holes are recommended by the consulting geophysicists to test for lithium-bearing brines. The Company is planning a potential drill program for the Argentine spring season.

Arizaro:

The Company also completed a CSAMT survey at the Arizaro property to identify conductive features in deeper stratigraphic units than previously tested, and to expand the survey line coverage. The program included three East-West lines, each 13.5 kilometres long, plus two North-South lines of 10 and 20 kilometres each, with sounding spacings of 500 to 1000 metres. The survey provided new possible shallow brine targets but no significant targets were identified at depths below the 2017 drilling program. The Company is evaluating the appropriate next program for the Project.

CSAMT Survey Methodology

The surveys were completed by the technical staff of the independent geophysical company GEC using the STRATAGEM EH-4 equipment which provides high-resolution two-dimensional images of geologic structures by detecting and mapping variations in subsurface conductivity / resistivity. STRATAGEM EH-4 uses the magnetotelluric (MT) method to measure subsurface conductivity. The magnetotelluric method is based on the fact that the ratio of the magnetic to electric fields (known as the impedance) at a given frequency is constant for a constant resistivity. Natural signal sources, such as lightning activity, can be measured to determine this ratio. Unfortunately, natural signals are sometimes not available at the time, frequency, and amplitudes needed. Stratagems hybrid-source technique helps overcome this problem. Hybrid source uses a combination of natural MT signals and man-made transmitter signals. Any available natural background signals are used in the entire frequency band while the STRATAGEM transmitter is used to provide additional high-frequency signals in the range of 1 k Hz to 70 k Hz where natural signals are weak.

Incahuasi:

The Company has completed its previously announced initial drill program at the Incahuasi salar. The program included four vertical diamond drill holes totalling 878 metres. The holes were located based on the results of a Vertical Electrical geophysical survey (VES), along 12 kilometres parallel to the long axis of the salar (see Table 1 and Figure 3). Halite and deeper clastic sediments were cored in all holes. All four holes encountered lithium-bearing brines, mainly in sand and gravel units located throughout the holes. Lithium values from the brine samples were modest but fairly consistent, averaging 109 mg/L for all 54 samples collected and analyzed. Results are summarized in Table 2. Argentina Lithium is continuing to evaluate the data obtained to date from the geophysical, surface sampling and drilling programs to enhance its understanding of the hydrogeological aspects of the Incahuasi salar in order to focus future work on identifying sub-domains with higher lithium grades.

Table 1. Locations of Drill Holes, Incahuasi Project



Hole Easting Northing Azimuth Dip Total Depth DDH-I-01 2630722 7080445 0 -90 300 DDH-I-02 2632736 7086486 0 -90 190 DDH-I-03 2633213 7080615 0 -90 264.5 DDH-I-04 2632155 7075025 0 -90 123.5

Table 2. Incahuasi Average Results of Drill Holes 1 to 4



Lithium (mg/L) Potassium (mg/L) Magnesium (mg/L) Maximum 141 9,169 18,927 Minimum 10 562 1,280 Average 109 6,718 13,689

Drilling Methodology & QA/QC

Drilling was carried out by AGV Falcon Drilling S.R.L. using a diamond drill rig recovering HQ core. As the drill holes were all vertical and sedimentary strata in the salars is horizontal, all samples are believed to approximate true thickness. Samples were collected with a double packer. This method allows the collection of samples at specific depths while sealing the hole at the bottom and at the top of the sample.

All samples were collected in hard white plastic 1 litre bottles with samples numbers clearly identified. The samples were sent to the Alex Stewart Argentina S.A laboratory in Mendoza, Argentina (Alex Stewart), an ISO 9001:2008 certified laboratory, with ISO 17025:2005 certification for the analysis of lithium and potassium. Alex Stewart employed Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) as the analytical technique for the primary constituents of interest, including: boron, calcium, potassium, lithium, magnesium and sulphur. Measurements in the field included pH, conductivity, temperature and density. The laboratory took the same measurements and they were consistent with the field data. A duplicate set of samples with different numbering was sent to the Alex Stewart NOA laboratory in Jujuy. The Mendoza lab results were on average higher than the Jujuy lab results, (~8% higher in Lithium) however due to the overall low levels of lithium in the samples the Company is not investigating the difference at this time.

About the Antofalla Norte Project

Argentina Lithium has applied for 100% interest in approximately 9,000 hectares of mining claims in the north end of the Salar de Antofalla and entered into an option agreement to earn a 100% interest in three additional adjacent properties totaling over 5,300 hectares. The Salar de Antofalla is approximately 150 kilometres long and 5-7 kilometres wide, and is located at 3,900 metres elevation. The salar is accessed by Provincial highway 43 and unpaved roads, with the small town of Antofalla approximately 50 kilometres to the south and the city of Salta approximately 500 kilometres away. The geological environment at the Salar de Antofalla is similar to other salars in the Puna region where lithium and potash are found. Several other companies are exploring properties on the salar, including global lithium producer Albemarle.

About the Arizaro Project

The Company holds, or has under application, over 13,000 hectares, and has the option to earn a 100% interest in an additional 20,500 hectares on the Arizaro Salar, the largest in Argentina and third largest in the Lithium Triangle. The Arizaro Salar benefits from a strategic location for infrastructure, including: a railway that connects to the deep water port of Antofagasta; nearby advanced mining projects that are expected to bring significant development of access routes and power; and the availability of water for development.

About the Incahuasi Project

The Incahuasi Brine Project includes 100% interest in 25,500 hectares covering the entire Salar de Incahuasi in the northwest of Catamarca Province, in the southern half of the "Lithium Triangle". Access to the Incahuasi salar is by gravel road, approximately 34 kilometres southwest from the town of Antofagasta de la Sierra. The geological environment at Incahuasi is similar to other salars in the Puna region where lithium and potash are found.

Qualified Person

The work programs at the Antofalla Norte and Incahuasi Projects were undertaken under the supervision of David Terry, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. The contents of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Dr. Terry.

For additional information on the projects please see the Company website www.argentinalithium.com .

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Nikolaos Cacos

_____________________________________

Nikolaos Cacos, President, CEO and Director

For further information please contact:

Corporate Communications

Tel: 1-604-687-1828

Toll-Free: 1-800-901-0058

Email: info@argentinalithium.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 contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Company's public disclosure documents for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties.

1 Albemarle September 12, 2016 News Release; http://investors.albemarle.com accessed 3/5/18.

2 https://roskill.com/news/lithium-albemarle-expands-argentina/ accessed 3/5/18

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac7815de-2d97-4f81-9a06-526a6004389f

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3ea0df10-81d3-4cf4-a2c4-042966407153

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/82bc83b3-e506-46c4-a6ce-8c21a9efe39e
The new office will be the Clubs first in the Americas and headed up by Ian Duthie who joins North P&I from brokers Marsh. The New York-based office will work closely with the insurers head office in Newcastle, UK to develop relationships with owners and brokers in the North American market.

We are delighted to welcome Ian to the Club. His wide ranging experience and expertise in the North American market will be a very strong addition to Norths global team and demonstrate our commitment to this important region, said Paul Jennings ceo of North P&I.

Headquartered in Newcastle in the UK, North P&I has offices in China, Hong Kong, Greece, Japan and Singapore.

Read more: Main cyber-threat to shipping is commercial: North P&I
Press Release

August 24, 2018 PH should heed Malaysia's withdrawal from China-backed projects - De Lima Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima today urged the Duterte administration to heed Malaysia's decision to withdraw from the China-backed projects to prevent the Philippines from facing bankruptcy due to suspicious Chinese loans. De Lima, who chairs the Senate committee on social justice, welfare and rural development, said the government should look at the long-term economic repercussions of all the planned China-funded infrastructure projects and investments into the country. "The Philippine government must take its cue from Prime Minister Mahathir who decided to cancel three China-backed projects amounting to USD22 billion to avoid his country from falling into a debt trap. We need to take heed before it's too late," she said. "Entering into loan agreements, especially those that are not obtained through competitive procurement, can put not only our country in dire debt and cripple our economy, but also undermine our sovereignty and national security," she added. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed that three China-backed projects - including a railway connecting Malaysia's east coast to southern Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, and two gas pipelines - will be cancelled until Malaysia can find a way to pay its debts. In the Philippines, the Duterte administration has reportedly allocated some PhP8.2 trillion to fund what it called "the golden age of infrastructure" under the "Build, Build, Build" program over the next six years, which would be heavily reliant on Chinese loans. As early as Nov. 7, 2016, De Lima has filed Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 222 which seeks to inquire into the various investment deals entered into by the Duterte administration during the President's State Visit to China in October 2016. In May 16, 2017, she also filed SRN 377 urging the Senate to look into the possible onerous terms and long-term financial and economic repercussions of the multi-billion dollar loans and investments package offered by China to the Philippines under its belt and road initiative. Last February, she again filed SRN 628 directing the appropriate Senate committee to investigate the complete terms and conditions of the loans entered into by the Philippine government to fund its "Build, Build, Build" Program to assess the possible impact of Chinese loans on our economy and national security. In her SRN 628, De Lima expressed concern over the administration's obvious lack of transparency over the terms of Chinese loans to fund the infrastructure program especially because lenders, including China, pay around 2-7 percent finders' fee for each agreement. In the same resolution, De Lima also took issue on the loans offered by China which she claimed would have an impact on the Philippines' foreign policy, including the country's stakes in the contested islands in the South China Sea, locally known as the West Philippine Sea. De Lima noted that there is already an empirical evidence to show the pattern of China in making use of their supposedly altruistic loan packages but in turn resulted in dept traps and economic collapse in different parts of the world. "We should learn from the mistakes and misfortunes of other countries in their dealings with China. Our national leaders should exert all honest efforts in protecting our country and the Filipino people against imprudent debt accumulation," she said. De Lima cited in particular the cases of Mongolia who had to sell coal to China for only 11 percent of the international market price and of Sri Lanka who had to offer debt-for-equity swaps to China over infrastructure projects, among others.
"Move on?"

HONTIVEROS TO MARCOS JR: STOP ACTING CLUELESS, RETURN LOOT AND ATONE FOR CRIMES

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros today called out defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. for saying that she understands her sister, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos' "move on" comment.

In a a forum in Quezon City, Marcos said that the issue is something that happened 30 years ago. "The government fell, kinasuhan kami. It's done. Ano pa ang gusto n'yong gawin?" he said.

"Anong gusto pa naming gawin ninyo? Simple. Marcos Jr. should stop acting clueless. Return all their ill-gotten wealth to the people, apologize to the nation for the atrocities committed during the Marcos dictatorship, then we'll all move on," Hontiveros said.

"Moving on from the dark years of Martial Law demands justice and genuine atonement. If the Marcoses cannot satisfy these basic ethical demands of humanity, they deserve to be haunted forever by the history of our dead and their debts to the Philippine economy," Hontiveros stressed.

Last August 21, the Ilocos Norte Governor told their critics to move on from Martial Law. "The millennials have moved on, and I think people at my age should also move on as well," she said.
Legarda Lauds Unveiling of Language Marker in Batangas

Senator Loren Legarda hailed the unveiling of the 8th language marker or Bantayog-Wika in the country on August 23 in Batangas City, Batangas.

The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), with the support of the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, launched the Bantayog-Wika for the Tagalog language during the Buwan ng Wika celebration of the Province of Batangas.

"Our language is an important part of our cultural identity as Filipinos. Our culture defines us as citizens of this nation and our language holds a great place in this culture that confirms and completes our national identity," said Legarda.

The language marker in Batangas is the 8th in the country following those unveiled in Antique, Ifugao, Davao Oriental, Kalinga, Occidental Mindoro, Bukidnon and Bataan.

"These language markers are not merely ornaments or displays. These are symbolisms of our diverse culture that further exemplify our distinct culture and heritage," Legarda said.

Bantayog-Wika is a nationwide project of KWF in partnership with Senator Loren Legarda. It seeks to identify areas where languages originated. Installation artist Luis 'Junyee' Yee, Jr. designed and created the language markers.

As Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, Legarda ensured funding for the installation of language markers for the 131 languages in the country.

"The Bantayog-Wika is just part of our efforts to save our country's intangible cultural heritage. We need to comprehensively document all active, endangered, and dying languages of our ethno-linguistic groups in the country and we should promote the continued use of such languages because these indigenous languages reinforce our distinct Filipino identity," Legarda concluded.
Press Release

August 24, 2018 Minority senators ask SC: Allow video or audio conferencing for Sen. Leila in ICC withdrawal case MANILA - Minority senators pressed anew for the Supreme Court to allow Senator Leila de Lima to participate in the oral arguments on the Philippine withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, this time proposing the use of technology. The motion for reconsideration filed at the Supreme Court at 4:20 p.m. of August 23, a day before the high tribunal decided on a separate motion of reconsideration filed by De Lima, who is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center on false drug-related charges. "To demonstrate to the Honorable Court that Senator De Lima's motion to personally appear during oral arguments is not a ploy to escape detention, Senator De Lima is willing to argue while in detention through a live video and/or audio feed," the motion said. It added, "This will address the Honorable Court's apparent concerns regarding Senator De Lima's current detention. If needed, petitioners-senators can supply the necessary equipment and facilities for this to take place." The motion was filed by Senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes IV. It was concurred in by De Lima. Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, who is out of the country, agrees with the motion. The appeal was filed in response to the August 7 decision of the high court, which denied De Lima's request to take part in the oral argument set on August 28. De Lima filed a motion for reconsideration on August 16, but which the high court thumbed down in a decision on August 24. In its appeal, the minority senators argued that "the right to speak for one's self in one's own case is a fundamental right" protected by the due process clause under Article III, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution. "The exercise of a constitutional right is basic in our democracy, and it is not Senator De Lima's burden to show why there is a 'compelling reason' to exercise a right granted a priori by the Constitution," they said. The opposition senators emphasized that a person's right of self-representation is expressly allowed under Rule 138, Section 34 of the Rules of Court. "It would be the height or irony to prohibit Senator De Lima to argue on a constitutional issue of paramount national importance, given that the Honorable Court has allowed furloughs to persons charged with non-bailable offenses," they said. The Court has granted requests for furloughs of former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was detained for various cases of plunder, for Christmas and New Year family celebrations. Most recently, Zaldy Ampatuan, who is in detention for the November 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, was allowed to attend his daughter's wedding last Tuesday, August 21. Philippine courts have also allowed video-conferencing during hearings. The minority senators also stressed that De Lima's appearance during oral arguments, accompanied by Philippine National Police personnel, "will not make her escape detention, nor avoid charges brought against her." "As Senator De Lima is constitutionally presumed innocent, her current detention is no ground for depriving her of the right of self-representation because she has not been tried and convicted of the charges brought against her," they said. "If she is prevented from exercising that right, then Senator De Lima is being detained as a form of punishment by the unlawful deprivation of her constitutionally guaranteed rights," they added.
English French

VALCOURT, Quebec, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BRP Inc. (TSX:DOO) will hold its second-quarter FY2019 financial results conference call on Thursday, August 30, 2018 at 9 a.m.(ET). Jose Boisjoli, president and chief executive officer, and Sebastien Martel, chief financial officer, will discuss the results and address questions from analysts on a conference call.

The press release will be distributed on a Canadian newswire on Thursday, August 30, at approximately 6 a.m. (ET).

For investors and analysts:

Telephone 514-392-0235 or

800-564-3880 (toll-free in North America)

Event code 4291408

Click here for international dial-in numbers Webcast Click here to access the webcast

Business media are allowed to join the call but will not be permitted to ask questions. This webcast will also be live on the Internet here and accessible to media and interested participants. An archived recording will be available here two hours after the event for 30 days following the original broadcast.

About BRP

We are a global leader in the world of powersports vehicles and propulsion systems built on over 75 years of ingenuity and intensive consumer focus. Our portfolio of industry-leading and distinctive products includes Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft, Can-Am onand off-road vehicles, Alumacraft boats, Evinrude and Rotax marine propulsion systems as well as Rotax engines for karts, motorcycles and recreational aircraft. We support our lines of product with a dedicated parts, accessories and clothing business to fully enhance your riding experience. With annual sales of CA$4.5 billion from over 100 countries, our global workforce is made up of around 10,000 driven, resourceful people. www.brp.com

@BRPNews

Ski-Doo, Lynx, Sea-Doo, Evinrude, Rotax, Can-Am, Alumacraft, and the BRP logo are trademarks of Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For information:

Catherine Moreau

Senior Advisor, Media Relations

514.231.2118

catherine.moreau@brp.com
The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 0.7 percent gain against the Australian dollar, losing some momentum after Scott Morrison won the caucus vote to be prime minister.

The kiwi traded at 91.20 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington versus 91.53 cents at 8am and 91.43 cents yesterday. It traded at 90.61 Australian cents last Friday in New York. It fell to 66.41 US cents from 66.68 cents yesterday and was largely unchanged from 66.36 last Friday in New York.

The Australian dollar fell sharply on political turmoil across the Tasman resulting in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's resignation today. However, it recovered some of those losses when Morrison, who will be Australias sixth prime minister in less than 10 years, beat former home affairs minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to take the nation's top job.

"PM Morrison is the most market-friendly option, having successfully negotiated through multiple portfolios such as Social Security, Border Security, and more recently presiding over a substantial improvement in the budget balance as Treasurer," said Annette Beacher, chief Asia-Pac macro strategist for TD Securities.

"This was a bit of a relief rally ... markets are viewing Morrison as a bit of the status quo outcome," said ANZ Bank New Zealand senior macro strategist Phil Borkin.

Investors will now focus on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell who is due to give a speech entitled Monetary Policy in a Changing Economy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Policy Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The trade-weighted index declined to 72.08 from 72.26.

The kiwi traded at 74.01 yen from 73.89 yen yesterday and fell to 57.43 euro cents from 57.70 cents. It was little changed at 51.79 British pence from 51.80 pence yesterday and fell to 4.5749 Chinese yuan from 4.5816 yuan.

New Zealand's two-year swap rate rose 1 basis point to 2.02 percent and 10-year swaps rose 1 basis point to 2.85 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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Kiwi Group Holdings, the parent of state-owned Kiwibank, more than doubled annual profit as it bounced back from a problematic IT project that was beset by write-downs and triggered a spat between the lender's shareholders.

Net profit rose to $115 million in the year ended June 30 from $53 million. The year-earlier result included a $90 million write-down on the CoreMod IT project which has now been dropped. Stripping out those costs and some one-off insurance payments from the Kaikoura quake, underlying earnings increased 3 percent to $133 million.

Chief executive Steve Jurkovich, who took over the reins four weeks ago, said a critical issue for the bank has been to "close the chapter on some stuff that's had quite a lot of energy and focus." That can now be redirected to lending opportunities from the Kiwibuild programme and to first home buyers generally.

That IT project has caused unrest between Kiwi Group's shareholders - New Zealand Post, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, and Accident Compensation Corp - with the latter two lodging a warranty claim against the state-owned mail service, which used to own Kiwibank outright. NZ Post today said the claim is without merit, but it's in talks with its partners in an effort to resolve the issue.

Jurkovich said that tension has had "zero impact" during his first four weeks with the firm. He's been given an explicit assurance that it won't hinder Kiwibank's ability to secure a capital injection, something he said isn't on the cards given the bank's strong funding.

"What I got from the shareholders was really strong support - they're 100 percent behind Kiwibank," he told BusinessDesk. "Any discussion is not impacting on us in the slightest."

The Wellington-based bank is entering a new phase, where the shareholders aren't seeking dividends. Instead, Jurkovich said they want Kiwibank to invest with a long-term view and to look after its customers.

Kiwibank's loan book grew to $18.3 billion as at June 30 from $17.82 billion a year earlier; customer deposits climbed to $16.17 billion from $15.98 billion. Net interest income rose 12 percent to $419 million and its net interest margin widened to 2.06 percent from 1.92 percent, in line with those of the big four Australian-owned banks.

Jurkovich said the bank is well-funded by deposits, which "sets us up nicely" to chase credit growth. He sees the government's Kiwibuild programme and first-home buyers generally as an opportunity, with a shortage of housing ensuring there's market demand at a time when prices are cooling in parts of the country.

Loan-to-value ratios remain high and fees for borrowers with small deposits support the economic case for that lending, he said. At the same time, deeper home-ownership should be core to the culture of a Crown-owned lender and may help the firm differentiate itself in the market.

"We want to be the first port of call in that space," he said.

(BusinessDesk)

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Infrastructure investor Infratil sees earnings in the current financial year "bouncing around the top end of guidance," chief executive Marko Bogoievski told the company's annual meeting in Wellington.

At its investor day in April, the Wellington-based company gave guidance for earnings in the 2018/19 financial year of between $500 million and $540 million on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, and fair value movements in financial instruments basis.

A snapshot valuation of the company's portfolio taken on Thursday this week for the financial year to date showed a return to shareholders of 14.6 percent after a muted previous three years of capital growth of just 4.4 percent a year. Returns have averaged 16.6 percent annually since the company was formed in 1994.

With a focus on infrastructure that assists decarbonisation, ports and transport, retirement, and data and telecommunications services, Bogoievski said Infratil's "core platforms are likely to generate in excess of $1 billion of capital deployment opportunities over the next three years". He made no mention of opportunities that might arise from a range of capital projects the New Zealand government is pursuing, such as light and heavy rail investments and large-scale residential housing construction.

He hinted that waste management was among areas that may interest Infratil in its pursuit of decarbonisation opportunities which, to date, have focused mainly on hydro, wind and solar electricity generation projects in New Zealand, Australia and the US. The company has announced a takeover bid for Tilt Renewables, a holder of wind and solar generation assets originally built up by 51 percent Infratil-owned Trustpower. The bid is in concert with 20 percent Tilt shareholder Mercury, the Auckland-based generator-retailer.

The appointment of Wellington-based Cameron Partners and its global partner, advisory firm Rothschild, to advise Tilt on the bid was announced today.

Referring to electricity generation opportunities in New Zealand, Bogoievski said at least $200 billion of new investment would be required to electrify the New Zealand economy during the next 30 years and that the government should "exercise caution", in its current review of the sector, to ensure that investment is encouraged.

Trustpower was "well-positioned to participate in further industry consolidation" following the sale of its Australian assets and the recent full takeover of King Country Energy.

Despite political turmoil in Australia, much of it related to the approach to climate change, electricity regulation and pricing, Bogoievski said Infratil remained confident that "the highest merit order" renewables options would be built there.

"Having a price on carbon and lowest cost delivery will deliver value," he said. "Whether that will be extremely valuable or more modest, time will tell."

Of its public transport unit, NZ Bus, Bogoievski said Infratil "continues to evaluate future ownership options to maximise value and stakeholder outcomes". NZ Bus lost substantial contracts in a shake-up of Auckland and Wellington bus services.

With respect to Wellington International Airport, the company had restarted the process of applying for resource consents to extend the runway to allow wide-body, long-haul jets to make direct connections to Wellington after a two-year delay. "A commissioning date in 2022 is plausible," Bogoievski said.

Implementing a New Zealand-style full continuum of care model in its Australian rest home portfolio, Retire Australia, was "proving to be a difficult exercise" that would affect performance, but its Canberra data centres were on track for "a 20 percent year-on-year ebitdaf run rate" in the current financial year.

Infratil shares last traded at $3.435, down 1 cent. They have risen 9 percent in the past 12 months.

(BusinessDesk)

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has sacked Clare Curran from Cabinet, stripping her of the government digital services and open government roles after she again failed to declare a meeting when answering MPs' written questions.

Ardern removed Curran from Cabinet and accepted her resignation of the government digital services and open government portfolios, she said in a statement. Curran will keep the ICT/broadcasting and associate Accident Compensation Corp portfolios and will sit outside Cabinet.

Curran was already on a warning after she failed to declare a meeting with former Radio New Zealand executive Carol Hirschfield in answers to written questions by National MP Melissa Lee. She wore out the PM's patience by not properly recording a meeting with digital advertising entrepreneur Derek Handley, who has applied for the chief technology officer role that Curran was forced to readvertise after the first round of applicants fell short. The lack of paperwork led to incorrect answers to parliamentary questions.

Ardern revealed that Handley is still in the hunt for the CTO position in her statement on Curran's demotion.

I want to express my sincere apologies to Mr Handley who has been brought into this issue through no fault of his own," Ardern said. "He is a qualified and capable candidate who has made it through to the final stages of the appointment process based on his talent, experience. The issue is entirely about the ministers conduct, not Mr Handleys."

"The failure to record the meeting in her diary, inform her staff and officials, and accurately answer parliamentary questions has left the minister open to the accusation that she deliberately sought to hide the meeting, Ardern said in a statement. "While this was not the ministers intention, this is the second misjudgement and is not in keeping with my expectations, or the ministers expectations of herself. As a result I have chosen to remove minister Curran from Cabinet."

Curran failed to find anyone among the 60-plus initial applications to fill the CTO role and she met with Handley to discuss his interest in the position. She directed him to register his interest with the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment. The role was created in part at the urging of Xero founder Rod Drury and was intended to give the government leading-edge, independent advice on national policy that fosters the use and deployment of fast-changing digital technologies.

The State Services Commission will now investigate the CTO appointment process to ensure it was robust and that the minister's meeting with Handley had no bearing on the outcome. Curran will have no role in the appointment.

Handley set up The Hyperfactory mobile marketing business with his brother Geoff. They attracted American publisher Meredith Corp as a suitor, with the NYSE-listed firm buying a 20 percent stake for US$4 million in 2009. It purchased the remaining 80 percent the following year for another US$4.7 million, with earn-outs of up to US$26 million that weren't paid.

Handley went on to launch mobile advertising firm Snakk Media, which listed on NZX's small-cap NZAX bourse through a backdoor listing in 2013. He left Snakk's board in 2015 and more recently has been a champion of social enterprise through the Aera Foundation.

State Services Minister Chris Hipkins will take over the CTO appointment process and assume Curran's open government responsibilities. Megan Woods picks up the government digital services portfolio.

In a separate statement, Curran apologised for "failing to live up to expectations of transparency" and said she'd "continue to work hard in advancing this governments broadcasting and communications agenda".

(BusinessDesk)

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Augusta, GA, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Army has been in a state of internal transformation since earlier this year when it released the Mission Command Network Modernization Implementation Plan. In addition to the cross-functional teams, the service will be using other innovative approaches to wrap its arms around emerging advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence to tackle growing threats in the cyber domain.

According to Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford, USA, Army chief information officer, the service may establish an artificial intelligence task force over the next 90 days to help develop needed expertise and better prepare for the future of warfare. The task force will help Army officials really get our mind around the specific skillsets that were going to need to be relevant and to thrive in this environment that will include AI and machine learning.

Gen. Crawford talked about the potential task force during AFCEA TechNet Augusta in Georgia. He tied the task force to the Defense Departments creation of a Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, an effort the departments CIO, Dana Deasy, is leading.

Gen. Crawford isnt the only Army leader moving the service toward a future of new capabilities that can address threats in the cyber domain. Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, USA, commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command, suggested the command could get a new name and said he would recommend changing U.S. Cyber Commands name as well.

When the Army command was established in 2010, Cyber Command was the appropriate name, but that is not longer the case, he asserted. I think were well past that now. Were at the point where, in the future, its going to change to something like this: Army Information Warfare Operations Command or Army Information Warfare Dominance Command, the general stated.

Renaming the command would better reflect how cyber capabilities are converging with other realms, including electronic warfare, intelligence and signal. What I really try to do is instill the lessons weve learned from operating in the cyber domain alongside those that are operating in the information environment. What Ive come to believe is that, frankly, the overlap is much deeper, is much greater than these bumps in the night, he said.

David May, senior intelligence advisor, U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon, Georgia, explained the changes during a multidomain operations discussion at the conference. The services new Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) sections should be given final approval within the next six weeks, and the teams will be placed at each staff element across every echelon from the Brigade Combat Teams to division and corps, all the way up to the armed service component commands.

These sections will be responsible for planning, synchronizing and integrating cyberspace and electronic warfare operations and spectrum management. They [will] network both horizontally and vertically with the other CEMA sections and the units of action, May said.

The service also is adding new electronic warfare platoons within each Brigade Combat Team that will be assigned to the military intelligence company.

These are the units of action that will deliver effects at the tactical edge. They will conduct electronic attack and be able to deliver radio frequency-enabled cyberspace effects, May said. They will essentially double our sensing capacity in the electromagnetic spectrum. It will also help us to sense ourselves, which will help with survivability.

Additional news from TechNet Augusta, including insights about future threats via space from Maj. Gen. James Mingus, 82nd Airborne Division commanding general, is available online.

AFCEA International, established in 1946, is a non-profit membership association serving the military, government, industry and academia. Join online.

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SHEPHERDSTOWN  As Rockwool protesters crowded together in front of McMurran Hall on the evening of Aug. 14, Shepherdstowns Town Council met during its regular monthly meeting, to discuss town updates and hear the concerns of a few local protesters.

Some of the Jefferson County residents speaking in protest of Rockwool said the Town should be particularly concerned about the plants location in the former site of Jefferson Orchards, which is an equal distance of seven miles from both downtown Ranson and Shepherdstown.

The site is seven miles from Shepherdstown, just as far away as it is from the Ranson courthouse, so our health is just as much at stake as theres, said Thann Hill, of Shepherdstown. The environmental contaminants are concerning  I dont think smoke stacks and schools mix. Theyre letting a smoke stack be built by a school, but they would never let a school to be built beside a smokestack.

According to Kevin Hall, who recently bought a home in Shepherdstown, if the plant is built, he may reconsider retiring in Shepherdstown.

Ive lived in this county for over 40 years, and I was hoping to retire here. We just bought a house here in Shepherdstown, but now were not sure if well stay, Hall said. Some say quality of life is having a bunch of money, but quality of health is just as important as wealth. The most valuable resource we have is our children, and theyll be the first to be affected by this.

The protesters said their goal with speaking at the meeting, was to ask the council members to use their influence to stop Rockwool from building its plant.

After the protesters were finished speaking, Mayor Jim Auxer publicly read a mayoral letter of recommendation, which is being sent by the Advocacy Accessibility Committee to the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities, an affiliate of the World Health Organizations Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Program. The mayoral letter fulfills one of the steps the organization requires to be completed by a municipality, before it will consider designating Shepherdstown as an age-friendly town.

Although the meeting had a busy schedule, the Town Council took time towards the end of the meeting to recognize the community service of Shepherdstown Music and Dances Nick Blanton and Joan Blanton.

Nick and Joan Blanton have made an enormous contribution to the cultural life in Shepherdstown over the past 40-plus years. It is hard to measure that contribution, and, in fact, it is more likely that we take it for granted since it is so intertwined with what we consider an integral part of Shepherdstown, Auxer read. Auxer said the Blantons service to the community included their business hosting music lessons, dances and international music acts from around the world. The couple also manage Shepherdstowns morris team, Hicks with Sticks.
SHEPHERDSTOWN  Storyteller and Lawrence Technological University Professor Corinne Stavish personally knows what the devastating result of the Holocaust looked like. Of her four Jewish grandparents family members who had not immigrated to the United States before the rise of the Third Reich, not one survived the Holocaust.

However, Stavish said rather than focusing on the horror of the Holocaust, she prefers to tell the stories of people who risked their lives to do good, helping those who were in danger of being sent to prison camps and/or killed by the Nazi regime.

Too frequently we tell the story of the Holocaust. I came to tell the story of hope. My feeling is that horror offers an opportunity for humanity, Stavish said, during the Speak Story Series on Aug. 14.

I want to tell about the people who chose to do good in the world. I choose to tell this story, to show the best of what people can be, Stavish said, mentioning she is personally challenged and encouraged to be a better person whenever she tells the story of When Good People Do Something.

According to Stavish, she originally came across the story by chance, after traveling to Denmark with the goal of seeing its famous statue depicting Hans Christian Andersens Little Mermaid beside Copenhagens harbor. Ironically, she never ended up seeing the statue during her trip.

While in Denmark, Stavish visited the now-closed Friheds Museum and learned about how the majority of Denmarks Jews escaped being captured by the Nazis. Although Swedens king had originally aligned the country with Nazi Germany, Danish physicist Neils Bohr persuaded him to allow Denmarks Jews to find refuge in his country. As Nazi forces took over Denmark in 1943, about 7,200 Danish Jews were safely ferried over to Sweden by Danish fishermen over a three-week period, saving 95 percent of the countrys Jews.

According to Stavish, this story stands out from the other stories she has told in the past, because of its ability to change listeners perspectives.

I tell this story because I love history and I want to honor these people. But I also want to learn from it, to become a better human being  I feel like every time I tell this story, I become a better person, Stavish said. If someone else decides to become a better person because of it, thats because of the story, not because of me.
SHEPHERDSTOWN  World War II wasnt an easy experience for children growing up during the time of rationing and blackout drills.

But, for many of Shepherdstown Area Independent Livings members, the memory of their unique childhoods is what brought them together to share their own and their families stories during the monthly Brown Bag Luncheon at Trinity Episcopal Church on Friday.

On Pearl Harbor Day, I was feeling sick and was listening to the radio, when they announced we intterupt this program. That was the start of Americas involvement in World War II, said Edwinna Bernat. Bernat said local government officials believed her home town would likely be one of the first towns to be bombed by the Germans if they invaded the United States, because it manufactured steel.

The bombs were always something very scary to think about  Johnstown had nine miles of steel mills, so we figured if the Germans came here, we would be bombed, Bernat said. In school, we were taught to measure how long it took us to get home from school. If it took us less than five minutes, we were expected to run home if we heard the air raid siren.

Bernat wasnt the only SAIL member who experienced the fear of growing up in an industrial town during the war. According to Helen Burns, Detroits residents were also taught to be aware of their dangerous position as a factory town.

We were close to Detroit, and we would have been a target if the Germans came. We had air raid wardens, junior air raid wardens  college kids  and messengers. I was a messenger, and wore a messenger armband, Burns said, mentioning that children with the messengers job were expected to relay messages if the phone system disconnected during an air raid.

Recalling back, many of the luncheons ten speakers described how preparing for air raids was a normal part of life for them growing up.

I remember pulling down the black window shades, so there would be no light showing out from my window, said Jack Young.

Although Young later had a career in the Navy, he could remember scaring himself with thoughts of the enemy.

At night, I prayed we would beat Germany and Japan. Frequently, I would frighten myself, and then I would comfort myself by saying, God is on our side,' Young said, mentioning he later ended up living in Japan during his time in the Navy.

Some of the events speakers werent old enough to remember life before the war when it started. Joan Fisher, who was born in 1942, grew up without her father, who was fighting in the war.

For three years, I never knew I had a father, except for stories and songs my mother and grandfather would tell and sing to me, Fisher said, mentioning her grandmother would sing My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean with the words My Daddy Lies Over the Ocean.

According to Fisher, the return of her father and birth of a sister soon after confused her. But, despite having to experience such extreme changes in her young life, Fisher said she appreciated growing up during this time period, because it allowed her to grow up surrounded by strong female figures.

All of these strong women during World War II changed my view of the world, and changed the United States, Fisher said.
Dana Point, California, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starting in July 2018, rideshare drivers in California are being held to a higher standard when it comes to blood-alcohol content (BAC) levels. A new state law requires Uber and Lyft drivers to adhere to the same restrictions as commercial vehicle drivers, who are considered intoxicated if their BAC exceeds 0.04 percent.

As the law reflects the increasing assimilation of rideshare workers into the ranks of professional drivers, attorneys from Southern California law firm Neale & Fhima are questioning the validity of a 0.04 percent BAC.

There is only one safe BAC level and its zero, said Aaron Fhima. We have zero-tolerance laws for drivers under the age of 21, so its reasonable for us to ask why professional drivers arent being held to the same standards.

At 0.04 percent BAC, a drinker might experience several effects, including reduced inhibition and impaired judgment. The amount of alcohol needed to reach 0.04 percent also varies greatly from one person to another. Factors that influence a persons BAC include body weight, gender, age, how much food has been ingested and the quickness with which the alcohol was consumed.

There are so many variables at play with BAC and driver performance, said Matt Neale. One driver with a BAC of 0.04 percent might show very few signs of impairment, while another would be impaired to the point that they would pose a threat to other drivers.

In January, a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine suggested that the traditional BAC limit most states employ - 0.08 percent for all drivers - should be lowered to 0.05 percent. The panel behind the study pointed to the reduced number of drunk driving fatalities in other countries that enacted stricter standards.

Neale and Fhima, LLP said that the same logic behind the report should motivate higher standards for professional drivers in California.

If youre going to drive professionally, then your system should have no alcohol, Fhima said.

Nearly 30 people die each day in the United States due to alcohol-impaired driving.

Over a one-year period in 2014 and 2015, rideshare company Uber received 2,000 complaints from customers expressing concern that their drivers were intoxicated. Of those complaints, Uber only deactivated the accounts of 574 drivers, often with a significant delay, according to a state Public Utilities Commission report.

While the new California law is a step in the right direction, lawmakers should consider even stronger stances against alcohol consumption among professional drivers, the attorneys said.

Why have a legally mandated margin of error on our roads? Neale said. It makes no sense.
McLean, VA, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- These awards celebrate transformative government projects, individual change agents and industry partners that are reimagining public-sector IT. True innovation in government is a team effort, and the award categories reflect that collaboration.







This year's winners include:

20 Rising Stars , early-career leaders from both government and industry;

, early-career leaders from both government and industry; 25 Industry Innovators , firms that are bringing world-class solutions to their government customers; and

, firms that are bringing world-class solutions to their government customers; and 36 Public Sector Innovations, projects from federal, state and local agencies that feature both cutting-edge technology and creative approaches to critical government missions.

These winning projects, companies and individuals will be celebrated at the Government Innovation Awards dinner on Nov. 8 at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia. Details on that event, and the award program overall, can be found at governmentinnovationawards.com

"Government often doesn't get the credit it deserves for driving truly impressive innovation," FCW and GCN Editor-in-Chief Troy K. Schneider said. "Many of the most important technologies we depend on every day spun out of government efforts, and those successes were made possible by the combined work of agencies, industry partners and countless talented individuals. As the list of 2018 winners makes clear, those collaborations continue to produce great things."

Detailed profiles of all the winners will be published this fall in FCW, GCN, Washington Technology and Defense Systems, both online and in print.

The 2018 Government Innovation Award winners are:

PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATIONS

3-D Printing for Replacement F-35 Parts

U.S. Marine Corps, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Combat Logistic Battalion 31

Administrative Data Research Facility

Census Bureau

Ambient Temperature Monitoring in the Global Supply Chain

USAID

Business Intelligence for Better Oversight

Government Accountability Office

BUYSMARTER Initiative

Department of Health and Human Services

Career PathFinder

County of Los Angeles

Code.gov

General Services Administration

Cyber Direct Commissioning Program

U.S Army, Cyber Command

Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment

Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate

Federalist

General Services Administration

FedRAMP Tailored

General Services Administration

High-Fidelity Adaptive Deception & Emulation System

Sandia National Laboratories

HSIN Migration to AWS GovCloud

Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN)

Human Capital IT Modernization

Office of Personnel Management, Human Resources Line of Business (HRLOB)

Intelligent Grants Automation

Department of Health and Human Services

International Trade Blockchain Proof of Concept

Customs and Border Protection

JPL Open Source Rover

NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

LEADER Replacement System (LRS)

Los Angeles County, Department of Public Social Services

MOCYBER RockNSM

Missouri National Guard/Air National Guard

North Atlantic Right Whale Protection System

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

OC Ballot Express

Orange County, Calif., Registrar of Voters

Ohio Benefits Process Automation Pilot Project

Ohio Department of Administrative Services

Paper Automation & Digitization

Federal Election Commission

Risk-limiting post-election audits

Colorado Department of State

Roadway Monitoring with AI and IoT

City of South Bend, Ind., Department of Public Works

Software-Defined Networking for the DISN and the DoDIN

Defense Information Systems Agency

StormSense

Virginia Commonwealth Center of Recurrent Flooding Resiliency; City of Virginia Beach; City of Newport News; City of Norfolk; National Institute of Standards and Technology

Transforming SBA Cybersecurity via the Cloud

Small Business Administration

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Healthcare Delivery

USAID

Unstructured Machinery Repair for Navy Ships

U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command

VA Medical Images & Reports

Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP)

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Virtual Situation Room

City of Independence, Ore.

Wake County Tax Assessment Model

Wake County, N.C., Revenue Department

Wireless Vital Signs Monitor

U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Research

Wrong-Way Driver Detection System

Arizona Department of Transportation

RISING STARS

Combiz Richard Abdolrahimi

Global Emerging Technology & Innovation Strategist, Senior Advisor Manager, Government & Public Services, Deloitte

Qituwra Anderson

Content Designer, 18F, Technology Transformation Services, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Jeremiah Burch

Scrum Master, TCG

Capt. Keely J. Carrigan

Operations Flight Commander, 707th Communications Squadron, U.S. Air Force

Michael B. Cox

Data Scientist and Team Lead for Internet of Things, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Senior Airman Christopher R. Deforge

Geospatial Analyst/Full-Motion Video Screener, 45th Intelligence Squadron, U.S. Air Force

Anjelica B. Dortch

Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Federal CIO, Office of Management and Budget

Akoua Enow

Management and Program Analyst, Office of Information Technology, Transportation Security Administration

Benjamin Franich

Business Development Manager, Edgewater Federal Solutions

Ryan Hillard

IT Specialist/Systems Developer, Business Technology Solutions, Office of the CIO, Small Business Administration

Nicholas Holtz

Digital Services Expert, U.S. Digital Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs

Daisy O. James

Project Manager, Enterprise Services, Office of Information and Technology , Passenger Systems Program Directorate, Customs and Border Protection

Danielle Lauhoff

Project Manager, Telos Corporation

Katherine M. Katina

Business Development Associate, SAIC

Oki Mek

Emerging Technology Strategist, Department of Health and Human Services

Taylor C. Roberts

Cybersecurity Advisor, Office of Management and Budget

Capt. Anthony N. Rodriguez

Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, 24th Air Force, U.S. Air Force

Sunil Sadasivan

Senior Engineering Lead, Nava Public Benefit Corporation

Henry Sowell

Chief Information Officer at Hortonworks Federal and Technical Director, Hortonworks

Drew Zachary

Program Director, Opportunity Project, and Co-Managing Director, Census Open Innovation Labs, Census Bureau, Department of Commerce

INDUSTRY INNOVATORS

Accenture Federal Services

Akamai Technologies

The Ambit Group

Booz Allen Hamilton

CACI

CGI Federal

Chemonics International

collab9

Engility

GDIT

Intelligent Waves LLC

IBM

ISSAC Corp

Leidos

ManTech

Merlin International

NCI, Inc.

Ntrepid Corporation

Peraton

Qlik

Qmulos

Red River Technology LLC

RIVA Solutions, Inc.

Trillium Secure, Inc.

Vexcel Imaging Inc.

About FCW

FCWs editorial mission is to provide federal technology executives with the information, insights, and strategies necessary to successfully navigate the complex world of federal business. By providing federal technology executives with the who and what they need to know to get things done, FCW delivers access to a powerful, hard-to-reach audience that controls the $112B technology purchasing in federal government. https://FCW.com

About 1105 Public Sector Media Group

1105 Public Sector Media Group, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., provides information, insight and analysis to the Government IT and Education IT (FED/SLED) sectors. Our content platforms include print, digital, online, events and a broad spectrum of marketing services. http://1105publicsector.com
OTTAWA, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA) is delighted that government and industry are successfully collaborating to meet the 2020 deadline for updating the Canadian Organic Standards, and that government is investing $8.3 million towards organic agriculture research.



As the fastest-growing sector in Canadian agriculture, we have a keen interest in ensuring that Canadas Organic Standards are updated to reflect the latest trends, research and innovations within the organic growing and processing industries, said Tia Loftsgard, COTAs executive director. We are thrilled by Minister MacAulays announcement of government funding of $292,555 towards updating the Canadian Organic Standards, and are very pleased by the support for organic science research.

With the governments target of $75 billion in agricultural exports by 2025, it is crucial that booming sectors like organic be provided with equal opportunities to thrive in the global marketplace, said Dag Falck, COTAs board president. We are pleased to see government recognition and the need to step up to support and build on the impressive momentum of Canadian organics, keeping our sector competitive with our largest trading partners.

We are grateful for the governments ongoing support, and we look forward to our joint work aimed at strengthening the integrity and growth of the organic sector in Canada, concluded Falck.

About the Canada Organic Trade Association

The Canada Organic Trade Association is the membership-based association for the organic industry in Canada: representing growers, processors, certifiers, provincial farmers associations, importers, exporters, retailers and others throughout the organic value chain. COTAs mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy. COTA brings together the diversity of Canadas organic sector: from farmer and processor to retail, including food products, fibre and textiles, personal care, and emerging sectors such as organic aquaculture. www.ota.com/canada-ota

Media contacts:

Heather Badenoch, Village PR, 613-859-8232, heather@villagepr.ca

Tia Loftsgard, Executive Director, COTA, 613-482-1717 ext. 200, tloftsgard@canada-organic.ca
Cook Islands does not want China debt write-off



Avarua, Cook Islands, Aug 24 (AFP) Aug 24, 2018



The Cook Islands on Friday rejected suggestions small Pacific island nations should band together and pressure China to write off loans given under Beijing's foreign aid programme.

Tonga Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva floated the idea earlier this month, saying repayments were eroding national budgets and the issue should be discussed at next month's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Nauru.

But his Samoan counterpart Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi immediately dismissed the call and this week Cook Islands Finance Minister Mark Brown adopted a similar stance.

"I believe the Samoa prime minister shares the same view as the Cook Islands, as we do not agree with a call for China to forgive all Pacific debt," Brown told AFP.

Chinese aid in the Pacific has ballooned in recent years with much of the funding coming in the form of loans from Beijing's state-run Exim Bank.

Pohiva raised concerns that small developing nations would struggle to repay the debt and could face asset seizure by Beijing, although he later backtracked and issued a statement praising the help China has given to his country.

Brown said there had been no regional discussion about the China debt issue ahead of the PIF meeting in Nauru.

He said the Cook Islands carefully managed its loans and was ahead of its debt servicing schedule.

The Lowy Institute think tank estimates the Cook Islands, a nation of about 13,000, received about $48 million in aid from China in 2006-16, almost 60 percent of it in concessional loans.

Australia and New Zealand had raised concerns recently about China's growing influence in the Pacific, ramping up their own aid efforts in response.

str-ns/grk/rox/sls
Chinese casino tycoon 'missing' as stocks plunge



Hong Kong, Aug 24 (AFP) Aug 24, 2018



Shares in an Asian casino operator plunged in Hong Kong on Friday as it said its tycoon head had gone missing, the latest setback for the firm after a project in Manila had been stopped.

Landing International Development said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange Thursday that chairman Yang Zhihui could not be found, hours after its share price lost about 35 percent and was then suspended.

When trading restarted early Friday it dived another 16.22 percent to end at HK$3.15.

Mainland news site Caixin reported Friday that Yang was being investigated by Chinese authorities probing his ties with the head of state-controlled Huarong Asset Management and had been detained in Cambodia.

China's anti-corruption agency announced in April that Huarong chairman, Lai Xiaomin, was under investigation for suspected graft.

Chinese President Xi Jinping launched an anti-graft campaign in 2012, after took the reins of the Communist Party, and has snared errant party officials as well as corporate executives.

Some of the country's top businesspeople have come under heightened scrutiny from authorities who have moved aggressively to prevent heavily indebted large private companies from collapsing and triggering a financial crisis.

Financier Xiao Jianhua vanished from his Hong Kong apartment last year and reports suggest he was abducted by mainland security agents. He was believed to be under investigation in connection with China's 2015 stocks crash.

Real estate kingpin Guo Wengui fled to the United States in 2014, where he is now seeking asylum.

The billionaire Xu Ming, who was close to former top-ranking leader Bo Xilai, a political rival of Xi, died in prison at the end of 2015.

Landing said in Thursday's statement it had "noted the fluctuation in the price and trading volume of shares of the company on 23 August 2018 and confirmed that the company has been unable to contact or reach Mr. Yang Zhihui ... since 23 August 2018".

"To the best knowledge of the board, the business operations and financial positions of the group are normal," Landing said in its statement to the exchange, adding that the "temporary absence" of Yang would not affect its operations.

Yang is the company's largest shareholder with a 50.5 percent stake. Landing said it was making attempts to contact him.

Earlier this month Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pulled the rug out from Landing's new $1.5 billion casino project in Manila, saying the terms of the lease agreement were flawed.

Duterte ordered a review of the lease just as the project was supposed to break ground.

Landing opened integrated casino resort Jeju Shinhwa World in Korea in March this year.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd594efe8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5c8bd50)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd594efe8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5c8bd50)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5a31468)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5c8bd50)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5c8bd50)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53e95c8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5b46528)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5b46528)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
MUNICH, Germany, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ADVA (FSE: ADV), today announced that it will participate at the following financial conferences during September 2018:



7th Annual Liolios Gateway Conference

Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. PT (8:30 p.m. CET)

Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco, California, USA

Webcast: Link

Dougherty & Co. 2018 Institutional Investor Conference

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Millennium Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

To schedule a one-on-one meeting, request a conference invitation or receive additional information, please contact ADVAs investor relations team at +1 (949) 574-3860.

About the Gateway Conference

The 7th Annual Gateway Conference is an invite-only conference presented by Liolios, a full-service financial communications firm. Gateway was created to bring together the most compelling companies with the nations top institutional investors and analysts. This years event features approximately 100 companies from a number of growth industries, including technology, business and financial services, consumer, digital media, clean technology and life sciences. The format has been designed to give attendees direct access to senior management via company presentations, Q&A sessions and one-on-one meetings. For more information, visit www.gateway-conference.com or www.liolios.com. To receive updates and highlights from #LioliosGateway, make sure to follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About ADVA Optical Networking

ADVA Optical Networking is a company founded on innovation and driven to help our customers succeed. For over two decades, our technology has empowered networks across the globe. Were continually developing breakthrough hardware and software that leads the networking industry and creates new business opportunities. Its these open connectivity solutions that enable our customers to deliver the cloud and mobile services that are vital to todays society and for imagining new tomorrows. Together, we're building a truly connected and sustainable future. For more information on how we can help you, please visit us at: www.advaoptical.com.

Published by:

ADVA Optical Networking SE, Munich, Germany

www.advaoptical.com

Company contact:

Stephan Rettenberger

SVP, marketing and investor relations

t +49 89 890 665 854

investor-relations(at)advaoptical.com

Investor contact:

Matt Glover or Najim Mostamand, CFA

Liolios Group, Inc.

t: 949 574 3860

adv@liolios.com
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5e495c0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5e449e0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5e495c0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5e449e0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d79b80)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5e449e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5e449e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd57f6a98)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd61b0390)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd61b0390)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd58bc080)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5a5f980)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd58bc080)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5a5f980)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd58cb160)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5a5f980)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5a5f980)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53eaa60)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5944310)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5944310)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd58bbf48)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd57d9df8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd58bbf48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd57d9df8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd58cb588)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd57d9df8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd57d9df8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53e9e60)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd53e9250)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd53e9250)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

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General invalidates recommendations to punish chaplain who followed military regulations



FT. BRAGG, N.C., Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the United States Army announced that it has rejected the findings of an investigation, and will abandon charges of dereliction of duty against First Liberty Institute clients Chaplain Scott Squires and Chaplain Assistant, SSG Kacie Griffin. An earlier Army report recommended Squires be disciplined for following the rules of the Army and taking three business days to reschedule a marriage retreat he was prohibited by his denomination from facilitating.



We are grateful that the Army has rejected and abandoned these baseless charges, said Mike Berry, Deputy General Counsel and Director of Military Affairs to First Liberty. The United States military is no place for anti-religious hostility against its own military chaplains. Chaplains like Scott Squires assistant Kacie Griffin do not have to give up their First Amendment rights in order to serve their fellow soldiers.

The complaint that triggered an investigation of Chaplain Squires alleged that he discriminated against a same-sex couple when he quickly rescheduled a marriage retreat his chaplain endorsing agency, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), prevents its chaplains from facilitating. Despite Department of Defense (DOD) regulations that require chaplains to adhere to their endorsers rules and religious tenets and overlooking statements clearing Chaplain Squires of any wrongdoing, an Army investigator recommended that Squires be found guilty of dereliction of duty, a court martial offense that could have resulted in up to six months in military prison.

I look forward to being able to focus on continuing my career serving my fellow soldiers, said Chaplain Squires. I am eternally grateful to First Liberty for covering my six and fighting to restore my religious liberty.

About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.

Contact: Lacey McNiel, media@firstliberty.org

Direct: 972-941-4453
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lysander Funds Limited (Lysander), on behalf of Canso Select Opportunities Fund (TSE: SCW:UN) (the Fund) and Canso Select Opportunities Corporation (CSOC or the Corporation) (TSXV: CSOC), are pleased to announce that the previously-announced plan of arrangement involving the Fund and CSOC (the Arrangement) will close on September 4, 2018.



Trading of Securities of the Fund and CSOC

As a result of the closing of the Arrangement and pursuant to elections previously made, unitholders of the Fund will receive class A multiple voting shares (Class A Multiple Voting Shares) and/or class B subordinate voting shares (Class B Subordinate Voting Shares) of CSOC in exchange for units of the Fund previously held. As of August 31, 2018, the units of the Fund will delist from the Toronto Stock Exchange and effective as of September 4, 2018, the Class A Multiple Voting Shares and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbols CSOC.A representing the Class A Multiple Voting Shares and CSOC.B representing the Class B Subordinate Voting Shares.

Cease to be a Reporting Issuer Application of the Fund

As a result of the Arrangement, the Fund will be a wholly-owned entity held by CSOC and has applied to the securities regulatory commissions in Canada to cease to be a reporting issuer. Despite that the Fund will cease reporting, the continuous disclosure record and profile of the Fund, as predecessor to CSOC, will continue to be available to investors on SEDAR and will be accessible through the SEDAR profile of CSOC.

Change in Trustee of the Fund

Pursuant to the Arrangement, Lysander will be replaced as trustee of the Fund with individual trustees for the transitional period between the effective date of the Arrangement and the date of dissolution of the Fund. The Funds individual trustees for this transitional period will be: Antonietta (Neda) Bizzotto, Shirley Sumsion and Brian Carney. An Appointment and Assumption Agreement formally appointing the successor individual trustees will take effect upon completion of the Arrangement.

The Fund has a pool of tax loss carryforwards that can be utilized to shelter gains of the Fund so long as the trust continues to be maintained and certain other conditions are met. If the Fund were to be wound-up into CSOC at a time when it had losses, such losses would expire unutilized. Consequently, the current intention is to maintain the continued existence of the Fund until such time as all or substantially all of the losses of the Fund are utilized, or so long as the benefits associated with maintaining and utilizing such losses (e.g. current and potential cash tax savings) outweighs the cost of maintaining the Fund. As the holding period for many of these investments of the Fund is measured in years, and the Fund has tax losses, the transitional period could be several months to a year or more. Any new investments will be made directly by CSOC.

Canso Select Opportunities Corporation

CSOC would like to provide investors with the following updated information with respect to its structure and business operations.

CSOC is an Ontario-based investment corporation. The Corporations mission is to provide capital gains and dividend income to its shareholders. Consistent with this mission the Corporation will evaluate potential investments in debt, public and private equity and other securities. The deployment of funds to new investments will depend on both the attractiveness of new investment opportunities and the availability of capital as generated from the realization of value from existing portfolio investments.

The Corporation will conduct independent research of potential investments and will evaluate each investment opportunity on its own merits.

The Corporation may invest in (i) Canadian and foreign securities issued in both public and private markets (ii) companies at all stages of development, including distressed, venture and start-up investments, and (iii) derivative securities, both for hedging and investment purposes.

The Corporation may take either passive and active roles in the companies in which it invests. In some cases, the Corporation may provide advice and direction to the management of companies in which it invests.

More specifically the Corporation could invest in:

Debt securities including private or public fixed rate bonds and debentures, floating rate notes and bank loans. Fixed income debt securities of governments, government agencies, supranational agencies and companies. Equity securities including private or public common shares, preferred shares and convertible debentures;

Real estate or other alternative assets, and

Cash or cash equivalents or invest in short terms bonds or money market instruments for liquidity or defensive purposes.

CSOC will have an Investment Committee that reports to the Board. The Investment Committee of CSOC will be comprised of Brenda Burns, Brian Carney, John Carswell and Joe Morin.

A copy of CSOCs investment policy is available under its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Disclosure of Outstanding Securities of CSOC (Circular)

CSOC was incorporated on February 16, 2018 and capitalized with nominal capital. As CSOC has not carried on any business to date, it has no material assets, or cash flow from financing or from operations. However, upon completion of the Arrangement, CSOC will acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class A Units and Class F Units of the Fund and therefore, will indirectly hold all of the investments of CSOF through its ownership of the Fund. As at July 31, 2018, the Fund had total assets in the amount of $17,548,880.33 and total liabilities in the amount of $2,186,286.55.

As of the close of business on May 15, 2018, the deadline for Unitholders to make elections with respect to the distributions of the Fund, there were 3,209,097 Class A Units and 291,041 Class F Units of the Fund outstanding. Redemptions in the amount of 1,947,386 Class A Units and 168,700 Class F Units were received by the Fund on May 15, 2018 and were processed as of May 31, 2018. As a result, the Fund has 1,261,711 Class A Units and 122,341 Class F Units outstanding prior to completion of the Arrangement.

As a result of the Arrangement, CSOC will have an aggregate of 1,621,443 Class A Multiple Voting Shares and 1,156,730 Class B Subordinate Voting Shares issued and outstanding as of the effective date of the Arrangement. No preference shares will be issued and outstanding. The material attributes and characteristics of the Class A Multiple Voting Shares and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares are described in the management information circular of the Fund dated March 16, 2018, which has also been filed on the SEDAR profile of CSOC.

Principal Securityholders

As at the date hereof, to the knowledge of the board of directors of CSOC, the following persons will beneficially own, directly or indirectly, or exercise control or direction over, Class A Multiple Voting Shares and/or Class B Subordinate Voting Shares carrying 10% or more of the voting rights attaching to all issued and outstanding securities of CSOC upon completion of the Arrangement:

Name Class A Multiple Voting Shares Held Class B Subordinate Voting Shares Held Of Record and Beneficially Percentage of Class John Carswell(1) 727,710 Nil Direct and beneficially of record 26.29 % Canso Partners II Fund(2) 876,932 Nil Direct and beneficially of record 31.06 %

Notes:

Mr. Carswell will be a director of CSOC. Canso Partners II Fund is an investment vehicle used by employees of Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. Canso Partners II Fund is beneficially owned by GRIP Investments Limited, Skunkworks Investment Corporation and other directors and senior officers of Canso and Lysander, their family members and Canso employees. John Carswell is expected to exercise direct and indirect control or direction over approximately 26.29% of CSOC, 0.16% of which he will hold directly and the remainder of which he will hold through his indirect beneficial ownership and control or direction over GRIP Investments Limited, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd., and Skunkworks Investment Corporation upon completion of the Arrangement.

Directors and Executive Officers

The following are the names and place of residence of each of the individuals who will be the directors and executive officers of CSOC and their principal occupations during the last five years and the securities of CSOC to be held directly upon completion of the Arrangement.

Name and Residence Position with CSOC Current Occupation Securities of CSOC Held Brenda Burns(2)

Ontario, Canada Vice President Vice President, Corporate Operations, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. 400 Class A Multiple Voting Shares Brian Carney (2)

Ontario, Canada President and Chief Executive Officer Portfolio Manager, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. 400 Class A Multiple Voting Shares John Carswell(2)

Ontario, Canada Director President and Chief Investment Officer, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. 4,500 Class A Multiple Voting Shares Tom Fernandes(1)

Ontario, Canada Director Retired effective January 2016; prior thereto, Director, Institutional Fixed Income Sales, Merrill Lynch Canada since December 1974 Nil Steve Klubi(1)

British Columbia, Canada Director Retired Nil Joe Morin(1)

Ontario, Canada Director

Portfolio Manager, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. 400 Class A Multiple Voting Shares Tony MacDougall(1)

Ontario, Canada Director

Retired effective January 2017; prior thereto, Mutual Fund Dealer, Investment Planning Counsel since 2002 Nil Shirley Sumsion(1)

Ontario, Canada Chief Financial Officer and Director

Vice President, Finance, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. since July 2015; prior thereto, Partner, Hennick Herman LLP 400 Class A Multiple Voting Shares Neda Bizzotto

Ontario, Canada Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Director General Counsel and Compliance Officer, Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. since May 2015; prior thereto, Associate, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP 200 Class A Multiple Voting Shares and 200 Class B Subordinate Voting Shares

Notes:

(1) Member of the Investment Committee.

(2) Member of the Audit Committee.

The following table sets out the reporting issuer experience of the management team of CSOC in the past five years:

Name Name and Jurisdiction of Reporting Issuer Name of

Trading Market

Position Time Period Brenda Burns Canso Credit Income Fund Toronto Stock Exchange Corporate Secretary with the manager of the Fund, Lysander Funds Limited June 28, 2010 to present Lysander-Slater Preferred Share ActivETF Toronto Stock Exchange Corporate Secretary with the manager of the Fund, Lysander Funds Limited August 10, 2015 to present John Carswell Canso Credit Income Fund Toronto Stock Exchange Director with the manager of the Fund, Lysander Funds Limited June 28, 2010 to present Lysander-Slater Preferred Share ActivETF Toronto Stock Exchange Director with the manager of the Fund, Lysander Funds Limited August 10, 2015 to present

The following are the biographies of the directors and officers of CSOC:

Name of Director Biography Brenda Burns Brenda attended Mount Allison University, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) in 1981. Brenda joined Canso in 2005 after working in small business and the non-profit sectors. She completed the Canadian Securities Course in 2007 and the Partners, Directors and Senior Officers Course in 2009. Brenda is Corporate Secretary and is responsible for Personnel and Corporate Operations for the Canso group of companies. Brian Carney Brian attended the University of Notre Dame graduating with a degree in Government and International Studies in 1990. Brian then joined the Credit Department of Goldman Sachs & Co. working in the firms New York, London and Toronto offices. In 1997 Brian moved to Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. and over the next 11 years held a variety of positions in Corporate Bond Research, High Yield and Corporate Bond Trading, Syndication and Proprietary Trading. In 2009 Brian earned his Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) designation and started Big Rock Capital Management Inc. an investment management firm focused on the high yield segment of the fixed income market. In 2012 Brian joined Canso as a member of the investment team where he is a Portfolio Manager and also contributes to client servicing and marketing. John Carswell John graduated from the Royal Military College with a Bachelor of Arts (Commerce) and served as an Air Force navigator. He then earned an MBA degree from Queens University (Deans List, Award in Finance) in 1985. John completed the Chartered Financial Analyst program and was awarded a CFA charter in 1988. He began his investment career at Mutual Life of Canada in 1985 where he was an Investment Analyst in the Private Placement and Corporate Debt area. He then moved to TAL Investment Counsel Ltd. in 1988 where he was Vice President, Fixed Income, responsible for credit analysis and specialty fixed income products. In 1992, John then moved to Foyston, Gordon & Payne, where he was the Partner responsible for fixed income and preferred shares. He founded Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. in 1997. Tom Fernandes Tom graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979. He worked at Merrill Lynch Canada from 1974 to 2016, most recently holding the title of Director, Institutional Fixed Income Sales until his retirement. Steve Klubi Steve obtained his Aircraft Maintenance Diploma from BCVS/BCIT in 1976. He went on to earn his Pilot Accreditation from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1979 and his Airline Transport Pilot License from the Edmonton Flying Club in 1984. He worked as a Senior/Training Captain with Cathay Pacific Airways from 1990 to 2015. He is now retired. Joe Morin Joe graduated from the Royal Military College with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours Economics and Commerce) in 1986 and served as an officer in the Canadian Navy. He subsequently earned an MBA degree from the University of British Columbia in 1995. Joe has held various positions in private lending, credit management and credit research in the past number of years including Export Development Canada, Nortel Networks, and Standard & Poors. Prior to joining Canso, Joe was a Director of Corporate Debt Research at BMO Capital Markets responsible for covering the Canadian telecom, cable, media, retail, real estate and credit card ABS sectors. Joe joined Canso in May 2009 as Director of Investment Research and is responsible for coordinating all Canso investment research activities. Tony MacDougall



Tony MacDougall graduated from Royal Military College with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science in 1978. He was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces from 1973 to 1994. From 1994 to 2017, Tony worked in investment planning as a self-employed advisor. Between 1997 to 2006, Tony earned numerous designations, including Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI), Canadian Investment Manager (CIM), Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Charter Life Underwriter of Canada (CLU). He served as a trustee of the City of Cumberland Library Board and was Chair of the new Library Committee. Tony was also a director on the Royal Military Colleges Foundation as Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee. Shirley Sumsion Shirley graduated from Concordia University with a BA in Sociology and in 1997 received her Chartered Accountancy designation. She spent approximately three years in a national public accounting firm and then moved to a local public accounting firm in 1995 and for the past 10 years was a partner in that firm. Her focus there was mainly working alongside and advising private businesses in various industries under both IFRS and ASPE. Shirley joined Canso in July 2015 as Vice-President, Finance. Neda Bizzotto Neda graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology in 1998 and from the University of Windsor with an LLB in 2003. Neda was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2004. Neda has over 10 years of securities and corporate/commercial law experience gained as a member of the Investment Management Group of Borden Ladner Gervais, a national law firm. While at BLG, Nedas practice focused in the area of investment management, securities regulatory and compliance laws and regulations. Prior to embarking on her legal career, Neda was a Senior Intelligence Analyst with the Forensic and Corporate Intelligence team at KPMG Canada. Neda joined Canso in 2015 and is currently General Counsel and Compliance Officer. Neda is responsible for providing securities legal, regulatory and compliance advice in connection with Canso and its registrant affiliates. Neda also provides general legal advice on corporate and commercial law matters affecting Canso and its affiliates.

Executive Compensation

The operational services agreement between the Corporation and Canso (the Operational Services Agreement) sets out that Canso will provide day-to-day operational services to carry out the business and affairs of the Corporation. Under such operational services agreement, Canso may charge the Corporation on a cost recovery basis for services, including overhead expenses of Canso that are related to the daily operating functions of the Corporation, such as employee salaries, rent and utilities. A copy of the Operational Services Agreement will be executed and filed on SEDAR upon completion of the Arrangement.

For the first 24 months from the effective date of the Operational Services Agreement, no salaries will be payable by CSOC to the named executive officers (NEOs) of CSOC. At the end of 24 months this arrangement may be extended for another 12 month period or amended as agreed between Canso and CSOC. If amended the gross salary in respect of each year of employment (before deduction for income taxes and other required deductions) shall not exceed a maximum of up to $50,000 (the Salary), for services performed with respect to CSOC. The Salary shall be payable in accordance with the payroll practices of Canso adopted from time to time. The Salary shall be subject to annual increases based on the Canadian price index. Canso may elect to effect payment by way of direct deposit.

After the Arrangement is completed, compensation will be paid by the Corporation to the independent directors. It is currently intended that the independent directors that comprise the Audit Committee of the Corporation will be paid an annual fee, which is currently anticipated to be approximately $30,000 each year per director.

Risk Factors

The following are risk factors that are expected to affect CSOC upon completion of the Arrangement. These risk factors are in addition to the risk factors set out in the Circular:

Illiquidity in trading of CSOC Securities

There is no guarantee that the securities of CSOC will trade frequently. There can be no assurances that an active trading market will develop for the securities of CSOC or, if developed, that such market will be sustained.

Market price of CSOC Securities

The trading prices of the securities of CSOC could be lower than the value of CSOCs investments. The trading prices of the securities of CSOC will fluctuate with market conditions and other factors. If a holder of the securities of CSOC sells its securities of CSOC, the price received may be more or less than the original investment and such shares may trade at a discount from their book value. The securities of CSOC may trade at a price that is less than the net asset value determined at the time of the Arrangement.

Limited control

Holders of Class B Subordinate Voting Shares will have limited control over changes in CSOCs policies and operations, which increases the uncertainty and risks of an investment in CSOC. The Board will determine major policies, including policies regarding financing, investments, growth, debt capitalization and any future dividends to CSOC shareholders. Holders of Class B Subordinate Voting Shares will not have the same voting power as holders of Class A Multiple Voting Shares. The Boards discretion in setting policies and the limited ability of holders of Class B Subordinate Voting Shares to exert control over those policies increases the uncertainty and risks of an investment in CSOC.

No market for CSOC Securities

There is a risk that the securities of CSOC may not be listed or, if listed, may cease to be listed on a stock exchange in Canada. In such case, there may be no market through which the securities of CSOC may be sold and CSOC shareholders may not be able to resell their securities of CSOC. This may affect the pricing of the securities of CSOC in the secondary market, the transparency and availability of trading prices, the liquidity of the securities of CSOC and the extent of issuer regulation.

Material Contracts

Upon completion of the Arrangement, CSOC will indirectly hold all of the investments of the Fund. Since it is anticipated that the Fund will transition said investments to CSOC over a period of time due to tax reasons, many of the material contracts of the Fund will remain in place. Consequently, it is anticipated that upon completion of the Arrangement, the following will be considered material contracts and agreements of CSOC:

Arrangement Agreement between the Fund and CSOC dated March 12, 2018; Operational Services Agreement between Canso and CSOC executed on August 1, 2018; Appointment and Assumption Agreement relating to the Declaration of Trust of the Fund between Lysander and the New Trustees of the Fund on the effective date of the Arrangement; Transfer Agency Agreement between AST and CSOC executed on March 29, 2018; Custodial Services Agreement between CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Company and certain of its Affiliates (CIBC Global) and CSOC as amended (amending agreement to be executed on September 4, 2018); and Custodial Services Agreement between CIBC Global and the Fund dated as of October 22, 2013, as amended (amending agreement to be executed on September 4, 2018.

Copies of the above-mentioned documents will be available on CSOCs profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Financial Statement Disclosure

CSOC has prepared/will file the following financial statements:

Management prepared quarterly financial statements for the period ending March 31, 2018;

Quarterly financial statements prepared under a review engagement for the period ending June 30, 2018; and

CSOF has prepared and filed the following financial statements:

Semi annual financial statements as of June 30, 2018

Interim MRFPs as of June 30, 2018

Additional Information

Further details of the Arrangement are set out in the Arrangement Agreement and the Management Information Circular dated March 16, 2018, both of which have been filed by the Fund and CSOC on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For further information on CSOC, please visit www.selectopportunitiescorporation.com or contact info@selectopportunitiescorporation.com .

For further information on the Fund, please call Lysander Funds Limited at (416) 640-4275.

Consolidated Capitalization

The following table sets forth the unaudited pro forma consolidated capitalization of CSOC as at June 30, 2018, both before and after giving effect to the completion of the Arrangement:



Canso Select Opportunities Corporation Pro Forma Consolidated Statement of Financial Position June 30, 2018 (unaudited) $ $ $ $



Canso Select Opportunities Fund Canso Select Opportunities Corporation Adjustments Pro Forma Consolidated CSOC 30-Jun-18 30-Jun-18 30-Jun-18 Assets Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 16,452,542 - (16,452,542 ) (1 ) - Investments - - 16,452,542 (1 ) 16,452,542 Cash and cash equivalents 1,206,970 559 (10 ) (2 ) 1,207,519 Accrued interest 45,846 - 45,846 Accrued dividends 437 - 437 Total assets 17,705,795 559 17,706,344 Liabilities Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss 2,061,996 - (2,061,996 ) (3 ) - Investments held short 2,061,996 (3 ) 2,061,996 Accrued management fees 13,299 - 13,299 Other accrued expenses 76,460 - 76,460 Distributions payable to holders of redeemable units 57,660 - 57,660 Advances from related company - 1,000 1,000 Total Current Liabilities 2,209,415 1,000 2,210,415 Shareholders Equity Class A Units 14,075,402 - (14,075,402 ) (4 ) - Class F Units 1,420,978 - (1,420,978 ) (4 ) - Class A Multiple Voting Shares - 10 (10 ) (2,4 ) 9,044,252 Class B Subordinate Voting Shares - - 6,452,128 Retained Earnings (451 ) (451 ) Net Assets attributable to Holders of redeemable units/Shareholders equity 15,496,380 (441 ) (5 ) 15,495,929 Total Liabilities and Shareholder's Equity 559 17,706,344

(1) CSOF's "Financial Assets at fair value through profit or loss" would be reclassified as "Investments" to conform with CSOC's reporting regime.

(2) Post arrangement the 1 Class A Multiple Voting share that was issued to CSOF will be cancelled.

(3) CSOF's "Financial Liabilities at fair value through profit or loss" would be reclassified as "Investments held short" to conform with CSOC's reporting regime.

(4)The "Class A & Class F Units" will be exchanged for "Class A Multiple Voting Shares" and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares"

(5) CSOF's "Net assets attributable to holders of redeemable units" would be reclassified as "Shareholder's Equity" to conform with CSOC's reporting regime.









Canso Select Opportunities Corporation Pro Forma Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income June 30, 2018 (unaudited) $ $ $ $ Canso Select Opportunities Fund Canso Select Opportunities Corporation Adjustments Pro Forma Consolidated CSOC 30-Jun-18 30-Jun-18 30-Jun-18 Income Interest for distribution purposes 409,578 - - 409,578 Dividend Income 42,227 - - 42,227 Net realized gain on investments 214,331 - - 214,331 Net foreign exchange gain on cash 9,986 - - 9,986 Net other loss (37,531 ) - - (37,531 ) Change in unrealized gain on investments 4,781 - - 4,781



Total Operating Income 643,372 - - 643,372



Expenses Management fees 175,585 - - 175,585 Interest expense, short positions 53,678 - - 53,678 Stock borrow costs 27,072 - - 27,072 Commissions and other portfolio transaction costs 20,380 - - 20,380 Dividend expense, short positions 45,308 - - 45,308 Harmonized sales tax 26,365 - - 26,365 Other expenses 16,977 451 - 17,428 Fund valuation fees 12,395 - - 12,395 Audit fees 9,890 - - 9,890 Custodial and administrative fees 7,140 - - 7,140 Transfer agent 6,547 - - 6,547 Administration fees 4,384 - - 4,384 Independent review committee fees 800 - - 800



Total Operating Expenses 406,521 451 - 406,972 Change in Net Assets/Net Income (Loss) before income taxes 236,851 (451 ) - 236,400 Income taxes - - 38,480 (6 ) 38,480



Net Income 236,851 (451 ) 197,920

Adjustment



(6) CSOF is a mutual fund trust within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Act). The Fund is subject to tax on its net taxable income, including net realized capital gains, for the calendar year which is not paid or payable to its unitholders as of the end of the calendar year. It is the intention of the Fund to pay all of its net taxable income and net realized capital gains so that the Fund will not be subject to income taxes other than foreign withholding taxes, if applicable. Therefore, no provision for income taxes were made in their financial statements.

However, CSOC is a public investment corporation and as such is subject to income taxes on its net investment income and net realized gain on investments at rates of approximately 26% and 13%, respectively. Taxable dividends from taxable Canadian corporations, as dened by the Income Tax Act (Canada), are excluded from taxable income.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these pro forma consolidated financial statements.

1. The Corporation:

Canso Select Opportunities Corporation (CSOC) is an investment company incorporated on February 16, 2018, under the laws of the Province of Ontario.

The registered ofce of CSOC is located at 100 York Boulevard, Suite 550, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 1J8.

The investment objective of CSOC is to maximize long-term total returns to shareholders by investing in an actively managed portfolio consisting primarily of Canadian and global holdings which could include large illiquid positions in private and public equity, debt, loans, real estate and infrastructure.

The mission of CSOC is to provide capital gains and dividend income to its shareholders through investment in public and private equity, debt and other securities over very long time periods.

CSOC may invest in:

Canadian and foreign securities in both public and private markets;

Companies at all stages of development, including distressed, activist, venture and start-up investments; and

Derivative securities, both for hedging and investment purposes.

CSOC may take both passive and active stakes in its investments, in some cases providing advice and direction to management.

Given the nature of some of its investments, the portfolio could be highly focused in some of its holdings at larger portfolio exposures.

2. Predecessor to the Corporation:

CSOC is the successor to the Canso Select Opportunities Fund ("CSOF" or the Fund).



The Fund was a closed-end investment fund established under the laws of the Province of Ontario by way of a Declaration of Trust made as of September 25, 2013. Lysander Funds Limited (Lysander) was the trustee and manager of the Fund. Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. (Canso) was the portfolio manager of the Fund. The Fund was listed on the TSX.

The investment objective of CSOF was to provide good long-term returns to its unit holders through investment in a portfolio of public and private securities managed by Canso.



The investment policy of CSOF expressly permitted investments in less liquid public and private securities as a way of generating higher long-term returns. However there were some significant annual redemptions that had concentrated the portfolio in its less liquid positions, and therefore it was decided with the approval of Lysander's Independent Review Committee that it was in the best interest of unitholders to have the less liquid positions of CSOF held by a listed corporation that would have permanent capital to allow the value of these positions to be fully exploited.

On February 1, 2018, Lysander announced a proposed restructuring of the Fund under a plan of arrangement pursuant to section 182 of the Ontario Business Corporations Act (the Arrangement). As a result of the Arrangement, unitholders of the Fund were asked to approve the change of status of the Fund from an investment fund to a publicly listed investment corporation. As a result of the Arrangement, all of the issued and outstanding Class A units (Class A Units) and Class F units (Class F Units) (collectively, the Units) of the Fund were exchanged for Class A multiple voting shares (Class A Multiple Voting Shares) and/or Class B subordinate voting shares (Class B Subordinate Voting Shares) of CSOC. The Arrangement was approved by unitholders of the Fund at a Special Meeting held on April 12th, 2018.

Those unitholders not wishing to continue in a corporate structure were able to redeem at the 2018 annual redemption period from March 15th, 2018 to March 29th, 2018. Unitholders electing to redeem part or all of their Class A Units or Class F Units of CSOF received the May 31st Redemption Net Asset Value (NAV) per unit of $10.8104 for Class A Units and $11.2548 for Class F Units on June 4th, 2018.

The CSOF 2018 Annual Redemption paid $23 million of the then $38 million NAV, leaving CSOF with a continuing portfolio of approximately $15 million.

Following completion of the Arrangement, CSOC will have acquired all of the Units of the Fund and indirectly hold all of the investments held by the Fund. As a result, Lysander will be replaced as trustee of the Fund with individual trustees for the transitional period between the effective date of the Arrangement and the date of dissolution of the Fund. Lysander will also no longer be the manager of the Fund and Canso will no longer be portfolio manager of the Fund. CSOC will have an investment committee that will consider and evaluate each investment opportunity. It is expected that following completion of the Arrangement, the Fund will apply to cease being a reporting issuer and, after a transitional period, the Fund will be wound-up such that CSOC will acquire all of the property and assets and assume all of the liabilities of the Fund.

The Fund has a pool of tax loss carryforwards that can be utilized to shelter gains of the Fund so long as the trust continues to be maintained and certain other conditions are met. The current intention is to maintain the continued existence of the Fund until such time as all or substantially all of the losses of the Fund are utilized, or so long as the benefits associated with maintaining and utilizing such losses (e.g. current and potential cash tax savings) outweighs the cost of maintaining the Fund. As the holding period for many of these investments of the Fund is measured in years, and the Fund has tax losses, the transitional period could be several months to a year or more.

Any new investments will be made directly by CSOC.

3. Basis of presentation:

These unaudited pro forma consolidated financial statements have been derived from the unaudited interim financial statements for the six-month period ended June 30, 2018 of CSOF and the unaudited three month period ended June 30, 2018 of CSOC. There was no activity in CSOC for the period from incorporation (February 16, 2018) to March 31, 2018 other than the issuance to CSOF of 1 Class A Multiple Voting Share for $10. The aforementioned unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as published by the International Accounting Standards Board.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of Financial Position and the unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of comprehensive income have been prepared as if the transaction occurred June 30, 2018.

4. Significant accounting policies:

The accounting policies applied in these pro forma consolidated nancial statements are consistent with those applied by:

CSOC in its unaudited interim nancial statements for the three month period ended June 30, 2018, which were prepared in accordance with IAS 34-Interim Financial Reporting; and CSOF in its unaudited interim nancial statements for the six month periods ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 which were prepared in accordance with IAS 34-Interim Financial Reporting.

CSOC qualifies as an Investment entity under IFRS 10 'Consolidated Financial Statements'.

5. Share capital:

The consolidated CSOC has authorized an unlimited number of Class A Multiple Voting Shares with 1,621,443 share issued, an unlimited number of Class B Subordinate Voting Shares with 1,156,730 shares issued, and an unlimited number of preference shares with Nil issued.

6. Consolidated Pro Forma Earnings Per Share (EPS):

CSOC consolidated Pro Forma number of shares outstanding 2,778,173

CSOC consolidated Pro Forma net income $197,920

CSOC consolidated Pro Forma EPS is $0.07 per share

7. Income Taxes:

CSOC, as a public corporation, will be subject to income taxes on its net investment income and net realized capital gains at the rate of approximately 26% and 13% respectively

As CSOC has not carried on any business to date, it has no material assets, or cash flow from financing or from operations but, upon completion of the Arrangement, CSOC will be assuming all of the investments of CSOF.



CSOCs mission is to provide capital gains and dividend income to its shareholders. Consistent with this mission, CSOC will evaluate potential investments in public and private equity, debt and other securities. The deployment of funds to new investments will depend on both the attractiveness of new investment opportunities and the availability of capital as generated from the realization of value from existing portfolio investments.

The financial statements of CSOC will be prepared in accordance with the requirements of NI 51-102. CSOC has prepared and will file quarterly financial statements for the periods ending March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words seeks, expects, believes, estimates, will, target and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations of CSOC regarding future results or events and are based on information currently available to it. Certain material factors and reasonable assumptions were applied in providing these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. CSOC believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions; however, CSOC can give no assurances that the actual results or developments will be realized. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the matters discussed under Risk Factors in the Circular. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, a forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. CSOC undertakes no obligation to publicly update any such statement or to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances except as required by securities laws. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release.

Additional information about CSOC is available under its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.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.
TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recent polls show that healthcare is the No. 1 issue for voters, writes Robert Pearl in Forbes. Their concerns are quite valid, states the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS): Costs are too high, most Americans cant afford them, and they are not getting what they are paying for.



However, the fact that 57% cited universal/single-payer coverage as the issue of top concern shows that most have been deceived about the cause of the problem, states AAPS.

As Pearl points out, one reason for the rise in businesss health insurance premiums is cost-shifting, as insured patients pay more to compensate for Medicare underpayment. So how can Medicare for all solve this problem, which Medicare created? AAPS asks.

Another reason for exorbitant premiums is the guaranteed issue/community rating mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and in several states, AAPS points out. Insurers are forced to overcharge low-risk individuals, who decline to buy the product if they can, driving premiums still higher.

Republican Senators propose to make the problem still worse with a bill codifying protections for all Americans with pre-existing conditions, AAPS warns, through an amendment to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Essentially, this would outlaw real health insurance, which is a voluntary contract to share risk, with premiums based on level of risk, explains AAPS. Its a bill to force healthy Americans to pay more than their fair share if they are to obtain protection against their own unexpected costs.

It raises the constitutional issue of whether Congress can force an industry to sell only unprofitable, unaffordable products, and force Americans to subsidize other customers, AAPS stated. In casualty insurance, it would force companies to charge the same to insure a fire trap as a well-kept steel building.

If we wish to help people who have not continuously maintained insurance while they were healthy and cant buy it at the same price after they get sick, we need a mechanism other than destroying insurance for all Americans, AAPS states.

Most of all, we need to drastically cut costs. These are some things that Americans are paying for unwillingly: kickbacks to Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) and Group Purchasing Organizations; cost-shifting because of Medicare and Medicaid price controls and underpayments; profits to Medicaid managed-care companies, which get paid whether anybody gets care or not; inflated prices because competition is squelched by Certificate-of-Need laws; layers of administrative costs to comply with massive overregulation; and much more. The best thing Congress can do now is remove privileges to special interests and enable competition, concludes AAPS.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943. It has outlined a voluntary approach to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Athabasca Minerals Inc. (Athabasca or the Corporation) (TSX Venture: ABM) announces its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018. The Corporations financial statements and managements discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Athabasca Minerals Inc. website at www.athabascaminerals.com.



2018 Q2 Highlights

Corporation sold surplus equipment for $2,922,623 with a portion of proceeds used to repay lease obligation of $273,913;



Susan Lake Closure Plan is under review with Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP). Milestones for progressively closing the Susan Lake gravel pit will continue into 2019. Revised dates will be confirmed once the Susan Lake Closure Plan is approved;



Susan Lake gravel pit remains operational under Overholding Tenancy status. Athabascas volume-based pit management fees increased by 17% to $1.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018;



Athabascas wholly owned subsidiary AMI Silica Inc. (AMI Silica) submitted its Development Permit application in late July for review and approval by the Town of Mayerthorpe and is working on a long-term lease agreement with the property owner and actively having discussions with capital firms with respect to financing of the Firebag frac sand project;



AMI Silica site selection and wash/dry plant design activities have been substantially completed;



Operating loss improved by 63% and 36% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 to $0.4 million and $1.4 million respectively (three and six months ended June 30, 2017: $1.0 million and $2.3 million respectively);



General and administrative expense decreased by 16% and 9% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 to $0.6 million and $1.2 million respectively (three and six months ended June 30, 2017: $0.8 million and $1.4 million respectively);



Working capital of $6.6 million; current lease obligation of $0.07 million; non-current lease obligation $nil;



Debt to equity ratio of 0.26; total liabilities of $3.9 million; total shareholders equity of $14.9 million.

Financial Highlights

($ thousands of CDN, except per share amounts and tonnes sold) Three Months Ended June 30, 2018 Three Months Ended June 30, 2017 Six Months Ended June 30, 2018 Six Months Ended June 30, 2017 Aggregate management fees - net $ 1,125 $ 714 $ 1,232 $ 1,051 Aggregate sales revenue $ 248 $ 564 $ 254 $ 703 Revenue $ 1,372 $ 1,278 $ 1,486 $ 1,754 Gross profit $ 494 $ 34 $ 50 $ (235 ) Total loss and comprehensive loss $ (55 ) $ (673 ) $ (795 ) $ (1,527 ) Total aggregate tonnes sold (MT) 617,759 608,219 713,065 877,611 Loss per share, basic and fully diluted ($ per share) $ (0.002 ) $ (0.020 ) $ (0.024 ) $ (0.046 )

2018 Operational Outlook

Over the next 12 months, the Corporation is actively addressing and working on various strategic and operational initiatives relating to the following:

Resolution of the Syncrude lawsuit;



Conclude the Susan Lake Management Renewal Contract and execute the closure program of the Susan Lake Gravel Pit (still pending approval by AEP);



Secure financing for AMI Silicas development project;



Develop strategic trucking partnership to optimize logistics operating cost for AMI Silica;



Conclude long-term lease agreements for land positioning in Mayerthorpe, AB for AMI Silica;



Obtain pre-orders for year one of planned AMI Silica production;



Sell existing stockpiled inventories of sand and gravel from Athabasca corporate pits;



Selectively pursue conventional aggregate companies for potential acquisition; and



Further develop the Aggregates Marketing arm to broker sales of 3rd party inventories to a larger market and expanded customer base in Western Canada.

About Athabasca Minerals

The Corporation is a resource company involved in the management, exploration and development of aggregate projects. These activities include contracts works, aggregate pit management, aggregate production and sales from corporate-owned pits, new aggregate development and acquisitions of sand and gravel operations. The Corporation also has industrial mineral land holdings for the purpose of locating and developing sources of industrial minerals and aggregates essential to high growth economic development.

For further Information on Athabasca, please contact:

Dean Stuart

T: 403-617-7609

E: dean@boardmarker.net

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.
Pompeo to return to N. Korea with new special envoy



Washington, Aug 23 (AFP) Aug 23, 2018



US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday named a Ford Motor Co. executive as special envoy for North Korea and said they would both travel to the nuclear-armed country next week.

Stephen Biegun, 55, who is retiring as Ford's vice president for international governmental affairs, had been considered for the post of President Donald Trump's national security advisor before it went to John Bolton.

"Steve will direct the US policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Trump's goal of the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by chairman Kim Jong Un," Pompeo said.

"He and I will be traveling to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective," he said.

The trip will be Pompeo's fourth to North Korea, and the second since a historic summit on June 12 between Trump and Kim.

"The State Department has already done excellent work in implementing and sustaining the pressure campaign, putting together the first ever leader-level summit in Singapore and laying the groundwork to hold North Korea accountable to the promises that chairman Kim has made," Pompeo said.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert later said Pompeo was not expecting to meet with Kim.

At the first-ever meeting between sitting leaders of the US and North Korea, Trump and Kim pledged in a joint statement to work toward the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

The statement, however, was short on details and a UN panel of experts has found that North Korea is pressing ahead with its nuclear and missile programs.

Pompeo has insisted that Kim verbally agreed to the complete and verifiable denuclearization of North Korea, under a timetable to be fleshed out in follow-up discussions led by the State Department on the US side.



- 'Very productive' -



Kim has followed through on some commitments made at the summit, including returning the remains of US service members killed during the Korean War.

And satellite imagery from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on North Korea's west coast shows workers dismantling part of the site, although experts warns the move does not necessarily impact Pyongyang's nuclear program.

But overall, there is scant evidence to show Kim is serious about getting rid of his nuclear weapons.

Pompeo went to Pyongyang in early July but came back with little to show for his efforts, though he insisted the talks were "very productive."

Meanwhile North Korea has criticized Washington for its "gangster-like" and "unilateral" demands for the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of Pyongyang's atomic arsenal.

Pompeo has repeatedly called for the international community to maintain pressure on North Korea, and a UN report this month warned that Pyongyang is circumventing tough sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons program.

Trump's administration has argued that sanctions must remain fully in place until North Korea has scrapped its nuclear and missile programs and that the dismantling is verified.

Following his summit with Kim, Trump famously proclaimed North Korea is "no longer a nuclear threat" and boasted of his good relationship with the strongman.

"The consultations will continue," Nauert said. "This issue is going to take some time."
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSX Symbol: NWC): The North West Company Inc. (North West) will host a conference call for its second quarter results on September 6, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. (Central Time). To access the call, please dial 647-484-0474 or 888-378-4398 with a pass code of 366563. The conference call will be archived and can be accessed by dialing 905-694-9451 or 800-408-3053 with a pass code of 4740805 on or before October 6, 2018.



Corporate Profile

The North West Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading retailer of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighbourhoods in Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. North West operates 238 stores under the trading names Northern, NorthMart, Giant Tiger, Alaska Commercial Company, Cost-U-Less and RiteWay Food Markets and has annualized sales of approximately CAD$1.8 billion.

For further information, please contact: Amanda E. Sutton, Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary of The North West Company Inc. at (204) 934-1756, email asutton@northwest.ca.

Visit us on-line at www.northwest.ca
Four questions on Iran's legal challenge to US sanctions



The Hague, Aug 24 (AFP) Aug 24, 2018



Iran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UN's International Court of Justice on Monday.

Here are four key questions regarding the case:



What is the case about?

Iran's attempt to block the reinstatement of sanctions, announced by US President Donald Trump earlier this year, is the latest in a series of court battles that Tehran and Washington are fighting at the ICJ.

Trump announced on May 8 that he was pulling out of a landmark deal between Iran and major powers aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The deal agreed with the UN's five permanent Security Council members and Germany in 2015 limits Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium until 2031 in exchange for sanctions relief.

Blasting the accord as a "horrible, one-sided deal", Trump reimposed a wave of tough, unilateral sanctions.

Tehran now accuses Washington of "besieging" its economy and wants the Hague-based court -- which rules in disputes between countries -- to order the US to temporarily halt punitive measures, while the judges mull the deeper merits of the case.



Does Tehran have a case?

The case has two elements, said Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Firstly, "Iran genuinely considers the re-imposition of sanctions a violation of international law."

Secondly, "Iran has the support of many European states on the question of sanctions, politically speaking," De Brabandere argued.

Iran's representatives need to convince the ICJ that its 15 permanent judges indeed have the jurisdiction to hear the case.

Tehran bases its arguments on a little-known 1955 treaty between Iran and the United States. The treaty provides for "friendly relations" between the two countries, encourages mutual trade and investment and regulates consular relations.

However, there has been no formal diplomatic ties between Tehran and Washington since the regime of the US-back Shah was deposed by Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979.



What will Washington argue?

"My guess is that for this case they will argue that the court has no jurisdiction, as they did in a separate case launched against the US two years ago," said De Brabandere.

Washington could invoke two arguments.

One is that the 1955 treaty is no longer in force, because it is a "treaty of friendship" between two nations which have been adversaries for the last four decades.

Secondly, US representatives could say that the dispute was "not about the treaty, but about sanctions and Iran's alleged terrorist activities," De Brabandere said.

"The US is likely to argue that the dispute is about something much broader than a treaty," for instance Tehran's nuclear ambitions, the expert said.

Furthermore, there is a clause in the 1955 treaty which allows the states to take "any measures to protect essential security interests."



Can Iran's case succeed?

"I think it's very likely that the ICJ will, based on the 1955 treaty, decide to hear the case," said De Brabandere.

However, whether the case will be successful on its own merits -- in other words whether the United States indeed breached its obligations -- is more difficult to establish.

"For one, the 1955 treaty is relatively narrow in scope. It means that the ICJ can only rule whether the US violated its obligations under the specific treaty," De Brabandere said.

This means that the ICJ's judges will not rule in what they may consider any broader dispute between Iran and the United States.

The outcome of the case -- which could still take years before being handed down -- "is very difficult to predict," said De Brabandere.
No fast-track NATO membership for Georgia: Merkel



Tbilisi, Aug 24 (AFP) Aug 24, 2018



German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday ruled out any fast-track NATO membership for Georgia, ten years after the alliance's leaders pledged the ex-Soviet nation would join the club.

"I do not see Georgia's prompt accession to NATO (membership), this is the position of Germany," Merkel said during a meeting with students at the Tbilisi State University in the Georgian capital.

"Things come gradually," she said of the country's NATO integration during the first leg of her regional trip to the South Caucasus.

At a summit in Bucharest in 2008, NATO leaders said Georgia would become a NATO member at some point, but -- under pressure from Merkel and France's then-president Nicolas Sarkozy -- refused to put the tiny Black Sea nation on a formal membership path.

Georgia's bid to join the 29-nation military alliance has infuriated its Soviet-era master Russia.

Years of increasing tensions culminated in August 2008 with a brief war over Georgia's Moscow-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The war -- which saw Russian troops routing Georgia's small military in just five days -- claimed the lives of hundreds of people from both sides.

After the conflict, Russia recognised the two enclaves as independent states and stationed permanent military bases there.

The move constitutes "an occupation of 20 percent of Georgia's territory and a great injustice," Merkel told students.

In a symbolic move, Merkel on Friday also went to the administrative boundary with South Ossetia, where Russian border guards have set up barbed wire fences.

On Friday evening, she will travel to Armenia and on Saturday to Azerbaijan, where she will encourage "a peaceful and consensual solution" to the two countries' long-running territorial conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region, her office has said.

In Azerbaijan she is expected to discuss energy cooperation with the oil-rich Caspian nation, which is seen as one option for reducing Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas and oil.
Trump calls off Pompeo North Korea trip, blasts China



Washington, Aug 24 (AFP) Aug 24, 2018



US President Donald Trump on Friday pulled the plug on a weekend trip to North Korea by his top diplomat, while taking a swipe at China over stalled efforts to disarm the nuclear state.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said by tweet.

Pompeo was due to return to North Korea next week for what he described as the next stage in ensuring the "final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea."

But Trump -- facing a slew of domestic problems and independent reports that North Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear program -- vetoed the plan.

Trump also stepped up his rhetoric against China, which has grown harsher as November congressional elections approach, with the two economic powers now embroiled in an escalating trade war.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," Trump said.

In another tweet, the president added Pompeo would still head to North Korea "in the near future," saying this would likely occur when the US-China trading relationship is "resolved."

"In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" Trump said.



- 'Largely solved' -



The trip would have been Pompeo's fourth to North Korea, and the second since a historic summit on June 12 between Trump and the country's strongman leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump, who relishes unpredictability in negotiating, had at one point canceled that summit, citing North Korea's "open hostility."

But he soon backtracked and the summit went ahead.

Trump had previously claimed that he had "largely solved" the North Korea nuclear problem.

"I have solved that problem. That problem is largely solved," he said.

Despite that bold claim, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency recently reported it had not seen any indication that nuclear activities in North Korea have stopped.

"The continuation and further development of the DPRK's nuclear programme and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern," said a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), referring to North Korea's official name.

North Korea is believed to be close to developing a miniaturized nuclear device and the ballistic missile capabilities to carry it anywhere in the continental United States.

Secretary of State Pompeo this week named a Ford Motor Co. executive as special envoy for North Korea to try and get disarmament back on track.

Stephen Biegun, 55, who is retiring as Ford's vice president for international governmental affairs, had been considered for the post of Trump's national security advisor before it went to John Bolton.

"Steve will direct the US policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Trump's goal of the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by chairman Kim Jong Un," Pompeo said.
26 children killed by coalition strikes in Yemen: UN



United Nations, United States, Aug 24 (AFP) Aug 24, 2018



Two Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen have killed at least 26 children, UN officials said Friday, renewing calls for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war.

At least 22 children and four women died in an attack Thursday while fleeing fighting in the Al-Durayhimi district, south of the rebel-held city of Hodeida, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said.

In addition to that strike, four other children were killed in a separate air strike in Al-Durayhimi, also on Thursday.

"This is the second time in two weeks that an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition has resulted in dozens of civilian casualties," Lowcock, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement.

A coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada on August 9 killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation.

Lowcock renewed the UN appeal for "an impartial, independent and prompt investigation" and said "those with influence" over the warring sides must ensure that civilians are protected.

The rebel-run Saba news agency said the air strike on Thursday hit a bus and a house but the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the coalition, blamed the Huthi rebels for the attack.

Al-Durayhimi lies some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Hodeida, and has seen two weeks of fighting between the rebels and pro-government forces backed by the UAE.

"I had hoped that the outrage that followed the Saada attack in Yemen two weeks ago would be a turning point in the conflict. Yesterday's reported attacks in Al-Durayhimi, killing 26 children, indicate that it was not," said Henrietta Fore, the director of the UN children's agency UNICEF.

Fore urged the warring sides, their foreign backers and the Security Council to "take action and end this conflict once and for all."



- Covering up war crimes -



After widespread condemnation of the August 9 bus attack, the coalition announced that it was opening an investigation, but rights groups insist any probe should be impartial.

In a 90-page report, Human Rights Watch said the coalition had failed to properly investigate war crimes allegations stemming from attacks on civilian targets.

HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said the coalition's investigators "were doing little more than covering up war crimes."

The European Union urged Yemen's warring sides to "prioritise the protection of civilians in all instances" following the attacks in Al-Durayhimi and stressed the need to end the war, according a statement from the EU foreign affairs spokesperson.

UN-brokered talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago.

The Security Council has called for a "credible" investigation of the bus attack in Yemen, but did not demand an independent probe.

Three of the five permanent council members -- Britain, France and the United States -- are supporting the coalition in its military campaign, while non-permanent member Kuwait is part of the coalition.

Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition has been fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen since 2015 to return President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The war has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
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HOUSTON, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Franks International N.V. (NYSE: FI) (the Company) announced today that the Company will participate in the following upcoming investor conference.



Michael Kearney, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at 3:45 PM ET at the Barclays CEO Energy Conference in New York, New York, on Tuesday, September 4, 2018. Mr. Kearney and Kyle McClure, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will also hold one-on-one meetings on Wednesday, September 5, 2018.

The Company's presentation can be accessed on the Investor Relations section of the Companys website, www.franksinternational.com.

About Franks International

Franks International N.V. is a global oil services company that provides a broad and comprehensive range of highly engineered tubular running services, tubular fabrication, and specialty well construction and well intervention solutions with a focus on complex and technically demanding wells. Founded in 1938, Franks has approximately 2,900 employees and provides services to leading exploration and production companies in both onshore and offshore environments in approximately 50 countries on six continents. The Companys common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol FI. Additional information is available on the Companys website, www.franksinternational.com .

Contacts:

Franks International N.V.

10260 Westheimer Rd, Suite 700

Houston, Texas 77042

(281) 966-7300
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English23/08/2018

DISAPPOINTMENT AND CONCERN OVER DECISION TO BAN ZAHAR PRILEPIN FROM BiH

SARAJEVO, August 23 /SRNA/ - The Russian Embassy has expressed concern and deep disappointment over the decision to ban Russian writer Zahar Prilepin from BiH.



The Embassy expressed concern and deep disappointment over this incident. We addressed the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for an explanation, says a press release from the Russian Embassy.



The press release says that Russian national Evegeniy Zahar Prilepin was today banned from entry to BiH at the Raca border crossing.



Evgeniy /Zahar/ Prilepin is a renowned Russian writer, not only in Russia, but worldwide, including BiH and Serbia. He should have arrived in BiH at the invitation of the management of the National Library in Banjaluka as a guest of honor of the 53rd Kocics Assembly event, that is, a literary evening at the National Library, as part of this event, says the Russian Embassy.



The press release says that Prilepin visited BiH on a number of occasions.



Russian writer Zahar Prilepin has been banned from entering BiH allegedly out of security reasons. The order was issued by the BiH Intelligence-Security Agency /OBA/ on March 26 this year.



An explanation of the decision to ban Russian writer Zahar Prilepin from entering BiH, which is in SRNAs possession, says that his presence in the territory of BiH represents a threat to the security of BiH, public order or international relations of BiH. /end/sg
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Glencore plc (Glencore or the Company) (OTC MKT:GLNCY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and docketed under index 18-cv-06286, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded Glencore securities from September 30, 2016, and July 2, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Glencore securities from September 30, 2016, to July 2, 2018, you have until September 7, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Glencore engages in the production, refinement, processing, storage, transport and marketing of metals and minerals, energy products, and agricultural products worldwide.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Glencores conduct would foreseeably subject it to heightened scrutiny by U.S. and foreign government bodies with respect to the Companys compliance with money laundering and bribery laws and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); and (ii) as a result, Defendants statements about Glencores business, operations, and prospects were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

On May 18, 2018, Bloomberg reported that the U.K.s Serious Fraud Office was preparing to open a formal bribery investigation into Glencore.

On this news, shares of GLNCY fell $0.55 per share, or over 5%, to close at $10.13 per share on May 18, 2018, while shares of GLCNF fell $0.32 per share, or nearly 6%, to close at $5.06 per share on May 18, 2018.

Then, on July 3, 2018, pre-market, Glencore disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice had issued its subsidiary Glencore Ltd a subpoena to produce documents and other records in connection with its compliance with U.S. money laundering statutes and the FCPA.

On this news, shares of GLNCY fell $0.86 per share, or over 9%, to close at $8.31 per share on July 3, 2018, while shares of GLCNF fell $0.41 per share, or nearly 9%, to close at $4.20 per share on July 3, 2018.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 Ext. 9980
Rescheduled from last autumn, the fixture, being staged of behalf of Henry Rowntree, remains one of the biggest sales of Aberdeen-Angus cattle ever staged in the UK, with around 400 head to be offered for sale, among them 169 mainly young Aberdeen-Angus cows with Spring-born calves at foot, 39 heifers run with the bull and 26 heifers free of the bull. A group of exceptional stock bulls are also included.

The sale will be conducted jointly by Craven Cattle Marts and Scotlands leading pedigree livestock auctioneers, United Auctions, who host the famous annual Angus bull sale in Stirling each February.

Mr Rowntree, who farms at Windy Pike, Gisburn, is a well-known and respected Aberdeen-Angus breeder, establishing his herd in 2002. A former dairy farmer, he is retiring to East Yorkshire to join his family.

He explained:

We have always performance recorded our cattle using Breedplan and most of the herd are rated in the top 10% of the breed. Importantly, the cattle have been farmed very commercially and housed in cubicles over the winter months. We have a very tight calving pattern, with 90% calving from mid-March to mid-May.

Our target has always been productive and profitable cattle which are easily managed and there are three key areas we always focus on. Correct structure is essential for long lived cattle with strong loins meeting market requirements. All the cattle are structurally sound, with excellent legs and feet and neat udders. They also exhibit excellent growth rates, enabling heifers to calve at two years and steers to finish sooner.

There is little doubt that calving with no complications increases output and enhances fertility. Medium sized cows with plenty of milk rear calves without creep feed at grass and, of course, docile cows make everything so much easier. Our quiet cattle are a joy to work with.
The BVA believes that all exported meat should come from animals that have been stunned before slaughter, but there is current ambiguity around the details of the deal, which UK halal certification bodies it will involve and whether the meat that will be exported will come from stun or non-stun sources.

Defra has not yet clarified these points and in April 2018 Defra stated that it did not hold data on what percentage of meat from non-stun religious slaughter is exported.

In the UK and Europe all animals must be stunned before slaughter, but there is a derogation for animals killed for religious purposes. BVA strongly believes that this derogation should only apply to meet the needs of the local community. In Germany the law states that produce from non-stun slaughter cannot be exported.
IRONWOOD, Mich., Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keweenaw Land Association, Limited (KEWL: OTC Pink) today reported financial and operating results for the three months ended June 30, 2018. Revenue from timber operations and real estate development increased by 14.3% year over year from $1.671 million in the second quarter of 2017 to $1.910 million in 2018. EBITDA before extraordinary expense decreased from essentially breakeven in the second quarter of 2017 to negative $0.340 million in 2018. Comprehensive net loss of $1.877 million in the quarter also included a nonrecurring charge of $1.283 million related to severance agreements, retention payments, and legal fees. Please refer to the Companys press release on August 1, 2018 for more detail.



Timber operations

Revenue from timber operations in the second quarter of 2018 totaled $1.883 million compared to $1.671 million in the second quarter of 2017, a 12.7% increase from last year. EBITDA from timber operations was $0.014 million in the second quarter of 2018 virtually unchanged compared to the second quarter of 2017. While revenue was up 12.7% in the quarter, total harvest volume was actually down 12.2% due to spring road restrictions being lifted later than normal and heavy rainstorms in early June which hampered logging and trucking. Freight expenses for deliveries in June were also higher as trucks were forced to detour around several main highways that were closed due to the June storm damage.

As the Company moves into the second half of the year, markets for veneer and sawlogs are expected to hold steady. We expect freight costs to remain elevated at least until the end of August which is when we expect the main highways will be reopened for normal truck traffic.

Other income

Other income including mineral royalties, lease and rental income, investment earnings and land sales were $0.056 million in the second quarter of 2018, down from $0.219 million in the second quarter of 2017. Income from these various sources is unpredictable in nature and can vary widely from quarter to quarter.

On June 15, 2018, Highland Copper Company Inc. (TSXV: HI) reported in their press release that they have recently completed a feasibility study of their Copperwood Project. The Copperwood Project encompasses approximately 3,062 acres of mineral rights held by the Company. Highland has indicated they are entering the capital raising phase of the project and finalizing certain permits that would allow mine construction beginning in 2019. The construction and commissioning of the mine is anticipated to require a minimum of three years. Investors can find additional information on Highlands website, www.highlandcopper.com.

Execution of Option Agreement for the sale of timberland to the USDA-Forest Service

On April 25, 2018, the Company entered into an Option Agreement for the sale of 1,811 acres of land to the USDA-Forest Service in Gogebic County, Michigan for approximately $1.449 million. The land is being acquired by the Forest Service (assuming the option is exercised) as part of the Land and Water Conservation Fund which was approved as part of the 2016 appropriations for U.S. Department of Agricultural budget. The property is located in a remote area with limited access. In addition, much of the property lies along the Presque Isle River corridor which is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River. The parties have been working toward a closing of the sale in the third quarter of 2018. There can be no assurance that such closing will actually occur.

Execution of Option Agreement for the sale of conservation easement to State of Wisconsin

On July 24th, 2018, the Company entered into an Option Agreement with the State of Wisconsin, Department of Natural Resources for the sale of a conservation and access easement on 14,352 acres of Company timberland in Iron County, Wisconsin for $5.741 million dollars. Of this amount, $0.400 million will be set aside in an endowment to assist in covering annual costs of repairs and maintenance of specific access roads on the property. This agreement grants the State the option to purchase an easement which would eliminate future development and subdivision of the property but would specifically permit forest management activities and timber harvesting. The project is currently undergoing a review process by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources before submission to the Wisconsin Natural Resource Board for determination. While we expect the review and approval process to be routine, and a possible completion of the sale in the first quarter of 2019, regulatory processes are inherently unpredictable. There can be no assurance that such closing will actually occur.

Update on strategic and operational plan

The Board believes its over-arching goals are two-fold: To maximize the Companys intrinsic value and to address any gap that might exist between intrinsic value and the stock market price. In pursuit of these objectives it is essential for the Board to ensure that a clear and coherent strategic plan is in place, along with the capacity to oversee its implementation.

Since the annual meeting this April, the Board has focused on putting in place foundations that will enable the Company and new Board to fulfill this mandate - starting with changes in the way the Board operates. Committees have been reconstituted, are more active and are being tasked with evaluating and addressing specific issues for consideration by the Board. The Board also intends to address director accountability to shareholders and the Companys various corporate defenses, including the staggered board (which in many cases will require shareholder approval to change).

The Companys ability to measure its performance is limited. In order to improve the Companys ability to measure performance, the Company is seeking to hire an experienced CFO. The executive search committee is in the process of evaluating candidates, some of whom have the potential to become CEO.

As the Companys comprehensive strategic plan evolves, in conjunction with the transition in executive leadership, one concrete and crystal-clear goal for the Company is to demonstrate a sustainable increase in cash flows from timber operations. We believe this is the case regardless of the ultimate path to value realization.1 The Company is continuing to ramp up harvest levels. In 2018, the budgeted annual harvest is projected to increase to 110,000 cord equivalents, a 20% increase over 2017 levels. To put the current harvest levels in perspective, from 2006 to 2015 the average annual harvest was 74,000 cord equivalents.

In addition to volume growth, the Company has already identified multiple opportunities for study, including possible margin expansion through pricing initiatives, selective cost cutting, and certain capital investments. The Company is also conducting a review of the Companys core functions, some of which are currently outsourced. It is possible that the Company will decide to migrate certain functions in either direction.

Another important initiative requiring further evaluation is the Companys decision in 2017 to convert to a REIT in 2018. Much of the work has been done, in preparation for a final election which must happen before 2018 taxes are filed in early 2019 in order to have the REIT effective for the 2018 tax year. Keweenaw has created a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) to house non-REIT assets, and systems for intercompany transfer pricing which is essential for a conforming REIT.

However, as the Board has delved deeper into the benefits and disadvantages of becoming a REIT, alternatives have been raised involving structuring, sequencing and timing that were not previously considered. The Board is working with legal and tax counsel to explore these issues further to determine whether to convert to a REIT for the 2018 tax year, defer the election until next year, or abandon the conversion entirely.

Stock incentive plan

The Board believes it is critical to have management and employees interests aligned with shareholders and think like owners. Equity stock ownership and incentives help accomplish this goal. On August 13, 2018, the Board unanimously approved a stock incentive plan enabling Keweenaw to grant equity-related awards to employees. While this plan will better align the interests of current employees with those of shareholders, it will also help us to attract high quality candidates to senior executive positions at the Company. While stock incentive plans such as this plan are commonly adopted by public companies in the United States, this plan represents a new approach to compensation for Keweenaw.

Chairman James Mai commented, We have completed a tremendous amount in the short time since the annual meeting and while we still have quite a bit of work to do, I feel that we are moving in the right direction.

_______________________________

1The board believes that if a gap exists where the stock price is significantly below the intrinsic value, there are several paths to address that gap including the facilitation of a more efficient secondary trading market or by pursuing various corporate actions to potentially unlock value- e.g. the monetization of some or all of the Companys assets.

About Keweenaw Land Association, Limited: Keweenaw is a forest products and land management company located in Ironwood, Michigan. Keweenaw has land holdings of approximately 185,750 surface acres and over 400,000 acres of mineral rights, located predominantly in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Additional information is available on the Companys website at www.keweenaw.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: This letter contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and should not be relied upon as predictions of future events or promises of a given course of action. A number of factors such as changing economic conditions, price fluctuations, land use, environmental and other governmental regulations, and risk of loss from natural disasters, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. As with any investment, past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The Company is currently not subject to the filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company is categorized as not current under the OTC Pink Sheets.

KEWEENAW LAND ASSOCIATION, LIMITED Consolidated Balance Sheet (Unaudited) June 30, 2018 ASSETS Jun. 30, 2018 Jun. 30, 2017 Current Assets Cash & Cash Equivalents $ 2,430,166 $ 2,696,264 Accounts Receivable 609,591 357,221 Investments in Marketable Securities 2,350,284 3,351,794 Other Current Assets 564,914 557,163 Total Current Assets 5,954,955 6,962,442 Other Non-Current Assets - 520,019 Equipment 1,313,880 1,206,911 Properties 32,520,015 30,664,446 TOTAL ASSETS 39,788,850 39,353,818 LIABILITIES & CAPITAL Current Liabilities Accounts & Deposits Payable $ 160,840 $ 53,278 Commercial Lines of Credit & Other Debt - - Other Accrued Liabilities 1,821,930 469,876 Total Current Liabilities 1,982,770 523,154 Non-Current Liabilities Long Term Debt 18,501,391 17,700,000 Deferred Federal Income Tax Liability 524,476 1,082,424 Non-Current Liabilities 19,025,867 18,782,424 Total Liabilities 21,008,637 19,305,578 Capital Common Stock Issued 85,111 85,021 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income 983,386 1,441,276 Retained Earnings 17,711,716 18,521,943 Total Capital 18,780,213 20,048,240 TOTAL LIABILITIES & CAPITAL 39,788,850 39,353,818

KEWEENAW LAND ASSOCIATION, LIMITED EBITDA Consolidated Statement of Income and Expense (Unaudited) June 30, 2018 2nd Quarter Year to Date 2018 2017 2018 2017 INCOME Timber Operations Timber Sales $ 1,883,902 $ 1,671,018 $ 6,058,342 $ 4,616,627 Cost of Sales 1,382,316 1,200,290 4,245,721 3,329,794 Gross Margin on Timber Sales 501,586 470,728 1,812,621 1,286,833 Forestry, Management & General Admin 486,775 456,080 1,187,161 956,454 Timber Operations Income (EBITDA) 14,811 14,648 625,460 330,379 Real Estate Development Developed Lot Sales 26,000 - 26,000 - Development Costs 25,191 - 25,191 - Gross Margin on Developed Lot Sales 809 - 809 - Total Operations Income 15,620 14,648 626,269 330,379 Other Income Mineral Royalties 1,748 511 4,748 4,621 Lease and Rental Income 30,108 28,161 125,990 45,377 Investment Earnings 37,711 57,335 46,058 64,784 Profit (Loss) on Security Sales - - - - Land Sales 11,073 112,153 11,073 112,153 Other (24,802 ) 21,235 93,561 89,756 Total Other Income 55,838 219,395 281,430 316,691 Other Land And Board Expense 411,342 227,353 793,311 587,095 EBITDA (339,884 ) 6,690 114,388 59,975 Depletion, Depreciation, and Amortization 92,620 120,814 296,666 222,878 EBIT (432,504 ) (114,124 ) (182,278 ) (162,903 ) Interest Expense 172,066 120,741 316,960 204,779 Change of Control Agreements 1,283,293 - 1,283,293 - Earnings Before Income Taxes (1,887,863 ) (234,865 ) (1,782,531 ) (367,682 ) Provision for State and Federal Income Taxes (10,711 ) 39,095 (17,245 ) 70,815 Net Income (Loss) (1,877,152 ) (273,960 ) (1,765,286 ) (438,497 ) Other Comprehensive Income, Net of Tax Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Securities Unrealized Holding Gains Arising During the Period 769 166,354 (164,226 ) 268,346 Less: Reclassification Adj. For Gains Included in Net Income - - - - Other Comprehensive Income 769 166,354 (164,226 ) 268,346 Comprehensive Income (1,876,383 ) (107,606 ) (1,929,512 ) (170,151 ) Net Loss Per Share: Basic $ (1.44 ) $ (0.21 ) $ (1.36 ) $ (0.34 ) Diluited $ (1.44 ) $ (0.21 ) $ (1.36 ) $ (0.34 ) Comprehensive Net Loss Per Share: Basic $ (1.44 ) $ (0.08 ) $ (1.48 ) $ (0.13 ) Diluted $ (1.44 ) $ (0.08 ) $ (1.48 ) $ (0.13 ) Weighted Average Shares Outstanding: Basic 1,301,550 1,300,174 1,301,550 1,300,174 Diluted
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.
The U.S. Army has been looking for affordable ways to deal with the growing presence of enemy UAVs and armed helicopters on the battlefield. The solution is better, and more abundant, SHORAD (Short Range Air Defense). The army has developed a Stryker (8x8 wheeled IFV) variant called MSL (Maneuver SHORAD Launcher) that uses a proven (Avenger) sensor and missile launch system (plus a 30mm air defense autocannon) but MSL will not be available until the early 20201 (or 2020 if everyone hustled.)

A quicker fix would be to equip 24 (out of 90 in a brigade) M2 Bradley tracked IFVs (infantry fighting vehicles) with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that would replace the TOW missiles used by most M2s. The 90 M2s in a mechanized brigade are relatively easy to convert because most M2s come with a TOW capability (including a new fire control system that can more quickly and accurately spot distant targets). The M2 Stinger approach is quickly implemented, less expensive and serves to make opponents more wary of operating near American troops. Usually, the Stingers are fired (from the shoulder) by individual soldiers. Vehicle mounted Stingers provide improved effectiveness because the M2 has better sensors already. This is ITAS-FTL (Target Acquisition Systems and Far Target Location) which includes GPS, an optical sight with FLIR (forward-looking infrared) and a laser range finder. Thus the TOW or Stinger gunner always knows where he is and can use that information of he receives warning of hostile UAVs or helicopters in the area.

This interest in SHORAD developed after 2008 when the U.S. military had to adapt to dealing with better equipped foes (Russia, China, Iran and North Korea) and all of those nations have UAVs while Russia and China have lots of armed helicopters. One of the more obvious changes was improving and using more SHORAD vehicles. SHORAD was a big deal during the Cold War but when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 SHORAD was no longer as essential and for over a decade not much SHORAD development took place and a lot of existing SHORAD systems were retired.

The fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq involved fighting irregulars and the American military adapted. Yet even then the United States kept some SHORAD development going, mainly on the post-Cold War Avenger system. Avenger was basically a turret armed with 8 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and an optical tracker together with infra-red system. This turret was mounted on a Humvee but could just as easily be mounted on any light armored vehicle, or even the back of a truck. Avenger was later provided with the capability to get targeting data from nearby air defense radar systems. As a result of this effort, the American armed forces ended up with 700 M1097 Avenger vehicles. The U.S. Army had actually developed an M2 equipped with Avenger in the 1990s but never put it into service because, well, it would have nothing to do.

Because of Avenger and variants like MSL and the Stingers replacing TOW missiles on armored vehicles the American military will have more SHORAD capability than anyone expected, especially the Russians. That was the case when some Avenger SHORAD systems began showing up in East Europe as American troops went there to train with new NATO members, some who share a border with Russia. During NATO exercise in Poland American Avenger vehicles carried out live fire training. Avenger units were added to the American armored brigade sent to Poland for that purpose.

There was a lot of enthusiasm for Avenger among NATO allies and that meant the U.S. Department of Defense could justify reviving work on the enhanced Avenger. This was based on the larger (three times heavier) and better protected Stryker 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle. This Avenger variant quickly evolved into MSL which was basically an upgraded Avenger air defense system put on the back of a Stryker. Compared to old Avenger system mounted on a Humvee the new one can use a multitude of different missiles like AIM 9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and AGM-114 Hellfire II air to ground missiles adapted for use on ground vehicles. The Stinger has a max range of 8,000 meters while the AIM 9X can do nearly twice that. Hellfire would be used against ground targets. Furthermore, it was now possible to mount a 30mm autocannon or even a laser to counter drones. Thanks to the Stryker 8x8 chassis the MSL systems had better off-road capability and protection than the smaller and older Humvee design.

The Stinger armed M2s and Stryker MSL will serve not only as self-propelled air defense for moving army formations from enemy close air support aircraft or attack helicopters but also as an anti-tank system when using Hellfire missiles. The U.S. Army expects to have Stinger armed M2s in service as early as 2019 or 2020.
The current Iraqi enthusiasm for battling corruption is hurting Iranian efforts to expand its influence inside Iraq. Thats because pro-Iran groups in Iraq have long justified outlaw behavior in order to serve their mentor Iran. Iran has, for decades, been seen as an outlaw nation and incorrigible supporter of international terrorism. This had brought unwanted (by Iran) to the pro-Iran PMF (Popular Mobilization Force) militias that were put in control of Kirkuk province after a surprise attack in late 2017 drove Kurdish forces out. The PMF militias have not been able to prevent the return of ISIL to Kirkuk (which was free of Islamic terrorists when they were in charge) in part because the PMF concentrated money making activities like looting homes and businesses (usually after driving the owners out of the province) and maintaining a lucrative oil smuggling operation that moved oil into Iran. The income from all this enabled the PMFs to increase the pay of their members and bribe officials to remain silent about whatever illegal behavior the militiamen were up to. Because of the recent national elections, a new government is being formed and Kurdish votes are being sought. The Kurds want something done with the outlaw PMFs put in charge of Kirkuk. Shutting down the outlaw PMF in Kirkuk would anger Iran but that would just make more Iraqi Shia turn against Iran, which likes to present itself as the defender of Shia interests everywhere. In Iraq, most Iraqi Shia (who are all Arab) see Iran as protecting Iranian interests in Iraq, even if that comes at the expense of Iraqi Shia.

This has led to Iraqi army commanders being more aggressive in dealing with Iran backed PMF units. Technically the army can order PMF units around but until recently the Iran-backed PMF would often ignore those orders. In some cases, PMF commanders would threaten army officers. Given the results of the recent elections (pro-Iran parties did poorly) and the growing popular unrest in Iran attitudes have changed. Iraqi army officers are not just ordering pro-Iran PMF units to back off but using force. So far this has not gone much beyond armed confrontations (which often work) and arresting (kidnapping according to pro-Iran Iraqis) PMF men who disobey army orders. Apparently, the anti-Iran election results have led to pro-Iran PMF commanders being advised (by Iran) to play nice with the army and back off. This is seen as temporary as there is no sign that pro-Iran PMF groups will cease to take orders from Iran. Iraqis believe the pro-Iran PMF units are backing off as part of an Iranian effort to persuade Iraq to oppose the renewed American economic sanctions on Iran. Iraqi leaders were under a lot of political pressure from Iran to ignore the American sanctions, if only because complying would hurt the Iraqi economy. That pressure caused some hesitation by Iraqi leaders until they realized that most Iraqis preferred the Americans to the Iranians. After all, when Iraq asked the Americans to leave in 2011 they did. Iranians are not very cooperative in that respect and for centuries have been trying to get its way in what is now Iraq.

Iraqi anti-government demonstrators were always angry at Iran. In part, this was because of the Iranian backed militias in Iraq, whose leaders often speak of imposing a religious dictatorship in Iraq and generally ignored all the corruption. Protestors in Shia majority Basra are also criticizing Iran for halting electricity exports in early July. Iran cut the electricity because corrupt Iraqi officials had not paid for much of it. Moreover, there was an electricity shortage developing in Iran. It was necessary for Iraq to import electricity because for a long time (the Saddam era) there were not many electric power plants in Basra because it was a Shia majority area and Shia were starved for resources during the Saddam era (when the Sunni Arab minority ruled). But after Saddam was overthrown in 2003 and Shia politicians gained power, corruption prevented the construction of power plants. Iran thought cutting the power, especially since they had a good reason, would increase the anger against the Iraqi government. But the protestors saw through the Iranian intentions and added that to the long list of reasons why Iraqi Shia do not like Iran. After a few weeks, Iran restored the electricity exports.

The two largest Shia coalitions (anti-Iran Sadr and pro-Iran Amiri) are seeking to form coalitions that would give them enough seats in parliament to form a government. Sadr is the favorite, in part because of his hostility to Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs. The Amiri faction controls pro-Iran PMF forces and is seeking to repeat the Iranian success in Lebanon with the creation of a Hezbollah type organization. Amiri has used violence against those who oppose this, secure in the fact that the police are controlled by a pro-Iran politician (who runs the Interior Ministry). These police are suspected of instigating political violence rather than containing it. Police are never around when groups hostile to Iran are attacked and police are the primary suspects in the recent warehouse fire that destroyed half the ballot boxes used in Baghdad. The fire makes it impossible to recount these disputed votes. All this contributed the outbreak of Shia protests in early July and now the Amiri faction is on the defensive as is its patron Iran.

The real reason for the disputed election results is the growing popular anger at corruption. One thing that united all Iraqi voters was anger at the persistent and crippling theft by government officials. Moqtada al Sadr, who was the unexpected winner, had been openly and actively anti-corruption for years and that was why his victorious coalition contained so many non-Shia groups (including communists, who are anathema to Iran). Despite that many Iraqis (and foreign allies) believe Sadr is secretly allied with Iran because the Sadr family has long had ties with Iran and members of the Sadr clan often took refuge in Iran. But that was because the Sadrs were respected Shia clerics and Iran was where the best schools and scholars were. Yet the Sadrs, like most Iraqi Shia Arabs, are Arabs and Iraqis first and that has been proven time and time again. Moqtada al Sadr has seen up close and frequently how a Shia clerical dictatorship works in Iran and was not impressed. He largely kept quiet about this but it was no secret that Sadr did not want a religious dictatorship in Iraq, mainly because it would make the country even more difficult to rule.

Sadr also noted that Iranian Arabs (and Arabs in general) are despised by most Iranians. Meanwhile, Iraq will demonstrate, over the next few months (or more) why it is considered the most dysfunctional country in the Middle East. Iraqi politicians will argue and negotiate in a lengthy effort to form a governing coalition and then for that coalition to select a prime minister and all the subordinate ministers.

Sadr is often described as anti-American but he is generally anti-foreigner in general but is willing to work with other nations if it helps Iraq. Thus there was a July visit by Sadr to Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi leaders. The Saudis had long supported the Sunni minority rule in Iraq because it worked and helped contain Iran. With that Sunni minority government gone and not likely to return anytime soon Sadr believes the Saudis still want an Arab government in Iraq that will help keep Iran out of Arabia. Sadr and the Saudis agree on that as do the majority of Iraqis, including most Kurds and Sunni Arabs. The Saudis are also developing diplomatic and economic ties with Iraqi (and Syrian) Kurds. Even Jordan has sought to work more closely with the Iraqi Kurds even as Jordan and Iraq also agree to increase border security and cooperation in dealing with terrorism.

The Islamic State Shrinks, Disperses And Confuses

ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) has gone guerilla and has no large base areas where it can operate openly. Yet many ISIL gunmen still have their families (wives and children) with them. These can hide in plain sight as refugees or live among pro-ISIL civilians. Such communities provide some support for the ISIL fighters but must remain unknown to police or the many (the majority) Iraqis who are hostile to ISIL. Guerilla tactics were always an ISIL staple, especially in Iraq where ISIL operated (as an al Qaeda offshoot) before it changed its name to ISIL. The name change was the result of the unexpected success of some of these Iraqi terrorists at establishing themselves in Syria. There the civil war was intensifying and the Assad government was losing. Now that ISIL has lost control (by early 2018) of Mosul and other Iraqi towns they have no choice but to start all over. As ISIL personnel are now generally in hiding it is difficult to get an accurate count. Official mid-2018 estimates were about 17,000 in Iraq. But that is the number of armed men ISIL had in Iraq by 2014. How can that be given the relatively low level of ISIL activity in Iraq since early 2018? The answer is that the official estimates include a lot of unarmed supporters, including family members. Captured ISIL members will often exaggerate the size of the group he belongs to as will ISIL members delivering threats to local civilians who the Islamic terrorists are trying to intimidate into compliance (not informing on ISIL). Cooperative civilians are immune to ISIL attacks so there is that. But the ability of ISIL to enforce the cooperation is often an illusion because ISIL tries to appear more omnipresent than they actually are. A population of cooperative civilians is essential for ISIL to survive as guerillas. The civilians not only provide some cover but are also a source of supplies (which ISIL strives to pay for, in order to build some loyalty.) This is all basic guerilla tradecraft that is made more difficult when there are a lot of cell phones around. That increases the risk of some angry (or not even local) civilian making a call to the police to report possible ISIL activity. ISIL leaders noted that a key factor in the loss of control in an area was the local civilians retaining some access to Internet and cell phone service as well as satellite TV receivers. ISIL (and other Islamic radicals) have long tried to control use of all three of these items but have been unable to completely eliminate them from populations they control. Once ISIL was driven out of an area the cell phone companies were eager to rebuild their cell phone and Internet service and as people in those areas of restored cell phone service became more confident that reporting on remaining ISIL activity would not get them killed the calls started coming. These phone calls have become more frequent and has led to the growing number of arrests or discovery of ISIL hideouts and the destruction of active ISIL terrorists. This has led to a decline in terror related deaths and more violent encounters between security forces and the many sleeper cells ISIL deliberately left behind when they lost control of an area. What has kept ISIL going are Sunni Arab areas where they still have some support, at least as someone who will fighting hack against the Kurds and Shia Arabs.

Early in 2018 ISIL increased its guerilla-type attacks and that decision is having an impact, especially in the area north of Baghdad (Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahuddin provinces). These attacks rarely involve bombings of populated areas (to kill civilians). ISIL has fewer bomb builders and suicide bombers (as well as the people who recruit, train and supervise suicide bombers carrying out their attack). Bombs for use against security forces. The guerilla tactics can be seen by the growing number of attacks, especial along the main roads north from Baghdad to Kirkuk and the border with the Kurdish controlled north. Attacks involving kidnapping and murder (mainly to terrorize the population into not interfering with or reporting on ISIL activity) are more frequent. In March there were seven of these attacks. That increased to 30 during May and 83 in June and so on. This increase shows how effectively ISIL has established base areas to operate from. Most of the bases are in the Hemrin Mountains, which extend from Diyala province through northern Salahuddin province and into southern Kirkuk province. Up to a thousand armed ISIL members are believed to be operating in the Hemrins and about the same in desert areas near the Syrian border from west of Mosul south to include Anbar province. ISIL is also trying to reestablish itself in Mosul and that can be seen by the continued arrests of known ISIL members in Mosul and surrounding areas.

August 23, 2018: In the west (Salahuddin province) Iraqi F-16s carried out airstrikes on recently discovered ISIL targets, killing seven of the Islamic terrorists and destroying two of their hidden base camps. The Iraqi airstrikes are complemented by American ones, which are still carried out in Syria and Iraq and involve coordination with Iraq to ensure both dont go after the same target at the same time.

August 22, 2018: ISIL leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi issued his first recorded message in a year. The 55 minute speech admitted that ISIL had lost all the cities and major towns it controlled a year ago in the Syria and Iraq but urged his followers to continue attacking the enemy, which dozens of small groups of ISIL members have been doing with some success. Baghdadi had recently been reported killed (by an airstrike). These claims have been regular occurrences because so many people want the ISIL founder dead. Eyewitness reports from those who have seen Baghdadi in the last year report that he seems tired and dejected but still in charge whenever he met with his dwindling loyalists. Much like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, if you make enough enemies they will eventually catch up with you.

August 15, 2018: In the south (Basra) there was another large anti-government demonstration which turned violent as some of the protestors began destroying property. The police opened fire, killing one man and wounding more than a hundred others.

August 13, 2018: The government backed away from earlier assurances that Iraq would support the renewed sanctions America has imposed on Iran. The pro-Iran factions in parliament are demanding that Iraq ignore the sanctions but do not have the votes to make it so. At the same time the government cannot assure the United States that Iraq will be able to carry through on efforts to enforce the sanctions. Yet Iraqis who trade with Iraq cannot ignore the sanctions, if only because these sanctions, that are not fully in force until November, have already cost Iraqi traders a lot because it costs twice as much Iranian currency to buy dollars now. So anyone holding a lot of Iranian currency in March saw it lose half its value in dollars since then. Most Iraqis, including most Shia, have no problem with the sanctions hitting Iran again. Iran has not proved to be as good a friend as Iran always proclaimed it would be. Many Iranians now agree with that and are also demonstrating against the Iranian government.

In the west (Anbar province) police detected, found and killed or captured members of an ISIL cell that was planning a series of attacks in Anbar. Such ISIL groups have been carrying out attacks that target military personnel, including roadside bomb based ambushes attempting to kill key military leaders in Anbar. Some of these attacks have succeeded and some of the groups found and destroyed were planning attacks in Saudi Arabia as well.

August 11, 2018: In the northeast Iraq based Kurdish PDK separatists crossed the Iranian border and clashed with IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) troops in West Azerbaijan Province. PDK claims to have killed 12 IRGC men while the IRGC claims to have killed 11 PDK. The clash took place close to the Iraqi border (and Kurdish controlled northern Iraq) and the PDK men apparently crossed the border, traveling from their bases in northern Iraq. The battle went on for nearly five hours and it appears the PDK men retreated back to Iraq before dawn.

In the north (Mosul) two bombs were used to attack pro-Iran PMF militiamen. At least twelve died and as many were wounded.

August 10, 2018: The manual recount of the May 12 election disputed votes has been completed and there were minor changes in the outcome. This recount was approved by the Supreme Court which ordered the largest faction (led by Sadr) to try and assemble a majority coalition so that the new parliament can meet and begin the process of forming a new government.

August 8, 2018: A growing number of Iraqi politicians getting behind demands that Iran pays Iraq $11 billion in reparations because of all the terrorism Iran has supported in Iraq since 2003. This includes Iranian support for al Qaeda. In response Iran revived its own reparation claims, citing Iraqi responsibility for starting the 1980s Iran-Iraq War (by invading Iran and attempting to seize disputed territory including some oil fields in areas where most of the population consisted of Iranian Arabs) and is demanding that Iraq pay war reparations of $1.2 trillion. These reparations were part of the UN brokered peace deal (resolution 598) that ended the war in 1988. The exact amount of reparations was never settled. In 1989 it was about $88 billion, which was seen as a minimum. After Iraq was driven out of Kuwait in 1991 Iraq was hit with another bill for reparations to Kuwait and Iraq has been paying this one off in part because Kuwait is an Arab nation with a large minority of Arab Shia. There is less enthusiasm for paying Iran whose population if largely Indo-European.

August 6, 2018: In the northwest across the border in Syria (Deir Zor province), an American airstrike near the Iraqi border killed nearly 30 ISIL gunmen. Iraqi and American artillery were also involved in firing from the Iraqi side of the border. In Syria, Kurdish led SDF troops advancing on the Syrian side of the border to clear more territory of any ISIL presence. This makes it much more difficult for ISIL personnel to move between Syria and Iraq. SDF announced that it had cleared ISIL from the Jazeera Desert, an area near the Iraq border that, along with the Yarmouk Basin down south (near the Israeli and Jordanian borders) provided ISIL with its last two base areas in Syria.

In the south (Karbala) a weapons and ammo storage site for a PMF unit exploded. Since the site was in a populated area there were a lot (at least 20) dead and wounded.

August 2, 2018: In July 79 civilians died due to Islamic terrorist violence. Some 38 percent of the deaths occurred in Baghdad. Areas north of Baghdad (like Kirkuk) accounted for ten percent of the dead. In June 76 died and in May 95 which was an increase from the 68 April deaths. March, when 104 died had been the deadliest month so far in 2018. That was up a bit from the 91 killed during February. The government has still not resumed reporting casualties among the security forces (military and militias). Based on local reports the Islamic terrorists, mainly ISIL, are suffering much higher death tolls each month, in addition to nearly as many lost to arrest or capture.
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (Bayer or the Company) (OTCMKTS: BAYRY). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.



The investigation concerns whether Bayer and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On August 15, 2018, the California Supreme Court denied a request by Bayers subsidiary Monsanto Company (Monsanto) for a review of a lower-court ruling that upheld Californias authority to add glyphosate, the principal ingredient in Monsantos Roundup herbicide product, to a list of known carcinogens published by the state pursuant to Proposition 65. Inclusion of a chemical on Californias Proposition 65 list prohibits businesses from discharging the chemical into sources of drinking water and requires them to warn members of the public who may be exposed to the product. On this news, Bayers American depositary receipt price fell $1.01, or 4.4%, to close at $21.86 on August 16, 2018.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 9980
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Atlantia S.p.A. (Atlantia or the Company) (OTC MKTS: ATASY). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.



The investigation concerns whether Atlantia and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On August 14, 2018, a motorway bridge operated by Atlantias subsidiary Autostrade per LItalia (Autostrade) collapsed, killing 43 people. On August 16, 2018, media outlets reported that the Italian government had opened an investigation into Autostrade. Italys Deputy Transport Minister stated that the government was considering revoking Autostrades operating concession and imposing a fine of upwards of 150 million on Autostrade. On this news, Atlantias American depositary receipt price fell $1.66, or 13.7%, to close at $10.45 on August 16, 2018.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 9980
NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Safeway workers represented by UFCW 1518 voted to reject the recommendations tabled by Special Officer Vince Ready in a province-wide vote this week.



A 99 percent NO vote from our Safeway members gives our bargaining committee a clear mandate that these recommendations are unacceptable. An unequivocal rejection of these recommendations is what we need Sobeys to see, President Ivan Limpright said. The company needs to understand that our members are strong in their conviction. They dont deserve to have their hard fought and bargained wages and benefits slashed because of Sobeys mismanagement in BC.

President Limpright said he hopes that the 99 percent NO vote will encourage Sobeys to return to the bargaining table. We hope that this strong response from our members will get Sobeys, with assistance from the Special Officer, back to the table to negotiate a fair and reasonable collective agreement, and that Sobeys will finally provide the disclosure of their plans and financials to our committee, added Limpright.

Special Officer Vince Ready was appointed after negotiations between the union and Sobeys, which owns Canada Safeway, broke down last March. Under Section 106 of the BC Labour Relations Code, Mr. Ready has the power to mediate, arbitrate and make recommendations and orders.

The Special Officers recommendations would cause serious hardship to Safeway workers and create a domino effect in the grocery industry, added President Limpright, threatening good jobs in the retail food sector across British Columbia.

UFCW 1518 represents about 4000 members who work at Safeway stores in BC.

SOURCE: United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1518

For further information: Media contact: Kate Milberry, Press Secretary, UFCW 1518, 604.329.1272 or kmilberry@ufcw1518.com

Related Links: http://www.ufcw1518.com
Research shows Sidney students at or exceeding state and national standards, according to the 2016-2017 Sidney Public Schools Report Card, the latest report on the website

The report card shows trends in ACT results from 2015-2017. The composite scores for seniors in 2015 were 21.5 with 100 percent of the class tested. Statewide, the percent remained at 21.5 for 2015, but only 88 percent tested. Nationwide, the result slipped by a half point to 21.0 with only 59 percent tested.

Sidney High School's numbers slipped a full point by 2017 - 21.0 in 2016 and 20.5 in 2017. For the state of Nebraska, numbers slipped .1 to 21.4 in 2016 and returned to 21.5 in 2017. Nationally, results slipped to 20.8 in 2016, testing 64 percent of seniors, and 21.0 in 2017 testing 60 percent of seniors.

The 11th grade class of 2017, this year's senior class, surpassed state numbers in nearly every category. Sidney juniors scored 20 in the English Language test, 21 in Mathematics and 22 in Science.

Statewide, students averaged an 18 in English Language, 19 in Mathematics and 19 in Science. The report indicates 33 percent of students are not yet college ready, 12 percent on track for college and 54 percent exceeding normal college readiness. Statewide, 48 percent of students were not ready for college at the time of the test, 13 percent were on track for college and 39 percent were exceeded normal college readiness.

Science scores have Sidney students ahead of the average as well. Sidney's juniors of 2017 scored 22 on the Science ACT, compared to 19 for the state average. Of the students tested, 27 percent of Sidney students were not yet college ready compared to 46 percent statewide. The test results show 27 percent of Sidney science students were on track for college and 47 percent exceeding normal college readiness. Statewide, the science students performed at 19 in the ACT; 46 percent of the students were not college ready, 25 percent were on track for college and 29 percent were exceeding normal college readiness.

The Nebraska Department of Education doesn't release 2018 student performance data until October.
Sidney students have a number of opportunities to take college- and work-bound classes, such as SRTV. Students are back in school, and in numbers that have been pleasantly surprising.

As the Cabela's and Bass Pro relationship became apparent, community services, including school districts, kept a wary eye on their enrollments. The concern was would the purchase lead to consolidating staff and what would that do to enrollment numbers.

The news so far is the enrollment in Sidney Public Schools has experienced very little decline. Superintendent Jay Ehler said the first student count of the year was Aug. 20. The official count submitted to the Nebraska Department of Education isn't due until September.

"We ended up with more kids than expected," he said. "We have 1,236 in pre-k through 12."

He said Sidney schools ended the 2017-2018 school year with 1,250 students.

He added there are families that have left the school district because of changes in Cabela's. However, there are also families moving into the school district. He said there are more than 100 new students in the district this year. The district lost about 130 students since its peak in 2015-2016.

"It's been a combination of a lot of things," Ehler said.

He said in addition to families moving to the Sidney community - including the affordable housing in Sidney, there are also students entering the district through the Enrollment Option program. Under the Enrollment Option, a student and his or her parents can petition to attend a Sidney school while residing in another school district.

The Sidney School District started 2017-2018 with an enrollment of 1,332, and ended the year with 1,246. According to numbers submitted to the Nebraska Department of Education, Sidney High Shool has 100 seniors, 103 juniors, and 88 freshmen for 383 high school students total. The number shows a decrease of four students from 2016-2017. The higher-than-expected student enrollment also meant the District had to scramble for an additional teacher.

When the Sidney school board started projecting enrollment for the 2018-2019 school year, the board and administration were bracing for deep losses in enrollment. Ehler said about 26 percent of the district's students are "Cabela's kids," students with one or both parents employed by Cabela's. With that said, the District was expecting a decline of 13 percent.

Middle school numbers are also better than expected. The count shows a loss of one student from 2016-2017. Last year there were 100 seventh grade students and 98 eighth grade students for 198. This year is starting with 99 seventh grade students and 98 eighth grade students.

"For now, we're very happy" with the enrollment numbers, Ehler said.

The numbers also help the District's budget. He said the District lost a few students, but not as many as anticipated, meaning funding will be closer to what is needed.

"It won't affect funding as much as we feared," Ehler said.
The Spanish governments representative in Cadiz province, Jose Antonio Pacheco, has apologised for incidents which occurred during a protest by National Police and Guardia Civil officers near the Gibraltar border last Wednesday, and has accused some of the demonstrators of intimidating behaviour.

The officers were taking part in a protest organised by the Jusapol pressure group, to demand equal salaries to those of the regional police and to call for more resources to tackle the trafficking of drugs and people between Africa and the Campo de Gibraltar region. They say they decided to hold the protest in La Linea de la Concepcion beside the Gibraltar border because they are now targeting tourist areas, as protests in major cities have had little effect so far. They were given permission by the Spanish authorities to do so, on condition that they did not interfere with pedestrian or vehicle traffic into Gibraltar.

However, some of the protestors harassed the drivers of Gibraltar-plated cars and motorcycles and one of them kicked a woman from Gibraltar who got out of her car to confront them.

The Gibraltar government issued its own statement in response to the one from the Spanish government representative, saying:

The Government notes that the representative of the Spanish Government in Cadiz province has made it clear in a statement issued today that permission for the protest at the border on Wednesday was granted with the express condition that the protestors did not interfere with pedestrians or vehicles crossing into Gibraltar.

He has expressed regret for the incidents that took place and has accused some protestors of blocking the pedestrian access and of intimidating behaviour towards several vehicles crossing into Gibraltar.

The representative of the Spanish Government has apologised to all those who were caught up in the incidents. He has also stated that the policy of the new Spanish Government, leaving aside matters of state, is to maintain good neighbourly relations with the people of Gibraltar.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, said: "This is a welcome statement which rightly apologises for the inconvenience caused to those whose ability to peacefully and freely traverse the frontier was interfered with earlier this week. I think it demonstrates a new sensitivity in the understanding of the importance of frontier fluidity as a matter of principle. I sincerely welcome this new and more positive approach."

Judging by the fierce arguments on social media after Wednesdays incidents, it appears that although National Police and Guardia Civil officers in general support the call for wage equality and more resources, many of them are critical of Jusapol because they believe that behaviour of the type which occurred at the Gibraltar border is counterproductive and does not help their cause.
"People are buying properties just for holiday lets". This is something you often hear now in the property sector, which is already talking about a new bubble and one with a difference on the Costa del Sol and in other major cities and tourist resorts: holiday rental properties. The regional government's Minister of Tourism, Francisco Javier Fernandez, asked the government a few months ago to regulate this type of business, because it is now becoming increasingly difficult to find properties to rent long-term. In Malaga city more than 600 people are eligible for housing assistance, but they can't find anywhere to live. The advantages of platforms like Airbnb, where users comment on their experiences, and the amount of money owners can earn, means that many prefer holiday rentals to traditional ones. On average, the owners of a holiday rental property in Malaga province can earn 4,500 euros a month; those renting out a bedroom can earn 2,000 euros, or 1,300 if the room is shared. The problem is that this goose with its golden eggs is damaging the market.

The phenomenon is not new in Andalucia: the Junta has been regulating this type of rental for a few years now, demanding that properties meet certain standards such as air conditioning in each bedroom or direct outside ventilation, and this has reduced the numbers of suitable properties considerably.

The more than 30,000 properties available on Airbnb in the province, plus the number of hotel beds, means that Malaga can now accommodate 250,000 tourists a day. Of those, 60 per cent would be staying in a self-catering property.

The numbers are growing. The DataHippo portal, which collects data from digital rental platforms, says Barcelona is the leader in Spain with 24,029 beds advertised on Airbnb, followed by Madrid (22,909), Valencia (8,120), Seville (6,973) and Malaga (5,762), although the figure for Marbella is almost the same (5,721). In addition there are similar platforms such as HomeAway, HouseTrip and Only-Apartments.

DataHippo also shows that there is a considerable imbalance in some places: Mijas, for example, has 13,000 beds available in rental properties compared with 2,000 in hotels. If all the tourist properties in Frigiliana were to be occupied, the population would almost double, from 3,000 to 5,000. Benahavis would be the second, increasing from 7,300 to 12,200. However, the average price to stay in these villages also varies, from 122 euros a night in Frigiliana to 344 euros in Benahavis, the highest in the province.

Despite this 'boom', there are problems. The national markets and competition commission is taking Madrid, Bilbao and San Sebastian councils to court because it believes that restrictions they have introduced are detrimental to the interests of consumers and users. However, these are not the only local authorities to have done so.

In April this year Palma, where only six per cent of holiday rental properties are registered, became the first place to ban this type of rental altogether. The mayor, Antoni Noguera, said others would follow, and that has been the case. One month later the government of the Canary Islands drafted new laws to ban holiday rentals in tourist areas.

In June, Rincon de la Victoria also decided to restrict holiday lets. "We took the decision because of complaints from local residents and problems that we at the town hall have experienced ourselves when we have needed to find somewhere for people, such as the victims of domestic violence. The prices have shot up. Places that used to be available for 200 euros now cost 600 or 700 and in the end everybody ends up paying through their taxes," says the mayor, Francisco Salado. He insists that holiday lets need to be restricted "for the sake of coexistence".

Carlos Perez-Lanzac, the president of the Association of Holiday Properties of Andalucia (AVVA), however, thinks differently. "Right now, no town hall in Andalucia has the right to restrict properties which are used for tourism. No mayor, of any political party, can take away the rights of private property or the citizens," he insists.

The municipalities on the coast are the most keen to find a solution, because they all have at least 2,000 self-catering beds listed. Inland, the town of Ronda now has the same balance of beds in hotels and Airbnb accommodation as coastal resorts. Antequera and Alora are not far behind, although in their case they only have about 1,000 beds each.

In Malaga city the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, is urging local people to report properties which are being rented out illegally to the police as soon as possible. He says holiday rental properties are a logical complement to the hotel industry, but they are not growing at the same pace. The hotel sector disagrees: they believe the increase in holiday lets is unfair competition.

Carlos Perez-Lanzac is positive about the future of regulation, especially now that holiday portals are only allowing legally registered properties to advertise. Details of every Spanish property advertised will now also be passed to Hacienda, the tax authority, as well. He also stresses the economic impact of tourist properties in Spain, which amounts to about 124 billion euros, from a sector in which 85 per cent of clients are foreigners. "All this contributes to making the Costa del Sol a competitive destination," he says.

The increase in holiday properties is also putting up long-term rental prices in general and Malaga has become the most expensive province in Andalucia in this regard. To alleviate the situation, the government has announced plans to build 20,000 social housing properties in Spain to bring down rental prices, and in Benalmadena the council is offering a substantial discount on the IBI tax for people who rent out their properties to long-term tenants.

It seems that everywhere in the province is affected, apart from one small village. Alfarnate, with just 1,113 inhabitants, has no hotels or holiday accommodation registered.

For Carlos Perez-Lanzac, the market is now starting to regulate itself as supply increases and some holiday lets become less profitable. In the meantime, though, the word 'bubble' is frequently being heard in the property sector, and it is becoming increasingly common to see articles in the press saying, for example that long-term rental prices are increasing much faster than salaries.
Police are blaming the surge in violent drug crime on the Costa del Sol so far this year on increased rivalry between gangs and theft between them.

Besides news of two shock murders in the last week, which police suspect were linked to organised drug smuggling, National Police have broken up a group that were posing as Guardia Civil officers in the Campo de Gibraltar area in order to enter homes and warehouses of the drug barons themselves and make off with drugs stashed there.

The men, all of Spanish nationality, were found with a range of Guardia Civil uniforms and accessories to carry out their daring scams.

In the first half of May this year alone there were three violent deaths, two shootings and two kidnappings on the Costa that are still under investigation. All have been linked to drugs.

Gangs are allegedly fighting between themselves more as it is harder to land drugs now from Africa due to police activity.
A body believed to be that of a man who went missing in Torremolinos in January has been found in the mountains behind Alhaurin de la Torre.

The news that Antonio Ortega Urbano, 32, is dead came as a devastating blow to friends and family who had been leading continuous searches for him in Torremolinos and the surrounding area since he went out to walk the family dog without his keys or identification seven months ago.

Back in February, there was some hope when the distressed dog was found wandering near the A-7 motorway tunnel in Churriana, leading the searchers to focus on the hills towards Alhaurin de la Torre, an area Antonio knew and loved.

In March, there was some hope when his distressed dog was found wandering by the Churriana A-7 motorway tunnel

Up to then the search had been focussed on a broader area covering Torremolinos, Churriana and Benalmadena.

In the end, the worst fears were confirmed. The body was spotted last Saturday morning down a 200-metre deep gully by a Romanian volunteer who had been helping with the searches from the start.

Difficult terrain

Due to the terrain in the place where the remains were found, it was impossible for the police to reach the body and it had to be recovered from the ravine by a group of experts from the Guardia Civil's mountain rescue team , with the help of a helicopter sent from Granada.

Although the body was in a poor state, it was possible for family to identify the clothing he was wearing when he went missing. "It has his trainers, his shirt...with 99.9% certainty, it's him," said the victim's brother, Cristobal.

"Because of where the body was found, we believe that he fell and rolled down 200 metres until he reached the stream. It is what makes most sense...he also had friends in Alhaurin de la Torre. Maybe he thought of going to Alhaurin with his dog to visit them".

Antonio, who suffered from mental illness, had left his house on 22 January to go for a walk with his dog Smuki when they both disappeared. The dog was found a few weeks later, alone and showing signs of malnutrition, by the tunnel in Churriana. Meanwhile, the man was never located despite the refocus of the search for him afterwards.

Antonio's family, friends and other volunteers had been looking for him tirelessly up until this past weekend, working with the emergency services. At the beginning, more than 65 people joined the search for the man and leaflets with his photo were distributed widely in the area.

Pleas over social media

In addition, his mother had posted a video on social media asking the public for help in locating her son who needed daily medication for his mental illness.

Over the months, the frequency of the searches and the number of people involved in it had fallen. But the family, who live near Avenida del Lido in Torremolinos, had never lost hope.
Residents of Fuente de Piedra are calling for uncontrolled level crossings to be eradicated after a train travelling between Seville and Malaga hit a lorry on a crossing of that type between the town and Bobadilla on Tuesday, and injured four people. The train pushed the lorry for about 75 metres before being able to stop.

The company which owns the lorry is based in Fuente de Piedra, and one of the occupants of the vehicle, who was seriously injured and was taken by emergency helicopter to the Clinico hospital in Malaga, lives there. His condition is still serious but he is said to be out of danger.

The other occupant of the lorry and two passengers on the train, one of them a pregnant woman, were also injured and needed medical attention at the scene.

The mayor of Fuente de Piedra and people who have to use this route want better safety measures

The train apparently started to brake and sound its horn for at least one kilometre before hitting the lorry

The train is the medium-distance type which runs on the old track between Seville and Malaga, covering the journey in two and a half hours, not the AVE high speed service. It was carrying 90 passengers at the time of the accident.

The lorry was on the crossing, which has no barriers (contrary to a statement by Adif at the time) and was returning from collecting bales of straw from an agricultural area of olive groves and fields. There are no houses in that area, but the road is quite busy because people work on farms and fields there, explained the mayor of Fuente de Piedra, Francisco Hidalgo, who went to the scene of the accident. For reasons which are now being investigated, the train hit the cab of the lorry, which was completely destroyed.

"Split in two"

"There was a big crash, a lot of noise and then the drivers came running out," said one passenger who had been in the front carriage of the train. "The lorry was completely split in two."

The passengers had to remain on board the train until 6pm, waiting for a bus to take them to their destination because the track ahead was completely blocked by the remains of the vehicle and is in an area difficult to reach by road. "The Renfe staff behaved very correctly, they came to see how we were," said the passenger.

The Renfe railway company says the train left Seville for Malaga at 1.04pm. Other services were not affected as alternative tracks are available in the area.

The emergency services were quickly on the scene, including the Guardia Civil, Local Police, ambulances and the fire brigade from Antequera. Several specialists from the Adif and Renfe railway companies were also there.

After inspecting the damaged train, experts said it must have been travelling at about 100 kilometres per hour and started to sound its horn and brake at least one kilometre before hitting the lorry. Adif has started an investigation and will provide the Guardia Civil and judicial authorities with its conclusions.

Level crossings

The mayor of Fuente de Piedra and several local residents who had gone to the scene complained about the lack of visibility for drivers of lorries and tractors at that point, and called on Adif to remove all the level crossings in the municipality or, at least, fit them with barriers. "They have to create alternative ways for traffic so they don't have to use level crossings. They should be eliminated completely," insisted Francisco Hidalgo.

With regard to the occupants of the lorry, the most seriously hurt was a 44-year-old man who was rushed to hospital in Malaga with a complicated injury to his right arm and a craneo-facial wound which will need reconstruction surgery, according to the 112 emergency service.

The other three people who were injured were taken to Antequera hospital. One was the other occupant of the lorry, a 21-year-old man who suffered several injuries but remained conscious.

The other two were on the train: a 35-year-old woman who is seven months pregnant, who was suffering from pains in the stomach and was examined to make sure the baby was unhurt, and a 21-year-old woman who suffered a cervical sprain and bruising.
Sue Wilson, Chair of Bremain in Spain, is lead claimant of a group of British citizens living in EU countries which has issued a court challenge against UK Prime Minister Theresa May over Brexit.

The claim argues that the illegal conduct of Leave organisations during the 2016 referendum campaign, which is currently the subject of a police investigation for exceeding legal spending limits according to the UK Electoral Commission, should nullify the prime minister's decision to notify the EU of the UK's intention to withdraw from the bloc under Article 50.

"The premise for the legal challenge is that the triggering of Article 50 was not in line with 'constitutional requirements'. Had it been a binding referendum, the result would be declared null and void. It cannot be right that a non-binding referendum on which politicians nevertheless decided to act is not subject to the same scrutiny," Wilson explained to SUR in English on Tuesday.

Other claimants are Elinore Grayson from France, Carole-Anne Richards from Italy and John Shaw, also from France, who represents Fair Deal Forum and intervened successfully in the earlier Gina Miller case.

The government has been given until 31 August to respond to the claim, after which the case will be heard in court. The claimants expect that the case will be appealed by whichever side the initial hearing rules against and go directly to the Supreme Court, which is what happened when anti-Brexit activist, Gina Miller, took the government to court last year over the referendum in a high-profile case.

While Wilson explained to SUR in English that the police investigation is completely separate from this challenge, she said that if the investigation concludes that there was illegal activity on the part of the Leave campaign it will "help" their case "enormously".

The Bremain in Spain Chair admits that "time is of the essence" given that the current date for the UK to leave the EU is 29 March 2019. However, she says she remains hopeful that given the divisions between the Conservative and Labour parties and the lack of a deal after more than two years of negotiations, as well as this challenge and the police investigation, that Brexit "may not happen" as expected at the moment.
British people living abroad could lose access to their UK bank accounts if the current negotiations with the European bloc result in a no-deal Brexit in March 2019.

This week the British government's webpage published a list of warnings of what would happen in what Brexit secretary Dominic Raab described as the unlikely scenario of an unilateral agreement that would exclude UK banks from the EEA.

Under those circumstances, according to the 24 technical notices published on Thursday, British expats would be denied access to existing lending and deposit services, insurance contracts (including life insurance contracts) and would have to deal with higher taxation and slower transactions while using their British credit cards to purchase EU products.

The way expats with banking ties to the UK could be affected by a no-deal departure was just one of a number of indications presented on Thursday to Westminster by the Brexit secretary in the form of 24 notices that were later published in the government's website.
The Spanish cabinet approved on Friday an express change in the law to smooth the way for the remains of General Franco to be exhumed from his ceremonial tomb in the mountains above Madrid.

The new PSOE government has controversially promised to rebury the dictator and turn the Valley of the Fallen monumental complex into an interpretation centre for the Civil War. The law change will simplify the country's historical memory legislation to make it easier to carry out.

However the opposition PP and centrist Ciudadanos have criticised the move, saying express law changes aren't meant for this type of initiative and they may not support an eventual parliamentary vote on the subject.
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Spain's land border with Morocco, around the city of Ceuta on the North African coast, saw one of the biggest recent illegal entries by migrants by land on Wednesday.

Some 300 mostly sub-Saharan Africans tried to cross into the territory during a coordinated attack on border guards, with 116 succeeding.

According to eyewitnesses and border security forces, shortly after Moroccan guards relaxed their patrols for prayers on what was a Muslim festival day in both Morocco and Ceuta itself, the organised action began. Wirecutters were used to open holes in the triple fence and officers on the Spanish side were subjected to bombardments of stones, bags of quicklime, bags of car battery acid, balls of human faeces and jars of human blood. Guards on the Moroccan side were also injured.

Guardia Civil officers have asked to be given shields and to be allowed to use riot equipment

The 116 who crossed into Spain were taken to the city's immigrant reception centre, but were deported on Thursday. The centre is still struggling to cope with the biggest illegal entry so far this year, on 26 July, when 602 immigrants crossed.

The union for the Guardia Civil, responsible for patrolling the border, have called for police to get more resources, including shields, and to be allowed to use riot equipment. The government commended the guards' action on Wednesday and said it was working to solve the problem with African countries.
A supposedly disabled and recently married murder suspect is being nicknamed 'The Black Widow' by Spanish media after being caught allegedly carrying out the macabre, yet bizarre murder of her new, fourth husband in an Alicante beachside car park this week.

An off-duty police officer spotted two people wearing gloves stabbing a man with a screwdriver. By the time she reached the scene to stop the attack it was too late to save the 69-year-old man.

The supposed assailants are the dead man's wheelchair-bound wife (45) and her male "carer" (58). Investigators are perplexed as to motive and why the woman was able to stand away from the wheelchair to carry out the attack.
Judging by the reception he received on a visit to Barcelona last Friday, the Spanish king is now the most reviled public figure among Catalan separatists - a position previously occupied by Mariano Rajoy. Felipe VI was in the Catalonian capital to attend a memorial service for the 16 people killed in a terrorist attack on Las Ramblas last August; he paid his respects under a huge banner reading (in English), "The Spanish king is not welcome in the Catalan countries." Another banner read: "Free political prisoners. Without them this ceremony is a scam."

Felipe VI's presence at the memorial service was bound to outrage secessionists. At the height of Catalan chaos last October - when the region's former president, Carles Puigdemont, held an independence referendum deemed illegal by Spain's highest court - the king gave a speech in which he pledged to preserve the unity of Spain. He thus aligned himself with Rajoy's "zero tolerance" policy towards the secessionists. In doing so, Felipe VI became even more hated than he already was amongst pro-independence, anti-monarchy Catalans. No wonder, then, that some of this cohort thought it a joke in extremely bad taste that the king showed up in Barcelona last week.

But what of Spain's new Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who stood next to the king during the memorial service? His presence in Barcelona was quietly tolerated, but the PSOE leader's stance on Catalan independence is, essentially, the same as his predecessor's and Felipe's. He is committed to the unity of Spain and (therefore) opposed to the secessionist project.

Sanchez is such a smooth operator that this fact is not yet widely known. One of his first acts as prime minister was to arrange a meeting with Catalan president Quim Torra; after said get-together, both men enthused that they had shared their respective "visions of Catalonia" with each other. Since then, Sanchez's favourite word when talking about the Catalan problem has been "dialogue". "We will always offer dialogue", the PSOE leader said earlier this month, "but with the constitution in hand".

A killer caveat, that. Because as far as Sanchez is concerned, the dialogue can only go so far, and the end-point comes long before the prospect of Catalan independence is reached. All he's done so far is hint at the possibility of handing Catalonia even more independence from central government than it already has - a move that would justifiably infuriate most Spaniards.

More tellingly, Sanchez has refused to release the Catalan separatists who are still in custody for their role in engineering last October's referendum; indeed, he won't even call them "political prisoners". As he recently reminded everybody, he'll always have the constitution "in hand" when dealing with Catalonia - presumably so he can hit Torra over the head with it if their dialogue reaches an impasse.
Teba is well prepared for the invasion of the Scots this weekend, when the town celebrates the fourteenth edition of the Douglas Days Festival. The festival celebrates one of the most epic stories in Tebas history, a 700-year-old legend about the exploits of Sir James Douglas.

The festival commemorates the adventures of the Scottish knight, also known as the Black Douglas, who was tasked with taking the embalmed heart of King Robert the Bruce to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. However, the Black Douglas failed to see out the kings wishes, as he was killed while assisting King Alfonso XI of Castile fight the Nasrid dynasty during the siege of Teba castle.

Although his mission was unsuccessful, the Black Douglas has remained such a legend in Scottish history that thousands of people descend on the town each year, including the Strathleven Artizans from West Dunbartonshire, who have been attending the event for more than ten years.

The once derelict tower of the old castle has been transformed into the Sir James Douglas Museum, which includes displays of weapons and armour from the middle ages, as well as information about the battle in which he died.

The town also displays a memorial plaque dedicated to both James Douglas and King Robert the Bruce.

The festival presents a medieval market, mock battles, snake charmers, falconry displays, Scottish bagpipers, belly dancing and various workshops. Visitors can take advantage of free sangria and porra, a local gazpacho-style tomato-based soup.

More than three-thousand people attended the festival last year and because of a rising interest in the legend of the Black Douglas and Robert the Bruce, this festival has become one of the most important of its kind.

The three-day event, which is held from today (Friday) until Sunday 26 August, is organised by Teba town hall.

For the programme and more information, click here.
Take A Mulligan: The Big 7-0

Here is the $64,000 question. Just exactly how old is old? In my teens, I figured it was about 35 but when I was getting close to that age, it ...
On Thursday night, two people were shot in the torso on a Brooklyn sidewalk right outside the campaign office of State Senator Jesse Hamilton. Hamilton decried the gun violence, noting that "a bullet [was] lodged in the front door" and that his "staff members were concerned for their lives when they heard the bullet hit the building, many of them scurrying to hide under tables."

The shooting took place at Montgomery Street and Rogers Avenue around 7:35 p.m. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the back while a 31-year-old man was shot in the back and arms. Both are in stable condition at hospital.

"We can not allow the abnormal to become the normal," Hamilton said in a statement "We can not allow gun violence in our communities to become somehow routine. Senseless injury and death are not routine. Tragedy in our communities must not become routine."

He added, "If someone is coming out of my campaign office door right here, literately, youre coming out and the bullet is right here. So literately, if someone was coming out of my campaign office tonight at the wrong time, they would have gotten shot."

A shooting just occurred right by my campaign office, my staff feared for their lives. The bullets were so close, thank God no one was injured. #stoptheviolence #crownheights pic.twitter.com/ZWiBB8syp3  Jesse Hamilton (@SenatorHamilton) August 24, 2018

City Council Member Laurie Cumbo said, "While I am relieved that the injuries sustained from the shooting are not life-threatening, I am dismayed by the prevalence of gun violence that continues to plague our communities. We must remain diligent in our efforts to diffuse the underlying conflicts amongst our youth and young adults. I am proud to work in partnership with the Mayors Office to Prevent Gun Violence and violence interrupters such as S.O.S. Crown Heights and G-MACC, to ensure that our families can continue to live and thrive in a safe community. I want to ask anyone with information to contact NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)."

Hamilton is holding a "Stop the Violence Unity Walk" on Friday night:
Early on in Stephen Maing's just-released Hulu documentary Crime + Punishment, NYPD Officer Edwin Raymond offers a blunt assessment about his line of work: "The reality is that law enforcement uses black bodies to generate revenue."

He's referring to the arrest quota system, which has been illegal in New York since 2010, and which the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio vehemently deny still exists. But plenty of rank-and-file cops claim otherwise, and in 2016, Raymond, along with a group of eleven other fed-up officers, set about reforming the system from the inside. Having witnessed the impact of quota-based policing on communities of color, the all-minority group of whistleblower cops risk their careers to file a class action lawsuit against the city.

Crime + Punishment follows this groupdubbed the NYPD 12as they work to expose a system that they say encourages cops to issue bogus tickets to meet activity" requirements, with major professional consequences for officers who refuse. Covert filming by Maing and secret audio recording from inside police precincts seem to confirm this, as well as the fact that Raymonds supervisors dont want him promoted because hes a young black man with dreads. Alongside reams of explosive and infuriating evidence, the documentary zooms in on the human cost of those internal arrest metrics through emotional interviews with the family of Pedro Hernandez, a teenager who spent a year waiting trial on Rikers for a crime he didnt commit.

Two years later, it's hard to say definitively whether much has changed. After a searing New York Times Magazine cover story on his plight, Raymond was eventually promoted, but so was his allegedly racist and corrupt tormenter. The NYPD 12's lawsuit is currently stalled, though it inspired a hugely successful class action suit, and subsequent assurances from the NYPD that it had stamped out quotasfor real this time.

We spoke with Sergeant Edwin Raymond about his firsthand experiences of racism within the NYPD, the failure of community policing, and his ever-growing disappointment in Mayor de Blasio.

The NYPD has repeatedly claimed there is no quota system. Do you think that's the case?

The quota system is absolutely happening. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. It's every single week. In the last two years I have not gone a week where I don't somehow come across an officer that thanks me for taking this initiative, then shares what's going on in their respective command.

Whether I'm off duty or on duty, officers tend to recognize me, and they'll say, "Thank you, there's a lot of people that appreciate what you're doing because honestly, we don't have the courage. Oh by the way, let me tell you what happened the other day." And they'll share the anecdotes of different things showing that the quota is still very real.

In the film, you lay the blame for this problem at the mayor's feet, at one point asking: "What's the point of things like affordable housing, universal pre-K, if in 12 years that 4-year-old will be swept up into a quota system?" Do you think de Blasio knows that these quotas are still happening?



Given the position that he's in, he has to know. He absolutely knows. It's one of those things where he inherited a well-oiled machine that's extremely powerful. As the executive, if he's not willing to take certain risks, he's not going to be able to make the necessary changes. And that's what I think the disconnect is: He's just not willing to take those risks. Again, the film shows that a good portion of this has to deal with the budget. How are you going to make up for that lost revenue? As an executive, the budget is a big part of his concernthat's why I think he's tries to ignore it.

Some people might think the mayor is afraid to get on the NYPD's bad side, to be seen as attacking



Well, that's part of it. But I don't consider it an attack. He's in charge of the department, and he's supposed to make the necessary changes that the people voted him in to make. So that's part of the problem: Any type of critique of policing is seen as anti-police. There's a spectrum where it's either your pro-cop or anti-cop. That's not the case. Everybody wins if this thing gets reformed properly. I don't see him making necessary changes as an attack whatsoever. It's literally what he was voted in to do.

If you did have a chance to question de Blasio, what would you ask him?



My question would be how do you go from the person that was marching with activists and denouncing stop and frisk to completely ignoring what we're saying? Unless you were just completely pandering, at least trigger an investigation. Look into what we're saying, see if there's any credibility to it. That would be my main question for the mayor. How do you completely ignore this? How do you speak about your son, the fear of your son possibly having a detrimental experience with police, and ignore the fact that it often starts with broken windows policing? For the NYPD 12 to come out two years ago, and yet the mayor has said nothing, it makes no sense.

I think that de Blasio and James O'Neill, his police commissioner, would probably point to something like neighborhood policing as evidence that things are moving in the right direction



In my ten years what I've witnessed most is that the department is just completely unwilling to take the community's concern into consideration until it boils over to the point where it becomes too controversial. Then they're forced to do all types of public relations tactics to try to save themselves.

You're saying that community policing is just public relations?



One thousand percent. It's one of those things where they say: Okay, let's make sure a little bit of this exists so we can continue doing what we've always been doing. It's not sincere. It's not incentivized. The officer who continues to police the old way, the way they'd like for you to believe doesn't happen anymorethat's the officer that's still going to be rewarded. If you wanna make change, you have to incentivize that change. But they're saying this is the new wave, and it's basically old software being run on new hardware.

At the same time, transparency within the NYPD has really gotten worse in the last few years under de Blasio. Is there any justification, in your view, for keeping police officer disciplinary records a secret?



It's actually ironic that of all people it was the de Blasio administration that interpreted it that way, even when the cops are going to hate him regardless. Even Bloomberg, even someone as draconian as Giuliani, didn't do anything like this. Not to mention, part of his campaign promise was transparency. This ridiculous interpretation of the law is meant to hide records. Because they know, if people are looking in the right direction it's gonna be ugly. I think it's a shame. It's bullshit. Again, coming from a self-proclaimed progressive it's contradictory. It's a total hypocrisy of what he's supposed to stand for.

I'm wondering about Constantin Tsachas, your former captain, who you've said falsified evaluation documents in order to sabotage your promotion. What's it like knowing that he's still working for the department?



Not only is he working, but he's gotten promoted. I was so disgusted. If you pay attention to what I have out there publicly, I don't really point at individuals, I speak about systemic issues. But I made the exception because this guy, he's really a problem. He's absolutely still working, he's promoted, he's even more powerful than he was when he sabotaged my promotion which is, again, an example in which the action does not cooperate with the talk.

How do you deal with that?



We don't work near each other anymore, so it's not like I have to deal with him. But it's beyond me being a sergeant, just me being a New Yorker; me being a man of color. I have to answer the question from that platform. It's disgusting.

People might be wondering how you could have these experiences and still do this job every day.



One thing that fuels me is knowing that what I'm doing is bigger than me. And that's the fuel, that's what keeps me going. If I was doing this for me, I would have never joined. The work I'm doing here, in this position, it's bigger than me.

What are you hoping the film accomplishes? What are you expecting it to accomplish?



What I'm hoping is that it brings enough awareness to the point whereseeing as this is a midterm election yearthe people running for election know that this is something on the people's mind. Whether it's local, state, or federal, I hope there's initiative in drafting the proper bills that become law to rectify this throughout the nation. The best scenario is that there's real reform, not just in legislation, but in transforming the culture.

What I think will happen, and what I'm also hoping does happen, is that people will become a lot more aware. People will realize and understand that policing is not monolithic, that we don't necessarily agree with the system.

I also think there are many police officers that are going to see the film are also going to be shocked, because again, not many of them think about the deeper results of what we're doing, the human costs of what we're doing. The film, I think, is going to help people understand the many dimensions of being a police officer.



Crime + Punishment was released on Hulu on Thursday, August 23rd. You can watch here.
"We have about 1,400 children just in our practice that will become eligible. If you imagine a third of that population calling us Monday to schedule the appointment as soon as possible, then you understand."
Thirty-eight years after its last restoration, New York City is giving Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn another upgrade. On Friday morning, city officials announced that $8.9 million would go towards restoring the Soldier and Sailors Memorial Arch and the landscaped berms around the plaza, as well as other sections.

"Grand Army Plaza welcomes us to Brooklyns most beloved park, and with this funding, we can fully realize the beauty of this monument honoring those who have served," Mayor Bill de Blasio said this morning.

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver added, "The Soldiers and Sailors arch [see it here in the 1980s] is an iconic landmark in Brooklyn, and a grand welcome for so many visitors to beautiful Prospect Park. The arch and its surroundings are long overdue for repairs, and we are grateful to Mayor de Blasio and Prospect Park Alliance for recognizing the need to restore Grand Army Plaza to its former glory."



The area in the 1920s. (Courtesy of the NYPL)

The Prospect Park Alliance will be leading the restoration, and its president, Sue Donoghue, called Grand Army Plaza "the front door of Prospect Park." A press release details the history of the plaza, as well as what the new work will entail:

Grand Army Plaza was designed by park creators Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as the grand formal entrance of Prospect Park at the time of its construction in 1867. In 1889, the Plaza became the site of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch, which was dedicated in 1892 to commemorate those who fought with the Union troops during the Civil War. The arch was designed by John H. Duncan with sculptures by Frederick MacMonnies. On top of the arch is a Quadriga of Columbia, who represents the United States, surrounded by two winged Victories who trumpet her arrival. Smaller sculptures mounted on pedestals depict soldiers and sailors. The Arch was landmarked in 1975, when the structure was in severe disrepair, and in 1976 Columbia literally fell from her chariot. The City undertook a restoration of the Arch in 1980.



Nearly 40 years later, the Arch is once again in need of restoration. This $8.9 million capital project will enable the Alliance to replace the Arch's roof, clean and repoint the brick and stone structure, repair the interior iron staircases that lead to the roof, and replace the interior and exterior lighting. The project will also include replanting the landscaped berms that frame the Plaza on its east and west sides, which are sustained by Alliance horticultural crews and volunteers. This includes adding new trees and replacing the existing chain link fence with a low steel panel fence. Additionally, the Alliance will remove the broken bluestone pavement that surrounds the plaza's John F. Kennedy Memorial and the Bailey Fountain with granite pavement.

After the press conference, Mayor de Blasio jumped on a CitiBike:
Over the course of the month, AIDS United has been highlighting the alarming impact that a new discriminatory Trump administration policy would have on the more than 1,200 dedicated individuals living with HIV who serve in the U.S. military. As it turns out, this is just one of a plethora of DoD actions relevant to people living with HIV, and we wanted to update folks on some of those developments.

First up is the new Trump administration policy, labeled by some as "Deploy, Or Get Out," aimed at improving military readiness by requiring the military to discharge any servicemember who cannot be deployed for at least 12 months. Unfortunately, thanks to severely outdated military policy, people living with HIV are automatically disqualified from deployment. As a result, should the administration allow the policy to take effect on Oct. 1, it will mean the discharge of approximately 1,200 currently serving personnel living with HIV and will effectively bar any future enlistment of people living with HIV. You can take action on our website, and urge the administration to withdraw this policy here.

Next up is a request for comments on a Veterans Administration policy affecting transgender veterans. As we alerted readers in March, the Trump administration has twice sought to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military, but it has also sought to prevent the Veterans Administration from covering costs associated with gender reassignment surgery. This was made official policy in 2016. But thanks to advocates' efforts, the Veterans Administration is seeking comments from the public on a request that they remove the "gender alterations" exclusion and allow for these surgeries to be covered when deemed medically necessary. Comments are due September 7.

Finally, the CDC published an article in a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report examining PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) use in the U.S. military, and it included some interesting findings. Since the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in 2011, an increasing number of active duty personnel have accessed HIV prevention services and PrEP in the military health system. But only about 2,000 of the estimated 12,000 servicemembers that could benefit from PrEP are currently using it.

The report notes that a survey of military health care providers, found 49% had rated their knowledge of PrEP as poor, and only 29% reported ever having prescribed PrEP. In addition, 51% of the providers indicated a need for more clear evidence of PrEP's safety or efficacy. The authors note, "Despite the universal access to care afforded to service members by the military health care system, there is a recognized need to improve and expand access to PrEP for those patients at highest risk for HIV infection."

DoD is developing a new policy to address access to care challenges and increase PrEP availability. But as the article notes that each year, approximately 350 new HIV infections are diagnosed in members of the U.S. military services, with most infections acquired within the United States. A fact that the administration should keep in mind when considering its proposed HIV military ban. AIDS United will continue to monitor the administration, and DoD policies impacting people living with or at risk of HIV and weigh in with policymakers on behalf of the HIV community.

[Note from TheBody: This article was originally published by AIDS United on Aug. 24, 2018. We have cross-posted it with their permission.]
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is reportedly mulling criminal charges against the Trump Organization, thanks to that $130,000 former fixer-for-the-president Michael Cohen paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. "Two officials with knowledge of the matter" told the NY Times that the D.A.'s review remains "in its earliest stages," but would hinge on the company's categorization of the hush money as a legal expense.

In federal court on Tuesday, Cohen admitted that he had paid off Daniels (aka Stephanie Clifford) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep them from going public with affairs they had with Donald Trump, potentially tanking his presidential bid. The admission came in the course of a series of guilty pleas to tax evasion, violation of campaign finance laws, and fraud. Notably, Cohen attested that he doled out the hush money at Trump's direction.

After initially denying the Daniels affair in early 2018, Cohen alleged that he'd paid her out of his own pocket and the kindness of his heart. Rudy Giuliani blew the cover on that one, though, telling Sean Hannity that Trump personally reimbursed Cohen in installments billed as legal retainer. Tape then surfaced in which Cohen and Trump can be heard discussing McDougal's money two months before the election, and post-guilty plea, Trump now contends that the payments don't break campaign finance law because he made them personally.

Yet as the Times points out, the Trump Organization classified Cohen's reimbursement as a legal expensea series of dummy invoices for $35,000 retainer payments. "On its face, it certainly would be problematic" to classify the payoff that way, one source told the Times: If a person or the company falsified business records, they or it might be looking at misdemeanor charges. Or, if the underhanded party acted with intent to cover up a separate crime, we might be talking about a felony. It's an intriguing prospect because, while Trump has dangled the possibility of pardoning some of his minions' federal convictions, his presidential powers do not extend to state crimes.

Before your gleeful chuckle boils over into a vengeful guffaw, a reminder that all of this is tentative: The District Attorney, Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., is reviewing records and ruminating on the possibility of a criminal case. A few complicating factorsthe Russia investigation, the New York Attorney General's campaign-related lawsuit against the Trump Foundation, and of course the federal investigation into Cohen himselfcould stand in the way.

Speaking of the federal investigation, Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg has reportedly been granted immunity in the Cohen investigation.
Sanitation Salvage, a Bronx-based carting company run for decades by the wealthy and politically-connected Squitieri brothers, had its license suspended on Friday morning. The suspension comes after reports in ProPublica revealed a pattern of dangerous working conditions, and that one of its drivers killed a fellow worker and a pedestrian over a six month period of time.

This company has demonstrated time and time again that they value profit over the lives of New Yorkers and the well-being of their workers," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement announcing the suspension. "We are immediately suspending this companys license following a pattern of unsafe practices.

In a release, The Business Integrity Commission, which regulates the private carting industry, pointed to the deaths of 21-year-old Mouctar Diallo, who was an off the books Sanitation Salvage employee when he was killed last fall, and pedestrian Leo Clarke, who was killed this past April, as justification for the suspension. Both men were killed by driver Sean Spence. Earlier this month, the BIC barred Spence from driving carting trucks in the city, but no charges have been filed in either death, despite a ProPublica report revealing that Spence and the company tried to cover up Diallo's death by claiming he was a homeless person.

In a release, BIC also noted that "recent investigations of Sanitation Salvage by State and City enforcement agencies have revealed systemic safety issues, including excessive working hours and unsafe operating trucks."

On August 8, a Sanitation Salvage employee who did not have a driver's license swerved into oncoming traffic in the Bronx and hit a car. On Thursday night, according to the release, BIC investigators found that a Sanitation Salvage worker with a suspended license was driving a truck while their coworkers picked up a pizza.

Sanitation Salvage has four business days to appeal the suspension before the full BIC; Its 6,000 customers will be offered temporary collection by the Sanitation Department while they find a new carting company. The BIC will help their 87 employees find new jobs, according to the release.

A spokesperson for the company has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Bronx Councilmember Mark Gjonaj, who was elected last year and has taken over $16,000 in funds from carting companies since 2012, including nearly $10,000 from the Squitieris, defended Sanitation Salvage's record on NY1 last month.

While the Sanitation Department is expected to reveal a plan to consolidate the private carting industry into different zones, Councilmembers Gjonaj, Robert Cornegy Jr., and Barry Grodenchik, are pushing a bill that would essentially maintain the system as-is.

A spokesman for Gjonaj has not yet responded to our request for comment.

"Companies like Sanitation Salvage should not be doing business in this city, and BIC made the right decision to revoke their license," Sean Campbell, President of Teamsters Local 813, said in a statement.

"For years, private carters thought no one would hold them accountable and they would get away with dangerous practices. The next step is a commercial waste zone policy that will demand the highest standards of this industry, in which there are more companies like Sanitation Salvage," Campbell said.

Update: A spokesperson for Sanitation Salvage sent Gothamist this statement.


Koningin Maxima is sinds donderdag in Rome, waar ze in haar rol voor de Verenigde Naties tot en met zondag actief is rond de G20-top waarvan Italie tot 1 december voorzitter is. Indonesie neemt daarna het stokje over. Het thema van het Italiaans voorzitterschap is People, Planet and Prosperity.





De koningin heeft een aantal officiele programmapunten en daarnaast een lange reeks bilaterale gesprekken en ontmoetingen, van de baas van het IMF, Katerina Georgieva en de Indiase minister van Financien, Nirmala Sitharaman en de gedoodverfde nieuwe bondskanselier van Duitsland, Olaf Scholtz. Die is nu nog demissionair minister van Financien en vicekanselier in de regering van Angela Merkel.

Koningin Maxima is zaterdag samen in het La Nuvola Conferentiecentrum met de Italiaanse premier Mario Draghi gastvrouw van het G20 side-event Supporting SMEs and women-owned businesses to build back better. Zij houdt in aanwezigheid van regeringsleiders - dat kunnen ook Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau en Emmanuel Macron zijn - een korte toespraak over wat nodig is voor herstel en groei van het midden- en kleinbedrijf en hoe het mkb financieel weerbaarder gemaakt kan worden.

Wereldwijd is het mkb belangrijk voor de werkgelegenheid en vervult het een grote rol in het economisch herstel van landen tijdens en na de coronacrisis. Onderzoek van de Wereldbank Groep toont aan dat veel kleine bedrijven in negatieve zin door de crisis zijn geraakt, in het bijzonder die van vrouwelijke ondernemers in ontwikkelingslanden. In haar toespraak gaat Maxima onder meer in op het belang van innovatieve financieringsvormen voor bedrijven die bij een bank geen lening kunnen krijgen.

Minister-president Mark Rutte is ook bij de G20 hoewel Nederland daar geen deel van uitmaakt. Het gastland echter mag 'extra' deelnemers uitnodigen. De Britse prins Charles is dit weekeinde ook in Rome, waar hij onder meer naar de door de Italiaanse president Sergio Mattarella in het Quirinale aangeboden receptie en diner gaat en verder woont hij verschillende bijeenkomsten bij.

Koningin Maxima was eerder bij G20-bijeenkomsten, onder meer in Argentinie en Japan.

 RB; Beeld:  UNSGSA, IMF
I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission.

A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it.

Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy.
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Linkedin A. Ibrahim Almuttaqi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018

After months of speculation, a roller coaster week and even eleventh-hour surprises that left the nation on tenterhooks, we now know who will compete in the presidential election next year.



The incumbent, President Joko Jokowi Widodo, and his running mate, Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Maruf Amin, will go against his former opponent in the last election, Prabowo Subianto, who this time has selected outgoing Jakarta deputy governor Sandiaga Uno to be on his ticket.



During their candidacy announcements, it became clear that the economy would be a key battleground in the upcoming election. Though Jokowi has failed to deliver on the 7 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth he had promised, the economy did beat expectations in the second quarter of 2018 to grow by 5.27 percent. At the same time, the country stands to benefit from the governments aggressive infrastructure spending with Bank Indonesia forecasting GDP growth to be between 5.1 and 5.5 percent for the year.



Meanwhile, Prabowo has highlighted Indonesias falling rupiah, which is one of the regions worst performers this year, the current account deficit, which has widened to its highest point in nearly four years, and the struggles of a number of state-owned enterprises as indications that not all is well.



Analysts, however, have been quick to point out that the fundamentals of Indonesias economy remain sound, and that it is more a case of global factors putting pressure on the economy. Nonetheless, this point underlines the importance of Indonesias global environment and raises questions about how the presidential race will impact Jakartas foreign policy in the future.



Indonesia is still looked upon as the regional leader in Southeast Asia, being a founding member of ASEAN, and representing almost 40 percent of the regions total population, GDP and land mass. What Jakarta says and does undoubtedly impact on what ASEAN and the wider region says and does. In this sense, how should foreign capitals interpret the latest development in Indonesias presidential race?



Jokowis pick seems to confirm his foreign-policy disinterest. While Maruf is a respected religious scholar, he has almost no international experience and is probably unknown in Washington DC, Beijing, Moscow and Canberra amongst others. During Jokowis first term, the President often delegated current Vice President Jusuf Kalla to represent Indonesia at international summits such as the United Nations General Assembly or important ASEAN retreats.



It would be difficult to see Maruf taking up this role and his conservative views on minority groups and other issues are at odds with the modern and pluralistic image that Indonesia wishes to project abroad. Having said that, his religious credentials, may give Indonesia greater weight with the Muslim world and international groupings such as the Organization for Islamic Cooperation.



Meanwhile, Prabowos pick has the greater international experience having held senior positions with companies in Singapore and Canada and holding a postgraduate degree from George Washington University in the United States. However, constitutionally the vice president has very little powers other than to assist the president in exercising his or her duties. It is up to each individual president to decide how much he or she wishes to delegate powers to their vice president.



Being almost 20 years Prabowos junior, it is unlikely that the Prabowo-Sandiago partnership will be one of equals. Foreign policy under a Prabowo-Sandiago government will thus be dominated by the former soldier, and it is no secret that several foreign governments are uneasy at the prospect of working with an individual tainted by alleged human rights abuses, including the abduction of student activists back in 1998.



At the end of the day, of course, Indonesias presidential race will be determined by the Indonesian people alone. However, in casting their choice next year, the 185 million registered voters should be mindful of the preamble to the 1945 Constitution, namely the objective of participating toward the establishment of a world order based on freedom, perpetual peace and social justice.



In order to do so, Indonesia needs a government that is both interested and capable of playing its part on the international stage, working together and engaging with other nations to contribute solutions to the complex challenges this world faces. The question for Indonesians then becomes, between Jokowi-Maruf and Prabowo-Sandiago, who is the better choice?

***

The writer is the head of ASEAN Studies Program, The Habibie Center, Jakarta. The views expressed are his own.

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Popular chocolate wafer brand KitKat has launched its first pop-up store in Indonesia, the Chocolatory, in Kota Kasablanka mall, South Jakarta, offering delicious chocolate-covered treats until Sunday.

The Chocolatory has also stopped by Malaysia, Australia and Japan, where it was a hit for its range of chocolate-covered treats with a local twist.

Adventurous chocoholics will get a chance to Have a Break with special-edition KitKats in the flavor of durian, date fruits and mie goreng (instant noodles), to just name a few. The mie goreng flavor is said to include such garnishes as noodles, fried shallots and fried eggs.

Other unpredictable local KitKat flavors include martabak (stuffed pancake), klappertaart (coconut tart), kerak telor (Betawi-style omelet topped with toasted coconut and dried shrimp), es teler and es doger (Indonesian desserts made of shaved ice and various sweet toppings).

Meanwhile, creative chocolate fans can choose to create their own flavor instead with the Create Your Break feature, which allows you to choose your own drizzles, toppings and even packaging.

Read also: Chocolate company Lindt launches chocolate hazelnut spread

KitKat Chocolatory in Kota Kasablanka mall, Jakarta (JP/Handout)

Theres the option of having milk chocolate or green tea chocolate, six different drizzles (such as coffee, strawberry and bubblegum) and 15 different toppings  including chili and rose petals.

PT Nestle Indonesia Prima chocolate brand manager Nestiti Paramita said in a press release that the company was inspired by the creativity of Indonesians to enjoy their food. (mut)
Pet shops in England should be banned from selling puppies and kittens, the government proposed Wednesday, in a bid to put the squeeze on unscrupulous puppy farms.

Puppies or kittens less than six months old will have to be bought directly from the breeder or adopted from a rescue centre, under the proposed new law.

The government is concerned that third-party sales lead to poorer welfare conditions.

"We are proposing to ban commercial third-party sales of puppies and kittens in England," the environment ministry said, as it launched a one-month public consultation on their plans.

"This will prevent pet shops, pet dealers, and other outlets from selling these animals in England unless they themselves had bred them."

The government believes that third-party sales mean animals are too often separated early from their mothers, undertake multiple journeys and are introduced to several new and unfamiliar environments, harming their welfare.

Estimates for the numbers of puppies sold via third parties in Britain range between 40,000 and 80,000.

Read also: What to know about adopting pets in Indonesia

The Kennel Club, which registers newborn puppies, said it was "a vital step forward to tackling the cruel puppy farming industry".

"It will stop the suffering of many dogs and send a very strong message to puppy buyers that it is never OK to see a puppy in any environment other than the one it was born and raised in, and with its mum," said the club's secretary Caroline Kisko.

A petition calling for such a ban was signed by nearly 150,000 people and was debated in parliament in May.

Television vet Marc Abraham, who kickstarted the campaign, said the plan would make all breeders and puppy farms "completely transparent and accountable" which "completely raises the stakes for animal welfare".

"There's nowhere to hide: a pet shop can't blame the breeder and the breeder can't blame the pet shop," he told BBC radio.
Japan is making a push to develop flying cars, enlisting companies including Uber Technologies Inc. and Airbus SE in a government-led group to bring airborne vehicles to the country in the next decade, according to people familiar with the matter.

The group will initially comprise about 20 companies, including Boeing Co., NEC Corp., a Toyota Motor Corp.-backed startup called Cartivator, ANA Holdings Inc., Japan Airlines Co., and Yamato Holdings Co. Delegates will gather Aug. 29 for the first of their monthly meetings, the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Transport Ministry plan to draft a road map this year, they said.

An Uber spokeswoman confirmed the companys participation in the group, but declined to comment further. Representatives for Airbus, Boeing, ANA, JAL, NEC, Yamato and Cartivator declined to comment, as did those for the trade and transport ministries.

Read also: Uber shows off its vision for future 'flying taxi'

Uber plans Paris flying-car lab as CEO sees future in 3D

Flying cars that can zoom over congested roads are closer to reality than many people think. Startups around the world are pursuing small aircraft, which were until recently only in the realm of science fiction. With Japanese companies already trailing their global peers in electric vehicles and self-driving cars, the government is showing urgency on the aircraft technology, stepping in to facilitate legislation and infrastructure to help gain leadership.

Many have already had a head start in the race. Uber, which will invest 20 million euros ($23 million) over the next five years to develop flying car services in a new facility in Paris, has set a goal of starting commercial operations of its air-tax business by 2023. Kitty Hawk, the Mountain View, California-based startup founded and backed by Googles Larry Page, in June offered a glimpse of an aircraft prototype: a single-person recreational vehicle.

Read also: Flying cars eye takeoff at Geneva Motor Show

Boeing is getting ready to sell flying taxis in the next decade

Other global companies envisioning this new form of transportation include Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. Japanese carmakers have not yet announced their plans to develop flying cars.

Japans Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters this month that flying cars could ease urban traffic snarls, help transportation in remote islands or mountainous areas at times of disasters, and can be used in the tourism industry.

The technology, just like aviation, would need to win approvals from several regulators that can take many years. That would also happen only when safety standards are set by agencies, without which commuters wont embrace the flying craft.

Japan wants to take a lead in writing the rules for this nascent industry, as policy makers think the current aviation regulations are mostly set by Europe and the U.S., one of the people said.
Even an occasional glass of wine or beer increases the risk of health problems and dying, according to a major study on drinking in 195 nations that attributes 2.8 million premature deaths worldwide each year to booze.

"There is no safe level of alcohol," said Max Griswold, a researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, Washington and lead author for a consortium of more than 500 experts.

Despite recent research showing that light-to-moderate drinking reduces heart disease, the new study found that alcohol use is more likely than not to do harm.

"The protective effect of alcohol was offset by the risks," Griswold told AFP in summarising the results, published in medical journal The Lancet on Friday.

"Overall, the health risks associated with alcohol rose in line with the amount consumed each day."

Compared to abstinence, imbibing one "standard drink" -- 10 grams of alcohol, equivalent to a small beer, glass of wine or shot of spirits -- per day, for example, ups the odds of developing at least one of two dozen health problems by about half-a-percent, the researchers reported.

Looked at one way, that seems like a small increment: 914 out of 100,000 teetotallers will encounter those problems, compared to 918 people who imbibe seven times per week.

"But at the global level, that additional risk of 0.5 percent among (once-a-day) drinkers corresponds to about 100,000 additional deaths each year," said senior author Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor at the University of Washington and a director at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Read also: Alcohol guidelines in many countries may not be safe: Study

- 'Less is better, none is best' -

"Those are excess deaths, in other words, that could be avoided," she told AFP.

The risk climbs in a steep "J-curve", the study found.

An average of two drinks per day, for example, translated into a 7.0 percent hike in disease and injury compared to those who opt for abstinence.

With five "units" of alcohol per day, the likelihood of serious consequences jumps by 37 percent.

The "less is better, none is best" finding jibes with the World Health Organization's long-standing position, but is at odds with many national guidelines, especially in the developed world.

Britain's health authority, for example, suggests not exceeding 14 drinks per week "to keep health risks from alcohol to a low level".

"There is always a lag between the publication of new evidence and the modification and adoption of revised guidelines," said Gakidou, who admitted to being an "occasional drinker" herself.

"The evidence shows what the evidence shows, and I -- like 2.4 billion other people on the planet that also consume alcohol -- need to take it seriously."

Overall, drinking was the seventh leading risk factor for premature death and disease in 2016, accounting for just over two percent of deaths in women and nearly seven percent in men.

The top six killers are high blood pressure, smoking, low-birth weight and premature delivery, high blood sugar (diabetes), obesity and pollution.

But in the 15-49 age bracket, alcohol emerged as the most lethal factor, responsible for more than 12 percent of deaths among men, the study found.

Read also: Excessive alcohol consumption may cause cancer, study says

- The 95 percent club -

The main causes of alcohol-related deaths in this age group were tuberculosis, road injuries and "self-harm", mainly suicide.

King's College London professor Robyn Burton, who did not take part in the study, described it as "the most comprehensive estimate of the global burden of alcohol use to date".

The examination of impacts drew from more than 600 earlier studies, while a country-by-country tally of prevalence -- the percentage of men and women who drink, and how much they consume -- drew from another 700.

Both were grounded in new methods that compensated for the shortcomings of earlier efforts.

Among men, drinking alcohol in 2016 was most widespread in Denmark (97 percent), along with Norway, Argentina, Germany, and Poland (94 percent).

In Asia, South Korean men took the lead, with 91 percent hitting the bottle at least once in a while.

Among women, Danes also ranked first (95 percent), followed by Norway (91 percent), Germany and Argentina (90 percent), and New Zealand (89 percent).

The biggest drinkers, however, were found elsewhere.

Men in Romania who partake knocked back a top-scoring eight drinks a day on average, with Portugal, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Ukraine just behind at seven "units" per day.

Ukranian women who drink were in a league of their own, putting away more than four glasses or shots every 24 hours, followed by Andorra, Luxembourg, Belarus, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Britain, all averaging about three per day.

The most abstemious nations were those with Muslim-majority populations.
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018 16:40 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54bf8c1 1 Politics social-affairs-ministry,agus-gumiwang-kartasasmita,Jokowi,cabinet Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has appointed Golkar Party politician Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita as the new social affairs minister, replacing fellow Golkar politician Idrus Marham, who resigned after being named a graft suspect.

Agus, the son of senior politician Ginandjar Kartasasmita, was inaugurated at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday afternoon, just hours after Idrus' resignation.

The Social Affairs Ministry has an urgent task of handling the [post-disaster management] in West Nusa Tenggara. So we decided to immediately name [Idrus] successor, the President said after the inauguration.

Agus has served as a Golkar lawmaker since 2004 and is currently sitting as the secretary of the Golkar faction at the House of Representatives.

He is also listed as a member of Jokowis campaign team.

Idrus submitted his resignation letter to Jokowi on Friday afternoon, citing his ethical and moral obligation to step down.

The Golkar politician, who was named a suspect in a case of alleged embezzlement surrounding the development of a coal-powered power plant in Riau, said he had been notified by the Corruption Eradication Commission about his suspect status in the case. (sau/ahw)
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Linkedin Gisela Swaragita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24 2018

As the sun was slowly drifting to the West on the afternoon of Idul Adha, a crowd of women and their children gathered under a tree in the middle of Grogol Kemanggisan Cemetery, a public graveyard in the heart of densely populated Kemanggisan Pulo, West Jakarta.

They were not there to visit the grave of a departed relative; instead, they were having a barbecue with their ration of beef and mutton they got from the morning sacrifice ceremony at a nearby mosque. While the women were sticking the marinated meat onto skewers and preparing the fire, a flock of children were playing with balls and running around happily between the rows of headstones.

This graveyard has become a backyard for the locals, Encin, 59, the graveyards gardener, said while sitting under the shade of a small food and beverage stall in the far corner of the graveyard. He was settled restfully on a narrow bamboo bench, with his cup of hot tea sitting on a gravestone by his feet.
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018 13:55 1165 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54b4532 1 Politics KPK,Idrus-Marham,graft,suspect,Minister,cabinet Free

Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham resigned on Friday after becoming the first member of President Joko Jokowi Widodos Cabinet to be named a suspect in a graft investigation.

Idrus, who is also a top Golkar Party politician, has been implicated in an embezzlement case related to the development of a coal-powered power plant (PLTU) in Riau.

Idrus delivered his resignation letter to the President on Friday, citing his ethical and moral obligation to step down.

He acknowledged that he had received on Thursday an investigation notice issued by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).



"First [my resignation] is to protect the dignity of the President, who is known for being a leader with a high commitment to eradicating corruption in Indonesia," Idrus told the press at the Presidential Palace complex.



"As a law-abiding citizen, I fully respect the legal process at the KPK and I want to concentrate on complying with legal procedures at the KPK in accordance with the law," he added.



Idrus went on to say that he had told the President during the meeting to immediately find a better figure to replace him to continue programs at the ministry, including in poverty alleviation.



The KPK previously named two suspects in the embezzlement case, Golkar lawmaker Eni Saragih and businessman Johannes Budisutrisno Kotjo, for alleged bribery totaling at least Rp 4.8 billion (US$333,629) in relation to contract signing for the Riau-1 PLTU construction. (ahw)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Montreal, Canada  Fri, August 24, 2018 13:31 1165 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54b40bf 2 World #SaudiArabia,#Canada,Canada,Prime-Minister,Saudi-Arabia,death-penalty Free

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed concern Thursday over reports that human rights activists in Saudi Arabia face the death penalty.

The two countries are locked in a diplomatic dispute triggered by Canadian criticism of the kingdom's human rights record, but Trudeau said Canada continues to "engage diplomatically" with Saudi Arabia.

Human rights groups say Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for five human rights activists, including, for the first time, a woman.

The five stand accused of inciting mass protests in mainly Shiite areas of the Sunni-ruled kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province. Human rights groups say that the execution threat is a calculated bid to stifle dissent.

"I think it's important to have positive relationships with countries around the world," Trudeau told a press conference in British Columbia.

"At the same time, we have expressed our concern with the sentence handed down by Saudi Arabia, our concern for defending human rights and our shared values all around the world," he added.

"Canada will continue to stand up strongly for human rights," said Trudeau.

The Saudi government has not confirmed that the activists face the death penalty.

Two weeks ago Canada sparked fury in Riyadh by calling for the immediate release of detained activists, including award-winning women's rights campaigner Samar Badawi.

Saudi Arabia froze all new trade and investments, moved to pull out thousands of Saudi students from Canadian universities and pledged to stop all medical treatment programmes in Canada. State airline Saudia also suspended flights to Toronto.

In the end the Saudis gave its students an extension until September 22, according to several universities.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Hong Kong, China  Fri, August 24, 2018 13:11 1165 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54b3236 2 World #China,#HongKong,tycoon,missing,casino Free

Shares in an Asian casino operator plunged almost 20 percent in Hong Kong on Friday as it said its tycoon head had gone missing, the latest setback for the firm after a project in Manila had been stopped.

Landing International Development said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange Thursday that chairman Yang Zhihui could not be found, hours after its share price had crashed 35 percent before being suspended in the morning.

When trading restarted early Friday it dived another 18 percent to HK$3.08 by the break.

Landing said in the statement it had "noted the fluctuation in the price and trading volume of shares of the company on 23 August 2018 and confirmed that the company has been unable to contact or reach Mr. Yang Zhihui ... since 23 August 2018".

"To the best knowledge of the board, the business operations and financial positions of the group are normal," Landing said in its statement to the exchange, adding that the "temporary absence" of Yang would not affect its operations.

Yang is the company's largest shareholder with a 50.5 percent stake. Landing said it was making attempts to contact him.

Earlier this month Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pulled the rug out from Landing's new $1.5 billion casino project in Manila, saying the terms of the lease agreement were flawed.

Duterte ordered a review of the lease just as the project was supposed to break ground.

Landing opened integrated casino resort Jeju Shinhwa World in Korea in March this year.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018 16:49 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54c0598 1 City assault,driver,Jagorawi,imprisonment Free

Police are looking to charge a driver, identified only as MA, who allegedly assaulted a 14-year-old, identified only as RA, on Wednesday, with the suspect facing up to five years in prison.

Jakarta Police general crimes director Nico Afinta said the suspect would be charged under Article 351 of the Criminal Code for assault and with Article 76c of the Child Protection Law, which forbids acts of violence against minors.

Nico added the police had arrested and investigated MA, interviewed witnesses, and collected surveillance footage.

Based on the suspects testimony and official report, MA is now a suspect, said Nico on Friday as reported by kompas.com.

MA reportedly choked and beat middle schooler RA, causing serious nose bleeding, because RAs car had abruptly braked in front of MA during heavy traffic on the Jagorawi toll road. RAs car, which was being driven by the victim's elder brother, had itself abruptly braked in response to the car in front of it.

MAs car, a black Chevrolet Captiva, attracted particular media attention because it had a military sticker on the license plate, fueling speculation that MA was affiliated with the military. Authorities have since repudiated the claim, saying the sticker was an accessory.

Nico condemned MAs violence saying anger was no excuse to involve minors in adult affairs, especially if it escalated into violence.

We duly implore all road users to respect each other, said Nico. (nor)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018 18:14 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54c35a6 1 City odd-even-license-traffic-policy,violation,East-Jakarta,Prosecutors-Office Free

The East Jakarta Prosecutor's Office in Jatinegara struggled to handle the sudden spike in traffic violators on Thursday, most of whom had violated the newly expanded odd-even license plate traffic policy.

Hundreds of individuals needing to redeem their vehicle documents after completing the traffic ticket procedure formed a line that spilled out onto the streets, intertwining with parked motorcycles and cars.

The odd-even policy, which restricts private cars from entering certain major thoroughfares based on plate numbers, was expanded on Aug. 1 to ease congestion ahead of and during the Asian Games. Many residents were caught off guard, with police ticketing over 5,000 motorists in the first six days.

Hendra Ramadan said he had been queuing since 8.30 a.m. but only received the necessary documents at 11 a.m. He added that the office was understaffed, as only seven officials were on duty, placing stress on officials and visitors.

There should be more officials, he said as reported by tribunnews.com.

Joko, another visitor, said he had to pay Rp 80,000 (US$5) for violating the expanded traffic policy, far less than the Rp 250,000 fine he was issued.

We had to queue for two hours, just to pay Rp 80,000, he complained.

Lidia, another traffic violator, concurred, adding that she took a day off work to handle the affair.

I hope they increase the number of staff on duty and the number of counters, she said. (nor)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018 11:00 1165 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54ac328 4 Business plastic-bag,excise-tax Free

The government is drafting a regulation to tax plastic bags next year in its effort to reduce plastic waste.

So the excise is for plastic bags, not for plastic bottles, Finance Ministry customs and excise director general Heru Pambudi said on Thursday at his office in Tangerang, Banten, as quoted by kompas.com.

He said the regulation, the draft for which was being finalized, incentivized companies to produce environmentally friendly plastic bags.

With the regulation, we will control the production of plastic bags and guide producers toward producing environmentally friendly plastic bags, Heru said, adding that the customs directorate general had already discussed the matter with the House of the Representatives.

Heru said the regulation offered a tax incentive for companies that produced environmentally friendly plastic bags, while non-compliant plastic bag producers would pay a higher tax.

We are even considering waiving the excise for producers of environmentally friendly plastic bags, Heru said.

The House consultation agreed to set up a committee composed of relevant ministerial representatives to discuss the technical aspects of implementing the new legislation, which would be issued as a government regulation.

A study by the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice (KIARA) reveals that at least 1.29 million tons of plastic waste is dumped each year into Indonesia's rivers, with 13,000 tons of plastic waste per square kilometer polluting the ocean. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24 2018

The Jakarta Police arrested businessman Richard Muljadi on Wednesday evening, when one of its officers reportedly caught him sniffing cocaine in the toilet of a South Jakarta shopping mall where he was dining.

Jakarta Police drug investigation director Sr. Comr. Suwondo Nainggolan said on Thursday that police officer Sr. Comr. Herry Heryawan happened to be at the same establishment when he witnessed Richard sniffing cocaine off his iPhone X using a rolled up Australian dollar bill, and apprehended him immediately. His urine test came back positive for only one type of drug [cocaine], said Suwondo as reported by kompas.com.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono added that Richard said he had received the drug as a wedding gift from a friend via an anonymous courier.
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Linkedin Zul Edoardo (The Jakarta Post) Sanur, Bali  Fri, August 24, 2018 18:42 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54c4aec 1 Business Lombok,tourism,Tourism-Minister-Arif-Yahya,earthquake Free

Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, is projected to lose some 100,000 tourists this year because of a series of earthquakes that hit the resort island earlier this month, according to Tourism Minister Arif Yahya.

He added that Bali had lost about 1 million tourists within six months following the eruption of Mount Agung, which prompted several countries to issue travel warnings issued and forced Ngurah Rai International Airport to close several times in response to the spread of volcanic debris.

Bali receives some 6 million tourists annually, while Lombok attracts about 1 million, he said.

I project that the loss of tourists in Lombok will follow the same pattern as in Bali, with a ratio of one to six. Lombok will start recovering in early September, while the recovery process will take six months, said Arif in Sanur, Bali, on Thursday after opening the 2018 Sanur Village Festival.

He assured that preparations for the IMF-World Bank Meeting in Bali, which is scheduled for October, was running smoothly.

He added that tourist arrivals in Lombok was at 4,500 tourists per day, or 90 percent of the normal 5,000 arrivals per day.

Local organizers of the IMF-World Bank Meeting have prepared 60 tourism packages, 33 of which are for Bali and four or five packages for Lombok.

But for tourist packages to Lombok, we have to offer them again to participants of the IMF-World Bank Meeting, he said, adding that the government would encourage the immediate renovation of damaged facilities, particularly for one-story buildings. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 24, 2018 12:13 1165 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54af511 1 City assault,Jagorawi,teenagers Free

A suspect has been named in an assault case involving a teenager on the Jagorawi toll road in East Jakarta.

The man, identified as MA, reportedly admitted to hitting 14-year-old RA, one of the passengers of a car that suddenly stopped in front of his own on Wednesday.

[MA has been named] a suspect, Jakarta Police general crimes director Nico Afinta said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.

Police denied MA was driving a military car during the incident. We have identified [the car]. That is not a military registered plate. It is a general public plate number, Jakarta road patrol unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Slamet Widodo said.

Reza Achmad, RAs brother, posted a video on social media showing his brothers bloody nose as well as the alleged perpetrators face and license plate of the latters car, which shows a military sticker.

The incident occurred when Reza, with his mother and brother, were driving along the Jagorawi toll road from Bogor in West Java to Jakarta when the car in front of him made a sudden stop. Reza and the driver of a Chevrolet Captiva behind him hit their brakes to avoid a collision.

The Chevrolets driver, MA, blocked Rezas car and ordered the latter to get out of the car. MA choked Reza, while scolding him for slamming his brakes. He also proceeded to beat Rezas brother, RA. (stu/gis)
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Washington, United States  Fri, August 24, 2018 23:25 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54cd176 2 World #DonaldTrump,DonaldTrump,Russia-meddling,investigation Free

Federal prosecutors have granted immunity to Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg in a probe involving US President DonaldTrump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Weisselberg was called to testify before a federal grand jury earlier this year, the Journal said.

A cooperation deal between Weisselberg and prosecutors could be damaging to Trump given the executive's longtime role in Trump's business affairs. Weisselberg has worked for the Trumpfamily for more than four decades, including as treasurer for the Donald J. Trump Foundation.

Cohen, who arranged hush-money payments before the November 2016 US presidential election to at least two women who had said they had sex with Trump, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to campaign finance violations and other charges. He said Trump directed him to arrange the payments.

Such payments could be considered illegal campaign contributions under federal election law.

Two executives at American Media Inc, which publishes the National Enquirer, a supermarket tabloid reportedly involved in making the payments, have also been granted immunity in the investigation, according to news media reports. One of the executives is American Media Chief Executive David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend.

A spokeswoman for the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which has been leading the Cohen investigation, declined to comment. The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alan Futerfas, an outside lawyer for the organization, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Weisselberg was mentioned by Cohen on a secret recording the lawyer made in September 2016 and aired on CNN last month. On the recording, Cohen and Trump appeared to discuss reimbursing American Media for a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who has said she had a yearlong affair with Trump. Trump has denied the affair.

Trump has also denied having sex with the second woman, adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

On the tape, Cohen is heard saying, "Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up."

McDougal sold her story to American Media for $150,000 in August 2016 but it was never published by the National Enquirer, a practice known as catch and kill aimed at suppressing potentially damaging stories.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Moscow, Russia  Fri, August 24, 2018 22:41 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54cc3e4 2 World #Russia,Putin,Georgia,separatists,leaders Free

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told leaders of the Georgian separatist republics South Ossetia and Abkhazia that Moscow would do all it could to guarantee their security, a decade on from a Russia-Georgia war.

South Ossetia's Anatoly Bibilov and Abkhazia's Raul Khajimba were at the Kremlin for talks, 10 years after Russia became one of the few countries to recognise independence claims made in the 1990s.

"We are striving to do all we can to guarantee the security of South Ossetia, to give it economic support," Putin said during a meeting with Bibilov.

"Despite all the difficulties, and there are many, the republic is developing," he said.

Later he told Khajimba: "We attach great importance to our work together aimed at guaranteeing the security of Abkhazia."

"This involves cooperation between the armed forces and border security," he said.

Georgia and its Soviet-era master Moscow have long been at loggerheads over Tbilisi's bid to join the European Union and NATO with the spiralling confrontation culminating in a full-out war on August 8, 2008.

After the short war -- that claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and civilians from both sides -- Moscow recognised South Ossetia and another separatist enclave, Abkhazia, as independent states where it then stationed permanent military bases.

The two regions constitute 20 percent of Georgia's territory.

Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia's continued "occupation" of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

During a visit to Georgia on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the Russian presence in the region "a great injustice".
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Fri, August 24, 2018 09:09 1165 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54a47fc 2 World #SaudiArabia,#Yemen,Saudi-Arabia,Yemen,rebels,attack Free

The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday it had foiled a booby-trapped boat attack by Yemen's Huthis in the Red Sea weeks after the rebels hit a Saudi oil tanker.

A statement cited by state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel did not identify the target of the attack but the rebel-run Saba news agency said the Huthis hit a Saudi military target inside the kingdom's territorial waters. It gave no further details.

The coalition statement said "the terrorist attack by a booby-trapped boat was launched from the shores of Hodeida," a city off the strategic Bab Al-Mandeb straits.

The coalition, which has been fighting the Iran-backed Huthi Shiite militias since March 2015, accused the Huthis and the Iranian revolutionary guards of continuing to threaten international navigation routes and world trade.

It also reaffirmed that the protection of the Bab Al-Mandeb waterway is an international responsibility.

Last month, the Huthi rebels hit a giant Saudi oil tanker in the strategic waterway off Yemen coast causing minor damage.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude oil supplier, on July 26 halted exports through Bab Al-Mandeb as a result of the attack before resuming the shipments 10 days later.

Bab al-Mandab is a crucial shipping lane between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

About 4.8 million barrels of oil and petroleum products pass through the strait every day, according to US government figures.
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Linkedin Beh Lih Yi (Reuters) Rantau, Malaysia  Fri, August 24, 2018 15:43 1164 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df54bb439 2 SE Asia #SoutheastAsia,Malaysia,LGBT,LGBT-persecution Free

In her dimly lit room in a Malaysian village, Suki rests on a bed as she recovers from a brutal attack that has highlighted what campaigners say is growing hostility towards gay and transgender people in the country.

A transgender woman, Suki was beaten up by a group of assailants last week with sticks and plastic pipes in Seremban, a town south of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

She suffered broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and head injuries that required seven stitches. Police have arrested eight men suspected of carrying out the attack.

"They hit me and stepped on me repeatedly, I couldn't move," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at her home in Rantau, a sleepy village in the central state of Negeri Sembilan.

"I tried to call out for help, but I couldn't speak," said Suki, a part-time make-up artist in her 30s who asked not to be identified in full to protect her privacy.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have long suffered discrimination in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Gay sex remains banned under a British colonial-era law, while dressing as the opposite sex is illegal. Activists say a law against public indecency has been used to target sexual minorities.

But several incidents in recent weeks have stoked concerns among rights groups that the climate for the country's LGBT community is deteriorating further.

A Malaysian transgender woman who suffered physical assault shows injuries on her back during an interview in Rantau, Malaysia on August 20, 2018. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/ Beh Lih Yi (Reuters/Beh Lih Yi)

'SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION'

The Islamic affairs minister has spoken out against gay people, and ordered the removal of portraits of two LGBT activists from an art exhibition this month, sparking public outrage.

Last week, two women in the conservative state of Terengganu were sentenced to be caned under Islamic sharia law after being caught attempting to have sex in a car. On Saturday, officers raided a gay bar in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Activist Dorian Wilde said anti-LGBT statements from officials cause stigma and discrimination towards the community, and transgender people in particular have to bear the brunt of the hatred due to their visibility.

"The more and more being said, the more misinformation, the more violent things will be," said Wilde, a transgender man who founded the support group, Transmen of Malaysia.

There has been a surge in homophobic and transphobic commenting on social media in recent days, which included describing LGBT people as from "hell" and calling for them to be killed, according to Wilde.

Three cases of trans women being killed were reported in 2017, according to the trans rights group, Justice for Sisters, while hundreds of others trans women were arrested in recent years under the law against cross-dressing.

The group's co-founder, Thilaga Sulathireh, said Malaysia had a tolerant attitude toward transgender people until the early 1980s, when a council of Muslim leaders issued a religious edict against gender re-assignment surgery for Muslims.

Since then, there has been a steady rise in discrimination.

"This kind of oppression is very systemic, from their identification cards, to jobs, housing and healthcare."

"At this point we are only asking for the violence and discrimination to stop, we are not asking for any special rights - just let people be who they are," Sulathireh said.

Rising conservatism has fuelled fears that Malaysia's moderate brand of Islam is coming under threat from hardliners.

Over 60 percent of its 32 million population are Malay Muslims, but the Southeast Asian country is also home to a large number of ethnic minorities who practise other religions.

"People are feeling anxious," said Numan Afifi, an openly gay Muslim man who runs the Pelangi Campaign group that fights against LGBT discrimination.

"We hear cases of trans women being harassed in the workplace, like employers forcing them to cut their hair."

REFORM AGENDA

The government, which swept into power in May elections after campaigning on a reform agenda, has been urged - by campaigners as well as members of the administration - to act against the spread of hatred toward LGBT people.

"This hate campaign against those with different sexual orientation has to stop," said Hannah Yeoh, the deputy minister for women, family and community development.

"You can disagree with them but using violence is a cowardly act. Hate crime is just wrong and must be condemned," she added.

Mia, a trans woman who lives in Seremban where Suki was attacked, said the local transgender community was fearful and in shock.

"We have been through so much trauma because of who we are but we have not seen such violence in years," said the 40-year-old, who declined to give her full name due to fears of repercussion.

"I don't feel safe. Today the victim is Suki, what about tomorrow or the day after? Will it be me?" Mia asked, as tears welled up in her eyes.
International insurance companies have warned the government that they will stop issuing travel insurance policies for tourists visiting Nepal from September 1 if it does not move to eliminate insurance fraud hatched by brokers in trekking and mountaineering agencies.

Recently revealed insurance scams involving bogus helicopter rescues and hospital treatment of tourists have rocked the tourism industry and embarrassed the government.

Since your [Nepal government] investigation commenced on May 30, until August 1, our company has stopped 61 fraudulent helicopter rescues from happening, thats one every two days, said Danny Kaine, head of Assistance for Travellers Assist, a UK-based medical assistance company representing international insurers in Nepal, in an email to the Tourism Ministry, a copy of which was obtained by the Post.

And thats just the result of our company. Imagine how many other companies are experiencing this same problem. The situation is out of control, and I believe that from the inside you dont quite see how the fraud is happening and to what scale, he said in the email dated August 9.

In 21 days, our clients, who provide travel insurance for over 70 percent of the English-speaking travelers who visit Nepal, will stop issuing travel insurance policies for Nepal. In addition, we are working with the governments of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada on the issues, he added.

In another email, Kaine said that three major insurance underwriters from the UK, Australia and the US held urgent meetings to discuss the possibility of cancelling all the travel insurance policies for British, Australian and American tourists who visit Nepal.

This is due to fraudulent helicopter rescues that are happening throughout Nepal and overtreatment that is happening in some hospitals that is costing insurance companies millions of dollars every year. For the past six months, our company has conducted several investigations into past travel insurance claims, and we have found that up to 30 percent of helicopter rescues that happen are completely unnecessary, he said.

The insurance companies have demanded that helicopter rescue costs be capped at $4,000 per flight. If there is less money, the helicopter companies are less likely to want to share their profits with trekking companies and hospitals that will drastically reduce the amount of fraud, Kaine.

Fake rescue is obviously a matter of concern for us, and we have recommended stern action against all the companies involved in it, said Tourism Secretary Krishna Prasad Devkota.

Read also: Nepal losing out to China as Everest operators cross mountain

We have sent the investigation report to the ministries and departments concerned like the Home Ministry, the Central Investigation Bureau, the Department of Revenue Investigation, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and others suggesting action as per the crime committed, he said, adding that the government would prepare a guideline within next week on how rescues can be done.

We will not leave any stone unturned to punish the agencies and people involved in fraud that has dented Nepals reputation.

On July 30, a government fact-finding committee submitted a 700-page probe report to Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari recommending that from the next tourist season (September-November) all rescue activities be entrusted to the Nepal Police to stop the insurance scam that has damaged the countrys reputation.

The committee report has urged the government to investigate the transactions of eight travel, trekking and rescue agencies named Kailash Charter Rescue, Alpine Rescue, Mountain Heli Charter Service, Eagle Heli Charter Service, Easy Heli Charter Service, Flight Connection Domestic, Mountain Rescue Service and Himalayan Social Journey Trekking.

Four hospitals Swacon International Hospital, Era Health Centre, CIWEC Hospital and Vayodha Hospitals and three helicopter companies Heli Everest, Manang Air and Air Dynasty Heli Services are being scrutinised by the government for quoting exorbitant rates and making claims against tourist insurance policies.

The committee suspects that they may be involved in tax evasion too. The fact-finding panel probed 10 helicopter companies, six hospitals and 36 travel, trekking and rescue agencies following complaints filed by tourism entrepreneurs.

Unscrupulous operators have been pocketing thousands of dollars from insurance companies by making multiple claims for a single chopper ride or pushing trekkers to agree to airlifts for minor illnesses.

Trekking companies get hefty kickbacks when hikers are evacuated from the mountains.

The committee said in its report that there have been widespread complaints of dishonest companies serving adulterated food to make tourists sick so that they can be evacuated by helicopter, and they can receive commissions from helicopter companies and hospitals and clinics.

According to the report, a local agent was found billing the insurance company 50,000 Euros ($57,972) for evacuating a group of trekkers. In another case, they found that a local agent issued two separate bills for one rescue. The insurance company was billed 86,248 euros. The insurance company was billed $24,000 for minor treatment in a hospital.
Most of the foreign athletes that are in Jakarta for the 2018 Asian Games prefer to go shopping rather than join tours into Indonesias history.

Mostly they want to shop for souvenirs, Anita Novianti from the Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency told tempo.co. She added that the Grand Indonesia mall in Central Jakarta was the favorite spot. We offered them other shopping places as well, such as Smesco and Senayan City, but they prefer Grand Indonesia, said Anita, who organizes shopping tours for the visitors.

Read also: Asian Games: Hijab in sports? No problem, says Malaysian sepak takraw player

Archer Umedzhon Khudoyarov from Tajikistan, for one, said he had gone to Grand Indonesia with fellow athletes on a double-decker bus provided by the Jakarta administration. This is my first time traveling to Indonesia, and Id like to see the city center, Khudoyarov said, adding that he was looking for unique souvenirs for his family.

One of the tour guides from the agency, Ganjar Nugraha, shared Anita's experience. He said the wide variety of souvenirs available at Grand Indonesia were appealing for the athletes, as were the mall's long operational hours. (wir/wng)
The 2018 Jakarta Great Online Sale (JGOS) is set to run from Aug. 24 to 30 with more than 100 e-commerce businesses and marketplaces participating, as reported by Antara news agency.

Held for the sixth time, the sale gives people the opportunity to purchase various goods from numerous online shops at discounts of up to 95 percent.

The Jakarta Great Online Sale is one of the events to support the Jakarta administrations programs on shopping tourism. Last year, we held the sale in June, in conjunction with the citys anniversary. This year, the sale is in August as it is a special month, with Independence Day and the ongoing Asian Games, said Irfan Badruzaman, head of JGOS 2018, during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

Read also: Designer Riri Rengganis on ethnic high fashion, reimagining Indonesia

Irfan said the number of participating sellers had increased since the first edition, as well as the variety of goods. He noted that newcomers included plazahidayah.com, which sold childrens educational toys and mushaff (manuscript) of digital Quran, as well as baby needs store Orami, which offers discounts of up to 90 percent and benefits for BRI card holders.

Fashion trader Berrybenka will release its newest collection for the 2018 JGOS and offers discounts up to 95 percent.

Head to the official website for more information. (wng)
Although teh manis (sweetened tea) and teh tawar (unsweetened tea) are among the popular drinks in Indonesia, finding a proper tea shop in Jakarta is not an easy task.

There are only a handful of tea shops offering good quality teas and special blends. Curious? Those looking for a place to enjoy a good cup of tea may have a look at the list below.

TWG Tea

TWG Tea is a Singapore-based luxury tea company. In Jakarta, the brand has two outlets located in Plaza Senayan and Pacific Place shopping malls in Central Jakarta.

TWG Tea marketing and communication executive Elisa Lie told The Jakarta Post that the brand owns around 800 varieties of tea, including special blends and single origins. However, in Jakarta tea lovers can enjoy up to 450 teas, including the brands signature 1837 Black Tea, Singapore Breakfast Tea and Grand Wedding, with a price starting from Rp 65,000 (U$S4.45) per teapot.

Among the tea collection, customers can also try Grand Golden Yin Zhen. Priced at Rp 9,840,000 per package, the blend comprises white tea and 24-carat gold dust, making it suitable for an avid tea drinker.

In addition to the wide variation of teas, TWG Tea also serves afternoon tea packages and tea-infused dishes.

The former is available for individual and sharing. Meanwhile, the latter features a mixture of Indonesian and western dishes, such as oxtail soup and Norwegian salmon. The oxtail soup is infused with cinnamon tea, while the Norwegian salmon is caramelized with lemon bush tea infused honey glaze.

Lewis & Carroll

Lewis & Carroll is a modern Indonesian tea house. Here, tea lovers can find around 80 varieties of tea.

The tea house is known for showcasing loose-leaf tea in tubes, allowing customers to sense and smell prior to choosing their drink.

Lewis & Carrolls tea master Bambang Laresolo said Lewis & Carroll divided the drinks into three categories, namely Signature, Heritage and Legacy.

Signature is priced at Rp 40,000 and features common flavors, such as fruit teas. Meanwhile, Heritage offers premium tea, such as white tea.

Furthermore, Legacy features rare teas, such as pu-erh (Chinese fermented tea). Because of its rarity, the tea is priced based on the market rate.

All these teas can be enjoyed with various dishes, such as bakmi ayam kampung (noodles topped with chicken meat), crazy chicken tempura or kwetiau with carbonara sauce.

Lewis & Carroll is located in various locations, including Jl. Bumi in South Jakarta, as well as Senayan City and Grand Indonesia shopping malls in Central Jakarta.

Read also: Jakpost guide to vegetarian restaurants

Leaf Connoisseur by Tea Et Al

Tucked inside Galeries Lafayette department store in Pacific Place shopping mall, Central Jakarta, Leaf Connoisseur by Tea Et Al offers a wide array of teas, varying from classic match genmaicha, sencha green, assam black, to signature teas such as Tangerine Oolong and DNA of Love.

Priced at Rp 40,000 per teapot, Tangerine Oolong is a mixture of oolong tea, cumquat, orange segment, lotus core, calendula and bergamot oil, resulting in a refreshing aroma.

Meanwhile, DNA of Love comprises white tea, pear, rose petal and blue cornflower.

Aside from the tea collection, guests can also enjoy both traditional and international dishes, such as nasi goreng kampung (fried rice), iga sambal ijo (beef ribs with green chilies) and slow-braised lamb shank.

Pantjoran Tea House

A post shared by Pantjoran Tea House (@pantjoran_tea) on Aug 20, 2018 at 9:40pm PDT

Located near to Glodok Market in West Jakarta, Pantjoran Tea House is among the buildings in Kota Tua that have been renovated by the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation (JOTRC) and the Jakarta Endowment for Art and Heritage (Jeforah).

The building used to be a pharmacy called Apotek Chung Hwa. Nowadays, visitors to Glodok can get a free tea served in classic teapots in front of the shop and read a brief history of the area. Once guests step inside, they will find popular teas, such as jasmine, oolong, sencha and genmaicha.

Pantjoran Tea House also offers Gong Fu Cha. Priced at Rp 75,000, tea lovers can experience the art of brewing Chinese tea.

In regard to food, Pantjoran Tea House serves dim sum and Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. (kes)
Ryanair Holdings is locking the cabin door on carry-on luggage for its lowest-paying customers and forcing them to check the bags for a fee to save time loading passengers on and off flights.

Starting Nov 1, Europe's biggest discount airline will only allow travelers who pay for priority boarding to bring the customary wheelie on-board along with one smaller item, the Dublin-based carrier said Thursday (Aug 23).

Non-priority customers can only bring a less-bulky item onto the flight, such as a handbag, backpack or laptop bag.

Carry-on bags - the wheeled suitcases created to fit in overhead bins - will be relegated to the hold and cost 8 (S$14) to stow, Ryanair said.

The airline said the move is aimed at speeding the boarding process and limiting flight delays.

Read also: Ryanair braces for biggest ever one-day strike

The company, known as the most efficient operator in the industry, relies on quick turnarounds to squeeze profit out of its tight schedule of cheap flights.

The company billed the decision as a way to lower checked-bag fees by introducing the 8 fee, or 6 when booked online, for luggage weighing less than 10kg.

Currently, the cost is 25 for a bag up to 20kg.

Sixty per cent of customers will be unaffected, because they either pay for priority boarding already or travel with only a small bag, according to Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair's chief marketing officer.

"We expect that the other 40 per cent will either choose to buy priority boarding or a 10kg check bag, or will choose to travel with only one (free) small bag," he said in a statement.
The following op/ed was written by William Thomas, an East Village resident and board member of Open New York, which calls itself a pro-housing development organization. This piece was written in response to an op/ed published here Aug. 15 by Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. The Lo-Down accepts op/ed submissions relevant to the Lower East Side community. Opinion pieces do not reflect the editorial position of The Lo-Down, but only the viewpoints of each individual author. To submit an editorial/letter to the editor, use the following email: info@thelodownny.com.

Two weeks ago, the City Council took a particularly tough vote to replace the shuttered P.C. Richard and Son store on East 14th Street with the Union Square Tech Training Center, a space for non-profits and start-up businesses to train working-class New Yorkers for jobs in the technology sector. It was a tough vote not because anyone on the Council is opposed to helping prepare New Yorkers for better paying jobs, but because lobbyists representing wealthy nearby residents attempted to hijack the proceedings, and almost succeeded.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservationwhich bills itself as a kind of spiritual successor to Jane Jacobs, despite having nearly two million in the bank and an obsession with enhancing property values in our citysaw the Tech Hub as an opportunity for a back-room deal. Knowing that the Tech Hub was a high priority of city government, GVSHP demanded that the local Council member, Carlina Rivera, and the Council only approve the hub if the mayor also agreed to downzone a wealthy portion of the neighborhood unrelated to the project.

Thankfully, the Council didnt succumb to this kind of pressure and let the vote proceed on the merits (the project was approved unanimously). This has triggered something of a hysterical reaction from Andrew Berman, executive director of GVSHP and its registered lobbyist (Editors note: individuals representing non-profits are required to register with the city if they lobby government officials/agencies). Berman published an op-ed here last Wednesday claiming to counter misinformation promulgated about the Council vote with some cold hard facts and calling Council Member Rivera a sell-out for not going along with his scheme. Its understandable he would be upsetits a lobbyists job to spin for their clients, after all. Nonetheless, as a board member of Open New York, a pro-housing, all-volunteer advocacy group, I took issue with the gross mischaracterization that Bermans efforts had anything to do with promoting affordable housing, and felt compelled to respond.

So, courtesy of Open New York, I would like to offer a few cold hard facts of my own:

Was it irresponsible to risk the Tech Hub for an unrelated downzoning?

Yes. Clearly, GVSHP doesnt care about risking 1,400 middle-class jobs and would rather leave a storefront empty for years if it helped further their narrow agenda. If Council member Rivera had voted against the Tech Hub, the mayor could have decided to build something else that would provide fewer benefitsafter all, the city can already lease or sell the site for any use so long as it complies with current zoning.

The Planning Commission, the local community board, and now the City Council all considered whether the benefits of the Tech Hub would be weakened by the negative consequences of a downzoningconsequences that you will never hear GVSHP admit toand decided the hub should move forward without them.

Negative consequences? I thought these zoning changes were common-sense.

If these changes were so common-senseif the case for them was so obvious it didnt need to be explainedGVSHP wouldnt have needed to hold the Tech Hub hostage in the first place. They went that route politically because they knew a downzoning would actively harm the surrounding neighborhoods.

The affluent people who would otherwise live in Greenwich Village condos wouldnt just disappear if the downzoning went through. Instead, they would spread out into Alphabet City and the Lower East Side, driving up rents and causing displacement, while keeping the Village a rarefied preserve for the fortunate few living there now. The only people who benefit from something like this are long-time homeowners who have profited off Greenwich Villages property boomand it is their interests, not neighborhood character, sustainable affordability, or even historic preservation, in which the GVSHP is truly invested.

But wont building the Tech Hub without zoning changes endanger Greenwich Village?

Of course not. The Tech Hub has nothing to do with other construction projects south of Union Square. The GVSHP was pushing this downzoning well before the Tech Hub, and will continue to do so well after its finished. It is telling, however, that Berman and the GVSHP seem to view the landmarking process as a tool to prevent development regardless of historical significance.

Werent locals asking for the zoning changes left out of the deal?

No. Few have met the final deal with the venom of the GVSHP. The local community board voted in February to approve the Hub without any zoning conditions attached, and many neighborhood residents showed up to support the project (I was one of them). This was a political mugging, and Im glad it failed.

But wont the Tech Hub be wildly out of scale with the neighborhood?

It will only be the third tallest building on the block. Chill.

But what about affordable housing?

This is where it gets ugly, and why Bermans disingenuousness is so frustrating. Berman claims his groups plan required the addition or reinforcement of incentives for including or preserving affordable housing as part of any new development, but then tacked on a bunch of new regulations that would ensure the affordable housing never got built. The proposal on GVSHPs website gives examples of recent developments that could have included optional affordable housing under their plan, then acknowledges right underneath that under their plan those buildings likely never would be built at all.

It was a smoke screen. And the worst part is New York City has a law on the books passed two years ago to provide mandatory affordable housing in new buildings. If Berman really cared about keeping the Village a mixed-income neighborhood, he would be proposing new zoning changes to take advantage of that law.

Wait  tell me more about mandatory affordable housing.

The Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) amendment was added to the citys zoning resolution in 2016. The idea is that a neighborhood could have its zoning changed to allow for more residential space on each lotmaking more efficient use of NYCs scarce and expensive buildable landand then developers would be required to use the money they save to include a mix of rent-restricted apartments for people at different income levels on top of the market-rate ones. But the key is the MIH law only applies when the permitted residential floor area goes up. The affordable housing has to actually go somewhere, after all, otherwise it only exists on paper. Bermans plan was to use an incoherent mix of commercial floor area reductions, height limits, and bonuses that would give developers the option of adding affordable housing but nowhere to put it, knowing this would kill future projects and give him political cover to blame developersall while his donors property values continue to skyrocket.

So should Council member Rivera be lambasted for selling her district short?

NoRivera clearly attempted to deliver a deal that satisfied all parties, but she and her colleagues were negotiating with a man arguing in bad faith. I suspect most East Villagers and Lower East Siders would agree that she made the best call for the neighborhood.

I love the East Village. Its a one-of-a-kind mix of culture and history and people of different backgrounds. Im glad its held on to so much of its energy and in-your-face personality, and Im extremely thankful that it was never bulldozed for an expressway. But the neighborhood is turning from a preservationists dream into a renters nightmare. The zoning and landmarking tools inspired by 60s-era fights are being abused by people who bought homes when they were cheap and now want to block anyone new from moving hereunless, of course, they pay up. The Village is an in-demand neighborhood, close to the best jobs, the best schools, the best transit, and the best cultural institutions. It is also being strangled by a thicket of historic districts and development restrictions that ensure nobody who isnt rich can ever move here again. Instead, newcomers and young families are being pushed into the Lower East Side, or Brooklyn, or the Bronx, continuing a cascading cycle of displacement and gentrification that leaves our City worse off for everyone except rich neighborhood property owners and their lobbyists.

We have to stop privileging the opinions of housing-secure millionaires and start asking how we can tear down the legal barriers to equitable and affordable growth. How we can build new housing for everyone alongside the historic buildings we care for? How we can make room for the types of people who make the Village so eclectic and vibrant rather than pushing them out?

If you agree, you should support projects like the Tech Hub and resist the temptation to say no to every new building that gets proposed. And maybe take a minute to call your council member and thank them for not selling out. You can reach Carlina Rivera at 212-677-1077.
When I was asked to write for Foreign Film Friday, I had to admit Id never watched a foreign film in my life. There are few excuses for this, given my 24/7 access to Netflix,

which gives me access to hundreds of international films at the click of the button. Its not as if I even have to get dressed, let alone track down an arthouse cinema.

But Ive always steered clear. Im not really a huge movie buff: if I go to the cinema a couple of times a year, thats a lot for me, and I rarely buy a DVD. The main reason is that I find watching anything for more than about an hour quite a challenge, and if theres one thing Ive learned whilst idly scrolling through films from Europe and beyond, its that they really like a lengthy flick on the continent. And given that I usually like to do something else whilst watching a film, like tidying, filing, or getting ready to go out, subtitled films really pose a problem to this strategy.

Still  nothing ventured nothing gained. I decided to bite the bullet, grab the bull by the horns, and seize the day. And to share this whole experience with you all.

First up was choosing a film. As I say, Netflix has hundreds of foreign films to choose from, from lots of different countries, so I was spoilt for choice. My first pick was Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013), as Id actually heard of that one, but at almost three hours long, I decided that probably wasnt a great introduction to the world of world cinema. European cinema certainly seems to fall into two categories based upon a scroll through the menu: sex and Nazis. Having dismissed one of the former, I eventually plumped for the latter, cueing up Downfall (2004) because, again, Id heard of it and Ive seen the many many parodies on YouTube.

Firstly, it wasnt as difficult to follow as I feared. Indeed, it felt very like a British or Hollywood film (albeit something Oscar-worthy rather than a summer blockbuster), only with everything spoken in German. My limited working knowledge of the language  two years worth over fifteen years ago  meant the subtitles were very necessary, although the rhythms of speech align quite nicely with English. Im not sure how Id find a film in a language I had no knowledge of, such as Spanish or Italian, and whether Id find it too complicated.

The linear storyline also helped. Ive always had a perception of foreign films as involving confusing cuts, jarring scenes and frankly being a bit bonkers. This was entirely straightforward, perhaps because to treat the last days of Hitler in anything other than a serious manner might be a leap too far for any director. The fact it is based on a real-life story, one which most of us know reasonably well, also made it relatively easy to follow.

As expected, my concentration was an issue, and I have to admit to taking several breaks whilst watching it, mainly to do things like check the cinema schedule for Mamma Mia 2 (...). With an English-language film, Id be able to do those things with the film running in the background, so maybe foreign films either need to be on a TV rather than a laptop, or I need locking in a room with only that to concentrate on. Either way, my concerns about this aspect of a foreign film were proven true.

The pace, too, troubled me, but that's not due to it being a foreign film - it's more a matter of taste. Long camera takes and poignant montages are found in lots of films, and I always find them a bit of a waste of time. I also skip descriptive passages in novels, its an ongoing problem. Here, I was anxious for the story to move on and not keep seeing various side characters blown up or shot for being traitors. Frankly, were all here for one thing when a film focuses on Hitlers last days, so lets get on with it if we can.

I slogged my way through to the end, but I would probably have done that with any film, especially one dealing with such harrowing subject matter. I wouldnt say this was an absolute no-go of a film  if nothing else, it gave me serious coat and hair envy because 1940s fashion was A-plus. I would give another foreign film a try, so it has proven to me that I am capable of reading subtitles and watching the action at the same time. Im just not sure Id actively seek one out, over and above any other film.

Got any recommendations for this Foreign Film Amateur? Let me know!
feel

are

Like the sundry EPs that precede it, album two from duo Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher finds a sweet spot in updating classic soul with electronic-pop synth beats. With visual adoration for Japan and nuances of West Coast California, the two university pals united by West Country childhoods exhibit woozy-chill-pop throughout the 12 tracks of Love Me / Love Me Not. Commencing the album with a brief piano introduction before flourishing into the familiar electronic HONNE sound, I Might  takes on a variety of styles. Between the rhythmic beats and distorted vocals, the track updates classic soul with new age to bring a downtown Tokyo the lyrics too referencing their success in Asia. Exemplifying a newfound distinction, the somewhat hopeless tone of the albums opening is soon contrasted with one of the records undoubted high points: a collaboration with fast-rising producer/songwriter Tom Misch on track two. Me & You  opens with Neil Armstrongs famous quote,, in an appropriate fictional tone that establishes the leap of faith that is falling in love  a motif for the rest of the album. Continuing the groove, Day 1  is fundamentally about loyalty  praising a companion that has been true since the beginning. The track boasts a piano finesse whilst exhibiting Clutterbucks vocals that remain so consistently smooth throughout the record. Though HONNEa new hi-tech soul, the conventions of original soul and blues shine through this track, with roots firmly in the same pool of self-thought and reflection. I Got You  shows a low-key R&B influence whilst describing the idea of escapism with your significant other. Using the soulful dynamics of London collaborator Nana Rogues, the titled slang phrase is turned into a catchy chorus with achingly human emotions  we dip into the rollercoaster ups and downs of relationships.Previously released tracks 306  and Location Unknown  showcase HONNEs duality. Half exploring lifes positives and the other half lifes difficulties, the duo previously explained:

HONNE

Offering a window into the world of Love Me / Love Me Not, 306 is a reflective acknowledgement of an old Peugeot and a notion of unfulfillment in the memories it contains. Location Unknown , meanwhile, is more melancholic with the gorgeous guest vocals of Georgia. Here, the male/female dual vocals elevate the song comparable to Someone That Loves You  the notable track featuring Izzy Bizu. With a danceable vibe, the track embodies a for the soul or for the sad juxtaposition, with the mixture of chill, feel-good music making the HONNE sound appropriate for late-night drives or meeting your high spirits. Whilst Crying Over You  almost feels cathartic as a liberating musical release, under the charming collaborated vocals with BEKA, there is an all too real example of the desire to achieve joy. In the same way Shrink  and I Just Wanna Go Back overtly address the anxious tone in the flipside of romance. Rather than the daisy-chain type love seen previously, lyrically goodbye to sanity, I got along with you / But now youre leaving me / What I am I gonna do? rings out fear in a troubled mind. Whilst Sometimes  reveals a more self-critical side,comes full circle in the slow-jam album closer Forget Me Not  - underlining the records late-night-lust thematics whilst heralding back to a simpler time that we all wish we had. Bringing the Love Me / Love Me Not motif to a close, the flower theme links unconditional, and often naive love, with a very real statement that flowers will wilt and eventually die. Ultimately, Love Me / Love Me Not sees HONNEs earliest ambitions come into focus. Taking their name from a Japanese word meaning true feelings and the name of their early record label Tatemae reflecting what you display in public; love and contentment are contrasted with anxiety in an album that builds on a familiar, yet more experimental sound. Whilst dropping two tracks on the last Friday of every month prior to the album has left us with a lack of discovery, theres no denying that Love Me / Love Me Not is an exciting release with alluring tracks. HONNEs sonic identity send the audience to a place  driving down an unnamed motorway in the middle of the night with rain hitting the car almost to the melody. The streetlights come and go in perfect rhythm, and, with turning on the stereo, this album is what you hear.
UWA student doctor Thomas Drake-Brockman had started a petition to have the event cancelled, saying that the ACPeds "shamelessly promotes their ultra-conservative agenda at the expense of the health and well-being of trans kids." By the time it closed, the petition had attracted 9,042 supporters.

Photograph by Greg O'Beirne - Wikimedia Commons

Van Meter had previously said that being trans was a state of mind with no biologic basis for it that can be found, while the ACPeds claims on its website that gender dysphoria resolves in the vast majority of patients by late adolescence. PinkNews describes ACPeds as an "anti-LGBT+ hate group"; among other things, the organisation promotes "gay cure therapy" and urges parents not to validate the sexuality of children who do not identify as straight. The UK is in the process of banning "gay cure therapy", which Equalities Minister Penny Mordaunt has described as an "abhorrent practice" , and the practice has been disavowed by a wide range of health organisations including the UK's NHS . However, despite legalising same-sex marriage in November 2017, Australia has yet to follow suit. This assessment is backed up by the Southern Poverty Law Centre, an American anti-hate group organisation which says ACPeds is "a fringe anti-LGBT hate group that masquerades as the premier U.S. association of paediatricians to push anti-LGBT junk science." Van Meter was on a tour of Australia sponsored by the Australian Family Association (AFA), another anti-LGBT+ hate group which has likened being transgender to having anorexia nervosa , an eating disorder. The university initially defended its decision, but later voided the venue hire booking on the grounds that the AFA had failed to submit a risk assessment or detailed event management plan that addressed safety issues during the event. Due to an issue of non-compliance, the venue hire booking has been voided. The event organisers have been advised they have forfeited their booking rights for failure to meet the conditions of hire, the institution said.
Home >Camera Enforcement > Revenue from Cameras > Feds Renew Push To Seize Pension Of Red Light Camera Convict
The opulent, refined town of Newport Beach with its 10 miles of waterfront along the Pacific Ocean, may be by the seaside but it is as far away from a budget bucket and spades brigade as can be. Youll find it in Orange County along the sparkling and highly manicured Californian Riviera just a short drive from John Wayne airport.



Youve probably guessed that the airport was named after the swaggering movie cowboy dubbed The Duke who lived and died here alongside other Hollywood greats.

Newport Beach still exudes some of that old-time Hollywood feeling, and one way to capture it is through the history of its past resident celebrity greats and their amazing waterside homes, is by Duffy boat.

Must take a Duffy tour

The waterfront at Balboa village has a carnival style Amusement Area with its own colourful ferris wheel that marks out where you can pick up a Duffy boat to tour the harbour. These blue-topped open-sided boats are a quaint type of quiet bay or lake cruiser powered entirely by electricity and I can report, are great fun to manoeuvre.

Our guide, Carolyn Clark, pointed out the celebrity homes as we smoothly glided over the sun speckled harbour water: Thats where Johne Wayne once lived, she said nodding her head to a surprislngly unpretentious house on the waters edge facing Balboa Island. Thats where Shirley Temple lived  the house at the closest point to the Coast Guard Beach where the peninsula bends, adding that the child star was named the first Miss Newport Beach at the age of 13. The original house was torn down and replaced by a beautiful home made of stone, glass, and wood.

It was a long list of stars and anecdotes that included Michelle Pfeiffer, Candace Bergen, Chuck Norris, Jay Leno and Nicholas Cage who famously fled Newport after a break in.

Must shop at Fashion Island

On dry land its all about the shopping. For those with deep pockets, Fashion Island is pretty stylish with its collection of 200 high end shops such as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Urban Decay and Macys  you get the picture. Its a pretty environment, fantastic designer shops with great views.

For a more quirky shopping experience I ventured through the streets along the towns coast even taking a ferry to Balboa Island to check out the scene comign back with jerky from the Balboa Nut Company and some T-shirt souvenirs from the slightly cramped and slightly chaotic Pier Shop. And some sunscreen.

Must walk along Balboa Pier

Sun screen in hand, I headed for the Balboa Pier Beach and its beautiful sand dunes. Its easy and cheap to park close to the beach and you can of course pitch up and sunbathe but, you can also see views without getting sandy  as I did. The pier stretches 920 feet along the blue waters of the Pacific ocean. Its dotted with locals fishing for who-know-what  mackerel I think.

Certainly I didnt see anything being caught during the couple of hours that it took me to saunter along its length. I nipped into Rubys restaurant at the end of the pier for a cuppa and headed back again stopping to rest on the benches simply to look at the view and the beach lovers splashing around or surfing.

Must check out Crystal Cove State Park

Crystal Cove is a hidden arc of beach just off the Pacific Coast Highway. It is famous for two things: The first is for having featured in Beaches Hollywood blockbuster starring Bette Midler. I cried while watching that film and standing close to the white-washed villa that featured in it, I could recall the emotional scene.

Secondly, the dozens of restored mid-century wooden cottages are hip as rentals and a walk along the beach gives snapshot of how Californians used to live. Restoration is ongoing but there are plenty available for rent. Its inexpensive too starting at $35 a night. But its also pretty booked up.

And then theres the Beachomber cafe.

Must eat

Crystal cove is also known for its Beachcomber cafe and its totally scrumptious beignets -these puffy treats are similar but lighter than donuts. Theres also a lovely menu of eggs as you like them served with rosemary roasted potatoes, fresh fruit or cottage cheese.

I was delighted to be offered a Mamosa which is champagne with a touch of orange juice and happily, the lattes are served in extra wide cups. This is such a lovely experience, I would have liked to return for dinner to watch the sunset while nibbling on their seafood.

If you dont mind blowing the budget, the Fig and Olive in the Fashion Island is a stylish option. Front doors open up to a the sprawling creamy-hued 12,000 sqft space with wood floors and high wood beamed ceilings. Its open-plan with several areas including an al fresco option on the patio, each with their own ambience but all dotted with olive trees. Theres an impressive wall entirely filled with olive oils  there must be a hundred or so from several European countries. It evokes a Mediterranean resort style atmosphere. I go there a tad early and took up residence on a red-cushioned stool by the marble-topped bar to sup a cocktail first.

The dining experience begins with a taste of three extra virgin olive oils served with rosemary olive oil fougasse bread.

We started with Beef Carpaccio and the Fig Gorgonzola Tartlet alongside an assortment of Crostinis, and mains included a salmon dish and New Zealand Rack of Lamb. Every dish is either cooked or finished off in olive oil. Deserts include a Chocolate Obsession, Cheese Cake and Caramelized Apple Tart. The wine list has 30 wines from Italy, France and Spain and all are offered by the glass.

It was a less extravagant experience at Lido Bottle Works. Its located in the lovely Lido Marina Village. This casually stylish restaurant offers unusually flavoured burgers in bacon jam and crispy jidory chicken glazed in coconut lime aioli. Its an interesting food menu and its accompanied by an impressive beer menu.

The Oak Grill restaurant in Fashion Island Hotel offers the American classics in a light and airy restaurant which stretches outside to a plush and lush terrace.

Must stay

In such a stylish town, pick this stylish Fashion Island Hotel. It looks great, service is more than attentive and there is an appealing tropical themed pool. Check out our review of Fashion Island Hotel.

Fact File

FLY: Several airlines serve LAX aiport. From here you could fly to John Wayne Airport the gateway to Newport Beach. And a 9-foot-tall statue of the Duke will greet you when you arrive.

DRIVE: Its a 40-minute drive from LAX to Newport. You can rent a car with Rentalcars. An SUV for two weeks from LAX starts from 182, when booked at least a month in advance.

MORE INFO: Visit Newport Beach
Although Kefalonia remains a magnet for lovers of Captain Corellis Mandolin, the Petani Bay Hotel is off the fabled beaten track and as such promises the very essence of tranquillity. Set on a hill amidst a riot of olive trees, the air is salty and the herby breeze softly balmy while the tinny clank of distant goat bells is about as noisy as it gets.

Think panoramic views of an azure Ionian Sea, soaring white cliff faces and, in the evenings, the burnished gold of a Hollywood sunset. One which draws day trippers from across this Ionian Greek island.

If you are under 16, you cant come. But would you want to? This kind of exercise in nothing to do would be hell for a teenager. And absolute heaven for the rest of us.

Who for

The initial response would be, well, adults only. But not all adults may relish the pin-drop quiet of this sleepy corner of the Ionian island group.

However in our case, the Petani Bay was just the ticket. Our children  aged 14, 20, 23, and 25  were all diverted by their own holiday plans, so we were free to do our own thing. But since our youngest is still at school (although spending her vacation at a young camp) we were still limited to the confines of the summer break calendar.

So, if you arent travelling with children, but are limited to high season, why would you want to share a pool with inflatable dolphins or listen to whining toddlers whilst trying to enjoy your freshly scrambled eggs?

Accommodation

The hotel comprises 14 suites with balconies set amongst a riot of herbs and wildflowers (at night the scent of lavender is like a cheap sleeping drug!). We stayed in a Suite Superior with a sea view which consisted of a spacious lounge area and separate bedroom and bathroom. A kitchenette area includes a small microwave which offers the opportunity to warm up snacks rather than cook meals in the room.

A huge fan in the lofty high wooden ceilings kept our accommodation beautifully cool. Meanwhile the muted neutrals of the minimalistic decor added to the feeling of space.Not that all rooms are like this. Another suite, known as the Suite Gea, has a pillar box red wall and freestanding Victorian style claw bath within the bedroom. Little wonder its said to be a firm favourite for honeymooners and romantics alike (after 27 years of marriage, that was a no from us).

Food & Drink

The hotel is bed and breakfast, and each morning we geared ourselves up to over indulge on the freshly made home cooked food. As well as the usual buffet fare of eggs and mushrooms, there were tiny triangular cheese pastries  a Greek speciality  gorgeous seed breads, delicious biscuits and cakes and, of course, an abundance of fruit. The cannon ball sized peaches were especially irresistible.

Food is available during the day from the poolside bar. But eating out isnt an issue in the evening, with local tavernas dishing up reasonably priced food. And the charismatic owner, Voula, is always on hand to make reservations. One evening our meal of crispy grilled sea bream served with Greek salad (me) and a garlicky tomato pasta dish plus bread (him) came in at less than 22 Euros.

Facilities

There is very little to do on site other than, well, relax. Certainly we spent hours at breakfast, nursing freshly made coffee and drinking in the spectacular view. The hotel has a striking infinity pool which seems to spill into the bay below, as does a decking area just below this. Frankly, if you dont fancy negotiating the endless hairpin bends to get down to Petani beach (technically walkable but easier to reach by car) and you need to reboot, sitting by the pool is just lovely. With no shops or bars in earshot, theres nothing to do but inhale the wild flowers and just relax.

WI-Fi available

Yes

How much

Starting prices around 180 Euros per night.





Booking.com





Whats nearby

After a day of doing nothing, we stirred from our bone-melting lethargy to see something of Kephalonia. As a larger island theres a lot to see. But we decided that to avoid getting stressed over driving around too much, we limit our journeys to around 50 minutes each way.

And so our day trips included Melissani Lake, a patch of water based in a cave and accessed by boat. When the sun spills in from breaks in the rock overhead the water seems to splinter into countless colours. Or  to continue the troglodyte theme  we also visited the 150 million year old Drogarati Cave with its fine stalactites & stalagmites.

An earthquake on the island in 1953 created a natural balcony overlooking a chamber with about 100 square meters of floor, making it possible to hold concerts for up to 500 people in the cave. Worth the view  despite the fact you have to clamber down and then back up 118 steps.

On other days, we just headed for a pretty village. One of the most picturesque is Assos. With its horseshoe bay and pastel pretty houses, it`s at least as lovely as anything the Amalfi coast can dish up (and a lot less busy).
In recent decades Zambia has positioned itself as a strong competitor to East African safari destinations. As the birthplace of the walking safari alongside the traditional truck safari and even a boat safari, this is home to some stunning lodges. And with far fewer visitors than Kenya and Tanzania, its worthwhile destination for a safari holiday.

But while most visitors flock to the South Luangwa National Park in the northeast of the country, the rest of Zambia is neglected. If you want to see southern Africas wildlife at its finest, you need to travel further afield.

Kafue National Park

Kafue National Park in central Zambia is approximately the same size as Wales. The Kafue River gives the park its name, and the swampy lands and channels created by its floodwaters draw everything from aquatic antelope to nesting river birds. There are plenty of kingfishers around, so keep the binoculars handy.

There are some incredibly high-end lodges here, not least the luxurious Kaingu Safari Lodge, but for me the real appeal is staying somewhere you actually feel youre in the wild.

Getting to Kafue isnt easy, but the journey is part of the fun. You can land on the airstrip in a light aircraft, or do as I did and drive the few hours from Lusaka and cross into the park on one of the many unmade roads.



Large areas of Kafue are completely undeveloped and inaccessible, but with the right guide and vehicle (which could be a 44 or a boat), there are some extraordinary areas to explore.

Musekese Camp

Zambia is famed for its walking safaris. Though you cover far less distance on foot than you would on a game drive, you notice completely different things. You have to get out early, whilst its still cool and before the animals have retreated into the shade.

My guide, James, met me at Musekese Camp, a relatively new bush camp which has been set up overlooking an open, partially flooded area known as Eden. From the camps wooden deck you can watch puku and other antelope, elephant and hippo, and even an occasional lion on the prowl.

The birds love the pools of water, and the black heron whose eccentric dance made its debut on BBCs Walk On The Wild Side documentary  put on performances which kept us entertained for hours.

I was told once that the purpose of a walking safari is to see about the three Ps: poo, prints, and plants. And indeed it turns out theres a great deal James can teach you from looking at a pile of dung! Not only can he tell what kind of animal has been past, but also when, and what theyve been eating.

Elephant poo is especially interesting because they digest so little of what they eat. Plenty of other animals and birds have cottoned onto this fact, so rather than going to the effort of hunting for tasty seeds and grasses themselves, theyll snack instead on the elephants droppings. This is just one of the many fascinating symbiotic relationships in the bush.

Of course when theres elephant dung on the ground, the elephant themselves cant be far away. If youre in a 44, thats not a problem: you can comfortably watch them from a distance. On foot you need to take rather more care.

Elephants are beautiful. Theyre fascinating creatures. And they are remarkably gentle with their young. On the whole they are unperturbed by people, but now and then, usually when they feel threatened, they become very aggressive indeed.

Wed seen fresh dung on our morning walk, and another guide had radioed through that there was a big bull elephant in the area. We kept our wits about us, but rounded a thicket and suddenly he was there.

At James non-verbal instruction we first froze, then slowly edged backwards as quietly as possible so as not to catch the elephants attention. Thankfully we were downwind, and with the bushes behind us we hoped to go un noticed. An elephants eyesight is moderate at best, and this one was not paying particular attention to what was going on around him. Still, my heart was racing.

We stood and watched. The minutes rolled by and I began to feel a little calmer. The elephant was in no rush to go anywhere, as there was plenty of grass to eat, but he did appear to be meandering away.

A few puku and zebra had also wandered out into the same open area and were relaxed, which is always a good sign. Finally confident it was again safe to move, we retreated to the other side of the thicket and carried on our way.

Out on the Kafue River

It is a different experience entirely being out on the Kafue River. For one, you have a degree of comfort in a motor boat because youre less vulnerable to wildlife aggression.

Nothing beats setting sail in the late afternoon. The light is softer, the shadows longer, and animals which have been taking a siesta often stroll down to the riverbank to drink or bathe.

This is also the prime time for bird watching, and you can scarcely go a few metres without some bird or other diving for a fish, calling to his mate, or flapping up from a branch in alarm. The pied and malachite kingfishers are consummate fishermen, and the latter brilliant in their colour. At one point we sailed so close to the bank that we could look inside an owls nest, and though the parent owl was already out hunting, the chicks were home and twittering to be fed.

African sunset on the sundowner

People often talk about the African sunset, and the colour seems particularly intense when its reflected back off the surface of a river or lake.

The sundowner drink is a key part of a safari, and the Kafue River is a magical location to enjoy one. We stopped the boats motor and drifted on the water, the grunting of hippo the only noise to break the silence. Gin, tonic, and ice appeared from the cool box along with a tiffin full of snacks. The air was still warm, the drink was contrastingly cold, and we sat and we watched and we waited for the sun to go down. The yellow sky turned peach-orange, and then the most wonderful pink.

FACT FILE: Sophie travelled to Musekese Camp in the Kafue National Park with bespoke safari specialists Africa Exclusive.
We're at DEFCON 1 people!!! This is not a drill!!!! This is not a drill!!! Abandon Ship! Damn the torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!!! I'm in charge here!!! Oh everything's ok? Never mind...

I work in the information technology profession. I am attached to financial and legal systems. When you are testing such systems or processes ideally you should ensure that your test is coordinated or completed in a separate environment than production. Additionally, you should inform the relevant people know that you are testing, what you are testing and how long you will be testing. Your test should be imperceptible by your business partners and stakeholders. But in case it's not, you should communicate that any anomalies users may experience are part of a test.





If you skip these steps then your customers and business partners may experience or see changes and lose their religion. They may call your boss in a panic, escalate the "problem" to department heads or on-call production support, or worst of all, contact serious people like CIO's, partners, executive vice-presidents, the IRS or other law enforcement.

It's probably better that the last group of people doesn't know your name, if it's being mentioned along with some sort of production meltdown, legal lapse, or apparent criminal activity.

So again, to avoid all of that unpleasantness, you should let people know what and when you're testing and what the expected results are. Unfortunately the Michigan Democratic Party forgot this basic concept in its zeal to do battle against hacking.
Old mates Mike Coupe of Sainsbury and Roger Burnley of Asda will not be sharing offices quite yet. The merger watchdog the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is up and running with its inquiry into the proposed 14bn grocery deal intended to create a colossus with 51bn of turnover.

Consumers and suppliers should be assured that the CMA is looking at the right issues. It wants to know if the deal could lead to higher prices, worse quality of service and whether there could be a negative impact on suppliers.

The answer to all three questions is: Yes. As pledged, there may well be lower prices on a basket of goods in the aftermath of the merger but over the longer haul taking out a major player in the market can only increase the pricing power of those left.

Pushing ahead: Sainsburys and Asda have asked the CMA to move 'more quickly'

Just look at the way Amazon book prices have edged up after it killed off much of the opposition to understand this dynamic.

When it comes to service, the bigger the organisation, the further the distance from the consumer and the more likely quality will deteriorate. This is especially true given the Sainsbury promise to take 500m out of costs.

Then there is the issue of suppliers. Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Nestle et al are big and ugly enough to defend themselves.

But hundreds of smaller suppliers from dairy farmers to the meat producers cannot take much more pain at a time when also adjusting to Brexit.

The grocery market is changing fast, and disrupters such as Amazon and Just Eat are on the march. Technology specialist Ocado is having a good run. But it is a myth to think that Sainsbury or Asda are facing an existential threat.

Here in the UK, Tesco and Morrisons have shown there is life after death with sales bouncing back in the face of the online and no-frills challenges.

Much the same trend is being seen in the US. Walmart (owner of Asda) posted its best financial results in a decade this week. Target has just unsheathed its best results in 13 years in the last quarter. Elsewhere clothing retailer Nordstrom and department store chain Kohls is bouncing back.

Amazons challenge has provoked pain. But it also forced existing brick and mortar sellers to adjust, with better digital offers and cleverer logistics.

Focus, rather than the distraction of a mega-grocery merger, is the right answer for investors, consumers and suppliers.

Desert storm

Day two of the Saudi Aramco debacle and reality is sinking in. The proposed 1.6trillion float was the key to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans Vision 2030 plan to wean the kingdom off oil.

The idea was to raise 300bn to, among other things, build a smart city using artificial intelligence and green technologies which would be a light unto the nations.

The cosy relationship between MBS and Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, was designed to bring the float to New York. But the Saudis believed they could do so without the disclosures that come with an IPO.

Aside from the financial detail, all prospectuses are required to warn investors of legal, political and security risks.

Even a moderniser like MBS will not want to acknowledge that in spite of Saudi Arabias brutal bombing campaign in Yemen the Houthi rebels could still pose a threat to pipelines in the region. The legal difficulties in separating the Royal Family and the state from the countrys biggest oil producer also posed serious difficulty.

Attention has now shifted to the petro-chemical company Sabic, 70 per cent-owned by Saudis sovereign wealth fund, which might take strategic stake in Saudi Aramco.

That might be a way of raising some cash for Vision 2030 without putting the crown jewels on display.

Whatever happens, this cannot be considered reformer MBSs happiest moment.

Poor marks

In the post-Michael Gove era at the Department for Education there is a tendency to deprecate creative subjects including art, music and drama.

These are excluded from Governments assessment of schools now based on eight core GCSE subjects. Basic skills in English, maths and the like clearly are critical.

But it is worth noting that in the post-financial crisis era the fastest-growing sector of the UK economy has been creativity.

This sector, ranging from film production, to rock music and architecture, has expanded 17 per cent. Must try harder.
Advisers will miss out on fees worth up to 1bn after Saudi Arabia abandoned plans to float its state-owned oil group.

Bankers, lawyers, accountants and consultants were hoping for a bumper payday from the listing of Saudi Aramco in a deal that could have valued it at 1.6trillion.

But plans to sell 80bn of Aramco shares to investors have been ditched indefinitely, leaving advisers wondering what might have been.

Not here: On Tuesday, after a flurry of activity, it emerged the float was off

The chance to work on what would have been the biggest stock market listing of all time sent bankers scrambling for a role in the deal on both sides of the Atlantic.

Stock markets in London, New York and Hong Kong were all vying to be chosen for the listing. Senior bankers swarmed to the companys headquarters in the desert kingdom, with several waiting hours for meetings with the chairman or chief executive only to be awarded meetings with lower-ranking officials.

A deal of this size could have triggered a fees bonanza of 500m-1bn.

However, banks were said to be offering to work for far less in a desperate bid to work on such a prestigious project.

JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Moelis & Co and Evercore are understood to have been working on the deal, with law firm White and Case as legal adviser.

Others were hoping to join in when the stock market listing went ahead.

But on Tuesday it emerged the float was off, with bankers working on it disbanded.

Saudi has insisted it remains committed to the listing  at a time of its own choosing.

It originally hoped to do it this year.

Prince wanted new York

Saudi Arabia wanted to list its 1.6trillion state-owned oil company in New York but the kingdom has been deterred by legal risks.

Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, is understood to have been keen to take Aramco public in the US where he has struck up a close friendship with Donald Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, 37.

Such a move would have been a bitter blow to Britain and prime minister Theresa May who had lobbied Saudis oil minister.
Foreign investors spent 5.6bn buying London offices in the first half of 2018 in a major vote of confidence in the capital ahead of Brexit.

London attracted more investment than Paris, Munich and Frankfurt combined, boosted by a flood of cash from Asia, according to research by Knight Frank.

And in a sign that demand remains strong, Goldman Sachs this week sold its vast Plumtree Court scheme in the City for 1.2bn to South Korea's National Pension Service. The US banking giant will lease the site back for 25 years.

Soaring: London attracted more investment than Paris, Munich and Frankfurt combined

The building will be Goldman's new European headquarters when it opens next year.

Goldman Sachs vice-president Richard Gnodde said the long lease 'demonstrates our continued commitment to London'.

The surge of investment in London property  and the commitment from Goldman  makes a mockery of doom laden warnings from Remain campaigners that London will suffer due to Brexit.

The report by Knight Frank showed London is the top city in the world for international property investment.

Some of the biggest deals this year have included the purchase of the 'Groundscraper' at 5 Broadgate by CK Asset Holdings  part of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's empire  for 1bn, as well as Singapore-based Ho Bee Land's move for Ropemaker Place, at 650m.

Over the same period, Hong Kong attracted 5bn of investment while Paris trailed with 1.9bn. Of investment around the world, Asian investors dominated, pouring 4.4bn into deals.

Nick Braybrook, of Knight Frank, said: 'Despite the political turmoil surrounding the UK with Brexit, London is once again the most liquid real estate market in the world.

'Asian real estate investors continue to be the largest  the biggest five deals in the market this year have all involved Asian capital and this trend looks set to continue.'

Knight Frank said London's allure was due to its stability, transparency, and liquidity. Braybrook said: 'Many ultra-high net worth individuals rank London as their first port of call for their maiden overseas property investments.'

Other major deals were the 360m purchase of the 40 Leadenhall 'Gotham City' building by a Chinese consortium, the 341m purchase of 20 Old Bailey by Mirae Asset Management and Hines, and the 300.5m acquisition of Regent Quarter by Nan Fung.

William Matthews, Knight Frank's head of capital markets, added: 'London increasingly enjoys another benefit over its global city competitors, in the form of relative value.'

He added: 'Longer-term, this could prove the right mix of attributes to attract global capital.'
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Possibly the most expensive race of all time is being held in the UK next month.

The 20th anniversary of the Goodwood Revival features an hour-long race featuring 30 of the most valuable, unique, adored and collectible cars ever created.

The Kinrara Trophy will take place on Friday 7 September and showcase pre-1963 GT vehicles from the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Jaguar - all worth a combined 200million.

With today's F1 cars valued at around 10million each, even the pinnacle of 2018 motorsport can't match this race's price tag.

Most expensive race on earth: On Friday 7 September the UK will host what is being dubbed the priciest car race on the planet with the Kinrara Trophy taking place at the Goodwood Revival

It's the only place you'll get to see a multi-million pound pre-1963 Ferrari being driven like this

The hour-long event - which takes place through sunset and into dusk at the historical West Sussex circuit - will not only field the most expensive cars in the world, if they crash then it could become the priciest repair job ever known.

And the chances of a shunt isn't as slim as you might think.

At the wheel of each of the 30 priceless vehicles will be seasoned racing drivers, whose adrenaline and competitive juices could soon dilute their fears of crashing an expensive motor.

Don't think of it as a bull in a china shop - more like 30 Tasmanian devils in an art gallery.

The race will feature 30 priceless pre-1963 GT cars, most of which are worth seven-figure sums

The event will feature a Ferrari 250 GTO (left) - widely regarded the most valuable cars of all time - and four Aston Martin DB4 GTs (right)

A Jaguar E-Type on the grid surrounded by more E-Types, Aston Martin DB4 GTs and Ferrari 250 GT SWBs n the start like at last year's race

The 30 cars will be piloted by seasoned racing drivers who will take turns at the wheel of some of the most valuable cars of all time

The race is one of 15 scheduled over the weekend, which in total will feature more than half a billion pounds worth of classic machinery.

However, it's the Kinrara Trophy that takes centre stage.

Open only to period GT cars with a closed-cockpit and at least three-litres of engine capacity, the starting grid is a who's who of multi-million pound motors.

The race lasts for an hour, which is a big ask of costly cars that are at least 55 years old

Nowhere else will you get to see priceless Aston Martin DB4 GTs driven to the absolute limit like this one

There will be no fewer than ten Ferrari 250 GT SWBs on the grid - like the two pictured in close proximity here

A Ferrari 250 GT SWB is chased by an Aston Martin DB4 GT as they race after the sunset through into dusk

There will be no fewer than ten Ferrari 250 GT SWBs on the grid,a 250 GTO - regarded as the most expensive collectible cars of all time - and one of just three special-edition 330 GTOs ever created.

These Italian stallions will go head-to-head against four Aston Martin DB4 GTs and a phalanx of Jaguar E-types, plus two AC Cobras and a Maserati 3500 GT.

Forget Formula One - this is the race that will send the biggest shockwaves through your senses.

Not only are they some of the prettiest vehicles ever to be handcrafted, the soundtrack of Ferrari V12s, Aston Martin and Jaguar straight-sixes, and Cobra V8s will be an assault on your ear drums.

If you want to hear a soundtrack of Ferrari V12 engines, then the Goodwood Revival is the motorsport event for you

A Ferrari 250 GTO SWB (front) and Austin Healey 3000 Mk1 in the pits for a driver change for the endurance race

There will be Jaguar E-types a plenty in the race. According to organisers, the 15 scheduled events will feature half a billion pounds worth of motors

Even when the conditions are less favourable, racers will still pilot the priceless vehicles against each other

The Duke of Richmond - who is the owned of the Goodwood estate - said: 'It is fitting that as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Revival, we have put together the most valuable Kinrara Trophy grid ever.

'Most would expect to find cars of this value locked away in a garage or museum. But at the Revival you will find them racing into the dusk, headlights blazing, and brake discs glowing as they roar around one of the fastest and most demanding circuits in the UK.

'It is a thrilling and unforgettable experience for spectators, and a nerve-tingling one for the owners and drivers. It truly is one of the greatest spectacles in motor racing and I look forward to seeing you all there.'

If this sounds like the race for you, tickets for the event are still available on the Goodwood website.

With today's F1 cars worth around 10m each, not even the pinnacle of 2018 racing can match the price tag of the Revival

Ferraris worth multiple millions tend to be kept in storage or museums, not driven flat out for an hour

The Duke of Richmond described the event as 'a thrilling and unforgettable experience for spectators, and a nerve-tingling one for the owners and drivers'
As a Class B drug, cannabis is illegal in the UK for both medical and recreational use.

But that could soon change  at least thats what three listed investment funds focused on medical marijuana are hoping.

Sativa Investments, which takes its name from one of the most common strains of cannabis plant, High Growth Capital, which has the apt stock market ticker of HASH, and Ananda Developments all listed on the UKs Nex Exchange earlier this year.

Each is banking on the idea that the Government will legalise medical marijuana use, triggering a modern-day gold rush as companies flood the new market.

Tom Stevenson, from fund manager Fidelity Internationals personal investing division, says: I think the potential for the market is absolutely enormous.

In Canada, which is the only G7 country to legalise cannabis both medically and recreationally, the market is read as being bigger than the market for wine. In America, more is spent on recreational cannabis than ice cream.

Geremy Thomas, Sativas boss, was staggered by the amount of money flowing through the Canadian market.

Convinced there was money to be made, his next step was looking into the likelihood government policy on the drugs might change. And there has been, he says, a sea-change in public opinion.

This has largely been down to six-year-old Alfie Dingley and 12-year-old Billy Caldwell, who galvanised public opinion when it was revealed the cannabis oil used to treat their severe epileptic seizures had been denied by officials and confiscated at border control respectively.

After temporary licences were granted allowing both boys access to their medication, the Government announced a review into the use of medical marijuana, which will be published in October.

Thomas, who has been in conversation with the medicines regulator and the Home Office, says he has high hopes the review will recommend a doctor-led, prescription-based system.

Though there are signs legalisation is coming, there are few companies in the UK which will allow investors to get on board.

In the five months since it listed in March, Sativa has already sought out one example  making an investment in Phytovista Laboratories in Somerset.

Based in the village of Beckington, the firm tests products which contain hemp, derived from cannabis, and cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive marijuana compound which is already legal.

Green gold: In Canada, which is the only G7 country to legalise cannabis both medically and recreationally, the market is read as being bigger than the market for wine

Malcolm Burne, the entrepreneur who chairs High Growth Capital, added that there will probably be other opportunities to invest in cannabis through distribution or cultivation businesses which pop up.

Some, however, may lump the companies in with the likes of tobacco and gambling businesses as sin stocks.

But Thomas argues that the cannabis businesses of the future will be different to the illegitimate-joint-in-the-park image marijuana is tied to.

Sativa has also created a foundation which awards grants to university research teams trying to fill the gaps in understanding cannabis.

But for those investors who cant lay claim to a multi-million-pound bank account, Fidelitys Stevenson advises caution: These investment companies are very much one-product companies.

That increases the risk of investing in them, so they should be a very small part of any portfolio.

All eyes will now, however, be on the Government as it prepares to make its next move.
Slump: Sales at fashion chain Gap have fallen 5%

FASHION FLOP Clothes retailer Gap floundered after it revealed sales fell more than expected in the second quarter of the year.

Chief executive Art Peck called the performance unacceptable, as comparable in-store sales under the Gap brand slid 5 per cent. Shares in the US-listed company tumbled.

ARMY CONTRACT Outsourcer Serco has signed a contract worth around 75million with the Australian Defence Force, beginning in January.

Serco provide services such as catering, waste disposal, facilities and ground maintenance, laundry, and welfare services to the ADFs Joint Logistics Command, mainly in the UAE.

RETAIL ROUT The average retail share price has dived 12 per cent over the past three months according to analysts at Peel Hunt.

The broker said the retail backdrop remained torrid amid hundreds of store closures and firms going bust.

STEAK SAVIOURS Banking groups Investec and SC Lowy are close to buying Argentinian steak chain Gaucho out of administration. According to City AM, the banks have acquired Gauchos debt.

FUND BOOST Norways trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund should continue to invest in oil and gas firms, according to a report commissioned by the countrys government.

Shares of European oil and gas companies fell last November when the funds manager, the countrys central bank Norges Bank, announced its proposal to cut the exposure of the fund.

STRIKE ACTION Workers on Totals oil and gas rigs in the North Sea will down tools next month in a series of strikes over working rotas after talks to avert the strikes broke down this week.

RIG DEAL Engineer Rolls-Royce has been hired to provide engines for an offshore drilling rig for Awilco Drilling in Singapore.
Procter & Gamble is targeting millennials by launching soaps, air fresheners and detergents called LOL and WTF.

The consumer goods giant, which owns Pampers, Fairy Liquid and Lenor, has reportedly applied to trademark the phrases commonly used in social media.

LOL (laugh out loud) soap bars, WTF (what the f***) air fresheners and NBD (no big deal) detergents could soon be found on the shelves of supermarket aisles alongside brands such as Dove, Febreze and Daz.

Fairy Liquid owner Procter & Gamble is targeting millennials with product names based on social media jargon

It is the latest attempt by a company to lure younger shoppers which are being won over by trendy and ethical smaller brands and online retailers.

This week Laura Ashley revealed it was revamping its furniture range in favour of modern Scandinavian-style sofas and armchairs, while High Street stalwart Debenhams has started putting parcel pick-up points in stores where online shoppers can pick up their orders.

According to magazine Ad Age, P&G registered the trademark applications with the US and Patent Trademark Office in April.

Last year American billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz who sits on P&Gs board said the firm needed to update its image.
Housebuilders were on rocky foundations yesterday after poor mortgage data set investors alarm bells ringing.

Industry figures from UK Finance gave the housebuilding sector a double-whammy knock  the number of mortgages approved for new homes dropped in July, while net mortgage lending hit a five-month low.

Persimmon, the UKs largest listed housebuilder, ended the day down 1.4 per cent, or 35p, at 2454p.

Industry figures from UK Finance show the number of mortgages approved for new homes dropped in July, while net mortgage lending hit a five-month low

It was closely followed by its rivals Taylor Wimpey, which slipped 1.5 per cent, or 2.6p, to 168.8p, and Barratt Developments, which fell 0.8 per cent, or 4.6p, to 541.8p.

The smaller players cemented losses too, as the FTSE 250s Crest Nicholson (2.6 per cent, or 10.2p, to 387.4p), Bovis Homes (1.6p per cent, or 18p, to 1122p) and McCarthy & Stone (1.4 per cent, or 1.6p, to 111p) all limped lower.

But the weakening from the likes of Taylor Wimpey was not enough to pull the FTSE 100 down at the end of the week, as it closed 0.2 per cent, or 14.27 points higher, at 7,577.49 points.

Miners propped up the blue-chip index as they benefited from a weaker US dollar, which makes commodities prices more attractive to investors.

Stock Watch - Bahamas Petroleum Oil and gas exploration company Bahamas Petroleum had its worst day on the stock market in its 14-year listed history, plunging 68.8 per cent, or 4.37p, to 1.98p. The firm admitted an agreement it had with a major international oil company to review its projects in the Bahamas had fallen through. Investors had hoped the exclusivity agreement could lead to a deal between Bahamas Petroleum and the unnamed oil giant, to help fund its first exploration well.

Antofagasta racked up a 3.6 per cent, or 28.6p gain, to close at 833.6p, as Glencore (3.3 per cent, or 10.25p, to 320.75p) and Anglo American (2.5 per cent, or 39p, to 1575p) followed hot on its heels.

Pharmaceuticals giant Shire also injected some life into the index, as it climbed 2 per cent, or 90.5p, to 4513p.

Investors were welcoming the USs Food and Drug Administrations decision to approve Shires Takhzyro drug, which is used to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema, a disease which causes swelling of the body parts and which can be fatal.

The green light was welcome news for Shires Japanese rival Takeda, which is set to buy the firm in a 46billion deal if competition regulators approve.

Its shares also crept up by 2.1 per cent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as analysts at investment bank Jefferies predicted the Takhzyro drug could generate peak worldwide sales of 1.4billion.

Meanwhile, it was another day of volatility at newspaper owner Johnston Press. On Thursday shares in the owner of The Scotsman and The I rocketed 56.2 per cent as an unusually large number of trades occurred.

The flurry of activity prompted speculation that a new investor was hoovering up shares on the sly. The trend continued yesterday as another 1.6m shares changed hands, compared to just 1.3m in the whole of last week.

However this time the activity pushed Johnstons shares down by 4 per cent, or 0.22p, to 5.23p.

Sweetener maker Purecircle recovered slightly after battling through a bitter four-day decline, which wiped 25.9 per cent or 183million off its market value.

The company reassured observers that this was not a case of insider trading, where people who have access to secret information trade on that knowledge to make a profit.

Purecircle said: The directors are not aware of any price sensitive information about the company which has yet to be disclosed.

Its shares rose yesterday by 5 per cent, or 15p, to 315p.

South African coal miner Bisichi Minings shares steamed ahead on the back of strong half-year results.

Earnings were up 271.4 per cent to 5.2million, while profit before tax rocketed from 0.2million to 4million, lifting the companys stock by 12.7 per cent, or 13p, to 115p.

It has come under fire from shareholders recently for the pay awarded to chief executive Andrew Heller, who last year pocketed just under 900,000 from his job  almost 10 per cent of the companys 11million stock market value.
Up to half of all bank branches will close in the next five to ten years in a blow to millions of customers, a senior banker warned yesterday.

Antony Jenkins, ex-boss of Barclays, said 3,500 of the UKs 7,000 branches are at risk.

He stressed the onslaught of closures in the past decade was happening faster than expected as banks slash costs.

Jobs are being axed as more people bank online and office tasks are automated.

Up to half of all bank branches will close in the next five to ten years in a blow to millions of customers, a senior banker warned yesterday

His comments come after consumer group Which? revealed banks had closed almost 3,000 branches in the past three years  around 60 every month.

At the same time, free-to-use cash machines are being scrapped across the country. Critics say the closures have left shopkeepers and vulnerable people in towns and villages abandoned.

Three years ago, Mr Jenkins warned technological changes in Britain would cause an Uber moment like the shake-up in the cab industry  that would see widespread bank branch closures.

But yesterday he admitted he had underestimated the pace of change.

At the moment there are around 7,000 branches operated by the countrys biggest retail banks, including Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays, TSB, Santander, and the Nationwide building society  meaning 3,500 could be at risk.

Mr Jenkins, who ran Barclays from 2012 to 2015, said: I predicted that somewhere between 20 and 50 per cent of the jobs would go away in financial services and about the same number of branches would be closed.

Antony Jenkins, ex-boss of Barclays, said 3,500 of the UKs 7,000 branches are at risk

I think, actually, I under-estimated on the branch closure side. Weve already seen something like 25 per cent of branches close between 2011 and 2015.

My expectation is that at least another 50 per cent of branches will close over the next five to ten years. He said an even greater proportion of jobs could also go in the banking industry, including customer service, middle managers and administrative roles.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: These things get automated and the jobs will go away. Of course, new jobs may be created, but my expectation is there will be many fewer than the ones that are eliminated.

Yesterday the Big Four banks  Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS  said they currently operated about 4,500 branches in total across the UK.

They have axed nearly 4,000 in the past decade.

RBS, which runs NatWest, has closed around 1,380. The figure for Lloyds is 1,200, HSBC 800 and Barclays nearly 500.

But there are growing concerns that shutting branches could trigger a rise in fraud, as customers not used to the internet are forced online where they are easy prey for criminals.

Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: Closing branches cuts costs for the banks, but its at best an inconvenience and at worst a serious blow for the millions of older people who are not online or au fait with mobile banking.

Older people have the right to make and receive payments in a way that is safe, convenient and affordable and our banks need to live up to their responsibilities.

UK Finance, which represents banks, insisted that branches were only closed as a last resort.

A spokesman said: Bank branch visits have fallen by a quarter since 2012 with the development of new technology. All major banks offer day-to-day banking services through 11,500 Post Office branches.


MBABANE  ASD (Pty) Ltd could soon enter into a contract valued at E450 000 with the Municipal Council of Ezulwini for the supply of road repair material.



In tender results published by the Swaziland Public Procurement Regulatory Agency, the municipalitys tender board announced that the company had emerged as the best evaluated tenderer during evaluation. ASD scored a total of 72 per cent and closely followed by Pinstripe Investment (Pty) Ltd which amassed 60 per cent. The lowest evaluated tenderer was ERG Swaziland which managed to score only 44 per cent.



In line with the Public Procurement Act of 2011, the municiplaity announced that a period of 10 working days would be allowed for the submission of any application for review. The contract award decision does not constitite a contract, the municipality clarified.

In its quest to improve the developing towns road network, the municipality also previously awarded Stefanutti Stocks Construction a contract worth E2.8 million.



The five months contract was for the construction of Mkhaya Road from gravel to bitumen standard.

Stefanutti Stocks outsmarted Heptagon Company and Pots Construction to emerge as the best evaluated tenderer. Heptagon Company had submitted the highest bid price of E3 111 109 million while Pots Construction closely followed the eventual winner with a bid price of E3 029 714.

Roots Civils and Afrotim Construction were rejected from the tendering exercise. It was mentioned that Roots did not make the cut because their submitted plant and equipment did not meet the requirements. Afrotim lost out on the business opportunity because they provided a bid security which was not in accordance with the bid requirements.
MBABANE  At the height of the controversy surrounding the renewal of his contract, Mbabane Municipal Council Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gideon Mhlongo is determined to give the city a facelift.



A multi-storey facility at the citys bus rank worth E500 million is in the pipeline.

The four-storey building structure will include retail space, additional parking facilities for the bus rank an

d an off-loading base. It will also have space for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) including vendors who are currently trading at the bus rank.

The CEO at the Municipal Council signed a landmark agreement for the development of the Mbabane Bus Rank with JM BUSHA Investment Group (Pty) Ltd, yesterday.



Addressing the media, Mhlongo said the agreement marked the beginning of the project and there were a number of issues which needed to be settled, including certain approvals which were part of the process.



Mhlongo said council intended to develop the bus rank into a multi-storey facility that would accommodate and service fully the needs of all the public transportation.



All of us are aware of the traffic congestion in the current facility where major traffic jams are experienced around lunch time and 5pm, Mhlongo said.

He said council hoped that when they were finally done with the development, there would be much better access and enough parking for transport operators.

He said there were environmental works and assessments that needed to be done. Meanwhile, he mentioned that there would be public consultations with stakeholders including SMEs to deal with issues of what happened with people on the ground during the commencement of the project.

We will comply with all expected requirements regarding a development of this nature, he said.

Commended

Managing Director at JM Busha, Joseph Busha commended Mhlongo and the entire council collectively for taking the decision to develop the area.

Busha said the decision taken by the council was a huge one which should be an example not any to Eswatini, but the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC).

He said he hoped the decision would be replicated around the countrys four regions to ensure that development reached the people who needed it most.

In most of these cities, there is a lot of urban migration where people were moving into the capital and need to be accommodated, said Busha.

He said starting with the hub of economic activity, which in this case was the bus rank, most issues including congestion would be solved immediately.

According to Busha, the bus rank was a workplace for many, including taxi- drivers, vendors who wake up and go there every day to execute their duties.

Busha said considering any developing economy, SMEs were quite critical in terms of alleviating poverty and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of every country.

Further, he said Eswatini was not exceptional in terms of embracing the needs to assist small businesses to thrive and to give them an environment to do that.
SWADNU members singing and dancing to a political song during their General Council meeting at Caritas yesterday. (Pic: Sibusiso Zwane)

MANZINI  A study by two New York researchers found that nurses strikes increased patient mortality by 18.3 per cent and Eswatini is about to experience that.



Jonathan Gruber and Samuel Kleiner conducted the study. They also found that nurses strikes increased readmission by 5.7 per cent for patients admitted during the strike.



This is about to be relevant to the country because nurses have resolved to down tools next Wednesday and march to deliver petitions to three government departments; Ministry of Public Service, Ministry of Health and Prime Ministers Office.



After delivering the petitions, government will have approximately a week to address the nurses concerns or the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) will lead them in a seven-day nationwide mass strike action.



However, in the matter in which they will engage in the mass industrial action, they said the first day of the week-long demonstration would be enough to force government to address their concerns.



The resolution was taken by nurses during their general council meeting which was held at Caritas conference room yesterday. The nurses concerns include drugs and staff shortage in the countrys medical facilities.

However, the core issue which forced them to call the meeting was that government had blocked all channels for them to address the issue of cost of living adjustment (COLA).

According to the nurses, government blocked them from addressing the issue of 2016/17 COLA, as it was appealing the Industrial Court ruling of June 2018, which referred the matter to arbitration.

They said since the law did not allow them to strike because they provide an essential service to the nation, the only available channel for them to address the issue of COLA was taking the matter to arbitration.

The nurses argument was that if they compile all the issues that concerned them together, they could be allowed to declare a nationwide strike action other than striking for the zero per cent salary increase, which government offered last week.

A hungry man is an angry man and an angry man is a dangerous one. We are angry and we want to show government that we are irritated, said one of the nurses, who supported the resolution to petition government and strike for seven days. He said the only way they could do that was to ignore the processes and procedures as the government they were dealing with was doing things willy-nilly.

It is worth noting that when the chairman of the meeting, Bheki Mamba, who is the president of the nurses union, gave the floor a chance to suggest a way forward regarding their concerns, most nurses wanted the petition to be delivered on Monday.

Their argument was that since they were angry, they should march on Monday so that government could feel the pinch as usually on this day, there were long queues in health facilities.

However, the union considered that it had to serve government with a notice of 48 hours prior to the delivery of the petition and also request to use the streets from the Municipal Council of Mbabane. It was then that the nurses agreed that Wednesday was an ideal day for the delivery of the petition, taking into consideration that they have to mobilise other members.
NHLANGANO  Three suicide cases that have been reported in the Shiselweni region alone represent a cluster of tragedies never heard of before.



Pupils, parents and teachers at two high schools are grieving after a pupil and a teacher died through suspected suicide in separate incidents.



Authorities at the affected schools have already notified teachers, who have also conveyed their condolences to the respective families at Matsanjeni and Mehlwabovu.

Pupils will return from holidays to Edwaleni High School in the Shiselweni region to find that one of their female teachers has died, after she reportedly killed herself by drinking a toxic substance early in the week.



We are from the family as we speak. all teachers had gone to her family to convey their condolences, explained a teacher from the school, who spoke on condition of anonymity.



The teacher did not want to commit on the circumstances surrounding the death but police confirmed she was suspected to have drunk a poisonous substance.

Actually, there were two suicides reported at the Hlatikhulu Police Station during the course of the week, making a total of three with the inclusion of that of the pupil who was also said to have killed himself at Matsanjeni last week.



Besides the death of the teacher, a 21-year-old woman was also reported to have died under almost similar circumstances, in a separate incident.

Meanwhile, the Form III pupil at Matsanjeni High School allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself using a leather waist belt.

Sandziso Hlatshwayo (16) of Matsanjeni hanged himself from the roof of the house he occupied at his maternal homestead on Tuesday last week.

Information doing rounds in his home area is that it is suspected he feared punishment after a piece of meat went missing from the pot earlier on during the day, but his grandmother Ivy Mbhamali refuted the claims.
MBABANE  It will be the survival of the fittest at Mbelebeleni Chiefdom as one of the Member of Parliament (MP) nominees is a wife to Prince Gcokoma, who is also the chief of the area.



Prince Gcokoma is also the Regional Administrator for the Manzini Region.

Some residents and nominees of the area are of the view that the chiefs wife, Fikile Shongwe-Dlamini, could have an unfair advantage because of her marital status to the chief.



Shongwe is one of the nine candidates who were nominated under the chiefdom which falls under Mkhiweni Inkhundla, for the position of Member of Parliament.



Of the nine nominees, five of them are females, including Shongwe.

The other female candidates are Khetsiwe Dlamini, Nancy Nurse Khumalo, Maureen Ngwenya and Goodness Shabangu.

The male candidates, on the other hand, who will be competing against the Inkhosikati on Saturday during the Primary Elections are Sizwe Khumalo, Joseph Magagula, Compose Musa Matsebula and Patrick Mazibuko.



Although the residents were not specific on what sort of advantage Shongwe would have, they stated that some voters could simply vote for her because they paid allegiance to the chief.



Shongwe is not the first female member of the royal family to be elected to contest for the position of MP. Inkhosikati LaMavimbela, the wife to Prince Guduza, is also expected to be contending among over 50 candidates with the likes of Former MP Michael Masilela, Pastor Buddy Msibi and Dumisani Mnisi, among others under the Lobamba Constituency.



The 59-year-old was the first member of the royal family to stand for elections, changing the narrative that people of her calibre have lived with for years.

Before the Constitution of Eswatini came to being, the Swazi Administration Act was against the participation of royalty and chiefs in such national activities because of the influence they have in society.



However, when the Constitution was promulgated, it allowed everyone to participate as long as they qualified, according to the stipulated requirements which include; having reached the age of 18 years, being of sound mental health and being a liSwati.

Another nominee who spoke on condition of anonymity in fear of victimisation said they already felt defeated because of the Inkhosikatis move to stand for the elections.



During the nominations, when her name was called out, there was a lot of ulululations to the extent that some of the community members said there was no other need to pick anyone else, she alleged.



She said as this was the year of Vote for a Woman, they had hoped that as Mkhiweni Constituents, they could have a chance.

However, because emaSwati are respectful and they pay allegiance to royalty, I honestly do not think that some of us stand a chance, said one of the nominees.



The nominee said although they were not yet allowed to campaign, they were afraid of going to greet other community members in their homesteads because there was already that feeling of why are you competing against royalty.

Another nominee said the status of Prince Gcokoma was already a hindrance to their campaign because the position of RA was one of the highest in the Tinkhundla system of governance.

However, another nominee said they still had faith that they would do well in the Primary Elections despite the Inkhosikatis standing in society.
By Trend





Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Aug. 24 in Moscow, Turkish media reported.

Turkey's top diplomat will head to Moscow for a working visit, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Aug. 23 in a news conference.

"[...] Special attention will be paid to the problems of the Syrian settlement Issues with regards to the coordination of joint steps in the fight against terrorism in Syria," she said.

"The intensification of the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict will be discussed."

Lavrov and Cavuso?lu will also discuss the launch of projects in the fields of energy and trade, Zakharova said.

Earlier, Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would continue negotiations and would hope to reach an agreement with Turkey on settlements in the Syrian province of Idlib.
By Trend





French CIFAL company is ready to help Uzbekistan in the development of nuclear energy, the "Tahlilnoma" program of "Uzbekistan 24" TV channel reported.

The company noted that they are ready to provide their technological solutions and share experience to train specialists of Uzbekistan in the field of nuclear energy.

CIFAL plans to support the Uzbekistans Agency for the Development of Nuclear Energy "Uzatom" in the implementation of technical, commercial and financial negotiations with the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom" on construction of nuclear power plants in Uzbekistan.

The French company is also ready to assist in the selection of equipment for the construction and launch of nuclear power plants. The company can also take part in the solution of issues of financing of the project in coordination with the Uzbek and Russian sides.

The Russian side proposes to build in Uzbekistan a station consisting of two modern blocks of pressurized-water reactors VVER-1200 of "3+" generation. The project for the construction of a similar station, which Rosatom is building in Bangladesh, is estimated at about $13 billion, of which $11.3 billion are provided by Russia as an officially supported export credit.

It is planned that 3.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be saved as a result of the launch of the NPP. At the same time, the volume of carbon monoxide generated by the combustion of natural gas and released into the atmosphere will be reduced by 3 million tons per year.

Uzbekistan, for its part, offered Russia 10 sites across the country for the construction of nuclear power plants. The central part (Tashkent region) and the eastern part (Fergana valley) of the power system, as well as the Bukhara-Samarkand and Surkhandarya regions are among the sites under consideration.

The Director General of "Rosatom" Corporation Alexey Likhachev during his visit to Tashkent, said the station will likely be built in the Navoi region.
The new ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, was due to visit the port of Piraeus near Athens on Monday for talks with Chinese multinational Cosco's top leadership in the east Mediterranean country.

The Shanghai-based shipping and port management giant acquired a majority stake and assumed the management of the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) in August 2016, one of the largest and most important privatizations in Greece over the past two decades.

Zhang, who has yet to officially assume the diplomatic post in Athens, was due to be briefed on the course of top Chinese investments at the port of Piraeus.

Another topic on the agenda is a recent rejection, by the Attica prefecture authority, of an appeal by PPA of a previous decision to not grant a shipbuilding license to the port.

Cosco-managed PPA has often referred to its interest in offering expanded ship-repair and even ship-building capacity at Greece's biggest and busiest port.

Although a shipyard license was not in the concession contract signed by Cosco with the Greek state, the multinational now appears exceptionally interested in extending its activity to the sector.

According to sources that spoke with "Naftemporiki", PPA's leadership will examine the possibility of seeking legal recourse to administrative courts against the decision by the regional authority.

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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Nikolaos Diakidis License: CC-BY-SA
Greek government has now the fiscal room to set a policy of "fair development", Rural Development Minister Evangelos Apostolou said on Thursday in an interview with 'F&M Voice' newspaper, according to ANA.

The ministry seeks to create a durable agricultural sector for the country, Apostolou noted and stressed that on the basis of the "strategic plan" it will be possible to ensure the production of basic agricultural products and the sufficiency of food both for residents as well as for visitors to the country, as well as the increase of competitiveness and the increase of employment.

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: Nat Pikozh License: CC-BY-SA
Despite What You Read, The Options Industry Is Doing Great

A recent Wall Street Journal article claims a behind-the-scenes battle in the options industry threatens investors. But the industry has never been stronger, as indicated by continued increases in volume as well as an improvement in liquidity across the market, noted TABB Groups Russell Rhoads.

An article in the Wall Street Journal this week once again is putting a negative spotlight on the options industry (A Messy Battle Brews in the Options Market). The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the target du jour, along with some commentary about Craig Donohue, CEO of the OCC, who has done a solid job in the role. The article even brings up how he dresses, what kind of car he drives, and that he has vanity plates. What does that have to do with the industry?

The whole article is old news. The core of the article is a lawsuit that was filed in 2016. The quotes from Craig Donahue used in the article are from last November. And a quote from the lawyer representing some trading firms and smaller competing exchanges in the lawsuit is from a letter dated in January.

The article notes that the OCC was deemed a systematically important financial institution and needed to raise capital. This was in response to the global financial crisis in 2008. What was not mentioned was that the OCC did a stellar job during the dark days of 2008. Also, the article fails to mention that the OCC has an AA+ credit rating from Standard & Poors. S&P even posted a notice this week reaffirming this rating. To offer some perspective, the AA+ rating is held by only 1% of the more than 9,000 entities covered by S&P. OCC is a very financially strong entity and has become much stronger under Mr. Donahues leadership.

The WSJ article shines a light on the OCCs plan to boost dividends for its shareholders, the three largest options exchange operators. These exchanges collectively paid $150 million to OCC to increase its capital buffer after the financial crisis. In return, the exchanges became owners of the clearinghouse. And as owners that risked their own capital to strengthen the financial backbone of the clearinghouse, they are receiving dividends. According to the article, Options traders say the plan could hurt investors by making it more onerous to trade and potentially crimping liquidity in the markets, affecting how difficult it is to swoop in and out of positions. But the plan has been in place for several years and the industry has never been stronger, as indicated by continued increases in volume as well as an improvement in the liquidity across the whole options market.

[Related: US Options Volume on Pace for Record Year Despite Drop Off, Lower Volatility in Q2]

TABB Group estimates options volume is on track this year to exceed 5 billion contracts for the first time. Even more significant is the trend with respect to the quality of the market: The average bid/ask spread across the options industry was 0.22 in July 2018 and has narrowed each month since the market volatility in February. The last time markets were this tight (which is a good thing for traders) was in September 2013.

Bottom line: The options industry is growing, the quality of markets is favorable for traders, and the OCC is one of the most financially solid entities in the United States.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:
Armenian Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan and U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills visited the Abovyan Correctional Facility today to check on conditions in which female inmates are kept.

The two, according to a government press release, also asked about the rehabilitative and professional training programs being offered to inmates and toured the facilitys cafeteria, computer classroom, hair salon, medical unit.

They also visited an exhibition of handiworks made by the female inmates.

Ambassador Mills stressed the importance of the inmates physical and psychological health to facilitate their eventual reintroduction into society.

The ambassador said that the work being done at Abovyan could serve as an example for the countrys other correctional facilities.
A makeshift site hosting internally displaced members of the Mbuti indigenous community in Oicha, in Beni territory in North Kivu province.  UNHCR/Natalia Micevic

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed by the latest escalation of violence in already volatile and Ebola-hit North Kivu province in east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The cumulative effect of conflict and the outbreak of the deadly disease is threatening millions of Congolese.

The fighting involving a number of armed groups operating in the area has intensified in all six territories in North Kivu, a province bordering Rwanda and Uganda. Thousands of civilians have fled their burned out villages, bringing reports of brutal attacks. The already dire humanitarian situation has been further aggravated by an outbreak of Ebola virus in parts of the province. The disease has killed more than 60 people and infected dozens more in recent weeks.

Forced displacement in this part of the country remains massive. It is estimated that more than a million people are displaced in North Kivu. This is the highest concentration of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the DRC. An estimated half a million people have been forced from their homes this year alone.

UNHCR is particularly worried about the deteriorating situation in the Ebola-hit northern territory of Beni. The area is home to some 1.3 million people. Spiralling conflict has left the population living there virtually in a state of siege since October 2017. Reports of increased human rights violations and restrictions of humanitarian access are frequent. Estimates are that more than 100 armed groups are active in the province, continually terrorizing the population. Despite a large-scale military offensive of the Congolese Army against one of the main rebel groups, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) since January, there has been no let-up in the violence.

Despite security challenges, a UNHCR team accessed the area north of Beni earlier this month and conducted humanitarian assessments in Oicha and Eringeti districts. Residents told our staff about brutal attacks against the civilians carried out with machetes. Stories of massacres, extortion, forced displacement and other human rights violations are frequent.

Sexual and gender-based violence is rampant across the Beni territory. Many children are being recruited as child soldiers. The violence is particularly rampant in the so-called triangle of death, between the towns of Eringeti, Mbau and Kamango, on the Uganda-DRC border, as well as in the towns of Beni, Oicha and Mavivi.

UNHCR teams witnessed empty villages, countless torched and abandoned houses, as well as burnt cars. Those who fled found shelter mostly in Beni and Oicha, where both host and displaced communities fall prey to brutal and unpredictable attacks. Beni town hosts more than 32,000 displaced people, with the majority forced to live with host families or in schools or churches. More than two thirds have been forced to flee in the last three months.

UNHCR teams found the vulnerable displaced indigenous communities to be in some of the most critical situations. Forced out of their areas of origin in the forests, their living conditions in makeshift sites are abysmal. Families are sleeping rough, barely protected from the elements by their flimsy shelters. They have few or no means of survival as they can no longer hunt in the forests, now under the control of armed groups. Theres a genuine risk of these people losing their culture and way of life.

UNHCR is scaling up its capacity in North Kivu to respond to the growing humanitarian needs. We are arranging additional emergency shelters and other humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the displaced in Beni. While UNHCRs humanitarian response is continuing despite the outbreak of Ebola, the prevailing security situation and drastic funding shortfall severely hamper our efforts. UNHCRs DRC 2018 appeal totalling USD 201 million is only 17 per cent funded.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Hamida, 22, (center) and her son Mohammed, aged one, wait to receive food aid along with hundreds of other Rohingya refugees, at Kutupalong Refugee Camp, in Bangladesh.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, is calling today on the international community to step up its support for some 900,000 stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and show solidarity with their generous hosts. The collective international responsibility for protecting and finding solutions for these refugees must remain a priority for all countries in the region and beyond.

Since August last year, more than 720,000 stateless Rohingya refugees, fleeing violence and systemic discrimination in Myanmars Rakhine State, have found shelter and safety in Coxs Bazar district of Bangladesh. There they joined an estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees from previous waves of displacement.

At the onset of the emergency, UNHCR immediately deployed additional staff to Bangladesh and airlifted more than 1,500 metric tonnes of aid and relief items. More aid was and continues to be shipped and moved by land. Over the past year our teams have been working around the clock in support of Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that the refugees are protected. Our work includes psycho-social counselling, prevention of sexual and gender based violence, family counting, identification of and assistance to separated and unaccompanied children and other vulnerable refugees.

Kutupalong settlement in Coxs Bazar shelters today more than 600,000 refugees, making it the largest and most densely populated refugee settlement in the world. This brings daily challenges of delivering shelter, water and sanitation and access to basic services, as well as protection considerations such as the safety of women and girls.

In a dramatic race against time, intense preparations have been undertaken over the last few months to ready the refugee settlements to face the heavy monsoon rains. Massive engineering works have been implemented to help reduce the risk of landslides and flooding. Hundreds of refugee volunteers have been mobilized and trained to serve as first responders in the event of a natural disaster. These efforts have proved invaluable during the unprecedented rains in June and July, as the refugee settlements largely withstood the adverse weather.

As we take stock of what has been achieved so far, UNHCR urges renewed international engagement and support for refugees and host communities in Bangladesh, in order to expand the response from day-to-day lifesaving operations to also address challenges such as education and self-reliance for the Rohingya refugees. Repairing the environmental impact of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Coxs Bazar area also requires urgent action, including through reforestation and use of alternative fuels for cooking and heating. This week we began distribution of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) to the first 7,000 refugee households. UNHCR plans to deliver this new fuel to 100,000 households (approximately 500,000 refugees) by the end of the year.

The Joint Response Plan (JRP) launched in March 2018 appealed for US$ 950.8 m for the period from March to December 2018. As of mid-August the JRP is just over 33 per cent funded. This is deeply worrying given that we are nearing the last four months of 2018. It is vital that humanitarian agencies receive early and flexible funding in order to continue delivering lifesaving assistance and to improve the living conditions for refugees and host communities in Bangladesh.

Against this backdrop, it is vital not to lose sight of the fact that the solutions to this crisis lie in Myanmar. International support is needed to assist the Government of Myanmar to address the root causes of the crisis, in line with the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State led by late Kofi Annan. This should include ensuring freedom of movement for all people in Rakhine State, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or citizenship status, and a clear and voluntary pathway to citizenship. The willingness of the Myanmar authorities to take the lead in this process is critical.

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With villages in flames in northern Myanmar, Tahara grabbed her four-month old baby and set out under the monsoon downpour in a desperate search for safety in Bangladesh.

We were stuck under the rain, the Rohingya mother recalls. We had to hide under a tree in the hills for two nights. All I had was some stale rice. I have a little baby who needs milk.

One year ago, on 25 August 2017, violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar, set off a new wave of destruction and fear that pushed more than 720,000 refugees  more than half of them children  into the Coxs Bazar district of Bangladesh.

At the height of the influx, tens of thousands of refugees like Tahara and her baby were arriving in Bangladesh each day, in one of the fastest growing refugee crises in years. Within a month, nearly 500,000 children, women and men had fled over the border, the pall of smoke from scores of smouldering villages visible from Bangladesh.

See also: Elderly Rohingya rely on families to carry them to safety

Many hiked for days through the Mayu Mountains that divide Rakhine State, or paddled makeshift rafts across the Naf River, the natural boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Some even swam. Women reached Coxs Bazar heavily pregnant, men with gunshot and knife wounds. Among the most vulnerable were the children separated from their parents, and families carrying older relatives with bamboo poles.

Like almost all the refugees in Bangladesh, Tahara is Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority from Myanmar long subject to discriminatory laws and policies that deny them citizenship, basic rights and the chance to lead normal, dignified lives. She and her baby were among the first to arrive in Bangladesh, bartering jewellery and other belongings to the boatmen who ferried them from Myanmar.

We had to cross with a boat so I paid money. I also had to give my earrings, she says.

Rohingya crisis, one year on: Ensuring lifesaving support for mothers and children (Videographer and editor, Viktor Pesenti)

As waves of refugees stumbled into the Kutupalong and Nayapara areas under the rain, exhausted, emaciated and in need of food, water and shelter, Bangladeshis were the first to respond. The government kept its border open and launched mass vaccinations of children, while citizens mobilized aid drives for the refugees.

Cars, trucks and buses rolled in from across the country, as factory workers, business associations and religious groups brought life-saving rice, dahl and bottled water, as well as clothing and tarpaulins, distributing them to refugees lined up in the mud. In Coxs Bazar district, smallholders also gave land for refugees to build temporary shelters and start over.

See also: Bangladeshis race to save Rohingya refugees in need

At the very beginning, the local community opened their hearts, recalls Anupam Das Anup, one of the Bangladesh governments deputy Camps-in-Charge in Coxs Bazar. They saved the most lives.

To support the government, international organizations stepped up their response  fast. By the end of September, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, had doubled its staff in Coxs Bazar and immediately airlifted more than 1,500 metric tons of emergency life-saving aid to Bangladesh  including blankets, plastic sheets, sleeping mats, tents and cooking items.

They have absolutely nothing, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stressed during a visit to Coxs Bazar in September. I have hardly seen in my career people that have come with so little. They need everything.

Rohingya refugees arrive in Bangladesh after crossing the border with Myanmar.  UNHCR/Vivian Tan

Rohingya children shelter under tarpaulin as heavy rain falls at Kutupalong.  UNHCR/Paula Bronstein

UN High Commissioner for Refugee Filippo Grandi talks to a young Rohingya man at Kutupalong refugee settlement, Bangladesh, September 2017.  UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Oral cholera vaccines are given to Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.  UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Rohingya families arrive at a UNHCR transit center near the village of Anjuman Para, Cox's Bazar.  UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Rohingya refugees cross from Myanmar into Bangladesh on makeshift rafts.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

Within weeks, a vast spontaneous settlement had sprung up over the hillsides around Kutupalong, with a population greater than Lyon, Frances third largest city, raising concerns over the lack of adequate shelter, water and sanitation, access to basic services, and the safety of women and girls. With the risk that outbreaks of disease might cause a disaster within a disaster, UNHCR and its partners added thousands of latrines, and dug tube wells and bore holes to provide clean water.

Adding clinics and medical centres, UNHCR sought to contain outbreaks ranging from acute watery diarrhoea to measles and diphtheria, helped by round-the-clock outreach efforts by refugee community volunteers. From the first weeks of the emergency, medical staff also brought mental health first aid to refugees who had witnessed unimaginable horrors and loss.

In the months that followed, new information points advised residents on services that are available. These include learning centres, providing basic literacy, life skills and maths, and child and women friendly spaces, supported by UN agencies and NGO partners. Other activities include occupational training, such as learning to sew, make toothpowder or soap, provided by local NGO BRAC.

I like to sew and I need an income, says Laila Begum, 25, a single parent who attends a sewing workshop which teaches dozens of women to make fishing nets and prayer caps to sell.

See also: Rohingya refugee women stitch new lives in Bangladesh

As the monsoon season loomed in Bangladesh, one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world, UNHCR and its partners raced against time to safeguard refugees in precarious hillside settlements, where some 200,000 people were in areas prone to landslides and flooding.

With no municipal works department to fortify what is now effectively Bangladeshs sixth-largest city, UNHCR joined forces with the World Food Programme and International Organization for Migration deploy engineers and earth movers throughout the settlement to repair damaged roads, clear drainage and landslides, and stabilize compromised slopes.

UNHCR and Rohingya refugees prepare for monsoon rains by building shelters, paths and bridges at Kutupalong camp.  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck

UNHCR starts work on the Site Maintenance Engineering Project, a joint initiative with the IOM and WFP to make Kutupalong camp safer for thousands of Rohingya refugees.  UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Heavy rains in Bangladesh have forced thousands of Rohingya refugees, including 60-year-old Sayedul Hoque and his family, to move into new shelters to avoid flooding.  UNHCR/Patrick Brown

UNHCR workers Sarah Jabin (left) and Jacqueline Julca (right) help to relocate refugees in Bangladesh.  UNHCR/Patrick Brown

Refugees help to upgrade and repair the infrastructure around Kutupalong.  UNHCR/Patrick Brown

Rohingya refugees are relocated from flooded areas to new shelters in Cox's Bazar.  UNHCR/David Azia

The refugees themselves worked around the clock to strengthen their shelters and, in some areas, flatten whole hills to build new, safer shelters. With support from engineers and the Bangladesh military, refugees have helped build or repair over two kilometres of bridges, 32 kilometres of road, 45 kilometres of steps, 63 kilometres of retaining structures and 91 kilometres of drainage.

We used to walk through the mud, says refugee Hafiz, 30, as he recently took a break from rebuilding a bamboo bridge that is one of the main arteries into Kutupalong. When he first arrived from Myanmar in October, after a 14-day journey past dead bodies, there was still a shortage of water points available to refugees, and he drew water from canals, not knowing their source. Now we have bridges, better toilets, more food and drinking water, he said.

The efforts by Hafiz and others have allowed 24,000 refugees to be relocated to safer areas, away from flooding and landslides, and prevented untold fatalities.

Now we have bridges, better toilets, more food and drinking water."

At the one-year mark, the humanitarian response in Bangladesh remains focused on meeting the massive humanitarian needs of the refugees, whose numbers have been growing at a much slower pace in recent months, with 12,000 new arrivals since January.

More donor support is needed for a key US$951 million humanitarian aid plan, to continue delivering lifesaving assistance through the end of the year. As of early August, it remains just 33 per cent fund.

The aim remains the voluntary return of refugees to their homes in Myanmar, when conditions there allow for them do so safely, in dignity, and sustainably. UNHCR is working with Myanmar authorities on creating these conditions in Rakhine State. But substantial progress is still needed in addressing the root causes of the crisis, including freedom of movement, safety and a pathway to citizenship for all communities.

In the meantime, more international support is urgently needed to step up the assistance in Bangladesh from purely humanitarian and day-to-day support towards addressing medium-term challenges  namely providing livelihoods, education, registration, programmes for the most vulnerable  children, women and older people.

For community health volunteer Kurshida, the chance to gain a formal education would be transformational. We are qualified people, she says. We want to develop our education, so that we have the power to speak for ourselves.

Reporting by Keane Shum, Roger Burks and Viktor Pesenti in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh.
When gun and machete-toting assailants swept into her village and started hacking at her neighbours, Priscilla ran for her life.

They cut my parents throats and killed them because they were too old to run, says the 48-year-old. We hid in the bush for three days, almost naked, with barely anything on our backs.

Another survivor of the violence, Charlotte, lost her nephew and two nieces who were killed on the night she fled.

We heard gunshots and ran to the bush and slept there, she says. We went back to check on our house, but they had burnt it down.

The 60-year-old added that the entire population of two large villages fled that day.

They cut my parents throats and killed them because they were too old to run.

Brutal killings in the Beni Territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congos North Kivu province have forced tens of thousands of people like Priscilla and Charlotte to abandon their homes in recent weeks.

The spiraling violence in the volatile area - located between towns along the shared border with Uganda - has hit hundreds of indigenous Mbuti families hard, uprooting them from their traditional lands where most lived as hunter-gatherers.

The majority fleeing the area  now known as The Triangle of Death - have settled in makeshift sites around the towns of Mavivi, Oicha and Eringeti, where conditions are grim.

Families are sleeping on the bare ground, barely protected from the elements by flimsy shelters. Most have few means of survival as they can no longer go hunting for pigs, antelopes and monkeys in the forest, which has fallen to the control of armed groups.

Violence by marauding armed groups  more than 100 of whom are thought to be active in North Kivu - has uprooted well over a million people in the province, the highest concentration of internally displaced people anywhere in the DRC.

Displaced mother Charlotte and her family at a makeshift site in Oicha. The family, who are Mbuti indigenous people, fled their lands in the so-called "triangle of death" in North Kivu province.  UNHCR/Natalia Micevic

A burned vehicle in a village located between Oicha and Eringeti in North Kivu Province. UNHCR teams witnessed empty villages, countless burnt and abandoned houses, as well as burnt cars.  UNHCR/Natalia Micevic

Children walk through a makeshift site hosting internally displaced members of the Mbuti indigenous community in Oicha's Ruvangira neighbourhood, in North Kivu province.  UNHCR/Natalia Micevic

Gabriel, 43, lives in Beni's Madiabuana neighbourhood. He fled violence twice before recently settling in the Madiabuana neighbourhood of Beni with his family. They host eight internally displaced families in the annex of the house they rent.  UNHCR/Natalia Micevic

Since October 2017, intense conflict has left populations living in a state of siege, with reports of increased human rights violations and restricted humanitarian access. It is estimated that half a million people have been driven from their homes in the province since January alone.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today warned of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Beni Territory  which has a population of 1.3 million people. Conditions have been aggravated by an outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has killed dozens of people in recent weeks.

"The civilian population has been caught for months in an armed conflict that shows no signs of letting up.

UNHCR is extremely worried about the situation in and around Beni, where the civilian population has been caught for months in an armed conflict that shows no signs of letting up, said Marie-Helene Verney, UNHCRs Head of sub-office in Goma, North Kivu.

Verney added that UNHCR is doing everything possible to work with host communities, the displaced and local authorities, to find solutions for the crisis.

Among the recently displaced is Emeria, who fled her home town of Makembi after armed groups attacked. Now living in precarious conditions, she recalls simpler days living in the forest which has sustained her community for centuries.

See also: Congolese children forced into cheap labour as displacement crisis worsens

We were never hungry, we could eat anything we wanted and we had our fields, she said. But now we dont dare return, it is too dangerous. The enemy is living there.

Some seeking safety in Beni live in schools and other public buildings, while others have been taken in by host families. Among them is that of Gabriel, 43, who was himself displaced twice before settling in Benis Madiabuana area with his wife and children. They now host eight displaced families. Despite the insecurity, they risk their lives going to the fields in search of food.

Finding food is the biggest challenge for us so I go to the fields nearby only when its safe, he said. I went this morning but I heard gunshots and fled.

Like others swept up in the violence, he longs for peace.

In this war, I cant really have any hope, said Gabriel. The only thing we need is peace, nothing else.

Your support is urgently needed to help the children, women and men uprooted by conflict in DRC. Please give now.
Burundian refugees and members of the host community come together once a week at a market outside Nduta camp, Tanzania.  UNHCR/Georgina Goodwin

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are urging Tanzania to ensure Burundian refugee returns are voluntary and based on individual choices  in keeping with the countrys longstanding history of generosity toward those fleeing persecution, and in line with its international obligations.

UNHCR reiterates that every refugee must have the freedom to decide on when to return and the decision be based on a free and informed choice.

It is crucial not to pressure Burundian refugees directly or indirectly to influence their decision on return, said UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk. Refugees need to have a meaningful choice and the decision to return must be voluntary, based on facts and ground realities.

Tanzania hosts more than 250,000 refugees from Burundi, most of whom fled following political upheaval there in 2015.

UNHCRs position was conveyed during a recent visit to Tanzania by the Assistant High Commissioner last week, after recent statements and actions by local government officials in Tanzania encouraging Burundian refugees to return home, and indicating the eventual closure of refugee camps in the country.

UNHCRs Turk welcomed the assurances given by Tanzania authorities to uphold international obligations to safeguard refugee rights inside the country and to ensure that all refugee returns are voluntary, and carried out safely and with dignity.

UNHCR is not promoting returns to Burundi at this stage, but we continue to work with the governments of Burundi and host countries, including Tanzania, to assist those who feel now is the time for them to return home, he added.

Some 44,000 Burundian refugees have so far been assisted to repatriate voluntarily to Burundi, citing improved overall security in the country, desires to reoccupy farmland, and to reunify with family. Some returnees also say that they feel the conditions at home, however challenging, will be better than what they are experiencing as refugees.

In the meantime, an average of 1,000 refugees continue to arrive to neighbouring countries each month, citing insecurity, harassment, and fear. UNHCR urges all governments in the region to maintain open borders for asylum seekers from Burundi and to continue to provide international protection for those who need it.

UNHCR is also calling on the international community to step up support to ensure that pressing humanitarian needs are addressed for the hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees who remain in exile. More funding is also urgently needed to support reintegration programs for refugees choosing to return. The Burundi situation is one of the least funded in the world. Currently only 12 per cent of the USD391 million required by UNHCR and partners this year has been received.

For the nearly 400,000 Burundian refugees in the region, the lack of funding has resulted in food ration cuts, lack of proper shelter, and overcrowded classrooms with some children unable to attend school at all.

Media contacts:
Armenias Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) political party announced today that it will field candidates in the September 23 Yerevan Municipal Council election and that party vice president Mher Shahgeldyan will head its ticket.

The following political parties have already registered for the election - Heritage, Civil Contract, Yerkir Tsirani, Prosperous Armenia, Gala, and an alliance to be formed by the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) and Lousavor Hayastan (Enlightened Armenia) parties

Once formed, the council will then elect a new Yerevan mayor, from the list of candidates heading each ticket, to replace Taron Margaryan who resigned in July.
Nepal: Pardoned convict rapes, kills teen

Kathmandu, Aug 24 (UNI) A murder convict who was pardoned and released from prison for good conduct by Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in June, allegedly raped and murdered a teenage girl last month, according to a report in The Kathmandu Post.

Dilip Singh Bista, who had spent 10 years in jail for committing a murder, was released on the recommendation of Nepals Cabinet. He was released in early June, and is suspected by police of having raped and murdered a teenage girl in western Nepals Kanchanpur district on July 26.

Despite several public protests, on Nepals Republic Day on May 29, President Bhandari had pardoned at least 1,000 prisoners, including convicts, undertrial prisoners and a Maoist lawmaker, Balakrishna Dhungel, sentenced to a life term for murder.
Former Maha Home Minister Anil Deshmukh appears before ED in money laundering case 01 Nov 2021 | 1:34 PM Mumbai, Nov 1 (UNI) Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here for questioning in a money laundering case. see more..

Mehbooba put under house arrest: PDP 01 Nov 2021 | 1:31 PM Srinagar, Nov 1 (UNI) Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti was on Monday put under house arrest ahead of her visit to a family of a victim killed in crossfire between terrorists and security forces in Anantnag, a party leader said on Monday. see more..

Bandhan Bank appointed as RBIs Agency Bank 01 Nov 2021 | 1:22 PM Kolkata, Nov 1 (UNI) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has authorised Bandhan Bank as an Agency Bank of the RBI for undertaking Government business. see more..

Odisha reports 316 new cases in past 24 hours, Daily TPR dips to 0 49 pc 01 Nov 2021 | 1:21 PM Bhubaneswar, Nov 01 (UNI) The daily positivity rate in Odisha further dipped to 0.49 per cent as out of 64,651 tests conducted in the past 24 hours,316 tested covid positive taking the tally in the state to 10,41,773. see more..
Armenia International Airports CJSC, a company owned by Argentine businessman Eduardo Eurnekian, says it will spend AMD 1.5 billion to totally refurbish the tarmac of Gyumri Airport.

The 22,000 square meter tarmac hasnt been renovated since 1986.

The company says the tarmac will meet all international standards, thus becoming an additional stimulus to attract new airlines to service the airport in Armenias second largest city.
UW Art Museum to Host Lunchtime Conversations with Curators This Fall

The University of Wyoming Art Museum will host a series of gallery walk-through events the first Wednesday of each month during UWs fall semester from 12:10-12:50 p.m.

Lunchtime Conversations with Curators is an informal gallery walk-through with museum curators and special guests that focuses on one of the exhibitions on view in the museum. Visitors are encouraged to continue the conversation after the in-gallery session. The monthly events are free and open to the public.

The Sept. 5 event will feature Representations of Identity and the American Dream, with special guests Forward Wyoming and Pokes Vote. The conversation will be led by Jandey Shackelford and Cameron Green, student curators from the UW Art Museum. The exhibition will be on view Sept. 4-Nov. 24.

The Oct. 3 gallery walk-through will spotlight Indigenous Mapping: Collecting Truths, with special guest Melanie Yazzie, artist, exhibition organizer and professor of printmaking at the University of Colorado-Boulder. The exhibition will open Sept. 4 and will be on display through March 23, 2019.

The Nov. 7 event will feature Tashi Norbu: Live Painting, with special guest Tashi Norbu, a traditional Tibetan thangka painter. Norbu has Belgian citizenship, and lives and works in the Netherlands. The exhibition will open Nov. 3 and run through July 27, 2019.

Dec. 5 is a special Directors Choice gallery walk-through with Marianne Eileen Wardle, director of the UW Art Museum. The event will feature highlights from the UW Art Museums permanent collection.

Discussions will be casual and informal, and will include stories behind the art. Lunch will be provided following each gallery walk-through in the UW Art Museums Resource Room.

For more information, call the UW Art Museum at (307) 766-6622, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum, or follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram.

Through its Museum as Classroom approach, the UW Art Museum places art at the center of learning for all ages. Located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Drive in Laramie, the museum is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday hours are extended to 7 p.m. February through April and September through November. Admission is free.
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The European Parliament on February 12 ratified the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) as well as the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

The EVIPA is still subject to EU member ratification procedures and will likely enter force after the EVFTA is implemented.

The EVIPA aims to protect investors and investments in the EU and Vietnam and ensures they will be given fair treatment.

The European Parliament on February 12 ratified the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). On the same day, the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) was also approved marking a historic step in Vietnam-EU trade relations.

The EVIPA will still require EU member ratification procedures and will likely enter force after the EVFTA comes into effect.

Protecting investors

An Investment Protection Agreement (IPA), part of a free trade agreement (FTA), is an agreement between two or more countries, which aims to protect investors and investments in a host country. It ensures that they will be accorded fair treatment and will not be discriminated against.

Usually, when there is a dispute between an investor and a host country, investors can reach out to the World Bankss International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) or other similar tribunals permitted under their respective FTA for resolution.

In the case of EVFTA, both parties have agreed to set up a permanent court, referred to as the Tribunal to handle such issues. This will not only protect investors and their investments but also protect a countrys right to oversee the implementation of public policies. In addition, the court system will be an independent dispute resolution system.

EU Vietnam tribunal system

Under the EVFTA, a permanent dispute resolution system will be set up that will handle disputes related to the investment protection provisions in the FTA, such as protection against expropriation without compensation.

Domestic courts will not be allowed to intervene or question the decision of the tribunals to ensure transparency and fair treatment.

Members

According to the EVFTA, the tribunal will comprise of nine members. The EU and Vietnam will each appoint three members, while the remaining three members will be appointed from a third country.

Court hearing process

All cases will be heard by a three-member team from the tribunal, with the EU, Vietnam, and a third country represented equally. The three members will be selected by the President of the Tribunal, with one condition that the chair of the group belongs to the third country, and not the EU or Vietnam.

Appeals

According to the EVFTA, a claimant can appeal the decision of the tribunal to a permanent appeal tribunal within 90 days under numerous grounds such as errors of law, errors of fact, and procedural unfairness of the tribunals decision.

If not appealed within 90 days, the decision of the tribunal will be deemed as final. The appeal tribunal will consist of six members, two each from the EU and Vietnam, and remaining two from a third country.

Alternative dispute resolution

Before reaching out to the tribunal, a claimant can request for a consultation or mediation. Consultations will be held either in Hanoi, Brussels, or the capital of a member state of the EU concerned. It can also be conducted through video conference or in any other location, as agreed upon by the involved parties.

In the case of mediation, a mediator is appointed by agreement of the disputing parties and can be a member of the tribunal.

If a dispute claim is not settled within 90 days of the submission of the request for consultations, a claimant can send a notice of intent to submit a claim. If a dispute is still not resolved within three months from the submission of the notice of intent to submit a claim or 6 months from the submission of the request for consultations, they can forward their claim to the tribunal.

However, a claimant cannot submit a claim to the tribunal in case the claim is already pending before any other domestic or international tribunal or court.

Trademarks

The EVFTA has introduced the international standard of genuine use which has been absent from Vietnams IP laws. The genuine use standards state that a trademark is used (real or actual) within the five-year period after registration and is liable to termination if not used within that time period. Vietnamese law at the moment is vague on this, though authorities are expected to issue further guidelines on genuine use of a trademark.

The EVFTA also states that a trademark can be the subject of termination if after registering, the trademark becomes inactive and subsequently common or generic.

Geographical indications

As per the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or reputation that are due to that origin. To function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place, thus giving a clear link between the product and its original place of production. Under the EVFTA, Vietnam will protect more than 169 GIs, while the EU will protect 39 of Vietnams without having to go through the registration process. The agreement also allows some GIs such as Gorgonzola and Champagne in Vietnam as long as there is actual commercial use.

Patents

As per the EVFTA, parties will develop patent registration procedures using the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) as a reference. In addition, both countries will compensate patent owners for delays in authorization.

Design

Vietnam has implemented the Hague Agreement on international registration of designs, which will protect designs for at least 15 years. In addition, Vietnam will also protect partial designs as per the current  whole design. For complex products, only designs of the visible component of the product are protected under the EVFTA.

Takeaways

Vietnam is the EUs second largest trading partner in ASEAN, surpassing regional rivals Indonesia and Thailand in recent years.

The trade agreement, which both parties aim to bring into effect by 2020, will eliminate over 99 percent of the tariffs. As per the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the FTA is expected to help increase Vietnams GDP by 4.6 percent and its exports to the EU by 42.7 percent by 2025. While the European Commission has forecast the EUs GDP to increase by US$29.5 billion by 2035.

As COVID-19 weakens global demand, Vietnam businesses are eyeing EU exports with the EVFTA gaining greater significance. With exports to China experiencing less demand  a large market for Vietnam, the EVFTA can allow for significant opportunities for Vietnam businesses.

However, with the EU on lockdown, Vietnam is keeping a close watch on developments and the impact on trade. Even during the pandemic, Vietnam has continued to maintain a strong bilateral relationship with EU countries while it manages the pandemic at home.

Note: This article was first published in August 2018 and has been updated to include the latest developments.
Vietnam has tightened control over the imports of scrap such as plastic, paper, and metals. With China banning imports of various types of scrap metal and waste products, imports into Vietnam has increased rapidly since 2017. Going forward, the Vietnamese government will only issue import licenses if the importers can prove that their shipments meet the environmental standards and they have a demand and capacity to process the scrap as raw materials for their production activities.

Inspections

The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MoNRE) has set up an inspection department that is responsible for verifying scrap imports and is also authorized to revoke business licenses and permits in case the scrap imports do not meet environmental standards, lacks information about the origin, or exceeds import quotas. MoNRE is working closely with the Minister of Industry and Trade to ensure effective management and use of scrap imports.

The inspections have already started and the relevant government departments will submit their final reports to the Prime Minister by October. Meanwhile, new licenses for scrap import activities will not be granted, except in cases where an importer can ensure that it meets the environmental standards and that they have a requirement and capability to process the scrap.

They are also planning on restricting temporary import and re-export of certain categories of scrap in the near future. Currently, around 900 firms in Vietnam are involved in the import of paper, plastic, and metal scrap which are used as raw materials for production.

Increase in scrap imports

For decades, China was one of the largest importers of waste and scrap materials. However, in the last few years, it has restricted imports on various types of waste and scrap material to reduce pollution. This has led to shipments being diverted to countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia, causing congestion at major ports.

In 2017, the total volume of scrap imported in Vietnam including iron, steel, plastics, and paper was twice that of 2016. Plastic scrap import during the first five months of 2018, is almost double compared to the total volume of imports in 2017. The rapid growth in imports has led to congestion in all the major ports in Vietnam, with around 6,000 containers stuck in Cat Lai Port and Hai Phong Port.

Apart from port congestion and environmental concerns, the major reasons for restricting imports and increasing inspections include the growing use of false permits, mislabeling of imports, and illegal imports.

Industry impact

With the government restricting imports and increasing inspections, industries such as plastic, paper, and steel which are highly dependent on scrap imports will face a bigger impact than other industries.

Paper

According to the new regulations, imported scrap paper will be inspected by two government agencies, the inspection agency under MoNRE and the Customs Inspection Agency to ensure that imports meet the environmental standards.

Delays due to inspections and restrictions have already led to losses of around VND 30 billion (US$ 1.3 billion) from June 26 to July 10 for importers.

Steel

The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) has requested the government to allow steel producers to allow annual imports of 1.9 million tonnes of scrap for their industry. In addition, they have also proposed to extend licenses of existing importers if they meet the environmental standards.

The association has highlighted the fact that steel produced from steel and iron scrap is an environmentally friendly process and produces only a fifth of the emissions compared to iron ore. Furthermore, as the domestic supply of metal scrap only meets 40 percent of the industry demand, imports are a major source for steel producers.

Plastic

Since June 25th, 2018, the government has banned containers of imported plastic scrap. This ban is expected to continue till October 15th. The government is in the process of inspecting and verifying import documents of existing containers that are stuck in ports. Around 5,000 containers of plastic scrap are stuck at Vietnamese ports for the last two months.

According to the new regulations, only plastic scrap with less than two percent impurity or clean plastic can be imported into Vietnam. However, plastic scrap importers have asked for further clarity on what constitutes as clean plastic or impurities. Proving that a shipment of plastic scrap has less than two percent impurity is not feasible for importers.

The plastic industry, which depends on imported plastic scrap for 80 percent of its productions due to the low quality of domestic plastic scrap, will face huge losses if the government is unable to speed up inspections, provide clarity about its regulations, and restart imports.

Plastics is one of the fastest growing industries in Vietnam, growing annually by 15 to 20 percent in the last decade. In just the first five months of 2018, plastic scrap imports increased by 200 percent compared to the total shipments in 2017.

Going forward, to control the growth in scrap imports and reduce the impact on industries, the government agencies not only need to work closely amongst themselves but also with industries to ensure a smoother transition towards a more efficient and cost-effective management of scrap imports.
Angelia Ong seeks Vietnamese representative for Miss Earth 2018, 2019

Angelia Ong will join the judging panel for the Leading stars Project in the northern region on August 26, alongside Miss Global 2017 Barbara Vitorelli, Mister Manhunt International 2017 Truong Ngoc Tinh, Miss Vietnam Heritage Global 2016 Tran Thi Thu Ngan and Miss Vietnam 1994 Thu Thuy.

Also at the August 26 casting, the judge will select the first Vietnamese representative to attend the Super Model International contest on September 3 in Thailand, and 6 Vietnamese representatives to take part in the New York couture fashion week.

The judges aim to recruit 20 faces at the August 26 casting session, half of them will prepare for global beauty contests this year, while the rest will prepare for contests in 2019.

The organizing board has so far received 200 profiles from people in Hanoi who wish to join the August 26 casting session.
It's not ridiculous to discuss impeaching President Trump, though, he said. "It's too soon."

WASHINGTON DC - Illinois US Senator Dick Durbin agreed to meet with President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Thursday afternoon. After the meeting, Durbin expressed concern to National Public Radio that he's not content with Kavanaugh's answers about holding an executive accountable, and withholding official opinions Kavanaugh wrote when he served on George W. Bush's staff.

Durbin was asked if he agreed with Democrats suggesting the Kavanaugh hearings scheduled to begin September 4th should be protested.

From NPR:

CORNISH: Chairman Grassley certainly plans to move forward. Would you boycott the hearings if they do? DURBIN: I think that's a mistake. I really believe that we should be part of the hearings to ask questions. And the issue, which I raised repeatedly with Judge Kavanaugh and would raise with the American people - why? Why has this administration decided that his 35 months serving in the White House as staff secretary to the president of the United States should not be examined? The voluminous documents that were produced during that period of time touch every major issue in America. The same issues... CORNISH: But there's not much more you can do to stall, right? I mean, if Chairman Grassley is going forward, it just seems like this thing is not going to be delayed, and you guys are powerless to stop it. DURBIN: It's true. We're a vote short. And we're in the minority. That's what elections are all about. And if Chuck Grassley, who is a friend, decides to take a different course than we ever have on a Supreme Court nominee, there's isn't much we can do without some Republican help.

And a short discussion on the "i" word -

CORNISH: Up until this point, leaders like Senator Schumer and Nancy Pelosi in the House have essentially discouraged talk of impeachment - right? - especially heading into the midterm elections. But the news this week has brought that back to the forefront. What is your response to Democrats who say, look; we should be talking about this; this should be a goal for the party? DURBIN: Put this into constitutional and historical perspective. This may be the most serious penalty imposed by the Constitution - the removal of an executive by the congressional or legislative branch of the government. It has never been done in the course of our history. And as a consequence, we ought to take this extremely seriously. I don't believe people who use the term impeachment without serious thought really serve our country. The American people expect us to look at this honestly, soberly and, I hope, on a bipartisan basis. And it's way too soon to do that.

The rest of Durbin's comments on Kavanaugh on NPR
illustration photo

Nation-wide oversupply

Condotels first appeared in Vietnam a few years ago, but this real estate segment is developing strongly and receiving attention from both domestic and foreign investors.

According to the Vietnam Association of Real Estate Brokers, it is only since 2017 that there has been a boom in the supply of properties and condotel resort transactions. These are concentrated in the coastal areas, including Khanh Hoa, Danang, and Phu Quoc. There are also transactions in some developing tourist provinces such as Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa. Some 23,000 condotel units have been built in Vietnam over the last two years, while around 29,000 more units are expected to hit the market by 2019. Condotel consumption, however, has not been as positive as expected. Only 33 per cent of new condotels were sold in 2017, just half the number reported in 2016. In the first half of 2018, the segment offered a total of 2,100 units to the market, but only 850 units were sold.

The surplus is increasing all around the market. Topping the high surplus list is Danang with 91 per cent, followed by the tourism hotspots of Phu Quoc Island and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau each with around 60 per cent of units unsold. The provinces of Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa also have large surpluses, with 22 and 26 per cent unsold, respectively.

Michael Piro, COO of Indochina Capital, said that despite the surplus, Vietnam has tremendous opportunities for condotel development, but concerns are still raised over the speed in which it is progressing  meaning it is happening too quickly.

The key driver for success and sustainability in this market is transparency. Developers need to be very open with buyers to make sure they are clear on both the risks associated with these types of purchases and the rewards, Piro said.

Lack of legal framework

The current laws in Vietnam do not have comprehensive regulations regarding ownership rights and the management of condotels, which is a relatively new type of real estate in the domestic market.

Under the current Land Law, the maximum term for land allocation or lease for developers investing in projects is 50 years. Condotels are subject to regulations on terms of land use, while purely residential projects are not. Investors buying condotels will be given a certificate of ownership and land use rights without having to form housing units for a certain time in accordance with the land use terms of the project. As stipulated by the law, an extension may be granted at the end of the land-use term.

Meanwhile, under the Law on Tourism, a condotel is classified as a hotel project; therefore, it will not be granted a land-use certificate. In fact, due to unclear mechanisms, most condotel buyers have not been granted land-use rights and housing ownership certificates.

In Vietnam, there is still a lack of legal framework for most hybrid property types like office-tels, condotels, and home-tels. Since business environment and transparency are major factors affecting investment decisions, the shortage of a legal framework could easily lead to disputes between the buyers and the sellers.

High yield  balloon promises

Nguyen Manh Ha, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, said that some condotel investors could not even keep their promises on yield to buyers and investors.

High yield is one of the greatest attractions for buyers. However, it is risky to set yield too high, with some developers setting it at 12-15 per cent. High yield depends on many factors, which not every project can achieve, Ha said.

Piro from Indochina Capital added that some developers are guaranteeing yields from 8-12 per cent for anywhere between eight and 10 years.

These high guarantees are unique to the Vietnamese condotel market  no one in the world is offering returns on this level, which makes Vietnam a bit of an outlier in that sense  these returns are clearly quite aggressive, Piro said. I know from owning, running, and managing hotels that it is very difficult in the first four years of operation to be able to generate these types of returns organically, so I think it is really a question of cash management.

Piro expressed his belief that over the next years, some developers will no longer be able to honour the commitments they made when they originally sold the units.

Turbulences may await

In face of these concerns, some local authorities have considered temporarily suspending licences for new condotel projects. However, the move is said to be having a big impact on the domestic real estate market. According to Mauro Gasparotti, director of Savills Hotels Asia-Pacific, it is uncertain how much this decision will impact the market. However, it will definitely limit the new supply of condotels and therefore favour resort and hotel development instead. In addition, when developers are forced to shift away from condotels, they will put more effort into innovating and embracing new hospitality concepts and pay more attention to future operational performance, Gasparotti said.

Meanwhile, Kai Marcus Schroter, general director of HTM Management Consultancy, commented that in the current circumstances, the halt in the granting of licences for new projects seems to be a sensible move. However, authorities are once more handling matters reactively rather than foreseeing potential issues and being proactive.

A halt decision will be difficult and even damaging. It will not only have a negative effect on project owners, but also impact the overall investment environment and infrastructure development in Vietnam. But it seems the government does not have much of a choice if it is to resolve the current issues. It is a choice of the lesser evil. As usual, the issue is now how to go sensibly forward with this, Schroter said.

VIR also contacted other condotel developers, however, the general answer was that the issue is very sensitive and it is not the time for them to comment on it. Everything remains unclear and we are hoping for a brighter future for condotels when a legal framework is fully implemented, said a developer of many condotel projects.

That said, the lack of proper guidance for developers, combined with product complexity, has caused some first-time developers to launch poorly planned projects, which later caused serious risks for both the buyers and the destinations.

However, a large number of these products mainly focus on providing rooms rather than truly bringing value to the destination with innovative and well-designed projects.
Dekalb and doctors from universities offering free medical care

Working together for the health of northern farmers

Arriving in the Northern mountainous region in the middle of the rainy season, the free medical programme administered by doctors (associate professors, doctors, and leading physicians) from Hanoi Medical University, was Dekalb Vietnams gift to the impoverished families in Son La who were the victims of a natural disaster. This also demonstrated the companys strong commitment to improving the living standards of farmers, from their livelihood to their health.

As the lead organiser of the programme, Aruna Rachakonda, director in chief of Dekalb Vietnam, shares, Although we planned more than 1 mission during this visit, thanks to the great efforts and participation of members from Hanoi Medical University and Vietnam National University of Agriculture, the team was able to pull it off.

Within two days, we not only provided medical services to almost 600 farmers in Son La to keep with our commitment to improve their living standards, but also successfully completed the field trip to the high-quality and high-nutrition corn production model. We hope that the free medical programme will help improve the health of Northern farmers so that they can maintain stable production, obtain more profit, and cultivate more bountiful harvests, Rachakonda added.

Nguyen Van Khuong, head of the medical team from Hanoi Medical University, said, This trip by more than 30 doctors from Hanoi Medical University is aimed towards one common goalto provide medical services and advice to Northern farmers. We wish you all good health so that you may better resume production and garner wealth for your families and our society.

Smiles despite heavy storms

Informed in advance about the free medical programme schedule by the provincial authorities, Son La farmers were present at the programme site from early on. Many three-generation families participated, including the elderly who required a translator. Although the temporary infirmary was somewhat lacking in equipment compared to central hospitals, the teams doctors worked tirelessly to care for each patient.

Vi Thi Chinh, a resident in Bo Sap village, Long Sap district, who was transported to the site by Dekalb Vietnams cars, reported, I thought Dekalb only sold corn seeds; I did not think that they would bring doctors here to treat us. I have been planting Dekalb corn all these years and was able to save money, buy a motorbike and a fridgeour lives are so much better. Today, we were so excited to be transported by car to get medical services and be given medication. I hope the company will organise more programmes like these for us farmers, since so many of us are ill but unable to travel or pay for treatment.

Just as the amiable farmer wishes, Dekalb Vietnam and the team from Hanoi Medical University hope to have more opportunities such as this to visit impoverished communities and support people to improve their livelihoods.

Combining meaningful and practical activities

Within the perimeters of the programme, the team of doctors and students from Hanoi Medical University, along with teachers and students from Vietnam National University of Agriculture, was given the opportunity to visit the high-quality, highly efficient, and nutritious corn production model. The team was able to personally learn about the research, development, and introduction processes in manufacturing agricultural products, which helps farmers increase their productivity and provide plentiful resources to communities. The future generation of agriculture researchers was also able to learn from one another about safe food production from the farm to the table.

Talking about her experiences after a day of providing healthcare to the people of the north, Khanh Linh, a resident doctor at Hanoi Medical University, said, The free healthcare programme for farmers by Dekalb Vietnam is a truly meaningful and practical programme designed to improve the health of rural communities, especially ethnic groups in Moc Chau.

Through the programme, people not only receive preliminary treatment from doctors, but also instructions on treating common illnesses. We also gave out free medication, thus contributing to the general health of farmers. I propose that agricultural companies get more involved in organising events such as this to help farmers not only with their crops and production technique, but also with their health. That is, in my opinion, the way to develop sustainable agriculture.
Shinhan Bank Vietnam has 30 branches and transaction offices in Vietnam. - VNA/VNS Photo

At a recent merger and acquisition (M&A) forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said that in restructuring of the countrys banking industry, the Government plans not to license any more wholly foreign-owned banks in Vietnam, instead encouraging foreign banks to acquire domestic banks.

According to Hue, the Government encouraged the M&A of small-sized banks into large-sized ones as the number of banks in Vietnam is still large and a reduction is needed to enhance the governance of domestic banks.

Financial and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu agreed with the Governments plan, saying that with the advantages of an extensive network and experience in the international market, foreign banks would focus not only on providing services for foreign direct investment (FDI) firms or services related to international payment, but also rapidly expanding to consumer and retail lending segments. The expansion will create stiff competition between domestic and foreign banks.

Thus, it was better to encourage foreign banks to merge with domestic peers instead of setting up branches, Hieu said, adding it could help build a healthy banking system if done well and controlled properly.

Besides not establishing more banks, M&As were also in line with the State Bank of Vietnams policy of reducing the number of domestic banks and increasing their competitiveness, Hieu said.

Echoing Hieu, economist Nguyen Minh Phong said if the Government allowed wholly foreign-owned banks in the country to set up easily, it would be the same as allowing massive imports of goods into the Vietnamese market without controls. As foreign banks begin to dominate the local financial market, Vietnamese banks will be increasingly vulnerable.

It would be very dangerous if foreign firms control the domestic financial system, said Phong.

Phan Minh Ngoc, director of Intelligence Service Partners (Singapore) told theleader.vn that the plan to tighten rules on new foreign banks may emerge due to the extremely large number of commercial banks.

The State would like to restructure and merge these banks to reduce the number of banks in the system.

Even though limiting the number of new wholly foreign-owned banks in Vietnam could lessen the competitiveness of the market and decrease investment efficiency, it could also increase the stability of the banking system, he said.

Fierce competition

Currently, there are more than 50 foreign credit institutions operating in Vietnam, including nine wholly foreign-owned banks.

Foreign banks in Vietnam have been expanding their transaction networks and increasing their charter capital, meaning they are willing to compete with local banks to gain market share and will continue to create fierce competition in the local financial market. Koreas Shinhan Bank Vietnam for example established four additional branches and transaction offices in Hanoi and HCM City in May, raising its total to 30 nationwide.

Some foreign banks have expressed great ambitions in the Vietnamese market, especially in retail banking.

Pham Hong Hai, General Director of HSBC Vietnam told Phap luat thanh pho Ho Chi Minh (HCM City Law) newspaper that his bank was focusing on retail finance and corporate finance.

On long-term development strategy, we will promote the development of digital technology platforms that help optimise and simplify the financial life of our customers, Hai said.

As for domestic banks, though admitting reputation, experience, management level and financial health were the competitive advantages of foreign banks, Saigon Commercial Banks Finance Director Hoang Minh Hoang said foreign banks could not meet high demand for credit and diverse financial products due to their small scale of operations.

Besides, domestic banks had advantages than foreign banks in better understanding the culture and tastes of domestic consumers, Hoang said, believing that foreign banks have not really pressured domestic banks though they are increasing in quantity.
Hang Bac street heretofore had three different trades including silver casting, jewelery and currency exchange

Hang Bac street under the Le dynasty belonged to Dong Cac guild, was also the setting of Meo Lua (A trick), a short story from Vu Trung Tuy But (Collection Written on Rainy Days) by scholar Pham Dinh Ho (1768 - 1839). The story proclaims that Dong Lac guild in the 18th century was trading center of silver ingots. In the early 19th century, the street ran through two villages that were Dong Tho (the eastern part) and Dung Han (the western part), Huu Tuc canton, Tho Xuong district. By the mid-19th century, these two villages merged into one and took the name of Dong Tho village (Huu Tuc, the name of the canton was also changed to Dong Tho).

In the French colonial period, this street was called the Street of Silver Exchangers (rue des Changeurs). The current name Hang Bac has been formalized since the August Revolution in 1932.

Hang Bac street heretofore had three different trades including silver casting, jewelry and currency exchange. The silver casters were from Trau Khe village (present-day Binh Giang district, Hai Duong province). Legend has it that under the reign of Le Thanh Tong (1460-1497), the Minister of Personnel, Luu Xuan Tin, was granted royal permission to set up a silver ingot factory in the citadel. Tin brought craftsmen from his home village to work in the factory. Since then, the villagers from Trau Khes five hamlets settled in Hang Bac Street and worked at silver casting Trang or workshop at present-day No.58 Hang Bac street. Trau Khe villagers in Hanoi built two communal houses to worship their patron saints (the founder of their craft) which are the Upper communal house or Truong communal house located at No. 50 Hang Bac street and the Lower communal house or Kim Ngan communal house located at No.42 Hang Bac street.

The jewelry making combines three different crafts, namely the carving to engraves figures, patterns on jewels or silverware; the silversmith to drag hot melted silver as a thread until it is as thin as a strand of hair; and the smoothing to polish products.

Besides those from Trau Khe, jewelers from Dinh Cong Thuong village (present-day Hoang Mai district, Hanoi) also settled in Hang Bac street.

Legend has it that under in the King Ly Nam Des reign, three brothers of the Tran family living in the village of Dinh Cong Thuong learned the jewelry making craft by chance and taught it to the villagers.

Dinh Cong Thuong jewelers migrating to Thang Long also settled in Hang Bac street after Trau Khe silver casters, thus their houses were built on the street section which is Hang Bo street today. They also set up a temple honoring their craft founders (three brothers of the Tran family) in Hang Bo street.

There are another jewelry making village named Dong Sam in Kien Xuong district of Thai Binh province where dwellers also migrated to Hang Bac Street. Here, they also did carving, silversmith and specialized in carving large silver items such as urn, precious vessel, betel pot, tray, silver kitchenwere while Dinh Cong workers mainly make small jewelry such as earrings, bracelet, necklet and ring.

Theres one building in Hang Bac street which is the pride of the capitals war history. It is the Golden Bell Theater at No. 72 where the suicide squad of Vietnams Army swore to fight to the death during the most fierce days of the anti-French resistance, in the morning of January 14, 1947.
KFC and Lotteria are popular, but blame high overhead costs for their millions of dollars in losses over the past few years , Photo: Dung Minh

Giants report business losses

Active in Vietnam since the 1990s with a 26-per-cent annual growth rate, KFC has expanded its scale to 140 stores across the country and holds 60 per cent of Vietnams fried chicken market. Lotteria, entering the country since 2004, has also quickly cemented its position holding 60-70 per cent of the hamburger and sandwich market with 220 stores nationwide.

Taking advantage of being fast food pioneers and offering acceptable priced dishes, good service, and clean spaces, KFC and Lotteria have continued to hold their positions in the market, despite new players, including McDonalds, Jollibee, and Burger King, all competing for customers.

The latest financial reports of KFC and Lotteria recorded revenues of trillions of VND. KFC in 2015 and 2016 reached an average revenue of VND1.2 trillion ($53.1 million) per year with a 10-per-cent gross margin. Lotteria achieved revenues of VND1.46 trillion ($64.6 million) and VND1.3 trillion ($57.52 million) in 2015 and 2016, respectively, with a gross margin of nearly 60 per cent.

According to a 2016 Euromonitor report, the two giants business results are unsurprising because the fast food segment ranked second in the Vietnamese food market. However, more surprisingly, both fast food firms reported business losses despite earning huge revenues in Vietnam.

Attributing the problem to rising costs, Lotteria recorded after-tax losses of VND118 billion ($5.2 million) in 2015 and VND135 billion ($5.97 million) in 2016. KFC also recorded an after-tax loss of VND25 billion ($1.1 million) in 2015 and a tiny after-tax profit of VND15 billion ($663,716) in 2016, blaming the high cost of materials imported from its parent company in the US. High costs for selling and importing materials and machines are common reasons behind firms, especially foreign firms, reporting losses. Even global giant Coca Cola has experienced losses attributed to high overheads, despite a 20-year presence in Vietnam.

With the huge revenues as well as hundreds of stores across the country, the two fast food giants reports of business losses raise questions about the real causes, and about whether rapidly diversifying fast food options are reducing consumer interest in KFC and Lotteria.

Vietnamese fast food market becomes more dynamic

Over the last 10 years, fast food brands have sprung up across Vietnam. It is very easy to find a fast food store with modern furniture, glass doors, and cool air conditioning. The density of fast food outlets is increasing, not only in the commercial centres and big cities, but also in other provinces. Fast food companies have proactively conducted franchising to open more and more new stores in lucrative sites. In addition, the growing footprint of Vietnamese brands has made the fast food market more dynamic.

VietMac rice burgers, after exploding onto the local market in 2012 but then quickly trading down, now have a presence at 300 out of 600 Vinmart+ stores, Vingroups leading retail brand. Besides Vinmart+, its products are available at Shop and Go, Family Mart, Cafe, Fivimart, Aeon, Seika Mart, Minh Hoa Mart, among others.

Besides rice burgers, the proliferation of banh mi store chains such as iBanhmi, Bami Bread, and Banh Mi V+ has become a new fast food wave flooding the domestic market.

With the advantages of reasonable price and traditional taste, which appeal to a large number of Vietnamese people, it is expected that the new players will break the monopoly of the two giants over the next few years to become the first choice for many customers wishing to experience Vietnamese fast food.

In fact, despite Vietnamese fast foods advantages in competing with street foods, its scale is small compared to experienced giants like KFC and Lotteria. For instance, iBanhmi, Bami Bread, and Banh Mi V+ have 2, 16, and 17 stores, respectively. Undiversified dishes and under three years in the market are the main reasons why domestic fast food chain has not yet taken off in the promising market and is not achieving similar revenues to KFC and Lotteria.

Business losses are unbelievable

VIR has observed that even after 8.00P.M, fast food stores are still crowded with customers, mainly teenagers and families with children. Dieu Linh, a customer waiting in line in one Lotteria store in Van Quan in Hanois Hadong district, told VIR that she had waited for over five minutes but still not ordered.

Due to understanding the tastes of children and teenagers, since entering the Vietnamese market, KFC and Lotteria have targeted middle-income families with children and teenagers, and have received huge interests from these customers for their eye-catching promotions and diversified menues.

32-year-old Hong Hanh from Hanois Dong Da district told VIR, My two kids are really keen on fried chicken from KFC and Lotteria. When they get high marks in school, or on birthdays, they want to be taken there to eat. I often to queue up to wait for food at these stores, I think they can make large profits.

Pricing is one of the inevitable factors deciding on the choice of fast food stores. With VND60,000 ($2.65), consumers can enjoy a food and drink set in a clean space and air conditioning in fast food stores, instead of spending at least VND100,000 ($4.42) per person for food in local restaurants and around VND500,000 ($25) per adult in high-end restaurants.

26-year-old Phuong Thao, also from Dong Da district, said, My colleagues and I often order fast food from KFC and Lotteria for lunch or dinner. The dishes do not really suit my appetite, but the prices are reasonable, the space is clean, and the delivery is good. These stores are rather crowded when we come so I can not imagine how their business experience looses.

When studying full day, my classmates and I commonly land in KFC or Lotteria near our university. Each of us spend from VND50,000 ($2.21) for a lunch set of food and drink. They gain a lot of benefits from us, said Viet Hoang, a student of Hanoi Economy University.
US President Donald Trump. (Photo: AFP/Mandel Ngan)

Trump's tweet touched on the overwhelmingly white ownership of farmland in South Africa - one of the most sensitive issues in the country's post-apartheid history.

"South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past," said the government on an official Twitter account.

The foreign ministry said in a statement it would meet officials at the US embassy to challenge the "unfortunate comments", which were "based on false information".

Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu would also speak directly with her American opposite number, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, it added.

Trump wrote overnight: "I have asked Secretary of State ... Pompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers."

His tweet apparently followed a segment on conservative Fox News about Pretoria's plan to change the constitution to speed up expropriation of land without compensation to redress racial imbalances in land ownership.

"'South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers'," said Trump's post, which tagged the show's host, Tucker Carlson, as well as the channel.

In the clip, Carlson painted an apocalyptic picture of the situation accompanied by on-screen graphics warning of the "threat of violence and economic collapse".

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who faces elections in 2019, has claimed expropriating farms without compensating their owners would "undo a grave historical injustice" against the black majority during colonialism and the apartheid era.

- 'Fear mongering by international leaders' -

Even though apartheid ended in 1994, the white community that makes up eight per cent of the population "possess 72 per cent of farms" compared to "only four per cent" in the hands of black people who make up four-fifths of the population, Ramaphosa said.

The stark inequality stems from purchases and seizures during the colonial era that were then enshrined in law during apartheid.

But plans to change the constitution have yet to be approved by parliament, and there is a vigorous debate in South Africa about how land redistribution would work - and whether seizures could be economically damaging as they were in post-independence Zimbabwe.

Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance party which opposes forced expropriation but backs land reform, said "fear mongering by international leaders adds no value".

"The injustices of land dispossession in South Africa can be addressed by our constitution in its current form. We must ensure ownership of land for all South Africans," he tweeted.

Later on Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called for "a peaceful and transparent public debate".

However she added that on "the expropriation of land without compensation, our position is that that would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path".

Earlier this year, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton sparked a diplomatic row after he said that Canberra should give "special attention" to white South African farmers seeking asylum.

The level of violence against farmers and farm workers is hotly contested but the police's latest figures show there were 74 farm murders in 2016-17, according to the Africa Check fact-checking site.

South Africa's leading farming lobby group AgriSA on Thursday praised the government's "commitment to agriculture".

"As a country it's important that we find solutions together - we did this pre-1994 and we can do it again," AgriSA chief executive Omri van Zyl told the SABC broadcaster.

'THE US HAS A LOT OF POWER'

Van Zyl was speaking at a conference on the land issue also attended by Deputy President David Mabuza who warned against "spreading falsehoods".

"We would like to discourage those who are using this sensitive and emotive issue of land to divide us," he said.

But Kallie Kriel, chief executive of AfriForum - a group that advocates for its largely white membership - welcomed Trump's intervention and attacked Ramaphosa for pressing ahead with the policy.

"We need to get international support to put pressure on the South African government to hopefully make them re-visit their stance," he told AFP.

Kriel added that Trump could suspend South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade programme if property rights were not respected.

"The US has a lot of power," he said.

South Africa's rand currency dropped as much as 1.9 per cent against the US dollar following Trump's tweet, according to the Bloomberg news agency, ending four days of gains against the greenback.

Julius Malema, the leader of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party, called Trump a "pathological liar" and told him to "stay out of South Africa's domestic affairs".
Police show up to overlook a debt collection operation in northern Hai Phong City.-Photo nld.com.vn

The proposal was aimed at reining in third-party debt collection services, which recently have been fraught with shady agencies, business violations and problematic use of harassment tactics.

Threats of violence, forceful seizure of property, disruption of businesses and livelihoods, even alliances with criminals to kidnap and blackmail debtors, are just some of the practices that need to be stopped, the finance ministry explained.

[These activities] have caused alarm in the community, obstructed business as well as adversely affected individual reputations and freedoms, it said.

As per the submission for the revised decree on debt collection services, the public security ministry will have the responsibility to direct police of all levels to inspect and monitor the debt collection activities and other related activities, handle public security and order infringements, as well as issue security approvals for law-abiding debt collection companies or withdraw approval from offending ones.

The proposal, if passed successfully, would allow police forces to employ measures deemed necessary to deter and punish wrongdoings in this line of work.

Improved professionalism

Also in the draft decree, the finance ministry has supplemented new requirements to improve the professionalism of the collection services and raise the image of a particular business line commonly perceived as quasi-criminal.

The collectors will be required to wear uniforms, employee name tags and must present to the debtor (and other concerned individuals and organisations) a referral letter from their employing company. The debt collection agencies must provide uniforms for their employees and make public the uniform designs.

Once labour contracts with the debt collectors end, the company must make sure to retrieve the tags.

Violations discovered with regards to these requirements would warrant a fine.

The requirements are supposed to instil a sense of legal duties into the debt collectors, which helps reduce chances of transgressions during their work, the finance ministry said.

The draft revision also asked that the directors of the debt collection companies are university degree holders (in four specific majors, namely economics, management, law, or security) and that the companies must have at least VND2 billion (US$85,750) as minimum charter capital. Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry protested against both of these items and asked for them to be cut from the draft text.

These demands were already floated by the finance ministry back in 2016 but ultimately did not make it to the final approval by the Government, who deemed that only security and order items are necessary.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has led the country's 'feminist diplomacy' policy since taking office in 2014. (Photo: AFP/Jewel Samad)

The manual, published on the government's website in English weeks before a Sep 9 general election, is derived from four years of work to place gender equality at the heart of the country's international agenda.

Sweden began its feminist foreign policy "in response to the discrimination and systematic subordination that still mark the daily lives of countless women and girls around the world", the handbook said.

It added that while gender equality was "an object in itself", it was "essential" in achieving more general government objectives, like peace, security and sustainable development.

Led since its inception in 2014 by Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, its goals include the promotion of economic emancipation, fighting sexual violence and improving women's political participation.

"We were met with mixed reactions including a bunch of giggling in the first days and outspoken resistance," Wallstrom told a news conference in Stockholm.

"We've constantly heard 'these are just pretty words', so this is why (the handbook) is important," the Social Democrat minister added.

'GAINED RESPECT'

Projects cited in the manual include an action plan for five war-torn and post-conflict nations - Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and the Palestinian Territories - building in targets for women's rights and empowerment for the first time.

The handbook highlighted Sweden's work in Congo to promote "positive masculinity" in the country, where it is has run initiatives such as promoting social media debate on men's role in society.

But according to Robert Egnell, a professor at the Swedish Defence University, said it's "too early" to draw any conclusions about whether the feminist approach leads to significant change.

"It is impossible to say if this policy has reduced the number of women dying in childbirth in Africa or benefitted other populations," he told AFP.

But he said it had garnered widespread attention, adding "everyone now knows it's a Swedish foreign policy".

Wallstrom said the strategy has not faced any "backlashes" but rather inspired other countries such as Canada and France to follow suit.

"We've gained respect for these policies and now we have both good examples and a handbook on how to do it," she told AFP in an interview.

"There are so many countries with so much more to do," Wallstrom said, insisting that while the policy is in its early days, it has shown signs of success.

'LONG WAY TO GO'

But critics say a feminist strategy cannot escape the constraints of global politics.

While Sweden defines itself as a "humanitarian superpower", it is also a major exporter of fighter jets and missile batteries.

The Nordic nation didn't vote no - it abstained - when Saudi Arabia was elected into the UN women's rights commission last year.

Stockholm's diplomatic ties with Riyadh were briefly frozen in 2015 after Wallstrom called Saudi Arabia a "dictatorship", an unusually strident term from a Western diplomat dealing with the oil-rich state.

Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Stockholm, but the row was quickly solved after a visit by a Swedish government envoy to Riyadh.

"When these criticisms come from a woman, they have another symbolic significance and arouse strong aftershocks," Egnell said.

Wallstrom said naming Sweden's foreign policy "feminist" had been "a bit provocative".

"In some countries, using the term feminist has a negative connotation, but I think we've been able to demonstrate that this is what it means - that women and men should enjoy the same rights and the same duties and the same opportunities in society," she said.

Wallstrom last year joined the #MeToo campaign and said she had experienced sexual harassment "at the highest level of politics".

The growing influence of women in Sweden's own foreign service is encapsulated by a graphic showing the rapid increase in women in the post of ambassador for the country, from just 10 per cent in 1996 to 40 per cent in 2016.

"But we have a long way to go," Wallstrom said.
Since mid-July, overseas investors have net sold $287.6 million worth of stocks, Photo: Le Toan

Gloomy weather

The net selling trend of foreign investors on the Vietnamese stock market, which started in April, seems to be continuing. Since mid-July, overseas investors have net sold VND6.5 trillion ($287.6 million) worth of listed stocks in Vietnam, with the only exceptions being sudden surges in off-the-board transactions for property developer Vinhomes and digital media firm Yeah1 Group. The selling continued in the first two weeks of August, reaching VND1.5 trillion ($66.4 million) in value.

Investment funds also saw the value of their Vietnam-based holdings heading south. In July, VinaCapitals Vietnam Opportunity Fund decreased by 2.4 per cent in net asset value month-on-month, while Tundra Vietnam Fund dropped by 2.98 per cent and PYN Elite Fund declined by 3.7 per cent.

Although foreign investors only account for 20 per cent of all market transactions in Vietnam, what they do tends to be heavily monitored by local investors. In other words, a great number of Vietnamese investors regard foreigners activities as a sign of how the market will develop in the short term. As a result, the net selling of overseas investors for the past quarter has dampened the mood of local investors, fuelling further drops in the market gauge VN-Index.

Various explanations have been put forward. At the forefront is the escalating US-China trade war, which prompted net selling across various emerging and frontier markets. According to VinaCapital, Vietnam is not immune from this regional trend, although its performance is better than other peers.

Most investors agreed that the 1.5-per-cent devaluation of the VND also affected the net asset value of investment funds, as they have to convert Vietnam-based earnings into dollars or euros. In its latest report, Tundra Fund Vietnam noted that the weakening of the Chinese yuan, a direct effect of the trade war, also sparked investor concerns about a flood of Chinese goods reaching Vietnam, harming domestic businesses.

Some market observers are worried that an ongoing outflow of foreign capital will negatively affect investors sentiment as well as the success rate of upcoming state divestments and initial sales of state-owned enterprise. For example, Viglacera already felt the hit, as 80 million state-owned shares, offered in a public auction last month, went unsold. The primary reason for this unsuccessful sale are bearish market conditions, although Viglacera has been a favoured stock of some foreign investors like Dragon Capital.

Rays of sunshine

Foreign investors say that although they are concerned about external volatilities, they believe in the long-term intrinsic appeal of the Vietnamese stock market, driven by Vietnams stable macro-economics, growing domestic consumption, and a long list of state divestments.

Given Julys market correction, we think the market has already priced in a significant amount of risk and uncertainty with respect to where the trade war will lead, as well as its potential impact on companies earnings here in Vietnam, said VinaCapital.

Many investors are happy about the business performance of their holdings in the first half of 2018. PYN Elite Fund, for example, noted that its top investment Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) reported a 44-per-cent increase in net profits year-on-year for the first half of 2018.

MWG posted excellent results, which is in line with our expectations, noted Mai Le, analyst at PYN Elite Fund. About 15.3 per cent of the $457-million fund is deployed in MWG.

Similarly, VinaCapital is elated that Hoa Phat Groupits largest holdingposted a net profit growth of 27.4 per cent year-on-year.

Tundra Fund noted earnings growth in various sectors, from banking to real estate and materials. It pinpointed Dat Xanh Real Estate Service and Construction Corporation, Saigon Securities Incorporation, and Ho Chi Minh Securities as the top performers.

FMG Funds Vietnam repeated that a period of correction is necessary to blow off some steam from the bubble in the Vietnamese stock market between 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. The fund expressed its certainty that value investors in Vietnam continued to be bullish about domestic stocks. After the release of second quarter results from around 50 holdings (or 70 per cent of our stocks), we are very happy to see that 29 of them are trading at just short of eight times the expected earnings for 2018 and eight of them are trading just below five times the expected 2018 earnings, the fund noted of the mismatch between low market quotes of its holdings and the good business performance.

Overall, Marc Djandji, head of Institutional Sales at Rong Viet Securities, said that analysts remain positive about Vietnams macro-economy despite the US-China trade war. Experts believe that recent headwinds in Vietnams stock market were mostly due to external factors, unrelated to what is happening inside Vietnamincluding companies business performance.
A visitor is discovering the beauty of the stone arch (Photo: VNA)

The arch is believed to have been formed by four volcanoes 250 million years ago. It belongs to An Vinh islet and is approximately 1.5km from the shore.

Travel agencies have begun deploying scuba diving tours to the stone arch, offering visitors a chance to enjoy the stunning underwater beauty.

According to Phan Tran Tan Tai, tour guide of the Volcano Ly Son Dive Centre, visitors will be equipped with with the necessary scuba gear, as well as a wetsuit and diving mask. He also said those who are pregnant or have hypertension or diabetes should not join the tour.

According to divers, the 100m underwater arch is about eight times longer than the onshore one, which is also located on Ly Son island.

The arch surface is covered with abundant colourful marine creatures, enchanting visitors to the scene.

It is the first time Le Tan, a visitor from Quang Ngai city, visited the underwater stone arch.

It was amazing to see all the sea creatures, Tan exclaimed, adding that he was carefully guided by the professional divers.

It is not difficult at all, even for those who are not experienced divers, Tan said.

The archs highest point is 5m from the water surface, and 13m at the lowest point. The deeper visitors dive, the clearer they can see the marine creatures.

It is estimated that hundreds of tourists have already had the pleasure of discovering the arch through the diving tour, launched two months ago.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, a visitor from Kon Tum province found it wonderful to enjoy the natural beauty.

The colourful coral reefs and lively fish make me to want to stay there forever. The underwater world is even more beautiful than I had seen on films, Trang told Vietnam News Agency reporter.

If you visit Ly Son island one day, do not miss the chance to see the underwater world and the stone arch.
JOLIET - While attention was focused on the tragic death of Iowa jogger Mollie Tibbetts this week, an illegal alien that should have been deported six years ago was sentenced to 80 years for raping three Joliet area women joggers.

The attacker confessed to raping three women at various times between 2014 and 2015 as they ran alongside Joliet's I & M Canal. He tied up his victims, threatened using a knife on them, and then left the victims to the elements after the attacks.

Local news sources report the attacker identified himself as Miguel C. Luna, but had several other aliases, including Francisco, Pedro Flores and Enrique Zanchez. Lunas attorney Marzell Richardson wasn't even sure of the man's name. He said he believed Lunas name might be Miguel Luna Castaneda.

The uncertainty frustrated the Will County judge overseeing the sentencing.
The Phu Lac wind power plant in Binh Thuan province

Wind power still lures investment

The Tra Vinh Peoples Committee has recently decided to approve a joint venture including three investors to develop Hiep Thanh wind power project with the total investment of nearly VND3.37 trillion ($149.1 million), which is expected to come into operation by 2020.

The project will be developed on a total area of 2,747ha on coastal alluvial ground in Hiep Thanh commune, Duyen Hai town, with the designed capacity of 78MW, comprising of 18-19 wind turbine towers.

Three investors, including Ecotech Vietnam Renewable Energy Joint Stock Company, Janakuasa Pte., Ltd., and individual investor Lam Minhall partners with a lot of experience in the power industry, will establish Ecotech Tra Vinh Renewable Energy JSC to develop the project.

Ti Chee Liang, president of Janakuasa cum chairman of Ecotech Tra Vinh Renewables JSC, told VIR that the investors have carried out the on-site wind measurement one year ago. Ecotech Tra Vinh set the target to take the project into operation in the second quarter of 2020.

The current feed-in-tariff (FiT) for wind power was set by the government at 7.8 cent per kWh. However, it still takes plenty of time to complete the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with EVN. With experiences gained from the development of Duyen Hai 2 BOT thermal power project, we expect that the negotiation of this PPA will be concluded soon, said Liang.

Liang invited Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Company Limited to be the technical consultant for the wind power project. Peerawat, deputy CEO and chief investment officer of Ratchaburi, stated that the company has extensive experience in the wind power sector, with numerous projects in Thailand, Australia, and several other countries. Peerawat will introduce the latest technology to the Hiep Thanh wind power project.

According to Nguyen Quynh Thien, deputy head of the Tra Vinh Economic Zone Management Board, this is the fourth wind power project to be granted an investment policy in the province.

Previously, Tra Vinh granted investment certificates for three wind power projects with the total designed capacity of 192MW located in Truong Long Hoa commune (Duyen Hai town) and Dong Hai commune (Duyen Hai District).

According to the National Master Plan for Wind Power Development up to 2020 with vision to 2030 as approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Tra Vinh plans to develop six wind power projects in six coastal alluvial grounds in Duyen Hai District and Duyen Hai town, including three located in Truong Long Hoa commune, two in Hiep Thanh commune, and one in Dong Hai commune.

By 2020, the total installed capacity will be around 270MW, the wind power output will be 634 million kWh.

Waiting for better tariffs

As the investor in Duyen Hai 2 BOT thermal power project, Liang also said that the financing arrangement will not be a problem for the investors. In reality, they have developed other projects with much larger scale.

Duyen Hai 2 BOT thermal power project has the total capacity of 1,200MW and total investment capital of about $2.4 billion, out of which the loans are $1.8 billion.

"As requested for such a project, after the PPA was signed in December 2015, the project was required to complete the financing arrangement within 12 months, otherwise it will be repossessed. Although this is a very critical target, in December 2016, the project obtained the finance closure and is under construction now. Therefore, the power generation milestone in late 2020, early 2021 of Duyen Hai 2 BOT thermal power project is secure," said Liang.

However, the current tariff of 7.8 cent per kWh applicable for wind power projects from 2011 until now is not considered attractive by investors, especially when compared to 9.35 cent per kWh for solar power.

Also because of this low FiT, wind power does not encourage investors to proceed with implementation despite many projects being in the planning pipeline. The MoIT last year proposed the government to adjust regulations on a mechanism to support wind power development in Vietnam, in which it proposed increasing the onshore wind power tariff to 8.77 cents per kWh and the offshore wind power tariff to 9.97 cents per kWh.
NEW YORK - Former Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock says the Obama Justice Department went on a fishing expedition to squelch his "rising star" status among Republican political circles, and a way to advance a local US attorney's career. Schock says he has spent nearly $3 million for legal counsel since he resigned from office in 2015.

On Fox News Thursday night, Schock explained what he considers false accusations by the Justice Department.
Bordering on Brexit: Global Britain and the Embers of Empire

A major conference at the Garrison Library next month will analyse different aspects of Brexit in detail. The conference has been organised by Dr Jennifer Ballantine-Perera in conjunction with the University of Copenhagan and the Office of the Deputy Chief Minister.

The three-day symposium is entitled Bordering on Brexit: Global Britain and the Embers of Empire. It will be opened by the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia on Thursday 20 September.

Govt released the following press statement today;

"As the United Kingdom navigates the shoals of Brexit and casts about for alternative futures, it is widely assumed that the imperial past has much to answer for  with Brexit derided variously as a pining for empire (Pankaj Mishra); Englands Last Gasp of Empire (Ben Judah), and the prelude to Empire 2.0.

This is not just a matter of unrepentant Remainers resorting to easy political put-downs, but also registers in the rhetoric of the Brexiteers themselves. The Conservative Governments vision of Global Britain is one of several instances where Britains imperial past has been invoked to inspire confidence in a post-Brexit future, beckoning a divided nation back into the world.

This conference seeks a more critical purchase on the persistence of these imperial analogies.

In recent years, any number of contemporary ills have been attributed variously to the shadow, hangover or blowback of empire. The recent Windrush immigration furore; disputes over UK military deployments abroad and the recurring ructions over the Falkland Islands are routinely explained by one metaphor or another of this type, while the issue of Scottish independence has long been associated with a species of unfinished colonial business, pointing to a deeper process of national disintegration.

In education curricula, the arts, museums, economic performance, immigration policy and a host of other areas, Britains perceived failure to divest itself of worldly expectations is frequently cited, though rarely established beyond vague gestures to ghosts, hangovers and periodic bouts of nostalgia.

In Gibraltar, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union, the immediate practical challenges of Brexit will be analysed too.

Recent studies have brought the afterlives of empire into focus, assessing the myriad ways in which fallen empires retain a present-day purchase.

The core premise of this conference is that the British empire is indeed history  that there remain few political or economic vestiges of empire that might explain these enduring entanglements, little trace of the material fragments from which the empire might be refashioned.

What, then, lies behind the perceived potency of an empire that has long since dipped beneath the waves? How do we account for the almost ethereal presence of the embers of empire in Brexit Britain?

The successful Leave campaign in 2016 was fought on a three-word slogan: Take back control. It is the purpose of this conference to underscore the retrospectivity embedded in that deceptively simple phrase at a time of unprecedented concern about the future of Britains internal cohesion and external viability."
Awkwafina as Peik Lin in Crazy Rich Asians. Photo: Warner Bros.

Before Crazy Rich Asians steers into its third act, Rachel Chu, the Asian-American protagonist living the fish-out-of-water experience in Singapore at the invitation of her boyfriend, Nick Young, meets with her college friend Peik Lin for some much-needed girl talk. Seated side by side against the bright Peranakan-style shop houses, the two go over the latest development in the psychological warfare being played by Nicks mother, Eleanor, who has declared that Rachel will never be enough for her son. Rachel begins to admit defeat, and says she intends to skip the very wedding shes flown over 9,000 miles to attend. I dont want to cause any drama there, I feel like I should just  sit it out, Rachel says with a sigh, the emphatic professor of economics now wracked with insecurity.

Peik Lin, refreshingly brash, calls bullshit. Throughout the film, Peik Lin is Rachels lone ally. She reframes Eleanors conduct for Rachel in terms that her game-theory-minded brain understands well, likening the situation to a game of chicken. Shes coming at me, thinking Im gonna swerve like a chicken, Rachel realizes. But you cant swerve, Peik Lin interjects, throwing up her left index finger. You gon roll up to that weddin and be like bawk bawk, bitch. She switches to her right hand, head and finger bobbing side to side.

This moment is not exactly representative of the character, nor Nora Lums performance, but its dead-center placement in the trailer has become the outsize evidence of both those things, both before and after the movies release last week. For some, Peik Lin provides the opportunity to finally discuss some nagging notes in Lums resume, particularly the rising stardom shes accumulated as Awkwafina, her bold, ratchet-adjacent stage ego who first went viral rapping a Mickey Avalon cover called My Vag (My vag, a Beyonce weave / Yo vag, a polyester Kmart hairpiece). Since then, her persona has veered too close to black aesthetics for comfort, including her recent role as Ocean 8s Constance, a scrappy, die-hard hustler from Queens much like herself, as she told The New Yorkers Jiayang Fan. (On Peik Lin: Im not like her at all, she told Fan.) Sliding in and out of a grammar that speeds past certain consonants, utilizes the habitual be, and takes on a twang with danks and struggles aplenty, Awkwafina has inspired the resurrection of that dreaded portmanteau reserved for nonblack people with black voices, hardly seen since Iggy Azalea could claim song of the summer: blaccent. Peik Lins flirtation with black vernacular, along with the characters general swagger, clinches the case, and another buzzword enters the frame: appropriation, a word that now commonly connotes knowing, cultural theft.

Appropriation is a tricky thing in the 21st century, yet it has somehow grown only more cliched in public conversation. Ever since Miley Cyrus the minstrel twerked up on Robin Thicke (another minstrel) onstage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, the simple observation of appropriation has proven enough to serve as an analysis of the appropriative gesture itself. The very fact that something cultural now resides in two places at once  in the traditions and communal enclaves of black folks; on the body of a white or nonblack person  (allegedly) implicates the latter as the thief who cherry-picked from outside for material gain.

It is not just an interracial matter, revived whenever a white rapper hits the Billboard charts or Nicki Minaj dips into Orientalist aesthetics, but an intra-racial, intercultural, cross-cultural, cross-regional, and diasporic one as well. In March, Craig Jenkins and Frank Guan had a conversation about appropriation on Vulture to discuss the Bruno affair, inspired by writer Seren Senseis argument that Bruno Mars parlays musical traditions that dont belong to him into mainstream success, afforded him by his brown-but-not-black skin. Jenkins mentions Drake, who has similarly been semi-seriously accused of borrowing from the diaspora when it suits him. The dialogue between Issa and Molly on Insecure has attracted skepticism about the veracity of Raes and Yvonne Orjis blaccents, The Atlantics Hannah Giorgis noted. Meanwhile, vernacular invented by black and brown queer folk has become commonplace in the vocabularies of straight, cis individuals of color, as well as white people.

What can explain the ease with which the knowledge and creations of close-knit communities become circulated as profitable products in the arms of others, if not a deliberate and concentrated pickpocketing from one person to another to another? The flow of money and celebrity and canonicity supports the deduction, which is why the true observation that everybody appropriates can never and will never hold water (until, like, the end of white capitalism, a.k.a. the world). It is not by accident that people in power acquire cachet and adoration (and more power) when they don facsimile costumes of the people kept from power. And yet, power doesnt often propagate itself so plainly in popular culture. We see its influence in what ends up valued and not valued, but more often, appropriation goes undetected. A white person may be just as likely to learn black lexicon from another white person who learned it from a Twitter user who often retweets Rihanna-related content. In the year 2018, its hardly, if ever, a straightforward route from A to B.

Its interesting that nobody makes the claim of appropriation until somebody feels that something inappropriate is happening, theorist Homi K. Bhabha remarked last year in an ArtForum roundtable on the topic of appropriation. And indeed, appropriation only gets called by name belatedly, once enough witnesses have been called in to the scene of the performance, not the crime. We see Kim Kardashian smugly regal on the red carpet in Fulani braids, but we are not privy to the exact moment she was inspired to crown herself in African style. Was it another bout of Bo Derek cosplay? Had she seen it on Instagram? Did a naive stylist drip the poison in her ear, assure the mother of three black children that the braids squeezing her scalp looked absolutely fabulous?

Beside the Kardashians, there is our very regular, everyday intake of the words, styles, and sounds that surround us, intensified by digital connections that make the world seem smaller and larger at the same time. Unlike citation or quotation, Bhabha continues, methods of true, time-limited borrowing, appropriation assumes a proprietorial sense. The question is: Who owns what?

But in the language of ownership, there is the danger of reinscribing the very repugnant simplicity one would seek to undermine, as if any part of any culture among people of color was coherent enough to be lifted and moved from one place to another without being changed (or losing parts of itself) in the process. A poem of such poor quality as Anders Carlson-Wees How-To, published then apologized for in The Nation, for example, never would have been published in the first place by somebody as poor and black and disabled as the speaker he aims to inhabit. And the charge of a blaccent in Crazy Rich Asians uncomfortably invigorates the contradiction. On one hand, yes, anyone truly familiar and fluent with a black vernacular can sense a tremendous reach has occurred. Breaking down an essay by Carvell Wallace that critiqued Meghan Trainors strange enunciative choices, writer Kara Brown notes that the diagnosis involves a calculus that is mostly instinctive. It is a feeling, an informed suspicion better felt in the bones than cross-referenced with a grammarian, not because black languages lack their own grammar, but because, so writes linguist J. L. Dillard in the landmark 1972 study Black English, We could diagram Black English, but we would know no more about it afterward than we did before. Either you know, or you dont.

On the other hand, Awkwafinas antics dont, to me, conjure blackness any more than Ed Sheerans bars. Is a blaccent an evocation of blackness, or of something else  power, imperialism, commerce, the digital age? Maybe blaccent shouldnt function so metonymically, and maybe it shouldnt imply blackness at all (blackness has enough to contend with), but that something else instead, indicting not an individual instance of theft but a global phenomenon that makes it impossible to know whether a nonblack millennial from Forest Hills studied black culture like a textbook or grew up with the same media as most of us, where blaccents in the mouths of white, snappy performers has been autonomous and apart from the actual speech patterns of black people since America had a theater tradition to call its own.

Consider the many adolescents, now men, whove forged a personality around Pineapple Express and adore Post Malone, the way some young women have developed a shtick around Broad Citys fictional Yas Kween Ilana  there are blaccents built from blaccents, but maybe not from blackness itself. A certain millennial cool-kid identity is already predicated on basic appropriations that get overlooked when every case becomes exemplary, instead of evidentiary. Its all very messy, and power makes it messy, but treating the blaccent as something authentically black and stolen doesnt make it any clearer. There isnt a relatable white girl inserted into the middle of Crazy Rich Asians, writes BuzzFeeds Alison Willmore, yet theres a whole genre of relatable white girl quirkiness that Awkwafinas Peik Lin sources from. And while she successfully imitates something, its not black language.

In conversations around Awkwafinas blaccent, the actresss regional and musical background has been used to both defend and attack her  shes either the most shrewd opportunist or the most down chick her side of the color line. These extremes of opinion arent helped by the way certain profiles borderline fetishize the Awkwafina backstory, as if the idea that an Asian-American woman who grew up in Forest Hills (or literally anywhere in the country) loves rap is too absurd to be true. (Perhaps that is par for the genre, making everyday stories unusual, and perhaps thats par for celebrity, too.) A recent Rolling Stone profile describes her delivery in Crazy Rich Asians as Miley Cyrus-meets-New Jersey patois, an incoherent mishmash that feels nonsensical, selected for the sheer fun of it.

Returning to the film, culture clashes are at the core of Crazy Rich Asians: namely, the invisible hyphen that ought, according to Eleanor, to exclude Rachel from the Youngs. And Rachel is not the only one in the story who underscores the plain fact that there are a million and one ways to be Chinese. The cinematic universe of Crazy Rich Asians comes together through a compilation of both banal and conflicting intra-cultural exchanges, disturbing any sense of what might constitute authenticity in this age.

When we first meet Peik Lin, she is running, arms outstretched in Stella McCartney pajamas, with a hug and extended Whaddup? Rachel compliments her look and Peik Lin cocks a hip with a fast, twangy, I know some things never change right? They sit down for lunch, and language, always there but not always marked, enters the conversation because of an accent. Not Auntie Neenas, Peik Lins mom, whose lah and ai-ya pass without explanation (either you know, or you dont). It is Wye Mun, Peik Lins dad, played by the instantly recognizable Ken Jeong, who approaches Rachel at the table speaking hesitant English, and not too convincingly. I dont have an accent, he tells Rachel with a laugh, which is really to align his accent with hers and Peik Lins and a presumed American audience. Peik Lins younger siblings are eating chicken nuggets, drawing back to a memorable line from Kevin Kwans novel about starving children in America. Her dad dubs her Asian Ellen and Peik Lin rolls her eyes while an older family member laughs. Wye Mun urges his son, P.T., to flirt with Rachel; informed that Rachel is already spoken for, he, like his daughter, is quick with the comeback: I dont see no ring on her finger.

Though the film as a whole draws us into a community understood to be very local and small, the world and America intrudes unspectacularly. P.T. conspicuously snaps a photo of Rachel, presumably to share with a similar fast-moving, far-reaching social network dramatized in the films first few minutes. A network that speaks in memes and hashtags, that knows and recites American pop-culture phenomenon thanks to Americas aggressive, imperialist export of its own values. This is not cause for celebration any more than other colonial matters pushed to the margins or overlooked altogether in the film: Singapores minorities, Malay and Indian peoples, and the working class who prepare the food and set the arrangement lingered over by the cameras eye. Writer Connie Wang carefully maintains the rhetorical difference between a story told for Asians or for Asian-Americans; Crazy Rich Asians is the latter, framed by our American cultural baggage. That baggage includes the blaccent as a matter-of-fact comedy heuristic.

There is another moment where accents are made explicit, midway through the large family and etcetera gathering at Nicks ah-mas estate. Nick and Eleanor are in his old room; both are talking around each other. She prys gently, insinuating what might be insinuated by Nicks decision to bring Rachel to Singapore to an event surrounded by so much family. Nick smiles. When theres something to say about Rachel and me, youll be first to hear, he tells her. Some things, I need to figure out on my own. Eleanor shakes her head. Is that an American accent Im hearing? Nick only smiles, unbothered by the slippage he probably didnt notice.
Jersey Shore Family Vacation Its Complicated/Oh Canada Season 2 Episodes 1 and 2 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * *  Previous Next Photo: MTV

Summer may be fading, here in reality as we know it (Northern Hemisphere reality, anyway), but on the eternal drunken pleasure-dome that is Jersey Shore Family Vacation, its only just beginning. Look, this season is off to a dark start, but you know what they say: Its always darkest before, shit, it gets even darker?

That said, there is a lot to be happy about in the greater Jersey Shore metropolitan area. Deena, excitingly, is pregnant! Your vagina is, like, this small and then [holding hands significantly wider than her head] it opens to this big. And then you could rip to your butthole, advises Nicole, her future doula. Nicole has made friends with Angelina, not only unblocking her on social media, but even sharing two halves of the figurative BFF heart necklace that is getting your boobs done by the same doctor. Mike and his fiancee Lauren have dreams of planning a wedding in Italy, though theyre well aware they may be stuck Stateside because of travel restrictions in his ongoing tax evasion case.

Single Vinny rides again, to Single Paulys unadulterated delight. Jennis two-year-old Greyson isnt talking yet, so hes started seeing a therapist. His speech delay is clearly weighing heavily on her mind  and so is something else, something the roomies are responsible for, which well get into later.

And Ronnie is now father to a daughter, the adorable Ariana. His girlfriend Jen went into labor while he was on a flight to London, but he managed to get through customs, buy a new ticket, and make it onto a plane back to Las Vegas in time to be there for the birth. (I also feel it is important you know that their baby shower involved both candy bars in wrappers printed with a photo of Ronnie kissing Jens belly  sadly, not that picture  and a Gym, Tan, Baby! chalkboard sign.) He loves being a dad.

Proud D.J./Uncle Pauly D., taken with Vegass newest little peanut resident and her little peanut hands, invites the whole gang out to visit and meet her. (Unfortunately, but understandably, Deena and her meatball in utero are hanging back in Jersey.)

Pauly knows better than to let these insane people trash his house, so theyll stay in a massive suite at Planet Hollywood, featuring a stripper pole in the shower, which is itself somehow in the living room, a true innovation in both stripper pole and shower technology. There are also chocolate-covered strawberries, which is the most exciting feature of the room to Mike when he and Vinny arrive a day before Jenni and Nicole for a Vegas boys night.

They have no idea what to expect from Ronnie, and neither do I. His frequently very ugly relationship drama with Jen has been all over Instagram, with the receipts shared by the couple themselves. Trying to keep up with whether theyre together or not feels like tracking a tropical storm that turns into a few stray clouds that turns into a Category 5 hurricane, over and over again.

Ronnie tells MVP that he and Jen have problems, of course, but theyre working it out, and that these bad decisions wont happen again. And yet the boys recall that just two days earlier, hed posted on social media that he was single. Ron even refuses to go to a strip club, leaving his pals all the more convinced that the poet who once said, Lets get filthy, creepy, and weird, has been replaced by a squeaky-clean pod person. Theyre not buying the everythings-fine story that hes selling about his relationship.

Jenni and Nicole, arms laden with pink-wrapped gifts for the baby (one of which proves to be a Meatball in Training onesie, and all of which are repeatedly dropped), make their entrance by strutting down the hotel hallway and tipsily singing, Vegas! Moms are here! Its great to see the roomies reunited, but its possible that a little bit too much of a reunion could be in store soon. Nicole admits she invited Angelina to come to Vegas. Jenni is not thrilled to hear this, given that the artist formerly known as the Kim Kardashian of Staten Island recently posted a photo of a mug reading Jersey Whore to Instagram and tagged Jenni in it. (Yes, really.)

Jen, whos about to take Ariana out of town for a family wedding, stops by the hotel suite so everyone can meet the baby. Shes snoozing peacefully, a miniature version of her dad dressed all in pink. This is Mikes first time holding a baby, and hes plainly terrified; Nicole gets teary when her turn comes. Thats it, Im having a baby, Vinny says as Ariana snuggles a chubby cheek into his neck. Its a very sweet scene.

Everyone praises Rons behavior to Jen, who pats him on the back, literally. But privately, to Jenni, she strikes a very different tone. (The man did cheat on her, while she was pregnant, on national television.) I gave him way too much leniency last time. Way too much, Jen says. Jenni asks her if shes keeping him on a short leash. Give him enough rope to hang himself, Jen replies, and in related news I am now terrified of Jen.

As she confides in Nicole, Jenni secretly reached out to Jen amid the couples social media shitstorm, and shes sure Ron would be pissed if he knew they had been in communication. She told me about, like, really, really low points, Jenni says, not eager to get her hair pulled out by another one of Rons paramours. (Speaking of which, theres been no sign yet of the Sammequin this season, though Id hate to think I just jinxed us.)

Lets get back to what was bothering Jenni: Her husband Roger asked her friends to send in 30-second clips of themselves for him to compile into a Mothers Day surprise video, but of the Jersey Shore crew, only Mike participated. Shes upset about their radio silence, and especially that not even her bestie Nicole completed Rogers request.

I, for the record, love this fight: If I were Jenni, Id be very upset by my friends apparent lack of devotion. And if I were anyone else at that table (except St. Mike), I probably would have dropped the ball on the video too, because as much as I might love my friend, I am deeply lazy and forgetful about responding to texts. When the subject comes up at dinner, everyone apologizes, but shes more hurt than they seem to realize. On the real, I cried, Jenni says to Nicole. In fact, she thought about not coming to Vegas, to the disbelief of the group.

By now on her fifth shot, Jenni enters DGAF mode. She tells Ron about her conversations with Jen, triggering his trademark nervous leg tremor. But before any serious relationship damage can be done, she proceeds to doze off in a car, in a nightclub, in an elevator, and again in another car. Good night, sweet princess.

At the club, Ron is on his pod-person best behavior, refusing to even set foot outside the gangs, yes, VIP cabana, but Vinny and Pauly nevertheless manage to find temporary love with two beautiful Canadians. Canadian girls are just always DTF, Vinny explains, his eyes full of light, like a childs on Christmas morning. They think like men. Women one-night stand men in Canada, its not even like a bad thing. This stereotype is new to me, as is the use of one-night stand as a transitive verb. (Not sold on the former, but definitely here for the latter.)

And now, a one-act play, presented without comment:

CANADIAN WOMAN: Were gonna be right for each other.

VINNY: Lets be epic later.

CANADIAN WOMAN: Were gonna be epic. Youre so epic.

VINNY: Youre epic. Youre hot.

CANADIAN WOMAN: Youre hot.

Of course, everyone sleeps together, and its just like old times! Pauly and Vinny slide under the covers with their respective new friends in their beds in the same room, though (correct me if Im wrong) I think most of the sex depicted on the original Jersey Shore wasnt accompanied by a montage of a waving Canadian flag, geese taking flight, and Mounties on parade.

The next morning, Ron learns that Jens flight has been delayed  she wants to come out with them that night. Rather than being happy to hear that he can spend more time with his girlfriend, he reacts as if hes just gotten a phone call about alarming test results from his doctor. She plays this nice, sweet girl role, but shes gonna come in and try to start some kind of trouble, he says in a confessional.

The gang is off to a pool party, which is really a daytime outdoor bathing-suit club. Mike finds a giant panda head (headdress? mask? helmet? helm-mask?), puts it on, and dances around, the only possible course of action that can ensue after finding a giant panda head.

Ron is quiet and behaving in a very obviously strange way, but he seems to think hes succeeded in hiding his internal strife from his friends. To be clear, he has utterly failed at this. (Also, some all-purpose advice: Dont hide your internal strife from your friends!) I havent been straightforward with my roommates. Me and Jen fight all the time and theres nothing stable, he says in an interview. Ron, you need to drain this emotional abscess before it bursts.

His phone vibrates with a message from Jen: Shes mad about something, he says, and begins downing shots. As the Countess said to Dorinda, hes started turning. Rons foul mood nearly results in a fight with some shit-talking idiot who says OG Ronnie in the house in the mens room, until security intervenes. I dont know whats actually happening inside this relationship, but I do know that it is toxic, and also that Ronnie should be in therapy.

Back at the hotel, the roommates still dont know exactly what Ronnie  who is crying, by this point  and Jen are fighting about, only that something is very wrong. Im scared of losing my fucking daughter, he explains, finally. Shes previously kept the baby from him for five or six days at a time as a punitive measure, which sounds awful.

The roommates are all fiercely on Rons side, but that doesnt stop Jenni from scolding him for his regrettable social-media posts. You want my honest opinion, leave her and fight for your daughter, Jenni says. This makes Ronnie very, very angry, igniting a full-on screaming match that concludes with Jenni shouting, un-take-back-ably, You got a crazy bitch pregnant!

Im sure Jen will take that well.
John Cho. Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Alan Yang, who won an Emmy for his work with Aziz Ansari on the series Master of None, has written and will direct a new feature for Netflix, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Tigertail is a multi-generational family drama based on events that occured in Yangs own family, and will take place in 1950s Taiwan and present-day New York City. John Cho has signed on to star, along with Arrivals Tzi Ma and Hawaii Five-Os Christine Ko. The film focuses on two peoples poor life choices and the consequences of those decisions, which sounds very dramatic indeed. Cho has most recently been praised for his performance in the indie thriller Searching, and is also set to star in the upcoming Ike Barinholtz comedy The Oath. Hes also pretty much the only person on Earth who could pull off that facial hair, so, kudos to you sir.
A different era. Photo: Love Productions/BBC/Love Productions

Netflix is positioning itself as the primary U.S. home of The Great British Baking Show, a.k.a. The Great British Bake Off , a.k.a. That Show With the Nice British People and Pastries. The streaming service announced today that it has picked up the rights to three new seasons of the U.K. series. Two of those seasons  and this is where things get slightly confusing  will come from the new, Channel 4 version of the show, sans Mary Berry. Season eight, which aired in the U.K. in 2017 and this summer on PBS (where it was called season five) will appear on Netflix on August 31. Season nine, which will start airing in the U.K. at the end of August, will appear on Netflix later this year; season ten will come to Netflix in fall 2019. Netflix will also air two-episode holiday specials in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Finally, if Channel 4s new, expensive version of Bake Off isnt to your taste, Netflix is also getting season three of Bake Off, which aired in 2012, later this year. Since the U.S. numbering of seasons repackaged the U.K.s fourth season as the first, Netflix will call season three The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings. Think of it as a chance to reflect back on happier times.
Laura LeeLun. Photo: Mike Sansone

Laura LeeLun (@laleelun) is a Chicago-based comedy writer who has written for the Belladonna and Robot Butt. She also co-hosts the podcast, Riff Raff Revolution, which features interviews with comedians from underrepresented communities about their creative process and craft. This week, LeeLun talked with me about the sincerity of her online persona and getting her news from Twitter, among other things.

I was feeling bad about not working out today, but then I remembered I walked three blocks to the ice cream parlor AND three blocks back.  Laura LeeLun (@laleelun) August 15, 2018

I believe in the importance of self-care, and part of that is quelling the negative thoughts that say youre not doing enough, and part of that is ice cream.

How much does your voice online overlap with your voice in real life?

I would like to say that my online voice is a persona Ive intentionally created, but sadly, its not. Its me at my most uncensored, insecure, petty, awkward, and questioning. Its definitely not reflective of the better angels of my nature, thats for sure! But then, comedy doesnt often derive from unmitigated joy and contentment, so theres that 

I have a crush on this guy who works at my local bookstore, and it's only because he is tall and works at a bookstore.  Laura LeeLun (@laleelun) August 12, 2018

Ive actually had elaborate fantasies where were sitting by the fire and hes reading to me from the selected works of e.e. cummings. Of course, I dont know his name and he may not even read books, let alone poetry. This is probably why Im single.

Do you ever use your tweets to develop longer pieces?

This is something I want to start doing, as my Twitter feed is littered with musings on everyday absurdities (or what I consider absurdities). It is also a very accurate record of what enrages me, which would serve as a great source for satire. I did recently write something based on a tweet about Netflix assigning a premiere date to a talk show hosted by Norm Macdonald (right after they canceled The Break With Michelle Wolf). My piece addresses the lack of women of color in late night. Representation matters, people!

So an older white lady just stopped me to ask for a recommendation for the nearest Chinese restaurant. Hmm. I wonder why she thought I would know this. #racialprofiling  Laura LeeLun (@laleelun) May 26, 2018

I know that in the pantheon of racial profiling, this is a very mild example, but it still took me aback. The joke was on her, though. There are no good Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood!

Do you prefer topical or evergreen tweets?

I dont think I have a preference because theres a time and place for both. That being said, following the news these days can feel like falling down a rabbit hole of despair, so I appreciate reading tweets on personal dramas or nonsensical jokes instead. I try to stay away from tweeting too much about current events for this same reason. I assume the friends and strangers reading my tweets are already inundated with news, so I focus instead on examining the emotional pratfalls in my own life.

Help! A baby is waving at me on the bus and I've waved back, but she's still waving. What is the etiquette here?  Laura LeeLun (@laleelun) May 17, 2018

Im generally concerned with matters of etiquette, as Im a socially awkward person. I didnt want to offend this baby, who was just being friendly, but to this day, I dont know what the right move was. After a minute of waving, I just studiously avoided eye contact.

Do you have any topics you particularly enjoy tweeting about?

Recently, its been issues of representation in popular culture and Crazy Rich Asians! Im not crazy rich by any means, nor am I from Singapore, but it meant so much to see an entire cast of actors who look like me on the big screen. I hope Im not jumping the gun by calling it a watershed moment.

Also food and my many pet peeves.

What does your newsfeed look like?

My newsfeed is split pretty evenly between comedy writers, stand-ups, satire sites (e.g. the Onion), and reputable news organizations. Im not proud of this, but I get most of my daily news from Twitter, and the comedians in my feed help me process the fiery hellscape that constitutes the current news cycle.

Karen Chee is a Brooklyn-based comedian who writes for The New Yorker, McSweeneys, and Shondaland, among other cool websites.
Photo: Hopper Stone/STX Entertainment

Let me say off the bat that I have zero problem per se with smutty puppets. Theres a place in the firmament for Avenue Q (though its already dated) and the South Park guys Team America: World Police, in which puppets suck and f. (I am using hyphens in case there are children reading this.) And the idea of Jim Hensons son appropriating the Sesame Street aesthetic for a nihilistic blood- (or stuffing-) bath rich in F-words and ejaculatory (literally) gags is, on an Oedipal level, tantalizing. But The Happytime Murders turns out to be a stupefyingly shy puppet movie.

The setup is a racial allegory in which the sentient puppets are regarded as inferior. Its not a crime to be warm and fuzzy, says the puppet private-investigator narrator, Phil Phillips, as he watches children pull an eye off a puppet hobo, but it might as well be. He was once the LAPDs lone puppet officer, until a puppet crook took his human partner hostage and Phils bullet went tragically astray. Now its thought that puppet cops wont shoot other puppets. And that former partner, Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), is Phils worst enemy.

Of course the movie reunites them to solve the murders of members of the cast of Happytime, an 80s kids show with six zany puppets and one human blonde named Jenny (Elizabeth Banks). Lyle, the rabbit puppet who played Bumblypants, is the first to go in a porn-shop massacre  the event itself far less traumatizing than the fact that its ex-Elmo Kevin Clash voicing the porn-sniffing Bumblypants. Is this his revenge on Sesame Street for having to resign over (still unproven) charges of improper sexual conduct? Funny like a boil.

The three humiliating running gags about McCarthys Detective Edwards are that (a) she has a puppet liver, (b) she has a jones for sugar, and (c) she looks like a man. She doesnt look remotely like a man, but those are the words of the other characters, human and puppet, to which she responds with variations of F you, snorts puppet coke, and punches puppets out. Under the circumstances, I dont have the heart to say a bad word about McCarthy. You can sense when an actors peripheral vision includes the nearest EXIT sign: Does she swallow hard and keep going or make a run for it, saving her soul but ensuring shell be blackballed? McCarthy made one choice, Michael Cohen the other.

The old-fashioned puppet work is excellent, as youd expect, and Bill Barretta is crisper and funnier than youd expect as the voice of the gumshoe, Phil. Dorien Davies hits some giddy notes as Sandra, the bombshell puppet with Im-a sexuality: If Im-a get next to it Im-a gonna f it. Her tryst with Phil is  unforgettable and staged with real verve. But comedies this broad come down to percentage games and (in what has become a ritual for me, alas), I estimate less than 10 percent of screenwriter Todd Bergers jokes land. The rest elicit silence or winces, like Michael Cohens plaid jacket.

There is some wit in director Brian Hensons use of various noir tropes, and I was impressed by the mood of despair he creates around puppets cast adrift. Growing up with Sesame Street, he must have seen the characters we loved gone limp, deflated, and perhaps he remembered the actors whose bond with children left them typecast, unable to work outside the small world of kids TV. In The Happytime Murders, Bankss Jenny is a pole dancer, while the puppets are criminals, addicts, bums, or, in one case, incestuously married, producing a simpleton puppet girl with three eyes and boy with one. (That joke worked for me because theyre deformed puppets, not actual children. But I wouldnt think less of you for being appalled.)

It would have been livelier  for contrast, if nothing else  if some of the puppets had risen to great financial heights in, say, real estate.

(Despite global warming, earthquakes, drought, flooding, and fire, California property is in its own sphere.) Or one puppet could have been a family-values politician coasting on the shows family-values reputation. Anything to relieve the monotony. More than ever, people go to movies to see what other people are talking about, while late August duds like The Happytime Murders make you vaguely embarrassed to be in the theater. Even if you went to the multiplex to see it, youll still feel as if youre only there because you couldnt get into the movie next door.

This might be the worlds luckiest film, though, the way Republican congressman Duncan Hunter is the worlds luckiest man. Thats what Rachel Maddow called Hunter on August 21, when his fraud indictment would have dominated the news but for Paul Manaforts conviction on eight felony counts and Trump consigliere Michael Cohens guilty plea to eight more, while also claiming Trump directed him to pay off two women before the election (and hinting Trump knew about the Russian DNC hack in advance). Then National Enquirer honcho David Pecker rolled on Trump and the HuffPost screamed, TRUMP LOSES PECKER. How can a comedy compete? Any other August wed be abuzz about The Happytime Murders. Now its too lame for infamy.
Pope Francis, facing sexual abuse crises in several other besides this nation, wrote an unprecedented letter on Monday, August 20, 2018, to all Catholics on Monday, asking each one of them to help root out this culture of death and vowing there would be no more coverups.

A highly publicized disclosure of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church occurred on August 14, 2018, when a Pennsylvania officials released a landmark grand jury report spanning two years of investigative work that identified more than 300 predator priests who allegedly molested more than 1,000 children in six dioceses. The grand jury says it believes the real number of abused children might be in the thousands since some records were lost and victims were afraid to come forward. It also accuses church leaders of taking steps to cover up the abuse. The report emerged from one of the nations most exhaustive investigations of clergy sexual abuse. READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.

The Vatican said it was the first time a pope had written to all 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide about sexual abuse. Past letters on sexual abuse scandals have been addressed to bishops and faithful of individual countries. In his letter, the pope referred to the suffering endured by minors due to sexual abuse at the hands of a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons.

As Tom Gjelten wrote on August 18, 2018: "Sixteen years after an investigation in Boston highlighted the dimensions of the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic priesthood, the financial and reputational cost to the Catholic church continues to grow.

In an article by Bryan Fischer on August 20, 2018, Purge of gay priests would empty parishes, Fischer had this to say:

"The problem began in the 1960's when the Church, unable to recruit enough heterosexual priests to fill its ranks, began to lower its standards and turn a blind eye toward homosexuals who wanted to enter its seminaries.



Catholic observers are aware that the necessary purge will create an immediate clerical crisis in the Church. Conservative Catholic Michael Hichborn insists, correctly in my view, that there must be a "complete and thorough removal of all homosexual clergymen from the Church." But he admits "it's going to be difficult and will likely result in a very serious priest shortage." But it must be done. Settlements the Church has already made to pacify the abused have already cost the church $3 billion, a toll that unquestionably will rise significantly."

Watch here to hear Michael Hichborn talk about "Corruption in the Catholic Church."

Thorner opines

It was incorrect to assume that after all the problems the Catholic Church has had in the past with perverted priests, theyd be doing a better job of winnowing out those young seminarians most likely to sully its reputation and cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in future lawsuits. It was understood that the occasional pedophile would slip through, just as the occasional sadist is going to make it through the police academy and onto the force, but I assumed the Church had learned a terribly expensive lesson. Nevertheless, as a non-Catholic with many Catholic friends, I had no idea that things were going to blow up the way they have in Pennsylvania where it is reported that a thousand, perhaps several thousand, people, have accused upwards of 300 priests of engaging in criminal sexual activity with them when they were youngsters.



I have always regarded cops who used the authority of their badge and uniform to mistreat people as the scum of the earth, but a species even lower than those misfits are those who misuse the authority of a turn-around collar to victimize children.



Once again, as in the not too distant past, the Church has shown its moral culpability. Instead of removing the degenerates from their parishes and handing them over to the authorities, they shielded them.



It seems that Cardinal Wuerl, the former archbishop of Pittsburgh and now the archbishop of Washington, D.C., who regularly shows up on Fox to weigh in charmingly on moral questions, has played a major role in providing cover for the predator clerical priests. Click here to watch the full interview of FOX 5's exclusive interview with Cardinal Wuerl on Wednesday, August 15, 2018, after Wuerl defended his 12 years as Archbishop of Pittsburgh, even though a Pennsylvania grand jury and state attorney general say Wuerl and other Catholic church leaders conducted a "systematic cover-up" of 1,000 children who were sexually assaulted by 300 "predator priests.

To those who will predictably rush to defend the Church by pointing out that these charges have not been proven in a court of law, Ill point out that neither were the charges against Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley, John Conyers, Matt Lauer, Russell Simmons, Mark Halperin and Kevin Spacey.



Im equally certain it will be argued that every organization has its bad apples, but theyre in the minority. That argument goes by the wayside once you understand that the Church protected them.



I do understand that parishioners are wont to say that they believe in the religion, not necessarily the men who run it. But if the men who interact with the public are moral degenerates and the ones above them in the hierarchy are more interested in covering their butts than they are in protecting the most vulnerable in their flock, doesnt that say something is awfully amiss about the religion?



To me, it is as absurd as those who insist we shouldnt judge Islam by the actions of radicals, even though the radicals find their inspiration in the Quran and never fail to praise their god while blowing up a school bus or slitting the throat of an infidel.

It shouldnt be enough for the Church to pay financial restitution to those whose lives have been destroyed. It is obvious that limiting priesthood to eunuchs, a practice dating back to its medieval hiring practice, is not working. The Orthodox Church does permit priests to marry if married before they are ordained. May we also keep in mind that the Catholic Church has branch offices in all 50 states and not just in Pennsylvania.

Alliance of Catholic Church and Left

Amid the troubling allegations in a grand jury report out this week that 1,000 or more children suffered sexual abuse by some 300 Pennsylvania-area priests over the past 70 years, Pope Raises Eyebrows with Pick for This Important Vatican Post, there are new worries about Pope Francis decision to consecrate a Portuguese bishop who holds unorthodox views. Jose Tolentino Mendonca, a Portuguese Catholic priest and poet, claims Jesus didnt establish rules. According to reporting from LifeSiteNews, this bishop is also promoting the theology of a dissenting nun who defends the legalization of abortion and homosexual marriage.

Pope Francis should be accepting the resignation of Cardinal Wuerl that was offered two years ago when Wuerl became 75, as all Catholic bishops are expected to do, but the Pope did not accept it at that time. This is the bare minimum response to the pedophile priest/bishop scandals. Instead, we get still another liberal bishop being appointed to high a position in the Vatican. Now you know why Jesus said: "And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." Power corrupts when it comes to mere humans, no matter how exalted their titles.

Even if Francis is unexpectedly removed by death, like John Paul I was despite seemingly good health, the next Pope will be elected by bishops that Francis appointed or elected him in the first place. Francis is the result of a system of an all-powerful Pope that has been building since the rise of Islam knocked out the Catholic Church's main competition. Even the Protestant Reformation wasn't as great a threat to Catholic power as 10 million home churches that are converting the world today, especially Catholics in Latin America, Africa, Asia and even here in North America. The alliance between the Left and the Catholic church must be maintained because otherwise the institutional Catholic Church will continue to implode.

The Catholic Church simply cannot take actions against the Left when it comes to gay rights and abortion that go beyond ineffective rhetoric. Wuerl is staying put because he is a lynch pin of the Left's strategy in this year's elections in America. He and his friends must be kept in power to keep Catholic conservatives from being effective in changing the American political status quo.

Evangelicals and the Republican Party have plenty of scandals and corruption. I welcome every investigator who really wants to find the truth to report them; however, Democrats and Catholics so often receive almost a total pass from the media.

As a non-Catholic there should be great concern, regardless of an individuals religious affiliation, over the homosexual, Communist penetration of the Catholic Church. What will be done by men or, more importantly, by God, is the question. Meanwhile, it is unbelievable for Mexican Cardinal Sergio Obseo Rivera to have said that abuse victims should be ashamed to accuse men of the Church.
The defense attorneys for all five suspects who were arrested after emaciated children were found in a New Mexico compound, filed motions to dismiss all charges Thursday.

The lawyers for Siraj Wahhaj, Subhannah Wahhaj, Hujrah Wahhaj, Lucas Morten and Jany Leveille filed the motions, stating that their clients have been in custody longer than 10 days without a preliminary hearing, which is against New Mexico state law.

Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj Continents and regions Crime, law enforcement and corrections Crimes against persons Criminal law Criminal offenses Extradition Georgia International law International relations and national security Kidnappings and abductions Law and legal system Misc people New Mexico North America Siraj Wahhaj Southeastern United States Southwestern United States The Americas United States Acquittals Arrests Hujrah Wahhaj Law enforcement Subhannah Wahhaj Verdicts

The five defendants had first appeared in court on August 8, "triggering the time limits" that a hearing be held no later than 10 days if the defendant is in custody, according to the lawyers' motions filed in Taos District Court.

"No such preliminary hearing has been held," wrote the attorney for Siraj Wahhaj. "Under the 10-day rule, the final day to hold the preliminary hearing was August 22, 2018."

Some of the lawyers noted that the preliminary hearing for their clients has been set for September 28.

Citing the 10-day rule, the attorneys requested that the cases against their clients be dismissed and that they be released.

There is typically a 15-day period for a response, according to the district court rules of criminal procedure governing motions.

Georgia extradition dropped

In the meantime, Siraj Wahhaj, one of the defendants, will not be extradited to Georgia to face a custodial interference charge, according to authorities.

Wahhaj is accused of abducting his 3-year-old son Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj from Clayton County, Georgia late last year. Abdul-Ghani's mother reported him missing when Wahhaj didn't bring him back after a trip to the park. The boy's remains were discovered days after police first raided the makeshift complex on August 3.

The Clayton County District Attorney's office has decided not to extradite Wahhaj, the Clayton County Sheriff's Office said in a document filed this week in Taos County Magistrate Court. The sheriff's office did not say why Georgia authorities will not extradite Wahhaj.

Clayton County authorities have also released their hold of Wahhaj, authorities said.

The felony criminal complaint against Wahhaj, who is being held on child abuse charges in the Taos County Adult Detention Center, was dismissed during a hearing Thursday in Taos County Magistrates Court. He still faces felony abuse charges in District court.

Wahhaj could be eligible for bail along with three other defendants who remain in custody now that his felony charge in Magistrate court has been dismissed, court officials said. One suspect is in federal immigration custody.

New Mexico authorities suspected the boy and his father were at the compound after learning about the abduction in May, according to the Taos County sheriff, but didn't have enough evidence for a search warrant.

But that changed when authorities received a tip about possible starving children on the compound. Abdul-Ghani was not among the 11 malnourished children found living in a squalid trailer.

Funeral held for boy in Georgia

New Mexico prosecutors said Abdul-Ghani -- who, according to his mother, suffered from seizures and needed constant medical attention -- died in a religious ritual meant to cast out demonic spirits.

After his death, Abdul-Ghani's body was washed several times and wrapped in sheets, prosecutors said. His remains were found in a tunnel on the compound.

The family believed the boy would return as Jesus four months later and tell his family which of society's institutions were corrupt and needed to be done away with, a witness said.

A funeral was held Thursday in Atlanta for Abdul-Ghani, according to Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, spokesperson for the boy's grandfather, Imam Siraj Wahhaj.
A billboard in Baltimore is calling for people to try going meat-free.

Posted: Aug 24, 2018 10:17 AM
Home surveillance video caught footage of a man in a minivan approaching a house in the Monrovia area asking a 10-year-old boy if he wanted a ride to school.

Huntsville Police confirmed that the man was a neighbor just simple trying to do a good deed. Originally, neighbors were concerned after seeing the video because they weren't sure if the man was a prowler.

According to police, the man also gave other kids a ride that day. A parent WAAY 31 spoke with over the phone confirmed that the man also gave her child a ride that day because the bus came before it's scheduled time. She gave the man permission, along with the other parents.

Thursday evening, more than 16,000 people watched the video.

Police confirmed that the man was not trying to scare anyone, so there is no need to be on high alert..

In the video, you can hear a man tell the child he thinks the school bus already came through the area.

"I think it came early. Do you want to ask your Dad if he wants me to take you to school? I'm taking these guys to school," the unidentified man said.

One man WAAY 31 talked to told us he couldn't believe a possible prowler was in his neighborhood.

"I've been here over 10 years and that's the first time I've ever heard of anything like that," said John Vickers Jr. who lives down the street.
Over 100 people and businesses in the Shoals are illegally taking and selling CBD oil and the district attorney's office tells us if they don't stop they will be prosecuted.

Thursday, both district attorney's for Colbert and Lauderdale Counties held a press conference about the issue. They said Alabama law is plain and simple, it's illegal to sell any part of a marijuana plant.

Right now officials are getting ready to send out cease and desist letters to any person or business selling these products. Only under certain laws can someone use CBD oil in Alabama.

"It's personal to me and hits close to home," said Lauderdale County Drug Task Force Director Tim Glover. Glover told WAAY31 in 1997 his daughter had a seizure.

"She was diagnosed with epilepsy and that was twenty plus years ago and everyday through her young adult teens she had to take prescription medication for epilepsy," said Glover.

If Leni's or Carly's law were in place they could have given her CBD oil legally, under a doctors supervision. Now Glover says at least 120 people and businesses are selling these illegal CBD products in Lauderdale County alone.

"They self diagnose and self medicate and take and distribute these drugs," said Glover.

There are three Alabama laws where it's legal to grow hemp and take CBD oils. So let's look at those. Under Carly's Law, it says says you can have CBD oil, only if you are in the approved program at UAB hospital and have a serious medical condition.

"That law is very specific and it says you have to be involved in that program," said Angie Hamilton, the assistant district attorney in Lauderdale County.

Under Leni's Law, it says a parent or guardian can give a child, who has seizures or a serious medical condition CBD oil containing 3% of the drug. Even under Leni's Law a doctor

must prescribe and approve a patient to have this.

"Alabama is not a medical marijuana state," said Hamilton.

Under Alabama's farm bill, hemp farms can be grown but only by getting a permit for research purposes through the Agriculture department. Higher education facilities are the only entities that can obtain these permits.

"We are going to enforce these laws in our counties," said Hamilton.

Officials said companies are marketing these illegal drugs as legal and it has caused a lot of confusion.

"There are several individuals in our counties that are selling this stuff from internet based companies in pyramid schemes. You are committing a crime," said Hamilton.

Officials said they are giving people selling these illegal items a grace period but if they continue to cell the CBD oil they will be prosecuted.

If you have any CBD oil and want to get rid of it contact Colbert or Lauderdale County Drug Task Force Agents.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump escalated his long-running feud with Attorney General Jeff Sessions Friday, calling on him to probe a litany of recurring complaints against those investigating his administration and Democrats.

Responding to Sessions declaration that he would not be influenced by politics, Trump tweeted that Sessions must look into all of the corruption on the other side, later adding: Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!

The presidents pushback marked the second day of highly public smack down between Trump and his beleaguered attorney general.

Earlier this week, Trump, concerned by the legal downfall of two former advisers, accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department. Sessions punched back Thursday, saying that he and his department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

Trumps anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal fixer Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if flipping  cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government just make up lies to get favorable treatment.

The rift between President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions explodes into a public smackdown as Trump complains Sessions never took control of the Justice Department. AP Reporter Eric Tucker explains. (Aug. 23)

On Twitter Friday, Trump also complained about the five-year sentence given to a former government contractor convicted of mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization.

Trump said this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did. Prosecutors are calling that sentence handed down to 26-year-old Reality Winner the longest sentence imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

In the wide-ranging Fox interview, Trump also defended himself against talk of impeachment  the market would crash ... everybody would be very poor  tried to distance himself from Cohen  I would see him sometimes  and said anew that he hadnt known in advance about Cohens hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman.

Trumps latest shots against law enforcement came as he appeared increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations after this weeks one-two punch of Cohens plea deal and the conviction of Trumps former campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Sessions decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because hed worked on Trumps campaign. Trump, who blames that decision for the eventual appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, told Fox and Friends host Ainsley Earhardt that Sessions never took control of the Justice Department and its a sort of an incredible thing.

What kind of man is this? Trump said.

You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter, Trump said of Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse Trumps bid.

Sessions has made clear to associates that he has no intention of leaving his job voluntarily despite Trumps constant criticism. But his tone in his statement on Thursday made clear he is tired of the presidents attacks.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the Presidents agenda. Then he declared, that while hes attorney general the actions of the department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action.

In New York, meanwhile, it was reported that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, the publisher of National Enquirer, which bought and killed the stories of two women. And people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the publication kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 election.

Allies, including Republican members of Congress have long advised Trump that firing Sessions  especially before the upcoming midterm elections  would be deeply damaging to the party.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who in March said firing Sessions would blow up the Judiciary Committee, has been shifting his tone.

I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice, he told reporters on Thursday. Clearly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesnt have the confidence of the president.

Others stood by Sessions.

Republican Ben Sasse of Nebraska told Senate colleagues, Everybody in this body knows that Jeff Sessions is doing his job honorably, and the attorney general of the United States should not be fired for acting honorably and for being faithful to the rule of law. He said it would be really difficult to confirm a successor if he is fired because he is executing his job rather that choosing to act as a partisan hack.

People close to the president said they were not aware of any immediate plans to dismiss Sessions, at least before the November congressional elections.

Cohens claims that Trump orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who claimed he had affairs with them has shaken the White House and the president, who has expressed worry and frustration behind closed doors that a man intimately familiar with his political, personal and business dealings for more than a decade had turned on him.

His anger was palpable overnight as he bellowed to the world in an all-caps tweet at 1:10 a.m.: NO COLLUSION - RIGGED WITCH HUNT!

In his interview with Fox & Friends, which was taped at the White House on Wednesday and aired Thursday, Trump railed against Cohen for flipping. That arrangement almost ought to be outlawed. Its not fair, Trump said, adding that it creates an incentive to say bad things about somebody ... just make up lies.

That drew immediate rebukes from the legal community.

Neal Katyal, Supreme Court lawyer and former acting solicitor general, compared Trumps comments in a tweet to what one expects from a mobster, not the President of the United States. He later said it was outrageous that Trump had decided to condemn the entire practice of flipping nationwide, which is essential to law enforcement operations.

___

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Jonathan Lemire, Chad Day, Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Aug. 23, 2018 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 23, 2018 | 08:10 PM | PADUCAH

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao announced the establishment of a new Inland Waterways Gateway Office in Paducah, and also two key grants.



Secretary Chao made the announcement Thursday at the Carson Center's River Room in front of a standing-room only crowd.



The Paducah office located in the 500 block of Broadway will be responsible for portions of Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Tennessee. The office will also provide support to the St. Louis Gateway Office for Arkansas and Oklahoma.



The office will be staffed by director Chad Dorsey, who already lives in Paducah with his family.



Chao also announced a $251,927 Marine Highway Grant for the Paducah-McCracken Riverport Container-on-Barge Service, and a recent $1.125 million dollar Small Shipyard Grant to the Walker Boat Yard, to support the purchase of a Manitowoc 180-ton crawler crane. The Small Shipyard Grant will boost Paducah's drydock capabilities.



"This new Gateway Office will support Paducah's important role as an inland waterway crossroads between the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland, and Mississippi rivers, as well as a major drydock center," said Chao.



The Maritime Administration has nine other Gateway offices in proximity to the nation's largest ports. These Gateway offices were established to act as liaisons between maritime communities, state and local authorities, and their federal counterparts, to identify intermodal challenges and solutions, and assist in identifying Federal and state funding opportunities. The offices serve as an advocate for the maritime industry, and create and foster partnerships with local public and private sector stakeholders to identify and address issues impacting the marine transportation system. They also support delivery of Agency programs, products, and services to Coastal, Great Lakes, and Inland River ports and other maritime stakeholders.



The Marine Highway Grant funds an 18-month demonstration of container-on-barge services across three states and three marine highways. The funds will help lease and/or purchase shore-side container handling equipment. Paducah will work with the St. Louis Transit Authority, the Port of Louisville, the Port of Kansas City, and the U.S. Gulf Port of New Orleans. The Paducah project is one of six grants being made through the Maritime Administration's Marine Highway program.



Secretary Chao also explained, "Paducah has always been a natural hub for regional inland waterway traffic because of its specific and unique location. It's situated between the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland, and Mississippi Rivers. It really is Kentucky's crown jewel in terms of maritime importance."
VIDEO

Hundreds of thirsty cows swarm a water truck, revealing the harrowing impact of Australias biggest drought in decades.A herd of thirsty cows swarmed a water truck in Australia, drone footage of the event shows.A farmer in New South Wales drove more than an hour to deliver water to 1,300 cows, according to FOX13 News. The region has been battling one of the worst droughts in years.The drought, likely intensified by a dry winter, has made it extremely difficult for many farmers in the region to feed and give water to livestock, as well as keep crops alive, according to the BBC.It's like you are in jail every day," Ashley Gamble, one farmer, told a local Australian news outlet. "You turn up here because you've got to turn up. It's just depressing."The dry weather is expected to last for at least another three months. The bleak outlook has prompted the state government to ease up on rules that cap how many kangaroos farmers can shoot. Kangaroos are known to steal the scant food the cows do get."Many farmers are taking livestock off their paddocks, only to then see kangaroos move in and take whatever is left," Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair told the Associated Press.Additionally, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday announced a roughly $140 million package that will include payments to farmers to make up for lost income, as well as mental health support efforts, the Washington Post reported.These are bleak times, and a lot of people find it very hard to cope, Turnbull said, according to the paper.
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Arsene Wenger is currently in Liberia as the special guest of the African nations newly-elected president, one George Weah  yes, *that* George Weah.

Weah originally invited Wenger to attend his presidential inauguration several months ago but, due to work commitments, the Frenchman was unable to make the trip.

Now free of such ties, the 68-year-old flew into Monrovia on Wednesday and as people lined the streets to herald his arrival, he came face-to-face with Lil Arsene Wenger, a young baby named in his honour.

Arsene Wenger in Liberia with a baby named after him. Amazing photo. pic.twitter.com/sZdnYGvMGK  Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) 23 August 2018

As if not apparent by now, Wenger is positively revered in Liberia for the instrumental part he played in Weahs development as a player, having signed the future Ballon dOr winner for Monaco in 1988 and duly nurtured the young strikers innate talent.

The Frenchman was specifically summoned by Weah so that he could bestow the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption on his mentor in recognition of his contribution to sport in Africa and the opportunities he has afforded to African players over the years.

Wenger is also due to be inducted into Liberias Order of Distinction on Friday, wherein he will officially be bestowed with his first title in 14 years.

Ba-dum and, indeed, tish.
Every week, I offer a glimpse of the kind of intelligence assessments that are likely to come across the desk of the President of the United States. Modeled on the President's Daily Briefing, or PDB, which the director of national intelligence prepares for the President almost daily, my Presidential Weekly Briefing focuses on the topics and issues the President needs to know to make informed decisions.

Here's this week's briefing:

North Korea: Conscious recoupling

With Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's trip to North Korea on ice, we assess that other countries aren't waiting for Kim Jong Un to denuclearize before moving ahead with their own diplomatic and economic relief initiatives with him.

Rather than being treated as a rogue regime bucking international laws, Kim is being treated as an equal by your peers.

Your decision to publicly acknowledge the lack of progress on denuclearization will probably not put the brakes on the momentum behind the Kim train -- we assess that other countries will consciously continue to recouple with him for self-interested reasons. They may judge that the benefits of engaging with Kim outweigh the risks of going against your policy of maximum pressure. They may also take note of your openness to meeting Kim again and may think that if you can spend time with Kim, so can they.

Your tweet on Friday calling out China for not supporting denuclearization is unlikely to change Chinese President Xi Jinping's reported plans to visit North Korea next month, and his visit would undoubtedly focus on getting North Korea some immediate relief. You have blamed China for stymieing progress on denuclearization before, and that has not stopped the Chinese from defending North Korea diplomatically and urging sanctions relief for Kim's regime. To date, placing the blame on Xi has not led the Chinese to change course. Xi is going full steam ahead.

In the aftermath of your decision to postpone the next round of negotiations, you should expect the Chinese to do what they've historically done best: blame the United States for any problems on the Korean Peninsula. The Chinese called your decision to cancel Pompeo's trip "irresponsible" and said they support "advancing the process of a political settlement" following your summit, without addressing the fact, as cited by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) last week, that North Korea continues to pursue an illegal nuclear program.

China has called for a phased, step-by-step approach to denuclearization under which Kim would get something for every step he took toward denuclearization.

Kim did keep one of the commitments he made to you in Singapore -- he returned POW remains -- but that step has nothing to do with denuclearization. Regardless, expect North Korea's supporters in Beijing and Moscow to argue that Kim hasn't denuclearized because you haven't kept up your end of the deal and rewarded him for steps he has taken.

South Korea took a measured response to the postponement of Pompeo's trip, referencing the need to take a "long term view" and "maintain momentum toward dialogue" -- rather than focusing on Kim's failure to denuclearize. That's probably because South Korean President Moon Jae-in is moving ahead with economically lucrative inter-Korean integration plans.

South Korea will soon open a diplomatic liaison office in North Korea, and Moon spoke recently about a broad range of economic integration initiatives he is pursuing with Kim. He's put the value of this integration at over $60 billion over the next 30 years. He's detailed plans to build railroads connecting the Koreas to each other and to Russia and China, resuming tours of North Korea's Mount Kumgang, and re-opening the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea.

Moon is likely aware that his plan could damage his relationship with you because it goes against the economic pressure you have said will remain in place until Kim denuclearizes. But his approval ratings have dipped recently, and he is under pressure at home to revitalize the South Korean economy as well as show tangible signs that staking so much of his personal reputation on improving relations with North Korea was worth it.

We should assume that both China and Russia -- countries Moon would get new links to via North Korea -- are privately pushing Moon to move ahead with his economic integration plans. Plus, they would get their own economic and geopolitical benefits from fostering a close relationship with South Korea while it potentially falls out of favor with the United States.

It has been reported that Japan is contemplating providing an aid package to North Korea to bring closure on the issue of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. If relations are normalized, and the abductees are returned, Japan may be ready to give Kim $10 billion in economic assistance. The outstanding question is whether Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would pin that aid on North Korean denuclearization. Abe has previously said he wants to meet with Kim, and he may press ahead with a summit to ensure the return of abductees.

No global mute button

As our law enforcement community continues their work on various legal cases involving your former associates, Mr. President, we are providing you with an assessment of how other leaders may assess the legal imbroglio here at home.

Because Russian President Vladimir Putin is focused on highlighting alleged shortcomings in our democracy, we should expect him to amplify a narrative that you are abusing your powers and trying to inappropriately interfere with our independent legal system for personal or political purposes, including by trying to influence what the Department of Justice should investigate and threatening them if they don't agree with your guidance. This helps him undermine the basis of our democratic institutions: The separation of powers.

Countries whom the US has condemned for abusing their law enforcement systems for political purposes may also perceive a degree of hypocrisy if they believe you are trying to interfere with legal proceedings or act against Attorney General Jeff Sessions when you disagree with him. Countries we have recently sanctioned for abusing executive powers to influence law enforcement -- like Turkey and Venezuela -- may point out a failure to practice at home what we preach abroad.

Foreign counterparts may take a wait-and-see approach before diving into negotiations with you on long-term agreements and policy initiatives that may not have staying power after your administration. They may want to see how midterm elections turn out -- and if Republicans remain in control of Congress -- because they believe that could impact any congressional actions, including possibly impeachment, against you.

Russia: Filling in for the United States

We assess that Russia is continuing its strategy of trying to fill in for the US, and ultimately replace us, in various high-level negotiations and relationships.

President Trump, a year after your speech unveiling your strategy for Afghanistan and on the heels of a successful strike against the head of ISIS in that country, Russia is trying to offset US efforts to negotiate an end to the violence.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani publicly extended a ceasefire offer to the Taliban, and your team has been working to broker negotiations between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan. Russia, uncoincidentally, announced their own separate conference on the future of Afghanistan. The Taliban will attend. Russia still labels it a terrorist organization but Putin has been selectively engaging with them for years.

The Afghan government has said, "any discussions that are organized outside the government-led peace process will not yield results." The US has also said we will not attend this separate, uncoordinated track of discussions. Even without the government of Afghanistan participating, Russia will forge ahead with talks with the Taliban because it wants to fill in for the United States as the go-to mediator-in-chief on this conflict, just like it is doing for Syria and even the US-North Korea tensions.

As an update to our last briefing to you on Syria, Putin is likely looking to fill in for us in Syria. We assess that he is looking to capitalize on your decision to step back in the war-torn country. And the timing of a video announcing Russian troop numbers and accomplishments in Syria -- was probably not coincidental. It is likely propaganda designed to showcase Russia's longstanding -- and in their eyes, successful -- commitment to Syria in contrast to your decision to cut US assistance and weigh a troop withdrawal.
Ready to step back in time? Then head to the museum in Seattle where '80s technology still rules. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. David Pecker

The CEO of the company that publishes the National Enquirer reportedly was granted immunity in the investigation of Michael Cohen in exchange for providing info on hush money deals. David Pecker, the head of American Media Inc., told federal prosecutors that President Trump had knowledge of Cohen's payments to women who said Trump had affairs with them, sources told CNN; Trump has denied the affairs. American Media Inc. didn't respond to CNN's requests for comment. Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to eight criminal counts and said in court he committed some of his crimes at Trump's request.

2. Australia

For the sixth time in just more than 10 years, Australia has a new prime minister. Scott Morrison narrowly defeated a rival in a closed-door leadership vote to claim the job. He's one of the architects of Australia's tough immigration policies. The door opened for Morrison to rise to the country's top post after now-former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was toppled in a conservative uprising over a change in climate change policy. It's been a revolving door of leadership changes in Australia's capital in the past decade. Since 2007, no Australian prime minister has faced two consecutive elections.

3. Hurricane Lane

Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a Category 3 storm, but it's still very dangerous. After unleashing heavy rain (19 inches worth), floods, landslides, high winds and dangerous surf on Hawaii's Big Island, the storm is chugging along and threatening the state's other islands. Lane is about 230 miles south of Honolulu this morning. Depending on the storm's track, Lane's center may move very close to the main islands or cross land today or tomorrow. Officials on Oahu yesterday went all out, warning residents and tourists of the impending danger by sounding an emergency siren for three minutes.

4. Duncan Hunter

With all the other political news this week, the indictment of California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, ended up on our back burner. The Hunters are accused of using $250,000 in campaign funds to furnish a lavish lifestyle, including a $14,000 Italian vacation. They pleaded not guilty yesterday. In an interview later in the day with Fox News, Duncan Hunter defended himself -- by throwing his wife under the bus. "She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did, that'll be looked at, too, I'm sure," he said. "But I didn't do it." Well that will make for some interesting conversation around the dinner table.

5. Arctic ice

Warming temperatures seem to be affecting the thickest and oldest ice in the Arctic. Recent satellite images show that sea ice off Greenland's northern coast -- ridges of ice piled as high as 70 feet in some places -- has been replaced by miles of open water for the first time on record. It's a development that's surprised scientists. "This was the area that was seen as the last bastion, where we'd see these changes come last, but they've arrived," said one researcher. The loss of sea ice contributes to a vicious cycle in which sunlight, normally reflected by ice, instead enters the ocean and warms it, leading to more ice melt.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

'I'm coming home to you'

If you find yourself humming "Sweet Home Alabama" (and you will after reading this), you can thank Ed King for writing it. The Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist has died.

Best wishes, Ben

Everybody send good wishes to Ben Affleck. The Oscar-winning director (and current Batman actor) is in rehab, where he's been in the past for alcohol addiction.

Say hello to ...

An isolated Amazon tribe with no known contacts with the rest of the world was spotted by a drone flying over the jungle in Brazil.

'Saving Nemo'

Schoolkids in Australia have gone from "Finding Nemo" to saving him with a campaign to protect clownfish.

Ready for her close-up

Japan has its first female fighter pilot. And, no surprise, she was influenced by "Top Gun."

HAPPENING LATER ...

Ballot battle

A rural Georgia county's Board of Elections is due to vote this morning on a controversial proposal to close seven of the majority-black county's nine polling places ahead of the November midterm election. The proposal has sparked accusations of racism and voter suppression.

Emotional visit

Pope Francis heads to Ireland this weekend, the first papal visit to the Emerald Isle in almost four decades. And sex abuse survivors there -- and everywhere -- say he must do more to deal with the church's scandals.

TODAY'S QUOTE

"The actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, pushing back against the latest taunt from President Trump, who said Sessions "never took control" of the Justice Department

TOTAL RECALL

Quiz time

Volkswagen has been accused of ruining Mexican crops near one of its factories by using what?

A. hail cannons

B. sonic screwdrivers

C. hoverboards

D. transporters

Play "Total Recall: The CNN news quiz" to see if you're right. And don't forget, you can also find a version of the quiz on your Amazon devices! Just say, "Alexa, ask CNN for a quiz."

TODAY'S NUMBER

$120 million

The anticipated payday for Apple CEO Tim Cook today, when he gets stock tied to the tech giant's performance. Under Cook, Apple became the first $1 trillion American company.

AND FINALLY

No friends, no problem

If you don't have anyone to play with, follow this dog's example and use a trampoline to play fetch with yourself. (Click to view.)
In Dublin's Phoenix Park, one of the largest city parks in Europe, final preparations are underway for the arrival of Pope Francis this Sunday.

The park is mostly flat, home to wild deer and the Dublin Zoo, the US ambassador's residence, the headquarters of the Irish police force, an Garda Siochana, and the home of the President, Aras an Uachtarain.

Belief, religion and spirituality Catholics and catholicism Christianity Continents and regions Europe Ireland Misc people Northern Europe Papacy and the Pope Pope Francis Religious groups Society John Paul II

But nothing dominates its surroundings like the immense white cross that was erected in 1979 when Pope John Paul II visited Ireland. Then, 1.25 million people -- at the time a third of the population of Ireland -- came to the Phoenix Park to witness him say Mass.

I live right next to Phoenix Park and on Thursday evening found myself venturing toward the papal cross. As it came into view, an even bigger structure surrounded it, a massive semicircle stage, a smaller one within that, a long walkway from the grass to the stage covered in red carpet, and in the center, slicing through the front of the stage, the 115-foot tall cross, as if to say: still here.

There will be nowhere near the same crowds as there were in 1979 greeting this Pope.

Organizers are estimating 500,000 people, but many doubt that figure. The warnings about long walks through the park to get to the site, along with a forecast for rain, are turning some people off.

This is not an official state visit. The Pope is in Ireland for the World Meeting of Families, a gathering recently described by our former president Mary McAleese -- who has emerged as one of the most impactful critics of the Catholic Church's hierarchy in recent times -- as a "right-wing rally."

The last three years in Ireland have seen huge social change reflected in referendums and legislation: marriage equality in 2015; the progressive Gender Recognition Act in the same year addressing the rights of trans people; and 2018's referendum removing the eighth amendment, Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion, and legalizing terminations up to 12 weeks.

Pope Francis is arriving into a nation that was once a borderline theocracy, but is now a progressive country where the scales continue to fall from people's eyes. The generational trauma endured by those who were victims and survivors of the wrongs the Catholic Church and its organizations perpetrated here is still undergoing an audit -- and the moral authority of the church and its ability to shut people up through fear and oppression has depleted massively.

Add to that the devastating details of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, which were widely reported here in Ireland, the pope's remarks in Chile earlier this year where he essentially denounced survivors of abuse and another wordy letter published by the pope this week where sorry seems to be the easiest word and action is still lacking.

Catholic voices in the media tend to be rather fundamentalist, but the so-called "cultural Catholics" or "a la carte Catholics" of Ireland are now interrogating the past and the hierarchy, along with the Church's continued role in schools and hospitals.

The pope will be welcomed with fervor by the devout, but that number is waning, with many liberal Catholics left wondering where they fit.

Many Irish people believe that the Catholic Church has not done enough to atone for the abuse its clergy perpetrated, and how it endeavored to cover up that abuse and protect pedophiles.

Add to this the imprisonment of women in Magdalene Laundries, and the illegal trafficking of children from mother and baby homes, which also had frighteningly high mortality rates, and you have a nation of people wanting to face up to the past, instead of brushing it under the carpet.

Colm O'Gorman, the executive director of Amnesty Ireland -- and survivor of clerical abuse who sued Pope John Paul II and successfully campaigned for a state inquiry into abuse -- is organizing a rally that many are gravitating toward.

Stand for Truth will take place in Dublin city center on Sunday. Thousands will gather in solidarity with survivors of clerical abuse, and then walk to the nearby site of a former Magdalene Laundry, which only closed in 1996.

The atmosphere in Ireland is shifting. Beyond the silly season stories preceding the visit, is a palpable rage. It's hard to imagine that Pope Francis will be able to get through this trip without facing a tidal wave of public anger.
Though a grand jury report released in mid-August details abuse allegations against Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania only, it reignited a firestorm in the global church -- and has prompted church and secular officials in other states to open their own inquiries.

The report revealed that more than 300 "predator priests" had been credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims over seven decades.

Continents and regions Illinois Midwestern United States North America The Americas United States Belief, religion and spirituality Society Chicago Crime, law enforcement and corrections Crimes against persons Criminal offenses Sex and gender issues Sex crimes Sexual assault Investigations Buildings and structures Churches and cathedrals Northwestern United States Points of interest Religious buildings Wyoming Catholics and catholicism Christianity Northeastern United States Pennsylvania Religious groups Religious leaders and clergy Buffalo New York (State) Scandals Sex scandals Cheyenne Catholic Church sexual abuse Children Demographic groups Families and children Family members and relatives Population and demographics Child abuse Child sexual abuse New York City Law enforcement New Jersey Connecticut

Its authors acknowledged that the cases drove home for them a reality that hadn't set in after other revelations of child sex abuse by Catholic clerics elsewhere.

"For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, someplace away," the report said. "Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere."

Here's a look at the investigations sparked by the Pennsylvania report:

Connecticut

Bishop Frank Caggiano of the Bridgeport Diocese in Connecticut said he has asked an independent firm to conduct a comprehensive review of sexual abuse claims.

Caggiano said that a financial report on settlement amounts for claims for past abuse cases, as well an accounting of financial support being provided to priests accused of sex abuse, will be issued by the end of October.

In a letter, Caggiano recognized "many words have been said" about the sex abuse scandals, and that many were feeling grief, anger and confusion.

"However, words alone are insufficient," the bishop said. "The time for action has come."

New York

The New York attorney general announced a civil investigation into how the dioceses and other parts of the church reviewed and potentially covered up allegations of the sexual abuse of minors.

According to a source close to the investigation, all eight Catholic dioceses in the state were subpoenaed.

Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood's office said the investigation was launched by its Charities Bureau. The dioceses and other parts of the church function as non-profits.

In response to reports of the subpoenas, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York said "it is not a surprise" Underwood's office would begin an investigation, and that the archdiocese and the other seven dioceses were "ready and eager" to cooperate.

The attorney general's office also started a hotline and online form for victims or witnesses of sexual abuse at the hands of priests within the New York dioceses of the Catholic Church.

Underwood's office said an investigator would "review all allegations," and that law enforcement would "seek to protect victims' and witnesses' identities."

The Buffalo Diocese specifically was roiled by old and new abuse allegations after the Pennsylvania report's release. The Rev. Robert Yetter was placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into abuse allegations, according to the diocese.

"After receiving a new abuse complaint against Father Robert Yetter, Bishop Richard J. Malone has asked for and received the resignation of Father Yetter as pastor of St. Mary's of Swormville," the Buffalo Diocese said in a statement Monday. "Father Yetter has also been placed on administrative leave as an investigation continues."

A lawsuit also was filed against the diocese by an alleged sex abuse survivor, who said the diocese and Malone continue to expose the public to "dangerous, predator priests," and have failed to address the issue appropriately.

"The Bishop says the shepherd does not abandon his flock during a difficult time, but based upon his decisions of the past he abandoned the children of this diocese a long time ago and chose to protect his image, and those who committed these horrible crimes continuing to allow them to prey on innocent children," the survivor, Matthew Golden, said in a statement.

Malone had released a statement before the lawsuit's filing, admitting to failures and promising to do better in the future.

"Let me be clear. My handling of recent claims from some of our parishioners concerning sexual misconduct with adults unquestionably has fallen short of the standard to which you hold us, and to which we hold ourselves," he wrote. "We can do better. We will do better."

The diocese did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

New Jersey

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced his office was forming a task force to investigate allegations of clergy sex abuse and any efforts to cover up such actions.

Grewal said in a statement he was "deeply troubled" by the allegations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report, which showed how widespread the abuse and cover-ups were.

"We owe it to the people of New Jersey to find out whether the same thing happened here," Grewal said. "If it did, we will take action against those responsible."

The task force will also review agreements between the state's Catholic dioceses and law enforcement, in which the dioceses were told to create policies "to ensure that their leaders and employees report information to prosecutors about potential cases of sexual abuse" within the church, the statement said, and whether the dioceses complied with those agreements.

Illinois

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced plans to meet with the Chicago Archdiocese after at least seven priests with connections to her state were identified in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.

"The Catholic Church has a moral obligation to provide its parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois," Madigan said in a statement.

The Chicago Archdiocese agreed to meet, Madigan said. The meeting wasn't immediately scheduled.

"I plan to reach out to the other dioceses in Illinois and have the same conversation and expect the bishops will agree and cooperate fully," she added. "If not, I will work with states' attorneys and law enforcement throughout Illinois to investigate."

The Chicago Archdiocese said it was looking forward to the meeting with Madigan.

"Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Chicago has reported all abuse allegations to the proper civil authorities," including to the Department of Children and Family Services, a statement to CNN noted.

The diocese's website also lists the names of clergy with "substantiated claims of abuse against them," the statement said.

Missouri

Missouri's attorney general said his office launched an independent review of the St. Louis Archdiocese and allegations of abuse by clergy "for the purpose of public transparency and accountability," adding that the archdiocese agreed to cooperate.

"Victims of sexual abuse of any kind deserve to have their voices heard and Missourians deserve to know if this misconduct has occurred in their communities," Attorney General Josh Hawley said in a statement. "By inviting this independent review, the Archdiocese is demonstrating a willingness to be transparent and expose any potential wrongdoing."

In a letter to Hawley, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson confirmed the archdiocese would cooperate with the review, saying it "has always taken the protection of children and youth as one of our highest priorities."

"To this end we have always cooperated with law enforcement in any investigation into these matters and we will continue to do so."

The letter also noted that Carlson had gotten a former member of the FBI to review the archdiocese's "safe environment protocols" for children.

"She found our protocols to be appropriate and robust," Carlson said.

New Mexico

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is asking for documents from the state's diocese in the wake of the priest sex abuse scandal, according to a spokesman for the office.

"Attorney General Balderas has sent investigative demands to all three dioceses in New Mexico requiring full disclosure and full transparency. The Catholic Church in New Mexico needs to fully reconcile and support survivors by revealing the magnitude of sexual abuse and subsequent cover-up by church leaders in order to restore faith and trust in the community," press secretary David Carl said.

In a letter to Archbishop John Wester, Balderas said he was training his efforts on helping the victims of sexual abuse by clergy, because for most cases the statute of limitations prevent criminal charges.

"However, similar to you, I remain committed to "bring(ing) healing and strengthen(ing) protection of the innocent," he wrote. Overall, seeking justice for anyone victimized remains a priority for my office," he wrote September 4.

Oklahoma

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City planned to review the files of every priest who had served since 1960 for "credible allegations of child sexual abuse (that) were reported, substantiated, prosecuted or admitted to," its leaders announced in late August.

Any credible allegation would be turned over to an attorney leading an independent investigation into how the archdiocese handled accusations, a news release said.

The archdiocese also intended to publish the results online, including case specifics, within 10 to 12 weeks, the release said. Another review covering cases before 1960 would follow, it said.

Archbishop Paul Coakley called it a "dark moment" in the church's history.

"It calls for a renewed commitment to vigilance, transparency and accountability from our shepherds and indeed for the whole church," he said. "No matter how painful this process may become, I am committed to reviewing and sharing the specifics of these cases."

Wyoming

In Wyoming, Cheyenne police said they had reopened an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by an unnamed church official, stemming from his time in the diocese from the 1970s through the 1990s.

The Cheyenne Police Department didn't name the church official, but last month, Cheyenne Bishop Steven Biegler said the diocese had learned of "credible and substantiated" allegations that Joseph Hart, a retired Wyoming bishop, had sexually abused two boys.

The investigation of alleged abuse was opened in March, Biegler said in a statement. The police department didn't announce its investigation until mid-August, when it asked for victims or witnesses to share any information.

Hart was a bishop and an auxiliary bishop in the Cheyenne Diocese between 1976 and 2001, according to Biegler's statement. Hart has "consistently denied all allegations that he sexually abused minors" and has said he would cooperate with the investigation.

"I am confident these processes will, in the end, come to a similar conclusion," Hart said in July.

But an outside investigator retained last year concluded that the earlier district attorney's investigation was "flawed," Biegler said, and "substantial new evidence" suggested that Hart had sexually abused two boys in Wyoming.

The diocese later said in a statement a third person had come forward and claimed he had also been sexually abused by Hart in 1980. The allegation was reported to the Cheyenne Police Department, and the diocese is cooperating with the investigation, it said.

Hart declined a request to respond to the accusations when the diocese contacted him as part of its own investigation, according to the Diocese of Cheyenne's statement.
LENOX  A Canastota teen was killed in a one-vehicle crash in the town of Lenox on Thursday afternoon, according to the Madison County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies say around 1:16 p.m. Thursday, they responded to a crash involving a pickup truck and a tree. Passersby saw the truck driven by 16-year-old Coby Stevens heading southbound on Lewis Point Road in Lenox when it swerved off the east side of the road and struck a tree, according to deputies.

One of the witnesses then called 911 to report the crash. When first responders arrived at the scene, they found two people inside the vehicle.

Stevens, the driver of the truck, was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger was transported to Upstate Medical University to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The Canastota Fire Department, Greater Lenox Ambulance and New York State Police also assisted the Sheriffs Office at the scene.

On Thursday, Canastota Central School District Superintendent June Clarke released the following statement to the school community:

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of the death of one of our students. Junior Coby Stevens was killed earlier today in a one-vehicle accident. Our deepest condolences go out to Cobys family in the face of what can only be described as an unimaginable loss. We will have crisis counselors available at the school beginning at 9:30 am on Friday for all students and staff. Please keep the Stevens and Appler families in your thoughts and prayers.

Deputies say the investigation into the crash is ongoing.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up for the family of Sunday night's Utica homicide victim.

17-year-old Stefan Medina was shot and killed Sunday in Utica in the city's 7th homicide of the year.

Anyone with any information should call the Utica Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at (315) 223-3510.

https://www.gofundme.com/4fqr9eg
The New York State Attorney Generals Office has concluded its investigation into the death of a man who was tased by police in Oneida earlier this year, and it determined that the Oneida and Canastota police officers use of force against 41-year-old John Havener Jr. of Vernon Center was justified.

In the early morning hours on Jan. 22, Oneida police responded to Genesee Street in Oneida near New York State Police Troop D Headquarters for a report of a man walking along the road, screaming and trying to get into passing cars.



Photo courtesy CNY Central Photo courtesy CNY Central

When police arrived on scene, they found Havener in the roadway, screaming incoherently, according to police. When he ignored verbal commands from police and then became physically combative, police used pepper spray and deployed a hand taser.

Canastota police then arrived to assist at the scene, and a taser was used a second time. The Madison County Sheriffs Office then responded and took Havener into custody. According to police, an initial investigation found that he had used methamphetamine before the incident.

An ambulance was then requested when Havener was having a medical event and appeared to be in distress, according to police, and he died shortly after at Oneida Health Care Facility. According to the report from the AGs Office, the Onondoga County Medical Examiner determined that Haveners death was accidental and caused by multiple drug toxicity, not from the use of force by law enforcement.

The AGs Office says that the officers use of force while attempting to arrest Havener was justified under New York State Penal Law.

New York law permits a police officer to use reasonable force when that officer reasonably believes that such force is necessary to effect an arrest, says the AGs Offices press release. Consistent with state law and OPD and CPD policies, the evidence established that the officers appropriately used escalating force techniques that the officers reasonably believed was necessary in order to arrest Mr. Havener.

New York State Police handled the initial investigation into the incident, and the investigation by the AGs Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit included reviewing state polices report, witness statements, statements from responding officers, 911 dispatch recordings, video evidence from the scene, the medical examiners report, and downloadable reports from the tasers that were used.

We send our deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Havener, whose death was a tragedy, said state Attorney Barbara General Underwood in the news release. We undertook a comprehensive investigation into the incident, part of our commitment to providing the public with exhaustive and transparent accounting of all cases we investigate under the executive order.

To view the full report from the AGs Office, click here.
UTICA  A former Utica City Councilman is trying to get a measure placed on the ballot this November for residents to vote on term limits, and an upcoming court date could make that possible.

Last fall, the Utica Common Council voted in favor of extending term limits for city officials to 12 years instead of eight.

Former Councilman Lou Critelli wants the voters to be able to determine that rather than the Common Council, and he needed 440 signatures on his second round of petition-filing to get term limits onto this Novembers ballot. He ended up with 774 signatures.

Now, Critelli and his supporters say that Michelle George, the city of Utica clerk, has to certify those signatures within 20 days. However, George says she has to wait 60 days before she certifies the signatures. The two parties have different interpretations of the municipal home rule law, and theyre taking it to an Oneida County grand jury to make a decision.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, Judge Erin Gall will hear the case at the Oneida County Supreme Courthouse in Utica.

If Gall rules in favor of the city, the measure to revert the term limits back to eight years will not make it onto the ballot this fall.

Critellis attorney, Mark Wolber, says they will make every effort to pack the court room with concerned Utica citizens.
(CNN) -- The Trump administration is pushing back on a New York Times report that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is looking into a plan that would allow states to use federal funding to buy firearms for teachers.

On Wednesday, the Times reported that the Education Department was considering using a grant program called the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program as a way to give federal funding for firearm purchases to states or school districts. The report cited multiple people with knowledge of the plan.

A senior administration official told CNN that the idea laid out in the Times report did not originate with the Department of Education or DeVos. That official said the department received a letter from the Texas state Department of Education asking if the funds from a federal grant program could be used to purchase firearms. It was circulated to departmental lawyers and researchers for guidance, according to the official. The department ultimately chose not to respond, the official said.

The official added that DeVos thinks that Congress should take action to clarify whether or not using the grant funding to buy guns is permissible. Moreover, the Education Department believes the grant program is intentionally vague to give school districts flexibility, and the idea of purchasing firearms was likely not considered when it was written, according to the official.

In response to the Times report, Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill told CNN that "the department is constantly considering and evaluating policy issues, particularly issues related to school safety. The secretary nor the department issues opinions on hypothetical scenarios."

The discussion around arming teachers has been a deeply controversial one. President Donald Trump floated the proposal to arm educators and school staff on multiple occasions in the wake of the deadly school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February 2018.

"If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm, they could end the attack very quickly," Trump said during a listening session on school safety a week after the shooting.

The idea of arming school staff has been met with sharp condemnation.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said in a statement Wednesday that "arming teachers is not a solution."

"It recklessly puts American children in even more danger," she said in response to the Times report. "It's time for Americans to find the courage to take on the powerful and fight for our own safety."

The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association also lambasted the proposal. Nicole Hockley, whose six-year-old son was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, took the microphone and told Trump she would rather arm teachers with ways to prevent shootings in the first place rather than with a firearm.

Despite the criticism, Trump doubled down on the proposal on several subsequent occasions, and in March, the Trump administration proposed providing some school personnel with "rigorous" firearms training.

In the wake of the Parkland shooting, the Trump administration also created a federal school safety commission, which is chaired by DeVos. In June, she testified before a congressional committee that the commission would not focus on looking at the role the role of guns in school safety. That stance was panned during a public forum. Democrats on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have called on DeVos to explain how the commission will explore the role of guns.

"The Commission was charged with recommending policies and funding proposals to prevent school violence," 17 members of the committee wrote in a letter in June. "A core element of combating school violence is addressing gun violence, both in school and in our communities."
Lafayette, IND. (WLFI) - Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette completed their 300th home. Habitat works with local families in need to help them build their forever home.

Those who have worked with the organization for years never imagined the scope of their impact in this community over time. They are finally understanding how big their impact is.

CEO of the organization Doug Taylor reminisced to when he started working for Habitat back in the 1980s. He says he is amazed by what they have been able to accomplish over time.

Our goal was if we could build 90 houses that would really be good and here we're up to 300, he said. And this community has just embraced Habitat so well and we are so appreciative.

The process to get one of these homes takes a lot of time, money, and physical effort. Something that the recipient of this 300th home is very familiar with.

Meet Michelle McGhee. She has working on her volunteer hours required of her as a potential Habitat homeowner.

Seeing it all start to wrap up is bringing on many feelings for McGhee.

Exciting, relieving, she said with a laugh. Just because it's been a lot of work and a long time and its just going to feel really good to have it finally all done and be in my new house.

Her daughter and her three grandchildren, Ashton, 4, Avery, 2, and August, 1, will be moving into the house on Howell with her.

McGhee said the four-year-old is especially excited about the new house, even though she added the kids may have to share rooms.

They opened the house for a community-wide blessing on Thursday at 6pm. She said they hope to be fully moved in by the end of this upcoming week.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -- A Purdue designed flame thrower that shoots flames 130 feet in the air will be featured at the upcoming Burning Man festival.

The 'BFF' or Big Friendly Flame was designed in the Propulsion Design, Build, Test class at Purdue's Zucrow Laboratories.

The class was challenged by a sponsor to build a gas fueled flame thrower capable of shooting flames at least 80 feet in the air.

Professors said this is the type of challenge that only students at Purdue have the resources to accomplish.

"You get to do a cool project like this and I think it really gives the students a unique experience to learn a lot but then also to have some fun with it," said Carson Slabaugh, assistant professor of Aerospace Engineering at Purdue.

The BFF will be mounted on top of a fire truck and driven through crowds at the festival.

Burning Man starts Aug 25 in Nevada.




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History teacher from Wrexham chosen by Polish Embassy to take trip of a lifetime

This article is old - Published: Friday, Aug 24th, 2018

A history teacher from Wrexham has been chosen to take part in a once in a lifetime trip to help strengthen the cultural understanding between the United Kingdom and Poland.

Stephen Hallam, who teaches in St Thomas Catholic School in Crewe, was selected by the Polish Embassy as one of eight history teachers across the country to take part in the four day trip.

Wrexham born and bred, Stephen felt it would be a great opportunity to find out more about Polish culture  especially with the strong links Poland has with his hometown and Crewe.

Stephen flew to Warsaw, Polands capital earlier this week  with his four day journey set to come to an end today.

During their time in Poland, the eight teachers will visit museums in the capital, before taking a train to Krakow to discover more about the medieval city.

Yesterday as part of the final day of the journey, the group received a tour around Auschwitz  the concentration camp where its estimated over one million prisoners died.

Speaking about his journey, Stephen said: Ive taught children about these places for over 25 years but never been.

Two of my uncles, Len and Leslie Price passed away last year and they fought in the war. Now that the World War 2 generation is almost gone I cant think of a better time to remember what happened in order to keep the memory alive.

He added: The Polish nation is keen to remind the world that although suited geographically within Poland, these were part of the Nazi German occupation and the Polish people were also the victims of this oppression.

The museum allows visitors to walk in the footsteps of history, touring barracks, hospitals, gas chambers and crematoria.

Afterwards the museum team talked about the importance of keeping the story alive for the future and encouraging people to visit, learn and understand.

The study tour has been a great success.
Intense workloads during online conglomerate Amazons Prime Day last month resulted in a 209 percent increase in health and safety complaints from the companys British workforce.

According to the Wired website, campaign group Organise, which collates email complaints, reported Amazon workers wrote in complaining of stomach cramps, sprains, backache, musculoskeletal injuries and swollen feet.

Prime Day saw strikes at Amazon warehouses in Germany and Spain and a work to rule in Poland.

One worker in Britain reported, It was worst in pickingwe were picking items and sending them to customers faster than fast. In my opinion targets are not touchable any more. We have to break rules about health and safety to meet them.

She continued, Almost all employees have problems with productivity and back pain.

Figures released earlier this year show that in three years, 600 health emergencies required paramedics and ambulance attendance at Amazons 14 UK-based distribution centres. In over half, the patient was taken to hospital. The statistics were compiled by the GMB trade union, based on Freedom of Information requests submitted to local health authorities.

Amazon employs around 27,000 workers in the UK. Of these, two thirds work in its logistics and distribution operation. Globally, the company employs 563,100 as of April this year, up from 541,900 last year.

Of the 600 or so British emergency cases, according to figures provided by the West Midlands Ambulance Trust, 115 took place at the companys depot in Rugely, Staffordshire. The Rugely emergency callouts included: 14 cases of breathing problems; 24 cases of chest pain; another 18 of cardiac pain; five cases of fitting and another of convulsions; 13 cases of trauma, including three major traumas. Eight patients were unconscious.

Another three cases related to maternity and pregnancy. The GMB trade union collated comments from Amazon workers on the Rugely site.

One woman, working as a picker, reported, When I found I was pregnant, I asked my manager to be transferred to a different department. I was told I could not be transferred and must continue picking, which involves bending, stretching and moving a heavy cart, and walking miles.

Another woman in late pregnancy reported being forced to stand during her entire shift.

Other workers reported depression, feeling like a trapped animal, being treated as if you are a robot and living in a prison.

One described how, People are overtired due to constantly being rushed and threatened or being fined if they wont improve their performance. Stress level is high. They ask people why they were late 40 sec[onds].

Amazons fulfilment centres tend to be built in former industrial areas, where tens and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been destroyed. Rugely opened in 2011 on the site of the former Lea Hall Colliery. Part of the huge Cannock Chase coalfield, Lea Hall was opened in 1960 to provide coal for two adjacent power stations.

During the 1984-85 miners strike, the pit was one of the first to see mass picketing. The strike, in defence of hundreds of thousands of jobs and an entire industry, was defeated because of the treachery of the trade unions and Labour Party that left the miners to stand alone against government-orchestrated police violence and strike breaking.

Lea Hall was closed five years after the end of the strike, in 1990, with the loss of 2,000 jobs in a town with a population of only 22,000. Nearby Littleton Colliery finally closed in 1993. Both the adjacent power stations have subsequently closed, leaving Amazon and a nearby Tesco distribution centre as the major employers.

The Rugely facility is only one of around 200 Amazon operates globally, each one employing hundreds or thousands of workers. Every day around the world, tens of thousands of Amazon workers walk 10 or 15 miles per shift, carrying out thousands of bending and packing movements. Every Amazon warehouse monitors workers closely, cajoles and warns them, under threat of discipline or dismissal, to fulfil targets.

Amazon is more than a gigantic online retail and distribution outfit. Increasingly its vast profits$2.53 billion (1.9 billion) in the three months to the end of June this year on sales of $52.9 billion (41.3 billion)come from the companys move to monopolising infrastructure services for online commerce.

Amazons own web sites are the dominant platform for online sales of third party products. Amazon Web Services hosts 44 percent of the worlds cloud computing and data storage capacity, including that of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The company is also moving into corporate services and ecommerce, offering business products from office supplies to power tools, along with services such as invoicing, VAT-exclusive pricing, purchase tracking and business analysis. Its Amazon Business site claims to offer 250 million products. According to the Financial Times, the companys UK Business arm signed up 100,000 customers in one year, seeking to emulate its development in the US where revenue reached $1 billion within one year.

Amazon Business is also targeting public services in Britain. A recent five-year deal with the joint procurement group Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO), which organises bulk purchases for 13 local authorities, is reported as being worth 600 million. YPO claims a customer base of more than 30,000 schools, universities, local authorities, social service providers and other non-profit making organisations.

Under the terms of the deal, Amazon Business will supply all the goods, such as office supplies and medical equipment, required by these organisations via a one-stop site. According to the Telegraph, Amazon was the only bidder and the only viable contractor for the contract. Similar deals have been signed in the US with purchasing group US Communities.

But while Amazon expands its operations and profits worldwide, the companys tax bill is falling. The companys UK-based subsidiary earned 72 million last year in profits on a turnover of over 2 billion but paid a mere 1.7 million in taxes. The tax bill fell precisely because of the rocketing price of Amazon shares under the rules governing share awards to company staff. Across Europe, Amazons tax bill was a mere 54.8 million on revenues of 24.9 billion.

Over the same period, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos increased his personal wealth by $50 billion, to $150 billion.

Amazons business extends around the globe, exploiting production, distribution and IT workers wherever it sees fit, shifting funds to wherever the tax burden is the least. Its operations demonstrate the immense capacity of modern society to organise production and distribution globally. But under capitalism, the allocation of these vast resources is devoted not to resolving human need, but to expanding the obscene riches of Bezos and his ilk.

This vast wealth must be expropriated and used to improving workers wages and living standards and addressing vital social needs worldwide. But trade unions, such as the GMB, call only the occasional, localised and restricted protests. They posture as friends of Amazons brutally exploited workforce, while working to establish a working relationship with Amazon management. Amazon workers urgently need new, internationally based rank-and-file organisations to unite their struggles.

We urge Amazon workers to contact the International Amazons Workers Voice to express their grievances and address the issues they currently face. Contact the International Amazon Workers Voice now and alert your fellow workers. We respect anonymity.
As opposition grows among UPS workers to the sellout contract backed by the Teamsters union and UPS management, there is widespread support in the working class for broadening the UPS workers struggle.

The World Socialist Web Site UPS Workers Newsletter has received statements from autoworkers across the US this week calling for a united struggle of logistics and autoworkers and warning their counterparts at UPS not to place any faith in the Teamsters.

Workers at Warren Stamping (FCA) in Warren, MI

John, a Jeep Fiat Chrysler worker from Toledo, Ohio, said he had read of the Teamsters efforts to blackmail UPS workers into voting for the contract via the WSWS. The Teamsters union is dispatching its officials across the country to threaten workers that they will lose healthcare coverage if they strike, and that the current contract is the best they can get.

Thats the tactics the United Auto Workers used, John said. They always come and threaten plant closures or losing jobs, or losing product, if we voted against the contract or went on strike.

John said he thought the UPS workers should vote no and keep voting no. They should go on strike. It would stop the economy. Every industry in the world gets packages from UPS. It would probably ground the economy to a halt.

As with the UAW, John said the Teamsters gets paid by the company to ensure a strike doesnt happen, and they get paid by the workers, supposedly to help us. But the only thing we can do is strike. The people in the Teamsters dont care about the workers.

The workers should start their own organization, not the union, John said. But he felt that such organizations must not be subservient to any of the political parties, because as soon as you get in bed with the Democrats and the Republicans, like the UAW, you become a prostitute to the system. You have to create your own organization with your own guidelines.

WSWS campaigners at the Warren Stamping plant

The WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter calls for UPS workers to establish rank-and-file workplace committees in the warehouses and hubs to coordinate opposition to the contract and the Teamsters-UPS conspiracy. These committees would formulate their own demands for a nationwide strike and seek to broaden the struggle by sending delegations to workers at Amazon, in the auto industry, and elsewhere.

When asked what he thought the response would be among autoworkers to such an initiative, John said: That would work. He felt that the biggest problem we autoworkers have now is the way the UAW manipulates workers and pretends there is solidarity, by wearing red on Friday or giving you a sob story from 50 years ago. But there actually is solidarity and support for uniting among the workers.

If UPS workers could find a way to break away from their union, the autoworkers would follow them, he concluded. Everyone wants higher wages. The workers are sick of the unions BS, and there are more workers than there are union reps.

Widespread hatred of the UAW among autoworkers has been further confirmed by the ongoing UAW corruption scandal, which has exposed the transfer of millions of dollars to UAW executives in exchange for pushing through pro-company contracts.

We all see what is happening with the UAW corruption, John said. This is something that they cant explain away. Before, they said it was just a couple of bad actors. But they cant do it anymore. It is $9 million. Its not a few givebacks to bad actors. It is the company bribing the whole organization.

A WSWS reporting team spoke to autoworkers at Michigans Fiat Chrysler Warren Truck assembly plant yesterday afternoon, and distributed an article on the corruption scandal and an article on the Teamsters blackmail of UPS workers.

Chrystal, who is on an eight-year progression at FCA before reaching top pay, told us that during the 2015 contracts, the union said we would lose our jobs if we strike. Now people are saying we should just vote in different UAW representatives, but I dont think that will do it.

Chrystal

Like the UAW in 2009, the Teamsters are proposing the creation of a new tier under the contract, a hybrid driver/warehouse worker role that will be paid up to $6 per hour less than current drivers. It also maintains poverty-level wages for part-time warehouse workers, who currently earn as little as $10 per hour.

When she heard these details, Crystal said, It is outrageous. They want to introduce a new tier just like here. And $10 per hourthey want minimum wages everywhere.

WSWS reporters asked Chrystal what she thought about a united struggle of UPS and autoworkers. She replied: I think that would be a positive thing if we could come together in solidarity. The unions wont do it. Thats why we have to come together and be strong.

Mike, who also works at Warren, has been an autoworker for 25 years. Before that he was a member of the Teamsters union for eight years, while working as a tractor-trailer driver. Its not just the UAW. Its not just the Teamsters. Its all of them, he told us. He made the following statement to UPS workers: Just say no and stand up for yourself. UPS is making billions in profits. I think we should unite. Im all for it.

Juan, a Ford worker in Chicago, issued the following statement to UPS workers: From my experience, the only thing I can tell you is that the union is only going to look out for itself. Here in Chicago, they just replaced the tier system with a different name [In 2015], the union came to us telling us there was no more money, there wasnt enough money to make everybody legacy, that this is all there was. It came out just within a month or two after the contract went through that Ford had acquired their biggest profit in years.

I would say: dont trust the union, he added. Theyre basically there to take care of themselves, and thats it.

The WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter urges all UPS workers who are interested in building a rank-and-file committee in your workplace, and linking up your struggle with autoworkers and other sections of the working class, to contact us today.
On August 17, the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) published a statement protesting against it being placed under surveillance by the German secret service (the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV).

The Constitutional Protection Report 2017 published at the end of July, classifies any socialist critique of capitalism and its social consequences as left-wing extremist and anti-constitutional. The SGP is listed as a left-wing extremist party, subject to state monitoring, despite the fact that the BfV makes no accusation that the SGP violates the law or is engaged in violent activity. In fact, the report explicitly confirms that the SGP pursues its goals by legal meansvia participation in elections and lectures.

At the same time, the secret service report says nothing about the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and its fascist connections. The Nazi-apologist Bjorn Hocke, the new-right ideologue Gotz Kubitschek, the racist Pegida movement and the far-right publications Junge Freiheit and Compact do not feature in the report, which only refers to the AfD as the victim of alleged left-wing extremists.

Meanwhile, many new details have emerged confirming that the BfV and its president, Hans-Georg Maaen, collaborate closely with the AfD. According to the German Interior Ministry, Maaen has held around 200 discussions with politicians from all of the parties represented in the German parliament, including the AfD, since he took office six years ago. Almost all of the talks were confidential and took place on Maaens initiative.

In July, Franziska Schreiber, a former member of the AfD, reported in her book Inside AfD that Maaen had held discussions with Frauke Petry, when she was the leader of the AfD. Maaen met Petry twice in 2015, before the AfD had entered the Bundestag. According to Schreiber, Maaen gave her advice on how to prevent the AfD from being monitored by the BfVa claim which Maaen denies.

Schreiber has since confirmed under oath that Petry had repeatedly told her that the AfD is lucky to have someone like Hans-Georg Maaen as head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, someone who is favourably inclined towards the party and consequently does not wish it to be monitored.

Petry's successor as leader of the AfD, Alexander Gauland, has also confirmed that he met with Maaen. Allegedly the meeting was to address a suspicion that there was a Russian agent in the AfD parliamentary group. Gauland later reported that Maaen had assured him, there's nothing to it.

Even the Suddeutsche Zeitung now admits that there are suspicions that Maaen might be close to the far-right AfD. In the spring of 2018, it was revealed that several state offices for constitutional protection wanted to observe the AfD because of its contacts with openly anti-constitutional elements. But, as he had done previously, Maaen spoke out against surveillance of the AfD.

The current head of the AfD, Gauland, is full of praise for Maaen. The Suddeutsche Zeitung quotes Gauland saying: I look upon Mr. Maaen as an objective top state official.

Last week, the taz newspaper reported on another meeting with a leading AfD official. Maaen visited the AfD deputy Stephan Brandner in June of this year for a one-hour conversation in the latters parliamentary office. Brandner is chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Bundestag. He owes his post to Bundestag vice-president Thomas Oppermann (SPD), who had proposed him for the position in a secret election.

Brandner told the taz that he spoke with Maaen about the work of the Legal Affairs Committee and the current BfV report. He would not give details of the meeting because both men had agreed on confidentiality. The BfV also refrained from any comment on the meeting. The BfV never comments on confidential discussions in the sphere of parliament, said a spokeswoman.

The meetings between Maaen and senior AfD members make clear that the decision to target the SGP is part of a conspiracy in the state apparatus based directly on extreme right-wing forces. The BfV is under the remit of interior minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), who also wrote the foreword to its 2017 report.

In his foreword, Seehofer argues for the construction of a police and intelligence state, which delegates effective powers to the national and regional constitutional protection authorities. Germany could not allow different spheres of security [to create] blind spots.

Germanys ruling grand coalition (Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union, and Social Democratic Party) has adopted in full the politics of the AfD, especially in regard to refugees. The AfD gained just 12.6 percent of the vote in the last parliamentary election and is despised by broad layers of the population. Nevertheless, it largely dominates German political life, which has increasingly assumed the character of a conspiracy by all the Bundestag parties.

Maaen not only held confidential talks with the AfD, he also confers with all the so-called opposition parties. As reported in the latest issue of Die Zeit, Maaen meets regularly with leading members of the Left Party and Greens such as Gregor Gysi, Sahra Wagenknecht and Katrin Goring-Eckardt. Sometimes these conversations take place privately in restaurants, often paid for by the BfV, or on occasion, Maaen invites parliamentarians to his headquarters in Cologne.

As an institution, the BfV stands for the far-right continuity of the German elites. At the time of its founding in the 1950s, the agency employed many former Gestapo members. In recent years, its roots in the tradition of National Socialism have emerged ever more openly.

Maaen took over the leadership of the BfV in the summer of 2012 when the agency was in deep crisis. Three-quarters of a year earlier, the neo-fascist terrorist cell National Socialist Underground had been exposed, and it emerged that the BfV had many undercover operatives active around the group. The BfV then proceeded to shred files en mass, and Maaens predecessor, Heinz Fromm, had to resign.

Now Maaen has turned the BfV into a political tool that lines up closely with the far-right AfD, while spying on the SGP.

The consequences are known. Die Zeit writes: the decision to conduct the surveillance of a party is of necessity a political decisionwith political consequences. It continues: Not just because the BfV then may monitor members, its elected officials and state associations, listening to telephone conversations in special cases, recording chats and observing suspects. But above all because the observation stigmatises a party.

In its statement, the SGP warned that the action of the BfV is directed against anyone who is fighting against social inequality, militarism and oppression and who advocates a socialist perspective. The ruling class is responding to the increasing radicalization of the working class and youth by returning to the authoritarian policies of the 1930s, cracking down on socialists and adopting the policies of the far right. This crisis is stripping off the democratic facade of German capitalism to reveal the original brown paint.

It is high time to confront this far-right conspiracy in the state apparatus and defeat the offensive of the BfV and the grand coalition. The SGP appeals to all those seeking to oppose militarism and war, social inequality and the moves towards a police state. Distribute our statement against the BfV, contact us and actively join the fight for a socialist alternative.
Puerto Ricos public-school children started school on August 13, many crowding into crumbling school rooms or sitting in the open air. Two days later, their teachers walked out to protest the dire state of education and the governments plans, utilizing the pretext of Hurricane Maria, to privatize the territorys public schools.

The one-day strike was called by Puerto Rico Teachers Federation (Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico, FMPR). It called attention to the threat to close almost a third of the islands schoolsover 250and Governor Ricardo Rossellos wide-ranging attacks on education under his reform law signed in March.

Despite mass anger throughout the island over the state of the schools, the FMPR refused to call more than a one-day action. For its part, the Puerto Rico Teachers Association, known by its Spanish acronym AMPR, which has long claimed to be fighting privatization, refused to participate in the strike at all. President Aida Diaz told the media in late July, Strikes are excellent when we have the chance to win, but it can also be a danger. On August 3, the AMPR affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.

As of the beginning of the school year, an estimated 7,000 teachers had been laid off, and adding to the chaos, of those who are returning to teach this year, more than 1,000 had not been notified where they would be assigned.

Students and teachers have voiced anger against closed schools and unrepaired buildings. Several schools whose buildings were relatively unscathed, including at least two for special needs children, were closed. One such school is the Lorencita Ramirez School in Toa Baja. Speaking to Radio Isla, one mother explained that her disabled daughter had first learned to speak at Lorencita Ramirez, but now would have no comparable school to attend.

I worked for five months to get my daughter into this school, and now they want to close it, she said. Theres just no way that I could have ever imagined that they could close this excellent school, and that I would be in this struggle. But when something is wrong, and it affects your child.  Well, here I am. In the struggle.

Damage to many operating schools is so extensive that children have been forced into half-day schedules. The Department of Education has shelled out nearly $43,000 apiece for 200 notorious FEMA trailers to house students, while saying there is no money to keep schools open.

The day before classes began on the island, Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher and Rossello appeared at a news conference announcing the opening of Puerto Ricos first charter school in the well-to-do town of Rio Piedras. They euphemistically referred to the school as an Alliance school. They have publicly called for at least 10 percent of schools to be turned into privately run charters.

In line with a conspiracy of edubusinesses, Wall Street bankers and the countys local elite, it appears that the education funding arriving from the mainland has being largely diverted to charter operations. Partnerships are also being created with island businesses such as Techno Innovators and Puma Energy.

Keleher has earned a special place in the ire of Puerto Ricos teachers. Hired by Governor Rossello in December 2016 from a business consulting background, she has been advocating for the institution of charter schools, patterned after the post-Katrina privatization of New Orleans schools, since before Hurricane Maria. Since Hurricane Maria, which claimed nearly 5,000 lives, she has repeatedly referred to the storm as an opportunity.

Speaking to CBS in July, Keleher said: No one wanted the storm. But I am not going to misspend the opportunity, pardon the pun, that I have to redirect these things that would have never been available to Puerto Rico. [Without the storm], I would have been short $300 million. I wouldnt be able to do the things that I am going to be able to do for teachers and for kids.

Keleher is doing exactly what she was appointed to do. Privatization of Puerto Ricos public schools has been part of an overall program of austerity recommended by the hedge fund managers tasked with overseeing the territorys economic recovery in the face of unremitting exploitation by the financial elite and an 11-year recession. This recovery is to be accomplished by placing Puerto Ricos public properties, utilities and social programs at the mercy of private investors.

Puerto Rican teachers and workers have been forced to live through a great catastrophe with little to no assistance, while the banks and big businesses have cruelly taken advantage of Hurricane Maria to further loot the island. The unions, both the AFT-affiliated AMPR and the ostensibly more militant FMPR, seek to block any struggle in defense of education, preventing the unity of Puerto Rican workers with their brothers and sisters on the mainland, and tying teachers to the bankrupt capitalist system.

Throughout the spring, teachers have held protests, vigils and marches, repeatedly trying to find a means to fight. More than 1,000 San Juan teachers went on strike in March to protest budget cuts. The AMPR would not endorse those strikes either, publicly citing fears that the trade union would lose negotiating privileges.

Teachers protested again in May, joining wider May Day anti-austerity demonstrations in San Juan. Along with thousands of other protesters, teachers marched down Ponce de Leon Avenue, the center of San Juans financial district, and spoke at rallies. As the demonstration wound down, police threw canisters of tear gas into the crowd and fired rubber bullets. Hundreds of protesters were hospitalized. The police arrested over 20 students who were specifically protesting the education budget.

The real allies of Puerto Rican teachers, youth and other workers are their fellow workers in the US and around the world. The Socialist Equality Party calls for the immediate implementation of a massive public works program to rebuild the island, its schools and hospitals, and to ensure that every person has a safe and comfortable home.

We call for the immediate abolition of the debt of Puerto Rico accrued through decades of colonial oppression and parasitic and corrupt financial schemes. We call for the immediate expropriation of the wealth of the financial aristocracy to fund these demands.

The author also recommends:

Plundering of Puerto Rico continues as governor attacks public education

[10 February 2018]
On Wednesday, President Trump released two video tweets responding to the news that the body of Mollie Tibbetts had been found and that a suspect had been arrested for her apparent murder. He first cited the death the night before, at a campaign-style rally in West Virginia, where he used the tragedy to vilify his political opponents.

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old college student from Iowa, had been missing for 34 days, and her case has been widely reported in the media. What motivated the Trump administration response to the story is the fact that the man arrested for the crime, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is allegedly an undocumented immigrant.

Trumps official response took the form of a video of him speaking directly to the camera and using the murder of Mollie Tibbetts to justify every aspect of his foul anti-immigrant agenda: Mollie Tibbetts, an incredible young woman is now permanently separated from her family. A person came in from Mexico, illegally, and killed her ... This is one instance of many. We have tremendous crime trying to come through the borders. We have the worst laws anywhere in the world.

Shamelessly turning what was supposedly an expression of condolence into a midterm election pitch for Republicans, he added: We need the wall. We need our immigration laws changed. We need our border laws changed. We need Republicans to do it because the Democrats arent going to do it ... And the wall is being built. Weve started it. But we also need the funding for this years building of the wall. So, to the family of Mollie Tibbitts [sic], all I can say is: God bless you. God bless you.

The White House official response was even more grotesque. The video released simultaneously with Trumps statement is headlined Permanently Separated, with the text merely stating, The Tibbets [sic] family has been permanently separated. They are not alone. It features unidentified men and women speaking directly to the camera, and describing, at times in excruciating detail, how their children were killed by people not supposed to be here. The video concludes with each hammering home the point that their separation is permanent.

This is an appalling and crude allusion to the widely condemned policy of family separations that has been instituted by the Trump administration in its intensified war on immigrants, in which parents and children have been separated and held in different facilities as a means of tormenting immigrants and putting pressure on them to abandon asylum claims and accept immediate deportation. As early as June, Trump had started testing the language of permanent separation, as a way to justify the unjustifiable.

As the furor against the cruel policy of separating migrant children from their parents grew, Trump invited the parents of those allegedly killed by undocumented immigrants to the White House and paraded them in front of the press. At that event, he declared: Were gathered today to hear directly from the American victims of illegal immigration. You know you hear the other side, you never hear this side. You dont know what is going on. These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones. The word permanently being the word that you have to think about. Permanently. They are not separated for a day or two days. Permanently separated.

These parents undoubtedly deserve sympathy, although Trump has never extended it to the victims of police killings, or to the tens of thousands killed by the opioid epidemic fueled by the profit drive of the pharmaceutical companies. Instead, he and his political and media allies extrapolate from isolated and relatively rare incidents to create the big lie of America under siege from immigrant criminals.

The tactic of connecting crime to immigration is not new to Trump or his supporters. Trump launched his campaign appealing to anti-immigrant racism, describing immigrants as rapists and killers, and trotting out Angel Familiesthe families of victims allegedly killed by undocumented immigrantsas the face of America under attack. Soon after taking over the Presidency, Trump established the Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement office (VOICE), set up a hotline to report crimes by undocumented immigrants, and even made an effort to issue a weekly report documenting all crimes by undocumented immigrants against Americans.

In the two years since, Trump and his administration have consistently hammered home that point, justifying the horrifying array of anti-immigrant policies, from the militarization of the border, to the build-up of ICE, to the tearing apart of migrant families, as essential to protect the American people from criminal elements including MS-13 gang members, human traffickers and unnamed crime syndicates.

In making this case, the Trump administration has certainly not allowed facts to get in the way of the story. There is no evidence to back up the claim that immigrants are disproportionately violent or criminal. On the contrary, studies by the Pew Research Center and the American Immigration Council reveal that first generation immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

While the data does not differentiate between documented and undocumented immigrants, it seems reasonable to assume that the working class men and women who brave immense odds, fleeing violence and crime, to cross the border and try and make a better life in the United States, would be less likely to commit crimes and more inclined to find work and strive to create a safe environment for their families.

Various members of the Tibbetts family have responded with anger at the way in which their loss is being exploited by the Trump administration. Billie Jo Calderwood, Mollys aunt, tweeted in response to the Presidents comments: Please do not compound the atrocity of what happened to her by adding racism and hate to the equation  Do not turn #molliesmovement into something ugly.

Conservative commentator Candace Owens followed Trumps lead with an ugly tweet that reiterated the obscene parallels between the policy of family separation and isolated criminal incidents: Leftists boycotted, screamed, and cried when illegal immigrants were temporarily separated from from [sic] their parents. What will they do for Mollie Tibbetts?

Sam Lucas, a cousin of Tibbetts, responded with a tweet that has been widely shared: I am a member of Mollys family. We are not so  small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad-individuals. Now, stop being a ... snake and using my cousins death as political propaganda.

The death of Molly Tibbetts is a terrible tragedy. At this point, it is not quite clear what motivated the crime. While most news reports highlighted the allegation that the accused, Rivera, was an undocumented immigrant, his lawyer has filed a document asserting that he was working in Iowa legally.

Further complicating the story is the fact that Rivera had worked for four years at Yarrabee Farms, owned by the Lang Family. One of the main owners is Craig Lang, a Republican, who in June narrowly lost a primary bid for state agriculture secretary. Lang had released a statement on Tuesday, stating that Rivera had worked at our farms for four years, was vetted through the governments E-Verify system, and was an employee in good standing. Though the statement about E-verification was later withdrawn by Yarrabee officials, the facts of the case are far from clear.

What is obvious, however, is that Trump and his administration, under increasing pressure from the internecine and reactionary political strife currently flaring up in Washington, will continue using this tragedy to ratchet their ugly anti-immigrant rhetoric in the coming days.
Amid unprecedented scenes of chaos and conflict, Malcolm Turnbull was today ousted as prime minister of Australia after a political campaign against him organised by the most right-wing faction of the ruling Liberal Party. The extraordinary events of the past week point to the mounting instability and fragility wracking the parliamentary order.

After a narrow 45 to 40 party room vote to oust Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison ultimately prevailed over Turnbulls extreme right-wing challenger, ex-Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, by a similar margin. Turnbulls deputy leader, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, had been eliminated in the first round of voting.

Australia, often falsely depicted as an exceptional and stable country, has become one of the most graphic examples of how longstanding political parties and institutions are breaking down under the pressure of mounting geo-strategic and class tensions internationally.

Since John Howard lost his own seat in the landslide defeat of the Liberal-National Coalition in 2007, every prime minister, whether Coalition or Labor, has been ousted. Counting Morrison, Australia has now had seven prime ministers in the past 11 years, four of whom were removed by backroom coups within their own parties.

The tearing down of Turnbull has surpassed the previous leadership coups in the bitterness and ferocity with which both factions fought for control of the government.

A political and ideological schism has opened up in the Liberal Party in response to the disintegration of the post-war global order and the bellicose efforts of US imperialism to maintain its waning world dominance. The Australian capitalist class has come under immense pressure from Washington to line up unconditionally behind its plans for a military confrontation with China, on whose markets significant sections of the Australian ruling elite depend heavily. This has been taken to a new height by the Trump administrations naked America First program of trade war and militarism.

At the same time, the Australian ruling class faces the prospect of an eruption of working-class resistance to decades of falling real wages, declining social conditions and attacks on fundamental democratic rights. The Australian economy is deeply vulnerable to another global financial crisis, or trade retaliation by China over Canberras backing of Washington.

The attempt to elevate Dutton is part of an ongoing effort, backed by sections of the ruling class and the Rupert Murdoch-owned media, to refashion the Liberal Party into a Trump-style extreme-right-wing movement. The aim of the Dutton wing, which includes former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, is to disorientate sections of the population with nationalism and anti-immigrant xenophobia, while trying to forge a base of support for US-Australian militarism against China and police state repression of the working class.

In broad terms, the extreme-right in Australia is paralleled by the Trump alt-right in the US and the range of ultra-right and neo-fascist parties that have come into prominence across Europe.

Other sections of the ruling class, personified by Turnbull, a millionaire former merchant banker, fear the potentially disastrous implications for capitalist rule of making such a shift. They are alarmed that the divisive and racist program of the far-right will only further radicalise workers and youth, who are already moving to the left in opposition to the ever-widening gulf between the super-rich and the working class.

Turnbull told a media conference yesterday that the coup against him was a very deliberate effort to pull the Liberal Party further to the right. He went further, declaring: The reality is that a minority in the party room supported by others outside the parliament have sought to bully, intimidate others into making this change of leadership that theyre seeking.

Corporate media outlets interpreted these remarks as a reference to stridently conservative anti-Turnbull voices in the Murdoch media, including Sky TV, as well as Sydneys Radio 2GB. He may well, however, have been obliquely referring to interventions from Washington or by the Australian intelligence agencies.

Among those leading the charge against Turnbull have been figures closely associated with the US-linked military and intelligence forces, such as ex-military commanders Senator Jim Molan and Andrew Hastie, the parliamentary intelligence committee chairman. Over the past two years, a succession of key figures in the US ruling elite, including former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and US Vice President Mike Pence, have visited Australia to insist that Canberra remain totally committed to Washingtons geostrategic confrontation with China.

Since taking office in 2015, Turnbull has done everything possible to assure, first the Obama White House and then Trumps, of his unalloyed fidelity to the US military and security alliance, on which the Australian ruling elite has relied since World War II. He had to do so because in 2011, while in opposition, he accused former Prime Minister Julia Gillards Labor government of going too far in signing up to Obamas military and strategic pivot to Asia to confront China, which included agreeing to host US Marines in Darwin.

Moreover, Turnbull was aware that Gillards predecessor, Kevin Rudd, was removed in 2010 by Labor Party and trade union factional heavyweights, acting in concert with the US embassy, because Rudd had proposed that Washington should make some accommodation to the rise of China.

Earlier this month, however, Turnbull gave a speech that would not have pleased the US ruling elite. He vowed his determination to maintain a very deep and growing relationship with China, the source of lucrative profits for mining companies, agribusinesses and universities. The move against Turnbull was certainly not opposed in Washington, if not tacitly endorsed.

Indicating how much is at stake, Turnbull threatened his colleagues that he would immediately resign his parliamentary seat if he was removed by Dutton, ending the governments one-seat majority and possibly forcing an early election. He has not yet indicated if he will follow through on that threat given that Morrison won the leadership ballot.

Morrison, a former property and tourism executive, was backed by Turnbulls supporters and by the financial elite. This mornings Australian Financial Review editorial said he appeared to be the Liberal Partys best hope of bringing together the partys warring factions and containing boiling voter anger after four prime ministerial decapitations in eight years.

Another factor in Morrisons win may well have been Turnbulls last-minute bid to block Dutton by insisting that Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue, the federal governments top legal officer, supply advice to the Liberal Party by 8:30 this morning on the allegations that Dutton is constitutionally ineligible to sit in parliament because he and his wife control childcare centres that receive government subsidies.

Donoghues less than clear advice was that Dutton was not incapable of sitting but there was some risk that the High Court could rule against him.

Morrison, a deeply right-wing figure himself, will try to straddle between the Dutton-Abbott faction and the Turnbull wing, which represents the most powerful, globally-connected financial and corporate interests. As immigration minister, he initiated Operation Sovereign Borders to militarily turn back refugee boats. As social services minister, he slashed welfare spending. Promoted to treasurer by Turnbull, he presided over austerity and efforts to push through massive corporate tax cuts.

Whatever overtures Morrison makes to achieve unity, the closeness of the leadership vote leaves no doubt that the turmoil engulfing the Coalition will continue, raising the possibility of a split in the Liberal Party. While Dutton failed to take the leadership, his faction will seek to dictate the policy agenda of the government as the price for its ostensible loyalty. It will bide its time and most likely launch a challenge against Morrison at the first opportunity.

The crisis wracking the Liberal Party may well pave the way for the return of a Labor government. Any such government, led by former trade union head and key Rudd-Gillard minister Bill Shorten, would be no less committed than a Coalition government to the US alliance and to imposing the requirements of the ruling capitalist class, including by fomenting nationalist and anti-immigrant xenophobia as a means of splitting the working class.
Over 26,000 teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) began a strike vote yesterday. It is expected to be passed by wide margins. Were there to be a strike, it would be the first since 1989, nearly 30 years ago. The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) is the second largest teachers union in the country and serves over 640,000 students.

The UTLA has kept Los Angeles teachers working without a contract for 13 months, deliberately isolating them from the teacher walkouts in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky and Colorado during the spring. During that time, many teachers across the US were demanding a national strike, yet the UTLA forced teachers to stay in the classroom.

Los Angeles teachers have demanded the union finally take action, pointing to overflowing classes, lack of school nurses or counselors and low wages. They have also opposed the drive for school privatization, noting California already has more privately run charter schools than any other state. Union membership in the LAUSD has dropped from 42,000 to 31,000 since 2007, reflecting school closures, reduced services and growing class sizes.

Now, after more than 17 months of negotiations, the union has declared an impasse, which was made official by the California Public Employees Relations Board on August 3. The strike authorization vote is taking place between August 23 and 30, with a mandatory court-appointed mediation meeting scheduled for September 27. This means that should the strike vote pass, Los Angeles teachers would still not potentially strike before October at the earliest, pending the outcome of mediation.

There can be no doubt that negotiations were deliberately stalled by the UTLA to minimize the chances that a potential strike would occur in the lead-up to the mid-term elections and cut across support for local and national Democratic Party candidates. In fact, at a downtown rally ostensibly held to build support for teachers last May the union spent more time praising Democrats running for office then they did professing concern for teachers livelihoods. UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl announced that the most important thing we can do right now is work to elect [California gubernatorial front runner] Gavin Newson.

The UTLA has proposed a pay increase of 6.5 percent retroactive to July 1, 2016, an amount which does little to address the skyrocketing cost of living in the expensive state of California. For its part, the district has proposed an insulting 2 percent ongoing salary increase along with a one-time 2 percent bonus, supposedly sweetened with a mere $500 stipend to assist teachers in the purchase of school supplies. School superintendent Austin Beutner is a former partner of the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, and a former CEO of the Los Angeles Times.

Beutner recently claimed that the districts costs would balloon by more than $1 billion annually if the unions stated demands were met. While the district is advancing the false claim that there is no money for public education and teacher pay, the union claims that their demands can be met entirely with district funds while calling for votes for Democratic politicians such as gubernatorial hopeful Gavin Newsom who would act just as ruthlessly as his Republican opponent in the attack on teachers. A large portion of cuts to education have in fact taken place under the current Democratic Governor, Jerry Brown, in office since 2011.

The UTLA has also made largely unspecified demands for class size reductions, changes to the teacher-evaluation system, along with more school nurses, librarians and restorative-justice advisers. The unions demands also include more ethnic studies and multicultural literature classes, teacher discretion over standardized testing, along with union input in the provisioning of private charter school classes within traditional public school campuses.

Fearing the implications of the recent US Supreme Court Janus vs. AFSCME decision on its union dues base, the UTLA is also demanding that the district pay for any new hires to attend a membership sales pitch of no less than 60 minutes during which time district officials cannot be present. The UTLA has been decimated by the growth of charter schools in Los Angeles, and, far from opposing them, the union is merely doubling down on organizing them and collecting dues money.

The UTLA, in fact, accepts the destruction of public education in Los Angeles as an all-but-accomplished fact. The union itself operates a network of charter schools in the district known as pilot schools. These schools operate as private charter schools run by the UTLA, receiving unaccountable funding from the state. The pilot schools operate under an Elect-to-Work agreement requiring teachers to essentially reapply for their jobs each year, effectively eliminating tenure regardless of how long a teacher is employed.

The actual language in the unions last-best and final offer to the district makes clear that the unions stated demands are only so much bombast that they have no intention of implementing in practice even were a teachers strike to actually take place.

For example, the proposed contract language for class sizes only indicates that, Class size shall not exceed the room occupancy/seating requirements of applicable fire codes. It also indicates that for Learning Centers and Reading Labs, when attendance reaches 23 or more students for three consecutive days an additional person (e.g., aide or teaching assistant) shall be provided to assist the instructor. In other words, the fight for smaller class sizes being conducted by the UTLA does not include the new hiring of a single full-time teacher and only insures less overcrowded classrooms when the district can afford it.

As far as the call for less standardized testing is concerned, the UTLAs offer mandates that teachers still abide by all state and federal standardized testing requirements and that any additional testing be conducted at the teachers discretion.

Los Angeles teachers should make every effort to vote in favor of a strike. However, they must also be fully aware that the unions will do everything in their power to prevent or to limit strike action. This makes all the more urgent the necessity for the creation of genuine rank-and-file committees of teachers, school support workers and students, to take the struggle out of the hands of the UTLA and the teachers unions in general which largely act as corporate-management syndicates.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman imprisoned in Tehran since 2016 on spying charges, has been temporarily released, the Free Nazanin campaign said in a statement Thursday.

The release is initially for three days, the statement said, but Zaghari-Ratcliffe's lawyer is hopeful this can be extended.

Continents and regions Iran Middle East Middle East and North Africa Tehran Europe Misc people Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Northern Europe United Kingdom Boris Johnson Political Figures - Intl

"This was a very happy surprise after a number of false dawns recently, which had been increasingly unsettling," the campaign group said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is currently in Damavand, east of Tehran, with her family, including her 4-year-old daughter Gabriella.

"It will be just awesome for Gabriella to have mummy home finally," Zaghari-Ratcliffe said through the campaign group.

"We can play with her dolls house, and she can show me her toys. The thought of brushing her hair, and giving her a bath, of being able to take her to the park, and feed her, and sleep next to her -- it just kills me. It is still so hard to believe."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was first detained at Tehran's airport in April 2016 while on her way back to the UK from visiting family with Gabriella, who was then 22 months old.

The Iranian government accused her of working with organizations allegedly attempting to overthrow the regime. She was sentenced to five years in jail and her child was placed in the care of her parents.

Her employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, rejected the allegations.

In May, Iranian media reported that she was due to face a new trial for "security-related" charges.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO said she was "delighted" at Zaghari-Ratcliffe's temporary release.

"We see this as a positive sign and hope that this will lead to her permanent release and an end to her traumatic ordeal for good," Monique Villa said in a statement.

Writing on Twitter, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt described Thursday's announcement as "really good news," but called for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's permanent release.

"Being in prison AT ALL is gross injustice and she must be PERMANENTLY released for which every effort will continue," he wrote.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has been the driving force behind the Free Nazanin campaign and has been very critical in the past of the UK government's handling of the case.

While acknowledging Thursday that he "may need to be critical again," he thanked Hunt and all those involved in negotiating his wife's temporary release. "Today is a good day," he said.

'A genuine surprise'

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release is subject to certain conditions, according to the campaign group. She is not allowed to leave the country, visit the grounds of any foreign embassy or conduct interviews with the media.

According to the group, it is standard practice for prisoners in Iran to be released for a short period initially, but for their furlough then to be extended. Zaghari-Ratcliffe's lawyer will request an extension on Saturday, the group said.

Although Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family had been aware of the possibility of temporary release for some time, they had lost hope that it could happen and were surprised to receive a phone call Thursday morning, according to the group. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was given just 10 minutes to get ready to leave Evin prison, the group said.

Earlier this year, she had requested a temporary release to visit Gabriella, whom she had not seen for more than two years and who celebrated her fourth birthday in June. Despite high hopes, her release was not authorized.

"Today was a genuine surprise after all the disappointments," Richard Ratcliffe said. "We have been burned by hope before, so it had been easier to presume disappointment would come again."

Diplomatic rift

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's imprisonment sparked a diplomatic spat between Britain and Iran.

In December last year, then British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Tehran to try to raise Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case with the Iranian government.

The visit came a month after Johnson was forced to apologize for a serious misstep in which he told a UK parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been teaching journalism during her visit to Iran. He later clarified that she had been visiting relatives before she was detained.

The comments apparently led to Zaghari-Ratcliffe being summoned to an unscheduled court hearing, at which Johnson's remarks were cited as proof that she had engaged in "propaganda against the regime."

Johnson later backtracked and apologized for his comments.
Here is a look at Lebanon, a Middle Eastern country with a history of civil war and political instability, bordering Syria, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.

About Lebanon:

(from the CIA World Factbook)

Area: 10,400 sq km (slightly larger than Connecticut)

Christian People Syria conflict Lebanon conflicts Hezbollah Muslim people Tammam Salam Najib Mikati Saad Hariri Hassan Nasrallah Middle East and North Africa Middle East Lebanon Israel Armed forces Assassinations Bashar al-Assad Beirut Bombings Civil war Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Israeli-Palestinian conflict Military Military casualties National security Palestinian Territory Prime ministers Refugees Syria Terrorism Terrorist attacks Unrest, conflicts and war War casualties Wissam Hassan Immigration, citizenship and displacement International relations and national security Political Figures - Intl Terrorism and counter-terrorism Fast Facts International relations Population and demographics Society Territorial and national borders United Nations Europe-Mediterranean migrant crisis Immigration ISIS Legislative bodies Michel Aoun Conflicts and wars Continents and regions Demographic groups Government organizations - Intl Heads of government Misc people Resignations North America The Americas United States Elections and campaigns Politics

Population: 6,229,794 (July 2017 est.)

Median age: 30.5 years

Capital: Beirut

Ethnic groups: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

Religion: Muslim 54%, Christian 40.5%, Druze 5.6%

GDP (purchasing power parity): $87.68 billion (2017 est.)

GDP per capita: $19,400 (2017 est.)

Timeline:

1918 - After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, France gains control of the area that comprises modern-day Lebanon.

November 23, 1943 - Lebanon gains independence.

1948-1975 - A large number of Palestinian refugees settle in Lebanon after the creation of Israel in May 1948. The frequent clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters unsettle the country. Also at times, the Lebanese army fights battles against the Palestinians, causing further unrest.

July-October 1958 - US forces help to control civil unrest.

1975 - Civil war breaks out between Christians and the Muslim-Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) alliance.

1976 - At the invitation of the Lebanese government, Syria sends troops, called the Arab Deterrent Force, to help end the civil war.

March 1978 - Israel invades Lebanon and occupies an area in the south. After protest from the United Nations, Israel withdraws, but creates a "security zone" in the south of the country, administered by the Army of South Lebanon.

June 6, 1982 - Israel invades Lebanon with the intention of destroying the PLO.

August 1982 - Bashir Gemayel is elected president. However, he is assassinated on September 14. His brother, Amin Gemayel, replaces him as president on September 23.

September 15-18, 1982 - Hundreds of Palestinian refugees are massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut. The murders are committed by Lebanese militia members but Israel is accused of complicity in the massacres.

April 18, 1983 - The US Embassy in Beirut is bombed, killing 63.

October 23, 1983 - The French and US headquarters of the Multi-National force are bombed, killing 241 Americans and approximately 40 French soldiers.

February 1984 - The Lebanese Army collapses due to defections of Muslim and Druze soldiers.

March 1984 - US Marines withdraw from Lebanon.

1988 - Gemayel, a Christian, steps down as president, although he has no successor. He appoints General Michel Aoun, a Christian, interim prime minister. However, the current Prime Minister Salim al-Huss, a Muslim, doesn't leave office. The government then becomes divided into Christian and Muslim factions.

1989 - The Lebanese Parliament meets in Saudi Arabia and creates the Taif agreement to end the civil war.

November 1989 - Rene Moawad is elected president. Aoun rejects the election of Moawad and the Taif agreement. Moawad is assassinated in November and replaced by Elias Hrawi, who names Huss prime minister and fires Aoun as army commander.

1991 - All militias, with the exception of Hezbollah, are disbanded.

1991 - Lebanon participates in the Madrid peace talks between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

1998 - General Emile Lahoud becomes president.

May 2000 - Israel withdraws its forces from the south.

February 14, 2005 - Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is killed by a car bomb in Beirut.

April 26, 2005 - Syria withdraws troops from Lebanon after 29 years of military intervention.

July 12, 2006 - Hezbollah guerrillas kill three Israeli soldiers and kidnap two others, Ehud "Udi" Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, during an attack along Israel's border with Lebanon, between the towns of Zar'it and Shetula. Israel sends ground troops into Lebanon and launches air strikes for the first time since its 2000 pullout.

Death toll: (sources vary)

- Lebanese: approximately 850 to 1,190 civilians and combatants killed, 4,409 wounded.

- Israeli: approximately 44 civilians killed, 119 soldiers killed, more than 1,000 wounded.

November 21, 2006 - Lebanese Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel, son of former President Amin Gemayel, is shot and killed while driving though Beirut.

June 13, 2007 - Anti-Syrian Lebanese lawmaker Walid Eido, along with nine other people, is killed in an explosion. Eido was a vocal supporter of a UN investigation into Hariri's assassination and was a member of a political bloc led by Hariri's son, Saad Hariri.

November 24, 2007 - Before leaving office, Lahoud declares a state of emergency in Lebanon and hands security over to the military. The vacancy left by Lahoud will be filled by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora until a new president can be elected.

May 6, 2008 - The Lebanese government announces plans to shut down Hezbollah's private telecommunications network, calling it a threat to state security.

May 8, 2008 - The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, says the plan to shut down his group's telecommunications system amounts to "a declaration of open war." Gun battles erupt in the streets of Beirut between Hezbollah supporters and government forces.

May 25, 2008 - After a six-month vacancy in the position, Lebanon's Parliament elects Army General Michel Sleiman as the new president.

June 7, 2009 - Parliamentary elections are held. Lebanon's pro-Western block, the "March 14" coalition, wins 71 seats, and the Hezbollah-dominated "March 8" alliance wins 57 seats.

June 27, 2009 - Sleiman appoints Saad Hariri as the country's new prime minister.

November 9, 2009 - After five months of deliberations, Hariri announces the formation of a cabinet, comprised of members of Hariri's party and members of Hezbollah.

January 12, 2011 - Eleven Hezbollah members of Hariri's cabinet resign, causing his coalition government to collapse.

January 17, 2011 - The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon hands down indictments in the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri. The details of the indictments are being kept secret by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands in order not to provoke violence in the country.

January 25, 2011 - Sleiman appoints Najib Mikati as Lebanon's new prime minister.

March 2011-present - Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria's civil war flood Lebanon.

June 13, 2011 - Prime Minister-designate Mikati, a Sunni political independent backed by Hezbollah, announces the formation of a new government.

June 30, 2011 - The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues an indictment and arrest warrants for an unspecified number of suspects, including at least four Hezbollah members, in the 2005 assassination of Hariri.

July 8, 2011 - Judge Daniel Fransen with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues arrest warrants for suspects in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others.

July 29, 2011 - The judge of the UN Special Tribunal lifts a confidentiality order and reveals the names of people sought in Hariri's assassination. They are: Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra.

November 29-30, 2011 - Rockets are fired from Lebanon into Israel for the first time in more than two years. Israel retaliates with artillery fire into Lebanon. No injuries are claimed on either side.

December 9-11, 2011 - A roadside bomb hits a UN vehicle in Lebanon wounding five French peacekeepers and a Lebanese civilian. Two days later a rocket is fired from Lebanon aimed at Israel, but falls short and wounds a Lebanese woman.

October 19, 2012 - Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, First Sgt. Sahyouni and a bystander are killed in a massive car bomb explosion in Beirut. Hassan was the chief of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch and opposed the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

March 22, 2013 - Mikati announces the resignation of his government after disputes over parliamentary elections.

April 6, 2013 - Tammam Salam is designated to become the new prime minister.

February 15, 2014 - A new Lebanese government is announced with Salam as the prime minister.

August 22-23, 2015 - Long-simmering weariness over government dysfunction reaches a boiling point over the weekend when violent clashes erupt because of garbage going uncollected in the streets of Beirut. A spokesman for the Lebanese Security Forces says Lebanese army units were deployed. Red Cross Lebanon says about 400 people were injured in the chaos.

August 30, 2015 - Lebanese army units are deployed in Beirut following violent street protests over garbage that hasn't been collected.

November 12, 2015 - Two suicide bombings in southern Beirut kill at least 43 people, and wound at least 239 others. A would-be suicide bomber who survived the attack tells investigators he is an ISIS recruit, and that he and three other attackers came from Syria two days earlier, according to a Lebanese security source.

June 27, 2016 - Six people are killed and 19 others are wounded following a series of suicide attacks in a mainly Christian area of northern Lebanon, in the village of Qaa, close to the border with Syria. News reports say security analysts think ISIS could be responsible.

October 31, 2016 - Lebanon's parliament elects Hezbollah-backed Aoun as president.

November 3, 2016 - President Aoun appoints Saad Hariri to be prime minister. Hariri previously served as prime minister from 2009 to 2011.

August 16, 2017 - Lebanon's Parliament votes to repeal a clause that lets rapists avoid punishment if they marry their victims, according to the country's official news agency. This follows moves by Jordan and Tunisia, which annulled their "marry-the-rapist" laws within the last month.

August 27, 2017 - Lebanon's army and Hezbollah individually suspend their fight against ISIS, according to official announcements made on social media. This is the first such deal ISIS has made with an adversary. It leads to around 600 ISIS fighters leaving Lebanon for ISIS-held eastern Syria and Lebanon's army gaining information about nine soldiers. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces says negotiating with ISIS and Hezbollah violates UN agreements to combat terrorism.

November 4, 2017 - Hariri resigns in a televised address while in Saudi Arabia, saying he fears an assassination plot and accuses Iran and Hezbollah of meddling in the region.

November 21, 2017 - Hariri announces he has accepted Aoun's wish for him to suspend his resignation to allow for more consultations on the reasons behind the move.

December 5, 2017 - Hariri officially rescinds his resignation after all factions of the Lebanese government -- including Hezbollah, with whom he shares power -- agree to stay out of regional conflicts, according to his press office.

December 13, 2017 - US Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard announces that the United States will provide Lebanon with a package of military aid valued at more than $120 million.

May 6, 2018 - The first parliamentary elections in nine years are held. Fewer than half of registered voters turn out to cast ballots, according to the interior minister.

May 24, 2018 - Aoun announces that Hariri has won a third term as prime mnister, having received backing from 111 politicians in the 128-seat Parliament.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce hosted it's 105th annual meeting Thursday evening.

Each year businesses and individuals are honored for their leadership but the spotlight did not only shine on them. This year the venue also got a lot of attention.

The meeting is usually held at the Hulman Center but it was not available this time due to construction. Organizers had to find another place that would be big enough and found just that on the Air Guard Base.

The 181st Intelligence Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard opened an airplane hangar to host the event.

Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce Vice President Kristin Craig says, "Probably the biggest thing that people will see is the vintage airplanes that we have on display. We also have some really cool posters that kind of show the military history of Terre Haute."

Organizers say the business, military partnership makes perfect sense.

"They've participated in our First Friday events. They've done a lot of different things. They serve on our board and so this is just another chance for us to be able to help them tell their story and get the business community out here in a way that's not typical."

Military leaders explain a number of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions are done from the Vigo county base but the biggest mission is working with the community.

Colonel Chris Alderdice says, "We need airmen. That is our number one thing. We need good airmen to recruit and we need to retain those airmen. So to be able to do that we need to be really in tune with our community and so that we get the right businesses here to employ those airmen in their full-time job yet they're able to come out here and support our missions."

Businesses and community leaders were recognized at the event.

Here is a list of winners:

Susan Decker - ATHENA Leadership Award

Max Miller and John McNichols (posthumous) - Vision A Level Above

Lindsay Hull - Young Leader of the Year

Vigo County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition/Chances and Services for Youth - Community Health and Wellness Champion

Gartland Foundry - Business A Level Above
A retired Wyoming bishop has become the latest prelate embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal that is rapidly consuming the Catholic Church across the globe.

The Cheyenne Police department said it has reopened an investigation into sex abuse allegations against an unnamed church official, stemming from his time in the diocese from the 1970s through the 1990s.

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The department said it had "new information" on the case and appealed on Facebook this week for new victims or witnesses to step forward.

While police did not name the "church official," Cheyenne Bishop Steven Biegler last month announced the diocese had learned of "credible and substantiated" allegations that Bishop Emeritus Joseph Hart had sexually abused two boys.

Cheyenne police opened an investigation after the diocese reported the alleged abuse in March, Biegler said in a statement.

Hart was a bishop and auxiliary bishop in the Cheyenne diocese from 1976 to 2001, according to the statement.

Biegler's statement said Hart has "consistently denied all allegations that he sexually abused minors."

Hart's lawyer, Tom Jubin, said in a statement that the decades-old allegations against his client were "not credible."

Hart, who resides in Cheyenne, said in the statement that he would cooperate with the new investigation. He said a local district attorney had concluded years ago that the accusations had "no merit."

"I am confident these processes will, in the end, come to a similar conclusion," he said in July after Biegler announced the new police investigation.

But an outside investigator retained late last year concluded that the earlier district attorney's investigation was "flawed," Biegler said, and "substantial new evidence" suggested that Hart had sexually abused two boys in Wyoming.

PA grand jury report raises questions in other states

In Pennsylvania last week, a grand jury report cited internal documents from six Catholic dioceses showing that more than 300 "predator priests" have been credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims.

The report documented decades of alleged sexual abuse by priests and a system of cover-ups by Church higher-ups.

Since the Pennsylvania grand jury report was published last week, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said it received dozens of new allegations of abuse. Additionally, reporting hotlines set up for survivors of clerical abuse have also seen a rise.

"We believe that the real number of children whose records were lost or who were afraid ever to come forward is in the thousands," the grand jury report said.

The grand jurors said that "almost every instance of abuse we found is too old to be prosecuted" because of the criminal statute of limitations. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would eliminate the time limit for prosecutions.

In the state of Wyoming, though, there is no statue of limitations for criminal prosecutions.

Two days after the Wyoming police department's appeal for information, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced an independent review of allegations of sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The archdiocese has agreed to voluntarily cooperate with the review, according to Hawley.

"Victims of sexual abuse of any kind deserve to have their voices heard and Missourians deserve to know if this misconduct has occurred in their communities," Hawley said in a statement Thursday.

"By inviting this independent review, the Archdiocese is demonstrating a willingness to be transparent and expose any potential wrongdoing."

A history of allegations

Several men had accused Hart of sexually abusing them, beginning in 1989, when they were boys in Kansas City, Biegler said.

The sexual misconduct allegations against Hart and other priests resulted in civil claims against the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, where Hart served as a priest from 1956 to 1976. The cases ended in financial settlements in 2008 and 2014. Biegler said there were no trials or determination of guilt or innocence.

In 2002, a Wyoming man accused the bishop of sexually abusing him as a boy during "sacramental confession and on outings," according to Biegler's statement.

The district attorney in Casper, Wyoming, concluded at the time that there was "no evidence to support the allegations," according to Biegler. CNN has sought comment from the former prosecutor in Casper.

But recently, a second man came forward with allegations that Hart abused him, Biegler said.

A report of the diocese's investigation of Hart has been forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.

"I hope that our investigation will lead to a final determination by the CDF that these sexual abuse allegations against Bishop Hart are credible and require disciplinary action," Biegler said. "Nothing is more important than the safety of our children."

Hart has been restricted by the diocese from celebrating public liturgical services and his name has been removed from a building at St. Joseph's Children's Home in Torrington, according to Biegler.

Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. said in a statement last month that the diocese would do its best to "create safe environments and accompany abuse survivors as they travel through the journey of healing."

A worldwide scandal

The Catholic Church, including Pope Francis, has struggled to contain a widening sexual abuse scandal that stretches from Australia to the United States and South America.

In Australia, a bishop has been found guilty of covering up sexual abuse. In Chile, the Pope was forced to recant his dismissal of an abuse scandal involving a prominent priest and bishops accused of covering up his crimes.

In the United States, a prominent archbishop was removed from the powerful College of Cardinals following reports that he had molested a teenage altar boy and several others while he was rising through the church's ranks. Meanwhile, bishops in Boston and Nebraska are investigating possible cases of sexual abuse in Catholic seminaries.

In May, all of Chile's 31 active bishops were called to Rome for an emergency summit after a Vatican investigator looked into a clergy sex abuse scandal in that country. All 31 offered their resignations, and the Vatican eventually accepted five of them.
UPDATE 08/24/18 1:44 p.m.

The following statement was released by the Amory Police Department:

The Amory Police Department has arrested a male juvenile related to the threats made to the Amory Schools earlier today. The juvenile is also responsible for the threats made to the Tupelo School. The juvenile is being held in detention by the Monroe County Youth Court. The case is still under investigation. Updates will be provided as warranted.

Update 08/24/18 11:02 a.m.

Tupelo Middle School's operations have returned to normal. Everything was deemed safe. This comes after receiving a phone call warning of an immediate bomb threat.

Update 08/24/18 10:44 a.m.

This is from the Amory School District - "This morning we received a threatening phone call that prompted the temporary evacuations of East Amory and Amory Middle Schools. The Amory Police Dept was notified and checked the buildings for anything unusual. We are currently back in class, everyone is safe and accounted for."

See the original post below.

TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - Tupelo Middle School is being evacuated after an unspecified threat was reported, according to a school district spokesperson.

Law enforcement are currently conducting a sweep of the school.

Also, Monroe County deputies are assisting Amory police after two Amory schools were placed on lockdown and one school was evacuated.

We're still trying to learn more about the two incidents.

This is a developing story and this article will be updated as more information becomes available.
MADISON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Deputies have seized more than 15.5 pounds of synthetic marijuana along with large amounts of flakka, Esctasy and other drugs after a lengthy investigation in Madison.

Quazay Hill, Christopher Daniels, Corbin Davis, Darius Jones, Tinarus Irvine, and a juvenile were all arrested by the Madison County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Madison County Sheriff's Office along with the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office team did three narcotic search warrants and multiple felony arrest warrants within the city limits of Madison.

The search and arrest warrants are the result of a lengthy investigation conducted by the Madison County Sheriffs Office Drug Task Force regarding the possession and sale of illegal narcotics within the Madison County community.

According to MCSO, the first search warrant was done at 554 NE Collin Kelly Highway.

During the search of the home, investigators found more than 15 and a half pounds of synthetic marijuana, a hi-point handgun reported stolen in Madison, along with items used to facilitate the sale of illegal narcotics.

Hill was found inside the home and arrested.

A short time later, deputies arrived at Madison Heights Apartments Complex and made entry into two apartments.

Once both apartments were secured, deputies maintained perimeter security while investigators conducted searches.

Daniels was found inside one of the apartments and was arrested.

Davis, Jones, Irvine, and a juvenile were all found inside the other apartment and arrested.

During the search of one of the apartments, investigators found more than 100 grams of marjiuana, ecstasy, and flakka, along with items used to facilitate the sale of illegal narcotics.

Also located inside that apartment was a Kel-Tec handgun reported stolen from Remerton, Georgia and a Springfield XD9 handgun.

MCSO says more arrests are expected.

Based on the evidence, the suspects are being charged with:

Quazay Hill:

Arrest Warrant  Possession with intent to sell controlled substance within 1000 feet of Church

Arrest Warrant  Sale of a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a Church

Possession with intent to sell controlled substance (Synthetic Marijuana) within 1000 feet of Church

Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Christopher Daniels:

Arrest Warrant  Possession with intent to sell controlled substance within 1000 feet Public Housing (2 counts)

Arrest Warrant  Sale of controlled substance within 1000 feet of Public Housing (2 counts)

Corbin Davis:

Arrest Warrant  Possession with intent to sell controlled substance within 1000 feet Public Housing

Arrest Warrant  Sale of controlled substance within 1000 feet of Public Housing

Arrest Warrant  Violation of Probation

Possession of Firearm by Convicted Felon

Darius Jones:

Arrest Warrant  Possession with intent to sell controlled substance within 1000 feet Public Housing

Arrest Warrant  Sale of controlled substance within 1000 feet Public Housing

Possession of Marijuana with intent to sell within 1000 feet Public Housing

Possession of Flakka with intent to sell within 1000 feet of Public Housing

Possession of MDMA (Ecstasy)

Possession of Firearm during commission of felony

Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Tinarus Irvine

Possession of Marijuana less than 20 grams

The Juvenile
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 02:27:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo on Thursday named Stephen Biegun to be the new special envoy for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The appointment aims to fill key posts regarding the Korean Peninsula so as to facilitate issues like bilateral negotiations over denuclearization, peace regime and economic sanctions, among others.

In a speech to the media at a press conference, Pompeo said Biegun's joining is "timely" as the two of them will travel to the DPRK next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

"As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners," Pompeo said, noting that "using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us."

For his part, Biegun said he fully understands the importance of this job.

"The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve," he said. "But the President has created an opening, and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea."

"This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore," he added.

Biegun is to continue the mission of Joseph Yun, who resigned from his post earlier this year for personal reasons.

U.S. media outlets reported that the departure of Yun, who has been supportive of solving the Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue, was due to his long disappointment over the Trump administration's provocations against the DPRK, and diplomats' lacking of speaking in the government's decision-making process.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration also appointed Harry Harris, former commander of U.S. Pacific Command, to become U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said earlier on Aug. 19 that Pompeo would leave for a trip to the DPRK for the fourth visit since he assumed the current office, adding that Washington expects Pompeo to meet with the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un.

"To move on with the process of denuclearization remains our highest priority," said Bolton, adding that "it's important that they (the DPRK) demonstrate seriousness" in this regard.

Bolton said earlier last month that Washington has had a plan to dismantle the majority of the DPRK's nuke and ballistic missile programs, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be discussing it with Pyongyang while visiting the country.

However, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the State Department will not provide a timeline for Pyongyang's abandonment of nuclear and missile program.

Pompeo has visited the DPRK for three times, respectively in April, May and July.

President Donald Trump on Aug. 20 said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time.

He also said that he believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, and that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.

In the joint statement after the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders also agreed to commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations, and to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula.

According to the website of Ford Motor Company, Biegun has been its vice president of International Governmental Affairs, overseeing "all aspects of Ford's international governmental relations, including trade strategy and political risk assessment."

Before joining Ford, Biegun worked in the White House from 2001 to 2003 as executive secretary of the National Security Council. He served as a senior staff member to former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He also served for 14 years as a foreign policy advisor to members of both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Born in 1963, Biegun graduated from the University of Michigan where he studied Political Science and Russian Language. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group.

Biegun's appointment was the latest in Pompeo's efforts to fill special envoy posts. Last week, he appointed Brian Hook, head of the State Department's policy planning, to lead the newly established the Iran Action Group.

He also named Jim Jeffrey, U.S. former ambassador to Iraq, to be the Secretary's Representative for Syria Engagement, a new position Pompeo created to work on the Geneva Process.

Pompeo is expected soon to appoint another former ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, to handle issues related to Afghanistan, U.S. media reported.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 03:43:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TRIPOLI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Union Delegation to Libya on Thursday expressed concern over a Libyan court's sentencing 45 former regime supporters to death for killing demonstrators in 2011.

"The 45 death sentences issued last week by the Criminal Division of Tripoli's Court of Appeal are a cause of concern," the delegation said in a statement.

"The European Union Delegation and the EU Heads of Mission to Libya have a strong and unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and for all cases. They further call on Libyan authorities to uphold the de-facto moratorium in place since 2010," it said.

Libya's Court of Appeal last week sentenced 45 supporters of former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime to death over the killing of demonstrators in the capital Tripoli during the 2011 unrest.

On Aug. 21, 2011, the supporters of the Gaddafi regime killed a number of civilian demonstrators near the highway in the capital Tripoli.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Thursday also expressed concern over the court's death sentences, saying it opposes "the imposition of the death penalty as a matter of principle."

However, the UN-backed Libyan Ministry of Justice on Sunday rejected the foreign opposition to the death sentences, calling on international organizations and missions to "refrain from interference in Libyan sovereign affairs, especially judiciary."
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Lehtikuva/Heikki Saukkomaa)

MOSCOW, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Moscow will give an adequate response to possible new U.S. sanctions against Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"Speaking hypothetically about the introduction of sanctions, be it new, renewed, updated, adjusted and so on, as you know, unfortunately, we give an adequate response to them, and we do not comment on the working process of elaborating these decisions," Zakharova said at a news briefing.

She added that Russia has always emphasized that Moscow was not an initiator of sanctions and that it took adequate steps in response to actions taken against it.

The U.S. State Department said earlier this month that the country will impose new sanctions on Russia in two phases, and the first batch will take effect around Aug. 22.

Russia and the United States have been waging sanctions against each other as bilateral relations continue to worsen over recent years.
Photo provided by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 10, 2018 shows Kim Jong Un (R), top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shaking hands with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 9, 2018. (Xinhua/KCNA)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo on Thursday named Stephen Biegun to be the new special envoy for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The appointment aims to fill key posts regarding the Korean Peninsula so as to facilitate issues like bilateral negotiations over denuclearization, peace regime and economic sanctions, among others.

In a speech to the media at a press conference, Pompeo said Biegun's joining is "timely" as the two of them will travel to the DPRK next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

"As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners," Pompeo said, noting that "using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us."

For his part, Biegun said he fully understands the importance of this job.

"The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve," he said. "But the President has created an opening, and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea."

"This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore," he added.

Biegun is to continue the mission of Joseph Yun, who resigned from his post earlier this year for personal reasons.

U.S. media outlets reported that the departure of Yun, who has been supportive of solving the Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue, was due to his long disappointment over the Trump administration's provocations against the DPRK, and diplomats' lacking of speaking in the government's decision-making process.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration also appointed Harry Harris, former commander of U.S. Pacific Command, to become U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said earlier on Aug. 19 that Pompeo would leave for a trip to the DPRK for the fourth visit since he assumed the current office, adding that Washington expects Pompeo to meet with the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un.

"To move on with the process of denuclearization remains our highest priority," said Bolton, adding that "it's important that they (the DPRK) demonstrate seriousness" in this regard.

Bolton said earlier last month that Washington has had a plan to dismantle the majority of the DPRK's nuke and ballistic missile programs, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be discussing it with Pyongyang while visiting the country.

However, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the State Department will not provide a timeline for Pyongyang's abandonment of nuclear and missile program.

Pompeo has visited the DPRK for three times, respectively in April, May and July.

President Donald Trump on Aug. 20 said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time.

He also said that he believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, and that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.

In the joint statement after the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders also agreed to commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations, and to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula.

According to the website of Ford Motor Company, Biegun has been its vice president of International Governmental Affairs, overseeing "all aspects of Ford's international governmental relations, including trade strategy and political risk assessment."

Before joining Ford, Biegun worked in the White House from 2001 to 2003 as executive secretary of the National Security Council. He served as a senior staff member to former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He also served for 14 years as a foreign policy advisor to members of both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Born in 1963, Biegun graduated from the University of Michigan where he studied Political Science and Russian Language. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group.

Biegun's appointment was the latest in Pompeo's efforts to fill special envoy posts. Last week, he appointed Brian Hook, head of the State Department's policy planning, to lead the newly established the Iran Action Group.

He also named Jim Jeffrey, U.S. former ambassador to Iraq, to be the Secretary's Representative for Syria Engagement, a new position Pompeo created to work on the Geneva Process.

Pompeo is expected soon to appoint another former ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, to handle issues related to Afghanistan, U.S. media reported.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 05:03:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KAMPALA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday inspected the construction work of the country's largest hydro power plant financed by China.

Museveni accompanied by government officials, Chinese ambassador to Uganda and local leaders toured Karuma Power Plant in the midwestern district of Kiryandongo.

"I want to thank the Chinese government because we made a contribution from the government of Uganda money, but the bigger money came from a soft loan from China," said Museveni.

Uganda contributed 15 percent as counterpart funding while China Export and Import Bank is providing financing of up to 85 percent. The total cost is 1.4 billion dollars for the generation plant.

He also hailed Sinohydro, the main contractor of the electricity infrastructure for the good work of ensuring the provision of 600 megawatts instead of the initial 200 megawatts that was suggested by the other companies.

Irene Muloni, minister of energy and mineral development, said the project is now in its fifth year of construction, noting that it will be completed by the end of next year.

Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese ambassador to Uganda, thanked Museveni for supporting the project, which symbolizes China-Uganda economic cooperation, and has employed over 6,000 Ugandans during construction.

"When completed, the plant will generate four billion Kilowatt hours annually and provide more than 200 million dollars in revenue to the government, which is close to 1 percent of Uganda's current gross domestic product," the ambassador said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 08:28:23|Editor: mmm

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A matchmaking meeting for exhibitors and buyers of medical equipment and healthcare products exhibition area of the first China International Import Expo is held in Shanghai, east China, Aug. 23, 2018. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 08:43:56|Editor: zh

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CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian prime minister challenger Peter Dutton has been cleared of a legal cloud that threatened his eligibility to sit in Australia's parliament ahead of a challenge for the nation's leadership.

Stephen Donaghue, the solicitor-general of Australia, on Friday advised that leadership aspirant Dutton was "not incapable of sitting as a member of the House of Representatives."

The question arose from Dutton's business interests in two childcare centers which receive direct subsidies from the Commonwealth.

Under section 44 (v) of the Australian Constitution, any person with "any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the Public Service of the Commonwealth" was ineligible to sit in parliament.

Dutton on Thursday night released legal advice from former Solicitor-General David Bennett who found that "Mr Dutton is not rendered ineligible by section 44(v)".

Dutton was defeated by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 48-35 in a leadership ballot on Tuesday, after which he resigned as the minister for home affairs but confirmed on Thursday that he intended to challenge the prime minister again.

Turnbull on Thursday made Dutton's eligibility a key issue in the leadership struggle, saying it must be resolved before Dutton could challenge again.

"This is a very, very significant point," Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.

"I cannot underline too much how important it is that anyone who seeks to be prime minister of Australia is eligible to be a member of parliament."

With Dutton cleared by the solicitor-general, a second ballot on the leadership will take place at midday local time on Friday after a majority of the Liberal Party's 83 Members of Parliament (MPs) signed a petition calling on Turnbull to convene a party room meeting.

Turnbull said he would not contest a second leadership challenge and would resign from parliament if the party voted to vacate the leadership.

Treasurer Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, both Turnbull's supporters, have confirmed they will run for the leadership as moderate alternatives to conservative Dutton.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 09:24:03|Editor: Lu Hui

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KATHMANDU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, has endorsed the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as Montreal Convention 1999.

This will pave the way for Nepali travelers to get significant rise in compensation in the case of death, injury, damages to their baggage and delay, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) said in a statement on Thursday.

The lower house endorsed the convention unanimously after Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari tabled the convention.

The convention comes into effect in Nepal after the Nepali government deposits the ratification instrument with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, according to the ministry.

The convention imposes a minimum liability of 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), equivalent to 157,209 U.S. dollars for each passenger in the case of death or injury.

"If it is proved that the staff members of the concerned airlines is involved deliberately in causing damages, the convention has made provision of unlimited liabilities from the carrier," the ministry said.

Before endorsing the Montreal Convention, Nepali airlines were governed by the Warsaw Convention drafted in 1929 and its protocols.

The Hague Protocol 1955 which is an extension of Warsaw Convention has prescribed the maximum compensation limit at 20,000 U.S. dollar per passenger for death or injury.

"Nepali passengers have so far been unable to get compensation as per the Montreal convention because we had not endorsed it," Suresh Acharya, joint secretary of MoCTCA, told Xinhua on Thursday.

"As large number of Nepalis has been travelling abroad as migrant workers or students in the recent years, endorsement of the Montreal Convention will help them to get equal compensation in the case of death, injury, damage to baggage and delay in flights."

According to Acharya, following endorsement of the convention, Nepali carriers might have to pay higher premium to the international reinsurance companies.

The ministry said endorsement of Montreal Convention will also boost the confidence of foreign tourists visiting Nepal and other passengers as Nepali airlines will have to compensate as per the convention in the case of any damage to the passenger.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 10:24:17|Editor: zh

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States reaffirmed Thursday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan in an earlier phone conversation to combat "terrorists," despite denial by Islamabad of the content.

In a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert refused to speculate on why the two sides had such a huge difference on their understanding about the call.

"I can't speak on their behalf. I can only say we stand by our readout," she said.

She added that Pompeo and Khan had a "good" call, and that "we hope to forge a good, productive working relationship with the new civilian government."

In an earlier statement issued on the same day, Nauert said Pompeo "raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process."

Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson of Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs, denied Nauert's claim. "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on today"s phone call btwn PM Khan & Sec Pompeo," he tweeted.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected," he said.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been tense following U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet on Jan. 1 in which he accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" against the United States and providing a "safe haven" to terrorists despite receiving U.S. aid.

Pakistan has insisted, however, that Washington's aid is reimbursement of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used for U.S. operations in Afghanistan, not financial aid or assistance.

Islamabad also rejects U.S. claims that it supports the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network operating in the country. Both groups are designated by Washington as terrorist organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 10:24:17|Editor: zh

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SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean appeals court on Friday raised the sentencing of ousted President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in prison on corruption charges, including bribery that led to her impeachment.

The Seoul High Court raised Park's sentence by one year from the lower court's ruling of the 24-year imprisonment.

Park was fined 20 billion won (18 million U.S. dollars), higher than the lower court's fine of 18 billion won (16 million U.S. dollars).

The appellate court increased the bribes Park received from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, in exchange for assistance to the management control transfer to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong from his ailing father Lee Kun-hee.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 10:29:19|Editor: zh

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said here on Thursday that the current land reform policy in South Africa would send the country "down the wrong path."

Speaking at a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that U.S. President Donald Trump had discussed South Africa with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and asked him "to look closely at the current state of action in South Africa related to land reform."

She said U.S. embassy officials have held meetings with the South African government over the issue on Thursday, but did not give more details of the meetings.

Trump tweeted late Wednesday that "I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers," adding that the South African government is "seizing land from white farmers."

In response, the South African government tweeted that "South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past ..."

It added that "South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 10:39:21|Editor: zh

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SYDNEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- With major concerns over cross-border smuggling, the Indonesian military will send 450 personnel to its border with Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Sunday.

According to Deputy Assistant for Operations at the Indonesian Military Headquarters First Marshal M. Khairul Lubis, the Lampung-based infantry battalion will travel to the city of Merauke by ship and then proceed to several locations along the border.

"The entire personnel are ready for the deployment," he told local media.

"They will be deployed in groups to 16 border posts and each group would have 32 personnel."

Over recent times, Indonesian authorities have warned that transborder crime has become a huge problem in the region with drug-smuggling and the transportation of prohibited goods rampant.

Less than one week ago the border security task force of the Indonesian Army's Strategic Command detained two suspects from PNG who were allegedly attempting to smuggle 2 kg of cannabis through a border crossing at Skamto.

According to local media reports, the suspects told investigators they lived in a town close to the border and planned to sell the drugs when they arrived in Jayapura.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 10:44:23|Editor: xuxin

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El Salvador's Economy Minister Luz Estrella Rodriguez speaks during an interview in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador, on Aug. 22, 2018. El Salvador's newly-established diplomatic ties with China are fueling expectations of trade and economic growth, the central American country's Economy Minister Luz Estrella Rodriguez said. (Xinhua/Alexander Pena)

SAN SALVADOR, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- El Salvador's newly-established diplomatic ties with China are fueling expectations of trade and economic growth, the central American country's Economy Minister Luz Estrella Rodriguez said.

President Salvador Sanchez Ceren's decision to establish ties with China earlier this week has been met with wide satisfaction, Rodriguez told Xinhua, adding that she believes the move was vital to boosting bilateral commerce.

"Without a doubt, trade ties are going to be strengthened and there will be more opportunities for trade and investment flows between the two countries," said Rodriguez.

"In economic matters, everything from programs to projects, technical exchanges and experience-sharing will be strengthened," she said.

China and El Salvador signed a joint communique in Beijing Tuesday on the establishment of diplomatic relations.

As part of the communique, El Salvador "recognizes that there is but one China in the world," as 177 other countries do, and that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."

"By acknowledging that there is only one China, we are united by more factors of friendship and of mutual recognition of each country's sovereignty," Rodriguez said.

The minister said she has closely followed the progress of China's Belt and Road Initiative, in which her country is keen to participate.

The Pacific-facing Central American nation is "part of a developing area that could offer enormous strategic opportunities for trade from all countries coming together around the opportunity that is Belt and Road. So El Salvador would definitely appreciate being able to form part of this very important Chinese initiative," Rodriguez said.

The country currently exports some 50 million U.S. dollars worth of goods to China, mainly sugar, but hopes to diversify.

"We've reviewed it and we have 20 to 30 strategic products in which we are complementary. El Salvador can be a natural supplier of foodstuff, beverages and raw materials," said the minister.

To that end, El Salvador is very interested in taking part in the first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) to be held in November in Shanghai.

"We are definitely looking for a spot to have a presence at the November fair in Shanghai. We are also inviting China for the first time to officially be a part of our international fair each November," she said.

El Salvador has at least four laws to promote foreign investment through lower tariffs and other benefits that could be of interest to Chinese businesses, Rodriguez said.

"Still, we have been talking about the possibility of a fifth law that could offer special privileges and be an interesting leverage for investments in the area to strengthen Pacific-to-Pacific trade -- an alternative entry route into Central America for China via our Central American Union port," she said.

El Salvador, along with neighboring Nicaragua and Honduras, forms part of the the Customs Union of Central America's North Triangle, which has promoted cross-border trade by slashing the time it takes to move goods through customs.

With ties established, El Salvador should now study the possibility of pursuing a future bilateral free trade agreement with China, she said.

In the meantime, Rodriguez hopes to see ties boost tourism from China.

"We have all kinds of routes, we have the ocean, mountains, volcanoes, a wide range of things to do ... China can consider El Salvador as a tourist destination," Rodriguez said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 11:09:26|Editor: zh

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BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's federal police on Thursday searched three properties belonging to former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The moves are part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that Kirchner took bribes from businessmen in exchange for lucrative government deals.

The searches, ordered by federal Judge Claudio Bonadio, were conducted on a residence in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, as well as two homes in the cities of Rio Gallegos and El Calafate, both in the country's southern Santa Cruz province.

Kirchner, who served as president from 2007-2015, is currently a senator. The Senate authorized the police's operation during its Wednesday session.

Kirchner, an outspoken critic of the current government, denies wrongdoing and has accused the judicial branch of colluding with officials to curtail her political career.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 11:24:30|Editor: zh

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SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean appeals court on Friday raised the sentencing of ousted President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in prison on corruption charges, including bribery that led to her impeachment.

The Seoul High Court raised Park's sentence by one year from the lower court's ruling of the 24-year imprisonment.

Park was fined 20 billion won (18 million U.S. dollars), higher than the lower court's fine of 18 billion won (16 million U.S. dollars).

The appellate court increased the bribes Park received from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, in exchange for assistance to the management control transfer to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong from his ailing father Lee Kun-hee.

The high court judged that Park ordered or approved the national pension fund's vote in favor of the 2015 merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, the two Samsung units merged to create a de facto holding company for Samsung.

The merger helped the Samsung heir apparent strengthen his management control over Samsung. Park recognized it and was tacitly requested for assistance, the high court ruled.

Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016 after weeks of candlelit rallies, in which hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets every weekend demanding her resignation.

The Constitutional Court upheld the parliament's decision in March 2017, making her become the first South Korean leader to be impeached by the National Assembly. Park was arrested three weeks later.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 11:34:31|Editor: zh

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QUITO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador will strengthen its armed forces as part of a five-year plan calling for some 109 million U.S. dollars in investment, Ecuadorian Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin said on Thursday.

The government wants to reinforce the country's northern border with Colombia, Jarrin told reporters.

The heavily forested border zone is rife with drug and weapons trafficking and rebel activity. Recent attacks against civilians and the police, including a car bomb outside a police station, have killed nine people and injured 40 others.

A splinter group of the now disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which goes by the name Oliver Sinisterra Front, is believed to be operating along the border region. It has so far kidnapped and murdered five Ecuadorians in the past several months.

The recent rise in violence, Jarrin said, calls for additional investment in reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence services.

Other areas to be funded include munitions and soldiers' equipment. The military also plans to purchase six helicopters and 11 riverboats.

The funding will come from the military's Annual Investment Program, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 11:34:31|Editor: zh

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it has neither plans nor expectations for a possible meeting between State Secretary Mike Pompeo and the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, during Pompeo's upcoming visit to the nation.

"We don't have that schedule. We have no expectations of meeting with Chairman Kim," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a briefing.

"I think what's important is that we are regularizing these meetings and these conversations with a government that we have had very, very little interaction with over the past decade or so," Nauert said.

"The consultations will continue, and I imagine you'll see more meetings and trips ahead," she added. "We look forward to having those conversations."

She also said the newly appointed special envoy for the DPRK issue, Stephen Biegun, will pick up "some of those meetings that perhaps the secretary normally would have gone on or would have conducted. So I think this is just sort of the more -- more of a normalization of our types of conversations."

Earlier on Thursday, Pompeo said that he has appointed Biegun as the new special envoy for the DPRK.

He also said that he and Biegun will travel to Pyongyang next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

Pompeo has visited the DPRK three times -- in April, May and July.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time and believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, adding that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 12:14:40|Editor: zh

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Thursday called for international consensus in the fight against terrorism.

The international community should adhere to unified standards, adopt a zero-tolerance and nondiscriminatory attitude in resolutely combatting terrorism, said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

At a Security Council debate, he also called for efforts to address the root causes of terrorism, disrupt the cross-border movement of terrorists, and fight terrorist activities conducted through the Internet.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 12:54:46|Editor: zh

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BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Over 30 officials from the Group of 20 (G20) met Thursday in Argentina's northwest province of Salta to discuss the digital economy.

During the Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting, officials focused on topics ranging from governance and digital inclusion to the development of technological infrastructure, according to a release by the group.

"The ministers and delegates seek to create conditions that will help the governments, the private sector and civil society maximize the benefits and face the challenges presented by technological progress," the release said.

The meeting aims to secure "universal access to the internet for all persons by 2025," according to the release.

They are expected to issue a declaration on the digital economy at the conclusion of the meeting on Friday.

Argentina currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 13:14:50|Editor: Yamei

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CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Scott Morrison won a party ballot to become Australia's new prime minister on Friday after defeating Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in the leadership vote of the governing Liberal Party.

Morrison defeated Dutton, former minister of home affairs and the most senior conservative member of the government, in the ballot by 45 votes to 40.

After his defeat, Dutton said he would provide "absolute loyalty" to Morrison.

Bishop was eliminated in the first round of voting as she received the fewest number of votes.

The 50-year-old Morrison was born in east Sydney, who once worked in the property and tourism industries. He was first elected to the House of Representatives for Cook, New South Wales, in 2007.

Morrison had served as minister for immigration and border protection and minister for social services before appointed as treasurer after Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister in 2015.

Turnbull resigned as the prime minister after 45 of the 85 Liberal Party Members of Parliament (MPs) voted to vacate the leadership at the meeting.

It came just days after Turnbull defeated Dutton 48-35 in a ballot on Tuesday.

Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg was elected deputy leader of the party, taking over from Bishop.

Turnbull has announced his resignation from the parliament, leaving the government without a functioning majority in parliament.

"I want to thank the Australian people for everything they have done for me," Turnbull told reporters following the vote.

"It has been such a privilege to be the leader of this great nation."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 13:29:53|Editor: Yamei

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NEW DELHI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Senior Naxal commander Pahad Singh surrendered to police in central Indian state of Chattisgarh, police said Friday.

Singh operating under the nom de guerre Kumarsai surrendered to the police on Thursday in Durg district, about 40 km west of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.

According to police, he carried a reward of 67,000 U.S. dollars.

"In a big success for the anti-Maoist campaign, which is being carried on (in Durg range) under the leadership of inspector general of police, the Maoist (Naxal) leader Pahad Singh has surrendered," a statement issued by police said.

"Singh was the face of red terror in the area and active in the states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh since 2000."

A police spokesman said local government's surrender and rehabilitation policy inspired Singh to lay down arms.

Police officials describe Singh's surrender as "a big jolt to Naxals" and their expansion plans.

Naxal insurgency has its genesis in the violent left-wing rebellion that began in 1967 at village Naxalbari in Indian state of West Bengal.

Currently Maoists are active in more than a third of India's 600-odd districts across central and eastern India.

New Delhi has deployed several companies of its paramilitary forces to take on Naxals in their strongholds.

The insurgency reportedly has claimed more than 6,000 lives and rendered thousands of poor inhabitants homeless.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 13:34:54|Editor: xuxin

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Members of separated families reunite in Mount Kumgang in the southeast of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Aug. 24, 2018. Families of South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) separated by the 1950-53 Korean War reunited here on Friday for the second session of three-day reunions.(Xinhua)

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korean families, separated by the 1950-53 Korean War from relatives living in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) left for Mount Kumgang in southeast DPRK Friday morning for the second session of three-day reunions.

Eighty-one South Koreans, mostly in their 80s or older, departed in buses from a coastal city of Sokcho in northeast South Korea to meet DPRK relatives they never saw since the Korean War ended with an armistice that left the Korean Peninsula divided.

The separated elderly people sat in wheelchairs or were supported by their accompanying family members. The South Korean participants arrived at the coastal city the previous day to register for reunions and get their health checked.

South Korea and the DPRK agreed in June to hold the humanitarian event, the first in nearly three years. The latest was held in October 2015.

Since the fratricidal war was halted by the armistice in 1953, the separated families have been banned from exchanging letters and phone calls, let along meeting each other.

A combined 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions had been arranged since the first inter-Korean summit was held in 2000, but the reunions had been limited to about 200 separated families from each side. Over half of South Koreans on the waiting list for reunions are in their 80s or older.

Their meeting, arranged after decades of separation, will be painfully short. They will be granted permission to meet for only 12 hours in group and private gatherings during the three-day reunions.

It could be the only chance for the separated families to meet face-to-face. The eldest South Korean participant for the second session is a 100-year-old grandmother, Kang Jeong-ok who will meet her younger sister from the DPRK.
Gun Control Fails Again in

Maryland, but Self-Defense Works

By Rob Morse. August 21st, 2018

Article Source

A pharmacist in Princess Anne, Maryland used his gun to save lives. Marylands gun control laws failed again, but self-defense worked just fine to stop this crime.

Two men walked into the pharmacy with ski masks over their faces. Employees estimated that both men were over six feet tall. The armed robbers pointed a rifle at the nearest cashier. The robbers ordered the store staff and customers to lie on the ground. Then they demanded the store employees hand over narcotics.

The pharmacist came out of his office and saw the attackers threatening his staff and customers. The pharmacist shot at the armed robbers with his his legally owned handgun. The robbers ran.

Look at the numerous Maryland laws that failed to protect honest citizens. Robbery is illegal in Maryland. Conspiring with others to commit robbery is illegal. Using a gun to commit robbery is illegal, and has been for hundreds of years. The criminals dont read those laws, but they had no trouble seeing the store owners gun and got the message. The criminals arent listening to Marylands new gun control regulations, but they heard the gunshot loud and clear .......

Proof yet again that disarming good people does nothing towards preventing the armed criminal, who will by any number of means acquire firearms. States such as Maryland, New Jersey, New York, California - seem to revel in doing everything to keep law abiding people from having their right of self defense, which is directly infringing on Second Amendment rights. The only solution is the ballot box but too many voters seem blind to repression.

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You just have to love freedom.

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Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 13:44:56|Editor: Lu Hui

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SYDNEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- An Australian hospital is trialing the use of a humanoid robot this month to provide information and direct visitors, much to the fascination of patients and staff alike.

Pepper, a model of robot developed by Japanese company SoftBank Robotics, has been used internationally in customer support positions due to its engaging and humanlike features, Belinda Ward from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) told Xinhua on Friday.

Now, for the first time in Australia, Pepper has been providing patients and visitors at Townsville Hospital in the State of Queensland with information regarding 10 simple aspects of the hospital, such as how they can wash their hands, where to get a coffee and where to find parking meters.

The trial is a joint initiative between the Australian Centre of Excellence in Robotic Vision at QUT, James Cook University and the Queensland government.

Enrolled nurse Anne Elvin, whose idea it was to bring Pepper to Townsville, said that while initially people are unsure of the robot they tend to warm to her very quickly, "when they notice the little fingers moving and the little gestures of the arms, they start to imagine that it's got some human instinct to it."

"We've found it a really positive experience for patients, visitors and any of the staff that engage with it," Elvin said.

While Pepper can't yet help nursing staff with complex tasks, it still has an important and helpful role to play within the hospital environment.

"The advantage that Pepper has over just being a touch screen for example, is that she really does feel like she's listening and engaging with you," Ward said.

"People coming into a hospital might be a bit stressed or worried and it can be quite reassuring and I guess a little bit fun to interact with a robot like Pepper."

The next aspect of the trial will involve Pepper taking on an education role and informing people about the influenza virus, which the hospital will gauge people's reactions to.

But for now, Pepper's job is mostly just to put a smile on to people's faces, something it succeeds in doing, sometimes unconventionally.

"An emergency department consultant once asked Pepper where to find a doctor, which was not a line we had it programmed to answer, and Pepper replied with information about where the shops and cafes were," Elvin recalled.

"Everybody had a big laugh because it was kind of accurate."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 13:49:57|Editor: Lu Hui

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SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Park Geun-hye, South Korea's impeached and ousted president, was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison by an appeals court over corruption charges including bribery, exposing the deep-rooted collusive ties between politicians and businessmen.

The Seoul High Court raised Park's sentence by one year from the lower court's ruling of the 24-year imprisonment. Park was fined 20 billion won (18 million U.S. dollars), higher than the lower court's fine of 18 billion won (16 million U.S. dollars).

The appellate court increased the acknowledged amount of bribes that Park and Choi Soon-sil, Park's decades-long friend at the center of the corruption scandal, received from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate.

It ruled that Park ordered or approved the national pension fund's vote in favor of the 2015 merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, the two Samsung units merged to create the de-facto holding company of Samsung.

The merger helped Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the heir apparent to Samsung, strengthen his management control over the entire conglomerate. Park recognized it and was tacitly requested for assistance, the high court said reversing the lower court's ruling.

Park was charged with coercing large businesses, including Samsung, Lotte and SK, into donating tens of millions of U.S. dollars to two non-profit foundations controlled by Choi, but the appeals court did not see the donations as kickbacks, upholding the lower court's ruling.

The corruption scandal disclosed the country's inveterate cozy relations between politicians and businessmen, which accompanied a rapid economic rise.

"The accused abused her presidential position and power, given by the people, to seriously infringe on the corporate rights to property and the corporate freedom of management," said the appellate court ruling.

It said the immoral deals between political and business powers damaged the essence of democracy and distorted the order of market economy, which caused a serious sense of loss to the people.

The Samsung heir was sentenced in August last year to five years in jail, but he was released from prison in February as the appellate court reduced the amount of bribes Lee offered to Park and Choi.

The ruling by the appeals court on Park's case was forecast to place Lee in a legal jeopardy as the Samsung heir was waiting for the final ruling by the Supreme Court.

The appeals court sentenced Choi, Park's longtime confidante, to 20 years in jail, upholding the lower court's ruling.

Park did not appear in court for her case. She refused to attend any court hearings since October last year, calling it a political revenge.

Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016 after weeks of candlelit rallies, in which hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets every weekend demanding her resignation.

The Constitutional Court upheld the parliament's decision in March 2017, making her become the first South Korean leader to be impeached by the National Assembly. Park was arrested three weeks later.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 13:54:59|Editor: xuxin

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Wu Haitao (Front), China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, Aug. 23, 2018. Wu Haitao on Thursday called for international consensus in the fight against terrorism. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Thursday called for international consensus in the fight against terrorism.

The international community should adhere to unified standards, and adopt a zero-tolerance and nondiscriminatory attitude in resolutely combatting terrorism, said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

"In fighting terrorism at the international level, we should respect the sovereignty of the countries in question and the main responsibility of the countries concerned in the fight against terrorism, follow the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and help the United Nations and its Security Council play their leading role," he told the Security Council.

Wu asked for joint efforts to address the root causes of terrorism.

The international community should push for political settlement of global issues, assist member states in achieving economic and social development and reduce poverty, refrain from linking terrorism with specific ethnic groups and religions, and promote dialog on an equal footing among civilizations and religions to create a harmonious coexistence, all in an endeavor to build a new type of international relations, he said.

He asked the international community to stem the cross-border flow of terrorists.

Terrorist organizations have suffered heavy losses in Iraq and Syria recently. But the movement and return of terrorist fighters still pose a serious threat to the security and stability of countries of origin, transit and destination.

The countries concerned should strengthen cross-border control and law enforcement cooperation, share intelligence resources, and strengthen their capacity to jointly curb the flow of terrorist fighters.

Wu raised the issue of combatting terrorist activities on the Internet.

Cyber space and social media have become an important means for terrorist organizations to incite violence, recruit fighters and plot attacks. The international community should strengthen Internet regulation and block terrorist organizations from using the Internet to spread extremist ideologies and conduct terrorist financing, he said.

UN counter-terrorism agencies should strengthen coordination and help developing member states strengthen counter-terrorism capacity-building in cyber space.

In the past few years, China has been deeply involved in multilateral bodies such as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, he said.

China will continue to participate in and promote multilateral and bilateral cooperation against terrorism and provide assistance to developing countries. China is ready to work with other countries to jointly address the threat of terrorism and violent extremism in order to maintain world peace and tranquillity, he said.

Terrorism is a common enemy of mankind and knows no national borders. It is hard for any country to respond to it alone, he said.

The international community should effectively implement relevant Security Council resolutions and strengthen cooperation to jointly respond to the threats of terrorism, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 14:05:04|Editor: Lu Hui

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BRASILIA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Thursday gave ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva seven days to argue his case for running for president despite a criminal conviction.

Lula has until Aug. 30 to defend his eligibility as a candidate, which has been questioned by opposition figures and other candidates.

Brazil's Clean Record Act bars those convicted of a crime from running for elected office.

Lula is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.

Should the TSE reject his candidacy in October's general elections, his defense team could still appeal to the Supreme Federal Court.

Lula's Workers' Party has until Sept. 17 to register a substitute candidate if he is disqualified, and that would be his current running mate Fernando Haddad.

On Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Commission called on Brazil to ensure Lula's political rights, such as access to the press and members of his party.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 14:15:06|Editor: Lu Hui

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras started on Thursday early interest payments on capital.

According to the company, the amount to be distributed totals 652.2 million reals (159 million U.S. dollars) and corresponds to a gross amount of 0.05 reals (0.01 U.S. dollar) per share, based on shareholding positions as of Aug. 13, 2018.

The amount is subject to income tax except for exempt shareholders. Amounts unclaimed for three years will return to the company, according to current law.

The early payment of interest on capital was first announced by Petrobras on Aug. 3, when the company disclosed its second quarter balance.

Petrobras registered net profits of 10 billion reals (2.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quater, up 45 percent from the first quarter of the year.

The profits were the best quarterly result the company had since 2011. Petrobras has suffered heavy losses in the past few years due to a combination of a sharp decrease in oil prices and the extensive investigations which uncovered a large corruption scheme in the company.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 14:40:10|Editor: Lu Hui

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A militant was killed and a civilian wounded Friday in an ongoing gunfight and subsequent clashes in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The gunfight between militants and joint contingents of police and troops broke out at village Vailoo-Kokernag in Anantnag district, about 92 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"So far a militant has been killed and the operation is in progress," Indian army spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia told Xinhua.

According to police, the gunfight was triggered after troops and police cordoned off the village on specific intelligence information suggesting presence of militants.

Police officials suspected presence of two to three militants in the area.

Reports said while the gunfight was going on locals clashes with government forces apparently in a bid to help holed-up militants break the cordon and escape.

During the clashes a civilian was wounded and he was immediately removed to hospital.

A guerrilla 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.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 14:40:10|Editor: Lu Hui

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SYDNEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- An underwater artist who snapped the black and white image of a school of fish being chased by predators has won the prestigious Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year award for 2018.

Titled Hide and Seek, the enchanting photo was taken by a Malaysian-based british woman underneath a jetty in Indonesia.

"I'd seen images on social media previously shot under this jetty which inspired me to travel to Raja Ampat," winner Tracey Jennings said on Friday.

"I dived the site over several days, land based and then again a week or so later on a liveaboard trip."

"I spent about six hours in total at a depth of less than five meters under the single relatively small jetty, only leaving when I finished my second air tank, way after sunset."

Although the image impressed judges, at the time the photo was barely even noticed by the artist who took it.

"This picture actually lay unloved on my hard drive for almost a year," Jennings said.

"When I did finally go through my images, this one jumped out at me."

"I love how the light plays through the fish, and how it really describes the essence of the feeling I experienced when below the jetty where life and death plays around you."

The judges who voted on the work described Hide and Seek as a "rich cacophony of shapes and an explosion of tonality," adding that the removal of color allows viewers to focus more on the subject.

"The vortex of fish draws us in and makes us want to be there," a statement from the judges said.

As part of the prize, Jennings will receive 10,000 Australian dollars (7,300 U.S. dollars) and a trip to Antarctica where she can continue her incredible photography of the nature world.

"It's such a great honor to be named this year's Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year," Jennings said.

"It's an important opportunity to showcase the beauty of our oceans to all people who visit this exhibition."

"I am so proud to be the first woman recognized as the winner of this competition."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 14:50:11|Editor: Lu Hui

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SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing reunions of the war-separated Korean families was in the process of building trust between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a South Korean expert said.

Eighty-one South Koreans, separated by the 1950-53 Korean War from DPRK relatives, left Friday morning for Mount Kumgang in southeast DPRK to meet their long-lost families from the DPRK they never saw since the fratricidal war ended with armistice that left the Korean Peninsula divided.

"The reunions of separated families are in the process of building (inter-Korean) trust. Trust-building is the very first thing to do. Without trust, dialogue is not possible," Lee Sang-man, professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies of Kyungnam University in Seoul, said in an interview with Xinhua Thursday.

The first session of reunions was held from Monday to Wednesday at the DPRK's mountain resort, the first in nearly three years. The second session of three-day reunions would last till Sunday. The two Koreas agreed in June to hold the humanitarian event.

It was a follow-up measure to enforce the Panmunjom Declaration, signed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un after their first summit meeting on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom. Under the declaration, the two sides agreed to stop all hostile acts and increase exchanges.

Lee said the DPRK's repatriation in July of the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War was also in the process of building trust between Pyongyang and Washington.

The DPRK leader and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to the repatriation during the first-ever DPRK-U.S. summit in Singapore on June 12.

The repatriation and the family reunions helped build trust among the three parties, and it will help create a good atmosphere for the upcoming inter-Korean summit, Lee forecast. The leaders of the two Koreas agreed to hold their third summit in Pyongyang before the end of September.

"President Moon will visit Pyongyang as a guarantor between North Korea (DPRK) and the United States. Because of the lack of trust (between Pyongyang and Washington), Moon will try to serve as a guarantor, beyond a mediator," said Lee.

The South Korean expert stressed that the peninsula's denuclearization should go in tandem with declaring an end to the Korean War and lifting sanctions toward the DPRK to encourage Pyongyang to keep on the course.

"The U.S. side should make concessions to the North (DPRK) as the United States has colossal tools to pressure the North. But, the North has no such tool. If the United States yields to the North, all will be well," added Lee.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 15:15:19|Editor: xuxin

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by Charles Happell

CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Scott Morrison rode a wave of late momentum to become Australia's 30th prime minister on Friday, as his colleagues in the ruling Liberal Party deciding that the Sydney member of parliament (MP) represented a greater chance of electoral success than his main challenger, Peter Dutton.

At the end of a dramatic week in Canberra, Morrison defeated Peter Dutton, 45 votes to 40, for the Liberal Party leadership, with the third challenger, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, eliminated in the first round of voting.

This meant Morrison, the federal Treasurer, became the nation's 30th prime minister since federation in 1901, while the deposed leader Malcolm Turnbull announced that he will soon quit politics altogether.

It was Dutton who first brought on the challenge to Turnbull during the week but the negative reaction to the prospect of his leadership style over the past two days clearly forced some Liberal Party MPs into a rethink.

It was felt Dutton, a Queenslander and arch-conservative, who would struggle to win widespread support in more progressive states such as Victoria and New South Wales and would lead the coalition parties to electoral disaster against Labor.

While he was once a vocal supporter of hardline former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Morrison, 50, is currently regarded as a slightly more moderate figure within the party, one who has a formidable intellect and was more likely to succeed in taking the electoral fight up to opposition leader, Bill Shorten.

Remarkably, he had remained loyal to Turnbull all through the turmoil of the past few days, while other key supporters of the prime minister such as Mathias Cormann, Mitch Fifield and Michaelia Cash all switched sides and threw their support behind Dutton.

In the end, Morrison's loyalty paid off. In many colleagues' eyes, it highlighted his dependability, political canniness, and ability to remain calm in a crisis. Also, unlike Dutton, he carried with him no constitutional complications.

So having stood with Turnbull until his prime ministership was clearly doomed, Morrison won support from moderates who once would have viewed him with suspicion. At another time, in different circumstances, Morrison would have been relying on the party's conservatives for his core support.

Friday's party room ballot has marked an extraordinary rise through the ranks for Morrison.

While he has been in parliament for little more than 11 years, his ambition and intelligence meant that big things were always predicted for him.

When he first arrived in Canberra, towards the end of 2007, he lobbied then-Liberal leader Brendan Nelson for a place on the frontbench. Nelson knocked him back telling him he needed to spend some time on the backbench so he could gain invaluable experience there. According to some colleagues, Morrison was not happy at the snub although he has disputed this recollection of events.

Morrison would not stay on the backbench long. In 2009, he became shadow minister for immigration and citizenship when Abbott became party leader after his successful coup against Turnbull.

As Abbott's immigration minister, Morrison was an unflinching advocate of the plan to "Stop the Boats", preventing asylum seekers from arriving in Australia.

Morrison is the son of a policeman, an active member of the ShireLive evangelical church and a Cronulla Sharks fan in the national rugby league competition, in other words, a pretty regular, middle-class, middle-aged Australian male.

Morrison wears his political ambition and his conservative credentials proudly. He voted No on same-sex marriage, listed "church" as one of his interests in his Who's Who report, and counts former Prime Minister John Howard as his political inspiration, media reported Friday.

Interestingly, it has been Howard's long-serving Treasurer, Peter Costello, who has been mentoring Morrison since he became Treasurer.

And after a period of uncertainty when he initially took on that demanding portfolio, Morrison has warmed to the role under Costello's mentorship and his recent 2018-2019 budget was well received.

His position on many key foreign affairs matters is unclear. Unlike Dutton, he has not announced a position on Australia's immigration intake, foreign investment in Australia and domestic issues such as electricity prices and emission targets.

There are foreign policy matters that require Morrison's immediate attention such as a landmark free trade deal between Australia and Indonesia, a document that both nations were on the brink of signing after years of negotiations.

Turnbull was due to travel to Indonesia next week but it is unlikely that Morrison, who will have other, more pressing domestic issues to attend, will make the trip as the new prime minister. So that agreement will have to be postponed till a later date.

After Morrison gets comfortable in his new office, and gets on top of domestic politics ahead of the next election, he will turn his attention to the key regional foreign policy issue for Australia.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 15:25:21|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China produced less rice in the first harvest period of the year compared to 2017 amid agricultural supply-side structural reform, official data showed Friday.

The country produced 28.59 million tonnes of "early rice," planted in spring and harvested in early summer. This was a decrease of more than 1 million tonnes, or 4.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

China's early rice planting area for the year stood at 4.79 million hectares, 6.8 percent less than last year, and yield per hectare grew 2.7 percent to 5.96 tonnes.

NBS statistician Hou Rui attributed the early rice yield drop to proactive changes in crop structure amid deepening agricultural supply-side structural reform, less rainfall, and crop rotation.

"It points to improved quality and efficiency of China's agricultural production," Hou said.

"The decline will have a very limited impact on the country's grain supply as early rice accounts for a small share of the annual grain output," Hou said.

Early rice is mainly planted in nine provincial-level regions: Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan.

Rice is a staple food in China, and its total grain output consists of three parts -- early rice, summer grain, and autumn production. Autumn grain crops, which include corn and middle- and late-season rice, account for the bulk of the grain production.
Gun Control Fails Again in

Maryland, but Self-Defense Works

By Rob Morse. August 21st, 2018

Article Source

A pharmacist in Princess Anne, Maryland used his gun to save lives. Marylands gun control laws failed again, but self-defense worked just fine to stop this crime.

Two men walked into the pharmacy with ski masks over their faces. Employees estimated that both men were over six feet tall. The armed robbers pointed a rifle at the nearest cashier. The robbers ordered the store staff and customers to lie on the ground. Then they demanded the store employees hand over narcotics.

The pharmacist came out of his office and saw the attackers threatening his staff and customers. The pharmacist shot at the armed robbers with his his legally owned handgun. The robbers ran.

Look at the numerous Maryland laws that failed to protect honest citizens. Robbery is illegal in Maryland. Conspiring with others to commit robbery is illegal. Using a gun to commit robbery is illegal, and has been for hundreds of years. The criminals dont read those laws, but they had no trouble seeing the store owners gun and got the message. The criminals arent listening to Marylands new gun control regulations, but they heard the gunshot loud and clear.

Given that the subsequent police investigation was conducted by the gang-crimes unit, Ill claim that the criminals didnt bother with the required firearms background checks that are required to buy a long gun at a gun store. Does it shock you that criminals dont obey state and federal gun laws?

Gang members dont consult the Maryland registry of approved firearms for possession or transfer. Those laws only infringe on the rights of honest gun owners. Those gun laws disarm law abiding people, but did not disarm these criminals.

The Maryland assault weapon bans and the Maryland magazine capacity restrictions didnt stop these gang members from breaking those laws. Im sure Maryland legislators are agasp that criminals dont follow their latest regulations. The rest of us told you so.

Honest and law abiding citizens cant carry a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle like these criminals did as they drove to the pharmacy. Hoest citizens cant carry a loaded gun in public, or carry a concealed firearm without a Maryland Wear and Carry Permit. Unfortunately, most people in Maryland are denied their state-issued wear and carry permits. Which of us were disarmed by those laws, the gang members or the law abiding public?

A judge didnt see fit to claim these three gang members, the two robbers and their get-away driver, were a threat to themselves or others. Despite their history of violence, the Maryland red-flag law didnt work to disarm these criminals. At this point, is anyone surprised?

Maryland gun laws dont disarm criminals, but they do disarm honest citizens. That makes us easier victims. When faced with rising violent crime, Maryland politicians repeat their failed policy prescriptions and propose to disarm more of us.

Lets learn from this example instead. Criminals threatened the lives of innocent people. Because he had a gun, the pharmacist stopped the threat even though he was outnumbered and faced large and powerful adversaries. Guns in the hands of honest citizens saved lives and kept dangerous drugs off Maryland streets.

Armed defense saves lives thousands of times a day. Let more honest citizens legally own and carry a firearm. We will all be safer.

Back to Top


Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 15:35:22|Editor: ZX

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LANZHOU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua)-- Burning fossil fuels is the largest contributor to the declining level of oxygen in the atmosphere, according to the latest research by Chinese scientists.

Scientists from Lanzhou University in northwest China's Gansu Province studied fossil fuel oxygen consumption, human and livestock respiration, and fire. They found fossil fuel combustion comprised 60 to 80 percent of total oxygen consumption over the past century.

It is estimated that the world's oxygen concentration will drop from its current level of 20.946 percent to 20.825 percent as the annual atmospheric oxygen consumption increases sharply to 100 billion tonnes by 2100.

Huang Jianping, director of the research team, appealed for focusing more on atmospheric oxygen changes as well as immediate and cooperative actions against the declining trend.

According to Huang, although the oxygen deficit has not yet posed a clear threat to human health, it is foreseeable that the environment will significantly change if the trend continues.

"We must do more to promote the output of oxygen and reduce its consumption, such as by using more green energy. It is also pivotal to reverse this trend through the combined efforts and cooperation of all countries," Huang said.

The research findings have been published in the latest issue of Science Bulletin.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 16:40:38|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is gearing up to build a core aviation hub of Northeast Asia, according to local officials.

The province is now creating a distinctive aviation hub network, with capacity extending to Northeast Asia, and connecting America and Europe, Li Haitao, executive vice governor of Heilongjiang, told a promotion meeting in Beijing on Thursday.

In July, The Civil Aviation Administration of China and the provincial government both approved a strategic plan for the province to create an international aviation hub.

The Harbin Taiping International Airport, in the provincial capital, tops all airports in northeast China with annual passenger throughput of 18.81 million in 2017.

To date, 47 airlines operate 185 domestic and international air routes from the airport, among which 19 are direct regional or international routes.

According to the plan, the passenger throughput of the Harbin Taiping International Airport will reach 42 million by 2025, and 80 million by 2035.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 16:50:42|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Friday called for strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) over advancing law-based governance in all areas.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and head of the Commission for Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while presiding over the first meeting of the commission.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 17:20:47|Editor: Li Xia

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A man makes bamboo skeleton of the paper votive objects in the Dao Tu village of Vietnam's northern province of Bac Ninh, on Aug. 21, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Di)

by Tao Jun, Bui Long

HANOI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Big trucks laden with modern goods, including flat-screen TV sets, smart phones including iPhones, air-conditioners and fashionable handbags, have been running in and out a traditional craft village in northern Vietnam recently, but all the items are made manually from paper and carton, and are to serve the deceased.

On Tuesday, three days before the Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Yulan or Zhongyuan Festival, all members of the extended family of Nguyen Thi Mi in Dao Tu village, Song Ho commune, Bac Ninh province, located around 35 km northeast of the capital city of Hanoi, were as busy as bees, making paper votive from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. local time.

Mi, a 70-year-old woman of small stature, sat in a spacious room full of paper, cartons and votive objects, meticulously making men's and women's underwear from soft white paper. Sitting next to Mi, her 18-year-old granddaughter named Ha was swiftly producing shirts from harder paper with pink striped lines, and Ha's teenage nephew was placing the underwear in the shirts.

"Our family specializes in making clothes. And we buy other paper items from our villagers and resell them to traders from other provinces," the woman told Xinhua on Tuesday, while her son and daughter-in-law loaded paper clothes, horses, elephants, boats, cars, washing machines and villas on a seven-ton truck in front of their house.

"This truck is very big, laden with too many bulky products, but in fact they are very light and worth only several millions of Vietnamese dong (around 100 U.S. dollars)," Mi's daughter-in-law named Hue told Xinhua, using her bare hand to wipe sweat from her forehead under the direct sunlight.

After completing the loading, Hue and her barebacked husband entered their house to join with other family members in the process of cutting paper and carton into pieces, arranging them into different shapes, using homemade starch glue to stick the pieces together, and drying them under the sun.

According to Mi, she can make some 200 sets of underwear a day, but her son, grandson or great grandson can produce 300-400 sets of clothes, including underwear, shirts and trousers, which sell for 10,000 Vietnamese dong (0.4 U.S. dollars) per set.

"Because the demand for votive items surges before the Hungry Ghost Festival, and we have to work all day, and even at night. My eyes have to stick to the clothes all the time, so I have frequent eyestrain. However, my wage is very modest, just 2-3 million Vietnamese dong (87-130 U.S. dollars) a month," Mi sighed, adjusting her far-sighted glasses.

Young people can earn bigger wages from churning out more products in the same period and making more complicated items with higher price-tags such as dragon boats, horses, cars and motorbikes, Mi's married nephew explained, noting that it takes them between three to four hours to produce a big horse worth over 100,000 Vietnamese dong (4.3 U.S. dollars), and around two hours to make a TV set worth 40,000 Vietnamese dong (1.7 U.S. dollars).

However, making big items such as elephants, horses and dragon boats, require more materials and higher degrees of skillfulness.

"My younger sister is in charge of turning bamboo sections into slender small lathes and knitting them into forms of big horses. My niece cuts colored paper into big and small pieces, and then I glue them to the bamboo forms," a middle-age woman named Nguyen Thi Cuc told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Local artisans have to complete at least five stages to churn out a medium-sized horse from bamboo and paper, but the horse is sold for only 25,000 Vietnamese dong (1.1 U.S. dollars) at their houses, Cuc said.

"Before the Hungry Ghost Festival, we sell some 500 paper horses a day. It costs only 25,000 Vietnamese dong (nearly 1.1 U.S. dollars) for a medium-sized horse, and 100,000 Vietnamese dong (4.3 U.S. dollars) for a large-sized horse. But the sales prices in other cities can double or treble in other provinces," a young man named Nguyen Huu Tung told Xinhua on Tuesday, as he loaded dozens of horses to his big truck destined for Hanoi.

According to Tung, in the past, people often bought horses, elephants and dragon boats, believing that their dead relatives could ride them in the afterlife, but now buyers tend to prefer modern means of transport such as motorcycles, cars and aircraft.

Local artisans are rapidly catching up with this new trend. Lai Dac Hung, a 45-year-old man in Dao Tu village, said many villagers have produced less traditional costumes, ancient banknotes, gold ingots and elephants from paper, and made more contemporary items such as fashionable shirts and ties, modern banknotes, luxury cars and beautiful villas, even domestic servants from paper and cartons.

"Normally, my wife and I make 300 piles of votive banknotes a day, and use a cart to transport them to traders in the province. Now, when the Hungry Ghost Festival is nearing, we sell 500 piles. But we will shift to production of modern items soon because they sell well in Vietnam and some other Asian countries," Hung said.

Paper votive items produced in Song Ho commune are sold to many Vietnamese cities and provinces, and are even exported to China's Hong Kong, China's Taiwan and South Korea, Nguyen Xuan Dinh, chairman of the communal People's Committee, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

"Song Ho has a land area of over 3.7 square km and a population of approximately 6,600 people living in 1,500 households. All of the villages in our commune make paper votive objects. Specifically, in Dao Tu and the nearby village of Dong Khe, more than 90 percent of their population engage in the traditional craft, which is believed to have begun more than five centuries ago," said Dinh.

According to the chairman, unlike Westerners, Vietnamese people attach more importance to death-related anniversaries, and they pay their respects to the deceased by offering votive paper objects on various occasions, especially the Hungry Ghost Festival, which falls on the 15th day of July according to the lunar month (on Aug. 25, 2018), and the Lunar New Year festival (often in February).

Activities during the Hungry Ghost Festival often include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, burning joss paper, and offering votive paper items for the visiting spirits of people's ancestors and strangers.

However, it is waste of money if people burn too many votive items, Dinh said. According to many producers and traders in Vietnam, local people burn around 50,000 tons of joss paper and votive paper objects worth many millions of U.S. dollars each year.

"We will encourage local people to diversify their products, such as artistic handicrafts made from second-hand paper or cartons, which are environmentally friendly," the chairman said, smiling.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 17:50:52|Editor: Li Xia

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann denied on Thursday that the federal government has been negligent on the matter of the immigration crisis in the country.

Brazil has experienced a sharp rise in the influx of Venezuelan immigrants in the past year and a half. The majority of them enter Brazil through the small town of Pacaraima in Roraima state in the country's northern region.

Though some immigrants have moved to other Brazilian states, the bulk of them stayed in Roraima state, and Pacaraima in particular has suffered the most with the extra population, which led to a significant increase of demands for public healthcare, education and housing.

There are large numbers of Venezuelan immigrants living in Pacaraima's streets, and the state capital Boa Vista has also registered a hike in the homeless population.

The federal government was much criticized for their approach to the immigration crisis. Roraima state accuses the government of not providing enough aid.

Recently, the tension in Pacaraima exploded in several attacks by xenophobic groups om Venezuelan immigrants, forcing many of them to return to their country of origin or to flee to other towns or jungle areas.

The government however denied any negligence, saying that the "federal authorities have been visiting Roraima since the beginning of the migratory crisis," and the measures such as border planning, screening of immigrants, and house construction have already been undertaken.

"Responsibility over facts like these must be attributed to the tragic situation in Venezuela. Obviously this migration takes place in a moment when infrastructure is very insufficient. The federal government has been trying to do whatever is within our reach," Jungmann said.

Jungmann denied granting more federal resources to Roraima, saying that the state has yet to spend all the money already made available by the federal administration.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 18:10:56|Editor: Li Xia

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- At the ongoing 25th Beijing International Book Fair, Morocco, as a guest of honor, exhibits around 800 kinds of books and holds events to showcase African culture.

Members of the Moroccan delegation include officials from the national library and state tourism office, as well as some outstanding writers.

Morocco and China have maintained a sound relationship, and strengthening cultural exchanges between the two will help China communicate with the Arab world and Africa, said Moroccan Minister of Culture and Communication Mohamed Laaraj.

To attract Chinese audiences, cultural exchanges have been held during the five-day book fair which ends on Sunday, including lectures on Morocco-China relations under the Belt and Road Initiative, Moroccan culture and literature, among others.

The book fair, founded in 1986, has become a key international book fair and copyright trading platform.

More than 2,500 exhibitors from 93 countries and regions are taking part, displaying some 300,000 books. Among them are nearly 30 countries along the Belt and Road.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 18:26:00|Editor: xuxin

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NEW DELHI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The state-owned Indian Railways has for the first time this year decided to run women-only trains in northern India for Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Raksha Bandhan is celebrated every year by the tying of a thread on the wrist of a brother by his sister as a mark of bond and ritual protection.

"The decision to run special trains this Sunday has been taken for the convenience of women," a senior official said Friday.

The Indian Railways is one of the world's largest train networks, criss-crossing the country from north to south. It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries 23 million people daily.

This vast public enterprise can be referred to as a semi-state. It runs schools, hospitals, has it own police force and construction companies, and has 1.3 million people on its payroll.

In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government pledged 137 billion U.S. dollars over five years to modernize and expand the railways.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 18:36:03|Editor: xuxin

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MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Up to 20 insurgents were killed and several others injured as the security forces military aircrafts targeted Taliban positions in Kohistan district of Afghanistan's northern Faryab province on Thursday night, an army spokesman in the northern region Ahmad Jawed Salim said Friday.

The fighting aircrafts, according to the official, conducted the sorties against Taliban militants in Kohistan district late Thursday night killing 20 armed insurgents on the spot and wounding several others.

Taliban militants who have gained ground recently in Faryab province and mounting pressure to destabilize provincial capital Maimana are yet to make comment on the situation in Kohistan district.

Afghan forces have increased ground and air operations against Taliban in parts of the restive Faryab province over the past couple of weeks.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 18:46:06|Editor: ZX

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Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (2nd R) meets with a visiting delegation of the Japan-China Society, led by the society's president Takeshi Noda, who is also a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Friday met with a visiting delegation of the Japan-China Society, led by the society's president Takeshi Noda, who is also a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker.

"Sino-Japanese exchanges enjoy a long history. The long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties conforms to the historical trend and serves the interests of the two people," Wang said.

Noting that this year marked the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Wang said the two sides should "properly handle issues and differences in the spirit of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future, on the basis of the four political documents signed between the two sides, so as to maintain the positive trend of improving relations between the two countries."

Wang called on the two sides to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, continue to meet each other halfway, and deepen pragmatic cooperation.

"It is hoped that the Japan-China Society will not forget its original aspirations and will strengthen the belief, continue to give full play to the unique advantages of non-governmental friendship, and make positive contributions to the improvement of bilateral relations," Wang said.

The Japanese side said that the Japan-China Society was willing to take the opportunity of the 40th anniversary of the signing of Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 19:06:11|Editor: ZX

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SHANGHAI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. self-driving company Waymo LLC, the driverless car division of Google's parent company Alphabet, has registered its exclusively-founded enterprise in Shanghai, according to information published on National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

Waymo's registration in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone was approved in May, with registered capital reaching 3.5 million yuan. It is an exclusively foreign-owned enterprise which has a business scope ranging from business information consultation to driverless cars' design, testing and supporting services.

Waymo LLC was initiated as a driverless car project of Google and is now one of the leading players in the self-driving industry in the United States.

Kevin Bradley Vosen will be the legal representative and the chairman of the newly started company in Shanghai.

Shanghai's further opening-up is attracting an increasing number of foreign investors. U.S. carmaker Tesla Inc. announced a plan to open its first overseas plant in Shanghai last month.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 19:06:12|Editor: xuxin

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ALGIERS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in Algeria announced late on Thursday the outbreak of cholera, saying there have been 41 confirmed cases out of 88 suspected who are getting medical treatment at hospitals in northern Algeria.

The ministry specified that the highest number of cholera affected cases was recorded in Blida province, 50 km south of Algiers, as 50 people have been admitted, including 22 confirmed cases.

In the capital Algiers, 14 people are suspected of being affected, including 5 confirmed cases. In Tipaza province, 50 km west of Algiers, 18 people are hospitalized, of which 11 confirmed cases. Six other cases including three confirmed were identified in the province of Bouira, 100 km southeast of Algiers.

All of the suspected cholera cases are currently in isolation at different hospitals receiving medical treatment, noted the source.

The ministry denied the reports that the cholera outbreak is due to water contamination. Experts of the ministry said the outbreak is probably due to contaminated fruits and vegetables, urging populations to take prevention measures.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 19:46:19|Editor: ZX

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CHONGQING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Changan Automobile Co. Ltd. Friday announced plans to invest 10.2 billion yuan (about 1.49 billion U.S. dollars) on a new-energy vehicle industrial park in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing.

At the ongoing first Smart China Expo, Changan Automobile said the park in the Liangjiang New Area would be home to a complete industrial chain for R&D, production and sales.

Changan's own auto parts plant, its new-energy vehicle joint venture and other suppliers will be established there.

Upon completion, the park is expected to churn out 500,000 sets of core new-energy vehicle parts, with an output value of over 40 billion yuan annually.

Changan Automobile has announced a shift to new-energy vehicles for its future growth. It announced in October 2017 that it would stop selling traditional petrol cars in 2025. Last year, its new-energy vehicle sales soared 180 percent to 61,000 units.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:06:25|Editor: xuxin

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KIEV, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine marked Independence Day on Friday with a parade of servicemen and military hardware in central Kiev.

A total of 4,500 service personnel from the Ukrainian armed forces, the National Guard, the State Border Service, the State Security Service and other defense and security agencies participated in the parade.

For the first time in Ukrainian history, the parade involved 120 female soldiers, unlike last year's male-only event.

The parade ended with a spectacular airshow consisting of 30 aircraft, including the newly-designed Ukraine-produced transport aircraft An-178.

The celebration attracted thousands, many decked in traditional embroidered clothing while holding Ukrainian flags.

Delegations from 18 foreign countries, including U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton as well as other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), attended the parade.

While addressing the parade, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that he will soon submit to the parliament the draft amendments to the Constitution on Ukraine's goals of the membership in the European Union (EU) and the NATO.

"I will insist on enshrining in the Constitution our aspiration to join the EU and to join the NATO," Poroshenko said.

Ukraine obtained independence from the Soviet Union on Aug. 24, 1991, which is celebrated as the country's Independence Day.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:11:27|Editor: xuxin

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PARIS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- French main flag carrier Air France has decided to suspend services to Tehran in September, blaming U.S. sanctions which it said would weaken the line's performance, the airline announced on Thursday.

The French arm of Franco-Dutch airlines group Air France KLM said it would stop flights to Iran on Sept. 18 "because of low business profitability."

The flag carrier said since Aug. 4 it has sharply reduced services from four flights to one on weak demand.

Two other major European airlines, British Airways and KLM, also decided to close the route to Tehran on falling profits.

In May, the United States announced withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and that it would reimpose sanctions on Tehran and those trading with it.

In the wake of the U.S. decision, European firms doing business in Iran have up to six months to wind up investments.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:16:28|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A fugitive suspected of duty-related and economic crimes has returned to China and surrendered after five years overseas, authorities announced Friday.

Wu Qing, 53, gave himself up to police and returned his illegal gains on Thursday, said the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group.

Wu, former board chairman and general manager of a textile company in Jiangsu, was accused of misappropriation of funds, encroachment, and cheating on loans. He fled to Canada in November 2013.

Wu is the first fugitive to surrender after the National Supervisory Commission, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly released a notice, urging fugitives of duty-related crimes to give themselves up if they want leniency.

"The hunt for corrupt fugitives and stolen assets will not end, with even tighter measures," authorities warned. "Fugitives must abandon the illusion (of being able to flee forever), return to China as soon as possible and give themselves up to seek leniency in punishment."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:21:29|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Friday called for strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) over advancing law-based governance in all areas.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and head of the Commission for Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while presiding over the first meeting of the commission.

Efforts should be made to unswervingly promote socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and enable the rule of law to better play its role of guarantee for a solid foundation, stabilized expectations and long-term interests, Xi said.

Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu and Wang Huning, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the commission, attended the meeting.

Documents including the commission's working rules and its work priorities in 2018 were adopted at the meeting.

The rule of law and the Party's leadership over law-based governance in all areas need to be further strengthened in order to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi said.

The CPC Central Committee has since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 made a series of major decisions on law-based governance in all areas, which are the fundamental rules for law-based governance and must be adhered to and steadily developed on a long-term basis, he said.

With this year's work priorities made clear, Xi called on relevant authorities to formulate a plan on building the rule of law in China, fully implement and enforce the Constitution, ensure legislation is sound, strengthen the building of a government based on the rule of law, deepen judicial system reform, advance efforts to build a society based on the rule of law, and train judicial personnel.

Xi said the commission should focus its energy on top-level design, take the initiative to design the overall thinking and decide on the major tasks for building the system of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and do the planning and scientific decision-making on key issues concerning the law-based governance in all areas.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:36:30|Editor: ZX

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Farmer Zhang She uses a wasp species as a biological control agent in his sunflower field in Wuyuan County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 23, 2018. Wuyuan County authorities have expedited industrial upgrades for local sunflower seed enterprises by encouraging export-oriented businesses and standardized planting. The local sunflower seed products are now sold to markets in Europe, North America and the Middle East. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:46:38|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan encouraged Friday young people to carry forward the spirit of science and master scientific methodology to make new discoveries, inventions, and technologies.

Sun made the remarks during her speech at the 11th China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award ceremony.

Sun also called on Chinese youth to incorporate their individual aspirations into the state and national enterprises and pass on their predecessors' fine tradition of serving the country with scientific achievements.

The whole society should provide a favorable environment and opportunities for young people to create and invent, and build up innovation platforms and mechanism to help them realize their scientific dreams, Sun said.

The award was based on the will of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and established in 2004 as a commemoration of his 100th birthday.

Administered by institutions including the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and All-China Youth Federation, the award is given to around 100 young people every term ranging from primary school to university students.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:56:43|Editor: xuxin

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over phone to discuss the ongoing challenges in Syria and the U.S. "serious concerns" related to the possible military activity in Idlib, U.S. State Department said.

According to a statement issued by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo asked Lavrov to support efforts in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as well as efforts "to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons."

As the Syrian army is poised for a possible battle on the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, the United States, France and Britain on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against using chemical weapons, saying that "we remain resolved to act if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons again."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned the tripartite statement as part of "the campaign of threats, hypocrisy, and misinformation resorted to by those powers against the Syrian Arab Republic, which comes in the framework of the outright support to the terrorist groups."

The three Western nations launched a missile attack on Syrian military positions in April, claiming that they had targeted the facilities involved in the manufacture of chemical weapons in Syria.

But the Syrian government has repeatedly denied the allegations and said that Western powers were creating excuses to strike Syria and such statements could encourage the rebels to stage such an attack to frame the Syrian army.

While stressing that the Syrian forces have never used chemical weapons, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that the rebels have used chemical weapons under the direct support of the Western powers as well as some regional countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Western statement also came on the fifth anniversary of the alleged chemical attack that took place in the formerly rebel-held Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus in 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 20:56:44|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The 10th National Congress of Returned Overseas Chinese and their Relatives will be held in Beijing from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, according to a press briefing by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (AFROC) on Friday.

The congress takes place as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, during the decisive stage in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, said Qiao Wei, vice president of the AFROC.

It is thus a major event in the political lives of overseas and returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, he added.

He said that the congress will reflect on the work of the federation since the 9th National Congress, and lay out the tasks for the next five years.

It will also feature the revision to the AFROC's constitution and the election of the new committee and leadership of the federation.

According to Qiao, nearly 1,300 delegates and 700 overseas Chinese will participate in the congress, including 33 representatives from some grassroots organizations for overseas Chinese.
Amend Criminal Code

The Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (Nefej) has expressed serious concern over some provisions of Civil and Criminal Codes that came into force on August 17.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:01:45|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Various aid organizations on Friday called for concerted swift measures to meet the humanitarian needs of nearly one million people who are displaced due to inter-communal violence in Ethiopia.

The UN migration agency has recently revealed that since April this year some 970,000 people have fled their homes due to fighting between communities along the border of Ethiopia's Gedeo Zone in the Southern region and West Guji Zone in Ethiopia's largest Oromia region.

The latest call was made on Friday by Doctors without Borders (MSF), which launched an emergency response to address the most urgent needs of displaced people along the boarders of the two regions.

"Given the scale of the emergency, and with so many people displaced from their homes in such a short space of time, getting shelter, essential relief items, water, hygiene and health services in place is a priority," said Alessandra Saibene, MSF's emergency response coordinator in Ethiopia.

"Most people left their homes in a hurry and arrived with nothing. Families are sleeping on the floor in vacant buildings, like schools or churches, and sometimes even on the bare ground outside with only banana leaves or a plastic sheet for cover," Saibene said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also on Wednesday called for swift measures to meet the humanitarian needs of nearly one million people who are displaced due to inter-communal violence in Ethiopia.

According to the ICRC, while aid has increased in recent weeks, "it is still insufficient to meet the needs of the displaced. With schools being used as shelters and so many children still displaced, it could also be difficult for students to return to school when the new academic year starts in September."

"Schools, factories, and courthouses are just a few of the buildings that now act as shelters for displaced families in southern Ethiopia after a wave of inter-communal clashes along the border areas of Gedeo and West Guji zones drove nearly one million people from their homes," the ICRC said in a statement on Wednesday.

MSF has also on Friday stressed that the rapid influx of displaced people has further stretched the available resources and public services.

"Despite a government-led intervention providing healthcare, food and essential relief items, there are still serious gaps in the provision of shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene services, with living conditions being of particular concern," MSF said on Friday.

"When so many people live together in crowded and cramped conditions, with limited access to clean water and insufficient latrines, the risk of outbreaks of communicable diseases is very high. We need to act quickly to improve the conditions in the sites where displaced people are staying; otherwise the situation will only get worse," it added.

The UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) last month released 15 million U.S. dollars to urgently scale up humanitarian assistance to people affected by escalating inter-communal violence in Ethiopia.

According to the UN migration agency's latest report, 359,113 people are sheltering in collective sites while the remainder are living with local communities, in rented accommodation or with relatives, though they also visit the collective sites to get humanitarian assistance.

The latest of the historically recurring clashes between communities in the Gedeo and West Guji zones, along the borders of the Southern region and the Oromia region, began in March 2018.

As the fighting intensified in June, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes with little more than the clothes they were wearing, according to the IOM.

In Gedeo zone, where the majority of the displaced people are living, there are at least 276,939 people in 134 collective sites, which range from schools to government buildings and disused or unfinished buildings.

"In seven of the sites, more than half of the residents are living outside or in open spaces. As Ethiopia is experiencing its cold and rainy season, providing adequate shelter to these displaced communities is a priority for IOM," IOM's latest report read.

Displaced people began arriving in both zones in March and were still arriving in July.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:16:48|Editor: xuxin

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ANKARA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities estimated that the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey will exceed 5 million in 2028, local media reported on Friday.

Turkish government granted temporary protection status for 3,545,293 Syrian refugees and 204,288 of them live in camps, the daily Hurriyet reported, citing figures of Turkey's immigration authority and ombudsman institution.

Turkey's biggest metropolis Istanbul is hosting 564,189 Syrian refugees, most in the country.

The number of male Syrian refugees in Turkey is 1,922,410, while female are 1,622,883. Almost half of the refugees are under the age of 18, said the report. A total of 535,826 Syrian babies under the age of four are born in Turkey and they are still stateless.

Turkey hosts more refugees than any other country in the world, but the government is under pressure of heavy costs estimated at 30 billion U.S. dollars since 2011, according to official figures.

"We want our refugee brothers and sisters to return to their land," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in February.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:21:49|Editor: ZX

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by Xinhua writers Liu Baiyun and Wang Pan

GUANGZHOU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- It was 5 p.m., and Saada Masood Ally Seif, a Tanzanian passenger in her 20s, was waiting in the departure hall of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, though her flight would not take off for seven hours.

"There will be a huge amount of baggage to be checked in, and I want to be the first in the queue," Saada said, eyeing three pieces of baggage beside her, dwarfed by piles of large baggage from other passengers.

Saada would take a midnight flight from the southern Chinese of Guangzhou to Tanzania's biggest city Dar es Salaam, an air route she has taken many times over the past five years.

In Dar es Salaam, she runs a baby clothes shop in Kariakoo Market, the largest distribution center of Chinese goods in East Africa, and Guangzhou is her source of supply.

"Every time we come to Guangzhou, we take home as many goods as our check-in luggage can take," she said.

In recent years, the fast-growing Sino-African trade has become a vigorous part of the global trade, with China being the largest trading partner of Africa for years. According to Chinese customs figures, the bilateral trade in the first half of 2018 reached 99.8 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.3 percent.

In this huge trade system, ordinary people like Saada play an important role.

When night falls, three check-in counters at Guangzhou airport brace for the peak check-in of passengers flying to Africa. Many are carrying baggage filled with Chinese goods.

For many African business people, Guangzhou is the most attractive place for buying goods. And for countries without ports, shipping back Chinese goods by air is still profitable, according to Vincent Ongas, a manager at Kenya Airways.

"A lot of African people like the trade environment in Guangzhou. Some travel between Guangzhou and Africa every week," Ongas said. "Kenya Airways uses Boeing 787s to fly the Guangzhou-Nairobi route. Usually among the more than 400 passengers on board, there are 60 to 100 business people."

"At the Guangzhou airport alone, there are more than 150 such traveling African traders shipping a large number of Made-in-China goods back home daily," said Ma Jiangnan, a customs officer at Baiyun Airport.

"With Africa's increasing demand for Chinese goods, more African buyers in China have abandoned random small procurement and turned to bulk purchases," said Liu Jisen, executive vice president of the Institute for African Studies of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. "Yet for new traders, the channel of passenger-carried cargo still has a certain appeal."

For this trip, Saada ordered five large boxes of baby clothes, a majority of which had been shipped to Tanzania by sea before her departure. She took the rest home by air.

The Guangzhou airport now has six air routes to Africa, including three direct routes and three transit routes. Every week, there are 34 flights between China and Africa, with an annual passenger throughput of 650,000.

Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines offer excess baggage coupons for frequent passengers, which are priced between 80 and 200 U.S. dollars for each piece. With both free and paid baggage, a passenger can carry up to 300 kg of check-in luggage.

"We are using wide-body passenger aircraft. Our passengers who have made round trips for a certain times can get free air tickets," Ongas said. "Since 2013, we have increased the number of flights from four round trips to seven round trips a week. But in the peak period, passengers still need to buy tickets at least one week in advance."

Easier customs clearance also facilitates trade.

African traders can send information on carried cargo to a declaring agent through a mobile phone app and some clearance work can be done beforehand.

The customs use X-ray machines at baggage sorting lines to inspect goods. "The cargo can complete non-intrusive inspections before a passenger reaches the boarding gate," said Chen Xinyi, an airport customs officer.

According to Guangzhou Customs, more than 30,000 tonnes of goods have been exported this way since 2014. At the peak, more than 30 tonnes of goods are cleared daily.

"It's good to do business in Guangzhou. You have a lot of choices and can buy at a satisfactory price," said Saada, who lined up for boarding near midnight. "If business is good, I will be back six times like last year, maybe even more."

(Xu Hongyi and Tian Jianchuan contributed to the story).
File photo provided by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 10, 2018 shows Kim Jong Un (R), top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shaking hands with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 9, 2018. (Xinhua/KCNA)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it has neither plans nor expectations for a possible meeting between State Secretary Mike Pompeo and the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, during Pompeo's upcoming visit to the nation.

"We don't have that schedule. We have no expectations of meeting with Chairman Kim," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a briefing.

"I think what's important is that we are regularizing these meetings and these conversations with a government that we have had very, very little interaction with over the past decade or so," Nauert said.

"The consultations will continue, and I imagine you'll see more meetings and trips ahead," she added. "We look forward to having those conversations."

She also said the newly appointed special envoy for the DPRK issue, Stephen Biegun, will pick up "some of those meetings that perhaps the secretary normally would have gone on or would have conducted. So I think this is just sort of the more -- more of a normalization of our types of conversations."

Earlier on Thursday, Pompeo said that he has appointed Biegun as the new special envoy for the DPRK.

He also said that he and Biegun will travel to Pyongyang next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

Pompeo has visited the DPRK three times -- in April, May and July.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time and believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, adding that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.
Farm workers stand in a field at a farm in Klippoortie, east of Johannesburg in this Nov. 21, 2012 file photo. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- As South Africa has been mulling measures on land reform, the U.S. State Department said here on Thursday that the current policy would send the country "down the wrong path."

Speaking at a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that U.S. President Donald Trump had discussed South Africa with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and asked him "to look closely at the current state of action in South Africa related to land reform."

"This is something that has been going on for many decades, the conversation and debate about land reform there," she said. "I should mention that the expropriation of land without compensation, our position is that that would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path."

Nauert said "we continue to encourage a peaceful and transparent public debate about what we consider to be a very important issue, and the South Africans certainly do as well."

"If policies are poorly -- poorly implemented, there are potentially detrimental political, socioeconomic and other issues," she said.

Nauert noted that U.S. embassy officials have held meetings with the South African government over the issue on Thursday, but did not give more details of the meetings.

South Africa's Parliament was accelerating a process to amend the Constitution to cater to land expropriation without compensation. President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday that the country will experience instability without a successful land reform.

A program of land redistribution was required to heal the historical "festering wound" of land dispossession and enable transformation and development, Ramaphosa told the Parliament.

On Wednesday's late night, Trump tweeted that "I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers," adding that the government is seizing land from white farmers.

In response, the South African government tweeted that "South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.

It added that "South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation."

The South African government was also seeking clarification over Trump's comments.

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu said on Thursday that Trump's remarks were "unfortunate" and based on false information.

Sisulu said she will communicate with Pompeo on the matter through diplomatic channels.

AgriForum, an association of South African farmers, has launched an international campaign to get the South African government to stop its land reform.

The group insists that land expropriation without compensation will drive away white farmers, kill jobs and threaten food security.

The government said the land reform should be implemented in a way that increases agricultural production, improves food security and ensures that the land is returned to those from whom it was taken under colonialism and apartheid.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:31:51|Editor: xuxin

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JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The ITU Telecom World 2018 to be hosted by South Africa would be used to profile the country and showcase what the country can offer, said a senior government official on Friday.

The Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Stella Ndabeni Abrahams said this at a workshop to prepare for the ITU Telecom World 2018 in Johannesburg. South Africa will host the event in Durban on September 10-13, 2018. It would be the first time for such an event to be held in Africa.

"South Africa is privileged to host the event being the first to stage it in Africa. It would provide a platform to tell our stories to the world. It would be an opportunity to profile the country to the outside world. ITU Telecom World 2018 would be an opportunity for our Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) to get exposure," said Ndabeni Abrahams.

She stated that IT experts would be in the country to discuss ICT policy directions and regulations. Countries would discuss their strength and weaknesses and areas to complement each other.

She said, "We will share ideas and learn from each other. We chose 40 SMMEs who will showcase their products and get a chance to improve their standards and network. We want to make the event remarkable so that the visitors will think of coming again. They might not come again physically but continue being in touch through some digital platforms."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:41:52|Editor: ZX

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Thursday met with the speaker of the Mongolian parliament Miyegombo Enkhbold.

Wang conveyed greetings from Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, to Enkhbold.

He said China has always treated Mongolia as a good friend and a good partner.

In 2019, Mongolia and China are set to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

China is willing to take the opportunity to work with Mongolia in order to maintain close high-level exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and accelerate the development of bilateral relations, Wang said.

Wang said China appreciates Mongolia's strong support for and active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), adding that the joint construction of BRI has provided new opportunities and opened up new space for bilateral cooperation.

China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Mongolia in areas such as infrastructure construction within the framework of BRI in accordance with Mongolia's development goals and people's needs, and help Mongolia transform its resource advantages into development impetus, achieve breakthroughs in development and improve people's livelihood, Wang said.

Wang expressed his hope that the Mongolian parliament will contribute to promoting understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries, and thus consolidate bilateral cooperation.

Enkhbold said Mongolia is satisfied with the fruitful results achieved in developing a comprehensive strategic partnership between Mongolia and China in recent years.

He said that only when the two sides understand and support each other's core interests, can bilateral relations develop in a healthy and sound manner.

Mongolia's firm adherence to the one-China policy will not change, he added.

Enkhbold said Mongolia is willing to dovetail its Prairie Road Development Initiative with BRI, strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, energy and electricity, and accelerate the implementation of the Mongolia-China-Russia economic corridor plan.

The Mongolian parliament is ready to deepen friendly exchanges with the NPC, and the ruling Mongolian People's Party is willing to strengthen communication with the Communist Party of China so as to deepen friendship between the people of the two countries, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:41:52|Editor: Li Xia

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JAKARTA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Top-seeded Shi Yuqi of China was shocked by Indonesian talent Jonatan Christie in his first match in badminton men's singles at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

Shi lost the duel 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in the grueling 71-minute clash.

Christie also declared himself in Wednesday's team final as he led one game up against Chen Long, but the Olympic champion managed to turn the tides, before China went on to beat Indonesia 3-1.

The 20-year-old Indonesian posed great threat to Shi with his feet movement and precise smashing. After both players tied at 19, Christie grasped his opportunity to snatch two points in a row for an upper hand.

Shi regrouped himself in the second game and forced a decider by triumphing 21-19.

Following an early-game tussle in the decider, Christie built an 11-9 lead at the changeover, and withstood stiff resistance to stun the top seed 21-17.

Christie threw his racket and lay on the court, embracing elated home crowds' thunderous shouting.

"He played quite well, but it looked like he was not fast enough. Maybe after his match against Anthony (Sinisuka Ginting), his feet movement was a bit slower than before," said Christie about Shi's performance.

Christie added that home crowds' support earned him extra motivation for the win.

"Yes, of course. The audience were amazing. It made me do more in the match," he said.

"We both played well, but I had some errors. I felt better than in previous matches, and the duel against Ginting helped a lot in boosting my confidence and implementing tactics," Shi commented.

Chen Long met little trouble en route to a 21-8, 21-10 victory over Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti of Pakistan, making into men's singles last 16.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:56:54|Editor: xuxin

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TBILISI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and NATO are not threats to Russia, and Germany is willing to have good relations with Russia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said here Friday.

"Germany wants to develop good relations not only with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, but with Russia as well," she said during a meeting with students at Tbilisi State University.

Europe and Russia had good cooperation in the past and learned a lot from each other, she added.

Europe cannot refuse to cooperate with Russia on oil and gas because Russian gas is cheaper for Europe than gas from other countries, she stressed.

Relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain earlier this year. London accused Moscow of involvement in the attack, while Moscow has denied the charge.

As to when Georgia will be admitted into the EU and NATO, Merkel said they cannot make hasty promises because it will be a gradual process.

"We are considering the accession of Western Balkan countries," she said. "But we cannot yet speak about the quick accession of Georgia and Ukraine."

Merkel on Thursday started her maiden visit to Georgia, which is the first stop of her South Caucasus tour. She will also visit Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 21:56:55|Editor: xuxin

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israel said late Thursday that the Gazan gunman killed by Israeli troops during the border clash earlier this week worked as a nurse for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF).

The MSF, an international humanitarian medical NGO, also issued a statement saying one of its employees, Hani Mohammed Almajdalawi, was killed in Gaza on Monday.

The organization added that it is working to "verify and understand the circumstances regarding this extremely serious incident," without giving more comments or details.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, a body of the Israeli Defense Ministry that coordinates government activities with the Palestinians, said Almajdalawi had opened fire towards military forces with a rifle and threw an explosive device at troops.

The Israeli army said forces did fire at a Palestinian who opened fire at them in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday morning. No damage or injuries to the Israeli troops were reported.

Egypt and United Nations officials are struggling to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza.
Atrocity beyond words

Rape is beyond sexual lust, our rapid modernisation is responsible too
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:01:55|Editor: xuxin

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CAPE TOWN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's femicide rate has reached an unprecedented level over the last five years, with more and more women killed by men, Deputy President David Mabuza said on Friday.

In the last year alone, South Africa lost 2,639 women who were killed by men, Mabuza said at the National Men's Summit in Durban.

The figure could be as high as 9,000 women killed every year because only one in three murders is detected by the police, Mabuza said.

South Africa also has close to 120 cases of rape reported daily, said Mabuza.

In the last three years, 124,526 rape cases have been reported, with 41 percent of them against children, he said.

South African women also suffer from physical violence as one in five women is beaten by an intimate partner, according to Mabuza.

"And so we have to meet. We must admit that we have a problem that has reached unprecedented and unacceptable levels," he said.

There are countless incidents of terrible murders and violence perpetrated against innocent women and children in South Africa, said Mabuza.

"These gruesome and horrible deeds must stop. It is within our hands to stop this madness that threatens to tear apart the basic fibre of our society," he said.

The Men's Summit is an important step in the right direction, showing recognition that men have heard the harrowing cries of women and children who have suffered violence perpetrated against them by men, Mabuza said.

Alongside this, the government will uphold the rule of law and bring perpetrators to book, he said.

"It is our duty of the state to arrest, prosecute and remove perpetrators from society. This is an undertaking we will not take lightly," said Mabuza.

The three-day National Men's Summit, organized by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) in partnership with the Department of Social Development, is bringing together over 500 men and boys representing various sections of society across the country to seek lasting solutions to gender-based violence.
File photo taken on July 22, 2018 shows Syrian soldiers standing atop the strategic Tal Al-Jabiyeh hill that has recently been recaptured by the Syrian army in the southern province of Daraa, Syria. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over phone to discuss the ongoing challenges in Syria and the U.S. "serious concerns" related to the possible military activity in Idlib, U.S. State Department said.

According to a statement issued by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo asked Lavrov to support efforts in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as well as efforts "to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons."

As the Syrian army is poised for a possible battle on the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, the United States, France and Britain on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against using chemical weapons, saying that "we remain resolved to act if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons again."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned the tripartite statement as part of "the campaign of threats, hypocrisy, and misinformation resorted to by those powers against the Syrian Arab Republic, which comes in the framework of the outright support to the terrorist groups."

The three Western nations launched a missile attack on Syrian military positions in April, claiming that they had targeted the facilities involved in the manufacture of chemical weapons in Syria.

But the Syrian government has repeatedly denied the allegations and said that Western powers were creating excuses to strike Syria and such statements could encourage the rebels to stage such an attack to frame the Syrian army.

While stressing that the Syrian forces have never used chemical weapons, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that the rebels have used chemical weapons under the direct support of the Western powers as well as some regional countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Western statement also came on the fifth anniversary of the alleged chemical attack that took place in the formerly rebel-held Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus in 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:17:02|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A commemoration ceremony that paid tribute to the former Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan, was held on Friday on the premises of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The event was attended by the UN family in Ethiopia as well as representatives from the government of Ethiopia and the diplomatic corps.

Kofi Annan who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006, died on August 18 at the age of 80.

"He was a noble defender of humanity, the symbol of great authority and wisdom in the public and private spheres. A voice for the vulnerable. An inspiration for youth. In the face of adversity, he remained a beacon of hope," said the ECA Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe.

Elaborating on his numerous achievements, Songwe said, "He was the first Secretary-General to champion Road Safety, which is an issue in many countries. His tenure was hardly without debate or criticism, but he also acknowledged his failures and limitations."

Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was also the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.

Speaking on the occasion, Ethiopia's State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Afework Kassu, noted that Annan made all Africans proud by his tireless service for the cause of peace, sustainable development, the rights of women and above all by being the staunch vanguard of the UN Charter.

Conveying his condolence on the day Annan passed away, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has noted that both during his time as Secretary-General and thereafter, within the framework of his Foundation and the Elders, Kofi Annan made a tremendous contribution to the quest for durable peace and sustainable development in the world.

Speaking on Friday's ceremony at UNECA, the Deputy Chief of Staff at the African Union (AU) highlighted the efforts made by Kofi Annan in strengthening the AU-UN relationship.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:22:03|Editor: xuxin

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A pro-free trade group in the U.S. agriculture industry Thursday issued a statement, posing 10 questions on the Department of Agriculture's 12-billion-U.S.-dollar aid package for a segment of farmers impacted by tariffs.

The statement came ahead of the expected release of the aid guidance document. The package includes both direct payment and other temporary measures for farmers.

After the government announced the measure in July, farmers nationwide expressed their dissatisfaction, citing its lack of operability and vision.

"Since this package was announced last month we've traveled to rural communities across the country to hear directly from farmers. Their reaction to this package has almost uniformly been that they want contracts, not compensation," said Angela Hofmann, deputy director of Farmers for Free Trade, a bipartisan group.

Hofmann questioned how the aid package would be distributed fairly among farmers suffering from the trade war ignited by the White House.

The statement lists 10 questions directly from farmers, including how individual losses due to tariffs will be calculated, whether some producers will be compensated more than others, and if the aid will address the full range of producers who are being impacted.

The statement also questioned how these payments will correct the underlying uncertainty in the market, how farmers will be compensated for long-term impacts, and how the government will provide reliefs for farmers' rising input costs.

"We continue to believe that the best way to ease the pain farmers are shouldering would be to resolve the trade war and begin work to restore long-term trade relationships. A one-time check won't replace the disappearance of long-term contracts and relationships," the statement concluded.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:27:03|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Supporters are celebrating after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was announced as the winner of the July 30 Presidential elections in Harare, Zimbabwe, August 24, 2018. Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed an application by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa seeking to set aside the result of the July 30 presidential election won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. (Xinhua/Shaun Jusa)

HARARE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed an application by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa seeking to set aside the result of the July 30 presidential election won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

This paves the way for Mnangagwa, who was the first respondent in the matter, to be inaugurated on Sunday in accordance with the law.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:52:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GAZA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinians joined on Friday afternoon in the 22nd anti-Israel rallies, known as the "Great March of Return," close to the border with Israel.

The highest commission of the rallies called on the coastal enclave's populations to join the weekly rallies and protests, which began on March 30 and have been going on every Friday.

Hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators usually burn tires, wave flags, cut the barbed wire of the border fence and release arson kites and balloons into southern Israel in the protests.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza's health ministry spokesman, said in an emailed press statement that since the beginning of the marches, the Israeli army killed 171 Palestinians and wounded more than 18,000, and most of them were injured with live gunshots.

The highest commission said in a statement that this Friday is called Friday of solidarity with paramedics and medical crews who have been in the field treating injured demonstrators.

Al-Qedra said three volunteering paramedics were shot dead in the past weeks of the rallies, including one woman, adding that the Israeli occupation doesn't respect the presence of paramedics and medical teams, and directly opened fire at them.

Hamas spokesman in Gaza Hazem Qassem said in an emailed press statement that the march will continue "until it achieves its goals," which is "mainly breaking the Israeli siege."

"The marches and protests confused the enemy (Israel) calculations and compelled it to make concessions," Qassem added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:52:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Siemens Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joe Kaeser has denied reports on Friday which claimed that the German industrial giant would lay off up to 20,000 workers as part of a new "Vision 2020+" corporate restructuring program.

The job cuts first referred to by the weekly "manager magazin" would "not take place in that shape," a statement issued in response by a Siemens spokesperson read. The company said that it could not understand how the figure had been arrived at on the basis of conversations between Kaeser and investors cited by "manager magazin".

Nevertheless, some of those investors reacted with irritation at Siemens' attempt to downplay the scale of what they view as necessary organizational changes at the company. "In doing so, Kaeser is endangering his own credibility among shareholders," an unnamed fund manager told "manager magazin" on Friday.

Kaeser has recently announced the launch of a further round of corporate restructuring at Siemens as the CEO prepares to step down from his post in 2021. The "Vision 2020+" strategy is officially aimed at decentralising the management of the sprawling industrial conglomerate and granting individual divisions more autonomy.

"The core principle of the corporate strategy 'Vision 2020+' is to give the individual business significantly more entrepreneurial freedom under the strong Siemens brand," a statement by the company explained. Siemens hopes to achieve better mid-term growth in this fashion, achieve higher returns and thus achieve annual cost savings of around 1.7 billion euros.

"The times in which we could centrally and efficiently direct project-, product-, software- and service companies with their diverse requirements are over," Kaeser said. If implemented, Vision 2020+ would therefore result in a much slimmer corporate headquarters with more employees being posted directly at Siemens' global network of subsidiary firms and business units.

For Kaeser, the restructuring effort could become his final legacy at Siemens as most of the projects outlined in the plan are scheduled for after the expiry of his contract. The CEO argued earlier that Siemens was now well-positioned to enter into a new phase of development as most of the goals of his earlier "Vision 2020" strategy had already been met.

So far, labor representatives at Siemens have cautiously welcomed the reforms. The path outlined by Kaeser was "correct in principle", supervisory board member and IG-Metall trade union executive Juergen Kerner said. An IG-Metall spokesperson emphasized on Friday, however, that its support for the strategy was conditional on assurances made by Siemens managers would not just be a "veiled job elimination program."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:57:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAPE TOWN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- As the latest development in its diplomatic spat with the United States, the South African government has cautioned against politically-motivated statements on the land reform it is pursuing.

Alarmist, false, inaccurate, misinformed and, in some cases, politically-motivated statements do not reflect the policies and intentions of the South African government, the government said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.

This was the message conveyed to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, according to Ndivhuwo Mabaya, spokesperson of the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

On Thursday, DIRCO called the U.S. Embassy to convey the unhappiness of the South African people and government over a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump, Mabaya said.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he had asked his Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to closely study the South African land seizures and expropriations, and the large scale killing of farmers.

"(The) South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers," Trump tweeted.

Later, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said at a press briefing that the South African government risks going down the wrong path if it continues with land expropriation without compensation.

Trump's tweet was based on false information and lobbying by certain South African lobby groups that seek to derail and frustrate the land redistribution program, the DIRCO statement said.

"The U.S. Charge d'Affaires was informed to convey to Washington that Pretoria is disappointed about Washington's failure to use available diplomatic channels," said the statement.

According to the statement, DIRCO also urged the Charge d'Affaires to indicate to Washington that the people of South Africa, of all races, are working together through Parliament and other legal platforms to find a solution to the land issue.

Trump's tweet "serves only to polarize debate on this sensitive and crucial matter," the statement said.

At the end of the meeting, the Charge d'Affaires committed to convey the message to Washington immediately, said the statement.

The latest development came as South Africa's Parliament is accelerating a process to amend the Constitution to cater for land expropriation without compensation.

AgriForum, an association of South African farmers, has launched an international campaign to get the South African government to stop its land reform.

The group insists that land expropriation without compensation will drive away white farmers, kill jobs and threaten food security.

In its message to the Trump administration, DIRCO reiterated the government's position that land grabs and anarchy will not be allowed in the process of finding a solution to the land issue.

In this regard, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has directly addressed investors and agricultural associations and will continue this process of engagement and consultation with all stakeholders to find solutions that are in the best interest of the country, the economy and the people of South Africa, DIRCO said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:57:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar here on Thursday, with both sides agreeing to enhance bilateral cooperation.

Wang said that China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers.

Since the formation of a new government, Mongolia has attached greater importance to bilateral relations and has put the relations with China as a priority of its foreign relations, Wang said.

"China fully affirms and highly appreciates this," Wang said.

"In accordance with the concept of 'amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness' in neighborhood diplomacy proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, we should take the opportunity of marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year to push China-Mongolia relations into the fast lane to make new progress continuously," he said.

To this end, China has proposed that the two countries maintain close contacts at all levels, promote the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen bilateral pragmatic cooperation, speed up cooperation between the two countries in the border areas to benefit the two peoples, strengthen cultural exchanges to consolidate the public opinion bases of China-Mongolia friendship, enhance trilateral cooperation between China, Mongolia and Russia, and jointly maintain the rule-based global trade system, he said.

Wang said that mutual respect for each other's core interests and major concerns and continuous enhancement of political mutual trust are prerequisites and guarantees for the stable development of China-Mongolia relations, adding that China always respects Mongolia's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the development path chosen by the Mongolian people.

He also expressed the hope that the Mongolian side will stick to its commitments and continue to firmly support China's position on issues concerning its core interests, such as those concerning Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, and handle sensitive issues properly.

Tsogtbaatar said that developing good-neighborly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with China is a priority in Mongolia's foreign policy.

He said that for a long time, relations between the two countries have developed steadily on the basis of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, adding that the Mongolia-China relationship is a great model of peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between big and small countries.

He expressed his full agreement with Wang's proposal to promote bilateral relations to the next stage, adding that Mongolia is ready to work closely with China to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties next year as an opportunity to strengthen high-level exchanges, expand bilateral pragmatic cooperation, and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

He said that the Mongolian government firmly adheres to the one-China policy and sticks to the position that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of the Chinese territory, which will not change.

Mongolia highly appreciates the Belt and Road Initiative and the neighborhood diplomacy featuring "amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness" proposed by Xi.

Both the initiative and the neighborhood diplomacy concept are conducive to maintaining regional peace and stability, promoting world economic growth, and providing new opportunities for the development of China's neighboring countries and the deepening of Mongolia-China relations, he said.

He thanked China for its long-term assistance and support to Mongolia's economic and social development.

He said that Mongolia is willing to synergize its Prairie Road development strategy with China's Belt and Road Initiative and expects more Chinese enterprises to invest in Mongolia.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on other issues of common concern.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. They also signed a cooperation plan between the two foreign ministries for 2019-2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:02:16|Editor: zh

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BANGKOK, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and visiting Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong agreed to further enhance the cooperation between Thailand and China during their meeting here on Friday.

Wang, who came to attend the 6th Conference of China-Thailand Joint Trade Committee in Bangkok, conveyed the sincere greetings of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prayut.

He said to Prayut that China-Thailand relations are very vibrant and bilateral cooperation in all fields have borne fruits due to the joint efforts of Xi and Prayut.

China is willing to work with Thailand to implement agreements reached by the leaderships from the two countries, to dock Belt and Road Initiative with Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project, to drive major projects such as China-Thailand railway forward, and to further promote China-Thailand comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to new heights, Wang said.

He added that China welcomes Thai enterprises to attend the first China International Import Expo to be held in Shanghai in November.

Prayut thanked Wang and asked him to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The Thai prime minister said Thailand attaches great importance to Thailand-China friendship and always support the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to be a part of it.

Prayut added that Thailand is willing to work with China to promote ASEAN-China cooperation, to boost prosperity in both countries and the region, and to enhance cooperation on investment, education, science and technology, infrastructure, e-commerce, among others.

He also said to Wang that Thailand welcomes Chinese enterprises to join the implementation of the EEC project to extend practical cooperation between the two countries.

The EEC project, covering three southeastern Thai provinces, namely Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong, aims at developing the area into a leading economic zone in Thailand and in the region.
Bista moots employment board name change to spur local jobs

In a symbolic gesture to express governments commitment to promote employment opportunities inside the country, the government is preparing to change the name of the existing Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB).
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:12:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is eyeing an increase in taxes in order to finance a costly coalition pledge to shore up Germany's public pensions system, Spiegel magazine reported on Friday.

According to Spiegel, the finance ministry reached the conclusion that guaranteeing all German retirees a pension level equivalent to 48 percent of their current income would require the government to raise taxes by billions of euros. Concrete options mulled included lifting value added taxes (VAT) in Germany and re-instating a recently abolished and controversial "solidarity surcharge" worth roughly 20 billion euros (23.2 billion U.S. dollars) per year.

Scholz has so far vehemently opposed calls by some demographic experts to raise the German retirement age, rather than spending more public money on the country's rapidly growing cohort of pensioners. Instead, Scholz recently went beyond his already ambitious target for the period until 2025 by demanding an extension of the timeframe in which his desired 48-percent ratio applied until 2040.

The finance minister has said an overhaul of the German pensions system is critical to alleviate citizens' concerns about socio-economic inequality.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) noted that the issue was a priority, but said the government would not intervene with the work of the independent expert commission appointed to explore concrete proposals for a pensions system overhaul. The 2020s in particular are widely held to become a critical period for the German social insurance system when a large number of citizens from the so-called post-war baby boomer generation are expected to retire.

Nevertheless, prominent academic experts have sharply criticized Scholz' outlined proposals. Bernd Raffelhueschen, professor of economics at the University of Freiburg, warned that a pension level equivalent to 48 percent of their current income would be "unaffordable and unfair for younger generations."

"Young employees would face an even higher fiscal burden and the acceptance of the pensions system would decline," Raffelhueschen said.

Axel Boersch-Supan of the Max-Planck-Institute for Social Policy estimated that the cost of establishing such a fixed and universal threshold would rise from 40 billion euros per year in 2023 to 100 billion euros in 2040 as the German population continues to age. The budgetary gap which would have to be filled as a consequence would be equivalent to a jump in VAT from 19 to 26 percent. (1 euro=1.16 U.S. dollar)
File photo taken with mobile phone on May 22, 2016 shows a destroyed vehicle believed to be hit by a U.S. drone strike in Ahmad Wal, a small town in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province. Pakistani government sources have confirmed the killing of the Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a U.S. drone strike in the country's southwest remote area of the Pak-Afghan border region, reported local Urdu TV channel ARY. (Xinhua/Stringer)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States reaffirmed Thursday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan in an earlier phone conversation to combat "terrorists," despite denial by Islamabad of the content.

In a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert refused to speculate on why the two sides had such a huge difference on their understanding about the call.

"I can't speak on their behalf. I can only say we stand by our readout," she said.

She added that Pompeo and Khan had a "good" call, and that "we hope to forge a good, productive working relationship with the new civilian government."

In an earlier statement issued on the same day, Nauert said Pompeo "raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process."

Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson of Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs, denied Nauert's claim. "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on today"s phone call btwn PM Khan & Sec Pompeo," he tweeted.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected," he said.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been tense following U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet on Jan. 1 in which he accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" against the United States and providing a "safe haven" to terrorists despite receiving U.S. aid.

Pakistan has insisted, however, that Washington's aid is reimbursement of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used for U.S. operations in Afghanistan, not financial aid or assistance.

Islamabad also rejects U.S. claims that it supports the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network operating in the country. Both groups are designated by Washington as terrorist organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:27:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HARARE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Friday he is not surprised by the constitutional court's decision to confirm him winner of the July 30 presidential poll.

"We were not surprised by the court's decision. The election results were firmly in line with all the pre-election polling, and were entirely consistent with the final tally of ZESN, the largest body of independent observers," he said in a tweet soon after the court's ruling.

Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed an application by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance seeking to overturn Mnangagwa's election victory.

Chamisa had challenged the result alleging various electoral irregularities.

Mnangagwa reiterated his call for peace and unity in the country, and extended an olive branch to Chamisa.

"Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us. It is time to move forward together," Mnangagwa said.

The MDC Alliance also said it respected the verdict of the top court in the country.

"As a party, we believe in the rule of law and we respect the verdict of the courts," the party said in a tweet.

It also called for peace in the country.

Mnangagwa is set to be inaugurated on Sunday in accordance with the law.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:37:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is not a geopolitical strategy but international public goods offered by China to the world, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Thursday.

The initiative is not China's Marshall Plan, Wang said when meeting reporters with his Mongolian counterpart Damdin Tsogtbaatar.

Since the launch of BRI, China has adhered to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, upheld the spirit of transparency, openness and inclusiveness, and abided by international rules and laws of every country, Wang said.

China has also been seeking green and sustainable development, committed to high quality and high standards in its projects and paying great attention to fiscal sustainability, Wang added.

These are in line with China's long-term strategy featuring mutual benefits, win-win results and openness, Wang said.

BRI is aimed to explore new cooperation and development opportunities by integrating the development strategies of different countries, so as to achieve common development and prosperity. In this process, China is willing to share its development opportunities with other countries and welcome all to ride on China's "express train of development," he added.

In response to a question on the cooperation between China and Mongolia, Wang said Mongolia is a natural partner in the Belt and Road construction and Mongolia's participation will give itself new development impetus.

China and Mongolia have signed an agreement on aligning the BRI and Mongolia's Prairie Road development initiative. China is willing to accelerate the alignment of the two initiatives and jointly build BRI, Wang said.

At first, Wang said, China would like to support infrastructure construction in Mongolia and help remove development bottlenecks to create conditions conducive to development.

Second, China would like to focus on improving the livelihoods of local people, enabling every Mongolian to enjoy tangible benefits from the Belt and Road construction.

Third, China would focus more on environmental and ecological protection and together with Mongolia build a green Silk Road, ensuring the protection and development of Mongolia's green mountains and rivers.

Fourth, China is willing to help Mongolia translate its natural resources into development advantage, promote the country's manufacturing and processing industry to realize diversified development, and improve its capacity of independent and sustainable development, he said.

The cooperation between China and Mongolia is like mutual help between friends and mutual support between neighbors, Wang said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:37:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Due to favorable weather, Vietnam can raise shrimps and prawns all year round to increase outputs, while the country has great processing potential, Vietnam News Agency quoted experts as reporting on Friday.

Ho Quang Luc, former Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, noted that Vietnam has a large area of 700,000 hectares for shrimp farming, and nearly 100 shrimp processing factories, generating about 500,000 tons of products every year.

However, shrimp farmers still face poor infrastructure, low-quality shrimp breeders and high farming costs. "It is necessary to have a detailed farming plan, adequate investment in infrastructure, a national parent-shrimp production program, and strict control of the shrimp supply system," he recommended.

Hoang Tung, an expert at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, said the government should place emphasis on higher-quality inputs, improvement of farming and harvesting, and innovative business models. This would ensure higher productivity, lower production costs and increased domestic consumption, he said.

Tung hoped that the Lower Mekong Initiative, which aims to transform the livelihoods of 10,000 local households via more sustainable shrimp farming between 2019 and 2029, will be carried out efficiently.

Vietnam reaped 4.7 billion U.S. dollars from exporting seafood in the first seven months of this year, posting a year-on-year increase of 8.1 percent, according to the association.

Last year, Vietnam earned over 3.8 billion U.S. dollars from exporting prawns and shrimps, up 21.5 percent; nearly 1.8 billion U.S. dollars from tra fish, up 3.9 percent; 721 million U.S. dollars from mollusks such as cuttlefish and octopus, up 17 percent; 593 million U.S. dollars from tuna, up 16.4 percent; 117 million U.S. dollars from crabs, down 5.9 percent; and 1.3 billion U.S. dollars from other kinds of fish, up 17 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:47:31|Editor: zh

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BANGKOK, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and visiting Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong agreed that Thailand and China should oppose unilateralism and protectionism in trade together and jointly facilitate trade, investment during a bilateral meeting here on Friday.

State Councilor Wang Yong came to Thailand to preside over the 6th Conference of China-Thailand Joint Trade Committee together with Somkid.

Wang said during the conference that the two meetings held between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last year have pointed out the new direction for the development of China-Thailand relations, which both sides should follow to implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders, strengthen strategic linkage under the Belt and Road Initiative and extend the bilateral practical cooperation to wider, deeper and bigger scopes.

Somkid said Thailand attaches great importance to deepening the bilateral economic and trade cooperation with China, and is willing to learn from China in terms of development experience.

The Thai prime minister added that the Thai side wants to dock the Belt and Road Initiative with Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project to facilitate the investment of Chinese enterprises to Thailand.

He also said that Thailand supports Thai enterprises to participate in the first China International Import Expo.

The two sides agreed that in current situation, both countries should have comprehensive talks on how to deepen their cooperation in investment and trade, connectivity, agriculture, science and technology, aerospace, tourism, financial and other fields.

After the conference, the two sides signed several documents to boost their cooperation in different fields.

During his visit in Thailand, Chinese State Councilor Wang also attended the Thailand-China Business Forum 2018 and will visit the EEC area.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 23:52:33|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim speaks to the media in Pyongyang, during his four-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Aug. 24, 2018. The United Nations (UN) is willing to offer all possible support for the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, he said here on Friday. (Xinhua/Cheng Dayu)

PYONGYANG, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) is willing to offer all possible support for the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim said here on Friday.

"I told the government leaders here, please contact us if there is any support the United Nations can give," Solheim told the media during his four-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that started Wednesday. "We are ready to help."

Solheim, also the UN Environment executive director, visited Pyongyang and DPRK's seaboard city Wosan, where he observed the efforts people were making to improve the environment, like planting trees and managing the coast. He said it was very pleasing that the DPRK has agreed to participate in the UN Clean Seas campaign designed to get rid of ocean waste and improve water quality.

The UN official plans to visit Seoul next week to discuss UN assistance with South Korean leaders.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:02:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HELSINKI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed in Kuopio, eastern Finland on Friday when a bus fell from an overhead bridge onto the railroad tracks, national broadcaster Yle reported.

Six others were seriously injured, Yle said. There were a total of 20 people on the bus when the accident took place mid-afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said the bus was travelling southbound at high speed on national highway five and then pulled onto an exit ramp before it crashed down onto the railroad tracks. The bridge crosses both the highway and the railroad.

No train was hit, but the bus demolished several cars waiting at the traffic lights. Yle said there was apparently a fault in the brakes of the bus.

The bus belonged to an operator in Kemi, northwestern Finland, and was on a charter tour. The company said their bus was fairly new.

The nationality of the victims has not been reported, but there has been no indication as to whether they are foreigners.

The railroad is part of the busy south-north corridor. The railroad service between Kuopio and Suonenjoki was suspended and the tracks require extensive repairs.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:07:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIRUT, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Army Commander General Joseph Aoun praised Friday the discipline of the Lebanese Commando Regiment's units and their combat readiness.

"There is close coordination between land and air forces also," he said.

His remarks came during a battle maneuver with live ammunition by the commando regiment held in the Aqoura-Laklouk mountains in the presence of Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Karem, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard and a number of officers.

Aoun also praised the history of the commando regiment and its long journey "which is full of sacrifices," emphasizing that "Lebanon will remain an oasis of security and stability in the region, owing to the achievements of the army."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:07:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday stressed the need to separate terrorists from civilians in Syria's Idlib Province, the last major terrorist stronghold in the war-torn country.

It is necessary to separate terrorists from civilians in order to neutralize them, Lavrov said at a joint press conference following talks with Cavusoglu in Moscow.

A military operation in Idlib to destroy terrorists can trigger a flood of refugees and damage confidence in Turkey and Russia's reliability, Cavusoglu said at the press conference.

"Our task is to eliminate the concerns of our Russian colleagues and destroy the terrorists operating in this region," the Turkish top diplomat said.

Lavrov said the two foreign ministers will discuss the separation of terrorists from civilians in Idlib with Russian and Turkish defense ministers.
Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:07:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Murad Abdu

ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Many Yemenis are deeply pessimistic about their country's future after a three-year-old military conflict even as a fresh round of peace talks, the fifth of its kind, is set to kick off in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 6 under the auspices of the United Nations.

The UN officially sent out invitations to the internationally-recognized government and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels to attend next month's negotiations on resolving the country's complicated crisis.

Both of the Yemeni government and the Houthis replied positively and confirmed they will dispatch their delegates to attend the upcoming peace talks in Geneva.

Four similar previous rounds of UN-sponsored peace talks between Yemeni warring rivals broke down and failed to achieve a political solution to end the ongoing war.

In 2016, Kuwait hosted the last round of UN-backed negotiations that continued for several months in the Gulf country but no constructive results evolved due to serious differences between the rival political parties.

Earlier this month, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths warned that failure to resolve Yemen's civil war could lead to a serious situation and consequences for region worse than from Syria conflict.

In the southern port city of Aden, where Yemen's government is temporarily based, many citizens and political activists forecast that ongoing attempts to revive Yemen's political process won't succeed.

Khalid Radfany, a political activist, said that Yemen's military conflict reached a very complicated stage that cannot be resolved easily by talks in closed rooms.

"The upcoming talks in Geneva will only waste the time like previous ones without making real decisions to stop the intensifying fighting," Radfany said.

"Stopping the war must be done as the first step before engaging in negotiations because the country's people are suffering the most," he said.

"The situation is now very difficult and Geneva talks will not succeed without concessions from the two warring sides at first," he added.

Other Yemeni activists believe that the success of the upcoming UN-sponsored negotiations lies in the hands of concerned regional parties rather than the Yemeni politicians themselves.

"All delegates, either those representing the government or those representing the Houthis, receive instructions from other regional countries regarding what to say at the negotiation table," said Musa Badry, a Yemeni lawyer.

If the upcoming peace talks see no progress in the coming weeks, some politicians think that extremist organizations such as the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch and the Islamic State group will increase presence and establish more training camps in the impoverished Arab country.

Languishing the UN-backed negotiations means that Yemen will be turned into a key hub for terrorism and factors like poverty and unemployment will force thousands of young people to join with terror groups, Colonel Abdullah Mohamed told Xinhua.

"Too late political solutions will not be beneficial because more territories will be seized and controlled by terrorist groups that don't believe in politics," he said.

"The international community should take fast steps in finding a solution for this crisis otherwise neighboring countries will be forced to confront terrorism coming from Yemen and pay high costs," he added.

In recent days, the Yemeni government seeks to expel the Houthi rebels out of the strategic port city of Hodeidah militarily despite warnings issued by international humanitarian agencies.

On the other side, the Houthis have established many underground trenches and vowed to fight defending the city of Hodeidah in order to remain in control over its key port along the Red Sea.

Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with 7 million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:12:39|Editor: zh

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Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency He Ping (R) meets with Mohamed Araimi, president of Oman Journalists Association and president of Oman News Agency, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Xinhua News Agency and Oman News Agency (ONA) pledged to expand cooperation Friday.

The pledge was made by the editor-in-chief of Xinhua, He Ping, and Mohamed Araimi, president of Oman Journalists Association and president of ONA, during their meeting in Beijing.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Oman diplomatic ties, and the two countries have forged a strategic partnership, He said, noting that this has provided important opportunities for Xinhua and Oman media outlets to deepen cooperation.

Praising the good relations between Xinhua and ONA, He said that their cooperation has risen to a higher level since the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2005.

He called on both sides to continue to expand cooperation, especially within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Araimi said Oman media outlets are impressed by Xinhua's global influence. He said he expects more exchanges in news reporting and personnel between ONA and Xinhua, so as to contribute to the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:17:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) on Friday condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a security checkpoint in Zliten city, east of Tripoli.

AL's Spokesman Ambassador Mahmoud Afifi said the pan-Arab organization renewed "its support and full solidarity for the Libyan State at all levels in order to combat terrorism and maintain security and stability across the country."

Islamic State-linked militants riding a four-wheel drive vehicle attacked a security checkpoint in the western city of Zliten, some 160 km east of the capital Tripoli, killing seven security personnel and injuring two others.

The attack came less than a day after IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly issued an audio tape calling on his supporters to "turn to Libya and support the Mujahideen in Libya, Syria and Iraq."

The interior ministry of Libya assured that the security between the cities of Zliten and al-Khoms is under control, while the highway linking the two cities will be reopened as soon as security measures are in place.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:32:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JUBA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Members of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Friday said political violence has declined in the country since the recent signing of the peace agreement by warring parties, amid concerns on rising criminality and cattle raiding.

The five-member mission that concluded its visit to South Sudan observed in its preliminary report however that there are growing concerns of continued impunity by government troops and militias that splintered from the main rebel group the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO).

Yasmin Sooka, the head of the mission team, told journalists in Juba that its initial observation from its visits to Wau, Yei and Juba revealed a decline in political violence and an increase in criminality and cattle raiding linked to politics.

She noted that the proliferation of armed groups with previous links to SPLA-IO that have splintered into different factions in Yei.

The commissioners said humanitarian workers in Yei have been under siege, citing the recent abduction of 10 aid workers on April 27 and killing of a UN peacekeeper on June 26 in an ambush targeting a humanitarian convoy.

"Humanitarian have increasingly come under attack by various armed groups including government soldiers," Sooka said.

They disclosed that there is complete absence of state action and accountability in Yei for atrocities committed by both the government and armed groups.

The UN experts also noted that a large number of babies born out of rape have been abandoned in the border town that bore heavy brunt of the war during the wake of the renewed violence in July spreading to the town near the Ugandan border that further led to massive displacements to neighboring countries.

They added that the government should move to act on solving the issue of illegal occupation of land and houses in Yei of those returning people that were displaced due to war to avoid reoccurrence of violence over property.

"Houses are being occupied by other ethnic groups. Many feel frustrated at the government's inaction on the return of land and homes to their original owners and I think this is going to be a major challenge in the country as the peace implementation begins to take place," said Sooka.

There was no immediate comment from the government side.

President Salva Kiir, rebel leader Riek Machar and other opposition groups signed the Aug. 5 peace agreement in Khartoum to end over four years of conflict.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:37:48|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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KATHMANDU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) --- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) can act as a vibrant regional organization to deepen cooperation in the field of railroad connectivity, trade, tourism, transit and energy among BIMSTEC member states, experts said here on Friday.

The experts made the remarks during a talk program titled "BIMSTEC: Connecting South and Southeast Asia" organized by the Centre for South Asian Studies, a Kathmandu-based think tank.

Prakash Sharan Mahat, the former foreign minister of Nepal, said that BIMSTEC member states should make collective efforts to enhance cooperation in multiple areas including railroad connectivity, trade, tourism, transit and energy thereby benefiting the people of Bay of Bengal region.

Former Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Madhuraman Acharya, opined that BIMSTEC should focus its activities on core areas of regional economic integration and connectivity in the days to come as the Bay of Bengal region is considered as the least developed region in the world.

"With population of 1.6 billion and a combined GDP of 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars, the Bay of Bengal region is globally important. It is already among the fastest growing regions in the world," the former foreign secretary said while highlighting the importance of BIMSTEC in deepening regional cooperation.

Dinesh Bhattarai, a former ambassador of Nepal to the United Nations, was of the view that BIMSTEC member states can closely work together in multiple sectors including religious tourism, security, migration, physical connectivity, among others.

Talking also about the importance of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bhattarai said that BIMSTEC should not become a substitute of SAARC given its own distinct identity and nature in South Asia region.

Addressing as the chief guest of the event, Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said that BIMSTEC holds a huge potential for physical connectivity as the Bay of Bengal region is bestowed with the abundance of natural, cultural and human resources.

"BIMSTEC is well positioned to make notable contributions towards advancing regional connectivity, linking SAARC and ASEAN. For a landlocked country like Nepal, BIMSTEC carries more significance. It bears the prospects for propelling economic growth by connecting the hinterlands of the Himalayas to the ports of Bay of Bengal," he said.

The foreign minister said that BIMSTEC countries can promote trade and investment by fostering intra-regional connectivity around the region.

"The leverage South Asia and South East Asia have will dramatically increase once the two regions are well connected and better integrated through BIMSTEC. South Asia will find its way into and across the Pacific whereas South East Asia will have easier access to Central Asia and Europe," he said.

On the occasion, Wu Yongnian, an expert belonging to Shanghai Institute of International Studies from China, viewed that a sincere comprehensive regional cooperation between South Asia and Southeast Asian countries under the framework of BIMSTEC can only build a long-term socio-economic development.

He also said that China can be one of the helpful countries to solve the problems of South Asia and Southeast Asian countries under the framework of BIMSTEC as China has been advocating the concept of win-win cooperation under its Belt and Road Initiative.

Nepal is going to host the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on August 30 and 31 in Kathmandu.

Nepal is the present chair of BIMSTEC, a regional block established in 1997. BIMSTEC groups India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:37:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Revelations of links between the Saxony state criminal police office and the PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) movement in Germany have led to a crisis in the Saxon regional coalition government on Friday.

Speaking to the public broadcaster ARD, Social Democratic Party (SPD) deputy governor Martin Dulig blamed his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) coalition partner for ignoring the gradual spread of far-right political groups in Saxony and thus laying the foundations for what has become known as the "Pegizei" scandal in Germany. "Now we are paying the price for the omissions of the past decades," Dulig said.

"Pegizei" is a combination of the German word for police (Polizei) and the PEGIDA acronym. The term has been used to refer to the widely-publicized incident in the Saxon capital of Dresden in which local security authorities stand accused of having undermined constitutional press freedom during a recent PEGIDA demonstration against Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In video footage that has spread rapidly online, a protestor who was later identified as an active member of the Saxony state criminal police office can be seen hurling verbal abuse at a team of ZDF journalists filming the gathering. Rather than reigning in the aggressive PEGIDA supporter, however, police proceeded to inspect and temporarily detain the ZDF team over the course of nearly an hour while letting their off-duty colleague off the hook.

The resulting perception that regional security authorities were in cahoots with PEGIDA, a movement which was founded by a convicted drug dealer and burglar, has provoked widespread outrage in Germany. Ulrike Demmer, a spokesperson for the federal government, told the press on Friday that the state of Saxony would have to clarify the incident swiftly and take the necessary measures.

"We cannot simply look away when employees of state and security authorities abandon the basic rights of our liberal-democratic society," Demmer said.

Dulig similarly argued on Friday that the government staff member in question would have to face consequences for his actions. Dulig further proposed providing police in Saxony with clear notices for future deployments which remind them of their constitutional duty to support the work of journalists.

At the same time, however, the SPD politician cautioned national and international observers against drawing a premature conclusion about the supposedly right-leaning tendencies of his home state. "We cannot allow the entire state to be taken hostage by its right-wing inhabitants, this would be unfair in light of the diversity of people who live here," Dulig told ARD.

In the meantime, the Green party (Gruene) has urged the government to offer better constitutional training to police officers in Germany more generally. "As the holder of the monopoly of violence, the police should be able to recite all basic rights, including the freedom of the press, in their sleep," Green party interior spokesperson Valentin Lippmann argued.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:42:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BRATISLAVA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Slovak Police caught human traffickers trying to smuggle a migrant from Ukraine to Slovakia by a Rogallo wing hang glider, Slovak Police Corps spokesperson Denisa Baloghova confirmed on Friday.

"Police discovered an unauthorized crossing of the external Schengen border by a two-seater engine-powered Rogallo above Matovske Vojkovce in eastern Slovakia. A car was parked in the meadow with two individuals inside. They turned on the car lights to enable a safe landing for the Rogallo. Once the Rogallo touched down, however, police intervened and four men were caught," said Baloghova.

Two Ukrainian nationals now face charges of human trafficking and illegal crossing of the state border. A third man, Mohamed W. of Afghanistan, who was illegally smuggled to Slovak soil, has been returned to Ukraine under the readmission agreement. The fourth man, a Slovak national, is currently facing legal procedures. If found guilty, the defendants might face between three and eight years in jail.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 00:47:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HONOLULU, the United States, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Hurricane Lane, downgraded to Category 3 storm, moved north toward the main Hawaiian Islands with extreme flooding from Thursday night to Friday morning.

The hurricane packed punch with maximum sustained winds near 120 MPH with higher gusts, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, adding rainfall rates in the outer bands of the hurricane may reach 1 to 3 inches per hour.

Till Friday morning, the heavy rain delivered by the storm led to road closures, landslides and outrages.

"The slow movement of Lane also greatly increase the threat for prolonged heavy rainfall and extreme rainfall totals," said the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Lane is expected to remain a hurricane for the next 12 to 24 hours but increasing wind shear could weaken the storm more quickly over the next two to three days.

The storm is forecast to pull away from Hawaii by late Saturday. Over 1,500 people have sought shelter and more are expected to do so, American Red Cross officials told ABC news channel Friday.

Before the rough winds and torrential rain set in, Hawaiian residents and visitors flocked to stores to stock up on food, water and gas.

Officials recommend a 14-day emergency supply. Some local people went to supermarkets to store some foods and drinking water.

"Alarm system is very helpful," Jeff Keegan, who is from Connecticut, told Xinhua, "I prepare well so I'm not worry about the hurricane at all."

There are 300,000 tourists in the state, Senator of the state Mazie Hirono said Thursday.

The Consulate General of China in Los Angeles issued a warning Wednesday, asking Chinese tourists to follow directions of local authority to keep safety.

There is no chaos happened under the hurricane warning. In the Waikiki beach, one of the most popular place for tourists in Honolulu downtown area, people continued to go out to shop, drink coffee and to walk around the beach in the daytime.

All campuses and offices of the university of Hawaii on Hawaii Island, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai are closed through Sunday. There will be no mail delivery and no public transportation on Friday.

The U.S. President Donald Trump had authorized an emergency disaster declaration to provide Hawaii the necessary support ahead of the hurricane lane.

Ryan Fleming, a student at the university of Hawaii, said that he is not so concerned about the hurricane. "I do some preparation just in case it (hurricane) becomes serious."

Michael Dufresne, also a student, stayed at room and played cards with his friends. "I'm from Florida. In past few year, there was no such big warning here like today." he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 01:02:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- John McCain, 2008 Republican presidential nominee and six-term U.S. senator, has chosen to discontinue medical treatment for a fatal type of brain cancer, his office said in a statement Friday.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has been battling the cancer called glioblastoma since last summer.

"Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious," the statement said. "In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival."

"But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment," the statement said.

Local reports said McCain has been absent from the Capitol Hill since December but continued his Senate duties as much as he could from his family home in northern Arizona, 2,200 miles away from Washington, D.C. However, he could not cast Senate votes by proxy or in absentia.

McCain will turn 82 years old on Aug. 29.
Crime and punishment

Flawed and biased investigation could send an innocent man to the gallows
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 01:07:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Local police have issued the preliminary findings on a series of worker-related incidents with the Jasic Technology Co. Ltd. in the south China city of Shenzhen.

They found that a former Jasic worker surnamed Yu was fired in May for being absent from work without a good reason and taking part in violent fights.

Dissatisfied with the arbitration award on his appeal, Yu and six other people gathered at the entrance of the company and tried to enter with force on July 20. Five of the group were summoned to a police station for further investigation.

After being released, they continued gathering people to enter the company premises by force and even blocking the normal operations of a police station.

On July 27, a total of 29 suspects were arrested after 25 of them broke into the company again.

The investigation found an unregistered illegal organization named "dagongzhe zhongxin" or "center for migrant workers" was instigating and supporting the incidents, and it was fully funded by overseas NGOs.

The organization was involved in multiple worker-related incidents in Shenzhen and nearby regions and responsible for coercing some workers into taking radical actions, police said.

The suspects have expressed regret about their behavior.

Yu said he now understands his mistakes and he will never make them again if offered a second chance.

A suspect surnamed Fu linked with "dagongzhe zhongxin" also said he has learned that the radical actions taken by the Jasic employees broke the law.

"Whatever interest you pursue, it must be carried out within boundaries of the law," said Zeng Yueying, deputy dean of Shenzhen University Law School.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 01:32:58|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli troops during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on Aug. 24, 2018. At least 180 Palestinians were injured Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics said. (Xinhua)

GAZA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 180 Palestinians were injured Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Gaza Health Ministry said in an emailed press statement that 189 Palestinians got injured; 116 were treated in the field by medical crews and paramedics in eastern Gaza Strip and 73 casualties were sent to hospitals all over the Gaza Strip.

The statement said that around 50 Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in various parts of their bodies, adding that two of the casualties are in critical condition. The statement said among the casualties there are ten children and two women.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, hundreds of Palestinians joined in the 22nd anti-Israel rallies, known as the "Great March of Return," close to the border with Israel.

The highest commission of the rallies called on the coastal enclave's populations to join the weekly rallies and protests, which began on March 30 and have been going on every Friday.

Hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators usually burn tires, wave flags, cut the barbed wire of the border fence and release arson kites and balloons into southern Israel in the protests.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza's health ministry spokesman, said in an emailed press statement that since the beginning of the marches, the Israeli army killed 171 Palestinians and wounded more than 18,000, and most of them were injured with live gunshots.

The highest commission said in a statement that this Friday is called Friday of solidarity with paramedics and medical crews who have been in the field treating injured demonstrators.

Al-Qedra said three volunteering paramedics were shot dead in the past weeks of the rallies, including one woman, adding that the Israeli occupation doesn't respect the presence of paramedics and medical teams, and directly opened fire at them.

Hamas spokesman in Gaza Hazem Qassem said in an emailed press statement that the march will continue "until it achieves its goals," which is "mainly breaking the Israeli siege."

"The marches and protests confused the enemy (Israel) calculations and compelled it to make concessions," Qassem added.
Palestinian protesters throw stones at Isreali forces as a man waves the national flag during a demonstration at the Israel-Gaza border, east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 24, 2018. (AFP photo)

GAZA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 180 Palestinians were injured Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Gaza Health Ministry said in an emailed press statement that 189 Palestinians got injured; 116 were treated in the field by medical crews and paramedics in eastern Gaza Strip and 73 casualties were sent to hospitals all over the Gaza Strip.

The statement said that around 50 Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in various parts of their bodies, adding that two of the casualties are in critical condition. The statement said among the casualties there are ten children and two women.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, hundreds of Palestinians joined in the 22nd anti-Israel rallies, known as the "Great March of Return," close to the border with Israel.

The highest commission of the rallies called on the coastal enclave's populations to join the weekly rallies and protests, which began on March 30 and have been going on every Friday.

Hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators usually burn tires, wave flags, cut the barbed wire of the border fence and release arson kites and balloons into southern Israel in the protests.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza's health ministry spokesman, said in an emailed press statement that since the beginning of the marches, the Israeli army killed 171 Palestinians and wounded more than 18,000, and most of them were injured with live gunshots.

The highest commission said in a statement that this Friday is called Friday of solidarity with paramedics and medical crews who have been in the field treating injured demonstrators.

Al-Qedra said three volunteering paramedics were shot dead in the past weeks of the rallies, including one woman, adding that the Israeli occupation doesn't respect the presence of paramedics and medical teams, and directly opened fire at them.

Hamas spokesman in Gaza Hazem Qassem said in an emailed press statement that the march will continue "until it achieves its goals," which is "mainly breaking the Israeli siege."

"The marches and protests confused the enemy (Israel) calculations and compelled it to make concessions," Qassem added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 01:48:05|Editor: zh

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Thursday that China and Mongolia have reached consensus on expanding bilateral relations and cooperation.

Making the announcement at a joint press conference with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Wang said China appreciates the new Mongolian government's more clear-cut and resolute policy toward China.

Wang said the purpose of his visit is to have an in-depth exchange of views with the Mongolian side and implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides.

To enrich the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership, both sides should enhance political mutual trust and support, Wang said, adding that the two countries should closely work on developing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The visiting Chinese foreign minister said both sides agreed to respect each other's core interests and jointly safeguard the political foundation of China-Mongolia relations.

The Mongolian side reaffirmed their firm adherence to the one-China policy and agreed that both Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of the Chinese territory, he said.

For China, it promises, as always, to respect Mongolia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Mongolian people's independent choice of their development path in line with their national conditions, Wang said.

China and Mongolia agreed to maintain high-level exchanges. Wang said China welcomes Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga to pay a state visit next year. He invited Tsogtbaatar to visit China at an appropriate time next year.

In addition, both sides agreed to accelerate the integration of BRI and Mongolia's Prairie Road development initiative, and work out specific plans.

The two countries have agreed to launch a joint feasibility study on a free trade agreement (FTA) next month, and speed up building a cross-border economic cooperation zone.

Both sides also agreed to deepen pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve a 10-billion-U.S.-dollar target for bilateral trade by 2020.

Wang said the plan to build a waste water processing plant in Ulan Bator was progressing and joint efforts were being made to start the construction within this year. Also, the China-funded project to renovate Mongolia's shantytowns had entered the initiation phase with construction expected to start next year.

Wang said China will consider Mongolia's call for more export of animal husbandry products and mineral products to China, and continue to provide support for Mongolia in cross-border transportation and access to the sea.

In 2019, Mongolia and China will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The two sides will carry out exchanges among youths and in culture, education, science and technology, Wang said.

Both countries agreed to strengthen China-Mongolia-Russia cooperation, accelerate the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor, and commit to the revitalization and development of the region.

China will continue to support Mongolia's participation in international and regional affairs and the two will jointly play a constructive role in ensuring peace and stability in Northeast Asia as well as the rest of the world.

China and Mongolia also agreed to support international justice and the overall interests of developing countries, and jointly safeguard multilateralism and a rule-based global free trade system.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 01:53:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Friday welcomed the confirmation of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's re-election despite rejection of the results by the opposition candidate in the country.

Mali's Constitutional Court on Monday confirmed the re-election of Keita to a second five-year term. Opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse has categorically rejected the results.

The members of the Security Council congratulated the people and government of Mali for the generally peaceful conduct of the two rounds of elections on July 29 and Aug. 12, despite challenging security conditions and limited reports of violence in some areas, said the Security Council in a press statement.

The council members commended the Malian authorities for the preparation, conduct and conclusion of these elections, within the constitutional framework, said the statement.

The members of the Security Council called upon all Malians to unite their efforts and work together to promote sustainable peace and tackle the security and development challenges facing Mali.

They expressed their intention to continue to work with the people and government of Mali in support of inclusive and lasting peace and security throughout the country, said the statement.

Mali's Constitutional Court said Keita received 67 percent of the Aug. 12 run-off vote, compared with Cisse's 33 percent. Keita will be inaugurated on Sept. 4 for his second term.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 01:58:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Justice Lee Adoboe

ACCRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ghana is to honor late UN secretary-general Kofi Annan with full state burial, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced on Friday.

In a discussion with Annan's family, Akufo-Addo proposed September 13 for the burial and funeral rites.

The global peace icon died last Saturday at a hospital in Bern, Switzerland, after a short illness, family sources had said.

The president also added that the body of Annan would be interred at a new military cemetery at the Burma Camp, with the state financing every cost.

"This is a state funeral so the responsibility for the arrangements is for the Ghanaian state. Your bit is to mourn, but you will not have any of the financial burdens involved in organizing such a thing; that will be borne by the state of Ghana," the president assured the bereaved family.

The family had also announced on Thursday that there would be two separate ceremonies in New York and Geneva in honor of the former UN secretary-general.
Syrian refugees arrive at the Oncupinar crossing gate, close to the town of Kilis, south central Turkey, in order to cross to Syria for the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, on August 28, 2017. (AFP photo)

ANKARA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities estimated that the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey will exceed 5 million in 2028, local media reported on Friday.

Turkish government granted temporary protection status for 3,545,293 Syrian refugees and 204,288 of them live in camps, the daily Hurriyet reported, citing figures of Turkey's immigration authority and ombudsman institution.

Turkey's biggest metropolis Istanbul is hosting 564,189 Syrian refugees, most in the country.

The number of male Syrian refugees in Turkey is 1,922,410, while female are 1,622,883. Almost half of the refugees are under the age of 18, said the report. A total of 535,826 Syrian babies under the age of four are born in Turkey and they are still stateless.

Turkey hosts more refugees than any other country in the world, but the government is under pressure of heavy costs estimated at 30 billion U.S. dollars since 2011, according to official figures.

"We want our refugee brothers and sisters to return to their land," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in February.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 02:38:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The top UN humanitarian official on Friday condemned the new attacks on civilians in Yemen and called for an investigation of the killings by the Saudi-led coalition.

At least 22 Yemeni children and four women were killed in an airstrike on Thursday as they were fleeing the fighting in al-Durayhmi district in Hudaydah governorate, said Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

Another airstrike in al-Durayhmi on Thursday resulted in the death of four children, he said in a statement.

"I echo the recent statement by the (UN) secretary-general on Yemen, condemning such attacks on civilians and calling for an impartial, independent and prompt investigation into these most recent incidents," said Lowcock, referring to the UN chief's statement following an Aug. 9 airstrike that killed 40 children in northern Yemen.

Lowcock also voiced concern over the proximity of attacks to humanitarian sites, including health facilities and water and sanitation infrastructure.

The United Nations and partners are doing all they can to reach people with assistance. Access for humanitarian aid workers to reach people in need is critical to respond to the massive humanitarian crisis in Yemen, said Lowcock.

People need to be able to voluntarily flee the fighting to access humanitarian assistance too, he said.

The parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and those with influence over them must ensure that everything possible is done to protect civilians, he said.

Yemen is the world's largest humanitarian operation. Three in four Yemenis are in need of assistance. In 2018, the UN and partners have reached more than 8 million people with direct assistance, he said.

Yemen has been in civil war in the past three years, pitting Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The Saudi-led military coalition with the support of the United States is fighting the Houthis in a bid to reinstate the Hadi government.
A picture taken on August 20, 2018 shows a general view of the U.S. embassy in Ankara. (AFP photo)

ANKARA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Friday arrested two more suspects for connections to Monday's U.S. embassy drive-by shooting in capital Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The suspects are currently being interrogated by police department, according to the report, citing a police source.

Friday's arrests raise the total number of arrestees to four. Two suspects, named as Ahmet Celikten and Osman Gudas, were detained on Monday and confessed that they attacked the U.S. embassy under the influence of alcohol.

The detention period for Ahmet Celikten and Osman Gundas has been extended, the report added.

The gun attack took place at 5:30 a.m. local time (0230GMT) on Monday, when six shots were fired from a white vehicle at the U.S. embassy's main entrance, hitting a window of a security cabin but causing no casualties.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin condemned the attack on Twitter, describing it as "a clear attempt to create chaos," amid an escalating row between the United States and Turkey over the detention of a U.S. pastor.
People stand by the helicopter MI-28 at the Army-2018 International Military Technical Forum held in Moscow region, Russia, on Aug. 21, 2018. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia's state-owned arms supplier Rosoboronexport has signed 15 contracts worth over 20.3 billion rubles (about 300 million U.S. dollars) at the ongoing Army 2018 defense exhibition being held in Kubinka near Moscow.

"The contracts included modern land forces' military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems, close combat weapons and many others," Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said Friday.

He said "firm orders" were received from Asian and African countries and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Due to U.S. sanctions on Russia, which have complicated settlements in dollars, Rosoboronexport is consistently moving away from the U.S. dollar to national currencies, he said.

People visit the Army-2018 International Military Technical Forum held in Moscow region, Russia, on Aug. 21, 2018. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

Despite continued anti-Russian propaganda, Rosoboronexport conducted a series of successful negotiations with delegations from a number of European countries at the exhibition, he said.

Army 2018, which started on Aug. 21, will end on Aug. 26.
Kanchanpur rape, murder case: Curfew as protests turn violent

The Kanchanpur District Administration Office clamped a curfew in Mahendranagar after protests against the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta turned violent on Thursday. Four people sustained injuries as police shot at protesters.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 04:48:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday commended China's support to Ethiopia's human development efforts.

Ahmed made the remarks during a scholarship awarding ceremony late on Friday, in which some 220 Ethiopians win scholarships to study in China's major higher education institutions in masters and PhD programs.

"As we all know China is a very good partner for Ethiopia and they are supporting us in human capital development, which is a priority for my government," Ahmed said, adding that "I would like to thank you (Chinese government) for all what you have done for our country."

Ethiopia is the biggest beneficiary of the human resources cooperation under China-aid framework globally. By the end of 2017, the Chinese government has trained 5,655 participants of different professions for Ethiopia under the framework, covering over 20 fields that include education, health and medical services, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing industries, public administration, business management, urban development and poverty reduction, according to figures from the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia.

Ahmed, who noted that Ethiopia was able to send more than 1,000 students to study in China this year alone, also called for further strengthening the support from China's government in Ethiopia's human development endeavors.

"Nothing is impossible. Especially for Ethiopia and China, the sky is the limit," Ahmed said.

"We can go far to develop next generation to take responsibility and to work for their country," he added.

The premier also called on Ethiopians who are set to embark on their education in major Chinese universities to learn "China's experience and wisdom" in the development and other sectors so as to help Ethiopia's ambitions in economic growth.

Ahmed further urged Ethiopian scholarship winners to serve as connecting bridges between Ethiopia and China in strengthening ties after coming back from their studies.

The 220 recipients, who are drawn from 40 Ethiopian federal and regional government academic institutions and industries, will pursue graduate studies in Chinese universities both in social and natural science disciplines, it was noted.

While 54 of the recipients are set to pursue their doctoral studies, the remaining 166 will study their masters, it was indicated.

Tan Jian, China's Ambassador to Ethiopia, also reiterated during the awarding ceremony China's belief that "investing in people through education is the best investment."

Tan, who vowed to deepen the two countries' ties in human resources development, further said that "We developing countries have human resources potential in abundance and the thing is how to exploit this bonanza."
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia addresses a Security Council meeting on the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal, at the UN headquarters in New York, April 5, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Register said on Friday that the U.S. sanctions on Russia over the alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy will take effect on Aug. 27.

According to a notice published on the website of Federal Register, a daily catalogue of actions and regulations at government agencies, the State Department planned to announce the sanctioning measures by then, which will terminate U.S. foreign assistance and some arms sales and financing to Russia.

In the notice, Christopher A. Ford, assistant secretary of state, said that the State Department has determined pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 that "the Government of the Russian Federation has used chemical weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical weapons against its own nationals."

Particularly, the U.S. side will target "foreign assistance, the licensing of defense articles and services, and the licensing of national security-sensitive goods and technology" concerning Russia, according to the notice.

Russia's credit, credit guarantees or other financial assistance provided by U.S. government agencies will be denied, U.S. export of security-sensitive goods and technology to Russia will also be prohibited, and all foreign military financing for Russia will be terminated.

However, the Department of State "has determined and certified to Congress" that it is essential to the U.S. national security interests to "partially" waive the application of the sanctions regarding the issuance of licenses some areas, and their licenses shall be issued "on a case-by-case basis and consistent with export licensing policy for Russia."

Government space cooperation, commercial space launches and areas covering commercial aviation safety would be exempted from the sanctions. The notice explained that these areas are "essential to the national security interests of the United States" and shall be issued on a case-by-case basis.

Sanctions will also be waived in cases of deemed exports/reexports to Russian nationals, wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries and commercial end users in Russia, Russian state-owned or state-funded enterprises, "provided that such licenses shall be issued on a case-by-case basis."

U.S. urgent humanitarian assistance to Russia will also be exempted.

This document was scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Aug. 27, 2018 and available online.

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, aged 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Britain's southwestern city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain claimed the pair was exposed to a nerve agent and holds Russia responsible, while the Russian government has denied any involvement in it and demanded direct participation in the investigation.

The U.S. State Department said on Aug. 8 that the country will impose new sanctions on Russia over the case.

"These sanctions will take effect upon publication of a notice in the Federal Register, expected on or around August 22, 2018," said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert.

Russia and the United States have been waging sanctions against each other as bilateral relations continue to worsen over recent years.

Moscow has repeatedly said that it reserves the right to take additional countermeasures against U.S. diplomatic properties in Russia if Washington continues hostility.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that the upcoming U.S. sanctions are "unfriendly" and "illegal," and will hurt broader international trade.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow will consider retaliation.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 04:58:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HELSINKI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Finland has expressed belated interest in joining the French-led European Intervention Initiative, a joint military project between nine European countries outside of existing both NATO and European Union (EU) structures, the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced Friday.

The decision was taken on Friday at the governmental security and foreign policy committees joint session with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. Finland reached its decision later than the original signatories.

In late June nine other EU and NATO countries signed a letter of intent to join the system. Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto said already in May that Finland still wanted to consider the situation.

The original participants are Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Britain.

Friday's decision in Helsinki followed the visit in Finland on Thursday by French defense minister Florence Parly.

French President Emmanuel Macron will be paying a visit to Finland next week. He rolled out the initiative in September 2017.

So far Finland is participating in the EU fast reaction forces, the British-led fast response JEF system and the German-led Framework Nation Concept grouping. Finland is also within the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which is the part of the EU's security and defense policy.

Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto said in February that Finnish decisions to join military co-operation systems are "not an automation" but cases are considered.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 03:23:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump depart from the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Aug. 24, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that he has asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his upcoming trip to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), citing the lacking of progress on the Peninsula denuclearization. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that he has asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his upcoming trip to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), citing the lacking of progress on the Peninsula denuclearization.

Trump tweeted that "I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

He added that "Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future."

"In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!," Trump said.

Earlier on Thursday, Pompeo said that he has appointed Stephen Biegun as the new special envoy for the DPRK.

He also said that he and Biegun will travel to Pyongyang next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

Pompeo has visited the DPRK for three times, respectively in April, May and July.

Trump on Aug. 20 said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time, and he believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization.

In the joint statement after the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
In Hungary, it has always been difficult to stand in the centre. Now the with or against us mentality is developing in the country again which was typical in the days of communist leader Matyas Rakosi in the early 50s  said Nick Thorpe, BBC Central Europe Correspondent living in Budapest in his portrait interview to HVG.

Thorpe: Hungary is moving away from the European values

My first home is leaving Europe while the second one moves apart from the values of Europe  said the correspondent who was born in England and has been living in Budapest for 32 years.

He decided to become a journalist after Mikhail Gorbachev was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. He arrived in Hungary in February 1986.

Before he was studying in England and Senegal and his original plans were to remain for half a year in Budapest. However, he found love here, and he has five boys now.

According to him, the job of a journalist is to criticise the actual government. Because of this, he got himself in trouble many times during the Kadar-era. Furthermore, today the Fidesz-government is accusing him of intervention in the domestic affairs of Hungary.

Lately, he has written a book on the topic of migration for which he has become public enemy No 1 in the eyes of the government.

He said to HVG that he came to Hungary in 1986 because it was a very exciting era and since he was the only Western correspondent in the country all of his articles were exclusive.

His first sources were journalists who could not write anything but wanted their information to be published. For his reports, even the Hungarian communist partys most influential daily, Nepszabadsag attacked him, and he was summoned in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

There is paranoia everywhere

He was not expelled because the British ambassador of those days spectacularly stood up for him and said that if Thorpe was expelled Nepszabadsags correspondent in London would be expelled, too.

Talking about the present Thorpe highlighted that he feels like the Hungarian political elite wants the journalists to serve them again. In Hungary, it was always difficult to stand in the centre.

Now the with us or against us mentality is developing in the country again which was typical in the days of communist leader Matyas Rakosi in the early 50s  he added.

According to him, there is paranoia everywhere. This is because when Fidesz gains power, they never stop enjoying what they reached but they always want more and more influence. They act as if they were in opposition.

He feels sorry for those Hungarian investigative journalists who have to work in a country where the government can win the elections only with an anti-immigration agenda even though migrants do not want to remain in the country.

According to him, in the case of Hungary, nobody should talk about immigration because migrants who cross the border want to leave the country.

There is a cynical political game going on today in Hungary suggesting that everybody should think about the other people as potential threats. Moreover, the only aim of this campaign is to win the elections.

However, this does not strengthen the social cohesion, and he does not think that it makes people happy for long.

Talking about leaving Hungary Thorpe cleared that he would like to remain even though it is difficult to live in a country where xenophobia is increasing.

Sources: Daily News Hundary, hvg.hu
Csaba Latorcai, state secretary at the human resources ministry, attended a commemoration on Wednesday, the eve of the European day of remembrance for victims of totalitarian regimes.

In his address, Latorcai said that the crimes of communism or Nazism cannot be forgotten. The state secretary also said that we owe the victims of dictatorships brave but wellconsidered action in meeting moral and security challenges facing Europe.

The allied ruling Christian Democrats also stressed the need to pay tribute to the victims of totalitarian regimes on Thursday, marking the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes.

On this day Hungarians must remember the heinous acts faced over the past century, the party said in a statement. Hungary today is a truly democratic state where people live in safety and their assets are safe as well, the Christian Democrats said.

Hungarians, however, have experience in what it means to live under a communist or a Nazi regime, they said, highlighting the importance of working further towards building a strong and sovereign country with a fair regime.

The party reaffirmed its creed that a system built on the Christian Democratic principle of safeguarding human dignity can be the best tool in the fight against totalitarian rule.

The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes has since 2011 been marked on August 23, the anniversary of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact concluded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

MTI Photo: Bruzak Noemi
Heti Vilaggazdasag reports that a grandmother who was desperate for money allowed a man to have sexual intercourse with her 15-year-old granddaughter for 6000 forints (EUR 19).

The woman could be sentenced to eight years of jail. The teenaged girl has been living with her grandmother in a village near the river Tisza for two years now. The elderly woman became the girls guardian legally.

The incident occurred back in January, when the grandmother took her grandchild, 15, to a man in the village. At first, the woman attempted to sell him a boot, but upon him refusing the deal, the woman offered her grandchild for sexual purposes to the man.

The man accepted the offer at first, though abandoned his intentions when the minor was rejective towards him.

The grandmother is charged by the local prosecutor with the procurement of a minor who is under their guardianship. For this, she could be sentenced to two to eight years of imprisonment.

The Fuzesabony prosecutor proposed the prison sentence and the prohibition of guardianship and of participation in matters of general concernment.

An investigation was lead on the man on the charges of participating in child prostitution.

Source: Daily News Hungary, hvg.hu
Lake Balaton continues to be a popular destination for holidaymakers. So much so that many Hungarians visit the lake not only in summer, but even in winter, according to a recent survey.

Coupon association Bonusz Brigad and market researcher GKI Digital conducted a survey about how Hungarians relate to Lake Balaton. About one third of respondents said they do not travel to Hungarys "inland sea" every year, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

Balaton is the most attractive for the younger generations: while 27% of all respondents said they visit the lake at least once a year, this ratio was 36% among those aged 25-29. A further 17% of all respondents said they visit Balaton at least twice a year.

Interestingly, the once popular two-week holidays at Lake Balaton are less common nowadays, as Hungarians prefer shorter vacations by the lake. Most respondents, 44%, said they spend only a few days there, while somewhat more than one-third said they spend a week. Most of those aged 25-29 travel to Balaton only on weekends.

At the same time, Balaton seems to attract visitors not only in the summer, with 21% of respondents saying they also travel to the lake in winter.

As for the reasons for travel, young Hungarians (aged 18-29) tend to visit Balaton to attend festivals, while older visitors prefer gastronomic events. The most popular sites are the city of Siofok and its surroundings on the southern shore, followed by Tihany and Balatonfured on the northern shore.
Electric shock kills woman, injures two

A woman died and two others sustained critical injuries of electric shock at Likhu Rural Municipality-1 in Nuwakot district on Thursday.The victims had accidentally come in contact of 33KV transmission line that had fallen on the ground at Kharekhola area.
Energy banking accord may be signed in Oct

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sign an energy banking deal with India in October in a bid to lessen the effects of fluctuations in power generation during different seasons.
Wisconsin State Broadband Director Angie Dickison presents an award to those in Iron County responsible for helping the county become the second in the state to be designated a telecommuter forward community Thursday. Among those attending Thursday's event were, from left, GogebicRange.net's Brandon Yuchasz, county board member Opal Roberts, Dickison, local broadband committee chairman Norm McKindles, president of the Iron County Resource Development Association Dave Traczyk and Iron County Development Zone coordinator Kelly Klein.

By RICHARD JENKINS

[email protected]

HURLEY - Wisconsin State Broadband Director Angie Dickison visited Hurley Thursday to recognize Iron County as a "telecommuter forward community."

The telecommuter-forward designation is the latest chapter in the state's effort to expand high-speed internet access throughout the state, Dickison said.

"This provides communities another tool in their economic development tool kit; in terms of collaborating with other communities, collaborating with businesses within their communities to attract those telecommuters," she said when presenting the a...
Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs

07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0)

Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na...
Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice.
Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, a multibillion-dollar insurance company, fraternal and charity organization. With its base, the U.S. Catholic Church, in decline, Anderson has joined calls for reforming church management, urged lay involvement and strict enforcement of Church moral rules, but steered clear of advocating structural changes to the undermanned, [] Read more

In an extraordinary public letter, one of the most prominent lay American Catholics, head of a vast business and fraternal group that has long defended the priesthood, has reacted to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro's damning 1,000-page report on sexually abusive priests by demanding more disclosure of "devastating criminal acts."

Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, which claims nearly two million members, mostly in the U.S., wrote to 15,000 local councils that his members feel "deeply betrayed" by bishops whose "distorted sense of mercy" in failing to remove priests who sexually abused children from ministry, or report them to authorities, have left "wreckage" in the church.

He calls for a "full accounting" of crimes and "cover-ups," public disclosure that would presumably end the Secret Archives in which bishops detailed pastoral sins but did little to keep pedophile priests from hurting more children, and "zero tolerance" for violations of church rules for priestly behavior.

The Connecticut-based Knights of Columbus is: a life insurance company, with more than $100 billion in policies, $25 billion in investment assets, and a top rating from A.M. Best & Co.; a charity, reporting $185 million in donations last year, plus volunteer mobilizations; and a fraternal organization, with distinctive hats, degrees of rank, and ceremonial swords, superficially resembling Masonic lodges.

Anderson is paid more than $1 million a year and enjoys the clout that comes with heading a well-funded, state-regulated lay group with a grass-roots organization tied to an international sales force. But the Knights' prospects remain tied to a U.S. church that has been in decline as old members die and young people fail to replace them.

As with Pope Francis' ashamed response to Shapiro's findings, Anderson doesn't comment on Shapiro's demand that the state make it easier for victims to sue dioceses for crimes committed years ago.

Nor does Anderson call for changing church teachings on priestly celibacy. He doesn't discuss longstanding calls by critics to encourage woman or married people to become pastors or take other roles limited to priests. He instead demands church celibacy rules be enforced to the letter, even if that means expelling more priests and bishops and further depleting the undermanned Catholic clergy.

Anderson does briefly sketch a vision of what the church needs to do if it is to get past the faith-deadening litany of abuse. His prescription includes increased lay leadership  including direct involvement by local members of the Knights  and an emphasis on the "domestic," or home, church.

In Philadelphia and other areas with large immigrant populations, Catholics in the 1800s and early 1900s built hospitals, colleges and neighborhood parishes, led by members of its celibate male priesthood and staffed by religious sisters. The churches provided schools and social services, and helped hold down the cost of public services while building a large, distinctive Catholic community. While Catholic colleges and hospitals are mostly run by lay managers and continue to grow, "vocations" to the priesthood and sisterhoods have plunged since the 1960s, the parishes and schools controlled by local bishops and led by priests have withered, and the shrunken church has lost political influence.

The Supreme Knight in his letter endorsed such old-time pious practices as a U.S. tour of the preserved heart of St. John Vianney, a French priest considered a model for pastors. Such religious relics were designed to bring readers closer to saints, people whose lives serve as examples for Catholics. The church needs saints "more than anything," Anderson wrote.

Anderson also writes: "These sins of commission and omission have sent the church we love, the church we serve and the church that Jesus Christ established into convulsions. Sadly, the disgrace not only is borne by the perpetrators, it hurts us all, as does the silence of shepherds who have ignored the cries of their flocks.

"Too often the needs of victims have been subordinated to a distorted sense of mercy toward the perpetrators or an instinct for clerical self-preservation. The sexual acts  both criminal and non-criminal  highlight the need to recover a respect for and a renewed commitment to the priestly promises of celibacy

"We must commit the Knights of Columbus to work for repentance, reform and rebuilding of the church. Repentance should include a full accounting of the misdeeds by those who have committed them. Archbishop [Theodore] McCarrick and others at fault owe us a full account of their actions, motivations and cover-ups.

"After years of having us confess to them, it is now time for them to come clean about what they have done and what they have failed to do.

Anderson listed several practical steps he said would help restore the church's credibility: "A full and complete investigation of sexual abuse led by an independent commission.  Complete transparency by the Catholic hierarchy into all matters of criminal sexual misconduct past or future; an expansion of the zero-tolerance policy to include sexual activity or misconduct by clerics including bishops.  There must also be an independent ethics hotline for reporting of criminal and other conduct at odds with Catholic teaching on the clerical state of life; and there must be protections against retaliation.

"Such reforms," Anderson added, "will be difficult for a church largely unused to them."

The crisis hasn't reached its worst, Anderson warned in conclusion. He wrote that the Knights' "witness and sacrifice" will both "be needed more in the days ahead than ever before."
Bart Troiano outside of 700 S. Fifth St., site of his forthcoming Italian restaurant. Read more

The former Whetstone Tavern on the corner of Fifth and Bainbridge Streets in Queen Village won't remain vacant too long.

A family-friendly Italian bar-restaurant  whose TBA name may contain the word bacio  is taking shape at 700 S. Fifth St. under Bart Troiano, the building's new owner.

Troiano, 30, a native New Yorker who graduated from Widener University, owns two New York restaurants  Il Villagio in Malverne, Long Island, and Boardwalk Pizza, in Far Rockaway, Queens.

He's installed his former roommate Justin Bruno (Ashton Cigar Bar) as general manager. They're in search of a chef to execute a trattoria menu.

Interior is being remodeled with antique white subway tiles in the dining rooms, and exposed brick behind the bar.

They hope to open in late October.

Vincent Stipo of MSC Retail handled the transaction.

Before Whetstone, the location housed a series of restaurants over the years, including East of Amara, Coquette, Adsum, and Tapestry.
The chronically glitchy computer system that forms the backbone of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program crashed Thursday morning, causing several dispensaries to halt sales and turn away patients.

The software company MJ Freeway was awarded a $10.4 million contract by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in 2017 to trace all of the state's medical cannabis commerce from "seed to sale." The Denver-based company tracks every plant that is grown, every sale that is recorded, and every patient and medical practitioner who participates in the program in Pennsylvania.

But MJ Freeway software has been plagued by hacks, hiccups, and data breaches since the launch of the program, according to users.

"There have been many issues with the MJ Freeway software that have affected our ability to operate our business, but this isn't about us or an inconvenience, it's about the patients across the state of Pennsylvania that have been prevented from getting their medicine and that is simply unacceptable," said Trent Hartley, cofounder of Cresco Yeltrah, which operates a grow house and three dispensaries in Western Pennsylvania.

"Can you imagine going to a Walgreens or CVS to get your medicine and being told you couldn't get it because the computer system was down?"

A spokeswoman for MJ Freeway said an "enhancement" to the software was released overnight.

"It made it a better system," said Jeannette Horton. "But sometimes when that happens, it triggers other stuff  things running slowly and timing out. It was different from client to client. It's not ideal."

John Collins, Pennsylvania director of the Office of Medical Marijuana, said the glitches were likely due to the system update.

"Our system is unique in that it not only tracks medication but also registers sales," Collins said. "This is new to growers and dispensaries that may have operations in other states. There can be technical issues as there are when updates are pushed out."

More than a half-dozen marijuana growers and dispensary owners say they have wrestled with the software since the first day of medical marijuana sales in February, when shipments were delayed because cultivators couldn't get the system to record the product as it was leaving the grow houses.

"All our patients have been pretty understanding, but it's become a bit of a running joke with them. When the process is slow, they say 'Oh, is MJ Freeway down again?'" said Rob Stanley, store manager of Restore Integrative Wellness Center in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood. "I don't know what the software is when I go to the Gap to buy a pair of jeans, but everyone knows about MJ Freeway."

Many growers and dispensary owners are reluctant to speak about their problems on the record, fearing reprisals from the state Health Department. Several of those growers and shop owners are waiting to learn whether they will be awarded permits to operate more dispensaries. They fear that complaining will jeopardize their chances of winning new permits which are valued at tens of millions of dollars apiece.

"It's a nightmare we've been living with for nearly a year," said one dispensary owner, who did not want to be identified. "The entire system is broken. We can't receive goods. We can't sell to anyone. People are disgusted."

Horton, the MJ Freeway spokeswomen, said "clients reported system issues including slowdowns and errors" at 4 a.m. Philadelphia time on Thursday. By 2:15 p.m. the platform returned to being "fully operational and running at normal speed," said Horton. "The system did not go down. Performance issues caused lag times and some pages did not show up-to-date info."

She said dispensaries could record sales temporarily with "paper and pen."

But the state on Wednesday explicitly prohibited dispensaries from making sales unless the transactions were recorded in the MJ Freeway system.

"They're not supposed to use paper, it's a diversion issue," said Health Department spokeswoman April Hutcheson. "It's a security issue."

But many dispensaries have been doing just that, using Microsoft Excel and old-fashioned accounting paper  what they call "emergency kits"  to record the arrival of the medicines and note sales to patients for the last six months.

Dispensaries were obligated to buy the equipment that runs the MJ Freeway system at a cost of about $10,000.

MJ Freeway was awarded the $10.4 million contract, though it scored lower on technical merits than its rivals. Despite at least two "catastrophic hacks," data breaches, and other glitches, MJ Freeway won because it undercut the competition by several million dollars, bid documents show.
A Western Pennsylvania woman has found herself caught in the crossfire of conflicting federal and state medical marijuana laws.

Mary Cease, 66, wants to move from a rural public housing apartment complex into more private and urban Section 8 housing. Her medical condition  and specifically the medical marijuana she uses for treatment  has blocked her.

Last December, Ms. Cease successfully applied for a medical marijuana card under Pennsylvania's 2016 law allowing access for patients with certain medical conditions. She qualified because of pain from multiple back surgeries that left her unable to work, and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress.

But while the state has OK'd her medical marijuana use, the federally funded Indiana County Housing Authority has denied her application for a Section 8 housing voucher.

Federal law considers marijuana illegal in all forms and for all uses.

Indiana County and all other housing authorities also have specific guidance on medical marijuana from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 2011, HUD's assistant secretary for public and Indian housing sent out a memorandum nationwide. "Based on federal law, new admissions of medical marijuana users are prohibited" for public housing and voucher programs, the memo said.



That position was reinforced in 2014 by another HUD memo that said owners of federally assisted housing "must deny admission to assisted housing for any household with a member determined to be illegally using a controlled substance, e.g., marijuana."

While the HUD memos are direct and clear, housing authorities do have some flexibility, said Judith Cassel, a Harrisburg-based attorney who is representing Ms. Cease on a pro bono basis.

The prohibition refers to new admissions to public housing, she noted, not current residents. For current public housing residents, the 2011 HUD memo states that housing authorities "have discretion to determine, on a case-by-case basis, the appropriateness of program termination of existing residents for the use of medical marijuana."

Ms. Cease may be new to the Section 8 voucher program  in which the government subsidizes up to 70 percent of the total rent  but Ms. Cassel argues that her client is already a resident in public housing and so deserves consideration.

I finally got the relief

Ms. Cease was briefly in the U.S. Navy before receiving a medical discharge. Because of her medical ailments, she has not worked for more than 15 years. She moved to Indiana County three years ago following her divorce and now shares her public housing apartment in Clymer with her pet pug, Brigit.

A lover of classical music and an artist herself, she does not own a car and says the lack of public transportation near her complex has left her feeling trapped.

"I just can't sit in my apartment and languish the rest of my life."

Following three back surgeries going back to 2001, Ms. Cease said she took opioids to tame her pain, primarily oxycodone. She also took valium for anxiety.

"I felt disconnected on opioids," she said. "I felt like less of a human being because I knew they were bad drugs."

Not long after Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program started, she applied for the required state-issued card that allows her access to the medication. She vapes medical marijuana in cartridges that she buys at a Butler dispensary when friends can drive her there.

"I finally got the relief," she said of the marijuana's effect. "You feel normal. You get the relief that you need and you're living like a regular human being."

She has also weaned herself from opioids.

Rather than a gateway to harder drugs, as some marijuana opponents believe, she says medical marijuana provided a path away from them. "If you want the opioid crisis to stop," she declared, "there's your answer right there."

Answering tough questions

Public housing is in short supply and getting in can be a challenge. Wait lists are common and sometimes country programs close temporarily due to high demand.

To even be considered, applicants must answer a number of possibly disqualifying questions about their background, such as whether they are a registered sex offender, or have been charged or convicted of a violent crime in the past three years.

The online application form on the Indiana County authority's website, for example, asks if applicants have been charged or convicted of a drug-related crime the past three years. Ms. Cease says neither applies to her.

"I've never even had a parking ticket," she said in a recent interview. "I've never had a police officer pull me over."

The form does not ask if the applicants use medical marijuana.

Ms. Cease disclosed that information in her application so it would not become an issue later. "I didn't want to get caught down the road."

Her application for Section 8 housing in Indiana County does meet one key financial criteria: Her annual income since her divorce three years ago, she says, is about $10,000.

To qualify, a family's income must be less than 50 percent of the local area's median gross income; Ms. Cassel said her client's income is about $3,000 below the Indiana County maximum.

Ms. Cease has met with housing authorities twice, the second time in July for an informal hearing on the merits of her application. The authority's written denial suggests she was turned down for deducting her medical marijuana purchases in calculating her adjusted income.

But after documenting that she still qualified based on income after removing those costs, she says authority officials shifted to a more general explanation that the denial was based on federal laws that outlaw marijuana use.

Bonni Dunlap, Indiana County Housing Authority's executive director, wrote in response to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette inquiry that she "can't comment at this time" on the policy regarding medical marijuana use and she referred inquiries back to the HUD memos.

Pittsburgh-based housing authorities said they follow the HUD guidelines, too, but emphasized that denials are subject to appeal and suggested they give consideration to individual circumstances.

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, for example, "is not at liberty to grant a reasonable accommodation for medical marijuana use," said spokesman Chuck Rohrer. But he also added that it "is not our current practice" to evict residents who are certified to use medical marijuana.

Frank Aggazio, spokesman for the Allegheny County Housing Authority, similarly said that appeals are decided "on a case-by-case basis" and accommodations have been made for medical conditions such as autism.

A move to change rules

Because medical marijuana has been legal in other states for years, the public housing issue has come up before and there is an effort at the federal level to reconcile the conflicting state and federal laws.

In June, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia, introduced a bill that would allow medical or recreational use of marijuana in federally assisted housing if state law allows it. A spokesman for the congresswoman said this week that they are still gathering cosponsors for the bill.

Ms. Cease has one more chance to make her case at a still-unscheduled formal hearing before the authority, and another denial could be appealed in civil court.

She's not optimistic about the outcome.

"What they're going to do is say, 'We get federal funding and it's against federal law,'" she said.

"It's a crazy thing to do to an old woman who has no criminal background, and who owes nobody anything, and is living in a place where you cannot expand your mind."

Steve Twedt: stwedt@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1963.
John and Lisa Gabries inside their Root Beer Barrel Surf Shop in Brigantine. N.J. After 44 years in business, the beloved shop is set to close on Labor Day weekend. Read more

Inside the Root Beer Barrel, the funky little Brigantine surf shop he opened in 1974, John Gabries waits on customers, works the phones, shares stories, and, lately, fulfills requests for hugs, too.

The Barrel will be closing forever after Labor Day weekend, "so everybody wants a hug," he says.

And after 44 years of selling surfboards, board shorts, board wax, boogie boards, bikinis, and so much more on this pretty island just north of Atlantic City, Gabries has plenty of hugs to give and even more stories to tell.

"I'd only been surfing for a couple of years when I opened the place," he said Wednesday.

He has the sort of voice that slaps you on the back and invites you to stay for dinner  which he cooks regularly for his employees.

"I was 18. The summer ended and I had $1,500 saved from busboying at the Lagoon Restaurant," Gabries said.

His wife, Lisa  they met at the shop not long after it opened and now have two children and three grandchildren  smiled and said, "We've been winging it for 44 years."

Said her husband: "I talked to a surfer I really admired. He had long blond hair, drove a Volkswagen van, and his girlfriend, Spring, had long blond hair and was a surfer too. You know, total '70s."

(I know, indeed  even if the closest I came to surfing was watching the movie Beach Blanket Bingo.)

"I told him I wanted to open a surf shop," Gabries said. "I thought he'd put me down. But he said, 'Go for it man! Go for it!' "

So Gabries rented a vacant storefront on 11th Street for $300 a month. He spent most of his $1,500 on inventory and was able to get a $5,000 loan for more goods through a handshake deal with a local banker  back when such people existed and such things were possible.

"The shop was a big hit," Gabries, a native of Chester, Pa., said. "I thought I'd be a millionaire at 30, and retire."

Instead, he moved the Barrel to a bigger location at 10th and Brigantine, where he and Lisa live on the third floor, above the surfboard showroom. Their eclectic emporium has endured as a somewhat offbeat destination in a somewhat off-the-beaten-path Jersey Shore town.

"You hear people say, 'I'm going to Ocean City, Wildwood, Margate, Atlantic City,' " said longtime customer Craig Kaplan, a marketing professional who lives in Philadelphia. "You don't hear a lot of people say, 'I'm going to Brigantine.' "

Nevertheless, generations of serious and novice surfers, beachwear enthusiasts, and families with kids have gone to the Barrel. It's where folks have bought their first kayaks, and followers of fads  rollerblading comes to mind  have gotten their gear on.

"I got all my boards and my waxes and my wet suits here. John always had what you needed," said Joe Stanton, a lawyer who lives in Jenkintown.

"I sold wood stoves, Christmas trees, skateboards, I was never afraid to try unusual products," said Gabries.

He and Lisa did everything themselves before DIY was a thing. They were artisanal proprietors offering "experiential" retail when bricks-and-mortar stores still ruled. And they hand-curated their inventory  their content, if you will  when curating was what people working in museums did.

"We had no training," said Lisa, who has handled all the women's-wear buying for decades. "We were different. We sold stuff the big mall stores didn't."

The Barrel is "beachy," said Tommy Dodson, a Villanova University senior from Haddonfield who worked there several summers. "It's not a boutique. John will even fillet your [freshly caught] fish for you."

Her husband's personality "also had a lot to do with" the Barrel's success, said Lisa. Timing helped as well: The business was established three years before the casino revolution awakened the economy of Atlantic City and its rather sedate neighbors.

"Everything exploded," Lisa said. "And we benefited."

The Barrel's handy and highly visible corner location on Brigantine Avenue proved especially fortunate during the heyday of Brigantine Castle, a quirky haunted house/mini theme-park attraction that operated on a vintage pier.

The castle's ubiquitous late-night TV commercials ("You'll see a living headless woman!") helped put the castle and the island on the map from 1976 to 1984.

"Traffic was bumper to bumper on the avenue," Gabries said. "We used to stay open until midnight."

Said John Seitter, a historian who grew up and still lives in Brigantine: "The Barrel was the go-to for beachwear, surfboards, and boogie boards on the island. But Brigantine is changing. [Superstorm] Sandy and the casino closings had a big impact. The year-round population is smaller."

Like Seitter, the Gabries have watched Brigantine evolve from a community of modest bungalows, with rents even hippie surfers and students could afford, to a town where big, bigger, and in some cases, massive new houses jolt the landscape.

"We tried to sell the business for two years, but no one would step up," Gabries said. "No one even made a serious offer. So the building is sold, and we're outta here."

Health issues also entered into their decision to call it quits. After years of paddling, Gabries has no cartilage left in either shoulder. And Lisa is being treated, successfully, for early-stage Parkinson's disease.

They'll retire to their home in Florida and enjoy having the summer off for the first time in decades.

So closing the Barrel "is not the end," Gabries said. "It's a beginning."
Former priest James Faluszczak, who says he was molested by a priest as a teenager, reacts as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg. Read more

Dear grand jury members,

Thank you for your 24-month investigation into childhood sex abuse by Catholic priests and the cover-up that perpetuated it for decades.

You must feel drained. But we still need you.

Please convene one more time to investigate why Pennsylvania legislators keep blocking bills that would give all victims of childhood sex abuse a shot at justice.

The actions of some politicians are as chilling as those of the bishops and lawyers who protected the Church's assets instead of its children's innocence.

They're not trustworthy leaders. They're co-conspirators in an obstruction of justice.

We need you to name names. To connect the dots between legislators and certain lobbyists who infest the state Capitol. To rake through emails, reconcile bank records, and tally campaign donations.

Basically, we need you to tell us exactly who is helping protect powerful institutions from the consequences of their own depravity  and for how much.

As you know, five out of the six grand jury investigations into childhood sex abuse in Pennsylvania since 2003 have recommended opening a "window" of time during which long-ago victims could seek justice for the horrors they endured. For decades, victims had only two years to report their abuse  as if a 12-year-old has the capacity to understand, within 24 months, what was done to him or her  let alone advocate for justice.

The statutes now allow victims to file civil suits until they're 30 and criminal charges until they're 50. But studies show most victims don't begin reckoning with what they endured until age 52.

Nine states have instituted retroactive windows, which have brought a tsunami of action.

In 2007, for example, when Delaware opened a two-year window, 1,175 victims came forward; 1,000 of them had been childhood patients of Lewes pediatrician Earl Bradley, whose victims were as young as 3 months old.

A similar reckoning could happen in Pennsylvania for any victim of childhood sexual abuse, whether the perpetrator was a deviant priest, a monster like Penn State predator Jerry Sandusky or a serial molester like Bradley.

But too many legislators have spurned every bill that proposes a window.

You're likely aware of House Bill 612, for example, introduced by State Rep. Mark Rozzi (D., Berks). It passed 180 to 15 in the House, but State Sen. Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson)  the Senate's powerful president pro tem  won't even bring it for a hearing in the Senate.

You, dear jurors, spent two brutal years listening to victims. Scarnati won't give older victims a single afternoon to say why the window matters to them.

He has, however, introduced his own sex-abuse reform bill. It abolishes the statute of limitations in most cases going forward but opens no retroactive window.

"His bill does nothing for past victims," says Rozzi, who was molested as a child by a priest. "It's outrageous."

Scarnati and others argue that a window is unconstitutional, which just isn't true, says Penn attorney and child sex-abuse legal expert Marci Hamilton, author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children.

"The window does not violate due process under either the Pennsylvania or federal Constitutions," says Hamilton, who is director of the nonprofit CHILD USA, which seeks to end child abuse and neglect through evidence-based research and enlightened law and public policy.

Scarnati's obstinance must delight one of his campaign donors, the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, which opposes the window. (Some of the organization's members would likely take a financial hit if a window resulted in settlements they'd have to pay on behalf of the institutions they insure.) Last week, my colleagues Liz Navratil and Angela Couloumbis reported that the federation has donated $30,000 to Scarnati since 2016.

I hope, jury members, you'd also be curious about Scarnati's dealings with Long, Nyquist Associates, a powerful Harrisburg lobbying firm whose client list includes the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which also opposes a window.

Three of the firm's executives once worked for Scarnati. (Todd Nyquist, Scarnati's former chief of staff, is described on the firm's website as Scarnati's "alter ego.") A fourth employee is married to Scarnati's current chief of staff.

How many other legislators who oppose the window have cozy lobbyist connections that we should know about?

We need you to find out, grand jurors. You spent two years and buckets of tears listening to victims beg for justice. You alone have the moral authority to find out why Harrisburg won't give it to them.

If you support legislation that would open a retroactive window for child sex-abuse victims, contact your elected reps and tell them so, or call Rep. Mark Rozzi for more information at 717-783-3290.
As Ben Kingsley talks about his new movie Operation Finale, he's trying to digest the news, just relayed by his agent, that he may soon have a chance to play Groucho Marx.

Nothing definite and he can't say much (there is a movie in development by Rob Zombie, of all people), but what he can say is that he'd like to do more comedy, and playing a comedian would be a good place to start.

The Oscar winner is known for his serious roles (he took home his statuette for Gandhi), Operation Finale (opening here Wednesday) being an example. He plays Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann in a movie based on Eichmann's capture in Argentina by Israeli agents.

Eichmann to Groucho?

It's a transition worthy of a punchline that only Marx himself could conjure.

But it's the kind of challenge actors crave, and it's especially appealing to Sir Ben. Playing the twitchy, restless slapstick legend would give Kingsley a chance to move around a bit. I mention to Kingsley that he's one of cinema's most motionless performers, comfortable in stillness the way most actors are not.

"It's a vital part of my currency as an actor. I liken it to grace notes in music. In the course of a performance, it may be in that moment of stillness that the viewer gets a view into whatever process is going on inside the character," he said. "I think those spaces in movies are precious. They invite the audience to come in and rest in the space created by it, to appreciate the story being told."

On screen, Kingsley is a "less is more" kind of guy, and he said so to Finale director Chris Weitz.

"I told him, very modestly, that if he wanted two takes, I will probably give him less on the second, and that if he wanted five takes I might give him even less on the fifth, and so forth," Kingsley said.

Not less effort, but less wasted motion.

"When I feel very insecure in a role," he said, "it's usually when my stillness tends to elude me."

I asked him if stillness becomes even more important in close-up, the aspect of cinema that makes film so different from theater, where Kingsley got his start. He said the great dramatists had a way of addressing the difference.

"The first crucial years of my journey as an actor occurred on stage, sometimes with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I was able to eventually play Hamlet, amongst other challenging roles. And of course the plays included the device of the soliloquy, and I think that was Shakespeare's version of the close-up. 'To be or not to be.' Those moments when the character revealed himself to the audience, opened up his mind to the audience. Certainly, working with Richard Attenborough on Gandhi, I don't think I could have come anywhere close to those moments of stillness without having explored them on stage doing Shakespeare," he said.

"He is determined to manipulate Malkin for his own ends, even if it gives him just a moment of satisfaction."

Kingsley also starred in Schindler's List, and he played Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in Murderers Among Us. After all of that, he's entitled to a turn at comedy. Though to hear Kingsley describe it, comedy is no picnic for an actor.

"It's like the Edmund Kean observation  dying is easy and comedy is hard. It's very technical. It's not the slow burn of drama. It's a quick, rapid fire. The repartee can be highly technical. And I think there is something else at work. Great comic actors have great timing, and I think they also have a hidden rapport with the audience, and that may be part of comedy, too."

Kingsley has been funny, of course, perhaps most memorably  and unexpectedly  playing the "villain" in the Marvel movie Iron Man 3. His character, the Mandarin, was a failed actor named Trevor playing a part.

I asked whether being around actors for several decades helped Kingsley understand and play the vainglorious Trevor.

"There are several little sketches of people I've worked with," he said. "And a few of myself."

All's well that ends well.

Kingsley sneaked into a theater to see Iron Man 3 with his wife and was pleased with the results.

"The woman in front us practically collapsed with laughter. What a lovely character to play on my journey. I hope there are many more."
IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA  Season 13. Pictured: Kaitlin Olson as Dee, Rob McElhenney as Mac, Danny DeVito as Frank, Charlie Day as Charlie. Read more

We knew Dennis Reynolds would be back for the upcoming season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but not like this.

As a newly released trailer for the FXX sitcom's 13th season shows, Dennis will appear in the show, but in the form of a sex doll that Mac (Rob McElhenney) orders. It was still up in the air as to whether actor Glenn Howerton, would return to the show for it's 13th season. At the end of It's Always Sunny's 12th Season, Howerton's Dennis appeared to depart from the show  a plot development that coincided with the actor's start on AP Bio, an NBC comedy that also features Patton Oswalt.

Earlier this month the cast of It's Always Sunny, sans Howerton, spoke about the show's 13th season at the Television Critics Association's summer meetings, and confirmed that Dennis wouldn't be off the show. Now, it appears that they were technically telling the truth, though a rubber sex doll probably wasn't what most fans had in mind.

>> READ MORE: 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan,' and 6 other TV shows getting a jump on the fall season

Either way, though, the show's upcoming season appears to be as strange as ever. Aside from making one of the Gang into a sex doll, this season also appears to show Mac in stellar shape, Dee mocking the #MeToo movement, Charlie dressing up like Seinfeld's Kramer, and Frank using hot glue and lemons as a brutal kind of first-aid.

The 13th season of It's Always Sunny premieres Sept. 5 on FXX.
Govt to operate odd-even number plate vehicles during BIMSTEC summit

The government has decided to operate vehicles according to the odd and even number plate system during the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit to be held in Kathmandu on August 30 and 31.
John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, head of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, has his own grim metric for measuring the overdose toll in Philadelphia: Eight of his union's members have died of overdoses in the last 18 months.

"One person dying would have been too much," he said. "But eight just put me out."

These days, his shop stewards are being trained to administer naloxone; his health fund limits prescriptions of opioids; and he's hired a full-time substance-abuse counselor to help members struggling with addiction.

Officials in the building trades say their members, who take physically demanding jobs and risk serious injuries that often require pain medication, are uniquely predisposed to addiction.

A study released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the few analyses of its kind in the country, backs up what Dougherty and others say they have long known: construction workers are more likely than workers in any other occupation in the country to die of a drug overdose. The study found that they were also at higher risk of heroin overdose.

There has been little research on how occupation dovetails with overdose and addiction risk, as it's hard to track. Death certificates, for example, aren't often clear about a person's profession at the time of their death.

The study looked at fatal overdose data from 21 states, including New Jersey, between 2007 and 2012. Another recent study, which focused solely on Massachusetts and used data collected between 2011 and 2015, found construction and mine workers there died of overdoses at a rate six times higher than the general working population.

The CDC study found that miners, food industry workers, health-care practitioners and support staff, and personal care workers also had elevated overdose death rates  showing the crisis is cutting across large swaths of the country's working population.

"We know that people's jobs affect their health and well-being," said the study's lead author, Laurel Harduar Morano of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. "We need to consider occupation as one of the contributing factors to the opioid epidemic, and possibly [as a place] for intervention."

Morano said more research is necessary to determine why certain occupations have a higher risk of overdose.

But the construction industry can be "a perfect storm" for opioid addiction, said Ken Serviss, executive director of the Allied Trades Assistance Program, which for three decades has helped members of Philadelphia's building trades unions and their families seek treatment for substance-abuse disorders. For the last 10 years, he said, he's watched as more and more members have called his office asking for help with an opioid addiction.

It makes a kind of horrible sense, he said. Construction workers risk injuries on the job each day, whether it's "a fall from scaffolding, or bad knees from years of cement work." Those injuries can lead to prescriptions for opioid pain medication, which in turn can lead workers into addiction to pills, then to heroin, which usually is laced with the even more powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

"And you also have the environmental problems  a lot of socialization [in the industry] is alcohol and drug use," plus the enduring stigma against drug addiction that cuts across occupations, he said.

When the Allied Trades Assistance Program was set up in the late 1980s, Serviss said, members were mostly reporting an alcohol addiction. During the crack epidemic, which decimated black communities, the majority-black Laborers District Council sent members to ATAP for help, said Ryan Boyer, the union's current leader.

"We had a crack epidemic in the 1980s, and the people affected by it looked different," Boyer said. "But we've never seen people with addiction as criminals, as the rest of the American population did. We haven't done anything radically different [amid the opioid crisis] than we've been doing for the past 30 years."

Today, Serviss said, most of his clients are reporting addictions to heroin and fentanyl; about half are spouses and children of union members, who are also covered under the building trades' benefits plans. For the last year, Serviss has trained building trades workers who have dealt with addiction themselves to act as peer advocates for colleagues returning to the job site after drug or alcohol treatment.

"You're often left alone in early recovery on the job site" when co-workers are headed to the bar after work, he said. "Your advocate is a person that can just pull up a spackle bucket and have a conversation. You can have an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting anywhere, with just two people."

After eight deaths in a year and a half, Dougherty said, his union was shaken. Some of the members who died had hidden their addiction almost entirely from their colleagues.

"People are being asked to do more in a shorter period of time," he said, "and what happens is, we get a lot of people trying to medicate their way through a job." None of his members have died of an overdose on the job, he said, but his shop stewards are now being equipped with naloxone just in case. And the union's new substance-abuse counselor has been fielding calls from members, Local 98 officials added, especially since the union has begun placing signs on job sites advising members that substance-abuse help is available.

The union also recently convinced its health insurers to limit opioid prescriptions to five pills to prevent abuse.

(Serviss echoed concerns of advocates who say such measures, while necessary to curb future cases of addiction, should be taken with caution: "We have to be careful when we have legit doctors who are prescribing legit pain meds for issues. You'll start to see people say, 'If I can't get my prescription drugs, I'm going to find other sources to take care of my pain.'" Dougherty said the union was keeping an eye on that, too: "So far, so good," he said.)

Pat Eiding, the head of Philadelphia's AFL-CIO chapter, which represents thousands of workers, said unions are uniquely placed to help members in addiction  and can work to dispel stigma and make it easier to access treatment.

We want the average worker to feel comfortable to go to someone with their problem, he said. If we make that available to our union members, it will help us not have to bury them.
A car almost 100 years old is driven on a street in Havana, Cuba. A couple who traveled to that country was denied acceptance for Global Entry. Read more

Cuba sings a siren song for those who long to see it before it's spoiled. These days, it's easier to travel there than it was in, say, 2014.

Treasury Department regulations you must comply with are less onerous than in times past, but you still can't go to Cuba just for the fun of it. At least, not legally.

You couldn't spend your days lolling on the beach in 2014, either, unless you decided to skip the legalities and fly to Cuba without the license the Treasury Department required. Some Americans did that, flying through Mexico or other nations to reach the communist country in the Caribbean.

Some made sure their passport wasn't stamped, and if they didn't get caught  some did and paid a steep price, but many did not  they could cross Cuba off their travel bucket list.

But at least one couple recently paid the price, thanks to the law of unintended consequences.

This couple, who fly in and out of the United States fairly often, decided to apply for Global Entry, the Trusted Traveler program from Customs and Border Protection.

Global Entry allows travelers to speed through customs when returning from abroad. As a bonus, they also get PreCheck, the Transportation Security Administration's fast-through-airport-security program that lets you keep on your belt, shoes, and jacket, usually through shorter lines. Global Entry costs $100 for five years.

When a traveler applies, he or she will undergo "a thorough background check against criminal, law enforcement, Customs, Immigration, Agriculture, and terrorist indices to include biometric fingerprint checks, and a personal interview with a CBP officer," Customs and Border Protection said in an email.

The couple in question made it to the interview process. She had asked Cuban authorities not to stamp her passport, but her husband's passport got stamped.

At the joint interview, the officer asked whether they had been to any other countries besides the ones they had listed, and the husband, whom she described as relentlessly honest, said that yes, they had been to Cuba.

The interview, the wife said, was immediately "terminated."

Would they ever be able to get Global Entry?

Customs and Border Protection did say this in an email:

You may not get Global Entry if you "provide false or incomplete information on the application; have been convicted of any criminal offense or have pending criminal charges to include outstanding warrants; have been found in violation of any Customs, Immigration, or Agriculture regulations or laws in any country; are subjects of an investigation by any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency; are inadmissible to the United States under immigration regulation, including applicants with approved waivers of inadmissibility or parole documentation; or [they] cannot satisfy CBP of their low-risk status or meet other program requirements."

Since their interview, the wife said she had failed to get PreCheck, and she wondered during our interview whether she is now on a list of some sort. Maybe, maybe not. Her husband flew a few days later and he was randomly selected for it.

TSA did not respond to requests for comment on whether the agencies share that kind of information.

Besides the annoyance of not knowing whether the government is whispering about you behind your back, if Global Entry rejects you, you don't get back your $100 application fee. Being denied participation in Global Entry does not affect your ability to travel.

If you're uncertain whether you would qualify, you might want to try an app called Mobile Passport. Its website home page says you will "breeze through Customs" at 25 airports (including airports serving New York, Baltimore, and Washington, but not Philadelphia) and two cruise ports in Florida. It's available for iOS and on Google Play.

When you set up your profile, it notes, "Your information will be encrypted and shared only with CBP."

A caveat: You must be at your port of entry when you submit your profile.

The app is free and so is submitting your profile.
After weeks of headlines about South Jersey Republican congressional candidate Seth Grossman's views on diversity ("crap"), African American oppression ("exaggerated"), Kwanzaa ("phony"), Islam (a "cancer"), and other postings and comments, the national Republican Party has finally had enough.

Monday night, the National Republican Campaign Committee chairman, Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, issued a statement saying the NRCC was withdrawing its support of Grossman and calling on him "to reconsider his candidacy."

"Bigotry has no place in society  let alone the U.S. House of Representatives," Stivers said in a statement. "The people of New Jersey's Second District deserve an inclusive Republican candidate who will be a trusted conservative voice in Congress."

The national Republicans had previously declined to comment or distance themselves from Grossman's comments, posted on YouTube by the left-leaning American Bridge super PAC and first reported by the Inquirer and Daily News on June 11. Since then, a steady stream of additional stories documenting Grossman's years of Facebook posts and other comments have been published by outlets including CNN and NPR.

Earlier Monday, the Media Matters website published a story about Grossman's retweeting "white nationalist propaganda," including a piece claiming black people are "a threat to all they encounter." The statement from the NRCC followed shortly after.

Grossman, in an interview Monday night, said he would not drop out of the race, in which he will face Democrat Jeff Van Drew, a state senator from Cape May County generally considered a conservative, to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, who is retiring after 24 years in Congress.

Grossman, who based his candidacy on his support for President Trump, said he had raised about $55,000, most of that after the publicity about his views. He again declined to distance himself from his comments but said he does not consider himself racist. A well-known conservative and libertarian activist and lawyer in the Atlantic City area, Grossman said that when he retweeted the story referred to in the Media Matters report, he prefaced it with "Oy vey," which he said meant he was not endorsing the content.

In the retweet, made in 2014, Grossman wrote: "Oy vay! What so many people, black, white and Hispanic, whisper to me privately but never dare say out loud publicly. Back in the Old Country, people were very careful about what they said for fear of retaliation. At one time, America was a free country and people were not afraid to express their true thoughts."

Grossman said he has not heard directly from either state or national Republicans and has no plans to abandon his candidacy, which has brought him national publicity as a symbol of a Republican Party that is all-in for Trump. Locally, county Republican parties in the sprawling district have either declined comment or continued to support Grossman's fund-raising efforts.

"The Republicans are saying I don't understand the people of the district," Grossman said Monday. "I'm saying the people in Washington and Trenton don't understand the people of this district. There's only one way to find out."

Van Drew added: "Very few of us, and not me, came over on the Mayflower."

Monday night, Michael Muller, the chief strategist for Van Drew for Congress, had harsher words for Grossman, calling him "unhinged and unfit for office," and criticized the slow response of the Republican Party:

"It's been 29 days since the media first broke the story of Seth Grossman's hateful rhetoric," Muller said in the statement. "If the NRCC had done a cursory Google search, or even visited their chosen candidate's website or Facebook page, they'd know what most voters in South Jersey already know. Seth Grossman is unhinged and unfit for office."

Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the American Bridge, said in a statement Monday night that the Republican disavowal of Grossman's campaign was "too little too late. Voters will see through this act of political desperation and hold Republicans accountable this November."
Police are looking for a man suspected of burglarizing the Main Line apartment of a 36-year-old model last weekend in connection with her slaying, a law enforcement source said Friday.

Police investigating the burglary found Christina Carlin-Kraft's body Wednesday night after recovering some of her stolen goods in Southwest Philadelphia and going to her Ardmore apartment, the source said.

The source said Carlin-Kraft reported a burglary at her apartment Saturday morning after a night out in Center City. She told investigators she took a ride-share to dinner at the Sofitel hotel on Friday night, but couldn't remember how she returned home, according to the source.

Surveillance video from her building shows Carlin-Kraft returning early Saturday, propped up by a man police subsequently identified during the burglary investigation. That man is seen later that morning leaving the building with bags believed to be filled with Carlin-Kraft's belongings.

On Wednesday, Philadelphia police helped Lower Merion officers serve a search warrant at the man's home in the 6500 block of Theodore Street in Southwest Philadelphia's Elmwood section, the source said.

There, they took another man and a woman into custody for narcotics possession, and discovered items reported missing by Carlin-Kraft, including designer purses, jewelry, and a Gucci belt, the source said.

They also found evidence that the credit cards Carlin-Kraft had reported stolen in the burglary had been used in Philadelphia and Delaware County by people at the Theodore Street address.

Investigators went to the Ardmore apartment Wednesday evening to speak with Carlin-Kraft, only to find her dead. An autopsy determined she had died from "ligature strangulation," meaning the killer used some type of cord.

Other surveillance footage shows the suspect entering the Ardmore apartment with Carlin-Kraft on Wednesday, but does not show him leaving, the source said. It's possible that he jumped from the balcony of Carlin-Kraft's second-floor apartment at the Cambridge Square building on Sibley Avenue.

In announcing the slaying Thursday, officials said area residents had no apparent reason to be concerned for their safety.

In her profile on Model Mayhem, a website for professional models and photographers, Carlin-Kraft listed New York as her home and said her credits included photo shoots for David Yurman, Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret, Playboy, Maxim, and QVC.

"I really do enjoy photoshoots for swim wear and tastefull lingerie," she wrote.

Stuart Kraft of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Carlin-Kraft's father, declined to speak with a reporter Friday morning.

Another relative, who asked that her name be withheld as the family mourns, said Carlin-Kraft had "a beautiful heart and made everyone laugh."

Her presence lit up a room, the woman said, and her stunning features always turned heads.

"She was just a good person," she said. "And our family misses her dearly."

Carlin-Kraft grew up in Northfield, Atlantic County. Aside from her modeling career, she occasionally worked as a interior designer.

She had told her family she enjoyed her neighborhood in Ardmore and felt safe there.

"This is just completely unexpected," the relative said. "We never thought this could happen."

A longtime friend of the victim's said Friday that Carlin-Kraft had been living in the apartment for the better part of a year.

The unit is owned by Carlin-Kraft's boyfriend, a Wall Street banker who grew up in Wynnewood, said the friend, who asked not to be identified. The couple had been together for about nine years, having met while Carlin-Kraft worked as a waitress at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

"She was just delightful, the sweetest person," the friend said. "The whole thing is just shocking."

The friend, who works as a contractor, had often visited the apartment to help fix minor issues.

Crime-scene tape still cordoned off a grassy stretch adjacent to the building Friday morning.

In 2016, Carlin-Kraft found herself in the gossip pages following an altercation at a Manhattan restaurant.

According to the New York Post, she was charged with hitting a waiter at an Upper West Side restaurant in a dispute over the bill. Prosecutors dismissed misdemeanor charges of assault, attempted assault, and harassment on the condition that she stay out of trouble for six months.

"She was a nice person, and I'm not just speaking good of the dead," said Dan Ollen, the lawyer who represented Carlin-Kraft in the assault case.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy speaks to reporters in June. On Friday, he said a new IRS rule that prevents New Jersey from using a workaround to the new federal tax law will hurt taxpayers. Read more

The IRS ruling that would prevent New Jersey and other states from using a potential workaround to the new federal tax law is targeted at heavily Democratic states and is a "regulatory overreach," Gov. Murphy said Friday. He vowed to fight it.

The IRS rule, released Thursday, would prevent states from using strategies to circumvent a $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local income taxes. New Jersey legislators passed a law in May that would allow counties, municipalities, and school districts to establish charitable foundations to which residents could make payments instead of paying property taxes. The charitable contributions could then be counted as deductions on their federal taxes.

The IRS already had cast doubt on such plans, had advised states against deploying them, and now has prohibited them officially.

"We are not going to take this lightly," Murphy said. "We have only begun this fight."

Murphy, speaking at a news conference Friday in Trenton, said he saw the rule change as an attack on Democratic-led states that are opposed to President Trump's tax overhaul. New Jersey is among the states most affected by the federal tax changes, as it has the highest property taxes in the nation, with an average bill of more than $8,000.

Murphy said he was not aware of any local government or school district that had established a charitable foundation; the New Jersey law allowing that action took effect in July, and officials knew that guidelines from the IRS would likely change.

The state has "a toolkit ready to go" for local governments to implement charitable foundations, "but we wanted to see where this came out," Murphy said.

The new federal tax law has also caused New Jersey lawmakers to call for rethinking their property tax system. After taking office in January, Murphy appointed two "shared-services czars" to encourage local governments to share services as a means of reducing taxes. And Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) cited the new federal tax plan as his reason for opposing Murphy's proposed tax on millionaires  a move that led to a showdown over the state budget this year, despite Democrats controlling all branches of state government.

Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D., Middlesex) stood beside Murphy on Friday as he vowed to fight against the IRS rule change, consider further legal action  New Jersey and other states have already sued the Trump administration over its tax changes  and examine other potential legislation to help taxpayers hurt by the $10,000 cap.

"This isn't fair," Sweeney said, "and we're going to fix this one way or another."
Chessa Manion insists she's not looking for revenge, or to spark an ugly confrontation, when she heads to Berks County this weekend.

The plan that she and a group of former Jehovah's Witnesses have cobbled together is fairly simple: They'll gather in front of the Reading Santander Arena on Sunday with signs and artwork, and try to catch the eyes of some current followers of the millenarian religion who will be streaming into the building for a convention that's expected to draw thousands from Pennsylvania and Maryland congregations.

For some of the ex-Witnesses, it'll be a chance to share painful experiences that they tried to bury for years  in Manion's case, the rape that she suffered as a 5-year-old at the hands of a teenage Witness in a small Illinois town in 1994. Others hope to encourage active Witnesses to question the organization's leaders, who have responded to a growing number of child sex abuse cases around the world with denials and instructions to destroy records that could prove harmful in litigation.

>>READ MORE: Silent Witnesses: Experts say archaic rules and an insular culture have created a 'recipe for child abuse'

"We just want to have an open dialogue," said Manion, 29, who now lives in Delaware and organized the protest, which will run from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Ex-Witnesses from 13 countries attended similar protests at a Jehovah's Witnesses convention earlier this month in London, in the wake of British authorities' receiving reports of more than 100 child sexual assaults that occurred at numerous congregations. (The organization's officials have declined multiple interview requests.)

Martin and Jennifer Haugh will be among those in attendance. The couple have become the most recognizable ex-Witnesses in Pennsylvania since telling the Inquirer and Daily News earlier this year about the 2005 molestation of their daughter, which unfolded in a York County kingdom hall that once felt like a second home for their family.

The Haughs said elders discouraged them from contacting police about their daughter's abuse, even they though they knew the identity of her alleged attacker, a family relative named John Logan Haugh. (The 26-year-old was arrested in May, and charged with two counts of indecent assault on a minor. He's receiving therapy as part of a stipulated court agreement that was filed in York County this month.)

When the Haughs decided to leave the religion and seek justice for their daughter, they were shunned by their closest friends and family, some of whom even held a wake in their memory.

>>READ MORE: Suspect in Jehovah's Witness child sex abuse case arrested

"I think many of us who have left have this feeling of, 'I have to do something, but what?'" Jennifer Haugh said.

Establishing a visible presence outside of a convention felt like a logical step, especially at a time when the general public has shown increased interest in religious sex abuse scandals, coming on the heels of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on decades of molestation that occurred in Catholic dioceses across the state.

Haugh knows that Witness leaders label people like her  ex-followers who question some of the organization's rules, like one that requires sexual abuse survivors to produce two eyewitnesses to support their claims  as "apostates," nonbelievers who can't be trusted.

"We're not going to be shouting and waving signs, because we're not going to feed into the apostate trope that we're all possessed by Satan," Haugh said. "We're going with the intention of trying to open some minds, and posing questions that someone could Google later."

>>READ MORE: Jehovah's Witnesses official says to destroy records because 'Satan's coming after us'

Manion's efforts won't end with the demonstration in Reading; she's formed a foundation, Use Our Voice, to help sex abuse survivors find a path beyond the wreckage others brought to their lives. She knows that for some people to move forward, they have to make peace with their past. For Manion, that's meant reaching out to authorities in Illinois to see if they'll revisit her rape case, which didn't result in an arrest, if she files a new complaint.

"I'm still trying to figure it out," she said.
The lawyer representing Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Genece Brinkley says the judge in the Meek Mill case should have immediately granted the rapper a new trial after prosecutors requested it.

Inadvertently speaking into a live microphone after he was interviewed recently by a documentary film crew, attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr. said he felt he was on the wrong side of justice in representing Brinkley, who has presided over Mill's case for more than a decade despite appeals seeking her recusal.

If he were the judge in this case, he would have granted a new trial, he says on the tape. "Prosecution and defense agree  goodbye."

"She looks fing awful," Peruto can be heard saying.

The Inquirer and Daily News listened to the audiotape, which was shared by a Mill supporter.

Peruto said Tuesday he had made no "on-the-record" derogatory comments about Brinkley. "I have been consistent with my defense of this judge," Peruto said in an interview. "Tape or no tape, I don't believe I said it."

"If I said something off the record, it should not be on the transcript," Peruto said. He insisted that reporters should only quote from the on-the-record transcript of an interview he had with a journalist working on a documentary for Amazon about the Philadelphia justice system.

Amazon is collaborating on the documentary with Roc Nation, Mill's management company.

The Amazon team also has interviewed reporters from the Inquirer and Daily News about Philadelphia's criminal justice system.

For months, Mill's supporters and lawyers have sought to discredit Brinkley in a public campaign challenging her credibility and competency. Mill and his lawyers have asked the courts to throw out his decade-old drug and gun convictions because of credibility issues surrounding the Philadelphia police officer who testified against him.

It is not unusual for some people to make on-the-record statements meant for the public and then make off-the-record comments to reporters, sometimes providing valuable tips or even indicating that their public statements do not provide the whole truth.

The Amazon interview took place shortly before Supervising Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker issued a decision May 30 that he could not order Brinkley removed from the case , as Mill's defense team had requested.

After Tucker's decision, Brinkley ruled June 25 that she would not grant a new trial to Mill, whose given name is Robert Rihmeek Williams.

In her 47-page decision, Brinkley said Mill did not meet the legal requirement for a new trial for gun and drug convictions in 2008. Brinkley has repeatedly found that he violated his probation, and sentenced him to prison last fall. The state Supreme Court later ruled that he should be released on bail.

>>READ MORE: Meek Mill released from prison on bail, takes in Sixers game

Mill's petition for a new trial is based on District Attorney Larry Krasner's decision that the arresting officer in the Mill case, Reginald Graham, had credibility problems.

According to internal police documents, Graham was ordered to be fired last year after the Internal Affairs unit learned he admitted to the FBI that he lied about never taking money from a drug bust. One of his former partners had told the FBI that he and Graham stole money during a 2005 raid. Graham, who resigned last year before his planned firing, has declined to comment on the Internal Affairs findings.

>>READ MORE: Meek Mill's arresting officer earlier stole cash and lied: secret police report

In her decision, Brinkley questioned the district attorney's decision to brand Graham as having credibility problems. She said the prosecutor's decision did not require her to rule in favor of Mill. She said she needed to make her own decision.

"Ultimately, the allegations of misconduct related to Officer Graham do not relate to the facts of [Mill's] case  and do not create a question of credibility for [Mill's] underlying trial and arrest," Brinkley wrote.

In Peruto's comments caught on the recording, he also questioned Brinkley's repeated filing of civil lawsuits. In one filed shortly before the interview, Brinkley sued two people who were involved in an accident with her at a Caribbean resort.

Peruto said it was the 23rd lawsuit she had filed in five years.

The lawsuits ranged from eviction cases against former tenants to a suit against the luxury Hershey Hotel, in which she said she suffered serious trauma after she discovered a hotel worker's badge in her bed. She said she suffered troubling memories of the incidents for months.

Brinkley, through her lawyer, Peruto, has declined to comment on the case, citing judicial rules.
English professor Bruce Fleming in 2014 on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Read more

The U.S. Naval Academy this month fired a tenured English professor for what officials in Annapolis described as "unprofessional conduct," including touching cadets without their consent and emailing them photos of himself partially clothed.

Bruce Fleming, a civilian member of the Annapolis faculty for 31 years, characterized his dismissal as part of "a revenge campaign" to silence an in-house critic. He said he was denied due process and plans to appeal.

"I do NOT apologize," he wrote in an email Friday. "Nothing I did was inappropriate."

The academy notified Fleming of the decision in an Aug. 15 letter that cited episodes in which the professor referred to some students as "right-wing extremists," touched students during class without consent and sent them photos of himself without a shirt after being told that such communication was wrong.

Andrew T. Phillips, the academy's academic dean and provost, wrote in the letter that Fleming had not taken responsibility for his actions. "Given this set of facts, I do not have confidence that you will perform at a satisfactory level in the future," Phillips wrote. The investigation began after a midshipman complained about Fleming's conduct.

Fleming's lawyer, Jason H. Ehrenberg, provided a copy of the letter to The Washington Post as well as other documents in which the longtime professor defended himself and explained that his actions were meant to engage students in the classroom.

Responding to investigators, Fleming denied in April ever calling any student a "right-wing extremist" but said it would be within his rights to do so, "especially as a joke."

He said that his class sometimes discussed sexuality in literature and as an issue within the military or on college campuses  but never inappropriately.

Regarding physical contact with students, Fleming told The Post: "I hug a lot of students and they hug me. I am comfortable with them and they with me." At a school that prizes physical education, he said, he made it a point to do one-armed pushups for the class. "Talking about and showing physicality is a way to bond with [students] AND part of our official mission," he wrote. He also said that he would on occasion pat a student on the shoulder but that nothing was out of bounds.

Regarding shirtless pictures, Fleming said that he had worked as a model some years ago and has a number of posed photos that show his torso. A few years ago, he said he shared one with male students to make a point about body imagery in a poem. He said a superior told him not to do that again. Within the past year, he acknowledged, he sent a "partial 'flex' shot"  not a full torso  as a "meme" to students "without thinking about it." He said that it showed "about 1/8 of my body with a flexed arm" and that he often uses the term "flex" in class to refer to a topic sentence.

Fleming, 64, who has a bachelor's degree from Haverford College and a PhD in comparative literature from Vanderbilt University, was removed from teaching abruptly in January as the academy investigated complaints against him. For years he has been well known in Annapolis and beyond as a sharp-tongued critic of admission practices and other aspects of a venerable institution that educates future officers for the Navy and Marine Corps.

"The service academies are now the vanity projects of the military brass, not viable contributions to U.S. defense," Fleming wrote in October for The Federalist. "They're like all those military jets the current cabinet members love to use: flashy, expensive, and lots of fun." Fleming asserted in the essay that academy students are not as strong as the "best and brightest" image that many believe. "I can't tell whether the military brass really have no clue, or this is just hype to keep the tax dollars flowing and make the students feel it's worth it," he wrote.

Commander David McKinney, an academy spokesman, declined to discuss Fleming's case, citing confidentiality of personnel matters. He confirmed Fleming is no longer an employee.

Annapolis has about 570 faculty members to teach 4,500 midshipmen. Slightly more than half of its instructors  291  are civilians. Of those, 178 have a measure of academic job security known as tenure.

In the world of colleges and universities, professors with tenure are generally protected from arbitrary dismissal. The idea is to ensure they have freedom in teaching and research. McKinney said the academy's tenure policy follows guidelines of the American Association of University Professors.

"The Naval Academy makes a commitment of career-long employment to a faculty member who achieves tenured status," McKinney said. "That individual faculty member, in turn, makes a commitment to a career of outstanding teaching, research and scholarship, and service in accomplishment of the Naval Academy's mission."
A Philadelphia man who was on his way to rob what he believed was a drug stash house in New York but was arrested at a New Jersey Turnpike service plaza after his SUV broke down was sentenced Friday to five years in prison, prosecutors said.

Luis Almonte, 37, and Jorge Oviedo-Difo, 30, also of Philadelphia, were found guilty by a Middlesex County jury in June on charges of illegal possession of a handgun, a large capacity ammunition magazine, and bullets that can penetrate body armor. Oviedo-Difo, who was tried in absentia and remains a fugitive, additionally was found guilty of heroin possession.

Investigators identified Almonte and Oviedo-Difo as members of a burglary ring. Officials said a confidential informant convinced the two defendants that there was a stash house full of drugs and cash in New York that could be heisted. The stash house, however, was part of a sting operation.

On Jan. 20, 2016, the pair were driving to the stash house when their SUV broke down at the Grover Cleveland Service Plaza in Woodbridge. New Jersey State Police, acting on information from the sting investigators, arrested the men. In the backseat of the SUV, troopers found black ski masks, a black hooded sweatshirt, plastic zip ties, duct tape, and various burglary tools. Troopers also found a 9mm handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets hidden in a sock. Oviedo-Difo also was carrying a small amount of heroin.
A man puts a shirt on before leaving Higbee Beach in West Cape May, NJ on Aug. 15, 2018. ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer Read more

WEST CAPE MAY  The nude man walks along the shoreline at the edge of Cape May County on this perfect beach day, the breeze off the water keeping the greenheads away. As he gets closer to another person on the beach, not nude, he unfurls a black Speedo from his hand and slips it on without missing a step.

"If it were polite, everybody would be naked," the 62-year-old Collingswood man explains about why he covers up in mixed beach company. "That's the way I look at it."

At Higbee Beach, a once-nude beach that is no longer officially a nude beach, except that it is basically still a nude beach in spots, the nude sunbathers are nothing if not polite.

"Just as I walked by, everybody rolled over," noted Drew Pearsall, 63, of West Chester, Pa., retired from quality control at Johnson & Johnson, who came down for the day to his favorite beach and was content in a bathing suit and a green Phillies cap, his torso a deeply contented shade of well done. "It's secluded and quiet."

This is Higbee Beach 17 years after a ticket written by Lower Township Capt. Martin Biersbach for public nudity found its way to the state Appellate Division and nudist history, when that court ruled that townships could enforce ordinances against public nudity on state-run land.

That ended Higbee's run as an official nude beach, but really, being an official anything beach was never Higbee's thing.

It's not officially a dog beach. It's not officially even a swimming beach, or an anchor-your-boat beach. Or a horse beach. Or a gay beach. Or a hippie beach. Officially, it's a Wildlife Management Area run by the State of New Jersey, with excellent trails and birding.

But head up through those trails that traverse the amazingly lush, rolling, tree-canopied dunes to this secluded beach most any day of the summer, and it's dogs, boats, swimmers, gays, straights, sometimes people on horses, and, heading south toward Daveys Lake, in the direction of Sunset Beach, still an (unofficial) nude beach. Though the naturists tend to be discreet when warranted.

"It's kind of an anything goes beach," said Adam Keilbaugh, a yoga instructor from Philadelphia who was spending the day idyllically under an umbrella with his 13-year-old dog, Luna, equally content nearby, leaving the nudists to another more remote section farther up the beach. He's been going to Higbee for more than a decade.

Most people seem to know the ropes, and the various constituencies seem to sort themselves out peaceably, but a few are surprised.

"As the beach narrows, there was a congregation. It changes where it narrows down there," said Pearsall in amusement. "It was a surprise to me."

The beach's seclusion, fresh water lakes and springs, pathways up in the dunes and quiet all make Higbee a seriously atypical Jersey Shore beach  no beach tag checkers, no lifeguards, no amenities but the ones you bring in. This is what drew Pearsall back, he said, albeit a bit more enlightened as to where to set down his chair.

"When I came back, I didn't want to encroach on the guys who were rolling over," he said.

Higbee's curving geography gives it the feel of a tropical beach, say St. Thomas without a dive beachside bar, with the Cape May Ferry boats filling in for the cruise ships.

Some people think it's haunted, and its so-called ghost tracks emerge every few years, a relic of a rail line built for the sand mining and munitions testing facilities during World War I.

The hauntings date to the late 19th century, when Thomas Higbee, part of a family that owned a hotel on the land, was buried there at his request. His body was later moved to Cold Spring Cemetery, but local lore recounts sightings of old Tom walking the beach in a long coat, with a dog, as he never wanted to leave.

Highbee also had a reputation as a gay meeting place, but these days, that distinction mostly belongs to Rehoboth Beach, a ferry ride away in Delaware. At least officially.

And for an official nude beach, head to Gunnison Beach on National Park Service land in Sandy Hook in North Jersey. There, clothing is optional and signs are posted.

At Higbee, the dog people, the boat people, the seclusion is my thing people, and the naturalist people appear to have settled into an amiable co-existence.

"It's a sacred kind of place," said one topless woman who's been coming to Higbee for 30 years. "It's been a nude beach since the 1930s."

Keilbaugh says the beach sorts itself out naturally the farther away one gets from the parking lot at the end of New England Road. It makes sense that anyone with kids or a lot of stuff won't bother walking that far from the parking lot.

"It isn't officially a dog beach, but it's a dog beach," said Keilbaugh. "It's not built up. We've seen bald eagles, people riding on horseback. This is wonderful. I do back bends and stretches."

Keilbaugh's been coming to Higbee for about 15 years. He says he sees the same regulars who go low-key nude.

The boaters anchor like they're in the tropics, wading onto the shore like they're on Survivor.

"We live real close to the beach, but we'd rather come here," said Jolene Mizsak. She and her husband, John, bring their boat, the Pinch Me, from Stone Harbor to Higbee for idyllic beach days. "It's not crowded. Nobody bothers anybody. They do their things, we do ours."

Pinch Me indeed. The Mizsaks say Higbee provides a nice beach walk that is a bit more interesting than your typical Stone Harbor, or even North Wildwood, stroll.

"They're happy to show their stuff," jokes John. "The closer you stay to the [Cape May] Canal, the less nudity."

More dogs, more bathing suits, basically. And on some days, hundreds of horseshoe crabs wash up.

The beach was ripped apart during Hurricane Sandy, mostly overwhelming its weird landmarks, like South Voodoo Tree, which Keilbaugh says was basically a collection of driftwood stacked up every year with "South Voodoo" carved into a branch.

Over at Lower Township police headquarters, Biersbach said he can't remember the last time anyone complained about nude sunbathers at Higbee. He says it's been a few years since any summonses have been written. He recalled the years after the law was upheld, when police formed special details to crack down on the practice, with grants from the state.

He said the long walk from the parking lot to where nudists might congregate would tend to keep families from setting up shop nearby.

"We don't actually walk the beach," he said. "It's kind of isolated. Like a deserted island."

Although park rangers ride up and down the beach periodically, the state seems to have let it go as well.

"I thought the nude sunbathing there stopped years ago," said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

As you get closer to Sunset Beach at Cape May Point, the spot where the famous flag-raising ceremony takes place at sunset, high tide will fill a little tributary from Daveys Lake and make it impossible to cross, forming a moat of sorts. Towels will emerge on some lounge chairs as a nod to discretion, or not. Bathers will emerge from the sea, nude or not.

At Higbee, the sun will set over the Delaware Bay, unceremoniously.

The square wooden remains of what looks like a pier carry still yellow painted warnings that in context seem almost assuredly in jest.

"No traipsing, no shenanigans, no gallivanting."

"No nudes is good nudes."

"No sashaying."

Officially, anyway.

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Home Ministry forms high-level probe panel

The government has formed a high-level team to investigate the rape and murder of the teenager.
Sen. John McCain is on stage with former Vice President Joe Biden (left) before receiving the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center October 16, 2017. Read more

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) is discontinuing treatment for the brain cancer he was diagnosed with last year, his family said Friday.

"John has surpassed expectations for his survival," the family said. "But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict."

McCain was in Philadelphia in October when he was awarded the National Constitution Center's Liberty Medal, which honors people for their courage and conviction. In his acceptance speech, McCain blasted "half-baked, spurious nationalism" and gave a stinging rebuke of the politics that brought President Trump to power.

Americans, McCain said then, need to reject nationalism "cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems."

>> READ MORE: McCain on his cancer prognosis: It's 'very, very serious'

McCain, a former Navy pilot, spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The son of a storied Navy family, he had been offered early release after his capture, but refused, and endured years of torture in a Hanoi prison.

The type of cancer McCain has, a glioblastoma, was detailed by my colleague Stacey Burling, whose husband died in 2010 from the same cancer.

People across the Philadelphia region on Friday expressed support for McCain and his family.

>> PHOTO GALLERY: Senator John McCain throughout the years
The Proud Boys make their signature hand symbol while riding to a rally in Portland, Oregon. They also use the signal to communicate with each other in the midst of a fray. Read more

PORTLAND, Ore.  Behind the anonymity of white faces illuminated by tiki torches, beyond the bloodied fists of street brawls, there are communities of young men who gather on weekends to camp and fish and train in combat sports.

The face of hate is changing in America, and the new right is a "millennial male phenomenon," said Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., an advocacy group that tracks hate and bigotry toward marginalized communities.

Brewing among some young men are an intolerance and hatred bringing bias-motivated violence to the streets and white-nationalist politics to the political forefront.

Beirich said many such groups have toned down their rhetoric and tactics since the violence of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. But she pointed to two groups, very different in their objectives, that "are still growing and making noise": the Proud Boys and Identity Evropa.

Both groups are young, male-dominated, and positioned on the far right. Both formed in 2016.

The Proud Boys are composed of blue-collar workers in their 20s and 30s whom the SPLC label as anti-Muslim and sexist. The Proud Boys call themselves a men's drinking club, extreme patriots who believe "being proud of Western culture today is like being a crippled, black, lesbian communist in 1953."

The Proud Boys are heavily invested in defending their First and Second Amendment rights and recently have been involved in violent street fights with far-left groups known as antifa, particularly on the West Coast.

Identity Evropa is made up of mostly college-educated white men in their 20s and is labeled a white-nationalist hate group by the SPLC. Their goal is to enable a white supermajority in America by bringing their political ideas mainstream and expanding their political and social influence, according to the group's current leader, Patrick Casey.

"Identity Evropa's message is pro-white, white ethnostate, and this is a racist conception," Beirich said. "Even though they may look good with their polo shirts and nicely painted banner signs, that doesn't mean they are not dangerous."

Image is everything

"No tattoos, no drugs, well-dressed, high-class" is how Patrick Casey, Identity Evropa's executive director, described his ideal recruit.

In early July in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, 10 members of Identity Evropa joined Casey for an afternoon of community service, which the group also calls activism.

Before pulling on protective gloves to pick up trash, Casey halted the group of young men to flatten one recruit's shirt collar. Image is everything, and this park cleanup is an exercise in public relations, a way to push Identity Evropa's ideas into the mainstream by being seen as valued members of society.

"Identity Evropa. We're kind of like a fraternity" is the response members gave to passersby who wanted to know who they were.

"Just doing our bit for the community," they said to a young woman with two children at her side.

When two members begin chatting about how they believe mainstream news media are colluding in their coverage of black-on-white crimes, Identity Evropa's chief of staff commanded them to stop talking, his eyes traveling to a journalist's recording device.

If Identity Evropa is a fraternity, it's like no other. Dues may not inhibit membership  "$10 a month, the same price as a Netflix subscription"  but the prerequisites might. Members must be white, specifically non-Hispanic, non-Semitic, and of European heritage, Casey said.

Genetics are important to Identity Evropa, but ideology is more so.

Casey, 29, and his band of identity brothers say they are working to preserve white identity in America. Identity Evropa has gained national attention for the youth of its members, and their presence at last August's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where they led the chant "Jews will not replace us!" while marching with burning torches.

After Charlottesville, Identity Evropa lost members and momentum and Casey took over as executive director to rebuild and rebrand the organization as clean-cut and unsullied. The group now claims a membership of roughly 1,000 and a presence at most college campuses around the U.S.

Casey, who also works for the far-right media production house Red Ice TV, told News21 he was raised in a "mildly conservative" home in Virginia, but after researching multiculturalism, immigration, and diversity online, he adopted identitarian beliefs and joined Identity Evropa.

"Our national agenda is to place members in elected and powerful positions in order to legislatively advance an end to all illegal immigration into America and to ultimately limit legal immigration to people from northwestern European countries," Casey said.

The organization regularly places banners on highway overpasses, with such slogans as "Danger you are now entering a sanctuary city," "End immigration," and "European roots | American greatness." Members stage public protests, recently dressing in construction gear and holding signs reading "Build the Wall" outside the Mexican Consulate in New York City.

But Identity Evropa focuses most of its recruitment on college campuses, which it sees as the last battlegrounds, places where young white people are taught to feel racial guilt and believe that multiculturalism is a positive thing.

"You could be studying for a degree in physics, and they'll make you take a diversity class," Casey said, "but diversity just means less white people, and that is really sick."

The organization distributes recruitment fliers, stickers, and posters on campuses, frequently drawing the attention of local and national news media, a recruitment strategy Identity Evropa calls "Project Siege."

"The idea is that people see the flier and then they look us up online and apply to join," Casey said.

After the application, they are contacted by a member of Identity Evropa's interview board and a Skype interview is conducted. Candidates are asked about their heritage, their political ideology, and their views on Adolf Hitler.

The Anti-Defamation League's latest report on white-supremacist propaganda on college campuses describes Identity Evropa's tactics as using "propaganda that avoids recognizable white supremacist imagery and language."

The ADL recorded 478 incidents of white-supremacist propaganda on campuses since September 2016, including fliers, stickers, banners, and posters. It attributed roughly half these incidents to Identity Evropa.

Proud Boys: A drinking club that moonlights for free speech

Formed the same year as Identity Evropa, the Proud Boys have risen to public prominence particularly for their street brawls with antifa. Antifa, short for antifascist, is not a unified group but a loose collection of local groups and individuals who are aggressively opposed to far-right movements.

The Proud Boys see themselves as a men's drinking club whose members moonlight as bodyguards of free speech, particularly for Patriot Prayer, another right-wing group that hosts rallies in the Northwest opposing immigration and political correctness.

Antifa, however, consider the Proud Boys a "violent street gang of misogynists, fascists, racists, and bigots," according to one member of antifa.

Most antifa members come from the anarchist movement or the far left. But since President Trump's election in 2016, people with more mainstream political backgrounds have joined antifa at counterprotests, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The opposing groups have engaged in fractious civil disputes since early 2017, and videos of their violent encounters shared online have prompted more men to join Proud Boys and more people to attend antifa's protests, both groups said.

On the last night of June, at least four Proud Boys were hospitalized in Portland after taking part in one of the most violent protests since the Unite the Right rally last August in Charlottesville.

"This isn't some big political movement," said Gavin McInnes, cofounder of Vice Media and the alt-right provocateur who founded the Proud Boys in a bar in New York City. In a phone interview, he said the group began as a joke, just an outlet for men who wanted to do something, a way to be in society.

"In the past, men had an automatic advantage. This is no longer the case, and men are seeing that change in the world," Karla Mantilla, author of Gendertrolling: How Misogyny Went Viral, said in a phone interview with News21. The Proud Boys are dangerous, she said, because "their philosophy is based on dominating and defeating those that threaten their identities."
People lining up to cross into the United States to begin the process of applying for asylum near the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico. Read more

A 15-year-old girl was walking home from school in Mexico when she was kidnapped and raped by a stranger. Her parents reported the crime to the police, who told them she should marry her attacker.

A pregnant Honduran woman was arguing with her husband, a gang member and associate of the local police. He shoved her through a glass table, leaving her body slashed and bleeding. When she tried to seek medical help, he blocked the door, pointing a loaded gun at her face.

In June, the United States sentenced these women, and thousands more like them, to die.

We did this when Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed a previous ruling that had granted asylum to a woman on grounds of her being a victim of domestic abuse. He declared that intimate partner violence represents "private violence" rather than state-sanctioned persecution, and that "the asylum statute does not provide redress for all misfortune."

>> READ MORE: Jeff Sessions' asylum decision hurts women most in need | Christine Flowers

This decision is as dangerous as it is morally repugnant. Not only does the term private violence reflect the deadly idea that domestic abuse is a family matter, but it is a wholly inadequate way to describe the ubiquitous oppression under which women live around the world  oppression so inescapable that it drives them to flee from their home countries.

When violence against women is rampant and well-documented, and governments are unwilling or unable to intervene, it is not a "private" issue it is a systemic one.

I know this because I manage a clinic that provides medical evaluations to asylum-seekers in Philadelphia. Unlike refugees, who are brought to the U.S. from nations where they are subject to persecution, asylum-seekers have already arrived here and are applying to stay. To be granted asylum, they must show they have been, or fear they will be, victims of persecution in their home countries.

In their evaluations, survivors of domestic violence display physical and emotional scars that corroborate their stories. They have cuts, infections, and cigarette burns. They have disfigured, arthritic joints from untreated broken bones. They express hopelessness and guilt, and describe vivid flashbacks to their abuse: telltale signs of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In recent years, the makeup of asylum-seekers in the United States has shifted. There has been a sharp increase in applicants from Latin America, particularly El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, including women fleeing gender violence. And many have been successful: in 2014, then-Attorney General Eric Holder ruled that intimate partner violence was grounds for asylum, and in subsequent years the approval rate for those nations tripled.

This happened with good reason. In 2017, the United Nations deemed Latin America the most dangerous place in the world for women  in Guatemala, a woman is murdered every 12 hours. A large number of these murders are committed by partners or family members living in the home.

In most cases of femicide, murder is not the first act of violence  it starts with verbal and physical abuse. But for most abused women, leaving their partners is not an option. Many have children, and lack the resources to be single mothers.

Those who report to the police do not fare better. Frequently, police refuse to get involved, preferentially believing men's accounts or saying such issues should be handled in the home. When abusers are involved in drug or gang activity, police may be too frightened to intervene, or involved in those crimes themselves. This renders women prisoners in the homes of their abusers, who continue to victimize them without fear of repercussions.

It is important to note that these women are victims of violence, and not perpetrators. Despite the Trump administration's rhetoric, numerous studies have shown that immigrants, including asylees, commit crimes at far lower rates than natural-born Americans. Like the overwhelming majority of asylees, these women work, pay taxes, and follow the law.

The new policy is a needless, heartless declaration of war on one of the world's most vulnerable populations. It will not make America safer or richer. But it will drive thousands of women back into the homes of their abusers  effectively, for many, to their deaths. Violence against women is not mere "misfortune"  it is systemic persecution of a group stripped of the legal or political means to fight back. It should be treated as such under asylum law.

Leigh Finnegan is a fourth-year medical student and executive director of the Philadelphia Human Rights Clinic.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, center left, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., attend a news conference with dozens of women and girls who were sexually abused by Larry Nassar, a former doctor for Michigan State University athletics and USA Gymnastics on Capitol Hill in Washington. Read more

I am one of many who read the grand jury report on sexual assault by priests of the Catholic Church across most of Pennsylvania over seven decades. The report tells a story of heinous crimes committed by Catholic priests and concealed by the Catholic hierarchy. It is a story of lives and hopes ruined forever by men who used their position of trust as clergy to commit the very sins that the God they vowed to serve forbids under pain of hell.

As a mother, I wept over the vicious and heinous crimes that were perpetrated against children, sometimes in the name of the church itself, by more than 300 priests.

As a Catholic, I am angry with the church hierarchy for protecting priests, monsignors, auxiliary bishops, bishops, archbishops, and even cardinals who either molested children or enabled abusers for more than a half century.

As a Pennsylvania resident, I am outraged with the attempt by church leaders and their powerful supporters to suppress this report and keep the facts of the crimes and the lives they ruined hidden from the public.

As an attorney, I am shocked and saddened by the grand jury's statement, "We spent 24 months dredging up the most depraved behavior, only to find that the laws protect most of its perpetrators and leave its victims with nothing. We say laws that do that need to change."

As a citizen, I call upon our representatives to make the laws work on behalf of the thousands who were abandoned and abused by those they sometimes trusted most.

I am raising my voice now because I am something more than a mother, a Catholic, a Pennsylvania resident, an attorney, and a citizen. I am a survivor of sexual abuse. In fact, I am the first known victim of former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar. Nassar began to abuse me when I was an 8-year-old gymnast with dreams of someday representing my country in the Olympics. I trusted my abuser because he was the Olympic team doctor, a god in the world of gymnastics. I thought he could do no wrong.

I did not realize that what happened to me was sexual abuse for more than 30 years until I read stories about Nassar in the media. I suspect that very same thing is happening to thousands of clergy-abuse victims in Pennsylvania right now.

At the time Nassar's history of abuse became public, a child sex-abuse victim in Michigan had to file a lawsuit by her 19th birthday. Most victims of the priests named in the grand jury report lost their right to sue when they turned 20. As the grand jury said, "These victims ran out of time to sue before they even knew they had a case; the church was still successfully hiding its complicity."

When Nassar was sentenced for his crimes in Michigan, something amazing and truly inspirational happened. Two hundred and sixty-five women came to court, and confronted Nassar and the institutions that enabled his abuse. The judge called us "an army of sister survivors."

We marched to the state Capitol. We demanded change, and we got it. We helped pass laws that opened a window of opportunity for all victims of child sexual assault to pursue justice, regardless of age. We increased the criminal statute of limitations by 15 years. These new laws strengthen requirements for reporting child sexual abuse and the penalties for those that fail to report. Needless to say, all of these new laws were vigorously opposed by the Michigan Catholic Conference, but our survivors' army beat them.

The changes we made in Michigan law are the same changes that have been endorsed by the Pennsylvania grand jury.

They will not happen without a fight. I call upon the thousands of survivors in Pennsylvania and their families to raise their voices, cast aside their shame, confront their abusers, and take up this cause. You will be joined by the army of sister survivors and by people of goodwill throughout this nation. If it takes a village to raise a child, it will take an army to protect all the children.

Sarah Klein is an attorney and Pennsylvania resident. She is the first known victim of former Olympic Women's Gymnastic Team doctor Larry Nassar and an advocate for victims of sexual abuse.
New Delhi: Ramesh S Singh, Executive Director, Dena Bank, in an exclusive interview with Anurag Shah, Zee Business, said, "in absence of the provision of issuing fresh loans, the bank has shifted its focus on recovery".

He added the bank will be raising Rs 500 crore by selling its non-core assets.

Edited Excerpts

Q: The banks last quarter results reported a decrease in its losses from Rs 1,200 crores to about Rs 700 crores but its NPA situation remained at 22 per cent levels. Now, I would like to know about the steps being taken by the bank so that it can post positive profit results? And what is your opinion on the recovery of the bank?

A: Restrictions imposed on the bank from issuing any fresh loan, which was imposed by the Reserve Bank of India in May, is one of the reasons that our NPA stood at the levels of 22 per cent. Because the restrictions didn't allow us to increase the bracket of loans on our part. When it comes to our profitability, then you have seen that our book of losses came down from Rs 1200 crore to Rs 726 crore and we are working to reduce it in the ongoing quarter that will end in September 2018. For that purpose, our entire team from across India, which is free from the work of increasing loan accounts, is completely engaged in recovery work. And I feel that this effort will help us to bring NPA accounts under our control and reduce our losses. In addition, we will be able to post profit results by the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20.

Q: Dena Bank is one of the banks from a list of 11 banks, which are under the PCA of the Reserve Bank of India due to their weak financials, is facing the toughest restrictions and the bank has been stopped from issuing any fresh loan. Under such circumstances, I would like to know about the steps the bank is taking to convince the regulator, RBI, to modify its order and loosen its restrictions a bit?

A: It is true that we were saddened after receiving RBI's letter on May 8, 2018, stating that the bank is being stopped from sanctioning any fresh loan and hire new personnel. The letter also brought a pressure on the bank including employees that what is the reason for such direction at a time when we are at a better situation (under certain conditions especially capital adequacy) from few other banks, whose names are mentioned in the list. But it was the regulator's analysis about the bank and it would have been made on the basis on the analysis of provisioning of our remaining NPAs or may be on the basis of the analysis of fresh provisioning which was scheduled to happen in future. The exclusive restrictions which were imposed on Dena bank forced the management that sits over here to think that it would hamper our business. We were afraid that the decision may lead to run of deposit in the bank that the efforts of our team, employees, officers, branches and top management worked hard to retain our customer base. This effort protected us to protect our account holders, who would have been poached by the competitors.

Q: But how do you convince customers of the bank as they would come up with several questions while their visits to the branches?

A: I agree with the point and we also faced problems in initial days after the directions were issued in the month of May but our branches managed to make our customers, existing and the new ones, understand that it is a temporary problem and is likely to come to an end in next 3-6 months and we will be able to assist them in the best possible way after the restrictions are removed.

When it comes to your question that what we are doing when we are restricted from issuing fresh loans than I would like to inform you that our entire team is engaged in reducing the NPAs of the bank and recovery. Five general managers of the bank are completely engaged in the work of recovery of which 4 are exclusively engaged in recovery work and the fifth is engaged in stake assessment. Their main work is to communicate with respective branches and customers and convince them to go for a one-time settlement scheme, Dena Rin Mukti scheme, of the bank, so that they can close their account at the earliest and help the bank in its recovery work.

Q: I would like to know about the capital requirement of the bank and had it asked for a certain help from the government?

A: We need capital support to meet the minimum capital requirement mentioned under BASEL 3 norms and we have asked for a support of Rs 2000 crore from the government. The demand is based on the assessment of provisioning of fresh NPA accounts of the bank, which was made after seeing the June quarter results of the bank. Apart from this, we are trying to raise a capital of near Rs 500 crore by selling our non-core assets, which includes some strategic sales like shares of NSDL, NSD e-governance and SIDBI, rest shares are related to the bank's non-core activities. Interestingly, the process has been started after getting an approval from the board.

Q: Do this non-core asset, which will be sold to raise Rs 500 crore, will also include the real estate assets of the bank, if yes, then can you tell us about the geography where such sales will be practised? Do this sale also include the real estate properties where the bank has its branches?

A: You are right, we will be raising about Rs 200 crores by selling the shares and the rest Rs 300 crore will be raised by selling the real estate properties of the bank. Maximum of those assets are located in Mumbai and the selling of these assets will hardly have any impact on our business. We will be building new assets soon after the situation of the bank comes to a normal.

Q: Do you think that that the bank has completed the provisioning work on the cases that have been sent for NCLT or will they require a re-provisioning?

A: See, the regulator, RBI, sent two different lists with an outstanding of Rs 4,600 crores to us. The first list had the names of nine accounts while the second list had names of 12 accounts. Cases of two of these accounts, namely Bhushan Steel and Electrosteel, have been settled. Of the remaining 19 accounts, with an outstanding balance of Rs 3,990 crore, the provisioning work of 64 per cent accounts has been completed and the provisioning work of remaining 36 per cent accounts will be done by us in next 3-4 quarters. Possibilities are there that the resolution work on these accounts would be completed reducing our efforts of provisioning. Interestingly, we may get right back of some of these accounts.

Q: Can you let us know about the capital that was raised after resolution work on two accounts was completed? Can you tell us about your expectations related to capital that the bank would raise by end of the ongoing quarter?

A: The two accounts helped us to raise about Rs400-450 crore. In fact, we raised Rs 374 crore from Bhushan Steel and Rs 90 crore from the resolution of Electrosteel. Resolution of these two accounts helped us in reducing our gross advancement and gross NPAs. I am hopeful that the resolution work of at least 2-4 accounts, like Ruchi Soya, will be completed by September 2018.

Q: Deadline of 12 February circular released by RBI is about to complete and under such situation, I would like to know about the number of cases that have been resolved in this period and the percentage of accounts that will move to NCLT?

A: The circular requires banks to finalise a resolution plan in case of a default on large accounts of Rs 2,000 crore and above but Dena Bank had few accounts, nearly 7-8 accounts, with a complete involvement of Rs 800-900 crores. When it comes to resolution than we have few standard accounts in the list and thus we don't have any problem related to it. Power sector accounts are having an impact on it but luckily we have just 1-2 power accounts in our list.

Q: As you said that you have two accounts associated with the power sector but there is a case related to the sector in the Allahabad Court and the court's decision is pending yet. What if the decision is not made in favour of the circular, will the banks will have to go for a re-provisioning of the accounts related to the power sector?

A: They are a standard asset and if the court's decision goes against the RBI guidelines then those accounts will be sent to NCLT, which means the bank will have to re-provision the accounts. But this re-provisioning will not have a major impact on us because we have a very small portfolio in the sector and both of them stands below Rs 100 crore each.

Q: Can you tell us about sector wise exposure of the bank?

A: See, 40 per cent of our loan portfolio belongs to private sector lending and the corporate sector related lending, which once stood near 55-56 per cent, has gone down to 44-45 per cent. In addition, we have a strategy to move out from the corporate loan sector to MSME sector, whenever the regulator allows us to restart the process of providing loans. Our strategy is backed by the geography, like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, where we have maximum branches.

Q: Earlier, the government directed the banks to have the passport details of account holders whose loan portfolio was bigger then Rs 50 crore, so that they may not run away from the country after defaulting the loans. Can you let us know about the precautions undertaken by Dena Bank and also does it have the details of all such portfolio holders?

A: Yes, the government has directed us to have the passport details of the directors of all such account holders and we have complied with the orders and have collected the passport details of such account holders. Apart from this, we have also directed our department to be prepared and have a check on such accounts and try to find out the possibilities/probabilities of frauds and have already declared 16-17 such accounts as frauds. In fact, you would have read the government's secretaries direction to the bank where he has asked the banks to have a tab on such accounts and report them to the concerned department.

Q: In the recent past, there were reports of a coordinated digital attack on accounts of Pune-based Cosmos Bank under which large nearly Rs 100 crores were fraudulently withdrawn using several cloned debit cards. Such incidences pull away from the confidence of customers from digital banking. In the same line, I would like to know about the precautionary measures that the bank will be taking to tighten its security layers?

A: Cosmos bank episode is a matter to worry. But I would like to thank the Reserve Bank for issuing an advisory some 15 days back informing the banks that such event of hacking is likely to happen. Secondly, we have a security layer at our bank under which a hacker can not go beyond a level and have also directed our security chief officer to go for a more precautionary mechanism to avoid and protect our customers from such events.
New Delhi: IndiGo and GoAir have grounded nine A320 neo planes due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues, aviation regulator DGCA said on Friday.

Taking note of the grounding, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has sought a detailed report on the matter from the DGCA.

"At present, there are 60 A320 neos with P&W engines (41 with IndiGo and 19 with GoAir). As on date, 7 with IndiGo and 2 with GoAir are on ground," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.

These groundings are due to combustor distress found during routine scheduled boroscopic inspection, it added.

It refers to inspection done using a boroscope -- an optical device that is used for inspecting parts that are generally inaccessible.

The regulator also said there are no safety concerns as such distress is found during routine scheduled boroscope inspections of these engines.

Prabhu has sought a report on the grounding of the A320 neos from the DGCA.

Security of the passengers is of paramount importance and at no cost the security should be compromised, he said in the statement.

Providing technical details, the ministry said these are all Block B combustors.

"As and when combustor distress is found beyond laid down limits, aircraft is removed from service for engine replacement.

"A320 neos inducted after March 2018 are coming with P&W engines fitted with Block C combustors which has better life. Engines coming from shop are also fitted with Block C combustors," it noted.

IndiGo and GoAir have been grappling with P&W engine problems persisting for many months.

"The manufacturers have taken measures to address significant problems of engines related to combustion chambers distress and No 3 bearing issues by replacing Block B combustion chambers with Block C and providing dry face bearing seals.

"These measures have significantly reduced the engine problems," the DGCA said.
Chandigarh: Delay in reaching the hospital caused the death of a newborn after an ambulance carrying the baby allegedly got stuck in a traffic jam because of a Congress rally, the investigation report ordered by the state government revealed on Friday.

The child died soon after reaching PGIMS at Rohtak on Wednesday as the ambulance was stuck for "20 to 30 minutes" due to the cycle rally of Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar in Sonipat district, the report said.

Prepared by director general of the state's health department Satish Agarwal, the report was submitted to Health Minister Anil Vij on Friday.

"It was found that the ambulance was stuck in traffic for about 20 to 30 minutes due to jam caused by the cycle rally of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Chief, Dr Ashok Tanwar," the report said.

Vij had yesterday instructed Agarwal to form a special investigation team to probe the matter and submit a report at the earliest.

He had also demanded police action while raising the issue with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The health minister said the members of the committee included deputy civil surgeon and senior medical officer who thoroughly investigated the matter.

"The committee has informed in its report that all documents were obtained and statements of the ambulance driver, fleet manager and paediatrician were recorded," he said.

"On the basis of these evidence, the main reason for the death of the newborn was delay in reaching hospital," he added.

He said that it was mentioned in the report that a call was received at Sonipat office of National Ambulance Service for an ambulance from Divya Hospital, Maniyari Pyau at 11.21 am to refer a newborn to Civil Hospital in Sonipat.

"The hospital management sent the ambulance from the community health centre Badkhalsa at 11.22 am which reached Divya hospital within 10 minutes," he said.

As per report, it takes 15 minutes to reach Civil Hospital from Divya Hospital, but on Wednesday the ambulance got delayed.

"Thereafter, the newborn was taken to a Special Newborn Care Unit where doctors found that the child was in critical condition with low heartbeat," he said.

The newborn was was then referred to PGIMS, Rohtak where he died during treatment, Vij said.

The minister further said that an FIR was registered by the police as he assured action against the guilty after a thorough probe.

Tanwar had taken out a 'Haryana Bachao Parivartan Lao' bicycle rally near Kundli village on the NH 1 targeting the BJP over the Rafale deal.

The Congress leader had yesterday tweeted that the infant's father had said the child died as the ambulance was not equipped with oxygen cylinders, paramedical staff etc.
A self-styled godman was arrested on Wednesday in Assam for allegedly pretending to cure women by hugging and kissing them, police said on Thursday.

The accused Ram Prakash Chauhan from Bhoraltup village of Morigaon district claimed that he could cure the physical and psychological problems of females as he has supernatural powers.
New Delhi: The BJP on Friday lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for invoking Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, during his address in Berlin, saying his party is identified with anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and he should apologize for the "heinous crime" at the Golden Temple.

Gandhi is invoking Guru Nanak Dev merely for vote-bank politics. For him, Sikhs are merely vote bank, BJP national secretary R P Singh said.

Addressing the Indian diaspora at a function organized by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin last night, Gandhi said the Congress's thought of "unity in diversity" came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev, and the BJP-RSS divides people and spreads hatred.

In a sharp reaction to his remarks, Singh said Gandhi's thoughts are actually in line with the Congress culture of divide and rule.

"We are pained to know that Gandhi, who reminds us of anti-Sikh riots of 1984, claims that his thoughts resemble to the first Sikh guru -- Guru Nanak Devji. Actually, his thoughts are in line with Congress culture of divide and rule," Singh said.

Congress leaders justified the 1984 killings of innocent Sikhs and they treated Sikhs like demons, he claimed, while demanding "Rahul should apologise for the heinous crime in front of Akal Takht at Golden Temple in Amritsar".

Akal Takht is the highest body of Sikhs and Golden Temple is the most prominent shrine of the religion.

Taking on Gandhi over the same issue, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress president has demeaned the Indian culture and he is an immature politician. Leave aside leading the country, Gandhi is even incapable of heading a political party, he further said.
Shillong: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday hit out at Karuna Shukla, the niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accusing that she was politicising his death.

The BJP charge came a day after Shukla accused the ruling BJP of politicising the former Prime Minister's death by carrying the ashes across India for electoral gains in 2019 general elections.

"She (Shukla) is with the Congress and had also contested elections on their ticket. She is trying to politicise it (Vajpayee's death). It is unfortunate... We believe this far beyond and above politics," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli told journalists here.

"But we don't see it as a political exercise. Some people have also pointed out why BJP is taking Atal's ashes across the country. This is not the first time this has happened...it's happened with several Prime Minister before Atal -- Nehru's ashes and Indira Gandhi's ashes also went to several states," Kohli said.

"I think that opportunity to people to offer their homage is not a political opportunity but a mark of respect," he said.

Meanwhile, several leaders across party lines and religious leaders of various faith offered floral tribute to the urns containing the ashes of former Prime Minister at BJP headquarters in Shillong.

Kohli said the idea of taking Vajpayee's ashes to different states across the country was an opportunity for those who loved him and wish to pay their respects now that he is no longer with us. "It was an opportunity for that."

"Vajpayee was the longest serving non-Congress Prime Minister. He was a person who was loved across party lines," Kohli said.
Jobless citizens to get sustenance allowance

The government has come up with a draft law to govern sustenance allowance for unemployed people, based on the constitutional guarantee of employment for every citizen.
Continuing his attack on the Centre, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Congress is defending is the onslaught on the Indian constitution. He added the opposition have agreed if they win the 2019 elections the first priority will be to stop the spreading of poison. He said, "What we're defending is the onslaught on the Indian constitution. I and the entire opposition have agreed, that our first priority is to stop the poison being spread."

Addressing the London School of Economics (LSE) in London, Rahul said the 2019 Lok Sabha election will be straightforward as it'll be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) versus every opposition party since the first time Indian institutions are under attack. "Next election is pretty straightforward. On one side there is BJP and on the other side, there is every opposition party. The reason is, for the first time, Indian institutions are under attack," said Rahul.

Speaking on the minorities of the country, Rahul said, "I do not agree with a separate country for minorities. If you look at the history of India for the last 70 years, you would understand that more minorities are able to move forward."

He added as development in India has taken place through the sacrifice of all its citizens the benefit, too, must go to all Indians. "No community should feel like they don't have a voice," said the Congress President.

Taking a jibe at the BJP, Rahul said, "You don't learn by being right. You learn by being wrong."

Reiterating its stand on violence, Rahul said that the essence of Congress' ideology is non-violence. He added that as a victim of violence, he condemns any form of violence on anyone. "I'm crystal clear about that," he added.

"I used to think, simply by transforming India economically, casteism will be eradicated. I don't hold that view anymore," said Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul said India was facing a "full-blown crisis" of unemployment and the Government was refusing to admit it. "The jobs crisis can be addressed, but India has to first accept that there is a problem," said Gandhi during an interaction programme. He said that there is a "full-blown job crisis" in India and the Indian Government is in denial".

Comparing China with India, he said, "Where China creates 50,000 jobs a day, only 450 jobs are created in a day in India. This is a catastrophe."

During the occasion, the 48-year-old leader said that India has a bigger role to play for the world as the nation is more refined now. "We can't afford to have wars that have been happening for the last many years. Conflict is already operating. We can see Western Europe, China and other countries changing. We, India, have a role to play," said Gandhi.

"Now India is much big and refined. India has its own vision and has a role to play for the world," he said.

"As a victim of violence, I condemn any form of violence on anyone. I'm crystal clear about that," he said referring to the assassination of his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi. He said that the degree of violence he witnessed in his life has made him more compassionate.

Gandhi said he felt sad when he saw the pictures of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's body at a beach in Sri Lanka's Jaffna. Prabhakaran, who was responsible for the killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was shot dead by Sri Lankan troops in 2009.
Patna: Jharkhand High Court on Friday asked Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to surrender by August 30. The court refused to extend his request of three months bail extension on medical grounds.

The RJD chief's lawyer said, "Now he will undergo treatment at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi. He will be brought from Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute where he is currently admitted."

Lalu Prasad Yadav was serving a jail term at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi after his conviction in fodder scam cases. He was lodged in jail on December 23, 2017.

His party, RJD, has been facing the heat since Lalu has been convicted in the fodder scam cases. He has been convicted in four fodder scam cases since 2013, the latest being the Dumka treasury case in which a special CBI court sentenced him to 14 years in jail.
As the political turmoil between the Centre and the Kerala government over the acceptance of foreign funds for the rehabilitation of the state intensifies, United Arab Emirates (UAE) finding itself embroiled in the tug of war has denied official announcement of any specific amount as financial aid for the state, according to a report.

In a report by The Indian Express on Thursday, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna said that there has been no official announcement yet on any specific amount of financial assistance to Kerala.

The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I dont think it is final, since it is still ongoing, Albanna said.

After torrential rains and devastating floods wreaked the southern state of Kerala, UAE was the first foreign nation that extended help to the state earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the UAE had offered a financial assistance of Rs 700 crore (USD 100 million) to the southern coastal state, which has been battered by incessant rains and floods. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, called up Prime Minister Modi and made the offer for assistance, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said in Thiruvananthapuram.

Around three million Indians live and work in the UAE out of which 80 per cent are from Kerala.

However, on the same day reports surfaced that India had refused to accept funds from foreign governments for Kerala in sync with an existing policy and the government had taken a considered decision to rely solely on domestic efforts to tide over the situation.

The government of Maldives had also decided to donate USD 50,000 (Rs 35 lakh) for Kerala. It is understood that the UN is also offering some assistance for Kerala. However, sources said India is unlikely to accept the assistance.

The floods in Kerala, worst in a century, have claimed lives of over 300 people.
Amidst the ongoing row between the Centre and Kerala government over accepting the financial assistance for the state from United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that the reported aid of Rs 700 crore for the flood victims was intimated by the leaders of both the countries.

Vijayan said the offer of aid was made by the UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Both these rulers themselves intimated this to the world. The issue now is whether to accept or not. My view is it should be accepted," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the UAE did not announce the $100 million aid for the state and asked Vijayan to reveal his source.

Elaborating, Vijayan said the news was conveyed to him by Middle East businessman MA Yusuf Ali. "I did tell you this earlier too. He (Ali) met them (UAE rulers) and this was stated to him. When Ali informed me, I asked him if I can make this public. He said I can and I did."

The chief minister also told journalists to read a tweet by PM Modi on the subject.

Speaking on the issue, CPI-M politburo member Prakash Karat asked the Centre to refrain from "false prestige" and allow UAE to donate the financial aid for flood-hit Kerala. "The UAE has decided to give Rs 700 crore for the relief of flood-ravaged Kerala people, but the Indian government without consulting the state government declined to accept the donation," the leader said.

Terming the Centre's decision as "uncalled for", he said that when a foreign government on its own is keen to provide help to the people affected by the devastated natural calamity, "central government should not stand on the false prestige".

"Kerala needs huge funds to deal with the massive devastation due to the colossal floods across the state. Central government must allow the UAE to release the amount," he added.

Karat, a former General Secretary of the country`s biggest Left party CPI-M, said that thousands of Indians, 80 per cent of them from Kerala, have been working in the UAE.

"The Indian workers are engaged in many developmental works in UAE. Responding to the contributions of Indian workers, the UAE government wanted to donate the funds for the relief," he said.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday sentenced 12 members of Jat community to life imprisonment and different jail terms to 21 other convicts in the Mirchpur Dalit killing case of 2010 in which a 60-year-old man and his physically-challenged teenaged daughter were burnt alive.

The court said there was a "deliberate targeting" of the houses of Balmiki community members by the Jat community and it was "an instance of caste-based violence meant to teach the Balmikis a lesson for perceived insults".

In a 209-page verdict, a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said, "The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of 'the complete absence of two things in Indian society' as noted by Dr B R Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949. One was 'equality' and the other 'fraternity'."

On April 21, 2010, the house of victim Tara Chand was set ablaze by the members of the Jat community after a dispute between the two communities at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district, which led the father and the daughter to be burnt alive.

Several other members of the Dalit community were injured and there was "large scale destruction" of their properties by the Jats, the court noted in its verdict.

On the burning down of the Dalits' properties, the high court said it was not a case of an accidental fire spreading quickly as a result of cow dung cakes or other flammable materials lying around, but a "deliberate, pre-planned and carefully orchestrated act."

The trial court had earlier convicted only 15 of the 98 persons accused in the case, but the high court had set aside the acquittal of 20 persons. Two men, who were convicted by the trial court, have died during the pendency of the appeals.

Of the 20 persons whose acquittal was reversed, five were awarded life term and other 15 sentenced to jail terms of 1-2 years by the high court which said there was sufficient evidence to show that "a large scale conspiracy" was hatched by the Jats against the Balmikis.

The judgment of the trial court which had awarded life sentence to three -- Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal -- was modified to the extent that instead of holding them guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the convicts were held guilty under the harsher penal provision of murder.

The other nine persons awarded life term by the high court are -- Karambir, Pradeep (s/o Jaibir), Rajpal, Pradeep (s/o Suresh), Jogal, Satyawan, Pawan, Sanjay and Dharambir. While Pawan was convicted for murder, the other eight were held guilty of using fire or explosive material to damage the property of a member of the Balmiki community under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act, for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment.

Mirchpur village is located on the border between the Hisar and Jind districts of Haryana and is home to several communities such as the Lohars, Chamars, Balmikis, Brahmins and the Jats, who are the dominant among them, the court noted. While the trial was completed by the lower court in nine months, the appeals were decided by the high court in over six years.

The high court, which had also imposed varying fines on the 33 convicts, said the amounts collected from the convicts shall be used by the Haryana government for pecuniary relief and rehabilitation of the victims.

The court also noted that the members of the Jat community had planned their attack in advance and come to the Balmiki basti armed with oil cans, jellies, gandasis (sickles), sticks and carts filled with stones. It said the properties of the Balmiki community were burnt and looted and their belongings destroyed.

The high court set aside the finding of the trial court that it was not an instance of violence driven by caste hatred. It said Tara Chand's dying declaration "more than adequately established" the role of some of the accused and the deposition of various prosecution witnesses fully corroborated his statement.

The high court pronounced the verdict on separate appeals of the convicts challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case. The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicts had died during pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the IPC.

While five others were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act, seven other accused, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court.

with PTI inputs
New Delhi: A day after he attacked the BJP and RSS by accusing them of spreading hatred in India, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not follow a deeply thought out strategy in dealing with Pakistan.

Rahul was speaking at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London when he said the Modi lacks a coherent strategy with Pakistan. "There is no deeply thought out strategy by Narendra Modi when it comes to Pakistan. It's very difficult to converse with Pakistan because there is no one institution that holds supremacy. So, we wait until they come to form a cohesive structure," he said.

He also slammed the government at Centre and said it could have handled and stopped the Doklam issue. "Doklam is not an isolated issue. It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process. Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event. If he was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it," Gandhi said.

In a swipe at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and said that she is 'jobless' under the Modi government and her job has only been limited to issuing visas and that she has no say in deciding the foreign policy of the country. "By breaking the monopoly of MEA and by making it more accessible to other elements of society a modern MEA can be formed. The Foreign Minister of India spends a massive amount of time in just making visas," he said.

Training his guns at RSS, Rahul said that it is trying to change the nature of India. RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions. RSS's idea is similar to the idea of Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world," he said.

Continuing his attack on demonetisation, Gandhi said that the idea came from RSS. "The idea of demonetisation came directly from RSS, bypassed the Finance Minister & RBI, and was planted in Prime Minister's head," he said.
LONDON: A day after saying that lack of adequate job opportunities was forcing youths to take up arms, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday made yet another provocative statement, comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) to the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood.

The Congress chief, who is in the United Kingdom as part of his party's international outreach programme, alleged that the RSS and its affiliates are trying to "change" the nature of India and "capture" its institutions.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest political Islamist outfit in the Arab world. It is not allowed to operate as an official political party in some Arab countries. The Muslim Brotherhood - a Sunni Islamist outfit founded in Egypt - is also considered to be a terror outfit by Russia and six west Asian nations.

Addressing a gathering at the International Institute of Strategic Studies here, the Gandhi scion accused the RSS of ''trying to change the nature of India and capture India's institutions.''

"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions. The RSS' idea is similar to the idea of The Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world," Rahul told the audience at the London-based think-tank.

The Congress chief also made a barrage of attacks on the Narendra Modi government over its decision to demonetise the old currency notes of high denomination in 2016 and the Goods and Services Tax Act, which was hailed as the biggest tax reforms since Independence.

"The idea of demonetisation came directly from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), bypassed the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and was planted in Prime Minister's head," the Congress president alleged.

PM Modi had claimed that the demonetisation would help curtail the shadow economy and crackdown on the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.

Rahul Gandhi said India's economic power lies in millions of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as they create jobs.

"When one bypasses the entire institutional structure and decides to demonetise the nation, that is not maximising India's power," he said.

However, Rahul Gandhi likening the RSS with Muslim Brotherhood did not go down well with the ruling BJP, which slammed the Congress chief for denigrating the democracy and demanded an apology from the party.

Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Rahul Gandhis comparison of the RSS to Muslim Brotherhood is completely unacceptable.

Patra said that by making such remarks, Rahul Gandhi is demeaning the countrys democracy and showing the democratically elected government in a bad light abroad.

Patra said likes of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who died last week, have a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) background and Gandhi's comparison of the organisation with an Islamist outfit at an event in London is "unforgivable".

Addressing the media, Patra demanded immediate apology from the Congress president for likening the choice of Indians in an election with an organisation which, the BJP leader added, is declared a terror outfit in many countries.

He asked if Gandhi has taken a 'supari' (contract for killing) for India. "Stop this job of acting as a contract killer of the idea called India," he said.

In a separate press conference, senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi described Rahul Gandhi as an "incapable opposition leader" and accused him of justifying the terrorist outfit ISIS.

"Congress president is on foreign tours. Earlier, he used to go abroad after the Parliament session and say that he had gone for 'dhyan' and to 'gain knowledge'`Trivedi said.

"And now, on the recent tours, he has been sharing his knowledge with the people. This shows his immaturity, incapability and ill will. It shows clearly that he is not capable of being a good opposition leader, leave aside holding the post of Prime Minister," Trivedi said.

The BJP leader also slammed Rahul for justifying Islamic State (IS) and making comparisons with India.

Trivedi was reacting to Congress chief's criticism of the government by citing the example of IS to say that exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of terrorist groups in the world.

While in Germany, Rahul Gandhi had said that the US, while invading Iraq had stopped a tribe, Tikriti network, from getting government and army jobs and later the tribe linked up with other groups.

He referred to the recent incidents of lynching and attack on the Dalits, saying people in India were angry and the ruling alliance was weakening "support structures" meant for the weaker sections.

"Yesterday, he said that the IS was founded because of unemployment. I want to ask him that Osama bin Laden, who was one of the most wanted terrorists...was he an unemployed youth and a poor?" he said.

"No, he was a billionaire. And the persons who hit the World Trade Center with the airplane were also poor or unemployed? No, they were leading a good life in the US and having all the means to lead a good life," he said.

"You tried to belittle the fight of ideologies for your petty political gains. It is condemnable," said Trivedi slamming the Congress leader.

This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi had attacked RSS. He had in past blamed the RSS for Mahatma Gandhis assassination and faces a defamation case for it as well.

(With Agency Inputs)
Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of the devastating Kerala floods, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered to maintain the water level in Tamil Nadu's Mullaperiyar Dam. The water level should be at 139.99 feet till August 31, said the apex court.

The current water level in Mullaperiyar Dam is 139.998 ft.

The top court clarified that it will not treat the matter as a dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, however, its only concern is human life. The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for September 6.

Reacting to the matter, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palainasamy said, "Kerala's accusations towards Tamil Nadu are false and baseless. If you say, excess water was discharged from one dam (Mullaperiyar) then how did water reach all parts of Kerala? The excess discharge of water from 80 dams caused floods in Kerala."

"Water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released one week after the floods struck Kerala. It was not done immediately after the floods. Three warnings were issued, first at 139 feet, second at 141 feet and third warning at 142 feet. Water was released in a phased manner," Palainasamy added.

The development comes a day after Kerala government held Tamil Nadu responsible for the Kerala flood. Kerala told the SC that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

A disaster management sub-committee to monitor the water level of Mullaperiyar Dam had on Thursday asked Tamil Nadu to keep water limit of the reservoir 2-3 feet below the 142-feet FRL mark till August 31, a senior official in the Water Resources Ministry said.

The committee comprising officials from the Centre, including the Water Resources Ministry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu reviewed the water level of the reservoir.

Last week, the Supreme Court also took a note of the 'grave' flood situation in Kerala and ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level by three feet.

The direction to the disaster management sub-committee to reduce the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet came in the backdrop of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart E K Palaniswami seeking to lower the water level in the Mullaperiyar Dam in the interest of its safety.

(With inputs from agencies)
NEW DELHI: No re-election will be held for 20,000 local body seats in West Bengal that were won uncontested by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in May this year, said the Supreme Court on Friday.

The top court also set aside Calcutta High Court's order allowing the filing of nomination papers through e-mail, WhatsApp in West Bengal panchayat polls.

Whoever is aggrieved with the election results can file their petitions before the concerned court within 30 days, the SC said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) had alleged that party candidates were obstructed from filing their nomination papers for the local body polls.

"The issue was that over 20,000 seats went un-contested and the allegation was that the non-contest was due to the obstruction in filing of the nomination papers. The another aspect, which has been highlighted, was that nomination papers were filed by the candidates of one party. We have to see as to what can be done in such a situation," said the top court bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the state government, raised the issue of constitutional crisis in view of the fact that panchayat and local bodies have to be notified to avail funds to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore.

Earlier, the West Bengal government had told the court that the row over the panchayat polls in the state has led to a "constitutional crisis" since the tenure of several Panchayats were over and new bodies have not been made functional.

Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayat village, zilla parishad and panchayat samiti, 20,159 had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May this year.

The apex court had said that the issue of huge number of uncontested seats has been bothering it.

The poll panel, however, argued that 33 per cent of nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested in the state was not "an alarming situation".

It had cited Uttar Pradesh where almost 57 per cent panchayat seats went uncontested and the figure was 51, 67 and 27.6 per cent in Haryana, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh respectively.

The West Bengal government had said that the panchayat polls cannot be set aside on the basis of "conjecture and surmises" of some political parties as no individual candidate has approached the court with the claim that he or she has been restrained from filing nomination papers.

Elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in Gram Panchayats, 825 posts in Zilla Parishads and 9,217 posts in Panchayat Samitis and it has been alleged that around 34 per cent seats were uncontested.



With agency inputs
New Delhi: Delhi police on Thursday handed over various documents to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor before a court here in a case against him regarding his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death almost four years ago in a luxury hotel here.

The documents included statements of various witnesses recorded in the case.

During the hearing, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy requested Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal that he be allowed to assist the police in the case, even though senior advocate Vikash Pahwa and advocate Gaurav Gupta, appearing for Tharoor told the court that Swamy had no locus in the case which was already being probed by the police.

The court, thereafter, posted the matter for further hearing on September 20.

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 had directed the 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.
Kanchanpur rape, murder: 1 dead, 24 injured in police firing (Update)

A person died and at least 24 others were injured when police opened fire at protesters staging demonstration over the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Bhimdutta Municipality, Kanchanpur on Friday.
Lucknow: A man allegedly stabbed his younger brother to death following an argument over a pair of jeans. The incident took place in Tharwai area of Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad district.

The accused has been identified as Rajendra. He is currently absconding.

The incident horrifying incident happened on Thursday. A case has, meanwhile, been registered.
New Delhi: In the wake of Kerala floods, a disaster management sub-committee to monitor the water level of Mullaperiyar Dam on Thursday asked Tamil Nadu to keep water limit of the reservoir 2-3 feet below the 142-feet FRL mark till August 31, a senior official in the Water Resources Ministry said.

The committee comprising officials from the Centre, including the Water Resources Ministry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu reviewed the water level of the reservoir.

"Keeping in view that rainfall may take place as monsoon is still active, the government of Tamil Nadu was advised that the reservoir may be operated as per the directions given (by the Supreme Court) last week. The level can be kept 2-3 metres below the FRL (Full Reservoir Level) of 142 feet," the official said.

Kerala on Thursday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

Last week, the apex court also took a note of the "grave" flood situation in Kerala and ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level by three feet.

The direction to the disaster management sub-committee to reduce the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet came in the backdrop of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart E K Palaniswami seeking lowering of the water-level in the Mullaperiyar Dam in the interest of its safety.
Kolkata: Two persons were killed and six others were injured in an explosion at a Trinamool Congress party office in West Bengal`s West Midnapore district, police said on Friday.

Police said the explosion took place at a house used as the Trinamool`s party office in West Midnapore district`s Narayangarh area on Thursday morning when over a dozen party workers were present inside.

The high-intensity blast caused the walls of the party office to partially collapse and cracks appeared in the walls of neighbouring houses as well.

"The explosion killed two persons and injured six others. However, the reason of the blast is yet to be ascertained," an officer from Narayangarh police station said, adding that they have found no proof of crude bombs being stored inside the party office yet.

The local Trinamool Congress leadership confirmed that all those killed or wounded in the incident were their party workers and claimed that the party has appealed to the administration to find out and take strong action against those involved in the blast.

"Two of our party activists, Sudipto Ghosh and Bimal Chowdhury, were killed in the blast on Thursday. Six others have been injured, out of whom two have been referred to Kolkata as their condition were critical," Ajit Maity, district president of the state ruling party said.

"We have informed the party high command about the incident and trying to find out who might be responsible for the explosion. There is a chance that miscreants from outside are involved. We have appealed to the administration to catch and punish the offenders as soon as possible," he added.

The incident of the explosion at the Trinamool office took place less than a week before the party is going to form the boards in 11 out of 16 gram panchayat seats in the area.

The opposition parties claimed faction fight within the ruling party was responsible for the incident.
Gandhinagar: Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has written a letter to Prime Minister seeking an interim relief of Rs 2000 crore for relief and rehabilitation work in the flood-hit areas of the state.

In his letter, Kumaraswamy stated that the damages caused by the recent floods to the infrastructure, public property and crops were estimated to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore as the final assessment of losses was not done yet.

The JDS leader claimed that there was a large scale destruction of agricultural crops. Coffee, spice, aracanut and other plantations estates were completely damaged by the landslides and mudslides.

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi, in which he has appealed to him to release a sum of Rs 2000 crores for interim relief to begin the rehabilitation process of the flood-affected areas. #KarnatakaFloods pic.twitter.com/WIpA04MYE7  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2018

In order to rebuild Kodagu  the most hit by floods  the Chief Minister said an interim relief of Rs 2000 crore was needed for the state government to start the relief and rehabilitation work.

The Karnataka Chief Minister's appeal to the Centre came hours after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the flood-hit areas in Kodagu district of Karnataka.

She also interacted with children, youth and their families sheltered in Kodagu in the wake of recent torrential rains that lashed the district, bordering Kerala, claiming at least 17 lives and leaving a trail of destruction.

Sitharaman assured to take up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other central ministers concerned about the restoration work of roads, telecommunication network and other infrastructure, badly affected by the heavy rains that triggered landslides and floods in the district.

A Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, she is the second Union minister to visit the flood-ravaged district, after D V Sadananada Gowda, who hails from the state.

More than 5,000 people have been rendered homeless in Kodagu district where rescue and relief operations are underway in full swing.

District in-charge Minister Sa Ra Mahesh and local MP Pratap Simha, officials of the district administration, government departments and Defence personnel attended the review meeting.

Officials informed that the district received excess rainfall of 150 percent than the normal quantum.

Talking to reporters, Sitharaman said the Centre's relief and rehabilitation package would be announced after assessment by a team of officials and the state's government estimate of losses.

She declined to make any guess on how much relief package was expected from the Center.

"It would not be wise on my part to second guess what Centre can give and what it cannot ...But once the team comes and makes an assessment into which all your (state) inputs will also be taken, and with your inputs, the central assessment team can come up with a figure," she added.

The Minister later announced a Rs 1 crore aid from her MPs constituency development funds and Rs 7 crore from Corporate Social Responsibility funds of Defence PSUs for flood and landslide relief work, her office said in a tweet.
MUMBAI: In some bad news for bird lovers, a Humboldt Penguin chick, which hatched out of the egg on August 15, died on Friday.

According to ANI, the baby penguin died at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo due to newborn anomalies.

The baby penguin at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan & Zoo has died due to new born anomalies. The Humboldt Penguin chick had hatched out of the egg on 15th August 2018. #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/TSEjx3qSd4  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2018

The chick was the first Humboldt penguin born in captivity at Mumbai's Byculla zoo on this Independence Day.

Mumbais darling penguin couple Mr Molt and mama Flipper became parents after the egg hatched on August 15, around 8.02 pm.

Confirming the news, Dr Sanjay Tripathi, Director, Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan & Zoo in Mumbai, informed that a Humboldt Penguin chick hatched out of the egg at 08.02 pm on August 15, 2018.

''It appeared to be active and the mother was trying to feed it too, Dr Sanjay Tripathi had then said.

The news about the new-born chick was also shared by Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray who tweeted, We have some great news coming in from Rajmata Jijamaya Udyaan (Byculla Zoo)! Our (penguin) parents have delivered a freedom baby! The parents and the chic are doing well. My congratulations to all those involved in this process, especially Dr. Tripathi & his team and Sudhir Naik ji!

He also shared a video of the newborn penguin.

Our cute freedom baby! pic.twitter.com/v0ApNLDRwS  Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) August 16, 2018

On July 5, the penguin caretakers at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo realised that the nest built by Molt and Flipper finally had a single egg, after a very long period of courtship.

"Though both Flipper and Molt are first-time parents, they are taking excellent care of the eggs. Mummy Flipper spends the maximum time  36 to 48 hours at a stretch  incubating the eggs, followed by daddy Molt, who also incubates the eggs diligently," Dr Madhumita Kale, Head Veterinarian and in-charge of the penguin enclosure had told reporters.

(With Agency Inputs)
Kota: A court in Jhalawar sentenced today a man to death by hanging for killing a minor girl after raping her in the Rajasthan district.

Special schedule tribe/schedule caste (ST/SC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court convicted the 24-year-old man and announced that he be hanged till death for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Chotiraipur village under Jhalawar city police station.

The special ST/SC and POCSO court judge Swati Sharma convicted Mode Singh alias Langda Bheel, a resident of Chotaraipur of Jhalwar, special public prosecutor, ST/SC and POCSO court, Jhalawar, Dheeraj Acharya said.

The convict on February 14 this year abducted the minor when she was at a local Mahashivratri fair and murdered her after raping.

He dumped her body in a nearby field in the village, Sharma said, adding the minor's body was found the next day in the field near the village.

The convict was arrested on the same day and was booked under Sections 366, 376 and 302 of the IPC and Sections of the POCSO Act, he said.??

Police submitted the charge sheet in the case on February 28 this year and the trial lasted for five months and 24 days, the SPP said, adding that statements of 25 witnesses were recorded in the court and 44 documents produced during the trial.
Washinton: United States President Donald Trump said on Friday he had cancelled a planned trip to North Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying progress toward the U.S. goal of a denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was too slow.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said on Twitter.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," Trump said.
Washington DC: Pakistan has been playing a dubious role in Afghanistan while dealing with the Taliban and other terror outfits, alleged a veteran United States army colonel, Lawrence Sellin.

Sellin, who has served in Afghanistan, northern Iraq and a humanitarian mission of West Africa, wrote in The Daily Caller that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided arms and ammunition to Taliban fighters in October 2001, just after US bombing of Afghanistan began.

The then Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf held a meeting with ISI director Lt. Gen. Mahmod Ahmed and other top brass of the army, who argued that Pakistan should not help the United States at all in its war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

"Pakistan's duplicity has continued for seventeen years. While accepting billions of dollars in military and economic aid, Pakistan has been slowly bleeding the US to death in Afghanistan through its support of the Taliban, Haqqani Network and other terrorist groups", said colonel (retd.) Sellin.

Shortly before his death in 2015, Lt. General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan's ISI, a committed Islamist and known as the "godfather of the Taliban", explained Pakistan's strategy in Afghanistan in an Urdu television interview.

"One day, history will say the ISI drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of USA and another sentence will be recorded that says the ISI drove the USA out of Afghanistan with the help of the USA".

The Pakistani audience roared with laughter and applauded in approval.

Sellin wrote that contrary to the conventional wisdom, there is no combination of US conventional, CIA or special operations assets that can defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan as long as the Taliban infrastructure and support network in Pakistan remains vulnerable.

He said, "Unlike 2001, the Taliban are not exposed in Afghanistan but sheltered in Pakistan, including a network of education, recruiting, training, financial and command and control centers. It is also no secret that the ISI employs local individuals and groups as "cut-outs" to facilitate the movement of Taliban fighters and supplies across the porous border.

After the recent Taliban attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni, large numbers of Pakistani nationals were found dead. They were presumably fighting with the Taliban. The bodies were subsequently returned to Pakistan.

The veteran US Army colonel also blamed Beijing for changing the strategic dynamics of the region largely rendering US Afghanistan policy obsolete. "Not only does China maintain enormous leverage over Pakistan, financially and militarily, Beijing has been conducting its own secret negotiations with the Taliban for over a year", he wrote.

In July, Pakistan hosted an unprecedented meeting of the intelligence chief of China, Russia, Iran and its own ISI to map out a security strategy for the region, apparently for a post-US Afghanistan.

"Lacking any new ideas or even a recognition of reality, we have chosen to continue pursuing a proven unsuccessful strategy on Afghanistan", said colonel Sellin.
KARACHI: Pakistan has disputed Washington`s account of a phone call between new Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, denying that there was any discussion on militants operating in Pakistan.

Pakistan`s foreign ministry called for the United States to amend its statement, but US State Department said it stands by its account.

The row comes ahead of a planned visit by Pompeo to Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister last week.

The US State Department readout of the call said Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked Khan to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan". "...the impression, which was given... where they`re saying that they mentioned terrorists` presence in Pakistan, that is against the reality," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday. "I`m saying it with full confidence."

US officials routinely raise the issue of Taliban and other militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan, where they plot attacks on U.S. and Afghan troops across the border. Pakistan regularly denies that the Afghan Taliban operates from its soil.

And overnight on Thursday, Pakistan`s foreign ministry asserted that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call between Pompeo and Khan. "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on today`s phone call," the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected." However, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert indicated there would be no correction in response to Pakistan`s complaint.

"I can only say we stand by our readout," Nauert told a news conference on Thursday, calling Pakistan "an important partner" in the region. "The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future," Nauert added.

Pompeo is expected in Islamabad on September 5, and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet with Khan since he was sworn in.

Khan is well known for his criticism of US military policy in Afghanistan, but he said after winning elections last week that he seeks better relations with the United States after a series of aid cuts and the suspension of US military training.
Madrid: Spain's government passed a decree on Friday to smooth the way for the relocation of the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco with the aim of turning his mausoleum into a memorial for the victims of the Spanish civil war.

Critics call the "Valley of the Fallen" site, marked by a 152 metre-high cross on a mountainside near Madrid, the only remaining monument to a fascist leader in Europe.

The decree reduces the risk of legal claims preventing the exhumation of Franco`s remains, including by his descendants. During his rule, from the end of the civil war in 1939 to his death in 1975, tens of thousands were killed or imprisoned in a campaign to wipe out dissent.

The measure needs to be approved by the rest of parliament, where Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez holds only a quarter of seats, but it is unlikely to be voted down.

"Only the mortal remains of people who died as a result of the Spanish Civil War will lie in the Valley of the Fallen," deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo told a news conference.

The legislative process to turn the monument into "a place of commemoration, remembrance and homage to the victims of the war" should be finished by the end of

the year, Calvo said.
Kanchanpur rape, murder case: Life limps back to normalcy in Mahendranagar

Normal life is limping back to normalcy in Mahendranagar and the neighbouring areas on Friday four days after protests intensified against the police investigation into the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Kanchanpur district.
HONOLULU: Hurricane Lane spun through the Pacific toward Hawaii on Friday, losing power and slowing as it weakened to a Category 2 storm that brought raging surf, torrential rain and catastrophic flooding to the Big Island. It is forecast to pass to the west of the islands over the weekend, with hurricane conditions expected from Friday night over Maui and Oahu, the US state`s most populous island, the National Weather Service said. Further north, a hurricane watch was in effect for Kauai.

"If you`re in Hawaii, it`s critical that you heed the warnings of local officials and stay aware of your surroundings," the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Brock Long, wrote on Twitter. More than 2 feet (60 cm) of rain had fallen on a couple of areas on the windward side of the Big Island, the weather service said, where peak gusts of up to 67 miles (108 km) per hour were recorded.

Flash floods and landslides closed some roads. Hawaii Governor David Ige said it was a very dangerous situation and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel. Evacuations were underway on parts of Molokai and Maui islands, and some social media users reported power outages.

A fast-growing wildfire on Maui forced the evacuation of local residents and others who had sought safety at a storm shelter in Lahaina, where no rain was falling, officials said. One woman was hospitalized with burn injuries. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Australian tourist Nicole Paterson, 27, said her birthday plans were scuppered by the storm. She has been planning to snorkel with turtles on Oahu`s North Shore on Friday, and visit the Disney resort in Ko Olina, but both were shut.

`TAKE THE STORM SERIOUSLY`

While Lane was downgraded on Friday to Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, it still packed maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (170 kph), the service said. A Category 5 is the strongest hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. As of 8 a.m. Hawaii time (2 p.m. EDT/1800 GMT), Lane was moving north at just 2 mph (3 kph) and was about 170 miles (274 km) south of state capital Honolulu, the weather service said. It was forecast to turn west on Saturday, lose some of its punch and move more quickly.

The latest predictions from the weather service`s National Hurricane Center showed the eye of the storm glancing past Maui and several other islands on Friday on its way toward Oahu. "We`re telling everybody to take the storm seriously, make your final preparations, and be prepared to ride out what is going to be a prolonged rain event," said Andrew Pereira, communications director for Honolulu.

In addition to "life-threatening and damaging surf," the weather service has warned that storm surges could raise water levels 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) above normal along the western shores of the Big Island and that extreme rainfall could mean numerous evacuations and rescues.

Governor Ige has urged residents to set aside a 14-day supply of water, food and medicine. All public schools, University of Hawaii campuses and nonessential government offices on the islands of Oahu and Kauai were closed at least through Friday.

The Coast Guard had ordered all harbours to close to incoming vessels and the Navy moved most of its fleet out of Pearl Harbor, where ships could provide aid after the storm.

Oil company Par Pacific Holdings Inc said it had shut its 93,500 barrel-per-day refinery in Kapolei. In the event of outages, Hawaii`s power company, Hawaiian Electric Co, will largely be in charge of restoring power, FEMA`s Long told reporters, adding that the company is well prepared to fix any problems to the energy grid.

The federal government will be responsible for getting equipment and teams from the continental United States to locations where they are needed, he said. "We need to set the expectations that the power could go off for quite some time, and the infrastructure`s going to be heavily impacted," said Long.
Open source

The militants shelled Vrubivka village in Luhansk from the artillery. As a result of the shelling, one Ukrainian civilian died. Yuriy Harbuz, Head of the Luhansk Civil-Military Administration claimed this on Facebook.

'As a result of the artillery shelling of the Vrubivka village in Popasna District by the Russian-occupation forces, one civilian died. It happened at about 5 a.m. The shell hit the house, where the family of the dead was living. A man born in 1983 died from wounds. His wife and two children left without him,' Harbuz claimed.

Related: 24 hours in Donbas: One soldier dies

He added that as a result of the artillery shelling, a school premises and four two-story houses were damaged.

As it was reported earlier, during the last 24 hours, the militants opened fire five times at the positions of Joint Forces in the areas of the settlements: Krymske, Hruntove, Pavlopil, and Vodiane. At night, they opened fire from 122mm artillery near Krymske, and from 82mm mortars near Pavlopil. No casualties among the servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported.

Related: 24 hours in Donbas: Five Ukrainian servicemen perished, seven wounded

Related video:
This was reported by the presidential press service.





So, congratulations came from the leaders of Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Cyprus and Finland.





The President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite in her congratulations stressed that in recent years Ukrainian people demonstrated how they value freedom and are ready to fight for it and wished the country prosperity, peace and unity.





"With such strong and free spirit of citizens, your country is and will remain free. In Lithuania we remember well the worthy struggle of our friends for freedom and unity. I sincerely wish you to cherish this and keep your resolve on a difficult but very necessary path of reform.

The Lithuanian people remain your faithful friends and assistants in the development of Ukraine as a successful, independent, European and democratic state on the continent, "she said.





President of Romania Klaus Werner Johannis also wished Ukraine peace and prosperity, and expressed his support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and European ambitions of the country.





Rumen Radev, the leader of Bulgaria, in his congratulations, stressed that Bulgaria will also continue to support Ukraine's European choice and assist in the implementation of reforms.





President of Hungary Janos Ader stressed that his country "consistently supports the citizens of Ukraine in all the efforts that they are making to protect the territorial unity and sovereignty of the country.

He stressed that the interest of Hungary is a neighbor in the face of a strong and democratic Ukraine.





The President of Croatia, Colinda Grabar-Kitarovich, wished the Ukrainian people security and stability.





"Croatia sees and appreciates Ukraine's significant progress despite numerous challenges, and is ready to share its experience in implementing complex reforms on the European and Euro-Atlantic ways," the message says.





President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis also expressed support for the European aspirations of Ukraine.





"I want to reiterate my government's consistent and principled position on Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, as well as full support for your government's efforts in implementing important reforms that will make your country even closer to your European aspirations," he said.





The President of Finland Sauli Niinisto wished Ukraine and Ukrainian people a peaceful and prosperous future.





"Finland continues to condemn the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. With the international community, we continue the policy of not recognizing the illegal annexation of Crimea. Our support for Ukraine's political association and economic integration in the EU is firm," reads his message.





Earlier, the President of Turkey Recep Erdogan also congratulated the Ukrainians on their Independence Day. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, who spoke about expanding cooperation in all spheres, expressed his support in overcoming political, economic and social challenges.





President of the United States Donald Trump also sent a congratulatory message to President Petro Poroshenko, noting that the United States will always support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.





Before that, French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Poroshenko and the citizens of Ukraine on Independence Day.

He noted that France remains close to Ukraine in search of a sustainable solution to the conflict in Donbass.





Pope Francis Francis wished Ukrainians blessings, especially to citizens in the east of Ukraine.





In addition, the congratulations were joined by the heads of European countries.

In particular, the King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander, the King of Sweden Carl Gustav XVI, the King of Belgium Philippe, as well as the Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove, the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegovic, the Regent Captains of San Marino Stefano Palmiero and Matteo Chachi.





Later, Chinese leader Xi Jinping congratulated Ukraine on Independence Day and rejoiced at its success.


Google says that they deleted 39 YouTube channels with the total amount of the views of 13 thousand 466

Open source

Google deleted 58 accounts associated with Iran and involved in the politically motivated fishing, according to the blog of the company.

'We identified and closed several accounts associated with Voice of Iran Islamic Republic organization, which concealed their its connections, including when exchanging English-language political content in the United States,' reads the message.

Related: Google's IP addresses blocked in Russia

According to Google, 39 YouTube channels were deleted. The total view amount of the channels made 13 thousand 466. Also, Google deleted six accounts on Blogger website and 13 accounts on Google+. The company made its conclusions on the connections of the accounts with the IRIB based on their technical data.

Related: Roskomnadzor: Amazon, Google can face issue of work in Russia due to Telegram

The company also reminded that Google continues watching the activity of the Russian Internet Research Agencies. It is noted that since the last year the corporation has deleted 42 YouTube channels associated with the company, which had 58 political videos in English.

Related video:
Open source

German Chancellor Angela Merkel states that Georgia, along with Ukraine, has the greatest European perspective. She stated this during a meeting with students on her visit to Georgia, local media reported.



"As for Germany's policy towards Eastern Europe, it's not a new initiative. Heiko Maas only stressed that good relations with Russia are very important, since it is a neighbor of the European Union, but on the other hand, we need a clear policy, how everything should be formed with regard to Eastern Europe, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, but Georgia and Ukraine are exactly the countries, which have the greatest European perspective, "she said.



The German Chancellor also stressed that in the next 10 years "those steps that will be necessary to take in the future will be highlighted."



It should be noted that President Petro Poroshenko during his speech at the parade in Kyiv promised in the near future to submit to the parliament the bill that fixes the course of Euro-Atlantic integration of the country in the Constitution.



"I will insist on consolidating our aspiration to join the European Union and join NATO. The lawyers have found a formula on how to do it optimally and quickly. On the opening of the autumn session at Verkhovna Rada, which is scheduled for September 4, my relevant bill will be registered," said Poroshenko.



He stressed that politicians will do everything "day and night" to accept it.



We recall that in 2017 the Ukrainian parliament passed a law restoring the country's course towards NATO membership as a strategic goal of foreign and security policy.



In turn, NATO began a discussion on the possibility of providing an Action Plan on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.

Related video:

Related: Poroshenko and Merkel agree on continuing consultations in Normandy format
The decree enters into the force on the day of its publication

Open source

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on the assignment of honorary titles to the units of the State Border Service of Ukraine. The document was published on the website of the President's Administration.

'For the memorialization and glorification of the feat of the outstanding Ukrainian and political activists who have made significant contribution to the development of the border security of the Ukrainian State, the security of its national interests and also the military-patriotic education of the servicemen of the State Border Service of Ukraine based on heroic examples of the struggle for Ukrainian independence, considering the exemplary performance of assigned tasks, for the 27th Anniversary of Ukrainian Independence,' reads the message.

The decree enters into the force on the day of its publication

Related video:
Open source

Before September 4, the president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will submit to the Verkhovna Rada a bill that fixes the course of Euro-Atlantic integration of the country in the Constitution. This Poroshenko said during a speech at the parade on Independence Day in Kyiv.



"I will insist on consolidating our aspiration to join the European Union and join NATO. The lawyers have found a formula on how to do it optimally and quickly. On the opening of the autumn session at Verkhovna Rada, which is scheduled for September 4, my relevant bill will be registered," said Poroshenko.



He stressed that politicians will do everything "day and night" to accept it.



We recall that in 2017 the Ukrainian parliament passed a law restoring the country's course towards NATO membership as a strategic goal of foreign and security policy.



In turn, NATO began a discussion on the possibility of providing an Action Plan on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.



A year later, NATO members confirmed that Ukraine is an aspirant state. In other words, the state that declared its interest in joining the Alliance.



According to the information on the NATO website, such countries are invited to an intensified dialogue with the Alliance on their aspirations for membership and related reforms.



An additional requirement for such aspirants: they must profess the principles of the Washington Treaty (that is, be democratic states) and the principles of the UN Charter, as well as contribute to the security of the Euro-Atlantic space.



It is important to understand that this status does not impose on the Alliance any obligations regarding the membership of such country in the future. That is, Ukraine may or may not receive an invitation to the NATO Membership Action Plan.

Earlier a military parade dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine took place in the downtown of Kyiv.

This year the military parade was very special. The women detachment participated in it for the first time ever, while the Air Force of Ukraine renewed its participation for the first time in nine years.

Also, a new greeting of the Ukrainian Army "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!" was used for the first time.

Related: Combat Aviation takes part at parade for Independence Day, - photo, video
Open source

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that he intends to cut the last knot connecting Ukraine with Russia - to make the Orthodox community independent from the Russian church. And before that the head of state said that the EU would not be a completed project without Ukraine. He said this during his speech on the occasion of Independence Day. The online broadcast of the military parade is conducted by 112.ua.



"The body can not be free when the soul is captive. Let Constantinople, Moscow, and the Vatican hear us today. We are determined to cut the last knot that the Empire desperately tries to tie us to it. We are determined to put an end to the unnatural and the uncanonical stay of a significant part of our Orthodox community, depending on the Russian church, which sanctifies Putin's hybrid war against Ukraine, "he said.



"Baptism came to us from the Church of Constantinople and it spread from Kyiv to wide areas of Eastern Europe. Ukrainian Christianity has more than a thousand years of history. When we restored and defended the state independence of Ukraine, there is no reason that among other local Orthodox churches there wasn't local Orthodox Church of Ukraine, equal to them" added Poroshenko.

Earlier we reported that Ukrainian military aviation participated on the parade for the 27th Anniversary of the Independence Day of Ukraine for the first time in nine years. Participation of 18 countries soldiers is another novelty. 112 Ukraine was broadcasting the parade for the Independence Day.

20 fighter aircraft, transport aircraft, and helicopters flew above Khreshchatyk street.



In particular, the Sukhoi Su-25 attack plane was presented on the parade. The plane is designed for the provision of the air support of the ground forces units in the zone of military operations in the hostilities zones, for the attacks on enemy targets in tactical and operational depth. Also, Sukhoi Su-24 bombers flew above Kyiv. The plane is capable of traveling distances up to three thousand kilometers at an altitude of up to 12 thousand meters at a speed of up to 2 thousand km/h, with a combat load of up to 7 tons.

Related video:

Related: Merkel: Ukraine and Georgia have greatest European perspective
Russia's discussion of the issue of peacekeepers in Donbas is an indirect acknowledgment of involvement in the war against Ukraine.

This was stated by the adviser of the White House on national security issues John Bolton at a press conference in Kyiv after talks with the Ukrainian leadership, reports European Pravda.





Bolton was asked of how he could prove Russia's key role in the war in Donbas, given the constant objections from Moscow.





"The mere fact that the Russian side participates in the deployment of the UN peacekeeping forces in Donbas - perhaps this is an indirect recognition by Russia that there are problems and they are part of these problems," Bolton said.





He noted that some time ago a whole group of militants who attacked the American forces were killed in Syria.

It turned out that all those killed earlier fought in Donbas.





We recall that during the speech at the Munich Conference, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russia has a chance to demonstrate readiness for a compromise and to agree to peacekeepers throughout the occupied Donbas.





US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker stated that the draft resolution of Russia, which provides for the deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas only along the line of the clash, is unacceptable for the United States and the United Nations, since it will not guarantee security, but will deepen the conflict.





Earlier, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Turkey and Finland announced their readiness to send peacekeepers to Donbas.
This year the military parade was very special. The women detachment participated in it for the first time ever, while the Air Force of Ukraine renewed its participation for the first time in nine years.

www.epa.eu

Military delegations from 18 partner countries of Ukraine participated in the parade on the Independence Day.

This year the military parade was very special. The women detachment participated in it for the first time ever, while the Air Force of Ukraine renewed its participation for the first time in nine years.

Also, a new greeting of the Ukrainian Army "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!" was used for the first time.



Among other things, the joint Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade, the ceremonial calculation from Estonia, the military units of Canada, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Canada, the United States and other countries marched through the center of Kyiv.

www.epa.eu

www.epa.eu

www.epa.eu

www.epa.eu

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www.epa.eu

Related video:

Related: Two soldiers lost consciousness during speech of Poroshenko at parade (photo, video)
Labour Ministry to bring home comatose migrant workers

The government is preparing to bring back home those migrant workers who are in a state of coma at hospitals in different parts of the world, Labour Minister Gokarna Bista told the national news agency, RSS, in an interview.
Donbas conflict in Ukraine

Ukraines Independence Day and Flag Day

Meeting of Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin

Ukrainian political prisoners: Oleg Sentsov and exchange

Sanctions against Russia

Handziuk case

Donbas conflict in Ukraine

This week, the situation in the embattled Donbas has not changed much. Some mortar attacks were reported over the past four days; no artillery use was observed.

On Monday, Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko and his German counterpart Angela Merkel agreed on continuing of consultations at the level of ministers of foreign affairs of the Normandy format regarding the peacekeeping mission of the UN on the occupied territory in Donbas.

The Ukrainian capital city hosts a forum of war veterans on Wednesday; the event gathered participants in the ongoing Donbas conflict, civil activists, volunteers who have been supporting the military since the beginning of the conflict, and the leading Ukrainian statesmen. President Petro Poroshenko joined the event with the speech - on the occasion of the approaching national holiday, the Independence Day. The Armed Forces of Ukraine is the guarantor of Ukraines independence. 334,000 participants of the battle actions in the east of our state guarantee our freedom, sovereignty, independence, Poroshenko noted. He added that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers perished over 4,5 years of Donbas war.

Starting from midnight on August 29, a termless ceasefire was announced in the Joint Forces Operation zone. Meanwhile, Russia sent another so-called humanitarian convoy to the occupied Donbas.

Ukraines Independence Day and Flag Day

This year Ukraine marks the 27th anniversary of its independence on August 24. Traditionally, a military parade is held in the capital of the country. This week, the rehearsals of the parade, which is to begin at 10 am on August 24, took place on August 18, 20 and 22.

In particular, on August 18 we reported that during the preparations to the military parade a buk anti-aircraft system crashed into the wall of the business center "Astarta", which is located on the corner of the Nyzhnyi Val and the Naberezhno-Khreshchatitska Street in Kyiv.

Another rehearsal of the parade took place on August 20  check out the video about it here.

Reportedly, Stepan Poltorak, Minister of Defense claimed that soldiers from 18 countries will participate in the parade for the Independence Day. In addition, Arsen Avakov, Ukraines Internal Minister, said that 30,000 law enforcers will protect public order in Ukraine on National Flag and Independence Day.

World leaders congratulated Ukraines President Poroshenko and Ukrainian on the 27th anniversary of the independence. Among them were Donald Trump, the President of the U.S., Emmanuel Macron, the Head of France, Willem-Alexander, the King of the Netherlands, Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden, and Philippe, the King of the Belgians.

On August 23, Ukraine celebrated National Flag Day. Due to this holiday, many streets in Kyiv were blocked. Moreover, a national record was set - the longest national flag of Ukraine was unfolded on the streets of Ukraines capital.

Meeting of Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin

On August 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hald a meeting during which they discussed Ukraine and Syria.

Also, Merkel stated that Ukraine should remain participant in process of gas transit to Europe.

We also gathered the key quotes of the meeting of Putin and Merkel in Meseberg, as well as the reaction of the world media on this meeting.

Ukrainian political prisoners: Oleg Sentsov and exchange

On August 21, was the 100th day of the hunger strike of the Ukrainian political prisoner Oleg Sentsov. PEN International, a London-based association of writers, delivered messages of support from all over the world to the Embassy. Also, a rally in support of Sentsov took place in Kyiv, near Russian Embassy.

Later it was reported that Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service will feed Oleg Sentsov by force, if a direct threat to his life emerges, however, the service belied this information.

Talking about the exchange of the prisoners, it was reported that Russia rejected the initiative of Ukraine to meet in Minsk for the discussion of the transfer of 36 Russian citizens in exchange of the Ukrainians. While Ukraine proposed to pardon two Russian citizens and convey them to the Russian Consul with a simultaneous exchange of the Ukrainian servicemen with Ukraine illegally kept on the occupied territory of Donbas.

Sanctions against Russia

Anti-Russian sanctions are a trend this week. The U.S. President Donald Trump in his interview to Reuters stated that he would consider the question of removal of anti-Russian sanctions if it took steps on such areas as Syria or Ukraine.

Trump said Putin did not raise with him the issue of U.S. sanctions on Russia but that he would consider lifting them if Russia took steps on such areas as Syria or Ukraine.

Later Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK urged the U.S. and EU to coordinate the sanctions against Russia.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse, one of the largest in the State has frozen the accounts of $5 billion associated with Russia due to the USA sanctions. The bank doesnt reveal the owners name of the frozen accounts. According to the Central Bank of Russia, $6.2 billion was transferred to the Swiss banks for the last year, which makes 14 percent of all amount of money withdrawn from Russia.

Handziuk case

On August 17, the Police and the Security Service of Ukraine detained two people. They were probably involved into the organization of the attack on Kateryna Handziuk, Administrator of the Executive Committee of the Kherson City Council.

On August 20, it was reported that the court in Kherson arrested Viktor Horbunov for two months without the right of bail. He is suspected of the attack on Kateryna Handziuk, Administrator of the Executive Committee of the Kherson City Council. The preventive measure was chosen at the closed court session.

Five people were considered suspects in the case of the attack, as Serhiy Knyazev, the Head of National Police, said on the next day. However, on August 22, six suspects of committing the crime were reported.

Later, the court released one of the suspects - Mykola Novikov. It was noted that due to the absence of evidence Novikov did not show up at the hearing. His lawyer was present.

On Wednesday, August 23, Spokesperson of the Police Yaroslav Trakalo claimed that four suspects in the case pleaded guilty.
4,500 Ukrainian soldiers and 250 military hardware along with the military men of 18 countries participated in the parade

A military parade dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine took place in the downtown of Kyiv.

This year the military parade was very special. The women detachment participated in it for the first time ever, while the Air Force of Ukraine renewed its participation for the first time in nine years.

Also, a new greeting of the Ukrainian Army "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!" was used for the first time.

You can also read here in details why it was so special.

11:40 Military parade comes to an end, bringing us a festive and proud spirit. However, the celebration of one of the most important holidays in Ukraine continues.

Thank you for staying with us!

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11:32 Air Force of Ukraine participates in the military parade for the first time in the last nine years. It is bright and powerful moment of the event

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11:18 Military hardware cross the main street of Kyiv

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11:13 As it was mentioned soldiers from 18 countries participate in the military parade

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11:11 All detachments of Ukrainian Armed Forces powerfully march in synch. The atmosphere of the march is solemn and festive

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11:06 First time ever a unit of female soldiers participate in the military parade in Ukraine

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10:59 Finally, the holiday march begins

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10:57 The Air Forces are aiming to Kreshchatyk

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10:48 Petro Poroshenko declares the honorary titles to the brigades of Ukraine's Armed Forces

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10:45 The ceremony of the awarding begins! Ukraine's President will give the military awards to the heroes of the country. Also, posthumously

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10:40 Minute of silence for those who gave their lives for Ukraine. It is a moving moment that makes us be grateful for the defenders of our land

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10:39 Ukraine's President notes that Europe will not be whole without Ukraine

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10:35 Also, Poroshenko emphasized the importance of autocephaly of Ukrainian Orthodox Church

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10:32 He concluded that "Body cannot be free if the spirit is captured". Poroshenko wished the whole world to see the aspiration of Ukraine and support it

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10:25 President Poroshenko delivers a speech to all Ukrainians reminding the highlights of the development of Ukraine's independence. He emphasized that despite the years of dependence on Russia, Ukraine stood up for itself and should continue to follow this way

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10:10 Ukraine's Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak arrived. He greets all current and future soldiers of the Armed Forces with the 27th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine

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10:06 The pray for Ukraine's Armed Forces takes place

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10:03 Ukrainian flag was ceremonially delievered and then raised under accompaniment of the military orchestra

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10:01 Poroshenko arrived to Kreshchatyk

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09:59 Every unit of Ukraine's Army is ready and waiting for President Poroshenko who is also a Commander-in-Chief

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9:57 The military parade begins! The first units march across the street. Also, Commander of Ground Forces comes to the downtown of Kyiv

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9:55 Today's march is called "The New Army March". It is also dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the revival of the Ukrainian statehood.

Open source

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9:43 As we are waiting for the parade let's remind the highlight of its rehearsals. Buk anti-aircraft system crashed into the wall of the business center "Astarta", which is located on the corner of the Nyzhnyi Val and the Naberezhno-Khreshchatitska Street in Kyiv.
Independence Day of Ukraine is the day when the state commemorates the Declaration of Independence of 1991

For centuries Ukraine was dominated by Poland, Russia, Turkey and other foreign countries. Before the country gained independence, it was a part of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian Parliament adopted a document of great importance in 1991 - the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. It opened a new page of the Ukrainian history and was followed by a long path of building up a democratic state on the rule of law. Around 90% of Ukrainians voted for their states independence following the declaration. It is usually celebrated with a large-scale military parade in the capital of Ukraine - Kyiv.

Many of Ukrainian cities also hold parades, when people wear traditional national apparel  vyshyvanka. It is a nice way to manifest one's love and dedication to the motherland. This year, a race in vyshyvankas will take place in Kyiv on August 24.

As a rule, a real Ukrainian patriot celebrates the Independence Day showing their's country flag - a banner of 2 equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. Blue symbolizes a peaceful sly above a wheat field - yellow.

Apart from the parades, such events as concerts, outdoor exhibitions, fireworks, circuses, free public markets and fairs are held.

It is important to mention, that Independence Day is a state holiday in Ukraine, so most of the shops, museums, libraries as well as government offices and educational institutions are closed.
Lawmakers slam use of force

Lawmakers across the party line have slammed excessive use for force in Mahendranagar to quell protests demanding justice for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta.
Metropolis to issue tender for mutli-storey parking

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is planning to announce a tender for multi-storey smart parking facility in New Road next week.
Nepal, China agree on rail study

Nepal and China have agreed on the technical details of the Kathmandu-Kerung railway line, and will soon begin the process of preparing a detailed report for what has been touted as one of the most challenging projects, even for the northern neighbour that has mastered advanced railway engineering.
Parliament ratifies MC99

Parliament on Thursday ratified the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as the Montreal Convention 1999 (MC99), that stipulates higher compensation for accidents involving international flights.
Parliamentary hearings

The appointment of judges is an integral aspect of the independence of the judiciary
Police arrest Bishwokarma at SC premises

Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma, spokesperson for the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal, was arrested from the premises of the Supreme Court on Thursday as soon as he was released following the court order.
Rasuwa residents decry authorities delay in opening obstructed road

The Dhunche-Rasuwagadhi road in Rasuwa district has been obstructed for the past one week due to landslides at Khopang cliff.
Reading Naipaul in the 21st century

How do we understand his troubled legacy if we cannot separate the art from the artist?
Resolution motion against violence against women presented at parliament

A resolution motion to end violence against women has been presented before the House of Representatives.
Rupandehi wins praises for its public health care

The local governments in Rupandehi have expanded their health care services in a bid to deliver accessible and quality health care to the people.
Tackling cargo movement from India

The Nepal-bound containers that are shipped from the Kolkata Port, in India, have been facing a number of problems at the Indian port. Delay in clearance, lengthy documentation procedures and a lack of timely availability of rakes are the key problems identified by Nepali traders that has made trading costs significantly high. The Kolkata Port receives around 400-600 Nepal-bound containers every week.
Utilise BIMSTEC as opportunity: Experts

Experts on foreign affairs and trade have said the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) could be utilised as an opportunity for regional development and expansion of trade.
Water project benefits Chepang Basti

Fifty-three Dalit and Janajati households at Chepang Basti in Barahatal Rural Municipality-5, Surkhet, have benefited from the construction of a solar lifting drinking water project.
1. Yes. If a city of 150,000 cant provide safe drinking water for 10 days, a probe is needed.

2. Yes. Not only should there be a state investigation, but customers should get a rebate.

3. No. The city will be working with TCEQ to develop an after-action plan. That will suffice.

4. No. The whole episode was just an annoyance. An outside investigaton is unnecessary.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing more details about the issue.

Vote

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Company owners charged with worker safety violations that contributed to the deaths of two employees.



The Justice Department said two executives of a railcar cleaning company were indicted by a grand jury in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday for worker safety violations that contributed to the deaths of two employees in 2015.

Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services president and owner Stephen Michael Braithwaite and Adam Thomas Braithwaite, vice president and co-owner, were charged in a federal court with 22 counts of conspiracy, violating worker safety standards resulting in worker deaths, violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and submitting false documents to a federal agency. Adam Braithwaite also was charged with perjury.

Inspectors from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2013 and 2014 found the company was not properly testing and disposing hazardous waste from railcars, namely highly flammable benzene.

On April 14, 2015, the contents of a railcar ignited while being cleaned by Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services employees. Two employees were killed and a third injured.
17:14 | Lima, Aug. 24.

At the ceremony, the Head of State affirmed Acurio 's professional qualities and efforts to spread Peruvian cuisine have made him worthy of this decoration.





"() we can learn many lessons from the path he followed," the Peruvian leader expressed.





Vizcarra went on to add the success and recognition gained by Acurio are the result of his efforts, perseverance, as well as innovative and inclusive spirit.





"He firmly followed what he truly desired, even by breaking the established patterns," he added while saluting the cook on behalf of Peru.





Alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Nestor Popolizo, President Vizcarra highlighted the entrepreneur's example, since it shows Peru has a bright future ahead and great opportunities to continue walking the path towards development.





"Just like our gastronomy stands out worldwide , why can't we do the same with the country in general? Peru does offer us all the conditions," he said.





On his part, Acurio showed excitement for the decoration and said this recognition included everyone involved in Peruvian cuisine, such as cooks, farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and gastronomic researchers, among others.





According to him, the contribution made by all the people who are part of this chain helps promote Peru's image worldwide through a gastronomy that prides itself on its history and origins.





Peruvian cuisine is now an international brand, a trend in global consumption. It is present in French and Italian restaurant menus ()," the chef expressed.





"Lima has become an important gastronomic destination, and we're proud of that," he added.





(END) MVF/CCR/DTK/MVB
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto discussed the Arctic environment and Russia's participation in an Arctic summit during their talks in Sochi. Addressing a news conference, Sauli Niinisto confirmed that Finland would prioritize the environment during its chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

"We talked about environmental issues in many dimensions. First, we agreed that the Finnish chairmanship of the Arctic Council would give pride of place to environmental issues, among other things," Niinisto said.

He added that Finland had outlined concrete issues to work on.

"This concerns black carbon, or soot, and the use of liquefied natural gas as fuel for ships. I would like to thank Russia for its support in this matter. As far as I understand, both of us are ready to attend an Arctic summit, if it takes place," he added.

According to President Niinisto, measures are already being taken as part of the effort to fight soot.

"For example, thermal power stations in the Kola Peninsula have been switching to fuel that is less environmentally harmful," he said, adding that another relevant issue was the likely transition of Arctic shipping from fuel oil to LNG.

The Russian president considered that it was also important to discuss the rules of business activity, including on major projects, security, and wildlife preservation.

"It is necessary to discuss the security of shipping in these latitudes and rescue operations, including in the event of unfavorable environmental conditions. It would be quite useful to discuss chances for joint work to preserve wildlife and the animal kingdom, given that many animals in the Arctic are facing a difficult situation. For example, polar bears are in danger because of ice melting," Putin said.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the closing ceremony of Step Towards Home program in Tsaghkadzor, the PMs Office told Armenpress.

The program, which launched on August 25, was attended by nearly 400 young Diaspora-Armenians from 25 countries of the world.

The phrase native land of my dreams has been sounded in many songs, but the most interesting thing is that we have dreamed of a homeland both within and outside Armenia. I want to state the following: this dream is already a reality for Armenians living in Armenia, and an era has come that this dream should start to be a reality also for those Armenians living abroad, as they are called our compatriots of the Diaspora. I want that you take with you from here the seed of the return of your environment, parents and children to Armenia, the necessity to return to Armenia, the consciousness to return to Armenia, the love of returning to Armenia, the citizenship of returning to Armenia since I consider every Armenian a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, and I have an honor to apply to you as proud citizens of the Republic of Armenia. Its time to make our precious country a reality and its very important that each of your families talk every day about the idea and necessity to return to Armenia. I once again want to repeat that if not your parents, at least you, if not you, at least your kids should definitely return to the homeland. The Diaspora minister said Armenia is a country to love, but I also want to add that Armenia is a country to live, its a country where one should live, develop, create, strengthen, enrich and to enrich with ideas, love, future and power. And I am convinced that today we further strengthen by looking at each other, seeing each other and loving each other. Therefore, long live the freedom, long live the Republic of Armenia, we and our kids who are going to live in free and happy Armenia, the PM said in his remarks.

Thereafter, he answered to numerous questions of the youth which mainly related to the establishment of justice in Armenia, the rule of law, creation of jobs and etc. Nikol Pashinyan said the equality of everyone before the law is already established in Armenia. Today there is no one who can put himself above the law, who can think that he can have more rights than someone else. The equality of all before the law is the cornerstone of justice. The key task for us is to create conditions for the people to develop with work, have progress and reach welfare. And Armenia becomes a fairer state every day, every hour, he added.

The program participants thanked the PM for meeting with them and answering to their questions.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian culture ministry plans to replenish the UNESCO World Heritage list with new monuments, deputy culture minister Tigran Galstyan told ARMENPRESS, adding that major works are underway on this path.

We have only few monuments registered in UNESCO which is absurd. This number should be tenfold, multiplied since we really have worthy monuments. Works are also underway on this direction, but its not an easy work, the deputy minister said. We would like several monuments to be included in the UNESCO list, for instance, Noravank, which must definitely be included in that list. Moreover, there are also other monuments which deserve to be included in the list.

The deputy culture minister said the topic of preservation of monuments is the most sensitive in the field of culture since the demolition of each monument in previous years has been accompanied by mass protests. The culture ministry has two major functions  formation of cultural policy and preservation of monuments. The latter is very important for the ministry, Tigran Galstyan said, reminding that recently the expert commission unanimously voted in favor of the proposal to include several structures to the list of immovable cultural and historical monuments.

This is a continuous process, the list of monuments should be constantly supplemented. We have proposed the public also to participate in this process, and all proposals will be discussed at the session of the expert commission, he said.

The following Armenian sites are included in the UNESCO World Heritage list:

Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots

Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin

Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley

Full version of the interview is available in Armenian.

Interview by Roza Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Armen Ashotyan, chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs, received on August 24 Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin, the Parliament told Armenpress.

During the meeting Armen Ashotyan attached importance to the allied and brotherly relations with Russia in the context of state strategic, as well as centuries-old friendship between the Armenian and Russian peoples.

The sides discussed issues relating to the parliamentary cooperation between Armenia and Russia both at bilateral and multilateral levels.

Armen Ashotyan highlighted the role of the EAEU and CSTO for Armenia, stating that the members of these structures should make efforts to strengthen the reputation of these organizations and to carry out more effective activity. In this context he emphasized the importance of creating a parliamentary format within the EAEU.

At the meeting the officials also touched upon Armenias domestic political issues, highlighting the importance of all procedures to be carried out through democratic means and maintenance of the Constitution.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Yelk faction MPs of the Armenian Parliament Lena Nazaryan and Alen Simonyan put into circulation a bill according to which it is expected to provide compensation to the relatives of the 2008 March 1 victims, reports Armenpress.

During the public hearings on the 2008 March 1-2 events in the Parliament this year in February then MP [currently Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinyan was obliged to develop a legislative package by which compensation will be provided to the relatives of the March 1 victims. Nikol Pashinyan didnt manage to do that.

Today MP Alen Simonyan and I put into circulation the bill on Compensating the damages caused to the persons life or health during the events in March 1,2 2008. The amount, timeframe, payment procedures and conditions of the compensation funds will be determined by the government. The bill aims at restoring justice, trust towards the state institutions and establishing public solidarity, Lena Nazaryan said on Facebook.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan today received Ambassador of Lebanon to Armenia Maya Dagher, the Ombudsmans Office told Armenpress.

During the meeting issues relating to the cooperation in the field of human rights were discussed, taking into account the Ambassadors long-term work experience in the human rights international organizations. The Ombudsman told the Ambassador that he is engaged in the reform programs of different countries.

The Lebanese Ambassador attached importance to the Ombudsmans activities, and an agreement was reached to implement exchange programs with Lebanons National Commission for Human Rights.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in Armenia on a state visit, at the Presidential Palace on August 24. The delegations of both countries participated in the meeting.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, greeting Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German delegation, President Armen Sarkissian expressed confidence that this historical visit will open new horizons for the development of Armenian-German relations. This is the first official visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel to Armenia, but in the past she has been in Armenia.

I want to note with satisfaction that the Armenian-German relations are based on mutual understanding and deep trust. Germany is a very important partner for Armenia, but there is much room for expanding our cooperation in different spheres. And of course, I want to express my satisfaction for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Germany and also for the political support that we feel in our cooperation with the EU, since the Armenian-EU relations are very important for us, President Sarkissian said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed satisfaction and gratitude for being hosted in Armenia. Dear Mr. Sarkissian, I am glad to be hosted in your country and I am glad for our meeting. Last year our countries marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and today we can summarize our relations as positive. I agree with you that we have unutilized potential in our relations and it should be used not only in political or economic spheres, but also in research and technological spheres. We wish to make our contribution to the reforms declared by Armenia and we attentively followed the changes and processes that took place in your country in spring. We are ready to cooperate in this difficult but important moment, she said.

During the meeting the sides referred to the Armenian-EU cooperation, as well as to the opportunities of deepening bilateral relations in different spheres, including culture, education and science.

Translated and edited by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The negotiations between Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were very productive. They referred to the Armenian-German relations and regional issues. The positions of the sides on many of the issues coincided, which show that the Armenian-German relations have a great potential for development, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on August 24.

This is the first ever visit of the Chancellor of the GFR to the Republic of Armenia and it can be assessed as a historical visit. This circumstance further emphasizes the recent changes in Armenia. I am glad for the very effective negotiations with the Chancellor that referred to the relations between Armenia and Germany and regional issues. Our positions on many issues of that agenda coincide which show that our relations have a great potential for development. We hope that the level of our cooperation will significantly change. We discussed and reached an agreement that after this visit we will develop a joint agenda for different spheres and will work for their implementation, Pashinyan said.

Angela Merkel noted that Germany is ready to deepen relations with Armenia. During the last months we followed the process of the velvet revolution in your country. We talked not only about the development of bilateral relations, but also in the sidelines of the EU. We would like to cooperate in the field of digitalization. Cooperation in the sphere of education is also important. There are schools in Armenia where German language is taught, the German Chancellor said.

Merkel expressed satisfaction over the signing of the Compressive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the EU. Germany will make its contribution to helping Armenia in the implementation of the agreement. We discussed domestic issues referring to anti-corruption struggle. I wish Armenia success in this issue, Merkel said.

The German Chancellor paid an official visit to Armenia on August 24, following her visit to Georgia.

Merkel paid tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial. She has already met with Armenian President Arme Sarkissian, visited Tumo center and PicsArt Company.

Translated and edited by Tigran Sirekanyan
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Shes the iconic Danish royal whos famed for her effortlessly chic style.

Now Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has shown off a very different look, donning traditional dress alongside her young brood to visit the Faroe Islands.

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Two Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen have killed at least 26 children, UN officials said Friday, renewing calls for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war. At least 22 children and four women died in an attack Thursday while fleeing fighting in the Al-Durayhimi district, south of the rebel-held city of Hodeida, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said. In addition to that strike, four other children were killed in a separate air strike in Al-Durayhimi, also on Thursday. "This is the second time in two weeks that an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition has resulted in dozens of civilian casualties," Lowcock, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement. A coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada on August 9 killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation. Lowcock renewed the UN appeal for "an impartial, independent and prompt investigation" and said "those with influence" over the warring sides must ensure that civilians are protected. The rebel-run Saba news agency said the air strike on Thursday hit a bus and a house but the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the coalition, blamed the Huthi rebels for the attack. Al-Durayhimi lies some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Hodeida, and has seen two weeks of fighting between the rebels and pro-government forces backed by the UAE. "I had hoped that the outrage that followed the Saada attack in Yemen two weeks ago would be a turning point in the conflict. Yesterday's reported attacks in Al-Durayhimi, killing 26 children, indicate that it was not," said Henrietta Fore, the director of the UN children's agency UNICEF. Fore urged the warring sides, their foreign backers and the Security Council to "take action and end this conflict once and for all." - Covering up war crimes - After widespread condemnation of the August 9 bus attack, the coalition announced that it was opening an investigation, but rights groups insist any probe should be impartial. In a 90-page report, Human Rights Watch said the coalition had failed to properly investigate war crimes allegations stemming from attacks on civilian targets. HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said the coalition's investigators "were doing little more than covering up war crimes." The European Union urged Yemen's warring sides to "prioritise the protection of civilians in all instances" following the attacks in Al-Durayhimi and stressed the need to end the war, according a statement from the EU foreign affairs spokesperson. UN-brokered talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago. The Security Council has called for a "credible" investigation of the bus attack in Yemen, but did not demand an independent probe. Three of the five permanent council members -- Britain, France and the United States -- are supporting the coalition in its military campaign, while non-permanent member Kuwait is part of the coalition. Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition has been fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen since 2015 to return President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power. The war has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. More than 20 children and four women have been killed in two separate Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen, similar to this one pictured in September 2016, according to the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs
An anaesthetist gassed his wife and daughter to death using a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide, a Hong Kong court has heard.

Prosecutors told the High Court that Khaw Kim-sun left the inflatable ball in the boot of a car where the gas leaked out and killed them, according to reports from court on Wednesday.

His wife and 16-year-old daughter were found on a roadside in a locked yellow Mini Cooper in 2015, in a case which initially baffled police.

The pair were certified dead at the same hospital where Khaw worked and a post-mortem concluded they had died from inhaling carbon monoxide.

An anaesthetist gassed his wife and daughter to death using a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide. Photo: Getty

Police found a deflated yoga ball in the back of the car.

Khaw cried on Thursday as the pathologist who examined the bodies was called to testify and began to give details about the autopsy he carried out on his daughter, according to an AFP reporter in court.

Khaw has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday that Khaw, a 53-year-old Malaysian national, was having an affair with a student and his wife would not grant him a divorce.

They accused him of hatching a deliberate plot to murder his wife, the South China Morning Post reported.

Prosecutors said it was likely that Khaw had not intended to kill his daughter.

The court heard that in a police interview, Khaw had said he had urged his younger daughter to stay at home and finish her homework on the day of the deaths, according to Apple Daily.

Khaw had been seen filling two balls with carbon monoxide at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he was an associate professor, reports said.

A prison van transporting Khaw Kim-sun, who is accused of murdering his wife and daughter. Photo: AFP

He told colleagues he planned to use the gas on rabbits but later told police that he had taken it to get rid of rats at home.

The familys domestic helper Siti Maesaroh told the court Thursday that the couples three other children had gone to school on the day of the deaths, but Lily was having a holiday.

Story continues

She said the children had a good relationship with their parents.

Siti added that Khaw and his wife had separate bedrooms and cooked their meals separately, but said she did not know anything about their relationship.

The couples eldest daughter is due to testify on Friday.
Outgoing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has slammed wreckers in the Liberal party who brought down his leadership leaving Australians dumbstruck and appalled.

Mr Turnbull on Friday revealed his disgust at the chaotic week that had unfolded in Parliament as he announced he would resign from his seat before the next federal election.

The former prime minister was ousted in a party room meeting on Friday and former treasurer Scott Morrison beat Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop in a vote for the new leader of the Liberal Party.

The people who chose Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott and others, who chose to deliberately attack the Government from within, they did so because they wanted to bring the Government down, a disappointed Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra after losing the Liberal Party leadership.

Ill be leaving the Parliament in  not before too long. As I have always said, he confirmed to reporters at his farewell press conference.

Ive been very clear about that. Its not a secret.

Malcolm Turnbull (centre) has been ousted as prime minister. Source: David Gray/via AP

Turnbulls swipe at party wreckers

In his speech Mr Turnbull took a swipe at those who caused chaos in the parliament this week.

Mr Turnbulls leadership was first challenged on Tuesday when former Home Affairs Minister Dutton announced he wanted to oust the prime minister to assume the role himself.

Mr Turnbull won the leadership ballot but Mr Dutton demanded another challenge on Thursday. Mr Turnbull called another party room meeting on Friday and Mr Morrison won the leadership.

As there has been chaos this week, it has been created by the wreckers, Mr Turnbull said.

I have done everything I can to maintain the stability of government and the stability of the party. But of course, if people are determined to wreck, they will continue to do so.

Scott Morrison will become the new prime minister. Source: AAP

Mr Turnbull said Australians would be dumbstruck and appalled by the conduct of the party this week.

You know, to imagine that a government would be rocked by this sort of disloyalty and deliberate, you know, insurgency, is the best way to describe it.

Story continues

Deliberate, destructive action at a time when, you know, there are differences on policy, but frankly all of them were sort of able to be resolved with a little bit of good will, he said.

Turnbull reveals proudest moment

Mr Turnbull was Australias 29th prime minister and assumed office in 2015.

When asked if he had any regrets he said he would think of some once he had time to reflect.

But he was proud of his governments achievements, especially the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

I have never worked with a better team of people than I have in my office. They are outstanding, Mr Turnbull said.

Malcolm Turnbull was most proud of legalising same-sex marriage. Source: AAP

The former prime minister claimed the party had been united.

Ive had a very good time here in parliament. I have always been focused on what I can deliver for the Australian people, he said.

The critical thing is, with politics, its not about the politicians. Thats why this week has been so dispiriting, because it just appears to be, you know, vengeance, personal ambition.

With Mr Turnbull planning to leave parliament, this means his successor Scott Morrison would be tested at a by-election in his Sydney seat of Wentworth.
The United States is ready to help Ukraine counter any "interference" by Russia in its 2019 presidential election, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Friday during his visit to Kiev. "(Ukrainian) President (Petro) Poroshenko and I agreed that we would look at steps that the US and Ukraine could take to look at election meddling here," Bolton said after a meeting with Ukraine's leader. "We could do that through normal law enforcement channels, through other mechanisms," he added. "We are prepared to work with the government of Ukraine to prevent such meddling here." Poroshenko, who has been in office since 2014, is reportedly going to run for a second term next year. But currently the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was imprisoned under ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, is the favourite, according to the latest opinion polls. On Thursday, Bolton said he warned his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev that Washington would not tolerate interference in US mid-term elections in November, after fresh evidence emerged of Russian meddling. Earlier this week, Facebook and Twitter separately announced that they had uncovered hundreds of pages and accounts tied to Russia and Iran aimed at manipulating debate ahead of the US vote. Microsoft said this week that it seized websites linked to Russian intelligence that sought to interfere in US political debate. Russia has repeatedly denied any effort to influence US elections, including via social media. Russia and Ukraine are at loggerheads since the pro-Western popular uprising ousted Kremlin-backed Yanukovych in 2014. It was followed by Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and the war between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in the country's east which has claimed more than 10,000 lives. As a sign of US support, Bolton on Friday attended the biggest ever military parade in central Kiev on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. This handout photograph released by the Ukrainian presidency shows President Petro Poroshenko (R) speaking with US National Security Advisor John Bolton (L) who is visitng Kiev. Ukrainian servicemen march in Kiev in a military parade to celebrate Independence Day, 27 years after Ukraine broke away from the Soviet Union.
The good news for Brazil's left ahead of October presidential elections is that its biggest candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, easily leads the polls. The bad news? He's in prison. This bizarre situation leaves the once mighty Workers' Party in a state of turmoil over how to approach the October 7 vote. A Datafolha poll on Wednesday confirmed that Lula's popularity is in no danger of deflating as the election nears. In fact it has risen from 30 to 39 percent since June, 20 points clear of the nearest rival, right-winger Jair Bolsonaro. "The people want Lula," the Workers' Party, which he founded and brought to power in his 2003-2010 presidencies, proclaimed. Do they really, though? Polling numbers are not quite as clear on closer inspection. Lula gets much of his backing from so-called spontaneous support, which reaches 20 percent of those polled by Datafolha. Bolsonaro got 15 percent spontaneous support, while none of the other candidates got more than two percent. Lula, who has been a major political figure in Brazil for decades, as well as the subject of a long running corruption saga, is already well known, while many of the others running have only just started their electoral campaigns. Bolsonaro, notorious for his statements on women, gays and approval of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, has milked the old showbiz maxim of there being no such thing as bad publicity. Crucially, 41 percent told Datafolha they were undecided. "Lula is growing thanks to his brand... (and) because most of the other candidates are not known," said Jason Vieira, from Infinity Assets consultancy. Lula, whose two terms were followed by the consecutive elections of his protege Dilma Rousseff, "has dominated the political panorama for 20 years or more," said Jose Augusto Guilhon Albuquerque, professor emeritus for international relations at Sao Paulo University. "When he's not present, the electorate becomes very indecisive." In addition, even if Brazil appears deeply split to the left and right, Lula's presidency is largely remembered for its economic growth and successful programs to reduce social inequalities. At a time of economic disarray, the Workers' Party slogan of "Lula for president, so that Brazil can be happy again" resonates. The twist, however, is that Lula is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption. His lawyers, with some backing from foreign human rights bodies, argue that he should be allowed on the ballot. But the decision will be up to Brazil's Supreme Electoral Tribunal -- and there is little hope of a positive response. - Leftist dilemma - If he cannot run, as seems likely, will Lula simply bring supporters to his vice presidential pick, ex-Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad? It's not so sure. Datafolha found only four percent support for Haddad, while 31 percent of voters said they'd follow a candidate just because he or she had been endorsed by Lula. Haddad's path is arguably complicated by Lula refusing so far to get out of the way and make him the designated successor. An earlier rolling out of the Haddad candidacy "would have given him very good chances," said the academic Ruy Fausto, author of "Paths of the Left." Lula's standoff with the courts and looming presence in the opinion polls puts the whole election on an unsteady footing and angers others on the left. Marina Silva, an ecological campaigner and former Lula minister, criticized the impasse. "No one is above the law," she said. "There are only a few days for the electoral process to be finalized and we're still in a situation that makes it much harder for voters to choose." Another leftist ex-minister running for the presidency, Ciro Gomes, accused the Workers' Party of acting as a spoiler, "because everyone knows Lula will not be a candidate." Un seguidor sostiene un mscara del expresidente brasileo Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, durante la convencin nacional del PT en Sao Paulo, el 4 de agosto de 2018
British couples looking to conceive through artificial insemination face uncertainty if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal because sperm would no longer be imported from EU countries under existing legislation. Government advice published on Thursday said Britain imported around 3,000 sperm samples from a commercial sperm bank in Denmark last year, as well as around 4,000 samples from the United States. The Cryos sperm bank in Denmark says it is the world's largest. Sperm donations in Britain have fallen sharply since donors lost the right to anonymity under a law that came into force in 2005. Britain also imports a small number of eggs and embryos from other EU countries, amounting to around 500 last year. If Brexit talks collapse, the government said the laws currently governing sperm imports, the EU Organ Directives and EU Tissues and Cells Directives, would no longer apply to Britain. Fertility banks "would need new written agreements with relevant EU establishments," the government said, adding that this would "for the most part be a minimum burden on industry". "UK licensed establishments that already hold an import licence to import tissues and cells from third countries will be able to use their existing written agreements with third country organisations as a template," it said. But Geetha Venkat, director of the Harley Street Fertility Clinic, told BBC radio on Friday that couples were "panicking". Venkat said a legislative change on US sperm imports meant these could take up to three months, while the imports from Denmark currently take only a week. Extra paperwork could create additional costs which could be passed on to couples, she warned. "If there is Brexit with no deal, we do not know what is going to happen," she said, adding: "As it is, it's a stressful treatment, and this is going to add to that". Photo illustration from Cryos, the biggest sperm bank worldwide, in Denmark from which Britain now imports around 3,000 sperm samples annually. But imports would be disrupted if there is no Brexit deal with the EU.
Civilians were killed in western Yemen on Thursday in a missile strike for which the Huthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition fighting them traded blame. The rebel-run Saba news agency said women and children were among at least 31 people killed or wounded in an air strike that hit a bus and a home in the Al-Durayhimi district, south of the strategic port city of Hodeida. But the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the Saudi-led coalition, said the Huthis launched a "ballistic (missile) made in Iran". A child was killed and dozens of others were wounded, three of them seriously, according to Emirati state news agency WAM. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the accounts given by the two sides. The Al-Durayhimi area lies some 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Hodeida, and has seen two weeks of fighting between the rebels and pro-government forces backed by the UAE. But the wider offensive to retake Hodeida from the Huthis has been halted pending the outcome of negotiations, the coalition has said. The latest civilians deaths comes after 40 children and 11 adults were killed in an attack in northern Yemen earlier this month. The August 9 air strike sparked international condemnation and the Saudi-led coalition announced an investigation. The coalition has been accused of causing numerous civilian casualties in the civil war in Yemen. It has admitted a small number of mistakes, but accuses the Huthis of routinely using civilians as human shields. A report published by Human Rights Watch on Friday said the coalition's investigations into alleged war crimes "have lacked credibility". "For more than two years, the coalition has claimed that (its investigative body) JIAT was credibly investigating allegedly unlawful air strikes, but the investigators were doing little more than covering up war crimes," HRW's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement. The coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as he fled into exile in the face of a rebel offensive in 2015. It has recaptured most of the south and stretches of the Red Sea coast but the capital Sanaa and much of the north remain in the hands of the rebels. The conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people and triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. An armoured convoy of Yemeni pro-government fighters arrives in Al-Durayhimi district, south of Hodeida, on June 13, 2018, at the start of an Emirati-backed campaign to retake the strategic Red Sea port city from Huthi rebels
In the sprawling greenery of the Brazilian Amazon, near the border with Peru, a group of people -- small in the distance -- walk through a clearing. These are isolated tribe members, and little do they know, they're being watched -- drone footage revealing their existence to the world. The video -- recorded in 2017, but published this week -- is just one element of the material that Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) collected during missions to the Javari Valley. The hard-to-access area of southwestern Amazonas state is home to the majority of the more than 100 confirmed isolated tribes in the vast South American nation. FUNAI has made contact with eight in the Javari Valley -- but says that there are 11 more, detected via signs including a huge hut, handmade axes and canoes crafted out of palm tree trunks. To get to the region, FUNAI officials and police had to cover 180 kilometers (110 miles) by river and dirt road, and then another 120 kilometers on foot through the jungle, the agency said in a statement. The project, which aims to protect isolated tribes, relied on the in-depth local knowledge of the Kanamari tribe. During the mission, they also encountered two groups of poachers, forcing them to release wild animals. "Vigilance and control must be stepped up in the region to... guarantee total possession of the territory for indigenous peoples," said coordinator Vitor Gois. Last month, FUNAI released video of what it believes to be the only survivor of one Brazilian Amazon tribe. The man lives in the state of Rondonia -- which borders Bolivia -- and it is thought he has spent 22 years living along in the jungle, after his village fell victim to landowners and loggers. That footage was recorded in 2011, but only just released. Evidence discovered this year suggests that he is still alive. His situation, like that of other peoples, alarms specialists who warn of pressures from the agricultural and mining industries, who seek to overtake indigenous lands. Over 800,000 indigenous people -- who belong to 305 groups and speak 274 languages between them -- live in Brazil, according to official data. This handout drone picture taken in 2017 and released by Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) on August 23, 2018 shows a thatched hut in the indigenous territory Vale do Javari in the Brazilian Amazon forest in Amazonas state Brazil's FUNAI has made contact with eight isolated tribes in the Javari Valley -- but says that there are 11 more, detected via signs including a huge hut, handmade axes and canoes crafted out of palm tree trunks like those seen here
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday asked Baltic state leaders for help in convincing the EU to step up pressure on Iran and slammed a Brussels aid package for Tehran. Lithuania's prime minister had earlier proposed talks between the EU and Israel on terror threats and security issues amid tensions over Iran and with the Palestinians. "I unabashedly asked for the help of my friends here in correcting what I think is a distorted position, a distorted view on Israel in the EU," the Israeli premier told reporters at a news conference in Vilnius with his Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts. Netanyahu said the EU failed to "fully understand" Israeli policy on Iran, insisting that Thursday's announcement by the bloc of an initial payment 18 million euros ($20.9 million) for Tehran was "a big mistake". The EU said the funds, part of the landmark nuclear pact concluded with Tehran in 2015, was the first of a wider package of 50 million euros ($58 million) for Iran intended to help it "address key economic and social challenges". But Netanyahu urged a tough approach, hailing the renewed US sanctions on Tehran. "All countries should join the efforts to restore sanctions on Iran in order to press them to stop their aggression and desist on their terrorist activities," he said. Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear pact between world powers and Iran on May 8, reinstating Washington's sanctions on the Islamic Republic and on companies with ties to it. The EU, however, has vowed to keep providing Tehran with the economic benefits it received from the nuclear deal, although many of its bigger companies have already pulled out of Iran for fear of US penalties. - Iran sanctions - Speaking to AFP, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Vilnius would push for Israel's public security minister to address the EU home affairs council "over terrorism threats and other security issues". "We want the discussion to happen as it would help to seek compromise on complicated international issues," he said, without going into further detail. Netanyahu is in Vilnius for a four-day visit -- the first-ever by an Israeli premier -- to boost bilateral ties and build support for Israel's interests in the Middle East. Although Lithuania backs the EU position on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the status of Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal, Skvernelis has said he wants more direct dialogue between the EU and the Jewish state. Lithuania, one of Israel's stronger allies in the European Union, was behind Netanyahu's invitation to meet with EU foreign ministers last December, irking some Brussels officials. - 'Minds and hearts' - Officials said no date had been set for the proposed talks and that the format would depend on reaction from Brussels and other capitals in western Europe, which tend to take a more critical line on Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territory. The prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia joined Netanyahu and Skvernelis for talks later on Friday. "We have had not only a meeting of the minds but also a meeting of the hearts," Netanyahu said following the talks, noting that his family "came from Lithuania over a century ago to what is now Israel". "The fact that the governments here have taken a strong position both on restoring Jewish sites and on fighting anti-Semitism so unequivocally, so clearly, is something that we appreciate deeply." Netanyahu will also meet members of Lithuania's Jewish community and visit a memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims there. Lithuania was once a hub of Jewish learning and home to more than 200,000 Jews before World War II. Over 90 percent of Lithuania's Jews died during the 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of Nazis and local collaborators. Today, Lithuania has a population of 2.9 million population with its Jewish community numbering around 3,000 people. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Vilnius on a four-day trip, the first such visit by an Israeli premier Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the strong position taken by the Baltic states on anti-Semitism at a news conference with Latvia's Maris Kucinskis (L), Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis and Estonia's Juri Ratas (R)


People are enraged over the leadership chaos that took over the Australian parliament resulting in the appointment of Scott Morrison as Liberal leader to take over from Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister.

Scott Morrison won the leadership over former Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton 45-40.

Scott Morrison will become the next prime minister. Source: David Gray/AP

A number of people have criticised Mr Dutton for sending the parliament into disarray by calling for a leadership spill on Tuesday, causing the Liberal party to go into meltdown for the remainder of the week.

Australia has been less than impressed with the Liberal party this week, with party MP Craig Laundy speaking out on KISS FM saying Australians had a right to be furious.

The Australian public should be cranky with us. While were fighting among ourselves, were not thinking about them, he said on Friday morning.

Should we expect an election?

Many constituents have called for an election, with one saying the Australian people deserve it.

Tweets reveal a number of Australians are now disenchanted with the Liberal Party and another said people needed to send a strong message at the next election to prevent a leadership spill from happening again.

NSW Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said no matter what happened in the party room meeting, it would be a deeply unstable, deeply conservative government.

Story continues

We all deserve better. Im looking forward to kicking them out, she tweeted.

The only way to prevent this happening again is to send a very strong message at the election and absolutely slaughter the Liberal Party at the ballot box. #libspill #neveragain  Sue Lappeman (@suelapp) August 24, 2018

Please  get in the car right now, drive to the GG & ask for an election. Save your legacy & save us from the RW ultra-conservatives in your Party. Please! #auspol #libspill  Denise Shrivell (@deniseshrivell) August 24, 2018

Australians have also expressed their frustration about voting, and how they feel like their opinions dont count.

What a joke that we get fined if we dont vote in a federal election yet our votes arent worth the paper theyre written on, one tweeted.

What a joke that we get fined if we don't vote in a federal election yet our votes aren't worth the paper they're written on.#auspol #myfirstandonlypoliticaltweet  Joel Starcevic (@joelstarce) August 22, 2018

Does the Liberal party have a credibility problem?

Radio shockjock Alan Jones said the spill would cause a credibility problem.

Dont tell me they are going to replace Turnbull with someone who for the last three years has been supporting every stupid policy move he has made, Jones tweeted in relation to Dutton earlier this week.

Am I the only person who thinks that might create a credibility problem?

Malcolm Turnbull has been ousted as Prime Minister. Source: Lukas Coch/AAP

Left-wing organisation GetUp! said it was relieved Mr Dutton did not win the leadership position.

For many of us this is a moment of relief that Peter Duttons leadership ambitions have been thwarted, it tweeted.

But we cant forget Morrisons conservative history as Immigration Minister and Treasurer.

Shorten slams Liberal party

With the parliament in turmoil earlier this week, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called for the government to move into caretaker mode while tension within the party was dealt with.

Out of the respect for the Australian people, such a pause should continue until the leadership of the coalition is satisfactorily resolved or a general election is called, at which point normal caretaker conventions would commence, Mr Shorten wrote to Mr Turnbull on Wednesday.
By Benjamin Jumbe.

The Karuma hydro power project will be completed in July 2019.

This was revealed by the energy minister Eng Irene Muloniduring a tour of the construction works by president Museveni yesterday.

The minister noted that progress now stands at 80 percent completion while that of the transmission line is at 42 percent.

The minister attributed the delayed completion to insufficient funds to carry out compensations associated with the implementation of the resettlement action plan.

The project was initially planned to be complete by December 2018.

The Government of Uganda contributed 15 percent as counterpart funding of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) cost, while the China Export and Import Bank is financing 85 percent.
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman being held in prison in Tehran, told AFP on Friday there was "light at the end of the tunnel" after she was released for three days. She has been in prison for more than two years on sedition charges, but was released from Evin prison on furlough on Thursday following campaigning from her family. "From a very despondent position where we thought that (it would be) perhaps five years, or even longer, suddenly Nazanin was released," Richard Ratcliffe told AFP in Edinburgh, where a play is being put on highlighting his wife's plight. "It was a great day yesterday... it feels like there's a light at the end of the tunnel," he added. The couple talked for the first time in more than two years, and she was reunited with four-year-old daughter Gabriella, who has been living with Nazanin's parents in Iran. "She slept next to Gabriella for the first time in more than two years," Ratcliffe said. "Gabriella woke up and said 'oh, it's you mummy, I thought it would be granny', they had breakfast together, Nazanin did her bath, and then brushed her hair. "They were reading stories together, it's been a long time waiting for that kind of family moment." The charity worker is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition -- a charge she has always denied, claiming she was arrested while on holiday with her daughter. - 'Joyful spirits' - Her case took a turn for the worse after the Iranian regime pounced on remarks made last year by then foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who said she had been training journalists. But a new foreign secretary and Britain's commitment to the Iran nuclear deal appear to have improved her chances, said Ratcliffe. "Hopefully, if the politics improve then our (situation) will as well," he said. Despite spending eight-and-a-half months in solitary confinement and suffering from severe depression, Ratcliffe said his wife appeared to be healthy when they spoke on video calling service Skype. "She looked well, she looked happy, she looked a little bit thinner but she looked like the Nazanin I remember, a big radiant smile, giggling and in joyful spirits. "Gabriella said 'you look older than you do in the pictures', which obviously offended her mum hugely," he joked. "There are ups and downs, she often has panic attacks. But there's nothing like being with your family for picking your spirits up." Ratcliffe is hoping that her release may be extended. "We are still in that celebratory day and we will get to tomorrow... and we will be getting more tentative and checking with the lawyer, has it been extended?" The Free Nazanin campaign said that after several weeks of bureaucracy over her possible temporary release, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told on Thursday morning that she had 10 minutes to get ready because she was being freed. She was not allowed to call her family and had to borrow a phone from someone outside the prison to call her brother, who lives in Tehran, to pick her up. Bail for her temporary release was set at 1 billion rials ($23,840, 20,590 euros), with her family's home in Tehran used as collateral, according to the campaign. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella, has been in an Iranian prison for more than two years Campaigners have staged protests to demand the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Lithuania's prime minister on Friday proposed talks between the EU and Israeli interior ministers focused on terrorism amid tensions over Iran and the Palestinian conflict. "Lithuania will initiate discussion in EU home affairs council with Israeli public security minister over terrorism threats and other security issues," Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis told AFP in an interview. Skvernelis said he discussed the idea with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu who is in Vilnius for a four-day visit to boost bilateral ties and build support for Israel's interests in Middle East. Lithuania, one of Israel's stronger allies in the European Union, was behind Netanyahu's invitation to meet with EU foreign ministers in Brussels last December, irking some Brussels officials. Skvernelis says his country backs the EU position on a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict, the status of Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal, but wants more direct dialogue between the EU and the Jewish state. "We want the discussion to happen as it would help to seek compromise on complicated international issues," Skvernelis said. Officials said no date was set yet and the format would depend on reaction from Brussels and Western European capitals which are more critical towards Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territory. The prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia will join Lithuanian and Israeli counterparts later on Friday for talks where Netanyahu is expected to seek more pressure on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with his Lithuanian counterpart Saulius Skvernelis in Vilnius
A man has been charged after a seven-week-old baby suffered brain, eye and spinal injuries.

Police were notified after the baby boy presented at The Childrens Hospital at Westmead suffering ongoing seizures on Tuesday, April 17.

Doctors told officers that the boy had suffered brain, eye, and spinal injuries which left him with permanent disabilities. The child is now in the care of relatives.

NSW Police established an operation called Strike Force Yarrabee to investigate how the child was injured.

A 27-year-old woman was charged in June and remains before the courts. After further investigation, a 30-year-old man was arrested in Ryde at about 8.30am on Thursday.

A NSW Police spokesman told Yahoo7 that the man, woman and child are known to each other.

He was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and also with not providing for a child, causing danger of serious injury.

A seven-week-old baby suffered brain, eye, and spinal injuries and a Western Sydney man (pictured left in yellow with police) was arrested on Thursday. Source: NSW Police

He will face court in September on charges relating to the alleged injuring and neglect of a young baby.

Police will allege in court that the man injured the infant who then suffered seizures for at least 24 hours before medical attention was sought.

The man was granted bail and is due to appear at Burwood Local Court on Monday 17 September 2018.

Anyone with concerns about suspected child abuse or exploitation should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to find a peaceful solution to the ex-Soviet republics' long-running territorial conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region. "It is important that the conflict is resolved peacefully," Merkel told a press conference in Yerevan, on the second day of her regional trip to the South Caucasus. "Germany stands ready to contribute to the peaceful resolution" of the decades-long conflict, she added. Karabakh has been under Armenian control since it was seized during a bloody war in the early 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Baku and Yerevan remain locked in a bitter dispute with frequent exchanges of fire along the volatile frontline nearly spiralling back into all-out war in 2016. The international community still views Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and no country has recognised it as an independent nation. Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force. Moscow-allied Armenia has vowed to crush any military offensive. On Saturday, Merkel will travel to Azerbaijan, where she is expected to discuss energy cooperation with the oil-rich Caspian nation which is seen as an alternative to Russian supplies of natural gas and oil to Europe. She arrived in Yerevan from Georgia where she denounced Russian military presence in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Russia's "occupation of the 20 percent of Georgia's territory and a great injustice". While at a press conference in Yerevan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it is important that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan be resolved peacefully, and that Germany "stands ready to contribute"
US and Mexican negotiators are making progress on revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement but will need to continue the discussions next week, Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Thursday. The negotiations "are well advanced," he told reporters, but "we are not there yet." Canada needs to reengage in the talks before the NAFTA rewrite can completed and "the only way that can happen is if we continue through the weekend and into next week," he added. Guajardo and Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray have been shuttling back and forth to Washington for more than a month for meetings with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to try to iron out the bilateral issues, such as rules for the auto market, before the end of August. Officials last week indicated they expected a breakthrough this week but "negotiations are highly complex," Guajardo said on his way into yet another meeting. He has cautioned that some of the hardest issues were still on the table, including the US demand for a five-year "sunset clause," which would oblige the three countries to renew the pact regularly. "There's been no indication of flexibility from the US on this issue," a senior Canadian official told AFP on Thursday. Canada's top diplomat and chief NAFTA negotiator, Chrystia Freeland, said Wednesday she was encouraged by the progress and would rejoin the talks once Washington and Mexico City finish their bilateral discussions. The three countries have been negotiating for a year to salvage the trade pact that President Donald Trump says has been a "disaster" for the United States. Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo speaks to reporters outside the Office of the US Trade Representative during a day of meetings on the NAFTA treaty on August 23, 2018 in Washington, DC
Mountainous hurdles face the Democratic Republic of Congo as it prepares for elections, just four months away, that will shape the future of one of the world's powder-keg countries. Organising elections among some 40 million voters in a troubled, impoverished state nearly five times the size of France is a huge challenge. But, prickly about intrusion, the DRC is rejecting offers of advice, oversight and election funding from abroad. On Monday, it was regional neighbour South Africa's turn to be spurned. The authorities rejected the appointment of South African former president Thabo Mbeki as "special envoy" to the December 23 ballot, a role announced in the press but not officially confirmed by Pretoria. "I can tell you that there will be no special envoys to the DRC, even if they are Thabo Mbeki" -- the host of peace negotiations that ended the Second Congo War in 2003 -- President Joseph Kabila's diplomatic advisor, Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, told AFP. Observers "tend to behave like proconsuls. They don't respect the DRC's autonomy. We want to mark our sovereignty," added Communications Minister Lambert Mende. - Frosty to UN - The DRC's electoral commission has also said it is refusing help offered by the UN mission, MONUSCO, which proposed using its helicopters and planes to ferry imported voting machines to polling stations nationwide. "We won't impose ourselves," a MONUSCO spokesman said -- a marked contrast to the situation in 2006, when Kabila was elected by the people after coming to power. The UN played an important role that year in lending logistical assistance. Kinshasa wants to see MONUSCO gone by 2020, ending a 20-year presence including more than 16,000 pairs of boots on the ground at an annual cost of more than a billion dollars. In July, Kabila's aides said a potential visit by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres would be "inopportune". On August 8, Kabila, 46, eased months of tension when he signalled he would not stand again for the office he has held since 2001. He threw his support behind a close ally as the candidate of his political majority -- former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is permanent secretary of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD). The DRC opposition, which shed blood in protests against Kabila's grip on power after his mandate ended in 2016, remains deeply suspicious. It has raised concerns about nuts-and-bolts issues such as the electoral roll and the voting method, and fears Kabila is simply plotting to remain the power behind the throne. "Our people cannot and will not accept a sham election where Joseph Kabila, while not himself being a candidate, remains absolute master of the electoral process," the pro-democracy movement Lucha (Struggle for Change) said on Monday. - 'Cheating machines' - One of the trigger points is the novel use of touch-screen voting machines which the DRC election commission says are crucial, given the problem of printing, distributing and tallying ballot sheets in a sprawling country with communications problems. Lucha, though, has branded the South Korean-made devices "cheating machines." It is urging the public to march on the commission's headquarters on September 3. The European Union, like the UN and US, is closely following the election buildup. It has frozen assets and denied visas to a dozen Congolese figures -- including Shadary -- on the grounds of human rights abuses since the constitutional end of Kabila's second and last mandate in December 2016. "Obviously we would like to send an observer mission from the European Union," said a diplomat. "But to do that, we need an invitation from Kinshasa. In the present climate, I find that hardly likely." President Joseph Kabila, left, has remained in office since the end of his two-term tenure in 2016, invoking a caretaker clause in the constitution. He says he will support former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, right, in the Dec. 23 elections The Democratic Republic of Congo has vast mineral wealth -- but corruption and ethnic tensions have entrenched it in wars and poverty DRC election commission officials in January showed off a touch-screen voting machine which they said would resolve technical problems for tallying the Dec. 23 ballot. Critics say the machines are vulnerable to breakdowns, power cuts and hacking
Tajikistan on Friday freed a prominent human rights lawyer as Western governments and rights groups stepped up pressure on the authoritarian Central Asian country. Shukhrat Kudratov, a renowned rights lawyer involved in defending Tajikistan's battered opposition was released early on Friday after spending nearly four years behind bars on embezzlement charges in this landlocked former Soviet republic. In 2015, he was sentenced to nine years in prison although it was later shortened to three years and eight months. Kudratov's supporters insisted his real offence was representing a wealthy former government official Zaid Saidov, who had branched out politically by attempting to form his own party in 2013. Saidov's arrest heralded the beginning of a renewed crackdown in Tajikistan, where 65-year-old President Emomali Rakhmon has been in power since 1992. The businessman and former industry minister is currently serving a 29-year sentence on charges of financial fraud, polygamy, and statutory rape. Although Kudratov's sentence was shortened, another lawyer also known for defending the opposition, Buzurgmehr Yorov, had his jail term extended from 25 to 28 years in 2017. Yorov was initially convicted in 2015 on an array of charges that critics denounced as trumped up after he began defending members of an opposition group the government had banned the same year. His term was extended after prosecutors charged that he publicly insulted officials including the president and was found to be in contempt of court during his trial. Earlier this week, a Tajik appeals court released Khayrullo Mirsaidov, a popular but critical journalist serving 12 years for embezzlement in an apparent climbdown following robust criticisms from rights groups and noises of concern from the West. Ahead of his release, British Ambassador Hugh Philpott had described Mirsaidov's case as "politically important", saying it could impact international cooperation with the country. Amnesty International hailed the verdict as a "rare victory for freedom of expression" while noting he should never have been charged in the first place. In recent years, rights groups have criticised the silence of Western governments as repression intensifies in Tajikistan, a poor majority-Muslim country of nine million people that borders Afghanistan. Tajikistan is a landlocked former Soviet republic which has a population of nine million
Firefighters battling a large forest fire near Berlin had stopped its spread on Friday, a local official said, warning the danger from the blaze had not yet passed. "The situation has not yet calmed down," a spokesman for the interior ministry of Brandenburg state told the DPA news agency. Around 600 people fled their homes in three villages in Brandenburg 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of the capital late Thursday as firefighters battled the blaze from the air with water-bombing helicopters. The smell of acrid smoke reached Berlin as more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of woodland burned outside the nearby city of Potsdam. Residents of one of the villages were able to return home late Friday, but those from the other two will not be able to do until Saturday. However they would be allowed to briefly visit their homes to feed their animals, said local official Christian Stein. "Our main goal remains to protect the evacuated areas from the flames," Stein told DPA. "We haven't been able to push back the fire yet but no building has been affected." About 440 firefighters will be deployed to beat back the fire over the weekend, when no rain has been forecast and strong winds could increase the fire's intensity. Efforts to contain the fire were complicated because the affected terrain is still littered with munitions from World War II, regional emergency response coordinator Michael Knape told public broadcaster RBB. He called the situation "dramatic", saying there had already been small explosions from ordnance buried in the ground. An enduring drought and heatwave have left European rural areas particularly vulnerable to wildfires, which wrought devastation in Greece and Sweden earlier this summer. As the flames came within 100 metres of one of the German villages, residents were told to take only the most essential belongings like medication and documents before fleeing. Emergency hotline operators received hundreds of calls from residents of Berlin saying they could smell smoke. "The entire urban area is now affected. The cause is the large fire in Brandenburg," the Berlin fire brigade tweeted. Around 600 people fled their homes in three villages in Brandenburg 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of the capital late Thursday as firefighters battled the blaze from the air with water-bombing helicopters The smell of acrid smoke reached Berlin as more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of woodland burned outside the nearby city of Potsdam About 300 firefighters are trying to fight the blaze near Potsdam, which lies about 50 kilometres southwest of Berlin
By Benjamin Jumbe.

President Yoweri Museveni has appreciate the progress made in construction of the 600 Megawat Karuma hydro power project

This was during his tour of the project, in Kiryandongo district where he inspected the ongoing construction works.

He hailed Sinohydro, the main contractor of the electricity infrastructure for the good work of ensuring the provision of 600 megawatts saying it would help facilitate the countrys industrialization.

Museveni tasked the district officials of Kiryandongo and Nwoya to identify and allocate pieces of land for the establishment of industrial parks.

He said the parks would assure value addition for various agro products and employment for the people.

Meanwhile the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda H.E. ZhengZhuQiane said the dam is testimony of the good economic relations between China and Uganda and has provided employment opportunities to hundreds of Ugandans.
Sweden released a handbook of its "feminist foreign policy" Thursday for rights groups and foreign governments, showcasing lessons from the Scandinavian nation's flagship approach to promoting women's rights globally. The manual, published on the government's website in English, is derived from four years of work to place gender equality at the heart of the country's international agenda. Sweden began its feminist foreign policy "in response to the discrimination and systematic subordination that still mark the daily lives of countless women and girls around the world", the handbook said. "One starting point is that gender equality is an objective in itself, but it is also essential for achieving the Government's other overall objectives, such as peace, security and sustainable development," it added. Led since its inception in 2014 by Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, its goals include the promotion of economic emancipation, fighting sexual violence and improving women's political participation. "We were met with mixed reactions including a bunch of giggling in the first days and outspoken resistance," Wallstrom told told a news conference in Stockholm. "We've constantly heard 'these are just pretty words', so this is why (the handbook) is important." - 'Feminist has a negative connotation' - Projects cited in the manual include an action plan for five war-torn and post-conflict nations -- Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and the Palestinian Territories -- building in targets for women's rights and empowerment for the first time. The handbook highlighted Sweden's work in Congo to promote "positive masculinity" in the country, where it is has run initiatives such as promoting social media debate on men's role in society. "There are so many countries with so much more to do," Wallstrom said, though she insisted that while the policy is in its early days, it has shown signs of success. She said the name of the guidebook had been "a bit provocative". "In some countries, using the term feminist has a negative connotation, but I think we've been able to demonstrate that this is what it means -- that women and men should enjoy the same rights and the same duties and the same opportunities in society," she told AFP. Wallstrom, who last year joined the #MeToo campaign and said she had experienced sexual harassment "at the highest level of politics," has been an outspoken critic of nations' gender policies. In 2015, Stockholm's diplomatic ties with Riyadh were frozen after she called Saudi Arabia a "dictatorship", denouncing in particular its treatment of women in brazen terms that other Western diplomats might have avoided in dealing with the oil-rich state. The growing influence of women in Sweden's own foreign service is encapsulated by a graphic showing the rapid increase in women in the post of ambassador for the country, from just 10 percent in 1996 to 40 percent in 2016. Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has led the country's 'feminist diplomacy' policy since taking office in 2014
A tanker with 19 Georgian and Russian sailors that went missing for over a week in the Gulf of Guinea has been found off the coast of Congo, Tbilisi said on Friday, although the reason for its disappearance remained unclear. The Pantelena, a Panamanian-flagged tanker owned by a Greek company, "has been found in Congo's territorial waters and is heading to the port of Lome in the Togolese Republic," Georgia's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The lives and health of Georgian sailors are not under threat," the ministry added. On August 14, the ship "turned off its locator beacon," a device that tracks a vessel's position by satellite, a regional military source in Africa said, adding that "the first thing that pirates do when they board a ship is to cut off this beacon." The Gulf of Guinea has in recent years become the epicentre of maritime piracy in Africa. Georgia's foreign ministry said earlier that a search operation was being conducted with the help of the British maritime authorities and that there were concerns for the 17 Georgian and two Russian sailors onboard. But a senior Georgian diplomat told AFP on Friday on condition of anonymity that "what happened at the Pantelena probably wasn't an instance of piracy." "The incident is now settled," the diplomat said without giving further details. The Pantelena, a Panamanian-flagged tanker owned by a Greek company, was last seen off the coast of Gabon but has been found in Congo's territorial waters and is heading to the port of Lome in Togo
US President Donald Trump's national security advisor on a visit to Kiev Friday condemned the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany which will bypassing Ukraine, stressing Europe was taking a strategic risk by relying on Russian gas. "It's not just the economic significance of being heavily dependent on Russia for the supply of natural gas and petroleum, but the strategic significance of it as well," John Bolton told journalists after meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a visit to Kiev. He said that one of the concerns Trump has about Nord Stream 2 is "why Europe would voluntarily tie itself even more to Russian energy supplies." Trump has repeatedly condemned the Nord Stream 2 project which the Russian gas giant Gazprom hopes to launch by the end of 2019. It is expected it will double the delivery capacity between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and therefore avoid the route via Ukraine. Currently Gazprom supplies 35 percent of the EU's gas and half of that goes through Ukraine. "One alternative there for Ukraine and for other countries is to look for other sources of natural gas," Bolton said. "There are other potential sources of natural gas as well from the major gas fields found in the eastern Mediterranean off Israel, from America's capacity to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a variety of other possible sources," he added. At a meeting on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel said Ukraine should "play a role in the transit of gas to Europe" even after Nord Stream 2 is launched. Putin said the pipeline project "addresses the growing demand of the European economy for energy resources". On Wednesday, he said he was ready for "honest" competition with all countries. The United States, a major producer of natural gas, has recently embarked on a commercial offensive in search of new markets, an idea which is supported by Trump. After meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (R), US National Security Advisor John Bolton told journalists that the dependence on Russian energy supplies is one of President Trump's main concerns about the Nord Stream 2
US President Donald Trump on Friday pulled the plug on his top diplomat's upcoming trip to North Korea -- and took a swipe at China over stalled efforts to disarm Kim Jong Un's regime. "I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said on Twitter. Pompeo was due to return to Pyongyang next week for what he described as the next stage in ensuring the "final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea." But Trump -- facing a slew of domestic problems and independent reports that North Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear program -- vetoed the plan. Pompeo and Trump met earlier Friday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. Trump also stepped up his rhetoric against China, which has grown harsher as November congressional elections approach, with the world's top two economies now embroiled in an escalating trade war. "Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," Trump said. In another tweet, the president added Pompeo would still head to North Korea "in the near future," saying this would likely occur when the US-China trading relationship is "resolved." "In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" Trump said. - 'Largely solved' - The trip would have been Pompeo's fourth to North Korea, and the second since a historic summit on June 12 between Trump and Kim. Trump, who relishes unpredictability in negotiating, had at one point canceled that summit, citing North Korea's "open hostility." But he soon backtracked and the summit went ahead in Singapore. Trump had previously claimed that he had "largely solved" the North Korea nuclear problem. Despite that bold claim, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency recently reported it had not seen any indication that nuclear activities in North Korea have stopped. "The continuation and further development of the DPRK's nuclear program and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern," said a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), referring to North Korea's official name. North Korea is believed to be close to developing a miniaturized nuclear device and the ballistic missile capabilities to carry it anywhere in the continental United States. Evans Revere, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said it is time for a radical shift in the US approach. "The Trump administration needs a 'plan B' to deal with the probability that Pyongyang is doing what it has done with every previous US administration: exploiting diplomacy and negotiations to buy time," Revere said in a recent report. Earlier this week, Pompeo named a Ford Motor Co. executive as special envoy for North Korea to try to get disarmament back on track. Stephen Biegun, 55, who is retiring as Ford's vice president for international governmental affairs, had been considered for the post of Trump's national security advisor before it went to John Bolton. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to return to North Korea next week, his fourth trip to the country US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping -- shown here leaving a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last year -- are now sparring over trade
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Russia on Friday that seeking a military solution in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib would be disastrous. "A military solution there will cause catastrophe," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Moscow with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Not only for the Idlib region but for the future of Syria, it will cause catastrophe and the clashes may last a long time," he warned. Speculation is increasing that there could be a Russian-backed government assault on the northwestern province, home to Syria's last major rebel stronghold. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime still holds Idlib's southeastern tip and he has set his sights on retaking control of the region, which borders Turkey, calling this one of his priorities. Cavusoglu warned of the risk heavy fighting would pose to the large civilian population. "Civilians will be harmed. Where will the 3.5 million civilians go?" he asked, as Turkey has already taken in more than three million refugees from Syria. - 'Halt refugee influx - Idlib is one of the so-called "de-escalation" zones set up as a result of talks by Russia, Turkey and Iran last year. Cavusoglu stressed the need to keep the de-escalation zone in place "to halt any refugee influx". "It's also important for Turkey because they are on the other side of our border. They pose a threat to us first," he added. Nonetheless rebel-backer Turkey considers "it is very important that those radical groups, terrorists are rendered ineffective," he said. Putin later met both the Turkish foreign and defence ministers in Moscow. In televised comments the Russian leader said that through the efforts of Russia, Turkey and other countries, they had "managed to seriously move forward in settling the Syrian crisis". Yet the situation in Syria remains one of the "burning questions" for Russia, he admitted. Russia's Lavrov on Friday called the situation in Idlib "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures". "When the de-escalation zone was created in Idlib, no one proposed using it for terrorists to hide behind the civilian population like a human shield," he said. "Especially as they aren't just lying low there. Raids are constantly coming from there as well as firing on the positions of the Syrian army". - Strategic role - The Turkish foreign minister said Ankara would still rely on talks with Russia and Iran, known as the Astana peace process, widely seen as an attempt to circumvent largely fruitless UN talks on Syria. The high-level visit to Russia by Turkish ministers comes as Turkey is feuding with NATO ally United States over an American pastor held for two years on terror charges. US President Donald Trump this month announced sanctions against Turkey that caused the lira to plunge in value. Idlib is a strategically important province adjacent to Latakia, a regime stronghold on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad's clan. The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance controls around 60 percent of Idlib while other Turkey-supported rebel groups hold most of the rest. Analysts say any regime offensive will probably be limited to a small area of Idlib, with a deal between Russia and Turkey likely to determine the fate of the rest of the province. 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. Russia began a bombing campaign in support of Assad's regime in September 2015 and has helped him win back large parts of the country. burs-am/ma/klm Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime still holds Idlib's southeastern tip and he has set his sights on retaking control of the region, which borders Turkey Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned of the risk heavy fighting would pose to the large civilian population
Iran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UN's top court Monday, as Tehran seeks to avert painful punitive measures that could hurt its still fragile economy. Tehran filed a suit against US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose economic sanctions at the Hague-based International Court of Justice last month. After unilaterally pulling out of a historic hard-won deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in May, Trump slapped a first round of sanctions on the country in early August. And a second round is set to come into effect in early November, this time blocking Iran's valuable oil and energy sales. But Tehran argues that Washington has no right to reinstate such measures and is calling on the ICJ to order the US to "immediately suspend" them. It is also demanding compensation. The ICJ is expected to take a couple of months to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling, while a final decision in the case could actually take years. International sanctions against Iran were lifted in 2015 when it a struck a landmark accord with the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, agreeing to rein its nuclear ambitions. - 'One-sided deal' - But Trump described it as a "horrible one-sided deal (that) failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb." And even though all of the other parties pleaded with him not to abandon the pact, Trump pulled out and announced he would reinstate sanctions. Tehran -- which argues that the move violates a little-known Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations signed by the two countries in 1955 -- says that the new sanctions are already hurting its economy. And its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April. A raft of international companies -- including France's Total, Peugeot and Renault, and Germany's Siemens and Daimler -- have already suspended operations in Iran in the wake of the US move. Washington "is besieging Iran economically, with all the dramatic consequences that a siege implies for the besieged population," Tehran said in court papers. Iran "requests that, pending final judgement in the case, the Court indicate... that the USA shall immediately take all measures at its disposal to ensure the suspension of the implementation of all the May 8 sanctions," it said. Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that the support of many European states for the nuclear deal meant that "Iran's position is strengthened." And the publicity generated by Iran filing a lawsuit at the ICJ could work in Iran's favour, the expert suggested. "One of the objectives is to publicly denounce the acts of the United States," De Brabandere told AFP. - 'Malign' activities - In his executive order, Trump argued that the sanctions would turn up the financial pressure on Tehran to come to a "comprehensive and lasting solution" regarding the activities that the international community regarded as "malign", such as its "ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorism." But earlier this month, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to rule out any immediate prospect of talks, saying "there will neither be war, nor negotiations," with the US. Meanwhile, both the US and close ally Israel have called on European countries to do more to pressure Iran. A separate 2016 complaint lodged by Iran against the US for freezing around $2 billion of its assets abroad is due to begin in October, when the United States will argue the ICJ has no authority to hear the case. The International Court of Justice will hear Iran's challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States Iran says the sanctions are already hurting its economy and its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April Trump described the 2015 nuclear deal as "horrible" and "one-sided"
It's the world's number one killer among infectious diseases, but tuberculosis has been eclipsed by HIV/AIDS as a focus of global attention and donor funding. When world leaders gather at the United Nations next month, they will be asked to change that by committing to end the tuberculosis pandemic by 2030 and come up with $13 billion annually to achieve that goal. A row between the United States and South Africa threatens, however, to cast a pall over the first high-level meeting on tuberculosis, to be held on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting in New York. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates whose global fund has done game-changing work to boost public health in poor countries will be among the headliners of the TB summit on September 26. "TB is not a disease of the past, but if the world works together to fight it, I have no doubt it can be," Gates said in post on Twitter. Two months of negotiations on a final declaration were scheduled to wrap up in July, but the talks have dragged on after South Africa opposed US proposals to delete language that recognizes the right of poorer countries to access cheaper medicines. Medical charity MSF has applauded South Africa's stance and urged countries to resist what it has described as "an aggressive push" by the US pharmaceutical lobby to restrict access to low-cost drugs. Diplomats said negotiations were continuing on a possible compromise. Last year, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm when it said tuberculosis had surpassed HIV/AIDS as the world's number one infectious killer and was the ninth cause of death worldwide. About 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016 out of 10.4 million worldwide who became ill from the severe lung infection, according to the WHO. - Will leaders turn up ? - A 30-point final declaration under negotiation would commit governments to end the global tuberculosis epidemic by 2030 by stepping up investment and innovation to fight the disease. Governments would agree to mobilize at least $13 billion a year by 2022 for treatment and care and an additional $2 billion to fund research at a time when tuberculosis is becoming more resistant to antibiotics. Five countries are the hardest-hit by the TB pandemic: India, which accounts for a quarter of cases, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan, but it remains unclear whether these nations are sending high-level officials to the summit. Non-governmental organizations say leaders from key donor countries like the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Canada must turn up for the meeting to be ground-breaking. "TB is not just a health issue. TB is an economic issue, a development issue, a security issue and we need leadership from heads of states," said Paula Fujiwara, the scientific director of the Paris-based International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. "If they don't deliver in September, we are going to do everything in our power to hold them accountable for the lives lost," she said. About 33 heads of state and government have so far said they will attend, according to UN officials. At the summit, leaders will pledge to provide diagnosis and treatment to 40 million people with TB from 2018 to 2022, including 3.5 million children. "Innovation in TB is just limping along," said Fujiwara. Only two new TB medicines have become available in the last 50 years and there are no effective diagnostic tests for children. The rise in TB is partly fueled by growing worldwide rates of diabetes, which weaken the immune system and make people more susceptible to TB. To tackle that global health concern, the United Nations will host a high-level meeting on September 27 on noncommunicable diseases. Volunteers tend to a Syrian woman suffering from tuberculosis, which killed about 1.7 million people in 2016
China lashed out on Friday at "irresponsible" US accusations that Beijing was destabilising cross-Strait relations after El Salvador cut ties with Taiwan in favour of the Asian giant. The White House also scolded the Central American country in a statement released Thursday, warning that the decision was made in a "non-transparent fashion" and affects "the economic health and security of the entire Americas region". Taiwan and China have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition. "The United States will continue to oppose China's destabilisation of the cross-Strait relationship and political interference in the Western Hemisphere," the White House said. "The El Salvadoran government's receptiveness to China's apparent interference in the domestic politics of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a reevaluation of our relationship with El Salvador." Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so. Relations between Taipei and Beijing have worsened since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016, as her government refuses to acknowledge the island is part of "one China". China has stepped up its poaching of Taiwan's dwindling official allies, with El Salvador becoming the fifth diplomatic loss under Tsai's presidency and the third this year. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday that El Salvador's decision to adhere to the "one China principle" was "right, proper and above-board". "Some country takes this and makes irresponsible remarks, is this not interfering in the internal affairs of El Salvador? Isn't this, rather, politically meddling in the region? This is self-evident," Lu told a regular press briefing. While most countries have established formal ties with Beijing rather than Taipei in recent decades, Taiwan still has unofficial relationships with powerful countries. Its most important unofficial ally is the US, which remains Taiwan's leading arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. Ties have warmed between the US and Taiwan in recent months, incensing Beijing. Some analysts saw the poaching of El Salvador as an indirect slap in the face to the Trump administration and a warning against further friendly overtures. Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so
A Saudi-led coalition launched military operations in Yemen in 2015, helping the government to push back against rebels who had taken control of the capital and seized several provinces. The conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and injured more than 55,000, according to the World Health Organization. More than 2,200 others have died of cholera and the conflict has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. - Saudi air strikes - The Saudi-led coalition launches air strikes on Shiite Huthi rebels in March 2015, who had taken Sanaa six months earlier and now controlled large swathes of Yemen. The coalition aims to restore to power the internationally-recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. In July, Hadi's embattled administration announces its forces have retaken the southern province of Aden in their first success since the coalition stepped in. Having lost Sanaa, Hadi makes Aden the country's de facto capital. By mid-August 2015, loyalist forces have retaken five southern provinces. In October, government forces reclaim control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's busiest and most strategically sensitive shipping routes. - Rebels kill ex-president - Splits emerge in the rebel camp in 2017, resulting in the assassination of Hadi's predecessor and former Huthi ally, Ali Abdullah Saleh, by Huthi fighters in December. The rebels strengthen their grip on the capital. Splits also emerge in the government camp, with fierce clashes erupting in Aden in January 2018 between southern separatists and fighters loyal to Hadi. - Missiles on Saudi Arabia - From November 2017, the rebels intensify missile attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which accuses its arch-foe Iran of supplying them with weapons. Iran denies the charge. Seven missiles are fired into the kingdom on March 25, 2018 alone, including three at Riyadh. On June 9, three civilians are killed in the kingdom's southern province of Jizan by a rebel missile. According to the coalition, in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also plays a key role, the rebels have fired 165 ballistic missiles. - Advance on aid port - In December 2017, government forces make a breakthrough in efforts to reconquer the key port of Hodeida when they drive Huthi fighters out of a town en route called Khokha. Hodeida -- a vital entry point for the bulk of the country's food and aid -- has been in rebel hands since October 2014, taken without opposition from government forces soon after rebels captured Sanaa. Government forces press their advance and in April the insurgents' second-in-command, Saleh al-Sammad, is killed in a coalition air raid in the province. On June 13, government fighters, backed by Saudi and Emirati forces, launch an offensive on Hodeida city. On June 20, they say that they have taken control of Hodeida airport on the southern outskirts. - Heavy civilian toll - Civilians, in particular children, pay a heavy price during the conflict. Several raids blamed on the coalition have left civilian victims, including on a wedding hall in the town of Mokha in September 2015, killing 131 people. The alliance denies responsibility. In October 2016, a coalition air strike at a funeral in Sanaa kills 140 people. The coalition has admitted responsibility for certain raids, but accuses the rebels of using civilians as human shields. In July, Amnesty International says human rights violations in a string of Yemeni prisons run by the UAE could amount to war crimes, in a report rejected by Abu Dhabi. On August 9, 51 people, including 40 children, are killed in an attack on a bus in rebel-held northern Yemen, the Red Cross says. The coalition opens an investigation into that incident. On August 23, at least 22 children and four women are killed by a coalition air strike while fleeing fighting in the Al-Durayhimi district south of rebel-held Hodeida city, the UN says. That same day, another four children are killed in a separate air strike on the same district. The conflict in Yemen has killed nearly 10,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and injured more than 55,000 in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis Yemenis take part in a demonstration in November 2017 calling to lift the Saudi-led coalition's blockade after the coalition shut down Yemen's borders in response to a missile attack by Huthi rebels that was intercepted near Riyadh airport Yemenis gather next to the destroyed bus, pictured August 10, 2018 at the site of a Saudi-led coalition air strike on August 9, 2018, which killed 51 people, including 40 children
A few days after U.S. Rep. John Katko released a commercial claiming Democratic challenger Dana Balter supports raising taxes, Balter, D-Syracuse, unveiled an ad of her own responding to what she considers a "dishonest" campaign.

Balter's ad, which begins airing Friday on Syracuse-area broadcast and cable stations, accuses Katko's campaign of taking her out of context. Katko, R-Camillus, rolled out a TV ad and billboard Tuesday that quotes Balter saying, "Um, well, you would have an increase in taxes," during a podcast interview in January.

The line was taken from Balter's appearance on the Radical Bureaucrats Podcast. Balter, who supports establishing a Medicare-for-all system to provide universal health insurance coverage, was asked how she would pay for the proposed program. She agreed with the host that it would need to be funded through an increased Medicare payroll tax.

She adds later, "While you would have an increase in taxes, you would no longer have out-of-pocket medical expenses." In the ad released this week, Katko's campaign omitted the second half of the sentence and quoted Balter as saying "well" instead of "while."

"Deceptive tactics like this are why people don't trust politicians like John Katko," Balter said. "He deliberately misquoted me and edited the tape he used in his ad. And the people of the 24th district deserve honesty from their representative, especially when it comes to tax policy which has such a huge impact on their lives."

Balter's ad not only responds to Katko's ad from earlier in the week, it criticizes the congressman's vote on the tax overhaul late last year. The Camillus Republican was one of four New York GOP members who voted for the tax plan.

Katko has reiterated his support for the tax law and believes it benefits a vast majority of his constituents. He also touts the benefits for employers in his district and how some companies are adding jobs or expanding after passage of the tax reform measure.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's main provisions slash income tax rates for millions of Americans and cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. But Balter believes the law largely benefits the wealthy and claimed that Katko's vote "is already increasing taxes on many New York families while drastically increasing the deficit."

While the tax law is estimated to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit, the tax hikes Balter references will occur in 2027 after the income tax cuts expire.

Democrats have questioned the temporary tax cuts for individuals and families when the tax cut for corporations is permanent.

"We need tax cuts for working families," Balter said at the conclusion of her ad.

Balter is challenging Katko in the 24th district race. One poll found her leading by four points, while political forecasters rate the race "likely Republican."

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo is threatening legal action after the Treasury Department proposed rules that seek to prevent New York and other high-tax states from circumventing the new $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.

New York created a charitable contribution fund in response to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a federal tax overhaul that included the limit on state and local tax deductions. Cuomo has been a frequent critic of the tax law because of the cap, which he said would have an adverse impact on New Yorkers whose state and local tax bills exceed $10,000.

The charitable contribution fund would allow taxpayers to donate to support health care and public education. In return, they receive a state tax credit equal to 85 percent of the donation amount and they could claim the donations as charitable contributions on their federal tax returns.

However, Treasury's proposed rules would mean that taxpayers who itemize could only deduct the net value of the donation as a charitable contribution. If a taxpayer contributes $1,000 to New York's new fund, they would receive an $850 tax credit. But the Treasury regulation would allow them to deduct only $150  the net value of the donation  as a charitable contribution.

Treasury estimated that roughly 5 percent of taxpayers who itemize their returns will exceed the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.

"Congress limited the deduction for state and local taxes that predominantly benefited high-income earners to help pay for major tax cuts for American families," Mnuchin said in a statement. "The proposed rule will uphold that limitation by preventing attempts to convert tax payments into charitable contributions."

Cuomo blasted the Treasury Department's proposed regulations Thursday. He accused the agency of "politically motivated" rulemaking and blocking reforms to help New York taxpayers.

"In New York, we will not stand for this abuse of government power," he said. "We are confident that the recently enacted opportunities for charitable contributions to New York state and local governments are consistent with federal law and well-established precedent. And make no mistake: we will use every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to fight back."

It wouldn't be the state's first lawsuit over the tax overhaul. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood joined with her colleagues from three other states to file a lawsuit in July claiming that the cap on state and local tax deductions is unconstitutional.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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GEDDES  The paths of two statewide elected officials who are up for re-election this year crossed at the New York State Fair Friday.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul greeted each other at the Horticulture Building and participated in a wine seminar. The pair sampled New York wines and listened to a presentation, a daily event at the fair led by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.

"It was really fun," Gillibrand said after the session.

Following the seminar, Gillibrand and Hochul visited vendors inside the Horticulture Building. Gillibrand purchased a giant licorice rope  Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh picked up the tab  and a jar of Nana's Topping, a peanut butter fudge topping made in central New York.

After a photo with a couple in front of the large maple booth, Gillibrand and Hochul headed to the Gianelli Sausage stand. It is customary for politicians to eat a Gianelli Sausage sandwich at the fair. In 2000, then-Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rick Lazio opted not to eat a sausage sandwich.

Gillibrand and Hochul didn't make that mistake. They ate Gianelli Sausage sandwiches alongside Walsh and other Syracuse-area elected officials.

Before meeting Gillibrand, Hochul toured the fairgrounds and visited the new $63 million Exposition Center. During the fair, the facility is being used to house a temporary ice rink, a large I LOVE NY exhibit and the famed sand sculpture.

The expo center and other improvements at the fairgrounds  an expanded midway and a new main gate, to name two  are part of an "amazing transformation," Hochul said.

"This is a whole different place," she said. "If you haven't been to the fair in the last couple of years, you need to come."

While it was an official visit for the two statewide officials, they are up for re-election this year. Because lieutenant governor is a separate office in party primaries, Hochul is facing a challenge from New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams, who visited the fair Wednesday.

Hochul acknowledged that it's a "quirk" in the law that may not be known by most voters.

"It gives me an opportunity to get to let people know who I am and the work that I've done as lieutenant governor over the last four years," she said.

Gillibrand didn't have a primary opponent, but she does have a Republican challenger. Chele Farley, the GOP nominee, visited the fair Wednesday.

Farley has criticized Gillibrand and claimed that Congress hasn't passed any bills sponsored by the senator.

Gillibrand responded to questions about her record Friday by noting that she led the effort to pass the Zadroga Act to provide health benefits to 9/11 first responders. She also highlighted her role in repealing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding gay service members and helping to write the STOCK Act, legislation prohibiting members of Congress from insider trading.

When asked by a reporter if Farley's claim is false, Gillibrand answered, "Yes."

Gillibrand and Hochul are the latest elected officials who have visited the fair this week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo opened the new expo center on Wednesday. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli will attend the fair Tuesday.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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U.S. Rep. John Katko will take a different approach to holding town hall meetings when he travels around the 24th Congressional District this weekend.

Katko's campaign announced that he will participate in a motorcycle town hall tour Saturday. He will kick off the tour with a meeting from 11 to 11:45 a.m. at Sweet Inspirations Drive-In, 801 W. Broadway in Fulton, Oswego County.

His next stop will be Wayne County, where he will meet with voters from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. at Mac's Philly Steaks Diner, 88 Canal St., Lyons. He will then head to Cayuga County for a gathering beginning at 2:30 p.m. at CJ's Pub and Restaurant, 8902 S. Seneca St., Weedsport.

The town hall tour will conclude in Onondaga County. The final event is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at JP's Tavern, 109 Syracuse St., Baldwinsville.

Katko, R-Camillus, received his motorcycle license last year and is the owner of a Harley, according to his campaign. In 2017, he participated in Nick's Ride 4 Friends. The motorcycle ride, which began in Auburn, aims to raise awareness about the drug epidemic.

The motorcycle town hall tour is a series of campaign events for Katko. He held a public forum this week in Wayne County, but that was an official event organized by his congressional office.

He will hold another public forum Thursday in Auburn. Like the Wayne County event, it's an official function. The forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Cayuga Community College's Student Lounge.

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MORAVIA  When Drifters On Owasco opens in September, the restaurant's tagline will be "Everything's better by the lake." Why? Because it's true, co-owner Jane Manning said.

Located at the former Lakeside Grill and Cascade Grill in Moravia at the southern end of Owasco Lake, the restaurant is run by Jane and her husband, Jim, along with Lieann and Tom Wade. The Mannings came to Drifters after spending most of their lives in food service, Jane said.

Opening a restaurant wasn't always the plan, she said. But when the pieces fell into place and they were given the opportunity to purchase the property, they couldn't resist  especially considering the view of the lake.

"The location, the beauty that's here really energized us to get the project going," Jane said.

With a soft opening set for Tuesday, Sept. 4, the Mannings were hard at work getting everything ready for customers Wednesday. The goal, Jane said, is to provide a fun place to bring family and friends with a fun and casual, but interesting atmosphere, as well as simple, quality pub-style food.

The Mannings and executive chef Ivy Fillion aren't ready to say what's on the menu quite yet, though they plan to post it on their Facebook page next week.

But Fillion, who has worked in restaurants for approximately 20 years and has been running them for around eight, including time at Rogues' Harbor Inn and ZaZa's Cucina in Ithaca, said customers could expect things like "not so typical" burgers and sandwiches.

"We want to do interesting things that will tickle people's palates," Fillion said.

To give an example of an item that could be on the menu, Fillion described a BLT with duck bacon and avocado, or fried Brussels sprouts dressed in white truffle oil.

A focus for the menu, Fillion said, is being environmentally conscious, with an emphasis on sourcing ingredients from local farms.

Assistant chef Jennifer Haaf, a magna cum laude graduate of the Johnson & Wales University culinary program who has worked for years as a baker and pastry chef, will handle desserts. Fillion said they'll have a "home, community feel."

Besides the food, Jane said, the biggest asset Drifters has is the natural beauty of the lake. While showing off the property, Jane pointed out two bald eagles flying low above the water, something she expects will be a common sight for diners eating on the patio and deck sections.

But the Mannings aren't leaving it all up to the lake. Jane said they plan to host a variety of live music acts and other events for the community as the venue stays open year-round.

The Mannings both grew up in St. Lawrence County, but have been in Moravia for 15 years. Both of them were raised near water, and their natural affinity for it affected both their decision to move to Owasco Lake and to open Drifters.

"You don't get much more water than the Finger Lakes," Jane said.

And while opening a new restaurant comes with plenty of hectic new problems and stresses, Jim said that just being on the water is a natural stress relief.

The pair are hoping the community will find the spot just as relaxing, and from the initial response, it seems like locals are already eager to visit. Since the Lakeside Grill closed three years ago, neighbors are ready for a new spot to gather, Jane said. She added that it's rare to have a day the Mannings don't have three or four visitors telling them how eager they are for Drifters to open.

"Every day the excitement gets higher and higher," Jim said. "The community support is incredible."

That excitement has translated into calls, texts and Facebook messages with suggestions and ideas for everything, from the atmosphere to the menu, and the Mannings are taking them to heart.

"They really are guiding us. They're giving us the formula to be successful," Jane said.

Eventually, the Mannings also hope to be joined by their ownership partners the Wades. Currently living in Virginia, Jane said the Wades would like to move to the area and have a more active role in the restaurant once their children are grown.

The soft opening is set to include a ribbon-cutting attended by local elected officials. The Mannings say they'll be posting more information, including a look at the menu, on the restaurant's Facebook page.

Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin.

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Every Friday, The Citizen features a pet available for adoption from the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York.

This week, we spotlight Woody.

Q: Who is your best friend?

A: That would be my girlfriend, Kit! She lives in a room down the hall from me. She is a very nice girl who traveled here from the South with me and, like me, she has made our shelter her temporary home. She shares my desire to live in a cat-free environment. We don't make any bones about that. She is so hoping to go home soon. Please give her a look when you stop by to see me. You will love her immediately!

Q: Do you have a bucket list and if so, what's number one?

A: In my wildest dreams, I think I would like to be an 8-pound Chihuahua! LOL! If I can't have that, I would really love a nice family who will make me part of theirs. I will promise to be a good boy, not make trouble and need only a few hugs a day to keep me happy. I am easy to please. And I aim to please. What more do you need?

Q: If you could meet someone famous who would that be?

A: I think all of our good Citizen readers are famous, and I would love to meet some of you! Stop by to see me and say hello!

Q: If you could visit any place in the world, where would that be?

A: Having come from south of the border, the heat and humidity don't bother me as much as they do others. However, I wouldn't mind a break, and a quick trip to Helsinki, Finland, might be refreshing. One of my shelter people has been there and I understand it is quite a refreshing and beautiful place. The kind people there also are very find of dogs. I like that!

Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share?

A: I have a couple of interesting facts to share with you. As a victim  and yes, I consider myself a victim  of canine heartworm disease, you should know the facts! Just for the record, heartworm disease is present in all 50 states! If your dog is not on monthly preventives, your dog is at risk! And, finally, I'm sure our wonderful veterinarians would rather prevent heartworm disease than treat it. Pay attention, good Citizen friends  these are facts!

Q: How would you describe yourself?

A: I am the nicest dog ever! I am a lover and a cuddler, and even though I am a big boy, I would love to have a chance at some lap time. I am very obedient for the most part, and very smart. I am a quick study and learn very quickly. I think I would really love it if my new family took me to obedience training. That would be the bomb! I would shine!

Q: Do you have any advice for our good Citizen readers?

A: Not to bore you, good Citizen readers, but here's my only advice for you! All it takes is one bite from a mosquito carrying heartworm, and wham  your dog is sick with this potentially deadly disease. It's never too late to have your faithful friends tested for this scourge, and then put on monthly preventives. Do it now  your pup will thank you and so will we! Love, Woody and friends.

The Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York is a New York state-registered shelter/rescue, registration No. RR-181. Pursuant to Article 26-A, Section 408 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, the registrant is authorized to operate as a registered pet rescue, in compliance with such law.

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AUBURN  The city of Auburn is moving forward on a project to upgrade ultraviolet disinfection equipment at the wastewater treatment plant.

During the Auburn City Council meeting Thursday, councilors authorized the purchase of the new UV equipment. The city will purchase the equipment from a wastewater treatment company called Suez for $462,000.

The city council approved a $2.25 million bond in March to finance the project, which is expected to cost $2 million. The remaining $250,000 will be used for other wastewater management projects. The city had applied in the past for a state grant to finance the project, but was unsuccessful in receiving the funding.

"We decided we better self fund and move forward with this project," Director of Municipal Utilities Seth Jensen said.

Jensen said this project is necessary because the UV system is over 25 years old and cannot handle the wastewater treatment plant's maximum capacity of 24.5 million gallons per day. The current system caps out at about 19 million gallons per day and the city spends about $40,000 a year in repairs to the equipment.

The next step, Jensen said, is for the city to hire a contractor to install the equipment. He said the installation will take place in January and finish in March. Jensen said the timing is "critical" because the city's permit with the DEC does not require its wastewater to be treated with UV disinfection during the winter months because there is less bacteria in the water due to the colder weather.

"We're only required to treat with UV seasonally," Jensen explained after the meeting. "We don't, we treat year round but this greatly reduces the cost of construction because otherwise we would have to install some type of temporary UV treatment system."

The UV treatment process is the last step wastewater goes through before it empties out into the Owasco River. The primary goal of this process is to kill any remaining bacteria that may be left in the water, Jensen said.

"It's a good water quality project actually," Jensen said. "We're trying to set the trend for watershed protection and we're leading by example by keeping up with our own equipment."

In other news

 Members of the city council and Auburn Police Department went door to door in the Westlake Avenue area of Auburn earlier this week, speaking with residents earlier to hear their concerns about what's going on in the city.

Mayor Michael Quill said the goal of the walk was to find out what's on residents' minds and get feedback about what the city is doing right or wrong.

"We just want to get the message out that we care, we're working to keep this a great place to live," Quill said, adding that he appreciates the police department's willingness to participate in the outreach.

Councilor Terry Cuddy said the experience was one of the highlights of his five years on the city council. Councilors reported that residents expressed concerns about goings on in the city, but also praised the work the police department has done in the community.

Councilors and APD will do another walk Tuesday evening in the area of North Division, Washington and Seymour streets.

 The last day to swim at Casey Park pool will be Sunday, Aug. 26. The pool will close at 6 p.m.

 There will be no city council meeting next week, on Thursday, Aug. 30. The council will resume its regular meeting schedule on Sept. 6. All meetings will be at 6 p.m. at Memorial City Hall.

Staff writer Natalie Brophy can be reached at (315)282-2239 or natalie.brophy@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @brophy_natalie.

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Sirens wailed while workers piled sandbags in front of hotels and police blared warnings to tourists to leave the world-famous Waikiki Beach as Hurricane Lane barreled north after dumping nearly 2 feet of rain on Hawaii's mostly rural Big Island.
Those of us who understand the existential threat posed by climate change have been waiting for the Pearl Harbor moment that galvanizes people and politicians alike into taking action to minimize that threat. 2018 is turning out to be a Pearl Harbor year, where a majority of Americans support taking action, and we're ready for Congress to press forward.

We thought the wake-up call on climate change occurred in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina slammed and devastated New Orleans, a disaster that left 1,836 people dead and displaced tens of thousands more. Four years later, when legislation to price carbon made a run in Congress, any sense of urgency to deal with climate change was lost amid partisan squabbling and pushback from special interests.

The next opportunity for action came in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy roared up the East Coast with a storm surge that put much of New York City under water. The cover of Bloomberg Businessweek proclaimed, Its Global Warming, Stupid. But again, nothing happened. Likewise, last years back-to-back-to-back storms  Harvey, Irma and Maria  left a swath of destruction from Houston to Puerto Rico totaling some $300 billion in damage. This, too, was not enough to spur action.

Fortunately, more and more Americans are connecting the dots between extreme weather disasters and climate change. That increasing awareness of the impact climate change exerts on our lives is reflected in the latest polling from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

The Yale study found that 77 percent of U.S. adults support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant and that 68 percent support taxing fossil fuel companies while equally reducing other taxes. That support extends to all geographical areas of America, with majorities in all 50 states and all 435 congressional districts saying they favor a revenue-neutral carbon tax.

The Yale poll should come as no surprise, given that 2018 is turning out to be a Pearl Harbor year, not just a moment:

Triple-digit temperatures in California have created conditions for the worst wildfires the state has ever experienced. In Redding, Calif., those conditions produced a fire tornado with wind speeds up to 165 mph and temperatures that likely exceeded 2,700 degrees.

Smoke from western wildfires is drifting east, creating hazardous breathing conditions in cities along the way.

A combination of warmer water and nitrogen runoff from farms has produced the worst red tide ever seen in Florida. Manatees, sea turtles and millions of pounds of dead fish have washed up on beaches and affected the tourism industry.

Hundreds of deaths around the world have been attributed to record-setting heat waves in places like Japan, where 119 people died and thousands were hospitalized.

Of all the trends related to climate change, the most encouraging is the growing movement to depoliticize the issue and get Republicans and Democrats talking to each other about solving the problem. There are now 86 members in the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, half Republican and half Democrat. In late July, the co-leader of the caucus, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)  joined by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL)  introduced the first Republican-sponsored bill to price carbon in nearly a decade. Curbelos bill is a major crack in the dam holding back effective climate legislation, and that dam is likely to burst in the months to come. Through his co-sponsorship of a Republican resolution on climate change, Central New Yorks Representative John Katko is on the record acknowledging the necessity of congressional action on the issue.

As Congress returns from August recess and members make their final re-election push, our hope is that climate change becomes a bridge issue rather than the wedge issue its been for so many years. Throughout our history, Americans have set aside our differences and come together in times of crisis to turn back a common foe. We can and must do that now with climate change.

The terrifying vortex of fire that swept through Redding, Calif., is the latest Pearl Harbor moment for climate change in a year filled with such moments. Let us hope this year of infamy, together with the growing desire for action, will finally set the wheels in motion for Congress to enact meaningful solutions.

Mark Reynolds is executive director of Citizens Climate Lobby. Kyle Thomas is the group leader for the Syracuse chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby

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A second-floor sex shop on Philadelphias historic hipster hangout of South Street has a plan to offer a new, hands-on approach to sex education for young adults with its two-year-old Sexual Intelligence College Outreach Program, which offers workshop course in such subjects as "Pleasure for Penis Owners (and Their Partners)," and "The Penis and Beyond: Sexual Wellness," according to story on the program this week by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The classes are offered by Sexploratorium, which has been conducting the sex ed workshops at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly two decades. Created by educator Ashley Robin, the Sexual Intelligence College Outreach Program or SICOP features highly requested workshops on Accessible Sex, Queering Up Sex, The Vagina and Beyond, and Embracing the Taboo, with other topics on the way, according to the Sexploratorium web site.

Sexploratorium owner Kali Morgan teaches many of the classes herself, and the Inquirer sat in on a workshop offered in a U. Penn English class taught by professor Davis Azzolina.

"In a university setting, sexuality is spoken of in a very theoretical way," he told the paper. "It needs to be hands-on because that's what sexuality is. The class is provocative, but they do it in such a humane way.

One class in BDSM sexuality included , The Inquirer reported, an exercise in which student volunteers stood in the corner and were tied up to demonstrate how easy it is to be in control of another person.

"Adolescence is the time of identity development, relationship formation, and emerging adulthood. We often leave out what feels good, including pleasure and satisfaction, and in thinking about intimacy, what feels good is what reinforces behavior in one's mind, said Renata Arrington-Sanders, who serves on the board of directors of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. When we don't arm people appropriately with good, healthy sexual health tools, it makes them vulnerable and puts them at risk."

The workshops run $300 each, and have already reached more than 100 students at Penn and other Philly-area universities, including Temple University and the College of New Jersey. More information on the workshops is available at this link.

Photo By HBS1908 / Wikimedia Commons
LOS ANGELESMistress Cyan, proprietress of Sanctuary Studios and producer of the Sanctuary Leather contests, will sit on the panel of judges for the Christopher Street West (CSW) Leather contest. The Mr. CSW Leather contest opens with a meet-and-greet Friday, August 31, at The Faultline, with the official contest occurring Saturday, September 1, at the same location.

Im honored to accept the offer to judge the Mr. CSW Leather contest, said Mistress Cyan. These contests are an age-old tradition of our community. The one we choose as Mr. CSW Leather will serve as our ambassador to events across the country, including next years LA Pride festival. Mr. CSW 2019 will be a leader, performing outreach through appearances, fundraising, seminars and classes for the leather community. 

The kinky public is invited to cheer on their favorites at the contest. The Faultline is at 4216 Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles. CMR Roth will be DJ for the event. Gearworxxx will have a pop-up store of leather goods. Peter Astro will be the boot black. For more info, click here.
LOS ANGELES Ela Darling wears many hats. She's an adult performer, a pioneer in the development of virtual reality websites for adults, and currently the Chief Marketing Officer of adult VR technology company PVR.funand she will also be the official red carpet host of the inaugural 2018 PornHub Awards Show in Los Angeles on September 6.

The 2018 Pornhub Awards Show will recognize the porn stars, studios, scenes and trends that attracted the most attention from porn fans on the Pornhub site. A 3D 360-degree broadcast of the show in VR will be provided courtesy of the VR show sponsor PVR.fun, an emerging leader in adult VR technology.

Ela Darling is known as a pioneer in VR porn for innovating the first VR live cam platform and for being the first VR camgirl. Darling recently joined the team at PVR.fun in time to promote the companys stand-alone adult VR headset, the Iris.

Im excited to host the red carpet and to give viewers the chance to feel like theyre at the show themselves watching their favorite adult stars live in VR, said Darling. Its going to be a fantastic evening at the beautiful historical Bellasco Theater. It means so much to me to be able to represent PVR while interviewing some of the top talent at the PornHub Awards Show.

PVR came onto the adult scene in 2018 with visionary virtual reality hardware and end-to-end software solutions, including the Iris Headset, a new VR camera exclusively designed for adult VR content creators, and a content distribution platform PVR.fun.

For more information on the awards, click here, and for information about the PVR and Iris, visit PVR.fun.

Photo courtesy of Wilferd Guenthoer
Wrexham-based Village Bakery has struck a deal to supply Spar stores in north Wales with its gluten-free range.

A total of 60 stores will stock products from the new Gluten Freedom brand, which was launched earlier this year and includes seeded loaves, seeded sandwich thins and white rolls.

Until now, the range has only been available in independent stores in north Wales, Cheshire, Merseyside and Shropshire. However, the company has said it has been receiving enquiries from across the UK and from European countries including Belgium, France, Holland and Scandinavia.

Currently Village Bakery manufactures gluten-free products at its original site, but due to growing demand the company has invested 12m in developing a former wire factory into a gluten-free production site. Described as the most advanced bakery of its kind in Europe, the facility is due to be operational by the end of the year, making items such as naan breads, pitta breads and pancakes.

As a result of the expansion, the company is in the process of recruiting 20 new apprentices.

Weve had an absolutely fantastic response to the Gluten Freedom range from our customers, said managing director Robin Jones.

Were setting a new benchmark in gluten-free products, so everything is now set for the opening of our new gluten-free bakery in December. This is a step-change for the business in many respects and why we are taking on 20 new apprentices.

Village Bakerys free-from Belgian Chocolate Twists have been shortlisted in the Free-from Bakery Product of the Year category at British Bakers Baking Industry Awards 2018, while the is in the running for the Customer Focus Award.
If there's a universe in which lowering the cap on North Carolina's income tax rate amounts to a "tax cut only for the wealthy," our universe's rules of mathematics - and language - must not apply.In this universe, a proposed constitutional amendment lowering the maximum state income tax rate from 10 percent to 7 percent has absolutely no bearing on current tax rates. Nor would it lead to a tax cut, now or in the future, for the wealthy or for anyone else.That's not stopping the amendment's critics from making truly puzzling claims. The rest of this column aims to expose their false narrative.Article V, Section 2(6) of the N.C. Constitution states:Section 2(6) also allows for personal exemptions and deductions so that only net income faces taxation.Our state's fundamental governing document already places a limit on the degree to which government can extract taxes based on the amount of income a taxpayer earns. The proposed constitutional amendment scheduled for the November ballot would lower that limit from 10 percent to 7 percent.That change would amount to a rate cut for all taxpayers if not for the following fact: The state's current personal income tax rate already stands at 5.499 percent. The rate will drop to 5.25 percent in 2019. Next year's tax rate cut has nothing to do with the constitutional amendment. Lawmakers approved their latest rate cut long before proposing the constitutional amendment.This background information should come in handy as we assess a key claim in a lawsuit challenging the income tax cap amendment.The Raleigh News and Observer offered that summary on Aug. 7 of the NAACP's two stated objections to the tax cap amendment.Neither objection is based on fact. Years of academic research suggest N.C. lawmakers made a wise move in 2013 when they dumped the state's old graduated tax on incomes. They replaced a three-tiered system of 6, 7, and 7.75 percent tax rates with a single flat tax rate of 5.8 percent for 2014. The flat rate dropped again to 5.75 percent the following year. Future votes in the General Assembly led to both the current rate and next year's planned cut.But that doesn't mean a future General Assembly with less regard for the economic benefits of a flat tax rate couldn't reinstate a graduated income tax. Gov. Roy Cooper proposed that exact idea this year when he asked lawmakers to freeze current tax rates for individuals earning more than $100,000 and families earning more than $200,000.Taxpayers with incomes below those thresholds would have seen a 5.25 percent rate in 2019, while those above the threshold would have seen a 5.499 percent marginal tax rate. That's a graduated system. The current 10 percent income tax cap did not block Cooper's proposal. A 7 percent cap would not have created any obstacles for the governor.In fact, the income tax amendment would allow a hypothetical spendthrift General Assembly to raise top marginal tax rates as high as 7 percent. Such a rate hike would represent a 33 percent increase over the 5.25 percent flat rate scheduled for 2019. It's not hard to imagine a cash-hungry future legislature setting a 7 percent rate for top income earners and maintaining current rates for everyone else. Such a scenario represents the very definition of "graduated tax rate."To claim otherwise denies clear meanings of words in our English language.What about the second claim, that "over time" the lower income tax cap would "act as a tax cut only for the wealthy"? In the real world, that assertion remains impossible. A tax cap prevents rates from rising above a set maximum level. It blocks tax hikes. A cap does nothing to cut taxes. Not for the wealthy. Not for the middle class. Not for the poor.To argue otherwise requires a rejection of basic mathematical principles.Assuming that the NAACP's lawyers realize that their claim falls flat if taken literally, one must read their argument in a more figurative sense.This observer assumes that the NAACP actually hopes to convey the following message: Over time, as government officials want to spend more money, they would be unable to live within the limits proscribed by an income tax cap of 7 percent. Even though raising rates to 7 percent would represent a 33 percent tax hike from current levels.Unwilling to accept their limits and live within their means, these future government officials would want to raise income tax rates even higher, or they would be forced to turn to increases in other types of taxes. To the extent that these other taxes - primarily the sales tax - hit lower-income residents proportionately harder than they hit higher-income residents, the share of the tax hike borne by the "wealthy" would not be as large as the NAACP would like.Rather than a tax "cut" for the wealthy, then, the actual effect of the tax cap in this scenario would be a massive tax hike that takes a form not entirely along the lines that the NAACP would prefer.One can present legitimate arguments against lowering North Carolina's income tax cap. We are likely to hear those arguments in the weeks ahead.But this observer suspects that those arguments will fail - and support for the constitutional amendment will grow - if more people realize how the NAACP's language of "tax cuts for the wealthy" translates into the real world.Even a 33 percent tax rate hike would fail to generate enough money to satisfy future government officials? Seriously? Then that 7 percent cap looks better and better.
In 2015, LB&B paid $7.8 million civil settlement for allegedly abusing Small Business Administration financial program

A company cited for questionable contract dealings in a recent state audit of the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission in 2015 paid a civil settlement of $7.8 million under federal allegations of fraud.The U.S. Department of Justice alleged the company fraudulently obtained financial assistance through the Small Business Administration.The Business Development Program for Small Disadvantaged Businesses, housed under the SBA, offers support to small companies in financial distress. LB&B sought certification under the program, falsely claiming hardship under one of its principal owners, Lily Brandon. Brandon qualified as a socially and economically disadvantaged person - but allegedly didn't, as the company claimed, control operations of LB&B.Brandon's lack of involvement disqualified the company from collecting contracts under the program.LB&B, a North Carolina corporation headquartered in Maryland, has also come under state scrutiny in an audit revealing $13.5 million in bloated spending since 2007.Released Aug. 9, the audit found poor contract administration cost North Carolina taxpayers at least $11.3 million over 13 years. Unused warehouse space potentially cost the state $2.1 million over seven years, and a lack of monitoring left the state underpaid by at least $297,537 over two years.The ABC erred in its responsibility to follow state policies and state practices, the Office of State Auditor Beth Wood says in the news release. The ABC, the audit concludes, failed to administer the warehouse contract in the best interest of the state.LB&B was an instrument of the ABC's negligence, Wood said. The company for years collected extra compensation from ABC without documentation or proof.The company specializes in facilities management, logistics, and training operations. Since 2004 it has contracted with the state to provide warehouse and distribution services.Wood said.LB&B, in a response to the audit, said it was "disappointed" by the report, which, it said, failed to recognize the correct statutory authority as mandated to the ABC by the General AssemblyCarolina Journal phoned and emailed ABC officials, asking if the commission was aware of the 2015 fraud allegations against LB&B - or of the company's $7.8 million settlement. No one at ABC knew of the situation, said spokeswoman Agnes Stevens.Stevens said.LB&Bthe company stated in a July 6, 2015, press release.Another reason for the settlement was the poor health of the company's founders, said LB&B spokesman Edward Green.Though the claims resolved by the settlement were allegations only, and no determination of liability was made, LB&B's actions undermined legitimate small and disadvantaged businesses, said acting U.S. Attorney Vincent Cohen Jr. in a July 6, 2015, press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.Two former LB&B employees, Steven Sansbury and James Buechler, blew the whistle and in 2004 filed a lawsuit on behalf of the government.Cohen said.N.C. ABC chairman A.D. Zander Guy, in his response to the audit, said plans are under way to place the warehouse contract up for bid in 2020 and become effective when the current contract expires in 2021.But, Guy says, he was appointed only last year andYet Guy has a history with the state ABC during the period LB&B was reportedly overcharging state taxpayers. In 2009, he was first appointed to the commission and served until 2013. He was chairman from February 2012 to February 2013.Gov. Roy Cooper last year named Guy to replace Jim Gardner, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.Guy was most recently the mayor of Surf City, which straddles Pender and Onslow counties. In 1990 he served three months in prison on charges of fraudulently billing clients of his insurance agency for nearly $16,000, the News & Observer reported. Gov. Jim Martin commuted his three-year and later pardoned him.Guy's father, A.D. Guy, was a former state senator, the Raleigh paper reported. In 2009, Zander Guy told the N&O,Guy will make $113,456 as commission chair, the Star News of Wilmington reported.Guy accepted the finding and says he takes the audit seriously and will implement changes accordingly. He says the commission has already implemented additional controls, including random spot checks of the warehouses, inspections of the inventory and operation, and ride-alongs with select deliveries to ABC boards across the state.
Our Entire Congress Is Going To Iraq Today

This Blog Posting is almost 10 years old but it is still as valid today as it was when it was first published because...

It is still funny.

Our Congress is still hovering around the 9% Approval Rate.

It again demonstrates that our Congress is still very skilled when it comes to spending our money.

************************ Putting your expertise to work for the common good. October 26, 2008



The government of Iraq has a financial crisis. This is a problem tailor-made for our 9% Approval Rating Congress. According to the Associated Press, "Iraq could finish the year with as much as a $79,000,000,000 cumulative surplus because of oil revenues and unspent funds from previous budgets".



Our congressional guys and gals know where they are needed and, as always, they are ready to surge to the forefront and help out where they can do the most good.



As I see it, this emergency trip has two benefits for the American People...

They will help out a Fledgling Democracy take root in the Middle East.

They will not be doing any more damage to our Well-Established Struggling Democracy here in the United States for a while.



To make sure that the wheels of progress do not grind to a halt in the halls of congress, the Congressional Pages and Interns have closed ranks to rename Post Offices while Congress is overseas.



Today is Sunday. Due to the fact that the target spending objective is only $79 Million we can expect that Congress to be back in Washington, D.C. by this coming Thursday afternoon in time for Happy Hour and just in time for them to take the weekend off.



Would I kid u?

Smartfella


The International Tournament Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 2021 is taking place in Nur-Sultan city

The tournament runs on October 28-31 at Barys Arena in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan. It brough together over 100 athletes from 20 countries.

Kazakhstan is represented by Rakhat Bralin, Mikhail Shaidorov, and Diyas Zhirenbayev in the mens singles, whereas Anastasiya Lobanova, Yasmina Tekik in womens singles.

Figure skaters Gaukhar Nauryzova and Boyansangur Datiyev, Maksin Uezerbi and Temirlan Yerzhanov represent Kazakhstan in pair skating.

Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik takes the lead after the short program of the International Tournament Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 2021. Russian Mark Kondratiuk is second and Mihhail Selevko of Estonia is third.

Belarusian Viktoriia Safonova skated to the lead in the womens short program. Ukrainian Anastasiia Shabotova is second, followed by Azerbaijani Ekaterina Ryabova.




Friday, August 24, 2018

President Trump's denaturalization task force has made the news in recent weeks. Denaturalization cases are generally rare. Here is an ICE press release (the Department of Justice also issued a release) on a removal case that followed denaturalization:

Jakiw Palij, a former Nazi labor camp guard in German-occupied Poland and a postwar resident of Queens, New York, has been removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Germany, Attorney General Jeff Sessions of the U.S. Department of Justice, Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division and ICE Deputy Director and Acting Director Ronald D. Vitiello announced today. ICE removed Palij based on an order of removal obtained by the Department of Justice in 2004.

The United States will never be a safe haven for those who have participated in atrocities, war crimes, and human rights abuses, said Attorney General Sessions. Jakiw Palij lied about his Nazi past to immigrate to this country and then fraudulently become an American citizen. He had no right to citizenship or to even be in this country. Today, the Justice Department  led by Eli Rosenbaum and our fabulous team in the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, formerly the Office of Special Investigations  successfully helped remove him from the United States, as we have done with 67 other Nazis in the past. I want to thank our partners at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security for all of their hard work in removing this Nazi criminal from our country.

Nazi war criminals and human rights violators have no safe haven on our shores, said Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. We will relentlessly pursue them, wherever they may be found, and bring them to justice. The arrest and removal of Jakiw Palij to Germany is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the men and women of ICE, who faithfully enforce our immigration laws to protect the American people.

Palij, 95, was born in a part of Poland that is situated in present-day Ukraine, immigrated to the United States in 1949 and became a U.S. citizen in 1957. He concealed his Nazi service by telling U.S. immigration officials that he had spent the war years working until 1944 on his fathers farm in his hometown, which was previously a part of Poland and is now in Ukraine, and then in a German factory.

As Palij admitted to Justice Department officials in 2001, he was trained at the SS Training Camp in Trawniki, in Nazi-occupied Poland, in the spring of 1943. Documents subsequently filed in court by the Justice Department showed that men who trained at Trawniki participated in implementing the Third Reichs plan to murder Jews in Poland, code-named Operation Reinhard. On Nov. 3, 1943, some 6,000 Jewish men, women and children incarcerated at Trawniki were shot to death in one of the largest single massacres of the Holocaust. By helping to prevent the escape of these prisoners during his service at Trawniki, Palij played an indispensable role in ensuring that they later met their tragic fate at the hands of the Nazis.

On May 9, 2002, the Criminal Divisions then-Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Eastern District of New York filed a four-count complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, to revoke Palijs citizenship. The complaint was based primarily upon his wartime activities as an armed guard of Jewish prisoners at Trawniki, who were confined there under inhumane conditions. Palijs U.S. citizenship was revoked in August 2003 by a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York based on his wartime activities and postwar immigration fraud. In November 2003, the government placed Palij in immigration removal proceedings.

In decisions issued on June 10 and Aug. 23, 2004, U.S. Immigration Judge Robert Owens ordered Palijs deportation to Ukraine, Poland or Germany, or any other country that would admit him, on the basis of his participation in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution while serving during World War II as an armed guard at the Trawniki forced-labor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland under the direction of the government of Germany and his subsequent concealment of that service when he immigrated to the United States. As Judge Owens wrote in his decision ordering Palijs deportation, the Jews massacred at Trawniki had spent at least half a year in camps guarded by Trawniki-trained men, including Jakiw Palij. In December 2005, the Board of Immigration Appeals denied Palijs appeal.

The removal of Palij to Germany was effectuated through close cooperation between the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and State. For nearly four decades, the Justice Department has vigorously pursued its mission to expel Nazi persecutors from the United States. The Palij case was the product of the Departments longtime efforts to identify, investigate and take legal action against participants in Nazi crimes of persecution who reside in the United States. Since OSI began operations in 1979, that office and its successor, the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, have won cases against 108 individuals who participated in Nazi crimes of persecution. In addition, attempts to enter the United States by more than 180 individuals implicated in wartime Axis crimes have been prevented as a result of the Watch List program initiated by OSI and enforced in cooperation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security.

This removal was supported by ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor as well as the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). The HRVWCC is comprised of ICE HSIs Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit, ICEs Human Rights Law Section, FBIs International Human Rights Unit and HRSP. Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the governments efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. The HRVWCC leverages the expertise of a select group of agents, lawyers, intelligence and research specialists, historians and analysts who direct the governments broader enforcement efforts against these offenders.

The case was investigated, litigated and supervised over the years by a host of attorneys and historians in OSI, the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of New York, and HRSP, including Director Eli M. Rosenbaum, Senior Trial Attorney Susan L. Siegal and Chief Historian Dr. Jeffrey Richter, all of whom have served with HRSP since its 2010 creation.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2018/08/former-nazi-labor-camp-guard-removed-to-germany.html
Federal Court Strikes Down Alabama Abortion Procedure Law

The State of Alabama and the Supreme Court haven't always gotten along, legally speaking. Most famously, there was then-Governor George Wallace standing in the doorway of the University of Alabama's Foster Auditorium in an attempt to stall desegregation in the wake of the Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Most recently, there was disgraced former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore's ongoing battle over same-sex marriage.

The Court hasn't been all that friendly the federal appeals court that includes Alabama, either, overturning 85 percent of the Eleventh Circuit's decisions that it reviewed from 2010 to 2015, the second-highest reversal rate in the country.

That could explains the Eleventh's Circuit's tone in striking down an Alabama law limiting procedures available to women seeking abortions, making it very clear they would not have done so if not for Supreme Court decisions it disagreed with.

The Undue Burdens of Precedent

The Alabama abortion statute required any abortion provider performing dilation and evacuation procedure from 15 to 18 weeks of the pregnancy to cut the fetus' umbilical cord or inject it with digoxin or potassium chloride to ensure its "demise" before evacuation. The state and circuit acknowledged that, under Supreme Court precedent, it could not outlaw the procedure completely, but instead intended to "make the procedure more humane."

However, a district court found the statute unconstitutionally imposed an undue burden on a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. Noting that there is no training available for risky procedures like potassium-chloride injections and cord transection, as well as no data available on the appropriate dosage, timing, and risks of digoxin for women between 15 and 18 weeks of pregnancy, the court found the law "would pose a substantial obstacle to women seeking second-trimester abortions in the State."

Resenting Rulings

And the Eleventh Circuit, begrudgingly, agreed. The hostility with which the appeals court views Supreme Court precedent on abortion is evident from the opening lines, penned by Chief Judge Ed Carnes:

Some Supreme Court Justices have been of the view that there is constitutional law and then there is the aberration of constitutional law relating to abortion. If so, what we must apply here is the aberration.

The court made it clear that it was only affirming the district court's ruling over its own objections to the Supreme Court's previous rulings, and it didn't hide any of those objections. Carnes wasted no time pointing out that Alabama referred to dilation and evacuation as "dismemberment abortion" and that label is "more accurate." And Judge Joel Fredrick Dubina, in a short concurring opinion cited Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's concurrence in Gonzales v. Carhart, "that the Court's abortion jurisprudence, including Casey and Roe v. Wade, has no basis in the Constitution."

"In our judicial system, there is only one Supreme Court, and we are not it," Chief Judge Carnes concluded. "The primary factfinder is the district court, and we are not it. Our role is to apply the law the Supreme Court has laid down to the facts the district court found. The result is that we affirm the judgment of the district court."

It's good to know, however, that what little regard Alabama and Eleventh Circuit give to Supreme Court decisions still requires them to recognize and respect that precedent.

Related Resources:
Court 'Begrudgingly' Strikes Alabama's Ban on Second-Trimester Abortions

If the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals had its way, abortion would be illegal.

At least that's what three judges of the appeals court seemed to say in West Alabama Women's Center v. Williamson. They affirmed a decision that gutted Alabama's ban on second-trimester abortions, but it wasn't easy for them.

They called the banned procedure "dismemberment abortion" because "it involves tearing apart and extracting piece-by-piece" the unborn fetus. Judge Joel Frederick Dubina, in a concurring opinion, said what the judges were really thinking: "Roe v. Wade has no basis in the Constitution."

No Basis

Of course, the U.S. Supreme Court dictates the meaning of the Constitution. That's about the only reason the Eleventh Circuit followed precedent, however, as the judges suggested they were stuck between a rock and hard place.

"In our judicial system, there is only one Supreme Court, and we are not it," Chief Judge Ed Carnes wrote. "The primary factfinder is the district court, and we are not it."

The appeals panel unanimously affirmed the trial court decision. Carnes said that Alabama's abortion ban -- criminalizing any second-trimester abortion unless a fetus is dead -- violated the law.

But it was a "begrudging ruling" for the appellate judges, the Courthouse News reported. They said "that there is constitutional law and then there is the aberration of constitutional law relating to abortion."

Dilation and Evacuation

In 2016, Alabama banned dilation and evacuation -- a common procedure used in second-trimester abortions. Legislators called it "dismemberment abortion."

"That name is more accurate because the method involves tearing apart and extracting piece-by-piece from the uterus what was until then a living unborn child," the Eleventh Circuit said in its decision. "This is usually done during the 15 to 18 week stage of development, at which time the unborn child's heart is already beating."

Alabama's law required abortion providers to inject a lethal dose into the fetus or to cut its umbilical cord to ensure its death before evacuation. Abortion providers faced up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine for violating the law.

Related Resources:


Yahoo! JAPAN



Yahoo! JAPAN
For the second time in two years, America's prisoners have staged a mass, coordinated strike, demanding an end to slave labor for incarcerated people, channels for redress of grievances, an end to racial discrimination in the American penal system, access to rehabilitation programs, the reinstatement of Pell grants, the right of ex-prisoners to vote, and the right of rehabilitated prisoners to be paroled.



The strike started on August 21 and will run to September 8. Prisoners are participating through "work stoppages, spending boycotts, sit-ins, and hunger strikes" and face brutal retaliation for their participation, including torture in the form of extended solitary confinement.

America is the world's most prolific and indiscriminate jailer, imprisoning more people  and a greater proportion of its population  than any other country in the history of the world. More black men are imprisoned in America today than were ever imprisoned in Apartheid-era South Africa.
There's one thing that Democratic and Republican leaders agree on: that left-wing policies like Medicare for all are bad news for the Democratic policy  the only people who disagrees with them are voters, who overwhelmingly support these policies.

Democratic establishment institutions like the DNC are having record-breaking fundraising droughts as Democratic supporters abandon them  having heard them publicly insist that they have the right to choose the Democrats' candidates in smoke-filled rooms, ignoring the party members  even as progressive Democratic primary challengers raise record-breaking sums in small money donations by supporting broadly popular, redistributive policies that will cut off the oligarchic control over US politics at the knees.

Insurgent, left-wing candidates are coordinating through organizations like Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, incubated in the early netroots of the Howard Dean campaign, and they share fundraising, training, and a bold, progressive platform.





Democratic establishment figures hate all this, and insist that the only way for Democrats to win is to make themselves into less-racist Republicans who still want to loot the country and hand its wealth to a mostly white elite.

Kamarck, who also served as a super delegate for Clinton in 2016, says Democrats need to appeal to moderate voters if they hope to retake Congress. She calls the idea that unabashed progressivism can win in Republican-tilting districts the political equivalent of "repealing the laws of physics." "I find myself doing a lot of eye-rolling," she said. "There's always the argument in the Democratic Party, if only we had really liberal candidates, we would do better. It has never been true before." Could this year be different? "We'll see."

Inside the progressive movement roiling the Democratic Party [Letitia Stein, Susan Cornwell And Joseph Tanfani/Reuters]

(via Naked Capitalism)
A 38-year-old Montana man who assaulted his ex-girlfriend and killed his uncle is freed from prison after a judge says that second-degree murder and assault are not considered "crimes of violence."

In 2003, Quinton Birdinground Jr. was arrested for killing his uncle with a firearm after a night of drinking. He found his uncle with his ex-girlfriend and was not pleased.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters told the murdered victim's family, "'How in the world could second-degree murder not be a crime of violence?' I get that[but] I have to follow the law."

According to AP:

Watters threw out the firearm conviction last month, citing the 2015 ruling and saying the U.S. law behind the weapons charge was so vague as to be unconstitutional. She had written that neither second-degree murder nor assault is itself considered a "crime of violence" under federal law. That's because the assault and murder may have been committed recklessly rather than intentionally, as is required to be considered a violent crime.

Birdinground has served 15 of his 24-year sentence, but the "10 years for using a firearm during a violent crime" is no longer valid. He showed no remorse for his non-violent crimes.

Image: CC0 Public Domain/Max Pixel
Putin's army pushed our buttons over the anti-vax agenda during the 2016 US election, and likely beyond. The Russians do this to help spread distrust in the government, distrust in vaccines and to sow general discord.

Vaccines are good. Do not be fooled.

Via the BBC:


Ken "Popehat" White, a former US Attorney turned criminal defense attorney, notes that the Republican outrage about "flipped" prosecution witnesses is awfully self-serving (given that Trump's bagman Michael Cohen and hushup capo David Pecker have both seemingly turned state's evidence), they have a point, as countless black and brown and poor defendants have discovered in their journey through the American justice system.



Poor defendants are routinely railroaded through the criminal justice system: their harried public defenders cut deals to flip on their friends, in which they are incentivized to lie, and where the alternative is a trial with no real defense. Others find themselves convicted on the testimony of professional jailhouse snitches whom they've never met, but who claim to have been their accomplices.





Will the revelation on the part of these "law and order" Republicans about the injustices of the American criminal justice system extend beyond a few rich, white, powerful racists and to the vast population of arrested and incarcerated poor and racialized people?





Only time will tell.

Most difficult of all, if we want to question our reliance on cooperators, we must be ready to question our very culture. Many of the people calling "witch hunt" today will tomorrow return to familiar law-and-order tropes. The president who decries "flipping" is simultaneously excoriating his opponents for being, as he sees it, soft on crime. Our vision of the criminal justice system is based not on reality, but on Nixonian rhetoric and Dick Wolf's endlessly televised stories of heroic law enforcers fighting against shifty defense lawyers and sociopathic defendants. In short, flipping works because the culture tells us to trust prosecutors, police and even cooperators uncritically. Only a civic culture of healthy skepticism of prosecutors' claims  a genuine appreciation for the concept of reasonable doubt  can change that.



But we won't learn that skepticism from Trump, who routinely proclaims that the law protects criminals too much and that police should stop being gentle with them. His concern reaches only as far as his own skin and his own confederates. Serious criminal justice reform won't come from partisan controversy. Today's posturing critics of the system will vanish tomorrow. Only a bipartisan commitment to justice, fairness and the rule of law will protect anyone  let alone the president  from abuse of cooperation.

Yes, witnesses' flipping does corrupt justice. But not because they're 'rats.' [Ken White/Washington Post]





(Image: Luis Argerich from Buenos Aires, Argentina, CC-BY)
Friday, August 24, 2018

The Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge has imposed reciprocal discipline based on sanctions imposed in California

On September 1, 2015, the State Bar Court of California suspended Malpass from the practice of law in California for two years, all but ninety days stayed, upon successful completion of a three-year period of probation. Malpass was hired by a couple to file a bankruptcy petition, and he was required tobut but did notseek approval from the bankruptcy court before collecting $42,000.00 in attorneys fees from his clients. He failed to file a bankruptcy petition for his clients, who terminated his representation. The bankruptcy court ordered Malpass to disgorge the $42,000.00 in fees that he had collected. But he did not repay any portion of the $42,000.00 before he was suspended from the practice of law in California. During his probationary term in California, Malpass must pay his clients restitution.

On April 29, 2016, the State Bar Court of California suspended Malpass from the practice of law in California for one year, all stayed, upon successful completion of a one-year period of probation. This suspension was premised on Malpasss conviction of a criminal misdemeanor for attempting to grab a telephone from an acquaintance and striking her in the face. He did not report this conviction to the California state bar.

Malpass did not report either suspension to the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. Nor did he report his criminal misdemeanor conviction.

The misdemeanor is described in the California recommendation

On May 14, 2008, at approximately 12:00 p.m., Ms. X, an acquaintance of respondent who occasionally visited respondents office to provide clerical assistance, answered a call from respondents client.

Respondent, who was nearby speaking to an employee, Ms. Y, approached Ms. X and asked to speak to respondents client. Ms. X refused to give the phone to respondent.

Respondent grabbed for the telephone, striking Ms. X in the face. Respondent then walked back to his office to speak to the client.

Ms. Y observed the incident and called the police.

The police subsequently arrived, questioned respondent, Ms. X, and Ms. Y. Respondent was arrested for violation of Penal Code section 242, a batt

The sanction is a three-year suspension with all but 90 days stayed and probation. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/08/the-colorado-presiding-disciplinary-judge-has-imposed-reciprocal-discipline-based-on-sanctions-imposed-in-california.html
Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2009 and 2017, was arrested today on charges of forcible touching, sex abuse, and harassment. Frieden allegedly groped a woman in October. She reported the assault in July. Frieden also served as New York City Health Commissioner.

[via ABC]

Image: Geoffrey Cowley/Wikipedia This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
If Amazon itself unleashed this astroturf army of Twitter personae to defend its employment practices, it goes immediately into the pantheon of corporate-brain PR disasters. If it's someone else, it's a insightful ploy targeting Amazon's reputation and the expectations of those who might assume it's real. Devin Coldewey at TechCrunch:

After Flamboyant Shoes Guy called out the phenomenon, I found 15 accounts (please don't abuse them  they get enough of that already). All with "Amazon smiles" as their backgrounds and several with animals as profile pictures. All have the same bio structure: "(Job titles) @(warehouse shorthand location). (Duration) Amazonian. (2- or 3-item list of things they like.)" All have "FC Ambassador " in their name. All have links to an Amazon warehouse tour service.

Update: They're real and getting paid by Amazon. Yikes.
Harvard grad student Zainab Merchant is detained and invasively searched every time she flies; she's tried extensively to end this harassment, applying for Global Entry and Precheck, writing to her members of Congress, and trying to run through the DHS's Redress procedure.

Merchant says she's been quizzed on her writing and about having made a pilgrimage to a holy site in Iran. The TSA and border guards subject her to cruel and dehumanizing screenings, including a screening where they tormented her two-year-old, and one where she was required to show them her bloody menstrual towel. When she asks the guards who search her for their names, they illegally cover their badges.

She enlisted the ACLU to file a formal complaint on her behalf.



And above all, be prepared for something new. Once, they brought the explosives unit  several armed men  because of sticker residue on the back of my computer. Another time, they brought a team of dogs to search me. Once, they took my crying 2-year-old through the screening process by himself because he clung to my husband during a pat-down search. Recently, they took me to a private room and forced me to open my pants and show them my underwear. They hid their badges when I asked for their names.

The TSA searches me every time I travel. I think I know why. [Zainab Merchant/Washington Post]
News / National

by Moyo Roy

A police officer guarding Zimbabwe Electoral Commission commissioner Qhubani Moyo is alleged to have been shot and the motive is still unknown.Moyo on Facebook posted that there were gun shots at his house only to find a police officer guarding the house in a pool of blood.He said motive of the shooting is yet to be known.
Opinion / Columnist

Conclusion

Don Chigumba is a mixed methods research specialist can be found on twitter @Donchigumba

Following the Bulawayo bombing that injured Oppah Muchinguri and others, her mental capacity may have been severely deteriorating. While addressing war veterans on 23 August 2018, Oppah claimed that the former president RG Mugabe is now a 'sellout because he joined opposition'. Up to now I don't know whether it is Oppah or the writer who is insane. This piece therefore seeks to demonstrate that Oppah should go back to a South African hospital for a quick mental check up.I used the word 'foolish' to describe Oppah because she offended not only God but also the opposition members in Zimbabwe and abroad. If RG Mugabe is declared a 'sellout' because he joined opposition, what it means is that all opposition members in Zimbabwe and abroad are 'sellouts'. I want every Zimbabwean to join me in condemning Oppah and pray for her immediate resignation from government or on earth. It is clear that ZANU PF does not take opposition members as Zimbabweans but sellout.To all the 'sellouts' (opposition members in Zimbabwe), Oppah has just stretched us to the limit and she should not deserve to be shown any kind of respect to us. What Oppah said is more than racism and not different from the genocide of Rwanda in 90s. The 'sellouts' should bring Oppah to order by going to the streets. If she is not foolish, therefore the spirit of Tongogara, Chitepo and Masuku should be hounding her.Oppah claimed that RG Mugabe called for sanctions and that it was his plan to make Zimbabweans suffer. The opposition told the entire world before that sanctions were not brought by Mugabe alone but ZANU PF was responsible. I feel pit for Oppah, she thinks that she is dealing with stupid Zimbabweans. It is not fair to blame Mugabe alone for sanctions, how can one man ruin a country alone? ZANU PF team should take responsibility of the Zimbabwe sanctions. I am glad to note that Oppah for the first time in history has exonerated MDC for calling for sanctions in Zimbabwe.Oppah should now tell us the authors of ZIDERA, it is now clear according to Oppah that Biti, Mpofu and Chamisa are not responsible for ZIDERA but RG Mugabe is to blame. However sellouts (opposition members) still believe that ZANU PF is a primary suspect for ZIDERA together with the army and Judge Chigumba as secondary suspects.Oppah claimed than RG Mugabe's name should be removed from the international airport in Harare. This is going to be an embarrassment for ZANU PF and will set a wrong precedent in future. If RG Mugabe name is removed, it means that when MDC or any opposition party comes to power, it will rename all places or roads named by ZANU PF government. Even Hunzvi, Boda Gezi and other evil people of our time at the national shrine will be exhumed. I am therefore urging Matemadanda and ZANU PF not to play with fire.Oppah and Matemadanda declared that RG Mugabe's farms should be taken away, this statement was dangerous for the peace of the country. It is an acceptance that all people opposing ZANU PF should not benefit from the national cake. We told the world that land reform only benefited the few greed ZANU PF leaders but Oppah and team rubbished us off. Zimbabweans especially sellouts (opposition members) should know that Zimbabwe is for ZANU PF members and not them. They should stand up against this by all means, we are second class citizens in our own country. The opposition members in rural areas are dying of hunger because ZANU PF is busy distributing food to their supporters.Zimbabwe is for ZANU PF and not sellouts (opposition). The Zimbabweans should not take this for granted. We are now second class citizens in our own country. I know that they will announce ED the president from the ConCourt at all costs this afternoon. History shall judge Oppah, Matemadanda and team harshly.
Opinion / Columnist

The political circus going on in the Con-Court will be over by the end of next week and many expect President Mnangagwa will be confirmed the winner. Many people are turning their minds to what next?In his article in NewsDay, Piers Pigou advised President Mnangagwa to re-engage the West. Pigou is senior consultant for Southern Africa for the International Crisis Group."To regain lost ground and momentum in terms of building trust with those countries, the government will have to rapidly implement some of its promised reforms. In particular, it should focus on addressing concerns regarding its post-election conduct and what that means in terms of respect for the rule of law and inclusive governance," he advised."This, in turn, will entail reaching out to the opposition, focusing on political reconciliation, and more broadly reforming the security and intelligence sectors, as well as the criminal justice system."Good advice but based on a wrong assumption; that the international community including the western nation, will judged these elections free, fair and credible and grant this Zanu PF their seal of approval and legitimacy. If they did, then they will be lying because everyone knows that these elections were rigged!President Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections and no one, in all honest, can ever say the regime kept its promise. The regime was reminded to implement democratic reforms, everyone back in 2008 had agreed were necessary for free and fair elections following the barbarism of the elections that year. President Mnangagwa dismissed those calling for reforms with contempt."Zanu PF ichatonga! Igotonga! Imi muchingohukura! Nokuhukura!" (Zanu PF will rule! And rule!! Whilst you (calling for reforms) bark! And bark!) he said. This was his favourite catch phrase before the coup, proof that the coup had not dampen his and the junta's to resolve to hold on to absolute power at all cost."The European Union mission and the joint mission of the US-based National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute, for example, gave much greater attention than the African Union, Southern African Development Community and African National Congress missions to media bias and abuse of State resources," said Pigou."In their final reports, the observer missions will need to carefully consider the extent to which these problems reflect deliberate manipulation, as alleged by the opposition, or simply unremarkable administrative glitches."There was no free public media and 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote (5 million voted).ZEC failed to produce a verified voters' roll although this is a legal requirement opening the door to all manner of vote rigging. In no fewer than 16 polling stations it was notice that two or three stations had the same number of cast ballots ( 3 or so) with Zanu PF candidates getting remarkably the same votes suggesting the same voters bussed from one polling station to the next. But with no verified voters' roll, the smoking gun, it would be hard to prove anything!The "abuse of State resources" was a serious matter especially in the rural areas where Zanu PF is known to uses a large stick and carrot freely and frequently. The rural voters constitute 60% or so of the voters and they are nothing more than serfs beholden to the Landlord! It will be irresponsible to dismiss all glaring electoral irregularities as merely "unremarkable administrative glitches".The Zimbabwe economy has all but collapsed following 38 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and lawlessness and tyrannical rule by Zanu PF. Unemployment has soared to dizzying height of 90% and most basic services like clean running water and health care have all but gone. 75% of the population live on US$1.00 a day as contrast to the few filthy rich ruling elite who live in mansions, have multiple farms and business interest, have a fleet of posh cars, 45 gold watches, etc.If Zanu PF was allowed to get away with rigging these elections it will be tantamount to condemning the nation to yet another five years of the same corrupt and tyrannical rule and grinding poverty. There will be no meaningful economic recovery because by rigging the election the junta has just confirmed that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs. No investor likes to do business with thugs!Worse still, in five years' time Zimbabwe will still be in the same mess it is in today - having yet another rigged election. President Mnangagwa and his junta friends will resist implementing any meaningful democratic reforms with the same unwavering resolve they have always shown on the matter.The international community must condemn these flawed and illegal elections because they will be lying to do otherwise but, better still, because it is the only way to end the long suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans by forcing the implementation of the democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections.By declaring these elections null and void, the country will clear the political deck, appoint an interim administration to implement the reforms and hold the first free, fair and credible elections.
The Doctor Who Helped Save Kobe Bryant's Knee Is Out To Save Your Face

Trending News: Add This Skincare MVP To Your Routine For A Winning Face

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.

The crazy skincare enthusiasts among us (speaking for myself here) have known about Dr. Barbara Sturm for quite some time now. Her skincare products come at a premium price but deliver on their premium promises. Having launched her collection in 2014, Dr. Strum has won over legions of worldwide fans  both men and women  in only four short years.

But what about Kobe Bryant? A brief history:

Dr. Barbara Sturm is a German aesthetics doctor, famous for her non-surgical anti-aging treatments and methods for rejuvenating the skin. She began her medical career at the Centre for Molecular Orthopedics in DuIsseldorf, Germany which allowed her to be a part of the team that developed cutting-edge, anti-inflammatory treatments for osteoarthritis and back pain. She was such a pioneer in this treatment, Kobe Bryant trusted it enough to fly to Germany to have the procedure done on his knee (and that is an expensive knee). The treatment, now coined the Kobe Procedure, utilizes the patients own blood cells to produce proteins that reduce inflammation and stimulate the healing process.

Related: Eye Creams For Men

Well, that sounds impressive, doesnt it? Dr. Sturm, obviously being an incredibly smart woman, knew skin cells and cartilage cells function in a similar manner, so she applied the learnings from her clinical research and orthopedic practice to address aging skin concerns, leading to the establishment of her facial aesthetics practice and clinics in Dusseldorf and Munich. One of her signature treatments  another groundbreaker  the Vampire Facial (you remember Kim Kardashians bloody face, right?) includes the incubation, centrifugation, and reintroduction of a patients own blood proteins, resulting in both immediate and long lasting effects.

Dr. Barbara Sturm Calming Serum

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Now, long after launching one of my personal favorites, her Calming Serum, she is bringing us Face Cream specifically for men, adding a new product to further the benefits men can achieve from her range. Her key ingredient, across her collection, is the unassuming Purslane plant, or Portulaca oleracea as its formally known, which is loaded with the good stuff that our skin as men really need.

Dr. Barbara Sturm Face Cream Men

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Her Face Cream for Men is packed with active ingredients and antioxidants (seriously, they are important for your skin) and is formulated to address the daily effects of shaving, stress and environmental aggressors. Purslane has one of the highest concentrations of vitamin A among plants and has six times more vitamin E than spinach and seven times more beta carotene than carrots. Skullcap, a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, boosts the production of Telomerase for maximum cell protection. Skin irritation, redness and razor burn are visibly reduced almost instantly with active ingredients of Taurine, Siberian Ginseng and Algae Extract. Add to all that, superior moisture, vitamin B-complex, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and more, and a little goes a long way.

You should consider this a worthwhile investment into the future of your face.

You Might Also Dig

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Select board members and some municipal staff toured the property last week.

Scarborough Leader

A bond for up to $1.9 million to renovate it will be on the Nov. 2 municipal ballot.
A second suspect has been charged with attempted murder and other firearm-related offences in connection with a brazen daytime shooting at a Scarborough playground in June that wounded two young sisters.

Tarrick Rhoden, 23, of no fixed address, was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police on Wednesday in Algonquin Highlands, around 275 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

He faces a total of 17 charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of an unauthorized firearm, and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Rhoden appeared at Old City Hall court at 10 a.m. Thursday.

He was wanted in a Canada-wide warrant, alongside T'Quan Robertson, 23, on several charges, including attempted murder and assault.

During the two month search, police said they believed the men were being helped by friends or acquaintances to evade arrest.

OPP officers charged a 59-year-old man on Wednesday with accessory to commit an indictable offence.

Meanwhile, Robertson is still wanted by police. He is described as 5'8", 130 lbs, and is considered armed and dangerous by police.

Investigators are urging members of the public to not approach Robertson and to call 911 if they see him.

A third suspect, Sheldon Eriya, 21, of Markham, was arrested a day after the shooting. He is accused driving the vehicle that took the other two suspects to the east-end playground where the gunfire was unleashed.

11 children were playing in park

Two girls, aged five and nine, were wounded after the gunman approached the small park, south of McCowan Road and Steeles Avenue E., on foot and fired seven shots before fleeing.

The younger girl was shot in the stomach and the older one was hit in the ankle. Both underwent surgery and are recovering.

Nine other children were playing on the slides and monkey bars on the afternoon of June 14 when the shots rang out. Police say they believe a man who accompanied them was the intended target.
A report from the Manitoba government has revealed shocking allegations by a northern First Nation of sexual abuse and racism at the hands of Manitoba Hydro workers dating back more than 50 years.

The allegations were revealed in a report from the Clean Environment Commission, an arm's-length provincial agency that was asked to study the social impact of hydro development past and present on communities in northern Manitoba.

As part of their work, the commission met with members of Fox Lake Cree Nation to discuss the effects of thousands of Manitoba Hydro workers descending on their small community beginning in the 1960s.

In 165 pages of testimony, members of the First Nation spoke of sexual assaults, racism, feeling marginalized and a lack of socioeconomic opportunities.

Here's what you need to know:

What do community members say happened?

Members of Fox Lake Cree Nation told the committee that their community had been "swamped and shattered" by the arrival of thousands of temporary workers.

One elder described the resulting societal breakdown as a "Hydro-triggered atrocity," the report says.

During his testimony, Franklin Arthurson said he ended up choosing to move so his children wouldn't have to experience the same racism he lived through.

He also said women would talk of being taken to jail for no reason and sexually abused in custody, as well as assaults on Fox Lake band members.

In her statement, Sophie Lockhart also described women in the community being sexually abused by hydro construction workers.

"And like there was a lot of, you could say, an influx of workers that came into our community, where they would get us drunk and take advantage of us. Not just me, but my other friends."

She said she suffered from alcoholism for years afterward, but has been sober since 1985: "I drank every chance I got, you know, to numb the pain that I'm carrying."

How did these developments impact the community on a larger scope?

Story continues

During his testimony, Robert Wavey, a director of implementation and future development for Fox Lake Cree Nation, compared the impact of hydro development with that of the residential school system.

"As someone who attended residential school as well, I can tell you that the impact of hydro development is no less," he said.

"Their home community was literally taken from them and redeveloped to meet the needs of the hydroelectric development work force, without any meaningful regard for the Fox Lake people's lifestyle, situation, needs, desires or aspirations."

As a result of all this construction, the report notes, the small town of nearby Gillam was home to camps that housed up to 1,000 workers at a time.

"Thousands of transitory workers came into the region, especially during construction periods. It took considerable time to recognize and compensate Indigenous people for the impact of this development on their communities," the report says.

What projects were built in that area?

During his testimony to the commission Davey described the area as being packed with transmission lines.

"You probably couldn't throw a stone anywhere without hitting one," he said. "That's how many there are."

Fox Lake's traditional territory includes the Kettle, Long Spruce and Limestone generating stations, two of which are the largest generating stations in the province. The area also contained the Radisson and Henday converter stations.

The Limestone generating station is the largest in the province and was completed in 1990. It is located about seven kilometres from Fox Lake Cree Nation.

The Kettle generating station was completed in 1974, and is the is the second largest hydroelectric generating station in the province. It's located roughly three kilometres upstream from the Canadian National Railway's river crossing near the town of Gillam, and about 50 kilometres from Fox Lake Cree Nation.

The Long Spruce generating station, completed in 1979, sits 27 kilometres east of Gillam and 16 kilometres downstream of the Kettle Generating Station.

The Radisson converter station was built in 1968, while the Henday converter station was built in 1977.

The Keeyask dam, a 695-megawatt generating station, is still under construction in the area along the Nelson River.

What triggered this report?

The report, titled the Regional Cumulative Effects Assessment, was commissioned by the Manitoba government in 2015.

It was the result of a recommendation that came out of another report completed by the Clean Environment Commission on the Bipole 3 Project, which said that there should be a review of the impacts of all Manitoba Hydro projects along the Nelson River sub-watershed.

"In order to fully understand the impact of proposed future projects, it will be necessary to understand the impact of past and current projects in addition to new impacts," that report said.

As part of their work, the commission was asked to invited all affected First Nations and communities identified in the assessment's study area as well as the Manitoba Metis Federation to provide written input on the effects hydro projects have had over the last several decades.
The family of Pte. John (Jack) Henry Thomas of New Brunswick helped lay him to rest Thursday, 101 years after the First World War soldier was killed in France.

Nieces and cousins of the 28-year-old Victoria County man killed on Aug. 19, 1917, during the Battle of Hill 70 said they attended the service to bring closure for the family a century later.

Niece Joyce Lappage said her father was only seven years old in Birch Ridge, when his brother was killed on the outskirts of Lens in northern France.

No one in the family ever forgot about Thomas, she said.

"I'm thankful that I was able to come and make closure for our grandparents."

Thomas was a member of the 26th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, when he was killed a day shy of his one-year anniversary of enlisting in Saint John.

His remains were buried and lost until they were unearthed by a construction crew in 2016 in Lens.

Thomas was identified by the casualty identification program's Casualty Identification Review Board last October through historical, genealogical, anthropological, archeological and DNA analysis.

'Always knew about him'



Lappage said a picture of the Vimy Ridge monument and Thomas hung in the dining room of her family's home.

"We always knew about him," she said, adding she hung a picture of him in her own home when she moved to Ontario.

While doing research for a family tree, Lappage said, she was elated to receive Thomas's war records.

"He was always remembered by all family members. They all had pictures of him."

Lappage said she and other relatives at the service, some she met for the first time on the trip to France, felt blessed to be there.

"it does bring tears to your eyes and we haven't even started the ceremony yet, so I'm sure it's going to be heartwarming."

Veterans Affairs Canada assisted in having family present for Thomas's burial by his regiment at Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Loos British cemetery near Vimy, France.

Thomas was buried with three other soldiers whose remains were found at the same construction site and identified as Pte. William Del Donegan, 20, Pte. Henry Edmonds Priddle, 33, and Sgt. Archibald Wilson, 25. All three soldiers enlisted in Winnipeg.

Thomas's name is engraved on the Vimy Memorial, which commemorates the more than 11,000 Canadian soldiers killed in France during the First World War whose bodies were never recovered.
Sultan walks inside his enclosure at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre on Feb. 6, 2018, in Nijeberkoop, Netherlands. Sultan was born in 2016 in Magic World, a zoo and theme park in war-torn Aleppo, Syria. In July 2017, Four Paws International rescued Sultan, along with Sayeeda, from the zoo and transferred them first to a rescue center in Turkey and then to the Al Mawa sanctuary in Jordan. Sayeeda and Sultan arrived in October 2017 to Felida for specialized care to help them recover mentally and physically from their traumatic experience in Aleppo. Sultan and Sayeeda are thought to be siblings. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

In 2017, near Aleppo, Syria, 13 animals were left alive of the hundreds who had once lived in the Magic World zoo. With war raging all through the city, the rest had succumbed to starvation and lack of care.

Among the survivors were two tigers, Sultan and Sayeeda. Rescuing and caring for neglected captive big cats is the mission of Four Paws International, which operates a shelter in an old farmhouse in a small town in the Netherlands. On a mission to rescue a lion and a bear from Mosul, Iraq, staffers learned about the plight of the tigers and realized they had to intervene.

When our team found Sultan and Sayeeda, they were in very bad condition, says Barbara van Genne, head of Four Paws big-cat operations an international animal-welfare organization that was established in Austria in 1988. We had to put them under anesthesia to microchip them and do the necessary medical checks. Sultan went into cardiac arrest, and our team acted quickly and was able to save his life, but we were very worried about them.

Sayeeda is carried by Four Paws staff to the veterinary room for a medical check on March 28, 2018, in the FELIDA Big Cat Centre in Nijeberkoop, Netherlands. She was born in 2016 in Aleppo, Syria. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Sayeeda and Sultan were very skinny and dehydrated, with very poor fur. Veterinary checks revealed damage to their kidneys, most likely due to the lack of good food and water; Sultan showed signs of extreme stress. More than a year later, Sultan and Sayeeda are living a life far from the trauma of war at the Big Cat Centre, where after months of intensive care they have just been socialized. The tigers were kept separately when we rescued them. Since their arrival at FELIDA, we worked hard to make sure that their health and welfare increased. Last Tuesday was a special day, as for the first time we opened the gate that separates them to give them the chance to enjoy a life together. This is a huge step in their lives and will help them to deal better with the stress and trauma of war. It is a promising development and hopefully one day soon we can bring them to our sanctuary in South Africa, Lionsrock, says van Genne.

Story continues

Sayeeda lays on a bed during a veterinarian check, March 28, 2018, in the FELIDA Big Cat Centre. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

There are five tigers at the center altogether, and three lions. Two cubs are lying in a customized bed enjoying the sunshine while resting their heads on each other. Terez and Masoud were born in Bulgaria in an illegal breeding station owned by the municipality. They were discovered by a volunteer in Bulgaria only one or two days after they were born and were handraised.

Terez and Masoud are seen playing inside their enclosure at their new home at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre after being rescued from Razgrad Zoo in Bulgaria on March 27, 2018. Terez and Masoud were inbred, sick and malnourished. Now Terez and Masoud have a new home and a future thanks to the efforts of Four Paws International, which fought hard when their transfer to the Netherlands was blocked by Bulgarian authorities. Thanks to the efforts of many supporters and the action of Bulgarias prime minister, Terez and Masoud are today in a safe place being well cared for. (Photo: Omar Havana / Four Paws)

Getting them to the Big Cat Centre required an online campaign, which led to public demonstrations in Bulgaria and, ultimately, the intervention of the prime minister. They arrived in the Netherlands weighing only about 45 pounds each; now, six months later, they are up to about 150 pounds. But the fight continues; there are still many other animals kept in captivity in similar places, not only in Bulgaria but throughout the world.

Sultan and Sayeeda

Sayeeda is seen inside her enclosure at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Dr. Frank Goritz from Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, right, checks Sultans breathing after he has been injected with anesthesia in his enclosure while Dr. Marc Golkell stands by, at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre, March 28, 2018. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Dr. Goritz, center, uses an ultrasound on Sultans heart while Four Paws veterinarian in training, Dr. Christine Steyer, left, and Dr. Golkel, right, assist him during a veterinarian check. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Dr. Goritz cleans an abscess from Sultans mouth while Dr. Steyer assists him during a veterinarian check. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Sayeeda is seen resting inside her enclosure at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Terez and Masoud

Four Paws staff members carry Terez and Masoud to the FELIDA Big Cat Centre, where the lions cubs will live after being rescued from Razgrad Zoo in Bulgaria. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Despite the Four Paws hands-off policy for wild animals, volunteer Marina is allowed a goodbye hug with Terez and Masoud inside their enclosure at their new home at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre. Marina is a volunteer for a Bulgarian organization and took care of the cubs for months and handraised them in Bulgaria after they were rescued from Razgrad Zoo. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Dr. Steyer darts Masoud with anesthesia in his enclosure before he is transported to a veterinary room for a medical check. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Terez lays on a bed during a veterinarian check. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

Masoud lays on a bed for a veterinarian check. More than one month after their arrival at FELIDA, Masoud and Terez are doing well, gaining weight while under the constant care of Four Paws staff members. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

A view of a door where animals had scratched due to the poor conditions in which animals were kept under the previous management team at the FELIDA Big Cat Centre. Before Four Paws took over this animal shelter in May 2014, over 20 wild animals were sharing tiny spaces in this animal shelter called Pantera. Four Paws International was called in to help in 2013, which led to a complete renovation of the center. Since then, several new enclosures have been built, and new facilities are planned for the future. (Photo: Omar Havana/Four Paws)

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Researchers have captured images of one of the rarest birds in the Western Hemisphere  a species they feared was extinct after Hurricane Matthew hit the Bahamas about two years ago.

A team from the U.K.'s University of East Anglia, masters students Matthew Gardner and David Pereira, were several weeks into a difficult, three-month expedition through a pine forest when they caught sight of the endangered Bahama Nuthatch.

The pair set out in April to find the elusive species on Grand Bahama, the only known home of the Bahama Nuthatch, in an area filled with rash-inducing poisonwood bushes.

"[The skin irritant] just leaches into your clothes," Gardner told CBC News. "It was a worthwhile and rewarding experience, but it was certainly very hard."

There had been virtually no sightings following the damaging storm that hit the island in October 2016, despite a number of surveys, and that was a key reason for launching the search.

Past surveys generally consisted of stopping along a trail in a vehicle, but the UEA students were willing to go off-trail into isolated areas, where they endured thunderstorms, sweltering heat, biting insects and constant itching due to poisonous plants.

Their luck changed at the end of May, after Gardner and Pereira had walked 400 kilometres.

They heard a Bahama Nuthatch respond to their repeated burst of calls with its own high-pitched warble and they were able to capture video of it perched in a mature pine tree, which the birds prefer for nesting. The next images included photographs.

'I had almost lost hope'

"We had been scouring the forest for about six weeks, and had almost lost hope, Gardner said. "Then, I suddenly heard its distinctive call and saw the unmistakable shape of a Nuthatch descending toward me. I shouted with joy, I was ecstatic."

"The photographs clearly show this distinctive species and cannot be anything else," said Michael Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy.

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The UEA team made six Nuthatch sightings in total in May and June, and during that breakthrough, the Bahama Nuthatch stuck around for a minute or two.

Possibly a single bird

"I sadly think, and this is the opinion of all the people we spoke to, that it's connected to one bird, due to all these sightings being in a very small compacted area," Gardner said.

A second team of Bahamian students, led by Zeko McKenzie of California's Loma Linda University, began a survey shortly after the UEA team and made five sightings in the same area of forest, including a sighting in May of what they said were two birds together.

The UEA is confident the other team spotted a pair of the birds, although McKenzie's team only captured footage of a single Bahama Nuthatch.

"The other team have claimed to see two together, so that is promising. However, these findings place the species on the verge of extinction and certainly amongst the world's most critically endangered birds," Gardner said.

Slim chance of species rebounding

"We also don't know the sex of the birds. In many cases when birds dwindle to such small numbers, any remaining birds are usually male," he added.

Diana Bell, a conservation biologist at the UEA, said researchers believe the chances of bringing this bird back from the brink of extinction are "very slim, due to the very low numbers left," and because they're not certain of the "precise drivers for its decline."

The population decline likely began in the 1950s due to logging, but the birds were still commonly found on Grand Bahama in the 1970s.

However, a survey conducted in the 1990s suggested the numbers may have declined by as much as 90 per cent, which Gardner said is "obviously very alarming."

It's estimated the population was down from 1,800 in 2004 to just 23 in a 2007.

Habitat loss is thought to be the main reason for the decline. This is partly due to the burning of waste in wooded areas to counter the high cost of getting rid of it. Some of the loss can be blamed on campfires.

The corn snake, an invasive species thought to have come from Florida to Grand Bahama decades ago, may have also played a role in reducing the Nuthatch population.

In recent years, skinks  a type of lizard  have been introduced to the island, and it's believed they may be eating the birds' eggs.
SANAA/HODEIDAH, Yemen (Reuters) - On Yemen's western coast, Mohammed al-Hosami receives support from the people of his village in al Mahwit to pay for his mother's cancer treatment in a clinic in nearby Hodeidah city. "There is no work or salary so we can't afford transportation costs, and the village helped me with the payments for treatment and to take her there," he said as a doctor tended to his mother, who had visible swelling in one arm. Millions of Yemenis are at risk from hunger and cholera brought on by three years of war, an emergency that has also hit cancer patients, struggling to get treatment in a country where the economy and infrastructure have collapsed. The World Health Organization (WHO) said around 35,000 people have cancer in Yemen, with about 11,000 cases diagnosed each year. "It is very difficult to find medicines, and if you find them in the market, they're too expensive and citizens cannot afford them," said Mohammed Al-Emad, accompanying a relative going for treatment in the capital Sanaa. Yemen is embroiled in a war between a Saudi-led military coalition and the Iranian-aligned Houthi group. The fighting has crippled its economy and healthcare system, and unleashed the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis with millions facing starvation and diseases such as cholera, diphtheria and malaria. The Saudi-led alliance has imposed stringent measures on maritime trade to Yemen in an effort to choke off arms supplies to the Houthis, who still control the most populous areas of the country including Sanaa. But the measures have also slowed the flow of desperately needed aid supplies. The National Oncology Centre in Sanaa admits around 600 new cancer patients each month. But it received only $1 million in funding last year from state entities and international aid groups, the head of the center, Ahmed al-Ashwal, told Reuters. The few beds available at the center are reserved for children. Other patients receive treatment intravenously, while sitting on dilapidated recliner chairs or in the waiting area. The WHO said that prior to the conflict, the center used to receive $15 million a year from the state and that the budget was used to purchase chemotherapy medications and anti-cancer drugs for oncology centers across the country. "Now, the National Oncology Centre is totally relying on the fund provided by international organizations, including WHO, and some charitable organizations or businessmen as the government fund has been disrupted for around two years," it said in a statement emailed to Reuters. The head of the Al-Amal Centre for Cancer Treatment, Yasser Abdullah Noor, said the center is struggling to provide care to its more than 5,300 patients in Hodeidah and was in danger of shutting down without government support. "A center that provides care to thousands of patients cannot operate on donations and grants alone." For a picture essay, click on: https://reut.rs/2MKIArq (Reporting by Reuters team in Yemen and Tuqa Khalid in Dubai; editing by Hugh Lawson)
By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM/GENEVA (Reuters) - Former war crimes prosecutor David Crane, an American who was named only last month to lead a U.N. investigation into violence in Gaza this year, has resigned, the United Nations said. The U.N. said in a statement dated Aug. 22 that Crane had informed the Human Rights Council of his decision a day earlier, "due to a personal circumstance that has arisen" and that the Council was "considering next steps". Crane, a former senior U.S. legal official who served as chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2002-2005, was named chair of the three-person inquiry on July 25. He could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday. At least 170 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army in what it has called border protection during weekly protests that began in late March. One Israeli soldier has been killed. The U.N. Human Rights Council voted in May to set up the investigation into the killings. Israel said it was being demonized and that the inquiry was intended to undermine its right to self-defense. Crane, recently retired as a Syracuse University professor, worked for decades for the U.S. government, including as senior inspector general in the Department of Defense. When chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone he indicted the then Liberian leader Charles Taylor for war crimes. The remaining members of the Commission of Inquiry are Sara Hossain of Bangladesh, and Kaari Betty Murungi of Kenya. The commission is due to provide an update on its work to the Human Rights Council on Sept. 24. (Reporting by Toby Sterling. Additional reporting by Stephanie van den Berg in the Hague and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, editing by Andrei Khalip)
More than 200 people were evacuated from their homes and electricity was shut off to nearly 2,400 Nova Scotia Power customers after a natural gas leak in Dartmouth, N.S., on Thursday morning.

Dave Meldrum, the division chief of Halifax Fire and Emergency Services, said the leak was reported just before 10:30 a.m. at 10 Kennedy Dr.

Crews found natural gas leaking from a pipe on the outside of the three-storey apartment building.

Residents were evacuated from several buildings in the area of Kennedy Drive and Roleika Drive.

Heritage Gas crews stopped the leak at about 11:40 a.m. by digging into the ground and pinching the gas distribution line.

By 12:15 p.m., electricity was restored to all but five Nova Scotia Power customers.

Meldrum said residents would be allowed back into almost all the evacuated buildings except those at 9, 10 and 15 Kennedy Dr. shortly after noon.

"We're just going to make sure everything is safe, make sure there is no pockets of natural gas anywhere, just be very, very cautious," Meldrum said.

Heritage Gas's vice-president of engineering, construction and operation, Chris MacAulay, said it's still unclear what caused the leak.

"We will be going through a full investigation as part of the process to take a look at what the cause of the situation was," he said. "Our understanding at this point is that it was related to some work that was going on at the building."

Read more articles from CBC Nova Scotia
By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is unlikely to heed London's call for it to match the latest U.S. sanctions against Moscow over an attack on a former Russian spy in Britain earlier this year, diplomats in Brussels said. Britain's foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, said in Washington this week the EU should step up pressure on Russia after the ex-spy was attacked with a nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury. The West blames Moscow for the attack; the Kremlin denies involvement. But EU diplomats doubted more sanctions would be imposed. They cited the usual divisions between EU members advocating a tough line on Moscow and those arguing for more engagement. "There is no way. Italy and Austria, even France, want to do business with Russia too much," one EU diplomat said. Any new sanctions would require unanimity among all 28 member states. The EU now has economic sanctions in place until the end of January against Russia over its role in the conflict in Ukraine, which has killed some 10,000 people and still simmers. It also has curbs on doing business with Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In late July, the EU added six new entries to its blacklist of entities subject to an asset freeze in the EU over the Ukraine conflict. Diplomats said eight entries had been proposed, but two were dropped after opposition from Germany and Italy, who feared damage to their business dealings with Russia. "This discussion has shown there are clear limits of how far we can go on sanctions," said another EU diplomat. "This does not rule out adding a name or an entity to the blacklist here or there. But there is no scope for more broad sectoral measures." Beyond Salisbury and Ukraine, relations between Russia and the West have also been damaged by the war in Syria - where they back opposite sides. The role of NATO, security issues and Russia's record on human rights have all hurt relations as well. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the latest U.S. sanctions, which have weighed on the rouble and forced Russia's economy minister to expect lower economic growth. NO FORMAL PROPOSAL After Hunt's speech in Washington, EU officials said Britain had yet to make a formal proposal to the bloc. They thought Hunt might raise the issue when all 28 foreign ministers meet for talks in Austria at the end of the month. Hunt spoke after Washington imposed sanctions against Moscow covering national-security-related goods and promised more hard-hitting measures unless Russia gives "reliable assurances" it will no longer use chemical weapons. Many EU states expelled Russian diplomats over Salisbury. But opposition from the doves, who also include Greece and Hungary, has blocked any further measures. Austria, which casts itself as neutral and, unlike most EU states, is not a NATO member, is in a delicate position. It now holds the EU's rotating presidency, which should act as an unbiased deal-broker. Questions over whether Vienna is seeking to improve ties with Moscow have been rife since Putin attended the wedding of Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl earlier this month. (Editing by Larry King)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in his first purported speech in nearly a year, has called on followers to fight on despite recent defeats, according to an audio recording posted on the group's media outlet.

In the 55-minute statement, Baghdadi congratulated what he described as the "striking lions" behind recent attacks in Canada and Europe and called on followers to use bombs, knives or cars to carry out attacks.

Baghdadi also offered greetings to Muslims for Eid al-Adha, a feast which is celebrated this week, suggesting the message was recorded recently.

"For the Mujahideen (holy warriors) the scale of victory or defeat is not dependant on a city or town being stolen or subject to that who has aerial superiority, intercontinental missiles or smart bombs," Baghdadi said in a recording in Arabic posted by his al-Furqan media group.

"Oh Caliphate soldiers.... trust in God's promise and His victory... for with hardship comes relief and a way out," he added, addressing followers in various cities in Syria.

Reuters was unable to verify whether the voice on the recording was Baghdadi's.

Islamic State, which until last year controlled large areas in Syria and Iraq, has since been driven into the desert by successive defeats in offensives by international allies in both countries.

Baghdadi, who declared himself ruler of all Muslims in 2014 after capturing Iraqs main northern city Mosul, is now believed to be hiding in the Iraqi-Syrian border region after losing all the cities and towns of his self-proclaimed caliphate.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for attacks around the world, including a July 22 shooting in Toronto that left two people dead and 13 wounded. Canadian police said that they had no evidence so far to support the claim.

Baghdadi also called on Iraqi followers to keep up attacks against Shi'ite Muslims and what he described as apostates -- a reference to Sunni Muslims fighting against his group.

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He called on followers to remain loyal to the leaders of his movement and urged the citizens of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan to overthrow their rulers.

The secretive Islamic State leader has frequently been reported killed or wounded since leading his fighters on a sweep through northern Iraq. His whereabouts are not known but Wednesday's message suggests he is still alive.

One of his sons was reported to have been killed in the city of Homs in Syria, the group's news channel reported earlier this year.

Baghdadi also warned that Idlib province in Syria was about to fall as Russia and Syrian government forces were preparing to invade it. Idlib province is in the last swathe of territory still held by rebels opposed to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

In June, the United Nations' regional humanitarian coordinator warned that Islamic State and other militant groups were mingled with the population in Idlib, making it a highly explosive situation.

Related Video: ISIS Claims Responsiblity for Death of American Cyclists

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(Reporting by Ali Abdelaty, writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by David Stamp and Toby Chopra)
No attempt to hide $6M payment to Northern Pulp, says McNeil

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil insisted Thursday there was no attempt to hide a $6-million payment last year to Northern Pulp, despite the fact his government only disclosed the information as a single-line item in a 351-page document on July 26.

The payment is contained in volume three of the supplementary estimates filed to officially close the books on the 2017-18 fiscal year.

It lists Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp. as having received $6,001,238.13 from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. There is no information about what the money was used for.

Taxpayer liability

Speaking to reporters Thursday, McNeil suggested the payment should not have come a surprise to journalists or anyone else.

"As I've told all of you many times, there is a liability for the taxpayer when it comes to that mill," he said.

This week alone the government issued news releases for projects worth considerably less than the Northern Pulp payment: one for $37,500 in the Annapolis Valley and another $36,500 in the Cape Breton region.

McNeil was at a loss to explain why a $6-million expenditure did not warrant similar treatment.

"I don't know why it wouldn't have been put out in a press release," he said.

No choice but to pay up

The premier also could not say how much more money would be spent on a replacement plant for the current Boat Harbour wastewater treatment facility, which is due to close by Jan. 31, 2020.

The government has said taxpayers will need to help pay for the new facility because the province is in a lease agreement with Northern Pulp. Under the Boat Harbour Act, the existing treatment plant must be closed 10 years before the lease ends.

"I didn't sign that deal," he said. "It was signed by a former government."

The current treatment facility, which handles effluent discharged from Northern Pulp, is located next to the Pictou Landing First Nation.

Province has responsibility

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McNeil said he "made the decision that we would not continue to pollute Boat Harbour and force Pictou Landing to be next to that facility."

"And by doing so, it meant that there's legal obligations that we as a province will be part of and we'll meet those obligations," he added.

The premier said taxpayers would not be saddled with the entire cost of the new facility, adding the government is in negotiations.

"We do have a responsibility but I also think we have a responsibility to the First Nation's community as well, and that's the one we're meeting," he said.
Three homes in Lower Post, B.C., have reportedly been destroyed by wildfire, and it's not clear when an evacuation order for the community might be lifted.

Residents of the community were forced to flee on Tuesday, after B.C. emergency officials issued an evacuation order. Since then, they've been waiting in Watson Lake, Yukon, for word on when they can return.

Tony Falcao, deputy manager with the Northwest Fire Centre, said Wednesday evening that the situation around Lower Post is "not good" and said there are several things to consider before the evacuation order is lifted.

Falcao also said that without the work of firefighters, there would already be "many, many more losses" in the community.

"They stood there as long as they could and they did what they could with what they had," Falcao said.

According to Fred Lutz, deputy chief of the Daylu Dena Council, three homes have been lost due to the fire, one belonging to a councillor.

There are no reports of injuries.

Lower Post resident Gloria Hayes said she's "freaking out," concerned that she too may lose her house. She said the homes that were destroyed are located near her place.

"I didn't want to believe that our houses would actually burn up. It's pretty devastating," she said. "We're pretty stressed out, we're all on edge."

The Alaska Highway, meanwhile, has re-opened to one lane of traffic. The condition report from Yukon 511 says to expect delays of 30 minutes to one hour.

The highway had been completely closed on Tuesday afternoon and remained closed most of Wednesday because of smoke.

'It was just like being in a furnace'

The Lutz Creek wildfire, burning about five kilometres away from Lower Post, had grown to about 5,000 hectares by Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

At a public meeting at the Watson Lake recreation centre on Wednesday night, Kris Johnson with Yukon Wildlife Fire Management said the fire was started by a lightning strike near Ten Mile Lake.

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Twenty-seven firefighters were dispatched to the fire Tuesday night. Johnson said temperatures were 25 C with winds of 40 km/h.

"It was just like being in a furnace," he said.

"I felt like walking through the parking lot, cigarette butts were coming down on me there were so many sparks."

Sprinklers were set up around homes in Lower Post several days ago, Johnson said, and firefighters have been working on keeping them going.

"You gotta be worried, my goodness. You know, we've got a lot of stuff in our house yet. So, you gotta be worried," said Lower Post resident Charles Pete.

Pete was sitting in the Watson Lake recreation centre on Wednesday, which has been serving as a makeshift emergency shelter and welcoming centre for evacuees. Pete fled from Lower Post on Tuesday afternoon, right after officials decided the fire was too close to the community.

"It was burning pretty good. It was hot," Pete said.

Another Lower Post resident, Carla Bass, said she was told on Tuesday morning to prepare to leave.

"They said, 'by five o'clock you've got to be out,' so everybody was rushing around," Bass said.

'People are helping out where they can'

In Watson Lake, many evacuees found shelter with relatives and friends. At the recreation centre, volunteers helped to prepare meals for people.

"People are helping out where they can," said Walter Carlick of the Daylu Dena Council.

"We also have emergency services from B.C. that are working to help us to organize, to find accommodations for people  whatever's needed to make sure that people are taken care of and are as comfortable as possible, given the situation we find ourselves in."

Carlick estimates there are about 120 to 150 people displaced from Lower Post by the fires. He believes all of them have come to Watson Lake, about 22 kilometres up the highway.

"This is not the first time that we've had to deal with emergency situations," he said, referring to a 2014 flood in Lower Post that also forced residents to evacuate the community.

The recreation centre stayed open all night on Wednesday, but it seemed most evacuees had found accommodations elsewhere. All but four emergency cots were still packed up in boxes.



The director of Yukon's Emergency Measures Organization, Diarmuid O'Donovan, said Wednesday that Watson Lake was not threatened by any nearby fires.

With files from Philippe Morin
Authorities believe they're one step closer to identifying a mystery illness causing unusual behaviour and ultimately death in some juvenile birds on Toronto's waterfront.

A swab sample taken from a visibly sick double-crested cormorant this week tested positive for a highly contagious avian viral condition called Newcastle disease, according to Brian Stevens, a pathologist at the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative.

Brain cells taken from the same animal also show signs of Newcastle disease, he added. Since the affliction can be devastating for both wild birds and poultry, a brain sample will now be sent to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for further testing.

"It's all preliminary at this point, but there are signs suggesting that it is indeed Newcastle disease," said Stevens, adding that the process could take a number of weeks to complete.

The initial result provides some insight into what might be causing dozens of Toronto's most controversial birds to act so strangely.

About three weeks ago, people using the area around Tommy Thompson Park started reporting finding double-crested cormorants behaving oddly. Individual birds were seen walking down trails nearby people  unusual for the species. Others were found acting as though their wings or necks were broken.

One video posted to Facebook shows a cormorant with its head tilted sharply to the side, standing in a shallow puddle, seemingly unaware of human activity around it. The user who posted the video said in the comments that the bird stayed that way for hours.

"The early symptoms are sort of that abnormal behaviour, where they are coming close to humans. Then the muscles start to deteriorate," said Andrea Chreston, project manager for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority's restoration of Tommy Thompson Park.

That deterioration causes limbs to hang limply, creating the appearance of broken wings or other joints, and it appears as though juveniles are especially susceptible, she adds.

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"It is very difficult to watch," Chreston said.

About 17 sick cormorants have been taken to the Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC) for treatment, however all of them eventually died of the illness.

"After none of the first ones we admitted survived ... we started referring subsequent calls about sick birds to local animal controls for humane euthanasia as there seemed to be no way to treat them and have them survive," said Nathalie Karvonen, executive director of the TWC, in an email.

Tommy Thompson is home to North America's largest double-crested cormorant breeding colony, with some 14,500 breeding pairs and between 60,000 and 70,000 individuals.

But it was not always that way. The introduction of toxic insecticides during the early decades of the last century devastated cormorants' ability to reproduce, and by the 1970s, they were nearly extirpated in southern Ontario.

Their return in huge numbers to the Great Lakes region has been deeply controversial. Many commercial and sport anglers, as well as aquaculturists, maintain that cormorants' gluttonous appetites negatively impact fish populations.

They can also significantly change ecosystems. Cormorant excrement, or guano, is extremely acidic. Where they nest in large numbers, their guano can change the soil chemistry, ultimately killing the trees they call home.

"There's that aesthetic component that people don't appreciate when it comes to cormorants," Chreston said.

Some jurisdictions in Ontario and the U.S. use culls to keep cormorant populations in check. The illness currently spreading among juveniles in the Toronto area could be the ecosystem's way of doing just that.

"In a colony of this size, it is normal and natural for there to be illness and disease among some of the individuals in that population. It's nature's way of balancing a natural population," said Chreston.

In total, about 100 cases have been reported to the TWC and city, though it's likely there are more infected cormorants that have gone unreported by humans.

"That sounds like a lot, but when you're talking about 70,000 individuals that's actually a small proportion," she explained.

Newcastle disease presents a "minimal" risk to the public, according to the CFIA. Humans who handled infected birds can contract conjunctivitis, commonly called pink eye. It is usually found in some cormorants in Canada each year in late summer and fall, the CFIA says.

Stevenson, the wildlife pathologist, said it's a good thing  from a wildlife management perspective  that the culprit seems to be Newcastle disease.

"At least it would mean we're not dealing with something unknown that could affect cormorants and other birds or humans," he said.

If you're near the waterfront and happen to come across a cormorant displaying symptoms of illness, "leave it alone," said Chreston.

"I know it can be incredibly difficult to leave an animal that appears to be suffering. But this is nature, it's not human induced, as far we know. So this is a natural process."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland that the United States was committed to its close partnerships with both Canada and Saudi Arabia, his spokeswoman said on Thursday amid a diplomatic spat between the two U.S. allies. Pompeo was the highest-level U.S. official to weigh in publicly on the dispute between Ottawa and Riyadh, which have clashed over the arrest of activists in Saudi Arabia over the past month. The dispute started when Canada called for civil society activists to be freed from jail. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said earlier this month that Washington was urging the two countries to resolve the dispute with diplomacy and had raised the issue with the Saudis. Canada has said it would continue to press Saudi Arabia on human rights, and Saudi Arabia has frozen new trade with Canada, expelled Ottawa's ambassador and recalled its own ambassador. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June, although the two countries have traditionally been close allies. Trump has also sought tighter ties with Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Dan Grebler)
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A Labour government would aim to shake up Britain's media by levying a tax on big tech firms like Google and Facebook to help fund public interest journalism, party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Thursday. The tax would also help fund the introduction of a digital BBC license fee to supplement the current fee and reduce the cost for poorer households. Without major changes to Britain's media sector a "few tech giants and unaccountable billionaires will control huge swathes of our public space and debate," Corbyn told the Edinburgh TV Festival. He appealed for bold thinking to address what he called a public crisis of trust in media in the era of "fake news". "A digital license fee, supplementing the existing license fee, collected from tech giants and internet service providers, who extract huge wealth from our shared digital space, could allow a democratized and more plural BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) to compete far more effectively with the private multinational digital giants like Netflix, Amazon, Google and Facebook," he said. At the moment, the BBC is funded by an annual fee, currently 150.50 pounds ($192) which everyone watching or recording live TV programs has to pay. Last year it brought in around 3.7 billion pounds. Corbyn said better funding for the media would help to support public investigative journalism without the pressure of big business interests. His proposals come after France and Germany have pushed for U.S. technology giants to pay more tax in the European Union. But in July, EU lawmakers opted not to take a tough line on an EU copyright overhaul aimed at making tech giants share revenues with publishers, broadcasters and artists after a corporate lobbying drive. Corbyn has steered Britain's main opposition party to the left and he has had a difficult relationship with its mainstream print media, much of which leans toward the political right. (Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; editing by Stephen Addison)
By Stefano Bernabei, Elisa Anzolin and Valentina Za ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - People living under the Italian bridge that collapsed last week with the loss of 43 lives had known for years it was crumbling: pieces kept falling on their homes and cars. A month earlier, residents met officials in charge of maintaining the bridge in Genoa to find out what was being done. The 1.2km-long suspension bridge, part of a privately run motorway linking the port city with France, had been slowly eroding in the sea air for decades, requiring non-stop maintenance, but life had become intolerable for residents. Annoyed that noisy round-the-clock work was interrupting their sleep, they voiced their frustration to two officials from motorway operating company Autostrade per l'Italia, according to a recording of the July 18 meeting made public by Genoa council. No one, however, questioned the overall safety of the 51-year-old bridge, demonstrating a public trust in institutions that is common in northern Italy and has been shaken to the core by the disaster. Having lived for decades in the bridge's shadow, witness to continual maintenance works, the residents seemingly never thought it would collapse. Local politician Mauro Avvenente came closest to putting the big question at the meeting, asking, "Have you done an estimate of the remaining life of this bridge?" His query, lost among a barrage of questions, elicited no specific reply. After the disaster, in which dozens of cars and trucks plunged into a river bed along with thousands of tonnes of concrete, Avvenente said everyone knew the bridge was in bad shape, adding: "Every time I drove over it, I would accelerate." As long ago as the 1980s, according to pensioner Salvatore Lorefice, there was a form prepared for residents to claim compensation for damage to their cars from falling concrete. The apparent failure of all parties to think of closing the bridge or limiting traffic is now among aspects of the disaster under investigation by Genoa prosecutors. Asked if prosecutors suspected the motorway was considered too important to be closed as a precaution, investigator Paolo D'Ovidio said: "It could be a personal viewpoint, but it's not part of the terms of the investigation." Italy's new populist government, which has accused the previous administration of weak oversight of Autostrade, said the bridge's importance likely led its predecessor to consider closure or traffic restrictions as an extreme last step. The viaduct fed Genoa port, connected one side of the city to the other and was one of Autostrade's busiest toll roads. "It's likely its importance led the previous administration to consider the idea of closure, even partial, as a last resort only," the infrastructure ministry said in a statement to Reuters. Former infrastructure minister Graziano Delrio did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HEAVY CORROSION Local resident Giusy Moretti, a residents' committee coordinator and among those evacuated from their homes after the disaster, said she and other residents trusted Autostrade when it said it was working to ensure the bridge's safety. Did she ever think it might collapse? "Never, never," she said. "I heard this noise I will never forget, like really long thunder ... My daughter came out to me on the terrace and said, 'The bridge has collapsed!". And I said, "Which bridge?" At the July meeting, Autostrade maintenance executive Mauro Moretti explained to residents how the sea air had eaten away at the structure, considered an avant-garde work of engineering and the pride of Genoa when it went up in the 1960s. Moretti also spoke of a newly approved project to repair and strengthen the bridge, news that only appeared to deepen the gloom among residents weary of maintenance works. They did not press him on its condition, though some would later say that the bridge had shaken worryingly when trucks rumbled over it. What they did not know was that by the time of the meeting, corrosion had already consumed 10-20 percent of some of the steel rods that held up the bridge's road surface, according to a February engineering report seen by Reuters. The rods or stays suspended the roadway from a series of towering concrete pylons. In a peculiar feature of the design by late Italian engineer Riccardo Morandi, the rods were encased in concrete, making their deterioration detectable only by sophisticated scanning equipment. The corroded stays have emerged as a focus of investigations into the disaster, which unfolded in heavy rain. Grainy cellphone footage appears to show one set of stays rupturing, sending a 200-metre section of roadway into the valley below. In the report, prepared for the infrastructure ministry, experts briefly cited the corrosion in giving their blessing to Autostrade's plan to repair and bolster the viaduct. It gave no opinion on the overall safety of the bridge. Asked why ministry officials had not asked for the bridge to be closed or traffic restricted, the ministry said the level of corrosion had not warranted restrictions. Autostrade, part of the Milan-listed infrastructure group Atlantia , declined to comment. An earlier report, compiled last October for Autostrade by Milan's Politecnico university, also identified an "anomaly" in the way the corroded stays responded to vibrations caused by traffic, wind and other phenomena. The bridge carried a stream of heavy trucks hauling containers to and from Genoa's port. The university and Autostrade declined to release the confidential report, excerpts of which were leaked to Italian media. But Stefano Della Torre, head of the university department that produced it, confirmed the main finding and said this study alone was not enough to determine if the bridge was at risk of collapse. More work was needed, he said. "The fact that some of the stays were not working properly confirmed the opportunity of finally carrying out that work (to strengthen them). Further checks were necessary to understand how long one could take to do that," he added. The ministry and Autostrade declined to comment on this report. A TALE OF TWO BRIDGES Last year, another bridge of a similar age, also designed by Morandi, was found to be crumbling outside the town of Agrigento in Sicily. But here, an environmental group acting with the support of residents did not trust the state operator's assurances that the structure was safe. It took their concerns to local prosecutors, who opened an inquiry in March 2017. The group, Mareamico, said state operator Anas had assured them the Agrigento viaduct was not at risk of collapse despite concrete flaking off its pylons. It sent prosecutors a video of the decaying pylons. "The prosecutors opened an investigation and an hour later Anas closed the viaduct," said Claudio Lombardo, a representative for Mareamico in Agrigento. An Anas spokesman denied the inquiry had forced it to shut the bridge. In a statement at the time, it said it had long planned to begin major maintenance works. Within a few months, a branch of the viaduct was reopened to light traffic only. Agrigento's top prosecutor, Luigi Patronaggio, remembers things differently. "We intervened, on the hypothesis that there was a danger the bridge could collapse," he said. "We spoke with Anas, who sent their technicians who ascertained that the bridge was dangerous. On our suggestion therefore, Anas closed the bridge." In Genoa, investigating prosecutor D'Ovidio said no formal complaint had ever been lodged with the prosecutors' office demanding an inquiry into the state of the bridge. As Genoa prosecutors now investigate whether anyone is criminally liable for the disaster, Rome has announced a safety audit of infrastructure nationwide, with particular attention to other ageing Morandi bridges. Giancarlo Bilotti, professor of structural analysis at the University of Venice, said it would be tough to predict collapse in bridges that, like the Genoa one, were degraded but showed no obvious structural deformity. "What are you going to do? Close down all our highway bridges?" (Additional reporting by Ilaria Poleschi in Genoa and Milan and Alberto Sisto in Rome; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Giles Elgood)
FRIDAY, Aug. 24, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Surviving breast cancer is certainly its own reward, but a new study finds that many who do are saddled with thousands in out-of-pocket expenses for years.

On average, breast cancer survivors get hit with an extra $1,100 in yearly out-of-pocket cancer-driven costs, researchers found.

But interviews with 129 breast cancer survivors further revealed that the so-called "financial toxicity" of breast cancer is an especially burdensome problem for those who, following treatment, end up with a side effect known as lymphedema.

The condition is sometimes triggered by cancer surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and/or infection, and it is characterized by chronic inflammation due to the build-up of lymphatic fluid throughout the upper body.

For these patients, who make up 35 percent of the nation's 3.5 million breast cancer survivors, out-of-pocket expenses rocket up to roughly $2,300 per year.

"Even 10 years after breast cancer treatment, women who have lymphedema have over double the yearly health care costs compared with women who don't have lymphedema," said study author Lorraine Dean. She's an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Dean noted that the "higher costs for women with lymphedema is only partially due to costs for actual lymphedema-related needs," with more study needed to better understand why the condition drives up costs so dramatically.

But what's already clear, said Dean, is that "high costs leads those with lymphedema to not manage their lymphedema as well as they could, and even affects women who have insurance.

"[So] we need better policies to protect people from high costs, and that includes policies that offer more comprehensive insurance coverage for the aftereffects of cancer treatment," she said.

Dean and her colleagues noted that prior efforts to assess cancer-related costs either focused on patient expenses that occurred shortly after a diagnosis or those processed through insurance claims.

But to gain better insight into out-of-pocket expenses, the team studied a pool of cancer survivors in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On average, the women were 63 years old and 12 years past their initial cancer diagnosis, and all had insurance. Half of them had lymphedema.

For six months, the women noted any related expenses, including visits to health care providers, drugs and physical fitness costs. Those with lymphedema were asked to tally condition-specific costs, such as for compression garments or bandages.

The inability to perform daily tasks was also noted, quantified and tallied as a "productivity loss" in the final expense estimate, as were three months of paid receipts and patient estimates for three additional months of likely future expenses.

When all such expenses were added, breast cancer patients without lymphedema were found to pay an average of about $2,800 a year more than a decade after their diagnosis, compared with more than $3,300 among those with lymphedema.

The findings were published recently in the Journal of Supportive Care and Cancer.

Dean said those in financial straits could seek help from organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, LIVEstrong, CancerCare and the National Lymphedema Network.

"But most of the help that people can get ends closer to the time of diagnosis or treatment," she warned, "so while these programs help prevent people from having greater burden early on in their care, they may not be as helpful for women facing long-term costs.

"Rather than putting the burden on patients to navigate the high costs, we should be looking to make changes to keep costs lower," Dean added.

Sarah Hawley is an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. She agreed that while there is increasing awareness about the problem, "resources for patients are still limited," she said.

"I think this study supports the need for patient-focused tools and resources to help them prepare for the potential of long-term financial impact, and to support them having those discussions with providers throughout their cancer care," Hawley said.

Susan Brown, senior director for education and patient support with Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Dallas, agreed that "financial stress is a reality for many people living with breast cancer."

But she suggested that in addition to reaching out to organizations such as her own, patients seeking financial help should explore options with a wide range of caregiver contacts, including hospital discharge planners and patient service officers.

"A doctor, nurse or social worker may have information about financial resources," Brown said. "Most hospitals and treatment centers have financial counselors. They can help people understand the details of their insurance paperwork and give an estimate of the cost of the treatment."

More information

There's more on one resource for financial assistance at Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
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The editor-chief and the publisher, respectively, of two independent Mauritanian news websites were arrested on August 8, 2018, and held for a week on criminal defamation charges, according to news reports. They were released on bail August 15, according to the reports.

Judicial police on August 8 arrested Babacar Ndiaye, editor-in-chief of Cridem, according to his employer and other news reports. They arrested Mahmoudi Seybout, publisher of Taqadoum, later the same day, his employer and other news websites reported. A local newspaper, Al-Akhbar, quoted members of both journalists families as saying that they were not allowed to visit the journalists.

According to Taqadoum and Al-Akhbar, the arrests came after Paris-based lawyer Jemal Taleb filed a criminal defamation complaint against both journalists. The Mauritanian news website Initiatives News reported that Taqadoum had initially posted an article about Talebs alleged ties to the Mauritanian government, which was then summarized by the Francophone Africa-focused news website Mondafrique. Cridem then republished the Mondafrique article, according to Initiative News.

CPJ could not locate the article on either Cridem or Taqadoums website. Cridem on August 9 published on its website an apology to Taleb for defaming him in an article, but did not link to the article or elaborate on its contents.

In an emailed response to CPJ on August 14, Taleb confirmed that he had filed a complaint against Cridem and Taqadoum without specifying whether he had named either journalist in the proceeding.

CPJ could not reach either journalist by phone. Taqadoum Editor-in-Chief Choaib Haj told CPJ on August 23 via WhatsApp that Seybout was negotiating to resolve the case, but did not give further information. Cridem did not respond to CPJs emailed request for information.

CPJs email query to the Mauritanian National Army, under which the Mauritanian Gendarmerie governs the local police, went unanswered. CPJ was unable to contact the national police because the email function on their website did not work and no address was provided.
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Bogota, Colombia, August 24, 2018The Nicaraguan government has launched a campaign of harassment against the independent TV station Channel 10, which has criticized President Daniel Ortega for ordering deadly attacks on anti-government protesters over the past four months, according to news reports.

On Wednesday, the governments Financial Analysis Unit said in a vaguely worded communique that it is investigating Channel 10 general manager Carlos Pastora for alleged money laundering. It provided no details.

Pastora, who has dual Nicaraguan-Honduran citizenship and also manages TV stations in Honduras and El Salvador, tried to leave the country this week but was turned back by immigration officials at the Managua airport. He then took refuge at the Honduran Embassy in Managua, according to news reports.

In addition, the news director of a rival, pro-government TV station controlled by the family of Ortega arrived at Channel 10 on August 20 and tried to commandeer its news operations. He falsely claimed that he was acting on Pastoras instructions before he was expelled from the building, according to Channel 10 news director Mauricio Madrigal.

The campaign against Channel 10 marks an escalation in Daniel Ortegas ongoing attacks on independent media, by using government institutions to crack down on critical journalists, CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said from New York. The government of Daniel Ortega must halt this campaign of intimidation and allow journalists to do their jobs of holding the administration to account.

Madrigal told CPJ that the crackdown on the station is an effort by the Ortega government to damage the reputation of Pastora and pressure him into adopting a pro-government editorial position on Channel 10s main news programs. They want to take over our news operations. But we are going to continue with independent coverage, Madrigal told CPJ in a telephone interview.

He added that Pastora remains holed up in the Honduran Embassy in Managua. In a letter to Hondurass National Human Rights Commission that was published Thursday by the Nicaraguan media, Pastora asked for immediate help, saying that he feared for the safety of himself and his family. We could be assassinated, he wrote.

Calls by CPJ to the office of Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is Ortegas wife and handles government press inquiries, were not answered.

Under Ortega, who returned to power in 2007 after leading the Marxist Sandinista government in the 1980s, most Nicaraguan news organizations supported the government or provided relatively benign coverage of Ortegas increasingly authoritarian regime. But since anti-government protests broke out in April, Canal 10 has joined a small but growing number of Nicaraguan news outlets that have taken a more aggressive stance, according to CPJ research.

Channel 10, which is owned by Mexican media mogul Remigio Angel Gonzalez, is the only open-signal station in Nicaragua with news programs critical of the government, Madrigal told CPJ. It has provided constant coverage of the protests and of the governments violent crackdown on the demonstrations which have killed more than 300 people, including one journalist, according to the Organization of American States.
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Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458350

08-24-2018 01:40 AM











Post: #1 Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

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I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. 'South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers,' Trump tweeted.



The South African government this week has reportedly moved to seize two farms from owners who refused to accept the government-set compensation, triggering panic among landlords and investors.



https://www.rt.com/usa/436626-trump-sout...d-seizure/ US President Donald Trump has expressed concern over the fate of white farmers in South Africa, where the extremely controversial land redistribution reform might leave owners without their properties or any compensation.I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. 'South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers,' Trump tweeted.The South African government this week has reportedly moved to seize two farms from owners who refused to accept the government-set compensation, triggering panic among landlords and investors. GrimShaw

Asinus Asinum Fricat

User ID: 447734

08-24-2018 01:41 AM



Posts: 32,516









Post: #2 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

What? Oh. Politicizing for the midterms. Demagoguery. Got it. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 290096

08-24-2018 01:48 AM











Post: #3 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

we bombed iraq to free a bunch of ungrateful d*cks in kuwait..... just sayin LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458289

08-24-2018 01:57 AM











Post: #4 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

war criminal propaganda drivel...blackwater/academi/xi have been delivering groceries for awhile now....strange how prince named his company after the commie chief isn't it LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 424701

08-24-2018 02:20 AM











Post: #5 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

Can you image being white and being surrounded by Zulu's that want to make a Tarzan movie out of you.



Give the Dutch all safe passage to America and reimburse them with their land values. Will get the money back from Africa one way or another.



PS The African people will now starve and there will be another humanitarian crisis. Same ole same ole. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 441947

08-24-2018 02:22 AM











Post: #6 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

Yes, yes. Lets look at Africas land rights while Sessions takes away the land of Americans. Yes. Thats good. Good job, guys. Were on track and paying attention. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458289

08-24-2018 02:25 AM











Post: #7 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

LoP Guest Wrote: (08-24-2018 02:22 AM) Yes, yes. Lets look at Africas land rights while Sessions takes away the land of Americans. Yes. Thats good. Good job, guys. Were on track and paying attention.

It was us dnc filth that told the and what to do...exact same ideology and plan...so now we see another liberal filth spawned genocide... It was us dnc filth that told the and what to do...exact same ideology and plan...so now we see another liberal filth spawned genocide... Spiddy

Registered User

User ID: 233998

08-24-2018 02:27 AM



Posts: 18,674









Post: #8 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

Is this the same Trump who pays wh*res money to not tell his wife he shagged them?

Gee, he has moral authority on many issues I'm sure.

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.





H.L. Mencken 1920. (This post was last modified: 08-24-2018 02:28 AM by Spiddy .) Spiddy

Registered User

User ID: 233998

08-24-2018 02:30 AM



Posts: 18,674









Post: #9 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

LoP Guest Wrote: (08-24-2018 02:25 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (08-24-2018 02:22 AM) Yes, yes. Lets look at Africas land rights while Sessions takes away the land of Americans. Yes. Thats good. Good job, guys. Were on track and paying attention.

It was us dnc filth that told the and what to do...exact same ideology and plan...so now we see another liberal filth spawned genocide...

Y'know murders of white farmers are at a twenty year low?

Hey! If only your president didn't hate f*ckin' immigrants you could offer those African f*ckers a place to live.

Shame that. Y'know murders of white farmers are at a twenty year low?Hey! If only your president didn't hate f*ckin' immigrants you could offer those African f*ckers a place to live.Shame that.

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.





H.L. Mencken 1920. beans

lop guest

User ID: 397554

08-24-2018 02:38 AM











Post: #10 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

Spiddy Wrote: (08-24-2018 02:30 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (08-24-2018 02:25 AM) It was us dnc filth that told the and what to do...exact same ideology and plan...so now we see another liberal filth spawned genocide...

Y'know murders of white farmers are at a twenty year low?

Hey! If only your president didn't hate f*ckin' immigrants you could offer those African f*ckers a place to live.

Shame that.

Didn't most of the white folks there come from Britain and Netherlands...



Just what I'm reading... So if true...



Why not let them back in to your country(s)?



Why here? Didn't most of the white folks there come from Britain and Netherlands...Just what I'm reading... So if true...Why not let them back in to your country(s)?Why here? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 315777

08-24-2018 02:38 AM











Post: #11 RE: Trump orders Pompeo to closely study South Africas land expropriation

Is their Kagame still running the bunnies towards the port in Libya?
















The 5G steering committee chaired by Stanford Universitys Professor Emeritus AJ Paulraj submitted its recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). It gave wide-ranging recommendations to drive Indias 5G adoption entailing areas like spectrum policy, regulatory policy, standards and education.

Contents Background

Recommendations

5G

Background

The committee was set up by Government in September 2017 to suggest a road map for adoption of 5G. It was high-level forum on 5G technology, comprising secretaries of ministries of communications, information technology, and science & technology, along with representatives of industry and academia. Its aim was to push participation in the process of defining global standards for the next generation of wireless technology.

Recommendations

AJ Paulraj committee gave has proposed promulgation of key norms on regulatory matters by March 2019 in order to facilitate early deployment of 5G technology. It expects commercial rollout of 5G in India by 2020. It noted that 5G technologies will start entering service globally beginning 2019 and advance to full range of services by 2024.

It recommended that deployment of 5G in India should be classified into three phases based on technologies and use cases. By early embracing 5G technology, India can accelerate its dividends and potentially also become innovator in 5G applications. It expects that economic impact of 5G to be over $1 trillion.

The committee noted that vendor ecosystem for 5G is maturing as telecom tech giants like Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE have production ready equipment in trials based on 5G-NR standard. China Telecom is doing a pilot deployment in six cities ahead of the full 5G commercial launch in 2020.

The committee also pointed out conflicting considerations faced by early adoption of 5G. The early adoption will likely make equipment needed for 5G roll out more expensive and it will also be glitchy as needed for cost maturing. However, early adoption will fast track Indias embrace of 5Gs benefits and increase opportunities to develop innovative use cases that support Indian needs.

The committee also noted that even after entry of 5G into Indian telecom sector, the earlier generation mobile technologies  2G, 3G and 4G, will continue to remain in use and it may take 10 or more years to phase out

5G

5G is wireless communication technology based on third-generation partnership project (3GPP). It is next generation mobile networks technology after 4G LTE networks. It is expected to offer enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) through R15 repeaters that can cater to coverage requirements.

The 5G wireless technology will offer far greater upload and download speed i.e. 100 times faster internet data speed than current 4G networks. It has potential to demonstrates spectral efficiency and potential for diversified services such as Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR).

In December 2017, 3GPP had completed first set of 5G New Radio standards. High data speed offered by 5G network will help cloud systems to stream software updates, music, and navigation data to driverless cars. Moreover, it holds the key to growth of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and enhance IoT.
The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition was observed across world every year on 23 August. The day designated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade.

Observance of this day marks anniversary of 1791 insurrection of enslaved men and women in western part of island of Santo Domingo, which is now known as Haiti. These men and women torn from Africa and sold into slavery had revolted against the slave system. This Haitian Revolution had led to their freedom and independence in 1804. This Haitian Revolution had led to their freedom and independence in 1804. This uprising was turning point in human history.

Background

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition was proclaimed by UNESCO Executive Board by adopting resolution 29 C/40 by its General Conference at its 29th session. The Day was first celebrated in number of countries, particularly in Haiti on in 1998 and in Senegal in 1999.
Sri Lanka: 5th International Conference on Fisheries and Aquaculture on 23-24 August 2018

August 24,2018 | Source: Daily FT

The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM) (www.tiikm.com) is an entity that facilitates the purpose of knowledge transfer by constructing the career of the research fraternity, empowering decision making in the corporate sector and promoting on quality decisions for policy makers through academic conferences. A vision of transforming the Asian research culture to betterment is made possible in TIIKM Conferences by setting novel standards for better people engagement, promoting international exchange through research and bridging study to industry.



The 5th International Conference on Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 (https://aquaconference.com/) will be held on 23 and 24 August at Hotel Taj Samudra Colombo, Sri Lanka under the theme Facing the Global Fisheries and Aquaculture Challenges. ICFA 2018 is a great platform for academics, practitioners, industry experts, policy makers and researchers.



The Conference is organised by the International Institute of Knowledge Management with the support of Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, Sri Lanka; while Uva Wellassa University Sri Lanka and Muhammadiyah University of Malang, Indonesia will be the co-hosting partners in collaboration with Curtin University, Australia, Bangladesh Agricultural University and TraVinh University, Vietnam as the Academic partners of ICFA 2018. Also National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA), Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) and AquaExindia 2018 will be the Strategic partners of ICFA 2018.



The keynote forum will be presented by Dr. Albert G.J. Tacon  Technical Director, Aquatic Farms Ltd., United States. While Professor S.C. Jayamanne, Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka will be the Scientific and program chair. The Guest Speaker will be Dr. Rohana Subasinghe, Honorary Life Member of the World Aquaculture Society, President Elect of the World Aquaculture Society Asia Pacific Chapter (WAS-APC). ICFA 2018 is believed to create an international intellectual gathering to develop the Fisheries and Aquaculture with advanced and solid techniques applicable for a sustainable future.



The Conference will have many areas that will enhance your knowledge in the form of networking sessions, key discussion sessions, workshop on aquafeed industry in Sri Lanka, shrimp industry dialog networking dinner with a cultural show and many more. You can participate in the conference as an attendee designed for the academics, students, practitioners, policy makers, researchers and industry professionals.



The main objective of the Conferences organised by TIIKM is to create a platform that is of significant importance for researchers and practitioners in relation to the respective subject to present their researches and expertise with the view of constructing a future nurtured with useful knowledge leading towards the emergence of solutions to global issues. For more information on participation, please contact Aadhavan on aadhavan@tiikm.com and 0755408371.
Manipur: Save northeast wetlands for human well being

by Dr Debapriya Mukherjee

Maintaining healthy ecosystems is cost effective whereas restoration of contaminated ecosystems is cost prohibitive. To what extent do concerned authorities in India have high values and regards for the environment, especially wetlands considering its value in human life? Are they doing it right? The wetlands are the most productive ecosystem in the world that provides food, agricultural production, usheries, water quality maintenance and recreation and also one of the key life support systems on Earth, acting to purify water, control uoods, replenish groundwater and recycle nutrients. All these beneuts or services that wetland ecosystems provide are essential for people's livelihoods  particularly in developing countries like India.



Despite these benefits, wetlands are consistently being destroyed, devastated, contaminated and converted to other land uses at a rate more rapid than any other ecosystem. In this context, it is pertinent to mention that ecosystem services provided by the wetlands are not being fully captured in commercial markets and as a result not adequately valued during development decisions in India. India has about 757.06 thousand wetlands with a total wetland area of 15.3 m ha, accounting for nearly 4.7% of the total geographical area of the country . Out of this, area under inland wetlands accounts for 69%, coastal wetlands 27%, and other wetlands (smaller than 2.25 ha) 4%.



Among them, 26 sites have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 689,131 hectares covering the many states in India. The Northeast covering seven states has a vast network (7731 medium to large and 11736 small) of wetlands constituted by ponds, marshes, rivers, lake, water-logged area, ox-bow lakes and reservoirs covering an area of 1.66 million hectares that is around 4.17% of total geographical area of NE. All these wetlands are distributed among the seven states ( Assam- 3513 including Deepar beel, Island Majuli and others; Arunachal Pradesh -43; Nagaland-267 including Doyang lake, chte reservoir; Manipur-167 including Loktak lake, Mizoram -88, Tripura-432 including Kuda sagar, Gomti reservoir, Sipahijala reservoir and others, Meghalaya- 135 including Barapani lake, Sikkim-160 wetlands greater than 2.25 ha including Gurudokmar Tso and Lashar Marsh Land ).



The NE forms a complex geomorphology with vast flood plains, valleys, hills and ridges of varying elevations and shares a common migration route for many of the avifauna that flies over Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The rural landscape of the state is endowed with wetlands of various types identifiable on the basis of their micro-geomorphic characteristics and associated human response and perception. The pattern of their utility also varies according to the social background, tradition and economic condition of the people around the rural lives in NE are intrinsically linked mainly with the subsistence mode of farming, livestock rearing and traditional fishing closely connected with the wetlands. However, with the modernization of society, particularly during the last few decades, the traditional use of wetlands has experienced remarkable changes.



The overexploitation of wetland resources, irrational mode of fishing, invasion by weeds, siltation, proliferation of invasive species, change of land use patterns and developmental activities and pollution caused have posed serious threats to the wetland ecosystems leading to partial or complete loss of the wetland habitats. Many birds and other species are reported to be absented themselves from these areas due to loss, fragmentation and degradation of their habitat. Our study clearly reveled that increment of pollutant load in wetlands far exceed their capacity to retain pollutants and remove them through nitriucation, sedimentation, adsorption, and uptake by aquatic plants.



This adversely affects the wetland water quality; contamination of vegetables and crops; the cradles of biodiversity and key constituents of our environment. In addition, the continued poverty among the villagers, their ignorance and indifferent attitude towards the wetlands and unsustainable ownership pattern have also adversely affected the wetland ecosystems. Moreover, lack of proper attention to the rural situations; defective development policy instruments particularly those based on macro-regional considerations; social inequalities and poor planning amplifying the environmental pressures of economic expansion and profit-maximization approaches by the exponential growth of real-estate markets have significantly impaired the wetlands. The concerned authorities do not realize the importance of holistically analysing the complex eco-social systems of these wetland as per the guidelines of Ramsar convention and role of the local community who gained it as Ramsar site to explore the different strands of urban ecology ecosystem.



The continued spree of loss and degradation of these wetlands in different parts of the NE has over a period of time brought the ever-deepening ecological crisis to the fore. The status of three wetlands in the northeast  Deepor Beel in Assam, Loktak Lake in Manipur and Rudrasagar Lake in Tripura- recognized as Ramsar sites is the clear evident of poor environment governance as discussed below .



Deepor Beel



The Deepor Beel wetland area of 4000 ha housing 219 species of birds including more than 70 migratory species; and wild asian elephants, leopard, jungle cat and the protected barking deer, Chinese porcupine and sambar and providing natural resources for the livelihood of 14 indigenous villages has reduced to 405 ha due to continuous encroachment and waste dumping. In January 2006, nine storks were found dead due to severe environmental pollution originating from domestic and industrial sources. Construction of a broad gauge railway line has badly blocked the centuries-old elephant corridor.



Loktak Lake



Loktak Lake in Manipur is well known for the phumdis (heterogeneous mass of vegetation) floating over it and the Keibul Lamjao National Park located on this phumdi is the only floating national park in the world, and home to the endangered Sangai and Manipur brown-antlered deer. The lake's rich biological diversity comprises 233 species of aquatic macrophytes of emergent, sub-emergent, free-floating and rooted floating leaf types and 57 species of water bird. Development activities such as hydropower generation, irrigation and drinking water supply for economic expansion are the major stress factors and cause rapid conversion to other uses and their function in a wider economic sense.



Rudrasagar Lake



Rudrasagar Lake, a unique natural sedimentation reservoir, receives water from three perennial streams and removes the sediment from the water and discharges into the river Gumati through a connective channel  Kachigang. Among the rarer species recorded are the endangared Baer's Pochard and near-threatened Ferruginous Duck. Uncontrolled Growth of invasive aquatic weeds like water hyacinth has created anoxic conditions in the lake, thus raising toxicity and disease levels leading to loss of aquatic biodiversity mainly due to dumping of garbage, deposition of solid waste and storage of construction materials along the shoreline . In addition to these, large-scale use of pesticides and fertilizers in the area adjacent to the lake is posing threat to the unique lake ecosystem.



In view of the existing status of these three important wetland, it is pertinent to mention that wetland authority responsible for boundary demarcation, wetland character detection, pollution measures, awareness programs, and biodiversity conservation in accordance with Ramsar convention has miserably failed to protect continuously shrinking of the wetland. Based on Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 issued by the Government of India (under the Environment protection Act, 1986), the concerned authorities have identiued several major threats to the wetland but they have failed to strengthen urban wetland governance to prevent ecological transformation and loss of wetland. In developing countries, wetlands are still considered as wasteland due to the unconsciousness of the people about wetland potentials and deuciency of the techniques of wetland uses.



Technically in addition to Wetland Authority for conservation and management , the wetland comes under several legal institutions including the Municipal Corporation, Public health authority, Forest department, the Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation that is concerned with urban development, the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) that is concerned with cleanliness of environment, and Department of Fisheries of respective states. Strategically Wetland Authority framed cross-sectoral policy integration , conservation , community participation etc but another authority- Munical Corporation in all the states with the political support of the Ministry of Urban Development and financial support of state, central and corporate can supersede the decision taken by Wetlands Authority. Thereby Wetland Authority is not in position in policy advocacy in other sectors.



In meetings, top level officers strongly advocate the necessity of these developmental activities for public interest and also assure to create eco-park, water park, tourist hut, attractive commercial shopping mall for the tourist etc without addressing optimization of ecosystem service delivery, development of sustainable urban and wetland management, "wise use " of wetland, community participation to guarantee social equity in environmental governance. Then what "public interest" and for whom! Practically this "public interest" is meant for the corporate who are interested only to develop infrastructure by reducing the wetland thereby depriving the local community in expectation of their livelihood and threatening the ecosystem services delivery. If shrinkage and contamination is going on due to poor environment governance, ecosystem services will be severely hampered due to declining crop and fish yield and high land price.



Declining the profitability will open the door to capture the wetlands for real-estate market and urban development in name of public interest. Recently the Ramsar Convention has undergone signiucant conceptual transformations to adopt the principles of 'wise use' for wetland conservation; wetland restoration and creation; understanding the value of wetlands; community participation and integrated planning. The "wise use" based on these practical guidelines have a crucial and positive impact on wetland management theory and practice. In this view it is pertinent to mention that in NE, wetland degradation and loss of wetlands through rapid conversion is one of the emerging challenges against sustaining such worthy environmental capital having plenty of goods and services.



Many researchers all over world strongly advocate the uniqueness and opportunities of the wetland ecosystem by calculating its economic value adding to the economy of the local community and demonstrate its potential of biodiversity particularly avifauna and other animals and ecosystem services. The wastewater if discharged in controlled way can be used as nutrient source for pisciculture and agriculture by the local communities. These wetlands can play, if protected by the concerned authorities, a strategic role in the process of economic development of a country particularly in NE. It has already made a significant contribution to the economic prosperity of advanced countries and its role in the economic development of less developed countries is of vital importance.



The central government, in place of giving thought to the economic expansion without addressing the environment and society, must encourage the state governments to tackle it where these valuable ecosystem is in the verge of disappearing. Then these wetlands will be a unique example of sustainable socio-economic development pertaining to resource recovery wetlands in the present scenario of economic recession and pollution problems. Now the protection of cultural values and community use of wetlands as well as conservation and restoration of wetland are the emergent needs. According to Ramsar Convention, the policy integration and integrated planning by institutional arrangement must be encouraged. In addition to these arrangement, local community and NGO who are trying their best to protect the degradation of ecological features in an urbanized landscape, must be included with formal institutions for technical support that would be a key strategy in urban wetlands governance.

 1999-2016 E-Pao!
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Even as the brouhaha over the Saudi-Canada diplomatic spat plays out, Saudi Arabias public prosecutor is vigorously pursuing the death penalty for 29-year-old human rights activist Israa al-Ghomgham, along with four others. This unprecedented development, which may lead Israa to become the first woman activist to be beheaded, has enraged international human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.





Israa is charged with a non-violent crime  of protesting against the government and engaging in political activism by rendering moral support to rioters. As all five are under trial in a secret terrorism court for peaceful activism, rights groups have organised protests across the world, including outside the Saudi Embassy in London, and called upon the international community to pressure Saudi Arabia to not only call off their execution, but also put an end to death penalty.





The charges appear to be politically motivated and unfair. Putting these young activists under the counter-terrorism court is an act of sheer folly, which not only endangers the life of dissenting voices in the country, but also raises questions about the credibility of institutions such as counter-terrorism courts, along with delegitimising the debate on national security.









RELATED: Female activist in Saudi Arabia faces death penalty These recent developments come in the backdrop of the Saudi-Canada row over the arbitrary arrest of two women human rights activists, Nassima al-Sadah and Samar Badawi, in August this year.





Significantly, on August 2, in a feminist foreign policy posture, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in a tweet called for the release of the activists. Samar is the sister of Raif Badawi, another human rights activist and blogger who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2012, received 1,000 lashes in 2015, and was slapped with a monetary penalty of USD 266,000 for violating Islamic values and propagating liberal thought.





He was arrested for being critical of the Saudi governments illiberal practices, as his criticism was seen as a breach of Islamic values.





This kind of synonymy, where criticism of the government is tantamount to denigration of the religion, is dangerous statecraft.





Following Freelands tweet, the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department sent another tweet, urging Saudi Arabia to immediately release the two women, as well as the other activists who have been incarcerated on similar charges.





This sent ripples into the Kingdom, and it responded quickly . In an act profoundly inimical to diplomacy, it recalled its Ambassador to Canada, and at the same time restricted the Canadian envoy from returning. Alleging interference in domestic affairs and calling the tweet from the Embassy a break with diplomatic norms and protocol, the Kingdom imposed a ban on new trade between the two countries and suspended direct Saudi flights to Canada.





As diplomatic ties between the two countries face a serious setback, it is important to note that the recent concern expressed by the Canadian government on human rights issues in the Kingdom has a precedent.





In fact, the Trudeau government, soon after assuming power, pressurised the Saudis to release Raif Badawi in private meetings between then Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir. One such meeting was held on December 17, 2015, when Dion pursued the Saudis to grant clemency to Badawi, and discussed at length the state of human rights in the Kingdom.





While the 2015 meeting was held backdoors, the 2018 criticism on social media is being seen as public shaming of the Kingdom, which led to the diplomatic fiasco.





However, Freelands decision to bring the issue in the public domain appears to be a result of diplomatic frustration over the failure of three years of backchannel diplomacy to secure freedom for Raif Badawi. Moreover, the Saudis continued with the practice of silencing liberal-dissenting voices within, resulting in the most recent arrest of Samar and al-Saddah.





Furthermore, a contextualisation of the recent developments in the larger debate on womens rights makes it clear that the facade of reform  which the Kingdom has been propagating under the leadership of Mohammad bin Salman  is falling apart.





Ripping through this smokescreen of reform propaganda, Freelands critique of the oppressive measures undertaken by the Saudi leadership is both timely and much needed for any kind of genuine reform  from within  to take place. Previously, in May this year, 10 women rights activists were labelled traitors and arrested for undermining Saudi Arabias national security and destroying social cohesion.





While diplomacy will take its own course to restore ties between the two countries and revive the robust two-way trade as well as the multibillion-dollar military ties, what is of concern is the subject of womens rights in an aggressively repressive national security discourse, which finds dissenting female voices more threatening than the misadventures in regional wars  more specifically, the war in neighbouring Yemen, which has been dubbed the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history of war.





Amid the diplomatic row, the European Union joined the liberal bandwagon, asking Saudi Arabia to shed light on the arrest of women rights activists and for the detainees to be granted due process to defend themselves. However, Saudi Arabia paid no heed to this. The plank of liberalism that MBS had boarded in pursuing its reform agenda is, thus, without moral legitimacy, as it lacks the primary principle of justice.





In this backdrop of intensified crackdown on liberal voices in the country, there clearly emerges a war of ideas  where the Kingdoms formidable claim of being the guardian of the Islamic faith faces challenge from alternative progressive voices from within, prominently the female voices that continue to struggle against the male guardianship system practised in the country. As the concept of guardianship  both of faith and the female counterpart  strengthens in the Kingdom along with the regional battles for hegemony, are the promised reforms" just a chimera?













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Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!












Mumbai: Amid the political slugfest and war of words between Left-ruled Kerala and BJP-led government at the Centre over the acceptance of financial aid from the United Arab Emirates, the gulf country clarified that it has not fixed any specific amount for flood-ravaged Kerala.

The UAEs Ambassador to India, Ahmed Albanna, said that there has been no official announcement so far by the UAE on any specific amount as financial aid.

He reiterated what his country announced a week ago, that it has formed a committee to ensure the funds reach the right beneficiaries in Kerala.

"No official announcement on the amount has been made by the UAE government yet. We have set up a national committee which is assessing relief needed for the flood and aftermath, reports quoted Albanna saying.

The UAEs ambassador to India added that the committee will work with the Ministry of External Affairs in India and the embassy to ensure the funds reach the needy.

When The Indian Express asked Albanna if he meant that the UAE had not announced Rs 700 crore in aid, the ambassador said: Yes, that is correct. It is not yet final. It has not been announced.

On August 18, UAE's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted that his country had formed a committee to explore ways for helping Kerala.

Also Read: We and Indian community will unite to help those affected in Kerala: UAE

An estimated three million Indians live and work in the UAE, of whom 80 per cent are from Kerala.

On August 21, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted that the UAE will "provide Kerala an assistance of Rs 700 crore. Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support."

The Centre however, has maintained that it has not received any official request from the UAE to donate towards rebuilding flood-ravaged Kerala.

Albanna said, All that has happened is that UAEs Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has formed a national emergency committee. The main goal was to look into sourcing out funds, aid material, medicines and other things for our friendly people and friends in Kerala, who have been hit by the unfortunate flood.

The committee is coordinating with the federal authorities, since we know and understand the financial aid rules in India. And, it is also coordinating with the local authorities for immediate aid in terms of relief and food material, he said. We are working through the organisations like Red Crescent in UAE, and organisations in the state of Kerala as well as others based in India, the UAEs ambassador to India told The Indian Express.

The Kerala government has been criticising the Narendra Modi-government over what it alleges is the Centre not bringing clarity to the grounds on which the state can qualify to receive financial relief from foreign governments.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac as well as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cited an entry in the National Disaster Management Plan, published in 2016, that allows the Centre to accept assistance offered by a foreign government.

"As a matter of policy, the Government of India does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster. However, if the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the Central Government may accept the offer," says a section in the National Disaster Management Plan published in 2016.

Former Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to bring suitable modifications to rules which prevent India from accepting the UAE aid offer.
Shoppers look at fruits at the Central Group Vietnam's Big C supermarket in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Thailands largest retailer Central Group says it plans to invest $500 million to expand its operations in Vietnam.

We have already invested $1.5 billion in Vietnam since 2012 and plan to invest another $500 million in the next five years, Philippe Broianigo, CEO of Central Group Vietnam and supermarket chain Big C Vietnam was quoted as saying by Thai newspaper The Nation.

Central Group wants to triple the number of its stores to 750.

One of the main reasons for the expansion is the rapid growth in Vietnams middle class, which now accounts for 13 percent and is expected to rise to 36 percent by 2026.

"Vietnam's market potential is much bigger than Thailands," the Nikkei Asian Review quoted Broianigo as saying.

He said his company would focus on developing non-food items.

"We are very strong in Vietnam in the food business, which is the primary need of consumers, but we are also preparing for the future, for the needs the consumers are going to have after food."

He said he is happy to have entered the country in the early stages since there might be greater competition from local players in the near future.

Since coming to the country in 2011, Central Group Vietnam has bought out electronics retailer Nguyen Kim and Big C.

With 17,000 employees and over 175,000 customers a day, its sales have been growing in double digits, reaching $1.3 billion last year.
Euro Auto provided fake documents for 133 BMW cars imported to Vietnam in December 2016. Photo by Reuters

Vietnams Finance Ministry has accused the sole importer of BMW cars of several violations, but wont press criminal charges.

The trader, Euro Auto, which was Vietnams sole official distributor of BMW cars until this year, created fake invoices and packing lists for 133 BMW cars in December 2016, the ministry said in a letter recently sent to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

It plans to fine the firm VND40-80 million ($1,700-3,400) for this fraud.

Euro Auto did not list or listed incorrectly VND105 million ($4,500) in expenses incurred in importing the cars, which resulted in a tax loss of about VND180 million ($7,700), the ministry said.

It said it plans to fine Euro Auto 20 percent of the tax loss, apart from collecting the back taxes.

The ministry will allow the cars, which are at the Vietnam International Container Terminal port in HCMC, to be returned to Germany, if it requests. It will also refund taxes paid if the cars are returned.

If Euro Auto still wants to import these cars into Vietnam, the PM should take a final decision on this issue because current laws don't deal with such a situation, the ministry said.

It also said it plans to fine Euro Auto chairman Simon Adrew Rock for evading special consumption tax.

From July 2016 to March 2017, Euro Auto evaded VND7.3 billion ($312,700) in taxes by listing wrong information about its imports.

Although the HCMC Tax Department issued a warning and fined the firm in September 2016, it persisted with the practice.

The company even produced fake invoices to legalize the purchase of auto parts for the BMW cars from the open market instead of authorized agencies.

The letter noted that PM Phuc had decided not to criminally punish Simon Adrew Rock and other individuals involved in tax evasion in the spirit of maintaining good relations between Vietnam and Germany, Malaysia and the U.K., where these cars have been imported.

In late November 2016, the Ministry of Finance ordered customs agencies to suspend clearance procedures for imported BMW cars in order to investigate alleged violations by Euro Auto.

Ministry officials found that the importer had falsified purchase contracts and receipts while importing the cars and failed to provide certificates of origin and other required documents.

Euro Auto rejected these allegations.

In April last year, HCMC police arrested Euro Auto CEO Nguyen Dang Thao and two delivery employees for faking import documents.
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Page: 1 2 Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458529

08-24-2018 09:13 PM











Post: #1 Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Advertisement



Police Flag 'Thin Blue Line'

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1269/3...1513153701



...Looks and sounds like a Desecration. It has the Stars and Stripes in different colours and even has its own name...Police Flag 'Thin Blue Line'...Looks and sounds like a Desecration. Hamburgerwagon

lop guest

User ID: 238494

08-24-2018 10:12 PM











Post: #2 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

I have wondered that myself. I didnt think you are supposed to modify the flag in anyway, but we see it all the time now.



Hell, I got banned for wiping my kids nose on a flag. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458537

08-24-2018 10:40 PM











Post: #3 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

The flags have been around in us and UK dice 1993, the term thin red line refers to the British army and then adapted to thin blue line to refer to the US military due to their uniform colour, so getting offended by a flag that's been around since 93 seems silly... Lucky we don't have any flag laws here in the UK.. it looks an interesting flag and if not for the op I'd never have known it existed. Danger Dan

dangerous freedom not safe slavery

User ID: 446966

08-24-2018 10:42 PM



Posts: 5,381









Post: #4 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

ya know - if you're allowed to burn it

you can sure as hell put a blue line on it. Luvapottamus

Registered User

User ID: 372884

08-24-2018 10:46 PM



Posts: 33,550









Post: #5 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?









So how exactly are cops dishonoring it? The United States Flag is an homage to the British East India Company Flag.So how exactly are cops dishonoring it? Hamburgerwagon

lop guest

User ID: 238494

08-24-2018 10:47 PM











Post: #6 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Luvapottamus Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:46 PM) The United States Flag is an homage to the British East India Company Flag.







So how exactly are cops dishonoring it?

He is talking about this flag.



He is talking about this flag. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458537

08-24-2018 10:51 PM











Post: #7 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Hamburgerwagon Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:47 PM) Luvapottamus Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:46 PM) The United States Flag is an homage to the British East India Company Flag.



link to image: http://www.rumormillnews.com/pix4/USFLAG..._INDIA.gif



So how exactly are cops dishonoring it?

He is talking about this flag.



link to image: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/...L1024_.jpg

Would the 90s not have been the time to complain? Just curious as it seems we live in an age where people actively hunt out things to be offended about... Would the 90s not have been the time to complain? Just curious as it seems we live in an age where people actively hunt out things to be offended about... Luvapottamus

Registered User

User ID: 372884

08-24-2018 10:51 PM



Posts: 33,550









Post: #8 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Hamburgerwagon Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:47 PM) Luvapottamus Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:46 PM) The United States Flag is an homage to the British East India Company Flag.







So how exactly are cops dishonoring it?

He is talking about this flag.





Not worse than this flag:











http://www.rareflags.com/RareFlags_Showc..._00195.htm Not worse than this flag: Hamburgerwagon

lop guest

User ID: 238494

08-24-2018 10:52 PM











Post: #9 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

The OP raises a curious question, but my official verdict is: I dont really care that much to argue about it one way or another, but I think it is officially against the flag rules code or whatever. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458537

08-24-2018 10:55 PM











Post: #10 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Hamburgerwagon Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:52 PM) The OP raises a curious question, but my official verdict is: I dont really care that much to argue about it one way or another, but I think it is officially against the flag rules code or whatever.

And interesting as I'd not even seen the flag although police personnel have been able to get one since the 90s in my country... Must not be that proud, or just keep them at home, how bizarre.. And interesting as I'd not even seen the flag although police personnel have been able to get one since the 90s in my country... Must not be that proud, or just keep them at home, how bizarre.. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458537

08-24-2018 11:01 PM











Post: #11 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Ok so did a bit of digging in my country the time officers tend to sport the symbol, thin blue line on union flag is as a tribute to fallen officers... So not sure if that is the same in the US as that might add a different spin... Who would ask an officer to remove a tribute to a fellow officer.. kinda hard one... udis

Philosopher

User ID: 456994

08-24-2018 11:05 PM



Posts: 32,174









Post: #12 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?



Desecration, HUH WHat?  This Claim Is Disputed Pending Fact Checkers.  udis

 The Ministry Of Thought Crime. Does Not Approve Of Your Thoughts!   LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 458542

08-24-2018 11:06 PM











Post: #13 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Hamburgerwagon Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:12 PM) I have wondered that myself. I didnt think you are supposed to modify the flag in anyway, but we see it all the time now.



Hell, I got banned for wiping my kids nose on a flag.

You're not suppose to modify it...they could have easily made some other type flag, but they choose to use the U.S. flag design.



They have these flags on their patrol cars instead of the U.S. flag to in many places.



It appears to be some sort of symbol signifying the 'Police State' and how the Police rule the State. You're not suppose to modify it...they could have easily made some other type flag, but they choose to use the U.S. flag design.They have these flags on their patrol cars instead of the U.S. flag to in many places.It appears to be some sort of symbol signifying the 'Police State' and how the Police rule the State. Strategos

Against Dystopia

User ID: 455233

08-24-2018 11:07 PM



Posts: 9,703









Post: #14 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

Yes. Also, it shows the police are afraid of America, they only view it in terms of black and white (literally and figuratively).



And that fear justifies their ignoring the Bill of Rights. (This post was last modified: 08-24-2018 11:07 PM by Strategos .) Strategos

Against Dystopia

User ID: 455233

08-24-2018 11:10 PM



Posts: 9,703









Post: #15 RE: Is 'Thin Blue Line' (Police Flag) a desecration of the United States flag?

LoP Guest Wrote: (08-24-2018 10:40 PM) The flags have been around in us and UK dice 1993, the term thin red line refers to the British army and then adapted to thin blue line to refer to the US military due to their uniform colour, so getting offended by a flag that's been around since 93 seems silly... Lucky we don't have any flag laws here in the UK.. it looks an interesting flag and if not for the op I'd never have known it existed.

It referred to colonial occupation troops in India.



The U.S. cops view themselves as occupiers. It referred to colonial occupation troops in India.The U.S. cops view themselves as occupiers. Advertisement


















A farmer reads message on a cell phone while working on a rice paddy field outside Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Vietnamese telecommunication company Viettel has set its sights on the Philippines as the next destination in its overseas expansion drive.

The company said on Thursday, as the archipelagos economy clears the way for the entry of a third operator.

Fixing the Philippines notoriously patchy and expensive telecom services was a campaign promise of populist President Rodrigo Duterte, who had said late last year that a third player would join the market and end the duopoly of PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom Inc, which have a combined market capital of about $10.7 billion.

Viettel is interested in the third license on telecommunications in this market, the military-run Viettel Group, Vietnams largest mobile carrier by subscription numbers, told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Viettel will thoroughly consider participating in case the conditions of the bidding documents are in line with the strategy of Viettel.

The Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) issued draft rules this month on the entry of a third player, which require foreigners to team up with local partners holding congressional franchises.

Foreign ownership of a telecom firm in the Philippines is capped at 40 percent, although Eliseo Rio, the acting ICT head, told Reuters in a recent interview that moves were underway to change that, so foreigners can raise their stakes later on.

The Philippines has one of the worlds largest rates of average daily social media usage, yet insufficient infrastructure means its 105 million people suffer frequent dropped calls, weak signals and intermittent data.

Viettel has already invested in 10 countries across Asia, Africa and America, and had 43 million subscribers overseas, as of end-2017.

Last month, a Viettel official said the company was also eyeing opportunities in Ethiopia after the government there announced its intention to liberalise key economic sectors including telecommunications.

In June, Viettel and its local partners launched a $1.5 billion 4G network in Myanmar, making them the fourth telecom operator in the country.
Cameroon arrests 6 people for trying to smuggle pangolins to Vietnam

A pangolin rescued from smugglers and brought to a reserve in northern Vietnam. Photo by Save Vietnam's Wildlife

Six people were caught at an airport in Cameroon allegedly trying to smuggle pangolins to Vietnam last week.

News website Wide America reported Wednesday five Cameroonians nationals and one from the neighboring Central African Republic were apprehended at Douala International Airport, around 200 kilometers to the southeast of the capital Yaounde, trying to smuggle the animals and their scales through Nigeria.

The men confessed to the police that the animals were destined for Vietnam, which is among the top 10 countries for pangolin trafficking.

The arrest was part of a crackdown on wildlife trafficking carried out by the Cameroonian police and wildlife protection service.

Central Africa is a notorious hotspot for illegally sourcing the scaly anteater for Asia, where its meat and scales fetch up to $1,000 per kilogram, the portal said.

Vietnam is home to Javan and Chinese pangolins, both of which are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered, and their populations have plummeted in recent years.

The defenseless anteaters are the biggest victim of wildlife trafficking as their meat is considered a delicacy by some while their scales are used to make boots and shoes.

In Chinese medicine the scales are also used to treat conditions such as psoriasis and poor circulation.

Conservationists said Vietnam is both a market and transit point for pangolin trafficking networks.
Young girls of Vietnam's northern highlands are vulnerable to human trafficking. Photo by AFP

Around 75 percent of trafficking victims in Vietnam, mostly women and children, are taken to China and sold there, officials said.

Most of them are trafficked to be adopted in the case of children, as brides in the case of women or work as slaves or have their organs harvested, Nguyen Van Pha, deputy head of the National Assemblys Justice Committee, told a meeting Thursday.

Vietnamese victims are being trafficked to China using different ploys.

Some traffickers would get acquainted with poor women and girl students in the northern mountainous region and tempt them to work as prostitutes at restaurants and karaoke and massage parlors in China across the border, Pha said.

Others would impersonate police or border officers to approach the victims for identification papers checks before kidnapping them, he said.

Some victims later join trafficking gangs themselves to trick others.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong said the police have received reports of more than 3,000 people trafficked in the past five years, 2,500 of whom have been rescued or escaped.

The remainders are mostly in China but we don't know their exact locations so we cannot send rescue forces yet," Vuong said.

Vietnam reported 670 human trafficking victims last year, down almost half from 1,128 in 2016.

Uneducated women and children from poor areas and ethnic minority groups in the northern highlands are mainly targeted, Pha said.

Many of the trafficked children were approached through social networks such as Facebook and Zalo, the popular Vietnamese messaging app.

Besides financial difficulties, police also blame negligence, easy immigration procedures and gender imbalance in destination countries as the major reasons for the increasing incidence of trafficking.

China suffers from one of the worst gender imbalance rates in the world as families prefer male children, and high demand for Vietnamese brides among Chinese men has exacerbated the trafficking of women.

Some lawmakers said the process of sending Vietnamese workers abroad must be made foolproof to prevent trafficking.
Motorbikes are seen on a road in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Motorbikes may no longer be the most popular means of transport in HCMC if it approves a proposal from the transport ministry to limit their numbers.

The ministry's Transport Development and Strategy Institute, asked by Ho Chi Minh City's transport department to draft a plan to deal with the chronic traffic gridlock, has suggested limiting the number of motorbikes in three phases over a decade from 2020.

By 2020 the plan seeks to make Truong Son Street outside Tan Son Nhat Airport in Tan Binh District and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in the central District 1 off-limits to motorbikes during rush hours, and do the same for part of the nearby Pasteur and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia streets between 7a.m. and 7p.m.

Between 2021 and 2025, the ban will be extended to full time on Vo Van Kiet, Dinh Tien Hoang, Dien Bien Phu, Hai Ba Trung, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Nguyen Van Cu streets, all major roads of District 1.

In 2026-30 the number of motorbikes will be capped at a certain level before they are completely banned in Districts 1, 3, 5, and 10.

The plan also proposes hourly parking fees and restricting parking lots in the downtown area, hiking the registration fee for automobiles, and imposing a fee in traffic jam hotpots for cars during rush hour.

Buses will play the major people-carrying role until other means like the metro and monorail go into service, possibly by 2030.

The city has to add 55-120 bus routes to increase the total number to 192-255 and operate 4,200-4,800 buses.

The motorbike plan was first put forward last year but many transportation experts said what the city needs to do first is develop its public transport.

Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the transport department, said then that the city would appraise the plan and make a decision.

Only when public transport meets the needs of the public will the city ban motorbikes.

By August last year HCMC had nearly eight million vehicles, including 7.3 million motorbikes.

In July last year Hanoi lawmakers approved a proposal to ban motorbikes from the city center by 2030 to reduce traffic congestion despite strong opposition from experts and the public.

The motorbike ban has been mooted and rehashed several times in the past few years, and always met with strong opposition from experts and the public as it targets the countrys most popular means of transport.

In recent weeks legal and transportation experts have railed against the ban, calling it hasty and even impossible given the state of public transport.

Some said the ban has no legal grounds and would put Vietnam at odds with the rest of the world since people are free to drive motorbikes in most countries.
A Vietnamese fishing boat in flames after the Indonesian military blew it up for fishing illegally, as seen in a file photo by AFP.

Indonesia has destroyed hundreds of foreign boats caught illegally fishing in its waters; 86 of these were Vietnamese.

Indonesian authorities on Monday scuttled 125 foreign vessels at 11 different locations in the country as part of greater efforts to prevent illegal poaching in its waters, The Star Online reported Thursday.

Among the sunk vessels were 86 Vietnamese-flagship boats, 14 from the Philippines and 20 Malaysian.

Indonesias Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry spokeswoman Lily Pregiwati was quoted as saying the operation had not been announced earlier to avoid straining relations with neighboring countries.

The Indonesian government has said that illegal fishing is threatening the local fishing industry.

Vietnam has several times called on Indonesia not to use violations against Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen in a way that goes against the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Earlier this year, in a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in India, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had expressed his hope that Indonesia would reconsider its policy of destroying foreign boats caught fishing illegally in its waters.

The controversial policy, enforced since President Joko Widodo took office in 2014, is part of Indonesia's tough measures to tackle what it says is a long-standing issue. So far, 488 fishing boats have been destroyed, many of them from Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and China.

The Indonesian government last month released 42 Vietnamese fishermen after detaining them for more than three months.

Vietnams Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department has said it is trying to raise awareness of maritime boundaries and international maritime laws among its fishermen. It is also conducting frequent patrols to prevent potential violations.
Japanese firms can take heart from a recommendation that Vietnam uses distribution traction technology for its north-south high-speed railway.

Dr Le Hong Hiep, Fellow at the ISEAS  Yusof Ishak Institute

In June 2010, Vietnams National Assembly rejected a proposal to build a North-South high-speed rail line connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This proposal, backed by Japanese companies, failed to win the legislatures approval due to its high $56 billion price tag, about half of Vietnams GDP in 2010.

However, the proposal has been revived recently. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) and a consortium of three local consulting companies are currently working with 20 provincial governments to gather inputs, especially regarding the location of the rail track and stations, for a project proposal to be submitted to the government within this year.

The proposal will discuss and make recommendations on, among other things, technologies, investment cost, and operational issues. If approved by the government, it will be submitted to the National Assembly for deliberation in 2019.

While details of the project proposal have not been finalized, the consultancy consortium reportedly proposed last week that the new rail line should adopt the distributed traction technology, which is the technology used by Japanese high-speed trains. If the Vietnamese government approves this proposal, this may give Japanese contractors and suppliers an edge over competitors from countries which do not use this technology.

Despite the failure in 2010, the Japanese government and companies continue to maintain a high level of interest in the project, with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2013 sponsoring a study of the Hanoi  Vinh and Nha Trang  Ho Chi Minh City sections of the proposed line.

This time around, the project may be viewed more favorably by the National Assembly as well as the Vietnamese public due to Vietnams higher financial capacity as well as greater demand for advanced infrastructure systems. However, whether the National Assembly will give green light to the project remains a big question. The most important issues will be the cost of the project as well as the source of funds to finance its construction. Vietnams recent budget constraints and increased public debts mean that a heavy price tag and unattractive financing terms will likely cause the project to stall again.

Railway workers do maintenance work on rail tracks on Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi. Photo by AFP

Japanese stakeholders will not want to have the project rejected once again given the commercial significance of the project as well as the efforts they have invested in it so far. The proposal to use the distributed traction technology, if eventually adopted by the Vietnamese government, will be welcomed by them and is an early indicator of the Vietnamese governments preference for foreign partners in developing the project.

While working with Vietnamese partners to make the project more sellable to the Vietnamese public and lawmakers, Japanese companies may also need to keep an eye on their Chinese competitors who benefit from Chinas large funds available for overseas high-speed rail projects under its Belt and Road Initiative. Although Chinese contractors and China-funded projects have a poor track record in Vietnam and are perceived negatively by the Vietnamese public, if China can provide the desired technology and offer favorable financing conditions for the project, this may tip the balance in their favor, especially given that Chinas high-speed train technologies have witnessed major advances in recent years.

*Dr Le Hong Hiep is Fellow at the ISEAS  Yusof Ishak Institute where this article was first published. The opinions expressed are his own.
An aerial view of Southwest Cay, also known as Pugad Island, controlled by Vietnam and part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, April 21, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Francis Malasig

Every country is obligated to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea, Vietnam has asserted.

Responding to U.S. warnings that China might bring floating nuclear power plants to the area, Nguyen Phuong Tra, deputy spokesperson of Vietnam's Foreign Ministry, said peace and stability in the waters are the common interest of every country in the world.

"Therefore all parties are obliged to contribute to this goal," Tra said at a press conference Thursday.

In the annual report submitted to the Congress, the U.S. Department of Defense warned that China might have plans to power islands and reefs in the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, with floating nuclear power stations.

Development of such projects could begin prior to 2020, the report said.

The spokesperson of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte also said that the Philippine government was worried about the possibility that foreign powers may bring nuclear warheads into the region, which has been declared a nuclear-free zone, according to The Philippine Star.

At the Thursday press conference, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry also slammed Taiwan's ongoing live-fire drills around Ba Binh (Itu Aba) Island in Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

"Taiwan's continued holding of live-fire drills around Ba Binh Island seriously violates Vietnam's sovereignty, threatens security, maritime and aviation safety, causes tension and complicates the situation in the region," Tra said.

The deputy spokesperson stressed that Vietnam has full legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over the island. Vietnam therefore resolutely opposes the drill and demands Taiwan not to repeat any such exercises in the future.

Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council last month announced that it would hold a live-fire drill around the island from August 22-24.

Ba Binh is the largest naturally occurring island in Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago, but it is currently under Taiwanese occupation. The 0.5-square kilometer island is 1,600 kilometers southwest of Taiwan.
After the smoke chases the bees away, the men use a machete with a long handle to extract the honey and put it in a sack. They do not take away everything and leave some wax behind. Tiem explained that the bees would come back if there is wax in the hive, and he would return next year to extract more honey from it.
U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton came to Kyiv on August 24.

Trade between Ukraine and the United States grew by over 70% in more than a year.

"Our trade has grown by more than 70% in a bit more than a year. No country in the world is showing such a growth and this is the realization of my arrangements in the White House we reached with President Trump last year," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton in Kyiv on Friday, August 24.

Read alsoReuters: Bolton says U.S. sanctions to stay until Russia changes behavior

According to Poroshenko, this is due to shipments of American coal to Ukrainian thermal power plants, supplies of nuclear fuel to Ukrainian nuclear power plants, the construction of a centralized storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, investment in agriculture, and the supply of railway locomotives.

"And I am confident that we can take additional steps to expand our cooperation right now," Poroshenko added.
Investors have reaffirmed their financial support to Ukraine.

Ukraine has placed $725 million through a private placement of short term notes maturing in 2019, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said on Friday.

"This issuance is subscribed by worldwide leading investors who have reaffirmed their financial support to Ukraine, while volatile conditions continue to prevail in emerging credit markets," it said in a statement, Reuters said.

Read alsoPM Groysman: Further cooperation with IMF to let Ukraine avoid default

The ministry noted that Ukrainian authorities were looking forward to the upcoming visit of the International Monetary Fund mission in Kyiv in September 6-19 to discuss recent economic developments and policies.


Abderraouf Ben Habib Jdey is a fugitive who is wanted as a suspect in plans for a possible terrorist attack to be conducted in Canada or the United States.

A Canadian citizen who was born in Tunisia, Jdey was born in 1965, stands 183 centimeters tall, weighs approximately 95 kilograms, and has brown hair and brown eyes. He has a scar on his forehead, and is also known as Farouq Al-Tunisi, Abd Al-Rauf Bin Al-Habib Bin Yousef Al-Jiddi, and A. Raouf Jdey.





Jdey immigrated to Canada in 1991 and studied biology at the University of Montreal. He went to Afghanistan in 1999 and received combat training and experience there with the former Taliban government. He authored a suicide letter stating his intention to become a martyr for jihad and also appeared in a well-known martyrdom video that was later found in the house of a leader of the al-Qaida terrorist group in 2001.

He returned to Canada in 2001 and consorted with extremists there on methods of joining the jihad. He left Canada, but authorities are concerned that he may attempt to return there or to the U.S. to plan or take part in a terrorist attack.

The Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to Jdey's arrest or prosecution.

The U.S. guarantees that all reports will be investigated and the identity of all informants will be kept confidential. If appropriate, the U.S. is prepared to protect informants by relocating them.

If you have information on this man, contact the Regional Security Office at the nearest U.S. Embassy, and the tip line at www.rewardsforjustice.net or e-mail information to info@rewardsforjustice.net. In North America, call 1-800-877-3927.
The first steps are being taken to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the American armed forces. The ultimate objective, said Vice President Mike Pence in a recent speech at the Pentagon, is to create a new branch of our military that is separate from, and equal to, the five other branches.

For many years, nations from Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to jam, blind, and disable U.S. navigation and communications satellites via electronic attacks from the ground.

But recently, these adversaries have been working to bring new weapons of war into space itself. In 2007, China launched a missile that tracked and destroyed one of its own satellites  a demonstration of Chinas growing capability to militarize space.

Russia has been designing an airborne laser to disrupt our space-based systems. And it claims to be developing missiles that can be launched from an aircraft mid-flight to destroy American satellites.

Both China and Russia have been conducting highly sophisticated on-orbit activities that could enable them to maneuver their satellites.

China and Russia are also aggressively working to incorporate anti-satellite attacks into their warfighting doctrines.

As their actions make clear, our adversaries have transformed space into a warfighting domain already, declared Vice President Pence.

America will always seek peace in space as on the Earth. But history proves that peace only comes through strength. And in the realm of outer space, the United States Space Force will be that strength in the years ahead. Not all [nations] share our commitment to freedom, to private property, and the rule of law. So as we continue to carry American leadership in space, so also will we carry Americas commitment to freedom into this new frontier.As in other domains, the United States will continue to work with allies and partners in space to enhance the safety, security, and sustainability of outer space for all countries.


On August 4, explosives aboard two drones flying near Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as he spoke in Caracas were detonated. Seven people were injured. Maduro has used the incident as a pretext to crack down on Venezuelas opposition by unleashing the regimes secret police.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said, The United States condemns the political violence that occurred on August 4 and urges the Maduro regime to respect the rule of law, exercise restraint, and safeguard the presumption of innocence for all accused.

The Venezuelan governments response to this incident has been to arbitrarily detain some individuals and a failure to follow due process. In addition, there have been violations of parliamentary immunity, which is protected by Venezuelas constitution. The United States condemns the alleged use of torture to elicit confessions.

Ms. Nauert said, We join the international community in calling for an independent expert commission to investigate the August 4 incident. We urge the Maduro regime to respect the human rights of all persons detained in Venezuela and reiterate our call for the immediate release of all those who are arbitrarily detained, including political prisoners.

The government of Venezuela is responsible for the widespread instability and suffering in Venezuela. The Maduro regime has systematically stripped millions of Venezuelans of their basic rights as citizens and limited their access to food, medical care, and basic security, said Ms. Nauert. We encourage the Maduro regime to accept international assistance and pursue policies that alleviate the humanitarian crisis and restore democratic freedoms.

The United States stands with the Venezuelan people in their dream of living free in a prosperous and democratic country.
The Russian Defense Ministry Thursday said over 43,000 troops have fought in Syria since Moscow in September 2015 joined Syrian forces aligned with President Bashar al Assad in the civil war.

The defense ministry, showing a video describing its involvement in the seven-year old Syrian war, said a total of 63,012 troops have received combat experience in fighting terrorists including the Islamic State group.

The number breakdown also revealed that 25,738 ranking officers and 434 generals as well as 4,349 artillery and rocket specialists have been involved.

The new figure has gone up as back in December last year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu put the number of troop at that period at over 48,000, AFP reports.

The video also stressed that Russian air forces conducted over 39,000 sorties that killed over 86,000 militants and destroyed 121,466 terrorist targets.

The campaign also offered the opportunity to use a new generation of weaponry and aircrafts. A total of 231 modern weapons have been used by forces.

President Vladimir Putin in September 2015, four years into the conflict, greenlighted the Russian intervention on the side of al-Assad. The move changed the tide of war, which was tilting on the side of the opposition supported by the western countries as well as by Saudi Arabia and few other Arab countries.

Russian forces have begun their gradual pullout. In December, President Putin ordered the withdrawal of the majority of the troops.

Bachar al-Assad however made it clear that Russian forces would remain as long as beneficial for the country.
UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH

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

Google Ad

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

Google Ad

The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount

Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York

Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency

UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers

Ucom employees received recognition for their services to the homeland

Karen Vardanyan has allocated 105 million AMD to rescue the Yerevan Botanical Garden.

"The Power of One Dram" to overcome childhood cancer

Generation A 13  your chance to be the change

President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan met with Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev

"uDays" special offer at Ucom: discounts for all smartphones and accessories for 2 days only

For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road
UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH

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

Google Ad

The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount

Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York

Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency

UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers

Ucom employees received recognition for their services to the homeland

Karen Vardanyan has allocated 105 million AMD to rescue the Yerevan Botanical Garden.

"The Power of One Dram" to overcome childhood cancer

Generation A 13  your chance to be the change

President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan met with Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev

"uDays" special offer at Ucom: discounts for all smartphones and accessories for 2 days only

For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road
Environmentalist: It is good that the members of the government are worried about the issues voiced by us (video)

Today, environmentalist Karine Danielyan told a news conference that it is encouraging that for the first time the government discussed issues that have been voiced for years, referring to yesterday's government decision on release of water from Lake Sevan for irrigation purposes. "We have said this for years, but we have not seen any change. It was good that yesterday, the members of the government were worried about the issues voiced by us," said Karine Danielyan. According to experts, Lake Sevan is in extreme condition and the new amount of release of water from Lake Sevanwill further deteriorate the lake's condition. "We cannot consider Lake Sevan any time. We must save the Ararat Valley, but Sevan is not an option," says Evelina Ghukasyan. According to her, after the death of algae, the amount of oxygen will be very small, which will affect the lake's fauna. More information is in the video.
Political scientist: The primary objective of Merkel's visit to the region is Baku

Political scientist Hayk Martirosyan told "A1 +" that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Armenia is cognitive as well as parity. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in Armenia on August 24. This is Germany's Chancellor, as well as Merkel's first visit to Armenia. Merkel was welcomed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Zvartnots airport. "Yesterday Angela Merkel was in Georgia, and today, she is in Armenia, and on the third day, she will be in Azerbaijan, the primary destination of the visit. This is a visit aimed at laying the groundwork for the gas export from Azerbaijan to Germany. There is no other important agenda," Martirosyan assures. Hayk Martirosyan noticed that Germany completely abandoned nuclear energy after the the disaster of Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant, and now it needs a huge amount of raw material. "President Trump is against the exports from Russia, and he voiced about it. Merkel has begun to look for alternative ways, and this visit is aimed at that," said the political scientist and added that the Transcaucasus is considered as a common geopolitical zone in Western misconceptions, so when traveling to Baku, it would not hurt the German leadership to make stops both in Tbilisi and Yerevan. "Especially that these are countries that have great potential for cooperation with Germany and did not use it yet. And these are the two countries where there are democratic authorities." He also added that the overall system in Georgia is such, but in Armenia, it is still a part of the system, and Germany can see things to do here, which is welcomed. The Merkel-Pashinyan meeting was the second, the first was informal and took place on July 12 in Brussels within the NATO summit. Armenian Prime Minister and German Chancellor will sum up the results of the negotiations at a joint press conference. During the visit, Chancellor Angela Merkel will also meet with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian.
Angela Merkel to Armen Sarkissian: We have unutilized potential in our relations (video)

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in Armenia on a state visit, at the Presidential Palace on August 24. The delegations of both countries participated in the meeting. After greeting Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German delegation, President Armen Sarkissian expressed confidence that this historical visit will open new horizons for the development of Armenian-German relations. This is the first official visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel to Armenia, but in the past she has been in Armenia. "I want to note with satisfaction that the Armenian-German relations are based on mutual understanding and deep trust. Germany is a very important partner for Armenia, but there is much room for expanding our cooperation in different spheres. And of course, I want to express my satisfaction for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Germany and also for the political support that we feel in our cooperation with the EU, since the Armenian-EU relations are very important for us," President Sarkissian said. Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed satisfaction and gratitude for being hosted in Armenia. "Dear Mr. Sarkissian, I am glad to be hosted in your country and I am glad for our meeting. Last year our countries marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and today we can summarize our relations as positive. I agree with you that we have unutilized potential in our relations and it should be used not only in political or economic spheres, but also in research and technological spheres. We wish to make our contribution to the reforms declared by Armenia and we attentively followed the changes and processes that took place in your country in spring. We are ready to cooperate in this difficult but important moment," she said. During the meeting the sides referred to the Armenian-EU cooperation, as well as to the opportunities of deepening bilateral relations in different spheres, including culture, education and science.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko emphasizes the importance and growth of economic cooperation with the United States.

"Our turnover has increased by 70% over a little more than a year. No country in the world demonstrates such growth. And this is the implementation of my agreements at the White House last year that we reached with President Donald Trump: this is American coal at Ukrainian stations, and American nuclear fuel, investments in the construction of a plant for nuclear storage, and American agrarian investments, and a contract with General Electric. I am pleased that coal from Pennsylvania is being cerried by locomotives from Pennsylvania," he said at the beginning of the meeting with Advisor to the U.S. President for National Security John Bolton in Kyiv on Friday.

Poroshenko is convinced that there are opportunities for further expansion of cooperation with the United States.
Sanctions against Russia to remain in force until Russia changes its behavior

Sanctions against the Russian Federation will remain in force until Russia demonstrates changes in its behavior, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton has said.

As for the U.S. sanctions against Russia, the sanctions remain in force and will remain in force until Russia changes its behavior, he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

The U.S. presidential advisor noted that additional sanctions had been imposed over the past few weeks, some of them related to the DPRK regarding illegal trade. Also, according to him, some individuals of the Russian Federation are under sanctions in connection with the illegal use of chemical weapons in the UK.

Now we must conduct a 90-day review ... whether Russia has stopped its chemical program and whether it fulfilled the demands of international inspectors ... We are considering what should be done, what our obligations are," he said.

Bolton noted that sanctions are foreseen by U.S. laws and by-laws.
President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda has congratulated President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and all Ukrainians on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Independence.

"I want to assure you of respect for the Ukrainian nation, which is steadily building an Independent state and ready for the greatest sacrifice in the face of violations of international law and armed aggression by a neighbor. I would like to extend the continued support of the Republic of Poland for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. An expression of this is the initiatives taken in this area at the forum of the UN Security Council, the OSCE, the European Union and NATO," Duda's congratulatory letter reads, published on the presidential website on Friday morning.

The president of Poland noted the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine. "I declare further activities of Poland towards strengthening Ukraine's relations with the EU and NATO, as well as support in the implementation of ambitious domestic reforms that will bring Ukraine closer to the standards adopted by these organizations. Poland and Europe are interested in Ukraine being a modern state with a well-functioning economy that provides a high standard of living for its citizens," the statement reads.

Duda is convinced that partnership between the state institutions, systematically growing trade turnover, as well as dynamic development of people-to-people contacts facilitate further rapprochement between the societies of Poland and Ukraine.

"I hope to achieve positive results in the dialogue on the tragic pages of our common history as well. I am convinced that the strategic partnership between Poland and Ukraine should be based on the foundation of truth about the past and in the spirit of Christian values professed by both nations," the president of Poland noted.

Andrzej Duda wished welfare to Ukrainians.
The Ukrainian army will significantly reinforce NATO's eastern flank, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at a military parade in the center of Kyiv on Friday to mark the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

"You will see here today, and the past four years have proven, that this is one of the best armies on the continent. It will significantly reinforce NATO's eastern flank. In exchange, we hope to receive collective security guarantees from the Alliance," Poroshenko said.

While Russia seeks "to dismantle the European Union and NATO," the Ukrainian army is defending the security and well-being of Ukraine and the whole of Europe in the east, Poroshenko said.

Integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic space "provides a 100% guarantee of Ukraine's independence," Poroshenko said. "Europe also needs us, because the European Union project will not be complete without us. The modern border of civilized Europe is the northeastern border of Ukraine," he said.
London-based tour operator Thomas Cook said Thursday it will evacuate 300 tourists from Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, a province near the Red Sea, after a British couple died in unclear circumstances.

John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire, died Thursday as they were on holidays with their daughter, Kelly Ormerod, and her three children.

Ormerod told Lancashire-based radio station 2BR according to The Telegraph that the whole family is in utter shock and claimed that her father died in his hotel room while her mother passed away at hospital.

Dad never went to hospital  he died in the hotel room in front of me. I went to hospital in the ambulance with Mum, where she passed away, she said in a statement.

Prior to going on holiday, Mum and Dad were fit and healthy. They had no health problems at all.

What I want is to clear up some of what is being reported. We have no cause of death, a post-mortem is under way.

Her statement belied that of Hurghada governor, Ahmed Abdullahs comments. The governor insisted that Mr Cooper was sick during the stay at the hotel.

The husband fell sick and was taken to hospital, where he died, he said.

About three hours later his wife had a shock and died.

The Egyptian official also stressed that the couple died of normal causes. John was 69 and Susan 64.

Their death is being investigated but Thomas Cook which said it will evacuate its 301 customers from the hotel to other hotels on Friday, said it received reports of a raised level of illness among guests.

The travel operator also said it has made flight arrangements for those who wish to cut short their holidays and return home.

Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel.

We will be offering customers alternative hotels within Hurghada, as well as giving them the option to return home.

The tragedy, The Telegraph reports, occurs 11 years after the operator was rocked by the deaths of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, aged six and seven, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel, in Corfu, in October 2006.

Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel received in July this year a Thomas Cook team for audit and was reported safe with an overall score of 96 per cent.

Future tourists who have already booked for the death-hit hotel will be proposed alternative hotels, the travel agency has said.
JFO HQ reports 5 KIA, 7 WIA amid 42 enemy attacks in Donbas in past 24 hours

KYIV. Aug 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Russian-backed militants have launched 42 attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas in last day, with five Ukrainian soldiers killed in action (KIA) and seven wounded in action (WIA), the press service of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"The enemy opened fire 42 times on the positions of our troops, including three times with weapons banned by Minsk agreements ... Over the past day, five Ukrainian defenders were killed, seven more members of the JFO were injured," the JFO staff said on Facebook on Friday morning.

It is noted that the militants opened fire from 122-mm artillery systems, 120-mm and 82-mm mortar shells, armored vehicles, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms.

The enemy shelled Ukrainian positions near such populated localities as: the villages of Krymske, Novotoshkivske, Troyitske, Luhanske, Pivnichne, Zalizne, Novhorodske, Pisky, Krasnohorivka, Starohnativka, Hranitne, Chermalyk, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Lebedynske, Vodiane, and Shyrokyne.

"Over the past day, the tense situation was observed in the Luhansk sector in the area of Krymske and Novotoshkivske, where the enemy opened fire from artillery and mortars. Soldiers of the Joint Forces repulsed the enemy's attack and remained on the occupied positions," the message reads.

Also, the Russian occupation forces shelled Ukrainian positions near Luhanske, Chermalyk, and Lebedynske, using 82mm mortars.

The report says that since Friday midnight, the invaders have already mounted five attacks on the JFO positions near Krymske, Hnutove, Pavlopil, and Vodiane. At night, Krymske again came under 122mm artillery fire, Pavlopil was under 82mm mortar fire.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, 12 enemy troops were eliminated, another 20 were wounded in the past day.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko intends to introduce a bill before the 9th session of the Verkhovna Rada, which enshrines the course of Euro-Atlantic integration of the country in the Constitution.

"I will insist on consolidating this aspiration to join the European Union and NATO in the Constitution. Lawyers found a formula for doing this optimally and quickly. By the opening of the autumn session of the Verkhovna Rada scheduled for September 4, my corresponding bill will have been registered," the head of state said, speaking on Friday at a military parade in the center of Kyiv on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

He stressed that politicians would do everything "day and night" to adopt it.
Russia will no longer be able to blackmail us as we strengthened our economic independence  Poroshenko

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko believes that rapprochement with the European Union and strengthening of Ukraine's economic independence will not allow the Russian Federation to blackmail it.

"A clear European strategy has given us an opportunity to compensate for the huge losses that we suffered as a result of the politically motivated closure by Russia of its market and transit to third countries for Ukrainian goods. Russia will no longer be able to blackmail us because we have strengthened our economic independence," he stressed, speaking at a military parade in the center of Kyiv on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence on Friday.

The president recalled that the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union entered into force, and as a result, the share of exports to the EU is now almost 43%, compared with 32% four or five years ago.

"Since the fall of 2016, we have not bought gas from Russia for 1,000 days already. Ukrainian Naftogaz brilliantly beat Gazprom in the Stockholm Arbitration, bringing $4.6 billion to the state pocket. That is how we gain our energy independence," he said.

The president believes that it is necessary to use the wealth of the country in the interests of the people and future generations. "Ukraine must firmly defend its national interests. External help is still important for us, but first of all we have to help ourselves," Poroshenko also noted speaking on Independence Day.
The United States reaffirmed its position on the non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea, both in the recent declaration of the administration of President Donald Trump, and during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, John Bolton, advisor to the U.S. president for national security issues, has said.

I believe that President Trump drew attention to solidarity and our support for independent Ukraine. You spoke about the declaration that we adopted on non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea. This all goes back to the American tradition of non-recognition of illegal annexations, beginning from 1931-1932 when Japan's annexation of Manchuria was not recognized, and the declaration of 1940 when the annexation of the Baltic republics was not recognized. This is a political signal from our side, which is of great importance. And we were happy to confirm this once again during the meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin in Helsinki, Bolton said before the meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Friday.

National Security Advisor of the United States thanked for the invitation to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day.

It is not every year that I have an opportunity to celebrate two Independence Days in one year. For me, August 24 from today will be a special day, he said.

Bolton noted the opportunity to discuss the current situation in Ukraine, the challenges facing the country today and the issues of international format.
Representatives of the Georgian opposition are concerned that German Chancellor Angela Merkel statements in Tbilisi regarding the prospects of the country's Euro-Atlantic integration were not particularly optimistic.

"Merkel gave us not particularly optimistic responses about the prospects of Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration, and that's concerning," Grigol Vashadze, one of the leaders of the United National Movement opposition party and a former foreign minister, told reporters after a meeting between representatives of the opposition and Merkel.

This indicates that the incumbent Georgian authorities' foreign policy work is poor, Vashadze said.

"As for Germany's stance, I found out today that it has not changed since 2012. This shows that Germany has probably not thought much about this issue, and that second, as for our authorities, the foreign policy apparatus has totally fallen apart, it doesn't work, can't work, and won't work with our main allies to ensure that there are shifts useful for us in their stances," Vashadze said.

At the meeting, the parties also discussed the economic situation and political processes in Georgia, and "the negative role that Russia plays in the South Caucasus," was also mentioned, he said.

On Friday, Merkel said at a meeting with Georgian students at Tbilisi State University that she does not think Georgia will join NATO or the EU soon.
A notice of the U.S. Department of State regarding new sanctions against Russia that will take effect on August 27 was published on Friday in the U.S. Federal Register.

The new sanctions will involve a ban on foreign assistance, arms sales and financing of such deals, denial of U.S. government credit or other financial assistance and ban on exports of national security-sensitive goods and technology, the document said.

In particular, the new sanctions package terminates assistance to Russia, except for urgent humanitarian assistance and food or other agricultural commodities or products, it said.

The United States will also terminate sales to Russia of any defense articles, defense services, or design and construction services, as well as licenses for the export to Russia of any item on the United States Munitions List, the document said. All foreign military financing for Russia under the Arms Export Control Act is also terminated, it said.



The new sanctions also involve the denial to Russia of any credit, credit guarantees, or other financial assistance by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the U.S. government, including the Export-Import Bank of the United States, it said.



The sanctions will also ban exports of national security-sensitive goods and technology and prohibit the export to Russia of any goods or technology on that part of the control list, the document said.



The Department of State determined that it is essential to the national security interests of the U.S. to waive the application of the sanctions with respect to in particular exports and re-exports of goods or technology pursuant to new licenses in support of government space cooperation and commercial space launches, provided that such licenses shall be issued on a case-by-case basis, consistent with export licensing policy for Russia prior to enactment of these sanctions.
The United States of America is ready to cooperate with the Ukrainian government to prevent Russia from interfering in the Ukrainian elections, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton has said.

President Poroshenko and I discussed this issue ... I informed that we had told the Russians why they should not interfere in the elections of the U.S. and Ukraine ... We publicly discussed this issue in Washington, what measures should be taken to prevent the intervention of the Russian Federation and other countries, the U.S. presidential advisor said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

He stressed that he had discussed with the head of the Ukrainian state that the steps that Ukraine and the United States can take to prevent interference in the elections in Ukraine will be considered.

We can do this through security channels, other mechanisms ... We have clearly expressed our position and are ready to work with the government of Ukraine to prevent such interference here, assured Bolton.
Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and seven others wounded in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry on August 23 said the casualties represented the biggest loss of life among soldiers in months.

Ukrainian officials said four of the soldiers were killed in a five-hour-long battle that broke out after separatists began firing mortar shells at government troops in the eastern Luhansk region.

However, the separatists said they were responding to attacks by government troops.

The AFP news agency quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Dmytro Gutsulyak as saying that a fifth soldier was killed in artillery fire elsewhere in the conflict zone.

Since April 2014, more than 10,300 people have been killed in fighting between Kyiv's forces and the separatists who control parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have failed to hold.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on August 23 said Ukrainian troops were attacked with high-caliber artillery.

"The Russians...are trying to attack the positions of our troops, violating the cease-fire," he said.

Poroshenko also apologized to the country for a promise he made in 2014 that he would be able to quickly end the conflict in the Luhansk and Donesk regions.

"People perceived it as an opportunity to end the war quickly," he said. "I am sorry to have created inflated expectations. I sincerely apologize for giving you hope that has not come true."

The United States and European Union have imposed a series of sanctions on Russia for its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and for its seizure and illegal annexation of Ukraines Crimea region in March 2014.

Moscow has repeatedly denied that it has provided the rebels with weapons, troops, and ammunition despite overwhelming evidence that it has done so.

With reporting by AP, dpa, BBC, and AFP
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting Friday with three Baltic prime ministers in his quest to counterbalance European criticism of Israel's actions in the occupied Palestinian territories and to increase pressure on Iran.

Netanyahu will hold talks with Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, Estonia's Juri Ratas and Maris Kucinskis of Latvia. He started the day by meeting Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.

A day earlier, he said that Israel was "often mistreated by the EU," adding there were "many distortions." Netanyahu, however, welcomed the decision by major international airlines to end their direct flights to Iran's capital, Tehran, in September after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and began restoring U.S. sanctions.

Skvernelis said in an interview with the Baltic News Service that after a meeting Thursday with Netanyahu, "I believe Lithuania really has a better understanding of Israel and that understanding could be spread among other EU countries. "

"We need to better listen, hear them out and understand their position. We definitely lack a direct dialogue," he said.

"But we have to admit that today Israel is not only waging war and defending its independence, the lives of its people, but is also fighting in a wider context, if we speak about terrorism and potential expansion of IS fighters to Europe," Skvernelis said.

Netanyahu arrived Thursday in Vilnius is on a four-day visit, the first to Lithuania by an Israeli prime minister.

___

Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has welcomed the planned halting of three major airlines' flights to Tehran and called on other airlines to follow suit.

On August 23, British Airways and Air France announced they would halt flights to Iran from late September "for business reasons." Dutch airline KLM had also announced earlier that it was canceling flights to Tehran.

Commenting on news of the decision by major international airlines to end their direct flights to Irans capital in September, Netanyahu, who was speaking during a visit to Lithuania, said, "Thats good. More should follow, more will follow, because Iran should not be rewarded for its aggression in the region, for its attempts to spread terrorism," The Associated Press quoted Netanyahu as having said at a news conference.

The airlines have said that their flights to Tehran are no longer economically viable. However, their decision to halt flights to Tehran comes months after the United States imposed renewed sanctions on Iran following Washington's pull-out from the nuclear deal with Iran.

In contrast to the decision made by BA, Air France, and KLM, the German airline Lufthansa and its Italian counterpart, Alitalia, are among the European companies still running flights to Iran despite the U.S. announcement, reported the Times of Israel on August 23, quoting AFP.

Iranian media earlier reported a sharp decline in air travel as the devaluation of the Iranian currency, the rial, led to a sharp increase in the price of airline tickets.

Sanctions on passenger airlines are not part of the U.S. punitive measures against Iran in two rounds of renewed sanctions. The first round of sanctions started on August 6 and the second round will start on November 4. However, the sharp devaluation of the Iranian currency as a secondary impact of the sanctions has put an end to the profitability of passenger flights to Iran as many members of the Iranian middle class are no longer able to buy airline tickets at high prices.

The three major airlines that have already announced halting their flights to Tehran from September have done so regardless of the promises made by the EU about compensating losses by European companies in case they are affected by U.S. sanctions for working with Iran.

In spite of the promises made by the UK, France, and Germany, dozens of European companies have left Iran, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif complained earlier this week that Europe has not done enough to save the nuclear deal with Iran, also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA).

Meanwhile, Netanyahu told reporters before leaving Israel for the Baltic region that he would hold talks with the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia about "coordination with U.S. sanctions against Iran."

Earlier this week, Netanyahu had discussed U.S. and Israeli coordination about Iran during a meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, Bolton had said that the impact of sanctions against Iran have surpassed initial assessments by the United States.

The U.S. State Department last week formed the Iran Action Group to direct, review, and coordinate Iran-related activity.
The lawyer of a former Egyptian diplomat has announced that his client has been detained after he publicly called for a popular referendum on AbdelFattah al-Sisi.

Khaled Ali on his facebook account has indicated that Masoum Marzouk, his client was rounded up by police in capital Cairo.

Marzouks family have told me a large police force surrounded their home and arrested him and took him to an unknown location, he said in his post.

Marzouk, a former Egyptian diplomat, brought the spotlight on himself after he early this month suggested a referendum and political transition at the top of the executive in case results of the popular vote are against the government of President Fattah al-Sisi.

He said if the government failed to respond positively to the initiative he would hold a popular conference in Cairos Tahrir Square  the epicenter of the 2011 uprising  on August 31, The New Arab reports.

The call has gained national attention with Arabic-language hashtag #SisiLeave trending high on Twitter, sparking debate.

Al-Sisi was reelected in March with a large margin in a poll that saw his toughest opponents all giving up or arrested.

Egyptians said they lost hope in AbdelFattah al-Sisi who first came to power in 2013, in a coup against first democratically elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Since then, al-Sisi has introduced austerity measures that he said will bear fruits on the long run.

Public discontent became greater over the past months due to steep price hikes of basic amenities.

The growing public anger appeared to have irked the general-turned President who believes calls for his removal or impeachment are inappropriate.

Several other dissendents were also arrested on Thursday. Ali also said economist Raed Salam has been detained. Left-wing activist Yahya al-Qazzaz was taken away by security forces, The New Arab reports in its Arabic version.

Dozens of activists have been squatting in prisons on charges that human rights groups say are bogus.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

Germany is ready to contribute to creation of a favorable atmosphere for settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a joint press conference with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian media reported Aug. 24.

Merkel stressed that Germany is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"We said it would be good to resolve the conflict, the chancellor said. But it is important to resolve it in a good atmosphere. Germany is ready to contribute to that.

The conflict cannot be resolved without negotiations, and every effort should be made to resolve the conflict, she added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

The visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Azerbaijan will give a great impetus to development of both economic and political relations between the two countries, Member of Azerbaijani Parliament Aydin Huseynov told Trend Aug. 24.

Huseynov noted that Germany is the center of economic power in Europe.

"From this point of view, the development of economic relations between Azerbaijan and Germany is very useful for both countries. I believe that this visit opens the way for new investments. As you know, Germany is interested in the development of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which provides for the transportation of gas to Europe from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field. Of course, Germany seeks to diversify routes and sources of energy supplies to Europe. It is possible that within the framework of this visit, the discussions will also be held in this direction, and the interest in the project implemented by Azerbaijan in the field of transportation of energy resources will further increase," the Azerbaijani MP said.

Huseynov noted that the Angela Merkel's visit to Azerbaijan is important for the country from a political point of view.

"First of all, the information about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the fair position of Azerbaijan in this matter will once again be brought to the attention of the Chancellor. Germany supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. I believe that Berlin will demonstrate its support this time as well, which is important for our country," Huseynov added.

He said this visit will benefit both countries, and at the same time will contribute to the development of relations between Azerbaijan and the EU.

Angela Merkel will visit Azerbaijan tomorrow as part of her visit to the South Caucasus.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

German Chancellor Angela Merkels expected visit is characterized by a number of important moments, political expert Bahruz Guliyev told Trend Aug. 24.

Taking into account that Germany is one of the EU leading countries, one can come to the conclusion that by the readiness for even closer cooperation with Azerbaijan, Merkel expresses the interests of both Germany and the EU, the expert added.

"Cooperation between Germany and Azerbaijan, including the establishment of international relations with Europe, can be based on a number of historical aspects," he said. At the very beginning, during the period of Azerbaijani great leader Heydar Aliyevs presidency, cardinal actions were taken in this direction.

The agreements signed in various years "On Financial Cooperation between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Federal Republic of Germany", "On the Promotion and Protection of Investments", "On Cultural Cooperation", On Air Transportation", "On Financial Cooperation in the Project "First Aid - Baku Airport", "On the Establishment of Research Fund and Specialists" and other intergovernmental documents can be cited as an example, Guliyev added. Today President Ilham Aliyev continues to successfully pursue this policy of cooperation and partnership."

In general, as a reliable partner of Azerbaijan in Europe, Germany is one of the countries developing its relations with the country every year, he said.

The expert stressed that currently, the trade turnover between the two countries is about 3 billion euros.

Guliyev also said that the new German companies also did not hide their constant interest in participating in the implementation of infrastructure projects in Azerbaijan.

The expert added that Germany has a decisive right to vote in international and regional organizations, as well as in financial institutions.

"Without the consent of the German government, the activity of such international organizations as EU, Council of Europe, NATO and OSCE can not be changed, he said. "Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visits to the Federal Republic of Germany in various periods have intensified and continue to intensify bilateral cooperation.

Guliyev stressed that Germany repeatedly offered its assistance as a mediator in the process of negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and of course, Baku supported those proposals.

"Unfortunately, there is no progress in the negotiation process, he added. Of course, by offering its assistance in the mediation and demonstrating its intention to act as an initiator in this direction, Germany once again confirms that it supports peace, tranquillity and security in the South Caucasus."

If we consider the German chancellor's visit from this point of view, Merkel's visit to the region will make an important contribution to the conflict settlement," Guliyev added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to Azerbaijan will give impetus to the development of mutual relations between the countries, Vugar Rahimzade, member of the Political Council of the New Azerbaijan Party, editor-in-chief of Iki sahil newspaper, told Trend Aug. 24.

Rahimzade added that one of the main directions of Azerbaijan's foreign policy is to establish mutually beneficial relations with the EU, including with the EU member-states, and further intensify and develop existing ties.

"Germany is one of the main centers of power in Europe and this country attaches special importance to relations with Azerbaijan, he said. Our country is interested in further expanding relations with Germany."

There are excellent prospects for new opportunities for cooperation, Rahimzade said. Merkels upcoming visit to Azerbaijan is an important event.

"The leading countries, world centers of power show interest in South Caucasus, he said. One of the main reasons is global energy projects being implemented by Azerbaijan. These projects bring peace and stability, and at the same time are regarded as an important factor in ensuring energy security of Europe.

From this point of view, it is worth noting the Southern Gas Corridor project, which is being successfully implemented at the initiative of our country. This project that unites the continents will bring great benefits to the partner-countries. Germany is also showing great interest in the Southern Gas Corridor project. Of course, one of the main topics of the discussion during Merkels visit will be energy issues."

Rahimzade added that there is a very active political dialogue between Azerbaijan and Germany.

"Germany supports speedy, just settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the norms and principles of international law," he said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

A concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was held on August 19, 2018 at the historic Saint John's Lutheran Church of Sacramento, Californias capital city, Azerbaijans Consulate General in Los Angeles said in a message.

Azerbaijani vocalist Marziyya Huseynova and pianist Aida Elkhanzade, both winners of multiple international awards, performed Azerbaijani and European classical music at the concert.

Supported by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles and organized by the Azerbaijani community in Sacramento, the cultural event was attended by political, economic, scientific and cultural figures of Sacramento, as well as media representatives and others.

Opening the event, the Azerbaijani community activist Shabnam Gafarova welcomed the guests and stressed the importance of this cultural event in Californias capital city. Informing the attendees about Azerbaijan, she talked about Azerbaijans ancient history, rich culture and music.



In his remarks, Consul of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles Orkhan Rustamli informed the guests about Azerbaijans history of independence and stated that 100 years ago on May 28, 1918, the people of Azerbaijan established the very first Republic in our history - the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

He noted that it was also the first ever secular democracy among all Muslim nations and the first majority-Muslim nation to grant women the right to vote. Highlighting Azerbaijans rich musical heritage, Consul Rustamli said that Azerbaijan is a birthplace of the first opera, operetta and ballet in the Muslim world.

Following the remarks, Azerbaijani musicians Marziyya Huseynova and Aida Elkhanzade performed Azerbaijani and European classical music. The concert was received with much applause by the audience.



Short video of the event can be watched here: https://youtu.be/R3lrb2oxBfY
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

The participation of Kazakh enterprises in the EXPO 2020 exhibition in Dubai was discussed during the trade and economic mission of Kazakhstan to the UAE, Kazinform reported referring to the press service of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan.

The mission was organized by the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan, the Consulate of Kazakhstan in Dubai, the Atameken Scientific and Production Enterprise and the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh delegation, which included 12 large commodity producers in the field of engineering, construction, light and food industries, was headed by the consul of Kazakhstan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Madiyar Menilbekov.

Over 40 oil and gas enterprises, construction companies, leasing and private transport companies and a number of retail chains participated from the UAE. Arab businessmen seemed to be interested in importing meat, honey, metal structures, equipment for the preparation of oil, gas and water and other goods manufactured in Kazakhstan.

Negotiations between the Petropavlovsk metal structures plant and EXPO-2020 representatives were held successfully. Employees of GEMOS Kazakhstan LLP, Topan LLP, Aktobe Oil Equipment Plant JSC met with representatives of the largest oil company Dragon Oil. Food industry workers from Green Shop, Sun Bee Altai, DK Premium and the National Center for Healthy Nutrition "SHARMAN" attended the largest trade networks of the UAE (Carrefour, Lulu and Union Coop).
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan support full-fledged participation of Afghanistan in the implementation of major regional and international projects, in particular in the spheres of energy, transport and communications, Turkmenistan State News Agency reported.

The Turkmen and Kyrgyz presidents held talks at the meeting on Aug. 23 in Ashgabat city, according to the report.

Noting the non-alternative nature of peaceful, political settlement of the situation in Afghanistan, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that the parties agreed to provide all-round support to the international community in the economic recovery of Afghanistan, the report said.

Presently, it is obvious that there is no military solution to the Afghan problem, a nationwide dialogue is needed involving all the responsible parties with the leading role of the UN, the Turkmen president said.

Ashgabat regularly supports the provision of more extensive and targeted international economic assistance to Afghanistan, primarily through the involvement of this country in the implementation of major infrastructure projects in energy and transport sphere.

These projects include the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the laying of power transmission lines and fiber optic communications along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) route, the construction of railroads from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

"Russian Railways" (RZD) OJSC company is ready to consider the project of launching "Lastochka" high-speed trains between Russia's Mineralnye Vody and Baku under the circumstances of the ready infrastructure, TASS reported referring to the press service of the North Caucasus Railway (SKZHD) company.

The authorities of Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, through the territories of which the train will pass in the case of its launch, believe that this project will increase the flow of tourists and attract additional investment to the regions.

Earlier it was reported that the working group under the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the North Caucasus Affairs will prepare a road map for the launch of the Mineralnye Vody-Baku high-speed train.

The main objective of the project is to reduce the time and increase the comfort of trip for the tourists traveling from Baku to Mineralnye Vody, as well as to achieve the growth of tourist flow in this direction. It was noted that if there is such a railway route, it will be possible to get from Mineralnye Vody to Derbent within 3.5 hours, and to Baku  within 4.5 hours.

The Minister of Tourism and Health Resorts of Russia' Stavropol Alexander Trukhachev told TASS that the project to launch a high-speed train already has a road map, which is incorporated in the strategy of tourism development in the territory of the North Caucasian Federal District (NCFD).

"The advantages are clear - transport, which will connect two hyper-agglomerations - Baku and Mineralnye Vody to reach the capacity, allowing to implement the order of the governor in relation to increasing the rate of populating of the health resorts with the people who come for health improvement, treatment, rehabilitation", he said.

The Head of the Agency for Entrepreneurship and Investments of the Republic of Dagestan Bashir Magomedov in turn said the launch of the train will also attract additional investments and tourists to Dagestan, as well as "the logistics will be much simplified and cheapened".

The "Lastochka" high-speed train has been developed by the German Siemens AG company. It consists of five cars, the total length of the train reaches 130 m. The train can move at a speed of up to 160 km/h.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

Azerbaijan will present logistics, tourism and investment potential in China, Trade Representative of Azerbaijan in China Teymur Nadiroglu told Trend.

The trade representative noted that the presentation will be held in the framework of the upcoming international import exhibition, which will be held in November this year in Shanghai. The products under the Made in Azerbaijan brand will also be presented at the exhibition.

"The 2018 has been declared the year of import in China, which means that the country is widely opening its gates for import of goods from around the world. Therefore, at the moment, our task is to carefully prepare for the first Chinese international import exhibition, which will be held this fall, in one of the largest cities in China. In my opinion, this is one of the most important events not only in China, but throughout the world. Azerbaijan will present its products at this exhibition, and we will not only demonstrate the quality of our products, but also the logistics, tourism and investment potential of our country," Nadiroglu said.

The trade representative added that the date of this event falls on the day of opening of the wine house in Shanghai. This decision, he explained, was made because the exhibition will bring together 150,000 buyers from China and other countries to conclude contracts and purchase goods.

"In the course of preparing for the upcoming exhibition, we are meeting with Chinese public and private companies, so that they take advantage of the opportunity to get acquainted with the products of Azerbaijani enterprises," Nadiroglu said, noting that China plans to import goods worth more than $ 10 trillion in the next five years.

Further, the trade representative noted that to date, various electronic platforms are actively working and developing in China, through which Azerbaijani producers can directly sell their goods to Chinese consumers at retail.

"Such retail e-commerce is in great demand today in China and around the world. This type of trade is developing rapidly, and now we are also closely engaged in the study of this platform, as the demand for this type of trade is also attractive for Azerbaijan," the trade representative said, adding that in 2017 the Chinese spent more than $1 trillion on the purchase of various goods online.

According to the data of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover with China amounted to almost $ 1.3 billion last year, which is 33 percent more than in 2016. Exports has increased by 63.75 percent to $443.8 million, and imports - by 21.4 percent to $854.5 million over the year.

The main goods exported from Azerbaijan to China last year were chemical products, fuel, plastic and products made of it.

Electrical devices, equipment and its spare parts, vehicles and spare parts, clothing and accessories, ceramic products, household items were imported from China to Azerbaijan over the past year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

Uzbekistan and Belarus will launch a plant for production of road construction machinery as part of Aleksandr Lukashenkos visit to Tashkent, Uzbek media reported citing Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Rusyi.

We pay special attention to industrial cooperation and creation of joint ventures, he said during the meeting of the Uzbekistan-Belarus intergovernmental commission in Tashkent. As part of the Belarus presidents visit to Uzbekistan in September, a new plant, created by the Joint Venture AMKODOR Palash Industrial Zone Ltd. and the Agrotechmash Ltd., will be launched for production of road construction equipment. Future plans include setting up complexes for storing, cleaning and drying grain.

In turn, the Uzbek side is also ready to actively develop trade relations with Belarus and plans to increase bilateral trade this year to $500 million.

In January-July this year, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Belarus increased by 2.8 times and amounted to $229.5 million, Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Nodir Otajonov said. Despite the observed growth, these indicators remain at a fairly modest level and are unbalanced, which doesnt correspond to the potential of economies of the two countries. We have all the opportunities and reserves to bring the bilateral trade to $500 million this year.

Earlier, Belarus media reported that Aleksandr Lukashenko will pay a visit to Uzbekistan on September 12-14.

Nine agreements and two more documents are being prepared for the visit of the Belarus president.
Air France and British Airways, two major international airlines, have decided to suspend flights to Iran citing business reasons, a month after Washington renewed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

British Airways (BA) of Spanish-registered IAG Thursday said its last flight from its London hub to Tehran will operate on September 22 while its inbound trip from the Iranian capital will take place on September 23.

The decision, the airline said, is based on the non-profitability of the service.

Air France followed suit announcing that it will wrap up activities between the French capital and Tehran on September 18. The halt according to a spokesman from the airline is the result of a sharp fall into the number of customers on the route.

As the number of business customers flying to Iran has fallen, the connection is not profitable anymore, the spokesman said.

Withdrawal by the two airlines from the Iranian air space comes only a month after U.S. re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran following Americas pullout in May from the 2015 nuclear accord signed between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

On signing the executive order reinstating the sanctions, President Donald Trump warned that companies doing business with Iran cannot do business with America.

Several European firms even before the renewal of the sanctions began parking out from Iran despite the EUs promise to protect the entities from US penalties.

France, UK and Germany, all signatories of the nuclear deal, which also includes Russia and China, have pledged to protect the pact.

The bloc on Thursday agreed 18 million ($20.6 million) in aid for Iran, including for the private sector, to help offset the impact of U.S. sanctions, reports say.

BA and Air France had already pulled out from Iran before returning respectively in the wake of 2015 accord and in 2016 as part of agreements under the historic deal, which guaranteed a return of western businesses to Iran.

Air Frances sister airline, KLM which is the Dutch arm of the Air France KLM group, had previously announced it was suspending flights to Tehran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip of Lithuania welcomed the announcement by the two European airlines and wished that several others will join the chorus.

Israel considers Iran as it arch enemy. The Israeli Premier is a staunch opponent of the nuclear deal and he welcomed last month the decision by the Trump administration to re-impose sanctions.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has met his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, who arrived in Turkmenistan to participate in the summit of heads of the founding states of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), taking place in the Avaza tourism zone, the Turkmenistan State News Agency reported citing the Turkmen Foreign Ministry.

The two presidents stressed the need to develop and prepare new approaches for cooperation in the political, economic, environmental, energy, transport and other important spheres, the report said.

Focusing on the agreements reached earlier, the two presidents stated their commitment to close regional cooperation. The sides noted the importance of the recent opening of the international seaport in the city of Turkmenbashi.

Ashgabat and Astana are discussing the prospects of trade and economic partnership, cooperation in the gas sector, agriculture, development of cross-border mineral deposits, transportation, environment and fisheries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

As many as 134,040 Turkish citizens were provided with workplaces in Turkey in July 2018, which is 4.3 percent more than in the same period of 2017, the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) told Trend on Aug. 24.

Out of the total number of the employed 34 percent are women and 66 percent - men, according to ISKUR.

"A total of 2.670 million people were registered as unemployed in Turkey in July 2018," ISKUR said. Fifty-two percent of them are women and 48 percent are men.

In January-July 2018, 537,114 Turkish citizens were provided with jobs.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Fikret Dolukhanov - Trend:

French CIFAL company is ready to help Uzbekistan in the development of nuclear energy, the "Tahlilnoma" program of "Uzbekistan 24" TV channel reported.

The company noted that they are ready to provide their technological solutions and share experience to train specialists of Uzbekistan in the field of nuclear energy.

CIFAL plans to support the Uzbekistans Agency for the Development of Nuclear Energy "Uzatom" in the implementation of technical, commercial and financial negotiations with the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom" on construction of nuclear power plants in Uzbekistan.

The French company is also ready to assist in the selection of equipment for the construction and launch of nuclear power plants. The company can also take part in the solution of issues of financing of the project in coordination with the Uzbek and Russian sides.

The Russian side proposes to build in Uzbekistan a station consisting of two modern blocks of pressurized-water reactors VVER-1200 of "3+" generation. The project for the construction of a similar station, which Rosatom is building in Bangladesh, is estimated at about $13 billion, of which $11.3 billion are provided by Russia as an officially supported export credit.

It is planned that 3.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be saved as a result of the launch of the NPP. At the same time, the volume of carbon monoxide generated by the combustion of natural gas and released into the atmosphere will be reduced by 3 million tons per year.

Uzbekistan, for its part, offered Russia 10 sites across the country for the construction of nuclear power plants. The central part (Tashkent region) and the eastern part (Fergana valley) of the power system, as well as the Bukhara-Samarkand and Surkhandarya regions are among the sites under consideration.

The Director General of "Rosatom" Corporation Alexey Likhachev during his visit to Tashkent, said the station will likely be built in the Navoi region.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

The President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has proposed to revisit the issue of creating an international water and energy consortium in Central Asia, "Kazinform" reported.

"In the current circumstances, it is important to follow up the issue of creating an international water and energy consortium in Central Asia. Its creation will ensure balance between irrigation and hydropower in the use of water resources of transboundary rivers," Nursultan Nazarbayev said during the meeting of the heads of states - founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS).

Also, the president of Kazakhstan noted the need to improve the organizational structure and legal framework of IFAS on the basis of existing institutions of the Fund. The head of state said this will improve the quality of activity of IFAS, strengthen its capacity and adapt the organization to modern realities.

"It is time to automate the management, distribution, accounting and monitoring of water resources in the Aral sea basin, including their quality. This will ensure transparency of water use by countries and will strengthen mutual trust," the president said.

Nursultan Nazarbayev also believes that in the framework of action programs to assist the countries of the Aral sea basin, it is necessary to focus on the implementation of regional projects.

"This approach will significantly increase the effectiveness of our measures, scale up the positive effect of cooperation," the president explained.

The head of state proposed to consider the issue of permanent deployment of the IFAS Executive Committee in one of the member countries of the Fund.

"This will positively affect the performance of the Fund, and will allow for avoiding delays when moving to another country because of the changeover of the presiding party", Nursultan Nazarbayev believes.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

In the spring of 2019, production at the Kashagan field, which is being developed in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, will be suspended, Kazinform reported.

"It is planned to stop the equipment for maintenance and overhaul at the Bolashak oil and gas treatment complex in the spring of 2019. It is a normal practice for all large plants of this kind - any plant is periodically stopped for maintenance," Baltabai Kuanyshev, Director of Corporate Support at North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), told Kazinform.

According to Kuanyshev, since its launch in September 2016, offshore field Kashagan has produced more than 16 million tons of oil and sent it to consumers.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Huseyn Veliyev  Trend:

Azerbaijan is an essential market for Kaspersky Lab, Anton Shingaryov, the company's vice president for state relations told Trend.

"Last year we agreed upon a new series of meetings in Baku. The authorities with whom meetings are to be held are the same. It is SOCAR [Azerbaijani state company], which we will be happy to enhance partnership with," he said.

Along with that, Shingaryov said meetings are to be held with ministries. He added that the company sees the Azerbaijani market as an important one for the company.

This is a very interesting market. On one hand, it is technologically advanced, there is a developed industrial sector. Further, it has human capacity. Baku has a very good mathematical school, since the time of the former union," Shingaryov stated.

"Kaspersky Lab", as Shingaryov stated, also cooperates with law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan.

"We were part of several investigations. We are protecting the banks, the financial system of Azerbaijan, because it suffers exactly from the same threats as the Russian one. For example, we helped several large banks, helped the police with the investigation of threats. Cyber-threat is an international problem. This obviously does not mean that cybercriminals acting in Azerbaijan attack the country citizens and cash out in the same place. Normally, it is a trans-boundary crime, the threats are the same," Shingaryov stated.

He went on to add that the most important and key industry is energy sector. He believes it requires thoroughness to ensure reliable protection against cyber threats. According to Shingaryov, its crash paralyzes activity of almost every other sphere.

"Further, almost equally, follow telecommunication and financial sectors. For example, an ATM won't work without a telecom. Today, for example, in Baku, more and more people use cards to pay, carry out cash-free payments. Telecommunication sector is vulnerable in all countries and Azerbaijan is no exception. However, situation in Azerbaijan is better than in many developing countries, because there is human capital, financial capacity and political will, which allows all of the above to develop," he said.

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Twitter: @h_veliyev
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

The border agencies of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are considering the issue of opening new checkpoints on the border of the two countries, Tajik media reported.

The initiative to open new checkpoints on the Tajik-Uzbek border was mentioned during the August 17-18 state visit of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to Tashkent and his meeting with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

According to preliminary data, 3 to 15 new checkpoints will be opened at the Tajik-Uzbek border in the near future, a source in the Tajik government said.

"The new checkpoints will not have international status, and for today it is yet early to talk about specific locations for their deployment," the source said.

"The new checkpoints will support sustainable development in the relations between the bordering districts of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan," the source added.

According to the intergovernmental agreement of 2002, 16 checkpoints have been established on the Tajik-Uzbek border, nine of which have international status.

Most of the checkpoints were closed in the mid-2000s due to the aggravation of bilateral relations, and only two checkpoints worked in the check-out mode until the beginning of 2018: Tursunzoda-Sariasia and Buston-Bekabad.

In March 2018, before the state visit of Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Dushanbe, all 16 checkpoints on the Tajik-Uzbek border were fully operational.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

Creating the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) in 1993 was a wise decision, said Tajik President Emomali Rahmon at the meeting of the Council of the Heads of the IFAS Founding States, held Aug. 24 in Turkmenistan, Tajik agency Avesta reports citing the press service of the president of Tajikistan.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in the summit.

"Thanks to joint efforts, within the framework of IFAS, we managed to attract the attention of the global community to the problems of the Aral Sea and to establish cooperation with regional and international organizations and donor countries, to direct funds to the implementation of projects and programs to solve the Aral problem," Rahmon noted.

The president stressed a number of problems related to climate change and added that only in recent decades Tajikistan has lost more than 30 percent of its glaciers.

Taking into account the rapid increase in water consumption in the region, the head of state announced the initiative of Tajikistan on the effective use of fresh water reserves of the Sarez Lake to improve the drinking water provision to the countries of the region.

The president also underlined the need to develop the hydropower, since it is one of the main sources of renewable energy, which contributes to the development of the green economy.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmenistans Turkmenbashi city hosted a working meeting of heads of environmental agencies of Central Asian countries in anticipation of the summit of heads of the founding states of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) on August 24, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message.

The event covered issues as part of the Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development (ICSD).

The participants considered issues on strengthening the institutional and legal framework for regional cooperation and sustainable development in the field of environmental protection.

Heads of environmental agencies of Central Asian countries reviewed the development of a regional program on environmental protection for the sustainable development of Central Asia, the message said.

Meanwhile, the 74th meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) of Central Asia was held in the Avaza tourist zone in Turkmenistan.

Heads of water management agencies of Central Asia - ICWC members discussed the implementation of limits and operating regimes of water reservoir cascades for the vegetation period of 2018 along the Sirdaryo and Amudaryo river basins, as well as the preparation of the program to assist the Aral Sea countries (Aral Sea Basin Program, ASBP-4).

The main objectives of this program include improving living conditions of the people in the Aral Sea basin, intensifying cooperation of the countries of Central Asia in solving environmental and socio-economic problems, rational use of water resources and adaptation to climate change.

As part of the meeting, a presentation of the Central Asian regional environmental center on the implementation of the Smart Waters Project in the region and the projects interim results was held, the message said.

Established in the 1990s by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, IFAS aims to finance joint projects and programs to save the Aral Sea and improve the environmental situation in the Aral Sea region.

IFAS was granted an observer status in the UN General Assembly in December 2008. Ashgabat put forward earlier an initiative to develop a special UN program for the Aral Sea.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon have emphasized the existence of broad prospects for further intensification of mutually beneficial cooperation during a meeting in Turkmenistan, the Tajik news agency Avesta reported Aug. 24.

President Rahmon is in Turkmenistan to attend the summit of the Heads of Founder States of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS).

During the meeting, the sides also stressed the importance of consolidating efforts in solving environmental problems.

President Rahmon appreciated Turkmenistan's international initiatives in addressing issues of water use, including within the IFAS chairmanship.

Regarding the development of bilateral relations, the sides stressed interest in intensification of contacts in transportation, successful implementation of joint transportation projects.

President Rahmon also shared his impressions of the Avaza National Tourism Zone, expressing admiration for the transformations in the coastal region of Turkmenistan.
Kenyas opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was at the center of the hotly contested and disputed 2017 presidential elections, will contest in the 2022 presidential elections, a senior member of his party said.

Local media reported that Senator Orengo, together with other members of the opposition, confirmed Odingas intentions to launch a fifth bid at the presidency in 2022.

We are rebranding our party leader to contest on an ODM party ticket in 2022, Mr Orengo, who is also the Leader of Minority in the Senate, told a gathering in Kakamega County.

The former Prime Minister commands a massive following across the country and would win the election to become the countrys fifth president, he said. Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga have in the past maintained that the March 9 peace deal did not include 2022 succession. The March handshake between the two leaders has been the subject of debate in the East African nation.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday regretted that some politicians had misinterpreted the deal  formalized after the gazettement of a 14-member Building Bridges to Unity Advisory Task Force in May  as a political pact.

Those criticisms are misadvised, Kenyatta said, and insisted that his deal with Mr Odinga was not a political pact, but one that would help Kenya.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan has called for the creation of a legal mechanism for water resources management in Central Asia, the state news agency "Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary" reported Aug. 24.

The article is dedicated to the summit of heads of states - founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), which is taking place today in Avaza city.

"It is obvious that the preservation of the Aral sea can no longer be considered as an internal, regional problem," the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.

Turkmenistan previously proposed the development of a separate area of activity of the UNO, entitling it as a special UN program for the Aral sea, which would include specific plans to stabilize and improve the situation in the Aral sea basin.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also emphasized the need to promote "water diplomacy". "Today, we really need systemic mechanisms of international cooperation aimed at minimizing the risks," the Turkmen president said.

At the same time, it was emphasized that one of the most important issues in Central Asia is the establishment of a legal mechanism that takes into account the interests of all countries of the region in the issue of the integrated water resources management, especially in view of climate change and water resources reduction.

Established in the 1990-ies by the founder countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the IFAS aims to finance joint projects and programs for saving the Aral sea and improving the environmental situation in the territory of Aral sea region.

In December 2008, the IFAS was granted observer status in the UN General Assembly.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov held a meeting in the city of Turkmenbashi, the Uzbek presidential press service said in a statement.

Berdimuhamedov noted that the summit of heads of the founding states of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) is a good opportunity to discuss both bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Mirziyoyev highly appreciated Turkmenistans chairmanship in the IFAS and noted that the projects of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in this sphere complement each other.

The current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation were discussed at the meeting, the statement said. It was noted that the state visit of the Turkmen president to Uzbekistan in April this year gave new dynamics to the multifaceted relations.

Also, attention was paid to the implementation of the agreements reached earlier. The issues of strengthening the relations of strategic partnership, development of cooperation in political, trade-economic, transport-communication, industrial, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres were considered.

The sides exchanged views on the issues of regional and international agenda of mutual interest.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

The heads of the Central Asian states met in a narrow format in the Avaza tourism zone in Turkmenistan before the session of the Council of Heads of the Founder States of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), Uzbek media reported citing the Uzbek presidential press service.

The meeting was attended by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

At the meeting, the sides discussed the problems of the Aral Sea and the work to improve the ecological situation in the region.

As part of the comprehensive measures to mitigate the consequences of the Aral catastrophe and the development of the Aral Sea region, designed for 2013-2017, more than 500 projects have been implemented.

At the meeting, the sides discussed mitigating the consequences of the Aral catastrophe, water pollution and improvement of the ecological condition in the region, as well as consolidation of efforts of the Central Asian countries in this direction.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

The Iranian Judiciary plans to bring those behind the recent fluctuation in foreign currency rates before open courts from Sunday.

The trial sessions dealing with the cases of disruptors of the countrys monetary and currency system are slated to begin in the first and second branches of special courts on Aug 26, Tasnim News agency reported.

The court sessions will be open to the public and media outlets are allowed to release the names of the accused.

On August 1, Irans Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri gave a stern warning to the elements behind the recent fluctuation in currency rates and price hikes, warning them to stop betraying the nation before facing the consequences of their actions.

While Irans market has experienced a hike in the value of foreign currencies and gold coin prices in recent months, the Iranian money has plunged to a record low against the US dollar in the unofficial market. Iranian gold coin price has also rocketed up in recent weeks, hitting 45 million rials on July 30.

There has been growing demand for dollars among ordinary Iranians, who fear more plunge in the value of their assets and growing price of goods, even those not imported from abroad.

Foreign currency values began to rise in Iran after the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May and announced plans for a fresh wave of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

The construction of the second and last section of the Tbilisi-Rustavi road, which will connect the Georgian capital with the Azerbaijani border, will greatly facilitate transport links between Azerbaijan and Georgia, Georgian expert, foreign policy analyst Archil Sikharulidze told Trend.

He was commenting on the construction of a new highway from Tbilisi to the border with Azerbaijan.

The expert said this project will have a positive impact on all aspects of interstate relations.

"Now it is difficult to say to what extent the restoration of the road will affect the economic indicators, but it is obvious that this will have a positive impact on bilateral cooperation in the field of transport and freight. At the same time, this road will once again confirm the close economic ties between Georgia and Azerbaijan, which have great potential for building reliable and long-term relations," Sikharulidze said.

Azerbaijan and Georgia are seriously interested in multilateral cooperation in various spheres of economy, trade, transport, logistics, energy and other areas, he said.

"Our countries have gained experience in strategic partnership, and today there is every reason to believe that the friendly relations based on mutual benefit and national interests of the states will be further strengthened in the foreseeable future," the expert noted.

The Tbilisi-Rustavi road will reach the border of Azerbaijan, and its modernization is important for the safe transit of goods and passenger traffic. The project is implemented with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

At the moment, the construction of the second section of the road is underway, the construction of the first and third sections began in April 2014 and was completed in May 2016.

A total of 119 million lari (more than $46.2 million) will be spent on the construction of the remaining part of the road with a length of 17.4 kilometers.
The Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has announced to provide 200,000 U.S. dollars in emergency aid to the victims of the recent earthquakes in the Indonesian island of Lombok, Xinhua reported citing local media.

The QRC will provide non-food relief goods, including shelter packages, such as plastic sheets, blankets, mosquito nets, and water-savng containers, to the Indonesian quake victims, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported.

The Qatari assistance will also include providing first aid, personal hygiene and awareness packages for 700 affected families, the report said.

On Aug. 5, a 6.9 magnitude quake hit Lombok, which was hit by another 6.2 magnitude quake on Aug. 9. A third quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale shook the island again on Aug. 19.

Indonesia lies on the Ring of Fire - a significant region in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
The oil tanker, the Pantelena flying the Panamanian flag, which went missing off Gabons coast on August 14, has been spotted by the multinational coordination center in Pointe Noire, Congo and taken to Gabons port of Owendo, TASS reported citing Africanews.

According to the portal, the 121-meter tanker carrying about 7,000 tonnes of fuel, with 19 crew members, 17 Georgian and two Russian nationals, was spotted while patrolling the maritime area in the Gulf of Guinea. No information is available about the crews health condition and why there had been no contact with the vessel.

The Georgian foreign ministry reported about the loss of radio contact with the Pantelena on August 17. It said that the sea transport agency under the economics ministry was in contact with Greeks Lotus Shipping Co, the ships owner, to spot the tanker. Britains UKMTO and navies of the regional countries were involved in the search operation. On August 21, Georgias seamen trade union said the Pantelena had been seized by pirates and its crew were alive.

The Russian foreign ministry also said it was keeping a close eye on the situation.

On Monday, Gabons authorities said the search operation was over, with the tanker not found.

Following the defeat of most of Somali pirates, the center of maritime banditry off Africa shifted to the Gulf of Guinea. Since the beginning of the year, as many as 107 incidents have been reported from that area, including seizures of four ships and abduction of 25 seamen.
US State Department spokesperson told Sputnik that the new package of sanctions against Russia related to alleged Moscow's involvement in former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal's poisoning in early March is expected to come into effect on August 27.

"The notification elapsed on August 22. We have submitted the Federal Register Notice enacting the sanctions and expect that it will be published on August 27th," the spokesperson said.

Washington announced its new anti-Russian sanctions over Moscow's alleged use of chemical weapons in Salisbury on August 8. The new sanctions include, in particular, a ban on supplies of dual-purpose electronic devices and components to Russia.

US government also threatened to impose another round of sanctions against Moscow that would include banning Russian carrier Aeroflot's flights to the US, limiting diplomatic ties and halting US exports, saying that the second wave of sanctions depends on Moscow's future policies.

Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the Skripals case, pointing at the fact that London has neither provided evidence nor cooperated with Moscow in investigating the incident.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said after US sanctions announcement that if some sort of ban on banking activities or currency ban was imposed on Russia  it would mean a declaration of economic war ant that Russia would have to respond to it "economically, politically or in any other way, if need be".
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the relations between Russia and Turkey are becoming more profound, meaningful, and there is deep cooperation in solution of the Syrian crisis, RIA Novosti reported.

"Our relations with Turkey are becoming deeper and more meaningful," Putin said at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar.

Welcoming the guests, the Russian leader noted that they had already held consultations with their counterparts in Moscow, where they discussed various issues of mutual interest.

"I am very glad to see you and have your opinion of where we are now and what is to be done in the near future and in the midterm to deepen our relations," Putin said.
Several Nike stores in South Africa were shut down Wednesday after a video went viral Tuesday showing a Nike employees husband making a racist comment.

In the video, Adam Catzavelos, who is married to Kelly Catzavelos, a brand merchandise manager for Nike Africa, describes a beach in South Africa as heaven on Earth because there was no kaffir around. Kaffir is an apartheid-era slur used to refer to a black person.

The remarks were met by a firestorm of protests led by South African political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, which said they would file a criminal complaint against the man. The party is well known for not standing for racism associated with any fashion companies.

In a statement released late on Wednesday, the sportswear giant reiterated its long-standing commitment to diversity, inclusion and respect, and also said the man in the video posted online was not a company employee.

According to Business of Fashion, a Nike spokeswoman in London declined to comment, and Reuters was unable to independently verify the persons identity. Nike has stores in 11 locations in South Africa, according to the companys website.

The quick closures of the Nike Stores in Johannesburg are likely related to the backlash from last years H&M controversy when the company released an ad featuring a black child in a sweatshirt that read, Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.
Moscow emergency services told Sputnik that the Russian Central Bank was on fire in the center of the city. The firefighters noted that the fire started on the fourth floor of the facility and covered at least 30 square meters within the building.

As they specified, at least 26 fire teams, which included 92 firefighters, were deployed to the site, which is located in the very center of the Russian capital.

Later a representative of the Russian Central Bank told local media that nobody had been harmed.

In the meantime, emergency services stated that the fire was put out, adding that there had been no injuries.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Aug. 24 in Moscow, Turkish media reported.

Turkey's top diplomat will head to Moscow for a working visit, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Aug. 23 in a news conference.

"[...] Special attention will be paid to the problems of the Syrian settlement Issues with regards to the coordination of joint steps in the fight against terrorism in Syria," she said.

"The intensification of the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict will be discussed."

Lavrov and Cavusoglu will also discuss the launch of projects in the fields of energy and trade, Zakharova said.

Earlier, Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would continue negotiations and would hope to reach an agreement with Turkey on settlements in the Syrian province of Idlib.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

A bus carrying tourists has overturned in Turkeys Mugla province, Turkish media reported Aug. 24.

Twenty-six people were injured in accident.

All the injured were taken to the city hospital, and their condition is currently assessed as fair.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

Moscow and Ankara intend to expand partnership in the field of military-technical cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, RIA Novosti reported.

"We have close contacts between the defense ministries, as evidenced by the visit of the minister of national defense of Turkey, which takes place in parallel with our negotiations," the Russian minister said.

He noted the demand for expanding "practical cooperation" in the field of military-technical partnership, as well as in other areas - in the automotive industry, agriculture, banking spheres.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 24, 2018 - 15:58 | Sports, All

Turkmenistan wrestler Rustem Nazarov became the first athlete at the Asian Games to be disqualified for failing a doping test, the organizing committee said Friday.

Nazarov, who was defeated in his first match against India's Sandeep Tomar on Sunday in the men's 57-kilogram freestyle, tested positive for the banned substance furosemide, a masking agent, in a pre-tournament test administered on Aug. 17.

His result at the tournament will be revoked under the regulations of the Olympic Council of Asia.

The quadrennial multisport tournament officially started on Aug. 18 in Jakarta and Palembang, the provincial capital of South Sumatra.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 24, 2018 - 23:36 | World, All

Tokyo and Washington are arranging a meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tokyo next week right after Pompeo's visit to North Korea, Japanese government sources said Friday.

The meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday as Pompeo will likely fly to Japan on Monday following his fourth visit to North Korea, according to the sources.

(Mike Pompeo, right, and Stephen Biegun on Aug. 23)

[Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of State]

Arrangements are also under way for Kono and Pompeo to also meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha, possibly also on Tuesday, the sources said.

During the stop in Japan, Pompeo will brief Kono and Kang on what was discussed during his meeting with North Korean officials, the sources said.

Pompeo and Kono are also expected to reaffirm the close cooperation between the two allies, as well as cooperation trilaterally with Kang, and their policies aimed at compelling the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

On Thursday, Pompeo said he will visit North Korea next week in an attempt to accelerate negotiations on dismantling the country's nuclear weapons program. He will be accompanied by Stephen Biegun, who has just been named as the U.S. special representative to North Korea.

Pompeo is heading to Pyongyang as frustration is increasing in Washington over what it sees as North Korea's failure to move resolutely to terminate its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development programs, despite leader Kim Jong Un's commitment to "complete" denuclearization in a landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12.

(Taro Kono) (Mike Pompeo)

[UPI/Kyodo]
The Congress had blocked the Edappally-Vyttila bypass in protest against the fuel price hike.
Tunisias parliament will soon debate a controversial bill to grant equal inheritance rights to men and women in the North African country, President Essebsi said last week. Under the current system, men receive twice the share of any inheritance granted to women.

According to IFC, the new inheritance law that will grant men and women equal rights will boost the financial inclusion of women in Tunisia.

The IFC said in a report securing loans is one of the main challenges women entrepreneurs face in Tunisia and with the new law, they could obtain more property through equal inheritance in order to secure loans.

Sonia Fakki, owner of Habiba Jewelry, said in the report that when evaluating a project, banks dont rate the quality of the project or the qualities of the entrepreneur. They are only interested in collateral.

Women in Tunisia own 18 to 23% of businesses and their credit demand for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) is around $595 million. Yet, the IFC reports their financial needs are largely unmet. By meeting this demand, the IFC predicts a financial opportunity not just for women, but for banks too.

Long seen as a pioneer for womens rights in the Arab world, Tunisia has pushed ahead with other reforms promised after its 2011 revolution.
New Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has extended his support to India. He said on Thursday that Pakistan has stood ready to provide humanitarian assistance to flood victims Kerala. Imran tweeted, "On behalf of the people of Pakistan we pray for people affected by floods in Kerala. We are willing to give any kind of humanitarian help."

More than 230 people have died due to heavy rains since August 8 in Kerala. The homes of more than 1 million people have been destroyed and they are living in refugee camps. Talking about the loss of property, so much has been lost. About Rs, 30,000 crores of the economy have been damaged.

Earlier, UAE PM and Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum had offered assistance of Rs 700 crore. He wrote three tweets while writing about the situation. In his first tweet, he mentioned that Kerala had an important role in the development of the UAE. In the second and third tweets, they offered every possible help to the people of Kerala.

PM Narendra Modi and CM Pinarai Vijayan of Kerala have also praised it through Twitter. Modi thanked their offer and said that this concern of them shows how good relations between India and UAE are. However, there is no change in India's policy of not taking foreign financial assistance. So, many leaders and people have criticized this move. But, there are some reasons why India can not accept foreign aid.

Also Read:

The government might refuse to take 700 crores from UAE, this might be the reason

Nation proud of our security forces: Ramdev on Kerala and Karnataka flood

Kerala Floods: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu calls a review meeting on Kerala foods with Deputy Chairman
In Egypt, prominent political activists and opposition figures have been arrested on Thursday after they called for a referendum on Abdel Fattah al-Sisis government.

The house of the former Assistant to Egyptian Foreign Minister Masoum Marzouk, has been stormed by Egyptian security forces who took the diplomat to an undisclosed location, according to activists on social networking sites.

Thursdays string of arrests include financier, political economy analyst and activist Raed Salama, Helwan University Geology Professor and member of the March 9 Movement for the Independence of Universities Yehia al-Qazzaz, and political activist Sameh Seoudi.

No specific charges had yet been laid against the men, but they were arrested on the orders of Egypts public prosecutor, according to local media.

A vocal critic of the current regime, Masoum Marzouk launched a political initiative last July, calling for a referendum on the continuation of the current regime headed by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The suggested roadmap of his initiative included the suspension of the Constitution and dissolution of Parliament and the transfer of power to a transitional council for a period of three years.

Marzouk held a diplomatic post under the countrys first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the army led by el-Sisi, following mass street protests against his rule.

Egyptian authorities have jailed thousands of Sisis opponents and critics in recent years.
The Bhaijaan of Bollywood Salman Khan is known fopr his dedication and love towards his family members. Nothing can get to his family, without crossing him. He has even gone on records to talk about his protective behaviour towrds his family.

Currently, the actor is busy shooting for Bharat in Malta. Sources from the sets of the movie informed that Salmans family including his mom have accompanied him to Malta.

Recently, on his official Instagram page Salman Khan shared a video featuring himself with his mother. In the video, the mother-son duo were seen discovering the new place.

Here is the video:

Exploring #malta .. A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on Aug 12, 2018 at 2:30am PDT

Post the release of Race3, Salman had started shooting for Bharat, due to which he had no time to take a break and spend some quality time with his family. He therefore took his family to Malta, where he is shooting for the movie, Bharat.

Allegedly, the producer of Bharat, Atul Agnihotri who is also Salmans brother-in-law, shared his picture having a serious discussion with his mother, Salma Khan.

He posted the picture with a caption that read, Ma Ma ki aankhon ka tara @beingsalmankhan @bharat_thefilm.

Previously, Salman had posted a video on his Instagram that featured him holding hid mothers hand. He posted the video with a caption that read, Yeh bandhan toh .. pyaar ka bandhan hai #Bharat.

Also read:

Beware of your hearts being stolen: Happy Phir Bhaag Jaegi movie review

Arjun Parineeti promote upcoming movie in Mumbai
The President of Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi is visiting Germany as a part of the partys efforts to please the NRI community before 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi was hilariously trolled after the party posted his pictures on Twitter.

The partys official twitter handle posted four pictures of the party president posing in a white kurta-pajama with a caption that read The many facets of Rahul Gandhi along with hashtag Bundestag.

Even the official twitter handle of BJP was compelled to retweet the post of INC. The ruling party retweeted the post with a caption, Even we couldnt resist retweeting this ;)

Check out these hilarious tweets:

Rahul Gandhi is no stranger to being trolled on social media. Even before this fiasco, Rahul Gandhi has trended on twitter when he unexpectedly hugged the prime minister during the no-confidence motion. His speeches have more often than not included illogical metaphors and silly quotes that proved to be a treasure for the twitter trolls. What else can be expected from the man whose lifes aim is to invent the machine that would convert aaloo into sona?
Hybridization, the inter-breeding of bird species, is a widespread phenomenon, which is best illustrated in Estonia by the lesser spotted eagle and the greater spotted eagle. However, due to the fact that the migration strategies of both bird species are completely different, studying their offspring, or hybrids, helps ornithologists discover a lot about their migration secrets.

The lesser spotted eagle is an early leaving far-traveller, the greater spotted eagle is a late leaving short- and middle-distance traveller, explained Ulo Vali, senior researcher at the chair of biological diversity and nature tourism of Estonian University of Life Sciences. According to Vali, on the one hand, hybridization causes confusion among ornithologists, but on the other hand it is worrying, because the existence of the rare species, the greater spotted eagle, may be in danger. At the same time, studying of hybrids helps find answers to different ecological questions. "With their hybridization, birds offer scientists an excellent inter-breeding experiment from nature, which helps explain factors affecting the migration of birds."

Thus, for instance, it has been believed for a long time that the timing, direction and length of migration of passerines with a shorter life-span is mostly determined by genetic factors and for bigger birds with a longer life-span, it is more important to learn from their parents and others of the same species. It has only been possible so far to conduct experiments mainly with small passerines in order to check these assumptions. The research of migration of big birds with a longer life-span has been hampered by the inadequate technical capacities. In an international study managed by Ulo Vali, senior researcher at Estonian University of Life Sciences, the results of which were recently published in an article in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the migration pattern of spotted eagle hybrids or bigger birds with a longer life-span was discussed. For following the migration, GPS transmitters tracking the exact location of hybrid specimens were fitted with them in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. The data has been gathered for more than a decade and to obtain a better overview, researchers compiled a thorough migration database.

It was found out that hybrids most frequently depart as early as lesser spotted eagles; however, they don't fly as far as them, which could have been predicted based on the important role of social factors. Instead, the hybrids rather chose to overwinter at the latitudes more typical of greater spotted eagles.

In addition, the variety of their migration routes and size of winter territories was more characteristic of the greater spotted eagle. These results show that although social and territorial factors can impact the migration strategies of birds with a longer life-span, the role of genetic factors in these species is bigger than presumed.

###
Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that the intestinal mucosal environment of juvenile pigs can stimulate repair of intestinal injuries in newborn piglets. The findings have implications both for understanding why newborns of many species - including humans - are unable to repair these injuries on their own, as well as for potential future treatments.

Intestinal ischemic injury occurs when blood flow to a portion of the intestine is cut off, resulting in the loss of epithelial cells that line intestinal walls. Once this barrier is damaged, intestinal contents can leak into the bloodstream, causing sepsis and often fatal infections. Infants are particularly vulnerable to these injuries; this research shows it may be because they lack the ability to quickly repair the damaged areas.

"In these intestinal injuries, the epithelium sloughs off and creates small holes through which bacteria enter the bloodstream," says Amanda Ziegler, NC State postdoctoral researcher and lead author of a paper describing the research. "Older animals and human adults can repair these holes within minutes to hours, but newborn pigs cannot. We want to understand the repair mechanism - or lack of it - in newborns."

Ziegler and her team looked at ischemia in 2-week-old and 6-week-old pigs by surgically inducing ischemia in small sections of intestine and then removing the injured tissue for study. They noted that in the juvenile (or 6-week-old) pigs, the uninjured epithelial cells flattened out and resealed the intestinal barrier within a couple of hours. The epithelial cells from the newborn pigs, however, did not flatten or reseal the barrier.

The researchers then scraped the mucosal micro-environment - essentially the surface layer - from the 6-week-old intestine and applied it to the newborn intestine, which was then able to repair itself. "There's a signal here that the newborn is either not getting or not able to respond to," Ziegler says. "Something, or possibly a number of things within this environment, are working to help this process along."

The researchers' next steps will be to look closely at how the epithelial cells "learn" to repair these injuries.

"This work is a first step toward understanding what is happening on the cellular level in young patients with ischemic intestinal injuries," Ziegler says. "Plus we've shown that we can rescue this tissue, although we don't yet understand the mechanisms behind it. Hopefully future studies will reveal those mechanisms, and lead to better treatments to help improve patient survival rates."

###

The research appears in PLOS ONE and was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant T32 5T32DK007737-22) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (award 2017-67015-26804). Anthony Blikslager, professor of equine surgery and gastroenterology at NC State, is corresponding author. Other NC State contributors are: Laurianne Van Landeghem, assistant professor of molecular biomedical sciences; Jack Odle, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry; veterinary student Juliana Mills; Liara Gonzalez, assistant professor of gastroenterology and equine surgery; and Blikslager lab manager Tiffany Pridgen.

Note to editors: An abstract of the paper follows.

"Epithelial restitution defect in neonatal jejunum is rescued by juvenile mucosal homogenate in a pig model of intestinal ischemic injury and repair"

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200674

Authors: Amanda L. Ziegler, Tiffany A. Pridgen, Juliana K. Mills, Liara M. Gonzalez, Laurianne Van Landeghem, Jack Odle, Anthony T. Blikslager, North Carolina State University

Published: PLOS ONE

Abstract:

Intestinal ischemic injury results sloughing of the mucosal epithelium leading to host sepsis and death unless the mucosal barrier is rapidly restored. Volvulus and neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in infants have been associated with intestinal ischemia, sepsis and high mortality rates. We have characterized intestinal ischemia/ repair using a highly translatable porcine model in which juvenile (6-8-week-old) pigs completely and efficiently restore barrier function by way of rapid epithelial restitution and tight junction re-assembly. In contrast, separate studies showed that younger neonatal (2-week-old) pigs exhibited less robust recovery of barrier function, which may model an important cause of high mortality rates in human infants with ischemic intestinal disease. Therefore, we aimed to further refine our repair model and characterize defects in neonatal barrier repair. Here we examine the defect in neonatal mucosal repair that we hypothesize is associated with hypomaturity of the epithelial and subepithelial compartments. Following jejunal ischemia in neonatal and juvenile pigs, injured mucosa was stripped from seromuscular layers and recovered ex vivo while monitoring transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and 3H-mannitol flux as measures of barrier function. While ischemia-injured juvenile mucosa restored TEER above control levels, reduced flux over the recovery period and showed 934.7% wound closure, neonates exhibited no change in TEER, increased flux, and a 1123.3% increase in epithelial wound size. Scanning electron microscopy revealed enterocytes at the wound margins of neonates failed to assume the restituting phenotype seen in restituting enterocytes of juveniles. To attempt rescue of injured neonatal mucosa, neonatal experiments were repeated with the addition of exogenous prostaglandins during ex vivo recovery, ex vivo recovery with full thickness intestine, in vivo recovery and direct application of injured mucosal homogenate from neonates or juveniles. Neither exogenous prostaglandins, intact seromuscular intestinal layers, nor in vivo recovery enhanced TEER or restitution in ischemia-injured neonatal mucosa. However, ex vivo exogenous application of injured juvenile mucosal homogenate produced a significant increase in TEER and enhanced histological restitution to 804.4% epithelial coverage in injured neonatal mucosa. Thus, neonatal mucosal repair can be rescued through direct contact with the cellular and non-cellular milieu of ischemia-injured mucosa from juvenile pigs. These findings support the hypothesis that a defect in mucosal repair in neonates is due to immature repair mechanisms within the mucosal compartment. Future studies to identify and rescue specific defects in neonatal intestinal repair mechanisms will drive development of novel clinical interventions to reduce mortality in infants affected by intestinal ischemic injury.
Mon., Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

Free

Nature, Science & Environment

Learn about the world of falconry from licensed falconer, Audrey Sohikian. She will also have a live raptor present during her presentation! Audrey will be discussing the following topics: -What is falconry?-Raptors used for falconry and how they hunt-Rules and regulations-How to become a falconer-How to train a raptor for falconry-Ethics of falconry-Falconry's role in conservation This presentation will be on Zoom and can be viewed at home or in-person at the library. If you would like to attend on Zoom, please email Sarah at ssnyder@jaxpl.org for link. 217-243-5435
HONOLULU (AP)  Hurricane Lane weakened to a tropical storm on Friday as it headed toward the Hawaiian islands. But it still brought torrential rains that immersed a city in waist-deep water and forced people to flee flooding homes, while others jumped off seawalls with boogie boards into the turbulent ocean.

As many dealt with flooding and even brush fires, swimmers and surfers ignored warnings from authorities and plunged into powerful waves at Oahu's famed Waikiki Beach, which was closed.

Emergency officials said repeatedly over loudspeakers: "Please get out of the water! It's very dangerous!" Honolulu's mayor pleaded with tourists that they were putting themselves in danger as the storm churned closer.

The National Weather Service downgraded the storm to a tropical storm with winds of up to 70 mph (110 kmph) as it headed north toward the islands. It was expected to veer west, skirting the islands, but still threatened to bring heavy rains and strong, gusty winds statewide, meteorologist Gavin Shigesato said.

A hurricane watch for Oahu and Maui was downgraded to a tropical storm watch. Still, meteorologists warned that Lane could trigger flash flooding and inflict wind damage.

The outer bands of the hurricane dumped as much as 3 feet (1 meter) of rain in 48 hours on the mostly rural Big Island. The main town of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded Friday with waist-high water as landslides shut down roads.

Margaret Collins, 69, woke up Thursday night to the sound of moving water in her Hilo backyard.

"So I got up out of bed and looked out my bedroom window and saw water 3 feet high gushing past my window," she said. "And that's when I realized I was standing in water."

Story continues

She called a neighbor for help, who crawled through bushes to bring her out of the house, half-carrying her as she clutched a plastic bag with medication.

The gushing water knocked down a cement wall and lifted her truck out of the carport, sending it toward her neighbor's house, she said.

"My house is completely inundated with mudwater," said Collins, who was told the damage wouldn't be covered by insurance. She hopes she can get federal assistance.

Elsewhere on the Big Island, the National Guard and firefighters rescued six people and a dog from a flooded home, while five California tourists were rescued from another house.

A different type of evacuation took place on Oahu  the state's most populated island.

Officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources transferred about 2,000 rare Hawaiian snails from a mountain marsh to offices in downtown Honolulu. A staffer will spend the night and place ice around their cages in case the air conditioning goes out.

Some of the snails are the last of their kind, including one named George that's the sole remaining Achatinella apexfulva in captivity. Staff members are trying to keep him safe in case he's able to reproduce.

As flooding hit the Big Island, brush fires broke out in areas of Maui and Oahu susceptible to flames.

Some residents in a shelter on Maui had to flee when a fire got too close and another forced people from their homes. A woman got burns on her hands and legs and was flown to Honolulu, Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said. Her condition wasn't clear.

A man posted a video on Instagram showing flames several stories high starting to envelop parked cars. Josh Galinato said he was trying to sleep when he smelled smoke in his apartment in the tourist town of Lahaina.

"I opened up my front door, and I just saw the fire spreading and coming downhill," Galinato said. He and neighbors honked horns to alert others to the danger.

Joseph Azam, who was vacationing in Maui with family and friends, hoped rain from the hurricane arrived before the flames did.

"Trying to figure which comes first, the fire or the rain," said Azam, who's from Oakland, California, and is staying at a hotel. "We're praying the rain arrives soon."

Others prayed it to stay away.

In Waikiki, the man-made Ala Wai Canal is likely to flood if predicted rains arrive, said Ray Alexander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The canal marks the northern boundary of the Waikiki tourist district. Worries that it could overflow in heavy rains have prompted plans to mitigate the risk.

"The canal has flooded in the past, and I believe it's safe to say based on the forecast of rainfall it's likely to flood again  the impacts of which we aren't prepared to say at this time," Alexander said.

Major flooding could damage 3,000 structures and cost more than $1 billion in repairs, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper reported, citing corps estimates.

Officials received $345 million last summer to build detention basins, a flood wall and pumping station, beginning in 2020 and expected to be completed in 2023, Alexander said.

Employees have filled sandbags to protect oceanfront hotels from surging surf. Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for flash flooding, while residents lined up at stores to stockpile supplies.

Away from the high-rise hotels of Waikiki, Crystal Bowden, a tourist from California, watched powerful waves crash against cliffs on Oahu's southeast coast.

"I came in to visit, got here just in time for the hurricane," Bowden said. "We're kind of excited."

Almost 16,000 homes and businesses on the islands lost power, but service was restored to some, Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said about 2,000 people were in shelters, mostly in Oahu.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Skoloff and Caleb Jones in Honolulu, Mark Thiessen and Dan Joling in Anchorage, Alaska, Colleen Long in Washington and Alina Hartounian and Annika Wolters in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Canadian Natural Resources Company CNQ looks compelling at the moment. We are positive on the companys prospects and believe that the time is right for you to add the stock to your portfolio, as it looks promising and is poised to carry the momentum ahead.



Canadian Natural currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 offer the best investment opportunities for investors.



Lets delve deeper to analyze the factors that make this Calgary-based energy explorer an attractive investment option at the moment.



Impressive Portfolio & Production Mix



Canadian Naturals core operations are focused in Western Canada, the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea and offshore Africa, which includes Cote dIvoire, Gabon, and South Africa. Canadian Naturals substantial world class oil sands mining assets, which include Horizon Oil Sands and the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP), are of particular significance. Through these properties, the firm holds leases that contain an estimated six billion barrels of proved and probable SCO reserves.



The company has a broad portfolio of low-risk exploration and development projects, with a strong international exposure that yields long-term volume growth at above-average rates. Its balanced and diverse production mix  38% synthetic crude oil, 25% heavy crude oil, 25% natural gas and 12% light crude oil  boosts long-term value. This also significantly reduces Canadian Naturals risk profile and lends its results a high level of stability.



Opportunistic Acquisitions



Canadian Naturals prudent and well-timed acquisitions have allowed the company to improve its competitive edge, apart from boosting revenues and earnings. In 2017, the company acquired 70% interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands project for $8.5 billion, which added significant value to its asset base and buoyed cash flow prospects. Being in close proximity to Horizon's operations enables the company to benefit from synergies.

Recently, the project joined the elite one-billion-barrel club in July, as it produced one billion barrels of mined bitumen since it became functional in 2003. Last year, the company bought Pelican Lake assets for $807 million, which further strengthened its operations.



Strong Second Quarter and Bright Prospects



Canadian Natural saw its profits jump in second-quarter 2018, supported by a spike in crude prices and output levels. The company recorded earnings per share of 81 cents, up 189% year over year. Revenues of $4,613 also surged 67.3% from second-quarter 2017 figure of $2,758 million. Notably, both the top and bottom lines surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.



Canadian Natural continues to ramp up production at its Horizon and AOSP oil sands mining facilities. The projects netted around 408 thousand barrels per day to Canadian Natural in the second quarter.



Notably, the company projected around 16% year-over year increase in its overall production volume in 2018, primarily on the back of its Athabasca and Horizon Oil Sands Project.



Cash Flow Strength and Investor-Friendly Moves



Canadian Natural fares well in the free cash flow (FCF) parameter, which is a key metric to gauge the financial health of a company. It generated FCF of C$2.2 billion on a year-to-date basis. While Canadian Natural returned around C$1.2 billion through dividend and buybacks, the remaining FCF was utilized in paying back the debts. As the second quarter culminated, the company repurchased an additional 722.6 million common shares. With oil prices expected to remain strong over the next few quarters, Canadian Natural should be able to maintain its strong level of cash flow with the help of rising production.



A Dividend Aristocrat



Canadian Natural is a dividend aristocrat with a yield of around 3%, higher than both the industry and S&P 500. Whats more, the company has a solid track record of dividend hikes, making it a high-yield, dividend growth play. In March 2018, the firm raised its dividend by 22%, marking the 18th consecutive year of payout increase. The attractive dividend has buoyed investors optimism surrounding the stock.



Estimates Northbound



Annual earnings estimates for Canadian Natural have moved north over the past two months, reflecting analysts confidence on the stock. Over this period, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 has increased around 18.8% to $2.84 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 has also moved up 19.2% over the same time frame to $2.98.



Other Stocks That Warrant a Look



Apart from Canadian Natural, investors interested in the energy sector may also consider other top-ranked stocks like TC PipeLines, LP TCP, Eclipse Resources Corporation ECR and Petrobras PBR, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



TC Pipelines 2018 earnings are expected to grow 18.67% year over year.



Eclipse Resources pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 183.33% in the trailing four quarters.



Petrobras delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 10.37% in the trailing four quarters.



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Kenya beats South Africa to emerge as Africas top avocado exporter, Africanews reported.

According to Food and Agricultural Organization, the East African nation produces an average of 191,000 tons of avocados per year, and is ranked the largest producer in Africa followed by South Africa.

Mexico is the largest producer of avocados in the world and Kenya is seventh globally with 7,500 hectares under cultivation.

In 2015, the country exported 15 thousand tons and in 2017 it exported 63 thousand tons. The Kenyan government believes that the avocado market is expanding and could benefit many young entrepreneurs.

Kenyan avocados, which cost around one euro per unit, are sold next to the avocados from Chile, Mexico, and Israel in most supermarkets in Europe. Past attempts to access the populous Chinese market failed largely on agricultural health concerns, according to AFP.

Head of Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD) Nehemiah Chepkwony said the Kenyan government is planning high-level, government-to-government discussions on opening up the Chinese market for Kenyan fresh produce, including avocados.

Kenya has resumed avocado exports to South Africa after an earlier ban was lifted earlier this year. Kenyas avocado export to SA was stopped due to fruit fly infestation in 2007. Following the ban, the country developed a pest management plan, which created pest-free zones to reduce infestation of the fruit fly.
Molina Healthcare (MOH) is likely to perform well in the third quarter on the back of a solid Medicaid business and its operational excellence.

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Shares have added about 21.5% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Advanced Micro due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Recent Earnings

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. delivered non-GAAP earnings of 14 cents per share for second-quarter 2018, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a couple of cents. Non-GAAP Earnings also increased year over year.



Revenues surged 53% year over year to $1.76 billion and marginally exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.72 billion. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to better-than-expected growth in both the Computing and Graphics and Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom business segments.



Further, the accelerated adoption of the companys products in the PC, gaming and data center industries primarily led to its impressive performance.



We believe that the launch of the new graphics cards will aid AMD increase its market share further, going forward.



Segments



Advanced Micro has two reportable segments  Computing and Graphics (focused on the traditional PC market) and Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom (focusing on adjacent high-growth opportunities).



Computing and Graphics



Computing and Graphics segment revenues witnessed year-over-year increase of 64% to $1.09 billion. The increase can be attributed to accelerated sales of Radeon graphics and Ryzen desktop processors.



Operating income for this segment was $117 million compared with $7 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily driven by higher revenues.



Notably, AMD exhibited its next generation CPU and GPU products at Computex, 2018. The chipmaker demonstrated its new 7nm AMD Radeon Vega GPU products, which are set to launch at some point in 2018. The company also showcased second-generation Threadripper CPU powered by Ryzen technology. 12nm Zen+ architecture will support the Ryzen second-generation based Threadripper 2. The chip features a whopping 32 cores and 64 threads, per PC Gamer.



Recently, the company also discussed its Tencent cloud services partnership for its EPYC processors. Furthermore, AMD announced that its AMD EPYC 7000 series processor will power Hewlett Packard Enterprises ProLiant DL325 Gen10 server.



In another impressive partnership, AMD touched on details about its first Cisco UCS server platform. Cisco UCS server platform is leveraging AMD products to offer 20% more storage capacity per rack, 128% more cores and 50% more servers.



One of AMDs more easily accessible deals will see the chipmaker help bring ultrawide 4K gaming to Samsung big screen TVs. These contracts are helping AMD rapidly penetrate the server market.



AMD and Microsoft had also collaborated for providing support to Radeon FreeSync technology in Microsofts Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles.



Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom



Segment revenues amounted to $670 million, up 37% year over year due to higher semi-custom and server revenues.



Operating income for the segment was $69 million compared with $16 million recorded in the year-ago quarter. The increase was due to higher revenue base.



Yahoo Japan Corporation and Packet were added to its list of clients. Additionally, Cray announced the addition of EPYC processors to its Cray CS500 line of HPC offerings.



Further, Dell EMC launched three new PowerEdge platforms powered by AMD EPYC 7000 series server processors.



Margins



Non-GAAP gross margin increased 300 basis points (bps) to 37% year over year driven by higher percentage of revenues from new products.



Non-GAAP operating margin during the quarter came in at 10.6% compared with 2% reported in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year expansion can primarily be attributed to higher operating income from the Computing and Graphics segment driven by higher revenues.



Adjusted EBITDA amounted to $228 million compared with $58 million in the year-ago quarter.



Balance Sheet & Cash Flow



AMD ended the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $948 million compared with $1.04 billion in the previous quarter. Total debt (including current portion) was $1.393 billion.



Free cash flow during the quarter came in at ($88) million, primarily due to working capital requirements in support of recent revenue growth.



Guidance



For third-quarter 2018, management expects revenues to be roughly $1.7 billion (+/-$50 million).



Non-GAAP gross margin is anticipated to be 38%, backed by better-than-expected growth in Ryzen and EPYC products.

Story continues

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in fresh estimates.

VGM Scores

Currently, Advanced Micro has a nice Growth Score of B, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a D. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of F on the value side, putting it in the bottom 20% quintile for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

The company's stock is suitable solely for growth based on our styles scores.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Interestingly, Advanced Micro has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.



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apple ceo tim cook

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Apple has banned a security app made by Facebook that monitored what apps users were using then sent the data to the social network.

Apple determined at Onavo Protect violated its new rules on data collection, and it has now been removed from the App Store.

It's still available on Google's Android, however.



Apple has determined that Onavo Protect, a Facebook-owned security app, is in violation of its rules, and asked the social network to take it down  which it did.

The news was first reported on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, and a Facebook spokesperson confirmed its removal to Business Insider. It's still available from the Google Play store on Android.

Onavo, an Israeli security firm acquired by Facebook in 2013, has long been the source of controversy.

Its flagship app, Onavo Protect, offers users a number of security features, including security alerts and access to a virtual private network (VPN). But it also monitors the apps that users use, reporting the data back to Facebook HQ  something the social network has used to identify competitors early and even prompt acquisitions.

According to the WSJ's report, Apple came to the conclusion that the app broke its new rules on data collection, and told Facebook as much earlier in August.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but a company spokesperson told CNBC:

"We work hard to protect user privacy and data security throughout the Apple ecosystem. With the latest update to our guidelines, we made it explicitly clear that apps should not collect information about which other apps are installed on a user's device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing and must make it clear what user data will be collected and how it will be used."

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: "We've always been clear when people download Onavo about the information that is collected and how it is used. As a developer on Apple's platform we follow the rules they've put in place."

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According to previous reports from the Wall Street Journal, Facebook has used Onavo to do everything from monitoring usage of competing apps like Snapchat to surfacing up-and-coming apps like videochat app Houseparty, and then cloning its core features.

Critics have long held that Facebook doesn't do enough to advertise its ownership of Onavo  you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of its description in smartphone app stores to see that disclosure; something not every would-be user may do. Earlier this year, privacy advocates were upset when the core Facebook app suggested users download Onavo Protect, without disclosing that relationship. It's been called "vampiric" and "spyware" by pundits.

A Google spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether the company will take action on Onavo of its own.

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The number of U.S. lawsuits brought against Bayer's (BAYGn.DE) newly acquired Monsanto has jumped to about 8,000, as the German drugmaker braces for years of legal wrangling over alleged cancer risks of glyphosate-based weedkillers.

Bayer had previously disclosed 5,200 such lawsuits against Monsanto, which it acquired in a $63 billion deal completed in June.

"The number of plaintiffs in both state and federal litigation is approximately 8,000 as of end-July. These numbers may rise or fall over time but our view is that the number is not indicative of the merits of the plaintiffs' cases," Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann told analysts in a conference call on Thursday.

Bayer shares have lost more than 10 percent since Monsanto was ordered on Aug. 10 to pay $289 million in damages in the first U.S. lawsuit over glyphosate-based weedkillers such as Roundup and Ranger Pro.

The legal headache adds to a number of distractions for Bayer, such as falling consumer care product sales and a rebuke on production practices from the U.S. drugs watchdog, as it seeks to strengthen its drug development pipeline and has begun integrating Monsanto into its organisation.

"While this is disappointing, it is not surprising. Indeed, in our litigation scenario analysis, we assumed a doubling of cases to 10,400," said Alistair Campbell, analyst at brokerage Berenberg.

Bayer shares were down 1.8 percent at 1600 GMT while the German blue chip index (.GDAXI) was up 0.2 percent.

CEO Baumann reiterated Bayer's view that the jury's verdict on Aug. 10 was inconsistent with the science-based conclusions of regulators.

Bayer said it will initially petition the judge to reverse the jury's verdict from Aug. 10, and "if necessary" challenge the ruling with California appellate courts, which will take at least a year.

When asked whether Bayer would consider settling cases out of court, he said: "We will vigorously defend this case and all upcoming cases."

Story continues

Bayer executives on the call stressed that demand for glyphosate and seeds for crops that tolerate the broad-spectrum herbicide had not been affected by the verdict.

"Nothing whatsoever has changed in the regulatory status of the product. There is simply very high demand, and has been for many decades for glyphosate. It is an invaluable tool for growers," said Liam Condon, the head of Bayer's newly enlarged Crop Science division.

Bayer also said on Thursday that it sees no reason to re-assess the legal risks from Monsanto.

Last week Bayer, which is retiring the Monsanto name, launched the integration of Monsanto into its organisation. That is seen as a daunting task even without the litigation, almost two years after it signed the $63 billion deal.

Bayer's second-quarter results, due on Sept. 5, would include provisioning for legal defence costs but no money would at that point be set aside for any possible future damages, finance chief Wolfgang Nickl said.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Susan Fenton)
Palo Alto High School journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki, mother of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki.

Joi Ito

The new biography from Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the daughter of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, illustrates just how closely knit Silicon Valley can be.

Brennan-Jobs' high school mentor was Esther Wojcicki, the mother of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki.

Esther Wojcicki is a longtime and well-respected educator.



The San Francisco Bay Area as a whole may be a huge metropolitan region, but Silicon Valley can often seem like a small town.

"Small Fry," the new biography by Lisa Brennan-Jobs, illustrates that point.

Brennan-Jobs is the daughter of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. After spending her early years with her mother, artist Chrisann Brennan, Brennan-Jobs went to live with her famous father as a teenager.

While in high school, Brennan-Jobs got into journalism and became the editor-in-chief of her school's newspaper. Her journalism teacher, who was also her mentor, was Esther Wojcicki.

If that last name sounds familiar, it's because it should. That's because she's the mother of Susan and Anne Wojcicki.

Susan Wojcicki, of course, is the CEO of YouTube, and it was in her garage that Larry Page and Sergey Brin first got Google up and running. Anne Wojcicki is the CEO of genomics company 23andMe, and was once married to Brin.

To be sure, Esther Wojcicki is notable in her own right. She's a well-respected educator who has taught journalism at Palo Alto High School for more than two decades and founded the school's Media Arts Center.

In an interview with The New York Times, Wojcicki praised her former student's new book.

"The dialogue that she had in there between her and Steve was just exactly right," Wojcicki said. "The book is a gift to all of us."

The photo of Esther Wojcicki is used under a Creative Commons license.

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SEE ALSO: Steve Jobs wasn't just a design and marketing genius  he had a hidden talent for logistics too, says a former Apple exec

SEE ALSO: YouTube may be Google's most potent weapon against Facebook
FILE PHOTO: British Airways logos are seen on tail fins at Heathrow Airport in west London, Britain, February 23, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - British Airways and Air France said on Thursday they would halt flights to Iran from September for business reasons, months after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would re-impose sanctions on Tehran.

British Airways said it was suspending its London to Tehran service "as the operation is currently not commercially viable".

BA, which is owned by Spanish-registered IAG, said its last outbound flight from London to Tehran will be on Sept. 22 and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on Sept. 23.

Air France will stop flights from Paris to Tehran from Sept. 18 because of "the line's weak performance," an airline spokesman said.

"As the number of business customers flying to Iran has fallen, the connection is not profitable any more," the spokesman said.

German airline Lufthansa said it had no plans to stop flying to Tehran.

"We are closely monitoring the developments ... For the time being, Lufthansa will continue to fly to Tehran as scheduled and no changes are envisaged," it said in an emailed statement.

The European Union has tried to keep an international deal on the Iranian nuclear program alive despite Trump's decision in May to withdraw the United States from the agreement.

Some new U.S. sanctions on Iran took effect this month.

The EU, which is working to maintain trade with Tehran, agreed 18 million euros ($20.6 million) in aid for Iran on Thursday, including for the private sector, to help offset the impact of U.S. sanctions.

Despite this, a number of European companies have announced they are pulling out of projects or scrapping investment plans in Iran.

Air France is the French arm of Franco-Dutch airlines group Air France KLM. KLM, the group's Dutch arm, had previously announced it was halting flights to Tehran.

The airlines' decision was welcomed by Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

"Today we learned that three major carriers, BA, KLM, and Air France, have discontinued their activities in Iran. That is good, more should follow, more will follow, because Iran should not be rewarded for its aggression in the region, for its attempts to spread terrorism far and wide ...," he told a news conference during a visit to Lithuania.

Story continues

The BA route was reinstated in the wake of the 2015 accord between western powers and Iran under which most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on the country's nuclear program.

Air France had re-opened the Paris-Tehran route in 2016.

Iran's ambassador to Britain expressed regret at BA's decision.

"Considering the high demand ... the decision by the airline is regrettable," Hamid Baeidinejad wrote on his official Twitter account.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru, Costas Pitas in London, Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Inti Landauro in Paris, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius and Emma Thomasson in Berlin; Editing by Stephen Addison and Adrian Croft)
PBOC China ICO Ban Cryptocurrency

Chinese regulators including the central bank have issued a new joint statement condemning illegal fundraising by schemes purporting to affiliate with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

Issued on Friday, the warning comes as a joint statement from the Peoples Bank of China  the countrys central bank, the Ministry of Public Security, the Banking Regulatory Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision and the Central Network Information Office.

The six major government bodies and watchdogs blasted lawless elements claiming to issue cryptocurrency through initial coin offerings (ICOs) while soliciting funds from investors. These operators use terms like financial innovation and blockchain, the warning read, accusing them of only purporting to be based on blockchain technology while theyre really elements of illegal fundraising, pyramid schemes and fraud.

First, the authorities highlighted crypto projects that rent overseas servers while relying on chat forums and online trading tools and payment gateways to collect funds from the public.

Some individuals claim to have obtained investment quotas for overseas premium blockchain projects in the chat group, which can be used for investment, and is most likely a fraudulent activity, a translated excerpt from the warning read.

The warning added:

The funds for these illegal activities are mostly overseas, and supervision and tracking are very difficult.

The watchdogs then took aim at seductive projects that used token airdrops of free cryptocurrency to tempt investors while others roped in celebrities to endorse them.

High returns and low risk, with strong deception< the notice said. In practice, the criminals illegally profited from the so-called virtual currency price movements, setting profit and cash withdrawal thresholds.

While China moved to ban cryptocurrency fundraising through ICOs this time last year, operators have continued to offer ICOs alongside new financing methods like initial fork offering, initial exchange offering and initial miner offering, the warning added.

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Todays public warning comes at a time when China continues its crackdown against the crypto sector after moving to ban commercial venues in Beijing from hosting cryptocurrency events last week.

Chinas government, known for mandating the infamous Great firewall, is also looking at blocking access to over 120 offshore exchanges websites in the mainland, in what could be the final nail in shuttering local crypto trading activity  at least in the mainstream  in China.

PBoC image from Shutterstock.



The post Crackdown Continues: Chinese Authorities Issue Joint Warning on Illegal Crypto Fundraising appeared first on CCN.


A 2,048-qubit D-Wave 2000Q processor, shown in the lower half of this image, was used to simulate the behavior of a quantum magnetic system depicted in the upper half. (D-Wave Systems Illustration)

One of the prime applications for quantum computers is to simulate natural quantum phenomena, and in a newly published study, researchers from Canadas D-Wave Systems have demonstrated how to do it.

The phenomenon that they simulated involves a topological phase transition associated with thin-film superconductivity and superfluidity. Its called the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, and figuring out how the transition could be done earned Brown Universitys Michael Kosterlitz and the University of Washingtons David Thouless shares of the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics.

Today Kosterlitz hailed the quantum computer simulation, which is described in a paper published by Nature.

This paper represents a breakthrough in the simulation of physical systems which are otherwise essentially impossible, Kosterlitz said in a D-Wave news release. The test reproduces most of the expected results, which is a remarkable achievement.

D-Waves chief scientist, Mohammad Amin, said the feat represents a landmark in the field of quantum computation.

For the first time, a theoretically predicted state of matter was realized in quantum simulation before being demonstrated in a real magnetic material, Amin said. This is a significant step toward reaching the goal of quantum simulation, enabling the study of material properties before making them in the lab, a process that today can be very costly and time-consuming.

The Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition has been modeled previously, using more conventional simulation methods. D-Wave  which is headquartered in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.  achieved results that were consistent with those classical simulations, using its fully programmable, 2,048-qubit annealing quantum computer.

D-Waves 2000Q computer makes use of superconducting quantum interference device flux qubits, or SQUIDs, fabricated as an integrated circuit. Unlike classical bits, which represent a definite value of either one or zero, qubits can represent both values simultaneously in the course of a calculation.

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Over the years, researchers have debated whether D-Waves computers truly exhibit quantum effects. The newly published research, added to a different type of simulation that D-Wave described in a paper published last month by Science, firms up D-Waves quantum pedigree.

Richard Feynman, a pioneer in the field of quantum physics, first proposed the idea of using quantum computers to simulate quantum phenomena back in 1982.

The ability to demonstrate two very different quantum simulations  illustrates the programmability and flexibility of D-Waves quantum computer, said D-Waves Andrew King, the Nature studys principal author. This programmability and flexibility were two key ingredients in Richard Feynmans original vision of a quantum simulator.

If quantum computers work the way researchers expect, the behavior of custom-designed superconductors and other exotic materials could be predicted  and tweaked as necessary  well in advance of fabrication.

This gives hope that future quantum simulators will be able to explore more complex and poorly understood systems, so that one can trust the simulation results in quantitative detail as a model of a physical system, Kosterlitz said. I look forward to seeing future applications of this simulation method.

D-Wave Systems has attracted total funding of more than $200 million from a bevy of high-profile investors, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos venture capital fund, Goldman Sachs and In-Q-Tel. Lockheed Martin, Google, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory number among D-Waves customers.

King and Amin are among 29 authors of the Nature paper, titled Observation of Topological Phenomena in a Programmable Lattice of 1,800 Qubits. All are from D-Wave Systems, except for Juan Carrasquilla of the Vector Institute.

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Maybe Tesla could learn a few tricks from old General Motors (NYSE: GM): The manufacturing "ramp" for GM's all-new full-sized pickups appears to be a bit ahead of schedule.

Earlier this year, GM said that its all-new pickups would begin arriving at dealers this fall. But the first new trucks have already arrived, and while it's very early, dealers say they're selling quickly -- two very good signs for GM's bottom line.

A 2019 GMC Sierra Denali, an upscale full-size pickup truck.

Some of the first new 2019 GM pickups to ship were high-profit GMC Sierra Denalis. Image source: General Motors.

GM is already shipping some higher-end pickups

GM said that its big pickup-truck assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana began shipping the first of the all-new 2019 pickups at the end of July.

Not surprisingly, early production at Fort Wayne has focused on popular, high-profit versions of the trucks: crew-cab and V8-powered versions of the Chevy Silverado, and upscale SLT and Denali versions of the GMC Sierra. It's the same strategy that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) followed when it launched its all-new F-150 in 2015, and it makes sense: The early arrivals can be sold at especially strong prices.

Like Ford with that F-150, Chevy and GMC dealers will be selling a mix of old and new trucks for the next several months. GM built up ample inventories of the outgoing 2018 model-year trucks before revamping its factory to make the all-new models. The idea was to ensure that dealers have plenty of trucks to sell while GM works to fill its pipeline with the all-new models.

Why GM expects the new trucks to boost margins

Most GM investors probably already know that these full-size pickups are extremely important to GM's bottom line. They're very profitable products that sell in high volumes: The Silverado is GM's best-selling product in the U.S by far, and the Sierra is third (behind the Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV).

The sales numbers are just huge: GM sold almost 400,000 Sierras and Silverados in the U.S. in the first half of 2018. If the two were counted as a single product, it would have trailed only Ford's rival F-Series in U.S. sales in the first half of the year.

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But while GM's current trucks have been able to rival Ford's F-Series sales totals, the average transaction prices on the outgoing Silverado and Sierra have trailed those of Ford's trucks, suggesting that the GM twins are probably less profitable than their rival. The reason: Ford has staked out a big presence in the growing "luxury pickup" subsegment, with a range of appealing (and good-selling) trucks priced over $55,000.

GM's outgoing models didn't compete well in that end of the market. But GM president Dan Ammann said earlier this year that the all-new trucks will come with an expanded range of luxury trims and offerings in an effort to close the gap. In particular, the all-new version of the popular GMC Sierra Denali is taking a step further upscale. It's no accident that Sierra Denalis were among the first all-new 2019 trucks to emerge from Fort Wayne. The new Denali starts at $54,700.

As part of its factory overhaul to build the new trucks, GM is also expanding its ability to build popular (and higher-profit) crew-cab models. Ammann said that production constraints meant that only about 60% of the outgoing pickup's sales were crew-cab models, below the industry average of roughly 70%.

But of course, it will take several months before GM's dealers have lots full of the all-new trucks to sell.

A 2019 Chevrolet Silverado crew-cab pickup truck.

GM ramped its assembly lines to boost production of crew-cab versions of its new trucks. Image source: General Motors.

How the new trucks will affect GM's profits

During GM's second-quarter earnings call, CFO Chuck Stevens said that GM's profits in North America fell about $800 million from the same period in 2017, primarily due to the discounts on its outgoing trucks. GM's profits and margin in the region were still strong, and the decline wasn't a surprise: GM's profits on the outgoing trucks will be relatively thin from here on out, while its profit margins on the early examples of the all-new trucks should be quite fat.

It will, however, take a while, likely until around the end of 2018, before the all-new trucks account for most of GM's full-size pickup sales. Assuming that the U.S. new-vehicle market stays strong, the new trucks should give GM a nice profit boost in 2019. In the meantime, the pressure on GM's profits from the discounting should gradually ease over the next two quarters as more of the new 2019-year trucks arrive at dealers.

More From The Motley Fool

John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Ford. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured at Googles European Engineering Center in Zurich, Switzerland July 19, 2018 REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

If you Google Chiropractor Bethesda Maryland, youll see Googles famous 10 blue links. But youll also see a box with a map  a snippet  at the top with local results, star ratings, and buttons for phone number and directions. Clicking further will show you reviews people left on Google Maps.

Google is ostensibly providing a service to make it easy to get what you want: a chiropractor in Bethesda.

But what if these reviews arent particularly good or reliable? This is a question that has come up based on the fact that Googles library of local reviews is no longer available apart from the Maps platform or the box above search links.

If you Google the exact, unique text of a user review found through the box above in quotes, an interesting thing happens: No results are found, despite the fact that you just saw the text, provided by Google itself in the box above the reviews.

Google appears to have quietly purged its own user-generated review content from its search results.

This is significant, critics of Google say, because it obscures the fact that Googles search engine judges the companys own reviews poorly. Googles search engine ranks content by relevance and quality, and Googles review content previously showed up deep into the search results, far from the first page of links that takes most of the clicks.

A Google spokesperson disagreed that the review content was de-indexed, simply noting that because Google reviews dont currently live on a web page, they are not displayed as web results.

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Given that reviews once showed up in regular Google search results and now do not, it follows that the reviews were moved from a web page to the Maps platform, whose code prevents search engines from crawling it. What was once searchable is now not searchable, something Google did not explain.

As a result, Google reviews do not have to rank highly in search engines. Instead, the Google snippet  the map and reviews box above the standard search result  allows the company to capture clicks that would otherwise flow off the platform to whatever website had the best result in the algorithm made by the search team down the hall at Mountain View deemed as the best.

When a mom does a search for local pediatrician on Google today, instead of being matched with the most relevant information, shes being redirected into a service with fewer reviews and lower quality information  a product Googles own meritocratic algorithms deem inferior, Luther Lowe, SVP of public policy for Yelp, which competes with Google on local reviews, told Yahoo Finance in an email.

Search rankings of Google reviews were poor. Now they dont exist.

A year ago, Googles search engine found this review content. But Googles search algorithms, which judge content based on being useful and relevant according to Google, apparently didnt find Googles reviews very useful or relevant  so it consistently ranked them poorly.

In to a complaint submitted to Brazils Administrative Council for Economic Defense, Yelp, which competes with Google in local search reviews, showed an example by Googling restaurants in Brasilia and filtering results for Google and TripAdvisor to tune out the noise. Google results came up on the eighth, after seven pages of Tripadvisor results.

Other examples Yahoo Finance reviewed showed Google results emerging as deep as the 17th page. Today, no results are found as Googles search engine skips over them while it crawls the internet.

In a recent tweet-squall, Yelps Lowe raised the question of why Google de-indexed reviews. The obvious implication, from the previously dismal search rank, is because Google reviews lag competitors like TripAdvisor and Yelp.

Analysis from Piper Jaffray, which Lowe cites, backs up the implications of Googles search algorithm in detail. The investment bank found Google reviews were less than a quarter the length, and 25% had no text at all.

Why is Google looking to push its own local reviews so much? The company declined to comment, but our search queries reveal a possible motive: There are a lot of local searches.

Local search makes up a significant amount of the queries that Google fields every day, and keeping users engaged on the platform rather than off it presents opportunities for more monetization. Thats something Google appears to be focusing on, going so far as to track user locations even when user preferences explicitly say not to, according to a recent investigation by the Associated Press. The AP noted that Google was pushing into targeted local advertising using data.

As a paper on similar issues from Harvard Business Schools Michael Luca, Columbia Law Schools Tim Wu, and others noted, prominently displaying Google content in response to search queriesmay reduce consumer welfare if the internal content is inferior to organic search results.

So what does this mean for you? In laymans terms: You might get a worse experience if you dont look past the first thing Google shows you.



Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, retail, personal finance, and more. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.

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Sony is bringing its iconic Aibo robotic dog back to the U.S. for the first time in more than a decade  though this time, the pricey gadget will feature some cloud-connected features that make it more expressive and engaging than previous iterations.

The U.S. relaunch of Aibo, which was announced Thursday, will be the sixth-generation of the companys line of robotic dogs, first introduced in 1999 and discontinued in 2006. Since re-introducing it in Japan this past January, Sony says it has already sold over 20,000 Aibo units over a seven-month period.

The new Aibo, for better or worse, shares a similar design language with its predecessors, though it looks much more like an actual dog thanks to a pair of large, expressive OLED eyes that blink, get drowsy and show anger. Compact motors designed by Sony give Aibo 22 axes of movement, making it much more lifelike than Sonys previous robots  though traditional dog-based activities, like scratching its ears or stretching its legs, look pretty comical compared to the real thing. Inside the newly designed Aibo is a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor making sense of all its input data, along with four microphones, a speaker and range sensor on its chest so it doesnt walk right into a wall or off a table.

Its AI meets robotics, but with a personality, Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo tells TIME. Aibos personality is more puppy-like than one would expect from a robot, though thats intentional  Sony is marketing it as a robotic puppy, and like a puppy, that means it wont always listen to your issued commands. It also means the longer you interact with it, the more it ages, and the more likely it is to correctly respond to commands like sit, or bang bang, if youre trying to get it to play dead.

The United States-bound Aibo, dubbed the First Litter Edition, will be available in September, and cost $2,899  $1,000 more than Sonys last Aibo, the ERS-7M2, released in 2005. This version will include the Aibo dog, along with accessories like a pink ball and Aibone toy bone. Aibo supports both Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity through AT&T. That LTE functionality will be included at no extra charge with the Aibos three-year AI Cloud Plan, which is needed to enable the dogs more advanced functions (like facial recognition). What that will cost after the three-year period is currently up in the air.

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Thanks to the bundled AI Cloud Plan, Sony claims the Aibo can recognize up to 100 individuals using the camera in its nose, and treat each person differently based on their interaction history. Like it when your Aibo rolls over? Through positive reinforcement  either by praising Aibo verbally or scratching it along one of its capacitive touch sensors on its back, chin, and forehead  Aibo will learn to roll over more often when youre around, and less so for your friends or partner. It will learn not only your behavior, but your moods, Fasulo says. It can detect if youre smiling, or if youre not.

Using the My Aibo app, you can manage your robot dog, unlock new tricks and see how much of your home its mapped with its spatial location camera located on the base of its tail. Aibo will use the generated map to find its way back to its charger when it runs out of juice after two to three hours of use. You can add notes sections of the map with tags like Kitchen, giving your Aibo more context when issuing commands. Its easier to send your robot dog to the kitchen if it knows where the kitchen is, after all.

Over time, and thanks to its always-connected software, Aibo can learn new tricks, and even gain more functionality depending on whether or not Sony wants to add any. According to Fasulo, Aibos hardware is capable of doubling as a mobile smart home assistant, though the functionality isnt present at the moment. Whether that means the functionality is on the Technologically its capable of many things, and sure, it could be adapted to be more of an assistant, says Fasulo.

Basic assistant functionality would be a big plus, especially considering both the Aibos price point and competition from cheaper, emotionally engaging robots from companies like Anki, which integrate similar touch sensors and face-recognizing cameras to facilitate interaction with its gadgets. However, one looks like a miniature forklift while the other is a dog that will do tricks, follow you around and beg for a good scratch on its head. How much thats worth is up to you.
Many CEOs have been very careful when it comes to making political statements. That's because, in the current highly charged environment, any perception of leaning right or left could chase away customers.

That creates a minefield when a company has concerns over any policy enacted by the Donald Trump administration. Harley-Davidson, for example, wound up on the bad side of the president's tweets when it said it would move some production overseas to avoid tariffs being enacted by countries in response to U.S. trade policy.

That's a fate most CEOs would like to avoid. So you can imagine how carefully Target (NYSE: TGT) CEO Brian Cornell addressed tariffs during his company's second-quarter earnings call, which was transcribed by Seeking Alpha (registration required).

A crowded Target store.

Target's CEO is concerned that tariffs will cause price increases. Image source: Target.

What did Target's CEO say?

Target has had its share of controversies over political issues. Last year, for example, it faced a boycott over its policy allowing transgender shoppers to use the bathroom of their choice. The company did not back down, and eventually the backlash mostly faded.

Cornell clearly learned from that experience. While he was very direct in addressing how he believes tariffs will impact customers, he walked a tightrope, making his comments as apolitical as possible:

"As a guest-focused retailer, we're concerned about tariffs because they would increase prices on everyday products for American families. In addition, a prolonged deterioration [in] global trade relationships could damage economic growth and vitality in the United States."

That's a very measured way to warn investors (and, indirectly, customers) that tariffs and the escalating trade war could lead to higher prices. Cornell also addressed how Target has been handling the issue:

"Given these risks, we have been expressing our concerns to our leaders in Washington, both on our own and along with other retailers and trade association partners. However, our concern is centered on the impact of tariffs, on consumers and the economy, not our ability to manage our business in the [face] of these challenges."

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Expect the best, plan for the worst

Cornell's comments were an effort to warn, but also to reassure. He was pointing out a reality: The ongoing trade issues will force higher prices on some consumer essentials. At the same time, he also made it clear that he was on top of the issue and that Target was prepared to deal with it:

"As you know, when we're faced with tariffs or any other external factors, there are multiple levers we can pull to remain price-competitive and maintain profitability, and we are continually developing and implementing contingency plans as we learn more and things evolve. While we always account for risks like these when we plan for the future, today we are also focused on the multiple opportunities we see in front of us."

That's a long way of saying, "We see what's coming, but don't worry, we got this." It was a deft effort by Target's CEO to point out a business risk and explain (albeit vaguely) how it would be handled -- doing it all without taking a political stance.

It might not create as big a headline as if Cornell had given a fiery speech about how much money tariffs are going to cost American consumers. But for Target, that's the right play in this situation. It shows that the company's CEO has learned how to operate in the current political environment -- and that's good for shareholders.

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Daniel B. Kline has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Getting into a close encounter with one of the most perfect predators on the planet is not an ideal situation for anyone, but thats exactly what happened to Blain Shelton. The 42-year-old Texas man found himself on the wrong end of a shark while swimming off the shore of Boliver Island near Galveston.

The shark tore his leg up pretty severely, but he managed to escape with his life. In most cases, surviving a shark attack is a momentous feat, but Shelton cant celebrate just yet. Thats because the bite was only the beginning of his struggles, and hes now fighting off a severe flesh-eating skin infection that took root when his wounded leg was exposed to the water.

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Id heard there was bacteria in the water, I just never treated it serious, Shelton told KHOU11. But to tell you the truth, if youve got a scratch on your arm or your leg, I wouldnt get in that water. And if you do, bring some alcohol with you to clean it the second you get out. Its nothing to play with.

Sheltons warning may sound extreme, but he has reason to be overly cautious after the ordeal hes been through. The sharks bite, which was located in his lower thigh just above his knee, was mended easily enough but it wasnt long before he began experiencing severe pain near the wound.

Upon his return to the hospital doctors discovered that his skin was beginning to rot away due to a flesh-eating bacterial infection. Shelton told the news station that he could barely walk when he returned to the hospital, but hes since been on a steady stream of pain meds while the infection is being treated. He is expected to recover.

Nevertheless, the entire saga is having a serious impact on his bank account, and his bills have now tallied over $100,000. Hes since set up a GoFundMe page in the hopes of covering part of that massive total.

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Tim Cook

Tesla and Apple compete for the same talent in fields like software, batteries, supply chain, and mechanical engineering.

So there has always been a lot of employees that jump from one company to the other.

But recently, the flow has been going from Tesla to Apple, according to CNBC, which says that the iPhone maker has poached at least 46 employees from Tesla in 2018.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk once said that "if you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple."

Elon Musk once called Apple the "Tesla graveyard."

"We always jokingly call Apple the Tesla Graveyard. If you dont make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. Im not kidding," Musk told German newspaper Handelsblatt in 2015.

These days, it seems like there is an increasing number of headstones popping up in Cupertino, California.

CNBC reports that Apple is on a hiring spree, poaching "scores" of ex-Tesla employees for a variety of projects, citing better pay at the iPhone giant.

A Tesla spokesperson seemed to say that was the reason for the attrition, too, in a statement to CNBC:

"We wish them well. Tesla is the hard path. We have 100 times less money than Apple, so of course they can afford to pay more. We are in extremely difficult battles against entrenched auto companies that make 100 times more cars than we did last year, so of course this is very hard work."

LinkedIn shows 46 people who jumped from the carmaker to Apple so far this year, and there are more that haven't updated their profile.

One person who hasn't updated his profile is Doug Field, a high-powered executive who oversaw engineering for the Tesla Model 3. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year he planned to take a "six-week sabbatical."

In August, it came out that he took a job at Apple, returning to the company he had worked before Tesla. Field is said to now be working on Project Titan, Apple's car project. Apple has a team of at least hundreds working on autonomous vehicles, with test vehicles driving on California streets today.

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But not all the new Tesla hires are working on Project Titan at Apple. Others are working on software, displays, and batteries, according to CNBC.

Tesla has had a tumultuous year, with near-daily controversies, and the stock options that Tesla employees receive may be less desirable given the stock's volatile price  at least compared to Apple, which became the first company to be valued over $1 trillion earlier this month.

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By Jonathan Stempel

Aug 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has formally granted a Canadian company the right to go after prized U.S. assets belonging to Venezuela, to satisfy claims from a 2008 nationalization of its gold mining operations in the now cash-strapped South American country.

U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark in Delaware on Thursday granted a so-called writ of attachment to Crystallex International Corp in shares of Citgo Holding, which owns a U.S.-based oil refiner controlled by state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

Stark also imposed a temporary stay on Crystallex enforcing the writ to give other parties a chance to weigh in, including possible appeals.

The judge had ruled on Aug. 9 that Citgo Holding assets were subject to attachment. PDVSA said it would appeal.

Other companies may also lay claims on the assets, and the writ's issuance does not mean Crystallex will take over Citgo and run its refineries.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Rosneft Trading SA, a unit of Russia's largest oil company, which owns a 49.9 percent security interest in Citgo Holding, filed a letter urging a hearing on how to "structure a robust appraisal and sale process" for the shares.

Holders of PDVSA bonds maturing in 2020 controlled the remaining 50.1 percent security interest, the Rosneft lawyers said.

Lawyers for Crystallex and Rosneft did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Crystallex has been seeking to collect $1.4 billion it claimed to have lost a decade ago, when Venezuela nationalized its gold mining operations under then-President Hugo Chavez.

OPEC member Venezuela has few offshore assets, which has encouraged creditors such as Crystallex to pursue Houston-based Citgo, its most valuable asset outside the country.

Stark said PDVSA should file a motion and post a bond if it wants to stop Crystallex from enforcing the writ, but can still appeal if it loses the motion or cannot post the bond.

A lawyer for PDVSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is Crystallex International Corp v Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 17-mc-00151. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Vice President Mike Pence is flanked by portraits of NASAs Orion space capsule and a space station in lunar orbit as he speaks at Johnson Space Center in Texas. (NASA via YouTube)

During a pep talk to NASAs Johnson Space Center in Texas, Vice President Mike Pence today highlighted what he saw as the mistakes of past space policy and touted an ambitious plan to put American astronauts on a new space station in lunar orbit by the end of 2024.

Pence said the Trump administration was working with Congress on a $500 million initiative to move NASAs Lunar Orbital Platform  Gateway from proposal to production. The first element of the outpost, known as the Power and Propulsion Element, is due for launch in 2022.

NASAs first crewed launch of its heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket is currently scheduled for 2023. That mission would send astronauts around the moon and back in an Orion deep-space capsule. Pence suggested that a follow-up SLS launch would send astronauts to dock with the Gateway sometime during the following year.

Our administration is working tirelessly to put an American crew aboard the Lunar Orbital Platform before the end of 2024.  Its not a question of if. Its just a question of when, Pence told the audience at Johnson Space Center.

Meeting a 2024 timetable would require getting other components of the Gateway attached to the Power and Propulsion Element  and clearing a more powerful variant of the SLS, known as Block 1B, for crewed flight. That schedule is theoretically doable, but challenging for an Orion-SLS development program that has already met with delays.

Putting a crew aboard the Lunar Orbital Platform  Gateway in 2024 would mesh with the Trump administrations drive to phase out direct federal funding for the International Space Station by 2025.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters in Houston that the space agency wanted to make sure a gap in space station utilization doesnt materialize, as it did in the case of the space shuttle program.

Pence, who heads the White Houses National Space Council, reiterated the administrations commitment to the space station transition and other aspects of space policy during todays talk. Among the highlights:

Story continues

In addition to his NASA visit, Pence spent time in Houston campaigning for U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who attended the Johnson Space Center gathering. Also in attendance were the nine NASA astronauts selected to fly on next years first commercial crew missions to the International Space Station.

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President Trump at a rally in support of the Senate candidacy of West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Craig Hudson/Charleston Gazette-Mail/AP)

Since before he was elected president, Donald Trump has operated in the belief that he can control his narrative through sheer force of will  and words. Day after day, he floods the airwaves with messages  ad-libbed speeches, off the cuff remarks and incendiary tweets  whose effect is to keep the worlds attention squarely on him.

As he explained at a July rally in Granite City, Ill., the advantage of never relinquishing the spotlight is its covered live, much of it, and when I say it they cant do anything about it.

But this week, Trumps relentless stream of words seems to have come back to haunt him, and may yet make the president want to reconsider his its all about me communications strategy. Trumps problems largely grew out of things that he himself is alleged to have said.

It began on Sunday, when he issued a flurry of tweets blasting the New York Times for its report that White House counsel Don McGahn has been cooperating extensively with special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation.

McGahn has so far sat for 30 hours of questioning from Muellers team, detailing Trumps private statements about the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the presidents anger at Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself in the Russia investigation. Unlike Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani (more on him in a moment), McGahn represents the office of the presidency, and, according to the Times, felt compelled to testify to Mueller out of fears that the president was setting him up to take the fall on possible obstruction charges.

White House counsel Donald McGahn attends a Cabinet meeting in the White House, Aug. 16, 2018. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

The Times story clearly irritated the president, who claimed he had nothing to hide.

Story continues

The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type RAT. But I allowed him and all others to testify  I didnt have to. I have nothing to hide  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

.and have demanded transparency so that this Rigged and Disgusting Witch Hunt can come to a close. So many lives have been ruined over nothing  McCarthyism at its WORST! Yet Mueller & his gang of Dems refuse to look at the real crimes on the other side  Media is even worse!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

It isnt known what McGahn told investigators. But its safe to assume he shared what he knew about Trumps outbursts against Comey, Sessions, disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and others.

On NBCs Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd asked Giuliani why the president didnt simply meet with Mueller and tell the truth about what had transpired, which led the former New York mayor into the realm of postmodern philosophy, raising the novel defense that Truth isnt truth! That Orwellian turn of phrase brought to mind what Trump himself declared in a July speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars: What youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening.

Trump also stepped up his attacks on Mueller, likening the special counsels investigation to McCarthyism at its worst! In addition to the McGahn revelations, the backdrop to the increased volume of the presidents tweets was the imminent conclusion of the trial of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort. The White House braced for the possibility that Muellers team might secure its fifth conviction, not a bad tally for what Trump has frequently labeled a WITCH HUNT!

As a Monday interview with Reuters showed, the president was worried about how the prosecution could use his own words against him.

So if I say something and [Comey] says something, and its my word against his, and hes best friends with Mueller, so Mueller might say: Well, I believe Comey, and even if Im telling the truth, that makes me a liar, Trump said. Thats no good.

Oddly, though, Trump also assured the country that, if he wanted to, he could simply pull the plug on an investigation into his own campaigns ties with the Russian government.

I can go in, and I could do whatever  I could run it if I want, Trump said. But I decided to stay out.

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Trump, leaves federal court in New York after pleading guilty to eight charges, Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP)

On Tuesday, Trumps longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felonies, telling a federal judge that Trump had personally directed him to pay off two women to keep quiet about alleged extramarital affairs for the principal purpose of influencing the election.

Cohens stunning admission contradicted all the dissembling stories Trump, Giuliani and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told about the payments.

But Team Trumps bad day was far from over. A jury in Alexandria, Va., found Manafort guilty of eight felony counts that included tax fraud, bank fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts. But for a single holdout, the jury would have returned guilty verdicts on all 18 of the charges in the indictment. Mueller may yet decide to retry the remaining 10 with a new jury. Meanwhile, Manaforts trial on separate charges of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent is coming up next month in Washington, D.C.

The president ended the day in West Virginia, at a rally for Democratic Sen. Joe Manchins opponent, Patrick Morrisey. But when his crowd launched into the obligatory chant of Lock her up! at the mention of Hillary Clintons name, Trump seemed more distracted than usual. Often at his safe space gatherings, the president will relish the portion of his speech that he reserves for going after Sessions, Comey and Mueller by name and deed, but after the Cohen and Manafort bad news, he limited it to a passing afterthought: Where is the collusion? You know theyre still looking for collusion, Trump said. Where is the collusion? Find some collusion. We want to find the collusion!

On cable news, Cohens lawyer Lanny Davis was busy answering Trumps question. Mr. Cohen has knowledge of certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel, and is more than happy to tell the special counsel all he knows, Davis told MSNBCs Rachel Maddow. Not just about the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democracy system in the 2016 election, which the Trump Tower meeting was all about, but also knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders at the daily White House press briefing, Aug. 22, 2018. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

On Wednesday, it was left to Sanders to try to explain exactly how what was being reported was not what was actually happening.

As the president has said and weve stated many times, he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him, and weve commented on it extensively, she told reporters gathered in the briefing room. Just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal, that doesnt implicate the president on anything.

The president went ever further on Twitter, saying that the acts Cohen admitted to werent actual crimes.

Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime. President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018

How one pleads guilty to noncriminal acts is something legal scholars may parse for generations to come. To make it so, however, one needs only to return to Giulianis truth isnt truth logical framework.

But as Thursday dawned, the administrations defense that it was Cohens word against Trumps was unraveling.

David Pecker, an executive at American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, reached an immunity deal with federal prosecutors to provide them with the details of Trumps hush-money payments to actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. That money was paid to the women in exchange for the rights to publish their stories, which the tabloid summarily buried.

In a Fox & Friends interview, Trump continued to fume over Cohens betrayal, with the president suggesting his formers lawyers cooperation with prosecutors should be outlawed.

Its called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal, Trump said.

The president also castigated Sessions, who recused himself from Muellers Russia probe shortly after he was appointed attorney general.

President Trump watches as Vice President Pence swears in Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Oval Office, Feb. 9, 2017. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department, Trump said. Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department, and its a sort of an incredible thing.

Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldnt have done. Or he should have told me, Trump continued. Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself, and then you wouldnt have put him in. He took the job and then he said, Im going to recuse myself. I said, What kind of a man is this?

Sessions, who rarely responds to Trumps public criticism, fired back.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, he said, adding: While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

Trump responded in a series of tweets urging the nations top law enforcement official to investigate a long list of his perceived enemies.

But the news, as it seemed to do all week for Trump, went from bad to worse. Late Friday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors in the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan granted immunity to Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. While Trumps latest defense is that those who flip to spare themselves from being prosecuted for the crimes they are accused of makes them a rat, its patently clear that even rats know when to jump a sinking ship.

Protester Bill Christeson at the trial of Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, at federal court in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

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Ambassador of Belarus I.Petrishenko meets Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia

24-08-2018

On August 23, 2018 on the occasion of completion of the diplomatic mission the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Russian Federation, Igor Petrishenko, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.

During the conversation, the sides discussed topical issues of the development of Belarus-Russia relations, as well as the schedule of upcoming contacts and events. Sergey Lavrov expressed gratitude to Igor Petrishenko for the constructive contribution to strengthening of bilateral integration and also wished him success in his new responsible position (the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus).

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HOW TO PRESERVE ASPEN LEAVES HOW TO PRESERVE ASPEN LEAVES 1. Gather leaves on a sunny day, after the dew has dried. Choose leaves with no blemishes. 2. Press your leaves shortly after gathering, before they dry out. 3. Place leaves between two layers of paper towels and then press them between two large books. Repeat this, depending on the number of leaves you have gathered. 4. Stack the books with the leaves pressed between. 5. After two days, change the paper towels and restack the books, allowing the leaves to press another five to eight days. 6. Mount the dried leaves in a photo album or between acetate or cellophane sheets.

FALL PHOTO TIPS FALL PHOTO TIPS  Use the light at sunrise and sunset to backlight the trees and help you catch sunlight glittering on the leaves.  Use blue sky with some white or gray clouds for contrast.  Use a tripod. Be patient.  Try close-ups of leaves and bark.

SHARE YOUR PHOTOS SHARE YOUR PHOTOS Send us your favorite pictures showcasing Colorados fall colors via Instagram (@co-gazette), Twitter (@csgazette), Facebook (facebook.com/springsgazette) and email (photo@gazette.com).

DID YOU KNOW? Aspens make up about 20 percent of Colorados forests and usually are found between 6,900 feet and 10,500 feet in elevation.

Areas Here are a few suggestions for areas to explore: Pikes Peak region  If a long road trip is out of the question, stay local and enjoy the drive up Old Stage Road in southwest Colorado Springs, an old logging route with a rich history and a wealth of aspens. Four-wheel drive is a plus, but passenger vehicles will be able to make it a good distance. To get there: From Interstate 25 south of downtown, take exit 138, Circle Drive. Go west and Circle Drive will become Lake Avenue. At The Broadmoor hotel, take the traffic circle onto Lake Circle, which becomes Portales Road. Veer right onto Mirada Road, which wraps to the west, becoming West Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard, then Old Stage Road.  Find another great drive on Mount Herman Road in Monument. Take Interstate 25 north to exit 161. Go west and follow Second Street through town. Head south on Mitchell Road and take a right onto Mount Herman Road at Dirty Woman Park. Take the well-maintained dirt road to the top of Mount Herman. Within a few hours drive:  Few will forget an autumn tour of the Highway of Legends Scenic Byway in southern Colorado, though getting there will be a time investment. Head south on I-25 to Walsenburg, then head west on U.S. 160 and branch off on Colorado 12 at La Veta. The 82-mile route will return you to I-25.  Enjoy the lovely route between Breckenridge and South Park via Boreas Pass at 11,492 feet. Take Forest Service Road 33 from U.S. 285 at Como in Park County or Boreas Pass Road in Breckenridge.  For another classic, head to Kebler Pass near Crested Butte. Head west out of Crested Butte over County Road 12, an improved dirt road, and be surrounded by aspens and breathtaking vistas. At Colorado 133, you can head north toward McClure Pass for more or return the way you came. For a shorter day, stick to Colorado 135 between Crested Butte and Gunnison.  Independence Pass, one of Colorados higher paved roads, provides sweeping views of aspens. Colorado 82 is normally open until Nov. 1 but could be closed early because of weather.
Colorado Politics senior political reporter

Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. His 32-year career includes the last 16 in Colorado. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist.
The number of highway deaths involving Colorado drivers who had marijuana in their system grew again in 2017, a new state study shows.

At the same time, traffic fatalities in which drivers had enough marijuana in their bloodstream to be deemed legally impaired dropped sharply, from 52 in 2016 to 35 last year.

The reason for this seeming contradiction: Marijuana can remain in the bloodstream for weeks, so a positive blood test may not mean a driver was stoned at the time of a deadly crash.

As the Colorado Department of Transportation study notes, The presence of a cannabinoid does not necessarily indicate recent use of marijuana or impairment.

Overall, the number of fatalities involving positive tests for marijuana has nearly doubled since recreational legalization in 2014, from 75 that year to 125 in 2016 and 139 last year.

Colorado law specifies that drivers with five nanograms of active tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a milliliter of their blood can be prosecuted for driving under the influence of marijuana.

A striking finding in the new study was the death toll involving people driving around with a cocktail of drugs in their bodies. In one year, deaths where drivers tested positive for cannabis, any alcohol and other drugs tripled  from eight in 2016 to 25 last year.

The report also found that drunken driving deaths had increased again. Twenty-six percent of those killed in crashes, or 171 people, had blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or greater, Colorados drunken driving limit, compared to 161 in 2016 and 151 in 2015.

Meanwhile, traffic deaths generally continued to increase on state roads, going from 546 in 2015 to 608 in 2016 and spiking to 648 last year.

CDOT spokesman Sam Cole said the department considers the number of deaths in which the driver was marijuana-impaired under state law to be the most reliable indicator of its impact on the highways.

By that measure, marijuana-related deaths are clearly down.

Presence does not indicate impairment, he said. At the same time, two years does not make a trend.

Kristi Kelly, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, welcomed the state finding that marijuana-impaired highway deaths declined last year.

She added that the industry intends to keep campaigning against smoking and driving.

We dont think our job is done, she said.

Henny Lasley heads Smart Colorado, a group concerned about the effects of legalization on children.

She worries that the latest highway death statistics will be used to loosen state regulations and promote public consumption of marijuana products.

First, The science of impairment is lacking, she said.

More concerning is why people are combining marijuana, alcohol and other drugs, she said. The combination is very concerning.

Cole agrees.

Before fatal drug-related crashes, drivers do tend to combine, he said. When you combine, it will amplify your impairment.
Authorities suspect Christopher Watts of murdering his wife and four children. They won't charge him with murder for the death of his unborn son, Niko.
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PAPILLON Starring Charlie Hunnan (Sons of Anarchy), Rami Malek (Mr. Robot, Night at the Museum, Eve Hewson (Bridge of Spies, Robin Hood) and Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy); directed by Michael Noer (Nordvest, Son of God); 136 minutes; R for violence, including bloody images, strong language, nudity and some sexual material.

Grade: D+
Papillon, a remake of the 1973 film about Devils Island inmate Henri Papillon Charriere, could be described as a prison drama, but its probably just as accurate to call the new movie a mystery.
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SAO PAULO, Brazil, Aug. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rio Alto Energia, a Rio Alto Group company, will deliver the Brazilian solar photovoltaic power plant project in the city of Coremas, in the backlands of Paraiba. The complex consisting of 10 plants will have the capacity to generate 300 MWp and three of them are already in operation, generating 93 MWp in an area of 300 hectares.



We founded the Rio Alto Group in 2009 with the goal of developing renewable energy projects, but above all, thinking about the future of next generations and sustainable development. I am proud to participate in the transformation of the city of Coremas and contribute to a greener economy in Brazil, remarked Rafael Brandao, co-founder of the Rio Alto Group.

In order to make the project feasible, which will generate jobs and opportunities in the region, the Rio Alto Group was financed by Banco do Nordeste and Banco BTG Pactual, having also established important partnerships with the European Union, a pioneer in renewable energies and solutions against climate change. Among the partner companies there is Nordic Power Partners, a joint venture between the IFU (Danish Investment Fund) and EE (European Energy).

The other seven plants with a capacity of 210 MWp are already fully developed and ready for deployment. By 2040, it is estimated that the solar and wind energy production will exceed the production of hydroelectric power in Brazil, and may reach 40% of the national energy matrix.

About Rio Alto Group

Founded in 2009, Rio Alto Group specializes in the development of renewable energy projects, energy commercialization, construction and asset management and structured products. Consisted of by the companies Rio Alto Energia, Construtora, Comercializadora and Mais Asset, the group has, as founding partners, Edmond Farhat, Rafael Brandao and Sergio Reinas.

More information

www.gruporioalto.com.br

Phone: +55 (11) 3546-0900
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceylon Graphite Corp. (Ceylon Graphite) (TSX-V: CYL) (OTC: CYLYF) (FSE: CCY) is pleased to announce that it has received assay results of laboratory testing of graphite samples taken from the overburden of its exploration GRID no 23, under Exploration License No EL/222/R/2 in the Pasyala area in Sri Lanka.



These new site test results indicate a carbon content (Cg) of 96.13% which is vastly superior to virtually every other natural graphite source globally. The laboratory testing was done by the Sri Lanka Governments Geological Survey and Mines Bureaus laboratory.

Upon these material findings, the company is pleased to report it has signed three new land agreements under Exploration Licenses 222 and 224 and is accelerating its exploration, and commencing a drilling program on the recently added site(s) to determine an additional resource estimate, in addition to its currently verified ore holdings.

We are delighted with this result which confirms that Ceylon Graphite has some of the worlds purest graphite available in its grids, said Bharat Parashar, Chief Executive Officer. With three active sites at present, we fully expect to bring the new land packages online for commercial extraction over the next several months  as we are now executing on a dual strategy of drilling and clearing out the historical shafts simultaneously.

The new sites contains several historic shafts and adits. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 120km with substantial reserves of the worlds purest graphite.

These tests were conducted in the normal course of exploration work with samples taken from the overburden  ie. subsurface materials. The company is looking forward to additional testing from its drilling efforts, as bedrock extracted Graphite from this site will likely be of even higher quality than the (Cg) of 96.13%.

Qualified Person



Robert Marvin, P. Geo (ONT) is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the geological information provided in this news release.

About Ceylon Graphite Corp.

Ceylon Graphite Corp, is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (CYL:TSX-V), that is in the business of exploration and development of graphite mines in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 120km. These exploration grids (each one square kilometer in area) cover areas of historic graphite production from the early twentieth century and represent a majority of the known graphite occurrences in Sri Lanka. Graphite mined in Sri Lanka is known to be some of the purest in the world, and currently accounts for less than 1% of the world graphite production.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes statements about Ceylon Graphites grids, Ceylon Graphites plans to undertake additional drilling and to develop a mine plan, Ceylon Graphites Mining License application and to commence establishing mining operations. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Ceylon Graphite, including the assumption that, the drilling exercises will confirm the presence of high quality graphite, sufficient financial resources will be available, the records from the drilling exercises prove to be accurate, there will be no unanticipated delays or costs materially affecting Ceylon Graphites exploration, development and production, there will be no material adverse change in metal prices, all necessary consents, licenses, permits and approvals will be obtained, including various Local Government Licenses and the market. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things, an inability to reach a final acquisition agreement, inaccurate results from the drilling exercises, a failure to obtain or delays in obtaining the required regulatory licenses, permits, approvals and consents, an inability to access financing as needed, a general economic downturn, a volatile stock price, labour strikes, political unrest, changes in the mining regulatory regime governing Ceylon Graphite, a failure to comply with environmental regulations and a weakening of market and industry reliance on high quality graphite. Ceylon Graphite cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, Ceylon Graphite does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com )

Further information regarding the Company is available at www.ceylongraphite.com

Bharat Parashar, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

info@ceylongraphite.com

Corporate Communications

(604) 559-8051
enigma123 wrote:

How many factors does 36^2 have?



2 8 24 25 26



Answer is 25 i.e. D. Can someone please explain how?

Finding the Number of Factors of an Integer

NOTE:

Example:

How many factors does 36^2 have?

5 seconds approach:

Tips about the perfect square

number of distinct factors

sum of distinct factors

ODD number of Odd-factors

EVEN number of Even-factors

even powers of its prime factors

First make prime factorization of an integer \(n=a^p*b^q*c^r\), where \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\) are prime factors of \(n\) and \(p\), \(q\), and \(r\) are their powers.The number of factors of \(n\) will be expressed by the formula \((p+1)(q+1)(r+1)\).this will include 1 and n itself.Finding the number of all factors of 450: \(450=2^1*3^2*5^2\)Total number of factors of 450 including 1 and 450 itself is \((1+1)*(2+1)*(2+1)=2*3*3=18\) factors.For more on number properties check: math-number-theory-88376.html BACK TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION:A. 2B. 8C. 24D. 25E. 26\(36^2=(2^2*3^2)^2=2^4*3^4\) and according to above it'll have (4+1)(4+1)=25 different positve factros, including 1 and 36^2 itself.Answer: D.36^2 is a perfect square. # of factors of perfect square is always odd (as perfect square has even powers of its primes then when adding 1 to each and multiplying them as in above formula you'll get the multiplication of odd numbers which is odd). Only answer choice D is odd thus it must be correct.Answer: D.1. Theof a perfect square is ALWAYS ODD.2. Theof a perfect square is ALWAYS ODD.3. A perfect square ALWAYS has an, and4. Perfect square always hasHope it helps._________________
Re: In how many ways can two integers m and n, with m > n, be selected fro [ #permalink

MathRevolution wrote:

[GMAT math practice question]



In how many ways can two integers \(m\) and \(n\), with \(m > n\), be selected from the whole numbers from \(12\) to \(32\), inclusive?



\(A. 150\)

\(B. 180\)

\(C. 190\)

\(D. 210\)

\(E. 240\)

the number of integers from x to y inclusive equals y - x + 1

A nice rule says:32 - 12 + 1 = 21So, there are 21 numbers from which to chooseNOTE: the order in which we select the numbers does not matter because, once we have selected the 2 numbers, we'll let m equal the larger value (to maintain the condition that m > n)Since order does not matter, we can use combinations.We can select 2 numbers from 21 numbers in 21C2 ways21C2 = (21)(20)/(2)(1) = 210Answer: DRELATED VIDEO - calculating combinations (like 21C2) in your head_________________
Re: In the figure above, points A, B, C, D, and E lie on a line. A is on [ #permalink

Parth Monga wrote:

In this question Why are we considering C towards left of D its not stated in the question that its in left of D its shown but not stated. C is given that its lie on the same line and its center of larger circle, But what if the C is towards right of D. Then we can not solve this question using only statement 2.



Should the diagram be considered as concrete not flexible?

a data sufficiency problem

Lines shown as straight can be assumed to be straight and lines that appear jagged can also be assumed to be straight.

You may assume that the positions of points, angles, regions, and so forth exist in the order shown

Figures:

a problem solving question

Lines shown as straight are straight

The positions of points, angles, regions, etc., exist in the order shown

OG13, page 272:A figure accompanyingwill conform to the information given in the question but will not necessarily conform to the additional information given in statements (1) and (2).and that angle measures are greater than zero degrees.All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.OG13, page 150:A figure accompanyingis intended to provide information useful in solving the problem. Figures are drawn as accurately as possible. Exceptions will be clearly noted., and lines that appear jagged are also straight., and angle measures are greater than zero. All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.Hope it helps._________________
SANNIDHYAB wrote:

To set context - I am an Indian male working in marketing field with a B tech degree (GPA=3.7). I gave my GMAT on 28th July and scored 650. Because of the low score I will be giving it again on 29th August. I am able to consistently score from 700 to 720 in my mocks. Currently, I am facing a hurdle with the selection of B schools. I have 1 year of work experience and since score is valid for 5 years I want to get done with the GMAT ASAP.



My whole Work Experience has been in Digital marketing. I have around all the certificates which google has listed for digital marketing. Because of my presence in the marketing agency my company was able to endorse Google adwords certified. Along with that I have been used as a filler for my company where I have done modelling for the products which the company endorses. Also, I was involved in various outreach and strategy development programmes like convincing the local businesses to incorporate affiliate marketing. There are a lot of other things as well but I hope this paints a picture. In addition to this I am now the manager in the company so will be leading a team of 7 to 11 people singlehandedly for all the marketing campaigns.



In college I was the founder of an NGO club which head raised funds around Rs45,000 in a year. I addition to that I was the coordinator(head position) of the astronomy club in the college and was responsible for various activities. I have been in town hall and sang on auspicious occasions like Republic day in front of high dignitaries like city collector etc.



There are some admission companies that offer free evaluation. Please leverage that.

Keeping in mind the score and my profile till now can you suggest me some B schools across US, Canada and Europe (mentioning all the three because I don't know which one to choose) which can be targeted in this range. I don't want to be too ambitious and fill the universities which are out of my scope. Also, I don't want to be blinded by the rankings which are available in the market for the B schools. Since GMAT allows us to choose 5 schools of our choice for free, I don't want to waste that opportunity. But I don't have enough information to take a wise decsion. Therefore I am seeking for help.



It would also be really beneficial if you could also let me know what should I do in order to further strengthen up my profile.



-Sannidhya Baweja



The Graceful

----------------------------------------------------------

Every EXPERT was a beginner once...

Don't look at the clock. Do what it does, keep going ..

To achieve great things, two things are needed:a plan and not quite enough time - Leonard Bernstein .

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Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli on Tuesday kicked out his second wife, Roselinda Simiyu Atwoli and their son out of his Kileleshwa home, the Star newspaper reported Thursday.

Roselinda is said to have filed a complaint with police accusing the trade unionist of forcibly evicting her and their 13-year-old son from their Kileleshwa home in Nairobi.

According to Roselinda, a visit to see their son on Tuesday evening degenerated into a furious exchange of words, culminating in her being forced out of the house together with the boy at 7 pm.

The Star reports that Roselinda said she visited her son on the advice of Fida  the premier womens rights organization in Kenya. Atwoli is said to have assumed custody of the boy in January.

The outspoken COTU boss has defended his actions saying he allowed Roselinda to come and visit but she overstayed her welcome.

He explained that he has never denied her access to the son and that she is free to visit and even go out with him, but not stay in the apartment.

Atwoli and Roselinda reportedly acquired the apartment in 2006.

I allowed her to come and visit the kid but not spend the night. I have a first wife who does not behave like Roselinda. She respects our marriage, Atwoli was quoted as saying.

Atwoli met Roselinda 22 years ago when she was a single mother of three. Their marriage bore them two kids.

According to Roselinda, their marital hiccups started as early as 2015. In 2016, Atwoli was at odds with her when she allowed her eldest daughter to take aviation studies in South Africa. Their differences resulted in Atwoli writing a letter to the school to discontinue the girls studies.

From then he changed and it was like he had no soul anymore. He was clearly blacked out. There was no person when I looked at him, Roselinda said.

She says a chaotic Atwoli has not supported the family financially since the marriage turned sour.

From 2016 to date, he has never assaulted me but I have heard all sorts of insults, Roselinda said.
rishabhmishra wrote:

MAnkur wrote: Hi Rishabh

In my understanding E is incorrect as there are two verbs linked and was for a single subject completion. On the other hand linking and permitting are parallel and both seem to modify the result of the preceding clause The completion in 1925 of the Hooland Tunnel , this is true in both option B and C, but in option B there is no verb for the first clause and it's a sentence fragment. A and D are incorrect on account of incorrect usage of and, which.

Thanks for you reply but 1st thing linked is not necessary a verb it can be ed modifier and If linking is a modifier then permitting can't be parallel to this as we have two modifiers ing and ed if we use both ing then one became modifier and other became verb please refer to this example it will help you what i am saying:- Thanks for you reply but 1st thing linked is not necessary a verb it can be ed modifier and If linking is a modifier then permitting can't be parallel to this as we have two modifiers ing and ed if we use both ing then one became modifier and other became verb please refer to this example it will help you what i am saying:- https://gmatclub.com/forum/scientists-h ... -9394.html

can

MAnkur wrote:

GMATNinja wrote: MAnkur wrote: Hi Experts

Kindly, explain why the option E is wrong? I could find 2 reasons but not sure whether any of them are correct?



Core of E: The completion in 1925 of the Holland Tunnel linked Manhattan with New Jersey's highways, was hailed as the decade's....



1. Will it be right to say that the above core has two verbs (linked and "was hailed"), thereby it is not correct and requires a conjunction such as FANBOYS or a relative pronoun such as "that"?



2. Or the analysis that the second part (was hailed as the decade's....) is sentence fragment due to absence of a subject is right



I rejected C as "linking" is modifying the preceding clause action and the completion cannot link but the tunnel has to as would be suggested by E through usage of "linked".



Kindly, assist.

Quote: (E) The completion in 1925 of the Holland Tunnel linked Manhattan with New Jerseys highways, permitting 2,000 cars to pass through each tube every hour, was hailed as the decades $48 million engineering masterpiece.

Your first explanation looks good! Stripping out some of the modifiers, (E) reads: "The completion of the Holland Tunnel linked Manhattan with New Jerseys highways... was hailed as the decades $48 million engineering masterpiece." This is a nonsensical diaper fire: "The completion linked was hailed." Huh??



Also, (E) implies that the completion linked Manhattan with New Jersey's highways. But the completion itself didn't link anything -- the TUNNEL linked Manhattan with New Jerseys highways.



I hope this helps! Your first explanation looks good! Stripping out some of the modifiers, (E) reads: "The completion of the Holland TunnelManhattan with New Jerseys highways...as the decades $48 million engineering masterpiece." This is a nonsensical diaper fire: "The completion linked was hailed." Huh??Also, (E) implies that thelinked Manhattan with New Jersey's highways. But the completion itself didn'tanything -- the TUNNEL linked Manhattan with New Jerseys highways.I hope this helps!



GMATNinja

Thanks for the clarification!

But as you rightly pointed that E seems to say that completion linked, won't B or C when seen in isolation also seems to indicate the same. linking and permitting modifies the action of the preceding clause and applies to the subject....thereby completion seems to link and permit and not Tunnel even in options B and C...so how is C right?

Thanks for the clarification!But as you rightly pointed that E seems to say that completion linked, won't B or C when seen in isolation also seems to indicate the same. linking and permitting modifies the action of the preceding clause and applies to the subject....thereby completion seems to link and permit and not Tunnel even in options B and C...so how is C right?
Nairobis youthful legislators Paul Ongili alias Babu Owino and Charles Njagua alias Jaguar continued their show of unity as they engaged in a light-hearted dispute over their suits.

The two first-time MPs, who were once the sworn enemies after their physical fight last October, met again on Wednesday as President Uhuru led Kenya in commemorating 40 years since the death of the countrys founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

On the sidelines of the event at the Jomo Kenyatta mausoleum, Babu Owino, Jaguar, and Nairobi governor Mike Sonko were pictured sharing some words about Babus suit. Nairobi women rep Esther Passaris was also roped into the discussion.

Babu appeared to be the odd one out as he had stepped out in a tailor-made cream suit while his counterparts wore black ones.

Owino and Jaguar, who reconciled in March this year, further took to social media to trade jibes at each others suit, exciting a section of fans.

The Embakasi East MP fired the first shot as he captioned a picture on Instagram: Man made suit, 2.1 thread straight from Canaan. Hao wengine wamevaa ma Nguo.

While Jaguar took to Facebook hours later to claim that a man always look[sic] good in a dark suit.
Kenya will next month sign a Sh380 billion contract for the final phase of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the deal will be inked during this years Forum on China-Africa Corporation (FOCAC) that will be held from September 1-5 in China.

We shall be travelling to China on the first week of September for the FOCAC summit and we shall sign the Sh380 billion contract for the second phase of the SGR from Naivasha to Kisumu, said the CS.

Mr Macharia did not name the financier of the second phase, only saying the project is a great opportunity for investors to build industries and houses along the corridor, beginning from Mombasa to Kisumu.

The CS said the signing of the deal will put the cost of the complete project at Sh800 billion.

The Mombasa-Nairobi phase cost Sh327 billion, the extension to Naivasha cost Sh150 billion and the final phase will cost Sh380 billion.

Phase 2B of the project will start at the planned Naivasha Industrial Park where Phase 2A ends. It will pass through Narok, Bomet, Kericho counties and terminate in Kisumu where the government will put up a modern inland port.

The railway line will have 25 stations  a county station in Kisumu, six intermediate stations, and 18 crossing stations.

The key thing about SGR is that it is the main artery of Kenyas key development corridor, which starts from Mombasa-Nairobi; what we call the Northern corridor.

From Nairobi, it goes to the West, and when you get to Naivasha, one branch (central line) goes through Eldoret and the other one goes to Kisumu (southern line), he said.

The CS was speaking during the Architectural Association of Kenya annual convention at the Pride Inn Hotel in Mombasa.
Student and Parent Emergency FAQ

The safety and security of our students, staff, and families are our top priorities.

Is UH Hilo a community shelter?

No buildings on campus have been designated as community shelters. People should shelter in their homes, residences, or open community shelters.

A list of designated community shelters on Hawaii island (the Big Island) are published on a case-by-case basis by Hawaii County Civil Defense .

A statewide list of community shelters (PDF) is published by the Hawaii State Civil Defense.

Where can I find information regarding emergency preparedness drills or protocols for hurricanes, flash flood warnings, tsunamis, etc.?

General emergency management information can be found on the UH Hilo Emergency Operations website.

For more specific information please refer to the following guides:

Are State or Federal Emergency Information Resources Available?

Yes. The following State and Federal agencies provide emergency information:

Are the residence halls open during the hurricane?

Yes, residence halls will be fully operational at all times, unless evacuation protocol is necessary.

What are the plans for students living in the residence halls?

At this time, our residential communities will be sheltering-in-place during the storm. We are continually monitoring the situation and working closely with UH, federal, state, and county officials, and are preparing in the event that an evacuation is required. If deemed necessary, evacuation plans are in place. All residents are being instructed to be in direct communication with their resident assistants and residence managers as they will be leading all efforts in ensuring student safety.

Have students living in the residence halls been informed of safety protocols?

Yes. Prior to the storm, briefings were held in each of our residential communities to prepare residents for shelter-in-place procedures and storm updates. This also includes our housing staff contacting students by going door to door. In the event that moving residents is necessary, proper evacuation to a safer space will be initiated to another residence hall or building on campus. Reminders and emergency contact information are posted in all residence halls and we are encouraging residents to be in direct communication with their families. In addition to the supplies we are providing residents, we are also asking them to have their own emergency supplies of an extra blanket, flashlight, batteries, medications, a first aid kit, 3-day supply of water and nonperishable food items.

In the residence halls, what are the plans to provide food service during the emergency?

Sodexo Dining Services is the food service provider for UH Hilo Housing. Sodexo maintains a 2-week emergency supply of food and water for instances such as this. Housing also has an Emergency Kitchen that we will access in the event of a power outage. Backup generators will be operable so that food service will not be interrupted.

For the period of August 2326, 2018, the Hale Kehau Dining Hall hours are:

Thursday, August 23, 2018 Lunch - 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Dinner - 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Friday, August 24, 2018 Brunch - 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dinner - 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 25, 2018 Brunch 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Dinner: 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday, August 26, 2018 Brunch - 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Dinner: 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Munchies - 9:00 p.m. - 12 midnight

In the event of a campus-wide power outage, residential students who are not on the meal plan will be able to go to the Hale Kehau Dining Hall to eat. Please note that Hale Kehau Dining Services are only provided for residential students during the emergency period.

What should a student do if they are living in the residence halls and their medication needs refrigeration?

Students with medication requiring refrigeration have their own refrigerator in their room. In the event of a power outage, students with medication requiring refrigeration can make arrangements with Housing staff to have refrigeration provided in the Emergency Kitchen.

How can I stay in contact with my student?

Students are strongly encouraged to communicate and develop safety plans with their families. Students and their families should download apps/alternative means of communication with each other in case of a power outage.

Students in residence halls will continue to receive more specific communications and instructions from their respective student housing office. However, please do not hesitate to contact them with any questions or concerns at (808) 932-7403.

In cases of emergencies, families may also contact the front desk of the students residence hall. The offices voicemail is checked on a regular basis and messages will be delivered directly to the students room.

Our residence hall desk phone numbers are as follows:

Hale Alahonua - (808) 932-7581

Hale Ikena - (808) 932-7620

Hale Kanilehua - (808) 932-7621

Hale Kauanoe - (808) 932-7498

Hale Kehau - (808) 932-7625

The original 100% tuition and fees refund date is August 28, 2018. Is this deadline still in effect?

No. Due to potential effects of Hurricane Lane, the 100% refund date has been extended to Friday, August 31, 2018 at 4:00 pm HST.

The last day to register/add courses/change grading options is August 28, 2018. Is this deadline still in effect?

Yes.

Where can I find UH Hilo updates regarding the hurricane?

Updates of the hurricane and its impact on the university and Hawaii Island (the Big Island) are being transmitted via @hawaii.edu email, UH Alerts, our Emergency page and by the universitys Facebook and Twitter social media channels.

Is there a list of UH Hilo resources available in cases of all emergencies?

Yes.

Safety Reminders
Tanzanian model, actress, and now musician Hamisa Mobetto is ready to settle down with her on and off flame Diamond Platnumz.

The beauty queen has admitted that she is open to becoming Diamonds wife in an interview with Tanzanian newspaper, Amani. The mother of two also disclosed that she has turned down several marriage proposals from different men.

When asked if she would accept a marriage proposal from Diamond, the fashionista said: Ndiyo nitakubali ingawa wapo wanaume wengi ambao wamekuja kutaka kutoa posa lakini kuoana na mtu mnatakiwa muwe na chemistry moja.

She added: Diamond and I have a child together. I acknowledge that I have a daughter from a previous relationship.

Our son binds Diamond and me together, but I also know that other factors determine how he and I would relate should we end up together. If he accepts my daughter in his life, as he would his son, I have no issues, whatsoever, marrying him.

The former beauty queen also talked about how she would cope with Diamonds notorious philandering ways, saying that she doesnt judge anyone on the basis of their past.

I know Diamond has a history of unfaithfulness, but should he accept to marry me, I would give it a blind eye for now, and focus on it, if it arises in future. Though, what I know, if he has good intentions with me, there is a way that will find a way of showing.

Mobetto declined to reveal whether she and Diamond Platnumz are currently dating.

She is currently riding high on her newly released single- Madam Hero- which she published on YouTube on Monday.
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
A suspected paedophile who shocked Kenyan netizens after bragging about his sexual encounters with several minors has been arrested.

William Hanga Mwazombo, 23, a Wells Fargo employee, was arrested in Mpeketoni, Lamu County on Wednesday evening. He was picked up from his workstation by detectives acting on a tip-off about his whereabouts.

Detectives had been hunting for the suspect since last week when he bragged about his pedophilia tendencies and shared pictures of his victims.

One of his victims in the photos appears to be a girl aged between five to six years, while another is in her mid-teen years. The photos were captioned with sickening details of how he lured his victims into his trap and what he did to them.

The suspect further boasted that he is untouchable by the police.

Hanga is currently in lawful custody awaiting profiling and prosecution. He is facing child sex tourism charges which attract an imprisonment term of not less than ten years upon conviction.
A number of Indiana cities offer bike share programs, letting residents and visitors rent a bike for a short period of time.

The programs offer an alternative to driving while promoting a healthy lifestyle. The concept is something a lot people get excited about, but finding a way to fund it can be a challenge.

Dick Boyce is frequent user of the Columbus bike share program. He helped start the citys program in 2016 and serves as the executive director.

Someone interested in renting a bike can reserve it on their smartphone or pick it up right from a station.

Its easy to use, but its still struggling to catch on. The city has adjusted its pricing model; instead of paying $8 to have a bike for a 24-hour period, renters now can pay per hour.

Boyce says more people are using the bikes, but theyre spending less time on them so now the program is bringing in even less money.

Bike shares across the country are facing similar struggles.

Beth Rosenbarger, the Bicycle and Pedestrain Coordinator for the City of Bloomington, says upfront costs of a bike share are significant. She estimates a single station can cost as much as $500,000.

Boyce agrees. Cummins helped support the bike share in Columbus.

"To date, I know of no bike share program in the United States that actually makes any money," he says.

However, a newly formed bike share in Bloomington might have struck the right balance. The citys program uses a dockless system, meaning that users dont have to return their bikes to a station.

They can park the bike anywhere theres a public bike rack. The city says the bikes have been checked out more than 4,000 times so far this month.

"Dockless bike share programs have really changed the bike share system," Rosenbarger says. "Previously, with all station based systems where you go to a station, punch in the things, check out a bike, take it around, and take it back into a station."

Bloomingtons costs have been minimal. The company, Zagster, pays for the bikes and the maintenance. They also keep the profits.

The city hopes to expand the program. College towns across the country--not just Bloomington--have proven to be good matches for bike share programs.

"Were confident it will continue to increase," Rosenbarger says. "The more people get used to the program the more theyll start riding the bikes to get places."

Despite not having a large college student population or a dockless system, Boyce remains confident.

"Were finding more and more [people]," he says. "The easier we make getting on the bike and going from point A to point B, the more those individuals are going to ride."
A Vietnam War veteran from western Indiana has died after recently reuniting with his Army Buddies during the Terre Haute Air Show.

The Tribune-Star reports that Ken Dierdorf died Wednesday morning, days after his debilitating illness prevented him from flying in a military helicopter with the men who fought alongside him. He was 68.

Dierdorf's health had been in steady decline since 2010 when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, which attacks nerve cells that control muscles throughout the body. The illness led Dierdorf to eventually require a full-time respirator.

The veteran's wife, Kim, says that even though Dierdorf couldn't ride in a Bell UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" last weekend, it was seeing fellow military friends he calls the Dirty Half Dozen fly that fulfilled his last wish.
Farm cooperation proceeds with Africa

To cooperate with African countries in the farm sector will not only benefit local people but will also provide a potential agricultural import source for China, which could ensure domestic food safety and stability amid escalating trade tensions with the US, experts said at an agricultural seminar held in Beijing on Thursday.

The forum was held by the China Institute for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture ahead of the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which is scheduled to run from September 3 to 4.

Bilateral trade cooperation, including agricultural cooperation, will surely be strengthened further under the framework, experts noted.

"Africa has a fast-growing economy, and the population of Africa is expected to reach 2 billion by 2050, indicating a large potential market. With these advantages and abundant resources, I believe Africa is the next growth point in the world, along with Southeast Asia," Liu Hanwu, general secretary of the Chinese Foreign Agricultural Development Industry Alliance, said.

In terms of agriculture, Africa has abundant resources that could feed the whole world, said Li Xiaoyun, a professor at China Agricultural University.

However, due to disadvantages like high costs and low mechanization levels, Africa can hardly export its agricultural products. But China can help with this, Li said.

The agricultural mechanization level in Africa is quite low, with most of the production still relying on human and animal power. Except for some commercialized farms, small farmers can't afford any equipment, experts said at the seminar.

According to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Africa produces little chemical fertilizer, and its fertilizer application rate is at a comparatively low level, standing at only 56.9 kilograms per hectare, while the average rate in Asia was 246.3 kilograms.

Liu suggested that China could export advanced agricultural equipment like farm tractors that are urgently needed by African countries, while helping local people market high-quality agricultural products such as blueberries and export such crops to China, as well as other countries.

Some loans and capital aid from China could be directed into the farm sector to further improve its development, Liu said.

China and Africa have highly complementary trade structures, so the cooperation between China and Africa has long-term strategic meaning. "We are now also partners," Li said.

"It's unavoidable that there may be some problems in cooperation between China and Africa - for example, disagreements arising from policy or cultural issues - but the two undoubtedly have great potential to cooperate in the future," Chen Zhigang, researcher of the International Food Policy Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Global Times Published: 2018/8/23

 
In recent years, both reformist and conservative-leaning papers have suffered dips in circulation, and nearly all of the countrys dailies have had to increase their prices to off-set the costs of printing paper.

The number of daily newspapers sold in Iran was at over two million, according to Culture Ministry estimates from 2012, compared to the 800,000 figured for November 2017, that was published by Mehr News Agency.

Hamshahri, Irans most popular newspaper, sold over 500,000 copies per day in 2012. This number dropped to 180,000 in mid-August. During the same period, the circulation of Jam-e Jam, affiliated with Iranian state TV, dropped from around half a million per day, to 70 to 80 thousand copies.

Most major newspapers, including Arman, Sharq, Etemad, Javan, Aftab-e Yazd, and Shahrvand publish under or around 7000 copies a day, based on most recent figures.

Newspaper publishers report sales without independent verification, and according to columnist Abbas Abdi, and many exaggerate their popularity to maximize government subsidies given to newspapers on the basis of readership, so the actual circulation of Irans dailies may be even lower.

It has been alleged that newspapers loyal to the governments hardliners receive generous subsidies despite their lack of popularity.

Newspapers are required to maintain a web presence as a condition of receiving government subsidies, so most Iranian newspapers publish versions on the Internet hours before the hard copy version hits newsstands. Some newspapers, like the centrist Sazandegi, have minimized their online presence in order to ensure maximum profitability at the news stands. Others, such as the reformist daily Sharq, have instituted a paywall for their websites.

Many newspapers have been forced to reduce their page count due to the scarcity and high price of printing paper, which has now been added to the list of essential commodities by the government. Paper imports have also been subsidized in an effort to support print titles.

Strict state control over newspaper content has made the dailies less interesting for readers. At the same time, newspaper advertising revenues have dropped dramatically with Irans economic crisis worsening after the U.S. exit from the nuclear deal with Iran and renewed sanctions.

State TV and news agencies owned by the government are monopolized by regime hardliners. The last platform for diverse views, outside the web, are Iranian newspapers.
In the early 1980s, the Regimes forces began to crack down on all forces that were opposed to the Regime, which was mainly those who had revolted against the Shah and included a lot of ethnic minorities. This began in Iran, but soon spread to dissidents across the world; even assassinating Iranian political activists in Europe.

Ethnic minorities

There are six main ethnic groups in Iran; Persians, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Baloch, and Turkmens, each with its own language, culture, customs and traditions. However, there are no official statistics about the number of non-Persian people.

Why? Because the Iranian Regime considers national affiliations threatening to the unity of their state and has adopted so-called security measures to counter national activities and obliterate ethnic minorities by changing the changing the demographic fabric of their regions.

Many non-Persian community groups have taken on political aspirations and are determined to restore their national rights, but the Regime has refused to communicate with the leaders or even meet the basic demands of non-Persian peoples. Some of the Regimes governments have promised to look into these complaints at a later date, but this has never come to pass.

This has led to a growing nationalist movement, particularly in Azerbaijan, where the National Government of Azerbaijan was formed to take control of large parts of the region, and Kurdistan, where Kurdistan Democratic Party advocates for autonomous rule. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards forces moved into Kurdistan in the early 1980s and clashed with armed rebels, which left over 10,000 people dead by 1983.

Iran regimes President Hassan Rouhani even appointed former intelligence minister Ali Younesi as the assistant in the affairs of nationalities and minorities, but hes not interested in addressing the discrimination against ethnic minorities. After all, the Intelligence Ministry has long been at the root of discrimination against these communities, including executions, imprisonment, exile and assassinations.

A change is coming

There is no chance that the Iranian Regime will change their malign policies towards ethnic minorities after four decades of abuse, but there is hope. The Iranian Resistance, led by Maryam Rajavi, is fighting for a free and democratic Iran, with a commitment to human rights. This includes the rights of ethnic minorities.

In Rajavis ten-point-plan for a free Iran, she wrote: We want a pluralist system, freedom of parties and assembly. We respect all individual freedoms We are committed to the equality of all nationalities. We underscore the plan for the autonomy of Iranian Kurdistan, adopted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The language and culture of our compatriots from whatever nationality, are among our nations human resources and must spread and be promulgated in tomorrows Iran.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has a special interpretation of the results of this election, which puts more Hezbollah affiliates in the Lebanese Parliament, but he has neglected to inform anyone that this interpreted result is coming directly from Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Brigade in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Soleimani recently claimed that Iran has the majority in the Lebanese parliament with 74 MPs out of 128 total, which is a clear reference to the fact that Iran provides Hezbollah with funding in exchange for promoting policies favourable to the Regime in government and helping to attack Irans enemies throughout the world.

It is notable that Hezbollah did not object to Soleimanis comments, indicating that they publically acknowledge being directed by Iran, but still accused Hariri of selecting his cabinets based on the will of someone else.

The struggle in a nutshell is that since 2005, the Lebanese government is split between democratically elected members and the stooges of the Iranian Regime. Any attempts to reconcile the two sides have failed.

Assassination

In 2005, Hezbollah and Iranian forces assassinated then-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the father of Saad, and ever since the Iranian Regime has covertly (and sometimes overtly) exerted control over Lebanon, including forcing a Hezbollah President upon the people of Lebanon and starting an ill-fated war with Israel. Both of these have only hurt the Lebanese people in order to propagate the policies of Iran.

Iran has destroyed much of the Middle East, from Iraq to Syria to Yemen, largely with the help of Hezbollah, but it has only been to the detriment of Lebanon.

Khairallah Khairallah, an Arab columnist and former managing editor of Al-Hayat, wrote: There is another analysis of the elections result [that] allows Saad Hariri to resist. This is not just due to the fact that hes assigned to form the cabinet according to constitutional norms and no party can deprive him of this appointment but its also because Lebanon has not completely fallen apart yet.

The Iranian Regime is hellbent on destroying the Middle East in order to take control, but Lebanon and other democratic forces in the region should not submit to the mullahs, as doing so will only allow Iran to wreak further havoc on the countries and the people.
Commercial airlines, British Airways and Air France on Thursday announced that flights to and from Tehran will be suspended from next month.



On its part, British Airways the decision was not made in view of the reintroduction of sanction on Iran by US President Donald Trump but rather down to the commercial viability of the route.



"We are suspending our London to Tehran service as the operation is currently not commercially viable," said the flagship carrier.



It also said the last flight to Tehran will be on September 22 while that from Tehran will be on September 23, it added.



Air France, the French arm of Franco-Dutch airlines group Air France KLM, followed similar rhetoric with a spokesperson saying flights will to Tehran will end from September 18 because of "the line's weak performance".



Last month, the Dutch arm KLM, announced it is suspending Tehran flights due to "negative results and financial outlook" adding that discussion were ongoing with partner airlines to offer customers re-booking options or full refunds.



Sanctions reimposed on Iran by the US Government are set to come into effect in November forcing European and other international companies to call time on their business activities in the country.
















Posted by Mark Williams | August 24, 2018

We've seen and driven the all-new 2019 Ram 1500 with the familiar 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 already, and we've gone into considerable depth regarding what's novel about this new half ton. However, we recently got our first chance to get behind the wheel of the new Ram 1500 equipped with the all-new mild-hybrid eTorque powertrain system.

This new power-assist system is woven into both the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 (which is standard) and 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 powertrains (Ram will offer both an upgraded Hemi and eTorque Hemi) paired to the eight-speed transmission; the main benefit of the system is a 10 percent gain in fuel economy at a relatively low cost. (For reference, engineers typically spend months, and even years, trying to make improvements in increments of tenths of a percent.)

How eTorque Works

As we reported in January following the 2019 Ram 1500's debut at the 2018 Detroit auto show, eTorque is designated as a mild-hybrid system because its separate electric motor generator never fully powers the vehicle independent of the gasoline powertrain. Instead, it assists the engine the most during acceleration and deceleration as well as helping smooth out shift points between gears. As you might suspect, the system uses complex software programing to strengthen and improve the powertrain "handshake" while coasting and offers a more aggressive brake-energy regeneration program. This gives you an idea of how entwined eTorque is with the transmission and entire driveline.

The electric motor generator looks like a simple unit bolted onto the front of the engine where a serpentine belt runs off the crankshaft with two tensioning bars. What you don't see is the compact 12-cell 48-volt battery pack that sits behind the rear seats against the rear cab wall. The eTorque system adds 90 pounds of weight for the V-8 and around 150 pounds for the V-6 (the extra cooling power required for the V-6 explains the extra weight). However, since eTorque is standard on the entry-level V-6, the system doesn't add to the bottom line there. Move up the V-8 and it does. Choosing the conventional Hemi V-8 costs $1,195 and adding eTorque to the Hemi costs an additional $1,450. Ram hopes this pricing structure  which is less than normal price jumps for full hybrid vehicles  will make the system attractive to new and longtime half-ton pickup buyers looking to lower annual fuel costs.

As we see it, whether the cost jump to an V-8 eTorque makes financial sense will depend on how you drive or what you tow. Making your money back in fuel savings over time will likely be difficult and mostly dependent on which state you live in. Also, the biggest benefit of the system is the added torque the battery power offers: an extra 90 pounds-feet for the V-6 and 130 for the V-8.

How It Drives

After driving several Ram 1500s equipped with eTorque drivetrains, we were surprised by how such a relatively simple fuel-saving driveline system can work to provide such a smooth and civilized on-road experience, especially in a full-size pickup. It was if the throttle feel became stronger and more sensitive at the same time while also responding faster to fine-tuned inputs from the driver. While driving the V-6 eTorque over 60 miles of country roads and two-lane paved roads winding through the farmland of Kentucky, we averaged just more than 25 mpg on our trip computer. The V-8 eTorque system yielded 22 mpg over a similar route. In the real world that translates to around 2 or 3 extra mpgs from the mild-hybrid system, which is likely to save between $5 and $10 per fill-up, depending on which tank you have (Ram 1500s offer 23-, 26- and 33-gallon fuel-tank options).

We sampled Ram 1500 pickups ranging in price from just less than $64,000 (Laramie Sport crew-cab 4x4) to just less than $69,000 (Limited crew-cab 4x4). The Hemi V-8 with eTorque was smoother, quieter and just as powerful as the regular Hemi V-8, yet more refined in acceleration, idling, highway driving, pushing around corners and descending long hills. Although the engineers told us brake regeneration on this setup is fairly aggressive, we experienced very little of the pedal or coasting feedback exhibited by some hybrids. If we had a quibble about the system, it was the lack of an information screen or setting that allows the driver to see what's happening with the system, either in battery charging or discharging or how fuel savings are adding up. There should be a dedicated screen (and maybe one for towing or four-wheeling as well) that allows drivers to see the benefits of the system while doing the things they do: commuting, camping, towing, exploring, etc.

Currently the only feedback provided to the driver is a small, three-letter abbreviation (Eco) that appears when the V-8 eTorque engine goes into V-4 mode or the V-6 engine is "coasting." If Ram really wants eTorque to catch on, it needs to promote the system within the truck. Allowing drivers to see what the system is doing and how it's saving fuel seems like a win-win for Ram and consumers  especially since Ram is charging a premium for adding eTorque to the V-8.

We're guessing it will take some time for old-school pickup truck buyers to accept the eTorque system, but once they see and feel the benefits of the smoother-driving mild-hybrid system, it could be a strong selling point for the brand, especially if we see fuel prices spike in the future.

How It Towed

We also had the chance to do some towing with an empty two-horse trailer weighing about 3,500 pounds through the hilly farmland and found the Hemi with eTorque still offered all the low-end torque and confident feel we've come to expect of the Ram 1500. Of course, the towing mirrors, load-leveling suspension, noise-canceling interior, surround-view cameras and massive 12-inch navigation screen didn't hurt either. But we like the how the eTorque system worked to help us tow and make solid and clunk-free shifts while  according the Eco light on the dash  saving some fuel.

Model-year 2019 Ram 1500s equipped with the standard Hemi V-8 and V-8 eTorque are being delivered to dealerships now; however, the Pentastar V-6 eTorque engine (also slated for several Jeep models) will have late 2018 availability.

Cars.com photos by Mark Williams, manufacturer images
















Cal State LA educator Receives Universitys 2018 Outstanding Professor Award

Cal State LA recognized Nana Lawson Bush, V for excellence in the classroom and service to the community during the 2018 University Fall Convocation at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex.

Bush, a Fontana resident, was one of four Outstanding Professors honored for excellence in teaching and significant achievement in scholarly inquiry or creativity, as well as professional activities and community service, during the August 17 event.

Bush is a professor of educational leadership and administration in the Division of Applied and Advanced Studies in Education, which is part of the Charter College of Education at Cal State LA.

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He is also a professor of Pan-African studies in the universitys College of Natural and Social Sciences. He was formerly director of the Cal State LA-UC Irvine Joint Doctoral Program in Urban Educational Leadership.

Bush is recognized as a leading expert on the relationship between Black mothers and their sons, the development of Independent Black Institutions in the U.S., and the theorization of Black boys and men. His research has become the framework and guide for families, programs, and organizations across the nation.

Bush has published four books, including The Plan: A Guide for Women Raising African American Boys from Conception to College and The Plan Workbook, and 31 academic articles. Most notably, he published a research paper, along with his brother, Edward C. Bush, which was the first comprehensive theory concerning Black boys and men called African American Male Theory (AAMT). Bush received his Ph.D. in human development and education from Claremont Graduate School.

Additionally, three Outstanding Professor Awards went to Cal State LA faculty members Dionne Espinoza, Ray de Leon and ChorSwang Ngin, and an Outstanding Lecturer Award was given to Howard Lum. A Presidents Distinguished Professor Award was also presented to Daphne Liu, who was a previous outstanding professor recipient. This award recognizes the faculty members superlative teaching and exceptional commitment to students, as well as professional accomplishments and services.
Legislators Push for Free Community College in CA

As the initial wave of first-time, full-time students prepare to begin their newly-free classes at community colleges across California, Assembly leaders debuted a measure stating the legislatures intent to waive fees for Year Two. By doing so, an Associates Degree in California will effectively become free.

Assembly Bill 1862, jointly authored by Assemblymembers Miguel Santiago, David Chiu, and Kevin McCarty, was introduced last week to take an important step towards guaranteeing a completely free community college experience for California students. The measure comes directly on the heels of the implementation of 2017s Assembly Bill 19 (jointly authored by the same legislators) which made the first year of community college free for all first-time, full-time students. That first round of students will begin classes at schools across California in the coming weeks.

In the fight against income inequality, a free education is the greatest instrument we have, said Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles). We owe this effort to the students entering community college this year; we owe it to the economy of California  the 5th largest in the world; and most importantly, we owe it to our children. Whether community college is used as a stepping stone to our amazing four-year universities or to apprenticeships and workforce training programs, it is a key component of Californias education framework and should be the cornerstone of a debt-free education.

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Students across the country face unprecedented challenges, said Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco). Whether it be the cost of tuition, finding affordable housing, or paying off student loans, it is crushingly expensive to be a student today. Last year, we took a major step towards making college more affordable by guaranteeing one year of free community college. We now pick up where we left off by proposing two years of free community college in California.

Californias future economy will require over a million new academic degrees to compete in the global marketplace, said Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento). Providing California students with a free second year of community college will increase in-state student enrollment, help more students graduate with a degree or certificate and will support a strong, sustainable economy in the Golden State for generations to come.

What state leaders on the issue are saying:

Young people should have every chance to find their passion and grow their talents  and higher education is a path to the success that we dream about for all of our children, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. L.A. has been leader in the movement to expand access to community college, and I am proud to join Assemblymember Santiago in this movement to keep breaking down more barriers so that no student in California grows up believing that a degree is beyond their reach.

Tuition costs have been a barrier for too many Californians to attend college. Thats why we created the College Promise Program last year, to allow more first-time students to attend school full-time, said Senate Pro Tempore Emeritus Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). Now we need to double down on that commitment by providing a second year of tuition-free college. By doing so, we can empower the next generation of leaders to obtain a high-quality education, allowing them to achieve their goals and forge their own path to success.

The introduction of AB 1862 is a signal to legislators, policy-makers, higher education advocates, and families alike that conversations will begin immediately about how to finance and implement the second year of free community college. The legislators plan to introduce a comprehensive measure with the start of the 2018-2019 Legislative Session in December.

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Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is Chair of the California State Assemblys Committee on Communications & Conveyance and is a member of both the Assemblys Higher Education Committee and the California Latino Legislative Caucus. He represents the 53rd District composed of the cities of Los Angeles, Huntington Park, and Vernon.
Mozambique Takes the Free Out of Press Freedom, Imposing Hefty Fees on Media

Press freedom in Mozambique just got a lot less free.

Under a new government decree, local and foreign journalists must now pony up thousands of dollars for the right to report in this Southern African country. The little dribble of news about Mozambique in the foreign press could disappear altogether, ending press freedom at a crucial time.

Human rights groups call it an attempt to discourage reporting from the country.

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We think this is completely exorbitant and out of any reasonable proportion, said Arnaud Froger, head of the Africa desk for the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.

Journalists are not going to be able to pay the price to report. I mean, who is going to [spend] about 2,500 U.S. dollars to go reporting for a week or two in Mozambique? Is there any foreign freelance reporter willing to pay about 8,500 U.S. dollars to settle in Mozambique?

Until now, registration for foreign correspondents in Mozambique was free.

We really fear the country could become a kind of foreign media desert, Froger warned.

Under the new fee schedule, local correspondents will pay $2,500 for media accreditation while foreign correspondents living in Mozambique will be charged $8,300 per year.

Mozambican journalists reporting for foreign news outlets will be required to pay $3,500 for an annual accreditation  50 times the countrys minimum wage of $70 a month.

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The Mozambique chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) also condemned the new regulations.

As you may know, the media is not a lucrative business, nor is it capable of generating large revenues, and this fee system endangers the existence of a large number of media outfits in Mozambique. Therefore we consider it an attack on [media] diversity and rights that the Constitution of Mozambique itself provides for, MISA Mozambique Fernando Goncalves told Deutsche Welle Africa.

The new fees are set to take effect on Aug. 22  two months before crucial municipal elections in which the main opposition party, Renamo, will be seeking to win control of some Mozambican cities for the first time in 15 years. Samito Machel, son of the first president Samora Machel, is a candidate for mayor in the capital city of Maputo.

Meanwhile, there are no signs of a resolution to a secret $2 billion loan claimed to be for for coastal protection and fishing groups and is now in default.

Public hospitals have no medicines and there are no gloves in the maternity wards. The situation is getting more and more serious, said Eufriginia dos Reis from the Mozambique Debt Group (Grupo Mocambicano da Divida), a civil society organization fighting for debt reform.
NAACP Calls for Investigation into Air Marshalls Targeting of Black Passengers

The nations leading civil rights organization is calling for an investigation into recently revealed allegations of federal air-marshals targeting African American passengers.

The national office of the NAACP joins the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP Branch in calling for an investigation into these claims.

The targeting of the African American flyers is sickening and utterly unacceptable, said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. We are moving forcefully with our partners to issue requests to the Chairman and ranking members of the House Committee on Homeland Security for a complete investigation into these allegations.

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According to a report from Fox 46 in Charlotte, former air marshal whistleblowers alleged they were told by a supervisor to target the Black people when they worked in Orlando, because theyre the ones who have warrants.

These whistleblowers also report the use of the N-word and say they reported this incident to TSA, but no action was ever taken.

The NAACP recently ended its travel ban on American Airlines after the airlines responded with company-wide training on racism and implicit bias. The NAACP has called for implicit bias testing for individuals and groups receiving public funding.
Representative Maxine Waters Statement on Paul Manafort Guilty Verdict & Michael Cohen Guilty Plea

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement on Donald Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who was found guilty by a federal jury on 8 counts of bank and tax fraud, and Trumps personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to 8 violations of banking, tax and campaign finance laws:

A federal jury just found Donald Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, guilty of eight counts of bank and tax fraud. Simultaneously, his personal attorney and so-called fixer, Michael Cohen, appeared in a separate courthouse and pleaded guilty to eight charges, which include violating campaign finance laws at the direction of a federal candidate  an unquestionable reference to Donald Trump, who is now also implicated in a federal crime. However, the crimes of Trump, Cohen, and Manafort are only the tip of the iceberg. I believe there is still, clearly, much more to come related to money laundering and other crimes involving an expanding group of Trump allies with questionable connections to Russia, including not only Manafort and Cohen, but also Donald Trumps former deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates; Donald Trumps former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn; Donald Trumps former campaign foreign policy advisors George Papadopoulos and Carter Page; and Donald Trumps Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross. When investigators and prosecutors follow the money and the patterns of misconduct, I believe the crimes of Donald Trumps top aides are going to lead right into collusion and obstruction.

Paul Manaforts ties to Vladimir Putin and Russia are well known. Manafort worked for years for pro-Russian interests; this work included a long business relationship with Russian billionaire and close Putin ally, Oleg Deripaska, as well as work for pro-Russia politician and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Furthermore, despite being deeply in debt, Manafort volunteered his services to the Trump campaign free of charge, [1] and offered to provide briefings on the campaign to Oleg Deripaska [2]  who weve also learned was owed millions of dollars by Manafort. [3] While he was found guilty in a Virginia court, Manafort still faces a second trial in a Washington, DC federal court on charges of lying to the FBI, money laundering and failing to register as a foreign lobbyist.

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Similarly, lets not forget about Michael Cohens close relationship with Felix Sater  a Russian-born real estate developer, convicted felon, and Trump ally with ties to organized crime. Cohen and Sater worked to reach a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow in the midst of the presidential election, which would, in Saters own words, get Donald elected. [4] In addition, it has also been reported that a shell company created by Cohen, Essential Consultants, received $500,000 in payments from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the U.S. government for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. [5]

Why is it that all of these aides, allies and associates of the president are connected in so many ways to Russia and Vladimir Putin, whom we know interfered in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump? Its clear to me that Putin would like nothing more than for the Trump Administration to lift U.S. sanctions so that Russia can drill in the Arctic, and that Putin found in Michael Cohen, Felix Sater, Michael Flynn, and other members of Trumps inner circle partners who were more than willing to oblige in exchange for support for Trump and the ability to compete in a new money playground in Russia.

Dont be misled by the ridiculous lies and conspiracy theories being pedaled by this president or his attorney, Rudy Giuliani. This is not a witch hunt or fake news. These are real charges of criminal behavior. These are based on real facts, real evidence, and real testimony, and in the final analysis, all of this will lead to real articles of impeachment.
Longtime social justice activist Kumi Naidoo began his four-year tenure this week as head of the rights group Amnesty International with a vision for the group to be bigger, bolder and more inclusive.

In his first message as Secretary General on Aug. 16, Naidoo said that Amnesty International is now opening its arms wider than ever before to build a genuinely global community that stretches into all four corners of the world, especially in the global south.

I want us to build a human rights movement that is more inclusive. We need to redefine what it means to be a human rights champion in 2018. An activist can come from all walks of life  a trade union, school, faith group, government or indeed business, he said.

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Naidoo has held multiple leadership roles including Chair of the Global Call for Climate Action, Founding Chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty and Secretary General and CEO of CIVICUS, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

But it was during his time as Executive Director of Greenpeace International starting 2009 that he launched a reputation for civil disobedience  most notably when he was arrested for scaling a Greenlandic oil rig to hand-deliver a petition in protest of drilling in the Arctic in 2011.

Naidoo stepped down as Greenpeace chief in 2015 and returned to Africa, where he helped form Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity  an amalgamation of trade unions, religious and civil society organizations and the climate lobby.

In 2017, the fledgling movement made civil society solidarity trips to places such as The Gambia, in West Africa.

Now, more than ever, we need people to come together and stand up to oppressors. I invite people who care about the present and future, for people who care about their children and grandchildren, for people who take injustice personally, to join us. Amnesty International needs your voice, your participation and your presence in our movement to make human rights a reality.

Naidoo is by his own admission a disruptor who has publically stated that the world needs more civil disobedience.

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About a year ago, he asked the audience at a TEDx talk in Johannesburg to think about how well-adjusted they had become to injustice.

If we are to understand the moment of history that we find ourselves in, lets be very clear  we need a completely different mindset, we need to be thinking not simply outside of the box, we have to take the whole box and throw it very very far away because that box is fundamentally broken, Naidoo said.

An Oxford graduate, he holds a PhD in political sociology and earned his doctorate after returning to South Africa, along with a wave of exiles in 1990, when the Apartheid regime began to crumble.
Shante Johnson (dob 12/18/81), aka Nine Lives, of Hawthorne pleaded no contest yesterday afternoon to one felony count each of fleeing a pursuing peace officers vehicle while driving recklessly and assault with a deadly weapon, a car, on a peace officer, as well as one misdemeanor count of hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage. She also admitted an allegation of a prior felony conviction.

Johnson was immediately sentenced to five years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of six years and eight months, for which she waived more than nine months of credit for time served.

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She is required to complete a one-year residential drug abuse and mental health program as part of the negotiated plea agreement.

On Nov. 9, Los Angeles Police Department officers spotted Johnson driving a stolen moving truck near 61st Street and Broadway and began pursuing the vehicle, according to court testimony. Johnson hit three vehicles and continued fleeing during the pursuit, which ended shortly after she rammed a patrol car in the 700 block of S. Central Avenue.

Johnson was convicted in July 2014 of petty theft with priors in case BA413813.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa Harris prosecuted case BA462758. The LAPD investigated the case.
New Minds for a New Millennium Education Readings





By Allan Alach





Every week Bruce Hammonds and I collect articles to share with teachers to encourage a creative approach to teaching and learning. I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz





Actually I might do a quick post featuring a creative school I recently visited! Bruce) We wont publish o ur readings next week as Bruce will be off travelling. The readings will be back the following week (





Are you engaging with the New Zealand Curriculum?

Most great conversations start with a really purposeful question. A question thats simple but not





Ako: The little bush school in the big city

Based at Awataha Marae on Aucklands North Shore, it promises education with a difference: play-based, child-led, passion-driven and outdoor-centered. Children here will learn as much from the native bush as they will in the classroom.  Children here will learn as much from the native bush as they will in the classroom.





The Swedish for-profit free school disaster Also known as charter schools, academy schools (England) and partnership schools (New Zealand.)

Its the darker side of competition that Milton Friedman and his free-market disciples tend to downplay: If parents value high test scores, you can compete for voucher dollars by hiring better teachers and providing a better educationor by going easy in grading national tests. Competition was also meant to discipline government schools by forcing them to up their game to maintain their enrolments, but it may have instead led to a race to the bottom as they too started grading generously to keep their students  : If parents value high test scores, you can compete for voucher dollars by hiring better teachers and providing a better educationor by going easy in grading national tests. Competition was also meant to discipline government schools by forcing them to up their game to maintain their enrolments, but it may have instead led to aas they too started grading generously to keep their students 





School runnings: Why Kiwi kids are better off in barefeet

A bee-stings-and-bullrush childhood spent running about in barefeet seems a thing of yesteryear New Zealand. But new research has suggested Kiwi kids' contemporary choice of footwear - or lack of it - isn't too far from that at all. What's more, plenty of time spent barefoot has likely been bringing them big benefits.





I dont believe I left tea ching. Teaching left me

What the experts have in common is considerable distance from schools. Far too many have a

what schools could be. They rarely have the inside view that teachers have. But teaching is an all-consuming profession: good teachers are immersed in where they are and what they are doing, and rarely get the chance (or make the time) to step back to see the bigger picture.

At the end of the school day you dont reflect, you recover.'





Tony Gurr, from Turkey, is a great source of educational articles. Here are some that he recently posted on Facebook .





20 Tips To Promote A Self-Directed Classroom Culture

What separates good teachers from the excellent ones? The excellent ones are handing out fishing poles; creating a culture in the classroom of independence and self-reliance. These students dont just recite facts or regurgitate information- they have learned how to learn. They know that if the answer isnt in front of them, they have the tools to do the investigation and research. So how do you cultivate a culture of I can in your classroom? . These students dont just recite facts or regurgitate information- they have learned how to learn. They know that if the answer isnt in front of them, they have the tools to do the investigation and research. So how do you cultivate a culture of I can in your classroom?





Why do we group students by manufacture date?

Grouping students by age or manufacture date is a contrived sorting mechanism. It assumes that same age kids are alike in their intellectual, physical, emotional, and social development; that they have commonalities in addition to their age. Academic standards used by almost all schools are based on the false and incorrect belief of the average student. Todd Rose quoting Mike Millers research on brains found that not a single one was even remotely close to the average. in their intellectual, physical, emotional, and social development; that they have commonalities in addition to their age.. Todd Rose quoting Mike Millers research on brains found that not a single one was even remotely close to the average.





Questions can be extraordinary learning tools.

Tony: I've always said that it's QUESTIONS (not answers...esp. when they are spoon-fed) that 'drive' LEARNing... So...What methods and approaches are there to help students learn how to ask better questions?

In education, we tend to value a students ability to answer our questions. But what might be more important is their ability to ask their own great questionsand more critically, their willingness to do so A good question can open minds, shift paradigms, and force the uncomfortable but transformational cognitive dissonance that can help create thinkers.and more critically, their willingness to do so













Need to look beyond the buildings themselves to the learning





Heres a selection of articles about modern learning environments. While the long term outcomes of these is yet to be determined (there seems to be opinions either way on their effectiveness), we support a holistic integrated approach to teaching and learning  one that develops the gifts and talents of all students. This needs to underpin both the traditional single room model and modern learning environments .





To MLE, or not to MLE, that is the question: An open letter to my colleagues

So, another MLE story has been put out by Stuff  students in MLEs as guinea pigs this time; and





Modern Learning Environments: Not any colour as long as its black

When Henry Ford said of his Model T cars You can have any colour you like as long as its black, he could just as easily have been talking about high school when I was young. Apart from a few amazing teachers who were as inspiring as they were enthusiastic, most lessons were pretty black and grim. Thankfully, Henry-Ford-style learning has disappeared from most classrooms, but theres no escaping the fact that we ask many of our best teachers to inspire and engage young people in buildings designed around the time Henry Ford was making cars. . Apart from a few amazing teachers who were as inspiring as they were enthusiastic, most lessons were pretty black and grim., but theres no escaping the fact that we ask many of our best teachers to inspire and engage young people in buildings designed around the time Henry Ford was making cars.

All MLEs are not the same: Towards a "high level" definition

So many people have opinions to proffer and comments to make about MLEs (modern learning environments) or ILEs (innovative learning environments). To be honest I am not a fan of either term. . The assumption that all MLEs are the same is not true and neither is it helpful because it leads to a binary view of us and them  a false dichotomy that may not really exist. I have often felt invisible, sitting across from people who say MLEs are this and that. Well, I am here and we are not! . To be honest I am not a fan of either term. . a false dichotomy that may not really exist. I have often felt invisible, sitting across from people who say MLEs are this and that. Well, I am here and we are not!





Secret Teacher NZ: Why I left teaching?

The trials of teaching in a MLE.

Imagine a large hall-like space with three teachers in different areas, each reading with a small group of children. Scattered around are more groups of children, some on laptops, some on tablets, some with board and card games, some sitting in corners together working in their exercise books. You might imagine its harmonious, a buzz of children learning, both independently and supported by teachers. Unfortunately, for the majority, this is not the case. Scattered around are more groups of children, some on laptops, some on tablets, some with board and card games, some sitting in corners together working in their exercise books.





From Bruces goldie oldies file:





What are Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) or Modern Learning Environments (MLEs) really about?

Education is about an ecosystem where learning is personalised across a range of institutions across a range of institutions and spaces . And it is a move away from the mind-set of school as a be-all and end all. This obviously refers to the idea that with modern technology learning can occur anywhere, anytime from anyone. .This obviously refers to the idea that with modern technology learning can occur anywhere, anytime from anyone.





How to organise the school day for personalised learning and MLEs
Campers and teachers at Korean Culture Camp in St. Paul, Minnesota, start the day by saying hello in Korean.

Anyunghaseyo, Anyunghaseyo.

After a short group class, campers go off to a day of activities. They learn drumming, dance and Taekwondo, a Korean martial art.

Some of these are usual activities for summer camps around the United States. This camp, however, has one big difference. The camp is a weeklong immersion in all things Korean.

Elain Ekstedt is the director of the camp. She said it was started in 1977 by parents of adopted Korean children. The parents wanted their children to understand the country and culture they had left behind.

And they wanted their children to feel good about their Korean heritage and to experience Korean culture, so they began a summer camp.

The international adoption of South Korean children began after the Korean War in the early 1950s. Beginning in 1987, the South Korean government began to limit the number of children who could be adopted.

This year, the camp has 235 children aged four to 13. There also are about 250 volunteers.

Most of the volunteers are the parents of the campers. It becomes a whole family experience. Those campers grow up, after they're no longer campers, then they become teen helpers. We have a hundred teen helpers in our camp this year. And then after they're teen helpers, they can become young adult volunteers.

Parker Yellick is a teenager who assists at the camp. He spoke about his own story and how attending the camp helped him.

I was adopted when I was eight months old. I was always self-conscious about like being a Korean adoptee. But when I like came here, I got to hear and see a bunch of other people who have the same story as I do. And it was really cool because it then helped me accept who I am, and it made me proud to be of Korean heritage.

Yellick has volunteered at the camp for four years. I've kept volunteering because I wanted to help other kids who may have been like me. It's also very fun, he said.

College student and adult volunteer Kevin Cunningham has been to camp for 22 years.

Korean Culture Camp, when I was a kid, was my favorite week of the year and I would say it still is, as an adult, because now I get to come back and see all the kids doing what I did, going to the class and learning about language, history, and doing Taekwondo together.

Camp director Ekstedt adopted a daughter from Korea. She said, in the 1990s, the large number of Korean adoptees led to an enrollment as high as 700. Now there are fewer adoptees. Camp enrollment is from 250 to 300 every summer.

But former campers now bring their own children. Other campers come from the Korean community. This new group has brought changes.

So our self-esteem classes have changed. It is not so much about adoption anymore. It's about feeling good about being Korean, having a Korean heritage."

I love to see those kids who are very excited about what they are doing here, what they are learning, said education director Hongjoo Lee. That's why I've been here for 14 years, that makes me really happy.

Im Susan Shand.

VOAs June Soh reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. The editor was Mario Ritter.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

martial  adj.related to military or defense

immersion n.complete involvement in some activity or interest

adopt v. to take a child as your own

heritage n. the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation

self-conscious adj.uncomfortably nervous about or embarrassed by what other people think about you

enrollment n.the number of people who agree to participate in something

self-esteem n.the feeling of having respect for oneself and abilities


American Senator John McCain has chosen to discontinue his medical treatment for brain cancer.

The family of the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nominee and former prisoner of war announced the decision Friday. They said With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

His wife Cindy posted a message on Twitter: I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey.

In July 2017, doctors found the cancerous growth and operated on McCain. Two weeks later, McCain returned to the Senate floor. He cast the deciding vote against a Republican measure to end the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare.

Republican President Donald Trump criticized that decision. He and McCain have had long-standing disagreements. During his campaign, Trump also questioned the senators public image as a war hero, saying of McCains past, I like people who werent captured.

McCain flew for the navy. His plane was shot down during the war in Vietnam. He was imprisoned, kept in isolation, and tortured by the North Vietnamese. He refused to give the North Vietnamese any military information. McCain was finally released after the cease-fire along with other American prisoners of war on March 14, 1973.

Entering politics

McCain retired from the Navy. He has served in Congress representing Arizona since 1982. He has been absent because of his medical condition since December.

The 81-year-old McCain has seven children, four with his wife Cindy Hensley, and three from his first marriage to Carol Shepp.

After the announcement Friday, former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman said, becoming John McCains friend has been one of the great blessings of my life. Today I am praying for him and his family.

Im Bryan Lynn.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

journey  n. the act of traveling from one place to another

isolation  n. the state of being separate from other people, places, or things
It is back-to-school season in the United States. Many young adults are headed to colleges and universities.

A new app might make their social lives as busy as their academic schedules.

The popular dating app Tinder has just launched TinderU. The tool is designed to help students find friends, study partners and, possibly, love.

On TinderU, users can look at pictures and information about other students at their university and other schools nearby. Just like on Tinder, if you see someone you think you might like, you swipe right to match with that person. If you are not interested, you swipe left to pass.

Only college students attending four-year schools can use TinderU. Online and for-profit colleges and universities are not included at this time. All that TinderU requires of users is a .edu email address.

Tinder launched in 2012 in Los Angeles, California. It is widely used around the world. The app is especially popular among people aged 18 to 34.

Some people argue TinderU will destroy traditional socializing on college campuses. And they say students do not need the app because they meet other students face-to-face each day.

But the experience of starting college can be overwhelming for some. Many students become independent for the first time in their lives when they go to college. They often do not know a single person in that new environment. Tinder supporters say the app can help users find like-minded people to talk to and, maybe, ask out on a date.

The Tinder website says Tinder is in 190 countries. It averages 1.6 billion matches a day and, reportedly, is responsible for one million dates each week.

Im Caty Weaver.

Caty Weaver reported this story for VOA Learning English.  Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

schedule - n. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done

swipe - v. to move one's finger across a touchscreen to do a function

match - v. to be suited to (someone or something) 

overwhelming - adj. used to describe something that is so confusing, difficult, etc., that you feel unable to do it

date - n. an occasion when two people who have or might have a romantic relationship do an activity together
Aygul said she was not really in the Eid mood.

But that did not stop her from preparing a traditional Uyghur holiday meal Tuesday for family and friends at her home in northern Virginia.

In between serving bowls of laghman noodles and hot tea, Aygul and her guests talked about their families back home in Chinas far western region of Xinjiang.

Some days its even hard to breathe, she says, holding back tears. "Even though it's Eid, we're always sad."

Uyghurs in the United States came together this week to mark the Kurban Eid holiday, also known as Eid-al-Adha. Yet, as several Uyghurs told VOA, it is hard to celebrate while knowing -- or not knowing -- what their family is going through back home.

About 11 million Uyghurs live in Xinjiang. Over the last two years, China has effectively turned the region into a police state, with block-by-block security checkpoints, surveillance technology and detention centers known as re-education camps. China says it is trying to prevent Islamic extremism and separatism among Uyghurs.

Earlier this month, a United Nations official said she believes that China is holding as many as 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslims in these re-education camps. Another 2 million reportedly are attending open re-education camps daily and returning home at night.

The whole Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, U.N. rights expert Gay McDougall said, resembles a massive internment camp.

In answer, a Chinese official told the U.N. the argument that 1 million are detained in re-education centers is completely untrue. Only those "deceived by religious extremism," the official said, would be "assisted by resettlement and re-education.

Continuing traditions

China's efforts also have threatened many Uyghur cultural and religious traditions, including holding public gatherings and practicing Islam.

Uyghurs living in the United States are eager to get together for holidays to pass on traditions to their children.

Back in Xinjiang, Uyghurs usually go from house to house to celebrate Eid. They share a meal with family and stop by friends homes to snack on Uighur nan bread, dried fruit and a special fried dough known as sangza.

Here in the Washington area, Uyghurs continue that tradition at Aygul's home. Each of her guests has their own story of a loved one disappearing or of losing contact with their family.

To protect their families in Xinjiang, all of the Uyghurs who spoke to VOA for this story chose not to use their real names. VOA was not able to independently confirm their stories.

Nisa is a young Uyghur woman who came to the U.S. over five years ago for school. Earlier this year, she lost contact with her father. Her father, a government employee, was not political or very religious, Nisa told VOA. She later found out that, while her father was in the hospital, authorities came to his room, put something over his head, and took him away.

A family member explained to her over the phone, Theyve taken your dad away to study.

No one has been able to reach Nisas father since he was taken.

Ilham is a young Uyghur man in his 20s. He knows of at least eight family members who are in re-education camps. But this week, he feels hopeful as he explains to others at Ayguls home that he believes he may have found a secure method to get news from family members back home.

Talking to family in Xinjiang has become nearly impossible in recent months. The Chinese government closely examines everything that comes in and out of Xinjiang. Even simple interactions with people living overseas can put Uyghurs still in Xinjiang at risk.

China's intimidation campaign is not limited to the region. Chinese authorities also pressure families in Xinjiang to get their family members overseas to provide detailed information about their daily lives.

Gulbahar has lived in the midwestern United States for the past year. She says Chinese government officials in March pressured her father to provide information about where she and her brothers go to school. They also wanted their home addresses and information about when they plan to return to China.

Gulbahar passed along the requested information, fearing for her father's safety, she said.

The father and daughter have not spoken since March. Gulbahars phone calls and text messages have gone unanswered.

On Eid, she decided to send a simple holiday greeting to her parents over the Chinese messaging service WeChat.

I sent it this morning, Gulbahar said. But I know I am not going to get anything back.

Im Caty Weaver.

Ashley Thompson and William Gallo reported this story for VOA News and VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mood - n. the way someone feels : a person's emotional state

region - n. a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way

massive - adj. very large and heavy

deceive - v. to make (someone) believe something that is not true

eager - adj. very excited and interested

snack - v. to eat a small amount of food between meals

dough - n. a mixture of flour, water, and other ingredients that is baked to make bread, cookies, etc.

authorities - n. people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws

interaction - n. the act of talking or doing things with other people

intimidation - n. the act of causing fear

greeting - n. a message that expresses good wishes to someone
As early as 2015, Think with Google found that millennials were making nearly half of all business-to-business (B2B) decisions. Obviously, that meant focusing more on e-commerce stores and social media. So whats most noticeable about B2B now?

Payment methods, for one. Fax orders are still a thing with about 23% of B2B retailers pursuing an online sales process. The other, more popular options are website, email and phone.

Clearly, some B2B companies see the need for keeping all payment options open  most likely because the half that the millennials do not control must be accommodated on its own terms.

Going Direct seems to be the newest B2B trend. Case in point: Knobs.Co. This company has a B2C site targeting individuals rather than businesses. Knobs is still B2B, but this strategy takes business straight to the consumer, as well.

Content Marketing

HubSpots annual reports consistently show that Inbound is in and Direct Response Marketing is not quite as viable as it used to be only a few years back.

It isnt that cold calls and ads dont work, but if you are selling online, you should also be ranking organically or naturally drawing in visitors from social channels.

Why? Because:

Publishers suffered a loss to the tune of $22 billion (2015) because of ad-blocking.

As recent as February 2018, organic CTR on Google SERP has been 65%, while paid ads were clicked on for only 4% of the queries.

Are you curious about the remaining 31% of searches? Google answered internet users questions on the search results page, reducing the need for clicks.

If you are not into SEO and content marketing, you could be losing a big chunk of profit. Looks like going organic has a whole different meaning these days.

Medical Marijuana

After medical marijuana was legalized, many patients have benefited immensely from its medical applications. And in the B2B space, things have really been picking up.

ABcann Medicinals, for example, has a Cannabis Oils Coming Soon! announcement on its homepage along with a Free Expedited Shipping offer.

Medical Marijuana, Inc. has been a major player. It was the first company to make cannabis brands available across the 50 states as well as internationally in 2012. It was also the first to introduce medical cannabis products to Brazil (2014), Puerto Rico (2015), Mexico (2016), and Paraguay (2016).

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR & AR)

CCS Insight predicts VR and AR devices will have a market worth of $1.8 Billion this year. Major applications are expected to be in gaming (59%), education (26%) and health care (26%).

The Western University J and K Virtual Reality Learning Center helps students learn anatomy in a virtual environment. This does away with the problem of obtaining actual cadavers and the cost of maintaining a hygienic environment a dissection room must have.

In health care alone, the VR and AR sector could reach $5.1 billion by 2025. The amount of funds raised by the leading companies in the recent past is a clear indication that the prediction is far from inaccurate.

These three B2B sectors are looking good in 2018. Make sure to come back and stay informed about the changing trends in the B2B space.

Photo Credit: rushtips.com
Chinese police have opened an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against one of the countrys best-known Buddhist monks whose case has highlighted the growth of the #MeToo movement in China.

A statement issued by the State Religious Affairs Administration yesterday said police were investigating claims of sexual assault by Xuecheng. It said he also faces censure from the official government-backed Buddhist Association on suspicion of violating Buddhist precepts.

Xuecheng has denied the claims but earlier this month resigned as head of the Buddhist Association.

Fellow monks accused him of harassing and demanding sexual favors from nuns at his monastery in the outskirts of northwestern Beijing, as well as embezzling funds. Their accusations, including testimony from alleged victims, were posted online, prompting a public outcry and unusual coverage by state media.

A small but increasing number of academics, civil society activists and one of Chinas best-known television hosts have been called out for inappropriate sexual behavior.

In addition to heading the Buddhist Association, Xuecheng was an influential political adviser to the central government. His monastery, Longquan, is popular with educated Chinese, including many who give up high-paying jobs to devote their lives to religious study.

China has roughly 250 million Buddhists whose religion has suffered varying degrees of repression under the officially atheist Communist government. That number is likely growing fast as some young Chinese turn increasingly spiritual and retreat to temples and monasteries.

Not all is so Zen-like, however. Some leading monks have been criticized for embracing Chinas rampant commercialism, among them Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple famed for its fighting monks.

Shi was accused by subordinates in 2015 of keeping mistresses and embezzling monastery funds while he jet-setted around the world seeking sponsorship and real estate deals for the 1,500-year-old cradle of kung fu.

The religious affairs bureau statement said Xuechengs temple is also under investigation for putting up buildings without construction permits. Authorities are also looking into the issue of the whereabouts of a large amount of funds, it said. AP
Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei has been blocked from rolling out Australias 5G network due to security concerns.

The government said yesterday that the involvement of a company likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government presented too much risk.

Several governments have been scrutinizing Huawei over its links to the Chinese government. The private Chinese company started by a former Peoples Liberation Army major in 1987 suffered a setback in the U.S. market in 2012 when a congressional report said it was a security risk and warned phone companies not to buy its equipment.

Huawei has said it would never hand over Australian customer data to Chinese spy agencies, but the governments statement said no combination of security controls sufficiently mitigated the risk.

Acting Home Affairs Minister Scott Morrison said the government was committed to protecting 5G networks.

The decision also affects ZTE Corp, a Chinese maker of mobile devices.

Shenzhen-based Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment supplier, had been banned from bidding for contracts for Australias broadband network in 2011.

5G networks will start commercial services in Australia next year.

Huawei Australia tweeted that the decision was extremely disappointing. Huawei Australia Chairman John Lord had said in June that rejecting one of the worlds leading 5G suppliers could impact Australias economic growth and productivity for generations.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang expressed serious concerns about the decision and accused the Australian government of making up excuses to create hurdles deliberately and taking discriminative measures in this regard.

We urge the Australian government to discard ideological biases and create a level-playing filed for Chinese companies operations in Australia, Lu told reporters at a daily briefing.

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee previously found that Huawei and ZTE, which is partly state-owned, were tied to the Chinese government and that both companies failed to provide responsive and detailed answers about those relationships and about their U.S. operations.

Huawei denied being financed to undertake research and development for the Chinese military, but the committee said it had received internal Huawei documents showing the company provided special network services to an entity alleged to be an elite cyber-warfare unit within the Peoples Liberation Army.

Lord, of Huawei Australia, at the time urged Australia not to be swayed by the U.S. report, which he said was about protectionism rather than security. AP
China has refused to renew the journalist visa for an American correspondent for BuzzFeed News in what appears to be punishment for her reporting on topics considered sensitive by the authorities.

Megha Rajagopalan tweeted yesterday [Macau time] that the foreign ministry declined to issue her a new visa in May. She said the ministry indicated it was a procedural issue and that it was unclear why.

Asked about Rajagopalans case, the ministry responded with a statement Wednesday saying only that it handled such matters according to laws and regulations.

During her six years in China, Rajagopalan had reported extensively on human rights abuses and the plight of Chinas Uighur Muslim minority, among other subjects.

Chinas government sometimes delays or refuses to issue or renew visas for journalists if it is displeased with their reporting, their media outlets, or both.

Those include a reporter for the Al Jazeera television network who was forced to leave the country in 2012 when her visa expired, and a correspondent for Frances LObs magazine who had to leave in 2015.

Rajagopalan has taken up a new position with BuzzFeed reporting on technology and human rights, based in the Middle East.

In a statement, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said it found Rajagopalans treatment extremely regrettable and unacceptable for a government that repeatedly insists it welcomes foreign media to cover the country.

We are attempting to get clarity from the Foreign Ministry on its reasoning for effectively ejecting a credentialed foreign journalist from China, the club said. AP
Visitor arrivals increased by 16.6 percent month-to-month to 3,034,297 in July 2018 and rose by 4 percent year-on-year. The Statistics and Census Service revealed yesterday that overnight visitors (1,636,904) and same-day visitors (1,397,393) grew by 1.7 percent and 6.8 percent respectively year-on-year. Visitors from mainland China increased by 7.6 percent year-on-year to 2,168,413 in July, with those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme rising by 7 percent to 1,060,982. Mainland visitors came primarily from Guangdong province (901,872), Hunan province (108,775) and Fujian province (80,612). Visitors from South Korea (59,451), Hong Kong (545,246) and Taiwan (101,918) dropped by 19.8 percent, 2.5 percent and 1 percent respectively year-on-year.

CE away from Macau on vacation

Chief Executive Chui Sai On is away from Macau from August 22 to August 28, according to a dispatch published in the governments Official Gazette. During Chuis absence, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong has been the Acting Chief Executive from August 22 to today. Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak will be the Acting Chief Executive from tomorrow to August 28.

Sulu Sou questions regions flood resistance capability

Lawmaker Sulu Sou wrote an inquiry to the MSAR government looking for answers about the citys disaster resistance, in particular, flooding resistance capabilities. What did the government find out regarding the inner harbors failure of the temporary flooding prevention project? How can the administrative authority ensure it can enhance these projects, therefore restoring the confidence of residents in the governments flooding [management]? Sou asked. Will the government reveal an exact timetable regarding flood prevention projects? What plan does the administrative authority have to enhance Macau peninsulas capability in terms of draining flooded fields? Sou questioned.
August gaming forecasts project a daily average revenue of USD100.8 to USD103.2 million from now until the end of the month, with leading analysts expecting that gross gaming revenue (GGR) will increase between USD3.22 and USD3.27 billion this month.

Consultancy firms forecast the GGR will increase 15 to 17 percent, compared to August 2017.

Sanford C. Bernstein forecasts that the GGR may get up to a little more than USD104 million (daily average), according to the companys latest week ending.

Another broker, Nomura, predicts a slightly lower GGR, yet expects an improvement over the last year, as cited in a report issued by Calvin Ayre.

The Japanese broker noted that this months gaming revenue would be USD3.22 billion, adding that GGR growth for July and August should be comparable to the trailing six-year median, which was around 3 percent.

Nomura pointed out that its forecast is less optimistic than the 19 percent offered by another consultant.

Although these forecasts are still subject to vitality in VIP gaming revenue, the broker expects VIP gaming revenue to be 3 to 4 percent higher than last month, while the citys mass-market revenue may increase 5 to 7 percent.
President Donald Trumps tariff policies reflect a serious misunderstanding of the importance of free trade and Japanese companies contributions to the U.S. economy, Japans trade minister said yesterday.

Hiroshige Seko, the minister of economy, trade and industry, warned in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that Tokyo might take action if the U.S. fulfills threats to levy a 25 percent tariff on Japanese auto imports. He gave no details but didnt rule out retaliatory tariffs.

Japanese automakers are a major contributor to the American economy, Seko said in the interview at his ministry office in Tokyo. If the Japanese auto industry is weakened, it will not be able to invest in the U.S.

Seko also expressed worries about the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China, and said such moves threatened the entire global economy. Both sides imposed additional tariffs on billions of dollars of each others automobiles, factory machinery and other goods.

This works as absolutely no plus for the world economy, and Japanese companies are shipping parts to China to finish them as products there that are exported to the U.S., and the effects are already being felt, he said. Ultimately, it will hurt the U.S. and Chinese economies.

Seko said he empathized with Trumps feelings of worry over the ballooning U.S. trade deficit. But he said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other Japanese officials have been patiently trying to persuade Trump that Japanese do not products pose a security threat to the U.S.

The annual U.S. trade deficit with Japan totaled more than USD68 billion last year. The U.S. deficit with China was nearly $376 billion.

Trump should not blame Japan, Seko said, because the U.S. deficit with Japan today reflects years of effort by Japan to create thousands of jobs in the U.S., many of them lucrative in the auto industry, and become a major investor in the U.S.

Seko said tariffs imposed on Japanese exports of steel and aluminum, which have already kicked in, are expected to have a minimal impact on Japan because its steel mills specialize in high-end products difficult to replace that have been exempted from the tariff hikes.

Auto tariffs are another matter, said Seko, who appeared relaxed in his spacious office filled with books, exotic-looking vases, a Pikachu doll and a photo of him handing over a huge trophy to a sumo wrestler.

The auto industry helps drive Japans economy, with exports of vehicles and parts to the U.S. accounting for 1 percent of its GDP.

Toyota Motor Corp. estimates the auto tariffs would add an average $6,000 to the cost of each car exported to the U.S. from Japan. At current levels, that amounts to $4.2 billion a year.

American automakers such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are among companies protesting that the tariffs would harm the U.S. industry.

Seko said Japan has changed its ways since the height of the Japan-bashing days of the 1980s.

Japanese companies make 3.8 million cars annually in the United States, more than double the number of vehicles shipped there from Japan, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Things are totally different, he said.

Seko said that during a recent trip to the U.S., which included Detroit, he met many people who agreed with his views.

Some trade experts note the setup of global production has changed so much over the years that a Trump-style zero sum approach to looking at trade may be misleading: The Apple iPhone, for instance, might be made in China, but its an American product using parts from other nations, including Japan.

For that reason, a growing deficit might just reflect a booming U.S. economy. Tariffs will merely raise prices for American consumers, Seko said.

The U.S. pushback against imports has left Japan in the position of championing free trade.

We have to keep trying to explain our message, Seko said. We have been working to open our markets to avoid such misunderstandings, especially in the bilateral trade with the U.S.

Japan recently signed a wide-spanning trade deal with Europe that had been under discussion for years. It has helped lead talks on a regional trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while Trump withdrew the U.S. soon after taking office.

Japan is also leading a move toward a regional economic partnership that groups Southeast Asian nations, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India with Japan.

Seko, 55, was graduated from Tokyos prestigious Waseda University and earned a masters degree at Boston University. He worked for the phone company, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., before becoming a member of the upper house of parliament in 1998.

Like many Japanese lawmakers, Seko has politics in the blood: His grandfather and an uncle were prominent Japanese politicians. His wife is also a politician  although from the opposition party.

At home, Im the opposition, he laughed.Yuri Kageyama, Tokyo, AP
Thailand authorities have issued an international arrest warrant against Manivannan Murugesan for smuggling endangered turtles to Macau, amongst other places.

Murugesan is currently in custody of Indias Madhya Pradesh special task force (STF) wildlife unit and has been in jail for smuggling endangered red-crownned roofed turtles from Morena, a city in India.

The task force had already approached the enforcement directorate headquarters in Mumbai, seeking to open a money-laundering case against Murugesan and four others.

According to the Times of India, Interpol has been approached to take Murugesan on transit remand from the central jail in Sagar where he is currently detained.

A native of Singapore, his illegal trade is spread across Thailand, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, China and Madagascar.

Murugesan was arrested by Thai authorities in 2012, but escaped during his trial and has since been on the run.

The mans alleged role in the smuggling surfaced with the arrest of a businessman for stealing a red-crowned roofed turtle from a breeding center in Morena district.

The accused reportedly supplies fish feed to a crocodile center that helps breed and rehabilitate crocodiles, gharials and endangered turtles.

The 50-year-old allegedly smuggled hundreds of red-crowned roofed turtles over the last 10 years, although he has only admitted to 50 instances.
Claudio Belotti knows he cut the denim that became the jeans Meghan Markle wore on one of her first outings as the fiancee of Britains Prince Harry.

Thats because he cuts all of the fabric for Hiut Denim Co., a 7-year-old company that makes jeans in Cardigan, Wales. Belotti is a craftsman with 50 years of experience that gives his work a personal touch  something thats not quite couture but not exactly mass-produced either.

Theres a story behind each one, Belotti said. Youre paying for the skill.

Customer demand for something unique is helping small companies like Hiut buck the globalization trend and set up shop in developed countries that had long seen such work disappear. While international brands like H&M and Zara still dominate the clothing market, small manufacturers are finding a niche by using technology and skill to bring down costs and targeting well-heeled customers who are willing to pay a little more for clothes that arent churned out by the thousands half a world away.

Profits at smaller national clothing firms grew 2 percent over the last five years, compared with a 25 percent decline at the top 700 traditional multinationals, according to research by Kantar Consulting.

Their success comes from promoting their small size and individuality, said Jaideep Prabhu, a professor of enterprise at Cambridge Universitys Judge Business School.

Its a different kind of manufacturing, he said. They are not the Satanic mills. These are very cool little boutiques.

Hiut, which makes nothing but jeans, employs 16 people in Cardigan and makes 160 pairs a week. Womens styles range from 145 pounds (USD192) to 185 pounds ($244), mens go for 150 pounds to 235 pounds. Each is signed by the person who sewed it, known in the company as a Grand Master. By contrast, Primark says it sources products from 1,071 factories in 31 countries and keeps costs down by buying in vast quantities. The most expensive pair of jeans on the companys website sells for 20 pounds.

Many of these small manufacturers also try to stand out by embracing social issues, from reducing waste to paying a living wage.

Hiut, for example, highlights its efforts to put people back to work in a small town that was devastated when a factory that employed 400 people and made 35,000 pairs of jeans a week shut down. Underscoring the years of craftsmanship that go into each pair of jeans, the company offers free repairs for life.

This kind of customer service helps form a personal relationship between a brand and the shopper that is valuable, says Anusha Couttigane of Kantar Consulting.

Customers notice. Laura Lewis-Davies, a museum worker who from Wales, says she wants to support independent businesses when she can and bought a pair of Hiut jeans after seeing a story about Markle wearing the brand.

Well-crafted things bring more joy, she said. Id rather buy fewer things but know theyre good quality (and) made by people who are working in good conditions for a fair salary.

The rise of small clothing makers reflects a broader shift in consumer preferences away from big brands  as evident, say, in the boom in craft beers. In fashion, technology is fueling the trend.

The internet provides a cheap way to reach customers, while off-the-shelf artificial intelligence programs allow companies to accurately forecast demand and order materials so they can make small batches and avoid unwanted stock. That makes it possible to produce clothes that are more customized.

Data is the backbone for this and the trigger, said Achim Berg, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. in Frankfurt who advises fashion and luxury goods companies. Its not custom-made, but it gives the consumer the opportunity to be more individual.

A survey of 500 companies by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion, an influential industry news website, identified personalization as this years No. 1 trend. Consumers are willing to hand over personal information to get more customized products and services, according to a 2016 survey by Salesforce.com, which provides online sales and marketing tools for businesses.

Established brands have recognized the trend and offering to customize products, too. Adidas, for example, offers the chance to mix and match colors and materials on things like the sole and laces on some of its shoes.

But making clothes on a smaller scale has also gained a moral tinge after scandals about sweatshops, child labor and unsafe working practices hit global brands in recent years. The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, which killed 1,100 and injured 2,500 others, highlighted the grim conditions in factories that export to the United States and Europe.

Jenny Holloway, who employs 100 people at Fashion Enter in London, said shes not interested in making as many garments as possible and selling them as fast as she can.

Id like to say weve done a massive business plan and we refer to it. We dont, Holloway said. We sit down and have a cup of tea and we have a chat and we evaluate how things sit with us. How does that client fit our ethics?  It isnt about money and making that big buck. Its about sustainability.

Prabhu sees this as part of a bigger shift away from the model of outsourcing production to low-cost countries like China. Youre trying to constantly keep up with your customers. Your competitive advantage is to give them something closer to their needs.

Hiut Denim is an example of this backlash.

The company is based in a town of some 4,000 people where 10 percent of the population once made jeans. Then, a decade ago, the factory shut down as the owners moved production to Morocco and later to China.

When David and Clare Hieatt decided to start making jeans again, they were determined to take advantage of the years of professional experience going to waste. They hoped that would give their products a story to market.

Markles decision to wear Hiut jeans in Wales boosted that effort. The company now has a waiting list of three months.

For the town its been incredible because it gives people a confidence to go, Wow. This town makes a world-class product, David Hieatt said. We lost our mojo when we lost 400 jobs, but now were getting it back. Thats a very cool story.
China has turned down a Tibetan language rights activists appeal of his five-year prison sentence on the charge of inciting separatism, monitoring groups said YESTERDAY.

Tashi Wangchuk was detained in 2016 and sentenced in May based on a New York Times documentary in which he talked about the erosion of his culture and language in the tightly secured region.

The International Tibet Network said his appeal was turned down on Aug. 13.

Chinas rejection of Tashi Wangchuks appeal is a travesty of justice and shows a disdain for the international concern that the case has raised, the networks Tenzin Jigdal said. Activists vow to continue pushing for his immediate and unconditional release, he said.

With time served, Tashi Wangchuk should be released in 2021, although Chinese political prisoners are frequently subject to additional restrictions, including house arrest, after being released.

Tashi Wangchuks case highlights the authoritarian governments extreme sensitivity to issues involving ethnic minorities  especially Tibetans and Uighur Muslims from the northwestern region of Xinjiang  as well as the risks Chinese citizens run when criticizing government policies to foreign media.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva discussed his case earlier this month, during which the Chinese representative denied he had been arrested for his comments on protecting minority languages. AP
A two-day memorial observance in Thailand for a group of 47 Chinese visitors who died when their tour boat sank in bad weather concluded yesterday with a candlelight ceremony.

The days mass merit-making included a prayer session led by a Buddhist monk, meditation and shared vegetarian meals.

Two tour boats sank off Thailands southern resort island of Phuket on July 5. Tourists from one boat were rescued, while the sinking of the double-decker Phoenix left 47 Chinese tourists dead.

The accident was one of Thailands worst tourism-related disasters in recent years.

Phuket officials said five people have been charged so far with responsibility for the tragedy, including the owner and two operators of the Phoenix.

They have been accused of negligence causing death, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Officials said several other people are also under investigation, including some at the company that built the boat.

Phuket Gov. Norraphat Plodthong said the island is implementing stricter regulations and improving safety measures for boat operations, including better docking procedures and an improved radio communications system.

Visitors to Thailand from China totaled more than 9.8 million people in 2017, constituting the largest share by country of a record 35.38 million foreign tourists in all. AP
Bahrain has suspended issuance of entry visas for Qataris and will bar citizens of the tiny Gulf country to enter the kingdom as the diplomatic crisis in the region drags on.

Bahraini authorities have decided to expel Qatari students in the kingdom though they possess valid visas, reports say. Authorities will also stop issuing visas for nationals of the tiny gas-rich country wishing to visit the kingdom.

The decision was not taken because of Qatari nationals who share brotherly ties with Bahrainis, but as result of irresponsible acts of Qatari authorities that do not consider the rights of neighboring countries or the principles of international law, the Bahraini interior ministry said, according to state-run News Agency (BNA).

The decision comes as Qatars isolation by its neighbors namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain plus Egypt entered into its 14th month.

The four countries in June last year severed ties with Doha that they accuse of supporting terrorism and getting too cozy with regional arch enemy Iran.

Qatar has dismissed any wrongdoing and accused the quartet of a smear campaign in a move to bring down the regime.
Credit: MaximP/Shutterstock

The desire for a larger bottom is becoming more popular, with the number of so-called Brazilian butt lifts more than doubling in the last five years.

However, a recent high-profile case involving a doctor in Miami who was banned from operating after the death of a patient during surgery, highlights the risks associated with having this procedure. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Brazilian butt lift (BBL) has the highest rate of death of all aesthetic procedures.

What is a Brazilian butt lift?

Some people have a BBL for aesthetic reasons, but many have it after losing lots of weight, serious disfigurement after pelvic trauma or practical problems, such as holding up trousers.

The procedure involves taking fat from areas of the body where it's not wanted and transplanting it into the glutes to enlarge them.

To be successful, a fat graft needs nutrition and so has to be injected into tissue that has a blood supply. Fat can survive if injected into other fat, but up to 90% of it can be absorbed if it is. Fat has more chance of staying in place if it is inserted into muscle  but this is where the risk lies.

Injecting fat into the buttock can easily lead to serious problems if done incorrectly. These include a fat embolism, when fat enters the bloodstream and blocks a blood vessel. In the lungs, for example, it blocks oxygen from entering the bloodstream, while in the brain it can cause a stroke  both can be fatal.

The volume of fat is also important. Most surgeons consider 300ml  slightly less than a can of soda  to be a safe amount. However, some more experienced surgeons use a much larger volume of fat that may be measured in litres.

More people are risking surgery to get a bigger bum. Credit: Satyrenko/Shutterstock

Why is the mortality rate so high?

A 2017 survey of 692 surgeons from across the world investigated the rate of mortality among patients undergoing BBL. Throughout their careers, the surgeons reported 32 cases of death from a fat embolism and 103 non-fatal cases, but there are probably many more that remain unreported.

Fat embolism was recently identified as the leading cause of death in aesthetic surgery. The estimated death rate from fat embolism may be as high as one in 3,000 for BBLs. A 2015 study of deaths from BBL surgery concluded that they probably occur as a result of gluteal blood vessels becoming damaged during the procedure, allowing fat to enter the bloodstream. The authors recommended that "buttocks lipoinjection should be performed very carefully, avoiding injections into deep muscle planes".

Deaths in the US have caused concern. In one recently reported case in the US that led to death from a fat embolism, surgeons believed injections had been made into superficial fat, but at post-mortem fat was found in the heart and lungs. There was also some evidence of damage to gluteal blood vessels.

However, it should be noted that fat is also injected into muscle for some breast enhancement surgery, with no reported deaths. This suggests that there are other factors involved in the high mortality rate among BBL patients.

Most of these deaths appear to have been caused by inappropriately qualified practitioners working in non-approved facilities, including homes and garages. One Brazilian celebrity plastic surgeon, known as "Dr. Bumbum", was recently charged with murder after the death of a patient at his home during surgery.

Other post-surgery problems, such as gangrene and sepsis, can also be fatal.

Is it worth the risk?

The potential risk of death from a fat embolism has to be weighed against the benefits, especially in cases where there are physical and functional benefits to having the surgery. In the case of the Brazilian butt lift, perhaps the risks outweigh the benefits.

Nevertheless, in a celebrity and beauty obsessed society, the procedure remains popular, despite the risks. So it is important that surgeons make the risks of the procedure very clear to anyone considering it. Patient safety should always be the top priority. And surgeons need to do more to increase the safety of the procedure and lower the unnecessarily high mortality rate.

Explore further ASERF outlines recommendations to increase safety of gluteal fat grafting procedures

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
(HealthDay)Senator John McCain's long battle with brain cancer may be nearing an end, with his family announcing Friday that he will no longer receive treatment for the condition.

The 81-year-old Republican Arizona senator and hero of the Vietnam War had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive glioblastoma since July of 2017, The New York Times reported.

"Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious," his family said in a statement. "In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

One brain cancer expert who's not involved in McCain's care outlined the senator's likely condition.

"We can speculate that Senator McCain is worse neurologically and made it clear, now or beforehand, that if that happened, he would elect to have palliative care only," said Dr. Michael Schulder, who helps direct neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.

"If there is any silver lining in this cloud, it is that patients who die from [glioblastoma] rarely have severe pain," he added. "They gradually become less alert and most often die from pneumonia or sometimes from the direct effect of increased pressure on the brain. Palliative care can alleviate any discomfort that patients do feel."

McCain has been largely absent from Congress and Washington, D.C., since December, and sources told the Times that his family has gathered in Arizona, and death may be near.

His illness hasn't stopped McCain from being a political force, however. Earlier this year he criticized President Donald Trump after a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example.

McCain is the son and grandson of four-star Navy admirals and as a soldier spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Over the past few decades he charted a swift rise in politics, both as Arizona senator and as the 2008 Republican nominee for the Presidency against Barack Obama.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), glioblastomas "are the fastest growing" of a subcategory of brain tumor known as gliomas. "These tumors make up more than half of all gliomas and are the most common malignant brain tumors in adults."

Each year, almost 24,000 Americans will be diagnosed with a brain or spinal cord tumor, and nearly 17,000 die from these tumors each year, the ACS said.

Schulder explained that "the course of glioblastoma progression is very different from patient to patient. Based on the tumor biology, some patients succumb to the disease within months, most live between one and two years, and some live for many years in good condition after diagnosis and treatment."

Dr. John Boockvar directs the Brain Tumor Center at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Although he is not involved in McCain's care, he said that the senator's "survival is in line with expectations from the time of his diagnosis. These are difficult decisions for the family at this time. I would measure his survival in weeks, not months."

Explore further Laser therapy increases survival in grim cancer diagnosis

More information: Michael Schulder, M.D.,vice chair, neurosurgery, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, and director, Northwell Health's Brain Tumor Center, Lake Success, N.Y.; John Boockvar, M.D., vice chair, neurosurgery, and director, Brain Tumor Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; The New York Times, Aug. 24, 2018 Michael Schulder, M.D.,vice chair, neurosurgery, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, and director, Northwell Health's Brain Tumor Center, Lake Success, N.Y.; John Boockvar, M.D., vice chair, neurosurgery, and director, Brain Tumor Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City;, Aug. 24, 2018 There's more on brain tumors at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Copyright  2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Of the many well-documented risks of dirty air, one potential danger is lesser known: chronic kidney disease. Learn about new research and how to protect yourself. Credit: Michigan Medicine

There is good evidence that polluted air increases the risk of respiratory problems such as asthmaas well as organ inflammation, worsening of diabetes and other life-threatening conditions.But new research suggests air pollution can also fuel something else: chronic kidney disease, or CKD, which occurs when a person's kidneys become damaged or cannot filter blood properly.

Recently published in PLOS ONE, a University of Michigan study highlights the lesser-known connection.

"Similar to smoking, air pollution contains harmful toxins that can directly affect the kidneys," says Jennifer Bragg-Gresham, M.S., Ph.D., a Michigan Medicine epidemiologist and the study's lead author.

"Kidneys have a large volume of blood flowing through them, and if anything harms the circulatory system, the kidneys will be the first to sense those effects."

People with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure or heart disease are at increased risk of developing CKD. Which is why high-risk patients who live in heavily populated or polluted areas should recognize the danger and take precautions, Bragg-Gresham says.

Why air pollution is dangerous

Air pollution contains fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is a cocktail of microscopic particles.

Because these particles are virtually weightless, they can stay in the air longer, causing humans to unavoidably inhale them on a regular basis without knowing it. PM2.5 can lead to serious health effects when inhaled often.

By reviewing Medicare claims data and air-quality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study's authors found a positive association between CKD rates and PM2.5 concentration.

Says study co-author Rajiv Saran, M.D., a Michigan Medicine nephrologist and director of the United States Renal Data System Coordinating Center at U-M: "If you look at areas that are heavily polluted versus areas that are less polluted, you will find more chronic kidney disease."

According to figures cited in the new research, chronic kidney disease afflicts more than 27 million Americans. People with CKD have an eightfold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality.

Unfortunately, PM2.5 is almost impossible to avoid.

We encounter air pollution from many simple everyday activities, such as cooking and driving. Other contributors are smoking, burning wood, packaged spray products, household appliances and, perhaps the most obvious, industry and vehicle emissions.

Air pollution also contains heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmiumall of which are known to negatively affect the kidneys.

Problems and preventive measures

The U-M research examined several prior studies on the issue, including an effort conducted in select coal-mining areas of Appalachia that found a 19 percent higher risk of CKD among men and a 13 percent higher risk in women compared with those who lived in counties with no mining.

The good news: PM2.5 levels are much lower in the U.S. than in other industrialized countries such as China and India.

"What this means for the countries with higher PM2.5 is significantly higher odds of CKD," says Bragg-Gresham, also an assistant research scientist at U-M. "Our research was only able to examine a small range of PM2.5 values present in America but was able to find a significant association."

However, it's still important to take precautions when exposed to air pollution, especially for people who have existing health conditions or who live in densely populated or polluted cities.

"In heavily polluted areas, consider wearing masks that cover your nose and mouth, limit hours outside and limit long hours commuting to work in high traffic as well," Saran says, adding that the risk should be taken seriously.

"Many people don't see the seriousness of air pollution because it isn't something visible, but that doesn't mean it's any less important for your health."

Explore further Air pollution associated with higher rates of chronic kidney disease

More information: Jennifer Bragg-Gresham et al, County-level air quality and the prevalence of diagnosed chronic kidney disease in the US Medicare population, PLOS ONE (2018). Journal information: PLoS ONE Jennifer Bragg-Gresham et al, County-level air quality and the prevalence of diagnosed chronic kidney disease in the US Medicare population,(2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200612
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new scientific study concludes there is no safe level of drinking alcohol.

The study, published today in the international medical journal The Lancet, shows that in 2016, nearly 3 million deaths globally were attributed to alcohol use, including 12 percent of deaths in males between the ages of 15 and 49.

"The health risks associated with alcohol are massive," said Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and the senior author of the study. "Our findings are consistent with other recent research, which found clear and convincing correlations between drinking and premature death, cancer, and cardiovascular problems. Zero alcohol consumption minimizes the overall risk of health loss."

The study does not distinguish between beer, wine, and liquor due to a lack of evidence when estimating the disease burden, Gakidou said.

However, researchers used data on all alcohol-related deaths generally and related health outcomes to determine their conclusions.

Alcohol use patterns vary widely by country and by sex, the average consumption per drinker, and the attributable disease burden. Globally, more than 2 billion people were current drinkers in 2016; 63% were male.

"Average consumption" refers to a standard drink, defined in the study as 10 grams of pure alcohol, consumed by a person daily, about the equivalent of:

A small glass of red wine (100 ml or 3.4 fluid ounces) at 13% alcohol by volume;

A can or bottle of beer (375 ml or 12 fluid ounces) at 3.5% alcohol by volume; or

A shot of whiskey or other spirits (30 ml or 1.0 fluid ounces) at 40% alcohol by volume.

"Standard drinks" are different by country. For example, in the UK a standard drink is 8 grams of alcohol, whereas in Australia, the US, and Japan, it is 10 grams, 14 grams, and 20 grams, respectively.

The study, part of the annual Global Burden of Disease (GBD), assesses alcohol-related health outcomes and patterns between 1990 and 2016 for 195 countries and territories and by age and sex.

It provides findings on prevalence of current drinking, prevalence of abstention, alcohol consumption among current drinkers, and deaths and overall poor health attributable to alcohol for 23 health outcomes, such as communicable and non-communicable diseases and injuries, including:

Cardiovascular diseases: atrial fibrillation and flutter, hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic stroke, hypertensive heart disease, ischemic heart disease, and alcoholic cardiomyopathy;

Cancers: breast, colorectal, liver, esophageal, larynx, lip and oral cavity, and nasal;

Other non-communicable diseases: cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol use, diabetes, epilepsy, pancreatitis, and alcohol use disorders;

Communicable diseases: lower respiratory infections and tuberculosis;

Intentional injuries: interpersonal violence and self-harm;

Unintentional injuries: exposure to mechanical forces; poisonings; fire, heat, and hot substances; drowning; and other unintentional injuries; and

Transportation-related injuries.

"We now understand that alcohol is one of the major causes of death in the world today," said Lancet Editor Richard Horton. "We need to act now. We need to act urgently to prevent these millions of deaths. And we can."

This study used 694 data sources on individual and population-level alcohol consumption, along with 592 prospective and retrospective studies on the risk of alcohol use. More than 500 GBD collaborators, such as researchers, academics, and others from more than 40 nations contributed to the study, according to Max Griswold, senior researcher and lead author.

"With the largest collected evidence base to date, our study makes the relationship between health and alcohol cleardrinking causes substantial health loss, in myriad ways, all over the world," Griswold said.

In 2016, eight of the leading 10 countries with lowest death rates attributable to alcohol use among 15- to 49-year-olds were in the Middle East: Kuwait, Iran, Palestine, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, and Syria. The other two were Maldives and Singapore.

Conversely, seven of the leading 10 countries with highest death rates were in the Baltic, Eastern European, or Central Asian regions, specifically Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Mongolia, Latvia, and Kazakhstan. The other three were Lesotho, Burundi, and Central African Republic.

Health officials in those nations, Gakidou said, would be well served by examining the study's findings to inform their policies and programs to improve the health and well-being of their constituents.

"There is a compelling and urgent need to overhaul policies to encourage either lowering people's levels of alcohol consumption or abstaining entirely," she said. "The myth that one or two drinks a day are good for you is just thata myth. This study shatters that myth."

Explore further Experts urge review of alcohol consumption guidelines

More information: Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 19902016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet. 23 Aug 2018. Journal information: The Lancet Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 19902016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.. 23 Aug 2018. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31310-2
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Vumatel has reportedly stopped work in KwaZulu-Natal due to intimidation and threats against workers.

A MyBroadband reader who lives in Pinetown, who is waiting for fibre in his area, said he received an email from Vumatel stating that work in the province had been suspended.

Please note that Vumatels contractors have been forced to put a temporary stop to all work on site with immediate effect, stated the email shown to MyBroadband.

Due to incidents of intimidation and threats made by various groups in KwaZulu-Natal, it is not safe or practical for the contractors to continue working in the field at the moment.

This means that until the issues have been resolved, the contractors will be unable to attend to civil work or reinstatements. Vumatel is working very hard with the contractors to ensure that work can commence as soon as possible.

Vumatel was asked for comment on the matter, but it did not reply to questions by the time of publication.

Fibre installers targeted

In May 2017, the FTTH Council Africa stated that criminals are increasingly targeting fibre installers in South Africa.

Contractors are being robbed at gunpoint, hijacked, and taken hostage, it said.

A primary reason for this is that there is a big market for second-hand fibre equipment, Council CEO Juanita Clark told MyBroadband.

It is not clear if the matter in KwaZulu-Natal is related to criminal elements, however.

Now read: Samsung unveils first Android Go smartphone
Two Bay Area landlords are among an expanding list of those accused by state and county prosecutors of unlawful rent hikes on North Bay tenants in the immediate aftermath of the October wildfires.

Attorney General Xavier Beccera announced price gouging charges Thursday against Marin County landlord Richard Scott Parke and San Francisco-based real estate agent and property manager Pamela Kelley for monthly rental increases on a Novato property owned by Parke. Both face four misdemeanor counts, each charge punishable by up to one year in jail and as much as $10,000 in fines, plus the possibility of up to $5,000 in civil damages.

Under California law, rent may not be raised more than 10 percent during declared states of emergency and extensions of associated consumer protections. Gov. Jerry Brown's state of emergency for Sonoma, Napa and Yuba counties was issued Oct. 9, and has since been extended twice to expire Dec. 4 and also includes Lake, Mendocino and Solano counties.

The Attorney General's complaint alleges rent on Parke's property was originally $4,950, before it was raised to $6,800 per month on Oct. 10 and then $9,500 a short time after. A day later, it was re-listed at $7,500 a month before renting at $7,825 on Oct. 15 -- an increase of more than 58 percent from a week prior and while the fires still burned.

"Using emergency situations to squeeze money from consumers is a disgrace and will not be tolerated," Becerra said in a news release. "Anyone who would exploit the fires ripping across our state to make a buck off the backs of Californians will be met with the full force of the law. During times of crisis, it is imperative that we support our neighbors and stop those who exploit others for personal gain."

Reached by phone Thursday, Kelley declined to comment. Messages left for Parke on social media and a phone number listed for him went unreturned.

Anyone who suspects price gouging is encouraged to file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office by going to oag.ca.gov/report or calling 800-952-5224, or with their local police department or sheriff's office.

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MARTINEZ  A man arrested and charged with four counts of murder in a horrific collision on Interstate 80 last year had a blood alcohol level at nearly twice the legal limit, police testimony revealed.

Fred Lowe, 48, of Sacramento, was found to have a blood alcohol level of .14 when he was tested roughly seven hours after he allegedly drove his blue Mercedes into a white Nissan containing two teens and three adults, all family members.

Under state law, a blood alcohol level of .08 and above is considered legally drunk.

New details of the Nov. 25, 2017, crash were made public at Lowes Aug. 7 preliminary hearing, where a judge ordered him to stand trial on several serious felony counts, including four murder charges and drunken driving with prior convictions, causing great bodily injury.

Daryl Horn, 50, and his son Joe, 14, both of Napa, and their relatives, Troy Biddle, 52, and Baden Biddle, 13, of Bainbridge Island, Washington, were all killed in the crash as they headed east on I-80 toward Napa.

The lone survivor from the Nissan was the driver, Jared Horn, a UC Berkeley student and opening day starter for the Cal Bears this year.

Other drivers told police they saw the blue Mercedes speeding and driving erratically near the San Pablo Dam Road exit. The Mercedes collided with the Nissan in the carpool lane.

The Nissan crashed into the median and was catapulted over it, into westbound traffic. It landed on its roof and began to spin as westbound cars crashed into it, causing multiple injuries.

Jared Horn would later tell police he first became aware of the Mercedes when he heard his father, Daryl Horn, say, Whoa, whoa, whoa, and saw headlights on the passenger side of the car. He felt the impact a moment later, according to police testimony.

As officers arrived, Jared Horn told them he had four family members still trapped in the car, police testified.

All four were declared dead at the scene.

The Mercedes, meanwhile, despite sustaining major damage, exited the freeway and disappeared. It was discovered in El Sobrante on Barranca Street, near San Pablo Dam Road. Multiple witnesses saw Lowe about 200 yards from the parked car, California Highway Patrol officers testified.

One resident on the block asked Lowe if he wanted him to call 911, and Lowe replied, No, Im OK, the resident testified. Later, Lowe was seen getting a plastic bag out of the trunk of the Mercedes and walking toward a nearby shopping center, where Contra Costa County sheriffs deputies ultimately found and arrested him.

Police described Lowe as lethargic, mumbling, saying very little, and smelling like alcohol. When officers detained him he went limp, and was placed in a wheelchair. After arriving at the hospital, Lowe began to thrash around and was also verbally abusive toward hospital staff, who were attempting to perform a CT scan, CHP Officer Thomas Swarts testified.

Prosecutors also brought in evidence of Lowes prior DUI convictions in 2011 and 2012. In order to prove murder in a fatal DUI case, prosecutors must establish that the driver should have known his actions had a high potential to kill someone.

Lowes attorney, Sung Ae Choi, argued that there was not enough evidence to show Lowes alleged actions rose to the level of murder. Judge David Goldstein disagreed and held Lowe to answer on the charges.

The murder counts are brought under the second-degree theory, which means that Lowe, if convicted, would face life with no chance for parole until after 15 years for each charge.

Lowe remains in custody in lieu of $4.2 million bail. His arraignment, where he is likely to plead not guilty, is scheduled for Monday.

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Catch up on the Napa Valley news you may have missed this week.
Four years have passed since a magnitude-6.0 earthquake rocked Napa, cracking roads and tearing gashes in buildings. But even as repair work has patched up most of the damage wreaked by the West Napa Fault, the city still continues to negotiate with federal officials to pay for some vital but unseen fixes  to water pipes below ground.

Napa is appealing a rejection by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of a $3.4 million request to cover several dozen of the more than 210 water line ruptures caused by the South Napa earthquake on Aug. 24, 2014, according to Joy Eldredge, manager of the city Water Division.

The disputed funding is tied to about 70 repairs in 15 locations where pipe damage was not detected until weeks or months after the quake, she said Wednesday.

When Napa submitted its claims for water main breaks, FEMA initially denied claims for pipes where the damage was not detected before Dec. 15, 2014, nearly four months after the earthquake, according to Eldredge. An appeal by the city also was rebuffed this July, she said.

Most of the ruptures that were detected months after the quake eventually were found in the Westwood neighborhood west of Highway 29 and in the Browns Valley area, the city reported.

In the heat of battle you see one break and water coming through the street, so you have to isolate that section, then take pressure off it so you can make the repair, she said. We would make a repair, flush the line and clean it, open the valve to normal pressure and then 20 feet later, there was another break. There was no way to know if the next break was 1,000 feet away or 30 feet away. You only could see one at a time.

In an email Thursday night, Brandi Richard, spokesperson for FEMAs Region 9 office in Oakland, said the federal agency turned down $3.3 million of Napas request because the rate of pipe failures from mid-December 2014 onward was consistent with the Citys regular maintenance activities over a given period of time.

Eldredge also questioned federal officials definition of what constitutes a fully functional pipeline after a quake, saying some lines will need to be replaced earlier than scheduled even when restored to service.

Its like putting all these Band-Aids on; its not of the same caliber it was before the event, she said. FEMA kept saying If youre functioning, youre back to the function it had before the event. Ive been saying to them, No, it was a 100-year pipe before, and now its got less life.

In response, Richard of FEMA wrote that although Napa sought replacement of any water lines that had broken at least twice between shut-off values, it did not then have a written policy demanding such work at the time of the quake.

A federal disaster declaration after the 2014 earthquake entitled Napa to turn to FEMA to cover 75 percent of the repair cost for damage to city infrastructure, subject to agency approval. Californias Office of Emergency Services repays 18.75 percent of the bill and the city the remaining 6.25 percent.

As of Thursday, FEMA and OES had approved $10.8 million in quake-related reimbursements to repair city property, including $6.7 million of requests for the Napa water system. About $4.2 million of relief funding has been paid out, with $1.7 million earmarked for water repairs.

Federal and state funding is imminent for a $3.8 million repair project to build four 12-inch-diameter water lines below Highway 29, connecting pipe networks in neighborhoods on both sides of the freeway, said Eldredge. Construction is scheduled to begin in January on the pipe connections, which will be made at Pine, Laurel and Third Streets as well as Kilburn Avenue.

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A Napa rule that was undone by the courts  then revived by California lawmakers  may once again set aside portions of new housing to be offered at lower rents amid a historically tight and costly market.

The City Council on Tuesday instructed Napa staff to prepare a new version of a 1999 ordinance that required builders to reserve 10 percent of units at new rental developments for households earning less than the median income. The policy would apply to multi-family projects containing 10 or more dwellings, and would supplement existing city requirements that developers pay fees into an affordable housing fund.

Requiring set-asides of newly built lower-rent apartments would bring back a policy that was derailed in 2009, when a state appeals court in Los Angeles reportedly declared that such inclusionary ordinances illegally extended rent control beyond the pre-1995 dwellings state law. Napa, in response to the so-called Palmer decision, repealed its set-aside law in 2012, ending a 13-year stretch in which 134 affordable rentals were built in the city.

But a state law passed last year in reaction to the Palmer case emboldened Napa officials to take a second look at mandatory minimums for lower-rent housing. Assembly Bill 1505 allows local governments to require as much as 15 percent of rental complexes to be offered at below-median rents, or larger shares if a city can prove a higher quota will not depress the local housing market.

Planning officials predicted a return to quotas could pave a shorter and more direct path to expanding the affordable housing supply than developer fees alone. Although fees charged to builders  commercial as well as residential  totaled more than $3.5 million in 2017-18, Napa estimates each new unit of low-cost housing requires more than $125,000 of city funds, as well as grants and other financing that can add years from permitting to groundbreaking.

The difficulty of lining up funds for low-cost housing is a strong argument for Napa to demand percentages of new rental properties to be affordably prices, argued Grania Lindberg of the Napa Housing Coalition, a local advocacy group. Putting fees into (action) is a slow, slow way to put any dent into our housing supply, she told council members.

However, local building interests warned that requiring lower rents would simply discourage builders from even considering the low end of Napas housing market.

It is a form of rent control, no matter what the state says, said Browns Valley architect Chris Craiker in decrying a quota as an uncreative and punitive approach that ignores other approaches such as letting developers meet their affordable housing commitments at other sites in the city.

In focusing on affordable housing, we are shifting out of the middle market, added developer Wayne OConnell, referring to Napans whose median or slightly above-median incomes fall far short of the resources needed to meet average home selling prices now well over $600,000. Construction costs are at an all-time high and if we stack on more costs, itll create a ripple effect.

While Councilmember Doris Gentry supported a build-first approach to attacking Napas housing shortage, she remained wary of imposing an across-the-board minimum of lower-rent units for fear of driving some developers out of the local market.

A revived quota is the government saying to developers, You will meet our housing crisis issue, she said. We have to be careful about what demands we put on their backs, because at some point they wont be able to build at all if its too expensive.

Scott Sedgley, however, appeared willing to keep as many approaches open as possible in the search for more attainable housing.

Set-asides of lower-rent dwellings are not a cookie-cutter approach; its just one more tool in our toolbox, he said, suggesting that Napa keep the option of quotas for times when building affordable units on the same land as market-rate ones is less expensive than finding a separate parcel for lower-rent homes.

Napa could go further, Sedgley added, by scaling up its housing or cash requirements for large-scale developments based on the number of jobs to be created.

Whatever form Napas new policy takes, another housing advocate urged, city leaders should make clear that visible, tangible work toward creating affordable homes  as opposed to collecting fees  is the top priority.

What we want is for developers to build the housing, Joelle Gallagher of the housing coalition told the council. What we dont want is to give them a get-out-of-jail-free card.

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Does "Guilty Tuesday" go down as a victory for the rule of law? The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York stood up to demonstrate that it still exists. They secured convictions in the tax and fraud case against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and a guilty plea in the tax and campaign finance case against his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Two battles, however, do not this war win. The rule of law has become fragile, even brittle, under the Trump administration. The principle so fundamental to this country's government says no man is above the law. Yet that is precisely where Trump has positioned himself - in a no-man's-land where the rules that others must abide by don't reach him. He exercises presidential power with an audacity no occupant of the Oval Office since Richard Nixon has even contemplated. And so far he has gotten away with it. When the rule of law meets that audacity head on, there can be only one victor - and it's not clear it will be the rule of law.

We live, or so this president and his supporters tell us, in a post-truth world, where people cannot believe what they see or what they hear, and the truth is no longer the truth. The sense of a shared narrative grounded in reliable fact has dissolved for many Americans. A former Marine who has spent most of his life in service to his country is recast as the bad guy leading a "witch hunt" to destroy the lives of good people. That's special counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and those good people include Manafort, now a felon, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about important matters. Inevitably, should he be charged or impeached, the good people will include Trump himself.

This unfortunate development has revealed the soft underbelly of the rule of law, the place where it is vulnerable. The idea that everyone, president or pauper, is accountable under the law depends upon a shared belief that our criminal justice system should be permitted to do its work. Yet Trump has launched a two-pronged attack on that work, demonizing the Justice Department and the FBI on one hand and the facts and evidence they unearth on the other. The result is a president putting himself beyond the reach of the law he has deliberately delegitimized, without disturbing his followers, whom he has persuaded to disregard the facts and distrust the professionals.

Congress reacts, in large part, to the expressed will of the people it represents. In rare cases, citizens have rallied to force their elected leaders to action, but it is unclear whether they will rally in sufficient numbers for the rule of law. There is great division on whether it even applies to this president. Our elected representatives should be the ones to steer the presidency and return the country to a shared reverence for the foundational idea, rooted in the Constitution, that no one, not even the president, is above the law. But it doesn't look as if they will.

The most stunning development Tuesday came when Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts. Cohen stood up in a federal courtroom in Manhattan and said that he had made payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump - and that the payments were made at the direction of then-candidate Trump. The facts Cohen attested to under oath count the president among the participants in what was essentially a conspiracy to violate federal campaign finance law.

Tuesday was a bad day for Trump, no doubt. There were revelations and the risk of more to come, if either Cohen or Manafort becomes a cooperating witness to the special counsel's investigation. But if Mueller follows long-existing Justice Department policy - and there is no reason to believe he won't - he will not indict a sitting president. The consequences a president faces for misconduct, let alone high crimes and misdemeanors, are political ones, with impeachment the most severe. This president has been immune to political accountability for actions that would have caused other politicians to fail. Will Tuesday make a difference?

The president's response a few hours after the Manafort verdict was predictable. He said Manafort was a fine man who had served Ronald Reagan. He said the conviction had nothing to do with him. He said there was still no proof of collusion between his campaign and Russia. How remarkable that the best response the president of the United States can muster is that there is still no proof of collusion. It's hardly satisfactory. The president's defense is, "I didn't commit a worse crime," which is to say, no defense at all.

When will this president be held responsible? What will happen as prosecutors continue their work and edge closer to his inner circle and his family? Do we have to wait for the pardons that Trump has been hinting at with kind words about Manafort, the "good man" who was convicted Tuesday? Do we have to wait for him to revoke Mueller's security clearance so he cannot conduct his investigation, or fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and replace him with someone more malleable?

Any of these actions could do irreversible damage to the rule of law. The Constitution grants the president absolute pardon power, and although using it to silence a person who might otherwise offer testimony against the president or members of his family is awful, it is also lawful. Like other lawful actions, it might be proof of intent to obstruct an investigation, but the pardon would still take effect. The president also has the ability to remove his appointees and has asserted his right to terminate security clearances. Again, he is free to take these actions, and only lengthy legal proceedings, if any, could undo them.

After Tuesday, the president's next moves to keep investigators from his doorstep may cross the line that marks where the rule of law ends. That we have failed to assign a precise location for that line and defend it vigorously is what puts it in mortal danger.

The revelation that the president participated in, let alone directed, illegal activity during his campaign should lead his own party to demand his removal. If the GOP's response to his worst moments is any guide, it won't: He received mulligans for demeaning Gold Star parents, for calling white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville good people, for insulting the intelligence of black congresswomen, for calling Mexicans rapists, for making fun of a reporter with a disability, for encouraging attacks on the press, for separating migrant children from their parents and locking them in cages. There seems to be no bottom - nothing that goes too far for Republican elected officials, whom our Constitution entrusts with the last line of defense. Prosecutors are upholding their responsibility to the rule of law, but without similar action by the majority party in Congress, it is in danger of winking out of existence.

Joyce White Vance, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama, is a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and a frequent contributor to MSNBC and NBC News. She wrote this for The Washington Post.
On Tuesday, Aug. 14, we arrived at the First Presbyterian Church along with numerous other Federated Women to prepare our famous apple pies for the upcoming Harvest Festival. We immediately saw Kathy Carrick, who was leaving after having taught a Senior Exercise class.

After we were set up on the patio to peel and cut apples, we noticed children coming and going from one of the classrooms. A group of women cut through the patio to the Fireside Room for a Book Club gathering.

After we were finished, we asked Morgan Duarte Knight, the church secretary, how many groups use the First Presbyterian Church for their meeting places. She emailed the list and we were astounded at the service this church provides our community.

She listed 10 regular groups, plus some intermittent group uses. They host everything from St. Helena Development Center, Preschool for Napa County and UpValley Family Center, to Senior Exercise classes. Several AA, NA, Alanon & Alateen groups, the Calistoga Theater Company, Ecumenical Womens Prayer Group and numerous counseling services.

They are the meeting place on the first Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. for the Federated Women of Upper Napa Valley. This is truly community service where actions speak louder than words. We are so grateful for their generous contribution to our community.

Pat Dell  Program Chairperson

Annette Smith  President

Federated Women of Upper Napa Valley
UKIAH For at least four decades, Mendocino County has shown great potential to be Californias third most important wine region after Napa and Sonoma.

Inside the industry it has long been recognized as such. As early as the mid-1970s, Mendocino was growing some superb grapes and making excellent wines. Wineries everywhere bought its grapes, often taking them out of county to make quality wines.

In 1983, I visited Angelo Papagni in the Central Valley town of Madera, and tasted a superb new-release Cabernet. I got the fruit in Mendocino, he said.

The label, however, never mentioned Mendocino. Nor did many other wines from Mendocino. Instead, they carried a California designation. Mendocino rarely got credit for its quality grapes, so the public never understood this diverse region.

For one thing, Mendocino didnt have a star grape, such as Napa (Cabernet) and Sonoma (Chardonnay and Zinfandel, and later, Pinot Noir).

Mendocino grew loads of different grapes with distinction. Wine purists knew of the greatness of almost everything growing here, from Petite Sirah to Pinot Blanc, Zin to Malbec, Pinot Noir to sparkling wine, not to mention Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc, and a dozen more.

As for tourism, Mendocino was just a tad far away for San Francisco day-trippers to consider. Its a 3-hour drive from the city.

As the quality of the wines soared in recent years, and as the number of wineries grew, it was easy to see why wine judges loved to get an invitation from Mendocino Winegrowers executive director Bernadette Byrne to judge the countys wines each August, an event thats been happening for four decades!

It hasnt always been fun. Mendocino has had its share of hard times, and ran up against some of the worst of it in the late 1980s.

A low point may have come in 1987, when several wine experts from other regions were asked to judge the Mendo wine competition. They included brilliant author Bob Thompson, Beringers late, beloved winemaker Myron Nightingale, the late Riesling expert Steve Pitcher, and the late, feisty wine writer Jerry Mead.

Numerous verbal duels arose and there was some bellyaching over the results.

On one panel, two judges voted gold medals for a particular wine. Nightingale was next. He barked, No award. Ladies and gentlemen, the stuff is awful.

Pitcher, who was awed by three Gewurztraminers he tried, said of the Rieslings, Mendocino can do a lot better than what we saw.

Thompson, always sublime, said he wrote on his score sheet the initials DNPIM only twice. His friends knew it was Thompsons shorthand for Did not put in mouth.

Thirty-one years later, Mendocino is on a definite roll. Last year, a panel I was on handed out eight double-gold medals in a flight of 10 Petite Sirahs! At this years judging, a week ago here, Pinot Noirs stole the show: seven wines of the 19 entered got gold medals.

This years top five sweepstakes wines were all exemplary.

The top sparkling wine was one of the states finest bubblies, Roederer Estates nonvintage Brut from Anderson Valley.

The best rose was 2017 Pennyroyal Farms Rose of Pinot Noir. Best white was 2017 Navarro Vineyards Gewurztraminer, Deep End.

The best red was 2016 Navarro Pinot Noir, and the best dessert wine was 2013 Greenwood Ridge Late Harvest Riesling.

What was truly encouraging was the fact that so many different wines showed so well. Chardonnays seemed to be better balanced with excellent acid levels, less oak and alcohol than in the past, and with real attention being paid to pairing with food.

Most red wines showed better handling of tannins, with most delivering more fruit that we ever saw a decade ago.

And the Merlot group was exciting!

The good news is that Mendocino wines typically cost less than wines from some other more recognizable regions, a fact savvy wine lovers have long known.

Discovery of the Week: 2015 Bliss Vineyards Blissful Red, Mendocino County ($14): I normally do not like to recommend blended red wines where the winery tells you nothing about whats in the bottle. Many are (a) overpriced, and (b) composed of an amorphous blend of less-than-exciting wines. Here, Hoss Milone at Bliss Family in Mendocino blended excellent Zinfandel, Sangiovese (and other grapes), all from the Bliss Estate to make this striking, fruit-based blend that has aromas of blueberry, red cherry, and subtle dried spices. Despite its succulent texture, it has excellent acidity to match with food. Best of Class and gold medal at the Mendocino wine judging.

Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, where he publishes Vintage Experiences, a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at winenut@gmail.com. He is also co-host of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon on KSRO Radio, 1350 AM.
Afghan Taliban Accuses U.S. Forces of "Rescuing" IS in Nangarhar, Charges U.S. General with Deliberately Lying about Trump Strategy
Grace Pytlinski (far right) working with research and development scientists with Syngenta Crop Protection at the SIU research site in Valmeyer, Illinois (photo provided).

Two students join SIU with an Illinois Soybean Association Scholarship

by Hannah Erickson

CARBONDALE, Ill.  With over 10.5 million acres of soybeans covering Illinois, research on this little plant is a continual and important process. Thats why the Illinois Soybean Association has teamed up with Southern Illinois University Carbondale to provide scholarships to the next generation of researchers.

Out of the five scholarships awarded to students in Illinois, two were awarded to incoming SIU students. Haley Gregson, of Waterloo, Illinois and Grace Pytlinski, of Waltonville, Illinois are both entering as juniors, and are ready to jump into their new area of study and research.

Starting early with hands-on research

For Gregson, agriculture has always been a way of life. From growing up on a farm to joining 4-H and FFA clubs in high school, her path was set early on for a career in agriculture. She started her college journey at Kaskaskia College, utilizing the articulation agreement between SIU and Kaskaskia to build a program that fit her needs.

Gearing up for a career in the agriculture industry, Gregson started early with hands-on research and internships. As a freshman, she worked as a weed science intern at the SIU Belleville Research Center in 2017, and then spent this past summer interning with Growmark Gateway FS.

Receiving the ISA scholarship not only allows Gregson to gather new experiences while in college, but it also sets her up for a career in future research.

This scholarship meant the world to me when I received it, Gregson said. I felt like I really accomplished something, and I could give back to the agriculture industry and the Illinois Soybean Association as a whole through research and developing these skills.

While at Kaskaskia College, Gregson received an associate degree in plant and soil science, agriculture business and animal science. During her time at SIU, Gregson plans on getting a double major in agribusiness economics and plant, soil and agricultural systems.

Long history with soybeans

Grace Pytlinski knows soybeans about as well as any college student could. Growing up on a farm that is dominated by the small plants, she had a bit of a jumpstart when it comes to research. To support her natural preponderancy for all things agriculture, Pytlinski started while still in high school taking classes at Rend Lake College. Now, she has her associate degree in agricultural production and management.

Looking towards her future, Pytlinski knew she wanted to get a deeper understanding behind the farming practices she saw. Starting the summer of her freshman year, she interned with Syngenta for two years. While there, she learned a variety of research practices, while also participating in specific MGI soybean studies.

These are soybeans they are working to bring to the market for farmers, Pytlinski said. It was kind of neat to watch how that works, and how you collect the data to determine if a soybean is going to work or not for a region or area.

Going forward, Pytlinski hopes to further her experience and continue to support the agriculture industry. For her, the ISA scholarship was another confirmation for her future goals.

To be recognized by such a profound organization in the farming industry was a really humbling experience, Pytlinski said.

While getting her degree in crop, soil and environmental management at SIU, Pytlinski hopes to utilize the many opportunities available to her, such as joining the Agronomy Society and potentially working with faculty advisors on a variety of projects.

Collaborative effort

Seeing the need for future crop scientists, the ISA worked for many years to support young researchers. SIU has received several students over the years in connection with this funding. Jason Bond, SIU professor in plant, soil and agricultural systems, said the program does much to prepare students for their careers.

There are some students who already know what they want to do, and it [the scholarship] really lights a fire for those students who already want to do research, Bond said.

Using this opportunity to engage in hands-on experience allows students to be competitive in the Crop Protection industry, Bond explained. The size and growth of the industry allows for exceptional placement opportunities for SIU students.

For these students, the collaboration went further than just the ISA checkoff program and SIU. Both Gregson and Pytlinski worked with the articulation agreements between their community colleges and SIU, and built a degree program that was catered to their specific situation.

The articulation agreement helps students to make a smooth transition between Rend Lake College and SIU, Kathy Craig, RLC agriculture instructor said. The students know exactly how their classes will transfer.

Bond explained that students are able to transfer to SIU and finish their agriculture degree in two years, or even a year and a half for many students. This prepares them for a smooth entry into their future careers.
Home | Showtime | ZBCtv to resume ConCourt live broadcast

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) will resume the live broadcast of the Constitutional Court judgement this Friday, the 24th of August, and will also live stream the event on its social media platforms.

The national broadcaster successfully beamed live yesterday's Constitutional Court proceedings and will resume the live broadcast of the passing of the judgement by the nine- member bench of the Constitutional Court led by Chief Justice Luke Malaba tomorrow.

ZBC's radio stations including Classic 263, National FM and Radio Zimbabwe will also be ready to broadcast to millions of Zimbabweans across the country and the rest of the world.

Tomorrow's judgement by the Constitutional Court will be final and in the event that the bench declares a winner, inauguration of whoever wins is expected to take place within 48 hours after the judgement.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Showtime
Chuka is an experienced certified web developer with an extensive background in computer science and 18+ years in web design &development. His previous experience ranges from redesigning existing website to solving complex technical problems with object-oriented programming. Very experienced with Microsoft SQL Server, PHP and advanced JavaScript. He loves to travel and watch movies.
Home | News | General | 2 Nigerian security agents honoured for returning dollars to US returnee (photos)

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on Thursday, August 23, honoured two guards of the Halogen Security, Francis Emepueaku and Achi Daniel, who reportedly returned foreign currencies to a returnee of the United States of America.

FAAN released photographs of the two security guards being honoured with a short message on its Twitter handle after calling them exceptional

Award ceremony of the two exceptional staff of Halogen Security,Francis Emepueaku & Achi Daniel security guards at the multi level car park of the Murtala Muhammed Int'l Airport, who returned a bag forgotten by a passenger containing large sum of money and expensive items, the tweet said.

Francis Emepueaku and Achi Daniel being honoured. Credit: FAAN

Two security guards at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, were, on Thursday, rewarded with N250,000 each after returning a passengers missing bag full of dollars and jewelry.

Also giving details of the honour, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Daniel was with his colleague, Emepueaku, when he found the bag on August 18 at the airport.

Inside the bag, we saw a mobile phone, jewelry and huge amount of money in dollars and several other documents.

At that point, I went straight to the managers office who now put a call through to somebody in Atlanta, Georgia, and the person happened to be the daughter of the owner of the bag.

If the money was in multi-millions of foreign currencies, I would still have returned it.

Addressing the duo. Credit: FAAN

I saw the bag on a trolley at the car park, and I said to myself that somebody must have forgotten it there.

It was not padlocked and without opening it, I went to the ground floor with the bag to meet my supervisor, Daniel explained adding that it was not his first time of returning money in foreign currencies to their rightful owners.

When they returned (passengers involved), they were jittery that some of the items in the bag might have vanished.

But after crosschecking it, she (owner) discovered that everything was intact and the family attempted to give us some amount of money as a form of appreciation, which we rejected, telling them that we had only done our job.

It never crossed my mind to steal the money; I wouldnt have done that because it was not my first time of finding such and returning to the owners.

No amount of money would make me to take what does not belong to me. I believe my own time will come and at the right time, he added.

FAANs managing director, Saleh Dunoma, said such good deeds had been recorded at the airport.

The two were earlier praised by President Buhari. Credit: FAAN

Represented at the event by the FAAN director of engineering services, Salisu Daura, Dunoma said that the duos act gave confidence and credibility to the agencys security profiling system.

Some others may look at you and tag you stupid, but I want to assure you that by virtue of this act, you have secured seats for yourselves in the comity of those with credibility and integrity.

I want to advise other members of staff to emulate this great virtue and become role models, just like these two security guards, he said.

NAIJ.com earlier reported how President Muhammadu Buhari praised two security men who returned a bag full of valuables to its owner after it went missing at Murtala Muhammed Airport.

This was contained in a statement by Femi Adesina who is the special adviser to the president on media and publicity on Wednesday, August 22.

Smiling after the honour. Credit: FAAN

The president called on Nigerians to emulate the two security men saying the country will no longer be associated with corruption.

Source: Naija.ng

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Home | News | General | Man welcomes child who looks exactly like his son who died a year ago

Losing a child is one of the hardest things someone can go through in life, and one dad is all too familiar with the pain.

Lebo, who goes by the Twitter handle @Lebogang_Bucs, took to social media to share the pain he experienced after losing a baby in April last year.

However, he received an unexpected light during his dark times- a baby girl who could have been her late brother's twin.

The Orlando Pirates supporter went on to explain he named his little girl Lesedi, which means "the light after a dark time."

READ ALSO: Nigerian man buys wife car worth N300m as compensation for marrying another wife

"My two kids, last year 2nd April I lost my son when he was 1 day old and this year 22 July God blessed me with my late son's photo copy a baby girl that's why I called her LESEDI which means the light after a dark time in my life Lesedi and her late Brother Lethabo," he captioned the post.

Lebo's post sparked a massive response from social media users, who congratulated him on becoming a dad, and some even shared their own similar stories.

Social media user @helen_918 wrote, "God is great man, lenna I had a miscarriage last year in July and in October I was told gore I'm pregnant again but this time with twins."

Another tweep, @Tsholof44232776, added: "when you put your faith in God and believe in him this is what happens. You asked and you received. You are truly blessed may Lesedi be the continuation of your brighter future and faith in God."

READ ALSO: 4 under aged Nigerian boys spotted drinking beer at a bar in Lagos

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Home | News | General | We have 69 projects currently ongoing in the southeast - FG

- The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed insists no part of the country, including the southeast, has been left out of the massive infrastructural projects of the Buhari administration

- Mohammed says has taken journalists on a tour of some of these projects in the southeast

- Festus Keyamo says no president since 1999 can compete with Buhari in terms of welfare to the poor in the country

The federal government has described the southeast governors allegation of infrastructural neglect of their zone as incorrect and unfair in the face of available evidence.

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, who described the allegation as unfair, said 69 federal government projects are currently ongoing in the southeast.

Mohammed made the statement on Thursday, August 23, in Ilorin, at a public lecture and inauguration of wards and local governments canvassers for re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo.

READ ALSO: Defectors cannot distract my administration - President Buhari

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while the minister performed the inauguration, Festus Keyamo (SAN), the director media, Buhari campaign organisation, delivered the lecture at the event.

In a keynote address, the minister said that no part of the country, including the southeast, had been left out of the massive infrastructural projects of the Buhari administration.

While this claim may have made headlines, it is totally untrue; His excellencies were either misquoted or they were quoted of context.

In fact, a total of 69 federal government projects are currently ongoing in the South-east.

We will soon publish the full list of the projects and the state-by-state breakdown.

Suffice it to say that the southeast, just like other geo-political zones, got N16.6 billion worth of projects from the proceeds of the 100 billion Naira Sukuk Bond, shared equally among the six zones.

I have taken journalists on a tour of some of these projects in the southeast, he said.

The minister said the four roads being rehabilitated and reconstructed by the proceeds of the Sukuk Bond included the Enugu-Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway Section II (Umuahia Tower-Aba Township Rail/Road Bridge Crossing in Abia state.

The Enugu-Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway Section I (Lokpanta - Umahia Tower) in Abia Stat and the outstanding section of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway (Amansea - Enugu State Border) are on the list.

While he listed the fourth as the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway Section III (Enugu-Lokpanta) in Enugu state.

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Mohammed said that in addition to the roads, the federal government was also constructing the N40 billion Aba-Port Harcourt section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.

He described the project as a strategic road linking Aba and other industrial heartland of the East with Port Harcourt, the nations oil hub.

Let me say that these projects were awarded by the last Administration which, however, failed to provide funding.

As a matter of fact, a section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt road, which cuts across many states, was turned to a refuse dump before this administration came to the rescue.

The minister said that the federal government was also embarking on the construction of the second Niger Bridge.

The ground-breaking of the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge was performed on 10th March, 2014 but could not take of until 2017.

READ ALSO: President Buhari reportedly makes final decision on sacked DSS boss Daura

The bridge, which is 1.59-kilometre in length, forms part of the 11.90-kilometre project.

The contractor, Julius Berger, has completed the first 3 phases of the project, which have to do with the sub-structures.

They are currently on the 4th phase, which is at 70 per cent completion stage.

Some 310 of the 615 piles designed for the bridge have been sunk while massive sand-filling of the approach road has been carried out to the height of 5 metres. The target height is 7 metres, he said.

Mohammed said that the project was being solely financed by the Federal Government and noted that the southeast had never had it so good in the area of infrastructure.

Had the previous administrations done even half of what we are doing now in that region, no one will be complaining today.

It is alright to ask for more, but it is unfair to say nothing has been done, he said.

The governors recently made the allegation of infrastructure neglect through the director general of southeast governors forum, Simon Otuanya, at the presentation of a monitoring report on performance of the 2017 federal capital budget in the southeast.

Meanwhile, Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson of the Muhammadu Buhari campaign organisation, on Thursday, August 23, declared that no president, since 1999, has touched the lives of the poor and vulnerable Nigerians than his boss.

Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) made this known in Ilorin at the inauguration of Buhari/Osinbajo project 2019.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Keyamo who delivered a lecture at the occasion said that no government in the country has recovered stolen money that belonged to Nigerians as president Buhari.

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Home | News | General | Bombings: Stop chasing shadows, Osuntokun replies presidency

Former presidential aide and director-general of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Mr. Akin Osuntokun has rebuffed challenges to his patriotism by the presidency saying that such allusions meant leaving substantive issues to chase shadows.



He spoke in response to a claim by presidential aide, Femi Adesina that claims by Osuntokun in a television programme about bomb explosion in Maiduguri on Sallah Day were false. The statement had gone further to charge Nigerians not to be taken in by the narratives of those it called naysayers in the mould of Osuntokun.

But responding last night, in a statement, Mr. Osuntokun said:

It is just another demonstration of the penchant of this government for leaving the substance to chase shadows. Ok 68 people were killed in a borno village rather than 88 in Maiduguri. At the frequency of the prevailing dispensation of daily bloodletting who wouldnt get the specifics and details mixed up.

Im not the red cross who has the institutional capacity to keep every detail of these crimes against humanity. Does it matter that 68 were killed in Maimalari rather than 88 in Maiduguri and we are talking of the same day. Does this mix up make me the enemy of the people rather than Femi Adesina who threatened Nigerians to concede their land to terrorists at the pain of being murdered?

Does it make me more a liar than president Buhari who repeatedly claimed that the price of crude oil per barrel had been over 100 dollars since 1999? In public accountability Who should the country worry more about between me and those who hold the reins of government who are pointing attention at the speck in my eyes while ignoring the beam lodged permanently in their eyesight?

Further to what I have said, the two incidents happened the same day-and they occur with such frequency that it is difficult to keep pace with the orgy of bloodletting all over the country almost on a daily basis. Take note that he made no mention of the one reported by Reuters on the same day-that 68 people died. If Im the enemy of the people by highlighting the failure of the government, what then do you call a government under whose dispensation Nigeria has become an abattoir.

Whether it is 68 or 88 people that were killed should a serious and humane government be quibbling about figures? This is yet another confirmation of the cruel and blundering insensitivity of this government-ignoring leprosy while chasing after guinea worm-as the Yoruba would say. And remember this is a government that claimed it has defeated Boko Haram since two years ago.

Chief Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity had in a statement in Abuja, said there was no bomb blast on Sallah Day contrary to the allegation by a member of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement, CNN, that claimed the lives of about 88 people.

Adesina in the statement said, On Tuesday, August 21, 2018, Akin Oshuntokun, a chieftain of the stillborn Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), appeared on Politics Today programme of Channels Television, and made the false claim that a bomb blast had gone off earlier in the day, killing about 88 people in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Oshuntokun, a newspaper columnist and public affairs commentator, has never hidden his antipathy towards the Muhammadu Buhari administration, but to go on national television and tell lies of the most heinous kind betrays a mind taken completely over by ill wishes against his own country.

Sallah Day had passed quietly and peacefully, without even a firecracker going off, let alone bomb blast. That was contrary to what used to happen before the advent of the Buhari administration, when such festivals were turned to orgy of killings in many parts of the country by insurgents.

Apparently, enemies of peace and progress had expected a return to the infamous past, thus Oshuntokun appeared on television with his bag of lies.

When those on the programme remonstrated with him that they were not aware of any bomb blast on that day, he stood his ground, all in a futile bid to puncture the successes recorded by government in the area of security.

Till the Sallah holidays ended, no bomb blast was recorded in any part of the country, to the shame and discomfiture of the naysayers.

Continuing, the presidential spokesman said, One wonders: if there were bomb blasts, and more than 80 people truly died, what would be the gain of anybody, except those who have become blinded by malediction and morbid wishes? Is carnage something now to glory about? Is the struggle for power now so ghoulish that some people have lost their humanity over it?

Oshuntokun and his ilk should realize that this is the only country we have, and we cant swallow poison and expect it to kill the next person. What we sow is what we reap.

Happily, however, those for a peaceful, united and cohesive Nigeria are more than those against it. That is why those with baleful, hateful thoughts would never win.

The tripod goals of securing the country, fighting corruption, and reviving the economy are central to the Buhari administration. Government is making strides in the three areas, and the conquests continue.

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Home | News | General | Google blocks accounts in influence operation linked to Iran

Google said Thursday it blocked YouTube channels and other accounts over a misinformation campaign linked to Iran, on the heels of similar moves by Facebook and Twitter.

Google

Google said that working with the cybersecurity firm FireEye, it linked the accounts to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as part of an effort dating to at least January 2017.

We identified and terminated a number of accounts linked to the IRIB organization that disguised their connection to this effort, Google vice president Kent Walker said in a statement.

Actors engaged in this type of influence operation violate our policies, and we swiftly remove such content from our services and terminate these actors accounts.

Google became the latest online service to crack down on misinformation efforts stemming from Russia and Iran, with the apparent aim of sowing discord and confusion ahead of the November US elections.

The tech giant said it blocked 39 YouTube channels that had racked up to total of 13,466 views in the US on relevant videos and disabled six accounts at Blogger and 13 accounts at its Google+ social network.

In addition to the intelligence we received from FireEye, our teams have investigated a broader range of suspicious actors linked to Iran who have engaged in this effort, Google said.

 Phishing season 

Google also said it has blocked state-sponsored phishing attacks in which deceptive messages were sent to users of its free email service in an effort to trick people into disclosing information such as passwords.

In recent months, weve detected and blocked attempts by state-sponsored actors in various countries to target political campaigns, journalists, activists, and academics located around the world, Google said.

The California-based internet giant added that in the past year it has intensified defenses against actors linked to the Russia-backed Internet Research Agency (IRA).

Google has removed YouTube channels and a Blogger account as a result of watching to IRA activities, according to the company.

A FireEye report released on Thursday detailed its findings and expressed confidence in attributing influence campaigns to Iran.

Evidence included phone numbers, website registration information, and promotion of content in synch with Iranian political interests, according to the report.

The activity we have uncovered highlights that multiple actors continue to engage in and experiment with online, social media driven influence operations as a means of shaping political discourse, FireEye said.

These operations extend well beyond those conducted by Russia.

 Coordinated manipulation 

Facebook this week revealed that it removed more than 650 pages, groups and accounts identified as networks of accounts misleading people about what they were doing.

The accounts, some on Facebook-owned Instagram, were presented as independent news or civil society groups but were actually working in coordinated efforts, the company said.

The social network giant said some of the pages were tied to groups previously linked to Russian intelligence operations.

Separately, Twitter said it suspended 284 accounts for engaging in coordinated manipulation, adding that it appears many of these accounts originated from Iran.

Former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos said in a blog post Wednesday that gaping holes remain in online platforms.

Stamos, who left Facebook this month to join Stanford University, said that the United States has broadcast to the world that it doesnt take these issues seriouslyWhile this failure has left the US unprepared to protect the 2018 elections, there is still a chance to defend American democracy in 2020.

Microsoft last week seized websites it linked to Russian intelligence that sought to meddle in US political debate.

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Home | News | General | Niger beefs up border watch after refugee influx from Nigeria

The Sahel state of Niger said Thursday it had sent security reinforcements to part of its border struggling with an influx of displaced people and criminals from neighbouring Nigeria.

Nigeria

The measures have been taken in the Maradi area on the southern-central part of the border, which abuts the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara.

We are currently registering many refugees, whole families who are coming over, Maradi Governor Zakari Oumarou told state television.

We are (also) facing a new situation, of kidnappings for ransom.

The refugees were mainly coming from Zamfara, he said, but did not give numbers or say why they were fleeing to Niger.

We are in the process of focussing on security on our border. We have deployed plenty of units on the border and we will continue to do so.

Oumara added: We are going to continue to receive refugees, but there are bad people among them. So we will have to filter them, and we are doing that.

Local communities should take extreme care and be vigilant, he said.

Northeastern Nigeria is in the grip of a jihadist insurgency that has also spread into Niger, but cross-border problems from Zamfara, in the northwest, have typically been rare.

A Maradi resident told AFP that regions all along the border with Nigeria were now prone to cross-frontier crime, particular cattle theft by armed Nigerian gangs.

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Home | News | General | Experts share success tips with young talents

By Esther Onyegbula

Luxury real estate Company, Sujimoto Constructions, recently hosted over 200 Nigerian students and young entrepreneurs at a one-day internship and mentorship programme in Lagos.

The event which took place at the GiulianoBySujimoto, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos was graced by prominent Nigerian celebrities with participants specially selected from different institutions from all over Nigeria, the event is part of the companys CSR initiative, which aims at equipping young Nigerians to be self-sufficient and reminding them of their true potential.

Chaired by the Chief Mentor of the day- Chief Dele Momodu, who compared the Sujimoto entrepreneurship story with the Ovation vision, he buttressed the fact that successful entrepreneurs take ordinary situations and make them extraordinary.

Momodu urged the young people to go beyond innovation to having solid plans and putting in the hard work required to earn them success and recognition. He shared his experience with his own mentor and hero of Nigerian Democracy, Chief MKO Abiola and how being under Chief Abiolas tutelage set him on the path of greatness.

A host of successful celebrities including Mr.P of P-square, Architect Tosin Oshinowo, Nedu of Wazobia FM, Bankole Omishore, Debola Williams, Seyi Tinubu, Bovi, Fuad Atanda Lawal, Hon. Folajimi Mohammed, Dr. Chima Anyaso, Stephanie Busari, TJ Saro, Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro, Yemi Adefarakan, McLively, Dabota Lawson, and other were also present to share their own success stories and inspire the young attendees.

Addressing the interns, the MD/CEO of Sujimoto Constructions, Sijibomi Ogundele said that the initiative is a part of the companys corporate social responsibility to empower young entrepreneurs with business skills, advisory, mentorship and build them for the future.

This programme is set-up to inspire our young talents and also to send a message to the nation that our true assets are our human capital, he said.

Ogundele was born on April 8, 1983. Having been featured as a brave young Entrepreneur in Forbes Africa, Ogundele, who is regarded as one of Nigerias youngest billionaires, grew up in Agege, Lagos. He also shared his grass-to-grace story pointing out three qualities  perseverance, credibility and diligence.

I remember when we wanted to start the Lorenzo project, we encountered a lot of challenges while raising fund, he said.

Even when the King of Dubai asked me what I wanted to do; I told him I want to build the tallest residential building in Lagos. And we were able to achieve this through perseverance and I no go gree character. I have to invest everything I had into these projects and thats what makes us stand out among our competitors.

Continuing, he urged them not to wait on anybody or the government for aid.

Dont accept failure, when failure happens be strong and learn from it. And try to challenge yourself, read books because if you are loaded, you will be needed and you have to be creative and associate yourself with the right set of people.

While all the participants got luxury gift bags, a Macbook laptop, phones and luxury smart watches were given out to participants with the most innovative business ideas.

Among the winners was 17-year-old Sofowa Fisayo, a secondary school leaver, whose dynamic Movie Set idea fascinated the celebrity judges and audience.

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Home | News | General | Stand with your Ogoni sisters, MOSOP urges women world-wide

By Onozure Dania

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, has called on women all over the world to stand with Ogoni women, who face continuous harassment from soldiers attached to the Nigerian affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC.

Coordinator of MOSOP in Europe, Lazarus Tamama made the call in a message to Ogoni women in Bori, headquarter of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, yesterday.

Lazarus Tamama urged Ogoni women to stand for their dignity and resist all attempts by Shell to further dehumanize them.

He condemned Shell for laying pipelines in Ogoni land without the peoples consent and demanded a halt to the pipeline laying which he alleged had been used to sexually abuse Ogoni women.

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Home | News | General | Ex Senate president passes strong warning to Nigerians; tells them to beware of desperate politicians who have no second address

Nigerians have been warned by former Senate president, Ken Nmamani, to beware of desperate politicians who dont have a second address.

Nnamani gave the warning during a chat with State House correspondents, after meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Vanguard reports.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani

NAIJ.com gathers that the former Senate president, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), also advised struggling politicians to have a second address.

He said: I think our problem is that if you enter politics and you have no second address,the chances of your getting in trouble is very high.

Nnamani was accompanied on the visit by oil magnate, Chief Emeka Offor, who said he had brought foreign investors from Europe to meet with Osinbajo about investment opportunities in the oil, gas, power and electricity sectors.

Offor said: We brought a major investing group from Europe; thats why we are here. We are looking into investing in oil and gas, electricity power and others. They have seen that the atmosphere in the country is conducive for investments.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Ken Nnamani revealed that he would stop the third term agenda of any president if he had the chance, the same way he did to then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2006.

Nnamani who served as Senate president during the administration of Obasanjo, had presided over the tumultuous debate for third term agenda championed by the former president.

He insisted that if given the chance again, he would still prevent it from happening.

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Home | News | General | Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani finally opens up, speaks about automatic ticket for 2019

- Senator Shehu Sani says he chose to remain in the APC because of the intervention of President Buhari and the national leadership of the party

- He urged all aggrieved members of the APC in the National Assembly to put aside parochial interests and join hands with the party in promoting national interest

- Sani also said he was not so keen about automatic ticket; but that the party had pledged to reward loyalty

Senator Shehu Sani (APC- Kaduna Central) has stated that his decision to remain in the ruling party was not because his grievances against the party leadership in Kaduna state had been addressed, but due to the intervention of President Buhari and the national leadership of the party.

Sani made the disclosure during a Sallah visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state on Thursday, August 23, NAN reports.

READ ALSO: FG to submit 2019 budget in September - Minister

NAIJ.com gathers that the senator called on all aggrieved members of the APC in the National Assembly to put aside parochial interests and join hands with the party in promoting national interest for the general good of all citizens.

Well, there is no human being without any grievances but when national interest is put at the front side you have to put aside other parochial interests.

What we need to do as politicians and as people representing those who elected us is to always put the country first and know very well that we have both constitutional and moral duty to work to the progress of Nigeria and of this government.

So, I think these are the basic issues which we discussed. Grievances are natural, but we have to know that we have a country that we need to keep and also we have a country that we need to support, so that it can progress, he added.

On whether he has been assured of automatic ticket to seek re-election in 2019, Sani said even he was not so keen about automatic ticket, but that the party had pledged to reward loyalty.

He, however, stressed that while rewarding members for their loyalty to the party, due process must be followed.

I think the party had made it very clear and known to each and every person that there will be reward for loyalty; but in every sense of the word, due process of the party needs to be followed

And as far as we are concerned, what matters most to us is not simply about automatic ticket but about the peaceful and transparent conduct of the 2019 election and also the very need for us as a people and as a nation to know that the fate of the country is on our hands.

There is the need for us to keep aside all sectional, ethnic and religious differences for the progress of this country and going by the very fact that the president has intervened and chairman of the party has intervened, all family squabbles would certainly come to an end, he said.

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Recall that NAIJ.com previously reported that Senator Shehu Sani threatened to dump the APC over its alleged inability to address the internal crisis rocking the party in the past three years.

The lawmaker said the various congresses were held on a very shaky foundation because there was no reconciliation and peace among aggrieved members.

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"I felt so overwhelmed", she was quoted as saying in the statement released by The Free Nazanin campaign, which is run by her husband.

The Free Nazanin campaign said that after several weeks of bureaucracy over her possible temporary furlough, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told earlier on Thursday that she had 10 minutes to get ready because she was being released.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman in prison in Iran, has been reunited with her daughter during a three day release.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was warned not to attempt to leave the country while on temporary release, or conduct interviews with local or worldwide media, it added.

As recently as May, Zaghari-Ratcliffe learned that she faced a new charge of "spreading propaganda against the regime", her husband said.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella.

It is understood she will have to return to jail when the three days is up.

Iranian authorities have accused her of espionage but she insists the visit was to introduce her then two-year-old daughter to her family.

FREE NAZANIN CAMPAIGN Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's lawyer is hoping that the three days furlough can be extended.

During the hearing, she was reportedly warned of an additional conviction and an extended jail sentence.

As a condition of the furlough, Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been barred from conducting any interviews with the media, can not visit the grounds of any foreign embassy and may not attempt to leave the country, the statement from Free Nazanin said.

The rights group's call was echoed by UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who said in a post on Twitter that efforts to win a permanent release for Zaghari-Ratcliffe would continue.

He said: "Nazanin travelled to Damavand from Evin with her father and brother to rejoin the family holiday, and see Gabriella, her grandmother and the wider family. But being in prison at all is gross injustice", he said on Thursday.

"Individuals should not have to suffer unjust prison terms because of a country's internal politics".
Home | News | General | Former aggrieved APC senator sheaths sword, pays thank you visit to Buhari, assures president of support in 2019

- Senator Shehu Sani paid a thank you visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the latters Daura residence

- The lawmaker assured the president of the support of his constituency to his re-election bid in 2019

- Sani said there was a need to end all internal strife in the APC and come together for the success of the Buhari administration

Senator Shehu Sani, on Thursday, August 23, paid Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari at Daura, Katsina state, and thanked him for intervening in the crisis facing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna state.

Sani, representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, who spoke to newsmen after a closed door meeting with the president, said they deliberated on issues bordering on strengthening the APC through resolution of all internal strife in the party, NAN reports.

READ ALSO: FG to submit 2019 budget in September - Minister

NAIJ.com gathers that the lawmaker said he used the opportunity to assure the president of the support of his constituency to his re-election bid in 2019.

He said: I am also here to fully assure him of the support of my constituency, Kaduna Central, to his aspiration for the second term.

Im also here to assure him of my own wholehearted support to the success of his administration and his return to office for the second term.

Those were the basic issues that we discussed with him and other issues that border on the need to strengthen our party; the need to end all internal strife and also the need to put heads, hearts and hands together for the success of his administration and also for the success of the party.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Senator Shehu Sani said that President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) deserve re-election in the 2019 general elections.

He added that in spite of the challenges bedeviling the nation, the performance of the present administration under the leadership of President Buhari had done more for the good of the nation, considering the challenges he had to deal with.

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Home | News | General | FG moves in to restore normal budget cycle; to submit 2019 Appropriation Bill in September

- The federal government will present the 2019 budget to the National Assembly in September

- This in a bid to restore the normal cycle; and comes following consultations with lawmakers

- By law, the executive arm of government is encouraged to submit the budget in September, so that it can be passed by December

In a bid to restore the January to December budget cycle, the federal government will present the 2019 budget to the National Assembly in September.

The development was made public by the minister of state for budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, Daily Trust reports.

READ ALSO: Rescue Leah Sharibu as you jail looters - Attah tells Buhari

NAIJ.com notes that the presentation of the last two budgets did not meet the expected threshold as the 2017 budget had been presented to the National Assembly in the second week of December 2016, while lawmakers received that of 2018 in the first week of November 2017.

The minister stated that in order to restore the cycle, the federal government had consulted widely with lawmakers.

She said: Our aspirations is that we want to meet the requirements of the law to submit it by September; but as you know, the National Assembly is itself away on recess, and they resume by September.

She pointed out that by law, the executive arm of government is encouraged to submit the budget by September, so that it can be passed by December.

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Recall that NAIJ.com previously reported that following the consideration and adoption of the report by the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation, the Nigeria Senate finally passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill.

The Senate increased the proposal of N8.612 trillion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari in December, 2017 to N9.120trn.

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Home | News | General | Tears, as Orits Williki, Okoroji, others pay last respects to reggae legend, Ras Kimono

By Benjamin Njoku

Emotions ran high yesterday, as the remains of late reggae legend, Ras Kimono, who died on Sunday, June 10, were brought for lying-in-state at the headquarters of Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON, in Ikeja, Lagos.

Ras Kimono

The motorcade conveying Ras Kimonos body arrived the COSON House, at about 9.30a.m.,where a short prayer for the repose of the soul of the departed was offered, before setting out for his home town, Onicha Olona, Asaba, the Delta State capital, for the activities leading to the burial tomorrow.

Ras Kimons remains were accompanied by a strong delegation of the COSON leadership, family members, friends, fans and other personalities in the Nigerian entertainment industry.

While the lying-in-state lasted, the deceaseds wife, colleagues and close friends could not hold back tears knowing that it was the last time they were going to behold the reggae icons face on earth

From Orits Williki to Alariwo of Africa and Shina Peters, it was a free flow of tears as they filed out to pay their last respects to their departed colleague.

Kimons wife, Efe was overcome by grief and could not contain herself on sighting the glass casket bearing the remains of her late husband. Standing beside the casket, she kept confessing her undying love to the man she fell in love with as his manager and recently had a baby girl for.

Leading the procession, the Rastafarian Movement in Nigeria, led by its grand patron, Ras Edu Dickson, said Ras Kimono lives on. He said he was confident that the Rub-a-Dub master had gone to be with his maker. Ras Kimono never dies, but lives on, he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman of COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji, said his happiness is that Ras Kimono did not die unsung.

His words: Ras Kimono was a giver. He always gave his heart, his smile, his immense talent and his love to one and all. He had no angst against anyone.

Kimono was totally dedicated to the COSON cause. He was not just a COSON member, but 100 percent committed COSON activist. As a hyper-creative person, he fought anything that he thought would bring COSON down or tear the music industry apart. He saw in COSON a watershed institution for the development of the Nigerian creative industry which must be nurtured for the next generation.

Kimons daughter, Oge who has taken after her father as a reggae star, said she would miss everything about him, including his love and care, while his widow, Efe, described him as a loving husband adding that he was a different specie.

We were always together, he was always the best. Of course, I have had other relationships, but Ras Kimono was different. I would miss him forever, she mourned.

Meanwhile, Kimonos lying-in-state was preceded by a red-carpet tribute night which climaxed the week-long funeral programme of the music legend, who would be laid to rest in his hometown, Onicha Olona, Delta State on Saturday August 25, 2018.

Ras Kimono celebrated his 60th birthday amid fanfare in Lagos in May. In October 2017, he dropped a new single after many years of hiatus from the music scene.

It set the tone as he released more songs and toured Africa, Europe and the U.S.A.

He also won several awards, including the Nigerian Music Awards, and Fame Music Awards.

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Home | News | General | Saraki : Call Miyetti Allah leadership to order  Middle Belt Forum, PDP BoT chair

By Peter Duru & Dirisu Yakubu

MakurdiBothered by the statement credited to National Coordinator of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, MACBAN, Garus Gololo, ordering the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to step down or be forced out of office, Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the MACBAN leadership to order.

From Middle: The National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) flanked by the National Secretary, Alhaji Baba Ngelzarma, and other members of the association at a press briefing on the position of the association to stem farmers-herdsmen clashes in Abuja on Sunday.

The forum also urged security agencies to invite the source of the threat for questioning to assuage the fears of Nigerians.

In a statement on behalf of the forum, in Makurdi, yesterday, entitled: Miyetti Allahs unchecked threats: A dangerous precedence for our democracy, the MBF Coordinator of Public Communication, Ndi Kato, regretted that the statement originated from a state like Benue that heavily bore the brunt of herdsmen killings.

The statement read: As a result of these targeted attacks on Benue and most states in the Middle Belt, our region is knee deep in a mismanaged humanitarian crisis spanning several states.

This threat by the leadership of Miyetti Allah is not only insulting, it is inciting and we believe issued with the intention to heat up the polity.

The Middle Belt Forum has observed the consistency with which leaders of Miyetti Allah expend inciting statements on national issues well beyond their reach and we are at the juncture where we must stand firm and insist enough is enough, Miyetti Allah must be called to order.

Nigerians cannot understand the root of this audacity by Miyetti Allah to pour fuel on national issues from the heavy loss of human lives in several parts of our nation to sensitive political issues.

Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki is not only the Senate President but the highest office holder in the Middle Belt.

A threat to his office by non-political actors is a threat to democracy; a threat to his person is a threat to the leadership of our region.

The entire Middle Belt is currently grappling for stability in the midst of chaos, land grabbing and mass killings.

We call on well-meaning Nigerians to rebuke such statements and the intentions behind them as these are direct threats to our democracy.

We call on our national security agencies to, in the interest of national peace and stability, invite Alhaji Garus Gololo for questioning.

Finally, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put his foot down against such rhetoric in the interest of our nation.

PDP BoT chair condemns call

Meanwhile, chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Walid Jubrin, yesterday, condemned the call by Gololo on Saraki.

In a chat with journalists in Abuja, Jibrin challenged the association to openly condemn the statement so that it will not be misconstrued as the general position of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association.

While noting that Fulani associations were up to 25 in number, the PDP chieftain said when people talk of Miyetti Allah, it should not be misconstrued as the generality of all Fulani people in the country.

I will try my best to see that I bring them together, so that they will not shy away from their responsibility of defending the course of the entire Fulani people. That is to say that they should never engineer crisis, they should only safeguard the interest of the entire Fulani by not being agents of attack.

We, the Fulani concerned elders, are now trying to bring all these Fulani associations together, so that we can talk with one voice.

He further explained the role he played in addressing herdsmen attacks in Taraba State and how he was planning a similar one in Benue to particularly meet with Governor Samuel Ortom, the leadership of Tiv Fulani communities to resolve the perennial clashes between them.

He said: Like I earlier did, I went to Taraba State to meet with the governor, the leaders and Fulani elders and the meeting is yielding results. I intend to go to Benue to meet the governor, the leadership of Tiv people and the Fulani people to look at the pros and cons of the issues of Fulani herdsmen.

This (crisis) can only be solved by dialogue and mediation. We should not be tired of discussing these issues so that the matter will die down and everybody will appreciate the other.

We as Fulani will educate our people to understand the Nigeria problem, the problem of rearing animals and most importantly, to educate our Fulani children so that when they are educated, most of these problems will reduce.

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Home | News | General | Your husband can do whatever he wants with your body - Presenter says

- Social media went agog with the story of a man who had connived with his doctor to take his wife's womb without her consent because he did not want any more kids

- While many people condemned the act, this Nigerian presenter seems to think otherwise

- According to her, a husband can do whatever he wants with his wife's body

Earlier on, there was a buzz on social media about a man who instructed a doctor to take out his wife's womb without her consent, simply because he did not want anymore children. According to the story which took place in Lagos, they planned on having three kids but ended up having five.

This story caused a media outrage as most people felt this was a violation of the woman's right, stating that it was wrong for him to do such a thing without letting her know. However, a particular presenter on TVC identified as Tope Mark-Odigie, seems to think otherwise.

On one of the programs, she addressed the issue stating that a husband has every right to do as he please with his wife's body. According to her, he literally bought her through the customs and traditions surrounding marriages in Africa.

READ ALSO: 51-year-old Prime Minister Mark Rutte of Netherlands cycles to work everyday

Tope Mark-Odigie Source: Facebook

In her words:"We cannot behave like the western world. We are in Nigeria and we are in Africa. We are a people that will tell a man to prostrate for hundred times to marry one woman. We are the one that will ask a man to bring a million Naira, to bring a goat, to buy everything possible because you are giving over that woman unto the man to take care of her, to make decisions for her, as long as you own her.

As long as we still live within that rule, we cannot begin to form westernized. We cannot begin to form modernity. We cannot begin to form feminism. Except we want to expunge traditional marriage. So, we are going to do legal wedding which means that I am bound only by the laws of this marriage. Then if my husband does anything contrary to my legal rights, of which we have shared everything in the marriage 50-50.

READ ALSO: Bereaved dad blessed with a baby who looks exactly like the child he lost

If you want to do culture, do culture. If you want to do modern 21st century family setting, then you focus on that. But you cannot eat your cake and have it. In our country, we have prioritized culture more than any other thing.

A man has a right to decide how a woman should look.If he wants her to be slim or be fat he would say add weight. He would tell her I have bought you. I own you. So I tell you how to look. I tell you how I want your body to look. I control your life.

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Home | News | General | No president in Nigeria has touched the lives of poor people like Buhari - Keyamo gives details

- Festus Keyamo says no president since 1999 can compete with Buhari in terms of welfare to the poor in the country

- Keyamo, a senior lawyer in Nigeria, also says no government in the country recovered looted funds like Buhari

- The spokesperson of the Buhari campaign organisation lists other areas in through which the president has excelled

Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson of the Muhammadu Buhari camoaing organisation, on Thursday, August 23, declared that no president, since 1999, has touched the lives of the poor and vulnerable Nigerians than his boss.

Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) made this known in Ilorin at the inauguration of Buhari/Osinbajo project 2019.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Keyamo who delivered a lecture at the occasion said that no government in the country has recovered stolen money that belonged to Nigerians as president Buhari.

He said the previous administrations established the worst system of government, based on sharing formula of the nations treasury.

They operated a system that ignored physical infrastructure in the country that ignored the plight of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: PDP will produce next president - Saraki

If you compare what accrued to the country in 16 years and what were done with the money earned in three years and infrastructure built by Buhari, you will see the difference.

In 16 years, all they did in the south east was Onisha-Owerri road, whereas in three years, President Buhari is doing four major road constructions in the region, Keyamo said.

He noted that what Buhari has done was to take the bullet from the rich to protect the poor, adding: You have a president who has fought for you, why cant you fight for him.

This is the time he needs you more to fight for him. It is reciprocal and that is why we must remind ourselves today why we must stand firmly behind him in 2019.

I can tell that there is no government in the history of this country since 1960 that has addressed the plights the poor, the vulnerable in the last three years than this government."

He listed the administrations intervention programmes for the poor and vulnerable which included the N5, 000 monthly stipends, feeding of over eight million school pupils and soft loans of between N250, 000 and N350, 000 to small business owners.

These social intervention programmes show that Buharis government is touching the lives of the poor than the rich, he said.

According to him, before Buhari came on board, over 24 state governments were unable to pay salaries of their workers.

He said the administration, with prudent management of resources, approved bailout funds to the states to clear the arrears and address their critical challenges.

We should not go back to that era of nonpayment of salary and suffering of the masses, Keyamo added.

He also called on the people of Kwara that the time has come to free themselves from slavery, from oppression and subjugation.

You must fight for your liberation before you can be liberated, we must come together to salvage the state form the oppressor.

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No man is god, no to hegemony in Kwara, you must stand firm, this is the time Kwara people are living Egypt for the promised land, he said.

The inauguration was attended by chieftains of APC in Kwara including Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, Senator Simeon Ajibola and Comrade Musbau Esinrogunjo.

Others are Professor Oba Abdulrahim and APC caretaker committee chairman, Hon Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, said that President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) deserve re-election in the 2019 general elections.

President Buhari proves he is fit to run in 2019 | Naij.com TV

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Home | News | General | Niger lawmaker offers scholarship to 100 students in higher institution

A lawmaker, Malik Bosso, representing Bosso constituency in the Niger State House of Assembly says he has offered scholarship to at least, 100 students pursuing various courses at the Kaduna Polytechnic.

Bosso told newsmen on Friday, August 24, in Minna that the scholarship was part of efforts to support the education development of youths in his constituency.

The lawmaker disclosed that 10 beneficiaries were drawn from each of the 10 wards of Bosso constituency, after satisfying certain criteria.

I have decided to offer them this scholarship as part of my own little way of boosting the level of education in my constituency.

We all know that education is critical to the growth and development of any society, that is why I offered 10 per ward and we have 10 wards, thus making 100 students.

I will continue to support people who are willing to embrace education, he said.

Bosso disclosed that he had also distributed learning materials worth N2.3 million to primary and secondary schools in Bosso and constructed two classroom blocks in Garatu, Gbata and Gbaiko communities.

According to him, other projects executed by him are: construction of 19 motorised boreholes, 33 hand boreholes and purchase and installation of 13 transformers.

Others include distribution of 2400 bags of fertiliser to farmers at subsidised rate as well as wrappers and cash donations of N2000 each to 500 widows, according to him.

I gave a subsidy of N2,000 on each bag of fertiliser which is sold at N5,500 in the market. So instead of paying N5,500 for a bag, you only pay N3,500.

As for the widows, available statistics shows that their number is very high within my domain, that is why I decided to come to their aid.

We need to remember the widows among us because they are passing through a lot as bread winners, he said.

He restated his resolve to provide more dividends of democracy to his constituents before the expiration of the tenure of present administration in the state.

The lawmaker said the 8th legislature in the state was committed to enacting laws and executing projects that had direct bearing on the lives of the people.

We are committed to improving the lot of our people by passing legislation that will impact them positively.

NAIJ.com previously reported that the Dangote Foundation donated a well-equipped secondary school in Lagos valued at N120 million as part of its interventionist programme to boost education. The foundation has also offered annual free tuition to 250 indigent pupils.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, said this at the inauguration and handing over of the school with well-equipped laboratories to Nawair-Ud-Deen Comprehensive College, Idi-Oro, Mushin, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

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Home | News | General | UNESCO seeks end to discrimination against African descendants

- The UN called for more awareness about the history of slavery

- The international body said reflecting on the history will help in preventing new forms of slavery

- It calls on all relevant stakeholders to oppose all forms of modern slavery

The UN has called on the global community to reflect on the legacy of slavery and remember to guard against racial prejudices which continue to fuel everyday discrimination against people of African descent.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) made the call on the 20th anniversary of the International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The director general of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, in her message for the day, said remembering slave trade offered the chance to raise awareness and oppose all forms of modern slavery.

READ ALSO: Just in: Rep member from Abia reportedly leaves PDP, joins APC

UNESCO invites everyone, including public authorities, civil society, historians, researchers and ordinary citizens, to mobilise in order to raise awareness about this history that we share and to oppose all forms of modern slavery, Azoulay said.

On the night of August 22, 1791, an uprising began in the western part of Saint-Domingue Island, which, throughout the century, would greatly contribute to the abolition and dismantling of the transatlantic slave trade.

The war that ensued culminated in 1804 in the independence of that part of the island, which took the name of Haiti, and led to the recognition of the equal rights of all its inhabitants, Azoulay said, explaining the inspiration for the Day.

Each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the Days importance and also pays tribute to those who worked hard to abolish slave trade and slavery throughout the world.

Azoulay pointed out that since 2001, trafficking and slavery had been recognised by the international community as crimes against humanity.

Yet, these scourges resurface at regular intervals in different ways and in different places, she added, saying that new forms of slavery can be prevented by knowing the slave trade history.

The Slave Route Project, launched by UNESCO in 1994, has made it possible to identify the ethical, cultural and socio-political issues of this painful history, she said.

By developing a multidisciplinary approach, which links historical, memorial, creative, educational and heritage dimensions, this project has contributed to enriching our knowledge of the slave trade and spreading a culture of peace, Azoulay said.

Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has underscored that domestic workers are one of the groups most vulnerable to exploitation, violence, harassment and forced labour.

The UN labour agency said: Many women end up being trapped in abusive work situations which in some cases may amount to modern forms of slavery.

ILO said: No fewer than 67 million domestic workers who care for our homes and loved ones frequently suffer violence, harassment, exploitation and coercion  ranging from verbal abuse to sexual violence, and sometimes even death.

At the root of this situation is discrimination, said Philippe Marcadent, chief of the ILO branch related to Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions.

Domestic workers are often not recognised as workers, and face discrimination as women, often from poor and marginalised groups, such as migrants and indigenous peoples, Marcadent said.

For many, daily abuses like lack of rest and non-payment of wages could quickly turn into forced labour, ILO said.

Today domestic workers are beginning to organise, and ILO is discussing a new legal instrument to combat violence and harassment in the world of work, the UN labour agency said.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that UNESCO gave a huge sum of $340,000 (N123 million) to Zambia University in order to educate its students on witchcraft.

The information which was shared on Facebook by Hot FM Zambia disclosed that the training will commence with the first intake of about 20 students.

Zambias national commission for UNESCO further disclosed that intangible heritage comprises of practices such as witchcraft, social practices such as expression through music, knowledge, skills as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and rituals.

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Home | News | General | What top senator told Lagosians about temporary closure of Third Mainland Bridge

- The senator representing Lagos east senatorial district, Gbenga Ashafa, has pleaded with Lagosians to bear with the state and federal governments over the closure of the Third Mainland Bridge

- Senator Ashafa in his statement said that the temporary closure of the 28-year-old bridge is a necessary sacrifice for residents in the state

- He also said that the government at both state and federal levels are doing their utmost to reduce traffic inconveniences throughout the period of the closure

Gbenga Ashafa, the senator representing the Lagos east senatorial district, has urged residents in the state to cooperate with both the government and the presidency on the temporary closure of the Third Mainland Bridge, Punch reports.

READ ALSO: Just in: Rep member from Abia reportedly leaves PDP, joins APC

The senator, who remarked that the bridge was scheduled to be shut between Thursday, August 23, and Sunday, August 26, said that the closure was a necessary sacrifice, adding that in 2013 he raised a motion on the floor of the Senate requesting the federal government to rehabilitate the 28-year-old bridge.

He said: Following the motion then, the Federal Government committed itself to necessary periodic repairs to ensure that the bridge is safe and strong to carry the weight of thousand of vehicles that ply the bridge daily.

I am fully aware of the inconvenience that the latest closure of this critical infrastructure will cause all of us. However, we must see it as a necessary inconvenience and a little sacrifice that we must all pay for the safety of the millions of lives that ply the Third Mainland Bridge.

The senator exuded confidence in the palliative measures put together by the state government in conjunction with the federal ministry of power, works and housing to reduce traffic inconveniences throughout the period of the closure.

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Ashafa said: I therefore urge you all to cooperate with the government and observe the travel advisory as released by the government.

Earlier, NAIJ.com had reported that the Lagos state Government had said that the Third Mainland Bridge would be temporarily shut down for from midnight of August 23 to midnight of August 26, 2018 for Investigative Maintenance Test to be carried out.

The states commissioner for works and infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, in a statement on Sunday, August 19, appealed for the cooperation, support and understanding of all motorists and residents during the closure.

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Home | News | General | I spent N3m to go to Italy but failed at the end - Libya returnee gives scary tale

- Ephraim Okundolor shared a harrowing experience of his attempt to go to Europe

- He said he regretted his decision considering the amount of money he spent

- The Libya returnee urged Nigerians to desist from going to Europe through the desert

One Ephraim Okundolor has given a harrowing tale of his experience in his attempt to go to Europe through Libya.

Vanguard reports that Okundolor who just returned to Nigeria from Libya through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) described his action as senseless.

READ ALSO: Just in: Rep member from Abia reportedly leaves PDP, joins APC

He revealed that he suffered through Libya and also went to prison after going through a similar fate in the Mediterranean Sea.

He said in spite of the money he spent, he was still not able to get to Europe.

He said: I regret everything that has happened. I spent over N3 million in the journey. I paid N450, 000 to the person who assisted me from Nigeria while my wife paid N500,000.

I made four attempts to cross the Mediterranean but failed on each occasion. It was during the last attempt, when we had almost entered the blue sea that the Libyan militants intercepted our boat, and sent us back to Libya, where we were thrown into the prison. In each of the attempts, I paid N120, 000; so I spent a total of N480, 000 trying to cross over the sea to Italy from Libya.

I also paid N700, 000 to regain my freedom when we were dumped at a camp in Tripoli. My people also sent N700, 000 to me with which I initially wanted to procure a return ticket to Nigeria before IOM came to our rescue.

So, when you add all those money to the expenses I made during the desert journey and the ones I spent to sustain myself for the over six months that I wasted in the journey, you will agree with me that I spent over N3 million, without any positive result.

However, I thank God for sparing my life because many people died in the process. In short, I took part in the burial of some of the dead persons both in the desert and in Tripoli.

He called on Nigerians to desist from embarking on the dangerous journey urging them to use the proper channel when travelling to Europe.

Meanwhile, over 700 Nigerians died in the Mediterranean Sea while migrating illegally in the last six months, the Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN) has disclosed.

The group made the disclosure via its president, Femi Awoniyi, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, the nations capital, Vanguard reports.

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NAIJ.com gathers that Awoniyi, however, pointed out that compared to those who died while trying to cross the Sahara Desert, the figure is low.

He lamented that Nigerians have the highest rate of rejection among sub-Sahara asylum applicants in the European Union; as he pointed out that the country has the highest number of illegal migrants from Africa.

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Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 countries worldwide, many of them small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru.

The dissolution of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and El Salvador made headlines on Tuesday as more countries shift their allegiance to China.

He said El Salvador had been continuously asking for "massive funding support" since past year for a port development, but Taiwan was unable to assist with the "unsuitable project" after assessment. She promised to keep resisting efforts she said are clearly aimed at further pressuring Taiwan diplomatically. "What China did was to humiliate Taiwan repeatedly without getting any respect from Taiwan's people", Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party wrote in a statement.

El Salvador's Foreign Minister Carlos Castaneda, left, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi sign documents at a signing ceremony to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province, and the two have long competed with so-called dollar diplomacy - funding public works projects such as stadiums, for example - to secure recognition from other nations.

As Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen refuses to bend to Beijing's demand that she recognise the island as part of "one China", the Chinese government has stepped up its campaign to shrink its status.

In an interview with state television, presidential spokesman Roberto Lorenzana called Taiwan's allegations "base" and "totally false", noting that other countries have opted to have diplomatic and commercial relations with Beijing. Their establishment of diplomatic ties with the Chinese mainland is an irresistible trend.

El Salvador's President Salvador Sanchez Ceren addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, September 22, 2016.

"Although it is extremely disappointing for Taiwan to lose another ally, the silver lining is that the incident will only make Taiwan and US work together more closely", said Lo, an assistant professor at Taipei-based Soochow University's Department of Political Science.

The onus now lies on the US and its allies to make clear to Taiwan's remaining diplomatic partners that there are far-reaching consequences for taking China's money.

U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Jean Manes wrote in a tweet late Monday the decision was "worrisome for many reasons".

The facility in question, Port La Union, was barely a strip of concrete until Japan extended the government El Salvador a loan of US$100 million for its development in 2008. "We continue supporting the Salvadoran people", she wrote without elaborating.

The Kingdom of eSwatini will not switch its allegiance from Taiwan to China, its foreign affairs minister said on Wednesday after China said it expected Taiwan's last diplomatic ally in Africa to switch allies soon. Basutoland became Lesotho. The decision to rename Swaziland as eSwatini, some 50 years after independence, was made with similar rationale in mind.

China's hostility to Taiwan has grown since Tsai's election as Beijing fears she wishes to push for the island's formal independence, a red line for China.
Home | News | General | Opinion: A dry Sallah and other stories by Reuben Abati

Editor's note: Reuben Ababti, an aide to a former president, Goodluck Jonathan writes on many incidence which have taken place in Nigeria's polity.

Abati also analyses the just celebrated Eid-El-Kabir in Nigeria.

Baba is back, we thank God

You have started your mischief again. Baba said he will be back in two weeks, and he is back, so what is special about that?

You know sometimes when the President goes to London like that, we may then be told that his doctors have advised that he should spend another week or more. But we thank God this time oh.

There is no way the President will spend Eid-el-Kabir outside Nigeria. Allah be praised! Did you not see how many people trooped out in Abuja to welcome him? I liked that.

I didnt see that

Of course, you dont always see good things.

But I saw something.

Which is?

I saw a photograph of the President in which he was acknowledging cheers from the crowd as he arrived at the Abuja airport, and then just a step behind him, I saw your Governor also waving to the crowd. I thought that was funny. Is he the one that travelled? What is his own in the matter?

You mean Yahaya Bello? Ha, Governor Bello. Many of us from Kogi state are certainly worried. The man is always in Abuja.

They say he is an adopted son of the President.

I dont know about that. I think the man should just resign his appointment as Governor and assume duties in the Villa as a Special Assistant to the President, since that is what he seems to like.

I hope he will stay back in his own state to do Sallah. Dont be surprised if you suddenly see him going from Lokoja to Abuja to Daura to pay Sallah homage to the President.

You know when I hear people say young people are not too young to run, I tell them yes, but when young people run for elective positions and they win, they should also be told that they are expected to distinguish themselves with the quality of the service they offer, not with the photo opportunities they get, the ceremonies they attend or their capacity for sycophancy.

I mean, just consider the spectacle of a state Governor leaving his own duty post now and again, to go and queue up at the airport, along with Presidential aides, to receive the President.

READ ALSO: Just in: Rep member from Abia reportedly leaves PDP, joins APC

Leave that one jor. I dont want to take Panadol for the problems of the people of Kogi state. Instead of going up and down, Governor Bello should sit down and look for ways to pay salaries so that civil servants and doctors will not be dying anyhow in his stateGovernor Bello. Na wah o But look at what the President said when he became back.

What did he say? Did he say anything about Governor Bello?

No. He said he will deal with thieves

So, what is new in that? That is what he has always said. Only the thieves need to be afraid

After two weeks away from the country, and a few days to Sallah, one would have expected the President to speak to us like a father and wish us a very happy Sallah season. Baba could have made a statement that will give hope and succor to the hopeless, something to inspire the people at this festive season.

Of course, he will wish you Barka da Sallah and he has done so  he wants you to engage in sober reflection and self-examination but he is also making it clear that he is not a father of thieves. Thieves dont deserve any Barka da Sallah.

This Sallah that is so dry, who is even enjoying it sef? I have examined myself and I have engaged in sober reflection and I am concerned that this Sallah is too dry. People are just keeping long faces as if something has gone wrong somewhere.

Nothing has gone wrong. Examine yourself and reflect. 

Can you believe that for the first time in a long while, ram sellers are complaining loudly about poor sales? People cant afford to buy rams. Poverty is so widespread in the land.

I dont think it is poverty. People have just not been paid salaries, yes I mean civil servants. How do you expect them to buy rams? In about 22 states of the Federation workers are being owed salaries, and some Governors are saying there is no money, so they cant pay and they wont pay.

But they have paid salaries in Ekiti, And in Osun, the Governor has moved from modulated salaries to the payment of full salaries.

You mean the Osun Governor is no longer modulating salaries, he is now politicizing salaries? Dont forget that some of these Governors now pay salaries to get people to support them politically. No vote, no salary. Well, okay, at least in Osun state, for the first time under Governor Aregbesola, people can now enjoy Sallah and buy rams.

With what they have just been paid? Dont be surprised if many of those workers use the money to settle accumulated debts. And if not, would it not be better to hold on to the money since they may not know whether or not they would still be paid after the September elections?

READ ALSO: Corruption scandal: Appeal court gives ex-president 25-year prison sentence

I know. I know. Can you imagine I actually saw some people pricing fowls for Sallah?

What do you mean fowls for Sallah?

Fowls! Yes! In fact, one guy told me that this year, some people are buying he-goats for Sallah. Goats are cheaper than rams. A small ram, with some measure of meat, is about N75, 000, a slightly bigger one is about N100, 000 or N120, 000. 

Wonderful!

The thing is so bad ram sellers have become very aggressive. For the first time, this year, I saw ram sellers knocking on peoples doors to hawk rams. Some of them went on social media to market their wares and even offer incentives. I got whats app messages offering me rams at what was called good price! When I complained that I am a Christian, I was told it didnt matter and that I could buy and give out as gifts to friends.

Buy two rams; take one at half price! One of my Muslim acquaintances later told me that what he has resolved to do is to buy his own ram on Sallah day, when suddenly the price of rams would have crashed. He doesnt intend to go to the praying ground. He would get to the market early and get a ram for his family at affordable price. You see what these Governors who dont pay salaries have done to our people?

These Governors.

By the way what happened to that our brother in Ekiti state?

Who?

Ayo Fayose. He has been quiet.

No. He has been talking. He spoke out in defence of Samuel Ogundipe, of Premium Times for example. I read that.

But I havent heard him abuse the President lately.

Why should he abuse the President? You think he should abuse the President, after losing the election in Ekiti state?

He is one of the most vocal and forthright critics of this administration.

So, if you were in his shoes, knowing that you will soon lose your immunity as a Governor, you will keep talking and not change tactics?

I dont get your point. Some of us depend on people like Fayose to hear the truth.

Very good. But I believe Fayose is also a wise man. A wise man knows when to fight and when to be tactical. May your mouth not put you in trouble. 

You think Fayose will also defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

Candidly I dont know what to believe anymore. If a Godswill Akpabio can defect from the PDP to the APC, I mean Godswill Akpabio, one of the most articulate members of the PDP, the man just jumped ship as if something had hit him in the chest.

You want to bet?

Bet what?

If the PDP wins in 2019, the man will jump back.

I know. That is the nature of Nigerian politics. Our politicians are very good at jumping like monkeys from one tree to another.

READ ALSO: My generation owes Nigeria apologies for introducing election violence in Rivers - Advocacy group leader

That is how that your brother, Dino Melaye jumped onto the top of a tree for eleven hours.

That is fake news. The man has denied it. He said he never did that.

Thank God then, but he ran into the bush.

Yes. He did. It is called survival. The man defected from street to bush.

I am waiting for him to compose a song and a dance step around that.

He probably has more serious things to do.

Meaning what? He just did a song, there is a latest number from him

Really?

You havent heard it? Governor dey pass Governor, ha yah yah, Udom pass Akpabio, ha yah yah. And you could see the Akwa Ibom Governor, and some PDP Senators who visited Emmanuel Udom laughing and enjoying the song.

No wonder Senator Akpabio fired back and said he regrets making Udom Governor.

Kai. What wont we hear or see oh? Politics has become season film. Asiwaju Tinubu attacks Atiku, Saraki and Governor Tambuwal, Saraki attacks Tinubu, Tinubu attacks Wike, Wike fires back, Akpabio attacks Udom, Ajimobi attacks Ayefele, Tambuwal sacks 252 aidesThat is the shape of Nigerian democracy.

252 aides?

252!

Yes, 252

One Governor and 252 aides!

How much is the entire budget of Sokoto state?

Well, he has sacked them or is it that those people refused to defect? Well, whatever.

Hmmm, but this matter between Governor Ajimobi of Oyo State and Yinka Ayefele, the musician. What is the latest?

Very sad. The constituted authorities of Oyo State have been most unkind to Ayefele. They had to demolish his Music House even when the matter was already before the court.

I saw the pictures of the demolished building and I wept. There is more to that demolition than meets the eye. Politics. Media repression. Vendetta. Sheer wickedness. These are very strange times.

The latest is that when the matter was heard in court on Monday, the lawyer for the Oyo State government allegedly said that the government of Oyo State is not aware of the demolition.

The lawyer said that?

Yes, that is what I read.

You are sure what you read is not fake news? You are telling me that ghosts demolished Ayefeles N800 million building? You want me to believe that the constituted authorities of Oyo State are ghosts?

That is what I read. The state government is even planning to set up a panel of inquiry to find out who authorized the demolition of Ayefeles Music House.

No. That is not possible. I read a statement by the Special Adviser on Physical Planning and Development Control to the Governor, a town planner, explaining why the constituted authorities of Oyo state had to demolish the building. The statement is titled What You Should Know about the Partial Demolition at the Music House.

Okay, I give up. Nothing is ever straightforward in this country. Wey-tinnnn? Can we please leave these Nigerian matters alone and talk about something else please before I start having headache?

Mr. Kofi Annan is dead

Great man. He was Africas great ambassador on the world stage. He will always be a role model and a source of inspiration for generations to come. And he will be remembered for the role he played in promoting world peace 

I agree with you. He deserves to be immortalized.

Aretha Franklin died too.

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Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. I love her songs. Nothing lives forever other than good talent, depth, quality, distinction, be it in music or politics.

Yes. Yes. In civilized places, people are honoured, promoted and encouraged for their talent and contributions. At a time when the world is celebrating Aretha Franklin, is it not curious that here in Nigeria, somewhere in Oyo State, some constituted authorities are causing heartache for a talented musician. In another place, the government would be more interested in supporting Ayefele, and not discourage or destroy him.

You are right. It is the man they are trying to destroy not his house but I can see that his spirit is strong. Our love and prayers are with him at this trying moment.

Have you been following the conflict between Omarosa Manigault Newman and the Trumps?

Yes. Yes. But I consider Omarosas conduct indecent and opportunistic. Spying on your boss and his family, recording conversations around the family and the Situation Room, for me raises questions of integrity and character.

But with people like President Trump, people have to be careful, and protect themselves. Trump is just one kind of a President, often so un-presidential, brash, aggressive, bullish, petty and manipulative. He lies too like a Lagos girl.

I forgot something which may interest you.

And what could that be?

Only God knows where we are going in this world. People now worship Satan. In Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, some people have erected a bronze statue dedicated to Satan, a goat-headed, winged creature called Baphomet

Do you mind?

What?

I dont want to talk about Satan today if you dont mind. Ill rather wish our Muslim brothers and sisters, Barka da sallah Okay?

Okay. Barka da Sallah.

Thank you.

Thank you too.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NAIJ.com.

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Home | News | General | Niger lawmaker offers scholarship to 100 students

A lawmaker, Mr Malik Bosso, representing Bosso constituency in the Niger State House of Assembly says he has offered scholarship to at least, 100 students pursuing various courses at the Kaduna Polytechnic.

Bosso told newsmen on Friday in Minna that the scholarship was part of efforts to support the education development of youths in his constituency.

The lawmaker disclosed that 10 beneficiaries were drawn from each of the 10 wards of Bosso constituency, after satisfying certain criteria.

I have decided to offer them this scholarship as part of my own little way of boosting the level of education in my constituency.

We all know that education is critical to the growth and development of any society, that is why I offered 10 per ward and we have 10 wards, thus making 100 students.

I will continue to support people who are willing to embrace education, he said.

Bosso disclosed that he had also distributed learning materials worth N2.3 million to primary and secondary schools in Bosso and constructed two classroom blocks in Garatu, Gbata and Gbaiko communities.

According to him, other projects executed by him are: construction of 19 motorised boreholes, 33 hand boreholes and purchase and installation of 13 transformers.

Others include distribution of 2400 bags of fertiliser to farmers at subsidised rate as well as wrappers and cash donations of N2000 each to 500 widows, according to him.

I gave a subsidy of N2,000 on each bag of fertiliser which is sold at N5,500 in the market. So instead of paying N5,500 for a bag, you only pay N3,500.

As for the widows, available statistics shows that their number is very high within my domain, that is why I decided to come to their aid.

We need to remember the widows among us because they are passing through a lot as bread winners, he said.

He restated his resolve to provide more dividends of democracy to his constituents before the expiration of the tenure of present administration in the state.

The lawmaker said the 8th legislature in the state was committed to enacting laws and executing projects that had direct bearing on the lives of the people.

We are committed to improving the lot of our people by passing legislation that will impact them positively.

NAN

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Home | News | General | BNC condemns protest against Obaseki in Edo Central

By Alemma Aliu

BENINA socio-cultural group in Edo State, Benin National Congress, BNC, yesterday, condemned the recent attack by some youths on Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State when he visited Irrua in Edo Central senatorial district of the state for a meeting with select party leaders.

Obaseki

A statement by Director of Publicity of BNC, David Ekomwenrenren, said whatever grievances the youths had with the governor was not enough to warrant attack the convoy of the governor, even as he called on the governor to adjust his governance style so that he would not alienate the people.

He said Whereas Governor Obasekis economic and political policies are yet to have any meaningful impact on Edo people, whereas the governor has alienated the organic political leaders that projected his ambition from their due political patronage and whereas the governor has been promoting the business interest of Lagosians through capital flight instead of raising Edo business economy, we nonetheless condemn the assault on his convoy in Esan land by aggrieved youths and call for total restraints from such barbaric political behaviour by Esan youths and Edo youths in general.

While appealing to the governor to dilute his economic treatise with realistic interventions that will create jobs for Edo people, we solicit the pro-development partnership between Esan political leaders and Edo State governor in order to evolve a workable and sustainable development of the senatorial district.

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Home | News | General | 69 FG Projects Ongoing In South-East  Lai Muhammed

Lai Muhammed has revealed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of the APC is executing multiple projects in the Igbo Nation.

The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, has reacted to a statement credited to Governors of the South-East geo-political zone that the Federal Government has failed the zone in the provision of infrastructure saying no region was left out in the present administrations infrastructure development.



The minister said this in Ilorin on Thursday during the Buhari/Osinbajo 2019 project lecture and inauguration of ward/local government canvassers where he announced that 69 federal projects are currently ongoing in the region.

According to Muhammed, Please permit me to use this platform to rebut the statement credited to Governors of the South-East geo-political zone that the Federal Government has failed the zone in the provision of infrastructure. While this claim may have made headlines, it is totally untrue. His Excellencies were either misquoted or they were quoted out of context.

Either way, this allegation flies in the face of available evidence. I make bold to say that no part of the country, including the South-east, has been left out of the massive infrastructural projects of this administration. In fact, a total of 69, yes, 69 federal government projects are currently ongoing in the South-east. We will soon publish the full list of the projects and the state-by-state breakdown.

Suffice it to say that the South-East, just like other geo-political zones, got 16.6 billion Naira worth of projects from the proceeds of the 100 billion Naira Sukuk Bond, shared equally among the six zones. I have taken journalists on a tour of some of these projects in the South-East. They include the four roads being rehabilitated and reconstructed by the proceeds of the Sukuk Bond:

Enugu-Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway Section II (Umuahia Tower-Aba Township Rail/Road Bridge Crossing in Abia State), Enugu-Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway Section I (Lokpanta  Umahia Tower) in Abia State, Outstanding section of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway (Amansea  Enugu State Border), Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway Section III (Enugu-Lokpanta) in Enugu State.

In addition to these roads, we also inspected the 40 billion Naira Aba-Port Harcourt section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, a strategic road linking Aba and other industrial heartland of the East with Port Harcourt, the nations oil hub.

Let me say that these projects were awarded by the last Administration which, however, failed to provide funding. As a matter of fact, a section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt road, which cuts across many states, was turned to a refuse dump before this administration came to the rescue.

Then there is the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge, which we also inspected. The ground-breaking of the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge was performed on 10th March, 2014 but could not take of until 2017. The bridge, which is 1.59-kilometre in length, forms part of the 11.90-kilometre project. The contractor, Julius Berger, has completed the first 3 phases of the project, which have to do with the sub-structures. They are currently on the 4th phase, which is at 70% completion stage. Some 310 of the 615 piles designed for the bridge have been sunk while massive sand-filling of the approach road has been carried out to the height of 5 metres. The target height is 7 metres. The project is being solely financed by the Federal Government.

The minister added that the South-east has never had it so good in the area of infrastructure. Saying Had the previous administrations done even half of what we are doing now in that region, no one will be complaining today. It is alright to ask for more, but it is unfair to say nothing has been done.

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Home | News | General | Arrest made after attack on Governor Obasekis convoy

One Benson Ordia has been arrested by operatives of the Edo state police command in connection with the attack on the convoy of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

The Sun reports that the suspect was arrested at Igueben council area of the state and is being detained at State Criminal Investigative Department (SCID) of the Police Command in Benin-City.

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It was reported that members of the Esan Youth Movement attacked the governor and it was later discovered that they were youth members of the All Progressives Congress as they had initially claimed.

The governor had reportedly ordered the police to look into the attack and fish out the perpetrators.

Governor Obaseki was reportedly angry at the action of the youths for coming to a meeting they were not invited.

Anselm Ojezua who is the chairman of the APC in the state said: Every criminal act will have repercussions. The police will carry out thorough investigation and prosecute accordingly.

The disrupted meeting was between Governor Obaseki and leaders of the APC in Edo Central senatorial district.

They insisted that the governor address them but they were turned away.

In reaction, they pelted the governors convoy with sachet water.

Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has condemned the attack on Governor Godwin Obaseki by some youths in Edo Central senatorial district on Monday, August 20.

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The chairman of the CNPP in Edo, Roy Oribhabor, who gave the condemnation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin on Thursday, August 23, described the attack as callous, irresponsible and unnecessary.

He called on parents to warn their wards against undermining constituted authority, noting that the attack negated democratic principles.

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Home | News | General | Corruption scandal: Appeal court gives ex-president 25-year prison sentence

- An appeal court has reportedly increased the prison sentence of Koreas former president, Park Geun-hye, to 25 years

- The court also increased her fine by 2 billion won ($1.78m) to 20 billion won ($17.8m)

- Park Geun-hye was forced from office by a constitutional court over a corruption scandal in 2017

A South Korean appeal court has reportedly increased the prison sentence for former President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in a case bordering on the corruption scandal that ended her rule in 2017.

Park became South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office when she was removed by the constitutional court over a corruption scandal.

The 66-year-old ex-president was sentenced to 24 years in prison and an 18bn won fine ($16m) by a lower court in April in a ruling that the prosecution appealed.

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On Friday, August 24, Aljazeera reports that the Seoul high court found that Park colluded with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive tens of billions of won from major conglomerates to help Choi's family and fund non-profit foundations owned by her, according to the court documents.

NAIJ.com gathered that the court also increased her fine by 2 billion won ($1.78m) to 20 billion won ($17.8m).

Such unethical dealings between political power and financial power harms the essence of democracy and distorts order in the market economy, giving the people a grave sense of loss and deep distrust of our society, presiding judge Kim Mun-suk reportedly said in the ruling.

A strict penalty is unavoidable.

In July, another South Korean court reportedly sentenced Park to eight years in prison in a separate case arising from the same scandal, finding her guilty on charges of causing the loss of government funds and interfering in a 2016 parliamentary election.

Park has been defended by state attorneys after her former defence team quit en masse last year in protest against a Seoul court's handling of her case, including the extension of her detention.

The former president has been in jail since March 31, 2017, but has denied wrongdoing and was not present in court.

She returned to South Korea's presidential palace in 2012 as the country's first woman leader more than three decades after she left it following the assassination of her father.

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NAIJ.com previously reported that South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday, February 27, sought a 30-year prison sentence for Park Geun-hye.

Park is standing trial for alleged bribery, abuse of power and other crimes in a groundbreaking corruption case that marked a stunning fall from grace for the countrys first female leader.

The prosecution's recommendation came two weeks after Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of Park who was at the centre of the scandal, was jailed for 20 years for taking bribes from "chaebol", or conglomerates, including electronics powerhouse Samsung and retail giant Lotte.

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Home | News | General | Olasupo Sasore, Bankole Wellington, Simi Adeagbo, others deliver inspiring talks at TEDxLagos co-sponsored by Union Bank

The much anticipated TEDxLagos event tagged Spotlight took place recently at the Agip Hall of the MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos.

TEDx is a global platform created in the spirit of TEDs mission, ideas worth sharing. The TEDxLagos event was a celebration of brilliant ideas and inspiring talks organised by members of the TEDxLagos team led by Mercy Akamo, organiser/ licensee of TEDxLagos. The event had Michael Ryan who heads Global Partnerships at TED in attendance.

The interesting line-up of speakers included former Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Olasupo Sasore; popular performer, Bankole Wellington also known as Banky W; Medical Thought Leader, Clare Omatseye and CEO of 9Mobile, Boye Olusanya.

Other prominent attendees included the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa, the Banks Head of Corporate Communication and Marketing, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem and other Senior Executives of the Bank. Also in attendance was Claire Wathen, Community Manager at Skoll Foundation, co-sponsors of the event.

As part of the line-up, there were performances by Dream Catchers, a childrens dance crew and Femi Leye, Afro-jazz guitarist & vocalist.

A major highlight of the day was the Next100 workshop organised by Union Bank. This was an interactive session to discuss the recently unveiled Next100 Fund idea; an initiative to galvanise definite action by private sector participants and Nigerian citizens at large towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), placing the country on an accelerated path to development and prosperity.

The day-long event came to a close with a cocktail and networking session for members of the TEDx community, sponsors, speakers and guests.

Speaking about the event, the Mr. Emuwa said:

Union Bank is pleased to be a principal partner of this years TEDxLagos event. Widely recognised as an initiative synonymous with sharing and inspiring great ideas, we identified the TEDxLagos initiative as one that will amplify our efforts to encourage private sector participation for the achievement of Nigerias economic and social advancement.

We are excited by the innovative ideas and potential partnerships that emerged as a result of todays sessions.

Union Banks partnership with TEDxLagos reiterates its continued commitment to innovation, creativity and support for Nigerias growth.

The Bank continues to focus on maintaining its leading position as a socially driven and responsible corporate organisation.The Bank recently released the second edition of its Citizenship, Sustainability and Innovation (CSI) report, a compendium which outlines the impact Union Bank has made within its host communities and its commitment to its customers and other stakeholders. It also emphasizes the banks vision to inspire a future where private sector participants are committed drivers of the nations sustainable development.

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Home | News | General | 14 political parties vie for 27 chairmanship slots in Imo LG polls

- About 14 political parties will be participating in the local government election in Imo state scheduled for Saturday, August 25

-The parties include the All Progressives Congress (APC ), Accord Party, Green Party of Nigeria (GNP), Young Peoples Party (YPP), KOWA, Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC)

- The parties will be contesting for 27 chairmanship positions and 645 councillorship positions

Ahead of the Imo state local government election, 14 political parties including the All Progressives Congress (APC ), Accord Party, Green Party of Nigeria (GNP), Young Peoples Party (YPP), KOWA, Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), among others will be participating, The Nations reports.

NAIJ.com gathered that Hon Ethelbert Ibebuchi, the chairman of the Imo state Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC), made the disclosure while briefing journalists on the preparedness of the commission.

Ibebuchi said the political parties will be contesting for 27 chairmanship positions and 645 Councillorship positions.

He further stated that the commission has concluded all necessary arrangements to ensure a hitch free and credible polls.

The Commission is ready for the election and we are urging the people to come out perform their civic responsibilities. Let me assure all and sundry that ISIEC has made available to all participating political parties and their candidates, a level playing ground to actively take part in order to actualize their political goals,

May I in unequivocal terms assures our numerous publics that ISIEC is sufficiently ready to go. Be rest assured that as part of our altruistic design to ensure a hitch free exercise, there shall be restriction of movement of persons between 8am and 4pm when polls are expected to come to an end, he said.

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NAIJ.com previously reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo has distanced itself from the proposed local government elections planned by the government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha as it described the polls fixed for July 14, as unconstitutional.

In a statement by Damian Opara, its spokesperson, the party argued that the proposed election did not follow constitutional stipulations.

According to the statement, the Supreme Court had advised the Imo state Independent Electoral Commission (ISEC) against holding the election.

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Home | News | General | Boko Haram : Buratai pays tribute to sick, wounded soldiers in North East

Celebrates Eid-El-Kabir with them

By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA-THE Chief of Army Staff, Lt.General Tukur Buratai, has again, commended troops of the Nigerian Army fighting insurgency in the North East, for their determination in ending the insurgents activities.

Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai / AFP

Buratai also commended the troops for their gallantry displayed in the face of the enemies of the Nigerian nation, described them as heroes of peace.

The Army Chief, who according to a statement by the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, spoke during a visit to

the sick and wounded in action soldiers on admission at 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital (DMSH), for their gallantry in the fight against insurgency in North East, describing them as heroes of peace and assured them of the Nigerian Armys determination to provide all medical support needed for quick recuperation .

He spoke through the Corps Commander Medical, Major General Ikechukwu Okeke, during the 2018 Sallah celebration with the sick and wounded soldiers.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Acting Commander 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital (DMSH) Col Samuel Adama stated that, the sit out is to show love and affection to the wounded, adding that Eid-El-Kabir celebration is a period of compassion and resilience towards achieving lasting peace in the region and the nation, the statement

The statement read further: He thanked the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai and other commanders for their support to the hospital.

The Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division Brigadier General Abdulmalik Bulama Biu in his remarks, described the wounded as heroes and ambassador of peace in Nigeria, pointed out that the sacrifice they made cannot be quantified.

Dignitaries that graced the occasion include the Commander 57 Division Signals Brigadier General Adesina and Principal Staff Officers of the Division, family and well wishers of the wounded soldiers.

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Home | News | General | Army troops kill 3 Boko Haram terrorists in Borno, recover weapons

By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA  THE Nigerian Army has said its troops of 151 Battalion deployed in Operation Lafiya Dole, kill three members of the Boko Haram terrorists in the early hours of Wednesday, during an ambush along Banki Junction- Mayanti village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.



The Army, in a statement by its spokesman, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, said items recovered from the terrorists included three AK 47 rifles, three magazines, 32 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, one motorcycle and two Android phones.

 Efforts are on by the troops to get the other fleeing members of the Boko Haram terrorists, it said.

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"Some (further) weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours but Lane is expected to remain a hurricane as it draws closer to the islands", the weather service said in an advisory. The campers called authorities Wednesday, but emergency crews could not mount a rescue operation.

AccuWeather reports that Lane has the potential to be the single-costliest hurricane in recorded history of Hawaii and may end up causing the most expensive hurricane damage in all of the country for the 2018 hurricane season.

"Rain, storm surge  those don't get factored into what we know as 'category.' You end up with all of this rain and all of this water that will cause additional problems".

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump praised White House defender who was sacked for sexual harassment: report Cohen's father said he didn't survive Holocaust to have his name "sullied" by Trump: report NYT: Trump after Cohen plea mused, 'How did we end up here?' MORE on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in Hawaii as the island braces for a Category 5 hurricane.

"We can't go in because the roads - there's a river of water down there", said Hawaii county managing director Wil Okabe.

In addition, tropical storm force winds (39-73 mph) stretch out to 140 miles, so a widespread impact is expected even if the hurricane doesn't make landfall.

Big Island and Maui have been placed under hurricane warnings as the National Weather Service has made residents aware of the possible risk from the storm.

Canadians are advised to avoid "non-essential travel" to Hawaii County, Maui County - including the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, and Kauai, according to a government travel advisory.

Hawaii generally sees about one storm strong enough to earn a name pass within 60 miles of the islands every four years.

Hawaiian Airlines cancelled all Friday flights by its commuter carrier, Ohana by Hawaiian.

Brinson said many shops were closed, and those still open were frantic with people buying food, beer and water to take back to their rooms. The most populated island of Oahu is now under a hurricane warning.

Authorities also warned that the shelters are not created to withstand winds greater than about 64 kph and that for most people they should be a "last resort".

Because there's not enough shelter space statewide, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis urged people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

Free transport will be available between the capital and Oahu islands evacuation shelters, which had welcomed around 350 people by noon, according to the Maui 24/7 local news portal.

Hurricanes rarely hit the Central Pacific region, due to currents and water conditions.

Mary Beth Griggs at Popular Science also explains that for a hurricane to hit Hawaii it has to overcome some pretty stiff winds. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992.

The Coast Guard has ordered all harbours to close to incoming vessels.

Since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico past year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has made changes to how it works, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said at a briefing in Washington, making sure generators are in place so they can immediately provide power to residents and quickly restart the water system.
Home | News | General | Civil servants have no business running National Theatre, says Lawal

A thespian, Pelumi Lawal popularly known as Pelumi Baba, on Friday said that the Federal Government should hand-over the running of the National Theatre in Lagos to the organized private sector (OPS).

He said that through that, it would quickly yield returns on investment, arguing that civil servants had no business in the running of the outfit.

For the National Theatre to boom, be vibrant in Nigeria, it should not be run by civil servants. It should be handed over to a private company.

Lawal, a poet, an actor and a rapper, told newsmen in Lagos that the theatre would open for business when civil servants were closing for the days work.

According to him, this is why the National Theatre is degenerating into what it is today.

` It is in the night that people patronize the theatre to recreate.

All over the world, the theatre business is done majorly at night, he said.

Lawal said that those saddled with running its affairs should be ready to run shifts, adding this was not part of the orientations of most civil servants.

An event that will run till midnight or beyond, will the civil servants be willing to stay long to handle such things, so civil servants have to change their orientation if they want run the National Theatre.

They must also be taking proper care of their workers welfare such as paying their overtime as and when due aside their normal salaries as part of their motivations, he said.

He said that there must be constant supply of electricity with generators serving as backup when there would be power outage.

Lawal, however, said that theatres all over the world were not charging artistes before they would perform.

They dont tell you to come and pay N1millon for a Cinema Hall; they programme you for the shows.

Artistes that are programmed to perform are settled based on percentage of gate takings, and ticket sales or for theatre sake to entertain people.

But in Nigeria, they will want you to pay for diesels, pay for hall, pay artistes, pay for the use of the air-conditioners, he said.

Lawal advised the government to see the success of theatre as based on a collaborative effort mean to provide entertainment for the people.

The funding of theatres is jointly done by government and private bodies across the world so that can continue to serve the citizens by entertaining them and providing job for artistes and others, he said.

He also said that government was expected to enact policies that would guide and regulate the activities of the theatre.

Different organizations and banks can join efforts to produce a play that can run for months in the theatre, he said.

Newsmen report that Lawal received his initial training from Ajabgela, a theatre company with the Association of Nigerian Arts Practitioners (ANTP).

He also received further training from the Goethe Institute; French Cultural Centre and the British Council through workshops and seminars organised for artistes.

NAN

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Home | News | General | Civil group asks US, UK, 2 others to place travel ban on Oshiomhole, APC senators

- The CLO asked the embassies of five western countries in Nigeria to revoke visas of Adams Oshiomhole and others for their seeming actions to truncate the countrys democracy

- The group said the democracy can be truncated once the executive arm commandeers the legislature, which is the peoples arm of government

- It, however, accused the APC chieftains of masterminding unconstitutional attempts at regime change in the Senate

Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has petitioned the British High Commission, embassies of the United States of America (USA), France, Canada and European Union (EU), requesting the missions to sanction those it described as anti-democratic elements bent on upturning Nigerias democracy.

Vanguard reports that the group also requested that the visas of the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole; Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan, and senators Abu Ibrahim, George Akume, Abdullahi Adamu, Ali Ndume, Ovie Omo-Agege, Godswill Akpabio, Sunday Ogbuoji, Hope Uzodimma, Abdullahi Gumel, and other leaders of the party to those countries be revoked.

In a four-page letter titled: Urgent Need to Rescue Nigerias Democracy: A call to sanction anti-democratic elements, and signed by its executive director, Comrade Ezike, CLO said: As non-partisans, we hold the legislature as the sanctuary of democracy. We believe that democracy perishes once the executive arm commandeers the legislature, which is the peoples arm of government.

We are horrified that whereas Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) explicitly provides that there shall be a president and a deputy president of the Senate, who shall be elected by members of that House from among themselves, there have been resolute attempts by the APC to impose executive stooges as the presiding officers of the National Assembly since 2015.

The most recent and brazen were the raid on the Senate in session by armed hooligans escorted into the chambers by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to steal the mace of the Senate; simultaneous siege to the official residences of the Senate president and deputy Senate president; and a siege to the National Assembly by hooded security operatives in clear attempts at illegal regime change of the Senate leadership.

Although, the wishy-washy report of the police investigation refused to name the politicians that worked in concert with the DSS, to forcefully take over the National Assembly premises, the inciting public vituperations of the APC national chairman and some serving Senators and leaders leave no one in doubt of the key actors behind the heinous attempts to ruin the nations democracy.

Without holding a brief for any of the political interests, Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution and Nigerias legislative convention allow bipartisan or even opposition headship of the parliament of which the APC has been the greatest beneficiary.

CLO is, therefore, unable to figure out any justification, be it on grounds of law, convention, and morality, for the continuous overheating of the polity by APC leaders over the leadership of the Senate.

Two presiding officers of the Senate have been removed since 1999, but on no occasion was any of them held hostage or the National Assembly overran by security agencies. Oshiomole has obviously overstepped his bound.

We, therefore, urge your mission/government to not only help engage the APC-led federal government with a view to ending the rising political tension and barefaced impunity to an immediate stop, but also to suspend issuance of visas of your country to the listed anti-democratic elements and cancel all valid visas already held by them.

CLO has continued to insist on calling the attention of the World and its leaders to the impending confusion in Nigeria because of the obvious monumental implications it will have on human rights and mankind at large in the event that such dastardly acts of these leaders drive our society into avoidable crisis.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that he Patriotic Northern Coalition for Justice, Peace and Equity urged members of the National Assembly especially its leadership not to do anything that will escalate political tension in the country.

The socio-political group said it will honour Senator Goodswill Akpabio for his defection, noting that such move has exonerated the APC from being tagged, a northern party.

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Home | News | General | I received intelligence report that herdsmen are plotting to kill me - Governor Ortom raises alarm

- Governor Samuel Ortom claimed herdsmen were after his life

- The Benue governor said he has intelligence report to back his claim

- He said he has reported to security operatives plans to kill him

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue has raised alarm claiming he has intelligence report that some herdsmen were plotting to kidnap and kill him.

The Punch reports that the governor said this during an interactive session with the church, traditional institution and other stakeholders towards peaceful elections in 2019, organised by the Makurdi Catholic Diocese.

Ortom claimed the intelligence report he received indicated that they plot to kill him along the Makurdi/Laafia highway.

He said the supposed attackers are occupying parts of Guma Local Government Area of the state waiting to strike.

He said: The armed herdsmen, according to the intelligence report, would ensure that all my security aides were killed, after which they would kidnap and torture me before killing me.

Already, I had reported the matter to the Police and other security agencies and they are aware of this.

Therefore, anytime my spirit doesnt allow me to travel by road, I would call flight operators. But, just a few days ago, the Federal Government has issued a circular directing that no flight should land in Makurdi Airport again.

He also claimed some Benue indigenes connived with forces in Abuja to kill him.

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state said that he is being persecuted for dumping the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In an interview with Vanguard, Ortom said that the recent freezing of his bank account by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) was because he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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Home | News | General | Division hits PDP as 11 aspirants reportedly battle for 2019 presidential ticket (see list)

- Recent defections of some APC members to the PDP divides party over its presidential ticket for the 2019 election

- Some members who remained in the party are not happy that defectors are being given attention ahead of them

- Supporters of Ekweremadu, Okechukwu battle over Enugu-west senatorial seat

Stakeholders and governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are reportedly divided over the partys presidential ticket for the 2019 election.

The New Telegraph reports that the lack of consensus candidate for the poll might have been compounded over the recent defection of some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP.

The newspaper stated that stakeholders are divided between handing over the ticket to defectors or members who had stayed in the party since 2015 when PDP became an opposition party.

READ ALSO: Governor Ajimobi, Alaafin and others meet Ayefele behind closed door

This issue has been reportedly complicated by about 11 aspirants who are said to be interested in the PDP presidential ticket, which has been zoned to the north.

The candidates reportedly include:

1. Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar

2. Former Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido

3. Former minister of special duties, Kabiru Turaki

4. Immediate past chairman of PDP national caretaker committee, Ahmed Makarfi

5. Senator Datti Baba Ahmed, proprietor of Baze University

6. Gombe state governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo

7. Former Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau

8. Former Sokoto state governor, Attahiru Bafarawa

9. President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki

10 Sokoto state governor Aminu Tambuwal

11 Former Kano state governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso

A source at the partys national headquarters told the New Telegraph that there is a cold war in the party over the presidential ticket.

There is cold war now in the party since Tambuwal and Saraki came back. You know, they are interested in the presidency," the unnamed source said.

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With that, the front runners would be Atiku and Tambuwal. As a matter of fact, the battle is a straight one between Atiku and Tambuwal. The governors and other party stakeholders are divided.

The interesting thing this time is that the governors are not united unlike before. (Nyesom) Wike is mobilising for Tambuwal, but (Seriake) Dickson and Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, are supporting Atiku. So, it may be difficult to predict who will likely pick the ticket.

He said, however, said that those who had remained in the party like Makarfi, Lamido and others, are not happy that defectors are being given attention ahead of them.

Another source said those who had remained in PDP are clamouring for that the presidential ticket be a compensation for any one of them who remained loyal to the party while others were on political green pasture elsewhere.

Meanwhile, supporters of the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and the director general of Voice of the Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, are in an ensuing political battle over the Enugu west senatorial seat.

Premium Times reports that Ekweremadu, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is currently spending his fourth term in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, having been elected in 2003.

Okechukwu has however, declared his intention to contest election for the Senate in 2019 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent the Enugu west senatorial district - the district currently represented by Ekweremadu.

PDP's Magnificent 7 For 2019 Election | Naij.com TV

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Home | News | General | Just in: US embassy reopens Abuja office, sends important message to visa applicants

- The US embassy expresses regret for the inconvenience the interruption of its services in Abuja caused

- The consular states that visa and American Citizen Services (ACS) applicants with scheduled appointments for August 24 should come to the Embassy in Abuja, as usual

- It says those about the arrival of their US passports could contact the embassy through its website

The US embassy has disclosed that it will be reopening its Abujas consular section on Friday, August 24, for full services for both visas and American Citizen Services (ACS).

The embassy made the disclosure in a message on its website on Monday, August 20, NAIJ.com reports. The embassy expressed regret for the inconvenience the interruption of its services in Abuja caused.

READ ALSO: EFCC files charges against Akwa-Ibom senator for allegedly receiving N254m car gifts

It however noted that its consular functions at the US consulate in Lagos was never affected by the brief closure of its Abuja office.

It said: "The U.S. Embassy in Abujas consular section will reopen on August 24 for full services for both visas and American Citizen Services (ACS). Please note that consular functions at the U.S. Consulate Lagos were never affected and will continue as usual.

We regret the inconvenience this interruption of service in Abuja has caused."

The embassy stated that visa and ACS applicants with scheduled appointments for August 24 should come to the Embassy in Abuja, as usual.

It said visa and ACS applicants with cancelled appointments between August 13 and August 23 will be contacted by the embassy for rescheduling.

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Visa and ACS applicants, who were requested by an officer to appear again for follow-up questions on existing applications should contact our office to arrange a new date," the statement read.

It assured visa applicants, who submitted passports through the interview waiver programme for visa renewal, that such would be processed as soon as possible.

If your application was already approved, it will be mailed out as normal on the next available DHL shipment to your listed address.

"Abuja ACS applicants, who wish to pick-up their already-printed U.S. passports, may come on Friday between 9:30a.m and 11am."

The consular office said those uncertain about the arrival of their US passport could contact the embassy through its website.

The embassy had on August 15 temporarily suspended its consular services in Abuja due to reasons it said were beyond its control.

In another report, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, August 20, signed the Instrument of Accession to the International Cocoa Agreement, 2010 in Abuja.

Malam Garba Shehu, the senior special sssistant to the president on media and publicity, who confirmed this in a statement in Abuja, said the signing of the Agreement followed its approval by the federal executive council.

According to him, with the execution of the instrument of accession, Nigeria undertakes faithfully to abide by all the stipulations therein contained in the Agreement.

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Home | News | General | Breaking: Despite speculations of planned defection to APC, Akwa Ibom governor declares 2nd term bid under PDP (photos)

- Governor Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has declared his second term under the PDP

- The declaration took place at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo

- Recall that there have been speculations earlier that the governor was planning to defect to the APC

The Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel, has declared his intention to seek a second term in office today, Friday, August 24, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

The declaration took place at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo, and was witnessed by a large crowd of supporters from the different parts of the state.

"I submit myself to continue with the good works that I have done and I seek your support for my candidature as Governor for second term under the PDP. #UdomDeclares," Emmanuel announced on Friday, August 2, on Twitter, using his personal Twitter handle @MrUdomEmmanuel.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani finally opens up, speaks about automatic ticket for 2019

Despite speculations of planned defection to APC, Akwa Ibom governor declares second term bid under PDP. Credit: Twitter/Udom Emmanuel

Akwa Ibom governor declares second term bid under the PDP. Credit: Twitter/Udom Emmanuel

Governor Emmanuels declaration on Friday, August 24, on the platform of the PDP, has brought an end to speculations that he was planning to defect to the APC. Credit: Twitter/Udom Emmanuel

The ruling party in Akwa Ibom, the PDP, has been organising several political meetings and rallies in the state since a senator, Godswill Akpabio, defected a few days ago from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defection of Akpabio, a former governor of the state, is seen as a major threat to Emmanuels re-election.

Governor Emmanuels declaration on Friday, August 24, on the platform of the PDP, has brought an end to speculations that he was planning to defect to the APC.

Premium Times reported earlier that top APC leaders in the state, including the state caucus chairman of APC, Don Etiebet, said that the governor had reached out to the national leadership of the party on his planned defection.

Honestly, I can tell you because I have been aware of it. It has been going on for a long time. His interest in joining APC is not new at all. The only thing is that Godswill Akpabio beat him up to it, Etiebet said.

He has realised that APC has become very strong in the state and as such his chances of retaining his position as governor have become very slim, Etiebet said on Saturday, August 18.

However, the governors adviser on politics, Ekong Sampson, reportedly dismissed the speculations as being absolutely untrue.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that the APC in Akwa Ibom state had taken over the building previously occupied by the PDP as their state secretariat on Ikot Ekpene road.

The PDP had relocated from the building to another rented apartment on Edet Akpan Avenue three years ago leaving the building empty except for some churches which occupied only a section of the massive duplex.

At their first meeting in the sprawling complex, APC members on Saturday, July 21, blocked a section of the road and moved a motion that the place should, henceforth, become their state secretariat.

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Home | News | General | Breaking: Mohaglu stages protest over incarceration of Biafra women in Owerri

as DCG ignores Mohaglu

By Chinonso Alozie, Owerri

The Presidential aspirant of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, Mr. Kingsley Mohaglu, Friday staged a one man protest to Owerri prison, demanding for the immediate release of 127 Pro Biafra women remanded in the prison.

Two of the trucks that brought female IPOB loyalists to court.

But in what could be described as a mini drama took place as the Deputy Controller General, DCG, of Nigeria Prisons in charge of Works and logistics Charles Ahaotu, could not give attention to Mohaglu, despite all entreties.

He was said to be busy with official assignments. Even when he noticed Mohaglu was standing in front of the office, Ahaotu, walked in and out of the offices several times.

Explaining his purpose for what turns out to be a one man protest, to Owerri prison, he said: I am here at Owerri prison to take a stand for civil liberties, to take a stand for human rights. And to take a stand for our democracy.

Over 112 women demonstrated last week making certain request young, old, mothers, and they were thrown into prison. I am shocked that this kind of thing is happening in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Nigeria citizens have a right to peaceful protest. Nigeria citizens are not prisoners. They should not be caged. People have a right to express themselves. You may or not agree with them as far as they are peaceful.

The former Deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, went further to say: Why would any society throw over 112 women into prison for some days now. I think this is gross abuse of their fundamental rights and it is time we all as Nigerians rise up and take a stand.

Nigeria is not an animal farm in which some animals are more equal than the other. All the citizens of Nigeria, have the right to free expression. They have the right to freedom of movement, they have the right to freedom of Assembly.

They should not be treated as if they are sub-humane simply because we dont like what they are saying or doing.

Let me ask how many times have you seen security agencies reacting as quickly as forcibly to defend Nigerians from the bandits from Zamfara, from herdsmen killing Nigerians. Also in Benue state.

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Home | News | General | Jonathans administration outperformed Buharis administration  Reno

Reno Omokri aide to the former President Goodluck Jonathan, has said that Jonathans administration outperformed the President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

Reno in a statement titled Sadly, Nigeria has a Pinocchio for a Vice President! said It is a notorious fact that the Jonathan administration outperforms the Buhari administration in every sphere of governance and in every aspect of the human development index.

Osinbajo and Jonathan

He also called the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo liar for saying that President Muhammadu Buharis government has done more in terms of infrastructure development than the previous administration, despite earning little from the oil, which is the main stay of the economy.

Reno reacting to Osinbajo said the recent comments by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that the administration of which he is a part of has achieved much more than the Jonathan government is another in a long line of lies that the Vice President has come to be known for.

It beats my imagination why a man who claims to be an ordained pastor would have a habit of lying and lying so brazenly.

It is a notorious fact that the Jonathan administration outperforms the Buhari administration in every sphere of governance and in every aspect of the human development index.

I understand that the 2019 elections are just five months away and a desperate Buhari administration, like a student who has not read for his forthcoming examinations, is in panic mode, but they should please leave the good name of Dr Goodluck Jonathan out of their sordid mess.

The only way Professor Osinbajo can be correct is if he is referring to the fact that Nigeria, under their administration, has become the world headquarters for extreme poverty after overtaking India as the nation with the highest number of extremely poor people according to the World Poverty Clock and the World Economic Forum.

While former President Jonathan can point to exactly 8956 projects that he initiated, started and completed, I challenge the Buhari government to name just three projects that they have initiated, started and completed in the last three years.

The super fast 187-kilometre Abuja-Kaduna railway, which President Buhari commissioned, was built by President Jonathan. The Abuja metro, which the incumbent President also commissioned, was conceived by President Obasanjo and finished by President Jonathan. So what exactly has the Buhari administration done that has exceeded what Jonathan did?

According to UNICEF, there are 10.5 million out of school children in Nigeria with about 60% in the Northwest geopolitical zone, where President Buhari comes from. Has the Buhari administration built even one secondary school to cater for them?

So by what logic can Vice President Yemi Osinbajo say that their administration has outperformed a Jonathan government that initiated, started and completed 165 almajiri schools as well as 12 new federal universities to cater for this mammoth out of school youth bulge?

How can they say their administration, under which Nigeria suffered her worse retrogression in Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index (from 136 to 148) outperformed a government under which this nation made her best ever improvement in the CPI (from 144 to 136)

According to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, in December of 2017, 7.9 million Nigerians had lost their jobs in the 21 months preceding that time. How can an administration with such an abysmal job record claim to have outperformed a Jonathan administration that, according to the same National Bureau of Statistics, created 6 million jobs through programmes like the YouWIN initiative, Local Content Law, Graduate Internship Scheme, Nagropreneurs and SURE-P?

Under the Jonathan administration, Nigeria was a magnet for investment and was the number one destination for foreign direct investment in Africa as rated by the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). Today, Nigeria is not even included in the top 10 in Africa.

If the current government is saying that by borrowing more money in three years than the Peoples Democratic Party borrowed in 16 years it has outperformed the Jonathan administration, then I am willing to concede that fact.

But to say that an administration that has not built even one single power station has outperformed an administration that built and commissioned the 500 megawatts Omotosho Power Plant Phase 2 with four gas turbines in Ondo State on Saturday, October 19, 2013 and also built and commissioned the 750 megawatts Olorunsogo power plant on Friday the 20th of February, 2015, is to be economical with the truth.

So widely known was the good governance of Nigeria under the Jonathan administration that at the Conservative Party Conference on October 10, 2012, the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said:

Yes, weve been hearing about China and India for years but its hard to believe whats happening in Brazil, in Indonesia, in Nigeria too.

Can anyone in their right minds say the same about Nigeria today? That is a question our Pinocchio Vice President may very well not want answered.

Finally, let me say that the constant refrain by this administration of blaming their abysmal performance on the low price of oil is a case of a bad workman blaming his tools.

Today, crude oil averages at $74 per barrel. In 2017, the average price of crude oil was $51 per barrel. Need I remind Nigerians that the PDP government of President Olusegun Obasanjo paid off Nigerias entire foreign debt in 2006 at a time oil sold at less than one third what it sells today.

Sadly, the last three years has only shown that the Buhari administration promised Nigerians heaven on earth, but has literally turned Nigeria to hell on earth such that a nation that was rated by Gallup Polls as the happiest nation in the world in 2011 under former President Jonathan has dropped to being the 91st happiest nation in the world in 2018 according to the United Nations.

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Home | News | General | Know your age, save lives, says UNICEF, NPoPC

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the National Population Commission (NPopC) have stressed the need for parents to ensure birth registration for their children, saying it is the only means of saving their lives.

They said this in an interview with newsmen at the sideline of a two-day Media Dialogue recently held in Kano.

The meeting was convened by UNICEF with support from the Child Rights Information Bureau, Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

Unicef

Mr Geoffrey Njoku, Communication Specialist, UNICEF, said obtaining the birth certificate would enable a person to get the best medical attention when in need.

Njoku cited an instance of a man who was to undergo a surgical session but because he gave a wrong age, it became very difficult to attend to him.

According to him, the birth certificate had gone a long way in saving the lives of people through proper medical attention.

An in-law of mine who is a surgeon had this patient he was to book for surgery and so the doctor did not have an idea of how old the patient is.

 The patient said he was 55 years but my in-law felt he was older. So, while putting him on the table for the surgery, he compelled the man to tell him his real age so as to know the drug to administer on him.

The patient later said he was 67 years old which means a clear 12 years was cut off from his real age, but the 55 was his official age.

 What we are now saying is that if we have birth registration, the certificate will just immediately tell you that this is the persons age and you know the drug to administer on him.

Njoku added that in the medical profession, the administration of drug on a patient would have to go with age and weight, hence birth certificate was critical to saving the lives of Nigerians.

On the correlation between birth certificate and schooling, Njoku noted that the education sector must be a stakeholder in ensuring the registration of birth for new pupils to be enrolled.

He said this would provide a benchmark for the age limit of students gaining admission into higher institutions, as presently many underage children were gaining admission to the universities.

He, therefore, called on the government to enforce the law of birth registration to allow for planning.

Similarly, Mrs Adaku Obodo, Chief Vital Registration Officer, National Population Commission (NPopC), said birth registration was the only means of identity for Nigerians.

According to her, if a child is not registered, legally he did not exist; which means the registration is the only way of identifying a person.

She said in a country where the number of children was not known, those children did not have a future because they were not planned for.

She also said that a child could also be maltreated, trafficked or enslaved if such a child did not have evidence of birth.

What we intend to achieve is that we dont want any child to be left out, we are interested in the future of the children.

Education is another sector where if we dont catch them when they are born at the hospital, we also catch them when they are being enrolled in school.

 When we collaborate with the school authority, we will be able to identify those children without birth certificate and we can register them and issue them one.

Obodo said the NPoPC was already collaborating with some State Governments such as Abia and Bauchi through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure the success of the enrolment drive in schools.

She said that head teachers were also trained to assist in identifying children without birth certificates and as such get information about them so that they could issue them the documents.

She, therefore, called for sensitisation by the media and other stakeholders in order to get the benefits of birth registration in the country.

Birth registration is key to existence, key to every developmental factor you can think for a child, be it education, access to health care or being treated well.

It is the childs right to a nationality and being recognised, but sensitisation is key to achieving this.

Newsmen report that the 2013 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) revealed that only 30 per cent of Nigerian children have so far been registered in Nigeria.

This means that of the 7 million estimated birth annually, only about 1.4 out of this are registered.

NAN

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Home | News | General | Zumas associates offered me $44m bribe  Key witness tells inquiry

A key witness in an inquiry into corruption in the South African government testified on Friday that he had been offered a 44 million dollar bribe by associates of former President Jacob Zuma, who threatened to kill him if he went public.

Former Deputy Finance Minister, Mcebisi Jonas shocking testimony implicates both Zumas close friends, the Guptas  an Indian business family  and his businessman son Duduzane Zuma.

Jacob Zuma

Jonas says the Guptas offered him the position of finance minister and the 44 million dollar bribe if he agreed to essentially become their lackey and fire several officials.

He alleged that they wanted to get rid of then Finance Minister, Nhlanla Nene, because he refused to approve a nuclear deal the president wanted.

The deputy minister says he was angered and refused the bribe, but Zuma later fired Nene anyway.

At the end of the meeting, Mr Gupta repeated that they had information on me and if I suggested that the meeting had occurred, they would kill me, he told the inquiry.

The meeting had been organised by Duduzane Zuma, a business partner of the Gupta brothers, who were in the room when it took place at the Indian familys Johannesburg mansion.

You must understand that we are in control of everything, Jonas cited one of the Guptas as telling him, referring to the police, the state prosecutor and the national intelligence agency.

The old man will do anything we tell him to do, Jonas quoted one of the Gupta brothers as saying in reference to then-president Zuma.

The inquiry, which started on Monday and may run for months, is seen by many in South Africa as an indictment of the ruling African National Congress (ANC)- the party of Nelson Mandela which has been badly damaged by the scandals.

The inquiry, an effort to gather evidence for future prosecution, is investigating allegations of so-called state capture, illicit influence over government appointments and tenders, corruption and fraud.

The ANC forced Zuma to resign in February in the wake of growing anger at a spate of scandals during his two terms in office.

Zuma and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing.

Zuma is also on trial in a long-running legal saga that dates back to 1999 over alleged kickbacks in a multibillion-dollar arms deal with a French company, Thales, which Zuma oversaw as vice president.

In 2007, Zuma was charged with 16 counts of racketeering, corruption, money laundering and fraud.

The charges  relating to 783 payments in relation to the Thales deal  were dropped before he assumed the presidency in 2009.

After years of legal challenges, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided Zuma  dubbed the teflon president for his ability to weather scandal after scandal  must face trial.

It is likely to drag on in court for years.

South Africas current President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has promised to clean up the ANC, supports the state capture inquiry.

His Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, was in attendance on Friday.

Gordhan praised Jonas for his testimony, telling local media: He is extremely brave  this is what a true patriot does.

NAN

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The powerful cyclone is threatening to make landfall Thursday, with sustained winds reaching up to 230 kilometres per hour, making this storm potentially the largest to hit the U.S. state in 26 years, since Hurricane Iniki.

Governor David Ige has urged residents to prepare for the worst by setting aside a 14-day supply of water, food and medicines.

AccuWeather reports that Lane has the potential to be the single-costliest hurricane in recorded history of Hawaii and may end up causing the most expensive hurricane damage in all of the country for the 2018 hurricane season.

Unlike Florida or Texas, where residents can get in their cars and drive to safety, people in Hawaii are confined to the islands.

Public schools were closed for the rest of the week and local government workers were told to stay home unless they're essential employees. Tropical-storm-force winds persist up to 140 miles from the center.

CoreLogic Analysis of Total Number and RCV of Residential Properties for Hurricane Lane.

All of the islands are under weather alerts.

But a hurricane warning remains in effect for Oahu and Maui County. Hurricanes are rare here for a couple of reasons.

The ISS crew will have more chances to see the storm develop from space.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year.

Lane could become a further rarity if its center crosses land. In the western half of that ocean they are called typhoons instead of hurricanes and tend to be bigger and badder than the storms that plague the Americas.

People have been rushing to stores for supplies and are stocking up on canned foods, ramen, water and toilet paper.

"(I'm) filling up my bathtub with some water, hoping to board up my main windows in time", a shopper on the Big Island, Shana Bartolome, told CNN affiliate KHON on Tuesday. "It's unpredictable, and we just don't know". It was the latest attempt by authorities to encourage people to evacuate from areas prone to flooding.

Many others are leaving. Alaska Airlines canceled 12 flights to and from Kahului scheduled for Friday.

Hawaii's biggest hotels are confident they can keep their guests safe as long as they stay inside, said Mufi Hannemann, CEO of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association.

President Trump this week signed a Disaster Declaration for the state, pledging to provide federal resources for recovery and catastrophe relief. Now, one such giant hurricane is closing in on Hawaii. Iniki caused more than $3 billion in damage and left six dead.

Severe weather is expected over a wide swath of the Midwest today.

Damaging tropical storm-force winds could arrive on the Big Island early Thursday, with unsafe hurricane force expected in some areas later. Lane is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 10 to 20 inches, with localized amounts in excess of 30 inches over the Hawaiian Islands.

Torrential downpours from Hurricane Lane are soaking Hawaii's Big Island as the storm approaches the island. The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves. Maui is expected to see tropical storm conditions Thursday night, with some parts of the island seeing hurricane conditions on Friday. Conditions could trigger a weakening of Lane in the coming days, but it would still be unsafe because it's likely to remain a Category 1 cyclone.
Home | News | General | BUSTED: Notorious Armed Robber Nabbed With Bullet Wound After Gun Battle With Police (Photos)

A notorious armed robber has been nabbed with bullet wounds in a community in Akwa Ibom after gun battle with police.

The robber was nabbed

It has been reported that the Akwa Ibom police command has apprehended a group of armed robbers who attacked innocent residents of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, while briefing the press, revealed that yesterday, being the 23rd day of August, 2018, five notorious armed robbers, led by Kingsley Peter, a.k.a Morale who is the gang leader, using three motorcycles  robbed some persons along Aba road by Ikot Osurua before proceeding to a banking area along the same road to dispossess ATM customers and shops owners.

Policemen, led by the Divisional Police Officer, SP Benjamin Achegbani, trailed and engaged the hoodlums in a fierce shootout, four of the armed robbers were shot dead while one Akwaowo Daniel Umoren (m) of Ikot Inemme in Essien Udim Local Government Area, was arrested with an AK-47 with 60 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.

Other exhibits recovered were;

# 5 locally made Pistols

# 8 live cartridges

# 2 Rounds of 5.56mm ammunition

# 1 AK47 magazine

# 3 Expended cartridges

# 2 Masks

# 6 Assorted Phones

# Three Motorcycles

# Physical cash of 63,000 (Sixty three thousand naira ) only.

According to police preliminary investigation, the armed robbers were said to be responsible for the robbery at Gulfsafrin Filling Station, located at Ukana, Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim LGA, close to the residence of Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, CON.

The Command said its poised to sustain her fight against every form of criminality in Akwa Ibom State and committed to protection of lives and property.

Below are photos of the other robbers and their weapons.



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Home | News | General | Tiwa's ex husband Tee Billz congratulates her as she sells out Indigo O2 arena in London

- Tiwa Savage sells out Indigo 02 arena ahead of her concert set to hold in London

- Her ex husband, Tee Billz, congratulates her on the achievement

NAIJ.com earlier reported how Mavin boss, Don Jazzy, surprised Tiwa Savage with securing a visa and a plan to attend her concert in the UK. While the Doro queen is set to shut down London, her fans are overhyped as all tickets to her concert holing on August 24, is sold out.

Tiwa is proud of herself and so are many of her supporters who understand how much work, sweat and tears she has put into her music career from day one. One of her major supporters however is surprisingly her ex husband, Tee Billz, ho share a post congratulating her for achieving such great feat as a a female artiste.

In a post shared on his Instagram page, he put up a photo of both of them from the good old days and reminisced on the promise he once told about her being one of the top female artist from Nigeria and boy, did they both live to see the day.

READ ALSO: Nigerian child star Favour Iwueze of Destined Kids is getting married

The clock is ticking as Tiwa is set to have London turn up to the max and make history as a Nigerian female artist.

Rock on Tiwa!

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Nigeria Celebrities: How Much Do They Spend On Luxury Life? on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | Them dey rush me, i never rush them, says Speedy Darlington in reaction to Falz meeting with Diddy

- It was reported earlier that Nigerian artiste, Falz, met with American rapper and businessman, Diddy

- Not everyone was pleased with this news

- Nigerian entertainer, Speedy Darlington, does not seem too pleased with the news and he made his feelings known on Instagram

Recall that NAIJ.com earlier reported that Nigerian rapper, actor and social commentator, Falz met with American rapper, Diddy in Los Angeles. However, not everybody is impressed with this meeting.

Comic musician, Speedy Darlington, has reacted to the news that Falz was hanging out with international music star, Diddy.

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Speed Darlington

Speedy does not seem too happy at the news and he made his feelings known.

In a now deleted post on Instagram, Speedy explained that Nigerian entertainers are never original and like to copy, seeing as Falz only seems to have taken an interest in Diddy because of him.

Photo source: @Speed_darlington on Instagram

READ ALSO: Bryan Okwara, Alexx Ekubo and Yomi Casual Pose with their cars

Perhaps because he knew the post would generate a lot of reactions, Speed Darlington deleted it from Instagram not long after.

Recall that sometime ago, the American Hip-Hop star posted a video of Falzs This is Nigeria song on his Instagram page, showing that the song now has international recognition. Perhaps their meeting has something to do with that. Also, it might be that they have something in the works, but time will tell.

Falz Exclusive Interview: Falz talks about lover, plans to do new movie in 2018 | Naij.com TV

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Home | News | General | Actress Juliet Ibrahim gives candid advice to hustlers, shares new stunning photos

- Popular actress Juliet Ibrahim looks amazing in the new photos she shared

- The beautiful entrepreneur was full of advices for business owners and hustlers

Juliet Ibrahim, a celebrated Ghanaian actress, normally does not mince words when talking about her struggles and how she has made it to the top. She particularly is always ready to dole out practicable instructions to as many who want to tow the same path to success.

In a recent post, Juliet Ibrahim, in addressing the class of people called hustlers gave yet another instructive advice. She warns business owners and entrepreneurs like herself not to be ashamed of their hustle. They should position themselves in the proper way in order to generate profit.

According to the actress of Ghanaian, Lebanese and Liberian origin, no one is ready to cater for any other person so in the end, it is every man or woman for herself and himself:

"Dont be ashamed of your hustle, nobody will feed you if you go broke. In the end, everyones for himself. #hustlehard #selfworth #SellYourmarketYourself #shadesbyjulietibrahim"

READ ALSO: Actress Juliet Ibrahim borrows Nicki Minajs words, says she is abstaining from intimate relations

The gorgeous film producer and CEO of an eyelash brand did not leave her fans and followers with words alone, she also shared pretty amazing pictures that have left many stunned.

In her words, the pretty pink and black short gown was the dress she wore to see a star-studded movie titled The Washerman:

"My outfit to the premiere of #thewashermanmovie today in lagos."

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Juliet Ibrahim who has also been following up on her goals of abstaining from intimate relations shared a picture of herself rocking a bra top and a bum shorts. In the photo shoot she shared, she was also sporting a bike!

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Beautiful thing for a King in the making to do, right?

Meet Bayo Adedeji, the Nigerian businessman making millions from selling yam (Success Story) | NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | Just in: APC accuses INEC of leaking party's documents for primary elections and congresses

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of leaking information on its Congresses and Primary elections submitted to the commission.

The party made the allegation in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena, on Friday, August 24, in Abuja.

It said that there was need for INEC to look into its internal handling of official correspondence in order to put a stop to such leaks.

The party said that it was aware of leakage of a letter by its national chairman, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, to INEC informing it of the schedule of the partys congresses and primaries to elect party candidates for the 2019 elections.

READ ALSO: Police kill 4 suspected armed robbers in Akwa Ibom

These leaks of our sensitive and confidential correspondence to INEC are becoming commonplace and totally unacceptable.

We strongly request that INEC looks into its internal handling of official correspondence and put a stop to these leaks, it said.

It added that the leaked formal notification to INEC was sent by the party in line with the provisions of Section 85 of the 2010 (Amended) Electoral Act.

The party, however, advised the public, particularly the media, to wait for an official announcement from the party, saying that the leaked dates were subject to changes if necessary.

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INECs National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Solomon Soyebi and Director, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, did not take several calls made to their mobile telephone lines.

On his part, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, told NAN that he had no comment on the issue as he had not got full brief on the allegation.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that APC said that it has not released the timetable for state, National Assembly, governorship and presidential primaries, as it is being reported in a section of the media.

Yekini Nabena, the partys national publicity secretary, made this known in a statement on Thursday, August 23, in Abuja while reacting to the development.

Nigeria Latest News: Buhari Reacts To APC Senators Betrayal | on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | German chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria

- German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is to discuss economic developments with Senegalese president, Macky Sall

- The German leader is expected in Nigeria on Friday, August 31, hold talks with President Muhammadu Buhari

- US embassy reopens Abuja office on Friday, August 24

German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will on Wednesday, August 29, tour three West African countries, paying visits to Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria.

Merkel is to spend August 29 - August 31, in the three countries, accompanied by an economic delegation, deputy government spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer said on Friday, August 24, in Berlin, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Migration politics, particularly Merkels campaign to tackle the causes resulting in a stream of refugees to Europe, are likely to feature on the discussion agenda.

READ ALSO: PDP stakeholders divided over partys presidential ticket for 2019 election

Merkel is to meet Wednesday afternoon with Senegalese president, Macky Sall to discuss economic developments in the country and regional cooperation.

In the evening she will meet with civil society representatives.

Then its onto the Ghanaian capital of Accra to meet President Nana Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, August 30, to discuss economic affairs and foreign policy.

The chancellor is also to take part in a German business-organised round table that will focus on private investment linked to the G20 compact with Africa initiative.

Finally, Merkel is to head to Nigeria on Friday, August 31,to meet with the president of the ECOWAS economic alliance of West African states, Jean-Claude Brou.

She will hold talks with Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.

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NAN reports that on October 7, 2016, Merkel visited three African countries before hosting leaders from Chad and Nigeria for talks in Berlin, as she seeks ways to stem a migrant influx to Europe.

Merkel first traveled to Mali and Nigeria before heading to Ethiopia where she is to visit the headquarters of the African Union in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Her talks with leaders of all three countries are to focus on migration issues and the battle against terrorism.

Meanwhile, the US embassy has disclosed that it will be reopening its Abujas consular section on Friday, August 24, for full services for both visas and American Citizen Services (ACS).

The embassy made the disclosure in a message on its website on Monday, August 20, NAIJ.com reports.

The embassy expressed regret for the inconvenience the interruption of its services in Abuja caused.

It however noted that its consular functions at the US consulate in Lagos was never affected by the brief closure of its Abuja office.

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Home | News | General | I did not criticise Enugu  Onyeama

Foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama has denied reports that he lambasted the Enugu State Government for non-performance.

The ministers Media Aide, Ms Sarah Sanda, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja that Onyeamas message was not directed at the state government but politicians who were seeking positions in the state.

Onyeama

According to Sanda, the minister in his statement was only addressing those seeking election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to Sanda, the minister told those seeking election: It is not enough in seeking office to build houses and enrich yourselves, you have to create jobs.

Some of the irregular migrants leaving this country are from Enugu State, so you have to do more to create jobs for the youth.

The minister, she said, noted that the presence of women and youth in the state was crucial because of their contribution to the electoral process.

We should not only remember them when it is time for election, we should remember that we have to be responsive to their needs and those of the elderly and pensioners.

 They should have a say on how we govern them and not when we get into office, we just dictate what should be. Governance is a serious business, the minister stated.

NAN

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Home | News | General | Trader remanded for allegedly robbing man of valuables worth N5. 55m at gunpoint

A trader, Emeka Nzube,34, who allegedly stole items worth N5.55million at gun point was on Friday remanded in prison by an Ikeja Magistrates Court.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs T.O. Ojo, said the accused should be kept behind bars, pending an advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, (DPP).

The defendant, a resident of Jakande, Lekki in Lagos, is facing a two-count charge bordering on robbery.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Nomayo Kenrich, told the court that the accused committed the offences with others still at large on June 18, at about 7.35 p. m. in Ojo area of Lagos.

Kenrich said the accused robbed one Joseph Nnamani of his Toyota Corolla car with Reg. No. KJA963EZ, valued at N2.3 million.

The accused also stole his victims gold chain worth 1. 2 million, one Infinix Hot 5 cell phone, valued at N42, 000, N1.5 million cash, an Ipad worth N200,000.

Other items include one bag of rice valued at N13, 500, and two laptops worth N300,000, all amounting to N5. 55 million.

He said the accused, who pretended to be a police man, blocked and robbed the complainant at gunpoint.

The offences contravened Sections 297 (2) and 299 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 297 prescribes 21 years jail term for offenders.

The magistrate adjourned the case until Sept. 4 pending advice from the DPP. (NAN)

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Home | News | General | Onyeama denies attacking Enugu govt.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has distanced himself from a report that he condemned Enugu State Government over non-performance.

Onyeama

He explained in a statement by his media aide, Ms Sarah Sanda, on Friday in Abuja that his message was directed at politicians seeking positions in the state and not the state government.

Specifically, Onyeama stated that his statement was directed at persons seeking elective positions on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Recalling the statement, he said it was not enough in seeking office to build houses and enrich yourselves; you have to create jobs.

Some of the irregular migrants leaving this country are from Enugu State, so, you have to do more to create jobs for the youth.

The Minister noted that the presence of women and youth in the state was crucial because of their contributions to the electoral process.

We should not only remember them when it is time for election; we should remember that we have to be responsive to their needs and those of the elderly and pensioners.

They should have a say on how we govern them and not when we get into office, we just dictate what should be. Governance is a serious business, he said. (NAN)

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Home | News | General | Bayelsa imposes curfew on Twon Brass over killing

The Bayelsa state Government on Friday imposed a curfew on Twon Brass in the Brass Local Government Area of the state, where three persons were killed on Aug. 15.

Governor Dickson

The Deputy Governor of the state, Rear Adm. Gboribiogha Jonah retired, told a news conference in Yenagoa that the curfew would last from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

He condemned the killing, which was blamed on political thugs at Ada-Ama Square in Twon Brass, saying that the curfew would be lifted only when peace returned to the community.

The State Government has gathered that the violence was sponsored by some individuals for political purposes.

We have direct law enforcement agencies to carry out thorough investigation into the activities of the hoodlums and ensure the prosecution of all persons that may be found culpable, Jonah said.

The spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, DSP. Asinim Butswat, had earlier said that the incident involved suspected thugs, who claimed to be members of the APC and PDP in Brass.

We have commenced investigation to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the crisis. We advise people to go about their normal activities, said Butswat. (NAN)

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US State Department spokesperson, Heather Nauert, who issued the statement and reiterated that Pompeo had raised Islamabad's importance of taking decisive action against terrorist organisations operating in Pakistan.

Dr. Mohammad Faisal, a spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded on Twitter, asserting that "there was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan". "Secretary Pompeo expressed his willingness to work with the new government towards a productive bilateral relationship", she said in the statement.

At a press conference following that exchange, Nauert said, "I can only say we stand by our readout".

Khan was sworn in as the prime minister of Pakistan on Saturday.

The prime minister visited Foreign Office today where got his first briefing on challenges and opportunities available to the country as the new government fully takes charge.

"I would also like to say that what conversation took place between Pompeo and PM Khan, you will be surprised to know that it was a very good conversation".

Terming the Punjab cabinet minister "an ambassador of peace", Khan on Tuesday said, Sidhu was given incredible love and affection by people of Pakistan during his visit. He said the statement of US State Department is contrary to the facts and must be rectified immediately.

The Pakistani media this week reported that Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to hold talks with newly-elected Prime Minister Khan.

Before the election he repeatedly blamed Pakistan's participation in the US-led anti-terror campaign for the surge in terrorism on home soil over the last decade.

Pompeo is expected to meet with Khan on September 5, which Reuters reports is expected to be the new leader's first reception with a foreign dignitary.

The US Congress also passed a bill to slash Pakistan's defence aid to $150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than $1 billion per year.

Khan has been critical of the U.S. drone strikes against terrorists in Pakistan as well as along the country's border with Afghanistan.
Home | News | General | Presidency lied over bombing in Borno village, Osuntokun insists

A chieftain of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement , Akin Osuntokun , has debunked claims by the Presidency that he lied over the bombing in a Borno village during the Sallah period .He insisted that it was a lie for the Presidency to say there was no attack .

He said , according to a Reuters report , 63 people were reportedly killed and villages burnt in a terrorist attack in Maimalari village in Borno State a day prior to Sallah.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity , Mr . Femi Adesina , had , in a statement on Thursday , carpeted Osuntokun , saying ,  telling lies of that kind betrayed a mind taken over by ill wishes against his own country. 



But in a statement on Friday, Osuntokun said even if there was a mix -up in his figures and location of the attack , the reaction by the Presidency was an illustration of how the incumbent administration had trivialised and made mockery of governance .

He said ,  I  m not the Red Cross that has the institutional capacity to keep every detail of these crimes against humanity . Does it matter that 68 were killed in Maimalari , rather than 88 in Maiduguri , and we are talking of the same day ?

 This is yet another demonstration of the penchant of this government for leaving the substance to chase shadows.

 Okay , 68 people were killed in a Borno village , rather than 88 in Maiduguri . At the frequency of the prevailing dispensation of daily bloodletting , who wouldn  t get the specifics and details mixed up ?

Osuntokun , a former adviser to ex -President Olusegun Obasanjo , added that the reaction by Adesina was consistent with the  fraudulent trademark assertion by the Minister of Information and Culture , Lai Mohammed , two years ago , that Boko Haram had been technically defeated .

The statement partly reads,  The irony of the statement from the Presidency calling me a liar started with an egregious lie against me .

 I had called Channels Television to confirm the veracity of this scandalous attribution . Of course , it was an outright fiction conjured by the presidential spokesman to embellish his narrative of a fundamental slander of the Buhari government.

 There was nowhere in the television discussion I spoke of a bomb blast . Wedded to this lie , Mr . Adesina went on to crow that  Sallah Day had passed quietly and peacefully without even a firecracker going off , let alone bomb blast . 

 Yet , according to Reuters report , 63 people were reportedly killed and villages burnt in terrorist attack in Maimalari village in Borno State the previous day .

 And who knows how many situations of carnage that went unreported that day . This is the idea of a peaceful Sallah Day the President of Nigeria is boasting about .

 You will imagine that a government with so much disastrous scorecard on security will be more modest in advertising itself on security governance and competence .

 You will think that it is not the same government whom a former Army chief of staff accused of complicity in the genocidal Fulani militia crisis .

 A couple of weeks ago , Professor Wole Soyinka went to the extent of seeking international intervention in the face of the abject failure of Buhari to stem the tide of the genocidal bloodletting that has enveloped the country .

 Billions of dollars down the drain on supposed containment of the security crisis , you will recall that this government had gone ahead to recently request another one billion dollars to address the same security situation it claimed to have brought under control.

 Domiciled in Nigeria is the escalating Fulani militia terror that the United Nations has rated the deadliest terrorist group in the whole world . 

Osuntokun , who once served as the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria , said the mix up did not make him an enemy of the State, and that in terms of public accountability , the Presidency should be more worried .

The statement added ,  Does this mix up make me the enemy of the people , rather than Femi Adesina who threatened Nigerians to concede their land to terrorists at the pain of being murdered?

 Does it make me more a liar than President Buhari who repeatedly claimed that the price of crude oil per barrel had been over 100 dollars since 1999 ?

 In public accountability , who should the country worry more about between me and those who hold the reins of government who are pointing attention at the speck in my eyes while ignoring the beam lodged permanently in their eyesight ?

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Home | News | General | Agbani Darego Wows In Cleavage-Baring Outfit In New Photo

University of Port Harcourt graduate, Agbani Darego who recently got married still retains her flawless beauty as seen in her latest photos.

Nigerian model, and first africa to win the Miss world beauty contest, Agbani Darego showed some hotness in her recent photo.

The 35 year old woman gave a sneak-peak of her cleavage in an alluring outfit.

Agbani Darego, MFR, is a beauty queen, best known as the first native African to win Miss World.

See more photos:





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Home | News | General | PDP loses hundreds of members to APC in Lagos

- Several members of PDP have reportedly decamped to APC in Lagos

- The defectors were welcomed in an elaborate ceremony at the state secretariat

The fold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos further swelled on Friday as many members, said to be about 5,000, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the party.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new entrants joined the APC at an elaborate ceremony at the ACME Road secretariat of the party.

The new defectors, who are members of the United Niger Delta group were led into their new party by Gabriel Ese, the groups leader.

They were received by the state chairman of the party, Tunde Balogun, along with some other party officials.

READ ALSO: 2019: You leaked our congresses, primaries notices - APC accuses INEC

Balogun said the party was excited to receive the new members, particularly as they were many.

He said the decision of the former PDP members to join the party reflected the growing confidence in the party.

Balogun commended the new entrants for their decision to join what he called the progressives fold, assuring them that the party would do its best to give them a sense of belonging.

We are happy that you have made the decision to join the Progressive train today and we assure you that we will do our best to make you feel at home.

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Even as you are just joining us, we have accepted you as part and parcel of the APC and we will not treat you differently.

I assure you, you will not regret joining the APC; we shall work together like brothers and sisters to ensure that APC becomes greater than what it is today in the state, he said.

Balogun implored the defectors to show commitment and give their best in order to ensure victory in 2019.

The party chairman urged the new members to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) as it was the only means by which they could secure victory for the party.

Balogun said the party had commenced the registration of new members nationwide and urged the new members to register to be fully integrated.

Ese said he and other members of the group were delighted to leave the PDP to join the progressive party.

He said the decision of the group to leave the PDP was because of the strides of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in Lagos.

Ese said they were also motivated by the charismatic leadership of the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, and the achievements of the APC at the national level.

We would have joined the APC a long time ago, we love the party, we love Tinubu but because Dr Goodluck Jonathan was the then President and we thought we could not work against our Niger Delta brother.

But after so much pressure both within the Niger Delta and outside the region to join the APC, seeing the wonders of Ambode in Lagos and the charisma of Tinubu, we finally decided to be here.

We are pledging our full allegiance to the party because we have realised this is the party to be.

We are so happy to be here and we will do our best to take the party to the next level, he said.

Ese said there were about 500,000 registered members of the group in the state and that they would be mobilized to obtain their PVCs, in order to vote for APC in the 2019 general elections.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that a new round of defections have hit the All Progressives Congress (APC) as about 300 members of the party joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi state.

The defectors were led by a former House of Assembly member, Bede Nwali, on Thursday, August 23, at the PDP state secretariat in Abakaliki.

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Home | News | General | Why I killed the king - Suspected killer of Ekiti monarch confesses

- A man arrested for killing the monarch of Odo Oro, a community in Ekiti state has confessed to the police

- The suspect said he did not kill the monarch intentionally and accused the king of throwing the first punch

- The suspect claimed he visited the king to reclaim the throne when the unfortunate incident happened

The suspect who allegedly stabbed the traditional ruler of Odo Oro Ekiti, Oba Gbadebo Ogunsakin to death, on Friday confessed to the crime, saying he carried out the act to reclaim the throne.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 40-year-old Omonoyi Ademola, who was said to be mentally unstable before the crime, said he never knew the Oba would die.

Omoniyi, who looked unkempt and unremorseful, shocked journalists with his eloquence and spoken English when he was paraded by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Bello Muhammed, along with 26 other suspects.

He claimed that the late Oba first attacked him when he visited the palace to pass important information to him.

READ ALSO: 2019: You leaked our congresses, primaries notices - APC accuses INEC

He said that he was told by the spirits and his family that it was the turn of his clan to reign over the community, and based on this information he headed for the palace on the fateful day.

I never went to the palace with the intention of killing the monarch, according to him.

Omoniyi explained that it was when the Oba heard of the message he brought, that he attacked him, claiming he did not know the monarch would die as a result of his retaliation.

The late monarch, Oba Gbadebo. Photo source: The Nation

Earlier, the commissioner of police had told journalists that he did not believe Omoniyi was an insane person going by his conduct and actions so far.

According to him, it is illogical to think that a man said to be a mad person would kill a whole Oba with a knife and choose to escape into the bush and later travelled down to Ado Ekiti where he was later arrested.

Muhammed also hinted on the arrest of a number of persons suspected to have links with the recent murder of late Bunmi Ojo, former Personal Assistant to former governor Segun Oni and one-time Commissioner in the Federal Character Commission.

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He explained that the alleged killers were not paraded on Friday in order not to jeopardise the efforts to arrest those still at large.

The police boss said that 27 suspects had so far been picked in connection with various crimes in the state, such as murder, cultism and armed robbery.

He listed the suspects to include 16 cultists, seven murder suspects and four armed robbery suspects.

However, he appealed to residents to continue to partner with the command in its bid to rid the state of crimes.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Odo-Oro-Ekiti, a town in Ikole local government area of Ekiti, was on Monday, August 20, thrown into mourning as its traditional ruler, Oba Gbadebo Ogunsakin, was stabbed to death 32 years after he ascended the throne. T

Some residents, who spoke, said the traditional ruler was stabbed with a knife by a man suspected to be insane after a meeting of the traditional council.

A resident, Henry Olu, said the assailant was from the same royal family as the slain traditional ruler.

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Home | News | General | Osun 2018: Aregbesola's aide joins PDP, vows to lead party to victory

- A former chieftain of APC and Governor Aregbesola's aide, Peter Babalola has officially dumped party for PDP

- He was the chairman of Osun state local government service commission before his resignation on Thursday, August 23

- Babalola, however, vowed to lead PDP to victory during September 22 governorship election in the state

Elder Peter Babalola, a former aide to the Osun state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has officially dumped All Progressives Congress (APC) for his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

NAIJ.com regional reporter in Osogbo, Sola Adetona, reports that Babalola who resigned from Aregbesola's cabinet on Thursday, August 23, was received at the PDP's party secretariat, Osogbo, by the national vice chairman, Yomi Akinwonmi, the state party chairman, Soji Adagunodo and other big wig of the party on Friday, August 24.

READ ALSO: 2019: You leaked our congresses, primaries notices - APC accuses INEC

It was gathered that the national vice chairman of the party, Akinwonmi, while addressing the crowd at the secretariat said: "I want to use this platform to warn INEC and Nigeria police not to steal our votes like they did in Ekiti state election."

Supporters who witnessed defection of Elder Peter Babalola into PDP in Osogbo, the capital of Osun state

He was received to the PDP by the state party chairman, Soji Adagunodo, who said he is happy that Babalola is coming back to the PDP, the house he joined other stakeholders of the party to build more than a decade ago.

He is joining us today with his teeming supporters, numbering over 8,000 across all the 30 local government areas of the state. He has come back to his house. He is teaming with us to take over power from the APC, Aregbesola and his cohorts.

Speaking on his defection, Babalola said he dumped the party because of its failure to abide by principles of justice and equity.

I am happy for seeing all of you again. We have to remember some of our leaders, who have passed on, including late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, Chief S. M. Afolabi. I would not be a passenger of a vehicle destined to crash. APC is destined to crash.

The founding fathers of Osun underscored equity, fairness and justice, regarding all the constituents in the state. Our father, Chief Bisi Akande from Osun central senatorial district was the governor of Osun, after which Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola governed the state.

"The current governor who is almost completing eight years in office is from Osun east senatorial district.

How can you now say Osun central should be the next governor. It is the turn of Osun west to produce the next governor.

"I have held talks with Dr Deji Adeleke, by the grace of God, the workers in the state would receive all the arrears of salaries owed them before the end of December 2018 when the PDP government takes over. All the pensioners would also receive their allowances, being owed them by the government, he said.

Babalola was the chairman of Osun state local government service commission before his resignation on Thursday, August 23.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that there were indications that the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun state may further be depleted ahead the Saturday, September 22, governorship election in the state.

NAIJ.com reported that this was due to the resignation of the chairman of Osun state local government service commission, Elder Peter Babalola, from the state government.

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It was reported that a letter addressed to the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, revealed that Babalola said his resignation was hinged on his desire to channel his energy to other endeavours.

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Home | Politics | We pledge 16m votes for President Buhari in 2019 - Labour Party

- Labour Party says it will support the reelection bid of President Buhari and will mobilise vote for him

The national chairman of the party, Mike Omotosho, says his party will also work with the APC to liberate Kwara from misrule by a clique led by one man

- Muhammadu Buhari says the APC has the full understanding of Nigerias challenges

The Labour Party (LP) has pledged to deliver 16 million votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential elections

The national chairman of the party, Mike Omotosho gave the assurance on Thursday, August 23, in Ilorin at a public lecture and inauguration of wards and local governments canvassers for re-election bid of Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The event organised by the Buhari/Osinbajo 2019 project was attended by Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture and the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara.

READ ALSO: I am leaving APC for good - Osun lawmaker joins PDP days to election

Omotosho, in a goodwill message at the event, said the labour party will support the reelection bid of Buhari and will mobilise votes for him.

He said his party will also work with the APC to liberate Kwara from misrule by a clique led by one man.

Omotosho charged the people of Kwara, to take the opportunity of the political development in the country to free themselves from slavery and oppression.

Speaking in the same vein, the chairman of APC caretaker committee in Kwara, Bashir Bolarinwa, said President Buhari should be given a chance to continue with his agenda of liberating the country from poverty and treasury looting.

He said Nigerians should not allow a repeat of 1985 history when Buhari regime of discipline and prudence was ousted to pave way for corruption and retrogression.

Otunba Gani Zubair, the coordinator of Buhari/Osinbajo 2019 project, said the group was formed because of the dysfunction within APC orchestrated by the defection in the National Assembly.

He said the objective of the movement, among others, is to counter all forces against the president and mobilise the people for his re-election.

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Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has said the combined efforts of defectors and their backers in the opposition will not distract his administration from the good work it is doing for the benefit and development of Nigeria.

Buhari, who spoke in Daura on Thursday, August 23, stressed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has the full understanding of Nigerias challenges and is encouraged by the support of Nigerians in addressing them, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report.

The president spoke at a lunch with some APC governors accompanied by some members of the national and state assemblies and commissioners.

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Home | Politics | I am leaving APC for good - Osun lawmaker joins PDP, gives reasons

Just about 31 days to the governorship election is in Osun, a member of the state House of Assembly representing Ila constituency, Clement Akanni, has dumped the All Progressives Congress and joined the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

NAIJ.coms Sola Adetona reports that Akanni said he decided to join the PDP because of the failure of the APCs government in the state to fulfill its promises to his constituency.

Adetona said the lawmaker spoke at the palace of the Orangun of Ila Orangun, adding that he was forced out of the ruling party by those who lacked an understanding of his political ideology.

READ ALSO: PDP will produce next president - Saraki

Our college of education used to have 33,000 students, it now has less than 2,000. APC promised to upgrade our institution to university. Rather than do that, the current government through its policies is gradually killing the institution.

When the government wanted to downsize the workforce in the state-owned higher institutions, 73 names were selected from the Eollege of Education, Ila, while 38 names were pencilled down for retrenchment from Ilesha College of Education.

I vehemently resisted this. I told my colleagues in the House of Assembly that Ilesha college has more staffers than lla, yet has lesser number of staffers that would be retrenched.

Whenever I tried to positively influence government policies to favour my constituents, some people in APC would say no, he said.

During the seven years I spent at the House of Assembly under APC, I was the best in terms of projects executed, yet most maligned by the party.

I have been enduring, but it has got to a point where I think the change I was expecting from them could no longer come.

I realised it was time to pitch my tent with a different party that has a philosophy similar to mine - a philosophy of talking less and doing more, he added.

The Ejemu of Ila, Chief Paul Ogunrinade, who addressed those in attendance, begged the governorship candidate of the PDP, Ademola Adeleke, to upgrade college of education to a university when he is eventually elected the governor of the state.

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He also demanded that all roads that link Ila to Ekiti and Kwara states should be rehabilitated.

Speaking at the event, Adeleke said he had fulfilled all promises he made before being elected a senator during July 8, by-election to fill the vacant seat of Osun West senatorial district.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, while reacting to the recent defection of lawmakers from All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the defection is illegal.

Falana, who made this statement during a Channels TV programme on Friday, August 3, said the lawmakers defection is contrary to both the provisions of the 1999 constitution as well as previous court judgements regarding the issue.

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Home | Politics | Buharis administration is approved by God - Okorocha declares

- Governor Rochas Okorocha commends President Buhari for his great efforts in keeping the nation together through visionary leadership

- He says the president has remained focused and unshaken by situations and circumstances

- Muhammadu Buhari says the APC has the full understanding of Nigerias challenges

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state has said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is approved by God.

Okorocha, who chairs the progressive governors forum, made the statement on Thursday, August 23, at a lunch Buhari had with some APC governors, members of the National and state assemblies and commissioners in Daura.

READ ALSO: President Buhari reportedly makes final decision on sacked DSS boss Daura

Okorocha commended the president for his great efforts in keeping the nation together through visionary leadership, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

He said that Buhari had remained focused and unshaken by situations and circumstances, adding that it shows that the presidents administration is approved by God.

We are here to encourage you to keep doing what you are doing you as Nigerians are very very pleased with you, Okorocha said.

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We also want to inform you that we had wonderful and peaceful Sallah celebration across the country because of security of lives and property you have guaranteed in our nation.

Governor Okorocha was accompanied by the governors of Katsina, Kebbi, Kano and Niger states.

In a related report, President Muhammadu Buhari has said the combined efforts of defectors and their backers in the opposition will not distract his administration from the good work it is doing for the benefit and development of Nigeria.

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President Buhari, who spoke in Daura on Thursday, August 23, stressed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has the full understanding of Nigerias challenges and is encouraged by the support of Nigerians in addressing them.

On the defections within the major political parties, the president reiterated his earlier message to them by wishing them good luck.

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Home | Politics | Buhari has done more for poor Nigerians than past leaders  Festus Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, the Director of Media for the Buhari Campaign Organisation, on Thursday insisted that no president in the history of Nigeria had touched the lives of the poor and vulnerable since 1999 like President Muhammadu Buhari.

Keyamo stated this at the inauguration of Buhari/Osinbajo Project 2019 in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The senior lawyer said since Buhari came on board, projects that had direct bearing on the lives of the poor were going on all across the country.

Keyamo also said no government in the country had recovered stolen money that belonged to Nigerians like the Buhari government.

He accused the past governments of establishing the worst system of government, based on sharing formula of the nations treasury.

He said, They operated a system that ignored physical infrastructure in the country, plight of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable in Nigeria.

If you compare what accrued to the country in 16 years and what were done with the money earned in three years and infrastructure built by Buhari, you will see the difference.

In 16 years, all they did in the South East was Onisha-Owerri road, whereas in three years, President Buhari is doing four major road constructions in the region.

You have a president who has fought for you, why cant you fight for him.

This is the time he needs you more to fight for him. It is reciprocal and that is why we must remind ourselves today why we must stand firmly behind him in 2019.

I can tell that there is no government in the history of this country since 1960 that has addressed the plights the poor, the vulnerable in the last three years than this government.

He listed the administrations intervention programmes for the poor and vulnerable which included the N5, 000 monthly stipends, feeding of over eight million school pupils and soft loans of between N250, 000 and N350, 000 to small business owners.

These social intervention programmes show that Buharis government is touching the lives of the poor than the rich, he said.

According to him, before Buhari came on board, over 24 state governments were unable to pay salaries of their workers.

He said the administration, with prudent management of resources, approved bailout funds to the states to clear the arrears and address their critical challenges.

We should not go back to that era of nonpayment of salary and suffering of the masses, Keyamo added.

He also called on the people of Kwara that the time had come to free themselves from slavery, oppression and subjugation.

You must fight for your liberation before you can be liberated, we must come together to salvage the state form the oppressor.

No man is god, no to hegemony in Kwara, you must stand firm, this is the time Kwara people are living Egypt for the Promised Land, he said.

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We've all heard those urban legends about genital-dissolving STDs.

If a person comes in contact with the donovanosis disease, it's possible their genitals could "rot away".

In the last 12 months, an unnamed woman in Southport, England had been diagnosed with donovanosis, which causes flesh-eating ulcers on an individual's genital tissue.

According to the Lancashire Post, an unidentified woman between the ages of 15 and 25 was diagnosed with the disease, donovanosis, within the past year.

It's typically seen in India, New Guinea, parts of the Caribbean, central Asia and southern Africa. So, it is unclear how the disease wound up being identified in a place such as England.

Donovanosis is an STD caused by a bacterium called Klebsiella granulomatis, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

According to Yahoo News, it is the first case of the disease to be reported in the United Kingdom and it causes ulcers to form on the genitals. That's nothing to do with 1980s Aussie crooner and Neighbours superstar Jason, but rather a sexually transmitted infection that in its later stages can cause genital ulcers that eventually rupture and eat the surrounding flesh. While the condition is rare, doctors are advised to consider the disease in patients that are returning from "areas where the disease may be endemic".

And without treatment, the ulcers increase in size and other bacteria can also attack the ulcers which then generate a foul smell. Most of the infected patients are among people who reportedly traveled to regions where the disease is common.

The infection "causes lesions and skin disintegration as the [patient's] flesh effectively consumes itself", Shamir Patel, a pharmacist for the British online pharmacy Chemist-4-U.com, told Liverpool Echo.
Home | Politics | 2019: Victor Attah reveals what Akpabios defection will do to APC in Akwa Ibom

A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, said that the defection of his successor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has damaged the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Attah stated this at a press briefing in Lagos on Thursday.

Recall that the former Senate Minority Leader, Akpabio, defected from the People Democratic Party, PDP, to the APC recently.

Akpabio was welcomed to the ruling party at a rally organised for him by the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the APC.

This was after he resigned as the Senate Minority Leader.

Attah said the defection of Akpabio has reversed the prospect of the All Progressives Congress winning the next governorship election in the state.

The former Governor further warned that warned that Nigeria must be restructured or die. 

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Home | Politics | Ex-Bayelsa governor, Sylva finally breaks silence on dumping APC for PDP

Timipre Sylva, former governor of Bayelsa State, has stated that those defecting from one party to the other need psychiatric evaluation.

Sylva said this on Thursday while reacting to rumours that he had dumped from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a statement issued by Julius Bokoru, his spokesman, the ex-governor said the PDP-led administration in the state was the real reason he defected some years back.

He said he remains firmly in the APC and urged those behind the rumour to wake up.

The statement reads in part: While ordinarily such rumours are laughable at best and preposterous at worst, Governor Sylva wishes to state (for the sake of his supporters) that he remains firmly a member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, a party he pioneered in Bayelsa state and a party he believes is steering the country out of the shackles of mediocrity and under-development, the statement read.

Sylva is at loss what purpose this baseless rumour is meant to serve. But you cannot put anything past the demented PDP government in Bayelsa state.

Chief Timipre Sylva finds a correlation between impulsive defections and mental instability, and so, considers those flirting from party to party as people needing psychiatric evaluation.

While this fabricated rumour may be evidence that some members of the PDP dream of having someone of his fine qualities within their ranks, Chief Timipre Sylva hopes that stating his unwavering commitment to the APC will cause those hallucinating about his imaginary defection to wake up.

Sylva was elected as governor under the PDP but later defected to APC where he lost another governorship bid in 2016.

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Home | World | Africa | Air Zimbabwe to reintroduce China flights

AIR Zimbabwe (AirZim) plans to reintroduce flights to China as it battles to rebuild its operations following years of poor performance.

Runesu Kwaramba, the parastatal's marketing and planning manager, said the Harare-Beijing flights, which were halted about seven years ago, were part of a string of new routes that the airline has been considering, including the cash spinning Harare-London routes.

"Since Zimbabwe is open for business we are going to open more routes including China and London," he said in Nyanga last week.

"We don't have the timelines as to when we are going to start the routes but very soon," he said.

The national airline stopped flights into international destinations due to various reasons, including lack of efficient equipment to compete on the routes that are dominated by the world's leading airlines. In 2011, the carrier struggled to provide its regional and overseas services amid aircraft impoundments over unpaid debts.

Air Zimbabwe has debts of more than $300 million and can no longer fly to most destinations due to threats by creditors to impound its aircraft.

Low passenger levels also meant that AirZim made losses on its international destinations.

The airline has not taken steps to acquire modern planes to fly on its international destinations, but Kwaramba told a Heroes Golf Tournament organised by CEO Africa Roundtable that it was ready to reintroduce these flights.

The carrier used to operate a network within southern Africa and into Asia and London.

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ZIMBABWE's stock-broking is backward compared to regional players, with the sector lacking product diversification, recently-established broker Morgan & Co Zimbabwe (Morgan) has said.

Davide Muchengi, a director with the new Briton-led player, told The Financial Gazette that local brokers must engage the markets regulator  Securities Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZIM)  on broadening their product offering, particularly introducing derivatives.

"I think we are still lagging behind even if you look at the market capitalisation. Ours is still a bit low compared to South Africa (SA), Kenya and even Nigeria," he said.

"Even in terms of product diversification we do not even have derivatives in Zimbabwe. However, if you go to SA, there is what is called scrip lending, where you can sell but don't have the shares," Muchengi said.

Zimbabwe has only 15 stock-broking firms.

He said the poor product offering was the major reason why a meagre 7 000 Zimbabweans are active on the stock market  less than half a percent of the country's 14 million-plus population.

"Clients need to feel it is worth their while, and that is not the case at the moment. Along with that, consumer education is at an all-time low," Muchengi said.

Morgan  owned by British investors and two indigenous partners  was recently licensed by SECZIM.

Muchengi noted that while the regulator was working to improve the sector, the 15 licensed brokers ought to play their part.

"If you see, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, FINSEC and SECZIM, are actually working on improving that. At one point, we used to trade manually; writing dockets on the trading floor, but we are now trading online and even have C-Trade. There is also the bond market coming online soon, so clearly, the regulators are on the ball," he said.

"The issue of derivatives and some of these products is that it is up to the players to come up with the products. They need to approach SECZIM and propose so the regulator can approve. I am sure you will be seeing these on the market soon," he added.

Muchengi said their boutique broking firm believed its presence in Zimbabwe will help attract the much sought after foreign direct investment.

"We already have clients who believe in Zimbabwe and are ready to invest heavily."

He said Morgan's international shareholder base, expertise, experience and access to capital underpins its plans to build an unrivalled local research capability.

"This is a key element in our planned expansion of Zimbabwe's capital markets, particularly with market making, bond and fixed interest instrument trading and capital trading in August."

The consortium is led by Nigel Little, who has headed multi-nationals such as Morgan Stanley and HSB, among other investment companies.

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Chief Justice Malaba: If the applicant had placed before the court the V11 forms it would have disposed of any questions of vote rigging, it would have addressed issues of similar results at some polling stations.

That evidence was not adduced


NINR Lecture Examines Roots of Hypertension in African Americans

For many college students, the drudgery of a campus job doesnt lead to much more than funds to cover a few textbooks each semester. For Dr. Jacquelyn Taylor, however, that first campus job was the inspiration for a career in basic science research that would eventually lead to her receiving the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers: The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Taylor is just the fourth nurse to receive this honor.

As Taylor recalls, Dr. Joseph Dunbar, chair of Wayne State University medical schools department of physiology, took a chance and offered her a position as a laboratory technician when she inquired about a campus job. Taylor remained in the lab throughout her undergraduate studies and Dunbar became the first of many mentors helping guide her career studying genetic markers associated with an increased risk for high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) among African-American women.

After graduating with a B.S.N., Taylor later completed M.S.N. and Ph.D. programs, a postdoctoral program in aging and urban health and additional training in genetics and genetic epidemiology. Through it all, she gathered a diverse group of mentors across the fields of physiology, nursing, gerontology, genetics, medicine and social science.

Embodying the spirit of the NINR Directors lecture series, which according to NINR director Dr. Patricia Grady provides an opportunity for us to see how the science has grown over time[and] an opportunity to get a window into the future, where the science is going, Taylor described the trajectory of her program of research.

Initially, she studied the genetics of hypertension among multiple generations of African-American women in Detroit. Since the women in this study tended to be overweight or obese, she sought to replicate the study among the Dogon tribe in Mali, West Africa, a hunter-gatherer society whose members tend to be underweight, but who still have issues with hypertension. Many African Americans have Dogon roots.

Finally, she replicated the study in a large epidemiological sample, the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network, which includes African-American mothers and daughters with hypertension.

In each of these studies, she discovered single nucleotide polymorphismsvariations in single DNA base pairsin genes associated with hypertension risk, findings that could help guide clinical practice when considering early interventions and prevention plans.

Taylor, the inaugural Vernice D. Ferguson endowed professor in health equity at the Rory Meyers College of Nursing at New York University, is continuing her research via the NINR-funded Intergenerational Impact of Genetic and Psychological Factors on Blood Pressure study.

Her lecture is available on NINRs YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/NINRnews.
Steve Smith has produced a rare double play to end his powerful innings for the Barbados Tridents.

The former Australian captain was dominating as he helped his side recover as best they could from a struggling start.

Sitting on 63 off 43 balls, hed lifted Barbados from 2-37 on his arrival to 4-155, though with just three balls left in the innings there was little room to improve much more.

Smith wanted maximum  but his big hit to long-on only reached Rovman Powell.

Except, in frustration to his poor shot, Smith let his right hand drop over his shoulder and into the stumps.

Steve Smith was ropeable with himself after the blue. Pic: Fox Sports

The Australian, who could be heard exclaiming as the ball flew high into the air, did himself no favours if Powell had let the ball slip through his fingers.

Hes out both ways, Tom Moody said in commentary.

He mishit it, but before the ball arrived to the fielder Steve Smith was so deep in his crease he accidentally knocked the bails off.

Barbados would end the innings on a paltry 6-156, with Smith actually doing his best to make up for his minor mistake.

The part-time spinner removed openers Glenn Phillips and Johnson Charles in the 10th over of Jamaicas chase  and the wickets turned out to be key as the Tridents won by two runs and Smith won man of the match honours.

Jamaica needed nine runs from the final over but could only get six off Raymon Reifers death bowling.
The former inspector general of police Gen Edward Kale Kayihura has been charged with failing to protect war materials, failing to supervise police officers and abetting kidnap.



The charges were read to him before the General Court Martial in Kampala, this morning, the first time Kayihura has appeared in public since his arrest on June 13.



According to the statement of offence, it is alleged that between 2010 and 2018, on various occasions, Kayihura, issued guns to unauthorized persons specifically members of Boda-Boda 2010, a group of vigilantes headed by Abdallah Kitatta. The group was on several occasions accused of disrupting opposition rallies in several parts of the country.



Its patron, Kitatta has since been arrested and charged with unlawful possession of military arms and failure to protect war materials. In particular, Kitatta is being tried for being in possession of a gold-coated pistol and an AK-47 riffle belonging to the Uganda Police Force.

Gen Kale Kayihura in the dock

On the second count, court heard that during his tenure as the inspector general of police, Kayihura failed to supervise and ensure accountability for the arms and ammunitions issued to specialized units under the Office of the IGP. The units include Flying Squad, Crime Intelligence and Special Operations Unit and the Witness Protection Unit.Court also heard that by commission and omission, Kayihura aided and abetted the actions of subordinate police officers to kidnap and illegally repatriate Rwandan exiles, refugees and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda. The same charge was also been placed against a number of other senior police officers who were arraigned before the General Court Martial in 2017.Those arrested and charged earlier for the same offence, include the former commandant of Police Professional Standards Unit, senior commissioner of police Joel Aguma; senior superintendent of police Nixon Agasirwe, who is a former commander of Police Special Operations and assistant superintendent of police James Magada (Crime Intelligence).The three senior officers were charged together with Flying Squad operatives Abel Tumukunde and Faisal Katende as well as civilians; Amon Kwarisima, Rene Rutagungira, a Rwandan national, and Bahati Mugenga Irunga, a Congolese national.It is alleged that on September 25, 2013, the accused persons kidnapped Lt. Joel Mutabazi, a former bodyguard of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in Kamengo on Kampala - Masaka road and forcefully conveyed him to Rwanda.Mutabazi was later arraigned in the Military court, accused of terrorism, setting up an armed group, spreading rumours with the intention of inciting the public to rise up against the state, murder, crimes against the state, illegal possession of a firearm and deserting the military. He has since been sentenced to life in prison and stripped of his military ranks by the Military High court in Rwanda.Kayihura is now being charged with aiding and abetting the kidnap and repatriation of Joel Mutabazi as well as two other people identified as Jackson Kalema alias Ndiga and Sgt Innocent Karisa.Kayihura was represented by a team of seven lawyers from Kampala Associated Advocates who included former solicitor general Peter Kabatsi, Dr Elly Karuhanga, Dr Karu Karumiya, Joseph Matsiko, Elison Karuhanga, Jet Tumwebaze and Capt Charles Sekenta.Kayihura denied all the three charges. He has been remanded until September 4 pending hearing of a bail application submitted by his lawyers today.
The oil market continues to stagger forward without direction, and the EIA data is offering little clarity.

Just last week, the EIA reported a sharp build up in crude oil inventories, raising concerns about over supply. But inventories have seesawed back and forth for much of this summer, muddying the waters for analysts. Just this week, the agency reported a huge drawdown in stocks, restoring some bullish sentiment, and helping to push oil prices up more than $2 per barrel on Wednesday.

One of the signs of a bullish market, in our view, is that prices prove resilient to highly bearish data, and can surge on moderate improvements, Standard Chartered wrote in a note. The oil market currently fits that description; prices recovered from last weeks extremely bearish data, and have risen on more encouraging signs this week. The investment bank publishes a bull-bear index each week, factoring in the reams of data that come out of the EIA. Last weeks index hit -100, or the weakest result in years.

This week, the index jumped to -28.5, not bullish by any means, but a sharp improvement from last week.

The crude inventory decline of 5.8 million barrels is the first thing that jumps out from the EIA report. The drawdown was sharper than analysts had predicted, and came a week after a huge 6.8-million-barrel increase.

Last weeks jump in inventories corresponded with a flood of imports. Similarly, the sharp inventory decline in the most recent data is largely the result of a steep drop in imports at a time when refineries continued to run at elevated levels.

That meant that lots of crude oil was taken out of inventory and processed into refined products. Its no surprise then that gasoline stocks rose, and the build was counter-seasonal, which pushed gasoline stocks above the five-year average. But analysts arent concerned that this is a bearish signal. We expect the refinery maintenance season to begin soon, correcting product oversupply, Standard Chartered wrote in a note. Related: Oil Rallies, But This Country Cant Sell Its Crude

Oil production rose again, pushing U.S. output back up to 11 million barrels per day (mb/d). However, the EIAs new practice of rounding off production figures to the nearest 100,000 bpd makes it tricky to discern production trends. The latest data suggests that there was an uptick in output from Alaska, not necessarily from U.S. shale in the Lower-48.

In fact, problems in the Permian are likely to act as a drag on growth for the near future. Pipeline bottlenecks are compounded by a strain on services, equipment and labor, forcing some shale drillers to pivot away from West Texas to other shale basins. In fact, data from S&P Global Platts finds that the Permian is no longer the most profitable shale basin in the country. Permian returns have fallen below that of the Bakken and even the Eagle Ford and the STACK. The drilling frenzy continues but the profits might not be what companies expected.

Meanwhile, a lot of shale companies have locked themselves into hedges anyway. Much of this years hedged production was secured last year when oil prices were lower. So even if the Permian discounts had not

Current hedged prices of $60/bbl for 2019 are slightly below oil strip prices of ~$63/bbl for 2019. While this may provide some level of restraint (in addition to greater focus on capital discipline) to ramping activityE&Ps on average raised their 2018 capital budgets by 7% on average with 2Q results, Goldman Sachs wrote in a note. Related: Chinese Oil Futures Remain High-Risk Endeavour

Higher spending levels may not translate into more production this year. In fact, investors are groaning on news that shale companies are boosting spending without much to show for it. But it may just be a case of delayed gratification. Pipeline bottlenecks in the Permian are leading to deferred completions. A massive backlog of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) continues to grow, particularly in West Texas. There is no sense in bringing that output online only to sell it at a steep discount. As such, drillers are delaying completion, even as they continue to ramp up operations.

Some companies, such as Pioneer Natural Resources, continue to add rigs to the Permian, and have announced spending increases. But the production that stems from the increase in activity may not show up in the data until next year.

This dynamic has global implications. U.S. shale continues to grow, but it is likely to suffer from a lull in growth for the next year or so. The supply story, then, is arguably a bullish one, at least for the next 12 months or so: U.S. shale is slowing down at a time when Irans supply could be disrupted, Venezuelas production continues to fall, and output in places like Nigeria and Libya is unstable. The demand side of the equation is a whole different story, to be sure, and a major reason why oil prices have declined this summer.

But in the near term, U.S. shale might end up being a bullish factor if it undershoots expectations.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

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An expert commission tasked by Norways government with evaluating a suggestion that the countrys US$1-trillion sovereign wealth fund divests from all its oil and gas investments has advised against such a divestment.

Bloomberg quotes the report of the three-member commission as saying If energy stocks are excluded from the fund, the composition of the investments will differ from market weights, and the fund will be expected to either achieve lower return or higher risk.

The commissioners also noted that divesting from oil and gas will do little to mitigate the sovereign funds exposure to oil price volatility, but at the same time, it would change what has until now been a successful investment philosophy.

Norways Government Pension Fund Global, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, recommended the removal of oil and gas stocksUS$35 billion worth of sharesfrom the funds equity benchmark index last November. It said this move would make Norways wealth and economy less vulnerable to a permanent drop in oil and gas prices.

Currently, oil and gas equities make up some 6 percent of the funds benchmark index, or US$35 billion (300 billion Norwegian crowns). The fund has almost 380 investments in oil and gas equities, including stakes in the top global firms. The fund holds 2.33 percent in Shell, and that stakes market value alone is US$5.36 billion. The interest in ExxonMobil is 0.82 percent worth US$3.066 billion, in Chevron its 0.92 percent worth US$2.04 billion, in BP its 1.65 percent worth US$2.028 billion, and in Total its stake is 1.62 percent worth US$2.02 billion.

Now the government of Europes biggest local oil and gas supplier will review the conclusions of the commission and pass the issue on to parliament. Lawmakers quoted by Bloomberg seem to differ in their opinions on the merits of the commissions report, while the fund itself has for now refrained from commenting on the commissions conclusions.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Its too early to declare winners and losers over increasing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. In fact, trade disputes are never a zero-sum game with clearly defined winners and losers, but do have significant economic and even geopolitical collateral damage.

However, Beijings retaliatory threat to impose a 25 percent duty on U.S.-sourced LNG could benefit Australian LNG projects. Peter Botten, managing director at Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed Oil Search Ltd. agrees. He told Bloomberg news on Tuesday that the China-U.S. trade war could be a blessing for his company.

He said that his company [referring to the possible trade tariffs] would take the positives when they come. He added, however, that a trade war is not good for the world economy as a whole, but for an LNG outlet, especially into a key Chinese market, I think we are in good shape and certainly it gives us some advantage over US supplies.

Oil Search is a partner in the ExxonMobil led $19bn PNG LNG project. The project came online in mid-2014 and started shipping LNG to markets in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for 72 percent of all global LNG demand. By 2017, the project was producing some 8.3 million tonnes of LNG, an increase of 20 percent from the original design specification of 6.9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

On Monday, Woodside Petroleums CEO Peter Coleman said that if China follows through with tariffs on U.S.-LNG, it will drive buyers to look somewhere else because of a period of uncertainty. Related: U.S. Sanctions Wreak Havoc On Russias Oil Industry

He said that Chinese buyers will go out into other markets, though it the past the country was focusing on U.S.-LNG, adding that there are some generally positive things for a company like Woodside given its proximity to Asian markets. He said in the long term the tariffs could have some implications on oil prices.

But, certainly in the short-term it maybe some positives for us.

Woodside is Australias biggest oil and gas explorer. Last week, the Perth-based company announced that its first-half net profit rose 6 percent. It raised its 2018 production outlook after strong performances from its Wheatstone and Pluto LNG projects. For the 2018 fiscal year, Woodside said it now expects production between to 87 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) to 91 MMboe from an earlier outlook of 85 MMboe to 90 MMboe.

Too early to call

Chinese tariffs on U.S.-LNG would not only have a negative impact on the American LNG industry, causing a shift in global LNG markets, but could harm China as well. China, to date, has procured American LNG cargoes on the spot market. China is the second largest global buyer of LNG, bypassing South Korea last year. Japan remains the global leader in LNG imports. Related: China Slaps 25% Tariff On U.S. Oil Products

However, it remains to be seen if Beijing will actually push through with its LNG tariff threat. A couple of reasons that would cause Beijing to balk on this specific threat is its insatiable gas demand. Beijing has mandated that gas make up at least 10 percent of the countrys energy mix by 2020, with further earmarks by 2030. Last year, Beijing stepped up its plans by prematurely taking more coal fired power plants offline and stepping up industrial gas usage, resulting in an embarrassing shortage of the fuel in much of northern China during the countrys coldest winter months. As a result, key industries were temporarily shut down to re-divert gas supply to residential users.

Even if Beijing does press though with its LNG tariff threats, the immediate impact on U.S.-LNG exports will be limited. The biggest hit, which is already unfolding, will be on the spot market. Long term, new American LNG projects seeking funding for their massive CAPEX projects will be impacted if they are unable to either secure Chinese funding or sign up Chinese firms for long-term off-take agreements.

Given China's still growing need for gas supply, the topic could be a key part of renewed trade talks between the Washington and Beijing this week - though nobody is holding their breath over any major breakthroughs.

The talks between mid-level officials from both countries arent expected to draw in senior decision-makers and are predicted only to result in a joint statement of productive discussions, a person familiar with the agenda said. The discussions will touch on the major friction points, ranging from intellectual property protections to re-balancing trade, the source added.

By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com

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Canadian crude-by-rail exports jumped to a record in June 2018, exceeding 200,000 bpd for the first time and nearly doubling compared to June last year, Canadas National Energy Board (NEB) said in its latest crude oil exports data, in a sign that Canadian producers are increasingly using the railroad option to move their crude to market as pipeline capacity out of Canada is full.

Canadian crude-by-rail exports jumped to 204,558 bpd in June this year, the latest available NEB data showed. Thats up from the previous recordset in the previous month Mayof 198,788 bpd exports of crude-by-rail. In June last year, Canada had exported 109,506 bpd of crude oil via railcars.

Canadas heavy oil from the oil sands continues to grow, thanks to projects approved and commissioned before the oil price crash, and its economic recovery is driven by the oil industry. But drillers are finding it increasingly difficult to get this oil to the market because pipelines are running at capacity, while pipelines planned are facing opposition from various groups.

Due to the transportation bottlenecks, the discount at which Western Canadian Select (WCS)the benchmark price of oil from Canadas oil sands delivered at Hardisty, Albertatrades relative to WTI has been more than US$20, and at times US$30 a barrel this year.

Earlier this month, Canada Natural Resources, the largest producer, said that it was allocating capital to lighter oil drilling and curtailing heavy oil production as the price of Canadian heavy oil tumbled to a nearly five-year-low relative to the U.S. benchmark price.

A couple of weeks before that, Canadian National Railway (CN) chief executive officer Jean-Jacques Ruest said that the company expects to move more crude oil by rail in the second half of this year as it will have more capacity on its trains.

In the second half we will have more capacity, therefore we will also be able to execute a bigger book of business of crude, Ruest told analysts at the end of July.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Canadas Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the City of Burnabythe planned end point of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in British Columbia on the Pacific coast, clearing another legal hurdle for the project, which still faces several lawsuits at various Canadian courts.

The City of Burnaby was seeking to overturn a decision by Canadas National Energy Board (NEB), which ruled in favor of Kinder Morgan in December last year, saying the company is not required to comply with two sections of the City of Burnabys bylaws as it was preparing to begin construction of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. The NEB found that Burnabys bylaw review process was unreasonable and caused an unreasonable delay.

The Trans Mountain expansion has become one of the most controversial pipeline projects in North America as it pitted two provincesAlberta and British Columbiaagainst each other.

Albertas heavy oil producers need more pipeline capacity as their production grows, but pipeline capacity has stayed the same. British Columbias NDP government, which came into office last year, however, is against any new oil pipelines, although it doesnt mind all the crude it currently gets from the existing pipeline.

The fierce opposition in British Columbia has forced Kinder Morgan to reconsider its commitment to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline, and to sell the project to the Canadian government.

Were disappointed that the courts seem unwilling to review decisions made by the National Energy Board that hamper municipal jurisdiction, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said, commenting on todays court ruling.

Burnaby is not going away. We intend to continue to oppose this project with all legal means available to us, and will be continuing with our other legal challenges, Corrigan added.

Rachel Notley, the Premier of Alberta, tweeted that We are pleased with the Supreme Courts Decision today to dismiss Burnabys leave to appeal.

When the City of Burnaby tried to block the Trans Mountain Pipeline in court, we intervened  and we won in court and we won again today. In fact, the courts have ruled 17 out of 17 times in favour of Trans Mountain, Notley tweeted.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Panama is carrying out studies for potential oil exploration, hoping that recently discovered oil fields in neighboring Colombia close to Panamas border could extend into Panama.

Panama is 100-percent dependent on crude oil and refined oil products imports, although it is home to one of the most crucial shipping lanes in the world, the Panama Canal.

Now energy officials in Panama hope that the oil fields found in Colombia may extend as far as Panama. In addition, a geological survey, the first in 30 years, found signs that there could be oil and gas in Panamas section of the Caribbean Sea in an area connected with three natural gas wells in Colombia, energy officials said early this year.

ION Geophysical Corporation, for example, has been expanding its data library on Panama, saying last year that recent exploration success offshore Colombia immediately next to Panamas Caribbean coast spiked the interest of companies in understanding Panamas geology and potential for oil and gas resources.

Last year in August, the National Energy Secretary of Panama, Victor Urrutia, said in ION Geophysical Corporations press release:

Hydrocarbon exploration in Panama has identified various sedimentary basins, proving the existence of geological structures that may contain oil and gas, although there hasnt been a commercially exploitable discovery. Today, through the use of new and more sophisticated techniques, it is possible to identify prospective areas that previously were not considered economically viable, such as deep water deposits and/or those that are geologically more difficult to locate.

The initiation of this seismic survey will provide high-value information to help assess Panama's oil and natural gas prospectivity, Urrutia said.

Until Panama assesses its oil and gas resources and the potential for their recovery, it will continue to rely on imports.

Last week, the United States and Panama signed a cooperation agreement on energy and infrastructure investment, aiming to further diversify Panamas sources of energy, broaden Panamas role as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub for Central America and the Caribbean, and integrate natural gas as a source of downstream energy.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The international trading arm of Chinas refining major Sinopec, Unipec, will resume U.S. crude oil purchases from October, three sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. However, it remains unclear exactly how much oil Unipec will buy, how much of it the company will use at its refineries, and how much it will sell on to third parties.

The company had suspended crude oil imports from the United States amid the trade spat between Washington and Beijing in anticipation of crude oil making it onto the tariff list. When this did not happen, Unipec started buying U.S. crude again despite the trade dispute escalation that saw China slap 25-percent tariffs on U.S. oil products and coal.

Sinopec was among the most active lobbyists against tariffs on U.S. crude oil back in June when the topic was discussed by the government. It is also one of the biggest Chinese importers of U.S. crude. Total U.S. shipments to China in the period January-May this year hit 350,000 bpd, according to EIA data, more than United States producers exported to Canada.

There has been much speculation about whether China will at some point slap tariffs on U.S. oil if bilateral relations continue to deteriorate. U.S. oil shipments to China account for just 3 percent of the countrys total imports of the commodity. China, on the other hand, accounted for a fifth of U.S. crude exports in May, according to EIA export data. In other words, U.S. producers depend more on China for their exports than China depends on them for its imports, at least on the face of it.

However, as oil demand remains stable across the world, it would be easier for U.S. producers to find alternative buyers than it would be for Chinese refiners to find alternative suppliers should Beijing decide to add crude oil to its tariff list of U.S. products.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Sudan and China are close to signing new deals on oil and gas exploration that Chinese companies would carry out in the African country, Sudans ambassador to China Ahmed Shawir said in an interview with the Sudan News Agency (SUNA).

Sudans oil and gas ministry and Chinese corporations are currently discussing the potential deals that are soon expected to lead to the signing of important agreements, according to the ambassadors words carried by Sudan Tribune.

The first project of Chinese companies overseas was in Sudan, and China has long been a strategic partner in the oil and gas sector of Sudan, especially with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which operates several projects in the western and southern parts of Sudan.

Sudan is estimated to be currently producing around 120,000 bpd, after South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking most of the oil production of the former larger country.

South Sudan broke from Sudan in 2011 and took with it around 350,000 bpd in oil production. After South Sudans secession from Sudan, the two countries have been mutually dependent on oil revenues, because the south has 75 percent of the oil reserves, while the north has the only current transport route for the oil to international markets.

But then civil war in South Sudan broke out in 2013 that further complicated oil production. And the oil price crash the following year additionally affected oil income for the ravaged economies of both countries.

Last month, Sudan and South Sudan deployed a joint military force along their border to protect oil fields and pipelines from criminal activity.

Earlier this year, the two countries agreed to jointly repair oil infrastructure that was damaged during the bloody civil war that resulted in the split in 2011.

At the end of June, the warring factions in South Sudan signed the so-called Khartoum Declaration of Agreement, in which the parties to the South Sudan conflict declared a permanent ceasefire and the ministers of Sudan and South Sudan explored ways to rehabilitate the oil sector in South Sudan.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Talks between Total and the Unite union in a dispute over pay and shifts that has already seen five strikes over the past month, broke down on Thursday night, the workers union said on Friday, noting that strikes scheduled for September and October would go ahead.

Since July, workers at three oil and gas platforms operated by Total in the North SeaAlwyn, Elgin, and Dunbarhave held five strikes in a dispute that arose after Total wanted to place workers at the platforms on a three-week rotation system instead of a two-week one.

The fields hit by the strikes account for some 10 percent of the UKs gas production. Crude oil production at Alwyn, Elgin, and Dunbar pumps up to 50,000 bpd to the Forties and Brent Blend crude streamsthe key components of the Dated Brent benchmark. The strikes have not yet seriously disrupted Forties loadings, although some loadings delays have been seen.

At a meeting last week, Unite representatives made a series of counter proposals to Total for consideration. The company will now consider these proposals and both parties will re-convene next Thursday (23 August) for further discussions, the union said.

However, Thursdays talks broke down, Total also confirmed today, via a spokesman, who said that company has now decided to move to individual consultation in order to implement the new rota pattern.



Related: Is Renewable Energy As Clean As We Think?

The new rota involves working seven extra days offshore each year, the BBC quoted Totals spokesman as saying.

Despite offers of a 15% pay increase, strikes have gone ahead and our offer to bring in Acas for mediation has been rejected, he added.

For Total, moving to a 3/3 rota will safeguard jobs and investment in the North Sea, the company spokesman noted.

Unite will be consulting our members in the coming days regarding next steps and will issue a statement in due course, the Scotland chapter of the Unite union said on Twitter today.

The union has scheduled prospective industrial action of 12-hour stoppages in the next two months, on September 3 and 17, and on October 1, 15, and 29.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Norfolk Senior Center strives to help members of the community stay in their homes as age makes it increasingly difficult to do so. With a daily mix of social and wellness checks and its Meals on Wheels program that provides nutritional meals to those who need the assistance accessing fo
A popular English-language proficiency test angered Taiwanese students after its official website modified the way it listed Taiwan to fall in line with Beijings claims over the self-ruled island.

Thousands of students lodged protests with the US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) this week over the change to its drop-down menu of testing locations for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam  widely used for university admission  to describe the self-ruled island as Taiwan, China.

An open letter to the non-profit service that claimed to have the backing of more than 5,000 students demanded ETS change the listing back to Taiwan only, threatening to switch to TOEFLs Britain-based rival International English Language Testing System (IELTS), according to the Taiwan News.

The sudden change of Taiwan to Taiwan, China seems to us antithetical to the values that ETS as a non-profit should protect and also steers away from what forms the cornerstones of both US and Taiwans democracy, the letter said.

ETS did not respond to requests for comment on Friday about when and why the change was made, or about discrepancies across the website in how Taiwan was classified.

A spokesman told Taiwans Central News Agency late on Thursday that the non-profit attached great importance to students from all regions and looked forward to serving candidates from all over the world.

White House condemns China for Orwellian nonsense over how US airlines should refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau

The move comes after foreign airlines, hoteliers and clothing brands made similar adjustments to how they refer to Taiwan, caving to demands from Beijing and patriotic mainland Chinese citizens on social media.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a renegade province that must one day be reunited with the mainland, and has condemned any actions that could be seen as de facto recognition of the Taipei government.

Taiwan isolation pays off for Panama as China opens free trade talks

Story continues

In recent months, Beijing has escalated pressure on Taipei with military drills around the island, while pushing Taiwans remaining diplomatic allies to sever official ties.

It has also offered economic sweeteners to lure Taiwanese talent and companies to the mainland.

The political tensions have spilled over into the business world, with companies fearing a backlash from nationalistic mainland consumers, who greatly outnumber those in Taiwan.

Marriott in more trouble after liking Twitter post by Tibetan independence group

More than 600,000 mainlanders opted to study abroad last year, compared with more than 60,000 from Taiwan, according to government figures in Beijing and Taipei respectively.

Although ETS did not publicise the number of mainland Chinese students taking its test, it has more than 200 TOEFL testing sites on the mainland.

Gap apologises for selling T-shirt with incorrect map of China

TOEFL is recognised by more than 10,000 colleges, universities and agencies in countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, according to its website.

ETS has got into hot water over its classification of Taiwan before, referring to the island in 2006 as a province of China before switching to Taiwan after intervention from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, according to the Taipei Times.



This article Students revolt over Taiwan, China switch for English language test first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Increasing the value of agriculture waste and turning it into new products will be the outcome of a new $10.9 million research consortium led by the University of Adelaide.

The research consortium  Agricultural Product Development  has been granted $4 million over four years by the State Government through its Research Consortia Program. The University of Adelaide is contributing $2.3 million (cash and in-kind) with the remaining support coming from a range of partners.

The consortium will bring together a total of 18 partners to develop high-value products from agricultural waste: nine South Australian-based companies from the agriculture and food sector, and another nine national and international academic institutions and industry partners.

"Agriculture is already a key contributor to South Australia's economy but its huge potential to generate high-value products and create new post-farm gate industries has not yet been realised," says Professor Vincent Bulone, research consortium lead investigator and director of Adelaide Glycomics at the University's Waite campus.

"Our agricultural and horticultural industries generate abundant waste biomass, which is currently disposed of at a cost to the producer, or only a low return. But there are compounds we can derive from this waste  a range of different 'biomolecules'  that have high-value potential applications for their structural or health properties."

Some biomolecules that can be derived from South Australian crop waste show anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-cancer or gut-health properties; while others provide mechanical strength or texturising properties in food, structural materials, lubricants and cosmetics.

Examples include anthocyanins from apples and cherries, and chitosan from mushrooms for use in skin care products; sulforaphane from Brassica vegetables with potential benefits for diabetic patients; and cellulose used for composite materials.

South Australian Minister for Industry and Skills the Hon. David Pisoni says: "South Australia's agricultural sector is a significant contributor to the growth of South Australia's economy.

"The outcomes from this major research consortia that includes local, national and international research institutions along with industry partners, will contribute to the creation of new post-farmgate industries through the development and commercialisation of value-added products from agricultural waste."

A strong focus of the consortium will be attracting students and researchers and providing training across multiple disciplines and industrial specialisations.

The consortium will build on the work of Adelaide Glycomics, a carbohydrate analytical facility at the Waite campus, and make use of other, complementary analytical activities provided by the Adelaide Proteomics Centre at the University's North Terrace campus.

"This consortium draws together a unique combination of research expertise, facilities, industry know-how and resources. It promises increased profitability and sustainability for our local agricultural and horticultural industries, and significant health and economic benefit for our whole state," says University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mike Brooks.

"The consortium has already drawn the support of four international industry partners, which shows the incredible commercial potential to be developed."

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Spiros Michalakis. Credit: Caltech

Spiros Michalakis, manager of outreach and staff researcher at Caltech's Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM), and Matthew Hastings, a researcher at Microsoft, have solved one of the world's most challenging open problems in the field of mathematical physics. The problem, related to the "quantum Hall effect," was first proposed in 1999 as one of 13 significant unsolved problems to be included on a list maintained by Michael Aizenman, a professor of physics and mathematics at Princeton University and the former president of the International Association of Mathematical Physics.

Like the "millennium" math challenges put forth by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000, the idea behind these problems was to record some of the most perplexing unsolved puzzles in mathematical physicsa field that uses rigorous mathematical reasoning to address physics questions. So far, the problem undertaken by Michalakis is the only one fully solved, while another has been partially solved. Progress made on the partially-solved problem has resulted in two Fields Medals, the highest honor in mathematics.

"I hope that the solution to this problem will invigorate interest in the field of mathematical physics," says Michalakis. "In mathematical physics, we look for a minimal set of assumptions under which we can show how important phenomena in physics arise. And, as is often the case with proofs of significant problems in math, the solution leads to new ideas and techniques that open the doors to resolving several other important questions."

Bizarre Electron Behavior

The original Hall effect was discovered in a groundbreaking experiment by Edwin Hall in 1879 that showed, for the first time, that electric currents in a metal can be deflected in the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the surface. Later, in 1980, German experimental physicist Klaus von Klitzing performed Hall's original conductance experiment at a significantly lower temperature and with a stronger magnetic field, only to discover that the electric current was deflected in a quantized fashion. In other words, as the strength of the magnetic field increased, the rise in the electrical conductance of the metal was not gradual or linear, as classical physics predicted, but progressed upward in a step-by-step manner. For this discovery, von Klitzing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1985.

"This is a beautiful problem," says Hastings. "It began with experiments by Hall in the 19th century and by von Klitzing roughly 100 years after Hall. The remarkable thing about the quantum Hall effect is the precise quantization even when there are natural impurities in the material." Hastings says the impurities can affect the path by which current flows through materials. "These impurities are randomly distributed in the material so you might think they would have a random effect on the conductance, but they don't."

Two years after von Klitzing's discovery, experimentalists Horst Stormer and Daniel Tsui showed something even more baffling: under extreme conditions (even lower temperatures and stronger magnetic fields), the Hall conductance was quantized in fractional multiples of what had been previously observed. It's as if somehow electrons themselves were being split up into smaller particles, each carrying a fraction of the electron's charge. Stormer and Tsui, along with theoretical physicist Robert Laughlin, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1998 for their work on this problem.

Both the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects indicate that the electrons in these systems are somehow acting together in an unified, global manner, despite their normal tendencies to behave like individual ping pong balls that bounce off each other. Even with all the progress in the field, the question of how the electrons do this lingered.

A Mathematical Approach

Michalakis started working on the problem back in 2008 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he was a postdoctoral scholar in mathematics. He built his research on pioneering work by Hastings, his advisor at the time, who had developed new mathematical tools for scrutinizing the quantum Hall effect, based on decades of research by others. Michalakis says that reading through all the previous literature proved almost as challenging as solving the problem itself.

"There was a mountain of research that already existed," he says. "And most of it required advanced knowledge of physics. Coming from a math background, I had to break the problem down into small pieces, each of which I could solve. Basically, I decided to dig under that mountain of knowledge to get to the other side."

A key to the ultimate solution is topology, which is a way of mathematically describing objects by their shapes.

"Topology is the study of properties of shapes that don't change when the shape is bent or stretched," says Hastings. "For example, a donut can be stretched into the shape of a coffee cup, but it cannot be turned into a sphere without tearing. Something like this is behind the Hall effect: the conductance isn't changed even though there are impurities in the material."

The idea that topology was behind the quantum Hall effect was invoked before Michalakis and Hastings became involved, but those researchers had been forced to make one of two assumptionseither that the global view of the mathematical space describing the system was equal to the local view, or that the electrons in the system did not interact with each other. The first mathematical assumption was suspected to be incorrect, while the second physical assumption was not realistic.

"In a topological state of matter, electrons lose their identity. You get a more spread out, stable, entangled system that acts like a single object," says Michalakis. "Researchers before us realized that this would explain the global properties in the quantum Hall conductance. But they made an assumption that the zoomed-in view was the same as the zoomed-out view."

Figuring out how to remove both these assumptions is ultimately what stumped the mathematical physics community, spurring them to designate the quantum Hall effect a significant open problem at the turn of the century.

Michalakis and Hastings succeeded in removing the assumptions by connecting the global picture to the local picture in a novel way. To illustrate their approach, imagine zooming away from Earth. Seeing a sphere without mountains and valleys, you might think you could travel around the planet with no obstacles. But when you come back to Earth, you realize that's not possibleyou do have to traverse mountains and valleys. What Michalakis and Hastings' solution does, in a mathematical sense, is to identify an open, flat path that does not encounter any dips or peaks, in essence matching the illusion of what you had perceived globally from above.

"I used Matt's tools and related ideas from other research to show that such a path always exists and that one could easily find it, if one knew how to look for it," says Michalakis. "The Hall conductance, it turns out, is equal to the number of times that path winds around the topological features of the mathematical shape describing the quantum Hall system. That explains why the Hall conductance is an integer, and why it is so robust against impurities in the physical material. Impurities are like small detours you decide to take from the 'golden' path, as you travel around the world. They won't affect how many times you decide to go around the globe."

Digesting the Proof

Michalakis and Hastings's actual proof is of course more complex; the initial proof amounted to 40 pages of mathematical reasoning, but after a painstaking editing process, was whittled down to 30 pages. They submitted their solution in 2009 but it took time for the experts to digest the result, and the proof was not officially published in Communications in Mathematical Physics until 2015.

Two and a half years after it was published, the community of mathematical physicists officially acknowledged the solution, marking the problem on the website list as "solved."

"It took a long time, six years in fact, for the paper to get published, and even longer to be understood and gain the influence and impact that it deserved," said Joseph Avron, professor of physics at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, writing in the April 2018 newsletter of the International Association of Mathematical Physics.

Says Michalakis, "The set of assumptions needed to prove the result turned out to be smaller than experts had expected, implying that macroscopic quantum effects, like the quantum Hall effect, should arise in several different settings. This opens new doors and ways of thinking about quantum computing and other quantum sciences."

The Communications in Mathematical Physics paper describing the solution is titled "Quantization of Hall Conductance for Interacting Electrons on a Torus."

Explore further The marriage of topology and magnetism in a Weyl system

More information: Matthew B. Hastings et al. Quantization of Hall Conductance for Interacting Electrons on a Torus, Communications in Mathematical Physics (2014). Matthew B. Hastings et al. Quantization of Hall Conductance for Interacting Electrons on a Torus,(2014). DOI: 10.1007/s00220-014-2167-x
Two eddies make their way across the Atlantic. Credit: Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Eddies formed off South Africa can trap and transport water across the vast expanse of the Atlantic to Brazil, and, in doing so, make an important contribution to the global climate.

Agulhas, the Cape of Needles, is a rocky headland in South Africa. Its location as the most southern point of the African continent means it protrudes out into the region where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, and where the Agulhas Current  a swift, powerful flow down the east coast of South Africa  turns back on itself. Here, in this basin, a leakage occurs, as vast amounts of warmer, saltier water from the Indian Ocean seeps steadily into the Atlantic. This transport, known as the Agulhas Leakage, is an important contributor to the South Atlantic Gyre.

Eddies are swirling, circular bodies of water, and the Agulhas eddies that spin off from the leakage keep a tight hold on the waters within them. Over a few years, they slowly make their way across the Atlantic toward the coast of Brazil. By combining surface observations via satellite and the data collected by Argo floats beneath the sea surface, PML scientists have followed the lives of three eddies and have been able to shed even more light on the epic journeys of ocean waters around the world.

Two eddies make their way across the Atlantic. Credit: Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Using satellite imagery, the researchers tracked two eddies that formed in the Cape basin west of South Africa. These whirls of water, 200 km in diameter, reached the Mid-Atlantic Ridge almost two years later, where they merged and formed a third eddy. This final form continued on its long journey, eventually dissipating another year later when it arrived at the continental shelf off the coast of Brazil. By also analysing Argo float profiles, it was discovered that these steady eddies extended to depths of over 1500m and that their dynamics were affected by ridges encountered along their route.

This transport of water to distant seas is an important part of a bigger picture. The eddies and their contents contribute to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), a vast system of currents in which heat and salt are redistributed throughout the ocean, and an integral component in the global Earth system and climate.

Lead author, Francesco Nencioli, of Plymouth Marine Laboratory's Remote Sensing Group, said: "Thanks to remote sensing observations, Agulhas eddies were already known to be the largest and long-lived eddies in the world. By combining satellite observations with in-situ Argo profiles, we were able to quantify for the first time the efficiency with which these features carry waters across the whole South Atlantic basin".

Two Agulhas eddies formed in the Cape Basin in early 2013. They reached the Mid Atlantic Ridge (about 15W) by the end of 2014. Here they merged to form a third eddy which dissipated at the end of 2015 in front of the Brazilian coast.

Explore further Eddies drive section of thermohaline circulation

More information: Nencioli, F, Dall'Olmo, G & Quartly, G. (2018) Agulhas ring transport efficiency from combined satellite altimetry and Argo profiles. Journal of Geophysical Research. DOI: 10.1029/2018JC013909 Journal information: Journal of Geophysical Research Nencioli, F, Dall'Olmo, G & Quartly, G. (2018) Agulhas ring transport efficiency from combined satellite altimetry and Argo profiles.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Widespread tree felling in African savannas is producing at least three times as many carbon emissions as was previously thought, research suggests.

The findings highlight the extent to which humans are impacting one of the world's major ecosystems  the Miombo woodlands, which cover 2.5 million square kilometres, across countries including Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique.

At the same time, however, the growing number of trees in remote parts of these woodlands is helping to offset the emissions, researchers say.

Tree removal

The study is the first to provide an in-depth analysis of areas gaining carbon while also losing it through degradation  a process where some, but not all, trees are removed, usually as a result of logging and fire.

Until now, scientists had no way to measure these processes over such a large area.

Degradation is particularly difficult to detect using satellite imaging as vegetation can often appear unchanged.

Carbon losses

Edinburgh researchers used radar satellite data to show that degradation releases around twice as much carbon as deforestation  the clearing of entire areas for commercial activities. These losses are widespread close to major cities and roads.

Combined carbon losses from degradation and deforestation are between three and six times higher than previously thought, depending on the data used, the team says.

The main cause of degradation is to provide fuel for cooking and heating, mostly in the form of charcoal. Woodlands provide nearly 80 per cent of the energy used in the region, and the practice is often unregulated, leading to extensive overharvesting, researchers say.

"We knew that degradation was a problem, but this new approach means it is now much easier and cheaper for countries to monitor their natural resources and to target actions on the ground to mitigate these losses," says Dr. Casey Ryan.

Woodland regrowth

The previously unmeasured increases in carbon may be happening as more people move closer to cities, the team says.

It could also be linked to reductions in the number of elephants, and increased plant growth rates caused by rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

"While the rates of carbon loss we found are alarming, there is some cause for optimism. It is clear that in areas far from human influence, trees are taking in more carbon from the atmosphere. If more land is protected or used in a sustainable way, woodlands can recover relatively quickly," says Dr. Iain McNicol
Tomato farmer Jean-Claude Terlet has blamed Monsanto's flagship weedkiller Round Up for causing his prostate cancer

Weaving through the aisles of his greenhouse in northern France, Jean-Claude Terlet, a retired farmer who grows tomatoes for local markets, seems to be brimming with energy.

"That's a beef tomato, they're delicious," he says, showing off his produce which, he stresses, is 100 percent organic.

But since he was treated for prostate cancer in 2017, the 70-year-old says he feels constantly exhausted and has to deal with a host of other problems.

"No sex life, that's over. And I am completely incontinent and have to wear pads that I change two or three times a day... On a market that's pretty uncomfortable. I feel really diminished," he said.

Convinced his illness was caused by exposure to chemicals, he asked for urine tests as soon as he was diagnosed.

Despite his hunch, the results still came as a shock.

They detected glyphosate, the chemical used in US biotech giant Monsanto's flagship weedkiller Round Up which some studies and the World Health Organization have labelled carcinogenic.

"I'm convinced that that's what caused my cancer," Terlet told AFP, saying the chemical was found at levels of 0.25 micrograms per litre of blood and that the tests showed up no other chemicals or traces of medication.

Terlet has joined thousands of people around the world, most of them in the US, who are taking legal action against Monsanto for failing to warn users about the risks of using glyphosate.

The compensation bill could be steep.

In a landmark ruling earlier this month, a California jury awarded a dying groundskeeper damages of almost $290 million (335 million euros) after finding Round Up caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Monsanto's German parent company Bayer has vowed to appeal the ruling, saying it was "at odds with the weight of scientific evidence".

But the victory of plaintiff DeWayne Johnson, feted by Monsanto's critics as a modern-day David battling a corporate Goliath, has heartened Terlet, who is hoping for a similar finding by a French court.

The French government, which has vowed to ban glyphosate by 2021, also hailed the "historic" ruling and called on the US and other EU countries to join the "war" against dangerous chemicals.

'Miracle' chemical

Terlet, a father-of-three from the village of Celles-sur-Aisne near Reims, a city in northeast France, was a devotee of Round Upthe world's most widely-used herbicidefor three decades.

He used it to kill weeds pushing up through the stubble left in his fields after the harvest.

"At the time, they presented glyphosate as being a miracle product. Everyone was buying it!" he said.

While spraying his fields he wore only a cheap mask and gloves that failed to protect him from the fine mist that seeped into the cab of his tractor.

"We didn't realise the effects it could have in the medium- and long-term. And now we're seeing them," he said.

In May 2017, his lawyers filed a complaint with prosecutors in the southern city of Lyon, where Monsanto's parent company Bayer has its French headquarters, accusing it of "poisoning" the pensioner.

Next month, he will undergo tests to try establish whether his cancer is indeed linked to his use of the herbicide.

No EU ban yet

He is not the first French farmer to take on Monsanto.

In the first ruling of its kind against Monsanto anywhere in the world, a French court in 2012 found it guilty of poisoning cereal farmer Paul Francois who said he suffered neurological damage after inhaling fumes while using the now banned weedkiller Lasso.

But while France has announced plans to ban glyphosate and Germany wants to heavily curtail its use, the EU has so far refrained from withdrawing its licence.

Farming unions particularly have come out swinging against a ban, saying it would have a disastrous effect on agricultural yields because they have no replacement for it.

Terlet believes that all herbicides are harmful.

In his view, the only safe way to weed plants is by hand, "on condition that it costs less" so as not to harm farmers' livelihoods.

Aware that his battle against Monsanto will be long and costly, he has vowed not to back down.

"I'm stubborn, I'll fight it to the bitter end," he said.

Explore further Bayer shares plunge after Monsanto cancer ruling

 2018 AFP
Remote synchronization in a network of simple electronic oscillators connected in a ring. Periodic fluctuation of the low frequency component driving the effect, resembling a diffraction pattern, is represented by the colors of the oscillators. Credit: IFJ PAN

In some physical systems, even elements quite distant from one another are able to synchronize their actions. At a first glance, the phenomenon appears mysterious. Using a network of simple electronic oscillators interconnected as a ring, researchers from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow have shown that remote synchronization can, at least in certain cases, be explained quite clearly.

The most fascinating physical, chemical and biological processes are probably those in which "something" comes from "nothing." For example, why do concentric rings suddenly appear in a seemingly homogeneous layer of liquid, as in the case of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction? Why can a hydra have many tentacles, always arranged so regularly? Why in a network of a dozen or so simple electronic oscillators connected in a ring, do some remote elements suddenly start to operate in the same rhythm? At the root of similar phenomena across such different systems, there are universal, though still poorly understood, mechanisms of synchronizing the activity of a system's components. The nuances of one of these mechanisms have just been explained by scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow, in close collaboration with colleagues from the University of Palermo and the University of Catania in Italy.

Synchronization leading to the birth of shape (representing a form of morphogenesis) can occur in systems of diverse nature, and various mechanisms may be responsible for its occurrence. A metaphor of a representative situation is that in a fairly uniform group of guests who do not know one another at a large party, clearly visible groups of similar interests form quickly, within which the people spend most of the time talking to each other. This type of phenomenonthe result of specific features of certain elements or arising from accidental eventsis referred to as cluster synchronization. It is present in many physical systems, for example, between neurons in the human brain.

"In our latest research, we have been dealing with an instance of a related type of synchronization, remote synchronization. This is when elements or groups of elements that are not directly connected with each other synchronize their activity, but do so without entraining the other elements through which the synchronization information is propagated. It resembles a situation in which two people exchange information with each other through a courier, but the courier not only cannot read the contents of the messages, but is often quite oblivious to the existence of a hidden message," explains Dr. Ludovico Minati (IFJ PAN), the main author of the publication in the well-known scientific journal Chaos.

Various occurrences of remote synchronization have been described to date, and remote synchronization is deemed to occur between areas of the brain distant from one another, between meteorological phenomena over different continents, and even between elements of electronic circuits. In 2015, Dr. Minati, then at the University of Trento, described an instance of this sort of synchronization in networks built out of just a dozen or so simple electronic oscillators connected in series as a ring. It was noticed then that individual oscillators tried to synchronize not only with their closest neighbors on the ring, but also with some more distant ones, while at the same time remaining less desynchronized with others located at an intermediate distance.

"We observed this effect with real fascination, because it occurred in a device much smaller, but above all, radically simpler than the brain. The phenomenon was described in detail. Unfortunately, we were not able to fully understand its nature. We have only presented a satisfactory explanation in our latest publication," says Dr. Minati.

Researchers from the IFJ PAN studied rings of oscillators experimentally and with the use of computer simulations. The observation that information has to propagate in the rings using not one but three frequencies turned out to be a breakthrough (in this respect, the phenomenon resembles the amplitude modulation used in radio technology). Each oscillator not only generated its own signal of a chaotic nature, but also reacted to signals coming from nearby oscillators, and transferred them to the other two bands. Depending on their phase in a given oscillator, these signals were amplified or weakened in a manner resembling an interference effect. The researchers accordingly observed patterns reminiscent of the diffraction bands well known from optics. Fluctuations of synchronization intensity giving rise to "remoteness" appeared between oscillators wherein constructive or destructive interference occurred.

In order to better understand the nature of the observed synchronization, the Cracow-based physicists subjected the oscillator rings to additional tests. The sensitivity of synchronization to high-intensity noise introduced at various sites of the systems was tested, and varying numbers of oscillators in the ring were simulated together with the effects appearing on its opening. Analysis of the results made it possible to determine that in the studied oscillator rings, remote synchronization is not so much a global characteristic of the whole system, as it is the result of the local interactions of individual oscillators with their surroundings. At the same time, the researchers also investigated whether remote synchronization could be used to transfer a signal introduced into the system from the outside. The result, however, was negative.

"Understanding the mechanisms associated with the occurrence of complex interdependencies between elements in systems of diverse nature is a great challenge in non-linear science. We still have limited understanding of the mechanisms responsible for most types of remote synchronization. A more complete knowledge of similar processes would have considerable theoretical and practical significance. Who knows? Maybe we would be able to better predict, for example, collective behaviours in various social networks or even financial markets," says Prof. Stanislaw Drozdz (IFJ PAN, Cracow University of Technology).

Explore further Get in synch -- or be enslaved by it

More information: Ludovico Minati et al, Apparent remote synchronization of amplitudes: A demodulation and interference effect, Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science (2018). Journal information: Chaos Ludovico Minati et al, Apparent remote synchronization of amplitudes: A demodulation and interference effect,(2018). DOI: 10.1063/1.5026980

Provided by The Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences
This photo provided by Jessica Henricks shows flooding Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, Wailuku River near Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane brought torrential rains to Hawaii's Big Island and Maui before the storm was expected to hit Oahu. A powerful hurricane unleashed torrents of rain and landslides Thursday that blocked roads on the rural Big Island but didn't scare tourists away from surfing and swimming at popular Honolulu beaches still preparing get pummeled by the erratic storm. (Jessica Henricks via AP)

Hurricane Lane unleashed torrents of rain and landslides that blocked roads on Hawaii's mostly rural Big Island on Thursday as residents and tourists in the state's biggest city braced for the dangerous storm to come their way.

Emergency workers rescued five people from a flooded house in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed, said Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe. They weren't injured and were taken to a shelter, he said.

On the state's most populated island, which is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of the Big Island, employees of the Sheraton Waikiki resort filled sandbags to protect the Oahu oceanfront hotel from surging surf. Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for heavy rain and flash flooding.

Hurricane Lane, which was still offshore, already lashed the Big Island with nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain in nearly 24 hours and was moving closer, putting it and Maui "in the thick" of the storm, National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said. The agency says the storm has weakened to a Category 3 but can still cause major damage.

The hurricane, which was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (193 kph), was expected to move close to or over portions of the main islands later Thursday or Friday, bringing dangerous surf of 20 feet (6 meters), forecasters said.

Employees of the Sheraton Waikiki fill sandbags along the beach in preparation for Hurricane Lane, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu. Hurricane Lane continues to move northwest and tropical storm conditions were expected to reach the Big Island later Thursday morning with hurricane conditions by nightfall. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Lane was not projected to make a direct hit on the islands, but officials warned that even a lesser blow could do significant harm. Some areas could see up to 30 inches (about 80 centimeters) of rain.

"Rain has been nonstop for the last half hour or so, and winds are just starting to pick up," said Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island. "Our usually quiet stream is raging right now."

Beimler, who posted videos of trees being blown sideways, said staying put is about the only choice he has. The road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides, he said.

United Airlines cancelled its Friday flights to and from Maui. The airline added two additional flights from Honolulu to San Francisco on Thursday to help transport people off the islands.

People shield themselves from the wind in front of a store with stacked sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Lane, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu. The National Weather Service warned that Lane will get "perilously close" to Hawaii and that some areas could see up to 30 inches (about 80 centimeters) before the system passes. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Hawaiian Airlines cancelled all Friday flights by its commuter carrier, Ohana by Hawaiian.

On Oahu, an island of nearly 1 million people, Elisabeth Brinson watching surfers earlier in the day from her balcony on the ninth floor of the Hawaiian Hilton Village in Waikiki. Later Thursday, police on loudspeakers in Waikiki told surfers and swimmers to get out of the water. They said the beach would be closed until further notice.

Hotel staff left a notice that the rooms will still have water and phone service, and a backup generator will power one elevator per building.

Brinson, a native of the United Kingdom now living in Denver, said many shops were closed, and those still open were frantic with people buying food, beer and water to take back to their rooms.

Austin Seawright, right, stacks sandbags in front of a closed store in preparation for Hurricane Lane, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu. Forecasters say Hurricane Lane has shifted course and is now moving closer to Hawaii. National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said Thursday the shift will put the Big Island and Maui "in the thick" of the hurricane. (AP Photo/John Locher)

"We knew it was coming, so I tried to just cram as much as I could into the last few days in anticipation so we could cross things off of our list," said Brinson, who is accustomed to hurricanes after living in Florida.

Hawaii's biggest hotels are confident they can keep their guests safe as long as they stay inside, said Mufi Hannemann, CEO of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association.

Members of his association, which include the state's major hotels, are shifting into high gear with their emergency management plans, he said.

The Marriott Resort Waikiki Beach in Honolulu designated a ballroom on the third floor as a shelter for guests and began removing lounge chairs from around the pool and bar area.

People stand near flood waters from Hurricane Lane making the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue and Pauahi Street impassable Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane Lane soaked Hawaii's Big Island on Thursday, dumping nearly 20 inches of rain in nearly 24 hours as residents stocked up on supplies and tried to protect their homes ahead of the state's first hurricane since 1992. (Hollyn Johnson/Hawaii Tribune-Herald via AP)

The Queen Kapiolani Hotel brought construction equipment inside from a pool deck that's under renovation. The hotel will encourage guests to stay in their rooms if the weather worsens and evacuate to hallways if it becomes necessary to avoid windows.

"The only concern is those that venture outside of the properties, that would like to hike on a day like this or who would like to still go into the ocean and see what it's like to take a swim or surf in these kind of waters," Hannemann said.

Honolulu shopping malls and office buildings closed early on Thursday and planned to shut their doors Friday.

Shelters were open throughout the islands, with 350 people in them in Oahu. Aid agencies were also working to help Hawaii's sizable homeless population, many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Hotel employees fill sandbags along the beach in preparation for Hurricane Lane, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu. Hurricane Lane continues to move northwest and tropical storm conditions were expected to reach the Big Island later Thursday morning with hurricane conditions by nightfall. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Because there's not enough shelter space statewide, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis urged people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

The National Weather Service downgraded the Big Island to a tropical storm warning, meaning it expects sustained winds of 39 mph (62 kph) to 73 mph (117 kph) to reach the island instead of stronger hurricane force winds.

But a hurricane warning remains in effect for Oahu and Maui County.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

Employees of the Sheraton Waikiki fill sandbags along the beach in preparation for Hurricane Lane, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Honolulu. Hurricane Lane continues to move northwest and tropical storm conditions were expected to reach the Big Island later Thursday morning with hurricane conditions by nightfall. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Because people in Hawaii are confined to the islands, they have to make sure they have enough supplies to outlast power outages and other potential emergencies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency moved several barges packed with food, water, generators and other supplies into the region ahead of Hurricane Hector, which skirted past the islands more than a week ago, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said.

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Lane near Hawaii on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. Hurricane Lane soaked Hawaii's Big Island on Thursday, and the The National Weather Service warned that some areas could see up to 30 inches before the system passes. (NOAA via AP)

Explore further Hurricane Lane soaks Hawaii's Big Island with foot of rain

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The fire as spread through as more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of woodland just half an hour's drive from Berlin

A large forest fire raging 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Berlin continued to spread early Friday after hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes.

The smell of acrid smoke reached as far away as the capital as more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of woodland burned outside the city of Potsdam.

Around 600 people were told to leave their homes in three villages in Brandenburg state late Thursday as about 300 firefighters battled the blaze from the air with water-bombing helicopters.

"Our main goal remains to protect the evacuated areas from the flames," local official Christian Stein told DPA news agency.

"We haven't been able to push back the fire yet but no building has been affected."

Efforts to contain the fire were complicated because the affected terrain is still littered with munitions from World War II, regional emergency response coordinator Michael Knape told public broadcaster RBB.

He called the situation "dramatic", saying there had already been small explosions from ordnance buried in the ground.

An enduring drought and heatwave have left European rural areas particularly vulnerable to wildfires, which wrought devastation in Greece and Sweden earlier this summer.

About 300 firefighters are trying to fight the blaze near Potsdam, which lies about 50 kilometres southwest of Berlin

As the flames came within 100 metres of one of the German villages, residents were told to take only the most essential belongings like medication and documents before fleeing.

Emergency hotline operators received hundreds of calls from residents of Berlin saying they could smell smoke.

"The entire urban area is now affected. The cause is the large fire in Brandenburg," the Berlin fire brigade tweeted.

 2018 AFP
In the summer of 1845, under the command of Sir John Franklin, 128 officers and crew aboard the ships HMS Erebus, above, and HMS Terror entered the waters of Arctic North America with the goal of completing the discovery of the Northwest Passage. Credit: National Maritime Museum

A team of investigators from across Canada, including a trio of Western researchers, have raised serious doubt about the popular belief that lead poisoning played a role in the death of members of the famed Franklin Expedition. The study, Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal X-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure, was published today in PLOS ONE.

In the summer of 1845, under the command of Sir John Franklin, 128 officers and crew aboard the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror entered the waters of Arctic North America with the goal of completing the discovery of the Northwest Passage. Franklin and his crew spent the first winter at Beechey Island, where three crewmen died and were buried.

The following year the ships became stranded in ice off King William Island where they remained until April 1848. By this time the crew, now reduced to 105 men, made a desperate attempt to reach the mainland. Sadly, not one individual survived.

Previous analyses of bone, hair, and soft tissue samples from the remains of crew members found that tissues contained elevated lead levels, suggesting that lead poisoning may have been a major contribution to their demise.

However, questions remained regarding the timing and degree of exposure to lead and, ultimately, the extent to which the crew members may have been impacted. To address this historical question, the research team investigated three hypotheses to test the theory that lead poisoning was not the primary cause of the crew's deaths:

If elevated lead exposure was experienced by the crew during the expedition, the team hypothesized that those sailors who survived longer (King William Island vs. Beechey Island) would exhibit more extensively distributed lead in their bones;

The team hypothesized that lead levels would be elevated in bone microstructural features forming at or near the time of death, compared with older tissue in the body; and

Finally, if lead exposure played a significant role in the failure of the expedition the team hypothesized that bone samples would exhibit evidence of higher or more sustained levels of lead than that of a contemporary British naval 19th-Century naval population from Antigua.

Synchrotron-based high resolution confocal X-ray fluorescence imaging in partnership with scientists at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron at the University of Saskatchewan and the Advanced Photon Source was used to visualize lead distribution within bone and dental structures at the micro scale.

The data did not support the first hypothesis as lead distribution within the samples from the two different Franklin sites was similar. Evidence of lead within skeletal microstructural features formed near the time of death lent support to the team's second hypothesis but consistent evidence of a marked elevation in lead levels was lacking.

Finally, the comparative analysis with the Antigua samples did not support the hypothesis that the Franklin sailors were exposed to an unusually high level of lead compared to navy personnel from the same time period.

Taken all together, the team's skeletal microstructural results do not support the conclusion that lead played a pivotal role in the loss of Franklin and his crew.

Explore further How did the Franklin expedition crew die?

More information: Treena Swanston et al. Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure, PLOS ONE (2018). Journal information: PLoS ONE Treena Swanston et al. Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure,(2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202983
The cicada, a symbol of France's southeastern area of Provence, is proving too loud for touristsseveral have complained to the mayor of the picturesque village of Beausset that the insects are ruining their holiday lie-ins

It is the quintessential sound of the Mediterranean in summer, but for some French tourists the cicadas of Provence are just too noisy.

Several have complained to the mayor of the picturesque village of Beausset in the southeastern Var region that the insects are ruining their holiday lie-ins.

Some had questioned village shopkeepers about how to get their hands on chemical weapons to quieten the racket made by the male cicadas as they "sing" out in search of a mate.

"Five groups have come to see me because they were being annoyed from morning to night by the sound of the cicadas," mayor Georges Ferrero told French radio.

"They complained that the cicadas were making noise till 10 at night, and I tried to explain to them that it was the soundtrack of Provence, part of our folklore, but they wouldn't have it.

"For them the song is an infernal noisecrac-crac-cracand they cannot understand that it is like music to the ears of us southerners," he added.

Ferrero said the tourists had gone looking in local shops for chemicals to use against the cicadas.

"It's completely crazy, imagine spraying the trees under which they would to be later taking their aperitifs..."

Rows over noise are often the bane of French city life, leading to long and bitter disputes between feuding neighbours.

Earlier this month holidaymakers in rural central France were ridiculed for asking for the bells on the village church to be silenced because they kept waking them at seven in the morning.

Mayor Ferrero said it wasn't just Parisianswhom the rural French love to hatewho had complained about the cicadas.

"They were also tourists from the east of France and from Brittany," he added.

Explore further How the 'mute' cicada sings

 2018 AFP
Calculated correlated local dipoles in lead telluride (PbTe). The colours illustrate the asymmetric electrons around the Pb and Te atoms which generate the dipoles. Credit: Institute of Materials Theory/ETH Zurich

Scientists can spend a long time in heated debates over tiny details  for example, how and whether atoms in a crystal move when heated, thereby altering the symmetry. Using computer simulations for the mineral lead telluride on the CSCS supercomputer Piz Daint, ETH researchers have resolved a long-standing controversy.

To outsiders, scientific questions can sometimes look like hair-splitting. These questions, however, are often crucial, as in materials science: the commercial use of a material stands or falls on its properties. One question that very much depends on such hair-splitting is the one that Boris Sangiorgio pursued in his doctoral thesis. In ETH Professor Nicola Spaldin's research group at the Institute of Materials Theory, Sangiorgio used the supercomputer Piz Daint to examine how lead telluride (PbTe) behaves when it warms up. Lead telluride appears in nature as altaite, a sulfosalt mineral. Altaite can convert heat energy into electrical energy, meaning it has thermoelectric properties.

Mars rover moves using lead telluride

Thermoelectric materials became popular in aerospace in the 1960s, and remain in widespread use today; for example, a thermoelectric generator made of lead telluride powers the Mars rover Curiosity since 2012.

About seven years ago, however, a study on lead telluride ignited a dispute among materials scientists. Back then, researchers came to the conclusion that when lead telluride is heated, the phenomenon of emphanisis occurs. In simple terms, heating causes the lead atoms to shift locally in the crystal, reducing local symmetry. Previously, only the reverse process had been known: heating caused an increase in symmetry.

Emphanisis remained poorly understood until Spaldin's team examined this phenomenon in lead telluride using the supercomputer. The simulations show that when the mineral is heated, the symmetry is broken locally. However, when the crystal is viewed as a whole, the original cubic symmetry is retained.

For real experiments with the mineral, the scientists worked in collaboration with researchers at the X-ray platform in the Department of Materials at ETH and used an X-ray scattering technique that provided high-precision visibility of the atomic crystal structure. The results from these trials corresponded very closely with those of the simulation, thereby confirming the simulation results. The researchers were then able to go a step further in the simulations than in the experiment and discover what was behind the process of emphanisis in lead telluride.

New phenomenon

The simulations show that heating the crystal leads to strong acoustic and optical vibrations. These vibrations overlap and are coupled together, which produces a phenomenon that has never been observed before: due to the coupled vibrations, correlated dipoles form in the crystal, with pairs of Pb and Te atoms both fluctuating and orienting according to their charges. "Seen as a whole, however, the atoms are still in a highly symmetrical position," says Sangiorgio. The global symmetry is retained. The researchers suspect that this process is essential for lead telluride's thermoelectric behaviour. It could also be true of other materials (so called ferroelectrics) that, like lead telluride, are close to a ferroelectric phase transition.

"The functionality of lead telluride is likely based on a sensitive balance between electronic and structural properties," says Sangiorgio. Understanding the local structure and dynamics of lead telluride is essential for scientists to explain the behaviour of the material. These findings will help them to create or find more efficient thermoelectric materials in future. Thermoelectric materials are not only of interest in aerospace research; they could also help to make more efficient use of waste heat from incineration plants or cars in electricity generation.

Explore further Atomically thin nanowires convert heat to electricity more efficiently

More information: Boris Sangiorgio et al. Correlated local dipoles in PbTe, Physical Review Materials (2018). Boris Sangiorgio et al. Correlated local dipoles in PbTe,(2018). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.2.085402
King Mohammed VI of Morocco pardoned 889 people on the occasion of El Eid including over 180 people convicted on charges relating to the Rif protests.

Eleven of the pardoned inmates were serving prison sentences in the Casablanca prison.

The Rif protests erupted in late 2016 after a fishmonger died crushed in a trash compactor while trying to save his fish that was confiscated by authorities. The event triggered popular protests led by Nasser Zefzafi over economic and social development.

The peaceful character of the protests soon gave way to confrontations between protesters and security forces causing more arrests.

Some of the accused in the Rif events are tried for undermining state security and attacking security forces.

The pardon benefiting some Rif activists behind bars is reflective of a willingness to turn the page of the Rif Hirak said Human Rights Minister, El Mustafa Ramid.

Earlier, on the occasion of the Revolution of the King and the people the King pardoned 450 convicts including 22 former convicts belonging to the Salafi radical Islamist movements who renounced to extremism.

Royal pardon is customary in Morocco to mark national and religious holidays.
1 hour ago

Americans sour on economy amid inflation woes: AP-NORC Poll

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Americans opinions on the U.S. economy have soured noticeably in the past month, a new poll finds, with nearly half expecting economic conditions to worsen in the next year. Just 35% of Americans now call the national economy good, while 65% call it poor, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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Israel is looking to convince the U.S. and the European Union to support economic development of the West Bank as key for peace with Palestinians, Bloomberg reports.

Finance Minister and Knesset member, Moshe Kahlon is pushing a plan to build a joint industrial zones, ease movement out of the West Bank and allow the Palestinian Authority to collect its own customs taxes, the media said.

According to Bloomberg, the Israeli official will meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and with President Donald Trumps Mideast peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt, for talks on the plan.

It isnt always visible, but the economy makes an important contribution to whats going on, Kahlon said.

Im a great believer in political process through economy.

President Donald Trump has boasted he will propose the deal of the century for the decades-long conflict between Palestinians and Israeli. The deal, which has not been hashed out yet is already rejected by Palestinians as it takes Jerusalem off the negotiation table following the U.S. leaders recognition of the old city in September as Israels capital. Palestinians want to make of the eastern part of the holy city the capital of their future state.

The Trump administration on the other hand said Israel will have to pay a price of the decision. The White Houses conditions for Israel include improvement of the economic conditions in the West Bank, which has been under Israeli forces control.

Kahlons plan has received quick rejection in Ramallah with the Palestinian Authority (PA) arguing that any measures to help the economy in the West Bank must come in the framework of a comprehensive political deal negotiated with the PA.

Azmi Abdel Rahman, a spokesman for the PA Economy Ministry called Kahlons endeavor a unilateral step.

Kahlons plan comprises a joint industrial park to employ Arabs and Jews, less restricted crossing of Palestinians in the West Bank into Israel to work, as well as creation of bonded warehouses where Palestinian officials could collect their own customs taxes, estimated at about $273 million per year.

The plan does not include Gaza, controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, which Israel and western countries have labelled as a terrorist group.

Gaza is housing over 2 million Palestinians trapped by the Israeli blockade, in place since 2007, following the takeover of the strip by Hamas after it won the elections.

Egypt has also almost permanently closed the only border with the world for Palestinians in the costal enclave over Hamas alleged assistance to militant groups fighting its forces in restive Sinai.
An attack blamed on the Islamic State group (ISIS) left Thursday at least six forces of the interior ministry aligned with Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) dead, reports say.

The incident took place at a checkpoint laying on the highway between the town of Zilten and the Libyan capital Tripoli. Western Libya, is controlled by the forces aligned with the GNA, which has been struggling to impose its authority since it took office in March 2016.

Three attackers believed affiliated to ISIS launched a car-bomb, fire arm and a grenade attack on the outpost killing forces in a building used as a rest place by troops manning the checkpoint.

The attack was carried out with grenades and light weapons, said Zliten Mayor Moftah Ahmadi, who put the number of those killed at four, the New Arab reports.

A source at the interior ministry who asked not to be named told the media two other forces died in the early morning assault. At least two security forces had been wounded.

One of the alleged attackers, according to Ahmadi, was killed in a shootout while other two managed to flee. The interior ministry set up a high security perimeter around the town to lay hands on the two, on the run, he noted.

Zliten security chief Mohammed Abu Hajar told Libyas al-Nabaa television that the attack was the work of the Islamic State group, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility from the jihadists, the New Arab reports.

The terrorist group entered Libya in 2014, taking advantage of power struggle among factions that followed Muammar Gaddafis fall. The group was flashed out in December 2016 in a GNA offensive on Sirte that the group turned into its safe haven.

Despite losing much ground, the militant organization is still active.

A similar attack targeted Zliten in 2016, when a truck laden with bombs exploded in a police training camp killing over 50 new recruits.
A scandal! That is how Algerian press described the outbreak of Cholera in Algeria twenty years after it was eradicated.

The health ministry confirmed that 41 people have contracted the disease in Algiers, Blida, Tipazza and Bouira, although doctors deem the number lower than the real scale of the outbreak.

Jamal Fourara, an official from the health ministry, estimated that 88 cholera affected people are lying in the countrys hospitals.

The outbreak of the disease is blamed on drinking dirty water after the failure of the drinking water distribution networks.

Other doctors ascribe the surge of infections to unhealthy living conditions in Algerias poor neighborhoods.
Morocco has accepted to readmit the Sub-Saharan migrants who got over a border fence separating the Spanish occupied enclave of Ceuta.

The 116 sub-Saharan migrants who entered Spain via the Ceuta border illegally yesterday (Wednesday) have been sent back to Morocco, the Ceuta prefecture said in a statement.

The migrants were returned under a 1992 agreement under which Morocco can readmit migrants departing from its territories provided that Spain requests so within ten days of their arrival.

The rapid move casts a shadow over the right to asylum of these migrants. Spanish authorities said the migrants were informed of their right to request asylum but NGOs could not verify that independently.

Spanish authorities say that about 3500 have crossed the Spanish borders through Ceuta and the other enclave, Melillia, that is about 14% of total arrivals.

Spain with about 25,000 migrants this year arriving mostly by sea has become the main route for illegal migrants wishing to reach Europe.
Duncan and Margaret Hunter, in happier times. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP/REX/Shutterstock

U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter is either a believer in the scattershot approach to dealing with politically deadly allegations, or is squirming like a fish on a hook. When a federal grand jury delivered a 47-page document charging him and his wife with conspiring to make roughly 200 illegal personal-use payments from a campaign account, Hunter at first just denied everything, as he has throughout the long investigation that led to this moment. Perhaps becoming aware of just how many flagrant and even hilarious examples of misuse of campaign dollars the Feds had come up with, Hunter soon shifted to what might be called the Trump Defense  alleging that the whole thing was a Democratic conspiracy by deep state operatives in the U.S. Attorneys office (run, unfortunately for his argument, by a Trump appointee).

Now after his first court appearance and not guilty plea, Hunter is trying another gambit: blaming his wife, who was indeed the person making most of the unauthorized purchases on a campaign credit card he insisted she be given as his campaign manager, over the objections of his Campaign Treasurer. Heres what he told Fox News:

When I went to Iraq in 2003, the first time, I gave her power of attorney and she handled my finances throughout my whole military career and she continued that when I got to Congress, he told [Martha] MacCallum. Whatever she did, that will be looked at too, Im sure. But I didnt do it. I didnt spend any money illegally.

This isnt the first time Hunter has tried this my wife deals with my money defense. Way back in April of 2016, when the story of his misuse of campaign funds first broke, the conservative site Red State had this sardonic report:

Shortly after endorsing Trump, it came to light that Hunter had put a seemingly endless list of personal expenses on his campaigns credit card, including over $1,000 in video game purchases, personal travel, tuition to his kids school, plastic surgery, etc.

Using campaign funds for personal expenses is of course illegal, and the FEC is not amused. The hot water has gotten so deep that Hunter was forced to cut short a trip to Israel and fly back home to deal with the crisis.

The classiest thing about this whole episode is how Hunter is not-very-subtly throwing his wife under the bus 

Red State went on to quote a news story in which Hunter said he had taken his wife off the campaign credit card account. That didnt happen though  the indictment cites purchases made by her that occurred through the end of that year.

More importantly, the charging document goes to great lengths to establish that Hunter kept his wife on that credit card account despite complaints from his campaign treasurer, and that Hunter himself on more than one occasion supplied a fake official rationale for clearly personal expenses. Heres the most famous example:

On or about November 23, 2015, in an attempt to justify the use of Campaign funds to pay for the familys trip to Italy, DUNCAN HUNTER attempted to set up a day tour of a U.S. naval facility in Italy. After Navy officials responded that they could only provide a tour on a particular date, DUNCAN HUNTER said he would discuss, the proposed date with MARGARET HUNTER, then subsequently told his Chief of Staff, tell the navy to go f*** themselves [no alteration in original], and no tour occurred.

Throughout the saga, Hunter keeps mentioning that he paid the campaign back for roughly $60,000 of the $250,000 the Hunters were alleged to have misappropriated. But the Feds have made it clear that this happened only when the Federal Election Commission  which the Hunters rather incompetently tried to fool  or the media were sniffing around.

It also strains credulity more than a bit to believe that Hunter didnt know anything about the disastrous state of the couples finances, which is clearly cited in the charging document as the motive for the Hunters illegal use of campaign money. Were talking about personal checking accounts that rang up $37,000 in insufficient funds fees thanks to over 1,100 overdrafts. Im sure Hunter was a busy man and all, but how do you not know youre insanely broke? Prosecutors clearly arent buying it, and argue that Duncan and Margaret knew exactly what they  or in most occasions she  were doing.

None of this is going to look good in court, or in the court of public opinion. But perhaps the most politically inept part of Hunters self-defense is this tidbit, also from the McCallum interview on Fox News:

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who has pleaded not guilty to charges of misusing campaign money to pay for personal items, said Thursday his $174,000 annual salary does not provide him with enough money to live in his Southern California congressional district.

I mean, $174,000 per year is what a member of Congress makes. Do you think they should make more than that, is it not enough to live on? Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked Hunter in his first TV interview since charges were filed Tuesday.

It depends where you live. Its difficult to live in a place like San Francisco or San Diego or New York or D.C., said Hunter, whose district includes part of San Diego. Its probably easier to live in Kansas or Missouri, so its all relative.

Indeed, it is expensive to be a congressman from California given expectations that you will maintain a home in your district, and Im sure members swap all sorts of stories about personal financial issues in their privileged congressional sanctuary. But you dont, dont whine about it in public when a large majority of voters dont and will never pull down $174,000 a year (not to mention the perks). And its not like anybody forced Duncan Hunter to run for Congress (where, speaking of privilege, he succeeded his daddy).

More and more, Hunter is looking like someone who could definitely lose his very Republican district to an opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, who appears to have come up the hard way and has very likely never paid airfare for a pet rabbit (one of the things Hunters campaign paid for). The congressman needs to get his story straight, and that probably doesnt involve protesting that hes oblivious to the family finances his constituents have to deal with, or establishing that hes a terrible husband.
The premier Danish heritage festival, Solvang Danish Days," will be held for three days sta

The Solvang Danish Days Foundation has chosen Christiana Heron as its 2018 Danish Maid to le

Danish Days details:

Parading through Solvang with the 2018 Danish Days Grand Marshals will be 2018 Danish Maid, Christiana Heron, the Solvang Village Band atop the Carlsberg Beer Wagon, a multitude of floats, equestrians, Village Dancers and more.

The Danish Days Parade line-up starts at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, on First Street, between Molle Way and Oak Street; the Parade begins at 2:30 p.m., turning east on Copenhagen Drive, then north on Alisal Road, west on Mission Drive, south on Fourth Place, east on Copenhagen, south on Second Street, and finishes at the corner of Oak Street near Solvang City Hall.

The preliminary 2018 Solvang Danish Days event weekend schedule is available online at www.SolvangDanishDays.org
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Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.
McCain on one of his last days on Capitol Hill. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

After fighting brain cancer for more than a year, John McCain has decided to discontinue treatment for the illness. Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious, the senators family said in a statement. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

McCain has been absent from the Senate since December 2017. Since then, he has made occasional, rhetorical interventions into national politics  often in the form of statements criticizing the current Republican president. His most consequential political action in 2018, however, was his decision not to resign from his Senate seat before June 1. Had he stepped down before that date, Arizona voters would have chosen his replacement in a special election this fall. Now, upon McCains passing, Arizonas Republican governor Doug Ducey will appoint an interim successor, who will serve in the Senate through (at least) 2020.

McCain famously turned down the opportunity to escape detention as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, to maintain solidarity with his fellow-prisoners. His long career in politics included a stint as the Republican Partys standard-bearer in 2008. Through much of his time in Washington, McCain demonstrated a greater capacity for independent thought and action than his Republican counterparts. The senator voted against George W. Bushs tax cuts on the grounds that they were regressive, and co-sponsored legislation intended to limit the influence of concentrated money on American politics. In his last years in Congress, McCain evinced less interest in bucking his partys orthodoxy  but his vote against repeal of the Affordable Care Act last summer might have been the most consequential maverick move of his career.
North Korea-linked Lazarus APT group leveraged for the first time on a MacOS variant of the Fallchill malware in a cryptocurrency exchange attack.

According to Kaspersky, the North Korea-linked Lazarus group used a macOS malware to target a cryptocurrency exchange in a recent attack.

The activity of the Lazarus Group surged in 2014 and 2015, its members used mostly custom-tailored malware in their attacks and experts that investigated on the crew consider it highly sophisticated.

This threat actor has been active since at least 2009, possibly as early as 2007, and it was involved in both cyber espionage campaigns and sabotage activities aimed to destroy data and disrupt systems. Security researchers discovered that North Korean Lazarus APT group was behind recent attacks on banks, including the Bangladesh cyber heist.

According to security experts, the group was behind, other large-scale cyber espionage campaigns against targets worldwide, including the Troy Operation, the DarkSeoul Operation, and the Sony Picture hack.

Recently the APT targeted cryptocurrency exchanges and cryptocurrency companies, experts from Kaspersky Lab tracked a new campaign dubbed Operation AppleJeus aimed at spreading a tainted cryptocurrency trading application.

While investigating a cryptocurrency exchange attacked by Lazarus, we made an unexpected discovery. The victim had been infected with the help of a trojanized cryptocurrency trading application, which had been recommended to the company over email. states the report published by Kaspersky.

It turned out that an unsuspecting employee of the company had willingly downloaded a third-party application from a legitimate looking website and their computer had been infected with malware known as Fallchill, an old tool that Lazarus has recently switched back to.

The novelty of this attack is that the attacker for the first time used a version of the Fallchill malware specifically developed to target macOS systems, in addition to Windows.

The new development is very important for the strategy of the group that is expanding the list of potential targets.

The fact that the Lazarus group has expanded its list of targeted operating systems should be a wake-up call for users of non-Windows platforms, continues Kaspersky.

The malware was inserted into the installation package, instead, it was delivered to the target machine in the form of an update.

The experts discovered that the APT used the legitimate-looking application called Celas Trade Pro and comes from Celas Limited.

At the end of the installation process, the software runs the Updater.exe module that gathers system information and sends it back to the server in the form of a GIF image.

The malware continuously connects the command and control (C&C) server to fetch and execute an additional executable file.

Based on the servers response (response HTTP code 200), the updater could extract a malicious code encoded with base64 and decrypts it using RC4 with another hardcoded key to retrieve an executable file.

For macOS users, Celas LLC also provided a native version of its trading app, experts noticed that a hidden autoupdater module is installed in the background to start immediately after installation and also after every system reboot.

At the time of the report, it was not clear whether Lazarus compromised Celas server in a classic supply chain attack or managed to create a legitimate looking business and inject a malicious payload into a legitimate looking software update mechanism.

Once the Cellas Trade Pro app is installed on macOS, it launches the Updater application on the system load via a file named .com.celastradepro.plist.

The fact that it starts with a dot symbol makes the Updates unlisted in the Finder app or default Terminal directory listing.

The Updater file is passed the CheckUpdate parameter on start, it quits if no argument is passed.

The updater is implemented using the cross-platform Qt framework, once executed it creates a unique identifier for the infected host, collects system information, and send them to the attackers server in encrypted format.

First of all, Lazarus group has entered a new platform: macOS. There is steadily growing interest in macOS from ordinary users, especially in IT companies. Many developers and engineers are switching to using macOS. Apparently, in the chase after advanced users, software developers from supply chains and some high profile targets, threat actors are forced to have macOS malware tools. concludes Kaspersky.

We believe that in the future Lazarus is going to support all platforms that software developers are using as a base platform, because compromising developers opens many doors at once.

Pierluigi Paganini

( Security Affairs  APT, hacking)

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Its not like were in dire need of yet another burger joint (see Potato Head, 25 Degrees, Omakase Burger, Fatboys, Wolf Burgers, and, well, Burger Joint), but were getting one anyway. American chain Fatburger is coming to Singapore as soon as next month, setting up its kitchen at two locations: Velocity at Novena Square, and OneKM mall in Katong.

Artist rendering of the Singapore outlet. Photo: Fatburger Singapore/Facebook

In case youve been too preoccupied with other American names like In-N-Out Burger or Shake Shack (which is actually rumored to be coming to Singapore soon-ish), then know this: Fatburger has been around since 1952, expanding to countries across the globe like Japan, the Philippines, and Beijing in the years since. So in burger world, these guys are OGs.

In Singapore, Fat Brands, the parent company of Fatburger and Buffalos Express, has partnered with Deelish Brands to open co-branded eateries on our shores over the next couple years. And that means besides burgers, fries, and shakes, diners can also add a heaping order of buffalo wings to their tab.

A fat burger and some buffalo wings. Photo: Fatburger Singapore/Facebook

Protein heads will be psyched to find the built-to-order burgers available in patty sizes from single to quadruple ($7.90-$15.90), with customizable toppings like pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, relish, and mayo. To cut the carbs, get the Skinny burger ($7.50) for more beef patties instead of buns. You can also pay a little extra for additional fillings like chilli, cheese, and egg. Then there are the skinny, fat, and sweet potato fries ($3.90-$5.90), onion rings, and buffalo wings, which come in options like traditional, boneless, and chicken tenders.

To top it all off, sweet tooths can satiate their cravings with super creamy chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or Oreo milkshakes.

FIND IT:

Fatburger is now open at #01-70/71/72 KINEX Mall, 11 Tanjong Katong Rd.

6245-5563, daily 10am-10pm.

MRT: Paya Lebar

Second outlet will open end-Sept at #01-08/09 Novena @ Velocity.

6253-2758. Daily 7:30am-10pm.

MRT: Novena

The post American chain Fatburger is coming to Singapore with 2 outlets at Novena and Katong appeared first on Coconuts.
Scott Morrison was sworn in as Australia's seventh prime minister in 11 years Friday after a stunning party revolt against Malcolm Turnbull, which the new leader admitted had left the government "bruised and battered". Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-winger, was the driving force behind the move to oust Turnbull after a Liberal Party backlash against his more moderate policies. But after a torrid week of political manoeuvring in Canberra it was Morrison, a Turnbull ally who served as treasurer, who won a party vote 45-40. He was officially sworn in as Australia's 30th prime minister late Friday in a ceremony in the capital. Environment minister Josh Frydenberg -- who was elected as the deputy Liberal leader -- was sworn in as treasurer. Morrison -- an evangelical Christian known as "ScoMo" -- replaced a man who became the latest in a long line of leaders knifed in the back by ambitious colleagues. The fresh outbreak of political instability was met with renewed public disgust towards the political class -- already among the least trusted profession in the country despite an unprecedented era of prosperity. Morrison admitted the extraordinary scenes in the nation's capital had taken a heavy toll on parliament and the Liberal Party. "Our job... is to ensure that we not only bring our party back together, which has been bruised and battered this week, but that will ensure we bring the Parliament back together, that we can continue to work to ensure that our country stays close together." He said his top priority was to help farmers in New South Wales struggling through one of the worst droughts in half a century. "This is our most urgent and pressing need right now," Morrison said. Dutton, who Turnbull accused of bullying and intimidation in the move to knife him, pledged "absolute loyalty" to Morrison. Turnbull, who vowed to quit parliament after his near three-year reign came to an end, survived one attempt to oust him on Tuesday, but ministers then began defecting, throwing the government into crisis. His departure from politics will spark a by-election for his Sydney seat, threatening the government's wafer-thin one-seat parliamentary majority. He used his final press conference to lash out at the "wreckers" in his party. "There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by voices, powerful voices, in the media," he told reporters, in reference to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's conservative News Corporation. "It was described as madness by many, and... in so far as there has been chaos this week, it has been created by the wreckers." - Thwarted ambitions - Dutton, who favours slashing migrant numbers and even pulling Australia out of the Paris climate agreement, was the sole candidate to be prime minister until Thursday when Morrison entered the fray to try to halt his power grab. Former prime minister Tony Abbott, an arch conservative widely seen as the instigator of the move to get rid of Turnbull, said it was now important to "save the government" with national elections due by the middle of next year. Morrison, a former immigration minister, who took credit for "stop the boats" -- a harsh policy to halt asylum-seekers from entering Australia -- is further to the right than Turnbull but not as hardline as some in the party. Politics expert Rob Manwaring of Flinders University said Morrison was likely to continue Turnbull's economic agenda, of which he was one of the main architects as treasurer. But he could shift the government's environment policy to the right as a consistent voter against the introduction of a carbon price. "In one sense I think there would be continuity (in the economic portfolio), in another sense, (he'll be) trying to downgrade or shift any radical action on climate policy," he told AFP. The unrest is the latest chapter in a turbulent decade for Australian politics, which has frequently descended into squabbling that has alienated voters. No leader has managed to serve out a full term since former Prime Minister John Howard lost the 2007 election, in a remarkable revolving door at Canberra's parliament house. One minister was so disillusioned with the push to oust Turnbull that he took to Twitter to apologise to the Australian people. "Australia. We owe you an apology. I'm sorry. You deserve better than many of the things our Federal Parliament has served up to you for the past 10 years," wrote Nationals MP Darren Chester, whose party is in coalition with the Liberals.
Online tributes have begun pouring in for widely beloved Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilot Eugene Bernard Wang, who tragically passed away while riding his motorbike in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Shortly after the horrific accident, photos of his torn bike began circulating on Facebook among rider groups of Kuala Lumpur, and yesterday his wife Gloria took to his social media account to pay tribute to the deceased pilot: In loving memory of my loving husband Eugene Bernard Wang, 10th August 1972  22nd August 2018, she wrote.

Nearly two hundred messages of condolences and memories have since been written, with dozens of users echoing the same sentiments  that Eugene was above all a good man, positive, quick to laugh, and devoted to both his career and family.

Many remembered him decades later as an exceptional captain, and one friend writing that he was a husband that I try to emulate.

One user recalled his passion for riding was tantamount to his love for Malaysia, and that he was proud to be Malaysian. The country has lost a good son, anak Malaysia, wrote Daniel Cha.

If your heart can handle it, the outpouring of love for Eugene will touch your heart, and probably make you cry. Have a tissue handy.

Straits Times confirmed with his employer SIA that one of their pilots had indeed passed away, but would not comment any further, as their priority was to assist his family during this time.

At present, there is no available information on the cause of the crash. Our deepest condolences to his family.

The post Beloved Malaysian SIA pilot passes away after motorbike accident appeared first on Coconuts.
China has increasingly been involved in mediation efforts for international conflicts, particularly along the route of its signature Belt and Road Initiative, but its high-profile approach has failed to produce sustainable peace results, a new report from a leading European think tank has found.

In contrast to its past reluctance to engage in conflict resolution outside its borders, Beijing was involved in mediation for nine conflicts last year compared to only three in 2012.

According to analysis by the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), the spike coincided with the launch of the initiative, a series of infrastructure projects across Europe, Asia, and Africa.

But Chinas approach centred on conflict management and stability preservation rather than long-term resolution, largely as part of broader multinational efforts, which had so far proven ineffective, the reports authors Helena Legarda and Marie Hoffmann said.

It is becoming more obvious now that Beijing is diving into conflicts that have higher international visibility, they wrote.

The authors noted Chinas reliance on top-level diplomatic tools, while neglecting the full range of stakeholders in a conflict.

This approach has the benefit of providing Beijing with media attention and direct access to local governments, but  Beijing has failed to produce a long-term sustainable peace process in any of the conflicts it is involved in.

Beijings mediation efforts have also been driven by its belt and road programme, with an expanded focus in regions that are strategically important to the initiative, such as South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa.

Since last year, China has been newly involved in the Qatar crisis, with Beijing urging talks between the oil-rich country and the Saudi Arabia-led bloc of four Arab nations.

China also has a growing role in the Afghanistan peace process, hosting trilateral talks in Beijing between the country and Pakistan in December.

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In many countries along the [belt and road route], especially in the Middle East, China is seen as a relatively honest broker since it does not carry the same historical baggage as the United States or European countries, due to its very limited presence in the region in the past, the report said.

Other high-profile conflicts where China has taken part in mediation efforts include the civil war in Syria, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the Bangladesh-Myanmar clash over the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority.

Getting involved in multinational initiatives, even in a passive manner, lets Beijing take credit for any potential successes of these processes, while evading full responsibility if efforts are unsuccessful, Legarda and Hoffmann said.

The duo said Beijings increased mediation efforts stemmed from a desire to promote an image of being a responsible global power, along with the opportunity to influence governments in key countries such as Myanmar and Syria.

This is especially significant at a time when US President Donald Trump has adopted more inward-looking America first policies.

It also comes from a need for the stability of the countries along Chinese President Xi Jinpings much touted belt and road route, to ensure the success of the Chinese development projects there.

The international community would certainly welcome a China-brokered peace agreement in any of the conflicts Beijing is currently involved in, they wrote.

However, given Chinas current approach to mediation, such a positive outcome seems unlikely for now.

This article Belt and Road Initiative drives Chinas growing mediation role in world conflicts but peace elusive first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.
U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton speaks during a news conference after a meeting with Russia's Nikolai Patrushev at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

By Stephanie Nebehay and Babak Dehghanpisheh

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said on Thursday he had warned Moscow against meddling in the U.S. midterm elections in November during talks with the head of Russia's National Security Council.

Bolton said he had also raised with Nikolai Patrushev the issue of tightening economic sanctions against Iran and said they had discussed a phased withdrawal of Iran's presence in Syria, but gave no details.

"I made it clear we wouldn't tolerate (election) meddling in 2018 and that we were prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening," Bolton told a news conference after more than five hours of talks with Patrushev in Geneva.

The United States has already imposed economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Moscow denies the allegations.

Bolton said differences over the alleged meddling had prevented the two sides from issuing a joint final statement after the first high-level meeting of its kind since Trump met President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July.

In answer to a question, Bolton said that he had not raised the statement by Microsoft Corp on Monday that hackers linked to Russia's government had sought to launch cyber attacks on U.S. political groups. He noted Microsoft was not a U.S. governmental institution.

LINES OF COMMUNICATION

"I think we made a lot of progress, we identified certain areas where lines of communication could be restored and more work done by the affected agencies - State Dept, Defense Department, other agencies as well," Bolton said.

Patrushev was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying they had broadly agreed to re-open communication lines between their respective foreign and defence ministries.

Bolton, one of the Trump administration's leading hawks in dealing with Iran's nuclear programme, held talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem this week.

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Bolton said on Thursday that following the U.S. decision to withdraw from a 2015 international deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear programme, the Trump administration's objective was to "put maximum pressure on the regime" by making sanctions "more extensive and more effective".

Patrushev had not sought Russian waivers on sanctions during their talks, he added.

Commenting on Iran's role in Syria's long-running conflict, Bolton said: "Our objective is that all Iranian forces return to Iran ... And we talked about a variety of ways in which it might be accomplished through a series of steps."

Bolton, a critic of the New START treaty agreed during Democratic President Barack Obama's administration, said the two sides did not set a date for deciding what to do about the treaty due to expire in 2021.

"We are very very early in the process of considering what we are going to do with New START or the INF treaty," he said, referring to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces pact.

(Additional reporting by Andrey Ostroukh and Tom Balmforth in Moscow; Editing by Gareth Jones and David Holmes)
Ammar Campa-Najjar has a heaven-sent opportunity for an upset win over indicted Duncan Hunter. But Republicans may use his family heritage against him. Photo: Congressional Quarterly/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

The indictment on federal corruption charges of U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter and his wife has created an unexpected California opportunity for Democrats seeking to regain control of the U.S. House. Before the indictment Hunters race in the San Diego Countybased 50th district was rated as Solid Republican by the authoritative Cook Political Report. Cook has now reclassified it as Lean Republican, while noting the odds have the potential to move further. Away from Hunter, that is.

The specific beneficiary of this bad news for Hunter is his Democratic general election opponent Ammar Campa-Najjar, an under-30 former Obama staffer whos been running a left-bent campaign (he was endorsed by the Sanders-created Our Revolution group and the Justice Democrats) with a lot of Bernie-esque progressive energy and very successful fundraising despite a refusal to accept corporate donations. Campa-Najjar has already beaten the odds usually facing a first-time candidate, winning local and state Democratic Party endorsements despite the clear preference of national party officials (including House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, and the congressman from another San Diego district, Scott Peters) for another Democrat, former Navy SEAL Josh Butner. Heres how one friendly publication describes Campa-Najjars appeal:

Campa-Najjar has an atypical background for a candidate for Congress, to say the least. The son of a Mexican-American mother and Palestinian-American father, he spent three years of his childhood living in the Gaza Strip. He did janitorial work to help the family as a teenager. My mom kinda raised me by herself, for most of my life, Campa-Najjar told The Intercept in May. And she couldnt afford a home  single, working-class mom, working as a receptionist at a doctors office, not making too much. So we moved in with my aunt, and then we lived with my grandfather, my moms father. Campa-Najjar later went on to work in politics and government, with jobs with the 2012 Obama re-election campaign, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the White House, and the Department of Labor.

Campa-Najjars ability to turn his own story into an upbeat, inclusive message was illustrated by an op-ed he published in the Washington Post immediately after Trumps election as president:

After not being considered Arab enough in Gaza, Latino enough for the barrio, or American enough in my own country, after so many shut doors, the door to all others finally opened. On that day, in those hallowed halls, I cried. The pain was given purpose: to live to tell you this story and to give others hope .

[E]ven in our darkest hours as a nation, dont let anyone tell you our differences are too vast to bridge, or that your individual struggles are too hard to overcome. Chase the American Dream, have faith in the alchemy of America, turn your pain into purpose and begin writing your own ultimate comeback story.

But there was another obstacle he had to overcome before arriving at his current supreme opportunity. In February the Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed that Campa-Naijars paternal grandfather was one of the perpetrators of the infamous Black September massacre of Israeli atheletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Haaretz gave Campa-Naijjar the opportunity to make his own position on his family legacy clear:

Campa-Najjar doesnt defend the actions of his grandfather, calling them horrific. Innocent civilians were murdered. There is never justification for killing innocent civilians. His thinking is also different from that of his father, whom, according to a 1996 Washington Post article, was proud of Yusuf al-Najjar and refused to accept that killing athletes was more repugnant than the violence of Israeli occupation over the years.

According to Campa-Najjar, Im against comparisonism  competing who suffered more. Too many people have been killed. What my grandfather did was inexcusable. The goal is for our generation to be better than our predecessors, and find a way to end this conflict.

After the Haaretz piece appeared, Campa-Najjar was quickly defended by local rabbis in San Diego, and the controversy, such as it was, blew over. He went on to edge Butner in the June 5 primary and was given the added validation of an endorsement from his former boss Barack Obama.

But now with Hunters indictment Campa-Najjars campaign will come under a brighter and harsher spotlight. Californias 50th is a district Republicans just cant afford to lose: Donald Trump carried it by a 55/39 margin in 2016. The same year Hunter was reelected with 64 percent of the vote even though he was already under investigation by the Federal Election Commission for illegal personal use of campaign funds.

You have to figure Republicans are going to be tempted to bring Campa-Najjars grandfather up again, if only to distract from continued publicity over the abundant examples of Hunters almost comically inept financial shenanigans contained in the federal indictment.

No fair-minded person could possibly blame Campa-Najjar for his grandfathers sins, aside from the fact that he has repeatedly denounced them. He was born in California in 1989, 16 years after Yusuf al-Najjar and his wife were assassinated by an Israeli commando team in a reprisal for the Munich massacre. No one has a shred of evidence linking Campa-Najjar to Palestinian terrorism other than the accident of his birth.

Campa-Najjars inspiring story may not inhibit a desperate incumbent congressman or a GOP frantic to maintain its hold on Congress. If falsely labeling him a socialist (he rejects the label) or simply stressing his decidedly non-Anglo-Saxon background doesnt work, get ready for some serious demagoguery in the 50th Congressional District of California.
President Trump is outspoken in his support for the coal industry, but how much can he change the future of energy? (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, Moment/Getty Images)

The Trump administrations proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan (CPP), President Barack Obamas signature policy to fight climate change, has been widely denounced for prioritizing profits over the public health. Although the administration says it will save jobs in the coal industry, economists think the more likely effect will be to slow the growth of the renewable-energy sector, with fewer new jobs created.

But energy-industry consultants agree the long-term shift away from coal and toward wind and solar power will continue no matter what Trump does.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Tuesday its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, which would allow states to write their own, weaker regulations for power plant emissions or request permission to opt out altogether. Trump boasted about canceling Obamas illegal, anti-coal, destroying regulations and mocked the CPP at a rally in West Virginia that night.

Im getting rid of some of these ridiculous rules and regulations which are killing our companies, our states and our jobs, Trump told the enthusiastic crowd. Just today we announced our new affordable clean-energy proposal that will help our coal-fired power plants and save consumers  you, me, everybody  billions and billions of dollars. Weve eliminated a record number of job-killing regulations.

But coals decline and renewable energys ascent predominantly stem from market forces rather than Obamas policies. Under the CPP, enforceable limits on carbon emissions wouldnt even start until 2022 and would only reach full effect by 2030.

In American electric power generation, there are 574,000 renewable-energy jobs  solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy, geothermal  and only 86,000 coal jobs, according to the Energy Department.

Installers place solar panels on the roof of a residence in San Diego, Calif. (Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)

Noah Kaufman, an economist at the SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said that, taken in isolation, dismantling the CPP is unlikely to have a large effect on the clean energy industry.

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Look at its expected effects on emissions, according to EPA: the CPP wouldve led to power sector CO2 emissions of 36 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, while the Trump plan will lead to 33-34 percent reductions. Doing nothing at all will lead to 33 percent reductions, Kaufman told Yahoo News.

Of course, these estimates are highly uncertain, but the general point that these policies are too weak to significantly change the current market-driven pathway of the U.S. power sector is pretty robust.

On the other hand, he said, the federal governments continued inaction on climate change will hurt future growth in the clean energy industry and set back efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. SIPAs recent research found that a carbon tax starting at $50 per ton would reduce power sector carbon dioxide emissions by 72 to 82 percent by 2030.

A carbon tax, which many economists favor over outright regulation as a more efficient, free-market approach, would be an enormous boon to the clean energy industry, both in the power sector and beyond, Kaufman said.

Gregory Wetstone, the president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a national business group made of companies that finance, develop and use all forms of renewable energy, said the administration is looking for ways to somehow subsidize old power plants so they can compete with renewable energy, which is cleaner and less expensive in most parts of the country.

Wind-turbine blades awaiting transport at a Siemens plant in Iowa. (Photo: Timothy Fadek/Corbis via Getty Images)

If you look at where the Clean Power Plan was going as proposed under President Obama, I think you would conclude that were going there anyway, as a result of economies of scale and technological innovation, Wetstone told Yahoo News. Were seeing dramatic reductions in the cost of wind and solar power that are not able to be matched by anything they can do anywhere in the coal sector.

He said renewable energy is not some kind of partisan, niche, boutique sector  its the largest source of new electricity generation for the past decade.

The idea that we have political leaders that are ready to discount an economic sector thats important is troubling at minimum, Wetstone said.

According to Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a group of business leaders advocating for pro-business and pro-environment policies, Trumps ACE would undercut job growth, hurt the economy and push innovation overseas. E2s Opportunity Lost report argues that undoing the CPP would represent a failure to capitalize on economic benefits for the U.S.

Their analysis found that the CPP could create up to 560,000 jobs and add $52 billion to the gross domestic product in 2030. Naturally, these benefits will vanish if the CPP is repealed. The study also found that undoing the CPP would result in fewer investments in energy efficiency, which would chip away at economic benefits from lower electricity bills.

Repealing the CPP would eliminate a significant opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of additional jobs and billions of dollars in additional economic value, the report reads.

President Trump at the West Virginia rally where he spoke in support of coal and against Obamas Clean Power Plan, Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Trumps critics find it ironic that conservatives like House Speaker Paul Ryan, who condemned Obamas support for renewable energy  because the government shouldnt be picking winners and losers  are now praising Trumps advocacy for the coal industry.

Sharon Pillar, a consultant for E2 in Pennsylvania, expressed pride in her home states traditional-energy history. But she said people in these communities, including most coal workers, know that this is not the future.

Our leaders should be working to reinvent our coal communities to bring in new opportunities so we can diversify our energy mix, Pillar told Yahoo News. The news about repealing the Clean Power Plan is really disheartening and really doesnt make economic sense.

Greg Smith, the founder and president of Energy Optimizers, an energy efficiency company in Ohio, said hes often mistaken for a liberal because of his job but identifies as fiscally conservative and politically independent.

What we do, its got to make financial sense, Smith told Yahoo News. Thats why this industry the last 10 or 15 years has been so awesome. Its a job-growth industry and by the way  not trying to be a tree-hugger  its good for our planet. Last I checked, we only got one of those.

He thinks Trumps actions will slow job growth in clean energy and incentivize the use of older technologies. He said there are more economic opportunities in new-energy technology and wants the U.S. to lead in this realm, but that a few stand to gain from propping up old systems.

A production worker at the SolarWorld solar panel factory in Hillsboro, Ore. (Photo: Natalie Behring/Reuters)

Theres a lot of things that I do personally agree with Trump on, but on this one hes off the mark and listening to people with the wrong intentions: personal financial gain, Smith said. Ill say that openly. Im sorry, the people with money in this country are making the calls to Washington, D.C., and thats not the way our founders intended it.

Energy Optimizers primarily helps K-12 school districts in Ohio identify opportunities to reduce their expenses for electricity and natural gas. He said energy-saving enhancements to these buildings usually pay for the cost of the project.

The beautiful part is that its every workforce that represents the United States. Its not just blue-collar or white-collar, its both, he said. Its blue-collar workers like my dad, who worked in a factory, installing and implementing these technologies. But its also the highly educated engineers and things of that sort able to use their education.

Dan Whitten, a spokesman for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said its not immediately clear how Trumps actions will affect the solar energy industry. He said such long-term policies have a long road to implementation.

We have serious doubts about this proposal, and the long-term impacts are potentially very negative. Were not sure that as written this proposal will ever see the light of day, Whitten told Yahoo News. If it were finalized, it would be a step back in terms of dealing with climate and potentially a step back for clean energy.

Regarding the immediate prospects for the EPAs proposed ACE Rule, he said, The happiest people in Washington right now are the lawyers on both sides who are going to spend the next five years fighting over this.

President Trump salutes his supporters at the rally in Charleston, W.Va., Aug. 21, 2018. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

According to SEIA, the solar industry has seen an average annual growth rate of 59 percent over the last decade. Whitten said it went from being a fraction of one percent of the electricity pie to close to two percent.

We think we can get to five percent over the next five years. While its still a small piece of the pie, its growing, and were moving toward double figures and being a serious player in the electricity pie. I think the market is driving that, Whitten said. The markets not going away. If you have the lowest priced product, youre going to grow.

Dismantling the CPP might buy time for a few isolated coal power plants before they have to close shop. But industry experts say its extremely unlikely that anything will reverse the industrys decline. The EPAs own analysis of the proposed rule found that coal would continue its descent even without environmental regulations.

Bob Inglis, a former Republican congressman from South Carolina, founded the Energy and Enterprise Initiative (E&EI) to research and promote free enterprise solutions to climate change. He expects the long-term nature of the utility business to guide its decision-making more than one administrations policies will.

Im not sure whether the renewable industry is going to be that affected by this decision by President Trump, Inglis told Yahoo News. The power industry makes 40-year generation decisions, and the administration will last perhaps two years, perhaps six years, but almost inevitably something is coming after this administration that will call for a lower carbon footprint.

He said long-term renewables are clearly the future because were heading toward a carbon-constrained world, and the Trump administrations climate change denial is an aberration. He thinks its irresponsible to live in some imaginary world where greenhouse gases are not wreaking havoc.

But as a conservative environmentalist, Inglis never supported Obamas CPP and thinks there should be a carbon tax that charges polluters for how much space they take up in the trash dump of the sky  incentivizing industries to make smart decisions to move away from carbon-intensive energy sources. E&EI supports RepublicEn: an online community of conservatives who describe themselves as energy optimists and climate realists.

According to Wetstone of ACORE, the Trump administration may have little interest in internalizing the traditional energy sectors externalities  pollutions effects on public health and the climate  but businesses have been investing in renewable energy to deal with this problem. He said these externalities are going to be addressed one way or another and that products like electricity generation will be priced in ways that reflect the costs they impose on the planet.

What were talking about here is the biggest externality in the history of economics, Wetstone said. Most people in American business believe this externality is going to be addressed one way or another.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
The startup, named dOptron, has built a next generation quality control technology to help manufacturers speed up the process

dOptron, a startup that uses artificial intelligence and image visioning to improve quality control processes, won the She Loves Tech pitching competition in Singapore last night.

She Loves Tech is a global organisation focussed on promoting women in the technology industry. The company has a conference series as well as the competition around the world.

For winning, dOptron will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two to Beijing which will also include an opportunity to meet mentors, business leaders and the local ecosystem. dOoptron will also compete against 14 other startups from across the world with the chance of becoming the global Grand Champion. Finally, they will have an opportunity to speak at a Women in Tech conference.

I feel very energised, I am very inspired by these people who are stepping up and strengthening the ecosystem. When I speak to female entrepreneurs, they always say, I am so alone in this, I dont have other women in tech that are in my network,' Leanne Robers, Head of Singapore for She Loves Tech, told e27.

Being in She Loves Tech has proven this wrong to me, there are so many women in tech and women impact startups really taking a stage both in Singapore in Southeast Asia and globally, she added.

Also Read: Exclusive: Vietnamese VC firm Startup Viet Partners debuts with US$5M fund

The key takeaway from the She Loves Tech event was the high quality of companies pitching. e27 attends a lot of pitching competitions and even runs its own event with the TOP100 programme. She Loves Tech will be one of the best pitching groups of 2018.

The companies on stage yesterday were one of the highest quality groups of startups pitching all year. Every single company was solid and while winning is nice, their businesses appeared solid enough to not be overly impacted by the results of last night.

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So, with that being said, lets meet the companies!

AIMLedge

This startup is tackling the surveillance camera industry by building a tool to make big data and video analyse more accessible. AIMLedge has built a platform that creates, optimises and deploys deep learning software for any commodity camera.

They claim it reduces the time and cost to go to market by 80 per cent. It can be used to reduce manufacturing costs for businesses or bandwidth costs for security purposes.

Backed by EnterpriseSG, the company makes money per device that uses the software.

CarePod  [Winner of Best Presentation]

CarePod wants to bring first class safety to pet air travel. They sell their top-of-the-line carrier to airlines who then can either white label the product or rent it out as a value add service.

The IoT Pod allows people to monitor their pets, control temperature fluctuations, and it includes a water tank and safety features.

It is first class doggy travel.

Dipp  [Second Place Winner]

Dipp is a marketing agency that has built a tool that allows companies to design social media campaigns in minutes.

The algorithm analyses a customers preferences and then designs a visual that fits their demographics. It also has many variations to prevent advertising fatigue and they are working to integrate with Google Adwords.

The company targets SMEs who do not have a gigantic budget to spend on digital marketing. It is pursuing a freemium business model with a monthly subscription. The startup was launched in February 2018.

dOptron  [First Place Winner]

The She Loves Tech winner uses smart 3D vision along with AI, to allow manufacturers to detect defects in their product.

dOptron calls the technology Smart Depth Profilemetry and claim it is faster, more efficient and cheaper. They say they stand apart from the competition because it does not need to be deployed in hyper-regulated rooms, but rather can be used on a loud, chaotic, manufacturing floor.

Currently, they are targetting smart devices, semiconductors and hardware. They sell a piece of hardware and have software services attached.

Fractal Blockchain

Fractal Blockchain wants to help companies raising an ICO meet their regulatory requirements.

Launched in September 2017, the startup is based in Berlin with a physical presence in Porto, Portugal and Singapore. However, it says it is not restricted to these countries and can help ICOs perform their KYC checks in 150 jurisdictions.

For ICOs, companies have to deal with the regulations from wherever the investor is coming from, which could mean dozens of different laws. Fractal wants to make that process easier for startups. They make money by taking a percentage of the funds raised.

Lily

Lily, a company that pitched at Echelon, is an AI-powered personal health assistant for women. In Southeast Asia, many women feel afraid of asking questions about their personal health.

Lily can help by monitoring and tracking health data both manually and automatically as well as providing an avenue to ask questions and get answers immediately. It charges US$1 for a 10 minute consultation.

The startup pitches itself as being particularly helpful during the pregnancy journey. They are raising US$500,000 to expand the team, scale their business and expand into new markets.

Limitless

Limitless is a company helps millennials save and invest their money.

The problem is that, the difficult decisions of where to put money can be put-off for months, which means not enough money has been saved later in life. The solution is a white label app for banks that helps their customers pick short-term goals while still putting away money for long term retirement.

The idea is that the short-term tangible rewards helps build a savings habit that will improve the long-term results.

Musiio

Musiio is an artificial intelligence for the music industry that wants to help producers find the next great hit. Now we can record music instantly.

Currently, tens of thousands of songs are uploaded to services like Soundcloud and Spotify every day, so finding decent music is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The technology takes the audio file, turns it into a mathematical visualisation, extracts the features, runs it through neural networks and then pushes it onto a platform. The goal is that it helps producers filter out the terrible music and highlights the songs of decent quality.

See-Mode  [Third Place Winner]

A medical technology company, See-Mode helps doctors and hospitals predict the next stroke.

Strokes are caused by plaque blocking blood circulation to the brain, and See-Mode has developed a way to see when its more likely for one person versus another. Plus, it does not require additional tests and can be integrated into MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds.

Also Read: Daily Digest Discussion Thread

It is piloting its project in Singapore, Europe and the US.

The company has closed a seed round of financing.

-

The post Hi-tech quality control startup wins She Loves Tech Singapore pitch appeared first on e27.
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday asked Baltic state leaders for help in convincing the EU to step up pressure on Iran and slammed a Brussels aid package for Tehran. Lithuania's prime minister had earlier proposed talks between the EU and Israel on terror threats and security issues amid tensions over Iran and with the Palestinians. "I unabashedly asked for the help of my friends here in correcting what I think is a distorted position, a distorted view on Israel in the EU," the Israeli premier told reporters at a news conference in Vilnius with his Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts. Netanyahu said the EU failed to "fully understand" Israeli policy on Iran, insisting that Thursday's announcement by the bloc of an initial payment 18 million euros ($20.9 million) for Tehran was "a big mistake". The EU said the funds, part of the landmark nuclear pact concluded with Tehran in 2015, was the first of a wider package of 50 million euros ($58 million) for Iran intended to help it "address key economic and social challenges". But Netanyahu urged a tough approach, hailing the renewed US sanctions on Tehran. "All countries should join the efforts to restore sanctions on Iran in order to press them to stop their aggression and desist on their terrorist activities," he said. Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear pact between world powers and Iran on May 8, reinstating Washington's sanctions on the Islamic Republic and on companies with ties to it. The EU, however, has vowed to keep providing Tehran with the economic benefits it received from the nuclear deal, although many of its bigger companies have already pulled out of Iran for fear of US penalties. - Iran sanctions - Speaking to AFP, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Vilnius would push for Israel's public security minister to address the EU home affairs council "over terrorism threats and other security issues". "We want the discussion to happen as it would help to seek compromise on complicated international issues," he said, without going into further detail. Netanyahu is in Vilnius for a four-day visit -- the first-ever by an Israeli premier -- to boost bilateral ties and build support for Israel's interests in the Middle East. Although Lithuania backs the EU position on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the status of Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal, Skvernelis has said he wants more direct dialogue between the EU and the Jewish state. Lithuania, one of Israel's stronger allies in the European Union, was behind Netanyahu's invitation to meet with EU foreign ministers last December, irking some Brussels officials. - 'Minds and hearts' - Officials said no date had been set for the proposed talks and that the format would depend on reaction from Brussels and other capitals in western Europe, which tend to take a more critical line on Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territory. The prime ministers of Latvia and Estonia joined Netanyahu and Skvernelis for talks later on Friday. "We have had not only a meeting of the minds but also a meeting of the hearts," Netanyahu said following the talks, noting that his family "came from Lithuania over a century ago to what is now Israel". "The fact that the governments here have taken a strong position both on restoring Jewish sites and on fighting anti-Semitism so unequivocally, so clearly, is something that we appreciate deeply." Netanyahu will also meet members of Lithuania's Jewish community and visit a memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims there. Lithuania was once a hub of Jewish learning and home to more than 200,000 Jews before World War II. Over 90 percent of Lithuania's Jews died during the 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of Nazis and local collaborators. Today, Lithuania has a population of 2.9 million population with its Jewish community numbering around 3,000 people.
Prosecutors in Sicily on Saturday opened an inquiry into Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for "illegal confinement, illegal arrest and abuse of power", reports said, over his refusal to allow over 100 rescued migrants off a coastguard ship. At the same time, Salivini suggested that an end to the drama could be in sight telling a political meeting "the migrants on board the Diciotti ship will disembark in the coming hours", adding that they would be taken in by the Italian church "by bishops who are opening their doors, their hearts and their wallets". Authorities earlier allowed a dozen migrants to leave the Diciotti where they have been stranded for days, as it also hailed Albania for offering to accept some of those on board. Rome has blocked most of the migrants from stepping off the boat which docked at the port of Catania in Sicily on Monday night, leaving them trapped as Italy pushes other EU nations to take them in. Their fate has sparked a fresh immigration row between Italy's populist government and the EU, with Rome on Friday threatening to pull some of its funding for the bloc as a "compensatory measure" if it refuses to help. Prosecutors in Sicily said that they were now investigating Salvini in connection with the migrants' plight. The minister earlier brushed aside reports of a broader inquiry into who was responsible saying late Friday that officials were following orders issued by "the director -- that is to say me". Out of a total of 150 people on board, health authorities authorised 17 -- 11 women and six men -- to leave the ship on Saturday. But only 12 disembarked, after several women refused to leave if it meant being separated from family members still on board, media reported. Italy's Foreign Ministry praised Albania "for its decision to welcome 20 refugees from the Diciotti, a sign of great solidarity", in a tweet. Albania, which is not an EU member, is the only country so far to offer to host some of those on board the ship. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) called on EU member states to "urgently" provide places for those stranded on the ship. "In the meantime, UNHCR urges Italian authorities to allow the immediate disembarkation of those on board," it said. - 'Borders of Europe' - Migration is a hot-button issue in Italy, where hundreds of thousands of people have arrived since 2013, fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Under EU rules people must seek asylum in their country of arrival, but Rome has increasingly barred boats from docking at its ports. A high-level meeting of a dozen EU member states in Brussels on Friday failed to produce an immediate solution for the Diciotti migrants. "The European Union has decided to turn its back on Italy once again," Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on his Facebook page. "They want the 20 billion euros ($23 billion) paid by Italian citizens? Then let them demonstrate that they deserve it and that they are taking charge of a problem that we can no longer face alone. The borders of Italy are the borders of Europe," he added. Brussels quickly hit back at Di Maio's "threats" on Friday. EU figures for 2016 say Italy contributed just under 14 billion euros to the EU budget -- less than one percent of its gross national income -- while the bloc spent 11.6 billion euros in Italy. - Far-right boost - Salvini stopped the majority of the migrants disembarking from the Diciotti after they were rescued on August 15, but he allowed 27 unaccompanied minors off the boat on Wednesday. Opinion polls suggest that Salvini's stance has boosted his far-right League party's approval rating to around 30 percent -- a more than 10 point jump from its showing in March's election. It is now level with the Five Star Movement with which it has governed Italy since early June. According to Salvini's own ministry, migrant arrivals are more than 80 percent down on the same period last year, with just over 19,500 arriving up to August 23, compared to 98,000 in 2017.
A week after the Italian coastguard rescued nearly 200 migrants, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday restated his refusal to let them land in Italy and accused EU partners of inaction. "No one will land in Italy without my authorisation," Salvini, of the far-right League party, said in a radio interview. The migrants were rescued by the Diciotti vessel overnight on August 15 in a new drama that has drawn sharp criticism from the left, with former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of the centre-left Democratic Party branding Salvini's handling of the situation a "national disgrace". Salvini meanwhile has renewed accusations that fellow EU states are shirking their responsibilities. In a Facebook post he accused several European countries, including Germany and Spain, of reneging on an agreement to take migrants who were allowed to land in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo in July. "Why should we trust them this time? Before asking for the disembarkation of the Diciotti, Europe should give us explanations. I'm not backing down." Thirteen of the some 190 migrants were allowed off for health reasons on the island of Lampedusa before the vessel carried on to the Sicilian port of Catania. Late Wednesday, Salvini agreed to allow 27 unaccompanied minors off the boat but the rest remain trapped on board, despite calls from the UNHCR and aid agencies for them to be allowed off. Salvini insists those who remain on board are "illegal immigrants" and do not have the right to humanitarian protection accorded to refugees. The nationalities of those still on board is not clear but according to Save the Children almost all of the children who were allowed off on Wednesday are from Eritrea, whose regime of compulsory military service has been likened to slavery by the UN. A psychologist from Medecin Sans Frontieres (MSF), Nathalie Leiba, who treated some of the minors allowed off the boat, said many of them were "exhausted and confused". "One of them couldn't see well, he had dilated pupils, he told me that he had been detained (in Libya) in the dark for a year," she said. Aid workers from Save The Children have been allowed access on to the boat, as well as monitors from a public body which safeguards detainees' rights. Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Agrigento have opened an inquiry into "abduction" over the Diciotti case and according to Italian media reports President Sergio Mattarella has privately expressed concerns that the row could damage Italy's image abroad. - 'Unfair and illegal' - But Salvini has thrived on the controversy and the opportunity to present himself as in tune with public opinion. "There is an inquiry under way, we will see," he said. "I have broad shoulders. I think the majority of Italians agree with me." Opinion polls suggest that his stance is benefiting the League, whose approval rating has risen to around 30 percent -- 10 points up from its showing in March elections -- and is now level with the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) with which it has formed a government. For its part the European Commission said Thursday it wanted "a swift resolution so that the people on board can be safely disembarked as soon as possible". "We are stepping up our pro-active work to find a long-term, durable, European solution," Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein told reporters. He added that a meeting of high-level representatives from around a dozen member states would be held on Friday to discuss the issue. On Thursday the head of Europe's border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, weighed in on the contentious issue saying that unless European countries step up expulsions of illegal migrants "we won't resolve the migrant problem". "If that continues, you send an implicit message to potential migrants: try at any price to get to Europe, because even if you're picked up, you have every chance of staying there," Leggeri said in an interview with the French regional press group Ebra. - Back to Libya - Salvini has repeatedly threatened to send the migrants back to Libya if no European solution to the Diciotti case is found, "Either Europe begins to seriously defend its borders and shares the relocation of immigrants, or we will start taking them back to the port that they left," he tweeted on Tuesday. Mohamad Siala, foreign minister in Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), shot back late on Wednesday that such a move would be "unfair and illegal" given that Libya already has "more than 700,000 migrants" on its territory. According to the interior ministry, migrant arrivals are more than 80 percent down on the same period last year, with 19,526 arriving up to August 23, as opposed to 98,076 in 2017.
Malaysian Celebrity Chef Datuk Redzuawan Ismail  better known as Chef Wan  is notable for speaking his mind, no matter how questionable it is. Like the time when he declared Filipino cuisine the worst food in Asia.

These days, the man is turning his ire to Singapores attempt to get is hawker culture officially recognized in UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

People who lack confidence in their food will go all out to do these things for recognition, Chef Wan told Malaysian publication The Star Online.

Its not necessary to announce to the world that you have this or that. By taking this route, its a bit of arrogant behavior.

During this years National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted how hawker centers are a cultural institution and how the community dining rooms are a unique part of the nations heritage and identity. He believes that the UNESCO inscription for hawker culture will help to safeguard and promote the unique facet of Singaporean life for future generations.

Chef Wan, on the other hand, thinks that Singapore is just trying to claim the name and glory of hawker centers for themselves.

We already fight about everything else, such as territorial claims, oil, and water, he said to The Star. Now, its up to the level where they want to bring their hawker culture to the Unesco.

Another Malaysian celebrity chef Datuk Ismail Ahmad also offered his displeasure at the Singaporean aspiration  with harsher criticism of hawker centers here.

Their hawker centers are beautiful but tasteless, the chef said to The Star.

Ours are very original and diverse. If you go to a hawker center in Malaysia, the food is to die for because of our sensitivity in using fresh ingredients and efforts to sustain the originality of our dishes, he said.

Those be fighting words, lads. Perhaps this discussion can be carried out properly after a hawker stall in Malaysia achieves a Michelin star (*cough* we already have two of em *cough*)  then well be on equal footing.

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Photo: J Pat Carter/The Washington Post/Getty Images

The American people want big government to get its hands on their health care. Over the past two years, polls have consistently found overwhelming opposition to cutting federal health-care spending and broad, bipartisan support for increasing it. A majority of Republican voters believe that Paul Ryan should leave Medicaid and Medicare alone  while Uncle Sam should ensure access to good health care.

The ideological debate over whether every American is entitled to basic medical care, regardless of their ability to pay for it, is over. The Affordable Care Act succeeded in cementing the idea of health care as a right  while the laws failure to arrest the steady growth in premiums and out-of-pocket costs has fueled public demand for further government intervention to secure that right.

On Thursday, Reuters-Ipsos released a poll that shows (what I believe to be) an unprecedented level of support for Medicare for All, the American lefts brand-name for a single-payer, national health-insurance plan. The survey found a whopping 70 percent support for the proposal, with 84.5 percent of Democrats  and 51 percent of Republicans  voicing their approval.

For the moment, this poll is an outlier (Medicare for All tends to poll well, but not this well). And theres reason to think that the aberrantly high level of support it shows for socialized health insurance is a reflection of how nondescript the wording of Reuters question was; voters were asked whether they would support a policy of Medicare for All, but were not provided with any concrete definition of what that policy would entail.

By contrast, a March survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation asked voters Do you favor or oppose having a national health plan, or Medicare for All, in which all Americans would get their insurance from a single government plan? and found only 59 percent of respondents expressing support. Meanwhile, when Kaiser defined Medicare for All as a national health-insurance plan that is open to anyone who wants it but people who currently have other coverage could keep what they have, 75 percent of respondents endorsed the proposal  including 64 percent of Republican voters.

Previous polling from Kaiser has also suggested that both support for and opposition to single-payer are quite malleable. In June 2017, the pollster found 55 percent of voters approving of a single government health-insurance plan. But when Kaiser presented those who initially expressed support with right-wing counterarguments, 20 percent of respondents switched to opposing it; on the other hand, when those who initially opposed the idea were exposed to left-wing, pro-single-payer talking points, 17 percent came around to Bernie Sanderss point of view.

Regardless, nearly 60 percent initial support is pretty darn good for a reform as radical as the elimination of the private health-insurance industry. And Kaisers surveys suggest that the policy has been (slowly but surely) gaining support over time.

These results  combined with the broader data showing a widespread consensus in favor of expanded government involvement in health care  suggest that the conventional wisdom (among mainstream commentators and Democratic consultants) has greatly overestimated the political risks of campaigning on Medicare for All, while underestimating the potential rewards.

But the politics of campaigning on single payer  and the politics of actually implementing it  are two very different things. And data showing broad support for Medicare for All in polls that provide voters with no specific information about the proposals implications for their tax bills, tell us less about the policys viability as a governing agenda than many progressives wish to believe. Once single-payer champions began trying to put taxpayer money where their mouths were in Colorado and Vermont, they proved unable to retain publics support in the face of well-funded opposition. Even in deep blue California, a recent poll found that 53 percent of likely voters back single payer at first blush  but only 41 percent still do once theyre informed that the policy would require new taxes.

To win the fight at the federal level, single-payer advocates will need to weather a blitzkrieg of opposition messaging from every corner of the (profoundly deep-pocketed) health-care industry, and overcome the resistance of at least some risk-averse, ideologically moderate red-state Democrats in the Senate. Doing that will likely require mobilizing a massive, grassroots movement  and coming up with better, more specific answers for the policys skeptics.

Single-payer advocates do have a go-to response to tax concerns: Dont worry, all middle-class Americans will save more on health insurance than theyll lose to the IRS. But this argument lost the day in Colorado and Vermont; and, when applied to the most popular single-payer plans on the left today (i.e. Bernie Sanderss), the claim probably isnt true. As the health-care policy wonk (and single-payer supporter) Jon Walker recently explained:

[U]nderlying the whole message are some economic assumptions that can be tough for people to believe. The biggest is that, by ending a companys need to provide health insurance, companies would raise their employees wages by how much they had previously been paying in premiums.

Even if that is true for many people over the long term, it will not be true for everyone, particularly in the short termFor instance, a company may choose to withhold these wages from employees who arent as valuable as they once were. There are also struggling companies that will do anything to cut costs they think the can get away with, even if it just delays the inevitable. This big benefit/tax transition would give those companies an opportunity to try to hide a pay cut while trying to stay afloat.

Similarly, any federal single-payer bill that effectively takes over Medicaid and pays for it with a new federal tax would free up states current Medicaid spending. To make sure everyone is roughly as well-off, states would need to use the savings for a broad income tax cut which mirrors current premium spending.

The federal government cant make states do this, and since many states dont have an income tax, it would be difficult even if they tried. Some states might use the savings to only cut taxes for the rich or to plug long-term budget holes, hoping voters will blame the federal government when they dont feel the promised tax relief.

There are several different ways that progressives could mitigate the tax issue through policy design. The simplest of these would be to simply make single-payer much cheaper for taxpayers, by mandating drastic reductions in payment rates for pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and hospitals (something existing plans have largely sought to avoid). As Walker notes, specialist physicians in the U.S. make roughly three times what similar doctors earn in Sweden, and twice what those take home in France or the United Kingdom; and the average annual salary among American physicians has grown by nearly $100,000 in just last seven years. Our hospitals and drugmakers are similarly (if not more gratuitously) overpaid by international standards.

Given that the health-care industrys interest groups are bound to loudly oppose any single-payer plan, regardless of its provisions on provider payments, it would probably make more political sense to force big pay cuts on providers than to force giant tax hikes on the entire middle class. And this would also make more policy sense, from both a technocratic and progressive perspective: Having the worlds most well-compensated hospitals, doctors, and drug companies means having a health-care system that regressively redistributes income from working-class Americans to affluent health-care professionals to a greater extent than any other nations.

(To be sure, any plan to impose a massive pay cut on American doctors would need to address the exorbitant costs of our medical schools, and also make it easier for foreign doctors to immigrate to the U.S., to ensure that slashing provider salaries doesnt exacerbate the present shortage of primary-care doctors in our country.).

If progressives would rather avoid inflicting austerity on doctors and hospitals (i.e., the health-care industrys most popular special interests), there are other approaches they could take to overcoming the political obstacles inherent to passing single payer, some of which Walker has outlined.

But all viable strategies will proceed from the recognition that getting Congress onboard with Medicare for All legislation will be far more difficult than getting voters onboard with Medicare for All as an abstract concept has proven to be.
Daniel Tay is the foremost freegan in the nation. Freegan, as in the act of living off free stuff by way of dumpster diving and salvaging unused or damaged goods  even food.

Its Tay that vlogger Nas Daily focuses on in his latest one-minute video while hes in Singapore. Tays adventures have been well documented in the past, with the treasures he found (including branded bags, iPods, cologne, a PlayStation 3, and more) being posted about on his blog. But its something that not many folks overseas would expect in a country prominently featured in a film about obscenely wealthy East Asians. Now they do, thanks to the Facebook influencers latest clip.

But that one-minute format isnt enough to fully encapsulate what Tay really does, and folks are already labeling him as a freeloader and a cheapskate whos taking advantage of the kindness of others.

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In reality, Tay has actually done a lot of good through his Freegan endeavors. The man has organized bread rescue operations, where he and fellow freegans gather perfectly good bread from bakeries that could have gone to waste and redistribute them to the needy. Hes gone around collecting vegetables that sellers dont want to sell anymore and passed it on to soup kitchens. He holds free workshops to share knowledge on how to repair broken things instead of just throwing them away.

In other words, Tays intention is to raise awareness that society produces so much waste when therere actually ways to reduce them. Nas and other Singaporeans familiar with Tay have leaped to his defense on Facebook.

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If the Nas Daily clip does Tay an injustice, heres Channel NewsAsias extensive feature on the mans work.

The post Nas Dailys new feature on Singapore highlights dumpster diving, but some are turned off by it appeared first on Coconuts.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began a groundbreaking visit in Lithuania on Thursday, saying he hoped to deepen ties with eastern EU nations as Brussels blasted Israel's plans for fresh settlements in the West Bank. Dozens of Pro-Palestinian activists waved Palestinian flags and chanted that Netanyahu was "not welcome" while railing against Lithuania's warm ties with Israel outside government buildings in the capital Vilnius, where he held talks with his Lithuanian counterpart Saulius Skvernelis. Netanyahu thanked Skvernelis for the "strong position you've taken in forums of the EU on behalf of truth, on behalf of Israel, on behalf of decency". "Israel is often mistreated by the EU in Brussels, there are many distortions that are levelled at us, and it is refreshing to see that you take a stand of clarity, of truth and of courage, and we discussed how that can be expanded," Netanyahu added. Israel approved plans for more than 1,000 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, prompting EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic to say that the bloc was "strongly opposed" to Israel's "illegal" settlement policy, calling it "an obstacle to peace". The settlements "would further jeopardise the prospect of a contiguous and viable future Palestinian state," she said on Thursday. Netanyahu said he wanted "to achieve a balance in the European Union's not always friendly relations with Israel" before boarding his plane for the first-ever visit by an Israeli premier to Lithuania. He will meet the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Vilnius on Friday during the visit, which is set to last until Sunday. He will also pay tribute to Lithuania's once vibrant Jewish culture and its tragic end during the Holocaust. - Advocates in EU - Lithuania has traditionally been one of Israel's better friends in the European Union, a result in part of the Holocaust's legacy and close alignment with the US. The Baltic nation was behind Netanyahu's invitation to meet with EU foreign ministers in Brussels last December, irking some EU officials. "Lithuania and the other Baltic states are probably regarded by Netanyahu as voices that could play the role of Israel's advocates inside the EU," Vilnius University professor Ramunas Vilpisauskas told AFP. Netanyahu has regularly sought sympathetic ears within the EU, particularly among countries that can serve as a counterweight to the critical treatment Israel often receives from western European nations over its policies in the Palestinian territories it occupies. Netanyahu has also been eager to convince European countries to exert more pressure on Iran after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and reimposed sanctions -- something Israel had advocated. The EU was one of the signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, which it has sought to salvage after the US withdrawal. The European countries say the deal is working as intended, keeping Israel's arch-enemy Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons for now. Netanyahu also praised the "good" decision of Air France and British Airways to halt flights to Tehran next month, a move the carriers said they were taking due to low profitability amid the renewed US sanctions. - Jewish heritage - Many Israelis have origins in Lithuania, including Netanyahu's grandmother, who was born in the northern town of Seduva. "Lithuania was my ancestor's home for many generations. The story of Lithuania's Jews is both one of great triumph and great tragedy," Netanyahu said. "You have taken great steps to commemorate the victims of Holocaust, to speak openly about this horrible crime that must never be repeated," he added, also thanking Skvernelis for his efforts to fight anti-Semitism. Netanyahu will meet with members of the Jewish community in Lithuania and visit a memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims there. He will also award a Lithuanian family the title of Righteous among the Nations for having saved their Jewish neighbours from the Nazis. Lithuania was once a hub of Jewish learning and home to more than 200,000 Jews before World War II. Over 90 percent of Lithuania's Jews died during the 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of Nazis and local collaborators. The country's 2.9 million population today includes around 3,000 Jew.
Ready to have your hearts warmed, and some faith restored in the future of humanity? Well, here is a feel-good Friday story:

via Sinchew

Meet Khairul, a local security guard at the oft-visited, tourist attraction (and place of worship!) Putra Mosque in Putrajaya. Hailing originally from Kelantan, he moved to Kuala Lumpur 15 months ago, and has since been throwing himself into learning as many new languages as possible in an attempt to better communicate with visitors.

Chinese daily Sinchew wrote a wonderful and extensive profile on the guard, who reports that his 12-hour-plus shifts have become on the ground classrooms for him in learning to be conversational in Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Farsi and English.

Taking initial simple phrases of instruction, hes now expanded into new vocabulary words, changing his verb tenses and more accurate pronunciation with the help of tourists who are impressed with his can-do, proactive attitude. He keeps a log of his notes in a book that he carries with him while on duty.

via Sinchew

Khairul explained that hell take new words and phrases, and then use them over the week with mosque visitors. Eventually, he commits them to memory and is able to use them in constructing other, new sentences, and BAM! next thing you know, youre telling the Korean tourist how the price of chicken rice isnt what it used to be (only us?).

Tourists have appreciated the effort, and Khairul explains that when he speaks to them in their native tongue on wearing appropriate mosque attire, they respond positively, comply and probably also make his job a lot more pleasant.

via Sinchew

Somewhere in this sweet story is a less than subtle lesson in how a little bit of effort from both sides equals not just a life rich in language knowledge (wouldnt we all love to be polyglots?), but also a greater understanding of each other, and a willingness to listen.

While you sit there, wondering what happened to all that Mandarin you learned in school for years and where it went, well also let you know that Khairuls first language was a local dialect spoken in Kelantan, and before he got his Thai/Vietnamese/Korean/Japanese/Farsi/Mandarin/English hats on, he had to get his Bahasa up to snuff. So, you can add Bahasa to his list of recently acquired languages.

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Thank you, Khairul, for reminding us that some of us are out there living the example.

Also, should we be sending this kid to study linguistics? He seems keen.

The post Putrajaya mosque security guard learns several languages to better communicate with visitors appeared first on Coconuts.
TGIF. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As an increasing number of President Trumps former associates find themselves ensnared by federal criminal investigations, the president still holds one trump card, as it were, to try to convince them not to blabber about his unsavory past: the power of the presidential pardon. The newly disloyal Michael Cohen, who has shown little compunction about damaging the president, may be a lost cause. But in the case of ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort  who has steadfastly maintained the code of omerta the president respects so dearly  Trump has reportedly considered wielding his awesome power as a reward.

Theres one major problem with Trumps plan, though (other than the abject corruption and potential for constitutional crisis, that is): Presidential pardons do not cover state-level charges.

This is why the news that Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance is considering pursuing charges against the Trump Organization may be such a significant development.

As with so much else that is plaguing the president right now, the charges would involve the $130,000 Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels in 2016, to ensure that she would not go public with the story of her affair with Trump. The New York Times reports:

The Trump Organization recorded the reimbursement as a legal expense. But Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trumps longtime fixer, said on Tuesday that he paid Ms. Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence during the 2016 campaign. Federal prosecutors have said the reimbursement payments were for sham legal invoices in connection with a nonexistent retainer agreement. Mr. Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance charges, did no legal work in connection with the matter, prosecutors said.

Theres more. The Times also reports that New Yorks attorney general, Barbara Underwood, is moving forward with state-level tax fraud charges against Michael Cohen, who already pleaded guilty to similar, federal charges in court this week.

The new charges would center around whether the Trump Organization falsified the representation of the payment made to Daniels. If it could be proven that such falsification was intentional, the company could be hit with felony charges. And if the accusations roped in other Trump Organization figures who might have knowledge of suspicious activity, and who could not be dissuaded from talking by the possibility of a pardon, things could get even messier than they are now.

As the Washington Posts Catherine Rampell writes, Cohens plea this week raised the question of whether the president, who has been speaking in the vernacular of a mob boss more than ever, committed the crime that famously brought down Al Capone: criminal tax fraud.

As a nerve-racking week for the president draws to a close, this is not what the man needs.
Singapores Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan held a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Anthony Loke last week to talk about joint transportation projects like the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS).

Map of Rapid Transit System (RTS) route expected to be completed by 2024

Singapores Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan held a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Anthony Loke last week to talk about joint transportation projects like the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS).

The ministers look forward to strengthening transport collaboration, and to bring the RTS Link project to fruition, which will ease congestion at our existing land checkpoints, a representative from MOT told Channel NewsAsia.

While the RTS link is expected to lessen traffic congestion in the Causeway by a maximum of 15 percent upon its completion by 2024, that government of Singapore and Malaysia missed the deadline earlier this year to set-up a joint venture (JV) that will run the RTS. This is because the latter is currently looking into the contracts inked by the previous administration.

In July, Loke insisted that Malaysia is still committed in undertaking the RTS project, and a working paper pertaining to it will soon be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.

Aside from that, a MOT spokesperson revealed that Khaw talked with Malaysias Minister of Economic Affairs Mohamed Azmin Ali at Putrajaya to continue the discussion they had on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.

Previously, both ministers met in Singapore on 11 August to discuss the fate of the large-scale transport project that is estimated to cost RM110 billion (S$37 billion), and both had agreed to continue their talks.

In June, Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that they will negotiate with Singapore to defer the 350km rail project amidst Malaysias high federal debt of more than RM1 trillion (S$337.9 billion).

Eugenia Rosaline Shlaen edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email eugenia@propertyguru.com.sg
US President Donald Trump's national security advisor on Friday said Washington does not "exclude" the possibility of territorial adjustments in the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, a notion Western powers have staunchly opposed in the past. "If the two parties can work it out between themselves and reach agreement -- we don't exclude territorial adjustments," John Bolton said during a press conference in Ukraine's capital Kiev. "And I do not think anybody in Europe would stand in the way if the two parties reach the mutually satisfactory settlement," he said. "I think they both can be congratulated for the early tentative discussions that they had." Bolton's comments signal a shift in the US position on border changes in the fragile region still haunted by the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia. The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo are in EU-brokered talks to overcome a bitter diplomatic stalemate that has thwarted both governments' aspirations to join the bloc. At the heart of the "frozen conflict" is Belgrade's refusal to recognise Kosovo -- an ethnic Albanian majority province that broke away from Serbia after a bloody guerilla conflict in the late 1990s, declaring independence in 2008. Another sticking point is Belgrade's desire to keep strong links with the Serb minority in northern Kosovo. Recent talk by both parties about possible border adjustments raised fears of potential conflict in the region still simmering with ethnic tensions, with both Germany and the UK warning that such rhetoric can lead to instability.
The United States has asked the UN Security Council to blacklist two Russian shipping firms and six Russian-flagged vessels for violating sanctions against North Korea, diplomats said Thursday. The request presented to a UN sanctions committee on Wednesday was the third attempt by the United States in two months to turn up the pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs. In the latest request, the United States asked that two Russian shipping firms -- Primorye Maritime Logistics and Gudzon Shipping -- be hit by an assets freeze and blacklisted for their alleged dealings with North Korea. The shippers own a tanker, the M/V Patriot, which conducted ship-to-ship transfers of oil to North Korea tankers twice earlier this year, according to US officials. The US Treasury Department on Tuesday slapped unilateral sanctions on the two Russian companies and the six vessels. The UN sanctions committee has until August 29 to consider the US request, according to diplomats, who expect Russia to oppose the measure. Russia and China this month blocked a US bid to add a Russian bank, a North Korean official and two entities to the UN sanctions blacklist. In July, the two countries delayed a US request to cut off fuel deliveries to North Korea. Russia and China have called on the Security Council to consider easing sanctions to reward North Korea for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier announced he will be making his fourth trip to North Korea next week, this time with the new US envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun. The United States has called for maintaining "maximum pressure" from sanctions until North Korea has fully dismantled its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The Security Council last year adopted three rafts of sanctions that banned exports of North Korea's raw commodities and other goods, and severely restricted imports including crucial deliveries of oil. The sanctions are aimed at cutting off sources of revenue for North Korea's military programs.
Well always have Singapore? Photo: Kevin Lim/The Strait Times via Getty Images

Before his face-to-face summit with Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump insisted that the North Korean dictator could not be trusted with a nuclear weapons program of any kind. During that historic meeting in Singapore, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that complete denuclearization is the only outcome that the United States will accept from Pyongyang.

By the summits end, the Trump administration had made no significant progress toward achieving that goal. Pyongyang did reiterate its firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But North Korea had long expressed such a commitment, and in much the same spirit that American presidents (used to) tout their fond desire to see a world without nuclear weapons. The complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, in Kims view, would require the total and verifiable elimination of Americas capacity to strike his nation with a nuclear weapon. His statement did not indicate that he was willing to be the first to disarm.

And yet, when Trump returned to the United States, he announced that his mission had been accomplished. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea, the president tweeted.

And one could reasonably argue that Trump was right. After all, many North Korea experts believe that the regime is rational, and would never launch a (suicidal) nuclear first strike on the United States. Thus, the primary threat posed by Kims program was, arguably, that its existence would inspire Trump to launch a mass-casualty conflict on the Korean peninsula. By all appearances, Trumps meeting with Kim had put that threat to rest. In Singapore, the president reached a peace deal with himself: In exchange for tacitly tolerating a nuclear North Korea, Trump gave himself credit for a historic diplomatic triumph.

To be sure, the Trump administration carried on making earnest attempts to realize its official goal of denuclearization. But Pompeos failure to make meaningful progress in three trips to North Korea did not damper the presidents enthusiasm for what he had accomplished at his historic summit with Kim. And when the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report Monday arguing that North Korea is likely expanding its nuclear capacity, Trump voiced no public concern at the news. His commitment to pretending that Pyongyang had met his demands appeared to be unshakeable.

But that just changed.

In a series of tweets Friday afternoon, Trump announced that he had cancelled Pompeos impending trip to North Korea, because because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Notably, Trump attributed this lack of progress to China  rather than to Kims regime  arguing that Beijing had ceased helping with the process of denuclearization, in an apparent response to the administrations tougher Trading stance.

The president nonetheless signaled optimism about the prospects for further cooperation between Washington and Pyongyang, writing, Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!

It is unclear why Trump finally decided to acknowledge the fact that North Korea is not actually dismantling its nuclear program, much less, why he opted to take the drastic measure of cancelling Pompeos trip just days before it was set to commence. But if the president is no longer content to pretend that North Korea is denuclearizing, the self-engineered nuclear crisis that he resolved in Singapore could flare up again in the near future.
Andrew Cuomo promises lawsuits to protect state efforts to reclassify some state and local taxes as charitable contributions. Photo: Kevin Hagen/Getty Images

One of the really big deals in the 2017 Trump tax bill was the provision limiting the deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT). Designed pretty explicitly as a screw the high-tax blue states provision, and generating precious billions for cuts in corporate and high-end individual tax rates, the move enraged people in states like New York, California, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and lost Republicans some House votes (though not enough to endanger passage) of the bill. It limited the total SALT deduction (covering both state and local sales and income taxes and local property taxes) to $10,000; both types of deductions were unlimited previously.

About a third of taxpayers in New York and California have taken the SALT deduction in the recent past, with the average deduction being over $21,000 in New York and about $17,000 in the Golden State. Over 40 percent of taxpayers in Connecticut and Maryland took it, too. Unsurprisingly, state officials immediately began developing workarounds that would maintain the value of the SALT deduction without violating federal tax laws. The most common involves reclassifying some state tax payments as charitable contributions:

New York, Connecticut and New Jersey have adopted proposals allowing taxpayers, to varying degrees, to sidestep the SALT cap by recharacterizing their state and local tax payments as charitable contributions, which remain fully deductible. Other blue states like California and Illinois have considered similar moves.

Now the Empire is striking back at the Empire State and others, as the New York Times reports:

The Treasury Department moved on Thursday to block states from circumventing new federal limits on state and local tax deductions.

A proposed Treasury Department rule, certain to face legal challenges from several states, would limit the type of charitable contributions that Americans are allowed to deduct on their federal taxes. The rule would effectively exclude donations that are rewarded with state tax credits.

The new rule would deduct the value of any state tax credits from the amount deductible as a charitable contribution on federal forms, thus neutering the workaround.

There is a bit of a collateral damage problem, however:

[I]t could also adversely affect taxpayers in other states, where such credits were already being given for contributions made to certain private or charter schools and universities, land donated for conservation purposes and donations to housing assistance programs.

The private-school donations tax break is beloved of many Republicans, so that could be an issue depending on how the courts construe the rule during the inevitable litigation. And there will definitely be some of that, as Politico reports:

[New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo denounced the new rules as politically motivated, adding: We will use every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to fight back.

In New York, we will not stand for this abuse of government power, he said. We are confident that the recently enacted opportunities for charitable contributions to New York State and local governments are consistent with federal law and follow well-established precedent.

New York, along with Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey, is already in court alleging that the limitation on SALT deductions is an unconstitutional usurpation of state taxing powers.

Its obviously a good thing politically for Cuomo, who is facing a left-bent primary challenge from Cynthia Nixon, to get into another public fight with the Trump administration. But the administration and its congressional allies clearly think their heartland base supporters love nothing better than sticking it to coastal elites. Theyll all see each other in court.
Sorry, fans of the color yellow, but dressing up like Cher from Clueless is out, and dressing up like an honest-to-goodness bird is in. Recently, several famous women have embraced a look I like to think of as chicken-chic, an abundance of yellow fur (or occasionally, feathers) that combines the hue of a package of Peeps with the luscious plumage of a silkie.

While fur in various shades has gone in and out of style since the beginning of time, this particular strain of the trend seems to have begun, as all good celebrity trends do, with Rihanna at the Met Gala. In 2015, as part of the events China: Through the Looking Glass theme, Rihanna arrived in a bright yellow dress that weighed 55 pounds, featured an enormous train, and was trimmed, crucially, in fox fur.

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The dress was created by Chinese designer Guo Pei for her 2010 collection, but Rihanna was the first to wear it on the red carpet. And so, Rihanna and Guo laid the style egg that was piles and piles of yellow furbut it took three whole years before the world was ready for it to hatch. Now, in 2018, other celebrities are just starting to catch on: In a promotional photo for her upcoming Liberation tour, Christina Aguilera wears a similarly downy, off-the-shoulder, yellow floof of a coat, paired with a chain necklace.

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Janelle Monae, in a photoshoot for Bustle, wore a ruffled dress designed by David Ferreira that even further leaned into the avian implications of the trend, with massive sleeves that resemble wings.

But no one has worn the look more boldly this year than Constance Wu, whose stunning Time Magazine cover shows the actress sporting old-Hollywood waves and bright red lipstick while engulfed by a cloud of yellow.

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As my colleague Inkoo Kang points out, this was a particularly inspired choice of outfit for Wu, since her Crazy Rich Asians character is involved in a game of chicken with her love interests mother, inspiring her to live by the motto: Bok bok, bitch. (And its even better when you know that Wu improvised the line.)

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Chickens arent only taking over the fashion world in 2018: Theyre also finding their way into the music industry. At Eurovision, Nettas Toy, a song packed with clucking, head-bobbing, and wing-flapping, triumphed. True, there was nary a feather nor tuft of fur to be seen, but the song captures the spirit of chicken-chic.

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If you, too, would like to get in on the fuzzy chicken look, this faux fur coat from Tibi will set you back $695. Thats a lot to spend to look like your stylist is Big Bird, but you also have more affordable options. However, know this: No matter how fluffy your outfit, youll never outdo the original.

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If #Resistance culture is a fleet, Pod Save America is its flagship. According to the New York Times, the podcast has roughly as many listeners as Anderson Cooper has viewers. The show partners with left-aligned organizations like MoveOn and Swing Left, helping to raise money for candidates, register voters, and organize volunteers. Crooked Media, the media company founded by Pod Save Americas hosts, has become a miniempire for poppy, politically minded podcasts: In the past two years, it has sent as many as 10 different podcasts into the top two spots on the iTunes charts, with at least four making it to No. 1. The show and its T-shirts are seemingly everywhere and can seemingly get anyone even a smidge to the left of the median American voter to appear on it and be interviewed. Soon theyll even be on HBO.

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And its not hard to see the appeal. Cast your mind back to early January 2017. Trump isnt in office yet. The Womens March is still being organized, and turnout for it is unclear. Russian interference in the election is a relatively minor story, and no one is talking about Robert Mueller. Yet you, a Hillary Clinton voter, are still filled with a gnawing sense of emergency. The best president of your lifetimenot a high bar to clear, but stillis stepping down, and every time theres some kind of discussion of his legacy, you have to click away because the grief is too great. Suddenly, everyone is an expert on the fall of the Roman Republic or Weimar Germany. Every time you log onto Facebook or Twitter, you enter a panic spiral as friend after friend informs you that experts in authoritarianism advise you to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so youll remember. I know! I know! You think, but what can I do? Theres a chasm of despair yawning in front of you, and every time you ask if the best years of your life are behind you, or wonder if the American Experiment has maybe already ended, you take another step closer to it.

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Everyone on Pod Save America agrees on just about everything, and if you listen to the show, you probably agree, too.

But then you hear that these four good-looking guys, all of whom actually worked for that Best President Ever, have a podcast. The title of its first episode, Repeal and Go F*ck Yourself, references the GOPs forthcoming attempts to destroy Obamacare. And in its opening minutes, co-host Tommy Vietor sets out the mission for this new venture. He tells you that a problem with the last election was that there wasnt a good place to talk about politics like a human being, that our national conversation lacked a space to try to understand not just what was happening but what you can do about it. Thus, the podcast. Over the course of 80 or so minutes, they make you laugh, they share some stories from inside the Oval, and they tell you actual things you can do. Theres still, well, hope! And who better, you think, to explain how the sausage gets made, and how you can help influence its ingredients, than four former chefs from your favorite restaurant?

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Pod Save Americas format is as fixed as the tides. Jon Favreau and his co-hosts (Vietor, Jon Lovett, and Dan Pfeiffer) discuss two to three recent political events or news stories, punctuated by ads and a short interview with a politician or activist. Theres a few action items scattered throughout, as well as lots of riffing, especially from Lovett, the shows comic relief (and host of Lovett or Leave It, a kind of lefty Wait Wait  Dont Tell Me!). Favreau asks each of the co-hosts questions about the news stories, but the questions are anodyne, the answers almost meaningless. Their biggest takeaway from the August primaries and special elections was that every vote matters. After Trump tried to walk back the infamous Helsinki press conference with Putin in which he appeared to side with Putin over U.S. law enforcement agencies, Favreaus hard-hitting questions included, Shall we start to enumerate all the different ways that [Trumps] explanation was a steaming pile of horseshit? Everyone on Pod Save America agrees on just about everything, and if you listen to the show, you probably agree, too.

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Pod Save Americas value as actual news and political analysis is very low. The Trump administrations deviance from the institutional norms of the executive branch and the behavioral norms of nontoddlers has rendered the hosts insider expertise essentially irrelevant. You will almost never hear an interesting or provocative argument, nor will you hear them discuss undercovered but important news stories of the day. Informing you and challenging you are not the shows functions. Pod Save America exists to do three things: confirm to the audience that they are not crazy and This Is Not Normal, rile the audience up with humor and outrage, and direct that energy toward concrete action items that will help elect Democrats and push back against the GOPs agenda.

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The shows aims are thus identical to those of a political speech, which is not a coincidence, as the hosts backgrounds are as spokespeople and speechwriters. Pod Save Americas success as a political tooltheyve raised more than $1 million for candidates, sent thousands of volunteers to town halls, and created a simple tool to help boost voter registration is a testament to how effective this approach can be.

When The Wilderness could be analyzing history to find a way forward, it chooses instead to feel the history at you.

But it also can make for wearying listening. The stories they cover are the same stories everyone else covers. Their point of view is identical to that of any number of interchangeable political writers and random people who are likely clogging your Twitter feed. If you have a circle of politically aware liberal friends, you have almost certainly had conversations as interesting and incisive as the ones you will hear on the show (although they may not have been as funny). Saying anything particularly original would, after all, interfere with the shows actual purpose by introducing the possibility that there is something the audience, or the hosts, could be wrong about. This certainty, this easygoing authority that comes from being young white men who have actually been in the room where it happens, is what is most grating about Pod Saves America, but it is also the key to the good that it does. Without it, we wouldnt know to trust them when they tell us we are right, or when they urge us to call our senators.

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Yet, as their new show The Wilderness demonstrates, this approach is a liability when its time to move beyond political action into substantive analysis. The Wilderness is a new limited podcast series, hosted again by Favreau. Its a work of incredible ambition, and it is, like every Crooked Media podcast, incredibly popular: It went to No. 1 on iTunes based on only a trailer and stayed atop the chart for much of last month. In it, Favreau wants to tell the story of how the Democrats lost their way electorally and how they could find their way back, with deep dives into hot-button issues like immigration, race, and how Democrats managed to screw up 2016 so badly. It is, in other words, meant to be the vehicle for the kind of analysis and soul-searching that Pod Save America avoids. The Wilderness thus ditches PSAs chatty, bro-y feel of in favor of scripted narration from Favreau punctuated with interviews with a hundred or so political analysts and insiders as well as data from focus groups. The goal couldnt be more admirable, or the access to interview subjects more broad, but time and again it defaults to the impulses of a speechwriter. Often, when The Wilderness could be analyzing history to find a way forward, it chooses instead to feel the history at you.

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I cant help but wonder whether liberals should be going to the people who helped dig the hole theyre in to teach us how to climb out of it.

Its chief weapon against your emotional defenses is the audio collage, pulled from news clips, underscored by either sentimental or mildly threatening music. These are used to extreme effect during the episodes on Obamas presidency and the 2016 election, both of which function like sense-memory exercises in a method acting class, transporting you into emotional states you thought you had left behind in lieu of teaching you anything. The multipart examination of race in America ends not with any kind of real reckoning with how racism makes the job of selling a progressive agenda harder but rather with Favreau waxing nostalgic about co-writing the race speech with Barack Obama and a lengthy clip of Obama delivering it. The immigration episode turns into an apologia for Obamas deportation of more than 2 million people and concludes with Favreau prompting Cecilia Munoz, director of Obamas White House Domestic Policy Council, to tell him a story about a letter she received from Ted Kennedy. Im not sure I can do it without crying, but I will do my best, she says. The letter, sent to her after bipartisan immigration reform failed in 2007, thanks her for her work on the issue and tells her that while they didnt succeed this time, someday they would. My plan was to take that letter with me to the signing ceremony when Barack Obama signed an immigration reform bill  and, uh, its going to be a bit of a wait, and Barack Obama isnt going to be the one to sign that bill. As heavenly strings swell in the background, Favreau reassures her, Someday. Someday well get there. Its a lovely little moment of drama, but it brings us no closer to answering how the Democratic Party should handle immigration, morally or politically.

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In part, this may be because answering those questions means reckoning with Barack Obamas presidencyand the actions of the Democratic Party under himin its full complexity. It means looking at how, by creating DACA, they set the stage for a more humane immigration status quo but deported more people than Donald Trump. It means looking at how they saved the economy but left a flawed system and the people who ran it pretty much intact. Or how they expanded health care access but still did not do enough to help people in need. How they ended the Iraq war but ensured that our forever war in the Middle East would continue unabated. Or how Obama inspired so many to vote for him but oversaw the decimation of the Democratic Party at the state level.

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Doubt is rarely helpful when it comes to political mobilization.

These successes and failures are in part the successes and failures of Favreau, Lovett, Vietor, and Pfeiffer, because they helped sell them. Its thus somewhat head-spinning to hear them all denounce the kind of conciliatory, bipartisan, overly deferential approach that was so deeply ingrained in Obamas politics. Early on, there was the occasional tut-tutting about polarization, but now the Pod Save America crew wants the Democratic Party to hit hard, to experiment broadly, to run the most progressive electable candidate in each district, and to refuse to compromise. They decry the centrist establishment and political-consultant class that they themselves were, if not a part of, at least adjacent to and dependent on. Its as if having seen that the things they knew to be true were wrong, they have pivoted to knowing a different set of things to be true, rather than asking how they got it wrong in the first place. Instead of a process of questioning, they have continued a process of answering, but with different answers. I happen to agree with this new set of answers, but I cant help but wonder if maybe liberals should be turning to people whose analysis was right to begin with, rather thanjust as they did after the Iraq war or the financial crisisrelying on the people who helped dig the hole theyre in to teach them how to climb out of it.

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Is that a petty thing to write? After all, my podcast doesnt get people to register to vote or save Obamacare. Sometimes a couple weeks go by before I realize I didnt call my reps! As a critic, my stock in trade is doubt. And doubt is rarely helpful when it comes to political mobilization. You can wonder, Is this the right thing to do? and Am I the right person to do it? for so long that you never actually do anything. Besides, if we truly are in an emergencyand I believe we areis this really the time to fight about who gets taken seriously and who doesnt? Crooked Medias hosts arent useless compulsive tweeters in the vein of Seth Abramson or fantasists like Louise Mensch. They care a great deal about making the world a better place and they have found a way to go about it while providing solace to a still-injured left. Pod Save America is of particular value to my friends who live outside of liberal enclaves. It provides them the kind of conversation and reinforcement they cant get where they live.

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Democrats are not in disarray. If anything, theyre the most arrayed theyve been in a long time. Being in the minority has a galvanizing, unifying effect, and while the job of opposing everything Trump does is nearly impossible, its also simple and clear. But the future of the party, and of the left, is far from simple or clear. The divisions are real and, like all conflicts, only get more dangerous the longer they remain sublimated. Since the election, weve seen them bubble up in surprisingly heated proxy conflicts like the struggle over which person with nearly identical political views should head the DNC or over whether rising Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs agenda will play in the Midwest.

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There will be a moment in the futuremaybe as soon as 2020when our present crisis feels less acute. A moment when, inshallah, the Democrats have power again, and they have to figure out what to do with it. In that moment, the #Resistance will have to keep working. It will need to push against the Democratic Party and its complacency and against our own sense that everything will now be OK, because that feeling is part of how we got here in the first place. It will have to address the various structural hurdlesfrom voter disenfranchisement to the Electoral College and the structure of the Senatethat keep Democrats from power, while simultaneously using the power they have to avert any number of catastrophes. Democrats will have to address those lingering conflicts that theyve worked so hard to keep under wraps as they focus on winning elections. For all its charm, insider information, and access, its unclear whether Pod Save America will be suited to that time to come. But the fact that listeners can imagine it coming at all is partly due to the show and its firm belief that there is something they can do beyond despair.
This article is published through a partnership with New York Medias Strategist. The partnership is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected by New York Media. If you buy something through our links, Slate and New York Media may earn an affiliate commission.

Stand in front of the olive-oil section at the grocery store and youll start asking questions.

Is this one better for cooking or finishing? Should I stick to Italian oils, or try Greek or Spanishor Portuguese? Why would I spend $35 on a single bottle?

These are valid. Experts will tell you that buying olive oil (that is, extra-virgin olive oil) really comes down to personal preference, and finding your favorite is all about experimenting. Try enough oils and youll start to notice different flavor profileslike piquant, peppery, mild, grassy, fieryand which one you like best. But there are still a few easy ground rules to follow: Look for dark or opaque bottles because olive oil doesnt like light. Read the label to learn the countryor countriesof origin, the harvest date, and to make sure its truly extra virgin (pure, light, or just olive oil are not substitutes for EVOO).

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People like to compare olive oil to wine, but theres one massive difference: Olive oil does not benefit from age at all, says Nancy Harmon Jenkins, author of Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil. Olive oil only lasts for about 18 months. If youre worried that your oil has gone bad, food writer Kimberly Stewart has an easy test: Rancid oil smells like childrens Play-Doh, she says, or mouse urine. And on that note, we gathered 14 recommendations from chefs, importers, and food writers on the best extra-virgin olive oils to use for any occasion.

Best Olive Oils for Everyday Use

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Jenkins calls California Olive Ranch a good beginner olive oil thats affordable, versatile, and available in three different flavors for everyday use. Theyve also been certified by the California Olive Oil Council. Stewart, author of Eating Between the Lines, also uses California Olive Ranch often and noted that the producers manage to maintain the quality of the oil while keeping the price fairly low.

BUY: California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Oil

$15, Amazon

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Erin Shambura, owner and chef at Fausto in Brooklyn, recommends the medium-bodied Italian Monini Extra Virgin Olive Oil for daily use. It has a fruity, grassy flavor, and can be used for both drizzling and for cooking meats, vegetables, and sauces.

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BUY: Monini Extra Virgin Olive Oil

$24, Amazon

Best Olive Oils for Finishing

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Youll hear a lot about the high quality of Tuscan olive oils from experts, and Jenkins is no different. Its the best oil in the world, she says. Tenuta di Capezzana is a Tuscan oil produced outside Florence, and Shambura describes it as having a buttery, mild flavor and a peppery finish. It has a nice balance of fruit and bitter with an earthy aroma, she says. Shambura recommends using this oil for roasted or grilled meat, and on hearty vegetables and mushroom dishes. These bottles are 17 ounces each.

BUY: Tenuta Di Capezzana Extra Virgin Olive Oil (2 Bottles)

$80, Amazon

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Produced in the Abruzzo region in Southern Italy, the Agrumato Lemon Olive Oil is another favorite of Shamburas. As the name suggests, the oil has a lemony aroma. Its a unique product because the olives and lemons are crushed simultaneously, she says. Drizzle this oil on cooked fish, white meat, crudos, and vegetables.

BUY: Agrumato Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (200 ml)

$6, Amazon

Best Olive Oils for Salads

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If we havent already made it clear that the quality of Tuscan olive oils is hard to beat: James Beard Awardwinning chef Jonathan Waxman recommends this oil from the famous Frescobaldi estate for salads with seafood and vegetables. Though the color of the olive oil is not an indication of taste or quality, the bright-green liquid of Frescobaldi Laudemio is definitely eye-catching.

BUY: Marchesi de Frescobaldi Laudemio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

$40, Amazon

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If youre looking for an affordable oil for an easy drizzle, Shambura says Olio Verde is a great choice with a mild flavor and less bitter notes. Its a single-origin Sicilian oil made with Nocellara del Belice olives. (Noce in Italian means walnut, so look out for a nutty flavor.)

BUY: Olio Verde Oil Olive Extra Virgin

$21, Amazon

Best Olive Oil When You Need It in Two Hours

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Supermarket EVOO brands tend to get a bad reputation, but the next time you need a quick fix, food writer Hannah Howard suggests FreshDirects brand. The online shopping site has an Italian organic olive oil for everyday purposes, as well as an early harvest EVOO from Sicily thats available only for limited periods.

BUY: Just FreshDirect Organic 100% Italian Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

$18, FreshDirect

Best Italian Olive Oils

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Italian olive oils are widely used around the world, and there are a lot of them, so we asked Beatrice Ughi, founder and president of high-quality Italian food importer Gustiamo, for her recommendations. She picked Pianogrillo, which comes from the Ragusa province in Sicily, known for its excellent quality of oils.

BUY: Pianogrillo Extra Virgin Olive Oil

$21, Amazon

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Another Tuscan olive oil produced on a hilltop village near Pisa. This one is made with 100 percent Frantoio olives, said to be one of the best varieties for making olive oil. Ughi says this is definitely one to try.

BUY: Vicopisano Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

$14, Amazon

Best Spanish Olive Oils

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Alex Raij, chef and owner of New York City Spanish restaurants El Quinto Pino, Txikito, and La Vara, specializes in cuisine from the Basque region of Spain. She prefers olive oils that are grassy and neutral, but not usually spicy, and recommends O-Meds 100 percent Arbequina olive oil with a low acidity. When trying out different olive oils, many experts suggest tasting the raw oil, but Raij has a different approach. The true test of olive oil is on food. Floating in a soup or on bread, with a little bit of sea salt, she says.

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BUY: O-Med Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil

$14, Amazon

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Nunez de Prado is Waxmans recommendation for a Spanish oil from the Andalusia region. He uses this oil for roasting meats as well as for marinades. Dean & Deluca, which sells the olive oil in New York, describes the oil as a full-flavored and fruity blend with hints of grassiness, almonds, and butter.

BUY: Nunez De Prado Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tin

$27, Amazon

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(If youre looking to get this as a gift, it also comes in this nice set with fancy sherry vinegar.)

BUY: Organic Spanish Olive Oil & Sherry Vinegar Set

$36, Food52

Best Greek Olive Oil

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Greek oils dont get as much attention as Italian or Spanish ones, but Howard says its one of her favorite oils to use while cooking. At $23, its cheap enough to cook with, but also good enough to drizzle on as a finishing oil, she says. Its pressed within three hours of harvest, and importantly, features the harvest date on the label (not all brands do this).

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BUY: Gaea Fresh Olive Oil, Extra Virgin

$23, Amazon

Best Olive Oils for Gifting

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Its not uncommon for wineries to get into the olive-oil business, and Miraval in Provence (you might know it as the winery belonging to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, which it still is, even after their separation) makes a beautiful bottle. Howard, who recently gifted a bottle to friends, says its delicious enough that you can make a whole meal with just a bowl of the oil and some good bread.

BUY: Miraval Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

$70, Amazon

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Ughi of Gustiamo recommends this 750 ml bottlea bit bigger than the standard half-literfor gifts and special occasions. The gorgeous bottle is emblazoned with a red wax seal and is individually numbered. It gives you a sense of uniqueness, she says. Produced in Piani di Larino, in the Molise region of Italy, Ughi says its one of her importing companys best sellers.

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Plus Two Cruets We Like

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Ultramodern and stainless steel.



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This cork-and-ceramic oil cruet has a nice Scandinavian feel to it.

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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort leaves federal court, October 30, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Keith Lane/Getty Images

For months, President Trump has been dangling the prospect of a pardon for his former campaign manager, longtime Russian agent and convicted felon Paul Manafort. He also consulted several times with his personal lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, about such a move, Carol Leonnig reports.

Trumps lawyers reportedly advised Trump to wait. The real concern, explains Giuliani, is whether Mueller would turn any pardon into an obstruction charge.

Of course, obstructing justice is the whole point of pardoning Manafort. Trumps campaign manager spent years in the employ of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, helping pro-Russian candidates win elections in Ukraine and elsewhere. Manaforts partner, Konstantin Kilimnik, was working for Russian intelligence throughout. Manafort apparently viewed his uncompensated tenure as Trump campaign manager as service to Deripaska, hoping  as he wrote in emails to Kilimnik  he could get whole by working with Trump.

Manafort probably knows a lot of incriminating things. Here is his hilarious response in 2016, when asked whether Trump had any relationship with Russian oligarchs:

The calculation behind charging Manafort with financial crimes is that the threat of a lengthy prison service would force him to reveal the extent of Trumps ties to Russia. By dangling pardons with apparent success, Trump seems to have persuaded Manafort to keep his mouth shut. The alternative, exculpatory explanation is that Trump is simply so moved by the plight of his corrupt, money-laundering former campaign manager that he is willing to risk looking very guilty in order to extend a pardon to a man he also repeatedly insists he barely knows.

Trumps defenders have argued over and over that the lack of Russia-related charges against Manafort suggests there was no collusion with Russia. That Mueller has investigated and charged four figures from the Trump campaign  Manafort, Gates, Flynn, and Papadopoulos  and not charged any with crimes involving collusion appears to be significant, argues Byron York. If there were in fact a Trump-Russia collusion scheme, they would likely have been involved.

The charges may still come. (Another Manafort partner, Rick Gates, has already flipped.) If they do not, it may well be because Trump persuaded Manafort to withhold evidence, and it worked.
This post is part of Outward, Slates home for coverage of LGBTQ life, thought, and culture. Read more here.

The myth of the gay Nazi, Im sorry to report, is back.

In a new film praised by Donald Trump Jr. (as well as in his 2017 book), Dinesh DSouza claims that Hitler was an LGBTQ ally. Supposedly this demonstrates a big similarity between the Nazis and the current Democratic Party in the United States. This entire notion is absurd. But its worth asking why DSouza was even able to float this wacky allegation in the first place. How is it possible to claim that Hitler, the person responsible for modern historys bloodiest crackdown on homosexuality, was a gay rights supporter?

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Like all dangerous lies, the myth of the gay Nazi is wrapped around a grain of reality. There was a closeted gay man in the early Nazi Party. He wasnt a myth, and Hitler had him killed in 1934in part, ostensibly, because he was gay.

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Whats a myth is that we ought to talk only about him, and not about the thousands of other men the Nazis murdered for homosexuality. The underlying flawed, homophobic assumption is that a single famous closeted gay Nazi means there was something queer about fascismdespite the millions of heterosexual Nazis, and despite the fact that German fascists murdered more queers than any other modern regime.

If you only remember one thing about Nazi Germany and homosexuality, let it be this: On Hitlers orders, the Nazis murdered 5,000 or more men for the crime of having sex with another man. Tens of thousands of other men were convicted of sodomy but not murdered. They did not get off easy: Some were forced to undergo castration. Queer Jewish victims of the Nazis suffered homophobia and had their histories erased. The violence engulfed people wed now identify as trans women, too: They were often branded homosexual by Nazi officials, and a separate law banned cross-dressing. Lesbians and people wed call trans men oftenthough not alwaysescaped prison or the camps, but they, too, were at risk.

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In other words: Hitler was not pro-queer.

But whats the truth about that famous gay Nazi? Before Hitler became chancellor, Germany was a democracy with a robust gay rights movement. In the 1920s, gay activists nearly got Parliament to repeal the sodomy law. (The United States did not strike down its sodomy laws until 2003.) For most of this period the nascent Nazi Party was tiny and marginal, campaigning for seats in Parliament just like all the other political parties.

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Nazi ideology was zealously anti-gay, and the Nazis wanted no part of homosexual emancipation, as the gay rights movement called itself. At one point, one of the gay rights groups wrote to the Nazis and asked their position on homosexuality. The response was: Anyone who even thinks of homosexual love is our enemy. Nazi propaganda accused Jews of spreading homosexuality in an effort to destroy Germany.

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When the Nazis took power in 1933 and turned the democracy into a dictatorship, they revised the existing law against sodomy and made it much harsher. Unfortunately, we dont have it as easy as our forefathers, a top Nazi lamented in 1937. Back then, he went on, the homosexual  was drowned in a swamp, clothes and all. That wasnt a punishment, but simply the extinguishing of abnormal life. It had to be got rid of, just as we pull out weeds, throw them on a heap, and burn them.

In other words: Hitler was not pro-queer.

Despite all this violently aggressive heterosexuality, in the years before Hitler took power, anti-fascists started to claim the Nazis were gay. It was a way to attack them. For example, social democratic journalists in Munich charged that the Nazis were hypocrites because they tolerated the shameless practice of sodomy in [their] own ranks. The accusations centered on one man: Ernst Rohm.

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Rohm was one of Hitlers right-hand guys. He was also privately homosexual. He hid his affairs with men from most of the people in his life, including Hitler and other Nazis. But when the Great Depression hit and the tiny Nazi Party suddenly started winning elections, Rohm became famous. Someone who knew his secret did not like fascism, and they went to the press.

The Rohm scandal boiled over in 1932, the year before Hitler took power. Social Democrats, who were in cahoots with the police, got hold of actual letters Rohm had written to a friend. They published them. In the letters, Rohm described his desires for men. Shortly after the pamphlet containing the letters came out, the anti-fascist journalist who published them ran into one of Rohms thug lieutenants in the cafe in the Parliament building, of all places. The lieutenant went up to the anti-fascist journalist and slapped him. Other Nazis joined in; one struck the journalist with a chair. The ensuing brawl shut down Parliament and made the front pages of the papers the next day. After that, there were few people left in Germany who did not know that Rohm was supposedly a homosexual.

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Though other Nazis pleaded with Hitler to fire Rohm, Hitler brushed the scandal off. The rest of the leadership was dismayed. An important Nazi ally remarked that in the old days, one would have handed a man in Rohms position a gun so that he could shoot himself. Hitler did notat least, not yet.

Did Hitler stand by Rohm because he was some kind of LGBTQ ally? No. He kept Rohm because it was the politically expedient thing to do. He thought he was on the brink of taking power, and he needed Rohms connections to the army. Moreover, there was no downside to keeping Rohm. Hitler guessed the publics mood correctly, as he often did. People did not much care about Rohms sex life. Before the Nazi seizure of power, Germany was a pretty open and tolerant place when it came to homosexuality, especially the private homosexuality of an otherwise respectable person. Hitler was not striking out boldly in favor of gay rights. He was, rather, going with the flow.

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The scandal died down. The Nazis continued to win big at the polls. They become the largest party in Parliament. The democratic system fell into its death throes. Hitler did, however, eventually have Rohm shot.

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In 1934, Hitler, now a dictator, ordered the murders of Rohm and a host of other people in a purge called The Night of the Long Knives. Though the motives were political, afterward Hitler claimed he had done it to protect Germany from homosexuality. The state-controlled press reported that Rohm had planned to overthrow Hitler. The press also claimed that when Hitlers men arrived to arrest Rohm and his deputies, they found one of them in a disgusting situation with a boy. As one of the countrys leading newspapers, the Volkischer Beobachter (Peoples Observer), put it, The Fuhrer gave the order that the pestilence be ruthlessly washed away. In the future he will no longer tolerate the molestation and compromising of millions of respectable people by a single person with a sick orientation.

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Despite the body count in Nazi Germanynot to mention in Nazi-occupied Europeof men killed for having sex with other men, for many years the left kept up its campaign to paint the Nazis as secretly gay. The idea that fascism was queer fed on a neighboring anti-gay theme: that queer people are so morally disordered that they like chaotic violence, too.

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Lots of people still believe there was something queer about fascism. They conveniently use the story about Rohm to erase fascisms murderously heterosexual nature. Rohms story is a fascinating one, and yes, somethough not very manyfascists were queer (people of all political persuasions have queer sex). But lets not only talk about Rohm. DSouzas book does not even mention the 50,000 sodomy convictions and 5,000 or more murders.

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The reason this myth is circulating now is that the Republican Party has lurched to the far right and homo- and transphobia is in style. Equating fascism with homosexuality gets the right off the hookright-wingers are against homosexuality, so they cant be fascists. It makes gay men responsible for fascism, and therefore dangerous and loathsome. At the same time, it erases the history of violence against gay men carried out in the name of a sodomy law.

The logic here is twisted to be sure, but when one follows it, gay rights seems dangerous, rolling back gay rights seems perhaps a good idea, and sodomy laws dont seem so odious. If that sounds hyperbolic, recall that the Republicans just ran a candidate for Senate in Alabama who wanted to bring back sodomy laws. Roy Moore lost, but not before the Republican president endorsed him. The same president likes DSouza, too. Thats probably not a coincidence.

Want more Outward? Queer your ears with our monthly podcast, available via Apple, Google, and most other platforms.
Executive Time is Slates pop-up blog about bosses.

Much has changed in the American workplace since Office Space debuted in 1999 to the delight of white-collar workers everywhere. For one thing, noise-canceling headphones now block the insufferable motif of Corporate accounts payable. Nina speaking. But the films portrayal of the ways corporate managers can be incredibly indirect and inefficient still rings true nearly 20 years later. As a management consultant turned MBA student, I revisited the cult classic to evaluate the management mishaps of Office Spaces cast of bosses.

Stan, Joannas Chotchkies Boss

Joannas boss, Stan, means well. He wants his employees to be engaged, deliver great customer service, and express their personalities. However, he struggles to achieve the results he wants due to his incompetency at giving feedback. In consulting, we advise that feedback should be direct, specific, and calibrated to potential consequencesand Stan fails in all three dimensions.

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Direct: Stan wants to give Joanna feedback on her level of enthusiasm for her work. By instead couching his criticism in terms of the amount of flair she wears, he creates space for a gap in understanding between his expectations and her perceptions.

Specific: Joanna asks Stan if he wants her to wear more flair, yet he responds by asking her to express herself. More flair is encouraged, but not required for success. By failing to be explicit about the standards he is looking for, Stan flops on this dimension of feedback.

Calibrated: Stans tone is like a parent who is not mad, just disappointed. Joanna has no idea whether changing up her flair is required to keep her job or what potential consequences could be.

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Ultimately, Stans failure comes down to his unwillingness to give below the iceberg feedback. Managers often focus on shortcomings that are more palatable to discuss, but these are just the tip of the true issues lying beneath. His real issue with Joanna is her attitude, but the focus on flair distracts from the feedback on personality hes too afraid to give.

In the movie, the consequence is Joannas lost job, but lets not forget that in the real world, its TGI Fridays that got rid of the flair.

Bill Lumbergh

The films portrayal of the ways corporate managers can be incredibly indirect and inefficient still rings true nearly 20 years later.

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The classic Office Space boss is an expert in passive-aggressive corporate speak. From the designated parking spot to the corner office, he has all the material trappings of boss-dom that have mostly been phased out in the corporate offices of 2018 urban America. Yet he uses language to exercise power in a way that still sounds familiar today.

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Yeah. Uh. Hes gonna be sort of, uh, helping us out a little here. Lumberghs style of speaking exemplifies the inefficiency the consultants discover at the company. He fails to meet the 80/20 golden rule of consulting: The last 80 percent of analysis, work, or words adds only 20 percent of the valuehis verbosity yields little of use. Whats more, his slippery language backfires: Rather than hiding the truth of the Bobs project (layoffs) from his employees, he merely creates even more resentment.

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Ill go ahead and make sure you get another copy of that memo. The memo on TPS cover sheets that haunts Peter throughout the movie may not be delivered by fax any longer, but Ive definitely received (and sent) too many emails to count bumping previous messages. For Lumbergh, this is the ultimate way to chastise while maintaining a polished corporate demeanor.

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You should ask yourself with every decision you make: Is this good for the company? Lumberghs motivational messaging throughout the movie rings false. From the supposed carrot of Friday Hawaiian-shirt day to the drab office birthday party complete with sheet cake, Lumberghs words and symbols fall flat when not matched by consistent company policy. As Peter points out, regular employees do not share in the companys profit; if Lumbergh wants to motivate his employees, he needs to pair motivational words with real incentives.

When companies talk about their desire for a flatter organizational structure, optimized number of layers, or open work environment, what they really mean is getting rid of bosses like Lumberghthe epitome of pre-2000s work culture.

Peter

After our protagonist, Peter, learns of his upcoming promotion, he starts to emulate the other bosses in the movie. The snag? He doesnt have any employees yet. As the consultants are leaving, they promise to get some people under [him] as soon as possible, but true to the films messaging, it doesnt seem to matter what those people will actually do or why Peter is needed to manage them.

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Instead, Peter takes on the boss role within his group of friends as they plan their penny-diverting scheme. He begins speaking in vague hypotheticals. (There comes a point in a mans life  ) As his friends Michael Bolton and Samir point out, he emotionally manipulates them into participating on a night when theyre extremely shaken by their layoffs.

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Finally, he commits one of the most reviled boss crimes among young employees: When things start going badly, he blames those down the line. He rails on Michael Bolton for programming the virus incorrectly, having forgotten that the crime was his idea in the first place. Employee loyalty is won or lost based on whether your boss stands up for the numbers youve prepared, something Peter has forgotten after being corrupted by his newfound power.

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Ironically, one of the most potent and useful management examples in Office Space is not an individual boss, but the concept of upward managementhow you, as an employee, can manage your boss to achieve the work environment you want while convincing them that its their idea. The only character not to work in an office, Lawrence (a construction worker), is also the only one to have mastered this. He brilliantly suggests that Peter can avoid working on the weekend simply by avoiding his boss on Friday afternoons and by turning off his answering machine. In my professional opinion, if there are any positive management lessons in the film, its this one.

Read more from Executive Time, Slates pop-up blog about bosses.
After days of feverish speculation, political machinations, party infighting, and spillposting, Australia has changed prime ministersagain. Malcolm Turnbull will be replaced as party leader and PM by his former treasurer, Scott Morrison, also known as ScoMoa man who once brought a lump of coal to Parliament to prove to environment advocates the fossil fuel is harmless.

For the fourth time in eight years, the governing party has switched leaders in a leadership spill, a snap ballot for the leadership of a party that can affect the leadership of the entire nation. (The PM is simply whoever leads the majority party in the lower houseAustralias Paul Ryan, if you will.)

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Leadership spills have become unusually common in Australia in recent years, leading to its reputation as the coup capital of the democratic world. There have been eight spills within the federal government since June 2010, four of which resulted in a sudden change of PM. Every person to hold the role of PM since 2007 has now lost the role in a spill. But this spill has been the most vicious, drawn out, and dramatic of them all.

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Though Australia watched this latest spill unfold in slow motion over five long days (so, more of a drip than a spill), Morrisons ascendency came as a twist. Turnbull, a moderate member of his party, was facing a coup from the far right, whose previous leader, Tony Abbott, he deposed in a 2015 spill. With Abbott now a political pariah, this challenge was mounted instead by Abbott-friendly sub Peter Dutton, a deeply unpopular figure best known for his hard-line immigration policies, his boycott of the historic apology to the Stolen Generation of Indigenous Australians, and his blatant racism. (Memes fluctuate between comparing him to Voldemort and a potato. He also particularly hates this photo of himself.)

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Dutton lost his first spill attempt on Tuesday after Turnbull pre-emptively called one, in response to rumors Dutton was building numbers. But the margin, 4538, was so close that many assumed it was only a matter of time before Dutton, who immediately resigned as Turnbulls home affairs minister, struck again. As the week went on, the list of Turnbull turncoats continued to grow, and Dutton agitated for another meeting. By Thursday, 13 of Turnbulls ministers had withdrawn support for him and offered their resignations, including key conservative backers, saying it was time for a new leader. Insiders signaled that Turnbull would take himself out of the running if another spill was called and that his treasurer or deputy would run in his place. Following days of nonstop speculation and chaosincluding fiery debates on the floor of Parliament and, allegedly, outright shouting in its corridorsTurnbull finally called a Friday meeting.

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After a motion for a spill was passed at Fridays meeting, Turnbull opted not to run, as expected, though his deputy and treasurer did, as also expected. Deputy Julie Bishop, who had also served as Abbotts deputy, was eliminated in the first round of voting, but in an upset, Treasurer Morrison went on to defeat Dutton 4540. (The betting odds had favored Dutton, then Bishop.) Its arguably a bitter victory for Turnbull.

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ScoMo is less conservative than Dutton, and many are relieved to have narrowly avoided having as PM a man who was once caught on a hot mic joking about islander nations being destroyed by rising sea levels (although for those wishing for a Labor win at next years election, the Trumpian Dutton may have been preferable). But Morrison, an evangelical Christian, is still among the most conservative members of the partys moderates, and his ministerial track record is equally as horrendous at Duttons. As immigration minister, he continued Australias inhumane offshore detention policy and once said that the government was wasting taxpayer dollars on funerals for Iraqi and Iranian refugees who died in a boat crash on their way to Australia. Last year, Morrison voted no on marriage equality in Parliament, even after his party had put the country through an unnecessary national poll that returned an overwhelming yes. Its for these reasons that he emerged as a victorious compromise candidate, bridging the partys right and hard right.

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The Liberal Partyeconomically liberal, that is, but otherwise conservative by most standardsis deeply divided, with Turnbulls wing struggling against Abbotts for many years. The division began to heat up in early August, with the party split over Turnbulls move to legislate a carbon emissions reduction target. One columnist also suggested Rupert Murdochs annual pilgrimage to the country this month may have pushed things along.

Australian politics is frequently compared to Game of Thrones.

But Turnbull, a social liberal, has struggled to maintain authority ever since deposing Abbott in 2015. He cuts an unpopular figure on both sides of politics, trying to appease his conservative backers and disappointing those on the left (myself included) who thought he might bring his progressive values with him to the leadership. Hes backed down on his push for Australia to abolish the monarchy, a progressive movement that he led in the 90s; he considerably lessened his push for climate action; and despite his own personal support for marriage equality, he put the country through the ugly and divisive vote at Dutton and co.s insistence. Turnbull was losing in the polls, though Dutton was not likely to fare better, meaning this agitation was mostly ideological. Many pointed to the Liberal Partys renewed push for a more conservative leaderdespite the fact that Turnbull was already implementing most of its agenda to appease themas a move to appease someone else: the alt-right.

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This spill was particularly unpredictable in terms of its final twist, but spills are by now a fixed feature of Australian political life, threatening any leader who is losing in the polls, does something remotely unpopular, or upsets a large enough faction of their party. Theres a reason why the Wikipedia page Sport in Australia noted (until Friday morning) that the main national sport is the Leadership Spill which fixates the nation on a random but regular basis. But the mutinies are actually a new wrinkle. Leadership spills have always been common in the oppositionafter all, this is how parties change leadersbut midterm spills within the governing party have become increasingly normalized. Spills have resulted in a change in the prime minister only six times in history, but note the change in frequency: 1971, 91, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018. The Twitter @WhoIsPM is truly no joke.

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It's August 24, 2018 at 11:00PM and the current Australian Prime Minister is Scott Morrison.  The Australian PM is (@WhoIsPM) August 24, 2018

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Australian politics is frequently compared to Game of Thrones. American politicians are of course just as scheming. But unfortunately for Aussie leaders, the mechanism to change prime ministers is as simple as 45 elected officials saying so. Thats unfortunate for the people, too. Of the past five prime minister changes, the public has voted for only one. (Although in a vote of confidenceor just a desire for some stabilityspill winners Julia Gillard and Turnbull were both re-elected by the people soon after. Well see how that goes for ScoMo.) Meanwhile, amid the squabbling and coups, real issues go unaddressed.

Trumble, as he is sometimes known by White House press secretaries, says he will quit politicsthough hes said this before. He claimed he would quit politics after losing a spill as opposition leader to Abbott back in 2009 but changed his mind.

One might call this a small victory for Turnbull. He lost the prime ministership, as all of his recent predecessors have. But he staved off Duttons bid for the leadership and installed one of his own proxies instead.

Also, he doesnt have to talk to Trump anymore. Congrats, Malcolm!
The list of Democratic senators being forced to play defense in the midterms runs a dozen names long, but one stands out for his unique predicament: Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

Unlike his 10 colleagues up for re-election in places Donald Trump won, Menendezs home state went for Hillary Clinton by 14 points, marking the third time in a row and the fifth time in the past six presidential elections that New Jersey has voted for the Democratic nominee by double digits.

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But despite that built-in advantage, Menendez is in trouble this fall, far more so than it appeared last November when the Democratic establishment rallied around him after his federal corruption trial ended with a hung jury. Hes still the clear favorite in his race against Republican Bob Hugin, a former pharmaceutical executive whos pouring millions of his own money into his campaign, but theres no mistaking this one for the snoozer it would be if Menendez werent still carrying with him the distinct whiff of scandal.

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The latest warning signal for Democrats came Wednesday via a new poll from Quinnipiac University, which was the third major survey in a row, dating back to mid-May, to find Menendezs lead in the single digits and within the margin of error. Yes, Menendez still leads by 8.3 points in RealClearPolitics rolling average, but that number includes a Monmouth survey from early April that had him up a whopping 21 points. His 6-point lead in the new Quinnipiac poll, meanwhile, is a far cry from the 17-point advantage he had the last time those same pollsters asked the question, back in early March.

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Polls can only tell us so much, and sporadic statewide polling even less, but what these surveys are saying shouldnt come as a shock. Not after Menendezs lackluster primary showing in June, when his challengera first-time candidate with almost no money, no endorsements, and no campaign appearancescaptured 38 percent of the Democratic vote.

Of course, Menendez spent more than two years battling a federal indictment related to his high-flying friendship with Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor. Last year, jurors heard nine weeks of testimony describing Menendezs lavish trips with Melgen, who covered the costs for private jets and hotel rooms at the same time the senator was advocating for Melgen in a dispute over his overbilling of Medicare. Menendezs case eventually ended in a mistrial in November. Melgen was later sentenced to 17 years in prison after being found guilty of $73 million in Medicare fraud. The government decided not to retry Menendez, but the Senate Ethics Committee ordered Menendez to (eventually) repay the cost of any outstanding gifts and severely admonished him for his behavior earlier this year.

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Making matters worse for Menendez is his opponentor more specifically, his opponents money. Hugin secured the backing of the GOP early in his primary thanks in large part to his $84 million personal fortune, which hes used to great effect this year. Hugin has already given his campaign more than $15 million, and he entered July with roughly $1.5 million more on hand than the incumbent.

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Its not all doom and gloom for Menendez, however. His state has roughly 900,000 more registered Democrats than registered Republicans, and its one thing for Democrats to cast a protest vote in the primary and quite another to vote Republican in the general. New Jersey voters dont like Trump, and they hate the GOP tax law, which disproportionately affected high-tax states like theirs with a cap on the deduction for state and local taxes known as SALT. Meanwhile, Hugin has his own ethical blemishes from his time in the private sector, and the pharmaceutical industry in which he made his fortune has the rare distinction of polling about as poorly with the public as the federal government.

The problem for Democrats, though, is that every dollar and every second Hugin forces them to spend on Menendez is one they cant spend playing defense in red states or playing offense in a trio of winnable races, at least two of which they need to gain control of the Senate. A victory in New Jersey, then, wont come cheapif it comes at all.
On Thursday, Fox News ran an interview with President Donald Trump in which he once again trashed his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department, the president said. Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department and its a sort of an incredible thing.

Sessions has been under fire from the president ever since his recusal in the Russia investigation helped result in the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Given Trumps past criticism, its unsurprising then that the president is lashing out at Sessions during a week when two of Trumps former top lieutenants became convicted felons and his own potential criminal exposure rose to a level not previously seen.

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What has been surprising is the response to this news by certain Republican members of the Senate. As Bloomberg News reported on Thursday:

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Two key Republican senators signaled to President Donald Trump that he could replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the midterm elections in November, a move that would open the way for firing Robert Mueller or constraining his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had previously said that his committee would not have the bandwidth to take up a Sessions replacement under the current circumstances. On Thursday, Grassley changed course. I do have time for hearings on nominees that the president might send up here that I didnt have last year, he said.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, signaled a willingness to take up a nomination for Sessions replacement after a previously hardline stance against such a possibility. I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice, Graham told reporters on Thursday. Clearly, Attorney General Sessions doesnt have the confidence of the president. It was reported earlier this month by Politico that Graham might be in line to take over leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year.

Graham had previously said that there will be holy hell to pay if Trump were to fire Sessions.

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The South Carolina senator did say that any firing would have to be after Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court and after the midterm elections, because otherwise it would create havoc.

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The havoc in question would be a potential public backlash to a transparent effort to sabotage investigations of the president and his associates that could plunge our country into a constitutional crisis.

As national security legal expert Steve Vladeck wrote in Slate and Just Security last year, a Sessions firing would open the door for Trump to appoint a temporary replacement who could potentially do his bidding in the Mueller probe that has caused the president such consternation.

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Its unclear whether Republicans would support such a blatant assault on the rule of law. Two other Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled support for Sessions on Thursday.

I think it would be bad for the country, it would be bad for the president, it would be bad for the Department of Justice for him to be forced out under these circumstances, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said on Thursday. So I hope he stays the course and I hope cooler heads prevail.

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Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a frequent Trump critic and another member of the judiciary committee, took to the Senate floor to say that he would not vote for a Sessions replacement under the current circumstances. He also described the conversation around Sessions as goofy talk about firing the attorney general.

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There are people in this body now talking like the attorney general will be fired, should be fired, Sasse said. Im not sure how to interpret the comments of the last couple of hours, but I guess I would just like to say, as a member of the judiciary committee and as a member of this body, I find it really difficult to envision any circumstance where I would vote to confirm a successor to Jeff Sessions if he is fired because hes executing his job, rather than choosing to act as a partisan hack.

For his part, Sessions issued a rare public rebuke to the president and offered support for Justice Department officials who he called the most talented [and] dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors in the world.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, Sessions said. While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.
Early one morning in February 2018, an undocumented immigrant named Ana was told to report to a government office within the shelter where she was being housed. A month earlier, she had fled to the United States from Guatemala with her 2-year-old son after gang members threatened to kill her. Because she was 17, immigration officials placed her and her son in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which sent them to a shelter in New York. On this dayher 18th birthdaythe staff instructed her to go to the office at 5 a.m. without her son. When she arrived, two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were waiting. They arrested Ana and transferred her to New Jerseys Bergen County Jail. She was not allowed to say goodbye to her son.

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What ICE did to Ana wasnt just cruel. It was illegal. Under a federal law, the agency is required to place immigrants like Anaundocumented minors who turn 18 in federal custodyin the least restrictive setting available. But under Donald Trump, ICE has ignored this rule, ripping immigrants out of shelters on their 18th birthdays and locking them in detention facilities with adults. Despite a raft of lawsuits challenging its actions, ICE continues to assert broad authority to imprison these teenagers. Its refusal to comply with the law is a powerful argument against calls to reform ICE instead of abolishing it.

In 2013, Congress enacted an amendment to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) that should clearly protect immigrants like Ana from unnecessary incarceration. The statute was designed to safeguard unaccompanied immigrant children who turn 18 in ORR custody. Under the law, ICE must consider placement in the least restrictive setting available so long as these teenagers are not a risk to themselves or the community, or a flight risk. These individuals shall be eligible to participate in alternative to detention programs, such as placement with an individual or an organizational sponsor, or in a supervised group home.

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There is no question that Ana and her son qualified for an alternative to detention. She posed no threat or flight risk, and family friends in Texas had already agreed to sponsor her and her son. This couple had already submitted the necessary paperwork, as well as their fingerprints, when ICE snatched Ana and put her in jail. At no point did the agency undertake its legal obligation to consider that a less restrictive alternative was plainly available.

After the National Immigrant Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ana and two other 18-year-olds illegally imprisoned by ICE, the agency released her on humanitarian parole. A federal court then ordered the release of the two other plaintiffs, ruling that ICE had broken the law by detaining them upon their 18th birthdays without considering alternatives. ICE, the court wrote, had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, ignoring its statutory obligations in order to effect unlawful deprivations of physical liberty.

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That decision spared the named plaintiffs, two 18-year-old immigrants, from further detention. But the court has yet to certify the NIJCs class action on behalf of all similarly situated immigrants. And until it does, advocates must keep fighting these wrongful imprisonments on a case-by-case basis. Kate Melloy Goettel, a senior litigation attorney at NIJC, estimates that about 100 undocumented children in federal custody turn 18 each month. Unless the courts intervene, ICE will automatically imprison most or all of these teenagers.

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A startling report published in the Miami New Times on Thursday provided a glimpse into the tactics ICE uses to traumatize these undocumented immigrants. At a shelter in Homestead, Florida, ICE agents routinely handcuff and shackle teenagers on their 18th birthdays and then transfer them to jail, often with no explanation. One teenager, Tomas Teletor Garcia, was separated from his father under the Trump administrations zero tolerance policy. Another, Nolbiz Orellana, sought asylum after fleeing an abusive mother and gang members who threatened to kill him. On the day Orellana turned 18, ICE officials transferred him from the Homestead shelter to a for-profit adult immigrant detention center. At other shelters, ICE agents arrive a half-hour before an immigrants 18th birthday, then arrest them at midnight. Many of these teenagers are waiting for the government to approve potential sponsors when ICE arrives and transfers them to prison.

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Unless the courts intervene, ICE will automatically imprison most or all of these teenagers.

When they turn 18, its basically, Happy birthday, and then they slap on handcuffs and take them off to adult detention centers, Lisa Lehner, an attorney with the nonprofit Americans for Immigrant Justice, told Miami New Times. Since early July, Americans for Immigrant Justice has filed seven lawsuits on behalf of 18-year-old immigrants in Florida and plans to file several more in the coming weeks. In five of these cases, ICE released the teenagers to relatives or guardians in the U.S. while the cases make their way through the courts. The other two cases are still pending.

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None of ICEs actions here are legal. The TVPRA directs the agency to consider a continuum of less restrictive alternatives before locking up these immigrants. That includes group homes and institutional sponsors such as shelters for young adult immigrants. Another alternative is granting the teenagers their release and requiring them to make periodic check-ins. ICE should have at least considered these options for the children at Homestead and other shelters. Its failure to do so is a plain violation of federal law.

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The Obama administration generally complied with this least restrictive setting requirement after its enactment. It also had to contend with fewer unaccompanied minors aging out of ORR custody. Under Barack Obama, ORR prioritized placing these children with sponsorsfamilies or individuals with whom they could stay after turning 18. Now the agency takes much longer to place immigrant children with sponsors, leaving thousands languishing in shelters for months.

Goettel cited two reasons for the delays. First, ORR Director Scott Lloyd has given himself the responsibility to personally sign off on the release of immigrants to sponsors, creating a bottleneck. (Lloyd, who gained notoriety for denying abortions to undocumented minors, is a micromanager who reviews a weekly spreadsheet of each individual in ORR custody who has asked to terminate her pregnancy.) Second, under Trump, ORR has begun sharing information about potential sponsors and their families with ICE. In theory, undocumented immigrants who live in the United States can sponsor unaccompanied minors, and they frequently did under Obama. Now, however, they are justifiably concerned that ICE will detain and deport them if they attempt to become sponsors. Legal immigrants with undocumented family members are also understandably afraid to volunteer as sponsors and draw scrutiny to their relatives. The upshot has been a surge in children turning 18 while trapped in ORR custody.

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ICEs treatment of these teenagers is especially alarming because it is so blatantly unlawful. Individual ICE officers have been caught breaking the law plenty of timesforging documents, fabricating evidence, performing illegal arrests. But since Trump took office, the agency itself appears to have violated the TVPRA unceasingly as a matter of course. When challenged in court, ICEs best defense for disregarding the law was that the vast majority of immigrants who turn 18 pose flight risks, so it is justified in imprisoning them. Put charitably, that argument is nonsense. Congress took care to enact special protections for this class of immigrants. As Goettel said, it cannot possibly be true that a desultory flight risk analysis swallows the entire purpose of this statute.

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A federal court may soon compel ICE agents across the country to resume compliance with the law governing treatment of these 18-year-olds. But the courts cannot supervise ICEs every move, and even if the NIJCs class action succeeds, no judge can ensure that it always complies with court orders. The problem with ICE goes deeper than any one agent or even any one president. An agency this eager to torment immigrants is beyond reform. Congress cannot force ICE to follow the law when ICE is convinced that it is above the law. There is only one realistic solution to the manifold problems posed by this rogue agency: It must be scrapped altogether.
John McCain will no longer receive medical treatment for glioblastoma, the Arizona senators family said today. McCain announced that he was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer and has been largely absent from the Senate this year.

John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment, the family said.

The New York Times reported, Mr. McCains family has gathered in Arizona, and people close to him say his death is imminent.

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After Donald Trumps election, McCain emerged as one of his most vocal Republican critics, lambasting the president for his more isolationist foreign policy stances and affection for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In perhaps the most dramatic legislative moment of the Trump presidency, McCain delivered the crucial 51st vote against the Republican health care bill.

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Tributes from his colleagues flooded the internet Friday morning almost immediately after the familys announcement.

God bless John McCain, his family, and all who love him  a brave man showing us once again what the words grace and grit really mean. https://t.co/9aiLxCF24E  John Kerry (@JohnKerry) August 24, 2018

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Welcome to the Hot Seats, Slates weekly guide to the seven midterms races that everyone is talking about now.

1. Californias 50th District

Another GOP indictment means another pickup opportunity for Democrats.

Can a San Diegoarea congressman indicted on 60 counts of (alleged) ridiculous abuse of campaign fundswhose indictment includes references to various paramours, an instance of him telling the Navy to go fuck itself, and so much morewin? An election? Well find out soon enough, because California law makes it quite difficult to get Rep. Duncan Hunter off the ballot. The best excuse Hunter can offer for getting busted is that Jeff Sessions Department of Justice is the Democrats arm of law enforcement, going after him just like its going after President Donald Trump. Thats very stupid, but it could be just demagogic enough to work in this R+11 district. He faces a charismatic, young Democratic opponent in Ammar Campa-Najjar.

2. Arizona Senate

The clown primary reaches its end.

The much-hyped Arizona GOP Senate primary between Rep. Martha McSally, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is Tuesday, and its not getting any less weird down the stretch. Ward is pulling out all the stops in an effort to consolidate the kook vote. This means, for one, a bus tour featuring extremely online Pizzagate troll Mike Cernovich. But it also means cranking up her tendency for purposeful foot-in-mouth. For example: pinning blame on McSally and Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake for the death of Mollie Tibbetts. Ward has more in the tank and should make for a deeply offensive closing weekend.

3. Florida Governor

Primaries are getting surprisingly tight on both sides.

Florida also selects its nominees on Tuesday, and mysterious things are happening in each of the gubernatorial primaries. Conservative Rep. Ron DeSantis had seemed to be in fine shape against state agriculture commissioner and ex-Congressman Adam Putnam following an enthusiastic endorsement rally from President Trump. But two recent polls have shown Putnam clawing back to within 1 and 2 points of DeSantis. On the Democratic side, former Rep. Gwen Graham had appeared to be comfortably ahead of her nearest challenger, former Miami Beach Mayor and businessman Philip Levine, but a recent survey from a Democratic pollster showed Levine 1 point ahead.

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Hot Mail Sign up to get the Hot Seats newsletterour weekly rankings, PLUS a guide to the midtermsin your inbox each Friday. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

4. Delaware Senate

The left closes in on Tom Carper.

Delaware Sen. Tom Carperwhos been in statewide office longer than his primary opponent, Kerri Evelyn Harris, has been alivehasnt faced a serious Democratic primary challenge in a long, long time. That means he hasnt had to debate a primary opponent in a long, long time. That streak will end Monday night, when the two will debate in Wilmington ahead of their Sept. 6 primary. Carper, a business-friendly centrist whos meandered somewhat leftward in recent years, is well exposed to a challenger from his left, on everything from his foreign policy votes to his vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh for the appellate bench in 2006 and, especially, his work on behalf of Delaware-based financial institutions. On the other hand, Carper knows pretty much everyone in the state.

5. Massachusetts 7th District

A liberal challenge to a liberal incumbent is likely to produce a liberal nominee.

Rep. Michael Capuano is, like Carper, a Democrat who until this cycle had been safe from primary challenges for the past 3 to 4 million years. He now faces a serious challenge from Ayanna Pressley, the first black woman elected to the Boston City Council, on Sept. 4. But Capuano isnt nearly as exposed as Carper is. Capuano, for example, has been a single-payer supporter since well before it was popular. Even Pressley admits that theres not much daylight between the two on policy, saying in a debate that we will vote the same way, but I will lead differently. Its a district, encompassing much of Boston and surrounding towns, that has diversified over the years, and Pressley argues that her lived experiences as a woman of color would bring a different perspective to Congress. But probably the same votes.

6. New York Governor

Cynthia Nixon is throwing anything and everything at Andrew Cuomo.

When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week that were not going to make America great again and that it was never that great, it marked a first for the two-term incumbent: It was the only time he had ever said something cool. That was an untenable position for him, and he tried to walk back the comments shortly after the press, and President Trump, pounced on him. That offered his opponent, Cynthia Nixon, the proper angle of attack from a Democratic primary perspective. In a statement, her campaign said that Cuomo backed down from a fight with Trump and folded like a cheap suit. Cuomo, Nixons campaign said, showed he will ditch his convictions if the President attacks him (or his internal polling shows they have damaged him). By contrast, when Vice President Mike Pence attacked Cynthia for her position on abolishing ICE, Cynthia held firm and steadfast, despite criticism from the White House. Sure, that works. The primary is Sept. 13.

7. New Jersey Senate

Huh. The guy who only barely escaped prison time for corruption is apparently unpopular.

A slow clap for the people who run the Democratic Party. In siding with Sen. Bob Menendez this cycle after his corruption trial ended in a hung jury, theyve created a liability in blue New Jersey when they didnt need one. When a reporter asked Menendez on Wednesday about the poll, Menendez asked, Which poll? He knew which poll: The Quinnipiac one released that day showing him only 6 percentage points ahead of his Republican opponent, Bob Hugin. Who could have imagined that Menendez might be weak in a race in which Democrats really cant afford to have a weak incumbent this cycle? The party will now likely have to spend greater than zero dollars shoring up Menendezs position. Nice.
This is part of Season 2 of Whos Afraid of Aymann Ismail?, a series featuring Slates Aymann Ismail investigating fears about Muslims in America. Watch the entire series.

For a few years, Mansoor Shams has intentionally sought the attention of Islamophobes on street corners in major cities all over the country. He holds a handwritten sign with a simple message: Im a Muslim Marine, Ask Me Anything. Hes taken out billboards and talked to anyone who wants to talk to him. Mansoor is brave, and I thought his strategy was brilliantbut I wondered if it also suggested Muslims have something to prove, or need special credentials to be trusted. Why play to that?

I went to Baltimore to talk to Mansoor about what sparked his campaign, his experiences around the country, and whether he thinks people listen to him because hes a Marine, or because hes Muslim. We also met with other Muslim veterans, who told me theyd have to think twice about enlisting under Donald Trump. Aymann Ismail

This series is written and produced by Aymann Ismail and Jeffrey Bloomer, and edited by Aymann Ismail.

Previously: Why the Far Right Believes Every MuslimIncluding MeIs a Liar
A complaint filed with the Department of Homeland Security accuses ICE of engaging in the pervasive, illegal practice of coercing the undocumented immigrant parents separated from their children at the border into signing documents, including deportation documents, they may not have understood. The complaint comes via the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, filed with the DHS inspector general and civil rights office, and included testimonials from detained parents that said immigration officers told them if they didnt sign certain documents they would never see their children again.

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Among the other horrifying aspects of the complaint, one particularly galling data point is of the some 2,600 minor children forcibly separated from their parents by the Trump separation policy, at the time of filing of this complaint, an estimated 366 parents remain outside the United States, having been deported without their children, and 565 children remain in government custody, still separated from their parents. Thats nearly 1,000 children that remain apart from their parents, more than a third of those separated, despite legal intervention and commitments from the government to rectify the unconscionable policy.

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Of those nearly 1,000 cases, the complaint includes 13 examples of coercion and duress. Among the examples offered in the complaint was that of a woman who was detained in the El Paso area, the El Paso Times reports. The woman was told that if she didnt sign a form regarding her reunification status, her daughter would be put up for adoption and she would be placed in jail for two years, according to the complaint.

This really is the systemic and intentional effort to take children away from parents and hold them as hostages in order to sabotage their right to apply for asylum in the US and then use these children as threats to other parents contemplating coming to the United States, Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told BuzzFeed News.
Sorry, Jared, Tom Cotton doesnt like your jailbreak bill. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

The prospects of some sort of criminal-justice reform legislation being enacted during the Trump presidency remain tantalizingly close, but in the end, so far away.

This most bipartisan of causes, backed by a coalition ranging from progressive opponents of the war on drugs and mass incarceration to Mike Lee, Chuck Grassley, and the Koch brothers, was put on hold by Mitch McConnell in 2016 because it seemed to conflict with Donald Trumps law-and-order campaign rhetoric. It came slowly back after Trumps election under the stewardship of presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, who shepherded a more limited prison reform bill through the House earlier this year, and then worked to shape a package that contained several of the key sentencing-reform provisions of the previously stalled legislation. It was an indirect strategy, but one that seemed to bear fruit when Trump signaled support for the package earlier this month.

But then the atavistic rump of conservatives opposing any kind of criminal-justice reform went to work, led as before by Tom Cotton of Arkansas, famous for arguing that America has an under-incarceration problem. On August 15, Cotton fired off a Wall Street Journal op-ed attacking the Kushner legislation because it included reductions in the mandatory-minimum sentences and other reductions on judicial discretion enacted during the failed war on drugs (which Cotton considers a great success). More recently, Cotton got together with conservative opinion leader Hugh Hewitt to bad-mouth jailbreak legislation, which another conservative talker blamed on the liberal, brand-conscious couple of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner who are pushing leniency for drug felons.

Then Cottons fellow incarceration fan, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, told Politico the Senate wasnt inclined to take up any criminal-justice-reform legislation before the midterms:

I dont think before the election. I think the sentencing reforms are still controversial and divide Republicans. I just dont see the wisdom of dividing Republicans on a contentious matter like that before the election.

Kushner apparently decided it was time to kick the issue up to the Boss, and arranged a meeting including himself, White House aide Brooke Rollins, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (famously opposed to almost any kind of criminal-justice reform in the past, but largely neutralized in the White House by Trumps fury at him over the Mueller investigation). After all, Trump had told senators earlier that I dont care about the politics; if its the right thing to do than we should do it.

But apparently not, as Axios reported today:

President Trump has stymied a plan to push prison and sentencing reform before the midterms, according to an administration source with direct knowledge. In a White House meeting on Thursday afternoon, Trump decided that the compromise package that Jared Kushner, Sen. Chuck Grassley and others have been advocating for is too politically difficult to endorse before the elections.

Im sure there will be another excuse after the elections.

All in all, hopes that Trump would rein in the more irresponsible anti-crime demagogues in his party and do the right, bipartisan thing on criminal-justice reform were probably naive. When this whole Kushner-driven salvage effort began, a Senate staffer observed:

If Kushner gets behind this effort and decides this is good for Trump, were gonna find out whether he has any influence with the president or not.

Jareds clout isnt looking very formidable right now.
On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump had recently discussed with his lawyers the prospect of issuing a pardon for Paul Manafort. The former Trump campaign chairman, who was convicted earlier this week on charges of bank fraud and tax fraud, remains under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller for his work on the 2016 campaign and his connections to Russia. In considering a pardon, Trump could be seeking to pre-empt a cooperation deal with another former top lieutenant after Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-related offenses this week and promised through an attorney to cooperate with the Mueller probe. A pardon would backfire, though, because Manafort would still face numerous state charges and his federal convictions this week would now be admissible in some of those states. Moreover, Trump would only be strengthening the criminal obstruction and the impeachment cases against him.

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Last November, I explained how Muellers team seemed to be strategizing a way to outmaneuver Trumps pardons when they initially brought charges against Manafort. Prosecutors appeared to be holding back some charges for states to bring, just in case Trump pardoned Manafort. Presidential pardons only address federal crimes, which means Manafort could face state charges for the same acts.

Federal double jeopardy law would not be an issue here. The doctrine of dual sovereignty allows the federal and state governments to prosecute the same crimes. The problem is that many states broaden double jeopardy protections to prevent the bringing of state charges after a federal prosecution. Ive explained in Slate that New York and Pennsylvania have such a rule. It turns out that Virginia and California do, too. But because of some likely combination of prosecutorial skill and luck, Manafort still faces prosecutions in those states, plus perhaps Illinois and others.

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Lets first focus on just the crimes for which Manafort has already been tried. This week, he was convicted of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to report a foreign bank account. In New York and Virginia, where he held residences, double jeopardy laws prevent him from being charged for the exact same crimes. But state tax fraud is a distinct crime, one that he almost certainly also committed. When one fraudulently hides income from the federal government, one has to hide that same income fraudulently in state tax returns in order to avoid incriminating inconsistencies.

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Virginias double jeopardy statute bars secondary state prosecutions for committing the same act in violation of both a state and a federal statute. Filing a state tax return, though, is a separate act from filing a federal return. So filing an unlawful state tax return in Virginia would be separate, prosecutable act from Manaforts federal filing, one that cannot be pardoned by Trump. The Virginia tax law further covers fraud, and a Virginia return that replicated his federal one would contain the same fraudulent material as his federal return.

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Further devastating for Manaforts pardon hopes, according to Virginia rules of evidence, past convictions can be admissible: Such evidence is admissible if it tends to prove any relevant fact pertaining to the offense charged, such as where it is relevant to show motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, accident, or if they are part of a common scheme or plan. So in a Virginia trial against Manafort for tax fraud, these many federal convictions would be admissible and devastating.

Manafort also faces New York state tax fraud liability with no double jeopardy protection. New York has a double jeopardy law, but it wont help Manafort in another tax case. Leona Helmsley, the hotel magnate known as the Queen of Mean, had benefited from the double jeopardy rule to escape state tax prosecution. In 2011, New York fixed the rule to allow state tax fraud prosecutions to follow a federal prosecution. Now Manafort could face New York tax fraud charges, even after a federal pardon.

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Manafort was also tried on bank fraud relating to New York and California banks. Both states have double jeopardy statutes that seem to create a potential pardon protection. But there was a hung jury on the conspiracy bank fraud charge for the California bank. Californias double jeopardy law states, No person can be subjected to a second prosecution for a public offense for which he has once been prosecuted and convicted or acquitted. That obviously excludes mistrials. So California could prosecute the separate act of conspiracy bank fraud because Manafort has never been prosecuted and convicted or acquitted of that charge.

There was also a hung jury on the four bank fraud charges for his dealings with the Federal Savings Bank in Illinois. The states double jeopardy law also allows a second state prosecution after a mistrial. It is ironic that the one holdout juror who caused a mistrial on some charges opened up Manafort to state retrials.

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If Trump pardons Manafort on the charges from this months federal case alone, then he would still face prosecution in three very blue states (New York, Illinois, and California) and one increasingly blue-ish state (Virginia). Those are four jury pools that would potentially be altogether worse for Manafort. If, in this months trial, Manafort could only persuade one juror out of 12 on about half of these charges, his chances would seem pretty low at running the table in four more trials in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago, and northern Virginia. And we havent even discussed the charges in the second federal trial next month and whatever additional state criminal liability Manafort might face that has not been charged at the federal level. And Mueller still might be strategically holding off on other charges.

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Its also unlikely that a Trump pardon would at least get Manafort out of jail temporarily while awaiting state trials. Judge Amy Berman Jackson in D.C. took Manaforts alleged witness tampering so seriously that she revoked his bail.* One of those state judges would probably deny bail, too, even if Manafort is pardoned for this alleged tampering. And that would put Manafort in state jail, not Club Fed. Thats another reason Manafort might not want a federal pardon: He might prefer federal prison over any state prison.

Its also important to note that the Supreme Court has taken up a case called Gamble v.

United States in which it could rule on double jeopardy and federal-state dual sovereignty for next term. This case could directly impact the Trump investigation if Manafort is pardoned. There are many reasons the Senate should delay confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh. But there is no way Kavanaugh should be confirmed while he may be the deciding vote on a case directly impacting double jeopardy law and the Trump investigation.

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Ultimately, a Trump pardon wouldnt benefit Manafort in any concrete sense, but it would build a stronger case for impeachment and removal. Such a pardon would only add proof of Trumps obstruction, providing additional evidence of criminal corrupt intent. Finally, the same principle of state sovereignty to prosecute would apply to any crimes Trump himself may have committed. If Trump is foolish enough to try to pardon himself, there will be no holding back the state prosecutor.

Read more from Slate:

The Trump Organizations CFO Got Immunity From Prosecutors, but Lets Hold Our Horses on Calling It a Game-Changing Flip

Trump Isnt Mad at Jeff Sessions. He Actually Agrees With Him and Has Some Tips!

John McCain Ends Treatment of His Brain Cancer, Is Said to Be Near Death

We Dont Need an Investigation to Know Trump Betrayed His Country. All the Evidence Is Right Here.
Slates expanded voting rights coverage is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you.

In a minutelong meeting on Friday morning, Georgias Randolph County Board of Elections and Registration rejected a plan to close seven of the majority-black countys nine polling places in advance of the November election.

The board first announced its scheme to consolidate precincts in a local paper on Aug. 9. Five days later, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia sent the board a demand letter urging it to keep all nine polling places open, noting that their closure may violate federal civil rights law and the U.S. Constitution. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issued a similar demand letter threatening a lawsuit. At public meetings on Aug. 16 and 17, the ACLUalong with a number of community membersprotested the plan, condemning it as a flagrant attempt to suppress the vote. The situation drew nationwide outrage and criticism from both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp.

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Now the board has decided to stand down. In a statement released on Friday, it insisted that it was merely searching for ways to economize given a decline in the county tax base. The board insisted that it had complied with the law and only sought to keep elections fair and efficient. It did not explain why, exactly, it abandoned the plan. But it extolled the right to vote as sacred, a fundamental American principle for which many generations of brave men and women have fought and died.

Although the immediate crisis in Randolph County is over, a number of questions remain.

Although Kempthe GOP gubernatorial candidate who currently serves as secretary of stateeventually opposed the plan, he seems to have played a behind-the-scenes role in its inception. The poll-closure scheme was devised by a consultant named Mike Malone, an associate of Kemps who supports his run for governor. Kemp, who has a notorious history of racial disenfranchisement, asked Malone to recommend poll closures in multiple Georgia counties, including Randolph.

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At the Aug. 16 meeting, Malone acknowledged all this, informing county residents that consolidation has come highly recommended by the secretary of state. Yet he backtracked after the plan drew widespread resistance, insisting that I dont recall ever hearing anything from the secretary of state that said they recommend this. Kemp has also denied recommending poll closures. We havent advised counties to close polls, his spokeswoman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. We think its a terrible idea.  The solution to a noncompliant polling place in terms of the ADA is not just to shut it down for everyone. Its to fix it.

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Malone claimed that seven of Randolph Countys polls must be shuttered because they are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. (When asked why he did not attempt to identify replacement locations, Malone shot back that he was not hired to find alternatives.) But in response to a public records request, an attorney representing the county told HuffPost that there is no document, report or analysis studying the handicap accessibility of polling places in Randolph County. Malones ADA rationale appears to have been entirely pretextual.

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Randolph County Attorney Tommy Coleman fired Malone on Wednesday, noting that the county is distressed because of the position he put them in. Malone received $2,235 for his services. His career as an elections consultant is almost certainly over.

In a sense, however, Malone served as a scapegoat, drawing ire away from the individual chiefly responsible for Georgias suppression of the black vote: Brian Kemp. It was Kemp who recommended Malone, and Kemp who encouraged him to shut down polling places. As soon as the plan blew up, Kemp distanced himself from Malone, and now seems eager to throw him under the bus. But the consultant never would have targeted Randolph County if it hadnt been for Kemp.

Unfortunately, the heavy-handed tactics on display in Georgia continue to be deployed elsewhere. Since the Supreme Court hobbled the Voting Rights Act in 2013, states that previously required federal permission before changing their election procedures have shuttered hundreds of polling places. And as ThinkProgress Kira Lerner reported on Wednesday, Jeff Sessions Department of Justice has seized upon the pretext of ADA non-compliance to close polling placess in minority communities across the country. Randolph County was a skirmish in the war on voting rights. And though the right to vote emerged unscathed, the broader battle rages on.
President Trump announced on Twitter Friday that he had instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to travel to North Korea for a planned trip next week to attempt to revive the flagging denuclearization effort. Trump cited a lack of sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This was his first public acknowledgment that denuclearization is not proceeding according to plan. He also blamed North Koreas ally China, saying that because of U.S.-China trade tensions, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were. The president was sure to add: In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!

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Its true that despite some good-will gestures, theres been little progress in talks on denuclearization. Its also true that Chinaand also Russia, which Trump didnt mentionhave let up on the economic pressure on North Korea since the June 12 Singapore summit, though Trumps hardly in a position to complain about that given that he himself declared the crisis resolved and vouched for Kims good intentions at the time.

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The fundamental problem is that both countries believe they signed a different agreement. The U.S. maintains that North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear weapons; North Korea thinks it did no such thing, agreeing only to a general process of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, which would also entail a removal of U.S. forces.

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Whats even more odd about this situation is that both countries insist they have an understanding with the other sides leader but that others are standing in the way. Trump as well as his hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton, are insisting that Kim made a commitment to denuclearize. So, Chinas getting the blame for not applying enough pressure, though its not quite clear why China would need to pressure Kim if he genuinely wanted to give up his weapons.

Meanwhile, the North Koreans insist that they have an understanding with Trump and that Pompeos aggressive demands since the summit violate the spirit of that understanding. The DPRK stands firm in its determination and commitment for implementing the DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement in a responsible and good-faith manner, foreign minister Ri Yong-ho said after his last meeting with Pompeo earlier this month, also in Singapore. What is alarming however is the insistent moves manifested within the U.S. to go back to the old, far from its leaders intention. Last week, the North Korean foreign ministry issued another statement blaming senior U.S. officials for going against the intention of president Trump by criticizing the lack of progress on denuclearization.

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In other words: We made a great deal with Trump where we dont have to give up our nukes right away. We like Trump. Whos this jerk?

Canceling Pompeos trip now is a surprising move, coming just a day after the appointment of a new special representative for the talks. Steve Biegun, a Ford Motor Co. executive with a background in national security and foreign policy, was to accompany Pompeo to North Korea next week.

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According to a column by the Washington Posts Josh Rogin on Thursday, frustration with the lack of progress is growing within the administrationincluding for the president himself, despite his public optimismand there was a growing sense that this trip was a make-or-break moment for the diplomatic process.

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If thats true, its probably for the best that the meeting was canceled. Pompeo and Biegun were unlikely to get anything much from the North Koreans on this trip and it was dangerous to put so much pressure on one meeting. Past experience, such as when Trump initially canceled the Singapore summit with Kim in May, shows that the North Koreans can suddenly become much more conciliatory when the U.S. walks away from the table.

Ive been critical of the Trump administrations North Korea diplomacy, dont believe Kim has any intention of unilaterally giving up his nuclear weapons, and find Trumps public praise for the dictator both morally unjustifiable and strategically dubious. That said, letting both sides cool off for a moment and seeing what the North Koreans might be willing to concede to get things back on track seem like better moves right now than sending Pompeo to Pyongyang to be lectured and rebuked again.
President Trump and the Attorney General Jeff Sessions see eye-to-eye on the question of political interference in the Justice Departments work: Its very bad and it shouldnt happen. The president just so happens to think that a Justice Department free of improper influence and political considerations would naturally realize that it has to prosecute the presidents political opponents and people who investigated his campaigns possible ties to the Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 elections.

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Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the other side including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

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....FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems - and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

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What Trump was referring to was Sessions statement Thursday saying the DOJ would not be influenced by politics. Sessions had bristled in response to Trump saying on Fox News earlier in the day that he puts the Justice Department in quotes because Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldnt have done. He also said that Sessions never took control of the Justice Department, by which he seems to have meant shut down the Russia investigation and instead focus on Hillary Clinton.

To Trump, any investigations of him, his family, his businesses, or his staff are politicala great hoax or witch hunt by former Obama and law enforcement officials who despised him, wanted Clinton to win, and now want to kneecap his presidency. (Thats despite the fact the Federal Bureau of Investigation weighed in twice to criticize Clinton and then to re-open the investigation right before the election, all the while keeping the Russia investigation secret during Trumps campaign.) Its worth noting, then, that the current investigations into Trump and his associates by the special counsel and the Southern District of New York are being overseen and/or carried out by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, two Republicans appointed to their jobs by Trump.

The meme that a Republican-run DOJ would only investigate Republican politicians and their associates because of nebulous political considerations has not remained sequestered in the White House. Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. of California has said that his legal travails are the fault of a combination of his wife and the new Department of Justice  the Democrats arm of law enforcement.

Whether this tack is as effective for Hunterwhom unlike the president the DOJ is perfectly comfortable indictingremains to be seen.
On Thursday, in an interview with Fox & Friends, President Donald Trump denounced Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department, Trump complained. He sketched a quid pro quo between getting the job and controlling the investigation, making clear that if hed known Sessions was going to recuse himself, he wouldnt have appointed him.

This kind of talk from Trump has become routine. With every unscripted comment, he makes clear that his aim is to quash special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. He doesnt understand, or perhaps he doesnt care, that this clear intent makes much of his behavior illegal. Nor does he understand how his own White House counsel, Don McGahn, has been helping Mueller make that case against him.

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According to the New York Times, McGahn has spent some 30 hours with Muellers team, answering questions about what Trump has heard, said, and done behind closed doors. Trumps lawyers say McGahns attorney has assured them the White House counsel didnt implicate Trump in any crimes. But that assurance is worthless, because Trumps team and Muellers team are using different definitions of obstruction of justice.

To make a case that Trump obstructed justice, Mueller can put together several episodes that demonstrate a pattern of corrupt intent.

Trumps lawyers think obstruction entails a specific, indisputably illegal act. Trump is accused of doing several things that could meet that definition. One is allegedly asking thenFBI Director James Comey, in February 2017, to go easy on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Another is firing Comey. Another is pressing Sessions to reclaim control of the Russia investigation. In a memo to Mueller earlier this year, Trumps lawyers argued that none of these cases, in isolation, amounted to obstruction. They also maintained that nothing within the scope of Trumps authority as presidentfiring the FBI director, for examplecould possibly be illegal.

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Thats the definition of obstruction that McGahns lawyer, Bill Burck, seems to have applied when he assured Trumps attorneys that his client hasnt implicated the president in a crime. The Times story says McGahn told Muellers investigators that he never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities. A similar report, published Monday night by the Washington Post, says Burck assured Trumps attorneys that McGahn did not assert that Trump engaged in any wrongdoing. The Post quotes an email from Burck, apparently to Trumps attorneys, that says McGahn did not incriminate the president.

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Trumps lawyers seem satisfied with these statements. John Dowd, who served as Trumps attorney during an earlier stage of the investigation, says that he debriefed McGahn and Burke and that McGahn was a terrific witness for Trump. Rudy Giuliani, Trumps new lawyer, says McGahn testified that everything was legal and that the president didnt do anything wrong.

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But that doesnt matter. Muellers people dont care about whether McGahn thinks Trumps behavior was illegal. They can already infer, from McGahns choice to remain in his job, that he thinks everything Trump did can be defended. Theyve interviewed McGahn because hes a direct witness to key events in the White Housemoments in which Trump may have said or done things that revealed his motives. If McGahn highlighted a single, Nixonian remark in which Trump decisively incriminated himself, thats a home run for the special counsel. But it isnt necessary. To make a case that Trump obstructed justice, Mueller can put together several episodes that demonstrate a pattern of corrupt intent.

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Corrupt intent is a fuzzy standard. In this context, it means that even when youve done something that isnt inherently illegalfiring the FBI director, for exampleit becomes obstruction of justice, and therefore illegal, if you did it for a corrupt purpose. Criminal codes and court rulings dont do much to clarify the termthey refer to an improper purpose or corruptly seeking to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justicebut former prosecutors say that in practice, corrupt intent is demonstrated by collecting statements by the defendant that directly reveal his motives. Last year in Slate, Samuel Buell, the former lead prosecutor for the Justice Departments Enron Task Force, explained that this kind of evidence has been used successfully to prove that people were guilty of corrupt intent when they sought to derail or even slow a criminal investigation in order to protect associates.

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Prosecutors and legal experts point to several episodes in the Trump obstruction case that could show corrupt intent: the meeting with Comey about Flynn, the firing of Comey, the construction of rationales for firing Comey, Trumps pressure on Sessions to retake control of the investigation, Trumps attempts to block legislation that would have protected Mueller, Trumps attempts to fire Mueller, and Trumps use of pardons to signal that he would protect witnesses who protected him.

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McGahn was directly involved in nearly every one of these episodes. Hes the guy who told Trump in January 2017 that Flynn had misled the FBI about back-channel talks with Russiawhich means that Trump, when he later asked Comey not to pursue Flynn, knew he was tampering with an investigation. Hes the guy who lobbied Sessions, on Trumps orders, not to recuse himself. Hes the one who gave Trump the bad news that Mueller was being appointedand who then watched as Trump, in a White House meeting, exploded at Sessions for failing to protect him. Hes the guy Trump repeatedly told to fire Mueller. McGahn also edited the letter in which Trump explained why he was firing Comey. And he was Trumps conduit for issuing pardons.

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Mueller is keenly interested in these episodes. We know this because Trumps lawyers reported as much in their memo earlier this year. In our conversation of January 8, your office identified the following topics as areas you desired to address with the President, the memo begins. Then it lists 16 subjects. Ten of them are obstruction-related, including Trumps meeting with Comey, Trumps reactions to learning of the FBIs Russia investigation, Trumps reaction to Sessions recusal, Trumps conversations with other intelligence officials, Trumps reasons for firing Comey, Trumps comments after firing Comey, and Trumps reactions to Muellers appointment.

Thats what Muellers people asked McGahn about in their interviews. According to the Times, Trumps attempts to fire Mueller would not have been revealed to investigators without Mr.

McGahns help. In addition, McGahn

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provided the investigators examining whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice a clear view of the presidents most intimate moments with his lawyer. Among them were Mr. Trumps comments and actions during the firing of the FBI director, James B. Comey, and Mr. Trumps obsession with putting a loyalist in charge of the inquiry, including his repeated urging of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to claim oversight of it.  Mr. McGahn gave to Mr. Muellers investigators, [sources] said, a sense of the presidents mind-set in the days leading to the firing of Mr. Comey; how the White House handled the firing of the former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn; and how Mr. Trump repeatedly berated Mr. Sessions, tried to get him to assert control over the investigation and threatened to fire him.

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The Times says Burck tried to explain to White House lawyers that such disclosures could hurt Trump even if the president did nothing wrong, because Trump probably made politically damaging statements to Mr. McGahn as he weighed whether to intervene in the Russia investigation.

Trump and Giuliani are obtuse to this distinction. In his rant to Fox & Friends this week, Trump displayed his inability to grasp, or at least his indifference to, the idea that ulterior motives can make an otherwise legal act corrupt. Giuliani, too, has insisted in multiple interviews that motives dont matter. And on Monday, Giuliani brushed off the Times story, saying McGahn didnt offer anything illegal.

If Muellers report ends up presenting a pattern of corrupt intent, Trump and Giuliani will be just as incredulous as they are now. Theyll say it doesnt add up to obstruction, and Senate Republicans will probably agree with them. But by then, a Democratic House may have voted to impeach the president. And if that happens, you can thank Don McGahn.

Read more from Slate:

 We Dont Need an Investigation to Know Trump Betrayed His Country. All the Evidence Is Right Here.

 A Holdout Juror Made It More Likely Manafort Will Go to Jail Even if Trump Pardons Him

 A Georgia Countys Flagrant Attempt to Disenfranchise Black Voters Collapses in the Face of Public Outcry

 Fox News Fixation on Mollie Tibbetts Murder Is Astonishingly Hypocritical
YouTube, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify have all taken steps in recent weeks to exclude far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars outfit from their platforms, citing posts and broadcasts that exhibited hate speech and promoted violence. These bans, maybe the most visible so far in a larger and long-running pushback against misinformation and hateful content on social media, drew some protest on the right and no doubt will draw more. Admittedly, Jones lacks many real defenders for the substance of his views, even among strong conservatives, since Infowars is as much as anything just an extended infomercial for his line of nutritional supplements and survivalist gear as well as a promoter of truly odious falsehoods, like the Sandy Hook massacre being a hoax. But the story adds to the American rights growing, bitter antagonism against Silicon Valley and serves the larger narrative of oppression by powerful liberals. No less than President Trump himselfperhaps as just one of many attempts to deflect during a week of terrible newsfanned the flame Friday morning. In a tweet at 6:34 a.m., he accused Social Media Giants of silencing millions of people.

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Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people. Cant do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

This blowback highlights a tension in the conservative vision that isnt much talked about, and in American ambivalence more generally about business, government, and individuals. Were not just talking about free-marketeers criticizing private businesses for their independent judgments. Thats been talked about a lot. We also dont mean the irony of conservatives now turning to government for helpeven in its bizarre manifestations, like an arch-libertarian groups apparent request that Congress regulate the very content of private social media sites. We mean that American conservatives are now feeling a predictable sting that they themselves are mainly culpable for bringing about.

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American conservatives are now feeling a predictable sting that they themselves are mainly culpable for bringing about.

Conservatives have increasingly accused social media platformsrun by a Silicon Valley elite theyve long held suspectof excluding their views. Social media in particular became their target after an allegation in the spring of 2016 that some Facebook moderators had suppressed right-wing news content. Since then, any number of small scandals have fanned the flames, including a purge by Twitter of thousands of fake-news accounts, a clandestinely filmed video in which Twitter employees discuss the shadow banning of shitty people, temporary suspensions of the likes of David Duke and Richard Spencer, and the improbable saga of Diamond and Silk. Conservatives have increasingly turned to government, and conservative politicians have taken to the cause with a vengeance. Republicans now overwhelmingly believe that social media censors their views, and they are vocally critical and eager for change.

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For the record, were also worried that powerful private interests have such a large influence over so much of American debate and politics. But why are conservatives at all concerned about whether private companies ban anyone or why they would do it? Put aside that these are private companies that may have their own First Amendment rights. Put aside too that social media censorship may fall disproportionately on far-right conservatives because they share far more false news than those of any other group. Rather, conservative critics seem to suggestsometimes explicitlythat these firms are literal monopolies. This fear of monopoly power is awkward, given their traditional confidence in self-correcting markets. But in any case, if social media censorship really does disadvantage them in the marketplace of ideas, it could only be for two reasons. Conservatives should face the dilemma that each possibility poses. On the one hand, if the platforms lack market power, as traditional conservative economics would likely insist, they privilege liberal views only because it is more profitable for them to do so. No serious believer in markets could object to that. On the other hand, the platforms might have some real market power, and that allows them to squelch ideologies just because their owners dont like them.

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That is the much more interesting problem, because we actually have a lawand have had it for more than a centurymeant to prevent agglomerations of private power that markets themselves cant police. That law, our antitrust, has been rendered almost a nullity, over 50 years of agitation by the same conservative movement now feeling the pinch on social media. Their campaign against antitrust has, to some more or less explicit degree, always been a defense of the same individual liberty now said to be imperiled by Silicon Valley monopolies.

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Consider, for example, conservative opposition to the Justice Departments challenge to the AT&TTime Warner merger. The very idea of an antitrust challenge to a vertical mergerthe first such challenge litigated in 40 yearswas met with outrage and mockery, often on explicitly libertarian critique of government. But what will those same critics say if the merged firm decides, for whatever reason, to constrain them, just like social media has done? It will surely have more power to do so after the merger. It will combine the single largest American video-distribution operation, a massive broadband internet business, and leading news and information assets. But conservatives only option presumably will be the regulation that they disfavor. And that is rich, because one of the oldest arguments for antitrust is the threat that regulation will be needed if government doesnt control concentration proactively.

Fifty years of neglected competition policy may have permitted a world in which a small handful of wealthy liberals can constrain conservative speech. But if that really is the case, then American conservatives have only themselves to blame.
Earlier this month, the Intercept broke the news that Google was building a secret program called Dragonfly, a censored search engine the company was potentially hoping to bring to China. Unlike the Google search thats used in the rest of the world, this search engine would block websites that are banned by the Chinese government and would not answer certain questions that the Chinese government has blacklisted.

To learn more about Dragonfly, I recently spoke with Ryan Gallagher, a U.K.-based investigative journalist who reports on digital security and state surveillance issues for the Intercept. In our conversation, part of this weeks episode of Slates technology podcast If Then, we discussed why Google wants so desperately to enter China, why many of its employees oppose the plan, and how even a co-founder of the company may have been kept in the dark as Dragonfly was developed. Gallagher detailed how Google CEO Sundar Pichai has had several highly secretive meetings with the Chinese government about bringing Google to China over the past yearand the timeline of Googles plans to deploy the project once Beijing gave the green light.

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Read or listen to our conversation below, or get the show via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

April Glaser: Can you tell us more about this project? When did it start? How far along in development is it? What do we know now?

Ryan Gallagher: The plan Google has been working on since, well, spring 2017 took off in quite a serious way. It began developing an Android app for Android devices that people will be using in China to access a censored version of Google search. It would be like a version of Google that would restrict Chinese peoples access to information that the ruling Communist Party regime finds undesirable, such as information about human rights or information about democracy, political opponents, and even religionvery broad categories of information that are sort of blacked out from the internet thats accessible in China, and Google would have to comply with that to launch the app.

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Theyve been working to develop this since early last year, but actually this has been part of a broader strategy of the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, when he took over the helm of the company in 2015. He really wants to get back into China. And he has been pushing slowly, incrementally. Over the last two years, Googles been upping its presence in China. Of course, search is at the center of everything Google does, so Sundar wants to launch the search again in China.

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You said in your reporting that this has already been demonstrated to Chinese government officials?

Yes. Sundar has been out and has had several meetings with some of the top officials in the Chinese government, and one of them last DecemberDecember 2017he had a closed-door private meeting with Wang Huning, one of President Xi Jinpings top foreign policy advisers. This was a private meetingPichai wasnt even allowed to take any of his own assistants or anything into the meeting. It was like an absolutely secretive little meeting he had. And so theyve been having these high-level meetings with the Chinese officials on this project. Theyve shown demonstrations of [the search product]theyve been pushing very hard to do it.

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Since we broke this story, Google leadership was silent on it for two weeks. On [Aug. 16] they made a statementinternally they talked to employees briefly about it, and they tried to play it down a little bit. They said it was exploratory, that it was a little bit far away from launching stage, but according to my information, its not the case at all. What I was told and documents that Ive seen show that this was extremely serious. They were told as recently as last month that they must have it in a launch-ready stateready to go within a matter of weekspending approval from Chinese officials. Thats the only roadblock that theyve had, until obviously we revealed it, and now there is a huge backlash and thats probably a bigger problem for them than anything else.

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You said search is, in many ways, what Google is. It is really central to Googles whole product suite. And to operate in China would be a massive market for Google. Its the worlds largest internet market, and China represents a fifth of the worlds population. This is not the first time Google has had a search product in Chinathere was one in 2006 that operated for four years, until 2010. Was that search engine back then censored? And can you tell us why Google pulled out?

Yeah, it was censored, and that was controversial. There were congressional hearings about it. Senators and representatives were callingGoogle at one point was labeled as being equivalent to Nazi collaborators. That was some of their rhetoric that was coming out of the Congress at the time. There were very heated discussions back then over the complexity and censorship. So, yes, there was a huge amount of heat getting put on Google for that. In the end they pulled out, partly because of the censorship, which was getting incrementally worse.

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Google had this idea, this thought, If we go in there, maybe we can push back against the censorship and we can help open up the Chinese internet? But actually what happened by the end of that four-year period was that Google was finding it was being asked to censor more and more as opposed to less and less.

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Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders, he was very uncomfortable with it. Hed grown up in the Soviet Union and he had this personal experience of living under an oppressive regime and he couldnt tolerate the censorship. But also, in the lead-up to pulling out in 2010, there was a massive hack of Googles network, and Google was blaming it on the Chinese government. There appeared to be an attempt to hack into human-rights activists and journalists email accounts that were on Gmail. And so that was kind of the straw that broke the camels back, and they pulled out in 2010.

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This is part of the reason why its kind of extraordinary that, eight years on, theyre kind of reversing on everything that was said eight years ago, even though not much has actually changed in terms of the circumstances in China. If anything, its actually gotten a lot worse again with the censorship and the surveillance, and all kinds of draconian laws have been brought in since 2010 that are making the situation more extreme in that regard. So you know this is why its been such a big story, because a lot of people have been quite shocked by the kind of policy reversal, which is a massive shift on their position in 2010.

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Its also interesting because in June, Google unveiled its own principles for ethical uses of its artificial intelligence programs, which are central to so many things that Google does. One of those principles, which would apply here because Google search uses artificial intelligence, was commitment to not design or deploy technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights. Well, the human-rights community has come out in strong condemnation of Google for its plan to deploy a censored search engine in ChinaAmnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders. Whats the concern from the human-rights community here?

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Theres a bigger question here. Its not just about the censorshipobviously this is a massive, massive part of itbut also, to operate as internet company in China now, they have this thing called the data-localization laws, and it means that any company that wants to go into China has to locate its data centers, and servers, etc., within the Chinese mainland. And that creates new issues in terms of privacyhow do you protect your customers private information that youre holding if its going to be maintained on the Chinese mainland? And consequently, the Chinese authorities can access that data. There are so many issues. Its a massive can of worms that Google opened by going back into China.

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What happens when the Chinese authorities come to Google and demand they provide information on a certain human-rights activist, a certain dissident. Google has been forced to because the Chinese authorities will actually have the courage to go in to seize the servers or the hard drives or whatever it may be. And then the end result of that is that dissident or that activist being thrown into a detention camp or one of these so called re-education camps or something like that. And that has happened in the past. Yahoo, about a decade ago, got in a terrible situation where they ended up having to hand over data on a Chinese activist, and that activist was then subsequently thrown in jail. So there are very real consequences that can come out of this for Chinese citizens, and Google hasnt explained at all how its assessed any of these dangers and risks and taken them into consideration.

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Right, and so were not just talking about Google being complicit with the government deciding what people can and cannot know, or in terms of Google handing over user data to the government that could be used in dangerous, abusive ways, but also paving the way for other governments to make similar requests of Google. Now you also mentioned in your reporting that Google is already operating in China in some ways. There is an app on WeChat, which is Chinas kind of large social media platform, and also a website, 265.com. Can you tell us a little about Google already operating in China?

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It has been for several years, particularly since Pichai took over in 2015. It has been gradually upping their presence in China. Now, when it pulled out the search engine in 2010, it actually didnt really fully leave China. It had an advertising team thats been based in China, who sells ad space on foreign Google servers, like, say, YouTubeits operating in Hong Kong or other parts of the world that are not censored. Still, Chinese companies buy ad space for Google overseas, and Google has been selling it. In the last couple years, they invested more than half a billion dollars in an online company called Jd.com. They launched an artificial intelligence research center in Beijing. They launched a Google translate app, specific to the Chinese market. The WeChat game is also a file-manager app too.

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This is all a lot of activity from Google in this area. And this is all part of a broader strategy to basically ingratiate itselfGoogle as a companywith the Chinese government to make the Chinese government more comfortable again with Google, to show the Chinese government that Google is willing to invest in China and that Google can be good for China. The ultimate aim of that was to get to the position where Google would then get permission to launch the search. And thats what its neededit actually needed to get approvals from the Chinese governments internet regulator and its been building up to that [relationship] for years now.

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Can you fill us in on the internal Google arguments that have been happening and the kind of clashes that have been happening inside the company as a result of your reporting here?

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The claim that this is not being well developed, that is an absolute nonsenseit is a total lie. I mean, its not true and the documents are clear. The information I have from sources is really, really good. This thing was extremely serious, to the point that last month, they were told they had to have it in a launch-ready state, to be ready to go live within a matter of weeks, pending the approval from the Chinese government. The only thing that was delaying and causing them problems was actually the political issues around these trade wars going onbecause of the tariffs that President Trumps been putting on China. That has actually slowed down Googles discussions with the Chinese government. That was what we were talking about last month before we exposed it. This thing was so completely serious and it could have been launched as soon as things changed with the trade war.

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There were only a few hundred of Googles employees that actually had knowledge of the plan, and there are 88,000 employees at Google worldwide, so the percentage that knew was about, I worked it out0.35 percent of the entire workforce had knowledge of all this. So this was kept extremely secret, partly because of the political control they knew it would exploit if it got out.

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When it did get out, the news spreadpeople could read it online and there was a huge flurry of reporting that came out as soon as we broke the story, and other news organizations were also able to collaborate what we reported. And the response inside the company? A lot of people were very, very angry. They were very angry because they didnt know about it. They felt that it was like a betrayal because Google claims to have quite an open and transparent workplace where people can discuss problems, share issues, debate whatevers going on in their working life, and they can do that openly.

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But the other dimension was the fact that not only was it kept secret from them, but the project itselfto go and to be complicit in Chinese government censorship. For a lot of Google employees, thats not what they signed up for. They kind of believe in the mission statement of Google to open up the worlds information, not to be evil out there.

One of the extraordinary details that weve learned in the last few days was that Sergey Brin, the co-founder of the company, said that he had no idea that this was going onthat he learned about this from the news reports itself. That just stunned me because he, in 2010, was the one inside Google advocating strongly to get out of China because he couldnt stomach the censorship. The idea that the company would now do a complete 180 on its censorship position regarding China and not loop in Sergey at all, so that hes completely unaware of itand hes a co-founder of the company and still on the board of directorsI was really baffled by that.

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I knew that he had taken a more hands-off role, but hes still on the board of directors, and given that he has this strong position on censorship, it was just extraordinary to me that he never knew about it. I think that actually that explains why there was a long silence from Google internally before they actually confronted employees about it, because they were probably having to get Sergey and other members of the board up to speed on exactly what was going on.

Its still not clear to me who on the board, if anyone, knew about it, or if this was just being pushed through by Sundar. I presume some of them must have known about itits such a massive thing strategically and politically for the company. It would be remarkable if no one on the board knew about it.
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 ...
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As picky as adults are about their underwear  whether it be womens thongs or mens boxer briefs  shopping for kids underpinnings can be even more difficult. Parents want pairs that will be durable and long-lasting, but also fun enough that kids will actually want to wear them. To find kid-friendly underwear that actually lasts, we asked eight cool people  including models, writers, bloggers, and childrens fashion editors, many of whom are parents  to tell us about their favorite styles. Read on for all their picks, from Disney-princess patterned panties and striped briefs to solid-colored and gender-neutral options. Generally, the pairs shown come in sizes that will fit kids between 2 and 10 years old; if any pairs do not fall within that range, weve noted that.

Best printed underwear for kids

Linda McLean, a childrens fashion editor at Family Traveller magazine and the founder of the website Smudgetikka, told us she likes the kids underwear options from the British brand Boden. Their value packs of underwear for boys and girls always have cool prints and of-the-moment color combinations, she says, adding that the underwear is well made. The above set for girls combines striped styles with Liberty of Londonesque floral prints, while the set shown for boys includes briefs with monster motifs (both Boden will fit kids up to age 8).

With its classic French styling and understated charm, McLean calls Petit Bateau the creme de la creme of underwear for kids. The brand is also a favorite of mom of two Ariane Goldman, the founder of Hatch. Im a Francophile, so when I can get a little piece of Parisian design on my girls, I do, says Goldman. The above sets will fit toddlers ages 2 and 3.

McLean also recommends Gap Kids for simple, affordable underwear. These seven packs are a price performer, with each pair breaking down to roughly $4 (or less) a pair. Plus, each one is printed with a different day of the week, making morning getting-ready routines that much easier.

I always opt for organic fabrications for my daughters underwear, says Lia-Belle King, creative director and co-founder of sustainable design store Worn. Thats why she is such a fan of Bobo Choses. Not only are the brands briefs cut from organic cotton, but they are also incredibly well made  they dont stretch out, and the colors and prints are always so good across their entire range, King tells us. Plus, they feature interesting prints that are a bit unexpected (and dare we say sophisticated) for kids underwear.

Best solid underwear for kids

For basic kids underwear in a rainbow of solid shades, Goldman and Cup of Jo founder Joanna Goddard turn to Primary, whose founders worked at companies like Baby Einstein and Diapers.com before setting out to create a line of logo-free kids wardrobe basics. What they stand for and the simple selection makes things easier and logical, according to Goldman. After years of buying superhero underwear and secretly cringing, I fell in love with Primary underwear, adds Goddard. It is soft, comfy, affordable, and comes in a bunch of solid colors. Done and done.

As editor of Earnshaws, a magazine about the childrens fashion industry, Emily Beckman sees a lot of kids underwear. She told us these sweet, made-in-the-USA bottoms are her top pick of the moment. Esme underwear for children is extremely soft, comfortable and lightweight, she explains. Girls styles are made with finishing touches of lace and rosette for a cute, age-appropriate look. Their boxer briefs for boys are also age-appropriate; in addition to the solid-colored pairs above, you can also get Esme boys briefs with adorable prints, like monkeys or movie snacks.

If youre looking for a budget-friendly option for your kids underwear drawers, Brianne Manz, blogger at Stroller in the City, says, Hanes makes great ones. Their multipacks of cotton briefs come with six and seven days worth of underwear for less than the price youd pay for lunch. While the boys set is all solids, the girls set includes three printed pairs along with its solid-colored styles. But if youre just seeking solids, Hanes sells its girls underwear in a solid-color-only three-pack.

Another affordable option is Fruit of the Loom, which LaTonya Yvette, stylist and author of Woman of Color, admits isnt particularly cool but is sturdy and has an amazing life span. The all-white briefs will fit girls ages 4 to 14, while the rainbow set will fit toddlers up to age 5.

Best cartoon or movie-branded underwear for kids

For kids who demand Disney princesses or superhero shields on their underwear, Manz likes H&Ms branded sets. They always have fun characters on them for the kiddies, she says. In addition to these Disney and Batman/Supermanthemed pairs, H&M also makes underwear with other popular characters including My Little Pony and Super Mario.

Best gender-neutral underwear for kids

Jaycina Almond, model and founder of the Tender Foundation, loves ARQ underwear because all the colors are complementary, so you can mix and match the tanks and undies for a cute lounge outfit. She adds that the colors are gender-neutral, making these easy to pass down, and notes that ARQ uses organic cotton and dye processes, is tag-free, and made in the USA. ARQs undergarments will fit kids up to age 7.

Tiny Undies Underwear, 3-pack $18 Almond also told us she really likes Tiny Undies, because the brand was founded by a mama that is an expert on potty training, adding that the undies are very thoughtfully produced. The underwear are low-rise to accommodate babies big bellies and tiny waists, and the solid colors make it easy to spot any wetness. They also use organic cotton and ecofriendly dye and are gender-neutral, she says. Tiny Undies underwear is best for younger children between 6 months and 5 years old. $18 at Tiny Undies Buy

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The very best aged pacers on the eastern seaboard will band together for the Saturday evening program (Aug. 25) at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at Charlottetown Driving Park, while the Joe OBrien Memorial and Lady Slipper Stakes take centre stage Sunday afternoon (Aug. 26) at Red Shores at Summerside Raceway.

The 13-dash Saturday program at Charlottetown gets underway at 6 p.m., with Do Over Hanover favoured in the race 12 Preferred Pace for a $2,650 pot. Fresh off a pair of Invitational wins during Old Home Week, the Chris MacKay trainee is saddled with the outside in the field of six for driver Jason Hughes and owners Donald MacRae and Allard Racing Inc. In Spades gets the respect of race secretary Gerard Smith as the morning line favourite from post 3 aftera second-place finish in the $20,000 James Roach MacGregor Gold Cup and Saucer consolation. Austin Sorrie trains and drives the pacer. Euchred has been a major force on the Invitational circuit in 2018 and gets post 4 this week for the duo of driver Adam Merner and trainer Terry Gallant.

Race analyst Les MacIsaac thinks the outside post wont impede Do Over Hanover on his way to the winners circle.

Do Over Hanover has got the versatility to handle any style as he's shown in

his last two races, both impressive wins, MacIsaac said. No matter what strategy is employed tonight, it might be tough preventing a three-peat.

Other Preferred entries include Nabber Again (Ambyr Campbell), Mr Irresistible (Gilles Barrieau) and Tobinator (Corey MacPherson).

The top pacing mares meet again in the Open class in race 11, with Prettyndangerous installed as the favourite from post 5 with Barrieau in the bike for trainer Bo Ford. Other top entries in the full field include Ramblinglily (Ken Murphy) and Traces Of Purple (Kenny Arsenault).

Cartoon Daddy has rail control in the ninth-race Preferred 2 Pace with Dale Spence at the lines for trainer Rachel Andrew. The field also includes Sucrose Hanover (MacPherson) and Elm Grove Kaboom (Hughes).

The 12-dash Sunday program at Summerside has a 1 p.m. start time, with two-year-old pacers dotting the program in stakes action. Race nine is the lone OBrien Memorial Gold division, carrying a purse of $16,000. Red Dirt Rocknroll has been installed the morning-line choice from post 2 with Marc Campbell in the bike for trainer Lenny Myeres, who co-owns the colt with Jack Quinn. The two-year-old son of Articulator was a second-place finisher in his latest outing, pacing in 1:57.3 to Red Dirt Boomer. Post 8 belongs to Red Dirt Boomer Sunday afternoon for trainer-driver Gilles Barrieau, while the undefeated Woodmere Bolt has post 4 for trainer-driver Earl Smith.

Race analyst Bo Ford puts his selection on the post 2 entry in the Gold division.

Red Dirt Rocknroll has our respect. With Campbell drawing an inside post, he should be able to dictate the terms of what type of trip he wants, Ford said. One that might include a little Rock n roll, we hope.

A pair of OBrien Memorial Grassroots divisions line up for $6,000 purses in races 2 and 8.

The Lady Slipper has its top $19,000 division in race 11. Magical Mistress puts her undefeated streak on the line with Adam Merner in the bike from post 5 for trainer Stephen Gass and owner Barry Martin. So Much More has post 3 fresh off a 1:57.1 new career best in her latest for driver Mark Bradley and trainer Tom Weatherbie, while Woodmere Tango is selected for third from post 2 for trainer-driver Clare MacDonald.

The $5,500 Lady Slipper Grassroots divisions line up in races 4, 6 and 10.

For more information, go to www.redshores.ca.

(Red Shores)
Driver Louis-Philippe Roys ride with Jimmy Freight to date has already been a fulfilling one.

One of the first major stakes horses the Quebec native has traveled with, Jimmy Freight has taken the 28-year-old reinsman to the Meadowlands Pace and the Carl Milstein Memorial. The next step in the pacers journey, the $580,000 Messenger Stakes, brings Roy to Yonkers Raceway for the first time.

Its nice to be racing on those tracks I used to watch on TV, and especially competing against those elite drivers, Roy said. Just meeting them was a big thing for me a few years ago, now racing against them is even bigger.

Roy became Jimmy Freights regular driver this spring when the colt entered Richard Moreaus barn. The pair have registered seven wins together, including a division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park and four splits of Ontario Sires Stakes. Jimmy Freight is 14-for-24 lifetime with $499,274 earned.

Jimmy is the easiest horse to drive, he can do whatever you want, Roy said. In front, off the pace, he doesnt care, its the race that dictates the kind of trip will be the best for him, so that gives me more options and make my job easier.

Although versatile, most of Jimmy Freights success has come on the front end. Hes led gate-to-wire in four of his wins this season, including a 1:48.3 lifetime best at Mohawk on Aug. 4. The blazing mile came as no surprise to his driver.

He went a lot of fast miles against the OSS colts without needing any urging before, so I figured he could go that kind of speed if asked, he said.

Jimmy Freight wasnt eligible to the North America Cup, but faced older pacers on the Cup undercard in the $100,000 Gold Cup. He came from 14-1/4 lengths out of it to finish third to Sintra and McWicked in 1:49 with a :26.3 final panel.

The Sportswriter son finished in a dead heat for third in his Meadowlands Pace elimination July 7 and fourth in the final a week later, individually timed in 1:47.3. After two scores in Ontario Sires Stakes, including his 1:48.3 mile, Jimmy Freight went to Northfield Park for the Milstein. He set the pace there, but was caught in the final sixteenth by pocket-sitting Thinkbig Dreambig.

Roy is confident Jimmy Freight will register a Grand Circuit victory and thinks the Messenger is a prime opportunity to make the score.

I think hes knocking at the door; I hope its going be his day soon, Roy said.

The Messenger drew 11 entrants, necessitating two $40,000 eliminations Saturday (Aug. 25). The top four finishers in each elimination will advance to the final on Sept. 1. The rich Triple Crown card will also feature the $500,000 Yonkers Trot along with the Hudson Filly Trot and Lady Maud Pace, each with an estimated $115,000 purse.

Jimmy Freight drew post 4 in the second Messenger elimination Saturday night. The 9-5 morning-line favourite will meet Springsteen, a 5-2 shot from the inside post. The Rene Allard-trained Rock N Roll Heaven colt finished seventh in the Milstein last out and won the Max Hempt at Pocono Downs in June. Stay Hungry won the Cane Pace on Hambletonian Day and looks to keep his Triple Crown hopes alive. He is 2-1 from post 5 with Doug McNair driving for Tony Alagna. Winston, Decoy and Kwik Talkin complete the field.

The first elimination features JK Wildfire, a five-time winner this year who tries open stakes company for the first time this season. Jason Bartlett will drive for Brett Pelling. Babes Dig Me finished third in the Cane Pace and drew the rail for George Brennan and Alagna. Nutcracker Sweet was second in the Hempt and finished sixth in both the Meadowlands Pace and Cane Pace. Jordan Stratton will drive the Takter-trained Bettors Delight son from post 5. Wild Bill and Topville Olympian complete the lineup.

First post time Saturday is 6:50 p.m. The 12-race card also features a $44,000 Open Handicap Pace.

(SOA of New York)
Trainer Mark Steacy sends a trio of freshman pacing fillies in Saturdays (Aug. 25) $251,347 Eternal Camnation Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Beach Bar, Tarryn A Strip and Abuelita Hanover race in the first, second and third divisions, respectively, and will look to make noise in Mohawk Parks first of several Grand Circuit events for two-year-old pacing fillies.

Usually I dont have that many pacing fillies, Steacy said. Ive had one or two colts or one colt, one filly, but never a group of three. I actually have an Ontario-bred thats not too bad, too, so we have four pretty nice pacing fillies.

Beach Bar starts the stakes evening for Steacy from post 8 in the $84,116 first division of the Eternal Camnation. The daughter of Somebeachsomewhere has started from that same post in her last two starts, with her most recent resulting in an off-the-pace fourth-place finish in the $37,000 Whenuwishuponastar.

Shes actually a handy little filly, but shes been handicapped with the outside hole pretty much every start shes had so far including this week, Steacy said. Im not one to like to fire them in their first few races, too. I like to sit back and teach them how to come from behind, so I dont force my drivers to be too hard on them at the start of the race in their first three or four starts.

Driver Paul MacDonell, back in the bike for owners Robert and Shelly MacMillan and Frederick Hertrich III, sent Beach Bar for a top spot in her second career start and finished second by a neck.

Shes got his nice little brush to her  she seems to try real hard at the end, Steacy said. Shes probably the handiest of the three right now  shes the smallest, but probably the handiest. And I think shes the gutsiest of the three right at the moment.

Tarryn A Strip starts from post 3 in the second division. She enters off a sixth-place finish in the Whenuwishuponastar final, which saw her suffer interference entering the backstretch from a halting leader.

I think [the interference] hurt her a lot, Steacy said. The horse [in front of her almost] made her come to a complete stop. We scoped her after and she did scope just a touch sick that day. So just [with] the combination of both, she just wasnt as good as she can be. She was quite good in her other starts and in her qualifiers so I expect a lot more from her this week.

Steacy noted that Tarryn A Strip seemed to clear up after being treated with antibiotics following her last start and trained well earlier this week.

She trained [Wednesday] in 2:06 and she trained quite well; they all actually trained together yesterday and all three of them were very good. I think shes going into this race a lot healthier for sure.

Sylvain Filion, who drove the daughter of Captaintreacherous in her most recent start, sent Tarryn A Strip for the lead from the rail after the filly has raced her previous two starts from off the pace.

She drew inside and Sylvain [Filion] had sat behind her the week before, so he just thought she could get away a lot better, Steacy said. And he did that but it didnt work to her benefit since that horse stopped dead in front of him.

Driver James MacDonald hops behind Tarryn A Strip for owners Glenview Livestock Ltd. and Cheryl Cherry.

Steacys final starter, Abuelita Hanover, races from the rail with MacDonald driving. Steacy also owns the daughter of Somebeachsomewhere with partners Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc. and Howard Pearce.

I thought she was a nice-looking yearling when I bought her; good size, Steacy said. I liked that [the broodmare] had a couple of Yankee Cruisers that sold for no money at all. I didnt know the horses, but they all turned out to be nice horses. So I was hoping that Somebeachsomewhere would step the mare up and that this girl would be much better.

She broke really nice, Steacy also said. She looked great on the trot [but] when I switched her to the pace she didnt respond very well  she crossfired, got on a shaft; she was really ill gaited for a while. But the farther she trained down, the better gaited she got and she had a lot more speed training down.

Abuelita Hanover avoided the interference in the Whenuwishuponastar. However, the filly veered wide and tracked cover from Key West to finish fourth in a dead heat with Beach Bar.

She felt really good following, Steacy said. She felt really strong going into the stretch. [James MacDonald] may have pulled her a little earlier than he probably had to but only because she felt so good, he said. When he did pull her out she kind of hung a little bit.

Steacy said Abuelita Hanover scoped with minor sickness two starts back in the second preliminary for the Whenuwishuponastar and placed her on antibiotics following that start.

I was just thinking that she maybe was just not quite cleared up, Steacy said of her performance in the Whenuwishuponastar. When she qualified she was strong right through the wire, and even in her first race she was strong through the wire. She was real strong training with the other two and was very powerful right through the wire. She drew a good post position, so Im hoping she steps up pretty good this week.

The three divisions of the Eternal Camnation go alongside three splits of the $276,651 Nassagaweya Stakes for rookie pacers and two $40,000 eliminations for the Maple Leaf Trot.

Post time for the 13-race card is set for 7:10 p.m.

To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries  Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Woodbine Communications)
On Friday afternoon (Aug. 24) at Harrahs Philadelphia, both Warrawee Ubeaut and Treacherous Reign performed as expected in their final Pennsylvania Sire Stakes preliminaries for two-year-old pacing fillies, both winning in 1:51.3.

Treacherous Reign was up first, and she showed gameness in her victory. Stonebridge Soul, dismissed at 50-1, went right out to the top despite the outside post 8 in a :27.2 quarter before Andy McCarthy moved Treacherous Reign to the lead well before the :56.1 half. The victorious daughter of Captaintreacherous and Scandalous Hanover was able to hold first-over Shes Allright at bay through and past a 1:23.2 three-quarters, but there was one more battle  to her left  to be won.

Stonebridge Soul had never disengaged after surrendering the lead early, and in fact she was clawing back at the winner inch by inch through the lane. But Treacherous Reign downed her game rival by a neck to go 3-for-3 in her Sire Stakes prelims, including an upset of Warrawee Ubeaut in her previous start, and the winner of four of five lifetime starts may be peaking at an opportune time for trainer Tony Alagna and the ownership of Alagna Racing LLC, Big Als Stables, Let It Ride Stables Inc and Mr. Dana Parham.

The connections on Warrawee Ubeaut have said they looked forward to the time when she could race off of a helmet and not have to move to the lead early because of her credentials and overwhelming support. In this race, driver Yannick Gingras showed no thought of starting quickly with the daughter of Sweet Lou and Great Memories, settling fifth early in a :26.3 initial panel. At the :55.4 half, she responded to her cue to go, took the lead with a :26.4 individual third quarter, and widened her advantage to 3-3/4 lengths at the wire while reducing her mark.

Warrawee Ubeaut, now also 4-for-5 in her career, showed no ill effects from defeat to Treacherous Reign in their previous preliminary for trainer Ron Burke and the ownership of Burke Racing Stable LLC, Phil Collura, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)
Authorities posted the boy's photo on Facebook in hopes of identifying him and learned that his mother hadn't been seen for days.

"If it weren't for him getting out of the vehicle, it would have been a frightful situation and we probably would be looking at three deaths as a result of that accident", Nathan Greeley, a Lieutenant with Ouachita's detective criminal investigation division, says for the publication. He said the authorities were not sure when the crash occurred but believed it may have been Friday.

Hot, hungry, exhausted and scratched all over, the boy wandered onto Highway 24 near Camden, Arkansas, about 85 miles from Little Rock. He had several cuts and scratches throughout his body, the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office said in a statement tweeted by local journalist Cherith Cobbs.

At the scene, authorities found the body of the boy's mother, who had been thrown from the vehicle.

"We just found that out at the hospital that she was pregnant", said the grandfather.

"This is not a story of neglect", Greeley told CNN.

The children are now with family members.

Shortly after starting their search, the authorities found the auto, a hunter green Chevrolet Impala, according to Greeley.

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The vehicle was on its side and not visible from the road.

The toddler's 1-year-old brother was found alive and alert and still strapped in the vehicle seat inside the auto, which had flipped on its side. "My baby's gone", he said. The child seemed dehydrated, Greeley said. "You can imagine, both of them were traumatized". "I wanted to hold him and not let go". The officers immediately began an investigation to find out who the boy was, and where he came from.

"We initially thought it might have been two days they were there", said Greeley, "with new information they could have been there for four days".

The body of the children's mother, believed to be 25-year-old Lisa Holliman, had been thrown from the auto in the crash and was also discovered by police.

The boys are now with their grandparents.

A relative has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for a memorial for the mother.

Greeley said he saw the 3-year-old boy again the day after he was taken into the office.

"I'll never get up and see her, I'll never get to talk to her, laugh with her".
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman in prison in Iran, has been reunited with her daughter during a three day release.

She was accused of spying on the Iranian government and sentenced to five years in prison.

As a condition of the furlough, Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been barred from conducting any interviews with the media, can not visit the grounds of any foreign embassy and may not attempt to leave the country, the statement from Free Nazanin said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was reunited with members of her family including her young daughter outside the Iranian capital after her surprise release.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe travelled to the city of Damavand, in Tehran province, with her father and brother to join the family holiday.

Hunt told reporters at United Nations headquarters in NY that she "is innocent" and "every day that she is in prison is a reminder to the whole world of a gross injustice".

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she was heading back to Britain with her two-year-old daughter after a family visit.

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"Initially the release is for three days - her lawyer is hopeful this can be extended", Richard Ratcliffe said in a statement.

In May it was announced that she faced a new charge of "spreading propaganda against the regime".

In this file photo dated January 16, 2017, Richard Ratcliffe, husband of imprisoned charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, poses for the media during an Amnesty International led vigil outside the Iranian Embassy in London.

Hunt's predecessor Boris Johnson attracted criticism for appearing to jeopardise Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case past year when he suggested at a parliamentary hearing in November 2017 she had been training journalists in Iran prior to her arrest.

"She (Nazanin) was very happy on the phone, though confessed to having cried lots, particularly when seeing her grandmother, and to being still overwhelmed", said Mr Ratcliffe, who also gave thanks to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Consequently, authorities in Tehran used the comment as evidence for her imprisonment.

Speaking to BBC Wales her sister-in-law, Dr Rebecca Ratcliffe, said: 'Every time there's a change in foreign secretary and anything happens in the government to destabilise things, her case just gets put to the bottom of a very long list of priorities for the foreign secretary and foreign office'.
Facebook broke the Iranian-linked investigation into three separate parts that appeared to use different tactics affiliated with different accounts and targeting different regions.

Most of the examples Facebook offers originate from Iran, but some campaigns come from Russian actors.

In all, Facebook says it has removed 652 pages, groups and accounts for "coordinated inauthentic behavior".

However, two others, "Elizabeth Tacher" (@BethTacher on Twitter) and "Liam Jay Campbell" (@LiamJayCampbel1) appear to be fabricated personas with profile pictures taken from actors and stock photo libraries. The accounts typically operated under fake identities, posting incendiary comments around political and social issues and organizing real-world events. That activity "could suggest a more active attempt to influence domestic United States political discourse" is forthcoming, Foster said, but "we just haven't seen that yet".

Also on Tuesday, Twitter said it identified and removed hundreds of accounts that it had traced to Iran.

Facebook has uncovered evidence that Iran is mimicking Russian Federation and trying to exploit the social networking service to influence politics. One group that emerged was Liberty Front Press, which was tied to Iranian state media, per Facebook.

The revelations highlight how Facebook's use as a vessel for disinformation is spreading.

Global social media companies are seeking to guard against political interference on their platforms amid rising concerns about foreign attempts to disrupt the USA midterm elections in November.

"I've been saying for months that there's no way the problem of social media manipulation is limited to a single troll farm in St. Petersburg, and that fact is now beyond a doubt", said Sen.

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You can tell Facebook takes this stuff seriously now after the 2016 debacle, because it put its chief executive officer on a conference call to tout its belated actions, which were prompted by a tip from FireEye, a US cybersecurity firm. It can also make it harder for law enforcement.

Based on FireEye's tip, we started an investigation into "Liberty Front Press" and identified additional accounts and Pages from their network. The same group spent more than US$6,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads paid for in USA dollars, the last one running in August 2018.

The sanctions follow U.S. President Donald Trump's decision in May to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal reached between Tehran and the five UN Security Council members plus Germany and the European Union.

Tuesday's revelations show the problem goes beyond Russian Federation.

A fourth group that attempted to influence politics in Syria and the Ukraine was connected to sources that Facebook said the USA had linked to Russian military intelligence.

These cartoons were focused on Middle Eastern and American politics. "Based on our existing analysis, it appears many of these accounts originated from Iran".

The social network has removed more than 650 pages, groups and accounts identified as "networks of accounts misleading people about what they were doing", according to its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook told lawmakers it suspected a Russian group was behind the accounts, which were involved in organizing political events in the United States. In 2017, they began increasing their focus on the USA and the UK. -North Korea relations, and immigration. "In the context of the USA -focused activity, this also includes significant anti-Trump messaging and the alignment of social media personas with an American liberal identity".

"The activity we have uncovered is significant", FireEye wrote in its blog post.
The last time the island was hit by an equivalent hurricane was in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki passed directly over the island and caused over $1.8 billion in damage and six deaths. However, even if the worst of Hurricane Lane avoids the islands the storm will bring with it enough rain and destructive wind to do serious damage.

National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said Thursday the shift will put the Big Island and Maui "in the thick" of the hurricane.

America's Pacific paradise is now under a state of emergency as Hurricane Lane soaks the Big Island.

"We expect it to gradually weaken as it gets closer to the islands", Chevalier said. This is the second hurricane to threaten the Hawaiian Islands in the past month, with Hurricane Hector brushing by just a few weeks ago. Almost 20 inches of rain has already fallen on portions of the Big Island.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Oahu, Maui County and Hawaii County.

He says the more stationary hurricane increases the threat of flash floods and landslides because of prolonged, increased rainfall.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis said there's not enough shelter space statewide and advised people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

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With Lane still churning in the Pacific Ocean some 322km south-southeast of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, more than 30cm of rain has already fallen on the island's eastern side, Hawaii County Civil Defense agency spokeswoman Kelly Wooten said.

As those shelters opened, rain began to pour and cellphone alerts went out, the approaching hurricane started to feel real for Hawaii residents.

STORM SURGE: The combination of a risky storm surge and large breaking waves will raise water levels by as much as 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels along south and west facing shores near the center of Lane.

If the storm does hit Hawaii it would be the first to do so in 26 years. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Now, one such giant hurricane is closing in on Hawaii. The increased evaporation that results is "fuel for hurricanes and other storms", said Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

She said the volunteers - who have "big hearts and just want to help people" - will provide physical as well as emotional support to survivors. President Trump's declaration secures federal emergency response funding as well as Homeland Security and FEMA assistance. In this analysis, the data includes only single-family residential properties likely to be impacted by a lower category storm.

"We're going to be in business for longer", said Ray Moody, a longtime Hawaii Red Cross volunteer.
Hurricane Lane already lashed the Big Island with almost 20 inches of rain in almost 24 hours and was moving closer to Hawaii, a shift that will put the Big Island and Maui "in the thick" of the storm, National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said.

Hurricane Lane drenched Hawaii Thursday ahead of its arrival in the island state, prompting US President Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency as landslides and flash flooding left roads blocked.

There is a major flash flood warning for the Big Island through Thursday morning, and the NWS is warning of life-threatening flooding and landslides throughout the islands.

Hawaii's governor, David Ige, told residents to avoid flood waters "due to possible overflowing cesspools, sewer, manholes, pesticides, animal fecal matter, dead animals, pathogens, chemicals, and associated flood debris". In the western half of that ocean they are called typhoons instead of hurricanes and tend to be bigger and badder than the storms that plague the Americas.

"NOAA Buoy 51002 located about 250 miles southwest of the Big Island reported a peak wind of 107 mph (172 km/h) as the northwest eyewall of Lane passed over", forecasters reported.

Hurricanes rarely make landfall in Hawaii and the last major storm to strike the state was almost three decades ago, when Hurricane Iniki barreled into the island of Kauai, leaving six people dead and causing billions of dollars in damage.

However, the airline said it'll be running two nonscheduled "recovery" flights Thursday morning - one each out of Maui and Honolulu - to bring passengers off the islands, including those scheduled to fly out this evening. Maui is expected to see tropical storm conditions Thursday night, with some parts of the island seeing hurricane conditions on Friday.

Buses around Honolulu have been picking up residents in need and taking them to shelters. Kauai County, including the island of Niihau, is under a hurricane watch. Isolated areas could see 40 inches.

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A sidewalk is ripped up and littered with downed palm trees after Hurricane Iniki slammed the island of Kauai, Hawaii, in September 1992.

Shelters opened Wednesday on the Big Island and on the islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai.

However, the NWS has said that the storm, which is more than 200 miles (322 kilometers) wide, will cause significant unsafe weather in Hawaii even if it only skirts the state.

On Thursday, Hurricane Lane bought 12 inches of rain in 12 hours with residents panicking to make sure they had enough supplies.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has prepared stocks of food, water, generators and other supplies to support the state during emergency conditions.

According to the state of Hawaii, numerous buildings built before the early 1990s on the islands are not created to withstand hurricane force winds.
Exceptionally dry summer may reveal hidden archaeological monuments

While farmers have bemoaned this year's historically dry weather conditions, archaeologists might soon be reaping the benefits.

Have you ever wondered what secrets might lie just beneath the ground you are walking on? This year's drought might help shed some light on this question.

Archelogogists in England have already credited the exceptionally dry summer for an unusually bountiful harvest of so-called cropmarks. The dry soil has revealed a large number of ancient structures just beneath the surface, including buildings that haven't been seen in thousands of years.

Cropmarks become especially visible and form faster in parched soil, which means that this year could turn out to present a veritable treasure trove to aerial archaeologists in Luxembourg as well.

Even long after the buildings themselves have vanished from the face of the earth ... /  Historic England

Cropmarks reflect the surface beneath, making them extremely useful to archaeologists seeking to find ancient settlements and buried ruins. Negative cropmarks tend to appear above buried stone structures, such as walls, and channel water away from the plants above, leading the crops to under-develop or even dry out completely. The opposite is the case for a positive cropmark, which occurs when for example a ditch has been filled in with foreign soil. This leaves the plants above with more nutrients and they are visibly stronger than neighbouring plants.

... they can leave behind either "positive" or "negative" cropmarks. /  Historic England

Aerial archaeology in Luxembourg

The national archaeology research centre CNRA has kindly provided RTL Today with some information regarding cropmarks in Luxembourg. Their flying archaeologists occasionally perform aerial surveys, especially in the summer when the weather is clear and the soil is dry.

In 2017, aerial photos from Bonnevoie revealed V-shaped "redans", which are believed to stem from the French siege of 1684 by King Louis XIV. Rectangular shapes point to military camps. /  geoportail.lu

While CNRA's Andre Schoellen believes that this year's draught might have come a bit too late to reveal many cropmarks, he stated that they experienced exceptionally good results last year. This year's findings will only come out in a couple of months and might yet reveal some unexpected features.

The former front line can still be traced today. Several artillery "redoutes" from the second French siege in 1795 have also been discovered in the area. /  geoportail.lu

The CNRA rented a Cessna 172 along with an experienced pilot in late June and early July 2017. Despite the late flight date, they discovered a lot of known and unknown sites. In early 2018, the CNRA added a drone to its inventory, but it tends to be used for recording archaeological sites during excavation rather than for systematic aerial survey.

A map from the late 17th century shows the ditch, the triangular redans and several French camps (rectangular shaped boxes on the map) in the Bonnevoie area.

While the CNRA mount their own missions, they also work with the land registry and topography administration (ACT) which regularly maps the country and gives archaeologists useful tools. In 2017, the ACT's Orthophoto session revealed many new archaeological sites, much to the delight of the archaeologists at CNRA.

Roman villa in Misarsbreck. /  geoportail.lu Prehistoric funerary structure in Pleitrange. /  geoportail.lu Roman villa in Emerange. /  geoportail.lu Roman villa in Emerange - zoomed image. /  geoportail.lu Roman villa in Echternach. /  geoportail.lu The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

From more recent archaeological sites, such as line of siege of 1684 in Bonnevoie with a linear ditch, artillery positions and several camps, to ancient Roman villas in Echternach, Ermerange and Misarsbreck, and even an ancient fortified settlement in Petange and prehistoric funerary structures in Pleitrange, the year 2017 gave archaeologists a lot of information to work with.

While archaeology is serious business for the most part, the CNRA's team of archaeologists sometimes stumble on more "creative" and modern cropmarks. In 2010, in a field close to Dudelange, a farmer decided to decorate her land in a very memorable way, even if her cropmarks have probably not withstood the ages.
Iran has unveiled a new homemade fighter jet dubbed "Kowsar", during a ceremony in Tehran Aug. 21, Iranian media outlets reported.

The TV also broadcast footage it said showed the jet in flight.

"When we say we are ready for defence, it means that we seek the establishment of a sustainable peace", Rouhani said.

The president said Iran's circumstances necessitate increased efforts for strengthening its military power. "This is peace-seeking, because we don't want war to happen", Rohani added.

"If we don't have a deterrent.it gives a green light for others to enter this country".

"The Iranian regime is introduced the aircraft Kowsar, calling it "the first 100 percent Iranian-made fighter" who can show off their offensive abilities.

The US has sold hundreds of billions of dollars of weapons to Iran's regional rivals and has demanded that Tehran curb its ballistic missile program.

Defence industry observers say Iran's air force is relatively minor, given that it roughly comprises of just a few dozen strike aircraft, largely Russian or American planes acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Bull market ignores White House turmoil to set new record

Trump, meanwhile, told an interviewer on Fox that his impeachment would "crash" the stock market . In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,722.54 for a gain of 4.50 points or 0.26%.

"With a couple of sentences one can start a fight".

He also pointed to the "high political costs" that some regional countries have borne to purchase foreign arms that they can not even operate.

The threat of military conflict between the United States and Iran is rising, threatening to shut the world's busiest seaway for oil exports and send crude prices higher, analysts told CNBC on Monday.

The Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they would continue increasing Iran's defensive capabilities not surrender to US pressure to scrap its ballistic missile programme.

It emerged the USA has a "shock and awe" plan in the terrifying event of an actual conflict with Iran. Why does it drag China into an economic war? "We must fix our weak points".

Military officials in unveiled the first Iranian-built fourth-generation fighter jet on Monday, in a highly-publicized show of military might targeted at the US and its allies amid rising tensions between Washington and the Middle East nation.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said the plane's promotion was "natural reaction to an economic crisis" in the country.

"We expect that Europeans will see, as businesses all over Europe are seeing, that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them", Bolton said.
Speaking as the government published a series of technical notices about the effects of a no-deal Brexit, Dominic Raab went on to reassure the nation that there were "no plans to deploy the army to maintain food supplies".

He said: "We are working constructively and at full speed 24/7, seven days a week to reach an agreement".

"No-deal would be a catastrophic failure of the UK Government that would cause huge disruption and serious, long-lasting economic and social damage to all parts of the UK".

'The government is taking a pragmatic approach to addressing critical cliff-edge issues and to ensure consumers and businesses can continue accessing vital cross-border services.

Hancock was very firm on there being no need for clinicians to hoard medicine, and indicated that any who did so could be disciplined: "Hospitals, GPs and community pharmacies throughout the United Kingdom do not need to take any steps to stockpile additional medicines, beyond their business as usual stock levels", he wrote in a bolded section of his letter to healthcare providers. "We agreed that we need to step up the intensity of the negotiations as we come into the final phase and we have agreed to meet regularly and resolve at the political level those outstanding issues that remain under technical consideration".

- The Government is planning to recruit an extra 9,000 staff into the civil service to deal with Brexit, in addition to 7,000 now working on preparations. "A no deal would be bad, but a no deal with no planning would be worse". "By now, few can be in any doubt that "no deal" would wreak havoc on economies across Europe", said Josh Hardie, deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industries. "These papers show that those who claim crashing out of the European Union on World Trade Organisation rules is acceptable live in a world of fantasy, where facts are not allowed to challenge ideology".

Customers, including businesses using providers to process payments in euros, could also "face increased costs and slower processing times for euro transactions", the Government paper warned.

Trump honors federal immigration officials at White House

It means open borders. "They mind it when it happens to them, they don't mind it when they have to watch it on television". Anzaldua took the stage to recount his experience, which Trump praised as "a good job".

Aon notes that the majority of the London market carriers that it works with have advanced plans to ensure their contracts are still valid post-Brexit, plans that recognise the wealth of expertise and capacity available in the London marketplace, but that also understand the need to comply with a new, post-Brexit regulatory environment.

The letter also said Treasury analysis estimated borrowing would be around 80bn a year higher under a no-deal scenario by 2033.

"There is definitely going to be a real push for October and we'll probably not be able to quite get there".

"Not only would this be hugely disruptive but it threatens livelihoods and businesses in the UK", NFU President Minette Batters said.

- Companies exporting across the Irish border should "consider whether you will need advice from the Irish Government about preparations you need to make".

But talks have bogged down amid infighting within May's divided Conservative government.

Fund managers in the City of London operate many funds listed in the likes of Luxembourg and Dublin, and the plans said Britain was ready to agree cooperation arrangements with the European Union as soon as possible to ensure this could continue.
But in a court martial sitting today morning, state chose to drop charges that were earlier preferred against the legislator advising court to transfer him to Police to be charged with treason.

A limping Bobi Wine, who was evidently in pain had to be assisted to walk out of the courtroom into an awaiting auto.

Fondly known as "the Ghetto President", Wine has galvanized young voters to engage in critical by-elections since 2016, when Museveni won yet another term to extend his 32-year-old rule.

It was the first time Ssentamu had been seen in public since he was detained on August 13, and he clenched his fists as he greeted supporters. Images of Kawuma's blood-soaked, lifeless body still strapped in his parked vehicle have shaken the country. The Ugandan government called assault accusations "rubbish".

Bobi, like Museveni were in Arua to campaign for their respective candidates.

The deceased was shot near Hotel Pacific in Arua town on Monday evening and police officers claimed that the chaos that preceded the shooting was sparked off after Kassiano Wadri and Bobi Wine's supporters attacked the convoy of President Museveni.

The army on Wednesday evening flew the Kyadondo East MP, also known as Bobi Wine, back to the northern town of Gulu ahead of his hearing. On August 16, 2018, he was charged at a military court on two counts of possession of firearms and one count of possession of ammunition. His face was badly swollen and he could neither talk, see or walk, so vicious was the beating he'd received.

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She happily also shared in reports about how Nick was aptly chanting the Sanskrit mantras during the puja at the roka ceremony . Followed by the ceremony, the couple also planned an engagement bash with close family and loved ones from the film fraternity.

President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, has dismissed reports of injuries as "fake news". However, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) team that visited Bobi Wine confirmed the accounts.

Another top Ugandan opposition figure has been arrested amid the uproar over a pop star-turned-opposition lawmaker being charged with treason. He sat in the dock in magistrate's court, with his lawyers saying he was unable to stand on his own. "He needs urgent medical care", lawyer Medard Lubega Segona said.

Several Bobi Wine supporters demonstrated outside the grand cathedral and demanded his and others MPs' release.

Kenyans online have expressed their solidarity with Ugandans in the fight for his release. He remains in a military facility in Kampala and the next hearing is scheduled for Thursday. Photo by Halima Athumani, used with permission.

Later, she would have Bobi Wine re-arrested and driven off to a civilian court. The European Union has issued a statement strongly condemning the by-election violence.

Political tension has risen in the country since his arrest.

A group of noteworthy musicians and music industry names has now come together to sign a letter in support of Bobi Wine.
The tweets come two months after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Singapore.

Trump kept open the possibility of a future visit by the nation's top diplomat, writing that: 'Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved.

Pompeo was scheduled to travel to North Korea for the fourth time next week to discuss plans to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

State Department officials were caught "completely off guard" by President Trump's abrupt cancellation Friday of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned trip to North Korea next week, CNN reported. Notably, Trump attributed this lack of progress to China - rather than to Kim's regime - arguing that Beijing had ceased "helping with the process of denuclearization", in an apparent response to the administration's "tougher Trading stance".

"Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea".

At the same rally, Trump seemed to take a different tone too on China, saying he had withheld some criticism of China because "I wanted them to help us with North Korea and they have".

Kim made a broad, vague commitment in Singapore to work toward denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula but has given no sign of willingness to give up his arsenal unilaterally.

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Pyongyang accuses "high-level officials" in the Trump administration of going against the president's will and "inciting global sanctions and pressure" against North Korea; reaction from Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for Reuters. Pompeo later accompanied Trump to the meeting and has since been back twice to North Korea. "I look forward to seeing him soon!" he added.

Pompeo, who would have been making his second visit to Pyongyang since the summit, had not been due to meet Kim this time.

Earlier this month, White House national security adviser John Bolton said North Korea had done little to denuclearize.

Some independent assessments suggest that North Korea has actually been increasing its nuclear activity.

There Trump maintained "we're doing well with North Korea".

Senior North Korean officials have discussed their intention to deceive Washington about the number of nuclear warheads and missiles they have, as well as the types and numbers of facilities, and to rebuff worldwide inspectors, according to intelligence gathered by US agencies.
60 Minutes gets on the Disgrace race, as Charles Wooley looks at whether social media hate is killing free speech, while Liam Bartlett profiles a serial killer accusation in the USA.

Act of Outage

To slightly bastardise that famous Hollywood line: Australians are as mad as hell, and were not going to take it anymore! The feeling is amplified by social media which is giving instant  and deafening  voice to our outrage. On Facebook and Twitter it seems theres a lot that were angry about, and weve become very accurate when we spit our venom. For proof, hashtag Malcolm Turnbull or Peter Dutton. Even Charles Wooley knows what its like to cop the publics wrath. Earlier this year on 60 Minutes he dared to describe the New Zealand Prime Minister as attractive. As a result of the backlash he now wonders if weve gone too far and asks, is getting high on hate killing free speech?

Reporter: Charles Wooley

Producer: Bryce Corbett

Unmasked

To his neighbours, 72-year-old Joseph DeAngelo was an unlikeable, whingeing curmudgeon. No doubt he would have bitched at the nickname they gave him too, Crazy Joe. But that is nothing compared with the label police and prosecutors in the United States are now trying to pin on him. They accuse DeAngelo of being the Golden State Killer, a serial murderer and rapist as vile as has ever lived. In the 1970s and 80s, its alleged he wreaked havoc all over the state of California while evading capture. And he might have gotten away with it forever, except for some of the most innovative detective work you will ever see.

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producer: Stefanie Sgroi

8:30pm Sunday on Nine.
Conservative Brexiteers have turned swiftly on their Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, after he undermined the no-deal Brexit advice the UK government published yesterday. He delivered a solemn warning about the brutal impact crashing-out of the EU without a trade deal could have on the UK economy. Mr Hammond detailed his worries about a no-deal Brexit in a letter to Conservative MP Nicky Morgan only a matter of hours after the UK government published its own advice to the public, business and interest groups about what could happen in the event of no deal being settled between the EU and the UK.

Conservative divisions begin to show again over Brexit

Splits within the Conservatives have yet again been made evident over the handling of Britain's departing negotiations with the EU. Tory Brexiteers published advice yesterday in order to dissuade public angst and worry about what could happen if the UK does not agree to a trade arrangement with the EU post-Brexit. Whilst hard-line Brexit supporters in the Conservative party have been keen to emphasise to the public that there is no need to panic about what could happen to the country in a no-deal situation, Mr Hammond has been accused of starting "another instalment of dodgy project fear".

Conservative Brexiteers are showing their anger at the Chancellor's lack of unity with the rest of the party's PR line.

The Chancellor's lack of confidence about the reality of a no-deal Brexit was shown by his statement that there could be a 7.7 percent hit over the next 15 years to the UK's GDP if we crash-out of the European Union without a settled agreement. The utter lack of cohesion within the government will worry the public about how effective their negotiation stance will be.

More warnings are being issued to the UK about a no-deal Brexit

It is not only Philip Hammond who Tory Brexiteers have to contend with. More negativity is coming from the World Trade Organisation who has told the UK government that it should not think that falling into a no-deal Brexit is "going to be a walk in the park." This came after the Tories published a very positive portrayal of what crashing out of the EU could look like.

The British public has been worried recently about whether crucial imports will still be able to enter the country if we have no trade agreement with EU countries. There has been panic in some corners that the supply of medicine, food and manufacturing materials will be will be impaired significantly by a no-deal Brexit. Such fears have been compounded by Philip Hammond's statement that food and drink, chemicals, cars and the retail sector will be the "most affected negatively in the long run". With the public receiving two different messages from the Conservative government which do not resemble each other at all, UK citizens are left wondering who they can trust to tell them the truth about the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
green beret

US Army

The Army has recommended Capt. Michael Perozeni for a silver star, the military's third-highest valor award for gallantry.

Perozeni, an Army Special Forces team leader, was singled out for blame in an investigation into the deadly Niger ambush last year that cost the lives of four US special forces soldiers.

His superiors, however, believe that Perozeni, who was wounded in the firefight, ought to be commended for his heroism.

The U.S. Army Special Forces team leader upon whom the Pentagon has heaped much of the blame for a deadly ambush in Niger last October may also be awarded a Silver Star for his heroic actions that day, the New York Times reported on Aug. 23.

Army commanders have recommended that Capt. Michael Perozeni receive the militarys third-highest valor award for the gallantry he displayed when his 11-man team came under attack by dozens of Islamist militants on Oct. 4, 2017, according to an internal Special Operations Command report attained by the Times.

The ambush occurred outside the village of Tongo Tongo, where Operational Detachment Alpha Team 3212 had stopped for water following a kill-or-capture mission that turned up nothing. The team was accompanied by 30 Nigerian soldiers.

Four members of ODA 3212 were killed in the ensuing firefight, which lasted hours and was captured in helmet camera footage that later appeared in an ISIS propaganda video. Perozeni was shot in the attack but survived

Two of the soldiers killed in the battle are being considered for the Distinguished Service Cross and the other two have been recommended for the Silver Star, according to the Times.

Perozenis Silver Star nomination sharply contrasts with the summary of a U.S. Africa Command report released to the public in May that implied Perozeni and another junior officer had imperiled ODA 3212 by mischaracterizing its mission that day in a planning document. The summary stated that the officers described the mission as a trip to meet tribal elders rather than a counterterrorism mission, which would have required higher approval and a much larger contingent of troops.

The planning document contributed to a general lack of situational awareness and command oversight at every echelon, according to the AFRICOM investigation. However, as the Times noted, the summary did not mention the fact that Perozeni had pushed back against the part of the mission that would eventually turn deadly, nor did it directly [attribute] any blame to senior leadership.

A Defense Department official told the Times that it was doubtful that Captain Perozeni could be considered for the honor if his misleading mission plan had been a significant error, or had led to the deadly attack.

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Aadhaar card enrolling agency Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has added a face recognition feature as an additional way of authentication. "All telecom service providers (TSPs) that use Aadhaar as an identification tool to issue new sim cards should use face recognition feature as an additional safety measure over and above the existing means of finger print identification and one time password,"informed UIDAI in a circular issued on August 17. The new feature becomes mandatory from September 15.

Why only Telecom Service Providers?

The UIDAI had in fact asked all authentication user agencies (AUA) - banks, telecom companies, public distribution channels, income tax authorities, etc - to add facial recognition as an additional feature in their authentication devices by July 2018. However, the AUAs failed to meet the deadline. Since telcos are the ones that use outside agents and distributors to carry out the authentication most, UIDAI has decided to begin with them, and move towards others in a phased manner.

Is it a new technology?

According to UIDAI, it always had the ability to leverage the photograph taken during Aadhaar enrolment to verify the identity of the Aadhaar number holder. The inbuilt cameras on laptops and mobiles are good enough for this purpose and do not require any change in hardware, it says.

Is matching Aadhaar photos foolproof?

This will not be the only way to authenticate one's identity. UIDAI wants this to be a part of a two-level or three-level mode of identification. For instance, if fingerprint doesn't work, one can use facial recognition plus OTP.

Why were other AUAs not ready with the service?

For logistical reasons. For enabling this technology, UIDAI will have to work with all biometric device providers to integrate face modality into the certified registered devices and also provide standalone registered device as and when required. UIDAI also provides software development kits and registered device services in various operating systems, which will have the ability to capture face image, check liveness, and create digitally signed and encrypted authentication input as required.
MPs are calling for a new law to stop criminals changing their name to hide their past.

Offenders can create new identities through the deed poll system without having to declare their previous convictions.

One private website offers the service for 15, another boasts it helps 50,000 people a year change their name.

Another offers a one-hour fast track service.

The Information Hub website advises applicants: "There is nothing preventing people with criminal convictions from changing their name," though it warns that anyone with a case pending, or on probation or the sex offenders register, must inform police.

A deed poll name-change entitles users to get new documents including a passport, driving licence, national insurance number and credit cards.

There is no obligation to register the new identity with any government department.

Alleged fraudster Mark Acklom has used the deed poll system to create various identities in setting up companies to attract investors.

He is in jail in Switzerland, where he was using a Spanish name, under investigation for fraud there and also awaiting extradition to the UK.

He once wrote in a blog: "In the United Kingdom its perfectly legal to change one's name as many times and as often as one wants.

"In fact you can change your name for a day and then change it back.

"Foreign people find this very hard to understand but that is the law in the United Kingdom."

MP Liz Saville Roberts, chair of the all-party Parliamentary Justice Group on Digital Crime, said she was appalled at our evidence that criminals were abusing the system.

She said: "The present system is effectively giving criminals more rights to disappear than it is giving victims the right to know the history, say, of new partners or people who might be attempting to defraud them."

The Plaid Cymru MP added: "I'm calling on the government to require every criminal who wants to change their name by deed poll to declare any unspent convictions and to insist that those companies making money out of the system ask specifically if an applicant has unspent crimes."

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Former Metropolitan police officer Chris Hobbs recalled, during a secondment in Jamaica, the arrest of a young British woman, caught with a large supply of cannabis in her suitcase as she tried to leave Montego Bay.

He said: "We checked her name in our systems to see if she had any previous convictions or was known to police and the answer came back 'no trace'.

"She said she was a law-abiding student and that someone must have planted the drugs, which was not uncommon.

"We were on the verge of believing her when a Jamaican officer walked into the holding centre and recognised her as someone he had arrested for the same crime three years earlier.

"We did more checks and discovered she had been to prison, come out and changed her name by deed poll.

"The system is a farce."

Mum Cathy Jacques began a campaign for a shake-up of the system after her former partner Lee Khair killed their two-year-old son Ryan, came out of prison and changed his name.

She said at her home in Dorset: "Any new partner he meets will have no idea of his past and no way of checking him out. Criminals who have been to prison for a serious crime should not be allowed to change their name."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "There are robust measures and safeguards in place to ensure people who change their name cannot hide from their criminal past.

"The Home Office and law enforcement agencies use a range of biometric information such as fingerprints on a daily basis to identify offenders and prevent crime.



"However, we would urge businesses to make due diligence checks for any potential business associates to prevent criminal activity from taking place."
The UK has agreed a trade deal to export lamb to Saudi Arabia (Getty Images)

The government has been accused of watering down animal welfare standards after it emerged that British lambs sold to Saudi Arabia in a major new trade deal may not be stunned before slaughter.

The deal, understood to be worth 25 million over the next five years, has been criticised by MPs and animal welfare groups.

The British Veterinary Association has called on the government to clarify whether the lambs would be killed using a cruel non-stun method, which the body condemns as causing unnecessary suffering.

BVA President John Fishwick told Yahoo News: The fact that weve got a trade deal for British lamb to Saudi Arabia is really good and we should welcome that. It shows the high quality of British produce.

The concern is that we dont have clarity on whether or not these animals are going to be stunned when theyre slaughtered.

We have campaigned for many years that only animals that have been properly stunned should be slaughtered in the UK for any consumption  home consumption or for export.

The BVA has called for clarity from the government on whether the exported meat will be stunned (Getty Images)

Currently the law in the UK and EU prohibits the slaughter of animals without stunning them first, but exceptions are made for a small number of religious communities.

It is understood that the lamb sold to Saudi Arabia will be certified by the Halal Monitoring Committee, which does not permit any form of stunning, according to Vet Record.

Mr Fishwick warned that a deal could suggest a lowering of welfare standards in the UK in the interests of increasing exports.

He said: I think there is a danger that, if were willing to sign up to a major trade deal and all those animals are going to be slaughtered in a non-stunned method which we consider causes unnecessary suffering, that would be a very, very bad sign about standards here in the UK.

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Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats food spokesperson, also warned that the UK could see its standards slip.

He said: This does not bode well, as post-Brexit the UK will inevitably receive pressure from new trading partners to open markets to low-welfare animal products.

A Defra spokesperson told Yahoo: Earlier this year, the Government announced it had reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia to lift the 20-year ban on lamb exports, which was introduced after the BSE crisis.

Whilst there are currently no restrictions on exporting non-stun meat, all slaughter  whether stun or non-stun  must strictly comply with EU and UK rules on animal welfare. We have been clear these standards will not be watered down as we leave the EU.

A 2003 Farm Animal Welfare Council study found that killing livestock without stunning causes very significant pain and distress.

European Food Safety Authority said in a 2004 report: The animals which are slaughtered have systems for detecting and feeling pain and, as a result of the cut and the blood loss, if not stunned their welfare will be poor because of pain, fear and other adverse effects.
The tunnel was discovered under an old KFC restaurant in Arizona (Homeland Security Investigations/Yuma Sector BP)

That is one big takeaway.

Police in the United States have uncovered a secret drug tunnel stretching from a former KFC in the state of Arizona all the way to Mexico.

The almost 600ft-long passageway was in the basement of the old restaurant in San Luis in the US, leading under the border to a home in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.

Authorities found the tunnel last week. They have subsequently arrested the owner of the building in the US, said KYMA News.

The property in Mexico (Homeland Security Investigations/Yuma Sector BP)

A traffic stop by cops of the owner, Ivan Lopez, led to the discovery not only of the tunnel but also a large haul of drugs.

During the stop, police dogs reportedly led officers to two containers of hard narcotics with a street value of more than $1m inside Lopezs vehicle.

Investigators say the containers held 118kg (260lb) of methamphetamine, six grams of cocaine, 3kg of fentanyl, and 21kg of heroin.

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They then searched his home and his old KFC restaurant, discovering the tunnels entrance in the kitchen.

The passageway was 22ft deep, and 590 feet long. It ended up in a house across the Mexican border.

The drugs are believed to have been pulled up through the tunnel with a rope.

However, this is not the first such discovery of such a tunnel by police.

In 2016, a 2,600ft-long tunnel was found by authorities in San Diego, California, also being used to transport illegal narcotics.

Authorities then said it was one of the longest such drug tunnels ever discovered, used to transport an unprecedented cache of cocaine and marijuana.

The tunnel stretched for almost 600 feet (Homeland Security Investigations/Yuma Sector BP)

Drug trafficking on on the US-Mexico border remains a huge problem.

In July alone, US Border Patrol seized 15kg of heroin, 24lbs of cocaine, 327kg of methamphetamine and 1,900kg of marijuana at border checkpoints nationwide.
FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his State of the Nation address at the House of Representatives in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines July 23, 2018. REUTERS/Czar Dancel

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said three members of U.S. President Donald Trump's cabinet had sought a dialogue about Manila's procurement plans for defence equipment.

Duterte said he had received a letter signed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Secretary of Defense James Mattis reaffirming Washington's "strongest support" for the Philippines' effort to modernise its military.

Duterte's disclosure follows advice last week from a visiting Pentagon official, Randall Schriver, against buying Russian weapon systems and platforms.

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart this week about the possibility of buying Russian arms, local media said.

The U.S. government's letter, which Duterte read during a military event in his hometown Davao, said the "special relationship" between the two countries "will only grow stronger by increasing our dialogue and cooperation especially on security".

The letter noted Manila's recent decision to procure Bell combat utility helicopters and Cessna utility aircraft. Bell and Cessna are both part of Textron Inc.

"We hope to partner in all the significant defence procurement," the U.S. officials were quoted as saying in the letter.

The U.S. embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.

Duterte, however, said what he needed were attack helicopters and small planes for counter-insurgency operations.

He expressed willingness to meet the three U.S. officials, but said he would not go to the United States for the dialogue.

Duterte has vowed to buy brand-new military equipment to fight twin Maoist and Muslim rebellions, and no longer accept second-hand weapons from the United States.

The Philippines under Duterte has forged closer ties with both China and Russia involving trade and defence cooperation.

Manila scrapped a deal to buy assault rifles from the United States after some U.S. legislators campaigned to block the sale, citing concerns over Duterte's bloody anti-narcotics campaign.

(Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by David Holmes)
TOKYO (Reuters) - A powerful typhoon was expected to make landfall in west Japan on Thursday, raising the risk of more hardship for a region battered by deadly floods in July, and prompting authorities to issue evacuation advisories for more than 60,000 people.

The center of Typhoon Cimaron was about 200 km (125 miles) south of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) and heading north-northwest.

It was likely to cut across western Japan on Thursday evening, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

"There will be heavy rain in areas that have yet to fully recover," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a meeting of the government's disaster response headquarters.

"In order to prevent a secondary disaster, do not be afraid of false alarms and evacuate early and do everything you can (to protect yourself)," he added.

Shikoku would likely see as much as 800 mm (32 inches) of rain in the 24 hours to noon on Friday. Central Japan, including the industrial region of Nagoya, could see up to 600 mm of rain in the same period, the agency said.

At least three municipalities on Shikoku issued evacuation advisories for their 65,000 residents and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged residents to take precautionary measures early.

Japan has been hit by various extreme weather since the beginning of July with record-breaking heat and the devastating floods and landslides in the west that killed more than 200 people.

"When evacuation advisories are released, please realize that this applies to you personally and take immediate action to reach higher ground, evacuate to safety and take action to protect your life," said Hidehiko Yuzaki, governor of Okayama prefecture, one of the areas hit hardest by last month's floods.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Olivier Fabre; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Migrants wait to disembark from the Italian coast guard vessel "Diciotti" at the port of Catania Migrants wait to disembark from the Italian coast guard vessel Diciotti at the port of Catania, Italy. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello

By Steve Scherer and Gabriela Baczynska

ROME/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy's populist government said on Friday it would cut funds for the European Union unless other states take in boat migrants stranded in an Italian port, earning a rebuke from Brussels for making unacceptable "threats".

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that envoys from EU states who met in Brussels on Friday did not reach a deal to share out the 150 migrants on board the Diciotti, an Italian coastguard ship docked in Catania since Monday.

Italy will "act accordingly", he said on Facebook, noting the EU had failed to live up to its principles of "solidarity and responsibility" and that there was a gulf "between words and actions" that is coloured by "hypocrisy".

More than 650,000 people have reached Italian shores since 2014 and Rome has begun to take a rigidly anti-immigration line, saying it will not let any more rescue ships dock unless other EU states agree to take the people in.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who heads the anti-immigrant League party, has insisted they will not be allowed ashore until other EU states agree to take them in - prompting a criminal investigation into whether the migrants are being held against their will.

Salvini seemed to give some ground in a radio interview on Friday evening, suggesting he might let migrants off the Diciotti once it had been ascertained whether they were "real refugees".

"I'm considering the possibility of carrying out identification and recognition procedures to identify real refugees, who are the minority, from fake refugees before they disembark," he told state broadcaster Rai.

Salvini's government ally, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who leads the 5-Star Movement, has said his party will not approve next year's European Union funding if there is no action soon.

"The soft line does not work, the hard line will be to withhold funds if they don't listen to us," Di Maio said.

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Rejecting the Italian threats as unacceptable, the EU's executive European Commission said a solution to the Diciotti case was its "main priority".

"Unconstructive comments, let alone threats ... will not get us any closer to a solution," spokesman Alexander Winterstein told a news conference on Friday.

The issue of how to handle migrants has bitterly split the EU, although arrivals are down dramatically from their 2015 peak of more than a million.

Southern EU states such as Italy and Greece feel overrun and the bloc's eastern members refuse to host any of the new arrivals.

The easterners, who face cuts in EU development aid over their refusal to help on migration, did not attend the Brussels meeting on Friday. Malta, Italy, Spain, Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands were present.

CURTAILING ARRIVALS

In Italy, a campaign promise to further curtail arrivals helped propel the 5-Star and the League into office last June.

Deals were reached in June and July to distribute people from ships that carried rescued migrants to Italy and Malta.

But Salvini this week said countries were failing to keep their promises.

Opposition politicians who visited the Diciotti this week condemned Salvini and Di Maio.

"The worst thing is that (the migrants) are being held hostage as a way of blackmailing Europe," said Laura Boldrini, a lawmaker for the left-wing Free and Equal party.

The migrants appeared to have started a hunger strike on Friday, Davide Faraone, a lawmaker in the opposition Democratic Party, said on Twitter.

Another opposition lawmaker, Riccardo Magi, said most on board could qualify for asylum.

Magi petitioned the Catania prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into whether the migrants were being held against their will. Agrigento's chief prosecutor has opened a probe against "unknown" persons for holding them.

On Friday, Salvini remained defiant in the face of the investigation and said it was his job to protect the country.

"If someone is thinking about arresting me, they're mistaken, because the Italian people are asking for order, rules, respect and controlled immigration," he said.

(Additional reporting by Philip Pullella and Gavin Jones in Rome, Philip Blenkinsop and Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels; Editing by Andrew Roche and Andrew Heavens)
The climate is changing  and so are our seas. Warming sea temperatures have resulted in British cod moving north, benefiting Iceland. The English Channel has warmed during the last half century and the grey Atlantic triggerfish is now a year-round, rather than just a summer, resident in the waters off Cornwall and Dorset. Along the south coast of England there has also been an eastward shift in the distribution of warm Atlantic barnacles, which are now displacing the cold North Sea species.

But bigger fish, including sharks, are changing their range, too. An excellent recent paper revealed how temperature changes the occurrence and activity of roaming apex predators. It said that the redistribution of species is one of the most pervasive impacts of anthropogenic climate warming.

This detailed study of Australian tiger sharks suggested that an increase in water temperature of 1-2C will lead to them being seen off New South Wales all year round (at the moment, they tend only to visit the region in summer). And as this species is responsible for a large proportion of the shark bites on humans this raises the issue of whether control measures, such as shark nets, should be deployed to protect Australian bathers.

Big sharks ahoy

Some sharks will follow the warmer water and their prey into UK waters, too. I have examined the known ranges of sharks and if water temperatures rise the following large species found off the coasts of Spain and Portugal may join the 40 species that are already in UK waters: great hammerhead, blacktip shark, sand tiger, bigeye thresher, longfin mako, bronze whaler, oceanic whitetip shark, silky shark, dusky shark, and goblin shark.

Indeed, one of these species has already visited British waters. The first bigeye thresher was caught off the UK near Newlyn, Cornwall in 1995. But while the potential number of shark species around the UK may increase in the next few decades, the overall number of sharks (especially the larger ones) will fall thanks to global overfishing. In fact, one report estimated that 100m sharks are killed each year, many for shark fin soup.

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Most of the larger sharks are recorded on the IUCN Red List  which monitors endangered species  as vulnerable to or near threatened with extinction. Basically, we are killing sharks faster than they can reproduce. A typical female shark reaches maturity at ten-years-old and will produce less than ten young. Contrast this with a cod, which can reach maturity at a year old and produce over a million eggs each year.

As well as overfishing, sharks are also vulnerable to pollution. Most people are aware of the problems of waste plastics in the ocean. As the plastics break down into smaller and smaller particles, their ability to absorb pollutants increases and their incorporation into the ocean food chain becomes more likely. Sharks as top predators will take on the pollutants from everything that they have eaten, putting their health in peril.

Ken Collins , Author provided

What about great whites?

Of course, if more large shark species are likely to come to British waters, many will wonder whether great whites will be among them. There is considerable debate over whether they have already visited  and I see no reason why not. They can live in large numbers in colder waters than the UK off South Africa and theres a plentiful supply of one of their favourite foods  seals  along the Cornish coast, as well as around Scotland and other parts of the country. The only argument against there being great whites in British waters is that their numbers worldwide are declining (they are now protected in several countries) so the chances of seeing one in this region fall every year.

In March 2015, the conservation research organisation OCEARCH tagged a 14ft (4.4 metre) great white shark off Jacksonville, Florida and nicknamed her Lydia. She swam over 30,000km, including meanderings along the east coast of the US  before striking out for Europe. A year later, when she crossed the mid-Atlantic Ridge and came within a few hundred miles of Ireland, the media became very excited. The Mirror announced

Great White shark just days away from Cornwall after scientists track it swimming across Atlantic.

Sadly, satellite contact was lost soon after that so we dont know whether she made it. But this, and my recent suggestion that there may soon be more shark species around the UK, attracted a flurry of media attention  much of it overblown. While I was careful not to predict an influx of great white sharks, the type of headline used by The Daily Mail was almost inevitable:

Eleven terrifying shark species, including great whites and hammerheads, are ditching warmer waters and heading to British shores.

Thankfully, a more measured response was made subsequently by The Guardian: Warmer seas will not lure great white sharks to UK, experts say.

There seems to be an almost inevitable need to use the cliche killer sharks in press stories about sharks. But the number of human fatalities resulting from shark attacks is tiny compared to other causes  even vending machines are deadlier.

Britains largest shark is the basking shark, which can grow up to eight metres in length but eats nothing bigger than plankton. Nevertheless, it is a summer, silly season necessity to print a photo of a basking shark fin and claim its a killer great white. Perhaps the best overview of the popular press view of sharks is expressed by Private Eye.

While we continue to demonise sharks as mindless killers their wholesale slaughter goes unchallenged, until one day soon they will become extinct and shark natural history films will be reclassified as just history. So when we hear that more new species may start visiting the UK, it should trigger efforts to protect them, not just another wave of hysteria.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Ken Collins receives funding from EU Interreg France (Channel) England programme co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund
Marine Corps Marines laser radio communications

US Marine Corps/Pfc. Kindo Go

The US military is getting ready for a potential conflict against a powerful adversary whose capabilities may nearly match those of the US.

In addition to more lethal weaponry, such an adversary would have greater electronic warfare capabilities, meaning it could intercept communications and use them against US forces.

The Pentagon is looking at ways to fend off such interference, and one way to do that is to get of the radio-frequency spectrum altogether.

As the Pentagon reorients toward great-power competition with adversaries like Russia and China, its preparations go beyond learning to ski and practicing to drive across Europe.

US military units rely on wireless networks and radio-frequency communications to talk on the battlefield, sharing intelligence, targeting data, and orders.

But concern is growing that rivals like China and Russia could pick up those transmissions and jam them, change them to confuse or deceive, or track them to target the people sending and receiving them  tactics Russia and Russian-backed forces are believed to have used before.

The Pentagon has started exploring the use of laser communications systems that are harder to detect and disrupt.

Marine Corps Marines laser radio communications

US Marine Corps/Sgt. Timothy Valero

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been working on sensors and hardware to send and receive signals from free-space optical technology  which sends light beams through the air rather than a cable  for some time.

Early last year, the Defense Department awarded $45 million for a three-year project involving three of the service branches, focused on developing a laser communications system  "basically fiber optic communications without the fiber," Linda Thomas, whose team at the Naval Research Laboratory got about one-third of the grant money, told Breaking Defense at the time.

Thomas' team's Tactical Line-of-sight Optical communications Network, or TALON, was able to send messages through laser beams over distances similar to those of Marine Corps tactical radios, which typically can range to about 45 miles.

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Free-space-optical communications systems are available commercially, but their range is limited. The Naval Research Lab team was able to exceed the range of those systems, a problem that involved sending the low-power beam through the atmosphere without it being made unintelligible, though Thomas didn't say how they did it.

Marines have already gone into the field to test a free-space optics system developed by the Naval Research Lab.

Marine Corps Marines laser radio communications

US Marine Corps/Pfc. Kindo Go

Marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force tested a free-space optics system that "transfers data on a highly secured and nearly undetectable infrared laser, separate from the radio frequency spectrum" in Okinawa this month, according to a Marine Corps release.

The mobile system allows more data  larger files and imagery  to be transmitted without using more of the radio-frequency spectrum, "an already constrained resource," one of the Marines involved said.

"When it first came up, we thought it would be a lot more difficult to set up and understand," said Marine Sgt. William Holt, a cyber-systems administrator. "When the Marines heard 'free space optics' and 'lasers,' they got nervous about that. Then when they actually got behind the gear and were able to operate it, it was easier than expected."

Thomas and other engineers from the Naval Research Laboratory were also on hand.

"We came out to Okinawa because it was one of the harshest humid environments with highly variable weather on very short time scales," she said. "We are looking at how the system operates and handles these conditions and how we can better fulfill the needs of the future Marine Corps."

' The threat is out there'

Russian troops Zapad-2017

Russian Ministry of Defense

US Marines are not the only ones gearing up to communicate in a contested environment.

China's People's Liberation Army considers electronic warfare a central component of its operations, and its EW doctrine "emphasizes using electromagnetic spectrum weapons to suppress or to deceive enemy electronic equipment," the Defense Department said in a report about Chinese military capabilities released this month.

Chinese units "routinely conduct jamming and antijamming operations against multiple communication and radar systems and GPS satellite systems in force-on-force exercises," the report said. In addition to testing Chinese troops' ability to use these systems, such tests "help improve confidence in their ability to operate effectively in a complex electromagnetic environment."

Russian forces carried out similar tests during the massive Zapad 2017 exercise conducted late last year.

US Army soldiers Ohio national guard electronic attack GPS

US Army/Staff Sgt. Michael Carden

According to Estonia's military intelligence chief, Col. Kaupo Rosin, the amount of jamming Russia deployed against its own forces during that exercise "was at a level we haven't seen."

"The threat of the Russians is that if they are jammed, they can fall back into a civilian infrastructure on their own land, which gives them an advantage in operating in the vicinity of Russia," Rosin told Defense News last last year. "So they have that advantage."

US troops have also tested their capacity to thwart electronic interference.

Ohio National Guard troops trained with a team from the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command this summer in order to be to detect and mitigate cyberattacks on GPS systems.

"There are adversaries out there with the capability to deny, degrade and disrupt our capabilities," said Capt. Kyle Terza from US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. "The threat is out there and ... we have to be trained and ready to operate without it."

NOW WATCH: What a cyberwar with North Korea could look like, according to a cybersecurity expert

See Also:
An agreement has been reached in talks between Ryanair and a pilots' union which could bring an end to disruptive strikes.

Negotiations had been continuing to try to resolve the long-running dispute over conditions, base transfers and annual leave that has resulted in cancelled flights across Europe.

In a statement the Forsa union said: "Following a 22-hour negotiating session, which began on Wednesday morning and concluded Thursday morning, agreement has been reached between Forsa and Ryanair in the pilots' dispute.

"The proposed agreement will now go to ballot, with a recommendation for acceptance from Forsa and its Ryanair pilot representatives.

"The union has been asked by facilitator Kieran Mulvey to make no public comment while the ballot is conducted."

It gave no further details of the agreement.

The Irish low-cost airline also confirmed the breakthrough in talks and said it would take the proposals to its board in due course after the vote.

It comes after five days of strike action by its Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) -based pilots, affecting thousands of passengers.

Earlier this month, a walkout by pilots in five countries - Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands - resulted in 400 flights Europe-wide being cancelled, disrupting the plans of an estimated 55,000 passengers.

The budget airline apologised to customers on Wednesday after cheques they received compensating them for cancelled flights bounced.

Last month, it hit back at striking pilots by publishing staff pay and benefit details online, claiming pilots earned between 190,000 and 220,000 (169,000 and 195,000) a year.

It also said cabin crew earned up to 40,000 (36,000) a year - "more than double the living wage".
Saudi Arabia has denied reports it has called off its plans to float oil giant Aramco on its stock exchange and internationally.

State-run Saudi Aramco is considering floating 5% of its shares, possibly in London, Hong Kong or New York, in addition to a listing in Riyadh.

It is all part of Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to open up the economy to international investors.

Reuters had earlier reported that financial advisers who had been working on the $2tn (1.5tn) stock market listing had been disbanded, citing four industry sources.

But Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement the IPO remains on track.

"The government remains committed to the IPO of Saudi Aramco at a time of its own choosing when conditions are optimum," he said.

"This timing will depend on multiple factors, including favorable market conditions and a downstream acquisition which the company will pursue in the next few months."

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil and gas company, made $33.8bn in net income in the first six months of 2017.

In June, London's Financial Conduct Authority relaxed rules for state-owned companies wanting to list on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) , opening the way for Aramco to float in London.
About 300 Thomas Cook customers are being removed from a hotel in Egypt following the deaths of a British couple amid reports of a "raised level of illness among guests".

Holidaymakers were offered alternative hotels "as a precautionary measure" following the deaths of John and Susan Cooper, the tour operator said in a statement.

The "circumstances" of their deaths "are still unclear", it added.

The company told Sky News that it was "deeply saddened by the tragic deaths" and that 301 customers were being removed from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada.

A statement said: "We have also received further reports of a raised level of illness among guests. Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel.

"We will be offering customers alternative hotels within Hurghada, as well as giving them the option to return home."

Mrs Cooper worked at a Thomas Cook branch in Burnley.

The statement said that customers who chose to come home would fly out today, while the company would work with the hotel and support the investigation.

"The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96%," the company said.

"We will be contacting those customers due to travel to the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in the next four weeks to offer alternative holiday options."

Carol Mackenzie, Thomas Cook's head of customer welfare, told Sky News she flew out to provide support to the family affected by the deaths.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in Hurghada, Egypt, and we are in contact with the local tour operator."

Earlier, Ingo Burmester, chief of Thomas Cook UK, paid tribute to Mrs Cooper, who he described as a "loyal and long-serving" employee.

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He said: "We are deeply saddened by the deaths of two of our customers while on holiday in Hurghada in Egypt, one of whom was a loyal and long-serving member of our Thomas Cook family.

"Our focus is on fully supporting their loved ones.

"We are urgently investigating with the hotel and supporting the local authorities."
For much of the English-speaking world, the term triangular trade refers to one thing only: the transatlantic slave trade. Many school history books feature maps with arrows linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with mindboggling figures and icons representing the commodities exchanged.

From the perspective of Britain, France and the Netherlands, triangular trade is an apt descriptor. But from the perspective of Brazil, Cuba, and others, the term has much less validity. When the European powers abolished their slave trades, merchants in the Americas built on many years of experience in their own bilateral trades to keep it going.

According to the latest figures from Voyages: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, an authoritative source which contains information on over 80% of all slaving voyages, nearly 40% of all enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas aboard vessels that had sailed to Africa directly from New World ports. That means that almost two-fifths of the entire slave trade traced a bilateral, rather than a triangular pattern.

Read more: A digital archive of slave voyages details the largest forced migration in history

So there was no single transatlantic slave trade. And this makes it very difficult to generalise about the slave trade. Understanding this dimension also underscores the global nature of the trade, which was organised by merchant networks spanning not only the Atlantic but also the Indian Ocean.

Brazils trades

By far, the most important of the bilateral traders was Brazil. This is hardly surprising, since Brazil imported more captives than any other New World region, receiving just under half of all of the Africans transported across the Atlantic. While many of these Africans arrived aboard vessels sailing from Portugal, the vast majority  perhaps nine in ten  came aboard vessels that had originally sailed from Brazil. Merchants in Brazil began trading in earnest in the 1630s, when parts of the colony were occupied by the Dutch, but increased participation dramatically after the Dutch expulsion in 1654.

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After British abolition in 1807, Britain went on a crusade to get other countries to end the slave trade, pressuring them to sign treaties. But Brazils ability to supply its own market for captives helped it to resist British pressure to stop slave trading  even after Brazil, which declared independence from Portugal in 1822, formally renounced slave trading in 1830.

Brazilians managed to do this by trading their plantation surpluses for slaves in Africa. The most important of these was cachaca, the Brazilian sugarcane spirit, but tobacco also played a key role, along with gold. Traders supplemented these goods with Indian textiles, which they obtained via the global Portuguese mercantile networks, and with sophisticated financial instruments that allowed them to transfer credits around the globe.

Portuguese-Brazilian merchants in south Atlantic ports such as Luanda in Angola played a key role in assembling trade goods and procuring captives, which they often shipped on freight to Brazil. Unlike the north Atlantic model, in which the organisers of a voyage owned the vessel, the trade goods, and captives, Brazilian traders were often shipowners whose vessels carried captives as freight for multiple owners from Africa to Brazil.

Caribbean merchants build their own trade

Although Brazil was by far the largest bilateral slave trading power, it was not alone. As my own ongoing research is showing, merchants in the British Caribbean, Barbados especially, also participated, although at much lower levels. Their trade was concentrated in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, motivated by the chronic inability of the Royal African Company, the British slave trading monopoly, to deliver enslaved African labourers in the numbers they desired.

Like the Brazilians, British Caribbean merchants monetised their plantation produce in the form of rum and traded it for captives. And like the Brazilians, they supplemented their rum cargoes with textiles, British woollens more than Indian cottons.

Merchants in the New England colonies, principally Newport, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, began a similar trade. Theirs was unique in that it ran in triangular fashion from New England, to Africa, to the Americas  the only New World-based trade to do so. During the colonial period, most of these captives were taken to the British Caribbean, but after independence in 1776 Americans supplied captives to their own markets, as well as to Cuba.

As a slave-trading power in its own right, the Spanish colony of Cuba was a latecomer. Large-scale plantation slavery only emerged there in the second half of the 18th century. Few there had any experience slave trading, largely because the British and Americans supplied most of the captives. However, when those two nations abolished their slave trades in 1807-8, Cuban traders became more involved. For a few years they served an apprenticeship of sorts, then began operating their own slave trade, establishing commercial connections on the African coast. Like the other traders, they exchanged cane spirits and tobacco for captives, but also British textiles and manufactures, and even some silver.

After 1820, all of this was illegal under an Anglo-Spanish treaty, in which Spain committed to ending its slave trade, but by then merchants had created a multinational, polyglot network of traders, bankers, shipbuilders, and traders that operated illegally. This network operated for four more decades before finally succumbing in the 1860s.

The common denominator in all of these trades was an ability for these colonies to turn slave-grown plantation produce into goods that were exchanged for captive slaves. Cane spirits  rum, cachaca, aguardiente  was the backbone for most, but tobacco figured in some of them. All but the Americans supplemented these goods with manufactured products, textiles for the most part. Most of these came from Asia via trade networks that extended into the Indian Ocean, but Britain was also a major source, especially in the 19th century.

Even when restricted to the British, French, and Dutch trades, the term triangular trade conveys the false impression that it was a closed system. In reality, the slave trade was a vast enterprise, assembling goods from across the globe, exporting and re-exporting them to Africa for captives who were then carried to the New World to labour at a variety of tasks. Geometry doesnt even begin to capture it.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Sean Kelley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Versarien and AECOM will work initially on a project involving the incorporation of the AIM-listed firm's proprietary Nanene graphene nano-platelets into large-scale polymer structures used in civil infrastructure projects, with a view to increasing their structural strength.

Chief executive Neill Ricketts said that, although the deal was the first where Versarien's graphene will be incorporated into a large scale structure, the future potential was "considerable", as the volume of the semi-metal needed was "significantly larger" than that used in many other applications.

Versarien signed a collaboration agreement with South Korean firm AXIA Materials earlier this week.

As part of the deal, Versarien will use the same Nanene products to develop graphene-enhanced materials to be used in AXIA's structural composites and will also use its Graphinks products to incorporate sensors and thermal devices into the firm's composite building panels.

As of 0925 BST, Versarien shares had built up 5.82% to 154.50p.
Two of Europes biggest airlines have announced they would suspend their services to Iran claiming they are no longer commercially viable due to the latest US sanctions.

Air France and KLM announced late on Thursday they will halt flights to the Middle Eastern nation by the end of September due to "weak commercial results".

Likewise, British Airways said it's London-Tehran services will be cancelled because they are no longer commercially viable.

The change comes after US President Donald Trump pulled out from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and decided to impose sanctions on the country. He threatened businesses who deal with Iran will also be impacted by the sanctions. Since then, some energy companies such as Total SA have exited the country.

British Airways apologised to customers and said it would negotiate with other companies to allocate them in different flights or in a worst case scenario grant them a refund.

Iran's top envoy to Britain said on Thursday the decision by British Airways was regrettable.

"Considering the high demand [...] the decision by the airliner is regrettable," Hamid Baeidinejad wrote on his official Twitter account.

Iran could be severely affected by sanctions if more companies decide to turn their back on the country.

Arjom Hatsaturjands, analyst at Accendo Markets, said on Friday: "Oil prices are higher this morning as Iran sanctions are starting to take a bite from the supply side of the energy market. While Iran is currently the third-biggest OPEC oil producer, its output could fall from 2.5m bpd to below 1m bpd when sanctions take full effect."
Dual-listed ventilation company Systemair has acquired Canadian company Greentek, a division of Imperial Manufacturing Group, for an undisclosed amount.

Systemair snapped up Greentek, a significant manufacturer of residential air handling units for the US and Canadian market, after the firm's directors saw "great opportunities" with its current market presence and product portfolio.

Greentek is located in Moncton, about 50 kilometres from Systemair's production facility in Bouctouche and had a turnover of around SEK 70m (5.97m) in its last trading year.

Chief executive Roland Kasper said: "This acquisition gives us a strengthened market position in North America and a possibility to coordinate our activities in Canada. The acquisition will release significant synergies within sales, distribution and production.

"We expect to relocate the production to our facility in Bouctouche immediately."

Systemair expects the transaction to be completed by 4 September.

At 1220 BST, Systemair shares had climbed 2.84% to SEK 101.40
The World Trade Organization has warned the UK of possible trade disruptions under a no-deal Brexit scenario for the simple reason that there was not enough time beforehand to agree on tariffs and quotas with other WTO members.

Hardline Brexiters believe the WTO framework will cushion the exit from the European Union and allow trade to continue, albeit with additional barriers, should Britain leave the EU without a deal.

But Roberto Azevedo, the head of the WTO, said on Friday that the EU was itself not allowed to discriminate between the UK and other WTO signatories.

In fact, other countries were likely to take advantage of the UKs vulnerable position.

"The moment that other countries begin to sense an opportunity to increase the market share or increase the quota here or there, theyre going to go for that. There will be a lot of uncertainty here, there will be a lot of unpredictability," he told BBC Radio 4.

A UK government technical notice published on Thursday said that in the worst case scenario, "trade with the EU will be on non-preferential, World Trade Organization terms," but did not address what would happen if there was no agreement with other WTO members.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, had already warned on Friday that crashing out of the EU could blow an 80bn hole in the public finances.

For his part, Azevedo added that a 'no-deal' Brexit is "not going to be the end of the world, in the sense that trade is going to stop and that everything is going to fall down -- no, but it's not going to be a walk in the park, either."
Serco has signed a contract with Australia's defence forces that will see the company continue to provide Middle East logistics and base support services.

The new contract, which has a value of around AUD135m (75m), starts next January and has a three-year base period, with two individual option years.

Serco will provide 21 service lines, including catering, waste disposal, facilities and ground maintenance, laundry, transport management, procurement and welfare services in support of Australian Defence Force bases primarily in the United Arab Emirates.

Chief executive officer Rupert Soames said: "We are extremely pleased to be selected to continue this work in support of the Australian Defence Force in the Middle East. Serco's successful rebid for this contract is based on our exemplary track record of delivery on the existing contract, experience of delivering defence services for customers both in Australia and internationally, as well as our 70-years' experience of providing services in the Middle East.

"We look forward to supporting our customer and meeting our commitments to deliver cost efficiencies and service improvements under this new contract."

Serco said its solution will deliver cost efficiencies and an improved service experience tailored to support the needs of ADF personnel deployed to the Middle East, using expanded shared services, better utilisation of technology, and improvements to support morale and wellbeing of ADF personnel.

At 1310 BST, the shares were up 1% to 99.55p.
'Coup capital of the Pacific' claims another victim

The political infighting that had paralysed Australia's governing Liberal Party finally claimed the scalp of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Friday as Scott Morrison became the country's sixth leader in eight years.

Turnbull stepped aside as Morrison took on fellow hardline right-winger Peter Dutton in a party room ballot, emerging victorious by 45 votes to 40 in a sign that the Liberals are still at war with each other. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was eliminated in the first round.

Turnbull had already seen off one challenge from Dutton earlier in the week, winning by 15 votes, but his power base had been so eroded that a new attempt to knife him was inevitable.

Many within the Liberal Party have never forgiven Turnbull for his own coup against predecessor Tony Abbott, arguably one of Australia's worst leaders in living memory, in 2015. Matters came to a head when Turnbull tried to push through an energy policy that riled climate change deniers on the right of the party, led by Dutton, who resigned his Cabinet post as Home Affairs minister.

Morrison, who was Treasurer in Turnbull's government, is an evangelical christian who's main claim to fame was designing Australia's severe anti-asylum policy of using navy boats to turn away refugees at see and interning them on pacific islands such as Nauru.

Turnbull could still cause the Liberal-led coalition a major headache if he sticks to his pledge to leave parliament altogether. The government only has a one seat majority and any backlash against the self-centred behaviour of Australia's rulers could be costly.

In his first public statement as Prime Minister-elect, Morrison called for unity within his party and parliament.

Our job ... is to ensure that we not only bring our party back together, which has been bruised and battered this week, but that will enable us to ensure we bring the parliament back together, he said.

His first priority was Australias long-running drought. This is our most urgent and pressing need right now. he said.

Morrison also ruled out an early election  the country is due to go to the polls next year.

We intend to be governing. I dont think anybody should be making any plans for any elections any time soon.

In his last statement as Prime Minister, Turnbull warned against increasing populist anti-immigration sentiment and also took a swipe at the right-wing dominated Australian media.

We are the most successful multicultural society in the world, and I have always defended that and advanced that as one of our greatest assets. We must never allow the politics of race or division or of setting Australians against each other to become part of our political culture, he said.

There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by voices, powerful voices, in the media, really to bring  if not bring down the government  certainly bring down my prime ministership."
The decision to hold a reunion of Korean families was taken at the historic summit held between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. More than 57,000 families in South Korea had applied to take advantage of the opportunity but only 89 of them were granted permission. The majority of the lucky ones were in their 80s and their children and other relatives accompanied them on the bus trip to North Korea.

CNN reports that the South Koreans assembled at a resort in Sokecho on Sunday. It was south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which is the line of separation of the two Koreas.

They had to undergo medical checks and were briefed on various aspects related to the North to avoid embarrassment. Red Cross workers were on hand to extend assistance as some of the elders arrived in wheelchairs for the reunion.

Reunion will lead to improved relations

Ever since taking over office, South Korean President Moon Jae-in had talked about establishing closer ties with the North and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, responded by extending an olive branch when he reactivated the hotline. Later, a unified Korean team participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. At the summit in Panmunjom both the leaders agreed to hold a reunion of separated families.

In a statement, Monday, the president of South Korea urged both Koreas to work towards more reunions in future.

He shared their feelings because he himself was a victim of the separation.

He said that the Koreas must more boldly make an effort towards solving the divided families issue." The Red Cross has been playing an important role for decades since the Korean War and has witnessed many reunions. Thousands of applicants have already died before their hopes of meeting their lost families could materialize.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Koreans feel the pain of separation

At the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, millions of survivors were forcibly separated from their near and dear ones after the Korean peninsula was permanently divided by a so-called demilitarized zone (DMZ). According to The Telegraph UK, the first-ever inter-Korean summit was held in 2000 and until now there have been very few such family reunions.

More than 3,000 applicants for these events already died in the first half of this year.

This tearful reunion was the first in three years. Many of the elders were unable to recognize each other, and one of them even carried with him a whole range of essential items for his relatives. Right now the Korean peninsula is relatively quiet following the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. Kim Jong-un appears to have realized the futility of pursuing his nuclear ambitions. The bottom line is peace in the region which will allow families of the North and the South to move freely across the border.
Some of the biggest players in the countrys petroleum industry are lobbying Texan officials hard to subsidize a coastal infrastructure project that will protect their oil refineries and other assets from the consequences of global climate change. Despite the evidence that fossil fuel companies contribute more than virtually all others towards the increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere thats driving the bulk of the worlds climate change, some big oil officials see an ambitious project to build 60 miles of seawalls and levees as their opportunity to punt the costs of fighting rising sea levels to taxpayers.

A 60-mile wall on the Texas Gulf coast

After Hurricane Harvey devastated wide swaths of Texas, state officials and citizens began brainstorming possible solutions to rising sea levels and global climate change thats increasingly threatening the Lone Star state and its coastal cities. One idea thats gained mainstream appeal is a 60-mile wall of levees, concrete barriers, gates and other infrastructure developments that would help protect coastal infrastructure, cities, and oil refineries.

Already, nearly $4 billion in funding has been secured specifically to protect oil facilities, which produce the immense amounts of fuel needed to power the vehicles and industry that churn out the CO2 hastening the change in our planets climate.

According to CBS News, a government fast-tracked $3.9 billion will fund three separate projects specifically designed to protect oil refiners and associated infrastructure along the Texas Gulf Coast.

The coastal barrier

A report to the 85th Texas Legislature lays out the details behind a coastal barrier system that could soon come to dominate the states coastlines, which many big oil officials see as an opportunity to foist the costs of fighting climate change onto taxpayers.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Texas wants some $12 billion for the full coastal barrier project, from Texas title lenders, much of which will be devoted towards the protection of industry.

"You're looking at a lot of people, a lot of homes, but really a lot of industry," Steve Sherrill, an Army Corps of Engineers resident engineer in Port Arthur, told CBS when referencing the project.

Such future-proofing of the nations coast will likely continue to be necessary as superstorms inflamed by changing climate patterns, like Hurricane Harvey, continue to slam into coastal ports and cities which are vital to the nations economy and home to millions of Americans.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some 65 percent of all global greenhouse emissions are composed of CO2 from fossil fuels and industrial processes.
Hawaii Hurricane Lane is sitting just southwest off Big Island. Accuweather's hurricane expert, Dan Kottlowski warned of potentially record damage. According to Accuweather.com, the storm is expected to cause damage and threaten lives into the weekend. By Saturday, the threat is expected to grow greater. Their senior meteorologist, Alex Sosnowski, noted that "People should be prepared for power outages, coastal flooding, beach erosion, downed trees and major travel disruptions."

Governor's office updates on Hawaii hurricane

The official Twitter of Governor David Ige is keeping people informed via regular updates.

Warnings note that along the coastline people can expect high surf and surges resulting in the possible inundation of low-lying areas. People hoping the hurricane will pass on quickly were warned that it will be around for some time, into next week. Last night, very heavy rain and flooding were reported as "catastrophic."

.@NWSHonolulu (9:44PM): Catastrophic flooding continues on the #HawaiiIsland this evening as dangerous #HurricaneLane creeps northward a couple of hundred miles south of #Honolulu. Stay vigilant as Lane approaches. Track at https://t.co/xxHpsxyDlh #AlohaStrong  Governor David Ige (@GovHawaii) August 24, 2018

Most recent updates for Hawaii islands

Just shy of midnight August 23, the updates for Hawaii Island were as follows:

Remains Tropical Storm Warning

Expected winds: 30 - 40 MPH

Gusts to 60 MPH

Possible winds: 39 - 57 MPH

Flooding rain: 10 - 30 inches

Storm surge: 2-4 feet

Potential for tornadoes

Most recent updates for Maui County were:

Remains Hurricane Warning

Expected winds: 30 - 40 MPH

Gusts to 60 MPH

Possible winds: 74 - 90

Flooding rain: 12-18 inches

Storm surge: 1-2 feet

Potential for tornadoes

Other notices for Hawaii hurricane

In other news from Hawaii, NWS Honolulu noted that flash flooding warnings would continue for Hilo HI, Volcano HI, Honoka'a HI until 12:45 AM HST.

Flash Flood Warning continues for Hilo HI, Volcano HI, Honoka'a HI until 12:45 AM HST pic.twitter.com/3azW2SNXg6  NWSHonolulu (@NWSHonolulu) August 24, 2018

Two hours after notifying via Twitter that HFD and HPD were doing house to house calls to advise people to evacuate Kaiulani Street on Reeds Island, COG Civil Defense posted another tweet.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

In that tweet, they said there were still "Flash Flood Warning for Hawaii. If you have flooding to your home consider leaving to a safe place while you are still able to get out."

Flash Flood Warning for Hawaii. If you have flooding to your home consider leaving to a safe place while you are still able to get out.  COH Civil Defense (@CivilDefenseHI) August 24, 2018

Ricky Arnold tweets Hawaii from Space Station

Ricky Arnold, currently onboard @Space_Station for Exp 55/56, who tweets under his own name according to his Twitter profile, posted up a message for Hawaii 24 hours before the current status saying that the Space Station sent their greetings to the people of Hawai.

He also attached some images of the hurricane.

#HurricaneLane in the early morning hours near #Hawaii. The crew of the @Space_Station sends much aloha to everyone there. pic.twitter.com/raPh37MZH9  Ricky Arnold (@astro_ricky) August 22, 2018

One person responded, asking if "Trump knows Hawaii is part of the US?" Well, from that perspective, the answer is actually, "yes." According to Accuweather, President Trump declared a state of emergency in Hawaii on Wednesday."
Just when "Dragon Ball" fans thought that the battle between Goku's Super Saiyan Blue and Super Saiyan 4 was the peak of fan service that the spin-off title could come up with, the series just released its first trailer for the Universe Mission 4. It debuted Gohanks ( A fusion between Gohan and Trunks) and Gold Oozaru Cumber.

New characters

When "Super Dragon Ball Heroes" made its anime debut with the Prison Planet arc, a large portion of anime fans were surprised to see the addition of a lot of new characters to the franchise. Although this storyline is not canon, it still caught the attention of anime fans because it takes place right after Universe Survival saga.

Below is the trailer for Universe Mission 4:

The first character to appear in the trailer is Toki Toki (The bird) and old Supreme Kai. For those who don't know, Toki Toki is a character exclusive to Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Heroes. This bird has the ability to create time within Universe 7 and lives in Time Nest with Supreme Kai of Time.

In the next scene, we get to see Omega Shenron: Xeno and Gohanks who turns into Super Saiyan 3. In this spin-off, there are many fusions that never appeared in the original "Dragon Ball" series, including a fusion between Vegeta and Trunks.

The next sequence in the trailer shows the Prison Planet arc. The main villain, Cumber, battles Ozotto on the Prison Planet.

Ozotto made his first appearance in "Dragon Ball Z: V.R.V.S." which was released on Sega System 32. Ozotto easily deflects Cumber's Ki attack and during that time, Goku shows up to fight Cumber. Cumber creates an artificial moon and transforms into his Golden Oozaru form. According to Comicbook, A Golden Great Ape is more powerful than the regular Great Ape, but the downside of this enormous power is that the Saiyan will go berserk if he cannot control this form.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Goku transforms into his Blue Kaio-Ken form and dodges an incoming attack from the Great Ape. Though the attack misses Goku, it penetrates through Fu's prison and suddenly, Fu appears on the scene and teams up with Goku. Currently, the teaser is only for the promotion of the next arc for the arcade game, but we just might see this arc played out onscreen.

New movie release date

The next movie in continuity with the canon series is set to be released on December 14, 2018, in Japan. Funimation has acquired the theatrical rights for the movie and is planning to release it in the United States and Canada in January 2019.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
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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!


Euripides: You've got rings under your eyes this morning.

Athena: Well, you know. Another one of those long nights.

Euripides: Have you solved the replay problem?

Athena: I think so.

Euripides: Have a seat.

She does.

Athena: As usual, I feel compelled to restate the problem. Tickets are reusable within a limited timespan, say eight hours. If someone steals your tickets and chooses to replay them before they expire, we can't do anything to stop them.

Euripides: That's the problem.

Athena: We could beat the problem if we designed the tickets so they couldn't be reusable.

Euripides: But then you would have to get a new ticket every time you wanted to use a network service.

Athena: Right. That is a clumsy solution at best. (Pause.) Ah, how do I proceed with my argument? (She ponders for a moment.) All right, I'm going to restate the problem again, this time in the form of a requirement. A network service must be able to prove that the person using a ticket is the same person to whom that ticket was issued. Let me trace the authentication process again and see if I can tease out an appropriate way to illustrate my solution to this problem. I want to use a certain network service. I access that service by starting a client program on my workstation. The client sends three things to the service machine-- my name, my workstation's network address, and the appropriate service ticket. The ticket contains the name of the person it was issued to and the address of the workstation that person was using when he or she acquired the ticket. It also contains an expiration date in the form of a lifespan and a timestamp. All this information has been encrypted in the service's Charon password. Our current authentication scheme relies on the following tests: Can the service decrypt the ticket?

Has the ticket expired?

Do the name and workstation address specified in the ticket match the name and address of the person who sent the ticket? What do these tests prove? The first test proves that the ticket either did or did not come from Charon. If the ticket cannot be decrypted, it did not come from the real Charon. The real Charon would have encrypted the ticket with the service's password. Charon and the service are the only two entities that know the service's password. If the ticket decrypts successfully, the service knows that it came from the real Charon. This test prevents folks from building fake Charon tickets. The second test checks the ticket's lifespan and timestamp. If it has expired, the service rejects the ticket. This test stops people from using old tickets, tickets that perhaps were stolen. The third test checks the ticket-user's name and address against the name and address of the person specified in the ticket. If the test fails, the ticket-user has obtained (perhaps surreptitiously) another person's ticket. The ticket is of course rejected. If the names and addresses do match, what has the test proved? Nothing. Scallywags can steal tickets from the network, change their workstation addresses and usernames appropriately, and rifle other folks resources. As I pointed out yesterday, tickets can be replayed as long as they haven't expired. They can be replayed because a service cannot determine that the person sending the ticket is actually the ticket's legitimate owner. The service cannot make this determination because it does not share a secret with the user. Look at it this way. If I'm on watch at Elsinore, you know, the castle in Hamlet, and you are supposed to relieve me, I'm not supposed to let you take my place unless you can provide the correct password. That's the case where the two of us share a secret. And it's probably a secret that someone else made up for everyone who stands on watch. So I was thinking last night, why not have Charon make up a password for the legitimate ticket-owner to share with the service? Charon gives a copy of this session key to the service, and a copy to the user. When the service receives a ticket from a user, it can use the session key to test the user's identity.

Euripides: Wait a second. How is Charon going to give both parties the session key?

Athena: The ticket-owner gets the session key as part of the reply from Charon. Like this: She scrawls the following on a chalkboard: CHARON REPLY - [sessionkey|ticket] The service's copy of the session key comes inside the ticket, and the service gets the key when it decrypts the ticket. So the ticket looks like this: TICKET - {sessionkey:username:address:servicename:lifespan:timestamp} When you want to get to a service, the client program you start builds what I call an AUTHENTICATOR. The authenticator contains your name and your workstation's address. The client encrypts this information with the session key, the copy of the session key you received when you requested the ticket. AUTHENTICATOR - {username:address} encrypted with session key After building the authenticator, the client sends it and the ticket to the service. The service cannot decrypt the authenticator yet because it doesn't have the session key. That key is in the ticket, so the service first decrypts the ticket. After decrypting the ticket, the service ends up with the the following information: The ticket's lifespan and timestamp;

The ticket-owner's name;

The ticket-owner's network address;

The session key. The service checks to see if the ticket has expired. If all is well in that regard, the service next uses the session key to decrypt the authenticator. If the decryption proceeds without a hitch, the service ends up with a username and a network address. The service tests this information against the name and address found in the ticket, AND the name and address of the person who sent the ticket and authenticator. If everything matches, the service has determined that the ticket-sender is indeed the ticket's real owner. Athena pauses, clears her throat, drinks some coffee. I think the session key-authenticator business takes care of the replay problem.

Euripides: Maybe. But I wonder . . . To break this version of the system, I must have the proper authenticator for the service.

Athena: No. You must have the authenticator AND the ticket for the service. The authenticator is worthless without the ticket because the service cannot decrypt the authenticator without first having the appropriate session key, and the service cannnot get the appropriate session key without first decrypting the ticket.

Euripides: Okay, I understand that, but didn't you say that when a client program contacts the server, it sends the ticket and matching authenticator together?

Athena: Yes, I guess I said that.

Euripides: If that's what actually happens, what prevents me from stealing the ticket and authenticator at the same time? I'm sure I could write a program to do the job. If I've got the ticket and its authenticator, I believe I can use the two as long as the ticket has not expired. I just have to change my workstation address and username appropriately. True?

Athena: (Biting her lip) True. How dispiriting.

Euripides: Wait, wait, wait! This isn't such a big deal. Tickets are reusable as long as they haven't expired, but that doesn't mean that authenticators have to be reusable. Suppose we design the system so that authenticators can only be used once. Does that buy us anything?

Athena: Well, it might. Let's see, the client program builds the authenticator, then sends it with the ticket to the service. You copy both ticket and authenticator as they move from my workstation to the server. But the ticket and authenticator arrive at the server before you can send your copies. If the authenticator can only be used once, your copy of it is no good, and you lose when you attempt to replay your ticket and authenticator. Well, that's a relief. So all we have to do is invent a way to make the authenticator a one-time usable thing.

Euripides: No problem. Let's just put a lifespan and timestamp on them. Suppose each authenticator has a lifespan of a couple of minutes. When you want to use a service, your client program builds the authenticator, stamps it with the current time, then sends it and the ticket to the server. The server receives the ticket and authenticator and goes about its business. When the server decrypts the authenticator, it checks the authenticator's lifespan and timestamp. If the authenticator hasn't expired, and everything else checks properly, the server considers you authenticated. Suppose I copied the athenticator and ticket as they crossed the network. I have to change my workstation's network address and my username, and I have to do this all in a couple of minutes. That's a pretty tall order. In fact I don't think it's possible. Unless . . . Well, here's a potential problem. Suppose that instead of copying the ticket and authenticator as they travel from your workstation to the server, I copy original ticket packet that comes from Charon, the packet you receive when you ask Charon to give you a ticket. This packet, as I recall, has two copies of the session key in it: one for you and one for the service. The one for the service is hidden in the ticket and I can't get to it, but what about the other one, the one you use to build authenticators? If I can get that copy of the session key, I can build my own authenticators, and if I can build my own authenticators, I can break the system.

Athena: That's something I thought about last night, but then I traced the process of acquiring tickets and found that it wasn't possible to steal authenticators that way. You sit down at a workstation and use the kinit program to get your ticket-granting ticket. Kinit asks for your username, and after you enter it, kinit forwards the name to Charon. Charon uses your name to look up your password, then proceeds to build a ticket-granting ticket for you. As part of this process, Charon creates a session key that you will share with the ticket-granting service. Charon puts a copy of the session key in the ticket-granting ticket, and puts your copy in the the ticket packet that you are about to receive. But before it sends you this packet, Charon encrypts the whole thing with your password. Charon sends the packet across the network. Someone can copy the packet as it goes by, but they can't do anything with it because it has been encrypted with your password. Specifically, no one can steal the ticket-granting session key. Kinit receives the ticket packet and prompts you for a password, which you enter. If you enter the correct password, kinit can decrypt the packet and give you your copy of the session key. Now that you've taken care of the kinit business, you want to get your mail. You start the mail client program. This program looks for a mail service ticket and doesn't find one (after all, you haven't tried to get your mail yet). The client must use the ticket-granting ticket to ask the ticket-granting service for a mail service ticket. The client builds an authenticator for the ticket-granting transaction and encrypts the authenticator with your copy of the ticket-granting session key. The client then sends Charon the authenticator, the ticket-granting ticket, your name, your workstation's address, and the name of the mail service. The ticket-granting service receives this stuff and runs through the authentication checks. If everything checks properly, the ticket-granting service ends up with a copy of the session key that it shares with you. Now the ticket-granting service builds you a mail service ticket, and during this process, creates a new session key for you to share with the mail service. The ticket-granting service now prepares a ticket packet to send back to your workstation. The packet contains the ticket and your copy of the mail service session key. But before it sends the packet, the ticket-granting service encrypts the packet with its copy of the TICKET-GRANTING session key. That done, the packet is sent on its way. So here comes the mail service ticket packet, loping across the network. Suppose some network ogre copies it as it goes by. The ogre is out of luck because the packet is encrypted with the ticket-granting session key; you and the ticket-granting service are the only entities that know this key. Since the ogre cannot decrypt the mail ticket packet, the ogre cannot discover the MAIL SESSION KEY. Without this session key, the ogre cannot use any of the mail service tickets you might subsequently send across the network. So I think we're safe. What do you think?

Euripides: Perhaps.

Athena: Perhaps! Is that all you can say!

Euripides: (laughing) Don't get upset. You should know my ways by now. I guess it is mean of me, and you up half the night.

Athena: Pthhhhh!

Euripides: All right, three-quarters of the night. Actually, the system is beginning to sound acceptible. This session key business solves a problem that I thought of last night: the problem of mutual authentication.

Pause.

Mind if I talk for a minute?

Athena: (A trifle coldly) Be my guest.

Euripides: You are so kind. (Euripides clears his throat.) Last night, while visions of session keys and authenticators danced in your head, I was trying to find new problems with the system, and I found one that I thought was pretty serious. I'll illustrate it by way of the following scenario. Suppose you are sick of your current job and have determined that it is in your best interest to move on. You want to print your resume on the company's wizz-bang laser printer so that headhunters and potential employers can take note of your classiness. So you enter the printing command, and direct it to send the resume to the appropriate print server. The command gets the proper service ticket, if you don't already have it, then sends the ticket in your name to the appropriate print server. At least that's where you think it's headed. You don't in fact know that the request is headed for the right print server. Suppose that some unscrupulous hacker--say it's your boss--has screwed system around so that he redirects your request and its ticket to the print server in his office. His print service program doesn't care about the ticket or its contents. It throws away the ticket and sends a message to your workstation indicating that the ticket passed muster, and that the server is ready and willing to print your job. The printing command sends the job to the fraudulant print server and the enemy ends up with your resume. I'll state the problem by way of contrast. Without session keys and authenticators, Charon can protect its servers from false users, but it cannot protect its users from false servers. The system needs a way for client programs to authenticate the server before sending sensitive information to the service. The system must allow for mutual authentication. But the session key solves this problem as long as you design your client programs properly. Back to the print server scenario. I want a print client program that makes sure the service it's sending jobs to is the legitimate service. Here's what such a program does. I enter the printing command and give it a filename, the name of my resume. Assume that I have a print service ticket and session key. The client program uses the session key to build an authenticator, then sends the authenticator and ticket to the "supposed" print server. The client DOES NOT send the resume yet; it waits for a response from the service. The real service receives the ticket and authenticator, decrypts the ticket and extracts the session key, then uses the session key to decrypt the authenticator. This done, the service runs all the appropriate authentication tests. Assume the tests confirm my identity. Now the server prepares a reply packet so that it can prove its identity to the client program. It uses its copy of the session key to encrypt the reply packet, then sends the packet to the waiting client. The client receives the packet and attempts to decrypt it with my copy of the session key. If the packet decrypts properly and yields the correct server response message, my client program knows that the server that encrypted the packet is the real server. Now the client sends the resume job to the print service. Suppose my boss screwed around the system so that his print server poses as the one I want. My client sends the authenticator and ticket to the "print service" and waits for a response. The fake print service cannot generate the correct response because it cannot decrypt the ticket and get the session key. My client will not send the job unless it receives the correct response. Eventually the client gives up waiting and exits. My print job does not get completed, but at least my resume did not end up on the desk of the enemy. You know, I think we have a solid basis on which to implement the Charon Authentication System.

Athena: Perhaps. Anyway, I don't like the name "Charon."

Euripides: You don't? Since when?

Athena: I've never liked it, because the name doesn't make sense. I was talking to my Uncle Hades about it the other day, and he suggested another name, the name of his three-headed watch dog.

Euripides: Oh, you mean "Cerberus."

Athena: Bite your tongue Rip! "Cerberus" indeed . . .

Euripides: Er, isn't that the name?

Athena: Yeah, if you happen to be a Roman! I'm a Greek goddess, he's a Greek watch dog, and his name is "Kerberos," "Kerberos" with a K.
NSU football holds off late surge from MSU Moorhead to win 33-27 on the road

sports
Heather Provost and Scott Damian have built a successful working relationship over the years.

Their project Season for Love will premiere at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25 on Hallmark.

Its been an amazing relationship that weve been able to have with Crown Media, Provost says in a recent phone interview. Our job is to tell great stories, and this goes with all of our previous stuff.

Season for Love stars Marc Blucas and Autumn Reeser.

It follows Reesers character, who returns to her Texas hometown. She winds up entering the towns famous barbecue cook-off and gets more than she bargained for when the surprise judge turns out to be her high school love, played by Blucas.

Provost and Damian wrote the script for the film.

Heather and I come from the same school of thought, Damian says. We want to set a positive influence. We check the egos at the door and come together to create a great piece of film. We were lucky to get Marc and Autumn, because they helped bring the characters to life.

The pair also wanted to include a script that dealt with food.

Were Sicilian, Provost says. Theres a respect that comes with how food brings people together. Its a great way for us to be able to relate with others.

Provost and Damian have been in the business for over 20 years.

Last year, they penned A Joyous Christmas, which premiered last holiday season on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel, starring Natalie Kneep, Michael Rady and Bonnie Bedelia.

Serving as directors and writers, Damian and Provost are in pre-production for the thriller-suspense film, Among, scheduled for principal shooting in later this year.

The pair is also in development with two full-length plays, Coffee Stains and The Royals of Detroit, the musical, V-V-Voice, as well as their pilot dramas, Lakeview and Switching Hyenas.

The pairs film Racing Colt, which had a preview screening at Stan Lees Comic Con in Los Angeles in 2017, tells the story of a personal assistants struggles to get an aging movie star through a tumultuous shoot of a highly anticipated film.

Through everything, we want to do each project as unique as possible, Damian says. We dont want to make the same thing over and over. Racing Colt was very different for us, because it is an edgy independent. We try to push ourselves within storytelling.

SEND ME YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie filming in the state, or are curious about one, email film@ABQjournal.com. Follow me on Twitter @agomezART.

On TV

Season for Love premieres at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, on Hallmark.
A high-end, East Coast type is trying to destroy Santa Fe and its Fiesta celebration in this years Melodrama.

The nearly century-old Santa Fe tradition, a play created by anonymous writers that lampoons current events and public figures, is now being staged at the Santa Fe Playhouse.

Theres always plenty of drama and scandal to go around in local politics here, director Vaughn Irving said while discussing what the shows writers used as inspiration this year.

The 2018 Melodrama centers around a Santa Fe newcomer, Dick Phillip-Lay, who moves to town to start a restaurant.

Hes starting a restaurant called Cheeks-Phil-A, which is a mash-up of two well-known Santa Fe establishments, Irving said with a laugh.But he has ulterior motives that are mysterious, but we know theyre bad because hes the villain.

Co-director Andy Primm described the character as an outsider who wants to help Santa Fe find some culture.

Real culture, Irving added sarcastically.

It is up to the shows heroes, journalist Calamity Daniels and former Fiesta La Reina Lorena Larranaga, to foil his evil plot. Though the cast and directors are tight-lipped about most of the plot so as to not give away the jokes, they said the crux of the drama is Dicks goal is to destroy  and commercialize  the Fiesta.

Roxanne Tapia, the actress playing Lorena, says revenge is at the root of Dicks plans. But what the revenge is for isnt revealed until the end of the play.

The decision among Santa Fe leaders to discontinue the Entrada  Fiestas controversial pageant celebrating the Spanish re-occupation of Santa Fe in 1692, 12 years after the Pueblo Revolt  in late July caused some last-minute script additions for the Melodrama.

Entrada in the play also gets cancelled, Tapia said. Maybe not for the same reasons, maybe so.

In true Melodrama fashion, the show takes aim at timely local stories of all kinds. According to Irving, topics that are lampooned include the recent City Council resolution discouraging the use of plastic straws, the talk of revitalizing the Midtown college campus, reference to an unnamed collaborative arts organization (such as, perhaps, Meow Wolf) and scurrilous allegations that a real-world lawsuit makes about State Police Chief Pete Kassetas.

Also, there was an event held a few weeks ago. A controversial event that was sort of a first for Santa Fe that put some people up in arms, Primm teases.

This year is a transitional one for important political figures. Irving said its the Melodramas last chance to poke fun at Gov. Susana Martinez before she leaves office  her character will make just a quick cameo, he said  but new Mayor Alan Webber means a fresh, new character for the writers.

It was difficult at first for the group to figure out how to make fun of Webber, said Irving, but as time went on, they decided to make his caricature someone who doesnt seem to know too much about whats going on around him.

I think theyve made him very earnest and wanting to do grand things, said Scott Plunket, the actor playing mayor Don Coyote. Hes just pursuing that so hard his feet arent on the ground. His head is constantly in the clouds. Hes easily swayed by whoever is whispering or shouting in his ear.

The Melodrama  with alternative titles A Duping Duplex of Dastardly Developments; The Straw that Broke the Horses Back; Turn the Other Cheeks; A Conniving Couple of Cads, a Calamity, a Crank, and a Clanker; and 10 Ways Straws Can Suck the Life out of You  runs until Sept. 9.

Other cast members include Christina Comer, Evan Galpert, Felix Cordova, Phil Johnson, Katie Johnson, Tristan Van Cleave, Micky Dolan, Lulu Sulich, Rayna Valladarez, Michelle Artiga, Cliff Russell and Mitchell Gustin.

2018 Fiesta Melodrama

WHEN: Thursdays-Sundays until Sept. 9. Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. An additional 10 p.m. show on Sept. 7. No show on Aug. 31.

WHERE: Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. De Vargas

TICKETS: $25 general admission/$20 for seniors, military and educators/$15 for students. Purchase tickets online at santafeplayhouse.org. Opening reception tickets for Saturday are $30.
Theres a lot to like about the Local Election Act, a new law that went into effect July 1 thats designed to save taxpayer money and combat voter fatigue by consolidating elections in November so voters are called to the polls just once a year.

But theres a lot not to like about the law for school districts, which have traditionally held elections in February.

School officials face a funding gap for capital projects that was created by the law, fear the loss of vote approval of future funding as school bond issue proposals will be pitted against others on November ballots, and feel as though theyll have to pay more than their fair share into a local fund that pays for elections.

Eighty-nine school districts have gone on record, Joe Guillen, executive director of the New Mexico School Board Association, said, noting the widespread opposition to the legislation. The measure worked its way through the statehouse as House Bill 98 and was passed at the 11th hour of this years legislative session.

Unlike municipalities, school districts dont have the option to opt out of the law, a choice the law made available to municipalities. The Santa Fe City Council  whose elections now take place in March  seems to favor it, but is handing the decision off to the electorate by placing the question on the ballot this November.

Under the new law, school board elections  as well as nonpartisan elections for community college, and conservancy and arroyo flood control districts  will be held in November in odd-numbered years.

Partisan elections  county, state and federal  remain in November of even-numbered years.

Guillen says moving school board elections from February to November is problematic.

Not only does it move elections, it extends the terms of school board members by 11 months, he said.

Whereas in the past, school board candidates elected in February were seated that same month, the new law now directs all candidates elected in a November election to be sworn in the following January.

So school board members across the state will serve nearly a year longer than expected, beginning with those up for re-election in February, who will stay on through the end of 2019. And their re-election bids wont take place in February, as scheduled, but are postponed until November 2019.

Funding gap

The school board association has other concerns created by the new law, which it feels jeopardizes long-reliable taxpayer-approved funding through mill levy and bond elections. Also, school districts could face new election costs, particularly for special elections, which can be done only by mail under the new law.

School districts would have to conduct those elections at their own cost, Guillen said of the special elections by mail.

The special elections would be needed to cover a gap in time between when existing bond or mill levy measures expire and when the next available consolidated November election takes place.

So school districts that have mill levy or bond issues that expire in February 2019, like Santa Fe and Albuquerque, are going to have to do that (call a special election). They cant wait until November 2019.

Albuquerque and Santa Fe are among 37 school districts in the state facing that situation, according to Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Santa Fe Public Schools.

And theyll have to do it every year until theres a permanent fix, said Siegle, who is also president of Santa Fe Community Colleges elected Governing Board.

Existing laws require mill levies to support bond financing to be imposed commencing with the property tax year in which the election was held. But property taxes are imposed in the fall each year, making a November election too late to capture the first year of funding.

Siegle said the community college opposes the law and would rather keep elections in February. But SFCC doesnt face as big a problem as the school district does.

We dont do bond elections every year; we just do them when we need them, she said, speaking in her capacity as the SFCC boards president. So the move of elections to November doesnt affect us like it does the public schools.

A fix to the funding gap and other issues created by the law may be forthcoming. Siegle said school districts are working with legislators on amendments to be introduced during next years legislative session.

High costs

At Tuesdays Santa Fe school board meeting, the board asked its staff for cost estimates for a mail-in election to be prepared in time for its Sept. 4 meeting. In an interview the day after that meeting, County Clerk Geraldine Salazar said she couldnt quote an exact price without more information. But she did provide numbers that would render an educated guess.

Salazar said there are 83,352 registered voters in Santa Fe County eligible to vote in either school board elections or those involving the community college. The company that handles mail-in ballots for the county estimated the cost per ballot to be $2.21 per returned ballot  95 cents for the ballot packet itself, 68 cents to mail it out and 58 cents if the ballot is returned. So the actual cost wouldnt be known until after the election was over. But before anyone votes, the cost of producing the ballot packet and mailing it out would be about $136,000. The actual cost then depends on how many ballots are returned.

The school board has also discussed a probable additional expense for a campaign to educate voters about a special election.

At another board meeting earlier this month, board president Steven Carrillo railed against the law.

At that time, $130,000 was the figure being tossed around as an estimate of the cost of a special election by mail.

Thats a lot of money, he said. And am I mistaken that money comes right out of the classroom, is that correct?

Told that the cost would come out of the districts operational budget, Carrillo lashed out at Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, who helped the bill win approval in the Senate and has been working with city of Santa Fe on it opting-in to the law, but wasnt present at the school board meeting.

Hijole!, man, what were you thinking? he said, addressing Ivey-Soto in absentia. Because $130,000 is a lot for us. Imagine what it is for the (other school districts). This is not a good idea, my friend.

Carrillo also expressed concern about what would happen to bond questions that would appear on ballots during odd-numbered years. Consequently, theyd be on the same ballot as bond or mill levy questions brought by other entities like the state, city and county governments.

My biggest concern is that when these bonds come up and theyre on the November election, people that hate taxes, theyll go down the entire list and vote no. And with all the noise having so many ballot questions at one time, the importance of what we do can get lost, he said.

School districts have enjoyed a home field advantage of sorts as school elections have been exclusive to matters relating to the public schools and polling places are often located at school sites. Its relatively easy for teachers, school staff and parents  people most interested in the outcome of school elections  to vote in those elections.

Others who may not have children attending schools have less motivation to go the polls, except when bond or mill levy elections result in increased property taxes, which dont happen frequently and affect only property owners.

The school board association listed co-mingling of its bond and levy questions with those from other entities as one of its concerns at a Legislative Finance Committee meeting last month.

As stated during legislative hearings, pitting the long list of bond and levy questions from all entities against each other on a single ballot will undoubtedly affect the number of questions passed and approved by the voters, which may hurt students, teachers and school districts, said a document distributed at the LFC meeting.

Another concern is that, in the past, school districts have paid for the actual cost of an election to the county clerk. Under the new law, school districts pay a share of the cost of the election in November based on an annual assessment of $250 per $1 million of operational budget.

The school board association says there are no assurances that the amount school districts and other jurisdictions contribute to the election isnt more than what it actually costs to hold the election.

Whats more, the law requires that entities pay in advance twice a year for an election held once every two years.

Terms to be adjusted

Meanwhile, Santa Fe city government has taken the first steps to move its elections from March to November. It has until Jan. 1 to opt in to the Local Elections Act, thus moving city elections from March in even-numbered years to November in odd-numbered years. Terms for sitting councilors and the mayor would have to be adjusted to fit the new school schedule

City Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth, who took the lead in introducing the measure, called it a good government proposal that would streamline the election schedule, potentially increase voter turnout and ease the transition into office for elected officials. Romero, two other newly elected councilors and Mayor Alan Webber were sworn in about a week after this years city election in March. Moving the elections to November gives them a two-month transition period before taking office.

In the case of city councilors and Mayor Webber, their four-year terms will be shortened by about two and a half months, ending on Dec. 31, 2021, instead of March 2022. If they run again, they would be on the ballot in November 2021.

Similar changes will take place for a set of four city councilors whose terms, under current law, would run out in March 2020. The next city election would be November 2019.

The City Council could have made the change on its own, but Romero-Wirth thought it was best for voters to decide rather than the nine members of the governing body. Language in the city charter and the proposed ballot question complicated matters.

In the end, the council took action to modify the language in the city charter contingent on voters approving the ballot question. Not particularly easy to decipher without knowing some background, it will read: Shall the Santa Fe Municipal Charter be amended to allow the City to enact by ordinance its election date and the date on which officials take office as provided in the Local Elections Act?

The County Commission last week took action to allow a similar question to be placed on the ballot this November.

If approved, the City Clerks Office will no longer run municipal elections. All elections will be conducted through the County Clerks Office.

There was some concern about how the citys elections will fit into the new scheme because of the recently employed charter amendment that requires city elections to be decided by the ranked-choice method of voting.

In odd-numbered years, would voting machines be able to handle ranked-choice voting for the city elections and voting by plurality for other non-partisan positions on the same ballot?

County Clerk Salazar said she has been assured by the company that makes the machines that the machines can accommodate both types of elections at the same time.
Police arrested an armed suspect in a northeast Albuquerque neighborhood Thursday night, nearly six hours after they say he shot at officers in a nearby Walmart parking lot.

Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik said the suspect is in custody but he did not identify him.

Drobik said it all started as a suspicious person call around 4 p.m. at the Walmart near Chico and Eubank NE.

When officers arrived, he said, the man fired at them in front of the Walmart before fleeing into an adjacent neighborhood.

Drobik said no officers were injured and they did not return fire.

From there the SWAT team, police dogs and helicopter were called in to search for the man in the neighborhood, which was between Eubank and Conchas, and Copper and Chico.

We have to make a methodical search for security and the safety of the citizens, he said.

By nightfall, the police helicopter had left and tactical vehicles could be seen headed toward the center of the neighborhood as a few flash bangs rang out.
SANTE FE, N.M.  A Native American activist accused of raping women has arrived at the Santa Fe County jail after losing a fight against his extradition from Phoenix.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports 41-year-old Redwolf Pope is accused of raping a Seattle-area woman while she was visiting Santa Fe in 2017.

According to a criminal complaint and search warrant affidavit, Popes roommates told police that they found videos that appeared to show Pope sexually assaulting unconscious women.

Pope was arrested in Phoenix in July on suspicion of criminal sexual penetration and other crimes.

Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office spokesman Juan Rios says Pope was booked in the local jail Tuesday.

His lawyer Stephen Aarons has previously said that Pope did not rape the women shown in the videos.

___

Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com
WASHINGTON  The Education Department said Thursday that it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators.

If approved, the plan would likely generate a lot of controversy at a time when a string of especially deadly school shootings earlier this year led to the rise of a powerful student-led gun control movement.

A senior Trump administration official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the agency is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants to see if the money can be used to procure firearms.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the bipartisan Every Student Success Act, passed in 2015, does not expressly prohibit or allow the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the purchase of firearms. The official said the agency received several letters asking it to clarify what those funds could be used for and began researching the issue.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who chairs a federal commission on school safety, has previously said that schools should have the option to arm teachers. The commission, formed in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, has been criticized for omitting the topic of gun control.

The plan, first reported by The New York Times, prompted swift condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and many educators on Thursday, who accused the Trump administration of wanting to deprive students of much-needed mental health support and other resources in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the idea one of the most egregious, short-sighted and dangerous executive branch abuses of our education system in modern history.

Secretary DeVos continues to lead an anti-student and anti-teacher campaign on behalf of special interests and the NRA that rejects proven and effective initiatives to ensure a safe, welcoming school climate for children, she added.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, which was the site of the Sandy Hook school shooting, swiftly introduced an amendment that would block the Education Department from using the funds to arm schools.

The Secretary of Education cares more about the firearms industrys bottom line than the safety of our kids, and that should scare parents to death, he said.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, accused DeVos of trying to do the bidding of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers.

Instead of after-school programs or counselors, programs that are critical for creating safe and welcoming schools and addressing the mental health needs of kids, DeVos wants to turn schools into armed fortresses and make kids and educators less safe, Weingarten said in a statement.

She wants to turn the U.S. government into an arms dealer for schools. Thats insane, she added.

Martin West, professor of education at Harvard University, expressed skepticism.

It seems very hard to imagine that members of Congress drafting Title IV envisioned that the funds would be used to arm teachers, West said.

One of the requests for clarification came from Texas, where many school districts allow staff to carry weapons on campus. The Texas Education Agency said in a statement Thursday that it asked Washington for guidance in April after schools started asking whether they can use the grant money to cover the cost of guns. The problem took on even greater urgency in Texas after 10 people were killed in a school shooting outside Houston in May.

______

Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

TAOS  The benefit structure of New Mexicos pension systems for educators and other public employees is unsustainable, legislative analysts say in a new report.

And state lawmakers say its time for honest talk and hard decisions about how to shore up the financial health of the pension funds  before New Mexicos credit rating endures more damage.

Some of their frustration boiled over Thursday in a meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee, a panel of lawmakers who help shape the state budget.

State Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said his wife, a retired educator, often receives correspondence from the Educational Retirement Board boasting of strong investment returns and other positives.

But I think its time the beneficiaries become aware that their pension is not in good shape, Smith said. I think its time we be very, very candid with people.

Other legislators said they want the Public Employees Retirement Association and Educational Retirement Board to propose solutions soon, in time for the Legislature to analyze them ahead of the 60-day session that begins in January.

Top executives at both PERA and ERB have said they expect to have plans to improve the retirement systems fiscal footing ready for lawmakers later this year.

We have to fix the problem  or our bond rating is going to drop again, said Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup.

Moodys Investor Service downgraded the states bond rating this summer, citing pension liabilities as one factor.

Lawmakers kicked around a variety of ideas Thursday  from overhauling the governing boards that oversee the PERA and ERB to scaling back the cost-of-living raises that retirees get.

In a report released Thursday, analysts working for the Legislative Finance Committee said New Mexicos pension systems remain significantly under-funded. The unfunded liabilities of PERA and ERB now stand at roughly $12.5 billion  a figure that will continue to grow unless significant changes are made, the LFC report said.

The unfunded liability is the difference between promised benefits and the amount on hand now to pay for them.

It has become clear the current benefit structure is unsustainable and further refinement of the pension systems is needed, the LFC report said.

New Mexicos pension plans  the details of which vary for firefighters, teachers and other classes of employees  are significantly more generous than plans across the nation, analysts said. On the other hand, the percentage of salary that employees and employers contribute to the plans is relatively high, the report said.

The underfunding of the pensions isnt necessarily the fault of the Public Employees Retirement Association or the Educational Retirement Board. The contribution rates for employers and employees are set by state law, and the basic terms of how the pensions operate are out of their control.

There are also legal limits on what benefits can be changed.

Wayne Propst, executive director of PERA, didnt downplay the problem as he addressed legislators. About two-thirds of his funds current liabilities are to retirees, not people active in the workforce, he said.

We have a math problem at PERA, Propst told lawmakers gathered at the Taos branch campus of the University of New Mexico.

Jan Goodwin, executive director of the ERB, put it this way: The number of active members in her pension system is declining, even as the number of retirees increases. People are living longer, she said, but the size of the education workforce in New Mexico isnt growing.

Neither pension system is making the annual required contribution, or the amount that needs to be set aside today to pay for the benefits accumulated. The last time they did, Goodwin estimated, was in the 1990s.

Propst warned that his fund cannot generate enough through investments to catch up. In fact, the association has scaled back its assumptions about its investment returns.

He walked legislators through a variety of potential changes that could improve the funds financial position, though he cautioned that he wasnt necessarily recommending them, just explaining examples.

The ideas included increasing the percentage of salary that employees contribute to the retirement plan, suspending the cost-of-living adjustments for a period of time and adding cash from the state budget.

Nearly 87,000 retirees are now members of PERA or ERB. Their average age at retirement is 61 or 62.

The average ERB annual benefit is about $23,472, and the PERA average is $28,642.

The combination of a number of factors  including the cost-of-living adjustments and generous employer contributions  results in New Mexico providing among the richest retirement benefits in the nation, the LFC report said.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Albuquerques Police Oversight Board has called a special meeting tonight to discuss a proposed draft of the police departments use-of-force policy, recent changes to which have been questioned by oversight officials and police reform advocates.

Joanne Fine, a member of the Police Oversight Board, said a prior draft of the policy said officers will use the minimum amount of force needed in a given situation. But a later draft of the policy says both that officers use the minimum amount of force and comply with the legal requirements set forth in a U.S. Supreme Court case, Graham v. Connor, which applies to all law enforcement agencies.

It seems to say, How much can you get away with and not be prosecuted, as opposed to a new way of thinking, Fine said.

Albuquerque Police Cmdr. Rob Middleton said the Graham case is cited in most police policies that are considered to be best practices. He said the eight-page policy still emphasizes that officers use a minimum amount of force and try to de-escalate any confrontation.

He summarized the policy this way: A police officer will have to  use reasonable, necessary and proportional force while considering de-escalation techniques and the minimum amount of force that is needed.

But Paul Haidle, a senior policy strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said instructing officers to use the minimum amount of force is different to following the instructions outlined in the Supreme Court case.

It looks like it took a step back, he said of the latest draft. Were really concerned this is just going to introduce more confusion.

Shaun Willoughby, president of the police union, said the draft is still much more restrictive than other law enforcement agencies policies and the recent changes only ensure that an officer who uses force will be judged based on what an objectively reasonable officer knew on the scene, rather than with 20/20 hindsight.

The Supreme Court case in question dates back to 1989 when a man was handcuffed, detained and injured after a police officer grew suspicious of him for hastily running in and out of a convenience store. It turned out that the man was a diabetic looking for orange juice to treat his condition.

Middleton said officers wont be trained on the policy until after its reviewed and approved by an independent monitor overseeing the police reform effort.

Albuquerque police are currently in the midst of a yearslong reform project outlined in a settlement agreement between the Department of Justice and the city. The agreement was reached in late 2014 after a DOJ investigation found Albuquerque police had a pattern of excessive force, which included police shootings.

The reform process includes reviewing and modifying police policies.

The POB reviews policies and can make recommendations, which it may do at todays meeting.

The boards special meeting is at 5 p.m. in the Vincent E. Griego Council Chambers at City Hall.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Matt Gontram, owner of New Mexico River Adventures, says the northern Rio Grande and Rio Chama are low, but not low enough to hamper his business.

Although there might not be the usual raging whitewater, and rocks are more visible, Gontram said the historically low levels still allow his company to run its most popular tours.

Believe it or not, our business is right even with where it was last year, he said.

Recent rainfall has done little to assuage long-term drought conditions throughout New Mexico.

Were still seeing these long-term lingering effects, National Weather Service senior hydrologist Royce Fontenot said Tuesday in conference call. The very dry winter and spring have done a lot of damage to the environment.

Some monitoring stations, Fontenot said, went more than 100 days without measurable precipitation since October, and it really seemed like someone turned off the tap to the start of the monsoon season, so they are still at a precipitation deficit.

The worst drought conditions in the country are centered over Colorado, Utah, Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, as well as north-central New Mexico, where precipitation levels are well below normal.

That area remains in exceptional drought.

Conditions have also worsened in the Roswell area, which is now in extreme drought.

The portion of the state in exceptional drought decreased from 15.68 percent last month to 14.54 percent.

Much of the rest of state has improved to severe and moderate drought conditions.

On Wednesday, the board of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority voted to lease 20,000 acre-feet of water from Abiquiu Reservoir to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for $2 million to keep the Rio Grande flowing through Albuquerque, largely for the protection of endangered species.

An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons.

John Stomp, chief operating officer of the water authority, said that without rain and this intervention, the Rio Grande would likely have soon gone dry from the Bernalillo Bridge to Central Avenue.

Last week, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District announced it was expecting to run out of storage reserves by the end of this week.

By catching some of the 20,000 acre-feet that leaks from the Rio Grande into their drainage systems  and thanks to Wednesdays rain  that day may now come on Sunday or Monday.

Were in the position now where every little bit helps and it should be a good thing for us, said David Gensler, water operations manager for the district. Weve managed to kick the can down the road a little bit.

One of the reservoirs the district uses for storage, El Vado, is at just 6 percent of capacity.

As storage runs out, farmers around the state have had to cut back on irrigation.

The lack of rainfall has curtailed grass and hay growth.

Due to the drought, cattle producers have had to supplement their herds forage longer than usual, Marshal Wilson, a natural resource policy and planning analyst with the state Department of Agriculture, wrote in an email. Ranchers will likely be assessing different management options that include continued supplementation and the possibility of reducing their cattle inventory.

According to the most recent New Mexico Crop Progress Report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, around 60 percent of the states rangelands are in very poor to poor conditions, compared with 27 percent at this time last year.

Fontenot indicated there could be hope on the horizon with a possible El Nino pattern moving in this fall and winter, which means above-average precipitation levels.

Fontenot said current models are predicting a 70 percent chance it will move in during the coming months.

But he said it remains to be seen how strong of an El Nino it will be and where the precipitation will fall.

The devils in the details, he said over the phone Thursday. The hope going ahead is that well continue to see drought relief going into the fall and winter.
Set against the background of the high-rise building on San Mateo that houses the state Children, Youth and Families Department, Republican Rep. Steve Pearce, candidate for governor, vowed to reform CYFD to better protect children from abuse and neglect.

Standing with a number of child well-being advocates, as well as other Republican candidates, Pearce told a small crowd, We are here today because all of us are disgusted with the failure of our state to protect our children from abuse, neglect and even death.

If elected governor, Pearce said, New Mexico will no longer be known as the place where our kids suffer at the hands of despicable predators.

Pearce laid out a series of steps that he would initiate to effect systemic change and end what he called a culture of indifference.

At the top of his list is appointing CYFD leadership with real-world, hands-on management experience in the areas of child protection, abuse investigations, behavioral/mental health and law enforcement.

Those who neglect their duty or fail to properly investigate leads and allow preventable harm to children, he said, will be held accountable and be subject to

discipline that may include termination and prosecution.

Pearce said he would reduce turnover of CYFD employees by recruiting experts in child protection and paying competitive salaries.

Some of his reorganization plan touched on policies already implemented to some extent at CYFD under the current administration:

 Demanding improved cooperation between CYFD and law enforcement and placing law enforcement officers directly within CYFD;

 Improved technology to track child abuse cases. CYFD is already conducting police training on its law enforcement portal.

 And providing a safe place for children when they are removed from homes  like the emergency shelter that is already open in the CYFD building.

Pearce said that in fairness, CYFD is not entirely to blame. He acknowledged that the hands of CYFD workers are often tied by restrictions in the states Childrens Code. Pearce said he will work with legislators to modify the code and will have public meetings with them so voters will know which legislators are content to maintain the status quo.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, issued her plan for reforming CYFD recently. Her ideas include retaining skilled social workers, reducing the debilitating vacancy rate at the agency, and building safer families with measures such as smarter gun laws and better monitoring to stop domestic violence.

Her CYFD reform plan is part of a larger model to combat crime and create safer communities through tougher enforcement and concentrated focus on hardened and violent criminals and repeat offenders; and using smarter investment strategies to stop lower-level crimes and reduce recidivism with community policing, sentencing discretion and alternatives, drug courts, diversion programs, treatment and counseling.
NM State Police say a Valencia County Sheriffs deputy fatally shot a woman after responding to a burglary call at a home in Los Lunas Thursday morning.

NMSP spokesman Ray Wilson said deputies responded to a burglary at a home on East Brazaro Ave., around 9:30 a.m., and found two suspects.

For reasons that are still under investigation a female suspect was struck by gunfire by a deputy during the encounter, he said. The woman died at the scene.

Wilson said the other suspect, a man, was taken into custody. No deputies were injured.

He said NMSP is investigating the shooting but he did not identify the woman who was killed or the deputy that shot her.

Wilson did not say if the woman was armed or give anymore details.
Planning Panel rejects Sporties development

The five-member Central Coast Joint Regional Planning Panel unanimously refused a proposal to redevelop the Sporties bowling club at Woy Woy, when it met on Thursday, August 23.

The sole purpose of the meeting, according to Panel chair Mr Jason Perica, was to consider the determination of the one development application for the property at 184-186 Brick Wharf Rd and North Burge Rd, Woy Woy.

Mr Perica said the Panel had been provided with all copies of submissions, had received briefings from Central Coast Council staff on two occasions, and undertaken a site visit.

Eight individual local residents, two representatives of community groups, and one representative for the developer, addressed the Panel at the meeting held in the Gosford Chamber of Central Coast Council.

The Panel adjourned to deliberate in private for around 40 minutes, after hearing the speakers, before returning to inform the public of its unanimous decision to refuse the application.

The residents who addressed the panel outlined their objections to the development including loss of privacy and winter sun, inadequate parking and an adverse impact on the popular Lions Park Reserve at the end of North Burge Rd.

Several speakers argued that the proposal was not in keeping with the recreational use of the land.

Ms June Mitchell of North Burge Rd said the road was the only entry and exit to Lions Park.

"More open space is going to be needed, due to population growth, around existing parks, and open space must be cherished and protected for the current and future generations," Ms Mitchell said.

Mr James Waugh said he had never seen Lions Park empty, including the playground, but had never seen the available parking less than one-third full with overflow parking encroaching on North Burge Rd every weekend.

He said Council had spent considerable funds upgrading the two boat ramps and pontoons and it would be irresponsible to undermine that expenditure because of a development with inadequate parking for residents and visitors.

Multiple residents and the two community group representatives outlined what they considered to be the most serious problem with the site, described as its location on a floodplain.

Speaking on behalf of Save Woy Woy Waterfront, Mr Ross McMurtrie said the flood hazard was the "number one issue raised by our supporters".

"There is one aspect with enormous consequences for future the development of this site and that is sea level rise," he said.

"Projected sea level rise is an overriding reason why seniors accommodation should never be considered at this location," he said, and illustrated his argument with photographs from a 2015 storm surge and 2017-18 king tides.

"The flood hazard is a current reality already sufficient to endanger life in an emergency access situation or evacuation."

He used CSIRO data to argue that "flood hazard is going to worsen in the future".

Mr Perica's announcement that the Panel had unanimously decided to refuse the application was greeted with applause from the public gallery.

He said he would not read all the particulars of the Panel's reasons because they ran for 10 pages but stated the Panel had upheld, with some changes and additions, the 12 reasons put forward in the Central Coast Council staff's recommendation to refuse the application.

In particular, the flood hazard argument for refusal was expanded by the Panel to state the development was not compatible with the tidal inundation of the site and surrounding roads, especially given the sensitive nature of the proposed use of the site for seniors housing.

Mr Perica said the determination, along with the video of the public meeting, would be published on the Panel's website within seven days.
Many of Albuquerques leaders from the 1950s and 60s, the years following WWII when Albuquerque was a growing community with many needs, are no longer with us  including my dad, who died in 2003, and now my mom. Audrey Lermusiaux Talkington Halama Lietzow, who died July 28 at 93 following a brief illness. Most in mothers generation have already passed on, too. She was a member of the Greatest Generation and was as proud as could be to have been included in that group. Her passion for our nations military was unparalleled.

Albuquerque residents still with us and in their 70s, 80s and 90s probably would remember her best as Audrey Halama. Until 1966 she was married to my dad, Lars Halama, who served as Albuquerque city commissioner in the mid-50s. While dad had most of the limelight as city commissioner, mom was quietly, for the most part, and diligently serving the community in a variety of ways. She was very dedicated to and active in the Republican Party but also served as president of the New Mexico Rehabilitation Center Auxiliary and as a board member to that organization. She served on the board of the New Mexico Society for Crippled Children and Adults and attended the societys 1960 world congress in New York as their representative, an event that left a lasting impression on her and instilled a great appreciation for the abilities that people with disabilities have. She was amazed by what she saw disabled people doing while at the congress. In 1961 she was asked by Gov. Edwin Mechem to serve on the board of Las Lunas Hospital and Training School. She also served as chairperson of that board.

Given all these involvements, what may be most impressive about Audrey is that she did not graduate from high school. But that did not hold her back. I dont say this as encouragement for dropping out of school but rather to show that does not have to be the end of the education road. In spite of the fact that she was a life-long lover of books and reading, she attended school only until 17, when she married an Army pilot, Ken Talkington, who was killed in the war. She would not get a GED until 1965, but by 1977 she had her masters degree. Even before getting her degrees, Audrey worked as one of only a few female registered representatives for two stockbrokers in Albuquerque. So, needless to say, she was smart and dedicated and needed no paper to prove that.

Once she got her degrees, at the encouragement of my stepdad, Clyde Lietzow, she focused her work on teaching special education students from 1977 to 1990 at several schools in the Albuquerque system  including serving as head teacher and union representative, a position she assumed only because she felt teachers needed a fair shake, not because she supported unions generally given her conservative politics.

All the while, mom continued being active in the Republican Party. She even ran for office at one point against another Republican, a prominent state politician, whom I shall not name. She did not win but did receive 25 percent of the votes. The politician was defeated in the next election. Perhaps this smart and dedicated lady had paved the way to his future demise.

Mom loved this community and served it enthusiastically. Even in retirement she was avid about writing letters to the editor for publication in the Albuquerque Journal when issues of importance caught her eye. Most had to do with education and her concerns about parents not being involved enough in their childrens education, all the while blaming the system for failing them. She was not one for passing the buck and didnt like it when others did, either.

So, weve lost one of Albuquerques great ladies, but she left a lasting mark on the city and the lives of those she touched.

Audrey Halama
As a Kennedy Democrat  JFK, RFK, EMK  for almost 60 years, I am disappointed former New Mexico governor Jerry Apodaca has endorsed GOP congressman and gubernatorial candidate Steve Pearce (Aug. 12 Journal). After Govs. Gary Johnson and Susana Martinez stumbled through a combined 16 years of failed austerity and anemic leadership, the last thing New Mexicans need is another extreme conservative and reactionary like Pearce. Johnson was negative Dr. No. Martinez tries to run the state like a bureau chief. Neither Johnson nor Martinez is known for bipartisanship. Pearce is the wrong candidate, at the wrong time, in the wrong state. All Apodaca has to do is examine Pearces mediocre voting record in Congress to realize he is wrong for New Mexico. In his op-ed, Apodaca mentions some vague bipartisanship. There is little in the Pearce record to indicate much interest in working with Democrats.

Apodaca calls himself a JFK Democrat, but then goes on to misquote JFK by saying Kennedy was talking about what it means to be a Democrat in 1960, when Kennedy was actually talking about what it means to be a liberal. Kennedy said the following as a he accepted the Liberal Party of New Yorks presidential nomination on Sept. 14, 1960 in New York City:

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label, liberal? If by liberal they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayers dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrates that we are not that kind of liberal.

But if by liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their school, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties  someone who believes that we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what is meant by liberal, then Im proud to say that Im liberal.

While he was a U.S. senator, and as president, Kennedy had numerous Republican personal friends and associates, including Sen. Barry Goldwater, but it is laughable to think JFK would politically endorse the likes of Republican Steve Pearce in a New Mexico governors race in 2018.

Given what he said in his op-ed, Apodaca should again consult his 10-year-old grandson for political advice, as well as memes and social media. Doubtless Jerry Apodaca is upset, and maybe bitter, over the defeat of his son, Jeff, by fellow Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham. He should get over it, move on, and help unite the New Mexico Democrat Party for the benefit of all New Mexicans.
Heres the bad news: We cant trust Silicon Valley to police itself. That has become abundantly clear from the many scandals involving Russian disinformation campaigns, Cambridge Analytica, Twitter bots, secret data breaches, Google geo-tracking and the like.

Heres the other bad news: We cant trust Washington politicians to police it, either.

The expansive Luddite Caucus has no idea how 21st-century technology actually works, nor any apparent motivation to learn.

President Donald Trump and other Republicans have lately complained that tech companies are allegedly muzzling, purging or shadow-banning conservative voices. Most recently, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., aspiring speaker of the House, tweeted on Friday: Another day, another example of conservatives being censored on social media. He added the hashtag #StopTheBias and called for Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey to explain to Congress what is going on.

The cause of McCarthys complaint?

He was annoyed that a tweet by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, retweeting a Drudge Report missive, wasnt immediately visible to him because Twitter said it contained potentially sensitive content. As a Twitter executive pointed out, this was due to two factors: The Drudge Report has flagged its own tweets as potentially sensitive; and McCarthy had set his Twitter account preferences to hide any tweets flagged this way.

In other words, McCarthy was censoring his own Twitter feed, something he could easily reverse by changing his account settings. Confronting face-palming mockery, McCarthy nonetheless doubled down, still claiming political persecution.

This is hardly the only time politicians have flaunted their digital illiteracy.

Were now a dozen years past the infamous series of tubes speech. Yet our political leaders still dont seem to have learned much about those tubes or the cybersewage that frequently flows through them.

Consider a recent, noncomprehensive history.

These days Trump lashes out at private companies that suspend nut jobs and neo-Nazis, decrying that censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. But in what feels like a million years of crazy ago, then-candidate Trump said he planned to hobble recruiting by the terrorist Islamic State by asking Bill Gates to clos(e) that internet up in some way.

This was a baffling proposal, not only because Chinese-style, government-enforced internet censorship would run afoul of the First Amendment. The other problem was that the Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist does not, uh, control the internet.

After his election, Trump moved on to complaining that the whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what is going on. Yet he also professed to personally know a lot about hacking.

Who is his apparent lodestar for cyberwarfare? Not his all-purpose son-in-law Jared Kushner, though Kushner does possess the rare talent of knowing how to search Amazon. No, Trumps real gizmo guru is his school-age son, whose interwebs wizardry led Trump to determine that no computer is safe. Trump said this in response to a press question about cybersecurity policy, adding that sensitive information must always instead be sent by courier like in the old days.

Which is, you know, not a remotely relevant strategy for thwarting cyberattacks on the nations critical infrastructure, election systems, electronic health records, financial transactions or other digitized operations that hackers are targeting. With such technological sophistication, its unsurprising that a year and a half later, Trump decided to eliminate the White Houses top cyberpolicy role.

Trump has said many times that he never uses email, but hes far from alone: Lots of lawmakers  including Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C. and even Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer  have more or less proclaimed the same, with pride.

With digital dinosaurdom seen as a badge of honor, its no wonder that congressional hearings ostensibly about Facebooks dodgy data practices devolved into clumsy, confused  and bipartisan  queries about: video bloggers; how Facebook can possibly make money if its free to users; and how to get rid of ads for chocolate.

Dont get me wrong, there are some politicians out there who seem to know their way around the information superhighway. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who represents part of Silicon Valley but has called for stronger privacy rights, is among them. Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark R. Warner, D-Va., as Senate Intelligence Committee chair and vice chair, respectively, have shown an inclination to ask tougher questions of tech companies on Russian interference.

But the problems infecting the tech sector go well beyond those limited areas, alas. And, generally speaking, our policymakers are ill-prepared to protect the public from those who wish us harm  or even from companies willing to profit off that harm.

Email crampell@washpost.com. Twitter, @crampell. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group.
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a uranium-fueled atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, another U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 repeated the attack on Nagasaki with an even more powerful plutonium bomb.

Less than a month after Nagasaki, Imperial Japan agreed to formally surrender on Sept. 2. That marked the official end of World War II  the bloodiest human or natural catastrophe in history, accounting for more than 65 million dead.

Each August, Americans in hindsight ponder the need for, the morality of and the strategic rationale behind the dropping of the two bombs. Yet President Harry Trumans decision 73 years ago to use the novel, terrifying weapons was not considered particularly controversial, either right before or right after the attacks. Both cities were simply military targets.

Hiroshima was the headquarters of a Japanese army unit, and a key manufacturing center and port. Nagasaki  a secondary target after clouds and smoke obscured the city of Kokura  was the site of a huge Mitsubishi munitions plant.

Yet the sheer destructive power of the two bombs  the 15-kiloton Little Boy Hiroshima bomb, and the 21-kiloton Fat Man Nagasaki bomb  ensured catastrophic civilian casualties well beyond soldiers and munitions-plant workers. During the blasts, and long afterward due to radiation showers, perhaps 150,000 Japanese were killed.

Truman wanted to use the bombs to avoid invading the Japanese mainland. The recent battle for Okinawa resulted in an estimated 50,000 American casualties  the bloodiest of all the American battles of the Pacific War. Trumans military planners warned invasions of the Japanese mainland to end the war might cost the equivalent of 20 more Okinawa campaigns.

Japans leaders swore they would fight to the bitter end, bragging of their planned sacrifice as the Glorious Death of One Hundred Million. They planned to draw on 10,000 suicide planes and 10 million soldiers, militiamen and irregulars.

Truman also had other worries. The Soviet Union had done nothing during the war to harm Japan following its cynical 1941 non-aggression pact with the Japanese. But in August 1945, the Soviets were opportunistically preparing to invade a reeling Japanese empire in hopes of stripping Japan of its colonies in China, the Pacific and Korea. After Josef Stalins recent Russian occupation of Eastern Europe, the idea of a Soviet Russia replacing Imperial Japan seemed not much better to Truman.

Thousands of Allied prisoners, as well as civilians in Japanese-occupied China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, were dying each day the war dragged on. More than 1 million Japanese soldiers abroad were still brutally killing the innocent.

There were still other less publicized considerations. The incendiary B-29 bombing campaign from the distant Mariana Islands had already killed far more Japanese than would the two atomic bombs.

With new airfields on Okinawa, Gen. Curtis LeMay envisioned a far greater force of four-engine bombers to be sent on daily missions against Japan. LeMay would have had at his disposal nearly 10,000 four-engine bombers, including B-29s, along with transfers of idle B-24s, B-17s and British Lancaster bombers after the surrender of Germany three months earlier.

The ensuing napalm inferno might have precluded the invasion of Japan. But more nonstop firestorms also would have caused far more Japanese deaths than the two atomic bombs  at a time when Japan was already blockaded by the U.S. Navy and running out of food and supplies. In other words, the novelty of the two horrific atomic bombs helped to shock the Japanese emperor into a sudden surrender. And the abrupt end of the Pacific War saved millions  whether Asians under brutal Japanese occupation, Allied soldiers fighting against Japanese expeditionary armies, or Japanese civilians who likely would have been incinerated by an unimaginable second round of the firebombing campaign.

In the security and prosperity of peace, it is now common to fault Truman for his seemingly cruel decision. But in 1945, many Americans were blaming the U.S. government for thousands of American deaths fighting in the Pacific. Right after the war, they complained the bombs should have been used even earlier to preclude nightmares such as Okinawa.

We also forget Imperial Japan of 1945 was not the model democracy of Japan today, but a brutal, genocidal dictatorship. By August 1945, it already had butchered millions of Asians in occupied China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Japan was still convinced if the war could just continue and kill thousands more American and British soldiers, the exhausted Allies might finally negotiate a favorable armistice.

It is now hard to imagine any choices worse than dropping an atomic bomb. But in August 1945, there were some that most certainly were.

Email authorvdh@gmail.com. (C) 2018 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
What a difference a year makes.

Last year, Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia was taking a victory lap, telling a Journal reporter that the school grades for the 2016-17 academic year showed her school district was making progress.

Overall, I hope people recognize were improving, she said at the time, adding that more of her districts schools had earned an A or a B and fewer received a D or F. Were on a positive trajectory. Were starting to get traction.

Garcia, who served as New Mexicos first education secretary under former Gov. Bill Richardson, even went so far as to say theres no use complaining about the system.

We have to work within the system we have, she said last year, adding that a new governor may change the system again.

Fast forward to this year, and Garcia is singing a decidedly different tune.

Shes now saying school grades arent an accurate measure of how a school is doing, and shes accusing Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski of retaliating against her and her district by highlighting how poorly the district did on this years grades. Specifically, 56 percent of SFPS schools received either a D or F grade, compared to 46 percent last year. PED, in a news release, said Santa Fe is the most concerning among the states largest school districts, and Ruszkowski even called SFPS a district in crisis.

When a district is not doing well, you have to look at its superintendent, the Santa Fe New Mexican quoted him as saying.

Garcia contends PED is disparaging her districts school grades because of her public support for a judges blistering, landmark decision that New Mexico is violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students with insufficient funding  a lawsuit for which she was a lead witness. And she has also spoken out against PEDs decision to appeal the ruling.

I have never seen a secretary single out a school district in this manner, she said.

To be sure, if PED wanted to retaliate over the lawsuit, theres a line. And by the same token, not all of Santa Fe Public Schools challenges can be laid at her feet. But leadership starts at the top, and Garcia was ready, willing and able to bask in the glory and take credit when SFPS grades were on the rise last year. And the fact school grades are based in large part on student improvement does mean that if your students are not learning and getting closer to proficiency, you have a very real problem.

Ruszkowski was absolutely right to highlight the Santa Fe school districts poor grades this year and sound an alarm on the districts backslide. And Garcia is wrong when she says PED has never singled out a school district in this manner.

Last year, Ruszkowski publicly criticized Albuquerque Public Schools, arguing it had an aversion to quantitative measurement of student performance. In fact, he publicly compared APS attitude to a doctor who wont take a childs temperature or measure blood pressure because the process is too uncomfortable.

And this year APS showed real improvement, with more A and B school grades and fewer Fs; two of its most challenged schools jumped up two letter grades.

Part of the education secretarys job is to shine a light on school districts that arent measuring up, and if that makes Garcia and SFPS school board members uncomfortable, then so be it. School grades are about students being ready for the next chapter in their lives, not adults egos. And its worth noting Garcia, as education secretary, did something similar when her agency came up with a list of the worst-performing schools in the state  including ranking each one  as part of the Obama administrations Race to the Top funding application.

At the end of the day, bickering does nothing to move anyone forward. Taxpayers and Santa Fes more than 13,000 students deserve results, not rhetoric, from their education leaders.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
The American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association filed a joint complaint with the oversight agencies in charge of Homeland Security alleging the illegal and systematic practice of coercion used on parents separated from their children.

This complaint contains 13 pseudonymized case examples and original testimony from parents who were separated from their children that show a pervasive, illegal practice by DHS officials of coercing mothers and fathers into signing documents they may not have understood, according to the 28-page document.

The lawyers groups on Thursday sent the complaint to the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of the Inspector General and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and demanded an investigation into the alleged violations of due process.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials could not be reached for comment about the complaint Thursday but in the past have denied allegations of widespread abuse.

During the zero-tolerance crackdown, children separated from their parents were held as hostages to sabotage their (parents) right to apply for asylum in the United States, said Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, during a conference call with reporters Thursday.

According to the complaint, ICE officers held group sessions and demanded parents sign forms agreeing to a voluntary departure from the U.S. either alone or with their children but were not told they could be reunited with their children and remain in the U.S. while their asylum process moved through immigration court.

Similar group presentations reportedly occurred at the Otero County Detention Center. Two fathers reported being brought to a room with about 50 other fathers on July 17, 2018, given no explanation of the form, with the entire process taking less than five minutes, according to the report.

In another case, parents reported ICE officers boarded a bus departing from the El Paso Processing Center that was filled with reunified parents and their children and handed out forms with a box checked for option 1. I want to be deported with my children, already filled in with a handwritten check mark.

Seven were taken off the bus and threatened, for not signing the form and were detained by ICE again, according to Taylor Levy, legal coordinator for Annunciation House, which provides temporary shelter to migrants and refugees in the El Paso area.

We urge the governments oversight agencies to investigate DHS use of coercive tactics against parents and ensure that all parents and children subjected to this coercion be immediately reunified, said Katie Shepherd, National Advocacy Counsel with the Immigration Justice Campaign, in a statement issued by the organization.

During the conference call, Shepherd said she was hopeful there would be an investigation.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  An organization with a state contract to provide various services for roughly 70,000 elderly New Mexicans improperly spent $118,395 in taxpayer dollars on fancy meals, alcohol, hotels and employee bonuses over a 2-year period, according to a state audit released Thursday.

State Auditor Wayne Johnson said some of the questionable expenditures were made during the 2017 budget year, when a revenue downturn prompted state lawmakers to cut spending for senior services.

Its reprehensible to pay out employee bonuses, play laser-tag, and enjoy gourmet meals and alcohol with taxpayer money intended to feed and help our low-income parents and grandparents, Johnson said in a statement.

However, the executive director of the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, a Santa Fe-based consortium of counties, said the spending in question was not improper.

Specifically, he said the money for a staff team-building retreat in 2017 actually came from non-taxpayer funds in an internal account. And the merit-based staff bonuses were paid out with savings from vacant positions and unused overtime, he said.

No state or federal dollars were spent inappropriately, the economic development districts executive director, Tim Armer, told the Journal. We werent taking money from seniors to play with.

The special audit was conducted by an outside auditing firm and focused on the finances of the development district in regard to its work running the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging, which has a $20 million annual contract to work with providers in most of New Mexico, but not in Bernalillo County.

The questionable spending in the audit included:

 $2,478 for two dinners in 2017 at Eloisa restaurant in downtown Santa Fe.

 $1,490 for two outings to Main Event in Albuquerque.

 $7,921 for a 2017 staff retreat at Hotel Andaluz in Albuquerque.

The audit also found some internal controls to be lacking, such as giving too much check-signing authority to one top executive at the economic development district.

The Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging is one of four state management agencies that oversee providers of transportation, home-delivered meals and job-finding assistance for thousands of seniors. The programs money comes from a mix of state and federal dollars.

The state Aging and Long-Term Services Department said last December that it would sever its contract with the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging due to concerns about possible overcharging for administrative expenses and inflated reimbursement requests. It also referred its findings to the state Auditors Office, which later ordered a special audit of the management entitys finances.

Some Democratic lawmakers criticized the contract decision and expressed concern about possible disruptions in the states senior services system.

Eventually, the two sides struck a deal in January that kept the contract intact in exchange for the economic development district dropping a lawsuit it had filed against the state.

In a Thursday statement, a spokesman for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department said the state agency will seek to recoup the expenditures identified in the audit from the economic development district.

The special audits findings will also be referred by the state to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, the federal agency that oversees the senior services program.

Anytime theres waste of public funds, its of serious concern, ALTSD spokesman Paul Rhien said. Especially when the waste comes at the expense of critical services to some of the most vulnerable residents in the state  our elders.

For its part, the North Central Economic Development District, whose board of directors includes legislators, business owners and other elected officials in eight northern New Mexico counties, has accused the state of being vague and inconsistent in its handling of the situation.

Johnson, a Republican, was appointed auditor last year by Gov. Susana Martinez. He is running for election in November against Democrat Brian Colon.
EL PASO  An enormous mural celebrating borderland wildlife will be unveiled today as part of a national project spotlighting endangered species.

The 60-foot-long, 14-foot-tall mural is the work of artists from both sides of the border, and local children.

The dirt, the plants here are so beautiful, Azalae Custodio said as she painted alongside other students at La Fe Preparatory School, which is blocks from the border. The 11-year-old and her classmates helped paint a Sneeds pincushion cactus.

Its only found here on the border, Alan Diaz said as he brushed bright green paint on polyester fabric that served as a canvas for the mural that would be installed on a wall.

The cactus is featured along with an ocelot, an aplomado falcon, Mexican gray wolf and Chiricahua leopard frog, all endangered species native to the U.S.-Mexican borderland.

Were trying to talk about how these animals and plants exist on both sides of the border, and sort of represent the integrity of the landscape on both sides, said muralist Roger Peet, the lead artist.

Peet is based in Portland, Ore., and travels the country as part of the Center for Biological Diversitys endangered species mural project, which features native wildlife.

They represent the essential interconnectedness of the landscape, and I feel thats a useful political and cultural lesson for people, as well, Peet said.

He plans to paint the next border wildlife mural in Silver City in the spring and looks forward to working with students on a large piece featuring an endangered Mexican gray wolf.

The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, which advocates for the protection of endangered wildlife, is among conservation groups opposed to the construction of a wall along the Mexican border.

Weve been fighting for our borderlands in the courts and in the streets. Now, we get to celebrate borderland species with a gorgeous piece of public art, said Laiken Jordahl, with the Tucson-based center. The Endangered Species Mural Project brings together art, science and community strength. We need all of these to help protect our borderland communities and wildlife.

Artists Ivan ShackMelendez of Ciudad Juarez, MartinBlast Zubia and Jesus Cimi Alvardo of El Paso also worked on the mural, which will be prominently displayed in downtown El Paso.

These are things we dont generally talk about, and creating these murals tends to have these messages, create a conversation piece, said Alvarado, who also serves as arts and culture director for La Fe Cultural Arts Center.

His students helped paint the bright green paddles and pink flowers of the Sneeds pincushion cactus, and they clearly understood the message.

This cactus is endangered, 11-year-old Victoria Mendoza said as she blended shades of green. Its in the middle of the border, and we want to save it.
CANBERRA, Australia  Australias new prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Friday promised a stable government at the end of a tumultuous week in which his predecessor was forced out of office, 13 ministers resigned and Parliament was shut down for an afternoon.

Disgruntled government lawmakers forced former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from office on Friday, arguing that most had lost faith in his leadership. Turnbull became the fourth prime minister dumped by his or her own party since 2010 in an extraordinary period of political instability that frustrates most Australians.

Morrison distanced himself from the turmoil, saying he had not been part of the push led by fellow lawmaker Peter Dutton to oust Turnbull over four chaotic days that was inspired by a feud between hard-right conservatives and moderates.

We will provide the stability and the unity and the direction and the purpose that the Australian people expect of us, Morrison told reporters.

The work of government continues. I want to assure all Australians that those normal wheels are turning, he added.

The political civil war shocked business and industry that want crucial energy and tax policy reforms finalized. Its also an international embarrassment for a nation that prides itself on being a safe and stable democracy in which to invest.

It is not clear who if anyone will take Turnbulls place on an important trip he planned next week to regional neighbors Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which was to end at an annual forum of 18 Pacific island nations on Nauru on Sept. 5.

China hopes the change of leader will thaw bilateral relations that have been chilled for months by Turnbulls crackdown on covert foreign interference in domestic politics and on industrial espionage.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang congratulated Morrison on his new role and said Beijing would work with him to develop China-Australia ties along the right track.

Morrison has been dubbed the accidental prime minister because he had no plans to nominate until Thursday, when Turnbull declared he would not recontest his job. Morrison on Friday declined to detail any policy changes that he might make.

He played down speculation that he might call an election before its due early next year.

We intend to be governing  so I dont think anybody should be making any plans for any elections any time soon, Morrison said.

Turnbull said he would quit politics not before too long.

His resignation would force a by-election that could cost the government its single-seat majority. It could also provide an incentive to call an early general election.

Turnbull, a centrist leader who takes credit for Australia legalizing gay marriage, blamed his downfall on a campaign by hard-right lawmakers backed by powerful voices in the conservative media.

There was a determined insurgency from a number of people, Turnbull said. It was extraordinary. It was described as madness by many and I think its difficult to describe it in any other way.

Turnbull said he was impressed by his partys decision not to reward Dutton and to elect Morrison, whom he descried as a very loyal and effective treasurer. Morrison defeated Dutton 45 votes to 40.

Duttons failure prevents Australian policy from shifting to the hard right, although there has been little policy discussion in the leadership struggle.

Dutton later suggested that the crisis was driven by personalities rather than policy differences.

For me, I only ever nominated because I believed I was a better person and a person of greater strength and integrity to lead the Liberal Party, Dutton told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Morrison was officially sworn in as prime minister later Friday and his deputy leader, Josh Frydenberg, as treasurer, Morrisons old portfolio. Morrison said the rest of his Cabinet would be sworn in next week.

Duttons and Turnbulls camps waged the most chaotic, frenetic and at times farcical leadership struggle that Australian politics has seen in years, closing down Parliament on Thursday so that the government could focus on its rapidly escalating internal crisis.

Parliament does not sit again until Sept. 10.

Turnbulls leadership was vulnerable because his government was trailing in opinion polls. Analysts expect the polling to worsen due to the clumsy and bungled way the leadership was challenged.
LOS LUNAS, N.M.  The New Mexico State Police is investigating a shooting in which a Valencia County sheriffs deputy fatally shot two burglary suspects, one fatally.

The State Police says the incident occurred Thursday when deputies encountered two suspects after being dispatched to a residence because of a reported burglary in progress.

According to the State Police, a female suspect was fatally shot by a deputy who also shot a male suspect who was successfully taken into custody by deputies.

The State Police said its investigation continues and the agency didnt immediately release the identities of those involved or provide additional information on what happened during the encounter.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump said Friday he has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a planned trip to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on denuclearization.

Trump put some blame on Beijing, saying he does not believe China is helping because of our much tougher Trading stance.

The surprise announcement appeared to mark a concession by the president to domestic and international concerns that his prior claims of world-altering progress on the peninsula had been strikingly premature.

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Trump tweeted Friday, barely two months after his June meeting with the Norths Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

Trumps comment followed a report issued Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining grave concern about the Norths nuclear program. It came a day after Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun, a senior executive with the Ford Motor Co., to be his special envoy for North Korea and said he and Biegun would visit next week.

The State Department never confirmed details of the trip, but it had been expected that Pompeo would be in Pyongyang for at least several hours Monday, according to several diplomatic sources familiar with the plan.

White House officials declined to specify what prompted Trump to call off Pompeos trip or what had changed since the presidents rose-colored-glasses assessments of the nuclear situation just days ago.

A senior White House official said Trump made the decision to cancel the visit Friday morning during a meeting with Pompeo, Biegun, chief of staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton, who joined by phone. Intelligence and defense officials were not in the meeting, the official said, seeming to indicate that the breakdown was diplomatic in nature. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the matter and referred questions to the White House.

Trump laid unspecified blame on China, North Koreas leading trade partner, which is widely believed to hold the greatest sway over Kims government.

The U.S. and China have been locked in a trade dispute for months, with each side ratcheting up tariffs on imports from the other country in what may be the opening salvos of a trade war.

Trump tweeted that Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. He added: In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!

After more a year of escalating tensions defined by nuclear and missile tests, new sanctions and fire and fury rhetoric, Trump made history meeting Kim earlier this year. In the run-up to the summit both nations engaged in hard-nosed negotiation, with Trump publically calling off the meeting in an effort to push Kim to agree to nuclear concessions. During the summit, the pair signed a vague joint statement in which the North agreed to denuclearize, but which left nearly all details undefined.

There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea, Trump declared on Twitter after the meeting.

Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem, he added. No longer  sleep well tonight!

Pompeo would have been hard pressed to return from Pyongyang with anything resembling progress on the denuclearization front.

Although it has halted nuclear and missile testing and taken some unrelated steps  dismantling portions of a missile engine facility and returning the suspected remains of American servicemen killed during the Korean War  its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile development remain intact, according the U.N.s atomic watchdog and intelligence agencies.

In addition, recent statements from North Korean officials have ruled out any new concessions until it sees a reciprocal gesture from the U.S. beyond suspending military exercises with South Korea. North Korea has been demanding that the U.S. ease or lift crippling sanctions  something Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton have flatly ruled out until the its nuclear program is fully and verifiably dismantled.

Other than sanctions relief, the North, backed by South Korea, has been seeking a declaration of the end of the Korean War. The conflict stopped with the signing of an armistice rather than a peace treaty, meaning the war is not technically over. Both the North and South have vowed to end the open state of hostilities, and Seoul had been hoping to persuade the Trump administration to sign off on a non-binding end-of-war declaration as a goodwill gesture that would give Kim Jong Un domestic cover to proceed with denuclearization moves.

Pompeo and other administration officials have suggested some concessions short of easing or lifting sanctions are possible before verified denuclearization, but have refused to be specific about what they could be. And they have been skeptical about an end-of-war declaration in the absence of any progress on the nuclear matter.

At the same time, lawmakers from both parties, including GOP hawks who generally support Trump, have expressed concerns about such a move, as it could be used by the North to demand the removal of U.S. troops from South Korea and potentially Japan without anything in return.

Trump had kept up the positive tone as recently as Tuesday at a campaign rally in West Virginia. There Trump maintained were doing well with North Korea.

Theres been no missile launches. Theres been no rocket launches, he added.

At the same rally, Trump seemed to take a different tone too on China, saying he had withheld some criticism of China because I wanted them to help us with North Korea and they have.

__

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
Pretty Secrets, one of Indias young, fun and confident lingerie brand launched their first biggest Brand advertising campaign - #RedefineBasics using print and OOH as the key media combined with digital amplification in Mumbai, the headquarters of the brand & home to 8 of 28 of the brands stores.

The campaign comprises of a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication across the diverse media channels over a period of 4 weeks targeted to an identified audience for PrettySecrets. The key objective of the campaign is to establish PrettySecrets as the perfect synergy of comfort and style and hence the go to lingerie brand for todays Indian women.

The eminence on print and OOH came from the understanding and research insights of what touch points are the most relevant in reaching out to the PrettySecrets audience.

The campaign theme is the central message that is communicated across the creative imagery through various promotional materials. The key thought of the campaign is based on the fact that one of the biggest misconceptions is that pretty" lingerie should be used only for special occasions or for those special nights while plain cotton and whites should be used as every day wear.

Women have a misconception that stylish lingerie should only be worn on special occasions while they should wear simple cotton ones on daily basis. PrettySecrets campaign #RedefineBasics aims to get rid of such misconceptions with its stylish yet comfortable lingerie. They want to help women in India realize that their everyday lingerie is more than just a piece of fabric and it need not be boring. Lingerie helps define a woman's mood for the day, builds her confidence and empowers her to achieve the unachievable. says Nishrin Patanwala, VP Brand and Marketing, PrettySecrets.

The campaign is scheduled to commence on 17th August with approximately 20 OOH billboards which will be strategically located in and around the brick and mortar touch points of PrettySecrets. This will be accompanied by 4 full page print ads in the Mumbai Mirror and 4 half page print ads in the Bombay Times from 19th August with 2 ads every week for a period of 4 weeks. The Mumbai release of this ad campaign will be followed by Delhi and Bangalore in October 2018

The campaign is targeted to direct the audience to visit prettysecrets.com, the 8 brand EBOs, Myntra, Jabong, Shopppers Stop and Central.

The digital campaign will primarily run on Social Media with contests and UGC driven content and on Youtube with a brand video that compliments the messaging and campaign thought in the creative imagery of the print and OOH.

Speaking on the campaign Nishrin Patanwala, VP Brand and Marketing, PrettySecrets, said,PrettySecrets aims to establish the positioning, raise awareness and have measurable impact through the lift in website traffic, app downloads, increase in foot traffic to the PrettySecrets brick and mortar points of sale in the respective cities. In an era of cord cutting, fake news and rampant click fraud, an alternative to TV and digital advertising is seeing rampant increase. Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is making a comeback and quite strategically so. With strategic messaging that can link back to the website or to a physical point of sale, this medium provide a great avenue to grab attention as well as be able to measure the ad effectiveness."

Click here to read more in Advertising.
Aerial mapping company Bluesky has captured aerial photography and 3D map coverage of Malta, working alongside tender lead IIC Technologies and Ordnance Survey, to secure ultra-high resolution aerial photography and high density LiDAR measurements.





Part of project SIntegraM - Spatial Data Integration for the Maltese Islands, the data will be used across various government departments and entities as part of the ERDF.02.030; a Maltese Government project led by the Planning through ERDF Funding.



It is a real honour to be such an integral part of a project to build both data and services that will reform the use of geographic information within the Maltese government, commented Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Bluesky International. We are also delighted to be working alongside IIC Technologies and the Ordnance Survey to complete this project within the project timeframes.



The timely capture of such detailed aerial photography and height measurements by Bluesky is a first for Malta, added Ashley Hili, SIntegraM Project Leader from the Planning Authority, Malta. This will give us the best possible base mapping to move forward with our ambitious plans to create a geospatial infrastructure that will deliver real value to the nation.



The 7 million Euro SIntegraM Project was announced in 2017 and is co-funded by the EU and the Government of Malta. The project aims to develop and implement a national spatial data infrastructure and enhance the capacity of geo-spatial/GIS technology expertise for Malta. Within the project scope is the creation of critical base datasets including new base mapping, at various scales, for the archipelago.



Based out of the Malta International Airport, Bluesky operated a specially equipped Cessna 404 survey aircraft. Using state of the art equipment, including an UltraCam Eagle camera and Optech Galaxy laser scanner, Bluesky captured high overlap, 6cm, multispectral (RGB & Near Infrared NIR) imagery for the five islands. Approximately 5,000 images were captured for the production of a true ortho digital dataset allowing for the elimination of building lean which means detail in the narrow streets, that might normally be obscured, will be visible.



Bluesky also captured a high density LiDAR dataset flying approximately 300 parallel flight lines over the islands. Totalling approximately 45 billion individual measurements the data will be used to produce a classified point cloud as well as dense, more than 40 points per metre, Digital Surface and Digital Terrain Models (DSM/DTM).




Primera Airs latest long-haul route from London Stansted has taken to the skies with the launch of its new five flights a week service to Washington Dulles Airport.





The direct service to the US capital is operated by one of Primera Airs brand-new Airbus A321NEO aircraft, which offer a choice of two cabins, full-service premium and low-fare economy, free Wi-Fi and onboard charging points.



The new Washington Dulles service joins the airlines long-haul routes to New York, Boston and the Canadian city of Toronto which all launched earlier this year.



Mark Souter, London Stansted Airports Aviation Manager, said: The launch of Primera Airs new service to Washington Dulles Airport is a great addition to the airlines long-haul offer from London Stansted and a clear reflection of the demand that exists across London and the East of England for convenient and affordable connections to the USA and beyond.



We have made clear our ambition is to provide passengers with more choice and opportunities to travel long-haul from London Stansted, including more services to the USA and the addition of new routes to China and India, so the launch of this new service is another step towards delivering that goal.



We look forward to working with Primera Air to make this exciting new service a great success in the coming months.
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
Sisters Darla and Emelie Alarcon of Aiken share more than a family connection.

They're also both first-year students at USC Aiken and started fall semester classes together Monday.

Their roots at the university go deep. USCA is a family tradition, the sisters said. Their brother and sisters went to school there, too.

+32 USC Aiken classes begin USC Aiken starts classes for the new semester.

It's a family thing, said Emelie Alarcon on her way with Darla to Starbucks in the Student Activities Center. We're learning the campus together.

A freshman, Darla Alarcon, who graduated from Aiken High in June, said she was a little anxious about her first day at college. She plans to major in industrial process engineering.

I'm scared. It's different, but I like this kind of different, she said walking across the Quad to her first class, world music. I'm relieved to get started because I can go on my own path. I don't have to follow the curriculum at high school.

A transfer student from Aiken Technical College, Emelie Alarcon is majoring in biology with the goal of studying veterinary science.

She said she likes the pace of a four-year school.

It's more lively than a technical school. There's more options and more people my age. It's easier to relate, she said. I'm just happy to be here.

+6 USC Aiken welcomes freshmen at convocation University of South Carolina Aiken freshmen were officially welcomed to their academic careers Wednesday morning at convocation.

Grey Burnett, a freshman from Lexington, sat with friends at a picnic table under some pines. With a cool breeze and lower humidity, it was a nice morning to be on the Quad. He had just finished his first class, English.

Burnett, an industrial process engineering major, said he already felt at home at USCA.

I was honestly expecting to be more nervous than I was, he said before heading off to his intro to engineering class. I'm pretty comfortable.

Senior Alicia Kates, who retired from the U.S. Army after almost 22 years of service, said she is working toward a second career.

I'm kind of in-between, trying to figure out where I want to go, said the business management major who originally is from Alabama and now lives in Grovetown, Georgia.

Kates said the staff at USCA's Veteran and Military Student Success Center, led by Robert Murphy, helped her make the change from military to civilian life.

They made the transition really easy for me, a nontraditional student coming back to school as a full-time student, she said.

For her first project in Murphy's Social, Ethical and Legal Aspects of Business course, Kates worked with her classmates as a team to build a tower using aluminum foil.

I want to keep the excitement going with more class involvement. I'm loving that, Kates said. Go Pacers.

An exchange student from Lille in northern France, Jeanne Catteau arrived in Aiken on Saturday and will be at USCA all year. It's her third time in America but her first in Aiken.

It's been really great. Everybody has been speaking with me even if I don't really speak English that well, said Catteau, who also is in Murphy's class. I have really nice roommates. It's been great. Thanks for welcoming me so well.

Dr. Daren Timmons, the interim executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, said Thursday was a beautiful day to welcome students back to USC Aiken.

We love the energy our students bring to this university and are thrilled to see them walking across the Quad or in the halls of our academic buildings, he said. Our faculty and staff are eager to guide our Pacers through their academic pursuits and have great expectations for their success this year, through graduation and beyond.

USCA welcomed approximately 600 freshmen Thursday for the start of the new school year.

A record number of transfer students enrolled this year, and the MBA program has grown exponentially, a university representative said.

Last year, the MBA program enrolled 13 students. To date, 66 have enrolled.

A record number of freshmen also have declared industrial process engineering as their major.

"For a relatively new major, the industrial process engineering program has taken off dramatically, said Daniel Robb, the associate vice chancellor for enrollment management.
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U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., believes the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act did right by the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and the Savannah River Site in general.

On Thursday, at a district tour stop at Shealy's Bar-B-Que in Batesburg-Leesville, Wilson said he was ultimately happy with the NDAA, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Aug. 13. Wilson attended the signing ceremony at Fort Drum, New York.

The NDAA, a set of laws that defines the nation's defense-related spending, authorized $220 million for continued MOX construction, design, long-lead procurement and overall site preparation.

Trump signs defense bill; package authorizes MOX money, questions SRS pit production In February, DOE budget briefing documents described the multi-million-dollar sum as enough to "continue the orderly and safe closure" of the 

That's the same amount allotted to MOX in the president's February budget request. It's also significantly less than what's shown up in years prior.

I had wanted more, but, my goodness, thats a lot of money," Wilson said. "Were talking about a quarter-billion dollars, gee whiz.

The congressman said the law's wording  the fact that the NDAA supports ongoing work despite the facility's controversial and litigious nature  was "significant."

MOX is a roughly 70 percent complete facility being built at the Site. MOX, once complete as originally intended, will transform at least 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium into commercial reactor fuel.

On May 10, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry moved to kill the MOX venture in favor of dilute-and-dispose, another plutonium disposition method. That same day, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense together recommended repurposing MOX's bones for a plutonium pit production mission.

Plutonium pits are nuclear weapon cores or triggers.

The NNSA  a semiautonomous U.S. Department of Energy agency  and the DOD wants to pump out at least 50 pits a year at SRS. But doing so, per the May 10 recommendation, would require scrapping MOX entirely.

The NDAA, though, calls into question the DOE's ability to install pit production at the Site.

On Thursday, Wilson said he was "concerned" about DOE decision making. But, he added, he has faith in Perry.

When asked if SRS concerns  funding, MOX and pits, for example  have been brought to the president's attention, Wilson said yes.

"He listens," Wilson said of Trump, "and I know he listens."

The congressman believes the Site can have both a completed MOX and a fully furnished pit mission. Constructing a new facility at SRS explicitly for pit production was something the NNSA considered and studied at one point.

"Well, see my view is that Id be for both," Wilson said, "and so you can also build a another facility.  Im for all the above."

His comments on Thursday echoed those he made in February after Perry visited SRS.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt  On the sidelines of the annual meetings of the African Caucus for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund held on Aug. 5 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypts Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said in an interview with Egypt's Extra News, The ministry is currently interested in developing Egypt's nature reserves by improving infrastructure and allowing the private sector to make use of economic activities there.

Fouad further noted that the Ministry of Environment will give investment companies access to two nature reserves within four months. The first is Tigris Valley, east of Maadi in Cairo, and the second one could be either Ras Muhammad National Park in South Sinai or the petrified forest in Cairo governorate.

That day, Fouad visited Ras Muhammad National Park in Sharm El-Sheikh in South Sinai along with Egyptian Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat. In a joint press release, they expressed the importance of investing in nature reserves by offering services to investors who can turn them into eco-tourism attractions.

The head of the nature reserves department at the Ministry of Environment and spokesperson for the ministrys protected areas and biodiversity department, Mohamed Salem, told Al-Monitor, The ministry is currently focusing on investing in nature reserves according to the nature and the size of the reserves infrastructure. The purpose is to benefit from them as much as possible while abiding by the laws defining their use and without changing the shape and characteristics of each protected area.

Salem said that nature reserves should not remain closed and that only 13 out of 30 protected areas in the country are open to visitors for lack of financial resources and services. Instead, he noted, Egypt must benefit from them economically and socially in order to sustain them.

Egypt's Law No. 102 of 1983 established nature reserves and defined the appropriate activities and services allowed in them. Law No. 4 of 1994 on the protection of the environment imposed penalties for harming the reserve. Prime Minister's Decree No. 2728 of 2015 was issued to support previous laws and obliged investors to avoid activities that put nature reserves at risk.

Salem said that the ministry plans to develop the services offered to visitors by allowing specialized Egyptian or foreign companies to invest in environmentally friendly projects such as building restaurants or toilets outside nature reserves.

Salem said the reserves will remain under the control of the Ministry of Environment, but the services provided will be managed through the private sector. Each nature reserve will be invested in differently, according to its specific needs and offerings.

The Tigris Valley and Ras Muhammad National Park reserve are suitable for sporting activities such as diving, mountaineering and hiking as well as for the observation of migratory birds and marine life. Researchers and students can visit and study the natural environment of some sites, such as the fossils in Wadi Al-Hitan.

According to the Ministry of Environments website, there are 30 nature reserves in Egypt, representing 15% of the countrys total area. Key reserves include the South Sinai protected areas such as St. Catherine's Monastery, Ras Muhammad National Park, Taba Reserve and Nabq protected area, as well as the petrified forest and Tigris Valley in Cairo.

Ahmed Salem, administrator of the Sahara Survival School Facebook page, told Al-Monitor over the phone, Tigris Valley is one of the most important desert reserves in Egypt.  It holds many wild plants such as achillea fragrantissima and euphorbia pithyusa, as well as animals such as deer and red foxes, insects and reptiles, in addition to fossils that formed millions of years ago.

He explained that a tourist area was established by the Ministry of Environment within the protected area over the past few months and expressed hope that investors and visitors will protect reserve and not endanger the animals.

Salem said he started the Sahara Survival School while he was camping in Tigris Valley in 2013 to give free lessons to desert lovers on topics like survival and search and rescue. The lessons are offered within nature reserves, where the training is both theoretical and hands-on.

Ahmed Anas, an accountant from Maadi who regularly visits Tigris Valley, told Al-Monitor, The reserve is a great place to take pictures with friends and to see wildlife up close, but it lacks services and publicity.

Ras Mohammad National Park, which is on UNESCO's World Heritage List, is located at the confluence of the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. The eastern edge is a rocky wall with coral reefs, and it has a mangrove channel between Ras Muhammad Peninsula and the island of al-Baira.

The Ras Mohammed coral reef is home to colorful fish, endangered sea turtles, rare aquatic animals, dolphins and sharks. The park is also home to foxes, hyenas, mountain goats and falcons.

Salem noted that the Ministry of Environment is preparing a law to establish the Economic Commission for Protected Areas, tasked with setting economic plans for the development of protected areas and improving environmental conditions.

Parliament member Amr Sedki told Al-Monitor, Former Minister of Environment Khalid Fahmi was complaining about the lack of budget for nature reserves. This is why outer parts of the Tigris Valley were put up for investment, to benefit from them and use the money to protect reserves and promote tourism.

He explained that investment in nature reserves will be done in accordance with the laws that protect them and set conditions for investors, including severe penalties for violators, to maintain the sustainability of protected areas.

Sedki said that with the beginning of its fourth session in October, the parliament will discuss the law and how to ensure investors to take up environmentally friendly projects.

Magdy Allam, secretary of the Union of Arab Environmental Experts, told Al-Monitor, The private sector will do better than the Egyptian state in terms of managing the services provided to visitors to nature reserves.

He explained, The state's role is to establish conditions and controls for investment activities around the reserves and force owners to abide by environmental laws and regulations according to the nature of those activities or projects, which will be determined based on the nature of each reserve. He stressed that all projects must be environmentally friendly.

Allam noted that the Ministry of Tourism is well positioned to promote eco-tourism in Egypt through contacts with specialized companies abroad.
CAIRO  Egypts Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Mohamed Abdel Aty announced in a July 24 press release that an agreement had been reached with the European Union (EU) to finance an irrigation-development project and improve the country's water-management system. The Egyptian government has been seeking to expand cooperation with international partners to address the threats to Egyptian water security.

Egypt suffers from water scarcity, with a water deficit of 20 billion cubic meters (16.2 million acre feet) a year. The government has been trying to overcome the increasing pressure on water resources with an emergency plan that runs through 2021. The plan includes measures aimed at increasing water-use efficiency, reusing treated wastewater, expanding water desalination in coastal cities and reducing cultivation of water-intensive crops, such as rice.

Iman al-Sayed, head of the Planning Department at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, told Al-Monitor, The emergency plan that the government is now implementing, in coordination with the Ministries of Housing, Agriculture and Local Communities, aims at dealing quickly with the deteriorating water situation within the framework of the National Water Resources Plan until 2037.

She said, In response to the deteriorating water situation, the Ministry of Irrigation has been cooperating with the EU on several projects, most importantly the draft of the National Water Resources and Irrigation Plan for Egypt, 2017-2037, as well as projects using modern irrigation systems and water treatment in water drainage systems.

Sayed added, The issue of water is at the top of the EU priority list when it comes to cooperation projects with the Egyptian government because of the critical water situation in Egypt and the great response to water issues at the level of the international community. Most of the EU projects are dedicated to the drinking water and sanitation sectors.

Sandra De Waele, deputy head of the EU delegation to Egypt, told Al-Monitor, Egypt's water scarcity is a challenge that requires rapid action to rationalize consumption, develop modern irrigation systems and minimize losses. The EU was among the first development partners to assist Egypt in supporting sustainable water management through political dialogue and close partnership with all relevant stakeholders in the Ministries of Irrigation, Housing, Local Development, Investment and International Cooperation, as well as civil society organizations working in the field of water, research centers, research institutes and universities."

She said, Cooperation between the EU and Egypt in the water sector includes programs covering 12 Egyptian governorates. The projects are planned to improve the quality of life for nearly 11.5 million inhabitants in these governorates, which is equivalent to one-third of the population in these governorates.

De Waele added, The EU-WATER Sector Technical Assistance and Reforms Support [EU-WATER STARS] is the most significant cooperation project with the Ministry of Water Resources, estimated at 4.3 million euros [around $4.9 million] to finance the implementation of the project within 30 months.

According to an unpublished EU memorandum obtained by Al-Monitor, the project aims to assist the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in achieving the water security objectives set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy for 2030 and the National Water Resources and Irrigation Plan for 2037 and building the capacity of the central government and local staff to support stakeholders in managing infrastructure as well as managing and operating water systems, taking into account the deteriorating situation and water scarcity.

The plan has four basic objectives: to rationalize water use, enhance water quality, find new alternatives for water resources and to improve management through raising awareness and legislation.

The memo says that EU-Water STARS is to focus on supporting "the institutional and financial environment through the development of legal frameworks and the modernization of water management frameworks through the establishment of the Water Accountability Unit (WAT). The WAT will be responsible for operating and maintaining decision-making systems and strengthening water quality control systems. The project also includes assessment systems within the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. This is in addition to assisting the Ministry of Irrigation in developing communication and information plans to raise public awareness."

The project also involves several awareness-raising campaigns, technical studies on integrated water resources management through increasing water-use efficiency and reducing loss, reuse of treated wastewater and protecting public health and the environment.

Water experts in Egypt said the Egyptian government's attention has been drawn to the magnitude of the threat posed by water scarcity not only because of internal issues, including the widening gap between available resources and increasing needs due to population growth, but also because of the threat to Egypt's historic share of the Nile water due to the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt's share historically has been 55.5 billion cubic meters annually under a 1959 treaty.

The problem of water in Egypt has taken a different turn with the development of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, with the risk of water scarcity increasing, Ali al-Bahrawi, a water resource expert and professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Ain Shams University, told Al-Monitor. The government began to think of new ways that had not been previously discussed to deal with water scarcity, rationalize consumption and reduce water loss through careful plans to prioritize water use according to the needs of different sectors." He said this would start "with population, industrial and agricultural needs in order to achieve stability and water security.

Bahrawi also said, The importance of EU cooperation and support of government projects and programs lies in the fact that this is not limited to financial support alone, but to providing expertise and assistance in monitoring and control to ensure the effectiveness of the different projects in accordance with the experience of European consulting companies and to benchmark against similar programs applied in countries suffering similar water crises to Egypt's.
Iran is cheerful with Imran Khan in office next door. Even before his inauguration as Pakistans new prime minister, President Hassan Rouhani picked up the phone to congratulate Khan and invite him to Tehran. There are two main reasons, among others, for Irans cheerfulness. As discussed in an Aug. 4 conversation between Irans ambassador to Pakistan, Mehdi Honardoost, and the Pakistani prime minister, there is the prospect of Islamabad playing a role in helping to improve relations between Tehran and Riyadh. There is also the matter of the future of the long-stalled Iran-Pakistan (IP) natural gas pipeline. Honardoust asserted the Islamic Republics desire to see this project, which could change the future of Pakistan, finally come to fruition. But does Iran have the capacity to operationalize the project, and does it really hold the potential to change the future of Pakistan?

One key issue is the matter of Irans natural gas reserves and its ability to extract it. According to British Petroleums 2017 report, Iran has the largest proven natural gas reserves in the world at 1,183 trillion cubic feet (tcf), ahead of Russias 1,139 tcf. With this vast resource in hand, Iran in 2016 produced 202.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas  the third highest in the world, accounting for 5.7% of global output. Even though consumption stood at 200.8 bcm in the same year, the 1.6% difference between the growth rate of consumption and production in 2016 implies that Iran already has surplus production capacity, which is projected to increase.

Pakistan  and also India, the once-envisioned terminus of the pipeline  has experienced a very low rate of growth in consumption, annually standing at 2.5% and 2.1% respectively during 2005-2015. Over the same period, the average annual growth rate of production and consumption in Iran both stood at 6.4%. In other words, even at a time of severe international sanctions during which foreign investment in Irans energy industry decreased dramatically, high growth in consumption was satisfied by equally high growth in production. In this vein, it is predicted that even if production does not rise as planned  as a result of renewed US sanctions or any other circumstance under which investment in the gas industry may decrease  Irans ability to produce surplus natural gas will increase.

Output is a direct function of investment  especially foreign investment. Aside from 2005 and 2006, the annual amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Iran during 2005-15 remained below $800 million. When FDI increased to $805 million in 2016, the production of natural gas at South Pars, the largest natural gas field in the world, increased two-fold in the subsequent year. Some observers have pointed out that this success could now be at stake due to the unilateral sanctions reimposed by the United States in the aftermath of its withdrawal from the nuclear deal. For instance, French energy giant Total has decided to leave its lucrative operations at South Pars due to the sanctions, in a stark reminder of the circumstances that convinced India to pull out of the initial plans for the Iran-Pakistan pipeline to extend to India.

But there are important factors that will likely work in favor of Iran this time around. Even though US sanctions target Irans energy sector and exports, their unilateral nature is likely to weaken implementation compared to the broad international buy-in of the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration. Indeed, given Donald Trumps "America First" policy, countries like China and India have political and economic incentives to react differently to the current round of US sanctions. Under Prime Minister Khan, Islamabad could follow suit, particularly mindful of Trumps decision to cut financial aid to Pakistan.

Signs of these new dynamics can already be seen. By transferring Totals 50.1% stake in the Phase 11 project to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), signing a recent contract with Russias Gazprom to invest in the Farzad B gas field, and by reportedly attaining a $50 billion investment promise from Russian President Vladimir Putin to replace European investors who may leave Iran due to sanctions, it seems that Tehran will be able to control the consequences of external restrictions on its gas production capacity. In sum, Iran has sufficient, proven natural gas reserves, congruency between production and consumption growth, as well as necessary foreign investment and technology to produce enough gas for the IP pipeline project.

Yet there are important questions about whether Islamabad has sufficient incentives to recommence the stalled project. As noted above, at its inception, the pipeline was first and foremost lucrative given the participation of India. Indeed, the original plan for an Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline was supposed to transfer 60 million standard cubic meters per day (mscm), but after India pulled out, this amount decreased by half. In comparison, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, a rival endeavor promoted by the United States, is projected to transfer 90 mscm per day.

Another concern is the usage of the natural gas that the IP pipeline project is supposed to transfer. Pakistan initially wanted to use the gas to produce electricity, as there is presently a gap of 4,000 to 7,000 megawatts between supply and demand for electricity in the country. But Iranian natural gas has turned out to be too expensive for Pakistani power plants. Producing electricity with locally exploited gas  mostly from its Baluchistan province  would cost Pakistan $3.5 per million British thermal units (Btu). The cost when using Iranian gas is $12 per million Btu, which is seemingly unaffordable for local customers. Moreover, with the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in progress, Pakistan will soon be able to produce electricity with coke/coal power plants. Islamabad has also been trying to make up for part of its electricity shortage via other endeavors such as the CASA-1000 project. Altogether, these measures will reduce Pakistans need for the IP pipeline  at least when it comes to producing electricity.

However, this does not mean that the IP pipeline is no longer feasible. While the coal-based power plants of the CPEC may reduce the importance of the IP pipeline, the CPEC could in fact aid the projects revival in other ways. With Gwadar at its heart, CPEC is aiming to turn the port into the energy hub of the region. Since liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals are an important part of the future of Gwadar  and since Irans attempts to develop such a capacity have repeatedly failed  Pakistan could soon be presented with the option to re-export imported Iranian gas as LNG. This could further motivate Khans government to operationalize the pipeline project. For Iran, this scenario would boost its energy export plans, which greatly focus on diversification. It should additionally be borne in mind that there are plans for refineries to be built at Gwadar, which could provide another important outlet for imported Iranian gas.

As such, if realized, it appears that imports of Iranian natural gas via the IP pipeline do hold the potential to help transform the future of Pakistan while providing Iran with an important new energy customer and partner.
ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan  The main Kurdish parties are awaiting the formation of the largest Shiite parliamentary bloc constitutionally tasked with forming the Iraqi government, to launch negotiations to participate in this government, at a time when the current Shiite division gives the Kurds a central role in the formation of the next government.

After agreeing Aug. 22 to unite the Kurds within a bloc accounting for the total number of the 55 Kurdish seats, in order to continue conducting dialogues formally with Baghdad, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Arez Abdullah announced the Kurds conditions for participating in the government.

Our conditions and demands are constitutional and include the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution regarding the disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil, the existence of a government with true national partnership and achieving harmony and balance until the implementation of the articles of the constitution concerning Iraqi Kurdistan, the budget share, the oil issue and peshmerga salaries.

He also stressed that "our demands are legitimate and we will join forces with the axis that is consistent with our political vision.

The Shiite parties are currently split along two lines. The first brings together the State of Law Coalition led by Nouri al-Maliki and the Fatah Alliance led by Hadi al-Amiri, while the second includes Al-Nasr Coalition led by Haider al-Abadi, Muqtada al-Sadr's Sairoon Alliance and the Hikma bloc led by Ammar al-Hakim. Each believes it is capable of forming the largest parliamentary bloc separately from the other once they succeed in swaying the Sunnis and the Kurds.

According to Massoud Barzanis media adviser, Kefah Mahmoud, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Barzani considers itself closer to Maliki's coalition so far, but is not drawing red lines on Abadi's coalition. Mahmoud told Al-Monitor that the KDP has agreed with the PUK on the prerequisites for joining forces with any Shiite bloc, and those include achieving balance between Iraqi components in state institutions, maintaining a real partnership in state administration and implementing the Iraqi Constitution regarding the status of the disputed areas, including Kirkuk.

He said, The normalization of the situation under Article 140 of the constitution is the only solution to the disputed areas. Otherwise conflicts and problems shall persist.

Mahmoud added, The Kurds are looking this time for pledges with international guarantees and time frames for fear of false promises as in the past.

The Kurds are seeking to change the status quo in Kirkuk that followed the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum on Sept. 25, 2017, and allowed Iraqi security forces and Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) to take over the oil-rich province expelling peshmerga forces. Therefore, the Kurds are now having reservations about Abadi whose actions came as "punishment to the people of Kurdistan, according to Mahmoud, and about the Fatah Alliance that represents the PMU factions in control of Kirkuk.

PUK member Saadi Birah told Al-Monitor, The PUK has set up a joint project with the KDP that states the conditions for allying with the largest parliamentary bloc to form the government. This project consists of 27 clauses, most of which are related to the disputed areas.

He also noted that negotiations with other Iraqi parties will take place immediately at the conclusion of discussions between the Shiite blocs.

The Kurdish parties seem for the time being hesitant or unwilling to favor Maliki or Abadi. Before stating their final position, they are waiting to see the pledges and guarantees that both parties will provide. Shiite parties do not dare make any concessions regarding Kirkuk and other disputed areas in Ninevah, Diyala or Salahuddin, so as not to be accused afterward of waiving federal gains made by the current government.

Naim Aboudi, spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous) belonging to the Fatah Alliance, said, The Sunnis or Kurds conditions on the largest bloc in the next government will push the Shiite blocs to realign themselves because the Iraqi street will not show any mercy."

He added in a tweet, Fatah is a tenacious ally, but it has rules for agreeing or disagreeing, underlining that it maintains dialogues with everyone without compromising our principles and rights.

It is not unlikely to revive the Shiite alliance again, especially since Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, arrived last week in Iraq, at the same time as Iraq's Federal Supreme Court ratification on the final results of the election. Soleimani is known to have strong relations with all the Shiite parties, and Tehran might seek to unite the Shiite parties allowing them to impose their own conditions on the other Iraqi parties.

On the other hand, the political parties are aware that US envoy to Iraq Brett McGurk, who also arrived in Iraq at the same time as Soleimani, is urging the Kurds and Sunnis to join the Sadr-Hakim-Abadi alliance. Fatah Alliance member Jassem al-Bayati said in a statement to Almaalomah news agency, Washington is trying through Trumps representative, Brett McGurk, to pressure the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds to support Abadi for a second term."

He noted that Abadi's position on the US sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran has increased his chances in Washington for a second term.

Negotiations for the formation of the largest parliamentary bloc are likely to take more time than expected, perhaps exceeding the time frame stipulated in the constitution, due to the huge complexities on the Iraqi scene that coincide with the height of the US-Iranian conflict. Therefore, the Kurds will not engage in any negotiations with the Shiite parties before the formation of the "largest bloc" and the nomination of an agreeable figure to head the new government, especially if Tehran's support for the Maliki-Amiri axis was established, against Washington's support for the Sadr-Hakim-Abadi axis.

Then the Kurds would prefer to see the Shiites uniting rather than losing the Iranian ally when it comes to the PUK, or the American ally when it comes to the KDP.
Talks over a long-term arrangement with Hamas is generating controversy even within Netanyahus coalition, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman championing the agreement but with Education Minister Naftali Bennett rejecting it publicly.

In fact, Bennetts blatant attacks could have been the reason behind the Umm-al-Fahm campaign launched again by Liberman. Perhaps Bennetts attack was why Liberman opened that old, time-tested front through which he could take a more bellicose position, as per his reputation.

Israeli Arab Ahmad Mahameed was shot dead in Jerusalems Old City when he tried to stab a policeman there. After his funeral in the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm on Aug. 21, Liberman tweeted: Are you asking yourselves whether Umm al-Fahm should be a part of Palestine, instead of Israel? The very sight of all the hundreds of people who attended the local terrorists funeral, waved Palestinian flags, and chanted, With blood and spirit, we will avenge the martyr! should finally answer your question. The plan I presented years ago for an exchange of territories and populations is more relevant now than ever.

At a meeting of the Yisrael Beitenu faction later that day, Liberman added cynically, There is no reason for Umm al-Fahm to remain part of the State of Israel instead of becoming part of Palestine. I am confident that they would enjoy the same freedom of expression and the same economic advantages under (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas, and that they would benefit from Palestinian democracy at its best.

Liberman was not only referring to the hundreds of people who attended the funeral. He meant all the people living in the town of 53,000.

Ahmad Mahameed was a member of one the towns four largest clans. His family claims that the large numbers who attended the funeral (some 1,500, according to reports, or 10 times the number of participants approved by the police) were not there to show support for his attempted act of terrorism. One member of the clan, Ahmad Yunis Mahameed, told Al-Monitor that Ahmad Mahameed was an emotionally disturbed individual who was already known to the authorities. According to the family, the Israeli police were a bit too fast to shoot. There were other ways to neutralize him and prevent the attack instead of killing him. Furthermore, the family and many participants in the funeral were furious at a decision by the police to demand a 50,000-shekel ($13,700) bond and set strict conditions before the body was released. The police insisted that the funeral be held at night, that no more than 150 people attend, and that it last two hours at most.

Jamal Mahameed mediated between the family and the police over the release of the body. He told Al-Monitor that the family only learned about the real size of the crowd upon arrival at the cemetery. How can anyone control the number of people attending a funeral? he asked. He added that the many people who attended were mostly members of the same clan. Everybody knew that Ahmad was disturbed, and as such, he should not have been fired at; the incident should not have ended with Ahmad riddled with bullets.

Another member of the Mahameed clan was arrested during the wave of violence in October 2015. In that instance, Alaa Mahameed was involved in a vehicular and stabbing attack at the Allon Intersection, at the entrance to Kibbutz Gan Shmuel.

Then, in July 2017, three terrorists from the citys Jabarin clan were involved in an attack on the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem. Two Druze Border Patrol officers, Haiel Sitawe and Kamil Shnaan, were killed in the attack. In that instance, the bodies of the terrorists were only returned to their families after a Supreme Court ruling. The number of people attending their funerals also exceeded limits imposed by the police.

Were talking about a small percentage of participants [out of the total population of Umm al-Fahm], with only a handful of them calling for revenge and chanting slogans against Israel, a member of the towns Mahajnah clan, who asked to remain anonymous, told Al-Monitor. He said activities by the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, headed by Sheikh Raed Salah, have an obvious impact on the local residents. Religious extremism is increasing, creating divisions and rifts not only in the city, but even within individual families, which are sometimes divided between secular supporters of the Hadash (Communist) party and religious supporters of the Islamic Movement.

The overwhelming majority of Umm al-Fahm residents work in Israels Jewish towns and villages. While some have jobs in settlements close to Umm al-Fahm, others work in the big cities of Haifa, Tel Aviv and Hadera. Many of them work in construction, but a significant percentage have white collar jobs such as being lawyers, teachers, university lecturers and welfare workers. There are also quite a few residents of Umm al-Fahm who work in various medical fields in hospitals throughout Israel. They steer clear of religious fanaticism and do not feel alienated from the larger Israeli society. Are they all terrorists? asked another resident of the town from the Mahajnah clan who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said Israeli authorities, including the police, prefer to ignore negative phenomena in Umm al-Fahm, such as the way the Islamic Movement is taking over the town or the growing violence there. Then those same authorities use the results of their neglect to tarnish the entire citys reputation.

Claims that the police and local authorities are not doing enough to reduce the level of violence in Arab society, while consciously ignoring the forces for good, is a major gripe voiced frequently by Umm al-Fahms residents. Following a string of violent incidents last year, the residents of the city held a demonstration in March 2017 demanding that the law be more rigidly enforced there. One resident, a member of the same Mahameed clan as the terrorist killed in Jerusalem last week, said: Lets say that 1% of the population is violent. Should the remaining 99% of the population end up paying the price of inaction against those gangs and criminals, who are trying to dominate the day-to-day lives of all the other residents? In the same way, people in Umm al-Fahm are now saying that the entire population should not be condemned, nor should anyone suggest transferring them to the Palestinian Authority, simply because a tiny minority of people chanted anti-Israel slogans at the funeral.

Certainly none of this would be of any interest to the minister of defense. He prefers to fight for his own political career, particularly given his poor showing in the polls. That is more important to him than investing time and energy in putting together a plan to improve the situation in Umm al-Fahm, rein in violence and keep religious extremists away. Hand Umm al-Fahm over to Mahmoud Abbas is a more appealing slogan to his supporters on the right than Make Umm al-Fahm a safer city.
When I set a travel itinerary, food always is a consideration.

OK, an obsession.

If you need an example, an afternoon in Portugal with my vegetarian wife was devoted to tracking down a village I'd read about that specializes in leitao, roast suckling pig.

Anna and I traveled through Portugal for our first anniversary, and visited the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica for our honeymoon. Food memories linger nearly two decades later.

In Costa Rica, we visited a beachside bar in Playa del Coco and watched small fishing boats unload the day's catch, men and boys carrying Dorado and other fish through the surf to deposit them in a small refrigerated truck. Sipping a beer, I knew I was watching my next meal or two.

Gallo Pinto, Costa Rica's take on rice and beans, is served everywhere--at roadside stands, in restaurants tucked among the palms just off gray-sand beaches, and in the towns we visited.

A breakfast at a village collective, where women hand-make and sell tortillas while running a small restaurant, inspired this recipe for Gallo Pinto. The egg topping, with a runny yolk, works at any meal.

By contrast, Portugal is a playground for pig lovers. Black-footed swine, the source for prized Iberico air-cured ham, are raised in both Spain and Portugal.

Legs of the ham, called presunto in Portugal, hang in many small restaurants, like one in the walled town of Obidos, where the proprietor expertly hand-carves thin, translucent slices that explode with flavors of funky, salty, slightly-sugary meat and nutty fat.

Portugal's Alentejo region is known for seemingly quirky, but absolutely delicious food combinations like pork cooked with local clams.

Pork and Clams Alentejo traditionally is steam-cooked in cataplanas, hinged pots that clamp shut. The use of these special pots dates to the 500-year occupation of the region by the Moors, which ended in 1249.

Hand-hammered copper cataplanas are found all over Alentejo, including markets and shops near Evora's ancient Roman ruins. To this day, I regret not buying one, since I was saving my cash to stock up on port wine later in Via Nova de Gaia.

Days after returning home, I was tinkering with a recipe for Pork and Clams Alentejo. An enameled Dutch oven, with a heavy lid, still tries to substitute for the cataplana I let slip away.

Gallo Pinto. Photo by Mary Fehr.

Gallo Pinto

Serves 6-8

2 cups cooked black beans

1/2 teaspoon cumin seed

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

1 medium red bell pepper, cored and diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Costa Rican Lizano salsa or other hot sauce to taste

2 cups cooked white rice

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

6-8 eggs

Corn tortillas, warmed

Prepare the black beans. If using dried beans, add the cumin when cooking the beans and reserve the liquid. If using canned beans, simmer contents with cumin and 1/3 cup water or stock for 10 minutes. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to change color. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add cooked black beans and a bit of the liquid to the vegetable mixture. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and salsa/hot sauce. Add cooked rice and stir well, adding enough liquid to coat the rice. Sprinkle with cilantro and remove from heat. Fry eggs sunny-side-up in remaining butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Warm 1-2 corn tortillas per person. Spoon Gallo Pinto onto a plate or into a bowl. Top with an egg and serve with warm corn tortillas on the side.

Pork and Clams Alentejo. Photo by Mary Fehr.

Pork and Clams Alentejo

Serves 4-6

11/2 cups white wine, preferably Portuguese

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, stemmed and chopped, divided

3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1 shallot, peeled and minced

1 teaspoon paprika, preferably smoked

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

11/4 pounds pork loin or thick boneless chops, cut into medium-sized cubes

11/4 pounds small clams in shell, kept refrigerated and on ice until ready to cook

In a large, non-reactive bowl, add wine, 2 tablespoons olive oil, a small handful of parsley, garlic, shallot, paprika, bay leaf, salt, and pepper, stirring well until combined. Add pork and stir until coated. Refrigerate for 4 hours to marinate. Remove pork, reserving marinade. Pat pork pieces dry with a paper towel. Heat remaining olive oil on medium-low heat in a heavy enameled Dutch oven. Fry pork, in batches to avoid overcrowding, until the meat starts to brown. Set aside cooked portions. Repeat until all pork is cooked, and then return reserved pork to Dutch oven. Add reserved marinade and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add clams, stir, and cover the Dutch oven. Cook until clams open, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining chopped parsley. Serve in bowls with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the sauce.

--Photos by Mary Fehr

This story appears in Birmingham magazine's August 2018 issue. Subscribe today!
Inside an 8-foot-by-8-foot practice room at a New Jersey guitar store, a teenaged Matt Butler got the chance to learn how to play Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes from a guy who helped create them.

Butler took bass and guitar lessons from former Skynyrd musician Ed King for about 18 months, beginning around 1979. During the lessons, they'd each be seated on folding chairs in that room, with a couple amps and couple basses or guitars.

"He never had that rock star aura about him, unless he was playing," Butler says of King, "and then you could tell the guy could really play."

King is known for devising the immortal, spirited "Sweet Home Alabama" guitar figure. He also contributed crucial riffs and solos throughout the classic Skynyrd catalog. For example, slinky slide guitar on "Don't Ask Me No Questions" and (along with Garry Rossington) "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," and expressive, elevating solos on "Sweet Home," "Saturday Night Special" and "Workin' for MCA," for starters.

King, who also played bass on early Skynyrd recordings, died this Wednesday at his Nashville home from cancer. He was 68 years old. "He was just a very gracious guy," Butler remembers. "It wasn't lost on him, who he was, what he'd accomplished, but he didn't have any air of superiority about him. In my dealings with him he was very approachable." Asked to describe the experience of learning Lynyrd Skynyrd music in almost a knees-to-knees proximity from a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer like King, he answers succinctly, "Mind blowing."

Back in 1979, Butler was 14 and living with his family in Northfield, N.J., when he began taking lessons from King at Gilday's Music. He isn't sure what brought King, a California native who joined Skynyrd in 1972 and left the band in 1975, to New Jersey, but recalls King at the time "owning rental properties all across south Jersey." He says King was also doing recording sessions in the area. The guitarist would later rejoin Skynyrd for a 1987 reunion tour, departing from the group again in 1996.

Gilday's had promoted that "Ed King, formerly of Lynyrd Skynyrd," would now be giving guitar and bass lessons at the store. "I was a teenager so I don't know what the adult buzz was like," Butler says. "But the middle-school buzz was like 'Damn, it's Ed King from Lynyrd Skynyrd. How cool is that?' But there weren't lines of people in the store just waiting for Ed King to come out. It was real low key."

The weekly guitar lessons were $15 or so, for each 30-minute session. King had around 20 or so total students at the time, including another member of Butler's middle-school rock-band, called Javelin, which covered Skynyrd songs along with Cheap Trick, Foreigner and Kiss tunes, as well as some original material. For one Halloween gig, the young musicians in Javelin performed in full Kiss makeup.

Matt Butler in Kiss makeup with his middle-school rock-band Javelin, circa 1979. Butler was taking music lessons from former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King back then. (Courtesy photo)

Before giving lessons, King would just grab an instrument off the showroom racks to use in his instruction that day. A Stratocaster or Kramer guitar. A Yamaha or Aria Pro bass. Butler would bring in his Japanese Rickenbacker-copy bass, an acoustic guitar or Gibson L6-S electric from home.

Butler's lessons with King started out more notation-based and guitar focused. King soon shifted the format to more technique-based lessons and bass, when he saw that's what suited Butler. He taught him more efficient fretting. And the parts for Skynyrd tunes Butler asked to learn, including "Free Bird," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" (another vintage King co-write) and Skynyrd's J.J. Cale cover "Call Me The Breeze."

Butler remembers as a music teacher King was, "very quiet, very mild mannered. At the same time, he was very precise. There was a right way to play something, so it would sound how it was supposed to sound."

Besides Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, King taught Butler blues fundamentals. The only non-Skynyrd tune he taught the youth was Free's "All Right Now," including the song's bass breakdown. "He was really into (bassist) Andy Fraser of Free," Butler recalls.

Lynyrd Skynyrd was founded in Jacksonville, Fla. With the band's Southern, unpretentious yet anthemic take on blues- rock, it's easy to see why their music appealed to millions of fans in The South. But why were teenagers in New Jersey into it? Turns out Skynyrd tracks were frequently played on Philadelphia classic-rock radio stations Jersey kids favored at the time, right alongside Led Zeppelin, Who and Rolling Stones cuts.

There was another key commonality, Butler says.

"Basically, the lower third, maybe even the lower half of New Jersey is a lot of farmland. So, you're talking about farmers and ranchers. (Lynyrd Skynyrd music) just seeped in there. You start with 'Free Bird' and then work your way into the catalog."

Butler still has some of King's handwritten lesson notebooks as well as cassette recordings of their lessons. Among those recordings, a session in which King played a swampy new instrumental he'd written while on pain meds following oral surgery, with Butler vamping on bass underneath King's guitar lines. King named the tune after the prescription that fueled it. Since Butler couldn't remember the medication name he's always called it "The Pharmaceutical Song."

Occasionally, Butler would ask King about which of Skynyrd's three guitarists played what parts on the band's '70s albums. Sometimes the teacher would even tell a war story or two. Once at a local mall, Butler purchased a Lynyrd Skynyrd poster because King was in the picture. The poster depicted singer Ronnie Van Zant in front of the band, wearing big, dark sunglasses. After hearing Butler's description of that image, King replied, " Oh man, let me tell you a story about that ..." And proceeded to do just that.

Flash forward to this decade. Butler is now an architect based in Huntsville, a north Alabama city known for its aerospace industry. Around 2010 or so, he reconnected with King via (what else?) Facebook. Using that social media platform, the two would message each other occasionally, asking each other how things were going, reminiscing about the lessons back in New Jersey, etc. Butler asked King if he'd like a copy of that old "The Pharmaceutical Song" cassette, and after the reply was affirmative, sent him one in the mail.

Butler would also offer encouragement to King as the latter went through serious health challenges. King had heart issues for years, and in 2011 underwent a transplant. "He was going through a series of health struggles," Butler says. "And had gone through one recently. He was able to go home and didn't let on how bad it was." Before his passing, King had shared on Facebook he'd been working on a memoir about his life in and out of music. "I can't wait to read it," Butler says.
Authorities have released the name of a man shot to death at an apartment in the Roosevelt City community Thursday night.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Quantis Mandel Samuels. He was 26 and lived in southwest Birmingham.

West precinct officers responded about 8:20 p.m. to the 6100 block of Warner Street on a report of two people shot following some type of altercation at the home, where there were multiple people inside.

Police found Samuels and a woman both injured and rushed them to UAB Hospital. The woman's injuries were not life-threatening. Coroner's officials said Samuels died in surgery at the hospital at 9:19 p.m.

A suspect is in custody and undergoing questioning by police. No formal charges have yet been filed.

Samuels is Birmingham's 73rd homicide victim in 2018. Of those, at least five have been ruled justifiable and therefore the Birmingham Police Department does not count them in their year-end tally. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 105 homicides including the 73 in Birmingham.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
The state's highest court won't hear the cases of three Alabama Death Row inmates.

The Alabama Supreme Court announced Friday in its weekly order list that it has denied writs of certiorari--or requests to review--the cases of David Phillip Wilson, Michael Brandon Kelley, and David Dewayne Riley. All three men are currently awaiting execution at Holman Prison in Atmore.

Wilson, 34, was convicted and sentenced to death in Houston County for the death of Dewey Walker in 2004. Walker, a 64-year-old suffering from cancer, was found dead in his Dothan home after he failed to show up for work for several days.

Kelley was convicted in St. Clair County on two counts of capital murder and one count of sexual torture. He has been on death row since 2010. In January, the court denied a writ of certiorari for the inmate, but he petitioned to the Criminal Court of Appeals. That court denied his application for rehearing in June.

Kelley was 29 at the time he was convicted of killing 23-year-old Emily Lynn Milling, whose body was found off River Road in Leeds in November 2008. Witnesses testified at Kelley's trial that Milling had been choked and beaten to death.

Riley's request to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals was denied in March. Riley is on death row for his convictions in the 2005 slaying of 38-year-old Scott Michael Kirtley, who was shot to death during a liquor store robbery.

Riley was convicted for a second time in 2011, after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals threw out his original 2007 case. The court's order is based on a 2015 petition filed by Riley, which claims he had ineffective counsel at his second trial. That appeal was denied by the circuit court in 2016.
A Birmingham man was convicted Thursday of killing his longtime girlfriend and shooting four of his children.

Sedrick Letzie Norris, 39, was convicted after a trial this week on two counts of capital murder--the charges made capital because the victim had a protection order against Norris and because the crime was committed during the course of a burglary--and four counts of attempted murder for a 2016 shooting that killed Coral Anita Wilson and injured four of their young children.

He will be sentenced by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Laura Petro on October 11. Court records show Norris is not eligible for the death penalty under the Atkins U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states execution is not an option for people with intellectual disabilities.

Deputy District Attorney Neal Zarzour said he and DDA Joe Roberts appreciate the "tough work" jurors did in the case. "They had to deal with some disturbing, emotional evidence in order to reach their decision. Even for those of us who handle violent cases on daily basis, crimes involving young children are uniquely challenging."

He continued, "We are pleased that Mr. Norris has been held accountable for his actions and that Coral Wilson and her children received the justice they deserve."

Norris was represented by Michael Blalock. "I disagree with the verdict but I understand the jury returning that based on the facts presented to them," Blalock said. "I'm disappointed they couldn't hear about [Norris'] diminished capacity.... They had no information on his intellectual state."

While jurors knew Norris was ineligible for the death penalty, they weren't informed of the Atkins rule. Under Alabama law, a defendant can't put on a diminished capacity defense where he or she claims they lacked the required intent because of a mental impairment, such as a learning disability. This is different than an insanity defense.

In one, unrelated case, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals noted that "the State of Alabama has expressly repudiated the diminished-capacity doctrine."

Blalock said, "I think it's a bad Alabama law."

Birmingham police responded to the 1400 block of 21st Street North on the evening of May 11, 2016 after receiving several calls about gunshots in the area. Wilson was found dead on her living room floor, and the four wounded children were found outside and at a neighbor's apartment. The couple had eight children together--three others at the house weren't hurt, and one wasn't home.

During his opening statement, Zarzour said Norris and Wilson had previous incidents of domestic violence and police had been called to Wilson's Druid Hills home several times. Court records show Wilson filed for, and was granted, a protection from abuse order against Norris just two months before the shooting--both for her and their children.

Zarzour said on the night of the shooting, Norris grabbed an AK-47 he kept in the closet at Wilson's house and shot her in the neck while she held their infant son. He also shot and injured four of his children--5, 8, 11 and 12. The four children not wounded are ages 13, 9, 6 and 8 months.

During his opening statement, Blalock said Norris "snapped" when he shot Wilson and the children because he saw Wilson in bed with another woman.

That woman, Wilson's neighbor LaShundra Guss, testified that she cared daily for the Norris children. She said on the night of the shooting, she was sitting on Wilson's bed with the kids watching TV and braiding the girls' hair.
Birmingham police have detained two robbery suspects after a pursuit in Birmingham's Norwood community, police said.

Sgt. Bryan Shelton said police have detained two black males believed to be in their 20s.

Officers were told earlier that a group of males robbed a store in east Birmingham, fled in a vehicle and jumped out of the vehicle in the Norwood community.

Shelton said officers were patrolling the area of the 7300 block of First Avenue North when the robbery was reported. Officers then found and pursued the suspects, he said.

Police are now clearing the area.

Police are still asking anyone who notices suspicious activity to call 911.
A 69-year-old woman took her own life Friday as lawmen closed in to arrest her in Homewood.

The incident happened about 10 a.m. on Snow Drive, where multiple businesses are located. Jefferson County sheriff's Chief Deputy Randy Christian said deputies went to the undisclosed address to serve a felony warrant for first-degree theft.

Aware of the deputies' arrival, he said, the suspect apparently took her own life by a self-inflicted gunshot. Homewood police, he said, are conducting the death investigation.

The woman's identity is being held pending notification of family. "Our hearts and prayers are with her family," Christian said, "and also with our personnel as they deal with a very sad and tragic incident."

Additional details weren't immediately available. This story will be updated.
This will be the last year Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith serves as the president of Birmingham-Southern College, she said in a statement sent to alumni Thursday afternoon.

Flaherty-Goldsmith said she is leaving due to some family medical conditions.

"There is so much excitement about everything happening that I considered staying longer than initially planned. The positive feedback from alumni I meet at events, the excitement of welcoming new students--as we'll do tomorrow--all make me want to stay," Flaherty-Goldsmith said. "But my own family needs me more than my BSC family does."

She said her 8-month-old grandson who lives in Peru has been in intensive care after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition. He lives in Peru with his parents and brother.

"I spent four weeks there this summer and I will need to be return intermittently, as he faces a lengthy recovery involving close monitoring by pediatric heart specialists in Lima, which requires my son and his family to relocate across the Andes to start a new life," Flaherty-Goldsmith said in a statement.

Flaherty-Goldsmith was appointed as the 15th president of the college in June 2016.

During her time as president, the college has added new majors, signed more articulation agreements, created new partnerships and re-examined the school's curriculum. The college had a record number of transfer students this year.

The board has been informed of her plans to step down at the end of the school year. The board will announce a search committee in the coming weeks.

"I am confident that our beloved college will find an impressive leader to continue the work we have started," she said.
Wade Brasfield's praise for Mobile is effusive, and he may be the closest thing to a budding ambassador for the city if but for one thing: He's a drag queen.

Not just any drag queen, but the drag queen who will be on stage at the Ben May Main library in downtown Mobile on Sept. 8, and spend an hour reading children books to kids ages 3-8.

"I cannot say it enough, and I know people get annoyed with me, but I love Mobile," said Brasfield. "It's an amazing city. The culture. The arts. The people. It's something that is almost, story-like."

But the notion that Brasfield will dress as a drag queen and read books to children, has enraged some people in the city he loves. It has also prompted a local tea party group to schedule a protest outside the library during the event. Massive turnouts of upset residents are expected Monday before the Mobile County Commission and on Tuesday before the City Council.

"There are so many people out there who aren't pleased and who feel like this is something that is very disturbing to them," said Brasfield, 28, who moved to Mobile from his hometown of Tuscaloosa a little more than a year ago. "It's OK. You hate to see people who really don't understand and who are lashing out. But at the same time, all I can do is send them positive energy and love."

He added, "I'm not scared of them. I've lived in this state for 28 years and that hasn't necessarily been the easiest experience, but what I've learned from that is regardless of what people think, we have to live our lives and have to live them proudly and out loud."

'Willing to listen'

Brasfield will dress in his "Khloe Kash" character and will be the main attraction during "Drag Queen Story Hour," which will mark the first time the nationwide event has organized a story reading in Alabama.

"Even though we are in the Deep South and it's more conservative and all of that, there are people who want this type of event and want their children to experience something more open and a little more different," said Brasfield.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would become such a huge thing. It's amazing, and it's truly amazing to see how people are responding," he added.

Similar events have been held in about 40 states since the first one occurred in 2015, which is the same year of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

Most of the events have occurred in large metropolitan cities, but the recent emergence of events in the South has created a stir. In Lafayette, Louisiana, a Drag Queen Story Hour event has prompted the mayor to announce that he was looking for ways to cancel an Oct. 6 reading or move it to a private venue.

Mobile's reading is sponsored by Rainbow Mobile, a non-profit group organized earlier this year to serve the LGBTQ community in Southeast Alabama. The group wants to promote awareness and acceptance of LGBTQ residents in Mobile.

The event isn't sponsored by the Mobile Public Library, and no public funds are going toward it. Rainbow Mobile met the library's policies to host the event inside one of the library's meeting rooms, and the library says it cannot stop it from occurring even if critics are requesting them do so. "If we exclude one group, we must exclude all," a library board statement said.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, through a spokeswoman on Wednesday, said there is nothing his office can do about the event. The library is a separate organization from the city, though the governing library board is appointed by the Mobile City Council.

Levon Manzie, the council's president, said Thursday that he's received emails about the event. He said the council will "listen to everyone and respect everyone's right to express their opinion" as long as they are signed in to speak appropriately.

But Manzie likened the situation to last year's uproar over questionable content that was displayed on signs during the 2017 Comic Cowboys parade on Fat Tuesday. The council listened to concerns, but opted not to do anything that would infringe on the group's First Amendment rights.

Said Manzie: "A lot of citizens in this community found their various posts and various sayings to be offensive. There wasn't a whole lot the City Council could do. But we are certainly willing to listen and take it from there."

'Promote agenda'

Indeed, there will be critics showing up to Government Plaza requesting some sort of action.

Fred Wolfe, a longtime pastor in the Mobile area and a former chairman of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he will oppose the event being held inside a public library because "It gives it credibility."

"Usually things held at the public library are certainly keeping within range of the morality and of the moral values of the people of Mobile and Mobile County," said Wolfe.

He said the plan is not to "attack" the LGBT movement, and added that pastors are "not in a battle with them." But he said the library should have stopped the event.

"They have the right to reject any group," Wolfe said. "I guarantee you that if a Christian group wanted to go in there and promote a Christian agenda, the LGBT community and others would protest that as hate speech and that it's wrong."

He added, "It is wrong to take 3-8-year old's and expose them to a man dressed as a woman. This is not some innocent presentation. They know exactly what they are doing. It's nationwide, and it originated in San Francisco."

Rainbow Mobile's Bryan Fuenmayor told AL.com earlier this week that Drag Queen Story Hour "is not a sex education class" and that criticism about the event is unfounded.

Brasfield, as Khloe Kash, will read two stories: "Stella Brings the Family" and "Rainbow Fish." In between each reading is a five-minute break. The event concludes with 15 minutes of arts and crafts.

Fuenmayor said he anticipated most of the attendees to be members of the LGBTQ community and its allies, and that a good number of parents attending will be same-sex couples.

Brasfield never anticipated the amount of attention of the Mobile event has garnered.

"In my head, I was to read some books to kids and everyone smiles and laughs and has a good time," he said. "(Fuenmayor) asked me, 'we want you to be the first one.' I thought it was a great honor. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would get this much coverage."

In cities like New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans, the story readings haven't generated much public concern. Alabama, though, is one of the most conservative states in the U.S. Recent polling shows it as the lone state where a majority of its residents oppose same-sex marriage.

Nationwide, opposition to same-sex marriage is mostly confined to a few of the most conservative Christian religious traditions, according to a 2017 analysis by the Public Religion Research Institute. Nearly six in 10 (58 percent) of white evangelical Protestants - the predominant religious tradition in Alabama - oppose same-sex marriage, including 30 percent who strongly oppose.

Brasfield has seen the negativity about his performance expressed online. "People are saying, 'I'm not coming to the library again.' That was one of the comments I read and I'm like, 'You are going to deprive your children of an amazing experience, not at our event, but the library itself?' I remember as a kid going to the library and being lost in the books for hours. How would you deny anyone of that? Reading and learning is one of the best and most important things about growing up."

Brasfield has been teamed up with a Chickasaw Elementary School teacher for some pre-event training. He said he has experience working with kids, and has been "heavily involved in church."

"I'm working with trained professionals to make sure we keep the event as professional as possible and are having a good time with kids and relaying the messages through stories and that the kids are having a good time," Brasfield said.

'Creative release'

Brasfield's performance as Khloe Kash is part of a character he developed when he was 19. He's been performing as the character, on and off, since then.

"For me, it's always been a creative release," said Brasfield, who has performed as Khloe Kash in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Mobile and Biloxi and Gulfport in Mississippi.

Wade Brasfield as "Khloe Kash." (photo provided by Wade Brasfield).

"Being from a theatrical background, this was a way for me to be able to have that theatrical moment and to have fun," Brasfield said. "Who doesn't want to dance around and lip synch to their favorite songs? It's an art form, and something I've walked away from and always picked back up on. I hope to continue to have it as a part of my life and I love performing and love to entertain an audience."

And that "love" extends to Mobile, the city he moved to from Tuscaloosa with his partner last year.

"I never felt so at home," he said. "To come to a brand-new city and to be completely accepted and welcome and loved on ... Mobile has just been amazing."

He added, "Everyone is relaxed and laid back and there is so much to do and to learn about and so many opportunities to experience some part of the culture here. It's so diverse and everyone seems to get along."

Brasfield said he is concerned about encountering negativity, something he says that he's yet to experience in Mobile.

"I think really anywhere you go, it's a concern," Brasfield said. "But my experience here has been amazing and positive. Sure, social media can be a rough kind of place to be. But even with some of the negative comments I've seen, there has been so much positivity that has been out there as well. There are so many people out there who are accepting and open to the idea of these type of events."

He added, "We will have amazing time. We'll promote literacy and help kids and show them that no matter who they are and where they are from that they are beautiful and important and are allowed to dream."
A U.S. House candidate from Florida is not backing down from her claims she was abducted by aliens.

Bettina Rodriguez Aguilar, a Republican, is seeking election to the post being vacated by retiring GOP Congressperson Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She is one of nine candidates in the race and recently received the endorsement of the Miami Herald.

"It has nothing to do with what I have done. It happened when I was 7 years old," Rodriguez Aguilar told The Herald about her abduction claims.

Rodriguez Aguilar claims she was taken on board a spaceship as a young girl by blond extraterrestrials who resembled Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Miami Herald reported. The aliens told her the center of the world's energy is Africa and that thousands of non-human skulls had been found in a cave on Malta.

Rodriguez Aguilar claims she has been in touch with aliens telepathically since her abduction and saw another UFO when she was 17.

A former Doral, Florida City Council member, Rodriguez Aguilar now runs a business training woman from other countries how to run for political office. She is one of nine Republicans seeking the seat, with the winner facing one of five Democrats, including former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
Alabama hospital officials today told Sen. Doug Jones about circumstances they say are pushing some hospitals to the financial brink, including Alabama's decision not to expand Medicaid and what they say are unfairly low reimbursements from Medicare.

Jones met with officials at the Alabama Hospital Association and spoke to the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce about healthcare and other issues today.

Twelve Alabama hospitals have closed since 2011, including six rural hospitals, according to the Alabama Hospital Association.

The association plans to launch a public relations campaign after Labor Day advocating for Medicaid expansion, which would mean that hospitals would not have to absorb as much in providing care for people with no insurance.

The association says Alabama hospitals also suffer because they receive lower reimbursements from Medicare than any other state because of a formula called the wage index.

The original intent of the wage index was to include hospital labor costs as a factor in determining reimbursements from Medicare. But according to the association, a variety of exceptions and political fixes has made the formula inequitable. Alabama's rural hospitals have the lowest reimbursement rate in the country.

"If you go and talk to any hospital administrator around the state they will tell you that that is one of the things that they need most is a change in the wage index," Jones said.

Jones said it will be hard to get a consensus in Congress to change the formula because it is budget neutral, meaning that an increase in Alabama's rate would be offset by a reduction in another state.

Medicaid expansion would also be a tough sell politically in Alabama. Thirty-three states have expanded their Medicaid programs as authorized under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The ACA allowed states to add people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, about $29,000 for a family of three, to the Medicaid rolls. Federal funds covered 100 percent of care for those added to the rolls through 2016. That federal share is stepping down to 90 percent.

Neither former Gov. Robert Bentley nor Gov. Kay Ivey have proposed Medicaid expansion, which would also require support from the Republican-led Alabama Legislature, which has shown no appetite for it.

The Ivey administration has proposed new work requirements for some able-bodied Medicaid recipients, a move that would require federal approval.

Jones said it's not too late for the state to change course.

"I'm unabashed about the fact that I wished we had expanded Medicaid in this state when we had the opportunity," Jones said. "I believe it was not done purely for political reasons. And we've lost literally billions of dollars in this state, not to mention the health care concerns of so many of our Alabamians."

Sen. Doug Jones, head of the table, listens to officials from Alabama hospitals and others about their financial issues that are putting hospitals at risk. (Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)

Danne Howard, chief policy officer for the Alabama Hospital Association, said 69 percent of Alabama's hospitals have an operating deficit and 88 percent of rural hospitals are in the red.

A key factor is the cost of care that hospitals provide to people without insurance. Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was intended as a way to help states reduce the number of uninsured.

Jones said the topics discussed today affect the availability of medical care for many people, including those that have insurance.

"It's a problem for people that live near those rural hospitals that are not on Medicaid that they see that hospital close and now will have to drive an hour or an hour and a half and go to Birmingham or Huntsville or Mobile in order to get health care," Jones said. "It is a major issue for us."

Dr. Don Williamson, president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, said the face-to-face meeting with Jones was beneficial and came at a time of growing urgency.

"We are now in a position where we've got a number of rural hospitals that are on the precipice," Williamson said. "Two or three more years without Medicaid expansion, without some fixes, we're going to see a number of hospitals that are open today not be open."
Lane is no longer a hurricane.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said Lane, once a Category 5 hurricane, had weakened to a tropical storm on Friday as it was making its closest approach to the Hawaiian Islands.

But flooding continues to be a big concern for Hawaii. The rain has really added up on the Big Island, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

Multiple areas on the Big Island have gotten more than 30 inches of rain in the past two days.

See rain totals so far here.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center warned that flash flooding and mudslides will still be possible from Lane and ramped up total rain projections to 30 to 40 inches.

Flash flooding and landslides have been reported already from Lane:

As of the last advisory, at 5 p.m. HST Friday (10 p.m. CDT), Tropical Storm Lane was located about 150 miles south-southwest of Honolulu and was moving northwest at 3 mph.

Lane's winds continued to drop and were 70 mph as of the latest update. Forecasters expect Lane to rapidly weaken, and it could become a remnant low by Saturday or Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu said wind shear had helped to rip the storm apart relatively quickly. Just 24 hours ago Lane was a Category 3 hurricane.

See preliminary wind gust observations here.

Hurricane warnings for Oahu and Maui County, including the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe, have been replaced with tropical storm warnings, according to the hurricane center. A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Hawaii County.

A tropical storm watch continues for Kauai County, including the islands of Kauai and Niihau.

Rain bands from Lane could still bring tropical storm conditions to Oahu, Maui County, and the Big Island tonight into Saturday, the hurricane center said. Tropical storm conditions will be possible on Kauai on Saturday.
A Guatemalan man has been charged in the attempted kidnapping of a woman at a Jasper Park, as well as for trying to lure a teen into his vehicle in an unrelated incident on the same day

Jasper Police Chief J.C. Poe identified the suspect as Bernardo Castro-Gabriel, 22, also known as Omar Sanchez.

Police say the incident happened about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at Gamble Park near the Walker College Campus of Bevill State Community College on Gamble Avenue. The victim, whose name and age aren't being released, was jogging on the park's track when police say the suspect - later identified as Castro-Gabriel - grabbed her and pulled her to the ground by her ponytail.

He then dragged her to his car which was parked close to the track, Poe said. "He was dragging her to the car, opened the door and she continued to kick him and broke free and ran away,'' the chief said.

The victim ran to another park-goer who called 911. The victim was taken to the emergency room where she was treated for minor injuries.

Poe said Jasper police was on the scene within minutes and obtained a picture of the suspect and vehicle descriptions, which was a small, blue car. "Our patrol units saturated the area,'' he said.

Less than two hours later, the suspect vehicle was spotted in downtown Jasper and taken into custody during a traffic stop. Poe said they were able identify Castro-Gabriel as the suspect.

Poe said Castro-Gabriel has been in the U.S. illegally for about five years, four those in Alabama. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been called in and is working to get an immigration detainer on him. Poe said law enforcement has had prior dealings with him, but would not elaborate.

In Jasper, Castro-Gabriel is charged with second-degree attempted kidnapping. "At some point,'' Poe said, "Immigration will take control of him."

He also is charged by the Walker County Sheriff's Office with enticing a child for immoral purposes. Police referred questions to the Walker County Sheriff's Office. Efforts to reach sheriff's officials for comment were unsuccessful.

Court records state Castro-Gabriel on Wednesday tried to lure a 14-year-old girl into his car on Evans Road. According to the criminal complaint, he did, with lascivious intent, trying to get the girl in his car for sexual purposes.

Walker County Sheriff Jim Underwood said that incident happened while the teen girl was waiting for her friends at a school bus stop. A neighbor saw what was happening and went outside to help the girl. The teen was able to get the suspect's car tag number, and sheriff's deputies were already searching for him when they got word of the incident at the park.

Underwood said Castro-Gabriel was the primary suspect several years ago when a 12-year-old Hispanic girl vanished from the Domaine mobile home park in Walker County. The girl was later found by police walking down a street in Arizona and returned to her family. "He was a person of interest. We suspected it may have been a human trafficking case and suspected he was the one who transported her to Arizona,'' the sheriff said. "I think we avoided a tragic situation with his arrest. He is certainly somebody who needs to be off the streets."

Castro-Gabriel went before a judge Friday afternoon where his bond was set at $500,000 on each charge for a $1 million total cash bond.

Poe said he, the mayor and the city engineer on Thursday walked around Gamble Park to assess security there and said they will be doing so for all city parks. "We've made some suggestions to the mayor for security,'' the chief said. "I know it's hard to make any area completely safe, but we're going to make it as safe as possible. We will make this a priority."

He said they will also offer self-defense training as well as hand gun training for women. He urged female joggers and walkers to do so in groups of two or more. He also encouraged them to carry cell "We're very fortunate this lady was able to break free from her assailant,'' Poe said. "Otherwise I'm positive we would have a tragedy on our hands this morning."

Some lawmakers reacted to news of Castro-Gabriel's arrest.

"Yet another example of why we must secure our border and enforce our nation's immigration laws," U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne said in tweet.

U.S. Rep Mo Brooks also strongly condemned the open borders immigration policies that have "again led to the victimization of American citizens by an illegal alien."

"It is tragic and infuriating that American citizens in Jasper, Alabama have been the victims of illegal alien crime only days after Mollie Tibbetts was brutally murdered in Iowa,'' Brooks said in a prepared statement. "The attempted kidnap of American citizens by an illegal alien from Guatemala highlights our country's desperate need for the border wall and stronger border enforcement."

"Far too many Americans have suffered at the hands of illegal aliens who never should have been here,'' he said. "These crimes are entirely avoidable with stronger border enforcement, but instead of working to keep Americans safe by eliminating illegal immigration Democrats and open borders advocates shamefully seek to abolish ICE and obstruct Republican attempts to stop the flow of illegal aliens across our border. The callousness displayed by Democrats in light of these horrific crimes against American citizens is appalling and shows Democrats value illegal aliens above American citizens."
Advocates trying to land a major U.S. Air Force contract in Macon County should know in a matter of weeks whether it's coming.

Moton Field, home of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, is one of the sites in contention for an assembly plant for the next Air Force jet fighter trainer.

Leonardo DRS, an affiliate of an Italian company that builds jet fighter trainers for several of America's allies, is one of the bidders for the project and chose Macon County as the plant site if it wins the contract.

Joe Turnham, director of the Macon County Economic Development Authority, said Leonardo DRS and the other bidders have submitted all their information to the decision-makers at the Department of Defense and the Air Force.

"Our friends at Leonardo DRS and our counterparts at the state, everyone feels like there could be a decision anywhere from around Labor Day forward, but certainly within the next several weeks," Turnham said.

Capt. Hope R. Cronin, a public affairs officer for Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, said she could not comment on the project except to say that an announcement is expected before the end of the fiscal year, which is Sept. 30.

Officials first announced last year that Leonardo DRS was bidding for the contract and that the company had chosen Moton Field as its site.

Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield said today that Leonardo DRS remains very much in contention for the project.

Leonardo DRS has stiff competition. Other bidders include Lockheed Martin, which is working with Korean Airspace Industries on the project, and Boeing, which is working with Saab.

The winner is expected to build at least 350 jet fighter trainers to replace the Northrop T-38 Talon, which the Air Force has used for decades.

Leonardo DRS has proposed building a new version of a jet fighter trainer it already supplies for Italy, Israel, Poland and Singapore. The company has dubbed the American version the T-100.

The project would bring 750 direct jobs to Macon County plus many more spinoff jobs to the area, Turnham said. Investment would be in the billions and would pump new economic life into the area and along the Interstate 85 corridor, Turnham said.

"This could be the accelerator that we need to do a lot of different things," Turnham said.
Workers are repainting the former Hayneville Road Elementary School to prepare it as the temporary home for Booker T. Washington Magnet High School, which was destroyed by fire. (Mike Cason)

An army of about 75 employees, backed up by an abundance of volunteers, are putting in 15-hour days to prepare an old grammar school to serve as the temporary home for Montgomery's Booker T. Washington Magnet High School.

A main building at BTW Magnet High School was destroyed in a fire that started early Saturday morning.

Students did not attend classes this week but will resume their studies in the former Hayneville Road Elementary School on Monday.

Thursday afternoon, workers were painting, running cable, moving tables, desks and chairs and doing countless other tasks to get the facility ready.

Hayneville Road Elementary had most recently been used an alternative school last school year but was vacant this year.

Lee McKenzie, director of maintenance for Montgomery Public Schools, said the building would be ready for the arrival of students on Monday morning.

"We've done a tremendous amount of cleanup," McKenzie said. "We've painted every square inch of the building. We've changed out all of the window units to heat pump window units and gone through to check and make sure the plumbing fixtures were working and some of those that were not working, got those up and running. Just general maintenance to this building has gotten it back up to speed.

McKenzie said the project has been a "monumental task" but that the finish is in sight.

"Our whole maintenance department has been on this," McKenzie said. "About 15 hours a day we've been putting in. We're almost at the point that it's ready. And it will be ready Monday morning."

BTW Magnet has long been regarded as a beacon of excellence and creativity in the Montgomery public school system. It was rated Alabama's third best high school last year by U.S. News and World Report.

A student's work of art that was moved from BTW Magnet High School to its new home at the former Hayneville Road Elementary School.

BTW Magnet Principal Quesha Starks said today that teachers have stayed engaged with their students this week and they are working together to cope with the loss and disruption. She said the ordeal is a lesson in resiliency.

"Our teachers are just really doing an awesome job of transitioning our students and also moving to get their classrooms in a place where they need to be for creative learning and excellence," Starks said.

School board members say they have been touched by the outpouring of support from the public. Montgomery Public Schools' spokesman Tom Salter said the turnout of volunteers exceeded the need.

The school system is accepting donations of supplies to replace those lost in the fire. The losses included about $100,000 worth of camera equipment, as well as an extensive amount of art supplies.

The Alabama PTA office at 470 South Union Street, near the burned school, is serving as a collection point for donated supplies. Go here for more information about how to help.

Darold Boswell, director of logistics for Montgomery Public Schools, said people who couldn't volunteer their time brought water, snacks and soft drinks to Hayneville Road to help the workers navigate the long days.

The former Hayneville Road Elementary School in Montgomery, temporary home for Booker T. Washington Magnet High School.

A large room that was the library in the elementary school is being converted into a dance studio. An annex to the elementary school is being converted to serve as a band room and library.

Salter said long-range plans for BTW Magnet High School are still to be determined. He said the school would not be rebuilt at the site of the fire because the property did not have enough acreage to be suitable for a modern high school.
This is an opinion column.

Birmingham NAACP President Hezekiah Jackson has been clear. And adamant.

He did not, he says, take money from Oliver Robinson to stymie the EPA's cleanup of north Birmingham and Tarrant.

He did not go into the neighborhoods at the direction of his former friend to do the bidding of Balch & Bingham or Drummond Co. to encourage residents to refuse to have their soil tested.

There's no evidence or documentation that he did anything of the sort, he argues. There's no proof!

Despite invoices entered as evidence in the trial of Balch & Bingham lawyer Joel Gilbert and Drummond executive David Roberson, who were convicted of bribing Robinson to help them fight cleanup efforts.

Despite sworn testimony from Robinson and his daughter, Amanda Robinson, that Jackson was paid cash to help them carry out the mission.

Despite emails that show Jackson and Amanda Robinson worked together to get the message out.

It didn't happen, Jackson said. Because he says so.

And that was good enough for a lot of people. It was plausible deniability, in the face of evidence and testimony and fact and ... ick.

Dude belongs in Washington or something.

Because now a neighborhood officer from north Birmingham has brought more evidence to show Jackson - head of a group with a mission statement to ensure "the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination," used his status to keep people of color from even having their soil tested for toxins.

David VanWilliams, secretary of the Inglenook Neighborhood, said he heard Jackson's denials after activists called for Jackson's resignation, so he searched his records for proof.

He found an email from Jackson, written to neighborhood officers on Nov. 16, 2015 - a week after invoices show Robinson paid Jackson a $2,000 payment for "community engagement." Jackson requested a meeting with the neighborhood, saying "It is our position that the (EPA) activity has not been to the benefit of the affected citizens and property owners."

VanWilliams then found minutes from meetings referring to Jackson.

Minutes from the Jan. 11, 2016 meeting - when invoices show Jackson continued to be paid thousands of dollars for engagement -- include the following summary, submitted by the neighborhood president Carolyn Cauthen:

"Hezekiah Jackson, NAACP President contact (sic) us about EPA wanting to come into the Inglenook community to discuss pollution in our area. If this happen this will make your property value decrease. We do not want this to happen in Inglenook."

Minutes from March 14, 2016, indicate Amanda Robinson and Jackson appeared together.

"The reason Hezekiah Jackson came with her was to give her credibility," VanWilliams said. "Nobody knew her."

Ms. Robinson told the group the EPA and the environmental group GASP were "targeting" Tarrant and Inglenook because they are close to ABC Coke.

"This is a way for them to continue their programs and get paid," she said, according to the minutes. "These organizations are not targeting Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills or any of the over-the-mountain communities."

She used racial distrust to discourage residents of potentially polluted areas from testing their soil.

Jackson followed up, according to the minutes.

"If the EPA targets the Inglenook Neighborhood; this will change the look of our community," he said. "This could also stop businesses from moving into our community."

Jackson said in an email this week he's no fan of the EPA "and the way they have done business in the black community."

He didn't say it was a witch hunt, but it he might as well have.

"No one paid me anything to do anything," he said. "There is no proof or evidence otherwise."

Except, of course, what's right in front of your face.

John Archibald is a columnist for Reckon by AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.

Hezekiah Jackson Email by John Archibald on Scribd

Inglenook meeting January by John Archibald on Scribd

Inglenook Neighborhood meeting March 2016 by John Archibald on Scribd
A prominent pro-life group labeled Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., a "pro-abortion extremist" after he voted Thursday against a Senate amendment that would have banned federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

The amendment, offered by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, was attached to a Defense Department appropriations bill. It failed after it did not meet a 60-vote threshold; the vote was 45-48, with seven senators not voting.

The vote could endanger the prospects of Democratic senators in deep red states up for re-election this year. However, no Democrats voted in favor of the amendment.

Susan B. Anthony List, a major pro-life group, criticized Jones' vote.

"Sen. Doug Jones proved again [Thursday] that he is no moderate when it comes to abortion, voting to send taxpayer dollars to abortion giant Planned Parenthood," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the organization's president."Earlier this year, Senator Jones voted in favor of late-term abortions on babies capable of feeling pain at five months of development. Sen. Jones is no moderate, he's an abortion extremist."

Federal law -- known as the Hyde Amendment -- already bars federal dollars from being used on abortions, except in rare circumstances: cases of rape and incest and when the life of the mother is threatened.

In a statement sent to AL.com, Jones accused the group of being misleading.

"That statement is not only false but it also mischaracterizes my position. Unfortunately, this is precisely the type of rhetoric that continues to sow divisions rather than meaningful dialogue. The fact is that federal law prohibits organizations like Planned Parenthood or others from using taxpayer dollars for abortion and I don't support any changes to that law," the senator said. "I will, however, continue to support measures that ensure women have affordable access to vital preventative health services and screenings."

Updated at 2:56 p.m. to include response from Jones.
The ongoing feud between President Donald Trump and his Attorney General is heating up.

On Friday morning, President Trump tweeted a series of messages to AG Jeff Sessions. The tweets come amid the president's sharp criticism directed at the former Alabama Senator over the AG's decision to recuse himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election.

Yesterday, the president said Sessions had failed to take control of the Justice Department and that he'd only nominated him as AG out of sense of loyalty to a campaign backer. Today, Trump responded to Sessions' comments that the Justice Department will not be "influenced by political considerations."

Trump tweeted:

Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the other side including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

....FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems - and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over classified information. Gee, this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

The tension between Trump and Sessions has heated up in recent days after the conviction of the Paul Manafort, the president's former campaign chairman, and a plea deal from his ex-attorney Michael Cohen. Several Senators said they believe Trump will fire Sessions after the mid-term elections.
President Trump will likely fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the critical midterm elections, according to several senators.

"I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Bloomberg News. "Clearly, Attorney General Sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president."

He cautioned, however, that while the president is "entitled to an attorney general he has faith in" dismissing the former Alabama Senator now would "create havoc."

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., echoed those comments, telling Politico "moves are being made" to oust Sessions from the Justice Department.

"It's very apparent to me that the president wants to do something to Attorney General Sessions. But it's also apparent that in the interim that Sessions owns him," Corker said. "It's apparent that after the midterms he (Trump) will make a change and choose someone to do what he wants done. ... It just feels to me that after the midterms the president will make the change."

Not everyone is on board for a change, however.

Sen. John Thune, (R-SD), said the Senate is not prepared for a confirmation fight.

"Is there anybody we can confirm? Our conference supports Jeff," Thune told Politico. "Our members are behind him. At least that's the message they've tried to convey to him."

Sessions, a one-time ally of the president, came under fire from the president after the AG recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The president said he would not have nominated Sessions for the role if he'd known the AG planned to recuse himself and, on Thursday, added Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department."

In a pointed - and rare - reply, Session countered by saying he "took control of the Justice Department the day I was sworn in," adding that while he was AG, the "Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Sessions was confirmed to the AG post in February 2017. Prior to his confirmation, he represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate after first being elected in 1997.
The State Department has issued an updated travel advisory for portions of Mexico.

The advisory was issued in relation to a security alert by the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez. While not directly connected, it also comes amid an upswing in violence - including the discovery of as many as eight bodies - in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, home to the popular tourist destination Cancun.

A Level 2 travel advisory remains in place for Quintana Roo, advising visitors to exercise increased caution due to crime:

"According to Government of Mexico statistics, the state experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred.



There are no restrictions on U.S. government employees for travel in Quintana Roo state, which includes tourist areas such as: Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and the Riviera Maya."

All travelers are advised to use increased caution in Mexico due to widespread violent crimes such as homicide, kidnappings, carjackings and robbery. No-travel warnings are in place for five states: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.

If you decide to travel to Mexico, the State Department advises:
Vietnams Ministry of Public Security accused the 12 of engaging in anti-state activities on behalf of the Provisional National Government of Vietnam (PNGV), a "terrorist" organisation loyal to the former South Vietnam regime. James Nguyen Han and Phan Thi Dao were given "counter-revolutionary missions" such as spreading propaganda, organising protests and insulting the image of Ho Chi Minh.

Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) convicted two US citizens, in connection with a plan to carry out bomb attacks.

At the end of a two-day trial, the court sentenced James Nguyen Han and Phan Thi Dao (aka Angel Phan) to 14 years in prison for " attempting to overthrow the state. Ten other people were also convicted and give sentences ranging from five to 11 years.

The authorities accused the defendants of printing 4,000 leaflets, plotting to broadcast anti-government propaganda on local radio stations, and organise anti-regime protests on 30 April, Reunification Day, the day when the Vietnam War ended in 1975 with the victory of Communist North Vietnam.

According to Vietnams Ministry of Public Security, the 12 people involved belong to the California-based Provisional National Government of Vietnam (PNGV), an organisation founded in 1990 and loyal to the former South Vietnam regime.

The PNGV allegedly sent Phan and Nguyen to Vietnam in February 2017 to carry out counter-revolutionary missions during national holidays. These involved carrying out anti-government propaganda, organising protests and insulting the image of the late Ho Chi Minh.

In June, a court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the prison sentences imposed on 15 members of the group convicted of planting bombs in the international terminal of Tan Son Nhat airport in April 2017.

Last month, police said it had arrested seven PNGV members over the bombing of a Ho Chi Minh City police station.

The incident, in which two small explosive devices were detonated, injured three people in what police said was a "terrorist case against the people's government".

A police warehouse, where confiscated vehicles, mostly motorbikes, were stored, was also blown up.
Originally Posted by jtdc Originally Posted by

The military is financed by Congress who also has the responsibility to pay for a wall. So for the military to pay to build a wall they would have to steal from their budget or get Congress to increase their budget to pay for it. Our country was designed to be run by civilians, not military.



And the military can't build the wall any faster. It is getting the decision made to DO IT!
AJ+ travels to Guam to speak to residents about voting rights, SPAM, and their history of colonisation.

Many people on Guam, and in other US territories, say they are treated as second-class citizens.

They cant vote for the president and the one representative each territory is given in Congress also has no voting power, even though most people living in the territories are US citizens.

Most members of Congress, they couldnt find Guam on a map and they dont want to because its completely off their radar, Anne Perez Hattori, a Chamorro History professor at the University of Guam, tells AJ+.

The indigenous Chamorro people in Guam have had their traditional practices stripped away from them over the hundreds of years that theyve been colonised by the Spanish, occupied by the Japanese and militarised by the Americans.

In this series of Untold America, AJ+ travels more than 9,000km (about 5,592 miles) from California to Guam to examine the islands traumatic past, and what it really means to be from a US territory.

How the US territory of Guam became a US territory

In Part 1, AJ+ looks into Guams history, speaking to Hattori, who explains that due to a 1901 US Supreme Court decision, people living in the US territories dont have full constitutional rights, even if they are US citizens.

Were reliant upon US Congress to determine our rights, and US Congress, its this huge body. We dont have a vote there, so we dont have bargaining power, Hattori says.

AJ+ also speaks to survivors of Japanese occupation.

The Chamorro people suffered many abuses under Japanese control. Jesusa Susie Arcero was only 11 years old when the Japanese took over Guam in 1941. She explains how she and many other women were assaulted by Japanese soldiers during the three years they controlled the island.

When the US returned to the island at the end of World War II, Susie says many were relieved, resulting in a generation of patriotism towards the US.

But according to the Chamorro people, theyve also suffered at the hands of the Americans. Antonio Artero Sablan, a Chamorro landowner, says he was repeatedly held at gunpoint by the US military when he would try to enter his familys land, which was seized by the military to become part of the Andersen Air Force Base. He was eventually given access to the land after staging a series of protests.

Should US territories be independent?

In Part 2, AJ+ speaks to Rodney Cruz, who joined the military when he was 18 years old.

He served two tours in Iraq and suffers from depression.

Not being able to vote for president is, its like a piece of me is missing, Cruz says, describing what its like to not have a say in who the president will be, especially after witnessing death on the battlefield, picking up the body parts of American soldiers and being diagnosed with PTSD.

In this episode, AJ+ also meets Chamorro activists who are fed up and consider Guam to be a US colony.

Why is SPAM so popular in Guam?

In Part 3, AJ+ examines the impact of Guams dependency on imported and processed foods like the canned cooked meat, SPAM.

The rate of diabetes on Guam is twice as high as the rest of the US, and in 2014, half of the deaths on the island were due to heart disease and cancer.

AJ+ speaks to Franceska De Oro and Hilaan San Nicolas, who are both Chamorro, and are speaking out about the health effects of processed foods on social media and are attempting to live a locally sustainable lifestyle.

What does it mean to be indigenous and from a US territory?

Finally, in Part 4, AJ+ asks people on Guam about the unique experience of being indigenous Chamorro and from a US territory.
Life in Yelibuya is becoming increasingly difficult. Just as one house is rebuilt, water damage destroys another.

Yelibuya Island, Sierra Leone  Yelibuya, a small town in northwest Sierra Leone, is precariously perched on a sandy, waterlogged stretch of land that juts out where one of the countrys largest rivers, the Great Scarcies  also called the Kolente, yawns into the Atlantic Ocean.

Little more than a few straggly mangroves grows here.

Fresh food and water are imported, and everything from the towns singular motorcycle to childrens clothes are covered in sticky sand.

But Yelibuya is bustling.

About 5,000 people live in the town and surrounding area.

It sits between the coastal cities of Freetown, Sierra Leones capital, and Conakry, the capital of Guinea, making it an important last stop on a long and historic trade route.

As you can see, there is no method for protection. And it gets worse every year. We only seek God's protection. Abdulai Bangura, elderly Yelibuya resident

A majority of the countrys fish and rice is harvested along the river.

With poor road networks, traders brave choppy waters on small canoes to buy Yelibuyas fish in exchange for cassava leaf, groundnut, clothes, and building materials.

But life in the town is increasingly impossible; the island is going underwater.

Mangrove deforestation, coastal degradation and rising sea levels have led to dozens of homes being flooded each year. Residents make new ones, often on stilts, to lift them above the slush.

While theres no official government data on how much the water is rising, elders in the community estimate that the ocean has encroached inland at least 300 metres over the last 30 years.

A soggy main street in Yelibuya [Mara Kardas-Nelson/Al Jazeera]

According to some estimates, Yelibuya will be completely submerged within two decades.

As you can see, there is no method for protection, says Abdulai Bangura, one of the towns elders. And it gets worse every year. We only seek Gods protection.

Mohammed Salie Sesay has lived in Yelibuya for 20 years. Hes lost his home twice, most recently in July. Each time a home is demolished, he builds a new one on drier land with money he makes from daily fishing.

I would leave, but my business is here, my wife is here, my kids are here. Were fully dependent on the island, he says.

Mohammed Salie stands in front of a new structure, his third home on the island [Mara Karas-Nelson/Al Jazeera]

Others have one foot in, the other out.

Alpha Kamara moved to Yelibuya after the 11-year-long civil war and started a family.

He considers the town his home but has moved to Freetown because of the flooding. Still, he spends half his time in Yelibuya, bringing with him fresh provisions from the mainland and returning with an abundance of cheap, desirable fish to sell in the capital.

Yelibuyas relies on imports.

Mohammed Lamin Kamara, a young man who sells fresh water from a neighbouring town at Yelibuyas market, says: Ive built houses out of this business. Its the main way Ive made money. Ive married because of this.

Because of climate change, Sierra Leone is expected to witness increased flooding and landslides, such as the Freetown disaster in 2017 that killed more than 1,000 people.

According to the United Nations Development Agency, West Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change, second only to some Pacific Island countries such as the Maldives.

The agency notes that Sierra Leone, despite only contributing 0.02 percent of global carbon emissions annually, will severely bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change.

The country has already experienced a nearly 1 degree Celsius temperature rise since the 1960s and is expected to experience another 1 to 2.5 degree increase by 2060.

This Yelibuya family built their house on elevated bricks to keep the water from entering [Mara Kardas-Nelson/Al Jazeera]

Yelibuyas residents are trying to adapt.

Two of the towns most important structures, the clinic and the chiefs house, used to sit on the oceans edge. Theyve been moved further inland, towards the small mangrove forest.

Despite being built on heavy cinderblocks however, the clinic is regularly flooded and the chiefs house looks out onto a sandy bank that is perpetually filled with water with the encroaching tide.

The mangrove patch offers the only barrier between the town and the rising water.

But because of wood harvesting, the patch is getting smaller.

In a place with no electricity, no alternative natural fuel, and a constant need for rebuilding, mangrove wood is being used for current problems, rather than protecting against future challenges.

Yet life goes on, with some recognising the economic opportunity of life on the island.

A bag of rice sells for 110,000 leone ($14) in Sierra Leone, and 325,000 leone ($40) in Conakry, so Sierra Leonean traders are choosing to live where they can trade upwards rather than settling in a less precarious, but less lucrative, location in the countrys relatively dry interior.

This is a very important economic area, a very important military area, explains Kelly Marah, the deputy in command for a navy outpost on the island.

He oversees a small fleet that chases illegal foreign fishing boats, a significant threat to Sierra Leones fishing industry.

Dried fish for sale in Yelibuya. Fish from here is sold to communities across Sierra Leone and Guinea [Mara Kardas-Nelson/Al Jazeera]

Kandeh Yumkella, an MP who represents communities along the Scarcies, is trying to give Yelibuya a political voice.

A former UN under-secretary-general and presidential hopeful in the March 2018 elections, he proposes climate justice and private sector solutions.

We who pollute the least and make the least greenhouse gases will be most vulnerable, Yumkella says.

Sierra Leone is a carbon sink, meaning the country absorbs more carbon than it emits, he says, adding that Yelibuya would benefit from global funding initiatives aimed at supporting climate-change victims.

We have a real case where we need a systematic relocation of people who are vulnerable to climate change. Where we get money, and how we do that, can demonstrate to the global community how to do this.

Climate funds could be used to build schools and a clinic in nearby Mahayla to encourage people to leave the sinking town, he suggests.

A ribbon of water runs down one of Yelibuyas main streets [Mara Kardas-Nelson/Al Jazeera]

But he also wants climate funds to spur development.

Aid must bring capacity, global knowledge systems, and build infrastructure and institutions, so that people can reach their entrepreneurial potential, he says. This is about creating markets and competitive infrastructure. This is about making money.

He has plans for new jetties and fish manufacturing plants that he says will help Great Scarcies communities package and ultimately export their commodities.

When Al Jazeera visited Yelibuya in July, Yumkella was on the island with a Sierra Leonean-American businessman interested in commercial fishing.

Were not asking for handouts, Yumkella says. This place has potential,.

For now, though, Yelibuya exists in in a liminal state.

It is fully dependent on water, and is being overtaken by it.

Additional reporting by Sherry Bangura and Alhaji Kelvin Kanu.
President Donald Trumps long-serving personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to twin federal election law offences directly implicating the President. Mr Cohens statements set the foundation for the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York to subpoena Mr Trump to testify about $280,000 paid to a adult film star (Stormy Daniels) and a Playboy model (Karen McDougal) during his 2016 campaign for their silence about his decade-old affairs with each to influence the outcome of the election. The disclosures could have alienated his religious right-wing supporters.

Mr Trump is likely to resist the subpoena. That would force a challenge in the United States Supreme Court as to whether a sitting president is accountable to the criminal law, as are all other officers of the United States, including members of Congress and justices of the Supreme Court. The controlling precedents are against President Trump. In United States v Nixon, the Supreme Court unanimously compelled President Richard Nixon to surrender presidential tapes and documents for use in a criminal trial against his top assistants. None of Mr Nixons four Supreme Court appointees voted in his favour. In Clinton v Jones, the Court held that President Bill Clinton could be compelled to testify in a civil suit bright by Paula Jones alleging sexual harassment. Neither of Mr Clintons two appointees voted in his favour. Mr Trump is similarly unlikely to win the votes of Justice Neil Gorsuch, whom he appointed, or Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination will soon be confirmed. They would strain to avoid an appearance of bowing to their benefactor as did the Nixon and Clinton justices.

An adverse ruling by the Supreme Court would end the Trump presidency. If he defied the Supreme Courts order, he would be immediately be impeached by the House for subverting the Constitutions separation of powers, convicted in the Senate by a two-thirds majority, and removed from office. (Attempts to subvert the Constitution are made impeachable offences, ie, high crimes and misdemeanours, under Article II, section 4). The Supreme Court remains the nations most venerated and untarnished civil institution. Any attack on a decision joined by Trumps own appointees would ring hollow.

President Trump would be equally doomed if he agreed to give testimony under oath. In his mental universe, he does not distinguish between truth and falsehood. Perjury would be inescapable. He has already lied repeatedly about pay-offs to the two women. His foremost lawyer and spokesman, Rudy Giuliani, has insisted truth isnt truth in explaining why Trumps testimony would inexorably prove perjurious. Perjury is an impeachable offence, and occasioned President Clintons impeachment by the House of Representatives.

President Trump may also be implicated in a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner on the one hand, and agents of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the other hand. The purpose, according to Donald Trump Jr, was to solicit or receive damaging information on Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton to use in the election campaign. Federal law prohibits soliciting anything of value from a foreign government or agent to influence the outcome of an election even if the solicitation fails. It seems implausible that President Trump was clueless about a meeting of such electoral importance. That conclusion is reinforced by his concoction with Donald Trump Jr of a false story that the President Putins minions were embraced to discuss adoptions of Russian children  a non-issue in the 2016 presidential campaign

Paul Manafort, President Trumps former campaign manager, was found guilty of eight counts of tax and bank fraud involving huge sums concurrently with Mr Cohens guilty plea. The convictions discredit Mr Trumps soundtrack that special counsel Robert Mueller is engaged in a political witch-hunt with no legal justification. Indeed, Mr Mueller has indicted or convicted more than 30 persons or entities.

The Manafort convictions combined with Mr. Cohens guilty plea and the guilty plea of Mr Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, puncture Mr Trumps campaign pledge to drain the swamp. The presidents popularity is dwindling, which will spike the probability of impeachment.

It blends law and politics. Members of Congress respond to public opinion. If it turns against President Trump because of the epidemic of lawlessness in and around the White House, members will be emboldened to initiate impeachment hearings, especially if control of either the House or the Senate flips to the Democrats after the November 2018 elections. President Nixons public approval rating had plunged to 22 percent when he resigned in 1974 after the House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment. When President Trumps political barometer falls to that level, his impeachment and conviction are a certainty.

President Trump epitomises narcissism. He has scorned the adage that he who loves himself will have no rivals. He has virtually no personal friends in Congress willing to fall on a sword for him. Indeed, most members would prefer Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office to Mr Trump. Mr Pence echoes the same general policies, but without the vulgarity and venom of Mr Trump.

Mr Manafort has become a wild card for President Trump after his tax and bank fraud convictions. Even if he resists cooperation with special counsel Mueller, Manafort can be compelled to testify with a grant of immunity about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russian officials when he was Trumps campaign manager to solicit dirt on Clinton. Mueller can afford to grant immunity. He does not need additional convictions to dispatch Mr Manafort to prison for long years or life.

According to a recent book by Mike Isikoff and David Corn, Russian Roulette, Mr Manafort and Donald Trump Jr both solicited the Russians for derogatory information  a clear violation of the anti-solicitation prohibition in federal campaign finance laws as applied to foreign nations or agents. With a grant of immunity, Mr Manafort would be compelled to reveal everything that transpired and what President Trump knew before and after. That Manafort testimony could implicate Mr Trump in a conspiracy to violate the law against foreign contributions to political campaigns. Mr Mueller would then subpoena Mr Trump for testimony about the apparent Russian collusion. That would end Trumps presidency. He is a compulsive liar and would commit perjury as Mr Giuliani has acknowledged.

The imponderables that will determine how quickly the Doomsday Clock for the Trump presidency strikes midnight are threefold: the credibility of Mr Cohen as a witness under klieg lights; the speed with which Congress begins televised hearings into President Trumps wrongdoing; and, the timing of subpoenas for Mr Trumps testimony from the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and special counsel Mueller.

President Trumps ouster from the White House is no longer a question of if but when.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Sessions earlier pushed back against Trump, who blamed him for what he called corruption in the justice department.

US President Donald Trump has continued to engage in a public spat with his own top law enforcer, Jeff Sessions, accusing him of being unfair for applying double standard in prosecuting suspects.

In a Friday morning rant on social media, Trump complained that a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor is getting 63 months in jail over classified information.

Gee, this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard, the US president wrote, naming his Democrat opponent in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump then enumerated a list of items, which he suggested Sessions, the US attorney general, should look into.

{articleGUID}

Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!

In another post, Trump said that the justice department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations, then went on to press Sessions to look into all of the corruption on the other side'.

On Thursday, Sessions defended the integrity of his office, issuing a rare public rebuke to Trumps criticism that he had failed to take control of the justice department.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, he said. While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

On Thursday, Trump told Fox News cable channel that Sessions should be blamed him for what he called corruption at the Department of Justice.

I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department, Trump told Fox.

Trump made the statement following the conviction of his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, on multiple fraud counts and a plea deal struck by his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who implicated him in the case.

Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over classified information. Gee, this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

Sessions, a longtime US senator and early supporter of Trumps presidential bid, drew the presidents ire when he recused himself in March 2017 from issues involving the 2016 White House race.

That removed him from oversight of the federal special counsels investigation of Russias role in the election and whether Trumps campaign worked with Moscow to influence the vote. Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a witch-hunt and maintained there was no collusion.

Trump told Fox that Sessions should not have recused himself from Russia-related matters.

He took the job and then he said, Im going to recuse myself,' Trump said. I said, What kind of a man is this?'

However, Trump told Fox & Friends he would stay uninvolved in department matters.

Sessions, a longtime US senator and early supporter of Trumps presidential bid [File: Reuters]

Al Jazeeras Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said that Trump has long held over Sessionss head this final option of firing Sessions, which the president has absolute power to do.

She added, however, that getting rid of Sessions may not end the Russia investigation and would certainly increase this political firestorm surrounding the president this week.

Political problems deepen

In the Fox interview, Trump also said that he respected Manafort for the work he had done for prominent Republican politicians, adding that some of the charges they threw against him, every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does.

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The former Trump campaign chairman was found guilty on Tuesday of eight financial crimes, including tax evasion and bank fraud. The charges stemmed from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Tuesdays verdict came as Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying he made payments to influence the 2016 election at the direction of a candidate for federal office.

Trump said Manafort and Cohen were charged with matters unrelated to his presidential campaign, although Cohen implicated Trump, saying he had paid sums of $130,000 and $150,000 each to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump, acting at his bosss request, in a bid to buy their silence with the purpose of influencing the election.

Cohen did not name Trump on Tuesday, but said one payment was made in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office, and the other was made under direction of the same candidate.

Asked if he directed Cohen to make the payments, Trump said only that Cohen made both deals. He attacked Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, for agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors that made the president look bad.

Its called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal, he said.

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Trump was asked whether he thought Democrats would move to impeach him if they won control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections.

I dont know how you would impeach somebody whos done a great job, he said. If I got impeached, I think the market would crash.

Shawn Zeller, a deputy editor with the Congressional Quarterly Magazine, said at this point, Trumps problem is more political than impeachment.

With the election coming in November, all this news about his former associate, Michael Cohen, and former campaign manager, Paul Manafort  threatens Republicans positions in the November elections.

National Enquirer execs corroborate Cohens account

Meanwhile, reports surfaced on Thursday that the CEO of the publisher of the National Enquirer was granted immunity by prosecutors investigating the payments made by Cohen.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, American Media Incs (AMI) Chief Executive Officer David Pecker met prosecutors to describe Trump and Cohens involvement in hush-money deals.

Pecker, a longtime friend of Trump and Cohen, and Dylan Howard, another AMI executive who also reportedly received immunity, corroborated Cohens account, according to Vanity Fair magazine.

Cooperation with authorities by Pecker and Howard could further implicate Trump in connection with the payments, which prosecutors have said violated campaign finance laws.

Federal prosecutors in New York and the White House declined to comment. AMIs general counsel, Eric Klee, did not respond to a request for comment.
Malcolm Turnbull becomes fourth prime minister dumped by his or her own party before serving a full term since 2010.

Treasurer Scott Morrison will be Australias new prime minister after winning a three-way battle for the leadership of the Liberal party on Friday.

Morrison defeated the key challenger Peter Dutton, a former cabinet minister, by a vote 45-40.

Duttons supporters had forced incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to hold the leadership ballot. Turnbull did not contest it and later confirmed his intention to quit politics.

Ill be leaving the parliament  not before too long, he told reporters.

His resignation causes a by-election that could cost the government its single-seat majority.

Turnbull became the fourth prime minister to be dumped by his or her own party before serving a full three-year term since the revolving door to the prime ministers office started in 2010.

The trend is universally hated by Australians.

He condemned Dutton supporters for bringing down his leadership in an intense and bruising campaign, which the prime minister described as an insurgency that went public on Tuesday.

Many Australians will be shaking their head in disbelief at whats been done, Turnbull said.

Internecine battle

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had been among the favourites and could have become Australias second female prime minister. She was rejected on the first round of voting.

Australian media reported she would also likely resign from politics.

Morrison became Australias 30th prime minister after the vote ended the internecine battle that has scarred the conservative government ahead of an election due by May 2019.

He quashed speculation of an early election and said on Friday a severe drought across the countrys east will be his immediate priority.

I dont think anyone should be making any plans for an election any time soon, he said.

Morrison becomes Australias sixth prime minister in less than 10 years.

Peter Hartcher, political editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, said Australians are fed up with the constant political infighting.

I cant begin to tell you how distressed most people are at what goes on in their name in the federal government, Hartcher told Al Jazeera.

Everybody will still be wondering, what was this really about? There has been no explanation from either the outgoing or incoming prime minister.

Taking names

A beleaguered Turnbull demanded the names of legislators in the Liberal party who wanted him to go before he would allow them to choose a new prime minister at a meeting at Parliament House on Friday. The names proved a majority of his government had abandoned him.

The bare minimum majority of 43 signatures were provided shortly before the meeting started. They included more than one Turnbull supporter who signed to break the impasse.

Duttons and Turnbulls camps waged the most chaotic, frenetic and at times farcical leadership struggle that Australian politics has seen in years, closing down Parliament on Thursday and damaging the Liberal partys credibility.

Public anger became apparent overnight with windows broken at the Brisbane office of Dutton, Turnbulls main rival in his government.

Turnbull came to power in a party-room coup in September 2015. A social liberal and multi-millionaire former merchant banker, he has struggled to appeal to conservative voters and only narrowly won a general election in 2016.

Liberal party member Warren Entsch said after the leadership vote: This revolving door of prime ministers has got to stop.

Tony Johnson, chief executive officer of Ernest & Young, said the political instability was also hurting Australias bottom line.

The political turmoil of the past decade has come at the cost of our global competitiveness The business community needs policy certainty to promote investment and improve business confidence, Johnson said.
The United States, a major ally of Israel, has cut more than $200m in economic aid to Palestinians, in a move that comes months after also drastically cutting its contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

A senior US official said on Friday that President Donald Trump had ordered the State Department to redirect the funding for programmes in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip to unspecified high-priority projects elsewhere.

The official added that the decision took into account the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gazas citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) quickly denounced the US move, calling it the use of cheap blackmail as a political tool. The Palestinian people and leadership will not be intimidated and will not succumb to coercion.

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The rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.

There is no glory in constantly bullying and punishing a people under occupation. The US administration has already demonstrated meanness of spirit in its collusion with the Israeli occupation and its theft of land and resources; now it is exercising economic meanness by punishing the Palestinian victims of this occupation.

The decision to cut Palestinian funding comes amid a severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where more than 160 Palestinians protesting for their right to return to the areas from which they were forcibly expelled from in 1948 have been killed by Israeli gunfire since March 30 during weeks-long demonstrations near the fence with Israel.

Officials in the Gaza Strip, which has been administered by Hamas since 2007, have previously blasted the US for its support to Israel, saying that Washington has long lost its regional credibility.

The US had planned to give the Palestinians $251m for good governance, health, education and funding for civil society in the current 2018 budget year that ends on September 30.

Washington gives Israel annual military aid of $3.1bn. Next year, that figure will increase to $3.8bn under a 10-year deal agreed by Barack Obama shortly before he stepped down as US president.

Logic of bullying

In a controversial and sharply criticised move meanwhile in January, the US government announced that it was withholding $65m of a planned $125m funding instalment to the UNRWA, which provides services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon.

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Ali Abunimah, cofounder of the Electronic Intifada publication, said Trumps decision on Friday might impact health and food assistance programmes but will not be as severe as the cuts the US has already implemented for UNRWA, which have really inflicted great suffering on some of the most vulnerable Palestinians.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Chicago, he said the political message of the cuts is to tell the Palestinians that the American approach now is of putting essentially a gun to their heads  that they must go along with whatever the Americans and of course Israel dictates or the US will cut their funds.

Its hard to see how the US thinks this will help them get their way, said Abunimah, adding that Washingtons policy was driven by the logic of bullying and bludgeoning Palestinians.

Relations between the US administration and the Palestinian Authority took a nosedive after Trump announced in December the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital.

The Palestinian leadership has since suspended contacts with the administration and consider that it can no longer play a mediation role in the Middle East peace process.

Fridays decision comes amid a vacuum in Middle East peace efforts as the US administration presses on with work on a peace plan that has been under discussion for months.

Trump has tasked his son-in-law Jared Kushner and lawyer Jason Greenblatt to draft the peace proposals.
WHO says 97 people believed to have contact with the infected physician in an area dominated by a dangerous rebel group.

A doctor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been hospitalised with the deadly Ebola virus after coming into contact with nearly 100 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday investigating the infection and its possible spread to 97 people in contact with the physician would be difficult because the area was entirely surrounded by rebels.

Since the outbreak erupted in DRC on August 1, 103 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola have been identified in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, including 63 deaths, the health ministry said.

It is the first time we have a confirmed case and contacts in an area of high insecurity, said Dr Peter Salama, WHOs deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response.

It is really the problem we were anticipating and at same time dreading, he told a news briefing.





Salama said the Ebola infection occurred in the eastern town of Oicha, 50km from DRCs border with Uganda.

Pivotal moment

The area was surrounded by fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, who he said posed extremely serious security concerns.

WHO and health experts reached Oicha with an armed escort by MONUSCO troops this week, Salama said.

The DRCs military launched an offensive against the armed group in January after an attack on Tanzanian UN peacekeepers that killed 15 soldiers.

We are at quite a pivotal moment in this outbreak in terms of the evolution of the outbreak epidemiologically and in terms of the response, said Salama.

Ebola is a virus-caused hemorrhagic fever that in extreme cases causes fatal bleeding from internal organs, the mouth, eyes or ears.
Maasoum Marzouk also proposed release of all political prisoners and protests at Tahrir Square if demands werent met.

Egyptian authorities arrested a former diplomat and two others in Cairo in the face of planned protests in Tahrir Square calling for a referendum on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis rule.

The arrest of Maasoum Marzouk on Thursday came after he also proposed the release of all political prisoners, the formation of a transitional government council, and a 10-year ban on political candidacy for anyone who served in government or parliament over the past 10 years.

Marzouk declared in an August 5 statement that if his initiative was not accepted, he would hold a popular conference in Tahrir Square on August 31 to discuss next steps. Tahrir was the epicentre of the 2011 mass uprising that led to the downfall of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Marzouk, who served in the Egyptian armys special forces, is a veteran of the 1973 war against Israel. He is also a former Egyptian ambassador to Uganda, Finland and Estonia, and was assistant minister of foreign affairs under Mubarak.

He recently helped found The Peoples Democratic Party and served as an adviser and spokesman for the presidential campaign of Hamdeen Sabbahi, a leftist candidate who ran against Sisi in the 2014 elections.

Following his statement, a complaint was filed against Marzouk with charges including insulting the state and promoting chaos.

Khaled Ali, Marzouks lawyer, said police officers besieged his Cairo home and took him to an unknown location.

He also confirmed the arrest of economist Raed Salama and geology professor Yahia Kazzaz on Thursday. The charges against them remain unclear.

Sisi won a second four-year term in April after securing 97 percent of the vote in the presidential election.

The election was criticised as a one-man show with no credible opposition. At least six other candidates were either jailed, prosecuted, or pulled out of the race.
The Saudi-UAE military alliance fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen has been slammed by Human Rights Watch, which has accused the pair of reaching dubious conclusions in its post-air attack analysis and failing to properly investigate alleged war crimes.

In a damning 90-page report released on Friday, the rights group accused the alliances investigative body, the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT), of absolving coalition members of legal responsibility in the vast majority of attacks.

Many of the apparent laws-of-war violations committed by coalition forces show evidence of war crimes, said HRW in the report.

JIAT investigations show no apparent effort to investigate personal criminal responsibility for unlawful air attacks. This apparent attempt to shield parties to the conflict and individual military personnel from criminal liability is itself a violation of the laws of war.

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The Saudi-led coalition, which has been at war with Houthi rebels since March 2015, has repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes, saying its air attacks are not directed at civilians.

However, data collected by Al Jazeera and the Yemen Data Project, revealed that almost one third of the 16,000 air raids carried out on Yemen since March 2015 have struck non-military sites.

These attacks have targeted weddings, hospitals as well as water and electricity plants, killing and wounding thousands.

At least 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict, according to the UN. Analysts say that toll is likely to be higher.

For more than two years, the coalition has claimed that JIAT was credibly investigating allegedly unlawful air strikes, but the investigators were doing little more than covering up war crimes. Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

Downplaying air attacks

Previous investigations by the Saudi-led alliance also absolved itself of any real responsibility and instead put the blame on the Houthis, the report added.

The HRW said that JIAT often appeared to find that an air attack was lawful solely because the coalition had identified a legitimate military target, but did not appear to consider whether the attack was lawfully proportionate or if precautions taken were adequate.





The rights group also said that JIAT downplayed air attacks on a residential complex in the port city of Mokha, which killed at least 65 people, saying the complex was partly affected by unintentional bombing.

An attack on a water well in September 2016 was termed an unintended mistake by the JIAT.

An HRW investigation later found at least 11 bomb craters at the site where dozens of civilians were killed and wounded.

For more than two years, the coalition has claimed that JIAT was credibly investigating allegedly unlawful air attacks, but the investigators were doing little more than covering up war crimes, said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW Middle East director.

Governments selling arms to Saudi Arabia should recognize that the coalitions sham investigations do not protect them from being complicit in serious violations in Yemen.

Royal pardon of military personnel

The US, UK, Canada, France and Spain have all sold weapons to Saudi Arabia in recent years despite repeated petitions from human-rights groups.

Some of those weapons have been used in the conflict.

The US has been the biggest supplier of military equipment to Riyadh, with more than $90bn of sales recorded between 2010 and 2015.

Following a recent air attack on a school bus that killed 40 children, individual members of congress called on the US military to clarify its role in the war and investigate whether support for the air raids could render American military personnel liable under the war crimes act.

In July this year, Saudi Arabias King Salman issued a royal decree pardoning all military personnel who have taken part in the Operation Restoring Hope [begun in April 2015] of their respective military and disciplinary penalties.

The sweeping and vaguely worded statement did not clarify what limitations, if any, applied to the pardon.
More than 1,300 people were injured on Lombok island in the major quake and 353,000 are now internally displaced.

The death toll from a major earthearthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Lombok rose to 555 on Friday.

The new casualty count was announced on Twitter by Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the national disaster agency.

The shallow 6.9 magnitude earthquake levelled tens of thousands of homes, mosques, and businesses across Lombok on August 5. More than 1,300 people were injured and nearly 353,000 have been internally displaced.

According to Sutopo, supplies for those made homeless are still being distributed with about 30,000 tents and 100 wheelchairs sent to affected areas.





Authorities estimate the earthearthquake caused $348m in damage on Lombok.

According to scientists from NASA and the California Institute of Technologys rapid-imaging project, the earthquake lifted the island as much as 25 centimetres in some areas. In other places, the ground dropped five-15cm.

NASA said satellite observations can help authorities respond to earthearthquakes and other natural or man-made disasters.

Ring of Fire

Last week the island was hit by several strong aftershocks.

At least twelve people died following the tremors that caused landslides and panic in several villages.

Indonesia is prone to earthearthquakes because of its location in the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In December 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthearthquake off Sumatra island triggered a massive tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries across the Indian Ocean.
Armed forces will continue being used in effort to stamp out organised crime and drug trafficking, says president-elect.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexicos president-elect, says he will not order the military off the countrys streets but continue using them in the efforts to stamp out organised crime.

Mexico deployed its armed forces to fight drug trafficking in 2006.

Since then, the military has enjoyed some successes but the overall crime rate has not been improved. Soldiers have also been embroiled in several rights scandals, including the extrajudicial killings of gang members.

Without the aid of the army and the navy, we would not be able to solve the security problem, Lopez Obrador said on Friday, outlining his plan for when he assumes office in December.

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We are not in a position to pull out the armed forces, because that would leave the populace unprotected.

In the lead-up to the election, Lopez Obrador had proposed to rewrite the rules of the drug war, suggesting negotiated peace and amnesties for some of those who are currently being targeted by members of the security forces.

The failed strategy of combating insecurity and violence will change, Lopez Obrador said in his victory speech on July 1.

More than through the use of force, we will tend to the causes that give rise to insecurity and violence.

However, on Friday he admitted that the federal police was not ready to replace the armed forces.

They [state and municipal police] are almost not working, to say it with diplomacy,  they are not fulfilling their responsibility, said Lopez Obrador.

This is the bitter reality, he added.

2017 deadliest year in two decades

For the past 12 years, Mexico has fought violent drug gangs by deploying thousands of police, soldiers and intelligence officers to crack down on cartels and their leaders.

Last year was the deadliest year in two decades, with over 23,000 homicides, an increase of 10.7 percent compared to 2016.

In 2018, there have been 18,994 murders in seven months, a 20 percent jump compared to the same period in 2017, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

If the trend continues, 2018 is set to be the most violent year ever in Mexico.

Human rights advocates say it is improper to use the military in such a role. But security experts respond that the police are not up to the job of taking on the cartels without military support.

The wave of violence linked to drug trafficking has left almost 200,000 dead since former President Felipe Calderons government ordered the military onto the streets.
Over 150 people stuck on coastguard ship Diciotti for ninth day as Italian authorities refuse to let them disembark.

For the scores of refugees and migrants on board an Italian coastguard ship, the odyssey of their journey to Europe continues  despite reaching destination.

Nine days ago, the Diciotti rescued dinghies in distress off the Maltese coast in the Mediterranean. After days of uncertainty at sea, the coastguard vessel was granted permission to dock in the Sicilian port of Catania on Monday.

Of the 177 people on board, only 29 unaccompanied children have been allowed so far by the Italian government to disembark.

Matteo Salvini, Italys far-right interior minister and co-deputy prime minister, announced earlier in the week he would allow people to leave the ship on the condition that other EU countries agreed to share responsibility for them.

As a result, more than 150 people on board the Diciotti  mostly refugees from Eritrea  sleep on cardboard boxes while waiting for a resolution to the latest European migration standoff.

All eyes on Friday were on an informal meeting of senior European leaders organised by the European Commission to discuss disembarkation amid threats by Italy to pull funding for the European Union unless member states agreed to take people from the Diciotti in.

But the talks ended without producing a solution for the stranded refugees and migrants, some of whom earlier on Friday reportedly started a hunger strike.

This was not a meeting where decisions were taken, a Commission spokesperson said in a statement. It was a meeting that was organised by the Commission to harvest ideas and contributions to the on-going work to put in place a more predictable, sustainable and cooperative approach on disembarkation and responsibility sharing.

After the meeting, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned on Facebook that Italy will act accordingly.

We once again take note of the discrepancy, which borders hypocrisy, between words and action, he said.

Matteo Villa, a migration research fellow at the Italian Institute for International Studies, told Al Jazeera that no one expected anything different from Fridays talks.

European countries decided its best to avoid expending a lot of political capital to face Italys threats.

Twenty-nine unaccompanied children were allowed to disembark on the night of August 22 [Antonio Parrinello/Reuters]





Latest standoff

The Diciotti is the latest in a string of cases which saw Italy, as well as Malta, refuse or delay the disembarkation of people rescued in the Central Mediterranean, often after spending many months in detention in Libya.

Either Europe starts being serious defending its borders and relocating the immigrants, or well start taking them back to the ports they left from, Salvini threatened on a Facebook post.

Recent polls say that popular support for his anti-migration League party has been rising since the new government was installed in early June.

Salvinis communication strategy hasnt changed since becoming minister, revolving around Facebook live videos watched by tens of thousands of people.

Sometimes, his social media statements seemingly replace official announcements, too.

An Italian daily reported that the Diciottis captain, Massimo Kothmeir, received permission to dock from the transport ministry but only later learned from Salvinis social media accounts that the rescued migrants were not to be allowed off the ship.

Salvinis migrant strategy has been condemned by human rights groups, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) calling for the migrants and refugees to be allowed disembarkation.

Keeping people hostage is not the right way to ask for more cooperation and solidarity, Judith Sunderland, associate director for Europe and Central Asia at HRW, told Al Jazeera.

Probes opened

The United Nations and a host of Italian NGOs also called for the migrants to be let off the ship.

Italys independent guarantor of the rights of detained people warned that the country was breaching its own constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights by depriving people of their liberty without a court order.

Sicily prosecutors have opened probes for kidnapping and abuse of office against unknowns. Salvini defiantly stated he is waiting to be arrested.

Despite some internal dissent  notably from the President of Italys Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico  Salvini is fully supported by the other party in the governing coalition, the Five Star Movement.

The leader of the Five Star Movement and co-deputy Prime Minister Luigi di Maio told reporters on Thursday that should no decision be reached in Fridays meeting, Italy should stop paying into the EU budget.

On Friday, he reiterated that he was ready to reduce the funds that we give to the European Union in a Facebook post.

Italy, whose public debt amounts to 130 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), is expected to approve its 2019 budget in the coming weeks.

Ad-hoc agreements

Since Italy adopted a hard stance on sea rescues, standoffs on disembarkation to Italian and Maltese ports have been resolved with ad-hoc agreements.

In July, several European countries promised to relocate 270 out of more than 400 migrants and refugees that had arrived in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.

In the days following the deal, Conte said the EU was finally hearing Italys arguments on migration, accepting the principle that immigration is a European challenge.

However, as Salvini himself has admitted, only France has so far kept its promise, relocating 47.

The others, who were supposed to depart to Germany, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Malta are presumed to be still waiting at Pozzallo.

At a June summit, EU leaders agreed on a range of measures including the establishment of asylum processing centres both inside the EU and in transit countries.

Arrivals down

Arrivals to Italy  and to Europe overall  more than halved in 2017 to just over 172,300. More than 3,000 people died or went missing in the same year.

In February 2017, the previous Italian administration signed a memorandum of understanding on migration with Libyas Government of National Accord.

With EU approval, Italy began training and equipping Libyas coastguard to perform rescues, pulling back migrant boats.

While arrivals via the central Mediterranean route have continued to decrease, the western route from Morocco to Spain has seen a significant increase and currently records the highest numbers.

Still, the mortality rate has increased in the central Mediterranean.

The number of arrivals is very low compared with previous years, Sunderland, of HRW, told Al Jazeera.

We are talking about a manageable number. Theres no emergency, let alone an invasion. It is true that over the years the issue of the lack of equal distribution of asylum seekers within Europe has created divisions and tensions.

At this stage, it has become the main obstacle to any kind of reasonable and rational policy on migration, Sunderland said, adding that there is certainly a need for a clear and long-term agreement among European countries to avoid this situation.

According to Carlo Ruzza, professor of political sociology at the University of Trento who studies populist movements and anti-populism, whether or not the strategy has achieved its own purpose is less important than the consensus it gathers.

Objectively nothing has changed much, Ruzza told Al Jazeera.

What is important is creating a sense of opposition towards an external enemy, the European Union, which makes us feel like a large community, reinforcing the idea we are persecuted and helping us trust a charismatic leader, the only one able to fight this enemy.

The problem is that [leaders] are not really dialoguing with Europe, Ruzza concluded.

They are speaking with the Italian electorate.
Pakistans foreign ministry says conversation between PM and top US diplomat did not mention terrorists in country.

A telephone conversation between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pakistans newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan has stirred up controversy, with Islamabad calling Washingtons account of the discussion factually incorrect.

Pompeo congratulated Khan on Thursday and expressed his willingness to work with the new government to improve bilateral ties between the two countries.

Secretary Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process, a US State Department readout about the phone call said on Thursday.

But on Friday, Pakistans newly appointed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi refuted the US statement, echoing similar objections raised by other Pakistani officials.

The impression that has been given in their press release, which mentions terrorists operating in Pakistan, is in contrast with reality. And I say this with full confidence, Qureshi said at a press conference in the capital, Islamabad.

Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on todays phone call btwn PM Khan & Sec Pompeo. There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This shd be immediately corrected.  Spokesperson  MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) August 23, 2018

In a Twitter post late on Thursday, Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson for Pakistans foreign ministry, called the Department of States press release factually incorrect and urged an immediate correction.

The US, meanwhile, has defended its version of the telephone conversation, with State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert saying that we stand by our readout.

They (Pakistan) are an important partner. The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future, she told reporters on Thursday.

Pakistan-US tensions

The US has long accused Pakistan of providing safe haven to members of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network armed groups, which US and Afghan forces have been fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan for 17 years.

Pakistan denies the allegation, saying it has acted effectively against all armed groups on its territory.

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Khan, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party swept last months general election, has been a strong critic of the US military policy in Afghanistan.

But the PTI leader has also vowed to have a mutually beneficial relationship with Washington.

Up until now, that [relationship] has been one way, he said in a speech after winning the election. The US thinks it gives us aid to fight their war  we want both countries to benefit, we want a balanced relationship.

Relations between the US and Pakistan have deteriorated since US President Donald Trumps administration began taking a hard line on Afghanistan last year.

In his first tweet of the year, Trump said that the US had foolishly given Pakistan $33bn in aid over 15 years.

The US government announced earlier this year that it was suspending all security assistance to Pakistan until Islamabad took decisive action against armed groups.

Pompeo will visit Pakistan on September 5, Qureshi confirmed on Friday, saying that the early interaction will prove beneficial.

I look forward to Pompeos visit and to engage with him for peace and stability and look at areas where both countries stand to gain, the foreign minister added.
Jacob Scott Goodwin and Alex Ramos sentenced to eight and six years for beating of DeAndre Harris.

Two men have been sentenced to prison for beating of a black man at a far-right rally in Charlottesville last year, local media reported.

Jacob Scott Goodwin and Alex Ramos were sentenced to eight and six years respectively on Thursday for the beating of DeAndre Harris at the Unite the Right rally in August 2017.

The confrontation took place after a friend of Harris attempted to take a Confederate flag away from one of the marchers.

Pictures and a video of Harriss beating by a group of white nationalists were shared widely online, leading to attempts to identify the perpetrators.

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Harris, 20, suffered a spinal injury and a broken arm in the attack, which took place in a car park close to a Charlottesville police station.

Goodwin, 23, was found guilty last May. During the trial, he claimed he beat Harris out of self-defence.

Ramos said he took a cheap shot at Harris, but said he was not a racist and just attended the rally to support some of his friends.

In total, four people were arrested for their involvement in the incident.

A third man, Daniel Borden, who was charged in connection to the beating of Harris, pleaded guilty last May. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 1.

Harris himself was charged with assault and battery, but a court in Charlottesville found him not guilty in March.

Last years Unite the Right was the largest white supremacist rally held in the US in decades. It turned deadly when a driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd of anti-racist protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others. James Alex Fields Jr, who was seen marching with the far right earlier in the day, has since been charged with a slew of crimes, including federal hate crimes.

Only a handful of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other members of the far right attended this years Unite the Right, held in Washington, DC on August 12, the anniversary of Heyers death. They were far outnumbered by counterprotesters, who held marches and rallies throughout the day.
Trump calls off top diplomats trip, tweeting that sufficient progress has not been made on denuclearisation.

US President Donald Trump has asked his top diplomat to call off a trip to North Korea at this time, citing insufficient progress on denuclearisation.

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to not go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, Trump tweeted on Friday.

The US Department of State never confirmed Pompeos trip, but US media, citing diplomatic sources, said the secretary of state was expected to be in Pyongyang for several hours on Monday.

Trump laid unspecified blame on China, tweeting I do not believe China is helping with the process of denuclearisation because of our much tougher Trading stance.

The US and China have been locked in a trade dispute for months, with each side ratcheting up tariffs on imports from the other country.

Trump said Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea after the US trading relationship with China is resolved.

Trumps tweets followed a report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency this week outlining grave concern about the Norths nuclear programme.

The report said it hasnt seen any indication that North Koreas nuclear activities have ceased despite pledges to denuclearise.

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Al Jazeeras Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Washington, DC, said Trump was very diplomatic in his tweets and, despite the postponement, still wants a summit with North Korea to take place sometime in the future.

A few days ago, President Trump had been pretty upbeat about negotiations with North Korea, telling Reuters news agency that Pyongyang had taken steps towards denuclearlisation, missile testing had stopped and he was looking forward to another summit with North Korea, he said.

On Thursday, Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun, a senior executive with the Ford Motor Co, to be his special envoy for North Korea and said he and Biegun would visit next week.

White House officials did not immediately comment on what prompted Trump to call off Pompeos trip. The State Department had no immediate comment on the matter and referred questions to the White House.

Shift in tone

Fridays surprise announcement by Trump appeared to mark a concession by the president to domestic and international concerns that his prior claims of world-altering progress on the peninsula had been strikingly premature.

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After more a year of escalating tensions defined by nuclear and missile tests, new sanctions and fire and fury rhetoric, Trump made history meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this year.

In the run-up to the summit, both nations engaged in hard-nosed negotiation, with Trump publicly calling off the meeting in an effort to push Kim to agree to nuclear concessions. During the summit, the pair signed a vague joint statement in which the North agreed to denuclearise, but which left nearly all details undefined.

There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea, Trump declared on Twitter after the meeting.

Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem, he added. No longer  sleep well tonight!

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But negotiations have stalled since the June summit in Singapore. Pompeo is pressing for tangible steps towards North Koreas abandonment of its nuclear arsenal while Pyongyang is demanding that Washington first make concessions of its own.

Despite this, Trump had kept up the positive tone as recently as Tuesday at a campaign rally in West Virginia. There Trump maintained were doing well with North Korea.

Theres been no missile launches. Theres been no rocket launches, he added.

At the same rally, Trump seemed to take a different tone too on China, saying he had withheld some criticism of China because I wanted them to help us with North Korea and they have.
Allen Weisselberg got immunity to speak to prosecutors in probe of hush money to women linked to Trump, US media report.

Donald Trumps longtime financial gatekeeper has been granted immunity in a federal probe involving the US presidents former lawyer, Michael Cohen, according to media reports in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal and NBC News cited anonymous sources on Friday claiming that Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization finance chief, received immunity to speak to prosecutors in the investigation of hush money Cohen paid to two women, who claimed to have affairs with Trump.

Cohen had pleaded guilty to tax and campaign finance violations on Tuesday.

He said Trump directed him to arrange the payments. Such payments could be considered illegal campaign contributions under federal election law, according to experts.

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Though not named in the Cohen case, Weisselberg is believed to be one of two Trump executives mentioned in the suit who reimbursed Cohen and then covered up the payments by saying they were legal expenses.

Weisselberg has been a Trump confidant who started working for his family in the early 1970s.

It is not clear whether Weisselberg told government prosecutors that the president was aware of the payments.

Trump himself denied having knowledge of the payments at the time they were made.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Bruce Fein, a former top US prosecutor, described the reports as significant amid questions over the culpability of Trumps business in the payoff scheme, which Cohen had pleaded guilty to.

First of all, it is an absolute crime for a corporation to make any contribution to a political campaign, he said. They cant spend one cent providing that assistance directly to a candidate.

It appears that substantial sums were paid for the Trump corporation to pay off [the two women], or to reimburse Mr Cohen, Fein said.

So, that being a campaign contribution, and that is what basically Mr Cohen has already pleaded guilty to, the corporation is equally guilty, including those who operate the corporation, he added.

Fein said that with Weisselberg being granted immunity, it is possible that the president himself could be incriminated in an income tax crime.

The federal immunity for Weisselberg, also comes on the heels of several media reports on Thursday that David Pecker, the CEO of National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc, had also been granted immunity in the Cohen probe, as well as the companys chief content officer, Dylan Howard.

The AP reported Thursday that the tabloid kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election.
War in Yemen: Dozens of civilians killed in Saudi-UAE bombing

Houthi sources say an air raid by the Saudi-UAE coalition has killed at least 31 civilians, including women and children, in Yemen.
Yemen: Air raids kill dozens of children

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels say at least 31 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack on their convoy in the western province of Hodeidah.
Top court rejects legal challenge by MDC, which alleged the vote was rigged in favour of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwes Constitutional Court has unanimously dismissed a bid by the largest opposition coalition to annul the results of last months presidential election, which gave a victory to incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Chief Justice Luke Malaba said on Friday that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alliance, led by 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, had failed to prove fraud accusations during the vote.

The application is dismissed with costs  Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is duly declared the winner of the presidential elections held on the 30th of July 2018, Malaba said in his ruling.

Mnangagwa, 75, said he was not surprised by the courts decision and called for unity and peace.

Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us. It is time to move forward together, Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter shortly after the court announced its ruling.

I once again reiterate my call for peace and unity above all. Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us. It is time to move forward together. (4/4)  President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) August 24, 2018

The MDC had filed a legal challenge, citing a catalogue of alleged discrepancies, including incorrect counting and fake polling stations, as well as instances at voting centres where there were more ballots cast than registered voters.

There has been a massive doctoring of evidence, Thabani Mpofu, a lawyer representing the MDC, told the top court when it started sitting on Wednesday.

Mnangagwa, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, won the election with 50.8 percent of the vote  just enough to pass the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff against Chamisa, who finished second with 44.3 percent.

European Union observers said that the ZANU-PF candidate had benefitted from an un-level playing field and some voter intimidation, though international monitors largely praised the conduct of the election.

The legal challenge delayed Mnangagwas planned inauguration for August 12. It will now take place on Sunday.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said the vote was rigged in favour of the president [Reuters]

Mnangagwa took over after a military intervention in November 2017 resulted in the resignation of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years.

Mnangagwa, who has promised to revive the countrys ruined economy, had vowed that the vote would be free and fair amid hopes that it would open up a stream of foreign investment and aid.

Wilf Mbanga, political commentator and editor of The Zimbabwean, said the court challenge would put in question ZANU-PFs election victory.

Global acceptance will be difficult. Investors may be difficult to attract, Mbanga told Al Jazeera.

Campaigning was more open than previous votes, but the election was marred by violence and a crackdown on opposition activists.

On August 1, clashes broke out in central Harare between security forces and opposition supporters. Six protesters died after soldiers opened fire, in a response that the opposition alliance called disproportionate and unjustified.

Praetorian politics will continue to define the political landscape and this is unsettling not only because the presence of the military on the foreground of our politics is likely to result in repression and plunder as evidenced by the killing of unarmed civilians, Michael Choto, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

He called for the disbanding of the patronage and corruption network that has characterised our countrys politics for the last 38 years.

Coalition government?

In the parliamentary elections, also held on July 30, ZANU-PF secured a clear majority by winning 145 seats in the 210-strong parliament. The MDC came second with 63.

The ruling party, which has been in power since independence in 1980, has ruled out any form of political alliance with the opposition.

Opposition supporters were arrested during post-election violence in the capital, Harare [Reuters]

But some analysts said a coalition would ease political tensions in the country.

This would be first prize and would solve a lot of problems but is highly unlikely given the extreme polarisation which has actually been worsened by the court case and the post-election killings, Mbanga said.

The winner-takes-all attitude will be disastrous but I fear that is what will happen. Although I hope Mnangagwa is pragmatic enough to see that would be counterproductive, he added.

Choto said the MDC, which has historically been ZANU-PFs biggest challenger, should regroup, re-evaluate  and reshape its strategy with a focus on ensuring victory in the 2023 elections.

Nelson Chamisa has time on his hands, he said.

He has the changing demography of Zimbabwe on his side, he should not allow himself and the alliance to be swallowed, to legitimise a military government that has come to power not through the ballot but by the barrel of a gun.
No, I post different types of things. Themed postings under titles such as "My Morning Read"  often a thoughtful post, not a few of which are links to articles here on American Thinker. Or shorter posts, often with irony, under the heading "My Daily Uh Huh."

I am a regular Facebook user. Not a typical one, I expect. You'll see only an occasional family picture post from me, and absolutely no photos of kittens. No, nor those little "Hallmark Card" (as I call them) posts, either  the touchy-feely "feel good" ones with Snoopy, rainbows, hearts, unicorns, and flowers along with a bit of "ain't life sweet" poetry.

Some weeks back, a Facebook friend  someone I never met face to face but with whom I share several interests including a love of traditional Western values and music-making  wrote to say he had a received a message from Facebook with a few short questions about whether or not he found my Facebook posts positive and encouraging or the opposite.

His response, he said, was positive, and I heard nothing more on the subject. But I was then aware that on some level I had come to the attention of Facebook's thought police. Thus, what happened to me this morning was less than a complete surprise.

Since this is a Facebook story, I will tell it with Facebook postings  mine as well as theirs.

It all started when I posted this:

The link was to an article written for the Chicago Tribune by Kate Thayer and posted on MSN dot com. "Mom investigated for letting 8-year-old walk dog around the block."

I provide the link so American Thinker readers can read the article, along with my Facebook comment above, with a view to questioning its propriety.

Facebook must have thought such propriety lacking, for about a minute later, this message from Facebook appeared:

Well, that or something else. For looking closer in my "Support Inbox" and saying that no, this is not "spam," I recieved this:

Then, less than thirty seconds later, this message appeared...

Okay, things happen. An odd thing here, to be sure, because Facebook "took another look" so very quickly, but still, "benefit of the doubt" and all that. And so I got back to my morning web reading routine.

It was not too much later that I posted another link. This one:

The link was to this short piece by John Hinderaker on Powerline Blog.

"My Daily Uh Huh" typically deals with the obvious, mundane, and funny. Facebook seemingly saw my post and link as none of these things, for again I received this notice:

Was this "spam"? No. And I told them so.

Again, in just seconds' time, these notices one after the other again appeared...

What was going here? I could only speculate and did so on my Facebook timeline.

Will this continue? Is it mere happenstance? A Facebook programming error? Or is something far more insidious going on?

My Facebook friends' comments mostly express confidence that all this is some sort of computer programming glitch. But then again, positivity is something I look for in all my friends.

If all this were happening in a vacuum, I'd likely think they are correct  and indeed, they may be. But with the election coming, and the establishment alliance so obviously willing to go to any length  even seemingly working to drum up totally bogus grounds to remove an elected president  well I am not quite so sure.

As I told my FB friends, "if I suddenly 'disappear' from Facebook, the answer will be clear."

Stay tuned, American Thinker friends, stay tuned. For if being silenced  banned  on Facebook is my lot, I am sure I will be only one of many. And this will no doubt include many readers and posters here on AT. For thinkers are dangerous. And those in D.C. and their technology friends well know it.
A is for Activist?

It is dispiriting to note that those to whom we have entrusted the education of our children in the primary and public schools are woefully under-educated practitioners of the discipline. In an article titled "Educational Rot," Walter Williams laments "the low academic quality of so many teachers." Williams is referring to the abomination of teacher training colleges, which recruit the dregs of the graduate schools, catering to candidates "who have the lowest academic test scores." The same applies to graduates of the gender studies programs in the universities, who, unfit for productive employment, often end up in the K-12 classroom. The damage such instructors do to the public school system and to our children is incalculable. Trained to follow a leftist curricular agenda, a majority of K-12 teachers are set on molding the social justice warriors, anti-free market revolutionaries, radical environmentalists, global warmists, and feminist Furies of the future. The exclusion of the traditional focus on writing skills, effective reading, civics, maths and sciences, and the counter-emphasis on "social justice" themes in the public schools constitutes the first stage of the systematic dumbing down  what historian Niall Ferguson calls The Great Degeneration  that afflicts our society.

Thus, far too many students who emerge from these incubators, whether they are conscious of it or not, suffer not only from mental sluggishness, but from a kind of psychic immiseration. They compensate by trying to persuade themselves that they are useful and enlightened citizens when, for the most part, they are merely antisocial drones. The gene pool is not being chlorinated, as Wendy Northcutt suggests in her 2009 Darwin Awards romp; on the contrary, it is being increasingly contaminated. Inspired by the reigning cultural ideology and leftist political legislation, our K-12 purveyors of the Progressivist meme have put into practice the adage attributed to St. Ignatius Loyola (though possibly mischievously misassigned to him by Voltaire): "Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man." There is much truth in the saying, as Aristotle recognized in Book 7 of the Politics, arguing that children should be reared in the home until the critical age of seven, when their instincts will have been shaped and characters formed. After this developmental mission has been completed, children proceed to the "Lessons"  that is, music and gymnastics, before moving to the higher echelons as they prepare to begin the journey into adulthood. Aristotle was concerned with raising good citizens, sound of body and mind, willing to defend the polis from its enemies and able to reflect dispassionately on social and political issues. Our pedagogues have a different purpose in mind. The citizens they wish to create are agenda-driven ideologues who believe their own country, to quote New York governor Andrew Cuomo, "was never that great"  indeed, it is the sum of all evil  and that what we may call "identity tribalism" is the road forward to true egalitarianism. These poor abused children are regularly subjected to board books like A is for Activist, in which, after a series of atrocious rhymes, they are bombarded with asinine slogans they can barely understand, like "Environmental justice is the way!" and "Creative Counter to Corporate Vultures." They are asked "Are you an Activist?" By the age of seven, the answer to the question is probably yes. By the time they reach university, a staggering number of them are fundamentally dysfunctional, devoid of basic knowledge and convinced they must repudiate and undo the presumed sins of their fathers. They cannot write a coherent English sentence, will agitate for LGBTQ rights, will shout down conservative speakers and denounce "white supremacism," will don masks and battle gear to disrupt public events, and profess a passionate dedication to the most destructive of political philosophies: universal socialism. K-12 is a slough of didactic despond, turning out largely illiterate and innumerate fodder for the universities and foot soldiers for the coming revolution. Its charges consist of not pupils, but recruits. As educator Ken Poppe, a veteran of 47 years in the trenches, writes in his as yet unpublished memoir, If I Ran My School, "all the red tape paperwork, the government interference, the political correctness, the constant threat of litigation, the gross misallocation of money  even the suspicion by co-workers if you got too good  left me thinking it's nearly impossible for any neophyte to rise above all this." He is right. Trying to bring public education back to the summit it once occupied is a Sisyphean task. Plainly, homeschooling will be an uphill battle, as, for example, the Canadian comedy film Adventures in Public Schooling makes abundantly clear. The film tells the story of a homeschooled prodigy who escapes his mother's stifling over-parenting and enters the broader, socially hip, and far more interesting realm of the public school. Variety reviewer Dennis Harvey, while clearly deploring homeschooling, generously acknowledges that the mother is at least "not serving some extreme religious or political agenda"  an attitude that represents the common perception of the phenomenon. The film concludes with a reconciliation between mother and son. The mother, says Harvey, may have been an "overzealous best friend" but, thank the Lord, was not "a terrifying example of pathological dependency and transference"  again, an attitude that expresses how the homeschooling parent is generally regarded. Adventures in Public Schooling manages to hide the reality of mediocrity and indoctrination that characterizes the public school system under a veneer of lighthearted ebullience. Steps must be taken to redeem the K-12 disaster, for that is what it truly is. It needs to be admitted that K-12 education cannot be reformed; it must be replaced. Vouchers, charter schools, and homeschooling should be encouraged, and parental choice, responsibility, and authority must supersede the intrusion of self-interested bureaucracies in the educational process. There would be no teacher unions. Once necessary to ensure job security and decent salaries, they inevitably become Club Meds for union officials and bastions of professional mediocrity. They will no longer figure in the new dispensation. Teachers Training Colleges will be a thing of the past; teachers will be drawn solely from their respective disciplines, which they will be expected to have mastered. The insinuation of political theories and ideological practices into the minds of the young will be strictly prohibited. The only solution that has a chance of success is the empowerment of the parent and the home and the elimination of a top-heavy, inefficient, and wasteful educational bureaucracy. Such will be a slow and intermittent process, failing which ongoing academic  and cultural  decline is inevitable. A happy and well educated child is the optimum goal for early education. That such an aim is conspicuous by its absence and remains differentially elusive should not deter us from the struggle to achieve it as best we can. In the long run, happiness comes with work, integrity, self-respect, and mental discipline. These are qualities that the institutional monolith cannot foster. Indeed, as Aristotle wrote in the Nicomachean Ethics, happiness, as the purpose of life, relies on fostering moral reason and intellectual excellence, for which the Greek word is arete. As the philosopher knew, the concept is central to true education and must begin with the young. A is not for activist. A is for arete.
How Much Does Socialism Cost?

A favorable view of socialism is rising among certain demographic groups in the United States. In a recent Gallup poll, 57% of Democrats surveyed said they now have a more favorable or positive view of socialism, compared to 16% their Republican counterparts. Not surprisingly, 51% of people under the age of 30 view socialism favorably, while 45% of the same age group believe that capitalism is still a good idea. It's important to note that those responding favorably to the idea of a socialist economic system don't necessarily advocate, nor do they endorse, the U.S. government nationalizing (that is, seizing ownership of) big corporations and small private businesses. They lean more toward the government providing basic needs, such as free health care, guaranteed employment, and "free" college education. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old avowed socialist and fresh face of Democrats, had trouble answering the question "How do you pay for it?" during a podcast interview on Pod Save America. Ocasio-Cortez defaulted to a vague, canned answer of paying for it in the same manner that Congress pays for wars, tax cuts, and tax extensions. And there's always the infamous canard: tax the rich. In other words, she's clueless as to how Congress funds the $32-trillion "Medicare for All" scheme, with that number being the cost estimated by the George Mason University Mercatus Center. The Urban Institute also crunched the numbers for a Medicare for All proposal, having already confirmed the $32-trillion price tag. In response to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders's free health care for everyone campaign promise in 2016, the Urban Institute's report also estimated that the Sanders revenue-raising plan to fund his version of Medicare for All fell short almost $16 trillion. Should we be surprised? Not at all. Don't forget that both Social Security and Medicare aren't sustainable, as promised. In mathematical terms, the CBO estimated that in order to fund the Sander's plan, payroll taxes would have to be increased 29%, on top of the current 15.3%. These are real numbers, as opposed to ambiguous, vacuous campaign promises of the socialist groupthink crowd.

Ocasio-Cortez and numerous Senate Democrats also believe that everyone who wants a job should have one. And the government should not only guarantee jobs, but "make work" for its citizens  at $15.00 an hour, with benefits! A study commissioned by the Liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that the cost of such a proposed job guarantee program would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 trillion based on 9.7 million enrollees at a guaranteed $56,000 annual salary. The report assumed that enrollees would be currently unemployed; however, the authors of the report failed to take into account that 60 million people in the U.S. currently earn less than $15.00 an hour, thereby creating a potential stampede of people vying for government-sponsored jobs. No word yet regarding what kinds of "make work" jobs the government is supposed to create. Rounding out the list of socialist giveaway proposals is taxpayer-funded college. As you can imagine, it's a big hit with the under-30 age group. The Tax Policy Center scored Bernie Sanders's free college campaign promise over the next decade at a mere $807 billion  peanuts compared to his free health care scheme. And that's not all. The same group of Democrats in Congress who are pushing for guaranteed jobs also want to raise money to pay off the estimated $1.4 trillion in college loan debt. The only way the government raises money is to raise taxes. In plain speak: debt forgiveness. In one fell swoop, trillions of dollars of existing college loan debt will disappear. You read that right: other people's money will wipe out trillions of dollars of college loans. In order to accomplish this grand gesture of forgiveness, Democrats and especially those of the socialist stripe have floated ideas such as a permanent 28% corporate tax, a carbon tax (amount yet to be determined), a value added tax on all luxury item purchases, and an across-the-board 15% income tax hike. What exactly is the cost of socialism? Simple. The American taxpayer will be mandated by law to return almost half of his annual salary to the government, in exchange for free stuff. That's the socialist economic system.
Men's Advocates and the Journalists Who Hate Them

From July 20 to 22, the 4th International Conference on Men's Issues (ICMI) took place in London, England, organized by Mike Buchanan, leader of the British political party Justice For Men and Boys (and the Women Who Love Them) and by Paul Elam, founder of the American online magazine A Voice For Men. The conference program featured speakers from around the world addressing men's health, social, legal, and educational issues. Though the majority were men, women were also prominent participants. The keynote address, "Why women must consign feminism to the dustbin of history," was delivered by Canadian YouTube sensation Karen Straughan, a one-woman industry of common sense and cogent argument. Each day's program was opened by a female presenter, while another Canadian, Alison Tieman, delivered the final full-length talk, "How Compassion for Men Shapes Civilization." Tieman and Straughan are both members of an advocacy group called The Honey Badgers, who post regular podcasts on cultural and political affairs from a male-positive perspective. Conference presenters included politicians, academics, businessmen, lawyers, teachers, bloggers, and many ordinary blokes. Darren Deojee, after being piped into the room by a bagpiper, addressed the audience in a kilt and carrying a nuin to talk about positive masculinity. Ian McNicholl spoke without rancor of his personal hell with a physically violent woman who promised to have him murdered if he ever left her. The Rev. Dr. Jules Gomes spoke with erudition and wit on "How feminists have destroyed the Church of England beyond repair." Some of the speakers consider themselves men's rights activists (MRAs), but perhaps the only unifying idea of the conference was that men deserve a public hearing even when their words contradict feminist dogma about male power.
The old saw, "There are two types of Jews: those who believe that Judaism is about social justice and those who know Hebrew," contains more than a kernel of truth. By and large, orthodox Jews voted for Trump in 2016, showing superior foresight.

Winston Churchill called Jews "the most formidable and the most remarkable race, which has ever appeared in the world." As a Jew, I am perplexed by the Jews' remarkably irrational commitment to the Democratic Party and their formidable opposition to Donald Trump.

Domestically, as the Trump economic policies are producing prosperity and economic dynamism, Jews benefit just as the rest of Americans and arguably more. Internationally, Trump has proven to be an unabashed supporter of Israel; he terminated the Iranian nuclear deal, moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, persuaded Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Israel against Iran, and broke the back of the Palestinian Authority. He destroyed ISIS and supplied Israel with the most sophisticated weaponry in the American arsenal. Incredibly, he has accomplished all of this in his first 18 months in office. No American president has done for Israel so much in such a short period of time. As a matter of record, with the exception of President Richard Nixon, no president has done for Jews and Israel so much, period.

A vast majority of American Jews remain unimpressed. They are not motivated by concerns for Israel; they are not motivated by the interests of the United States and are eminently not practical about their own necessities. What they all passionately care about is social justice. Social justice, in terms of helping the sick and the poor, is deeply embedded in Judaism; for Jews, it is a case of irrational obsession. With the emergence of the industrial revolution and massive generation of wealth, Jews took up economic inequality and embraced ideas of socialism.

The Jewish love affair with socialism which began in Russia with the fanaticism of the grandparents has been transformed into the fear of the parents and subsequently into the conviction of the children and grandchildren; it is embedded deeply in the Jewish DNA.

Living in ghettos for two millennia, the Jewish people have been struggling to reconcile their tragic history with the logic of modern reality. They have a difficult time coming to terms with the freedom and equal opportunities that America offers. They continue to fight for social justice, refusing to recognize that, as far as Jews are concerned, what they have accomplished in this country goes well beyond their wildest expectations. Sons and daughters of the first immigrants, who dug trenches and washed dishes in New York, became doctors, lawyers, senators, bankers, and industrialists.

Unfortunately, the descendants of the first immigrants inherited the genetic memories of their ghetto ancestors. They feel guilty for achieving a standard of living as good as or better than any other ethnic group in this country. The guilt associated with their own success has led them to take on, and support, the cause of every underdog and liberal and socialist movement in sight, no matter how undeserving, no matter how irrational.

Although socialism brought terrible suffering to Jews, they would not abandon their devotion to the cause. As prominent Zionist Zev Jabotinsky once said, "logic is an art of the Greeks; a Jew has his own logic. Jewish logic is the logic of catastrophe. Jews do not detect danger; they face it when it comes."

But history punishes willful blindness, and catastrophes keep reappearing.

In many ways, the 1917 socialist revolution in Russia was in fact a Jewish revolution. Jews founded and shaped the Soviet state. Yet these same Jewish Bolsheviks quickly became the first state's victims. Over the next twenty years, by 1937, practically all of them were executed or murdered abroad.

In the late 1920s, some German Jews voted for Hitler's National Socialist Party, only to become victims of the Holocaust a decade later. They chose to ignore Hitler's anti-Semitic rhetoric; he could not be bad, much less evil. After all, he was a socialist!

Jews passionately supported and continue to admire Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1939 denied entry for Jews seeking asylum from Nazi extermination and sent them back to the concentration camps. Nevertheless, Jews voted for FDR and still love him  after all, the New Deal was a giant step toward socialism.

In our own time, Jews continue to ignore the teachings of Karl Marx, their fellow member of the tribe, that socialism is about redistribution of wealth. The aim is to take it from the rich, even though there are many Jews among them. This is what Bernie Sanders's suicidal "Future to Believe In" is about.

What is really remarkable is that over the last century, no social macrocosm has more consistently voted against its own self-interest and survival. We may expose Jewish devotion to socialism and shame Jews for betraying their own interests; however, conviction is stronger than reason.

As the leadership of the Democratic Party dropped all pretenses and openly advocates socialism in this country, the heritable socialists impelled by conviction will ignore once again the political necessities and vote for the party that speaks their language.

Alexander G. Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and author of Anatomy of a Bolshevik and Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It.
Last Thursday, 300-plus newspapers took part in a national cry-in over President Trump's infamous "enemy of the people" statement. Stung by Trump's daily complaints about the many media outlets that publish fake news about him, the nation's Professional Journalists want us to know they would never dream of doing such a thing. "We're not the enemy of the people," they say, "and besides, just where the hell would you be without us?"

No less an eminence than Dan Rather saw it as his bounden duty to strap on his trench coat and file his own piece in The Atlantic, "Why a Free Press Matters." Rather sees other challenges facing the press right now, like failed business models and technology. He even perceives some "self-inflicted wounds." Curiously, on that point, Rather never mentions the way he disgraced himself and CBS News by pushing a phony story about George W. Bush's National Guard service  "an attempt," as described in The Weekly Standard, "by a prominent organ of the mainstream media to influence the outcome of a presidential election with a false and fraudulent story just two months before Election Day." Rather could have tied that episode in nicely, considering that the New York Times headline about the scandal, "Fake but Accurate," may have been the first iteration of the controversial concept of "fake news" back in 2004.

The Washington Post's headline on all the Thursday dispatches was "US newspapers to Trump: We're not enemies of the people." The Post companion piece, more like what we would expect, gives this alternate description:

Hundreds of newspaper editorial boards across the country answered a nationwide call Thursday to express disdain for President Trump's attacks on the news media[.]

Is it just me, or do hundreds of newspapers joining in chorus to "express disdain" for Donald Trump (and by necessity, for his 63 million toothless supporters) somehow detract from the message "we're not your enemy"?

Meanwhile, Rather agrees that of all the current threats he sees to the free press, "[t]he most immediate threat comes from the dangerous political moment in which we find ourselves." By that he means the political moment in which Donald J. Trump sits in the Oval Office. It never occurs to him that, for Americans like me, the real dangerous political moment we find ourselves in is when the mainstream media, along with Hollywood, academia, social media, and leftist resisters in and out of government, are feverishly working to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

This is why the more journalists keep insisting they're our watchdogs, holding "those in power accountable," the more it stands out how that hasn't been true for years. Rather still thinks he can trot out the old chestnut that "[t]he role of the press is to ask hard questions and refuse to be deterred even when someone powerful claims, 'Nothing to see here.'" By "someone powerful," we're meant to think of Trump, or Nixon, or George W. Bush.

But isn't the New York Times someone powerful? Isn't NPR? CBS News? Didn't we just endure eight years when the mainstream media actively worked with the Obama administration to cover up its crimes and screw-ups, all the time being told by the media, "There's nothing to see here"?

Nothing to see in the Fast and Furious gun-walking scheme.

Nothing to see the IRS director unlawfully targeting conservative nonprofits.

Nothing to see in Obama's secret side deals with Iran.

Nothing to see in Hillary Clinton's illegal private email server.

Nothing to see in Benghazi.

And right now, nothing to see in the complicity of Obama, the Clinton campaign, and a host of bent feds and a fake dossier to fix the election.

This goes way back. By the time of Rathergate, how many of us were even mildly surprised that a professional news organization would try such a stunt? We were used to it. We weren't surprised when ABC News made George Stephanopoulos, its Washington correspondent and host of This Week, despite his being a veteran of Bill Clinton's War Room and an all-purpose Clinton hack, while the "real" journalists never raised a word of complaint. We weren't surprised when CNN's Donna Brazile fed debate questions to Hillary Clinton, or when moderator Candy Crowley felt she could intervene in Obama's favor in the debate against Mitt Romney, or when Martha Raddatz cried on election night when her candidate lost. We weren't surprised because we already knew they had all chosen their side.

In his contribution to last week's apologia, Brian Dickerson at the Detroit Free Press (motto: "On Guard for 187 Years") expresses anger that Trump dares question his profession's honor, writing, "[W]hen I hear the president describe journalists as people who casually conspire to disseminate 'fake news,' I have to ask: Who the hell is he talking about?"

Whom?

Who was it that told America Al Gore won the 2000 election?

Who told us the Fort Hood shooter wasn't an Islamist terrorist?

Who told us a meek and mild Michael Brown was shot with his hands up, begging to surrender?

Who told us CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood front in the U.S., is a "civil rights organization"?

Who is still telling us that after 9-11, there was a violent "backlash" against Muslims in America?

Who told us climate change is settled science?

Who ducked the story about abortionist Kermit Gosnell's Philadelphia slaughterhouse?

Who told us all the troubles in the Middle East are caused by Israel?

Who told us that Robert Mueller's list of indictments proves Trump colluded with Russia?

Who told us it was Trump who initiated the "policy" of family separation at the southern border? Who ran a fake magazine cover to show Trump looming over a crying Honduran toddler?

Time magazine stood behind that phony cover because it captured the misleading version of complex events they decided America needed to believe.

Speaking for myself, if I did have a watchdog, I'd want one who barked at all the intruders, not just the ones he didn't like, and one who didn't leave me a lot of snotty notes telling me that keeping the front gate locked isn't "who we are."

Let's think about which is more dangerous for America: a running war of words between a boisterous and outspoken president and the media that hate him, or a president cunningly transforming a nation he doesn't particularly like, fully confident that a powerful and like-minded press has his back?

No doubt unintentionally, Dan Rather mentions how "powerful institutions" need to be held accountable by the press, then in the very next sentence uses the term "institution" again in reference to the press. He's posing the real paradox without knowing it.

The mainstream media are a powerful institution, corrupted, long since abandoning objectivity for ideology, and capable of doing real damage  yet guaranteed its freedom from government interference, as all of us believe that it must be. Then shouldn't the real question be, who can hold this institution accountable? Clearly, they're not ready to do it themselves: 300 disdainful editorials prove that.

In other words, who watches these watchdogs?
Turnbull had lost 40 to 45 what the Aussies call a " spill motion " to short-circuit a leadership ballot in the party. The party then chose Scott Morrison as new party leader and therefore prime minister in their coalition with the National Party , which holds 16 seats and represents rural areas.

Devotion to the global warming fraud has driven from office the head of government of a major democracy. Facing a no confidence vote from the Liberal Party (which is actually what passes for a conservative party in Australia  the Labor Party is the leftist party Down Under), Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull resigned.

John McMahon comments from Australia:

Scott Morrison was the treasurer under Turnbull. With Morrison as prime minister, the leftist policies of Turnbull will doubtlessly continue. The vote was close, being 45-40, meaning that Peter Dutton was only three votes away from being P.M.

Thus, the "war" between the true moderates, called the right by the leftists, and the so-called "moderates," who are in effect leftist liberals, will continue. There is the very real probability that in the very near future, possibly after the next federal election, that there will be a formal split in the Liberal Party.

Josh Frydenberg has been elected as deputy leader of the Liberals (remember: the position of deputy prime minister is reserved for the leader of the National Party in terms of the Coalition Agreement).

Josh Frydenberg's mother, Erika Strausz, was a Hungarian Jew born in 1943 who arrived in Australia in 1950 as a stateless child from a refugee camp after escaping from the Holocaust.

There is little doubt that green energy policies cost Turnbull his office. There has been widespread dissatisfaction over electricity prices that have skyrocketed as a result of the closure of coal-fired power plants (Australia is a major coal-exporter) and replacement with unreliable green energy (that has caused major blackouts). Warren Mundine writes in the Australia Daily Telegraph (behind a pay wall):

AUSTRALIA'S electricity system is in crisis after years of political mismanagement. And our political system has followed suit. This week marks the second time Malcolm Turnbull's leadership has crumbled because of his approach to emissions policy. It also brought down Kevin Rudd and was at the heart of Labor's downfall. ... Why? Because for years, Australia's political leaders have been lying to the people and lacking the courage and determination to implement policies and reforms they know are required: on welfare, the pension, debt, tax and certainly on energy. Political leaders have been telling voters Australia can reduce CO2 emissions without increasing power prices; that we can have 25 per cent, even 50 per cent, intermittent electricity without our standard of living or economy suffering. That's a lie.

Turnbull leaves behind a party riven with rivalries, unpopular with voters. Rita Panahi writes in the Herald Sun:

It will take years to repair the damage Malcolm Turnbull has done to the Liberal party which is a fractured, weakened shadow of its former self. Under Turnbull's Labor-lite leadership the party has lost not only its way but also a sizeable portion of its base. A sizeable portion of conservative voters abandoned the Coalition because the Coalition abandoned them. Turnbull's disastrous prime ministership may be finished but his refusal to step down, even as 13 ministers tender their resignations, tells you everything you need to know about a man whose level of self-obsession is unparalleled in modern Australian politics. He has further shown his disdain for the party that made him prime minister by threatening to quit and force a by-election that could jeopardise the Coalition's one-seat majority in the Lower House. The Liberals have only themselves to blame for knifing a first term prime minister and allowing an impostor, who relentlessly white-anted two leaders in Tony Abbott and Brendan Nelson, to take over the party of Menzies and Howard. An overrated pretender who was ill-prepared for the role and ran a woeful election campaign that rivalled John Hewson's disastrous 1993 effort. Let's not forget that Turnbull should've never been in the Liberal party, let alone leading it. As Labor stalwart Graham Richardson wrote on the weekend "Turnbull never belonged in the Liberal party".

Australians are now left with two alternatives: the leftist Labor Party and the Coalition of the Liberals and National Party. As Warren Mundine noted:

Labor and the Coalition have never been so unpopular. In the Longman by-election, 31 per cent of voters didn't vote for Labor or the Coalition in primary voting

It all seems so familiar.

Hat tip: John McMahon
The transactional decision by Google to set aside its former "Don't be evil" and current "Do the right thing" corporate mantras for the promise of the Chinese market demonstrates a disturbing inconsistency in the company's principles. Acquiescing to Chinese demands for tools to coerce its citizens with expectations of lucrative contracts ought to be a source of concern for both corporate America and U.S. consumers.

Google management's recent accommodation of Beijing's censors in exchange for business opportunities in China demonstrates a glaring unwillingness to uphold its much touted company values  the same set of values that it employed to end its A.I. work with the Pentagon recently.

Reports from earlier this month indicate that Google is testing a mobile form of its search engine that adheres to Beijing's censorship laws, and that the app has been demonstrated to Chinese authorities. This tailor-made browser for the Chinese market is set to be equipped with surveillance capabilities and would blacklist sensitive search requests while identifying and filtering websites that are blocked by China's Great Firewall.

This search engine would be used in an Android app, a commonly used platform that would provide Google with access to many of China's 750 million internet users, 95% of whom use mobile devices.

All of this after Google's announcement earlier this summer that it would not renew its Project Maven contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop artificial intelligence capabilities for analyzing drone videos following employee opposition to what they called the "business of war."

Google's accommodation of employee hostility to DOD A.I. projects while opting for China-based projects that enhance censors' abilities to control information flies in the face of the company's commitment to use A.I. solely in "socially beneficial" ways that do not endanger human rights.

Although, to date, six U.S. senators have rightly criticized Google's move for its human rights implications, most Americans seem not to have noticed.

Following a string of bad press, hundreds of Google employees signed a letter that calls on the company to provide more openness to allow the company's workers to be aware of the ethical implications of their work. These employees, it was reported, were upset about Google's recent overtures to the Chinese market while respecting Beijing's censorship demands.

There has been no comment by Google leadership on the letter, despite the company's reputation for being responsive to employee concerns.

Yet all indications are that Google is making a concerted go at drumming up business in China. Since the end of 2017, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been working hard to expand the company's presence in China. According to TechCrunch, Google has invested U.S. $500 million in e-commerce company JD.com and launched apps Google Translate and Snapseed in addition to augmented and virtual reality apps.

Google is also reportedly investing in XtalPi, a U.S.-China biotech startup, and ChuShou, a game-streaming platform. Additionally, last December, Google opened an A.I. research center in Beijing.

Mr. Pichai's ramped up activities in China follow Google's pullout of China in 2010, in which it made an admirable protest against Chinese censorship and hacking by the Chinese government, announcing the withdrawal of its search engine services from China.

That being said, Google has maintained a presence in China since 2010, keeping its ad sales teams in country.

Let's get real. Beijing is praying that Google's pious objections towards working on A.I.-based American defense projects continue. As an adversary of the U.S. that does not share its values and has competing interests, China aims to displace the U.S. as a world superpower and will need to use cutting-edge A.I. battlefield technology to get there.

It is widely known that China is in a race to become the world's leader in A.I. and quantum computing. Dominance in these fields would provide significant advantages in commerce, space, intelligence, and the military sphere as well as in Beijing's never-ending quest for the political control of its citizens.

Google's shameful cold shoulder to Project Maven and its subsequent sprint toward the Chinese market while acquiescing to censorship demands threaten to put the U.S. behind in its decades-long rivalry with China. U.S. consumers and voters must urge other American tech companies to shun the likes of Google's selective social conscience and opt instead for collaboration with the defense community, working toward maintaining a needed edge over Beijing.
Donald Trump is being accused of spreading a "white nationalist conspiracy theory" about murdered South African farmers. The current government is trying to change the constitution to allow for the seizure of white-owned farms without compensation. Even before that, white farmers have been alarmed at what they say is a rising murder rate.

White-nationalist groups have for years spread false claims about the murder rates, assertions that have been widely debunked. Local police data shows the number of people murdered on farms has dropped by half over the past two decades  from 140 in 2001-2002 to 74 in 2016-2017, according to the Associated Press. Trump's tweet appeared to come in response to a segment on Fox News in which host Tucker Carlson railed against a plan by South Africa's governing party to pursue constitutional changes allowing the government to redistribute land without compensating the owners. The measure is designed to redress racial inequalities that have persisted for nearly a quarter-century after the end of apartheid in 1994. White nationalists in the United States and South Africa, where a fringe group called Afriforum has advanced the conspiracytheory, hailed the president's remarks. David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, thanked Trump on Twitter and tweeted an image of a white woman holding a sign reading "Stop white genocide." Mike Peinovich, a far-right podcast host, called Trump's endorsement "very big" and said that "this is how we slowly chip away at the all-consuming anti-white discourse."

Are white South African farmers exaggerating the threat? In truth, it is impossible to get any accurate numbers about murders of whites in rural areas.

In a recent debate in South Africa's parliament, two different farm murder rates were shared. "The farm murder rate is 133 per 100,000," Freedom Front Plus member of parliament, Pieter Groenewald, told fellow parliamentarians. But 45 minutes later, the African Christian Democratic Party's Steve Swart cited a lower figure. "Whilst we have an unacceptably high murder rate in this nation of 34 people per 100,000, for farmers the figure is 97 per 100,000. Almost 3 times the average," claimed Swart.

So when white South Africans possibly exaggerate the numbers, it is a racist conspiracy, but when the nearly all black government possibly downplays the number of murders, it is to be believed without question?

The questions are simple. Are white farmers being targeted for death? At least 74 were, according to the government's own figures, so you would have to answer "yes" to that question. Are attacks increasing on South African farms? There is a specific definition of "attack," and police have been keeping track since the '90s. In fact, 2017 saw the highest number of attacks on South Africa's farms since 2011. Those numbers are down from the early part of the century but are on the rise.

Is it really a "conspiracy theory" that white South African farmers are under threat? No one denies that there was a slaughter of white farmers in neighboring Zimbabwe when "land reform" (i.e., seizure without compensation) was instituted in that country. And it's no conspiracy theory that the black nationalist government of South Africa is eager to seize the land of white farmers.

So Trump was parroting a theory that is exaggerated but hardly a fantasy. Perhaps those accusing Trump of promoting a "conspiracy theory" should ask the white farmers of South Africa just how safe and secure they feel in their homes today.
Is it too late to jail John Brennan?

If you were alive in 1940, for an even dollar (or for 83 if you were an annual subscriber), you could have bought a copy of Fortune magazine and read the results of its July 1940 survey that shed light on the prevailing political views of your fellow Americans. If you had done this, you would have learned that 37.8 percent of respondents thought communist sympathizers should be jailed or deported. As Americans fought in World War II and then in the Korean War, staunch anti-communist sentiment continued. In 1954, 71.8% of Americans thought communists should not be allowed to make speeches in their communities, and 93.6% thought communists teaching at American colleges should be fired.

While in the 1940s and 1950s, one might have expected a public debate about whether we should jail or deport communist sympathizers, limit their speech, or fire them from their teaching jobs, today, these notions seem a bit over the top. Instead, today you can be a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America as well as a self-proclaimed communist and still graduate from our military academies. Just ask Spenser Rapone and his mentor at West Point, Professor Rasheed Hosein. Today, not only can you work for the United States government as a communist sympathizer, but you can even become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Just ask John Brennan. Americans should not be surprised by any of this, as far-left ideologies have become the mainstream. Today, the majority of Democrats, 57%, view socialism favorably, while only 47% of them view capitalism favorably. This massive shift within the American polity will no doubt manifest itself the next time the Democratic Party takes power of the federal government. Just ask the DSA member and the Democratic Party's nominee for New York's 14th Congressional District, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So to answer the original question as to whether it is too late to jail John Brennan: yes, it is too late. We are about 75 years too late to jail Brennan...for being a communist sympathizer, that is. But for being the "puppet master of the entire scheme to violate the civil liberties of Donald Trump and his [campaign] team," we very well may be just a couple years too early. Image credit: Donkey Hotey.
Massive retaliation

The way for President Trump to handle the newly energized collusion investigation by is massive retaliation... 1. Trump should advocate in public, and then if necessary assert through his authority, that the investigation of the election by Mueller is to be expanded to include all participants and all activities in the campaign without limit.

Mueller's new charge would be "to determine whether there were any irregularities of any nature whatsoever in the 2016 campaign from any source whatsoever," with a special focus and separate report on the violence at Trump rallies. This separate report will include a description of the participants in the violence; their method of organization and transportation; their leadership  including the roles of Robert Creamer and Scott Foval, if any  and how, by how much, and from whom they were financed. The point is that Trump doesn't fire Mueller, but rather, in the interest of justice, expands his remit. 2. Then the second thing Trump does is to get a special counsel appointed to investigate whether the use by Hillary Clinton as secretary of state of unsecured communications did any damage to the national security and national interests of the United States in any way whatsoever and to prosecute any violations of the law found in the course of that investigation, including any irregularities in past investigations. Also investigate how, if at all, the joint income of Hillary and Bill Clinton of $85 million during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state was related to her official duties and to prosecute any illegalities therefrom. 3. Then the third thing Trump does is to get a special counsel appointed to investigate whether the payoffs by Congress to persons charging sexual misconduct by congresspeople were in-kind contributions to their campaigns at any point in time and whether they covered up any crimes by congresspeople and to prosecute those crimes. Also investigate any possible involvement by their associates and families, and prosecute them if involved. His argument: These critical issues have been brought to his attention by the investigation of Mueller and, in the case of Secretary Clinton, by his greater understanding of the importance of secrecy in national communications now that he is president. There's also the importance of probity in office and of not profiting from public service in order to properly serve the public, which is a theme of his administration. Massive retaliation. The Republic is at stake.
They present themselves as the compassionate ones, the people who care. But whom do they care about? Certainly not the innocent American citizens being murdered, almost on a daily basis, by criminal illegal aliens.

We all know about the lovely Mollie Tibbetts, the 20-year-old Iowa girl who was murdered while jogging. She was missing for a month before her body was found, while her family held out hope for her safe return.

We do not hear, on a national level, about the people killed every day by illegal aliens. Americans are dead at the hands of illegal aliens too, too often. MS-13 hacks up its victims, often young people. Others die because these people drive drunk. They may survive while the people they crash into do not.

And then there are the cold-blooded murderers like the one who took Mollie Tibbetts's life, Cristhian Rivera. Rivera is twenty-four and has been living in the U.S. for four to seven years under a stolen name. He was tracked down thanks to some surveillance cameras. He had accosted her while she was jogging. She told him to leave her alone and pulled out her phone to call the police. Now she is dead, stabbed to death.

Those of us who do not live in rural areas as bucolic as Iowa, if we are remotely informed, do not let our daughters jog by themselves in isolated, non-residential areas. That is not to say such horrific things do not happen in cities. They do. Over and over again. Remember Chandra Levy. There are countless, nameless others.

Not all the murderers were illegal aliens, but many, many were. And still the left resists policing our borders.

The murder of Mollie Tibbetts has yet again brought this fact to the front and center of our attention. Elizabeth Warren, when asked about her murder on CNN, said she felt sorry for the family, but "our focus should be on where the real problems are, separating families at the border." Cold. She is an ice queen if there ever was one. This woman has not a clue about sympathy, let alone empathy.

Like the rest of the left, she values the lives of illegal aliens over the lives of American citizens. This has become the defining trait of the Democrats: illegals are good; U.S. citizens are bad and probably racist. That most of those murdered are minorities escapes their notice. They do not want to discuss and they make no attempt to resolve the weekly slaughter that takes place in Chicago, overwhelmingly black-on-black murders. Obviously, gun control is not the answer, as Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation.

Mollie Tibbetts was a white girl, a very liberal Democrat, according to her Twitter feed. Her murder made the news, but the mainstream media were disinclined to mention the illegal status and stolen identity of her murderer. That does not fit their standard narrative: illegal immigrants are good; American citizens, especially if white, are bad.

This much is clear: the left, the Democratic Party, is the most racist group in this nation. These people judge everyone by skin color and legal status. They need open borders and the continuous flood of illegal aliens as future voters in order to maintain their perceived strength and future power. This is the most important reason Republicans must vote in November. If the House is lost to the Democrats, open borders and impeachment of President Trump will be the order of the day. Murders like the one that took Mollie Tibbetts's life will be all the more common.

Fordham University professor Christina Greer, exercised by the Cohen-Manafort news, dismissed Mollie Tibbetts as "that girl in Iowa" whom "Fox News is talking about." For this woman, the news about Cohen and Manafort was far more important than the murder of a young white girl. Stephen King, too, when asked about the murder by an illegal, replied, "What about Las Vegas." True: The Vegas shooter was not an illegal alien. Does that make Tibbetts's murder less tragic? To King it does, as it does for Warren and Greer.

Everything to the left is registered on a balance scale.

They do not mourn the deaths of American citizens at the hands of illegals because they see them as just retribution for America's perceived past failings: slavery (abolished), patriarchy (over), Jim Crow (outlawed). They have a long list of grievances over the nation's past sins and pretend they are all in place, ongoing. We, as a nation, can never be forgiven, so we must suffer the slings and arrows of their nurtured anger. American progressives are making common cause with the South African government, which is embarking on the process of confiscating land from white landowners for redistribution. Our left is supportive of this plan! Because President Trump is disturbed by this obviously racist scheme, he is again being likened to a "white supremacist." Nonsense.

Gov. Cuomo's recent declaration that America "was never that great" should be a wake-up call to the millions of America-loving citizens who know a thing or two about our founding, the Constitution, and the actually glorious history that has made this country truly great. Cuomo, like his dimwitted brother, is a blight upon his state, as is Bill de Blasio on NYC. Like the rest of the left, they often live in the lap of luxury thanks to the opportunities this country has to offer, and they think nothing of trashing the very nation that made their wealth and success possible. These are the most contemptible, ungrateful people of the left, the Cuomos, Warren, Greer, nearly the entirety of academia, the media, and the swamp-dwelling denizens of the D.C. Beltway.

The cold emptiness of the elitist left is frightening. These people are the fascists, the totalitarians. They are furious at Trump's economic success. They want to restrict speech; they want to confiscate guns from legal owners; they want to tank the economy by redistributing wealth. They want to impose the scourge of national health care upon us all. In short, they want to turn the U.S. into Venezuela. They will if they gain the power to do so. They are champing at the bit to inflict socialism on us all.

Vote Republican in November. Our lives depend on keeping the majority in Congress.

Photo credit: Tom Pierce.
What's the matter with Arizona?

President Trump was elected in no small part by advocating for strong border security and immigration enforcement. So why are we, as a nation, still debating immigration policy? Part of the reason is that the voters have sent mixed signals with whom they elect versus what they really want. The politicians would understand if the voters followed through with a clear message. Consider the case of Arizona. Arizona voters enacted their own immigration law, which was tough on illegal aliens and border enforcement. But at the federal level, two of the four Republicans in the Gang of Eight, who wrote legislation that was very pro-illegal alien, were from Arizona. The conservatives in the Senate voted against that legislation. That is the problem. Arizona has two senators who claim to be conservative but vote moderate.

Let me get the obligatory McCain history out of the way. I think Senator McCain served his country with distinction while he was in the military. He should be commended for his service there. But if you think that service makes him sacrosanct, immune to any criticism, you are living in a fantasy world. No conservative would co-author legislation with Senator Russ Feingold putting limits on campaign funding that effectively serves as an incumbent, AKA Deep State, protection bill. That was McCain's signature legislation. No conservative would co-author legislation with Senator Ted Kennedy. But McCain did. He is a moderate Republican, not a conservative. And I am truly sorry that he has been stricken with cancer. But cancer can be survived, and hopefully he will recover. Then there is the curious case of Senator Flake. I won't try to relitigate all of Flake's curious commentary here; needless to say, if Senator Flake had been a solid conservative in deed, he would be cruising to re-election rather than sitting out a race he would surely have lost. I will say this about NeverTrumps in general, a group of which Flake is clearly a member: NeverTrumps seem to consider themselves personally more moral than President Trump, but their self-righteousness blinds them from any ability to acknowledge that President Trump has been implementing conservative policy and moving the country to the right after four disastrous years of Obama. They should be helping that movement, but instead, their personal preening gets used by the left and the media to impede the president. Arizona Republicans can do better. Sheriff Joe Arpaio served Maricopa County honorably and effectively. But Joe Arpaio is 86, which is four years older than Senator McCain, who is already not fully serving the state of Arizona because of his age. Arpaio would be 98 at the end of a second term. Does anyone believe he could represent the state effectively at 98? And how do the skills of being sheriff translate to the skills of being a U.S. senator? If you have visions of federal inmates in pink jumpsuits, you are deluded. Very little of what Sheriff Joe did as sheriff would get through the Republicans in the Senate, let alone the Democrats. If Arizona voters want to honor Joe Arpaio, they should do it another way. Sending a protest vote splitting the Republican outcome is a waste of a vote and not wise. Representative Martha McSally is a moderate Republican in the swing Second Congressional District. Yes, she was a fighter pilot who strongly supports the military, but one issue alone does not a conservative make. Mark Kelly was a fighter pilot, too. On most other issues, she is more moderate, which clearly fits her district but not the state of Arizona. McSally is a member of the Main Street Republican Partnership and the Tuesday Group, two moderate Republican organizations frequently at odds with the promotion of conservative principles. Why send a Republican McLight when you can send a solid conservative? President Trump intervened in the Nevada political scene a few months ago by asking Danny Tarkanian to forgo a Senate battle with Senator Heller and run once again for a congressional seat. Nevada is a purple state trending blue, so the races there tend to be on the front line of that political divide. To his credit, Mr. Tarkanian was willing to adjust to a political battle that fit the state, thereby avoiding a contentious race for Senate. And now there is a good chance that Republicans can hold the Senate seat and flip a congressional seat red. American Thinker readers should consider supporting these two men on the aforementioned front line. Arizona is a red state with little chance of turning blue at the state level  but it could easily lose the swing districts, including the Second Congressional District. Had President Trump been as visionary for this state, he might have asked Sheriff Joe not to split the conservative vote and Representative McSally to hold on to the Second District. It would be sad to see Arizona waste an opportunity to send a conservative to the Senate and contribute to the loss of the U.S. house at the same time. Arizona Republicans have a clear choice to pick a solid, long-term conservative in Doctor Kelli Ward. Dr. Ward is a proven conservative who votes conservative, eloquently advocates for conservative principles, and knows when to support a president who is implementing conservative principles or colleagues who will vote conservatively in the U.S. Senate. In Dr. Ward, they would not have to worry about silly NeverTrump behavior undermining the president or silly immigration tactics undermining the rule of law. I pray that Senator McCain fully recovers from his cancer. And I pray that Arizona Republicans don't make the same mistake thrice.
Android 9 Pie offers native support for Microsofts Xbox One S Wireless Controller, as suggested by a newly updated listing in the Google Issue Tracker. Following late 2016 reports about some Android games experiencing issues with mapping Xbox One S Wireless Controllers buttons, Google came around to fixing the issue earlier this week, with the commit including native support for the gadgets key mapping also appearing in the main repository of the Android Open Source Project, suggesting the patch will be part of every Android 9 Pie build.

The Xbox One S Wireless Controller communicates with Android devices via a Bluetooth connection so while native support was unnecessary for some games, others had issues with correctly recognizing the device, resulting in problems such as some buttons not being recognized as existing or being identified as different keys. Select controller models may still experience issues as the engineer who marked the original bug report as resolved acknowledged that their device IDs dont match the original models and inquired about more information on their origins, asking users where they bought them. The Xbox One S Wireless Controller is just one of many gamepads that work with Android devices, though its a popular option among non-casual mobile gamers, particularly in the United States where Microsofts gaming brand continues to enjoy significant popularity.

Sonys DualShock 4 controller for the PlayStation 4 can also be used in conjunction with contemporary Android devices and even Nintendos Joy-Cons for the Switch work with Android to a degree, though their uses outside of emulators remain limited due to similar button mapping issues. Games remain the most popular app category on the Google Play Store, with recent studies suggesting mobile gaming as a whole will be a $58-billion industry by 2020. Android 9 Pie hit the stable channel earlier this month and is expected to start rolling out to mainstream handsets from the likes of Samsung, Huawei, HMD Global (Nokia), Sony, and LG in the coming months.
Google uncovered and curbed an online misinformation campaign originating from Iran, the companys Global Affairs SVP Kent Walker said Thursday. The Mountain View, California-based social media giants investigation strongly linked the attack with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, a media corporation owned by Tehran. The discovery was made with the help of cybersecurity firm FireEye which identified a number of YouTube, Gmail, and Google+ accounts participating in the misinformation effort whose details remain unclear, though the main implication is that American citizens were its primary target.

In total, Google removed 39 YouTube channels, 13 Google+ profiles, and six Blogger-hosted blogs as part of the operation. The video channels in question had 13,466 views on misinformation videos from the United States, Google disclosed, suggesting the attack was aimed at influencing the American public. The IRIB link was made based on a number of technical data, according to Mr. Walker. The probe of the incident is still ongoing and Google already contacted stateside authorities with information pertaining to the case. The newly uncovered misinformation effort started no later than January of 2017, though its effectiveness was limited, according to the companys report.

Facebook eliminated another misinformation campaign originating from Iran earlier this week but didnt directly associate the incident with Tehran. Twitter disclosed doing the same several days back, with the timing of the three announcements suggesting the Silicon Valley giants have been collaborating on fighting the spread of fake news and related issues, either directly or with some mediation from U.S. authorities. FireEye also assisted Facebook in its investigation, with that fact adding more credence to the possibility that the incidents are linked. The tech industrys fight against fake news is likely to become more aggressive as mid-terms draw near, with several government agencies already warning that foreign actors will try influencing the upcoming election just like they meddled with the 2016 presidential race. To date, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 25 people and three firms from Russia over election interference.
Labsters educational Daydream VR lab simulation app is now available for download from the Google Play Store, meaning Daydream users can now gain access to a variety of free and accurate simulations covering a wide range of science topics and experiences held within a realistic virtual lab setting. For the time being, those general center around biology, giving users access to repeatable experiments and conceptual guidance, casework for applied learning, real-world lab techniques, quizzes, and advanced laboratory machinery. The experiences are guided by a virtual lab assistant and are intended to help users develop the skills needed to work in a real-world lab environment. For example, one of the free beginner experiences is a guide through proper lab safety. However, those who purchase a subscription  which cost between $23.99 and $199.99 via in-app purchase  will have access to much more content and more advanced lab experiences.

At the same time, it also offers some capabilities that wouldnt be possible in a real-world setting. Users can, for example, zoom in on various VR elements to get an immersive perspective at the molecular level. Experiments can be sped up or rewound in order to correct mistakes, reperform an experiment, or view the results of an experiment more quickly. In addition to giving students more control over their interactions, that means they can get comfortable with proper procedures and begin to understand the consequences of their experimentation in a risk-free environment. Moreover, additional content is planned for the future. That will expand the studies to areas of ecology and animal physiology. In the former, students and users will be able to explore a fictitious planet called Astakos IV, filling in the role of an ecologist in order to learn about realistic dynamics between environments and inhabitants. The latter will be a comparative study examining how human physiology and various animal physiologies differ. Beyond that, users will be able to walk through labs associated with the endocrine, digestive, and osmoregulatory systems. Lastly, Labster plans to add more content with a specific focus on K-12 education so that school-age children can take part as well. Education departments across the board will also receive special pricing, the company says.

The company says the project has been in progress since 2015 but recently got a boost from a partnership with Google, revealed during the search giants I/O Developers Conference back in May. While that partnership focused on technology and bringing the experiences to the platform, Labster has been working with Arizona State University to ensure that its virtual education environment and lab experiments simulated within those are accurate. Now that those have been validated, several universities will be adding the tool to their own curriculum in addition to helping further research its use in other areas of education. ASU will be the first to kick that off with its online biology degree program this fall. A total of 30 Labster VR simulations will be used in that course, ranging from molecular biology simulations to others in ecology and physiology. Other colleges to follow will include Denmarks Roskilde University, McMaster University in Canada, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.
This November 6, Lyft will be offering free and subsidized rides in an effort to increase voter turnout, the company said Thursday. According to a case study cited by the startup, over 15 million registered voters didnt turn up for the 2016 presidential election due to transportation issues. By partnering with a variety of non-profit organizations, Lyft plans to give away 50-percent coupons and free rides during this Election Day. In addition, Lyft also announced that it will promote voter registration information through its app and other channels.

To help distribute the discount codes, Lyft has partnered with foundations Democracy Works, Nonprofit Vote, and Vote.org. Urban League affiliates, Voto Latino, and the National Federation of the Blind will also be helping its coupon distribution efforts. The discount codes will be available nationwide, while free rides will be available for underserved communities. Lyft has also joined forces with National Voter Registration Day and When We All Vote to further engage potential voters. The ride-hailing service will be making voter registration and polling station information available through its app and hubs. It also plans to let its employees register to vote at its offices and encourage people to plan for Election Day. Lyft drivers may also be asked to help distribute voter information.

This isnt the first time Lyft has introduced election discounts. In 2016, both Lyft and its rival Uber assisted voters looking to get to polling places. Lyft offered a 45-percent discount and Uber partnered with Google to allow users to locate polling stations directly through its mobile app. Uber has yet to announce any similar program for the upcoming mid-terms. Both companies are also currently competing in the space of autonomous cars, with Lyft recently reaching a milestone of completing 5,000 self-driving rides. Uber, on the other hand, has had to deal with the fallout of being responsible for the first recorded civilian fatality caused by a self-driving car.
Oculus reportedly has plans to finally launch the VR headset it first premiered back in 2016, currently referred to as Santa Cruz, in the first quarter of 2019  according to unnamed independent sources. Moreover, a substantial amount of focus for the launch will be centered around content ported over to the new system from the Facebook-owned companys more powerful PC-connected system, the Oculus Rift. Santa Cruz is intended to work entirely on its own without assistance from a computer or smartphone, which is something the Oculus Rift and co-developed Samsung Gear VR require. So itll be interesting to see how well those ports hold up and what experiences were able to be moved over. Regardless, that should mean that buyers will be able to play some great titles without being tied to a monitor or giving up their mobile.

In fact, the sources have also indicated that Oculus Santa Cruz will feature an inside-out camera to allow for boundless tracking. In effect, that means it will have a camera placed on the headset itself which faces outward in order to track the users surroundings. That means that using the Santa Cruz outdoors or in settings not typically associated with the use of VR may be a viable option. That most likely wouldnt be the most common use case scenario for the average Santa Cruz user. However, it would make the VR headset nearly as portable as some less powerful standalone devices that are currently available without necessarily forcing users to give up a smooth or high-quality VR experience theyre expecting from Oculus.

Aside from the newly rumored features and being completely untethered, the new headset is known to feature 6DOF  six degrees of freedom  for more accurate in-experience head tracking. It will also tout new controllers based on the constellation tracking of the original Oculus Rift and using LED infrared on the controllers coupled with sensors on the headset. In the meantime, although the company hasnt expressly said it would be revealing more information about the headset at the upcoming Oculus Connect 5 VR developers conference, it has taken the opportunity to show off progress at previous events. So its expected that this years conference, which runs from September 26 through September 27 will follow that same trend.
The Galaxy Note 9 officially launches today in the US and other global markets. This means that the pre-order special that gave out 15,000 V-bucks for Fortnite, and the free AKG noise-canceling headphones, are no longer available. But Samsung has a new special for those that are still looking to drop $999 on the new Galaxy Note 9, from Samsungs own website.

Samsung is offering two offers for the Galaxy Note 9. You can get a free Duo Wireless Charger, and your choice of a Galaxy Note 9 Cover. Or you can get the Duo Wireless Charger, your choice of a Galaxy Note 9 Cover, and the Gear IconX Earbuds for $99. If youre looking for a pair of earbuds, the second offer is definitely worth picking up. To get this offer, you will need to hit the link at the bottom of this post. From there, you will select which model of the Galaxy Note 9 you want  whether its a carrier-specific one or the unlocked one  and then choose the color. From there, you can choose which of these offers you want. Youll be able to choose from the Rugged Protective Cover, the LED Wallet Cover, Leather Wallet Cover or the S-View Cover. After that youll be able to check out with your new Galaxy Note 9.

Purchasing the Galaxy Note 9 from Samsungs website is a pretty good option for everyone. This is because it is the same price as the carriers are offering the device for, but Samsung does offer the carrier models as well. So if you are on Verizon, you can grab that Verizon Galaxy Note 9 from Samsung, and get it pretty quickly. The Galaxy Note 9 is a pretty sweet smartphone from Samsung, and out of all the $1,000 smartphones, the Galaxy Note 9 is the one that is the most worth that price. Which is impressive, and it means that Samsung gives you a ton for the money here.
Samsung has now announced its latest Exynos-branded chip solution, the Exynos i S111. Although unlike traditional Exynos products, this one is designed to facilitate the needs of narrowband (NB) Internet of Things (IoT). This is actually not the first IoT chip Samsung has released due to the arrival of the Exynos i T200 in early 2017, and furthermore, this wont be the last. With Samsung also taking todays announcement as an opportunity to make clear its intentions to solidify its Exynos i line as a go-to NB-IoT option in the future. With this being an NB-IoT solution, the Exynos i S111 has been specifically designed to support a wide range of IoT-related devices, and not just those in the home, or those manufactured for personal use.

For example, Samsung states the Exynos i S111 is just as suitable in smart meters as wearables, and so will be an option when it comes to the building out of smart areas and cities. One of the reasons it will be of benefit in this respect is the extremely low-power consumption associated with the chip. With Samsung explaining the Exynos i S111 has the ability to enter a power saving mode where the chip could in theory remain dormant (but operational as and when needed) for over ten years. In addition, the chip is capable of delivery data, including very low packages of data, reliably and even over very long distances  something that is of more importance when used outside due to the general distance between connection points and the greater chance of interference with short-distance communications. On this point, Samsung states the Exynos i S111 is capable of delivering data from as far as 10-kilometers away from another connection point.

The Exynos i S111 includes an LTE Rel. 14-supported modem, and is capable of achieving down speeds of 127 kbps, and up speeds of 158 kbps. Furthermore, it has also been designed with security in mind to ensure data sent is protected at both the local and transmission levels. Padding out its feature list, is the inclusion of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) support which will facilitate approximate device tracking, if needed.
A top Republican Senator rejected an election security testimony offer from Kent Walker, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs at Google. North Carolina representative Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was offered Mr. Walkers testimony on Thursday but dismissed the option, his office confirmed in a statement provided to CNET. The reason for the unexpected move remains unclear, especially as the Google executives offer came following months of vocal displeasure from some stateside lawmakers over the manner in which the Silicon Valley is handling election interference attempts, with select legislators calling for the tech industry to do more to ensure the integrity of the upcoming mid-terms.

Mr. Walker offered to testify as part of the Senate committees next hearing on election security which is scheduled to take place on September 5. Googles top executive is still said to be planning to visit Washington on that date and reiterate his willingness to contribute to the conversation and answer questions on the topic. Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey is expected to represent the microblogging platform at the hearing, with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg also being set to make an appearance at the gathering.

Earlier this week, Mr. Walker revealed that Google curbed a misinformation campaign that it strongly believes was funded by state-backed Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The disclosure came a mere day after Facebook said it discovered and eliminated a similar misinformation effort originating from the Middle Eastern country, though the social media giant didnt claim to have evidence of the campaign being sponsored by Tehran. In both instances, the tech juggernauts were aided by cybersecurity firm FireEye which helped identify suspicious account activity. While details on the incidents remain vague, both are believed to have been targeting the American public, possibly with the goal of influencing the outcome of the upcoming mid-term election taking place on November 6.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday attacked social media juggernauts for silencing millions, taking to Twitter to criticise censorship and once again labeling AT&Ts CNN as fake news. The head of the state did not mention any other names or clarified on the matter in another capacity, though the move itself was preceded by dozens of similar ones just this year; earlier this week, President Trump specifically accused Facebook and Twitter of practicing dangerous censorship and has publicly threatened the microblogging platform in late July over silencing of select Republican politicians, a notion that the company denied, stating that all evidence of the thereof comes down to isolated incidents which were a result of algorithm changes and already rectified.

The President has been complaining about what he perceives is unfair media treatment of his person and policies since before taking office and often targeted publications such as CNN and The Washington Post for supposed leftist bias. More recently, he started speaking about alleged Republican censorship on social media, albeit without substantiating those claims. President Trumps latest wave of criticism aimed at such platforms comes shortly after Facebook and Apples iTunes removed content from Infowars, a right-wing outlet run by known conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones, a staunch Trump supporter, publicly called for the President to aide him in his perceived fight against censorship following the development. Both platforms said they removed his content due to various policy violations, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly suspecting him of intentionally seeking a ban in order to generate publicity for his brand.

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller so far indicted three entities and 25 people from Russia over attempts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The stateside intelligence community has been warning about similar foreign meddling efforts being expected to target the November mid-terms. Earlier this week, Facebook Twitter, and Google all disclosed that theyve identified and eliminated certain misinformation efforts abusing their digital services such as YouTube and Instagram, stating that the campaigns originated from Russia and Iran.
Twitters CEO, Jack Dorsey, is going to be heading to Washington DC next month, to testify on Capitol Hill in front of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The committee announced this in a Tweet, and mentioned that Dorsey will be testifying on Twitters algorithms and content monitoring. Dorsey isnt the only one from Silicon Valley that will be testifying on September 5th, Google and Facebook will also have representatives there testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to talk about election security. Facebooks COO, Sheryl Sandberg will be testifying, but Googles representative hasnt been chosen yet as the first representative was denied today by the Senate.

As of late, Silicon Valley have been heading to Washington to testify for a number of reasons, but the majority of the questions surround the elections and information. Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg recently spent two days on Capitol Hill testifying in regards to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the company was able to gather a ton of information about millions of people. Google, Facebook and Twitter are all heading back to Capitol Hill to talk about Election Security, with the midterms coming up in November. This is in response to the Russians influencing the 2016 Presidential Election, which the US still hasnt completely figured out yet.

Twitter has also had problems lately with figuring out fake news, and whether it should suspend certain accounts, like Alex Jones of InfoWars. While his account was banned on virtually every other platform, Twitter believed that he had not violated any of their rules. Finally after a few weeks, Twitter decided to suspend his account, but only for a couple of weeks. Which is likely what has gotten the attention of Congress, and has called him down to Washington, DC to testify about the content monitoring that Twitter does.
Two California net neutrality bills have now been moved forward in a bid to establish net neutrality rules within the state as law. The bills, SB 822 and SB 460, were coauthored and proposed earlier this year by Democratic Senators Scott Wiener and Kevin de Leon. The first of those was introduced January 3 and has now passed through the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee and will be up for a vote on the Assembly floor next week. In addition to reinstating net neutrality protections previously in place for the state, the bill takes its rules a step further to ban paid zero-rating. That effectively means that content providers can no longer pay to prioritize their offerings not counted against a consumers data usage. Moreover, it prevents any differential pricing in exchange for any type of consideration whether thats monetary or not. The addition should make it difficult for carriers or ISPs to shift pricing or offerings in favor of their own content or partner content.

On the other hand, SB 460 will be making its way to the Assembly Privacy Committee and was introduced as early as February 16 of 2017. However, as it is currently written, it is essentially intended to augment SB 822. It affords all of the rules up for consideration within that other bill but applies them to government agency ISP contract obligations. In short, no government agency would be able to enter into a contract with a service provider that is in violation of SB 822. The goal is to ensure that any company that isnt following the new rules does not receive any monetary compensation from Californias taxpayers either directly or indirectly. That also explains why the initial introduction date is from before net neutrality regulations were repealed.

The news comes in the wake of a major pushback against the late 2017 repeal of Title II net neutrality regulations which prohibited ISPs and carriers from taking part in anti-consumer practices. More recently, that has included demands from attorneys general from 22 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have publicly called for the rules to be reinstated. The decision to remove the regulations also included a clause intended to stop laws falling in line with Title II regulations from being enacted at the state level. Nevertheless, it appears as though Californias net neutrality bills may, in fact, become law, following in line with several other states that have already been challenging whether or not the FCC has that authority.
It is a good idea to listen to what the more enlightened international press are saying about Spain and Catalonia. But it is equally advisable to look out for what they are not saying and any claims they are making against all existing evidence.

So it is interesting to see how The Economist falls into the trap of mentioning Catalan nationalism while it fails to name the homogenising belligerence of Spanish/Castilian nationalism as the root cause of every Catalan grievance. The Economist admits that Spain ought to look more in the German mirror than in the French. Indeed, Spain should make a note of the consequences of hoping to become a centralised country like France when a majority in several of your regions opposes the idea.

Furthermore, The Economist points fingers at an alleged identity-based separatist far right, embodied by Catalan president Quim Torra, a man who happens to be the firmest opponent of precisely those politics. This indicates that the propaganda machine of Spanish nationalism is winning the battle to explain to the world the actual meaning of the quotes from some of the presidents writings which have been taken out of context.

The Economist refers to todays Podemos as a populist party, as they do with the parties that support them, and with the separatists. However, 'The Economist' fails to see that the Spanish party that was in office in the last few years one that was born out of unabashed Francoism calls itself Popular and their policies are typically populist. They also forget that Ciudadanos resorts to populism to lure new voters by waving the flag of Spanish/Castilian identity in response to the danger posed by Catalan nationalism.

The Economist falls into the trap of mentioning Catalan nationalism while it fails to name the homogenising belligerence of Spanish/Castilian nationalism

The Economist forgets that when Ciudadanos had the chance to come to an understanding with the PSOE back in 2016, they quickly dropped all their reform policies that aimed to bring some degree of transformation and contented themselves with a low-profile agenda. They gave up on the idea of a single work contract, and their call to get rid of provincial governments came to nothing. The London-based weekly keeps mentioning Madrids hung parliament arising from the December 2015 elections, but it never points out that the left at large chose suicide over accepting the parliamentary support of Catalonias nationalist parties. That is precisely what changed in the vote of no-confidence lost by former PM Mariano Rajoy, which brought us the current socialist administration led by Pedro Sanchez.

In particular, The Economist conveniently forgets that the conflict with Catalonia began with PM Jose Maria Aznar, Mr Rajoys predecessor at the helm of the PP, who thought it would be a superb idea to intoxicate Spains public opinion and rally them to oppose Catalonias demands expressed in the new Statute. It was no other than Rajoy who asked for the whole of Spain to vote on the Catalan statute. Once in office, PM Rajoy used Catalonias demand for a Basque-style funding agreement to engage in blatant electioneering, even though this demand was backed by a wide parliamentary majority in Barcelona. It was also PM Rajoy who denied that there was a problem with Catalonia and who did not allow what he had once himself requested: a vote in Catalonia or all of Spain.

The Economist also chooses to ignore the fact that there is a great deal of Francoism left in Spain. The very definition of Spains unity, as enshrined in the 1978 Spanish Constitution, was drafted as everyone knows or will remember under pressure from the pro-Franco military, who held the upper hand. Once again, The Economist seems to be mesmerised by Ciudadanos and their myths, as well as by old accounts about the birth of Catalonias pro-independence movement. They still claim that Catalan nationalism was invented by the Catalan bourgeoisie in the 19th century to persuade Madrid to grant them the protection of import tariffs. Not only is this idea untrue, but it reveals a complete lack of understanding of the source of the massive political support behind Catalonias demands for greater self-rule.

The Economist falls into the trap of shouting identity indoctrination as it fails to notice that, from a communicative standpoint, Spanish is the dominant language in Catalan society at large. Many people who follow the news in Spanish have contributed to the independence drive and they have no trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction.

Likewise, it is surprising that the London weekly should argue against the right to self-determination in an advanced western society when it is precisely in the UK where they decided that a referendum was the best way to resolve the conflict about the self-determination of one of its territories (Scotland), which had repeatedly expressed its wish to decide on its future as a community. In advanced democratic societies there is no room for curtailing democracy. Rather, democratic requests are paid the utmost attention. In fact, Spain does so in most cases, except when it comes to Catalonias demands.

The new, bright team that has been tasked with handling the Catalan governments foreign action will have to get down to work in order to clarify all these misunderstandings.
Qatar was the first to order the jet  now marketed by Boeing as the BBJ 747-8 back in 2012 and spent nearly three years having its interior completed in Germany,



Potential buyers are being directed to Switzerlands AMAC The undisclosed price tag for the aircraft will be somewhere around $350 million although some media is suggesting as much as $500million.



VQ-BSK, which has been operated for the Doha royal family since 2015 has accumulated just 436 flight hours on its 200 cycles. It will carry 76 passengers and 18 crew members.
Map Shows The Average Cost Of A Date In Every US State

Trending News: Here's How Much A Date Costs In Every US State

It might be 2018, but contrary to how often you hear about Tinder and Netflix, it doesn't mean you can just invite every Tinder match over to Netflix and chill. You're going to need to do something a bit more substantial to impress your date. And if you're going for the timeless classic date  dinner for two, a bottle of wine, and two movie tickets  then sadly, you can expect to pay a lot in most states. But not everywhere.

Northeast getting fleeced

A map created by Yahoo! Finance using data from Match.com determined how much the average date costs in every U.S. state, and the northeast is no place for a cheap date.

The average cost of a date in the country is $102.32, but that pales in comparison to what it costs in New York and New Jersey. In the Big Apple, your average date costs a whopping $297.27 and in New Jersey it'll put you back $259.60.

'I gave up': A look how expensive dating is across U.S. states https://t.co/EegbvQB5E6 by @BrookeDiPalma pic.twitter.com/sDUKp5yH9j  Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) August 21, 2018

See ya in the Dakotas

If you're looking for a cheap date, you might want to head on over to North or South Dakota. In the South, a date will cost you $38.27 and it's $42.43 in ND.

RELATED: If You're Searching For Dates Online, You Need To Try These Sites

Get creative

While it might be a timeless classic, you don't have to do the classic dinner/wine/movie date. A date, especially the first few after you meet someone, should be a way of showing off your personality. So do something you enjoy! Stumped? Here are 50 date ideas that'll guarantee a good time. You're welcome.

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Why That Woman Tricked Dozens Of Men Using Tinder

Trending News: The Woman Who Tricked All Those Tinder Guys Reveals Why She Did It

The internet was put into fits of fury this week when a viral stunt tricked dozens of guys into going to the worst Tinder date ever. The woman responsible, Natasha Aponte, as well as the viral stunt's coordinator, Rob Bliss, have explained themselves, and I'm really trying to figure out whether this was worth all the effort.

Tinder Trap

Multiple news outlets reported on the stunt, or "social experiment," which took two years to coordinate. To pull it off, Bliss hired workers from other countries to chat with guys Aponte matched with on Tinder. The employed texters hooked the guys into a date in Manhattan's Union Square and dozens of them showed up.

As Aponte took the stage, she told the guys they were all there to compete for a date with her in several different competitions.

But before they could even get a chance to compete, Aponte disqualified men who were in relationships, of a certain weight or height (both in stature and penis length) as well as a few other criteria including beard length and not being named 'Jimmy.'

RELATED: How Do You Measure Up Down There? Time To Look At The Facts

As you can see in the video below, many of the guys participated in the cruel Hunger Games-style competition, though at least one guy didn't want to go quietly.

But Why?

Bliss and Aponte appeared on ABC's Good Morning America to talk about the video and their motivations behind the stunt.

"The purpose of making this video was to simply take the Tinder experience and bring it into the real world," Bliss explained.

He added that by disqualifying so many guys, Aponte was showing why swiping apps are so awful.

"It's kind of become socially acceptable to like disqualify people and say, like, you have to be X height, you have to work X job," he said. "This project proved that doesn't matter at the end of the day."

As for Aponte, she said she's faced some backlash since doing the stunt.

"I'm taking all of the hits right now, but I don't mind that," she said. "Because I know who I am and I'm secure in myself."

She added that some of the guys are still trying to talk to her. "It's funny cause a lot of the negative [comments] that I'm getting, from these guys, are still in my inbox trying to date me."

Start a conversation

At the end of the video, Aponte narrates that the stunt was meant to "start a conversation." But what about exactly? Swiping is mean? Duh. We shouldn't judge people their looks but on their personality? That same thing can be applied to meeting anyone, anywhere.

I do think that Tinder and swiping apps make things worse and far more judgemental. It sucks, but that's just what they are. Don't like them, don't use them. Online dating sites do a far better job at revealing who you really are, though they can also include lots of disqualifying.

I sorta see their point, I just don't think duping dozens of guys to make such obvious points was justified, but that's just me.

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Two international law firms have helped in the acquisition of one of the largest broiler chicken farm operators in Australia.

MinterEllison advised First State Superannuation Scheme-owned FSS Agriculture 2, which has agreed to buy ProTen. Clifford Chance acted for ProTen, which is being purchased in a $211m. The parties have agreed to a scheme of arrangement that values ProTen at $371m.

ProTen specialises in the design, construction and operation of high-quality broiler chicken farms. One of Australias largest superannuation funds, First State Super has more than $90bn in funds under management. The companies expect the scheme to be implemented by mid-November.
Stuart Fuller, the former KWM global managing partner who became KPMG Law head last year, said that a meeting of major trends is leading to significant change.

The combination of technology, data and AI  coupled with intense business and regulatory change  is transforming the economy, business, and the delivery of services, as well as the legal industry itself, Fuller said.

Our clients have to drive growth against a background of disruption and innovation  as do we as their key advisers. Transformation is the new normal. That is one of the key reasons for us joining with KWM to sponsor the Chair in Disruptive Innovation and Law at UNSW, he said.

Berkeley Cox, KWMs chief executive partner for Australia, said that the top firms role is to help clients achieve strategic and operational objectives.

Supporting research and education with KPMG in this domain through this chair aligns with that objective, Cox said. Navigating the laws across our interconnected world and helping to shape them to facilitate the opportunities and address the challenges presented by technological disruption is a key challenge we face. KWM is very pleased to invest in research and knowledge sharing in this area, collaborate with KPMG and UNSW, and play a role in that journey.
Honda's sporty B-segment crossover has landed in the country. After making its regional debut in the Land of Smiles two months ago, the 2018 HR-V is now in the Philippines. Set to take on the likes of the Chevrolet Trax, Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-3, Nissan Juke and Suzuki Vitara, the HR-V features a restyled exterior design that is paired to a sporty and ergonomic interior complete with in-car amenities and safety kit.

As from before, the HR-V features a coupe-like exterior thanks to a long hood and sloping roof design. For 2018 however, Honda decided to give the HR-V a little bit more flair thanks to a bolder Solid Wing Face design and a refreshed front bumper. Other changes introduced in the HR-V include redesigned LED headlights and new LED foglights. As for the RS, it adds more gloss black trimmings, pronounced garnishes, and larger alloys wrapped in low-profile tires.

Available colors for the HR-V include: Lunar Silver Metallic (E variant only), Modern Steel Metallic, Passion Red Pearl, Tafetta White and Phoenix Orange, which can only be specified for the new top-spec RS.

Inside, it is largely carried over from the pre-facelift version. Subtle hints of gloss black plastic spruces up the cabin, but most changes are found in the technology front. There's also an overhauled touchscreen infotainment system on the 2018 HR-V. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard in both E and RS models and there's also the ability to fully control Spotify. The RS further benefits from a navigation system, courtesy of Garmin. Fabric seats are fitted on the E variant while leather seats and door trim comes standard on the RS.

Over to safety, the 2018 HR-V comes with the following: anti-lock brakes (ABS) with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) and brake assist (BA), hill-start assist (HSA), vehicle stability assist (VSA), emergency stop signal (ESS), auto-brake hold (ABH) and a host of airbags. All variants of the 2018 HR-V benefit from a reverse camera, parking sensors, keyless entry and start, immobilizer and ISOFIX child seat anchors.

Powering the 2018 HR-V is the carried-over 1.8-liter R18Z9 SOHC inline-four with i-VTEC. It puts out 141 PS, along with 174 Nm of torque. The lone transmission option for the refreshed HR-V is a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with seven-speed manual mode and paddle shifters.

The updated Honda HR-V is available in two variants and are priced accordingly:

2018 HR-V 1.8 E CVT  Php 1,295,000

2018 HR-V 1.8 RS CVT  Php 1,495,000
Vice President Mike Pence visited NASAs Johnson Space Center on Thursday and spoke about human spaceflight and the future of U.S. space exploration. The vice president reiterated intentions to provide support for manned missions to the moon and eventually to Mars. The administrations space exploration goals were initially laid out in Space Policy Directive 1, which President Trump signed last December.

Pence said he believes that it is time for the United States to establish a permanent presence on and around the moon. To reach that goal, he discussed the necessity of NASA projects including the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, Space Launch System, and Orion spacecraft. The vice president also spoke about the administrations plans to develop a space-oriented branch of the armed forces, saying that the U.S. Space Force will be a reality by 2020. The complete speech can be seen in the video below.

In addition to giving his speech, Pence toured the laboratory housing the moon rocks collected during the Apollo programs lunar missions and the Sonny Carter Training Facility Neutral Buoyancy Lab where astronauts practice spacewalking techniques.
The Secure Elections Act, which would make states run post-election audits to determine if election results reflect the way people voted, stalled in a Senate committee Wednesday night per CNN.

The big picture: The bipartisan election security bill  cosponsored by Republican Sen. James Lankford and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar  had support from several election security experts. However, Secretaries of State from around the country have been opposing the bills mandate on post-election audits, in particular because some view it as too strict a requirement without adequate, simultaneous funding to meet the requirement.

Between the lines: The rub is, in part, that states are supposed to run their own elections, and some argue the audits could lead to federal overreach.

Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt explained they didnt have enough support from the Secretaries of State or from Republicans.

Context: Sen. Lankford has said Congress must respond to Russian threats to U.S. election infrastructure, and explained in a speech, "I do anticipate in the days ahead we will have a hearing on this issue and it will move to this floor for final passage."

What's next: All senators have been invited to a briefing on election security with the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and FBI Director Chris Wray. Sen. Blunt said he didnt know when his committee would take the bill up again, but for now the vote is postponed. According to CNN, Sen. Klobuchar is considering adding grants to help with the cost of post-election audits.
Election officials in Georgia on Friday scrapped a widely criticized proposal to close seven of the nine polling stations in a majority-black county less than three months before the midterm elections amid widespread outrage that it would suppress black voters.

Why it matters: The closures in the rural Democratic leaning Black Belt  which President Obama carried in 2008 and 2012, and Hillary Clinton won in 2016  could have had significant implications in one of the most hotly contested races in November.

Meanwhile, Democrat Stacey Abrams, a former state House minority leader who is seeking to become the countrys first black female governor, is heavily relying on highly motivated liberals and nonwhite voters to pull off a victory. The latest census figures says that Randolph County is more than 61% black.

The details: The decision comes the morning after officials terminated the contract of the proposals architect. Michael Malone, who was hired this spring to run elections, recommended the closures last week, saying it would be a cost-saving measure and that the sites are in disrepair and inaccessible for persons with disabilities.

But voting rights advocates asked why the polling sites were opened for the primary and runoff elections earlier this year if they are not in compliance with federal law. They also argued that proposed closures are located in areas where car ownership is below average, and public transportation is virtually nonexistent  making it logistically difficult for especially low-income residents to vote.

In a statement after Friday's meeting, the board said the countys population and tax base had declined in recent years, and that there had been discussions regarding the number of polling places to save money. However, after acknowledging the uproar prompted by the proposal, it said it would not follow through with it.

The big picture: For decades, proposals like the one in Randolph County were subject to federal pre-clearance. But the Supreme Court in 2013 nullified a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which had required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws.

The 5-4 ruling in Shelby v. Holder had paved the way for a deluge of restrictive voting laws, leaving minorities' voting rights more vulnerable to suppression.

Read more: The SCOTUS decision enabling voting restrictions
One of the lead organizers of an anti-fracking ballot initiative in Colorado said this week the state's Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper would alienate himself from progressives if he ran for president given his support for the oil industry.

Driving the news: At an event hosted by Axios in Denver Friday, the outgoing governor said he has been talking to people for advice, discussing the sacrifices involved were he to run for president in 2020.

The details: Anne Lee Foster, an organizer of the ballot initiative that would significantly curtail the state's curtail oil and gas development, said Hickenlooper wouldn't have the support of many progressives in the state because of his outspoken support of the industry. Progressive leaders and activist environmental groups at the national level have similar sentiments.

Hickenlooper, a former geologist, said once he drank the fluid companies use in fracking, a controversial oil and gas extraction method, as a way to emphasize the strides the industry has made to make the process safe.

Bottom line: On environmental and energy issues, Hickenlooper would be in similar spot with environmentalists and the oil industry as Hillary Clinton was, which is to say: frequent tension with the former and muted relations with the latter.

Go deeper: Colorado's fracking fight poised for ballot
The forces of anti-immigration politics are upending liberal governments all over Europe  with voters in 21 of 28 EU countries citing immigration as the top issue facing the continent, according to a recent Eurobarometer survey.

The big picture: That's a disconnect with the reality  migrant arrivals in those countries have dropped significantly. But the political turmoil is spreading, to the point where there's even a far-right, anti-immigrant party on the rise in Sweden, one of the worlds most progressive countries. That's a sign that the immigration backlash is putting pressure on governments around the world, not just in the United States.

What we're watching: Sweden's election on Sept. 9 will be the next sign of how far the political turmoil has spread.

The far-right, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats have surged in the polls, and the center-left Social Democrats are in danger of their first defeat in decades. The current climate is so hostile toward immigration that all three leading parties have proposed additional controls.

The popularity of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who are polling at their highest level ever, is a symptom of the countrys struggles to integrate the 165,000 asylum-seekers it welcomed during the 2015 European migrant crisis.

who are polling at their highest level ever, is a symptom of the countrys struggles to integrate the 165,000 asylum-seekers it welcomed during the 2015 European migrant crisis. But its not just them. Swedens two other leading political parties are also proposing changes to the country's "open hearts" immigration policy. All over Europe, mainstream parties are toughening their immigration policies in hopes of survival.

The backstory: More than 1 million migrants entered Europe during the 2015 migrant crisis, deepening the anti-immigrant sentiment that has fueled a resurgence of the far-right, and sweeping parties with hardline immigration platforms into power.

Where it stands: There are plenty of other signs that anti-immigration politics are thriving in Europe.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party  which decries multiculturalism and has jailed human rights lawyers who assist asylum-seekers  won a landslide election in April.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party  which decries multiculturalism and has jailed human rights lawyers who assist asylum-seekers  won a landslide election in April. In Italy, the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement and far-right League joined forces in June to form a populist coalition government. One of their first moves in office was to prevent a ship carrying 629 migrants from docking on Italy's shores.

the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement and far-right League joined forces in June to form a populist coalition government. One of their first moves in office was to prevent a ship carrying 629 migrants from docking on Italy's shores. Leaders have also ridden immigration rhetoric to electoral success in Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

But it is in countries like Germany, France and the U.K. where pressure on center-right and center-left governments to adopt anti-immigrant measures is playing the biggest role in tilting Europe's political scales, writes the Brookings Institution's William A. Galston.

In the U.K., 88% of people who said immigration was the Brexit referendum's most important issue voted to Leave, according to the British Election Study. "If economic arguments had determined the outcome of the Brexit vote, Britain would have remained in the EU," Galston writes.

88% of people who said immigration was the Brexit referendum's most important issue voted to Leave, according to the British Election Study. "If economic arguments had determined the outcome of the Brexit vote, Britain would have remained in the EU," Galston writes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government was on the brink of collapse in June amid an inter-cabinet dispute over migration. She survived, but has backtracked from her controversial open door policy on migration. That policy powered the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany as a potent political threat.

coalition government was on the brink of collapse in June amid an inter-cabinet dispute over migration. She survived, but has backtracked from her controversial open door policy on migration. That policy powered the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany as a potent political threat. Emmanuel Macron staved off populist Marine Le Pen in the French election last year, but anti-immigrant sentiment nonetheless catapulted her far-right party to its best election performance ever and forced Macron to take a tougher stance on asylum-seekers.

staved off populist Marine Le Pen in the French election last year, but anti-immigrant sentiment nonetheless catapulted her far-right party to its best election performance ever and forced Macron to take a tougher stance on asylum-seekers. France's nationwide burka ban, meanwhile, is part of an effort to quell the fears of French citizens through legally-mandated assimilation, a trend that is taking hold all over Europe.

The bottom line: Europe is struggling to determine how to share the refugee burden while placating the concerns of its own people.
President Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he has directed Secretary of State Pompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and the large scale killing of farmers, quoting Fox News host Tucker Carlson's claim that the South African government is now seizing land from white farmers.

Reality check: Although the widespread killing of white farmers is a favorite trope of AfriForum  an Afrikaner organization that views land reform as a threat to white South Africans  such violence is in fact at a 19-year low, by some measures.

Background: Carlson had interviewed a senior policy analyst at a conservative Washington think tank, who recently wrote an article calling on Trump to warn South Africa on land expropriations, comparing the new South African policy with that of Zimbabwe  a common distortion of the debate.

But South Africa is manifestly not Zimbabwe: The Mugabe regime expropriated, without compensation, private land using vigilante violence and ignoring the rule of law. By contrast, South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a record of following the law and with a strong and independent judiciary. The constitution limits what parliament can do and acknowledges the right to private property, while South African media and civil society play a critical role in keeping the government honest. Land reform will be carried out in a transparent political process and the results will likely be challenged in the courts, which have a history of standing up to the government and whose decisions are not ignored.

The bottom line: With respect to the land issue as well as the murder rate, statistics are generally poor. There is not a consensus definition of farmer or farm worker, or how many of them are white, which doubtlessly clouds what statistics there are. That being said, that white South Africans own a majority of land and account for an outsized proportion of economic activity is clear, and there is a general consensus that land reform needs to happen, just not how.

John Campbell is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Pope Francis' is headed to Ireland, one of the most devoutly Catholic nations in the world, this weekend for the World Meeting of the Families rally, but his visit may be overshadowed by the horrifying report on child abuse that was released last week, NBC News reports.

The details: In 1979, more than 1 million people flocked to Phoenix Park in Dublin to see Pope John Paul II. Around 500,000 people are expected to show this year, but many are saying they'll use their tickets as a form of protest  claiming them and not going, as part of the "Say Nope to the Pope" campaign, per the Guardian.

Pope Francis released a letter earlier this week ahead of his trip, speaking out about abused children and the Catholic Church's "atrocities."
More than 2 weeks after votes were first tallied on August 7, Trump-backed Republican Troy Balderson was officially declared the winner of the special election for Ohio's 12th congressional district by the Associated Press on Friday.

Why it matters: Trump won this district by 11 points and a Republican has held the seat since 1983, according to the Washington Post. While the result is technically a victory for the GOP, the slim margin is yet another indicator of House Republican uncertainty to come in the midterms this fall. Balderson and Democrat Danny O'Connor will face off this November.
More than 130 members of parliament from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor Leste and the Philippines are calling for an International Criminal Court investigation of Myanmar's Rohingya crisis, the Guardian reports.

Why it matters: The call from the 132 MPs  members of the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights  is the "most united condemnation" of the campaign against the Rohingya since it started a year ago, leaving around 25,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. The ICC is discussing the legal basis for an investigation, the Guardian reports, as Myanmar is not a member state and has strongly denied any ethnic cleansing is taking place.
After months of review by the State Department and the White House, President Trump has decided to cut $200 million in civilian aid to the Palestinian Authority and for projects in the West Bank and Gaza, the State Department said in a statement.

Why it matters: The decision comes 9 months after President Trump's Jerusalem announcement, which prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to cut all ties with the White House. Those two developments created huge difficulties for the Trump administration to push forward with it's peace plan, which the White House is still debating when to launch. The aid cut also comes as Egypt and the U.N. are working on a stabilization deal for Gaza which will include a major push for humanitarian aid and reconstruction for the strip.

The details: The statement said the funds will now address high-priority projects elsewhere, and explained, "This decision takes into account the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gazas citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation."

State Department officials said the U.S. did provided a combined $61 million in funding for Palestinian security services in the West Bank. The officials added that providing assistance to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network is still under review, and a decision needs to be made soon about the funding to UNRWA.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel laid flowers at the Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan at the start of her visit to Armenia on Friday.

Merkel arrived in the Armenian capital on the second leg of her tour of the three South Caucasus states.

Immediately after being welcomed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at Yerevans Zvartnots airport, Merkel headed to the Tsitsernakabert memorial to some 1.5 million Armenians that were massacred by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War. She laid a wreath by its eternal fire and planted a symbolic tree in an adjacent park.

Germanys parliament, the Bundestag, recognized the massacres as genocide in a resolution overwhelmingly adopted in June 2016. It also acknowledged that the German Empire, then a military ally of Ottoman Turkey, did nothing to stop the killings.

The resolution was drafted by lawmakers representing the main parliamentary factions, including Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Although the German leader did not take part in the vote, she reportedly backed the measure in an internal party straw poll.

Turkey reacted furiously to the resolution, recalling its ambassador in Berlin. Successive Turkish governments have for decades vehemently denied a premeditated effort to exterminate the ethnic Armenian population of the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

By contrast, Armenias leadership and main political groups thanked Germany for recognizing the genocide. Then President Serzh Sarkisian sent what his office described as letters of gratitude to Merkel, German President Joachim Gauck and Bundestag speaker Norbert Lammert.

A senior CDU figure told fellow German lawmakers in September 2016 that Merkel is not distancing herself from the Bundestag resolution despite the angry Turkish reaction.

At a joint news conference with Pashinian held later on Friday, Merkel stressed the importance of her visit to the Tsitsernakabert memorial, saying that it was in tune with the Bundestag resolution. But she stopped short of uttering the word genocide and referred instead to the terrible events that befell the Armenian people in 1915.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Armenia on Friday for developing relations with the European Union while remaining allied to Russia during her first-ever official visit to the South Caucasus country.

Armenia is a good example of how one can simultaneously cooperate with Russia and the European Union, she said after talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Merkel arrived in Yerevan as part of a regional tour four months after Pashinian-led mass protests brought down Armenias previous government. Pashinians press office quoted her as saying at the start of the talks that the big changes were unexpected to the German government and positive for Armenia.

Our relations are very good but can deepen further, Merkel told an ensuing joint news conference with the Armenian premier. She said Germany would specifically welcome closer commercial and cultural ties with Armenia.

Merkel also pledged to help Yerevan implement its landmark Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the EU signed last November.

Pashinian said that just like the former Armenian government his administration is committed to stepping up cooperation with the EU while remaining part of the Russian-led alliances and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in particular. The Armenian foreign policy strategy is totally understandable to Berlin, he said.

At his meeting with Merkel, Pashinian was reported to renew his calls for the EU to reward the new Armenian governments ambitious reform agenda and anti-corruption efforts with greater financial assistance. Earlier this summer he criticized the EU for not rushing to do that.

Merkel said she discussed with Pashinian domestic Armenian politics and anti-corruption issues. But in her public remarks she said nothing about the possibility of greater EU or German aid to Yerevan.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in late June that Berlin stands ready to help Armenias new government carry out sweeping reforms. We have followed social change in the country with great interest and will support its reform efforts, Maas said after talks with his visiting Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanian.

Germany has already been Armenias number one EU donor. Pashinian emphasized the fact that it is also his countrys third largest trading partner. Armenians, he said, have great respect for Germany, the German people and Angela Merkel personally.

The German leader, who also met with President Armen Sarkissian on Friday, was noncommittal on the lifting of the EUs visa requirements for Armenian nationals sought by both the current and former authorities in Yerevan. She noted that she spoke with Pashinian about scores of Armenians seeking asylum in Germany. We cooperate in this area quite well but more can be done, she said without elaborating.

The unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also on the agenda of the talks, with both leaders calling for its peaceful resolution. Merkel will proceed to Baku on Saturday for talks with Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev.
By Rashid Shirinov

The U.S. Azeris Network has launched a next campaign to educate the American public about Armenias ongoing aggression against Azerbaijan. The action coincided with the 25th anniversary of the occupation of Azerbaijans Jabrayil, Fizuli and Gubadli regions by the Armenian invasion troops.

The appeal to congressmen, legislators of state parliaments and the White House, members of the U.S. administration and media notes that as a result of the occupation of these three regions, 157,000 Azerbaijani civilians were expelled from their native lands.

The call also states that the UN Security Council adopted the resolution 874 in this regard. The resolution condemns the Armenian aggression, recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and demands the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories.

The appeal provides statistical information on the occupation of the Azerbaijani regions and on civilians who became refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In conclusion, the message calls on the members of the government and the U.S. political circles to exert pressure on Armenia so that Yerevan takes a constructive position, complies with the UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, liberates Azerbaijani lands and creates opportunities for the return of IDPs to their native lands.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1993 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region 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.

In April-November 1993, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 condemning the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian armed forces, requiring immediate and unconditional withdrawal from the territories and return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their homes. In March 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 62/243 reaffirming the position expressed by the international community to the UN Security Council resolutions.

The legislative bodies of various countries and international organizations, based on these UN Security Council resolutions, have adopted dozens of new resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan. However, Armenia continues to occupy the territories of Azerbaijan and does not comply with the UN Security Council resolutions.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 86 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said August 24.

Armenian armed forces were using heavy 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.

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By Sara Israfilbayova

The official services of Armenia continue to produce positive indicators, unrealistic figures and improbable forecasts and almost immediately refute them with their own reports.

So, the Armenian authorities decided to resolve the problem of financing state institutions not by reducing staff, but by reducing the salaries of civil servants. The wages can be cut by 40 percent.

Iravunk newspaper reported that the salaries of army officers have also been cut and are brought to the salaries of civil servants.

Lack of jobs and low salaries are supposed to be the main reasons for massive outflow of people from Armenia.

Earlier, Armenian sociologist Aharon Adibekyan told reporters that if it is a question of combating migration, first of all it is necessary to increase the number of work places.

According to the Minister of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan, in the future it is planned to increase the number of jobs by 1,600, and this despite the fact that there are about 500,000 unemployed in the country, Adibekyan said. The creation of new jobs in no way will affect the overall situation in the country and not solve the problem of unemployment, he added.

Adibekyan stressed that the Russia remains the major direction for emigration from Armenia, and in every fourth Armenian family there is at least one member of the family who works or lives outside the homeland.

As for those who stay in Armenia and work there, their salaries are mainly low, and there is no social protection for these people. The Armenian media often write about employers refusal to pay salaries to their employees or multi-month delays in their payment.

Its enough to walk around Yerevan and see how many shops and facilities have been closed in recent years, the sociologist said, further noting that it is quite difficult to solve the migration problem in the country.

Some experts note that such measures are connected with the financial problems faced by the new government of the country.

Thus, all these factors show once again that the new government is unable to meet the expectations of Armenia's population.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

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By Erik Solheim and William Lacy Swing

Humanity is on the move. We are living in an era of unprecedented mobility of ideas, money, and, increasingly, people.

The sheer size of the human population, combined with how we consume resources, is profoundly reshaping our world. While our take-make-dispose economic model has created wealth for hundreds of millions of people in many countries, reducing global poverty significantly, it has also left too many behind. Crucially, it exposes future generations to immense social, economic, and environmental risks. And perhaps the most important risk stems from filling the atmosphere with greenhouse gases at a rate higher than at any time in the last 66 million years.

One billion people alive today are migrants, having moved within or beyond their national borders. They have done so for a variety of complex reasons, including population pressure, a lack of economic opportunities, environmental degradation, and new forms of travel. Combined, these factors are contributing to human displacement and unsafe migration on an unprecedented scale. And the levels of both will only rise as the effects of climate change gradually erode millions of peoples livelihoods.

Climate change is fundamentally redrawing the map of where people can live. Food supplies are being disrupted in North Africas Sahel region and Central America; and water stress and scarcity are growing worse in North Africa and the Middle East. Somalia, for example, is experiencing more frequent droughts. Iraq is battling more frequent heat waves. Unprecedented storms and floods have battered the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. As the abnormal becomes the new normal, scarcities, zero-sum competition, and mass displacements will become more common.

But there is good news to report on two fronts. First, we are making major strides in building resilience to extreme weather. In the 1970s, Bangladesh lost hundreds of thousands of people to extreme flooding. Today, the fatalities from similar occurrences, while no less tragic, are far fewer in number. We are getting better at coping with disasters.

Second, for the first time in history, the international community is coming together to build a framework to manage international migration. Intergovernmental negotiations started in February 2018 with the aim of adopting a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration(GCM). And last month, the United Nations General Assembly finalized the GCM, which heads of state are now expected to adopt at a high-level conference in Marrakesh this December.

The GCM promises to provide a sound framework for taking action that addresses climate-driven migration. But now we must ensure that it is implemented. The GCM represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set in place an internationally-agreed system for managing safe and orderly migration. As such, it has the potential to improve the lives and prospects of tens of millions of people. Once it is formally adopted, we will need to ensure that the new framework maximizes the benefits of international travel and exchange, while also addressing the concerns that many people have with unregulated migration.

Finally, and most important, we will have to do everything possible to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions drastically. That is the only way to keep the Earths temperature within 2C of pre-industrial levels  the threshold at which spiraling feedback loops could trigger runaway climate change.

The recent report that atmospheric carbon dioxide now exceeds 410 parts per million should serve as a wake-up call. We urgently need to become more resource-efficient, by adopting sustainable consumption and production methods, and by fundamentally altering our economic model.

The window for action is quickly closing. Climate change and environmental degradation are creating unacceptable levels of human insecurity. If our environment is sustainably managed, we will have a better chance of upholding migrants dignity, rights, and prospects.

These two goals are inseparable, and the organizations that we lead are ready to support the efforts of the worlds governments to achieve them. The year 2018 presents us with a unique opportunity to think and plan for the decades ahead, by stepping up action on both migration and the environment.

As we set in place a framework to provide for safe, regular, and orderly migration, we must harness our creativity to address its causes. Above all, we need far-sighted worlds leaders with the will to fix a problem that is already upon us, and that is entirely of our own making.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: Making migration safe for Climate Nexus

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By Naila Huseynli

Azerbaijan will present logistics, tourism and investment potential in the framework of the forthcoming Chinese international import exhibition, which will be held in Shanghai in November 2018.

The international import exhibition will feature products under the Made in Azerbaijan brand, trade representative of Azerbaijan in China Teymur Nadiroglu said.

He noted that this year is announced as a year of import in China, which means that the country is widely opening its gates for import of goods from around the world.

"Therefore, at the moment, our task is to carefully prepare for the first Chinese international import exhibition, which will be held this fall, in one of the largest cities in China," he said, adding that he sees this event as one of the most important ones not only in China, but throughout the world.

"Azerbaijan will present its products at this exhibition, and we will not only demonstrate the quality of our products, but also the logistics, tourism and investment potential of our country," Nadiroglu said.

He also added that this event falls on the day of opening of the wine house in Shanghai. This decision was made because the exhibition will bring together 150,000 buyers from China and other countries to sign contracts and purchase goods, according to Nadiroglu.

The trade representative mentioned that meetings were held with the Chinese public and private companies in order to prepare for the upcoming exhibition. At the same time, they take advantage of the opportunity to get acquainted with the products of Azerbaijani enterprises. Also, in the next five years China plans to import goods worth more than 10 trillion dollars, he noted.

Furthermore, Nadiroglu stated that at present, various electronic platforms are actively working and developing in China, through which Azerbaijani producers can directly sell their goods to Chinese consumers at retail.

"Such retail e-commerce is in high demand today in China and around the world. This type of trade is developing rapidly, and now we are also closely engaged in the study of this platform, as the demand for this type of trade is also attractive for Azerbaijan," the trade representative said.

In 2017, the Chinese spent more than $1 trillion on the purchase of various goods online.

The trade turnover with China amounted to almost $1.3 billion last year, which is 33 percent more than in 2016. Exports have increased by 63.75 percent to $443.8 million, and imports by 21.4 percent to $854.5 million over the year, in accordance with the data of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. Meanwhile, the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $616,402 million in the first half of 2018.

The chemical products, fuel, plastics and products made of it were the main goods exported from Azerbaijan to China last year

Over the past years, electrical devices, equipment and its spare parts, vehicles and spare parts, clothing and accessories, ceramic products, household items were imported from China to Azerbaijan.

More than 50 agreements have been signed between Azerbaijan and China so far, while over 20 Chinese enterprises operate in Azerbaijan in oil and gas, construction, aviation, logistics and other fields. Moreover, the two countries have great potential in energy, transport, high technology, military and tourism spheres.

China is a huge opportunity and a priority market for Azerbaijan. In May 2016, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) opened a representative office in China to support and encourage relations between the two countries businessmen, as well as to promote the export of Azerbaijani goods to the Chinese market and attract Chinas leading investment funds to the Azerbaijani economy.



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By Sara Israfilbayova

Although oil sector plays the leading role in the economic development of resource-rich Azerbaijan, the major objective objective of the countrys economic policy today is to withdraw the Azerbaijani economy from raw dependence and to develop the non-oil sector. This is the focus of the reforms carried out in the country over the past few years.

This is the evidence of success of the states strategy aimed at diversifying the economy in order to maximize the development of the non-oil industry and expand the production of export products.

This year the lions share of imported goods falls on equipment from the worlds leading producers, which is connected with the expectation of commissioning new enterprises equipped with modern production lines - cars, electrical appliances, equipment and spare parts - $151.1 million (21.94 percent) and further, vehicles and spare parts - $103.5 million (15.4 percent) and food products - $99.2 million (14.41 percent).

In January 2018, the export of Azerbaijani products equaled to $1.038 billion, and import to $688 million, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

The volume of non-oil exports of Azerbaijan increased by 14 percent in January to July 2018 compared to the same period of last year.

Besides, the geography of export of Azerbaijani products is considerably expanding, and the number of entrepreneurs engaged in foreign trade activity is growing.

The government does its best to encourage business doing in and to support entrepreneurs through creating necessary conditions for the development of a healthy business environment.

For example, the suspension of inspections is considered to be an important step for stimulating the business development in the country.

During the period of the laws validity, only tax audits, quality control of medicines by relevant executive authorities, verification of compliance with safety regulations and safety control of food products, as well as checks on cases that threaten the health and life of people, national security and economic interests may be carried out.

Moreover, in order to support entrepreneurship the government creates many other conditions as, issuance of the investment incentives documents following the approval of amendments proposed to the Tax Code of the country.

Under the investment incentives document, half of the revenue of an individual entrepreneur, profits of legal entity are exempted from income tax for seven years. Import of equipment for the implementation of the projects is also exempt of VAT and customs duties.

Also, the state refunds 3-6 percent of the customs value of goods to non-oil exporters within the framework of mechanisms on promoting exports of non-oil products.

Azerbaijan is constantly expanding the geography of exports. Today it covers more than 80 countries of the world, and in particular, the CIS countries, the Persian Gulf region, the EU, China and others.

Promotion of the Made in Azerbaijan brand, which is an initiative aimed at entering new markets, became one of the priorities of the countrys foreign economic policy.

President Ilham Aliyev signed the Decree on large-scale promotion of local non-oil products in foreign markets as Made in Azerbaijan on 5 October 2016.

This Decree includes nine different support mechanisms to stimulate exports and promote Made in Azerbaijan abroad.

Depending on the support mechanisms, the costs relating to their realization are fully or partially covered by the state budget.

The export missions play an important role in expanding non-oil exports and promoting the domestic made products. Over the past year Azerbaijan has organized a number of different missions to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, China, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Germany, Qatar and other countries.

Today, the country is confidently leading in the sphere of industrial development, at least among the countries of the South Caucasus, and the dynamics of this trend allows to believe that in the near future it will get rid of the oil dependence and become a major international exporter of industrial and agricultural products of global importance.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

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By Naila Huseynli

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and the Union of Cinematographers jointly announced "Sheki, I love you" short-featured fictional film, documentary film and photo competition dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the prominent filmmaker Rasim Ojagov.

There is no age limit for the applicants. Short films, documentary films and photographs in any genre are accepted for the competition. The films with no more than 10 minutes must be submitted in DVD to the competition. The author should also present his biography together with the film.

The photos must be presented to the competition on the CD.

Films and photos submitted for the competition will not be returned.

Moreover, films and photos must be submitted to the Union of Cinematographers until October 30, 2018.

Winners of the first and second places will be awarded with prize money in nominations "The Best Short Fictional Film", "Best Short Documentary Film", "Best Photo Work".

Information support: Trend, Milli.az, ITV, ATV, ARB

Additional information is available at www.arki.az.

Samad Vurgun / Suleyman Rahimov Street 309, World Business Center, 16th floor

Contact phone: (012) 597 48 04; (051) 427 41 03

E-mail: [email protected]

Rasim Ojagov was one of the famous film directors who greatly contributed to national cinematography in the 1960s and 1970s. His popular movies include Tahmina (1993), Park (1984) and The sound of pipe (1975).



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By Laman Ismayilova

A concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was held on August 19, at the historic Saint John's Lutheran Church of Sacramento, Californias capital city.

Supported by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles and organized by the Azerbaijani community in Sacramento, the cultural event was attended by political, economic, scientific and cultural figures of Sacramento, as well as media representatives and others, Trend reported.

Addressing the event, the Azerbaijani community activist Shabnam Gafarova welcomed the guests and stressed the importance of this cultural event in Californias capital city. Informing the attendees about Azerbaijan, she talked about Azerbaijans ancient history, rich culture and music.



In his remarks, Consul of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles Orkhan Rustamli informed the guests about Azerbaijans history of independence and stated that 100 years ago on May 28, 1918, the people of Azerbaijan established the very first Republic in our history - the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

He stressed that it was also the first ever secular democracy among all Muslim nations and the first majority-Muslim nation to grant women the right to vote.

Highlighting Azerbaijans rich musical heritage, Consul Rustamli said that Azerbaijan is a birthplace of the first opera, operetta and ballet in the Muslim world.

Following the remarks, Azerbaijani vocalist Marziyya Huseynova and pianist Aida Elkhanzade, both winners of multiple international awards, performed at the concert.

The musicians performed the classical works of Azerbaijani and European composers.The concert received much applause of the audience.

On May 28, 1918, Azerbaijan declared its independence establishing the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which became the first secular parliamentary democracy in the Muslim World and recognized by other democratic nations, including the United States of America.

During the short period of independence Azerbaijan granted all people the rights to vote regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, becoming the first Muslim nation to give women equal political rights with men, an accomplishment preceding the United States. Azerbaijans independence was interrupted in 1920, when it was invaded by Bolshevists, and forcefully incorporated into the USSR in 1922 to restore its independence only in 1991.

Short video of the event can be watched here: https://youtu.be/R3lrb2oxBfY

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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Some 27,000 mines and unexploded munitions were found in Azerbaijans territories liberated from Armenian occupation [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War] since November 10, 2020 [when trilateral statement was signed between Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on ending the war] to October 31, 2021, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency.
By Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko.

On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincere congratulations to you and all the people of your country on the occasion of Independence Day of Ukraine, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter.

Azerbaijan and Ukraine are bound together by ties of traditional friendship. The current high level of our interstate relations is a clear reflection of this tradition. I do believe that the development and deepening of our bilateral and multilateral cooperation will make new contributions to the prosperity of our countries and peoples.

On this remarkable day, I wish you robust health, success in your endeavors, and the friendly people of Ukraine peace and prosperity, the Azerbaijani president said.

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I feel sad to hear such news but the idea that I might be carrying around some devastating medical time bomb in my own body doesnt often figure in my thoughts.

When I see another death notice on the ex-kiap website or read about people like Sean Dorney struck down with motor neurone disease, I count myself very lucky.

Apart from annoying but manageable chronic diabetes courtesy of some faulty genes, Ive happily survived without the need to frequently consult members of the medical profession.

TUMBY BAY - One of the dangers of reaching my seventies in relatively good health is falling into the hypochondria trap that seems to enliven the existence of many of my age-mates.

I dont want to detract from anyone struggling with a serious medical condition but it does seem to me that we spend an enormous amount of taxpayers money in Australia servicing what is essentially a plague of hypochondriacs.

Weve got enormous hospitals that cost billions of dollars to build and billions of dollars to run.

These places are full of very expensive and sophisticated medical apparatus that can test for almost every known medical condition and we seem to use them with gay abandon.

As Australians we have an expectation that if we need these services theyll be there waiting.

We are massively over-serviced by the medical industry and still we cry out for more. We can get a test for the slightest ache and as many drugs as we like for our often fictitious maladies.

This is especially so if we are getting on in years. Anyone over 60 is fair game for acculturation into the hypochondria trap.

And then we have Papua New Guinea, where the largest hospital in the nation runs out of bandages and sutures on a regular basis.

The Port Moresby General Hospital theoretically services a population close to a million people.

The major hospital in my nearest town, Port Lincoln, is bigger than the Port Moresby General Hospital, has all the equipment and drugs it needs, and services just over 14,000 people.

Our community hospital in Tumby Bay services a population of about 2,500, half of whom are retirees like me and among whom there must be a fair smattering of hypochondriacs.

People in Papua New Guinea must start to worry about their health as they get old. I would imagine its a natural thing to do.

However, most of them cant go to their local doctor like me and be sent off for a series of tests on expensive machinery to identify their problem.

All they can do is suffer and die  oft times unnecessarily.

When Im sitting in the waiting room of my local doctor waiting to get a prescription for my insulin surrounded by what look like old but healthy people I sometimes think about those hospitals at Rumginae in Western Province or at Lorengau on Manus and wonder how they are going.
BUSINESS-FORMAT Company and FUETE Magazine are pleased to invite you to participate in the III International Conference "PAYMENTS2020 CASPIAN: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF PAYMENTS", which will be held on October 4, 2018 in Baku (Azerbaijan) at the Holiday Inn Baku Hotel 4 *.

Conference-2018 must be visited: Top managers and managers who are related to the sphere of payments and payment technologies, and, first of all, to the specialists of specialized divisions (retail, mobile, card business, e-commerce, payment systems, product development), as well as sales, development, security, loyalty and managers of banking institutions, integrators, service providers, mobile and postal operators, representatives of trade and service networks.

Briefly about the event. Today, all spheres of our life undergo a digital transformation. The payment industry is changing rapidly - payment cards, revolutionary couples of dozens of years ago, are gradually losing their positions to electronic and mobile payments. New players enter the market - payment integrators, service providers, mobile and postal operators. Electronic money, crypto-currencies, portable and connected devices (IoT) become habitual phenomena of our life. E-commerce is growing at a fast pace, and its security becomes the most important aspect. Finthech, dynamically developing, encourages banks, not allowing them to be slow. The conference will focus on innovations and new trends in payments, namely:

The main topics of the conference:

Recent changes in the legislative regulation of the payments in the European and Azerbaijani financial markets?

Payment trends in the era of DIGITAL - a new look

Trust and safety when working in the omnipresent payment ecosystem

API, Fintech, start-ups - opportunities for banks

Tokenization, mobile wallets - comfort and safety

Prospects for the development of the card business taking into account the client orientation

E - commerce   

Money transfers - the landscape of the market, players, trends

Breakthrough ABC-technologies - artificial intelligence, Big Data, cloud solutions: when and where to invest?

Features of the development of cashless payments

Multifunctional payment cards, payment in transport, application ID - how to make a business profitable?

I would like to note that attending the Conference can be one of your best business decisions. Without a doubt, participation in our conference is the least expensive way to establish lasting business contacts, find new partners, clients and feel the joy of communicating with like-minded people!

We hope that you and your colleagues will have an opportunity to take part in the Conference!

Contact Organizer:

Business-Format phone/fax:+38(056)375-72-80(81,82,03),

[email protected], www.business-format.com.ua

Journal  +38 (044) 525-11-32 +38, (067) 23-880-72, +38 (050) 312-96-62 or

E-mail:[email protected], [email protected], www.fuete.info

Media partners of the event are Azernews.az Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az.

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The (JCPOA), Iran nuclear deal, concluded on July 14, 2015, opened the way for a new chapter in EU-Iran relations. A high level EU delegation - High Representative Mogherini and seven Commissioners - visited Tehran in this context in April 2016 and since then the cooperation has evolved in various sectors ranging from economic cooperation, transport and energy to education and culture, as well as global challenges such as climate change, drugs, migration and refugee flows.

Cooperation between the EU and Iran in these sectors involves high-level dialogues, technical exchanges and concrete projects. This includes support to Iran's national nuclear regulatory authority and the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The Commission also assists Iran since 2001 by providing support to the education, health care, and job opportunities benefitting the 3.5 million Afghan refugees and migrants residing in the country.
By Trend

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in Georgia, Georgia Today reports.

Her plane landed in Tbilisi International Airport at 15:30 (GMT +4).

Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and Georgian Ambassador to Germany Elguja Khokrishvili greeted the German Chancellor at the airport.

From the airport, Merkel is heading to the governmental administration where she will meet the Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze. The prime minister will hold a face-to-face meeting with the Chancellor and then hold an extended format meeting with the participation of the German and Georgian delegations.

After the face-to-face meeting, a press conference will take place and Merkel and Bakhtadze will answer the questions of the media.

After the governmental administration, the Chancellor will go to the Georgian president's administration where she will meet Giorgi Margvelashvili.

At the end of the day, the Chancellor of Germany, together with the foreign minister, will lay a wreath on the Heroes Square war memorial.

On August 24, German Chancellor will hold meetings with representatives of opposition parties at Tbilisi Marriott Hotel.

Merkel will also meet with Georgian students at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Afterwards, she will hold a meeting with the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) program.

Also, the Chancellor and the Prime Minister will meet on August 24 with German soldiers participating in the Noble Partner military drills at Tbilisi International Airport, where Merkel's visit to Georgia will end.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Trend

The capital of Uzbekistan will host the 6th meeting of the Uzbek-Belarusian intergovernmental commission for bilateral cooperation on August 23-24, the Uzbek media reported.

The meeting will be chaired by Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Nodir Otajonov and Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Rusyi.

The agenda of the meeting includes discussion of perspective directions of bilateral cooperation in engineering, agriculture, light and food industries, science and high technologies, education, medicine and tourism, the Embassy of Belarus in Tashkent said in a message.

The Belarusian government delegation will also visit a number of production facilities where joint Belarusian-Uzbek cooperation projects are being implemented and will take part in the solemn opening ceremony of the bust and street named after the peoples poet of Belarus Yakub Kolas in Tashkent city.

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By Trend

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Aug. 24 in Moscow, Turkish media reported.

Turkey's top diplomat will head to Moscow for a working visit, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Aug. 23 in a news conference.

"[...] Special attention will be paid to the problems of the Syrian settlement Issues with regards to the coordination of joint steps in the fight against terrorism in Syria," she said.

"The intensification of the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict will be discussed."

Lavrov and Cavusoglu will also discuss the launch of projects in the fields of energy and trade, Zakharova said.

Earlier, Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would continue negotiations and would hope to reach an agreement with Turkey on settlements in the Syrian province of Idlib.

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By Trend

As many as 134,040 Turkish citizens were provided with workplaces in Turkey in July 2018, which is 4.3 percent more than in the same period of 2017, the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) told Trend on Aug. 24.

Out of the total number of the employed 34 percent are women and 66 percent - men, according to ISKUR.

"A total of 2.670 million people were registered as unemployed in Turkey in July 2018," ISKUR said. Fifty-two percent of them are women and 48 percent are men.

In January-July 2018, 537,114 Turkish citizens were provided with jobs.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Arzu Abdullayeva

Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. It greatly contributes to countrys economy and other spheres.

Azerbaijan being rich with natural resources, ancient history and magnificent landscapes in no exception. The country attracts tourists with its modern architecture, resort areas, national parks, museums, historical monuments.

Speaking of National Parks, which number today reaches 100 with total surface area of 310,136 hectares, have the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, cultural heritage, and promoting opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the qualities of national parks by the public.

As much as 10.3 percent of the territories of Azerbaijan are protected, and 3 percent of them fall on the National Parks. All the National Parks have a route for eco-tourism and rare plants and animals living there are included in the countrys Red Book.

These parks have turned into one of the favorite destinations of local and foreign tourists and their number is rapidly growing year by year reaching 196,084 people as of May 2018.

Most visitors main reason to come to national parks is to enjoy the beautiful scenery and landscape. Here are the famous Nationals Parks of Azerbaijan:

Zangezur National Park was founded by presidential decree in 2003. It has rich biological multiplicity which includes 39 species of plants and 58 species of animals that are recorded in the Red Book of Azerbaijan.



Shirvan National Park was also established in 2003. Its surface area is 543.735 km2. Parks biological diversity is rich. Among rare mammals species can be noted, for instance, Persian gazelle, wild boar, wolf, jackal, jungle cat, fox, badger, European hare and others. Persian gazelle, bustard, little bustard, white-tailed eagle, steppe eagle, peregrine, saker falcon and pur-thighed tortoise are listed in the Red Book.



Ag-Gol National Park is situated in the Kura-Araz lowlands. Park has 22 species of mammals. Ag-Gol has been included into the list of UNESCOs convention.

Hirkan National Park was founded in 2004. Park owns a humid subtropical climate in the lowlands and oceanic climate in the middle elevations. There are several subspecies of birds and animals living here.

Altyagach National Park was established in the Khizi and Siyazan regions. The area of National Park is covered by broadleaved forests. Park is rich in diverse fauna and flora which attracts tourists who visit the country.

Absheron National Park is a national park in the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests ecoregion, established in 2005. The Caucasian leopard, lynx, and striped hyena were reported in this area. When it comes to flora, it is poor here.

Shahdag National Park is the largest national park not just in Azerbaijan but also in Caucasus. Caucasian Oak, Caucasian Ash, White Birch are some of the major types of trees can be seen here. This beautiful park is home to the rare animal species, including East Caucasian tur, wild boar, common jackal and others.

Samur-Yalama National Park is the newest national park of Azerbaijan which was founded in 2012. It situated in the territory of Khachmaz. Some tourist routes start in Yalama. This park is one of the mesmerizing parks of Azerbaijan.

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Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg
You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415 or smorgen@bakersfield.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC
How to sign up

If you would like to sign up your child for their schools music program, call your school to schedule an appointment for a parent-teacher conference.
Hauling west out of San Antonio on the interstate, every mile in the rearview mirror was another mile closer to safe harbor.

In a matter of days, Yea Ji Sea had gone from a specialist in the U.S. Army to a civilian. The sudden shift meant she was no longer a foreign-born service member working toward her citizenship but an undocumented alien subject to deportation. The South Korea-born 29-year-old's immigration status had put her in a very public legal fight with the government. At least until she crossed into California, a sanctuary state, any potential traffic stops on the trip back to Los Angeles could land Sea in ICE custody.

"I felt good when I was finally out of Texas," Sea told The Washington Post this week. "One state down, I thought."

Sea made the trip home along Interstate 40, cutting from Texas through New Mexico and Arizona, without any problems. But back in Los Angeles, her lawsuit against the federal government over her stalled citizenship application was heading for a courtroom showdown. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ruled the government had to make a decision about Sea's case by Sept. 5.

Last week, Sea and her legal team learned the government had accepted the veteran's naturalization application. She will be sworn in this week in Los Angeles.

And although her own status has now been resolved, she told The Post it's bittersweet. Dozens of other foreign-born service members who were promised a path to citizenship have been discharged or had their status frozen in recent months - part of what critics call a move by the Trump administration to sideline immigrants within the military.

"It really sucks that there are other soldiers like me going through this situation," Sea said this week.

Sea arrived in the United States with her family on a visitor's visa in 1998 when she was 9. She grew up in Los Angeles, living in the country on both her original visitor visa and an investor visa as a dependent. In 2008, she applied and was granted an F-1 student visa. In October 2013, she enlisted in the Army as part of the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, or MAVNI, program.

Under MAVNI, "lawfully present" noncitizens were promised a path to citizenship through military enlistment. Sea became an Army health-care specialist, flourishing in the service both stateside and in a posting in South Korea, where she worked as an ambulance aid driver and pharmacy technician.

"SPC Sea has the drive and professionalism needed to bring the U.S. Army to new heights," a supervisor wrote in a character assessment. "She represents the best that the Army has to offer: a smart, agile young leader capable of handling immense challenges with marked success."

Despite Sea's success in the service, roadblocks emerged in her application for citizenship.

Her initial 2014 application was denied when officials discovered a fraudulent document in her initial F-1 student visa. The error stemmed from the school where she had obtained the paperwork. Called the Neo-America Language School, at the time Sea obtained her visa, the establishment was listed as an approved program by ICE. In reality, the school's owner was rubber-stamping visas with the help of a corrupt U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent (both were later indicted by federal authorities). In Sea's case, a date had been changed regarding when she originally entered the country.

Sea claimed she did not realize the bad information was in her application, but when she reapplied through MAVNI, her second application remained in limbo, forcing Sea to file a lawsuit against the government this summer to act on her citizenship request. Following the lawsuit, Sea was informed she would be honorably discharged from the service after more than four years in the military. She did not want to leave. The military was going to be her career.

"Her application had been pending for over two years, and they provided no justification for why it was pending that long," Sea's attorney, Sameer Ahmed, told The Post. "Our hope initially was that she wouldn't be discharged, but our lawsuit didn't address that issue, it was just to ensure that she was given U.S. citizenship."

After her discharge, Sea was warned ICE might be called to her base in Texas to grab her. Instead, she carefully made the trip back to Los Angeles for her court hearing and an interview with immigration officials. Even then, she was worried she might still be taken into custody.

"I asked the government official, 'Can you assure us she won't be picked up at her court hearing or her interview?'" Ahmed said. "He couldn't give me any of those assurances."

On Aug. 14, the judge on the case ordered the government to rule on Sea's application by early September. She sat for her interview with officials, then expected to spend the remaining weeks waiting. Instead, on the morning after her interview, Sea's attorney learned from the government she had been granted citizenship.

"I was surprised and excited," Sea told The Post. "But then I was numb."

Her application had languished for years, she explained. With a judge's order, officials had acted immediately - as quickly as they could have acted the whole time, she said.

True to her military training, Sea's thoughts immediately shifted to other MAVNI soldiers like herself stuck in an administrative waiting game.

"These are good quality soldiers," she said. "I really wish they could go to basic training and start serving, or get naturalized and serve normally. But the only way for that to happen is for them to get help like I did."
Starting at the age of 11, they prayed for breast cancer. So distressing were the markers of their femininity that Kris Irvin - who identifies as a man and uses the pronouns "they," "them" and "their" - would have welcomed abnormal cell growth in their "crappy and dysfunctional body."

Irvin knew of no other remedy for the physical and emotional agony that seemed to intertwine in their breasts, as they knew of no word to describe what they were experiencing.

Since they were 3 years old, Irvin said, they were certain that they were male. "But I didn't know the word 'transgender' until I was 28," said Irvin, who is now 31 and a student at Brigham Young University, a school bound so tightly to the Mormon faith that enrollment rests on the evaluation of religious leaders. That requirement could place Irvin's education in jeopardy.

Three years ago, posts on Tumblr caught Irvin's eye - someone was discussing a way in which gender expression could differ from the sex a person was assigned at birth. "That was when I learned that there was such a thing as transgender people."

They also learned that cancer wasn't the only way to free them from their breasts, discovering on the blogging and social networking site a procedure called "top surgery," which typically involves breast removal and male chest reconstruction. Adopting their middle name, "Kris," at 18 and having a hysterectomy at 24 "have been the best things I've done for my dysphoria," Irvin said in an interview. "Top surgery is the last thing I need to do to be happy."

With that, Irvin also envisions public strife, which could test foundational church rules about gender. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they attend Brigham Young University, which enrolls 30,000 undergraduates in Provo, Utah. Irvin, who studies English and hopes to be an editor for a publishing company specializing in young-adult novels, lives with their husband and 10-year-old son about 30 minutes away in Bluffdale, Utah.

The Mormon Church's flagship academic institution, founded in 1875, enforces an honor code holding students, administration, faculty and staff to "the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ." It requires chastity and forbids "not only sexual relations between members of the same sex, but all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings." Dress and grooming standards proscribe beards and form-fitting clothing. Students live in sex-segregated housing.

The university has no formal policy on transgender students, said Carri Jenkins, a university spokeswoman. "We handle every case on an individual basis," Jenkins said. But Brigham Young students are "required" to obtain an "ecclesiastical endorsement," according to university policy.

Endorsement is a local matter, decided by a bishop presiding over a given ward, or congregation. Still, Jenkins said the final decision about a student's enrollment lies with the university. She declined to say whether Brigham Young had ever taken disciplinary action against a transgender student. Experts interviewed said they knew of no prior case.

Irvin could be the first. Their bishop, Jake King, considers top surgery an affront to church teachings, Irvin told The Post. The student argues that the procedure could be considered a form of cosmetic surgery, distinct from sex-reassignment surgery, which the church discourages. Irvin said their bishop told them he would look down on either one.

Irvin said they first explained their situation to King this summer, after he came across a GoFundMe campaign raising funds for the surgery. "He called me into his office and said it will be cause for church discipline," Irvin said.

Irvin sent him an email the next day, laying out their reasoning for seeking the procedure and saying that they felt they were being forced to choose between their well-being and their faith. They also pointed out what they observe to be a double standard: that surgery performed to reduce physical pain or conform to a cosmetic ideal would be permitted, but surgery aimed to cure gender dysphoria would not.

Irvin sought justification in scripture, specifically in Psalms 139: 13-16.

"It says that God knitted us together in the womb," they wrote. "If God does not make mistakes, and we are created in His image, then it stands to reason that He made me transgender on purpose and for a reason."

The bishop saw matters differently. In a response, which Irvin provided to The Post, King told them that "no surgery can bring you true peace and comfort in this life. Only Jesus Christ, your personal Savior, can do that."

"It's not prerequisite that the church and church leaders accept elective transgender surgery in order to accept, love, and serve LGBTQ+ members," he wrote. "I know that all church leaders, including me, want everyone at church to be able to enjoy all the fruits the gospel brings."

An email and a Facebook message to King seeking comment were not returned this week.

In spite of his finding in their case, Irvin said they love their bishop.

"He has tried his very best to understand me, and pray and to understand what I'm going through," Irvin explained.

Though the university maintains that it has ultimate say over a student's enrollment, Taylor Petrey, an associate professor of religion at Kalamazoo College in Michigan, said the rule has long been that "everyone who goes to BYU has to pass through the gateway of their local ecclesiastical leader."

"One can find injustices of all sorts in the way that bishops might yield their power over younger people and control their access to education," said Petrey, who is Mormon. "There is potential for spiritual abuse."

Irvin's case exposes "the poverty of the church's teachings" on the issue of gender identity, Petrey said.

Despite the scarcity of formal church policy on transgender members, there was a high-profile instance last year in which a transgender woman who had been in priesthood leadership was excommunicated.

A 1995 church document, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," declares that "marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God" and that "gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." In a handbook for church leaders, only parts of which are publicly available online, there is some guidance on same-gender attraction and marriages, listed in the same section as instructions on pornography and "occult affiliation."

Mormon practice is highly organized by gender, said Rosalynde Welch, a scholar of Mormon theology affiliated with Brigham Young's Maxwell Institute. "Gender is a thoroughgoing category that informs every aspect of the Mormon experience," she said, pointing to the all-male priesthood and forms of religious worship segregated by gender. As for transgender members, she said, "there's been no grappling with this question at the official level."

In 2015, a high-ranking church leader, Dallin H. Oaks, acknowledged in an interactive interview that "we have some unfinished business" concerning "the unique problem of a transgender situation."

Petrey said he was "way too optimistic" that the statement would be "a kind of opening leading to change on that point." Oaks's words had little impact. But Irvin's case, Petrey said, presents a possible "test case for finally getting around to rethinking this policy, for rethinking how we treat trans individuals."

A church spokesman, Doug Andersen, wouldn't comment on Irvin's case, offering only a general statement. "Local leaders . . . are best suited to provide counseling, offer support and teach principles to guide these individuals as they seek to understand and live the gospel of Jesus Christ and to remain in full fellowship if they desire," Andersen said.

For their part, Irvin said they haven't figured out how precisely transgender identity can be reconciled with the gospel, though they "truly believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is not homophobic or transphobic in any way."

"I don't know if being trans is an eternal thing or if it's just an in-this-world thing," they said. "Until I was about 10 or 11, I believed that my spirit was male and had gotten lost on the way to my body. A youth teacher told me that was impossible. That confused me, and I guess I'm still confused. Various friends say various things. We're a church that believes in continual revelation through our prophet and direct personal revelation."

As for their place at Brigham Young, Irvin said they hardly represent a threat to campus life, as they're not "planning on running around shirtless all the time." A friend, Irvin said, wore prosthetic breasts for years so he could attend temple. Now, he is starting testosterone treatments and withdrawing from the church.

Irvin hopes to undergo top surgery before next summer, they said. The procedure, which will force them to raise $4,000, is one that their husband, Nate, is against. "I married a woman," he tells his partner, according to Irvin. "He's not attracted to men, so he doesn't want me to transition or go on hormones." Still, their marriage endures. "We laugh every day," Irvin said. Their husband has agreed to let them try testosterone for one month, Irvin said,"to see if it helps with my depression and anxiety."

The verdict of their son, Toby, is, "I like that you're different," Irvin reported. But he also tells his parent, "I don't want you to be another daddy. Daddy sneezes too loudly."

Absent official guidance, the degree of acceptance of transgender Mormons rests on the political leanings of local congregations, said Petrey, the religion scholar in Michigan. But the increasing visibility of transgender people, he said, will test some of the basic tenets of the Mormon faith.

"The church has made it a theological proposition that males are males and females are females," Petrey said. "How that plays out in real life is incredibly complicated. Kris is asking the question: Are breasts essential to femaleness, and, if not, then what's the problem here?"

Irvin's aspiration isn't necessarily to realign social attitudes about gender, they said. Their aim is more narrow. One of the reasons God "made me this way," they wrote to their bishop, "is to help church members and leaders see and get to know queer Mormons who are trying to stay faithful."

"But the church definitely does not make it easy for queer Mormons to remain Mormon," Irvin said.
A man has died after being struck in the head with logs in an industrial accident Wednesday, according to information from the Liberty County Sheriff's Office.

At approximately 12 p.m. officials responded to a call about a man who was hit in the back of the head at South Texas Logging & Transport Company, LCSO said.
Three years after a failed petition to remove Confederate ties from two of its campuses, the Port Arthur ISD school board is reconsidering renaming Robert E. Lee and Dick Dowling elementary schools.

Superintendent Mark Porterie said the question of whether the names should be changed resurfaced while the district is in the process of rebuilding and choosing new signage for some of its schools after Tropical Storm Harvey.

The school board discussed the issue in August 2017, days before Harvey inundated Port Arthur. Since then, Porterie said the district never restarted the conversation, but it comes up "every so often."

"We want to make sure we don't purchase signage and have to change it," Porterie said before the Thursday evening school board meeting.

A new campus for Dick Dowling Elementary School was planned before Harvey hit, said district spokeswoman Kristyn Cathey, so the cost of signs has already been factored in. Signs for the new school would cost around $200,000, Porterie said.

Cathey said there would be "a cost attached" to changing signage at Robert E. Lee Elementary, roughly $100,000, according to Porterie.

Beginning on Sept. 3 through Sept. 30, the Port Arthur school board will accept input on renaming the two elementary schools, Porterie announced. A public hearing will be held at the end of September, after which the board will make a final decision on the name change at an October board meeting.

According to Porterie, only one individual has directly requested that the board rename the schools, "not this community."

"If it's something the board will consider and ultimately do, then fine. If they consider it and decide not to do it, that's fine as well," Porterie said.

As a Port Arthur ISD graduate, Cathey said she didn't "recall" the elementary school names as a student. "It may just be the political climate because it's been brought to the board more than once," she said.

After months of controversy, Houston ISD trustees voted to rename eight of its campuses in May 2016, the Houston Chronicle reported at the time. One of the schools, Richard Dowling Middle School, was renamed to Audrey H. Lawson Middle School.

Forty-eight percent of Port Arthur ISD students are Hispanic, according to the latest data from the Texas Education Agency. Forty-four percent are African-American.

Porterie said the board understood that the names of Robert E. Lee and Dick Dowling "caused some conversation" across the country. "We understand that," he said.

"We're not condoning it, we're not fighting it," Porterie said. "We have had a wonderful Robert E. Lee school and a wonderful Dick Dowling school. We have taught thousands of students who turned out to be great regardless of the name."

"It's not about the name," said Porterie, who was the only school official to discuss the change at the meeting. "It's about what we do inside the building."

Gail Pellum, president of Port Arthur's African-American Cultural Society, said she believed the district should change the names because Lee and Dowling "don't deserve to be heralded as heroes."

Pellum was a supporter of the Change.org petition that circulated in 2015, requesting that the board change the names. The petition was unsuccessful, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

Robert E. Lee and Dick Dowling elementary schools are two of nearly three dozen Texas schools named after Confederate leaders, according to a survey by the Texas Tribune.

Greg Richard, the only Port Arthur resident to request a name change at Thursday's school board meeting, said he didn't want his "tax money extending legacy of some Confederate traitor."

"You're embarrassing me, embarrassing the city by perpetuating that legacy," Richard said to the trustees.

Richard, who said he'd been speaking to the board about the name changes for over a decade, said he would "chisel the names off myself."

Students "need to know who Robert E. Lee was," said Pellum, who encourages people to read historical landmarks and about Robert E. Lee to find out "why he can never be a hero for me."

With "bigger problems" in society, such as domestic violence, hate groups and police brutality, Pellum said the only way she'd support the names not being changed "is if you give some history."

"At one point they had students marching behind a confederate flag on Dick Dowling Day," Pellum said. "This is crazy. People just need to be educated, the school system included."

In September 2013, The Texas Historic Commission hosted a "Dick Dowling Day," an event marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Sabine Pass, in which Lt. Richard "Dick" Dowling led a band of Irish dockworkers to defend Texas against the Union Navy on Sept. 8, 1863.

Dowling ignored orders to retreat and saved Beaumont and the rest of the state from the ravages of the Civil War, according to historians.

Texas cities have removed more than 30 symbols, including statues and renaming schools and streets, since the 2015 mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Sixty-eight monuments remain across the state.

According to a report released earlier this year by the center, Southeast Texas lawmakers have been reluctant to remove Confederate monuments and plaques.

"Our Confederate Soldiers" monument in Beaumont's Wiess Park has remained unchanged after city council members couldn't reach a consensus on the century-old statue's future.

In January 2018, more than a dozen Orange residents protested the Confederate Memorial of the Wind monument on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Evadale ISD, whose mascot is the Rebels, continues to use a Confederate flag on school signs and equipment.

"As far as costs and children, the most important focus is what's inside the school versus what's on the outside," said Cathey, whose district approved the 2018-2019 budget on Thursday.

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A two-day undercover prostitution sting in north Harris County netted 11 men at prostitution hotspots near schools and businesses in the area of Cypress Station and Willowbrook, according to Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman.

One suspect, Robert Leger, remains at large after he fled from officers, Herman said. In addition to a misdemeanor prostitution charge, Leger has also been accused of felony evading arrest and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

"Those who plan to proposition a prostitute might want to think again," Herman said. "It can be an undercover investigator."

Herman said his office started investigating the prostitution activity after they received complaints from nearby residents.

He said he did not want to name the exact schools near the prostitution hotspots, but he said the operation was intended to coincide with the start of the school year. He said three major high schools are located in the targeted area.

In one instance, a suspect was arrested after soliciting prostitutes at a daycare in the area, Herman said.

He said the operation included more than 40 uniformed officers and multiple female undercover deputies posing at prostitutes.

The suspects' ages range from the early 20s to late 70s. See their mugshots in the gallery above.

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
As the University of Nebraska makes strides for diversity, a Nebraska State senator sparked debate when he suggested the addition of a diversity director would put white men at a disadvantage by favoring minorities.

In a letter to constituents posted on the Nebraska legislature website last month, state senator Steve Erdman said the culture at NU would suffer if the university hires a diversity director - a common position at colleges around the country, but a first in the school's history. Erdman, a Republican, said that introducing this position would lead to underqualified minority candidates being hired in fields "most dominated by White professors" and create a hostile environment for those who don't share the "extremist progressive worldview."

"While nobody I know advocates for racial, gender or sexual orientation discrimination, we should still ask why NU needs a Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, if not to impose favoritism upon these groups," Erdman wrote.

Erdman's comments come at a tense moment for diversity in higher education, after the Trump administration revoked federal guidance last month on affirmative action from the Obama era, arguing the previous administration had gone too far in promoting racial diversity in college admissions. Last fall, minorities made up roughly 14 percent of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's student body, according to statistics on the school's website.

In a statement provided to The Post, NU President Hank Bounds worried about the consequences of Erdman's letter.

"I was shocked and deeply saddened when I read the column," Bounds said in the statement. "For any elected official to champion these kinds of dangerous views only serves to damage our great state and our ability to recruit and retain the top talent that will grow Nebraska for the future."

Some of Erdman's colleagues share Bounds' concerns. In a letter to the editor published in the Lincoln Journal-Star, Democratic state senators Anna Wishart and Adam Morfeld applauded NU for creating the position, saying it would be important move for the state's economy, which needs to attract young talent.

"Young professionals consistently prioritize diversity and inclusion when choosing a place to live," the letter read. "Don't take it from us; take it from young professionals who, in a recent study by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, listed diversity and inclusion as a critically important priority."

Erdman, a former farmer who also sells real estate, represents a district of nearly 36,000 people - 91 percent of whom are white, according to Ballotpedia. He said almost all feedback from his constituents has been positive. Like him, they think conservatives are treated unfairly on college campuses and that the focus on diversity contradicts American values.

"We're teaching young people multi-culturalism when we should be teaching American culture." Erdman said. "I have black friends and I have Hispanic friends, but I don't look at them as black and Hispanic, I look at them as American."

Dozens of studies in higher education have shown that more diversity benefits all students, not just minorities, according to Edna Chun, chief learning officer at Higher Ed Talent.

"Diversity and quality are not separate. They're synonymous," Chun said. "There's often a perception that it's only about race and it isn't. It's about how every aspect of diversity that can help students work with people that are different from themselves."

Positions like the one NU is creating have been standard at colleges and universities for years, according to Chun, who consults with institutions around the country on diversity initiatives. In 2012, the American Council on Education published a letter outlining how diversity strengthens communities and makes U.S. students more competitive. It explained that without intentional efforts by schools, these opportunities won't be available to students who need them.

"Some schools have experienced precipitous declines in the enrollment of students from underrepresented minority groups," the letter read, "reversing decades of progress in the effort to ensure that all groups in American society have an equal opportunity for access to higher education."

But Erdman, in his letter, criticized the university for adding a "six-figure-salaried" position for diversity while complaining about a lack of state funding and said it would create a culture that puts the needs of the few over the needs of the many. He also said it would cause faculty positions to go to unqualified minority candidates over qualified white ones and would make it so "every word spoken by White Christian conservative males at the school will be excruciatingly scrutinized."

Kwame Dawes, chairman of the search committee for the position and an English professor at NU, said he respected Erdman's concerns about the position's effects, but that he personally didn't think they were realistic.

"I think he's constructed his own ideas of what the position is," Dawes said. "Those scenarios that he created have nothing to with it."
Though over exploitation of public properties is a common phenomenon in almost all the public entities, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the only constitutional body responsible to check the corruption, has found just now that some government enterprises have haphazardly been distributing additional benefits to the staff and board members.





The CIAA has on Monday asked the government to adjust such haphazardly distributed additional benefits to the staff and board members of the different public entities. Writing a letter to the Ministry of Finance, the responsible ministry for monitoring salaries, perks and additional benefits for public servants, the CIAA has asked to control the haphazardly distributed additional benefits by adjusting in the salaries.





According to the CIAA, out of 11 public entities studied over the issue, most were founding providing their staff additional benefits other than regular salaries. It is said that staffs and members of the management committees have been receiving free benefits of the concerned public entities through the decisions of their management committees.





Among the public enterprise, only the Udayapur Cement Factory, National Trading Limited, Timber Corporation of Nepal and Nepal Food Corporation have not provided any benefits to the employees and management team, the CIAA has stated.





However, Nepal Telecom provides free mobile, landline, and internet services to all staff and the management committee causing 560 million additional costs in the last five years to the company. Nepal Airline Corporation (NAC) has also been providing extra benefits not only to its staff but also to the retired staff and former members of the management committee.





The Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) has been providing a liter of milk daily and one kg of ghee monthly to all the staff and member of the management committee while Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) has been providing Rs 560 monthly to all its staff and board members.




Kathmandu, Nepal: The member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) - Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bhutan have been setting their agendas to present in the upcoming 4th summit, which is going to be held on August 30-31 in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.





Though the member countries have their own priorities, almost all have underlined the need for conclusion of negotiations for a BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and its trade facilitation measures because no conclusion is made yet even about 13 years after the framework agreement was made to this effect.





The time was already ripe to reach on conclusion of FTA but it is not happening so due to the vested interest of some countries that considered themselves as of powerful nation, a expert said pointing finger to the India.





As India and Pakistan share hostile relationship, the former one intends to utilize the BIMSTEC as of a viable alternative regional platform instead of the South Asian Association for the Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which need to deal cautiously, another so-called south Asian expert said preferring anonymity.





The issues related to the connectivity, energy, trade, investment, terrorism and climate change were already fixed as of the common issues but nothing specific are fixed yet to reach the issues into the logical conclusion.





As the host country, Nepal has passed a proposal from the meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) to table a proposal seeking an endorsement of the BIMSTEC Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking. The proposal presented by Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa was approved by a majority on Monday.





While tabling the proposal, Home Minister had underlined the need of the convention to develop common understandings among the BIMSTEC member states in view of multi-sectored economic and technical assistance in regard with controlling terrorism.




Here are three gastroenterologists that made news recently:

Gastroenterologist George K. John, MD, is joining University of Maryland Community Medical Group's practice in Easton, Md.

The American Cancer Society lowered the recommended age to begin screening for colorectal cancer from 50 to 45 years old, but Samir Gupta, MD, of UC San Diego Health, said the updated guideline should be implemented cautiously.

Telemedicine is changing how physicians view medicine, according to Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Corey Siegel, MD.
Richard Mitchell, CIO at Eagleville Hospital  a behavioral health treatment and educational organization in Pennsylvania, discusses the need to prioritize the various types of hospital data as a cybersecurity initiative.

Question: What tasks require the majority of your time as CIO?

Richard Mitchell: Security infrastructure monitoring and new product awareness are time consuming tasks. You can have the best security tools and apps available, but if you arent watching them then you wasted your organization's financial resources and put it at risk. And these tools are constantly evolving, getting better, and ultimately outdated by newer or different technologies and processes. So being aware of this is critical.

Q: What do you see as the next big cybersecurity threat hospitals should look out for and why?

RM: I have always thought about the "priorities" or level of importance of specific information. Particularly when it comes to [protected health information], do I really care if the fact that I had an appendicitis attack or a diagnosis of hypertension gets breached? Yes, to a degree, but if the information concerning my mental health diagnosis were to be compromised, that seems to me to be so much more significant of a PHI data breach.

So, are our cyber security initiatives a one size fits all for our organizations? Or should we be more focused on the data that is more critical to our patients and employees, financial information and mental health information that can cause harm if it were stolen. Is all data the same? Most hospitals have several data management systems, some are cloud and some internal, and these systems need to be prioritized regarding their level or security needs and awareness of this communicated internally.

Q: What do you consider to be the most important aspect in hospital data protection?

RM: Priority and oversight. Due to financial constraints most hospitals dont put enough value to this endeavor. Are you going to upgrade the cardiac [catherization] lab, or buy a new IT security system? The choice is usually for what can make money.

Q: How do you train clinicians and front-line staff to protect patient data and avoid cyberattacks?

RM: It is a constant internal marketing effort to educate and instill awareness to all hospital staff about IT and PHI data security. And it isnt always the clinicians and front-line staff. The security awareness of back office billers, receptionists and systems support personnel are key to the solution.

To learn more about hospital and health system cybersecurity, as well as the key trends for CISOs, register for the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference Sept. 19-22, 2018 in Chicago. Click here to learn more and register.
Several healthcare organizations recently received donations to fund research, advance treatments, improve patient care and start renovations.

Here are four notable donations, pledges or bequests given to healthcare reported by Becker's Hospital Review or other news outlets this week:

1. University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (Aurora) received the largest private gift in its history  a $120 million commitment from the Anschutz Foundation. The donation will support faculty recruitment and retention, research opportunities, industry partnerships and the construction of a 390,000-square-foot health science building.

2. Mission Health (Ashville, N.C.) pledged to donate $90 million to hospital foundations in six rural communities, but with a twist. The provider said the donation will only be made if its proposed sale to Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare closes. The funds, which would come from sale proceeds, would be distributed over a three-year period. The gifts would support programs to enhance the health and well-being of the rural communities.

3. Indiana University Health (Indianapolis) received a $10 million gift from Joe Schwarz, a self-made businessman who lost his battle to throat cancer five months ago, and his wife Shelly. The gift will support construction of a cancer center at IU Health North, based in Carmel, Ind. The cancer center, scheduled to open in January 2020, will be named after the donors.

4. Ronald McDonald House Charities, a nonprofit foundation seeking to improve the health and well-being of children, received a record-breaking $100 million gift from AbbVie. The gift, which is the largest in the charity's history, will expand access to housing and family-centered services for pediatric patients and their families during hospital stays.
The U.S. Senate passed its spending bill for the Defense, Labor, Education and HHS departments Aug. 23, with several nods to genomic testing, telehealth and EHRs, according to the Politico Morning eHealth newsletter.

Here are five health IT-related amendments to the Senate's spending package:

1. The bill requires HHS Secretary Alex Azar to update Congress on the agency's rulemaking progress regarding health IT certification and information blocking as laid out in the 21st Century Cures Act.

2. The proposal establishes funds for telehealth and EHR pilots to improve obstetric care for women in rural areas.

3. Another amendment requires Mr. Azar to report when CMS pays entities in China or Russia to process genome data.

4. Mr. Azar would be required to establish a rule mandating direct-to-consumer drug ads include pricing information.

5. The National Institutes for Health budget would increase by $2 billion, making "America more competitive in science and technology, the group said, according to Politico.

The House has yet to pass its own spending bill.
One in 10 children in the United States  7 million children  reside in the state of Texas. Children's Health, a pediatric health system in Dallas, has a large, diverse patient population spanning both urban and rural communities. Almost 75 percent of our patients are on Medicaid and deal with health access and socioeconomic issues that prevent them from getting the care they need. Their needs range from asthma management (over 556,000 children in Texas have asthma) to obesity programs (15 percent of kids in Texas are obese) and mental health counseling.

The large footprint we serve and the number of at-risk pediatric patients in our umbrella of care is what originally demanded our attention on telehealth. Telehealth was clearly something our pediatric population could benefit from; however, when Children's Health began to seek virtual care as an option, the Texas State Medical Board still required that patient-physician relationships be established with an in-person visit before telemedicine could be used.

We could have thrown our hands up and said, "Oh well, we tried." Instead, we decided to get creative and work within boundaries of the current legislation while simultaneously trying to educate the state on what exactly good telehealth was and how it worked.

Our team went to Texas Medical Board meetings in Austin and demoed our telemedicine platform. We knew changing legislation wasn't going to be quick, so in the meantime we found ways to legally practice telemedicine, including placing telehealth kiosks on our Dallas and Plano campuses to allow employees  and eventually their dependents  to use telehealth. This type of telehealth was permissible because these kiosks were placed at an approved medical site.

Laying the telehealth groundwork early (when legislation was less than favorable) really allowed us to hit the ground running when the Texas Medical Board finally adopted new telehealth legislation in November 2017. Since then, we have expanded our telehealth kiosk strategy, placing a kiosk in a Dougherty's retail pharmacy and the Legends Community Center to deliver access to a community with a high need for convenient, affordable care.

In addition to these urgent care use cases, we are especially proud of the following two other telehealth initiatives we've developed over the years:

School-Based Care in over 100 Texas schools

Children's Health launched our school-based care program in 2013, starting with a handful of schools. Today, we are in more than 100 schools in the area and growing. We place telemedicine carts in nurses' offices so the patient and school nurse can connect with board-certified pediatricians to assess and treat everything from pink eye and rashes to asthma and strep. Parents consent to this type of treatment at the beginning of the school year and have the option of joining the video visit. This has gotten an excellent reception from parents, who don't have to miss work to take their child to a doctor's appointment, as well as from the patient, who doesn't need to leave school to see a physician.

We also recently launched a School-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Program in six high schools, which has been quite successful. These patients are having behavioral health visits with physicians from their school counselor's office, again reducing school absenteeism by bringing behavioral health services to the patient where they are. Giving these students remote access to behavioral health services  which are typically hard appointments to get  has really been a bright light for our school-based program.

Finding Where Telehealth Fits within Hospital Service Lines

Children's Health has also expanded virtual health through its hospital service lines, and it is currently using telehealth for food and allergy, nutrition, orthopedic surgery follow-up, cystic fibrosis counseling, blood disorders, teen substance abuse and more. These use cases were spearheaded by physician champions who saw a way for telehealth to fit into their practice and make it better, and the results have been fantastic.

As an example, we have some cystic fibrosis patients who live over two hours away from our health system. We were running into a lot of compliance issues with these patients because they were having difficulty managing their care, but also found it hard to drive the two hours for a visit. As soon as we implemented the cystic fibrosis telemedicine program, we saw a lot of improvement with them keeping their appointments and meeting with the provider. We've seen similar results with our teen recovery program for patients with substance abuse issues. This program has had low compliance because these patients typically need to visit our clinics three times a week. With telemedicine, they can complete their individual visit and family visits remotely, which has resulted in positive feedback.

We've learned a lot of important lessons through the success of our different telehealth programs, the most vital being that you can't wait for things to be perfect; you need to work within the bounds of what is currently possible. We started our telehealth programs in a less-than-favorable legislative environment, but doing so and figuring out how to work around the obstacles laid the groundwork for future success.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Though the General Convention of the party is yet to come, election fever seems to have gripped the Nepali Congress (NC) thanks to the high number of aspirants for the party leadership, particularly for the post of party president.





As some senior leaders aspiring for the party president have lately begun campaigning on their own way, it is likely that the long been prevailed factions of the party would not able to present their candidates in the upcoming general convention. About half dozen leaders have already begun their campaigning to vie in the post of the president.





The rival faction- one led by partys senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel and another led by Krishna Prasad Sitaula were presenting defensively against the party president Sher Bahadur Deuba after party faced stinging loss in the recently held local, parliamentary and provincial assembly polls.





President Deuba has not publicly staked his claim for the party's top leadership yet. But Vice President Bimalendra Nidhi, who is considered as of a confident to the president Deuba, has begun to project himself as the presidential candidate from the establishment faction if Deuba choose to retire from active party politics.





However, multiple sources in the party have a claim that president Deuba will not choose to retire from the active politics but planning to contest for party president for yet another term.





The recent mending relationship among the party president Deuba and senior leader Poudel has encouraged the latter to be a common consensual candidate in the upcoming general convention. Recently emerged third faction led by Sitaula has yet to make clear about its position in the upcoming general convention.





However, situations are indicating that Poudel would face internal intricacy to be a consensual candidate even if the party president Deuba empathize him for the next term of the party president.





General Secretary Dr. Shashank Koirala, former General Secretary Prakash Man Singh and another influential leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala have also visibly been preparing the ground to claim the leadership of the party.





It is said that former General Secretary Singh has made the mindset to vie in the post of party president after General Secretary Koirala and Central Committee member Shekhar Koirala claimed to contest for party president. Earlier, all three leaders were considered as close to the Poudel led faction.





However, Koirala brothers including another CDC member Sujata Koirala have already made a decision not to compete themselves but present a consensual candidate from the Koirala family for the post of party president.





General Secretary Koirala had revealed before the media persons in Biratnagar on Sunday that he or his brother Shekhar will be contesting for the post of party president in the upcoming general convention.





As General Secretary Koirala revealed his plan to contest in the post of party president even claiming that there is nothing differences among the Koiralas, new form of sensation has emerged in the party, particularly in the Poudel led faction.




The Department of Veterans Affairs did not properly process nearly half of posttraumatic stress disorder claims related to military sexual trauma in fiscal year 2017, according to a report from the VA Office of Inspector General.

The Veterans Benefit Administration denied about 5,500, or 46 percent, of the approximately 12,000 claims it processed last year for PTSD related to military sexual trauma, according to the report. However, the OIG estimated the Veterans Benefit Administration incorrectly processed about 1,300, or 49 percent, of the 2,700 military sexual assault-related claims denied from April 2017 to September 2017.

The OIG found various types of errors in processing. For example, in 28 percent of incorrectly processed cases, reviewers found staff did not request a medical exam and opinion, although sufficient evidence existed to make such requests, according to the agency. Additionally, reviewers found evidence-gathering issues in 13 percent of incorrectly processed cases, and in 10 percent of cases, veterans service representatives used "contradictory or otherwise insufficient medical opinions" to decide veterans' claims.

The OIG said the improper processing and denial of military sexual trauma- related claims is attributable to multiple factors, including "the lack of reviewer specialization, lack of an additional level of review, discontinued special focused reviews and inadequate training."

Based on its findings, the OIG made six recommendations to the VA, such as reviewing all denied military sexual trauma-related claims since the beginning of last year, reviewing and taking corrective action on incorrectly processed claims, and directing military sexual trauma-related claims to a specialized group of claims processors. The OIG also called for the VA to improve oversight and training on the processing of military sexual trauma-related claims.

The VA told Becker's it appreciates the OIG's oversight and concurs or concurs in principle with its recommendations, "which the department will begin implementing right away."



"We know this is an area where the department can improve. That's why VA has required all of its claims processors to take MST [military sexual trauma] training and pledged to review each and every denied MST-related claim decided between Oct. 1, 2016, and June 30, 2018," the VA said.



"If mistakes were made, we will fix them in order to ensure affected veterans are getting all of the support, benefits and services they have earned."

More articles on leadership:

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'Can't wait for things to be perfect': Why Children's Health acted fast to integrate telemedicine and pediatric care in Texas

Creating a digitally enabled consumer-centric healthcare organization
Instances of patients having "racial preferences" for their healthcare providers are on the rise, which puts hospitals in a three-way bind between complying with nondiscrimination laws, making sure their employees are not harassed and promoting care quality, according to Bloomberg Law.

Here are four things to know:

1. Teoka Williams, RN, a nurse Dearborn, Mich.-based Beaumont Medical Center, filed a federal discrimination case Aug. 14, after her supervisor allegedly granted a patient's request to be treated by a white nurse. This case reflects the growing trend of complaints filed by healthcare staff for discrimination at the request of patients.

2. Julie Gafkay, Ms. William's attorney in Frankenmuth, Mich., specializes in employment discrimination and believes the solution to this growing trend is straightforward.

"I think [hospitals] can have a policy, and the policy can be what the law is. A patient can't request services based on race," Ms. Gafkay told Bloomberg Law.

3. Adams Agrahms, a firm partner at Los Angeles-based Epstein Becker Green, said there are three main considerations a hospital must balance:

Hospitals, like any employer, are obligated to comply with nondiscrimination laws

Hospitals are obligated to protect employees from harassment

Clinicians must provide care to patients who may be undesirable or hold different beliefs than them

"There is nothing wrong with a healthcare provider dealing with an alert, competent patient and requiring them to act appropriately," Mr. Abrahms told Bloomberg Law. "But it becomes more complicated if you have someone who's not mentally stable."

4. Hospitals that comply and accommodate biased patient request hurt patient care, according to Ms. Gafkay. Hospitals can also lose employees if they accommodate these types of requests, she said.

"In my opinion, what they should have done is Williams' supervisor should have gone to the patient and instructed her that she would get the best care available and that assignments were not going to be based on race," Ms. Gafkay told Bloomberg Law. "There are plenty of circumstances where patients go to the hospital and request unreasonable things and those requests are denied."

More articles on integration and physician issues:
Authorities arrested the former billing director of a five-state clinic network on two counts of Medicaid fraud Aug. 20, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Helen Balding, who was the billing director for Preferred Family Healthcare until March of this year, was arrested for her alleged role as an accomplice in the company's former executive vice president's billing scheme, according to the investigator's affidavit.



The former executive, Robin Raveendran, was arrested June 29 on two counts of Medicaid fraud. He is accused of directing employees to improperly bill Medicaid for mental health services. Specifically, Mr. Raveendran told employees by email to forge $2.3 million in claims between 2015 and 2017. According to the affidavit, Ms. Balding followed the request in Mr. Raveendran's email even though she knew it was improper, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.



According to the affidavit, Ms. Balding fraudulently billed Medicaid despite knowing state regulations required providers to first verify other health insurers wouldn't cover the care.



The Arkansas Department of Human Services stopped reimbursing Preferred Family's claims after Mr. Raveendran's arrest. The five-state mental health and substance abuse care provider is in negotiations to sell its Arkansas facilities, according to the report.
Crystal Run Healthcare, a multispecialty physician group in Middletown, N.Y., filed a lawsuit Aug. 23 accusing Middletown-based Orange Regional Medical Center, its affiliated physician practice and its parent company of poaching physicians to become the dominant healthcare provider in the region, according to the Times-Herald Record.

Here are six things to know:

1. The 500-plus provider group's lawsuit alleges ORMC and its parent company, Middletown-based Greater Hudson Valley Health System, offered kickbacks in the form of "above-market compensation" to recruit physicians from Crystal Run and other area medical practices despite the physicians' noncompete clauses. The lawsuit claims the higher salaries incentivized physicians to steer business toward ORMC, which violates certain federal and state laws, the report states.

2. The suit also cites the case of Dumisa Adams, MD, a Crystal Run Healthcare physician. Crystal Run Healthcare leaders said ORMC enticed Dr. Adams into joining their practice, effectively breaking her noncompete clause with Crystal Run.

3. A Crystal Run Healthcare spokesperson told the Times-Herald Record in a prepared statement the group filed the lawsuit to prevent ORMC's "unethical and illegal interference with Crystal Run's contractual rights" to keep physicians like Dr. Adams.

"In recruiting Dr. Adams, Orange Regional's conduct is part of its broader effort to become the exclusive medical services provider to the population of Orange County and surrounding communities, ultimately eliminating patient choice  a plan which surely is not in the best interest of Orange County and its residents."

4. Crystal Run Healthcare said it believes the noncompete clause in Dr. Adams' contract is reasonable. However, leaders with the physician group said Dr. Adams' notice letter to leave Crystal Run included arguments similar to those of seven other physicians who sued the organization in December 2017. The physicians cited similar concerns with the noncompete clauses, which they claimed were unfavorable to them and reduced them to "indentured servants," the report states.

5. An attorney for ORMC and its parent company told the publication in a prepared statement: "We dispute the allegations in the suit, and we'll vigorously defend against it."

6. Cecelia Prewett, a spokesperson for Crystal Run Healthcare told Becker's Hospital Review in a prepared statement Aug. 24: "Crystal Run Healthcare has been forced to file a lawsuit against Orange Regional Medical Center and its affiliated medical group, GHVHS Medical Group, PC, to stop Orange Regional's unethical and illegal interference with Crystal Run's contractual rights by seeking to hire one of Crystal Run's physician partners, Dr. Dumisa Adams. Dr. Adams is also a defendant in the suit for breaching her agreement not to compete with Crystal Run for one year and within 15 miles of Crystal Run's practice sites.

"Dr. Adams has informed Crystal Run that, contrary to the terms of the agreement she signed, she intends to not wait the agreed upon one year period and immediately move her practice down the street to Orange Regional. In doing so, she will take the patient relationships that she was given by Crystal Run with her to grow her obstetrics and gynecology practice at Orange Regional. We believe that Orange Regional should respect Crystal Run's contractual rights and that Dr. Adams should likewise abide by the agreement she made and in exchange for which Crystal Run provided her significant financial and other benefits.

"Crystal Run remains committed to providing best-in-class care to hundreds of thousands of patients who turn to us for healthcare each year."

To access the full report, click here.

Editor's note: This article was updated Aug. 24 at 10:55 a.m. to include a statement from Crystal Run Healthcare.
Mesa, Ariz.-based Banner Desert Medical Center will host a baby shower for the 16 pregnant nurses in its intensive care unit, hospital officials confirmed to Becker's.

They said the shower will take place Aug. 24., with photos and video provided afterward.

Banner Desert Medical revealed the baby boom in its ICU earlier this month. The nurses said the pregnancies are a coincidence. They are due between September and February.

Hospital officials said they have been making staffing preparations for when the nurses are on maternity leave.

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The California Department of Public Health collectively issued $1,052,505 in fines to 13 California hospitals for licensing compliance issues that caused or were likely to cause patient harm or death.

The penalized incidents occurred between 2012 and 2017. Here is a breakdown of the penalties:

1. Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster incurred a $75,000 penalty for a patient death associated with a fall in 2012.

2. The health department fined Martinez-based Contra Costa Regional Medical Center $33,000 for failing to protect against interpatient abuse in a 2017 incident.

3. The health department issued two fines to Corona Regional Medical Center in Magnolia for incidents that occurred in 2015 and 2016. The 2015 incident yielded a $44,887 fine for patient harm associated with a burn incurred during care. The hospital received a $49,500 fine for a 2016 incident involving a misplaced central line that went undiagnosed for more than 24 hours and led to a patient getting an amputation.

4. Fremont (Calif.) Hospital incurred a $75,000 fine for failing to promptly intervene when a patient became severely dehydrated and stopped breathing in 2016.

5. The health department fined Hemet (Calif.) Valley Medical Center $49,500 for retention of a foreign object in a patient after a 2016 surgery.

6. John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio incurred a $75,000 fine for failing to ensure on-call physician coverage was available for a patient in 2017.

7. Health officials fined Perris-based Kindred Hospital Riverside $75,000 for failing to develop a plan of care to prevent a patient from removing her tracheal tube in 2016.

8. Madera (Calif.) Community Hospital was fined $47,025 for a 2016 incident where a medical error resulted in an unnecessary surgery and removal of part of a patient's colon.

9. Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento received a $75,000 fine for a medication error that led to a patient's death in 2016.

10. The health department issued two fines to Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center in Riverside for incidents in 2016. The first fine was $75,000 for an error involving a central line placement that led to several procedures that contributed to a patient's death. The second fine was $75,000 for a medication error that led to a patient's death.

11. Health officials fined St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles $71,250 for a patient death associated with a fall in 2016.

12. St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard incurred a $75,000 penalty for errors that resulted in the malfunction of a heart-lung machine during surgery that led to a patient's death in 2015.

13. The health department issued two fines to Ventura (Calif.) County Medical Center for incidents in 2015 and 2016. The hospital received a $69,930 fine for failing to ensure a suicidal patient was provided a safe transfer to the inpatient psychiatric unit in 2015. The hospital received a $87,412 fine for failing to ensure there were sufficient personnel to keep a patient safe in the emergency department in a 2016 incident.

The department issued $549,555 in similar fines to nine California hospitals on Dec. 28, 2017.
As one of the leading causes of deaths in hospitals, sepsis  a complication often hard to identify  presents a unique challenge to hospital leaders. Since the risk of death from sepsis increases by about 8 percent with each hour before intervention, it is crucial for hospitals to improve sepsis awareness among staff members and speed sepsis responses.

While advancements in technology, such as EHR-based sepsis surveillance, allow hospitals to detect and act on sepsis faster, electronic sepsis alerts fail to help if they don't quickly get to providers who can respond to them.

After finding inefficiencies and a high potential for error in their sepsis treatment process, University of Utah Health, a four-hospital system based in Salt Lake City, partnered with clinical communication solutions provider Spok to help improve sepsis response.

In an Aug. 22 webinar sponsored by Spok and hosted by Becker's Hospital Review, Devin Horton, MD, hospitalist and assistant professor in the division of internal medicine at University of Utah Health, discussed how the health system improved communication around sepsis while cutting septic patients' length of stay.

Identifying problems in sepsis response

Dr. Horton began to identify problems in sepsis response while evaluating patients with fevers. "When I was consulting for a fever, I'd go see a patient, get into their chart and find they had abnormal vital signs that had been there for several days," he said. "Our EHR imports those notes every day, but there were no discussions about those vital signs."

At patient bedsides, nurses would take vital signs and continue this process for four or five other patients, making the first vital signs up to an hour old by the time they were entered into the computer. "If this was an emergent case, we'd already lost an hour," Dr. Horton said. "There may not be communication about those vital signs, they may just sit in the computer waiting for the nurse to see them and a provider may not get back to them quickly."

Some of the health system's providers couldn't put the pieces together to say it was sepsis, Dr. Horton said. "And as we started looking into it, we realized we had no real process in place at our institution to address sepsis as a leading cause of death."

If there was a way to get the vital signs in the notes sent to a provider who knows what to do with them, the hospital could ensure patients aren't slipping through the cracks, Dr. Horton said.

Leveraging communication platforms to improve sepsis response

To address this issue, University of Utah Health leveraged their EHR system with Spok Care Connect, which takes the EHR's sepsis alert or a critical test result and sends it to the right clinicians' mobile device automatically.

The alert contains the information clinicians need to act right away, including who the patient is, their room number and their modified early warning score, or MEWS. MEWS is a physiological test that prevents delays in the intervention or transfer of critically ill patients. The alert is sent in seconds, allowing the care team to respond faster.

University of Utah Health's EHR automatically uses vital signs entered to calculate the MEWS score. If the MEWS is sufficiently high, Spok sends that MEWS alert as a message to either the charge nurse or the rapid response team. When vitals are outside normal range, the recipients get a notification to begin intervention on that patient right away.

"What was helpful for us was having all our sepsis data in one place  we can look at the data and take it back to our providers to tell them what we're seeing," Dr. Horton said. "If you have an EHR-based algorithm, patients' illness can be detected earlier on and resuscitated earlier on."

The data University of Utah Health collected also allowed them to look at the odds of septic patients getting antibiotics within the first 24 hours, Dr. Horton said.

"For all sepsis patients, we saw a length of stay that was decreased by 10 percent and because of that our total direct cost decreased by 10 percent."

Continuing to improve sepsis detection and awareness

As hospitals look for ways to prevent patient mortality and improve communication among staff, understanding what sepsis recognition and detection looks like is key to providing timely and effective care.

For University of Utah Health, the results from implementing this new workflow for sepsis response demonstrated the importance of hardwiring communications for sepsis management.

"We can have the best hospital in the world, but if you don't know what vital signs are, and if the vital signs aren't entered into the computer in real time, then that patient is losing, and the institution is losing," Dr. Horton said.

To listen to the full webinar recording, click here. Click here to learn more about the Spok Care Connect platform.
The World Health Organization on Aug. 24 confirmed the first probable case of Ebola in Oicha, a city in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which resides in a "red zone" where outsiders may be banned from entering, according to Reuters.

Health officials identified the probable case in a physician who was rehospitalized with Ebola symptoms Aug. 24. His wife wise diagnosed with Ebola after traveling to a nearby city. The physician's initial Ebola test was negative, but healthcare teams are waiting for new results after retesting the man. The physician represents one of 14 confirmed or probable Ebola cases among health workers.

Dr. Peter Salama, WHO's head of emergency operations, said this is a scenario the organization was dreading, since the town of Oicha is surrounded by an extremely violent group called the ADF Ugandan Islamist militia. The conflict area raises serious safety concerns for aid workers and hinders their access to treat the physician or any other individuals who become infected in the city.

"So for the first time really we have a confirmed case and contacts in an area of very high insecurity. It really was the problem we were anticipating and the problem at same time that we were dreading," Dr. Salama told Reuters.

Ninety-seven contacts that may have been exposed to the virus have been contacted, identified and vaccinated, according to Dr. Salama.

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In addition to spreading false information and reputedly interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Russian bots and trolls also tried to heighten skepticism over vaccines on Twitter, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

A team of researchers compared vaccine-related tweets from bots to those from average users between July 2014 and September 2017. To determine which Twitter accounts were likely bots, the researchers conducted a content analysis based on hashtags commonly tied to Russian trolls and compared proportions of polarized and antivaccine tweets across user types.

Although Russian-linked tweets only represented a small percentage of vaccine-related content on Twitter, the researchers noted Russian accounts showed particular interest in sowing divisions on the topic. Moreover, some of the tweets were sent from the Internet Research Agency, the Russian-backed company indicted by the special counsel for interfering in the election.

"Whereas bots that spread malware and unsolicited content disseminated antivaccine messages, Russian trolls promoted discord," the researchers concluded. "Accounts masquerading as legitimate users create false equivalency, eroding public consensus on vaccination."

Public health officials were surprised that Russia sought to disseminate false information about vaccines, according to the Politico Morning eHealth newsletter.

"I was surprised to see that the Russians felt we needed help stoking antivaccine fears," Paul Offit, MD, a vaccine developer and pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told Politico. "I thought we were doing that well enough on our own."
Workers at the soon-to-close Northside Regional Medical Center in Youngstown, Ohio, may participate in various upcoming job fairs, reports WYTV.

The hospital's parent, Dallas-based for-profit hospital chain Steward Health Care System, hosted a job fair Aug. 23 and has another one planned for Sept. 6 at Northside.

The Aug. 23 event drew more than 250 employees by midafternoon, according to the report.

"We have nearly 40 employers here with us today. We also have over 200 within the Steward system, locally. There are hundreds of jobs in the Valley, so we had a great showing of support from our community," Trish Hrina, Steward Health spokesperson, told WYTV.

Cincinnati-based Mercy Health has also scheduled job fair for Northside employees from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Jewish Community Center in Youngstown.

Northside is slated to close on Sept. 20.

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Kathmandu, Nepal: At least one person killed, 24 others injured when police opened fire on demonstrators in Kanchanpur district on Friday afternoon. It is said that at least about one dozen persons are reported as critical in condition.

The deceased has been identified as 17-year-old Sunny Khuna of Bhagatpur, Mahendranagar. He had breathed his last while he was rushed to the Mahakali Zonal Hospital after he sustained bullet injuries.





Local people have been demonstrating for the last four days demanding arrest of the culprit involved in the raping and killing of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta of Bhimdatta municipality-2, Kanchanpur.




A nine-year-old boy died in Thailand on Thursday after being hit by a Buddhist monk for disturbing his prayers. The monk hit the boy with a stick and slammed his head on a pillar.

The 64-year-old Monk Suphachai Suthiyano was in the midst of a prayer session last week when his young disciple disturbed him. Enraged with the playful behaviour, Suthiyano battered him with a stick. The boy fell into a coma and passed away on Thursday.

The suspect was reportedly charged with assault. The boy's mother Sukunya Tunhim reportedly told the media that she will never forgive the monk.
Business leaders in Northern Ireland have said it is "extraordinary" and "unacceptable" that the UK Government has told them to contact the Irish Government for advice in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit.

Manufacturing NI said London appeared to be indifferent as to how local businesses operate.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday said businesses here trading across the border should contact Dublin for advice if London fails to broker a deal with the EU.

He was speaking as he released the nine-page 'Trading with the EU if there's no Brexit deal' technical notice.

The Brexit Department urged businesses here to contact Dublin for advice, stating: "The Irish Government have indicated they would need to discuss arrangements in the event of a no deal with the European Commission and EU member states.

"We would recommend that, if you trade across the land border you should consider whether you will need advice from the Irish Government about preparations you need to make."

In a statement, Manufacturing NI said: "The fear was that there was little understanding in Whitehall.

"Now there appears to be little care about how Northern Ireland businesses actually operate.

"Advising firms to 'speak to the Irish' is extraordinary.

"The UK Government has a responsibility to deliver the Brexit they've chosen in a way which does not damage jobs and livelihoods.

"Only business can make Brexit work, so brushing our firms off and telling them to go sort our own problems out by speaking to Dublin is not acceptable."

Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Ann McGregor said yesterday's Brexit papers had "two key outcomes for Northern Ireland businesses - it confuses them more and increases their costs".

She added: "This, in tandem with the lack of key infrastructure decisions that can be made here, amplifies the need for an Executive to return to represent Northern Ireland at this critical time."

Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann MLA said he had spoken to Secretary of State Karen Bradley following the paper's publication.

He expressed concern at the section that "appeared in the guidance relating to trade which included a passage that referred specifically to Northern Ireland and cross border trade".

Mr Swann said: "As unionists, we have always been acutely aware of the economic importance of access to the UK's internal market, but we also recognise and welcome the extent of cross-border trade with the Republic of Ireland.

"As we approach the endgame in terms of Brexit negotiations, it is essential that as much clarity and certainty as possible are reached with regard to trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

"In the absence of any local ministers at Stormont, I have urged the Secretary of State to ensure that message is conveyed to those in London who are at the heart of the Brexit negotiations."

Sinn Fein said the paper showed the Tories' "absolute contempt and blatant disregard" people here.

Party vice-president Michelle O'Neill said: "The guidance published confirms the disastrous consequences of Brexit, including more bureaucracy and more expense for businesses.

"It also confirms the British Government's utter lack of preparation for the no deal scenario they are hurtling towards."

She called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney to "stand up for the rights of Irish citizens" and for a special meeting on Brexit between Britain and the EU next month "to deal exclusively with the arrangements for the North".

SDLP deputy leader Claire Hanna hit out at London's "abysmal approach".

"The absence of the backstop in (this) publication is an extremely worrying development; though far from a panacea, it was the only protection given to us in the event of crashing out of the EU," she said.

"From the outset, the SDLP have been clear that a 'no deal' Brexit will be catastrophic for the people of this island.

"The only way to ensure our way of life is untouched is to remain within the single market and customs union."

Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said it was "farcical" for the Government to suggest cross-border businesses should contact Dublin for advice in the event of a no deal Brexit.

"Little consideration has been given to the differential impact of a no deal scenario upon Northern Ireland," he said.

"In particular, there is no clarity on how a hard border on the island of Ireland can be avoided. Northern Ireland businesses and other stakeholders are going to be left in limbo for even longer."

Retail Northern Ireland chief executive Glyn Roberts said he was concerned that a no deal Brexit could result in higher food prices, increased delays and red tape at borders, and a possible VAT hike for consumers and businesses.

"We would urge the UK Government and EU to redouble its efforts to secure an agreement that enables our economy to move forward," he added.

Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People Koulla Yiasouma said: "The fact that Northern Ireland has had no formal role or position in the negotiation process has resulted in an even greater potential for Brexit to negatively impact the lives of children and young people, especially if it is a 'no deal' scenario."

Mr Raab said the Government was committed to ensuring there was no hard border and pledged it would do nothing to disrupt the Good Friday Agreement.

Key points from the papers detailing what might happen if theres no deal with EU

The Government has released 24 papers outlining preparations and scenarios that could play out if no Brexit deal can be agreed before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019.

The key points are:
The parent company of building materials supplier Northstone in Dunmurry plans to build up a 7bn (6.3bn) cash pile over the next three years.

Irish cement giant CRH intends to use the funds for deployment on anything from acquisitions to share buybacks.

Finance director Senan Murphy said the company was showing the market that it is "not just a one-trick pony that just does acquisitions".

The money will be the cash left over after spending on capital expenditure, interest, tax and other payments.

"There are a number of options where that money can be deployed, and we will deploy it wherever creates the most value for shareholders," Mr Murphy said.

"We can reinvest it in our business, we can invest it in acquisitions, we can continue on with buybacks or we can increase the level of dividends."

The company posted 1% rises in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) year-on-year in the first half. It expects EBITDA in the second half to be ahead of last year.
A report says the number of passengers from Northern Ireland using Dublin is on the wane, but the airport disputes the Nisra data

Northern Ireland's love affair with Dublin Airport may be on the wane as figures show a decline of 30,000 in numbers of travellers from across the border using the airport.

The figure of 920,000 for the 12 months from April 2017 to March 2018 is also down 70,000 on the figures for calendar years for 2016 and 2017.

Numbers of local people using Dublin Airport - according to the NI Statistics and Research Agency's (Nisra) air passenger flow report - reached 990,000 in 2016, and fell to 950,000 in 2017.

A spokesman for Dublin Airport said: "The information in the Nisra report doesn't tally with our own data, which shows that the number of Northern Ireland residents using Dublin Airport in 2017 was just under 1.2 million.

"In the first half of this year, Dublin Airport's traffic from Northern Ireland-based residents has increased by 9%."

In addition, comparisons between full calendar years and a rolling 12-month period of four three-month periods were not valid, he added.

Meanwhile, Belfast International and George Best Belfast City have both seen their numbers hold steady between the calendar year of 2017 and the rolling 12 months to March 2018, at 3.68 million and 1.34 million respectively.

But a comparison of the calendar years of 2016 and 2017 reveal a fall in Belfast City Airport's numbers from 1,360,000 to 1,340,000.

In the same period, Belfast International figures grew from 3,200,000 to 3,680,000.

No one from Belfast City Airport could be reached for comment, but it's understood figures reflect the impact of cuts to Aer Lingus' summer schedule. A Flybe route to London City is thought to be a strong performer.

In response to the figures, a Belfast International Airport spokesman said: "These figures are heartening, and the upward trend is continuing."

But it said that suspending air passenger duty - a tax payable here on short-haul flights but which does not apply in the Republic - would help performance.

"An increase of this size makes us the best performing airport in Northern Ireland and points to what is possible if we convince the Government of the need to get rid of air passenger duty, which inhibits expansion and growth.

"Indeed, in the first half of 2018, passenger numbers were up 3.6% over the corresponding period of last year."

He added: "This is our busiest summer season ever with monthly double digit growth in July and so far in August, and we expect that by the end of the year, we will easily surpass our target of 6.1 million passengers."

But he said it was "worrying" that Northern Ireland was losing passengers to the Republic, where there is no air passenger duty on flights. According to Nisra, a total of 970,000 local passengers used airports in the Republic in 2017.

"It's worth reminding the Government that losing one million passengers denies the creation of upwards of 800 new jobs, and that is unacceptable."

The International Airport faced problems this week when it emerged that passengers' cars where damaged in a flood in one of its car parks during July.

But airport managing director Graham Keddie hit out at claims that up to 1,000 vehicles were damaged, and said that the real figure was just 35.
With 12 Premieres, performers from 12 different countries and over 120 events happening from 16 Oct  3 November what will you choose to go and see at this years Belfast International Arts Festival?

This year the festival welcomes a whole host of international performers and personalities such as Hollywood icon Isabella Rossellini, three time Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo, blues legend Eric Bibb, former Irish President Mary Robinson and Olivier Award nominee Josette Bushell-Mingo for a great celebration of contemporary art across all disicplines.

From the critically acclaimed Nina  A Story about Me and Nina Simone to the beautiful and contemplative Tunisian dance work, Facing the Sea for Tears to turn into Laughter there is an abundance of world class events coming to our capital.

The festival will also heavily feature the best of Northern Irelands art scene with the world premiere of Dear Arabella from critically acclaimed playwright Marie Jones, a brand new exhibition from celebrated artist Neil Shawcross, gala concerts from the Ulster Orchestra and readings from one of our greatest living poets Michael Longely and Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon.

For the full festival line up and to book visit www.belfastinternationalartsfestival.com
Released almost a year after the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, BlacKkKlansman handcuffs racial divisions in present-day America to the outlandish true story of a black police detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.

Spike Lee's impassioned satire of corruption and bigotry is based on a memoir by retired Colorado Springs officer Ron Stallworth, and walks a tightrope between fact and stranger-than-fiction, seizing every opportunity to echo battle cries of the 2016 US presidential election.

Thus, David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who is portrayed by Topher Grace, addresses a room of his ardent supporters and sincerely thanks them for putting America first.

"America will never elect somebody like David Duke President of the United States," scoffs detective Ron (John David Washington) to colleagues on the force.

Ron (Washington) is persuaded to join the local police force as part of a diversity drive. This doesn't include visibility, and Ron is consigned to the records room, where he suffers abuse from his fellow officers.

Eventually, Ron compels Chief Bridges (Robert John Burke) and Sergeant Trapp (Ken Garito) to utilise him in the field, and he goes undercover at a rally organised by Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), president of the black student union, who has invited civil rights leader Kwame Ture (Corey Hawkins) to speak to the membership. Back at headquarters, Ron responds to a newspaper advertisement for new members for the Ku Klux Klan, and he impresses local chapter president Walter Breachway (Ryan Eggold).

Ron foolishly gives his own name over the phone, so when the time comes to meet Walter, Detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) poses as Ron and spits out racist bile on cue to perpetrate the deception.

BlacKkKlansman nestles uncomfortable truths in an outlandish narrative that pays tribute to "the Jackie Robinson of the Colorado Springs police force" as he outwits the KKK from the inside.

Washington and Driver are a fantastic double-act, and the script strikes a pleasing balance between suspense and humour.

Lee occasionally over-eggs his deliciously tart pudding, as seen in his choice to juxtapose scenes of characters chanting "Black Power" and "White Power". Sometimes, restraint lands the heaviest blows.

Four stars

The Children Act review: Thompson shines in muddled drama

Dame Emma Thompson delivers one of the most beautifully calibrated, heart-rending performances of her career in The Children Act, adapted for the screen by Ian McEwan from his 2014 novel.

Donning the robes of a judge who tranquillises her emotions when she presides over cases at the Royal Courts of Justice, the two-time Oscar winner elegantly reveals chinks in her character's burnished armour.

Despite her best efforts at cool detachment, guilt and regret eventually spill over as one deliberation reaches its summation.

For the opening hour, Richard Eyre's courtroom drama is a riveting character study.

Thompson wrestles with life-or-death decisions with a stoicism and haunting solitude that comes at the expense of personal relationships.

Once a case is closed and the judge faces the ramifications of her carefully weighted words, the film unravels in a concluding act devoid of emotional heft. It's a muddled, unsatisfying resolution to an artfully composed study that promises so much.

The Honourable Mrs Justice Fiona Maye (Thompson), is a slave to the law. Her workload leaves scant time for husband Jack (Stanley Tucci), who shocks his wife by confessing his intention to have an affair. Unable to respond, Fiona is called away to deal with the urgent case of 17-year-old leukaemia patient Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead).

The boy and his parents (Ben Chaplin, Eileen Walsh) are Jehovah's Witnesses, and it is contrary to their faith to accept blood. Without a transfusion, Adam will die.

Since Adam is a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday, Fiona wields the power to force him to accept the blood that could save his life.

Aided by her fastidious clerk Nigel (Jason Watkins), Fiona must deliver her ruling while attempting to resuscitate her marriage.

The Children Act is a handsome showcase for Thompson and she never disappoints. My verdict is that his intelligent, sensitively handled film fails to achieve its full potential.

Three stars
Scarlett Moffatt has emerged as the bookmakers favourite to replace Ant McPartlin on this years Im A Celebrity (Ian West/PA)

Former Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt has emerged as the bookmakers favourite to replace Ant McPartlin on Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! after ITV confirmed Declan Donnelly will not present the show alone.

ITVs director of television Kevin Lygo told the Edinburgh TV Festival that a new co-host has been chosen to replace McPartlin, but he declined to reveal who it would be.

Donnellys long-time presenting partner will not return to work this year following a drink-driving conviction which saw him banned from the road for 20 months and fined 86,000.

It marks the first time since the show began in 2002 that the duo will not front the reality show together from the Australian jungle.

Expand Close Ant McPartlin will not appear on Im A Celebrity with Declan Donnelly this year (Matt Crossick/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ant McPartlin will not appear on Im A Celebrity with Declan Donnelly this year (Matt Crossick/PA)

Bookmakers Paddy Power are offering odds of 6/4 on Moffatt, 27, to replace McPartlin. The TV star was crowned queen of the jungle in the 2016 series.

Moffatt, who like McPartlin and Donnelly hails from the North East of England, also appeared on Im A Celebrity spin-off show Extra Camp.

A spokesman for Paddy Power said: ITV bosses seem set to really think outside the box by replacing him with much-loved Geordie TV presenter Scarlett Moffatt. Genius.

Moffatt is one of several female presenters being touted as contenders for the role.

Another previous winner, Made In Chelseas Georgia Toffolo, has odds of 2/1. She is just ahead of the host of the Australian version of the show Julia Morris.

Comedian Morris told ITVs Good Morning Britain she would fill in for McPartlin in a heartbeat.

Expand Close 2017 winner Georgia Toffolo is also in the running according to bookmakers (Ian West/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp 2017 winner Georgia Toffolo is also in the running according to bookmakers (Ian West/PA)

A montage of the way Morris introduces herself while presenting, including as Kylie Minogues body double has recently amassed more than a million views online.

This Morning host Holly Willoughby and Love Islands Caroline Flack are also in the reckoning.

The male presenter that Paddy Power is offering the lowest odds on is X-Factor host Dermot OLeary who is at 10/1.

TV presenter Stephen Mulhern, who appeared a segment in Ant And Decs Saturday Night Takeaway, is also thought to be in contention.
The cast of the hit comedy Derry Girls

Derry Girls were celebrating in style last night after the hit comedy series won in the Best Comedy Series category at the Edinburgh TV festival.

Just a month after the cult show was named winner of the Radio Times Comedy Champion award, the Derry Girls team have one of the UK's most coveted awards under their belt.

A delighted Nicola Coughlan, who stars as Clare Devlin in the acclaimed series, tweeted: "We won best Comedy Series! Thank you so much @EdinburghTVFest!"

Derry native Lisa McGee's nostalgic series depicts the lives of a group of teenagers growing up in the Maiden City in the Nineties amid the Troubles.

The first series was watched by an average of 2.5 million viewers.

A second series of the award-winning comedy is expected to go on air early in the New Year.

Among the other winners at the Edinburgh TV festival was Monty Python star Michael Palin, who received a lifetime achievement award.

He joked: "It's a great honour to still be alive."

EastEnders actor Danny Dyer's expletive-filled rant about Brexit was named the television moment of the year at the festival.

Dyer laid into former prime minister David Cameron for his part in Brexit when he appeared as a guest on Good Evening Britain, ITV's one-off night-time show hosted by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.
Emma Thompson is famously un-starry, but she is also an Oscar-winning pillar of the British acting establishment who is regarded as a national treasure.

As a result, one wants to address her with as much respect as one can muster.

It is therefore more than slightly horrifying to realise you have casually called her Emma, rather than acknowledging the Damehood she received earlier this year in the Queen's birthday honours.

"I will let it go this time," she jokes, mischievously. "But next time, off with your head. The executioner is in the wardrobe."

The star of such films as Howards End, Love Actually and Sense and Sensibility was recognised by the Queen for her services to drama, and she adds another worthy role to her repertoire with her latest film, The Children Act, in which she plays a High Court judge.

Adapted by Ian McEwan from his novel of the same name, the project offered Thompson, who is now 59, a character she had never seen before.

"When you hear the word 'judge', even in this day and age, in our patriarchal way you just tend to think, 'Oh it's a man'," she says.

"We have never seen a film about a woman who is a High Court judge - I have never seen that - and so I was fascinated to do the research and see what it's like to be that very rare thing of a woman who has that kind of power.

"She has to make decisions that are life and death, decisions that affect families and people in visceral, extreme ways.

"Feeling that power in the corridors of the Courts of Justice was overwhelming.

"I made friends with two judges who I love and admire more than I can begin to tell you.

"They sit above everyone else... it makes the court into a theatre, and they are the ones who everyone is looking up at.

"You can also see everything that is going on. The women used to say to me that they watch the body language a lot. It's a completely compelling job."

Thompson spent a great deal of time 'backstage' in courts, observing their arcane procedures and marvelling that only judges and clerks can walk on the red carpet of the corridors.

"You suddenly realise that they are these God-like creatures in their robes, walking around with this extraordinary power, and hardly any women have that kind of power in the world, ever."

In the film, Thompson's character, Fiona Maye, must rule in a family court on whether a hospital can treat an ill teenage boy, played by Dunkirk actor Fionn Whitehead, against the wishes of his Jehovah's Witness parents.

"The thing to note is that the family court is considered the poor cousin," she says.

"Criminal is the macho guy thing - that is where the 'real' stuff happens, and that view is just typical, frankly.

"But family court is where the real drama and the real pain is. It's terrifying - all human life is there... it's like the Greek myths, every f****** day."

Thompson, who was previously married to Sir Kenneth Branagh, said that fact was drawn into particularly sharp relief during the case of Charlie Gard, the baby whose fate was the subject of a protracted court battle after he was born with a rare genetic disorder called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome.

His parents fought a five-month campaign to have him transferred from Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London, where he was on life support, for experimental treatment elsewhere before he eventually died in July 2017.

"You realise there are no winners," Thompson said. "There is no right and wrong, really.

"There are decisions that have to be made. They are always painful and they are painful on both sides and they are painful for the judge.

"Sometimes, in some human situations, there is only pain and that is how it is.

"It might not be okay, it might not be fine, but it's how it is sometimes when we are human beings.

"We are so used to needing this sense that it's got to come right in the end because we tell stories in order to make ourselves feel better about the fact that sometimes in life there is only pain."

Thompson is far more optimistic when it comes to the subject of women in positions of power, especially in the judiciary.

She says it is "terribly important" for young girls to see characters such as a female judge depicted on screen so they know that kind of job is possible for them.

"If you think about the way in which the iconography was changed when Barack Obama became president, it's exactly the same," she adds.

"As soon as you see a powerful role, a government role, a role like this being taken by a woman, you can see that and think, 'Oh, I can be a judge'.

"But that has to be backed up. It's alright having dreams, but they have to be backed up by the intentions of your government.

"If they are cutting educational opportunities for people, in particular those from lower-income environments, then the pool from which women are going to be able to come up to become judges gets smaller and smaller."

"This is all about educational opportunities and also about challenging the automatic routes that mostly men, mostly white men, can take through Eton and Oxbridge.

"The judiciary is like Parliament - it's still a club for straight, white men, although I have to say that is changing.

"There are little pockets of hope, and the greatest place to find hope about all of these issues is with the young generation.

"If you want to find new ideas, go to the Edinburgh Festival, go and visit the little theatres, go and see what poor, young, female writers are writing about, what it is to be born into the female body today.

"Watch Jill Soloway's The Female Gaze and watch Nanette, Hannah Gadsby's piece on Netflix, and inform yourselves and see what is going on."

With those rousing instructions, I stand to take my leave, ducking so I don't hit my head on a low-hanging light.

"I'm so glad you're going out while bowing," Dame Emma says with a cheeky grin. "If you go backwards, that's even better."

The Children Act is in cinemas now
scroll.in, 23 August 2018

Hereas how people can show their gratitude to the marine fisherfolk who were vital to the rescue effort.

by John Kurien

A WhatsApp post currently doing the rounds in Kerala comprises an image in which a fisherman wearing a red cape, oar in hand, stands near a boat on which rests a cut-out of the state. The accompanying message reads: aHollywood has Spiderman, Batman, Ironman, but we Keralites have all under one name a fishermen.a

Some may consider this post to be an exaggeration, considering that a vast number of people across various categories of society a including students, professionals and armed forces personnel a have been involved in the rescue operations for the worst flood to hit Kerala in a century.

But these marine fishers are indeed the heroes of these operations. Navy officials, the press, people on social media, politicians across party lines and thousands of local residents who were rescued by them have commended their efficient and selfless service over the past few weeks, especially in the worst-flooded districts of Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur.

The involvement of fisherfolk in the rescue effort is remarkable considering the fact that they belong to the lower rungs of Keralaas socio-economic ladder, are often invisible to other residents of the state, and neglected by the government. Despite this, they mobilised swiftly and efficiently to join the rescue efforts a often at their own cost a and utilised their skills and equipment to help save thousands of lives.

The citizens of Kerala owe them more than a few words of thanks and social media memes.

Fishermen rescue residents in Chengannur taluk in Keralaas flood-hit Alappuzha district. (Photo credit: HT).

Invaluable help

Nearly 1,000 fishermen and 500 of their fishing boats were involved in the rescue operations in sorties widely covered by TV, print and social media. Many of them even brought their own initial stocks of fuel and paid for the costs of transporting their boats by truck to the flooded inland districts. Their unique assets a motorised boats and GPS a and their ability to navigate flood waters fearlessly proved to be invaluable during the rescue efforts. In Alappuzha alone, fishermen rescued 16,000 people using their boats, according to a statement from the district collector.

Marine fishermen (as distinct from the women in their communities) are rarely seen in such large numbers in the midlands of Kerala. In fact, some of the people they saved, especially those from well-to-do families, interacted with them at close quarters for the first time during the course of their rescue.

The invisibility of these fishermen to ordinary Keralites is primarily because their occupation takes them out to sea, where they brave the waves to catch the fish without which most Keralites cannot enjoy their meals. When they get back from work, they have other jobs to do, like mending their nets and preparing their boats for the next dayas trip. In normal times, they have little time to interact with mainstream society.

Another post doing the rounds on social media is a confession of sorts, and provides a glimpse into how some Keralites view members of this community. It says: aMy tuition master used to jokingly say that if I did not study I would end up as a fisherman. But this prejudice changed today when I heard that my cousin sister was rescued by fishermen from a luxury apartment building. They refused to take a bundle of money offered by her saying she was like their own sister. My sister said she cried her heart outa

What next?

With the floods now abating, the fishermen have returned to their homes and their livelihoods. With the stateas attention turning towards rehabilitating flood victims a where fishers have no role to play a their brave actions will fade in public memory.

But the rescuers have also sustained damages and injuries. For instance, many of their boats were damaged by the debris concealed by the flood water, which is not a risk they face at sea. Some of them were injured during the rescue efforts too.

Political parties are now competing to organise functions to felicitate them. But are long speeches and shawls an adequate expression of gratitude to these heroes?

Consider this. Marine fishing is a livelihood with the highest occupational risks. These fishermen face the wrath of unpredictable nature every day. Data shows that one Kerala fisherman dies at sea every four days. If life at sea is risky, life on land is also increasingly becoming so. Several fishing communities in the state have been fighting to save their homes from the sea, which has been ravaging coastal fishing villages every year due to a combination of natural and human made factors.

In fact, while peopleas attention was focused on the floods, the damage to houses on the coast because of the ingress of the sea due to strong winds and other factors has not received much publicity. Also, now with unprecedented quantities of fresh water, silt and all forms of debris and pollutants pouring out into coastal waters, fishers anticipate unexpected changes in the behaviour of fish and their ability to harvest them. This has the potential to hurt their livelihoods. But this is not all. Coastal fishing communities have been outliers in the much-touted Kerala model of development for years, with their human development indicators lagging significantly behind the rest of Kerala.

The community has also just about recovered from the trauma of last Decemberas Cyclone Ockhi, during which they lost more lives at sea than has been lost during the current floods. The response of Keralaas civil society towards their plight in the aftermath of Ockhi was at best lukewarm. Even agencies like the Coast Guard and Navy had a delayed response time during this disaster, constrained as they were by their strict protocols and inadequate facilities.

Some suggestions

It is clear then that the citizens of Kerala must do something for the fishers who helped them. Here are a few suggestions that could perhaps be a more fitting aThank you.a

First, a proper local-level assessment must be made of all the damage to the boats of fishermen who aided the rescue effort. Quick assistance must be rendered to them so they can get back to fishing at the earliest.

Second, the damage to houses on the coast due to the unexpected fury of the sea in August a particularly to homes of fishermen who helped in the rescue a must, as a priority, be compensated from the Chief Ministeras Distress Relief Fund.

Third, the government and disaster management authorities in Kerala, who tend to view the fishing community as permanent recipients of relief measures and disaster aid, must pick volunteers from among them and recognise them as a skilled cadre of permanent disaster response teams.

Fourth, recognising that there is no alternative to the traditional skills of fishers, agencies such as the Coast Guard, the National and State Disaster Response Teams must have statutory provisions to recruit youth from these communities. These recruits may not have high educational qualifications, but their skills will prove invaluable in crisis situations like the floods the state has just seen.

Fifth, there must be more formal government recognition of the heroic efforts of fishers in the rescue operations. Along with them, many other unsung heroes from other walks of life could be felicitated. November 21, World Fisheries Day, may be an appropriate occasion.

Finally, the rescue stories of fishers from different parts of Kerala must be recorded by an appropriate agency like the Kerala Council for Historical Research. Institutional memory of crisis events a something India critically lacks a is an imperative guide for the future.

Taken together, these measures can be a good way for us to really repay the community that rose to the occasion despite their own neglected status in society, becoming superheroes in the process.
When Malone College, Belfast student Faith Mooney (17) found out she was pregnant last year, she had unfounded fears of bullying and failing her GCSEs.

Now, she's looking forward to coming back for A-levels and hopes to become a primary school teacher.

Yesterday, the young mum said she was delighted to have a new daughter Hazel as well as passing eight out of her nine GCSEs, including Bs in English Language and Moving Image Arts.

"I found out I was pregnant in August which meant I was dealing with that for the entire school year," she said.

"The school really helped and there wasn't any bullying. That wasn't what I expected as I'd heard all these horror stories.

"So my GCSEs came around and I was either doing my revision classes while nine months pregnant and due, or had just had a baby, so it was a lot."

Hazel was born on May 24, followed quickly by Faith's exams.

"The pastoral care team told me to come to them if I had any bullying problems, but everyone was really nice and the worst I got was a lot of friend requests on Facebook. It's been a lot having Hazel, but her dad and both our families help out so that's been really good."

Thomas Patton (17) struggled to focus on his studies early in his school career before finding a new confidence for his GCSEs with A grades in Double Award Science, Further Maths, English Language and English Literature. Now he's taking science-based A-levels with hopes of becoming an electrical engineer.

Geani Musa (16) was delighted to get 10 GCSEs, including an AB in Double Award Science. He's returning for science and maths-based A-levels before deciding on a career choice.

Conor Smyth (16) said he was proud of his results after working hard for grades that included a B in Moving Images, C in English and a Prince's Trust qualification.

Morgan Pettigrew (16) is returning for his A-levels then hopes to join the Army for three years followed by a course at university to become a PE teacher. "The Army has always been a goal in life for experience," he said.
John Gilligan has appeared in court in Northern Ireland charged with money laundering offences. (stock image)

John Gilligan has appeared in court in Northern Ireland charged with money laundering offences.

Gilligan (66) was arrested yesterday as he tried to board a flight to Spain with more than 22,000 in a suitcase.

Details of Gilligan's attempt to leave the country via Belfast International Airport were revealed at North Antrim Magistrates' Court sitting in Coleraine today.

The 66-year-old, with an address listed as Greenforth Crescent, Dublin, was formally charged with attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland.

In court, Gilligan spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

Following the hearing he was remanded in custody after his lawyer's application for bail was refused.
Northern Ireland is set to benefit after China approved imports of UK-made dairy products such as cream and yoghurt made using milk sourced from other countries.

In Beijing, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the deal is worth 240m over five years for the UK dairy industry.

The agreement is said to increase flexibility in the supply chain, meaning producers here, for example, can export products made using milk from across the border.

Dr Fox announced the deal whilst in China, where he is attending a meeting of the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) in Beijing.

"This is my fourth visit to China this year and I'm delighted to see the completion of this deal, bringing significant benefits to dairy producers across the UK at a time when British food and drink exports are at a record high," he said.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove added: "This milestone will help to unlock the UK food and drink industry's full potential forging new trading relationships around the globe.

"This step shows we can now be a truly outward looking Britain outside the European Union."

DUP MEP Diane Dodds said she was delighted by the announcement, as it would give firms in Northern Ireland greater access to the Chinese market.

She said: "Greater access to this high value market and vast population can only be a positive for the agri-food sector. It is reported that Chinese demand for dairy products is growing by 20% every year, with shoppers linking dairy to nutrition and well-being.

"We want to see greater access to new markets for all sectors but in particular sheep meat and we will be lobbying the Government to do much more in this area."

Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann MLA said Northern Ireland could expect to receive "a good proportion" of the 240m deal over five years.

Mr Swann said: "As we are little more than six months away from Brexit these major trade deals are worth their weight in gold. Dairy farmers and processors, especially those with a lot of movement back and forth across the Irish border, understandably are nervous about what the future may hold for them post Brexit.

"Deals therefore such as this Chinese agreement will come as a major relief to them."
A serving SDLP councillor and former Sinn Fein activist is set to attend a Royal Black Institution parade on Saturday.

Lisburn and Castlereagh councillor Mairia Cahill accepted the invitation and will attend the return leg of the Last Saturday parade in Cookstown before being a guest at a dinner hosted by the Royal Black in Clogher.

The annual Last Saturday demonstrations will signify the curtain coming down on the 2018 parading season.

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Demonstrations take place at six locations  Newtownards, Larne, Ballymena, Cookstown, Donemana and Limavady  with around 350 preceptories participating, many of them accompanied by bands.

Ms Cahill joined the SDLP last month and was co-opted onto Lisburn and Castlereagh Council.

She was previously involved in Sinn Fein, before publicly accusing the IRA of covering up her rape and then organising a "kangaroo court" in which she was forced to meet her attacker, a former member of the terror group.

Ms Cahill said she was happy to accept the invitation "in the spirit of reconciliation" and said it was an "opportunity to embrace different cultural traditions".

She will attend the event accompanied by her daughter after delivering the keynote address at the SDLP Youth Conference on Saturday.

"I have done a lot of work with the unionist community in Omagh in recent years and that is probably where the invitation has come from. I have made the effort to learn about their background, and equally they have made the effort to learn about me," Ms Cahill said.

"I was pleasantly surprised to receive it, I've been to different events before including a community festival on the Shankill Road and watched other parades in the north west, it's not out of the ordinary for me to go to events like this.

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"I felt it was important to go to because it's a big celebration for that section of the community and part of their tradition and I want to learn a bit more about it."

Ms Cahill admitted she could not have seen herself attending such an event when she was part of Sinn Fein.

"It's a huge journey for me, in the late 1990s I would have been one of those people who had taken an opposite stance to parades in different areas, it's an ongoing journey but I couldn't have envisaged this 20 years ago," she said.

"I have ongoing engagements with those in the unionist community and I think they trust I am serious when I express a desire to learn about different communities.

Our political impasse has unfortunately exacerbated old fault lines and divisions. Therefore, it is imperative that those of us committed to making politics work for all citizens take every opportunity to reach out to one another."

The Lisburn and Castlereagh councillor said that everyone in Northern Ireland had shared history.

"It's also apart of our history here as much as my own background is part of mine. If we look at our family history we will all find cross over of different religions and cultures and mine is no different," Ms Cahill said.

"My uncle was Joe Cahill (former IRA Chief of Staff), but by the same token I have other family members further back who served in the British Army.

"I don't think people should snub these invitations when they come."

A Royal Black spokesman confirmed Cllr Cahill had accepted the personal invitation of an individual member.

All of our processions are public events, and anyone is welcome to attend, the spokesman said.
A man allegedly smashed a glass into the face of a driver after being given a lift in Belfast, a court heard.

Deaglan Bassett, 27, is also accused of breaking a police USB stick containing evidence of the suspected attack.

The alleged victim, a Syrian man, was said to have sustained serious facial injuries.

However, a detective confirmed there is no suggestion of any racial motive behind the incident at Hatfield Street in the early hours of August 4.

Bassett, of Ballynafoy Close in the city, faces charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, criminal damage and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Belfast Magistrates' Court was told the injured party gave a man and two women a lift from the Ormeau Road to a city centre and then back to Hatfield Street.

According to police he dropped them off and parked before the group approached him again.

"The male smashed a glass into his face, causing severe injuries to his face," the detective said.

CCTV footage from the hotel area allegedly connects Bassett to the incident.

District Judge Fiona Bagnall heard claims that after he was interviewed on Thursday he snapped a USB pen in two in a bid to destroy evidence.

Opposing bail, the detective asserted: "Police believe he's a danger to the public."

A defence lawyer stressed Bassett went to the PSNI voluntarily once he became aware they were looking for him.

He argued that the evidence against his client is circumstantial.

Bassett has also consented to participate in an identification process and provide DNA samples.

Bail was refused, however, due to the potential risk of re-offending.

Mrs Bagnall remanded the accused in custody to appear again by video-link on September 20.
The Citizen, 23 August, 2018

Khushjamalon ki yaad aati hai Bemisaalon ki yaad aati hai Jaanewaley kabhi nahin aate Jaanewalon ki yaad aati hai Thatas what he was Khushjamaal (Beautiful) Bemisaal- (Peerless)

I never thought I would be writing these lines for Kuldip Nayar. He was alive, active, articulate until the very last when I spoke to him on the phone from Amritsar exactly one week ago on Independence Day.

A group of us had gone to the Wagah border to light candles upholding the Kuldip Nayar tradition. For 23 years the candles had been lit on midnight of August 14/15. He had a few comrades, specially two young men from Amritsar Satnam Manek and Ramesh Yadav who stood by him for a quarter century of his struggle to bring these two beleaguered countries on the Aman Dosti Path. For many years he enabled Pakistani and Indian friends to stand on the either side shining their candles to dispel the darkness and distance between the two neighbors. On either side, the BSF and Rangers were mute witnesses to this courageous tableau. No matter which government was in power they could not stop this movement; although it was carefully contained within the lakeers on either side.

This year it was Kuldip who flagged off the Yatra from Gandhi Darshan. A dozen of us, led by the indomitable Mohini Giri herself in a wheelchair, Ram Mohan peace crusader from Panipat the land of Sufis went to invite him to flag off the Yatra. We were received with the usual Nayar hospitality. Bharati ji was at his side with the same spirit I witnessed personally eighteen years ago in 2000 at Wagah. He sat at his desk while we crowded around, all smiles. On August 12 he came to Gandhi Darshan for the flag off. In the hall where all had gathered, he walked to the stage with support; he even climbed the two steps, sat down, listened to the speakers, and spoke poignantly of 1947 and the tragic exodus from West Punjab. He reminisced about his student days when Mohammad Ali Jinnah came to his college and young Kuldip asked him a question about the fate of Hindus and Muslims in case partition happens. His mind was crystal clear, his speech was soft, his expression was sad but with a glimmer of hope. At that moment I got a strong feeling that history was being penned as he was speaking. I asked a colleague who was recording on his phone to keep it safe as a precious record.

Amritsar was waiting for Kuldipas caravan of Aman Dosti. The event was organised at the Natshala. It began with remembering Madeeha Gauhar and Asma Jahangir but every few moments people spoke about Kuldip. They recounted how he had seeded the idea, how for several years he got thousands on both sides of the border to listen to Hans Raj Hans. His presence was all pervasive in that packed auditorium. No one thought that the very next year it would be Kuldip who we would be commemorating. His friends Yadav, Manek and Bali told me that they were planning a big event in his honour in Delhi in September. I know they will still hold it.

From Amritsar I spoke to him on the phone every morning, reporting on our day. He had a very bad throat but I heard the keen edge and trace of joy in his voice. I could sense how keenly he listened when I recounted bit by bit our movement through the day leading to the midnight vigil at Wagah. I spoke to him about his friends, how they were missing him and how they were hoisting his flag of peace. I spoke to him three mornings in a row and got the feeling that he was waiting for my call. aWe will come and see you as soon as we get backa was the last sentence he hared from me. Sadly I called him not immediately but two days after our return to learn that he was in hospital and not allowed visitors.

I spoke to his staff yesterday; being Eid it was my special day to pray for him. I have to say that never have I a spent a sadder and more desolate Eid. The sadness had no name; just a blanket of grief which negated any thought of celebration. And the day after Eid early morning Kuldip Nayar, Midnightas Child, Candle Bearer at borders and boundaries, flag bearer of Peace between India and Pakistan has left us for ever.

He was the gentle giant of India Pakistan Peace. Both countries should honour him by opening the borders for a massive memorial meeting which should be held in his karmbhoomi Amritsar. That should be a start of opening the way for the two countries to begin a Kuldip Nayar - Asma Jahangir Peace Dialogue to fulfil the dreams of these two stalwarts who lived and died for the cause. And to bring solace to the hearts and minds of millions of Indians and Pakistanis.
Two of the lead detectives criticised over the Omagh bomb investigation have called for a personal apology from former Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan over her claims that the atrocity could have been prevented.

The now retired officers have said they are furious with Baroness O'Loan for reopening old wounds by choosing the 20th anniversary of the single worst terrorist massacre of the Troubles to blame the police for not doing enough to prevent it.

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The Real IRA attack on August 15 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

Baroness O'Loan's remarks last week led to a public spat with PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton, who accused her of "traumatising" the victims' families with her "bizarre" claims.

And the two detectives, speaking publicly for the first time, said they are baffled by the then Ombudsman's vow to "leave no stone unturned" in her probe, as she didn't interview either of them prior to the publication of her damning 2001 report. Yet they said the report's findings clearly pointed to them - so much so that they had to safety-proof their houses following its publication.

The pair, who both retired in 2001, received a written apology in 2009 in response to their complaint about Baroness O'Loan's criticism of them.

Now, however, they want her to apologise personally for claiming the police could have prevented the attack on the Co Tyrone market town, for which no-one has ever been convicted.

"Nuala O'Loan owes us an apology for what she said last week. She should stop blaming the police for Omagh," one of the detectives said.

They insisted the so-called anonymous tip-off about a possible dissident attack on Omagh was fully and properly investigated, yet they never got the chance to explain that to Baroness O'Loan prior to the report's publication.

"Everybody who knew us knew we were the policemen she was referring to," said Detective A who, like his colleague, has requested anonymity.

"The inference in the report was that we retired before it came out so that they couldn't touch us, which was nonsense."

He added: "We were both badly maligned in the report. I had a very deep sense of hurt, Detective B perhaps even more-so because he served in Omagh and knew some of the victims' families. Those people thought that he was in some way responsible for what happened - a man who served loyally and well for 33 years.

"Imagine having to explain to your children that you were not responsible for the loss of 31 lives. It was gut-wrenching. It hit very, very deep." Detective B said he is at a loss to explain why neither him or Detective A were interviewed by the Ombudsman.

"Prior to the publication of the report we had agreed to be interviewed by her," he said. "Then the Ombudsman's office phoned up several days before the agreed date and said they no longer wanted to see us."

He added: "We were told a draft report had gone to the Chief Constable. That report came out without anyone having spoken to us." Detective A said: "The backlash was terrible, and we made our complaint. Basically it was that the two people who were made central to this report were never spoken to. If she had spoken to us and found out what we had actually done in response to the anonymous information about a potential attack she wouldn't have come to the conclusion that vilified us in the way that she did."

The detectives said the telephone warning, which was made 11 days before the bomb exploded in Market Street, was immediately acted upon.

"Detective B was in the office when a CID guy came in and said there'd been anonymous call," said Detective A.

"The gist of it was there was going to be a gun and rocket attack on the police three miles outside Omagh on August 15. This man was to phone back the next day - but he never did."

Detective A added: "In the meantime, we kicked into motion a series of enquiries but they all proved negative. We had a nickname that didn't check out. There was nothing. At the end of the day, it wasn't a rocket and gun attack outside Omagh.

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 Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Pacemaker Press 15/08/2018 Prayers are held at at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast on the 20th anniversary of Omagh bombing. Prayers are to held at 3.10pm to remember the victims of the bomb in Omagh 20 years ago today. 29 candles where lit for the victims. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A young girl is seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A young girl is seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A young girl is seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People are seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People are seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A woman lays flowers at Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A bell is rang once during the ceremony for each person who died and then one at the end for everyone. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People are seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A bell is rang once during the ceremony for each person who died and then one at the end for everyone. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. A woman lays flowers at Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People are seen through the Omagh bomb memorial as the ceremony takes place on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. One of the victims Jolene Marlow's family(right) pictured during the ceremony on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. One of the victims Jolene Marlow's family pictured during the ceremony on the spot of the bombing on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Members of the fire service throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Members of the fire service throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People gather white petals to throw into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th August 2017 Omagh bomb 20th anniversary remembrance ceremony. 29 people were killed in the Co. Tyrone town on 15th August 1998 when a dissident republican bomb exploded on Market Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. People throw white petals into the Omagh bomb remembrance garden after the ceremony on Market Street. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Floral tributes left at the Omagh Bomb Memorial, located on Market Street, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, during the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People visit the Omagh Memorial garden after attending the ceremony for victims of the car bomb on Market Street on the 15th August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People visit the Omagh Memorial garden after attending the ceremony for victims of the car bomb on Market Street on the 15th August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA White Rose petals are thrown into a pond at the Omagh Memorial garden by people who attended the ceremony for victims of the car bomb on Market Street on the 15th August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Richard Scott reads a poem entitled "Reality" during the ceremony for victims of the Omagh bombing at the site where a car bomb exploded on Market Street in Omagh on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People observe a minutes silence on Market Street, Omagh, during the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathered on Market Street, Omagh, during the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathered on Market Street, Omagh, during the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA People gathered on Market Street, Omagh, during the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena died in the blast during the ceremony for victims of the Omagh car bombing on Market Street on the 15th August 1998. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 15, 2018. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. See PA story ULSTER Omagh. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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"I did everything I could to investigate what we were told. The person who made the call needs to answer that. I knew deep down in my heart that I'd done everything I could."

In response, a spokesman for the Office of Police Ombudsman said their position "is clear".

"In 2001, we issued a report in which we said that significant information was not handled correctly and that it was not possible to say what impact other action between August 4 and August 15 1998 would have had, or whether action other than that taken by Special Branch could have prevented the Omagh bomb," he said.

"The current Police Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire, in a report in 2014 in which he considered specific matters relating to how the RUC Special Branch handled intelligence, said his investigation had not identified any evidence that intelligence was available to police, which if acted upon, could have prevented the bombing."
A tweet by Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill blaming the Conservative party for Northern Ireland's continued lack of government has been slammed by the DUP as an attempt to "mask its own failures".

Northern Ireland surpassed a record set by Belgium for going without government for 541 days. However it won't be recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records as it's a devolved region with Westminster ultimately responsible and it having intervened on a number of occasions since January 2017 when Sinn Fein collapsed the institutions.

On Thursday Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill held talks with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Karen Bradley. In a tweet she said it was "abundantly clear" the British Government was "continuing to prioritise their own selfish interests over devolved government".

"DUP agenda being facilitated. The price of the DUP/Tory Pact - No Assembly or Executive," she added.

Phone call with Karen bradley today. Still abundantly clear that British Govt continuing to prioritise their own selfish interests over devolved government. DUP agenda being facilitated! The price of the DUP/Tory Pact - No Assembly or Executive.  Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) August 23, 2018

However, DUP MLA Simon Hamilton pointed to the funding secured by his party through the confidence and supply deal brokered with the Tory minority government.

For over 500 days Sinn Fein have refused to restore devolution and nominate Executive ministers," he said.

"In that period Sinn Feins list of demands and red lines grew. Meanwhile they have allowed departments and the people of Northern Ireland to continue in a state of limbo.

"The latest statement from Michelle ONeill appears to be the most bizarre assertion yet.

"Make no mistake the DUP were ready 541 days ago to form an Executive. The people of Northern Ireland know full well what the true price of our Confidence and Supply Agreement is - 1bn more for public services; the maintenance of the Winter Fuel Payment and Pensions Triple Lock; City Deals and much more! Sinn Fein have since offered scorn for extra funding for departments and have continued to boycott Stormont, the Executive and Westminster."

He added: "Sinn Fein attempts to mask their failure to deliver with outrageous statements indicates that they have no intention of putting the interests of the people above their narrow political agenda.

"Yet it is the DUP who will continue to be the voice for Northern Ireland. Delivering extra financial resources and working to secure a sensible Brexit. Its time Sinn Fein face up to the realities. Its their intransigence preventing a return to devolution.

Sinn Fein MP Elisha McCallion said the UK government with the backing of the DUP had a "do-nothing" approach.

The DUP walked away from a deal with Sinn Fein in February this year to restore the Assembly and the Executive before collapsing the political talks," she said.

"The Tories continue to place selfish party political interests over public services and equality for all citizens, the price of their toxic pact with the DUP is no Assembly and no Executive.
Northern Ireland actor Jamie Dornan has put his sprawling LA home on the market for around 2.4m ($3.19m).

The Fifty Shades star bought the glass house back in August 2016, and after an unsuccessful attempt to rent it out for 10,000 a month, has put it up for sale.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Jeff Kohl - who is selling the property on behalf of luxury estate agent The Agency - declined to comment on why it was being sold, but did say Dornan is now primarily based in Europe.

The Holywood actor looks set to make a tidy profit on the house, having purchased it for around 2.2m ($2.84) two years ago.

The 2,510 sq ft residence has four bedrooms and four bathrooms, with the master bedroom opening out onto the pool.

Located on Nichols Canyon Road in the Hollywood Hills, it was originally built in 1959 and underwent an overhaul under the eye of architect Val Powelson in the Sixties.

The property's listing reads: "Natural light from the distinctive glass box atrium floods all common areas of the house, while the atrium's water feature resonates tranquillity.

"Further epitomizing the indoor-outdoor California lifestyle, floor-to-ceiling glass doors open directly to the expansive pool and spa area with a substantial adjacent deck and fire pit, perfect for entertaining."

Jamie Dornan is married to film composer Amelia Warner, and they have two children.

His breakout role came in BBC crime drama The Fall, playing serial killer Paul Spector, before coming to international attention for his portrayal of Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades movie series.

He is set to star in upcoming HBO project My Dinner with Herve, based on the life of French actor Herve Villechaize, featuring alongside Games of Thrones star Peter Dinklage.

Jamie is also set for a return to the BBC when he takes the lead in a version of Eugene McCabe's Death and Nightingales. It will see Dornan reunited with The Fall creator Allan Cubbitt, with the adaptation set over the course of 24 hours in 1885 rural Fermanagh.

He isn't the only member of the Dornan clan hoping to get a good return on the property market. Last month his father, leading obstetrician Professor Jim Dornan, put his luxury Crawfordsburn property on the market for nearly 1m.
I Am will be performing at Phoenix Park on Sunday

A Christian band from Londonderry who usually play to crowds of a few hundred will be on stage at Phoenix Park this Sunday where the Pope will say Mass to a congregation of 100,000.

I Am formed in Derry less than three years ago when cousins Marie Therese Martin and Joseph Carlin got together with sisters Bethany and Lauren Doherty.

The band have just recorded their first album Fight The Good Fight and are excited to launch it at such a prestigious event.

Marie Therese said the phone call they received two weeks ago asking them to play at the papal Mass in Dublin came as no surprise to her.

"As soon as I heard the Pope was coming to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families, I just said to the rest of the band: 'We are going to be performing at that'," she said.

"We have just released our debut album so it really is divine timing.

"It's crazy to think we are launching our debut album at the Phoenix Park where the Pope will be saying Mass.

"This will be the biggest audience at any event in Europe this year, so I hope we haven't peaked too early!

"It has been a whirlwind since we first formed the band. Within three months we had a sell-out concert at St Columb's Hall in Derry."

I Am were also asked by Derry-born Hollywood actress and movie producer Roma Downey to play at the launch of her book A Box Of Butterflies, which is now on the New York Times bestseller list.

"She had heard a song I wrote for the album called Butterflies and absolutely fell in love with it, so she invited us to her launch, which was another dream come true for us," said Marie Therese.

I Am made a deliberate decision not to go down the route of pop music, choosing instead to be a faith-based worship band.

"Music is the most powerful tool we have for shifting people's moods," she said.

"It transcends language, and for me faith-based music takes you to a place that pop music just can't take you.

"The words of our songs are so beautiful and inspiring compared to some of the pop songs that are out there. Looking after our mental health is something everyone should be doing and I think if you are listening to beautiful worship music it is physically impossible to be in a bad mood, and being able to help others do that is important to us.

"It is one of my passions to bring people back, especially young people, and we have had so many incredible opportunities that we would not have had if we were just one more pop band.

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 A woman takes a photograph of the Papal Altar at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. Pic Paul Faith PA AFP/Getty Images An LGBT choir protests outside the world meeting of families in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope LGBT. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Former Manchester United footballer Father Philip Mulryan speaking at the world meeting of families in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Sport . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Statues of Pope Francis sit alongside other memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Sacred heart framed photographs sit alongside other of memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Statues of Pope Francis sit alongside other memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: General views of some of the memorabilia including holy water bottles on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images Pope Francis dolls are on sale at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin on August 23, 2018. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Nuns wait for a service to begin at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin on August 23, 2018. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An art Installation by Mannix Flynn in Dublin City centre ahead of the Popes visit to Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Papal Altar is pictured at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Cardinal Kevin Farrell during the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Archbishop Diarmuid Martin arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis candles on sale before the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Gerald Cyprien Lacroix of Canada arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis T shirts on sale before the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Gerald Cyprien Lacroix of Canada arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pilgrims arrive for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp A woman takes a photograph of the Papal Altar at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. Pic Paul Faith PA

"This weekend is just one more example of that, we will be playing five songs from our album at the World Meeting of Families, which is amazing."
An 18-year-old man was stabbed nine times after fighting erupted over flammable liquid being thrown from a flat in Belfast, a court heard on Friday.

An 18-year-old man was stabbed nine times after fighting erupted over flammable liquid being thrown from a flat in Belfast, a court heard on Friday.

He was also kicked to the head during clashes between two groups on the Laganbank Road area on Wednesday, a judge was told.

Details emerged as two brothers and a third man appeared in the dock jointly charged with the teenager's attempted murder.

Daniel Kelly, 31, Brian Kelly, 24, and Kyle Donaghy, 21, are all further accused of affray in connection with the suspected attack.

The alleged victim sustained serious, but not life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Daniel Kelly, of Elgin Street in Belfast, is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon with intent to commit wounding.

Neither he nor his brother Brian, from St Johns Close in the city, applied for bail.

Donaghy, of Iverna Close in Belfast, did seek release from custody amid opposition from police.

A detective claimed he was seen on CCTV footage forcing entry to a property during the encounter.

She told Belfast Magistrates' Court he is not suspected of inflicting any knife wounds, but can be seen on footage kicking the alleged victim to the head while he's being attacked on the ground.

Donaghy's barrister, Mark Farrell, contended that two groups clashed amid a party taking place in the area.

He claimed the injured party was present in an upstairs flat when someone threw a container of either petrol or lighter fluid out onto the pavement where his client and co-accused were located.

"Cigarettes were also being thrown down, obviously in an attempt to start some sort of fire. A fight then breaks out between the parties," counsel said.

According to Mr Farrell, Donaghy accepted kicking the injured man but claims to have left the scene before the stabbing occurred.

"He gave valuable information to police, he gave a picture of what happened," the lawyer added.

During the hearing it was confirmed that the injured party had been stabbed nine times.

CCTV and mobile phone footage forms part of the police case, District Judge Fiona Bagnall was told.

Refusing Donaghy's application for bail, she cited the risk of re-offending.

He was remanded in custody with his two co-accused to appear again by video-link at a later date.
Cabinet Minister David Lidington has defended his government's advice for Northern Ireland business to contact Dublin officials to prepare for how they may continue to trade across the border after Brexit.

Business organisations expressed bewilderment at the advice issued in government documents released on Thursday outlining how to prepare in the event the UK crashing out of Europe in the event of a no deal Although Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said a no deal was "highly unlikely".

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Cabinet Minister Lidington - the defacto deputy Prime Minister - visited Londonderry on Friday to meet with business organisations and discuss the continued lack of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

He defended the advice, saying similar guidance applied to those trading with France.

"It can't be for UK ministers to determine or give authoritative advice on what steps are taken by the Irish government in its jurisdiction any more than we can say what the French will be doing at Calais.

"That is something that the French authorities will have to take their decision on."

Brian McGrath, vice President of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Chief Executive of Foyle Port welcomed the minister's visit.

"The engagement gave us the chance to impress upon the minister the uniqueness of the area and the importance of the City Deal for the region in creating prosperity for the next 20 years.

"The City Deal offers a positive and sustained opportunity for economic and social development and we look forward to the Minister relaying those messages back to his cabinet colleagues before the next Budget.

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The advice forms part of the nine-page Trading with the EU if theres no Brexit deal technical notice - one of a raft of documents published by the Brexit department advising businesses and the public on what they need to do to prepare for a no-deal scenario.

For those Northern Ireland businesses that trade with the Republic they are advised to contact the Irish government about preparations they may need to make as ministers there have indicated they would need to discuss arrangements in the event of a no-deal with the European Commission.

The document states: Businesses should now consider the impacts on them in a no-deal scenario, which would mean a requirement to apply the same customs and excise rules to goods traded with the EU that apply for goods traded outside of the EU, including the requirement to submit customs declarations.

Businesses should consider whether it is appropriate for them to acquire software and or engage a customs broker, freight forwarder or logistics provider to support them with these new requirements.

The notice adds: Engaging a customs broker or acquiring the appropriate software and authorisations from HMRC will come at a cost.

On trade in Northern Ireland the technical paper states that the Government stands ready to engage constructively to act in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal.

Announcing the publication of the documents the Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab again reasserted the government's commitments to Northern Ireland and how they were committed to ensuring there was no hard border at the Irish border.

He said it was important people and organisations had "clear and practical advice and re-assurance" in the event of a no deal.

"We are trying to make sure people have the information they need, the lead time they need and some guidance about the practical way through some of the difficulties in the unlikely eventually of a no deal."

Mr Raab also said the government would do nothing to disrupt the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler has said he is surprised and disappointed at social media criticism of his decision to meet the Pope.

The Lagan Valley representative will attend Pope Francis's address in Dublin Castle tomorrow.

Mr Butler, who is a born-again Christian, posted a video on Facebook saying he was delighted to be representing his party during the first papal visit to Ireland in almost 40 years.

While many people praised him, others accused him of abandoning Protestantism and unionism.

Former South Down UUP MLA Harold McKee said on the papal visit that Mr Butler "doesn't represent me as a member of the UUP". But the wife of suspended DUP MP Ian Paisley offered her support.

Fiona Paisley said: "My head is in my hands after reading some of the replies to your post Robbie, each to their own view. Always do what you think is right in your heart."

Mr Butler, who is a deacon in Maghaberry's Elim Church, is deputising for his party leader at the event because Robin Swann will be taking part in a Royal Black Preceptory parade in Larne.

In his video, the MLA said the papal visit was of major significance to hundreds of thousands of Catholics on both sides of the border.

Defending his decision to attend the Dublin event, he said: "The Ulster Unionist Party is a political party, not a religious party."

He said he was looking forward to hearing what Pope Francis said and hoped he would address the challenges faced by the church on clerical sexual abuse.

While some on Facebook praised Mr Butler's "gesture towards reconciliation", others described the Catholic Church as "evil" and "a cancer on all that's good". Some posters referred to "the Papists" and "thousands of Protestants martyred by the Papist Church".

One poster commented: "Very sorry to see as a Protestant you are looking for hope from the anti-Christ in Rome.

"I urge you in God's name to take a stand for Christ and wash your hands of the unclean filthy thing." Another said the UUP had lost its "backbone as well as voters".

Mr Butler said: "I respect that some people have a different opinion to me on going to meet the Pope but I am still surprised and disappointed by some of the comments.

"Views have resurfaced which I had hoped belong to the past.

"I am confident enough in both my faith and my brand of unionism to attend the Dublin Castle event.

"I feel very strongly about the need to be respectful, open and embracing and to treat my Catholic neighbours as I'd like to be treated myself."

The UUP MLA said unionists had to reach out to the entire community. "As head of the Church of England, Queen Elizabeth has met five popes during her reign. She spent five hours in the Vatican with Pope Francis in 2014 so surely it is acceptable for a unionist to attend one short event in Dublin Castle?" he said.

"Unionism is not and should not be restricted to one religion. It must reach out to all sections of the community.

"As a fireman, I worked with a mixed crew and we served diverse communities. Religion didn't come into my work then and it doesn't now. It's important that unionists build bridges whenever the opportunity arises."

Regarding the comments by his party colleague Mr McKee, Mr Butler said: "Harold is a very good friend of mine. We have a difference of opinion on this issue but that won't prevent us continuing to be friends."
A Dublin man has been charged by the National Crime Agency with a money laundering offence in Northern Ireland (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

A Dublin man has been charged with a money laundering offence in Northern Ireland.

John Gilligan, 66, was arrested on Thursday evening by Border Force officers while attempting to board a flight to Spain at Belfast International Airport, a National Crime Agency (NCA) statement said.

Approximately 23,000 euro (20,800) were recovered at the scene, the organisation added.

The defendant, from Greenforth Crescent, is accused of attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland, a statement from Northern Irelands Courts and Tribunals Service said.

The NCA confirmed: National Crime Agency officers in Northern Ireland have today charged a man with money laundering offences.

Gilligan appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court in Co Londonderry on Friday and deputy district judge Alan White remanded him in custody at Maghaberry Prison.

He is expected to appear before Antrim Magistrates Court on Tuesday September 4.
Pilgrims arrive for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Gerald Cyprien Lacroix of Canada arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pope Francis T shirts on sale before the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Gerald Cyprien Lacroix of Canada arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pope Francis candles on sale before the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Cardinal Kevin Farrell during the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Papal Altar is pictured at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images

An art Installation by Mannix Flynn in Dublin City centre ahead of the Popes visit to Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Nuns wait for a service to begin at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin on August 23, 2018. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images

Pope Francis dolls are on sale at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin on August 23, 2018. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images

KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: General views of some of the memorabilia including holy water bottles on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Statues of Pope Francis sit alongside other memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Sacred heart framed photographs sit alongside other of memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Statues of Pope Francis sit alongside other memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Former Manchester United footballer Father Philip Mulryan speaking at the world meeting of families in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Sport . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

An LGBT choir protests outside the world meeting of families in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope LGBT. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A woman takes a photograph of the Papal Altar at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. Pic Paul Faith PA

Rain is on the way as the Pope prepares to arrive in Dublin, and it could seriously dampen his visit come Sunday.

Forecasts suggest that while tomorrow should be sunny, the rain could return for the massive Phoenix Park Mass.

Met Eireann has warned that the Republic could be hit by showers today, and there is also a chance of hail, with temperatures ranging between a "cool and breezy" 13C to 17C.

However, tomorrow is set to see a return to dry weather for the beginning of Pope Francis's visit to Dublin. While there will be cloudy spells, there will also be patches of sunshine for those heading south.

Unfortunately, it will be mostly cloudy and cool on Sunday.

There will be rain showers, and Mass-goers are advised to pack something waterproof, as umbrellas will not be allowed in Phoenix Park.
Philip Hammond faced claims of launching a dodgy Project Fear as Tory tensions over Brexit erupted after the Chancellor warned that no deal could cause major economic damage.

Brexit-backing Tories reacted furiously after Mr Hammond pointed to disputed provisional analysis, released earlier this year, which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 under a scenario in which Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms due to no agreement with the EU.

Mr Hammond added that this initial January analysis was undergoing a process of refinement ahead of a parliamentary vote on any deal, noting scenarios which have higher barriers to trade with the EU are expected to have a more damaging effect on the economy and public finances.

He also defended the Governments preferred approach, which was outlined in a White Paper following a Cabinet summit at Chequers, by saying the economic and fiscal impacts of this would be substantially better than no deal.

Expand Close Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that a no-deal Brexit could cause major economic damage (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that a no-deal Brexit could cause major economic damage (Brian Lawless/PA)

Eurosceptic Tories have railed against the Governments proposals, which include a common rulebook with the EU on goods, amid fears that it could restrict the UKs ability to do trade deals.

Mr Hammonds comments in a letter to Conservative MP Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of the Treasury Select Committee, emerged hours after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab attempted to play down the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit while outlining the impact of such a scenario via a series of technical papers.

Mr Raab also cited the risks as potential short-term disruption rather than longer-term, contrary to what Mr Hammond outlined.

I remain confident a good deal is within our sights, and that remains our top and overriding priority. If the EU responds with the level of ambition and pragmatism, we will strike a strong deal that benefits both sides." - Secretary of State @DominicRaab pic.twitter.com/k2ZIlpofOZ  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) August 23, 2018

Tory MP Marcus Fysh, writing on Twitter, referred to the Treasurys previous dubious forecasts, before adding that the Chancellor seemed determined to wheel them out again for yet another instalment of dodgy project fear.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, said on BBC Twos Newsnight: I think a free trade deal can be achieved, but that leaving on WTO terms is not as absurdly frightening as the Chancellor of the Exchequer thinks it may be.

He also said: The Treasurys Brexit panic means you can no longer trust the Treasurys forecasts.

Mr Hammond had written: This January provisional analysis estimated that in a no-deal/WTO scenario, GDP would be 7.7% lower (range 5.0%-10.3%) relative to a status quo baseline. This represents the potential expected static state around 15 years out from the exit point.

The analysis did not estimate the path the economy and different sectors might take under no deal and the potential for short-term disruption.

Mr Hammond added: Under a no-deal/WTO scenario, chemicals, food and drink, clothing, manufacturing, cars, and retail were estimated to be the sectors most affected negatively in the long-run, with the largest negative impacts felt in the North East and Northern Ireland.

GDP impacts of this magnitude, were they to arise, would have large fiscal consequences. The January analysis estimated that borrowing would be around 80 billion a year higher under a no-deal/WTO scenario by 2033-34, in the absence of mitigating adjustments to spending and/or taxation, relative to a status quo baseline.

This is because any direct financial savings are outweighed by the indirect fiscal consequences of a smaller economy.

It is expected that the economic and fiscal impacts of the White Paper model will be substantially better than no deal, protecting jobs and livelihoods and supporting both the UK and EU's commitments to no hard border between Northern Ireland and IrelandChancellor Philip Hammond

The initial, January cross-Whitehall analysis is now undergoing a process of refinement in the run-up to a parliamentary vote on the deal.

However, we expect the analysis to show that for scenarios in which we have higher barriers to trade with the EU there will be a more damaging effect on the economy and public finances.

On the Governments preferred approach, Mr Hammond went on: It is expected that the economic and fiscal impacts of the White Paper model will be substantially better than no deal, protecting jobs and livelihoods and supporting both the UK and EUs commitments to no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Pro-European Mrs Morgan said of the letter: The Chancellor has confirmed that the Government forecasts a disastrous hit to our economy and living standards in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

In New York, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain was cautiously hopeful rather than wildly hopeful of securing a Brexit deal.
Naomi Rees has not been seen or heard from since the morning of August 15 (South Wales Police/PA)

Police hunting for a missing teenage girl believe she may be with an older man.

Naomi Rees, 15, from Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, South Wales has not been seen since the morning of August 15 and could be with 20-year-old Tomas Baker, from Tamworth, Staffordshire.

South Wales Police are appealing for Naomi to get in touch to let them know she is OK.

The force said CCTV footage shows the teenager getting on a bus on Cardiff Road in Rhydyfelin at 7.46am heading towards Pontypridd town centre on the day she was last seen.

Further CCTV footage then puts Naomi on Bridge Street walking into Ynysangharad War Memorial Park at 8.06am.

Your family and friends are extremely worried but you are not in any trouble whatsoever, so please make contact and let your parents know you are safe and wellDetective Inspector Gareth Davies

Inquiries are continuing to establish where Naomi went after that.

In the footage Naomi is wearing a long scarf, dark jacket, dark jeans, and black trainers with white soles. She is also carrying a holdall.

Detective Inspector Gareth Davies, who is leading the investigation, said: We are very concerned for Naomi as it is now over a week since she was last seen by her loved ones.

Naomi has not made contact with her family who are deeply distressed.

Our message to Naomi, is that we believe that you left on your own accord but we must know that you are OK.

Your family and friends are extremely worried but you are not in any trouble whatsoever, so please make contact and let your parents know you are safe and well.

If Naomi is with Mr Baker then my message to him is that it is not too late to do the right thing.

Our priority is to know that Naomi is safe and to get her back home to her family, so if he is in a position to help make that happen then he should make contact with us immediately.

Officers have carried out extensive inquiries and they continue to liaise with police forces in other areas.

The Missing People charity has also circulated the teenagers details nationally.

Det Insp Davies added: Our appeal is both local and national as Naomi, who we suspect is accompanied by Tomas Baker, could be anywhere in the UK.

Weve released pictures of them both in the hope that the public can help us locate them.

Last week, her family appealed for her to come home.

They said: Please let us know where you are and that you are safe.

Come home, we are all so worried about you.
A couple who died on a Thomas Cook holiday to Egypt were fit and well before they went, their daughter said (Jonathan Brady/PA)

A couple who died at a resort hotel in Egypt were fit and healthy before their holiday, their daughter has said.

Kelly Ormerod, was on a break with her parents, John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire, and her three children when tragedy struck.

The family were staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada when Mr Cooper, 69, died in his room.

Mrs Ormerod said her 63-year-old mother, a Thomas Cook employee, was taken to hospital but died.

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She said the family were in utter shock as they awaited results of post-mortem examinations on the couple, who had booked the holiday with Thomas Cook.

There is currently no evidence to suggest the deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, which had been reported as a possible factor, the travel operator said.

The circumstances of the deaths remain unclear, the company said, adding that it has sent 24 staff to support around 300 customers in the hotel.

In a statement to Lancashire-based radio station 2BR, Mrs Ormerod said: As a family we are devastated. Mum and Dad meant the world to me and the children, and we are in utter shock over what has happened and what is happening.

Prior to going on holiday, Mum and Dad were fit and healthy. They had no health problems at all.

What I want is to clear up some of what is being reported. We have no cause of death, a post-mortem is under way.

Dad never went to hospital  he died in the hotel room in front of me. I went to hospital in the ambulance with Mum, where she passed away.

Thomas Cook have been amazing, we have support from the company and I cant praise them enough for what theyve doneKelly Ormerod

Thomas Cook have been amazing, we have support from the company and I cant praise them enough for what theyve done.

My focus is on getting my children home. All we want is answers about what has happened and a cause of death.

Id also like to thank people at home for their messages of love and support during this horrendous ordeal.

The food is just disgusting, its undercooked. I know so many people have been ill. Weve spent almost two weeks at a five-star hotel eating bread and chips because we at least know what it isAlison Cope

Fellow guest Alison Cope, from Moseley, Birmingham, said she has been at the hotel for two weeks, and five out of seven of her family members have been ill for around 10 days.

The 44-year-old, who flies home on Friday evening, told the Press Association that other guests had been ill, saying: The food is just disgusting, its undercooked. I know so many people have been ill.

Half the time we dont know what it is and cant eat it because its raw in the middle. Weve spent almost two weeks at a five-star hotel eating bread and chips because we at least know what it is.

Dieter Geiger, general manager at Aqua Magic, said he was deeply saddened by the deaths.

The doctors preliminary report indicates that death was due to natural causes, he said.

Expand Close Susan Cooper worked for Thomas Cook (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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There are no indications to support allegations of an increased incidence of illness at the hotel. Such rash speculations should urgently be put aside out of respect for the family members of the deceased persons and for other guests.

Around 300 customers are being offered alternative hotels within Hurghada as well as the option to return home, Thomas Cook said.

Ms Cope believes most guests are choosing to fly home rather than move resort.

She added that a woman believed to be the couples daughter mentioned a faulty air conditioning unit.

Ms Cope said: A family member of the Coopers mentioned air conditioning when they were very upset.

I believe it was Kelly  she approached us at the drinks and said Are you English? She was very upset, saying Its the air conditioning. But we just dont know.

Ahmed Abdallah, the governor of Hurghada, told the Times newspaper: This claim is not logical because the air conditioner of the hotel is central and if there is a leak it would have affected all the 2,500 guests at the hotel.

Also, we took a sample of the food of the hotel for testing. But if there is a problem with the food it would have affected other people.

Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotelThomas Cook

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers that were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

The circumstances of their deaths are still unclear. We have also received further reports of a raised level of illness among guests.

Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel.

The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96%Thomas Cook

The spokesman added on Thursday: For those customers who choose to come home, we have made arrangements to fly them back tomorrow, August 24.

While we understand this is upsetting for those on holiday, we believe this is the right thing to do.

We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations.

The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96%.

We will be contacting those customers due to travel to the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in the next four weeks to offer alternative holiday options.

The listing for the hotel on the Thomas Cook website includes a line saying: Sorry, there is currently no availability.

They were both working and were quite fit people ... They both worked jolly hard and used to go on holiday regularly. They seemed to go everywhere togetherAlban Barker, family friend

Alban Barker, who lives close to the Coopers home and knew Mr Cooper for around 30 years, paid tribute to a really great couple.

He told the Press Association Mr Cooper was a clay pigeon shooting enthusiast and had carried out extensive building work for him, his daughters, and friends, and was an extremely good, very reliable builder.

The 70-year-old said: They were Burnley season ticket-holders and used to come into the local pub after games for a chat. Ill be going tonight and the mood may be quite sombre.

I bumped into them the other week and told him Its about time you retired and he just laughed and said Im fine, Im fit enough.

He looked well, did John, he was a strong man. They were both working and were quite fit people, his is a physical job.

They both worked jolly hard and used to go on holiday regularly. They seemed to go everywhere together.
Two men who converted imitation guns from the Czech Republic into live firearms and sold them into the UK criminal underworld have been jailed.

Firearms supplied to gangs by Matthew Harwozinski, 29, and Ricky Garner, 48, have been linked to multiple shootings  including one at a McDonalds restaurant in Luton and another in Romford, east London, in circumstances which amount to attempted murder, Luton Crown Court heard.

James Lachkovic, prosecuting, said Harwozinski imported more than 80 blank-firing handguns and 1,800 rounds of blank ammunition from the Czech Republic under a false name between May 2017 and January 2018.

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The weapons were then converted by Garner, an engineer at a metal fabricator factory, so they could fire modified live ammunition, Mr Lachkovic said.

The blank firearms are legal in the Czech Republic, but their possession is illegal in the UK given the way they work, Bedfordshire Police said.

Guns were sold to at least one Luton-based gang, and their weapons and ammunition have also been recovered in London and the West Midlands.

The two men, both of Abbey Fields in Elstow, near Bedford, admitted to their roles at an earlier hearing and were sentenced by Judge Andrew Bright QC at Luton Crown Court on Friday.

Harwozinski, who admitted importing and converting firearms, manufacturing ammunition and possessing firearms with intent to enable others to endanger life, was sentenced to life in prison  and must serve a minimum of 11 years and eight months before being considered for release.

Garner, who admitted converting the weapons, manufacturing ammunition and possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, was jailed for 20 years and three months and must serve up to half of this in prison and the rest on licence.

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Ballistics testing found the converted weapons were capable of firing lethal shots, and some of them were fully automatic and able to fire around eight bullets per second, police said.

The weapons were linked to a shooting at a McDonalds in Marsh Road, Luton, in October 2017, where a shot was fired into the restaurants window  and a separate incident in which shots were fired through two car windows in Tower Road in the town in December 2017.

No-one was injured in either incident.

Police said bullets found at the scene of a shooting in Romford, east London  in circumstances amounting to attempted murder, match the weapons supplied by Garner and Harwozinski

Weapons were sold for between 1,500 and 2,000, estimates suggest, with buyers having to return to Garner and Harwozinski for their unique ammunition.

Inspector Justin Dipper, from Bedfordshire Polices Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said after the hearing: The fact these weapons have been repeatedly fired in public shows the huge danger Garner and Harwozinski placed innocent people in, and we are glad the court has responded with such strong sentences for those involved in organised crime.

The court heard both men had been under pressure due to drug debts.
Police said they were shocked that not a single officer was at Krispy Kreme at the time (Philip Toscano/PA)

A robber at a doughnut store who demanded a cashier hand over $10 and $20 notes also placed an order for Krispy Kremes.

The man made the request three times before being scared away from the shop in the US state of Florida and leaving empty handed in the early hours of August 24.

Thats when staff at the store, in Gainesville, called the cops.

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In a post on Facebook, Gainesville Police Department explained what had happened, adding that they were also shocked that not a single officer was at Krispy Kreme at the time.

The clerk told us that somebody just tried to rob them. Cars from all across the city lit up and headed to the spot.

As officers were arriving  we know, we know its hard to imagine at least ONE of us wasnt there at the time of the robbery attempt  officers located the suspect walking just south on 13th Street. He was detained and then other officers went to the store to see what happened.

Apparently, a guy entered the business and demanded money. The clerk asked if she could help him and he demanded $10s and $20s from the register and some doughnuts.

She was shocked and didnt respond and then the robber repeated the same demand. The clerk summoned another employee and the robber made the same demands again.

Both female clerks alerted the male clerk from the rear of the business who told the male to leave.

He then fled the business on foot where he was located just south of the business.

The robber told police he was trying to get a doughnut from the secret menu and that he did ask for 10s and 20.

All of the clerks identified the suspect that police had stopped as the person that attempted to rob the store. Instead of a secret menu doughnut and cash he got a trip to the county jail.

Police have opted not to share the mans name or picture as they dont want to make fun of him unduly but said the actual incident was a story worth sharing.

This person made a bad decision and they will have to deal with that but we arent going to blast them here although the story itself is worth sharing.
Mark Chapman shot and killed John Lennon in 1980 (New York State Department of Corrections via AP)

John Lennons killer has been denied parole for a 10th time and will remain behind bars for at least two more years.

Mark David Chapman appeared before New Yorks parole board on Wednesday.

In a denial decision obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, the board said it had determined Chapmans release would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society, and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law.

Chapman, 63, shot and killed the former Beatle outside Lennons Manhattan apartment on December 8, 1980. He is serving 20-years-to-life in the Wende Correctional Facility in western New York.

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You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety, the parole panel wrote in its denial decision.

While no one persons life is any more valuable than anothers life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world renown person and beloved by millions, regardless of the pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the pain and suffering of others.

It said releasing Chapman would not only tend to mitigate the seriousness of your crime but also would endanger public safety because someone might try to harm him out of anger or revenge or to gain similar notoriety.

As Chapman faced the parole panel on Wednesday, politicians and fans called for his release to be denied during a rally at Strawberry Fields, Lennons memorial in Central Park across from his former home.

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Jonas Herbsman, lawyer for Lennons widow, Yoko Ono, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.

A transcript of the parole hearing was not immediately released. At previous hearings, Chapman has said he still gets letters about the pain he caused and was sorry for choosing the wrong path to fame.

Chapman will be up for parole again in August 2020.
Many of the 150 migrants stranded on a coastguard ship for a ninth day have launched a hunger strike out of frustration that Italy will not let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow EU nations pledge to take them, authorities said.

They can do whatever they believe, interior minister Matteo Salvini tweeted, shrugging off the development aboard the Italian coastguard vessel Diciotti.

The ships crew rescued them on August 16 from a foundering human traffickers boat in the central Mediterranean, and it has been docked for days in the port of Catania, Sicily.

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Opposition lawmaker Davide Faraone said Catania port officials had told him theres tension on the ship and migrants have stopped eating.

Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama. On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania.

Mr Salvini has been adamant that Italys populist government will not allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel to disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking the asylum-seekers.

All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean. The others are from Somalia, Syria and Sudan. They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya, while waiting to leave aboard smugglers boats.

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Another opposition legislator who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20.

Appealing to Mr Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off.

Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch on Friday but the men refused the meal.

But Mr Salvini was staying tough, as was fellow deputy premier Luigi Di Maio, who heads the senior coalition partner, the eurosceptic 5-Star Movement.

The European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threatsAlexander Winterstein

Mr Di Maio threatened that Italy could withhold some of its yearly 20 billion euro (18 billion) contribution to the bloc if EU nations did not make good on promises earlier this year for more solidarity towards the Italians, who have seen more than 600,000 rescued migrants brought to Italian shores in recent years.

If the European Commission meeting does not decide anything about the Diciotti ship and the re-distribution of the migrants, I and all the 5-Star Movement are no longer willing to give 20 billion to the European Union, Mr Di Maio said.

In Brussels, EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein said: The European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats.

He urged all parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution.
Scott Morrison, right, walks with Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, left, after a party meeting in Canberra, Australia (David Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

Scott Morrison was elected by the ruling Liberal Party to become Australias next  and 30th  prime minister.

The 50-year-old overcame Peter Dutton, who was the key challenger to incumbent PM Malcolm Turnbull, to win a leadership ballot by 45 votes to 40.

He is expected to be sworn in by Governor-General Peter Cosgrove after Mr Turnbull officially resigns.

Born in Sydney in 1968, Mr Morrison has been Australias Treasurer  the equivalent of the UKs Chancellor  since September 2015.

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He was first elected as an MP in 2007 when he won the seat of Cook, located in the southern suburbs of Sydney.

He was appointed to the frontbench after the 2010 election, before being promoted to the Cabinet by Tony Abbott three years later, taking on the the role of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.

In that role, Mr Morrison launched Operation Sovereign Borders, a tough military-led operation aimed at stopping illegal boats carrying asylum seekers from arriving in Australia  a policy which attracted huge media attention.

It was credited with eliminating maritime arrivals  but also attracted criticism from refugee activists and human rights groups.

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A short stint as Minister for Social Services between 2014 and 2015 followed, before Mr Turnbull appointed him to the prize position of Treasurer after taking over from Mr Abbott as PM in 2015.

A biography on the Australian Treasury website reads: As Treasurer, his achievements have included reducing the deficit, getting debt under control, maintaining Australias AAA credit rating, record jobs growth, cutting corporate and personal income taxes, ensuring multinationals pay their fair share of tax and reforming Australias banking and financial system.

After last years referendum on same-sex marriage, Mr Morrison, a church-goer, said he would back a new religious protections bill.

Before beginning a career in politics, Mr Morrison worked in tourism and was managing director of Tourism Australia between 2004 and 2006.

Better-known as ScoMo, he lives in Sutherland in Sydneys south with his wife Jenny and their two young daughters. He supports the NRL Cronulla Sutherland Sharks, and says he his a fan of Australian musician Tina Arena.
Zimbabwes constitutional court has upheld President Emmerson Mnangagwas narrow victory in last months historic election after the opposition alleged vote-rigging.

The unanimous decision that the opposition failed to produce sufficient and credible evidence means the inauguration will be held within 48 hours as Zimbabwe moves into a new era after Robert Mugabes 37-year rule.

Security was tight in the capital Harare ahead of the court ruling, amid concerns about possible unrest.

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The July 30 vote was peaceful but scenes of the military sweeping into the capital two days later to disperse opposition protesters led to fears that Mr Mnangagwas government was stuck in the past despite declarations of reforms.

The 75-year-old president, a former enforcer for Mr Mugabe, took power after the long-time ruler stepped down in November under military pressure.

One shouldnt perhaps get drunk on their own brew, a lawyer for Zimbabwes electoral commission, Tawanda Kanengoni, told reporters after emerging from the courthouse.

In this instance, the maker of the lie ended up believing the lie.

We were not surprised by the courts decision. The election results were firmly in line with all the pre-election polling, and were entirely consistent with the final tally of ZESN, the largest body of independent observers. (3/4)  President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) August 24, 2018

Thabani Mpofu, a lawyer for the opposition and its 40-year-old candidate Nelson Chamisa, told reporters its up to you to conclude if justice had been served. Good fight, he added, walking away.

As far as the legal processes are concerned this is the end of the road, said the opposition MDCs secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora. But we have other avenues  we can demonstrate.

The opposition had claimed vote-rigging and sought either a fresh election or a declaration that Mr Chamisa won.

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The court said it was up to the opposition to prove its claims and it failed to do so, saying the best evidence would have been the content of sealed ballot boxes but that route was not pursued.

The courts ruling cannot be appealed against.

A credible election is key to lifting international sanctions on the once-prosperous southern African nation after Mr Mugabes rule was marked by harassment of the opposition and rigged votes.

The electoral commission had declared Mr Mnangagwa won with 50.8% of the vote but later revised that down to 50.6%, attributing the revision to an error but arguing it was not significant enough to invalidate the win. It said Mr Chamisa received 44.3%.

In the court hearing on Wednesday, the opposition claimed the electoral commission bumped up Mr Mnangagwas figures through double counts and the creation of ghost polling stations.

It also alleged that some polling stations recorded more voters than those registered.

The court on Friday said the electoral commission had debunked to some degree the oppositions claims.

We are ecstatic that the court has upheld the will of the people, said Paul Mangwana, spokesman for the president. Although this case has delayed our celebrations.
The massive crowd that gathered in Knock to see the Pope

The visit of Pope Francis to the Republic this weekend brings my mind back inevitably to the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979, which I covered for this newspaper.

Many commentators have written extensively in the past few weeks about the social and political changes on this island during the past 40 years. They've also covered - rightly - the huge scandal of clerical child abuse that hangs over the Catholic Church and will do so for many years to come.

Back in 1979, when much of this abuse was taking place and largely undetected, Pope John Paul II was warmly welcomed as a clerical superstar - good looks, a way with people and the showmanship of an actor, which he had been in his youth.

No one at that stage recognised, or wanted to recognise, that John Paul II was a very conservative Pope whose Catholic faith was forged and developed in the harsh reality of the Nazi occupation in his native Poland.

When I reported on his visit to Knock in 1979, everyone was agog that the Pope was actually in Ireland.

There was the bonus that he was literally God's gift to television and media because he knew how to make the most of every occasion, huge or small.

I was lucky enough to secure one of the four media places in the huge and crowded Knock Basilica, and when he entered the building the entire congregation broke into the contemporary pop tune Viva Espana.

Among the congregation was a large group of trainee priests, at a time when the Catholic Church was attracting large groups of ordinands, unlike today when they are as rare as hens' teeth.

Despite the almost-party atmosphere in Knock, John Paul II had serious business to attend to, and as he walked from the building to deliver his homily on a huge platform outside he passed me only about four feet away.

As he moved slowly at the head of a very large entourage, I realised that at that stage he had no control of events - a bit like other world figures including the Queen or a US President when they are on a major tour.

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 A woman takes a photograph of the Papal Altar at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. Pic Paul Faith PA AFP/Getty Images An LGBT choir protests outside the world meeting of families in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope LGBT. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Former Manchester United footballer Father Philip Mulryan speaking at the world meeting of families in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Sport . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Statues of Pope Francis sit alongside other memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Sacred heart framed photographs sit alongside other of memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: Statues of Pope Francis sit alongside other memorabilia on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images KNOCK, IRELAND - AUGUST 23: General views of some of the memorabilia including holy water bottles on sale ahead of the Pope's visit to Ireland on August 23, 2018 in Knock, Ireland. Pope Francis will visit the small visit of knock on the second day of the first papal visit to Ireland in forty years. The Roman Catholic pilgrimage site is famous for it's shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to appear to villagers in an apparition along with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images Pope Francis dolls are on sale at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin on August 23, 2018. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Nuns wait for a service to begin at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin on August 23, 2018. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An art Installation by Mannix Flynn in Dublin City centre ahead of the Popes visit to Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 23, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Papal Altar is pictured at Phoenix park in Dublin on August 23, 2018, prior to the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26. - Pope Francis will be visiting Ireland on August 25 to take part in the World Meeting of Families, a global Catholic gathering. (Photo by Paul FAITH / AFP)PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Cardinal Kevin Farrell during the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Archbishop Diarmuid Martin arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA A general view of the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis candles on sale before the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Gerald Cyprien Lacroix of Canada arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis T shirts on sale before the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pope Francis dolls on sale at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Gerald Cyprien Lacroix of Canada arrives for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Pilgrims arrive for the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 21, 2018. See PA story IRISH Pope Families. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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That day Pope John Paul II looked just like another human under time pressure, though as he passed me I noticed a female steward drop to her knees.

He reached across to her and she kissed his papal ring with a look on her face as if it was a divine moment. In that riveting cameo the humanity and also the huge privilege and grave responsibility of being a Pope was reflected on the relatively youthful John Paul's kindly expression.

The rest of the visit to Knock was an anticlimax. The bad weather came in from the west and the Pope delivered his homily to tens of thousands in the surrounding fields who were sheltering from the rain.

The low cloud base was such that the 'popemobile' tour of the crowds was abandoned, and John Paul II - who had been kept late in Galway by the infamous Bishop Casey of all people - was whisked back to Dublin by helicopter.

In the media centre, based in a part of the church complex where the confessional boxes had been turned into phone booths for the many reporters in Knock, some of the correspondents had already written their copy about a "successful popemobile tour".

When this was cancelled there was consternation among many journalists, who expressed their feelings in strong, non-family language and had to start writing their stories again.

As a dutiful reporter I went into the rain-sodden fields to get reaction from the individuals and families who were deeply disappointed by the Pope's sudden departure.

However, no one would say a word against him or against the Catholic Church which, to some extent, had mishandled the occasion by staying too long in Galway.

That respectful silence would not be kept today.

Some of my abiding memories of Knock are very human, including the sight of men in JCBs taking down drink signs outside pubs before the pontiff's arrival.

This would have gladdened the heart of any Pioneer-pin wearing Catholic or strict teetotal Presbyterian.

Another abiding memory of Knock was the scene of thousands making their way home in the rain. There was also a sense of history having been made and a certain joy of having been there. For example, as I left the media centre I walked past the large Garda band who had been on duty all day.

They were gleefully playing a lively tune which I had heard every July since my boyhood - The Sash My Father Wore.

Looking back, there was much more a sense of happiness then, perhaps even of innocence, despite the Troubles, which were still raging savagely.

Now as I prepare to go to the closing Mass in the Phoenix Park, I wonder what the atmosphere will be like.

Of course, there will be a range of emotions from joy to mere curiosity, but the run-up to this visit has revealed a huge diminution of trust of the Catholic Church in Ireland, which the Primate, Archbishop Eamon Martin, admitted publicly this week.

I also have some sympathy for Pope Francis as a human being. He has inherited massive worldwide problems of clerical sex abuse and other matters.

People say he should do more, and of course he should. However, he is also a frail and elderly man, he is visiting Ireland for some 36 hours and there is only so much he can do.

In days to come we will all assess the impact of this papal visit, but there is no doubt that Ireland today is tougher, more worldly-wise and sceptical, a much less "religious" society than it was Pope John Paul II visited in 1979.

However, the Catholic Church has no one to blame for this lack of trust but itself.

That is something which saddens me most of all.
If you have never walked through the doors of the Linen Hall Library in Belfast, you have been missing out on the very best of what this city has to offer. To me, this extraordinary independent institution embodies the city at its finest. It is a place, open to everyone, which gathers up all the colourful, complicated threads of who we are as a society - stretching back centuries into the past - and holds them safe for local people and international visitors to explore, examine and reflect upon.

The Linen Hall is utterly unique. One of Belfast's oldest charities, it is also the last remaining subscription library in Ireland. Founded in 1788 as the Belfast Reading Society, it became the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge in 1792. The plaque announcing the library's formal name is still on display beside the marble-draped main entrance on Donegall Square North, opposite City Hall.

The society's declared aim was to create "an extensive library, philosophical apparatus and such products of nature and art as tend to improve the mind and excite a spirit of general enquiry".

The same open-minded, even-handed, knowledge-hungry spirit of that resolution is alive and flourishing in the Linen Hall today.

The library has survived tumultuous times, miraculously escaping damage in the Belfast Blitz, and later standing firm as the Troubles raged around it. After it was fire-bombed by the IRA in 1994, charred material from the attack was collected, boxed and stored away. This tells you a great deal about the curatorial zeal that makes the Linen Hall such an endearing, eccentric and endlessly fascinating place.

Given our history, it is a miracle that the library still exists at all. In any other city, it would be celebrated and promoted as a resource of unparalleled richness, as well as a powerful symbol of civic pride, tolerance and endurance.

Not in Belfast, it seems. From October until the end of March, the Linen Hall will no longer be open on Saturdays.

The library's board has been reluctantly forced to bring in this trial closure because of funding cuts, particularly the loss of 25,000 National Lottery project funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI).

The ACNI said there had been a 33% reduction in lottery funding, the result of "the knock-on effect of government disinvestment".

To many of our philistine, knuckle-dragging politicians, arts funding is something to be completely disregarded, or damned as a frivolous, elitist and costly burden, or - worst of all - used as a vehicle for sectarian carve-ups and petty political tit-for-tats. And now even the philistines have left the stage, leaving others to clean up their mess.

The Linen Hall Library is a special case. It is an institution unlike any other in Ireland, North and South, and financial measures must be taken to protect it. With or without Stormont, it cannot be allowed to die slowly of neglect.

The political collection, in particular, is a world-renowned resource. It began in 1969, when Jimmy Vitty, the librarian at the time, was handed a civil rights leaflet in a Belfast bar and decided to keep it.

The library has now collected more than a quarter of a million items, impartially documenting the activities and views of all parties to the conflict, from paramilitaries to governments. Prison comms, defaced coins, Drumcree baby bibs, it's all there.

Seamus Heaney knew the depth of the library's value. He said that it was "not just a link with the past (though it is valuably and forever cherished for that) but a threshold to the future. In our cultural and our historical understanding that the words 'the Linen Hall Library' represent not just books, but better hopes for the way we live".

He added that "the moral and imaginative quickening that took place in the late 18th century always revives for me when I go up those stairs".

If you haven't been to the library already, go now. Just walk on in and go up the stairs, as Seamus Heaney used to do. Have a coffee or a bowl of soup in the cafe. Browse the latest best-sellers or read today's papers. Wander the high-stacked shelves in search of forgotten classics.

Bring the kids and let them explore the joys of the children's collection. When my son and my daughter were little, we spent many happy afternoons there.

Most importantly of all, join the library - sign up for membership. I promise you, it will be worth it.

The Linen Hall Library is the best club in town because it belongs to all of us. We must cherish it.
More than a half-million Rohingya children in Bangladeshi refugee camps are being denied the chance of a proper education, UNICEF said Thursday, as a London-based NGO reported that one in two of the boys and girls who fled Myanmar without their parents were orphaned by brutal violence.

In a report marking one year since the start of a huge influx into southeastern Bangladesh of Rohingya fleeing extreme violence in Myanmars Rakhine state, the U.N. Childrens Fund warned that children living in muddy refugee camps in Coxs Bazar district face a bleak future, with few opportunities to learn and no idea when they might return home.

If we dont make the investment in education now, we face the very real danger of seeing a lost generation of Rohingya children, children who lack the skills they need to deal with their current situation, and who will be incapable of contributing to their society whenever they are able to return to Myanmar, UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Edouard Beigbeder said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the child advocacy group Save the Children said its latest research painted a frightening picture of a bloody conflict where civilians were targeted and killed in large numbers.

Save the Children described its study as the largest of its type in Coxs Bazar since a military crackdown in Myanmar a year ago spawned a wave of refugees crossing the frontier, with more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing their homes and villages in Rakhine.

Myanmar security forces launched the crackdown in response to coordinated attacks carried out against police and military outposts in Rakhine state by an insurgent group known as the Arakhan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

The United Nations and the United States labeled killings, rapes and other atrocities that allegedly took place as a result of the crackdown as ethnic cleansing that targeted the stateless Rohingya minority. Myanmar does not recognize Rohingya as citizens, referring to them pejoratively as illegal Bengali immigrants.

There are at least 6,013 unaccompanied and separated Rohingya children living in Coxs Bazar, where they face crippling food shortages and are at increased risk of exploitation and abuse, according to Save the Childrens research.

Child protection workers in the areas camps had previously thought an overwhelming majority of these children had simply lost contact with parents or caregivers in the chaos of their journey to Bangladesh  but the research suggests otherwise, Save the Children said in a statement, citing its study involving 139 unaccompanied and separated Rohingya children.

Save the Children said its representatives had reached more than 350,000 Rohingya children in Coxs Bazar in the past 12 months by setting up almost 100 child- and girl-friendly spaces that provide about 40,000 children with a safe space to play and recover.

These children are some of the most vulnerable on the planet, and they have had to carve out an entirely new existence in the camps, without their mother or father, in an environment where they are far more vulnerable to risks like trafficking, early marriage and other forms of exploitation, Mark Pierce, Save the Childrens country director in Bangladesh, said in a statement.

The aid agency said that while the figures presented in its survey were not statistically representative of the overall populace of the refugees, the 139 children interviewed in its research were randomly selected from its caseload.

It is therefore likely that the experiences of these children mirror that of other unaccompanied and separated children in the camp, it said.

Desperation, criminality

As international efforts are underway to prevent Rohingya refugees falling prey to despair and exploitation, police, human rights activists and criminology experts told BenarNews that about half a million able-bodied Rohingya refugees could potentially become entangled in crimes over their frustration over lack of jobs in refugee centers.



Rohingyas are becoming crime-prone perhaps due to their longtime joblessness, A.K.M. Iqbal Hossain, superintendent of Coxs Bazaar district police, told BenarNews on Thursday. They are getting involved in all kinds of crimes.

About 42 percent of 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, mostly sheltered in 30 camps in Coxs Bazaar, are able to work, according to a report by the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), an organization that coordinates humanitarian and relief efforts among local and international agencies.

At least 500 cases have been filed against the Rohingya in different police stations of Coxs Bazar in one year, Hossain said.



About 1,000 refugees have been accused of committing serious crimes, such as drugs and firearms smuggling, rape and murder, he said.

At least 30 murders have taken place in the camps in separate incidents within one year, Hossain said.

Josef Suriya Tripura, spokesman for the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), told BenarNews that relief agencies had noticed growing frustration among refugees over their inability to support themselves and their families.

They should have the opportunity to work, so that they can become self-reliant, Tripura said.

A.B.M. Nazmus Sakib, a criminology lecturer at Dhaka University, told BenarNews after his recent visit to Rohingya camps that Dhakas policymakers should think about providing the refugees with technical education, allowing them to earn by producing handicraft while in their camps.

Their involvement in crimes will increase, if they are kept idle, he said.

But Mohammad Abul Kalam, chief of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, said many of the refugees were doing some jobs inside their camps.

It is not possible to give them more facilities at present, he told BenarNews, without elaborating.

Grievances over restrictions

A few refugees eke out a meager living by getting themselves employed by NGOs as translators or doing other low-paying jobs inside the camps, according to some refugees. Many refugees have also opened shops in front of their makeshift shelters and could be seen selling cigarettes and other items produced in Myanmar.

We are not allowed to work outside the camp area. That is the main reason for our problem, Mohammad Taher, a 35-year-old refugee told BenarNews. We cannot meet the needs of our kids for better food.

But Jahangir Kabir Chowdhury, chairman of Rajapalong Union Council, said an undetermined number of refugees often venture away from the camps to find a job  a move that officially violates local rules for Rohingya refugees.

Rohingyas are going outside their camps secretly and working as day laborers, rickshaw pullers and doing some other menial jobs, he said. Poor natives are not getting any jobs, as these Rohingyas are being recruited as cheap labors. For this reason, the poor are becoming poorer in this area.

Abdur Rahman in Coxs Bazar contributed to this report.
A woman stands near her collapsed house in the village of Labu Pandan on Indonesias Lombok island after a series of recent earthquakes, Aug. 22, 2018.

The death toll from a series of powerful earthquakes that devastated the Indonesian island of Lombok this month has risen to at least 555, an official said Friday.

About 77,000 houses were damaged, forcing nearly 400,000 residents to live in temporary shelters, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

A week after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed 20 people, a temblor measured at 6.9 struck Lombok on Aug. 5, causing widespread devastation.

Two more earthquakes hit two weeks later, causing more deaths and damage.

Military helicopters have been deployed to distribute aid supplies after complaints that assistance was slow to come to affected areas.

The extent of the destruction and damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges are slowing aid distribution, Sutopo said.

Food, sanitary facilities, tents, and blankets are among items the displaced people need most, he said.

The government estimates that the cost of the damage caused by the disaster exceeds 7.45 trillion rupiah (U.S. $510 million).

It has so far released nearly 1 trillion rupiah ($68 million) in emergency funds, on top of 100 billion rupiah ($6.8 million) from BNPB, Sutopo said.

A reserve disaster fund of 4 trillion rupiah ($274 million) has been earmarked for rehabilitation and rebuilding, he added.

Sutopo defended the governments handling of the aftermath of the disaster following criticism that its emergency response was inadequate.

No country has handled an emergency response perfectly. There are always inadequacies. After the Katrina disaster in 2005, coordination at the federal and state level was chaotic, he said.

The powerful hurricane killed more than 1,800 people in the southeastern United States, amid widespread accusations of a bungled government response.

In response to the criticism, President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Thursday issued an executive order to speed up disaster response coordination between Jakarta and the provincial government.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area known for seismic upheavals and volcanic eruptions.
Government lawyers Jeremy M. Joseph (left), and Ong Chee Kwan address reporters in Kuala Lumpur after a court approved the sale of Equanimity, the yacht linked to fugitive financier Jho Low, Aug. 24, 2018.

The fugitive banker known as Jho Low was charged Friday in Kuala Lumpur over money- laundering allegations linked to the beleaguered state fund 1MDB, the same day that a court approved the sale of his $250 million yacht.

Jho Low, whose real name is Low Taek Jho, will face three charges of receiving funds and five charges of transferring funds totaling 1 billion ringgit ($261 million) under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act, officials said.

In addition, his father, businessman Larry Low Hock Peng, who also is a fugitive, was charged with transferring money to his son under the same act, authorities said.

Jho Low has been identified as a close associate of former Prime Minister Najib Razak who founded the fund known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

In a statement on Friday, Inspector General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) had forwarded its findings to the attorney generals chamber.



The charge was made in the Putrajaya Court on Friday and the court produced arrest warrants against the two, Fuzi said.



He added that police would ask Interpol to issue a Red Notice to track, arrest and extradite father and son.



Of the money linked to Jho Low, one transaction of $56 million (229 million ringgit) was received from his fathers account from a Singapore bank used by both men, according to the charges.



The younger Low then allegedly transferred $196 million (802 million ringgit) between Jan. 7 and June 3, 2014, to the account of World View Ltd. which has been identified as the Low family trust.

Jho Low will not submit to unfair trial: lawyers

Separately on Friday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted an application from the 1MDB group to sell the yacht.



Lawyer Ong Chee Kwan told reporters that the government wished to sell the ship quickly because of its high maintenance cost. Plans are to sell it through public auction or public treaty.



The longer you have it maintained, it will diminish the value at the end of the day, Ong said.

Ong predicted that the yacht would be sold in a month or two. Indonesian authorities handed over the yacht, The Equanimity, now docked at Port Klang, east of Kuala Lumpur, on Aug. 7 after seizing it on Feb. 28 while it was moored in Bali.



The buyer will have a clean ownership. There will be no issue with the new owner, he said.

Previously, cabinet minister Sivarasa Rasiah had said that the government hoped to sell Equanimity for 500 million ringgit ($122 million) after ownership concerns were resolved.

The announcement came after Jho Low, the presumed owner, failed to file an application to challenge the yachts sale.



Meanwhile, Lows lawyers issued a statement that their client was mulling his legal options but would not submit to an unfair trial.



He will not submit to any jurisdiction where guilt has been predetermined by politics and self-interest overrules the legal process.



It is abundantly clear that it would be impossible for Mr. Low to get a fair trial in Malaysia, where the government has proven time and time again that they have no interest in the rule of law, said the statement issued Friday by a media consultancy firm in Australia.

U.S. Justice Department officials have described the 1MDB case as the worst kleptocracy scandal in recent times, and accused Jho Low of laundering more than $400 million (1.6 billion ringgit) stolen from 1MDB through acquisitions of properties in California, New York and London. Among the acquisitions were the yacht and a jet purchased for $35 million.

Najib has been charged with criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering linked to 1MDB and is to face trial in February 2019. He lost power in May when his Barisan Nasional coalition lost the general election to the Pakatan Harapan alliance whose campaign promises included investigating the 1MDB scandal.
Ex-Malaysian police chief Abdul Rahim Noor on Friday said he had accepted the new governments invitation to serve as the next facilitator of Kuala Lumpur-brokered peace talks aimed at ending a separatist insurgency in southern Thailand.

The former police inspector-general and ex-head of the Malaysian polices special branch will replace Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim who, under the government of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, served as facilitator of negotiations between Bangkok and rebels in the Thai Deep South since 2013.

I am ready to play my role as a facilitator in the peace talk between the Deep South rebels and the Thai government, Rahim said in an interview with BenarNews.



When the government approached me, I accepted it, he said, adding he received his appointment letter from the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday.

In Bangkok, Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, the head of the Thai military governments negotiating team in peace talks with southern rebels confirmed that Rahim was appointed as Malaysias new facilitator for the negotiations.

We are acknowledging that Tan Sri Abdul Rahim bin Mohd Noor, Malaysias former police chief and special branch police chief, becomes the facilitator in the Deep South peace-talk process in the place of Dato Seri Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim, as the Malaysian side had informed us earlier. The Thai prime minister also knew that, Aksara told BenarNews.

It is a change on their side and it would not have negative effects because he is just a facilitator. ... He is a former special branch chief so he may know something more than others and there might be new groups that want to join the talks, the chief Thai negotiator said.

Rahims appointment comes more than three months after Mahathir led the Pakatan Harapan opposition alliance in a stunning victory over Najibs Barisan Nasional coalition in Malaysias general election.

Questions arose after the May 9 election over whether Mahathir would keep Malaysias mediator role in the Deep South peace process alive.

When asked about this by a BenarNews reporter in late June, Mahathir said his government would carry on in the mediators role, but he left open the possibility that Zamzamin would be replaced.

Experienced in peace talks

Rahim, 75, is perhaps best remembered as the negotiator who was instrumental in getting the former Communist Party of Malaya to lay down their arms and sign a peace deal with the Malaysian government in 1989.

The Peace Agreement of Hat Yai  named after the city in southern Thailand along the border with Malaysia  came about through peace talks facilitated by the Thai government and ended the 21-year-old communist insurgency.

Rahim, who served as Malaysias fifth police chief from 1994 to 1999, is also known as the top policeman who, 20 years ago, punched Anwar Ibrahim, the sacked deputy prime minister in a notorious case dubbed as the black eye incident.

At the time, Mahathir was serving as prime minister. Many years later, former foes Mahathir and Anwar would reunite to lead the Pakatan alliance to victory against Barisan in the 2018 general election.

Rahim will take over as facilitator of the Thai peace talks, even though he took issue five months ago with comments made by Mahathir suggesting that the Malaysian police force under Rahims leadership had a hand in Mahathirs decision to sack Anwar back in 1998.

On Friday, Rahim expressed confidence that he would be able to carry out the mandate given to him by Malaysias new government.

I feel that my years of experience and connections I made when I was Malaysias special branch head and inspector-general of police will help in assisting both sides in these peace talks, he told Benar.



Sources in the Malaysian government declined to comment on Rahims appointment. It was not immediately clear why the new administration chose to remove Zamzamin, who had brokered two sets of Thai peace talks since 2013.

The first were negotiations between the government of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the rebel group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) that stalled in December 2013. Then, starting in 2015, Zamzamin facilitated talks between the Thai junta, which had overthrown Yingluck in a coup in May 2014, and MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing Deep South rebel groups.

The negotiations with MARA have failed to produce a limited ceasefire that is seen as critical to prospects for peace in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence there since the decades-old separatist insurgency flared up again in 2004.

The onus is on the Thais

One analyst said Rahim knows the Thai authorities well, dating back to 30 years ago when he helped negotiate the surrender of the Communist Party of Malaya.

But Rahim will face deep-seated suspicion among Thais that groups in Malaysia actively support the insurgency in the Deep South, said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, a Kuala Lumpur think-tank.

And hell need to do more than what took place under the previous government, which focused too much of its efforts on facilitating talks involving one group, the MARA Patani, Shahriman told BenarNews.

The analyst also cast doubt over the Thai military governments commitment to negotiating with rebels to settle the southern insurgency.

Ultimately, there will be no progress unless the Thai authorities are serious about addressing the insurgency in the countrys southern border provinces, Shahriman said, adding that the low-level conflict too often was susceptible to being ignored by those in power in Bangkok.

I really think the onus is on the Thais, here. Malaysia can facilitate [talks] but if the Thais are not willing to make any compromises  even contemplate some form of autonomy for the South  all efforts will come to naught, he said.
A Philippine soldier patrols a street in an abandoned section of Marawi, May 23, 2018.

At least 22 government troops were wounded and a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant was killed in a fierce gun battle on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, the military said Friday.

Troops under 41st Infantry Battalion were patrolling in the village of Langhub in Patikul town on Thursday morning when they encountered a unit of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), regional army spokesman Lt. Col. Gerry Besana said.

A heavy exchange of gunfire lasted for about an hour, leaving one fighter dead on the enemy side. He was identified as Alpata Abdurasa.

It was reported that there could be more casualties on the enemy side due to the bloodstains speckled in the area. It is yet to be determined, Besana said.

Most of the wounded were hit by shrapnel from an explosion caused by a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, while others suffered gunshot wounds. Details about their conditions were not released.

Rest assured all battle casualties will be given prompt and due medical treatment, Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega said. We will continuously intensify our operations to expedite the neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf group until the peace that the people of Sulu deserve is attained.

Dela Vega, chief of the Armys Western Mindanao Command, said soldiers were deployed to hunt down the perpetrators who are believed to have retreated into the jungle.

The Abu Sayyaf is blamed for the countrys worst atrocities, including bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. It was blamed for bombing a passenger ferry in 2004, killing more than 100 people in the countrys worst terrorist attack.

The group is holding several Filipino and foreign hostages in the south and in the past two years beheaded a German national and two Canadians after their governments failed to pay ransom.

Last month, the military blamed Abu Sayyaf for a car bomb that killed 11 people on the southern island of Basilan. The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility, saying a Moroccan militant was responsible.

A Filipino Muslim cleric who claimed to have assisted militants to enter Basilan has been arrested.

That attack came after President Rodrigo Duterte invited the Abu Sayyaf to peace talks following the success of negotiations with the larger separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that led to the signing of a Muslim autonomy law days before the Basilan attack.

Analysts said the ongoing attacks by Abu Sayyaf, and other smaller IS-affiliated groups in the south would continue to pose a threat despite passage of the law.
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High near 70F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, the loss of religion in America.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Cologuard is one of the only US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and non-invasive stool DNA screening diagnostics for cancer.

Molecular diagnostics company Exact Sciences and Pfizer have signed a multi-year agreement to co-market the Cologuard test for diagnosing colorectal cancer in the US.

Cologuard is one of the only US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and non-invasive stool DNA screening diagnostics for cancer.

By promoting the test, Exact Sciences and Pfizer intend to boost colorectal cancer screening rates. Exact Sciences sales force, the science of Cologuard and a direct-to-consumer marketing campaign will be combined with Pfizers health systems network and marketing expertise.

Exact Sciences will continue to carry out all manufacturing and laboratory operations of the test. Pfizer will evenly share gross profits and marketing costs above an agreed baseline.
Researchers from the Institute are working on a pilot research looking at the how age and ageing are conceptualized in assisted reproduction.

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) hosted an international workshop on Reframing the Biological Clock as part of a project funded under Wellcome Foundation UK Small Projects Grant for 2018.

Researchers from the Institute are working on a pilot research looking at the how age and ageing are conceptualized in assisted reproduction. Principal Investigator Dr. Anindita Majumdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad, is researching ageing and IVF (In vitro fertilization) in rural North India where she interviewed coupled above a certain age regarding their experiences with IVF and birthing children. The outcomes from the field research were presented at Remaking Reproduction Conference at Reproductive Sociology Group, University of Cambridge, U.K., in June 2018, and European Conference on South Asian Studies, Paris, in July 2018.

The Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad, coordinated the workshop, held on 17th and 18th August 2018 and brought together a set of scholars exploring the dynamics of ageing and reproduction through the lens of egg freezing, menopause, male infertility and sex ratio deficit.

Addressing the workshop, the chief Guest Prof. Ravinder Kaur, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi, said, This was a great conference, and extremely topical. Engaging with new reproductive technologies, this conference brought together papers that are looking at its relationship with kinship and the family. Some of the conversations here were futuristic, engaging with issues that are going to become relevant as we forge ahead, such as egg freezing. But, most importantly, this conference brought together voices from different parts of the world and from within India, giving us a comparative perspective on the issue of ageing and reproduction.

The outcomes from the workshop include:

Proposed Journal Special issue bringing together ongoing and established research

Proposed Joint research engagements with epidemiologists and social scientists on questions of environmental toxicity and bodily changes

Conversations on the need to understand the linkages between ageing and a socio-cultural body clock

Speaking later, Dr. Lucy van de Wiel, Reproductive Sociology Group, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, said, I have met people from all over the world, with discussions on how reproduction is organized, and the kind of inequalities it carries in countries like Mexico, US, and the UK. Im really glad that there is finally a conference on reproductive ageing. It is an important element and a major axis in social organization that has not been theorised as much as it should have been. Its been a lovely experience, participating in such a well-organized conference.

The workshop brought to the fore the ways in which technology is both detrimental and beneficial in imagining new reproductive futures for different cultures and communities across the world, including Mexico, Japan, US, UK, Denmark, India, Bangladesh, amongst others. Scholars from Denmark, US, UK, India, Japan, Germany and Bangladesh presented their work on the idea of the biological clock to understand how reproduction impacts deeper anxieties about the family, kin and nationhood.

Speaking later, Dr. Emily Wentzell, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, said, I am grateful to have been asked to come here. The areas of study and interest are particularly important when seen from a holistic perspective. This has enriched our individual thinking and our perspectives on reproduction and ageing.

This workshop brought together a diverse set of scholars working in the fields of reproductive medicine, epidemiology, assisted reproduction, anthropology, sociology and demography. The question of the biological clock is becoming an important node to look at changing fertilities, and their large scale impact on demographic change across the world. At the workshop, discussions around egg freezing, erectile dysfunction, infertility, changing meaning and ages for menopause, sperm banking, changing paternal and maternal ages became important nodes of discussion and analysis.
Is He The Luckiest Or Unluckiest Man In The World? Life oi-Syeda Farah

When we see people get lucky, we often think that they are born lucky. But certain unusual cases of people being lucky can often make us realise that indeed a few people are blessed!

Here is one such case of a man who is believed to have been lucky on the death front a couple of times.

The man named Frane Selak is said to have brushed death not once but more than thrice! On the other hand, he was even lucky when he won a lottery worth 600,000.

Man Thought His Wife Was A Woman, But...

Check out his story.

He Was Born In Croatia

Frane Selak was born in Croatia in 1929. He was a humble man who worked as a music teacher. He had been facing life-changing events since 1962.

His First Brush With Death

In 1962, in a freak accident, the train that he was travelling in catapulted into a river. In the crash, 17 passengers were killed. But Selak was lucky as he was able to swim to the shore with nothing but a broken arm and hypothermia.

Little did Selak know that this harrowing event was just a drop in the ocean when compared to what was coming his way in the next few years.

The Very Next Year

Just a year after the freaking train accident, Selak was flying from Zagreb to Rijeka when he saw a door detach from the aircraft. The plane crashed killing 19 people while Selak landed himself in a haystack.

Then He Was Involved In A Bus Accident

In the year 1966, Selak was involved in another fatal accident when the bus he was riding again plunged into a river. It is reported that four casualties had taken place in the crash, but still, Selak was lucky enough as he came out mostly unscathed.

He Even Had A Car Accident

In the year 1970, Selak was involved in a rare accident in which his car's fuel tank exploded on the motorway. Selak is believed to have been really lucky to just barely escape with his seemingly-charmed life.

Apart from this, even in the year 1973, he was involved in a freaky car accident, when a malfunctioning fuel pump had leaked petrol over his vehicle and this sent instant flames spewing at him.

Wait, He Was Even Knocked Down By A Bus As Well!

He was knocked down by a bus in the year 1995! The year after that, he was also involved in a famous disaster where a truck came barrelling towards his car as he drove around a mountain road. He leapt free, only to watch in horror as the car exploded.

Is Your Lucky Number 1? Then, These Personality Traits Define You

After All This He Even Won A Lottery Ticket!

After having these close, near-to-death experiences, Selak won the lottery in Croatia. This was a ticket that his lady love had got him. His jackpot winning was worth around 600,000. With this money, he bought a luxurious home but sold it shortly after which he decided to lead a humble life with his fifth wife.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 16:01 [IST]


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August 24, 2018

A true insider's reaction to Senator Cotton's commentary about federal criminal justice reform efforts

In prior posts here and here and here, I noted the commentary from Senator Tom Cotton attacking the federal criminal justice reform bills moving through Congress and some responses it has engendered. Today I receive an email from the son of a federal prisoner who maintains this interesting blog with postings from his father. The blog is worth checking out and it is titled "Blue Collar Criminal: 60-something small business owner. Screwed by the DOJ. Now I'm in prison. These are my thoughts."

In addition to pointing me to this blog, the prisoner's son shared his father's response to the piece Senator Cotton wrote in the Wall Street Journal and gave me permission to reprint his father's writings here:

I write this response to Sen. Tom Cotton's editorial ("Reform the Prisons Without Going Soft on Crime") from within my 8 X 10' federal prison cell I share with another medicare-eligible inmate. We agree that Cotton's essay should have been entitled - Reform the Prisons Without Doing a Damn Thing. Cotton bases a lot of his assertions on statistics. In lieu of rebutting them, which would be a bit hard given my current lack of access to the internet, I have to settle on "inferior" data, which is the actual experience of actual prisoners whom I know, and find every bit as credible as anyone I knew on the "outside". The specific ones I'm bouncing Cotton's preposterous claims off of, are guys with 10+ years of incarceration, and who have experienced a wide variety of federal prisons before working themselves down to the federal camp. Though I've only been "down" one year, I find my bullsh*t detector is pretty reliable, and comes in handy when evaluating prison stories and reading editorials such as Cotton's. Based on these findings, I not only doubt the factuality of the statistics he uses, I gravely mistrust the motives behind them. I came here a big fan of Sen. Cotton's. I first knew of him when he was a soldier, serving in Iraq, who was thought for awhile to be fictitious, due to the cognitive dissonance produced by the idea of a Harvard Univ./Harvard Law School grad being an infantry officer. I was very attuned to him, since my son was also in Iraq at the same time. He also put his pen to good use in rebutting anti-war propaganda. I was shocked, when my "adventure" with the DOJ brought me here, to find that Cotton, along with another of my conservative heroes - Sen. Jeff Sessions - were regarded as the mortal enemies of federal inmates, at least those who followed the progress of issues related to prison reform. My move away from fanhood has been sealed by this editorial, which has impressed me that he's traded the tools of war for the tools of sophistry. For starters, in Cotton's mind, we are all "criminals", a word he loves to repeat. One-size-fits-all. Excuse my sensitivity, and I leave it to friends and family to defend my name, but many of these guys are as fine individuals as any I know, and were "productive, law-abiding citizens" until the feds came after them. (If you find that hard to swallow, you might care to read Harvey Silverglate's 'Three Felonies A Day'.) He calls the House bill "flawed", and to the extent that it tampers with mandatory minimum sentences, or gives judges more discretion, a prescription for a "jailbreak". Why is lengthening a sentence wise, but shortening some foolish? Why is Cotton incapable of recognizing that prison populations are comprised of both truly dangerous, bad-guy criminals, and nonviolent, non-dangerous law-transgressors (including some who are truly and factually innocent)? Many of the guys I know in here would probably only "endanger communities" by cutting their neighbors lawn while they're on vacation. (And I'm not here making a distinction between "white-collar" and "drug offenders". I've learned that 'drug offender' is also not a one-size-fits-all category). In his paragraph on the current "drug epidemic", he cites a number of statistics to justify mandatory minimum sentencing, but ends by essentially admitting those statistics might not be significant or prove his point. His statements about how very little of recidivism is attributable to parole violation, does not purport with what I've seen nor the experience of my "experts". Most of the guys in my unit who have prior convictions are here now because their parole officer caught them 'high'. One guy here, a farm boy, had a prior drug felony, and "caught" an 8 year sentence for a felony firearms crime. He was deer hunting in a tree stand, having lost his right to bear arms by virtue of being a drug felon. Cotton's statistic to prove that drug convictions lead to rearrests for murder and rape 77% of the time, strikes my fellow inmates as not only false, but weird, crazy scare tactics. Cotton's cherry-picked example of a drug dealer, Wendell Callahan, who murdered his girlfriend and her daughters, is great for demagogic purposes, but irrelevant to the debate of shortening the eligible sentences of nonviolent felons. This has to be weighed in a context that looks objectively at good outcomes as well as negative. Keeping families apart, and depriving children of their fathers, when its not necessary for the public good, is a social evil; and this is what mandatory minimum sentences often do. It leads to and insures that the next generation will likely repeat the mistakes of their parents. Cotton attacks even the term "mass incarceration" on the strange basis that it couldn't possibly be big, since it could be bigger. I would say simply, that whichever country incarcerates the highest percentage of it's citizenry deserves the title of "mass incarcerator". This would be the United States. One book I've read states that the U.S. incarcerates 6 to 12 times more than the following countries: Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Italy or Australia. Yet Cotton thinks we don't lock up enough. But it gets worse. Cotton writes that "virtually no one goes to federal prison for "low-level, nonviolent" drug offenses. Even I, a relative newbie, know guys who are not only here for that, but have sentences exceeding 10 years. He says those that are here for just that have only pleaded to that, though they actually committed more serious offenses. Baloney. Here's how that goes - they commit a crime deserving 1 year (for example) and plead "down" to a 4 year sentence, because they're being threatened with a 12 year sentence. My friends here can't believe that Cotton doesn't know this. It's not unusual for the feds to concoct 20 charges, and settle for 2. It happens to everyone. It happened to me. They are extremely creative in their use of enhancements. (If the real crime were so heinous, why would they settle for a much lighter sentence?) And then this - "Presidential pardons are a much better instrument of justice than broad sentencing reductions." Puh-leeze! (I think this ridiculous statement was just a set-up for his snarky shot at Trump.) Cotton dismisses fiscal conservatives who would hope to reduce the cost of the American prison system. "The costs," he says, "of crime ... far outweigh the downsides of putting serious criminals behind bars." That all depends on what you consider to be "serious" criminals, and how you calculate the "downsides". At my camp, the common consensus is that the average age here is 50+. That includes quite a few in their 70s, and about 3 or 4 in their 80s. Maybe a dozen use canes. The financial distress on families and the negative economic impact on communities would certainly be part of the calculation of the "downsides", as would unquantifiable costs such as the loss of adult children to care for aged and debilitated parents. Certainly also there's a tremendous cost to communities who have lost key employees and employers, volunteers to non-profits, etc. There's a 80 yr old oncologist/researcher who's here due to a financial transgression of a side company he was a partner to. As to his closing assertion that "mandatory minimums .... work", there is a great body of research that would show otherwise. I, for one, would love to see a poll taken of federal judges as to the truth of that statement. Sen. Cotton ends his diatribe against prison reform, the kind that might actually reduce the prison population, with an affirmation of "faith-based and other antirecidivism programs". I heartily concur, in fact, I wish everyone would embrace the teaching of the Bible. In it we read this great truth - "For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumph over judgment." (James 2.13) If that is deemed as soft on crime, we need to deeply consider where we are heading.

August 24, 2018 at 11:38 AM | Permalink

Comments

"My move away from fanhood has been sealed by this editorial, which has impressed me that he's traded the tools of war for the tools of sophistry."

This is like a wife claiming that when her husband was squeezing her neck that was love play but now that he is choking her she is being abused.

Posted by: Daniel | Aug 24, 2018 11:52:11 AM

Professor Berman: the link to the blog does not work. Could you fix the link or give us the full web address?

Thanks.

Posted by: defendergirl | Aug 24, 2018 12:43:45 PM

Thanks for the link to that blog, Doug. I read through several posts and skimmed several more.

What I thought was interesting is how the author still doesn't see anything wrong with the system. Rather, he views what is happening in sentencing as a collection mistakes. This specific sentence doesn't make any sense, that specific sentence doesn't make sense but that is happenstance. Stupid, regrettable things happen and life that he wishes didn't happen but there is no system-wide failure.

He's like many others who suffer from moral cognitive dissonance and it goes like this:

(1) The system rewards the just and punishes the guilty.

(2) He is just and good.

(3) The system has judged him guilty.

What do? Well, one thing to so would be to blame the system but that would force him to give up his belief that the system is just and good, the cognitive map that have underpinned his moral world for 60 years. This is the path of the rebel or monk. The second option would be to confess his sins to big brother Sessions and Cotton and admit that he is not a good or just person but that would force him to give up his own moral self image. This is the path of the seeker or pilgrim. The third option is to believe that it was all one big mistake and that one day the nightmare will be over and everything will return to normal. This is the path of denial or the prayer for indulgence.

I wonder which path will win out, in the end.

Posted by: Daniel | Aug 24, 2018 12:43:48 PM

@defendergirl

https://bluecollarcriminal.com/

Posted by: Daniel | Aug 24, 2018 12:44:39 PM

Great post. Does anyone know why Tom Cotton has made it his personal mission to resist all sentencing reforms? He is a disgrace to Harvard. He knows better and is pandering to those who do not. What could be morecontrary to the adage to those who much is given, much is expected? What is his game? He seems like a complete sadist? Am I missing something?

Posted by: Mark | Aug 24, 2018 1:46:59 PM

I am from Arkansas. Cotton has been accused of white supremicist tendencies, or at least seeking to appeal to those with them. Why else we he select this peculiar issue on which to hang his hat. It is notable that many of us here in favor of reform are not from the segment of society that has relatives in prison. Yet, we put our energies to use in helping the less fortunate. Cotton, by contrast, seeks to advance by dividing and exploiting. What a disgrace. Does anyone have a defense for him?

Posted by: Michael | Aug 24, 2018 2:11:16 PM

I don't have a defense for Cotton but I will hazard a guess at what game he is playing. The prize he has his eye on is the Presidency. He has made the political decision, just like Ted Cruz, that if he wants to be president he cannot afford to look weak on crime in the Republican primary. That is the difference, as I see it, between him and Jeff Sessions. Session's great strength and great weakness is that he is a true believer; that is what gives him the ability to suck it up and put up with Trump's shit. For Cotton, just like his service in the military, being tough on crime is political expediency.

Posted by: Daniel | Aug 24, 2018 3:01:28 PM

I thin I fixed the blog link after a long day of teaching. Sorry about that...

Posted by: Doug B. | Aug 24, 2018 3:37:21 PM

I'm sorry but reading the OP I have a very hard time finding any sympathy for the author. Someone who fails to see anything wrong with the felon-in-possession situation who instead of challenging the ban as it applies to him (as others have recently managed) just goes ahead and acquires the weapon is difficult to believe on any other subject. He simply sounds very much like an apologist for the guys he deals with.

Such an apparent attitude also makes it hard to credit that he was actually wronged by the DOJ rather than simply being caught.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Aug 24, 2018 8:26:05 PM

I largely agree with the above poster, the inability to acknowledge that one broke a law (bracketing off a judgment of that law for the moment) shows a lack of personal responsibility. If the conditions of parole are don't test positive for chemicals x,y,z or don't be in possession of a firearm, and you choose to use chemical x or possess a firearm, you are in violation of parole. The conditions can be argued against on a number of levels, but believing the conditions unjust and violating them, does not mean they suddenly don't apply and you're a victim. That he starts off as a victim of the DOJ (witch Hunt?) feeds right into the conservative narrative of whiney criminals. I think it would be more effective to take responsibility for the conduct, and then pose an argument against the statute(s) and/or overgrowth of federal criminal law. Also, the term "criminal" has both a denotation and connotation. To commit a crime makes one a criminal, by it's definition. The connotation of course is what the guy is arguing against as it impunes his character. The easiest way to end crime is to abolish all criminal laws.

To Doug's statement above about Cotton making the claims he is making because he seeks higher elected office merely acknowledges that a large segment of voters want officials that are tough on crime. The issue isn't Cotton per se then, it's that Americans disagree on the issue. I may have different views than those Americans, but such is life in a democracy.

Posted by: Anonuser879 | Aug 25, 2018 12:13:50 AM

I also see either testing positive or felon in possession as much more than technical parole violations. The former is illegal for all citizens (at least the possession required in order to get that way) and the latter would remain illegal for the convict even were parole satisfied. Much different than failure to show at an appointment.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Aug 25, 2018 12:46:05 AM

Anonuser879: I believe it was Daniel asserting that Senator Cotton is making his points for political reasons.

Though I would assert that all elected politicians are always thinking politically and strategically, I also sense that Senator Cotton is a genuine believer in the notion that having more people in prison is good for society. There are principled and plausible utilitarian and retributive reasons for embracing a "tough and tougher" approach to the use of prison in the US, and Senator Cotton makes it seems like he really believes he is advocating for a better America. But, of course, lots of folks, myself include, disagree with his view of what would make for a better America.

Posted by: Doug B | Aug 25, 2018 7:43:29 AM

Indeed, it was me.

"I also sense that Senator Cotton is a genuine believer in the notion that having more people in prison is good for society."

Trust a psychologist intuition, there is nothing sincere or genuine about that man expect his pursuit of power.

Posted by: Daniel | Aug 25, 2018 4:52:44 PM

I agree that Cotton is for himself and is basically talking out of his rearend on sentencing issues. I also agree if this fellow is a felon, not only is he restricted from guns while on probation, but for life, goes for ammo also. Its not taking responsibility by minimizeing the gun bump and its not realizing your specific limitations.

But its a 5 yr trip for a gun bump I thought, so he tripped another enhzncement or history category was filled out.

After the election look fir Sessions to get fired. Right now all criminal roads from the white house Re headed towards Trump. Look for him to go bye bye as well. He will never get re elected, but then again, if Hillary Clinton is the best the opposition has, whos to say I certainly thought America could do better than these 2.

I would be a better Pres than Trump. I dont twitter. Would get competent staff, not thugs who are my buddies. I would listen to my staff and keep a low profile, a very low profile.

Never had hookers, darn I must of missed something... Would not make exec orders, let congress do their job. Wouldnt challenge foreign thug leaders,

Posted by: MidWestGuy | Aug 25, 2018 5:56:44 PM

Being a better president than Trump is not setting the bar particularly high.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Aug 26, 2018 4:21:26 PM

Post a comment
Bayer says the number of US lawsuits brought against newly acquired Monsanto has risen to about 8,000 from 5,200 previously after the company was told to pay damages for not warning of alleged cancer risks of glyphosate-based weedkillers.

The number of plaintiffs in both state and federal litigation is approximately 8,000 as of end-July. These numbers may rise or fall over time but our view is that the number is not indicative of the merits of the plaintiffs cases, chief executive Werner Baumann told analysts in a conference call.

Bayer shares have lost more than 10% and stripped off about 10bn in market value since Monsanto was ordered on August 10 to pay $289m (249m) in damages in the first of possibly thousands of US lawsuits over glyphosate-based weedkillers such as Roundup and Ranger Pro.

He said the jurys verdict was inconsistent with the science-based conclusions of regulators and said that demand for glyphosate-based products remained strong. When asked if Bayer would consider settling cases out of court, he said: We will vigorously defend this case and all upcoming cases.

Second-quarter results, due on September 5, would include provisioning for legal defence costs but no money would at that point be set aside for any possible future damages, said finance chief Wolfgang Nickl.

Earlier this month, the California Supreme Court declined to hear arguments by Monsanto as to why Roundup doesnt belong on the states list of chemicals known to cause cancer.

- Reuters
Hoteliers in Dublin have been advised that converting basement floors to provide windowless bedrooms is not the answer to the citys shortage of tourist accommodation.

An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for the proposed conversion of the basement level of a large city centre hotel to provide extra bedrooms, without any natural daylight, claiming such a measure is unacceptable.

Balrath Investments, owner of the Grafton Capital Hotel on Lower Stephens St, near the back of St Stephens Green shopping centre, wanted to replace a gym, meeting rooms, and plant with 12 windowless bedrooms.

The hotel, which has 128 bedrooms and which once operated the popular Break for the Border bar and nightclub, argued that windowless bedrooms are becoming more commonplace around the world in response to consumer demands.

Balrath Investments, which is owned by Eamon Waters, the CEO of Panda Waste, has appealed the decision of Dublin City Council to refuse planning permission for the project.

Council planners claimed the provision of windowless bedrooms is not an appropriate standard of amenity for hotel accommodation in the city. Failte Irelands hotel classification criteria also require all hotel bedrooms to have a window  a fact contested by Grafton Capital.

The hotel accused the council of having a totally subjective opinion and of seeking to impose a particular and singular view on what constituted an appropriate form of hotel bedroom accommodation.

It appears the planning authority is suggesting that the provision of a small proportion of windowless bedrooms will compromise the ability of Dublin to be promoted as a world-class tourist destination, it said.

Grafton Captial said it is unrealistic to expect all bedrooms in a constricted inner-city site to provide views. The company claimed windowless hotel bedrooms are found in cities such as London, Paris, Rome, and New York. The hotel also disputed the councils conclusion that the proposed bedrooms are substandard.

An Bord Pleanala has now upheld the councils ruling claiming the proposed change of use of the hotels basement area to 12 windowless bedrooms would constitute an unacceptable form of development.

It would not provide an acceptable level of quality and amenity for visitors to Dublin, it said.

It warned that allowing such a development would create an undesirable precedent for other hotels in Dublin as well as being inconsistent with the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022 which aims to promote and facilitate tourism as one of the key pillars of the citys economy.

The ruling sends a strong signal that projects which include the provision of windowless hotel rooms will struggle to secure planning approval.
Friends of a woman who has been missing for three months say they are doubtful she disappeared by herself.

29-year-old Giedre Raguckaite from Lithuania was last seen on Hoey's Lane in Dundalk, Co. Louth, at around 6pm on May 26.

She is described as five foot five inches tall with a slight build and has blonde hair and green eyes.

She had previously been living in England, but had moved to Ireland after a trip to Lithuania to renew her passport.

Gardai in Dundalk are appealing for information on Giedre's whereabouts.

Her childhood friend, Gedvile Tumenaite, is concerned for her welfare.

She said: "When she disappeared, her passport was with the landlord and he is holding the passport so she has no papers.

"We think she is still in Ireland because she has no identification with her, but I just think that something bad happened.

"I think that it's something against her own wishes, we have so many doubts about everything, we don't know."
A clerical abuse survivor has said that every "rotten apple" in the Catholic Church should be removed.

Marie Collins told The World Meeting of Families today that there is denial within the Catholic Church about the scale of clerical sex abuse.

Ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis tomorrow, there are calls for the Vatican to come up with a plan to address the issue.

The Pontiff will meet with some victims, many of them have called for action, rather than just apologies.

In her speech, Ms Collins criticised the Vatican for "defending the indefensible" and called for a zero-tolerance approach to those found to be perpetrating or covering up abuse.

As part of a panel discussion titled 'Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adult', Ms Collins criticised Pope Francis' letter to all Catholics this week on clerical child abuse.

Abuse survivor Marie Collins said there are still people within the church who believe the issue of abuse was a media conspiracy | Read more: https://t.co/jDgWrlR4kO pic.twitter.com/aXKmwymCuC  RTE News (@rtenews) August 24, 2018

She said there were many within the Church who believe "that all this is a media conspiracy" and that survivors were out to destroy the church.

Ms Collins appealed to them to put their energies into effecting change, rather than "defending the indefensible" and denial.

Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin was among those in the audience for her speech and acknowledged the church needs to take tougher action.

"We need to listen to Marie, and other Prophets like her, and take the actions that she feels need to be taken at global level," he said.

Meanwhile, final preparations are underway ahead of the Popes arrival as he is due to touch down on Irish soil tomorrow morning for a two day two visit that will see him spend just 36 hours in the country.

It is the biggest event organised in Ireland in 40 years and the biggest in Europe this year.

Pope Francis is due to arrive at Dublin airport at around 10.30 tomorrow morning then it is on to the Aras for a private meeting with President Michael D Higgins.

From there he will travel to Dublin Castle for a meeting with the Taoiseach and then St Marys Pro Cathedral.

Around 100,000 people are expected to line the streets of the capital to see him on the Popemobile as he makes his way to the Capuchin day centre for a private meeting with homeless people before a concert in Croke Park tomorrow evening attended by more than 80,000.

On Sunday, he will fly to Knock where he will visit the Shrine and say the Angelus in front of a crowd of 45,000 before returning to Dublin for mass in the Phoenix Park where half a million people are due to attend.

More than 1,200 journalists from 31 countries are covering the two-day visit.

Digital Desk
Gardai are looking for help in finding a man missing from the Carrickmines area of Dublin since August 8.

30 year old Sean Moore is described as 5 foot 8, with light brown hair, of slim build with brown eyes.
Update: Gardai have a released a man they had been questioning about a fatal house fire in Dublin.

A 44-year-old man died from injuries he sustained in the suspected arson attack in Terenure in the early hours of Tuesday.

The suspect has been released without charge and a file is being prepared for the DPP.

Earlier: Man arrested in connection with fatal Terenure house fire

Gardai have arrested a man in connection with a fatal house fire in Dublin.

A 44-year-old man died after the blaze at a property on Oaklands Terrace in Terenure in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The man was taken from the house in a critical condition and died on Wednesday at St James's Hospital

Three people were rescued from the upper floor of the residence following the suspected arson attack and were not injured in the fire.

The man in custody is reportedly from Lucan but is currently homeless.

He is currently being questioned at Terenure garda station.

Digital Desk
By Joyce Fegan

An upcoming documentary about missing Wexford teenager, Fiona Sinnott, will examine her life prior to her murder.

Fiona, a mother of one, went missing in February 1998, but it was not until 2005 that her case was upgraded to a murder investigation.

Emmy-nominated Shauna Keogh, who has spent more than a year making the documentary called Getting Away With Murder, said new information, footage, and people have come to the fore in recent months.

People have spoken out who have never spoken before. We have access to exclusive locations, as well as new information that has never been made public.

For example, the inside of Fionas rented home is seen in the newly-released trailer of the documentary.

Shauna and the production team spent a lot of time in Wexford in the last year and unearthed information about Fionas life prior to her disappearance.

The documentary reveals what Fionas life was really like prior to her murder and will cast a light on Irish society. There is also exclusive footage of Fiona from the time before her murder that has never been seen before, said Ms Keogh.

The TV producer, who was behind I am Homicide, said the progress that the documentary has made on Fionas case would not be possible without the people of Wexford.

The town of Wexford has really rallied in behind this documentary, and we have been welcomed with open arms.

"The people of Wexford want answers and want this case solved, its been hanging over the town for more than 20 years now. They want closure.

This year marks Fionas 40th birthday and 20 years since her murder; time changes a lot of people, she added.

Retired detective sergeant Alan Bailey, who headed up Operation Trace, which investigated Irelands missing women, said Fionas is the most solvable of cases.

However, despite the new evidence and footage that have been unearthed by the documentary, Ms Keogh said the real progress came about by asking the right people the right questions.

The fundamental thing with the documentary is asking the right people the right questions because there are answers there that were never given, especially on the night she went missing.

Fiona was 19 years old when she went missing. She had been looking forward to her daughters first birthday and had been planning it with her sisters.

She was also looking forward to celebrating her sister Dianes 21st birthday at the time of her disappearance.

Ms Keogh, who has worked on many crime documentaries in the UK and the US, described Fionas case as an immense tragedy.

It is an immense tragedy what happened  a 19-year-old single mother having her life snatched away. I have produced multiple crime documentaries series in the US and I never came across a tragedy like it, she said.

Fionas family co-operated in the making of the documentary and last month told the Irish Examiner that they had nothing left to lose.

We know who killed Fiona. For so many years we were afraid to mention names but not anymore, said Diane Sinnott, Fionas sister.

The one-hour-long documentary will air on Virgin Media One (formerly TV3) in the autumn.
By Caroline ODoherty and Daniel McConnell

A Catholic cardinal has said full disclosure of all documents relating to credible allegations of abuse against priests was the only way to address victims rights.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said it had emerged in the revelations about abuse and cover-ups in Pennsylvania that some dioceses witheld files on priests against whom allegations were made and this had contributed to the disgust people felt.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago

Several victim advocate groups here called this week for all records held by dioceses on priests not prosecuted in the criminal courts but punished under canon law to be disclosed.

The National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church says Irelands defamation and data protection laws prevent the disclosure of the names of such priests as only those convicted in court can be publicly named.

But Cardinal Cupich said while some US states also had restrictive laws, disclosure was essential. The only way that youre going to really respect victims and give them the courage to come forward for healing by is to have those names out there, he said.

My suggestion would be, which we did in Chicago, is to ask independent people to come in to look at the files to make sure there is nothing in there that has not been revealed in terms of pepole who have been judged as having credible accusations against them, to list those names and then go the next step and say anybody who has been offended by any of these people should come forward. Thats the only way were going to go forward.

Cardinal Blase was speaking at a press conference at the World Meeting of Families which will this morning host a panel discussion on abuse in the church. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night repeated his pledge to discuss clerical sex abuse with Pope Francis when they meet in Dublin this weekend.

Speaking on RTE, Mr Varadkar said he would tell Pope Francis that the Catholic Church must admit its own sins.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold a 10-minute meeting on Saturday and the Taoiseach said he would approach it with a sense of welcome and respect.

But he added that he knew the Irish public would want him to stress that the Catholic Church needs to do more in dealing with child sex abuse in Ireland.

The Vatican has said Pope Francis will meet victims during his visit, but Archbishop Eamon Martin said yesterday he had no details of what was planned.

He said he believed the Pope would be in listening mode during the meeting and he hoped it would go well.

Meeting with survivors is not easy, he said. Survivors sometimes simply dont trust us.

The World Meeting of Families three days of talks and workshops continues in the RDS today while this evening at an multi-faith event in Christchurch, the Catholic bishops will announce they are to pull the churchs wealth out of investments in oil, gas and other fossil fuel industries.

The announcement will say they have committed to moving all its stocks into ethical investments within five years.

The move will make the Church in Ireland the second in the world after Belgium to answer Pope Franciss call to put climate change on the clerical agenda by divesting themselves of fossil fuel investments. The Vatican Bank has yet to do the same.
Republican senator John McCain has chosen to discontinue medical treatment for his brain cancer, his family has said.

In a statement, the family said Mr McCain has surpassed expectations for survival, but "the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict".

The family added: "With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

The six-term Arizona senator and Republican presidential nominee from 2008 would be 82 next week. He has been away from the Capitol since December.

Mr McCain, a former Navy pilot, was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years.

He was elected to Congress in the early 1980s and was elected to the Senate in 1986. He gained a reputation as a lawmaker who was willing to stick to his convictions rather than go along with party leaders.

He has been a frequent target of criticism from President Donald Trump, especially for his vote against a Republican replacement for "Obamacare".

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Twitter that he was "very sad to hear this morning's update".

"We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour," Mr McConnell said.

Arizona governor Doug Ducey called Mr McCain "an American hero" who always put his country before himself.

Mr Ducey said a "spirit of service and civility" guided Mr McCain's life, standing as a model for Americans regardless of political affiliation.

Mr McCain's wife Cindy tweeted: "I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey."

He underwent surgery in July 2017 to remove a blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumour called a glioblastoma.

Mr McCain rebounded quickly, returning to Washington and entering the Senate in late July to a standing ovation from colleagues.

In a dramatic turn, he later cast a deciding vote against the Republican health care bill, earning the wrath of Mr Trump, who frequently cites Mr McCain's vote at campaign events.

His condition worsened last autumn and he has been in Arizona since December.

A source close to Mr McCain who asked not to be identified said the senator is at his Arizona ranch with his family.

He is a long-term survivor of melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. Doctors classified his brain cancer as a primary tumour, meaning it is not related to his former malignancies.

He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, then won it in 2008 before losing the general election to Mr Obama.

He returned to the Senate, determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign in which his reputation as a maverick had faded.

When Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015, Mr McCain, the scion in a decorated military family, embraced his new influence as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushing for aggressive US military intervention overseas and eager to contribute to "defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America".

Asked how he wanted to be remembered, he said simply: "That I made a major contribution to the defence of the nation."
Supermarket retailers Woolworths and Coles are in a battle with banks and mobile phone providers for prime space across capital cities as time-poor consumers demand more convenient locations and trading hours.

These shopfronts were once the domain of fashion and cafes, but the new entrants are willing to pay premium rents to snare the prime sites.

NAB has taken a prime site in George Street, Sydney.

Sydney's Pitt Street Mall reflects the shift with Woolworths and Suncorp leasing popular sites along the strip to join Microsoft. As other stores become vacant, there is a rush from the so-called new entrants, being non-traditional apparel.

According to CBRE, this will only become more competitive, particularly as more residents call the CBD home and need close to 24-hour services that once closed at 5pm.
Kaser has firsthand experience in managing chronic pain. Credit:Paul Jeffers The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning ''which way'', alluding to the crossroads at which clients find themselves. Currently, the organisation receives funding from the Federal Department of Health and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. We're dining at di Stasio, which Kaser chose because it's a St Kilda institution, much like Windana. I order linguine with prawns, for her it's vegetarian lasagne, with baked fennel to share and a glass of pinot grigio each. Receipt for lunch with Anne-Maree Kaser. "I call myself a 'flexitarian'  I try not to eat anything with a face but prawns pay the ultimate penalty for being tasty little buggers."

Warm, funny and self-deprecating, Kaser is a pragmatic optimist and a self-described "high-functioning introvert". She has two daughters  Hannah, 25, and Zoe, 22  and took on the role at Windana five years ago. Fennel baked with milk and toasted breadcrumbs. Credit:Paul Jeffers "People have been using mind-altering substances for millennia. But I think [in Australia] we very definitely have a strong emphasis on celebrating with, commiserating with, breaking bread with  and integrating alcohol to our very existence." "We don't need an excuse really." Home-made pasta with tomato, mozzarella and basil. Credit:Paul Jeffers

When she started working in rehabilitation, the main drugs were alcohol and heroin, with a little speed thrown in. Now it's predominantly methamphetamines and a lot of ''poly users'', people using two or more drugs simultaneously. As demand for treatment has risen, the number of providers of rehab services has, too. It's a scenario ripe for exploitation. "Some of the private providers are tremendous and do great work," she says. "Sadly there are others who appear to be offering little more than lodging and access to some of the community programs that are available to people anyway, charging up to $30,000 a month sometimes." Linguine with prawns. Credit:Paul Jeffers After a false start, studying a bachelor of business ("what was I thinking!"), Kaser trained as a nurse. Freshly graduated, she got her first position in drug and alcohol treatment at the old Smith Street Clinic in Collingwood, a 14-bed facility where she worked in the withdrawal unit. Men and women bunked in together; many were living rough or sex workers. "They often had particular challenges, living in pretty ordinary conditions, people who were really quite unwell."

The clinic also operated what's called now called Opiate Replacement Therapy (ORT)  back then it was simply the methadone clinic. Bleak as it sounds, she was hooked. "That was a terrific experience. I fell in love with drug and alcohol treatment and the potential for people to change." After a few years, Kaser moved back to the La Trobe Valley, where she spent the next 22 years working in the field, as a counsellor and then starting the home-based/residential treatment program. Gippsland was one of the first regions to take such a service to people in their homes. It continues today, in country and metro areas, and is a medically assisted detox, conducted in conjunction with a GP, a nurse and a support person (often a family member or partner). "We're asking people to address these very deep emotional and psychological issues without the tools they've traditionally used. I have huge admiration for them. I think it takes huge courage to come in to treatment and it takes amazing tenacity to stick it out."

In December 2016, she was hit by a car while riding her motorbike, ending up in the Alfred. Thanks to multiple fractures, part of the care she received involved managing extreme pain. While they couldn't eradicate it completely, prescription drugs helped enormously. "I could see how pleasant the sensation is associated with the dulling of the pain and [how it] makes recovery a little bit more bearable." Analgesia is necessary but after about four weeks, Kaser made the difficult but conscious decision to stop. "I had had a bang on the head anyway but the medication was making me even more dopey." Rather than medically prescribed painkillers, Kaser now uses alternative methods to manage her chronic pain. Moving your body helps, she says, as does lots of turmeric, the active ingredient of which is curcumin, a natural pain relief. Even so, these are "first world problems" she says. "I go to work every day and think my life is wonderful."

Part of her remit is to address the media coverage around alcohol and drugs. "Often there's a moral panic and a fear but the reality is there's a potential for change " Though challenging, Kaser's work reveals incredible stories of hope and transformation. "People can come out of treatment and go on to lead very productive lives," she says. "Addiction doesn't have to define who you are for the rest of your life." The Andrews Government recently funded another 30 beds for Windana's rural residential facility at Maryknoll, colloquially known as the farm. People come in for as long as necessary, from a few weeks up to a year; the program is usually delivered over a period of six to 12 months. Residents live together in shared accommodation, all at various stages of their treatment, offering each other support. If people stay for 30 days or more, the odds of making long-term changes are exponentially higher. Programs in Belgium and Scotland offering what's known as a Welcome House  a space in which to transition into treatment, to address outstanding mental health issues and to create a full plan for recovery  have seen dropout rates plummet from 30 or 40 per cent to about five per cent.

Windana has just been provided with partial funding to build such a place and a program to raise money for the rest is about to be launched. "Our dropout rates are good  significantly better than anyone in the land," Kaser says, "but we want them to be better." Planning for life after rehab starts as soon as people arrive, focused on helping people re-establish important relationships. Some staff have been through recovery themselves  ''lived experience'' as it's known in the industry  so know first-hand what's involved. "It's incredibly inspiring to see people who've been through the hardest and darkest times to make it stick." Once they've completed the program, residents attend graduations and get to tell their story; often a family member also speaks. "It's such a beautiful thing to see people have hope in their lives again and the promise of a long and healthy life." That said, it's not all good news. "The reality is that we lose people. Every year as a recovery community we see people who accidentally or otherwise lose their lives." A strong supporter of safe injecting rooms, Kaser is thrilled to see them introduced in Victoria. "You only need to look to New South Wales and see the tens of thousands of people who have been kept safe  not one death."

"It will make such a big difference. We know that you have to keep people alive and well until you can make those changes stick. Treatment works." Kaser argues that as a society, we all have a responsibility to help those struggling to overcome addiction. She knows only too well how easily it can happen. "It's keeping those people connected and safe and well in the long-term, giving them meaningful things to do, helping them create positive relationships, that's what helps them as people, and us as a community." International Overdose Awareness Day is August 31. overdoseday.com windana.org.au The bill, please
On September 27, 1956, the British exploded an atomic bomb on Pitjantjatjara land in South Australia. The place would become known as Maralinga, which means thunder in the now-extinct Garik Aboriginal language.

Black Mist Burnt Country tells the stories of the atomic tests in Australia in the 1950s and 60s, revisiting the events and locations through the artworks of Indigenous and non-Indigenous contemporary artists across the mediums of painting, print-making, sculpture, photography, video and new media.

JD Mittmann, curator of Black Mist Burnt Country at the National Museum of Australia. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

Now showing at the National Museum of Australia, it has been touring with great success since September 2016, opening then to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first test at Maralinga.

Curator JD Mittman, from the Burrinja Dandenong Ranges Cultural Centre, grew up under the nuclear cloud in Germany during the 1980s and when he came to Australia he was surprised to learn there had been atomic tests here.
It was bleak mid-winter 2016, somewhere in Serbia. Ben Quilty was with novelist Richard Flanagan; they were there to meet refugees fleeing war-racked Syria, and Europe was struggling to deal with the torrent of humanity driven out by the horrors inflicted by President Bashar al-Assad and Isis.

Archibald prize-winner Quilty was to illustrate Notes on an Exodus, the essay Flanagan later published, but he spent plenty of time with children as their parents were being interviewed. The painter got them drawing, and most of the kids drew the land they had left behind.

The vibrant work of one little girl, Heba, caught his eye and Quilty asked if she would draw her home in Deir ez-Zor. What she produced shocked the man who had been Australia's official war artist in Afghanistan.

"She drew a picture of helicopters with three barrel bombs and two dead bodies. That's when I thought, 'There's an idea here'. No child should draw that when I ask you to draw your home as a six-year-old; no one should have to draw that. And if you're going to draw that, everyone needs to see it."
It's that time of year when Sydney's usual suspects make their annual pilgrimage to Hamilton Island Race Week  the Melbourne Cup of yachting.

Nick Wooster and Jimmy Niggles at the launch of Hamilton Island Race Week this week.

The well-heeled sailing event, organised by the Oatley family, opened this week with a series of VIP soirees, including one each hosted by Firedoor's Lennox Hastie, Rockpool's Neil Perry and Ottolenghi's Helen Goh at Qualia.

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Paspaley Pearls also held an exclusive preview of new collection Monsoon on board a mid-morning cruise on luxury superyacht, Quantum, where they showed off 56 of the most extraordinary pearls ever discovered. It's only the second time the collection has been shown outside the family.
Michael had worked in investment banking, and was then running his own digital music company. We talked about setting up a luxury brand together: we worked out a strategy and made a list of 120 names that we sent to our families. Every one of them voted for Ralph & Russo.

Michael wanted me to move to the UK but I had my business designing for private clients in Sydney; I'd learnt about couture from my grandmother and sold my first piece at the age of 12. One day Michael rang and said, "I hope you've got your visa because I've bought you a one-way ticket; you leave next week." When I arrived in London he said he'd organised all the documentation for me to have UK permanent residency. He'd planned everything.

TAMARA: It was 2004, I'd just arrived in London from Sydney and was taking a walk when I literally bumped into Michael. We apologised, heard each other's Australian accents and stood there talking for an hour and a half. We became close very fast and after I went home we would speak on the phone every day. He came over for Christmas, met my family, and I visited his in Brisbane.

We didn't take investors; we wanted to grow organically and make our name in couture first. I met our first client at a black-tie event: she came up to me and said she loved my gown. I did quite a few pieces for her, she told her friends and they came to us. It was all word of mouth. Within a year we had calls from Beyonce and Angelina Jolie.

Michael and I are involved in both sides of the company; he runs every business decision past me and I always tell him the feeling I want to take for a collection, and show him the initial concepts and then each individual piece. He has a very good eye for detail and what works on different women. I always listen to him. We love what we do and we talk about it all the time; work is life, there is no division.

Michael used to be a very good cook. Once at the beginning of our relationship, he had been away on business and I made him dinner. It was all laid out beautifully. He took a couple of mouthfuls, stood up and threw it all in the bin. He said, "Please don't ever do that again." That suited me fine! We have a chef at home now; our schedule is very hectic. Michael solves almost every problem with food. Whenever we're up against it, he'll buy mountains of doughnuts for the entire company.

Ralph & Russo has grown very fast and we are often apart, in different offices or travelling separately, but we talk on the phone maybe 25 times a day. We rely on each other for everything; being creative is an emotional experience and he rescues me every day. We make each other laugh, but I think I'm the funnier one.

MICHAEL: When we met in the street, I bumped into Tamara accidentally-on purpose because I thought she was pretty gorgeous. Then we clicked as people but also with where we wanted to go in life. It took me a while to get her out of Australia; in the end I just said, "It's happening!"
ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja emerged as a leading public face of Peter Dutton's failed attempt to become Prime Minister in the hours before the spill that elevated Scott Morrison to the role.

Senator Seselja made public pitches for the pro-Dutton camp during the conservative insurgency that split the Liberals and brought an end to Malcolm Turnbull's leadership.

His resignation from his assistant ministry on Thursday morning preceded multiple others as senior conservative Liberal MPs abandoned Mr Turnbull and built momentum for a second spill. He joined 43 parliamentary Liberal party members in signing the petition bringing on Friday's vote.

Senator Zed Seselja. Credit:Andrew Meares

The ACT senator's position within a Morrison government was left undetermined and hanging upon the approach the incoming Prime Minister will take to Mr Dutton's supporters after the Queensland MP's second tilt at the job backfired.
As celebrations kick off in Plymouth, England this weekend to mark 250 years since Captain James Cook set sail for Australia in 1768, local amateur maritime historians are pushing for the establishment of a Cook Heritage Trail along the east coast of Australia.

While the federal government announced plans to mark the Cook legacy with a $50 million park at Kurnell in Botany Bay by 2020, including a $3 million commemorative statue of Captain James Cook, amateur historians are calling to redraw our east coast map and rename land features according to Cook's log.

Captain Cook enthusiast Donald Heussler, pictured next to a sculpture of Captain Cook entitled The English Channel by New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai at the Art Gallery of NSW Credit:James Brickwood

The proposed heritage trail  which would stretch along the coast from Point Hicks (near Cann River), Victoria, to Point Danger on the Queensland border  is part of the Restoring Cook's Legacy 2020 project and would include commemorative interpretative plaques at, or near, all of Cooks 28 named features. The Heritage Trail idea is a joint initiative of Australia on the Map and the history and heritage division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society.

Trevor Lipscombe, one of the amateur historians involved, said many land features or landmarks that Cook named are shown in the wrong places on todays maps. These include Broken Bay, Point Danger, Cape St George and Long Nose in Jervis Bay and Red Point, near Mt Kembla, in Wollongong.
Police have launched an appeal for information into the 1983 cold case murder of Gold Coast woman Linda Reed following the arrest of 51-year-old Troy James O'Meara on Wednesday.

Police charged Mr O'Meara with the 35-year-old crime, alleging he murdered Ms Reed when he was just 17-years-old.

A map of the area in which Linda Reed's body was found in 1983, and the same area today. Credit:Queensland police

Ms Reed's body was found on December 16, 1983, in a patch of bushland three days after the 21-year-old went missing after going on her lunch break at her Pacific Fair workplace.

Speaking at the time of the arrest, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Knight said Ms Reed's death was random and the years of uncertainty had a devastating toll on her husband, parents and brother.
A man has been taken to hospital in a serious condition with wounds to his upper back after an incident at a private residence in Woodridge.

Queensland Police were called to the Whitey Street address about 10.30am to reports of a disturbance.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the male patient of unknown age was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital.

No one else was injured, she said.

Police investigations are ongoing.
A man has died in a two-vehicle crash at Boggabilla on the NSW side of the state border.

Emergency services were called to the crash just before 9am on the Bruxner Way, south of Goondiwindi.

Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Police attended along with NSW Police, with paramedics treating two patients.

One man treated for critical injuries died at the scene.

Another man aged in his 30s was taken to Goondiwindi Hospital in a stable condition with minor leg and head injuries.
As Perths hospitality sector continues to struggle through tough times, some of the citys best operators say a new platform offering diners half-priced earlybird meals should be embraced.

While the so-called 'pint wars' pitted pub against pub with a race to drop prices in an effort to attract punters, this platform was a better vehicle to attract new customers.

First Table has started targeting Perth mums ahead of launching the online service next month.

It offers customers who book the earliest table on offer at restaurants a half-price meal. Restaurants who sign up offer only one table per night.
Conservative media commentators who aggressively backed Peter Dutton in the Liberal leadership challenge have put Scott Morrison on notice, indicating that there will be no honeymoon period for the incoming prime minister.

Speaking to Fairfax Media, 2GB morning host Ray Hadley made clear that conservative supporters expected Mr Morrison to behave differently under the new order, calling for a return to the ScoMo of years gone by.

"If he's to reconnect to the conservative electorate, the old Scott has to return," Hadley said.

Ray Hadley says Scott Morrison will have to change his approach on energy and immigration. Credit:Peter Rae

"He'll need to show he's completely different to Malcolm on three major issues: power supply and cost - i.e. ditch the Paris agreement - and he'll need to reduce immigration almost immediately."
She tried. After serving as deputy Liberal leader for 10 years, after remaining determinedly loyal to Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop folded when it became clear his time as prime minister was finished and entered the leadership ballot.

If the broader Australian public had been able to vote, shed have won. Easily.

Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull leave the leadership spill together on Friday. Credit:AP

Which again underlines how remote this entire scuffle was from the desires, ambitions or even the vaguest interests of most Australians, who were simply wondering why on earth there was such a sudden rush to push the PM off his perch. The MPs suddenly scrambled like kids after a burst pinata, but the viewing public could only see bottoms, flying arms and clouds of dust: it made little sense.

Bishop was, by a considerable margin, the most popular candidate. A Roy Morgan poll held the day before the ballot found she had a 28-point lead over Bill Shorten and the best chance of winning the next election (a near impossible task given the unreasoned dysfunction of this week). A News Corp poll found she was many long yards ahead of her colleagues as preferred leader, with a solid 40 per cent polled. Youd be excused for thinking this might be a lay-down misere. The man who won the ballot, Scott Morrison, had only 5 per cent.
The Liberal Party, which has produced two of our nations greatest prime ministers, this week resembled nothing so much as a pub brawl. Everyone, however grand or obscure, felt entitled to join in.

Talk has been rife that the party of Robert Menzies and John Howard will split. Unless Liberals regain their will to govern and their ability to connect with the Australian people, that fate looks frighteningly likely.

A useful cliche holds that every cloud has a silver lining. If so, the resolution of the Liberal leadership stand-off offers the chance of a way forward for the party.

The mainstream of conservative opinion did not believe that Malcolm Turnbull represented them and what they believed in. He was always out of kilter with them, irreparably so, and there was no point in his prolonging the agony. The party leadership and administration had its head in the sand over just how disaffected many one-time Liberals were. At the 2016 election, about a million conservatives refused to cast votes for the Liberal party.
A string of big-money fundraising events which featured Malcolm Turnbull as the star attraction will be cancelled or postponed, as Liberal officials raise concerns that any imminent federal election will leave a cash-strapped party exposed.

The poor fundraising of some federal MPs is emerging as such a major problem that NSW Liberal president Philip Ruddock has threatened to "name and shame" electorates which are falling significantly short of contributions to the federal election effort.

Mr Ruddock, who singled out the best fundraisers at a major party event in late May, is understood to have threatened local electorate presidents if the situation continued, two sources with a detailed understanding of the issue told the Herald.

But Scott Morrison, who will become the next prime minister after defeating former home affairs minister Peter Dutton in a party-room ballot on Friday, has been widely praised as an excellent fundraiser whose own branches are well ahead in their federal election contributions.
In March, newly minted senator for South Australia Tim Storer withstood enormous political pressure and rejected the company tax cuts, making the sensible decision that "$36 billion in taxpayers money could be better spent elsewhere". Indeed, Australia Institute research shows there is no correlation between lower company tax rates, employment, or economic growth. The government bets its political house on the old trickle-down economics formula with its company tax cuts package. It lost. The public knows its bunkum. The defeat of the large company tax cut is huge: there will be billions more in revenue available in the budget for future governments to invest in the future services and infrastructure Australia needs. The big four banks were headed towards a $39.5 billion windfall over the first decade of the cut before the Senate sensibly put a stop to it. The Senate was reflecting public sentiment. Last month, candidates who opposed the company tax cuts won all five Super Saturday by elections. In the days that followed her re-election, Mayos Rebekha Sharkie criticised the company tax cut plan and said her constituents did not support the cuts. Australia Institute polling found that 65 per cent of Mayo residents opposed the cuts. Our polling regularly finds Australians support higher taxes if it means addressing inequality and paying for the services that we all want and need. Tax, as they say, is the price we pay for a civilised society. It is public spending in areas like infrastructure and education that are key to driving the nations productivity and economic prosperity. When company tax cuts have faltered politically, their supporters blamed the public for being ill-informed. But the public opposed the company tax cuts precisely because they understood them.

Five elections with five victories for candidates opposed to company tax cuts. The public delivered a clear verdict, one that the Senate respected in its vote. Labor, the Greens and Senators Hinch, Hanson, Georgiou, Griff, Patrick and Storer are to be congratulated for defusing the revenue time-bomb of company tax cuts. Now, to Newstart. If you can cast your mind all the way back to last Saturday, the Coalition governments number one priority was to reduce energy bills by creating certainty. What a cruel joke that seems now. It might come as a shock to you, but at the same time as Tony Abbott publicly worried about the cost of electricity bills, the government hes part of had legislation on the table to cut the Clean Energy Supplement, designed to help Newstart, aged pensioners and other welfare recipients to meet the cost of their electricity bills.

To put things in perspective. A single person with no kids on Newstart gets about $14,400 a year, including the supplement. In contrast, the Prime Minister  whomever that may be by the time you are reading this  earns about $20,000 a fortnight. Cutting Newstart for new recipients was a cost-cutting measure  apparently Australia can afford to gift business with a $65 billion tax cut over ten years, but cannot afford to let the newly unemployed keep $8.80 a fortnight for rising energy bills. The emu and the kangaroo of the Australian coat of arms look down on the Senate chamber during Question Time. Credit:AAP The senate has rejected cutting the energy supplement which would have plunged Newstart to about 30 per cent below the poverty line for anyone unlucky enough to find themselves suddenly without a job. Perhaps thats why Turnbull, staring down the barrel of his own impending unemployment, took the opportunity to dump it, along with the company tax cuts, this week. So politics matters. Politics will determine the extent to which well crack down on the banks, whether or not youll have to pay a co-payment when you visit your GP, whether electricity bills will keep going up along with our emissions, whether coal mines can dump waste into wetlands beside the Great Barrier Reef without penalty, whether your mum can stay in her home as she ages and whether children will keep setting themselves alight on Nauru.

We cannot afford to give up on politics because of our exasperation with the revolving door of leadership. Scott Morrison is Australias new Prime Minister. Only time will tell if his ascension to the leadership will take Australia down the Trump path. Lets not forget Morrison was the architect of Operation Sovereign Borders, with its cruel boat turn back policy and hundreds of refugees rotting in offshore camps, as well as the politically toxic company tax cuts. Morrison will need to differentiate himself from Turnbull and in the space of a week the Coalition has found itself without a coherent economic policy, climate policy or energy policy. In contrast, voters have a much clearer understanding of the values and policies of Labor, the Greens and most of the crossbench. Australians have options. Better than that, weve got preferential voting. Which means not only can you vote number one for the party or candidate that represents your values the best, you can use your preferences to discern "  that fine hairs breadth worth of difference that makes one hopeless dipstick slightly less awful than the other", as keen observer of Texas politics, the late Molly Ivins, once wrote. I take great joy in deciding which odious candidate or party goes last on my ballot paper  sometimes theres stiff competition for last place. Dont forget, the government works for us.
Leading figures in Australia's blossoming technology industry fear instability in Canberra and ongoing tensions within the Liberal Party will threaten Australia's progress on innovation despite Scott Morrison's elevation to prime minister.

Daniel Petre, the respected former Packer lieutenant, who worked closely with Bill Gates at Microsoft, said he was "depressed" by events this week in Canberra. Mr Petre, who now runs tech investment firm AirTree Ventures, is concerned the Liberal Party's conservative wing will continue to move the government in an anti-science, anti-innovation direction.

Daniel Petre said he was "depressed" by events this week in Canberra. Credit:Peter Braig

"The Right will just tear the party apart," he said. "Clearly, for the last while not a lot has been done in Australia because there is a small group of right-wing nutters who are hellbent on revenge rather than doing anything for the country. We are already behind the eight-ball and this will set us back."

Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of $25 billion software firm Atlassian, recently told Fairfax Media he was perplexed by the Australian political system's inability to deal with challenges such as climate change and immigration, as politicians focused on internal party manoeuvring.
Beijing: China is battling to control the rapid spread of deadly African swine fever (ASF) across the world's largest pig herd after four outbreaks in three weeks, stoking worries the disease could spread to Southeast Asia.

China, the world's largest producer of pork, is battling an African swine fever outbreak that could potentially devastate herds. Credit:Chinatopix/AP

The discovery of ASF in China, which accounts for nearly half the world's pork production and is the world's highest per capita consumer of the meat, marks a new front in the disease's spread from Europe through Russia.

"The swine industry has never seen an ASF outbreak in such a production landscape, and control measures are untested," warned the Swine Health Information Centre, a US research body.

ASF is the most devastating swine disease. It causes fever, haemorrhaging in the skin and internal organs and death in 2-10 days, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Vo Thanh Thong had a meeting with relevant agencies on August 23 to discuss the organisation of the events.



The organising board said the events will include 17 main activities, including a Japanese job fair, a conference to promote Vietnam-Japan tourism and trade cooperation, a photo exhibition on Japans peace movement supporting Vietnam, and groundbreaking ceremonies of projects in the Vietnam-Japan Industry Park, among others.

The programme is expected to welcome 300-500 delegates, including 200 from Japanese enterprises which will come to seek investment opportunities in Can Tho.

Vice Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Truong Quang Hoai Nam said he hopes these events will help further promote trade cooperation and tourism development, as well as enhance cultural exchange, contributing to tightening diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Municipal authorities will take the occasion to update Japanese businesses on investment opportunities in Can Tho, and incentives for foreign investors in general and Japanese firms in particular, he noted.

Vietnamnews
Hong Kong: An anesthesiologist is on trial in Hong Kong charged with killing his wife and daughter by placing a leaking yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide in their car.

Malaysian citizen Khaw Kim-sun, 53, was allegedly having an affair and had become estranged from his wife and four children, although they continued to live together, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported.

Khaw is accused of putting the gas-filled yoga ball in the trunk of a Mini Cooper driven by his wife, Wong Siew-fung, on May 22, 2015, the paper said.

The yellow mini cooper where the suspect's wife and daughter were found unconscious in Hong Kong. Credit:Now TV via AP

It said Wong and their 16-year-old daughter were found unconscious in the car about an hour after leaving home and were later declared dead from severe carbon monoxide poisoning, although the vehicle showed no defects.
All over the place. Some left for the Gulf, Saudi Arabia. Some went to Europe. What did they think of your decision to stay? Some of them still say, "You are crazy!" "You should leave the place!" "What are you left doing there?" Blah, blah. What do you say to them?

I say, "You are the crazy one! Come back!" Tell me about your typical day in Homs. Now is a time of peace. The city is completely conflict-free. For two years there has been the gradual removal of the signs of war. Still, more than half the city is in utter ruin. The other day when I was out walking with my daughter, she said to me, "Okay, now I'm very depressed because of all this sight-seeing. Please don't take us touring anymore in the city." It's very overcrowded, very chaotic, it's not a pleasant place to live, but at least it's conflict-free. What drove you to write a memoir (published in 2016) in such a perilous situation?

I was already signed up for a PhD [in Islamic architecture], so I kept up my studies. I was translating books and writing my thesis. My husband encouraged me to write the book because he believed it would prompt interesting discussions about architecture.

Yet architecture wasn't your first study choice. The prevailing sense was that medicine and engineering were the top university majors and that one should dream of entering one of those. When my grades weren't as good as I hoped, architecture was my choice  or not my choice, my grades' choice. Despite your early reluctance, the discipline has thoroughly engaged you, hasn't it? Yes. To be able to analyse and imagine solutions for the built environment was very attractive to me. I instantly found my place and was among the top students for the five years of my course. Architecture in Australia is a male-dominated profession. Is it the same in Syria?

No, here it's considered a woman's profession. That's why I hated the idea from the beginning. I thought, "I don't want to enter a major for women!" Civil engineering was considered the more male-oriented major, because it involved going onto building sites and heading teams of workers. In civil engineering it was 20 per cent female and 80 per cent male. Things have changed now, we don't have many men left. Maraw Al-Sabouni's sketch of mosques and churches in Old Homs. Illustration: @Marwa Al-Sabouni/ The Battle for Home, 2016. The premise of your book is that a city's architecture is fundamental to its harmony. How would you envision a rebuilt Homs? Like almost every city in the region, Homs has lost a lot of its natural and economic assets, which is what made it a pleasant and viable place to live. So I'd begin with nature, by reviving [the city's main river] the Orontes, turning it from a smelly swamp of rubbish and mosquitoes into what it was, with water wheels and canals. I would plant more trees, revive the textile industry and make room for traditional builders and craftspeople such as blacksmiths, carpenters and masons, who used to work with the local black basalt [used in many of the city's old Arabic-style homes, since destroyed]. I see a low-rise, beautiful, Old-City style. Is it possible to make a city conflict-proof through its architecture?

No. You can, however, have a built environment that delivers a stronger sense of community and belonging. Architecture isn't the solution but it can be a very good part of the solution. Now that the conflict has moved to other areas, talk is of reconstruction. But the first signs of what is being planned in Syria are alarming; a new law introduced by the government, the so called Law 10, allows it to confiscate areas and rebuild them as mega "investment" projects of tower blocks and corporate buildings. Has your book had any impact on the officials charged with reconstructing devastated cities? No, zero impact. It's an investment mind-set now. You feel like the country is on sale. It's all about selling, all about, "Come! Invest!" You describe Syria as a place of "ghost architects" with no visionary role, and a corrupt planning and building process. Why do you persist in staying? We have to change this situation, just as the people of Europe had to rebuild their cities after World War I and World War II, investing in education, health and urban renewal. Somebody has to do something here. This is something we also teach our children, now aged 13 and 10, because sometimes they say, "That's a nice place; maybe we should go there?" We say, "No, you should stay in your city for the sake of your own future and do something about it."

You've travelled the world speaking about your book and architectural ideas. Have you found cities that approach the ideals you espouse? When I travel, I have little time to study in depth. You can't "see" by sight-seeing because the social impact of the city is hidden. I've encountered nice places, though, where a walk can be very pleasant. For example, Perth. And Bristol in the UK; what the mayor did for the riverbanks  combining housing, areas for recreation and improved "walkability"  was very nice. You liken Dubai to a "shelf of perfume bottles". You're not a fan of British architect Norman Foster's projects in the Middle East, which you see as paying superficial homage to traditional Islamic architecture. You lament that creations by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid look like they've been "dropped into the desert from outer space". Which architects inspire you? Frank Lloyd Wright. He was inspired by Japanese art and design but used these influences in an intelligent way that was sensitive to the local context. And even Norman Foster, whose architecture in the region is not very impressive for me, when he builds structures beyond the city, such as airports, that, too, is very admirable. Regionally, Iraq has a generation of interesting architects from the 1960s and '70s, including Rifat Chadirji. What will your new book be about?
Ottawa: Canada's opposition Conservatives face a potential split a year ahead of national elections after a prominent former cabinet minister quit the party on Thursday to form his own right-leaning faction, focused on limited immigration and promoting free trade.

Maxime Bernier, who failed in his bid to lead the Conservative Party more than a year ago, said he hoped to have an alternative party up and running within weeks to challenge Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the 2019 election.

Canada's Maxime Bernier with his girlfriend Julie Couillard in 2007. Credit:AP

"He has decided today to help Justin Trudeau," Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer told a news conference, condemning the defection as one driven by personal ambition. "Other conservatives and Canadians who want a responsible government in power will continue to work with us."

Trudeau, speaking to reporters after cabinet meetings in British Columbia, dodged direct questions on Bernier. "I'm going to let Conservative focus on themselves, as they are right now, and we're going to stay focused on Canadians," he said.
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This restaurant is giving Brooklyn the bird!

Bigwigs at southern fried chicken joint Chick-fil-A are dropping gobs of cash to transform a neglected Flatbush Avenue storefront near the Barclays Center into the chains first Kings County location, according to the landlord who leased the space.

Theyre going to spend big money to make the restaurant work, said Michael Pintchik, who owns the poultry purveyors future home between Fifth Avenue and Pacific Street. Its not a short-term lease, it will be here for many years.

Pintchik declined to discuss the specifics of the fried-chicken juggernauts lease, saying he wanted to protect his tenants right to privacy, and a spokesman for the eatery kept his beak sealed even tighter, admitting only that the company is looking at space near the Prospect Heights arena.

While we are still early in the process, we are excited to confirm that Chick-fil-A is actively pursuing a restaurant location in Brooklyn across from the Barclays Center, said Rob Entsminger.

The new storefront, which is adjacent to Shake Shack, will be the fast-food chains seventh in New York City when it opens, but likely will not be its biggest  that honor goes to a five-story outpost with rooftop dining in the outer borough of Manhattan, which bigwigs heralded as the worlds largest Chick-fil-A when it opened in March.

The chain generated some $8 billion in revenue from its more than 2,100 restaurants in 2016, Business Insider reported the following year  raking in the cash even while closing all branches every Sunday due to the Christian roots of its now-deceased founder, whose company motto is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us, and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.

The poultry peddlers public piety has stirred controversy in the past, including in 2009 when the companys philanthropic arm donated more than $1.5 million to anti-LGBTQ causes, and in 2012 when its president claimed that same-sex couples would incur the wrath of god.

I pray Gods mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about, Dan Cathy, son of Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, told the Christian Post that year.

Pintchik, however, insisted his new tenant will positively involve itself in the local community once it arrives  although hes not sure how, he said.

Theyre concerned about being a good citizen in the community, the landlord said. I dont know how theyre going to do it, but I think theyre ultimately going to be good neighbors.
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A tractor-trailer split in half on Flatbush Avenue Extension near Tillary Street on Wednesday, forcing cops to close a stretch of the Prospect Heightsbound side of the road as they removed the broken big rig from the pavement.

The man behind the wheel of the Pullman Logistics 18-wheeler said he was just 11 miles from his destination when his rear cabin collapsed due to the weight of its cargo, which shifted to the middle of the trailer, according to our on-the-scene photographer Paul Martinka, who said the truck was filled with loads of sugar.

The trucker made it over the Manhattan Bridge all the way from Illinois before his big rig buckled a little after 2 pm, snarling traffic for hours as officials cleared the street, Martinka said.

Thankfully, the incident injured no one, and damaged no other vehicles on the busy thoroughfare, according to cops, who said a tow truck ultimately hauled the wrecked tractor-trailer away.

Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 2604577 or by e-mail at jcuba @cngl ocal.com . Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Regular Press Conference on August 24, 2018

2018/08/24

Q: On August 23, the White House released a statement on El Salvador's decision to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, saying that this decision affects the economy and security of the entire Americas region. The El Salvadoran government's receptiveness to China's interference in the domestic politics of a western hemisphere country is of grave concern to the US, and will result in a reevaluation of the US relationship with El Salvador. The US will continue to oppose China's political interference in the Western Hemisphere. What is your comment?

A: Yesterday I have made clear our stern position on opposing the US interference in the normal development of relations between other countries. I would like to reiterate that El Salvador established diplomatic ties with China on the basis of the one-China principle. It is a justified and aboveboard decision made without holding anything back. We urge the US to view this in an objective way.

Before August 21, China had diplomatic relations with 25 countries in the Americas, including the US, and China has been working for, not against, regional development and security. After August 21, that number reached 26. In what way does that affect regional development and security?

El Salvador chose to side with the UN and other 177 countries by recognizing the one-China principle and establishing diplomatic ties with China, which conforms with the trend of the times and the international situation, accords with international law and basic norms governing international relations, and serves the fundamental interests of China and El Salvador and the two peoples. Does not this finger-pointing by some country constitute interference in El Salvador's internal affairs? Who on earth is carrying out political interference in the region? The answer is obvious.

Latin America and the Caribbean region is an independent and ever-growing force for economic globalization in a multi-polar world. Our advice for the relevant people is to show respect for other countries' independent right to determine their domestic and foreign affairs and stop hegemonistic behaviors.

Q: You might have noticed that Australia has a new Prime Minister today, Mr. Scott Morrison. What is your view on Mr. Morrison? What would be the impact of his election on the China-Australia relations?

A: We congratulate Mr. Morrison on becoming the Prime Minister of Australia.

China's position on developing China-Australia relations is consistent and clear. A China-Australia relationship that grows in a sound and steady way serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples as well as regional and world peace, stability and prosperity. China stands ready to work with the new Australian government to move forward bilateral ties along the right track.

Q: We have noticed that when referring to the current trade talks between China and the US, many senior US politicians have been talking about how good the US economic situation is and how badly China is faring. Do you have any response to this kind of viewpoint?

A: We have said that China prefers no comment of this kind or other while talks are underway. The same is true when it comes to the trade talks between China and the US this time. If we sincerely want to get a good outcome, then we should talk without a cacophony of voices. We don't think it is necessary to resort to the loudspeaker every now and then just to boost one's morale.

As for those senior US politicians who play down China's economic fundamentals and play up their own, we have noticed their remarks as well and we wonder who is their target audience. If they meant these words for the Chinese people, they should know that such efforts are futile and there is no point in doing this, as facts have proven. If they meant these words for their domestic audience, maybe they do feel the need to do so.

Q: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is now on a visit to Mongolia. We have noted that the Mongolian leaders, when meeting with Wang Yi, all mentioned that the Mongolian side is committed to enhancing cooperation with China under the Belt and Road framework. Can you give us more details on this?

A: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is now on an official visit to Mongolia. He has already met respectively with Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga and Chairman of the State Great Khural Miyeegombo Enkhbold and held talks with Foreign Minister Tsogtbaatar Damdin. According to my information, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also meet with Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and senior officials from the five provinces in western Mongolia. The Chinese side will issue more information on the relevant events. You may continue to follow on that.

Indeed, during the above-mentioned meetings and talks, the Mongolian leaders once again said that the Mongolian side is committed to promoting greater synergy between the Development Road Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative, stepping up cooperation with China in infrastructure, energy and electricity and accelerating the implementation of the outline for the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed China's propositions on jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative with Mongolia. Firstly, China supports Mongolia in speeding up the infrastructure building and breaking the development bottlenecks. Secondly, China supports Mongolia's greater efforts to improve people's livelihood so that the Mongolian people could reap tangible benefits through participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. Thirdly, greater importance should be attached to environmental protection and ecological conservation. We will join hands with Mongolia to build the green Silk Road. Fourthly, China will help Mongolia translate resources endowment into development advantages, achieve diversified development and enhance its capacity for independent and sustainable development.

China and Mongolia are close neighbors, and Mongolia is a natural partner for jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative. In fact, Mongolia is one of the first countries to echo this initiative. We are convinced that China and Mongolia jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative will provide new opportunities and open up new space for bilateral cooperation and inject strong impetus into our respective economic and social development as well as regional development and prosperity.

Q: A US senator has said that he is preparing a legislation to force Taiwan allies to stay with Taiwan and not change their so-called "diplomatic ties" to China. Do you have any comment on this?

A: While some US politicians are making these jarring noises on the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and El Salvador, the President and government of El Salvador have made public statements, declaring that their decision meets the trend of the times and the fundamental interests of the Salvadoran people. I am convinced that the Salvadoran people knows the best what is in their own interests.

We hope that the relevant country could respect other sovereign states' right to choose and formulate their foreign policies and stop interfering in other countries' domestic affairs.

Q: Foreign media reported that neither China nor the US have high expectations for their trade talks, and they have no plan for further negotiations. Some Chinese officials even said that there will be no more trade talks between the two sides before the US mid-term election in November. Do you have more information on that?

A: China and the US have all issued press readouts on the vice-ministerial trade talks in Washington.

It is written clearly in the readout of the Chinese side that both sides will remain in touch with each other on the next-step arrangements. I have no more information to offer other than that.

Q: It is reported that on August 23, the US Air Force flew B-52 bombers over the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone. Can you confirm it? What is your comment?

A: I am not aware of the details. I would refer you to the Defense Ministry.

In principle, we hope that actions taken in this region by any country could help enhance mutual trust and show respect for the legitimate security interests of regional countries. Nothing that undermines mutual trust and regional security and stability shall happen.

Q: After the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to renew the visa for the Buzzfeed Beijing Bureau chief, the US Embassy in Beijing said on August 24 that it was deeply concerned about the treatment of foreign and domestic journalists in China. Does the Foreign Ministry have any comment?

A: I have noted relevant reports. The US Embassy in China should observe the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and refrain from doing anything that disagrees with its status or interferes in other countries' internal affairs.

As for this journalist mentioned by the US Embassy, I said yesterday that she is not a resident correspondent in China.

As for the issuance of visas for ordinary citizens, the US Embassy must know all too well the international practices.
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Metals and mining giant Ltd on Friday said it will pump in around $8 billion (about Rs 560 billion) over the next three years on various projects across businesses.

There is immense growth potential in sight, Ltd Chairman said at the company's Annual General Meeting, where he made the investment announcement.

"As India's largest private sector oil producer, your company contributes 27 per cent to the domestic production and aspires to take it up to 50 per cent. Towards this, your company will be investing $3-4 billion over the next 2-3 years, in various growth projects," he said.

This year had a record production in its zinc-lead-silver and aluminium businesses, he said, adding that it would further invest $3-4 billion in these businesses in the next 2-3 years.



On Tuticorin unit, which has been permanently shut down by the Tamil Nadu government following the deaths of 13 people in police firing on protesters against the plant, Agarwal said the company is greatly grieved by the tragic loss of lives and has extended all possible support to the impacted families.

"Your company has been instrumental in the socio-economic transformation of the region. Our copper smelter strongly complies with all environmental norms and is, amongst the best, globally," he added.

In April, the Tamil Nadu pollution control board had rejected Vedanta Sterlite's plea to renew the Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions. Following this, the government had issued a permanent closure notice to the plant.



After Sterlite announced its plans to expand the Tuticorin plant, villagers around it started fresh protests that continued for over 100 days, culminating in the May 22 police firing on protestors that claimed 13 lives and left scores injured.

The need of the hour is to bring further changes in policies for natural resources sector, particularly the implementation of the much-awaited New Mineral Policy and ensure a level playing ground on imports and duties.

"Encouragement to explore and produce natural resources in India will lead to greater self-reliance, save billions of dollars in imports, generate immense employment opportunities, paving way for socio-economic development," the company said.



During the financial year 2017-18, Vedanta Ltd increased its revenue by 22 per cent, year-on-year to Rs 929 billion.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) or operating profit also increased by 19 per cent, to Rs 255 billion, and profit after taxes rose up by 10 per cent to Rs 82 billion.

"Free cash flow stood at Rs 7,900 crore (Rs 79 billion) and we reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion)," Agarwal said.

During the year, the company acquired Electrosteel Steels Ltd, integrating it with its existing iron ore business.
Budget passenger carrier will commence flight operations to Kuwait and Abu Dhabi from October 2018.

"As part of the international expansion, Kuwait will be the 57th and Abu Dhabi will be 58th destination on its network. Both new services will commence from October 2018," the airline said in a statement on Friday.

According to the company, it will also enhance connectivity across India with the addition of 24 new flights to its network.

" will become the first domestic airline to introduce services connecting Port Blair with Hyderabad and Vadodara. These flights will commence from September 2018," the statement said.

"In addition, 6E will operate its first daily return flight between Surat and Chennai, daily non-stop return service between Delhi and Imphal, and direct flights to Vijayawada from Delhi.

"The airline will also add two international new routes connecting Doha with Ahmedabad and Trivandrum. These new services will be effective from October 2018," it said.
Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved has approached the challenging the decision by Ruchi Soya's lenders to approve Adani Wilmar's Rs 60 billion (Rs 6,000 crore) takeover bid.

The matter is expected to come up for hearing on Monday (August 27) before the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), sources said.

When contacted, Patanjali Spokesperson S K Tijarawala declined to comment, saying that matter is sub-judice.

A spokesperson of Adani Group also declined to comment.

On Thursday, Adani Wilmar's bid was approved by the committee of creditors (CoC) of the bankruptcy-bound Ruchi Soya with about 96 per cent votes in favour.

The resolution professional has to seek approval after the lenders choose a bid.



Adani Wilmar and Patanjali group have been engaged in a long-drawn battle to take over Ruchi Soya.

While Adani Wilmar emerged as the highest bidder with a Rs 60 billion (Rs 6,000 crore) offer, Patanjali group came second with a Rs 57 billion (Rs 5,700 crore) bid.

Patanjali Ayurved had earlier sought clarification from the RP (resolution professional) of Ruchi Soya related to eligibility of Adani Group to participate in the bidding process.



It also sought to know the parameters adopted by the RP to declare Adani Wilmar as the highest bidder.

The Haridwar-based firm had also questioned the appointment of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the RP's legal advisor as the said law firm was already advising Adani Group.

Patanjali was asked to submit a revised bid by June 16 to match or better the highest offer of Rs 60 billion (Rs 6,000 crore) by Adani Wilmar under the Swiss Challenge system adopted by the RP and the committee of creditors.

However, Patanjali wrote to the RP seeking clarifications instead of submitting a fresh bid.

Adani Wilmar has been selected by the CoC after two-rounds of bidding.

Ruchi Soya, which is facing the insolvency proceedings, has a total debt of about Rs 120 billion (Rs 12,000 crore). The company has many manufacturing plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold.



In December 2017, Ruchi Soya Industries entered into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) and Shailendra Ajmera was appointed as the RP.

The appointment was made by the on the application of the creditors Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday asked Tata Sons to not force its ousted chairman to sell his shares in the company till his appeal is pending, but refused to stay its conversion into a private company.

The tribunal, in an interim order on Mistrys plea for putting on hold the approval for conversion, posted the matter for hearing on September 24.

Shareholders of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $103-billion Tata group, had voted in favour of turning it into a private limited company in September last year. This happened despite opposition from Mistrys family firms. The family derives almost $17 billion of their fortune from the 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons.

The Mistry family has also challenged the order of the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that upheld ouster of Cyrus as chairman of Tata Sons in 2016. The board of Tata Sons had dismissed Mistry as the chairman and said former chairman Ratan Tata would take over as interim chairman. Mistry had contended that the articles of association of Tata Sons were biased against the rights of minority shareholders and thereby oppressive, a charge Tata Sons dismissed, saying Mistry, who had been on its board since 2006, had never raised this issue until he was ousted from the company.

ALSO READ: Tata Sons receives a clearance from Registrar of Companies to go private

The NCLAT, in one of its hearings, had questioned if the NCLTs Mumbai Bench had written a biased order.

Besides change to a private company, the Mistry family had in challenged the move by the company to restrict shareholders from freely selling their stake and the Article 75 of the articles of association that can be used by the board to force a shareholder to sell out.

Taking into consideration the facts and that the appeal is pending and if the Appellants (Mistry) are forced to sell their shares which may affect the merits of the appeal, as they will cease to be member(s) of the company (Tata Sons).

We direct the Respondents (Tata) not take any step in terms of Article 75 for transfer of shares of minority shareholders like Appellants (Mistry) and others during the pendency of the appeal, the tribunal said.

Over change of status of Tata Sons, said, "No further interim order is required to be passed at this stage".

Tata Sons has contended that it was always a closely held private entity but was considered a public limited company due to its size under an old legal provision. The status of the public limited company allowed investors greater flexibility in transferring their shares.





ALSO READ: Tata Sons to invest Rs 12.5 bn in Tata Capital as equity by March 2018

A few years back, the law was altered, allowing Tata Sons' shareholders to approve a change to its legal status last year, overriding objections from Mistry. The appeal is admitted for hearing," the tribunal said. A two-member bench headed by its Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya has directed Tata Sons and other respondents to file their reply within 10 days.

With inputs from PTI
Raghuram G Rajan, who warned of a credit crisis in 2005 before it hit, is now cautioning that trade wars, when combined with a build-up in leverage and high asset prices, could result in a toxic mix that dragged global growth. We are all very well aware that two things have built up, which had built up before the previous crisis, leverage and asset prices, Rajan, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said in a Bloomberg Television interview Thursday. Trade is an issue for the world to be concerned about.

It is extremely important that we have good ...
One morning in 2007, Abhilash Nambiar was rummaging through a junkyard in Mumbai for Jeep spare parts when his eyes fell on a rusty vehicle in military colours parked in a corner. Could it really be the Jonga  the rugged warhorse of the Indian Army which he had only seen pictures of until that moment? It was.

The Mumbai resident spent the next nine hours convincing the scrap dealer to sell it to him, arranging for the tidy sum the man demanded, and then transporting the vehicle to the garage of his trusted mechanic in Thane. The next year passed in getting the 1977 model ...
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he still believes that the financial aid offered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be accepted by India.

He said that discussions on the issue were on between the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "As mentioned on that day, when Yusuf Ali MA met the UAE Prince to convey his Bakrid wishes, he said that he had spoken to the prime minister about a financial aid to the tune of $100 million. I have again asked him whether we can announce in public and he said ...
In fact, even the traditional cologne-perfume divide is changing, with more high-end fragrances being made to appeal not only for every season but also every sex. Women are not just purchasing products for their male partners, says Theo Spilka, global vice president of Firmenich International, the largest fragrance manufacturer in the world, 50 percent of people purchasing those products are wearing them on themselves as well. As a result, Its not unusual for us to ...

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Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

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Three people have died in recent flood-related incidents in Tamil Nadu, 7,167 acres of standing crops were submerged and 5,595 people were in relief centres, the state government said on Friday.

"Two man and a woman died, 186 villages were affected, 954 huts were fully damaged, 1,029 huts partially damaged and 7,167 acres of standing crops are submerged," Revenue Minister R B Udhaya Kumar told reporters in Chennai.

Giving statistics on the damage caused by the recent floods, he said the number of people in relief centres stood at 5,595, including 775 children in 20 camps in Erode, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts.

The number of camps has come down from August 18, when there were 119 shelters housing 13,569 people. After the flood waters started receding, people had begun moving out of the camps.

Following heavy inflows from Karnataka dams, water was simultaneously released from state's dams, including Mettur.

This led to flooding in districts along the banks of the Cauvery and Bhavani rivers, including Tiruchirappalli, Erode and Namakkal.

The water in Mettur dam reached its Full Reservoir Level of 120 feet for the first time this year on July 23 due to higher realisation from Karnataka's Krishnaraja Sagar and Kabini dams, for the second time on August 11 and the third on August 22.

The water level at the Mettur dam continues to be above FRL as of Friday with a storage of 93,502 thousand million cubic feet at 120.02 feet.

However, the inflow has substantially fallen from as high as 200,000 cusecs a few days ago to 22,290 cusecs on Friday. discharge is now 25,126 cusecs.

On August 19, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had inspected the flood-hit areas and assured compensation for crop loss and permanent houses for the affected people.

Revenue Minister Udhaya Kumar inspected Madurai and Kanyakumari districts on August 18 and 19, respectively.
The Karnataka cabinet on Friday gave its approval to waiving Rs 301.63 billion farm loans in respect of nationalised or commercial banks, as announced in the budget.

"The State government had announced in the budget. We have already issued a GO (Government order) on cooperative bank In the same way in today's meeting we approved waiving of loans from nationalized banks, and issued a GO," Chief Minister said.

This waiver of Rs 301.63 billion to benefit about 2.3 million farmers also includes interest to be paid by the government to nationalised banks, he said, adding they had agreed to four instalments, but were not ready to leave the interest.

The government has limited the loan amount to Rs 200,000 in this waiver. This also includes waiving of existing loan up to Rs 25,000, he said.

The Chief Minister said repayment to nationalised banks would be done in six instalments, for which government has already earmarked Rs 65 billion for the current year.

Earlier this month the cabinet had given its nod to waiving Rs 94.48 billion existing farm loans in respect of cooperative banks, and had issued a GO in this regard.

The state government also announced a debt relief to landless agricultural labourers, small farmers and those from weaker sections, as one-time relief.

Pointing out that the debt relief act was brought in the state earlier in 1976 and 1980, the Chief Minister said on Friday the cabinet decided to recommend to the President to issue a similar ordinance now, across the state."



On the debt relief, he said under this ordinance one who has obtained a loan can be relieved from repayment, but it would not be applicable to loans obtained from micro finances and other institutions that comes under RBI's rules and acts.

It further states that small farmers should not have land more than two hectares, annual income should be less than Rs 1,25,000 and also that one should not have any income from agriculture sources.

Also, those pressurising farmers for repayment will have to pay a penalty upto Rs 100,000 and face a one-year jail term.

Kumaraswamy also said that he has written to the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Defence Minister, requesting for Rs 20 billion relief to flood and landslide affected regions of the state, including Kodagu district.

He said the Chief Ministers Relief Fund has received Rs 251.6 million and that government employees had contributed one day's salary, amounting to Rs 1.02 billion.
NITI Aayog member (agriculture) Ramesh Chand said that prices cannot be enforced if demand-side factors are not supportive of a particular price, unless, off course, traders are paid some incentive for doing so. He said if MSP was possible to be implemented for all commodities by making it legal, governments would have done it long ...

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The countrys largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), on Friday said about 7-8 power sector projects worth Rs 170 billion are likely to be resolved soon, as lenders are nearing a consensus on these.

There are about 34 stressed power projects and the combined value of their outstanding loans is about Rs 1.74 trillion. We have looked at 13-14 accounts that would entail changes in management, investment, etc. Of these, we are looking at 7-8 accounts very closely to get some consensus among the banks, SBI MD Arijit Basu said on the sidelines of a banking ...
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) can become a reality in India soon and generate returns of 7-8 per cent annually with minimum risk, according to property consultant ANAROCK.

Market regulator Sebi had notified regulations in 2014, allowing setting up and listing of such trusts which are very popular in some advanced markets.

are listed entities that primarily invest in income-generating properties and distribute most of the income proceeds to the unit-holders through dividends.

However, not a single REIT has been listed in the country so far.

"India is waiting with bated breath for the first listings on its home-grown Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). In fact, the first listing will happen within a couple months," said Shobhit Agarwal, MD and CEO, ANAROCK Capital.

are good for those investors who have a small appetite -- as small as Rs 200,000-- but want to invest in the commercial real estate market, he added.

"Small investors will raise a pertinent question -- will REITs be able to offer the same returns on investment that they can expect from 'real' real estate investments? The answer is, probably not. Definitely, investors who are hoping for unrealistic returns (more than 20-30 per cent) will need to look elsewhere.

"Being realistic in one's returns expectations from REITs is important. A realistic ROI (return on investment) expectation would be in the range of 7-8 per cent annually, post adjustment of the fund management fee," Agarwal said in a report.

Stating that the ROI would be highly structured, realistic and risk-averse in REITs, he said this instrument is ideal for investors who want a steady income with minimum risks.

Moreover, the consultant said that investors can earn two types of income from REITs -- one through capital gains post the sale of REIT units, and the other via dividends.

ALSO READ: UP real estate authority forms Greater Noida bench to hear disputes

REITs would be a good investment option for investors looking to diversify their portfolio beyond gold and equity markets, he said.

Realty firm Embassy group plans to launch its REIT to raise about USD 1 billion as part of its strategy to monetise rent-yielding commercial assets, sources had said earlier.

Global investment firm Blackstone-backed Embassy Office Parks is likely to file the draft prospectus with market regulator Sebi to launch the country's first REIT.

Agarwal explained that just like mutual funds, REITs are investment vehicles that own, operate and manage a portfolio of income-generating properties for regular returns.

As of now, REIT-listed properties are largely commercial assets -- primarily office spaces -- that can generate steady and lucrative rental income. Retail malls and hotels can also be put under REITs.

ALSO READ: This real estate hotspot in Gurgaon offers easy exits to investors

Post its registration with SEBI, units of REITs will have to be mandatorily listed on exchanges and traded like securities. Like listed shares, small investors can buy units of REITs from both primary and secondary markets.

To ensure regular income to investors, it has been mandated to distribute at least 90 per cent of the net distributable cash flows to the investors at least twice a year.

"The government and SEBI have incorporated several changes time and again to make the issuance of REITs a success.

"However, only time and circumstances can reveal the 'real' success of REITs in India. The first listing will be more of a test case for the Indian market. If it succeeds, there will certainly be no looking back," Agarwal said.
In an unusual move, Pakistan on Thursday asked the US to "immediately correct" a readout issued by the State Department in which Secretary of State was quoted as saying that he asked Pakistan's new Prime Minister to take "decisive action" against all operating in the country.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that Pompeo, in his talks with Khan, raised the importance of Pakistan taking "decisive action" against all operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.

However, according to the Foreign Office (FO), Pompeo congratulated Khan while discussing other issues of interest and there was no mention of " operating in Pakistan".

FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Department on today's phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo".

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected," Faisal said on Twitter.

The Pakistani media this week reported that Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to hold talks with newly-elected Prime Minister Khan.

Pompeo, who is expected in Islamabad on September 5, would be the first foreign dignitary to meet Khan, Dawn reported, quoting the diplomatic and official sources.

ALSO READ: In challenge to army, Pakistan seeks 'uninterrupted dialogue' with India

The relations between Pakistan and the US nose-dived after President in January accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.

The also passed a bill to slash Pakistan's defence aid to USD 150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than USD one billion per year.

In his victory speech last month, Khan said he wants a balanced relation between Pakistan and America which should be mutually beneficial, not one-sided.
A Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist was gunned down by security forces in an ongoing encounter in Kokernag area of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Friday.

The JeM terrorist, who was killed in the encounter, was of Pakistani nationality. He was involved in several attacks on security forces and civilians in the area.

Three terrorists are reportedly holed up in the area, which has been cordoned off by the security forces. Further details are awaited in this matter as firing is presently underway.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, J-K Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid informed that, huge quantity of ammunition and incriminating material were seized from the site of encounter. "In a continued offensive against terrorists, some suspected associates detained for questioning, 4 hideouts identified, 2 destroyed, some incriminating material seized," he tweeted.

The encounter comes after terrorists shot dead a forest department official in Baramulla district after barging into his residence. The official has been identified as Tariq Ahmad Malik.

Earlier, on August 22, a Police Inspector, Mohammad Ashraf Dar, was shot dead by terrorists in Pulwama's Larve village.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in its 275th Executive Council Meeting on Thursday decided to introduce compulsory attendance for all regular faculty members of the University.

"The EC approved the revised guidelines for the conferment of Professor Emeritus in JNU. After detailed discussions, the EC has decided to introduce attendance for all regular faculty members of the University which is in conformity with the recent resolution of the JNU's Academic Council and the 'UGC regulations on minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education, 2018," a press statement issued by the JNU Registrar said.

The Executive Council, while paying a tribute to the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, proposed to name the School of Management and Entrepreneurship as "Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship."

It also decided to adopt the Central Government's decision under the 7th Central Pay Commission for issuing a Lifetime Valid Card under CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) for its retired employees/families on pension.

The Executive Council has also decided to apply for funding from Higher Funding Agency (HEFA) under the MHRD's new funding scheme for creating state-of-the-art research infrastructure, additional hostel accommodation, and student facilities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ahead of the regional summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Nepal has prepared Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) over the construction of railway and bulk cargo with India, Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali said on Friday.

The Foreign Minister also said that a bilateral meeting has been scheduled for Prime Ministers of both the countries on August 31, in the two-day summit.

"During the meeting (between the Indian PM and Nepali Counterpart) MoUs on railway co-operation and bulk cargo, are prepared to be signed," Foreign Minister Gyawali said.

Prior to the summit, Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari will host a luncheon in honour of the guests arriving in Kathmandu for the summit, which will be followed by the opening session in Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza in the capital city.

On August 31, Prime Minister Modi, who will be on a two- day visit to the Himalayan nation for the summit, will visit the Pashupatinath temple.

"On August 31, a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepali Prime Minister KP Oli is planned and the hospice built inside Pashupatinath temple in Indian Government aid will be inaugurated and handed over to Nepal," Gyawali said.

BIMSTEC, the regional group of seven countries which lies near the Bay of Bengal, includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

On the occasion of the BIMSTEC Summit, the state heads of Sri Lanka and Myanmar would also be making a bilateral visit. The state head of Myanmar is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on August 26, while the Sri Lankan President will be arriving on August 27.

The Prime Ministers from Bangladesh, Thailand, and India will be arriving in the capital city of Kathmandu on August 30.

Nepal, the current chair and the host nation of the 4th series of the Summit, will concentrate on the issues of energy, trade, the Buddhist circuit, tourism promotion and reduction of the impact of climate change, Gyawali informed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Nepal from August 30 to August 31, for the fourth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit.

Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Preeti Saran in a press conference here on Friday said that the meeting will be preceded by 16th Foreign Minister meeting on August 29 and the 19th Senior Official meeting on August 28.

The meeting will begin with a joint call from the leaders of all the BIMSTEC countries on the host, which is President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Further revealing the programme of the meeting, Saran said, "In the afternoon of August 30, the BIMSTEC inaugural plenary session will be held followed by gala dinner and a cultural program hosted by the government of Nepal. In the forenoon, there will a retreat and in the afternoon there will the closing session of the summit."

She further said that this summit brings together like-minded countries to peace and prosperity.

Talking about the agendas of the summit, Saran asserted that last year the Minister of External affairs attended the 15th BIMSTEC foreign ministers meeting to review agenda of action. She said, "We really kept up the momentum and have taken several initiatives."

India took lead in hosting meetings to negotiate key agreements and these initiatives have given a boost to the upcoming summit, she said.

BIMSTEC is a regional grouping of several countries including Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited floods and landslide-hit Kodagu district in Karnataka and assured support for the restoration work.

Speaking at an event, the Defence Minister said, "I have come from Delhi as the restoration of some of the roads, buildings, water and electricity connections in Kodagu will be done by the army and the Air Force is trying to help as well in the relief operations."

Kodagu is one of the worst affected areas in Karnataka as torrential rains has left a huge trail of destruction with hundreds taking shelter in temples, churches and madrasas.

On August 21, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy urged the Centre to provide Rs 100 crore relief fund for the Kodagu district.

Similarly, former chief minister Siddaramaiah also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide necessary relief for the victims of the floods.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi High Court on Friday convicted 20 people, who were earlier acquitted by a trial court (Rohini Court), in Haryana's Mirchpur Dalit killing case.

In 2010, a 70-year-old Dalit man, Tara Chand, and his physically-challenged daughter were set ablaze at Mirchpur village of Haryana after a dispute between Jat and Dalit communities of the village.

The court also dismissed the appeals of 13 people belonging to Jat community against their conviction in the case. Earlier there were 15 people involved out of which two have died.

On September 24, 2011, the trial court had convicted 15, out of the 97 accused, and acquitted 20 in the case.

During the hearing, the court observed, "Jat community deliberately attacked the people of Valmiki community. The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of complete absence of two things-equality and fraternity in Indian society as noted by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in final draft of Constitution."

The court further stated that the incident had created an atmosphere of fear due to which 254 Dalit families left the village. "Even after 71 years of Independence, instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown no sign of abating," the court added.

It also directed the Haryana government to rehabilitate families belonging to the Dalit community who were displaced after the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To make the occasion of Raksha Bandhan special for women, the Delhi Division of the Indian Railways has decided to run ladies special trains to help women travel in a safe and secure manner.

The day, which is meant to be a celebration of the love between siblings, will now see a thoughtful gesture by the Indian Railways, making it easier for females to travel and meet their brothers in distant parts with ease and comfort.

The decision by the Indian Railways will be a welcome move by women across Delhi, who otherwise, have to brave tremendous crowd on a daily basis.

Raksha Bandhan, which falls on August 26 this year, is symbolised by the tying of a Rakhi, a thread, bracelet or talisman on the wrist as a form of bond and ritual protection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) today insinuated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to be working as a contract killer for the idea of India and asked him to apologiSe immediately.

BJP Spokesperson termed Congress Presidents' 'language, behaviour and thoughts' to be 'very disappointing' and catechized, "Are you (Rahul Gandhi) a contract killer of the idea called India? Today what Rahul Gandhi has done is unforgivable. He said that ideology that is ruling India is comparable to Muslim Brotherhood. We must remind him that while addressing as a leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi is heard throughout the world and when he says that the idea which governs the country today is akin to that of a terrorist organization, he is talking of present-day Government in such condemnable terms."

Intensifying their attack on Congress President, BJP spokesperson made several critical remarks and said, "Rahul Gandhi has no maturity and no understanding of India. He has no leadership quality. The only quality that Rahul Gandhi possesses is hatred towards Modi."

BJP spokesperson also highlighted the voluntary role of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during recent Kerala floods and said, "If Rahul Gandhi says that we are Muslim Brotherhood, he must see on social media how RSS workers are involved in rescue and relief operation of Kerala floods. Before claiming that RSS is trying to change the nature of this country he must remember that RSS was called to republic day by first Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru."

At the end of his blistering verbal attack, Patra culminated with demanding an unconditional and immediate apology by Gandhi scion.

"We want to ask him why he has such hatred for democracy. We serve the people of this country and they have selected us and elected us. Congress had a concept of centralization that power should revolve around one family. We demand that Congress President must apologize to 125 crore public of India from London itself", he said.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is currently on a visit to the United Kingdom. He made remarks on RSS and its ideology during an interaction at Institute of Strategic Studies earlier today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday called a meeting of all the and state recognised political parties on August 27 in Delhi to discuss issues related to electoral process.

Considering that the political parties are important stakeholders in the Indian electoral system, the ECI has been periodically holding consultation meetings with all recognised political parties to elicit their views on various important issues.

The Commission has always been keen to strengthen the democratic system of the country by improving its existing electoral system and practices.

All seven registered political parties and 51 state political parties have been invited to participate in the meeting.

The agenda for the meeting includes discussion on- fidelity of electoral rolls- the ECI invites the views of all parties on measures to improve the accuracy, transparency and inclusivity of electoral rolls in view of the upcoming elections to Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies.

As regards gender representation in political parties and comparative International experience, the ECI would invite views on measures that political parties can undertake to encourage enhanced representation of women within the organisational structure of the political party, as well as in the candidate selection for contesting elections to legislative bodies.

On the subject of election expenditure regulation, issues related to Expenditure Ceiling for Legislative Council Elections and Limiting Political Party Expenditure would be discussed. The discussion on enforcement measures to ensure timely submission of annual audited reports, election expenditure reports are also on the agenda.

The election campaign silence period - Inclusion of print media within the ambit of section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of People Act 1951 and Issue of online canvassing to promote or prejudice the electoral prospects of a party/candidate on social media during the last 48 hours before conclusion of polling will also be discussed.

Important issues related to conduct of election i.e. (a) Alternative Modes of Voting for Domestic Migrants and Absentee Voters; (b) Views and feedback of political parties regarding the operation of the ETPBS scheme; (c) The views and feedback of political parties regarding efforts to encourage electoral participation of Voters With Disabilities, will also be discussed.

Views and feedback of political parties regarding the Commission's efforts to expand outreach and encourage broad-based, inclusive electoral participation will also be invited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a scathing attack on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday compared it with infamous Muslim Brotherhood and blamed it for trying to capture India's institutions.

The Gandhi scion and president of India's oldest political party made these remarks during an interaction at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.

Drawing a comparison between the Muslim Brotherhood and RSS, the 48-year-old Congress leader said that their agenda is to make one ideology flow through all institutions.

He said, "RSS is trying to change the nature of India. There is no other organization in India that wants to capture India's institutions. RSS' idea is similar to the idea of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab Their idea is that one ideology should run through all institutions."

He also attributed the idea of Demonetization to RSS and asserted that the Prime Minister got the idea from the aforementioned social organization.

He said, "The idea of Demonetization came from RSS directly to PM. The RBI was not spoken too, the finance minister didn't know and the cabinet was locked out."

Rahul Gandhi is presently in the United Kingdom and is taking part in several interactions. He has come to the United Kingdom after making a two days visit to Germany.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Post the exit of director Danny Boyle the 25th Bond film will miss its November 2019 release.

Earlier the unnamed film was set to release on November 08.

This probably would be a boon in disguise for 'Wonder Woman 1984' as it is set to release on November 01.

There is a possibility the Bond film might not hit theatres until late 2020, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Prior to Boyle's exit, a talk of postponing the movie's release date to early 2020 was on.

According to the official twitter account of the 'James Bond' franchise, on August 21, screenwriter Michael G. Wilson, producer Barbara Broccoli, '007' actor Daniel Craig announced that Boyle exited the movie over creative differences.

Boyle was set to commence the shooting for the 25th film in December this year.

Daniel Craig is set to reprise his role as the British spy in the upcoming instalment. He will be starring in a Bond movie for the fifth time after starring in 'Casino Royale', 'Quantum of Solace', 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Johnny Depp is considering bringing an end to USD 30 million ruckuses with his ex-lawyers. The actor reached a final deal last month with his former business managers in the USD 25 million legal fight.

A jury trial will start on May 6 next year; the star's representatives and attorneys for Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman and Goodman LLP are now occupied in serious settlement talks, reported Deadline.

Right now nothing has been officially signed, and it is not even assured if the parties will have an agreement before their scheduled 28 August motion hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.

It may come as welcoming news to Warner Bros, home of the November 16- releasing Depp starrer Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, among others.

Neither the lawyers nor Depp's team commented on the current status of the settlement talks.

Parties are fighting over whether Bloom's firm was entitled to the fees of Depp's films according to the contingency agreement. The actor refuses citing the fact that they only had a handshake deal since 1999. But the opposite party says they are entitled because Depp never suggested that he felt otherwise over the years, even from January 2017 to October 2017 when he had sued TMG.

Depp's USD 30 million malpractice against his longtime lawyers said that there had never been a prescribed written contract between the two parties. The actor also claimed that the law firm had been working with the Management Group against his best interests and expressed economic desires.

Even if this case comes to a settlement, Depp isn't out of the legal issues as he is also involved with a lawsuit with former bodyguards over owed pay. Depp is also accused of assault by the location manager of 'City of Lies'. However, in the latter case, Depp said in a recent filing that he was provoked and responded in self-defense.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi Police on Friday announced that it would contribute Rs 1 crore to the flood-ravaged Kerala.

The police would give the money to Prime Minister's Relief Fund. The amount has been collected from the salary of Delhi police employees.

The state has been hit by the worst flood situation in a century. As many as 357 lives have been lost so far, and the state has incurred a loss of Rs 19,512 crore.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Health approved an additional grant of Rs. 18.71 crore under the Rural Health Mission

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also said on Friday, "Rs.16,000 will be transferred to the bank accounts of people who will leave relief camps and also to the people who have already left."

Apart from the nation, the state has been offered financial aid from several organisations, countries, and individuals.

The Central government has provided Rs.600 crore as advance assistance.

On Thursday, the Centre announced that additional funds would be released from the Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on assessment of the damages in the flood-hit state as per laid down procedure.

Several Members of Parliament (MPs) and IAS Officers Association of Andhra Pradesh (IASOA -AP) also donated their one-day income to support Kerala.

That states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and several others extended help to the state. Celebrities from various field too offered aid in the wake of the situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid to lessen the suffering of the people of Kerala and to provide them timely relief, Headquarters Maintenance Command, Indian Air Force at Nagpur took an initiative under the leadership of Air Marshal Hemant Sharma AVSM VSM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief to airlift relief material for flood-hit Kerala.

Civil Administration and various NGOs at Nagpur have also donated relief material for the flood-affected people. Even citizens of Nagpur have come forward to contribute relief material. The vendors who supplied the utility materials also extended considerable discounts on the purchases made for relief material.

The collected relief material was airlifted on August 23 Nagpur by a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force so that it can reach the affected citizens at the earliest.

Apart from relief material being airlifted, 22.5 tonnes worth food grains (rice, dal, wheat flour, vegetables, oils, milk etc.), clothing, medicines, cleaning and sanitary materials and water was dispatched by a parcel van attached to Sabari Express.

Divisional Railway Manager / Secunderabad Division Amit Varadan personally monitored the loading and dispatch at Secunderabad station. These materials were booked to Ernakulam station and consigned to District Magistrate / Ernakulam.

As many as 357 people have lost their lives so far, with the state facing a loss of Rs 19,512 crore. Rescue and relief operations in the state have been stepped up to evacuate the stranded people from the flood-affected areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bihar's Darbhanga Airport construction has been halted due to lack of experts in runway construction sector.

Speaking to ANI, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said, "Government's ambitious project 'Sab Ude Sab Jude' is facing obstacles. The Darbhanga airport in Bihar has not been made operational because the ministry is unable to find professionals who can complete the construction of runways".

He further added, "It was an ambitious and popular project, and it was a long-standing demand of many in Bihar. We wanted this project to be completed by this year but now it seems impossible".

Darbhanga airport comes under the Indian Air Force and is part of the Centre's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The government is still hopeful and wants this project to be completed before General Elections 2019.

The Ministry on July 10 informed that they were expecting to start the airport by January 2019. Regarding this, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha tweeted, "Reviewed the status of airports in #Bihar. We are committed to massively improving connectivity by starting more airports. Have requested the State Government to make a State Aviation Policy for Bihar".

"Assessed the status of the New Terminal at Patna's 2nd Airport at Bihta, Darbhanga & Gaya. Reviewed city-side requirements of infrastructure. Hope to start the Darbhanga Airport by Jan 2019 and add more flights to Gaya. -MoSCA @jayantsinha," the ministry said in another tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wash your hands thoroughly.

Thats good advice, no matter where you are. At the risk of sounding germophobic, you never know what lurked on that which you just touched. Stay healthy, keep clean, be tidy, and wash your hands because, as youll see in the new book The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein, messy life, messy house.

The woman didnt seem very old, but it was really hard to tell. She wouldnt let anyone past her screen door  as if the stench wasnt enough to keep most people away.

Hoarder situations like that, suicides, undiscovered deaths, and accidents are business-as-usual for Sandra Pankhurst, 60-something owner of Specialized Trauma Cleaning (STC) in Australia. But as author Sarah Krasnostein learned when she befriended her, Pankhurst extends to those clients compassion, and nothing less.

There was ample reason for that.

Although many of the questions Krasnostein asked Pankhurst were waved away with claims of disremembering, its true that Pankhurst was born a boy, raised as a boy, became a man, married a woman, and fathered two sons. But Peter, as Krasnostein pseudonymously calls Pankhurst then, was hiding a part of himself so, soon after his youngest sons birth, he left his family to live as a woman.

Though her reality is as conflicted as it is real, Pankhurst told Krasnostein tales of being a sex-worker and a madam. Dates and locales mayve been incorrect and names forgotten, but its also true that Pankhurst eventually fully transitioned, and continued to work in the sex industry until she was raped and almost lost her life. She fell in love, fell out of love, fell in love again, married an older man, and divorced.

It was because of her ex that Pankhurst founded STC.

As a boss, says Krasnostein, Sandra is, variously, mother hen bad cop and hanging judge. Her business cleans up sites affected by hoarding and death, and shes matter-of-fact about bugs, vermin, and smells as her staff hauls away pathogen-soaked furniture while ensuring that next-of-kin are treated with kindness.

Says Pankhurst, None of us know what tomorrows got in store.

As enjoyable as this unique tale is, there are a few things youll need to know before you sweep through The Trauma Cleaner.

First of all, in her get-to-know-you time, author Sarah Krasnostein became close friends with her subject, which is good in most cases. Here, though, Krasnostein uses familiarity to gush about her subject in a way that could make readers wince uncomfortably. Shes also exceedingly, perhaps needlessly, explicit in details of a sexual nature while largely ignoring big opportunities for enlightenment on the business side of the book.

And yet...

The goodness  and theres an industrial-sized dustpan full of it  comes between the lines. This is a biography of cringing, compassion, and somebodys-got-to-do-it resourcefulness, plus irritations, but with a breezy heft of fabrication built in. Its so singular that its almost irresistible; indeed, if you can get past the gushing and the gruesome, The Trauma Cleaner is a book you shouldnt wait to get your hands on.
In the present time, the world of Bollywood is witnessing a huge change, from story-line to location.

Viewers, now-a-days, prefer watching slice of life, much more than those dreamy sequences on exotic landscape.

Hence, the filmmakers have lately been turning the concept of 'new locations' for their films and looking for something much 'desi', which people easily connect to.

Upcoming films like Jackky Bhagnani's 'Mitron', Abhishek Bachchan's 'Manmarziyaan', 'Milan Talkies', Aayush Sharma's 'Loveratri', 'Kedarnath', 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga', and 'Batti Gul Meter Chalu' have been shot in various 'desi' locations like Punjab, Uttarakhand, Lucknow, Gujarat and many others.

Let's take a look at the Bollywood films set in a small town:

-Mitron

Tracing the journey of Jay (Jackky Bhagnani) and Avni (Kritika Kamra), the film has been shot on the unexplored locations of Gujarat. The city of Ahmedabad has been explored intensively for the film as the actors set on the path of finding themselves amidst their social and cultural backgrounds.

-Manmarziyaan

For Bollywood actors, who are used to shoot at exotic foreign locales, working at a small-town location has its own charm. Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu, 'Manmarziyaan' has extensively been shot in Amritsar and other parts of Punjab.

-Batti Gul Meter Chalu

"People want to see their own country," says producer Bhushan Kumar, whose next Batti Gul Meter Chalu, has been shot in one such small town, Tehri, Uttrakhand.

The movie stars Shraddha Kapoor, Yami Gautam and Shahid Kapoor in pivotal roles.

-Loveratri

Starring Aayush Sharma and Warina Hussain, the Abhiraj Minawala directorial has been majorly shot in Baroda. While shooting for the film, he discovered that it is a 'culturally rich city'. He elaborates, "The flavour of this city is not seen in recent times. Also, what adds value is the audience in these towns. Now that our reach has increased so much more, they instantly connect with such films."

-Milan Talkies

Ali, who shot in Lucknow and Mathura for 'Milan Talkies', felt that the appeal of foreign locales has been a very relevant aspect in Bollywood films, but shooting in India is a different experience altogether. "I think films that are shot in the heartland are more relatable because the people in those films are characters that you have come across or may come across in your real life. And that just drives the plot home!" he added.

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The Supreme Court on Friday said the water level in Kerala's Mullaperiyar dam should be maintained at 139.99 feet till August 31.

The apex court's decision came a day after Kerala Government told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the dam is one of the reasons for flooding in the state. It also informed the top court that the Tamil Nadu Government ignored its request to control water flow from the dam during the floods, which aggravated the situation.

The Mullaperiyar Dam, which was built in 1886, has been a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Kerala from the past many years. This dam is located in Kerala but is maintained and managed by the Tamil Nadu government.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E. Palaniswami, however, refuted Kerala's allegation and termed it 'false and baseless'.

"Water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released one week after the floods struck Kerala. It was not done immediately after the floods. Three warnings were issued, first at 139 feet, second at 141 feet and third warning at 142 feet. Water was released in a phased manner," Palaniswami said.

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The British High Commission in India on Friday said that there is an exponential growth in the number of Indians wanting to go to the United Kingdom to study and work.

According to a press release issued by the British diplomatic mission, a total of 550,925 Indians were granted UK visas in the year-ending June 2018, which is an upswing of 10 per cent than what was seen in the previous year.

The number of Tier-4 general visa that allows a student to study in the UK, if he or she is over 16 years of age, touched 15,390, an increase of 32 per cent on the previous 12 months.

"I'm particularly pleased to note that numbers of Indian students have increased by 32 per cent. I welcome this evidence that international students wish to study at our world-class institutions and are succeeding in securing places there," British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith said.

Besides, about 550,925 Indians were granted UK visas in the year ending June 2018, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year, the statement read. Moreover, over 6,500 Indians came to the UK for short-term study during the same period. This is also the third successive year that there has been a rise in student visa numbers. Over 60,000 work visas were also issued to Indians in 2017.

Not only in the education sector, but visit visas have also increased by 10 per cent to 454,658, a number that demonstrates that Indians prefer the UK as a top holiday destination.

"The latest figures reinforce a trend we have noticed for some time - that across the board more and more Indians are choosing the UK as a destination to visit, work in and study. This is fantastic," Sir Asquith signed off.

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Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been granted special permission to meet his family members in the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Friday.

Geo News quoted sources as saying that Sharif's family had filed a plea to meet the jailed leader and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, in the prison. Subsequently, the prison authorities gave permission and apprised the jail superintendent of the same. The father-daughter duo is currently serving their prison sentences in the same jail after being convicted in the Avenfield reference case.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sharif's brother and Pakistan Muslim-League (Nawaz) president Shehbaz Sharif and his family met the father-daughter duo in Adiala jail, sources added.

On July 6, Sharif and Maryam were convicted in absentia in the Avenfield case by the Accountability Court. While the three-time Pakistan prime minister was given 10 years of imprisonment and slapped with a fine of eight million pounds, his daughter was awarded eight years in jail and fined two million pounds.

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Pakistan has been playing a dubious role in Afghanistan while dealing with the Taliban and other terror outfits, alleged a veteran United States army colonel, Lawrence Sellin.

Sellin, who has served in Afghanistan, northern Iraq and a humanitarian mission of West Africa, wrote in The Daily Caller that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided arms and ammunition to Taliban fighters in October 2001, just after U.S. bombing of Afghanistan began.

The then Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf held a meeting with ISI director Lt. Gen. Mahmod Ahmed and other top brass of the army, who argued that Pakistan should not help the United States at all in its war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

"Pakistan's duplicity has continued for seventeen years. While accepting billions of dollars in military and economic aid, Pakistan has been slowly bleeding the U.S. to death in Afghanistan through its support of the Taliban, Haqqani Network and other terrorist groups", said colonel (retd.) Sellin.

Shortly before his death in 2015, Lt. General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan's ISI, a committed Islamist and known as the "godfather of the Taliban", explained Pakistan's strategy in Afghanistan in an Urdu television interview.

"One day, history will say the ISI drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of USA and another sentence will be recorded that says the ISI drove the USA out of Afghanistan with the help of the USA".

The Pakistani audience roared with laughter and applauded in approval.

Sellin wrote that contrary to the conventional wisdom, there is no combination of U.S. conventional, CIA or special operations assets that can defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan as long as the Taliban infrastructure and support network in Pakistan remains vulnerable.

He said, "Unlike 2001, the Taliban are not exposed in Afghanistan but sheltered in Pakistan, including a network of education, recruiting, training, financial and command and control centers. It is also no secret that the ISI employs local individuals and groups as "cut-outs" to facilitate the movement of Taliban fighters and supplies across the porous border.

After the recent Taliban attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni, large numbers of Pakistani nationals were found dead. They were presumably fighting with the Taliban. The bodies were subsequently returned to Pakistan.

The veteran U.S. Army colonel also blamed Beijing for changing the strategic dynamics of the region largely rendering U.S. Afghanistan policy obsolete. "Not only does China maintain enormous leverage over Pakistan, financially and militarily, Beijing has been conducting its own secret negotiations with the Taliban for over a year", he wrote.

In July, Pakistan hosted an unprecedented meeting of the intelligence chief of China, Russia, Iran and its own ISI to map out a security strategy for the region, apparently for a post-U.S. Afghanistan.

"Lacking any new ideas or even a recognition of reality, we have chosen to continue pursuing a proven unsuccessful strategy on Afghanistan", said colonel Sellin.

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Out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.

The death toll is currently above 400, and over 10,00,000 people are packed into relief camps. There has been massive support to Kerala, from India and all over the world.

One of India's foremost charities, the Ratna Nidhi Trust dispatched 9711 pieces of cleaned clothes, ironed and packed in more than 112 bales and 58 boxes to the relief camps to Kerala as part of the Maharashtra Chief Ministers' relief package, along with emergency medicines and doctors.

Corporates too have pitched in. India's largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI) was one of the first to extend support and make a commitment of Rs. 2 crore to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).

The bank has also waived off all charges on remittance to CMDRF (including NEFT / RTGS remittance from other banks).

The bank is also making efforts to restore flood affected ATMs and branches to make them operational at the earliest.

NRIs and the international community are pitching in too. The European Union (EU) announced an initial 190,000 Euros to the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) for providing immediate assistance in flood-devastated Kerala.

Southeast Asia's leading digital cross-border money transfer company, InstaReM has waived off transfer fees on remittances for donations to the Prime Minister's relief fund. This will enable the influential NRI community to contribute to the relief efforts for the people affected by the floods.

InstaReM will also process individual remittances to the state for the purposes of family maintenance, medical fees, and hotel accommodations without levying transfer fees.

"Force majeure such as the Kerala floods, bring people together from all over the world. We are happy we could contribute," said Rajiv Mehta, Trustee of Ratna Nidhi, and recipient of the Forbes Asia Hero of philanthropy in 2017.

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Ending days of political chaos in Australia, former treasurer Scott Morrison is all set to become the 30th prime minister of the country after emerging victorious in a leadership vote.

Morrison, who is a member of the ruling Liberal party's conservative faction, narrowly defeated former home affairs minister Peter Dutton by 45-40 in a closed-door trust vote, CNN quoted the party's whip Nola Marino as saying.

Marino further confirmed that Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has been elected as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

The Australian prime minister-designate, who will be succeeding Malcolm Turnbull, is a long-time advocate of a strict border protection regime for the country.

The political crisis in Australia began after Turnbull drew flak from conservative lawmakers within his party over the changes he made to the National Energy Guarantee policy earlier this month.

Turnbull, who did not appear in the second leadership vote, said that he received a petition showing that he has lost the majority support of his Liberal Party. He also took to his social media handle to confirm the same.

"I have just been provided with a request for a meeting of the Parliamentary Liberal Party. It has 43 signatures. As soon as they are verified by the Whips, which should not take long, the meeting will be called," Turnbull tweeted.

The outgoing Australian prime minister, who considered himself a political moderate, had been a long-time advocate for progressive social policies and action on climate change. However, he was always at loggerheads over several issues with some of his lawmakers within the Liberal Party.

On Tuesday, Turnbull narrowly won the first leadership vote by 48-35 against Dutton.

In 2015, Turnbull was sworn-in as the Australian prime minister, after seeing off his predecessor Tony Abbott in a similar trust vote. He won the federal election in 2016.

No Australian prime minister has succeeded in completing a full three-year term ever since John Howard resigned from the post in 2007. Australia is due to hold the next federal election in 2019.

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Voting overwhelmingly for legislation to fund much of the government, the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a massive spending bill funding the Pentagon and critical domestic agencies.

In an 85-7 vote, the Senate approved the USD 854 billion measure, which combines funding for the Pentagon with money for domestic programs including the Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Labour Departments, the Hill reported.

"I am proud of what these bills contain and how the Senate has crafted them. I want to particularly thank Chairman [Richard] Shelby and Senator [Patrick] Leahy," Mitch McConnell was quoted as saying, ahead of the vote, referring to the top two members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) opposed the bill, the report said.

The Senate has now passed nine of the 12 appropriation bills needed to fund the government past September 30, according to the report.

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday felicitated security personnel and commoners, who were part in the rescue operations of 45 people at Sultan Garh Waterfalls in Gwalior's Shivpuri, where the water level had increased due to a sudden release of water from a dam.

It was a scene of tragedy at the Independence Day on August 15, when 11 youths were drowned following an increase in the water level, while 45 people were rescued from the spot after the Madhya Pradesh police launched a rescue operation.

A chopper was also pressed into service to locate the missing people who were stranded.

The Sultan Garh waterfalls is a popular picnic spot situated amidst rocks in Shivpuri.

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Did you know! Lack of sleep may contribute to adverse weight gain, finds a study.

Researchers at Uppsala University have demonstrated that one night of sleep loss has a tissue-specific impact on the regulation of gene expression and metabolism in humans.

This may explain how shift work and chronic sleep loss impairs our metabolism and adversely affects our body composition.

In the new study, the researchers studied 15 healthy normal-weight individuals who participated in two in-lab sessions in which activity and meal patterns were highly standardised. In randomised order, the participants slept a normal night of sleep (over eight hours) during one session and were instead kept awake the entire night during the other session.

The morning after each night-time intervention, small tissue samples (biopsies) were taken from the participants' subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle. These two tissues often exhibit disrupted metabolism in conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

At the same time in the morning, blood samples were also taken to enable a comparison across tissue compartments of a number of metabolites. These metabolites comprise sugar molecules, as well as different fatty and amino acids.

The tissue samples were used for multiple molecular analyses, which first of all revealed that the sleep loss condition resulted in a tissue-specific change in DNA methylation, one form of mechanism that regulates gene expression.

DNA methylation is a so-called epigenetic modification that is involved in regulating how the genes of each cell in the body are turned on or off, and is impacted by both hereditary as well as environmental factors, such as physical exercise.

"Our research group was the first to demonstrate that acute sleep loss in and of itself results in epigenetic changes in the so-called clock genes that within each tissue regulate its circadian rhythm. Our new findings indicate that sleep loss causes tissue-specific changes to the degree of DNA methylation in genes spread throughout the human genome. Our parallel analysis of both muscle and adipose tissue further enabled us to reveal that DNA methylation is not regulated similarly in these tissues in response to acute sleep loss," said Jonathan Cedernaes who led the study.

"It is interesting that we saw changes in DNA methylation only in adipose tissue, and specifically for genes that have also been shown to be altered at the DNA methylation level in metabolic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Epigenetic modifications are thought to be able to confer a sort of metabolic "memory" that can regulate how metabolic programmes operate over longer time periods. We, therefore, think that the changes we have observed in our new study can constitute another piece of the puzzle of how chronic disruption of sleep and circadian rhythms may impact the risk of developing for example obesity," noted Jonathan.

The findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.

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Brandon Woodruff was convicted in 2009 of killing his parents but still maintains his innocence. Hes now found a handful of people who believe his story, so much so, theyve recently published a book proclaiming his innocence. Theyre also working on a documentary and launched a website FreeBrandon.org.

Cute twink Brandon Woodruff shed his country skin at 18, joining the private gay party circuit, dancing late nights in a flashy gay Dallas disco and flying to Fort Lauderdale to star in a pornographic movie under the name Bradley Rivers after a scout for San Diego-based Helix Studios spotted him shirtless on a dance floor.

A boss of the self-described twink, college and jock porn film company, owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, and he filmed Woodruff and other young guys in and around his swimming pool in films such as Pool Party Punks and one filmed in Dallas called Tightend Twinks.

The producer also entertained the fledgling porn actors in grand style at the old Copa Club where he was friends with the management. Woodruff earned $1,000 for a few days porn work, and he lavished the money on his friends in Texas.

But the gaiety all came to a tragic halt after only a year with Woodruff being charged in connection with the gruesome 2005 double murders of his parents in Royse City, Texas. A jury convicted him and handed down a life sentence without parole, one that he is now serving in the Hughes Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Gatesville.

Woodruff  who claims wrongful punishment for a crime he did not commit  never emerged from behind bars except for court appearances after his arrest. As a freshman at Abilene Christian University with recently deceased parents, he was unable to make a $1 million bond. He recently answered questions submitted to him by a Jpay.com email in a telephone recording after spending 13 years in confinement. He talked candidly about his life in prison, and what landed him there.

The occasion for Woodruffs speaking out is the recent publication of a book by a Fort Myers, Florida, author about his case. It alleges an unjust, homophobic investigation, prosecution and conviction destroyed the youths life. There is a planned release of a documentary with the same message for later this year. Woodruff, now 31, hopes the book and the documentary will gain him public support and a review of his case that will lead to freedom.

Woodruff said that at the time of the trial he always believed he would ultimately be acquitted of the murders, and the conviction devastated him. He said that he loved his parents, that he never had serious problems with them and that he could never harm anyone, let alone the two people he loved the most. He and his grandmother had made plans to go out to a celebratory dinner in anticipation of him leaving court and regaining his freedom after three years in jail.

I did not kill my parents

I was shocked, Woodruff said. I was confused. I was angry. I was scared. I was sad. It was like a tidal wave of emotions going through my entire system. I specifically remember standing there, trying to stand tall and firm with what I knew was the truth. I did not kill my parents. But yet there are 12 people over there that just said they believe I did it. It was a gut-wrenching moment. Later, I threw up all my lunch in the jail cell. It was disbelief, but at the same time it was coming together like one big nightmare. I really wanted to talk to the jury. It was horrible.

Woodruff said his life changed overnight, with him being catapulted into a bizarre, terrifying environment with exposure to types of people he never before encountered. Except for one older boyfriend who attended some court proceedings and wrote to him a few times, Woodruff never again saw his gay friends after being jailed.

He also never again heard from anyone at Helix Studios, which had planned more work for him. A studio official named Keith Miller answered a subpoena from the Texas Attorney Generals Office, providing information about Woodruffs porn work for the prosecutions case. The prosecution savaged Woodruffs character at the trial, citing his sexual orientation and his brief work in pornography.

I kind of got plucked out of reality as a normal person would know it and put in this whole other world, Woodruff said. I had to grow up really fast. At first it was really terrifying. I was afraid of my own shadow. I had never had any serious fights growing up, and so just being put in this environment was really nerve-wracking for a while. Ive kind of relaxed a little, but you can never relax completely because you are constantly having to watch your surroundings. Ive never been severely beaten up or raped so I feel like maybe my mom and dad are still watching over me.

Woodruff said that despite the trauma of losing his parents, being arrested, confined in jail for three years before the trial and his conviction, he has never lost hope that he would one day be exonerated for the hideous stabbing and shooting deaths of his parents.

Ive never lost hope

I can easily say Ive never lost hope, Woodruff said. Theres a line in a book I read once that said, you can put a bird in a cage but you cant stop it from singing. I wont ever stop saying Im innocent. I wont ever stop fighting for the truth. I wont just sit around and wait for other people to help me. Im going to talk to as many people as I can to get the story out there. I think the more people learn about my case and go digging they will see Im innocent. And they will see what that town did. I think the more exposure we get on it that they will eventually have to do the right thing. I do believe justice will eventually prevail. Right now, theres been no justice for my mom and dad. Theres people walking around out there that really committed the crime.

Woodruffs plight is the message of Railroaded: The Homophobic Prosecution of Brandon Woodruff for His Parents Murders, a new book authored by retired lawyer Phillip Crawford, Jr.; and Texas Justice: Brandon Woodruff, a documentary under production by Scott Poggensee. The filmmaker has also established FreeBrandon.org, a website devoted to restoring the freedom of the former college freshman and weekend party boy.

Crawford, a former New York litigator who now lives in Florida, and Poggensee, an emergency medical technician and novice filmmaker who lives in a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, are convinced that Woodruff, now 31, was innocent of the brutal, double-murder of his parents in their home in Royse City in October 2005.

They contend the investigation of the bloody murders of Dennis and Norma Woodruff  who died from multiple shooting and stabbing wounds  and the prosecution and conviction of their son in March 2009 in homophobic Greenville reflected an anti-gay bias. In their view, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, the judge and the jury all allowed their religious convictions to overrule their reason, resulting in an innocent youth being incarcerated while the real killer or killers escaped punishment.

The prosecution theorized that Woodruff killed his parents after they confronted their son about him being gay, his failing grades in college and his fledgling porn star career. The prosecutors also attributed Woodruffs motive to a life insurance policy owned by his parents naming him as a beneficiary that would allow him to continue his party life without interference. Woodruffs supporters have countered that prosecutors presented no evidence to show any conflict ever existed between the parents and the son.

Crawford, who is also the author of The Mafia and the Gays published in 2015, said he became aware of Woodruffs case in April 2017 when he was browsing profiles on the Write a Prisoner website after reading about the program in a news story. He came across Woodruffs profile and decided to research the case. After reviewing the briefs of the case and the news coverage of the trial, he developed doubts about Woodruffs guilt. He viewed the evidence against Woodruff as flimsy, and he noted the prisoner had passed two polygraph tests.

The case bothered me to my core

The case bothered me to my core, Crawford said. The risk that Brandon Woodruff was convicted based on the prejudicial effect of the homophobic narrative employed by state prosecutors was amplified in my opinion due to the weak evidence against him. Something just did not seem right about his conviction; none of it made sense to me.

The prosecution of Woodruff raised ethical questions early on before the trial. Woodruffs lawyers discovered prosecutors had eavesdropped on their telephone conversations with the defendant in the Hunt County Detention Center where he sat unable to make a $1 million bond. The presiding judge ruled prosecutors had violated Woodruffs Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and he ordered the Hunt County District Attorney to recuse himself so the Texas Attorney General could take charge.

In May 2017 Crawford wrote to Woodruff expressing his interest in writing a book, and the prisoner quickly responded with answers to the questions posed by the author. Soon, Poggensee also reached out to Crawford, offering to share information he had acquired while working on the documentary. They joined forces in a combined effort to raise awareness about Woodruffs case.

The principal motivation was that I believe Brandon Woodruff has been wronged by the so-called criminal justice system  railroaded, if you will  and the deeper I got into the case the more outraged I became at the cumulative injustices against him from arrest through trial, and conviction through appeals. The main focus for me was the homophobic narrative by state prosecutors against him in which a young gay boys coming out process was treated as some sinister double-life, essentially evoking The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Woodruff said he was shocked early on to realize that investigators and prosecutors began focusing on his sexual orientation as a major factor in his case.

The state wanted to argue to people that because I didnt tell certain people I was gay; that if I could lie about being gay I could lie about being a murderer, and thats just not the case, Woodruff said. I was coming to find myself, and I didnt feel like I needed to go around telling every single person what Brandon was doing in his private life. I do know the state was telling people they had evidence. But when asked what it was, the state said we cant tell you, but just trust us. The main central issue was if I could lie about being gay I could lie about being a murderer. Thats just not true.

He just looked too innocent to do something like that

Poggensee said he first became aware of Woodruffs case in 2005 immediately after his arrest on charges he killed his parents. He was at dinner at TGI Fridays with two friends when Woodruffs mug shot flashed on the television screen in the restaurant. One of the friends said, Oh, my God. Thats my ex-boyfriend. The filmmaker-to-be immediately became intrigued by the case.

I had no idea who Brandon was at that point, however his mug shot did not look like someone that could commit such a cold-blooded double homicide, Poggensee said. I realize you cant spot a murderer, but he just looked too innocent to do something like that.

Poggensee followed the case through its climax more than three years after Woodruffs arrest. After the conviction, Poggensee wrote to Woodruff in prison, and the prisoner finally wrote back to him a year later. They became pen pals, and Poggensee visited him in prison a couple of years later. The filmmaker obtained all of the public court records from the trial, and he studied the massive paperwork to get the true picture.

In about May 2017 I finally just told him, Brandon, if you want people to know about your case, youre going to have to make some kind of movie or something about it. I didnt think we could expect anyone to sift through tens of thousands of pages of documents, but I didnt have any problem asking someone to sit through an hour-long documentary. It was from there I thought to myself, I have a camera, and I have a computer. I can make the documentary. Little did I know what a massive project I was taking on.

Poggensee said his motivation is stoked by outrage that the criminal justice system can so miserably fail citizens, and that the public is so blind to what occurs. News coverage of Woodruffs arrest and trial focused solely on the information fed to the media by the prosecution, he said.

At some point I think that we as a nation need to stand up and say enough is enough, Poggensee said. We need to not only fight for the falsely convicted but to fight to make sure this type of thing doesnt happen in the first place. Brandons situation could have been very well avoided if just one investigator or one assistant district attorney had stood up and said, You know what? Maybe we dont have the right person. Maybe there truly isnt enough evidence to say this guy did it for sure. Maybe we need to take a second look at it. No one ever did that. Once they arrested Brandon it became lets prove Brandon did it.

In response to author Crawfords book, Railroaded, that portrayed the investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the prosecution by the Texas Attorney Generals Office as biased by homophobia, the prosecution did not respond to an email seeking comment, but Tom Vinger of the Media and Communications Office provided a statement by email.

Law enforcement professionals from the local, state and federal level participated in this investigation, the statement reads. The investigative findings were presented to a Hunt County grand jury, which indicted Brandon Woodruff for the murder of his parents. A trial jury weighed the views of both parties, as well as the evidence presented, and ultimately found Woodruff guilty of the murders  and the appellate courts upheld that verdict. As in all cases, the Texas Rangers defer to the decision of the jury  and appellate courts.

In all cases, as with this one, the Texas Rangers are committed to conducting thorough and impartial investigations. This includes gathering the facts and evidence, which are then turned over to the appropriate criminal justice officials, who determine the next steps in each case.

Time is very precious on earth, and they are spending it for me

Woodruff said that he is grateful to Crawford and Poggensee for their efforts to raise public awareness about his case. Except for one item in the Dallas Voice after his conviction, the allegations of homophobia in the case went unnoticed and unreported by the media, he said.

It means the world to me, and it actually means a lot more than that, Woodruff said. I think they will help me get the story out. Ive been extremely thankful for and appreciate their time, dedication and energy. In a way, I feel really inadequate because they are doing everything for me, and I cant go out and get a job to help cover the expenses. I can never thank them enough. Time is very precious on earth, and they are spending it for me.

Poggensee said there is speculation about who might have killed Woodruffs parents, but that information cannot be revealed yet. Were not ready, he said.

Both Crawford and Poggensee said they hope the book and the documentary will lead to an outcry from the public that will influence an investigation and review of Woodruffs conviction by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. A three-judge panel from the Sixth District Court of Criminal Appeals in Texarkana expressed concerns about the legitimacy of weapons produced as evidence in the trial, but it upheld the verdict in 2010.

Poggensees goal is to finish the documentary by Aug. 1. He has already spent $30,000 on the project in addition to his time. He took a class on filmmaking at the Lone Star Film Festival, and he participated in a webinar on film marketing in anticipation of distributing the documentary. He would like to see it screened at a film festival to garner professional interest and support. He notes that he reached out to everyone involved in the investigation and prosecution of Woodruff, and that none of them would participate in the documentary.

Contacted for this story, the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement saying its investigators defer to the decision of the jury and appellate courts.

In all cases, as with this one, the Texas Rangers are committed to conducting thorough and impartial investigations, the department said. This includes gathering the facts and evidence, which are then turned over to the appropriate criminal justice officials, who determine the next steps in each case.

Crawfords book has attracted some attention since its release in May of this year. One of Woodruffs defense lawyers, Katherine Ferguson, read it and left a review. I am the attorney who tried the case for Brandon, she wrote. Mr. Crawford has done an excellent job of setting forth facts  not speculation or prejudice  that show Brandon Woodruff is innocent.
The Ministry of Defence has tied up with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to provide better treatment to the soldiers of the Armed forces even at the remotest parts of the country, including the most difficult parts of Siachen.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of Telemedicine nodes was signed on Friday between Development and Education Communication Unit (DECU) of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space, Ahmedabad and Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff (Medical), Ministry of Defence (MoD) at New Delhi.

The document was signed by Virender Kumar, Director, DECU, ISRO and Lt Gen CS Narayanan, Dy Chief IDS (Medical) in the presence of Lt Gen Bipin Puri, Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS).

ISRO will establish 53 more nodes in the first phase to existing twenty in the Army, Navy and Air Force across the country.

The highest battleground in the world not just have a functioning node on the Siachen Glacier, four more nodes are being established to enable medical consultation between soldiers deployed on the glacier and rearward medical echelons.

Many of these posts are cut off for many months in a year due to adverse terrain and climatic conditions. The biggest enemy has been the weather conditions at such icy heights. In such precarious conditions, communication through these satellite enabled telemedicine nodes will be a paradigm shift in the delivery of lifesaving health care.

This joint initiative by ISRO and the Armed Forces Medical Services will radically transform the reach of Telemedicine to combat soldiers, airmen, and sailors deployed in remote and isolated posts.

The troops of Indian Army are deployed in inaccessible areas, which makes healthcare delivery and monitoring of fitness of Armed Forces personnel a vital component of Security.

Commanders primarily desire implementation of telemedicine solutions in remote and isolated posts manned only by combat soldiers. The only mode of evacuation from these posts is by helicopters, and this also may not be feasible for days and weeks at times.

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The South African Government strongly refuted United States President Donald Trump's comments on "farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of farmers" in the country.

The government, taking to its official Twitter handle, claimed that Trump was attempting to provoke divisions in a country which is still reeling from the consequences of the apartheid.

"South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past," read the tweet.

"South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation," a second tweet read.

Trump had earlier tweeted about "farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of farmers" in South Africa and asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to have a close look into the matter.

He tweeted, "I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of farmers. "South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for cornering Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the death of a witness in Unnao rape-murder case, involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.

On Thursday, Rahul, who is in Germany took a dig at Prime Minister Modi over the case and said, "Is this your idea of 'justice for our daughters', Mr 56?".

"The mysterious death and hurried burial without an autopsy, of the key witness in the #Unnao rape and murder case, involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, smells of a conspiracy. Is this your idea of "justice for our daughters", Mr 56 ?", the Congress chief tweeted.

Speaking to ANI, Swamy said that Rahul has led down the country by targeting the Prime Minister in the least personal terms and making him look like a sorry figure abroad.

"Rahul didn't succeed and by taking such a move he has only tried to heal his damaged reputation outside India," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some things are better with two distinct features.

"Think local, act Global" is a term coined by the Americans and is truly fit for new age startups, skyrocketing all across Asia and Africa. In those terms, companies in India have been employing technology for the good and have been spreading its wings all across the world.

Let's take a look at 5 such desi startups who managed to make a mark in the global market:

Cleartrip

Cleartrip has been the go-to application for many travelers, both leisure and to book hotels, flights, and whatnot. With its clean and clutter free approach towards travel booking, it also managed to draw its users into a new segment within travel called Experiences. The company has scored big with the acquisition of the Saudi Company 'Flyin' where they enjoy an upwards of 60% of market share and annual turnover of nearly $599 million.

Ola

Ola has always been in the news for a variety of reasons and is arguably one of India's best performing startups. Ola has brought the ride-hailing and sharing service years ago. The company is taking baby steps towards further expansion in the United Kingdom and started operations in Wales. Currently, Ola has 125 million customers across 110 cities in India, Australia and now looking to expand across all major cities in the UK by 2018.

Rentsher

RentSher is an online rental marketplace which has tapped a unique market here in India. Rentsher gives out particulars like medical supplies, costumes, computer peripherals, cameras and even general home appliances on rent and has largely contributed to the Indian Rental and sharing economy. It aims to geographically expand both in India as well as the Middle East, in a try to exploit the multi-billion dollar market, aided by the extravagant spending capacity of the working class in the middle east.

OYO

OYO has been continuously expanding to countries like major tourism markets like Malaysia and Nepal. OYO has been concentrating on full control over its inventory and it has only fueled its expansion in China, known for its population and the latest boom in increasing Chinese travelers. The move to being a branded budget hotel chain across destinations in India and centering itself across popular tourism spots has contributed it to gain a turnover in the recent times.

Zomato

Zomato is probably the first Indian startups to put a lot of focus into global expansion. The biggest of them was the acquisition of Urbanspoon in the US for $55 million (Rs. 350 crores). Zomato still faces issues with profitability and has caused them to displace themselves from big buck markets like the US and the UK, with hopes still to expand its foray into other nationalities as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States President Donald Trump asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his trip to North Korea, on grounds of not making significant progress regarding the denuclearisation deal.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Trump tweeted.

The US President further said that the visit would be scheduled once the country's trade dispute with China is resolved.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," he tweeted.

"Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" a second tweet read.

Pompeo was scheduled to visit North Korea next week to discuss the dismantling of the Pyongyang nuclear weapon programme, along with the US' newly-appointed special representative to North Korea, Stephen Biegun.

During his last visit in July, the state secretary had called the meeting with the vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Yong-chol "very productive" and told media that he "spent a good time talking about denuclearisation."

In June, Kim and US President Donald Trump signed a joint declaration following a summit in Singapore, according to which the North Korean leader committed for "complete denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula", while the U.S. President pledged "security guarantees" to North Korea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Thursday announced that he will visit North Korea next week to discuss the dismantling of the Pyongyang nuclear weapon programme.

The announcement came following the appointment of Ford Vice President Stephen Biegun as the US special representative to North Korea. Pompeo will be accompanied by Beigun on the trip.

" Stephen will direct U.S. policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Donald Trump's goal of the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un," Yonhap quoted Pompeo as saying,

He added that the visit to North Korea is to make "further diplomatic progress towards our objective", which is denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. However, Pompeo did not reveal the exact date of his visit.

This will be his fourth visit to North Korea. During his last visit in July, the state secretary called the meeting with the vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Yong-chol "very productive" and further told media that he "spent a good time talking about denuclearisation."

In June, Kim and US President Donald Trump signed a joint declaration following a summit in Singapore, according to which the North Korean leader committed for "complete denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula", while the U.S. President pledged "security guarantees" to North Korea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Britannia Industries announced that its board approved sub-division of equity shares of the company from the existing face value of Rs 2 per equity share to face value of Re 1 per equity share. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

Mahanagar Gas will be watched. BG Asia Pacific Holdings sold 14% stake in Mahanagar Gas in the open market yesterday, 23 August 2018, reducing its holding to 10%.

SREI Infrastructure Finance said its wholly owned subsidiary, Quippo Oil & Gas Infrastructure (QOGIL), proposes to sell 2,600 Equity shares, constituting 26% shareholding in Quippo Drilling International (QDIPL) to an overseas entity. Consequently, QDIPL shall cease to be the wholly owned subsidiary of QOGIL but shall continue to be a subsidiary of QOGIL. Consequently, QDIPL shall also cease to be a wholly owned step down subsidiary of the company but shall continue to be a step down subsidiary of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

Jubilant Life Sciences announced that India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has upgraded the company's long term credit rating to 'IND AA/Stable' from 'IND AA-/Stable'. Ind-Ra has also affirmed company's short term credit rating of 'IND A1+'. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

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Stocks nudged lower in early trade. At 9:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 27.13 points or 0.07% at 38,309.63. The Nifty 50 index was down 13.70 points or 0.12% at 11,569.05.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.04%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 561 shares rose and 565 shares fell. A total of 42 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed on little signs of progress in US-China trade negotiations. US stocks dropped yesterday, 23 August 2018 as the trade dispute with China showed no signs of easing.

Closely watched trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday with no major progress. The conclusion of the talks came just hours after Beijing and Washington rolled out their latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs on Thursday. The $16 billion in imports hit by each side took the total value of goods covered as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China to $100 billion.

Back home, Britannia Industries fell 0.33%. The company announced that its board approved sub-division of equity shares of the company from the existing face value of Rs 2 per equity share to face value of Re 1 per equity share. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

Mahanagar Gas rose 0.45%. BG Asia Pacific Holdings sold 14% stake in Mahanagar Gas in the open market yesterday, 23 August 2018, reducing its holding to 10%.

Jubilant Life Sciences rose 1.23% after the company announced that India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has upgraded the company's long term credit rating to 'IND AA/Stable' from 'IND AA-/Stable'. Ind-Ra has also affirmed company's short term credit rating of 'IND A1+'. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

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Key equity indices logged small losses after swinging either ways in a small range. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 84.96 points or 0.22% at 38,251.80, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index fell 25.65 points or 0.22% at 11,557.10, as per the provisional closing data.

Stocks nudged lower in early trade. A bout of volatility was seen in morning trade as the key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone after after briefly turning positive. Key benchmark indices hovered in negative zone in mid-morning and early afternoon trade. Indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. Key equity indices cut losses in mid-afternoon trade. Stocks gyrated in a small range in late trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.26%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.34%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,179 shares rose and 1,521 shares fell. A total of 179 shares were unchanged.

Hero MotoCorp (down 2.08%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (down 2.01%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.48%), Infosys (down 1.38%) and L&T (down 0.72%) were the major Sensex losers.

Maruti Suzuki India shed 0.76%. Maruti Suzuki India today flagged off a unique 'Quick Response Team on Bikes' to offer faster on-road assistance for customers' cars. A first-of-its-kind integrated initiative in India, the Quick Response Team (QRT) on Bikes has been rolled with a fleet of 350 bikes in over 251 cities in the first phase. The initiative will be progressively expanded to reach 500 cities by the end of 2020. The announcement was made during market hours today, 24 August 2018.

Britannia Industries fell 1.54%. The company announced that its board approved sub-division of equity shares of the company from the existing face value of Rs 2 per equity share to face value of Re 1 per equity share. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

Overseas, European stocks edged higher Friday following US-China trade talks and ahead of a key speech by Jerome Powell, the chair of the US Federal Reserve. Germany's economic growth accelerated in the second quarter thanks to solid domestic demand. The Federal Statistical Office said Friday that Germany's gross domestic product--the broadest measure of goods and services produced in an economy--grew at a quarterly clip of 0.5% or an annualized rate of 1.8% in the second quarter.

Asian stocks were mixed on little signs of progress in US-China trade negotiations. Meanwhile, investor are keeping an eye on a gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be the featured speaker on Friday.

Closely watched trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday with no major progress. The conclusion of the talks came just hours after Beijing and Washington rolled out their latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs on Thursday. The $16 billion in imports hit by each side took the total value of goods covered as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China to $100 billion.

US stocks dropped yesterday, 23 August 2018, as the trade dispute with China showed no signs of easing. On the data front, IHS Markit US manufacturing PMI hit the lowest level in 9 months, with a reading of 54.3 in August from 55.3 in the prior month, while IHS US flash services PMI dropped to 55.2 in August from 56.

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A bout of volatility was seen in morning trade as the key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone after after briefly turning positive. At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 20.01 points or 0.05% at 38,316.75. The Nifty 50 index was down 4.35 points or 0.04% at 11,578.40. Cement stocks rose.

Key benchmark indices nudged lower in early trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.07%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.16%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 992 shares rose and 1100 shares fell. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed on little signs of progress in US-China trade negotiations. US stocks dropped yesterday, 23 August 2018 as the trade dispute with China showed no signs of easing.

Closely watched trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday with no major progress. The conclusion of the talks came just hours after Beijing and Washington rolled out their latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs on Thursday. The $16 billion in imports hit by each side took the total value of goods covered as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China to $100 billion.

Back home, cement stocks rose. Ambuja Cements (up 0.87%), ACC (up 0.58%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.05%) and Shree Cement (up 0.09%) gained.

Grasim Industries was up 1.69%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Ashok Leyland rose 0.3% after the company announced a tender win in the tracked vehicle space. This tender is for developmental work and marks Ashok Leyland's foray into tracked vehicle business. As per the scope of work, the company will collaborate with Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), Chennai for manufacture, assembly and testing of light weight clutch for the design and development of weight optimized 1500-horse power (HP) automatic transmission for main battle tanks. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 24 August 2018.

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Keeping with Island City tradition, our Mayor and City Commissioners voted to cancel the first scheduled City Commission meeting in August for summer break. There will certainly be plenty on the agenda when they return on August 28.

Finalizing the citys budget for the next fiscal year will be a top priority, followed by the Pride Centers proposed 42 units of low-income supportive housing with no dedicated parking for the aging tenants. Andrews Ave./Oakland Park Corridor Land Use also ranks high, along with the beginning of the Wilton Drive project. Add to the mix the upcoming municipal elections for our new Mayor and two City Commission seats, and you have a very busy and uncertain few months ahead.

For some like me who grew up further north, it still seems a bit weird that as we are talking about summer breaks, area schools are readying for the new school year. Broward schools opened last Wednesday and Broward College started classes on Monday. This is way earlier than going back to school after the un-official end of the summer holiday weekend of Labor Day.

I am still scrambling to get my head around it all as I try to get registered for classes at Broward College so early in the month of August. Fall Semesters should start in mid-September, not mid-August. Since Im finally set to finish some schooling started many years ago, this early start date will be just one of many interesting challenges ahead.

Unfortunately, relief from the summers hot and humid weather, along with the high electric bills, will not be coming any time soon. As we wait for cooler nights, we can turn our attention to the upcoming primary elections on August 28 and then on to the general election in November. Looking beyond our Island Citys municipal elections, the office of Governor for the State of Florida should be of major importance to us all.

As the algae blooms and red tides downstream from Lake Okeechobee become worse each year and wreak havoc in many communities, the blame game being played by our current Governor, Rick Scott, is just pathetic. Rather than take responsibility for his eight years of neglect, he attempts to blame his opponent in the race for the United States Senate seat.

An executive office holder should claim that the buck stops here, unfortunately for us our chief executive likes to cast blame instead. On Election Day, South Floridians need to remember just who to blame. So, while Rick Scott takes aim at the honorable Senator Bill Nelson, voters need to remember just how dishonorable Rick Scott really is.

Someone who ran a company that defrauded Medicare before he became Governor is not the type of person that should represent the great State of Florida in the United States Senate. Moving past the contentious labels of Republican and Democrat, Rick Scott has been a disaster for Floridians, and we should dump him in the piles of dead fish washing up on our shorelines rather than reward him with a seat as our Senator.

Primary Day in August is also when we have the opportunity to elect local judges. This is probably the most un-informed choice many of us make comes election time, yet those elected play a very important role in our community. Voters need to become more informed of the choices the make before heading to the polls.

So, if you are registered to vote, make sure to exercise that right in the Florida Primary Election on Tuesday, August 28. Convenient early voting has already begun and will run through August 26 right here in Wilton Manors City Commission chambers between the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Now if you are not registered to vote, no need to bitch and complain about elected officials, taxes, or anything else to do with how government operates. That right is reserved for those who vote and participate in the process. Now if you are interested in registering to vote, you have until October 9 to register for the November General Election. Just check out the Broward County Supervisor of Elections website at Browardsoe.org.

While many are getting ready for back-to-school, the dog days of summer will still be blazing away here in South Florida. September is just a few weeks away, and then its only a hop skip and jump to the Holiday Season. Get more involved in your local government, get out and vote, and look for ways to participate in making life here in our Island City just better and better.
Key benchmark indices hovered in negative zone in mid-morning trade. At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 48.13 points or 0.13% at 38,288.63. The Nifty 50 index was down 12.20 points or 0.11% at 11,565.45. Metal and mining stocks saw mixed trend.

Key benchmark indices nudged lower in early trade. A bout of volatility was seen in morning trade as the key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone after after briefly turning positive.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.12%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.1%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1088 shares rose and 1225 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed on little signs of progress in US-China trade negotiations. US stocks dropped yesterday, 23 August 2018 as the trade dispute with China showed no signs of easing.

Closely watched trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday with no major progress. The conclusion of the talks came just hours after Beijing and Washington rolled out their latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs on Thursday. The $16 billion in imports hit by each side took the total value of goods covered as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China to $100 billion.

Back home, metal and mining stocks saw mixed trend. Vedanta (up 1.02%), JSW Steel (up 1.81%), Tata Steel (up 0.82%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.73%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.62%) and NMDC (up 0.34%) rose.

Steel Authority of India (Sail) (down 0.2%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.28%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.11%) and Hindustan Copper (down 1.73%) edged lower.

Copper edged higher in the global commodities market. High Grade Copper for September 2018 delivery was currently up 0.4% at $2.6650 per pound on the COMEX.

SREI Infrastructure Finance surged 12.7%. SREI Infrastructure Finance said its wholly owned subsidiary, Quippo Oil & Gas Infrastructure (QOGIL), proposes to sell 2,600 equity shares, constituting 26% shareholding in Quippo Drilling International (QDIPL) to an overseas entity. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

Presently, SREI Infrastructure Finance holds 100% shares in QOGIL and accordingly, QOGIL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. QOGIL holds 100% shares in QDIPL and therefore QDIPL is the wholly owned subsidiary of QOGIL and wholly owned step down subsidiary of the company.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Key equity indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 90.78 points or 0.24% at 38,245.98. The Nifty 50 index was down 31.45 points or 0.27% at 11,551.30.

Stocks nudged lower in early trade. A bout of volatility was seen in morning trade as the key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone after after briefly turning positive. Key benchmark indices hovered in negative zone in mid-morning trade. Indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.46%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.43%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,014 shares rose and 1,510 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.

Yes Bank (down 3.3%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.9%), ICICI Bank (down 2.49%), IndusInd Bank (down 1.58%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (down 1.54%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.32%) and ITC (down 0.8%), were the major Sensex losers.

ONGC (up 2.42%), Vedanta (up 0.98%), Wipro (up 0.90%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.89%), Coal India (up 0.81%) and HDFC (up 0.62%), were the major Sensex gainers.

Overseas, European stocks edged higher Friday following US-China trade talks and ahead of a key speech by Jerome Powell, the chair of the US Federal Reserve.

Germany's economic growth accelerated in the second quarter thanks to solid domestic demand. The Federal Statistical Office said Friday that Germany's gross domestic product--the broadest measure of goods and services produced in an economy--grew at a quarterly clip of 0.5% or an annualized rate of 1.8% in the second quarter.

Asian stocks were mixed on little signs of progress in US-China trade negotiations. US stocks dropped yesterday, 23 August 2018, as the trade dispute with China showed no signs of easing.

Meanwhile, investor are keeping an eye on a gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be the featured speaker on Friday.

Closely watched trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday with no major progress. The conclusion of the talks came just hours after Beijing and Washington rolled out their latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs on Thursday. The $16 billion in imports hit by each side took the total value of goods covered as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China to $100 billion.

On the data front, IHS Markit US manufacturing PMI hit the lowest level in 9 months, with a reading of 54.3 in August from 55.3 in the prior month, while IHS US flash services PMI dropped to 55.2 in August from 56.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Chowdhury on Friday accused the state government of not taking action against two private companies charging "significantly higher rates" for providing High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) for the vehicles here, compared to other states.

The two companies were awarded the 10-year contract for HSRP project way back in 2010 by the erstwhile Left Front government.

In a statement, Chowdhury said the two companies are implementing the scheme with weighted average cost of Rs 350 for each vehicle in West Bengal, while in other states like Rajasthan, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, the HSRP charges are much lower.

The Congress leader alleged that the state government has not taken any steps against the two companies in the last eight years in spite of the irregularities.

"In West Bengal, the average weighted cost for HSRP by one of the companies is Rs 350, while the average rate for the scheme by the same company is Rs 145 and Rs 135 in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, respectively," the release said.

Chowdhury also accused the two companies of being involved in irregularities like subcontracting which is strictly prohibited by the Supreme Court and also violates the HSRP order of 2001.

--IANS

mgr/ssp/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The city unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday seized 230 kgs of ganja from a vehicle in West Bengal's Alipurduar district and arrested two residents of Assam in this connection, a senior NCB official said.

The seizure was made from Alipurduar district's Madarihat area during a joint operation by the NCB personnel and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) troopers.

"The two accused, both residents of Assam's Dhubri district, brought the contraband worth Rs 40 lakh from Assam and were travelling to a nearby Falakata railway station when they were arrested from the truck. They were planning to take the contraband to Kolkata," Zonal Director of Bureau's Kolkata unit Dilip Kumar Srivastava said in a release.

"The two arrested accused will be produced in the Jalpaiguri court along with the seized contraband on Saturday for further legal action," he added.

--IANS

mgr/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Friday sought the permission of Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu to donate Rs 1 crore from his MPLADS fund and adopt a village in flood-hit Kerala.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader's decision came days after Naidu urged all MPs to contribute from their Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for flood relief and rehabilitation work in Kerala.

"I would like to allocate Rs 1 crore from my MPLADS funds for rehabilitation works to be carried out in the district of Ernakulam," Singh said in his letter to Naidu.

He requested Naidu to grant him permission to adopt "any one of the worst affected villages" in Ernakulam district.

--IANS

sd/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday reviewed the security situation in the Kashmir Valley with senior officers, official sources said.

"Gen Rawat visited the Chinar Corps to review the overall security situation in the Valley," a Defence Ministry statement said.

He was given an update by the Chinar Corps Commander at the Badami Bagh Cantonment on the security scenario in the Valley, including details of counter-infiltration and counter-militant operations.

"He was appreciative of the measures that contributed significantly towards improving the security situation," the statement said.

--IANS

sq/tsb/mr

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The Indian Army is set to build two bailey bridges near the Sabarimala temple to facilitate the pilgrims' return to the temple town, the authorities said on Friday.

The the overflowing Pamba river and the closure of two major bridges forced the authorities to close the Sabarimala temple since August 13.

Speaking to IANS, State Tourism and Devasom Minister K. Surendran said since the Pamba river was flooded, huge damage was caused to the temple town and its infrastructure.

"Two bridges have been shut and we are still unable to assess the extent of the damage caused by the floods. We have decided to entrust the Indian Army to build two bailey bridges," said Surendran.

The engineering division of the Army from Hyderabad has been entrusted with the job, he said, adding the final clearance is expected from the Defence Secretary soon.

He said Army authorities will decide the alignment of the bridges. One bridge would be meant for the vehicular traffic, and the other for pedestrians.

"Our prime focus is to get the damaged roads repaired. We are hoping the pilgrims will be able to return to the temple when it opens in the middle of the next month," said Surendran.

According to the temple authorities, the floods have caused damage worth Rs 100 crore to its infrastructure.

The sluice gates of two dams that form a part of the Sabarigiri project was opened after heavy rains and subsequent floods ravaged places in and around the temple town.

However, all the religious rituals of the temple are going on.

The temple is open only from the middle of November till the middle of January, but for several years now, it is kept open for a few days at the start of every Malayalam month which falls during the middle of every month.

--IANS

sg/prs

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A group of parliamentarians from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Friday urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try those responsible for alleged crimes against the ethnic Rohingya community in Myanmar.

A statement by the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), signed by at least 130 of its members, called on the UN Security Council to begin the process, given that the ICC does not have jurisdiction in Myanmar and would need an initiative by the UN, Efe news reported.

"One year has passed since the Myanmar military launched its murderous operation in Rakhine state, yet we are no closer to seeing those responsible brought to justice," said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament.

"As Myanmar is clearly both unwilling and unable to investigate itself, we are now at a stage where the international community must step in to ensure accountability," he added.

Saturday marks one year since Myanmar's security forces cracked down after Rohingya rebels attacked government outposts in Rakhine state, triggering an exodus of at least 700,000 members of the mostly-Muslim community to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The UN and human rights organizations reported numerous times that there was a clear evidence of abuse, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights describing it as "ethnic cleansing", bearing all the "hallmarks of genocide".

Santiago said the security forces "killed thousands of Rohingyas, burned their villages to the ground and committed widespread sexual violence".

UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, earlier called for bringing the perpetrators of the crimes against Rohingyas to justice.

Myanmar's State Counsellor and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has either played down or denied most of the accusations by international organizations and rights groups.

In November 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement to repatriate the Rohingya refugees within two years, but the process, which was supposed to have started in January this year, is yet to commence.

Myanmar does not recognize Rohingyas as citizens and considers them Bangladeshi immigrants. The country subjects them to various forms of discrimination, including restrictions on their freedom of movement.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seasoned boxer Manoj Kumar brought the smiles back to the Indian fans after Gaurav Solanki's disappointing exit, with a dominating 5-0 thrashing of Bhutan's Sangay Wangdi in the men's Welterweight (69kg) category Round-of-32 clash at the Asian Games here Friday.

Manoj, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist started positively, comfortably dodging the punches from his opponent towards the end of the opening round.

Manoj continued his domination in the second round getting in a few jabs before retreating. The veteran Indian brought in all his experiences of the highest level to completely outclass the Bhutanese pugilist in the final round.

The 31-year-old Manoj will meet Kyrgistan's Abdurakhman Abdurakhmanov in the round-of-16 on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Gaurav Solanki was outpunched by Japan's Tanaka Ryomei 5-0 in the men's Flyweight (52kg) Round of 32 clash.

Solanki, the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist started off cautiously before being pinned down with a straight hit on the face towards the end of the first round.

The Japanese continued his aggression in the second round but Gaurav finally managed to retaliate with a jab to the face to collect some crucial points.

In the final round, the Indian gradually ran out of steam, which helped the Japanese dominate with effective counter-punches and ensure his march to the next round.

--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 women's kabaddi team suffered a historic loss to Iran in a hard fought final at the 2018 Asian Games here on Friday which saw the defending champions lose their crown after an eight-year reign.

The defending champions lost 24-27 in a nail-biting encounter as Iran celebrated its first ever gold medal at the Asiad.

Later in the day, the men's team made it a double delight for Iran with 26-16 win over South Korea in the final.

Iran thus scripted history in the annals of the sport as this is the first time that India have failed to win gold in a major championship. In every previous Asian Games, India have clinched gold medals in both the men's and women's categories.

This is the first time the Asiad saw a team other than India win the gold medal. The Indians had won both the previous editions since women's kabaddi was included in the Asian Games programme at Guangzhou 2010.

For India, this was a devastating blow, specially after their men's team were outplayed by Iran in Thursday's semi-finals.

The first half was a well balanced affair before Iran gradually asserted their supremacy as the match wore on.

The Indians enjoyed a slender lead in the initial few minutes before the Iranians gradually found their rhythm. While the Indian defenders struggled to get their act together, the Iran defence was tighter and their attackers reaped rich rewards by repeatedly targeting the bonus line.

With the Indians desperate to make a comeback, the match exploded with excitement after the break.

Immediately after the restart, a couple of failed raids and some poor defending by India saw Iran tighten their grip on the match as they inflicted an all out on the defending champions.

Kavita then fumbled her tackle which gave away a cheap point to an Iranian raider.

The Indians tried to make a comeback as Sayali took bonus to reduce the margin to two while skipper Payal Chowdhury took another couple of points in the next Indian raid.

But consecutive raid points and a successful tackle by Iran maintained their advantage.

The Indians continued their attempts to chip away the lead, but the poor defence by the Indians continued to leak points as Iran held on to the three-point lead. An unsuccessful raid by Payal saw Iran increase their lead to four points.

The match was set up for a dramatic finish as Sakshi produced a three-point raid to bring the deficit to a single point and give India hope.

But Iran immediately hit back with a point in the very next raid before an unsuccessful Indian raid in the final seconds killed the defending champion's hope of retaining their crown.

--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.)
As I have for the last several years, I am writing my mid-August column from Orlando, site of the annual Florida Realtors convention. Election years are (or can be) a time when we should not just reflect on the past, but consider the kind of future we want to have  not just in South Florida generally, but in the real estate and related industries specifically.

I believe there are larger, more strategic issues at play in Florida this cycle. Consistent with my focus in the next few months on community and resilience, I would argue that it is less important to focus on where we have been and where we are, and think instead about where we should be headed  regardless of who is in office at present.

Let me give you examples of issues that sit right at the intersection of real estate and politics.

1. Workforce and educational resiliency. What is the status and quality of (particularly) our elementary and secondary education system in South Florida? Are we graduating young people ready for the STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) jobs of the future  people who will be able to afford the high cost of living and housing we have here?

Well we know part of that answer from, of all places, Amazon Corp. Of the 20 places they are considering for their HQ2 site, the Miami/Fort Lauderdale metro area ranked dead last for a workforce with the skill sets that would meet their mid-21st century needs. Thats not good for corporate relocations or property values.

What ideas do the politicians have to help remedy this?

2. Diversity. Roughly 40 percent of Broward residents speak a language other than English when at home. Also, the number of residents here who were born outside the U.S., and the LGBT community, continue to grow in size. What specific plans do the politicians have to ensure that our communities are welcoming to everyone  especially regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression?

3. Quality of life issues, particularly transportation. Amazon also ranked our metro area last when it came to commuting times and availability of robust public transportation. Even in the five years I have lived here, I have noted a marked increase in traffic and congestion, and not just during high season. Have the politicians noticed this? What are their thoughts about ameliorating this situation?

4. Environmental and water policy issues. If you havent noticed the environmental disasters unfolding out of Lake Okeechobee this summer, you have probably been watching too many Real Housewives reruns or spending too much time at two-for-one happy hour. Yet another issue where politicians point fingers at one another in lieu of taking action.

Who is willing to step up and lead, hard as that may be, and risk political consequences? You can probably bet against incumbents on that score, as none of them have taken the risk of alienating key financial backers and various political action committees.

And every day we get closer to the King Tides and the fullest brunt of the Atlantic storm season. What ideas are out there to reduce damage to our shoreline areas  more than just kicking the flood insurance issue down the road past the next election? (Bear in mind, of course, that politicians love the kinds of programs that are about to expire. This gives them a chance to shake money out of people desirous of continuing the Bubble Machine for a little more time.)

It is easy to pick the winners, which in nearly every case means backing incumbents and accepting the status quo. I say, to improve the resiliency and strength of our communities, and to foster a healthy and robust real estate market, we have got to be more visionary. Otherwise, we run this risk that this state, and the lifestyle we all hold dear, just becomes concrete, flooded land and Disney. Maybe some are fine with that outcome. I am betting many of you are not.

James Oaksun, Florida's Real Estate Geek(SM), is Broker-Owner of New Realty Concepts in Oakland Park. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).
With resolution of stressed assets, Indian banking sector is expected to see substantial write-backs by end of the current financial year, an official said on Friday.

The resolution is happening under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), but at a slower space, the official said.

"Indian banking sector is expected to see substantial write-backs by the end of this financial year on account of resolution of stressed assets," State Bank of India's (SBI) Group Economic Adviser Soumya Kanti Ghosh said.

Speaking on the falling rupee against dollar, he said sudden appreciation or depreciation would add volatility in the markets.

"The rupee has remained stable over the last three to four years. What is important now is that the depreciation should be orderly. Sudden appreciation or depreciation adds to the volatility in the market," he said.

Referring to GDP growth estimates by SBI Research, he said it was expected to be 7.7 per cent in the first quarter and 7.5 per cent for the entire fiscal year.

Speaking on the dual control over public sector banks (PSBs) by the Reserve Bank of India and the government, he said, "The apex bank has enough powers to control them. PSBs are subject to more audits than private banks".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Raising concern over rising non-performing assets (NPA), West Bengal Minister on Friday said the is facing a "serious crisis" on the macroeconomic front.

He also said that credit availability to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is getting "squeezed" as many are restrained from aggressive lending as part of prompt corrective actions.

"It is discomforting for any professional to see a massive rise in NPAs. In fact, NPAs have gone up systematically from March 2014," he said while addressing the "Banking Summit" organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

According to him, the NPAs in the went up to around Rs 10.25 trillion in March 2018, from Rs 2.04 trillion in March 2014.

ALSO READ: Banking on simplicity and fairness

"NPA ratio too jumped to about 11.6 per cent at the end of 2017-18, from 4.4 per cent as of March, 2014," he said

He also said that about 11 which are under had NPA ratio at 21 per cent at the end of March 2018 and the projection was that the ratio could go up over 22 per cent by end of the current financial year.

"Lending to MSMEs are getting squeezed as half of the which are under the are not allowed for aggressive lending through the small, medium enterprises are providing employment," Mitra said.

He also said that the MSME sector, which provides livelihood, jobs and stability to a democratic polity, is "under threat".

Mitra, however, said that the bank lending to MSMEs was at Rs 440 billion in 2017-18 in West Bengal, exceeding the target of Rs 380 billion, primarily because the way banks and the state government work together in the state.

"Is it enough? My understanding is that appetite is much higher," he said, adding that MSME lending target in the current financial year in Bengal was set at Rs 500 billion.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday said that the Bastar region is taking a new shape with fruits of development reaching new heights, leaving behind its popular perception of Maoism.

Addressing the audience at the "Bastar Development Dialogue" organised by Hindusthan Samachar news agency, the Chief Minister said here that Bastar is now a peaceful place and has the potential of being developed as a major tourist destination.

"We have constructed about 1,800 km of roads and have electrified almost all the villages. Besides that, health, education and connectivity has improved a lot," he said.

Recalling the sacrifices made for the development of the region, he said that it took four years to construct 15 km roads initially and during the process at least nine security personnel sacrificed their lives.

"It is easy to construct roads in plain areas but very tough in difficult terrains. No one had dared to take the risk of constructing roads. Even if some construction company came forward, they left the work mid-way and fled due to security concerns. These issues increased the cost of the construction," he said.

He said that with development taking new shape in Bastar region, its greenery, the natural beauty and most importantly the connectivity, all have the potential to develop the region as a major tourist destination.

"The Bastar region is entering a new era. A BPO, which is not less than any BPO of Bangalore, is active in Jangla of Bastar. Bastar is a model for aspirational districts of the state," he said.

The Chief Minister urged the media not to present Bastar through the prism of Maoism only.

"Maoism has gone away now and Bastar is peaceful. People of the region hate violence. We are leaving no stone unturned to change the face of Bastar," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajya Sabha MP R.K. Sinha hailed the efforts of Raman Singh, saying he has changed the face of the Bastar region with his positive vision.

"The media always highlights the negative things but as far as my view is concerned, it should also focus on positive things if a government is working hard for developing the most backward region," he said.

Participating in the dialogue, senior journalist N.K. Singh said that development in difficult terrains is a challenge and the Raman Singh government has successfully done this in Chhattisgarh.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hollywood celebrities like Gal Gadot, Danai Gurira, Gigi Hadid, Ariana Grande and Nathalie Emmanuel have urged women not to be hard on themselves and to celebrate womanhood in a more carefree way.

They are part of a campaign launched by Reebok, which is celebrating women who are helping bring positive change to the world. The brands' global ambassadors have told their own personal story of overcoming barriers to become their best self.

Here's what they have to say:

Gal Gadot: If I could give some advice to my teenage self. Don't be so hard on yourself, Don't be a perfectionist, Don't be afraid to fail because when we dare and don't fail we change the world.

Gigi Hadid: I always try where I can to step out of my comfort zone. I think being more human is realizing that no one wakes up feeling like a super hero. You have to find things on a daily basis that inspire you and that make you happy and feel creative and feel like you want to get out in the world and make a difference.

Danai Gurira: There's nothing more powerful than women celebrating each other. The connection of sisterhood to me is profoundly crucial to how we can actually self-empower through seeing each other's greatness, through validating the other, being the rock to another. You are actually empowering yourself as you empower one another.

Nathalie Emmanuel: Never apologise for being strong. Strong is ambition, independence, breaking barriers, kindness, compassion. Strong is women. Don't be afraid to use your strength to pave your own path and encourage others to follow.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An FIR was filed by an Urdu daily journalist here after he was threatened with death for a social post that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would seek votes in the 2019 general elections in the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a police official said on Friday.

Seemab Akhtar, who works at 'Farooqui Tanzeem' published from Patna, was repeatedly threatened by an unidentified man for his social post in Hindi: "Dekh lena agle chunao mein Modi Atal ki tasveer lekar roenge, aur bolenge bhai-behno inke naam pe dedo vote unka sapna pura karna hai... (in the next elections, Modi will carry Atal's picture and shed tears asking for votes to fulfil the former PM's dream).

According to Akhtar, he received threat calls and was asked not to post anything against the Bharatiya Janata Party on the social "I was threatened with death if I continued to write against the BJP."

Bajpatti police station incharge Kanchan Bhaskar said that an FIR had been filed.

Sanjay Kumar, a Professor at Motihari Central University in east Champaran district, was beaten up by a group of people last Friday for his comments on the social media that appeared to criticise Vajpayee. A seriously injured Kumar was first admitted in Patna hospital, but later shifted to AIIMS in Delhi.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the BJP and RSS were weakening the country "by causing divisions and spreading hatred." He said the combined opposition will defeat the ruling alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing an event organised by the Indian Overseas Congress on Thursday, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several issues, including Rafale fighter jet deal and demonetisation. He alleged that Modi discriminates with the non-BJP ruled states.

The Congress leader said he hugged Modi during the debate on no-confidence motion last month to "remove anger" from him.

"When people are angry with me and shouting at me and getting nasty at me, they are frustrated with their own life. They are not angry with me, they are having difficulty dealing with their life. And it is my job as a politician in India to tell them 'don't worry I am going to try and help you, I am going to try and remove the anger from you'. That is why I hugged the Prime Minister," he said.

"Modi has spent a lot of time attacking me, saying nasty things about me. Did everything he said travel faster or my hug (in the Lok Sabha) and affection travel faster. So affection is a very powerful thing," he added.

"Hatred is being spread, farmers continue to commit suicide and the youth are unable to see a way forward," he said.

Gandhi, who took questions, said for the first time judges of the Supreme Court "came to the people for justice". "They have said clearly that they are not being allowed to do their work. The government, the RSS, the Prime Minister are not allowing them to do their work," he said.

The Congress leader said there was a strong common feeling among Opposition parties that the BJP and RSS should not be allowed to "destroy institutions."

"A united opposition is going to fight and defeat the BJP in the next election. There is no doubt," he said, adding that the BJP had bagged only 31 per cent votes in the 2014 elections.

"If the opposition gets together, there's no way that the BJP can win the election," Gandhi said.

Noting that he derives his thinking from the teachings of Guru Nanak, Gandhi said , "the work that Guru Nanakji did, we work by that vision."

Spelling out an alternative vision, he said the new government, formed by parties that are in opposition at present, will focus on education, healthcare and put energy in competing with the Chinese to make sure that India "starts to produce jobs for its youngsters."

"We are not going to do it with 'Make In India' programme that gives the entire finance of the banking sector to the largest 15-20 industrialists. We are going to do it by supporting small and medium businesses. So, it is a completely different vision from the BJP's," he said.

He said the informal sector is the backbone of India in terms of job creation.

He said if the Congress comes to power in 2019 election, it will fulfil the promise of special category status for Andhra Pradesh.

Gandhi accused the the government of causing Rs 41,000 crore loss to the exchequer in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France. The offset contract had been taken away from a public sector undertaking, he alleged.

--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 Friday hit out at Karuna Shukla, the niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accusing that she was politicising his death.

The BJP charge came a day after Shukla accused the ruling BJP of politicising the former Prime Minister's death by carrying the ashes across India for electoral gains in 2019 general elections.

"She (Shukla) is with the Congress and had also contested elections on their ticket. She is trying to politicise it (Vajpayee's death). It is unfortunate... We believe this far beyond and above politics," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli told journalists here.

"But we don't see it as a political exercise. Some people have also pointed out why BJP is taking Atal's ashes across the country. This is not the first time this has happened...it's happened with several Prime Minister before Atal -- Nehru's ashes and Indira Gandhi's ashes also went to several states," Kohli said.

"I think that opportunity to people to offer their homage is not a political opportunity but a mark of respect," he said.

Meanwhile, several leaders across party lines and religious leaders of various faith offered floral tribute to the urns containing the ashes of former Prime Minister at BJP headquarters in Shillong.

Kohli said the idea of taking Vajpayee's ashes to different states across the country was an opportunity for those who loved him and wish to pay their respects now that he is no longer with us. "It was opportunity for that."

"Vajpayee was the longest serving non-Congress Prime Minister. He was a person who was loved across party lines," Kohli said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Film: "Happy Phirr Bhaag Jayegi"; Director: Mudassar Aziz; Starring: Sonakshi Sinha, Jassi Gill, Jimmy Shergil, Denzil Smith, Aparshakti Khurrana; Rating: ***  (3 and a half stars)

A rom-com works and this one sure does! but only when the writer and the cast have fun doing it. By that reckoning, the writer-director Mudassar Aziz and his delectable cast must have enjoyed themselves as though there is no tomorrow.

As far as sequels go, "Happy Phirr Bhaag Jayegi"(HPBJ) is a long-legged sprinter. It hops, skips and gambols through a maze of amusing incidents woven around some of the most wittily constructed yet inoffensive ethnic jokes seen and heard in Hindi cinema, notorious for insulting cultures and nationalities.

Most of the comedy of mistaken identity is set in China, and that in itself unique. The last time a Hindi film took us to that vast country of illimitable possibilities was when Nikhil Advani made that unintentionally hilarious Akshay-Deepika fiasco "Chandni Chowk To China".

Straightaway, the "Happy..." sequel doesn't treat Shanghai and its suburbs as touristic spots.

The location is a character, not a prop. Cinematographer Sunil Patel is very clear he isn't shooting "An Evening In Shanghai". Thank you.

The same goes for every actor chosen because he or she just belongs by right to this zany world of insatiable adventure. This time there are two Happys in the script. Happy no.1 Diana Penty(why don't we see more of her on the screen?) makes a welcome appearance with husband Ali Fazal.

But the focus this time is on the new addition Happy no.2 played by Sonakshi Sinha who is practically in every frame as the runaway jilted bride.

Sonakshi, takes charge of the plot with confidence and grace, giving her best shot to what could possibly be her most accomplished performance to date.

She isn't alone. HPBJ oozes acting talent. While the Indo-Pak fracas between Jimmy Shergill and Piyush Mishra from the first film is carried forward here without the "tu-tu-main-main" dragging its tired feet, it is the newcomers in the story who inject a fresh verve to the madness.

Jassi Gill as a sad lonely dumped Sardarji in China singing karaoke in dimly lit clubs to Sunny Deol songs who suddenly finds more excitement in his life than he had bargained for, is absolutely delightful. He is the loser who has nothing to lose except boredom, out on an extended adventure binge with a girl who has everything to lose but is determined not to.

The writing is exceptional. HPBJ is one the most neatly-scripted comedies in recent years.

While every character comes alive with situations and lines that are often hilarious, sometimes not that funny (that's life!) I must make mention of two add-ons in the sequel who are priceless. Denzel Smith playing an Indian saint-rogue in China who cooks and connives his way through a labyrinth of high-level misdemenaours, is outstanding. From that hypnotic baritone to his culinary expetise, Smith gives his character a sufiyana diabolism. Loved it!

Oh yes, there was a runaway bride in the first part. There is a runaway bridegroom in the second. He is played by Aparshakti Khurrana, one of the bravest most honest young actors at work on a character that not many actors in Bollywood would touch with a bargepole.

These desi characters and some tongue-in-cheek Chinese caricatures go a long way in making this sequel a happy happy experience. Sure, not all the gags and jokes work. Some lines meant to be exceptionally funny fall flat on their face. But writer-director Mudassar Aziz never loses sight of his flight into a world where cultural, ethnic, personal and interpersonal crises are magically dissolved and alchemised.

Far cleverer than it is willing to admit, "Happy Phirr Bhaag Jayegi" sparkles with a sense of parodic profundity brought on by characters who are at a loose end, and not afraid to tackle their situation headlong with humour and fortitude.

At one point while travelling together, Sonakshi's Happy asks Jassi Gill's Khushant Singh why his wardrobe is filled with women's clothes.

"I put them in when I am alone," he retorts wrily.

That line returns to haunt the film much later when we see another character cross-dressing to dance to "Mera naam chin chin choo", that Howrah Bridge evergreen where Helen batted her eyes so satirically. This time those fluttering eyelashes are actually a wink. Don't mind.

(Subhash K Jha can be contacted at jhasubh@gmail.com)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years in jail in Iran for spying, has been temporarily released from prison for the first time in more than two years.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose plight has cast a shadow over Iran-UK relations, was given a three-day furlough on Thursday, taking her and her family by surprise, reports the Guardian.

She was arrested in April 2016 by members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards as she and her daughter were about to board a flight back to the UK following a visit to her family in Iran.

She was accused of attempting to orchestrate a "soft overthrow" of the Islamic Republic, spying and running "a BBC Persian online journalism course which was aimed at recruiting and training people to spread propaganda against Iran".

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has since been reunited with her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who has been in the care of her Iranian family since she was 22 months old.

"It will be just awesome for Gabriella to have mummy home finally," Zaghari-Ratcliffe said, according to her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who remains in the UK.

"We can play with her doll's house and she can show me her toys. The thought of brushing her hair and giving her a bath, of being able to take her to the park and feed her and sleep next to her - it just kills me. It is still so hard to believe."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was notified that her furlough was about to begin in the early hours of Thursday, while she was still in her nightclothes, and told that she had 10 minutes to get ready and leave.

After passing through the prison gates, she borrowed a mobile phone from a stranger to tell her brother she had been released.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release is limited to three days - the standard period in the Iranian penal system - but could be extended, as in cases involving other political prisoners, the Guardian reported.

Her release comes after an extraordinary public campaign mounted by her husband that has made her case familiar throughout the UK.

Iran's ambassador to the the UK welcomed the news.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday told the British Parliament that his party is biased towards the marginalised, the party said.

Gandhi is the first foreign opposition leader to be invited to speak at the UK Parliament's Grand Committee Room, the Congress party said and added that he spoke on a range of issues, including women empowerment.

"Congress President is the first foreign opposition leader to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament... Other prominent speakers who have spoken here are Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev," the party said in a tweet.

Gandhi said centrepiece of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's and Congress' stand is that the party will always look to the person standing at the end of the line. "We are for everybody but we are biased to the marginalised," he said.

The Congress leader said he cannot stand someone being disrespected by someone because the person is not in power. "I will immediately stand with the person being bullied by a person in power."

Gandhi also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not allow India to express itself.

"We unify ourselves in India when we express ourselves. This is the contention I have with PM Modi. He does not let India express itself. India's strength is its diversity, that's what makes it beautiful," Gandhi said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The buzz from John Montgomerys hair clippers droned softly as he styled a customers hair at Rons Barbershop on a lazy Saturday afternoon and watched cars whiz by.

Outside on Northeast Fourth Avenue, vehicles backed up to a stop, then sped off fast when the traffic light changed. Cars maneuvered past road barricades and whizzed by a blinking sign outside the barbershop at 1220 NE Fourth Avenue.

A much-anticipated project to narrow Northeast Fourth Avenue/Wilton Drive from Sunrise Boulevard to Northeast 26th Street to two-lanes began this month. Montgomery wondered how the construction would affect his bottom line.

Its probably going to hurt our business, said Montgomery, who gets a lot of walk-in customers every day. I think its going to get really congested.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) began work on the projects south end last week near Northeast 11th Street in Fort Lauderdale. The project, which will include 7-foot-wide bicycle lanes, will progress north to downtown Wilton Manors by late September.

Its a public safety measure to make Wilton Drive safer for both vehicles and pedestrians, said Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick. It will add six feet of width to the sidewalks on both sides. Its a good thing. Wilton Drive now is really a pedestrian thoroughfare. There are a lot of businesses there and a two-lane thoroughfare is inconsistent with the current use.

Rons Barbershop is set back from the road, tucked in the corner of a strip shopping center on the east side of Northeast Fourth Avenue. Montgomery worried that construction crews and congestion would deter customers by making access difficult. The barber shop employs 11 barbers.

In a four-hour shift I probably do 15 haircuts. Everybody loves a $10 haircut, Montgomery said. You cant get a $10 haircut anywhere.

Montgomery figured the barbers would tough it out, one way or another.

Just to the north, Leatherwerks showroom manager Javier Cortez lauded the upcoming construction.

Its going to be better for us. Everybody uses Fourth Avenue as a cut-through from north of Sunrise Boulevard to just south of Northeast 26th Avenue. They are trying to avoid Sunrise Boulevard, Andrews Avenue and Federal Highway, Cortez said. Leatherwerks is on the east side of the road at 1226 NE Fourth Avenue.

Leatherwerks salesman Ira Smith, who lives just blocks away, said the road barricades made it difficult to come to work because motorists wont let other drivers merge where the lanes narrow from two into one.

Honestly, its not affecting business yet but people hate it because no drivers will let you in, Smith said.

The road reconfiguration is expected to take about a year. After completion, the landscape/streetscape phase of the project will commence.

The construction and landscaping phases cant be done simultaneously because state rules dont permit two phases of the same project to occur at the same time.

The state of Florida and the Metropolitan Planning Organization are paying for the approximate $5-6 million project. The city of Wilton Manors will pay for the streetscaping in downtown Wilton Manors.

We have been supporting this for years we have been talking about doing it for a long time, Resnick said.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said "Congress was not involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots", in which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed, mostly in the national capital when the party's government was in power at the Centre.

To a question being asked by the CNN-News18 at an event in the UK Parliament about the 1984 riots, Gandhi said: "I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy."

Later, during an interactive session at the London School of Economics (LSE) when he was again asked about the anti-Sikh riots and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement on it, Gandhi said: "When Manmohan Singh spoke, he spoke for all of us. As I said earlier, I am a victim of violence and I understand what it feels."

"So, I am against any sort of violence against anybody on this planet. I get disturbed when I see anybody being hurt. So, I condemn that 100 per cent and I am 100 per cent for punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody. That's crystal clear," said Gandhi.

He further explained that people who haven't had violence inflicted upon them, think that violence is what you see in movies. "That's not what it is. I have seen people who are loved very much being killed."

"I have also seen the person (Prabhakaran) who killed my father (Rajiv Gandhi) being killed. When I saw Prabhakaran lying on the beaches in Jaffna, when I saw him being humiliated, the way he was, I felt sorry for him, because I saw my father in his place and his children in my place," he added.

"So, when you are being hit by violence, when you understand it, it has a completely different impact on you. Most people don't actually understand violence. It's a horrible thing," he added.

Some Congress politicians, including Sajjan Kumar, have been accused of leading the killer mobs. They have denied the allegations.

--IANS

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The death toll in the devastating earthquakes that hit Indonesia's Lombok island between July 29 and August 19 was raised to 557 on Friday, authorities said.

More than 390,000 people remain displaced due to the quakes, while 76,765 buildings were damaged.

The National Agency for Disaster Management spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Twitter that the majority of the fatalities -- 466 people -- were from North Lombok municipality, the most affected area.

The rest of the victims were from West Lombok, 40; East Lombok, 31; Central Lombok, two; and nine in the provincial capital Mataram.

In addition, seven people were killed on neighbouring eastern Sumbawa island and two others on Bali island, Efe news reported.

The spokesperson said that the agency's main focus was distributing humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of people currently in displacement camps.

An Indonesian Armed Forces aircraft landed on the island on Friday morning with 100 assistance packages for families, 100 wheelchairs, 30,000 tents and tarpaulins, said Nugroho.

The camps are in need of clean water, medical treatment and materials for sheltering. Only helicopters and motorcycles are able to access the steepest and most remote areas of the island as landslides blocked some routes.

Lombok has suffered hundreds of aftershocks since a 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook the region on July 29, some of them as strong as a magnitude-5.9.

The most serious quake occurred on August 5 with a 6.9-magnitude, killing at least 460 people.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity where some 7,000 earthquakes, mostly moderate, are recorded each year.

--IANS

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a straight contest between the BJP and the "entire opposition" and their "first priority" is to defeat the ruling alliance.

He said the issue of leadership will be taken up by opposition parties after the polls.

In an interactive session at the London School of Economics here, Gandhi also said that quality of debate in parliament was "low quality" as parliamentarians were not involved in making laws, "which were made by the prime minister, ministers and bureaucrats".

Gandhi, who was asked questions about the next Lok Sabha elections, said it will be "pretty straightforward" contest between "Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on one side and the entire opposition on the other".

Gandhi said almost the entire Opposition feel that "systematic attack was taking place on Indian institutions".

"We are going to have a clear-cut election," he said, adding that once the arithmetic of Opposition unity comes into play in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, "it becomes very difficult for the BJP to win".

He said the Opposition was working to defeat an onslaught on the Constitution and to defend the nature of Indian state.

"The first priority is to defeat the BJP. Once election is over all conversation can take place (about the leadership). Not till we defeat the BJP," he said.

Apparently referring to parties such as Shiv Sena, which are not likely to contest polls as partners of BJP, Gandhi said the next election was an "ideological battle".

"We will not work with somebody who is not ideologically with us," he said.

"I have tendency to reach out, listen," he said, adding that it can help build coalitions.

Gandhi said he had over 15 years of experience in and has taken his share of shots to the chin.

Referring to the weaknesses of the Congress, Gandhi said the party is not able to express the ideas very effectively.

"The BJP and RSS are very clear in what they are saying. There is no confusion. RSS spends time on an idea. Congress needs to expand and be precise about what it stands for."

Gandhi also said a reason the party did not do well in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was due to "internal fight" between the younger and older generation.

"There are senior leaders with experience and with understanding and there are youngsters who are developing. You cannot break the past because there is a lot of value in some of the senior people. So, in a sense, the present has to be a merger of the future and the past. That's really why Congress ran into trouble in 2014."

Gandhi said he has tried to bring them together successfully. He also said that the threat in the Congress is "arrogance".

He also said there was a full-blown job crisis in India but the government does not accept that.

Answering a query, Gandhi said he viewed the government as an enabler. "India has tremendous amount of energy. We have to put it together."

On dynastic politics, Gandhi said he operates in a democracy and is attacked by the opponents and reacts to them. "The most important thing is what you bring on the table and how far you listen."

He said there is need to make MPs more powerful in the process of making laws.

"Why debate in parliament is of such low quality... there is so much shouting. You give lawmakers more power. Quality of debate will improve," he said.

Answering another query, he said the single biggest instrument against corruption is RTI.

Referring to the power of dialogue, he said "the extent of power in conversation surprises me".

Gandhi said that rather than a top-down approach, he would prefer asking farmers about their problems and finding solutions.

--IANS

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Delhi Police on Friday voluntarily contributed Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the flood victims in Kerala, an officer said.

"Major parts of Kerala have been affected by floods and countless number of people have been rendered homeless. Delhi Police have decided to stand with the people of Kerala in this hour of crisis," Delhi Police PRO Anil Mittal told IANS.

"As a humanitarian gesture, all rank officers of Delhi Police, including constables, have come forward and voluntarily contributed Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund," Mittal added.

--IANS

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For the first time in over 60 years, Dharamsala, the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, on Friday recorded the highest precipitation on a single day in a month, an official said here.

In the last 24 hours, Dharamsala in Kangra district recorded 292.4 mm of rain and this was the highest ever precipitation in the town in August, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director Manmohan Singh told IANS.

He said the last time the highest single-day precipitation in Dharamsala of 316.4 mm was recorded on August 6, 1958.

According to him, heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was recorded at many places in Kangra and at a few places in Mandi district. The rainfall was widespread in the state.

Jogindernagar in Mandi recorded 127 mm rain, while it was 98 mm in Palampur, 96 mm in Baijnath and 15.6 mm in picturesque tourist resort Manali.

The state capital saw no rain. It recorded a low of 17 degrees Celsius.

The bureau has forecast heavy rain at isolated places in the state till Sunday.

--IANS

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China urged the US on Friday not to interfere in the foreign policy of El Salvador, following an announcement that Washington was going to review its diplomatic ties with the country over its choice of allies.

White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders had announced that Washington would revise its policy on El Salvador after it broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China.

"Only the Salvadorians know which decision is correct and serves their interest, we hope the relevant countries can respect the right sovereign states to develop international relations instead of interfere in their internal affairs," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Friday.

El Salvador had established diplomatic relations with China after recognizing the One China principle, Lu was quoted as saying by Efe news.

"It corresponds with the trend of times and history, complies with international law and serves the fundamental interests of the two countries," Lu said, adding that China considered Latin America an important economic ally.

Lu also referred to Republican Senator Cory Gardner's appeal that the US should prepare a legislation to help Taiwan maintain its allies and said that "some American politicians have made some noises upon the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and El Salvador".

El Salvador is the fifth diplomatic ally that Taiwan has lost since the pro-independence Tsai Ying-wen came to power in 2016.

China was able to persuade El Salvador, Panama, Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe to abandon diplomatic ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing.

Taiwan is now left with 17 diplomatic allies in the world, of which nine are in Latin America and the Caribbean.

--IANS

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed chargesheet against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and others in a money laundering case related to the 2006 IRCTC hotels maintenance contract.

The chargesheet was filed before Special Judge Arvind Kumar who has listed the matter for further hearing on August 25.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in the allotment of contracts of two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006 to a private firm involving a bribe in the form of a three-acre commercial plot at a prime location in Patna district.

ED in its chargesheet has also named Prasad's party colleague P.C. Gupta, his wife Sarla Gupta, a firm Lara Projects and 10 others as accused in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels tender case.

All of them are booked under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"The attachment worth Rs 44.75 crore of Delight Marketing has also been confirmed by adjudicating authority in the case," the ED said in a statement.

ED alleged that Prasad and IRCTC officials allegedly misused their position for granting sub-lease of the rights of two railway hotels at Puri and Ranchi to Sujata Hotel Pvt. Ltd. owned by Kochhars.

"In lieu thereof, 358 decimal (3.5 acre) of prime land were transferred to Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd (a company owned by family of Gupta) in February 2005 at a consideration which was much less than the then prevailing circle rates," ED said.

"The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi by way of share purchase at nominal prices," ED said.

The funds used to acquire the land had a dubious origin and had been laundered through IST group of companies belonging to Gupta by using an NBFC named Ms Abhishek Finance Company Limited belonging to PNR group of companies.

Subsequently, the shares of Delight Marketing Company Private Limited were acquired by Rabri Devi and Tejashwi at less than fair market value.

The Central Bureau of Investigation in April filed the chargesheet in the IRCTC hotels maintenance contract case against 12 people and two companies.

--IANS

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If the employees' provident fund figures show 47 lakh new jobs were created between September 2017 and June 2018, over 23 lakh jobs were lost in the 10-month period, going by the employees' state insurance figures.

The number of existing employees contributing for insurance cover under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) fell by 23.43 lakh in the period from 2,95,34,395 in September 2017 to 2,71,91,147 in June 2018, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said on Friday.

The Ministry released "Payroll Reporting in India" study for June 2018, giving an employment perspective based on the number of beneficiaries for three major schemes -- Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), ESIC and National Pension Scheme (NPS).

The levels of employment are from various sources, there are elements of overlap and the estimates are not additive, the Ministry said.

As per the retirement fund EPFO's payroll data, the total number of EPF subscribers went up by 47.13 lakh during the 10-month period till June. And, the total number of new NPS subscribers for the period is 6.10 lakh, the Ministry's report said.

As per the report, EPF is applicable to establishments having more than 20 workers drawing up to Rs 15,000 per month with some exceptions and ESIC is for setups having more than 10 workers with monthly wage ceiling of Rs 21,000.

The Ministry has clarified that the number of members subscribing to the schemes merely gives an idea of the level of employment in the formal sector and that there is a need for better method of employment estimation.

"The present report gives different perspectives on the levels of employment in the formal sector and does not measure employment at a holistic level," the Ministry said as it invited suggestions for improving content, coverage and presentation.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an email interview with The Times of India published on August 12, used the EPFO data to counter the opposition claims on rising unemployment, saying more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector in the last one year.

"According to our study based on the EPFO data, more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector alone last year... I believe the shortcoming lies in the absence or lack of a streamlined database of jobs," Modi said.

He also said more than 45 lakh formal jobs were created between September 2017 and April 2018.

--IANS

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An Indo-Canadian businessman, who is originally from Bhuj, Gujarat, has been awarded $1.2 million in damages after he was defamed in a series of fake news articles instigated by a prominent American blockchain investor.

It is one of the biggest compensations of its kind in Canada.

Vancouver-based Altaf Nazerali had sued Patrick Byrne, CEO of online retailer Overstock.com, for a campaign of lies aimed to tarnish the reputation of the NRI businessman.

Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Byrne's appeal against $1.2 million granted to the NRI businessman by the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2016.

The huge compensation for Nazerali comes after a seven-year legal battle to clear his name after a series of articles published in 2011, on an American website DeepCapture.com tried to depict the NRI businessman as a drug trafficker, arms dealer and gangster and a financial supporter of al-Qaida. The articles tried to show that he had links to Russian and Italian mafias.

The articles were written by Mark Mitchell and published on the website - owned and published by Byrne- which reports on criminal financial conspiracies.

In its 2016 judgment in favour of the NRI business, Justice Kenneth Affleck of Vancouver-based British Columbia Supreme Court had said: "Mitchell, Byrne and Deep Capture LLC engaged in a calculated and ruthless campaign to inflict as much damage on Nazerali's reputation as they could achieve.

"It is clear on the evidence that their intention was to conduct a vendetta in which the truth about Nazerali himself was of no consequence."

The American blockchain investor challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court of Canada which last week threw it out.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh100@gmail.com)

--IANS

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Rome, Aug 24 (IANS/AKI) Recent drought has laid waste to over 280,000 hectares of beans and maize in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, putting millions at risk of hunger in the coming months, two Rome-based UN agencies warned on Friday.

The possible arrival of an El Nino extreme weather event before the end of the year could further worsen the precarious food and nutrition security of vulnerable rural communities in the region, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN World Food Programme also warned.

According to the International Research Institute/Climate Prediction Centre (IRI/CPC), there was a 60 percent chance of a new El Nino between September and December 2018, FAO and WFP said.

The months of June and July registered lower-than-average rainfall and drier-than-average conditions, which affected the first and principal crop cycle in Central America, according to the two UN agencies.

"Total or partial loss of crops means that subsistence farmers and their families will not have enough food to eat or sell in coming months," FAO and WFP said in their joint statement.

The second crop cycle, which usually makes up for the shortfalls of the first harvest, takes place in November. Even if the El Nino turns out to be a weak one, it will have "a significant impact" the second harvest, the UN agencies said.

Maize and beans, the main staple foods, have been the crops most affected by the drought, according to the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which have reported losses of 281,000 hectares of these staples, on which of their populations depend for their food and nutrition, the agencies reported.

"These losses will increase the cost of these foods for the entire population," FAO and WFP stated.

The Honduran government declared an emergency in the Dry Corridor this month, where it is estimated that 82 percent of the maize and bean crops have been lost, while the government of El Salvador put out a red alert in July.

"Just when rural communities were recovering from the 2014 drought and the El Nino phenomenon of 2015 - the strongest recorded in recent history - a new drought is affecting the most vulnerable again," said Miguel Barreto, WFP Regional Director for America and the Caribbean.

"We need to redouble our efforts and reach more rural communities," Barreto said.

The UN is especially worried about the effect of this new drought on migration given the danger that thousands of people will struggle to feed and maintain their families, the agencies said

--IANS/AKI

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MEDIA ADVISORY, Aug. 23, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- A year ago, the brother of persecuted Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng went to the attorney's apartment, where he was under house arrest in China's Shaanxi province, only to discover him gone. To this day, no one knows where he is.Photo: Gao ZhishengFor 23 days, Gao evaded authorities, sneaking into the neighboring province with two sympathizers. Then, Shaanxi officials crossed the border and found him hiding. They whisked Gao into custody and detained the two men with him.Since then, no one has heard from Gao.Sometime later, Beijing's authorities claimed that their special agents had Gao in custody, but no one has seen him, raising questions as to the legitimacy of their claim.Before he vanished, the lawyer managed to pen a book in secret, titled Unwavering Convictions, describing his decade of repeated kidnappings, arrests, and torture. ChinaAid helped smuggle the book out from under the noses of his government minders, had it translated into English, and secured publishers for it in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States. It is available for purchase here ChinaAid strongly condemns Gao's arbitrary arrest and demands that the Chinese government immediately and unconditionally release him, allowing him to reunite with his wife and children, who reside in the U.S.Contact ChinaAid:Office phone: (432) 689-6985Media phone: (432) 553-1080General inquiries: info@chinaaid.org Media inquiries: media@chinaaid.org
A journalist of Urdu daily here has been threatened with death for his post on social media that Prime Minister Narendar Modi will seek votes in 2019 Assembly polls in the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a police official said on Friday.

Seemab Akhtar, journalist of Urdu daily Farooqui Tanzeem, a publish from Patna, repeatedly has been threatened by unknown man for his post on social media in which he stated that Modi will use name of Vajpayee for votes.

After the demise of Vajpayee, Akhtar posted on social media in Hindi that: "Dekh Lena agle chunao mein Modi Atal ki tasveer Lekar roenge, aur bolenge bhai-behno inke naam pe dedo vote unka sapna pura karna hai... (In the next elections, Modi will carry Atal's picture and shed tears asking for vote to fulfil his -- former PM's -- dream).

According to Akhtar, he received threat calls and was asked not to post anything against the Bharatiya Janata Party on social media. "I was threatened with death if I continue to write against the BJP".

Bajpatti police station officer incharge, Kanchan Bhaskar, said that an FIR had been filed in this connection. "We have started the investigation," he added.

Sanjay Kumar, professor at Motihari Central University in east Champaran district, Bihar, was beaten up by a group of people last Friday for his comments on social media that appeared to criticise former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Seriously injured Kumar was first admitted at Patna hospital and later shifted to AIIMS Delhi for treatment.

--IANS

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The first-ever Humboldt penguin, born in Mumbai zoo last week, died here two days ago, an official said here on Friday.

Hatched on August 15, the penguin died on August 22 (Wednesday), shocking the zoo authorities.

An autopsy was performed by a three-member team of the Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, at the zoo hospital.

The preliminary report revealed that the chick suffered from "new-born anomalies like yolk sac retention and liver dysfunction" resulting in its death.

The Veermata Jijabai Bhonsale Udyan & Zoo authorities said that parents of the chick -- Mr. Molt and Flipper -- took good care of it after it was hatched, but it failed to survive.

However, it is not clear why the development was kept under wraps by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for more than two days though the chick's birth had generated huge enthusiasm among Mumbaikars.

After mating in captivity, the penguin pair Mr Molt and Flipper, finally delivered an egg in early-July at the BMC's VJBU, or Mumbai Zoo, proving a big morale-booster for the civic body which had come under heavy fire for importing the endangered flightless birds from South Korea.

Eight Humboldt Penguins, three males, three females and two chicks -- later named as Dory, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Bubble, Flipper and Mr Molt -- were imported here from Seoul's COEX Aquarium on July 26, 2016.

However, one female, Dory could not survive and died on October 23 (2016) following a bacterial infection during the period of acclimatization.

After Dory's death, questions were raised on the wisdom of keeping these birds in hot Indian climatic conditions, especially since 2000, as they figure on the "Vulnerable" category in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature, Switzerland.

The Humboldt penguins have a life-span of around 25 years.

--IANS

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The mystery surrounding the Himalayan Yeti attracts scores of explorers ever year to the snow-capped mountains, but few return with answers. Daniel C. Taylor, who has spent about six decades of his life in search of the elusive creature, shared his findings, insights and rare photographs at the Mountain Echoes literary festival here on Friday.

Taylor was participating in a session titled "Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery" along with festival co-director Tshering Tashi and Bhutanese journalist Karma Singe Dorji.

The session began with Tashi asking the audience if they believed in the Yeti and a vast majority of the audience raised their hands in affirmation.

Tashi said there have been at least four organised expeditions in search of the Yeti in Bhutan. But all of them had been carried out by people from the West, who regarded it as a fascinating subject.

"I have been working on this puzzle for sixty years of my life. The first and the most significant point of reference is that all of these expeditions were led by Westerners and that, I believe, is why it has never been simplified.

"The core cultural understanding of the local ecology is the real answer to the Yeti myth," said the 73-year-old scholar.

He shared that in the 1940s, his parents came to India and set up a hospital there. Therefore, as a child growing up in the mountains, legends of the Yeti made regular appearances in his life. This set in motion a quest to find the existence of the Yeti as the young Taylor thought that if there were footprints then there must be the Yeti too.

For decades that followed, Taylor ventured across the Himalayas, from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh and from Nepal to Bhutan, in search of the elusive creature.

Sharing rare images from his expeditions at the session, Taylor referred to one of the first photographs of the Yeti footprint that was originally taken in 1951.

"It is strange that so many of the Yeti footprints have been found by Western explorers who failed to climb the Mt. Everest," he smirked.

But Taylor came to realise that if Yeti was to be found at all, it would not be in the snow-capped mountains but in the jungles below it. "Because it would need food to survive," he said.

And so he changed the routes of his expedition and led a large troupe in search of the elusive creature. He came across a wild bear, tranquilised it and matched it to the footprints that had been captured earlier.

Dissecting the images point by point, he told the audience here that those footprints may have been made by the bear when it was climbing upwards on the snow-capped mountain as its leg would slip behind, increasing the size of the footprint than the original foot of the bear.

Taylor, however, contended that there are many mysteries in the Himalayan mountains and said that the nature has its own way of unravelling mysteries.

"I lived my life in the pursuit of the Yeti's footprints but I began to question myself that isn't the carbon footprints of humans bigger than Yetis," he said, before sharing details of the various environmental conservation programmes he has led in the sub-continent.

"The Yeti does not need a passport. It does not care about the tensions between India and China. The ecosystem is one, it is not about one country or one region," he said.

Taylor said that the best way to bring "a sunrise on the human civilization" is by protecting the while his co-panellist Tashi said that "the arrogance of human beings" is endangering the planet.

Taylor has authored "Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery" which explores why people are so fascinated with the possibility that a wild hominoid might still reclusively live.

The book also recounts the extraordinary story of one man's conservation impact -- the quest for the mysterious animal encouraged him to create two massive national parks around Mount Everest, one in China and the other in Nepal.

Mountain Echoes literary festival, with a strong focus on environmental conservation, is now in its ninth edition and will reach its culmination on Saturday.

(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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A forensics audit of dual cyberattacks against Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd here is in an advanced stage and the probe team is likely to complete its task soon, official sources said on Friday.

The forensics team was appointed by the country's second oldest and second biggest (in terms of deposits-advances) cooperative bank immediately after a 'virtual' loot of Rs 94.42 crore on August 11 and August 13, shocking the country's banking industry.

The tentative report will throw light on the modus operandi deployed by an international gang to carry out the fraud and is likely to be submitted shortly.

Cosmos Bank Chairman Milind A. Kale told IANS that the audit is "in an advanced stage", but declined to elaborate on the ground that it could affect the ongoing police investigations.

After the fraud came to light at the 112-year-old bank, Kale told the media that the bank will appoint a professional forensics agency to probe the 'malware attack'.

This week, Pune Police and Maharashtra Cyber Cell completed the verification process of all online transactions during the cyberattack on the bank.

The officials said that the focus is on the international transactions which account for nearly 97 per cent of the total fraud involving 12,000 Visa Card transactions in 28 countries.

Besides, the probe is underway on domestic transactions of Rs 2.50 crore carried out through 2849 RuPay Card transactions.

SWIFT transaction was initiated by the hackers to transfer Rs 13.92 crore to the accounts of 'ALM Trading Ltd' in Hang Seng Bank Ltd, Hong Kong.

--IANS

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The Congress on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "betraying the people of Varanasi" by failing to clean Ganga as promised, saying that pollution level in the river has increased after 2014.

"People of Varanasi, people of the Gangetic plains and Ma Ganga shall never forgive and forget how PM Shri Narendra Modi has betrayed them. Only few months are left and people of India shall give a befitting reply to the BJP," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in a statement.

Citing the RTI reply and a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report for 2016-17, senior Congress leader also stated that the pollution levels in Ganga are higher than the levels recorded back in 2014 after Modi launched "Namami Gange" programme -- an initiative to clean the river.

"Particularly in PM Modi's constituency, Varanasi, lab tests have found that bacterial contamination is now higher than the levels recorded back in 2014," he further added.

Singhvi said that the government has been completely neglecting how sewage and carcasses are disposed of in the river.

"The slurries, gurgle dark black sewage into the Ganga, littered with plastics, carcasses and trash, the indescribable stink kicks up from this toxic cocktail that also hides germs passed through human and animal excrement in Varanasi sings the sordid saga of utter neglect by the Modi Government," he stated.

--IANS

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The Delhi High Court on Friday held 33 people guilty in a 2010 Dalit killing case in Haryana's Hisar district and said that "71 years after Independence, instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown no sign of abating."

"The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19-21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of "the complete absence of two things in Indian society" as noted by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25 1949," a bench of Justice Muralidhar and Justice I. S. Mehta said.

"One was 'equality' and the other, fraternity" , the bench said and made strong remarks against the "planned attack" made by the Jat community against the Valmikis during the incident that led to the displacement of 254 Dalit families from Mirchpur village.

"The unstated footnote is that those who had decided to stay back at Mirchpur village did not support the prosecution in the present criminal trial while those who decided not to return are the ones who did," the court said.

"This in itself is a telling commentary on the fear and intimidation that the Dalits still experience in Mirchpur as a result of the incidents of April 19, 20 and 21 2010."

The bench also noted the Government of Haryana has sought to rehabilitate the displaced families not in Mirchpur but in a separate township terming it as "a sobering fact."

"The question is whether this accords with the constitutional promise of equality, social justice and fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual," the court said in the 209 page order.

The court upheld conviction of 13 people which were held guilty of trial court.

It also convicted 20 more accused which were previously acquitted by the trial court.

The court directed the 20 more convictsA to surrender on or beforeA September 1 2018 failing which the Station House Officer of Narnaund, Haryana will take all necessary steps to take them into custody.

Tarachand, 70, and his 18-year-old physically challenged daughter Suman were killed in the April 2010 arson attack on their house and a row of other Dalit houses in Mirchpur, about 300 km from Chandigarh.

A total of 15 accused, belonging to the Jat community, were tried and held guilty in the case by the trial court. Two of them died during the pendency of the appeal.

A total of 97 accused were facing trial in the case.

The attack followed a dispute between members of the Jat and Dalit communities of the village.

--IANS

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India and Singapore on Friday signed the "Second Protocol" amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to boost trade ties between the two countries, an official statement said.

The protocol was signed by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Rajneesh and Francis Chong, Senior Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Government of Singapore, it said.

The CECA was signed on June 29, 2005 and its first review was concluded on October 1, 2007.

"The signing of the Second Protocol, amending CECA, will boost bilateral trade between India and Singapore," the Commerce Ministry statement said.

It further said, signing of the Second Protocol formally brings the negotiations on second review of CECA, which began on May 11, 2010, to a closure.

"India and Singapore have successfully reached mutual understanding and agreement in closing the second review," it said.

Both sides agreed to expand the coverage of tariff concessions, liberalise the "Rules of Origin", rationalise "Product Specific Rules" and include provisions on "Certificate of Origin" and cooperation on its verification

The conclusion of the Second Review of CECA was announced during the visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore on June 1, 2018. The provisions of the Second Protocol will come into effect on September 14, 2018.

As per Commerce Ministry, both the countries are exploring the possibility of launching the third review of India-Singapore CECA in September, 2018.

Singapore is the second largest trading partner of India within ASEAN and India is the largest trading partner of Singapore in South Asia, with a bilateral trade of $17.7 billion in 2017-18.

--IANS

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A 28-year-old Indian man has been arrested in Thailand for allegedly raping a minor girl.

Bennur Yatheesha was arrested on Thursday from his condo room in Klong Toei district for the July incident, the Nation daily reported. The man, however, denied raping the 14-year-old girl.

The girl said that she met the accused on the Line chat app on June 30 and he asked her to meet him on Khaosan Road on July 1. After meeting, Yatheesha took her to his condo room and made her drink beer before raping her, the girl alleged.

The Indian, however, denied raping the minor and said that he only took her to his room for drinks.

The girl said that she was initially scared to inform her family about the incident so she rented a hotel in the Sukhumvit area till July 3. She later went home and told her father, who filed a complaint with the police.

Yatheesha was charged with "raping a girl under 15 and unlawfully taking away a person under 15 from her parents", the report said.

--IANS

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Messages of literary and cultural harmony were delivered at a literary forum on Indo-China Literary Exchange, themed around multilingual exchanges, organised on Friday by Indias national academy of letters, Sahitya Akademi.

Observations on the literary exchanges between India and China were worded at the event, with representatives from both countries feeling a greater need for more translations.

"In the last couple of years, Chinese writers have concentrated on translating Indian classical masterpieces, and as a result, people in China have read a lot of Indian books translated from Hindi, Urdu and Bengali, among other languages," Jidi Majia, Vice President, Chinese Writers' Association, said in a statement.

He also said he is pleased at the provision of this platform by Sahitya Akademi, where India and China, who share a long history of cultural exchange, could share ideas.

The event also saw Akademi's Secretary K. Sreenivasarao proposing that India and China join hands and concentrate on translating all major Indian classics into Chinese and the vice versa.

Writers and translators from the two countries also discussed the commonality in their oral and written traditions, and Indian contributions to South Asian literature and culture.

--IANS

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said dialogue was essential for Islamabad-New Delhi relations to move forward as he sought positive signals from India, emphasizing that it "takes two to tango".

"India-Pakistan relations are not hidden from you. We have to see how to proceed. Pakistan is not shy of engagement. In the Prime Minister's first address, he had said, 'You take one step, we will take two'," Qureshi was quoted as saying by Geo News.

"We have signalled positively towards India."

Qureshi also thanked his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj for sending him a congratulatory letter but emphasised that it "takes two to tango".

"You cannot clap with just one hand. We have a positive stance and will remain hopeful.

"I want to ask the Indian Foreign Minister if there is any option other than dialogue. In my opinion, there isn't. When there is dialogue, regardless of the progress, the climate improves," he said.

Qureshi said that everyone was aware that Jammu and Kashmir was a core issue but there were other issues such as the water crisis which needed to be discussed between the two South Asian neighbours.

Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan had earlier said that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government favoured good relations with India and wanted to see leaders of the two countries to sit across the table and resolve all disputes, including Kashmir.

"If Indian leadership is ready, we are ready to improve relationship. If you take one step, we are ready to take two. Now it is one sided blame on Pakistan. We have to resolve the main issue through dialogue. This is important for the sub-continent," Khan had said.

--IANS

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Rome, Aug 24 (IANS/AKI) Italy's populist Premier Giuseppe Conte said his country would "take stock" of the European Union's failure to agree on Friday to relocate 150 migrants stranded for days aboard the Coast Guard ship Ubaldo Diciotti at the port of Catania.

"Italy can only take stock of the fact that Europe today lost a very good opportunity," Conte wrote on Facebook after the emergency EU meeting in Brussels.

From now on Italy "will follow a coherent and determined course of action on all the issues it has to tackle in Europe", Conte wrote.

Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has refused to allow the migrants to disembark from the Diociotti until other EU countries agree to step in.

Senior officials from 12 member states held emergency talks in Brussels on Friday which the Commission said not were not organised to find a long-term answer to the migration crisis but get an immediate solution to the stand-off.

Arrivals to Italy have plunged since Italy's populist government took office in June. It has taken a tough stance on migration, demanding the EU do more to share the responsibility of taking in migrants.

Salvini has set a controversial goal of zero immigration and has barred charity and international rescue ships from delivering migrants to the country's ports.

--IANS/AKI

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Japan on Friday appointed its first female fighter pilot, the latest achievement in the national push for greater gender equality in the traditionally male-dominated country.

First Lt. Misa Matsushima, 26, joined the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) after graduating from the National Defence Academy in 2014, becoming one of the 13,707 servicewomen who make up a mere 6.1 per cent of all Japanese troops, reports CNN.

She finished her training earlier this week and was officially named a fighter pilot in a ceremony on Friday, said the JASDF in a press release.

"Ever since I saw the movie 'Top Gun' when I was in primary school, I have always admired fighter jet pilots," Matsushima told reporters on Thursday.

"As the first female (fighter) pilot, I will open the way. I would like to work hard to meet people's expectations and show my gratitude to people who have been supporting me. I want to become a full-fledged pilot, no different from men, as soon as possible."

"I hope to be the one to inspire more people to become a pilot," she added.

Matsushima, who is from Yokohama, got her pilot's license in 2015, before advancing to fighter pilot training.

She will now be stationed at the Nyutabaru Air Base, and begin flying F-15J fighter jets.

--IANS

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The Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected the provisional bail of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, asking him to surrender by August 30.

The court while hearing the former leader's regular bail plea on August 10 had said that he could not stay in a house on a provisional bail. Lalu's lawyer had sought three more months of provisional bail on health grounds.

The CBI lawyer argued that Lalu was misusing the bail provisions and that he goes to his home after getting treatment.

Lalu was granted six weeks of provisional bail for treatment in May which was later extended by the court.

He was in Ranchi's Birsa Munda Central Jail after being convicted in December 2017 in a fodder scam case.

He was convicted in two more cases in January and March this year and awarded 14-year imprisonment.

In 2013, the RJD chief was convicted in the first fodder scam case and sentenced to jail for five years.

The multi-million fodder scam had surfaced in the 1990s when he was Bihar Chief Minister. At the directive of the Patna High Court, the probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

--IANS

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The Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected the provisional bail of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, asking him to surrender by August 30.

The court while hearing the former leader's regular bail plea on August 10 had said that he could not stay in a house on provisional bail.

Lalu Yadav was granted six weeks provisional bail for treatment in May which was later extended by the court.

He was in Ranchi's Birsa Munda Central Jail after being convicted in December 2017 in a fodder scam case.

He was convicted in two more cases in January and March this year and awarded 14 years imprisonment.

In 2013, Llau Yadav was convicted in the first fodder scam case and sentenced to jail for five years.

The multi-million fodder scam had surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu Yadav was Bihar's Chief Minister. At the directive of Patna High Court, the probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

--IANS

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The Jharkhand cabinet on Friday gave its approval to name upcoming roads and airport medical college in memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and start three awards in his name.

The Jharkhand Innovation Laboratory run by the Science and Technology Department will now be known as Atal Innovation Centre. The Ranchi Convention Centre has been named the Atal Convention Centre. A medical hospital in Palamu will be known as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College.

The cabinet also gave its approval to start Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Award in three sectors: literature, media and good governance.

--IANS

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A delegation of political leaders including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Friday bid farewell to former Governor N.N. Vohra, who served for 10 years in the post in Jammu and Kashmir.

The leaders called on Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here.

The delegation included senior members and former Ministers representing the National Conference, Peoples Democratic party and Congress besides prominent representatives of the Sikh community and leaders of business, trade and travel groups.

Abdullah thanked Vohra for his "able guidance, sage advice and sincere service" to the troubled state.

Abdullah's sentiments were supported by Mehbooba Mufti, who thanked Vohra for guiding her particularly after her father passed away.

Other speakers also expressed appreciation of the "constructive and pro-people role" played by Vohra, particularly over the way he handled various sensitive issues.

--IANS

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The Kerala unit of the BJP on Friday said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not announce financial aid of $100 million for the flood-ravaged state.

It demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reveal the source who told him about the assistance.

Addressing the media here, state BJP chief P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said: "We want Vijayan to explain about this news and from where he received it. After the Centre expressed reservations in accepting the aid, a vicious smear campaign was unleashed against the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Earlier this week at a press meet in the state capital, Vijayan spoke about the aid from the UAE, saying that the news was conveyed to him by Middle East business honcho, M.A. Yusuf Ali.

Pillai said that no central government, save Modi's, has extended so much help to a state.

"He came and assessed the flood situation. Despite bad weather, he got in a helicopter and surveyed the destruction. Such is his commitment," he added.

--IANS

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Leading South Indian healthcare major KIMS Hospitals on Friday launched its 7th facility, KIMS ICON Hospital, in Visakhapatnam.

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 434-bed hospital spread across 17 acres of land and with two million square feet built-up area in the port city in Andhra Pradesh.

The new facility offers an entire spectrum of medical services through 30 departments. With the addition of the Visakhapatnam facility, the total capacity of KIMS hospitals in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has increased to 2,554 beds.

"KIMS ICON has best medical professionals comprising leading doctors, skilled specialists, paramedical and nursing staff to respond to growing challenges of healthcare in Vizag today," said Dr Bhaskar Rao, MD and CEO, KIMS Hospitals.

"The KIMS network ensures the patients have access to the best doctors and specialists and affordable healthcare is thus just a short distance away," he added.

KIMS ICON provides state-of-the-art medical facilities, including 12 operation theatres, medical intensive care unit, surgical intensive care unit, 24-hour MRI scan, and cath lab.

--IANS

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The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) on Friday announced it would be setting up donation camps at its stations where people can contribute for flood relief in Kerala.

An official said that the Metro has joined hands with a voluntary organization Goonj to organise the collection camp at its Alambagh Bus Station here.

"The coastal state of Kerala is currently struggling with the catastrophic floods and we thought it would only be proper if we come forward to do our bit to extend help to the rain-ravaged state," the official told IANS.

The LMRC has requested people to give their contributions in form of clothes, mosquito nets, footwear, umbrellas, sanitary napkins, medicines, food materials and other required miscellaneous items like candles, gloves, face mask, raincoat, water purifier tablets, sleeping mat, etc.

--IANS

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A group of right-wing activists on Friday slammmed Maoist supporters for attempting to "break up the country" and called for reclaiming the space in higher from academics with Maoist/Leninist ideology.

They voiced their views at a seminar on 'Urban Naxals' at the Hansraj College of Delhi University by a body named 'Group of Intellectuals and Academics'.

"We all have gone through intellectual terrorism. First, in schools, where we are taught that Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev were militants, were terrorists... then in university, where we get to study books from the likes of Wendy Doniger and A.K. Ramanujan, who wrote that Sita was born of (demon king) Ravana's sneeze.

"And then, when we oppose them, there are lawyers and journalists and Professors on TV who are ready to defend them... there's a method in how this ecosystem is maintained," Supreme Court lawyer Monica Arora said.

She said academics with Naxalite ideology have controlled the academia for long and they need to be exposed, while condemning leftist students' agitation "inspired and funded by Naxalites" in Hyderabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jadhavpur University in the past.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist Sunil Ambekar said that the "nerve centre" of naxalism is not the tribal regions but Delhi, adding that it's a big web of "money, corruption, and weapons".

Documentary filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, a journalist and a few academics also spoke on the issue.

There were allegations that two Hansraj College students were not allowed inside the venue.

"Two students from Hansraj College were asked to come out from the auditorium as the seminar began. They were not given any reason. When they approached the administration they were told that the organisers had booked the auditorium and that they have no say in the matter," a volunteer for student group Youth for Swaraj told IANS.

--IANS

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The Maratha Regiment of the Indian Army successfully summited the 7,077-metre high Mt Kun near Kargil, a statement said on Friday.

Flagged off on July 17 from Pune, the expedition to commemorate "Maratha Regiment's 250 years of valour and victory" was completed on Monday, an official statement said.

Mt Kun of Nun Kun massif is one of the toughest peaks of 7,000 meter-plus category and considered a benchmark to be achieved before attempting the Everest summit.

"With its steep gradient, glaciated approach and unreliable weather, it presented a daunting challenge to our expedition team led by Lt Colonel Yogesh Dhumal," the statement said.

The expedition team reached its road-head camp on August 10 after undertaking a final phase acclimatisation training at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering in Sonamarg.

"The daunting challenge to scale Mt Kun began in earnest and the expedition team began its climb progressing steadily to establish three staging camps along the treacherous slopes of Mt Kun.

"The requirement of climbing in stages was due to the need to ferry loads and acclimatise at various altitudes. And finally, inspite of blizzard like conditions and fighting off the fresh snowfall on August 20 at 10.45 a.m, the Maratha Regimental flag found its rightful place atop Mt Kun," the statement said.

--IANS

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Rome, Aug 24 (IANS/AKI) A total 1,546 people died this year till August 22 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa while 65,576 migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea over the period, the UN migration agency said on Friday.

Spain, with 42 per cent of all arrivals through the year, was the leading destination in 2018. It has continued to receive seaborne migrants in August at a volume more than twice that of Greece and more than six times that of Italy, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported.

Arrivals to Italy through late August were the lowest recorded at this point of a normally busy summer season in almost five years, IOM noted, after anti-migrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini controversially barred charity and international rescue vessels from delivering migrants to Italian ports and set a target of zero arrivals.

Total arrivals to Europe this year are less than half 120,624 boat migrants who entered the region at the same point of 2017 and fewer than a quarter of the 271,951 who landed in 2016, IOM reported.

IOM said 12,998 migrants have been returned to Libya this year by the country's European Union backed Coast Guard.

--IANS/AKI

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Authorities in the US are investigating Microsoft over its potential involvement in bribery in connection with sales of software such as Word and Excel in Hungary, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The investigation started after it was alleged that in 2013 and 2014, Microsoft sold certain software to government agencies in Hungary at near full price while it sold the same products to an intermediary at a steep discount, according to the report.

The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether the intermediary used the difference to pay bribes and kickbacks to government officials, according to the report.

"As soon as we became aware in 2014 of potential wrongdoing in our Hungarian subsidiary, we moved quickly to pursue a detailed investigation and hold people accountable," a Microsoft spokesman was quoted as saying by CNET.

"We fired four employees and terminated our business with four partners, and we've been defending ourselves against legal claims they raised as a result," the spokesman added.

Earlier, Microsoft had faced allegations of bribery in other countries, including China.

--IANS

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Any Syrian government military offensive against Idlib, the last major rebel-held area of Syria, would result in a humanitarian catastrophe, Turkey's Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Cavusoglu, whose country opposes the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and provides active support to rebel forces, was in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Efe news reported.

"Of course, we have to work to separate the militias from the civilians," Ankara's top diplomat said at a press conference. "The fight against the militants must continue, but doing this militarily would be a catastrophe."

He said such an offensive would only spark prolonged armed conflicts.

Russia shares a close relationship with the Assad regime and continues to support Syrian government troops.

"For everyone, it is important to liquidate radical groups, because they are a threat to the national security of Turkey, Russia and western nations, that's why they need to be differentiated from the civil population," Cavusoglu said.

Idlib province, which backs onto Turkey to the north, is controlled by a tapestry of militias of varying ideology, from the Free Syrian Army to groups with links to or origins in Al Qaeda.

Over the last year, Idlib was used as a depository by the Assad regime for rebel fighters evacuated from elsewhere in the country.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are part of the so-called Astana process, which seeks to negotiate a solution to the Syrian civil war.

--IANS

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the Narendra Modi government lacks a "coherent strategy" towards Pakistan and attacked Modi for his foreign policy based on "hugs".

Speaking at an event at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) of London, Gandhi said that Pakistan promotes terrorism in India and it is not possible to talk in such a situation.

"The Modi government lack a coherent strategy towards Pakistan, it's episodic. The Prime Minister flies there for a wedding. There's no deeply thought out strategy," he said.

Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "I've also been trapped in the hug but I don't think you can run foreign policy based on hugs. It doesn't work. We have tremendous structures in our country, institutional structures that understand these things, one has to use those structures to develop strategy."

"The question with Pakistan is who do you talk to in Pakistan. Pakistan, from our perspective, has a number of institutions. So the difficulty from an Indian perspective is which institution do you talk to?" Gandhi said.

The Congress leader said some of the institutions in Pakistan are hostile towards India and some are attacking India. "So we don't want to talk to them."

He said: "You wait till the time Pakistan is able to resolve some of these issues, you wait till the time Pakistan is able to have a coherent structure you can talk to, but it's very difficult to sign something if you don't know what's going to happen the next day."

"It's a huge commitment of political will...and if you sign something and the next day like that happened for example with Mr. Vajpayee and that is a classic example," he added.

On India's relationship with South Asian countries, Gandhi said: "What is important is that you develop a strategy based on your foundational strengths."

"I don't see a coherent strategy based on India's strength, I see tactical responses, I see knee-jerk reactions but I don't see a strategic vision that says this is how India is going to chart its course through 21st century," he added.

He also attacked the Prime Minister for what he temed "centralisation of power" and said: "What is being going on in the last four years is a massive centralisation of power, in the CM on one hand and the PM on the other."

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Fourth Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) regional bloc to be held in Kathmandu on August 30 and 31, an official said on Friday.

Briefing the media here, Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, said that the programme will start with a joint call by the Bimstec leaders on host of the Summit, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, on August 30 which will be followed by the inaugural plenary.

On August 31, there will be a leaders' retreat after which the closing ceremony will be held.

A joint declaration to be issued after the Summit is also being worked out, according to Saran.

Bimstec came into existence on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration.

It comprises seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The bloc brings together 1.5 billion people, or 21 per cent of the world's population, and has a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion.

The main objective of Bimstec is technical and economic cooperation among South Asian and Southeast Asian countries along the rim of the Bay of Bengal.

With the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) virtually rendered ineffective as a bloc, largely due to non-cooperation on the part of Pakistan on issues like connectivity and counter-terrorism, India has been giving more importance to Bimstec in recent times.

India is the lead country for cooperation in four priority areas: counter-terrorism and transnational crime, transport and communication, tourism and environment, and disaster management.

Saran said significant progress has been made in cooperation within the bloc since the Bimstec Outreach Summit held on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in Goa in 2016 in the areas of security, counter-terrorism, transport and connectivity, tourism, environment and disaster management, and people-to-people contacts.

"Bimstec is growing economically and strategically," she said.

"The strength of the group is in responding collectively in the face of adversity."

Saran said that Bimstec is important for India in terms of New Delhi's Act East Policy and Neighbourhood First Policy, with northeastern India acting as a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia.

A Bimstec free trade agreement (FTA) is under negotiation as also a customs cooperation agreement and a motor vehicles agreement.

"Connectivity is an important component of our discussions within Bimstec. There are two landlocked countries (Nepal and Bhutan) and for them access to water is very important," Saran said.

Another area of concern, she said, is human-trafficking especially for Nepal and described it as humanitarian issue.

In the 21 years of Bimstec's existence, only three summits have been held -- in 2004, 2008 and in 2014.

However, Saran said that leaders of the regional bloc are meting more frequently, with the Kathmandu Summit happening just two years after the Goa Outreach Summit.

"Bimstec is yet to establish its own charter," she said.

"Organisationally, the member countries are also discussing and consolidating its rules and procedures."

Saran said that the Bimstec Secretariat in Dhaka will assist the Bimstec member countries to draw up its rules and procedures and consolidate the bloc internally.

"I am hopeful that at some stage in the future, it (summit) will become an annual affair," she stated.

--IANS

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Morocco is exhibiting 800 different kinds of books and holding events to showcase African culture at the ongoing 25th Beijing International Book Fair here.

Morocco is the guest of honour at the event. Members of the Moroccan delegation, including officials from the national library and state tourism office, as well as some outstanding writers are attending the event.

Moroccan writer Fathallah Oualalou, once the mayor of its capital city, brought his book -- "China and us: Responding to the second overtaking" to the fair. He won the Special Book Award, MAP news agency reported.

Oualalou was among 15 foreign authors, translators and publishers who were recognized earlier this week for introducing Chinese culture to the world at a reception here in the presence of Morocco's Ambassador to China, Aziz Mekouar.

The book, published by the Arab Cultural Centre in Casablanca, analyzes the miracle accomplished by China, which succeeded in rising from a developing country to an emerging economy, and then became a global economic powerhouse.

"Morocco and China have maintained a sound relationship. Strengthening cultural exchanges between the two will help China communicate with the Arab world and Africa," said Moroccan Minister of Culture and Communication Mohamed Laaraj.

To attract Chinese audiences, cultural exchanges were held during the five-day book fair which ends on Sunday, including lectures on Morocco-China relations under the Belt and Road Initiative, Moroccan culture and literature, among others.

--IANS

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Sleuths of National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday night recovered nine 9mm pistols from the residence of P. Haokip, the 'commander-in-chief' of the United Kuki Liberation Front, a signatory to the peace pact with the Centre.

The UKLF is an insurgent outfit in Manipur whose members came overground after signing Suspension of Operations pact with the Centre and Manipur government. Though there have been no talks so far, the outfit's leaders are allowed to remain overground.

Official sources said that soon after the installation of the BJP-led government in Manipur in 2017, the government found that 56 9mm pistols and 58 magazines were missing from the 2 Manipur Rifles' battalion in Imphal.

Chief Minister N. Biren, who also holds the Home portfolio said, "We had decided to hand over the case to the NIA since the matter concerns national security".

Officials said NIA sleuths have so far recovered 14 pistols which are part of the missing 56 hand guns.

As part of the investigation, the NIA sleuths raided the houses of the UKLF chief located at Mantri Pukhri in Imphal and Pallel in Chandel district.

--IANS

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The Odisha Cabinet on Friday gave its approval to bring a resolution for the formation of a state legislative council during the monsoon session of the Assembly.

A resolution will be brought for the formation of the Odisha Legislative Council, Parliamentary Affairs Minister B.K.Aarukh informed after the cabinet meeting.

The monsoon session is scheduled to begin on September 4.

Once the state Assembly approves the resolution, it will be sent for the approval of Parliament under Article 169 of the Constitution of India.

Aarukh said the Vidhan Parishad will have 49 members which is one-third of the 147-member state Assembly.

The state government had formed a special committee under the chairmanship of Commerce and Transport Minister Nrusingh Sahu to study the formation and functioning of the legislative council in other states.

The committee had submitted its report to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on August 3 this year.

The cabinet also agreed to amend the Odisha Hindu Religious Endowments Act,1951, by providing for government control at the stage of framing of schemes as well as nominating government officers and trustees.

The proposed amendment will ensure the smooth and transparent functioning of the trust board and safeguard the interests of the deity, religious institutions and the Hindu public.

--IANS

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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu to introduce a direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Surat in Gujarat.

In a letter to Prabhu, the Chief Minister said lakhs of Odia families have settled in Surat and are engaged in the textile sector.

He said there is no direct air connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Surat.

"I would, therefore, like to request you to impress upon Air India and other private airlines to introduce direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Surat at the earliest," said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said it takes a lot of time to travel by air between the two cities.

"During the hours of urgent necessity, Odia people living in Surat face untold difficulties in reaching Odisha in time," said Patnaik.

Besides, people from both the cities visit places of tourist interest in and around the cities every year. Air connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Surat can give rise to tourist inflow to both the places, he added.

--IANS

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that several people from a certain community fled BJP ruled-Jharkhand to Bengal after police firing on them on Eid al-Adha and are being treated at hospitals in her state.

At least a dozen persons, including five policemen, were injured after villagers clashed with police over reports of alleged cow slaughter in Jharkhand's Pakur district on Wednesday during Eid celebrations. Cow slaughter has been banned in Jharkhand since 2015.

According to police, the clashes took place after a police team arrived at Dangapara village and tried to stop animal slaughter in public.

"Several people belonging to a specific community were shot at in Jharkhand on Eid. They fled to Bengal and were admitted in our hospitals for treatment. Why would the BJP shoot people of a specific community just because they are the ruling party there? Isn't it inhuman?" Banerjee said at the state Secretariat Nabanna here.

"It is mentioned in the United Nations' convention that one has to give shelter to the refugees, whether they come from across the state or across international border. So, we are treating them here. But such incidents should not happen," she said.

Accusing the BJP of trying to regulate people's food habit, Banerjee dared the party to ban beef in northeastern states.

"Tribals and people from the northeast eat beef. Several Christians in European countries also eat it. I dare the BJP to ban beef in the northeast. Why can't they do it there?" she said.

"We have no right to dictate what others will eat. Plants also have life. What will happen if someone raises questions about eating vegetables like potato? This is not right," she claimed.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP was intimidating and buying off news channels while politicians of other parties were being threatened by misusing central agencies.

"We are living in an autocratic situation. The Centre's ruling party (BJP) is deciding which agency will conduct raids in whose house, which television news channels should be stopped from broadcasting or which reporter should be sacked from a newspaper," she said.

"The agencies conducted raid at the house of Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's officer yesterday (Thursday). They also raided the office of Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal recently. Such things never happened in the country before. But their advantage is that they have bought off the entire national news channels," she added.

--IANS

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A 21-year-old physically-challenged girl has been allegedly gang-raped by two youths in Bihar's Purnea district, police said on Friday.

The girl, who was found lying unconscious without clothes in a paddy field in Kasba town of the district on Thursday, is battling for her life in a hospital, according to the police.

Purnea Superintendent of Police Vishal Sharma said an FIR has been lodged in this connection and the victim admitted in the Sadar Hospital for treatment.

Sadar Hospital Superintendent Dr G.K. Singh, however, said the victim's condition is critical and she has been referred to a hospital in Bhagalpur district.

--IANS

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US State Department said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland to discuss Canada's diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia, urging the two sides to solve their disputes quickly.

According to a statement issued on Thursday by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo on Wednesday spoke over telephone with Freeland, as the US top diplomat "reiterated the US' commitment to our close partnerships with both Canada and Saudi Arabia", Xinhua reported.

He also extended the "hope for a quick resolution of differences through diplomatic channels".

The US on August 14 tacitly ruled out intervening in the current diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia, though it said it supported free speech.

In a press briefing, Nauert said Pompeo believes "this is an issue for the Canadians and... for the Saudis to resolve themselves."

"It's not necessary for the US to have to step in between two countries that... have the ability to pick up the phone and handle these issues among themselves," she said.

Recently, Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador, froze new trade and investment in Canada and withdrew thousands of Riyadh-funded students from Canada. It also announced the suspension of Saudi Arabian Airlines flights to and from Toronto.

The measures were taken to show the kingdom's displeasure at Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and other officials criticising the detention of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia and urging for their immediate release. Riyadh called it an intervention in its internal affairs.

As the dispute escalated, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that Canada will always stand up for human rights.

In response, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir ruled out the possibility of mediation and warned of more measures against Canada.

Saudi Arabia is Canada's 19th largest trading partner and the source of some 10 per cent of Canadian crude oil imports. Trade between the two countries amounts to nearly 4 billion Canadian dollars (about $3 billion) annually, according to reports.

--IANS

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and congratulated him on a successful election campaign and forming the government, the Prime Minister's Office said.

Pompeo wished the Prime Minister well for implementation of his commitment for the welfare of the people of Pakistan during the telephonic conversation on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasized the importance of strengthening bilateral relations on the basis of mutual trust and mutual benefit," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

The Prime Minister underscored the importance of peace and stability in the region.

With reference to Afghanistan both agreed that peace was a priority for their two countries, the statement said.

--IANS

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Actress Minissha Lamba, who is returning to the small screen with a new age love story-based show "Internet Wala Love", feels in the Indian television industry, shows featuring strong and powerful women are very less.

The 33-year-old actress, who will be seen playing a role of a wedding planner and owner of a radio station in the show, is proud of the makers for opting a female character to essay the owner of a big empire.

"It was so easy to have a male character for my role, but this was the vision of the makers to have a female character in a powerful role.

"There are lot of women out there who are working and successful, but I feel in Indian television, they are not represented much," Minissha said while interacting with the media during her show's promotion here on Friday.

As the show is about internet and how love blossoms in today's time through social media, Minissha expressed her anger over the concept of trolls nowadays.

According to her, trolling someone by passing derogratory remarks is not acceptable.

She said: "In personal life, we don't insult and abuse someone on a regular basis. But people who think something bad about someone and cannot express in open, they use social media platform to draw fire on the other person."

The actress feels in today's time a lot of emphasis is being given to trolls, which should end soon.

"One should be strong enough to deal with the trolls and should focus on the good things. Paying heed to the bad comments won't be of any use.

"Talent of creating trolls is increasing day by day. We have already given so much attention to the trolls. Now we should stop it," added the "Bachna Ae Haseeno" actress.

Also starring actors Shivin Narang and Tunisha Sharma, "Internet Wala Love" is scheduled to premiere on August 27 on Colors.

--IANS

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday described Congress President Rahul Gandhi as an "incapable opposition leader" and accused him of justifying the terrorist outfit ISIS.

"Congress President is on foreign tours. Earlier he used to go after Parliament session and say that he had gone for 'dhyan' and to 'gain knowledge'," senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi told media here.

"And now, on the recent tours he has been sharing his knowledge with the people. This shows his immaturity, incapability and ill will. It shows clearly that he is not capable of being a good opposition leader, leave aside holding the post of Prime Minister," Trivedi said.

The BJP leader also slammed Gandhi for justifying Islamic State (IS) and making comparisons with India.

Trivedi was reacting to Congress chief's criticism of the government by citing the example of IS to say that exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of terrorist groups in the world.

Gandhi had said that the US, while invading Iraq had stopped a tribe, Tikriti network, from getting government and army jobs and later the tribe linked up with other groups. He referred to the recent incidents of lynching and attack on the Dalits, saying people in India were angry and the ruling alliance was weakening "support structures" meant for the weaker sections.

"Yesterday, he said that the IS was founded because of unemployment. I want to ask him that Osama bin Laden, who was one of the most wanted terrorists...was he an unemployed youth and a poor?" he said.

"No, he was a billionaire. And the persons who hit the World Trade Center with the aeroplane were also poor or unemployed? No, they were leading a good life in the US and having all the means to lead a good life," he said.

"You tried to belittle the fight of ideologies for your petty political gains. It is condemnable," said Trivedi slamming the Congress leader.

--IANS

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday met Labour Party leaders and discussed issues such as growing protectionism, trade wars and threat to rule-based international order.

During the meeting, Gandhi referred to the fallout of Brexit and concerns over the change in the UK visa policy for Indian professionals and students.

He also referred to the fall in the number of Indian students in the UK after the closure of Old Tier-1 post study work route.

He said the contribution of Indian doctors and nurses to the National Health Scheme was immense and nothing should be done to hinder the movement of professionals.

Both sides expressed concern over the threats of terrorism.

Gandhi was accompanied by the party's Foreign Affairs Department head Anand Sharma, Overseas Indian Congress Chairman Sam Pitroda and former MP Milind Deora.

--IANS

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Rajasthan Congress leaders on Friday came together to start the party's election campaign from Sanwaliyaji temple in Chittaurgarh.

The programme to flag off Sankalp yatra was presided over by Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot.

Party leaders who shared the dias included state party in-charge Avinash Pandey, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, senior leader Dr CP Joshi and leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Rameshwar Dudi.

The leaders offered prayers at the Sanwaliyaji temple in the morning and later attended a huge public gathering which was addressed by Pilot.

"The people of the state are ready to fight for their rights. They elected BJP by giving it a strong mandate in the last elections. But the state government has failed to fulfil their promises," Pilot said.

"The BJP should, in its onging Gaurav Yatra, apologise to people," Pilot added.

He said the Congress would provide a rule where farmers would not be forced to commit suicide, unemployed youths would not have to roam on streets in search of jobs and a safe environment would be created for women's safety and security.

--IANS

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Reliance Communications (RCOM) Bondholders have approved the "Tender and Exchange" offer of $300 million Bonds, the company said on Friday.

According to the company, the offer got the approval of an overwhelming majority of over 83 per cent of Bondholders at a meeting held in London.

"Pursuant to the offer as approved, the Bondholders will receive cash proceeds of up to $118 million," the company said in a statement.

"The Bondholders will also get $55 million Bonds to be issued by Global Cloud Xchange Limited (holding Company of GCX), a foreign subsidiary of RCOM."

--IANS

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Hafez Ullah had fled Myanmar in early September last year, following the torching of his village near the Maungdaw township in northern Rakhine by the Army.

On Friday, it will be a day shy of one year when the Rohingya exodus to neighbouring Bangladesh had begun after the Myanmar Army launched an offensive in response to rebel attacks on government outposts. But the situation facing the refugees in Bangladesh has changed little.

Ullah was one of the 700,000 Rohingyas, who had fled to Bangladesh following the offensive that was launched on August 25.

The 38-year-old, whose mother went missing and his brother was shot dead during the perilous six-day journey to Bangladesh, now lives in the Kutupalang refugee camp in Bangladesh, completely dependent on charity handouts, Efe news reported.

However, despite the dire situation in the camps, he is loathe to go back yet.

"I don't want to live here for long because I am really concerned about the future of my children. I want to go back, but only if I am assured I will not have to come back again and I will be given my rights as a citizen," he said.

International pressure had led Myanmar -- which does not recognize Rohingyas as its citizens -- and Bangladesh to ink a deal on November 23 to repatriate members of the mostly-Muslim Rohingya minority.

According to the deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the repatriation process should have started on January 23.

However, nine months down the line, the process is still in limbo, with UNHCR and other aid agencies alleging that the condition in Myanmar was not conducive to the return of the Rohingyas.

"We do not believe that circumstances at present are conducive for return and any return has to be in safety, with dignity and on a voluntary basis," said Firas Al-Khateeb, the UN refugee agency's spokesman in Cox's Bazar.

And while the exodus was contained in recent months, the refugee camps continue to be overcrowded and a health hazard, especially for children.

The World Health Organization in its latest health bulletin on Rohingya camp in June reported 7,682 diphtheria case-patients as on June 2, with a total of 42 deaths till April 9.

"The number of suspected diphtheria cases reached almost 8,000 now. Though we don't have any death since April in the disease, every week we are getting 25-30 suspected case. We could not control it yet," said Abdus Salam, the chief government health official in Cox's Bazar district.

--IANS

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Russia has offered to upgrade the Indian Air Force (IAF) Su-30MKI fighter jets along with the improvement programme of the Russian Air Force's Su-30SM aircraft.

Such a move would lead to cost effectiveness and bring in some technologies and systems which have been planned for the Su-30SM aircraft, said A.A. Mikheev, General Director of Russian Arms exporter, Rosoboronexport here on Friday.

A part of the IAF Su-30MKI fleet was approaching its mid-life overhaul period and carrying out the upgrade programme together with the overhaul would save time and money, he said during an interaction with journalists.

Among the additions and improvements proposed to the Indian Ministry of Defence as part of the Su-30MKI upgrade are a new radar, avionics and communication systems besides some improvements to its engine.

Russia has a contract with India to supply 272 Su-30MKI fighter jets of which over three-fourths have been assembled by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and provided to the IAF.

The Su-30MKI is currently the front-line fighter jet of the IAF but its superiority would be challenged by the more modern Rafale jet when the French aircraft will begin to be inducted into the IAF in the 2019-20 timeframe.

(Mohammed Ahmedullah is Editor, defenseworld.net. He can be reached at editor@defenseworld.net)

--IANS

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Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 US presidential election, social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, say researchers.

The team led by researchers from the George Washington University discovered several accounts -- now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election -- as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeted about vaccines and skewed online health communications.

These Twitter accounts entered into vaccine debates months before election season was underway.

"It turns out that many anti-vaccine tweets come from accounts whose provenance is unclear. These might be bots, human users or 'cyborgs' -- hacked accounts that are sometimes taken over by bots," said David Broniatowski, Assistant Professor in George Washington's School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, examined thousands of tweets sent between July 2014 and September 2017.

Dr Broniatowski's team reviewed more than 250 tweets about vaccination sent by accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian government-backed company that interfered in the 2016 US elections.

The researchers found the tweets used polarising language linking vaccination to controversial issues in American society, such as racial and economic disparities.

"These trolls seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," Mark Dredze, Professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, said in a paper published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers found that "content polluters" -- bot accounts that distribute malware, unsolicited commercial content and disruptive materials -- shared anti-vaccination messages 75 per cent more than average Twitter users.

"Content polluters seem to use anti-vaccine messages as bait to entice their followers to click on advertisements and links to malicious websites," noted Sandra Crouse Quinn, Professor from University of Maryland.

The findings suggest that a significant portion of the online discourse about vaccines may be generated by malicious actors with a range of hidden agendas, Broniatowski added.

--IANS

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Strengthening its online presence in the premium segment before the festive quarter, Samsung India on Friday refreshed its Galaxy A8 series with "Galaxy A8 Star" for Rs 34,990.

The smartphone, with dual "Intellicam" camera, will be available on Amazon India from August 27 and in retail stores starting September 5 in midnight black and ivory white colours.

"Galaxy A8 Star comes with the first ever dual 'Intellicam' proposition that can turn anyone into a professional photographer. Its Immersive 6.3 inches display and slim design are sure to make a style statement," Aditya Babbar, General Manager, Samsung India, said in a statement.

The dual "Intellicam" set-up includes 16MP+24MP sensors. Both cameras come with f/1.7 apertures for low light photography. There is a 24MP (f/2.0) selfie shooter as well.

Galaxy A8 Star's large-aperture lenses make the smartphone capable of capturing bright and clear images and beautiful selfies at any time of the day or night, the company claimed.

Galaxy A8 Star comes with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED "Infinity Display" with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

The device houses 3,700mAh coupled with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, which is expandable upto 400GB via a MicroSD card.

--IANS

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West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict permitting the notification of the results of all uncontested seats in the recently held state Panchayat polls and termed it a 'tight slap' on the face of the state's opposition parties that had sought re-election.

The Supreme Court on Friday turned down the plea of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Bharatiya Janata Party for cancellation of elections for over 21,000 uncontested seats in the rural body elections.

The apex Court, however, permitted the aggrieved candidates, who could not file their nomination papers for the seats that went uncontested, to move the election tribunal within 30 days.

"We welcome the verdict. The Supreme Court did not even consider the appeal for holding re-election. It is not just a defeat for them (opposition parties) but is a tight slap on their face," TMC leader and state panchayat minister, Subrata Mukherjee said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have criticised the panchayat election results in Bengal many times during the rallies here. After the apex court's verdict today, they should apologise to the people. They should learn a lesson that moving court by manipulating facts does not yield any results," he said.

The minister said the developmental activities in these areas were not significantly hampered due to the loss of time in forming new panchayat boards.

"I think the development has not been significantly impacted. There has not been any major losses. We were prepared with the infrastructure from our end. Now, the concerned people will go to training from tomorrow. The work on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) will start and Bengal will come out on top in at least seven pilot projects," he added.

--IANS

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday termed the Supreme Court verdict on the recently held state panchayat polls as "a victory of democracy" and claimed the joint efforts of BJP, CPI-M and Congress to malign Bengal over the issue of uncontested seats during the election, have fallen flat.

In a boost to ruling Trinamool Congress, the Supreme Court on Friday permitted the notification of the results of 20,159 uncontested seats in the Panchayat polls and also ruled that there was no provision for the filing of e-nomination in the West Bengal Elections Act 2003.

The apex court, however, permitted the aggrieved candidates who could not file their nomination papers in the seats that went uncontested, to move the election tribunal within 30 days.

"This is a victory of democracy. The CPI-M, Congress and BJP worked together during the Panchayat elections to humiliate Bengal. The trio resorted to falsehood, propaganda and conspiracy to malign our state. The verdict given by the Supreme Court today is a proof of that," Banerjee told the reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna.

Trinamool Congress supremo accused the CPI-M and Congress of working together with the BJP in Bengal in spreading falsehood, propaganda and conspiracy against her government here, even as the opposition parties at the centre are working together to form an alliance against the saffron outfit.

"We are trying to form an allied opposition (against the BJP) in Delhi. But in Bengal CPI-M, Congress and BJP are working together. They tried to malign us over the number of uncontested seats during the Panchayat polls. But there were many rural body elections across the country that had more number of uncontested seats," she claimed.

"In states like Arunachal and Sikkim, close to 80 gram Panchayat seats were uncontested in previous elections. Even in Uttrar Pradesh, 67 per cent seats were uncontested. There were uncontested seats during panchayat elections in Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Madhya Pradesh. But some people tried to humiliate Bengal without looking at these data," she alleged.

Earlier in the day Trinamool leader and state Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee termed the apex court verdict as a slap in the face of the opposition parties who wanted re-election in the uncontested seats.

"It is not just a defeat for them (opposition parties) but is a tight slap on their faces. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have criticised the Panchayat election results in Bengal many times during the rallies here. After the apex court's verdict today, they should apologise to the people," he said.

The BJP accepted the apex court verdict and vowed to take on the Trinamool democratically, saying people would have the last word.

"We accept the Suprme Court verdict. We'll fight against the Trinamool through democratic means. We will take them on in the coming Lok Sabha polls. The people of the state will have the last word," said state BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

However, Left Front spearhead CPI-M claimed the Supreme Court verdict was "not at all" a victory for the Trinamool Congress but proved that the panchayat election process lacked transparency.

"This is not Trinamool's Victory. It has given 30 days' time to file election petitions. This makes it clear that the election process was not transparent," he said.

"The BJP central leadership is always keen to ensure the Trinamool does not land in a soup," he added, complaining of an nexus between the two parties.

--IANS

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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission exercise started on Friday in Russia. It involved military contingents of all eight member nations, giving them an opportunity to get training in counter-terrorism operations in urban scenario in a multinational and joint environment, said Defence Ministry.

In the exercise -- one of the major defence cooperation initiatives amongst SCO nations -- the Russian Army has the major participation of 1,700 personnel followed by China with 700 and India with 200 personnel.

The Ministry said the exercise would be a landmark event in the history of SCO defence cooperation.

The military contingent exercise of all eight SCO member nations was conducted in Chebarkul in Russia, said a Ministry statement, adding the contingents were addressed by Lieutenant General Alexander Pavlovich Lapin, Chief Commander Central Military District, Russia.

The formal parade by military contingents was performed at the camp location of Combined Arms Range in Chebarkul.

--IANS

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Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Friday requested Air India (AI) to sensitize its male employees so that the women employees do not feel threatened or insecure in any manner.

Gandhi's reaction came after she reviewed the progress of cases of sexual harassment in Air India.

In May this year, an Air India employee wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu alleging sexual harassment by a senior executive. Later, Gandhi also stepped in and asked the AI head of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to complete the inquiry.

The Minister also met officials from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Civil Aviation Ministry and the airline's CMD, and urged the staff of various airlines, both public and private, to remain sensitive to the dignity of women colleagues.

The Ministry further added that many more cases of sexual harassment pertaining to private airlines too have emerged which have been forwarded to the Civil Aviation Ministry.

"Along with the cases of sexual harassment, some women employees also tend to file complaints of administrative nature under the garb of sexual harassment. It is important for the ICC to very quickly dispose of these cases," Gandhi said.

--IANS

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The iconic Chadwick falls in the 'Queen of Hills', a tourist hotspot in the once summer retreat of the British Raj for nearly a century until India's independence, may rise from the depths of the past with the state High Court directing the local civic authorities to restore its pristine glory.

The High Court this week directed the Deputy Commissioner of Shimla to take all measures to restore the glory of the falls.

"It is not in dispute that the glory of the Chadwick falls is of international fame. It has got its natural beauty, which undoubtedly needs to be protected and preserved for posterity," a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Ajay Mohan Goel observed.

The court passed the order on a letter of Rishabh Jain, a student of LLB second semester, HP University, Shimla, highlighting the issue of the maintenance of the famous water body falling within the municipal limits of Shimla to the Chief Justice.

Locals blame rapid construction activities in the catchment of the Chadwick falls, just seven kilometers from this tourist town, for drastic reduce in the flow of water.

The fall virtually dries up during the summer when tourists visit the place in large numbers.

A steep slope meandering through the state Assembly takes you to a sign board giving direction to the Chadwick falls, once perennial round the year.

"Your journey to the erstwhile picnic spot begins and ends there at the sign board that indicates direction to the Chadwick falls, which is not to be seen at all there almost round the year," remarked Chandigarh-based marketing executive Rajat Malik, who spent his initial years in Shimla, told IANS.

He said even the pedestrian paths that link visitors to the origin of the Chadwick falls at the hilltop through the dense Glen forest have vanished owing to landslides and lack of maintenance.

"The road from Summer Hill, that takes the visitors close to the waterfall is also in bad shape. During monsoon it is treacherous to travel on that stretch. I don't think it's a vacation spot now," added Malik, 48, who recently visited the Chadwick falls to refresh his childhood memories.

He had a shocking experience recently of finding empty liquor and pet bottles and plastic wrappers of eatables littered all around there.

Old-timer and local resident Shyam Thakur said the waterfall, which originates from a height of 1,586 metres, had water only during the monsoon. The water flow has been hampered mainly by large-scale construction activity in nearby areas like Summer Hill and Sangti.

During the summer and winter the Chadwick falls largely remain dry. "It is no more a treat for the eyes," travel agent Rajesh Bhardwaj added.

Hyun village, located on the base of the Summer Hill, is known for the Chadwick falls.

The village has an 'eco-friendly' local deity Gan Devta, who resides in an open-air temple. Locals worship the trees around the temple as sacred grooves.

Noted artist Him Chatterjee, who sets up his art gallery in Hyun village, blamed haphazard constructions for the decline in water flow in the fall.

"Most of the houses in the vicinity of the waterfall do not have a proper sewerage system, which often results in mixing of drain water with the natural water of the fall," he said.

He recently stumbled across a 1921 photo of the Chadwick fall with a mighty fall.

The government should take steps to ensure proper recharging of the waterfall discharge and maintain its upkeep from the tourism and religious point of view, Chatterjee, the Chairperson with the Visual Arts Department of the Himachal Pradesh University, said.

--IANS

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Small screen actors like Karan Kundra, Sourabh Raaj Jain, Sumit Kaul and Aditi Sharma are all praise for their brothers or sisters ahead of Raksha Bandhan on Sunday.

Here's what they have to say about the festival:

* Karan Kundra: Raksha Bandhan is a very special occasion in my life as I have grown up in a home where I have been treated as a prince by my family, comprising women. I have always been around three sisters. It is a wonderful feeling to be a brother. This year mostly, I will be shooting for my show "Dil Hi Toh Hai" and won't be able to celebrate this occasion with them.

* Debina Bonnerjee: I always thought that when you have your own sibling, you do not need an artificially made up relationship. But as time passed by, I realised Romanch Mehta is not just a friend, but more like a brother whom I can trust, I can fight with and I can ask for things and gifts without thinking too much about it.

* Sourabh Raaj Jain: Apart from my two sisters, I also have one sister I made during my school days. Sudeepti Karmakar happened to live two houses ahead of my house. We went to the same school and tuition classes.

After my real sisters got married, I was still studying in school back then. So Sudeepti and I developed a strong bond. We are still in touch even though she moved to the US after her marriage.

* Kanika Maheshwari: Sajid Khan is a brotherly figure to me. We share a very special brother-sister bond which I value a lot. He is my lie detector. He knows how to get me to speak my heart out, which is what I respect about him the most.

* Sumit Kaul: I have several cousin sisters who have been my support system throughout my life. I have fought with them, confided in them. There is an unsaid commitment to one another. One person who hasn't been a blood relative and yet I regard as family is Aashka Goradia. She has never tied me a Rakhi and no we don't consider each other brother or sister, but there is that same unsaid commitment to each other that I feel with my sisters.

* Dhrisha Kalyani: I celebrate Rakhi every year with my cousins. They never let me feel that I do not have a younger brother. Whenever we get the time to be together, we have lots of fun. One of my cousin's name is Mihir. He is just one year older to me. He is my partner in crime at home and we do a lot of mischief and get scolded as well. I have a brother named Yash who lives in Russia. He appreciated my work in the show "Mere Sai".

* Sameksha: Nowadays I'm busy shooting for my show "Porus" in Gujarat which is far away from Mumbai. My brother Naveen and I have never treated each other like brother and sister. Interestingly, we have always behaved as if we are both brothers. We fight the same way two brothers would fight with each other. On each and every Rakhi, I ask him for a gift but he never gets me one. On the other hand, he asks me to give him gifts on Rakhi. My older brother is also my critic. Whatever work I do, he will always give me correct advice and will also tell me where I can improve.

* Ashi Singh: This year I'm feeling lucky because my brother is in Mumbai so I will get to celebrate Rakhi with him. Every year I used to send Rakhi through post. I would love to get any gift from my older brother because he never gifts me anything. He is a miser and doesn't really know what would be the perfect gift for me. My brother is also very caring. I plan to invite him to watch our shoot of "Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai".

* Abeer Soofi: This year I will miss being with my cousin sisters. I always choose the Rakhi that my sisters would tie on my wrist. If I get time, I would love to travel to my hometown and celebrate Rakhi. My sisters are happy for my show "Mere Sai".

* "Kundali Bhagya" actor Abhishek Kapur: I always celebrate Raksha Bandhan with my younger sister Saanchi and eight of my cousin sisters. As a kid, I used to play pranks on my sister a lot. Today, we look back at those memories lovingly and laugh over it. Every year on Raksha Bandhan, my sisters make it a point to get me to touch their feet one by one, record it and share it with everyone in the family. It is all in good spirit and fun.

* "Kaleerein" actress Aditi Sharma: Raksha Bandhan is very special for me this year as my brother recently moved to Mumbai to live with me. It will be totally fun having him around. We have planned a grand and elaborate dinner with our cousins this year.

* "Yeh Teri Galiyaan" actress Vrushika Mehta: The occasion of Raksha Bandhan is always special and memorable for my brothers and me. In fact, I am blessed to have such great, protective and loving brothers.

--IANS

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited the flood-hit Kodagu district and assured the people of Indian Army's help in rebuilding the devastated region's roads.

"I can assure you that the task force of the Indian Army's Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will visit as consultants and advise the administration on how to build roads in hilly areas," Sitharaman told reporters in Madikeri, about 280km from the state capital Bengaluru.

Due to heavy rains and landslips, several of the district's arterial roads have been battered, disconnecting many villages and towns.

The Defence Minister visited Kushalnagar and Madapura in the district, which were severely affected by heavy rains and flash floods last week.

She also interacted with few flood-affected people sheltered at a relief camp at Madikeri in the district.

"I will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who also takes care of national disaster relief funding, (Minister for Road Transport and Highways) Nitin Gadkari and also submit a report to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on the district's situation," Sitharaman said.

The Minister, who is an MP from Karnataka, said the Centre's financial aid to the region in distress will be decided after an assessment of the loss.

According to preliminary estimates, the district has suffered losses worth Rs 1,140 crore to public and private property as a result of the rains, said Kodagu Deputy Commissioner P. Sreevidya.

"At least 34 village panchayats have been badly affected and the municipalities in Kushalnagar and Madapura suffered heavy losses as they are in the catchment area of Harangi river," she said.

The district administration is also working on providing temporary shelters to those affected by floods and residing in relief camps.

"We have identified land and an additional deputy commissioner rank officer will oversee the rehabilitation," Sreevidya added.

About 75 Army engineering task force personnel will also be assisting the district officials in restoring the critical roads of the district, the state's Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderiya said in a statement earlier.

About 5,000 people are currently sheltered in 51 relief camps across the district, with more than 1,100 houses have been destroyed in floods and landslips.

--IANS

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Having worked with veterans as well as new film directors, Shahid Kapoor, who will next be seen in Shree Narayan Singh's "Batti Gul Meter Chalu", says the number of hits and flops of a director is not his parameter to judge ones talent.

Singh has earlier directed two films, his latest being Akshay's "Toilet - Ek Prem Katha".

"I think talent should not be judged by an individual's achievement because I believe that success of a film has nothing to do with how talented the storyteller is. If a filmmaker has given two back-to-back commercially successful film as opposed to a debutant who has lesser visibility of his work, that does not make the new filmmaker a lesser talented one," Shahid told IANS in an interview.

"So when I collaborate with a film director, I do not just go by the success of his last film. It is for all creative people, who are at times at their best form, at times not. But that is not to do with their talent. As an actor, when I commit to a script, I do it with the best of my ability," added the actor, who has done critically acclaimed films like "Kaminey", "Haider" and "Rangoon" with Vishal Bhardwaj.

Asked if his parameter of judging a script has changed with experience, Shahid said: "Yes. Now I do not just look at the matter from a singular point of view. I try to find out the potential of the final product, and how with each step of filmmaking, it can grow to become a great film."

"Only a good story idea cannot be enough to make a great piece of cinema. There is a process of execution. I see if that is also in good hands," added the actor, who delivered a well appreciated performance with the young filmmaker Abhishek Chaubey in "Udta Punjab", which also starred Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh and Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Will he be a part of another multi-starrer like that?

"The fact is I tend to change my look completely in each film that I do, so whenever I am signing a film, I want to invest my full energy to that. Changing my look vastly, only for four-five scenes in a film, would be too much. Having said that, I am open to the idea of a meaty role in a multi-starrer," he said.

While objectifying women in item songs is one of the common practices in most of the commercial Bollywood films, being a father of a daughter, does he make a conscious choice not to be a part of such films?

"Why do I have to be a father of a girl child to decide that? Don't I have a mother, sister and wife? I do not think these two things are co-related," the actor answered promptly.

"Batti Gul Meter Chalu", also featuring Shraddha Kapoor, is slated to release on September 21.

--IANS

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Ten militants, including a key Taliban commander were killed as government forces stormed the militant group positions in Afghanistan's Baghlan province, officials said on Monday.

The government forces launched operations against Taliban fighters in Bagh-e-Shamal area on the outskirts of provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri on Sunday afternoon. Key Taliban commander Mullah Manan was among 10 killed on the spot, Xinhua news agency reported.

Army spokesman Mohammed Hanif Rezai said that the government forces would continue to chase the militants elsewhere in the province.

Taliban militants didn't comment on the incident.

--IANS

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In a partial relief to Cyrus Mistry, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday stated that Tata Sons cannot force him to sell his shares.

However, the two-judge bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya, declined Mistry's appeal to stay the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company.

The court said it will decide on conversion of Tata Sons into a private company after the final hearing on September 24.

Further, NCLAT has admitted Mistry's appeal against his removal from the post of Tata Sons' Chairman in 2016. The appeal was against the order of the NCLT, Mumbai bench.

--IANS

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In a temporary relief to Cyrus Mistry, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday stated that Tata Sons cannot force him to sell his shares till the disposal of his appeal.

However, the appellate tribunal declined his plea for a stay on the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya said it will decide on the conversion of Tata Sons, parent company of $103 billion Tata Group, from a public limited company into a private limited company after hearing the final arguments. The next hearing of the case is slated for September 24.

Mistry, who took over as Tata Group Chairman in December 2012 and was ousted in October 2016 by the Tata Sons board, had filed the petition with the NCLAT against the July 9 decision of the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) Mumbai bench.

The bench had upheld the decision of the Tata Sons board dismissing Mistry as Chairman.

On July 9, the NCLT Mumbai bench ruled that the Tata Sons Board of Directors was competent to remove the Executive Chairman and that Mistry was ejected as the board members had lost confidence in him.

The NCLT verdict had come on a petition filed by Mistry after he was abruptly ousted as the Chairman that had created an upheaval in the Indian corporate world.

Mistry later quit from the board of other six Tata Group companies but challenged the Group, and former and interim Chairman Ratan Tata's decisions, before the NCLT.

Last September, the shareholders of Tata Sons agreed to convert the public limited company into a private limited company, which in effect would restrict any shareholder from selling its stake to outsiders.

The shareholders approved the conversion saying it would help the company become more swift in decision making despite Mistry's opposition to it. Mistry, through his family firms Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investments, owns 18.4 per cent of Tata Sons while 66 per cent is owned by Tata Trusts.

Mistry's family had termed the decision as an act of oppression of minority shareholders.

On August 10, the Registrar of Companies approved the decision of Tata Sons to go private.

--IANS

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The Telangana government on Friday announced that priests at Hindu temples in the state will be paid salaries at par with government employees while 'imams' and muezzins at mosques will be paid Rs 5,000 each.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced that the salaries will be paid from the treasury with effect from September 1.

As and when pay revision is implemented for government employees, the same will be made applicable to the 'archakas' also.

'Archakas' perform 'pooja' at Hindu temples and come under the Endowment Department purview. Rao said that their retirement age will be 65 instead of 58 at present.

The Chief Minister said that 'imams' and muezzins too will get Rs 5,000 monthly remuneration from September 1, benefiting nearly 9,000 of them. The Telangana government was earlier paying Rs 1,000 per month to them, which was later increased to Rs 1,500.

The Chief Minister also announced that free electricity up to 101 units per month will be supplied to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for domestic consumption, up from 50 units at present.

--IANS

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Making theatre visually exciting and interactive could draw in children as spectators to an offline world, said Justin Taudien, production head of the Indian theatrical debut of a globally-read children's book character.

The musical drama is adapted from the first book -- "Geronimo Stilton and the Kingdom of Fantasy" -- of Scholastic's bestselling book series on Geronimo Stilton.

The show which has enthralled the audiences in India, Hong Kong and Singapore, will now go to Australia.

Titled "Geronimo Stilton LIVE", it was presented in a Broadway style, pulling back curtains into the imaginative world of Mouse Island.

With Stilton as the story's pivot, the 90-minute production took place earlier this month at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium here, and saw a staggering number of children attend and participate.

What made the musical drama a hit were its 3D effects, multimedia projections and its interactions with the spectators.

The characters came to life as they actively engaged the young audience through questions, songs and dance.

"The show has got visual graphic elements as well as physical elements. In a world with overwhelming devices, we have to connect to that mindset," Taudien told IANS.

Bringing in the added elements just enriches the viewing experience, he said.

"You don't have to worry about kids sitting in front of a screen, you can bring them to the theatre with the extra visual elements," he told parents.

The show opens with a lively introduction of Stilton as the editor of "The Rodent's Gazette", and shows how a little adventure in his attic led him to freeing the fairy queen as the "chosen knight".

As he makes friends on the way, and tackles the villains dramatically in a land of fairies and dragons, the simple character of Stilton also exudes a bundle of positive values that children can pick vicariously.

What is most interesting is how subtly they are slipped into the narrative, setting an example as a performed fable.

"Acceptance of everyone is a key value we tried to push. Geronimo forgives, and he was always humble about him being a knight. I think that's one of the powerful messages," Taudien said.

"But, he was still the hero in the end. (He) kept pushing forward through the hard times, telling the children the hard and unpleasant times don't matter, but what you do with those hard times does.

"Children want to chip in and help Geronimo, because he is so likeable," he said.

Upon asking if they liked the musical better than the book, many children replied they liked the latter for its detail, but the musical for the interest it grew in them.

Most parents reacted positively, something that Taudien's words sum up well: "Kids everywhere have been dancing and jumping. What more would you want your children doing? Do you ever see them doing that with a device? It makes people feel alive."

In India, Geronimo Stilton's books are rated as the second most popular by the Nielsen Report.

--IANS

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Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday as investor sentiment was brightened by the yen's softer tone versus the US dollar which lifted exporters.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 64.98 points, or 0.29 per cent, from Thursday to 22,475.80, Xinhua news agency reported.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile added 5.60 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 1,703.82.

Pulp and paper, oil and coal product, and pharmaceutical-linked issues comprised those that gained the most in the opening minutes after the morning bell.

--IANS

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A new round of meetings between Beijing and Washington to seek a way out of the trade war has been constructive and will continue, Chinese authorities said on Friday.

At the invitation of the US, a Chinese delegation led by Vice-Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen held talks on Wednesday and Thursday with the US delegation in Washington headed by Treasury Under Secretary David Malpass, China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

The exchange "on trade issues of mutual importance" was "constructive and frank", according to the statement which assures that both parties will remain in contact, reports Efe news.

A new round of high-level dialogue is expected next week to put an end to the trade war ahead of the meetings between the US and Chinese Presidents, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, in upcoming multilateral forums.

The leaders are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in mid-November with heads of state from the other 19 member countries, and in a second session at the G20 leaders' summit in Buenos Aires at the end of November.

On Thursday, the US announced a new round of 25 pe rcent tariffs worth $16 billion on Chinese imports, and China responded to match it shortly after.

Previously, when the $34 billion worth of taxes on Chinese imports came into effect on July 6, China in turn levied the same amount of tariffs on the US imports.

With this latest round of China's tariffs on the US goods announced on Thursday, the total package now reaches $50 billion.

China on Thursday filed another claim before the World Trade Organization to "safeguard free trade and multilateral systems, and defend its own lawful interests".

--IANS

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Two persons were killed and six others were injured in an explosion at a Trinamool Congress party office in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, police said on Friday.

Police said the explosion took place at a house used as the Trinamool's party office in West Midnapore district's Narayangarh area on Thursday morning when over a dozen party workers were present inside.

The high intensity blast caused the walls of the party offce to partially collapse and cracks appeared in the walls of neighbouring houses as well.

"The explosion killed two persons and injured six others. However, the reason of the blast is yet to be ascertained," an officer from Narayangarh police station said, adding that they have found no proof of crude bombs being stored inside the party office yet.

The local Trinamool Congress leadership confirmed that all those killed or wounded in the incident were there party workers and claimed that the party has appealed to administration to find out and take strong action against those involved in the blast.

"Two of our party activists, Sudipto Ghosh and Bimal Chowdhury, were killed in the blast on Thursday. Six others have been injured, out of whom two have been referred to Kolkata as their condition were critical," Ajit Maity, district president of the state ruling party said.

"We have informed the party high command about the incident and trying to find out who might be responsible for the explosion. There is a chance that miscreants from outside are involved. We have appealed to the administration to catch and punish the offenders as soon as possible," he added.

The incident of explosion at the Trinamool office took place less than a week before the party is going to form the boards in 11 out of 16 gram panchayat seats in the area.

The opposition parties claimed faction fight within the ruling party was responsible for the incident.

--IANS

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that the reported aid of Rs 700 crore from the UAE for the flood victims was intimated to the world by the leaders of the two countries.

The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party said earlier that the United Arab Emirates did not announce the $100 million aid for the state and asked Vijayan to reveal his source.

Vijayan told the media that the offer of aid was made by the ruler of the Emirates to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Both these rulers themselves intimated this to the world. The issue now is whether to accept or not. My view is it should be accepted," he said.

Elaborating, Vijayan said the news was conveyed to him by Middle East businessman M.A. Yusuf Ali. "I did tell you this earlier too.

"He (Ali) met them (UAE rulers) and this was stated to him. When Ali informed me, I asked him if I can make this public. He said I can and I did."

The Chief Minister also told journalists to read a tweet by Modi on the subject.

--IANS

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The UN Security Council on Thursday observed a minute of silence in honour of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Current Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined the representatives of the 15 members of the council for the solemn moment, Xinhua news agency reported.

The minute of silence was held at the beginning of a high-level meeting of the Security Council chaired by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, whose country holds the council presidency for the month of August.

Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died on Saturday in Switzerland, at the age of 80. He served as UN secretary-general for 10 years till the end of 2006.

--IANS

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey on Friday handed over the urns containing the ashes of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to party functionaries and ministers, to take them to different districts of the state where they will be immersed in 16 rivers.

After paying tributes to the party stalwart at the state headquarters, the urns were given to party office bearers in the presence of deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya and organization secretary of the UP unit Sunil Bansal.

Amid sloganeering and cheers for the late prime minister, the vehicles carrying the urns started out from the state unit office.

The ashes will be immersed later in the day in the Ganga river in Bithoor, Kanpur, Saryu in Ayodhya and Rapti river in Balrampur, from where Vajpayee was once a Lok Sabha MP. The ashes of the late leader will be immersed in 13 other rivers on Saturday.

--IANS

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US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has named Stephen Biegun to be the new special envoy for North Korea.

The appointment on Thursday aims to fill key posts regarding the Korean Peninsula so as to facilitate issues like bilateral negotiations over denuclearization, peace regime and economic sanctions, among others.

In a speech to the media at a press conference, Pompeo said Biegun's joining is "timely" as the two of them will travel to North Korea next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective", Xinhua news agency reported.

"As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners," Pompeo said, noting that "using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Donald Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us."

For his part, Biegun said he fully understands the importance of this job.

"The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve," he said. "But the President has created an opening, and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea."

"This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore," he added.

Biegun is to continue the mission of Joseph Yun, who resigned from his post earlier this year for personal reasons.

US media outlets reported that the departure of Yun, who has been supportive of solving the Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue, was due to his long disappointment over the Trump administration's provocations against North Korea, and diplomats' lacking of speaking in the government's decision-making process.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration also appointed Harry Harris, former commander of US Pacific Command, to become US ambassador to South Korea.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said earlier on August 19 that Pompeo would leave for a trip to North Korea for the fourth visit since he assumed the current office, adding that Washington expects Pompeo to meet with the North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un.

"To move on with the process of denuclearization remains our highest priority," said Bolton, adding that "it's important that they (North Korea) demonstrate seriousness" in this regard.

Bolton said earlier last month that Washington has had a plan to dismantle the majority of North Korea's nuke and ballistic missile programs, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be discussing it with Pyongyang while visiting the country.

However, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the State Department will not provide a timeline for Pyongyang's abandonment of nuclear and missile program.

Pompeo has visited North Korea three times, respectively in April, May and July.

Trump on August 20 said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time.

He also said that he believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, and that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.

In the joint statement after the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, Trump committed to provide security guarantees to North Korea, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders also agreed to commit to establish new US-North Korea relations, and to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula.

According to the website of Ford Motor Company, Biegun has been its vice president of International Governmental Affairs, overseeing "all aspects of Ford's international governmental relations, including trade strategy and political risk assessment."

Before joining Ford, Biegun worked in the White House from 2001 to 2003 as executive secretary of the National Security Council. He served as a senior staff member to former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He also served for 14 years as a foreign policy advisor to members of both the House of Representatives and the US Senate.

--IANS

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US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has responded to President Donald Trump's latest attack on him by insisting that the justice department he heads will not bend to political pressure.

The apparent rebuke of Trump came after the President said Sessions was not in control of his department, BBC reported on Friday.

Trump has been vociferous in his criticism of the Department of Justice.

He has been particularly riled by its handling of the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Sessions, an early supporter of Trump's campaign, has stepped aside from that inquiry to avoid a potential conflict of interest and handed control to his deputy, Rod Rosenstein.

That decision by Sessions, and the ongoing progress of the inquiry under special counsel Robert Mueller - which is also reportedly now looking into whether Trump has attempted to obstruct justice - have provoked frequent outbursts from the president, both in person and on his Twitter feed.

The president remains insistent that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government, and denies he has attempted to obstruct justice.

After the latest exchanges, two key Republican senators signalled that they would support Trump if he were to fire Sessions after the November mid-term elections.

However, other Republicans told Politico they thought this would be a bad move and said they were standing by the attorney general.

"I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in," the attorney general said in a statement.

"While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

"I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."

He added: "No nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the US.

"I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law."

Previously, Sessions had been largely non-committal following criticism of him by the president, who appears to believe that Sessions should have shown him greater loyalty instead of recusing himself from the Russia inquiry.

--IANS

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that the US handout on a phone call between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo which mentioned terrorists operating in Pakistan was "contrary to facts".

Pakistan's Foreign Office on Thursday night categorically rejected a statement by the US State Department which said that Pompeo had raised the importance of Islamabad taking decisive action against all terrorists operating on its soil during his phone conversation with Khan.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan," the Foreign Office said. However, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert later said that Washington "stood by their readout".

Qureshi in a press conference said that he directed the Foreign Secretary to issue an immediate rebuttal over the statements issued from Washington. "I will say, yes, their press release mentioning terrorists operating in Pakistan is contrary to the facts."

The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan was looking forward to Pompeo's visit to Islamabad on September 5, Geo News reported.

"Pompeo in his conversation with the Prime Minister said he wanted a constructive and productive relationship. I am looking forward to his visit and engage with him for peace and stability and look for areas where both countries stand to gain."

"We don't share the same cordial relations with the US as we had before in the past. The US authorities have to understand Pakistan's view," he said. "I believe that the meeting between Khan and Pompeo will be very important."

Qureshi said that Pakistan's relationship with the US has had its ups and downs. "This is an important bilateral relationship. In order to bring relations with the US to a past level, there is a need to understand the situation," he added.

Talking about Afghanistan, Qureshi said that peace in Kabul was essential for Islamabad. "The Afghan President (Ashraf Ghani) has pointed towards a peace process and we have to see how Pakistan can help in this process."

--IANS

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Natural resources company Vedanta Chairman Navin Agarwal on Friday said the company will invest around $8 billion in growth projects across businesses, over the next three years.

"With this immense growth potential, I'm pleased to report that your company will invest around $8 billion, on growth projects across our businesses, over the next 3 years," Agarwal said in his speech delivered at the Annual General Meeting 2018 held here.

Agarwal called for further changes in policies for natural resources sector, particularly the implementation of the much awaited "New Mineral Policy" and ensure a level playing ground for imports and in the matter of duties.

"Encouragement to explore and produce natural resources in India will lead to greater self-reliance, save billions of dollars in imports, generate immense employment opportunities, paving way for socio-economic development," he said.

"Urbanisation and infrastructure development will continue to generate demand for natural resources, including commodities where your company is a leading producer. Such is the scale of the nation's needs, we believe that in times to come, everything that we produce in India - will sell in India."

According to Agarwal, the company will invest in its oil, zinc-lead-silver and aluminium businesses.

--IANS

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Agitating Youth Congress activists were cane-charged outside the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday over deteriorating law and order in the state, including drug-related incidents. At least 10 of them sustained injuries.

The protesting activists, who were joined by their party leaders, including legislative party leader Mukesh Agnihotri and state president Sukhwinder Sukhu, were lathicharged by the police after the protest turned violent outside the assembly premises.

The police also used water cannons to disperse them.

Earlier, the Assembly could not take up the question hour due to protests by the Congress. The opposition legislators were demanding debate on law and order.

As soon as the question hour started, the Congress members shouted slogans against the government when Speaker Rajeev Bindal refused to accept their demand at that point.

Later, Congress lawmakers walked out of the assembly.

In the post-lunch session of the assembly, the opposition legislators again staged a walkout when they came to know that the police used water cannons to disperse the Youth Congress activists.

They staged a sit-in outside the Assembly gate.

The assembly session, however, continued despite the Congress walkout.

--IANS

vg/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last week, citizens from across the country put their political and personal differences aside to come together to Keralas aid as it battled the worst floods in a century. Unfortunately, however, some voices in the public sphere are raking up issues that have nothing to do with the natural calamity and are only a distraction to the mammoth efforts required to rebuild the southern state. One of them is Hindu Mahasabha leader Chakrapani Maharaj, who has been claiming that helping beefeaters during a calamity is a sin. He has been echoed widely by many Hindutva supporters both online and offline.

While voices on the extreme right of the political spectrum and online troll can  and should  be ignored, when similar opinions are expressed by senior officials, it is difficult to do so. Im referring to the comments of S Gurumurthy, the recently appointed member of the Reserve Bank of Indias board, who in a tweet said, Supreme court judges may like to see if there is any connection between the case and what is happening in Sabarimala. Even if there is one in a million chance of a link people would not like the case decided against Ayyappan. He was responding to another tweet, linking the and the temple case: No law is above God... if you permit everyone, he denies everyone.

As he came under criticism for this, which many thought linked the floods with the pending judgment on allowing womens entry into Sabarimala temple, he defended his stance by claiming he had never said that God's wrath had caused the floods. He also came down hard on those who questioned an RBI official talking about the issue: What has my appointment to the RBI board to do with my views? I am an independent director... It is not a paid job. He also claimed that he was not superstitious but believed in divine powers. Yet, even making the faintest suggestion that the courts should think of these lines is more than a little sensitive at this time.

The untimely discussion over beef and temple when all of us should concentrate on relief efforts prompted me to revisit Satyajit Rays Ganashatru  an adaptation of Henrik Ibsens An Enemy of the People. Ray, who adapted many literary works throughout his career, was quite loyal to the original material in this film, changing only the setting to Chandipur, an imaginary small town in West Bengal. The town is known for its good weather and a new temple, attracting devotees and tourists. When Dr Ashoke Kumar Gupta (Soumitra Chatterjee), a resident of the town, diagnoses water-borne diseases among his patients, he starts an investigation leading to the discovery that the charanamitra (holy water) of the temple is contaminated. But, when he tries to make this knowledge public, the entire town turns against him. Some are motivated by their religious fervour; others have simple commercial motivations. If people know that the water in the contaminated they will stop visiting the town, leading to losses.

Writer Bhashkar Chattopadhyay, in a piece for Firstpost, finds parallels between personal conditions in which Ibsen wrote the play and Ray adapted it. The Norwegian playwrights work was a response to the outcry against his previous play, Ghosts (1881), which had explored taboo subjects of incest and syphilis, and was a scathing commentary on 19th-century morality. Strangely enough, as many as 80 years later, in another part of the globe, history repeated itself, and the same story played out, when in 1960, Satyajit Ray made a film titled Devi  which was a scathing commentary on the dangers of blind superstitions and religious orthodoxies. Ray had to face unprecedented public criticism for the film  with allegations against him ranging from trying to malign a religion he himself was not a part of, all the way to hurting the sentiments of Hindus all over the world, writes Chattopadhyay, adding that Ganashatru was his response.

But, there is also a public, political angle to it. Rays film was released in January 1990; in September that year, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader would set out on his Rath Yatra. This would provide impetus to the Ram Mandir movement, leading to the demolition of the 16th Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and nationwide communal riots two years later. The demand for the temple was already pretty loud by the time Ray started making the film, and he would have been aware of the consequences that a lone rational man would face on countering faith with science. In a telling scene in Ganashatru, the owner of the hospital where Dr Gupta works and a member of the temples board, tells him that charanamitra cannot be contaminated because the water from the tube wells is mixed Ganga water and tulsi (basil).

A fatal disease as a metaphor for a political ideology, especially an oppressive one is not uncommon. Camus novel The Plague (1947) uses the eponymous ailment as a symbol for Nazism; Alexander Solzhenitsyn denied that the hospital in Cancer Ward (1966) was a microcosm for Stalins USSR, but it has frequently been read as such. In a powerful scene in Ganashatru, Dr Gupta looks on as devotees push each other to get a bit of the charanamitra. His face changes into a grimace; he knows that this water is the source of contamination in the town. But it is not only the contamination of the human body; it is also contamination of the mind.

When the local newspaper rescinds on its offer to publish his piece, Dr Gupta calls a public meeting to make the people of the town aware of his discovery. But, before he can read out his piece, the meeting is hijacked by his brother, Nishith Gupta (Dhritiman Chatterjee), who is also the chairman of the municipality. Nishith questions Dr Guptas faith in religion and accuses him of slandering the temple. The meeting ends in chaos, with the citizens of Chandipur turning against him. Dr Guptas house is attacked, his landlord asks him to vacate it, he is sacked from his job at the hospital, and even his daughter, played by Mamata Shankar, is not spared. She, too, loses her job as the school where she was a teacher.

The idea of a man standing up to society at large, refusing to conform, and sticking to his conviction at the face of immense odds was not new to Rays oeuvre. He used it in the Apu trilogy, in Pratidwandi (1970) and Jana Aranya (1976), and even in his last film, Agantuk (1991). (This film shares its name with Camuss first novel, The Stranger.) Ganashatru was probably the bluntest expression of it among Rays film, possibly even a little self-indulgent. Dr Gupta can easily be imagined as a stand-in for the director himself, scolding his fellow citizens for disappointing him by their easy surrender to an unscientific way of life. But, the final resolution in the film is in solidarity, and not in hopeless individual struggle.

When all seems lost for Dr Gupta, a local journalist turns up at his house to interview him and give him an opportunity to present his case. His daughters fiance informs him that the young people in the city are eager to hear him. The fight is not over. The last shot of the film focuses on a stethoscope placed along a bottle of charanamitra  the face-off between science and superstition. As Kerala limps back to normalcy, it is a time to continue with the solidarity that marked the relief efforts and not indulge in pointless debates. Even as I write this, news has been reported of how temples in Kerala have allowed people to read namaz in places where mosques are inundated. This is the need of the hour in our undoubtedly divisive times.
Last year, I spent a day with some pensioners in a south Delhi slum to understand if and how they were benefiting from their brand new Jan Dhan accounts. It turned out that the majority of people I met that day were illiterate and could neither make head nor tail of their passbooks.

The saddest tale I heard was of an old widow with her mentally challenged son, both beneficiaries of government schemes, who would stand outside their bank after getting their passbooks updated, waiting for a kind stranger to read and figure out whether their pensions had reached their accounts or not. These ...
Diminutive for one thing, and too unpretentious in an off-white salwar-kameez and a hint of pecan lipstick. The Indian-origin diplomat, who has served as the Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs in the US Department of State under the Obama administration, approaches me with a wide grin and a gushing apology for being late. This is the first time that USIBC is hosting its annual general meeting in India rather than in ...

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This summer in India, two dozen innocent people died at the hands of mobs convinced that they were meting out justice to kidnappers. One was a software engineer beaten to death after giving chocolates to children outside a school. One was a 65-year-old woman who got lost on a trip to a temple with her family and stopped to ask for directions. All five travellers were stripped naked and beaten with fists, sticks and iron rods. One was hospitalised in a coma. A woman named Rukmani died in the street. This is what it happens when stranger-danger runs rampant. It turns out that fear of ...
Congress President on Friday said the party has learnt a lesson from the debacle in the 2014 general elections, admitting that "a certain degree of arrogance" had crept into it after 10 years of power.

Answering a question after his address at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, Gandhi said: "You have to listen - the leadership is all about learning".

"A certain degree of arrogance had crept into Congress after 10 years of power and we have learnt a lesson," Gandhi said when asked what was the lesson his party learnt from the 2014 election debacle.

Noting that India can punch above its weight only by creating jobs, Gandhi said India has a "job crisis".

He said that while China produces 50,000 jobs every 24 hours, India produces 450 jobs during the same period.

"How can India punch above its weight when you ignore fundamentals. You do not support your agriculture sector. If you look at India's success, it is achieved when there is decentralisation. Best rulers in India and most successful rulers in India decentralised power," Gandhi said.

For the last 70 years, it is through decentralisation India achieved success and cited examples of Green Revolution, White Revolution and Telecom Revolution, he said.

"When India opens up, India's power surges. But during the last four years (of the Modi government) there is a massive centralisation of power," Gandhi claimed.

The Congress president said: "Broadly India has been in transition for the last 70 years - a rural country, a country locked in its villages has transformed using democratic principles."

Noting that India has succeeded in a decent measure, he said, "Our transformation has been through non-violent, peaceful manner ensuring that the benefits of these transformations will go to all Indians, all communities - nobody will be left out."

Gandhi said that the governments till 2014 believed in supporting the farmers and other weaker sections of the society. They were helped through farm loan waivers, guaranteed work programme, right to food programme and right to information.

"These were all structured, designed to help people, ease people of the pain of transformation," he added.

The Congress lost the 2014 general elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party after 10 years in power. The Congress won 44 seats as compared to the BJP's 282 in Lok Sabha, Parliament's lower house.
president Rahul Gandhi's address to the Indian Overseas in Berlin in Germany Thursday could not be aired 'live' due to a technical glitch, the party said.

Gandhi's address was to be aired via a YouTube link, starting 9:30 pm IST, which was later rescheduled to start from 10:30 pm IST.

The address, however, could not be aired 'live' and the party cited a technical glitch as the reason for it.

Gandhi is on a five-day tour to Germany and the UK.

On Thursday night, he had addressed a gathering at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, Germany.

ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi slams mob lynchings and attacks on Dalits; BJP hits back

He was to address the Indian Overseas Congress Friday night during his two-day stay in Germany.

He heads to London Saturday.

ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi slams Modi govt, says joblessness major cause of lynchings

In London, he will address students of London School of Economic tomorrow. And on Saturday, he will address a gathering of the Indian Overseas Congress.
At least ten persons including three cops were injured in a clash between youth Congress workers and local police outside Himachal Pradesh Assembly today.

The Congress workers led by state president Munish Thakur took out a protest march against the "deteriorating" law and order situation and increasing drug menace in the hill-state, eyewitnesses said.

Upon reaching the state assembly, where the second day of the monsoon session was on, the crowd allegedly pelted stones at the police in which at least three personnel including an additional SP were injured, eyewitnesses added.

The police first used water canon to disperse the crowd but later resorted to lathi-charge in which seven protestors were injured, they said.

Shimla superintendent of police Omapati Jamwal said the exact number of injured people was being confirmed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There are 12 cases of alleged sexual harassment before its various internal complaints committee, Air India has informed the Women and Child Development Ministry.

Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi reviewed the progress of cases of alleged sexual harassment in Air India and Air India Express in New Delhi yesterday. She met Air India CMD Pradeep Singh Kharola and officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Air India has informed the Women and Child Development Ministry that there are 12 ongoing sexual harassment cases before its internal complaints committee, a WCD official said.

In the meeting, it was also pointed out that there were a number of cases forwarded by WCD Ministry pertaining to private airlines to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the ministry said in a statement.

It was reported last week that Gandhi had summoned Kharola to seek explantation behind the delay in completing probe in a sexual harassment case based on complaint of an air hostess of the national carrier against its senior executive.

The victim had also met Gandhi, following which the ministry had sought a report from Air India in the case by June.

However, WCD officials said the report would be "completed shortly" and refused to divulge details of the inquiry due to its "confidential matter".

After reviewing the cases and the progress of work done by the Internal Complaints Committees (ICC) yesterday, Gandhi said that along with the cases of sexual harassment, some women employees tend to file complaints of administrative nature in the garb of sexual harassment.

"It is important for the ICC to very quickly dispose of these cases. This will enable the woman, if she has a genuine grievance, to explore proper administration/legal mechanisms for redressal. It will also enable the ICCs to focus on the actual cases," she said.

Gandhi stated that the aviation sector has expanded and has become more inclusive in its workforce as well as accessible to the middle class.

"It is no longer an exclusive sector perceived to be meant for upper class people as was the case during the 70s and 80s. With such inclusive workforce as well as passengers, it is important that the male employees in the sector, especially the pilots, are extra sensitive to the perceptions about women colleagues," she said.

The Minister requested the CMD of Air India to sensitize the male employees so that the women employees do not feel threatened or insecure in any manner. She also requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to suitably direct the private airlines along the same lines.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Around 128 schools in the national capital have rolled back their "arbitrary" fee hikes following complaints from parents, a government official said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued directions to the schools to roll back their "arbitrary" fee hike after receiving several complaints from parents.

The Directorate of (DoE) had in April sent notices to 195 private schools of the city and asked the school heads to roll back their fee hike.

Last month, Kejriwal had asked DoE to submit a compliance report on whether the private schools had rolled back their fee hike as ordered by the government.

"Out of 195 private schools, 128 have informed us that they are rolling back their hiked fees. Remaining 67 private schools will soon be served show-cause notices for not complying with the orders," a DoE official said.

Minister Manish Sisodia would be meeting the representatives of all the 128 schools who had complied with the government's directive, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The police today busted a rave party at a guest house in Sonipat on Delhi's outskirts and detained around 150 students, including 8 foreign nationals.

Three persons, including a customs official, were arrested in connection with the incident, the police said.

The students, found in an inebriated state, were released after interrogation, they said.

On the basis of a tip-off, a raid was conducted at a guest house in Sonipat's Rai industrial area, DSP Jitendra Gehlawat said.

He said around 150 students from different universities were found in inebriated state and were medically examined.

Nearly 215 tablets, two dozen injections of drugs and bottles and of English wines and beer were seized from the guest house, Gehlawat said.

A case was registered under relevant Sections and three persons were arrested, he said, adding that the students were released after interrogation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 21st century should be defined by Mahatma Gandhi's message of compassion and non-violence, Congress party president Rahul Gandhi said here today.

Rahul, who is the first foreign Leader of Opposition to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament, said that India and the UK are connected as they fight people on ideas.

The other prominent speakers who have spoken at the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons are Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, former South African president Nelson Mandela and former president of erstwhile Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.

"What connects India and the UK is that we fight people on ideas... in the 21st century, the greatest idea is compassion and non-violence as laid out by my hero Mahatma Gandhi," he told an audience of parliamentarians and local political leaders.

"Even though the British ruled us, they left us with many ideas and some strengths as well," he said.

He also hailed the Indian-origin politicians that are part of the British political establishment.

"It is rooms like this from where Britain governed India... and many Indian people are today helping run Britain. How far the world has come," he said at the event titled 'India and the World' attended by senior Opposition Labour party MPs Keith Vaz, Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
About 22,000 community toilets have been constructed in the national capital since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in the city in 2015, the Delhi government said, even as Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain inaugurated three 'Jan Suvidha Complexes' today.

According to the government, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has constructed 22,000 community toilets since February 2015, when the AAP formed its government.

The inauguration of three complexes of 30 seats each by Jain was done at the JJ (Jhuggi Jhopri) Basti cement siding, Railway Colony, which is home to about 1500 jhuggies in Shakur Basti.

The government said in a statement that the cost of each of the three new 'Jan Suvidha Complexes' is about Rs 32 lakh and there are separate toilets for differently abled, men and women.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Twenty five doctors and paramedical staff from a city hospital today left for rain ravaged Kerala with medicines and food to help the state set up emergency medical camps,while another hospital too sent essential items.

The team from Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital left for Thrissur and Palakkad, carrying with them Rs 10 lakh worth relief material,including surgical material, the Hospital's Executive Director Dr Arun N Palaniswami said in a release.

This was intended to help the government machinery in that state organise several emergency medical camps, he said.

The team would split into two groups, one heading for Thrissur and the other for Palakkad and camp in these cities for three days to screen people for any diseases or infections, he said.

If these cities required further assistance, the hospital would not mind extending it, he said.

City based Muthus Hospital sent three truckloads of medicines, drinking water and food to Ernakulam, Aluva and Alapuzha, chairman of the hospital Muthu said.

If necessary, a team of doctors and nurses would be sent to these cities next week to attend camps, he said in a release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Naxal activities have declined by 40 per cent over the last three years and the Central Reserve Police Force is opening camps in the core areas of the rebels, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar said today.

He said the force had seen great success in dealing with Naxalism.

"During the last three years, Naxalism has decreased by 40 per cent. Their (Naxalites) activities have decreased greatly in areas where they had dominance," Bhatnagar told reporters.

The CRPF is opening camps in the core areas of Naxalites and successfully conducting regular operations, he said.

Bhatnagar added that the CRPF tries to reach out to people in distress in the various areas where the force operates. The CRPF, he said, provides medical facilities to the people in naxal areas.

"We have also introduced human face of the force and you have seen that in several naxal areas. In a recent case, we hospitalised an injured naxal woman even when she was firing on our troops and our jawan gave blood to save her," he said.

He said the CRPF had good coordination with the J-K Police, Army and other agencies.

The DG said several new technologies had been inducted in a bid to equip the force with latest weapons and to upgrade the troops' operational capabilities and preparedness.

He added the focus was also on better infrastructure for the jawans and steps were being taken for the welfare of the troops and their families.

The CRPF, which has 243 battalions, is a major police force dealing with a variety of situations across the country and it will deliver on whatever challenges it comes across in the future, Bhatnagar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least six people were injured in a clash between Dalits and Thakurs over a van parked on a road in a village here, police said today.

The incident occurred at Madh Karimpur village under the Khatoli police station last night, they said, adding that four people were arrested.

According to Circle Officer Rajiv Kumar Singh, a van belonging to a Dalit man was parked on a road. Asked to remove the vehicle, the man refused, which led to a clash between the Thakurs, the dominant caste in the village, and Dalits.

Firearms were used during the clash, Singh said, adding that six persons -- Satpal, Ramesh, Ravi, Amit Kumar, Shiv Kumar and Rambhuj -- were injured in the incident and admitted to a hospital.

A case was registered against 30 people in connection with the incident, the officer said, adding that four of the accused were arrested.

Security has been tightened in the village in the wake of the incident.

Meanwhile, a group of Dalits staged a protest against the incident in front of the office of the senior superintendent of police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With most Indians being travel enthusiasts, a report has found that 63 per cent travellers make holiday related searches at their office, which peaks just after lunch hour, according to a survey.

Travel search engine Kayak analysed the travel search data on its platform and found that 63 per cent of travel searches are made during working hours, from 9 am 6 pm, which is regular work hours.

The data is based on searches made for economy return flights on Kayak during January 2017 to July 2018 for travel dates during January 2018 - December 2018, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year.

During the work day, travel searches reach their peak in the hours during and just after lunch, with a significant 19 per cent of searches being made between 1pm - 3pm when many employees are just returning to the office from their midday lunch breaks, the report said.

For searches made during working hours, many of the top destinations Dubai, one of the all-time favourites, is the most popular destination, with a over 94 per cent year-on-year increase in searches, it said.

Dubai was followed by searches for Bangkok, with over 92 per cent looking for the destination, Singapore over 80 per cent, Bali, Indonesia over 69 per cent and Goa over 37 per cent.

There were also searches for San Francisco in the US that was over 19 per cent, Delhi over 12 per cent, Mumbai over 12 per cent, London over 2 per cent and New York over 2 per cent.

"Work can get hectic and stressful sometimes for everyone. But as a country of travel enthusiasts, we've found that many Indians use holiday planning as a way to de-stress and unwind at work, by planning their trips during working hours," Kayak director of India and Middle East Abhijit Mishra said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With water receding and more people returning home from relief camps, the Kerala government today made a strong pitch for assistance and expresed hope that the Centre would accept the UAE aid "offer" of Rs 700 crore.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and preliminary estimate of losses comes around Rs 20,000 crore.

Kerala should be treated on a different yardstick for extending flood relief assistance as its huge loss cannot be compared with damage in any other state at any point of time, Vijayan said.

Giving a detailed account of the havoc caused by the devastating floods and landslides since early this month, he said the preliminary assessment of losses was around Rs 20,000 crore which was equal to state's annual plan size for 2018-19.

The state's harvest festival 'Onam' falls tomorrow, but this time around festivities will be the last thing on people's minds as they come to grips with the devastation caused by the unprecedented deluge that claimed 231 lives.

Even after lakhs of people have returned home, there are still 8.69 lakh people in 2287 relief camps across the state, officials said.

Amid a row over the Centre deciding not to accept any foreign donations for flood relief, officials at the UAE embassy in New Delhi today said the UAE had not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief.

However, Vijayan claimed there was no lack of clarity on UAE aid for the flood-ravaged state and expressed hope the Centre would accept the "offer" of Rs 700 crore.

Vijayan said NRI businessman M A Yusfuf Ali had informed him about the aid.

"When I asked him whether it could be made public, he said there is no problem in it," the chief minister told reporters here after a meeting to review the post-flood situation and relief operations.

The UAE aid was communicated to Ali when he had met the crown prince to convey Bakrid greetings, Vijayan said.

Vijayan said the issue whether or not to accept the aid was a matter to be decided by the Centre.

"I hope that this will be accepted," Vijayan said replying to a question on the row.

There was no lack of clarity on the UAE aid to Kerala, he said.

The chief minister said he had nothing more to add to what he had stated on August 21 about the aid and added it was a matter discussed by Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Syed Al Nahian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both had informed the world about the aid issue, the chief minister said.

Officials in UAE embassy in New Delhi said no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala was finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the state.

UAE ambassador Ahmed Albannam, without mentioning financial aid, said his government only set up a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to people affected by flash floods in Kerala.

The gulf nation may come out with its plan in the next few days to extend assistance to flood victims, an official said.

In support of his stand that Kerala's case was unique, Vijayan earlier said the state was densely populated and the entire state had infrastructure facilities such as good roads, communication network and hospitals.

Hence, the loss suffered in the floods was huge in nature and was something which cannot be compared to the damage suffered by any other part of the country at any point of time, Vijayan said, urging that the state should be treated on a different yardstick for extending assistance.

Pushing for foreign assistance, Vijayan had said there was no blanket ban and India, by law, could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity.

In his statement today, the chief minister said: "It is with a thankful heart that we take note of the fact that foreign countries ranging from the UAE to Qatar have come forward with their promise of assistance."



Vijayan also mentioned about the immediate release of Rs 100 crore by the Centre and further interim aid of Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately after his aerial survey of flood-affected areas on August 19.

The Centre has already released Rs 600 crore to the state.

On rehabilitation and relief measures, he said the focus now was on taking care of those in relief camps.

To ensure that rehabilitation work goes on smoothly, it is essential to get the details of houses and shops destroyed at the earliest and the loss incurred by each individual has to be recorded correctly, he said.

The government was planning to utilise IT enabled solutions to get relevant data, Vijayan said.

Kerala has received donations totalling Rs 535 crore to help rebuild the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh today said he would adopt a flood-ravaged village in Kerala and donate Rs 1 crore from his Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund for the purpose.

Singh has already donated a month's salary to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

"I have decided to adopt a village in flood-hit Kerala and also donate Rs one crore for the purpose," Singh said.

The process of choosing the village is on and the party's state unit is looking into it, he said.

Most of the party lawmakers -- MLAs from Delhi and Punjab and MPs --have already announced they would donate a month's salary for the flood-hit state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AIIMS doctors today informed a panel probing the death of late J Jayalalithaa that an expert team was formed to monitor her treatment at a hospital,based on the Centre's advisory following Tamil Nadu government's request.

Three Delhi-AIIMS doctors today deposed before the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry.

Quoting their replies during cross-examination, N Raja Senthoor Pandian, counsel for V K Sasikala, an aide of the late Chief Minister, said they were satisfied with the treatment provided to her.

"The doctors expressed satisfaction over the treatment provided for the late Chief Minister by Apollo Hospital and they said Apollo has all the amenities of the AIIMS," Pandian told reporters.

G C Khilnani of the Department of Pulmonology, Anjan Trikha, Professor of Anaesthesiology, and Nitish Nayak, professor of Cardiology, appeared before the one-man panel today for cross-examination.

The Arumughaswamy Commission, which was set up last year, has been tasked with probing the circumstances leading to the late Chief Minister's death.

The doctors were yesterday examined by the Commission from 10.30 AM to 5.30 PM. They had been issued summons by the panel to appear before it.

"The doctors said a medical team of AIIMS experts was formed by it's director, based on the advisory of the Central government,"Pandian said quoting their depositions and added that this was done on a request from the state government.

The doctors expressed satisfaction about completing their duty entrusted to them to monitor the treatment, he said.

The AIIMS doctors said they had examined the late leader nine times during her hospitalisation in the ICU, adding they had suggested tracheostomy procedure for her. The procedure is usually done to optimise breathing.

They said that when they examined Jayalalithaa on December 3, 2016 (two days before her death), she was fine.She could sit for 20 minutes and did not need any surgical intervention or intensive treatment.

She was however critical for about 11 days between October 5 and 15 that year, the AIIMS doctors said.

The doctors said that Minister O Panneerselvam (who then held the portfolios of Jayalalithaa including Home), Lok Sabha Speaker M Thambidurai were present during medical briefings.

The Commission had summoned three doctors of AIIMS, who examined her at the Apollo Hospital here, to appear before it on August 23 and 24.

Pandian said he had sought summoning of AIIMS doctors since January this year.

The panel's terms of reference was to inquire into the circumstances leading to the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa on September 22, 2016, and treatment provided by the hospital till her demise on December 5, 2016.

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Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher, who is in New York for last one month shooting for "New Amsterdam", says he is looking forward to the medical television drama.

The show will premiere on September 25 on NBC.

The 63-year-old actor, who will be delivering a key note address in Houston at a spectacular Janmashtami celebrations this saturday, plays the role of a neurologist, Dr Vijay Kapoor in the show.

"NBC's New Amsterdam, which will premier on September 25, is anticipated as the next big thing in international television. I'm glad that the medical drama has been selected among other shows of NBC for this upcoming season. It's quite an interesting show and the role is challenging enough due to very hard to pronounce medical terms that pushes my envelope as an actor and keeps me more focused and engaged," he said.

Kher, whose Hollywood movies include Oscar-winning "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Big Sick", said it was an "interesting Journey" for a "Hindi medium instructed, small town lower-middle class Kashmiri-origin boy from Shimla".

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: The monsoon session of Andhra Pradesh Legislature will commence here on September 6.

The session was likely to be held for 10-12 days, Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao told reporters here today.

On the main opposition YSR Congress boycotting the legislature for the past few sessions, he said it was the responsibility of elected members to attend the House.

The YSRC are keeping away from the Assembly in protest against the Speaker's alleged failure to disqualify party's legislators who defected to the ruling TDP.

"People's problems could be highlighted and solutions sought only when members attend the House. I have always been appealing to the opposition to attend the session," Rao said.

The Speaker said the Chief Minister responded positively to his request that water be released into the Nagarjuna Sagar right canal for paddy crop.

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The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press.

The detail came as several media outlets reported yesterday that federal prosecutors had granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.

Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty this week to campaign finance violations alleging he, Trump and the tabloid were involved in buying the silence of a porn actress and a Playboy model who alleged affairs with Trump.

Several people familiar with the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because they signed non-disclosure agreements, said the safe was a great source of power for Pecker, the company's CEO.

The Trump records were stored alongside similar documents pertaining to other celebrities' catch-and-kill deals, in which exclusive rights to people's stories were bought with no intention of publishing to keep them out of the By keeping celebrities' embarrassing secrets, the company was able to ingratiate itself with them and ask for favours in return.

But after The Wall Street Journal initially published the first details of Playboy model Karen McDougal's catch-and-kill deal shortly before the 2016 election, those assets became a liability. Fearful that the documents might be used against American Media, Pecker and the company's chief content officer, Dylan Howard, removed them from the safe in the weeks before Trump's inauguration, according to one person directly familiar with the events.

It was unclear whether the documents were destroyed or simply were moved to a location known to fewer people. American Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pecker's immunity deal was first reported yesterday by Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources. Vanity Fair reported that Howard also was granted immunity. Court papers in the Cohen case say Pecker "offered to help deal with negative stories about (Trump's) relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided".

The Journal reported Pecker shared with prosecutors details about payments that Cohen says Trump directed in the weeks and months before the election to buy the silence of McDougal and another woman alleging an affair, porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels was paid USD 130,000, and McDougal was paid USD 150,000.

While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox in an interview aired yesterday that he knew about payments "later on".

In July, Cohen released an audio tape in which he and Trump discussed plans to buy McDougal's story from the Enquirer. Such a purchase was necessary, they suggested, to prevent Trump from having to permanently rely on a tight relationship with the tabloid.

"You never know where that company -- you never know what he's gonna be -- " Cohen says. "David gets hit by a truck," Trump says.

"Correct," Cohen replies. "So, I'm all over that."



While Pecker is cooperating with federal prosecutors now, American Media previously declined to participate in congressional inquiries.

Last March, in response to a letter from a group of House Democrats about the Daniels and McDougal payments, American Media general counsel Cameron Stracher declined to provide any documents, writing that the company was "exempt" from US campaign finance laws because it is a publisher and it was "confident" it had complied with all tax laws.

He also rebuffed any suggestion that America Media Inc., or AMI, had leverage over the president because of its catch-and-kill practices.

"AMI states unequivocally that any suggestion that it would seek to 'extort' the President of the United States through the exercise of its editorial discretion is outrageous, offensive, and wholly without merit," Stracher wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Former Enquirer employees who spoke to the AP said negative stories about Trump were dead on arrival dating back more than a decade when he starred on NBC's reality show "The Apprentice".

In 2010, at Cohen's urging, the National Enquirer began promoting a potential Trump presidential candidacy, referring readers to a pro-Trump website Cohen helped create. With Cohen's involvement, the publication began questioning President Barack Obama's birthplace and American citizenship in print, an effort that Trump promoted for several years, former staffers said.

The Enquirer endorsed Trump for president in 2016, the first time it had ever officially backed a candidate. In the news pages, Trump's coverage was so favourable that the New Yorker magazine said the Enquirer embraced him "with sycophantic fervour".

Positive headlines for Trump, a Republican, were matched by negative stories about his opponents, including Hillary Clinton, a Democrat: An Enquirer front page from 2015 said "Hillary: 6 Months to Live" and accompanied the headline with a picture of an unsmiling Clinton with bags under her eyes.

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A 28-year old worker was electrocuted and four others were injured when they came into contact with a live wire at an aquaculture farm at a village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh today, police said.

Pindi Anji Reddy was killed on the spot in the mishap that occurred when the five workers ventured into a fish pond to feed the fish in Pulaparru village in Mandavalli mandal, they said.

The injured had been admitted to a government hospital, police said adding further investigation was on.

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Sitting MP from Araku (ST) constituency in Andhra Pradesh, Kothapalli Geetha, today announced formation of a new political party 'Jana Jagruti.'



Addressing a press meet here, Geetha said she has quit her Lok Sabha membership and forwarded a letter to the Speaker on August 21.

"I am now floating a new party.It will give 33 per cent seats to women in the coming elections," Geetha said.

Geetha was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 as YSR Congress candidate but has been staying away from the party.

Lashing out at the YSRC, she alleged that the lone opposition party was cheating people only to further its political interests.

Though she did not reveal anything more about her new party, Geetha said 33 per cent reservation would be provided to women in the coming elections.

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Separatists today deferred the two-day strike to protest against any tinkering with Article 35-A of the Constitution to August 30 as the case has been listed for hearing on 31 August in the Supreme Court.

Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), consisting of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, had on August 17 called for a two-day strike from August 26, but the strike has now been deferred to the end of the month.

"As the Supreme Court of India is now hearing the case challenging the state subject law of J&K on 31st August as such the statewide protest hartal by JRL (Joint Resistance Leadership) against this nefarious move will now be observed on 30th & 31st Aug. However protests by different segments of society will continue, Mirwaiz wrote on Twitter.

Article 35-A empowers the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

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A tea variety from Arunachal Pradesh has fetched a world record price of Rs 40,000 per kg at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre here breaking the record of an Assam tea variety auctioned last month.

A 1.1 kg lot of Golden Needles tea variety of Donyi Polo tea estate in Arunachal Pradesh sold at Rs 40,000 per kg yesterday, said a statement by Dinesh Bihani, Secretary of Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association.

The tea variety was sold to Assam Tea Traders, which is one of the oldest tea shop in Guwahati.

In July, an Assam tea variety was sold at Rs 39,001 per kg at an auction here.

"These types of specialty teas are attracting more and more buyers and producers to come together and use the GTAC platform. We hope that these specialty teas will make us achieve our past glory in the world map," Bihani said in the statement.

Assam Tea Traders Lalit Kumar Jalan was quoted as saying in the statement, "There is a rising demand for good tea and we are selling specialty tea regularly.

"This Golden Needles will be sold through an online platform, Absolutetea.in."



The Golden Needles variety of tea has small buds which are carefully plucked and the leaves, which have a coating of golden colour, are soft and velvety.

The liquor of this special tea is bright golden in colour, sweet to taste and has a rich aroma, Bihani said.

The manager of Donyi Polo tea estate, Manoj Kumar said, they made a lot of effort to make this type of tea and earlier their Silver Needles white tea had fetched Rs 17,001 per kg.

Kumar further said that such type of tea is made only when natural forces align with precise tea making skills.

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"Atal Ji Ne Kaha" is the latest of the books on the BJP patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched today with a message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who says the life of the stalwart from Jana Sangh days to "sanyas" from politics in 2007 is a golden document, dedicated to the nation.

Authored and compiled by Brijendra Rehi, noted Doordarshan producer, senior journalist and then advisor to the former Highways Minister C P Joshi, the 320-page book is a rich repository of the former Prime Minister's select speeches and photographs besides having three interviews by the author.

In his message in the book by Darpan Publication, a unit of Darpan Video India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exuded confidence that the book encompassing historic moments through the powerful words by Vajpayee will touch deeply to the psyche of the masses.

"Through his speeches, people will come to know of his depth on subjects and apt and visionary thoughts," Modi's message in the book said describing Vajpayee as a charismatic personality with wonderful oratory and prolific writing skills.

"I prefer to call him 'Bharat Marg Vidhata', given his foresight and vision on highways. it is his visionary approach of stitching the country through a network of highways including Golden Quadrilateral that the country is witnessing building of highways in village after village," Modi wrote.

Describing him as the first traveller in the Delhi Metro, Modi said it is his inspiration that a network of metro is being spread in many cities of the country.

Stressing that Vajpayee has etched a place in the heart of citizens due to his selfless and untiring work to the nation during more than five decades of career, Modi said Vajpayee was the lifeforce and inspiration for 125-crore citizens in 'New India Mission'.

Modi also said that with charismatic personality, Vajpayee had been extremely popular among world leaders and political opponents.

The book "Atal Ji Ne Kaha" has 26 chapters based on his speeches whether on economy, policies, small industries, social development, nuclear programme, science and technology or terrorism. It is replete with pictures of the late Prime Minister.

Rehi, who has also edited the book, has been a senior journalist and producer, associated with Doordarshan and many Hindi newspapers. He started his career in 1965 from Nathdwara and has been awarded for his works.

He has to his credit writing, producing and directing several serials for Doordarshan like Desh Ki Pukar based on the Quit India Movement.

After writing, producing and directing more than 200 documentaries including a 13-episode serial 'Asmaan Kaise Kaise' and 'Lesser Known Tribes of India', Rehi also directed a telefilm 'Pathrayi Ankhon Ke Sapne', commissioned by Doordarshan and starring Annu Kapoor.

DD's 13 episode serial sprinkled with little known facts about some of the charismatic women of yesteryears including Smita Patil and Durga Khote.

He has published 11 books so far including Muktiswar, Kaka and Mewad Ke Itihaas Ki Jhanki. This is the 12th book by him that includes three interviews of the Vajpayee taken by him. He is presently editor of Jansamachar.com.

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An autorickshaw driver was arrested today after a media professional accused him of masturbating while ferrying her in his vehicle, police said today.

The complainant had told police that she had hailed the accused's autorickshaw from Malad on Wednesday night to go to her home in Borivali.

In her complaint lodged at the Borivali police station, she had said that the driver was touching himself inappropriately during the journey and, after slowing down on an empty road en route, started masturbating.

She escaped by jumping off the vehicle and proceeding to her house which was nearby, the complainant stated.

An official said that they tracked down autorickshaw driver Rajbahadur Pal (37) today and arrested him.

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Police officials from Bangladesh will be undergoing training at the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU) in Gandhinagar.

Speaking to reporters here, Bangladesh High Commissioner SyedMuazzem Ali said a team of police officials from his country will undergo training at the university from the next month.

"We want to increase conviction rate in cyber crime cases, and training of our police officials at GFSU will help in this," Ali said.

Bangladesh was hit by a major banking fraud in 2016 when hackers stole USD 81 million from Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Ali said the investigation into the fraud was going on.

Bangladesh has inked a memorandum of understanding with the GFSU, and has been sending its officials to the varsity for training for the last few years.

Ali attended convocation address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at GFSU yesterday.

The high commissioner today visited Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) in Vadodara.

He said he has a personal connection with MSU, as his uncle had been a research scholar there from 1935 to 1944.

Ali also met MSU chancellor Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad.

The high commissioner refused to comment on publication of DraftNational Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the resultant controversy over illegal migrants.

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A bench of Haryana Human Rights Commission will be set up in Gurugram for speedy disposal of cases and to facilitate people of southern Haryana by holding hearing of cases in their nearby area.

Justice (retd) S K Mittal, the chairman of Haryana Human Rights Commission told reporters here that a bench of the commission will be set up in Gurugram so that the people do not have to go to Chandigarh for hearing.

The commission today conducted hearing of 36 cases, of which 14 were disposed off on the spot.

"So far, court camps have been organised by the commission in three districts -- Palwal, Jhajjar and Hisar. The next camp would be organised in Sonipat," he said.

'Bal Sudhaar Grehs', old age homes and other such organisations running in all districts would be monitored and inspected, for which, a state-level committee had been constituted, he said.

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Accusing Tejashwi Yadav of dragging his name in the shelter home sex scandal, Bihar minister Suresh Sharma today lodged a defamation suit against the RLD leader.

Sharma, who holds the urban development ministry and represents Muzaffarpur constituency in the state assembly, filed his complaint before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Hari Prasad.

The matter is likely to be taken up for hearing on August 29.

Notably, the BJP MLA had last month sent a legal notice to Yadav-- the leader of opposition in Bihar assembly-- for alleging that he had close links with Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in the sexual abuse of 34 girl inmates of the shelter home run by his NGO.

Sharma has maintained that his name was being dragged in the scandal because he was the local MLA and has insisted that he has no relations with Thakur.

Meanwhile, Yadav has demanded the minister's resignation and accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of being "scared" of pressing for the same as Sharma belonged to the BJP, which was in power at the Centre.

Manju Verma, an MLA of Kumar's JD(U), had resigned as the social welfare minister last month after it came to light that her husband had spoken to Thakur 17 times between January and June this year.

The scandal had come to light following a social audit report submitted by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences before the state government earlier this year.

Medical examinations pointed at the possibility of 34 of of the inmates of the shelter home, all minor girls, having faced sexual abuse.

Altogether 10 persons, including Thakur - who headed the NGO which ran the state-funded shelter home - were arrested in pursuance of an FIR lodged by the social welfare department.

The matter was handed over to the CBI following a huge public outcry.

Thakur's NGO was initially blacklisted and its registration later on cancelled and bank accounts frozen.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit back at the ruling BJP for misrepresenting his comments related to the Islamic State terror group, saying it has adopted a "default position" of attacking everything he says.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Gandhi of "belittling and insulting" India in his address in Hamburg on August 22, alleging that the Congress chief tried to justify terrorism and "lied through his teeth" to criticise the Narendra Modi government.

The ruling party demanded that Gandhi apologise for his remarks.

During the interactive segment of his 'India and the World' event at the House of Commons complex in London, Gandhi said that the BJP has adopted a default position of attacking everything he says.

"All I said (in reference to ISIS) was that there are a number of ideas running around and we must make sure we are giving a vision to all those people or somebody else will... it is very important that we involve people and carry people with us so that they feel part of nation building.

"Now that is not how the BJP describes what I said".

"The BJP attacks everything I say. It is their default position," he said in response to a question from the audience of the UK-based parliamentarians, local leaders and media.

The Congress president, who is on a two-day visit to the UK organised by the Indian Overseas Congress, tackled a range of subjects during his interaction in the UK Parliament complex.

The central focus of his message was on "conversation and listening" to the needs of the people as well as the diaspora.

"The way I see it, India is millions of people's voices and it is important to listen to as many as you can and help structure them.

"Today the farmers in India are screaming, small businesses are screaming: 'please do something about the GST'. It is our duty to see what can be done to help them and not just imposing a vision on them, which is what is happening in India today," he said.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out in India on July 1, 2017. It has replaced more than a dozen central and state taxes or Value Added Tax with an aim to create a seamless unified market for the USD 2 trillion Indian economy.

Gandhi also reiterated his message about job creation from his interactions in Germany earlier this week, attributing the so-called US-triggered trade wars to an underlying job crisis in the world.

"We are struggling to produce the numbers of jobs required. The western world can't answer how it will give jobs to its blue-collar workers. The Congress party has the vision for it," he said.

Gandhi, who began his UK visit with an address on 'India's Economic Growth and Foreign Policy in an Uncertain World' at the International Institute for Strategic Studies here, is set to address a gathering of students and academics at the London School of Economics before his mega diaspora interaction tomorrow.

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While his party binds the people of India, the BJP-RSS divides them and spreads hatred, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said.

Addressing the Indian diaspora at a function organised by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin last night, he said the Congress's thought of "unity in diversity" came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev.

Taking on the BJP-led NDA government in India, Gandhi said while long speeches were being given and hatred was being generated, farmers continued to commit suicide and youngsters were unable to see a future for themselves.

"The Congress belongs to all, works for everyone and our work is to spread the thought of unity in diversity. Today, the government in India is working differently," he said.

Gandhi said India's competition was with China and jobs would either go there or come here.

"The BJP-RSS people are dividing our own people. They are spreading hatred in our own country. Our job is to bring the people together and take the country forward and we have shown how to do it," he said.

The Congress chief once again claimed that while China gave jobs to 50,000 people in 24 hours, India gave employment to only 450 people in the said period.

"There are long speeches, spewing of hatred, but farmers are still committing suicide and the youth cannot see a future.

"We want India to go forward and you will never hear of any Indian spreading hatred or anger anywhere. This is our culture, this is your culture," he said.

Gandhi also noted that his thoughts emanated from those of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, and thanked the members of the Indian community living in Germany, many of whom are from Punjab, for supporting the Congress and helping the party form government in the state.

He told them it was their government in Punjab and his doors were open to them in case they needed something.

"When we needed you, you stood with us and helped us form our government in Punjab. A friend in need is a friend indeed and you have been true friends," he told the gathering.

The Congress chief also mentioned that a German MP had told him Europe's strength was unity in diversity.

"I thought, you are saying this today, we have been speaking of unity in diversity from the times of Guru Nanak. Our strength is listening to everyone, even the weakest, the poorest person. Every Indian religion talks about helping the last man in the line," he said.

Gandhi also cited the "langar" concept in Sikhism, which follows the philosophy that no one should go hungry, no matter how weak or poor.

"The work Guru Nanak used to do, we work on the same philosophy," he said.

The Congress chief was accompanied by party leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur, who has been an MP and a Union minister in the past.

Gandhi, who was on a two-day visit to Germany, will now head to the UK, where he is scheduled to address the students of the London School of Economics tonight and then the Indian Overseas Congress a day after.

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BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha was shown black flags by party workers after an event in Shahdara today where he said there was nothing wrong in calling a spade a spade and praised the AAP government over its "achievements" in health and education sectors.

Sinha, who has been critical of the BJP and its leadership on a number of issues, said at the launch of a skill training programme for manual scavengers that he holds a mirror to those in power and raises issues of public interest.

He also defended Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has come under criticism over his recent visit to Pakistan to attend the swearing-in of Imran Khan as prime minister of that country, saying "there is nothing controversial in it".

On his criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leadership, he said, "I know what my Lakshman Rekha (limit) is. I know the difference between maryada (propriety) and Lakshman Rekha. I will be loyal to the party until I am part of it. But those who indulge in sycophancy should understand that there is nothing wrong in calling a spade a spade."



Sinha said he knows that a party is more important than a person, and a country more important than a party.

"I raise issues of public interest. I show a mirror to people. I give them feedback. I have not come here just yesterday. So whatever I say, I say for the benefit of all and the country," he said.

"Main dil ki baat karta hun kyonki mann ki baat ka patent kisi aur ke paas hai," he said, alluding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme.

Sinha praised the AAP government and Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia "for bringing about a revolution in the health and education sectors in the national capital despite some roadblocks and hiccups".

"Sisodiaji has brought about a revolution in the education sector in India. What he has achieved is commendable. He is the education minister of the country in the true sense," the actor-turned-politician said.

"The AAP government has been through tough times. There have been some problems, obstructions on their way to success, but I won't comment on those," he added.

The Patna Sahib MP said in most of the states, the health and education systems are in dire straits.

"The states should approach the AAP government and Manish Sisodia and learn from them if they want to improve the standard of education in their areas," he said.

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The Bombay High court has reduced the murder term of a 35-year-old man to a lighter sentence after he claimed he stabbed his friend in self-defence as the deceased had been forcing him to engage in "unnatural sex".

In an order passed earlier this month, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sarang Kotwal observed that the appellant's claim was plausible and it was quite likely that he stabbed his friend in the heat of the moment, while trying to protect himself.

The incident took place in Mumbai's Nagpada area in 2011.

The bench set aside the man's conviction on the murder charge and held him guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Thus, it also set aside his life imprisonment and considered the seven years that he had already spent in custody as the appropriate quantum of punishment.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the accused challenging his conviction on the charge of murder under section 302 of the IPC and the life term awarded to him by the Mumbai Sessions court in 2013.

He argued that, at best, he could be charged and convicted under section 304 of the IPC for culpable homicide not amounting to murder since he had no intention of killing his friend.

The accused also pointed out that he had sustained serious injuries in the incident as he was assaulted by his friend for rejecting the latter's demand.

"I snatched the knife with which he was attacking me and assaulted him with it," the man stated in his appeal.

The prosecution opposed the appeal and argued that the appellant could have inflicted the injuries upon himself to suit his narrative. The bench dismissed the argument.

"Taking into consideration the serious nature of the injuries suffered by the appellant, we are of the view that such serious injuries cannot be self-inflicted. We are of the considered view that the explanation, as given by the appellant, is plausible," the bench said.

"If a person is asked to indulge in unnatural sex and is assaulted, it is quite probable that such a person, in the heat of moment, would assault the person demanding such an unnatural act," it added.

"We find that the sentence undergone by the appellant would sub-serve the ends of justice," the HC bench said.

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After Danny Boyle's abrupt exit from next James Bond movie, the untitled film is likely to miss its release date of November 8, 2019 in the US.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bond 25 film may not hit theatres until late 2020.

Talks of postponing the movie were doing the rounds even before Boyle left the project due to creative differences.

Early this week, the official James Bond Twitter account shared the of Boyle's departure, saying the filmmaker chose to walk out of the project. He was supposed to start shooting in December.

"Michael G Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25," the official James Bond Twitter account tweeted.

The producers are yet to announce a replacement for Boyle.

MGM is handling domestic distribution, while Universal will release the film overseas, which has a UK release date of October 25, 2019.

MGM hasn't confirmed that Bond 25 will be postponed.

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Moved by the plight of the rain-hit victims in Kerala, a bride-to-be here has donated Rs one lakh, which had been set apart for purchasing gold ornaments, to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Hailing from Vatakara in Kozhikode district, Amrita S Venu, a content writer at a Bengaluru-based digital marketing company, is all set to tie the knot on September 15.

"I am not into ornaments. I decided that rather than using the jewels for a day, it can be used for a better purpose for people in need," she told PTI.

Seeing the misery and disheartening visuals of the flood-affected on television,Amrita said she decided to donate the money and help them in whatever little way she could.

"I am not going to wear any jewels for my wedding," Amrita said, adding that she had conveyed this to her fiance, Sabharish, working in an IT firm at Bengaluru, and her in-laws who were "totally supportive" of her gesture.

A demand draft for the amount has been handed over to the local CPI(M) leaders towards the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, here father, K K Venu, said.

The devastating deluge, which has claimed 231 lives with over 10 lakh people in relief camps, has seen an outpouring of donations from various parts of the country and abroad.

Recently, a newly married couple from Kasaragod gifted two gold bangles valued at Rs 60,000 at the marriage venue itself for the relief fund.

A six-year-old girl of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu has donated her piggybank savings, which she had saved for purchasing presents, to the fund.

Sajeesh, husband of Lini Puthussery, a nurse who died after contracting Nipah virus while treating a patient in Kozhikode, donated his first salary to the relief fund.

The state government had given Sajeesh a government job, recognising the sacrifice of his wife.

Reports of similar gestures of generosity have also come in from Wayanad and Idukki and other parts.

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British couples looking to conceive through artificial insemination face uncertainty if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal because sperm would no longer be imported from EU countries under existing legislation.

Government advice published yesterday said Britain imported around 3,000 sperm samples from a commercial sperm bank in Denmark last year, as well as around 4,000 samples from the United States.

The Cryos sperm bank in Denmark says it is the world's largest.

Sperm donations in Britain have fallen sharply since donors lost the right to anonymity under a law that came into force in 2005.

Britain also imports a small number of eggs and embryos from other EU countries, amounting to around 500 last year.

If Brexit talks collapse, the government said the laws currently governing sperm imports, the EU Organ Directives and EU Tissues and Cells Directives, would no longer apply to Britain.

Fertility banks "would need new written agreements with relevant EU establishments," the government said, adding that this would "for the most part be a minimum burden on industry".

"UK licensed establishments that already hold an import licence to import tissues and cells from third countries will be able to use their existing written agreements with third country organisations as a template," it said.

But Geetha Venkat, director of the Harley Street Fertility Clinic, told BBC radio today that couples were "panicking".

Venkat said a legislative change on US sperm imports meant these could take up to three months, while the imports from Denmark currently take only a week. Extra paperwork could create additional costs which could be passed on to couples, she warned.

"If there is Brexit with no deal, we do not know what is going to happen," she said, adding: "As it is, it's a stressful treatment, and this is going to add to that".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Gujarat Hight Court today directed the Centre to file its reply with regard to the Presidential assent given to an amendment made by the Gujarat government to the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi was hearing petitions by five farmers from Surat in south Gujarat who may lose their land to the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor project.

The amendment to the principal Land Acquisition Act by the Gujarat government in 2016 has been opposed by the petitioners since it lays down that a social impact assessment of affected persons is not necessary for a project of public interest.

The HC direction came after the petitioners' lawyer, Anand Yagnik, told court that the Union government had not yet filed its response regarding the "application of mind by the President before assenting to the Gujarat Amendment of the Act of 2013".

Yagnik had told the court that if the President was made aware about every aspect of the amendment, he may have not given his assent.

He had sought to put on record all the communication made by the Centre with the President regarding the Gujarat Amendment to cross check whether the President was made aware of all the aspects.

During today's argument, Yagnik told the court that no reply has been filed by the Centre in this regard.

On this, the bench directed the Centre to file its reply and fixed August 28 as the next date of hearing.

Yagnik had earlier argued that the amendment gives powers to the government to exempt any project from social impact assessment and consent in the name of public interest.

The petitioners have contended that social impact assessment is the "very soul of the Act of 2013" and completely doing away with it "is destroying the very nucleus of the Principal Act and hence completely untenable".

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The Calcutta High Court today asked a monk of Barrackpore Ramakrishna Mission to counsel a couple who is involved in regular marital strife, in a bid to ensure proper education and normal life for their 16-year-old daughter.

Justice Nadira Patherya also directed the local police to pay visits to the couple's residence to see that peace prevailed at their home.

The petition was filed by the girl's paternal grandmother Bela Rani who claimed that she was physically and mentally tortured by her daughter-in-law and that the police had not acted upon her complaint.

Observing that a normal life and proper education of the girl was her prime concern, Justice Patherya, who is also the chairperson of Juvenile Justice Committee of the high court, talked to the couple Tarak and Bina Sarkar and also to their daughter.

The court said it wants to ensure that the girl, who will write her school leaving board examination next year, gets a proper environment to study and directed that a senior monk of the Barrackpore Ramakrishna Mission, located about 25 km from the city, to counsel the couple to ensure that they live a peaceful life.

The judge said that the mission will also provide vocational training to the woman, which will ensure that she becomes self-sufficient and remain busy with her work.

She also asked the officer in-charge of Titagarh police station under Barrackpore commissionarate to pay visits as and when possible to the couple's residence, apart from deputing a constable to visit their house once every fortnight for the next three months.

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A special CBI court here has sentenced a Delhi Police officer to five years' rigorous imprisonment in a Rs 4.5-lakh bribery case, the agency said in a statement today.

Tulsi Ram, who was posed at Shalimar Bagh police station as a sub- inspector, has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 4.5 lakh in the case.

The agency registered the case on January 29, 2016 against Tulsi Ram on a complaint that he had demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh for helping a person in a case investigated by him, the CBI's spokesperson said.

"The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from the complainant. After investigation, a charge sheet was filed in the court of special judge, Rohini Courts, Delhi on July 4, 2016," he said.

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The Centre has approved construction of nearly 1.12 lakh more affordable houses for urban poor in eight states under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, with Andra Pradesh bagging the largest share of over 37,000 housing units, an official said today.

According to the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which is mandated to implement the scheme, the total number of houses being funded under the PMAY (Urban) is close to 55 lakh across the country so far.

The approval was given in a meeting of the central sanctioning and monitoring committee (CSMC) of PMAY(U) yesterday.

Last month, the committee also sanctioned construction of 2.67 lakh affordable houses for the poor in 10 states.

"The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved the construction of 1,12,213 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)," according to a statement issued by the ministry.

It stated that Andhra Pradesh has been sanctioned 37,719 houses while the sanction for Haryana is 19,858.

The number of houses sanctioned for Madhya Pradesh is 18,375, Maharashtra 12,238 houses, Chhattisgarh 10,632 houses and Karnataka 8,761 houses, it stated.

"Approvals given for J&K stands at 4,442 houses while Arunachal Pradesh has been sanctioned 188 houses," the statement added.

The ministry said that central assistance of Rs 1,683.18 crore will be provided to execute these projects.

"With these proposed houses, cumulative houses under PMAY(U) would become 54,95,443 after final approval from CSMC," it added.

In the last CSMC meeting, Madhya Pradesh was sanctioned 59,421 houses, while 55,296 housing units were authorised for Gujarat.

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The Centre today sent back three senior IAS officers to Jammu and Kashmir before completion of their tenure here.

The militancy-hit state is at present under the Governor's rule after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew support from its alliance partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in June this year.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved premature repatriation of Arun Kumar Mehta, Atal Dulloo and Manoj Kumar Dwivedi to Jammu and Kashmir, according to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry.

All of them are IAS officers of J-K cadre.

Mehta is Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Dulloo and Dwivedi are Joint Secretaries in the Department of Rural Development and the Commerce Ministry respectively.

Former Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was yesterday sworn in as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He replaced N N Vohra, who was at the helm of affairs in the state for the past 10 years.

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The leader of Chechnya says human rights activists will be barred from visiting his region of Russia once the trial of a prominent activist wraps up.

One of Chechnya's most prominent rights advocates, Oyub Titiyev, is on trial for drug possession. His supporters dismiss the charges against him as a political vendetta.

Speaking at a meeting with law enforcement officials in a video released on Wednesday, Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to make Chechnya a "no-go zone" for human rights activists, whom he described as "terrorists and extremists," after the Titiyev trial ends.

Kadyrov accused the activists, who have shed light on rampant rights abuses in the southern Russian region, of "standing in the way of a peaceful life of our people.

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Chennai will join the global network of cities in tackling climate change with the Tamil Nadu government deciding to introduce low-maintenance, battery-operated buses on select routes here.

Transport Minister M R Vijayabhaskar told reporters after chairing a meeting of a delegation from C40 Cities Finance Facility, UK, which undertook a feasibility study,that issues faced by other nations in operating such buses were discussed.

The state government then decided to take steps to operate the battery operated buses on select routes, he said.

The minister said the cost of each bus was high, but they were low on maintenance unlike diesel operated buses.

"Once the batteries are charged, these buses can run upto 240 km. They can carry 54 passengers and can be operated in peak hours, reducing travelling time. This is not the case with diseel run buses", he said.

The UK team was led by head of C40 Cities Finance Facility, James Alexander and capacity development and municipal expert Jurgen Baumann.

The C40 website said that "Chennai joins the global network of cities committed to tackle climate change.

The Greater Chennai Corporation shows its determination to create low carbon and resilient economies in support of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change," it said.

The Minister noted that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami recently flagged off 515 new buses on various routes across the state.

"Another 500 buses will be put into service for the public. Steps will be taken to operate the remaining 4,000 buses for the benefit of the public", he said.

There was a good response from the public to buses run without a conductor and also to those with toilet facilities, he added.

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Following is the chronology of events in the case relating to the killings of two Dalits of a family at Mirchpur in Haryana in 2011 in which the Delhi High Court today held 33 out of 96 accused guilty:



*Apr 21, 2010: A 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically-challenged daughter burnt alive allegedly by a mob of over 100 people belonging to the Jat community at Mirchpur village of Hisar district.

Over 150 dalit families flee the village and take shelter at a Temple in Delhi after their houses were torched.

* Aug: Haryana police arrests the accused after the Supreme Court pulls it up.

* Dec 8: SC transfers the case from Hisar to Delhi to ensure fair trial on the plea of families of victims.

* Dec 23: Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau starts hearing and asks Haryana government to appoint special public prosecutor to conduct the trial.

* Jan 9, 2011: Court orders transfer of the accused to Tihar from a Hisar jail. A total of 98 accused shifted. Out of 103, five are juveniles and one is out on bail.

* Jan 15: Jat community, to which accused belong, protests the transfer of case, seeks fresh probe.

* Jan 20: CBI asked to take over the probe.

* Feb 1: Court orders deployment of CRPF at Mirchpur village to protect prosecution witnesses.

* Feb 10: Court asks chief secretaries of Delhi and Haryana to ensure transportation and stay of witnesses here.

* Mar 10: Trial court passes order on charge against 97 persons.

* Sept 24: Trial court convicts 15, acquits 82 persons.

* Oct 31: Three convicts get life term, five awarded five year jail and remaining seven released on probation.

* 2012: Convicts, victims and state move Delhi HC against their conviction and sentencing.

* Oct 6: One accused who was earlier absconding, acquitted of all charges by trial court.

* May 16, 2018: HC reserves verdict on the appeals.

* Aug 24: HC upholds conviction and sentence of 13 convicts, reverses acquittal of 20 and convicts them.

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The local administration is facing protests by farmers owing allegiance to the BKU, and also most residents of Mathana village, in the district for dumping domestic garbage from the city near the village on the Kurkshetra-Haridwar road.

BKU activists led by Guni Prakash and majority of residents of Mathana are up in arms against the administration for dumping of the municipal waste at the village by the Thanesar Municipal Council.

Mathana village is situated on Kurukshetra-Yamunanagar road, 6 KM from Pipli towards Yamunanagar. It is one of the biggest villages of Kurukshetra district.

The village has facilities like a Kendriya Vidyalaya, a 66 KV power sub-station, a community health centre and a government senior secondary school.

Prakash today said the villagers would not allow dumping of municipal waste close to the village.

Parveen, a villager, said that foul smell emanates from the dump and is adversely affecting the health of the villagers. BKU activists and many residents of the village have launched a dharna against the practice.

Deputy Commissioner S S Phulia said the municipality had signed a contract with the panchayat to use an open area located away from the residential area to dump domestic waste.

Sarpanch Kiran Bala, who is facing the wrath of villagers, said the panchayat had signed a two-year contract with the MC to dump domestic garbage in a spacious 30 ft area near the village.

She said after the landfill is filled, the MC had to put 3 ft layer of soil on the dump yard. The sarpanch said the contract would expire on September 23.

She said the panchayat would like to extend the agreement till the dump yard spread over about 5 acres was not filled.

However, the villagers are of the view that the sarpanch did not took them in confidence before signing the contract. They demanded a probe against the sarpanch.

Domestic waste from Kurukshetra will be treated at an upcoming treatment plant in adjoining Ambala district in near future, Thanesar MLA Subhash Sudha said.

The project will be capable of treating municipal waste generated from Ambala and Kurukshetra, he said.

Sudha said the site in Mathana will be exhausted in another six months and the Thanesar Municipal Council, comprising Kurukshetra city and adjoining rural pockets, will have to look for another place to dump the waste.

Due to the rigid stand taken by the villagers, the Municipal Council has found itself in a tight situation as over 70 tonnes of garbage collected by its dumpers from the town need to be disposed off daily.

Executive Officer, Municipal Council, B N Bhatrisaid that garbage would be dumped at Mathana pit till expiry of the agreement.

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Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy today alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was creating confusion over holding early Assembly elections in the state.

"KCR and his family are enacting dramas every day on early polls. They are making new announcements every day, thus trying to create confusion. Their tactics will not work.

Congress is ready to face elections even if they are heldtomorrow. Victory is ours and we are forming the next government," a party release quoted Reddy as saying in a tele-conference with party's booth committee presidents.

Reddy claimed that the tall promises and fake assurances made by the TRS government during the last four years has collapsed.

"Fearing that the TRS leaders would now be questioned by people on the streets of Telangana for their failures, KCR is apparently seeking fresh elections, Reddy said.

Legislative Assembly polls in the state are scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year.

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The father of a newborn, who died after an ambulance carrying the baby got stuck in a traffic jam allegedly caused by a rally of the state Congress unit, has lodged a complaint at the Kundli police station.

The child died at the PGIMS, Rohtak, on Wednesday after the ambulance was allegedly stuck for over 30 minutes during a cycle rally of Haryana Pradesh Congress chief Ashok Tanwar in Sonipat district.

The baby's father, Jitendra, lodged a complaint yesterday, the police said.

Police station in-charge Bir Singh said Jitendra did not name anyone in the complaint.

In his complaint, Jitendra has alleged that the ambulance was not equipped with oxygen facilities. He wanted to take his son to the hospital at the earliest, but could not do so due to the jam, Singh added.

Whoever is responsible for the jam, strict action will be taken against them, he said, adding that an investigation is underway.

Additional superintendent of police Rajiv Deshwal said he will be leading a special investigation team (SIT) that has been constituted for a probe into the matter.

A case has been filed under section 304A (causing death by rash or negligent act) of the IPC and section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Sonepat CMO Dr Jaswant Punia said the baby was born premature at seven months due to which his internal organs were not fully developed.

The baby was alive when he reached the civil hospital here. He was administered oxygen and referred to PGIMS, Rohtak, where he died during treatment.

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The opposition Congress today staged a walk out from the state Assembly during Question Hour to protest the rejection of an adjournment motion on the issue of drug menace, mafia raj and deteriorating law and order in the state.

As the House assembled on the second day of the Monsoon session today, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri raised the issue, saying the Speaker should give a ruling on the notice of adjournment motion submitted under Rule 67 by Congress members Ram Lal Thakur and Asha Kumari.

However, Speaker Rajiv Bindal said the adjournment motion referred to three different issues, including drug menace, law and order, and mafia raj, but under Rule 67, only one issue may be discussed.

At this, the opposition leader argued and insisted for a discussion, but the Speaker did not agree.

The opposition members then started to raise slogans in the House.

Subsequently, they staged a walkout during the Question Hour.

Later, replying to a question on the Congress walk out, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said his government was not running away from any discussion but the opposition needed to raise them under appropriate House rules.

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Congress MLA from Manipur Yamthong Haokip was arrested today by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a missing arms case, according to an official statement.

The NIA is probing the case pertaining to theft of 56 pistols and 58 magazines from the Director General (of Police) pool armoury located within the premises of 2nd Manipur Rifles Battalion, Imphal.

These weapons went missing between 2016 and early 2017.

"?Yamthong Haokip was arrested today (August 24, 2018) for his involvement in procuring police pistols illegally and distributing them to different terrorist groups to wage war against the State," the NIA said in the statement.

Haokip, a member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Manipur's Saikul, was produced before a special court in Imphal. He has been remanded to judicial custody, the probe agency said.

"Owing to his recent illness, the NIA judge ordered jail authorities to admit him in a government hospital," it said.

?During investigation by the NIA, one of the missing pistols, was recovered at Mantri Pukhri, Imphal on July 30, 2018 in the search conducted at the residence of Haokip besides other incriminating articles, the statement said.

During investigation, sufficient material and other evidence has been collected which established the complicity of the MLA in the case, it said.

The NIA has recovered 14 weapons till date in the case and the investigation is continuing.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said that his party would happily co-operate with the BJP if they wish to pass the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.

Speaking during an interaction programme at the prestigious London School of Economics, the 48-year-old leader said that he has sent a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I have sent a message to the Prime Minister, the day he wishes to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, entire Congress party is happy to co-operate with BJP," Gandhi said.

The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Indian Parliament's upper house Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, but has been stalled in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress chief during the occasion also stated that quality of debate in Parliament has deteriorated in the last few decades.

"The quality of debate in the same Parliament in 50s & 60s was high, but if you notice the level of debate in the Indian Parliament today, the quality has decreased. This is because the MPs don't have the power to make laws," said Gandhi.

Gandhi said that over the years minorities have progressed.

"If you look at the history of India for the last 70 years, you would understand that more minorities are able to move forward," said Gandhi.

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The first-ever Humboldt penguin chick born in the country has died within a week of its birth.

The birth of baby penguin at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, also called Byculla Zoo, on Independence Day had brought much cheer, it being the first penguin birth in the country.

In a statement, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said despite best-possible care, the chick died on Wednesday night.

Autopsy report revealed that there were anomalies such as "yolk sac retention" and liver dysfunction which caused the death, it said.

After two penguins at the zoo, Molt (male) and Flipper (female), mated, Flipper laid a single egg on July 5, and it hatched successfully on August 15.

"Despite the parent penguins providing good care, the condition of the chick was found to be sinking. All efforts were made by the veterinary team to save it, but the chick was found dead on the night of August 22," the statement said.

The zoo authorities said the first three months are always crucial, and mortality rate of chicks in this period is 30 to 35 per cent.

Other penguins in the zoo were in good health, they said.

Eight penguins -- named Daisy, Dory, Donald, Bubbles, Flipper, Olive, Popeye and Molt (five of them female) -- were procured from Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea in July 2016.

Dory died in quarantine three months after the penguins were brought here because of bacterial infection.

Animal rights activists had slammed the BMC then, even moving the high court and alleging that conditions in India were not conducive for the species. But the high court refused to interfere.

The zoo authorities built special enclosure with appropriate temperature for the penguins. Since they were made available for public viewing, there has been a jump in the zoo's ticket revenue.

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A Delhi court would hear on August 31 the bail application of journalist Upendra Rai in a money laundering case related to alleged extortion and dubious financial transactions.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshrestra fixed the matter after the counsel appearing for Rai sought time to advance the arguments on the application.

In his bail application, Rai has claimed that he was not required for further custodial interrogation and no purpose will be served by keeping him in further custody.

The application said that Delhi-based scribe was ready to abide by any condition imposed by the court.

Rai, currently in judicial custody, had denied before the court all the allegations levelled against him by the Enforcement Directorate.

The agency, through special public prosecutors N K Matta and Nitesh Rana, had claimed before the court that "top secret documents" were recovered from Rai's possession and the ED was trying to find out how he procured them.

It alleged that the accused had extorted money from various persons claiming he had information against them as he was a journalist.

Thousands of crores of rupees was extorted, the ED had alleged in its charge sheet filed through advocate A R Aditya.

Rai was arrested on June 8 by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the Tihar jail here, moments after he secured bail in a Central Bureau of Investigation case related to alleged extortion and dubious financial transactions.

He was arrested by the CBI on May 3 for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions, getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information, alleged extortion and manipulation of an Income Tax Department case against a Mumbai-bound businessman.

The ED had registered a money laundering case against him based on the CBI FIR.

In its FIR, the CBI has alleged that going by the value of transactions of over Rs one lakh during 2017, Rai's accounts received Rs 79 crore while Rs 78.51 crore was debited from it during the same period.

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Corporate Social Responsibility-related activities in the health sector need to "move beyond cities" to the deeper pockets of the country which have been deprived of healthcare, Union Minister of State for Health today said.

Addressing a gathering at a CSR award event organised by India Health and Wellness Summit Initiative here, she also said the government "wants the corporate sector to really supplement our efforts".

"But, I must say that we need to move forward, and take CSR to the remotest parts of the country, the deeper pockets, which have been more backward and more deprived of for a long time," Patel said.

Patel also asserted that the tendency to do good "must continue", irrespective of whether a company gets awarded or not for its CSR work.

"Various enterprises have been contributing to the society even before the CSR funding initiatives came up. But, the tendency to do good must continue," she said.

The minister in her address also outlined the vision and efforts of the Centre in taking to the poorest and the needy.

"As announced by our Prime Minister from the Red Fort, our Jan Aarogya Abhiyan is all set to be rolled out in September, which seeks to cater to each and every aspect of healthcare," she said.

Ayushman Bharat is the flagship initiative under which 1.5 lakh primary centres across the country would be transformed into "wellness centres".

"Earlier they (primary centres) were just seen as points of maternity care and delivery, but now they will turned into facilities offering a complete package of 12 different services, that will include ENT, dental and geriatric care, management of communicable disease such as as and malaria," she said.

"They will also have facilities for screening for non-commumicable diseases, and hypertension, as well as three types of -- oral, cervical and breast, and and tuberculosis," the minister said.

For Ayushman Bharat, we are also going to have largee-scale deployment of digital tools.

Union minister also emphasised that CSR funds should be taken to remotest villages which need attention.

(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.)
Delay in reaching the hospital caused the death of a newborn after an ambulance carrying the baby allegedly got stuck in a traffic jam because of a Congress rally, the investigation report ordered by the state government revealed today.

The child died soon after reaching PGIMS at Rohtak on Wednesday as the ambulance was stuck for "20 to 30 minutes" due to the cycle rally of Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar in Sonipat district, the report said.

Prepared by director general of the state's health department Satish Agarwal, the report was submitted to Health Minister Anil Vij today.

"It was found that the ambulance was stuck in traffic for about 20 to 30 minutes due to jam caused by the cycle rally of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Chief, Dr Ashok Tanwar," the report said.

Vij had yesterday instructed Agarwal to form a special investigation team to probe the matter and submit a report at the earliest.

He had also demanded police action while raising the issue with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The health minister said the members of the committee included deputy civil surgeon and senior medical officer who thoroughly investigated the matter.

"The committee has informed in its report that all documents were obtained and statements of the ambulance driver, fleet manager and paediatrician were recorded," he said.

"On the basis of these evidence, the main reason for the death of the newborn was delay in reaching hospital," he added.

He said that it was mentioned in the report that a call was received at Sonipat office of National Ambulance Service for an ambulance from Divya Hospital, Maniyari Pyau at 11.21 am to refer a newborn to Civil Hospital in Sonipat.

"The hospital management sent the ambulance from the community health centre Badkhalsa at 11.22 am which reached Divya hospital within 10 minutes," he said.

As per report, it takes 15 minutes to reach Civil Hospital from Divya Hospital, but on Wednesday the ambulance got delayed.

"Thereafter, the newborn was taken to a Special Newborn Care Unit where doctors found that the child was in critical condition with low heartbeat," he said.

The newborn was was then referred to PGIMS, Rohtak where he died during treatment, Vij said.

The minister further said that an FIR was registered by the police as he assured action against the guilty after a thorough probe.

Tanwar had taken out a 'Haryana Bachao Parivartan Lao' bicycle rally near Kundli village on the NH 1 targeting the BJP over the Rafale deal.

The Congress leader had yesterday tweeted that the infant's father had said the child died as the ambulance was not equipped with oxygen cylinders, paramedical staff etc.

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The Delhi unit of the BJP today took an urn carrying the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a procession through the city.

Scores of BJP leaders and workers participated in the 'Asthi Kalash Yatra', chanting slogans of "Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Vajpayee ji amar rahenge" (Till the sun and moon stay, so will Vajpayee).

The procession, led by BJP unit chief Manoj Tiwari, began from the party's Pant Nagar office and will conclude in Delhi Cantt, party leaders said.

Several senior party leaders, including Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel, Meenakshi Lekhi and Vijender Gupta, participated in the yatra which passed through Paharganj, Karol Bagh and R K Puram.

Ashes of the late prime minister, who died on August 16 after prolonged illness, are being taken out in all districts and will be immersed in rivers across the country.

Many immersion ceremonies were carried out yesterday. The BJP central leadership's plan to immerse the ashes in about 100 major rivers countrywide drew some criticism from the opposition Congress, which accused the BJP of trying to make political capital out of Vajpayee's death .

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The national capital has the "worst" kind of governance model which has been further complicated by involvement of multiple agencies of the Centre, Delhi government and local bodies, leading to a "confusing" situation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said today.

The governance is "scattered" among the Centre, Delhi government and the local bodies, Sisodia said at a conclave organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.

"There are a lot of governance-related disputes which make the model of governance in Delhi the worst of its kind," he said speaking on the subject 'strong states make strong nation'.

The AAP government in Delhi continues to be involved in a tussle with the Centre and the office of Lieutenant Governor over matters of governance, despite the Supreme Court order last month giving it executive powers in all the subjects except land, law and order and police.

"If you have to seek permission to hold an event, you will have to first determine which agency to approach. There should be clarity on issues of governance otherwise the state becomes weak," he said.

The confusion in matters of governance leads to a confused state of mind which is not good for the stakeholders including the industry and business, the deputy chief minister said.

Businesses require a strong state to prosper, he added.

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A case has been registered against chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and four other members in relation to Deoria girls' shelter home case involving sexual exploitation of its inmates, police said today.

The FIR was registered on the written complaint of District Probation Officer (Deoria), Prabhat Kumar, they said.

"On the direction of director of women welfare department, the district probation officer gave written complaint against CWC chairman and four other members. An FIR has been lodged under various sections of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act and IPC," SP Deoria, N Kolanchi said.

On August 7, the Uttar Pradesh government had recommended a CBI probe into the Deoria shelter home case and also constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to ensure that there is no tampering of evidence.

The police had raided the Deoria shelter home at station road in Deoria on August 5 and had rescued 23 inmates.

The rescued inmates had told sleuths that they were used to be ferried out of the shelter home to Gorakhpur in two cars - a red one and a white one.

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Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today dismissed as 'imaginary', reports that he would resign and involve in working for the AIADMK, of which he is a coordinator.

He stated this while speaking to reporters at the airport here.

The Deputy Chief Minister did not elaborate.

Yesterday, he had reportedly said at the party executive meeting that he was ready to sacrifice his post as Deputy Chief Minister if the party members so desired and work to strengthen AIADMK.

On the prospects of AIADMK in the Tiruparakunram and Tiruvarur by-polls, he exuded confidence that the AIADMK would win hands down even if it contested alone or with alliance partners.

To a question on the decision of DMDK to fight the 2019 elections alone, Panneerselvam said it was their policy decision and added that the party should not deviate from its stand, he said.

Later, he visited a private hospital where his daughter is undergoing treatment for pancreatic problem.

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China's alleged refusal to extend the visa of an Indian-origin American journalist has led to a diplomatic spat with the US which expressed deep concern over the "extensive restrictions" on the media in the Communist nation.

Megha Rajagopalan, who worked for the US portal BuzzFeed.com, said her journalist visa was not extended by China, apparently due to her critical reporting on the volatile Xinjiang province.

The US Embassy, in a statement today, expressed concerned over foreign and domestic journalists facing excessive restrictions in China.

"The United States is deeply concerned that foreign and domestic journalists in China continue to face excessive restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs," the statement said, without directly referring to Rajagopalan's visa issue.

The Embassy listed delays in processing foreign journalist visas, travel restrictions and violence at the hands of local authorities among its concerns.

In an apparent reference to the number of Chinese journalists working in the US, the statement said that better access in China was necessary to "ensure reciprocity" for the open access Chinese media enjoys in America.

Beijing today took a serious exception to the US Embassy expressing concern over the media restrictions in China, with the statement drawing sharp reaction from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang.

"I have noted relevant report. The US embassy in China should know that it should earnestly abide by the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, refrain from activities inconsistent with the status of the embassy and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries," he said.

"As for the foreign journalist mentioned by the US Embassy in China, I said yesterday that she is not a resident foreign correspondent in China. As for issues related to visa issuance between China and the United States, the US embassy in China should be well aware of international practices," Lu said.

This is not the first time that a foreign journalist has been denied a new visa in China. Earlier, Beijing had not renewed the visas for other journalists, including that of Al Jazeera television and a French magazine, for their reporting on Xinjiang.

Rajagopalan, who has now been appointed as the world correspondent for BuzzFeed News, based in the Middle East, in a series of tweets, said "It is bittersweet to leave Beijing after spending six wonderful and eye-opening years as a journalist there.

"In May, China's Foreign Ministry declined to issue me a new journalist visa. They say this is a process thing, we are not totally clear why," she tweeted.

In another tweet last month, Megha highlighted her story on "how China's sprawling surveillance state recruits, threatens and intimidates Muslim Uighurs into spying for Beijing and staying silent even in Europe and the United States. My latest, based on first-hand accounts, text messages and audio recordings."



China blames the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for the violent attacks in the province and spreading Islamic militancy.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCC) said it found treatment to Rajagopalan "extremely regrettable and unacceptable for a government that repeatedly insists it welcomes foreign media to cover the country."



"We are attempting to get clarity from the Foreign Ministry on its reasoning for effectively ejecting a credentialed foreign journalist from China," the FCC said in statement.

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South Africa's government said today it had summoned the top US diplomat in the country to "convey the unhappiness of the people" over President Donald Trump's tweet about alleged white-owned farm seizures and the "large scale killing of farmers."



In a statement, South Africa said it told US Charge d'Affaires Jessye Lapenn it was "disappointed" over the failure to use available diplomatic channels.

South Africa's government has said Trump's tweet was based on "false information" and served "only to polarize debate on this sensitive and crucial matter."



The country is in the middle of a racially charged debate over land reform, a lawful process that seeks to correct the legacy of decades of white-minority rule that stripped blacks of their land.

Nearly a quarter-century after the end of apartheid, white South Africans, who comprise about 8 per cent of the population, own more than 70 percent of the private agricultural land.

In July, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the ruling African National Congress party would amend the constitution so the state could start to expropriate land without compensation to speed up the process of land redistribution, but that has not yet happened and no land has been seized.

A fringe group of the white minority claims land reform will inspire violent attacks, though experts say farm attacks reflect the country's generally high crime rate and are on the decline.

Claims of "genocide" against white South Africans, however, have been picked up by some white nationalists in the US, and leaders of a right-wing South African group travelled to the US in May to lobby officials about the alleged targeting of white farmers.

Trump's tweet yesterday followed a Fox segment claiming South Africa had started seizing white-owned farms.

The tweet was quickly lambasted by many in South Africa, with one top ruling party official, Zizi Kodwa, telling the Associated Press that Trump has never experienced apartheid and doesn't know its legacy of stark inequality.

Later yesterday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the administration's position was that land expropriation without compensation "would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path."



Nauert toned down Trump's language suggesting that massive land seizures were underway and did not repeat the president's suggestion that large numbers of white South African farmers had been killed.

Trump's tweet did find support among some South Africans, while some farmers spoke out about their security concerns.

"We try very hard not to go and live in a walled security area somewhere, but it costs a lot of money in the first place to have the necessary security," said Leon Sholtz, a farmer in Broederstroom in North West province.

"It is fact that we have lost four of our neighbours in the last 10 to 12 years due to farm murders. ... I think it is something that the government should look into and try and stop as soon as possible.

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The barking of a dog, belonging to a member of the Dalit community, on a group of inebriated Jat youths who were passing through the village was the trigger for the Mirchpur Dalit killings, according to the Delhi High Court.

The incident was described in the court's 209-page verdict in which it convicted 33 Jats for the crime.

It noted that the incident dates back to the evening of April 19, 2010, when a group of Jat youths were returning through the Mirchpur village and a villager's dog barked at them to which the Jats took an offence and started throwing stones at the pet.

When the villager and his nephew came out and objected, they were threatened by the Jats with dire consequences. An altercation broke out which was somehow defused by the villager after which the youths left, the judgement noted.

After this, the Jat community members asked the dog owner to apologise to avoid further problems. When he and his neighbour reached the house of one of the accused, they were severely beaten up.

One of them suffered serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital. He also lodged a complaint with the local police.

The next day, that is April 20, 2010, a large number of youths from the Jat community gathered in the village, leading to apprehensions of an attack among the Dalit community, it noted.

On the fateful morning of April 21, 2010, one of the accused while passing near the village had allegedly threatened some of the Dalit youths of burning down their houses which led to another verbal altercation between the two parties.

Following this, a false alarm was raised by the Jats that the accused had been beaten by the Dalits.

The judgement noted that after some time, a large number of Jats, armed with 'lathis', jellies, stones, oil cans and petrol came to the village and started pelting stones towards the Dalit residents. Initially there were 100 to 150 members of Jat community, but later this number went up to 300 to 400.

The Dalit community retaliated by throwing stones, brickbats, and whatever they could lay their hands on. However, they were outnumbered.

Meanwhile, one of the accused came to the village and had allegedly asked all the men of the Dalit community to assemble at a place. While the men were away, the Jats set fire to their houses.

On hearing the cries of women family members, the Dalit men ran towards their houses and saw the Jat mob burning the houses, including that of victim Tara Chand, it noted.

His daughter succumbed to the burn injuries in the house and he was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment.

In the incident, 51 persons belonging to the Balmiki community received injuries and 18 of their properties were burnt. There was large-scale rioting and looting of the properties.

The residents had to flee the village and take shelter at a farm house.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ED again questioned former finance minister P Chidambaram for about six hours today in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case, officials said.

Sources said Chidambaram's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he appeared before the investigating officer (IO) of the case at the Enforcement Directorate's office here.

The questioning went on for about six hours, they said.

While the CBI has filed a charge sheet in this case involving the politician in July, the ED is expected to file its own prosecution complaint within the next fortnight.

It is understood that the agency wanted to put a fresh set of questions to him regarding the deal and hence had asked him to appear.

The agency had earlier recorded statements of officials who were in FIPB when this deal took place, and it is understood that Chidambaram would have been confronted with these versions.

Some specific queries on the circumstances and procedures adopted by the now-defunct Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), while giving approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal during his tenure, were put to him earlier.

His son Karti has also been questioned by the ED in this case twice.

Chidambaram, after a similar questioning by the ED in this case in June, had said that what he told the agency was already recorded in government documents. He also said that there is no FIR, yet a probe had been initiated.

"More than half the time taken up by typing the answers without errors, reading the statement and signing it!," he had said in his tweet.

The Aircel-Maxis cases pertains to grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to firm M/S Global Communication Holding Services Ltd in 2006 for investment in Aircel.

The Supreme Court had on March 12 directed investigating agencies -- the CBI and the ED -- to complete their probe into the 2G spectrum allocation cases, including the Aircel Maxis alleged money laundering case, in six months.

The agency had said that the FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March 2006 by Chidambaram even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The ED is investigating "the circumstances of the FIPB approval granted (in 2006) by the then finance minister".

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of USD 800 million (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, the CCEA was competent to grant the approval.

"However, the approval was not obtained from the CCEA," the ED had alleged.

The agency said its probe revealed that the case of the said FDI was "wrongly projected as an investment of Rs 180 crore so that it need not be sent to the CCEA to avoid a detailed scrutiny".

The ED is probing the Aircel-Maxis deal under the PMLA after taking cognisance of a 2011 CBI FIR in the case.

The senior Chidambaram had earlier described the ED action in this case as a "crazy mixture of falsehoods and conjectures" and said that the charge sheet filed by probe agencies was rejected by the court.

However, the agencies maintained that the FIR in the case had not been quashed.

In September last year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 1.16 crore of Karti and a firm allegedly linked to him in connection with this case.

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UAE's national carrier Emirates has said it will fly over 175 tonnes of relief material to Kerala, which is facing the deadliest deluge in nearly 100 years.

Unprecedented floods due to incessant rain have created havoc in the state causing immeasurable misery and devastation. As per the official records, since August 8, over 231 people have died and more than 10 lakh have been displaced.

"Emirates SkyCargo will carry flood relief cargo of over 175 tonnes to Kerala, India, joining the UAE community in their support of the people of Kerala," the airlines said in a statement.

The airline said over a dozen flights will transport the relief goods, which have been donated by various UAE-based businesses and organisations, to Thiruvananthapuram - the nearest online Emirates station to the areas most affected by the flood.

"The goods, including lifesaving boats, blankets and dry food items, will be handed over to the local flood relief and aid organisations for distribution," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP leader and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar has donated Rs Rs 20 lakh for flood relief.

"I have donated Rs 10 lakh to PM relief fund as a help to the flood affected areas of India. The amount includes my pay for the month and MP fund, BJP MP from Kangra constituency said in a press release today.

The release said that Kumar has also donated Rs 10 lakh to HP government as help for flood relief.

He said that the floods are devastating this year, but the only relief is that public is coming forward in large number to help the sufferers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The infighting in the AAP's Punjab unit escalated today with the rebel MLAs shifting to the back benches in the Assembly, blaming the other faction for getting the seating order changed.

The new Leader of Opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema, had allegedly asked the Vidhan Sabha secretariat to shift the seats of rebel MLAs Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Kanwar Sandhu from the first row.

But there is no official word from the secretariat that the seats have been changed.

Cheema had replaced Khaira as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly after a controversial decision by their Aam Aadmi Party.

The Khaira group had then revolted.

Khaira and seven other MLAs in his faction sat in the back row as the Monsoon session of the Assembly began today.

The Aam Aadmi Party has 20 MLAs in Punjab.

While Khaira accused Cheema of getting the seating order changed, the new Leader of Opposition said nothing like that had happened.

"I want to say that Sukhpal Khaira has been allotted a seat in the front, you can check yourself, Cheema told reporters.

Now where he chooses to sit, we have no control on this," he said.

But Khaira claimed, By changing the seating order, they have displayed their narrow thinking."



They want to humiliate their own colleagues before the people and they have done so," he told reporters.

"Our colleagues have decided that we should be seated in the back rows and we happily accept this," Khaira claimed.

Hours before the session began, Cheema sent senior party legislator H S Phoolka and three other MLAs to persuade Khaira to unitedly take on the ruling Congress in the Punjab Assembly.

On Cheema's unity efforts, Khaira said, "They say one thing on camera and do the opposite.

Khaira said Phoolka told him before the session that all AAP MLAs should adopt one strategy in the House over the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on incidents of desecration of sacred books.

Asked if his faction will go along with the Cheema group outside the House to take on the state government, Khaira said, "They are welcome to join us because 99.9 per cent of the cadres are with us.

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The family members of an Indian national lodged in police custody in Bangladesh after being allegedly abducted and taken there have sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's help in bringing him back.

Phalgun Arengh (66) was abducted from a Meghalaya village and was stuck in the neighbouring country for over three months now, a police official said.

Confirming the presence of the man in Bangladesh, West Garo Hills SP MGR Kumar said since the matter involved a foreign country, the BSF, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the IG, Special Branch, were being consulted.

"We are hoping for a solution to the matter soon," Kumar said.

Arengh, a resident of Hatimara village in West Garo Hills, had been abducted by Bangladeshi miscreants from his residence on May 24, he said.

Subsequently, an FIR was lodged by his wife, Ponji K Sangma, at the Purakhasia Outpost in this matter.

The Achik Indigenous Justice Initiative Forum (AIJIF), a social organisation, which visited Arengh's family, has recently sought help from the prime minister in getting the man back home.

"We want to bring to your notice that an innocent man, an Indian citizen, was victimised by criminals from Bangladesh and is still facing immense hardship and pain for the past three months," Alex K Sangma, AIJIF director, said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.

Arengh was able to escape his captors on June 2 and had reached Christianpara area in Bangladesh, he claimed.

"He was helped by villagers of Christianpara and handed over to the Bangladesh police in a very poor physical condition. He is in custody of the Sribordi Police Station in Sherpur district of Bangladesh," Sangma said.

Arengh's family is currently in Bangladesh trying to bring him back.

Coordinator of the NGO, Chenang G Momin, said, "It becomes an imperative responsibility of the Indian government to intervene in the matter and bring him back to India through diplomatic channels by conveying the same to its Bangladeshi counterpart as early as possible.

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Fish traders today resumed full-scale business across Meghalaya, a day after a 30-day ban on fish import was lifted by the state government.

The food safety authorities had enforced a ban on sale, storage and distribution of fish from Assam, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal following detection of formalin in imported samples.

Formalin, a toxic solution of formaldehyde, is chiefly used to preserve biological specimens.

The prohibition was initially imposed for 15 days on July 23, but was later extended till August 22 in view of the "fear psychosis" among the consumers, Food Safety Deputy Commissioner S N Sangma told PTI.

"The government has decided not to extend the ban any longer but would keep a close eye on the quality of products being sold to the consumers," Sangma said.

Of the 92 samples tested at a Assam-based laboratory before July 23, 12 tested positive for formalin, Food Safety Commissioner P W Ingty said.

"The government will take a stricter call on the matter in case of fresh detection of unsafe chemicals in fish in the days to come," he said.

Welcoming the state government's decision to lift the ban, Khasi Jaintia Wholesaler and Retailer Association (KJFWRA) president Mitchel Wankhar said they would abide by the strictures of food safety authorities.

"We do not want to put the health of fish-eaters at risk. All traders here have decided to go by the strictures of the food safety authorities," Wankhar said.

Meghalaya Fisheries Minister Comingone Ymbon had earlier said that the state imports about 21,000 MT fish, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam.

"The state produces about 12,330 MT during fiscal 2016-17, while the total requirement stands at 33,000 MT annually," he had said.

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A former employee at the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) was among six persons arrested for carrying out Rs 50 lakh scholarship scam by manipulating the personal details of students at the training centre, police said.

The CCRT is an autonomous organisation under Union Ministry of Culture.

The accused identified as Sandip Kumar (33) was the mastermind who along with Vishnu Prasad Tiwari (30), Jay Prakash Pal (19), Prosanta Mondal (41), Koushik Sinha Roy (35) and Chandra Prakash (26) used to run the scam



The role of everyone else apart from Kumar was just to provide their bank details which Kumar used for his fraudulent activities. The people used to get a commission in return of giving their bank details.

Kumar and Tiwari were arrested on August 19 while rest of the people were taken into custody yesterday, police added.

In a complaint filed by G C Joshi, the Director of CCRT alleged that the institute had received many complaints from the selected scholarship awarded children and their parents regarding non-receipt of scholarship amounts, Rajiv Ranjan, Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) said.

Joshi alleged that a scholarship fraud to the tune of Rs 37.25 lakhs was committed by ex-employee Sandip Kumar, who had worked as a programmer on contractual basis for the last about 7 years in CCRT and was dealing with all IT related queries, he said.

CCRT provides scholarships to young children in the age group of 10 to 14 years in various artistic fields at the national level, police said.

Kumar manipulated soft copy of the details of scholarship holders and amount payable statements and used them fraudulently by inserting his details or with details of his relatives or acquaintances, the senior officer said.

A statement indicating the names, bank details and amount paid fraudulently to 16 individuals by Kumar, as ascertained from the CCRT Bankers are under scrutiny, the officer added.

During interrogation, Kumar told police that he joined CCRT in the month of August 2011 as a computer programmer and was later attached with account section where he used to prepare a list of scholarship granted to students, Ranjan said.

The scholarship list contained details of parents or guardian's name and bank account details. Kumar used to transfer the scholarship amount to bank accounts of his associates.

He did it on a regular basis and roped in his family members, friends, associates and also a co-worker for the same after offering them a certain percentage as commission, the officer added.

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A fresh plea has been moved in the Supreme Court today challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35-A that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

The petitioner, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) 'Ikkjut Jammu', sought quashing of the provision which has been challenged by several others including civil society groups, individuals. There have also been petitions supporting the retention of Article 35-A of the Constitution.

The fresh petition, filed through advocate Sumit R Sharma, says that Article 35-A furthers "two nation theory which is against the theory of secularism".

"It is an enabling provision for the creation of a theological state within secular territory of India. It ensures that the character of J&K's Legislative Assembly shall remain Islamic," the petition stated.

It added that Article 35-A provides absolute powers to the Jammu and Kashmir's legislative assembly to infringe the fundamental rights of Indian citizens.

Earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) had moved the apex court in support of Article 35-A.

The NC had said that the Article serves as an important link between the state and the Union and its people and serves to maintain a fine balance of constitutional federalism.

The apex court is already seized of a batch of petitions in the matter, including the one filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' seeking quashing of the article, which confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC's intervening application, filed through advocate Adeeba Mujhaid, had sought intervention in the 'We the Citizens' petition, saying that the challenge raised in the pending writ petition suffers from gross delays and latches and being raised after more than 60 years and cannot be maintainable.

"Any attempt to tinker with the said balance would ruin the fabric of the federal structure envisaged under the Constitution and jeopardise the avowed special status guaranteed to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, thereby landing a devastating fatal blow to the state and its probe," the petition filed by NC through its provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani had said.

On July 31, CPI(M)'s J-K unit had moved the apex court and said in its petition that it was of the unequivocal opinion that the Article shall in "no circumstance be annulled, modified or repealed".

On May 14, Attorney General K K Venugopal had informed the apex court that the Centre's interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir is currently discussing with all stakeholders the "sensitive" issues relating to the challenge to Article 35-A of the Constitution.

Dineshwar Sharma, former director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was appointed as the Centre's interlocutor for the state on October 23 last year.

Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of J&K and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.

The provision, which leads such women from the state to forfeit their right over property, also applies to their heirs.

Several interlocutory petitions have also been filed in support and against of Article 35-A by various individuals and civil society groups.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir government through its standing counsel Shoeb Alam had referred to two judgments by the constitution benches of the apex court and said the issues raised in the pleas challenging Article 35-A were already covered by these verdicts.

The state government, while defending Article 35-A, had cited two verdicts by the constitution benches of the Supreme Court in 1961 and 1969 which had upheld the powers of the President under Article 370(1)(d) of the Constitution to pass constitutional orders.

The article was incorporated in the Constitution in 1954 by an order of president Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the then Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet.

It empowers the state legislature to frame any law without attracting a challenge on the grounds of violation of the right to equality of people from other states or any other right under the Constitution.

The apex court had on August 14 last year said a constitution bench may examine whether Article 35-A was gender-biased and violative of the basic structure of the Constitution.

The state government had earlier said the issue has already been "prima facie settled" by a full bench of the High Court in its verdict in 2002.

In the case, the high court had, by a majority view, held that a daughter of a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir marrying a non-permanent resident will not lose the status of a permanent resident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chances of getting re-elected in the 2019 elections have slipped from 99 per cent in 2017 to 50 per cent, says economic analyst Ruchir Sharma, noting that a fragmented opposition is showing signs of coming together.

The BJP won with 31 per cent vote share in 2014 because the opposition was fragmented, seat share was disproportionate and its vote was concentrated, said the New York based columnist and economist who is working on his new book Democracy on Road.

The 2019 elections are going to be a complete toss up. If I was a betting person, this time last year I would say chances of Modi getting re-elected were 99 to 1, which basically means it was a done deal yes, it appeared that way after the UP election wave.

However, the odds have shifted dramatically. Now it is a 50:50 election and a lot is going to come down to alliances again. The opposition, from being totally fragmented, is now actually showing signs of coming together



that's India for you, nobody likes if it becomes one-sided, Sharma told PTI in an exclusive interview.

The economist has a keen eye on world politics, especially India. His new book, which is expected to hit the stands in February ahead of the 2019 elections, claims to provide an insightful account of how Indian democracy works, using elections as a lens.

Sharma, who has covered two dozen elections in India since 1990s, recalls the 2004 elections and argues that the gap in popularity between then prime minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the opposition is similar to the situation between Modi and the present opposition today.

You (BJP) won with 31 per cent vote share because the opposition was fragmented, seat share was disproportionate and the BJP's vote was concentrated.

And even against Vajpayee, when the opposition began to come together, the same question was asked, who will become the PM, if not Vajpayee' and you had an accidental PM, said Sharma who earlier wrote the New York Times bestseller The Rise and Fall of Nations".

In 2004, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) conceded defeat and the Congress returned to power with Manmohan Singh being appointed prime minister.

Describing Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, as a microcosm of India, Sharma said if there is an alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party in the state, they will sweep the elections. Otherwise, it will be the BJP, as simple as that.

According to Sharma, the vote in Uttar Pradesh is still decided on the basis of caste.

... it is just about how the caste and arithmetic are going to work depending on the alliance in that way, nothing has changed there in past 30 years. Because the question Who are you going to vote' in UP is still along caste lines, if you are an upper caste you will vote BJP, Dalit then Mayawati everybody there laughed when I asked them about development being an issue, he said.

Of 26 election trips that he has taken across the country, six or seven have been in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Bijnor, a small town in the state, where he spent some of his childhood will make the first and concluding chapter of "Democracy on Road".

This is how I try to go the whole circle in the book, Sharma said, adding that he plans to do one more election trip for the book during the upcoming state election in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

To be published by Penguin Random House India, the book is touted to be a must read before the 2019 elections.

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Celebrated designer Gaurang took fashion enthusiasts on a cinematic journey as he showcased his new collection, "Anupama", on the third day of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2018.

With models sashaying down the runway on songs like "Piya aiso jeeya main", "Mudd mudd ke na dekh", "Dil ki nazar se" and "Aye dil hai mushkil", and portraits of yesteryear divas Madhubala, Nutan, Meena Kumari and Vyjayanthimala shining in the background, the designer brought alive the bygone era in a magical way.

The inspiration for the collection came from Gaurang's work on Telugu superstar Savitri's biopic "Mahanati". He had recreated 100 hand-woven looks for the biopic dating back to the '50s to depict the female actors' fashion grandeur.

"This collection is in an extension of my work on 'Mahanati'. Towards the end of the film, I decided that I would work on recreating the '50s looks that includes every detail of textile, designs, textures, and colours. I incorporated everything I learned during the making of the film," Gaurang told PTI.

"Anupama" was a collection of 40 hand-woven garments, including saree, ghagra, and anarkali crafted to perfection in traditional Benarasi.

It took Gaurang eight months to create the whole range which was dominated by pastel shades and colours like wine, red and blue.

The designer's new range may have drawn inspiration from cinema, but he said he has no plans to create costumes for a Hindi film unless the movie matches his aesthetics.

"I won't be making clothes according to the movie, the film has to be according to my clothes. 'Mahanati' was all about sarees. It was the continuation of the work I do. The film has to suit my design sensibilities," he said.

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About 250 doctors working in the Government Hospital here tried to besiege the district Collectorate today to press their demands, including pay and promotion on par with the Central government doctors, police said.

The doctors holding placards raised slogans seeking dearness allowances and super-grade pay that was delayed for the past seven years, the police said.

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[Note: Be sure to see the later "update" at the end of the main post, which changes the tenor of this post; the fears expressed in the post were wrong. Ed.]

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Sir Thom

"First off" as they saya locution I hate"first" does just exactly as much work as "first off," making the "off" in "first off" 100% redundant, superfluous, unnecessary and uncalled for*but it's what the thirtysomething kids say and I like to pretend to be hipfirst off, as I was saying, noble Sir Thom Hogan has an excellent analysis of the new Nikon Z's. Skip the first partthe article is camouflaged in the beginning as just one more article describing features, but it's notand start reading where the little line section break (I mean the section break is a line) occurs, where it begins with "If we ignore the Nikon 1 for a moment...."

Read from there on. If you're interested in the new cameras, you won't want to miss it.

Second off, here's what would worry me about Nikon Z. First off, they introduced a whole new lensmountthis is really epochal for Nikon, that is if they mean itwith three native lenses.

Three.

Three. There's a Nikkor Z 2470mm /4 S ($996.95) (because, um, that's what Sony has), a Nikkor Z 35mm /1.8 S ($846.95), and a Nikkor Z 50mm /1.8 S ($596.95).

Are we happy yet? No we are not yet.

That doesn't seem like a big commitment, when there's only one more lens than there are cameras. Isn't Nikon supposed to be a lensmaking company? That's why I tried to put a brave face on it yesterday and emphasize the FTZ. But it worries me.

Once bitten, twice shy

Why would I be sensitized to this? Well, it's partly Nikon's fault, because the company basically stopped making APS-C SLR primes about 27 years ago (in digital years). But it's also because of Sony. I was a relatively early-ish adopter of the NEX line (NEX-6, which I bought in 2013). At the time, Sony was glibly promising gobs of future support and buckets of future lenses for the NEX line. Then it caught the FF bug and developed the cameras Nikon's now copying, and those took off big-time, and all those promiseswell, a lot of them, anywaywent out the window.

It wasn't so much that there were no lenses for NEX. It was that Sony lost enthusiasm for the cause. And you could tell.

Nikon is supposed to be a lensmaking company.

You pick a camera, sez me, based on the lens line. It's the main reason why you would choose Fuji X or Micro 4/3. For that matter, it's the main reason why you would choose Nikon or Canon FF DSLRs! Heck, it's a good thing the D500 came along so late, or I would have had to buy one just to use the DX 1755mm /2.8G, a lervely lens I've always had the jones for. So, given that I like to use native lenses with camera bodies, not adapted ones, I'm suspicious of a launch that should be highly significant for the company but that includes a mere three new lenses.

But you know what really worries me? That 35mm.

With no mirror to clear and a shorter flange distance (the flange distance is the distance from the front surface of the lensmount ring to the sensor plane) and only a moderate wide-angle, there's no need to use a retrofocus lens design for a 35mm for the Z series. All else being equal, a moderately fast wide angle for a mirrorless camera should be smaller and lighter than a moderately fast wide angle for an SLR (and Nikon's G lens is relatively large already). And it should have fewer elements, because retrofocus designs require more elements than non-retrofocus ones.

There's no direct comparison to the Sony FE 35mm /2.8 ($798)different speedsbut the Sony lens is definitely designed for mirrorless and the A7[x] flange distance.

But the Z Nikkor /1.8 is heavier, and has the same number of elements, as the AF-S Nikkor 35mm /1.8G. And the same maximum aperture. And the same minimum focus distance. And a larger filter diameter, which makes zero sense from a lens design standpoint, although I'm no expert. And it's longer.

Does not compute.

Note the 'If...Then'

Does not compute...unless Nikon just warmed over its SLR lens for the new Z series and the new lens is the same basic design with some tweaks. They can't be identical, because there's a different number of groups. But that doesn't mean the new lens is all new, either.

I haven't been able to find block diagrams (cross sections) for the two lenses. So there's no conclusion to be drawn here. I'm not sounding any alarms. (I don't even actually know if the G lens is a retrofocus design; I'm just assuming.)

But if Nikon introduced a brand new lens mount, and there are only three initial lenses for it, and the company didn't even bother to design a standard wide angle that takes advantage of the shorter flange distance of the new Z system, which should be one of the new system's big inherent advantages then I would consider it a sign of corporate cynicism, as well as a lack of enthusiasm inside NikonI mean among the people who design the cameras and the lenses and determine the extent of the system as a wholefor FF mirrorless as a category. Are they going to pull a Sony?

Because one thing you look for when a company jumps into a whole new category is, of course, how enthusiastic they are about it.

Sir Roger

So I sent you to Thom at the beginning of this post. But the person I'm really waiting to hear from is Roger...Roger Cicala at Lensrentals. What I want to know is how much pride there is in that Z Nikkor 35mm. Because of course Nikon would do a good job on the cameras. The lenses are what will show us how much juice there is behind the concept. Is there still enough room behind the last element of the new 35mm for a flipping mirror? Is there sufficient excuse for it to cost $850? Roger will know that. Did Nikon throw together a warmed-over SLR lens as one of the three lances it's taking into battle to slay Sony with? Prithee, what say thee, Sir Roger?

It's not the question on everybody's lips, but it's where my thinking went last night. As usual, I know nothing.

Of course if you just want to use adapted lenses, this would not be much of a concern. But remember, you pick cameras for lenses, not the other way around.

Mike

*You see what I did there. As Craig Ferguson used to say, I amuse myself, and that's half the battle.

UPDATE: Here's the block diagram of the Nikkor Z 35mm /1.8 S:

This bears no discernible relationship to the design of the existing SLR lens. And here's the wide-open MTF graph for the same lens:

(Charts courtesy Nikon with thanks to Eamon Hickey)

This charts only the MTF wide open, not at any other aperture. The left-hand edge of the graph is the center of the image circle (superimposes with the center of the sensor). The x-axis is the image height (distance from the center) in millimeters. The edge of the horizontal dimension of the sensor is at about 18mm. The right-hand edge of the graph is the extreme corner of the image. On the y-axis, all you need to know is that 1 is perfect transfer, with no loss. The solid lines are for sagittal line pairs (lines parallel with the radius of the image circle) and the dotted lines represent meridional (also called tangential) line pairs (at right angles, or tangential, to the sagittal lines).

Note that all manufacturers have their own way of measuring transfer and their own standards for showing the information, and one chart seldom tells you everything. But since this is a manufacturer's chart, we can assume the target distance is at the optimum for the lens design. Also, Nikon isn't shirking the hard tests: the red lines at for 10 line pairs per millimeter and the blue lines for 30. (Some charts will show graphs for 5 and 20 lp/mm which naturally make the lens look a little better.)

Very generally, the lower frequency (red lines) reports on contrast and the blue on resolution; how close the solid and dotted lines are to being superimposed generally predicts "good," smooth bokeh.

You can't compare MTF charts from different sources directly, but regardless, this is an excellent result ("outstanding" would not be hyperbole) for a moderately fast moderate wide-angle prime at maximum aperture. It looks to be better than some quite fine moderate-speed 35mm's stopped down.



The lens design is considerably different than the AF-S 35mm /1.8G, and the MTF performance wide open is very substantially (I even want to say "radically") better. We'll have to await Roger's comments about sample variation and build quality, but I'm satisfied that the new lens has nothing to do with the SLR lens and should perform considerablyand visiblybetter wide open.

I feel much better now. Nikon is a lensmaking company! :-)

Here are Eamon's comments:

"Mike, I think you didn't fully hear the message that Nikon is screaming about the Z system: ultimate optical performance. They're making direct claims that the S-Line lenses will surpass all previous 35mm format lenses.

"I was at the launch yesterday and they said that the 35mm /1.8 you're talking about will set new standards of optical performance for its class, includingget thisachieving maximum resolution at full aperture across the entire image field.

"They are positioning the new 58mm NOCT as the Mona Lisa of camera lenses (excluding military/industrial specialty lenses etc.)

"So their aim point was not compactness, or efficiency, or frugalitytheir aim point was previously unknown levels of optical quality in general market camera lenses. And this will be their main differentiator for this systemthat's their primary answer to the "why buy a Nikon Z camera?" question.

"Now, you don't have to believe it, or want it, but that's the horse they are riding.

"I shot with the 35mm and the 2470mm at the launch (you can see some my pictures at Imaging-Resource). Both can produce wickedly sharp pictures, even wide open, but I didn't do the kind of comparison testing that would allow me to say 'yes, they are the best I've ever seen,' or 'no, Nikon is full of baloney.'

"Now, I'm not advocating for Nikon's choice here (ultimate optical quality is not actually my thing, so this value proposition doesn't really float my boat). I'm just trying to elucidate it; I think you've missed their point a bit. They had no desire to make a small symmetrical 35mm lens; they wanted to make the best performing 35mm /1.8 lens ever made for this format.

"And the last thing I'll say on that is that, whatever else one wants to say about Nikon, aiming for ultimate optical quality is entirely credible for them. They already make the highest precision lenses ever made in human history (for semiconductor lithography machines). Only Zeiss can say the same.

"I can't give away any more information at this point, but they may broaden their aim points as the Z system develops, and things like compactness and value for money may reappear on the horizon."

Eamon Hickey

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

Rick: "OK, Mike, I can see why you weren't flown to Tokyo (like the others), and likely won't be feted at the fiesta in NYC this weekend (with even more of the others). :-) "

Mike replies: The only photo-industry junket I was ever offeredParis and Rome no less, with hotels and meals compedI turned down. I never get offered anything, wonder why.

Charles Lanteigne: "That was my intuition when I saw these mock-up lensesit's like they just added an adapter in the back of DSLR lensesthough that may just be cosmetically throwing me off."

hugh crawford: "Firstly: first off is for things that are going off. Secondly: a lens designer could use the space taken up by the flipping mirror to straighten out the rays to make the lens more telecentric and add some more correction. Two elements and four surfaces would give a lens designer a lot to play with. It will be interesting to see the diagram of that 35mm."

Dave Van de Mark: "After declaring boldly yesterday I was going to buy a Z7plain, simple, periodI began to squirm later that afternoon. First, I noticed the word 'kit' being applied to the 247mm /4 lens. Second, I simply didnt see any fairly specific comments regarding initial impressions of the individual lenses.

"Until this morning when I read some brief DPReview comments. They were most impressed with the 50mm; had some quibbles about bokeh on the zoom; but had very disturbing comment regarding LoCa on the 35mm, which I was thinking of switching to. They were all declared 'sharp' which, in this day of age, is hard not to achieve! What concerns me more are all the other 'distortions' and flare characteristics they might have and those specs are what separates the great from the merely good. None of that info seems available yet from an independent reviewer. Im still very impressed with camera body and I now have access to an older AF-S G level 2470 /2.8 lens which I might try before plunking down for any of these initial lens offerings. This will give some time for more observations by many reviewers. When I was considering the Sony A7R, I was ready to go for some Loxia lenses which are known to be excellent and come in a wide range of focal lengths. Since Nikon wont publish specs for their new mount, chances of seeing Loxia quality manual lenses anytime soon are nil. So now, a day after launch, Im less sure about it all."

Dogman: "Yep. I was noticing the photo accompanying the previous article. That 35mm lens on the camera is kinda big in relation to the camera size. My Fuji 35mm /2 and 23mm /2 'Fujicrons' are kinda tiny in relation to...well, everything. Of course they're for an APS-C size sensor so I can understand why the FF sensor might need a larger lens. But I look at my clunky old Canon 35mm /2 (bought years ago for Canon film cameras) and it's not a big lens. Not at all.

"Yet when I look at these first three lenses Nikon is offering, I'm impressed. 50mm, 35mm and 2470mm zoom. Pretty much all I would ever need. And even I still have three beat-up old Nikkor lenses left over from my days with the F and F2. That's icing."

Oskar Ojala: "I handled the Z7 with the 35mm /1.8. It was not far off from handling a DSLR, definitely beefier than other mirrorless. Whether that's bad or not depends on the user. It did seem like a fine lens, but did not give any groundbreaking impression. That said, the price is so steep that one expects very high image quality. We'll see soon if that's the case."

mikegj: "The 'Update' diagram is interesting, but the inclusion of the 84 degree AOV indicator makes me wonder if a cut/paste error was made. 35mm AOV on FF is 63 degrees. 84 would be from a 24mm lens, or 35mm on a sensor somewhat larger than 24x36mm."

Mike replies: Hmm. Interesting. Here's the whole entry for the lens:

Thom Hogan: "I concur with Eamon. Overall, Nikon has sort of failed to clearly deliver the optical quality message in a way that everyone hears and understands. Some of that has to do with the first lenses: they seem more amateur in spec, which is a dissonance to the message, though they attain better than pro quality IMHO.

"The guys Nikon had do the lens shooting in prototype rave about the optical quality, but it's not being shown very well in Nikon's marketing (dare I say, 'as usual'?). As I wrote in another article (how many articles have I written this week? ;~), where you want to look for clues is in the NOCT information. I suspect that Nikon will try making a bigger optical message splash when they announce that lens. There's a ton of new tech, ideas, and features in that lens."

John McMillin: "They're all big, heavy lenses, for a camera that's also a brick. My ancient and antiquated Pentax K-1 is a half pound lighter than the Z7! And there's nothing like the excellent Limited primes or the rest of Pentax's legacy of small, high-quality lenses. But the real Nikon Man doesn't care. He'll bolt on a battery grip and never take it off. Let Olympus and Fuji make those little cameras for weak-wristed amateurs...the larger lens mount probably will never have a truly compact lens made for it. Even if the lens is short, it will have a large diameter, thus a lot of weight."
A 58-year old Hajj pilgrim from Tripura's Sipahijala district passed away at Mecca today following a cardiac arrest, a family member said.

Abdul Saiyad, a resident of Srimantapur village of Sipahijala, around 27km from here, had left for the pilgrimage site on July 26 along with 150 others from the state.

His son, Kamal Hussain, said Saiyad was taken to the hospital last night in Mecca after he complained of chest pain and uneasiness. He passed away this morning at 5.45am.

"We have found out from other Hajj pilgrims of Sonamura that my father breathed his last today at 5.45 am following a cardiac arrest," he said, adding that Saiyad was buried at a cemetery in Mecca.

When contacted, Tripura Haj Committee Chairman Md Jasim Uddin said he will be visiting the house of Saiyad tomorrow to pay his tribute.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Abdul Saiyad. I hope his family gets strength to cope with the loss," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madurai Bench of the Madras Madras High Court here today ordered notice to the union government on a plea of the Vedanta group, seeking to quash the notification rescinding duty exemption for imports for five years, ending 2020, following introduction of GST.

Justice Nisha Banu ordered the notice to the Centre and Revenue Intelligence Department.

Petitioner Janaki Ram submitted that after announcing the foreign trade policy for five years valid up to 2020, resciding of the duty concession cannot be done on imported raw materials under the Advanced Authorisation Scheme (AAS) with the duty-free entitlement, as the new GST has come into force.

He said Vedanta group had earned revenue of Rs 11.11 crore by exporting copper cathode, copper rods, phospheric acid and sulphuric acid and won government accolades for export achievements.

The company had also won the tag of a four-star export house by the government, he said.

The Vedanta group, which owns the Sterlite Copper Smelter Plant, was issued the AAS licence and had been exporting the finished goods also as per the scheme, he said.

As per the policy, duty-free concession was given to exporters who produced as well as traders who exported. Therefore, such a notification rescinding the duty concession was arbitrary and goes against the policy, he added.

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Scientists have catalogued over 30 ways that the sea supports human well-being, including providing a source of nutrition, supplying raw materials and supporting recreational activities.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool in the UK explored the different ways that European seas including North East Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea support and link to human wellbeing.

It is known that marine biodiversity supports human wellbeing in many ways and that people benefit from links between the flora and fauna of the sea and the 'ecosystem services'.

However, such an extensive catalogue of the links between marine ecosystems and human wellbeing has not previously existed.

The study found 31 different ecosystem services, including providing a source of nutrition through supply of seafood, providing raw materials, for example marine plants used in cosmetics, producing oxygen, providing natural flood defences and also providing opportunities for recreation, artistic inspiration and enhancement of spiritual wellbeing.

Some of these, like seafood, have significant economic value and others enrich our lives in other essential and non-essential ways.

"We rely on the sea in more ways than we often realise. Our study has tried to document all of these ways," said Fiona Culhane, a researcher with University of Liverpool.

"This is important because these ecosystem services rely on the condition of the biodiversity that supplies them. If we don't recognise this and protect biodiversity, we risk losing the benefits we get," said Culhane.

A key aspect of the study was the development of meaningful units in which to group marine biodiversity in relation to how they supply ecosystem services.

The service providing units (SPUs) developed include combinations of taxa with all habitats they spend time in.

"The development of meaningful service providing units allows managers to fully appreciate which aspects of biodiversity underpin the sustainable supply of services that humans rely on," said Leonie Robinson, principal investigator on the study published in the journal Ecological Applications.

"Without making the link between habitats and mobile marine taxa like whales and fish, it is likely that habitats that may seem unconnected or remote are missed when considering conservation," said Robinson.

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Continuing its crackdown on illicit liquor smuggling, Haryana Police today seized 1380 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 600 bottles of beer in Kurukshetra district.

Police have also arrested two persons, a spokesman of Haryana Police said, adding that they had received a tip-off about the vehicle carrying the illicit liquor.

When a police team signalled the driver to stop at a blockade, he accelerated and tried to flee. But the car was intercepted and upon searching, the liquor bottles were recovered, the spokesman said.

The arrested persons were identified as Sanjeev Kumar hailing from Kamoda and Rakesh Kumar, a resident of village Jogna Khera.

A case under the provisions of the Excise Act was registered against them and further investigation was being carried out.

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Sunny Deol today said he misses acting and plans to take up more projects after completing work on his son Karan's debut film.

The 61-year-old actor said he missed out on many projects as an actor owing to his commitment to the third installment of the "Yamla Pagla Deewana" franchise and Karan's debut film "Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas', which he is directing.

"Workwise, I'm going to be doing a couple of more films. I've missed acting. I've been busy with 'Yamla Pagla Deewana 3' and my son's debut," Sunny told PTI.

The actor also addressed rumours regarding a film with his frequent collaborator from the '90s, Rajkumar Santoshi.

"I see myself situated in a place where I'll either be working with Raj (Kumar Santoshi) or a couple of more directors. That's what we are working on right now," Sunny said.

The actor and Santoshi have earlier worked on hits such as "Ghayal" (1990), "Damini" (1993) and "Ghatak" (1996).

Post "Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se", Sunny will resume shooting for "Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas".

"I will start shooting for 'Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas' again. I have not been able to give it time due to 'Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se' promotions."



The actor also revealed that after Karan's debut film, he would work on launching his second son, Rajvir Deol.

"After I finish my first son's film, I'll jump into one of my acting projects before I start my second son's film," Sunny said.

"Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se" is set to be released on August 31.

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The partnership between India and France in various spheres is no longer in "teenage years" but it still needs to unfold to its full potential, Ambassador of France to India, Alexandra Ziegler said here today.

He was addressing the first batch of students who have been awarded scholarship by the Franco-Indian Education Trust to pursue their studies in France.

"The strong partnership between France and India is now decades old, no more in its teenage years but it still needs to unfold to its full potential. This partnership is of course based on hard economics and politics, but its future lies in what I like to call the partnership of hearts," he said.

"Though the foundations of our relationship are strong, it is up to you, the future generation to deepen it, build on it and add new layers," he said.

"You will surely come back here with new ideas and new projects of collaborations between our two countries which, in turn, will inspire the coming generations. Remember that you are the future ambassadors of France in India and will remain so when the rest of us are gone," he said.

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India and Singapore today signed the Second Protocol amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which will boost bilateral trade, with both sides agreeing to expand the coverage of tariff concessions.

The provisions of the Second Protocol will come into effect from September 14, 2018.

"The two countries are exploring the possibility of launching the 3rd Review of India-Singapore CECA in September, 2018," an official statement said here.

The conclusion of the Second Review of CECA was announced during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore on June 1, 2018.

Singapore is the second largest trading partner of India within ASEAN, while India is the largest trading partner of Singapore in South Asia, with a bilateral trade of USD 17.7 billion in 2017-18.

Singapore's trade with India constitutes about 21.8 per cent of India's total trade with ASEAN and 2.3 per cent of its global trade.

India had a trade surplus of USD 2.73 billion with Singapore in 2017-18.

Signing of the Second Protocol formally brings to closure the negotiations on second review of CECA, which began on May 11, 2010. India and Singapore have successfully reached mutual understanding and agreement in closing the second review.

"Both sides agreed to expand the coverage of tariff concessions, liberalize the Rules of Origin, rationalize Product Specific Rules and include provisions on Certificate of Origin and Cooperation on its verification.

"These measures will further facilitate trade between India and Singapore and also improve utilization of CECA," the statement issued by the Commerce Ministry said.

The protocol was signed by Deputy Chief Negotiators, Rajneesh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and Francis Chong, Senior Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Government of Singapore.

The CECA was the first comprehensive agreement covering trade in goods, services and investments, which India had signed with any of its trading partners. The CECA was signed on June 29, 2005 and its first review was concluded on October 1, 2007.

The protocol amending CECA will give effect to the provisions agreed between India and Singapore during the closure of the Second Review of India Singapore CECA.

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An Indian man has been arrested in Thailand for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl last month after meeting her in an online platform, according to a media report.

Bennur Yatheesha, 28, was arrested at his condo room in Klong Toei district under an arrest warrant issued yesterday, The Nation reported.

He denied raping the girl and said he simply took her to his room for drinks, it said.

The girl told her parents that she had met the suspect via the Line chat app on June 30 and he asked her to meet him on Khaosan Road on July 1, it said.

She alleged that the suspect took her to his condo room and made her drink beer before raping her.

The girl said she was initially scared to inform her family so she rented a hotel in the Sukhumvit area until July 3 before she went home and told her father, who filed a complaint with police later, the report said.

Yatheesha was charged with raping a girl under 15 and unlawfully taking away a person under 15 from her parents.

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Indian telecom service officers will contribute minimum one-day salary to Prime Minister's relief fund to help flood-affected people in Kerala, the association said today.

"In order to help flood-affected people of Kerala, the Indian Telecommunication Service Officers have decided to donate their minimum one-day salary to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. The association headed by President P K Jain, President, General Secretary A K Tripathi and other executive members took a unanimous decision of this effect," the statement said.

The first tranche of contribution will go from the salary of August month and remaining from September month salary.

"There are around 1,500-1,600 ITS officers in the association. Everyone will contribute to help flood victim. Contribution of people who are on leave should go out later. Officers can contribute more than 1-day salary also for the cause," Tripathi said.

A delegation of officers led by Tripathi submitted a memorandum to Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan in presence of Telecom Commission members Prabhash Singh, Ravi Kant and deputy director general for telecom Sunil Kumar.

The association expressed concern over the loss of lives and hardship faced by people in floods and resolved to stand firmly with people of Kerala and donation plan.

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Budget carrier IndiGo today said it will add Kuwait and Abu Dhabi to its international destination from October this year.

The carrier will operate a daily flight from Chennai to Kuwait and from Calicut to Abu Dhabi from mid October. Besides, it will operate a daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Kochi, a statement issued by the airline said.

Beginning October 1, it will also operate a daily flight between Doha and Thiruvanathapuram and a daily flight between Doha and Ahmedabad.

On the domestic sector, IndiGo will become the first domestic airline to introduce services connecting Port Blair with Hyderabad and Vadodara. These flights will commence from September 2018.

In addition, the airline will operate its first daily return flight between Surat and Chennai, daily non-stop return service between Delhi and Imphal, direct flights to Vijayawada from Delhi.

"We will operate first flight between Kuwait and Chennai and Calicut and Abu Dhabi starting October this year. It also gives us immense pleasure to add 24 additional flights to 6E network," the statement said.

"IndiGo has completed 12 years of successful operations in the India market as a low cost carrier, and adding new flights to its network will further augment the connectivity that we aspire to provide to our customers," it said quoting IndiGo's chief commercial officer William Boulter.

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IndiGo and GoAir have grounded nine A320 neo planes due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues, aviation regulator DGCA said today.

Taking note of the grounding, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has sought a detailed report on the matter from the DGCA.

"At present, there are 60 A320 neos with P&W engines (41 with IndiGo and 19 with GoAir). As on date, 7 with IndiGo and 2 with GoAir are on ground," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.

These groundings are due to combustor distress found during routine scheduled boroscopic inspection, it added.

It refers to inspection done using a boroscope -- an optical device that is used for inspecting parts that are generally inaccessible.

The regulator also said there are no safety concerns as such distress is found during routine scheduled boroscope inspections of these engines.

Prabhu has sought a report on the grounding of the A320 neos from the DGCA.

Security of the passengers is of paramount importance and at no cost the security should be compromised, he said in the statement.

Providing technical details, the ministry said these are all Block B combustors.

"As and when combustor distress is found beyond laid down limits, aircraft is removed from service for engine replacement.

"A320 neos inducted after March 2018 are coming with P&W engines fitted with Block C combustors which has better life. Engines coming from shop are also fitted with Block C combustors," it noted.

IndiGo and GoAir have been grappling with P&W engine problems persisting for many months.

"The manufacturers have taken measures to address significant problems of engines related to combustion chambers distress and No 3 bearing issues by replacing Block B combustion chambers with Block C and providing dry face bearing seals.

"These measures have significantly reduced the engine problems," the DGCA said.

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An Indonesian civil servant who owed his ex-wife a large alimony has paid back some USD 10,000 worth of missed payments -- in coins.

Dwi Susilarto arrived at court yesterday hauling a dozen sacks filled with 153 million rupiah (USD 10,500) in small change, a hefty payment that weighed in at about 890 kilograms (1,960 pounds), his lawyer said.

A fight nearly broke out between the man and his ex-wife's lawyer, who refused to count the money transported in a wheelbarrow pushed by the 54-year-old and two friends.

Susilarto's lawyer denied that his client was trying to insult ex-wife Hermi Setyowati.

The man's low public service salary forced him to reach out to friends after the court in the town of Karanganyar in Central Java ordered him to pay back some nine years' worth of unpaid alimony, said the lawyer Sutarto, who goes by one name.

"I was honestly surprised too (at the payment), but my client said the money was donated by friends and family who gave most of it to him in coins," he told AFP today.

"There was no intention to insult anyone -- that's all he has." Setyowati, who eventually accepted the funds, wasn't buying her former husband's excuse.

"This is insulting -- it's like calling me poor," she was quoted by local media as saying.

The court ordered its staff to count the money.

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Israel said an MSF nurse shot at troops on the Gaza border this week, a charge the medical charity said today it was investigating as it confirmed the death of an employee.

"Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms that one of its employees, Hani Mohammed Almajdalawi, was killed in Gaza on Monday, August 20, 2018," the organisation said in a statement.

"MSF is working to verify and understand the circumstances regarding this extremely serious incident, and is not able to comment further at this stage," it added.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for activities in the Palestinian territories, issued a statement yesterday slamming MSF as "Terrorism Without Borders".

"Hani al-Almajdalawi, who tried to infiltrate through the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip while he was armed with a rifle, opened fire toward military forces and even threw an explosive device at them," it said.

COGAT said Almajdalawi was "a nurse who worked for the international organisation Doctors Without Borders." MSF has around 200 local and foreign staff in Gaza and in May the charity condemned Israel's use of force in border protests as "unacceptable and inhuman".

It described the army's policy as "shooting with live ammunition at demonstrators, on the assumption that anyone approaching the separation fence is a legitimate target."



At least 172 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border in mass protests which began on March 30.

One Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper in July.

Israel maintains that its use of force is necessary to defend the border and stop infiltrations and attacks.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests on Friday to confirm Almajdalawi's death and detail where his body was being held.

The Israeli military on Monday released a terse statement on a border gunfight which did not name Almajdalawi or confirm that he has been killed.

"A terrorist shot at IDF troops in the northern Gaza Strip, in response IDF troops shot towards the terrorist," the army said, referring to the Israel Defence Forces.

It said that no soldiers were wounded but made no mention of any Palestinian casualties.

The border incident occurred despite attempts by Egypt and UN officials to reach a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip.

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: Olly Esse, an Italian DJ, has alleged that she was manhandled by an Air India outsourcing staff at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on August 19, a charge denied by the national carrier.

M Mahesh, Airport police inspector said they received a complaint from her on April 19 and booked a case under Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and were investigating it.

In a video posted in the social media, Esse said she was travelling on an Air India flight to Delhi, which was delayed by nine hours. She went to the Air India counter and asked for help, but the employee at the desk did not respond properly.

"The lady at the desk who was supposed to help me was rude. At the end of the story she slapped me. I want to complain to the police, but that was not possible as the guy (police) who should take the complaint was not there. I feel violated," she said in the video.

When contacted an AI spokesperson denied the charge and said the lady whom Esse met at the Air India counter was an outsourcing employee.

"The person (female employee) is an outsourcing employee. She did not slap her. That was a false allegation. Esse was filming the employee with her mobile phone, to which she (the employee) objected and tried to stop her. In the melee, her phone slipped from her hand, but did not fall on the ground," the Air India official told PTI.

The police official said they verifying the footage and that investigation was going on.

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Italy's deputy prime minister has threatened to pull the country's EU funding if the bloc does not come to the aid of 150 people stranded aboard an Italian coastguard ship.

The migrants have been blocked at the Sicilian port of Catania on the Diciotti vessel since Monday night because the Italian government is refusing to allow them to disembark without commitments from the EU to take some of them in.

A meeting of high-level representatives from around a dozen EU member states is due to be held today to discuss the issue, according to the Commission.

"In recent months we have had the chance to see how a soft line with the European Union worked and how a hard line works," Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said in an interview published on Facebook yesterday.

"If on Friday nothing comes out of the European Commission meeting, if they decide nothing regarding the Diciotti and the redistribution of the migrants, I and the whole Five Star Movement will no longer be prepared to give 20 billion euros ( USD 23 billion) to the European Union every year."



EU figures for 2016 say Italy contributed just under 14 billion euros to the EU budget -- less than one per cent of its gross national income -- while the bloc spent 11.6 billion euros in Italy.

Di Maio, who heads the anti-establishment Five Star, said Italy didn't want the "mickey taken out of us by the union's other countries" on the distribution of migrants.

"The EU was born of principles like solidarity. If it is not capable of redistributing 170 people it has serious problems with its founding principles," he said in an interview with state broadcaster RAI.

Today's meeting follows Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's decision to leave the majority of the migrants on board the Diciotti after they were rescued on August 15.

His only concession has been to allow 27 unaccompanied minors off the boat Wednesday.

Migration is a hot-button issue in Italy, where hundreds of thousands of people have arrived since 2013 fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Salvini said in an interview with Corriere Della Sera that the only way the migrants would be let off the Diciotti was "with a nice big airplane from one Europe's capitals landing in Catania".

"Europe needs to understand that the Italian government is irritated. We've had enough with their many words and few results," he said, claiming that the other nations had only taken in 12,000 of the 35,000 people they had promised.

Opinion polls suggest that Salvini's stance has boosted his far-right League party's approval rating to around 30 per cent -- over 10 points up from its showing in the March election -- and is now level with the Five Star Movement with which it has governed Italy since the start of June.

However, according to Salvini's own ministry, migrant arrivals are more than 80 per cent down on the same period last year, with just over 19,500 arriving up to August 23, compared to to 98,000 in 2017.

In an interview with La Stampa, European Investment Bank vice president Dario Scannapieco said that as of the end of 2017 Italy had spent just 2.5 billion of the 38 billion euros allocated to it by the EU's Regional Development Fund.

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The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Legal Services Committee (JKHCLSC) will organise a National Lok Adalat on September 8 for the settling litigation cases.

To be held in the Jammu wing of the court, pending cases pertaining to bank recovery, labour dispute, electricity and water bills, matrimonial, and other civil disputes will be taken up before the adalat, official spokesperson said.

All the parties interested in the settlement of their disputes may approach with the title and the number of the case before the Registrar Judicial, High Court of J&K, Jammu wing by or before August 27, the official said.

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Industrial bodies and associations in Gautam Buddh Nagar have pitched in to assure all possible support to the farmers of the six villages whose land will be acquired for the proposed international airport in Jewar, officials said today.

Over 1,300 hectares of land is to be acquired from six villages and 2,250 families in Jewar area by the government for the first phase construction of the airport.

District Magistrate Brajesh Narayan Singh, who has been touring the villages and meeting farmers to negotiate the deal, said a positive outcome is expected soon.

"We have also got assurance from industry bodies and groups who are ready to support the administration and the government in the rehabilitation of the farmers," he told PTI tonight.

The district administration held a meeting with local bodies and associations on Wednesday, while also discussing the issue with farmers yesterday.

The bodies who have pitched in for support include the district units of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the MSME Industrial Association, Noida, the India Industries Association (IIA), Singh said.

He added that meetings are also scheduled with Information Technology bodies such as NASSCOM for their help.

Assuring its support to the administration, the MSME Industrial Association, Noida said that in the process of rehabilitating the people whose land is to be acquired, it is essential that these families get land, basic infrastructure facilities and amenities, employment, education, health care, among others.

"To support the administration and the government, our MSME Industrial Association, Noida has decided that we would help the members of these 2,250 families with healthcare, employment, education to their children, scholarships to meritorious students, etc," the industrial body said in a letter to the district magistrate.

With an airport coming up in Jewar, the all-rounded development of the region including Noida and Greater Noida Industrial Zone is certain, it said.

"Therefore, all industrialists of our association will be extremely thankful to these 2,250 families for their immense contribution in the development of Gautam Buddh Nagar and the nation," it added.

The MSME Industrial Association Noida's President Surendra Nahata said the body was ready to give its assurance to the affected people in writing, as has been demanded by some farmers.

"We are ready for detailed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for providing all necessary relief and compensation to the 2,250 families. Their contribution is going to be historic. A proper list should be made of all the people (whose land is to be acquired) and all-possible help provided to them, Nahata said.

As per the state government's offer, farmers would be given Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,500 per square metre for the agricultural land that is to be acquired for the airport in Jewar, along the 165 km Yamuna Expressway.

The government, in the first phase, wanted to acquire 1,441 hectare from eight villages -- Rohi, Parohi, Banwaribas, Ramner, Dayanatpur, Kishorpur, Mukimpur Shivara and Ranhera.

Three villages were later excluded from the acquisition process, as land from Ramner, Mukimpur Shivara and Banwaribas will not be needed.

The government will acquire a total of 5,000 hectares for the project and its estimated budget is Rs 15,000- 20,000 crore. As per plans, the airport is expected to become operational by 2022-23.

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Jharkhand government today decided to introduce prizes in the fields of literature, media and good governance after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

According to an official release, the prizes will be given to upcoming poet in literary area, a prominent journalist in media and an official for best performance.

The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raghubar Das, the release said.

The Cabinet also decided to set up Atal Bihari Vajpayee memorial Park and erecting statues of Vajpayee and tribal icon in the premises of Jharkhand Assembly.

The former prime minister passed away on August 16.

Raghubar Das has on several occasions said that Jharkhand is indebted to the former prime minister for its coming into existence in 2000 after bifurcation of Bihar when Vajpayee was heading NDA government at the centre.

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A delegation of prominent political parties led by presidents of National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today bid farewell to former Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra here.

The leaders of political parties led by Abdullah and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti met Vohra at Raj Bhavan here today, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said.

He said the group included senior members and former ministers representing the NC, PDP and Indian National Congress.

Besides, the spokesman said, prominent representatives of the Sikh community and leaders of business, trade and travel groups also met Vohra to bid him farewell.

On behalf of the delegation, Abdullah thanked Vohra for his able guidance, sage advice and sincere service to the state during his over ten-year tenure in the Raj Bhavan, the spokesman said.

He said Abdullah's sentiments were strongly supported by Mehbooba who thanked Vohra for having guided and advised her on all occasions, particularly after her father and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away in January 2015.

The spokesman said other speakers also expressed appreciation of the constructive and pro-people role played by the former governor particularly in regard to his handling various sensitive issues relating to J-K.

He said Abdullah stated that if more time had been available, representatives of political parties and representatives of various other segments from different parts of the state, including Ladakh, would have also come to bid farewell to the former Governor in a befitting manner.

Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Abdullah and Mehbooba expressed hope that the former Governor would continue to act as the state's Ambassador in the coming time.

Vohra thanked Abdullah, Mehbooba and all members of the group who had graciously come to meet him and for their kind good words, the spokesman said.

He said Vohra, while recalling his very long involvement with J-K's affairs, assured that he would be very happy to further the interests of the state, whenever he had an opportunity to do so.

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Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari today said the nation's largest container port, JNPT, will pick up 70 per cent stake in the proposed Rs 8,000-crore Indore-Manmad railway line being built by his ministry as part of developing dry ports.

The minister last December had announced the project, which is part of de-congesting the clogged Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and also to connect neighbouring Kasara in Thane district and JNPT directly.

To reduce the container traffic passing through Mumbai and its suburbs, the ministry has asked for land near Vasai on the outskirts, from where the containers can be sent directly on barges to JNPT via the waterways, he said.

"We will be building the Rs 8,000-crore Indore-Manmad railway line. JNPT will hold 70 per cent equity in the project," Gadkari told reporters at the JNPT, without giving further details.

He said the proposed railway line can connect and develop further the landlocked industrial hub of Indore and Manmad in Maharashtra, which then can also be connected to main Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Chennai lines, which will also bring down travel time and distance.

The ministry is also developing four dry ports in Maharashtra to de-clog JNPT. Such facilities will come up at Wardha on the central eastern region of the state, Jalna in the central region, Wadhavan port on the east coast north of Mumbai and Nashik in north of the financial capital.

He said the Nashik facility can be used for exim trade in fruits, particularly grapes and vegetables like onions, apart from automobiles as Mahindra has a large facility there which currently uses the Mumbai port for exports.

"I don't see any reason why Mahindra's shipments cannot be loaded from Nashik," he said.

Gadkari also said he is toying with the idea of connecting the rivers and waterways in and around Mumbai in a Rs 2,000-crore project involving the state administration, JNPT and the Thane municipality under the Sagarmala project.

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The teachers association of JNU today said the university administration is trying to suppress the voice of elected teacher representatives, a day after the administration issued show-cause notices to 48 teachers for allegedly participating in a day strike on July 31 against the policies implemented by the vice chancellor.

The decision to issue show-cause notices was finalised at the Executive Council meeting of the varsity held yesterday, claimed JNU Professor Ayesha Kidwai.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) today in a statement said that it takes serious note of the extremely hostile attitude of the University Administration towards teachers reflected in the 275th Executive Council Meeting held yesterday.

"After trying to suppress the voice of elected teacher representatives, the Administration pushed for several anti-teacher decisions and ratification of such decisions already made by the Vice-Chancellor. In what must be a record of sorts, illegitimate denial of even stage-change promotions of 4 Assistant Professors were brought to the EC for ratification but no explanation was forthcoming about the grounds on which their outstanding academic records were completely overlooked," it said.

A continued recalcitrant attitude was also reflected towards resolution of the problem of past-service counting which the current JNU Administration has itself created, the statement said.

"Once again, the Vice Chancellor got the EC to approve addition of several names to panels of experts for selection committees without these names being approved by the Centres or even by the Academic Council," it said.

Along with its keenness to wave the stick of naked coercion against teachers, the extremely casual attitude of the Administration towards academics was also on full display, the JNUTA said in the statement.

The decision to have completely online entrance examinations involving 'outside experts' from the coming year itself was steamrolled through without any systematic discussion of its entire ramification how suitable it is for assessment of abilities across the range of disciplines and courses of study that JNU admits students to; its impact on access of students across the country to the University; its financial implications, JNUTA said.

"On the other hand, the Administration failed to itself bring on the agenda the issue of a disastrous cut in library grants. When this matter was raised, the Administration admitted to the fact of the cut - from over Rs 8 crores to 1.7 crores - but treated it as if this was a minor matter," it added.

JNUTA would like to remind the JNU Administration and the Vice Chancellor that the teachers of JNU are not going to be intimidated, as they have proved time and time again, it said.

"Actions of the kind taken in the 275th Executive Council will only serve to strengthen their resolve to beat back the concerted attack on the University and its great traditions by its own Administration," it added.

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Senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat today criticized the central government's decision to refuse flood relief assistance to Kerala from United Arab Emirates (UAE) as "uncalled for" and not the "correct policy".

Karat and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri were on a two-day visit to Tripura since yesterday to attend the Left party's state committee meeting here.

This is the first visit of the two top CPI(M) leaders to Tripura after the party lost power to the BJP in March election, ending their 25 years of rule in row.

The initial flood damage estimate of Kerala government is Rs 20,000 crores. Central government has sanctioned Rs 6,000 crores so far. At this time, UAE, which said they can send Rs 700 crores for relief and rehabilitation. But, the central government has declined this request without consulting the state government This is totally uncalled for, he told reporters.

He said the entire country has stood with flood-hit Kerala by sending material, money and other help.

Karat highlighted that a large number of Indians are working in the UAE, among whom nearly 80 percent are from Kerala.

"They are building UAE with their hard labour. It is natural that they (UAE) will respond by offering this help. Our question is why did the central government refuse the help? We dont think this is a correct policy. We should not stand on false prestige that India is a big super power and we don't need help," Karat shot at the NDA government.

He said people of Kerala need help from all quarters and appealed central government not to stand on false prestige and take necessary steps in consultation with the state government of Kerala.

The centre decided not to accept any foreign donations for flood relief citing a 2004 policy decision by the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh.

Meanwhile, officials in UAE embassy in Delhi today said that no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala has been finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the state, amid a row over the Centre deciding not to accept any foreign donations for flood relief.

Launching a scathing attack at the BJP-led NDA government, Karat alleged that the countrie's atmosphere was vitiated due to "increasing attacks on women, Dalits, adivasis, mob lynchings, price rise and other factors since NDA government took over in 2014."



CPI(M) farmers and worker trade unions would organize a rally of 2 lakh people at Delhi on September 5 to protest the alleged degeneration of governance, Karat added.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today claimed there was no lack of clarity on UAE aid for the flood-ravaged state and expressed hope the Centre would accept the "offer" of Rs 700 crore.

Earlier today, officials at the UAE embassy in New Delhi said the UAE had not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief.

Vijayan said NRI businessman M A Yusfuf Ali had informed him about the aid.

"When I asked him whether it could be made public, he said there is no problem in it," the chief minister told reporters after a meeting to review the post-flood situation and relief operations.

The UAE aid was communicated to Ali when he had met the crown prince to convey Bakrid greetings, Vijayan said.

Vijayan said the issue whether or not to accept the aid was a matter to be decided by the Centre.

"I hope that this will be accepted," Vijayan said replying to a question on the row.

There was no lack of clarity on the UAE aid to Kerala, he added.

The chief minister said he had nothing more to add to what he had stated on August 21 about the aid and added it was a matter discussed by Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Syed Al Nahian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both had informed the world about the aid issue, the chief minister said.

The issue of UAE aid had triggered a row, with the Centre deciding not to accept the foreign aid for relief work, even as the ruling CPI-M led LDF and the Congress in Kerala came out against the government's move.

Officials in UAE embassy in New Delhi said no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala was finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the state.

UAE ambassador Ahmed Albannam, without mentioning financial aid, said his government only set up a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to people affected by flash floods in Kerala.

The gulf nation may come out with its plan in the next few days to extend assistance to flood victims, an official said.

Vijayan earlier this week said the UAE has decided to extend a financial assistance of Rs 700 crore to Kerala, considering the Gulf nation's special relationship with Kerala.

Around three million Indians live and work in the UAE, out of which 80 per cent are from Kerala, according to official figures.

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With Kerala limping



back to normalcy after floods and landslides, the focus is now on taking care of the over 10.40 lakh people staying in relief camps and rehabilitating people whose houses were destroyed in the deluge.

People from all over the country and abroad have pitched in to help the state by offering material and also cash donations to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF).

A total of Rs 539 crore has been received till last night, official sources said.

Though people from relief camps have started returning to their homes, more than 10.40 lakh people were still in 2,770 camps across the state.

After the flood waters started receding, nearly five lakh people have gone back to their houses over the past few days.

However, people who have returned to their homes face the gigantic task of cleaning their houses as it is filled with slush along with different species of reptiles including poisonous cobras.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who visited various relief camps in the worst-affected Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur district yesterday, has said that government's focus was now on rehabilitation of the affected people and rebuilding the state.

On the cleaning process, he said the sanitation drive wa on and more than 37,000 wells and 60,000 houses were cleaned.

"We have roped in forces to carry out burial of animal carcasses, that posed a health threat," he said.

On the rehabilitation process, he said people residing in disaster-prone areas would be shifted to a suitable location after due consultation.

"Let us celebrate Onam festival by providing relief and help to the flood-affected people," Vijayan said.

The annual harvest festival of the state Onam falls tomorrow.

Assuring all help to people, he said plans were also on the anvil to provide interest-free bank loans to repair flood-hit houses.

The government was planning to complete cleaning of public places and houses by end of this week, official sources said adding special squads have been formed at the ward level to co-ordinate the work.

The state government also announced a package of Rs 2.5 crore for repairing fishing vessels of fishermen who took part in flood relief work.

A total of 700 fishing boats were deployed for rescue operations between August 15 and 20.

More than 3,500 fishermen were engaged in rescue operations and they saved nearly 65,000 people, state Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma said.

Indian Air Force engaged in providing medical facilities to the affected people in relief camps, said it has deployed its 10-bed mobile hospital and a Rapid Action Medical Team at Chetankery near Thiruvala, a waterlogged area in Pathanamthitta district.

IAF medical teams have visited 26 camps and treated more than 1,600 people, it said.

Indian Railways, as part of relief operations, moved water special wagons carrying more than 20 lakh litres of water, besides also arranging around two lakh bottles of water to flood affected people.

The heavy rains and flooding has claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon.

The state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore (as per a preliminary estimate) due to the floods and sought an interim assistance of Rs 2,600 crore from the Centre, besides a special package of a similar amount under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

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As a blame-game erupted between Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the devastating floods, the Supreme Court today directed the panel on the Mullaperiyar Dam to ensure that the water level at the reservoir is maintained at 139.99 feet till August 31.

The Mullaperiyar Dam, built in 1895 on Periyar River in Idukki District of Kerala, came under the spotlight with the Kerala government accusing Tamil Nadu, which maintains the reservoir, of sudden release of water leading to unprecedented deluge in the state.

Kerala's claim was today rebuffed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, who said the neighbouring state had suffered the deluge due to the discharge of excess water from 80 reservoirs spurred by heavy rains there.

The Tamil Nadu government also filed an affidavit in the apex court today charging Kerala with an "obstructionist attitude and non-cooperation" and alleging that it was helping illegal encroachments.

However, the top court steered clear of the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the maximum permissible limit of water level of 142 ft in the dam as fixed by it in its 2014 verdict and said that currently, it was concerned with disaster management and maintaining the water level at 139 ft to ensure that the flood situation does not worsen.

"Needless to say, the present writ petition has nothing to do with any kind of dispute between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, but it relates to saving of human lives in the obtaining situation of disaster," a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said.

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, took note of the submissions of Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, representing the Centre, that the sub-committee on the dam met on August 23 and directed "maintaining the water level at 2 to 3 ft below the permitted level (of 142 ft)".

The law officer also said the Chairman of the panel has directed that the "current status of reservoir and water level is at 139.99 ft at Mullaperiyar dam, which shall be maintained till August 31".

"At this juncture, we may direct that the Committee which has met yesterday, shall see to it that as far as practicable water level be maintained at the dam and both the states ... shall cooperate with the Committee," the bench ordered.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, alleged that the plea seeking to lower the water level at the dam could be part of a "sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit at 142 ft.

The bench said it would not get into the maximum limit as fixed by it in 2014 but rather deal with the aspect of disaster management.

It then fixed for hearing on September 6 the plea filed by Kerala resident Russel Joy seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the dam as the floods in Kerala have created a havoc.

It asked the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses to the affidavit filed by Kerala in the matter.

Lawyer G Prakash, the standing counsel for Kerala, said the Supreme Court in 2014 had fixed at 142 ft the maximum permissible water level in the dam.

However, the Kerala government had then set up the "Dam Safety Authority" and fixed the maximum limit at 136 ft, the apex court had set aside the decision of the state government, the lawyer said.

The 18th century dam's full reservoir level stands at 152 ft and the limit of 142 ft has been fixed keeping in view its safety.

In 2007, an experts panel had submitted a report to the Kerala government saying there were chances of the dam breaking if the water level was raised beyond 136 feet. A 2009 report by IIT Roorkee had also stated that the dam "was likely to face damage if an earthquake of the magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale struck its vicinity when the water level is at 136 feet".

In 2012, a 5-member Supreme Court-empowered Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand on the Mullaperiyar Dam had submitted its report to the top court, focussing on all aspects of the 123-year-old dam and its safety.

The Kerala government had yesterday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

It had said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.

The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level.

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Margins of tyre companies are likely to fall by 1.5-2 per cent between the second and third quarters of FY19 on rise in imports due to lack of natural rubber supply following Kerala floods, according to a report.

Domestic natural rubber production meets over 50 per cent of the requirements of tyre companies in the country and Kerala accounts for close to 90 per cent of the total domestic rubber production.

"Floods in Kerala will disrupt domestic supply and hence tyre companies will resort to higher imports to meet the rising tyre demand," India Ratings said in its report.

Natural rubber imports attract a duty of 25 per cent.

"Additionally, with a depreciating rupee, imports are likely to be more expensive and will hurt margins of tyre companies amid a rise in rubber procurement costs," it said.

The ratings agency expects the margins of the tyre industry to fall by 1.5-2 per cent between the second and third quarters of FY19, due to a higher cost of production.

Input cost for tyre firms is also expected to increase over the next two to three quarters, due to the disrupted supply of natural rubber, it said.

However, it was quick to add that tyremakers have sufficient unused working capital limits and liquidity available to meet such near-term disruptions.

Tyre demand is likely to be robust for FY19 and hence the ratings agency expects production and margins to start recovering by the end of December quarter.

Production is likely to be affected during the August to October period, of companies whose plants are located in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Natural rubber prices have been increasing since May, amid low domestic production and an increase in minimum support price (MSP) for kharif crops in July.

Also, tyre companies have been already facing margin pressures due to a rise in carbon black and other crude oil derivatives.

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The Union Health Ministry has approved a grant of over Rs 18 crore under the National Health Mission (NHM) for disbursing to village health, sanitation and nutrition committees in flood-ravaged Kerala.

The ministry had earlier said it is extending all support to the relief measures in the flood-battered state, where 3,757 medical relief camps have been set up.

"Health Ministry approves additional grant of Rs 18.71 crore under #NHM to #Kerala for disbursing to Village Health, Sanitation & Nutrition Committees for #KeralaFloodRelief, as per State request. #SwasthaBharat @JPNadda," the Ministry's twitter handle said.

As the floodwaters began to recede, people from relief camps started returning to their homes even as over 10.40 lakh of them remain in 2,770 camps across the state.

The heavy rains and flooding has claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda had earlier said no outbreak of communicable disease was reported from the flood-hit districts of Kerala.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has issued health advisories to support the state in meeting with post-flood public health management challenges when the threat of water borne, vector borne and viral hepatitis diseases becomes potent.

In a statement issued earlier, the ministry had said 65 metric tonnes of emergency drugs for flood situation were airlifted by the Indian Air Force to Thiruvananthapuram while one crore chlorine tablets were sent and another one crore are in transit.

The total request of four crore chlorine tablets will be met in phases, it had said. The ministry had further mobilised 20 MT of bleaching powder.

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Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan will receive a state funeral and burial in Ghana on September 13, the Ghanaian president said today, calling it "a major event for our country".

The announcement was made by President Nana Akufo-Addo following a meeting with Annan's family in Accra.

Annan, a Ghanaian national and Nobel peace laureate, died on Saturday at the age of 80 after a short illness.

"Kofi Annan was one of the most illustrious people of this generation. He was like an elderly brother," Akufo-Addo said.

"It's going to be a major event for our country... I expect many leaders to be present," he said, adding that he would be buried in Accra's new military cemetery. Born in Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana's Ashanti region, Annan devoted four decades of his working life to the UN and was the first chief from sub-Saharan Africa.

Following his death in Switzerland, where he lived not far from the UN European headquarters in Geneva, Akufo-Addo announced a week of mourning for "one of our greatest compatriots".

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Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan will receive a state burial in Ghana on September 13, the Ghanaian president said on today.

The announcement was made by President Nana Akufo-Addo following a meeting with Annan's family.

Annan, a Ghanaian national and Nobel peace laureate, died on Saturday at the age of 80 after a short illness.

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A city court today sentenced a 16-year-old and a man to life imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl, trying the boy as an adult given the heinous nature of the crime.

According to a complaint filed by the victim's mother, the girl was kidnapped and gang-raped by the duo on the evening of December 16, 2017.

Judge Jimut Bahan Biswas of Sealdah Court here sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for the remainder of their lives for gang-rape and under provisions of the POCSO Act.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh on each of them. Ninety per cent of the money will be paid to the victim.

It directed the West Bengal government to pay Rs 3 lakh to the victim as per the POCSO Act. The amount has to be paid to her within 30 days of receipt of the order.

Judge Biswas also directed the joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata police to ensure protection of the victim in the near future.

The court observed that though one of the accused claimed to be 16 years old, he was treated as an adult for punishment in a heinous crime like rape under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Special public prosecutor Vivek Sharma had sought maximum punishment for the accused persons.

He said they had lured the girl with mango juice and took her to a deserted field under Ultadanga police station in the city.

The counsel for the two accused claimed that they had been falsely implicated by the victim's mother out of animosity.

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Kolkata has the least overall emission levels and energy used from urban commute among the six megacities in the country though it generates the third highest number of trips by vehicles due to its large population, according to a CSE report released here today.

Its position on the two counts is better than the other five megacities - Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai as well as the metropolitan cities like Pune and Ahmedabad, the report 'The Urban Commute and How it contributes to Pollution and Energy Consumption' said today.

Delhi fared the worst in terms of overall toxic emissions, heat-trapping emission and energy consumption despite having better parametres than most other megacities due to highest vehicle stock among the six megacities, large population and long trip distances.

This negates per trip emissions improvement derived from its CNG programme amd limited public transport strategy.

The Centre for Science and report said Bhopal has edge over all the 14 cities in the country, including the megacities, in terms of overall emission and energy use.

It has an advantage in terms of lower population, lesser number of vehicles and vehicle miles travelled compared to the megacities. Even though its personal transport use is higher, its average trip length of different modes is second lowest among all the cities, the report released by CSE, a leading research organisation promoting environmentally sound and equitable development strategies, said.

CSE Executive Director Anumita RoyChowdhury said on the sidelines of the programme, said "Even though Kolkata generates the third highest volume of trips due to its large population, it still has the lowest average trip length for a vehicle because of its compact urban form."



Also Kolkata has the lowest vehicle stock among the six megacities and second highest share of public transport, which is in sharp contrast to cities like Delhi where there is higher automobile dependency.

RoyChowdhury said, "Our research has found about 60 per cent of all travel trips in Kolkata are within three-to four km radius and this is exactly the model the Japanese cities and Hong Kong have followed.

"It helps in reducing overall emission and guzzling of fuel," she said.

Referring to the high dependence on public transport system in the city, she said Kolkata has the most diverse public transport system for urban commuting - buses, some of which have been upgraded to electric buses, metro, trams, suburban rails, autorickshaws along certain routes and waterways, she said.

Kolkata and Mumbai's per-trip emissions are the lowest among all cities. "This indicates a high modal share of public transport and non-motorised transport with low trip lengths which is helping these cities to mitigate their overall emission," she said.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai score poor. They have lower share of public transport compared to Delhi and yet have scored better only because their total travel volumes are comparatively lower given their population levels, the report said.

Among the 14 cities, Vijaywada, Chandigarh, Kochi, Lucknow and Jaipur have performed better than the six megacities because of their smaller population and lower number of vehicles, it added.

Asked about the reason behind public release of the report, RoyChowdhury said, "The purpose is to engage all stakeholders, including members of public, for constructive solution to certain issues."



IIT Kharagpur professor in civil engineering department, Bhargab Maitra said despite problems public transport system is changing in a high-density city like Kolkata with real time tracking of government bus routes through mobile app and the coming up of new metro routes.

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The Kukke Sree Subramanya temple has donated Rsthree crore to the Chief Minister's relief fund as aid to flood-affected people of Kodagu district.

Temple managing committee chairman Nityananda Mundodi handed over the cheque for the amount to manager of the Vijaya Bank at Subramanya.

Mundodi said the amount would be transferred to the state Muzrai department account through RTGS.

The committee had earlier decided to donate Rs two crore but the amount was increased as per instructions from the government to all temples under the Muzrai department to donate Rs three crore for relief measures in Kodagu, he said.

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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged the politicians in the state to serve people with love as he handed over the Best Legislator Award to 24 lawmakers here on Assembly premises.

The chief minister also maintained that power, wealth and position will "dissolve into nothingness" once leaders learn to serve people selflessly.

"You cannot lead people, unless you love them. Every politician should be able to adopt this philosophy as his guiding principle," he said.

The CM stressed that the the MLAs should carry out their responisbilties keeping in mind the best interests of the people of the state.

"If you love people, you do not see the post you hold as a post, but as a means to serve the people. You do not see power as power, but as a means to transform the lives of people," Patnaik told the gathering of lawmakers on the Assembly premises.

The CM exhorted the youth to join politics and make tangible contributions to the society.

"Young people with a mission can transform the society the way they want. They can be real change agents of our time," Patnaik said.

He also expressed hope that the legislator awards will encourage the MLAs to work with more dedication for the healthy growth of democracy.

"The MLAs are expected to discharge their responsibilities without any fear and favour and with due respect to parliamentary democracy," he added.

As many as 24 MLAs were conferred the Best Legislator Award in three different categories - Pandit Nilakantha Samman, Utkalmani Gopabandhu Samman and Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Samman for the period 2009 to 2016.

The CM presented the awards along with Assembly Speaker PK Amat.

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Leaders across party lines paid rich tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during a state-level prayer meet organised at the Guru Nanak Bhawan here today.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda was the chief guest on the occasion, while Ludhiana MP and Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu attended the function on behalf of the Punjab government.

Addressing the gathering, Nadda lauded Vajpayee's contribution to the nation.

He said that his leadership, foresight and maturity put him in a league of his own and will be missed by one and all.

Bittu said Vajpayee never hesitated to speak from his heart and his death marked the end of an era.

BJP state president Shwait Malik said that the former prime minister dedicated his life to the cause of the common people and the downtrodden.

Ninety-three-year-old Vajpayee died in Delhi on August 16.

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Drug firm today said it has received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator after the successful inspection of its facility.

The plant was inspected by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in May 2018, said in a filing to

Commenting on the development, MD Nilesh Gupta said, "The successful completion of the facility inspection is a positive development as we continue our journey to meet and exceed international regulatory standards."



Earlier in May, in a regulatory filing Lupin had said that the US health regulator had completed inspection of the facility without making any observations.

of Lupin were today trading at Rs 903 per scrip on BSE, down 0.07 per cent from its previous close.

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The Madras High Court today summoned the Tamil Nadu home secretary to explain the delay in probing missing children cases that were registered more than two years ago.

A division bench headed by Justice M Sathyanarayanan passed the order on a habeas corpus plea seeking direction to trace two children who went missing from a platform near Parry's corner and Wall Tax Road.

Recently, when the plea came up for hearing, the bench pulled up the state government for not filing a proper report on the status of the pending missing children cases in the state.

The bench observed it was high time the departments concerned showed some sensitivity to the problem, especially considering the anxiety of the parents whose children have been untraceable for a quite long time.

"We are also of the view that disbursal of the fund created under the 'Juvenile Justice Fund' is also very much on the lower side and the disbursal mechanism also is not functioning properly," it said.

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All the departments of the Maharashtra government have been directed to submit their proposals to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) seven days before the cabinet meetings.

State Chief Secretary D K Jain issued an order to this effect today.

Jain asked all the departments in Mantralaya (state secretariat) to submit their proposals seven days before the cabinet meetings.

He said a Government Resolution (GR) of April 1, 2014, gives detailed instructions to all the departments in Mantralaya regarding the submission of cabinet proposals.

"But, the instructions are not being followed," he said in the order.

He said all the departments at Mantralaya must ensure that the cabinet proposals are submitted to the CMO and the Chief Secretary's Office before the stipulated time as mentioned in the 2014 GR.

"Only those proposals will be considered after the stipulated time which will have the department's note about its urgency," he said.

Jain informed all the department secretaries that cabinet proposals submitted after the stipulated period without explanation regarding its urgency will not be considered for clearance.

As per the 2014 GR issued by the then Chief Secretary J S Saharia, government departments were expected to submit the proposal to the CMO seven days before the cabinet meeting.

Along with the proposal, the departments had to give a brief note in bullet form regarding the proposal, its need, financial burden on state exchequer, the GR had said.

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A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed in her house by her neighbour at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said today.

The accused, 23-year-old Rahul Budhawale, was arrested this morning for the incident that took place in Mankoli area in Bhiwandi yesterday, they said.

"Around 5.30 pm yesterday Budhawale entered the victim's house when her parents and elder sister were not present. He sexually assaulted the girl and later forced her head into a tub of water following which she died," Ankit Goyal, DCP (Zone-II, Bhiwandi), said.

"The girl's elder sister returned home after some time and found her lying motionless. She immediately called her parents, who alerted the police," he said.

A police team rushed to the spot and sent her body for post-mortem. An offence was registered at Narpoli police station against some unidentified accused.

Police launched a probe and zeroed in on Budhawale. He was arrested this morning, Goyal added.

The accused has been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder) and 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), among others, the officer said.

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A 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a minor last month and confining him apparently without any motive except that he was fond of children, police said today.

Senior Inspector Venkat Andhale of the Thane Rural Police's Crime Branch said that Yashwant Deoo Dhobi kidnapped the 8-year-old boy from Padgha in Thane on July 27.

The child is a resident of Kasne village in Bhiwandi taluka and his parents had lodged a complaint of kidnapping at Padgha police station immediately after he went missing, the official said.

Officials said that Thane Rural Superintendent of Police Shivaji Rathod asked the Crime Branch to handle the probe after no headway was made in the case.

Acting on a tip-off, a Crime Branch team yesterday managed to rescue the boy from a house in a forest in Paini in Ghoti area of Nashik district, about 100 kilometres from here, an official said.

An official said that the accused, a resident of Dolkhambh area of Shahapur taluka in Thane, has told police that he kidnapped the child as he was fond of children and had no other motive.

The official said that further probe into the case as well as claims of the accused was underway.

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Bemoaning the trend of fewer candidates from Tamil Nadu getting into civil services and premier institutes like IITs and IIMs,defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman today urged the state to make substantive changes in the curriculum from school level to revive the numbers.

Sitharaman, who was taking part in the 150th anniversary celebrations of Lady Sivaswami Girls Higher Secondary School here, also urged the girls to get into the armed forces.

"There used to be at least three out of 10 candidates in IAS and foreign services from Tamil Nadu... Today all those numbers have reduced. I still don't understand why...

Our presence in governance, research and development and in institutions like IITs, IIMs and IISs has seen a reduction," she added.

She suggested to education minister K A Sengottaiyan,who was also present, that the curriculum be made more dynamic and challeinging.

"If substantive changes are brought into the curriculum, we will be able to revive the numbers and make our presence felt in every institution," she said.

Urging girls students to get into the armed forces, she said it was missing in every school, though it was not a shortcoming of any school.

"I want more girls in the armed forces," she said.

Industries minister M C Sampath along with eminent almuni were also present on the occasion.

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A man was arrested on charges of domestic violence for mercilessly beating of his wife in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district today, police said.

Sunita Devi (30), lodged a complaint with the police against her husband, Kuldip Raj (42), for locking her up in a small room of their house and beating her with a rod over a trivial matter yesterday, they said.

The victim is severely injured and is admitted at the district hospital in Rajouri with fractures in her arm and leg, officials said.

Taking note of the incident, police registered a case and arrested the accused from his house in Bagnoti village of Nowshera tehsil, they said.

Further investigation was underway, police said.

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A history-sheeter was arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Crime Branch for allegedly supplying drugs to collegians by using schoolchildren as couriers, a police official said today.

Asif Iqbal Khan alias Chuha, a resident of Sazibai Chawl in suburban Andheri West, was nabbed by the Bandra unit of the ANC and 58 grams of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, worth Rs 1.16 lakh was seized from him, deputy commissioner of police, ANC, Shivdeep Lande said today.

Explaining Khan's modus operandi, the DCP said that the accused used to lure schoolchildren with chocolates or video games and get them to pass drug packets, in small quantities of one or two grams, to collegians.

The official said that Khan had knowledge of the differentiation made by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in terms of "small quantity" and "commercial quantity".

He added that Khan had a criminal record since 2008 with cases lodged against him in western and central parts of Mumbai and was also arrested, and later acquitted, in a drug case in 2012.

A case of chance possession under relevant sections of the NDPS had been registered against Khan and further probe was underway, the DCP said.

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A man was admitted to hospital as he complained of losing his eyesight after consuming spurious liquor in Kamalpur village under the Jhinjhana police station here, officials said today.

According to Deepak Kumar, the medical officer at the Shamli District Hospital, the patient -- Mohar Singh -- was brought to the hospital yesterday.

Singh, who lost his eyesight after consuming spurious liquor, was subsequently referred to the Meerut Medical College for treatment, Kumar said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) K P Singh said a medical camp was set up in the village after five people died and seven others fell ill after consuming spurious liquor recently.

The Station House Officer (SHO) of Jhinjhana, Rajkumar Sharma, has been shifted to the police lines in connection with the incident. Five policemen, including Sub-inspector K P Singh, who was the Bidoli police outpost in-charge, have been placed under suspension for negligence in duty.

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A court in Jhalawar sentenced today a man to death by hanging for killing a minor girl after raping her in the Rajasthan district.

Special schedule tribe/schedule caste (ST/SC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court convicted the 24-year-old man and announced that he be hanged till death for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Chotiraipur village under Jhalawar city police station.

The special ST/SC and POCSO court judge Swati Sharma convicted Mode Singh alias Langda Bheel, a resident of Chotaraipur of Jhalwar, special public prosecutor, ST/SC and POCSO court, Jhalawar, Dheeraj Acharya said.

The convict on February 14 this year abducted the minor when she was at a local Mahashivratri fair and murdered her after raping.

He dumped her body in nearby field in the village, Sharma said, adding the minor's body was found the next day in the field near the village.

The convict was arrested on the same day and was booked under Sections 366, 376 and 302 of the IPC and Sections of the POCSO Act, he said.

Police submitted the charge sheet in the case on February 28 this year and the trial lasted for five months and 24 days, the SPP said, adding that statements of 25 witnesses were recorded in the court and 44 documents produced during the trial.

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Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up USD 50, 000.

Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president.

It's also the latest sign that Cohen is broke.

Trump's former personal lawyer owes at least USD 1.4 million to the IRS after pleading guilty Tuesday to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and bank fraud, and has racked up millions of dollars in debt.

Because of his plea, he is being forced to give up his New York City taxi medallions, which have shrunk in value as Uber and Lyft shake the industry.

"He's without resources and owes a lot of money," Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in television interview on Wednesday.

Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, commented in court Tuesday that Trump had directed him to arrange payments of USD 130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels and USD 150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election.

While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted.

In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox in an interview aired yesterday that he knew about payments "later on."



By today morning, the GoFundMe page dubbed the "Michael Cohen Truth Fund" had raised more than USD 149,000 from about 2,770 donations.

Most reaction on social media was incredulous and unsympathetic, but one USD 5 donor was encouraging, writing: "The USA would love you for your honesty."



Confusion over the web address for the fundraising page, michaelcohentruthfund.com, led someone on Wednesday to anonymously register a shorter version, michaelcohentruth.com, that redirects to Trump's re-election campaign website.

Cohen's crowdfunding campaign, which has a goal of raising USD 500,000, could be a way for Cohen to bolster his whistleblower status by appealing to Democrats and others who want to see Trump taken down.

It's not the first time someone who felt wronged by Trump has asked the public to pony up.

Fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe raked in more than USD 500,000 in just five days of his legal defense campaign, and Daniels funded her lawsuit against the president with about USD 500,000 raised from nearly 17,000 donors.

Cohen could ultimately need much more to wipe his books clean.

Court papers filed in connection with his guilty plea detailed his precarious financial state, as well as his side gigs as a taxicab magnate, high-interest lender and broker of real estate and handbag deals.

In one arrangement, according to the papers, Cohen used a line of credit he obtained at 5 per cent interest to float a USD 6 million loan to a Chicago taxi operator at 12 per cent interest.

Later, when applying for the USD 500,000 home equity credit line used to finance the Daniels payment, the papers say, Cohen failed to disclose USD 14 million in medallion-related debt. Cohen and his wife claimed on the loan paperwork that they had a positive net worth of more than USD 40 million.

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A minor girl allegedly kidnapped by a teenager from neighbouring Navi Mumbai earlier this month was traced to New Delhi railway station and rescued, a police official said today.

The 17-year-old girl was missing from Navi Mumbai since August 7 and, following a complaint by her parents, a case of kidnapping was registered under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code at Turbhe MIDC police station, the official said.

A team of the Turbhe MIDC police and the Navi Mumbai police's Anti-Human Trafficking Cell rescued the girl from New Delhi on Wednesday and arrested an 18-year-old, identified as Mohammad Aslam Khan, who allegedly kidnapped the girl after promising to marry her, he said.

The official added that further probe into the matter was being carried out by Turbhe MIDC police.

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A minor girl, who was working as a cook at an old age home at Chiluatal area in Gorakhpur, was allegedly raped by the manager of the shelter 10 days back, police said here today.

According to the police, the 16-year-old girl lodged her complaint yesterday evening.

A case has been registered against the manager, but no arrest has been made so far, Senior Superintendent of Police Gorakhpur, Shalabh Mathur, said today.

"The case is 10-day old. The medical report and statement of the girl in front of magistrate is awaited. Probe is underway, and police is minutely investigating the case. A case of rape has been registered against the accused. No arrest has been made so far," Mathur said



According to the complaint, the manager Anurag Pandey, a resident of Nausad area in Gorakhpur, allegedly got inside the girl's room at the shelter on August 13 and raped her.

Yesterday, when the girl's cousin came to meet her, she narrated her ordeal to him, and they registered the complaint.

However the manager has denied the allegations levelled against him by the girl.

The girl said she was working in the old age home from the last three months. Her father had died around a year ago and due to the poor financial condition of the family the girl's aunt helped her in getting a job of the cook at the old age home.

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The Delhi High Court today sentenced to life imprisonment 12 members of dominant Jat community and 21 other convicts to varying jail terms in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case in which a 60-year-old man and his physically- challenged teenaged daughter were burnt alive.

The high court said there was a "deliberate targeting" of the houses of Balmiki community members by the Jats and it was "an instance of caste-based violence meant to teach the Balmikis a lesson for perceived insults".

In a 209-page verdict, a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said 71 years after Independence, instances of "atrocities" against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown "no signs of abating".

"The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of 'the complete absence of two things in Indian society' as noted by Dr B R Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949. One was 'equality' and the other 'fraternity'," the bench observed.

On April 21, 2010, the house of victim Tara Chand was set ablaze by the members of the Jat community after a dispute between the two communities at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district, which led the father and the daughter to be burnt alive.

Several other members of the Dalit community were injured and there was "large scale destruction" of their properties by the Jats, the court noted in its verdict.

On the burning down of the Dalits' properties, the high court said it was not a case of an accidental fire spreading quickly as a result of cow dung cakes or other flammable materials lying around, but a "deliberate, pre-planned and carefully orchestrated act."



The trial court had earlier convicted only 15 of the 98 persons accused in the case, but the high court had set aside the acquittal of 20 persons. Two men, who were convicted by the trial court, have died during the pendency of the appeals.

Of the 20 persons whose acquittal was reversed, five were awarded life term and other 15 sentenced to jail terms of 1-2 years by the high court which said there was sufficient evidence to show that "a large scale conspiracy" was hatched by the Jats against the Balmikis.

The judgment of the trial court which had awarded life sentence to three -- Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal -- was modified to the extent that instead of holding them guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the convicts were held guilty under the harsher penal provision of murder.

The other nine persons awarded life term by the high court are -- Karambir, Pradeep (s/o Jaibir), Rajpal, Pradeep (s/o Suresh), Jogal, Satyawan, Pawan, Sanjay and Dharambir.

While Pawan was convicted for murder, the other eight were held guilty of using fire or explosive material to damage the property of a member of the Balmiki community under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act, for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment.

Mirchpur village is located on the border between the Hisar and Jind districts of Haryana and is home to several communities such as the Lohars, Chamars, Balmikis, Brahmins and the Jats, who are the dominant among them, the court noted.

While the trial was completed by the lower court in nine months, the appeals were decided by the high court in over six years.

The high court, which had also imposed varying fines on the 33 convicts, said the amounts collected from the convicts shall be used by the Haryana government for pecuniary relief and rehabilitation of the victims.

The court also noted that the members of the Jat community had planned their attack in advance and come to the Balmiki basti armed with oil cans, jellies, gandasis (sickles), sticks and carts filled with stones. It said the properties of the Balmiki community were burnt and looted and their belongings destroyed.

The high court set aside the finding of the trial court that it was not an instance of violence driven by caste hatred.

It said Tara Chand's dying declaration "more than adequately established" the role of some of the accused and the deposition of various prosecution witnesses fully corroborated his statement.

The high court pronounced the verdict on separate appeals of the convicts challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case. The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicts had died during pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the IPC.

While five others were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act, seven other accused, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court.

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The Delhi High Court today overturned the acquittal of 20 persons in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case while observing that instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes have not abated even after 71 years of Independence.

The high court also upheld the conviction of 13 persons by the trial court and enhanced the punishment of some of the convicts.

A 60-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter were burnt alive by members of the Jat community in Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in April 2010.

With today's verdict, 12 out of 33 convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment for the offences, including murder under the IPC and committing mischief by fire or explosive substance by a member of a community other than SC/ST, intending to cause damage property of a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said 71 years after Independence, instances of "atrocities" against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown "no sign of abating".

"The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of 'the complete absence of two things in Indian society' as noted by Dr B R Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949. One was 'equality' and the other 'fraternity'," the bench said in its 209-page verdict.

The court held that there was deliberate targeting of houses of members of Balmiki community by members of the Jat community and common object in the case was to "teach members of the Balmiki community a lesson and this has been fully achieved by the accused persons."



It said the fine amounts collected from the convicts shall be utilised by the Haryana Government as part of the provision of pecuniary relief and rehabilitation to the victims.

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 13 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicted died during pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. The high court modified the provision and convicted them for the offence of murder under Section 302 IPC.

Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case.

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The Mirchpur Dalits killings was a deliberate act of targeting Balmiki houses by the Jat community mob and involved a large scale conspiracy "to teach them a lesson", the Delhi High Court today said.

The high court's observations came while overturning the acquittal of 20 persons and awarding life term to 12 out of 33 members of the dominant Jat community.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said Balmikis houses were set on fire in a pre-planned and carefully orchestrated manner.

"This was not a case of a fire spreading quickly as a result of any accidental fire catching on to the cow dung cakes or other flammable materials which were just lying around. This was an act of deliberate targeting of the Balmiki houses by the Jat community mob and setting them on fire in a pre-planned and carefully orchestrated manner.

"The entire evidence, if read carefully, more than adequately demonstrates that there was a large scale conspiracy hatched by members of the Jat community to teach the Balmikis a lesson and pursuant to that conspiracy, houses of the Balmiki community were set on fire," the bench said.

A 60-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter were burnt alive by members of the Jat community in Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in April 2010.

The instances of "atrocities" against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown "no sign of abating" even after 71 years of Independence, the bench remarked.

It said the evidence unmistakably showed that victim Tara Chand and his daughter were set on fire and pushed inside the house in that condition fully knowing that they were Balmikis.

The bench said Tara Chand's dying declaration more than adequately establishes the role of several accused, and held that the killing of both the victims was murder and not 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.

It noted that the Jats had planned their attack in advance and had come to the Balmiki basti well armed with oil cans, 'rehris' filled with stones, lathis, gandasis, jellies etc and the properties of the Balmikis were burnt and their belongings destroyed.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicts died during pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

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The Delhi High Court today asked the Haryana government to utilise the Rs 13-lakh fine imposed on the convicts of the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case for rehabilitation of the victim families.

"The fine amounts collected shall be utilised by the Government of Haryana as part of the provision of pecuniary relief and rehabilitation to the victims," a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said.

The high court today sentenced to life imprisonment 12 members of the dominant Jat community and 21 other convicts to varying jail terms in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case in which a 60-year-old man and his physically-challenged teenaged daughter were burnt alive.

The court imposed fines ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 for each of the offences, including murder, rioting and causing grievous hurt under the penal code and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, for which the 33 convicts were held guilty and if recovered, the total amount would come to around Rs 13 lakh.

As a result of the April 21, 2010 violence, 254 families of the Balmiki community had to flee Mirchpur village in Hisar district of Haryana. Some of them took shelter in the farmhouse of one Ved Pal Tanwar.

The Dalit families which moved out of the village supported the case of the prosecution, while those who returned there did not.

The court observed that many of those families continue to remain at the farmhouse awaiting rehabilitation and reparation as they have been too scared to return to Mirchpur.

The Haryana government had initiated rehabilitation programmes for the distressed community.

The proposal was to settle the displaced families "in the newly carved town Deen Dayal Puram in Dhandoor village adjoining Hisar town". According to the report, the state government had proposed spending Rs 4.56 crore to lay down the infrastructure and civic facilities in the proposed township.

The court said it was a sobering fact that the Haryana government decided to rehabilitate the displaced Dalit families in a separate township and not in Mirchpur.

"The question is whether this accords with the constitutional promise of equality, social justice and fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual," said the bench.

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West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today warned of more financial scams in the country as non performing assets (NPAs) of banks are steadily on the rise.

He said that while the percentage of NPAs in 2014 was 4.4 per cent of total advances of the banks, it steadily rose to 11.06 per cent in 2018 which he described as a "dangerous signal".

"Going by the systemic rise in the NPA trends, it appears that more financial scams are in the offing. Not only that, 11 public sector banks (PSBs) are on the list of RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA)", Mitra said at a seminar organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

Mitra said the figures were collated from the latest Financial Stability Report of RBI and in absolute terms, NPA levels had risen from Rs 2.04 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 10.25 lakh crore in 2018.

"This climbing NPAs show surfacing of crony capitalism in the system," he added.

On small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Mitra said these job creating entities were getting squeezed due to non-availability of finance, adding that there should be a balance between large and small industries.

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Rajkummar Rao has redefined the word 'hero' in Bollywood and the actor believes one of the biggest reasons for his success is that he has always tried to challenge the norms.

The 33-year old star said it is important for an artiste to break through the shackles of "obvious" as being predictable can hinder their growth.

"I love it when people call me unconventional. My aim has always been to break conventions and to keep experimenting. I feel it is good to be unpredictable. People are experimenting in every field. We can't keep following what has been there since always. It is important to reinvent as an artiste," Rao told PTI.

The actor said he has again tried to do something unique with his upcoming film "Stree", which releases on his birthday August 31.

"'Stree' is something fresh and new. Audiences want to see different kind of content on-screen and 'Stree' is exactly that. It is a unique genre horror-comedy which has not been explored much in our country."



Rao revealed that he was the brain behind the catchy title of the film, which also stars Shraddha Kapoor.

"When Raj & DK (director) came and narrated me the script the title was something else. But in conversation, I told them if we can name it 'Stree'. In a way I was the one who decided the title. I found that one word very catchy," he said.

The actor, who is currently busy promoting "Stree", will soon start working on his next, titled "Made In China".

"I am going to start shooting for 'Made In China' with Boman sir (Irani) from September 4. We will be in Ahemdabad for around five weeks. It is a drama-comedy. It is story of this young Gujrati businessman who is trying to make it big," he said.

Rao was speaking on the sidelines of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2018, where he walked the ramp for designer Rajesh Pratap Singh last night. The actor said he is as experimental in fashion as he is in his movie choices.

"Fashion means comfort for me. Fashion for me is something which makes me feel confident. Dressing up is a personal thing. I am a young guy. I like to experiment with clothes and keeping things edgy when it comes to styling. The kind of changes we are seeing in the fashion industry are somewhat similar to what we are seeing in cinema."



Rao said for celebrities dressing up is like a performance these days as there are so many people reviewing their fashion choices.

"Dressing up these days is just like a performance. People review your choices. Everything is digital. People can write whatever they want. Luckily in my case people are writing really good things about my style," he said.

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The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was today immersed in the river Tlawng, the biggest river in Mizoram near Aizawl.

The urn containing the mortal remains of Vajpayee was brought to Aizawl from Delhi by the state BJP unit president Prof. John V Hluna yesterday.

A funeral with full Christian religious honour was held at the BJP state unit office here.

Representatives from the ruling Congress party, Peoples Right to Information and Development Implementation Society of Mizoram (PRISM) party and civil societies also spoke at the function and hailed the former prime minister as a man of development who brought changes to the country and also to the North East.

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The NHRC today issued a notice to the Health Ministry and the Haryana government over reports of the death of a newborn in an ambulance that got stuck in a jam allegedly caused by a cycle rally of Haryana Pradesh Congress chief Ashok Tanwar in Sonipat district.

"The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that a newborn allegedly died as the ambulance carrying him could not reach to the hospital as it got stuck in the rally of a political party in Sonipat, Haryana, on August, 22," it said.

The commission has issued the notice to the state's chief secretary calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks along with the details of the relief provided to the aggrieved family.

It also directed the Haryana DGP to submit a report on steps taken on the FIR registered in the matter and present status of the investigation in the case.

The NHRC has also sent a notice to the Union Health Ministry and directed its secretary to submit a report within four weeks, making it mandatory to equip every ambulance, be it owned by government, private hospitals or outsourced, with the life-saving devices.

The baby died at the PGIMS, Rohtak, after the ambulance carrying him was allegedly stuck in the jam for over 30 minutes.

In a police complaint filed yesterday, the newborn's father alleged that the ambulance carrying the baby was not equipped with oxygen facilities.

A case has been filed under section 304A (causing death by rash or negligent act) of the IPC and section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the police said.

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A nine-year-old Buddhist novice has died after a beating by a Thai monk who allegedly battered him with a stick and slammed his head against a pillar, officials said today.

Monk Suphachai Suthiyano, 64, flew into a rage during a prayer session last weekend when the young disciple disrupted the ceremony with his "playful" behaviour.

The monk allegedly assaulted Wattanapol Sisawad with a bamboo stick at the temple in Kanchanaburi, two hours west of Bangkok, striking him on his back several times before bashing his head into a pillar.

The child fell into a coma and passed away yesterday, a hospital worker at Kanchanaburi provincial hospital told AFP today, requesting anonymity.

The incident comes as Thailand, a majority-Buddhist country, grapples with multiple other scandals among its clergy, including cases of extortion, sex and drug use.

The suspect, who was defrocked on Sunday following his arrest, was charged earlier this week with assault.

Police Captain Amnaj Chunbult said the charge will be revised to "assault resulting in death" once he receives official confirmation.

The boy's mother Sukunya Tunhim told Thai media in a taped phone call she "will not forgive him (the monk)".

An official from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the National Police Office in Bangkok confirmed an autopsy had already taken place, and that the boy's relatives have reclaimed his body.

The Buddhist faith is bound with everyday life in Thailand, making it commonplace for most men, even children, to spend some time in a monastery as a novice.

Monks are virtually beyond reproach in the country's villages, but the ruling junta has taken a strong line against clergy who break the law.

Earlier this month, Thailand's infamous "jet-set monk" -- so-called after footage emerged of him carrying a Louis Vuitton bag on a private jet -- was sentenced to 114 years in prison for money-laundering and fraud.

In May the abbot of the popular "Golden Mount" temple in Bangkok surrendered to police after USD 4 million was found in bank accounts in his name.

The case came on the heels of an ongoing investigation into whether the National Office of Buddhism had misused millions of dollars under its control.

Authorities last year floated the idea of introducing digitised ID cards to better track monks with criminal convictions.

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With the arrest of a 25-year-old man, the police in Gautam Buddh Nagar today claimed to have cracked a two-month-old case in which two persons were drowned but their death was considered accidental.

Saurabh Singh, a resident of Kashyap Colony in Sector-48 here, was arrested yesterday for killing his friend Nagendra Chauhan, 33, the police said.

Saurabh, Nagendra and Bhanu, 34, were friends for last five-six years. In June this year, Nagendra and Bhanu had died after "drowning" in Gang canal in Muradnagar where the three had gone together, the police said.

"It was initially reported that Nagendra and Bhanu have died of drowning and Suarabh had gone missing without any information, Circle Officer (CO), City 2nd, Rajeev Kumar Singh told reporters.

An FIR was registered at Sector-49 police station on a complaint by the victim's family, but they suspected a foul play in the case. Later, on the request of the family members it was transferred to Sector-24 police station.

Saurabh was on radar of the police team because of his disappearance from the crime scene under mysterious circumstances, the CO said.

He said media reports and a general perception was that several people had lost their lives in the Gang canal in Muradnagar in recent times.

"So, it initially emerged that Nagendra and Bhanu had drowned like some other people had in that canal. But Nagendra's autopsy report revealed injuries on head and private parts, raising suspicion over his death, he said.

The police team then re-analysed the entire episode and evidences, studied the route, interacted with the locals at the crime spot including the life guards at the canal.

"During probe he (Saurabh) did not reveal the truth at once. It was only after we posed tougher questions that he was left with no logical answers and got caught, Singh said, claiming that Saurabh has confessed to the crime.

Saurabh was part-time engaged as a washerman while Nagendra had an electronics shop. Saurabh was financially weak and owed around Rs 5 lakh to Nagendra, the police officer said.

"The money was not taken all at once, but it was accumulated over four-five years, Singh said



The accused was also furious at Nagendra because he would often make indecent and vulgar comments about his younger sister and lusted on her.

So, he (Saurabh) had two things in mind. One, that he need not return the money and anger over Nagendra's intentions for his sister, the policeman said.

On June 23, the three had to go for a wedding in Rampur. It was then that Saurabh hatched a plan to eliminate Nagendra, Singh said.

Saurabh proposed that the three, who were to go in Bhanu's car, first go for a bath in the Gang canal in Muradnagar and have fun on their way to the wedding. The other two agreed.

He had planned to get them drunk before getting into the canal. While bathing, Nagendra and Bhanu actually started drowning under the influence of alcohol, while Saurabh remained safe as he had avoided drinking, the CO said.

Soon some locals emerged for help and it was decided that the two be rushed to a hospital.

"Saurabh said he would take Nagendra to the hospital in the car, while Bhanu be helped by others. He stopped the car in an isolated place midway and checked on Nagendra, who was hardly speaking.

Saurabh soon pulled out a wrench from the boot of the car and hit Nagendra on the head and on his private parts, leaving him dead, the police officer said.

He then dumped the body in the same canal but at some distance in order to mislead others into believing that the body may have arrived there after Nagendra drowned, Singh said.

Meanwhile, Bhanu was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead of drowning by the doctors, the police said.

After dumping Nagendra's body, Saurabh had returned home but come under police lens. However, there was not enough evidence initially to establish his hand in the crime, the police said.

Saurabh was finally arrested yesterday after all evidences indicated his involvement and then he himself confessed to killing Nagendra, the police said.

He has been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), among others.

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Iran hurt India's pride in kabaddi yet again as it delivered a second straight knockout punch to the sport's most successful nation in the women's gold medal match of the 18th Asian Games here today.

The two-time defending champions was shocked 24-27 in a thrilling final as the firm favourites settled for silver.

India's raiders disappointed in the title clash as Iran came from behind to jolt them in the second half.

The Iranian women emulated thus their male counterparts, who had shocked seven-time champions India in the semifinals yesterday.

Payel and Sonali were effective with their raids while the defenders also handled the tackles well as the Indians raced to a 7-3 lead.

The most dangerous looking Iranian was Azadeh Saidisiahbidi but she was forced out after a successful tackle.

Randeep Kaur went for a raid after Iran's two-point raid but she was unsuccessful as Iran gradually reduced the deficit to 6-7.

Randeep though made amends in the next attempt with a two-point raid, pushing India ahead 13-8.

Azadeh touched out Ritu and Manpreet and captain Payel was caught by the Iranian defenders as India led 13-11 at the of first half.

Iran scored six points in a row to race to a 17-13 lead with an all out.

With just two minutes to go, Sakshi Kumari earned two points with a successful raid to make it 24-25 but Iranians held their nerves to prevail.

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A three-member delegation from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), headed by its new president, Vincentian Hon. Justice Adrian Saunders, is scheduled to undertake a four-day visit to this country next week .





The purpose of the visit is to engage a broad cross-section of Vincentian society in discussions about the CCJ, its activities and the possible accession of St Vincent and the Grenadines to full membership of the CCJ.





The delegation, which arrives here on the evening of Tuesday, August 28, will be the guests of the SVG Bar Association at a Town Hall meeting planned for Wednesday, August 29 at Frenches House beginning at 7:00 p.m. The delegation is also expected to meet with the Hon. Prime Minister and Hon. Leader of the Opposition, hold a Media Conference and engage different interest groups in discussions during its visit.





The general public is cordially invited to the Town Hall meeting next Wednesday at Frenches House.
Public sector Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) today said it has recorded the highest-ever turnover of Rs 15,923 crore, a growth of 14 per cent, despite lower profits of Rs 2,042 crore during 2017-18.

At the 25th Annual General Meeting here, Chairman D Rajkumar said the company recorded the highest-ever revenue from operations at Rs 15,923 crore during 2017-18, registering a growth of 14.17 per cent over the previous year.

Rajkumar is also the Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

The Gross Refining Margin (GRM) at US Dollar 11.43 per barrel continued to be one of the best in the industry, Rajkumar said.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the year stood at Rs 27.79. The company has declared a dividend of Rs 18.50 per share for 2017-18.

The company's profit after tax for the year was however, marginally lower at Rs 2,042 crore as compared to the prenious year, Rajkumar said.

NRL's contribution to the Central and State exchequers in the form of taxes, duties and dividends during the year has been the highest-ever at Rs 4,672 crore, he said.

The refinery processed 2,809 TMT of crude oil during 2017-18 achieving a capacity utilisation of 93 per cent, he said.

NRL recorded highest-ever sales volume of 2,912 TMT during the year, surpassing the previous high of 2,728 TMT in 2011-12.

He said NRL's share of the domestic wax market climbed up to 45 per cent.

On exports, Gas oil (Diesel) amounting to 25 TMT was sent to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation at Parbatipur from the company's terminal at Siliguri in West Bengal.

"Accelerated by the continued efforts and commitment of its employees and unwavering support of all stakeholders, I assure you that NRL will continue to perform par excellence and deliver results beyond expectation," Rajkumar said.

He said the company is planning refinery expansion from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA as part of the ambitious 'Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the North East' which is under active consideration by the Centre.

Plans for implementing the first-of-its-kind Bio Refinery with bamboo as feedstock have also taken a definite shape. A Joint Venture (JV) company -- Assam Bio-Refinery Pvt. Ltd. -- has been incorporated in June 2018 with equity participation from NRL, Fortum 3BV, Netherlands and Chempolis Oy, Finland, he said.

Another JV company -- Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited -- was incorporated this month with equal participation of NRL, IOCL, ONGC, OIL, and GAIL for implementation of the North-East Natural Gas Grid Pipeline, he said.

The ambitious project will connect all Northeastern states to the National Gas Grid through Barauni-Guwahati Gas Pipeline being laid by GAIL, he saud.

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The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) today took to the streets of Kohima to protest against alleged influx of illegal immigrants and demand inclusion of Dimapur district under the purview of Inner Line Permit (ILP).

The Inner Line Permit is required by non-Nagas to visit Nagaland and Dimapur is the only district in the state which is not under the purview of ILP.

The NSF, the apex students' body of the state, described today's rally as the second phase of protest against "influx of illegal immigrants into the state".

Addressing the gathering, NSF president Kesosul Christopher Ltu said the younger generation is worried that illegal immigrants would overtake the indigenous people of the state if the influx is not checked.

"Government machineries have miserably failed to monitor implementation of ILP in the state," he alleged.

Ltu claimed that check gates in different parts of the state remained ineffective maintaining no record of outsiders entering the state with ILP and going back.

Because of this "failure of government mechanism", the NSF was compelled to check the ILP of non-Nagas on August 8 in the first phase of its protest, he said.

"The government should take the NSF and civil societies into confidence in making the ILP regime efficient and effective," said Neichute Doulo, a member of the NSF's ILP committee.

The NSF members rallied through the main town of Kohima amid rain and submitted a memorandum on their demand to the chief minister's advisor.

In the memorandum, the NSF said exclusion of Dimapur from the purview of the ILP has made the district a safe haven for illegal immigrants, posing the "biggest demographic threat to the indigenous inhabitants of the state".

"It is without any doubt to assert that, overwhelming population of people with questionable identities inhabit Dimapur district which is evident as most of them do not possess any documents of their identification proof," the students body said in the memorandum.

The NSF set a month's deadline for the government to intimate it of the necessary measures taken and initiated by the government for this matter.

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The Odisha government today approved a proposal for setting up a Legislative Council in the state.

A proposal in this regard was approved at the Cabinet meeting here presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Parliamentary Affairs Minister B K Aarukha told reporters.

A resolution will be brought in the monsoon session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly beginning from September 4 for formation of Odisha Legislative Council, he said.

The proposed Legislative Council will have 49 members, the minister said adding that the state will have to spend Rs 35 crore annually for creation of the Vidhan Parishad. The members of the proposed council will get salary and allowance as given to the members of the legislative assembly.

As per article 171 clause (1) of the Indian Constitution, the total number of members in the Legislative Council of a state shall not exceed one third of the total number of the members in the Legislative Assembly of that state and the total number of members in the Legislative Council of a state shall in no case be less than 40.

As the total number of members in Odisha Assembly is 147, the total number of members in the Legislative Council will be 49, he said.

Earlier, the state government had set up a committee in 2015 to study the Legislative Councils in other states and recommend for one in Odisha.

The committee led by Transport Minister Nrushingha Charan Sahu had submitted its report to the Chief Minister recommending formation of the Legislative Council in Odisha on August 3 after visiting Bihar and Telangana to study the functioning of the Legislative Councils in those states, Aarukha said.

Earlier, the committee had also visited Maharashtra and Karnataka for the purpose.

The committee has three members from the ruling BJD



Nrusingha Charan Sahu, Pramila Mallik and Manohar Randhari and two Opposition members Bhujabal Majhi and Nitesh Gangdev of the Congress and BJP, respectively.

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Odisha government today urged the Centre to introduce a direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Surat in Gujarat as lakhs of Odia families stay in the western state.

"I would, therefore, like to request you to impress upon Air India and other private airlines to introduce direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Surat at the earliest," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Union Minister Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu.

Stating that lakhs of Odia families have settled in Surat and are engaged in the textile sector there, Patnaik said presently there is no direct air connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Surat.

It takes a lot of time to travel by air between these two cities, Patnaik said adding that during hours of urgent necessity, Odia people living in Surat face untold difficulties in reaching Odisha in time.

Besides, people from both the cities visit places of tourist interest in and around these cities every year. The air connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Surat can give rise to tourist inflow to both the places, the chief minister said in the letter.

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A woman died and nine other people were missing after a boat capsized in the Ganga here today, officials said.

Major rivers in Uttar Pradesh were flowing at dangerous levels today, according to the Central Water Commission.

In another mishap in Bijnor district, a truck was swept away in Kotawali river. All its occupants were rescued, police said.

Bijnor District Magistrate Atal Kumar Rai said there were 27 people on the boat which sank in the Ganga near Rajarampur village under Mandawar police station area.

Seventeen, including six women, have been rescued, he said. Nine people are still missing, he added.

Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team had reached the spot from Ghaziabad to help in the rescue operation.

Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Singh said the people on the boat were headed for their fields located on the other side of the river.

The boat overturned when the current suddenly increased, he said.

The dead woman was identified as Nagini.

In the other mishap in the district, a truck was swept away while crossing Kotawali river, police said.

All four people, including the driver, travelling on the tanker were rescued, Mandawali SHO Rajeev Tyagi said.

A purported video clip on the mishap showed 'Bharat Petroleum' painted on the truck.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited flood-hit Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda and Barabanki districts today.

A Central Water Commission statement said major rivers, including the Ganga, were flowing at dangerous levels while Sharda and Ghaghra were flowing well above the danger mark.

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The Central Crime Branch (CCB) informed the Madras High Court today that only 484 out of 1,940 requests made to social media companies, including Facebook and Twitter, seeking IP details of suspected cyber-criminals were answered during 2016-2018.

It submitted that without such crucial information, it is difficult to commence investigation into complaints of cybercrimes, Additional Commissioner of Police, CCB MT Ganeshmoorthy said.

The officer made the submission through an affidavit on a PIL moved by Antony Clement Rubin, a resident of Chennai, seeking direction to the central government to make it mandatory to link Aadhaar to all social media accounts.

According to the petitioner, the people involved in cybercrimes could be easily identified if Aadhaar was linked with such accounts.

Explaining the difficulty faced by the department, Ganeshmoorthy said, "To investigate any kind of complaints of cybercrime, the CCB is largely dependent on the information provided from the social media company concerned."



He said only after receiving details like Internet Protocol (IP) logs of the social media account, through which the offence was alleged to have committed, the department could proceed with the investigation.

"On receipt of IP logs for the 484 requests, nine cases were registered, 28 cases were closed after the complainant withdrew the complaint.

"Fifteen were closed as there was no prima facie case made out, 26 IP locations were found located outside India, 286 were pending for receiving IP user details from Internet Service Providers (ISP) and 120 IPs were found to be dynamic IP logs," Ganeshmoorthy said.

He said the CCB was facing difficulties in obtaining details from social media companies which were primarily located outside the country.

This apart, in some cases where IP logs obtained from Facebook, Google, Youtube were sent to ISPs for getting user details, the request remains unanswered for long periods, he said.

Particularly, companies like Go-daddy, Beam Telecom, Saudi Telecom had never responded to IP user requests, he added.

In case of Facebook, the company had asked them to approach them through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) or Letter Rogatory, which should be routed through diplomatic channel consuming more time, particularly when the data retention period is 60 to 90 days in foreign countries, he said.

Recording the submissions, a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad orally directed the Centre to furnish the regulations governing ISPs and posted the plea to August 27 for further hearing.

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Over 100 people have been booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act for setting ablaze a worship place of the minority Ahmadi community in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said today.

The incident took place yesterday in Faisalabad district of Punjab when a man belonging to Ahmadi community allegedly kicked a hen belonging to a Muslim man triggering a quarrel between the duo, according to the FIR.

Soon after the incident there was announcement from the mosques that an Ahmadi person has committed blasphemy.

On this a large number of people besieged the Ahmadi worship place -- Baitul Zikar -- in the area. Some of them carrying weapons opened fired.

The inmates also returned the fire and in the exchange over 12 people sustained bullet injuries.

The injured, mostly the Ahmadis, were shifted to different hospitals. Condition of five of them are said to be critical.

The mob later set the Ahmadi worship place on fire before the police reached and controlled the situation.

Police have arrested some of the nominated suspects and booked over 100 under Anti-Terrorism Act and other charges, senior police officer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said.

"Situation is now under control as heavy contingent of police has been deployed at the houses and worship places of Ahmadis," he said.

The incident is the latest sectarian attack on the Ahmadis in Pakistan.

Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan spokesperson Saleemuddin said in a statement that a religious organisation on the pretext of a minor issue exploited the religious sentiments of the Ahmadi community.

"In fact the extremist elements wanted to destroy Ahmadi worship place and they succeeded in their design," he said.

He demanded stern action against those involved in torching of Ahmadi's worship place.

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District & Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh along with 20 other judges conducted a surprise check at the Central Jail in Ludhiana today.

The surprise check was organised under the "Connect to Serve" campaign. Singh was also accompanied by District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Secretary cum Chief Judicial Magistrate Dr Gurpreet Kaur, several other judges, Jail Superintendent S S Boparai, besides others.

It is pertinent to mention that this is for the first time in the state that more than 20 judges have conducted a surprise check in a jail.

Singh said during today's surprise check, all the judges interacted with 3,350 inmates and undertrials and took their feedback about their problems.

Different teams were formed and they visited different barracks, he said. Besides, the judges took notice of the basic facilities, kitchen, food, bathroom, jail security and other aspects.

Singh said the judges would be preparing a detailed report, which would be discussed in detail later. Action would be taken later regarding any changes to be made with respect to the functioning of the jail.

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A Pakistani militant belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit was killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said.

A police spokesman said a search operation was launched by security forces in Vailoo area of Kokernag in the south Kashmir district in the early today.

During the search operation, the search party came in contact with the militants leading to an encounter and in the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed, he said.

He said huge quantity of ammunition and incriminating material was seized from the site of the encounter.

"From the incriminating material seized, it is learnt that the killed terrorist is a Pakistani affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM and was involved in several attacks on security forces and civilians in the area, the spokesman said.

The identity of the slain ultra is being ascertained.

He said police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated.

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As the Supreme Court rejected pleas by opposition parties for cancellation of panchayat polls in over 20,000 uncontested seats in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today the verdict has quashed a "false propaganda" aimed at defaming the state government even as the BJP said voters will have the last word against "violent" means of the ruling party.

While the ruling party, Trinamool Congress, demanded that the opposition parties should apologise to the people of the state for making baseless allegations, the CPI (M) said the apex court verdict "has not justified or nullified the violence" that took place during the elections.

The CPI(M) and the BJP had alleged that West Bengal did not witness a free and fair election as their candidates were stopped from filing nomination papers.

The TMC had, however, rejected the charge while contending that not a single candidate approached any court with the grievance that he or she was stopped from filing nomination papers.

Elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in Gram Panchayats, 825 posts in Zilla Parishads and 9,217 posts in Panchayat Samitis and the TMC won about 34 per cent seats uncontested in May.

In an order passed today, the Supreme Court turned down the pleas of the CPI(M) and the BJP seeking cancellation of elections at uncontested seats. It, however, took note of allegations and said the aggrieved candidate may file election petitions to challenge panchayat polls in courts concerned.

The court held that the 30-day limitation period for filing election petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results.

Earlier, the court had directed the West Bengal State Election Commission not to declare and notify the results in the wake of allegations of large-scale violence and alleged obstruction of filing nomination papers.

Hailing the supreme court verdict as a "victory of democracy and of the people", Chief Minister Banerjee slammed the BJP, the Congress and the CPI(M) for "defaming" the state through false propaganda and alleged it was a planned move by the three political parties to gain political advantage.

Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat here, she said the three parties had deliberately resorted to a false propaganda.

"I think it is a victory of democracy and victory of the people. I want to dedicate it to the people of the country", she said.

The BJP said it accepted the verdict and would fight the TMC democratically.

"We accept the verdict of the Supreme Court. We'll fight against TMC democratically in the next Lok Sabha elections. The people of the state will have the last word," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said the verdict has not at all justified or nullified the "violence" that took place during the polls.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, "We all have seen how panchayat polls were held in the state. It has only proved that no elections can be held in the state without deployment of central forces."



Asking opposition parties to apologise to the people, state's Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said, "This is a historic verdict. This is a big lesson for the opposition parties. It has been proved that their allegations are baseless".

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Police here have confirmed that they have taken Keshorn Caine of Diamonds into custody and that he is assisting them with their investigations into the stabbing death of Brenda Layne.





Layne, a 48-year-old resident of Chauncey and an employee of Humble Security Services, had finished her nightshift at VINLECs corporate headquarters in Pauls Avenue and hade made her way to Lower Bay Street/the foot of Higginson Street, outside Gibson Building Supplies, awaiting transportation to journey home, when she was attacked from behind and reportedly stabbed in the neck.

She died upon arrival at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.





The incident took place last Wednesday around 6 a.m. when commuters usually make their way into Kingstown. However, a few persons were in the vicinity at the time of the incident, and at least one of those recalled hearing a loud scream.





Others who had moved closer to where Layne lay on the ground, described her as being in a lot of pain.

The police said that there was no evidence to suggest that the death was as a result of attempted robbery. They, however, confirmed, that Layne received one stab wound to the neck, and that the investigation is continuing.

Laynes death counted 21 murders for this year.
Taking strong note of the recent fire incident in a posh Mumbai high-rise that claimed four lives, the Supreme Court said the people were dying in such illegally-constructed buildings which had no relevant certificates or clearances.

It also referred to the incidents of Bawana factory in Delhi and the Kamala Mills in Mumbai and said unregulated constructions were being rampantly carried out with the hope that "some day such buildings will be regularised".

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta expressed concern over illegal constructions and wondered how such high-rises were being allowed to be constructed with no clearances from the authorities.

"People are dying in these unauthorised constructions. You see what happened in Mumbai's Parel where a fire broke out in high rise building two days back. We have read somewhere that the building did not have an occupancy certificate. How are these high rise buildings being allowed to be built," the bench said.

The top court, which is dealing with a matter related to unauthorised construction in Delhi, said "it is actually a sorry state of affairs if we look other parts of the country".

"We are dealing with the issue of Delhi, but what is happening in rest of the country is equally worrying. Shall we start taking the matter city-wise for Mumbai, Calcutta or Chennai," the bench asked.

Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni, concurred with the views of bench and said these high-rises were being built due to "large scale corruption in town-planning departments and civic bodies."



To this, the bench said "then what is the government doing if there is so much corruption. Tell us what steps are being taken by it. If we take certain action, you say it is judicial activism".

The court said that people were staying in such buildings for years and one fine day they are told that the building where they are residing have no occupancy certificate.

"Something or the other has to be done. It can't go on like this way as people are dying", the bench said.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who is amicus curiae in the matter, drew the attention of the court to the recent incident of a building collapsing in Shahberi village of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and said over half a dozen people were killed.

"Unregularised constructions are being done with a hope that some day such buildings will be regularised. Just see the incidents of Bawana in Delhi, Kamala Mills in Mumbai, it seems no lesson has been learnt," the bench observed.

Nadkarni said that respective high courts should be asked to look at all the unauthorised constructions in their jurisdiction.

The bench took on record the report of the Monitoring Committee which is overseeing the sealing drive in Burari area of North Delhi.

The report said there were over 24 un-regularised residential buildings which have been given provisional regularisation certificates and large-scale encroachment has taken place on the lands of Delhi Development Authority and Forest Department.

Several multi-storied residential and commercial buildings have come up in the agricultural lands and 800 godowns and industrial units are being run in the residential areas, it said, adding that action has been taken against 25 such illegally constructed buildings.

The bench directed the Special Task Force (STF), constituted on April 25 following the court's order to oversee enforcement of laws on illegal constructions in Delhi, to take into account the report of Monitoring Committee.

It directed the STF to initiate action against the illegal structures in compliance with the court directions.

On July 18, the apex court had directed that there would be "no stopping of sealing or demolition" of unauthorised constructions in Delhi after the Centre said it had not given any instructions to the civic bodies to go slow or stop the sealing drive against offending structures.

It had said that construction activity be stopped with "immediate effect" wherever any unauthorised construction was noticed or booked by authorities concerned in the national capital.

The top court is dealing with the issue of validity of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protect unauthorised constructions from being sealed.

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The Madras High Court was today informed by an anti-graft body that a preliminary inquiry on DMK's complaint of corruption against Chief Minister K Palaniswami has already commenced.

Advocate General Vijay Narayan made the submission on behalf of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) when the plea came up before Justice A D Jagadish Chandira.

"We received the complaint on June 22. Immediately a preliminary inquiry has been commenced and the investigation is going on," Vijay Narayan said.

Senior counsel for DMK NR Elango submitted that as per the directions of the Supreme Court such preliminary probe should be completed within seven days and in case of the DVAC, it should be completed by two months.

By August 22, the two-month period has expired, he added.

Concurring with the submission, the judge asked the advocate general as to why the DVAC has not completed the inquiry in two months.

At least a case must have been registered by now, the judge said and directed the DVAC to file its counter by September 4.

Petitioner RS Bharathi, the organising secretary of the DMK, alleged the chief minister, who also holds the highways and road portfolios, abused his power to allocate five highway laying and maintenance projects worth over Rs 3,500 crore to firms owned by his relatives and benamis.

He claimed that most of the projects were funded by the World Bank.

"Palaniswami, being a government servant, entered into a criminal conspiracy with his relatives and benamis and thereby committed criminal misconduct and obtained undue pecuniary advantage for himself.

"These offences attract punishment under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act," Bharathi submitted.

He submitted that no action was taken by the DVAC despite a complaint lodged on June 13 against Palaniswami. He wanted the court to direct the agency to register a case and commence preliminary probe immediately.

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should have the same level of operational freedom as being enjoyed by private sector lenders in order to help them resolve their issues including bad loans, non-executive chairman G Padmanabhan said on Friday.

Most of the problems in the banking sector are due to operational issues rather than ownership issues, he said at the banking conclave organised by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

"There are limitations with respect to ownerships in (PSBs) but those issues can be easily resolved. You give the the kind of operational freedom that the private sector banks have (to operate freely)," Padmanabhan said.

He said most of the in is a build up from infra sector by way of consortium lending where it is not even a lead bank, and these are the kinds of problems the face.

Most of the public sector banks are saddled with a huge amount of pile up in their accounts.

Of the 21 state-owned banks, as many as 19 banks posted a combined loss of Rs 873.57 billion during 2017-18 due to various issues including scams and defaults by big corporate houses.

Only two lenders Vijaya Bank and Indian Bank posted profits in the fiscal ended March 2018.

The in the banking sector stood at Rs 8.31 trillion as of December 2017.
Power trading solutions provider PTC India today announced that it has operationalised the flow or supply of 126 MW inter-state wind power commissioned capacity to different beneficiary states under government scheme.

The power will flow (be supplied) to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, a PTC India statement said.

According to statement, the commissioned capacities are part of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Wind Scheme (Tranche-I) of 1050 MW in Jun 2016.

"PTC India has executed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with developers and power sale agreements (PSAs) with seven state utilities," it added.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) had conducted the competitive bidding and e-reverse auction for selection of wind project developers in Feb 2017 and the tariff discovered was Rs 3.46/kWh setting a new benchmark for the wind sector at that time, it said.

Deepak Amitabh, CMD, PTC India said, This as an important milestone in the journey of renewable energy in India, wherein the scheme enables transfer of renewable power from wind rich states to wind deficient states."



"The capacities under this scheme will be commissioned progressively in the coming months and benefits of the capacity will be reaped by state utilities fully from next wind season, he added.

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The Punjab Vidhan Sabha paid homage to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on the first day of its Monsoon session today.

Chief minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Amarinder Singh led the state assembly in paying homage to the eminent political leaders.

At the outset of the session, a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls.

Besides Vajpayee and Somnath, tributes were also paid to Chattisgarh Governor Balramji Dass Tandon, former Punjab minister Surinder Singla, ex-MLAs Joginder Nath and Kuldeep Singh Wadala and veteran journalist and noted writer Kuldip Nayar.

Rich tributes were also paid to freedom fighters and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.

Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Rana K P Singh proposed that homage be paid to all those members who had passed away since the last session.

After the obituary references to 17 eminent personalities, he passed a resolution for conveying the condolences of the House to their respective families. The resolution was passed by voice vote.

On the request of Sunam MLA Aman Arora, the name of Jangir Singh Sutantar, a freedom fighter from Sangrur district, was included in the list of obituaries.

The speaker also consented to include the name of Tarlok Singh, a victim of an alleged hate crime in the United States, on the request of Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa.

The House was adjourned for the day after making the obituary references. It will meet again on Monday.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi today met the senior leadership of the UK's Opposition Labour Party and discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, and highlighted the difficulties faced by Indian professionals and students following the change in Britain's visa policy.

Gandhi and the Labour leadership, including Shadow Cabinet members, discussed issues of unemployment, growing protectionism, trade wars and threat to rule-based international order.

They expressed concern over threats of terrorism and forces of violence to stability and peace.

Both the sides also acknowledged the value of the UK-India economic partnership including growing investments and technology cooperation.

The Congress and the Labour leadership agreed to reinvigorate party-to-party exchanges and create an institutional mechanism for a regular exchange between the leadership of the two parties, the Congress said in a statement.

Gandhi was accompanied by Congress Working Committee member and chairman of the foreign affairs department Anand Sharma, besides chairman of Overseas Indian Congress Sam Pitroda and Milind Deora.

The Labour Party was represented by Barry Gardiner MP and shadow secretary for International Trade and Climate Change, Valerie Vaz, MP and shadow leader of the House of Commons, Sir Keir Starmer, MP and shadow Brexit secretary, Gareth Thomas, MP and shadow minister of Foreign Commonwealth Office, Preet Gill, shadow minister for International Development, Rajesh Agarwal, deputy Mayor of London among others.

Gandhi specifically referred to the fallout of the Brexit, increasing inequality and youth unemployment.

Britain will leave the 28-member European Union in March 2019, following a historic referendum held on June 23, 2016.

He referred to the concerns over the visa for Indian professionals and students following the change in the UK visa policy and the fall in the number of Indian students in the UK after the closure of Old Tier- 1 post study work route, the statement said.

Gandhi said India has made huge intellectual investments in the UK and the contribution of Indian doctors and nurses to the country's National Health Scheme is immense.

"Nothing should be done to hinder the movement of professional," the Congress president was quoted as saying.

The Congress and Labour Party attach special significance to the special relationship and strategic partnership between the UK and India, and will work to strengthen it, the statement added.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Doklam standoff with China was not an "isolated issue" but part of a "sequence of events" and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was carefully watching the process, India could have stopped it.

Addressing the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, Gandhi said that "Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event".

"Doklam is not an isolated issue.

It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process.

"If he (PM Modi) was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it," Gandhi said at the London-based think-tank.

He claimed that the "truth is the Chinese are still in Doklam today".

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha last month 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 face-off site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area," Singh had said.

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.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have a "deeply thought-out strategy" on Pakistan, but acknowledged that it was "very difficult" to converse with Islamabad as there is no single institution there that holds supremacy.

Addressing the International Institute of Strategic Studies here, Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit, talked about Indo-Pak relations which nosedived following a spate of terror attacks on Indian military bases by Pakistan-based terror groups since January 2016.

India has made it clear that it will not hold dialogue with Pakistan as terrorism and talks cannot go hand-in-hand.

Gandhi said that "there is no deeply thought-out strategy by Prime Minister Modi when it comes to Pakistan".

He also said that it was very difficult to deal with Pakistan.

Pakistan's powerful military has ruled the country for nearly half of its history since independence in 1947.

Answering a question on how India could improve its relations with Pakistan, now that there is a new elected government, Gandhi said: "as regards to Pakistan, the question is whom do you talk to in Pakistan. From our perspective, there are a number of institutions in Pakistan (that rule).

"The difficulty from Indian perspective is which institution you talk to. Some of the institutions are hostile to India. Some of the institutions are attacking India".

Gandhi said: "It's very difficult to converse with Pakistan because there is no one institution that holds supremacy".

"So we wait until they come to form a cohesive structure," he said at the London-based think-tank, apparently referring to the new government in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Gandhi noted that if India were to sign an agreement with the Prime Minister of the UK, "all institutions accept PM's supremacy. That is not the case with Pakistan. India will have to wait till such a time when there is a coherent system in place in Pakistan.

He cited the example of the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Pakistan.

"Vajpayee ji went to Pakistan with good intention. While he was having deliberations with his Pakistani counterpart (Nawaz Sharif), the army attacked India (Kargil War in 1999). I don't think there is a readymade solution now," he said.

Gandhi lashed out at the Modi government, saying it lacked a coherent foreign policy strategy based on India's strength.

"One of my important complaints against the present government is that I don't see a coherent foreign policy strategy based on India's strength. I see tactical responses, I see knee jerk reactions but I don't seek a strategic vision. I don't see consistency in its foreign policy, that is the problem," he said.

Referring to India's relations with Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, he said: "I don't see a clear strategic response. I don't think you can run the foreign policy like that".

The Congress president said: "In going forward, India has to have a relationship with the West".

India has to have a relationship with the West, have strategic relationship with the US while also have relationship with EU and China, he said.

"China is rising and India has to play a balancing role. India has some of the designer role, some of the ideas to bring people together and build bridges to make the world a safer place," Gandhi said.

Replying to a question on the greatest foreign policy challenge that India faces in the next few years, he said: "The biggest challenge is that we are clearly in a transition. China is emerging and emerging very fast, and China is our neighbour. We have strategic relationship with the US and to me the central challenge is balancing when you position yourself between the Chinese and the West".

Gandhi said India has specialised in reducing global confrontation.

From a philosophical perspective, he said: "we have more in common with Europe and USA and we share history with the UK".

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president on Friday raked up the multi-billion in the UK, accusing the BJP government of changing the contract to benefit an industrialist who was in debt.

In an interaction with the Indian Students and Alumni Union (UK) at the London School of Economics, Gandhi spoke of alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, accusing Prime Minister of favouring a businessman who had no experience in manufacturing aircraft.

Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government for allegedly inking the deal at a much higher price than the one the previous regime had negotiated to benefit "one businessman".

Facing allegations of getting undue benefits from the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal, Anil Ambani-led has sent legal notices to several leaders asking them to "cease and desist" from levelling such charges.

Gandhi, in response to a question on tackling corruption, said: "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been building aircraft for 70 years... HAL has no debt. HAL has by far the best experience in building aircraft in 70 years".

"Our government signed a contract with Dassault, and gave the contract to HAL. The price we were paying was approximately 5.2 billion (Rs 520 crore).

"Then something happened, Prime Minister Modi went to France, changed the contract from 126 planes to 36 planes, changed the pricing structure from 5.2 billion to 16 billion and magically, Mr was given the contract," Gandhi said.

The president alleged that "Mr is Rs 450 billion in debt".

"Mr has never made a plane in his life, and the company that got the contract, one of the biggest defence contracts in the world, was formed one week before, luckily this is absolutely amazing. So that's the interesting question about corruption," Gandhi said.

has denied the allegations relating to the deal under which France's Dassault is supplying the fighter jets and has entered into a joint venture with an Anil Ambani-led group firm to meet its offset requirement of the contract.

Ambani recently wrote to Gandhi on the deal saying his party has been "misinformed, misdirected and misled" by "malicious vested interests and corporate rivals" on the issue.
It was nothing short of an experience of a lifetime, according to lucky Digicel customers- Imran Nanton and Odion Hillocks. The duo were named winners of Digicels Carnival promotion dubbed "Bettafeta, and were rewarded with a trip for two and a VVIP experience at Spice Mas in Grenada.





The five-day trip saw the winners departing St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday, August 10th and returning on Wednesday, August 15th. While in Grenada, the lucky Vincentians were hosted at the luxurious Spice Island Resort and attended the most anticipated events on Grenadas Carnival calendar including: Soca Monarch, Extreme White Fete, Panorama, JOuvert, Monday Night Mas and Pretty Mas on Tuesday, among other activities.





New Montrose resident Imran Nanton, who was experiencing Grenada for the first time, thanked Digicel, stating that the experience surpassed his expectations and anything he could have imagined. Nanton said, "I want to thank Digicel for fulfilling one of my many dreams, one I still cannot believe actually came true. Nanton, who has been a Digicel customer for more than ten years, said it was his second time winning a Digicel promotion, stating that the first time he won was back in 2016, which saw him winning a Carnival Monday T-shirt package from Digicel Temperature.





The young computer technician further explained that he continues to find it more and more rewarding to be a Digicel customer. "I not only get great value for my money, but Digicel continues to introduce relevant and rewarding products such as unlimited data nights and unlimited social. Winning the trip to Spice Mas only cost me $1, when I activated an unlimited social bolt-on. It pays to be a Digicel customer.





The two winners were accompanied to Grenada by Digicels Marketing Executive Jamisha Wright, who congratulated both winners for truly maximising and making the best of the experience. Wright further encouraged the winners to continue supporting and participating in Digicels promotions. She said, "There is much in store for Digicel customers throughout the rest of August and in the coming months, as Digicel is allowing both its prepaid and postpaid customers to walk away with thousands in cash and prizes. She explained that hundreds of families and households across SVG will this month benefit from free back to school supplies, free phones, cash, Digicel products and more, valuing up to $20,000.
The BJP today lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for invoking Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, during his address in Berlin, saying his party is identified with anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and he should apologise for the "heinous crime" at the Golden Temple.

Gandhi is invoking Guru Nanak Dev merely for vote-bank For him, Sikhs are merely vote bank, BJP national secretary R P Singh said.

Addressing the Indian diaspora at a function organised by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin last night, Gandhi said the Congress's thought of "unity in diversity" came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev, and the BJP-RSS divides people and spreads hatred.

In a sharp reaction to his remarks, Singh said Gandhi's thoughts are actually in line with the Congress culture of divide and rule.

"We are pained to know that Gandhi, who reminds us of anti-Slkh riots of 1984, claims that his thoughts resemble to the first Sikh guru -- Guru Nanak Devji. Actually his thoughts are in line with Congress culture of divide and rule," Singh said.

Congress leaders justified the 1984 killings of innocent Sikhs and they treated Sikhs like demons, he claimed, while demanding "Rahul should apologise for the heinous crime in front of Akal Takht at Golden Temple in Amritsar".

Akal Takht is the highest body of Sikhs and Golden Temple is the most prominent shrine of the religion.

Taking on Gandhi over the same issue, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress president has demeaned the Indian culture and he is an immature politician. Leave aside leading the country, Gandhi is even incapable of heading a political party, he further said.

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Reliance Communications today said it will repay holders of USD 300 million bonds through a combination of cash and bonds of its overseas firm.

"Reliance Communications (RCOM) bondholders approved the tender and exchange offer of USD 300 million bonds with an overwhelming majority of over 83 per cent, at their meeting held today, 24 August 2018, in London," RCom said in a statement.

Following the offer that has been approved, the bondholders will receive cash proceeds of up to USD 118 million.

"The bondholders will also get USD 55 million bonds to be issued by Global Cloud Xchange Limited (holding Company of GCX), a foreign subsidiary of RCom," the statement added.

The Global Cloud Xchange bonds will be unsecured and carry a coupon of 0.1 per cent with maturity of four years, it added.

Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications had yesterday announced the completion of the planned sale of its media convergence nodes (MCNs) and related infrastructure assets, worth Rs 2,000 crore, to Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIO).

The transaction entailed 248 nodes covering close to 5 million sq ft of area, used for hosting the telecom infrastructure, all of which now stands transferred to Jio.

The company had recently also reinstated bank guarantees worth Rs 774 crore with the telecom department ahead of the timelines set by the telecom tribunal and had emphasised that its Rs 25,000 crore asset sale plans are "on track".

Last year, Reliance Communications signed a pact with Reliance Jio for sale of wireless spectrum, tower, fiber and MCN assets - the proceeds of which were to be used to reduce debt.

The deal announced in December 2017, packed in 122.4 MHz of 4G spectrum in the 800/900/1800/2100 MHz bands, over 43,000 towers, 1,78,000 kilometres of fiber and 248 media convergence nodes. The nodes' sale completion announced yesterday marked the initial tranche of the planned, larger deal.

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Opposition leader Sharad Yadav today hit out at the Centre for its refusal to the financial aid reportedly offered by the UAE government for the flood-ravaged Kerala, saying the decision is "unjust and inhumane" and is driven by "narrow political interest".

He said it is common for India and friendly countries to help each other in times of crisis but this is the first time that an Indian government has turned down such a offer.

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the former Union minister said it has no problem in accepting foreign donations and its government has passed a law that rules out probe into funding to political parties from abroad, but foreign aid to an opposition-ruled state hit by a natural disaster is refused in the name of national prestige.

Yadav asked the Centre to reconsider its decision.

Days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the UAE has offered to give Rs 700 crore to his state, the Ministry of External Affairs made it clear that the Centre would not allow any financial assistance from foreign governments for Kerala in sync with an existing policy.

Amid claims and counter-claims, UAE embassy official said today no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala has been finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and there was no announcement on donation to the state.

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With a repatriation plan in tatters and funding evaporating for a million refugees with ever-growing needs, Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh face a grim future one year after the latest eruption of a decades-old conflict.

Raids by Rohingya militants on August 25 last year across Myanmar's Rakhine state spurred an army crackdown which the United Nations has likened to "ethnic cleansing".

Around 700,000 of the Muslim minority fled by foot or boat to Bangladesh, their villages ablaze behind them, in an exodus unprecedented in speed and scale.

The crisis has heaped enormous pressure on Bangladesh's impoverished Cox's Bazar district, which already hosted around 300,000 of the stateless group.

Myanmar says it is ready to take those who fled back.

But it refuses to recognise the Rohingya as citizens, falsely labelling them "Bengali" illegal immigrants.

A deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to start sending them back has also gone nowhere, caught up in bureaucracy and mistrust, with fewer than 200 having been repatriated so far.

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week said it was up to Bangladesh "to decide how quickly" repatriation can be done, while insisting the "terrorist threat" posed by Rohingya militants remains "real and present".

Without safety, citizenship and compensation for homes and land torched or commandeered by the army since they fled, the Rohingya do not want to go back.

But life in the camps, among the most densely populated places on earth, looks set to get harder.

A UN-led appeal for around USD 1 billion to fund the refugees until March has yielded only a third of that sum.

The slow response has alarmed experts.

"Giving generally peaks in that first year (of a crisis)... then it's much harder to fund," Dr Peter Salama, the emergency response chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), told AFP.

Without a major cash injection, "remarkable" success in controlling outbreaks of diphtheria, cholera and other diseases could be undone, he said, and provision of non-life saving help -- such as family planning and mental health -- will likely evaporate.

"Bangladesh's government really deserves more regional and international solidarity and support," he added.

The World Bank has pledged USD 500 million to help with infrastructure, health and education of the Cox's region.

But Bangladesh is tiring of its role as host and insists it will soon relocate around 100,000 Rohingya from Cox's to a remote, flood-prone island.

Myanmar has driven out its Rohingya since the late 1970s.

"Our history is of darkness," said Mohammed Kashim, 27, one of thousands of Rohingya refugees born in Bangladesh, but denied citizenship by both countries.

"I have never stepped on Myanmar soil."



And he probably never will.

First he must be "verified" as someone who belongs in Myanmar -- near impossible given he was born outside the country.

Refugees who are verified are required to take a 'NVC' card that does not grant them full citizenship or rights.

Myanmar is unrepentant about last year's crackdown and denies widespread human rights violations, murders, rapes and mass arson of Rohingya villages despite reams of evidence.

But international pressure for accountability is mounting.

Last week Washington hit four Myanmar military commanders and two infantry divisions with punitive financial sanctions over rights abuses and "ethnic cleansing".

The UN Security Council is set to meet next week to discuss the issue, while testimony is being gathered across the camps to press the International Criminal Court (ICC) into launching proceedings against Mynamar.

"There is finally a recognition (in Myanmar) that they cannot merely outlast the opprobrium," Aaron Connelly from the Lowy Institute think tank told AFP.

But Myanmar is shielded at the UN by ally China, a permanent member of the Security Council.

Meanwhile state media reported that the Myanmar military's Commander-in-Chief was in Russia -- another permanent member -- on the eve of the anniversary of a crackdown he ordered.

Myanmar has remade northern Rakhine state without the Rohingya, redistributing land and building new security posts.

It has built massive "transit" camps -- some with room for 30,000 -- for any returnees.

Rohingya refugees fear without citizenship those camps will become permanent, like the ones holding 129,000 Rohingya since 2012.

"We are citizens by birth," said Nay Lin Aung, 35, among hundreds of Rohingya living on a patch of no-man's land between the two countries.

"We won't go back as they (Myanmar) are not calling us with a sincere mind." Inside Rakhine fear, tension and hatred are razor sharp.

"Both communities (of remaining Rohinya and eEthnic Rakhine Buddhists) have their worries now... so the government has reinforced security," ahead of the anniversary said Ye Htoo, deputy administrator of Maungdaw district on a government-steered trip to Rakhine this week.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Karnataka Minister Sa Ra Mahesh were today locked in an exchange of words over her itinerary during a visit to the flood-hit Kodagu district.

The entire episode took place in the presence of officials and the media at the district commissioner's office here.

Sitharaman was interacting with a group of affected people here when Mashesh, the district in-charge minister, told her that officials were waiting for her for a review meeting and they have to go for rehabilitation work.

He said she can first address the officials to which Sitharaman too agreed.

However, Sitharaman noted that she was only going by the minute-by-minute programme drawn up for her visit and she had been following the minister in-charge and the itinerary.

"I follow the minister in charge. Central minister follows the minister in charge here. Unbelievable! You have a list of minute-to-minute for me to follow...I am doing as per your schedule," she said.

Sitharaman, Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, then sought to know how many of the officials were from the field taking care of the rehabilitation work and said she did not want the work to be upset.

Later, Mahesh dubbed Sitharaman's comments as a reaction to the demand for funds from the centre to Kodagu.

"She would have known the pain had she contested election by standing with the electorate, going to every house, meeting voters and asked their problems. She has been elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka," he told a TV channel.

The district in-charge minister said the state had requested her that the centre should extend relief for Kodagu just like it did for Kerala.

The torrential rains that lashed the district last week has left a huge trail of destruction and claimed at least 17 lives. More than 5,000 people have been rendered homeless.

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Russia will oppose a US request to the UN Security Council to blacklist two Russian shipping firms and six Russian-flagged vessels over their dealings with sanctions-hit North Korea, the Russian ambassador has said.

The United States presented a request to a UN sanctions committee on Wednesday -- its third bid in two months to seek UN action and turn up the pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs.

The request was put forward a day after Washington slapped unilateral sanctions on the two Russian companies -- Primorye Maritime Logistics and Gudzon Shipping -- and the six vessels for supplying oil to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told AFP yesterday that the US sanctions were "illegal" and that the evidence put forward by the United States to justify action against the Russian firms was "unconvincing".

"Of course we will oppose it," said Nebenzia of the US request to the sanctions committee. "It's obvious." The United States was seeking a global assets freeze on the two Russian firms, according to UN diplomats.

The shippers own a tanker, the M/V Patriot, which conducted ship-to-ship transfers of oil to North Korean tankers twice earlier this year, according to US officials. The five other vessels cited in the US request are owned by Gudzon, which along with Primorye Maritime Logistics operate out of the Russian port city of Vladivostok.

The UN sanctions committee has until August 29 to formally consider the US request, but Russia made clear it would not be approved.

Russia and China this month blocked a US bid to add a Russian bank, a North Korean official and two entities to the UN sanctions blacklist. In July, they delayed a US request to cut off fuel deliveries to North Korea.

The two countries have called on the Security Council to consider easing sanctions to reward North Korea for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier announced he will be making his fourth trip to North Korea next week, this time with the new US envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun.

The United States has called for maintaining "maximum pressure" from sanctions until North Korea has fully dismantled its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

A report by a UN panel of experts this month warned that Pyongyang was circumventing sanctions through a "massive increase" of ship-to-ship transfers of oil products in international waters.

The Security Council last year adopted three rafts of sanctions that banned exports of North Korea's raw commodities and other goods, and severely restricted imports including crucial deliveries of oil. The sanctions are aimed at cutting off sources of revenue for North Korea's military programs.

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The Supreme Court registry has asked its staffers to voluntarily donate their one day's salary to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund for rehabilitation of Kerala flood victims.

Apex court Registrar R K Goel, in a circular, said unprecedented floods due to incessant rain have created havoc in Kerala and the apex court staffers may volunteer to donate their one day's salary for the cause to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

"Unprecedented floods due to incessant rain have created havoc in the state of Kerala causing immeasurable misery and devastation. Many precious lives have been lost, thousands of people rendered homeless and property worth crores (of rupees) have been destroyed," the circular said.

It said the money would be deducted from the salary and the persons, who do not want to donate, will have to apprise the accounts department about their decision.

Earlier, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had said that 25 Supreme Court judges would contribute Rs 25,000 each in the relief fund.

Attorney General K K Venugopal has contributed Rs one crore to the fund.

Apex court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, who hails from the flood-ravaged state, has been active in ensuring and arranging relief materials for the state.

Venugopal's son and senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal also contributed Rs 15 lakh towards the relief fund.

Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has announced a contribution of Rs 50 lakh to the flood-ravaged state.

A group of Delhi-based Malayali lawyers had earlier initiated a collection drive and dispatched eight truck-load full of necessary supplies including clothes for victims, sanitary napkins, candles, baby food, mugs, buckets, biscuits, water bottles, medicines, soaps, etc. in a Navy aircraft.

Justice Joseph had actively taken part in the collection drive in support of the lawyers collecting supplies at the flood relief collection point near the apex court.

He had also contributed a significant amount for flood relief activities for Kerala.

Senior lawyer Jaideep Singh contributed Rs five lakh towards the distress relief fund.

Another senior advocate Chander Uday Singh has also reportedly contributed Rs five lakh.

Earlier, on August 16, the Supreme Court Bar Association has donated Rs 30 lakh from its Calamity Relief Fund.

The deadliest deluge in Kerala in close to a century has claimed over 231 lives since August 8.

As per official records, over 10 lakh people have been displaced.

Kerala has been receiving financial aid from various state governments across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had visited the state on August 18 declared an assistance of Rs 500 crore for the state.

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The Thursday ordered that the water level at the be maintained at 139 feet till August 31, keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the Centre's submission that the sub-committee of the had met on August 23 and directed the to ensure that the water level is maintained at 139 feet, which is two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court.

The bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management and said that the decision to lower the water limit in the dam has been taken in view of the devastating deluge in Kerala.

The observation came after alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit.

The bench fixed the matter for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses in the meantime.

The had on Wednesday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the by the was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

It had said that out of a total population of about 34.8 million, more than 5.4 million or one-sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the dam as the floods in Kerala have created havoc.

The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level.

The direction to consider reducing the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet had come in the backdrop of Kerala Chief Minister writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart E K Palaniswami seeking the lowering of the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam in the interest of its safety.

The Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea with regard to bringing down the water level, saying the current inflow of water into the dam was 20,000 cusecs and due to rains, it may not be possible to reduce water level immediately.
The Supreme Court today agreed to examine a plea seeking a CBI probe into the alleged killing of three BJP workers in West Bengal after the recently held local bodies elections in the state.

The plea filed by a BJP leader alleged that family members of the victims were being threatened and FIRs had been lodged in these cases.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notices to West Bengal and the CBI on the plea and sought their reply in four weeks.

During the hearing, BJP leader and advocate Gaurav Bhatia said that "disturbing murders" have taken place in West Bengal and police have not registered an FIR in these cases.

He said that CBI probe should be ordered and alleged that family members of the three slain BJP workers, Shaktipad Sarkar, Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar, were now being threatened.

Bhatia also demanded that compensation to the tune of Rs 50 lakh and security cover be provided to the family members of the victims.

The bench said it is issuing notice in the matter.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to give an urgent hearing on the plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of BJP workers in Purulia and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal after the recently held panchayat polls.

Shaktipada Sarkar, a BJP block president in the Mandirbazar-Dhanurhat area, was hacked tod death when he was returning home in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on July 28.

The body of a 32-year-old Dulal Kumar, a BJP worker, was found hanging from an electric pole in the Purulia district's Balarampur of West Bengal on June 2.

In the same district on May 30, the body of 18-year-old Tirlochan Mahato, also a BJP worker from Balrampur, was found hanging from a tree with a poster written in Bengali struck on his back, saying he was killed for canvassing for the BJP during panchayat election.

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The Supreme Court today asked the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) not to proceed with the implementation of the amended Delhi Master Plan till the next hearing on the issue.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni to advise the Centre not to enforce, through the SDMC, amended Master Plan of the national capital till the next date of hearing on August 28.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, also an amicus curiae in the matter dealing with unauthorised constructions in Delhi, informed the court that a circular has been issued by the SDMC that a shopping Centre coming up in South Delhi will be in accordance with the amended master plan of the city.

"The implementation has been stayed by the Supreme Court by its earlier orders and matter is listed for further hearing on August 28. They (SDMC) should be directed not to implement the plan till further hearing," Kumar said.

The bench then observed that they (the SDMC) will not implement it and asked Nadkarni to advice the Centre not to go ahead with the circular.

Nadkarni assured the bench that he will advise the secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs not to proceed with the circular till next date of hearing.

On May 15, the apex court had partly modified its March 6 order by which it had stayed further progress in amending the Master Plan of Delhi-2021, while asking the Centre to give a window of 15 days for inviting objections to the proposed changes.

It asked the Centre to consider the objections to the proposed amendments and then take a final call after considering all the aspects.

It had also asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to advertise in leading dailies on three consecutive days the action plan placed before it for monitoring of all construction activities and fixing responsibility in cases of violation of MPD and the building byelaws.

The amendments are aimed at bringing a uniform floor area ratio (FAR) for shop-cum-residential plots and complexes at par with residential plots. FAR is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land on which it is built.

The apex court had on March 6 stayed any further progress in amending the MPD 2021, which seeks to protect unauthorised construction from ongoing sealing drive in Delhi.

The top court is dealing with the issue of validity of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protect unauthorised constructions from being sealed.

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Authorities ordered closure of all educational institutions today in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district after heavy rains.

Dharamshala in the district recorded the highest rainfall for a 24-hour period for the month of August in the last 60 years, the Meteorological department here said today



The department said 292.4 millimetres rainfall was recorded in Dharamshala in 24 hours ending 8.30 am today.

The earlier record for a 24-hours period for August was 316.4 mm of rainfall on August 6, 1958, Met centre director Manmohan Singh said.

The Kangra district administration closed all educational institutions in the district today as a precautionary measure, officials said.

Elsewhere in the state, 127 mm rain was recorded in Jogindernagar in Mandi followed by 98 mm in Pamalmpur and 96 mm in Baijnath (both in Kangra), 81.2 mm in Kheri of Chamba district and 64.8 mm in Nagrota Surian in Kangra district since yesterday.

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Edible oil industry body SEA today demanded that the government should curb import of palmolein and refined soyabean oils from the neighbouring nations as shipments are taking place flouting the SAFTA norms.

Custom officials are releasing the cargos on the same day of arrival without testing the quality, it said.

In a representation made to the ministries of finance, commerce and food, the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said about 800-1,000 tonnes of RBD palmolein and refined soyabean oils are being imported daily from Bangladesh.

The shipments are undertaken in tank lorries and in packed-form through land border of West Bengal and Assam.

"We appeal to the government to kindly check and regulate the import from Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) by roads as there is neither real value addition nor the check on quality and SAFTA norms are flouted," it said.

The Association requested the government to ask customs and the FSSAI officers at land ports to take appropriate action to stop the import.

According to the SEA, the imports are happening via road flouting norms of the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) and there are also concerns over the quality of edible oils as imported edible oil from Bangladesh are having high transfat of 4 to 5 per cent and being used for adulteration in the local markets.

"There is no check for selling and marketing such imported refined oils in India and could be serious health hazardous too," it noted.

The SEA said the customs are releasing the cargo without testing the quality on the day of arrival itself. Normally, food safety regulator FSSAI and customs take minimum 4-7 days to test the quality of the product imported.

India imports over 14 million tonnes of edible oil to meet more than 60 per cent of its domestic demand.

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Al Jazeera, an international English channel, may have to stop broadcast in India as the Home Ministry has withdrawn the security clearance given to it.

The Qatar-based channel has appealed to the government against the withdrawal of the security clearance and a final decision on it is awaited, a government official said.

Though the reasons for the action against Al Jazeera are not known, a documentary on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir telecast by the channel is believed to have upset the central security establishment, leading to the decision.

When contacted, a Home Ministry official said it is the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which takes the decision on the issue of broadcasting licence given to any media outlet.

"Our role is limited to matters related to security clearance. The decision on cancellation of broadcasting licence will be taken by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting," the official said.

Another official said the security clearance was given by the Home Ministry on December 3, 2010 and withdrawn on May 29, 2018.

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Benchmark Sensex shed about 85 points to close at 38,251.80 today after three straight record-setting sessions on emergence of profit-booking amid caution in global markets.

However, both the key indices Sensex and Nifty finished with gains for the fifth straight week.

Investors were also cautious after the rupee depreciated further against the US dollar to quote at 70.24 (intra-day).

Sentiment took a hit largely in sync with a weak trend in global markets amid escalating trade tensions between the US and China as talks between the two countries ended without any significant outcome.

The BSE 30-share barometer, after a higher start at 38,366.79, advanced to 38,429.50 in morning trade on continued buying by investors.

However, across-the-board profit booking at record levels pulled it down to a low of 38,172.77. It finally settled 84.96 points, or 0.22 per cent lower at 38,251.80.

The gauge had gained 673.20 points in the previous four sessions and closed at an all-time high of 38,336.76 yesterday.

The wider NSE Nifty too slipped from record but managed to close above the crucial 11,550 mark at 11,557.10 points, down 25.65 points or 0.22 per cent.

It shuttled between 11,604.60 and 11,532 during the session.

Yesterday, it had closed at a new life-time high of 11,582.75.

This was the fifth weekly gain in a row for the benchmarks. During the week, the Sensex gained 303.92 points, or 0.80 per cent, while the Nifty rose 86.35 points, or 0.75 per cent.

Financials, pharma, FMCG, consumer durables, IT and auto stocks dragged the key indices down from record highs.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 142 crore on a net basis, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) accumulated equities to the tune of Rs 433.21 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

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President Donald Trump has warned the US economy would collapse if he were impeached, as legal chaos roiling the White House had experts saying his presidency is under threat.

Speaking on the eve of a closely watched meeting of central bank chiefs Friday, Trump also took aim again at his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, prompting a rare retort from the embattled justice department chief.

Days after Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen told a federal judge he made illegal campaign contributions at the president's request -- to silence women alleging affairs with Trump -- the Republican leader told Fox that an impeachment would only cause more turmoil.

"I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor," Trump said on "Fox and Friends."



"You would see -- you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse."



The US president then launched into a rambling statement on job creation and other economic progress he said had been made during his presidency.

"I don't know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job," Trump said.

Trump was dealt severe back-to-back blows on Tuesday when Cohen pled guilty to illegal campaign finance violations and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of tax and bank fraud within minutes of each other.

The Manafort conviction was the first case sent to trial by the special prosecutor probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

But an unchastened Trump appears intent on riding out the storm as Washington grapples with the latest upheaval in his tumultuous presidency.

The president has insisted he did nothing wrong after Cohen, his longtime private lawyer and fixer, implicated him in the illicit hush payments made before the 2016 election to two women who claimed to have had affairs with the Republican presidential candidate.

Although Cohen did not name them, the women were believed to be porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Because the hush payments were intended to influence the outcome of the elections, they violated US laws governing campaign contributions.

In entering a guilty plea, Cohen said the payments were made "in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office," in clear reference to Trump.

Trump was evasive when asked in the Fox interview if he had instructed Cohen to make the payments, saying that his former lawyer "made the deals," and insisted that Cohen's actions were "not a crime."



"Campaign violations are considered not a big deal, frankly," he said.

Trump then said the hush payments were financed with his own money -- to which Cohen had access -- and that while he had no knowledge of them at the time, he had since been fully transparent.

Despite Trump's defiant tone, Washington-based campaign finance expert Kate Belinski, of the Nossaman law firm, said to expect legal consequences for both Trump and his campaign -- most likely in the form of a civil complaint before the Federal Election Commission.

Trump praised Manafort for going to trial, in which the president's former campaign chief was found guilty of eight counts of financial fraud.

The president lauded the 69-year-old Manafort for leaving his fate to a jury rather than striking a plea deal -- a move that has sparked speculation Manafort hopes for a pardon.

Asked if he was considering such a move, Trump said only that he has "great respect for what he has done, in terms of what he has gone through.

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Seven persons caught in the swirling waters of Rapi river in Baran district were rescued from tree tops overnight, the police said today.

A total of 11 persons were swept away by strong current of Rapi river while they were walking on stone slabs to cross the river. While four of them managed to swim to safety, seven of them caught hold of trees and were rescued from tree tops.

Rivers and rivulets in Kota region are swollen and overflowing due to constant rains in the region for the last few days.

The 11 persons belonged to the Sahariya tribal community, SHO of Kasbathana Police Station Suryanarayan Singh told reporters.

The police was informed around last evening following which officials of the area rushed to the spot. Rescue team from Baran was called and operation initiated, the SHO said.

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A former South African deputy foreign minister told today how a businessman close to then president Jacob Zuma had threatened to kill him, in dramatic testimony to a corruption inquiry.

The inquiry, which opened this week, is probing allegations that Zuma organised systematic plunder of government coffers in a scandal known as "state capture".

Mcebisi Jonas said he had been taken by Zuma's son to a meeting in Johannesburg at the home of the Guptas -- a wealthy family accused of having a corrupt relationship with Zuma.

"At the end of the meeting Mr Gupta repeated that they had information on me, and if I suggested that the meeting had occurred they would kill me," Jonas, who was in post between 2014 and 2016, told the judicial inquiry.

"I was very shaken by what had happened." Zuma was forced to resign in February over graft scandals centred around the Guptas, who won lucrative contracts with state companies and were allegedly even able to choose Zuma's cabinet ministers.

Jonas today repeated allegations that at the meeting in 2015, Ajay Gupta told him he was to be appointed finance minister and would help the family to make money.

When Jonas refused, Ajay allegedly offered him 600 million rand (USD 42 million) and asked if Jonas had a bag to take away 600,000 rand in cash immediately.

Jonas said Ajay Gupta told him: "You must understand that we are in control of everything... and the old man (Zuma) will do anything we will tell him to do."



"I said I was shocked and angered by this statement and I had no interest in becoming the minister of finance," Jonas told the inquiry.

"He said that if I worked with them I could become very rich... He pointed at Mr Duduzane (Zuma's son) and said they had made him a billionaire."



Zuma's successor President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle corruption in South Africa, which has been led by the ANC party since Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 after the end of apartheid rule.

Both Zuma and the Gutpas deny all wrongdoing.

It has not been confirmed if Zuma will appear at the inquiry headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo which could take two years to deliver its findings.

The ANC faces a general election next year after a recent sharp fall in support.

Zuma has also been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arms deal from before he became president and will next appear in court on November 30.

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Bilingual children who regularly use their native language at home while growing up in a different country have higher intelligence, a study has found.

Research carried out by the University of Reading in the UK showed that children who spoke one language at school but practised their native tongue at home with their families scored better in intelligence tests than those who spoke only their non-native language.

The study of 100 Turkish children, aged 7-11, living in the UK used a non-verbal IQ test to compare those who spoke English at school and Turkish at home with those who spoke English at both.

"It is easier to develop concepts at a young age in a first language and then learn a new word for it later in a different language," said Michael Daller, associate professor at the University of Reading in the UK.

"Children who have to learn to understand things for the first time in a less familiar language will find it much harder, so it follows that the children in our study who had done this scored lower on the IQ test," said Daller, who led the study.

"The research suggests parents can help their children develop their intelligence by encouraging them to use their native language at home, as this won't be supported at school," he said.

The researchers say that native languages should be practised at home through 'meaningful communication'. This includes reading books and having conversations.

Being bilingual has been shown to have positive effects on the brain, due to the work involved in suppressing one language or the other at all times depending on the situation.

Research has shown this exercising of the brain can even delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

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The Republic of China on Taiwan can count on support from the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, come hell or high water.





Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves made the commitment last week Thursday. He was speaking at the National Public Library in Kingstown. The occasion was the handing over of 20 scholarships to Vincentians. They are embarking on various courses of study.





The Vincentian leader brought out his skills as a lecturer and veered into some fatherly advice to the students.

He recounted stages of the relationship with the Republic of China on Taiwan, and assessed that over the 14 years that the scholarships have been formally arranged, with the number of persons having benefitted put at 167, he translated that into close to US $5M.





With about 60 students in Taiwan currently, Prime Minister Gonsalves hinted on plans to set up an Embassy in Taiwan, and announced that he was looking at possible candidates for two positions.

He assured the students that Peggy Carr "will be like your mother in Taiwan. He recounted that there has been a "good relationship since 1980, and that there has been "unanimity across mainstream political parties. He cited, however, that "recently there has been a divergence.





"I will speak to that as an important foreign policy issue, Dr. Gonsalves declared.

The Vincentian leader made it plain that there is nothing against the Peoples Republic of China, and is a member of the Caribbean Development Bank, of the United Nations and that they work together in the Non-Aligned Movement and G 77 and where "interest coincide.

Dr. Gonsalves challenged the One China aspect, and surmised that there is "one Chinese civilisation with "different legitimate political expressions.





He predicted that "mainland China and Taiwan would in time work out their differences without interference.

There are "memorials across this land, testimony to our strength of friendship, Dr Gonsalves outlined. He referred to 14 Learning Resource Centres, the Rabbaca Bridge, programmes in Public Health, Youth Empowerment Service, and the Terminal Building at the Argyle International Airport.

The scholarships "value greatest for Dr Gonsalves. (WKA)




The BJP today launched a furious attack on Rahul Gandhi after the Congress president compared it and its ideological mentor RSS with the radical Islamist outfit Muslim Brotherhood, accusing him of acting as a "contract killer of the idea called India" for his attempt to present them as a terror organisation.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said likes of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who died last week, have a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) background and Gandhi's comparison of the organisation with an Islamist outfit at an event in London is "unforgivable".

Addressing the media, Patra demanded immediate apology from the Congress president for likening the choice of Indians in an election with an organisation which, the BJP leader added, is declared a terror outfit in many countries.

He asked if Gandhi has taken a 'supari' (contract for killing) for India.

"Stop this job of acting as a contract killer of the idea called India," he said.

Instead of being a proud Indian leader on foreign countries, the Congress president has been attempting to insult and belittle India abroad, he alleged.

"India is asking you is some terrorist organisation ruling India? It is a democratically elected government. Is this government, is this choice of people of India for a terror organisation," he asked.

Patra said Gandhi has no maturity and understanding whatsoever of India and has no leadership quality.

The only quality he has, the BJP leader said, is hatred towards Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the RSS and his irresponsible and immature remarks were an outcome of this.

The "frustration" shown by the Congress leader ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls is similar to his party's desperation in 2013 ahead of the general elections in 2014 when it had allegedly accused the RSS of running terror camps and coined the term "Hindu terrorism", Patra said.

"Why you have such hatred for democracy... Why you hate Hindus?" he asked.

What Gandhi has said will be headlines in Pakistan's media tomorrow, he claimed, and alleged that the Congress president had an sense of entitlement and could not tolerate Modi as prime minister as he came from a poor background and a backward community.

Patra also targeted Gandhi for his criticism of Modi's handling of Pakistan, and said he should have been a proud Indian and attacked not the prime minister but the neighbouring country for its support to terrorism.

With his charge of vendetta against the government, the Congress leader has given a handle to lawyers of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for economic crimes and is currently based in London.

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Coal mining operations in the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) were severely affected today due to cessation of work by the contractors workers at Talcher coalfields, an official release said.

Mahanadi Coalfields Contractual Transport Workers Union had called the agitation today in support of their demands, primarily the payment of enhanced HPC (High Power Committee) wages.

The contractors workers in Talcher Coalfields had resorted to cessation of work at 6 am today, affecting coal production and supply from the company to the tune of about two lakh tonne in a day, it said.

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Three people including a woman were arrested for their alleged involvement in the rape and blackmail of a student who later committed suicide, police said.

The victim, pursuing her graduation, had blamed the trio for her death in the suicide note that she left behind. The arrests came after the victim's father lodged an FIR, they said.

In his complaint, the father alleged that the accused woman was his daughter's friend and had secretly shared her photos with her accomplices.

The men morphed the photos using an editing software and demanded sexual favours from the victim in return for not making her obscene photos public, the complaint said.

They raped the victim on several occasions for months and drugged her as well, it alleged.

The victim's body was handed over to her family after a post-mortem examination, deputy superintendent of police Sunil Kumar said.

The suicide note has been sent to a forensic lab to check its authenticity and further investigation was on, he added.

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Students cannot be thrown out of government schools, the Delhi on Friday said while hearing a plea seeking direction to the government to grant readmission to 42,503 children, who failed the Class X CBSE exams this year.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao asked the counsel for the Delhi government to seek instructions on the matter and inform it on August 28.

The court asked how could the authorities throw out students and where will they go.

The court was hearing an application filed by NGO Social Jurist in a pending petition highlighting the denial of admission to students in government schools in the national capital.

Advocate Ashok Agarwal, appearing for the NGO, claimed that there was a violation of the Delhi School Rules in refusing readmission to 42,503 students who had appeared for the Class X examinations this year, but failed.

The plea alleged that instead of granting them readmission in the same government school, the students were forced to take transfer certificate (TC) and opt for the National Institute of Open Schooling instead.

It said that out of the 1,36,663 government school students who took the Class X exams this year, 94,160 passed and 42,503 failed. The students took a compartmental examination, but failed in that too.

Agarwal said he had sent a legal notice to the heads of the schools on August 20 with a copy sent to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but readmission was not given to the students.
A suspected drug trafficker was arrested here today after two kg ofcannabiswas allegedly recovered from his possession, police said.

He was held from Barola village here, under Sector-49 police station limits, they said.

The accused has been identified as Rahul Singh alias Radhey, in his mid-30s, and a resident of Sorkha village in Noida, a police official said.

"A total of two kg of ganja was recovered from his possession besides Rs 5,000,"the official said.

The accused has been booked on relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Indian Penal Code, he said.

Singh has been remanded in judicial custody, the police said.

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A tanker truck was swept away in the strong currents of the Kotawali river today in Mandawali area of this district, police said, adding that its occupants were rescued.

The tanker, coming from Haridwar in Uttrakahand, was washed away after its driver lost control over the vehicle while crossing the river, Mandawali SHO Rajeev Tyagi said.

All four occupants of the truck, including the driver, were rescued, he added.

A purported video of the incident went viral on social media in which "Bharat Petroleum" is seen written on the truck.

The traffic has been blocked on the bridge, the SHO said, adding that due to heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand, the river is flowing dangerously from the city.

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Amid the row over foreign assistance for rain-ravaged Kerala, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale today said there was "some technical problem" in accepting foreign aid for the state and he would discuss the matter with the Prime Minister's Office.

Assuring the Centre's full support to Kerala, which suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore in the rains and floods, the minister said there was "no politics" in extending a helping hand to the southern state.

He announced Rs 25 lakh from his Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) fund to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

"Some technical problems are there (in accepting foreign aid).

When I go to Delhi, definitely I will contact with the PMO... if the UAE governnment or any other government are ready to give the money (to the state)," Athawale told reporters after reviewing rehabilitation work in Ernakulam district with government officials.

"The state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to the floods. If any further help, definitely our government will help and there is no any politics," he said.

Union minister KJ Alphons had yesterday requested the Centre to make a "one-time exception" to its 14-year policy of not accepting foreign aid in the face of natural calamities for Kerala.

As the row over foreign aid for the flood-ravaged southern state escalated, Alphons earlier in the day had said the NDA government had "inherited" the policy of not accepting foreign funds for natural calamities from the previous UPA government.

He said the Centre's stand on Kerala was a convention "inherited" from previous governments, when during 2004's devastating Tsunami, then prime minister Manmohan Singh had refused aid from foreign countries.

Meanwhile, AICC general secretary and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Centre's stand on foreign aid was not acceptable.

"We cannot accept the Centre's stand. I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to remove obstacles, if any, to facilitate foreign funding for rebuilding the flood-ravaged state," he said.

Chandy also demanded a judicial probe into the "mismanagement" from state government authorities in opening shutters of dams, causing floods downstream.

Despite sevaral forecasts on excess rain, the state government waited to see the dams were filled and this paved the way for the calamity, he alleged.

The government should announce a judicial probe into it, he told reporters here.

The deluge had claimed 231 lives since August 8.

The state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore (as per a preliminary estimate) due to the floods and had sought an interim assistance of Rs 2,600 crore from the Centre, besides a special package of a similar amount under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today left for Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Central leaders to discuss the Zonal system concerning government employment and other issues in the state.

The Chief Minister is of the view that the response from the Centre is not on expected lines despite several appeals from the state government,according to an official release.

"The CM has decided to go to Delhi personally and stay there for a couple of days and meet the Prime Minister and other ministers to discuss the issues and get approvals.

The important among all is the long pending approval of the Zonal system to be created in Telangana State," it had said yesterday.

The non-clearance of the zonal system by the Centre is leading to delay in the recruitment of panchayat secretaries and others, it said.

"CM wants that Prime Minister should take personal initiative to see that the central government gives clearance to the zonal system immediately,"the release said.

Though theChief Adviser tothe stategovernment Rajiv Sharma has been camping in New Delhi for quite some time and monitoring the issues concerned to the state,there is not much headway and hence, Rao has decided to pursue the issue himself, the release added.

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: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today announced a slew of welfare measures for some sections of people, including SCs and STs, archakas imams and Mouzams.

An official release said the chief minister announced free power up to 101 units for domestic usage for SCs and STs.

Quoting Rao, the release said that in view of increased usage of electrical appliances, power consumption has been increased. Hence the present facility of 50 Units free power to SCs and STs is enhanced to 101 units, it said.

The power charges that would be incurred towards this would be borne by the government and paid to the DISCOMS, it said.

Archakas performing poojas in Hindu temples, which come the purview of the state endowment department, would be paid salaries directly on par with government employees henceforth.

He said the amounts would be paid from the treasury with effect from September 1, 2018.

As and when the pay revision is implemented to government employees, the same will be made applicable to the Archakas also," the release quoted the CM as saying.

The retirement age of Archakas will be 65 years instead of the present retirement age of 58 years.

Rao also announced an increase in salaries of employees working in the 29 Mini Gurukulams.

The Chief Minister said Imams and Mouzams who perform prayers in Masjids will be paid Rs 5,000 monthly with effect from September 1, 2018.

Nearly 9000 Imams and Mouzams performing prayers in masjids will be benefitted with this decision, it said.

Rao also announced that land and funds would be provided for constructing the Self Respect Building complexes (Aatma Gaurava Bhavans) in Hyderabad city for all castes.

At an estimated expenditure of Rs 10 crore and in 10 acres of land, a Self Respect building complex (Atma Gaurava Bhavan) would be constructed, benefitting 36 Nomad castes, he said.

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Shooting for Bengali TV serials resumed this morning in the city, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with the artistes and producers to end a deadlock over regularization of payment.

The impasse between the Artists' Forum and Welfare Association of Television Producers had stalled shoots for six days, forcing TV channels to air old episodes.

Banerjee, after convening a meeting of representatives from both sides, told reporters yesterday that a conciliation committee has been set up with state Youth Affairs Minister Aroop Biswas as the chairman and veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee as chief adviser to "look into the complaints".

She also assured the artistes and technicians that the newly formed committee will hold a meeting every month to ensure that they are not deprived of their basic rights.

Among those who were present at the meeting at the secretariat yesterday were actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, the working president of the Artists' Forum, Shrikant Mohta of Shree Venkatesh Films and Nispal Singh of Surinder Films.

Talking to PTI today, Arindam Ganguly, the general secretary of Artists' Forum, said all performers and technicians turned up at the studios for the shoot today as per "call time".

"The conciliation committee's first meeting will take place in two days' time and hopefully we will solve all pending issues, including demand for overtime payment, in an amicable manner."



The Artists' Forum had been demanding salaries by 15th of every month, hourly incentives for toiling over 10 hours and a 14-hour work limit every day.

Leena Gangopadhyay, a script writer of TV soaps and one of the members of the conciliation committee, expressed confidence that the differences will be sorted out soon.

"Now that the shooting has resumed, we are confident that all problems will be resolved sometime soon," she said.

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Nearly one hundred students will enter secondary schools without having to worry about the cost of books, transport, fees for subjects and any other expenses that crop up. The local constabulary is taking care of their children in such a way that their scholarships have been dubbed the "best on offer here.

Commissioner of Police (Ag) Collin John made the acknowledgement last week Wednesday when the institution handed over this years awards.





He endorsed the validity of the awards, not because he is the top officer, but from his experience. His daughter was offered other awards, but opted for that of the Police, which he outlined "was and still is the best.

John warned the recipients about their new environment, and advised them to remember their parental guidance, and the reason why they are at school.





He urged the recipients to "develop high self-esteem and avoid being influenced by anyone else.

The ceremony, staged at the Police Canteen upstairs the Central Market in capital Kingstown, was strengthened by the Police Cooperative Credit Union and Ex-Police Association.





This years event was held under the theme: 60 years of educating our Nations youth.





The feature presentation came from Dr Ankie Scott, lecturer at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. Scott is a recipient of a Police Scholarship, and holds a PhD in Economics from the UWI Cave Hill Campus.





She reminded the recipients that sacrifices had been made on their behalf, and challenged them to use their "intellectual strength.





Students must apply skills they possess, and Scott pointed out the need to "evaluating the validity of information.





Goals must be set and students should "develop a plan to accomplish them.

Horace Williams addressed the students as President of the PCCU and also the Ex-Police Association. He thanked the Commissioner of Police for supporting the Ex-Police Association with staging fundraising activities in front of the Central Police Station in Kingstown, through which money was raised for their segment of the scholarship programme.





Two parents endorsed the event with testimony of the benefits to their offspring. Bernard Haynes, a retired Inspector, echoed the value of the Police Scholarship, and that his son "had no problems, procuring his education.





His daughter received other offers this year, but Haynes preferred the Police package.

It was two scholarships in one as far as the books were concerned. Haynes used the text books supplied by his institution, to further his academic foundation, and obtained subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate level.





Haynes urged the recipients to "study hard, and reminded them that "there is no substitute for reading.

Dr Christian Anderson encouraged students to "continue in that direction, and "broaden your horizon.




Tour operator Thomas Cook is evacuating all of its customers from a hotel in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada after two Britons died there this week under unclear circumstances.

The move came after John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley in northern England, died while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel.

They were on a holiday with other family members.

Their daughter, Kelly Ormerod, was with her parents and her three children when tragedy struck.

John Cooper, 69, died in his hotel room while her 63-year-old mother, a Thomas Cook employee, was taken to hospital, Ormerod said from Egypt.

"As a family we are devastated. Mum and Dad meant the world to me and the children, and we are in utter shock over what has happened and what is happening," Ormerod told the Lancashire-based radio station 2BR.

"Prior to going on holiday, Mum and Dad were fit and healthy. They had no health problems at all."



Thomas Cook said in a statement on yesterday that the "circumstances of their deaths are still unclear" and that it has "also received further reports of a raised level of illness among guests."



The decision to evacuate 301 holiday makers from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel is a "precautionary measure," the company said, adding that the guests, of various nationalities, will be offered alternative hotels or the option to return home.

"We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations," it said.

Customers due to arrive in the hotel in the next four weeks will be offered alternative options.

The Steigenberger Aqua Magic was last audited by Thomas Cook in July and received an overall score of 96 per cent.

Speculation over the couple's death swirled in the media today, with some suggesting carbon monoxide poisoning may have been a cause.

A later statement by Thomas Cook said that while the company was "aware" of the speculation, there was "no evidence to support this."



An Egyptian official told The Associated Press that an investigation was still underway but that the deaths were likely due to "natural causes."



He said the prosecution today ordered autopsies after the Coopers' daughter requested blood analysis to further look into reasons behind their deaths.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case, said the Cooper family had spent seven out of their 10-day vacation in the hotel when the deaths occurred.

The hotel at the time was housing some 550 British holidaymakers as well as German, Italian and Belgian tourists, he added.

Today, an official statement by the Red Sea governorate was posted on Facebook, saying a forensic examination of John Cooper, who died on Tuesday, revealed he had suffered acute circulatory collapse and a sudden cardiac arrest.

It also said Susan Cooper was later rushed to hospital after fainting and underwent resuscitation attempts for 30 minutes but died.

The statement dismissed criminal motives as being behind the deaths. Legal procedures would be underway for the transfer of the bodies upon the conclusion of the autopsy, it added.

Egypt has gone to great lengths to revive its vital tourism industry, decimated by years of political turmoil following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The government has been trying to lure tourists back by touting new archaeological discoveries and boosting security around historical sites.

The lucrative sector was dealt a severe blow after a bombing by the Islamic State group brought down a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015, killing all 224 people on board. Russia subsequently imposed a two-year-ban on all flights with Egypt.

Russian flights to Cairo resumed earlier this year but flights to resort cities have yet to be decided.

Britain, another major source of visitors to Egypt, suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular Red Sea resort in Sinai from which the doomed Russian airliner took off shortly before it crashed.

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A tiger cub was found dead in the Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) near here in Madhya Pradesh, an official said today.

The cub, which was just over a year old, was found dead by a patrolling party of the forest department in the beat No. 22 near Chattarpakhna village last evening, said Sandeep Agrawal, wildlife veterinarian, KTR.

KTR director L Krishnamurthy and deputy director Anjana Suchita Tirki visited the spot after getting information about the striped animal's death.

"The exact cause of the cub's death will be known only after forensic examination of its body parts," Agrawal said.

According to the 2014 tiger census report, the reserve, located in Mandla district, housed around 100 tigers.

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Political leaders in Tamil Nadu today extended Onam greetings, wishing for the well-being of the people of Kerala in the backdrop of the unprecedented deluge suffered by the state.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami, while extending his Onam greetings, recalled the "love and compassion" shown by the state government in extending a Rs 10 crore assistance to Kerala, besides providing aid like medicines, dresses and milk powder.

"More aid is being sent by the people of Tamil Nadu with a brotherly concern," he said in a statement.

"I pray that the people of Kerala, who are affected due to the heavy rain, come back from the loss and resume normalcy," he said, and extended his Onam greetings to all Malayalam-speaking persons.

DMK Working President MK Stalin



said the usual "surge of joy" experienced during Onam has given way to people suffering due to the heavy rain and flood.

"Lending a helping hand to them will be the true Onam greetings," he said in a statement.

"I urge one and all to extend the helping hand to the people of Kerala who have been affected due to the natural calamity and show love to make this Onam special," he said.

TNCC President Su Thirunavukkarasar expressed confidence that the people of Kerala will "rise like a Phoenix" in this hour of natural calamity.

He prayed that the state returned to its old glory by next year's Onam and extended his festive greetings to the people in that state as well as those celebrating it in Tamil Nadu.

PMK founder S Ramadoss sympathised with the people affected due to the rains and floods and stressed on conserving nature to prevent a recurrence of such a calamity.

Tracing the tradition behind Onam, Ramadoss said the festival was celebrated coinciding with the visit of the king Mahabali, saying it brought the revellers joy and hope.

"Let King Mahabali come. Let the there be joy and relief for the people," he said.

Kerala faced its worst deluge in its history this week, where heavy rains and flooding has claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon.

The government had cancelled Onam celebrations in view of the grim situation, even as the state is now limping back to normalcy.

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The Tamil Nadu government today rejected Kerala's contention that sudden water released by Tamil Nadu from the Mullaperiyar dam was one of the reasons for the deluge in the neighbouring state.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said Kerala suffered the deluge due to the discharge of excess water from 80 reservoirs spurred by heavy rains in that state.

The Kerala government had yesterday filed an affidavit in the Supreme court, saying the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the unprecedented flooding in the state.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, however, told reporters today, "It was not just one part of Kerala that was affected due to the floods. It happened because of the discharge of excess water from 80 dams. The (Kerala) government is deliberately giving false information so as to not store water at 152 ft."



The dam is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu.

Further, water release was not sudden but done only after periodic alerts issued at various levels, he said. "Therefore, I wish to say that filling up of dams in Kerala due to the heavy rains and (discharge) of their excess water resulted in floods."



The dam's safety has been a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In a May 2014 verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court had held that the Mullaperiyar dam was safe, and allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level up to 142 feet from 136 ft and and ultimately to 152 feet after the completion of strengthening measures on the reservoir.

The Kerala government affidavit also said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh (or one-sixth of the population of Kerala) had been directly affected by the floods.

Kerala had said that in the wake of prior alerts by its engineers, its Water Resources Secretary had written to her counterpart in the Tamil Nadu government and the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, requesting controlled release of water without waiting for the water in the reservoir to reach full level.

"Accordingly, the Tamil Nadu government was requested to gradually release water at least by 139 feet...But no positive assurance in this regard was received from Tamil Nadu even after repeated requests...

"But the sudden release from the Mullaperiyar dam, third largest reservoir in the Periyar Basin, forced us to release more water from Idukki reservoir, downstream of Mullaperiyar, which is one of the causes of this deluge," the affidavit had said.

Palaniswami, however, today said the water released from the dam was not sudden as alleged by Kerala and that periodic alerts were issued at 139 ft, 141 ft and 142 ft.

The Kerala government had also sought constitution of a committee to manage the day-to-day operations of the Mullaperiyar Dam, located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

Today, Palaniswami said that a central team had reviewed the dam a month before the floods in Kerala, and had opined that it was "safe".

"They had said that water could be stored at 142 ft.. the flooding had happened 20 days after that," he said.

The Chief Minister further said torrential downpour in various parts of Kerala had contributed to the deluge, besides the discharge of excess water from the dams in that state.

Water was released only a week after the flooding had happened in Kerala, he added. There was 'small levels' of discharge in the range of 11,000-12,000 tmcft and that water was not released "at one go," Palaniswami added.

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Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has written a Hindi biography of the states erstwhile King Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarma Manikya Bahadur, which will be published soon, an official said today.

The book was scheduled to be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Party chief Amit Shah at the National executive of the party in New Delhi on August 19, but it was postponed, the chief ministers Media Advisor Sanjoy Mishra told PTI.

"Now we are looking for a suitable date from the prime minister and other dignitaries for launching the book," Mishra said.

August 19, 2018 was the 110th birth anniversary of the King who is known as the architect of modern Tripura and a respected figure in the state.

Deb released a gold coin on his 110th birth anniversary.

The King died in 1947, two years before Tripura merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.

The book is about the good governance provided by the King and how he ruled the state and led to its development and prosperity, Mishra said.

It also mentioned about the relation of the princely state with the then British rulers.

The book also tells about how the King became the face of the North-East, his foreign tours and his vision about the region, Mishra added.

The book's Bengali version is being translated.

The BJP made a poll pledge that it would name the Agartala airport after the name of the King after it came to power in the state.

The King first built the airport in 1942, which is now the second busiest airport after Guwahati in the north eastern region.

On recommendation of the Tripura government, the union cabinet has recently decided to name the airport after him.

The Tripura kings were the rulers in hill Tripura and at the same time were also the land lords (Zamindars) in parts of the then East Bengal.

The Manikya kings had offered incentives to his Bengali subjects to settle down in Tripura for agricultural use of wetlands.

Bir Bikram reserved almost two third of the state territory for the aboriginal tribes of the state in 1939, which was the precursor to the present Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the home to the tribals, who constitute one third of the state population.

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US President Donald Trump today pulled the plug on a weekend trip to North Korea by his top diplomat, while taking a swipe at China over efforts to disarm the nuclear state.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said by tweet.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," Trump said.

In another tweet, the president added Pompeo would still head to North Korea "in the near future," saying this would likely occur when the US-China trading relationship is "resolved."



"In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" Trump said.

Pompeo had yesterday said he would return to North Korea next week for the next stage in ensuring the "final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea."



The trip would have been Pompeo's fourth to North Korea, and the second since a historic summit on June 12 between Trump and the country's strongman leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump, who relishes unpredictability in negotiating, had at one point canceled that summit, citing North Korea's "open hostility."



But he soon backtracked and the summit went ahead.

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US President Donald Trump today announced the cancellation of his top diplomat's upcoming visit to North Korea, while taking a swipe at China over efforts to disarm the nuclear state.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said by tweet.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," Trump said.

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Vague and unpredictable policies threaten the US economy amid a tightening labour market, CEOs from major American companies have warned.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Thursday, the Business Roundtable urged a rethink of recent directives from that have thrown the status of workers into doubt and are damaging the recruitment of talent.

"Few (workers) will move their family and settle in a new country if, at any time and without notice, the government can force their immediate departure -- often without explanation," the roundtable said in the letter. "At a time when the number of job vacancies are reaching historic highs due to labour shortages, now is not the time restrict access to talent."



The Business Roundtable represents most of the biggest US companies. The group has criticised the before on immigration, while praising the for cutting taxes and regulation.

Among those chief executives signing the letter: Apple's Tim Cook, Chase's Jamie Dimon, Coca-Cola's James Quincey, IBM's Ginni Rometty and Marriott's Arne Sorenson.

The executives faulted US Citizenship and Services, which is under Nielsen's authority, for having inconsistent determinations that can result in sudden denials to employees who have been successfully permitted for years.

In other cases, the department has revoked work permits to spouses of legal immigrant workers. In some cases, these problems affect employees permitted under at the H-1B program, which lets firms hire skilled foreign recruits to fill specialized positions.

"Out of fairness to these employees -- and to avoid unnecessary costs and complications for American businesses -- the should not change the rules in the middle of the process," the letter said.

The roundtable in June joined a plethora of critics of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy that separated children from parents, calling the practice "cruel and contrary to American values". Trump eventually rescinded the policy following a public uproar.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions punched back hard at President Donald Trump's latest criticism as their long-running rift exploded into a public smackdown.

Trump, concerned by the legal downfall of two former advisers, accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department, leading Sessions to declare yesterday that he and his department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."



Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal "fixer" Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted.

Trump said it might be better if "flipping" cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies" to get favorable treatment.

In the wide-ranging interview, Trump also defended himself against talk of impeachment "the market would crash ... everybody would be very poor" tried to distance himself from Cohen "I would see him sometimes" and said anew that he hadn't known in advance about Cohen's hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman.

Trump's latest shots against law enforcement came as he appeared increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations after this week's one-two punch of Cohen's plea deal and the conviction of Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because he'd worked on Trump's campaign.

Trump, who blames that decision for the eventual appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, told "Fox and Friends" host Ainsley Earhardt that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department and it's a sort of an incredible thing." "What kind of man is this?" Trump said.

"You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter," Trump said of Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse Trump's bid.

Sessions has made clear to associates that he has no intention of leaving his job voluntarily despite Trump's constant criticism. But his tone in his statement on Thursday made clear he is tired of the president's attacks.

"I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda."



Then he declared, that while he's attorney general the actions of the department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."In New York, meanwhile, it was reported that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, the publisher of National Enquirer, which bought and killed the stories of two women.

And people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the publication kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 election.

In awkward schedule timing, Sessions met later Thursday with the president on prison and sentencing reform at the White House. But two people familiar with their meeting said the dispute was not discussed. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversation.

Sessions has generally absorbed the Trump's blows without responding, though he has occasionally pushed back.

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A Turkmenistani woman has been arrested by Customs officials for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold worth nearly Rs 27 lakh at the Delhi airport.

The accused was intercepted on arrival from Turkmenistan last Friday, an official statement issued today said.

"Her personal and baggage search resulted in the recovery of three chains of gold, collectively weighing 1 kg (market value Rs 27.09 lakh)," the Customs department said in the release.

The gold was found to be concealed underneath a blue tape pasted on the locking handle of the trolley, which the passenger was using to carry her baggage, it said, adding that the woman was arrested and the gold seized.

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In his 1958 essay, I, Pencil, Leonard Read took up the voice of a self-reflective pencil to tell a fictional tale that illuminated the nonfictional marvels of mundane economic cooperation.

The essay went on to influence the hearts and minds of many, thanks in part to Reads insightful mind, but also to his chosen medium: the story.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy, the pencil says. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mysterymore so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightningI, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove.

By the end, our imaginations are indeed filled with wonder and awea feat that, lest we forget, is accomplished by a talking pencil. This is the power of story.

In a recent essayfor the American Institute for Economic Research, economist Donald Boudreaux wonders how economists might continue in these footsteps: using stories to frame new ideas and arguments and pioneer new discoveries in what can often be a stoic science focused narrowly on charts, equations, and convoluted analysis.

Different economists pursuing different investigations will find different methods most useful, Boudreaux explains. A paper filled with equations is sometimes appropriatebut not always Although verbal stories have nothing of the appearance of Science, they are a legitimate and scientific method of gainingand of sharingunderstanding. In fact, for some purposes, verbal stories are by far the method that works best.

Using Reads essay as an example, Boudreaux notes how the traditional economists more typical tools would fail to communicate the basic themes with the same levels of color and clarity. But such tools wouldnt just fall short in highlighting the economic realities; theyd also fall short in demonstrating the broader philosophical implications:

In unassuming prose, Read revealed the surprising though indisputable truth that the amount of knowledge necessary to make an ordinary commercial-grade pencil is inconceivably greater than is the amount of knowledge that can be comprehended by a single individual or by a committee of even the most genius of individuals. (In 1776, Adam Smith told a similar, although much shorter, story about an ordinary woolen coat.) Try to imagine conveying this truth using mostly equations. Its difficult  actually, for me its impossible. A mathematician, of course, could easily scribble a series of equations that conveys to other mathematicians the understanding that the number of bits of knowledge required to make a pencil is mind-bogglingly large as well as scattered across an almost equally large number of human beings. This mathematician might also have the tools and skills to demonstrate mathematically that when these bits of knowledge are acted upon in just the right way  and in just the right temporal sequence  that one result will be that particular combination of inputs that we call pencils. But even for that small handful of people who can understand these equations, any such mathematical demonstration would, by itself, convey nothing of the marvelousness of the market processes that daily supply humanity with pencils.

Weve seen plenty of examples of such stories before and beyond Reads famous essay, of course, from the earlier metaphors of Adam Smith and parables of Frederic Bastiat to the present-day poetry of Russ Roberts and graphic novelization of Amity Shlaes.

Here at Acton, we also embrace the power of storywhether seen in For the Life of the World, which reimagines economic exchange through lenses of wonder, hospitality, and creative exchange, The Good Society curriculum, which uses a range of creative devices and stories to communicate economic and moral lessons, or the countless tales recounted in Poverty, Inc. and the PovertyCure series.

Boudreaux is speaking more specifically to formal economists and the discoveries to be made in economics as a science. But the rest of us have plenty of our own opportunities as well.

As we embrace our own roles as everyday economic actors and thinkers with an everyday economic witness, we can explore new narratives and develop new stories that help illustrate Gods beautiful design for human creativity and economic exchange. As workers, producers, and consumers, we can leverage the power of story to re-engage our hearts and minds and re-imagine the meaning thats bound up in our everyday economic lives.

In doing so, we will introduce culture to the mysteries of whats actually true. Economics, when done well, is the telling of such stories, Boudreaux concludes. The stories told are not fantasies or fictional. They areplausible. And they are fascinating!

Image: The Forgotten Man: Graphic Novel Edition, Amity Shlaes, Chuck Dixon
Surana Henry- Thomas Saunders urges student to not give into distractions, but allow themselves to take a break once in a while.

A very demure Surana Harry sat at the offices of THE VINCENTIAN with her mom earlier this week, eagerly waiting to be interviewed about her success at the recently sat CSEC examination .





Surana had earned the right to be there by virtue of her performance results: she was the top performer of the Thomas Saunders Secondary School.





When asked if she thinks that her school expected her to give the top performance, she was quite modest with her response: "The classmates that I had were very hard workers, so it could have been Brendon Thomas, or Latique Browne or Roz-Anne Baker. It didnt have to be me.





Then, loaded with quiet confidence, the well-poised young lady told of the journey towards her success. "It was difficult, but at the same time it was manageable, the former Sion Hill Government School student said. "I had the support of my family and other classmates. She explained that, studying Principles of Accounts and Principles of Business externally, and having to blend these with the eight other subjects she was doing at school, saw her working through extra classes on weekday afternoons; and some Saturdays and holidays. The School Based Assessments that came with the subjects were very arduous too.





Suranas quest for excellence led her to write ten subjects successfully. The following are her results: with Grade 1s  English A, English B, Mathematics, Caribbean History, Geography, Biology, Principles of Business, Principles of Accounts, Information Technology; and Grade 2  Spanish.

Surana explained how these subject choices were dependent of what she felt she could manage at the time, but as the school year unfolded, she began to look towards a career in sales and marketing. She, therefore, plans to complete the Associate Degree in Sales and Marketing at the SVG Community College.

She wished that any student who would be trying for excellence in their examinations, to have faith in God first of all, because He makes everything possible. She cautioned, though, that students must be serious if they are going to do subjects externally. "You must be focused, she opined, "and while you must not give too much time to distractions, you must give yourself a break now and then. Overworking yourself does not achieve much.





Surana could hardly wait to don her signature orange vest and skirt with white blouse uniform, and get started with the continuation of her dreams.
Mumbai police have arrested two men for allegedly being part of a railway recruitment racket.

The probe in the case had started on the instructions of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, a senior police officer today said.

The racket may have been operating from multiple locations in the country, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhe.

Rufus Dabre (38), a resident of Vasai in neighbouring Thane district, and Manjeetsingh Chilotre (46), resident of suburban Malad in Mumbai were arrested in the case yesterday.

Chilotre was nabbed from Delhi, said an officer of the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg Police Station here where the offence has been registered.

The railway minister had received an e-mail a few days ago which said there was a scam in the recruitment of Grade C and Grade D employees, the police official said. The hiring process is conducted by the the Railway Recruitment Board, he added.

On Goyal's instructions, his personal secretary Pravin Gedam lodged a complaint with city police on August 20.

"We have identified seven members of this racket and arrested two," DCP Trimukhe said.

"During the investigation we found that this gang had duped job seekers of a total of Rs 93 lakh," he said.

Chilotre, an estate agent, was allegedly the mastermind of the scam, he said.

Chilotre and Dabre allegedly told job aspirants that there was a "special quota" of railway minister and they can secure a job for them from this quota.

Dabre, who is an insurance agent, had allegedly collected at least Rs 6 to 7 lakh each from seven job aspirants, the DCP said.

Both the accused were produced before a court today which remanded them in police custody till August 30.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 19-year old woman was allegedly gangraped in Assam's Goalpara district and a minor girl was raped by a 60-year old in the state's Morigaon district on Thursday and four persons have been arrested in connection with the two cases, police said today.

The woman was allegedly gangraped by her friend and three others on Thursday night in an agriculture field at Tukura Part-III village in Goalpara district, according to its superintendent of police Amitabh Sinha.

Villagers detained a man and the woman and informed the police early today. The police rushed to the spot and rescued the victim who was found in a drugged state, Sinha said.

During investigation it was found that the woman had come to Tukura with her friend, who hails from Barpeta district and were then taken by another person to his maternal uncle's house in the village for Eid celebrations.

In the night the two men along with two others of the same village allegedly raped the woman, the SP said.

The girl has been admitted to Goalpara civil hospital and police have registered a case and arrested her friend, the man whom they met in the village and the maternal uncle. Search is on for the fourth man, the SP said adding investigations into the incident are on.

In the other incident a 10-year-old was allegedly raped by a 60-year-old man in a remote Charbori Nigam village in Morigaon district, the police said.

Local people lodged a complaint with the police, who arrested the man.

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The UN peace envoy for Syria will host Iran, Russia and Turkey for talks on drafting a new Syrian constitution on September 11-12, a United Nations spokeswoman said today.

Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has been tasked with setting up a committee to write a new constitution for the war-ravaged country.

The main foreign powers backing the project are Syrian government allies Russia and Iran, as well as Turkey, which supports some opposition groups.

Representatives of the three nations will meet de Mistura over two days at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva, spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told reporters.

De Mistura has said he wants to have the constitutional committee in place before world leaders meet at the General Assembly in New York in late September.

That will likely require further talks, including with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, but Vellucci said she had no details of additional meetings next month.

De Mistura's previous efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian conflict have achieved no breakthroughs.

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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It's the world's number one killer among infectious diseases, but tuberculosis has been eclipsed by HIV/AIDS as a focus of global attention and donor funding.

When world leaders gather at the United Nations next month, they will be asked to change that by committing to end the tuberculosis pandemic by 2030 and come up with USD 13 billion annually to achieve that goal.

A row between the United States and South Africa threatens, however, to cast a pall over the first high-level meeting on tuberculosis, to be held on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting in New York.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates whose global fund has done game-changing work to boost public health in poor countries will be among the headliners of the TB summit on September 26.

"TB is not a disease of the past, but if the world works together to fight it, I have no doubt it can be," Gates said in post on Twitter.

Two months of negotiations on a final declaration were scheduled to wrap up in July, but the talks have dragged on after South Africa opposed US proposals to delete language that recognizes the right of poorer countries to access cheaper medicines.

Medical charity MSF has applauded South Africa's stance and urged countries to resist what it has described as "an aggressive push" by the US pharmaceutical lobby to restrict access to low-cost drugs.

Diplomats said negotiations were continuing on a possible compromise. Last year, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm when it said tuberculosis had surpassed HIV/AIDS as the world's number one infectious killer and was the ninth cause of death worldwide.

About 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016 out of 10.4 million worldwide who became ill from the severe lung infection, according to the WHO.

A 30-point final declaration under negotiation would commit governments to end the global tuberculosis epidemic by 2030 by stepping up investment and innovation to fight the disease.

Governments would agree to mobilize at least USD 13 billion a year by 2022 for treatment and care and an additional USD 2 billion to fund research at a time when tuberculosis is becoming more resistant to antibiotics.

Five countries are the hardest-hit by the TB pandemic: India, which accounts for a quarter of cases, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan, but it remains unclear whether these nations are sending high-level officials to the summit.

Non-governmental organizations say leaders from key donor countries like the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Canada must turn up for the meeting to be ground-breaking.

"TB is not just a health issue. TB is an economic issue, a development issue, a security issue and we need leadership from heads of states," said Paula Fujiwara, the scientific director of the Paris-based International Union



Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

"If they don't deliver in September, we are going to do everything in our power to hold them accountable for the lives lost," she said.

About 33 heads of state and government have so far said they will attend, according to UN officials.

At the summit, leaders will pledge to provide diagnosis and treatment to 40 million people with TB from 2018 to 2022, including 3.5 million children.

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China today lashed out at "irresponsible" US accusations that Beijing was destabilising cross-Strait relations after El Salvador cut ties with Taiwan in favour of the Asian giant.

The White House also scolded the Central American country in a statement released yesterday, warning that the decision was made in a "non-transparent fashion" and affects "the economic health and security of the entire Americas region".

Taiwan and China have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition.

"The United States will continue to oppose China's destabilisation of the cross-Strait relationship and political interference in the Western Hemisphere," the White House said.

"The El Salvadoran government's receptiveness to China's apparent interference in the domestic of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a reevaluation of our relationship with El Salvador."



Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have worsened since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016, as her government refuses to acknowledge the island is part of "one China".

China has stepped up its poaching of Taiwan's dwindling official allies, with El Salvador becoming the fifth diplomatic loss under Tsai's presidency and the third this year.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday that El Salvador's decision to adhere to the "one China principle" was "right, proper and above-board".

"Some country takes this and makes irresponsible remarks, is this not interfering in the internal affairs of El Salvador? Isn't this, rather, politically meddling in the region? This is self-evident," Lu told a regular press briefing.

While most countries have established formal ties with Beijing rather than Taipei in recent decades, Taiwan still has unofficial relationships with powerful countries.

Its most important unofficial ally is the US, which remains Taiwan's leading arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.

Ties have warmed between the US and Taiwan in recent months, incensing Beijing.

Some analysts saw the poaching of El Salvador as an indirect slap in the face to the Trump administration and a warning against further friendly overtures.

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The United States is interested in Prime Minister Imran Khan's reform agenda and was ready to turn a new page with his government, the outgoing Amercian Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale said today.

Hale, who has been appointed as the next under secretary of state for political affairs by US President Donald Trump, paid a farewell visit to Prime Minister Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

The bilateral relations between the US and Pakistan deteriorated after the Trump administration slashed military aid to the country this year accusing Islamabad of providing overt and covert support to the Afghan Taliban and other terror groups.

"Ambassador Hale paid a farewell call on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"There was great interest in the Prime Minister's reform agenda in the United States, a readiness to turn the page, and this was the objective of Secretary Pompeo's visit to Pakistan," Hale, who has been serving as US Ambassador since 2015, told Qureshi.

The Foreign Minister underscored the importance of the longstanding relations with the US and said that he looked forward to welcome Secretary Pompeo in Islamabad, the statement said.

Qureshi told ambassador Hale that his interactions with the US leadership would be based on honesty and sincerity so as to develop a sustained partnership in the interest of both countries.

The Foreign Minster thanked Hale for his services and congratulated him for his next assignment.

He expressed hope that someone who understands Pakistan and the region would be able to play a positive role in strengthening of bilateral relations and work for the peace and prosperity of the region.

Ambassador Hale thanked the Foreign Minister and acknowledged his role in shepherding bilateral relations.

He also thanked the Foreign Ministry for the cooperation extended to him during his assignment in Pakistan.

Hale later met Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also expected to make a farewell visit to the Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to "immediately release" jailed Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike for more than three months.

Sentsov, a 42-year-old Kremlin opponent, was arrested in Crimea after Moscow's 2014 annexation of the peninsula and has been languishing in a Russian Artic prison with little hope of release. He announced the hunger strike in May demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia.

Pompeo "noted our concerns about Sentsov's health and urged Russia to immediately release Sentsov and all Ukrainian political prisoners", State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said yesterday in a readout of the call.

The case has garnered wide international attention. In the Czech Republic, film-makers this week said they were launching a rotating hunger strike in solidarity with the director.

And French newspaper Le Monde carried a plea signed by dozens of figures from the world of culture calling for his release, saying "Oleg Sentsov could die any minute".

Sentsov was convicted of planning arson attacks on pro-Moscow party offices in Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. He had also taken part in the Maidan protests in Kiev during the winter of 2013-2014 that culminated in Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country.

Nauert said Pompeo and Lavrov had also discussed the situation in Syria, including military activities in Idlib province, which borders Turkey. President Bashar al-Assad has his sights set on retaking control of Idlib, currently held by rebels.

Pompeo asked Lavrov "to support efforts in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as well as efforts to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons", Nauert said.

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An amount of USD 6,00,000 will be sent to UNICEF to strengthen relief and rehabilitation efforts in Kerala which witnessed its worst deluge in nearly a century, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has said.

The emergency grant aims to bolster government efforts and initiatives by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the enormous task of assisting displaced, flood-affected people and helping them rebuild their lives, the foundation said in a statement.

UNICEF, along with NGOs, is currently working in tandem with district administrations to spearhead relief efforts.

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extends its sympathies to the thousands of families affected by Kerala's worst floods in nearly a century," Chris Elias, president of Global Development at the foundation, was quoted as saying in the statement.

"We hope that our grant of fast and flexible funding will help UNICEF work with local governments and NGOs to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases and other severe health risks associated with flooding," Elias said.

Heavy rains and flooding have claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon. More than 10.40 lakh people are still in relief camps across the state.

The state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to the floods and sought an interim assistance of Rs 2,600 crore from the Centre, besides a special package of a similar amount under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

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The Uttarakhand High Court today ordered to seal all the hospitals and clinics running without registration in the state.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari instructed to seal all such hospitals in the state.

Hearing a PIL, the court asked the government to strictly adhere to the provisions of law and fix the prices of various medical tests.

The court delivered the order after two private hospitals running at Dooraha in Bajpur and Kailkheda were found operating illegally and no action was taken against them.

It expressed dismay that the two hospitals neither had qualified doctors nor were registered.

Despite this, doctors without degree or specialisation were conducting surgery, the court said.

An investigation team found that 10 patients were to be operated upon by persons who neither had MBBS degree nor any specialisation for conducting surgery.

The Court has asked to seal such hospitals whose registration has not been done under the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010.

It warned the hospitals against making the patients go through unnecessary diagnostic tests, saying they should not pressure the patients to buy "branded drugs" and prescribe only generic drugs.

At the same time, the court also said the front wall of the ICU in the hospitals should have glass panes so that the relatives of the patients could see the patient.

It also said hospitals should provide patients' health information to the relatives present every 12 hours and their videography should also be done.

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To attract investment in the northern state of Uttarakhand, its government today held a road show in the city and expressed confidence that a good number of entrepreneurs from Gujarat would invest in their state.

The roadshow was organised here today in the run up to Uttarakhand's first ever investor summit - Destination Uttarakhand:Investors Summit 2018 - to be held on October 7 and 8 at Dehradun and will be inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi.

According to Uttarakhand chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat, the roadshow received a good response from Gujarat.

"We have received good response from Gujarat. Investors have shown their keen interest in starting their business in our state in various sectors, such as food processing, aromatics, dairy, e-vehicles and solar energy," Rawat told reporters ahead of his meeting with prospective investors from Gujarat.

He added that this upcoming mega event in Dehradun is the first investor summit since the state came into existence 18 years back.

"The main objective of today's roadshow was to share the investment opportunities in Uttarakhand and to seek active participation for the Summit. We have received encouraging response from the business community of Gujarat" said Rawat.

The CM added that though manufacturing is the key contributor to the state GDP, his government is keen on developing tourism as well as other service sectors, which according to him, has huge potential.

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Left:Damage to personal property and the countrys physical infra-structure was still being assessed up to Thursday. Right:Even the cross atop the historic R. C. Holy Name Cathedral could not withstand the force of the earthquake that hit T&T last Tuesday.

by Dayle Da Silva





For many, it may be regarded as the longest 90 seconds of their lives, as a 7.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the country around 5:30 last Tuesday afternoon.





Buildings rumbled, cars and powerlines danced from side to side, and utility poles swayed.

Luckily, there were no reports of damage to property or otherwise here, unlike back in November 2007 when a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Dominica, caused some minor structural damage to private property.





This was confirmed by the Deputy Director of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) Hulda Peters.





This latest earthquake occurrence has been regarded as the most powerful earthquake to have occurred in the region since a 7.6 magnitude quake occurred earlier this year in the Caribbean Sea.

Tuesdays quake was initially measured 6.8 by the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC), but later upgraded to 7.3 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

In a broadcast aired in Trinidad and Tobago featuring head of the UWI-SRC Professor Richard Robertson and Siesmologist Dr Joan Latchman, the difference in numbers (magnitude) was explained as being the result of the calculation methods used.





The UWI-SRC uses a method that measures the intensity of the earthquake.

The epicentre was recorded about 30 km North East of Rio Caribe, Venezuela and at a depth of 76 miles (123 km) under the earths surface.





The earthquake was reported to be felt across sections of the South American continent as far as Colombia, and across the region including Trinidad and Tobago, where there were reports of power outages throughout that country and of damage to personal property including vehicles and some structures.

It was also felt in Guyana, Grenada and Barbados.

There was also confirmation of an aftershock on Wednesday morning shortly before 9:30am.
Sinking political differences, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today attended an all-party meet organised by BJP to pay tribute to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and hailed him as a champion of coalition

He described Vajpayee as a man of firm principles and an idealistic poet and said the BJP patriarch was an astute leader who showed to the world the art of managing a coalition government with its myriad diversities.

Patnaik's party Biju Janata Dal had entered into an alliance with BJP when Vajpayee was the prime minister and ran a coalition government in the state from 2000 to 2009.

Patnaik said that he "cherished" his association with Vajpayee.

"I will always cherish my association with late Vajpayeeji especially as it was during my initial years in public life," said Patnaik, who was a minister in Vajpayee's cabinet from 1998 till he took charge as Odisha chief minister in 2000.

Speaking about the former prime minister's commitment to democractic values, he said "Vajpayeeji is a true democrat who chose to lose on the floor of the House upholding the values of our Constitution. His death is truely end of an era."



The Vajpayee-led NDA govevernment had lost the floor test ending his 13 month government on April 17, 1999. The then Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang's (who is now in BJP) single vote was crucial and Vajpayee lost the no-trust motion by only one vote. While NDA got 269 votes, opposition managed 270 with the vote of Gamang who was then in Congress.

Gamang had, however, said that he had not done anything wrong and voted against NDA government as per party direction. "I was a Congress MP. My party's whip is binding on me. I had no choice and reason not to obey party diktat," Gamang had said a day after Vajpayee's death on August 16.

In his speech, Patnaik hailed the former prime minister as a "champion of coalition in the country".

He said, Vajpayee's death is a great national loss and a personal loss him also. "He (Vajpayee) embodied a unique combination of grace, idealism and tolerance in A true statesman who was admired across the political spectrum. His depth, vision and understanding of issues was unparalleled."



Referring to the former prime minister's links with Odisha, he said "Vajpayeeji had a large heart with a special corner for Odisha - love that was equally reciprocated by the people of Odisha. We will miss you Vjapayeeji."Odisha PCC president Niranjan Patnaik said he was overwhelmed by Vajpayee's speech where he had mentioned that democracy is above everything and it is not important which party remains in power or not.

"We should learn from Vajpayeeji on political courtesy, democratic values and how to remain above party lines despite being in power," he said said adding that Vajpayee was popular because he had been a "people's prime minister."



Senior BJP leader B B Harichandan said Vajpayee's contribution will be remembered forever. The Pokhran nuclear test conducted during his rule had created a new identity for India across the globe.

He recalled how Vajpayeeji came to the rescue Odisha when it was hit by a super cyclone in October 1999.

BJP state president Basant Panda described Vajpayee as a "Bharat Mata's true son."



Union ministers Jual Oram, Dharmendra Pradhan, a number of MPs, MLAs and ministers attended the all party meeting.

A memorial service was held and saw saw leaders cutting across party lines paying tribute the departed leader.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was today immersed at Parsuram Kund, the holy place in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.

As the Sky One chopper carrying the urn containing the ashes of Vajpaee landed at the helipad near the kund, thousands of people gathered to pay homage to their beloved leader. A full guard of honour was also presented in the helipad.

Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein accompanied by Art & Culture Minister Mohesh Chai, BJP state unit president Tapir Gao and General Secretary Jarpum Gamlin along with civil and police officials immersed the ashes in the kund after performing puja.

An all-religion prayer was also organised at the venue before immersion of the ashes.

Earlier, the urn containing the ashes was kept at Pasighat Advance Landing Ground (ALG) for half-an-hour for public viewing.

Recalling the contribution of Vajpayee to the North East, Mein said that during his (Vajpayees) tenure as the prime minister, a special package was prepared for the region.

His contribution to North East was immense which is now evident in the region be it in the form of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) or in the science and technology sector," Mein said adding, all the politicians should follow his principles and ideology.

Remembering the days spent with the former prime minister, Gao said that Vajpayee was an inspiration for all and a disciplined person.

Whenever I met him, he used to ask me about Arunachal, though at that time we had no BJP government in the state. He used to motivate us to continue to work for the people, Gao added.

On Thursday, Gao brought the ashes from New Delhi which was kept at the party office before it was taken to Dorjee Khandu Convention Hall here for public viewing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were today immersed in the Arabian Sea near the Gateway of India here in the presence of senior BJP leaders.

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah had handed over urns containing Vajpayees ashes to all the BJP state unit chiefs asking them to immerse it in rivers and seas across the country.

The "asthi kalash yatra" here, which took place in the afternoon today, had several BJP leaders travelling in a boat and its city unit chief Ashish Shelar and senior state minister Vinod Tawde immersing the ashes in the sea amid sloganeering by party workers eulogising Vajpayee.

"The Atal Asthi Kalash Yatra aims to spread the legacy of the former PM and Bharat Ratna awardee across the length and breadth of the country," said Mumbai BJP general secretary Amarjeet Mishra who was also present on the occasion.

Vajpayee, three-time Prime Minister, died on August 16 after a prolonged illness that saw the 93-year-old poet-statesman withdraw from public life almost a decade ago.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were today immersed in the confluence of Vitasta (Jhelum) and Sindh (Indus) rivers in the Kashmir Valley.

Vajpayee passed away on August 16. He was 93.

BJP general secretary Ashok Koul and MLC Girdhari Lal Raina and other senior party leaders attended the special prayers held at Shadipur Ghat.

"We have immersed the ashes of Atalji at 'Vitastasindhusamgama', the confluence of Vitasta (Jhelum) and Sindh (Indus) rivers, at a chinar tree shrine of Lord Shiva. The tree stands on a small island in the middle of the confluence in Shadipur belt of the Kashmir Valley," Raina, who performed the rituals at the prayers, told PTI.

The ashes of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi, country's only female prime minister, were also immersed in Kashmir.

In Jammu, BJP workers immersed Vajpayee's ashes in river Tawi last evening. A large number of BJP leaders and workers were present on the occasion.

The 'asthi kalash' (urn of ashes) was brought to the party headquarters by state BJP president Ravinder Raina from Delhi. A large number of party workers joined the procession to take the urn to the BJP office from the Jammu airport.

After paying tributes to the departed leader at the party headquarters, the 'asthi kalash' was taken in a procession which began from Trikuta Nagar and culminated on the banks of river Tawi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metals and mining giant Vedanta will spend around USD 300-400 million in recently acquired Electrosteel Steels to expand its capacity to 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), a top company official said.

This investment will be part of the company's overall USD 8-billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) capex plan over the next three years, according to Vedanta chairman Navin Agarwal.

"Electrosteel Steels is currently processing at a full capacity of 1.5 mtpa, and we will soon start work to expand capacity to 2.5 mtpa at a very nominal capex of USD 300-400 million," Agarwal told reporters on the sideline of the firm's annual general meeting (AGM) today.

In March, Vedanta acquired assets of Electrosteel Steels, which marked its entry into steelmaking in India.

"Our acquisition of Electrosteel has lot to do with the integration of our iron ore business," said Agarwal.

Replying to a query on the firm's troubled copper smelter at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Agarwal said, "At this time our endeavour is to restart the copper smelter and discussion of expanding will happen afterwards."



The Tuticorin plant has been closed since May after 13 people were killed in a police firing during protests against the plant on allegations of it causing health and environmental issues.

Meanwhile, the company has chalked out a mega capital expenditure plans of USD 8 billion over the next three years on growth projects across its businesses.

The company is looking at growing its oil and gas business to about 400,000 barrels per day, from the current 200,000 barrels per day.

Similarly, the zinc business will grow to about 1.35 mtpa. The company is also looking at growing its international zinc business and aluminium and alumina refinery capacities, the chairman said.

"We will be spending USD 8 billion across all our businesses. Most of this capex will be funded through internal accruals as our cash flows stood at Rs 7,900 crore (as on March 31) and we have reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500 crore," Agarwal said, adding the company will not opt for external funding.

Following this expansion, he believes that the firm's business size will grow by around 50 per cent.

Replying to a query on inorganic growth, Agarwal said, "We have nothing on the plate on the acquisition side, but if good opportunity comes, which is synergic to our business, we will look at it."



Vedanta had posted 2.13 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,533 crore in June quarter, while its total income increased to Rs 22,624 core.

The company's shares ended 4.26 per cent up at Rs 223.95 apiece on the BSE today, against 0.22 per cent decline in the benchmark.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Veteran Marathiactor Vijay Chavan, known for his comic roles, died this morning at a hospital after a prolonged illness, a hospital official said.

He was 63.

The actor, who has featured in more than 350 films, was reportedly not keeping well for some time and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.

"He was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mulund since the last four-five days as his health had started deteriorating. He passed away today morning at about 5," the hospital official told PTI.

Chavan, who also featured in numerous plays, is best remembered for his comic roles in Marathi films such as 'Jatra', 'Zapatlela', 'Pachadlele', 'Mumbaicha Dabewala' and 'Shrimanta Damodar Panta', among others.

'Moru Chi Mavshi' is one of his famous plays in which he was appreciated for portraying a woman.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Veteran US senator and war hero John McCain -- a towering figure in American politics for decades -- has stopped treatment for brain cancer, his family announced today, one year after the Republican went public with his diagnosis.

The announcement signals the beginning of the end of a tough battle with an aggressive form of cancer -- and of a storied life that took the Naval Academy graduate from a Hanoi prison to the doorstep of the White House.

"The progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict," the 81-year-old senator's loved ones said in a statement.

"With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."



McCain has spent more than three decades in the upper chamber of Congress, looming large in debates over war and peace and the moral direction of the nation.

The Navy fighter pilot spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam after being shot down while on a bombing mission over Hanoi.

He lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, and was pilloried for selecting controversial Alaska politician Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

"No man this century better exemplifies honor, patriotism, service, sacrifice, and country first than Senator John McCain," said fellow Republican Mitt Romney. "His heroism inspires, his life shapes our character. I am blessed and humbled by our friendship."



With no more elections to run, since 2016, he has been a rare and outspoken Republican critic of President Donald Trump.

Known for his combustible temper, he has accused the 45th president of "naivete", "egotism" and of sympathizing with autocrats.

Following Trump's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, McCain caustically described the US leader's behavior as "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."



That has earned him the ire of Trump, who regularly blames McCain for his failure to reform Obama-era health care laws and refused to say his name when signing the eponymous "John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act."



McCain has not been on the Senate floor in months, remaining at his Arizona home for treatment of glioblastoma -- the same form of brain cancer that took the life of another Senate giant, Democrat Ted Kennedy, in 2009.

"I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey," his wife Cindy said.

His daughter Meghan thanked the public for an outpouring of support.

"My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year," she tweeted.

"Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you - you've given us strength to carry on."



Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was "very sad to hear this morning's update from the family of our dear friend."



"John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour." Democrats, too, weighed in.

"Senator John McCain is a warrior in every sense of the word," said congressman Joe Kennedy III -- a scion of the American political dynasty. 'To an inspiring man and a loving family, our thoughts are with you."



John Boockvar, director of the Brain Tumor Center at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, said the type of cancer is "incurable." "He is probably at the terminal part of his disease," Boockvar, who has not treated McCain but is an expert in the field, told AFP.

"They have decided not to extend any other options to him for treatment because at some point, the risks outweigh the benefits." Treatment usually consists of chemotherapies, with a low chance of success.

Boockvar said the cancer had likely "spread to untreatable levels and he is seeking comfort care, which is a very reasonable point of his battle against this disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On the eve of the third anniversary of the quota agitation in Gujarat, Patidar leader Hardik Patel today said that he would proceed on an indefinite hunger strike from tomorrow even if authorities deny him permission for it or the court cancels his bail.

Clashes had broken out during the quota protests led by Patel in August 25, 2015, leading to the death of 14 people and large-scale destruction of public property.

Gandhinagar Collector S K Langa today denied Patel permission to hold the fast at Satyagrah Chhavni area.

Meanwhile, the city sessions court is expected to announce its verdict on Monday on a government plea seeking cancellation of Patel's anticipatory bail in a rioting case.

Speaking to reporters today in the wake of these two developments, Patel said that he would proceed with the fast in jail, in the event of the court cancelling his bail, or at home if government authorities deny him a venue for the protest.

"If the court cancels my bail than I am ready to go to jail. I will sit on hunger strike in jail. I am not afraid of the BJP government or of going behind bars. I am not going to drop my plans out of any intimidation" Patel told reporters here.

Hitting out at the state government, he said, "I am not being allotted a venue (for the fast) because the government is afraid of me. I will sit on hunger strike at my house if need be. However, attempts are being made to stop me from sitting on fast at my house."



Patel claimed that several national leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, may come to Gujarat to support him.

"This hunger strike is not a one-day affair. Thousands across the state would sit on fast and it will continue for days. I have also invited people to come to my house to join me in the fast. This is not about me. It is about numerous people" the Patidar leader said.

Earlier this month, Hardik had announced that he would sit on an indefinite hunger strike from August 25 at a ground in Nikol area here demanding reservations for Patidars and loan waivers for farmers.

After being denied permission for the Nikol venue since it was now a parking lot, Patel approached the Gandhinagar collector seeking Satyagrah Chhavni as an alternate spot for the fast. This, too, was rejected today by the Gandhinagar collector.

"Based on the opinion of the police on law and order and past experiences, we have decided not to grant permission," Collector Langa told reporters today.

Meanwhile, a sessions court here today reserved its order on the state government's plea to cancel Patel's anticipatory bail in a rioting case lodged against him in March 2017 for allegedly creating ruckus outside Vastral BJP corporator Paresh Patel's residence.

While he had obtained anticipatory bail in this case in April last year, the state government had approached the city sessions court seeking its cancellation.

In its plea, the state government had claimed that Patel had violated a bail condition by entering Ramol area.

The court is expected to give its verdict on the government's plea on Monday.

Meanwhile, in another development, Patel, along with another quota leader Lalji Patel and A K Patel, today appeared before a Visnagar court in Mehsana and submitted a High Court order suspending their two-year jail term in a riot case lodged there in 2015.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi-led coalition air strikes have killed nearly 30 people in Yemen, including four women and 22 children, Shiite rebel media reported.

But the state media of United Arab Emirates, a key coalition member, disputed the claim and said the rebels launched the attack, killing one child and injuring dozens.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the Houthi rebels, said on Twitter the coalition attack took place in the ad-Durayhimi district yesterday, 20 kilometres from the port city Hodeida in the country's west. Other Houthi officials provided lower initial figures saying at least nine were killed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

The UAE's official agency WAM, however, reported that the Houthis launched a ballistic missile in the area killing one child and injuring dozens. Neither side's claims could be independently verified.

Earlier this month, a Saudi-led coalition air strike in the country's north killed dozens of people. Tebel-run Al-Masirah reported at least 51 people, including 40 children, were killed and 79 others, including 56 children, were wounded in the airstrike, citing the Yemeni Health Ministry in the capital Sanaa, which is under rebel control. The Saudi-led coalition said it would investigate.

Also yesterday, the Houthis claimed to have hit a Saudi target in the kingdom's waters but the coalition said the attack was thwarted. Al Masirah TV reported that the rebels "hit a military target with a suitable weapon". It quoted an unnamed Houthi official as saying the target was hit "accurately".

The Saudi state-run al-Ekhbariya TV channel, citing the coalition, reported that an attack by an explosives-laden boat was thwarted and that "necessary measures" were taken to protect the coalition's commercial vessels.

Houthis attacked Saudi oil shipments last month prompting the kingdom's state oil company to temporarily halt shipments before resuming them later.

Impoverished Yemen has been embroiled in the war pitting the coalition against the Iran-aligned Houthis since March 2015. Civilians have been enmeshed over the years in the conflict which has killed over 10,000, crippled the country's health system and pushed it to the brink of famine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend





President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iceland Berglind Asgeirsdottir.

President Ilham Aliyev has also received credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ngo Duc Manh.

President Aliyev has also received credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Benin Issiradjou Ibrabim Gomina.








By Joseph Nasr and Jan SchwartzBERLIN/HAMBURG (Reuters) - All sectors of the German economy grew in the second quarter, data showed, with robust domestic activity helping to cushion against risks to exports from an uncertain global trade outlook.Construction and state spending expanded the most, both up 0.6 percent quarter on quarter - but the head of one economic institute said a record public sector surplus meant government investments should be rising more rapidly.Finance Minister Olaf Scholz cautiously agreed, saying the surplus created "further possibilities" though the precise extent of ...
By Rajendra Jadhav and Sumita LayekMUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Demand for physical gold was modest in India this week as the top bullion consuming state of Kerala coped with floods, while interest for the metal remained lacklustre elsewhere in Asia as buyers awaited a dip in prices.Gold demand usually sees a jump in Kerala during the festival of Onam, but this year, the southern state is reeling from some of the worst floods in a century, leaving thousands displaced and causing damage of at least 200 billion rupees ($2.85 billion)."Demand has taken a hit in Kerala. For the next few weeks, ...
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Bosnia's regional police on Friday detained the general manager of the Balkans' leading metallurgical coke producer Global Ispat Koksna Industrija Lukavac (GIKIL) which was ordered to halt operations the previous day accused of environmental negligence."We can confirm that Debasish Ganguly was detained and handed over to the prosecutor's office," a spokesman for Tuzla cantonal police told Reuters, without providing further details.Bosnian authorities on Thursday gave the plant, majority owned by Dubai-based Global Steel Holdings Ltd (GSH) and linked to India's wealthy ...
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank has resumed use of a counter-cyclical factor in the yuan midpoint-fixing mechanism, three sources told Reuters on Friday. The move is a reversal of a step taken in January to loosen control over the yuan exchange rate, when the People's Bank of China effectively reduced the influence of the "counter-cyclical factor".China introduced the "counter-cyclical factor" in 2017 in what regulators said was an effort to better reflect supply and demand, lessen possible "herd effects" in the market and help guide the market to focus more on macroeconomic ...
By Tom Westbrook and Byron KayeHONG KONG/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia has banned Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network citing national security risks, a move the Chinese telecoms gear maker criticised as being "politically motivated".The ban, announced on Thursday, signals a hardening of Australia's stance toward its biggest trading partner at a time when relations between the two have soured over Canberra's allegations of Chinese meddling in its politics.This is also in line with measures taken by the United States to restrict Huawei and compatriot ZTE ...
By Florence Tan and Meng MengSINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Unipec will resume purchases of U.S. crude oil in October after a two-month halt due to the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.The decision to start buying crude oil again from the United States comes after Beijing earlier in August excluded it from its import tariff list.A source with knowledge of the matter said Unipec will "buy some U.S. crude, loading in October, following the change in Beijing's policy.""Unipec's imports shrunk when China retaliated by ...
By Karen Freifeld and Doina Chiacu(Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has appointed a former federal prosecutor to monitor China's ZTE Corp after people familiar with the matter said he rescinded an offer to a former U.S. official for signing a "Never Trump" letter before the 2016 presidential election, A new monitor for ZTE is required as part of a June settlement that ended a ban on U.S. companies selling components to China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker. The ban threatened ZTE's survival and became a source of friction in trade talks between Washington and ...
(Reuters) - China unveiled a proposal on Aug 3 for a list of retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of goods it imports from the United States, ranging from liquefied natural gas to certain types of aircraft.Please use the following link to see China's full list of proposed items: https://bit.ly/2PtkoIVRanging from 5 percent to 25 percent, the tariffs would be applied to 5,207 products. U.S. actions will determine whether China implements the tariffs, Beijing says.The U.S. administration on Aug 1 proposed a higher 25 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods compared with a previously ...
By Joseph NasrBERLIN (Reuters) - All sectors of the German economy grew in the second quarter, detailed data showed on Friday, suggesting it will be able to weather headwinds from trade frictions.State spending, investments and private consumption drove growth between April and June, the data showed, confirming a preliminary reading of a 0.5 percent.Investment in construction and state spending grew the most, with both up by 0.6 percent.The figures confirmed a trend in Europe's largest economy, which is increasingly dependent on domestic drivers for growth as exports weaken. Private ...
By Joseph Nasr and Rene WagnerBERLIN (Reuters) - All sectors of the German economy grew in the second quarter, data showed, with robust domestic activity helping to cushion against risks to exports from an uncertain global trade outlook.Construction and state spending expanded the most, both up 0.6 percent quarter on quarter - but the head of one economic institute said a record public sector surplus meant government investments should be rising more rapidly.Friday's Federal Statistics Office figures, which matched a preliminary overall growth reading of 0.5 percent, confirmed Europe's ...
By Azernews





By Sara Israfilbayova

Russia continues its mediation efforts on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on August 23.

Our mediation efforts are continuing. We are in contact with the parties in various formats, Zakharova stressed.

The Russian side remains the most influential party in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia is capable of having a significant impact on the outcome of events in the Caucasus, and in particular, on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Russia has always played a very active role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and along with the U.S. and France is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group, which spearheads the OSCEs efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Since 1992, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has become predominantly a problem of international importance. After Azerbaijan became a member of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), in accordance with the principles of this organization, the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was in the focus of public participants. Soon it was established the OSCE Minsk Group for settlement of the conflict.

Negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are underway within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Azerbaijan insists on maintaining its territorial integrity, Armenia defends the interests of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 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 regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Japan's top steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp sees India as the most promising market and wants to become "an insider" to capitalise on growth of the world's third-biggest steel market, a senior executive said. "India will be the fastest-growing steel market in the world going forward," Nippon Steel Executive Vice President Katsuhiro Miyamoto told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "But since it's not an easy market to export to due to trade and distribution issues, it's important for us to become an insider. That's why ...
ANKARA (Reuters) - Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said some members of oil producer group OPEC were acting in accordance with U.S. policies, Iran's Khaneye Mellat news agency reported on Friday. "Some members are interpreting the latest OPEC decision on oil output differently ... and are acting in accordance with the policies of the U.S.," the agency quoted Zanganeh as saying.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed with Russia and other oil-producing allies in June to raise output from July, with Iran's arch-rival Saudi Arabia pledging a "measurable" supply boost but ...
TOKYO (Reuters) - Finance ministers and officials from Japan and China are to meet in Beijing on Aug. 31, a Japanese official said, a sign of improving ties amid Sino-U.S. trade tensions.Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and Chinese counterpart Liu Kun are expected to discuss financial cooperation, including reviving a dormant currency swap arrangement.Japan and China have begun discussing a resumption of the arrangement, which mean a swap worth about 3 trillion yen ($27.15 billion), far bigger than the previous $3 billion line.Aso, who also serves as deputy prime minister, may meet ...
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By Timothy Aeppel and Sharay AnguloWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico has come "very far" in working through its list of outstanding issues with the United States in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday.Guajardo was speaking to reporters at the offices of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer where the latest Mexico-U.S. talks on NAFTA are being held.Since talks resumed last month, the two sides have focused on resolving their differences over U.S. President Donald Trump's complaint that NAFTA has ...
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund should continue to invest in oil and gas firms, a government-appointed commission recommended on Friday, contradicting earlier advice from the central bank.A decision on whether to drop energy shares from the fund's benchmark index, and thus divest tens of billions of dollars from oil and gas stocks over time, is expected later this year.Shares of European oil and gas companies fell last November when the fund's manager, the Norwegian central bank, announced its proposal to cut the exposure of the fund - and thus the Norwegian ...
By Henning GloysteinSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday on expectations that U.S. sanctions on Iran will cut significant volumes of crude from the market towards the end of the year, but trading was muted due to the unresolved trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.Brent crude oil futures were at $74.93 per barrel at 0245 GMT, up 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $68.08 per barrel, up 25 cents, or 0.3 percent.Traders said the supply versus demand outlook for oil markets was relatively tight because of the ...
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

The U.S. Azeris Network has launched a next campaign to educate the American public about Armenias ongoing aggression against Azerbaijan. The action coincided with the 25th anniversary of the occupation of Azerbaijans Jabrayil, Fizuli and Gubadli regions by the Armenian invasion troops.

The appeal to congressmen, legislators of state parliaments and the White House, members of the U.S. administration and media notes that as a result of the occupation of these three regions, 157,000 Azerbaijani civilians were expelled from their native lands.

The call also states that the UN Security Council adopted the resolution 874 in this regard. The resolution condemns the Armenian aggression, recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and demands the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories.

The appeal provides statistical information on the occupation of the Azerbaijani regions and on civilians who became refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In conclusion, the message calls on the members of the government and the U.S. political circles to exert pressure on Armenia so that Yerevan takes a constructive position, complies with the UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, liberates Azerbaijani lands and creates opportunities for the return of IDPs to their native lands.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1993 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region 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.

In April-November 1993, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 condemning the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian armed forces, requiring immediate and unconditional withdrawal from the territories and return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their homes. In March 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 62/243 reaffirming the position expressed by the international community to the UN Security Council resolutions.

The legislative bodies of various countries and international organizations, based on these UN Security Council resolutions, have adopted dozens of new resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan. However, Armenia continues to occupy the territories of Azerbaijan and does not comply with the UN Security Council resolutions.
By Christopher JohnsonLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday, supported by signs that U.S. sanctions on Iran are already reducing global crude supply.Benchmark Brent crude oil was up 60 cents a barrel at $75.33 by 0935 GMT. Brent was on track for gains of almost 5 percent this week. U.S. light crude was 60 cents higher $68.43, heading for a gain of 3.8 percent this week."Both crude markers are on track to end a steady run of weekly declines. This is largely due to a tightening fundamental outlook on the back of looming Iranian supply shortages," said Stephen Brennock analyst at London ...
By Andrew TorchiaDUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is moving ahead with economic reforms and growth in its non-oil economy will pick up this year despite any delay to a planned sale of shares in national oil giant Saudi Aramco, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Friday."Aramco was one part of the reform programme. Other parts are moving ahead pretty well," Tim Callen, the IMF's mission chief for Saudi Arabia, told reporters after annual consultations with the Saudi government.He said the IMF's projections for Saudi economic growth to accelerate in coming years were based on ...
By Dasha AfanasievaLONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has raised an $11 billion loan from banks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, as it seeks to boost its firepower to finance the kingdom's economic transformation plans.News of the loan, which was increased from an initial guide size of $6 billion to $8 billion given by sources close to the deal in July, comes after Saudi Arabia indefinitely postponed plans to list state oil giant Aramco, according to four industry sources. This is the first commercial loan for the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which ...
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's industrial production growth slowed slightly on-year in July from a month ago, but still came in above forecasts, data showed on Friday. Manufacturing output in July rose 6.0 percent from a year earlier, data from the Singapore Economic Development Board showed, slower than the revised 8.0 percent on-year growth in June. The median forecast in a Reuters survey predicted a 5.4 percent expansion. On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production fell 1.7 percent in July, lower than the revised 4.4 percent rise the month earlier. The ...
US and Chinese officials ended two days of talks on Thursday with no major breakthrough as their trade war escalated with activation of another round of duelling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country's goods. "We concluded two days of discussions with counterparts from China and exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a brief emailed statement. The discussions included "addressing structural issues in China," including its intellectual ...
By Collin EatonHOUSTON (Reuters) - A vessel hauling a shipment of coal from the United States switched its destination on Friday to South Korea from China, according to ship tracking data, a day after China imposed 25 percent tariffs on the U.S. fuel. The Underdog was loaded with 63,000 metric tonnes of coal on July 23 in Long Beach, California, and sailed to China, where it arrived off the coast of Nanshan on Aug. 17. It spent a week idling off the Chinese coast before departing for Yeosu, South Korea, where it is expected to arrive on Aug. 28, according to Thomson Reuters vessel tracking ...
By Sharay Angulo and Timothy AeppelWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-Mexico talks to craft a deal on new auto industry rules under the NAFTA trade pact are poised to continue into next week, Mexico's economy minister said on Thursday, as friction persists over the threat of more restrictive U.S. import rules.Since restarting last month, talks have focused on settling differences between the two sides over U.S. President Donald Trump's complaint that the North American Free Trade Agreement has undercut U.S. manufacturing to Mexico's benefit.Trump has threatened to withdraw from the 24-year-old trade ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China concluded two days of discussions on trade on Thursday and discussed "how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship, including by addressing structural issues in China," the White House said."We appreciated the Chinese delegation coming to the United States to participate in these meetings. The U.S. delegation will be briefing their principals on the discussions," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)(Only the ...
The 73rd AGM of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Thursday witnessed some unpleasant scenes with non-executive chairman AM Naik summoning security marshals to evict shareholders who questioned him for getting the company's land to set up a cancer hospital in his granddaughter's memory.

The drama began when Uday Dixit, a shareholder and an ex-employee of L&T, which is the only large company majority owned by employees, questioned the rationale for the board to allow Naik to set a super specialty cancer hospital at the Powai campus in memory of Nirali, Naik's grand daughter who died of the dreaded disease as a child.

It can be noted while announcing the hospital Naik had said it was "his monument and legacy to L&T."

Dixit and a few other shareholders said the land allotted for the proposed hospital was supposed to be a manufacturing facility of the company till 2019.

"The land belongs to the collector who has given the licence to the company for manufacturing till 2019. How can you demolish it? We are not fools. How can the structure be demolished before 2019 and build a hospital and residential units? Let shareholders know," Dixit said.

To this Naik said L&T had paid the money for the land and so it belongs to the company.

To calm down the tempo, managing director and chief executive SN Subramanyan intervened saying, "we have done it as per the rules and regulations of the company as well as per the government norms. The hospital is not only for employees but also for the general public."

"We have taken all the necessary permissions and so there is nothing illegal. Moreover, the land will continue to belong to L&T. We have all the documents and I am answering you with all responsibility," Subramanyan said.

As the shareholders continued to interfere during the replies, Naik lost his cool and asked Dixit and others to shut up, angering the shareholders who demanded to be heard.

Following this, Naik called security marshals, saying "this is a shareholders' meeting and not a forum for your individual grievances. Where is the security? Let others talk and if anyone interrupts unnecessarily, throw them out."

Another shareholder wondered why Naik, who retired last September should continue to call the shots. "At 75, tell me Mr Naik, why can't you sit at home and play with the kids."

This forced Subramanyan to intervene again and told the shareholders that "Naik has been with this company from nowhere to whatever he is today. And I hope all of you benefited during his tenure including four bonus issues and now a buyback and dividend. Now at 75, he has retired and is only a non-executive chairman."

Some shareholders also did not like the Rs 9,000-crore share buyback announced saying they will not wish to give up their shares and suggested that the company go a rights issue.

One shareholder said he stands to lose if he gives up his shares for the money. "I would want to keep the shares for my future generation as I have been possessing L&T shares which originally belonged to my parents. If I retain them, I may earn higher returns in future."

Dixit wondered if the board can maintain the shares with them, then why should shareholders give up theirs.

L&T is the only large company in the country that is majority owned by its employees.

Anilkumar Manibhai Naik, who has served L&T for over 52 years, including as its head for over 17 years, retired last September and became non-executive chairman for three years beginning October 1, 2017.

And when he called it quits he took home a whopping a Rs 78.91 crore, including Rs 38.04 crore in retirement benefits of which Rs 32.21 crore is leave encashment alone.

Other allowances include perquisites of Rs 19.27 crore, and commission of Rs 18.24 crore.

Naik, who drew an annual salary of Rs 3.36 crore for FY17, is said to have rarely taken leave during his career.

Naik, the son of a primary school teacher in Gujarat, joined the company as a trainee and became the company's youngest manager ever 33 after four years and eight months of service.
The long-drawn battle for Ruchi Soya finally has a victor, and it's Adani Wilmar. Billionaire Gautam Adani's group company's Rs 6,000 crore bid has been approved by the beleaguered edible oil firm's committee of creditors. With about 96% of the lenders voting in its favour, contender Patanjali, with a Rs 5,700 crore bid, did not stand a chance.

In the first round of bidding, Baba Ramdev's company had emerged as the highest bidder with an offer of around Rs 4,300 crore. Adani Wilmar, which sells cooking oil under Fortune brand, had made a much lower bid of Rs 3,300 crore. Ruchi Soya owes a total debt of about Rs 12,000 crore to a consortium of 16 lenders.

However, the CoC was not happy with these initial bids so it had subsequently set the stage for an aggressive bidding war between the two competitors - opting for the Swiss challenge method to maximise the value of the asset. In June, the CoC had opened the fresh bids and declared Adani Wilmar as H1 (highest) bidder, while Patanjali stood as H2 (second highest).

Following this, Patanjali Ayurved was asked to submit a revised bid by June 16 to match or better the highest offer. However, the Haridwar-based company wrote to Ruchi Soya's resolution professional (RP) seeking clarifications regarding the parameters adopted to choose the highest bidder instead of submitting a bid.

The company had also questioned the eligibility of the Adani Group to participate in the bidding process under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as well as the appointment of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the RP's legal advisor as the said law firm was already advising Adani Group.

Clearly, the RP has found no issues with Adani Wilmar and the next step in the resolution process is to seek approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Reacting to the news, the stock of the Indore-based hit the upper circuit limit of 5% on the BSE and is at the Rs 9.42 level currently. Similar movement was seen on NSE as well, where the stock opened at Rs 9.45 and hit its upper circuit limit.

Given that Ruchi Soya boasts several manufacturing plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold, Adani Wilmar has much to cheer.
By Trend





Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov as part of his state visit to Turkmenistan on Aug. 23 held talks with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in an expanded format, Kabar news agency reported.

The two presidents noted that they attach great importance to building mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and are aimed at further expanding the multilateral ties of the two fraternal peoples.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that the talks took place in an atmosphere of friendship, mutual understanding and constructivism.

The state and prospects of bilateral relations, as well as issues on the regional and international agenda were discussed in detail. They included water-energy, transport, trade-economic, political, agricultural, industrial and cultural-humanitarian issues.

The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan came to the opinion of the maximum use of mutual potential in all spheres of cooperation.

The parties expressed their readiness to further develop friendly and fraternal mutually beneficial relations.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that the Turkmen delegation will be sent to participate in the World Nomad Games in September 2018.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov invited the Turkmen president to visit Kyrgyzstan at any time.
Just hours ago, Indians were debating whether turning down a generous aid worth Rs 700 crore for Kerala floods was the right thing to do or not. In an unexpected volte-face, it now seems that the offer was only a figment of someone's imagination. People tend to take things seriously when the government, a chief minister no less, says something. This is precisely why the news about Kerala being offered $100 million aid by the oil-rich Gulf nation spread like a wildfire.

Soon after the state government announced the magnanimous assistance by a country which has a considerable population of Keralites - over 7 lakh according to some estimates - the rumour mills went into an overdrive and began comparing the Centre's Rs 600 crore initial aid package with 'UAE's Rs 700 crore' largesse.

So how exactly did the Kerala government get it so wrong?

On August 21, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted that the United Arab Emirates will provide Kerala an assistance of Rs 700 crore. "Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support," he tweeted.

According to Kerala CM, his only source for this information was UAE-based Malayali businessman and philanthropist Yusuff Ali MA, the managing director of Lulu Hypermarket which owns the largest retail chain in the Middle East.

Vijayan had informed the media about the UAE's aid and thanked them for their 'timely' help. "Today morning, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, informed our Prime Minister about their contribution for Kerala and this was conveyed to me by M.A. Yusuf Ali (who owns Lulu Supermarkets)," Kerala CM had said.

The CM just didn't stop after thanking the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

On this occasion, we also express the gratitude of Kerala to HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and the Emir of Abu Dhabi, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( @HHShkMohd), Prime Minister of UAE and Emir of Dubai. #KeralaFloodRelief - CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 21, 2018

Not to be outdone, Kerala's Finance Minister Thomas Isaac even compared the central government's policy of not accepting foreign aid to 'a dog in the manger' attitude.

We asked Union Gov for financial support of 2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious 600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer 700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy. - Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

The UAE government, however, has set up a national emergency committee to assess the situation in Kerala.
In the aftermath of Kerala floods, the debate over whether India should accept foreign aid has sparked off divergent views among the public. However, the Rs 700 crore generous aid by the UAE is neither official nor has it announced yet, if reports are to be believed.

According to The Indian Express, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna said that there has been no official announcement so far by the UAE on any specific amount as financial aid.

"The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I don't think it is final, since it is still ongoing," Albanna told the daily.

When the newspaper asked if he meant that the UAE had not announced Rs 700 crore in aid, he said: "Yes, that is correct. It is not yet final. It has not been announced."

"All that has happened is that UAE's Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has formed a national emergency committee. The main goal was to look into sourcing out funds, aid material, medicines and other things for our friendly people and friends in Kerala, who have been hit by the unfortunate flood," he said.

Earlier this week, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the UAE has offered assistance of Rs 700 crore ($100 million) to aid relief efforts in the state ravaged by worst monsoon rains in close to a century.

Vijayan had informed the media about the UAE's aid and thanked them for their 'timely' help. "Today morning, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, informed our Prime Minister about their contribution for Kerala and this was conveyed to me by M.A. Yusuf Ali (who owns Lulu Supermarkets)," he had said.

"We also express the gratitude of Kerala to HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and the Emir of Abu Dhabi, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of UAE and Emir of Dubai," Vijayan had tweeted.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has expressed concern over the concentration of majority of market share in mutual fund industry with a few big players. Addressing the second AMFI summit in Mumbai on Thursday, Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi said, "The top 4 MFs account for almost 50 % of the industry AUM and the top 7 MFs account for around 70 % of the industry AUM."

There were 41 mutual funds holding over Rs 23 lakh crore in assets under management (AUM) for the quarter ended June 2018. The top four mutual funds held over Rs 11 lakh crore in AUMs, according to data accessed from the AMFI website.

"There is a need to have more competition in the sector and there is a need for TER rationalisation; we are looking into this," Tyagi said on the sideline of the event.

Total expense ratio (TER) is a percentage of a scheme's corpus that a mutual fund house charges towards expenses including administrative and management.

"The concept of TER started in the late 90s when AUM was Rs 50,000 crore and today it is Rs 23 lakh crore. Therefore, some elements are needed and we are examining the need for rationalisation," he said.

Tyagi noted that concentration in the industry is evident also in the revenue and profit margins of the MFs.

"It is observed that the share of revenue of seven large AMCs is more than 60% of the total industry revenue. Profit margin PBT as a percent of Revenue) of large MFs has also stood at a very healthy 40 - 50%."

Stressing on the need of having more competition, Tyagi said, "Large AMCs have a fairly high market share of the total AUM, revenues and profits for the industry as a whole, indicating a high concentration of the industry in a few hands".

"Is this concentration due to lack of adequate competition in the fund space? Are such disproportionately high profits due to high Total Expense Ratio (TERs), especially in equity funds?," Tyagi asked.

Tyagi also informed that the regulator will soon come out with policy on close-ended funds.

He said the debt fund managers need to be vigilant and value their investment in corporate papers appropriately even as a bulk of money comes from institutional investors.

"The money should be invested in credible debt investment and they have to cautious of credit risk," he said.

Of the total Rs 12.3 trillion AUM at debt funds, Rs 11.5 trillion is from non-retail investors, according to him.

Commenting on allowing mutual fund investment in commodity markets, Tyagi said that the commodity market is still in nascent stage and mutual fund investment won't provide liquidity.

"The regulator is examining the issue of physical deliveries in commodity markets. I can't give any timeline but we are considering that," he said.

On stewardship code, Tyagi said, the mutual fund industry is better placed as compared to other institutions.

"We have been trying for FTSC and arguing for same code for insurance and pension funds," Tyagi added.
The Indian motorcycle company, Royal Enfield is all set to launch a new bike later this month. The company has sent out invites for the event. Royal Enfield has the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 that are yet to be revealed in India. However, it seems the new bike that is supposed to be unveiled will be something else.

The invite reads, "An ode to the Royal Enfields in Service and those who ride them." It further adds, "Please join Rudratej Singh, President, Royal Enfield, as he takes you through our much-storied heritage with the Indian Armed Forces and the motorcycle it inspired."

This clearly indicates that Royal Enfield will be launching a bike that will be themed on the Indian Army. This falls in line with previous leaks which showed us a special edition Classic 350. A Team-BHP member shared images of a Royal Enfield 350 classic in two new colour schemes along with an Indian flag square decal on the tank. It also had the military style numbering on the tank.

In the leaked images the bike can be seen in navy blue colour and brown colour. The invite also has a similar colour scheme to it. If RE goes on to launch this new bike, no major mechanical changes are expected in the new Classic.
Chinese smartphone brand Homtom on Friday forayed into India, launching three 'smarterphones' in the mid-range segment. The smartphones H1, H3 and H5 will run on 8.1 Android Oreo operating system, and are available at just Rs 7,499, Rs 9,990 and Rs 10,990, respectively. Homtom is also offering three-year warranty and two-time screen replacement cover within one-year of purchase for these phones.

"We are delighted to introduce all new range of smarterphones Homtom H1, Homtom H3 and Homtom H5 in India at affordable prices. We hope to attract at least 3-5 per cent market share in the Indian smartphone market within next six months," Gary Zhang, India CEO, Homtom told Business Today.

"Homtom also has plans to launch high-end models in 4GB and 6GB category, going forward," Zhang added.

The Shenzen-based company aims to manufacture its products in India in order to endorse Make in India.

Available in black and gold variants, Homtom H1 comes with 5.5-inch HD display and is equipped with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. It houses a 3000mAh battery. The phone has dual micro SIM card slots.

Homtom H3 comes with 5.5-inch HD+ In-cell display and has MTK 1.3GHz 64 bit processor coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. It houses a 3500mAh battery, and is available in black, silver and blue variants. It has two nano SIM card slots.

Both the models have 13MP+2MP primary camera and 8MP secondary camera. They also sport 'Face Unlock' and 'Fingerprint scanner' features for security.

Homtom H5 has a 5.7-inch HD+ In-cell display with the processor MTK at 1.3GHz, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The smartphone has a 16MP+2MP primary lens and secondary lens of 8MP.

"The Indian smartphone market has a reputation of providing a thrust to budding phone companies. With an aim to meet public demand and generating best-in-class products, Homtom is sure to mark its place in the country," said Dilpreet Singh Sikka, Director Finance & Operations at the launch.

The Homtom 'smarterphones' were launched by Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia at an event in New Delhi.
It was announced today that Qualtrics, the global experience management company, will look to create over 350 new jobs at the companys European headquarters in Ireland, bringing the total number of employees in Dublin to 600 within the next four years.

The announcement was made by Qualtrics CEO and co-founder Ryan Smith at a special event to mark the fifth anniversary of its European Headquarters.



Qualtrics also announced it will be expanding its office in Dublins city centre which currently oversees the companys sales, engineering, support, services and client success operations in EMEA. Construction is now underway on a new building at Clarendon Row, and when completed in 2020 the company will occupy a total of 57,000 sq ft.



Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys said, "I am delighted that Qualtrics aim to grow their workforce in Ireland by over 350, which would bring their total headcount to over 600. This is remarkable growth since the company established in Dublin 5 years ago. Their continued expansion is a great vote of confidence in what Ireland has to offer, and it demonstrates we have the skills and talent available to enable the company to grow and further embed their operations into the future."

CEO and Co-Founder, Ryan Smith added, "We are five years in, but were just getting started and by expanding our footprint, we expect to continue to grow at a rapid pace and create more jobs in Dublin in the years ahead."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Meituan plans to debut on the Hong Kong bourse Sept. 20, sources say. Photo: VCG

Meituan-Dianping, Chinas largest group discount platform and online, on-demand services provider, plans to list on the Hong Kong bourse Sept. 20, sources close to the matter told Caixin.

The company cleared pre-listing inquiries by the exchange, the sources said.

Meituans IPO is widely expected to be another Hong Kong blockbuster, raising at least $4 billion and putting the companys value at $50 billion to $55 billion, according to the sources. Last month, Chinese smartphone-maker Xiaomi Corp. raised $4.7 billion in a Hong Kong IPO.

The IPO will deepen Meituans resources for an escalating turf war in the burgeoning online, on-demand local services market. Meituan, backed by social media giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., holds a leading position in the hotly contested online food-delivery sector, offers hotel and travel bookings, has entered the ride-hailing business, and in April acquired a major bike-sharing company.

But it faces stepped-up competition from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which Thursday announced the combination of its food-delivery platform Ele.me and its local service unit Koubei with a $3 billion injection of fresh funds.

Ele.me, Chinas second-largest online food delivery platform behind Meituan, last month announced a plan to spend 3 billion yuan in three months to launch a summer turf war. Ele.me CEO Wang Lei pledged to lift its market share to more than 50%.

Meituan will begin a global roadshow Sept. 3 for its Hong Kong IPO, the sources said. The company was valued at $30 billion in its latest funding round in October, in which it raised $4 billion from investors led by Tencent.

Although it claims 310 million active users and a 60% share of the online food delivery market, Meituan has yet to turn a profit. In its IPO prospectus filed in June, Meituan disclosed a 19 billion yuan ($2.76 billion) loss for 2017, steeper than in the previous two years. But its adjusted net loss narrowed to 2.85 billion yuan from 5.34 billion yuan in the prior year.

The company said the adjusted net loss excluded the impact of fair value changes of convertible redeemable preferred shares and other items. Revenue more than doubled to 33.9 billion yuan from 13 billion yuan in 2016.

Meituan also offers hotel and travel bookings, which contributed 32% of total revenue in 2017. But Meituans hotel business mostly involves budget bookings. Its still hard to challenge industry leader Ctrips dominance in high-end hotels.

In April, Meituan acquired leading bike-sharing company Beijing Mobike Technology Co. Ltd. for $2.7 billion. Its unclear how the acquisition will affect Meituans bottom line. Caixin has learned that Meituan will update its IPO prospectus next week to include Mobikes financial statements.

Meituans recent foray into ride-hailing could also provoke a potential price war with car-hailing leader Didi Chuxing Technology Co. Ltd., which itself recently entered the food takeout space.
* Sources say fugitive businessman Guo Wengui bribed Xiang Junbo and middlemen a total of 13 million yuan in bribes to get a company loan

* The 6 million yuan Xiang paid to settle his divorce case was supplied by Zhang Jun, the now-detained founder of insurance upstart Funde Sino Life Co. Ltd., according to sources close to the matter

(Beijing)  A fugitive business tycoon and the boss of a property-turned-insurance company have emerged as key figures in the downfall of Xiang Junbo, the former head of Chinas insurance regulator who pleaded guilty to corruption charges at his trial in June, Caixin has learned.

Although details of the allegations against Xiang and the scale of the bribes he admitted to taking have not been disclosed by the court, Caixin has learned that Guo Wengui, the billionaire businessman who fled China in 2014 as he was being investigated for graft, and Zhang Jun, the now-detained founder of insurance upstart Funde Sino Life Co. Ltd., were involved in the case.

Xiang, who was head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) for almost six years until his removal in April 2017, went on trial at the Intermediate Peoples Court in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, on June 14. He was accused of taking advantage of his previous positions as a central bank deputy governor, head of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and chairman of the CIRC to help companies and individuals get loans and project approvals in exchange for about 19.42 million yuan ($2.82 million) in bribes.

Some details of Xiangs dealings with Guo have already been revealed. Three senior employees of Beijing Pangu Investment Co., a property company controlled by Guo, were charged by Dalian prosecutors last year with obtaining a loan of 3.2 billion yuan from ABC in 2010 based on falsified company contracts, official seals and receipts.

The trio stood trial in June 2017 and testified they were told by Guo that Xiang, the then-chairman of ABC, supported the loan. Part of the loan, 600 million yuan, was laundered through underground banks to Hong Kong and funded Guos 70 million yuan purchase of a villa in Larvotto, a private estate in the territory, Caixin reported at the time.

Loan payoff

But sources have told Caixin that details of Xiangs case reveal that Guo bribed Xiang and middlemen a total of 13 million yuan to get the loan.

After the fraud was detected by the National Audit Office in 2012, Guo needed to repay the debt. To raise the money, he paid several million yuan to Wang Shaohua, at the time the chairman of China Credit Trust Co., to approve a 2.5 billion yuan loan secured against some of his properties. Wang was put under a graft probe in May 2017.

The second character, 55-year-old businessman Zhang Jun, was one of many to benefit from Xiangs tenure at the CIRC, as cash-rich private companies with no insurance experience were, for the first time, allowed to get into the insurance business.

Zhang, who first made his money in real estate, bought a small Shenzhen-based life insurance company called Sino Life Insurance Co. Ltd. in 2006 and later renamed it Funde. He directly or indirectly controlled more than 90% of the insurer, well above the 51% regulatory cap for a single investor.

Funde pursued an aggressive expansion strategy through the sale of high-yield, short-term, investment-linked insurance policies, known as universal life products. By making risky bets on listed stocks, Fundes assets surged more than fortyfold to 409 billion yuan in the decade after Zhangs takeover, according to regulatory filings, and by 2016 it was ranked as Chinas No. 3 life insurer by premium income.

Whenever Xiang visited Shenzhen, the mainland city bordering Hong Kong, Zhang was on his must-see visitor list, sources told Caixin. He was also an acquaintance of Wang Jie, a political power broker who socialized with the heads of insurance companies and their regulators. Wang was with Zhang when the latter was detained at his home in Shenzhen in February 2016, they said.

The close relationship between Zhang and Xiang manifested itself in a 6 million yuan divorce deal. After breaking up with his first wife, Yang Guang, Xiang became entangled in various romantic relationships including with a woman surnamed Sun, who became his second wife. Xiang married Sun when she became pregnant but filed for divorce after only sixth months, triggering a civil dispute between the two in a Beijing court.

The 6 million yuan Xiang paid to settle the case was supplied by Zhang, sources close to the matter told Caixin.

Xiang went on to remarry Yang, who was subsequently prosecuted in a separate bribery trial and has been named as a person of interest in her husbands case.

Rewritten by Leng Cheng (chengleng@caixin.com)
By Trend





British Airways said on Thursday it is suspending flights between London and Tehran because they are not commercially viable, Reuters reported.

The route was reinstated in the wake of a 2015 accord between western powers and Iran under which most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on the countrys nuclear programme.

Three months ago however, President Trump withdrew Washington from the deal, blasting it as flawed and reimposing sanctions to choke Irans economy and force it to renegotiate or change direction.

British Airways, which is owned by Spanish-registered IAG, said its last outbound flight from London to Tehran will be on Sept. 22 and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on Sept. 23.

We are suspending our London to Tehran service as the operation is currently not commercially viable, the airline said in a statement.
By Trend





The participation of Kazakh enterprises in the EXPO 2020 exhibition in Dubai was discussed during the trade and economic mission of Kazakhstan to the UAE, Kazinform reported referring to the press service of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan.

The mission was organized by the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan, the Consulate of Kazakhstan in Dubai, the Atameken Scientific and Production Enterprise and the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh delegation, which included 12 large commodity producers in the field of engineering, construction, light and food industries, was headed by the consul of Kazakhstan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Madiyar Menilbekov.

Over 40 oil and gas enterprises, construction companies, leasing and private transport companies and a number of retail chains participated from the UAE. Arab businessmen seemed to be interested in importing meat, honey, metal structures, equipment for the preparation of oil, gas and water and other goods manufactured in Kazakhstan.

Negotiations between the Petropavlovsk metal structures plant and EXPO-2020 representatives were held successfully. Employees of GEMOS Kazakhstan LLP, Topan LLP, Aktobe Oil Equipment Plant JSC met with representatives of the largest oil company Dragon Oil. Food industry workers from Green Shop, Sun Bee Altai, DK Premium and the National Center for Healthy Nutrition "SHARMAN" attended the largest trade networks of the UAE (Carrefour, Lulu and Union Coop).
August 24, 2018 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that she will visit Germany, Ukraine and France from August 26 to 30, 2018. The visit will be an opportunity to strengthen Canadas bilateral relationships and to address top diplomats at the annual heads of mission conferences in Berlin, Kyiv and Paris.

On August 26 and 27, Minister Freeland will be in Germany, where she will meet with Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, to discuss how Canada and Germany can work together as allies to promote prosperity and defend the international rules-based order.

On August 28, the Minister will travel to Ukraine, where she will meet with President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin. Canada continues to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as its important democratic, economic and social reforms.

On August 29 and 30, the Minister will visit France, where she will meet with Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Minister Freeland and her French counterpart, an important international ally, will discuss issues such as the environment, trade, security and gender equality.


Aldar Academies, the education arm of Abu Dhabi property developer Aldar, said its Al Yasmina Academy, one of the UAEs leading providers of private education, is celebrating another year of exceptional A-Level results.



The academys cohort of 38 A-Level students earned a 100 per cent pass rate overall, with 87 per cent achieving one or more A* to C grades. 71 per cent of students also gained one or more A* to B grades  a 3 per cent rise over 2017s results. Meanwhile, 8 per cent of students achieved all A*/A grades, with 34 per cent gaining one or more A* to A grades.



Commenting on the perfomance, Dr Tim Hughes, Al Yasmina Academy Principal, said: "We are thrilled to celebrate another year of rising A-Level results, especially against the backdrop of our outstanding rating as an overseas British School (BSO) earlier this year."



"Its been hugely satisfying to see our students exceed expectations and make outstanding progress at Al Yasmina Academy. In particular, their exceptional performance in the STEM disciplines, which are such an integral part of our future-focused curriculum. This is another results day to be proud of for our entire academy community," noted Dr Hughes.



Students excelled in a range of subjects including Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Art Textiles, and Media, and their outstanding performance has already attracted offers from some of the worlds leading universities.



I did cry when I opened my results  there was definitely a feeling of relief and overwhelming happiness, said an excited Amber Harding, the academys highest achiever with 2A* and 2A grades, who plans to study biomedicine at Maastricht University, Netherlands.



I was lucky to have teachers around me that were so willing to put in the extra hours to help, but this also took hours and hours of independent study, she stated.



This is a great feeling. I already knew my predicted grades so wasnt completely surprised, but its still so exciting to achieve at this level, remarked Zaid Jaffrey, who earned 2A* and 1A, and will now study Electrical Engineering at Imperial College London.



Organization, consistency, hard work and, of course, the support of my teachers were so important to my success. Their door was always open for me, he added.



Among the rest of the academys top performers, Callum Lynn of the UK earned 3 A grades, while Mexicos Jimena Del Valle Lopez Vallejo earned 1 A*, 1A and 1B.



This wonderful achievement not only points to continued excellence from Al Yasmina Academy, but also reinforces the fact that the UAEs education sector is continuing to mature and flourish, stated Nilay Ozral, the CEO of Aldar Academies.



"Many of this years graduating cohort will move on to the best universities in the world and eventually lead their industry, with the roots of that success having taken hold in the UAE. Todays results are an important stepping stone in doing so, and were extremely proud of all our students," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
news, latest-news

ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja says he believes Peter Dutton would help the government connect better with average Australians if he was made prime minister. Senator Seselja is backing Mr Dutton to take the top job, having voted for the former immigration minister in Tuesday's Liberal Party leadership spill, won 48-35 by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. A second spill appears likely on Friday, with Mr Turnbull pledging to call a party room meeting at 12pm if he is presented with a petition showing majority support within the party for a change of leadership. The prime minister said he would not contest a leadership ballot if that occurred, with Mr Dutton, Julie Bishop and Scott Morrison to stand in the event of a spill. Senator Seselja, who formally resigned his position as assistant minister for science, jobs and innovation on Thursday, said he would again support Mr Dutton, but refused to say Mr Turnbull was out of touch. He said he had declined Mr Turnbull's offer to stay in the ministry because he could not give the prime minister a commitment to vote for him in any future leadership contests. "I think he can connect with people in large parts of Australia," Senator Seselja said of Mr Dutton, predicting that the former Queensland police officer would attract criticism from some quarters because of a perception he was not as visionary as some past prime ministers. "I'm not going to get into a detailed critique and I'm not in the business of criticising my colleagues, but in the last few years under this government we have started to see some of the support of our traditional supporters erode. "You can't win an election without your base. It's a called a base for a reason and you build on it with other parts of the community, but you need to listen to your traditional supporters." Senator Seselja said conservative voters were increasingly deserting the Coalition, a situation brought on by the government's indecisiveness on energy policy and its Catholic and independent schools funding model, which Senator Seselja criticised last year. "What happened in the Longman byelection is one example [of the drop in support]," Senator Seselja said. He said the Coalition's prospects at the next election were "a matter for the Australian people", and while he was clear on his support for Mr Dutton as Liberal leader, he called fellow leadership contenders Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop "strong performers". Senator Seselja denied playing a part in bringing about disunity in the party ahead of Tuesday's spill, which he described as "a shock to everyone". He said while he had heard "chatter" that Mr Dutton was considering a challenge, he had not had time to talk to the former immigration minister before voting for him and offering Mr Turnbull his resignation. "There was no time," Senator Seselja said. "It was just brought on."

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news, latest-news

Police are searching for a missing six-year-old boy last seen in Weston Creek. Phoenix Mapham was last seen being driven away from Hickey Court, Weston in a white 1999 Holden Vectra sedan (registration YAU56P) at about 1.30pm on Thursday, August 23. He was with a woman known to him, believed to be his mother. Police have concerns for the boy's wellbeing and believe the car may have travelled to the NSW South Coast. ACT Policing has urged anyone who has seen Phoenix, the car, or has any information about where he may be to phone 131 444.

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"Turkey is ready to work together with Russia in Syrias Idlib province to eradicate militants in the region, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Friday.

According to Cavusoglu, it is also important to make sure that the fight against militants does not threaten the civilians in the region.

Lavrov noted that Moscow and Ankara are interested in establishing conditions for Syrian citizens secure and decent return to their motherland.

Speaking about the establishment of the Syrian constitutional committee, the Russian diplomat said reports about a disagreement between Russia and Turkey on the issue are false." AMN and RUPTLY

-----------

Pilgrims, this is great news! This means that the Sultan of all the Turks has decided to pull his horns in (Texas speak). The Russians and the SAA will kill off the jihadis in Idlib and faced with that the FSA unicorns will surrender. IMO this is happening with the concurrence of Trump whether Mattis and Votel like it or not, If the SDF participate in the Idlib offensive the path will be open to some form of confederation with Damascus, even if it is not called that. pl

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-ready-to-help-moscow-eliminate-idlib-militants-fm/
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- It's been sitting vacant for 18 years and virtually unused for decades, but if negotiations between Ocean Springs city officials, the property owner and a developer are successful, the old Allman's restaurant property near the foot of the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge may become the site of a new development.

Ocean Springs alderman Rickey Authement, who represents that area of the city, confirmed to The Mississippi Press Friday that the City is in the very early stages of negotiations regarding the property.

Recently, there has been work done to clear the property, leading to widespread speculation that something may be in the works.

If fruitful, the negotiations could result in a public-private partnership which would involve a mixed use development on the site and a public boat launch along the waterfront portion of the property, just north of the bridge.

"We're still very early in the process," Authement said. "The man who owns the property wanted the City to buy it and do something with it. Of course, we didn't have the money and didn't want to borrow money to buy it."

The property is known to many longtime residents as the "Allman's property" because of the Allman's Restaurant which was located there for many years. After the restaurant shut its doors in the 1980s, the building remained vacant until the mid-1990s, when realtor Loris Bridge acquired the property in hopes of developing a marina complex on the site.

Those plans never materialized however, and in 2004 the old restaurant building was demolished.

Authement said he does not know who the owner of the property is or the name of the developer, but has been communicating with a local realtor who is representing the owner.

"We have a meeting next week and I think we'll have more details then," he said. "What it comes down to and we can make it work with the boat launch, they'd like to make it a public-private venture.

"I think it would be good for the city. Having a boat launch there would relieve some of the problems with larger boats trying to get down into the (Ocean Springs) harbor."

Authement said the City's involvement would be in the form of acquiring a long-term lease for the waterfront portion of the property for construction of the boat launch -- something he noted former Mayor Connie Moran had tried to do during her tenure.

One possibility floated for the property -- a hotel.

"That's true. That idea has been discussed," Authement acknowledged. "But there are some concerns about it being located right next to the railroad tracks. Again, it's still in the early stages. In order for us to make some decisions, they're going to have to bring us some clear details on paper.

"We're still a ways off as far as having some solid commitments."
By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net

Seven prisoners got back their freedom on the occasion of Independence Day this year through Association for protection of Civil Rights (APCR). APCR is a civil rights group comprising advocates, social activists and para-legal social workers dedicated to using the legal system to protect and advance the civil and human rights in India.

Of the seven prisoners, six were from Lucknow District Jail and one was from Fatehpur Jail. They are: Rajkumar from Raibareli; Mohd Akram from Fatehpur; Ashok Kumar from Saraswati; Sonu from Santkabir Nagar ; Gobind from Sitapur; and Mohit and Mangal from Lucknow.

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APCR provides legal aid to undertrials from economically poor backgrounds who cannot afford a lawyer, and prisoners who even after serving the sentence are not released because they are unable to afford the penal amount. People from different religious backgrounds are provided legal assistance without any discrimination by the association.

Their economic background and their criminal background is checked thoroughly and if they are genuinely poor and are not habitual criminals their cases are taken up by APCR.

Most of the prisoners released are Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims engaged in low-income jobs such as rickshaw pulling and daily wage labourers and hence unable to hire a lawyer.

In the last six months alone, 56 prisoners have been released with help from APCR in UP which has its chapters in 17 states viz., Jharkhand, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Haryana.

The crimes range from theft to false implication in terror cases. The activists of APCR sometimes engage local lawyers and pay their fees which is anything between Rs 45, 000 to Rs 2 lakhs.

Many youth implicated in false terror cases have also been helped and were acquitted after long legal battles. The families of persons who have been killed in false encounters are also helped to register FIR and both legal and financial assistance is provided to them.

APCR also mainstreams these prisoners by rehabilitating them by providing financial assistance to start a petty business such as a small grocery store or impart some skill training as per their ability that will help them earn their livelihood. The stigma of being a criminal hampers their employment opportunities so self-employment is a method wherein they can make a living.

The real problem is lack of awareness about the basic fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of India to every Indian citizen. People, irrespective of their educational, social and religious background depend solely on lawyers to fight their legal cases. Through APCR we train para legal works so that we can reach out to more and more people whose rights are exploited said Abu Bakar, advocate in Supreme Court and national coordinator of APCR.

At the time of releasing the prisoners Jail Superintendent Mr P. N. Pandy, Jailer Mr C. P. Tripathi, Jailer R.K.Mishra, Deputy Jailer Virendra Kumar Varma, Adv Najmussaquib Khan Secretary APCR (upeast) Md Sabir Khan president JIH lko, Shane ilahi Co-ordinator lko, were present.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Master of Business Administration (MBA) has always attracted students who wanted to pursue higher education and bag the most prestigious jobs. While opting for a management course, the two things playing a significant role which decides how the a student's professional career will be. The first one is the institution and the second is the specialization in MBA.

Apart from the core course, MBA specializations are equally important as it can fetch more jobs. Many students often confuse which MBA specialization is the best. Almost all the specializations are individually best in their areas, however, aspirants have to choose the field of study based on the market demand. There are many MBA specializations offered by various management institutes across the world.

Below are the most common MBA specializations which will open the doors for a better career prospect. To know why these MBA specializations are good, join the discussion!

Is Pursuing An MBA After Engineering A Good Option?

MBA In Marketing

The marketing department is the most important one which brings profit to the company. For this reason, many corporate companies recruit employees who possess excellent marketing skills and can bring profit to the company by promoting their products or services.

Aspirants who opt for this specialization in MBA will get insights into various skills required to keep the company's profits on top. They will also learn about the concepts such as consumer behaviour, customer analysis, brand management, advertising, market research digital marketing and e-commerce.

MBA In HR (Human Resources)

The HR specialization in MBA helps you to understand how to manage the workforce in the organisation without disturbing the day to day administration. Students who opt for this specialization in MBA will hone their skills in managing the employees and sorting out the work-related issues.

This specialization even covers the areas such as selection, recruitment, assessments and training. The candidates will be trained on how to form a relationship between management and employees.

MBA In Finance

This specialization is known for offering high pay structure after the course completion. The specialization will help students learn about the financial theories and functioning of the financial world which will help them solve the everyday business problems.

Aspirants who take up this specialization will know about subjects related to taxation and tax planning, corporate valuation, management control system, insurance management, international finance, investment management and management of financial services.

MBA In Finance: Explore The Best Career Options After Pursuing

MBA In IT (Information Technology)

This specialization is also called Management Information Systems (MIS). It has emerged as the most successful specialization because of the IT background. It opens up various positions in the service sector that includes e-commerce.

Budding engineers who are planning to pursue MBA will have an edge over the others with this specialization because of its detailed technical knowledge. One can hone their skills in the areas such as network security, supply chain management and project management besides business processes.

MBA In Operations Management

This is one amongst the unique specializations that deals with the production management. It will provide all the insights related to manufacturing or services. Students who opt for this specialization will learn about the solution to the issues that halt the daily operations of the company.

While opting for an MBA specialization, make sure if you are passionate or not based on your personality and skills. Apart from the above MBA specializations, a wide range of specializations are offered by business schools across the world. However, the above remains as the most popular and top preferred.

Want To Pursue MBA? Tour The Best Entrance Examinations In India
Chhattisgarh Police Department has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for various posts. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here.

The selection process will be through a fitness test, a written test and an interview. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 35400 per month. The last date to apply for the government jobs is Sep 16, 2018.

Police Jobs 2018 At Puducherry For 431 Constables

Chhattisgarh Police Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Subedar, Sub-Inspector and Platoon Commander Organisation Chhattisgarh Police Educational Qualification Graduate degree in relevant field from a recognised university Experience Freshers can apply Skills Required Physical fitness Job Location Chhattisgarh Salary Scale INR 35400 per month Industry Police Application Start Date August 24, 2018 Application End Date September 16, 2018

Application Fee INR 400 Departments For SubInspector Special branch, finger print, document under question, computer and telecommunication Age Limit 18 to 28 years Selection Process Written test, physical fitness test and interview Official Website http://www.cgpolice.gov.in/

Also Read: Serve Jharkhand Police, 530 Group D Vacancies Open

How To Apply For Chhattisgarh Police Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for Chhattisgarh Police Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the Chhattisgarh Police official website.

Step 2: Click on the Recruitment tab on the home page.

Step 3: The list of notifications will be displayed on the screen.

Step 4: Against SUB INSPECTOR RECRUITMENT 2018 Recruitments, click on the application link that will soon be available.

Step 5: The application form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 6: Submit your details and complete the application process.

Follow the link - http://www.cgpolice.gov.in/public/uploads/1535023962.pdf to read the detailed official notification.
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has released the class 12 supplementary exam results. Candidates who have appeared for the exam can check their results on the official website of the board. MSBSHSE conducted the re-exam for class 10 students between July 17 and August 2. For class 12, the exams took place between July 17 and August 4.

According to the sources, candidates who have passed the class 10/ class 12 re-exam can seek admission to the professional courses before August 31. This is a repercussion to the order of the supreme court that the admission process should be completed before August 15. The state government had sought permission from the apex court to extend the deadline for the admissions to professional courses.

How To Check Maharashtra Board Result 2018

Visit the official website of Maharashtra Examination Results - www.mahresult.nic.in

Click on the relevant link.

Choose your stream.

Enter all the mandatory fields.

Click the submit to view the results.

Take a printout of the results for future use.

Click here to check your results.

This year, over 18,000 students from the science stream appeared for their supplementary examinations. As stated above, students who have passed with flying colours can seek an admission to the professional courses until August 31.

What To Do After Class 12? Top 10 Government Jobs One Can Take Up
Oil India Limited has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Retainer Doctor. 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 60000 per month. The selection process is through a walk-in interview that will be held on Sep 4, 2018.

Save Lives Through SAIL Recruitment For Doctors

OIL Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Retainer Doctor Organisation Oil India Limited Educational Qualification MBBS from a recognised university Experience One year internship minimum Skills Required Clinical judgement Job Location Assam Salary Scale INR 60000 per month Industry Medicine Application Start Date August 23, 2018 Application End Date September 4, 2018

Walk-in Interview Date Sep 4, 2018 Age Limit As per OIL India rules

Also Read: Quench Your Passion For Chemistry As A Lab Assistant For Telangana Dairy Development

How To Apply For OIL Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for OIL Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the Oil India Limited official website.

Step 2: Select Current Openings from Career on the home page.

Step 3: The list of notifications will be displayed on the screen. Click on the link to view the advertisement against Engagement of Retainer Doctors on contract.

Step 4: The detailed advertisement will open on a new page. Read the details carefully.

Step 5: Scroll down to find the application form. Save it to your computer and take a printout of it for future reference.

Step 6: Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 7: Send the applications to OIL India Limited.

OIL Recruitment 2018 Application Format And Mailing Address

Superscribe on the envelope, "Application for the post of Retainer Doctor" and send it to:

Oil Lecturer Hall, Assam Medical College & Hospital Barbari, Dibrugarh, Assam, PIN - 786 002.

Follow the link - http://www.oil-india.com/Document/Career/Advertisement_for_engagement_for_Retainer_Doctors_contract.pdf to read the detailed official notification.


Hyundai had revealed its plans to launch eight new products by 2020, of which five will be for the premium segment - Elantra, Kona, Santa Fe and two electric vehicles. Reports have emerged that claim the company is planning on setting up premium outlets in the country. The report further claims that the outlets will be based on the Maruti Suzuki s premium NEXA outlet concept.

The Hyundais premium outlet will offer vehicles above the Kona and it is believed that Hyundai has recruited a team of Area Managers who will currently manage vehicle range from the Creta and above. The report further adds that the dealers are being trained to attend premium customers. More details for the same will be known in the days to come.

Hyundais partner group Kia Motors has also been planning on marking its debut in India. However, the companies have maintained that they will have separate product strategies for the Indian market.

Source

Hyundai
Photo: The Canadian Press Debris is shown following a house explosion in Kitchener, Ont., on Wednesday.

A woman whose body was found after a house explosion in southwestern Ontario died as a result of a homicide, police said Thursday.

Waterloo regional police said 58-year-old Edresilda Haan was found dead in the backyard of a Kitchener, Ont., home after a blast that destroyed the residence and damaged nearby homes on Wednesday morning.

Insp. Mike Haffner said the coroner's office determined that Haan's death was a result of a homicide. He said the cause and time of her death have not yet been determined.

"We can't provide any further information as the investigation is in its infancy and is continuing, however we are confident that her death is a result of a homicide," said Haffner.

Haffner also said that the man that was seriously injured in the explosion is 58 years old and lived at the residence. He said police would not be identifying the man at this time, but that he remains in hospital with serious injuries.

Haan's brother, Al Pinheiro, identified the man as her husband Udo Haan. Haffner said police have not yet spoken to him because they are waiting for him to be released from hospital.

"We are looking forward to speaking with that individual, but at this point he is not a suspect," Haffner said.

Haffner didn't say whether police had a suspect and said he wouldn't be providing any further details.

Neighbours said the couple had lived in the home with their two dogs, one of which was found dead after the blast. The other dog was handed over to a local humane society.

Pinheiro said his sister was a loving mother, sister, daughter and wife, noting that she and her husband had two adult children.

"Edra was a very giving, very unselfish person," Pinheiro said in a statement. "As a sister, she was somebody I looked up to. Someone who put her family ahead of herself."

Wednesday's explosion started a fire and levelled the home on a quiet residential street. Parts of the roof were blown to the ground and charred wood and other debris was scattered in the area.

Haffner said he is asking anyone with information to contact police.

Deputy Fire Chief Rob Martin said on Thursday that the investigation into what caused the blast  which also prompted the evacuation of 16 nearby homes  was ongoing.
Photo: IHIT

UPDATE: 9:55 a.m.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says police found the dead body of a caucasian woman in her late twenties about 7:45 p.m. after a report of a suspicious occurrence north of Boston Bar.

IHIT says it was evident the woman was the victim of homicide.

A white 1994 Chevrolet Astro van was seized near the crime scene and is believed to be associated to the homicide. Investigators would like to speak with anyone that has information about the vehicle.

The priority for our detectives will be to positively identify the female victim and notify her family of her death, says Cpl. Frank Jang of IHIT.

A man arrested at the scene has since been released from police custody.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448), email [email protected] or call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

ORIGINAL: 9:30 a.m.

One person has been arrested and homicide detectives are investigating after a body was found along the Trans-Canada Highway near Boston Bar, in the Fraser Canyon.

RCMP say the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and officers from the Hope and Chilliwack detachments were called Wednesday about a suspicious occurrence 12 kilometres north of Boston Bar.

The unnamed victim was found near Highway 1 and police say one person was arrested at the scene.

Cpl. Mike Rail says in a news release that the death is not believed to have been a random act.
He is suffers from insomnia Or sleep a little? Sleep deprivation is definitely the enemy of a healthy routine, especially...
By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net

Hajida and her mother Zareena were walking back home through the market, engaged in a light conversation when Subhan flung two buckets full of acid on them.

Her mother Zareena instinctively shielded her daughter and took the major brunt of the attack. Subhan fled from the scene leaving both the mother and daughter writhing in immense pain as the acid quickly burnt the skin and the tissues exposing the burnt flesh.

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Passersby took them to the Government Hospital in Machilipatnam, a town located about 70 km from Vijayawada. Both were critical having suffered major burns all over the body.

The police arrested Subhan whom not just Hajida and her mother but also others had seen. However, Subhan who in the process had burnt his hand was out after a few days.

Hajida, 23, lived with her parents, a sister and a brother. Belonging to a very poor family she had not even completed primary school. She and her older sister Asma were both engaged in covering beads in gold foil for a local businessman dealing in artificial jewellery. They were paid Rs.1,000/- each per week. Both of them ran through the house with their brother chipping in.

Subhan was their immediate neighbour and though married with kids of his own he had been harassing Hajida. And he never lost an opportunity to propose her. He tried the angle of a sad husband telling Hajida that his wife is very ill and will not live beyond a year. So he wanted Hajida to marry him.

Hajida, however, was not interested and refused each time. He kept pestering not just Hajida but also her family to agree to his proposal. When they refused, his frustration mounted he decided to seek revenge.

It was the month of March 2014 when he flung acid on Hajida in an attempt to kill her. But instead, he killed Zareena who succumbed after a month and disfigured Hajida.

Hajida had lost all will to live after suffering severe agony due to the burns. Her whole body and face were burnt except for her legs. She also lost 60% of her eyesight. And it was Asma her older sister who stood by her like a rock. Asma nursed both her mother and Hajda on two different beds in the same hospital.

But the treatment was not getting anywhere at the District hospital in Vijayawada, as it was not equipped with the kind of medicines needed to treat acid attack survivors.

After the death of their mother, Asma decided to take her sister to Hyderabad for treatment. And it was in Hyderabad that a group of women activists contacted them and offered both moral and financial support. They even helped in accommodating them during their stay in Hyderabad for treatment in Apollo Hospital.

Hajida underwent many reconstructive surgeries in the last four years that helped her regain her vision and move her wrists. Now she is able to do some work at home.

Recalling the ordeal Asma and Hajida went through, Asma said,  The neighbours used to fight with us frequently asking us to vacate the house because their children were scared of Hajida.

It hurt Hajida hearing all these cruel references to her because she did not go outside and did not even peep out the window or the door. Still, the neighbours accused her of scaring their children. After a year, Asma could no longer fight the neighbours anymore as she was already burdened with nursing her younger sister, working to feed the family, grieving the death of her mother and comforting and giving strength to Hajida. Added to this were Subhans threats to withdraw the complaint. So they relocated to Chilkalpally, lcoated on the outskirts of the town.

And each time Hajida heard Subhans voice she trembled with fear. Asma approached the police who assured them that soon the case would be concluded and Subhan would be in Jail. But it took four long years for the sentence from the lower court in Machilipatnam to arrive. Finally, on July 30, 2018, Subhan was convicted and sentenced to a life term.

However, even after shifting to a different locality, Subhan visited a couple of times to threaten the sisters.

Were it not for Asma, Hajida would have succumbed to her injuries that had eaten away her flesh and her zest for life. Asma gave her sister all the comfort Hajida needed. And Hajida slowly built her confidence and her will to live bit by bit.

Hajida grew from strength to strength also because of the support she got from the women activists who treated her like their younger sister. The bond of sisterhood helped both Asma and Hajida steer through the toughest of the times.

The court case was also going nowhere and Hajida though outwardly seemed calm and determined to punish Subhan was hurting all the time both from inside and outside. The healing process was as slow as the days that passed.

But Hajida requested for a change in the public prosecutor on the advice of her well-wishers. And luckily the court changed the public prosecutor after which the case seemed to be moving ahead. She received a compensation of Rs. 50000 twice in the last 4 years which was all spent on her medicines.

The government also allotted her a small plot of land and a loan to construct the house. The loan will be sanctioned if she can contribute her side of the amount for the loan.

Hajida has to use eye drops 3-4 times in a day regularly to be able to see properly. However, she still cannot see the smaller, finer things as her vision is not fully restored.

Travelling to Hyderabad which is roughly 340 kilometres was another cumbersome task the sisters had to put up with. And finding accommodation each time was also difficult. There seemed to be no option for them until Dr Lakshmi Saleem, the seniormost and reputed plastic surgeon examined Hajida and kindly agreed to conduct all her future surgeries free of cost at St. Anns Hospital, Vijayawada which is 67 kilometres from Machilipatnam.

Hajida finished her last surgery on 13th August in Vijayawada.

Again the women activist have come to her rescue and raised funds for this surgery. She still needs another 5- 6 surgeries on her face including reconstructing eyelids and nose.

Asma, her sister is the only breadwinner in the family while their father gets a pension off Rs.1,000 under the old age pension scheme.

Efforts are on to raise more funds for Hajida as she needs money not just for surgeries but also to construct a small house on the land allotted to her by the government.

With Subhan behind the bars, the sisters are feeling safe to move around and live their life in some peace.

Asks Hajida, who is still unable to forget the nightmare  If I dont like a guy and am not interested to marry him, cant I say No to him?

It may take time for Hajida to look normal again till then she has to keep fighting. Her first priority after her surgeries is to build her own house so no one will ask them to vacate again.

PS: People who wish to help Hajida rebuild her life can do so by contributing to the following account:

Account number: 027210100091504

Bank: ANDHRA BANK

IFSC code : ANDB0000272

Name: SHAIK ASMA

Branch: Javvarapeta, Machilipatnam
Bangladesh forsees 11.2% growth in exports FY18/19

24 August 2018

Bangladesh government has set an export target of US$14m for cement industry for the financial year 2018-19 (June-July) against US$12.59m from last fiscal year. The target is based on an expected growth of 11.20 per cent.



According to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh's cement industry earned export revenues of US$1.09 during July 2018 compared to US$1.04m earned in the year-ago corresponding month. This equates to a 4.81 per cent increase in exports YoY. The export figure also includes a minor amount of salt, stone and related products.



Presently cement is reportedly being exported to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.





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New Vietnamese project receives support

24 August 2018

Vietnam's Ministry of Construction has agreed with Cong Thanh Group's proposal to invest in a second grinding unit in Thanh Hoa province.



According to the government's plan for the country's cement industry in 2011-20 with a vision to 2030, new cement projects must be developed alongside the same clinker capacity. The company commissioned a 11,000tpd (3.6Mta) kiln and 1.5Mta grinding station in 2015. Therefore, an additional 2Mta grinding unit is in line with the government's plans, according to the ministry.

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Claude Lorea appointed Cement Director for GCCA

24 August 2018

Claude Lorea has been appointed Cement Director of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA). The London office-based role will be taken up by Ms Lorea in November when she arrives from the European cement industry body, CEMBUREAU.

Ms Lorea will report to GCCA Chief Executive, Benjamin Sporton and will be a member of the executive team. The role will entail leadership in all aspects of the GCCA's work including sustainability as a key priority to oversea the smooth transition of activities of the Cement Sustainability Initiative to the GCCA.

Claude Lorea's experience includes leading the development of the European Cement Industry Low Carbon Economy Roadmap. Her first experience of the cement industry was as an environmental engineer with Cimenteries CBR in Belgium before moving to CEMBUREAU as technical director and subsequently deupty chief executive.

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2 Pueblo D60 school board spots up for grabs

A survey was sent to Pueblo D60 candidates running for two seats in the 2021 Pueblo election.
Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
The worlds most committed Christians reside mostly in Africa, Latin America and the United States  the latter being an outlier among wealthy nations, according to a new Pew Research Center report.

Pew examined 84 countries with large Christian populations and asked self-identified Christians a series of questions to gauge their commitment to their faith. In 35 of those countries, at least two-thirds of all Christians say religion is very important in their lives, Pew reported Aug. 22. Among those 35, all but three countries reside in Africa or Latin America. The three exceptions are the United States, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The data reflects the broader pattern of Christianitys march southward from wealthy countries to developing ones, the Pew report said.

The U.S., though, is an outlier among wealthy countries in its commitment among self-identified Christians, with 68 percent saying religion is very important in their lives. Among European countries, its:

Greece, 58 percent.

Spain, 30 percent.

Italy, 23 percent.

France, 12 percent.

Germany, 12 percent.

United Kingdom, 11 percent.

Ethiopia has the worlds most committed Christians, according to Pew, with 98 percent saying their faith is very important. In the Philippines, its 91 percent.

According to Pew, Africa, Latin America and the U.S. also lead the worlds Christians in daily prayer. In weekly worship attendance, though, the U.S. and most Latin American countries trail Africa. Pew also found, forty-seven percent of American Christians say they attend church at least weekly. In every African country surveyed, that percentage topped 60 percent.

Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com .

Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Kelsey Knight
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Lithuania Thursday for a visit with leaders of the Baltic States. He hopes to deepen ties with the three nations so that they might become an advocate for Israel in the European Union.

In prepared remarks, Netanyahu criticized the EU over a recent support package designed to buttress Irans struggling economy. The first installment in the deal will inject 18 million euros ($21 million) into Irans economy. The EUs economic commitment is designed to keep the Iranian nuclear deal, from which President Trump withdrew in May, from falling apart.

Netanyahu called the economic package a big mistake and a poison pill to the Iranian people and to the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and beyond the region. He later told a press conference that Iran had just attempted a terrorist attack on European soil over the summer, likely referring to a suspected bomb plot in late June. Authorities prevented the attack, which targeted an Iranian opposition rally in France. Officials suspected that an Iranian diplomat cooperated in coordinating the plot.

Netanyahu met with the three Baltic prime ministers Saulius Skvernelis of Lithuania, Juri Ratas of Estonia, and Maris Kucinskis of Latvia. He forged a seemingly strong bond with Skvernelis, who told the Baltic News Service, I believe Lithuania really has a better understand of Israel and that understand could be spread among other EU countries.

He continued, But we have to admit that today Israel is not only waging war and defending its independence, the lives of its people, but is also fighting in a wider context, if we speak about terrorism and potential expansion of IS fighters to Europe.

He also told AFP that while he supports the EU position on a two-state solution, the status of Jerusalem, and the nuclear deal with Iran, Lithuania will initiate discussion in EU home affairs council with the Israeli public security minister over terrorism threats and other security issues. He said the EU and Israel need more direct dialogue.

The Times of Israel said that many Israelis traced their origins to Lithuania. Lithuanian Jews suffered many atrocities during World War II, as Nazis and their local allies killed over 90 percent of their population. Netanyahus grandmother was born in the northern Lithuanian town of Seduva.

Prime Minister Netanyahu plans to meet with members of Lithuanias Jewish community. He will also visit a memorial to Holocaust victims.

Netanyahus visit, the first from an Israeli Prime Minister to Lithuania, will last four days.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Sean Gallup/Staff
Our bodies are extraordinary creations, reflecting Gods intricate handiwork. We consist of diverse parts with different, yet collaborative, functions. For instance, a nose does not look or function like a bicep, and neither of these parts resembles a spleen. How are all of a bodys members integrated? You might say that theyre engaged in constant conversation.

The emerging sciences of proteomics and genomics explore how the proteins and genes in our bodies interact conversationally to give form and health to our body. Our nervous system, it turns out, is a conversational medium, an internet of sorts, that transmits messages not only from our brain to our various members, but also from these various members back to the brain in the form of sensations like pain, pleasure, and fatigue.

Building upon Jesus desire (John 17) that all his followers be united, as he is united with God the Father, it is not surprising that the apostle Paul uses the image of the human body to describe the life of the church. This familiar Pauline image reflects not only how we are to share life together in Christ but also how the divine persons of the Trinity share life together as one. Our bodies, both personal and social, are, of course, created in Gods image, designed to be a unity of diverse members that are bound together as one through the attentive presence and conversation of their members.

Recovering the practice of conversation is one of the most pressing challenges for Christians in the 21st century. Despite the conversational nature of our bodies and our calling to live conversationally with our brothers and sisters in Christs body, a long and complicated history of modern socioeconomic and technological forces has crippled our capacity for talking with othersespecially with those whose backgrounds and convictions differ from our own. Fortunately, this struggle has slowly been rising in the churchs consciousness, and today we are seeing a wave of books on themes related to conversation. Among the titles in this emerging wave are Redeeming How We Talk: Discover How Communication Fuels Our Growth, Shapes Our Relationships, and Changes Our Livesby A. J. Swoboda and Ken Wytsma, and The Lost Discipline of Conversation: Surprising Lessons in Spiritual Formation Drawn from the English Puritansby Joanne Jung.

The Power of Words

Redeeming How We Talk is structured in two parts: The first is a historical account of why conversation is so difficult in the 21st century, and the latter part is a theological exploration of the significance of words. Swoboda and Wytsma begin their history all the way back at the beginning of creation, with the divine Word that spoke creation into being. Speech, they observe, is always powerfulwhether it builds up, distorts, or tears down. Everything in the world is a result of words. It began with a series of words.

The original care and creative power of words stands in sharp contrast to the ways that words have come to be used in our late-modern era. Specifically, the authors focus on propaganda and the technological threats to careful language introduced in the last half-century. The books first part concludes with a chapter on the nature of difficult conversations, which the authors take as essential to following in the way of Jesus, one of the forgotten arts of Christian living. They challenge us to immerse ourselves in these conversations, rather than fearfully steering clear. Although the history of our present struggle with civil conversation is, I believe, longer and more complicated than what Swoboda and Wytsma depict, their account is a helpful introduction, and framing it within the scriptural arc of Gods creative and redemptive work highlights why our use of words and our conversational practices matter.

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In the second half of the book, the authors turn from history to theology, describing what it might look like for us to speak sacred words with care and wisdom. Fittingly, they begin with an exploration of the ways in which Jesus spoke. Jesus not only spoke truth, they observe, but did so in a way that resonated with those who heard him and sparked their curiosity. He also spent lots of time in conversation with his religious and political enemies. Above all, Jesus embodied a life lived in prayer, in conversation with God. The authors write:

To learn how to talk to others the way that Jesus did, we must learn to talk to God the way Jesus did. Jesus prayed. Jesus spent time with the Father. Jesus knew who He was before God.  There is a posture of the heart that allows for real conversational connection. If we cannot practice it by ourselves, and in the presence of God, then we wont be able to practice it in the stress and conflict of our social relationships.

The remaining chapters of the book offer guidance on practicing Christlike conversations: how to speak and listen to one another in godly ways, how to seek the unity of the church rather than division, and how to speak winsomely. But while the authors excel in explaining why the practice of conversation has gone into decline, their discussion of how to revive it seems a bit thin at times. They could have done more to describe specific structures and practices that might help us learn to speak (and listen) in the wise, loving, careful way of Jesus.

Puritan Practices

Joanne Jungs The Lost Discipline of Conversation serves as a superb complement to Redeeming How We Talk, as it focuses on the practical question of how we learn to talk together in an age largely devoid of healthy conversation. Specifically, Jung turns our attention toward our Puritan ancestors and their conversational practice known as conference. She writes:

[The] Puritans understood that God was intimately aware of their conversations and regarded their words with deep interest. So they took conversations, especially spiritual ones, seriously.  What would it be like if we knew God cared that much about our conversations and if we took conference seriously?

Jung devotes her introduction and first chapter to exploring the difficulties we have in sustaining conversation with others. She draws connections between our inability to converse and the deep social fragmentation and isolation that we feel in the 21st century. She identifies the pervasive individualism that has permeated our culture as one of the most powerful forces inhibiting both our ability to converse and our communion with God and humankind. Human beings are created with the longing for belonging found in community, she writes.

We were made to experience life with God and with others. Living is best done in community, so to be spiritually influenced is to be spiritually influencing. We long further to live consistently, engaging with others who are like-hearted, together cultivating our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with others.

The remaining chapters in the books first part describe the historical practice of conference among the Puritans. Jung succinctly defines the twofold purpose of conference: combining biblical interpretation and care for souls together in conversations, which bore the fruit of furthering ones understanding of Scripture and its application toward growth of godliness in community. In these early chapters, she draws upon the writings of many Puritan leaders and makes connections to other Puritan, spiritual practices, including Bible reading and preaching. Amidst our present consumer culturetoo often guided by the whats in it for me? mentalityI was particularly struck by Jungs depiction of the Puritans preparation for conference. At their best, the Puritans were more concerned not with what they would take from conference, but how they would be prepared to give themselves fully to the practice, allowing more discerning and insightful questions to be asked, and responses to be given.

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The next part of Jungs book is devoted to imagining, in very specific practical terms, how Christians might undertake the practice of conference today. Each chapter in this part of the book examines particular contexts in which conference might be practicedin a small group, in a family, in a marriage, between the pastor and laity of a local church, pastor-to-pastor, and in giving spiritual counsel across distances. Some of her recommendations wont pertain to all Christians, but many will undoubtedly stir readers imaginations with ideas of the sorts of questions that might be fruitfully explored in conference.

In the books final part, Conferencing Through Gods Word, Jung again provides specific practical guidance on how groups can use the practice of conference to read and interpret Scripture together. She selects seven New Testament passages, most of which are drawn from the Gospels, and provides some resources for discussing these passages.

The Lost Discipline of Conversation is not only an immensely practical guide to how Christians might begin to have faithful conversations in the 21st century. It also is a rich example of learning from the faithful witnesses who have gone before us to encourage and energize us in the face of the particular challenges of our day. Jung deftly draws upon the historical works of the Puritans but does so with the clear aim of building up Gods people today. She may, however, occasionally lean a little too heavily upon the work of the Puritans, particularly in her (mostly) uncritical use of the Puritan concept of the soul. Some scholars have maintained that Puritan theologyand particularly their concept of the individual soulprofoundly shaped the sort of rugged American individualism that Jung decries at the books outset. How we imagine and talk about the very core of our existenceare we discrete human souls or interdependent members of Gods creation inextricably woven together like the parts of our human body?will deeply influence the ways we live and have conversations together.

Although this minor qualm highlights the challenges of interpreting history (we inherit not only the gifts of our ancestors, but also their baggage), let it not deter you from carefully reading Jungs book, and hopefully beginning to put its immensely helpful ideas into practice with your sisters and brothers in Christ.

Both of these books merit our attention, and taken together they offer a vibrant account of both why and how we need to take the practice of conversation more seriously as Christians in the 21st century. The authors of both books agree that conversation is a means of Gods transforming grace, and the more we put their recommendations into practice, the more well enjoy deeper intimacy with God, with our fellow Christians, and with our neighbors.

C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor ofThe Englewood Review of Books, co-author of Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus, and author of the forthcoming How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church(Brazos Press), which releases in April 2019.
In 2020, we were the church on our heels. A global pandemic shut down much of our world. But the church has been on the move since it was birthed; it will continue to be on the move until God makes all things new.
The holiest of Islams two yearly holidays is Eid al-Adha; in Arabic, the feast of the sacrifice. This week, on August 21, Muslims worldwide slaughtered sheep, remembering how God saved Abraham from sacrificing his son Ishmael.

Wait, Ishmael? Not Isaac?

Though the Quran doesnt name the son, Muslims believe it was the ancestor of the Arabs that God used to test Abrahams faith. Should Christians understand this as a theological error? Or an outright lie?

The identification matters, because Isaac is a prefiguration of Jesus, whose sacrifice saved man from his sins. Religions often have differing traditions; and for Christians, Muhammads conscience in founding Islam is unknown. But some Christians today are comfortable delving into the conscience of everyday, ordinary Muslims, finding deception at every turn.

The idea is called taqiyya: that Muslims are permitted by their faith to lie if it will advance the cause of their religion.

Tharwat Wahba, professor of mission at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, cited a tradition of Muhammad that allows Muslims three exceptions to lie for a greater cause: War, reconciliation, and to keep a wife happy.

Might some Muslims extrapolate two of these for their experience in the West? Does the first exception imply there is a secret jihad? In the second exception, a religion of peace?

Accept kindness and friendship, but be alert and awake, Wahba said. Dont be naive. Some have agendas.

So what if a Muslim invites you to a celebration? The lamb might be tasty, but should Christians be wary?

Statistics show they already are.

The 2018 American Muslim Poll from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) found only 36 percent of white evangelicals believe Muslims are committed to the well-being of America.

And according to the Pew Research Center, 50 percent of self-identified white evangelicals believe there is a great deal or fair amount of support for extremism among Muslims living in America. This is often connected to a fear of Shariah law.

Yet according to the 2017l ISPU poll, only 10 percent said Shariah should play a legal role in their community.

Are the rest lying? Or are evangelicals predisposed to assume they are?

Taqiyya is an Arabic word that has come to mean dissimulation, said Martin Accad, chief academic officer of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon and associate professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. It is a contested allowance in Islam to conceal your true faith if under personal duress.

But in much anti-Muslim discourse, taqiyya has been redefined into a religious obligation for Muslims to lie to non-Muslims not simply for survival, Accad said, but to serve the expansionist agenda of their religious community.

Without knowing the term, the concept is creeping into Christian consciousness. (For example, Ben Carson brought it up during his presidential campaign.) And Accad wants to nip it in the bud.

My intention is to guard us against bearing false witness, he wrote for Ramadan last year. Would it not represent taqiyya on our part to use a Muslim belief against Islam, by promoting a partial understanding of it?

Like the name of Abrahams son, taqiyya is not mentioned in the Quran. But an anti-Muslim website draws attention to several references which seem to imply a license to lie.

The central story in Islamic tradition involves a family converted to Islam by Muhammad. Persecuted, the mother and father refused to give up their faith and were killed.

Their son wavered, maligned the prophet, and praised the pagan gods. Returning later to Muhammad, he received comfort, asked only about what was in his heart.

But a far more prominent theme in the Quran, Accad said, is hypocrisy. Considered a grave sin among Muslims, it is almost always followed with promises of hellfire. An expanded taqiyya definition does not mesh well.

Shia Muslims adhere to taqiyya more than Sunni Muslims, but the reason is historical, he said. They have been persecuted more often by their Sunni rulers.

Amr Salah, a lecturer at the prestigious al-Azhar University in Cairo, hardly heard of taqiyya growing up, save in slander against Shia Muslims. But he was disturbed to hear how some American Christians were being informed.

The discourse of taqiyya reminds me of how Nazi Germany spoke of the Jews, he said. If you say people are not trustworthy, it is dangerous.

Muslims are taught not to look into the hearts of others to judge their motivations. And they are called to be a witness among the people. (Sumaya, the mother in the above story, was the first martyr in Islam.)

As humans, we want to survive, Salah said, noting the story of Peters denial at the cross. The religious ideal is to not deny your faith. But the human response is to have mercy.

There is a parallel in Christianitys Novatian and Donatist heresies in the third and fourth centuries, over believers who denied Christ under persecution. Islamic terrorism has revived the issue.

One day last year, Salah sat down to watch the news with his Muslim colleague. Thirty Christians had just been ambushed on the way to a church retreat at a local monastery in Upper Egypt.

One mother had lost her whole family. Spared herself, she had looked into the eyes of the attackers and told the reporter they were just kids. In sympathy, she forgave them.

Unlike many, Salahs colleague was not impressed.

Its all propaganda, Salah recalled him saying. Dont believe her.

Fuming, the colleague scoured the internet until he found a video of a Coptic bishop cursing and slapping his parishioner in the face.

This is the forgiveness she is speaking about, he said. Better start spreading it inside their churches, and teach that bishop about it.

Salah was not pleased. He explained there are some who do not trust any friendly gesture Christians make toward Muslims.

If you search for something, you will always find it. But you are giving yourself an excuse to hate others, he said.

It is ironic, but understandable. They dont trust others because they dont have pure intentions themselves.

But beyond extremists, certainly some Muslims have an agenda. How can the American Christian discern? And should some Christians examine themselves?

The Bible calls us to love our neighbors and our enemies. It is impossible to know someones intentions with certainty, and anyone is capable of having negative intentions, said Salim Munayer, executive director of the Jerusalem-based Musalaha reconciliation ministry.

People should be held accountable for their actions, but this is not something that the church should be preoccupied with. It is a job for the state.

And in America, the state is keen to stop crime.

Quite frankly, I have not seen that taqiyya is in any way related to this issue, Accad said. Needless controversy has been provoked by anti-Muslim groups towards mainstream organizations which do not hide their desire to spread Islam.

Specifically mentioning the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, Accad said they view this as what God expects of them.

This is not unlike evangelical sentiments, which do not hide their desire for the entire world to come to faith in Christ, he said. And in some circles, they aim also for greater impact in the political and public sphere.

We may dislike when Muslims do it, said Accad. But that does not make it illegitimate.

Legitimacy comes from the non-forceful spread of religion, including the non-persecution of those who choose a different faith.

Religion does not have a good record on this point historically, Accad said, including mainstream interpretations of Islamic law that still do not allow for full freedom of religion.

Munayer agreed with Accads perspective on taqiyya, and described positive interfaith initiatives in the Holy Land. But he had a message to share from one minority to another.

We should encourage Muslims in America to speak up for religious freedom for Christians in the Middle East, where Christians are a minority, he said.

Wahba said that those who have militant purposes can usually be easily identified. And he counseled that one should be well-trained before engaging in theological dialogue, in case the agenda is to beautify Islam and draw people in.

But rather than assuming deception, there is also a cultural factor at play, he said. While Western societies value truth-telling, Eastern societies prioritize honor and saving face. Note again the third reason Muslims are permitted to lie (happy wife, happy life).

Rather than trying to judge whether or not a Muslim is practicing taqiyya, Wahba recommended 1 Corinthians 13.

Love believes all things, he said. If you fear a Muslim is not honest, it will build walls. But love will go to him and build bridges, and be a means of witness to the gospel.

Practically speaking, do not be afraid to join Muslims if invited to holiday celebrations, whether the recent Eid or Ramadans iftar fast-breaking. Trust God is at work no matter their heart, said Wahba.

Love is stronger than lying. It is not about them, it is about me.

Editors note: The headline and deck of this article have been changed for greater clarity.
Michelle Atwell was a brand-new Christian when she attended InterVarsity Christian Fellowships global missions conference Urbana and dedicated her life to fulfilling the Great Commission. I didnt know how the Lord would use that in my life, Atwell said. But I made a commitment that I would do whatever he would ask me to do to bring glory to his name among the nations.

Last year, Atwell became the first female US director of SEND International, a ministry that equips Christians for cross-cultural ministry. As part of her job, she travels around the world and works with SENDs missionaries, SENDs ministry team, and regional leaders.

Atwell recently spoke with Christianity Today about the role Russia played in sparking her love for evangelism, why theres a disparity between the number of women serving as overseas missionaries compared to domestic church planters, and how unreached people groups are arriving in America as refugees.

Where does your passion for church planting come from?

Approximately six months after Urbana, I spent a summer in Samara (a city in southwestern Russia), with InterVarsity doing lifestyle evangelism among Russian students. I lived among Russian students, and with a Russian family on weekends, and picked up some Russian. Through this experience, I developed a heart for what it meant to live overseas and what it meant to evangelize and disciple people.

When I returned home, I thought, Im going to be a missionary in Russia. But God had other plans. I was a relatively new believer at that time, and I was the only Christian in my family. It would have been very difficult for me to make such a switch like that. So the Lord had me involved in local ministry.

But fast forward, I got married and began raising a family, and the church we were attending started a church plant in Chernobyl. I felt God saying, Here is another opportunity to pursue what you loved to do back when you were a student with InterVarsity. With my church, I began training a team from our church to go to Chernobyl, partnered with a church from Kiev, Ukraine. For five years, we visited the area twice a year and planted churches in villages right outside the exclusion zone [the area most affected by the nuclear reactor disaster].

What has it been like to be the first woman in this role for SEND International?

Mission agencies are grappling with, Well, is the church going to approve of this? For example, I had a mission agency ask me, What was the ramification of you coming on board? What do the churches say? I was so glad to be able to say that all of the churches that supported us prior to me assuming this role are still supporting us today.

Women, especially single women, are really strongly represented in missions. Why do you think that is?

Gosh, I really dont have an answer to that. There are a lot of women who love Jesus and who want to go out and make a difference. We are relational by nature, and we love partnerships. In some ways, were just wired to naturally share our faith and to live that out in meaningful ways. There are women who say, Im not married. How would God use me in ways that Im passionate about?

Although there are many single women on the mission field, its a lot harder to find female church planters. Why?

Theological barriers are one of the reasons why we dont see as many women in church planting roles. We all share a deep commitment to a high view of Scripture. But theres a wide spectrum of teaching about what the Bible intends regarding women and an even wider spectrum of how that teaching is carried out in a church-planting role.

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At SEND International, some of our best church planters have been women. Thats been the case since the beginning of our organization. Weve always been on the frontlines of saying, Yes, we want to send women out as church planters.

As an interdenominational organization, we have many churches that have many different viewpoints about women in church planting roles. We try not to limit ourselves or define ourselves in one camp or another. We know that the complementarian and egalitarian frameworks affirm the equality of women, but how this plays out looks different in the field.

We know that God has given different giftings to different people. At the end of the day we say, How do we use your gift and talents to plant churches and make disciples and do that in culturally appropriate ways?

At an organizational level, there are mixed messages about what it means for women to be in leadership and ministry. Since Ive come onboard SEND, Ive asked, How is it that we send women out on the field in dangerous places, trailblazing, making disciples for Jesus, yet havent had the space in the corner office or in the boardroom to help with strategy and leadership? The issue is complicated. It can be messy. Mission agencies like SEND have to articulate what that means to put women in leadership roles within the organization as well as having strategic roles out on the field planting churches.

Where do you see God working these days that might not be on the average Christians radar?

Uzbekistan has new leadership, and the government wants to open its borders and have Westerners, especially, come in and start businesses. They want to learn about religious liberty and freedom. For us as an organization, we are saying, Wow, in these Central Asian areas that have traditionally been closed to Westerners and particularly Christians, could this be another opportunity where the Lord is opening a tremendous door for us to go and to minister? Uzbekistan is on our radar. So is Kazakhstan.

There are also many unreached people groups within Thailand. We have a ministry among girls who are at risk of human trafficking. These young girls are actually going back into their villages and sharing the gospel with their familiesmany of whom live in very hard-to-reach communities.

Were in over 20 countries in Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, as well as Alaska and the Yukon Territory, which most people probably would not have on their radar. If you look at those northern areas in the Yukon, there are several tribal villages in hard-to-reach areas that you can only get to by plane.

Tell us about your work in other parts of North America.

Because of the refugee crisis, the United States has the third largest number of unreached people groups. Michigan ranks number 5 in terms of the most number of refugees who have been resettled here in our area. SENDs headquarters are located here. So its exciting for us to be able to take our skills and expertise and say, We have unreached people groups right here on our own doorstep. How do we begin building relationships and start a church among these people right here?

Were doing English language classes right now here in the Detroit area and building relationships with a lot of Afghani and Syrian refugees. Its a wonderful opportunity to build relationships, get to know these beautiful people who are here, and share the love of Jesus.

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Some of the bigger missions agencies in the US are in the midst of a philosophical shift. Theyre recognizing that other countries are increasingly sending out their own missionaries, and the US isnt the missions headquarters it once was. How is SEND reacting to these changes?

Well, we are experiencing this just as the larger organizations are. But weve been a multinational agency since we incorporated in 1945. SEND has a commitment to sending people from other nations to the unreached. Over 20 percent of our missionaries are actually sent from other parts of the world.

Today, were asking ourselves, What does it mean to send people who dont speak English? How can we work that into our structure and create something new? What would that look like to form partnerships with Latin American agencies and understanding how can we work together in mobilization? What can we do to help equip the people that they want to send?

Right now, for example, we are working in Ukraine to set up a sending agency. Ukrainians want to share the gospel, and they can actually get into countries like Iran without a visa. So were trying to figure out how to come alongside Ukrainians to equip and train them so that they can send out long-term workers.

Russia, too, is now saying, What does it look like for us to set up a sending agency, and how do we begin sending out missionaries?

How are anti-conversion laws impacting your missionaries around the world?

Its a reality that were grappling with, and not just anti-conversion lawsits also challenging to secure visas. These problems have forced us to think innovatively and creatively about how we access sensitive countries while also figuring out how to remain bold in our witness, sharing our faith and being an example to new believers in those areas.
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Dear Chelsea,

I'm not writing to berate you or give you a religious lecture. I'm appealing to you as the loving and devoted mother of your two precious children, Charlotte and Aidan.

As a mother, you experienced what I can never experience as a man. You understand what it is to conceive a child inside your own womb. You know the excitement of telling your husband, "We're having a baby!"

You experienced your body going through changes. You saw the first glimpse of your little one on an ultrasound. You even heard your baby's heartbeat.

You felt those first kicks and movements. You watched your body grow to accommodate this amazing new life. And then you birthed that life into the world.

The father's joy is amazing  that I can attest to firsthand. But the joy of the mother is more amazing still.

I can see it in your eyes as you gaze at Charlotte in 2014.

I can hear it in your words as you welcomed Aidan into the world in 2016.

All of which leads to my first question to you, Chelsea.

At what point did Charlotte become your daughter or Aidan your son? Or, more fundamentally, at what point did Charlotte become Charlotte or Aidan become Aidan? Or, even more fundamentally still, at what point did Charlotte and Aidan become human? Was it not the moment they were conceived?

Did you ever consider that, at conception, "A new individual receives 23 chromosomes from each parent. He or she is truly a unique individual human being, never to be repeated. A new person has been created, who at this stage is a tiny living organism weighing only 15 ten-millionth of a gram. Life begins."

Isn't this amazing?

Did you realize that:

18 days from conception, heart begins to beat, with the baby's own blood.

28 days from conception a baby has eyes, ears, and even a tongue!

28 days from conception: Muscles are developing along the future spine. Arms and legs are budding.

30 days: Child has grown 10,000 times to 6-7mm (1/4") long. Brain has human proportions. Blood flows in veins.

This all happens within the first 30 days!

Why, then, are you supportive of abortion? Why would you advocate taking the gift of life from other Charlottes and Aidans?

I'm not sure when you and your husband chose names for your children, but maybe you did so when you learned you were having a girl or a boy, probably somewhere between 16 and 20 weeks of pregnancy. Yet millions of babies have been aborted after 16 or even 20 weeks of pregnancy  millions of Charlottes and Aidans.

And since the vast majority of those precious little humans were thriving in their mother's wombs, their lives had to be terminated forcefully. That means being ripped apart or sliced up or suctioned into pieces or burned alive in saline.

Does that not trouble you at all?

Surely this cannot be reduced to a mere political issue. We're talking about precious, innocent, dependent, human life.

Obviously, you share your mother's sentiments about abortion. And it was for that reason that you spoke at a recent "Rise Up for Roe," pro-abortion rally.

You actually claimed that abortion had been good for the economy, saying, "It is not a disconnected fact...that American women entering the labor force from 1973 to 2009 added three and a half trillion dollars to our economy. Right? The net, new entrance of women  that is not disconnected from the fact that Roe became the law of the land in January of 1973. So, I think, whatever it is that people say they care about, I think that you can connect to this issue."

But even if you are right, isn't this a matter of blood money? Isn't this saying, "Our economy has prospered because we have slaughtered more than 50 million babies in the womb"? Can any amount of economic prosperity justify such barbarity? Is that really your ethic?

Of course, your math is faulty as well. As Kristi Burton Brown pointed out, "In a stunning piece of research, Mark A. Olson describes in detail how abortion  at a time when 50 million lives had been lost  had cost the U.S. over $16 trillion in federal revenue. As of April 2018, the public national debt of the U.S. was $15.3 trillion."

In short, have you asked yourself where our economy might have been if 25 million women had not lost their lives through the womb? (I'm not even mentioning the aborted men.)

Jeff Jacoby also noted that, "The rise of women in the modern workplace wasn't achieved by abortion," so I'd appeal to you to reconsider that point as well.

But more importantly, please take a moment to reflect on what I've written. Please sit for a few hours and look back at your own pictures as your pregnancies developed, asking yourself at what point it would have been fine to terminate the life of Charlotte or Aidan.

Then look at pictures of babies developing in the womb, then at pictures of aborted babies. (As one very graphic meme states, "If you can't look at it . . . you shouldn't condone it.")

Have you ever done this, Chelsea? If not, doesn't it make sense to look abortion in the face?

I'm sure you care about women who have been raped and women who feel they cannot bring another child into the world. I'm sure there's a compassion that drives you.

I'm simply appealing to you as a mother: Dig deeper with that compassion. You, as a mother, are the ultimate hope of that little one growing inside you. Don't stifle that wonderful gift of life.
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Earlier this month I was excited about an opportunity to speak to the President of the United States on issues I care deeply about.

As one who has dedicated the majority of my adult life to advocating for righteousness and justice for all people, this was not a political or party meeting  it was a divine appointment. I would have a chance to once again represent the voiceless to the highest office in our land. I would be able to appeal on behalf of the incarcerated and their families. And I felt we were nearing the 1-yard line.

Some have misunderstood our reason for being there, but as a student of Martin Luther King Jr., I remembered how he walked in the biblical tradition of a prophet, but he could also passionately speak to our secular leaders in the public square about the rights he was demanding for our community, the rights already granted to us by our Constitution.

This was not our first meeting. There had been a 15-month preparation that we and the White House had invested in making life better for people living in our urban centers and for the huge number of previously incarcerated people who want to fully re-enter society. I entered this meeting with an optimism that good might be right around the corner, even if at the hands of an unorthodox president.

This optimism is also shared by many who have expressed support for our willingness to contend for change. My hope is that many more will join us in these efforts to push criminal justice reform over the finish line.

These meetings have been far more than a photo op. And we in fact were not just "played by the President" as some suppose. The President, despite his complicated relationship with our nation's minority communities, has in fact achieved great success in advancing issues important to them.

Take, for example, these accomplishments:

President Trump has commitments from major corporations for 4 million additional jobs in urban areas. These jobs will be filled within his first term. These jobs will include opportunities for citizens returning to the workforce after incarceration. The tax reform legislation that was put into place this year includes "opportunity zones" which provide substantial incentives to communities that do business in our urban centers. The number of closed-door meetings with black and Hispanic clergy that I have been privy to is exceptional, and in this regard, President Trump is exceeding his predecessors. He genuinely wants leading pastors to help him fine-tune, correct and adjust his policies. His policies have contributed to the lowest unemployment rate for blacks and Hispanics since these stats have been counted. And, finally, there's the subject of our meeting that fateful day. This administration has championed re-entry legislation called "FIRST STEP Act," which would reduce recidivism. And if anyone thinks we are just "Uncle Tomming," just remember this all began when the President changed his position on sentencing reform after meeting with the pastors on Aug 1.

All of these accomplishments are real and they are significant.

Now, we need to dispense with the friendly fire and finish the task of criminal justice reform, especially since the President now sees the importance of changing the framework of sentencing, which prior to our meeting he didn't.

The president's change of heart will have four direct consequences:

Mandatory sentencing guidelines can be lowered for people with prior nonviolent drug felonies. Judges would have the freedom to not increase sentences because of simultaneous charges. These changes would apply the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010's measures which reduced the sentencing disparity between upscale cocaine users and urban crack offenders. This law would increase the number of exceptions to the mandatory minimum sentencing framework.

My talks with the administration have yielded tangible, measurable results. Nonetheless, these results are just a beginning. The bigger question for me is where do we go from here? There are still a lot of people hurting in America, and it's time for the critics to drop their logos and their egos and join us in working with this administration so we can work on healing some of that hurt. That's the task ahead of us, and we will not stop until we're over the finish line.
Parents in Scotland worried by gender neutral toilets in primary schools

A councillor in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, says parents have reached out to him since the start of the school term to voice concerns over newly installed gender neutral toilets at local primary schools.

Independent councillor David Macdonald said he has been contacted by numerous parents since schools opened for the new term last week, the Herald Scotland reports.

According to the newspaper, he has written a letter to East Renfrewshire Council outlining concerns about the toilets installed during the summer break at Carolside and Braidbar Primary Schools.

The councillor, who said he had not been informed by the council of the plans, said some parents had been left 'worried, angry and upset' by the development and that it was a particular concern for parents of girls approaching puberty having to deal with menstruation for the first time.

'On top of that. Let's be frank here. Boys urinate on toilet seats whether by accident or on purpose,' he wrote.

'Are girls expected to enter a cubicle and be charged with having to wipe down a toilet seat with toilet paper to get rid of the urine and then be forced to make direct skin contact with the toilet seat when they sit down? I can't imagine how incredibly unsanitary that situation will be, not to mention absolutely disgusting.'

The new facilities at Carolside and Braidbar Primary Schools reportedly include floor-to-ceiling cubicles as a replacement for boys' urinals. There are, however, still separate male and female toilet blocks available within the schools.

According to the Scottish Sun newspaper, local parents say they were not consulted over the installation of the toilets.

Opinions on Cllr Macdonald's Facebook page have been mixed. One person wrote: 'What a farce. Not often this phrase is justified but it is here. "Political Correctness gone mad".'

Others expressed their support, with one saying: 'Do you have gender specific toilets in your home David? There's gender neutral toilets everywhere and it's literally fine.'

According to the Herald Scotland, East Renfrewshire Council said the changes were in response to Scottish Government guidance.

A spokesman said: 'In line with guidance from the Scottish Government, to allow gender-neutral provision in our schools, where possible, future replacement toilets will now provide individual cubicles for pupils to use, giving complete privacy, with shared hand washing and drying facilities.

'Due to the fully enclosed cubicles, access to the toilets will no longer require a main door which has benefits including significantly reducing the likelihood of inappropriate behaviour in school toilets, increasing levels of privacy and creating safer spaces for children and young people to use.

"Individual schools will work with parents to establish the most appropriate way to operate these facilities, which are already commonplace in all new-build facilities.'
US pastor says attacks on Donald Trump are the work of witchcraft

A self-styled Assemblies of God prophet in Alabama warned his congregation Sunday that President Donald Trump is being attacked by strong forces of witchcraft and he doesn't see him surviving.

"I don't know if you know this. And I don't know if you gon' believe me when I tell you this, but what's happening right now in America is witchcraft trying to take this country over. It's witchcraft," the Rev. John A. Kilpatrick told his congregation at Church of His Presence in Daphne, Alabama, on Sunday. "It's trying to take America back over. And I want to tell you something else. I am not being political but I don't see how President Trump bears up under it."

In his revelations to his congregation on Sunday, Kilpatrick urged them repeatedly to "keep your eye on the news" and make sure he didn't have to call them to tell them to pray for the president.

"He's as strong as I have ever seen a man be. But here's what the Holy Spirit said to me last night and here's what He said for me to tell you. He said tell the Church that so far Trump has been dealing with Ahab but Jezebel is fixing to step out from the shadows. That's what the Lord said to me," Kilpatrick explained.

"Last night when the Lord gave me this about the witchcraft, the Lord said He's been dealing with this but He said pray for him now, because He said there's about to be a shift and the deep state is about to manifest and it's going to be a showdown like you can't believe. So I'm coming to you as a prophet. As a man of God and I'm telling you it's time to pray for the president," he said to applause.

As he began explaining how witchcraft took Elijah out of power, Kilpatrick said he heard from the Lord during the sermon.

"Oh my God! I heard the Lord say there is gonna be an attempt to take him out of power," he said of the president.

He then told the church to stand and pray and began praying in tongues.

"We gotta pray for this man," he said. "God make him bold, make him strong. ... Flush out every witchcraft spirit, flush it out Lord, flush it out. Flush it out in the open. Let's see who it is. ... Lord we pray for his wife. We pray for Melania. We pray for his children. We pray for all of his family. There is a lot in the balance Lord. Make this man like a Moses. Unintimidated."

Kilpatrick told his congregation that his revelations about the president has nothing to do with politics but a "battle for the soul of America."

"It's almost like a stupor has come over America. It's like no matter what's reported on the news, no matter what's discussed on panels, it's just not sinking in. It's not sinking in. Lord remove the veil. Lift the veil. Let it begin to soak into this nation. There's a battle for the soul of America. Lord I ask in Jesus name expose those shadow spirits. Expose who the shadow government is. Snatch the curtain up Lord. Then America will really be free. Then the church will not be contained anymore. ... Lord snatch the curtain up in the name of Jesus Christ," he said.

"I'm not being political don't get me wrong because I see good and bad in all of it trust me. But it's almost like Trump is going in and trying to take America by the hand and say, 'we can be great again' and they're trying to trip him every time he moves. God help this man," he said closing his eyes and stretching his hand in faith."

This article was originally published in The Christian Post and is re-published here with permission
Alex and Whitney Douglas, the Houston-based husband-and-wife film-making team who make up Sculpting With Time Productions, did what they always do as Hurricane Harvey overwhelmed the city a year ago: They picked up their cameras.

The result is "Harvey's Heroes," a nine-minute short that explores the courage on display over the course of the disastrous weather event. It documents the efforts of Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, Ronnie Killen of Killen's Barbecue, the Cajun Navy, farmers in Rosharon, Beaumont search and rescue teams, volunteer renovation crews, Mosque leaders and more.
The first concert I attended in Houston upon arrival 14 years ago was at Rudyard's British Pub. Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers was playing with His Problem, his post-Surfers band.

I asked him when he thought his set would start. "I dunno, man," he replied. "10?"

He started closer to 1:30 a.m., so I learned quickly not to get to Rudyard's too early for a show. As I got older, I found myself at Rudyard's less frequently. But the pub/concert venue that decribes itself as "the living room of Houston's Montrose since 1978" celebrates its 40th anniversary this week, having hosted some number of shows that numbers in the hundreds. Maybe the thousands.

Tonight's 40th anniversary show features VODI, the Wheel Workers and Jealous Creatures, all three wonderful local bands worth checking out even if the show weren't free. But it is.

I wasn't here when the White Stripes played in September 2001. As a duo, they were a rare act that didn't find the upstairs space to be constrictive. Speaking of duos, the Black Keys played there. Drummer Patrick Carney thought it was July 2002. He remembered the show less-than-fondly for reasons unrelated to the venue.

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"After the show, my brother was on tour with us, so he and Dan (Auerbach, guitarist) go into the parking lot and these two girls ask all three of us to get into this car with them. I decided not to. So I just stood there and watched them do whippets for 30 minutes."

I recall a few shows there more fondly. And also the tater tots. Rudz has amazing tater tots.

A couple of shows are listed below. Please feel free to share yours in the comments.

The Hates, Feb. 3, 2018: Maybe the biggest feel-good show in the venue's history. Christian Kidd, mohawked Houston punk rock icon, got cancer and spent the better part of a year getting well. His band's return was announced in the most DIY way possible: a piece of cardboard at a Montrose intersection that read, "Hates @ Rudz Feb 3."

Silversun Pickups, Nov. 2004: They opened for Earlimart here, and exhibited all the whisper/howl dynamic that would help them find a much bigger audience a few years later.

Mono, summer 2009: The Japanese instrumental rock band played Rudz a few times, though the gig in support of "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" was a standout even if it didn't feel that way to the band. They were doing theaters in New York and Los Angeles. So Rudyard's stage must've felt tight. But they still brought a tidal wave of guitar noise.

Jandek, April 2009: The elusive musician started doing more regular gigs in his hometown after this one. But at the time, the show was a pretty rare occurrence. Not surprisingly it was an odd one: He played in the middle of the afternoon. On a Sunday. And he just played one "song," an hour-long funk-rock workout.

I could go on. Ohio's Mr. Gnome blew the roof off the place each November for a few years in a row. Black Tusk snarled through a heavy set last year. I'm pretty sure the greatly missed The Energy played a record release gig there. Maybe it was just a regular gig. It felt like watching wild animals fight.

Anyway, such lists could go on and on.

Happy birthday, Rudyard's!
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle

A Houston bookkeeper was sentenced Thursday to 51 months in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas - in part for embezzling more than $1.8 million from a client's bank accounts.

Gwendolyn M. Berry pleaded guilty and was convicted of 12 counts of mail and wire fraud and four counts of filing a false tax return.
A Katy man known to have a "very dim view of women" faces two charges for allegedly shooting at women while driving in west Harris County, authorities said.

Deputies arrested Nicholas Dagostino on Thursday after connecting him to a vehicle involved in a March shooting. Dagostinos latest charge  his second accusation of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon this year  came a day after the 29-year-old was released on a $75,000 bond for similar charges related to a July shooting.

The latest arrest stems from a March 7 incident, when a woman was shot around 2:25 p.m. as she exited a Shell gas station in the Katy area.

She heard a loud noise and felt a pain in her right arm, but she didn't realize she'd actually been shot until later. The woman told investigators that after she was shot, she noticed a man who was sitting in a green SUV while appearing to watch to see if he'd hit her, according to charging documents.

A Harris County prosecutor said in probable cause court on Thursday night that Dagostino ranted and rambles on Facebook about female motorists, and how incompetent they are, that their sole purpose is to give birth to male children.

Ken Mingledorff, Dagostinos attorney, said he hasnt had the opportunity to speak to Dagostino about the latest charges and declined to comment specifically on claims that his client held sexist views.

I have known Nicks parents for a very long time. Theyre wonderful people, Mingledorff said. Nick is very sorry for any pain that hes caused anyone.

The idea that women arent good drivers is a stereotype with roots as early as the 1920s. As more middle-class women began driving, the stereotype emerged partially as an attempt to keep women in their place, researcher Michael L. Berger wrote in a 1986 paper.

Krista Gehring, associate professor at University of Houston-Downtown, said that crimes against women can originate because of views that women should behave a certain way.

When we see individuals, males, who enact violence against females, they tend to have those very traditional ideas about where women should be in society, and that tends to justify the violence against women, Gehring said.

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Dagostino was initially charged in the shooting of a 39-year-old woman who was shot in the arm the afternoon of July 10 as she drove south on south Mason Road. The woman told investigators that at first she thought her window had been hit by a rock, according to court records - but as she pulled into a nearby car wash, she realized her arm had a gunshot wound.

An investigator from the sheriff's office found and arrested Dagostino after using surveillance footage from a nearby business to identify his vehicle. Dagostino was accused of shooting a .45 caliber Beretta Storm handgun at the woman's vehicle "without provocation," court documents show.

Dagostino told investigators he had shot the woman in self-defense after she swerved into his lane twice. He also told them he had been involved in similar situations before and had discharged a firearm at another vehicle five times.

While both women who were shot likely had no connection to Dagostino, they appeared to be chosen intentionally, Gehring said.

"He's not shooting at men who are swerving, he's shooting at women," she said.

During an interrogation, Dagostino told deputies that he shot the woman in March to stop what he perceived as a threat because "she struck his vehicle with her vehicle and then purposefully swerved at him another time," according to court documents.

Dagostino is now being held in jail on $250,000 bond.
Scent and taste are two powerful senses, both of which are strongly connected to our memories.

The smell of wet grass, or the crunch of perfectly fried chicken can transport you right back to your childhood, sitting at the table enjoying a warm meal after playing outside all day.

Each state has an iconic dish that most people will remember eating as kids, but as they grow up, get jobs, and move away those comfort food became harder to find.

SO GOOD: Where to get the best fried chicken in Houston

Many Houstonians are transplants who moved here from a different state, and while the city has some great food, there is no place like home.

Flavored Nation, a new food festival happening in Columbus, Ohio, released a list of each's states favorite dish that will be featured on the event's menu. Since most of us can't just drop everything and fly to Ohio for our food though.

Even if you could, there is no need to. We took a look at the list of state foods and found out where you can find each of them right here in the Bayou City.

Take a look through the gallery above to see the most popular food in each state and where to find it in Houston.

Daniela Sternitzky- Di Napoli is a digital producer covering Texas news and pop culture. | Daniela.DiNapoli@chron.com | @Dani_DiNapoli
BRIDGEPORT  A former supervisor in the Police Departments Detective Bureau, accused of stealing thousands of dollars in overtime, has applied for a pre-trial probation program.

Stephen Shuck, 64, a 34-year veteran and lieutenant in the Bridgeport Police Department who was charged earlier this year first-degree larceny, stood before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin Friday morning and asked to be considered for accelerated rehabilitation.

Under accelerated rehabilitation, a program for nonviolent offenders, Shuck would not plead guilty to the charge against him but would be placed on up to two years probation. If he commits no other crimes during that probation, the charge against him would be dismissed.

The judge set a hearing for the application for Oct. 12.

Shuck and his lawyer, John R. Gulash, declined comment as they left the Fairfield County Courthouse.

Shuck was fired by Police Chief Armando Perez in April.

He (Shuck) has a well-established pattern, over a period of more than eight months, of working only a small portion of the time in which he is being paid for, often working just minutes a day, and this equates to well over a $2,000 loss to the city of Bridgeport, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Shuck earned $128,972 including $23,737 in overtime in 2017. While police concentrated their investigation on an eight-month period, police sources said they believe Shuck was collecting not only his regular pay but overtime for working when he was actually home.

On Jan. 22, Perez ordered an investigation of Shuck based on accusations by co-workers. The chief authorized the use of a GPS tracking device on Shucks car. Investigators were immediately able to corroborate the accusations  that day, Shucks take-home police car was spotted sitting in his driveway from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. when he was supposed to be at work, the affidavit states.

The investigation found 11 subsequent incidents in which Shuck was home when he was supposed to be at work.
Clara Malak likes history.

She has a real affinity for genealogy too.

But what she truly loves is the parish of St. Joseph Catholic Church in New Waverly.

And I have to be careful that I dont love the church building too much, said Malak, the churchs long-time organist.

Malak has been a part of the church for 52 years marrying into the Malak family in 1966. The ancestors of her late husband Joe Malak Jr., however, has been affiliated with the church since its beginning in 1869.

So its always with excitement that she and other church members look forward to the nearly 150-year-old churchs annual Labor Day Homecoming Bazaar.

The event has taken place on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend since 1951 and serves as a way connect parish members and generations of families as they celebrate the decades-long tradition of the church.

This years event is set for Sept. 2 at 101 Elmore Street in New Waverly. A barbecue dinner is at 11 a.m. A live auction is at 1 p.m. There will also be a silent auction, country store, grocery booth, toy booth, kids face painting and fun and games.

The evening activities begin with a raffle at 6 p.m. and a dance with a live band at 7 p.m.

Early history of the church

St. Joseph Catholic Church Annual Homecoming and Bazaar This year's event is set for Sept. 2 at 101 Elmore Street in New Waverly. A barbecue dinner is at 11 a.m. A live auction is at 1 p.m. There will also be a silent auction, country store, grocery booth, toy booth, kids face painting and fun and games. The evening activities begin with a raffle at 6 p.m. and a dance with a live band at 7 p.m. Visit stjosephnewwaverlytx.net or call 936-344-6104. See More Collapse

In 1866 a group of Waverly planters formed the Waverly Emigration Society to import foreign laborers to work on their farms. Approximately 40 families arrived the following summer and soon afterwards they were found by Rev. Felix Orzechowski.

According to a historic timeline of the church put together by Malak for the churchs 140th anniversary in 2009, he traveled primary by foot, eating bacon and corn bread or less, and the ground was often his bed.

In 1869 the Parish of St. Joseph was organized under Father Orzechowskis leadership. Mass was celebrated on various farms, as no church was built during his time in this area.

The first church was a box-house type of approximately 20 by 30 feet. Its construction was overseen by Rev. Victor Linicki, who succeeded Father Orzechowski. Father Linicki also built a rectory for himself. Two lots were purchased on January 15, 1877, from the Texas Land Company for one dollar on the condition that they shall be used exclusively as the site for a church and school building for the use and benefits of the members of the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Peter and Paul Church

In the 1880s, farmers in the Danville area sought to have a priest from St. Joseph come to their community and conduct services because it was often difficult to travel to the Waverly community by horse or wagon.

The third St. Joseph pastor, Rev. Adam Laskie, celebrated Mass in the Danville community for the convenience of the worshipers and he encouraged them to build a church. In October 1880, 14 acres were purchased. The following June 29 the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was dedicated. The small church was approximately 20 by 45 feet with ceiling of 12 feet. Facing west, the front had a double door and no windows. The one room structure has a seating capacity of approximately fifty, with a center aisle separating two sections of pews.

By 1887 dissension had developed and regular services were discontinued. The church remained in use for special occasions, primarily to celebrate the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul and funerals (because of its proximity to Danville/Shepard Hill Cemetery).

Eventually all of the records from this church were transferred and recorded by St. Joseph.

According to Malak, the building was sold to Mr. Weldon in 1952 during the era of Father Rhein.

Weldon used the structure as a tack house for his horses.

At one point, the Malaks visited with Mr. Weldon to inquire about doing something with the old church structure. The only catch is that theyd have to provide him a different structure for his tack and barn equipment.

This is where the story took a tragic turn.

While we were making arrangements and seeing about getting him a tack house, he had some workers who were doing some clearing on his property and they tore it down and burned it, Malak said.

There was a bell that stayed on the original site of the old church. There has been talk in recent years that the bell might have been stolen and the bells whereabouts are currently unknown.

In the mid-1990s under Father Kalladans tenure a celebration was held at the Danville site on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.

A dinner was held on the grounds and he celebrated mass there, Malak said. The people had ties there then visited the nearby cemetery. It was a really nice occassion.

The thought was for this to become an annual celebration but that never came to fruition.

The second church and Father Bily

The second church was built in 1892 under the pastorate Rev. Theodore Jaron who saw a need for a larger church for the growing parish. The second building was designed and built by Tom Lawandorski with lumber contributed by Mrs. Catharine Ripkowski from her property in Elmina. The sills of the new church were hand-hewn with a foot adze and joined with two inch oak pins. Whole trees were cut and hewn and moved to the building site.

Father Bily was born in Luznice, Bohemia in 1859 and he came to lead the parish in 1902.

The third and present church was built in 1905. Soon after his arrival, Father Bily wanted the congregation to build a new church and they did. They bought the remainder of the block and one lot across the street. Architect L. S. Green planned the Gothic structure which cost $13,000 excluding the altars and stained glass windows. Three years after laying the cornerstone, the third and present St. Joseph Catholic Church was judged the finest and best in the South upon its dedication on Dec. 16, 1906.

The building program also included a new two-story rectory for Bilys living quarters.

A new school was built on the property in 1909 for about 160 students.

Father Bily was a treasured member of the church community who cared much for the school and its children.

Bily also was a teacher at the school.

After being at St. Josephs for 19 years, the longest of any pastor there, Father Bily died of a heart attack on March 15, 1921 upon entering the school to check on the children.

In a history of the church, according to Mrs. Ripkowski, who was seven at the time, the Sisters lined the children up and lead them to the church to say a Rosary. She recalled that some children were terrified and were later sent home for the day.

Bily is buried on the church grounds in front of the sanctuary.

Interesting highlights of the church structure

If you visit the church today, theres a large bell on a pedestal to the left of the church entrance.

According to Malak, the bell was ordered for the church tower, but it was too heavy and was unable to be hoisted up in the tower and the tower wasnt strong enough to hold it.

Since arriving at the church, the bell has always been in the yard and it is only tolled at funerals. The current bell in the tower is from the second church.

Also of note is the hat clips on the left pews and purse hangers on the right pews.

Traditionally there was a mens side and a womens side. The mens side was on the gospel side -the speakers right - and the women sat on opposite the side from which the epistle was read. The backs of the mens pews have clips for their hats, whereas the womens pews have hooks for their purses. The custom of separate seating was observed through the 1950s and still some of the most senior members prefer their respective sides.

Malak recalls this practice was still observed by some of the seniors when she came to the church - including her in-laws.

Families through the generations

On Sept. 17, 1966, Malak married Joe Malak Jr. and married into a long history at the church.

Joe Malak Jr.s father, Joe Malak Sr., married at St. Joseph in 1925. Malak Jr.s grandparents, John and Mary Ann Tafelski Malak married there in April 1891.

In 1993, Malaks daughter Laura, married Stephen Drake, at St. Josephs making five generations of the same family to marry at St. Josephs.

But theirs is a story thats repeated over and over among many of the parishioners who have had multiple generations marry in the historic church.

Multiple generations have participated in the preparations for bazaar weekend as well.

In the early years, the dance was held in the old St. Josephs school and the other festivities were held under tents on the grounds.

Her father-in-law Joe Malak Sr. was one of the men who did the barbecue for the celebration.

The barbecuing would start on Friday and you could smell it all over town, Malak said.

Her husband was in charge of the pinto beans which he was known for.

The ladies of the church made the sides and the dessert - all from scratch in the early days.

In 1969, the 100th anniversary of the church, church members wore Polish attire to celebrate the milestone and their Polish heritage.

In 2009, the church celebrated its 140th anniversary. For the occassion Clara Malak put together a timeline of the churchs history.

She became interested in the history of the church through her many discussion with member Tony Kmiecik. He had put together a booklet over the years with much of the church history and the history of the local families.

He had a wealth of knowledge and he helped me so much, Malak said.

The two worked to translate church records that were in Latin and Polish. Malak called it a very tedious task.

She regrets that Kmiecik did not live to see the church go through its major restoration in the 1980s.

Special memories through the years

Two of the fathers who made a special place in the parishioners hearts were Father Anthony Stredny from 1985 to 1992 and Joseph Kalladan from 1992 to 2005.

Stredny came over from the Cleveland area and he was known for his curly red hair and his red convertible.

Malak said Stredny was a peoples priest.

He was active in the youth organizations and would travel with them and with the adult groups. Hed regularly drop of school supplies donated out of his own pocket to make sure the school children had all they needed.

Hed often come to the Malaks home after church council meetings asking Clara, what have you got for dinner?

Malak said they grieved when he left the church.

Soon came Father Joseph Kalladan however who was equally as energetic and loved to celebrate the special holidays of the church in a grand manner.

A special day in his pastorate and the history of the town of New Waverly was when in October 1996 Former Polish President Lech Walesa visited the church. He stopped by the church on his way to Sam Houston State University. A special service took place and children from the public school were bussed over for the event.

A monument outside the church now commemorates the occasion.

Malak called it a special day not only for the church but for the whole community of New Waverly.

When asked about other special memories that have stayed with her all these years, Malak thought of one night when she had just finished choir practice.

I was standing out there in the church yard after choir practice and it was late, Malak said. The bells began to play the Lords Prayer. Im telling you standing there in the dark if that doesnt change your heart.

Today, the church is lead by Father Daokim Nguyen. Nguyen came to the church in 2005 following Father Kalladans departure. St. Stephen the Martyr Mission in Point Blank is also under the leadership of St. Joseph.

For more information on the church or the upcoming homecoming bazaar, visit stjosephnewwaverlytx.net or call the church at 936-344-6104.
National Night Out 2018

The West University Place Department invites residents to participate in the 35th annual National Night Out sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch. The date for NNO 2018 will be Tuesday, Oct. 2.

National Night Out is designed to:
A teenager just days away from beginning his senior year at Cleveland High School was killed Wednesday in what Liberty County Sheriff's Office officials believe was a road rage incident.

Jonathan Michael Perez, 17, of Cleveland, Texas was killed when his vehicle was struck from behind, causing his car to flip several times in the Plum Grove area off CR 3478B in north Liberty County.

According to LCSO lead investigator Jeff Ashworth, a second teen in Perezs vehicle received minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital where he was treated and released.

FOUL PLAY SUGGESTED: Classic car involved in fatal crash at Conroe airport

Dr. Barnes, our high school principal and the CHS leadership team remember him well as a good student, said CISD spokesperson Susan Ard.

Monday is the first day of school for Cleveland ISD and Ard said they would have counselors available for students at the high school campus.

LCSO officials said the investigation is its initial stages and few confirmed facts known.

However, LCSO officials believe that prior to the crash, the two teens may have been involved in some sort of incident that caused the road rage to escalate into the fatal crash.

An autopsy was ordered by Pct. 6 Justice of the Peace Judge Ralph Fuller, and the investigation into the incident continues.

Anyone with information about the accident is urged to call the Liberty County Sheriffs Office.
Before there was "Friends" and "Sex and the City," there was "Living Single."

It was 25 years ago when 27-year-old writer Yvette Lee Bowser created a groundbreaking TV comedy show about six 20somethings living in a Brooklyn brownstone. Three were roommates: Synclaire James (comedienne Kim Coles), magazine owner Khadijah James (rapper Queen Latifah), and boutique salesclerk Regine Hunter ("Facts of Life" darling Kim Fields). There was their annoying but endearing attorney neighbor Maxine Shaw (Erika Alexander) and building mates: the suave stockbroker Kyle Barker (Terrence "T.C." Carson) and the goofy and lovable handyman Overton Jones (John Henton).
Midway is planning on ending 2018 in a memorable note. The developer is planning to celebrate the grand re-opening of Kings Harbor on New Years Eve.

Many businesses in Kings Harbor were flooded with over 6 feet of water by Hurricane Harvey. Many of the stores were closed for over eight months.

Chimichurris, South American Grill, will open before the end of August ready to reveal a new contemporary global cuisine concept.

Meanwhile, Raffas Waterfront Grill will reopen in the fall with a new private dining room and open kitchen. Zammittis Italian Ristorante will also open this fall and will have outdoor seating in its piazza or market square theme and an expanded bar.

Sharkys Waterfront Grill has not yet announced its reopening date.

Also at the mixed-use development, Wine & Design opening its first Texas location in the fall.

In addition to daily painting classes, Wine & Design will allow residents to flex their creative muscles through an assortment of arts and crafts projects, summer camps, day care camps and DIY projects. The business will also host private events, such as birthday parties and corporate events.

"As a lifelong resident of the area, I could not be more excited to bring this fun new concept to Kingwood and especially Kings Harbor," said Wine & Design owner, Chantel Edwards in a media release. "Wine & Design goes far beyond the borders of the typical paint and sip studios youve seen before and we cant wait for Kingwood to experience it."

Pretty Little Things, The Berry Bar and Dapper Darlings were the first stores in Kings Harbor to reopen in April with newly renovated spaces.
The intersection improvement projects for West Lake Houston Parkway at Kings Crossing and Northpark Drive may not reach 100 percent completion until November.

Most of the intersection improvements have been complete for a few months now, such as the addition of turn lanes and sidewalks.

Rachel Ray-Welsh of Walter P Moore said at the May board meeting of the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority  a subsidiary of Tax Reinvestment Zone 10  that she expected the intersection projects would be completely finished in late July. At the time, the intersections were still waiting on signals, the poles and mast arms because an unforeseen issue forced a manufacturer change.

Ray-Welsh announced at the August meeting that the intersection projects have encountered another road block that will delay the installation and activation of permanent signals, for perhaps another few months.

Kings Crossing

The new mast arms installed at the Kings Crossing intersection did not meet the city of Houstons required specifications.

They have an extra piece on them, Ray-Welsh said. That piece has to go away. The city wont accept the signal and they wont turn it on.

Additionally, a tree is encroaching on the placement of one of the required signal heads. The tree must be trimmed so that it does not interfere with the signal before the city will approve the intersections signalization.

Northpark Drive

A new foundation has to be installed at the northwest corner of the West Lake Houston Parkway and Northpark Drive intersection.

The original intended location for the foundation had multiple unexpected gas lines that were not shown on the survey used for project designs. This required the foundation placement to be moved to a location that required a longer mast arm.

The foundation that was put in is not deep enough to meet the support requirements of that mast arm length. According to Ray-Welsh, the foundation needs to be about 4 feet deeper.

So, were in the process of finding a new location for that foundation, but the problem with that is youve got a gas line in the way, so thats taking a little more time than we expected, Ray-Welsh said.

After a new site has been deemed acceptable, Ray-Welsh said, the project should move forward quickly. A temporary mast arm with an extension will be used at that light until the new mast arm arrives.

Although the permanent traffic signals are not yet completed, Ray-Welsh said the pedestrian signals are already functioning at the Northpark intersection.

Those are the Walk, Dont Walk signals at Northpark so that the kids could cross the street for school, Ray-Welsh said. There are a bunch of kids that cross right there that go to the junior high, so theyve got those turned on.

A change order approved during the August meeting showed the West Lake Houston Parkway Intersection Improvements project revised contract between LHRA/TIRZ10 and Jerdon Enterprise, LP amount to be $1,298,584.

Once finished, these will be the first two intersection projects completed from TIRZ10s 5-year capital improvement plan, which includes several other mobility projects, most of which are intersection improvements.

mfeuk@hcnonline.com
Because of a waiver due to Hurricane Harvey, Deer Park ISD did not get an official letter-grade rating through a new state accountability system, but the district did receive a unofficial overall number score of 86 out of 100, with the districts 14 campuses faring well overall on individual scores at the campus level.

The top ranking schools were five campuses that scored 90 or above on a zero-to-100 scale: Deer Park, Fairmont and San Jacinto elementary schools and Deer Park and Fairmont junior high schools.

The bottom five scoring campuses are: Bonnette Junior High with a score of 75; The Early Childhood Center and Deepwater and Parkwood elementary schools each with 77; and JP Dabbs Elementary with 78.

The remaining campuses scored between 80 to 89, with High Point School being exempt from the rating due its jurisdiction under Harris County Department of Education.

The Texas Education Agency released the number scores  with a score below 60 indicating what would constitute a failure to pass  to exempted school districts such as Deer Park to give the public an indication of their performance. Throughout the state, unofficial number scores were also issued for individual campuses, which wont get letter grades until 2019.

The letter-grade system, a new approach for TEA that stems from a 2017 law, has met with strong protests from school district officials around the state who say the scores rely too heavily on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness testing results.

Deer Park ISD will receive its first official letter grade in the A-through-F system in 2019 after the Hurricane Harvey exemption is lifted.

The three domains used to come up with the districts overall score of 86 are student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.

The total student enrollment in the district for the 2017-18 school year was 12,904, with 46 percent classified as economically disadvantaged.

Some Texas school districts have criticized the new letter-grade system saying the scores rely too heavily on STAAR test results and penalizes schools with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said the new grading formulas address concerns about economically disadvantaged students by taking the highest of three metrics, including one comparing academic performance relative to poverty rates, to combine with a measure tied to closing achievement gaps between demographic groups. Those two measures are used calculate schools and districts scale scores that range from zero to 100.

Dax Gonzalez, governmental relations division director for the Texas Association of School Boards, said other measures of the rating data show a pretty significant drop in scale scores for schools that serve higher rates of economically disadvantaged students.

Deer Park ISD, in which Hispanic students made up 57 percent of enrollment, received an A grade for the states financial accountability rating score. The score through the the School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas measures the quality of districts financial management practices, according to texasschools.org, the website set up by the TEA to provide public access to the scoring system.

jaimy.jones@chron.com
Pakistan came into existence on Aug. 14, 1947. The resolution of Pakistan was passed on March 23, 1940. The founder of Pakistan Quaid-E-Azam devoted his time and energy to build a country for his nation. The community of Pakistani Americans is an important part of the city of Houston and Houston is the fourth largest city of the United States.

Pakistani Americans celebrate the Independence Day of the United Sates on July 4. Both countries are offering several services to the people of their countries in the United States. The department of Foreign Affairs is an important of them. This year, Zartasha Shah, from Montgomery County, put together an art exhibition to join the celebrations of the Independence Day of Pakistan at the Consulate General of Pakistan with Aisha Farooqui, her crew, and the community in Houston.

The beautiful artworks of Safdar Ali, Dr. Khawaja Azimuddin, Dr. Mohammad Bhatti, Dr. Naveeda Ghazanfar, Nasir Ali, Syed Ahmed Shah Ghazali Yasmeen Amjad, and Shahs own artwork are a part of the exhibition titled Colors of Prosperity.

On Aug. 14, a special flag-hoisting ceremony was held at the Consulate General of Pakistan in which exhibit curator Zartasha Shah participated. Colors of Prosperity was an important part of the celebrations of the Independence Day of Pakistan in Houston.

Safdar Ali

Safdar Ali was a former President of the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. Safdar Ali was a great contemporary artist and an administrator in Pakistan. He was born in 1924 in Gujrat, India. He was the founder of The Muslim Art Sketch Club in Bombay, India in 1943. He was a member of The Governing Council of Arts in Lahore in the same year. He was also an active member of The Lahore Arts Club in 1952. He exhibited his artworks several times at the Pakistani Arts Council in Lahore, Murree, Art Gallery in Lahore, Punjab University Fine Arts Department, Society of Contemporary Art Gallery Rawalpindi, Society of Contemporary Arts, Art Council Dacca, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Punjab Area Art Council, National Council Islamabad, Commonwealth Exhibition London, Biennial Paris, RCD Countries in 1966 and 1973, and The National Exhibition of Paintings in Pakistan. He died in 1983. Now-a-days, Professor Samina Ahmed is writing her thesis about Pakistani contemporary artists and Safdar Ali is an important part of her thesis in the United States.

Dr. Khawajia Azimuddin

Dr. Khawaja Azimuddin is a very popular artist, pioneer of the Islamic Arts Society, and a surgeon. He supports the culture, customs, traditions, values, and the religious artworks in the United States. He works with a group of the talented Muslim artists to support the calligraphy and lettering. He also works with the public libraries, schools, colleges, universities, and the other nonprofit organizations by displaying, demonstrating, exhibiting, and teaching Calligraphy and lettering at all of these places with the artists of the Islamic Arts Society. He has earned several honors, awards, and the acknowledgments from the Government entities, private sectors, and the public sectors as well. His involvement with the Interfaith groups is highly appreciated by the communities of the country. Three of his large murals are on permanent display at the Masjid Al-Salam in Houston.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ali Bhatti

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ali Bhatti is a world-renowned portrait painter. He earned his MFA (painting major), from the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and PHD in the Interdisciplinary Arts from the Ohio University in 1998. He has been painting for the last 30 years, having over 30 national and international solo exhibitions and several group shows to his credit. Mr. Ali was born and raised in Pakistan and has been painting since his childhood; his passion for portrait painting grew with him as he established his portrait clientele in his native country and around the world. Mr. Ali has been painting official and private portraits of numerous prominent personalities of The United States of America, Pakistan, Middle East. India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Dr. Bhatti has been blessed with a special gift to bring joy into the lives of others. He strives to blend the physical and spiritual characteristics of each person he paints into the most telling portrait possible. Every portrait he paints provides him with the opportunity to create a work of art that exhibits both beauty and timelessness.

Dr. Naveeda Ghazanfar

Dr. Naveeda Ghazanfar is a studio artist, calligraphy artist, director of a non-profit organization, poet, educator, scientist, writer, and a former art teacher in Rawalpindi Art Council in Pakistan. She has published eight research papers in The International Educational Journals. She is a member of The American Research Association (AERA). She earned BED and MED in Science Education, M. Phil in Chemistry, and Educational Planning and management and PHD in Education. She loves to share talent, skills, and the abilities with others. Her husband Ghazanfar Hashmi is working in media and they have three beautiful and talented sons with them. As a painter, curator, and a calligraphy artist, she worked in Arts Council in Islamabad for a long time. She taught several techniques by using several methods and materials and made those artworks for her students. Now-a-days, she is devoting her time, energy, and efforts to support and promote art in USA. She is fluent in English, Urdu, Punjabi and French. She exhibited and displayed her artworks at the different locations in Texas. She is interacting with the 36 nations to support and promote art, culture, and the languages of the USA. She is very popular among them and she is also highly appreciated by the entire group.

Nasir Ali

Nasir Ali is an artist, graphic designer, photographer, story board writer for the advertisements, restaurant interior designer, owner of a construction company, active member of IMAGH Club 65, former director of PAGH Golden Club, exotic birds collector & breeder, and a member of Audio Club of Houston. He was born to Safdar Ali and Hajra Bibi in 1956 in Lahore, Pakistan. He has three siblings and he has been married for 32 years with Noel Grippe who is a special Education Teacher in Texas. She likes to keep the artworks safe by doing the framing, mounting, and matting for him. His father Safdar Ali is a big inspiration not for the people of Asia, he is also a big inspiration for him as well. He studied at the National College of Arts in Lahore in 1970s and earned his degree in the graphic designing, commercial designing, story boarding, and the color scheming from there. He is a popular graphic designer in Texas. He exhibited his artworks with the group of the colleagues at Alhamra and the National College of Arts in Lahore. He also exhibited his artworks with me at the Pakistan Center in Houston, Texas.

Syed Ahmed Shah

Syed Ahmed Shah is an artist, poet, writer, traveler, general secretary of a non-profit organization, and a member of The Islamic Arts Society, Houston, Texas, USA. He is from The Hazrat Pir Babas family. He was born in 1956 to Pir Syed Zaman Shah Tirmizi and Mrs. Syed Zaman Shah Tirmizi in Pakistan. He has six siblings. He married Zartasha Shah and they have three children. He visited Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt, India, Thailand, France, England, and the United States. He loves the diverse culture of the United States. He likes to attend poetry events, fundraising events, media events, and all of the art exhibitions. He likes to write patriotic, romantic, religious poetry in Urdu, Spanish, English, Punjabi, Pushto languages, and recites on the air as well. He is also attending and participating different poetry events from 2002 including The Consulate of Pakistan in Houston Poetry Events, Pakistan Center in Houston Poetry Events, Taqdees-e-Adab International Poetry Events, Alnoor-International Dallas, Punjabi Society of Houston, ICNA American Society, Beauty of Humanity Fundraising/Poetry Events, Radio Dabaang Poetry Events etc. He publishes his articles and Press Releases in Urdu Times, Pakistan News, Pakistan Journal, and Pakistan Times. He learned several things from his Government Degree College Karachi, Pakistan. He used his educational skills several times in Jeddah. There, he made metal lanterns and lamps for Egyptians, Germans, Arabians, and they were liked by them. He also made the several decorative items for the several occasions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He made two sculptures and installed those sculptures with the permission of the Mayor of Jeddah at the Sea Shore of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both sculptures are still standing there. His artworks can share his interest in the history of art and the architecture of Islamic art in Pakistan. He also loves the Lone Star State and exhibits and participates in the art exhibitions and the festivals in Texas.

Yasmeen Amjad

Yasmeen Amjad is an artist, member of UNA-USA (Houston Chapter), adjunct professor at the Upward Bound at the Houston Community College East Side. and a highly qualified science teacher and a facilitator at the Alief ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Houston ISD, and the Ocean Star Offshore Energy Center in Houston. She is also a president of the Pakistan American Women Chamber of Commerce in Houston. She earned her Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Secondary Science from the University of Houston and the three courses were passed in the environmental science with an A grade. She earned her second Master of Applied Sciences and specialized in fisheries (Marine Biology). She earned her third Master of Science Zoology and specialized in Limnology (fresh water biology). She earned 18 credits in Biology and 18 more credits were also earned in the Secondary Science in education. She also earned several credits in Fine Arts and Science from the Houston Community College, Houston, Texas. The period of teaching at the high school and the community college is more than a decade and her online scoring at Pearson is also an important part of the teaching process in the State of Texas. She also taught art for more than a decade in Karachi, Pakistan. She learned about the Calligraphy from her seniors in Karachi, Pakistan. She was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. She got her education from the Jacob Lines High School, Karachi, Pakistan. She also got married to Mr. Amjad Mian in Karachi and now, they have two sons with them. She likes to participated in the art exhibitions of Texas.

Zartasha Shah

Shah is a graduate of the University of Houston with her MED in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in art education, and a BA in Art History with a minor in studio arts from there. She also has many other arts related degrees and certificates from the Lone Star College System. When she is not doing her art, she works as a part-time teacher for Conroe ISD and she is also ready to teach for Montgomery ISD. I like to use the Oil, Acrylic, and the Watercolor paints for her paintings. With her education and observational skills, she is an award-winning artist, art historian, educator, and curator as well as a poet and a writer. She has curated the three art exhibitions at the Houston Consulate of Pakistan and six at the Pakistan Center in Houston. She has exhibited work at the Gallery at the Madeley Building, Conroe City Hall, and the Conroe Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, and has also joined the art exhibition of the local artists of Houston at the City Hall in the Office of the Mayor of Houston, Houston. As an accomplished artist in Montgomery County, she is an active member of the Conroe Art League and has memberships in Golden Key International Honor Society, National Art Education Association, National Education Association, and Texas Education Agency. She was born in Bahawal Pur, a small but lavishly green town in Pakistan in 1967. She uses her knowledge, skills, abilities, observations, and the experiences of her work to work around.

Colors of Prosperity opened on Aug. 1 and continues through Aug. 31 at the Consulate General of Pakistan at 11850 Jones Road in Houston. Visit www.pakistanconsulatehouston.org for more about the Consulate General of Pakistan.
The Conroe City Council approved a $241,000 expenditure Thursday to install permanent LED lighting on 36 buildings in downtown.

Director of Public Works Norman McGuire said he hoped to have the lights installed on the tops of the buildings before the Christmas season. It will take about 10,095 linear feet to top the 36 buildings.

We play a major role in the downtown Christmas celebration and a big function of that is the installation of Christmas lights, McGuire said during the councils workshop meeting Wednesday.

McGuire said the LED lighting will reduce costs to the city because can be left up year round and the lights have a life span of seven to ten years. With the current lighting, McGuire is averages the city about $60,000 a year to install, remove and replace any damaged lights.

Two years ago, McGuire noted, the city installed LED lights in Heritage Park.

It provides a multitude of activities you can do with the lights, he said adding the lights can be programed and will change color. But the real benefit is we can install it and leave it so we are wanting to carry this concept throughout the downtown area.

McGuire said he wanted to get the lights ups as soon as possible and called the LEDs a better solution.

Mayor Toby Powell supports the new lighting.

Im partial to Christmas celebrations, he said. I certainly agree and it is an opportunity change the color of the lighting on top of our buildings to green to red to white for Valentines Day to Easter.

Irving-based Inception Lighting will install the new lighting.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
Shelby Taylor Wyse was sitting just one teller away from a woman who was withdrawing $75,000 in cash Friday at the Wallis State Bank on FM1960.

Police say video surveillance footage shows Wyse, who herself was a bank teller, intently watching the woman during the transaction. Wyse then sent a text, which police presume to be a "go signal" triggering a violent robbery just five miles away at a Valero gas station in Jersey Village.

RELATED: Bank teller accused of triggering violent robbery in northwest Harris County

Wyse, 25, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident. Police believe she sent a text to signal multiple other suspects, including her boyfriend, that the woman left with the cash.

The full extent of Wyse's involvement in the robbery is still unclear, but police have said she was involved in the planning.

Investigators do know that she had been dating one of the suspects, Travonn Johnson, since at least May 2017, when Johnson was accused of pushing her into a pool, gouging her right eye and hitting her with his hand, court records show.

She also leased the black Chrysler 300 that Johnson drove during the robbery from a Budget Rent a Car, police said. When confronted about the rental, she said the vehicle was stolen the morning of the robbery, but she never filed a police report, prosecutors said.

During the robbery, video appears to show Johnson backing over the victim and her husband with the vehicle. Johnson has since been arrested on a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

FOLLOW UP: 2nd suspect ID'd in brutal beating, robbery attempt caught on camera in NW Harris County

The bank declined to comment Thursday on how long Wyse had been working for them, but a Harris County public defender said during her probable cause hearing Wednesday that she's been living in Houston for around six years with an 8-year-old child.

The public defender said she didn't appear to have any previous criminal history, and a judge set her bail at $75,000 in Harris County Jail.

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
Two people were shot in downtown Houston on Thursday night after a robbery at a McDonald's, police said.

A man allegedly opened fire in the McDonald's parking lot near Gray Street and Main Street around 9 p.m., according to Metro Police Department spokesperson Tracy Jackson.

A man and a woman were grazed by the gunfire, Jackson said. A woman was seen taken away from the scene by ambulance.

SENTENCED: Man gets 26 years for scarring toddler with scalding bath water

The man walked into the McDonald's with a $5 bill and asked for change, said Det. Jeremy Spurlock of the Houston Police Department. As the cashier opened her register, the man grabbed some money and left, Spurlock said.

After the robbery, several customers began chasing the suspect, who fired several shots at them, Spurlock said.

The customers flagged nearby Metro police officers, who arrested the suspect. No charges have been filed at this time.

"It was dangerous, reckless and foolish activity," Spurlock said.

A witness told Chron.com earlier that the man who opened fire was upset about his order at the fast food restaurant, but Houston police later said the man had just finished robbing the restaurant when he opened fire.

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
The Woodlands Villager has a new staff member.

Jane Stueckemann, 23, will cover religion, education and other general assignment topics in South Montgomery County for the Villager, along with Editor Jeff Forward and another reporter.

Stueckemann came into The Villager after a two-month stint at the Cypress Creek Mirror and other northwest Houston papers which are part of the Houston Chronicle Media Group and Houston Community Newspapers.

Stueckemann is a native of the central Pennsylvania town of Lancaster and graduated from Elizabethtown Area High School in 2013.

Journalism runs deep in her career  while at the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Stueckemann served as the opinion editor, features editor and managing editor of the colleges student newspaper, The Advocate.

Previously, she was an editorial assistant at the Daily American in Somerset, Pennsylvania, and served as the news editor at her high school newspaper.

I love to write and hear people's stories, Stueckemann said. And journalism is a great way to blend those two things.

Stueckemann looks forward to meeting residents in the community and getting to know The Woodlands better.
An art mavens weekly fix of the local arts scene: what to see, what to hear, what to do, who to meet and musings about how art makes people feeltheir Art Feel.

For the past two years, Olimpia Petzold has been leading a program called HEART: A Healing Arts Program at Canopy, a first-of-its-kind cancer survivorship center in the greater Houston area, located on the campus of the Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center. Since 2016, Canopys mission has been to provide the finest support, education and integrative medical services to all those impacted by cancer regardless of where patients are receiving treatment. Petzold is a volunteer at Canopy. She is not paid to lead the bimonthly art therapy classes.

Petzold was born in Belgium and studied clinical psychology in Venezuela, received her masters degree in neuroscience in Spain and is now a doctoral candidate assigned at the Psychosomatic and Psycho-Oncology Research Unit of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. She also studied specific courses in Art Therapy at the Haute Ecole Libre de Bruxelles. Her research activities focus on the study of evaluation and treatment of psychological factors in cancer patients, through the use of art therapy. She is also an artist and arts enthusiast who moved to The Woodlands in 2014 with her family.

An art project is an extension of ourselves, it comes from within us, Petzold said. Art therapy gives three gifts to those who participate in it: one, a sense of control; two, a feeling of satisfaction (and) peace: and, three, over time, a sense of community/belonging to a group.

Cancer battlers often feel out of control. They feel controlled by the illness itself and the various doctor and lab appointments that dictate the makeup of their days. Producing an art project in a given time constraint gives the person something to control. This is very important, she said.

Petzold said people battling cancer at any stage often feel in limbo and unsatisfied. They make it to a specific milestone only to have another milestone to now strive for. There can be vast feelings of unrest and despair - feeling they have not really accomplished anything at all (although they have).

Art therapy participants feel report feeling satisfied after finishing an art project and/or series of them, and this accomplished feeling has tremendous value when battling such an insidious disease, she added. Being part of the art therapy group over time builds friendships, trust and gratitude which creates a community of people who like one another and depend on each other.

Woodlands resident Rowena Hayes is a breast cancer survivor who attends Petzolds HEART Arts Healing Program.

During my diagnosis and treatment, I spent my time suppressing my own emotions, so I could be strong for my family, Hayes said. Its only now, through art, that I am just beginning to express my own feelings about what I experienced and the daily fear I live with that the cancer might return.

Each art therapy exercise is different. Some of art exercises Petzold designs involve visualizing healing specific parts of the body. For example, she might ask participants to draw a picture of themselves with a healthy organ(s) without cancer. Other times, the art assignment is more open with her asking the group to paint what they would bring onto their ideal island.

The Butterfly Cycle assignment has Petzold talking to her students about the life cycle of a butterfly (from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly) and then asking each survivor to produce a piece of art that indicates what stage they feel they are at with their cancer. For example, someone who was recently diagnosed might identify with the beginning stage of the butterfly life cycle, so he/she might sculpt a caterpillar out of clay or for someone who is in remission they might create a butterfly in flight with paint on a canvas.

You do not have to be in treatment at Memorial Hermann to be a part of the Canopy community. Everyone touched by cancer is welcome (the patient, the spouse of, the children of, the friends of anyone battling a cancer diagnosis). Canopy is free and open to the public.

Thank you to Olimpia Petzold for donating your expertise, time and energy to the healing arts at Canopy which in turn elevates lives above a cancer diagnosis.

To learn more about Canopy, please call 713.897.5939 or visit www. woodlandscanopy.org.
The Shenandoah City Council on Wednesday denied Entergys proposed rate hike in the city.

The energy company, which serves several communities in Montgomery County, presented a notice of the increase to the council in May. In mid-June, a unanimously approved ordinance postponed the proposed effect date of the increase from June 19 to Sept. 17.

Entergys letter of intent detailed the companys need for a system-wide revenue increase of $16.7 million, resulting in a potential hike of about $2.36 a month for each customer using at least 1,000 kWh.

The extension would have allowed the cities affected by the rate hike to investigate the price and propose changes to both Entergy and the Texas Public Utilities Commission.

Shenandoah staff members presented more than half a dozen reasons to the council as to why they should deny the rate increase, including benefits already given to the company by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered the corporate income tax from 35 to 21 percent, and the companys failure to adequately show why the rate increase was needed.

Entergys revenue requirement is overstated, as is shown in the discussion and issue summary table, the report read.

Money matters

Following Shenandoahs Aug. 10 and 11 budget workshops, city Finance Director Lisa Wasner presented changes to the council on the new budgets proposed capital projects as the council starts to wind down the process before they consider approving it next month.

We all sort of came to the table with our quote, unquote, wish list, but that wish list wouldve gotten us pretty far out of round, Mayor Ritch Wheeler said.

Members of the City Council discussed lowering the tax rate to $0.1799 per $100 of assessed home value  which would bring in about $12,000 less in tax revenue than the 2018 effective rate.

Council Member Charlie Bradt expressed concern with lowering the tax rate, saying the year-on-year reduction of the tax rate was beginning to level off.

I think it would be a bad move to lower the tax rate lower than the effective rate, Bradt said. I think the city itself would be better served to keep the effective tax rate.

Other council members cheered the effort to lower the tax rate for residents.

I believe we should have a commitment to keep lowering the tax rate below the effective rate, Council Member Byron Bevers said.

Wednesday night was one of the last times council will be able to discuss the budget in an open meeting  in order to get the approved effective tax rate to the Montgomery County Appraisal District by the Sept. 15 deadline, the city council must approve the budget at their next meeting on Sept. 5.

mrincon@chron.com
Hawaii's 15 airports remain open, but officials are reminding travelers to check with their airlines about the status of their flights before heading to the airport. On the Big Island, which received more than 30 inches of rain, officials said there was no reported damage at either of the airports, Hilo and Ellison Onizuka International. On Maui, Kahului Airport temporarily lost power, but it was restored Thursday evening, officials said.

As of 10:30 p.m. Thursday, airport officials said runways are open and will remain accessible barring any damage to infrastructure or issues with debris. But many airlines have already announced waivers to travelers to and from the island. Some airlines, including Delta and United, added flights to accommodate demand.

Hurricane Lane had weakened to a Category 3 storm, but not before dumping more than 30 inches of rain on the Big Island according to the National Weather Service. Both Oahu, the state's most populated island, and Maui County were under hurricane warnings. Kauai County was under a hurricane watch. The storm was slowing as it approaches the state's capital, Honolulu, but forecasters caution that could mean more rain will fall.

While there is much uncertainty about the storm's track, forecasters said Friday that it has become more likely that Lane will remain offshore, rather than striking the islands head-on. Even so, residents and tourists were cautioned not to let their guard down.

In an update Friday morning, American Airlines said most flights were operating but cautioned there may be delays. The airline had 18 flights scheduled for Friday and canceled four that were scheduled for Kahului Airport, which is located on the island of Maui. Officials at Hawaiian Airlines said travelers with reservations between Aug. 21 and Aug. 28 would be allowed a one-time reservation change without having to pay a fee. They also apologized for long wait times on reservations lines.

A spokesman for United Airlines told CNBC that it has reduced fares on last-minute tickets. Airlines had come under criticism during last year's hurricane season after some travelers complained about high airfares during Hurricane Irma, which hit Cuba and Florida.

"We have taken steps to reduce fares beyond what a regular last-minute fare would be," United spokesman Frank Benenati told CNBC, saying that passengers "traveling to, from or through areas" affected by the hurricane can waive their change fees and difference in airfare.

Officials at American Airlines warned that the state has placed restrictions on all animals traveling to Hawaii, including service animals. State officials anticipate they will have limited staffing due to the storm making it difficult to care for the animals in quarantine and process new arrivals. Officials said that pets and emotional support animals will not be allowed on flights from midnight Friday through Monday at 8 a.m. local time. Those traveling with service animals are required to contact the quarantine office during check-in at the airport to ensure that their animal has been pre-cleared for release upon arrival.
WASHINGTON - Standing in the Oval Office, flanked on one side by Vice President Mike Pence and on the other by then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, President Donald Trump begins to speak. It's Feb. 9, 2017.

"It is with great pride, very great pride, that I say these words to you right now, Attorney General Jeff Sessions," Trump says, pausing. Applause and cheers break out, camera shutters click. Pence nods his approval. Sessions beams, unable to contain his smile.

"Welcome to the White House," Trump finishes, reaching back to place a hand on Sessions' shoulder. Sessions can be seen saying "thank you," before patting the president on his back.

In a four-minute long speech before Sessions was officially sworn in as the new U.S. attorney general, Trump had nothing but glowing words for the man he handpicked to be the nation's top law enforcement officer.

"He's a man of integrity, a man of principle and a man of total utter resolve," the president said. "That resolve is what we need right now. America faces many challenges. We face the menace of rising crime and the threat of deadly terror and it's not getting better, but it will get better very soon. It's gonna get a lot better."

Sessions, Trump said, was the "determined attorney general" the country needed.

"Jeff understands that the job of the attorney general is to serve and protect the people of the United States and that is exactly what he will do and do better than anybody else can," he said. "He's trained better for it than anybody else. The level of respect that he has throughout this country as a former prosecutor, not even to mention being a longtime U.S. senator, is absolutely incredible."

Trump added, "He will be a great protector of the people."

At the time, political observers noted that the main reason Sessions got the job was that he was the first member of U.S. Senate to endorse Trump. Trump owed him.

On Thursday, during an interview with "Fox & Friends" Trump, now furious at Sessions for recusing himself in the Russia probe, pretty much confirmed that.

"I put in an attorney general that never took control of the Justice Department," Trump said. "Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department and it's a sort of an incredible thing."

"The only reason I gave him the job, because I felt loyalty. He was an original supporter."

Trump's confession came as no surprise.

On election night, Trump gave a personal shout out to Sessions in his victory speech, " . . . He is highly respected in Washington because he's as smart as you get." He added, "Great man."

But the once-amiable relationship began deteriorating less than a month after Sessions assumed his new position. In March 2017, Sessions recused himself from the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, now headed by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Given his involvement with the campaign and the two meetings he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during that time - which he did not disclose to the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing in January - many experts, and Sessions himself, believed he had done the right thing.

"I'm confident I made the right decision, a decision that's consistent for the rule of law," Sessions told Tucker Carlson in a July 2017 interview. "An attorney general who doesn't follow the law is not very effective in leading the Department of Justice."

Trump, however, did not see Sessions' commitment to the law in a favorable light.

"Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, . . . which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," Trump told the New York Times in July 2017. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair, and that's a mild word, to the president."

Since then, Trump has favored terms such as "beleaguered" and "weak" to describe Sessions, often adding quotation marks around the word "justice" when tweeting about the Department of Justice.

Trump tweeted "The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax continues, all because Jeff Sessions didn't tell me he was going to recuse himself. . .I would have quickly picked someone else. So much time and money wasted, so many lives ruined. . .and Sessions knew better than most that there was No Collusion!"

Hours after Thursday's interview aired, Sessions issued a statement in his defense, saying the Justice Department will not be "improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump tweeted a response early Friday morning.

Quoting Sessions, he wrote, "Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the 'other side' including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr. . .. . ."

In a second tweet he continued his list, ending it with "Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!"
Esteban L. Hernandez  New Haven Register

The Branford Fire Department will receive a $1.46 million grant to hire eight new firefighters, according to a news release.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide the department with a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant, which will be used over a three-year period, the release said.
MPONDWE, Uganda - On Tuesdays and Fridays, an estimated 19,000 people stream down the hill from Congo's North Kivu province to cross the border into this small town, many of them headed to a sprawling open-air market.

In recent weeks, crossing the border has become more difficult as Ugandan health authorities have beefed up precautions against the spread of the Ebola virus. An outbreak centered in North Kivu is responsible for 105 confirmed or suspected cases, including 67 deaths, according to Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who has just returned from the area.

Uganda is determined to keep the deadly hemorrhagic fever from spreading to its side of the border. Before travelers are allowed through, they must step in small tubs of chlorinated water to disinfect their shoes, and their temperatures are taken with no-touch thermometer guns aimed at their temples.

Uganda moved quickly, imposing the precautions a week after the latest outbreak was declared Aug. 1. It has found six suspected cases at this crossing, but laboratory tests cleared them all.

"So far, we have not gotten any case of Ebola," Ithungu Honorata, a nurse who oversees the screening effort, said Friday. "But we don't want it to come to Uganda."

The latest Ebola outbreak, Congo's tenth, was declared just a week after a smaller one was quelled in another part of the country. It comes four years after the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea killed more than 11,000 people, sickened more than 28,000 and sparked panic about travel in other parts of the world, including the United States.

The current outbreak is still escalating, according to Redfield and workers at nongovernmental organizations that have rushed in to treat victims and interrupt the spread of the disease.

"Really, in two weeks, we've gone from 24 cases to 105 cases," Redfield said, mainly because many health workers at a hospital in the town of Mangina, where the outbreak began, became infected when they treated early patients without recognizing that they had Ebola and therefore did not take adequate precautions. The disease spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of victims, putting health workers and patients' family members at greatest risk.

"In the next couple of weeks, we'll have greater clarity" about the scope of the problem, Redfield said.

"The scary thing is that we are above 100 cases already," said Michelle Gayer, director of emergency health for the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit organization that is helping in the region. But she said it will be another week before health authorities can begin to assess fully how bad the outbreak may become.

"Everyone is concerned, rightfully so, that there are still cases coming," said Karin Huster, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, who is in Beni, a city in the affected area of Congo.

Several factors make this outbreak challenging. Years of conflict between militias and the government have put large numbers of people on the move and weakened the region's health infrastructure. The instability also makes it difficult to travel to outlying areas where cases have been discovered, such as Oicha, without military protection.

But unlike four years ago, when Ebola tore through a portion of West Africa, authorities now have a vaccine and several experimental treatments that were developed in the interval. Redfield said that nearly 3,000 people have been vaccinated, with 400 to 600 more receiving the vaccine each day. About a dozen confirmed cases have been treated with two experimental therapies, including one developed at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. All of the treated patients are alive, he said.

The most successful way to halt an outbreak of this kind is to track down all the contacts of everyone infected with the virus and test them for exposure. Those people are isolated and treated if they are infected and vaccinated if they are not. The contacts of those contacts must be found and assessed as well in a process known as "ring vaccination."

Four years ago, the World Health Organization and the United States were accused of moving too slowly to intervene in the West African epidemic. This time, both have moved quickly into the area. And Doctors Without Borders opened a 70-bed treatment center in Mangina on Aug. 14, while the Alliance for International Medical Action has a 40-bed center in nearby Beni. A third is being built, Redfield said.

So far, Redfield said, it is not necessary to test travelers at U.S. ports of entry, in part because there are no direct flights to the United States from the affected region and screening of outgoing travelers is being conducted. Four years ago, debate raged about whether to cut off all travel from West Africa to the United States. President Donald Trump, then a private citizen, was an outspoken advocate of that position, tweeting that the United States should not allow two infected American missionaries back into the country for treatment.

Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol were admitted to U.S. hospitals and survived after receiving intensive care.

At the Congo-Uganda border crossing, Alphosine Kahindo, 47, was on her way to the market, a 12-hour trip on foot from her home in Kisima, to buy fish and soap and to sell a milky-white alcoholic drink made from fermented corn. She said that her uncle is sick and that her brother died in the current outbreak. She did not attend his funeral, she said, because of the fear of infection.

"I was longing to go, but I couldn't," she said.

At the market, vendors are also aware of the outbreak. Malik Meredith, 45, was selling piles of plump baby eggplant. "No one is sick here," she said. "But we are fearing it."

- - -

Bernstein reported from Washington.
President Donald Trump and his aides and lawyers have made vague and shifting statements about his alleged affairs with two women and arrangements to buy their silence before the 2016 election.

Trump, the White House and his lawyers have had at least 25 opportunities since January to describe the president's role in the hush-money payments and explain when he first learned of them. Their answers have been imprecise and inconsistent, and at no time have they provided a full explanation of Trump's involvement.

What Trump knew about the payments and when are urgent questions after his former attorney, Michael Cohen, implicated the president in a crime. After pleading guilty on Tuesday to violating campaign finance law, Cohen told a federal court that he made the payments "in coordination with, and at the direction of" an unnamed candidate that his attorney later identified as Trump.

It was the clearest explanation yet of the president's participation in what prosecutors said were schemes to buy the silence of Stephanie Clifford, an adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the weeks before the election. Both women say they had affairs with Trump about a decade before his campaign for president.

The president has denied the alleged affairs and any wrongdoing. In an interview that aired Thursday on Fox News, Trump said he found out about the payments "later on," but didn't elaborate with any details. Last month, an audio recording surfaced in which Trump and Cohen are heard describing how to set up a payment for the rights to McDougal's story in 2016.

Trump told Fox News the hush-money arrangements didn't constitute a campaign finance violation because the payments "came from me."

The remarks contradicted a statement the president made in April, when he told reporters aboard Air Force One that he didn't know about the payments and he didn't know where Cohen got the money for them.

Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said in an interview on Wednesday that Trump is "quite certain" Cohen didn't tell him about the payments during the campaign and "doesn't remember exactly when in 2017" he learned about them.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the payment to McDougal in November 2016. Trump's communication director Hope Hicks told the newspaper at that time, "We have no knowledge of any of this."

Here's a partial timeline showing how Trump's story has shifted in 2018:

- January: The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen had made a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence. The story cited a White House official who said Trump denied the affair. Asked about the payment on Jan. 18, White House spokesman Raj Shah declined to answer and referred questions to Cohen, then still Trump's personal attorney. At the time, Cohen released one statement saying Trump "vehemently denies" an affair and another statement under Clifford's name saying she also denied the affair. He didn't address the issue of the hush-money payment until February, when he released a statement saying that he made the payment on his own and wasn't reimbursed by the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization. He didn't say whether Trump personally reimbursed him. Cohen said the payment didn't constitute a campaign finance violation. The White House continued to refer questions about the matter to Cohen, who changed his story while under oath during his guilty plea. His plea agreement indicates that the Trump Organization provided reimbursement for an illegal campaign contribution.

- March 7: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said she had spoken to Trump and "there was no knowledge of any payments from the president, and he's denied all of these allegations.

- March 28: Cohen's then-attorney, David Schwartz, told CNN that Cohen "never told" Trump about the payments.

- April 5: Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he didn't know about the $130,000 payment and didn't know where Cohen got the money for it.

- April 9: The FBI searched Cohen's office, home and hotel room and federal agents seized evidence that would ultimately lead to his guilty plea. Shortly after the raid, Trump hired former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a personal attorney.

- May 2: Giuliani revealed for the first time that Trump repaid Cohen for the hush-money payments. "They funneled it through the law firm, and the president repaid it," Giuliani said on Fox News.

- May 3: Trump tweeted that Cohen made the payment from a monthly retainer. "Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA," he wrote. "Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll [sic] in this transaction." Sanders continued to sidestep questions about the mounting inconsistencies. "We give the very best information that we have at the time," she told reporters. "The president didn't know at the time but eventually learned" of the hush-money payments, she said but declined to say exactly when the president learned of the payments.

- May 4: Reporters asked Trump when he knew about the payments, and he responded, "you'll be finding out" soon. "You're going to find out, because we're going to give a full list," he said, adding that Giuliani would soon "get his facts straight." He never provided a list.

- May 16: Trump filed his annual financial disclosure, reporting that he had reimbursed Cohen in 2017 for the hush-money arrangements. But the White House continued to dodge questions about when the president first knew about the payments.

- May 6: White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Trump didn't know about the payment at the time it was made. She said she had just spoken to Trump about the issue, but didn't know when Trump first learned about the payment. "That, I don't know," she said. "But I know that the president has said he didn't know it when it occurred." Asked the same day about the audio recording of Trump and Cohen discussing the McDougal hush-money payment, Sanders declined to answer questions, saying only that "the president maintains that he's done nothing wrong."

- Aug. 21: Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court, saying the plan to violate campaign finance laws was directed by then-candidate Trump.

- Aug. 22: Sanders declined several opportunities to explain the president's knowledge of the payments ."I have addressed this a number of times," she told reporters Wednesday. "Just because you continue to ask the same questions over and over, I'm not going to give you a different answer. The president has done nothing wrong. There are no charges against him. There is no collusion."

- With assistance from Bloomberg's Erik Larson.
PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The timeline of events leading up to Pascagoula's current financial crisis shows that the way the city handled bond funds allowed it to postpone a day of reckoning that had been coming for years.

In late July, city leaders revealed that they'd discovered a deficit of about $14 million. Worse, an independent audit showed that the only operating money the city had on hand was a dwindling reserve of bond money meant for capital projects.

According to the forensic audit conducted by Collins, Barr & Hembree, "obligations of the general fund is currently being provided by bond proceeds ... remaining on hand from the issuance of general obligation bonds in 2017."

The audit also states "the current financial crisis cannot be readily ascertained from the City's financial reports because the City has recorded general obligation proceeds in the general fund. These proceeds were not adequately segregated and restricted in the annual audit reports of the city through the year ended September 30, 2016."

Since the news emerged, there's been some finger-pointing by the current administration to the former administration. The audit describes lax accounting practices throughout the administration of former mayor Jim Blevins, but Blevins points to a recent report that appears to show significantly higher spending under current mayor Maxwell.

How did the city end up here? There may be plenty of blame to go around, but it's clear that the situation began to develop years ago.

The audit summarized budgeted revenue for the fiscal years from 2012 to 2016 averaged approximately $26,750,000 and the actual revenue amounts reported for these fiscal years averaged approximately $22,375,000.

"This indicates the actual revenue reported by the City during this period has been approximately 84 percent of the final budgeted amount. Each year, the City has consistently budgeted amounts that exceeded both the prior and current year actual amounts. The amounts in the final budget are not considered reasonable and the City did not appropriately revise these amounts each year their final budgets," according to the audit.

According to the audit, "the City has not followed best practices in the use of fund accounting. Activity that would have been more appropriately recorded in special revenue funds and capital project funds has been recorded in the general fund during the past several years."

The forensic audit shows that as of Sept. 30, 2015, the City of Pascagoula was nearly broke.

Below, a timeline will show prominent dates of how the city found itself at this juncture:

April 2014

City leaders agreed to use bonds to raise $10 million for parks and recreation projects, and $15 million for infrastructure ($8 million for streets, drainage and land acquisition for public use, and $7 million for utility projects, including water, sewer and gas.)

August 2014

Demery Grubbs, a consultant, proposed that the city should arrange its bond issues through the Mississippi Development Bank. That would allow the city to "take home the bulk of the $15 million it borrows," Grubbs said, "rather than losing several hundred thousand to fees and other charges."

The council voted unanimously to allow Grubbs to proceed to MDB and apply on behalf of the city.

"We're postured to come right out of the chute," Mayor Jim Blevins added. "We have immediate need. We know what the problems are."

September 2014

City figures showed the fiscal year ending with $2.6 million in the bank. But the forensic audit shows the situation wasn't as good as it looked. For one thing, the city's balance had been dropping for years, from $14.6 million at the end of September 2011.

Auditors wrote that from 2012 to 2016, the city consistently overestimated revenues and underestimated expenses. The city "has not exercised due care in the preparation and revision of its budgets," they wrote. City leaders were overspending by about $4 million a year, draining their reserves.

Auditors also said that $2.6 million balance improperly included a little over $1 million in capital project funds. The true balance, they said, was $1.5 million. Pascagoula had almost hit the wall. If the trend continued, the city would be in the red well before the next year was over.

October 2014

At their Oct. 21 meeting, city leaders voted to move forward with the issuance of a general obligation bond of up to $15 million for infrastructure work around the city. Grubbs told the city council members that he hoped to have the bonds sold by the first week of November and "money in hand before Thanksgiving."

September 30, 2015

Audit records show the city had banked $8 million in bond proceeds during the year. Its year-end balance was $9.3 million.

However, that balance was extremely misleading, auditors said. Between the bond funds and other special revenue, it included $9.8 million that it shouldn't have. Minus that money, the city was half a million dollars in the hole.

Because monies from the bonds were not placed in specific categories for specific projects, the previous administration was facing a deficit it had no idea existed and was almost at a point of no return.

Within the forensic audit, current comptroller Sherria Trosclair is quoted as saying, "the City had experienced problems in maintaining adequate accounting records with respect to the bond related expenditures. Much of this record-keeping has been done manually and is not a direct product of the accounting system."

The audit also says that when they requested a summary of the bond proceeds at various dates, as well as a current balance, this information was not readily available and could only be determined after information was compiled from various sources.

According to the audit, "documents from each of these bond issues contained provisions requiring the establishment of a separate capital projects fund for each bond issue into which the proceeds from the sale of the bonds was to be recorded."

"We believe the City has violated the provisions of the bond documents by accounting for the bond proceeds and projects in the general fund," the forensic audit says.

The Mississippi Press placed a call to the MDB on Tuesday to inquire how the bond money was disseminated whether through a line of credit or if members of the city traveled to retrieve the money. We also wanted to know the procedures they required the city to follow to complete the transaction between both parties. Our call has not been returned.

August 2016

The time had come for the city to press forward with the parks and recreation portion of its plan. The plan for a $10 million bond had been increased to $12.5 million, to be paid for by a 2 percent food and beverage tax.

The city held a vote on Aug. 30 for residents to decide to approve the two percent food and beverage tax. Citizens rejected the tax hike.

September 2016

City leaders unanimously approved a return to the polls after much conversation.

According to Exhibit III in the audit, the city had an accumulated deficit in unrestricted general fund resources of $5,354,580 as of Sept. 30, 2016. This was still mostly masked by bond money.

"During our procedures, this was the latest date for which audited information was available," the audit said.

November 2016

Voters passed the prepared food tax hike. The tax was set to go in effect Jan. 1, 2017.

April 2017

The city received bonds from MDB after their approval on April 12. Those bonds officially became available to the city June 19, 2017.

May 2017

At the May 18, 2017, recessed meeting, Grubbs made a presentation concerning the process and issuance of the $12.5 recreation bonds.

July 4, 2017

Mayor Dane Maxwell and his administration were officially sworn into office at the Pascagoula Senior Center.

Sept. 30, 2017

Records show the city had banked $12.5 million in bond funds, which once again went into the general fund, where they continued to cover up the city's growing deficit.

June 30, 2018

As the third quarter of the city's fiscal year came to an end, a comparison to the previous year's third-quarter report show what appear to be significant differences.

The report for June 30, 2017, showed that the city had collected $31.4 million, or 47.9 percent of the money it expected to take in that year. It had spent $35.9 million or 57.3 percent of its budget.

The report for June 30, 2018, shows that $35.4 million had come in, or 56.3 percent of the city's expected revenue for the year. But spending to date came in at $44.1 million, or 72.1 percent of the budget.

July 26, 2018

The city announces a $14 million deficit existed and announced plans to submit city budgets and related documents for years 2012-2017 and the recent forensic audit commissioned by this administration to the state auditor.

"We initiated this action as we continue to seek a complete understanding of the severity of poor fiscal management practices in the past, and the extent to which any employees or officials were responsible or had knowledge of the financial mismanagement at the city," Maxwell said.

August 1, 2018

City announced the termination of four full-time employees whose jobs would end effective Sept. 1 while seven part-time employees' jobs ended Aug. 1.

Oct. 1 2018

The city's next fiscal year starts Oct. 1, meaning the city has to come up with a budget that reflects its new financial reality by Sept. 15. A meeting has been set for Sept. 6 for the city to discuss whether to approve tax increases.
CINCINNATI (AP)  The nation's largest grocery chain has begun to phase out the use of plastic bags as more Americans grow uncomfortable with their impact on the environment.

Kroger Co. will start Thursday at its QFC stores in and around Seattle, with the goal of using no plastic bags at those stores at some point next year. The company said it will be plastic-bag free at all of its nearly 2,800 stores by 2025.

Kroger Co. orders about 6 billion bags each year for its stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, which cater to almost 9 million people daily through two dozen different grocery chains.

The grocer, based in Cincinnati, is seeking customer feedback and will be working with outside groups throughout the transition to reusable bags. Customers will be able to buy reusable bags at its stores for $1 to $2 a piece. While brown paper bags will also be available for free, Kroger says that its goal is to fully transition to reusable bags.

At HoustonChronicle.com: Why Texas should ban plastic bags [Opinion]

"We listen very closely to our customers and our communities, and we agree with their growing concerns," said Mike Donnelly, Kroger's chief operating officer. "That's why, starting today at QFC, we will begin the transition to more sustainable options. This decision aligns with our Restock Kroger commitment to live our purpose through social impact."

HABITS FORMED: How to break your plastic, foil and paper addiction in the kitchen

The U.S. each year generates more than 4 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Only about 13 percent of that plastic is recycled.

A number of cities are attempting to put into place new bans on single-use plastic bags, but there has been pushback from industry groups, saying that discarding plastic bags will hurt lower-income populations disproportionately.

There has been a pushback from lawmakers as well in a number of states when cities and towns attempt to put into place ordinances that prohibit the use of plastic bags, or charge fees if customers do not bring reusable bags.

According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, since 2015 state lawmakers in Arizona, Missouri, Idaho, Michigan, Wisconsin and last year, Minnesota, have prevented local ordinances that ban plastic bags. They followed similar state actions in Florida, Indiana and Iowa, according to Pew.

But companies are free to make their own choices on that front, and increasingly, they are doing so.

There is a broader shift under way at major U.S. corporations to reduce waste. Disney, Starbucks, Marriott and McDonald's are getting rid of plastic straws. McDonald's said this year that it will use only recycled or other environmentally friendly materials for its soda cups, Happy Meal boxes and other packaging by 2025. Dunkin' Donuts is phasing out polystyrene foam cups by 2020. Ikea plans to eliminate single-use plastic products from its shelves by 2020.

David Pinsky of Greenpeace hailed the shift at Kroger, saying plastic pollution is killing sea life as well as impacting the health of humans.

"Kroger's decision to phase out single-use plastic bags is a testament to how consumers are demanding action on plastics from retailers nationwide," Pinsky said. "Kroger should build upon this effort by getting rid of additional types of single-use plastic. Plastic bags are important for retailers to eliminate, but so are plastic bottles, Styrofoam trays, and plastic-wrapped fruit and vegetables."
NEW HAVEN  There were numerous national issues on her agenda in the last six days, but of equal importance for the local office of U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro was the fate of a constituent about to be deported.

The letters, emails and phone calls began last week and continued up until early Wednesday evening, when the congresswoman got the word that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had granted an emergency stay for Salma Sikandar, who was scheduled to leave for Bangladesh Thursday morning.

Sikandar, her husband, Anwar Mahmud, and their 17-year-old American citizen son, Samir Mahmud, celebrated in DeLauros office Thursday morning, where the family thanked her for her efforts.

The gentleman at ICE kept us informed at every step of the way and was very responsive. We called over and over and over again, DeLauro said. He was very forthcoming.

She said the talks were not confrontational.

After 4:30 p.m., DeLauros office determined that a decision was close. One of the regional directors was in active discussion with the agencys chief counsel.

Believe me, we know them long enough that we know they were looking at every piece, DeLauro said. Soon after that Sikandar got a reprieve.

Attorney Robert Wang, who has been working with Sikandar and Anwar Mahmud for a long time, said the stay is for a year and she will be here when her husbands case is heard on July 15, 2019.

Mahmud was granted a motion in 2014 to reopen his asylum case based on changed country conditions in Bangladesh; Sikandar is a derivative in his case.

Not everyone had gotten the word on Sikandars status. At 7:30 a.m. Thursday , a representative from the private agency that monitors GPS ankle bracelets given to undocumented immigrants showed up at her apartment.

This routine had been going on for months, where they check the monitor, which has to be charged every eight hours and worn continuously.

It will be so nice not to see them again, Samir Mahmud said. He said his mother would wake him to help her change the batteries in the middle of the night or answer the door for an agent.

Anwar Mahmud was grateful for the advocates who worked hard to make the case public and for the kindness of strangers who stopped by.

He said a woman across from the federal building where nine people, including Mahmud, were engaged in a hunger strike on Tuesday into Wednesday, let them use the facilities at her apartment as did personnel at the Cultural Center nearby in Hartford.

The family was returning to a normal routine Thursday with shopping on the list as Samir Mahmud goes to Quinnipiac University next week as a freshman.

But the first stop was to get the ankle monitor removed.

mary.oleary@

hearstmediact.com
Some New Yorkers successfully prepaid some of their property taxes at the end of last year in a bid to ease the hit from a new federal cap on state and local tax deductions. Those who want to try to ease the pain this year may just have a few days left before the window closes.

The Internal Revenue Service took an important step on Thursday toward blocking the charitable workarounds high-tax states like New York approved in response to the tax law's $10,000 limit. But the agency said the regulations take effect after Aug. 27, giving New York taxpayers who have already made donations to charitable funds this year -- or can hustle and make them in the next four days -- a possible break on their 2018 taxes, according to tax experts.

"I would think you would clearly want to take advantage of it, assuming that the fund is up and running," Howard Wagner, a director in the national tax services group at Crowe, said referring to the four-day window.

The so-called SALT cap limit is one of the most disputed provisions of President Donald Trump's tax law. The overhaul created a $10,000 limit for state and local tax deductions, a pittance for Northeastern states that have high property taxes. Democratic governors in those states have battled the Republican law's cap, saying they're being unfairly targeted.

While some municipalities had been awaiting IRS guidance before creating funds and accepting donations, others went ahead and established them. For example, the Village of Scarsdale, New York, set up a charitable fund earlier this year for residents. New York State has set up a special revenue fund, but there isn't any money in it yet, according to Jennifer Freeman, director of communications for New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Still, taxpayers should be cautious about contributing to funds before Aug. 27 because the IRS proposal makes it clear that the agency considers its position to be settled law, according to Michael Greenwald, a partner at accounting firm Friedman.

"It is possible that contributions before the effective date will be challenged," Greenwald said.

Brian Streig, a tax director at accounting firm Calhoun, Thomson + Matza said he thinks taxpayers will have a case: "Your rebuttal is that the IRS's reg says Aug. 27 is the effective date," he said. "I think you could win."

After Aug. 27, taxpayers who itemize will only be eligible for a federal deduction that's a small fraction of their charitable donations for property tax payments, according to proposed regulations issued by the Treasury Department on Thursday. The charitable contribution strategies in high-tax states like New York were created so taxpayers would be able to write off the full donation amount from their federal taxes.

The Treasury regulations say taxpayers can receive a federal tax write-off equal to the difference between the state tax credits they get and their charitable donations. That means a New York taxpayer who makes a $20,000 charitable donation to pay property taxes and receives a $17,000 state tax credit would only be able to write off $3,000 on a federal tax bill.

Since New York, New Jersey and Connecticut just passed laws this year allowing for charitable contributions, some systems in those states may still not be ready to take payments.

In New Jersey, no county has set one up, and "I'm not aware of any county that is thinking about setting one up at this time," said John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties.

It isn't the first time municipalities have been caught off guard by the SALT deduction changes. Taxpayers stood in line outside county offices at the end of last year, rushing to prepay their 2018 real estate tax bills in the hopes they could apply it to their 2017 tax return, which allowed for unlimited SALT deductions.

Only those who already had their taxes assessed ended up qualifying for the the additional tax write-off for their 2017 tax bills following IRS guidance on the matter.

Residents of states that have had charitable tax break programs in effect for some time, such as Georgia and South Carolina, that benefit hospitals or schools, will probably have an easier time writing checks before the new rules go into effect, said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

"The reality is that the red states are further along in setting up their high-percentage credit schemes," said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. "So it may be easier for folks in red states to rush to claim credits before Aug. 27."

It's a short window, but it may be taxpayers only shot, since the proposed rules "completely eliminate the reason to use the SALT deduction cap workarounds," said Jared Walczak, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.

Earlier this year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation allowing local governments to set up charitable organizations to accept property tax payments. In turn, homeowners receive credits for those donations to offset federal taxable income. New York provides an 85 percent state credit, so under the Treasury rules, only 15 percent of the donation amount would be eligible for a federal tax break.

New Jersey and Connecticut approved similar legislation. One of three California bills to allow taxpayers to make charitable contributions has advanced through its first Assembly committee.

The rules released Thursday are likely to be contested by those states. Cuomo is also spearheading a lawsuit by four states to have the SALT cap struck down, which legal experts have said has little chance of success.

"The IRS is hastily proposing politically motivated regulations to further the agenda of the Trump administration and block reforms that deliver relief to New York taxpayers," Cuomo said in a statement. "Make no mistake: we will use every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to fight back."

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Bloomberg's Gerald Silverman and Robert Lee contributed to this report.
A Saginaw Valley State University student and staff member were recently recognized as national leaders by Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity.

Gabe Kasper, a marketing major from Clare who served as the SVSU chapter's president until recently, won The Clarence E. Brehm Leadership Award at the fraternity's conference this month in the Bahamas.

"When I received the Brehm Award, I was completely dumbfounded," Kasper said. "As they were reading, I slowly put the pieces together that they were talking about me, and I was in complete shock that I  out of thousands of other AKL undergraduate members  was the one the National Executive Council chose.

"To me, what I do in AKL isn't something extraordinary. The people who won that same award in the past have gone and done amazing things in their life, and I still cannot believe that my name will be in the same category."

It has been a very busy year for the fraternity that was only recently chartered on SVSU's campus on March 16, marking the first time a fraternity had been chartered at SVSU in the past decade.

The chapter's adviser, Riley Hupfer, an SVSU alumnus and assistant director of SVSU's Center for Community Engagement, was awarded the Henry T. Moon Outstanding Chapter Advisor award for his outstanding work while advising the fraternity.

During the past school year, members of the SVSU chapter of Alpha Kappa Lambda promoted causes such as sexual assault prevention and alcohol safety education.

The fraternity collects pledges for These Hands Don't Hurt, a national philanthropic organization aimed at preventing domestic or sexual violence. In 2018, the SVSU chapter added a bike-a-thon to raise funds for to local women's shelters. For every $1 raised, members rode an exercise bike for one minute. In the past two years, they have raised over $500.

SVSU's Alpha Kappa Lambda chapter also worked with others to introduce a Glo-Hard Paint and Foam Party in 2017 to provide alcohol safety education as part of Welcome Weekend, which marks the start of a new academic year. Partnering with SVSU's offices of Student Life and Student Wellness Programs, among others, students who attend the party get party-safe and alcohol-safe tips from our trained students and professionals while foam cannons and luminescent paint cover attendees dancing to music from top local DJs. The first-year event attracted more than 750 people and resulted in donations of $250 to Hurricane Irma relief efforts; this year they hope to draw more than 1,000 students.

While the national awards were given to individuals, Kasper said the 22 fraternity members worked hard to accomplish the recognition received. He looks forward to watching the chapter continue to grow.

"The most rewarding thing was the realization that our leadership and dedication will now lead to a legacy of people to grow as men under the foundation we set," Kasper said. "AKL really changed my idea of what a fraternity is. Fraternity is so much more than what the media portrays. Greek letters  especially at SVSU  do so much more for the campus and the community, and make a true impact."
When President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday night that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to look into violence against, and seizures of land from, white farmers in South Africa, he wasn't just amplifying a narrative he heard from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Trump was also elevating a storyline that has floated around white supremacist blogs, podcasts and online forums for years. And the president's tweet shows how these white supremacist ideas bubble up from the internet's darkest corners and into the Oval Office.

In 2015, Dylann Roof walked into a Bible study group at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., listened quietly for an hour and then opened fire, killing nine people. A photo that later surfaced online showed Roof wearing a jacket sporting the flag of South Africa's apartheid regime. The 24-year-old South Carolinian clearly felt an affinity with white South Africans.

That sentiment is common across the white supremacist universe.

The neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer has published hundreds of stories about the plight of white South African farmers. Users of the white supremacist site Stormfront have been going on about the issue for years. White nationalist groups on platforms such as Facebook are similarly devoted to the fate of South African whites.

These narratives often portray the treatment of South African whites as a critical front in an imagined global fight against white people. If whites in South Africa are treated so poorly after handing over power to the country's black majority, the story goes, it's just a preview of what could happen in the rest of the world as more diverse voices are allowed into the political conversation. This fear has been given a name: white genocide.

In the leaked logs of an online white nationalist chat server operated by South African Willem Petzer, published by the independent media outlet Unicorn Riot, users explicitly discussed highlighting this story as part of a larger propaganda goal. "Are we selling this white genocide lie in SA as well as the jews did with the holocaust in ww2?" one user wrote, equating the neo-Nazi conspiracy theory that the Holocaust never happened with a desire to use inflated claims about the treatment of South African farmers to further the cause of white nationalism. "We need to build some head lice treatment rooms/showers," replied another, blithely nodding at killing methods used in Nazi concentration camps. "I think that may solve the problem."

The white nationalist version of what's happening in South Africa is a twisted history of the land reforms that have been instituted since apartheid ended in 1994. The claim is that black South Africans are increasingly invading white farms, slaughtering farmers and claiming their land for themselves.

But there's no evidence of a genocide against white South Africans.

"There's no truth to this story whatsoever," said Ben Cousins, a senior professor at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. "Every now and then, a white person is robbed or killed on a farm, but the murder rate is far higher for black South Africans. This is just an attempt by the far-right to whip up a frenzy."

Although there are certainly cases of white farmers being attacked and murdered in South Africa, the number of those attacks had steadily decreased since its peak in 2001 until last year, when it rose slightly. In 2001 there were 1,069 farm attacks and 140 murders in South Africa; by 2017 that number had dropped to 561 attacks and 47 murders, according to the South African Police Service. About 61 percent of murder victims in farm attacks even during the peak were white, according to a 2003 study.

Trump likely isn't personally crawling through obscure internet forums to learn about agrarian South African politics. Instead, his information is being filtered through Fox News, which has increasingly played a role in spreading ethno-nationalist rhetoric.

"Tucker Carlson has become our hate mainstreamer in chief," said Heidi Beirich, who leads the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project on hate and extremism." He seems to be picking up the thinking of the white supremacist movement in the United States and expressing it in very harsh terms.... This isn't a dog whistle. This is just a blatant repeating of white supremacist ideas."

Carlson's repeated surfacing of white supremacist rhetoric has earned him a devoted set of fans among online racists. On the far-right social network Gab, there are user-created groups devoted to fawning conversations about Carlson's show. Other groups on the platform promote neo-Nazi ideology or act as whites-only job search boards.

Trump has pushed the narrative of white genocide into the national conversation before. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he retweeted a Twitter user with the handle @WhiteGenocideTM.

But Wednesday night marked the first time he has referenced white South Africans directly. And white supremacists celebrated.

"IT'S HAPPENING: Trump Tweets About WHITE GENOCIDE in South Africa," blared a headline on the Daily Stormer. "This is a fairly significant step in the right direction," read an article on the white supremacist site Infostormer. "Trump's involvement is going to draw even more attention to the plight of White farmers in South Africa."

On Stormfront, Trump's tweet was seen as a welcome sign of an impending race war that users hope will drench the planet in a cleansing bloodbath. "It's a start," one Stormfront user wrote. "Regardless where I'll be in the world, when the shooting starts I'll be on my way back."

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Aaron Sankin and Will Carless are reporters for Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization.
Jacksonville School District 117s board approved on Wednesday the purchase of a building at 211 W. State St. that the school district has been using for several months as its new Central Office.

The board approved the $200,000 purchase from Michael Hayes of Hayes Properties.

Superintendent Steve Ptacek said the board entered into a contract with Hayes earlier this year for the property, but the final purchase agreement wasnt approved until the district knew what funding it would receive for its Early Years Program.

Up until now, we were essentially renting the building, Ptacek said.

The board approved the purchase on the contingency that the Early Years Program, which moved into the former Central Office building at 516 Jordan St., was awarded about $1 million in funding. If the program hadnt received the funding, the board could have moved forward with the purchase or decided not to buy the building and vacate the space within 30 days.

The district closed on the property Aug. 1; all of the buildings former tenants have found other locations for their businesses.

Ptacek said the building now has some vacant spaces that will be filed by other departments.

The downstairs areas that housed a record store and a law office will be used by the districts Special Education program, which now is housed at Clay Court.

They are going to move into a majority of the vacant part of the building, Ptacek said. We are looking at other possibilities for the remaining space.

The remaining space, where Duncan and Hoots Jewelry was housed, could be rented out to an education-related not-for-profit program.

The district is limited on which organizations can be housed in the office because of property taxes.

We do not pay property taxes, Ptacek said. This is not out of our own desire; its just school code.

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha.
Three people were charged Friday in connection with the toppling of a Confederate statue at the University of North Carolina, for rioting and defacing a public monument.

The bronze and marble statue of a young soldier holding a gun, erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1913 to honor UNC men who died fighting in the Civil War, had become a hated symbol for some on campus. On Monday night, chanting protesters gathered around the monument, known as Silent Sam, and used ropes to pull it down.

The thud of its fall brought cheers from many of those who watched both in person and from afar, and condemnation from others who said they were shocked that a historic monument had been torn down by a mob.

University officials warned the campus Friday afternoon that there might be a rally Saturday in the area where Silent Sam had stood. They said they support First Amendment rights and would be working with law-enforcement officials to protect people.

"We do not know for sure what groups may attend, but we are mindful that the current atmosphere is highly charged, and protests that begin peacefully do not always remain that way," the message read. "For this reason, we urge you not to attend. For those who do attend, please know that we will do all we can to protect and keep everyone safe."

University officials said they had recently learned some students and others had received death threats, and urged anyone feeling threatened to call 911.

Randy Young, a spokesman for the UNC-Chapel Hill Police, said in a statement Friday the three people named in the warrants are not affiliated with the university. "Each faces charges of 'misdemeanor riot' and 'misdemeanor defacing of a public monument.' The UNC Police investigation is ongoing, and additional arrests may occur."

A member of the UNC System board of governors, Thom Goolsby, said on social media this week he was appalled by the desecration of the monument, and demanded answers. He asked questions such as whether the campus police stood down and allowed it to be toppled, why more officers weren't called to the scene, whether criminal charges would be brought, and what plans there were to restore and protect the statue in the future.

He also said the statue would be restored within 90 days as required by law.

Altha Cravey, an assoicate professor at UNC who has been deeply involved with efforts to move Silent Sam, said Friday, "The charges should be dropped. These people are heroes."

Student government leaders said in a statement Friday evening, "The UNC Executive Branch stands with its student activists and concerned citizens who have tirelessly fought for the removal of Silent Sam from our campus. Statues of bigotry and white supremacy have no place on our campus, nor do the sentiments and ideologies for which they stand."

The university's chancellor, Carol Folt, said Thursday afternoon they were monitoring social media and preparing for possible future events. She said they would not relax their vigilance while they investigate what happened.

Silent Sam was one of many historic sites across the country that have become symbols for people, rallying points to promote heritage or protest racism. The statue has been a flash point on the state flagship campus for years. But after a white-supremacist rally to protect a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent last year, hundreds of people in Chapel Hill gathered at the statue and chanted, "Take it down!"

Confederate statues were torn down in other cities, or removed by officials. In nearby Durham last year, protesters took down a Confederate statue, and on the Duke University campus, people splashed paint on a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Last week, the president of Duke University announced that they would leave an empty space where the Lee statue had stood, as a means of evoking a painful reckoning with the country's past.

Folt said Thursday it was too soon to say what might happen to Silent Sam, as university officials are focused on the investigation and working to ensure safety on campus.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump asked his lawyers several weeks ago for their advice on the possibility of pardoning Paul Manafort and other aides accused of crimes, his lawyer said Thursday.

The subject of pardoning Manafort came as Trump's former campaign chairman faced multiple charges of bank fraud and tax evasion in an Alexandria criminal case, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said in an interview.

Trump's lawyers counseled the president against the idea of pardoning anyone linked to the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, according to Giuliani, saying Trump should at least wait until special counsel Robert Mueller III has concluded his probe. Giuliani said the president agreed and did not push the issue further.

"He said yes," Giuliani said. "He agreed with us."

Giuliani said Trump was seeking advice in the wake of a spate of pardons he granted earlier this summer, including for a woman whom Kim Kardashian had lobbied the White House to release. Giuliani said he and fellow personal attorney Jay Sekulow had advised waiting to see whether Mueller delivers a damning report that accuses the president of trying to block a federal probe of his campaign's contacts with Russians.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday she "wasn't aware" of any discussions of Trump pardoning Manafort and the topic was "not something that's been up for discussion."

On Thursday, in the wake of Giuliani's comment, Sanders said the pardon topic is not under active consideration "in the White House."

"This pardon is not something being discussed in the White House and the president has not made a decision on pardoning Paul Manafort or anyone else," she said in a statement.

The exact timing of the pardon discussion is unclear.

A senior administration official said the president discussed the pros and cons of granting pardons to Manafort and others linked to a probe of his campaign "a few weeks ago."

Giuliani initially said he and Trump had the conversation "three to five weeks ago," but later corrected his statement to say he believed they discussed it several weeks earlier, in June. Giuliani also clarified in his follow-up call to The Post that his conversation with Trump was a general discussion about potential pardons for a range of people under investigation, including but not limited to Manafort.

Some experts have argued Trump could expose himself to more legal danger if he were to pardon aides who are witnesses in the Mueller probe, because Mueller is examining the president's own conduct and whether he sought to obstruct justice.

Giuliani acknowledged that risk.

"We sat him down and said you're not considering these other pardons with anybody involved in the investigation. He said yes, absolutely I understand," Giuliani said. "The real concern is whether Mueller would turn any pardon into an obstruction charge."

Other Trump associates who have plead guilty as part of Mueller's investigation include former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.

Mueller's findings are supposed to be provided in a report to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who would then decide whether any evidence of wrongdoing was serious enough that it should be presented to Congress to consider for impeachment proceedings.

Trump has repeatedly decried the government's treatment of Manafort - who a jury found guilty Tuesday on eight counts of tax- and bank-fraud charges. Manafort refused to cooperate with Mueller investigators seeking his information about the Trump campaign and instead took his chances at trial.

On Tuesday, the president told reporters that Manafort was a "good man" and that he felt sorry for him.

Trump then tweeted his support of Manafort on Wednesday while criticizing Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank and two campaign finance violations: willfully causing an illegal corporate contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.

"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family," Trump tweeted. " 'Justice' took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order to get a 'deal.' Such respect for a brave man!"

Inside the West Wing, the prospect of a Manafort pardon is met with near universal opposition. Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House counsel Donald McGahn and attorney Emmet Flood are all opposed. Aides are trying to keep Trump from even discussing the matter. After Ainsley Earhardt, the Fox News anchor, said Wednesday night that Trump discussed a pardon while appearing on Fox News, Sanders asked her to clarify her comments that she did not hear Trump say that, according to a person familiar with the matter. Officials are increasingly frustrated with Giuliani inside the West Wing.

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Trump has admiringly talked about how Manafort did not "flip" on him and was ebullient when Judge T.S. Ellis said that the prosecution only wanted to go after Manafort to get him. Asked about a pardon, one senior White House official said: "What does it accomplish? You pardon him, it doesn't get rid of the Mueller probe, it causes you more headaches, he still has another trial, you have more Republicans coming after you."

"Legally he's entitled to pardon Manafort," said Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard professor that Trump likes to watch on TV. "My advice to the president is don't tweet, don't pardon, don't testify, don't fire."

That was a major shift for Trump, who in April called it a "national disgrace" when federal investigators raided Cohen's home and office as part of an investigation into his efforts during the campaign to squelch embarrassing stories about Trump.

Cohen implicated Trump directly in some of his acts when he pleaded guilty Tuesday, saying he arranged to pay off two women to keep their stories of alleged affairs with Trump from becoming public before Election Day - in coordination with the then-candidate.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his anger at how federal prosecutors had "beat up" and mistreated Manafort. The president's critics argue that Trump's public tweets are a thinly-veiled message to Manafort, that he supports his refusal to cooperate with Mueller and is willing to pardon him in the future.

Giuliani said Trump's concern for Manafort is what motivates him to consider a pardon.

"He feels Manafort has been mistreated. Nobody in a case like this gets raided in the middle of the night, put in solitary confinement," Giuliani said. "They tried to crack him and it didn't work. Over the last two to three weeks, he's expressed anger and frustration about how he's been treated."

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The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.
The U.S.-backed coalition battling Houthi militants in Yemen has failed to properly investigate alleged airstrikes on civilian targets, a human rights group said Friday, in a campaign already under scrutiny for fueling human suffering on a vast scale.

In a new analysis released early Friday, Human Rights Watch found that an investigatory body overseen by Saudi Arabia, which leads a group of mostly Arab countries engaged in Yemen since 2015, has cleared itself of wrongdoing in most of the nearly 80 incidents it has examined over the past two years.

Publicly released information "shows a general failing . . . to provide credible, impartial, and transparent investigations into alleged coalition laws-of-war violations," Human Rights Watch said in its report.

Those conclusions, the report found, differ starkly from the picture presented by the news media and civil society groups in Yemen, where coalition aircraft have repeatedly struck civilian sites, including hospitals and funerals. Most recently, at least 40 children died in a coalition strike on a bus in northern Yemen on Aug. 9.

After completing almost 80 investigations, the coalition's Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT), formed with U.S. assistance in 2016, acknowledged problems with only 11 cases and found just one in which forces affiliated with the coalition had violated rules of engagement, Human Rights Watch said.

The vast majority of the JIAT investigations concluded that any strikes on civilians were unintentional outcomes of legitimate military operations, the analysis found, "and did not appear to consider whether the attack was lawfully proportionate or if precautions taken were adequate."

JIAT investigators called for the coalition to provide assistance in about 10 instances when technical or intelligence errors or other factors such as weather contributed to strikes on civilian targets.

The JIAT, which is made up of officials from the coalition countries, recommended further investigation or disciplinary action in two incidents, the analysis said.

Human Rights Watch based its analysis on public statements by a JIAT spokesman and reporting by the Saudi press agency.

The analysis comes as the Trump administration faces increasing pressure from lawmakers over its support to the coalition, which includes arms sales, intelligence sharing and aerial refueling of coalition planes operating in Yemen.

A new defense law links the refueling to the administration's ability to certify that Saudi Arabia and its allies are taking steps to protect civilians and end the war. Legislators from both parties have voiced mounting exasperation with the conflict and its toll on Yemenis - both from the air campaign and a sharp increase in poverty, malnutrition and disease.

Critics say the United States may be exposing itself to being held legally responsible for attacks on civilians in Yemen.

Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia and its allies to improve its investigatory procedures, extend condolence payments where necessary, and "appropriately prosecute people responsible for war crimes."

It also called for a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, a major customer for Western weaponry. President Donald Trump announced massive arms sales to the kingdom during his inaugural foreign trip last year.

"Governments selling arms to Saudi Arabia should recognize that the coalition's sham investigations do not protect them from being complicit in serious violations in Yemen," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East director.

The United States has also been criticized for its handling of civilian deaths caused by U.S. air operations. The official military tally of civilians killed in the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is a fraction of estimates given by watchdogs.
AUSTIN - In an effort to stem the tide of correction officer turnover and tackle continuing vacancy problems, Texas prison officials are pitching a broader salary hike for guards in the state's 104 lockups.

On Friday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice presented to the agency's board a proposal asking for nearly $170 million over two years to bump the upper end of the pay scale from roughly $43,000 to $47,000. Parole officers and and laundry and food service managers could see sizable pay hikes as well.

The request comes on the heels of changes to the lower end of the payscale amid 14 percent officer vacancy and 28 percent turnover rates, ongoing problems driven in part by strong oil and gas, a robust economy, difficult working conditions and the remote locations of prison facilities.

READ MORE :After $9 million in hiring bonuses, Texas prisons still face 14 percent guard vacancy



To combat the retention and recruitment issues, in February officials implemented a 12 percent increase for starting pay along with $4,000 and $5,000 hiring bonuses at certain units. The pricey cash outlay did little to stem the tide, and did nothing to keep existing officers.

"The challenge has been the retention," said prison system Chief Financial Officer Jerry McGinty, when explaining the request to the prison board. "We continue to struggle with our retention."

Under the new plan, the starting salary for parole officers would increase from $39,700 to $43,690, and the maximum pay would move from $44,000 to $49,000. The changes come as part of a restructuring of the entire career ladder, which would create fewer steps and make each step "more meaningful," officials said.

The correction officers' union, which has previously criticized the department's narrow focus on beginning of the officer pay ladder, lauded the new request.

"AFSCME Texas Corrections Union has worked tirelessly in the past three legislative sessions to increase wages to improve retention in the agency," said local union president Sgt. Jaclyn Parsons, adding that the organization "applauds the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in recognizing the need to increase wages for correctional employees across the state."

Prison officials are also asking for more money to fix old units - a request to the tune of $146 million. The projects would include roof repairs, security fencing, kitchen renovation, wastewater and water improvements and other large-scale infrastructure repair at units across the state, some of which are more than 75 years old.

Some of the money will also help bump up security at existing air-conditioned units, in the hope of increasing the number of beds in cooled facilities. The attention to air-conditioned housing comes on the heels of a settlement in a federal class action suit over dangerous heat conditions at the Pack Unit in Navasota. Still, 75 of the state's prisons do not have air-conditioning in inmate living quarters.

If the prison system doesn't get the funding it needs for repairs, warned board vice-chairman R. Terrell McCombs, the aging infrastructure could create risks of its own.

"Eventually if we keep deferring and deferring it will become a public safety issue," he said.

Despite the large dollar figure - nearly three times the amount allotted in the current biennium - that funding request is only enough to address a fraction of the agency's infrastructure needs, officials said.

In recent months, the agency has struggled with finding companies interested in doing prison building and repair work.

"We are absolutely struggling to find bidders even to bid," McCombs said. "So this area is very, very critical and so maybe this $145 million will help some but we have more problems than that."

At least five projects have been shelved as officials have been unable to find bidders willing to offering affordable figures for the work, when better-paying contracts are available without the tight security restrictions of prison repair, prison officials added.

The nine-member appointed board oversees the state's prisons.
AUSTIN - The Texas prison system on Friday voted to drastically slash the cost of inmate calls home by more than 75 percent with a new phone contract more favorable to inmates and their families.

Now, instead of paying an average of 26 cents per minute, prisoners will pay 6 cents per minute - no matter the destination of the call. Also, the limit on phone calls was increased from 20 minutes to 30 minutes.

"That is just fabulous, thank you so much - it means so much," said Jennifer Erschabek of the Texas Inmate Families Association. "I'm speechless."

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The shift, which drew accolades from lawmakers and activists alike, comes amid national conversations about the price of prison phone calls. Last year, a federal court struck down an Obama-era Federal Communications Commission rule that would have capped the costs at 11 cents per minute.

Though that was seen as a blow to the hard-fought efforts of inmate advocates nationwide, Friday's contract approval represented a win for advocates in the Lone Star State.

"This should have done it a long time ago," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "I've raised hell for years about how they were gouging inmates and their families."

Currently, a 15-minute call usually costs around $3.90, officials said at the Texas Board of Criminal Justice meeting.

Starting Sept. 1 when the new contract takes effect, a typical 15-minute call will cost just 90 cents.

A NEW TUNE: Texas prison choir keys in on redemption

Doug Smith, a former prisoner who now works with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, lauded the new pricing as an important way to help inmates stay in touch with family on the outside, a connection that advocates say can help reduce recidivism and facilitate reentry.

"I'm so happy for the families who struggle to afford these phone calls," he said. "Now there's going to be parents who can afford to call home and maybe help with their kids' homework."

State Rep. James White, the East Texas Republican who chairs the House Committee on Corrections, concurred, praising the board and prison system executive director Bryan Collier.

"They are making some very, very significant changes that will impact recidivism, rehabilitation and ultimately will increase safe communities in Texas," he said. "I'm extremely, extremely proud of them helping us out today."

Earlier this month, White penned a letter the Collier expressing his concerns about the existing offender telephone system contract and advocating for a most affordable arrangement. He raised concerns about the previous contract, which made out-of-state calls cheaper than a call to family in Sunnyside, and he dinged the Texas legislature for benefiting from the arrangement.

As mandated by state law, the contractor gets 60 percent of the phone revenue and the state gets 40 percent. Of that 40 percent, the first $10 million must go to the Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund. After that first $10 million, half goes to the victims fund and the other half goes to the state's general fund.

During fiscal year 2017, the phone system brought in $14.49 million for the victim fund and $4.49 million for general revenue, according to department data.

None of the money from the phone system goes back to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"Although legislated decades ago," White wrote, "it is intriguing why the Legislature is benefiting from this scheme and this may receive some legislative attention next session."

Because that distribution of proceeds is mandated by law, it could not be addressed through contractual negotiations, which were hammered out after a request for proposal and months of evaluation.

CenturyLink, the current contract holder and a major prison phone provider in corrections systems across the country, was awarded the seven-year contract.

"The new (offender telephone system) contract is going to benefit not only family of offenders who are hoping to stay connected, but enhance the agency's focus on re-entry," Collier said in a statement. "The system is used to maintain relationships with friends and family that are a vital part of a successful re-entry and reintegration of offenders into the community."

More than 127,000 prisoners currently make use of the phone system, and 172,000 friends and families are signed up to receive roughly 1.5 million calls per month from behind bars.

As a part of the new contract, CenturyLink will update existing hardware and also install new technology for video visitation at 12 units, according to prison officials. The new hardware will allow families to contact their loved ones from further away, but officials said it won't replace in-person visits.
A Houston woman and former bank employee was found guilty Friday of helping robbers target the bank's vault during a daring June 2016 heist.

Mary Mosley, 25, is facing up to 25 years in federal prison for the crime, prosecutors say.

The robbery happened June 9, 2016, at an International Bank of Commerce location in Houston, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Mosley worked at the bank and helped her then-boyfriend, 29-year-old Kendrick Miller, and his brother, 24-year-old Kenneth Glenn, access the bank's vault.

SIMILAR: Bank teller accused of triggering violent robbery in northwest Harris County

Mosley told Miller and Glenn how much money was in the bank vault, how to open it and how long it would take security and police to arrive.

On the day of the heist, Mosley left the back door to the bank open for Miller and Glenn to come in and access the vault, authorities said.

Miller and Glenn entered the bank and forced Mosley's coworkers to the ground by gunpoint, demanding they open the vault. The employees complied, and Miller and Glenn were able to get away with the help of Mosley's cousin, 27-year-old Xavier Cain.

Detectives with the Houston Police Department and the FBI investigated the robbery and determined it to be an inside job. All four suspects  Mosley, Miller, Glenn and Cain  were arrested, and all four have been convicted in federal court for the crime, authorities said.

Each are facing up to 25 years in federal prison. Miller and Glenn could face additional time for weapons charges related to the robbery.

Mosley is out on bond until her Dec. 4 sentencing.

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
Some of the most harrowing images captured during Hurricane Harvey one year ago came from within KHOU as their long-time location began to flood.

When Harvey hit, KHOU 11 was in the heart of the destruction, said Robyn Keeney, marketing director with KHOU.

On Sunday, August 27, 2017, as flood waters from nearby Buffalo Bayou surged, the station was forced to move its live coverage to a second floor conference room. As the situation grew more dire, Facebook Live footage showed employees evacuating the building soon after and grabbing possessions from the station offices.

HARVEY ONE YEAR LATER: The floods took his family. Now he holds onto them in his dreams

The station was headquartered for decades along Allen Parkway, just west of downtown Houston.

"Employees watched in horror as water rushed over sandbags and into their building." Keeney said. "Other employees were out in the middle of the worst-hit areas, bringing raw, emotional stories to life, and in some cases, becoming part of the rescue effort."

The station temporarily moved to Houston Public Media and kept broadcasting through Harvey.

Today KHOU still operates out of Houston Public Media but is expected to move to 5718 Westheimer in early 2019. The new space will haves 43,000 square feet, two studios, two control rooms, and office space on three floors.

KHOU is airing its Harvey: One Year Later showcase Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.

Editors note: The story initially said that KHOU had already moved to 5718 Westheimer. That move is expected to happen in early 2019.

Fernando Alfonso III covers everything from crime to weird internet trends. Read him on the breaking news site chron.com and the subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | fernando.alfonso@chron.com
The locally-produced movie chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Harvey will premiere next month, producer Nkem DenChukwu said.

"Harvey," which first gained notoriety in January after an exaggerated movie poster began circulating online, is scheduled for a Sept. 22 debut. DenChukwu, of Street Corner Films, said the venue has yet to be finalized, but ticket prices are expected to cost around $20.

RELATED: Are you ready for Hurricane Harvey: The Movie?

"We're trying to get a place that will give us the option for a grand red-carpet event," she said, adding that all the actors will be in attendance.

Director Michael Sterling wrote the original script for the two-hour film, and DenChukwu worked as the producer, casting director and story editor.

The movie follows four characters navigating the storm's devastation and includes moments inspired by real events. She also has the cooperation of brothers Ric and Samuel Saldivar, who lost their parents and four great-grandchildren when their white van was swept away by floodwaters.

The brothers will play themselves in the movie, she said.

"I wanted a way to help them immortalize the memories of their loved ones," she said.

RELATED: Behind the scenes of the upcoming Hurricane Harvey movie

The brothers inject a dose of reality among the fictional lead characters. Most of the extras in the movie were also evacuees during the storm, she said.

The movie will showcase how the main characters come together. Overall, the film was intended to draw attention to the unity in the city during the storm, she said.

"During Harvey, we all witnessed kindness," she said. "Race wasn't an issue. Neighbors became friends, and strangers became friends."

Anyone interested in attending the premiere can look for updates on the Facebook pages for Street Corner Films or the Harvey movie.

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
A man and woman are in custody after they allegedly shot at an off-duty police officer who was providing security for a business owner in Greenspoint, Houston police said.

The off-duty officer was approaching a bank with the business owner sometime before 11:45 p.m. when he noticed a suspicious vehicle following him, said Det. Ken Nealy of the Houston Police Department.
A slain elderly Korean War veteran was determined to walk out of a Baytown hospital alive and find his assailant after being shot alongside his best friend during a pre-dawn walk, according to his grief-stricken family.

The shooter took aim at 84-year-old Sam Wingate and his neighbor from a car and fired, striking him with two rounds in the stomach and back during the Aug. 15 attack, said Donnie Wingate, the victims son.

The pals were a block from Wingates home. Another bullet grazed his decade-long friends clothes.

One of the gunshots struck Wingates spinal cord and paralyzed him three inches below his sternum, the son said. He died Sunday, according to authorities.

He just started going down hill and he couldnt catch up, Donnie Wingate told the Houston Chronicle earlier this week. It was raw deal.

His father, a retired plumber for Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District, survived the four-hour surgery to remove the bullets. When he came to, the tough-as-nails Navy veteran demanded to know who shot him and why.

I spoke to him. I asked, Do you have any enemies, Wingate recalled. I dont have any enemies in the world, he quoted his father as saying.

PRISON SENTENCE: Man gets 26 years for scarring toddler with scalding bath water

He said his father was unable to catch a good look at his assailant.

The distraught son recalled that the past year has been tough for Wingate and the rest of the family. His fathers Baytown home flooded when Hurricane Harvey slammed the region. His mother and Wingates wife of 61 years, Shirley Wingate, died in December after struggling with Alzheimers disease.

Authorities are just as befuddled by the motive and were unable to say during a press conference Thursday if the shooting was targeted or random.

We just dont know at this point, Baytown police spokesman Lt. Steve Dorris said.

The lack of answers prompted Baytown Crime Stoppers on Thursday to increase the reward for information leading to the arrest of Wingates killer from $5,000 to $20,000, Dorris announced.

MUGSHOT: Teen shot 15-year-old boy after he didn't buy marijuana from her

If anybody knows anything, please pick up the phone and call Crime Stoppers. We need the publics help on this case so we can bring the killer to justice, he added.

Wingates daughter, Kelly Dando, echoed Dorris plea for information.

Theres just evil people walking among us, Dando said. We have got to find these people.

Last week, investigators released surveillance footage of a light colored four-door sedan believed to be connected to the slaying. The car may be a Chevrolet missing a front license plate, police said.
A 23-year-old former Johnson County Sheriff's deputy was arrested Friday morning and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first degree felony.

Toby Bryce Allison was arrested Friday for the offense that allegedly took place with a 13-year-old girl when he was off duty, deputy Aaron Pitts, public information officer for the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, said in a news release.
What is the balanced scorecard?

The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and performance management framework used by business, government, and non-profits to align day-to-day activities with enterprise vision, mission, and values. The balanced scorecard tracks financial and non-financial measures to determine the degree to which the enterprise is performing as desired and when corrective action is necessary.

The balanced scorecard is a widely used management tool, particularly in the U.S., the UK, Northern Europe, and Japan. Enterprises that are comfortable with the rigor required derive significant benefits from it. However, the balanced scorecard requires a great deal of effort to implement and use effectively. Enterprises must have the necessary resources and discipline to make the balanced scorecard successful.

Balanced scorecard perspectives

The balanced scorecard relies on four perspectives to monitor enterprise health. Specifically:

Financial: The financial health of any enterprise is critical to long-term survival. Typical measures used by for-profit companies include revenue growth, operating income, return on equity, and other measures of interest to owners.

The financial health of any enterprise is critical to long-term survival. Typical measures used by for-profit companies include revenue growth, operating income, return on equity, and other measures of interest to owners. Customer: The customer perspective compares the enterprises service to the competitions service. Specific metrics vary by industry but most focus on time, quality, and service levels. Metrics common to most industries include customer satisfaction and enterprise responsiveness. Other metrics are more industry-specific. Cellular telephone companies track customer growth and churn. Manufacturing companies track on-time delivery, and percent of orders delivered as ordered (i.e. without back order or substitution). Consumer products companies monitor percent of repeat customers and percent of sales from products introduced in the past five years.

The customer perspective compares the enterprises service to the competitions service. Specific metrics vary by industry but most focus on time, quality, and service levels. Metrics common to most industries include customer satisfaction and enterprise responsiveness. Other metrics are more industry-specific. Cellular telephone companies track customer growth and churn. Manufacturing companies track on-time delivery, and percent of orders delivered as ordered (i.e. without back order or substitution). Consumer products companies monitor percent of repeat customers and percent of sales from products introduced in the past five years. Internal process: This perspective helps the enterprise understand the efficiency and effectiveness of internal business processes and supporting technologies. Many companies focus on the time to take an order, on-board a new hire, or complete other internal processes. Manufacturing companies often track setup time, cycle time, first pass yield, and the time to introduce a new product. Companies attempting to streamline internal processes track the percent of paperless processes and the number of self-service processes.

This perspective helps the enterprise understand the efficiency and effectiveness of internal business processes and supporting technologies. Many companies focus on the time to take an order, on-board a new hire, or complete other internal processes. Manufacturing companies often track setup time, cycle time, first pass yield, and the time to introduce a new product. Companies attempting to streamline internal processes track the percent of paperless processes and the number of self-service processes. Organization capacity: This perspective was initially called Learning and Growth and is sometimes called People by enterprises that believe that humans are the most important part of an enterprises capacity to improve. This perspective considers the degree to which the enterprise can evolve and improve the way it supports its goals. Organization capacity monitors people, culture, organization, and the infrastructure to support them. Typical measures include employee satisfaction/engagement, time to hire, first-year turnover, regretted (sometimes unwanted) turnover, and training/education received.

The original balanced scorecard was designed to help for-profit companies. As the balanced scorecard became more widely accepted, it was adapted for government and non-profits. Since neither have profit, the financial perspective is usually retitled Stewardship to reflect the need to manage funding and staff judiciously. The customer perspective is frequently renamed Beneficiaries or Recipients by non-profits that provide their services for no or very low cost. Stakeholder is viewed as more descriptive than customer by some government agencies.

The initial balanced scorecard described the four perspectives but gave little guidance regarding how to identify meaningful measures or how to link measures to strategy. Kaplan and Nortons The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment , published in 2001, introduced the strategy map to show the specific activities required to achieve enterprise goals. The strategy map is a visual, one-page representation of the interrelationships among the activities across the four balanced scorecard perspectives. Associated with each activity in the strategy map are supporting metrics.

Origins of the balanced scorecard

At the beginning of the 20th century, French enterprises began using the Tableau de Bord, or Dashboard in English. The Tableau de Bord was created in recognition that financial measures alone do not provide enough information for executives to monitor enterprise health. In 1987, Art Schneiderman of Analog Devices, created the Analog Devices Balanced Scorecard. In 1989, Ray Stata, Analog Devices CEO, described the companys five-year scorecard in the Sloan Management Review.

In 1990, Mr. Schneiderman was involved in an unrelated research study headed by Robert Kaplan who worked with Nolan, Norton, & Co., a management consulting firm. During the effort, Mr. Schneiderman described Analog Devices work on performance measurement to other participants. In the early 1990s, several papers were published on the design of a balanced scorecard with the Kaplan and Norton paper garnering the most success. As a result of additional articles and their 1996 book, The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy Into Action, Kaplan and Norton are widely seen as the concepts creators.

Benefits of the balanced scorecard

The balanced scorecard helps enterprises in several ways. It reminds executives that in addition to tracking financial metrics, it is also important to track quality and service. Too many companies focus exclusively on sales and expenses to the exclusion of other metrics. Second, the strategy map provides a clear, concise way to communicate priorities and goals to employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. The balanced scorecard also creates an explicit linkage from enterprise strategy to day-to-day activities. Enterprise goals and metrics can be decomposed into business unit or departmental goals and metrics, enabling all stakeholders to understand how their projects and activities contribute to overall enterprise success. Fourth, the balanced scorecard facilitates business planning by providing clear metrics that help the enterprise rank projects into priority sequence and enterprise products by importance. Finally, the framework helps the enterprise monitor and measure progress towards strategic objectives.

Success with the balanced scorecard

Implementing the balanced scorecard is a great deal of work with some implementations being abandoned before completion. Enterprises enjoying the best results share the following characteristics. They all have:

Robust operational systems

The balanced scorecard needs a great deal of high-quality data from the ERP and other foundational systems. When these systems are error-prone or produce incomplete data, additional manual effort is required to collect the necessary data. Typically, the people affected waste time so much time arguing about whose data is correct, they lack the time to analyze the data and take corrective action.

Culture of measurement

Enterprises that are grounded in one of the STEM disciplines normally make decisions based on data and analysis. They are comfortable analyzing a comprehensive set of metrics that considers the same product or process from multiple perspectives. By contrast, enterprises that downplay the importance of data and rely on executive passion and energy, often find the executive team is uncomfortable discussing more than a handful of metrics. Enterprises operating on instinct are better off either not using the balanced scorecard or waiting until a new CEO or the board of directors demands data-based decision making. Even with CEO or board support, the balanced scorecard still represents a major cultural change. Implementation requires a long time and needs to be accompanied by significant organizational change management.

Executive support

In the absence of strong executive support, the necessary resources to collect and monitor the required information are unlikely to be available. Even if by some miracle all of the information could be collected, the executive team must use the balanced scorecard data or the rest of the enterprise will also ignore any corrective actions suggested by it. When this happens, the program will be neglected and eventually cancelled.

Appropriate metrics

Appropriate metrics vary by industry and enterprise. While the balanced scorecard does not provide rigid rules regarding appropriate metrics, it is critical to select metrics that accurately support enterprise goals. Good metrics should be easy to understand and quantitative, that is, expressed as a number. In addition, a good metric should show the trade-offs between cost and service. The call center of a large enterprise that prided itself on excellent customer service, measured call length without a corresponding quality measure. Not surprisingly talk time decreased. Unfortunately, so did customer service, much to their chagrin. As we know, what you measure is what you get.

Limited numbers of metrics

It can be difficult to select the right number of metrics. Enterprises that are just starting the balanced scorecard journey sometimes make the mistake of trying to measure everything. Although enough metrics are needed to provide a complete picture of enterprise health, too much data is overwhelming and can make it difficult to understand what conclusions to reach and what actions to take.

Continuous improvement

It usually takes multiple years to get a large enterprise to fully embrace the balanced scorecard. Even with a well-designed initial implementation, updates will be required as lessons are learned, competition changes, and new challenges emerge. Regular feedback is critical for the enterprise to learn, adapt, and improve. This is particularly important in the public sector where performance targets are often a matter of public record.

Balanced scorecard software

A number of consulting firms offer tools to promote and support the balanced scorecard. Most tool can be evaluated for a few months at no cost. A number of ERP vendors, recognizing the balanced scorecard popularity, created their own balanced scorecard tools. These firms want their customers to use the ERP directly without another piece of software between the customer and the ERP. Although, there are some free tools, most are simply PowerPoint or Excel templates that allow data collected elsewhere to be displayed as a balanced scorecard or a strategy map. Unfortunately, the free tools rarely do much else.

Most of the tools requiring payment share the following characteristics. They:

Emphasize visual data presentation . Typically, they are designed for an executive audience and provide easy to understand charts, graphs, and exception reporting. Most tools support root cause analysis through a variety of drill-down capabilities.

. Typically, they are designed for an executive audience and provide easy to understand charts, graphs, and exception reporting. Most tools support root cause analysis through a variety of drill-down capabilities. Support all organizational levels . Reporting is structured to present relevant information to each individual in accordance with the permissions the individual enjoys. In addition, the data rolls up to or down through the organization.

. Reporting is structured to present relevant information to each individual in accordance with the permissions the individual enjoys. In addition, the data rolls up to or down through the organization. Integrate enterprise-wide data . Most balanced scorecard tools were designed as reporting tools and, excluding small enterprises, were not designed as operational systems. Instead balanced scorecard tools gather data from a variety of operational systems (including Excel spreadsheets in some enterprises).

. Most balanced scorecard tools were designed as reporting tools and, excluding small enterprises, were not designed as operational systems. Instead balanced scorecard tools gather data from a variety of operational systems (including Excel spreadsheets in some enterprises). Facilitate collaboration. The tools are designed to alert individuals of potential problems within their area of responsibility. The best tools include a workflow engine to support information sharing, solution development, and progress tracking.

Tools by themselves dont improve the enterprise. However, they provide the individuals accountable with the necessary information to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions.
The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into two independent school charities and appointed interim managers to take over their running, as well as issuing orders on their bank accounts.

It has opened inquiries into The Martin Foundation and the Collegiate Charitable Foundation, which have the same trustees.

The regulator has said that there were serious regulatory concerns relating to the running of the charities, including conflict of interest concerns and potential unauthorised trustee benefit.

It opened the inquiries into both independent school charities in January 2018, the Commission announced today. The interim managers were appointed, to the exclusion of the current trustees, on 13 August 2018.

The regulator said it engaged with the two charities after receiving a complaint from the public and after receiving information from other regulators in respect of a number of regulatory concerns.

There have been a number of controversies surrounding Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate in recent years.

Ongoing serious regulatory issues

The Commission said: Our engagement established that there were clear and ongoing serious regulatory issues relating to the administration of the charities by the trustees. These included the management of conflicts of interest, protecting and properly accounting for the charities assets, and potential unauthorised trustee benefit.

The charities say that they provide bursaries to enable students to attend independent primary and secondary schools, and provide advertising, facilities and equipment for the schools, as well as assist the local community. The Martin Foundation is not currently carrying out any activity, with the Charity Commissions register showing it had no income nor expenditure in the year ending August 2017.

The Collegiate Charitable Foundation financially supports Queen Ethelburga's College, which has been at the centre of numerous controversies. The contact details of the Foundation on the Charity Commissions website go direct to the Colleges website.

Charity's response

In a statement, the trustees said: The Trustees are surprised and disappointed by the actions of the Charity Commission. The Commission appears to have acted disproportionately and without regard to the reputational damage which may be caused by their action or the possibility of working cooperatively with the Trustees. The Trustees have always dealt openly and constructively with inquiries from the Charity Commission and would hope to continue to engage in this way going forward.

"All expenditure by The Collegiate Charitable Foundation is directly in pursuit and accordance with its charitable objectives. The Martin Foundation has been inactive since January 2016 but equally all expenditure is demonstrably in line with its charitable objectives. The Trustees are confident that both charities operate appropriately and remain willing and ready to address concerns raised by the Charity Commission.

Extent of inquiry

The inquiry is examining:

The extent to which potential conflicts of interest and connected party transactions have been properly managed

The extent to which there has been any unauthorised trustee benefit

Whether the charities operated for exclusively charitable purposes

The regulator said that due to the seriousness of its regulatory concerns it had appointed Geoff Carton-Kelly and Tom McLennan of FRP Advisory as joint interim managers of the charities.

It said that the interim managers are appointed with all the powers and duties of trustees and will act to the exclusion of the current charity trustees. These are temporary appointments and will be reviewed on a regular basis in line with normal procedures.

The regulator said that in order to protect the assets of the charities, the Commission has issued orders to the trustees and the charities bank under section 76(3) of the Charities Act 2011. It said these are temporary orders and will be reviewed on a regular basis in line with normal procedures.

Brian Martin, former chair of governors at Queen Ethelburga's College, was cleared of a series of sexual offences against its pupils and other teenagers in July of this year. He was found not guilty of 21 offences. Prosecutors said they would be seeking a retrial on two counts of indecent assault and one of sexual assault.

Martin was replaced by his daughter Amy Martin as chair of governors in 2015. The Charity Commission website states that she is still a trustee of both The Collegiate Charitable Foundation and The Martin Foundation.

Related party transactions included on the Collegiate Charitable Foundations latest annual accounts include rents received from Queen Ethelburgas Collge Limited of 2.7m, and rent of 3.2m from Faculty of Queen Ethelburgas Ltd, it also received 10,573, down from 1.2m the year before, from the Martin Foundation.

Other controversies

In 2018, a former teacher at Queen Ethelburga's School was banned for life from teaching after having a sexual relationship with a pupil. Dr Howard Britton had taught at the school between 2001 and 2005, and started a sexual relationship with the pupil on the final day of her school exams.

The Guardian reported in 2016 that part of millions of dollars stolen in Moscow in one of the highest profile frauds in Russian history was spent at Queen Ethelburgas college. It said that 14,350 was paid to the school in 2012, a similar figure to the schools fees, but that it was unclear whose tuition was being paid for.

The Guardian also reported last year that in 2014 29,800 was transferred to the school, with the money reportedly connected to the Azerbaijani Laundromat scandal, in which the Azerbaijani government is supposedly involved.
At the Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, proposed giving not-for-profit media organisations charity status. But does anyone actually want this? And would it really help?

Delivering the Alternative MacTaggart lecture, he argued that granting charitable status to local, investigative and public interest journalism outfits would greatly help pioneering not-for-profit organisations, like the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, to fund their vital work through tax exemptions, grants and donations.

On the surface it seems like a tidy solution to the financial woes for many newspapers struggling to stay afloat amid falling circulation and a decline revenue from advertisers who have switched their spending to Facebook and Google.

The tax breaks linked to charity status would certainly be welcomed by these organisations. And being a charity does make it easier to access some kinds of funding, although it is possible for organisations that are not charities to receive grant funding.

The idea that charitable status could nudge the press in a more ethical direction is also an attractive notion.

The debate around whether to consider journalism as charitable has actually been bouncing around for ages and I think there might be a few reasons that it has yet to have made much progress.

Who benefits?

Would the increased scrutiny from the Charity Commission and reporting burden make it worthwhile? Journalists have been reluctant to embrace new media regulation such as those proposed by the Leveson Inquiry, so Im not sure many would be quick to embrace the prospect of charity regulation.

Is it even fair to expect the Charity Commission or Fundraising Regulator to oversee yet another sub-sector, especially if there was no extra resourcing?

There are already well-documented issues with charitable think tanks getting into trouble with the regulator for not being balanced enough. It is likely that media outlets would run into similar issues or find it difficult to carry controversial opinion pieces, unless charity law is changed.

Journalism is quite messy, there are a lot grey areas in journalism and a lot of judgement calls  no two editors will ever agree entirely. And the exact definition of journalism is quite fluid  most recently, social media and the internet have made it easier for anyone with something to say to find an audience (there are pros and cons to this that are too lengthy to go into here).

Im also not sure that media organisations becoming charities would be of any benefit to the wider sector. By and large they dont look or behave as charities do and the chances are that one will mess up, drawing negative publicity for themselves and the sector.

We already know that the public doesnt like it when charities dont behave as they expect them to, and they really dont like it when they discover that something they didnt think was a charity has both behaved badly and benefited from charity tax breaks.

This is why there are frequent questions about whether bodies like independent schools, think tanks and religious bodies deserve charity status. Before conferring charity status on another sector we need to be confident that there is genuine public support for it.

In any case, some charities have already set up publications as part of their activity, which are considered, rightly in many cases, to be carrying out important journalism.

Instead of dumping a huge chunk of the media sector onto the charity sector it might instead be better to look at other ways to support news outlets, such as through changing tax rules, widening access to journalism training opportunities, access to funding and building better links between larger media organisations and smaller local or specialist ones.
During the 2016 campaign and into early months of the new administration, you would have been hard pressed to find a media outlet more supportive of Donald Trump than the National Enquirer. The Enquirer propped up Trumps candidacy, attacked his rivals, and bought the silence of those who threatened him. But as Robert Muellers investigation circles closer to the president, the Enquirers leaders have tossed their Trump loyalties.

The Wall Street Journals Nicole Hong and Lukas I. Alpert report that David Pecker, CEO of American Media Inc, which publishes the Enquirer, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Michael Cohen and President Trump in the criminal investigation into hush-money payments for two women during the 2016 presidential campaign. Pecker and Trump have long enjoyed a mutually beneficial friendship, and the about face is a troubling development for the president. Dylan Howard, the chief content officer of AMI, was also granted immunity for his cooperation with investigators.

Lately, its seems, once-reliable sycophantseveryone from Omarosa Manigault Newman to Michael Cohenare deciding that they are best served by sharing what they know about the presidents behavior in and out of office. Vanity Fairs Gabriel Sherman reports that Trump and Pecker havent spoken in eight months, and a friend of Trumps told Sherman that Peckers decision to work with Mueller was shocking: Holy shit, I thought Pecker would be the last one to turn.

RELATED: Were all caught in the dizzying Trump news cycle

The Enquirers purchase of stories only to bury them, a practice known as catch and kill, was used to keep claims by Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal out of the news, but the squashing of stories has not been limited to helping Trump. The APs Jeff Horwitz reports that the Enquirer kept its documents on hush money payments locked in a safe, and that the Trump records were stored alongside similar documents pertaining to other celebrities catch-and-kill deals, in which exclusive rights to stories were bought with no intention of publishing to keep them out of the news. By keeping celebrities embarrassing secrets, the company was able to ingratiate itself with them and ask for favors in return.

The Enquirer has broken important newsincluding that John Edwards, a candidate for president, had an affair with a member of his campaign staffbut no one has held it up as a beacon of journalistic integrity. Knowing what we do now about the lengths to which its leadership would go to protect powerful people, though, it makes you wonder: What else is sitting in that safe?

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Below, more on Pecker, Trump, and a shady corner of the media world.

Other notable stories

ICYMI: How Trump turned Mollie Tibbettss murder into a national story

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Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon.
China has made it clear it wants to know everything its citizens are doing at all times, and that it is prepared to develop the resourceswhether facial-recognition software or the adoption of a social credit systemrequired to make that a reality. Both Google and Facebook have made it clear they are prepared to help. Will that encourage other countries to engage in the same kinds of surveillance?

New examples of Chinas aggressive digital surveillance tactics emerge almost daily. In some cities, facial-recognition is already used to identify people who jaywalk; their names and faces are displayed on huge screens, casting shame on the perps. In other regions, police are experimenting with glasses that have facial-recognition technology, and citizens are subjected to a facial scan before they may drive on a highway or go shopping.

ICYMI: What happens when Chinas state-run media embraces AI?

In Xinjiang, a region in northwest China, Uyghur people are vulnerable to some of the most draconian measures, primarily because they are Muslim. Uyghurs must report to police how many people live in their homes and what books they read; worse, in many cases, they are also required to install tracking apps on their smartphones that monitor everything they do online.

Under the social credit system, the way a Chinese citizen behaves both on and offlinenot just whether they read certain banned websites or use a VPN, but also whether they jaywalk or block the doors on the traincan make it difficult for them to do things like book transportation tickets, get their children into certain schools, and access other government services.

All of this sounds like an Orwellian nightmare. But the image of an omniscient centralized government isnt quite accurateeven if China wishes that it were, according to Paul Mozur, a New York Times reporter who has written about China for a decade. Theres this perception that facial recognition is already a completely mature tech and people are being mass surveilled in this really effective and efficient way, but thats not really the case, he says. People invoke Orwell, where things are really centralized and well managed, but thats not how things work in China. Everything is decentralized and not well managed at all. 

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In some cases, says Mozur, government offices in large cities are still using paper forms, not digital databases. When it comes to facial recognition and similar technologies, there are pockets within China where local authorities are experimenting, but there is not a lot of national coordination. To some extent, he adds, the companies selling surveillance technology are making extravagant claimsthat their software can identify anyone in China within a matter of seconds to a 99.9 percent degree of accuracy, for exampleand the government is more than happy to give that impression to the public, as a means of scaring people into behaving properly.

There are millions of cameras everywhere in China, but most average Chinese people dont have the sophistication to know if theyre actually being surveilled or not, so they just kind of assume that the police know everything about them, Mozur says. We went to see a police department that had these facial recognition glasses, and they said they just told someone that they had them and they confessed everything. So in some cases they act basically as props.

In China, its worth noting, the government doesnt need expensive gadgets to know what most citizens are doing. Officials can get information about a persons behavior, attitude, and location from WeChat, a social network owned by Tencent that is used by the vast majority of smartphone owners. Mozur notes, How much do you really need a real-time facial recognition system tracking people in the subway or any of these other incredible next-generation technologies if you already have a tunnel into everyones smartphone?

Thats where the help of massive social platforms like Google and Facebook could be invaluable, since each one could theoretically provide the regime with orders of magnitude more data on Chinese citizens, providing even more ways of monitoring their behaviorwhether they are searching for banned terms, discussing forbidden topics, or asking the wrong questions.

Maria Repnikova, a China scholar who serves as the director of the Center for Global Information Studies at Georgia State University, warns that bowing to the countrys demands on censorship and surveillance might validate the Chinese model and encourage other totalitarian states to pursue similar measures. The overwhelming concern about Google and Facebook is that succumbing to the Chinese government and effectively letting them win gives them legitimacy both nationally and internationally, she says. We are already seeing a lot of admiration for Chinas model in other countries, so why wouldnt another country ask for a version of that as well?

ICYMI: In China, an entire generation is growing up with censored internet

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Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg.
There arent many two-newspaper towns left in the US, which is part of what makes Wilkes-Barre, a former coal town in Northeastern Pennsylvania, unique. With a steadily declining population that currently sits just south of 41,000, Wilkes-Barre is the smallest market in America with competing daily newspapers, says Larry Holeva, executive editor of The Citizens Voice, which is one of those two papers. The Times Leader is the other.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the rivalry between The Citizens Voice and The Times Leadera contest that is 40 years oldhasnt exactly been a friendly one. Known locally as the union paper, The Citizens Voice was launched by union members in 1978 when an out-of-town media conglomerate, Capital Cities Communications, purchased The Times Leader from its former, local owners. Negotiations with staff soon stalled, and a wide swath of the Times Leaders union members went on strike and then eventually left. Almost immediately following their departure, those very same labor strikers launched The Citizens Voice. Proud coal-mining teamsters embraced the paper, as did their families and neighboring unions in subsequent years.

ICYMI: CNN v. BuzzFeed: A media spat for the digital age

Naturally, The Times Leader has its own contingent of staunchly loyal followers. As a result, each respective paper has for years now claimed to be significantly more popular and more successful than the otherby appealing to higher circulation numbers, say, or a bigger readership.

The most recent round of what might be called the Wilkes-Barre Newspaper Battle kicked off this summer. On June 27, The Citizens Voice ran a story touting its circulation dominance over The Times Leader:

The Citizens Voice increased its daily and Sunday lead over The Times Leader, the most recent circulation numbers released by the national Alliance for Audited Media show. The audited reportshows The Citizens Voice holds a 2,615 lead in Sunday circulation in one of the nations last remaining competitive print newspaper marketsThe Citizens Voice, founded in 1978 after a protracted labor dispute, holds a 4,327 newspaper edge in daily circulation as well.

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The story notes in conclusion that Times Leader publisher Mike Murray did not respond to requests for comment.

Three weeks later, however, The Times Leader fired a shot in response by way of a July 21 A1 story titled, TL clear leader in market readership. Instead of quoting the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) and mentioning circulation numbers, however, The Times Leader simply claimed that its paper had more readers than The Voice. According to the latest figures from Scarborough Research, a Nielsen Company service, the story read, each print edition of the Times Leader from Monday through Saturday is read by an average of 74,631 people, for a lead of nearly 23,000 readers per edition over its main competition, The Citizens Voice.

The circulation and readership rivalry in Wilkes-Barre seems likely to continue as long as both papers remain in print. Neither side shows any sign of relenting, wrote a New York Times journalist in 1983.

The Times Leaders average Monday-Saturday print circulation in the first quarter of 2018 was 15,750, according to reports CJR obtained from the AAM. That would mean 4.7 different people are reading each print copy of the paper.

Come on! says Joe Nealon, the circulation director of The Citizens Voice, when discussing the statistics. Theres not a paper in America that has four or five readers per copy. The average for the industry for the 30 years Ive worked in newspapers? Two-point-three, two-point-four. It might have topped out at two-point-five at one point.

Surveys such as those conducted by Scarborough Research arent generally considered as accurate as, for instance, the audited circulation reports released by the AAM. That likely has a lot to do with the way the survey results are gathered: Because not every reader of a particular newspaper can possibly be surveyed, Scarborough only phones and surveys a smaller, more reasonable number. The result? It can probably best be described as a guesstimate.

We would prefer to use the numbers that are audited numbersnot survey numbers, says Citizens Voice executive editor Larry Holeva.

As it happens, the 2018 first-quarter circulation reports from the AAM do show the Citizens Voice holding a 4,721 lead in daily circulation and a 2,436 lead in Sunday circulation over the Times Leader. But The Leader, for its part, is nevertheless holding strong to its claim of having significantly more readers than The Voice. Times Leader publisher Mike Murray declined to speak with CJR, but attached the TL clear leader in market readership article to an email in which he wrote, There is no need for further comment.

The circulation and readership rivalry in Wilkes-Barre seems likely to continue as long as both papers remain in print. Neither side shows any sign of relenting, wrote William Robbins in a 1983 New York Times story about war between the two papers. Robbins assessment rings true 35 years later.

Of course, that competition can only benefit readers, so long as it lasts.

Both papers have very dedicated readership bases, says Holeva, and thats good for getting out information. Between the two papers theres probably 22 reporters dedicated full-time to this county. Ill talk to friends who work for the wire service, and theyll say, I dont have 22 people in 11 states!'

From the archives: A tale of two local newspapers covering the Vegas massacre from Mesquite

A previous version of this story referred to the Citizens Voice as the Citizens Leader. CJR regrets the error.

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Dan Eldridge is a freelance journalist in Philadelphia and the co-owner of Kaya Aerial Yoga. Follow him on Twitter @YoungPioneers.
Nine days after the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization bestowed its highest honor on Ukrainian reporter Dmytro Gnap and his colleagues, Gnap announced he was quitting journalism to run for the presidency of Ukraine.

Im really tired from this absolutely crazy situation where we are exposing dozens of corrupted officials and nothing happens, Gnap said during an interview in Kiev on July 3, a few days after his announcement. No one went to jail. Not a single one.

Gnap and his investigative team spent years producing stories about the shady business deals of politicians, including reports that linked President Petro Poroshenko to offshore accountswith little to no effect. Gnaps team at Slidstvo.info, an investigative reporting NGO backed by Western grants, along with the Organized Crime and Corruption Report Project, won the IRE Medal for best investigative journalism for their 2017 documentary Killing Pavel. In the 50-minute documentary, Gnap, the lead reporter, presented evidence that Ukraines secret police may have played a role in the car bombing of Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sheremet.

If I was an investigative reporter in Canada, Belgium, or Sweden, I would work to old age because the systems in those countries work, says Gnap, 40, who is married with three children, ages 4 to 16. But Im living in Ukraine. Im Ukrainian. I dont want to keep waiting for someone to come and change our country and establish justice. We have corrupted officials. We have very weak public services. And someone needs to change this.

Gnap compares his decision to that of witnessing a robbery on the street. As a journalist, he could decide to film the robbery, call for help, or intervene himself. Im not going to keep filming the robbery of my country, he says.

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Gnap has entered a crowded presidential contest where at least eight expected contenders are old faces on Ukraines political stage. Yulia Tymoshenko, who co-led the Orange Revolution of 2004 and was the countrys first female prime minister, has a slight lead in the polls. Nearly half of the respondents said they definitely wouldnt vote for the current occupant.

Ukraines presidential election, which will take place in March of 2019, is the first regular election since the Euromaidan Revolution ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in February of 2014 and quick elections put Poroshenko in power three months later. Poroshenkos popularity has since waned as critics say he has been slow to make reforms and fix Ukraines many social problems. A June survey showed 76 percent of those polled believe the country is going in the wrong direction under his leadership.

Gnap wants to capitalize on that dissatisfaction by uniting the opposition democratic parties of several former journalists and activists now in parliament. He plans to run as the single liberal opposition candidate on an anti-corruption platform that promises to clean up government. In addition to extensive reforms, Gnap plans to strengthen the countrys anti-corruption bureau, remove corrupt judges, reform the countrys secret police and help local governments break monopolies that overcharge peopleall issues that Gnap, as a journalist, reported on for years.

Gnaps biggest challenge is getting the word out about his campaign. In the latest political poll, released in early August, Gnap didnt even rank.

There is no problem for me with those polls, Gnap says. Tymoshenko, Poroshenko, and others have been for many years in Ukrainian politics. Tymoshenko since 1996. Poroshenko since 1998. I started my political career a month and a half ago.

Though he has been a television journalist for nearly two decadesand is well-known among investigative journalists in Eastern Europehis reports are shown on small independent media platforms. Most Ukrainians get their news from mainstream television stations, which are owned by oligarchs and politicianscompetitors who are unlikely to give Gnap an audience. Not a single major television station in Ukraine covered Gnaps announcement that he was running for president, he says.

Gnaps campaign is also being run by a former journalist, Vladimir Fedorin, who was the chief editor of Forbes Ukraine until 2013 when a crony of Yanukovychs bought the media outlet and implemented censorship. Radical reforms are impossible without a real political process, says Fedorin, who also runs a free market think-tank in Ukraine. Ukrainian political life needs disruption, needs new leaders who wont tolerate business as usual of cronyism that steals opportunities from the whole nation.

Gnap and Fedorin say his grassroots campaign will emulate the internet-focused campaigns of former President Barack Obama and French President Emmanuel Macron. Like those upstarts, Gnap, with his direct gaze, charcoal and silver hair, unlined face, and booming voice knows how to charm a television audience.

I have some romantic goals, he admits, of showing the Ukrainian people that changes are coming and that people outside the political system are finally coming to power.

Journalists as politicians in Ukraine

Gnap isnt the first journalist in Ukraine to enter politics. Mustafa Nayyem, a Ukrainian investigative journalist credited with starting the protests that led to the Euromaidan Revolution in 2013-2014, was elected to Ukraines parliament in 2014 along with two other noted investigative journalists, Sergii Leshchenko, and Iegor Soboliev. Gnap is in talks with those ex-journalists to form a new independent political party.

Soboliev, who for 18 years worked in various TV and online platforms, says he left journalism because I was deeply disappointed that after our investigations there were no proper punishments or even improvements.

Journalists turned politicians arent without controversy. In the summer of 2016, critics questioned how Leshchenko could afford to buy an apartment for $281,000 when the average monthly salary in Ukraine in 2016 was about $200. Leshchenko said he earned the money from various sources, including Western grants he received for his investigative stories.

Yevhen Fedchenko, director of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy School of Journalism and a former board member of Hromadske TV, called Leshchenkos explanation dubious and says hes disappointed by the journalists whove entered parliament. We lost some good journalists but never got new MPs capable of making changes.

Fedchenko has been a critic of Gnaps journalism, calling him a politician in a piece in CJR last year. The two have not spoken since. Everything Dmytro was doing before now was more related to his politics than journalism, Fedchenko says. It would be more just if he would call it what it is and not masquerade political activism as journalism.

In the past four years, many of Gnaps investigative pieces focused on business dealings of President Poroshenko and his friends, causing some critics to claim Gnap was partisan. Gnap insists his reporting was never biased.

Concentration on corruption could make some people think you are an activist, Gnap says. But Slidstvo focused not only on corruption but on criminal cases and social problems. We made some mistakes and we had some weak points in our journalism and we tried to fix them and to improve our work.

He shrugs at Fedchenkos criticism that he had political ambitions all along. He produced a correct forecast. Now is he interested in being right or changing Ukraine?

Whispers of political ambitions

As far back as 2014, Gnaps colleagues and friends teased him about his presidential ambitions after he made a fiery speech at the Euromaidan protests, accusing opposition leaders of having betrayed the people of Ukraine. One friend even made T-shirts that said, Gnap for President and created a campaign poster from Barack Obamas famous Hope photo, replacing Obamas face with Gnaps.

It was a running gag, I am afraid, among the Hromadske team that Dima will run for president, said Katya Gorchinskaya, CEO of Hromadske TV, the cable and online news platform that Gnap helped start in 2013. It was an open secret that he had political ambitions. Its a shame to lose his skills and knowledge, but this process is extremely common in Ukraine and you can more or less predict it at every election cycle.

Hromadske, which means public in Ukrainian, started just before the Euromaidan Revolution known in Ukraine as the Revolution of Dignity. The online platform benefited from a young audience who donated thousands of dollars to keep Hromadske going as it live-streamed violent clashes in which more than 100 people, many of them civilians, were killed.

The 2 million to 3 million people who supported and participated in civic protests during the Revolution of Dignity, those are our supporters and we can count on them, Gnap says.

Gnaps core audience are middle-class social media users, from 24 to 40 years old, he says. He currently has over 82,000 followers on Facebook. Gnap supports LGBT rights, thinks that abortion should be legalized, and believes Ukraine should stop providing free services because it opens up too many opportunities for corruption. An atheist, he wants to reduce the power of the church in Ukraine. And he thinks English should become the official second language. While those stances may win him votes from a younger, more modern generation, they are unlikely to make him popular with older, religious Ukrainians, nostalgic for the comparatively well-run Soviet Union, who depend on the government for their pensions and medical care.

When critics argue that Gnap doesnt have the experience to run for office, he points out that the most corrupt politiciansincluding Yanukovych who is accused of stealing billions from the countrys treasuryhad decades of experience. Experienced professionals have brought Ukraine to poverty and corruption, he says.

If his bid for president fails, Gnap says hell run for parliament next year. I want to sacrifice my life for this. I decided to change my comfortable life as a journalist for fighting for real change in Ukraine. This is just the start.

RELATED: In a time of war, investigative reporting in Ukraine is a tough sell

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Cheryl L. Reed is an assistant professor at Syracuse University where she researches investigative reporting in post-Soviet states.
As sea levels rise due to climate change, so do the global hazards and potential devastating damages from tsunamis, according to a new study by a partnership that included Virginia Tech.

Even minor sea level rise, by as much as a foot, poses greater risks of tsunamis for coastal communities worldwide.

The threat of rising sea levels to coastal cities and communities throughout the world is well known, but new findings show the likely increase of flooding farther inland from tsunamis following earthquakes. Think of the tsunami that devasted a portion of northern Japan after the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, causing a nuclear plant to melt down and spread radioactive contamination.

These findings are at the center of a new Science Advances study, headed by a multi-university team of scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University, and National Taiwan University, with critical support from Virginia Techs Robert Weiss, an associate professor in the Department of Geosciences, part of the College of Science.

Our research shows that sea level rise can significantly increase the tsunami hazard, which means that smaller tsunamis in the future can have the same adverse impacts as big tsunamis would today, Weiss said, adding that smaller tsunamis generated by earthquakes with smaller magnitudes occur frequently and regularly around the world. For the study, Weiss was critical in helping create computational models and data analytics frameworks.

At Virginia Tech, Weiss serves as director of the National Science Foundation-funded Disaster Resilience and Risk Management graduate education program and is co-lead of Coastal@VT, comprised of 45 Virginia Tech faculty from 13 departments focusing on contemporary and emerging coastal zone issues, such as disaster resilience, migration, sensitive ecosystems, hazard assessment, and natural infrastructure.

For the study, Weiss and his partners, including Lin Lin Li, a senior research fellow, and Adam Switzer, an associate professor, at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, created computer-simulated tsunamis at current sea level and with sea level increases of 1.5 feet and 3 feet in the Chinese territory of Macau. Macau is a densely populated coastal region located in South China that is generally safe from current tsunami risks.

At current sea level, an earthquake would need to tip past a magnitude of 8.8 to cause widespread tsunami inundation in Macau. But with the simulated sea level rises, the results surprised the team.

The sea level rise dramatically increased the frequency of tsunami-induced flooding by 1.2 to 2.4 times for the 1.5-foot increase and from 1.5 to 4.7 times for the 3-foot increase. We found that the increased inundation frequency was contributed by earthquakes of smaller magnitudes, which posed no threat at current sea level, but could cause significant inundation at higher sealevel conditions, Li said.

In the simulated study of Macau  population 613,000  Switzer said, We produced a series of tsunami inundation maps for Macau using more than 5,000 tsunami simulations generated from synthetic earthquakes prepared for the Manila Trench. It is estimated that sea levels in the Macau region will increase by 1.5 feet by 2060 and 3 feet by 2100, according to the team of U.S.-Chinese scientists.

The hazard of large tsunamis in the South China Sea region primarily comes from the Manila Trench, a megathrust system that stretches from offshore Luzon in the Philippines to southern Taiwan. The Manila Trench megathrust has not experienced an earthquake larger than a magnitude 7.8 since the 1560s. Yet, study co-author Wang Yu, from the National Taiwan University, cautioned that the region shares many of the characteristics of the source areas that resulted in the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, as well as the 2011 earthquake in northern Japan, both causing massive loss of life.

These increased dangers from tsunamis build on already known difficulties facing coastal communities worldwide: The gradual loss of land directly near coasts and increased chances of flooding even during high tides, as sea levels increase as the Earth warms.

The South China Sea is an excellent starting point for such a study because it is an ocean with rapid sea-level rise and also the location of many mega cities with significant worldwide consequences if impacted. The study is the first if its kind on the level of detail, and many will follow our example, Weiss said.

Policymakers, town planners, emergency services, and insurance firms must work together to create or insure safer coastlines, Weiss added.

Sea level rise needs to be taken into account for planning purposes, for example for reclamation efforts but also for designing protective measures, such as seawalls or green infrastructure.

He added, What we assumed to be the absolute worst case a few years ago now appears to be modest for what is predicted in some locations. We need to study local sea level change more comprehensively in order to create better predictive models that help to make investments in infrastructure that are or near sustainable.

Source: Virginia Tech
A group of landowners is suing a South Dakota utility and a Minnesota-based telephone company for alleged negligence in the third-largest wildfire in the Black Hills regions history.

Black Hills landowners filed the lawsuit Friday in Custer County against Black Hills Power and Hanson Communications, The Rapid City Journal reported. The lawsuit alleges the companies caused the Legion Lake fire in December by failing to use proper care around the root system of a large tree in Custer State Park that fell onto a power line.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the root system was cut when a utility trench was dug adjacent to the tree, causing the trees soil root plate to be severely damaged, rendering it vulnerable to toppling, the lawsuit said.

A state investigation had found that the Legion Lake fire began when a tree fell onto a power line in the park. Flames spread into Wind Cave National Park and onto private property, ultimately scorching 84 square miles (218 square kilometers).

A spokeswoman for Black Hills Corporation, the parent company of Black Hills Power, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The companies shouldve conducted a tree risk assessment and removed or trimmed trees so they wouldnt be capable of striking the power line, the lawsuit said.

Black Hills Energy has a proactive vegetation management program that meets industry standards and accounts for all applicable state laws and regulations, the company said in an earlier statement about the fire. We monitor all right-of-way clearances via aerial or ground patrol.

The lawsuit notes the loss of real estate, agricultural value and aesthetics. The landowners are seeking unspecified damages.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
When police investigators tried to figure out what caused a multi-vehicle crash that killed an elderly woman in Morton, Illinois, last month, they looked to the sky for help.

Like a growing number of police agencies throughout the country, the sheriffs office in Tazewell County relied on a drone to quickly take photographs of the scene from on high to help investigators reconstruct the crash.

Its about a hundred times more detailed than what we could do with people taking the measurements, Chief Deputy Jeff Lower said. And it means that theres much less time for the road to be closed and traffic to be backed up.

For decades, police investigators at crash scenes used chalk marks, tape measures and roller-wheels to record measurements and skid marks to help them assess what happened. More recently, many have used a laser scanning tool to map the scene. But often, those measurements can take hours, during which lanes may need to be shut down or the road closed entirely, putting emergency responders and crash investigators in harms way near traffic whizzing past.

Now, more police agencies are turning to drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, to do that work. Remote pilots send up the drones, which take high-resolution photos that are fed into a computer and run through software. That creates 3D models that piece everything together for investigators.

And while privacy and civil rights advocates strongly oppose law enforcement using drones for mass surveillance, such as at a protest rally, or for gathering criminal evidence without a warrant, they generally are not as concerned when it comes to car crashes.

Filming a traffic accident overhead to get a better view, if its strictly limited to that purpose, is not the sort of thing that we would necessarily object to, said Chad Marlow, a senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.

Jeramie D. Scott, national security counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research group, agreed that it is less likely his group would be concerned about using drones for crash reconstruction, as long as there wasnt some type of surveillance involved in collecting information about individuals.

The risk, Scott said, is that without rules protecting privacy, law enforcement will use drones to conduct surveillance, including general surveillance of groups.

Police Drone Use Grows

State and local emergency response agencies use drones in a variety of ways, from tracking wildfires to search and rescue missions.

At least 910 state and local police, fire and emergency services agencies have drones, according to an estimate by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York. And those numbers have skyrocketed  up 82 percent from 2016 to 2017. About two-thirds of the agencies with drones are in law enforcement.

While the study doesnt break out how many police agencies use drones specifically for crash reconstruction, Dan Gettinger, co-director at the center, said the idea is spreading.

Lower, of the Tazewell sheriffs office, said his department started using drones about a year ago for accident reconstruction, and has deployed them in six crashes. It has spent about $15,000 for the program, including training.

In the recent crash that killed the elderly woman, Lower said it took only 45 minutes to gather information using a drone, rather than the three hours it would have taken on the ground. The womans car hit the rear of a semi tractor-trailer stopped at a light and the side of another vehicle nearby. She died at the scene.

Last year, North Carolinas transportation department and highway patrol conducted a real-life drone study using a simulated two-car crash. It took the reconstruction team an hour and 51 minutes to collect the data using a laser scanner. It took 25 minutes using drones.

Using drones for crash reconstruction also can reduce staff time, some officials say.

Maine state police bought three drones for reconstruction last year and have used them more than 30 times to investigate crashes. They paid about $40,000 for the drones, software and training. Weve probably saved twice that in overtime alone, said Lt. Bruce Scott, the traffic safety units commander.

Drone Controversy

Drones can be controversial, and many states have passed legislation to regulate or restrict their use.

At least 18 states require law enforcement agencies to get search warrants to use drones for surveillance or conducting a search, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But some of those states have specifically exempted crash reconstruction. In Maine, for example, state police worked with legislators to make sure the exemption was included in drone legislation enacted in 2015, according to Maine State Police Sgt. Darren Foster, who oversees his agencys drone program.

In Virginia, the Stafford County Sheriffs Office wanted to start a drone crash reconstruction program but was hampered by a state law requiring police to get a warrant to use a drone except in certain circumstances, such as Amber Alerts for missing children.

Earlier this year, the sheriffs office contacted Republican state Del. Bob Thomas, who introduced a bill allowing drones for crash reconstruction without a warrant.

The Legislature unanimously passed the measure, which was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam in March. It went into effect in July.

While the program has just started, Stafford County Capt. Ben Worcester said he expects it to revolutionize the way investigators capture crash scene evidence and help protect emergency workers and the public.

The benefits are undeniable, he said.

This article was originally published by Stateline.org, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
AKRON, Ohio -- Akron Zoo announced the winning names for its "Oh Deer! Waddle We Name Them?" contest that concluded Aug. 8.

The zoo asked the public to vote on names for its new Humboldt penguin chick and Siberian musk deer fawn. Rico was the name selected for the zoo's male penguin chick. Alina was the winning name for the female musk deer fawn.

Rico, a Spanish name that translates to "brave ruler" in English, hatched June 1. The deer fawn's name, pronounced "a-lee-nah," translates to "beautiful" from Russian. Alina was born June 13.

The naming contest took place on the Akron Zoo's website. Members of public were encouraged to choose between the names Guanay, Junio, Maximo, Pacifico and Rico for the penguin and Alina, Katia, Nadia and Svetlana for the fawn.

Both infant animals can now be viewed in their respective habitats at the zoo.

Akron Zoo is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Adults pay $12, seniors pay $10 and children 2-14 years old pay $9 for admission. Children younger than 2 years old can visit the zoo for free.

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BEREA, Ohio -- Assault, Eastland Road: A Cleveland man, 25, was arrested at about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 18 after he beat up three people during the WGAR Country Jam concert at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, 164 Eastland.

The man, wearing a Confederate States of America flag like a cape, started fighting another man near a beer tent. The fight meandered to a lemonade stand, where the victim lost consciousness, and the man left the area.

When police arrived, the victim had regained consciousness. Witnesses pointed to a second victim, whose face was bloody, and mistakenly said he was the attacker. Due to the second victim's size -- about 6 feet 6 inches tall and 265 pounds -- police pointed a Taser at him and ordered him to the ground.

The second victim and other witnesses told police that they had the wrong man, and that the second victim had actually been attacked by the Cleveland man. Police apologized to the second victim.

Other witnesses told police that the real attacker was walking toward an exit, and that people were chasing him.

Police ran to the exit and saw the attacker running from witnesses. Police joined the chase. One officer tripped, fell into a beam supporting the security building and injured his toe. Police then apprehended the suspect without further incident.

One of the people chasing the suspect was a woman who had been working at the beer tent. She said the man punched her in the head four times when she tried to stop the fight between the attacker and his first victim.

Trespassing-disorderly conduct, Eastland Road: An intoxicated North Olmsted woman, 51, was arrested at about 10 p.m. Aug. 18 after she tried to sneak aboard the tour bus of a band performing at the WGAR County Jam at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, 164 Eastland.

The woman made her way backstage, opened the tour bus door and entered. Police said they don't know which band was involved. Band members told her to exit the bus. Security guards escorted the woman away and ordered her to leave the concert.

Minutes later, the woman was back inside the bus. Security guards again removed her, but she refused to leave the concert, so they called Berea police.

The woman admitted entering the tour bus, but blamed security guards for not doing their jobs. She said she had re-entered the bus because she had left her purse behind.

The woman initially falsely identified herself to police. Police turned the woman over to a sober friend, who drove her away.

Disorderly conduct, Eastland Road: A Cleveland man, 59, was arrested at about 9:45 p.m. Aug. 18 after he told a security guard and a worker at the WGAR Country Jam, at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds on Eastland, that he had a gun.

By the time police arrived, security had handcuffed the man after searching him and finding no gun. The man was intoxicated and didn't make much sense. He said he had been experiencing a conflict with "black crypts" and wanted to resolve the problem with violence because police had failed to act.

Police learned the man was wanted in Walton Hills. He cried, then became angry. He was taken to Strongsville jail.

Marijuana possession, Baker Street: Someone called police at about 7:20 p.m. Aug. 21 after seeing juveniles smoking marijuana in the playground of St. Mary Catholic School, 265 Baker.

When police arrived, they found and identified two Berea boys, both 17; a Middleburg Heights boy, 15; and a Brook Park girl, 16. They had been walking through a field behind the school. One of the Berea boys was carrying a marijuana roach and raw marijuana in his pocket. The girl was carrying an electronic cigarette.

Police told the Berea boy he would be charged with marijuana possession and advised the girl that she legally can't use tobacco products until she's 18. They were all told not to return to St. Mary's property or they would be charged with criminal trespassing.

Theft, East Fifth Avenue: A $400 portable hammock was stolen between 3:30 p.m. Aug. 16 and 4:55 p.m. Aug. 17 from a back yard.

A neighbor told the victim and police that he had seen three female suspects take the hammock. The neighbor wondered to himself whether the victim had sold the hammock to the suspects. He followed them in his car, but lost them. Then he saw the hammock in the back yard of a house on Fourth Avenue.

The neighbor saw a woman emerge from the Fourth Avenue home to retrieve mail. He told her that she should return the hammock. She said, "OK."

Police went to the Fourth Avenue home and knocked on the door, but no one answered. They didn't see a hammock on the property.

Operating a vehicle under the influence, West Bagley Road: An Olmsted Township man, 22, was arrested at about 3 a.m. Aug. 18 after police saw his Buick Century stopped at a green light on West Bagley at Mulberry Street.

The Century then weaved and drifted left of center. Police pulled over the car on West Bagley at Baker Street. They smelled alcohol in the car.

The man admitted drinking "a couple" of beers at a local bar. He failed field sobriety tests.

Theft, French Street: A Giant mountain bike was stolen and replaced with a different bike between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 19 from a garage. It's unknown whether the garage door had been left open. The stolen bike was light blue with red and white stripes.

Marijuana possession, East Bagley Road: A Parma man, 18, was arrested at about 2:05 a.m. Aug. 22 after he admitted to police that he was carrying a marijuana pipe in his backpack.

Police had stopped the man's Chevrolet Cavalier after it had almost hit a curb on eastbound East Bagley near Tressel Street. The car was also weaving.

Police smelled marijuana in the car. The marijuana pipe in the backpack was stuffed with marijuana. Police also found marijuana gummy worms in the backpack.

Marijuana possession, Ohio 237: Two Cleveland men, 19 and 18, were arrested at about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 17 after police found marijuana wrapped in plastic inside their car.

Police had stopped the car after seeing it straddling lanes on Sheldon Road before turning onto Ohio 237.

To comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments page.
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- Suspicion, warrant served; Pepper Creek Drive: After receiving a call, police detained a Euclid man, 24, who claimed he was there to help a moving crew at a house on Aug. 22.

The moving crew from "Two Men and a Truck" said they had no knowledge of any additional man being called in that day, at which point the suspect and his girlfriend said they were responding to an ad on Craig's List and had the wrong address.

Euclid police responded to a warrant for the man and custody was transferred.

Civil matter, telecommunications harassment; Old Brainard Road: A resident reported Aug. 23 that he had hired a contractor in July to work on a house in Cleveland Heights and he did not feel the job had been completed.

Police were shown a text message received from the contractor after a check bounced, containing perceived threats that included a possible blackmail scheme. He wanted the incident documented and said that Cleveland Heights police referred him to Pepper Pike.

Police then spoke with the contractor, who said he had worked with the landlord for 15 years, but they were now done and he would refrain from any further contact via phone or text.

Runaway, Chagrin Boulevard: Police report that a boy, 17, who walked away from the New Directions residential drug treatment facility on the night of Aug. 20, remained at large three days later, although there had been some contact with family members.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
Featured stories

Ashtabula teen dies after being caught in Lake Erie waves (Ashtabula Star Beacon)

Controversial assignment asks Cuyahoga Falls students to say who they would save based on age, sexual orientation, religion (cleveland.com)

What we learned in Ohio State's full report of the Urban Meyer investigation (cleveland.com)

Crime

Mastermind, shooters get life in prison in deadly revenge shooting of Cleveland bartender (cleveland.com)

Man shot while driving crashes into 2nd vehicle, Cleveland police say (cleveland.com)

Man kidnapped, raped, threatened to kill woman in Cleveland's Brooklyn Centre neighborhood (cleveland.com)

Man shot walking down the street in Maple Heights (cleveland.com)

Man shot to death in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood (cleveland.com)

Cleveland man charged in fatal shooting during argument in street (cleveland.com)

Man, two juveniles used BB gun to rob woman at Willoughby condominium (cleveland.com)

Akron man robbed in home by armed intruder (cleveland.com)

Male shot multiple times on Cleveland's East Side (cleveland.com)

$100 million investment scheme targeted NE Ohioan, victims nationwide (cleveland.com)

Akron drug dealer gets life for selling fentanyl to woman who died of overdose (cleveland.com)

Elyria man accused of tossing cocaine out of window (Lorain Morning Journal)

Lorain man accused of ransacking bar, assault (Lorain Morning Journal)

Cleveland / Cuyahoga County

Crime statistics show Cleveland police tougher on dirt bikes this year (cleveland.com)

Tackling the infant mortality crisis through tech; area experts, parents take up the challenge (cleveland.com)

Prosecutor defends decision to not charge mayor's son in missing money case (WKYC Channel 3)

Local news East

The Great Geauga County Fair returns Labor Day weekend (photos, video) (cleveland.com)

Akron / Canton area

University of Akron engineering dean steps down after numerous cuts made to graduate programs (cleveland.com)

State

Ohio Supreme Court throws out Melanie Leneghan's lawsuit challenging Troy Balderson's 12th District victory (cleveland.com)

Official Renacci Facebook ads tout contentious children's health-insurance vote (cleveland.com)

Facebook co-founders' groups give $2 million to Issue 1 campaign: Capitol Letter (cleveland.com)

Ohio lawmakers show interest in blockchain (cleveland.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and members of the county's Audit Committee propose to spend tax dollars on a lawyer who can advise them on how to keep draft audit reports secret from taxpayers.

The Audit Committee members voted 3-1 Friday to hire a law firm to determine if the county has legal standing to prevent the public from seeing draft audits, and if not, what steps the county would have to circumvent Ohio's public records law.

The audit committee also voted 4-0 to ask the Ohio General Assembly to amend state law to remove any ambiguity over whether a draft audit is considered a public record.

Friday's action grew out of the county initially refusing to make public an internal draft audit that is critical of the Budish administration's oversight of its IT Department.

The county argued that the document did not constitute a public record, an assertion disputed by cleveland.com and an expert on Ohio's public records law.

Dave Marburger, who has authored a book on the state's public records law who has done work for the cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, scoffed at the notion that the draft audit could be kept secret. Marburger said the legal exception cited by the county does not apply to draft audits by the county and that the draft is considered a public record because it represents a completed document.

The county released a copy of the draft only after another copy was leaked to cleveland.com.

The draft audit covered a period from July 2016 to the end of 2017 and included a review of contracts that are being examined by corruption investigators with the County Prosecutor's Office.

Audit Committee Chairman Michael Abouserhal said prior to the audit being leaked that he had been told by Assistant County Prosecutor David Lambert that if the county withheld the document "there was a possibility" that a judge would not deem the draft a public record.

Abouserhal, a retired certified public accountant and former employee of the State Auditor's Office, said Friday that the release of a draft audit can be "incredibly dangerous" and given to misinterpretation.

Asked after Friday's meeting if the draft audit leaked to cleveland.com contained inaccurate information, he said it did not.

County Internal Auditor Cory Swaisgood said after Friday's meeting that the final audit of the IT contracts, which the committee voted to release Aug. 29, is substantially the same as the draft. He said it is more formal in its presentation and includes an executive summary.

The committee proposes to ask the General Assembly to change public records law so that draft audits at the county level are treated the same as those produced by the State Auditor's Office.

Trevor McAleer, a member of the County Council staff who sits on the audit committee as an alternate for Council President Dan Brady, said he would draw up language to seek the law change.

Ohio law specifically excludes draft audits at the state level from public records requirements, but is silent on whether draft audits created by a county auditor can be kept secret.

Swaisgood said other states restrict the release of draft audits by counties and that officials from three states conducting a peer review of his department were surprised at Ohio's law.

McAleer voted against hiring a lawyer to review Ohio law because he believes it would be to no avail, but he agrees in principle that a draft audit should be considered private as a matter of best practices.

Budish, a non-voting member of the of the audit committee, said he supported both seeking a lawyer and approaching the General Assembly.

Budish, who is seeking re-election to a second term as executive, said he agreed with others that "it would be better if this committee could do its work and finish its work before everything becomes public."

The draft audit detailed a number of problems with procurement processes in the county government. The draft cites concerns about the authority and oversight of the IT Department's general counsel, Emily McNeeley, who is a focus of the corruption investigation.

Swaisgood suggests that the general counsel had been given too much authority and was not adequately supervised by the county's Law Department despite assurance to the contrary by county Law Director Robert Triozzi.

The draft audit also recommends that the county seek to recover $119,782 in payments to OneCommunity, a high-speed internet provider, for services that could not be reconciled during the audit. Scot Rourke, the county's IT director, used to run OneCommunity.

McNeeley and Rourke, whose names have appeared in subpoenas served on the county, have both been placed on leave pending the investigation.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Police are investigating after a male was shot multiple times Thursday on the East Side.

The unidentified victim was wounded in the stomach on the 3300 block of East 142nd Street, north of Kinsman Road in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

Police released few details Thursday, including the condition of the victim and a possible motive for the shooting.

It is the second reported shooting being investigated by police on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a 59-year-old man was shot to death on Phillips Avenue in the Glenville neighborhood.

The man's identity also has not been released and no arrests have been made in the case.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man was shot in the head Thursday night while driving on the East Side, causing him to crash into another vehicle and injuring a woman, police say.

The 20-year-old gunshot victim was taken to University Hospitals. Police did not release his condition.

The man was shot near the intersection of East 117th St and Kinsman Road in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, according to police.

His vehicle crashed into another vehicle driven by a 26-year-old woman. She suffered a head injury because of the crash.

Her condition also is unknown.

Two other shootings were reported by police on Thursday. Earlier in the day, a 59-year-old man was shot to death on Phillips Avenue in the Glenville neighborhood.

In the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, a man was shot multiple times in the stomach on the 3300 block of East 142nd Street. His condition was not released.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An undercover police officer attempting to arrest a suspected prostitute shot and killed the woman after she stabbed him in the hand, reports say.

The incident occurred outside an apartment building at about 11:30 a.m., according to WCMH Channel 4.

Police say the officer was trying to arrest the woman in an unmarked vehicle when she attacked, 10tv.com reports.

The officer fired his handgun several times inside the vehicle, police say. The unidentified suspect was taken to Grant Medical Center but died of her wounds.

The officer, a 30-year veteran, underwent surgery at the hospital and was in stable condition, 10tv.com reports.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- After years of dealing with flooding and mold issues in their Burns Road home, Jane and David Lamier were at a loss. Then last year, with the help of the city, the couple applied for a Federal Emergency Management Agency Pre-Disaster Mitigation Competitive grant.

While the Lamiers were denied in 2017, they were steadfast in their efforts and this year received a $101,340 grant for the city to acquire and demolish their property.

"Every time we'd get a really bad flood, it would get into our crawl space," Jane said. "We had it cleaned, had it fixed and nothing was working. Another flood happened, and then we had more disaster.

"I went to a doctor who literally said there was mold in the house and it was making me sick. It was terrible. We've been out of our home for three and a half years," she said.

The Lamiers, who are currently living in a North Olmsted apartment complex, attempted to sell the home before realizing the damage and mold made demolition the only option.

Mayor Kevin Kennedy said his administrative assistant, Becki Kovach, deserves credit for helping the couple with the grant process.

"While they claimed this house was unlivable, the city's position was it's private property and we can't do anything," Kennedy said. "They brought this federal program to us. I told them the city can't spend any money on this, but we'll spend some time and try to help them."

City Council approved the grant award, with the next step being that the city will pick the demolition company. The funds will cover that cost, with the remaining balance going to the Lamiers.

"Once it's demolished, the city owns the property," Kennedy said. "We can't rent it, we can't build on it. We can't do anything to it. The plan is to work with the neighbors of the land to see if they'll maintain it."

The mayor stressed that the fact that the Lamiers received the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Competitive grant is surprising.

"This is a one-off," Kennedy said. "To be honest, I didn't think they'd ever get it."
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Democratic governor hopeful Richard Cordray is out with a new ad responding to a recent attack from his opponent, Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine, touting his own law enforcement bona fides.

The DeWine campaign recently released an ad portraying Cordray as soft on crime, saying he allowed serial rapists to strike again by not clearing the backlog of sexual assault kits in the state. Cordray's newest ad features Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart disputing those claims and saying Cordray has the backing of law enforcement.

"When Rich took over as attorney general, Ohio didn't have a system to process evidence in sexual assault cases," Lenhart says. "The backlog stretched back for decades. Rich fixed it. That's the truth."

Lenhart, a Republican who is voting for Cordray, points out that Cordray has the backing of the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the state.

"I'm voting for the man, not the party and so are cops across Ohio," Lenhart says in the ad.

Lenhart worked in the attorney general's office under Cordray.

In response to the ad, DeWine's campaign put out a statement from Democratic former Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty backing up DeWine's original claims.

"Thousands of rape kits should have been tested and cases prosecuted before Mike DeWine took office as AG," McGinty said. "DeWine did what Cordray should have done -- collected, tested, and prosecuted a thousand rapists. What bothers me is those rapists who Cordray ignored kept victimizing women and children as the kits gathered dust."

A back-and-forth series of attacks between Cordray and DeWine on law enforcement has been brewing for several months, but ramped up in recent days after an Associated Press report on Monday detailed how DeWine's office left Bureau of Criminal Investigation officers with expired bulletproof vests.

The FOP endorsed Cordray, citing the vest issue as one of the primary reasons.

A day later, DeWine released his first ad of the campaign season, knocking Cordray for being slow to respond to the rape kit backlog in the state. Cordray's campaign called it a naked attempt to politicize sexual assault.

The rape kit backlog is more complex and can't be faulted to any single person, but rather a series of institutional shortcomings. There was no statewide standard for how to deal with the evidence, and local law enforcement agencies didn't test every kit they received, a practice that's been abandoned in lieu of testing them all.

The issue wasn't even discussed until Rachel Dissell and Leila Atassi reported on it for The Plain Dealer in 2010.

Cordray, who would only serve through the remainder of 2010 after losing reelection to DeWine, took steps to modernize the state testing lab, though stopped short of asking for all kits to be tested, instead requesting law enforcement to send the most likely samples to provide leads.

After DeWine won, he recommended that local law enforcement agencies send all of their kits to the state testing lab. DeWine cleared the backlog and identified nearly 700 people associated with crimes, which took him his full two terms until 2018.

Cordray's campaign declined to say how much they were spending on the ad, but it is running statewide.
COLUMBUS, Ohio--After millions of dollars spent, a presidential visit, and a lengthy vote certification process, Republican Troy Balderson has become the newest congressman representing Ohio's 12th District -- at least, for the next two months.

Balderson, a state senator from Zanesville, beat Democrat Danny O'Connor, the Franklin County recorder, by 1,680 votes, according to final vote totals from the Aug. 7 special election released Friday by elections officials.

Unofficial election-night totals showed Balderson with a slim 1,754-vote lead over O'Connor for the Republican-skewed district. O'Connor narrowed that margin slightly when provisional and absentee ballots were counted, thanks to support from Franklin County voters, but it wasn't enough to change the outcome.

Joe Manchik, the Green Party candidate in the race, received a total of 1,165 votes, or 0.56 percent.

In a statement, Balderson said he was "humbled by the support I've received from voters" and looks forward to representing them in Washington.

"Danny O'Connor ran a hard-fought race, but I look forward to earning the support of voters for a fourth time in November as I share my track record of getting things done for Ohioans, including balancing the budget, cutting taxes and creating an environment for job creation," Balderson said.

Balderson is expected to be sworn into office when the House reconvenes the first week of September. But he'll only serve for about nine weeks before he has to face O'Connor again in the Nov. 6 general election.

O'Connor's best opportunity to win the district may now be behind him -- Balderson's now the incumbent, and O'Connor must now compete with dozens of other competitive Democratic House candidates for the sizable amount of campaign contributions he needs to unseat Balderson.

But Balderson's narrow victory in a Republican-gerrymandered district literally designed for Democrats to fail in gives Democrats hope that O'Connor can close the gap in November, when additional left-leaning voters - including college students at Ohio Wesleyan and Denison universities - will turn out to the polls.

In an interview, O'Connor said his campaign is now focused on November, claiming his chances will only improve over August because - among other factors - left-leaning college students will no longer be away on summer break. He also voiced confidence that he'll be able to raise the money he needs to compete.

"Give us three months to continue to sprint across this district to continue to talk to voters about issues that matter to them -- kitchen-table issues," O'Connor said.
CLEVELAND -- Ohio voters have more than a billion reasons to care about the ECOT scandal.

Over a 17-year period, state officials reached into your pockets, removed $1 billion, and allowed much of it to be poured down a rat hole formerly known as the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

Consider it another way: While state officials were underfunding local school districts, they were sending upwards of $100 million a year to a charter school that will be forever remembered as an epic failure.

As a result, mothers and fathers across Ohio had to raise their own property taxes to provide children they love with an adequate education.

Nothing about what happened is forgivable.

Nevertheless, as of this writing, here's the ECOT report card:

Number of people sent to prison: Zero.

Number charged with a crime: Zero.

If a price is ever to be paid for the biggest scandal in Ohio history, it will happen Nov. 6, when voters elect an entirely new lineup of state officeholders.

By the time the administration of Republican Gov. John Kasich effectively forced ECOT to close its doors in January, Ohio's largest online charter school was regarded as perhaps the worst of its kind in the country.

ECOT was reimbursed based on student attendance. And for most of those 17 years, the state's lack of attendance-taking safeguards made Ohio and its elected leaders a national laughingstock.

The relentless, albeit long overdue, pursuit of justice against ECOT by the Kasich administration and the state education department resulted in four winning court rulings -- including a decisive blow from the Ohio Supreme Court.

When the ECOT matter got before the courts, all was lost for the school and the officeholders who colluded to protect it. Those rulings might enable the state to claw back upwards of $80 million paid ECOT for unverifiable attendance.

ECOT made its founder, William Lager, enormously wealthy. Charter schools like ECOT are nonprofits, but the for-profit companies that run and supply them are often cash cows.

In return for the $1 billion that went to ECOT and Lager's companies, Lager and his flunkies sent $2.5 million back to the elected state officials who did what they could to shield ECOT from nosy state regulators.

That $2.5 million is what the donors were required to disclose. It doesn't include possible dark money contributions.

The number of elected officials complicit in the ECOT scandal is staggering.

An overwhelming majority of them are Republican. A Columbus Dispatch accounting of Lager's contributions over the years found that about 92 percent of that $2.5 million went to Republicans.

Worth noting, however, is that not once during former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland's four years (2007-2011) did the state audit ECOT. Lager and associates contributed about $95,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party.

Conventional wisdom holds the Republican candidates with the most political vulnerability to the ECOT scandal are: Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, the GOP candidate for governor; State Auditor Dave Yost, the party's candidate for attorney general; and State Rep. Keith Faber, the former Ohio Senate president and now Republican nominee for auditor.

Only after that vulnerability became apparent did the three GOP candidates begin to talk and act tough about ECOT's failure and the monumental consequences for taxpayers.

In terms of conduct that was downright villainous, no current elected official in the state did more to protect ECOT - and harm taxpayers - than Faber, who is opposed in the race for state auditor by former congressman and Tuscarawas County lawyer Zack Space.

As Senate president, Faber and former House Speaker Bill Batchelder were viewed in Columbus as probably ECOT's best friends in state government - busily maneuvering in the shadows to keep the ECOT watchdogs at bay.

In early 2016, State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, a Youngstown-area Democrat, introduced a commendable bill to strengthen attendance reporting laws for online charters like ECOT.

The proper place to consider Schiavoini's proposal was the Education Committee, chaired by Sen. Peggy Lehner, a Dayton-area Republican.

But Lehner is honest and actually cares about kids, so Faber sent the bill to the Finance Committee, where he knew it would die.

After ECOT closed, Faber shamelessly tried to take credit, a brazen claim found to be "mostly false" by the nonpartisan truth-seeker, PolitiFact.

In his winning brief to the Ohio Supreme Court, state education department lawyer Douglas Cole (a genuine hero in all this) wrote ECOT didn't deserve an "irrevocable license to continue fleecing Ohio's taxpayers and shortchanging its students of an education."

There are three reasons ECOT was a scandal of epic proportion:

*Its cost to the taxpayers, and Ohio's reputation.

*Its victims included so many children and parents.

*People with the power to demand accountability spent years looking the other way.

It's time people paid a price for this.

Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer's editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.

To reach Brent Larkin: blarkin@cleveland.com

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Michael Glassner is chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's massive rallies and primary endorsements are having a dramatic effect on the 2018 midterms already. And Republicans are winning big-league because of it.

The Republican Party has won eight of the 10 special House elections since President Trump entered office. According to a recent analysis, the last 14 candidates President Trump endorsed in Republican primaries won their respective races.

Just ask U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who is currently running for governor of Florida, about the impact a Trump endorsement can have on a race. DeSantis saw his poll numbers soar after President Trump's endorsement, and now leads his primary opponent by 20 points.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp also needed a boost when he trailed Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle by double digits in the first round of that state's gubernatorial primary. After President Trump's endorsement, Kemp won the runoff by a dominating 39 percentage points.

The list goes on and on.

President Trump's rallies are proving just as powerful as his endorsements. The president's rallies draw thousands of people to come and listen to his message. So many American patriots journey to these events that access to the arenas are routinely cut off. Last month, thousands were turned away during his rally in Great Falls, Montana.

No other politician can boast of such an appeal, and there's no doubt these rallies have completely changed the outcome of certain races by delivering voter turnout that otherwise would not have happened.

The special election in Ohio is a perfect example. On the weekend before the election, the president boldly chose to hold a rally in Delaware County -- a pivotal voting block of Ohio's 12th Congressional District.

"Democrat Danny O'Connor isn't expected to win Delaware County .... But to win, he needs to stay competitive with Balderson here and in other GOP-friendly areas of the district while running up the score in Democratic Franklin County," cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer wrote in a political analysis on the day of the special election, Aug. 7.

The latest poll had O'Connor winning, but President Trump's appearance in the county tipped the race in Balderson's favor. The Republican candidate won the county with 54 percent of the vote.

The president has undoubtedly shown an ability to unite the Republican base when it matters most. During the "two minute warning" of South Carolina's 1st Congressional District GOP primary, President Trump's last-minute tweet supporting State Rep. Katie Arrington gave her the boost she needed to beat three-term incumbent Mark Sanford.

The presidential endorsement sent a shock wave throughout the GOP and delivered a clear message to those who blithely oppose the America First agenda and attack the president.

Despite blatant attacks by the media and constant obstruction by the Democrats, President Trump's approval rating remains five points higher (50 percent) than his predecessor's at the same point in their presidencies. His approval ratings among Republicans have been at all-time highs, with the latest 88 percent approval rating among Republicans putting him only second to George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

There's a lesson here for all Republicans to learn and appreciate as we head into the busy midterm campaign season. President Trump's impact on elections is a direct result of the success of his America First policies, and it's driving Republican voters to the polls to keep his winning agenda moving and our economy growing.

Michael Glassner is chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc.

*************

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking new allies to offset Ankaras worsening ties with Washington, which have come to a breaking point over Turkeys continued detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Al Monitor reports in its article Is Washington pushing Turkey and Europe toward each other? that Erdogans remarks show that his heart is set on Russia and China.

Ironic as it may seem, though, Turkeys crisis with the United States is rekindling its ties with Europe, even though these ties had hit rock bottom not so long ago. Recent European statements of support for Turkey and Erdogans phone conversations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron last week have raised hopes that Turkey-EU ties may be revived.

This seemingly ironic situation is not new, though. Turkeys relationships with Europe and the United States have traditionally been characterized by a seesaw effect. When ties with one side were strained, relations with the other side showed signs of improvement, regardless of what differences there may be.

We saw this last year when Turkeys ties with key EU members appeared to be heading to a wall at high speed. Tensions peaked after Erdogan compared German and Dutch leaders to Nazis. He was fuming because his Justice and Development Party was banned from canvassing expatriate Turks in Germany and Holland for the referendum aimed at making him Turkeys first executive president.

Erdogan relied on a close relationship with President Donald Trump to counterbalance the deteriorating state of ties with Europe. He appeared to be succeeding, too, when he traveled to Washington last September for his first official meeting with Trump.

Erdogan has become a friend of mine, Trump said during the visit and added, I think now were as close as weve ever been. Developments, however, proved this reliance on Trump to be highly misplaced. Verbal promises from Moscow and Beijing to help Ankara overcome its current economic difficulties enable Erdogan to argue that Turkey is not without alternatives in the world.

Nevertheless, the logic of replacing Turkeys strategic partnership with the United States with similar partnerships with Russia and China has yet to be proven, especially since this would also undermine Ankaras political and military ties with Europe.

Many analysts believe that a major strategic shift toward Russia by Ankara would be counterintuitive. They generally agree that Turkeys current relationship with Russia is devoid of strategic content and is essentially driven by the problems both countries have with Europe and the United States.

Ankaras relationship with Moscow is not as easy as appearances may suggest, given the two countries clashing interests in the Middle East and the Black Sea region, which are often whitewashed.

Differences remain, however, on a broad range of issues from Syria to the Crimea and from Ukraine to the Caucasus. Not wanting to anger Moscow at a time when it needs its political support, Ankara remains largely mute on these sensitive issues.

There are also the major energy projects the two countries are jointly engaged in that help contain their differences. The potential for problems, however, is never far from the surface.

This was demonstrated when Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet on a mission in Syria in 2015, forcing ties into a freefall overnight.

The economic sanctions Moscow imposed in retaliation did not just harm Turkeys economy, but also proved that Turkeys ability to make any headway with regard to its Syria policy depended on good ties with Russia. If there is a Turkish military presence in Syria today, it is because Moscow has allowed it.

Erdogan was eventually forced to swallow his pride and apologize to President Vladimir Putin over the jet incident, but Russias still-unfolding plans for Syria remain a source of concern for Ankara.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was the first to break the ice with Ankara recently when he tweeted his pleasure on Aug. 14 over the decision by a Turkish court to release two Greek soldiers being held by Turkey for months.

The soldiers were arrested after they accidentally strayed across the border into Turkey. Their release was taken as a sign that Turkey was seeking improved ties with Europe.

Delighted by the news of the imminent release of the 2 Greek soldiers detained in Turkey, Junckers Twitter message read. Turkey has nothing to fear from its European neighbours. The EU will remain engaged in this strategic partnership. We want to see a democratic, stable & prosperous Turkey, he added.

A day after the release of the Greek soldiers, another Turkish court released Taner Kilic, the head of Amnesty International in Turkey, who was arrested last year for allegedly being part of the failed coup against Erdogan in 2016.

Erdogans phone conversations with Merkel and Macron last week were taken as a concrete sign of a thaw in Turkeys ties with Europe.

Erdogan is also due to visit Germany in late September. His visit has gained added significance for Ankara given the strains that exist between Europe and the United States.

Meanwhile, Berat Albayrak, Erdogans son-in-law, who has been appointed as Turkeys new economic supremo, was also working the phones with his German and French counterparts, laying the groundwork for high-level economic talks in the coming days and weeks.

Remarks by various European politicians  such as Andrea Nahles, the former head of Germanys Social Democratic Party who is currently a minister in Merkels government  that stress Turkeys continuing strategic importance for Europe are also encouraging for Ankara.

There are important reasons for Europes support, of course, such as the vast debts Turkey has incurred with European banks, the equally vast investments by European countries in Turkey, the voluminous trade with Turkey and the continuing need to cooperate with Ankara against illegal immigration and terrorism related to developments in the Middle East.

The crisis with the United States is also focusing the attention of Erdogans supporters on the importance of reviving relations with Europe.

Burhanettin Duran, the general coordinator of the government-sponsored SETA foundation, maintains that Europes own difficulties with the Trump administration are pushing it closer to Turkey.

Having hit the nadir as far as tensions are concerned, Turkish-EU ties could now be on the eve of opening a new phase, Duran wrote for the pro-government daily Sabah.

Duran laid the responsibility of opening this new phase on Merkel and Macron, and he called on them to support visa liberalization for Turks and the overhauling of Turkeys customs union with the EU.

Hurriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi, another avid Erdogan supporter, agrees that a major opportunity has arrived for reviving ties with Europe, but unlike Duran, he suggests that the onus is on Turkey to take advantage of this opportunity.

In his column, Selvi referred to the release of the Greek soldiers and Kilic as the first steps in normalizing Turkish-EU relations.

He added, however, that releasing prominent Turkish businessman Osman Kavala and opposition deputy Enis Berberoglu, who are both being held on terrorism charges that many believe are baseless, would expedite the opening of a new chapter with Europe. Without improving our human rights report card, we cant improve our ties with the EU, Selvi argued.

Others also caution that there are limits to how far ties with Europe can go given the current state of democracy and human rights in Turkey. These remains under strong European scrutiny.

Asli Aydintasbas, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, argued in her column for the opposition daily Cumhuriyet that the importance of public opinion in Europe cant be overlooked.

This is why, she wrote, key European countries are calling on Ankara to help them, by taking steps that will cause a positive atmosphere in European public opinion so that they can help Turkey in turn. She said releasing intellectuals from prison would have an impact in this regard, but she remained skeptical. It appears difficult for [the Erdogan] regime to turn its course back to democracy and reform, she wrote.

Erdogan undoubtedly also knows that good relations with Europe ultimately requires this, which could be the reason he continues to search for new allies outside Turkeys traditional Western fold. Ultimately, though, maintaining strategic ties with the West remains Turkeys best bet.
Students stand at attention as the national anthem is played during the flag-raising ceremony held Thursday. The ceremony helped welcome students from grades 2-4 from Fernway School, who will be attending Woodbury this year.

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A day after rain postponed the originally scheduled event, sunshine greeted the students of Woodbury Elementary School Thursday afternoon as they officially welcomed -- with ceremony -- their new second- through fourth-grade schoolmates from Fernway Elementary.

About 315 students from grades two though six stood outside Woodbury School, 15400 S. Woodland Road, to hear comments from principals and for a flag-raising ceremony. The flag-raising ceremony is a tradition at the start of each school year at the Shaker district's elementary schools.

"This (ceremony) is a little special, because the second- through fourth-grade students from Fernway are here, and because 2018 marks the 100th anniversary for Woodbury School," said the district's Executive Director of Communications Scott Stephens. "The kids are kind of excited, and so are the parents and staff."

The Fernway School roof was destroyed by a July 9 fire, forcing the Shaker Heights School District to come up with a plan to place the kindergarten through fourth-grade students that attended that school into new learning environments.

The three classes each of Fernway second- through fourth-graders were assigned to Woodbury School, a little over a mile away, to join the fifth- and sixth-graders there.

Fernway's kindergartners are now being taught at Onaway Elementary School, and first-graders at Boulevard Elementary School.

Members of the Woodbury School Student Council welcomed Fernway students with the message '#FernburyUnited.'

Both Onaway and Boulevard are in close proximity to Woodbury, which Stephens said makes it easier for parents of students attending classes in more than one of the involved buildings to drop off and pick up their children at school.

The older students at Woodbury made their younger, new schoolmates feel right at home on Thursday afternoon. With the fifth- and sixth-graders standing outside, the Fernway students were applauded as they were introduced and walked outside from the school's main entrance.

A small band made up of music department teachers performed an instrumental version of the "Mickey Mouse Club March" as the approximately 190 young students emerged from the building.

Woodbury Principal Danny Young welcomed the new students and thanked the school's custodial staff for the work they did on short notice to prepare the building for its new students, and the staff for the extra work they've had to do.

Shaker school officials made it their goal to ensure that Fernway students were in classrooms on Aug. 22, the day all of the district's schools opened.

"Welcome Fernway," Young said. "Whatever we can do to be of assistance, let your principal know."

Stephens said Fernway Principal Chris Hayward will have an office in Woodbury School, and will "bounce around" to Onaway and Boulevard schools to make sure he stays in contact with Fernway students in those buildings.

"It's a historical day, a wonderful day," Hayward told those assembled. "We are now truly 'Fernbury' students."

Members of the Woodbury School Student Council extended a welcome to their younger schoolmates by holding up letters that spelled out "#FernburyUnited."

Hayward noted that the Woodbury building at one time served as Shaker Heights High School, then as the district's middle school. He said this was the first time it was welcoming such young students to its halls.

The brief ceremony also included the playing of the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.

On the first day of school, the music department welcomed students by playing as the students entered the building.

"We're all a little excited, and some of the students are a little anxious," said second-grade teacher Matt Zucca. "This is a different place, so it's going to take some time to get used to it, but we believe it will be a successful year."

Zucca, in his 20th year of teaching -- all at Fernway -- lives in the Fernway neighborhood. His two daughters both attended Fernway and are now in the fifth and sixth grades at Woodbury.

"Our neighborhoods here are known by the school names," Zucca said, "and we identify ourselves by those names within our community."

Parent Kate Stuart's son, Adam, is a Fernway student who has just entered the fourth grade.

"He's had a range of emotions," Kate Stuart said of her son as the first day of school drew near. "But, he's excited to be here with his Fernway friends.

"He's been in this school (Woodbury) before for a summer camp, so it was a good segue for him."

Stuart, who last year was Fernway's PTO president, said many other parents feel as she does that the school district did a good job in placing Fernway students in new buildings in a limited time frame.

"I think it's important that the administration know how much we appreciate what they've done," Stuart said. "They've done all they could to keep us informed with every step during the transition.

"The custodians had to do so much work and they were able to make this all happen. We're very appreciative of what they've all done."
Kazakhstan took protective measures to secure its own energy sector. The republic's ban on gasoline imports from Russia will come into force on August 25. Astana argues that this is a temporary measure. The restrictions will be in place for only three months and will affect petroleum products transported by rail. The ban is associated with a surplus of own gasoline, which Astana is ready to sell in the markets of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. But it requires Moscow's consent.

Russia is the main fuel supplier to Kazakhstan. It accounts for about a third of the total gasoline market in the country - about 900 thousand tons. After three oil refineries were modernized, which cost Astana more than $6 billion, the republic has begun to fully meet its needs for high-octane fuel - Euro-4 and Euro-5 brands and even produced surpluses. Therefore, it was decided to reduce the supply of Russian A-92 gasoline, to stop its competition with Kazakh one. According to Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, "the volume of own fuel was predicted, therefore, we see no point in importing large quantities of Russian gasoline." According to him, this issue was discussed with Russian colleagues in advance. Bozumbayevnoted that Kazakhstan and Russia work within the framework of joint balances, which are approved by both parties. He specified that the ban only applies to railway transport. It may be more profitable to import gas to the border areas of Kazakhstan from Russia than reliver it from Kazakhstan's Petropavlovsk across the country.

Kazakhstan intends to sell surplus gasoline into the markets of Central Asian countries. According to minister Bozumbayev, before doing this, it is necessary to obtain Moscow's consent. "Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy has been waiting for documents from the Russian side for already two months to agree on the beginning of gasoline exports to Central Asia. Kazakhstan is working actively to start fuel exports to Central Asia," the minister said. Given the current utilization rate of oil refineries "gasoline reserves in the country will amount to 600 thousand tons by October" and Kazakhstan will be forced to "stop the production of gasoline or reduce factories utilization rate," the minister stressed.

The deputy chairman of the board for the transportation, processing and marketing of oil at the Kazakh national company KazMunayGas, Daniyar Tiesov, said that this year they plan to export up to 400 thousand tons of fuel to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In 2019, the volume of supplies is expected to increase to 1.2 million tons.

"There is no conflict of interest between Russia and Kazakhstan in the supply of oil products to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Kazakhstan does not need to import Russian gas now. It produces a sufficient amount of high grade Euro-4 and Euro-5 gasoline, as well as jet fuel and diesel fuel. The republic need to return the investments in modernization of three oil refineries. After launching the Atyrautsky and Petropavlovsky plants, volume of oil products increased by 25%. The renovation of another oil refinery -Shimkent - will be completed in September. The oil refinery will enter its operating capacity. Accordingly, the amount of high-octane gasoline in the republic will even increase. Kazakhstan covers its gasoline needs itself, and this trend will increase. Accordingly, Astana does not need any competition in the form of Russian gasoline. Therefore, Kazakhstan's desire to sell its products is logical, to avoid over-storage. It's in the interests of the Kazakh economy, but not in Russia's interests. Nothing personal, just business," the researcher at the the Center for the Study of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Urals-Volga Region of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Vorobyov, told Vestnik Kavkaza.

The situation, according to the expert, is not very favorable for Russian producers and suppliers of petroleum products, as competition is increasing and the market is shrinking. "But on the other hand, Kazakhstan, as a sovereign state, cannot be banned from trade. All we can do is negotiating. Especially since Kazakhstan is an important political ally.

The second point stressed by the expert is that Kazakhstan refuses Russian imports for three months, after which the ban can be extended if necessary, or, on the contrary, lifted. The situation may change. If now Kazakhstan is 75-80% self-sufficient in gasoline, then in case of emergency at an oil refinery a gasoline deficit can be formed. Therefore, possibilities for importing should always be open. In addition, Kazakhstan is growing, both in terms of population and economic parameters. In the long term, the republic's existing oil refineries will not solve the fuel shortage problem. That is why the Kazakh authorities intend to build a fourth oil refinery.

As for the Central Asian markets, then, for example, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are convenient in terms of logistics, but Tajikistan and Afghanistan - are not.
The Republican presidential nominee on Tuesday said "all of my employees are having tremendous problems with Obamacare."

"Obamacare is just blowing up," Trump said.

The claim, during an event at his Doral resort in Florida, set off an instant firestorm on Twitter

People noted that Trump's claim suggests that either his workers don't get health-care coverage from his companies  or that he doesn't know what he's talking about when he blames Obamacare.

That's because people who get insurance through their jobs don't have Obamacare. And if they do get such insurance, they wouldn't be having problems with Obamacare.

On the other hand, if Trump's workers don't get health care from their jobs  despite him claiming that he has provided them with health coverage  then many of them would have to buy Obamacare individual health plans.

In that case, they might have problems with Obamacare. But it then would raise the question of why Trump isn't giving them insurance, even after he said he did.

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Castigated by U.S. President Donald Trump as relying too much on Russian gas supplies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to Azerbaijan this week to discuss the development of a southern pipeline to deliver gas to Europe from the Caspian.

Reuters reports in its article After Trump attack on Russia ties, Merkel eyes Azeri gas that the visit underscores Merkels openness to finding alternative sources of affordable gas even as she remains committed to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will carry gas directly from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

We have a big interest in further developing the Southern Corridor, a senior German government official said.

This is part of the EUs diversification strategy of getting gas from other regions, not just Russia, to Europe.

In Baku, Merkel will discuss energy issues, including improving the infrastructure to help transport gas from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey, officials said.

Azerbaijan looks set to play a crucial role as it plans to launch the second stage of a gas pipeline from the vast Shah Deniz field to Europe. Shah Deniz II is expected to produce 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year from 2020, with 10 bcm earmarked for Europe and 6 bcm for Turkey and Georgia.

Later, gas could be brought from Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq to Europe. In a sign of progress, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan agreed in principle this month on how to divide the potentially huge oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea.

However, the southern pipeline is dwarfed by Nord Stream 2, a Gazprom initiative that will double Russias export capacity to Europe to 110 bcm. That pipeline is welcomed by much of German industry, which wants as much cheap gas as possible.

Last month Trump, who is pressing Germany to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas, lambasted Germany as being a captive of Russia due to its dependence on Russian energy, a charge Germany denies. Trump has called Nord Stream 2 horrific.

Germany imported 39 percent of its gas from Russia in the first half of 2018, figures from state foreign trade authority BAFA showed.

Merkel discussed energy in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a palace outside Berlin at the weekend. She is trying to assuage some Nord Stream 2 critics by ensuring Ukraine does not suffer from lower gas transit revenues.

Merkel also travels to Georgia and Armenia on her three-day trip, which starts on Thursday. She will hold talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday.
Check out the companies making headlines after the bell on Thursday:

Software solutions company Splunk rose more than 8 percent after the closing bell. The company reported earnings per share of 8 cents and total revenues of $388.3 million, up 39 percent year over year. Software revenues were $239.7 million, up 43 percent year over year.

The San Francisco-based company said it signed more than 550 new enterprise customers over the quarter, with new and expansion customers including ADP, Darmouth College and California Department of Technology.

Shares of Ross Stores, meanwhile, fell more than 4 percent after hours.

Despite beating Wall Street's expectations on the top and bottom lines as well as same-store sales, Ross Stores sank after company leaders provided lighter than anticipated third-quarter guidance. Earnings per share were $1.04 versus $1.01 expected by Wall Street; revenues totaled $3.74 billion against $3.66 billion expected.

Comparable sales were up 5 percent, well above the 2.6 percent increase expected by the Street.

Gap's stock fell nearly 7 percent in after hours trading after beating earnings expectations. The company reported EPS of 76 cents and revenue of $4.09 billion, ahead of projections of 72 cents and $4.01 billion, respectively.

The clothier's namesake brand reported a larger-than-expected drop in quarterly same-store sales; Gap brand store sales at locations open for more than a year fell 5 percent, more than the 2.55 percent anticipated by analysts.

Intuit fell more than 2 percent after the closing bell after the company said that President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Smith will step down as CEO at the end of the year after 11 years at the helm. Smith will be replaced by executive vice president Sasan Goodarzi effective January 1, 2019. The company's stock later recovered some of its post-market losses.

Meanwhile, the company easily beat Wall Street analyst forecasts. The company reported EPS of 32 cents versus 23 cents expected; revenues totaled $988 million against $952 million expected.
Running a small business is full of challenges. One wrong move may not only put your business at risk, it can destroy your entire livelihood. Perhaps the biggest peril of all, experts say, is that small businesses are far more vulnerable than their big, corporate counterparts to fraud.

"Large businesses have better controls in place, and if there's a fraud being perpetrated it comes to light much quicker than in a small business where those controls don't exist," Bruce Dubinsky, a managing partner and certified fraud examiner at Duff & Phelps, said in an interview with CNBC's "American Greed."

And the typical fraud at a small business is far more devastating than the corporate variety.

"The average small business has a fraud that is about $200,000 per fraud on average," Dubinsky said, citing a report this year from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

That is more than all but a relative handful of small businesses make in a year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. It is even more devastating in today's gig economy, in which many individual workers are freelancers or independent contractors. By contrast, Dubinsky said, fraud losses at large businesses average around $100,000. That is barely a rounding error for a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

Small businesses are more likely to entrust a single individual with multiple tasks, such as managing the business' books and records while also accessing its bank accounts. But that type of arrangement can give a fraudster the keys to the castle.

"That's probably the most common form of small-business fraud that we see: gaining access to the bank account and then taking money from that bank account," Dubinsky said.

Orange County, California, businessman Jay Avery learned about the risks the hard way when he hired 28-year-old Lizzie Mulder to handle the books for his start-up wine business, eventually installing her as his chief financial officer.

"My friend told me, 'Lizzie, she's great,'" Avery told "American Greed." "'She's got a great personality. She's a hard worker, and she'll get done what needs to be done for your business.'"

Mulder held herself out as a small-business specialist of sorts. Other clients included a hair salon and a Pilates studio. But it turned out that Mulder was not a certified public accountant as her clients believed. And rather than managing their finances, she was robbing them blind, financing a lifestyle that included a beachfront home in Laguna Beach, expensive cosmetic surgery and a pair of valuable Arabian horses.

Mulder eventually pleaded guilty to two fraud counts and was ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution. She is serving a five-year sentence at a federal prison in California.

"I didn't know people were capable of this kind of stuff, and especially her," said Avery, whose business failed after Mulder skimmed some $185,000 in fraudulent payments.
In a city once called the Saudi Arabia of Venezuela for its vast oil wealth, residents of Maracaibo now line up to buy spoiled meat as refrigerators fail amid nine months of rolling power outages that recently got worse.

Some people fall ill eating the rotten beef, but at bargain prices, it's the only way they can afford protein as the country's crisis hits bottom.

"It smells a little foul, but you rinse it with a little vinegar and lemon," said Yeudis Luna, a father of three young boys buying darkened cuts at a butcher shop in Venezuela's second largest city.

Venezuelans are enduring the worst economic downfall in the oil-rich country's history. Basic services like running water and electricity have become luxuries.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro blames the strife on an economic war waged by the United States and other capitalist powers. The governor of Maracaibo's Zulia state, Omar Prieto, recently said the rampant blackouts were being repaired, but relief has yet to come.

The sprawling port city of Maracaibo on the banks of a vast lake once served as a hub of Venezuela's oil production, producing roughly half of the nation's crude that was shipped around the world.

A bridge over Lake Maracaibo stands as a reminder of better times. The eight-kilometer (five-mile) long structure built five decades ago once glowed at night with thousands of lights, linking the city with the rest of Venezuela. Maracaibo was clean and bustling with international restaurants.

Today, the bridge's lights no longer shine and broken down oil platforms span the lake with downwind shores soaked in oil. The once-posh shopping centers have fallen into ruin and the international businesses have packed up and left.

For the last nine months Maracaibo's residents have endured rolling blackouts. Things turned dire Aug. 10 when a fire destroyed a main powerline supplying the city of 1.5 million people.

Refrigeration units fell idle and meat began turning. At least four butcher shops have been selling spoiled meat in Las Pulgas, Maracaibo's central market.

Butcher Johel Prieto said the outage turned an entire side of beef rotten. He ground up much of it and mixed it with a fresh, red meat in an attempt to mask the spoilage.
Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison is set to be the country's next prime minister, after incumbent Malcolm Turnbull was ousted on Friday.

It came after Morrison won a three-way battle for the Liberal Party leadership. Other contenders included former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Morrison won 45 votes to 40 at the leadership meeting, according to local media.

Turnbull did not contest for the vote after it became clear that he had lost the support of majority of his party members.

Speaking to the media after being ousted, Turnbull spoke about the incidents that led to Morrison becoming the new prime minister.

"There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by powerful voices in the media ... to, if not bring down the government, certainly bring down my prime ministership," Turnbull said at a press conference.

He had narrowly survived a party leadership challenge against Dutton in a vote earlier this week. Since then, several senior ministers who supported Turnbull changed sides. The Liberal Party is a part of the ruling Liberal-National coalition government.

Faced with intense pressure to call for a second vote, Turnbull on Friday convened a party meeting after receiving a letter calling for a new leader that was signed by majority of the party members. He had previously said he would resign from parliament if he was ousted. That could potentially trigger a by-election ahead of the next federal election that needs to be held by the first half of 2019.
In 2015, Alicia Kennedy, then 29, quit her steady job as a copy editor at New York Magazine, cashed out her 401(k) and became a freelance writer and editor, specializing in cocktails, vegan food and the intersection of food and politics. It was a risky move financially but Kennedy, now 32, says it was right for her. "I've definitely learned that I care more about my quality of life than the quality of my bank account," she tells CNBC Make It. Three years later, Kennedy still makes her living as a freelancer, earning around $50,000 a year. Additionally, she's working on a book proposal on the history of veganism, which she hopes to sell. In June, she started "Meatless: A Podcast About Eating," in which she interviews chefs and writers about their relationships to animal products. It only costs $12 to produce and distribute, and it brings in $80 a month via the project's Patreon page. There have been some setbacks: One of Kennedy's biggest shocks came after her first year as a freelancer, when she saw the amount she owed in taxes. Despite budgeting $3,000 for the expense, she owed more than $5,000. Her dad ended up paying that bill for her. Still, despite those challenges and despite New York's notoriously high cost of living, Kennedy says she's able to live comfortably in Brooklyn on her salary. Ideally, she'd like to earn more, develop a financial cushion, feel more stable and spend more time traveling.

Alicia Kennedy in Brooklyn. CNBC

"Working for yourself is really hard mostly because you're not actually just dependent on your own ideas  you have to sell them to someone else and make sure everyone likes them," she says. "So the instability of finances and never knowing when the next check is coming is a huge challenge." Here's Kennedy's breakdown of everything she spends, saves and splurges on in a typical month.

Kennedy rents a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with her partner, Sareen, and a friend who only lives there part-time. The total monthly rent for the place is $2,350. The $1,000 Kennedy gives her partner covers both rent and utilities, including internet.

Food is Kennedy's biggest splurge. Between groceries for her and her partner and going out to eat, she spends around $1,000 per month. For her, food is part of the job: It enables her to test recipes and keep up with food trends. It's also a source of pleasure. Though the cost is high, "it's really worth it to me," she says. "I enjoy making stuff and I enjoy going out to eat." Because she studies and writes about food, she has no problem paying premium prices for groceries and holding back in other areas, such as clothing and apartment furnishings.

The outside of Alicia Kennedy's fridge. CNBC

"I'll go to the farmer's market and I can spend $30 on mushrooms," she says. "Food is really the biggest part of my budget and it has been for years because that's just my life." She's learned to cut back on the number of "extravagant" restaurant meals she indulges in per month, but she still allows herself to spend on groceries without adhering to a strict budget.

Kennedy has been making monthly student loan payments since she graduated from Fordham University in 2007, where she majored in English. She consolidated them after finishing school, which she calls a mistake. For now, she makes her monthly payments and looks forward to finally eliminating them.

She spends $150 every month on her iPhone, which goes toward both her phone plan and the hardware. While there are certainly cheaper options, she says having the latest technology is useful for work: "I have a phone bill that is exorbitant because I always get the newest iPhone so that I can always have the best camera because it's kind of a business necessity for me."

Kennedy pays only $15 per month for membership at a nearby Blink Fitness gym.

Kennedy automatically transfers about $150 into savings each month and, in total, she has $1,500, or one month's worth of living expenses, in an account. She doesn't have any long-term savings, though. After cashing out her 401(k), which held around $7,000, to jump-start her freelance career, she hasn't made any moves to rebuild her retirement accounts. Kennedy says she knows saving for retirement is the responsible thing to do but, for now, "I've given myself a few years to do this creative life and we'll see how it works out."

Health insurance: $0

As a freelancer, Kennedy's insurance options are limited and expensive, so she chooses to go without. For the time being, she doesn't regret the decision: The deductibles and premiums on her previous plans were so high that she never felt as though she was getting much in exchange for what she was paying. When she broke her foot after giving up her insurance, she had to pull almost $2,000 out of savings to cover the cost. However, that amount "wouldn't have even made a dent in a deductible for any of the health care plans that were available to me," she says.

Alicia Kennedy and her partner work on their podcast at home together. CNBC

Everything else: About $200

Kennedy has other irregular expenses, too, including: Donations: She donates what she can to non-profit organizations, such as RAICES Texas.

Transportation: She chooses not to buy a monthly subway pass because she primarily bikes around the city, so she pays for the train as she goes.

Credit card: She carries a relatively small amount of debt, about $1,000, on her credit card, which she pays down when she can, like after she gets paid for large project.

Fun: In addition to spending at bars and restaurants, Kennedy also regularly splurges on books, many of which she uses for research for her articles. Kennedy says she's spent up to $100 a month on books but recently got a library card after realizing how amounts were adding up.

What the experts say

CNBC Make It asked Pamela Capalad, a certified financial planner and founder of Brunch & Budget, to provide commentary on where Kennedy is doing well and how she could improve. Here are her thoughts.

Pamela Capalad, certified financial planner and founder of Brunch & Budget Source: Pamela Capalad

Kennedy clearly knows what her priorities are Capalad applauds Kennedy for prioritizing and spending accordingly. "I like that she's very clear on the fact that food is something that is of value to her," Capalad says. Although groceries could be an easy place for Kennedy to cut back, at least she's choosing to spend on something that makes her happy: "It's the biggest splurge because it's something she's passionate about." She makes savings automatic "It's much easier to save money proactively than to try and hope that there's something leftover," Capalad says. "A lot of people make the mistake of saying, 'I'll save whatever's left over in the end,' and what ends up happening is the next paycheck comes and you don't think about moving that money into savings."

It's much easier to save money proactively than to try and hope that there's something leftover. Pamela Capalad CFP and founder of Brunch & Budget

She could be more prepared Capalad suggests Kennedy work up to keeping three months' worth of living expenses in an emergency fund. She could switch to making quarterly tax payments Capalad says it may be helpful for Kennedy to put 25 to 30 percent of every paycheck into a separate account just for taxes. She may also want to consider paying her taxes quarterly instead of annually. While it might feel hard to part with the money in the moment, it means not having to worry about having enough come April. Plus, that way, "you know that whatever is leftover is yours," Capalad says. She could set up a retirement account Capalad recommends freelancers look into a SEP IRA, or simplified employee pension, which allows self-employed individuals to make tax-deductible contributions and not have to pay taxes until they retire. Plus, these accounts offer higher contribution limits: up to 25 percent of your income after deductions, or as much as $54,000 as of 2017. "Saving for retirement as a freelancer has a double benefit because you don't have to pay taxes now and all of the money grows tax-deferred," Capalad says.

Alicia Kennedy records "Meatless: A Podcast About Eating" with Cara Nicoletti. CNBC

And while many experts caution against taking money out of a retirement account before you're of retirement age, Capalad understands why Kennedy made that choice. "Based on the reason why she did it, I feel like she was able to step into a new chapter in her life and a new part of her career by doing this," Capalad says. "It's not necessarily a good or a bad thing. It's taken her on a different path and it's given her the ability to do what she's doing now." She could take a closer look at her spending While it's great that Kennedy has a sense of how much she's spending per month, Capalad recommends she take a more granular look at her expenses. "It may be helpful for her to use something like Mint or Personal Capital to actually find out where her money is going," Capalad says.

When I talk to people who might be miserable in their full-time job, I do feel a little bit better about my choices to be so unstable. Alicia Kennedy freelance writer and editor

Kennedy is able to give a relatively clear picture of where she spends most of her money but taking a closer look at smaller expenses, such as Amazon purchases or drugstore runs, could be insightful in helping her prioritize and budget even further. "Figuring that out is going to be really critical for her to live on an inconsistent income, because her knowing what her baseline is like, 'Okay, this is how much money I need to have and I need to make on a bare minimum to live,' and for her to also know how much she can put away in savings and actually keep in savings," Capalad explains. At the end of the day, despite the strain it can put on her finances, Kennedy feels good about her decision to choose her freelance lifestyle over a traditional 9-to-5. "When I talk to people who might be miserable in their full-time job," Kennedy says, "I do feel a little bit better about my choices to be so unstable and have such an unpredictable life." What's your budget breakdown? Share your story with us at makeitcasting@nbcuni.com for a chance to be featured in a future episode. Don't miss: I just invested my first $7,000 at age 26here's where I decided to put it Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!
China will keep hitting back at Washington as more U.S. trade tariffs are imposed, but its counter-strikes will remain as targeted as possible to avoid harming businesses in China  whether Chinese or foreign, Finance Minister Liu Kun said. For now the impact of the China-U.S. "trade frictions" on the Chinese economy has been small, but he is concerned about potential job losses and lost livelihoods, Liu, 61, told Reuters on Thursday in an interview at the finance ministry, his first with the media since taking up the position in March. He said that the Chinese government will increase its spending to support workers and the unemployed who are hurt by the trade conflict, and also predicted bond issuance by local governments to support infrastructure investment this year will pickup and blow past 1 trillion yuan ($145.48 billion) by the end of the current quarter. The trade conflict further escalated on Thursday as the United States and China heaped more tariffs on each other's goods. Since early July, the world's two largest economies have slapped each other with tariffs on a combined $100 billion of goods.

Men put a box containing lobsters imported from the U.S. onto the back of a vehicle at a fish market in Beijing, China. Thomas Peter | Reuters

"China doesn't wish to engage in a trade war, but we will resolutely respond to the unreasonable measures taken by the United States," Liu said. "If the United States persists with these measures, we will correspondingly take action to protect our interests." So far, China has either imposed or proposed tariffs on $110 billion of U.S. goods, representing most of its imports of American products. Crude oil and large aircraft are key U.S. goods that are still not targeted for penalties. Trade talks between mid-level U.S. and Chinese officials ended on Thursday without any sign of major progress.

Precisely targeted measures

When asked if China would consider increasing tariffs on U.S. goods that are already facing higher taxes, Liu said China will respond with precision. "We're responding in a precise way. Of course, the value of U.S. imports of Chinese goods isn't the same as the value of Chinese imports of U.S. goods. We'll take tariff measures in accordance to this situation," he said, without elaborating. But China is conscious of the potential for bystanders to be caught in the line of fire, he said. "When we take measures, we try our hardest not to harm the interests of foreign businesses in China. That's why our tariff measures are targeted to avoid affecting them as much as we can," said Liu. Some American businesses and industry lobbies, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, saying the Chinese retaliation it is triggering will hurt businesses that already face greater competition from local rivals in China. U.S. fast food, beverages and coffee chains including Starbucks and Yum China's KFC brand are ubiquitous in Chinese cities. U.S.-branded infant formula, apparel, cars and phones are also popular.

Chinese jobs
Elon Musk Getty Images

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's hiring of Morgan Stanley this week is just a small step in his ongoing quest to take Tesla private. But it has a larger, more damning implication: he probably didn't have funding secured, even in the most loose sense of the phrase. Musk is on the verge of hiring Morgan Stanley because the bank excels in rounding up financing from a wide array of sources, according to a person familiar with the matter. Musk has already retained Goldman Sachs to advise his attempt at taking the company private, first announced in an August 7 tweet. Morgan Stanley will be brought in the same capacity -- to raise money for a potential deal. Musk wouldn't need to hire Morgan Stanley if he had secured funding at this point. The board's special committee still hasn't retained an investment bank, and there is no indication anything will happen quickly with regard to a privatization, said two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Musk said in that tweet he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 a share. He followed that tweet up with a public statement on August 13 saying he'd met with the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund several times, which prompted him to tweet that he had secured financing. Musk is also using private equity firm Silver Lake as an adviser, which the New York Times reported could be interested in a private investment.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund hasn't made a public comment supporting Musk's claim in the nearly two weeks that have followed his statement. It's still unclear exactly how much money Musk will need to raise from outside investors -- that will depend on how many existing shareholders roll over their investments into a theoretically privatized company. Musk suggested two-thirds of investors might do so, which would result in a need for about $24 billion in outside capital at $420 per share. Musk wrote in his August 13 blog post that the managing director of the Saudi fund needed more detail before moving forward with an investment, "including the proposed nature and source of the funding to be used." Musk acknowledged in his post he planned to speak to other investors. Morgan Stanley and Goldman will help him find them. They have not started this task, the people said. The board will also have to vet that $420 number, which may have to rise after the special committee does its due diligence, including calling around to outside parties that may be willing to pay more.

Musk's fate in SEC hands
Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer of Google X and the author of Solve for Happy: Engineering Your Path to Joy

Mo Gawdat's LinkedIn profile reads like a how-to playbook for success. He worked for IBM and Microsoft; he was a VP at Google and then chief business officer for Google X, the famously secretive "moonshot" factory known for tackling with innovation some of largest problems affecting the world. But as quickly as Gawdat, now 51, found success in the tech world, it took him much longer to understand that it was not enough to make him truly happy. "I am the typical driven businessman engineer who solves problem with his left brain. And that got me to a corner early in my life where I was extremely successful  like scary successful  at age 28. But completely depressed," Gawdat tells CNBC Make It. At a high point of his success Gawdat says he had a handsome salary, two company cars and a massive villa with a swimming pool; he traveled first class, "it was incredible," he says. He was living in Dubai at the time and also had a day-trading side gig. "[I] made double-digit returns every single month of my life. Right? And you know my math skills I developed my own little algorithm and I made a ton of money  market going up, going down, I was just making money, nonstop. "And I wasn't happy." One night he even bought two vintage Rolls-Royces online. "Why? Because I could. And because I was desperately trying to fill the hole in my soul," says Gawdat in his 2017 book, "Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy." "You won't be surprised to hear that when those beautiful classics of English automotive styling arrived at the curb, they didn't lift my mood one bit." It was a hard realization for Gawdat. "When you're unhappy but you haven't made it yet, you go, like, 'Yeah, when I make it, I'm going to be happy.' Right? No, I made it," Gawdat says, speaking with CNBC Make It at the Northside Music and Innovation Festival in Brooklyn, New York in June. "I had everything that everyone's dreaming of: I had the wonderful wife, two amazing children, right? And I wasn't happy. "So it gave me a wake up call and I had to research the topic."

What happiness is  and is not

Gawdat approached happiness the way he had approached everything in his life up to that point  with logic. "I read every book I could find, watched every documentary, spoke to people who seemed constantly happy, to spiritual teachers, and scientists. I also conducted my own little experiments observing my conditions and that of coworkers, friends and family to reformulate what I learned in a scientific engineering way," Gawdat tells CNBC Make It. What Gawdat found was that happiness is not something that can be obtained externally. "It basically starts with a simple assumption  which is incredibly eye-opening  that happiness is not outside you; you don't strive to attain it. Happiness is ... within you," Gawdat says. "Until your basic needs are met, your every dollar more that you earn makes you happier of course.... But once you get your basic needs met more money doesn't make you happier," Gawdat explains. "There is nothing that you can do to achieve happiness by buying it." If you look for it in external sources, says Gawdat, that only results in temporary satisfaction. "The minute you got it, you started to pause and say, 'OK, where's the next goal?' Especially driven entrepreneurs. They will move from goal to goal  it's almost as if the goal is constant moving."

The happiness formula

Gawdat also realized something else  in the absence of unhappiness, he was happy. "So I took that and I started to develop the equations that triggered unhappiness, which was really, really eye-opening." To do so, Gawdat identified happy moments in his life  his "happy list"  and plotted them on charts. He looked for the trendline relating the happy moments in his life. "My list is not much different than that of others. It contains simple moments ... I feel happy when I have a good cup of coffee. I feel happy when my daughter, Aya, smiles. I feel happy when I learn something new. I feel happy when I achieve something of impact or I feel happy when I am with people I love," Gawdat says. Gawdat boiled down what he saw into "one simple equation, which basically says your happiness is equal to or greater than the difference between the events of your life and your expectations of how life should behave," he says. For example, says Gawdat, "Rain never made you happy or unhappy on it's own. Rain in isolation doesn't have a happiness intrinsic value." Instead, how wet weather affects what you wanted to do on the day it rained is what makes you happy or unhappy, he says; a farmer who needs to water his field is grateful to see rain, while someone who had hoped to lay by the pool would be unhappy to see rain. Similarly, "It's not the events of our life that make us unhappy, it's the way we think about them," Gawdat says. Finding happiness, then, requires changing your perceptions, according to Gawdat. "See the reality of your life for what it really is. If you are reading a CNBC article online while you sit somewhere in America, your life is likely better than 99 percent of everyone who has ever lived. While all of us have to struggle every now and then, at the end of the day, our lives are still much better than those trying to survive the war in Syria or hunger in Africa," says Gawdat. "The way we think about the events of our life and compare them to realistic expectations is what makes us happy or unhappy." Gawdat uses a thought process flow chart to achieve happiness. When he has a thought that makes him unhappy, he asks himself if it is true. "If it isn't I drop it. Why should I let my brain make me unhappy for something that is not even true," says Gawdat. "If it is true, then I ask myself if I can do something about it. If I can, I do it. Life becomes better and I become happier. "But if I can't ... I accept it. What's the point is stressing about something when all the stress in the world would not change it. Then once I learn to accept it as the new baseline of my life, I start to commit and do something to make things better."

A test, when tragedy strikes

That process was put to the test for Gawdat. Gawat has a daughter, Aya, now 24, and a son, Ali. In 2014, at age 21, Ali died unexpectedly during a routine appendectomy. Gawdat had the ultimate challenge to his theory: He had to find a way to find happiness after his son's death. And he did.

Gawdat (right) standing next to a painting of Ali (left)

"We need to start by understanding that true happiness is not reflected in the modern world's view of it being fun, elation or laughter. Happiness is finding peace and being OK with life exactly as it is," says Gawdat. "It all starts with ... a realization that all the unhappiness in the world would not bring Ali back and so [it's] making a choice to be peaceful with what you can't change." That requires acknowledgment of the truth, says Gawdat. "We all die. Many parents lose their children. This is just the truth. I will die too. Sooner or later I will be where Ali is. The truth is sometimes harsh, but rejecting it does not change it," Gawdat says. "I cry every other day when I remember Ali. But here is another truth: The truth is, if I cry for the rest of my life, it will not bring him back," Gawdat says. "How wise is that?"

Spreading the love

Prior to his death, Ali had advised his father to begin to do a different kind of work. "He said, 'I know you want to make the world a better place,'" recalls Gawdat. "I want you to start doing things that depend on your heart not your brain," Ali told Gawdat.
How would you like a four-day workweek? It may sound like a trick question, but it could become an increasingly common one as employers look for alternative ways to attract staff and boost productivity. Research from job search site FlexJobs suggests that a wide range of industries, from finance to recruitment, are opening up to the idea of a shorter workweek. Based on analysis of more than 50,000 U.S. companies' job postings, FlexJobs found that over the past year the following 10 industries were the most likely to hire for flexible positions, including those with four-day weeks: Sales

Computer & IT

Medical & health

Customer service

Education & training

Account/project manager

Administrative

Accounting & finance

Marketing

HR & recruitment Of course, the notion of a condensed workweek is nothing new. Fans of the four-day week have been espousing its benefits from a productivity and cost-cutting perspective since the 1970s. Indeed, in 1974, when the British government introduced a three-day workweek following an energy shortage, a national survey reported a 5 percent increase in productivity levels. However, with job disruption on the up and employees demanding greater flexibility at work, its scope is growing. A lifestyle that was once limited to a select few now "fits with more industries and jobs than you might imagine," Jim Link, chief human resources officer (North America) at global recruitment agency Randstad, told CNBC Make It. And it appears some employers are keen to make the shift.

eclipse_images | E+ | Getty Images

4-day weeks in action

LWA | Taxi | Getty Images

How viable is it?

While there's no cut and dried rule for how a four-day week would work, some suggest the most sensible option is to add an extra hour or two to each of the other workdays to compensate for lost time. According to FlexJobs' Rachel Jay, a career writer, that could be a "boon" for workers' productivity, providing them with "longer stretches of uninterrupted time to work." However, Adam Edwards, business director (Singapore) of global recruitment firm Hays, noted that "pressure on individuals to achieve the same output in four days as they have done previously in five could have a negative impact on stress levels." There are concerns about other negative implications, too. For instance, some have suggested a shorter workweek could hamper wages and potentially cause friction among professions that are less able to adapt, such as many manufacturing and medical roles. To manage those issues, Link said employers would have to think carefully about how they structure the work schedule and communicate that to staff. "The challenge is making sure productivity doesn't slip and that employees remain accountable to their bosses, customers, etc.," said Link. "As with any flexible work arrangement, misunderstandings are best avoided through regular, clear communication. Being upfront about expectations for employees with a four-day workweek  for example, is someone still 'on call' to respond to customer inquiries?  goes a long way toward keeping everything running smoothly," he added.

Making a 4-day week work
Qatar agreed to pour $15 million worth of direct investment into Turkey this month to help its allies see off a serious drop in the liras value, but by doing so it has risked losing vital U.S. support in its ongoing feud with countries led by Saudi Arabia, analysts wrote in an article published by think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Ahval reports in its article Qatars $15 bln bailout to Turkey risks losing U.S.  think tank that the Turkish economy was on the brink of a precipice earlier this month after the announcement of U.S. sanctions and tariff hikes in retaliation for Turkeys imprisonment of U.S. citizens and employees sent the lira into freefall.

Qatars announcement of $15 billion in direct aid to Turkey helped arrest the decline in the lira, which bounced back to partially recover losses and stabilise last week.

Washington should remind Doha that this move will undermine its recent efforts to mend its strained ties with the United States, wrote Aykan Erdemir and Varsha Koduvayur for the Washington D.C.-based think tank.

Qatar is Turkeys most natural ally, due to both countries governments similar worldviews and support for political Islam. Ankara was quick to jump to Dohas aid in 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt began to impose a blockade for Qatars alleged support for illegal organisations.

The support may also have been motivated by Qatars deep economic ties to Turkey, given that a serious Turkish financial crisis could prove disastrous for the Qatari economy.

With around 15 percent of the assets and loans of Qatar National Bank exposed to Turkey, fears of contagion may have fueled Dohas announcement as much as geopolitics did, said the analysts.

While the exact details of how the $15 billion will be invested have been kept wisely ambiguous, the decision to undercut U.S. foreign policy could have serious repercussions and even threaten the continued presence of U.S. troops at a base in the country, the analysts warned.

When the crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbors erupted in the summer of 2017, President Trump initially appeared to side against Qatar. But Doha worked assiduously over the past year and gradually succeeded in bringing the Trump Administration to a more neutral position, said Erdemir and Koduvayar.

Its decision to side so blatantly with Erdogan against the United States on a matter directly affecting the wellbeing of American citizens could put much of that progress at risk, they said.'
Millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 have an average of $42,000 each in personal debt, excluding home mortgages, according to Northwestern Mutual's 2018 Planning & Progress Study. The findings are based on a survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults, including an oversampling of more than 600 millennials (defined here as those aged 18-34). That's higher than any other generation surveyed. But it might not be a problem. "In my experience, young people don't break in to positive net worth until their early to mid-30's, and that's okay," Oklahoma City-based financial planner Amy Hubble tells CNBC Make It. Between the ages of 25 and 34, adults often take on debt to get settled; they consider buying homes and starting families. On top of that, many millennials are also paying down student loans, which adds to their burden, Hubble says.

Gen-Xers and baby boomers, meanwhile, who may have older or grown-up children, have "finally got some equity built up in their homes, so while they typically still hold some debt on major items, it's not as large a concern," Hubble says. Plus, older generations may have used inheritances to help pay down some of their remaining debt. Credit card balances make up a full quarter of what the average older millennial owes, while student debt accounts for about 16 percent, according to Northwestern Mutual. Millennials are "inundated with credit card offers," Virginia-based financial planner Russell Robertson tells CNBC Make It. "It's relatively easy to get instant credit. We are surrounded about advertisements on how to get cash now."
Richard Yu, chief executive officer of Huawei Technologies Co., holds the Mate 10 Pro smartphone while speaking during the company's keynote event at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei criticized the Australian government for preventing it from being able to sell 5G products in the country.

Shenzhen-based Huawei, along with domestic rival ZTE, were blocked from rolling out 5G technology in Australia Thursday over national security concerns.

Huawei said in a tweet that day that the move was "disappointing" and maintained it had provided wireless technology in Australia "safely and securely" for 15 years.

But on Friday, the company stepped up its position on the matter, calling the decision "politically motivated."

"It is not aligned with the long-term interests of the Australian people, and denies Australian businesses and consumers the right to choose from the best communications technology available," Huawei said in an emailed statement to CNBC.

Australia's Department of Communications and the Arts was not immediately available for comment on the latest comments from Huawei.
Lava erupts and flows from a Kilauea volcano fissure on Hawaii's Big Island on May 18, 2018 in Kapoho, Hawaii.

The Category 3 storm is the first true hurricane to hit Hawaii since Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and it arrives just as Kilauea is at its most active. The volcano has been erupting since May 3 but has substantially slowed over the summer. That's good for Hawaiians as it will dampen the volcano's otherwise potentially severe impact on the storm.

It also has the potential to increase the intensity of lightning and thunderstorms within Hurricane Lane, scientists say.

The rare, severe hurricane barreling toward Hawaii with 120 mph wind could produce "whiteout conditions," life-threatening flash floods and landslides as it hits the island's still-erupting Kilauea volcano, according to U.S. weather officials.

"Other volcanoes have interacted with hurricanes and the results have been disastrous," said Tracy Gregg, an associate professor of geology at the University of Buffalo. "Kilauea is being polite, in comparison."

Volcanic eruptions have the most potential for catastrophe when they are spewing huge columns of ash and gas into the atmosphere, like Mount St. Helens in 1980 or Pinatubo in 1991, scientists say.

"They are putting heat and ash into the atmosphere and that interacts with the moisture in the hurricane and can cause the ash to glob into little balls while it is up in the air and fall down as essentially hail stones" and cause landslides, Gregg said.

Gregg described it as "two monsters passing in a closet. They are really not going to notice each other. They are just going to keep doing what they do."

In 2013, eruptions from Kilauea blew microscopic, gasses and particles into Tropical Storm Flossie  and increased the intensity of thunderstorms and lightning around the storm, according to a 2014 study by the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Hurricane Lane could produce "whiteout conditions" around the lava field as the rain hits the hot molten rock. Einat Lev, a volcano scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said the steam caused by the rain hitting the hot lava could affect visibility, especially for helicopters flying around the island.

The steam is loaded with particles and toxic gases, such as hydrochloric acid. These gases are called "laze" and typically occur when lava hits cool ocean water. It is possible that heavy winds could blow the laze from the shoreline back onto the island, Lev said.

While rain from Hurricane Lane is not expected to significantly increase the laze, the hurricane still poses a substantial risk for islanders. Lane, which slowed from a Category 4 to a Category 3 overnight, has already dumped more than 31 inches on parts of Hawaii's Big Island as it slowly moved at 6 mph.

"Excessive rainfall associated with this slow moving hurricane will continue to impact the Hawaiian Islands into the weekend, leading to significant and life-threatening flash flooding and landslides," the National Hurricane Center said in a weather advisory.

Correction: This story was revised to correct that the hurricane was moving at 6 mph and to clarify that its wind speed was 120 mph.
Jefferies lowered its rating to hold from buy on shares of both Philip Morris and Altria, saying the tobacco companies are falling behind in heated tobacco markets and falling behind in vapor product markets.

"See significant share loss" for Philip Morris in Japan's heated tobacco products market during the second half of this year and expect the U.S. heated market to now have a "smaller contribution," Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett said in a note Friday.

Altria is "at a disadvantage in vapour due to available formats, and concerns around delay on IQOS [the company's heated tobacco device] will likely weigh," Bennett added. Philip Morris has invested over $4.5 billion in the last decade to develop smoke-free products such as IQOS.

Shares of Philip Morris fell 3.1 percent in trading, while Altria's stock fell 1.8 percent. Jefferies lowered its price target on Philip Morris and Altria to $80 per share and $61 per share, respectively, from $93 per share and $70 per share.

Philip Morris and Altria products that claim to reduce the risks of smoking, or RRP, are penetrating tobacco markets "slower than before," Bennett said. Jefferies lowered its expectation for RRP penetration by fiscal year 2026 to 41 percent in U.S. and overseas markets, down from 51 percent and 61 percent, respectively.

Jefferies now sees "RRP volumes skewed to vapour vs heated," Bennett said, noting it as a "negative for" Philip Morris "as it is likely to continue to focus on heated due to risk of dilution from shift to vapour." Jefferies expects Philip Morris to "lose sizeable shipment share" in the second half of this year as "we see full year Japan volumes down to 23 billion from 31.3 billion" in fiscal year 2017, Bennett said.

"We still see IQOS approval but don't foresee a launch till 2Q19 at the earliest," Bennett said.
The Russian manufacturer of the infamous AK-47 assault rifle has unveiled a prototype vehicle that it claims can compete with Elon Musk's Tesla range.

Kalashnikov Group presented the retro-style electric car at an exhibition of Russian defense and civilian products just outside Moscow on Thursday.

The powder-blue model is dubbed the CV-1. Kalashnikov said in a statement on its website that its boxy design is inspired by a Soviet hatchback car developed in the 1970s.

According to several media reports, the company told reporters attending the expo that the car featured technology that would "let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla."

The company's website said the vehicle can travel 217 miles on a single charge and can reach 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in six seconds.

Opinion on social media website Twitter was divided, with one poster asking Tesla's Elon Musk for his thoughts.

https://twitter.com/jecustoms/status/1032654647754977281

As it is at the prototype stage, the vehicle's price tag has not yet been estimated or disclosed.
Kirill Kukhmar | TASS | Getty Images

From insecticides to chemical warfare

Because pesticides are so important to successful agriculture, my group was initially interested in toxic responses to organophosphate insecticides (OPs). My lab focused on the more biological effects, while my husband, Howard Chambers, synthesized chemicals useful to study the toxic effects of these insecticides. OPs were originally developed as insecticides in Germany prior to World War II. This agricultural effort was co-opted by the Nazis to create the first nerve agents: tabun and sarin. Although these agents were not used during World War II and were banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, they have been used occasionally in conflicts such as in the Iran-Iraq war. However, scientists in some countries have continued to design even more dangerous OP compounds. The Novichok agents, suspected of being used in the attempted poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, for example, are estimated to be between eight and 10 times more potent than VX, one of the most toxic of the traditional nerve agents. These highly toxic chemicals are a danger not only to the military but also to civilians who may be exposed during terrorist attacks, by assassins or rogue governments. In 2010, the direction of my research changed course when one of my former Ph.D. students, who then worked in the Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), returned to MSU for a visit and mentioned that one of the military's most pressing needs in warfighter defense was a brain-penetrating AChE reactivator. During that conversation in a local sandwich shop, Howard pulled out his ever-present mechanical pencil and sketched out an oxime  a molecule that could "grab" the nerve agent and remove it from its target  that he thought would be able to cross the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is an almost impenetrable layer of cells that make up the brain capillaries that prevent many foreign chemicals from entering the brain, particularly if they are electrically charged. The former student was impressed and encouraged us to apply for funding from DTRA for synthesizing and testing a platform of novel oximes, based on the structure on that napkin. The oximes that we have invented in our lab are positively charged, like 2-PAM, but are less water soluble, which may prevent the brain's transporters from exporting them out of the brain once they enter. After initial successes, we are now supported by the National Institutes of Health's CounterACT program, whose goal is protecting civilians from terrorist attacks or chemical accidents.

Nerve agent effects

Nerve agents like sarin, VX and Novichok are organophosphate chemicals, and they wreak havoc by inhibiting a critical enzyme in the nervous system called acetylcholinesterase (AChE). What AChE does for a living, so to speak, is to rapidly degrade acetylcholine (ACh), an important chemical that mediates precise and rapid information flow within the brain and to muscles and glands. When AChE is inhibited, acetylcholine builds up and leads to inappropriate and massive stimulation within the nervous system, resulting in life-threatening symptoms: paralysis of the respiratory muscles, narrowing of the trachea and excessive mucus production throughout the respiratory tract so that air cannot pass through. This causes the foaming at the mouth that we see in news coverage of chemical attacks. Death usually results from respiratory failure. The incredible potency of the nerve agents makes them among the most poisonous synthetic chemicals ever produced. In survivors, prolonged and repeated seizures caused by high quantities of ACh in the brain can cause permanent brain damage. The antidote for OP poisoning has traditionally included artificial respiration and injections of the drug atropine, which helps the victim to keep breathing. In the U.S., medics also use an oxime reactivator  called 2-PAM  which restores AChE activity by removing the nerve agent; and benzodiazepine is used to suppress seizures. The most effective oxime reactivators have a positive charge. But the blood-brain barrier which exists between brain cells and blood capillaries does a good job of blocking these charged chemicals from infiltrating the brain, either by preventing entry or escorting them out once they enter. Therefore, 2-PAM and other approved oximes do not reach high enough levels in the brain to reverse the deadly grasp of OP nerve agent.

A promising new antidote

To protect people from nerve agent poisoning, we need a brain-penetrating molecule to reverse the AChE inhibition. Our lab group and several others worldwide are attempting to create such an antidote that restores AChE activity in the brain following severe OP poisoning. To date, several of our oxime drugs have been as good as or more effective than 2-PAM for increasing 24-hour survival for animals exposed to lethal doses of OPs, using highly relevant mimics of two nerve agents sarin and VX, as well as an insecticidal chemical in a laboratory animal model. We have convincing evidence that our oximes can get through the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain after OP exposure, and that our laboratory animals show more normal activity of AChE with our novel oximes but not with 2-PAM. Our animals also recovered more quickly from seizure-like behavior with our oxime antidote compared to 2-PAM. Our lead oxime seems likely to remain in the brain, and it has prevented some damage to brain structures, while 2-PAM did not  a finding we describe in an upcoming publication. This oxime platform has been patented by MSU and licensed by Defender Pharmaceuticals. Sadly, my long-term collaborator, Howard, passed away in December 2016; my team continues to pursue the research needed to develop his novel oximes into antidotes. What value could these novel oximes bring to the arsenal of chemical weapon antidotes? Either alone, or in combination with 2-PAM, they could contribute to survival and, uniquely, they could reduce or prevent the brain damage caused by the prolonged seizures induced by OPs. In other words, with our novel antidotes we could save lives and save brains.
An employee fixes barcode labels to the gantry of a Siemens Somatom computerized tomography (CT) scanner machine on the assembly line at the Siemens AG Healthineers factory in Forchheim, Germany, July 19, 2017.

German engineering giant Siemens said a report by monthly Manager Magazin that it could cut 20,000 jobs as part of its Vision 2020+ strategy was "completely unfounded."

"We do not follow the reasoning behind the figures named in the magazine article. No statements of this kind were made," Siemens said on Friday, adding that details of the new strategy were still being worked out.

Manager Magazin said on Thursday Siemens aimed to reap cost savings from slimming down administrative costs in personnel, legal and finance, and at its shared services division, citing comments that Chief Executive Joe Kaeser made to investors at a roadshow at the beginning of August.

The report comes after Siemens earlier this month unveiled its new strategy, which sees its five industrial divisions combined into three operating companies to simplify the trains to turbines company and make its structure leaner.

Under the changes, Siemens said it expected to lift the annual growth rate and profit margin of its industrial business by 2 percentage points over the medium term and increase its basic earnings per share at a faster rate.

The group said at the time its corporate headquarters functions would be leaner as a result of tasks being outsourced, but gave no details of job losses.

"The newly formed Operating Companies are currently working on the detailed planning," Siemens said on Friday, adding there were no plans for a company-wide cost-cutting program initiated by its headquarters.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Today may be the last day to chip in to a state tax credit program and grab a charitable deduction on your federal return. Newly released proposed regulations from the IRS and Treasury block blue state attempts to bypass the new $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions, also known as SALT. This limit was imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, an overhaul of the tax code that was passed last year. Though the new guidance from the Treasury and the IRS is a proposal at this point, it has an effective date of Aug. 27 and is intended to apply to transactions made after then.

In a perverse situation, you donate $100 and you get back $137 in the form of state tax credits and deductions. Carl Davis research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

That means that whether you're contributing to a state-established charitable fund in New York or New Jersey, or you're giving money to a private school scholarship program in Alabama or South Carolina, you may no longer be able to claim a charitable deduction on your federal return if that state gives you a tax credit exceeding 15 percent. "There is an opportunity to avail yourself of the existing regimes before Aug. 27," said Daniel Rosen, a partner in the North America tax practice group at Baker & McKenzie. "When the regulations become final, even in the worst-case scenario that they are retroactive to the 27th, they won't apply to those prior contributions," he said. "But it doesn't mean that the IRS won't try to attack those contributions under other principles of law," Rosen said.

How the proposal works

In particular, the proposed regulation says that if a taxpayer receives a benefit  for instance, as a state or local tax credit  for making a charitable contribution, then that taxpayer must reduce the amount claimed as a charitable deduction on his or her federal return. If the tax credit received is less than 15 percent, then the taxpayer would get the full charitable deduction. "Imagine that you made a $100,000 contribution and you receive a 75 percent state tax credit," said Jared Walczak, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. "Your contribution cost is only $25,000 and the state is giving you back $75,000." "You can take the $25,000 as a charitable deduction on your federal tax return, but not the $100,000," he said.

Blue states

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have passed laws that would allow their residents to step around the SALT cap. California, which is home to the one of the highest income tax rates in the country, has legislation for a workaround under consideration.

One of the strategies higher-tax states have greenlighted includes allowing municipalities to establish charitable funds for contributions from taxpayers. These residents would then be able to claim a state tax credit  and they may claim this contribution as a charitable deduction on their federal returns if they itemize. The IRS proposal would largely bar that.

Red states

Ariel Skelley | Getty Images

Earlier this year, a group of tax law academics pointed out more than 100 programs in 33 states offering tax credits in return for charitable donations. There are 18 states with private school voucher tax credits, including programs in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina. A number of them offer credits to contributing taxpayers on a dollar-for-dollar basis. "In a perverse situation, you donate $100 and you get back $137 in the form of state tax credits and deductions," said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Lesley Searcy, executive director of the Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Fund, said their benefactors would feel the effects of the proposed rule. "The proposed rules issued yesterday are disappointing," she said. "The IRS states that only a 'small percent' of donors nationally will be affected by the rule, but many of those donors are the very ones who support our students." "We are certainly hoping that a compromise is reached that includes a carve-out for pre-existing scholarship programs like the Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Fund," she said. "The future of thousands of children from low-income families depends on it."

Sensible giving

As the proposed rule is written, contributions made after Aug. 27 would be subject to the new limitations. Gifts made before that date might be fair game for you. "It appears that if you made the gift already, you can take the full deduction," said Tim Steffen, CPA and director of advanced planning at Robert W. Baird & Co. "But they leave open the possibility that they can go back and retroactively apply the regulation," he added. Indeed, clients have already expressed interest in what they can do to get ahead of the proposed regulation, said Rosen of Baker & McKenzie. Be aware that while the IRS has a ways to go before finalizing its regulation  the guidance will go into a comment period and there could be a hearing before the final version is hammered out  you still run the risk of a challenge from the IRS on the charitable deductions you claim on your federal return, Rosen said. "People will be cautious about making contribution to the funds, given the IRS and Treasury position," he said.

WATCH: IRS issues rules for treatment of state and local taxes
"Vest sales on Moosejaw.com are absolutely exploding. Up almost 700 percent over the last three years, as we've seen the vest really become the uniform for the finance and tech sectors" Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford told CNBC.

Vest sales hit $76.5 million for in June 2018, up 13 percent from the year prior, according The NPD Group Retail Tracking Service.

Sales of the office sweater vest  the casual, fleece variety  are taking off. And data obtained by CNBC show that the jump in sales of what's become the unofficial uniform for the finance bro and tech geek is being driven by sales in California, New York, Connecticut and a handful of other states where those industries are thriving.

The anecdotal evidence was everywhere, but the numbers are in and now it's official.

t's become ubiquitous in Palo Alto and Wall Street, parodied on Instagram and memorialized by the wardrobe department on Showtime's fictional hedgefund drama "Billions" and HBO's "Silicon Valley."

The outwear company Moosejaw, which is owned by Walmart, processes bulk orders for companies that want their logos emblazoned on a vest to give out to employees, clients and at conferences. Guys who aren't lucky enough to get their vest for free can also order directly off Moosejaw's web site. The sleeveless accessory has become a staple wardrobe piece for the dapper office-casual man. The Wall Street Journal officially recognized it as a trend in an article in July: "How the Fleece Vest Became the New Corporate Uniform." All the best dressed economists had them on Friday at the Kansas City Federal Reserve's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Patagonia is one of Moosejaw's best sellers for corporate clients, Comerford said, "because it says they care about the environment and their employees." The North Face and Arcteryx are also popular, he said. "If they want to be more international, Fjallraven from Europe," he added.

"New York is definitely our number one market for vests. We saw that market explode, actually starting three years ago, over 150 percent growth," Comerford said. It's a similar story in California and other markets, like Massachusetts and Carolina, which he said also have decent tech and finance sectors (as well as strong vest orders).

BMO Capital gave research associate Keith Tapper his company-logoed vest on his first day, he said. Everyone in his office wears them "all year, year-round, it's so cold in the office," he said. "It's like a nice shell, it protects me."

A group of five colleagues at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group waiting outside a food truck in midtown Manhattan earlier this week said they all got their Patagonia company-logoed vests on their first day and wear them in the office most of the time.

The vests are also a bit of a status symbol, awarded for good performance, and they're also good for cold trading floors, they said.

But vest sales may be peaking in the country's financial capital, Comerford said.

"New York is reaching saturation," he said. He also explained there's a replacement and upgrade cycle, and new employees in the finance sector are driving current demand.

Dick's Sporting Goods is also seeing strong demand for vests, with New York, Connecticut and California among the top ten states for vests sales.

"Vests continue to be a strong business for us, and we continue to see traction in both fleece and outerwear vests," the company said in a statement to CNBC. Patagonia and North Face are also top sellers, especially Patagonia's fleece Better Sweater Vest made exclusively for Dick's, the company said.

Patagonia was the No. 1 brand ordered in the U.S. between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2018 with a market share of 57 percent, according to a Rakuten Intelligence scan of millions of email receipts for men's vests. The North Face and L.L. Bean came in at number two and three with market shares of 11.1 and 10.8 percent respectively. Duluth Trading was fourth with more than 7 percent of the market, followed by Uniqlo (owned by Japan's Fast Retailing) at 4.6 percent, Rakuten said.

However, over the last year, Patagonia vest sales fell by about 5 percent, while North Face vest sales grew by the same amount over the same time period, and L.L. Bean vest sales surged 27 percent, according to Rakuten Intelligence.

Grey is the most popular color for the finance industry, and black is the most popular overall, Comerford said. While the most popular season is right around now, Comerford says there is not a huge seasonality for vest popularity, though the holiday season is another important time.

Patagonia, The North Face and Uniqlo declined CNBC's request for comment.
The war of words between the United States and Iran intensified since the return of US sanctions two weeks ago following Washingtons withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May.

Senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami renewed on Wednesday threats to strike US and Israeli targets if Iran was attacked by the US, Asharq Al-Awsat writes in the article US-Iran War of Words Grows Louder after Return of Sanctions.

He told worshippers performing Eid al-Adha holiday prayers in Tehran: "The price of a war with Iran is very high for America. "They know if they harm this country and this state in the slightest way the United States and its main ally in the region, the Zionist regime (Israel), would be targeted," he warned. Khatami also said US President Donald Trump's offer to hold direct talks was unacceptable as long as he was demanding that Tehran give up its ballistic missile program and scale back its regional influence. Neither issue was covered by the 2015 nuclear agreement. "Americans say you should accept what we say in the talks. This is not negotiation, but dictatorship," Khatami stressed, according to the Mizan news agency.



Last week Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who has a final say on Iranian politics, said the United States will avoid direct conflict because of Iran's military might. "There will be no war...We have never started a war and they will not confront Iran militarily," he remarked.



The Iranian Revolutionary Guards had warned that it may strike Israeli cities with rockets if it was threatened. Iran also has agents in the region, including the Lebanese Hezbollah group.



Moreover, the Guards said that halting the ballistic missile program was out of the question, saying in a statement it was still acquiring advanced missile systems capable of countering the capabilities of major powers. The Guards stated on Wednesday it would continue to bolster Iran's defensive capabilities, refusing to surrender to US pressure to scrap its ballistic missile program.



Iran's missile program has become the main challenge to the enemies of Iran, especially the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel) ... and increasing defense capabilities will remain the main strategy of the armed forces, Tasnim, the Revolutionary Guards' media platform, announced.



Yesterday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said at a press conference in Jerusalem that Washington was not seeking to change the regime in Iran. "There should not be any doubt that the United States wants this resolved peacefully, but we are fully prepared for any contingency that Iran creates," he added.
Mark Wang, the owner of a Chinese factory, is in a state of limbo these days thanks to President Donald Trump's trade war.

The 20-year veteran of the country's gift industry said he received a letter in early August from his biggest customer, a U.S. retailer he declined to name, urging him to split the cost of a 10 percent duty that the retailer said was being imposed on his products by the Trump administration.

"Ten percent is too high," Wang lamented from his showroom of aroma diffusers, lights, and candleholders. "It is just too much for any of us to absorb."

Wang's company  which he insisted not be named because of business considerations  is based in the industrial town of Dongguan, one of many cities in China's manufacturing south that make up the backbone of the nation's traditional exports. For years, big American companies such as Apple and Walmart have relied on Chinese suppliers to make their products and fill their store shelves. But with costs in China rising, many manufacturers are strugglingand the tariffs only add to the burden.

Wang said his labor and raw material expenses are up as much as 15 percent from last year. He told CNBC that Trump's tariffs will affect more than half of his sales.

In response, he is reorienting his business away from the United States, looking for new customers in Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He said he is also dropping low margin products and scaling back sales destined for the U.S.

"We need to shrink our volumes and focus on what we do best," he said. "Otherwise, we can't survive."
U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports will simply mean that American consumers have to pay higher prices for products down the road, an industry association leader said on Friday.

"We're having some serious problems with this tariffs situation," said Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO at the American Apparel and Footwear Association.

"This is disruptive to our supply chains, this is hurtful to our business," he added.

Helfenbein was speaking on the back of a new round of U.S. tariffs on , which kicked in on Thursday, prompting Beijing to retaliate with its own levies on American goods worth the same amount.

"What's going to happen down the road is very simple  prices will go up, sales will go down, jobs will be lost. This will have a negative impact on the economy," Helfenbein told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

The apparel and footwear industry will be hard hit by the tariffs because 41 percent of all apparel, 72 percent of all footwear and 84 percent of all accessories imported into the U.S. come from China, said Helfenbein.

There are limited sourcing options as most products come from China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, he said.
President Donald Trump on Friday announced on Twitter that he had asked his secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to cancel a planned trip to North Korea because there had not been enough progress in denuclearization talks so far.

TRUMP TWEET

TRUMP TWEET

TRUMP TWEET

Trump's tweets also indicated that he holds China responsible in part for the lack of progress. "I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were," Trump wrote, and claimed the shortage of help was "because of our much tougher Trading stance with China."

The Trump administration is currently engaged in an escalating trade war with China that was launched earlier this summer, when the president announced unilateral tariffs on Chinese imports. China responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs on American products, which prompted Trump to announce that even more tariffs would be put in place.

The latest round of tariffs went into effect this week, despite negotiations that were held in Washington between the U.S. and China aimed at resolving the crisis, which has roiled international markets.

Trump said in his tweets Friday that talks with North Korea would be put on hold until trade issues with China were resolved. The State Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

In addition to the escalating trade war with China, Trump's decision Friday likely also reflects his reportedly growing frustration with the media coverage of his administration's diplomatic efforts with North Korea, which have so far achieved little progress.

A new report this week from the the International Atomic Energy Agency said the IAEA had "grave concern" over what it called "the continuation and further development of the DPRK's [North Korea's] nuclear program and related statements by the DPRK."

Evidence strongly suggests that North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear capabilities, despite a joint statement in June from Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, who met at a summit in Singapore, to "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

The decision to cancel Pompeo's trip appears to have been made abruptly, coming just a day after Pompeo announced it would happen. It also came after Trump had reportedly sent a letter to Kim last week, urging him to stop taking steps that threaten to erase the diplomatic goodwill created by the Singapore summit.

The cancellation also raises questions about what the State Department's newly appointed special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is expected to do next.

On Thursday, Pompeo called Biegun's appointment "a very timely moment for Steve to join the team and come on board," because "he and I will be traveling to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

 CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.
Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (L) shakes hands with the President of the United States Donald Trump on the first day of the G7 Summit.

President Donald Trump reportedly offered to buy Italian sovereign bonds during a White House meeting last month with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

According to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump offered to help finance Italy's 2019 public borrowing, when the Rome treasury is scheduled to issue about 400 billion euros ($462 billion) worth of debt.

Italy recorded a government debt equivalent to more than 130 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, but has been able to keep repayments down thanks to the interest lowering effect of the European Central Bank's asset purchase program.

But that program is set to end in December and political instability in Italy, along with the country's wavering commitment to the European Union, have seen Italian borrowing costs spike to levels not seen since 2014.

The news report added that while Rome is increasingly desperate to replace the private investors who are fleeing Italian bonds, it is unclear how the U.S. could step in to guarantee the debt.

And on the question of why the U.S. administration would act as an anchor buyer of Italian bonds, the paper quoted Christopher Wood, analyst of the financial letter "Greed and Fear," who suggested Trump may be keen to sow division within the EU.

"Trump could not have made it more clear that he supports the cause of those in Italy who want to leave the euro," Wood said.

For more on Trump's reported offer to buy Italian public debt, click here.

At the time of publication, White House press staff had not responded to a CNBC request for comment.
President Donald Trump could be facing yet another legal headache. A watchdog group is pointing to a discrepancy between his financial disclosures and the payments made to his former lawyer as detailed in court documents.

In May, Trump signed a financial disclosure form that stated he "fully reimbursed" personal attorney Michael Cohen between $100,001 and $250,000 in 2017. But court documents filed by federal prosecutors Tuesday stated that Cohen received $420,000 from the Trump Organization over the course of last year.

The discrepancy prompted the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO, to send a letter to the Office of Government Ethics, or OGE, on Thursday, asking it to review the matter. POGO is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption and abuse of power, according to its website.

Specifically, the letter says OGE should look at whether Trump underreported "knowingly and willfully, in violation of federal law."

It also asked for this inconsistency to expand the Department of Justice's investigation into Trump's previous financial disclosure report, which did not include any debts or payments to Cohen.

"It is quite notable," said POGO's general counsel, Scott Amey. "This may constitute a false statement by the president. If they were paying him $420 [thousand] they should have put the whole amount in there."

The OGE states on its website that criminal action could be taken against any individual who "knowingly and willfully falsifies information required to be reported." The agency reiterated the point in a tweet Thursday.

OGE tweet

John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law school focusing on securities regulation and white-collar crime, said the difference of $170,000 is quite likely material, "and thus, a potential criminal violation."

The whole situation revolves around payments that Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer, made to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. Cohen is known to have paid Clifford $130,000 just before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair with Trump.

Trump and his team initially dodged questions on the topic, and Trump denied knowing anything about the payment in April. But Rudy Giuliani, the president's lead outside counsel in the Russia probe, confirmed the payment in early May in an interview with Fox News. Trump then tweeted about it, saying it wasn't campaign related.

TRUMP tweet

Ethics experts wondered whether Trump's debt to Cohen would be disclosed on his OGE form 278e, a financial disclosure that candidates and public officials in the executive branch are required to complete annually.

Sure enough, the liability was reported in a footnote, dated May 15, 2018, and signed by Trump. The OGE told the Department of Justice that the payment made by Cohen was required to be reported as a liability and that the information provided in the form fulfilled that requirement.

But now, with Cohen pleading guilty to the felony of making an excessive campaign contribution, and implicating the president in the process, the value of the disclosure is getting a fresh look.

The filing states that Cohen showed a copy of a bank statement to executives of the Trump Organization, reflecting the $130,000 he paid Clifford. He also added in a wire fee and another $50,000 for "tech services."

According to the filing, it was "the Company" that "grossed up" the requested reimbursement for "tax purposes"  to make sure Cohen got paid in full after paying taxes  an unorthodox practice for a reimbursement. They also added a bonus of $60,000. Cohen then sent monthly invoices, and the total of $420,000 was paid to Cohen in $35,000 increments.

Amey says he doesn't think there's much "wiggle room" over the value of the disclosure.

By the time the president signed the form on May 15, 2018, the full sum has been paid out to Cohen.

The concern over the discrepancy is not unanimous. Since U.S. attorneys for the Southern District of New York viewed Cohen's payment to Clifford as an illegal campaign contribution, it may become unnecessary for Trump to disclose it personally.

But Trump can't have it both ways. If he claims the payment had nothing to do with the campaign, as he did in his Fox News interview this week, then it would need to be disclosed on his form 278e. Walter Shaub, former director of the OGE, and former Obama ethics counsel Norm Eisen each tweeted about the issue this week. They are both frequent critics of Trump.

Schaub tweet

Eisen tweet

To be clear, Amey says he is unaware of anyone being charged for an inaccuracy on a financial disclosure like this. And Coffee points out, "You can make a factually incorrect statement without it being criminal," for example, if Trump did not know about the additional payments beyond $130,000.

The White house did not return CNBC's request for comment by the time of publication. The Office of Government Ethics pointed CNBC toward the letter it sent the Department of Justice in May and had no comment on the current matter.
There's no questioning how Donald Trump would rate the economy for his time in office. The president took to Twitter Friday amid renewed legal troubles to highlight a few things going right for the U.S.

"Our Economy is setting records on virtually every front - Probably the best our country has ever done. Tremendous value created since the Election," the president said in a tweet Friday. "The World is respecting us again! Companies are moving back to the U.S.A."

Tweet

Since the election, the is up more than 33 percent, advancing a historic bull run that began in 2009. Unemployment has fallen to 3.9 percent to the around the lowest since 1969, and the economy expanded at a 4.1 percent pace last quarter.

Earlier Friday, Trump referenced Target CEO Brian Cornell's optimistic comments about consumer spending during an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"Target CEO raves about the Economy. 'This is the best consumer environment I've seen in my career.' A big statement from a top executive. But virtually everybody is saying this, & when our Trade Deals are made, & cost cutting done, you haven't seen anything yet!," Trump tweeted at 4:57 a.m. ET Friday.

The retailer's shares surged after reporting second-quarter results that beat on earnings, revenue and comparable store sales. Target also reported a huge jump in foot traffic.

Tweet

The stock market barely reacted this week after news that two of Trump's former advisors face prison sentences. His longtime attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts related to tax fraud, excessive campaign contributions, making false statements to a financial institution and unlawful corporate contributions. Former campaign chief Paul Manafort was found guilty Tuesday of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to file foreign bank account reports.

Cohen implicated the president in a scheme to silence two women from making public their claims about allegedly having affairs with Trump. But according to traders, the market right now expects Trump to avoid impeachment unless the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation links Trump directly to collusion with Russia to sway the 2016 election.

In an interview that aired Thursday, Trump told Fox News that the stock market would tank if he were removed from office.

"If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor," the president said. "I got rid of regulations. The tax cut was a tremendous thing."
President Donald Trump resumed his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday, a day after they held their fire during a White House meeting amidst their Twitter battle over the Justice Department's independence.

Trump unloaded on his attorney general in a series of early-morning tweets. The attorney general, who has normally turned the other cheek to Trump's criticisms, fired back against Trump on Thursday, vowing not to let the Justice Department become "improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump directly addressed that portion of Sessions' statement Friday morning, saying it was "GREAT" and "what everyone wants." The president's prescription, however, appeared to call on the beleaguered DOJ chief to weigh political affiliations more heavily.

"Look into all of the corruption on the 'other side,'" Trump goaded Sessions in the tweets, providing a list of alleged wrongdoings by opponents stretching back before the 2016 presidential election.

"Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!" Trump added.

TRUMP TWEET "Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations." Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the "other side" including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr......

TRUMP TWEET ....FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems - and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the president's tweets.

Sessions' fiery response on Thursday arrived amid a week filled with Trump-related legal bombshells and signaled that the fraught relationship between the president and the head of the Justice Department may have entered a new, even more acrimonious phase.

In a Fox News interview this week, Trump again griped about Sessions' recusal from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Sessions "took the job and then he said, 'I'm going to recuse myself,'" Trump said.

"I said, 'What kind of a man is this?'"
In just over a month, a local plant in Winnsboro, South Carolina, will close its doors, pointing blame at the Trump administration's tariffs on imported goods from China, unless it's granted a lifeline in the trade war. Element Electronics, which assembles televisions made from imported Chinese parts, says it will lay off 126 workers in the process. In a letter sent to government officials, obtained by CNBC, the company said the "layoff and closure is a result of the new tariffs that were recently and unexpectedly imposed on many goods imported from China, including the key television components used in our assembly operations in Winnsboro." The company added it hopes the closure will be temporary and it will be able to reopen in "three to six months." The letter says the closing will commence on Oct. 5, with a skeleton crew of eight remaining. Element did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CNBC. In a statement on its Facebook page, Element wrote: "As we are the only USA assembler of televisions, we believe the inclusion of our parts on the list of affected products is accidental and resolvable. Element is working hard to have our parts removed from the tariff list and we remain hopeful that the closure of our South Carolina factory will be avoided." State Sen. Mike Fanning, D-17th Dist., said keeping the factory open is his top priority, adding that state lawmakers at every level are putting aside partisan politics to save these jobs, including Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, a Trump ally.

The Element Electronics plant in Winnsboro, S.C. says it will close beginning on October 5, pointing blame at the Trump Administrations tariffs on Chinese imports. Kate Rogers | CNBC

"Folks will lose their ability to make their mortgage, their health insurance  that final gut blow comes on Oct. 5," Fanning said. "The only thing that would change that is if we can get an appeal in time to allow them to reopen their doors to start production. This is not the way to do tariffs  if you want to have a tariff policy, make sure that you are taxing people that are competing against Americans." A spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative clarified that there is no "appeal for exemption" on tariffs that do not yet exist. Rather, companies such as Element have been invited to comment on the proposed list of products to be subject to increased tariffs, including whether proposed products on the list should be retained or removed or whether products not currently on the list should be added. The USTR says the proposed tariffs Element is hoping to avoid have not been finalized or implemented and are not yet in effect.

Residents raising concern

Fairfield County, where Winnsboro is located, has suffered a series of unrelated economic blows in recent years. A Walmart shut its doors, as did a textile factory. A hospital in Winnsboro is preparing to close, and a major multibillion-dollar nuclear power plant project was halted  all resulting in thousands losing their jobs. The city's main drag, Congress Street, is lined with empty storefronts standing in stark contrast to a number of newer businesses, underscoring the rural community's challenges. "When President Trump first announced tariffs were coming we were excited. In fact, Element talked with us about leasing the Walmart so they could double their operation," Fanning said. "That excitement turned to devastation when we learned that tariff was not just on the product, but on the parts to the product." The most expensive part that Element imports for assembly is the glass that goes behind its television screens, he said. Local business owners are concerned about another blow to the area. Whitney Brown, owner-operator of a Sonic restaurant across the street from the facility, said she generates a sizeable amount of business from Element employees. "Element has a huge impact on our sales  my breakfast sales are definitely pretty big because of Element," she said. "We have a lot of people here whose family members have jobs there. It's going to hurt us a bit." Meanwhile, Crystal Paulk, co-owner of The Donut Guy, said her sales will stay afloat even with another local business closing. But as a Winnsboro resident, she worries about her community.

Crystal Paulk and her daughter, Imani, say the family business will stay afloat in the wake of another company closing. But as Winnsboro residents theyre concerned for their community. Kate Rogers | CNBC

"I look at it as doors closing. Those are jobs, those are parents, those are families impacted. Those are their dollars  that trickles down to us  and we are blessed in that we do a variety of things like mobile and catering besides our location here," she said. "So my bigger concern is them before me."

Trump administration ties

The factory caught up in the trade war also has ties to members of the Trump administration: Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as well as U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Mulvaney represented Fairfield County during his congressional term, and Haley was governor and helped lure Element to Winnsboro some five years ago, when the company received grant money to relocate. Fanning told CNBC he has spoken with Mulvaney, who is advocating the company's position for the appeal. A senior OMB official told CNBC that "these discussions are internal and pre-decisional. Director Mulvaney continually advises the president on many policy matters, including trade and tariffs as a whole, and ultimately President Trump will make the final decision," adding that Mulvaney has never spoken with the president specifically about Element. The White House directed CNBC to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which declined to comment on tariffs under consideration. The South Carolina governor's office also did not immediately respond to request for comment, nor did the U.S. Mission to the U.N. regarding comment from Haley.

Criticism of Element
A man waves a flag displaying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as people take part in a rally near the '15 July Martyrs Bridge', formerly called Bosphorus Bridge, in Istanbul, on July 15, 2018.

Hacktivists are activists that use cybercriminal tactics to spread their messages. Those tactics can include website defacements or distributed denial of service attacks, which flood prominent websites with so much traffic that they crash. By taking over media personalities' social accounts, these individuals can use the platform to temporarily promote their political stances.

Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, said the company recorded social media account takeovers by pro-Erdogan 'hacktivists' this week. The attacks targeted journalists from Bloomberg, The New York Times and Fox News, he said.

Turkish activists took over the social media accounts of U.S. journalists and used them to post messages praising Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a prominent cybersecurity intelligence firm, which shared photos of the compromised accounts with CNBC.

Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike said they have connected these cyberattacks to the Turkish "hacktivist" group Ayyildiz Tim.

The faction in Turkey call themselves Ayyildiz Tim, Meyers said. According to online postings that CrowdStrike has been able to connect to Ayyildiz Tim, the group claims it is supported by Erdogan's security forces.

"They also claim their activity goes back to 2002," Meyers said. "They've made attacks on a number of entities that they believe are hostile towards Turkey or critical of Turkey. This is a particular group we have been tracking for quite some time."

According to CrowdStrike, the organization took over accounts belonging to reporters Elizabeth MacDonald from Fox, Tom Keene from Bloomberg and Vanessa Friedman from the Times. The reporters from Bloomberg and Fox had discussed Turkey's economic situation in recent weeks, but Friedman writes about the fashion industry and does not cover Turkey.

The hacktivist group also used the social media account takeovers to launch phishing attacks against people connected to those journalists, Meyers said. A spokesperson for the Times confirmed the incident and said the company's information security team had locked down and secured Friedman's account. The other media outlets could not immediately be reached for comment.

The group has also created spoofed media accounts mimicking the BBC and other outlets, Meyers said.
AUSTIN, Texas  The U.S. Army is hoping its new command will thrive here, in glass-walled rooms filled with 3D printers, half-assembled robotics and designers donning hoodies.

The Army Futures Command is responsible for leveraging innovation, improving agility, and leaping ahead of emerging threats  a hearty task for the service, which has historically faced layers of bureaucratic minutiae.

For that reason, the command was placed in the upbeat heart of downtown Austin, Texas, which has become one of the biggest magnets for tech investment and entrepreneurship outside of California.

"Locating it [the command] here in Austin demonstrates the type of bold change we need to excel in today's combat environment," Mark Esper, secretary of the Army, said Friday during the Army Futures Command ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"We knew that to do this right we needed to immerse ourselves in an environment where innovation encourages speeds far faster than our current process," Esper said, noting that the Army was excited to establish a command outside of a military base.
In mid-August, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the summit in Aktau. Work on the document was conducted since the emergence of new subjects of international law after the collapse of the USSR raised the issue of delimitation of the Caspian Sea. This week, Special Representative of the Russian president for humanitarian and economic cooperation with the Caspian countries Ramazan Abdulatipov held a panel session on the results of the summit. The meeting was attended by employees of relevant ministries, employees of the diplomatic corps, as well as representatives of the expert community.

"The signing of the Convention should force Russia and our partners to work more effectively and cooperate more fully in this region in the interests of the peoples and citizens of these countries. There are people with rich traditional cultures living in this region, and we do not use this humanitarian and cultural potential sufficiently," Ramazan Abdulatipov said

"The Convention is the working document which will be further developed. The principles on the basis of which the boundaries of the zones can be defined on a bilateral basis were established. I have estimated the investments in such a project and how many jobs can be created in this region thanks to the implementation of the North-South transport route project. According to my calculations, about 200,000 jobs can be created. The approximate cost of such a project is about 4 billion. But they do not have to be invested immediately," diplomat Boris Zenkov said.

"We very much hope that the state program for the development of science and technology, the agreements, which we will sign, as well as existing agreements with countries, will stimulate observation, monitoring and water analysis. All five countries have training bases for such specialists. Therefore, joint programs, especially the master's degree programs would enrich our specialists," the director of the International Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Igor Ganshin, believes.

Environmental safety has become one of the most important points of the signed agreement. "Before launching large-scale projects, we must conduct an environmental impact assessment - in order to detect the effect of a project on neighboring countries. It is another key component of strengthening confidence-building measures in the Caspian," the director of the International Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation, Nuritdin Imamov, noted.
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks on Friday at a Republican Party fundraiser in Ohio. The president, who carried the state handily in 2016, will support Ohio GOP candidates ahead of the November midterms, local party officials have said.

Earlier on Friday, the Trump-endorsed Republican state senator Troy Balderson was officially declared the winner of a House seat that had been considered too close to call for weeks. Balderson narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger Danny O'Connor in a district that is traditionally a lock for the GOP.

Meanwhile, the president remains engaged in a public feud with Ohio's Republican governor. Last month, Gov. John Kasich called on fellow members of his party to join him in criticizing the president.

"It's been pretty lonely out here," Kasich, one of the GOP's most prominent critics of the president, told The Guardian in July. Kasich is polling better among Democrats than Republicans, according to a June poll conducted by Quinnipiac University.
Much to the dismay of Pinarayi Vijayan government, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador Ahmed Albanna said that the country had not made any official announcement so far over any specific amount as financial aid to Kerala, reported Indian Express

The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I dont think it is final since it is still ongoing, Albanna told the daily.

The UAEs apparent offer of Rs 700 crore as foreign aid had triggered the slugfest between Centre and the state government.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has extended Rs 700 crore as financial assistance to rebuild the flood-ravaged state.

All that has happened is that the UAE prime minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has formed a national emergency committee to provide relief to the victims hit by devastating rains and floods in the state, the Ambassador said.

"The committee is coordinating with the federal authorities since we know and understand the financial aid rules in India. And, it is also coordinating with the local authorities for immediate aid in terms of relief and food material," AL Banna told the daily.
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Hi! I'm an education beat reporter for Fall 2018, and I'm a senior studying print and digital news. Please provide me with any feedback, questions or tips you have  my email is kyle.lahucik@mail.missouri.edu and my phone number is 708.359.9917.

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Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Georgy Kobulia said that after years of contemplation, negotiations, search of funds and investors, Tbilisi made a final decision to build a large underground gas storage facility. So large, that it can become an important factor of energy security in case of force majeure. The matter concerns a storage in the natural underground spaces, the number of which is quite big in Georgia, especially in the south of the country. However, their construction and creation of an appropriate infrastructure require a significant capital investment.

"The project of the underground gas storage will give us an opportunity to protect ourselves from risks," Kobulia said. "Georgia will have a gas reserve for a month and a half to ensure its supply to the population without interruption." The minister asserts that the project is commercially viable since the country will be able to purchase natural gas for storage during the period of the year when it is "relatively cheap" - during the summer season. Kobulia specified that the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation intends to sign a contract with the Bank for Reconstruction and Development of Germany, expecting to receive about 150 million euros for the construction of the facility.

Last year, the leadership of the Azerbaijan State Corporation SOCAR confirmed its readiness to participate in the implementation of the project.

Energy expert Georgy Khukhashvili told Vestnik Kavkaza that the issue was certainly agreed with Baku, since Georgia receives 100% of natural gas from Azerbaijan, including from SOCAR.

- Will Azerbaijan participate in the project?

-Georgia can build such a gas storage facility independently with the help of international investors, but this is a very expensive project, and SOCAR has never concealed its interest in it. A degree of the Azerbaijani state corporations involvement is another matter, and now, probably, it is being studied in Baku. The project has many advantages. In addition to being an "airbag" in the emergency situations, which for various reasons are not so rare, it is commercially viable. This gas storage can be used not only by Georgia but also by Azerbaijan itself.

In addition, the gas storage is very useful when the contract for the purchase of natural gas is concluded on the "take or pay" principle. The fact is that in Georgia the demand for natural gas increases in winter and decreases in summer - we can buy fuel and "reserve" it for the needs of the winter heating season.

- Is Georgia currently purchasing gas using the take or pay" scheme?

- We have no such problems with Azerbaijan. But if a gas storage facility is built, it is possible to purchase natural gas without fear of financial losses in case of "not mastering" the purchased fuel. We know that there are precedents in the world energy market, but the "take or pay" principle becomes mutually beneficial and safe in conditions when a buyer has a capacity to reserve fuel.

- That is why the gas storage was discussed in the 1990s, isnt it?

- The project is constantly discussed, we were considering various options. But the necessary conditions have appeared only now. The consumption of natural gas in Georgia is about two billion cubic meters. Sometimes a little more, sometimes less. The whole volume comes from Azerbaijan through SOCAR, as well as from the international consortium, but in any case, it is Azeri gas. While it is difficult to say what capacities will be created due to the construction of the gas storage, how much natural gas can be stored in these spaces - 100 million cubic meters, 200 or more - but in any case, this project is both useful and profitable for Tbilisi and Baku. Probably, the details, including technical parameters, will be announced in the near future.

- From an engineering point of view, can it take years to build such a facility?

- It depends on the properties of those underground spaces that are going to be used. In some cases, nature itself makes it possible to construct an infrastructure fairly quickly. In Ninotsminda district, for example, there is such an opportunity.

- Can the gas storage serve not only as an inventory but also as a pricing factor?

- Of course. Such an infrastructure always contributes to the stability of prices. Especially in conditions when a demand for natural gas varies during the summer and winter periods. Thus, for the first time in the country's history, Georgia will even be able to sell natural gas in a certain period and under certain conditions

- Does this refer to the reservation of natural gas from already contracted volumes that Georgia receives from SOCAR and the international consortium?

- Unnecessarily. We may well conclude with SOCAR an additional new contract for the purchase of natural gas and reserve this volume in the gas storage facility. So we will be calm in case of force majeure since Georgia for the first time will have a resource for balancing the situation in the energy system in all theoretically possible circumstances.
Types of obituaries

The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries  family obituaries and life stories.

A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries

A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues her tour to the South Caucasus countries - on August 23 -25, she will visit Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. A political scientist from Berlin Heiko Langner spoke with Vestnik Kavkaza about the purposes of her visit.

- Angela Merkel is a rare guest in the Caucasus. For Azerbaijan and Armenia, this will be the first visit of the German Chancellor. Why is Merkel visiting the region only now for the long 13 years of her chancellery?

- The fact that the trip is taking place right now is connected with the crisis trendies in a number of important issues for Germany. The transatlantic ties with the US on trade and energy policy issues have been deeply affected by President Donald Trump's bold position and his America first policy. Germany must develop energy relations with other states and import more energy resources if in the future it does not want to be dependent on an unreasonably expensive liquefied gas from the United States. For this reason, the German government continues to insist on the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline jointly with Russia, despite the opposition of the United States. Simultaneously, Berlin wants to get access to the Caspian gas reserves and increase gas supplies from Azerbaijan. In addition, due to the global migration waves, Germany is interested in a stable situation in the immediate neighborhood of the European Union, as well as in intensification of cooperation in the migration policy issues. In this context, the countries of the South Caucasus play not the least role - for example, until recently, a fairly high number of applicants for refugee status from Georgia was observed. In the long term, Germany wants both to reduce the flow of refugees to the EU and Germany and effectively control it. Due to the internal political situation in Germany in the context of migration, Chancellor Angela Merkel's policy is aimed at securing her own power. Merkel has long ago made a U-turn in the migration policy and said goodbye to the idea of "hospitality culture.

- Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan criticized the EU for an insufficient financial support of his country. Do you think that this issue will be discussed during Merkel's visit to Yerevan and will Germany accommodate with Pashinyan on this issue? What are official Berlins interests in Yerevan?

- Pashinyan certainly could not have had Germany in mind, when he criticized the EU. After all, Germany is the second country after the US in terms of the amount of allocated assistance for the development of Armenia. At the same time, despite its close political and economic ties with Russia, Armenia had and still has a great interest in cooperation with the EU, where the most of the Armenian exports is sent. Between Armenia and the EU, there is now an agreement on an in-depth partnership. However, the volume of direct investments from the EU countries to Armenia is still very modest. The new head of government, Pashinyan, wants to change this and modernize the country's economy. To do so, he needs investment capital and technological support from the EU. Armenia's foreign economic relations are severely limited since Turkey and Azerbaijan have been keeping their borders with Armenia closed due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for 25 years. As a result of the unresolved prolonged conflict, as well as the mistakes made by the authorities in the economy, a significant part of the Armenian population lives in poverty and difficult conditions. Germany's direct economic interest in Armenia is much lower compared to the interest in Azerbaijan. It is limited to some metal raw materials, consumer goods and agricultural products.

- CDU deputy Albert Weiler visited Nagorno Karabakh several years ago and stated that he was "impressed by the democratic progress" of the unrecognized separatist entity - NKR. Azerbaijan banned him from entering the country for illegally visiting the occupied territories. Do you consider such measures of the Azerbaijani government justified?

- Even if there really was any democratic progress in the secessionist republic of Nagorno Karabakh, which is not recognized by any state in the world, this does not change anything in the international legal status of this territory. It is possible to give arguments both for and against prohibitions of visiting unrecognized or disputed regions. For the less well-known politicians, this is always a good opportunity to attract media attention for a while. Azerbaijan is by no means the only country where the relevant laws are provided for such cases. Freely elected deputies of the Bundestag must comply with the laws of other countries, just as people, businessmen or tourists who are not connected with politics should do so. Professional politicians cannot stand above the law. And if the deputy of the Bundestag, according to the media, twice visited Nagorno-Karabakh on his own, this is a clear evidence of his prejudiced position and deliberate ignoring of the Azerbaijani laws. Thus, the ban to entry is not groundless. A misconduct of an individual member of the Bundestag from her own party did more harm than good for Chancellor Merkel. Her negotiations at the government level were under the negative influence of this incident, although there are many more important things to discuss.

- In recent weeks, Azerbaijan has been discussing an expediency of the country's joining the CSTO military bloc. One of the deputies from the ruling party believes that such a step, perhaps, will be appropriate in the context of the new geopolitical situation. Has Baku taken a course toward active rapprochement with Moscow?

- Azerbaijan's foreign policy is pragmatic and uniquely determined by countrys own interests. Azerbaijan's entry into the CSTO could be an opportunity to resolve the protracted Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia in its favor and reverse the de facto separation of the region. Russia, as a neighboring world power, used ethno-territorial conflicts in the South Caucasus to realize its own geopolitical goals, in particular, to prevent the penetration of NATO into its unstable southern flank. Georgia persistently insists on joining NATO and paid for this price in the war against Russia 10 years ago, as a result of which it actually irreversibly lost its two former autonomies - Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Azerbaijan pursues a more realistic policy, making a choice in favor of the good-neighborly relations with Russia. The return of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan by Armenia bound with Russia by the military alliance may become the price for Azerbaijan's strategic partnership with Russia and the country's entry into the CSTO.

- In the Caucasus, Germany historically maintains close ties with Georgia. After the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Georgia, and it is hardly a coincidence that she is visiting Georgia now, 10 years after the end of the war. At the same time, in the past, Germany was skeptical about the prospect of Georgias joining NATO. Has this position changed today?

- On the issue of the prospects for Georgia's membership in the North Atlantic alliance, the German government is pursuing a dual policy. A fundamental opportunity for Georgia to join NATO remains, but this issue is not on the agenda. If the NATO bloc takes Georgia into its ranks, it will exacerbate an already complicated relationship with Russia and provoke new conflicts. In addition, the candidate countries for joining the alliance should not have unsettled territorial disputes with their neighbors. This means that Georgia can join NATO only after it abandons the secession regions, or these provinces voluntarily return to Georgia. So far, nothing indicates that one of these options is possible. For this reason, an unspoken agreement has developed between all the participants - that Georgia, at least in the near future, will not become a NATO member.
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.
Hammond accused of undermining Brexit strategy

Raab raises spectre of shortages and expense  The Times

Brussels claims UK will fall apart without deal  Daily Express

Have no fear of no deal, Rees-Mogg tells Tories  The Times

DUP MP backs Raabs advice to Ulster businesses  News Letter

Philip Hammond has been accused of undermining Theresa Mays Brexit strategy after warning on Thursday that leaving the European Union without a deal will have large fiscal consequences for Britain. Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, had attempted to play down the risk of a no-deal Brexit as part of a choreographed Government strategy, saying that the vast majority of consumers will not even notice the impact. However within hours of Mr Raabs speech Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, published a letter to the Treasury select committee warning that a no-deal Brexit could increase borrowing by 80 billion a year by 2033. The Telegraph understands that Mr Hammond published the letter without clearance from Downing Street, who were infuriated by his intervention.  Daily Telegraph

More:

Lorry drivers warn of complete and utter chaos  Daily Telegraph

Companies face red tape storm without a deal  FT

Business chiefs give plans a lukewarm welcome  The Times

Online shoppers and holidaymakers face higher credit card charges  Daily Telegraph

Editorial:

Chancellors doom and gloom needs to stop now  The Sun

Dealing with no deal  The Times

Tory tactics make second vote more likely  The Guardian

Who is right, Raab or Hammond?  Daily Telegraph

No-deal advice shows how European we are  The Scotsman

>Today: ToryDiary: The Treasury donkey

>Yesterday: MPs Etc.: Not what we want. Not what we expect. But we must be ready. Raabs speech on No Deal. Full Text.

as Lidington dismisses talk of delaying Brexit

There is unlikely to be a Brexit deal until the end of the year, a Cabinet minister suggested today. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington said he was not surprised by Michel Barnier playing down the prospects of agreement before November. He said: I was Europe minister for six years, I have seen enough of these negotiations to know that these deadlines slip. I think there definitely will need to be an agreement by the end of 2018. However, speaking during a briefing with reporters in Edinburgh, Mr Lidington added that he did not believe the March date for Britains exit from Europe would be pushed back. Article 50 is a matter of EU law, it is not a matter of political judgment, he said.  Daily Mail

Dont hoard medicines, urges Hancock  The Guardian

Leading Brexiteers blocked from Tory membership  The Times

Brussels says UK will need to pay for access to security databases  The Sun

Comment:

We can make WTO terms work to Britains advantage  Lee Rotherham, Daily Telegraph

Eurosceptics lie low as no-deal pressure mounts  Francis Elliott, The Times

Beware a scare-mongering frenzy over no-deal Brexit  Bill Jamieson, The Scotsman

>Today: Steve Bell in Comment: Im a former President of the National Convention. And I oppose Chequers. Its Brexit in name only.

Fox lands new trade deal with China

Gibb suffers car crash interview trying to explain new GCSE grading system

Britains dairy industry gained a multimillion pound boost yesterday when a landmark deal was signed with China to accept more UK products. The superpower has approved imports including cream, yogurt and milk powder which are made in the UK but use milk from other countries. The agreement, which is worth an estimated 240million over five years for the UK dairy industry, was formally sealed by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox at a meeting of the UKChina Joint Economic and Trade Commission in Beijing. Dr Fox, whose department works to boost UK global trade in the run-up to Brexit and beyond, said: This is my fourth visit to China this year and Im delighted to see the completion of this deal, bringing significant benefits to dairy producers across the UK at a time when British food and drink exports are at a record high.  Daily Express

Sweeping GCSE reforms in England have seen traditional A* to G grades replaced with a 9 to 1 system, with 9 the highest mark. But not everyone understands them yet, with MP Nick Gibb struggling to explain the new system to LBC radio host Nick Ferrari today. Mr Ferrari spent an awkward two minutes of his show trying to understand what has changed, with a grade 7-9 now being roughly equivalent to the old A-A*. Mr Gibb also told him later on in the show that 9 is the top, leading Mr Ferrari to reply: Well, respectfully, Id worked that out, thank you. But Mr Ferrari struggled to understand some of the other grades, asking Mr Gibb: If 6 is a B, and 4 is a C, then what the hells 5?'  Daily Mail

Critics condemn harder exams after grades rise  The Times

Campaigners press Gauke and Stewart over forecast rise in prison population

Hunt rejects calls for inquiry into UKs non-intervention in Syria

Campaigners have called on the Ministry of Justice to promote alternatives to custody after official projections predicted the prison population in England and Wales would grow by 3.8 per cent, to 86,500, within five years. The prison population in England and Wales has gradually declined this year, as efforts to divert offenders to other forms of punishment and rehabilitation achieved some success. But new forecasts published on Thursday predicted that 3,400 more people would be in prison by March 2023 compared with the 83,165 in custody as of this week. The MoJ attributed the expected increase in part to new sentencing guidelines for the possession of knives and other blades. The forecasts also predicted an increase in the numbers of people recalled to prison for breaking the terms of their early release Both David Gauke, justice secretary, and Rory Stewart, prisons minister, have vowed action to cut the number of short-sentence prisoners and improve conditions.  FT

Jeremy Hunt has rejected a call from the foreign affairs select committee to set up an independent inquiry into the consequences and reasons for the British governments refusal to intervene in the Syrian war. In a letter to the committee, the foreign secretary  who voted for UK military intervention in 2013  said no purpose could be served by holding an inquiry, adding that the circumstances that led MPs to vote to reject military actionwere well understood. But he said we may have emboldened the regime and encouraged other countries to intervene more forcefully on the side of the Syrian regime by not intervening. Hunt said he also agreed that decisions not to intervene militarily warranted discussion, since they can have as serious consequences as a decision to become involved.  The Guardian

Jenrick attacks Banks call to scrap copper coins

Katy Balls: The ageing Tories are a zombie party, but have bigger problems

The Treasury launched a withering slap down of the Bank of England, telling Sun readers the penny is going nowhere. After the BofE launched a fresh bid to see beloved coppers scrapped from circulation, the Exchequer Minister blasted them as of touch with Brits. Robert Jenrick told The Sun: Our coins are more than units of currency, they are symbols of our identity and links to our past and we appreciate the attachment many feel to the penny. He spoke out during a visit to the Royal Mint in a Llantrisant, Wales after the Bank  who are meant to only advise Ministers on notes  said any economic hit from scrapping 1p and 2p coins would be minimal. The Bank of England issued a blog post on Wednesday claiming there are very few products priced at ending in 99p.  The Sun

Where the Tories once looked at Momentum and Corbyn and laughed, now they look at them with a mix of envy and fear. On the one hand, the party would love to have the energy of a mass movement behind it. But with that comes risk  as we saw this week when William Hague touched on fears that the Tory party could be vulnerable to a sudden influx of new recruits  the very thing that happened to Labour in 2015  at the Ukip end of the spectrum, recruits who would try to change the partys direction of travel. If the Tories want to keep their membership flourishing in the decades to come on their terms, they need to work out what their message is. Is their party the party of Brexit? Are they the party of personal freedom? Do they want to be the party of fiscal responsibility or the party of home ownership? Right now, no one seems sure what theyre about.  The Guardian

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Who does the Conservative Party belong to?

Berger attacks Corbyn over antisemitic remarks

British Zionists dont grasp irony, claimed Labour leader  The Times

Corbyn accused Israel of genocide at rally  Daily Mail

A Jewish Labour MP has attacked Jeremy Corbyn after he accused British Zionists of having no sense of irony despite having lived in Britain all of their lives. The former shadow minister for public health Luciana Berger lashed out over the 2013 clip, filmed at a London conference which was promoted by the propaganda website of terror group Hamas. Making her most outspoken attack on the Labour leader to date, she said she felt unwelcome in her own party after his inexcusable comments. Two Labour MPs also broke ranks to show their support for the MP Liverpool Wavertree, who is a fierce critic of anti-Semitism. MP for Newcastle North Catherine McKinnell said she was standing right with Berger and MP for Sedgefield Phil Wilson tweeted Right beside you.  Daily Mail

Comment:

I was willing to give him a chance then I saw him in the flesh  William Sutcliffe, Daily Telegraph

Tech experts criticise Labours plans for BBC tax

Jeremy Corbyns plans to fund journalism with a windfall tax on the likes of Facebook, Google and Netflix has been blasted by technology experts. The Labour leader wants the tech giants to fund public interest journalism  and also subsidise the license fee to help fund the BBC. But experts said he needed better ideas, saying they are already contributing to the Cairncross Review of press sustainability in the UK. During a speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival, he said the fund could be paid for through a content sharing and advertising revenue agreement with Google, similar to that agreed in France and Belgium in 2013. He said that if that is not possible, the option of a windfall tax on the companies should be looked at, he added.  Daily Mail

Corbyn vows to end elite control of the media  The Times

Labour leader wants newspaper editors to be elected  Daily Telegraph

More:

Momentum begin press training for activists  The Guardian

Proposal for state-owned rival to Facebook mocked  The Sun

Opposition accused of hypocrisy over call for BBC to publish social class of employees  Daily Telegraph

Labours well-heeled class warriors  The Times

Comment:

Plans show the Labour leaders warped sense of social mobility  Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph

Corbyn has no right to judge my background  Ed Conway, The Times

Labour would force the news to push their left-wing agenda  Mick Hume, The Sun

Proposals to save the press reveal true scale of Corbyns vision  Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph

>Today: Iain Dales column: Where is the cutting edge to the BBCs business coverage?

Salmond to sue Scottish Government over sexual assault allegations

Turnbull to leave Australian parliament after being ousted

Alex Salmond is at the centre of extraordinary allegations that he sexually assaulted two staff members while he was First Minister. Mr Salmond is accused of carrying out the assaults at his official residence in 2013 while he was still in office. It was reported last night that the allegations, which arose from an internal Scottish Government inquiry, had been passed on to Police Scotland. However, the force said it was not going to comment on whether an inquiry is ongoing. Mr Salmond said he now plans to take the Scottish Government to court over the allegations, which he described last night as patently ridiculous The 63-year-old last night issued a statement denying the accusations, adding he had launched a judicial review challenging the legality of the Scottish Governments investigation.  Daily Mail

Malcolm Turnbull has left a ticking time bomb for Australias new prime minister Scott Morrison that will explode when he leaves Parliament. Mr Turnbull confirmed he would soon be quitting Parliament for good, forcing a crucial by-election in his wealthy Sydney eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth and putting at risk the governments wafer-thin majority. Mr Morrison became Australias fifth prime minister in five years on Friday afternoon, after a week of bitter factional infighting within the Liberals which saw Malcolm Turnbull overthrown after less than three years in the job. In his first speech as Australias 30th prime minister shortly after 4.20pm Mr Morrison, the former treasurer, declared he would be a leader for workers.  Daily Mail

>Yesterday: Terry Barnes in International: So you think May has problems? Theyre nothing compared to the knifings and plots that engulf Malcolm Turnbull

News in Brief:
The remarks which have deepened Labours antisemitism scandal  something which barely seemed possible, given the depths it has plumbed already  occur barely 90 seconds into Jeremy Corbyns speech.

Speaking about a group of Zionists who challenged Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian envoy to the UK, after an event, the Labour leader says the following:

They clearly have two problems. One is that they dont want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, dont understand English irony.

Disputing ones opponents grasp of history is one thing. But implying that people born and raised in this country are nonetheless outsiders is an obviously racist and antisemitic trope.

If you doubt it, imagine the furore if a video emerged of Theresa May making similar remarks about Islamists during her period as Home Secretary. Or of Donald Trump telling a similar story about Mexicans. Corbyn and his supporters would be up in arms, organising marches and demanding resignations.

Actually, you dont even need to imagine a scenario. Just look back at what they had to say about Boris Johnson.

One of the really remarkable things about the Labour antisemitism scandal to date as been the way that the Labour leader has managed to avoid much of it sticking to him personally. Even as the allegations and evidence have piled up, Corbyn has managed to just about maintain the idea that he is not personally antisemitic, but has merely spent decades surrounded by antisemites.

Todays Daily Mail report has demolished that firewall, and that before the Labour leader received personal endorsements on Twitter from the likes of Nick Griffin and David Duke. Corbyn almost certainly doesnt think of himself as an antisemite, but that isnt the same thing as not being one.

But it raises the question: what difference will it make? Britains Jewish have almost completely abandoned Labour already, but to date the wider electorate hasnt seemed inclined to inflict a dramatic polling slump on the Opposition. Likewise, Labour MPs have been loud about their outrage for weeks but continue to tacitly endorse the idea of making their leader Prime Minister.

Stephen Bush has explored the difficulties facing Labour MPs contemplating a split in great detail in the New Statesman. But this isnt just a problem for them, but for all those voters who until now have been prepared to overlook everything wrong with Corbyn for the sake of ousting the Conservatives.

If they dont push Labour into taking action over this, it will be a bleak indication of what the new standards are for the conduct of British public life.
State land banking: New housing along our canals gives an example of what can be achieved

This week, I have been offering some frustrating accounts of the failure of the Government to release land for much needed new housing. I would like to finish the series with a more positive example.

The Canal & River Trust are making a genuine effort to see development on the relatively small amount of land they own  including pushing through deals with local councils and others who owning adjoining tracts of land. While this is a series on state land banking, the Trust is not in the public sector. It was formed in 2012 taking over from a Quango called British Waterways which used to be subsidised with 60 million a year from the taxpayer via the Department of the Environment. In its privatised incarnation, the funding from DEFRA is a bit lower  down to 50 million a year. But as commercial income has risen, along with charitable fund raising, the total revenue is higher than it was under British Waterways. New moorings have been provided  resulting in more income from that business. Since 2012, the number of houseboats on the Trusts waterways has increased from 2,326 to 4,098.

It is surely not pure coincidence that since being liberated from the dead hand of state ownership, our canals our better managed and maintained. Part of that financial rigour means proper asset management. That means fewer derelict eyesores and more attractive new homes  especially sought after along the waterfront.

A spokesman for the Trust tells me:

The Trust owns land and property which formed a key part of the endowment transferred to the Trust on the charitys formation in 2012. This investment portfolio is used to deliver a substantial part of the funding we require to look after the waterways in our care, both now and in the future. As such, this non-operational land is not surplus.

As part of our property management, we have an established role in working with local authorities, other landowners, and the private sector to drive the regeneration of waterside property. Often such sites include substantial elements of residential development.

Over the next five years we anticipate delivering around 5,000 new homes on approximately 55 hectares of the land we own either directly, in partnership with our joint ventures, or which we have made available to third parties or the private sector.

As we only own circa four per cent of the land adjacent to our waterways, much of our impact can come through encouraging others to provide new waterside housing that creates great places which fully embrace the waterways and the contribution they can make to the sustainability and wellbeing of communities.

Among the examples are:

Marsworth Wharf in Buckinghamshire. This scheme was developed on the site of a former concrete batching plant and waterways depot. H2O has developed 12 new dwellings with a sympathetic conversion of a historic building.

Hayhurst Quay in Northwich in Cheshire. This provides public access to a previously private waterfront. A new marina providing 40 moorings, there is an 18,000 sq ft Waitrose, McCarthy and Stone Extra Care facility and shops and restaurants.

Aldcliffe Yard in Lancaster. A waterside development of 14 family homes on a former British Waterways office and Yard. The development has saw the sympathetic refurbishment of the listed buildings and the construction new houses.

Navigation Warehouse in Wakefield. A restoration project resulting in a mix of office, residential and leisure buildings covering 10 acres.

Last year the Trust reports

:

We spent 157m on our charitable activities, notably maintaining and repairing our waterways, an increase of 6% from the year before. We undertook our largest ever programme of lock repairs and gate replacements with 197 lock stoppages and 160 lock gate leaves replaced. We carried out hundreds of thousands of minor repair and maintenance tasks ranging from tree felling and servicing of bridges and locks to building repairs and vital inspections of embankments and hidden culverts.

Volunteers gave up over 540,000 hours of their time, an increase of 12 per cent from the year before, to help the Trust. 181 community groups have now adopted a stretch of their local canal or river.

No doubt more could be done. A gradual reduction in the annual DEFRA grant would provide a spur. There should also be a challenge to public sector agencies with neighbouring land not to be obstructive. Nor does it follow that everything proposed will be attractive. Richard Rogers firm was chosen for the Paddington Basin site  absolutely appalling cladded towers. Of course that is unacceptable, but that is a failing of the planning system. The answer to bad development is good development  it is not no development.

Anyway, I would conclude that overall what is happening along our canals is a success story. It offers a message of hope to those waiting for their aspiration of home ownership to be fulfilled. It also shows how building new homes can enhance rather than threaten the environment.
Iain Dale is Presenter of LBC Drive, a commentator with CNN and the author/editor of over 30 books.

This is the fourth year Ive been to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Back in June, I trawled through all 3,500 shows to decide which to go to see. Normally, I spend three days there, but this year I squeezed everything into two.

Somehow this year it didnt have the buzz Ive experienced in the past. That could be because I know what to expect. But overall I didnt think that one or two of the shows I saw were quite up to the superb standards of the previous years.

My two highlights were Geoff Norcott and Gyles Brandreth. Geoff used to bill himself as Britains only Conservative comedian  although he has a few rivals for that accolade now. I saw him on his last night and he was hilarious. He even had an audience walkout, with a middle-aged husband and wife leaving after a mild joke taking the p*ss out of Jeremy Corbyn.

As they walked out, they got ironic cheers. Gyles Brandreth was performing in one of the bigger venues and sold out each performance. So popular is his show that even the Prime Minister couldnt get tickets, apparently.

         

Dont you just love Australian politics? By the time you read, this the country may well have yet another Prime Minister.

Having toppled Tony Abbott in favour of Malcolm Turnbull, the Liberal Party now looks set to ditch Turnbull, potentially in favour of the new resigned Interior Minister Peter Dutton  a sort of Phil Mitchell look-a-like with no voter appeal whatsoever. The first attempt to get rid of Turnbull failed narrowly, but his critics are going back for more and, by the time you read this, he may well be toast.

So far, 13 ministers have resigned from his government. The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, and the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, are now also said to be challenging Dutton for the succession. Dutton is also in trouble with his eligibility to even be an MP being called into question. Nasty business, Aussie politics.

         

In ten days, Parliament comes back for a couple of weeks, heralding the start of the autumn political season. Were entering a crucial three months for the Brexit talks, and therefore for the Prime Ministers future. The collective dander of her critics seems to be up at the moment, with Jacob Rees-Mogg taking the initiative by writing on behalf of the European Research Group to all Conservative Associations criticising her letter on the Chequers Accord.

Boris Johnson is no doubt considering his next move, while other potential leadership contenders will be mulling over how they can improve their chances without being seen to be disloyal to the prime minister. It promises to be a tempestuous few months ahead in Conservative politics.

         

I dont know if you caught Liam Halligans documentary about the downfall of Carillion, which was shown on Channel 4 on Wednesday night. It was a brilliant insight into how a massive company was brought to its knees by corporate greed, and partly by the fact that it simply got too big.

The programme posed some very important questions for regulators, government and directors. But I do wonder why its taken so long for a major broadcaster to commission a programme like this into one of Britains biggest corporate failures. Why hasnt the BBC done something similar?

The easy answer is that their business coverage is lamentable, and just concentrates on day to day issues. Gone are the days when The Money Programme would have ensured it held people in business to account. Nowadays, the only real coverage of business on BBC1 is the odd slot on BBC Breakfast.

Sky News has a daily half hour business show, but apart from that, are there any others on a major TV broadcaster? I cant think of any. The BBC gets 3.5 billion of public money each year. Youd have though they could use a bit of that to provide much better coverage of business and finance issues. If Channel Four can do it, why cant the BBC?

         

A few weeks ago Jeremy Corbyn delivered a speech on the economy which many interpreted as sub-Trump. It was full of economic nationalist measures and protectionism  a kind of Britain First agenda. Make Britain Great Again.

Yesterday he was at it again at the Edinburgh TV Festival where he made a speech parts of which Trump could have happily made himself. It was entirely designed to lessen trust in the media, and encourage people to think the media is entirely obsessed by churning out fake news. Unbelievable  and something that an aspirant Prime Minister ought to be singularly ashamed of.
Some of our fellow Brexiteers see No Deal as the highway to a Singapore future  in which a Conservative Government slashes spending, tax and regulation to make Britain the economic powerhouse of Europe. The vision of a faster-growing economy should warm of the heart of every Tory. But the gritty experience of post-referendum politics should have taught us all the difference between the abstract and the concrete.

Any No Deal outcome to the Brexit talks would be mediated through a Commons in which Theresa May has no majority. It is possible that MPs would take fright at it, and seek to postpone Article 50  in other words, kick it into long grass from which it would never emerge. So there is an ironic chance that No Deal could sink leaving the EU altogether. But whether it did or didnt, the Governments room for manoeuvre would be very limited.

Amidst a Commons in which even ten rebels can sink a proposal, there is no chance whatsoever of the Government effecting a radical re-ordering of the state. Nor is the Conservative Party in any condition to attempt it. The very profusion of new Tory groups and initiatives  Onward, Freer, the revived Centre for Policy Studies  is a sign that the Parliamentary Party is searching for fresh ways forward after the Cameron years, with their focus on deficit reduction.

And forget about the prospect of a change of leadership suddenly re-firing the engines of Thatcherism. As we keep pointing out, deposing Theresa May this autumn would provide a new leader, but not a new Commons. Only a general election could give this Boris Javid or Sajid Johnson figure the landslide necessary to refigure Britain. How likely is it that a snap poll would provide one  assuming that Tory MPs consented to an election in the first place?

No, a No Deal outcome presents a spectrum of possibilties from the deeply problematic to the merely unsettling. It cannot be otherwise when much would depend on whether the EU27 joined with us in keeping the wheels of co-operation oiled. This site got stuck in last summer to the debate about what No Deal might mean. The essence of our conclusion was that, with side-deals, the prospect holds no fear.

None the less, whether those deals happen or not is guesswork. The reality of No Deal is not so much a cliff-edge as a cats-cradle of preparation, diplomacy, law  and a time shortage. It isnt necessary to believe the Project Fear Two tales of medicine shortages and empty shelves (lovingly stoked by Continuity Remain) to conclude that, as Britain adjusted, there would at least be a temporary squeeze on investment, growth and tax revenues.

Of course, there is a lot more to Brexit than the short-term  and the medium-term of even a No Deal Brexit holds out the prospect of the reformed economy rendered unlikely by present Commons arithmetic. This helps to explain why Conservative MPs should now push for Canada Plus Plus Plus. If they cant get it, they must weigh whether No Deal, with the paradoxical possibility it brings of No Brexit at all, would be worse than attempting the EEA port-in-a-storm.

The department that should be taking the lead in persuading the public of much of this is the Treasury. For it to do so, a front-of-shop-window Chancellor is required: someone with the political and rhetorical skill to set out the range of possibilites that No Deal would bring  and who will work seamlessly with colleagues to deliver an agreed Government plan, such as yesterdays carefully-honed announcement fronted by Dominic Raab.

He or she would undoubtedly struggle to do so against departmental resistance. For every once in a while, the Treasury pins itself to a policy that collapses. During the early 1980s, this was what you might call decadent keynesianism. During the early 1990s, it was the exchange rate mechanism. Some 15 years on, it was EU membership.

The aftermath of the referendum has left the Treasury shell-shocked. Worse, its credibility was shredded after George Osbornes politicised forecasts were left in tatters  an immediate recession, half a million unemployed, an 18 per cent fall in the value of homes. By early this year at the latest, it was evident that what was needed at the department to provide new leadership was a politician with the persuasiveness, energy and imagination of Michael Gove.

In the past, we have defended Philip Hammond. The Chancellor has his pluses. He saw from the start that an interventionist industrial policy was ill-timed for the moment when Britain needed business investment post-referendum. He was not well-treated by Theresa May during the election campaign or immediately before it. His economic instincts are sound.

But if ones measure is preparing the public for No Deal, it is hard to imagine a Chancellor worse-placed. The Treasury is still rolling out those long-term forecasts as though Osborne had never left it. Frankly, Hammond has no more idea of what our GDP or borrowing will be in 15 years than does Russell Grant. And the latter presumably works more co-operatively with any colleagues he has than the Chancellor does.

For it is clear that the release of Hammonds letter to Nicky Morgan, in which his dismal forecasts were contained, can only have been timed to take the shine off Raabs day in the sun. The emergence of the letter is also a reminder of the absence of the man. Where is the Chancellor himself? When Soft and Hard Brexiteers were jostling pre-Brexit, it was Greg Clark who took the fight to the latter on the Andrew Marr Show, not Hammond.

Of course, chancellors tend to disappear into the Treasury between budgets  not for nothing did Osborne become known as the Submarine  but Hammond has vanished even more than most. Part of the reason must be the disaster of his first budget, after which he was forced to U-turn on his national insurance plans. His subsequent ones have been easier going. But that is largely because Brexit exigencies have postponed hard decisions.

The Chancellor compared himself to Tigger during his last budget. We duly produced the required illustration. But the comparison wouldnt have been attempted had not a more persuasive one been made: with Eeyore. The Government needs a front-of-shop persuader at the Treasury, but has a back-of-house technocrat  at this, the most momentous time for Britains destiny since the war. And back at the start of the year, May blew her chance to do anything about it.
08/24/2018

Photo (c) rvolkan - Getty Images The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are putting Microsoft under a magnifying glass to examine how the tech giant is conducting business in Hungary.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), U.S. authorities are taking a hard look at whether Microsoft used bribery or corruption in software sales in Hungary going back to 2013-14. Specifically, regulators are attempting to find out if Microsoft purportedly sold its Excel and Word software at a deep discount to middleman countries, then turned around and sold the same software to the Hungarian government at a 30-40 percent higher price.

Engaging in corrupt acts like bribery in foreign countries is illegal in the U.S. and would be treated as a violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

"A huge suicidal act"

The genesis of this potential wrongdoing goes back to 2016. According to 24.hu, Hungarian authorities found documents discovered at the offices of Microsofts Hungarian arm that were connected to nine former Romanian ministers. The discovery led to prison sentences as long as six years and 17 million euros in reparations.

Prior to that, Microsoft Hungary had not sold its products directly; it merely acted as a management and marketing company. The culprit in this brouhaha was Microsofts "large account resellers" (LAR) according to Daily News Hungary.

"They were only acting as a marketing and management company. It was their LAR partners business to trade with the government  with a high level of independence  and they transferred the orders to Microsofts center in Ireland," according to the Daily News report.

"They have cancelled the selling rights of their software and other products from their LAR partners out of the blue, referring to ethical reasons. It was a huge suicidal act coming from Microsoft," the report said.

Microsoft told the WSJ that it's working with the Justice Department and the SEC as well as performing its own internal investigation. "We're committed to ethical business practices and won't compromise these standards,' said Microsofts deputy general counsel David Howard in a statement.

Microsofts Hungarian roots

When Microsoft signed its strategic partnership agreement with the Hungarian government, the sky seemed the limit for both parties.

At the time of the signing, Hungarys State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto said that the deal would add thousands of jobs and raise the bar for digital public education.

The money side of the ledger looked promising as well with Microsoft committing to paying nearly $2 million in taxes on top of the millions the deal would create in salaries.

This type of fracas isnt Microsofts first. In 2013, the company was called on the regulatory carpet over similar claims in China, Italy, and Romania. The Wall Street Journal points out that partners in Russia and Pakistan may have bribed government buyers as well. It's unclear if the U.S. is continuing to investigate Microsoft's activity in these other countries at this time.
Far from Silicon Valley and even farther away from Asias electronics hub, a little startup with a lot of soul is making waves. At the eastern tip of Lake Erie, a company started by Danish immigrants is building mobile computers in, of all places, downtown Buffalo.

At Bak USA, five technicians sit at a half moon-shaped workstation building laptops and tablets from scratch. Just an arms length away, a screwdriver-toting robot collaborates on the assembly. You have a three-year-old startup, with 100 employees, and one robot. What are the odds? With the advent of human-robot collaboration (HRC), the odds are growing. Small and medium-sized enterprises are taking note of its potential.

This is not a run-of-the-mill company. The Bak familys vision is to make mobile technologies accessible to every human being on Earth. While ambitious, this startup is charting its path one community at a time with a millennial brand of social responsibility. Add in some heavyweight partners including Microsoft, Intel, and Esri, and you have something quite formidable.

Bak USA builds 2-in-1 laptops for K-12 classrooms with the belief every student has the right to high-tech learning opportunities. They also make rugged tablets for the everyday worker, whether they are in the factory, on a construction site, or our men and women in blue.

All the while, Bak USA believes in taking care of their own "working class." A people-centric business model means they put their employees first.

So what does an unconventional company do to rock the boat? They adopt a robot. Not only their first robot, but their first piece of serious automation on the production floor. And not just any robot. A robot free of the safety "cages" typically associated with traditional industrial robots. Disruptive technology times two.

Cobot campaign

This was a new frontier for Bak USA. They had always put people first. Now they were introducing a robot to their ranks. It turns out they had some help sowing the launch.

Buffalo Manufacturing Works is an engineering consulting organization established by a New York state development initiative. Bak USA brought them onboard to help the startup evaluate their production processes for out-of-the-box solutions.

And boy, did they go outside the box.

"Nothing was off the table," said Matt Malloy, director of advanced manufacturing at Bak USA. "We looked at everything from an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) that would drive parts around, to flying drones through the building that would drop off parts."

Buffalo Manufacturing Works introduced the idea of a collaborative robot (cobot) to Bak USA.

"We looked at everything we do as a business and said, where can we have the biggest impact?" Malloy explained. "We had the luxury of a leadership team that was very much in favor of saying we are new in the industry, we want to make an impact, we want to do right by everyone who works here, we want to make peoples jobs exciting and interesting and comfortable, so were willing to explore. Its the benefit of a company that is very strongly behind what it wants to do technically and socially."

Bak USAs social mission is behind everything they do. They wanted to relieve their technicians from an ergonomically challenging task while increasing production efficiency so they can continue making high-quality, affordable electronics for young students and the workforce.

"If you can imagine working with tiny, mobile device-sized screws all day," Malloy said, "trying to hold them with your fingertips and get them on the tip of a screwdriver, and put them in and get the right torque. Its a difficult part of the process."

The Kawasaki duAro dual-arm SCARA robot was deployed to ease the workload. After a few months of testing, the system is now in full production.The production process involves technicians seated around the robot in a semicircle. Each technician builds a computer device from start to finish at his or her own station. When the device is ready for screws, the technician initiates a quick process that shuttles the device to the robot. The robot inserts the screws and drives them in, and then the device is shuttled back to the technician for additional assembly if needed.

Since there may be five technicians feeding devices to the robot at any given time, if the robot is busy installing screws in one device, the other device waits in the queue. Meanwhile, the technician can be building the next device.

Each arm on the duARo is equipped with a vision camera and a torque-feedback electric screwdriver. The machine vision is used to confirm placement of the screws in the assembly. It also helps determine which screw sizes to use for different devices. A screw feeder presents the screws to the robot.

While the robot is faster than a human performing the same operation, Malloy said thats not the key consideration.

"More importantly, its taking away a step that nobody building the device wants to do."

Bak USA looked at other collaborative robotic systems but they chose the duAro for its precision, compact size, and inherent safety, among other considerations.

"The duAro was a good fit because of how it moves. Its a two-arm cobot, which makes it really nice," Malloy said. "You can work on two devices at once or run it in various ways. The controls and the sensors and the feedback on the system are great. And the system itself is padded, so even if it does bump into you, its like a cushion hitting you."

People first, safety first

The duAro robot was designed with the harmonized ISO 10218 and ANSI/RIA 15.06 robot safety standards in mind for collaborative operation says Samir Patel, director of product and advanced engineering for Kawasaki Robotics (USA), Inc. in Wixom, Mich.

"For the highest level of safety," Patel said, "Kawasaki has a hardware and software package called Cubic-S, which monitors the workspace and speed of each arm."

Low-power motors, less than 80 W according to Patel, coupled with a soft-cushioned body and speed, force, and work zone monitoring enable the duAro to collaborate safely with humans. A collision detection function instantaneously stops the robots movement in the unlikely event of a collision.

Bak USA had initial concerns about safety, mostly because of the newness of the technology. So they worked with external companies to help assess safety, as well as provide training courses for their workforce. Malloy said they probably went overboard in terms of safety.

"For now, just to be extra safe, we have light curtains in front of every workstation. We have safety mats behind each tool, so no one can walk near it, even though it is a collaborative robot. We have dual touchpoints for safety control, so nobody can load or unload a device with their hands in the way."

If someone or something does breach the light curtain or trigger the safety mat, the robot comes to an immediate stop.

"Buffalo Manufacturing Works has been able to develop the system for us in such a way that its so fast to reset," Malloy said. "In my experience, whenever interlocks or those types of things were triggered, it was always a complicated process to get it back to an operational state. Here, theyve put so much thought into making it safe and easy to use, and easy to troubleshoot."

Ease of use is a common theme we hear with cobots. For many, "teaching" has replaced programming.

Easy to teach

Kawasaki provides three options for programing the duAro. The lead-through-teach function allows a person to grab one of the robots arms and physically move it to the desired point, and then record the point on a programming tablet. You repeat these steps for each point to teach a complete path.

The second method involves using an Android tablet, which wirelessly connects to the duAro robot controller, to jog the robot in joint, base, or tool coordinates. The third method is for advanced users to program complex applications.

After experiencing how intuitive the lead-through-teach feature is, Malloy said he cant imagine having to teach a robot with a teach pendant, which is how most traditional industrial robots are programmed.

An advantage of the duAro is the two arms can be taught to work independently performing different tasks, or their movements can be coordinated to perform a task.

Kawasakis Patel provides examples common in electronics manufacturing. "In many electronics assembly applications, its necessary to fixture the parent part for precise positioning before assembly. With the duAro, one arm can hold the parent part in position while the other arm does the assembly application, like screw fastening or gluing."

The arms also can coordinate to carry a larger load, such as a printed circuit board. With the robots coaxial design, the two arms share a common axis, Joint 1, so they can rotate from the front to the back of the robot. Each arm can handle a payload of 2 kg. Coordinating, they can carry 4 kg. Bak USA uses the dual-arm functions independently or in a coordinated fashion, depending on their production requirements.

Preparing the workforce for cobots

Contributing to Bak USAs successful adoption of cobots was early involvement by their workforce. Before even starting the project, they got their technician team involved.

"We worked closely with Buffalo Manufacturing Works and we had them work with our technicians to understand our process and what works and what doesnt," Malloy said. "We did field some of the typical questions, like why add a robot and what does this mean for my job? But we kept everybody in the loop throughout the whole process. We had multiple occasions to get them involved, even if its as simple as having people take pictures with the cobot. By the time it got here, people were excited. The first day they were using it, people were asking, when is the next one coming? You cant even imagine the smiles on peoples faces the first time we all saw this thing running and the five people that were thrilled they were the ones doing it."

The unveiling was indeed a company-wide celebration. The program has been so successful Bak USA has two more robots on order.

"The first day we had it in production it exceeded our expectations," Malloy said. "Then we were very quickly breaking records internally. Were in the process of commissioning our second and third system right now."

Bak USA has nearly doubled in size over the last 12 months, adding 48 new jobs. The two additional robots will increase the number of technicians using the systems.

"We have a lot more people on the manufacturing floor," Malloy said. "We have enough people now to run all three systems. And were still hiring."

The future of co-automation

Bak USA plans to spend some time improving current systems. Malloy said they have learned a lot from this process, especially what they can add to the system or change to make it better.

"When we started it was just by hand. There was no co-automation. Now were rethinking how we design our products to take into account those design for automation features," he said.

One of Bak USAs biggest challenges, Malloy said, wasnt something big.

"Some of the seemingly more trivial things like trying to keep a very small screw on the end of a screwdriver bit while its moving, that has proven to be one of the most challenging things for us."

The biggest lesson Bak USA learned?

"Nowadays, everyone is saying if jobs arent somewhere else, then they are being taken away by robots," Malloy said. "We wanted to prove that doesnt have to be the case. We want to show the industry that this can be done in a way that allows you to add automation and also create jobs at the same time, and make a good work environment. The biggest positive lesson learned isnt even the technology, its the fact that we proved to ourselves that you can do that."

Cases like Bak USAs prove it doesnt have to be all or nothing. Automation and people can coexist. Humans and robots can work together safely as coworkers and as collaborators.

Co-automation is also moving into automotive final assembly, an area thats typically manual. Using a FANUC CR-35iA cobot (pictured), with its 35-kg payload capacity, Esys Automation developed a collaborative robotic system that applies urethane to automotive rear quarter glass.

The customer required the consistent quality of robotic urethane application, but lacked sufficient floor space for an enclosed cell with traditional safety guarding between the operator and robot. Esys was able to reduce the footprint by half and create a process where the operator works hand-in-hand with the cobot.

These robots are all collaborative power and force-limiting robots (PFLRs). These types of specialty industrial robots have inherent limits on their speed, the forces they can exert, and the payloads they can handle. In most cases, these robots can work in proximity or directly with humans without the need for safety fencing or other peripheral safety devices.

Human-robot collaboration, however, is not reserved for PFLRs. High-payload and high-speed robots can get in on the action. It does require some out-of-the-box thinking, though.

Tanya M. Anandan is contributing editor for the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) and Robotics Online. RIA is a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to improving the regional, national, and global competitiveness of the North American manufacturing and service sectors through robotics and related automation. This article originally appeared on the RIA website. The RIA is a part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.
100 days after new authorities came to power in Armenia, economy of the republic is stil in a difficult situation, since Pashinyan's team, while declaring the beginning of a revolutionary course of economic revival, simultaneously refused to address the main obstacle to economic development - blockade at Turkish and Azerbaijani borders, caused by occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan. According to Pashinyan himself, borders with Iran and Georgia are enough to save Armenia from economic suffocation. Vestnik Kavkaza spoke to expert in the field of energy security, Vahe Davtyan, about possible prospects of the republic's economy in conditions of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

- What will happen to the Armenian economy if blockade on Turkish and Azerbaijani borders will be lifted?

- According to estimates made by, for example, the World Bank experts, opening of borders with Turkey can lead to an increase in Armenian GDP by 30% and a significant reduction of current trade deficit. In other words, there are a lot of reasons to believe that our economy will begin to develop. Armenia and Turkey have potential for growth of economic cooperation in comparison to current situation. It's important to note that there's a trade between countries today, it's just carried out through third countries, Turkey ranks 6 or 7 in the foreign trade balance of Armenia, trade volume is around $300 million. At the same time, I believe that there are no such prospects with Azerbaijan.

I think we're not the only ones who are in a difficult situation due to closed borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, it's a problem for the entire region, although from a conjunctural point of view it directly affects Armenia. Region should not have closed borders to ensure full-fledged economic development and healthy political and cultural dialogue. A large number of transport, logistic, energy projects are currently bypassing Armenia, although if they passed through the Armenian territory, it's possible that they would have greater economic efficiency. For example, there were proposals to build the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline through Armenia, BOTAS spoke about logistical benefit of this route. I think that opening of borders will be interesting for all participants of regional processes.

- How will growing level of cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan affect Armenian economy? After all, a significant part of disagreements between them are no longer relevant due to signing of the Caspian Convention.

- First of all, it should be noted that Armenia has recently faced serious regional challenges of geoeconomical nature. There are no direct risks from adoption of the Caspian Convention for Armenia, but if we view this issue in a strategic geopolitical sense, then we must recognize that there are potential risks. The Caspian Convention must be viewed as a system of additional mechanisms, which will regulate relations between the Caspian states, not only when it comes to the Caspian issue, but in a whole range of problems. In this sense, there are additional risks, anti-Armenian slogan in the Caspian states may become more popular.

The Caspian Convention is of great importance, including for development of energy and transport dialogue between all countries, in particular, between Azerbaijan and Iran. It's important to note that Azerbaijan is taking a certain niche in the Iranian market since the beginning of this year, it already Ppolitical platform for development of energy cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan exists, but technically, Azerbaijan's energy system is not sufficiently diversified, which gives Armenia some time.

- When it comes to energy, what are Armenia's prospects in Iranian market? How will it compete with Azerbaijan?

- Electricity export is one of the main components of Armenia's economic development, but right now we have some problems in this field, associated with costs of electricity and logistics. I'm talking about problems associated with implementation of the North-South electricity corridor, which is supposed to link Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia. Despite the fact that construction works are already underway, formation of an alternative corridor through the territory of Azerbaijan has begun, and it's a challenge to the Armenian energy sector. Armenia needs to conduct aggressive marketing in regional energy markets and gradually reduce cost of electricity in order to remain competitive in Iranian and Georgian markets.

It's increasingly difficult for Armenia to maintain its status in regional markets, especially in conditions of transport, communication and logistics blockade or semi-blockade. We have to lower cost of Armenian electricity. In order to maintain low cost, we must deal with those huge loans that we have. It's also necessary to develop electricity consumption within the republic. Of course, I don't think that these goals will be achieved in one or two years, we need to keep in mind that they will take at least 5-7 years.
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The United States new anti-Russian sanctions imposed over the Skripals case will come into effect presumably from August 27, a State Department spokesperson said.

"On August 6, the United States has determined, for purposes of implementing the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act), that the Government of the Russian Federation has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals. On August 8, we notified Congress our intent to impose several sanctions on Russia required by the CBW Act - including most prominently, imposing a presumption of denial for Russian access to any U.S.-origin national security-sensitive goods and technologies," the spokesperson said.

"The notification period prescribed by the CBW Act elapsed on August 22. We have submitted the Federal Register Notice enacting the sanctions and expect that it will be published on August 27th," TASS cited him as saying.

On Wednesday, August 22, Washington hit Russia with more sanctions over its alleged involvement in the March 4 poisoning of former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, near London. The Department of State argues that Russia is in breach of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991.
Over the past decade I have interacted with hundreds if not thousands of visitors at High Tech High. So many have asked how they could do Project-based Learning in their schools. After a bit more conversation I would often find that they were looking for something more comprehensive than just projects. They were looking to transform the culture of their schools through comprehensive Deeper Learning.

Underlying Deeper Learning are the relationships that make learning meaningful and sticky. In my many conversations with guests it became evident that in every educational setting some relationships were strong and others needed attention. In some schools, adult-student relationships were strong; students were known well. In others, parent-school relationships were strong; parents were actively involved in their childrens education. Through these conversations I developed a framework for reflection on the Six Relationships. This tool can help a school identify strengths upon which to build and areas in need of attention.

To be clear, many of these ideas are borrowed from others, especially Rob Riordan from High Tech High and Elliot Washor from Big Picture Learning. I do not claim any of them as my own; I have simply compiled them in one place.

The Six RelationshipsWhat They Are

Three Internal

Student and Student - In great schools, students know one another and work together. This is what this looks like:

Students do group work and have concrete assigned roles and norms of interaction. The how of the group is as important as the what.



Students engage in constructive kind, helpful, and specific critique.



Students grow comfortable working with anyone in the classroom.

Adult and Student - In great schools, students are known well by one or more adults. This is what this looks like:

Students report that their teachers care about them.



Adults notice when a student is off and have empathetic conversations.



Adults give concrete, specific feedback that is personalized.



Instead of trying to reach the student through the text (the content and ideas in the curriculum) the adults know the students well and reach the text through the relationship with the students. One way to do this is to treat student experience itself as text. Another way is to engage in respectful dialogue about what and how students are thinking.

Adult and Adult - According to Roland Barth , the nature of relationships among the adults within a school has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school and on student accomplishment than anything else. This is what this looks like:

Adults engage with one another about their practice through dialogue and co-planning. This could be through the use of dilemma or project-tuning protocols in a staff meeting and/or more informal problem solving at lunch.



or project-tuning protocols in a staff meeting and/or more informal problem solving at lunch. Adults celebrate one another through shout outs and by attending each others exhibitions of student work.



Adults take a solution-oriented approach when conflict arises, rather than reverting to gossip and triangulation.

Three External

School and Community - How well does the school engage the community as a resource and/or audience for student work? This is what this might look like:

A school creates a field guide to a locally important natural area .



to a locally important natural area . Students interview veterans and celebrate their stories in a publication and an event at a local museum.



and an event at a local museum. Students build model submersible autonomous vehicles for the Navy.

School and Home - How well are the school and families integrated to support students? How well does the school understand the homes its students come from? This is what this might look like:

Home visits: A students advisor does a home visit when the student is new to the school.



Exhibitions: Whether at school or in the community, parents attend exhibitions of student work.



Student-led Conferences: Parents and teachers attend conferences that are led by the student and grounded in evidence of the students growth.

Work in School and Work in the Adult World - How closely does the work students do in school approximate the work done by adults? This is what this might look like:

This is not the only lens through which to look at ones school or at project-based learning. However, I have found it is a productive place to start thinking about transforming a school and a helpful framework for efforts to continually improve. Using this framework at the beginning of the year helps a team celebrate and leverage strengths to address areas in need of growth. In the middle or at the end of the year it provides a framework to safely and continually improve culture and the quality of experiences for students, educators and families.
Italy's opera Festival Verdi will be hosted in Georgian cities, after the Tbilisi Opera and State Ballet Theatre signed a deal with Italy's celebrated Teatro Regio di Parma.

The Italian company, official holders of the license for the festival, has granted the Tbilisi venue the right to hold a Georgian edition of the festival in the capital and other cities across the country.

Tours of the Tbilisi opera company to the festivals Italian edition in Parma are also included in the agreement. The troupe will travel to Parma and Busseto  two locations associated with the famed composer Giuseppe Verdis life and work  next year.

Its signing comes during the European Year of Cultural Heritage and follows Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre projects that have seen a revitalisation of productions, tours and artist opportunities at the venue over the recent years, Agenda.ge reported.

Launched since the voting of Badri Maisuradze as the Artistic Director in 2016, the initiatives have included the Young Artists Programme, which facilitates artist exchange between the Tbilisi theatre and some of the leading opera troupes around the world.
Two agreements will be signed worth 193 million between Georgia and Germany during German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to Georgia.

One agreement will be about constructing an underground gas storage facility in Georgia and the other to develop a modern sewage system in the country.

Merkel, who is visiting Georgia 10 years later once again, said at todays press-conference with Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze that Georgia is following a very well-guided economic path.

"Economic growth in Georgia is obvious I think we can cooperate in various fields. The Prime Minister also noted that cooperation between small and medium sized business of the two countries is important. Economic ministers of the two countries should held meetings often. Our cooperation should become more intensive, we should share our experiences with each other, said Merkel, Agenda.ge reported.

Merkel also stated that Georgia can export agricultural products to the EU and German can contribute to this process heavily.
A planned sub-sea pipeline that will bring gas directly from Russia under the Baltic Sea will not make Germany dependent on Russia for energy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, addressing university students in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

On the second day of a trip to the countries of the Caucasus, Merkel reaffirmed that Berlin wanted to make sure that Russia would continue to deliver some gas via Ukraine even after the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was finished, Reuters reported.
We are the gateway to many different destinations, said Anne-Marie Spinsoi, coordinator of the Corisca Cruise Club.

Two Corsica ports, Bastia and Calvi, host around 20 to 30 ships a year, she said, while smaller ports L'Ile-Rousse and Saint Florent see around 10 calls per year.

North Corsica plays host to smaller vessels, targeting the luxury market, Spinsoi said.

Calvi can host large ships, and has seen calls from Marella, Holland America and MSC, but only on occasion.

Actually, our ports offer both options: the exclusivity of a glamour destination, but also the family tours, eco tours and more, we have different products, Spinsoi noted

We definitely cannot host megaships, she continued. Calvi, for instance, has a population of 5,000. We also have to keep in mind that were on an island, 5,000 passengers means 88 buses! It has to fit with our welcoming capacity. Thats why we target more luxury and small or mid-size ships.

Despite that, however, the destination has managed up to 4,000 guests on a single day with success.

Twenty-two maiden calls are scheduled for this year.

Bastia is in the Northeast part of the French region, with five different wineries close to the port, and offers a traditional berth.

Saint Florent is located in the south, offering a marina atmosphere to small ships that want to tender.

Another tender port, LIle Rousse faces the French Riviera, and is the natural gateway to the country, an old city with colorful houses and beach-front property.

Another anchor option is Calvi, with a number of attractions in walking distance.
Princess Cruises has announced the line has significantly expanded its Across the Ditch Program ahead of the 2018-2019 summer cruise season.

The cruise line will take guests to places less traveled with the launch of two industry-first overland excursions in New Zealands North Island and over twenty exclusive shore tours this summer, according to a statement.

Under the cruise lines global Local Connections Program, guests will be able to experience the destination through with local expert partner visiting their favorite local food, beverage and art establishments in every New Zealand port, Princess said.

Speaking at the New Zealand Cruise Association Conference today in Blenheim, New Zealand, Princess Cruises Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Stuart Allison said: "Princess Cruises will carry more cruise passengers to New Zealand than any other cruise operator, with almost 100,000 guests to the country this season. With New Zealand attracting more repeat cruisers than any other itinerary, weve broadened our Across the Ditch Program this year by partnering exclusively with a number of regional experts to offer our guests a number of truly immersive and authentic tourism experiences.

Princess Cruises Local Connections Program will deliver meaningful and bespoke experiences across the country to our guests through the eyes of a local expert. It is these local chefs, beverage-makers and artisans, as recommended by our local expert partners, who will bring a destination to life in their own unique way', said Allison.

One such highlight under the expanded Across the Ditch Program includes an overland excursion to Great Barrier Island, one of only four Dark Sky Sanctuaries in the world, for a stargazing experience.

The expansion of the successful global Local Connections Program in New Zealand demonstrates Princess Cruises commitment to sustainable tourism and how the benefit of cruise tourism can be felt well beyond the ports our ships visit, explained Allison.
The deadly tornadoes that crushed homes, closed roads and caused millions of dollars in property damage three months ago may have been the worst that some residents have ever seen.

But that doesnt mean the federal government will help every victim of the natural disaster.

News earlier this week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would reimburse local governments in Fairfield and New Haven counties up to 70 percent for storm cleanup costs was followed by a notice that FEMA would not reimburse claims by individual homeowners.

Nor will FEMA honor claims made by three Litchfield County towns  New Milford, Bridgewater and Roxbury.

The FEMA ruling came in a letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

The damage from this event was significant in each of the designated areas, wrote Jeff Byard, associate administrator of the office of response and recovery at FEMA. However, based on our review of all the information available ... it has been determined that the impact to the individuals and households from this event was not of such severity and magnitude to warrant the designation of individual assistance ...

That means that in hard-hit communities such as Oxford  where the first selectman estimated the May 15 storm caused at least $30 million in property damage  homeowners will have to bear the cost themselves.

New Milfords Rob Doscher isnt buying that.

The storms 110-mph winds blew a large oak tree onto his home and downed another three dozen trees on his property, causing at least $100,000 in damage.

Its disappointing to hear FEMA thinks this didnt rise to their level for assistance, Doscher said on Friday, adding that his home is still undergoing repairs. Some people in town had it worse - they lost their homes.

It was unclear on Friday how Malloy would respond, except that he has 30 days to appeal FEMAs denial.

A spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection would only say that Connecticut is considering its next steps.

Malloy asked for $13 million in disaster relief after the May 15 tornadoes that killed two people and damaged infrastructure in Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties.

President Donald Trump on Aug. 20 declared the region a federal disaster area, entitling cities and towns in those counties to financial assistance.

But in a letter to Malloy on Tuesday, FEMA said it was also denying assistance to the three Litchfield County towns.

[I]t has been determined that the damage to the infrastructure in Litchfield County, including the municipalities of Bridgewater, New Milford and Roxbury was not of such severity and magnitude to warrant the designation of public assistance... Byard wrote.

Bridgewater First Selectman Curtis Read said he was disappointed, but not surprised.

After the storm, his town paid contractors $130,000 to remove trees and wires from public property, or about 2 percent of Bridgewaters annual budget.

Much of our damage was in southern Bridgewater touching Fairfield County, Read said. If everybody else gets assistance and you look across the lake and see we arent getting any, that is not necessarily fair, Read said. If we arent getting assistance because of a line on a map, that enters the realm of arbitrary.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
BRIDGEPORT  Gunfire erupted in the city on Thursday and was called into the dispatch center by firefighters who were nearby for a collision.

Fire units were at Noble and Edna avenues around 6 p.m. for a crash. There were apparently no serious injuries involved.

And about an hour later, fire personnel were still on scene for the crash when the sound of gunfire burst through the summer air, leaving a car damaged by bullets but no one seriously injured.

A firefighter alerted the dispatcher, saying 10 shots had been fired, adding, You better get PD here ... Dont know where the shooter is, reports indicated.

The firefighters assessed the area and though there was initially belief that someone was shot, no one was.

There were shots fired at the location of the car accident, but no one was hit, said police spokesman Av Harris.

An officer who responded for the shooting reported finding at least one shell casing at Noble Avenue and Crown Street, just on the outskirts of Beardsley Park.

Harris said police remained at the scene to investigate the shooting.

At 7:18 p.m. someone called 911 for shots fired in the 1100 block of Pembroke Street. An officer that investigated found nothing and spoke to people outside who said they hadnt heard gunshots.
BRIDGEPORT  The Connecticut River Conservancy will host the 22nd Annual Source to Sea Cleanup next month.

It will take place on Sept. 28 and Sept. 29. The Source to the Sea Cleanup is an annual trash cleanup of the Connecticut River system  including rivers, parks, streams, boat launches and trails.

Each fall, thousands of volunteers head out in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont to clean on foot or by boat.

To sign up for this falls event and for more details, visit ctriver.org/our-work/source-to-sea-cleanup/.

Once you register a group for the cleanup, youll receive a welcome packet with information about how you and your group can get involved.

After the cleanup, there will be Trash Talk events, where people will discuss and learn more about what can be done in Connecticut to help keep trash out of nature. More details on that are expected soon.
NEW CANAAN - A blackmail scam thats tries to get guilty husbands pay a $3,500 fee has surfaced again in New Canaan.

The con centers a letter that tells husbands if they dont pay up, the person will take this evidence and send it to your wife.

The perpetrator of the letter says I have evidence of what youve been hiding. I wont go into specifics here in case your wife intercepts this, but you know what Im talking about.

Police say the letter is a con job thats been sent to residents by email, phone and postal mail. Similar letters have also been sent to Darien and Greenwich.

We have received multiple calls over the past few days regarding the scam letter, New Canaan police said Thursday. The letter is usually postmarked from Memphis or Nashville Tennessee. Dont pay! Ignore!

Yet, the letter has a somewhat convincing tone that may persuade some guilty husbands that just maybe, this letter writer does know ... something.

You dont know me personally and nobody hired me to look into you. Nor did I go out looking to burn you. It is just your bad luck that I stumbled across your misadventures while working a job around New Canaan. I then put in more time than I probably should have looking into your life, the con person writes.

Frankly, I am ready to forget all about you and let you go on with your life. And Im going to ignore two options that are either to ignore this letter, or simply pay me $3,500.

It advises the husband not to go to the cops because the writer claims that have taken steps to ensure the letter cant be traced.

Dont pay up and the letter -with sordid details - would be sent to the husbands wife, family and friends, it says.

That wont stop the evidence from destroying your life.

The letter writer said the only way to pay this confidentiality fee is through Bitcoin; no meeting in person or exchange of cash. The letter also had an attached How To Bitcoin cheat sheet.

Again, New Canaan cops say ignore, ignore, ignore.

Its a new spin on a classic con.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany actively supports Georgia's European integration.

"Germany supports and will support Georgia in the future. That is why I am here. Georgia is a very important partner in the context of the Eastern Partnership: there is the Association Agreement, the free trade agreement, the broadening and reinforcement of relations between our countries," the German Chancellor said, answering a question about Germanys role in Georgias road to the EU.

For the present, we are working on the expansion of the instruments we already have," Agenda.ge cited Merkel as saying.
FAIRFIELD  Friday was not a good day for Crane Street resident William Brown, 54.

After sideswiping a U.S. Postal Service truck and fleeing the scene, police found Brown in the parking lot of Bills Crossroads. He was taken into custody not only for that hit-and-run accident, but also for an alleged July hit-and-run and for harassing teen girls at Jennings Beach.

A Postal Service employee called police to report Fridays accident, which happened on Commerce Drive. Brown allegedly pulled into the left lane to pass the postal truck, and then swerved back into the right lane, sideswiping the truck. Both drivers stopped, but when the postal worker said he needed to call police to document the accident, Brown told him he couldnt call police because he had outstanding warrants.

Brown got into his red Chevy Silverado and left the scene, but the other driver had taken a picture of his license plate. Brown was later located in the bars parking lot by another officer, who said there was an odor of alcohol on his breath. Brown allegedly told officers he had to swerve because a large tractor-trailer truck was headed straight for him. He failed a field sobriety test and his blood alcohol content was 0.11.

The outstanding warrants stems from July 5, when Brown allegedly made an unsafe lane change, causing a motorcyclist to run into the back of his truck. The motorcyclist was not hurt, and when a witness told Brown he had just collided with the bike, Brown said he didnt see a motorcycle and left the scene. The witness in that incident had taken a photo of the license plate, and officers began to look for Brown.

They found his truck parked on Brewster Street in Bridgeport, but could not locate him in any of the bars or businesses in the area.

At the same time, another police officer was trying to locate Brown because of an incident at Jennings Beach.

According to a lifeguard, Brown was approaching young teenage girls, and also scared a 5-year-old girl, making her cry. The lifeguard approached Brown and he allegedly told her he had just broken up with his girlfriend of 12 years, and was trying to find a girl over the age of 18. He was asked to leave the beach, and he called the lifeguard a profanity. She, too, got a photo of the license plate.

When Brown could not be located for either of the July 5 incidents, warrants were issued for his arrest.

He was charged with two counts of evading responsibility, two counts of failure to drive in the proper lane, one count of operating under the influence, and two counts each of second-degree breach of peace and second-degree threatening.

Brown was held on bonds totaling $25,000 and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on Aug. 27.

greilly@ctpost.com; 203-842-2585
FAIRFIELD -- It was the T-shirts that first caught Mary Paglialungas eye.

The shirt was blue, with a yellow outline of the state of Connecticut in the middle with some runners making their way along a winding road. The words on the shirt read: Run 169 Towns Society.

I had run into a couple of guys at the Christmas Village (race) in Trumbull and I asked them about their shirts, Paglialunga said. Turns out they were two of the original founders and I thought about it for like, a month and I said, Im going to do that, it sounded really cool and its been nothing but a wonderful experience.

It was March of 2012 when the first meeting of www.debticonn.org - Do Every Blessed Town in Connecticut - took place. Since its formation some six years ago, thousands of runners have joined the club, looking to run a road race in every one of the states 169 towns and villages.

I was turning 50 that year and I wanted something new and different, Paglialunga said. Besides the fact of just getting out of Fairfield County, theres a whole another world out there in the state of Connecticut that many people have no idea about.

It was one of those original founders, Adam Osmond, that was wearing the shirt that day in Trumbull.

As of July 6, 2018, there are 2,843 members of debitconn, with more joining the club just about every day.

The way it started was, eight of us got together and decided to organize a (running) club and set up basic rules, Osmond said. So, we sat down and figured out what would count as an official race. It had to be at least one mile, it had to be timed, and if a race went through more than one town, the town where the race started would count as the start point.

We got everything together, I created a website and Facebook and twitter page and all of a sudden, the idea just took off. The runners all got caught up with it the idea of running a race in every town. It got really big really fast.

There are currently 21 kings - men who have completed all 169 races and 14 queens who have done the same.

When we started we had no idea what this would become, Osmond said. I thought if we got 100 people to sign up, that would be great.

But as it turns out, runners like goals.

Runners like to have something to accomplish, to look forward to, Osmond said. Ive lived in Connecticut for over 30 years and I didnt know that some of these towns existed. Now, not only do I know but Ive run in most of them. Before this, a lot of runners would just run in their local area.

(Creating this club) helped a lot of the small races, that might get just 100 people or so. We have everything on our website and our members know about these races. Its a win-win for everyone. We have a very fun group.

Right now, Paglialunga, 53, has 165 races notched on her belt. No. 162 took place last November with a race in Hampton. Next came No. 163 Griswold in February, followed by No. 164 in April in Salem and No. 165 in New Hartford. Still to come are Marlboro, Willington, Durham and last but not least, No. 169 in West Haven.

I remember meeting Mary in Trumbull and she was so excited about it and now, here she is, she only has a few more races to go, said Osmond.

Not bad for someone that only started this adventure in January of 2014.

I was the 149th member to join. They allow people to enter previous races prior to their joining date but I didnt have too many of them, Paglialunga said. I had the Mad Dash in Stratford, I did that Trumbull Christmas Village race, which is where I met the guys that got me hooked on this. Then I did the Bunny Boogie in Darien  and the rest is history.

Most of the road races throughout Connecticut of the 5K variety, although there are some 10K events, according to Paglialunga. What she truly enjoys about running these races are seeing the people that run.

There are families, husbands and wives, it absolutely boggles my mind, she said. You see everyone wearing the shirts. Its free to join, you just enter your race and youre off. Its great, youre running but youre also out exploring Connecticut.

There are farms out there and there are wineries and theres wonderful people everywhere, Paglialunga said. There are lakes and rivers and fantastic races all over the state. The people Ive met in the 169 group have just been tremendous. We have families doing it, thats a cool thing. Its been an absolutely amazing experience and Im so, so happy that I did this and Im even happier that Im almost done.

The running has not come without its price, however. In November of 2015, Paglialunga had knee surgery, not too long before a race in Morris.

Morris is considered an elusive town, Paglialunga said. They only have one race a year and its in January. I did the four-mile race on crutches. I didnt want to wait around for a year to do the race, so in a driving rain and freezing cold, I ran it. It took me forever, but I did it. It was brutal.

One of the 169ers ran it with me. They held the clocks for me. In order for it to count as a race, you have to be registered, you have to have a bib and the results have to be posted. I got in just under the wire, they held the clock for me, which was great. It took me 1:17. It was all arms, I couldnt put any weight on my leg. I think that was my most challenging race.

While Morris might have been the most challenging, there are others that standout for different reasons.

One of my favorites is the Chester race, Paglialunga said. Its called the 4 on the Fourth. You run four miles on July 4 and then they have a wonderful party downtown after the race. Thats been my most favorite town so far in the whole state. Its just an absolutely charming little town. After a lot of these races, theres always food and beer and thats always a good time.

Another was the overnight race in Montville.

Thats when the clocks go back, she said. You start the race at midnight and your time is going to be a negative time because they set the clocks back. Its called The Flashback 5K, youre running it in the middle of the night, its cold usually but that was very fun.

According to the debitconn website, there are 26 runners from Fairfield that are members of the 169 Towns group, including Chris Ahlberg (136 races), Kevin Ross (89), Monica Roche (79) and Vae Champagne (43).

I met Monica Roche a while back, shes in her 70s I believe, Paglialunga said. I saw her at the Great Pumpkin Classic in Trumbull on October 22 and shes still going. I still see her plugging along. What an inspiration. Amazing. Its unbelievable.

What Paglialunga does plan to do is help with a group called Achilles International - a group of disabled runners that work together with able-bodied runners

Its really cool, she said. Whether youre assisting a blind person or tethered to a wheelchair person or helping a child that might have one leg, and when you to a race and see these people, you look on their face when theyve finished, it brings tears to your eyes. I saw it and I said I have to do this. Its so rewarding.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu held a joint press conference after negotiations in Moscow today, according to the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"Turkey is one of Russia's key partners, we see an increase in our economic relations. And we intend to build up our military-technical cooperation," Lavrov said in his speech.

He noted the need for building up "practical cooperation" in the field of military-technical cooperation, as well as other areas - in the automotive, agriculture and banking sectors.

The ministers have also discussed Syria and the speedy completion of work to create the Syrian Constitutional Commission.

"We discussed international problems, focused on Syria, reviewed implementation of the agreements reached within the framework of the Astana format at the highest level, at the level of experts, reviewed implementation of the decisions by the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue that took place in Sochi within the framework of creating a constitutional commission, this work continues. We discussed the tasks of its prompt completion," Lavrov said.

According to the Russian diplomat, the joint meeting of Russian and Turkish foreign, defense ministers will be held in Moscow, where the sides will discuss the situation in Idlib, Syria.

"These issues [situation in Idlib] are being discussed between foreign ministries, they are being discussed between our military, intelligence services, the [Turkish] defense minister is now in Moscow. We have not finished this work today, we will have an additional meeting with the participation of all our colleagues," Sputnik cited Lavrov as saying.

The Russian foreign minister has called for minimizing the risks to the population of Idlib, saying that "the de-escalation zone was not created so that fighters could hide behind peaceful citizens."

Turkeys Foreign Minister has also commented on the Syria situation, saying that Ankara is interested in the elimination of terrorists in Idlib as they threaten the countrys national security.

At the same time, according to the Turkish diplomat, "while eliminating terrorists, it is unacceptable to harm the lives of civilians." "This can provoke a flow of refugees, drama, a human catastrophe," Cavusoglu said.

The Russian diplomat also said that Russian and Turkey will soon establish a mechanism for consultations on easing visa restrictions for certain categories of Turkish nationals.

"We have confirmed Russias readiness for talks on easing visa restrictions for certain categories of Turkish citizens, we will work on it in the near future. We have agreed to establish a mechanism for consultations in order to develop agreements on this matter," Lavrov said.

Cavusoglu also said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet soon at the Astana-format summit in Iran.

"Our presidents are expected to hold a meeting soon," he said, referring to the upcoming summit of the three guarantor countries of the Syrian ceasefire (Russia, Turkey and Iran). As foreign ministers, we must make preparations for such events," he noted.
Information from about 567,000 payment cards may have been exposed in a data breach at the Cheddars Scratch Kitchen restaurant chain between Nov. 3, 2017, and Jan. 2. As more data breaches occur, NAFCU  a leading advocate for national data security standards  continues its push for the adoption of data and cybersecurity standards for all entities that hold consumers information.

Cheddars is owned by Darden Restaurants Inc., which said affected restaurants span 23 states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The system has since been disabled and replaced.

NAFCU has been active with lawmakers since the massive 2013 Target data breach stressing the need for a legislative solution to reform the nations data security system. The association has also shared with Congress principles credit unions would like to see addressed in any comprehensive cyber and data security legislation.
STORY LINK Pound New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate Falls as Markets go Risk-On

Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Retreats following Rise in Risk-Appetite

Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Volatile following No-Deal Brexit Plans

New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Exchange Rates Rise following Trade Data

Pound New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate Forecast: GBP/NZD Volatile amid Lull in Data?

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Shortly after reaching its highest rate in a week overnight, the Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate fell by over half a cent today as risk-appetite was reinvigorated following a dip in the US Dollar (USD).Despite the pairing tipping in favour of the quote currency, GBP/NZD remains near week highs.The Pound (GBP) saw a broad sell-off yesterday after the UK government released no-deal Brexit advice to the public, which stoked fears about how the British economy may suffer should the UK fail to secure a trade deal with the EU.UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab attempted to alleviate fears by expressing optimism that a deal was within reach, but the no-deal papers madee for stressful reading nonetheless.As UK-EU negotiations reach a critical phase and information as to their actual progress remains scarce, investors will likely be wary of investing too heavily in GBP.The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) has been aided in the last few days by some strong domestic data, a trend continued overnight as the country released its latest trade data.New Zealands trade deficit was revealed to have decreased from N$-288m to N$-143, despite economists projecting that the deficit might widen.This, along with an increased market risk-appetite, has seen the Kiwi fare well against the Pound (GBP) during todays session.The Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate may fluctuate throughout next weeks session, as neither currency has much high impact data to look to for buoyance.The UKs first data of the week comes on Wednesday morning in the form of housing prices for August, which are forecast for a slight decrease, potentially prompting a dip in Sterling.British mortgage data will then follow on Thursday, which could likewise cause GBP to decline if the figures follow in the footsteps of todays mortgage figures.Finally, the UKs Gfk consumer confidence for the month is due next Friday, which is slated for a high impact and may prompt a sell-off in the Pound if the figure is reflective of no-deal Brexit fears.The New Zealand Dollar has an even quieter session, with the nations building permits only being released after midnight on Thursday.These are forecast for a sizeable decline, but an increase in the private capital expenditure for the second quarter, released at the same time, could counterbalance any losses.Otherwise, Sterling may continue to be buffeted by swirling Brexit uncertainty, while the Kiwi will likely be influenced by risk-sentiment and the state of the Australian Dollar (AUD).

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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The Russian government has assured companies that their tax burden will not change, the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said following a meeting with President Vladimir Putins aide Andrei Belousov and business representatives.

"We have informed the companies that the government has no plans to raise taxes on businesses. On the contrary, we have reassured them that the tax burden will not change compared to the burden already discussed with the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) and the firms and which has already been adopted legislatively. We will keep it unchanged," the Finance Minister said.

Alexander Shokhin, president of the RUIE said that the members of the meeting discussed steps to raise investment activity, but not a proposal to impose new taxes made by Belousov earlier in August.

"We have not discussed (the proposal) itself. We discussed a plan of joint efforts to encourage investment activity of the companies, first of all the way the companies implement priorities envisaged by May Order in their investment plans and intents," Prime cited him as saying.

Belousov suggested additional taxes of up to 500 billion rubles a year on some metals, petrochemical, and fertilizer producers. The Finance, Economic Development, and Industry and Trade ministries expressed their dissatisfaction with the project.

According to Shokhin, the members of the meeting decided to look for effective instruments and to list investment projects which will not hurt the companies. They also decided that the entrepreneurs should try to use the best available technologies, take into account environmental issues and digital transformation, and invest in regional infrastructure.

Siluanov said that the government does not plan to take away the companies additional revenue from the current weakening of the ruble, but will support their investment activity and propose new investment directions interesting for the firms.

Belousov said that he and Siluanov will report the results of the meeting to Putin later on Friday, adding that there was not enough time to discuss fresh Western sanctions at the meeting.
Books on the run from Somerset County libraries to just about anywhere
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov described actions of the United States as blackmail and intimidation, even of their own allies.

"It seems that imposing sanctions on any occasion is the only instrument of American foreign policy We see this in the example of Iran. This is blackmail and intimidation, even of their own allies," the diplomat said in an interview with International Affairs magazine.

He said that Moscow's response to Washingtons sanctions will not necessarily be mirrored.

"One hundred percent mirror sanctions are not necessary. We cannot compete with the US in the economic sphere, as we are in different weight categories. We deliberately maintain uncertainty about the question of how we will respond because if we start to announce something in advance, it will mean a weakening of our positions," the Deputy Foreign Minister stressed.

According to Ryabkov, the sanctions can be answered symmetrically or asymmetrically, Moscow can also expand its own lists of "sanctioned" politicians.
NORTH COVENTRY  Another man has been arrested for the murder of a teenager last September.

North Coventry Police announced on the departments website they have charged a fourth individual believed to be involved in the murder of 17-year-old David Doyle on Sept. 24, 2017.

Juan Jerry Ortiz-Encarnacion, 27, was recently charged in the murder after three others, identified as Ricardo Hov Rivera, Anaye Raggazino, 31, of Philadelphia and Jonathan Chicken Wing Malave, were charged earlier this year.

Police allege that Raggazino, a drug addict, decided that it would be an easy score to rob him, stealing drugs and money. She recruited three men to conduct the robbery  defendants Rivera, Malave and Ortiz-Encarnacion, police said.

On Sept. 24, Raggazino made contact with the residence in North Coventry. Raggazino, Rivera, Malave, and Ortiz-Encarnacion drove to the residence. Raggazinos role was to get into the residence and make sure the door was unlocked. Rivera and Ortiz Encarnacion would come in and conduct the armed robbery. Malave was the getaway driver, authorities said.

The victim, Doyle, was staying over at the residence that night. He was sleeping in the living room with three young children, ages 9, 8, and 3. Raggazino eventually got into the residence and left the door unlocked. Rivera and the other male entered, brandishing a gun and wearing masks.

The 17-year-old Doyle jumped up to try to protect the children, and got into a struggle with Rivera, who allegedly fired twice, hitting Doyle in the torso and sending the other shot through the ceiling, according to police.

All of the defendants fled.

Doyle was transported to Reading Hospital in West Reading, where he was pronounced dead.

All four individuals have been charged with criminal homicide, second- and third-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy, burglary, possession of an instrument of crime with intent and possession of a weapon.

Raggazino was additionally charged with recklessly endangering another person. Rivera was additionally charged with firearms not to be carried without a license, possession of firearms prohibited and manufacture, delivery or possession with intent.

Ortiz-Encarnacion is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 21 before District Judge Analisa Sondergaard. The case is being prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone and Assistant District Attorney Michelle Barrone.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Turkish colleague Hulusi Akar have discussed the issue of stabilizing the situation in Syria, as well as military and technical cooperation between both countries, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Today, Russian Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu has met with Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar and Director of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan, who came to Moscow on a working visit," the ministry said in a statement.

"The defense ministers continued substantive dialogue on the situation in Syria, which started a week ago in the course of a bilateral meeting in Moscow, during which the Russian side submitted proposals to its Turkish colleagues on regulating the situation in the northwestern part of the republic," TASS cited the ministry as saying.

In addition, the parties discussed current issues of regional security and further development of military and technical cooperation.

The previous meeting of Shoigu and Akar took place on August 17. They discussed the issues of regulating the humanitarian situation in Syria, including the return of the refugees, as well as the issues of bilateral cooperation between Russian and Turkish defense ministries.
Imran Khans maiden speech to Pakistan as the nations Prime Minister has been well received in the country with many suggesting that he hit all the right notes. His 70-minute long address was essentially a recapitulation of his campaign promises in which he promised to root out corruption and outlined his vision for a new Pakistan. He talked of his ambition to introduce an Islamic welfare system, reducing poverty and of the need for an austerity drive to reduce high debt levels.

Peace talks

He did some plainspeaking when he argued that we have formed a bad habit of living on loans and aid from other countries, underlining that a country must stand on its own feet.

Blaming the previous PML-N government for the economic crisis facing Pakistan, he charged that never in Pakistans history have we faced such difficult economic circumstances. Our debt burden is Rs 28 trillion. We havent been as indebted in our entire history as we have been in the last ten years.

Batting for peace, Imran said, We want peace, because Pakistan cannot prosper until the peace is restored.

Imran Khan hit all the right notes in his 70-minute address (Photo: Reuters)

Khan is promising to focus on improving Pakistans relationship with neighbouring countries and as well as the security situation in restive Balochistan Province and the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

According to Imran, Pakistan is ready to improve its ties with India and his government would like the leaders of the two sides to resolve all disputes, including the core issue of Kashmir, through talks.

If they take one step towards us, we will take two, but at least (we) need a start, he has suggested.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a congratulatory letter to Imran Khan also suggested that India remains committed to peaceful neighbourly ties with Pakistan. Though the letter by Modi did not talk about any new dialogue with Pakistan, he underlined that India was looking for constructive and meaningful engagement with Pakistan even as he underscored the need to work for a terror-free South Asia.

But the challenges in the India-Pakistan dialogue were brought to the fore by the response of Pakistans new foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to this letter who while taking of the need for a continued uninterrupted dialogue suggested whether we wish or not, Kashmir is an issue and both countries have recognised it. Between Indias focus on terrorism and Pakistans insistence on Kashmir, the dialogue seems to have a bleak future.

Domestic issues

Imran as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan has touched upon a whole host of primarily domestic issues which are key for bringing back from the brink. He seems well-intentioned in his desire to root out corruption and to bring the focus back on the socially and economically deprived sections of the Pakistani society.

But it is not readily evident if he the ability and/or inclination to touch the military-industrial complex which in many ways is at the heart of most of Pakistans problems. Imrans government has taken over an economy on the brink of a balance of payments crisis.

Its ballooning trade deficit and declining foreign reserves leave few good options for the new government. Pakistan is getting ready to seek a massive $12 billion bailout package from the IMF. The US has already warned the IMF that loans to Pakistan could not be given only to service Chinese debt.

Who will pay for CPEC? For Imran Khan, it will be a difficult task to navigate ties with China (Map: Reuters)

China ties

China, Pakistans all-weather friend, has tried to help but in a more measured way. Beijing is reportedly pumping in $2 billion to help Islamabad meet its immediate foreign currency requirements. The CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) was aimed at rebooting the flailing Pakistani economy by building railways, roads and ports as part of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and more than 20 projects worth over $27 billion are presently operational in Pakistan.

As China gets a push back on its BRI projects from countries such as Myanmar and Malaysia who want to avoid the debt trap, its need for Pakistan will only increase.

Naya Pakistan requires 'naya soch': Is the military of the country ready to embrace new thoughts?

For Imran Khan, it will be a difficult task to navigate ties with China so as to ensure that the CPEC projects do not end up becoming white elephants to be borne by Pakistani tax payers.

In the ultimate analysis, Imran Khan will remain a very insecure Prime Minister. He has been brought to his chair by Pakistans military industrial complex and it will be ready to pull the plug on him at the slightest sign of him becoming his own man.

The military has been source of most of Pakistans problems and it has given no indication that it has learnt any lessons from its past mistakes.

So, there is unlikely to be any change in the way Pakistani military operates with a skewed sense of its priorities. Imran Khan has argued that Naya Pakistan also requires a new soch.

There is no indication yet that any new soch is impacting the most of powerful of his nations institutions. It is a moot point if a naya Pakistan can emerge in its absence.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: Why Imran Khan didn't deliver a swearing-in address, he talked to the nation
Even as the brouhaha over the Saudi-Canada diplomatic spat plays out, Saudi Arabias public prosecutor is vigorously pursuing the death penalty for 29-year-old human rights activist Israa al-Ghomgham, along with four others. This unprecedented development, which may lead Israa to become the first woman activist to be beheaded, has enraged international human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Guess what we were doing outside the Saudi Embassy in London today, together with @AmnestyUK? Beeping for the freedom of women's rights defenders in #SaudiArabia, whose outrageous ongoing detention has reached 100 days. pic.twitter.com/350B6alljv  AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) August 23, 2018

Israa is charged with a non-violent crime  of protesting against the government and engaging in political activism by rendering moral support to rioters. As all five are under trial in a secret terrorism court for peaceful activism, rights groups have organised protests across the world, including outside the Saudi Embassy in London, and called upon the international community to pressure Saudi Arabia to not only call off their execution, but also put an end to death penalty.

Samar Badawi, about whose arrest the Canadian foreign minister tweeted, is the sister of Raif Badawi, another activist imprisoned by Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Reuters/file)

The charges appear to be politically motivated and unfair. Putting these young activists under the counter-terrorism court is an act of sheer folly, which not only endangers the life of dissenting voices in the country, but also raises questions about the credibility of institutions such as counter-terrorism courts, along with delegitimising the debate on national security.

These recent developments come in the backdrop of the Saudi-Canada row over the arbitrary arrest of two women human rights activists, Nassima al-Sadah and Samar Badawi, in August this year.

Significantly, on August 2, in a feminist foreign policy posture, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in a tweet called for the release of the activists. Samar is the sister of Raif Badawi, another human rights activist and blogger who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2012, received 1,000 lashes in 2015, and was slapped with a monetary penalty of USD 266,000 for violating Islamic values and propagating liberal thought.

Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawis sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi.  Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) August 2, 2018

He was arrested for being critical of the Saudi governments illiberal practices, as his criticism was seen as a breach of Islamic values.

This kind of synonymy, where criticism of the government is tantamount to denigration of the religion, is dangerous statecraft.

Following Freelands tweet, the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department sent another tweet, urging Saudi Arabia to immediately release the two women, as well as the other activists who have been incarcerated on similar charges.

Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and womens rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists.  Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) August 3, 2018

This sent ripples into the Kingdom, and it responded quickly. In an act profoundly inimical to diplomacy, it recalled its Ambassador to Canada, and at the same time restricted the Canadian envoy from returning. Alleging interference in domestic affairs and calling the tweet from the Embassy a break with diplomatic norms and protocol, the Kingdom imposed a ban on new trade between the two countries and suspended direct Saudi flights to Canada.

As diplomatic ties between the two countries face a serious setback, it is important to note that the recent concern expressed by the Canadian government on human rights issues in the Kingdom has a precedent.

In fact, the Trudeau government, soon after assuming power, pressurised the Saudis to release Raif Badawi in private meetings between then Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir. One such meeting was held on December 17, 2015, when Dion pursued the Saudis to grant clemency to Badawi, and discussed at length the state of human rights in the Kingdom.

Canada has been trying to secure the release of Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2012. (Photo: Reuters/file)

While the 2015 meeting was held backdoors, the 2018 criticism on social media is being seen as public shaming of the Kingdom, which led to the diplomatic fiasco.

However, Freelands decision to bring the issue in the public domain appears to be a result of diplomatic frustration over the failure of three years of backchannel diplomacy to secure freedom for Raif Badawi. Moreover, the Saudis continued with the practice of silencing liberal-dissenting voices within, resulting in the most recent arrest of Samar and al-Saddah.

Furthermore, a contextualisation of the recent developments in the larger debate on womens rights makes it clear that the facade of reform  which the Kingdom has been propagating under the leadership of Mohammad bin Salman  is falling apart.

Ripping through this smokescreen of reform propaganda, Freelands critique of the oppressive measures undertaken by the Saudi leadership is both timely and much needed for any kind of genuine reform  from within  to take place. Previously, in May this year, 10 women rights activists were labelled traitors and arrested for undermining Saudi Arabias national security and destroying social cohesion.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has positioned himself as the champion of 'reforms'. (Photo: Reuters/file)

While diplomacy will take its own course to restore ties between the two countries and revive the robust two-way trade as well as the multibillion-dollar military ties, what is of concern is the subject of womens rights in an aggressively repressive national security discourse, which finds dissenting female voices more threatening than the misadventures in regional wars  more specifically, the war in neighbouring Yemen, which has been dubbed the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history of war.

Amid the diplomatic row, the European Union joined the liberal bandwagon, asking Saudi Arabia to shed light on the arrest of women rights activists and for the detainees to be granted due process to defend themselves. However, Saudi Arabia paid no heed to this. The plank of liberalism that MBS had boarded in pursuing its reform agenda is, thus, without moral legitimacy, as it lacks the primary principle of justice.

In this backdrop of intensified crackdown on liberal voices in the country, there clearly emerges a war of ideas  where the Kingdoms formidable claim of being the guardian of the Islamic faith faces challenge from alternative progressive voices from within, prominently the female voices that continue to struggle against the male guardianship system practised in the country. As the concept of guardianship  both of faith and the female counterpart  strengthens in the Kingdom along with the regional battles for hegemony, are the promised reforms" just a chimera?

Also read: Hated at home, loved across the border: Why Pakistan is all praise for Navjot Singh Sidhu
The heads of Russia's top metal and chemical producers arrived at the Moscow headquarters of a business lobbying group today for talks with the government on a possible windfall tax on their firms.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has called for discussion of a proposal by Kremlin aide Andrei Belousov to raise more taxes from metals and mining companies that are earning what some see as windfall profits.

Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Industry Minister Denis Manturov also arrived at the talks being held at the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs's building, Reuters reported.
US State Department's spokesperson Heather Nauert said during briefing that Washington was against a possible purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems by its allies around the world, Sputnik reported.

Previously, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement on the sale of the S-400s to Ankara, causing a backlash from the US that threatened to impose sanctions against if Turkey proceeded with the agreement.

Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli then responded to Washington's threats by warning US against preventing the new F-35 jets from being shipped in accordance with their contract unless it abandons its agreement with Russia on the S-400 delivery, calling Washington's threats a "blackmail."
52 minutes ago

'Nothing else here:' Why it's so hard for world to quit coal

DHANBAD, India (AP)  Every day, Raju gets on his bicycle and unwillingly pedals the world a tiny bit closer to climate catastrophe. Every day, he straps half a dozen sacks of coal pilfered from mines  up to 200 kilograms, or 440 pounds  to the reinforced metal frame of his bike.

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Aggreko Plc supplies modular, mobile power, heating, cooling, and related services in North America, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates in three segments: Rental Solutions, Power Solutions Industrial, and Power Solutions Utility. It offers power generation products, including diesel generators, G3+ generators, and gas generators, as well as heavy fuel oil and hybrid power plants; cooling systems, such as cooling towers, chillers, heat exchangers, and air handlers and conditioners; and desiccant and refrigerated dehumidifiers to prevent metal corrosion, aid processes, preserve equipment on cold stacked offshore rigs, reduce mold and mildew growth during production processes, and dry out water-damaged buildings, as well as to reduce drying times for concrete, insulation, and fireproofing. The company also provides electric heaters, indirect fired heaters, and heat exchangers; and load banks that are used to test generators and turbines, uninterrupted power systems, electrical distribution panels and systems, data center power systems, combined heat and power systems, and simulation of heat loads. In addition, it offers battery storage solutions; and power to national utility customers. The company operates 182 sales and service centers. It serves the agriculture, construction, contracting, data centers, event power, facilities management, food and beverage, government, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, petrochemical and refining, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, shipping, telecommunications, and utility power sectors. Aggreko Plc was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Glasgow, the United Kingdom.

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By Betheny Lyke & Spencer Byrd

Traditional punitive discipline is about guilt, blame and punishment. But more schools are implementing restorative justice practices that focus on repairing harm by engaging everyone involved - including students who are acting out and others affected by the behavior, (peers, teachers, staff and parents). Restorative justice practices address the root cause of disruptive behavior with the goal of preventing it from happening again.

The concept is simple, but not easy - its much easier to suspend or expel students. Yet restorative justice is worth the extra effort. It helps students understand why theyre acting out, accept responsibility and make amends. It can short circuit the cycle of repeat suspensions and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline , offering the chance to succeed. Additionally, it gives bullied students a voice, supports an inclusive climate and creates a culture of school safety.

The Illinois Center for School Improvement, a project of the American Institutes for Research (Illinois CSI at AIR) helped Meridian Unit School District 101 in Mounds, Ill., improve its approach to discipline. According to school officials, out-of-school suspensions plummeted by two-thirds, reports of bullying decreased, and students have shared at an annual recognition luncheon event and during the school day over the last three years that they feel safer.

Heres how restorative justice practices have made a difference (students names have been changed for their privacy):



In second grade, Marcus thought other students were talking about him so he upended desks, threw books and was suspended for more than 60 days. He entered third-grade as the district began implementing restorative justice practices. His teacher, based on what shed learned, suggested Marcus give her a secret signal when he was frustrated, and then go to an area of the room with a three-side partition so he could work without being distracted. When he fought with another student in fourth grade, the two sat down to talk it out and Marcus now understands how his behavior was affecting others. After two years and many counseling sessions, Marcus is the leader of a program to read to first graders. This boy, once destined for alternative school, has become a role model.

Breaking another students nose normally would have meant automatic expulsion and a juvenile detention center sentence for Anthony. But administrators learned the high schooler was a first-time offender, had had a recent death in the family and was repeatedly provoked by the other students. Instead, Anthony served a three-day suspension and attended counseling and mediation sessions. The students are now getting along in the same classroom.

In third grade, Shonda often stood at her desk and screamed at her classmate, Theresa. It turned out Shonda was upset and embarrassed because Theresas mother gave Shonda her hand-me-down clothes and Theresa was telling other students. Both families established a safe place for Shonda to express herself, which helped Theresa realize she hurt Shondas feelings. They reached a truce and the classroom has been calmer.

Restorative justice isnt magic - there are certainly ongoing challenges. Students quickly grasp and support the concept, but adults sometimes have a harder time understanding it. Teachers often want problem children out of their classrooms so they can focus those who are behaving. Parents and others typically demand disruptive students be punished for their behavior.

At Meridian, were navigating those bumps in the road. Illinois CSI at AIR helps Meridian evaluate initiatives and assess whats working and what isnt addressing the root cause of disruptive behavior. with the goal of preventing it from happening again.

Heres what weve learned so far:



Spread the word: Restorative justice must be a vision of the entire community - going slowly to get everyones buy-in is important. We explain how and why restorative justice works to groups such as the Lions Club so that they in turn can sell it to the community, particularly parents.

Restorative justice must be a vision of the entire community - going slowly to get everyones buy-in is important. We explain how and why restorative justice works to groups such as the Lions Club so that they in turn can sell it to the community, particularly parents. Commit to training: Teachers should understand the concept and strategy behind restorative justice, as well as the techniques to defuse tense situations.

Teachers should understand the concept and strategy behind restorative justice, as well as the techniques to defuse tense situations. Provide support: Its vital to have restorative justice coordinators. Social workers also play a major role. All staff play a role in supporting one another.

Suspensions havent disappeared, but Meridian has minimized repeat offenses and created a safer climate as well as a culture of understanding. Restorative justice provides students the chance to be productive, instead of violent, repairing harm by engaging everyone involved. And that benefits everyone.

Betheny Lyke, Ed.D., is the executive director of the Illinois Center for School Improvement at the American Institutes for Research.

Spencer Byrd is the former superintendent of Meridian School District 101 (Ill.).


U.S. President Donald Trump criticized social media companies for silencing "millions of people" in what he called an act of censorship.

"Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people. Cant do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!" the U.S. president wrote on his Twitter page.

At the same time, Trump did not mention any of the companies by name.
Capita plc provides consulting, digital, and software products and services to clients in the private and public sectors. It operates through six divisions: Software, People Solutions, Customer Management, Government Services, Technology Solutions, and Specialist Services. The company offers application software and other solutions, such as automation, critical communication system, finance and payment, management information system, workforce management, and education software products and services; and people solutions, including human resources advisory and digitally enabled services comprising learning, resourcing, pensions, and HR outsourcing services. It also provides customer management services, such as customer engagement, remediation, complaints management, collections, and regulated services; and services related to central and local governments. In addition, the company offers technology solutions, including digital IT and connectivity, network, Trustmarque, intelligent communications, cloud, cyber security, robotic process automation, and workplace IT services; and specialist services, such as travel and event, enforcement, insurance, Evolvi, real estate and infrastructure, GL hearn, Page One, Tascor, Optima, and translation and interpreting services. Further, it provides business operations, customer experience, industry-specific, and education services, as well as various digital solutions. The company offers its services to financial services, pensions, retail, telecoms and media, transport, energy and utilities, central and local government, education, defense and security, health and welfare, and justice and emergency services sectors. It operates in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, the United States, India, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. The company was formerly known as The Capita Group plc and changed its name to Capita plc in January 2012. Capita plc was founded in 1984 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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QUALCOMM, Inc. engages in the development, design, and provision of digital telecommunications products and services. It operates through the following segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT), Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on technologies for the use in voice and data communications, networking, application processing, multimedia, and global positioning system products. The QTL segment grants licenses and provides rights to use portions of the firm's intellectual property portfolio. The QSI segment focuses on opening new or expanding opportunities for its technologies and supporting the design and introduction of new products and services for voice and data communications. The company was founded by Franklin P. Antonio, Adelia A. Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, Irwin Mark Jacobs, Andrew J. Viterbi, and Harvey P. White in July 1985 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

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According to police, an identified person carrying a gun attacked police officers next to the Cabodian embassy in Russia, near the Foreign Ministry building in central Moscow, Trend reported citing Sputnik.

According to the representative of the Russian Investigative Committee Yulia Ivanova, the attacker baselessly opened fire at the policemen, who were on duty, wounding one of the officers. The Interior Ministry stated, that the perpetrator survived and was detained and sent taken to a hospital, as he remains in critical condition.

"At 8:00 p.m. Moscow time an unknown person opened fire using unidentified weapons on two police officers of the regiment guarding the diplomatic facilities in Moscow; one of the policemen was wounded," a police source told the local media, adding that the investigators had started the probe into the incident.

The police told Sputnik that the wounded officer was shot in the leg, and his life is out of danger.
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.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.
The following companies are subsidiares of Archer-Daniels-Midland: ADM (Shanghai) Management Co. LTD, ADM (Thailand) Ltd, ADM Ag Holdings Ltd, ADM Agri-Industries Company, ADM Agriculture Limited, ADM Agro Iberica S. L. U., ADM Agro Indust Latur and Vizag Pvt Ltd, ADM Agro Industries India Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries KOTA and AKOLA Pvt. Ltd., ADM Agro SRL, ADM Agroinvestimentos LTDA, ADM Alliance Nutrition of Puerto Rico LLC, ADM Americas S de RL, ADM Andina Peru SRL, ADM Antwerp NV, ADM Arkady Ireland Limited, ADM Asia-Pacific Trading Pte. Ltd., ADM Australia Holdings I PTY Limited, ADM Bio Science And Technology (Tianjin) Co Ltd, ADM Bioproductos SA DE CV, ADM CZERNIN SA, ADM Caribbean Inc, ADM Chile Comercial LTDA, ADM Clinton Bioprocessing Inc, ADM DO Brasil LTDA, ADM Direct Polska SP. ZO.O, ADM Dominican Holdings Inc., ADM Dominicana SA, ADM Edible Bean Specialties Inc, ADM Europe HoldCo SL, ADM European Holdings LLC, ADM European Management Holding GMBH, ADM Export Co, ADM Food Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ADM France, ADM Germany GmbH, ADM Grain River System Inc., ADM Hamburg Aktiengesesllschaft, ADM Holding (Thailand) LTD, ADM Holdings LLC, ADM Hungary Agro Trading LLC, ADM Industries Centers Ltd, ADM International Holdings Inc, ADM International SARL, ADM Interoceanic LTD, ADM Investments LTD, ADM Investor Services Inc, ADM Investor Services International LTD, ADM Ireland Receivables Company Limited, ADM Israel, ADM Japan Ltd, ADM MALBORK SA, ADM Mainz GMBH, ADM Medsofts Sarl, ADM Mexico Inc, ADM Mexico SA DE CV, ADM Milling Co, ADM Milling LTD, ADM New Zealand Limited, ADM Olomouc S.R.O., ADM Paraguay SRL, ADM Protexin Limited, ADM Pura Limited, ADM Receivables LLC, ADM Rice Inc, ADM Ringaskiddy Unlimited Company, ADM Romania Logistics SRL, ADM Romania Trading SRL, ADM Specialty Ingredients - Europe BV, ADM Spyck GMBH, ADM Szamotuly SP Z O.O, ADM Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., ADM Trading Co, ADM Transportation Company, ADM Trucking Inc, ADM Vietnam CO. LTD, ADM WILD Europe GmbH and Co. KG, ADM WILD Ingredients GmbH, ADM WILD Nauen GmbH, ADM WILD Valencia S.A., ADM Wild Netherlands BV, ADM Worldwide Holdings LP, ADMIS Holding Co Inc., ADMIS Hong Kong LTD, ADMIS Singapore Pte Limited, AOR, AT Holdings II Company, Agri Port Services Investments Ltd., Agri Port Services LLC, Agricolas Madagascar SARLU, Agrinational Insurance Co, Agriserve, Agrograin LTD, Alfrebro LLC, Alfred C Toepfer International Netherlands BV, Alimenta USA, American River Transportation Company LLC, Ameriseed, Amylum Bulgaria EAD, Amylum Nisasta Sanayi Ve Ticarek Anonim Sirketi, Archer Daniels Midland (UK) Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Asia Pacific Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Erith LTD, Archer Daniels Midland Europe BV, Archer Daniels Midland Europoort BV, Archer Daniels Midland Nederland BV, Archer Daniels Midland Singapore PTE LTD, Arinos Unlimited, Aston Foods & Food Ingredients, Balanceados Nova SA Balnova, Barbados Mills Limited, Bela Vista Bio Etanol Participacoes LTDA, Bern Aqua, BioPolis SL, Biopolis, Campa Sued GmbH & Co KG, Cattleman's Choice Loomix LLC, Chamtor, Ci ADM Colombia Ltda., Controladora ADM Sa De Cv, Crosswind Petfoods Inc., Daavision BV, Eaststarch, Eatem Corporation, Eatem Foods, Elstar Oils, English River Pellets Inc., Epicore Bionetworks INC, Epicore Networks (USA) INC, Erich Ziegler GmbH, Evialis France, Fasco Mills Co., Filozoo SRL, Florida Chemical, Florida Chemical Company LLC, GP Blanching Inc., Global Cocoa Holdings LTD, Golden Peanut Company LLC, Golden Peanut and Tree Nut Seed SA (PTY) LTD, Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts SA, Group Lysac, Guyomarc'h - VCN Company Limited, Guyomarc'h Vietnam CO LTD, HFR Shipping Company Ltd, HRA Shipping Company Ltd, HTI Shipping Company Ltd, Harvest Innovations, Hilltop Grain and Feed, Holding P and A Asia Company Limited, Hubei Meiweiyuan Biotechnology, Ilitchevskiy Maslo Extractionniy Zavod (IMEZ), Invivo NSA Asia PTE LTD, Invivo NSA Philippines Inc, Jamaica Flour Mills Limited, Julius Meijer-Alpharma BV, LLC ADM Ukraine, Liquid Feed Commodities, Malta Industries SA de CV, Malta-Texo De Mexico SA de CV, Master Mix of Trinidad LTD, Medsofts Investment Co, Medsofts L.L.C., Medsofts Trading Co, Mepla Comercio e Navegacao Ltda, NRG Inc, Naviera Chaco SRL, Neovia, Neovia Latina SL, Neovia Nutricao E Saude Animal LTDA, North Star Shipping S.R.L., P and A Marketing SA, PJSC ADM Illichivsk, PT Wirifa Sakti, Pancosma (Shanghai) Feed Additives CO LTD, Pancosma France SAS, Pancosma SA, Premiere Agri Technologies of Mexico Inc, Pura Foods LTD, Rodelle Inc., Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann, Sermix, Setna Nutricion SA, Societe Industrielle Des Oleagineux, Southern Cellulose Products Inc, Soy Investors LLC, Specialty Commodities, Specialty Commodities LLC, Sul Mineira Alimentos LTDA, SzSzV Kft, Toepfer International, Toepfer International Trading (Shanghai) Co. 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.
Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions

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Unum Group is engaged in providing financial protection benefits. It operates through the following segments: Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, Closed Block and Corporate. The Unum US segment comprises of group long-term and short-term disability insurance, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business. The Unum International segment engages in the operations of UK business, which includes insurance for group long-term disability, group life, and supplemental lines of business that include dental, individual disability, and critical illness products; Poland business primarily includes insurance for individual and group life with accident and health riders. The Colonial Life segment includes insurance for accident, sickness, disability products, life products, and cancer and critical illness products. The Closed Block segment consists of individual disability, group and individual long-term care, and other insurance products no longer actively marketed. The Corporate segment refers to investment income on corporate assets and other corporate income and expenses not allocated to a line of business; and interest

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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

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The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: @Credentials Inc., ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bahamas) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Global Benefits (UK) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits Limited (DIFC UAE), Aetna Global Holdings Limited, Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Inc., Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Hong Kong) Limite, Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Inc., Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Korea Ltd., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Multi-Strategy 1099 Fund LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Continental Insurance Company, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., American Health Holding Inc., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L. (R.C.S. Luxembourg), CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Claims Administration Corp., Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care Workers Compensation Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Rehabilitation Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, Digital eHealth LLC, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.
The following companies are subsidiares of Carnival Co. &: 1972 Productions Inc., 6348 Equipment LLC, A.C.N. 098 290 834 Pty. Ltd., A.J. Juneau Dock LLC, AIDA Kundencenter GmbH, Adventure Island Ltd., Air-Sea Holiday GmbH, Alaska Hotel Properties LLC, Barcelona Cruise Terminal SLU, Bay Island Cruise Port S.A., Belize Cruise Terminal Limited, CC U.S. Ventures Inc., CCL Gifts LLC, CSSC Carnival Italy Cruise Investment S.r.L, Carnival (UK) Limited, Carnival Bahamas FC Limited, Carnival Bahamas Holdings Limited, Carnival Corporation & plc Asia Pte. Ltd., Carnival Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Carnival Corporation Korea Ltd., Carnival Corporation Ports Group Japan KK, Carnival Finance LLC, Carnival Grand Bahama Investment Limited, Carnival Investments Limited, Carnival Japan Inc., Carnival License Holdings Limited, Carnival Maritime GmbH, Carnival North America LLC, Carnival Port Holdings Limited, Carnival Ports Inc., Carnival Support Services India Private Limited, Carnival Technical Services (UK) Limited, Carnival Technical Services Finland Limited, Carnival Technical Services GmbH, Carnival Technical Services Inc., Carnival Vanuatu Limited, Costa Crociere PTE Ltd., Costa Crociere S.p.A., Costa Cruceros S.A., Costa Cruise Lines Inc., Costa Cruise Lines UK Limited, Costa Cruises Shipping Services (Shanghai) Company Limited, Costa Cruises Travel Agency (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Costa Cruzeiros Agencia Maritima e Turismo Ltda., Costa Group Digital & Strategic Services GmbH, Costa International B.V., Costa Kreuzfahrten GmbH, Cozumel Cruise Terminal S.A. de C.V., Creative Travel Lab Ltd., Cruise Ships Catering & Services International N.V., Cruise Terminal Services S.A. de C.V., Cruiseport Curacao C.V., D.R. Cruise Port Ltd., Ecospray Technologies S.r.L., F.P.M. SAS, F.P.P. SAS, Fleet Maritime Services (Bermuda) Limited, Fleet Maritime Services Holdings (Bermuda) Limited, Fleet Maritime Services International Limited, GXI LLC, Gibs Inc., Global Experience Innovators Inc., Global Fine Arts Inc., Global Shipping Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Grand Cruise Shipping Unipessoal LdA, Grand Turk Cruise Center Ltd., HAL Antillen N.V., HAL Beheer B.V., HAL Cruises Limited, HAL Maritime Ltd., HAL Nederland N.V., HAL Properties Limited, HAL Services B.V., HSE Hamburg School of Entertainment GmbH, Holding Division Iberocruceros SLU, Holland America Line Inc., Holland America Line N.V., Holland America Line Paymaster of Washington LLC, Holland America Line U.S.A. Inc., Ibero Cruzeiros Ltda., Iberocruceros SLU, Information Assistance Corporation, International Cruise Services S.A. de C.V., International Leisure Travel Inc., International Maritime Recruitment Agency S.A. de C.V., Milestone N.V., Navitrans S.R.L., Ocean Bahamas Innovation Ltd., Ocean Medallion Fulfillment Ltd., Operadora Catalina S.r.L., P&O Princess American Holdings, P&O Princess Cruises International Limited, P&O Princess Cruises Pension Trustee Limited, P&O Properties (California) Inc., P&O Travel Limited, Prestige Cruises Management S.A.M., Prestige Cruises N.V., Princess Bermuda Holdings Ltd., Princess Cays Ltd., Princess Cruise Corporation Inc., Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., Princess Cruises and Tours Inc., Princess U.S. Holdings Inc., RCT Maintenance & Related Services S.A., RCT Pilots & Related Services S.A., RCT Security & Related Services S.A., Roatan Cruise Terminal S.A. de C.V., Royal Hyway Tours Inc., Santa Cruz Terminal S.L., SeaVacations Limited, SeaVacations UK Limited, Seabourn Cruise Line Limited, Shanghai Coast Cruise Consulting Co. Lda, Ship Care (Bahamas) Limited, Sitmar Cruises Inc., Spanish Cruise Services N.V., Sunshine Shipping Corporation Ltd., T&T International Inc., Tour Alaska LLC, Transnational Services Corporation, Trident Insurance Company Ltd., Westmark Hotels Inc., Westmark Hotels of Canada Ltd., Westours Motor Coaches LLC, Wind Surf Limited, and World Leading Cruise Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd..
The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd..
Cellcom Israel Ltd. operates and maintains a cellular mobile telephone system in Israel. It operates in two segments, Cellular and Fixed-line. The company offers cellular communications services, such as basic cellular telephony services comprising voice mail, cellular fax, call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification, and conference calling; text and multimedia messaging; and cellular content and data services. It also provides international roaming services; value-added services, such as short message and multimedia messaging; cloud backup; and content services, including Cellcom Volume music, Cellcom TV, and other applications. In addition, the company sells handsets, tablets, streamers, smart watches, and home security cameras, as well as offers repair services. Further, it provides internet infrastructure and connectivity services, over-the-top TV services, international long distance services, and landline telephony and transmission services; transmission and data services through fiber-optic infrastructure and complementary microwave links; IP switchboard services; and cloud services and data protection products, as well as operates and manages business telecommunication systems to selected business customers and telecommunications operators. As of December 31, 2019, the company had approximately 10.6 million cellular subscribers. Cellcom Israel Ltd. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Netanya, Israel.

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Wall Street analysts have given Invesco California AMT-Free Municipal 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 Invesco California AMT-Free Municipal Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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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..
DTE Energy Co. operates as a diversified energy company, which engages in the provision of electricity and natural gas sales, distribution and storage services. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, Non-Utility Operations, and Corporate & Other. The Electric segment engages in the generation, purchase, distribution and sale of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers in south-eastern Michigan. The Gas segment engages in the purchase, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout Michigan and the sale of storage and transportation capacity. The Non-Utility Operations segment engages in gas storage and pipelines, power and industrial projects, and energy trading. The Corporate & Other includes various holding company activities, holds certain non-utility debt, and holds energy-related investments. The company was founded in January 1995 and is headquartered in Detroit, MI.

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Wall Street analysts have given Invesco S&P 500 Value with Momentum 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 Invesco S&P 500 Value with Momentum ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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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.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.

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Vivint Solar, Inc. provides distributed solar energy primarily to residential customers in the United States. It owns and installs solar energy systems through long-term customer contracts. The company also sells photovoltaic installation products, as well as solar renewable energy certificates. As of December 31, 2019, it had an aggregate capacity of 1,294.0 megawatts covering approximately 188,300 homes. The company was formerly known as V Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Vivint Solar, Inc. in April 2014. Vivint Solar, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah.

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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..
Avient Corp. engages in the business of thermoplastic compounds. It specializes in polymer materials, services, and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, plastic sheet and packaging solutions and polymer distribution. The firm is also involved in the development and manufacturing of performance enhancing additives, liquid colorants, fluoropolymers and silicone colorants. It operates through the following segments: Color, Additives and Inks; Specialty Engineered Materials; and Distribution. The Color, Additives and Inks segment provides custom color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics, dispersions for thermosets, speciality inks, plasticols, and vinyl slush molding solutions. The Specialty Engineered Materials segment makes polymer formulations, services, and solutions for designers, assemblers, and processors of thermoplastic materials. The Distribution segment distributes engineering and commodity grade resins, including PolyOne-produced solutions, principally to the North American, Central American, and Asian markets. The firm's products include polymer distribution, screen printing inks, and thermoplastic elastomers. Its services include IQ design and color services. The company was founded on August 31, 2000 and is headquartered in Avon Lake, OH.

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Wall Street analysts have given iShares Emerging Markets High Yield 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 Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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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..
JPJ Group plc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an online gaming company in Japan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Jackpotjoy and Vera&John segments. It offers bingo, slots, casino, and other games through Jackpotjoy, Starspins, Botemania, Vera&John, Costa Bingo, InterCasino, Solid Gaming, and other brands. The company was formerly known as Jackpotjoy plc and changed its name to JPJ Group plc in June 2018. Jackpotjoy plc was incorporated in 2016 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance. It firm operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Wealth & Investment Management, and Other. The Community Banking segment offers complete line of diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses including checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and automobile, student, and small business lending. The Wholesale Banking segment provides financial solutions to businesses across the United States and globally. The Wealth and Investment Management segment includes personalized wealth management, investment and retirement products and services to clients across U.S. based businesses. The Other segment refers to the products of WIM customers served through community banking distribution channels. The company was founded by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo on March 18, 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

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The following companies are subsidiares of BlackRock: Acero Cooperatief U.A., Acero Holdings I B.V., Amethyst Merger Sub LLC, AnalytX Hosting LLC, AnalytX LLC, AnalytX Software LLC, Aperio, Aperio, Aquila Heywood, Asia-Pacific Private Credit Opportunities Fund I (GenPar) Ltd., BAA Holdings LLC, BFM Holdco LLC, BLK (Gallatin) Holdings LLC, BLK SMI LLC, BR Acquisition Mexico S.A. de C.V., BR Jersey International Holdings L.P., Beijing eFront Software Company Limited, BlackRock (Barbados) Finco 1 SRL, BlackRock (Channel Islands) Limited, BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A., BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., BlackRock (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco II Pte. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco Pte. Limited, BlackRock (Singapore) Limited, BlackRock AP Investment Holdco LLC, BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, BlackRock Advisors LLC, BlackRock Advisors Singapore Pte. Limited, BlackRock Alternative Advisors GP Holdings LLC, BlackRock Alternatives Management LLC, BlackRock Argentina Asesorias Ltda., BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, BlackRock Asset Management International Inc., BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG, BlackRock Asset Management UK Limited, BlackRock Australia Holdco Pty. Ltd., BlackRock Brasil Gestora de Investimentos Ltda., BlackRock Cal 1 Investor LLC, BlackRock Canada Holdings LP, BlackRock Canada Holdings ULC, BlackRock Capital Holdings Inc., BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors LLC, BlackRock Capital Management Inc., BlackRock Cayco Limited, BlackRock Cayman 1 LP, BlackRock Cayman Capital Holdings Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 3 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay IV Limited, BlackRock Cayman Z Limited, BlackRock Channel Islands Holdco Limited, BlackRock Chile Asesorias Limitada, BlackRock Colombia Holdco LLC, BlackRock Colombia Infraestructura S.A.S., BlackRock Colombia SAS, BlackRock Company Secretarial Services (UK) Limited, BlackRock Corporation US Inc., BlackRock Delaware Holdings Inc., BlackRock Enterprise Management Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Europe Development Management Limited, BlackRock Execution Services, BlackRock Finance Europe Limited, BlackRock Financial Management Inc., BlackRock Finco LLC, BlackRock Finco UK Ltd., BlackRock First Partner Limited, BlackRock France SAS, BlackRock Fund Advisors, BlackRock Fund Management Company S.A., BlackRock Fund Managers Limited, BlackRock Funding International Ltd., BlackRock Funds Services Group LLC, BlackRock Germany GmBH, BlackRock Group Limited, BlackRock HK Holdco Limited, BlackRock Holdco 2 Inc., BlackRock Holdco 3 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 4 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 5 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 6 LLC, BlackRock Hungary Kft, BlackRock Index Services LLC, BlackRock Infrastructure Management I LLC, BlackRock Institutional Services Inc., BlackRock Institutional Trust Company National Association, BlackRock International Holdings Inc., BlackRock International Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Dublin) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Korea) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Investment Management (Taiwan) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management Ireland Holdings Limited, BlackRock Investment Management LLC, BlackRock Investments LLC, BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd., BlackRock Japan Holdings GK, BlackRock Jersey Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Latin America Holdco LLC, BlackRock Latin American Holdings B.V., BlackRock Life Limited, BlackRock Lux Finco S.a r.l., BlackRock Luxembourg Holdco S.a r.l., BlackRock Mexican Holdco B.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura I S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager S de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Operadora S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, BlackRock Mortgage Ventures LLC, BlackRock Niagara LLC, BlackRock Operations (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., BlackRock Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock PC Holdings LLC, BlackRock Pensions Limited, BlackRock Peru Asesorias S.A., BlackRock Property Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Property France S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Lux S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., BlackRock Realty Advisors Inc., BlackRock Saudi Arabia, BlackRock Scale Holdings LLC, BlackRock Services India Private Limited, BlackRock Singapore III Pte. Ltd., BlackRock Slovakia s.r.o., BlackRock Strategic Investors GP LLC, BlackRock Strategic Investors LP, BlackRock Trident Holding Company Limited, BlackRock UK (Alpha) Limited, BlackRock UK (Beta) Limited, BlackRock UK (Delta) LP, BlackRock UK (Gamma) Limited, BlackRock UK (Sigma) Limited, BlackRock UK 2 LLP, BlackRock UK 3 LLP, BlackRock UK 4 LLP, BlackRock UK A LLP, BlackRock UK Holdco 2 Limited, BlackRock UK Holdco Limited, Blackhawk Investment Holding LLC, CIE Automotive, Cachematrix Holdings, Cachematrix Holdings LLC, Cachematrix Integrations Private Limited, Cachematrix Software Solutions LLC, Cachematrix UK Limited, FutureAdvisor Inc., Glass Mountain Pipeline, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Advisors LLC, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure II Advisors LLC, Grosvenor Alternate Partner Limited, Grosvenor Ventures Limited, HLX Financial Holdings LLC, MGPA (Bermuda) Limited, MGPA (Exec) Limited, MGPA Limited, Mercury Carry Company Ltd., Mercury Private Equity MUST 3 (Jersey) Limited, Object Capital Technology Inc., Phoenix Acquisition B.V., Phoenix Acquisitions Holdings LLC, Portfolio Administration & Management Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios Integrales BlackRock Mexico S.A. de C.V., SVOF/MM LLC, St. Albans House Nominees (Jersey) Ltd., State Street Research & Management, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tlali Acero S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Trident Merger LLC, eFront, eFront, eFront (Jersey) Limited, eFront DMLT Holdings LLC, eFront DMLT Holdings S.R.L, eFront DR S.R.L, eFront Do Brasil Solucoes Informaticas Para Sistemas Financeiros Ltda., eFront FZ-LLC, eFront Financial Solutions Inc., eFront GmbH, eFront Holding II SAS, eFront Holdings SAS, eFront Hong Kong Limited, eFront II SAS, eFront Kabushiki Kaisha, eFront Ltd, eFront SAS, eFront Singapore Pte. Ltd, eFront Software Luxembourg S.a r.l., eFront Solutions Financeieres Inc., eFront d.o.o. Beograd, iShares (DE) I Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC.
The following companies are subsidiares of BorgWarner: B80 Italia S.r.l., BERU AG, BW El Salto S.A. De C.V., BWA Receivables Corporation, BWA Turbo Systems Holding LLC, Borg Warner Europe Holdings (PDS) B. V., BorgWarner (China) Investment Co. Ltd., BorgWarner (Reman) Holdings L.L.C., BorgWarner (Thailand) Limited, BorgWarner Aftermarket Europe GmbH, BorgWarner Alternators Inc., BorgWarner Arden LLC, BorgWarner Arnstadt RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Asia Inc., BorgWarner Automotive Asia Limited, BorgWarner Automotive Components (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Wuhan) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Brasil Ltda., BorgWarner Chungju Co. LLC, BorgWarner Comercial e Distribuidora de Pecas para Veiculos Automotores Ltda., BorgWarner Comercializadora PDS S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner Componentes PDS S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner Cooling Systems (India) Private Limited, BorgWarner Cooling Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Diversified Transmission Products Services Inc., BorgWarner Drivetrain Engineering GmbH, BorgWarner Drivetrain Management Services de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Drivetrain de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Electric Motors L.L.C., BorgWarner Emissions Systems (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Emissions Systems (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Emissions Systems Holding LLC, BorgWarner Emissions Systems India Private Limited, BorgWarner Emissions Systems LLC, BorgWarner Emissions Systems Portugal Unipessoal LDA, BorgWarner Emissions Systems Spain S.L.U., BorgWarner Emissions Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner Emissions Talegaon Private Limited, BorgWarner Engineering Ketsch RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Engineering Kibo RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Esslingen GmbH, BorgWarner Europe GmbH, BorgWarner Europe Holding S.a. r. l., BorgWarner Gateshead Limited, BorgWarner Germany Holding GmbH, BorgWarner Germany Holding Services GmbH, BorgWarner Germany REH GmbH, BorgWarner Germany REM GmbH, BorgWarner Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, BorgWarner Global Holding S.a. r. l., BorgWarner Heidelberg I RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Heidelberg II RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Heidelberg REH GmbH, BorgWarner Heidelberg REM GmbH, BorgWarner Holding Inc., BorgWarner Holdings Limited, BorgWarner Hungary Kft., BorgWarner IT Services Europe GmbH, BorgWarner India Holdings Inc., BorgWarner Investment Holding Inc., BorgWarner Ithaca LLC, BorgWarner Ketsch Plant RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Ketsch REH GmbH, BorgWarner Ketsch REM GmbH, BorgWarner Kft., BorgWarner Kibo RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Korea Holdings (PDS) B.V., BorgWarner Korea Holdings LLC, BorgWarner Korea LLC, BorgWarner Limited, BorgWarner Ludwigsburg GmbH, BorgWarner Ludwigsburg RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Markdorf Plant RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Markdorf REH GmbH, BorgWarner Markdorf REM GmbH, BorgWarner Massachusetts Inc., BorgWarner Mauritius Holdings Ltd., BorgWarner Mexico Holding BV, BorgWarner Mexico Holdings II LLC, BorgWarner Mexico Holdings LLC, BorgWarner Morse Systems India Private Limited, BorgWarner Morse Systems Italy S.r.l., BorgWarner Morse Systems Japan K.K., BorgWarner Morse Systems Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Muggendorf RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner NW Inc., BorgWarner Netherlands Holdings (PDS) B.V., BorgWarner Oroszlany Kft., BorgWarner PDS (Anderson) L.L.C., BorgWarner PDS (Changnyeong) LLC, BorgWarner PDS (Indiana) Inc., BorgWarner PDS (Livonia) Inc., BorgWarner PDS (Ochang) LLC, BorgWarner PDS (Thailand) Limited, BorgWarner PDS (USA) Inc., BorgWarner PDS Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda., BorgWarner PDS Irapuato S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner PDS Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner PDS Technologies L.L.C., BorgWarner Poland Sp. z o.o., BorgWarner Pyongtaek LLC, BorgWarner Romeo Power LLC, BorgWarner Rzeszow Sp. z o.o., BorgWarner Shenglong (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner South Asia LLC, BorgWarner Southborough Inc., BorgWarner Spain Holding S.L.U, BorgWarner Sweden AB, BorgWarner Systems Lugo S.r.l., BorgWarner Thermal Systems Inc., BorgWarner Thermal Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner TorqTransfer Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Tralee Ltd., BorgWarner Transmission Products LLC, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Arnstadt GmbH, BorgWarner Transmission Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Korea LLC, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Tulle S.A.S., BorgWarner Trustees Limited, BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems France S.A.S., BorgWarner Turbo Systems Engineering GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems LLC, BorgWarner Turbo Systems Worldwide Headquarters GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner UK Financing Ltd., BorgWarner UK Holding and Services Ltd., BorgWarner US Holding LLC, BorgWarner USA Industries L.L.C., BorgWarner United Transmission Systems Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Waterloo Inc., BorgWarner Wrexham Limited, Cascadia Motion LLC, Creon Insurance Agency Limited, Delphi Technologies, Dytech ENSA, Gustav Wahler GmbH u. Co. KG, Haldex, Kuhlman LLC, Kysor Europe Limited, M. & M. Knopf Auto Parts L.L.C., NSK-Warner (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., NSK-Warner K.K., NSK-Warner Mexico S.A. de C.V, NSK-Warner U.S.A. Inc., New PDS Corp., Old Remco Holdings L.L.C., Old Remco International Holdings L.L.C., Remy International, SeohanWarner Turbo Systems LLC, Sevcon, Sevcon New Energy Technology (Hubei) Company Limited, and Transmission Systems AutoForm LLC.
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.

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Phoenix Group Holdings plc engages in the long-term savings and retirement busines in Europe. The company operates through UK Heritage, UK Open, Europe, ReAssure, and Management Services segments. It engages in the management of insurance policies, which include active and closed life insurance products. The company also provides workplace pensions, and customer savings and investments products under the Standard Life brand. Its retirement solutions business includes vesting annuities and bulk purchase annuity business, where it acquires annuities and deliver the financial stability for secure pensions. The company also offers a range of financial products for the over 50s market under the SunLife brand, which cover life cover, equity release, funeral plans, and home insurance. Phoenix Group Holdings plc has a strategic partnership with Standard Life Aberdeen plc. The company was formerly known as Pearl Group and changed its name to Phoenix Group Holdings plc in March 2010. Phoenix Group Holdings plc was founded in 1782 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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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 Europe 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 Europe 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 Materials 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 Materials ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.
SemGroup Corporation provides gathering, transportation, storage, distribution, marketing, and other midstream services for producers, refiners of petroleum products, and other market participants. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Liquids, U.S. Gas, and Canada. The U.S. Liquids segment operates crude oil pipelines, truck transportation, storage, terminals, and marketing businesses; stores, blends, and transports refinery products and refinery feedstock through pipeline, barge, rail, truck, and ship; and operates a residual fuel oil storage terminal in the U.S. Gulf Coast. This segment has 18.2 million barrels of storage capacity on the Houston Ship Channel; and 7.6 million barrels of storage capacity at the Cushing Interchange. It also operates a 460-mile crude oil gathering and transportation pipeline system in Kansas and northern Oklahoma; 75-mile crude oil gathering pipeline system that transports crude oil from production facilities in the DJ Basin to the pipeline owned by White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.; 2 parallel 527-mile pipelines that transports crude oil from Platteville, Colorado to Cushing, Oklahoma; 3 pipelines with an aggregate of 106 miles of pipe; 30-lane crude oil truck unloading facility in Platteville, Colorado; and crude oil trucking fleet of approximately 245 transport trucks and 235 trailers. The U.S. Gas segment provides natural gas gathering, processing, and marketing services. It operates 842 miles of gathering lines in Oklahoma; and a 53-mile high pressure gathering pipeline located in the STACK play. The Canada segment owns and operates natural gas processing and gathering facilities with approximately 530 miles of natural gas gathering and transportation pipelines in Alberta, Canada. SemGroup Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Wall Street analysts have given Enel Americas 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 Enel Americas wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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South32 Limited operates as a diversified metals and mining company primarily in Australia, Southern Africa, North America, and South America. The company has a portfolio of assets producing alumina, aluminum, bauxite, energy and metallurgical coal, manganese ore and alloy, ferronickel, silver, lead, and zinc. It also exports its products. South32 Limited has a strategic alliance agreement with AusQuest Limited for exploration opportunity under at its Morrisey nickel-copper project. The company was formerly known as BHP Coal Holdings Pty Limited and changed its name to South32 Limited in March 2015. South32 Limited was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Perth, Australia.

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Square, Inc. provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions. The company also provides Square Point of Sale software; Cash App, which provides access to the financial system, allowing customers to electronically send, store, and spend money; Caviar, a food ordering platform for restaurants to offer food ordering, pickup and delivery, to their customers; and Square Capital that facilitates loans to sellers based on real-time payment and point-of-sale data. Square, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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A North Carolina teacher has been suspended with pay after Facebook videos of her pole dancing in her home leaked to officials in her school district.

Kandice Mason, a 6th grade teacher in Hoke County public schools who moonlights as a pole-dancing fitness instructor, was suspended on Aug. 16 due to violations of the countys social media policy and the state department of educations ethics policy for educators, said Donna Thomas, a spokeswoman for the district.

The district policy states that as role models for students, employees are responsible for their public conduct even when they are not performing their job duties as employees of the school system. The policy also prohibits posting indecent photos or graphics. Thomas would not confirm which of Masons posts violated the policy.

Mason, a veteran teacher who would have started her first year in Hoke County this month, said dance is her outlet for self-expression and a good form of exercise. Ive never felt ashamed of pole dancing, she told WTVD-TV, an ABC affiliate in North Carolina . Its just an art for me. I just dont see it as negative. (Pole dancing has gained more mainstream appeal in recent years, as fitness studios have started to offer classesthe sport is even making a bid for the Olympics .)

Masons story has sparked outrage from some teachers, who say that educators shouldnt be penalized for legal activities that they participate in off the clock, and that private activity on social media doesnt have any bearing on job performance.

But as years of similar incidents have shown, teachers have faced professional consequences for posting about their personal lives on social mediaeven when their activity doesnt have anything to do with their school or their students.

A teacher in Florida was asked to resign in 2013 after her principal saw photos online of her posing in a bikini . And in 2011, a teacher from Winder, Ga., was asked to resign after posting pictures of herself drinking beer on vacation in Europe .

Constitutional Protections

So, what rights do teachers have when it comes to their online profiles?

When teachers are posting on social media in their capacity as a private citizen, they have First Amendment protection for any speech on a matter of public concern, said Mary-Rose Papandrea, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law who studies the First Amendment rights of public employees.

That means that if teachers want to post about their opinions on political debates or other public issues on Twitter or Facebook, their school districts arent legally allowed to fire them for expressing their views.

See also: Using Social Media Wisely in Education

Theres one exception to this rule: Even speech on issues of public concern can be subject to whats called a balancing test. If the views expressed in a teachers social media posts could interfere with her ability to do her job, or cause harm to students or staff, they might not be constitutionally protected.

A good example, said Papandrea, is an incident from New Jersey where a high school teachers license was suspended after she posted anti-gay comments to her personal Facebook page.

Those kinds of statements made in private time reveal private prejudices that may manifest in the classroom, Papandrea said.

The school district could argue that holding these opinions demonstrates their employee doesnt have the qualifications to be a teacher, because they might not be supportive of all students, she said.

If teachers posts are purely personalnot related to a broader public interesttheir speech isnt protected, said Papandrea.

The pole dancing and the beer drinkingthey arent matters of public concern, she said. Districts are within their power to fire teachers for participating in these activities and posting about them on social medaregardless of whether the posts were shared on public pages or originally intended for a smaller audience, she said.

It can be difficult to determine what counts as inappropriate behavior when district policies dont list specifics, said Papandrea. Policies like these give the government too much power to decide what is permissible and not permissible, she said. What you think is appropriate behavior for a role model, the person next to you might disagree.

Her advice for school districts: Give adequate guidance to the teachers so that theyre aware on what they should and shouldnt do, and be as specific as possible.

Photo: A still image taken from video provided by WTVD-TV of Kandice Mason during an interview in Raeford, N.C. Mason, a middle school teacher who moonlights as a pole-dance instructor, has been suspended by a North Carolina school district. WTVD-TV via AP
On Sept. 1 the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington will present the story of how CIA pilots of the Republic of China Air Force (Taiwan) Black Bat Squadron flew a daring nighttime mission to deploy secret surveillance equipment near a Chinese nuclear weapons base in 1969.

Aviation historian Li Wang, Art Winn (son of Black Bat Officer Jim Winn) and Black Cat veteran Tsoming Ho will discuss the planning and execution of this epic clandestine operation known as Heavy Tea. Lt. Col. Heng-Chih Lin, Liaison Officer of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office will provide a special introduction to the talk. The 2 p.m. presentation is free with Museum admission.
The following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited.
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Today during Opening Days, Willamette University recognized outstanding faculty members who have made significant contributions in their areas of teaching, research and service.

Jerry E. Hudson Award for Excellence in Teaching

Named after Willamettes 22nd president, this award celebrates distinguished teaching and leadership by a faculty member.

Tabitha A. Knight, Assistant Professor of Economics

In just four years, Tabitha Knight has established herself as one of Willamettes most innovative, challenging and respected teachers.

Students describe her with adjectives such as honest, direct, relatable, understanding, funny and engaging. They rave about how much they learned in her classes, how hard they worked and how she is so supportive and encouraging. In her class Economics of Race and Gender and in her work organizing the Women in Economics Club, Knight has also made tremendous contributions to the universitys ongoing work of building a more inclusive and equitable community.

Aaron D. Simowitz, Assistant Professor of Law

Aaron Simowitz is a star in the classroom  a creative teacher successful in any setting and with a variety of students.

He teaches doctrinal courses such as Bankruptcy, advanced courses such as International Business Transactions and Negotiating a Business Transaction, and skills-based courses such as Negotiation. Students praise his willingness to try new ways of teaching and providing meaningful feedback, his enthusiasm for subjects and his expertise. Always respectful of students, Simowitz remembers their names and works hard to ensure that international LLM students are integrated into the class with JD students in a way that challenges them but also makes them feel welcome. He is also known for his generosity with his time outside of class.

Robert W. Walker, Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods

In addition to demonstrating excellence in teaching and a dogged commitment to student success, Robert Walker has made significant intellectual and important service contributions to the Atkinson School and Willamette University.

His coursework provides students with high-quality learning experiences and opportunities for subject matter mastery and application within and across public, private and not-for-profit contexts. Sensitive to where and how his subject matter intersects and interacts with other disciplines, Walker is also concerned with ethical managerial behavior and provides appropriate global content.

Walker meets students where they are and patiently works with what they bring to his courses. He reconfigured a core course to allow for greater personalized attention and routinely spends considerable time outside of class working with MBA-P students to ensure their success.

United Methodist Award for Exemplary Teaching and Service

This honor celebrates the extraordinary impact a professor can make both inside the classroom and within the community.

Laura J. Taylor, Associate Professor of Economics

Laura Taylors students praise her perfect balance between having high expectations and supporting students to meet those expectations. In the words of one student, She is intense, but in the best way.

In the area of service, Taylors work over the past two years as the first faculty chair of the universitys Budget Advisory Council has been Herculean. Almost single-handedly transforming the committee into an institutional workhorse, she spent countless hours meeting with administrators and gathering and parsing data. Also the point person for faculty questions about financial details of the budget, she handled the responsibility with grace and patience.

Lawrence D. Cress Award for Faculty Scholarship

Named after a former dean of the College of Liberal Arts, this award recognizes the importance of research to the undergraduate experience. The work done by the recipient is often interdisciplinary in nature and involves joint faculty-student research that creates a seamless connection between the scholar and the teacher.

Huike Wen, Associate Professor of Chinese

An expert on gender, sexuality and the media in contemporary China, Huike Wen is one of Willamettes most creative and prolific scholars.

Over the past three years she has presented her work at five conferences around the world, published two articles in prominent journals and completed the manuscript for her second book, Defining Love: Romantic Relationships in Chinese Television, which will be published by University of Hawaii Press next year. Her most recent research explorations involved grant-funded travel to Ghana and Senegal to learn more about Chinese immigrants in West Africa.

Wens colleagues describe her scholarship as innovative, interdisciplinary and collaborative  the ideal of the teacher-scholar model we prize at Willamette.

Robert Misner Award for Law Faculty Scholarship

This award was established in memory of former College of Law dean and professor Robert L. Misner in recognition of his innumerable contributions and his commitment to faculty excellence.

Andrew Gilden, Assistant Professor of Law

Though early in his career, Andrew Gilden is already an accomplished scholar, with his research focusing on how intellectual property intersects with peoples non-monetary interests.

In a world where images are used and manipulated in ways unimaginable even a few years ago, the traditional reduction of such content to a piece of property potentially with monetary value is no longer adequate (if it ever was) to protect the legitimate interests of individuals in how their identity is portrayed.

Similarly, Gildens scholarship investigates the question of heirs rights related not just to the proceeds that flow from the work of a deceased artist, but also how that work can be used. Gilden has published numerous articles, including in law reviews by Georgetown, Washington University, the University of Iowa, Harvard, Stanford, and William and Mary.

Mortar Board Professor of the Year

This award is presented to a member of the College of Liberal Arts faculty by Willamette Universitys undergraduate chapter of Mortar Board, a senior honor society that serves as a resource for high-achieving, motivated students to forge bonds and give back to the community, preparing them for lifelong commitment to service and excellence in scholarship.

Michaela Kleinert, Associate Professor of Physics

Michaela Kleinert challenges students in the classroom and inspires them to reach their highest academic and personal goals.

Students praise Kleinerts commitment to teaching and thoughtful mentoring, her passion for research and her caring, supportive nature. Enthusiastic about what she teaches, Kleinert strives to make the classroom an inclusive space and is an especially inspiring role model to women in STEM fields.

Several students called Kleinerts class on optics the most challenging  and rewarding  course they ever took. One student said, Professor Kleinert wrote our course material, and it was by far the best textbook and learning material. Her class did not just make high-level physics accessible; it taught us to trust ourselves and work together when problem-solving.

Kleinerts tireless work in the lab supervising research projects also motivates her students to do their best work. Another student said, Professor Kleinert gives guidance that allows for creativity and mistakes, while also being there to help us figure out how to pick up the pieces when it doesnt work out. She is encouraging and kind, and pushes you just enough that you are able to learn physics better than you believed you could.

Kleinert makes a lasting impact on her students and provides a shining example for them to carry forward into the world after Willamette.
Brett Fortnam of Inside U.S. Trade reports the following:

The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to subject autos that do not meet a modernized North American Free Trade Agreement rule of origin to a 2.5 percent tariff if they are made at an existing manufacturing facility, industry sources said -- meaning non-conforming autos made at new plants would be hit by Section 232 tariffs on auto imports if the Trump administration imposed them. In bilateral talks with Mexico in recent weeks, the U.S. demanded that non-conforming autos be subject to a tariff higher than the 2.5 percent tariff rate faced today by autos not imported under a trade agreement. The Trump administration would have to increase its most-favored nation tariff for autos before a tariff higher than 2.5 could take effect. The Trump administration has used Section 232 to exceed its MFN tariffs on steel and aluminum. Other WTO members have charged that the Trump administration's use of Section 232 to impose steel and aluminum tariffs does not conform to WTO rules. Sources said the Trump administration appears to be making the NAFTA deal with a larger policy motive in mind, which is why there are provisions that would allow non-conforming autos to face tariffs above 2.5 percent. Two sources cited the Section 232 investigation the Commerce Department is conducting into the national security implications of auto and auto-parts imports as the likely motive behind the provision. Auto industry sources also said the U.S. and Mexico agreed to a number of changes to the auto rule of origin in NAFTA. The rule would require that 75 percent of a vehicle's content to come from North America, and that 70 percent of steel, aluminum and glass used in autos be sourced from North America. The current NAFTA rule says 62.5 percent of an auto must be sourced from North America to receive duty-free treatment. The overall regional value content requirement will be phased in over three years, according to one industry source. Additionally, the U.S. and Mexico agreed on a labor wage provision requiring that 40 percent of a passenger vehicle's final assembly be completed by workers making at least the North American average wage of $16 per hour. That threshold would be 45 percent for light trucks. Salaries for workers engaged in research and development, marketing and sales could account for up to 15 percent of the labor wage requirement for passenger vehicles and 20 percent for light trucks.

I can imagine some clarifications may come later, but I have a number of questions about the deal described above (some of which are hinted at in the rest of the article).

First, what impact would these new rules have on existing car production in North America? How costly will it be for car makers to comply? It seems like we should have detailed information on this, in order to evaluate the impact of this change. When the ITC does its report on the new NAFTA, it should consider this issue carefully.

Second, how much does the impact vary by producer and region? Will there be some producers who support these changes, and some who oppose them? How will that play out in terms of the politics of support for a new NAFTA? For example, if German, Japanese, and Korean car makers in the South have the most trouble meeting these requirements, some members of Congress from that region may have objections.

With regard to the new Mexican car factories that would be subject to above-MFN tariffs, when are these factories expected to come into operation? Do people really expect Section 232 tariffs to be around for long enough to apply to those imports? Or is the idea to revise the U.S. MFN rate at the WTO, so that there is a permanently higher tariff?

And finally, does the Trump administration really think higher priced cars are a winning political strategy?
Lets compare the 2018 Ciaz with the popular Honda City and find out which of these two sedans you should go for.

Maruti Suzuki introduced the 2018 Ciaz on August 20. The refreshed C-segment sedan gets a lot more features than before and seems to be in a better position to take on its rivals. So, lets compare the 2018 Ciaz with the popular Honda City and find out which of these two sedans you should go for.

But before diving into the variants, let's take a look at how these sedans fare against each other in terms of dimensions and powertrain.

Dimensions

Whether it is length, width, height or the wheelbase, the Ciaz facelift is larger than the City in every way possible

However, when it comes luggage carrying capacity, both the sedans offer 510 litres of it, which is the highest in the segment

Engine and Specifications

The 2018 Ciaz facelift is powered by a new, more powerful 1.5-litre petrol engine that makes 105PS/138Nm. However, the sedan continues to be among the least powered cars in the segment

The City, with an output of 119PS and 145Nm, is among the most powerful mid-size sedans in the country

While both the cars employ a 5-speed MT to send power to the front wheels, it is the City which packs a better automatic gearbox. It is equipped with a 7-step CVT (continuously variable transmission) against the Ciazs ageing 4-speed torque converter unit

The Citys CVT offers manual mode through a 7-step paddle shift operation. The Ciaz, on the other hand, doesnt come with paddle shifters but does have the option to manually override gear ratios

Although the Ciaz is not as powerful as the City, it is certainly the more frugal car here. This is thanks to Suzukis mild-hybrid tech called SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle By Suzuki)

Also Read: Maruti Ciaz Old Vs New: Major Differences

While the 2018 Ciaz packs a new petrol engine, the diesel engine remains the same as before. That means the Ciaz continues to be the least powerful car in its segment

When it comes to torque, both the sedans produce an identical 200Nm

As far as transmission is concerned, both diesel sedans are offered with a manual transmission. Where the Ciaz is equipped with a 5-speed gearbox, the City comes with a 6-speed unit

Thanks to SHVS, the Ciaz continues to be the more frugal one here. It can return up to 28.09km to the litre

Prices (ex-showroom Delhi)

Petrol

Prices (ex-showroom Delhi) Honda City Maruti Ciaz - Sigma Rs 8.19 lakh S MT Rs 8.77 lakh Delta Rs 8.8 lakh SV MT Rs 9.75 lakh Zeta Rs 9.57 lakh V MT Rs 10.25 lakh Alpha Rs 9.97 lakh VX MT Rs 11.89 lakh - - Delta Auto Rs 9.8 lakh - Zeta Auto Rs 10.57 lakh - Alpha Auto Rs 10.97 lakh V CVT Rs 11.78 lakh - VX CVT Rs 13.08 lakh - ZX CVT Rs 13.75 lakh -

Diesel

Prices (ex-showroom Delhi) Honda City Maruti Ciaz - Sigma Rs 9.19 lakh - Delta Rs 9.8 lakh - Zeta Rs 10.57 lakh SV MT Rs 11.10 lakh Alpha Rs 10.97 lakh V MT Rs 11.89 lakh - VX MT Rs 13.19 lakh - ZX MT Rs 13.88 lakh -

Variants and Features

Petrol: Considering the price difference, only three variants of the sedans are comparable.

Model Price 2018 Maruti Ciaz Delta Rs 8.8 lakh Honda City S MT Rs 8.77 lakh Difference Rs 3,000 (Ciaz is more expensive)

Common Features: Dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, Isofix child seat anchors, driver seatbelt reminder, electrically adjustable ORVMs (outside rearview mirrors), audio music system with Bluetooth, all four power windows, day/night IRVM (inside rearview mirror) and tilt-adjustable steering.

What does the Ciaz Delta get over the City S: Reverse parking sensors, speed alert system, seatbelt reminder for co-passenger, alloy wheels, front fog lamps, turn indicators on ORVMs, cruise control, auto climate control with rear AC vents, cruise control, height-adjustable drivers seat, front and rear centre armrest, colour driver info display and steering-mounted audio and telephony controls.

What does the City S get over the Ciaz Delta: LED DRLs.

Verdict: The Ciaz would be our pick here. For a small premium of Rs 3,000, the Ciaz is way more equipped than the City, both in terms of safety as well as comfort and convenience features.

Model Price 2018 Maruti Ciaz Zeta Rs 9.57 lakh Honda City SV MT Rs 9.75 lakh Difference Rs 18,000 (City is more expensive)

Common Features (over the previous variants): Turn indicators on ORVMs, steering-mounted audio controls, height-adjustable drivers seat, automatic climate control with rear AC vents, cruise control and front and rear centre armrest

What does the Ciaz Zeta get over the City SV : Reverse parking sensors, speed alert system, seatbelt reminder for co-passenger, alloy wheels, LED projector headlamps, LED fog lamps, electrically foldable ORVMs, rear seat adjustable headrest, push-button start-stop, colour driver info display and an auto dimming IRVM with reverse camera display.

What does the City SV get over the Ciaz Zeta: None

Verdict: The Ciaz continues to be our pick here as well. Despite being the more affordable of the two, the Ciaz is way more equipped than the City, thus offering great value for your buck. The Maruti sedan also gets adjustable rear headrests, which is very useful if you are going to spend a lot of time in the back seat of the sedan.

Model Price 2018 Maruti Ciaz Alpha Rs 9.97 lakh Honda City V MT Rs 10.25 lakh Difference Rs 28,000 (City is more expensive)

Common Features (over the previous variants): Alloy wheels, front fog lamps, electrically foldable ORVMs, a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system, reverse parking camera and push-button start-stop.

What does the Ciaz Alpha get over the City V: Reverse parking sensors, speed alert system, seatbelt reminder for co-passenger, LED projector headlamps, LED fog lamps, leather upholstery, auto-dimming IRVM, rear seat adjustable headrests, colour driver info display and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support for the infotainment system.

What does the City V get over the Ciaz Alpha: None

Verdict: Like the previous two variants, the Ciaz remains our pick here as well. It further scores points on its value-for-money quotient as it offers a lot of new features despite being more affordable than the City.

Diesel: Based on their price tags, only one variant of both the sedans are comparable.

Model Price 2018 Maruti Ciaz Alpha Rs 10.97 lakh Honda City SV MT Rs 11.10 lakh Difference Rs 13,000 (City is more expensive)

Common Features: Dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, Isofix child seat anchors, driver seatbelt reminder, electrically adjustable ORVMs with turn indicators, music system with Bluetooth, all four power windows, day/night IRVM, tilt-adjustable steering, steering-mounted audio controls, height adjustable driver seat, automatic climate control with rear AC vents, cruise control and front and rear centre armrest.

What does the Ciaz Alpha gets over the City SV: Reverse parking sensors, speed alert system, seatbelt reminder for front co-passenger, alloy wheels, LED projector headlamps, LED fog lamps, electrically foldable ORVMs, leather upholstery, rear seat adjustable headrest, 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, reverse parking camera and push-button start-stop.

What does the City SV get over the Ciaz Alpha: None

Verdict: It goes without saying that the Ciaz remains our pick here as well. Since the Alpha is the top-spec variant of the Ciaz, it is packed to the gills in terms of features. The City SV, on the other hand, is the base-spec variant of the diesel-powered Honda sedan. It misses out on a lot of features that the Ciaz offers. The icing on the cake, however, is the pricing of the Ciaz. Despite being better equipped, it is still more affordable than the City.

Also Read: Maruti Ciaz 2018: Variants Explained

Readers Note:

Automatic Variants: Although not considered in the comparison due to the high price difference, both the sedans are available in petrol automatic variants. Technologically, the City takes the lead here as it gets a 7-step CVT against the Ciazs ageing 4-speed torque converter. However, if we look at both sedans based on their price points, the Ciaz AT leaps ahead as it costs considerably less than the City AT. The City CVT is priced from Rs 11.78 lakh to Rs 13.75 lakh. The Ciaz AT, on the other hand, ranges from Rs 9.8 lakh to Rs 10.97 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom Delhi).

Telematics Solutions: Both Honda and Maruti offer telematic solutions with their sedans. Called the Honda Connect and Suzuki Connect, respectively, both of these applications are available on a subscription basis and offer features such as live location tracking, vehicle health status, service reminder and driving behaviour analysis.

Honda City Edge Edition: To mark the beginning of the festive season, Honda recently launched the City Edge edition. It is available with both petrol and diesel engine options and is priced at Rs 9.75 lakh and Rs 11.10 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively. The Edge edition is based on the SV variant of the City and gets additional features such as 15-inch alloys, reverse parking camera with display on the IRVM and reverse parking sensors (offered for the first time in the City). Read more about it here.

Honda City 20th Anniversary Edition: Honda launched an anniversary edition of the City in January this year to mark 20 years of the sedan in India. It is based on the top-spec ZX variant and is priced at Rs 13.80 lakh and 13.92 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the petrol and diesel versions, respectively. Read more about it here.

Also Read

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.
New Delhi: With monthly GST collection remaining below the Centres expectation, revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia has started taking stock of initiatives aimed at shoring up tax inflow.

The revenue secretary is expected to review the overall collection trend and issues faced by the businesses, if any. The focus, though, would be on compliance and enforcement, said a state GST commissioner.

Adhia recently reviewed the functioning of tax administration in Jammu and Kashmir and is expected to soon visit Bihar to carry out a similar exercise. The revenue secretary is likely to take review meetings in about 5-6 states. We have been getting hints for escalating the fight against evasion by conducting searches and seizures, the official quoted above said.

The GST collection for the month of July touched Rs 96,483 crore, slightly higher than Rs 95,610 crore collected for the month of June. But it is still lower than the initial expectation of Rs 1 lakh crore. While the government has so far refrained from giving any monthly target for GST collection, Adhia had on the first anniversary of the indirect tax reform said that Rs 1 lakh crore revenue was not a norm but the government hoped to bring it up to the figure.

In the initial months of GST rollout, the focus of the government was smooth transition but now the focus has shifted to enforcement. Both central and state GST authorities have made arrests in alleged cases of tax evasion.

Earlier this month, the Central GST Delhi West Commissionerate arrested two businessmen in a case of fraudulent issuance of input tax credit (ITC) invoices without actual supply of goods involving tax evasion of about Rs 201 crore. The tax authorities have arrested business people in other cities as well for creating fictitious invoices.
A large number of coffee berries were knocked off trees because of heavy rains and now farmers are afraid of fungal diseases. (Photo: Pixabay)

Mumbai: Indias coffee production in 2018-19 is likely to fall by at least one-fifth from a year ago as floods in key producing states damaged the crop and delayed exports, industry officials told Reuters.

Some of the worst flooding in India in a century killed hundreds of people in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka earlier this month, both of which account for more than 90 per cent of the countrys total coffee production.

Earlier we were expecting better crop than this year. Now we are expecting at least 20 percent drop in the production, Ramesh Rajah, president of the Coffee Exporters Association of India, told Reuters.

The severe crop loss was reported in the coffee-growing regions of Kodagu in Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala, while the Chikmagalur and Hassan districts in Karnataka also reported damage on limited scale, he said.

The South Asian country, famous as a tea producer, is also the worlds sixth-largest coffee grower, according to Indias state-run Coffee Board, mainly churning out the robusta beans used to make instant coffee, but also producing some of the more expensive arabica variety.

In 2017-18 marketing year that ended on Sept. 30, India produced 316,000 tonnes coffee, including 221,000 tonnes of robust and 95,000 tonnes of arabica, according to the Coffee Board.

Floods have badly damaged infrastructure, especially roads connecting to ports, said M M. Chengappa, the former chairman of Karnataka Planters Association (KPA) who still operates a coffee farm in Kodagu.

Exports of around 20,000 tonnes have been delayed for two weeks and the quantity is unlikely to be shipped in the next fortnight as roads connecting ports to the hilly coffee-growing region have been washed away, said Rajah of the exporters association.

India, where according to folklore coffee cultivation started in 1670 with seven beans smuggled into the country, exports three-quarters of its production.

Italy, Germany and Belgium are the main buyers of Indias crop, paying a premium over global prices.

A large number of coffee berries were knocked off trees because of heavy rains and now farmers are afraid of fungal diseases, said coffee-grower Anil Kumar Bhandari, whose plantation in Kodagu was hit by floods last week.

Many coffee estates have been filled with mud and plants have been uprooted due to landslides, said Bhandari, adding Coffee plantations need to reconstruct. It will take years.
MUMBAI: Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday became the first Indian firm to cross the Rs 8 lakh crore-market capitalisation as fresh buying took the stock to an all-time high on the domestic bourses.

The companys total market capitalisation stood at Rs 8.04 lakh crore after its share prices soared 1.86 per cent or Rs 23.20 to close the day at 1,269.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Mukesh Ambani controlled RIL is now the most valued firm in India followed by IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which commands a market capitalisation of Rs 7.79 lakh crore.

The stocks of RIL has rewarded investors with impressive return in 2018 till date soaring 37.85 per cent outperforming the 30-share Sensex by a huge margin, which is up just 12.56 per cent.

Experts said the stock is attracting lot of investor interest as its consumer business has started contributing in a big way along with petro-chemical and refining business.

Last month, RIL reported a 17.9 per cent jump in its net profit for the quarter ended June 2018 with consumer business accounting for 21 per cent of consolidated segment EBIDTA.

While announcing the result on July 27, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and MD said, Retail business revenues have more than doubled and EBIDTA has trebled on a year on year basis. Jio added a record number of subscribers, highlighting the compelling technology and value proposition that Jio offers vis-a-vis other networks. The scalability of our consumer business platforms is driving unprecedented value generation for our customers, our country and our shareholders.

The rally helped both Sensex and Nifty to scale new high despite weakness in emerging market currencies amid fresh trade war concerns.
Rani Mukerji was recently in the land down under for the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne where she won best actress for her role in Hichki. The actress spoke about inclusion and how Hichki talks about a topic that has never been discussed in Bollywood. Her speech on inclusion had an impact on a lot of people present there but it also impacted the Australian actor and director, Rachel Griffiths.

Griffiths, who is a prominent face in several Hollywood films like Hacksaw Ridge, Step Up, My Best Friends Wedding, was really moved by Ranis outlook towards the theme of Inclusion. Having worked in a film that educated the masses on Tourettes syndrome, Rachel was extremely impressed with Ranis work graph. A source close to the actress said, Rachel is a huge activist and was quite impressed with Hichkis storyline and is really looking forward to watching it. And Rani was very interested in Rachels upcoming film Ride like a Girl, which she is directing. Rani is quite eager to watch it. Rani even asked Rachel to visit India to which Rachel replied that she was more than happy to and was planning to fly out to the country soon.

We would love to watch these two in a film together!
A lawyer who congratulated actor Rishi Kapoor for his performance in Mulk became the latest victim of Rishis legendary meanness on social media.

Lawyer Rajat Anand had tweeted, @chintskap Sir I have seen ur muvi MULK the way u represent as lawyer and as a victim of situation hand off you sir..being a lawyer i really congratulate you to bring forward such kind of social issues. Good Luck (sic).

To which Rishi replied, Thank you, sir. But being a lawyer yourself, your English language, grammar and spellings are so poor? I cannot understand what you tried saying (sic)!

Twitterati responded quickly to teach the self-proclaimed English teacher some manners.

He is not required to know English too well, he should know law! But sir, you forgot something called humanity and courtesy, he was complimenting you for your work, you need to brush up your brain, not just skills (sic), wrote Kamal Parashar scathingly.

Blogger Mani Talan also said, Omg! This is the limit of rudeness learn some manners Mr Kapoor. Atleast a courtesy to say thanks. No need to improve his English (sic).

Another Twitter user, Neeraj Sharma decided to hit Rishi below the belt. Hes having his fifth peg so hes out of his sanity. He doesnt deserve the compliments and fan following from our country. Hell soon shift his base to Pakistan (sic), he tweeted.

Rishi soon realised his mistake and deleted the tweet. Lawyer Rajat Anand chose not to respond.

This is not the first time that Rishi is on the wrong side of the law. Last year, the actor tweeted on the blind support for rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim. All this submission to your wrong guide is crap. People take advantage of your

vulnerability. If they become the voice you follow them... (sic), he wrote. The tweet was accompanied by the picture of a naked boy wearing headphones, with the jack in his private parts.

Advocate Adil Khatri, General Secretary of Jai Ho Foundation applied for an FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Information Technology Act against the actor.

Mr Rishi Kapoor has more than 2.6 million followers on his Twitter account, which means that this child pornographic material got circulated to more than 2.6 million people. There are more than 62 retweets and 376 likes as of now on his indecent image and this will increase many fold (sic), the application read.

Last year, he was in the eye of a storm for his dynasty tweet. Dont bullshit people on Dynasty. You have to earn peoples respect and love through hard work not zabardasti and gundagardi (sic), he had tweeted.

Rishi was trolled for the comment and subsequently wrote a second tweet to make up for his brashness. In all modesty, four generations of actors  Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor. And four generations of the President of the Congress Party. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. Only in India (sic), he tweeted.

He was also trolled for being mean to Salman Khan, he initially offered to quit Twitter, but soon retracted his words and came back!

 Sanskriti Media

HT03
Three of the Queen's four kids have got divorced - and none of them are thought to have had prenuptial agreements. (Photo: AP)

A lot of the rich and famous nowadays are tempted to ask their other half to sign a prenup, and with an estimated 70 billion in the bank, the Royals are one of Britain's richest families, while Prince Harry has a personal fortune of 30 million.

Despite that, Harry did not insist on the Duchess of Sussex, signing a prenup for her second marriage.

It turns out that this is in keeping with the rest of the family. Three of the Queen's four kids have got divorced - and none of them are thought to have had prenuptial agreements.

According to Katie Nicholl, author of Harry, Life, Loss and Love, she told Town & Country mag that she did not think members of the royal family sign prenuptial agreements.

While some may have expected the royals to enforce prenups after the high-profile divorce of Harry's parents back in 1996, one royal expert revealed that some of the familys most valuable assets have never been at risk.

Diana walked away from her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles with a reported lump sum of 17.5m - as well as an allowance for her private office, and the right to continue living in Kensington Palace with the kids.

Duncan Larcombe, who wrote Prince Harry: The Inside Story, said a divorce poses no direct threat to any of the prominent royal residences, because the Queen owns them all.
The rare infection, caused by roundworm parasites has the potential to cause blindness. (Photo: Pixabay)

In a scary tale for food lovers, a man almost went blind after he was infected with roundworm parasite from eating raw chicken sushi.

The otherwise healthy 34-year-old Japanese man who consumed raw chicken sushi became infected with a parasite which could have sent him blind. It also lead him to develop growths in his lungs and liver because of the parasite.

According to a report, he contracted the infection from eating chicken sashimi  a type of sushi in which the meat is only seared round the edges, not cooked.

After going to hospital complaining of having stomach pains for 10 days, doctors carried out tests on the man in order to diagnose him with toxocariasis.

The rare infection, caused by roundworm parasites and which has the potential to cause blindness, was treated with drugs and the man made a full recovery.

The unnamed mans treatment was carried out at the Saiseikai Fukuoka General Hospital, approximately 93 miles north-east of Nagasaki on Japan's southern Kyushu island.

He had been suffering from pain in his abdomen and said he had eaten seared chicken sashimi 'several times', according to BMJ Case Reports.

Scans further revealed clumps of cells called nodules in the mans chest and his liver.

Blood tests showed a high level of white blood cells, suggesting an infection as well.

Sashimi is a popular Japanese delicacy which consists of fresh meat which is served uncooked  fish is most common but other meats are also used.

Although fish can be eaten raw and rare beef steak is popular, raw chicken is usually considered to be dangerous because it is likely to contain salmonella, a bacteria which causes unpleasant and potentially life-threatening food poisoning.
The minor was beaten and her head was forced into a tub of water, which probably caused the death, police added. (Photo: PTI)

Thane: A 14-year-old girl was found raped and killed in her house at Bhiwandi near Thane in Maharashtra, police said on Thursday.

The killers entered the house of the girl in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi. The girl was alone at her house at the time of the incident. The killers allegedly raped her, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar told news agency PTI.

They severely beat the minor and forced her head into a tub of water, which probably caused the death, police added.

When the victim's elder sister returned home in the evening, she was shocked to see her sibling lying dead.

The police were called after her parents arrived.

The body was sent for post-mortem. Based on its findings, the police registered the rape and murder offence against unidentified people late in the night at the Narpoli police station, Narkar said.
In his statement to the police, the businessman said he came in contact with the woman through social networking website Facebook, and even met her couple of times in the city. (Representational Image | AP)

New Delhi: A Delhi Police constable was dismissed from service in connection with his alleged involvement in a case of honey trapping and cheating, police said on Thursday.

The action was taken on a complaint filed by a businessman on Tuesday alleging that the constable posted in Rohini's Vijay Vihar Police Station, along with a woman, honey trapped him and demanded Rs 7 lakh, they said.

They even threatened the businessman to implicate him in a false case of rape if he did not pay the amount, a police officer said.

In his statement to the police, the businessman said he came in contact with the woman through social networking website Facebook, and even met her couple of times in the city.

When blackmailed, the businessman even paid Rs 3 lakh to them, the officer said. They often threatened him over the phone. Based on his statement, a case was registered and the constable arrested, police said.

On interrogation, the constable disclosed details of other accused involved in the crime, the officer added.

The woman and her associates are on the run, he said, adding a police investigation is being carried out.
Bennur Yatheesha, 28, was arrested at his condo room and charged with raping a girl under 15 and unlawfully taking away a person under 15 from her parents. (Representational Image)

Bangkok/New Delhi: An Indian man has been arrested in Thailand for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl in July after meeting her on an online platform, according to a media report.

Bennur Yatheesha, 28, was arrested at his condo room in Klong Toei district under an arrest warrant issued on Thursday, The Nation reported.

He denied raping the girl and said he simply took her to his room for drinks, it said. The girl told her parents that she had met the suspect via the Line chat app on June 30 and he asked her to meet him on Khaosan Road on July 1, it said.

She alleged that the suspect took her to his condo room and made her drink beer before raping her. The girl said she was initially scared to inform her family so she rented a hotel in the Sukhumvit area until July 3 before she went home and told her father, who filed a complaint with police later, the report said.

Yatheesha was charged with raping a girl under 15 and unlawfully taking away a person under 15 from her parents.
Inspector of police, cyber crime, Rachakonda, S. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy said, Following the incident, Prakash bore a grudge on the complainant and decided to take revenge on her by defaming and harassing her on social media.(Representional Image)

Hyderabad: A 21-year-old engineering student was arrested by the cyber crime police, Rachakonda on Friday. The accused was later identified as cyber stalker Vangari Bhanu Prakash.

According to the police, Bhanu Prakash, a B.Tech student was arrested on grounds of outraging the modesty of a woman by causing her severe mental agony.

Prakash cyber stalked the complainant and copied her profile pictures from Facebook and posted them on Locanto, a website.

Asst. commissioner of police cyber crime, Rachakonda S. Harinath said, The pictures were accompanied with objectionable words like sex chat (`1,200) nudes (`200 per pic), direct sex (`5,000).

In addition, Prasad also posted the complainants number on the website instigating unsolicited phone calls from strangers and plenty of WhatsApp messages at inappropriate times.

It all began, when Prakashs close friend Akhil fell down in the classroom, as he frequently suffered from Hyperventilation.

This incident took place in April, and Prakash and his friends had gone to provide first aid to Akhil upon a doctors instructions.

He was asked to leave the classroom by an assistant professor after the girl complained that he was not of the same class and an argument ensued.

Inspector of police, cyber crime, Rachakonda, S. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy said, Following the incident, Prakash bore a grudge on the complainant and decided to take revenge on her by defaming and harassing her on social media.

The accused was traced to Badangpet, and was arrested and sent to judicial custody.

Based on the complaint a case was registered vide Cr No. 45/2018 U/s 354 (D), 509 IPC & Section 66 (C ) of the IT Act.

The mobile phone of the accused was also seized by the police.
Supreme Court said it will not deal with dispute over the dam between Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments; instead it will deal only with the disaster management committee. (Photo: File | PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Tamil Nadu government to maintain the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam at 139 feet till August 31 keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

The apex court also said it will not deal with dispute over the dam between Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments; instead it will deal only with the disaster management committee.

"We are only concerned with the safety and lives of people," Chief Justice Dipak Mishra told legal officers representing Tamil Nadu.

The court's ruling comes a day after the Pinarayi Vijayan government alleged that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for devastating floods in Kerala.

Also Read: Floods due to sudden water release from Mullaperiyar Dam: Kerala to SC

The court's observation came after Tamil Nadu government alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit. The bench fixed the matter for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses in the meantime.

The Supreme Court, on August 17, had asked the National Committee for Crisis Management and the disaster management sub-committee to explore the possibility of reducing the water level at Mullaperiyar dam to 139 feet after it touched 142 feet.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.
The high court also upheld the conviction of 13 persons by the trial court and enhanced the punishment of some of the convicts. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday overturned the acquittal of 20 persons in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case while observing that instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes have not abated even after 71 years of Independence.

The high court also upheld the conviction of 13 persons by the trial court and enhanced the punishment of some of the convicts.

A 60-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter were burnt alive by members of the Jat community in Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in April 2010.

With today's verdict, 12 of the 33 convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment for the offences, including murder under the IPC and committing mischief by fire or explosive substance by a member of a community other than SC/ST, intending to cause damage property of a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said 71 years after Independence, instances of "atrocities" against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown "no sign of abating".

"The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of 'the complete absence of two things in Indian society' as noted by Dr B R Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949.

One was 'equality' and the other 'fraternity'," the bench said in its 209-page verdict.

The court held that there was deliberate targeting of houses of members of Balmiki community by members of the Jat community and common object in the case was to "teach members of the Balmiki community a lesson and this has been fully achieved by the accused persons."

It said the fine amounts collected from the convicts shall be utilised by the Haryana Government as part of the provision of pecuniary relief and rehabilitation to the victims.

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 13 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicted died during the pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010, after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

The high court modified the provision and convicted them for the offence of murder under Section 302 IPC. Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case.
The ED said it has attached assets worth over Rs 44 crore in this case till now. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed its first charge sheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and others in connection with the IRCTC hotels allotment money laundering case, officials said.

The agency has also named Prasad's son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, his party colleague PC Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, a firm Lara Projects and 10 others in the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court in Delhi.

The agency said Prasad and IRCTC officials allegedly misused their position for granting sub-lease of the rights of two railway hotels at Puri and Ranchi to Ms Sujata Hotel Pvt Ltd owned by Kochhars. In lieu of the hotels sub-lease, 358 decimal of prime plot of land in Patna was transferred to Ms Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd (a company owned by family of PC Gupta who is a close associate of Prasad and an MP from RJD) in February 2005 at a rate which was much less than the then prevailing circle rates.

"The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi by way of share purchase at nominal prices. "The funds used to acquire the land had dubious origin and had been laundered through 151 group of companies belonging to PC Gupta by using an NBFC named Ms Abhishek Finance Company Limited," the agency charged.

Subsequently, the shares of Ms Delight Marketing Company Private Limited, it said, were acquired by Rabri Devi and Tejashwi at less than fair market value. "It is noteworthy that the funds used for acquisition of shares by Rabri Devi are questionable and individuals from whom Tejashwi had purchased shares denied any knowledge of holding them," it said.

The ED said it has attached assets worth over Rs 44 crore in this case till now.

The CBI too had filed a charge sheet in this case sometime back. The CBI FIR had alleged that Lalu Prasad, during his tenure as the railway minister in UPA-I government, handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the form of a prime land in Patna through a 'benami' company owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, who was also a former union minister.

The ED registered the criminal case against his family members and others under the PMLA, based on this CBI FIR. The ED is investigating the alleged "proceeds of crime" generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies, according to the officials.

Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC managing director PK Goel.

The CBI FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as "quid pro quo".
'Water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released one week after the floods struck Kerala. It was not done immediately after the floods. Three warnings were issued, first at 139 feet, second at 141 feet and third warning at 142 feet. Water was released in a phased manner,' Tamil Nadu CM Palanisamy said. (Photo:

Chennai: Day after Kerala accused Tamil Nadus sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam as one of the reasons for the devastating floods in the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy on Friday termed the accusation false and baseless.

Kerala's accusations towards Tamil Nadu are false and baseless. If you say, excess water was discharged from one dam (Mullaperiyar) then how did water reach all parts of Kerala? The excess discharge of water from 80 dams caused the flood in Kerala, Palanisamy told the media.

Water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released one week after the floods struck Kerala. It was not done immediately after the floods. Three warnings were issued, first at 139 feet, second at 141 feet and third warning at 142 feet. Water was released in a phased manner, the Tamil Nadu chief minister added.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government had told the Supreme Court that as the water level breached 137 feet mark at Mullaperiyar Dam, authorities in Kerala decided to evacuate people who lived in the dam's downstream.

The affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary stated that out of the total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one-sixth of Keralas population had been directly affected by the floods.

Also Read: Floods due to sudden water release from Mullaperiyar Dam: Kerala to SC

The affidavit further said that in the wake of prior alerts by its engineers, Kerala's Water Resources Secretary had written to her counterpart in Tamil Nadu and the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar dam requesting controlled release of water without waiting for the water level in the reservoir to reach its full level. However, no positive assurance in this regard was received from Tamil Nadu even after repeated requests.
'We need big fat cheques. We do not need people to open their wardrobes and send old clothes, we need them to send big fat cheques,' Union Minister KJ Alphons said. (Photo: File | ANI)

New Delhi: Union minister KJ Alphons on Thursday requested the Centre to make a "one-time exception" to its 14-year policy of not accepting foreign aid in the face of natural calamities for Kerala.

As the row over foreign aid for the flood-ravaged southern state escalated, Alphons earlier on Thursday said the NDA government had "inherited" the policy of not accepting foreign funds for natural calamities from the previous UPA government.

He said the Centre's stand on Kerala was a convention "inherited" from previous governments, when during 2004's devastating Tsunami, then prime minister Manmohan Singh had refused aid from foreign countries.

Bureaucrats serving during Singh's tenure as prime minister, however, indicated that the 2004 decision was not cast in stone.

"Kerala has contributed huge amounts of foreign exchange through remittance in the last 50 years. In fact, in the last year itself, it had brought in Rs 75,000 crore. Also, Kerela is the biggest tourist destination in the country and contributes hugely to the economy. For these reasons, as a junior minister, I am appealing to my senior colleagues to make a special consideration for the state. I appeal to them to make a one-time exception to the policy," Alphons told PTI.

The minister, who is from Kerala, said there were two lakh families staying in the relief camps and when they return home, they will have no clothes to wear, no food, no utensils, no toilet and no drinking water. "We need big fat cheques. We do not need people to open their wardrobes and send old clothes, we need them to send big fat cheques," he added.

Earlier, among others, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had criticised the BJP-led government over the refusal of aid and said Kerala had asked the Centre for a financial support of Rs 2,200 crore, but was granted only Rs 600 crore. "We make no request to any foreign government but UAE government voluntarily offered Rs 700 crore. No, says Union government, it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy (sic)," Isaac had written on Twitter.

Also Read: 'Dog in the manger' policy: Kerala on Centre's refusal to foreign help

Alphons accused Isaac of playing "misleading politics". Stating that the Centre's Rs 760-crore aid to the state was for the immediate rescue-and-relief operations, the Union minister said the due process will be followed in releasing the required funds to Kerala once it assessed the losses it had incurred.

Shivshankar Menon, who was the national security adviser during Singh's tenure as prime minister, tweeted, saying the 2004 decision was "to not accept foreign participation in relief but accept it for long term rehabilitation case by case".

"No to rescue teams needing hand-holding and interpretation but yes to help rebuilding houses, bridges, roads etc. A way forward for Kerala? (sic)," he tweeted. Singh's former media adviser and veteran journalist Sanjaya Baru also tweeted, saying the policy of accepting aid only from the US, UK, Japan and Germany was in fact put in place by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after 1998. "One must distinguish between developmental aid and humanitarian assistance. UAE is offering latter. "Development Aid = Money + Lecture. Disaster Aid = Money + Sympathy. We said no to former. No harm in saying yes to latter," Baru wrote on Twitter.

Nirupama Menon Rao, who served as the foreign secretary from 2009 to 2011, said refusing aid from the Gulf was a sensitive matter as a number of people from Kerala lived in the region. "True that as country we can give rather than take assistance, but 80 per cent of Indians in the Gulf are Malayalis. Offer of flood relief assistance from region must be treated with sensitivity.

Saying no is simple, but for Kerala-in-crisis, it's not so simple," she tweeted and the tweet received the seal of approval from many senior bureaucrats and commentators. Incessant rains have claimed over 230 lives in Kerala since August 8.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visits the flood-affected areas to review situations, in Kodagu on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

Kodagu: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited floods and landslide-hit Kodagu district in Karnataka and assured support for the restoration work.

Speaking at an event, the Defence Minister said, "I have come from Delhi as the restoration of some of the roads, buildings, water and electricity connections in Kodagu will be done by the Army and the Air Force is trying to help as well in the relief operations."

Kodagu is one of the worst affected areas in Karnataka as torrential rains have left a huge trail of destruction with hundreds taking shelter in temples, churches and madrasas.

On August 21, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy urged the Centre to provide Rs 100 crore relief fund for the Kodagu district.

Similarly, former chief minister Siddaramaiah also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide necessary relief for the victims of the floods.
The Supreme Court had earlier restrained the poll body from notifying winning candidates on uncontested seats. (Photo: File | PTI)

New Delhi: In a major relief for Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that there would be no re-election for the uncontested seats of West Bengal Panchayat poll that the ruling party won in May.

Trinamool Congress won 20,178 of 58,692 panchayat seats without contest.

The opposition alleged of violence, terror tactics by the ruling party and said their candidates could not file nominations to contest those seats because of Trinamool Congress's bullying.

The plea was filed by BJP, CPI(M) in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of panchayat polls over 20,000 uncontested seats.

The court however allowed those obstructed from filing nomination papers to challenge polls by filing election petitions.

"Keeping in view of the seriousness of allegations of nominations being stopped, Supreme Court allows individuals to take legal recourse," the judges said.

The apex court also allowed the Election Commission to notify winning candidates on uncontested seats.

The court had earlier restrained the poll body from notifying winning candidates on uncontested seats.
On Tuesday, the central government had released Rs 600 crore to flood-hit Kerala as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Rs 500 crore) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Rs 100 crore) during their visits to the state. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday said Rs 600 crore released two days ago to flood-hit Kerala was only the advance assistance and additional funds would be released when an inter-ministerial team visits the state again and assesses the damage.

The Home Ministry statement came amidst a row over accepting funds from foreign governments for Kerala after the United Arab Emirates offered USD 100 million (around Rs 700 crore) and the government declared that it will not take any financial assistance from foreign governments in sync with an existing policy.

Also Read: India committed to 'domestic effort' for Kerala as nations queue up to help

"It is clarified that Rs 600 crore released by Centre is the advance assistance only. Additional funds would be released from NDRF on assessment of the damages as per laid down procedure," the statement said.

On Tuesday, the central government had released Rs 600 crore to flood-hit Kerala as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Rs 500 crore) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Rs 100 crore) during their visits to the state.

The home ministry said during the floods in Kerala, the Centre has provided urgent aid and relief material in a timely manner and without any reservation.

The situation has been regularly monitored by the Prime Minister on daily basis and he visited the state on August 17-18, 2018. On his instructions, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, regularly monitored and coordinated rescue and relief operations by holding daily meetings from Aug 16-21, 2018.

Senior officers of Defence Services, NDRF, NDMA and Secretaries of Civilian Ministries attended these meetings. Kerala Chief Secretary participated in these discussions through video conference.

Following the decisions taken during these meetings, the Centre launched massive rescue and relief operations. In one of the largest rescue operations, 40 helicopters, 31 aircraft, 182 teams for rescue, 18 medical teams of defence forces, 58 teams of NDRF, 7 companies of Central Armed Police Forces were pressed into service along with over 500 boats and necessary rescue equipments.

They successfully saved over 60,000 human lives by rescuing them from marooned areas and shifting them to relief camps, the statement said.

Defence aircraft and helicopters have made 1,084 sorties of duration 1,168 flying hours and airlifted 1,286 tonne of load and carried 3,332 rescuers. In addition, a number of Navy and Coast Guard ships were pressed into service to carry relief material to Kerala. The search and rescue operations and mobilisation of resources alone would cost the central government hundreds of crore of rupees.

The statement said after floods and landslides in Kerala last month, an interim memorandum was submitted by the state government on July 21 and immediately an inter ministerial central team (IMCT) was constituted, which visited the state on August 7-12 for on-the-spot assessment of the damages.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had visited Kerala on July 21 followed by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 12. Since there was a second spell of floods in the state, the state government has stated that they will submit an additional memorandum on the fresh damages caused by the floods and landslides once rescue efforts are over.

Since submission of additional memorandum by the state government will take time, with a view to assist the state in meeting relief and rescue expenditure, the central government has released Rs 600 crore in advance pending assessment by IMCT and decision of a high level committee.

This is in addition to Rs 562.45 crore already made available in State Disaster Relief Fund of the state. In addition to the financial support, the Centre has made available large quantities of emergency food, water, medicines and other essential supplies, including additional allocation of foodgrains, as requested by the state. Financial mechanism to meet the rescue and relief expenditure during any notified disaster event is governed by notified guidelines on State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

State Disaster Response Fund has been constituted in each state in which the Centre contributes 75 per cent for general category states and 90 per cent for special category states of hilly regions every year as per the award of the successive Finance Commissions.

As per the guidelines, the central government provides its allocation to SDRF of each state in advance in two installments. In case of any natural calamity, State meets the expenditure of relief and rescue from the SDRF already available at its disposal.

In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a state, the state government submits a detailed memorandum indicating the sector-wise details of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations of immediate nature.

On receipt of a memorandum, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is deputed by the Central Government for on-the-spot assessment of damages and additional requirement of funds.

The report of IMCT is considered by the Sub-Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC) headed by the Union Home Secretary in conformity with the norms and then by a High Level Committee (HLC), chaired by the Home Minister for approving the quantum of additional assistance from the NDRF, the statement said.
During the search operation, the search party came in contact with the militants leading to an encounter and in the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed. (Representational Image)

Srinagar: A Pakistani militant belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit was killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, police said.

A police spokesman said a search operation was launched by security forces in Vailoo area of Kokernag in the south Kashmir district early on Friday. During the search operation, the search party came in contact with the militants leading to an encounter and in the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed, he said.

He said huge quantity of ammunition and incriminating material was seized from the site of the encounter.

Also Read: Terrorist hideouts destroyed in J&K's Anantnag, combing operations underway

"From the incriminating material seized, it is learnt that the killed terrorist is a Pakistani affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM and was involved in several attacks on security forces and civilians in the area, the spokesman said.

The identity of the slain ultra is being ascertained. He said police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated.
Three terrorists are believed to be holed up in Anantnag's Kokernag. (Representational Image)

Srinagar: Security forces on Friday identified four terrorist hideouts and destroyed two of them in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag.

Incriminating materials have been seized from the hideouts and few people have been detained for questioning, Shesh Paul Vaid, Director General of Police (DGP) of Jammu & Kashmir, said.

In continued offensive against terrorists, some suspected associates detained for questioning, 4 hideoutes identified, 2 destroyed, some increminating material seized.  Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) August 24, 2018

Three terrorists are believed to be holed up in Anantnag's Kokernag.

Security forces have begun combing operations in the area.
WhatsApp has drawn flak over its use in spreading fake news through its platform that have even incited incidents of mob-lynching in various parts of the country. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: WhatsApp has rejected India's demand for a solution to track the origin of messages on its platform, saying building traceability will undermine end-to-end encryption and affect privacy protection for users.

Emphasising that people use its platform for all kinds of "sensitive conversations", the Facebook-owned company said the focus is on educating people about misinformation.

The government has been pushing WhatsApp to find a technology solution to trace the origin of messages, a move it believes can help curb horrific crimes like mob-lynching emanating from fake news.

"Building traceability would undermine end-to-end encryption and the private nature of WhatsApp, creating the potential for serious misuse. WhatsApp will not weaken the privacy protections we provide," a WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI.

Sources in IT Ministry said that the government has asserted that WhatsApp should continue to explore technical innovations whereby in case of mass circulation of provocative and nefarious messages inciting violence and crime, the origin can be ascertained.

The ministry is also seeking a more firm assurance of compliance with Indian laws from the company, as well as establishment of grievance officer with wide network, said the source who is familiar with the ministry's view on the matter.

The ministry has also emphasised that a local corporate entity, subject to Indian laws, be set up by the company in defined timeframe.

Over the past few months, WhatsApp has drawn flak over its use in spreading fake news through its platform that have even incited incidents of mob-lynching in various parts of the country.

WhatsApp Head Chris Daniels had met IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad earlier this week. After the meeting, Prasad told reporters that the government has asked WhatsApp to set up a local corporate entity and find a technology solution to trace the origin of fake messages circulated through its platform as well as appoint a grievance officer.

He acknowledged the role played by the Facebook-owned company in India's digital story, but was stern that WhatsApp could face abetment charges if it did not take action to tackle the issue of fake news being circulated on its platform.

Also Read: Set up India cell to combat fake news: IT minister tells WhatsApp CEO

Daniels had declined to comment on the proceedings after the meeting.

With general elections slated to be held next year in India, the government is taking a stern view of use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for spread of misinformation.

India is the largest market for WhatsApp with a base of over 200 million users of the over 1.5 billion global user base.

The government has served two notices to WhatsApp, seeking details of actions it has taken to curb the menace. In its response, WhatsApp had informed that it is building a local team, including having an India head, and has introduced new features to let its users identify forwarded messages.

WhatsApp has also restricted the number of forwards that can be done at a time.

Besides, the company is also running advocacy and education programme to help people spot fake news.

Last month, WhatsApp top executives, including COO Matthew Idema, met IT Secretary and other Indian government officials to outline various steps being taken by the company on the issue.
Bhopal: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans personal appeal to his sisters across Madhya Pradesh to return him to power in the upcoming assembly elections, due in the state in November-December this year, has landed him in Congress cross-hairs. Apparently to counter his move, the Congress on Friday announced to send him ten lakh letters by the partys women workers to remind him of his governments failure to arrest the disturbing trend of growing incidents of rape in the state.

The chief minister had posted five lakh letters to his sisters across the state ahead of Raksha Bandhan, which falls on Sunday, informing them about various welfare schemes run for them by his government and promising them to create secure atmosphere for them in the coming five years. The emotion-filled missive called upon the women to feel that their brother has arrived at their doorsteps.

The letters made an appeal to the women in the state to return him to power in the year-end elections to ensure security and prosperity for them in the next five years. He also urged the women to send acknowledgements to the letters through SMS, WhatsApp message or a missed call. MP Congress committee president Kamal Nath on Friday took a jibe at the CM for seeking support of women to get another mandate on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan when his government has failed to check crimes against women in the state.
Hyderabad: Telangana CLP Deputy Leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy asked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to utilise his Delhi visit to get sanctions on pending assurances. It was not correct to use the visit only for political purposes, he said. Speaking to the media on Friday, Sudhakar Reddy alleged that the CM was trying to divert public attention from his failures by talking about early elections and Pragathi Nivedana Sabha. Sudhakar Reddy was critical that the CM was not taking care of any assurances given to Telangana in the AP Reorganization act. He asked Mr Chandrasekhar Rao to bring pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on implementation of division assurances.

He said that the CM should tell the people only facts in the Pragathi Nivedana Sabha, about the scams and land grabbing, about how many complaints were received on corruption on the toll free number in the CMs office and on how many complaints was action taken. Mr Sudhakar Reddy said that TPCC would speed up its activities so that the Congress was able to come to power on its own. He added that there was no necessity to speak about alliances at present.
BENGALURU: A blame game broke out over devastation wrought by floods in Kodagu district with deputy chief minister Dr. G. Parameshwara slamming the Union government for not sanctioning any relief funds for the rain-ravaged coffee land.

Slamming state BJP leaders for not persuading Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry out an aerial survey of Kodagu, Dr Parameshwara told the media that the leader could have viewed damaged caused by floods in Kodagu while doing so to assess the destruction in Kerala. "During his aerial survey of flood affected areas of Kerala, he could have spared some time for Kodagu," he said adding that the Union government had not been forthcoming with financial assistance for relief and rehabilitation work in the district.

On Thursday, former chief minister Siddaramaiah too appealed to Mr Modi to visit Kodagu district and release central funds for instant relief work and restoration of connectivity between villages within the district on one hand and the district with surrounding areas.

Dr Parameshwara, who attended a meeting of the advisory committee of National Service Scheme (NSS), said based on the CAG report which mentioned that the police department does not have adequate weapons, said these weapons would be provided on priority basis. If a police inspector is not having a revolver, it is the duty of the state to provide adequate weapons to handle law and order problems, he added. The deputy chief minister said the government is contemplating to make National Service Scheme (NSS) compulsory in all colleges.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Friday sentenced Mr K. Siva Kumar Naidu, an IAS officer and former joint collector of Mahabubnagar district for 30 days of simple imprisonment in a contempt of court case. Justice P. Naveen Rao, while allowing the contempt case by A.B. Buchaiah, a retired government servant, found that the joint collector wilfully disobeyed the court order and sentenced the petitioner for the civil imprisonment despite knowing of the fact that the High Court had granted an interim order in favour of the petitioner.

The judge directed the joint collector to pay Rs 2,000 fine and the state government to pay Rs 50, 000 as compensation to the petitioner and then recover the said amount from the official. The judge suspended the sentence for three weeks to allow the officer to make an appeal against the order. The petitioner had approached the High Court, challenging an order passed by the joint collector staying the construction of a Kalyana Mandapam on his land.

The HC stayed the order of the joint collector in August 2017. When the petitioner restarted the construction in September 2017 the joint collector ordered the circle inspector of Mahab-ubnagar to imprison the petitioner for two months and 29 days for violating his order. He told the court that the officer, despite knowing that the High Court had stayed his order, deliberately passed the order for the imprisonment of the petitioner.
Chennai: A day after Kerala accused Tamil Nadu's sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam as one of the reasons for the devastating floods in the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy on Friday termed the accusation "false and baseless".

"Kerala's accusations towards Tamil Nadu are false and baseless. If you say, excess water was discharged from one dam (Mullaperiyar) then how did water reach all parts of Kerala? It is the excess discharge of water from 80 dams that caused the flood in Kerala," Palanisamy told the media.

"Water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released one week after the floods struck Kerala. It was not done immediately after the floods. Three warnings were issued, first at 139 feet, second at 141 feet and third warning at 142 feet. Water was released in a phased manner," the Tamil Nadu chief minister added.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government had told the Supreme Court that as the water level breached 137 feet mark at Mullaperiyar Dam, authorities in Kerala decided to evacuate people who lived in the dam's downstream.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, his cabinet colleagues and others inspect the damaged regulator portion in Coleroon river at Mukkombu near Tiruchy on Friday.

New Delhi: Accepting the conclusions of the Disaster Management subcommittee, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Tamil Nadu government to maintain the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam at 139 ft, from 142 ft till August 31.

At the outset Tamil Nadu denied Keralas blame that it was responsible for the floods downstream of Mullaperiyar dam due to sudden release of water from the dam as alleged by Kerala. It said while floods started in Kerala on August 6, the water level in Mullaperiyar dam reached 140 ft only on August 14 and this was not the reason for the floods.

A three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud gave this direction on a PIL filed by Russel Joy as an immediate precaution to guard against floods or other disasters.

Earlier, Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha informed the court that the sub-committee met on August 23 on an urgent basis following floods in Kerala and took stock of the situation. He said that the current water level in the reservoir was 139.998 feet. He said the secretaries of both Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been informed of the decision.

The petitioner alleged that the floods downstream of Mullaperiyar dam was due to lack of coordination, no disaster management plan and people were living in constant fear of flash floods.

The CJI told counsel the rains have stopped. Everything has been settled. Today there is a change in the circumstances.

Senior counsel Shekhar Naphade for Tamil Nadu submitted that he sees seeds of discord in Kerala's affidavit. Kerala primarily wants a gradual release of water from the reservoir at 136 feet along with a "supervisory committee", comprising the Central Water Commission (CWC) chief and secretaries of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to take decisions by majority on the dam when there are floods.

He said Kerala also wants a "management committee" to manage the day-to-day operations of the dam. This committee should be headed by a Chief Engineer/ Superintending Engineer of the CWC, with both Chief Engineers/ Superintending Engineers of the two States.

Mr Naphade said the Supreme Court had fixed the permissible water limit at 142 feet and formed a supervisory committee for the dam. But in this affidavit I see a clever device to get out of the judgment of this court. The CJI, however, made it clear to Mr. Naphade that court would only go into the disaster management aspect and no other issue.

In reply to Keralas allegation blaming Tamil Nadu for sudden release of water from the dam, Tamil Nadu submitted that the State duly informed the counterpart of Kerala since the water level in the Dam reached +136 ft.

Thereafter, when the water level reached +138 ft., +140 ft., +141 ft. & +142 ft., suitable warnings were issued and the quantum of discharge were also intimated. Thus the State took all the required measures before water was released from the Dam.

Tamil Nadu said that out of 39 dams in Kerala, 33 dams have been opened as a result of large volume of water flow which has affected transportation, communication etc. The dams of Kerala have been opened from first week of August as they have reached maximum level, but Mullaperiyar dam spillway was opened on August 14 only.

In any event, the spillage from Mullaperiyar Dam is too small, when compared to the overall flood flows in Kerala during this monsoon up August 19.

Tamil Nadu said that since the downstream area of Mullaperiyar Dam is in Kerala, the Disaster Management Plan has to be prepared and made public by the State of Kerala in proper coordination with the Central Committee and the State of Tamil Nadu. In fact, the Centre on real time basis was managing the entire events. It is the responsibility of the downstream Kerala State to demarcate the flood prone area and inform the public, and remove the encroachment along the river course / banks, as stated in the Report of the Empowered Committee, 2012, which has been affirmed by this Court.

It said water level in the dam could be stored upto 152 ft, however, Kerala is obstructing Tamil Nadu from carrying out the balance strengthening works. If Full Reservoir Level (FRL) could have been restored to +152 ft., the quantum of release from Mullaperiyar dam would have been much less and there would have been no room to create panic in the minds of the people living downstream.

Giving date-wise figures on storage and release of water from Mullaperiyar dam, Tamil Nadu said it could be seen that that flood surplus from the Idukki dam is mainly due to the flows generated from its own independent catchment due to unprecedented heavy rainfall while the contribution from Mullaperiyar Dam was significantly less.

Even this small surplus from Mullaperiyar Dam could have been reduced to a major extent, if the State of Kerala had not obstructed to complete the balance strengthening works to enable Tamil Nadu to restore water the level upto 152 ft. Keeping in view the rains in the catchment area of Mullaperiyar Dam, the flood warning for every raise of water level of 1 ft. was issued to the concerned officials in the State of Kerala. When the water level reached 140 ft., water was allowed to spill through the spillway of the Dam after giving sufficient flood warning and was made in the presence of the Engineers of Kerala. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on September 6.
Indian government, through emails, has instructed all its missions abroad to decline offers of aid from foreign governments for the state of Kerala. Sources say that India, for now, has decided to stick to its 2004 policy, in the aftermath of the devastating Tsunami -- won't accept aid unless India cannot handle the crisis. The 2004 tsunami, which affected the coast of Tamil Nadu as well as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, killed more than 12,000 people and displaced 6 lakh. Until then, India had accepted aid from foreign governments. The government had accepted aid for the Uttarkashi earthquake (1991), Latur earthquake (1993), Gujarat earthquake (2001), Bengal cyclone (2002) and Bihar floods (July 2004). In the past 14 years, after tsunami, India has refused aid from Russia, US and Japan for Uttarakhand floods in 2013, and for the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 and floods in Kashmir in 2014.

The government sources note that there are two reasons for such a policy: Firstly, the governments since then have felt that India has the capacity to handle disasters like these. And secondly, accepting from any one government opens the floodgates for others as well, and it would be diplomatically difficult to refuse from some while accepting from others. It also signals Indias economic clout as it has become an aid donor.

The toll this time of the latest fortnight long deluge in Kerala has reached 373, more than 1.2 million people are in relief camps and losses are pegged at Rs 20,000 crore ($2.86 billion), which is 16 percent of the state's 2018-19 expenditure. Most foreign media pegs the losses at $2 billion. First time in its history, Kerala had to open up all its dams. The Modi government has even declared it as the calamity of severe nature.

In response to Kerala's request for Rs 2,000 crore ($286 million) for the rehabilitation of those affected by recent floods, the Centre has released Rs 600 crore, 30 percent of what the state sought. That's less than the cost of one Rafale fighter jet (Rs 670 crore), 36 of which India hopes to buy from France.

Many foreign governments offered aid, assistance and technical support to help the state of Kerala deal with the crisis. One of the biggest pledges came from UAE, which has a huge population of people from Kerala. UAE has pledged Rs 700 crores towards relief and rehabilitation efforts. Prime Minister of UAE and the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, noted that the people of Kerala have always been and are still part of the success story in the UAE and hence UAE has a special responsibility to help and support those affected. Around three million Indians live and work in the UAE out of which 80 per cent are from Kerala, according to official figure. Qatar made an offer of Rs.36 crores aid, and Maldives close to a crore.

While the government, for now, is not looking at contributions from foreign governments, private efforts towards relief and rehabilitation will continue. Technically the government cannot stop foreign NGOs and aid organisations with Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) clearances from contributing to the relief efforts in the state of Kerala that has been devastated with massive floods.

Government spokesman, however, has noted that contributions to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund from NRIs (Non Resident Indians, PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin) and international entities such as foundations will be welcomed. Sources said funds coming from the UAE through foundations or international entities will be acceptable.



For a historical context, during the 2004 tsunami, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that India can cope with the situation and will take aid only if needed. The UPA-II government too reiterated the New Delhi's position after the 2013 cloudburst in Uttarakhand in which over 5,700 people died. The sources referred to the government's statement then which said that "as a general policy in case of rescue and relief operations we have followed the practice that we have adequate ability to respond to emergency requirements". However, Manmohan government was open to aid and assistance from foreign governments going beyond relief, in the other phases like rehabilitation, reconstruction, and so on.

Interestingly, backing the Kerala government over foreign aid for Kerala flood relief, BJP minister KJ Alphons from Kerala requested the government to make a "one-time exception", on the ground that Kerala has contributed huge amounts of foreign exchange through remittance in the last 50 years. In fact, in the last year itself, it had brought in Rs 75,000 crore. Also, Kerala is the biggest tourist destination in the country and contributes hugely to the economy. Two former distinguished foreign secretaries, Shiv Shanker Menon and Nirupama Rao, also seconded Kerala CM and the central minister Alphons noting that UAE is a different case, a sensitive one, and home to the largest number of Malayalee NRIs, and hence the aid should be accepted. In the past, India said no to relief but accepted support for rehab. Also, one must distinguish between normal aid and help in a disaster. Later is more humanitarian.

According to the National Disaster Management Plan of 2016, commissioned by the Modi government, if the national government of another country offers assistance as a goodwill gesture to disaster victims, without India asking for it, the central government may accept it, a sentiment also echoed by the Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac. According to the 2016 Plan, the Home Ministry is required to coordinate with the External Affairs Ministry, which is primarily responsible for reviewing offers of assistance and channelising the same.

It must be noted here that during the earthquakes in Latur and Bhuj, India got a lot of material from the Gulf with prior consultation with the government. There has been a Global Convention in Bhuj to raise funds from all sources, including governments abroad, for rehab and reconstruction. One opinion today is that India can invest the foreign assistance directly in creating long term assets in Kerala, rather than negating specially the Gulf aid as Malayalees have a special position in the Gulf nations.

Moving ahead, while foreign aid for relief does not bode well for the current economic clout of India and determination of its government and people to handle our crises ourselves, foreign assistance in long term reconstruction and infrastructure development, from nations who do not put any conditions on it and come forward on their own, can surely be welcome. And in case of Kerala, UAE or Gulf support is a unique case in the light of yeomen service of the Malayalee NRIs in those countries.
The Punjab government has inserted Section 295AA into the Indian Penal Code to punish with life terms whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwat Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt religious feelings of people. In imitating a move by the earlier Akali-BJP government, Punjab CM Amarinder Singhs administration has taken a regressive step. In India, people are quick to complain of hurt feelings, and Capt. Singh wants to jail for life those supposedly causing hurt. This mocks the idea of personal freedoms. The Parkash Singh Badal government passed a similar bill in March 2016 after torn pages of the Sikh holy book were found strewn at different places. Some violence began, but soon died down. Some thought it was an ISI operation meant to create social tension in Punjab.

It was really a minor matter. But Mr Badal used a sledge-hammer to kill a fly when his government sought to amend the IPC to punish anyone seeking to cause sacrilege to the Guru Granth Sahib. The Centre rejected the request as it said the scriptures of just one religion were sought to be protected. So now the Congress government has named the holy books of all major faiths. Enough laws are available to tackle miscreants who cause social tension by trying to manipulate religious sentiments. But Capt. Singh, like Mr Badal, has tried to curry favour with religious outfits. This cant be said to be an imitation of Pakistans blasphemy laws, that are a part of a wider corpus of laws to underpin a certain kind of state structure. But this move still stinks.

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It has been reported that the Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC), at a meeting chaired by defence minister Nirmala Sitha-raman, has approved the acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the acquisition of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System-II (NASAMS-II) worth around $1 billion from the United States. However, in 2002, the US had vetoed Indias bid to acquire the Israeli Arrow-2 missile interceptor system. Consequently, DRDO began developing the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD), which will provide long-range high-altitude ballistic missile interception during an incoming missiles midcourse phase as well as interception during the terminal phase. At various times these systems had different monikers, like ballistic missile defence (BMD) or anti-ballistic missile system (ABM).

The people who decide on such things reside in New Delhi, and understandably their safety gets priority. So it is the NCR that will get the expensive and exaggerated sense of protection such systems tend to generate. But no air defence system can be deemed impenetrable. The Americans and Russians realised much before the Cold War ended that the costs involved will be prohibitive, even for them, and made a virtue of necessity. But the idea was seductive. Even as the Cold War was waning, Ronald Reagan toyed with the idea of a Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), which envisaged an ABM system stationed deep in space, that would launch on picking up a launch. It seemed so far-fetched and futuristic that quite a few commentators took to calling it Star Wars.

This thought has been high on the minds of our security establishment ever since it learned that on May 26, 1990 China had tested a Pakistani derivative of its CHIC-4 design at the Lop Nor test site, with a yield in the 10 to 12 kiloton (kt) range. That yield estimate accords with recorded yields of Pakistans 1998 nuclear tests, which are somewhere between 5 kt and 12 kt. Refinements in boosting and efficient plutonium use are the normal next steps in weapon improvement, along with miniaturisation of warheads to fit into smaller and lighter re-entry vehicles. Pakistan has done all of these to arm its cruise and ballistic missiles with lighter payloads. Once India deploys the PAD system around its capital, we can be assured that Pakistan too will deploy an ABM around Islamabad. We can also rest assured that China will assist it in developing such a capability.

The International Panel on Fissile Materials has estimated that Pakistan has an inventory of approximately 3,100 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and roughly 170 kg of weapons-grade plutonium. This is enough to potentially produce 200 to 300 warheads. Pakistan has also frequently tested the ranges of about a dozen Chinese-derived missiles from the Hatf (50 km) to Shaheen-III (2,750 km). There is little doubt that Pakistan has planned for all eventualities, from local battlefield use and to feed its desire to have a credible Islamic bomb capability, and for that its reach must include Tel Aviv.

Long after the Cold War ended, nuclear deterrence is still based on Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). This simply means that any sneak decapitating or debilitating first strike will be responded with massive retaliation, the fear of which should instill good sense. That after almost three quarters of a century when the nuclear genie was uncorked from the bottle, we have not had a nuclear war or weapon use is living proof of its robust common sense. So much so that wh-en developments in ABM or BMD capability reached fruition, the two Cold War protagonists, the United States and the now-defunct Soviet Union, had a treaty restricting these systems. Ironically, this was even well before they had a treaty on reducing the number of nuclear bombs.

The MAD doctrine was made painfully credible by the development of nuclear arsenal survivability by widespread deployment (at the peak of the Cold War, America and Russia each had over 30,000 nuclear bombs). This credibility got its biggest boost when submarines, initially diesel and then nuclear-powered, capable of firing nuclear armed missiles (SSBN) from the impenetrable dark recesses of the oceans, were introduced. The first of these submarines was the Russian Zulu class submarine capable of firing from underwater an early Scud missile (1955). The Americans were the first to deploy a long endurance, deep diving and very silent nuclear-powered submarine  the George Washington  in 1959. Since then MAD was ensured by the highly accurate missiles in the bellies of such submarines operated by the US, Russian, British, French, Chinese and Indian navies. Pakistan too is now reportedly testing nuclear-capable missiles fired from underwater on modified diesel submarines.

We need to learn from how nuclear weapons strategies evolved during the Cold War, instead of mimicking US and Soviet follies. The notion of deterrence between the US and the USSR was based on no escape from MAD. The march of the Cold War follies peaked with the two protagonists together deploying almost 70,000 warheads each aimed at a specific target. At the height of this madness almost every open ground was targeted as possible tank marshalling or military logistics areas. The last thing we therefore want is getting into a numbers game with Pakistan or China. Credibility depends on reducing the uncertainty of use from the opposite perspective. The Indian PAD missile defence system only increases them. India and Pakistan have ensured a modicum of confidence by not mating the warheads and delivery systems, giving a vital period to roll back the unleashing of Armageddon. But now both nations will have to evolve a launch on warning doctrine.

Clearly, the two South Asian nuclear powers have a local version of MAD in place. The Pakistani doctrine commits itself to use battlefield nuclear weapons if an Indian conventional assault threatens its essential nationhood, and thus it has steadfastly refused to accept the no first use (NFU) notion. The Indian doctrine emphasises NFU, but also makes it explicit that any Pakistani use of nuclear weapons on India or its forces will be responded with massive retaliation. India may have fewer nuclear weapons, not because it cannot make more, but what it has is enough to ensure the complete annihilation of Pakistan, which is geographically too a much smaller country. China has moved on from NFU to a doctrine now called credible minimum deterrence. But how much is credible?

Mercifully, nuclear doctrines these days are couched in such abstractions as MAD that requires a degree of predictability, ironically ensured by opacity. The United States single integrated operational plan (SIOP) began with the ominous words that its objective, after the outbreak of a general war with the then Soviet Union, was to turn it into a smoking radiating ruin. It was written by its certifiable US Air Force chief, Gen. Curtis Lemay Jr, based on whom the character played by George C. Scott in the Stanley Kubrick classic Dr Strangelove was created. But it was people like Gen. Lemay who gave MAD some credibility. Since no one of a sane frame of mind would even contemplate the enormity of the disaster of a nuclear war, uncertainty of use was a key element of MAD. It has been written that Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev used to have sleepless nights thinking of a man like Richard Nixon with his finger on the button.

Indias nuclear strategy documents in detail as to who the nuclear command would devolve to in the unlikely event of a decapitating first strike on New Delhi with the aim of eliminating its national leadership. It is said the chain of nuclear command keeps descending downwards to a major-general, a modern-day Raja Parikshit so to say who will perform the final obsequies. At last count, India had over 600 military officers at that level. Decapitating all of them is a near statistical and physical impossibility. It will take tens of thousands to precision nuclear weapons to annihilate Indias military chain of command, and it can be speculated whether even America or Russia can achieve that, let alone Pakistan.

Ironically, the evocative acronym MAD doctrine is eminently sensible. Good sense should tell us that enough of this madness, and leave MAD alone!

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Microsoft sold its software such as Word and Excel to middleman firms in Hungary at steep discounts.(Pic credit: ANI)

Microsoft Corp is being investigated by US authorities over potential bribery and corruption related to software sales in Hungary, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are probing how Microsoft sold its software such as Word and Excel to middleman firms in Hungary at steep discounts, the report said.

The intermediaries then sold that software to government agencies there in 2013 and 2014 at close to full price, the report said.

Investigators are looking into whether the middleman companies used the difference to pay bribes and kickbacks to government officials, the WSJ reported.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment.

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The new method can produce OLED screens 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper than the current evaporation process.

Panasonic Corp said on Thursday it has partnered an affiliate of Japan Display Inc to license out a low-cost organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel-making process, a possible alternative to the conventional method used by dominant South Korean manufacturers.

The unlisted affiliate, JOLED Inc, is in talks with several global panel producers to license its printing process for OLED panels, where organic colour materials are deposited onto glass substrates in a way similar to ink-jet printing.

The method can produce OLED screens 20 per cent to 30 per cent cheaper than the current evaporation process as it does not need equipment such as vacuum chambers or metal masks to deposit the colour materials, according to JOLED.

Panasonic will design and develop printing equipment, while a unit of the panel and chip-making equipment manufacturer Screen Holdings Co Ltd will be responsible for the actual production of the equipment and maintenance.

JOLED, created in 2015 by merging the OLED divisions of Panasonic and Sony Corp, also plans to start mass production of smaller panels on its own in 2020.

To finance the production plan, JOLED raised 47 billion yen ($425 million) in June from the sale of new shares to auto parts maker Denso Corp and three other Japanese firms, JOLED said separately on Thursday.

Smartphone makers have been increasingly shifting to OLED, with Apple Inc adopting them for its latest iPhone X, as OLED screens are generally thinner and can show more vivid colours than liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.

Japanese manufacturers began investing in OLED technology in the 1990s, led by Sony and Pioneer Corp. Most gave up due to high costs and defect rates, allowing South Koreas Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Display Co Ltd to take the lead.

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Xiaomi, which has gained sizeable market share in India by taking on Samsung and Apple Inc, is scheduled to start selling a new phone in the South Asian nation called Poco F1.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Incs quarterly revenue soared due to strong demand in India and other emerging markets but doubts remained on whether it can sustain the fast pace of growth and its shares reversed early gains to end lower.

Xiaomi, which toppled Samsung Electronics as the top smartphone seller in the price-conscious Indian market earlier this year, said on Wednesday in its first results as a listed firm that revenue from overseas markets for the quarter ended June 30 more than doubled from the year-ago period.

The company started trading in July after a closely watched but disappointing initial public offering that valued it at almost half the $100 billion that industry analysts had initially estimated.

The overseas market opportunity is massive, which provides huge growth potential for Xiaomi on both hardware and software, Fubon Research analyst Dany Wu said in a broker note. Despite the margin decline, we think this is a compromise for rapid expansion in its overall product lines.

The companys gross margins dropped 2 percentage points to 12.5 per cent as steady profits at its internet services business failed to offset declines in its hardware businesses, that includes smartphones and internet-connected devices such as smart TVs.

Xiaomi, which has gained sizeable market share in India by taking on Samsung and Apple Inc, is scheduled to start selling a new phone in the South Asian nation called Poco F1 at the end of this month. The company will sell the device only in India at first, underscoring the markets importance to Xiaomi.

The phone packs a punch for the price, according to reviews on technology websites. The cheapest version is expected to be sold at around $300 in India, more than double that of its popular Redmi 5 model.

Xiaomi doesnt break out India sales. International revenue in the second quarter was 16.4 billion yuan, accounting for more than a third of total revenue.

While Xiaomi still generates the bulk of its revenue from smartphones, it is also trying to turn itself into an internet services powerhouse. The company hopes that smartphone sales will drive traffic to its apps, boosting its software-driven business and advertising sales.

But doubts remain that Xiaomi will be able to leverage its user base.

It will be challenging for Xiaomi to monetize its smartphone user base ... as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are already well positioned in China, said CK Lu, a research director at Gartner.

And though the company shipped 32 million smartphones in the quarter, up 44 per cent compared to the year-ago period, the growth rate slowed sharply from the 117 per cent recorded in the first quarter.

The slowdown echoes a broader one in the global smartphone market even as Xiaomis Asian rivals including Huawei [HWT.UL], Vivo and Oppo step on the gas.

Bearish investors have limited gains in Xiaomis stock since it priced its IPO at HK$17 ($2.17). On Thursday, shares rose as much as 7.2 per cent, taking the companys value to about $60 billion, before erasing the gains and closing down 1.4 per cent.

Xiaomis shares trade at 37 times forward 12-month earnings, well above Apples 18 times and Samsungs six.

We believe that the 2Q18 results did little to justify a valuation that already factors in generous premiums to global leaders, said Arun George, who publishes commentary on independent research platform Smartkarma.

Xiaomis revenue for the quarter rose to 45.24 billion yuan ($6.58 billion) from 26.88 billion yuan. It posted a net profit of 14.63 billion yuan for the period compared to a net loss of 11.97 billion yuan in the year-ago period.

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At least 22 children and four women were killed by a Saudi-led coalition air strike while fleeing fighting in Yemen, the UN aid chief said on Friday, condemning attacks on civilians.

In addition to that strike on Thursday four other children died in a separate air strike, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs Mark Lowcock said. Both were in Al-Durayhimi district, south of the rebel-held city of Hodeida.

"This is the second time in two weeks that an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition has resulted in dozens of civilian casualties," said Lowcock in a statement.

A coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada on August 9 killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation.

Lowcock echoed Guterres' appeal for "an impartial, independent and prompt investigation" and said "those with influence" over the warring sides must ensure that civilians are protected.

The coalition has announced that it will investigate the August 9 bus attack that drew strong international condemnation, but rights groups insist that any probe should be impartial.

The rebel-run Saba news agency said the air strike on Thursday hit a bus and a home but the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the coalition, blamed the Huthi rebels for the attack.

Al-Durayhimi lies some 20 kilometres south of Hodeida, and has seen two weeks of fighting between the rebels and pro-government forces backed by the UAE.

"I had hoped that the outrage that followed the Saada attack in Yemen two weeks ago would be a turning point in the conflict. Thursday's reported attacks in Al-Durayhimi, killing 26 children, indicate that it was not," said Henrietta Fore, the director of the UN children's agency Unicef.

Fore urged the warring sides, their foreign backers and the Security Council to "take action and end this conflict once and for all."

The UN Security Council this month called for a "credible" investigation of the bus attack in Yemen, but did not demand an independent probe.

Three of the five permanent council members - the United States, France and Britain -- have supported the coalition in its military campaign although they have expressed growing concern over the heavy toll on civilians.

Kuwait, a non-permanent council member, is part of the coalition fighting the Huthi rebels.

Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition launched its military campaign in Yemen in 2015 to push back the Huthis who still hold the capital Sanaa and return President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The war has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The cash-strapped Andhra Pradesh government has spent almost Rs 3 lakhs for a root canal treatment for its finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu in Singapore. Through a government order numbered 1844 dated 23rd August released the entire amount without any objections.

What baffled the common man in the state is that the minister who is supposed to look after the finances of the state that was bogged down by several financial constraints flew all the way to the island nation for a root canal treatment which could have been performed right here within few thousand rupees of expenditure.

The GO says that the minister had his root canal treated at the Azure Dental, 22 Sixth Avenue, Singapore on April 12th this year. The amount of Rs 2, 88,823 was paid from the Dr NTR Vaidya Seva Trust on 23rd August, after thorough scrutiny.

The amount is paid from the medical reimbursements and advances head under the ministers and deputy ministers salaries account. General Administration Department (GAD-Political) secretary Srikanth Nagulapalli, the signatory of the order, made it clear that the release of the funds doesnt require clearance from the finance department.

The residual state of Andhra Pradesh which has an accumulated revenue deficit of over Rs 16000 cr has no monies for the construction of the new capital at Amaravati. The state recently raised Rs 2,000 crore through bonds, offering 10.32 per cent interest, for building the capital.

However, netizens did not take kindly the largesse of the state government that professes simplicity. Neither the minister nor the government has made a comment on the matter so far.
The erstwhile Congress-led UPA and the current BJP-led NDA dispensations have been obfuscating on the matter of cracking down on "right-wing terror", a group of activists said.

Under the banner of the Bharat Bachao Andolan, activists demanded that the Sanatan Sanstha be banned and its founder Dr Jayant Athawale be arrested forthwith in the wake of the recent crackdown by the CBI and the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police.

In a joint statement, activists such as Tushar Gandhi, Nikhil Wagle, Charul Joshi, Jatin Desai, Noorjehan Safia Niyaz, Feroze Mithiborwala, Varsha Vidya Vilas and Jyoti Badekar said, "We, as a nation, must unite to counter the scourge of terrorism and thus pressurise the government and the investigating agencies to crackdown on all such terrorist organisations. If not, we will witness the assassinations of even more writers and intellectuals and the death of more innocent people in terror attacks."

They pointed out that the Sanatan Sanstha emerged as a suspect in 2006 during the Nanded blasts. In 2008, they threw bombs to disrupt plays in Thane and Vashi, for which their members were convicted. They were also involved in 2009 in the Goa blasts.

In 2011, the then Prithviraj-Maharashtra government submitted a 1,000-page dossier in this regard, but the Mamohan Singh government did not start any legal process to ban the organisation.

In 2015, the Devendra Fadnavis government too sent its report, but again, there was no action from the Narendra Modi government.

The key suspects identified and arrested for the assassinations of Gauri Lankesh, Dr Narendra Dhabholkar, Prof MM Kalburgi and Govind Pansare all come from extreme right-wing Hindutva organisations, with the Sanatan Sanstha playing the main role, the reports had pointed out.
MEDIA COURTHOUSE  A 53-year-old grandmother was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday on her third drug distribution conviction after sneaking Suboxone to her incarcerated son at the State Correctional Institution in Chester.

Janette Ortiz, of the 2800 block of North Third Street in Philadelphia, was convicted on charges of drug distribution, contraband and criminal use of a communication facility last month following a jury trial before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge John Capuzzi. The jury deliberated less than 90 minutes before rendering a verdict.

Guards at the prison conducted a cell search Feb. 9, 2017, and discovered 13 strips of Suboxone hidden inside headphones belonging to Ortizs son, Julio Ortiz, according to a release from Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections conducted an investigation and determined Janette Ortiz delivered 20 strips of Suboxone, a Schedule III drug used to treat opioid addiction, to her son during a visit at the prison Feb. 5, 2017.

Julio Ortiz was serving a sentence for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Julio Ortiz admitted that he and his mother worked together to smuggle the contraband into the prison so that he could sell it to other inmates for a profit.

She surreptitiously handed the package to Julio Ortiz, who swallowed it and later regurgitated it in his cell, according to the release. Julio Ortiz sold some of the Suboxone to other inmates at $50 for a full strip or $10 apiece. He was paid by friends and family members of the inmates and the funds were transferred to his mother, according to the release.

Julio Ortiz was previously sentenced to 23 months with two years of probation after pleading guilty to drug possession charges and has since been transferred to SCI Smithfield.

Defense attorney Kenneth Mark Sexton said at sentencing Thursday that Janette Ortiz is remorseful and has accepted responsibility for her crime. Though the contraband charge carries a two-year mandatory minimum, he was seeking a concurrent sentence on the other two charges.

Janette Ortiz also addressed the judge through an interpreter and indicated she was pressured by her son to deliver the drugs to him in prison.

I regret this fully, your honor, she said. My family is very upset with me for what I have done.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Hill argued for consecutive sentences, noting this is Ortizs third drug delivery charge and that phone conversations between the mother and son indicated this was an ongoing operation, not just a one-time occurrence.

Shes preying on the worst addiction we have in the United States of America right now, he said. She has not accepted one bit of responsibility.

Capuzzi read off Ortizs two prior convictions in 1990 and 2002, indicating she had failed to learn from past mistakes.

Not only did you prey upon the other prisoners in that therapeutic community, you placed the lives of the guards, the corrections officers, in jeopardy, he said. I cant excuse any of your behavior. I dont see any remorse. What I do see is a regret that youre going to spend a long time in the state prison system.

The judge gave Ortiz an additional one to two years incarceration on top of the two-year mandatory minimum, as well as four years of consecutive probation, and ordered that she not be released until she completes her minimum sentence.
PHILADELPHIA  A Philadelphia man who pleaded guilty in federal court last year to the May 2015 theft of 19 guns from a Collingdale firearms store was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison Thursday with three years of supervised release.

Jabaar Tindell, 41, pleaded in September to three counts of theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee, knowing possession of stolen firearms and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon before U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Co-defendant Marc Bredell, 28, also pleaded guilty at that time to theft and possession of stolen firearms charges. He was sentenced in February to serve six months in prison with three years of supervised release. Both defendants were also ordered to pay restitution of $14,039.

Michele Mucellin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said Tindell had a guideline range of 63 to 78 months.

Two other defendants, Aaron Hashimbey and Bruce Todd, have also pleaded guilty for their roles in the heist, according to online documents.

Todd has also pleaded guilty to two counts for theft of firearms, aiding and abetting and possession of stolen firearms, aiding and abetting. He is scheduled for a sentencing Sept. 5.

Hashimbey, who was charged with identical counts, pleaded under seal and is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 16.

The burglary occurred in the early morning hours of May 21, 2015, according to a plea memorandum for Bredell filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric A. Boden. Tindell met Bredell at his home at 19th Street and Girard Avenue with the two other men, according to the memorandum.

The burglars concocted a plan to rob Suburban Armory on the 1000 block of MacDade Boulevard and Bredell agreed to use his 2001 Pontiac minivan as a lookout vehicle, the memorandum says. While en route, the foursome stopped at an apartment complex in Bristol, where Tindell hotwired a 1995 Oldsmobile.

Tindell, Hashimbey and Todd drove to the gun store in the Oldsmobile with Bredell following behind in the minivan, according to the memorandum. Tindell parked the car in front of the store at about 2:30 a.m. while Bredell parked across the street.

Various members of the crew attempted to work on the windows of the store over the next hour and a half, leaving and returning to the scene several times. Tindell, Hashimbey and Todd eventually gained entry at about 4 a.m. and made their way into the gun shop, where they stole 19 handguns from two display cases, according to the memorandum.

An affidavit of probable cause filed in Delaware County indicated the burglars also attempted to steal some rifles that had been chained together, but were unsuccessful.

The men returned to Bredells home following the robbery, where Tindell had them give him the clothes they had been wearing and the license plate to Bredells minivan, according to the memorandum.

The plan was to place the items into the Oldsmobile and torch it. Tindell explained to Bredell that if video cameras had captured the license plate, he could say it had been stolen and that the minivan seen in surveillance footage was a similar looking vehicle using his stolen plate.

Bredell was later stopped in the minivan by Philadelphia police and provided the story that someone had stolen his plate, according to the memorandum.

Investigators were able to connect Tindell to the theft from blood left on a piece of glass at the scene. Pennsylvania State Police matched that sample to one already on record.

Tindell was originally charged in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court with more than 80 counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy offenses following extradition from Virginia, where he was arrested in September 2016 following a joint effort by U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement. Those charges were withdrawn in favor of the federal case.

Only two of the weapons had reportedly been recovered as of December 2016. Boden has previously indicated he cannot discuss whether additional weapons were recovered due to the ongoing investigation.

Tindell also previously pleaded guilty in Delaware County to one count of burglary for a September 2015 break-in at Royal Tobacco in Ridley. He was sentenced to one to five years in a state prison in that case, which will run concurrent to his federal sentence.
MARPLE >> No action was taken by the Marple Planning Commission at its Thursday night meeting on preliminary residential plans submitted by Sproul Road Developers LLC for the former Don Guanella Village along Reed Road and Sproul Road.

Commissioners asked for project developers, led by Carlino Commercial Development Principal Peter Miller, to redesign and submit plans that accommodate review letter comments provided by township Engineer Joseph Mastronado and the Delaware County Planning Commission. Sproul Road Developers is planning 232 single and twin housing units on approximately 140 acres of residential-zoned portions of the land.

We would just look forward to receiving a plan that complies with the township ordinances and well give it a full review and recommendations will be appropriate at that time, said Commission Chairman Patrick Henigan.

Miller and his civil engineer, Chirag Thakkar, gave a brief overview of the plan to the commissioners and public that totaled approximately 10 minutes in length. They said the property is constrained by natural features (streams, slopes, riparian buffers), but the plan is still in compliance with zoning regulations.

We acknowledge that we have revisions to make as a result of the townships engineer letter, which is often the case for a project of this size, of any size, said Thakkar. We intend to revise the plans fully in compliance with the engineers letter.

Mastronado and the county planning commission issued separate eight-page review letters on Aug. 8 and July 19, respectively, that gave feedback on areas of stormwater management, access and density. The residential plan would preserve almost 76 acres of open space which is more than the minimally required 67 as called for by code.

The residential plan, which would be called Residences of Marple Preserve if fully adopted, is an alternate to the 47-acre mixed-use proposal that planned for the immediate footprint of the Don Guanella site in the institutional-zoned front portion of the property. Miller has maintained that that plan is his primary focus as it would retain 166 acres of open space on that property.

At an Aug. 13 meeting in presenting an overview of the mixed-use plan, planner Tim Cassidy said the open space in the residential plan could be subjected to use by those residents only and not for public access as it (un)officially has been for some time (the Archdiocese of Philadelphia currently owns the land making it private property, but people have been hiking on its trail for decades).

Public comment shrunk from over two hours at the Aug. 13 meeting to 40 minutes on Thursday by 17 persons who wished to make statements, most of whom identified environmental and flooding concerns, and traffic.

A number of residents outright rejected the plan, the range of descriptions for it going from Armageddon to by-wrong. But still, a couple did prefer homes being built over commercial development.

Of the commissioners, only Mike Noonan had questions on the plan asking about how much open space would be preserved in the plan and emergency access to the development. At present, one access point was created on Reed Road and another yet-to-be-determined access point may come from the forward institutional zone at the front of the property from Sproul Road.

Miller said the plans will be adjusted and resubmitted, but that the mixed-use plan is still his preference.
MEDIA COURTHOUSE  For the second time in nearly three years, a 51-year-old convicted sex offender is charged with child pornography offenses  this time allegedly posing as a teenager and sharing images on Facebook while on probation.

It was back in October of 2015 that James Traband, of Upland, entered a plea of guilty in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court to possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility. As a result of the conviction, Traband became a registered sex offender under Megans Law and was ordered to comply with the special rules and regulations of Adult Probation and Parole governing sex offenders  which includes registering with the Pennsylvania State Police, as well as the prohibition of pornographic material of any kind.

In announcing his latest arrest, Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said Thursday that Traband is now charged with 25 counts of dissemination of child pornography, possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility, all third-degree felonies.

Some images allegedly found in Trabands possession depict naked male children between the ages of 3 and 13 being sexually assaulted and abused.

Those who possess child pornography contribute to the appalling and repulsive exploitation of innocent children, Copeland said in a prepared release. In partnership with our local police, CID detectives and forensic analysts, our ICAC Task Force actively works on a daily basis to locate and arrest these individuals to ensure the safety of our children.

A second offense conviction carries a 25 year prison term, according to Emily Harris, spokeswoman for the district attorneys office.

The investigation was led by Detective Sgt. Kenneth Bellis of the District Attorneys Criminal Investigation Division and the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Delaware County Adult Probation and Parole.

According to the district attorneys office, Traband was on probation on July 9 when officers from Adult Probation and Parole conducted a home compliance check at his residence in Upland.

As agents knocked at both front and rear doors Agent Carissa Tillotson looked through the rear door and saw Traband enter a bathroom behind the kitchen. Approximately 10 seconds later, Traband exited the bathroom and opened the door to let the agents inside, the release states. Agent Justin Lewis and Agent Frank Shannon searched the bathroom and inside a container of dry dog food, Agent Lewis located a cellular telephone with a piece of tape covering the camera.

Agent Lewis viewed the cellphone and located a Facebook application that opened to a page with multiple pictures of shirtless adolescent males. Traband admitted to Agent Lewis that the cellular telephone contained child pornography and he was taken into custody, the release states.

A forensic examination of the cell phone was conducted by CID Detective Chris Tankelewicz. As a result, numerous images of child pornography, with the majority of the images depicting naked male children between 3 and 13 years old exposed in a sexual manner, the release states. Some of the images depict the minor boys being sexually assaulted.

Further forensic analysis of the phone confirmed that the defendant, under an alias, portrayed himself to be a 14-year-old male and shared more than 25 images of child pornography with three different Facebook users.

Harris said search warrants had been conducted on the other Facebook accounts. All three are outside the United States and were referred to the FBI. Some had previously been reported, Harris said.

Traband has been remanded to the county prison in Concord after failing to post 10 percent of $250,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Charles G. Nistico for a preliminary hearing Sept. 6.

In October 2015, Traband entered a negotiated guilty plea on child pornography and criminal use of communication facility, both third degree felony offenses. He was sentenced to serve a maximum of 23 months in IPP, an intermediate punishment program, and a maximum of five years of probation. Sometimes an alternative to jail, it may also include weekend incarceration, incarceration with work release, as well as constant supervision, community service, treatment or electronic monitoring.

According to information provided by Harris, Trabands IPP included DNA testing, sex offender registration, psychosexual evaluation, 20 48-hour periods of incarceration, and 140 days of electronic home monitoring.

It was not known if Traband had retained an attorney.
SALT LAKE CITY  Bright Sheng saw Leonard Bernstein on the day the renowned conductor died. It was Oct. 14, 1990, and Bernstein had announced his retirement just a few days before.

Sheng was in New York for only a couple of days, but he was determined to see Bernstein. The composer/conductor had been his beloved mentor for five years, taking the young musician under his wing in the 80s when he was fresh off the boat from Shanghai.

I think he knew. Everybody around him knew that he was not going to last very long, Sheng told the Deseret News. For Leonard Bernstein not to conduct, that in itself (was) a big statement.

Sheng called Bernsteins home each day, hoping the assistant would tell him the conductor was feeling well enough to see him. His last attempt came around noon on Oct. 14, 1990, when the assistant told him a face-to-face visit would not be likely.

I said, Thats OK. Im leaving, but Ill come back in two weeks, Sheng recalled. He still remembers the long pause that followed as the assistant went to check in with Bernstein  and hell never forget the assistants reponse: The maestro would like to see you at 4 today.

Bernstein knew, he said. He knew he probably wouldnt last two weeks. And (the fact that) he cared about me and would see me, that was very touching.

Bernstein died shortly after that meeting with Sheng, but his legacy lives on through his wide range of compositions that include works such as Candide, Mass and West Side Story. Saturday, Aug. 25, marks the 100th anniversary of Bernsteins birth, and the Moab Music Festival, which runs Aug. 27-Sept. 13, is honoring the centennial by featuring programs from Sheng and Jamie Bernstein, Leonard Bernsteins oldest daughter.

Getting there is part of the fun

Jamie Bernstein is looking forward to honoring her fathers legacy at this years festival, but thats not the only reason shes making the journey from New York to Moab. Since friends Michael Barrett  who studied conducting with her father in New York  and violist Leslie Tompkins founded the festival in 1992, Jamie Bernstein has only missed the event three times. And each time she returns to the red rocks of Moab, shes reminded of her first trip to Utah in the 1970s, when she took a break from the monotony of a cross-country road trip to hike Monument Valley.

I thought it was the most magical place I'd ever been in, she recalled. Later in the 90s, after my father died, (my friends) started the Moab Music Festival and I couldn't believe my good fortune because now I had this built-in excuse to go to that part of the world as often as I possibly could, to support the festival and my friends.

A love for Utah's great outdoors is what inspired Jamie Bernstein's friends, Tompkins and Barrett, who was Leonard Bernstein's assistant conductor from 1985-1990, to start the Moab Music Festival in the first place. Four concerts during the festival see chamber musicians performing among the red rocks  musicians who don't mind getting a little red dust on their concert attire as they hike with their instruments to the concert spots. Three performances called Grotto Concerts take concertgoers  and a grand piano  on a 45-minute jet boat ride down the Colorado River to a cavelike structure.

These outdoor settings are the heart of the festival, and Tompkins said she and Barrett enjoy capitalizing on the natural acoustics of such venues. But Tompkins  who participates regularly in the festival as a musician  admitted performing in these settings isn't for the fainthearted.

"All of our musicians are brilliant  that's the first prerequisite," she said. "But then the second prerequisite is that they're comfortable in the elements, because it's different and it's not really always the easiest thing to do. So that's a common thread for the returning musicians. They're just kind of crazy about it and absolutely love playing in that environment."

Over 200 miles from Salt Lake City, Moab might seem an unlikely destination for such a festival  but that distance makes it all the more enjoyable for Jamie Bernstein.

It's part of the fun that it's hard to get there, she said. You cant just jump on a plane and be there. The way I like to get there is to jump on two planes  one to Denver or Dallas, and then a smaller one to Grand Junction, Colorado, and then I rent a car  preferably a convertible  and I drive down from Grand Junction to Moab on this side road that hugs the Colorado River. It is the single most spectacular drive in the world. So just getting there is part of the fun already.

Celebrating Lenny

And while Jamie Bernstein enjoys the spectacular views and festival experience each year, this one really hits home as it falls just after her fathers 100th birthday. The festivals opening night concert on Aug. 31, titled New Americans, will feature a lecture from Sheng, Leonard Bernsteins last student. The program will also highlight a few of Shengs Asia-influenced works and pieces from other composers who became American citizens during their lifetimes.

A week later, on Sept. 7, Jamie Bernstein will narrate a program alongside Barrett, who will perform on piano, titled We Are Women: A Bernstein Cabaret that highlights several of her fathers songs that were written for or about women. Wrapping up the festival is an event called "Coming to America," which will feature works from composer Aaron Copland, a friend of Leonard Bernstein's, and a few pieces honoring Bernstein on his centennial.

For Jamie Bernstein, who recently published a memoir titled Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein, these events at the Moab Music Festival provide just a snapshot of how her fathers legacy has been celebrated this year and gives her assurance that his musical gift will keep on giving for generations to come.

This whole year has been so insane, she said. There have been so many celebrations worldwide. My brother, sister and I were really hoping for a global celebration, but Ive got to say, it's beyond anything we imagined  and it's so moving. There's something about my father and his music and the way he was that people have this really emotional connection to him.  It'll be great to go to Moab and get another big dose of that experience."
SALT LAKE CITY  Jason David Franks schedule is go, go, go.

It helps that hes a Power Ranger.

Frank, who will be in Salt Lake City for the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention Sept. 6-8, is well-known to many '90s kids as Tommy Oliver, the original Green Power Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

But Frank, unlike several of his colleagues, never forgot the franchise. He stayed involved for subsequent series  Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo  and returned, years later, as Dr. Tommy Oliver for Power Rangers Dino Thunder.

Although he had a brief stint in the mixed martial arts circuit  he has even called out former WWE wrestler CM Punk for a fight  Frank has returned again and again to the Power Rangers franchise. He helped promote a new comic book series, which stars the evil Lord Drakkon, an alt-universe version of Tommy. He has appeared on multiple reunion episodes for Power Rangers.

Oh, and he is set to appear on the 25th-anniversary episode on Power Rangers Ninja Steel, Tuesday, Aug. 28, on Nickelodeon.

But thats not Frank's entire resume. He depicted the character Bloodshot from the "Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe" series and hes appeared in a few independent films, too.

And it wont end there. Frank wants to see his Tommy character in a dark, original TV series (though still rated PG, he said). In fact, he'll do just about anything to make sure his beloved Power Rangers have a long future.

And everything he does, he said, is for the fans.

We spoke with Frank in a phone interview ahead of his FanX appearance. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Deseret News: This isn't your first time coming to Salt Lake; youve come to Salt Lake City for conventions before. Whats your experience been like here? What have you liked about Salt Lake City?

Jason David Frank: I've been going to Salt Lake for a while. I'm an instructor for fun up at iFly (an indoor skydividng company).

 Great people. Great city. It's been a really good experience for me down there.

It's important that when I do a show that the fans leave happy.  I'm there to cater to the fans, and that's what I like about it. You can have a great experience at a booth, but if you don't have a good experience overall at a show, you're not going to have a great experience (at a booth). So I try.

DN: You were involved with "Power Rangers" for many years. How would you describe your career arc? Whats it been like to come back to Power Rangers after taking a break?

JDF: I took a break after Turbo. It was just one of those things that I wanted to do as an actor and you know just took a break and went back and did Dino Thunder as a favor for two of my producers that wanted me to come back to pick up ratings. I picked up ratings a bit and Power Rangers took a slump at one point and I just stayed with it.

I embraced who I was  I was happy who I was.

I have some martial art schools, and we do so well that I don't even need to work anymore. When I did New York Comic Con, I paid my own way for everything and just pretty much begged these people just to be there for an hour just so I could say hi to my fans and spend time with them.

The key is feeling like you owe the fans versus actors (who) feel like the fans owe them. That's the difference where you're going to be in life.

 I just stayed consistent in the brand. I believed in it. I was the only one that went back for Dino Thunder. I was the only one to keep promoting it when the brand was down.

I'll be 45 soon. Hopefully, I will (continue to) fit in spandex and be happy who I am. But there's a time where Tommy needs to go like the old man in "Logan." And the cool thing about me: I don't hold on to no past, man, the past has held on to me.

But to be honest, I'm just doing this for fun. I mean, I fight for fun. I do movies for fun.

 I think if you look at life as "follow your passion," you know, there's a purpose. There's purpose, there's passion. And then later on comes the profit.  But you gotta have those two ingredients in order to make a good recipe.

DN: It definitely shows youre trying to stay involved. Your Instagram, YouTube, Twitterand Facebook pages all promote new shows, new comic books.

JDF: Im just trying to be consistent and not saying, I turn this down because it wasn't enough money, or not saying, Well I'm not coming to this comic con because I'm not getting paid enough. I can eliminate all that (with) no appearance fees.

I do things because I like to do (them) and that's how I kind of live my life. I jump out of airplanes because I like it. I jump helicopters, I jump bridges. These are things that I like to do. No one's forced me to do (them).

DN: Were there any storylines on Power Rangers you wanted to do but never did?

JDF: No. We kind of follow the Japanese footage, you know what I mean, follow the storylines. But I will say, to go back to this reunion episode, I had a checklist of stuff that I needed to make sure was in the episode. I know what our fans like and what they want to see, so I had a checklist, a long checklist of "this needs to be in, that needs to be in, this needs to be in."  I reached about 90 percent of it. I think this anniversary episode is really going to be good for people on Aug. 28. I cared about it.

I think you are really going to be happy.

DN: You made a cameo appearance in the new Power Rangers movie. Theres a tease at the end for a new Tommy Oliver. How do you feel about that?

JDF: I'm fine with that, man. My focus really is on a prime-time show. That's where my focus is. I'm focused on where Tommy is now and not a young Tommy, you know. I think they have to stick to the movie version of it. They can't change it unless they do. I don't know much about that, the whole movie brand.

But I do know where I want to take the series:  a Green Ranger show. A darker one, you know, like a Daredevil."  Although, not rated R. PG if we can get away with it. Like Drakkon  exactly like Drakkon was. That's what I like to do for my fan base, so my eyes are on something else right now.

DN: Power Rangers clearly leans toward family values. Is that why you did the show?

JDF: I've been in martial arts my whole life. Same values ever since I was a kid so to reinforce those values on the show  to reach millions of people around the world  that's what I'm excited about. I'm the only Power Ranger out there that really owns a martial arts school, you know. From day one until now, those are the values that I preach to my kids and those are the values I thought (were) great to add to the show. The show was already there so I was just able to influence millions around the world and I still do.

DN: Thanks again for chatting with us. Is there anything else you want people to know?

JDF: I always do these interviews to let people know that the relationship doesn't end (with the show). I try to tell people I look at everything. Tag me, tell me your stories, inbox me. I try to spend a lot of time on social media  but it's also good for (us) to hear, I was a big fan of yours.

 I want to make sure ("Power Rangers") will be something that people can remember forever.
SALT LAKE CITY  Some one-time staunch advocates for Utah's medical marijuana initiative, including the man who wrote the proposition's first draft, now oppose the controversial ballot measure.

And some of their former allies literally turned their backs on one of them Thursday at a news conference where a coalition of religious, political and civic leaders and cannabis patients urged Utahns to vote against Proposition 2.

Members of Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education or TRUCE faced the back wall of the auditorium as Nathan Frodsham, the former vice president of the organization's patients group, spoke from the stage.

"I think it's because I've been such an ardent advocate in favor of Prop 2 and maybe they see this as a betrayal and so that's their way of expressing disappointment," he said afterward. "But it doesn't change how I feel about this."

Christine Stenquist, TRUCE president and executive director, said they turned around because Frodsham has "chosen to side with his church and leave patients aside, and we felt like that was a turn against us and we turned against him."

The group opposing the measure, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Utah Medical Association and Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, vowed to work together on a solution "for all Utahns."

Frodsham, a Murray business consultant who used cannabis legally for a degenerative disc disease while living in Seattle, said he is a Latter-day Saint. He said he believes the coalition can work with state lawmakers to come up with an "upgrade" that embodies the benefits of the initiative with better safeguards and regulations.

"I think this is a much better, safer pathway forward that will ensure doctor support, that will ensure the patients get the care they need and a lot more," said Frodsham, who as recently as last month wrote an op-ed for the Deseret News favoring Prop 2.

"I still think it's really odd that we make plants illegal but I think this is the necessary step to get in to have medical on board," he said. "If we don't have medical on board, it's destined to fail."

Todd Moon began looking at ways to provide patients more access to cannabis after his now 28-year-old son started using it to control seizures. He makes weekend jaunts to Colorado from his Blanding home for treatment.

"But it's a real pain to have to go there all the time when all I'm trying to do is medicate him to have better control of his physical body," he said.

Moon wrote the initial "concept" draft for the ballot proposition two years ago, totalling 131 pages. Backers of the idea eventually whittled what is now Prop 2 to 28 pages.

"It makes sense if you're trying to launch something to strip it down to the bare-bones basics, but there was a lot of things that I felt were really important that got dropped out," he said, specifying patient safety and regulatory control.

For example, he said there needs to be a mechanism for removing contaminated products from the market.

Moon said those types of things would be included in a new bill for the Legislature.

Melissa Butler, a home health and hospice nurse and member of TRUCE, remains firmly behind Prop 2 even though her church  she said she is a devout Latter-day Saint  has come out against it.

"I have a firm testimony of the gospel, but that testimony doesn't extend to opinions of church members, even those in leadership positions. I feel like that is a separate issue from the gospel," she said.

Those looking to come up with a new proposal, she said, are "more talk than action."

"If they're going to take action, why haven't they already?" she said.

"At this point, I feel like medical cannabis has been in the works in this state for years and years," Butler said. "We finally got a great proposition written that strikes a great balance for patients and for the rest of the state."

Enedina Stanger has long advocated for legalized medical marijuana in Utah, but said Prop 2 is not the way to go.

"I believe it does not have the true interest of patients at heart," she said.

Stanger, who has a rare connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, moved with her husband, Michael, and two young daughters to Colorado for access to medical cannabis, though the family wants to live in Utah.

Since moving and using cannabis as part of new health regimen, Stanger said she no longer needs a wheelchair and can walk and run again. She said there is hope for Utah to come up with a solution.

"There is way for all Utahns to come to a united resolution to the medical cannabis dilemma we find ourselves in today," she said. "One day soon we will create legislation that will bridge patients and the medical community and so many suffering. We cannot allow fear to overcome faith in a peaceful resolution."
SOUTH SALT LAKE  A Salt Lake County Jail inmate was charged with aggravated murder Thursday after investigators say he threw 22 punches in a one-sided fight, killing a fellow inmate.

The first-degree felony charge was filed in 3rd District Court against Kitiona Kitiona Lolani Jr., 23, of West Valley City.

On Aug. 4, Daniel Davis, 38, of Salt Lake City, was killed after getting into a fight with Lolani in an area of the jail, 3415 S. 900 West, where inmates eat, according to charging documents.

The two exchanged words before Davis walked around a table to the area where Lolani was standing, according to prosecutors who reviewed jail surveillance video.

"Lolani suddenly punches Mr. Davis in the face," the charges state.

After knocking Davis to the ground, Lolani repeatedly punched him in the head, at one point using his right hand to hold Davis and his left to punch him, according to the charges.

"Mr. Davis remains on the ground the entire time of the attack and does not fight back. Lolani struck Mr. Davis approximately 22 times based on a count from the video," the court documents state.

"He messed with the wrong person," Lolani allegedly said, according to the charges. Lolani is listed in jail records as 6 feet 1 inches tall, weighing 250 pounds.

An officer who attempted to break up the fight deployed an "entire bottle" of pepper spray on Lolani, but said it had no effect.

The inmate stopped when "Davis was no longer moving," according to the charges.

Jail staffers acted immediately and administered CPR to Davis, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. Davis died from his injuries at a local hospital.

Lolani, who has a lengthy criminal history, is already scheduled to go to trial in September on a charge of aggravated assault for allegedly attacking a man at South Salt Lake bar in 2017, according to court records.

Davis, who also had a lengthy criminal history, was in jail for domestic violence-related crimes and repeatedly violating the conditions of his jail release, according to court records.
The citizens of Utah should not accept the ill-conceived and poorly constructed marijuana initiative known as Proposition 2. Nor should citizens accept inaction from the executive and legislative branches. Lawmakers and the governor must craft, sign and implement wise and effective laws in order to alleviate the suffering of those who can be helped by medical marijuana while providing safeguards for proper prescription and distribution.

On Thursday, a coalition of influencers made up of medical marijuana advocates, law enforcement, doctors, patients, associations and religious leaders, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns this paper, convened to issue a united statement in support of medical marijuana and against the proposition.

The coalition clearly demonstrated that it is possible to be for the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and be absolutely against the Proposition 2 ballot initiative. To suggest otherwise is a false choice.

Critics will argue that this is a politically motivated and religiously driven battle in the culture war. Such a suggestion is a distraction to the real issue of balancing alleviating suffering and protecting public health and safety.

Utahns are a compassionate people who have shown a commitment to help all people hurting or in need, particularly those with chronic conditions and those desperate for help. Doctors and health care professionals show a similar commitment to alleviate suffering while also ensuring they do no harm. It isnt surprising, then, that those in the medical community against this proposition, as well as others, understand you dont help one person by hurting many others  particularly teenagers and those vulnerable to abuses of drugs.

Critics will argue that this is a politically motivated and religiously driven battle in the culture war. Such a suggestion is a distraction to the real issue of balancing alleviating suffering and protecting public health and safety.

From these pages, the Deseret News has long urged the federal government to reschedule marijuana from a schedule 1 to a schedule 2 drug, which would allow for the kind of effective research that precedes the legalization of other prescription drugs. Only through such research could physicians know how much to prescribe, how the drug might interact with other prescriptions, the potential side effects and expected outcomes. We have applauded Utah for strides made in advancing the use of cannabis oil for medical treatment, including passing several bills in the 2018 legislative session.

When it comes to crafting good public policy, legislative language must create clarity, not confusion. Guidelines and guard rails must be clearly established, and unintended consequences must be fully understood and weighed against the public good.

As we have stated previously, we understand the desire to just do it and alleviate some suffering. But one need only look at the devastating, life-ruining consequences of opioid use to know the risks of not fully understanding a drug's impact  even one brought about by significant research. Utah cannot afford to sanction greater exposure to this drug without a thorough understanding of what is at stake.

We are aware of no other instance in which the public has been asked to vote on whether to approve a new drug for prescription use. The Food and Drug Administration is tasked with such things, using qualified scientists and doctors.

Utahns should not be cajoled into legislating by ballot initiative through the presentation of a false choice. Some proponents argue that if you are against the marijuana initiative, you are a cruel, heartless person who doesnt care about those who are suffering. But true compassion includes fully understanding the consequences of decisions and actions.

The firepower of the coalition against the proposition is significant. It issued a strong warning against an emotional rush to pass a reckless initiative. From across the spectrum it showed that being for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and against this flawed initiative is congruent, compassionate and wise.

The real test for the coalition members will be if they can use their immense influence to persuade Utah policymakers to fully engage with all stakeholders and craft a meaningful solution that meets the needs of the people. We call on the coalition, lawmakers and the governor to lead out with principled and civil debate in order to create compassionate policy, legislation and law.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN  While calls to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's walk-back of Obama-era net neutrality rules continue from multiple quarters, the agency's chairman and Rep. Mia Love voiced support Thursday for Congress to take action on crafting long-term rules for the internet.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai joined the Utah Republican to answer questions following a meeting, closed to the media, on rural broadband issues at Eagle Mountain's City Hall. Love said she invited Pai to Utah to help ensure concerns of the state's residents and tech stakeholders were on the commission's radar.

Net neutrality is an issue that's incredibly important, not just for the 4th district but for the state.  Rep. Mia Love

"One of the reasons why I felt it was important to bring the chairman out here is to push the sense of urgency that something should be done," Love said. "Net neutrality is an issue that's incredibly important, not just for the 4th District but for the state."

Pai, a Republican lawyer who was appointed to the commission by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and promoted to chairman by President Donald Trump in early 2017, said he, too, believes the best path forward for establishing rules for internet service providers is one that travels through the federal legislative branch.

"We need Congress to set the rules of the digital road," Pai said. "It has been 22 years since Congress spoke on the issue of how the internet should be construed. If Congress could update those rules and give everybody, the commission and the public, the certainty they need, then we can move forward on some of the bipartisan initiatives we all agree on."

While the Republican-dominated FCC board voted 3-2 in December to rescind net neutrality rules adopted in 2015, pushback against the decision has gained momentum.

In May, the U.S. Senate voted 52-47 to abolish Pai's Restoring Internet Freedom Order under the Congressional Review Act. In the U.S. House, the effort has yet to garner the 218 votes necessary to force a vote, but advocates are continuing to work for support. On Monday, attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief, updating a lawsuit launched in January of this year, that seeks to overturn the 2017 FCC decision.

The brief cites concerns over public safety as well as questioning on what basis the FCC, in its 2017 decision, extended trust to internet service providers to voluntarily comply with the net neutrality rules.

"The commission's assertion that (internet service providers) will voluntarily refrain from blocking, throttling, and similar practices incorrectly assumes that providers historically displayed such self-restraint," the brief reads. "But it was the commission's long-standing enforcement of open internet policies that compelled (internet service providers) to refrain from harmful practices that injure consumers and undermine public safety. The relatively minimal evidence of such harms in the United States is the result of the protective rules that the commission has abandoned, rather than evidence that those rules are unnecessary."

Love said that she understood critics' exasperation with rule-making from administrative bodies, like the FCC, that appear to be following the winds of partisan power-shifts in the nation's capital.

"I think that the frustration comes when you have bureaucracies making decisions for people," Love said. "Because people don't feel like they have a voice when it's the FCC making the decisions."

Utah Republican Congressman John Curtis is also interested in addressing net neutrality rules with a legislative response, and held his own meeting earlier this month to gather input from Utah stakeholders.

Curtis told the Deseret News that he saw the attempt to undo the FCC net neutrality changes, via the Congressional Review Act, as yet another swing of the political pendulum. Instead, he said lawmakers need to set rules to address both net neutrality and digital privacy protections.

"My personal feeling is the best answer is a congressional fix," Curtis said. "One of the problems we're experiencing right now is administration changes lead to (internet) policy changes and we whiplash back and forth. One of the resounding messages from the roundtable group was the need for predictability."

Love said it's time for the Utah delegation, and her congressional colleagues, to take action on legislation that would provide for a fair and accessible internet.

"I would like to call on the delegation to really push for legislation being done, because the FCC has decided they're going to put it back in the hands of Congress." Love said. "They should roll up their sleeves and really put legislation (on) the table that we can start discussing."
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Russian operators have called for legislation obliging foreign internet firms such as Facebook and Google to contribute to the costs associated with a new law requiring data to be stored domestically.

The proposals are currently under review by Russian regulator Roskomnadzor, reports Reuters. If brought into force, they would allow Russian operators to claim compensation from overseas firms after the data storage rules are enacted in October, as well as enabling Roskomnadzor to throttle speed and access to websites and services within Russia if the foreign firms do not comply.

The data storage laws are intended to provide the state with greater insight into the communications of citizens. Operators will be required to store call, SMS and internet data domestically for up to six months.

Last month, Russian operators stated that the new law could force them to increase tariffs for customers by as much as 10%. However, if their proposals are adopted then it could be the internet giants, rather than consumers, who end up footing the bill. Neither Google nor Facebook have made any public comment on the proposals.

Rostelecom has publicly backed the proposals, while Megafon has skirted the issue, saying that all interested parties should have a hand in internet resource development in Russia  not just operators. MTS, VimpelCom and Tele2 have made no comment.

The countrys three largest operators  Megafon, MTS and VimpelCom  have estimated that developing and maintaining a domestic data storage system in line with the new law would cost around 145 billion rubles (1.7 billion) across the next five years.

Currently, Russian operators do not have the infrastructure required to store the specified data, and would have to use foreign technology to comply with the legislation. This would run counter to a directive from President Vladimir Putin, who has ordered the use of locally manufactured equipment.
From restaurants to movies, to apps, to smartphones, to online purchases, we rate everything in our world today. So why not our politicians? An important aspect of a growing democracy is the ability to speak up openly about the political representatives of the country, and the Neta or National Electoral Transformation app is aimed at just that.

A unique concept, the success or failure of which could potentially help analyse the state of the Indian democracy, Neta, will allow its users to engage with the politics of the country by rating MPs and MLAs of their areas. These political representatives will get report cards viewable by all and users of the app will be able to see their profiles, income, financial liabilities, and criminal records (if any). The app rewards users by giving points for voting, posting issues, commenting on polls and more. Based on the points, one can become a Star Citizen.

The app also allows new leaders to get traction and present themselves to political parties as possible electoral candidates. Anyone who is interested in fighting an election can be featured in the app by gathering 1000 votes from their constituents, say the makers of the Neta app. Leader will have to contact the app admin to get their profiles listed on the platform.

Besides rating new and existing political leaders, the app also enables users to post grievances, polls, and anonymous comments. Any politician can offer a solution to peoples problems and users can also devote a leader if they are unsatisfied with the redressal of their complaint.

The app can even act as an important psephology tool to determine the political mood in the country before an election. However, it remains to be seen how the app will maintain objectivity and avoid fake upvoting of politicians by those with ulterior political motives. At the event, Pratham Mittal, the 27-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate who came up with the app, claimed that the it filters fake votes through advanced AI-driven algorithms and comparison with voter rolls.

The app also collects personal user information such as device log data, name, phone number, etc. It could be difficult for users to trust how their data is being used or exposed, as the privacy policy of the app is also not very well defined.

The Neta app was launched on Android and iOS today, at an event held at former President of India, Pranab Mukherjees residence. Also present at the event were Former Chief Election Commissioners, SY Quraishi and Nasim Zaidi, along with serving Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal.

Introducing the app at the event, Mittal, said, The worlds largest democracy deserves a platform where we as voters can rate our politicians and question them. We are looking at 100 million users on the platform before 2019 elections.

The Neta app will be available in 16 languages and according to the app makers, it has already registered votes from 1.5 crore verified voters across 543 parliamentary constituencies and 4120 assembly constituencies in the past eight months of the apps beta run. In order to ensure participation across demographics, the Neta app uses multiple mediums like apps, IVR calls, SMS, and even offline activations with the help of Aashawadi and Aanganwadi workers to gather data.
Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing, George Orwell, 1984.

Netflixs Ghoul reminds me of a mix of ideas from George Orwells 1984 and the fundamentals of military activism formulated by David Ben Gurion during the Palestinian Intifadas. Somewhere in the middle, writer and director of the three-part series, Patrick Graham, has also plugged in Arabic folklore, making the series extremely gripping and downright creepy.

In Ghoul, India finds itself being governed by military activism, a concept that argues that the military might of a country can solve political issues with the use of force. The concept promotes a military mindset and fanatical patriotism, both of which are present in abundance in the show. The series features Radhika Apte as the lead. Apte plays a military interrogator named Nida Rahim who has a lot to prove to her ranking officers. She is shown working at a highly-secure military facility used for interrogating the most dangerous of terrorists. There is no reference to a place, a time, or a situation, but religion is no longer as powerful a force in the India presented in Ghoul. Instead, military might and anti-intellectualism manifest in the country imagined in the show. Aptes character also faces judgement from her military peers for keeping faith with Islam at a time when coercion and force reign supreme.

The story starts taking shape when a terrorist named Ali Saeed, played by Mahesh Balraj, is brought to the interrogation facility and Rahim is ordered to interrogate him because of her honorable track record, which was only set thanks to the fact that she turned in her own father as an anti-establishment activist in the past. The element of horror creeps in when Saeed starts showing signs of demonic possession, revealing uncomfortable secrets of his interrogators and playing with their minds, leading to chaos and spine-chilling situations.

As a child of the 90s in India, where fear was a genre dictated by the likes of the Ramsay brothers, I have never seen such clever interplay of concepts in an Indian horror/thriller series. The flavour of Ghoul is much in tune with some of Netflixs older eerie releases like Stranger Things, that is to say the show makes one feel as intrigued as some of its Hollywood counterparts. It is not one to give sudden thrills and rely on jarring sound effects to deliver the frights, but instead, it engulfs you in the story of the characters and keeps you guessing as to whats going to happen to them next.

To sum it up, Ghoul is a must watch for fans of quality Indian content and I am glad Netflix is making shows like this and Sacred Games to boost local offerings on its platform. These sort of shows demand the kind of critical thinking that audiences in India desperately need to sift invigorating content from the clutter of soap operas.

Ghoul is now streaming in Netflix.
WhatsApp, which is mired in a multiple controversies in India, has finally got some sympathisers who say that Google and other payment services are getting unfair advantage over WhatsApp under the authorities in India and is looking at other countries for a full-scale launch. Citing people familiar with the matter, The Economic Times reported that on the issue of tracing messages to the original sender WhatsApp wants the government to have a public debate before asking technology companies to do more surveillance.

In letters to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the IT ministry has asked questions about data sharing practices between WhatsApp and Facebook along with the companys data storage policies. According to bankers with the knowledge of the matter, WhatsApp has allegedly not met the minimum requirements laid out by the NPCI. Also, unlike other Unified Payments Interface (UPI) applications, WhatsApp Payments has not adhered to the two-factor authentication norm mandated by RBI for all digital payments.

However, another section of bankers has defended WhatsApp saying: By two factors we mean what we have and what we know. For WhatsApp Pay, the first factor is the device and the second factor is the UPI PIN, hence there is no violation of the RBI norm. Recently, WhatsApps plans to introduce a payments feature hit a roadblock as its parent organisation Facebook was embroiled in data sharing controversies. The instant messaging app had been testing the feature since February, and it was supposed to be launched in March. But as the company was mired in a data sharing controversy with British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, the plan to unveil the feature was reportedly pushed ahead.

Citing industry sources, a report in national daily Economic Times said that nearly 700,000 users have tested the service. WhatsApp is prepared for data mirroring  storing India data in India while also in foreign servers, the report said. WhatsApp has 1.5 billion people globally on its platform and India is its largest user market with 200 million active monthly users.
NCLAT asks Tata Sons not to force Cyrus Mistry to sell stake

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday asked Tata Sons not to force its ousted chairman to sell stake in the group, but declined to pass any order on Mistry's plea to prevent Tata Sons converting the company into a private firm.

A two-member NCLAT bench headed by chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya admitted Mistrys appeal and directed Tata Sons and other respondents to file their reply within 10 days.

The appellate tribunal will start hearing on the Mistry firms petition from 24 September and a decision on the conversion issue will be made at a later stage. Earlier on 14 August, NCLAT had reserved an order on the interim relief sought by Mistry firms, which form the major shareholder block outside the Tata Trusts.

Tata Sons by converting itself to a private entity is forcing Cyrus Mistry to sell off his family stake of about 18.4 per cent by rendering its stake powerless, as per the Mistry firms petition filed before the NCLT in Mumbai.

Cyrus Mistry had moved NCLAT, citing Article 75 of Articles of Association of Tata Sons, after the NCLT ruled in favour of Tata Sons.

Mistry was represented by senior advocate CA Sundaram who had argued that there was no urgent reason for this conversion and it should be stopped until Mistrys plea against his removal is decided by the NCLAT.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Tata Sons, had informed the court that the Registrar of Companies had recognised Tata Sons as a private limited company on 6 August.

Tata Sons, in September last year, received shareholders' nod to convert itself into a private limited company instead of being counted as a public limited company, limiting in effect Mistry family's ability to sell their stake to outsiders.

A public limited company allows shareholders to legally sell their stake to anyone but a shareholder of a private limited firm cannot sell the shares to external investors.
US, China trade war escalates with tariffs on $16bn imports as talks fail

US-China trade talks ended in a stalemate on Thursday as officials of the two countries failed to agree on how to end the trade dispute and instead escalated the ongoing trade war by activating another round of tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country's goods.

Late last night, the US imposed a 25 per cent tariff on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods coming into the US and China responded tit-for-tat, bringing the fresh tariffs on bilateral trade to $106 billion, or roughly 17 per cent of all US-China trade.

A senior Trump administration official said there are no chances for any substantial progress in the current round of US-China trade talks. "In order for us to get a positive result out of these engagements, it's really critical that they address the fundamental concerns that we have raised," the official told. "We haven't seen that yet, but we are going to continue to encourage them to address problems that we have raised."

We concluded two days of discussions with counterparts from China and exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship, reports quoted White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters as saying in a brief emailed statement.

The discussions included addressing structural issues in China, including its intellectual property and technology transfer policies, Walters said. The mid-level Trump administration officials participating in the talks would brief the heads of their agencies on the discussions, she added.

Implementation of the latest 25 per cent tariffs on Thursday, the first after the US-China meetings in June, however, did not derail the talks, which were led by US treasury under-secretary David Malpass and Chinese commerce vice minister Wang Shouwen.

Earlier, a senior Trump administration official downplayed chances for success, saying China had yet to address US complaints about alleged misappropriation of US intellectual property and industrial subsidies.

The Trump administration is hoping to force China to make major adjustments to its economic policies, including lowering existing tariffs and curtailing the alleged theft of US intellectual property by Chinese firms. In addition, Trump wants to slash the large US trade deficit with China.

In a hardening of China's attitude to US President Donald Trump's tactics, after he threatened to impose a third round of tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods, including goods ranging from food to luggage and antiques, next month, the Chinese trade delegation has reportedly told Washington there may be no substantial negotiations to avert a trade war between the two nations.

China had targeted its first, $34 billion round of retaliatory tariffs on products from key Republican states, in order to orchestrate a voter backlash at the mid-terms polls.

Chinese customs figures show imports of sorghum, a key US crop relied on for animal feed in China, fell by 62 per cent in July compared to a year ago. Corn imports fell 63 per cent compared to a year earlier, after China imposed the 25 per cent tariff on US grains on 6 July.

On the other hand, Chinese semiconductors, plastics and railway equipment will attract an extra 25 per cent tariff in the US.

US coal, gas, and many vehicles including buses and trucks will be hit with a 25 per cent Chinese tariff in the world's biggest automotive market, where tariffs on many other vehicle importers are falling.

China's commerce ministry on Friday said Wang had gone to Washington at the invitation of the US, and held "constructive and frank exchanges".

"Both parties will maintain contact for the next step arrangement."

A White House spokeswoman said the two sides had "exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance and reciprocity in the economic relationship, including by addressing structural issues in China".

The Global Times newspaper quoted Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, as saying tensions may escalate if the US goes ahead with the $200 billion tariff round next month.
Research identifies all the different ways the sea supports human wellbeing

A study led by the University of Liverpool that catalogued all of the links between marine biodiversity and the different ways we rely on the sea found more than 30 ways it supports well-being including providing a source of nutrition, supplying raw materials and supporting recreational activities.

A team of researchers explored the different ways that European seas including North East Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea support and link to human wellbeing.

It is known that marine biodiversity supports human wellbeing in many ways and that people benefit from links between the flora and fauna of the sea and the 'ecosystem services'.

However, such an extensive catalogue of the links between marine ecosystems and human wellbeing has not previously existed.

The study found 31 different ecosystem services including providing a source of nutrition through supply of seafood, providing raw materials, for example marine plants used in cosmetics, producing oxygen (the sea is estimated to produce half of the oxygen we breathe), providing natural flood defences and also providing opportunities for recreation, artistic inspiration and enhancement of spiritual wellbeing.

Some of these, like seafood, have significant economic value and others enrich our lives in other essential and non-essential ways.

Fiona Culhane, lead author of the study and a researcher with the University's School of Environmental Sciences, said, "We rely on the sea in more ways than we often realise. Our study has tried to document all of these ways.

"This is important because these ecosystem services rely on the condition of the biodiversity that supplies them. If we don't recognise this and protect biodiversity, we risk losing the benefits we get."

A key aspect of the study was the development of meaningful units in which to group marine biodiversity in relation to how they supply ecosystem services. The service providing units (SPUs) developed include combinations of taxa (e.g. seabirds, macroalgae, fish) with all habitats (e.g. littoral rock, oceanic waters) they spend time in.

Leonie Robinson, a Senior Lecturer from the University's School of Environmental Sciences who was the principal investigator on this study, said: "The development of meaningful service providing units allows managers to fully appreciate which aspects of biodiversity underpin the sustainable supply of services that humans rely on.

"Without making the link between habitats and mobile marine taxa like whales and fish, it is likely that habitats that may seem unconnected or remote are missed when considering conservation. This could lead to a lack of protection of relevant habitats and taxa risking the sustained supply of essential marine ecosystem services."
Lenders approve Adani Wilmar's Rs6,000-cr bid for Ruchi Soya

Creditors of bankrupt Ruchi Soya Ltd have approved a Rs6,000-crore offer by Adani Wilmar Ltd to take over the Indore-based company, which is also Indias largest edible oil maker.

Reports quoting banking sources said more than 96 per cent members of the committee of creditors (CoC) for Ruchi Soya have approved the resolution plan submitted by the Adani Group company, at the end of a 24-hour voting process.

Creditors representing at least 66 per cent of the outstanding dues of a company must approve a plan for it to go through under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Adani Wimers offer includes Rs4,300-crore repayment to financial creditors and over Rs1,700 crore equity infusion in the company

Yoga guru Ramdev-backed Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd, the second-highest bidder, had offered Rs5,765 crore, which includes Rs4,065 crore repayment to financial creditors and about Rs1,700 crore as equity support.

Neither bidder offered to hike their bids, the bankers were quoted earlier as saying. The offer will now be placed before the National Company Law Tribunal for a final approval, after which Adani Wilmar can take control of Ruchi Soyas assets.

Adani Wilmar, which sells cooking oil under the Fortune brand, has bid for Ruuchi Soya assets at a 53 per cent haircut to the claims of financial creditors. Ruchi Soya owes lenders Rs9,115 crore, according to claims overseen by Shailendra Ajmera, the resolution professional for the company.

State Bank of India has the highest exposure of Rs1,822 crore to Ruchi Soya, according to the companys website.

After Adani Wilmar emerged as H1, Patanjali Ayurved sought clarification from the resolution professional (RP) of Ruchi Soya on the eligibility of Adani Group to participate in the bidding process. It also sought to know the parameters adopted by the RP to declare Adani Wilmar as the highest bidder.

Patanjali Ayurved managing director Acharya Balkrishna had last month, said that it will not back out from the race to acquire Ruchi Soya and explore all options, including legal, to clinch the deal.

The Haridwar-based firm has questioned the appointment of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the RP's legal advisor as the said law firm was already advising Adani Group.

Patanjali was asked to submit a revised bid by 16 June to match or better the highest offer of Rs6,000 crore by Adani Wilmar under the Swiss Challenge system adopted by the RP and the committee of creditors.

However, Patanjali wrote to the RP seeking clarifications instead of submitting a fresh bid.

Patanjali Ayurved already has a tie-up with the Indore-based Ruchi Soya for edible oil refining and packaging and it wants to further expand its cooking oil business.

Ruchi Soya, which is facing the insolvency proceedings, has a total debt of about Rs 12,000 crore. The company has several manufacturing plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold.
North West Hospice is calling on everyone to get on board for Irelands biggest coffee morning for hospice together with Bewleys.

The annual coffee morning now in its 27th year is on Thursday September 20. That is the day when people all over the country will share a cup of Bewleys coffee to support their local hospice and their vital work caring for people in their local communities nationwide.

"The coffee morning is the biggest fundraiser of the year for North West Hospice, Bernadette McGarvey head of communications at North West Hospice, said at this weeks launch of the annual coffee morning in Dublin.

Funds raised will go directly towards maintaining our specialist palliative care service and to support those living with life-limiting illness in our community.

We will organise your free coffee pack and you just put the kettle on.

North West Hospice need to raise over 1 million every year to fund the running of the hospice and the services the hospice provides.

By hosting a coffee morning you can make a difference to peoples lives and help North West Hospice continue to help our community. All you have to do to host a coffee morning is register with it with North West Hospice on (071) 9170523 or online at www.northwesthospice.ie/coffeemorning.

Since the first coffee morning 26 years ago over 35 million has been raised by people around Ireland. This year it is hoped that Irelands Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice Together with Bewleys will raise a much needed 2 million for local hospice and homecare services nationwide.

The coffee morning was launched by actor Brendan Gleeson who spoke of the important work the local hospice do in their communities. He said he had been personally touched by the work done by the hospice and he urged people to host a coffee morning on Thursday 20th September.
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Unless youve been hiding under a stone, you will know that Pope Francis is visiting Ireland this weekend as part of the World Meeting of Families 2018.

People from Louth are expected to be among the hundreds of thousands who travel to see the Pope in person during his short visit here.

Will you be there? Then share the atmosphere from this once in a generation experience by sending your photos from the journey up, the day itself or even a snap of the man himself if you manage it on the day! We will publish a selection of your photos on DundalkDemocrat.ie and in next weeks Dundalk Democrat/

Email your photos to editor@dundalkdemocrat.ie or share them with us via Facebook or Twitter.



What is the Popes itinerary?

Pope Francis will be in Ireland for just 36 hours in total but he has a packed schedule during his time here. He will arrive in Dublin Airport on Saturday, August 25, and will go first to Aras an Uachtarain where he will meet with President Michael D Higgins at 11.30am.

The Pope will then travel to Dublin Castle where he will deliver a speech.

That afternoon he will visit St Marys Cathedral before going on a private visit to Day Centre for Homeless Families of the Capuchin Fathers.

On Saturday evening, he will attend the World Meeting of the Families event in Croke Park.

On Sunday morning he will visit Knock Shrine in the morning to say the Angelus on the square in front of the famous shrine. Afterward, he will travel back to Dublin and will arrive at the Phoenix Park for Holy Mass at 3pm.

READ: www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/news/home/331426/travel-information-for-louth-people-going-to-see-the-pope-this-weekend.html
A new exhibition, entitled, Jacobs Biscuit Factory & Dublin: An Assorted History is currently on display at Louth County Archives Service, Old Gaol, Ardee Road.

The exhibition opened on Wednesday evening and will run until 7 September (9.30am-1pm, 2pm-4pm, Mon-Fri) with the kind permission of Dublin City Library and Archive.

A lunchtime talk will also take place on today (24 August) from 1pm-2pm by exhibition curator Wendy Williams.

Drawing on the vast 330 boxes of Jacob Biscuit Factory Archives held at Dublin City Library and Archive, and using beautifully illustrated panels, oral histories, flags and original artefacts, the exhibition tells both a chronological and thematic history of Jacobs Biscuit Factory.

The events of 1913-1922 which impacted on Ireland nationally feature prominently and using the lens of the factory allows the exhibition to provide a unique contribution to the Decade of Commemorations.

The exhibition also tells more broadly the impact of Jacobs on social, cultural and political life in Ireland throughout the twentieth century. It includes an impressive time-line showing the changing faces of Jacobs biscuit labels throughout the decades, and original artefacts such as a locked recipe book, an Irish Free State Biscuit tin, a long service medal and watch, and a travelling salesman kit.

Visitors will find out about the fascinating history of the Jacobs cream-cracker, who was the marketing genius to develop the concept of Jim Figgerty, and how did major national and international events from 1916 Rising to both World Wars impact the business, customers, and staff.

County Archivist, Lorraine McCann said: This colourful exhibition focuses on the history of the factory, the workers, the biscuits it produced and its impact on Irish life in the twentieth century. I encourage everyone to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane & visit this tasty exhibition

The exhibition was curated by Dublin City Library & Archive, made possible by a generous donation of company records from Valeo Foods, the Jacobs brand owner, together with a lifetime of committed collecting by Douglas Appleyard, and funded by Dublin City Council Decade of Commemoration.

A lunchtime talk by exhibition curator Wendy Williams will take place from 1pm-2pm on Friday 24 August to coincide with the exhibition. The talk will draw on the archive collection held at Dublin City Library & Archive and will look at many aspects of Jacob's 160-year business legacy from the origins of the names of the biscuits to welfare provisions for the people who made them.

Members of the public are encouraged to contact Louth County Archives @louthcoco and @dclareadingroom using #jacobsassorted if they have Jacobs memorabilia which they would like to add to the archive or to share their favourite labels or memories of Jacobs.

In particular, DCLA are gathering stories of the after-life of Jacobs biscuit tins. What did you keep in the tin or box, once all the biscuits were eaten? For example that spare parts for the first Aer Lingus plane Iolar were carried in a Jacobs tin!
The Department of Water and Sanitation of South Africa has signed a long-term contract with the South African Weather Service, HydroNET and eLEAF to rollout their Water Auditing Application to support compliance monitoring of irrigated water use.

The software has been developed in cooperation with Inkomati Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA). The use of this application by the agency has already led to a significant reduction of water use by farmers for irrigation.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has now decided to rollout the Water Auditing Application throughout South Africa.

Dashboard shows the real-time water use per farm location and in this example the blue line indicates that more water has been used for irrigation than allocated (horizontal red dotted line).

Regulated water use

The recent droughts in South Africa have put an enormous pressure on the available water resources. Of the available water, 63 percent is used for irrigation. To regulate water use, a water licensing system is introduced in the National Water Act of South Africa.

Water resources managers have a major challenge to monitor compliance, since water meters are not available for most farms.

Showing water use for irrigation

The Water Auditing Application is a low-cost compliance monitoring solution to identify farms that use more water for irrigation than allowed.

This information enables water managers to warn and raise awareness among farmers by showing them their water use compared to others.

Dashboard shows the water use in the whole catchment (blue line) and the amount of water located to farmers (horizontal red dotted line).

Comparing permitted volumes

The Water Auditing application is based on weather information from the South African Weather Service and eLEAFs PiMapping technology to calculate the volume of water used per irrigated field.

This volume is automatically compared with the permitted volumes, flagging non-compliance. For water resource managers the application offers easy access and insight into the irrigated water use per field, farm, catchment, district or any other management.

It highlights areas with excessive water use, supporting water managers to optimize their permit enforcement strategies.

All this information is available via online dashboards through the HydroNET platform, an award-winning decision support system for water managers.

The combination of eLEAFs PiMapping technology and HydroNET Software as a Service (SAAS) solution ensures that the Water Auditing application can be implemented anytime, anywhere at any place in the world.

Presentation at Stockholm World Water Week

The development of the Water Auditing Application has been supported by the Business Applications programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) commissioned by the Netherlands Space Office (NSO). The Water Auditing application will be presented at the African Spatial Delight session at the Stockholm World Water Week on August 29 from 11:00 to 12:30.

This news item was originally published on the website of Hydrologic.

(Top photo: Istock)

Read also on this website

 HydroNET Water Control Room wins prestigious Partner for Water award 2017, 20 April 2017

 First HydroNet control room for Inkomati-Usuthu catchment management agency, South Africa, 4 October 2016

 Stockholm water week 2012: satellite farming, fancy smart phones and green water credits, 29 August 2012

 Country: South Africa



More information

HydroLogic

Amersfoort, the Netherlands

+31 33 475 35 35

www.hydrologic.com

E-Leaf

Wageningen, the Netherlands

+31 317 729 000

www.eleaf.com
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AdTheorent, which offers a machine learning platform for advertisers, on Thursday announced AdTheorent Relationship Targeting.

This new product allows advertisers to harness the power of relationships with family members, cohabitants or friends to influence a consumer to take desired actions.

Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20-50 percent of all purchasing decisions, AdTheorent noted, citing a McKinsey report.

Also, a recommendation from a trusted friend is up to 50 times more likely to trigger a purchase than a low-impact recommendation from a stranger.

The number of connections matters as well, suggested Calynn Krieger, SVP of strategy and marketing at AdTheorent.

"Conversion rates for in-market individuals who had six-plus connections who were also served advertisements outperformed by over 33 percent the conversion rates for in-market shoppers with only one connection," she told CRM Buyer.

How Relationship Targeting Works

An advertiser defines its core audience through various avenues, such as CRM data, location data, site pixel data or purchase data. AdTheorent's Relationship Targeting algorithms then leverage user device location patterns to identify groups of real-world consumer relationships.

AdTheorent's Cross-Environment Map, which consist of more than 740 million unique device IDs mapped to more than 92 million U.S. households, lets AdTheorent identify core audience connections of family members, cohabitants and friends.

The company collects observed device IDs and device IP addresses to map to household locations using time, frequency location patterns and device grouping, Krieger said.

All AdTheorent data is anonymized, and does not contain personally identifiable information, she noted. Also, AdTheorent is fully GDPR-compliant.

Users' location patterns change over time, Krieger pointed out, and AdTheorent's data scientists "monitor and remap the Relationship Graph dynamically based on the changes to device signal connections and location."

The Relationship Graph is a result of combining the Cross-Environment Map with AdTheorent's Relationship Targeting algorithms, which leverage frequent location patterns between users derived directly from device location data on multiple occasions.

The Relationship Graph "is a map of real-world connections consisting of 1.3 trillion graphed connections, including an average of 14 friends and family members per user," Krieger said.

It "informs our targeting and provides data for [AdTheorent's] Machine Learning Platform when running campaigns where relationship plays a factor," she explained. "We can leverage the graph and its data to solve client requests and answer post-campaign questions."

The Cross-Environment Map and Relationship Graph add another dimension for advertisers by helping them cross-reference and identify circles of influencers, observed Cindy Zhou, chief marketing officer at Level Access.

The technology is "a good complement to the various data management platforms and ad tech platforms from companies such as Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce and Google," she told CRM Buyer.

Currently, the Relationship Graph is available only within an ad campaign managed and run through he AdTheorent machine learning platform, AdTheorent's Krieger noted.

The cost of leveraging the Relationship Graph is based on the campaign type and key performance indicators.

AdTheorent's ML Platform

AdTheorent's award-winning machine learning platform, which was developed in-house, analyzes "over one million advertising impressions per second, constantly scoring impression opportunities and serving ads only to those impressions most likely to drive an advertiser's unique campaign key performance indicators," Krieger said.

AdTheorent's Relationship Graph stores data separately from its ML platform, she noted. The company's data scientists use ML to identify and connect relationships contained within its Cross-Environment Map, or CEM, and "our ML platform references the Relationship Graph and CEM on every ad impression opportunity."

The company can "develop ML models in micro-seconds to pull insights from the data and optimize in flight," Krieger remarked.

Statistical Issues

Things have changed considerably since the release of the McKinsey report 10 years ago. For example, there has been a backlash against celebrity endorsements and recommendations, which used to bear a lot of weight.

"The basis of the McKinsey report on consumers being influenced by word of mouth is still valid, but that definition has expanded in recent years [to include] online reviews and social influencers," Zhou remarked.

"Crowdsourced product and service reviews have increased -- and in many instances, replaced -- recommendations from friends and family," she pointed out.

Certainly, influencer marketing is potent.

Seventy-five percent of national advertisers already had engaged in influencer marketing, the Association of National Advertisers found in a study released this spring, which focused on influencer marketing through social media. Forty-three percent planned to increase spending on it in the next 12 months, and 27 percent of those not yet using influencer marketing planned to do so within the following 12 months.

The influencer marketing industry will be a US$5-$10 billion dollar market in the next five years, according to Mediakix. That includes bloggers, social media and YouTube.

However, AdTheorent's Relationship Targeting is different from influencer marketing, because "it identifies real-world relationships," Krieger pointed out.

"Individuals have many social connections, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we interact with those people in person or frequently, or that they influence our purchasing decisions," she said. "What we've mapped are real-world connections -- people that we know spend time together at home, or are friends and spend time together determined by location patterns."

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.




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The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to bet on the cloud for much of its future information technology operations -- presenting significant opportunities for cloud service providers (CSPs) and related IT suppliers.

However, DoD's latest foray into cloud technology has stimulated significant criticism from a large swath of the IT and CSP sectors. DoD released its final request for proposal for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud program last week. The program, dubbed "JEDI," could reach a total contract value of US$10 billion over 10 years, DoD said.

Potential contractors must submit bids by Sept. 19.

Yet the structure of the contract will deny opportunities for multiple IT and CSP providers to gain a share of the JEDI program -- and the RFP actually may favor one provider, critics have contended.

As DoD circulated drafts of the proposal earlier this year, industry groups such as the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS) and the Professional Services Council cautioned the Defense Department about the structure of the contract. Now that the proposal is official, those concerns could spur legal actions.

In essence, the JEDI program represents an approach to managing DoD's IT infrastructure with a particular emphasis on fully exploiting cloud technology as a key element, and perhaps eventually the core element -- of the department's IT operations. The rationale for JEDI was framed more as a remedial effort to overcome current deficiencies than a positive goal going forward.

DoD's "lack of a coordinated enterprise-level approach to cloud infrastructure makes it virtually impossible for our warfighters and leaders to make critical data-driven decisions at 'mission-speed,' negatively affecting outcomes," says the JEDI draft statement of objectives. The JEDI cloud program "will provide enterprise-level, commercial cloud services as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS)" for more than 40 components of DoD, including all the major military services.

IT Provider Challenges

While industry groups generally agree that DoD could improve IT management significantly, and that cloud technology is central that effort, these groups still take issue with the specific contract terms of the proposed JEDI project.

A key objection is that DoD has insisted on using a "single award" concept for JEDI. Although Secretary of Defense James Mattis told Congress this spring that JEDI would feature "full and open" competition and avoid a sole source, the RFP language frustrates that objective, according to industry groups.

The preliminary drafts of the proposal were designed to "facilitate the deployment of a single cloud under this program," said Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president at the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS), which represents major IT providers.

"Deployment of a single cloud conflicts with established best practices and industry trends in the commercial marketplace, as well as current law and regulation, which calls for the award of multiple task or delivery order contracts to the maximum extent practicable," Hodgkins wrote in an April letter to Congress. "Further, the speed of adoption of innovative commercial solutions, like cloud, is facilitated by the use of these best practices."

Yet the final RFP again emphasizes the single-award concept and includes a contractual "determination" for such using such a vehicle. That may not quiet the critics.

Industry sources this spring challenged various DoD positions in a response to a Defense Department report to Congress that defended the JEDI contract terms.

DoD Faulted on Best Practice Claim

Single source arrangements would lead to more efficient management and more responsive acquisition, according to DoD, by avoiding more time-consuming administration of a multivendor mechanism in which in a roster of providers are qualified to bid on subsequent task orders.

Such contracts are common in government IT acquisition and can involve more than 10 providers, along with subcontracting potential.

Based on DoD market research, "migration to a single cloud is consistent with industry best practice," the department states in its May 2018 report to Congress on the JEDI program.

However, the private sector has routinely managed complex, multicloud environments, industry representatives have contended, and the department's need to integrate JEDI into a multisystem environment would require it to confront the same issues it seeks to avoid by using a single vendor.

In addition to management issues, the single-award concept could put the award recipient in a position to dominate future cloud contracting, critics of the DoD proposal have objected.

Vendor lock-in is still a major concern within the industry, despite DoD's statement to Congress this spring.

"Technology changes, and the RFP as drafted would discourage innovation," noted John Weiler, vice-chair of the IT Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC), a public-private partnership focusing on federal IT issues.

"Providers have different capabilities which the government should tap, rather than make it difficult to obtain multicloud resources," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"The DoD approach appears to pave the way for JEDI to be the Department's all-encompassing cloud facility, which raises concerns about the future of the current DoD milCloud capability and the Defense Information Systems Agency, and the impact on current providers," Weiler said.

A further worry about the single-award strategy is that the RFP terms likely could favor one potential vendor: Amazon Web Services. The company has contracted to provide IT and cloud capabilities for the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, and other federal agencies.

"We are concerned that the department may have engendered a sort of institutional bias" when it comes to Amazon, Weiler said. "I would not be surprised to see that the RFP will be protested," he added.

Broader Approach Indicated

The RFP itself discusses JEDI in the context of a broad panoply of cloud solutions, even though DoD selected the single-award strategy.

"This is a full and open competition that will result in a single-award contract," said Defense Department spokesperson Heather Babb.

"While JEDI cloud is an initial step toward a department-wide cloud solution, DoD will continue to operate in a multicloud environment due to diverse mission needs," she told the E-Commerce Times.

"If there was an effort to centralize all cloud approaches under the JEDI program, then current efforts probably would not still be under way. Navy is about to award an enterprise-wide commercial cloud services contract. The Army just added a dozen vendors to its ACCENT cloud services contract vehicle," said Alex Rossino, senior analyst at Deltek.

"Defense agencies have been directed to move all of their cloud-ready systems to milCloud 2.0. I suspect none of this would be going on if JEDI was intended to be the one cloud to rule them all," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Nor does the single-award strategy preclude competition, Rossino noted, because multiple teams have the capabilities to meet DoD's requirements.

However, "vendor lockin is a different story," he said. "DoD could get around that by awarding multiple contracts to build a single cloud infrastructure. This might sound like it's not efficient, but requiring multiple contractors to develop an interoperable cloud infrastructure would satisfy concern among industry, Congress and the DoD."

While the RFP's release constitutes the final invitation to bid, DoD said it would take questions and comments through Aug. 16, via a special format within the RFP.

John K. Higgins has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2009. His main areas of focus are U.S. government technology issues such as IT contracting, cybersecurity, privacy, cloud technology, big data and e-commerce regulation. As a freelance journalist and career business writer, he has written for numerous publications, including The Corps Report and Business Week. Email John.




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Governor Jerry Brown last month signed into law the California Consumer Privacy Act. The CCPA is the state's response to a growing concern that consumers need stronger means to protect their personal information.

The issue came to a head in part due to recent breaches that exposed the personal data of millions of American consumers. However, the CCPA also addresses other privacy incidents that have affected millions of people in California and beyond.

The new law, which is viewed as one of the most far-reaching consumer protection privacy laws in the United States, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

At that time, businesses will have to comply with a range of new requirements. The CCPA's end goal is to ensure that consumers enjoy "choice and transparency" when it comes to their personal information. For companies based in California, or for those that do business with clients or customers in California, this could be a truly big deal -- and it isn't something any business should ignore.

However, CCPA isn't the only new privacy law that online businesses -- big or small -- need to take notice of at this time. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulations went into effect this spring, and even with two years of warning, many companies were caught off guard. Many companies geo-blocked their content from IP addresses in Europe as a response to the new regulations.

EU lawmakers approved the GDPR more than two years ago to replace the previous Data Protection Directive in the 28-nation bloc. The goal of the GDPR was to give consumers greater control of personal data collected by companies online. It applies not only to organizations that are located within the EU, but also to companies outside the region if they offer goods or services in the EU or have any type of digital footprint with consumers there.

CCPA Controversy

CCPA has been the center of controversy, as its many critics have contended that it was a hastily passed law that came about only as part of deal brokered by the state legislature and Brown as a way to avert what could have been an even more costly fight over a proposed ballot initiative.

That proposal, which was backed by the state's privacy activists, could have resulted in an even more stringent measure appearing before California voters in November.

CCPA grants residents in California the following rights: 1) to know what personal information is being collected about them; 2) to know whether their personal information is sold or otherwise disclosed and to whom; 3) to say no to the sale of their personal information; 4) to access their personal information and request deletion under certain circumstances; and 5) to receive equal service and price, even if they exercise their privacy rights.

At this point it is still unclear as to how CCPA actually will be enforced, but those violating the law could face fines ranging from US$100 to $750 per consumer per incident. More importantly, CCPA also empowers the state's attorney general to pursue cases against businesses for damages of up to $7,500 per instance for "intentional violations."

"CCPA deals with the data of California consumers," said Laura Jehl, a partner with BakerHostetler and co-leader of the firm's General Data Protection Regulation initiative.

"Not that many businesses online in the United States don't have any California customers," she told the E-Commerce Times. "If you offer goods and services and don't comply with the law, you could face a fine. In California, it is also up to the discretion of the state's AG to determine whether to go after violators."

GDPR and American Companies

American companies -- especially smaller firms -- may think they won't be affected by the EU's GDPR, but that could be as far-reaching, or even more so, than CCPA.

"U.S. small businesses may or may not need to address GDPR compliance, as GDPR applies to any EU business and companies that process the personal data of EU citizens," said Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insights at the Local Search Association.

"If U.S. small businesses are involved in the collection, storage or usage of personal data of EU citizens they will need to comply, but if they have no dealings with EU citizens they do not," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Yet "GDPR is already relevant to American businesses that provide services through the Internet, as they often have international customer bases and provide services to EU countries," said Erik Ashby, principal program manager at Helpshift, a San Francisco-based customer support technology platform.

"If EU citizen data is involved, businesses must have opt-in consent for storage and use of that data -- consent is mostly not required for legal uses of pre-existing data," added LSA's Sterling. "In asking for consent, businesses must inform people of the specific, intended data uses, while data owners have a right to revoke consent and withdraw their data at any time."

Devil in the Details

GDPR is very specific in terms of its rules as well.

"Consent for one purpose can't be used to justify another, unrelated purpose," explained Sterling.

"Categories of 'sensitive' data -- e.g., children -- carry additional requirements," he noted. "Large-scale data processors, which most small businesses are not, may require the hiring of a data protection officer as well."

Here is where the devil could truly be in the details, as data must be maintained in a secure and appropriate way for its intended use, and it should not be accessible to unauthorized parties. Further, data breaches must be communicated to victims -- and potentially authorities -- in a timely way.

"There must also be procedures in place to enable the owners of the personal data to access or request that it be deleted," Sterling pointed out.

"As we have seen with CCPA, we expect that other governing bodies will follow the precedent set by the EU with GDPR," Helpshift's Ashby told the E-Commerce Times. "Most importantly, GDPR provides a set of basic guidelines that are fundamental to protecting customers, regardless of where they are."

Prep Time

Businesses still have time to prepare for CCPA, but companies that are not yet compliant with the EU's GDPR face serious fines of up to 4 percent of annual global revenue or 20 million euros (US$24.6 million), whichever is larger.

"This is a much stricter law, as GDPR makes very few exceptions when you process data, and it doesn't matter if you are a small business or even a not-for-profit," warned BakerHostetler's Jehl.

"GDPR is about protecting the data of EU citizens, and whether you have offices in the EU or not you still need to be compliant," she added. "An example could be a small hotel chain that has had EU customers in the past, and decides to market to them via email or online -- and when you do so, you need to be compliant in how you use their personal data."

Fine Time in the EU

Firms that are found in violation of the law could face those rather hefty fines.

"What we have seen is that EU regulators have indicated that they won't enforce the full extent of the fines in the first couple of months, and that is a good sign for businesses that aren't yet compliant," said Jehl. "The good news for smaller firms is that they aren't likely to be the first in the crosshairs."

However, the EU isn't likely to ignore violators for long, especially major international firms. Larger tech companies could be the first in its sights, as it has a long track record of imposing large fines on big businesses.

Between 2013 and 2017 the European Commission imposed fines totaling 8.472 billion euros ($9.54 billion). Those numbers don't include the 1.06 billion euro fine imposed on Intel in May 2009 for abusing its market dominance on central processing units, or the 900 million euro fine imposed on Microsoft in February 2008 for "unreasonable" royalty fees.

"They may start with the bigger tech companies, but they will bring some action on smaller companies or outliers as well," added Jehl. "They have to defend it or they risk losing the power of the hammer."

California Enforcement

CCPA may not go into effect for another year and a half, but American companies may need to ensure they're prepared for it.

"Although California's law is more limited than the GDPR in many respects, its implications will likely be felt more broadly by U.S. businesses -- including mid-sized firms that use third-party data but do not operate in Europe," warned Ryan Radia, research fellow and regulatory counsel for the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

"California's law does include express carve-outs for small businesses, however," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"Although most large technology companies that interact directly with users now provide a mechanism for individuals to view or delete their information, thousands of companies that will likely be subject to the new California law have yet to provide for such a mechanism," he noted.

"There's likely to be nontrivial compliance costs for many of these companies, and California is also better positioned to actually enforce its law against U.S. companies, whereas the EU may encounter some challenges if it seeks to enforce the GDPR against U.S. companies that have no physical presence or assets in Europe," explained Radia.

As it now stands, the fines that California could impose are on the smaller side. However, apart from what the AG could do with more egregious violators of the law, there is a concern that CCPA could have an impact on companies of all sizes.

"We do see a scenario where privacy zealots would push to go after small companies because the law would allow it," said Jehl. "However, the enforcement mechanisms are rather unusual, so it is hard to tell how this will eventually play out."

That said, CCPA "will be the strictest privacy regulation in the U.S., and it may wind up becoming a national standard as a practical matter," said LSA's Sterling.

"It's chiefly aimed at data brokers and large processors of data such as Google, Facebook and other online advertising and marketing companies," he noted. "Any company doing business in California or using California citizens' data will have to comply."

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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Shopping: It's not what it once was. Forget the long drive to the mall and countless hours of browsing. Customers now simply log in from the comfort of their own home to have the world at their fingertips.

The massive uptake of e-commerce is an unprecedented shift in consumer behavior, expectations and purchases. The evidence is in the numbers: Internet shopping is the most popular online activity. Revenues have doubled in the past five years, from total sales of US $1.336 billion in 2014 to an expected $2.842 billion this year.

Meanwhile, for traditional brick-and-mortar stores, patronage has continued to slide every year. Last year's holiday season demonstrated the true power of modern, online shopping, as more U.S. consumers planned to purchase their gifts from the Internet rather than in stores.

To keep up with rapidly evolving consumer behavior and historic demand, online retailers need to be more efficient and reliable than ever before. One of the best ways to do so is by integrating tech-based analytics and artificial intelligence.

More than just a buzzword or sci-fi concept, artificial intelligence already has a multitude of applications to convert browsers into buyers. Things like user personalization, registered shopping habits, tailored advertisements and customer engagement can push the likelihood of purchase toward e-commerce retailers -- and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

From Browser to Buyer

Consider the importance of the customer -- the human element in this equation. Customers are the ones who need to be convinced that their decision to purchase is the right one, and tech-based analytics help to improve the likelihood that their decisions go in the vendor's favor.

For starters, analytics tools backed by artificial intelligence have been getting much better at creating user profiles of each customer. These can reveal valuable information on each and every visitor -- from age to gender to what they actually do on the store website.

This information then can be used by any given e-commerce store to influence other parts of the business, such as online store design and special offers. Is a customer a repeat visitor? Does the customer search for specific categories? What is the customer's average spend? These insights and many more can help to segment buyers and improve appeals to individuals.

Back in the real, non-virtual, brick-and-mortar world, businesses also have been monitoring customers more closely than ever before. Artificial intelligence solutions are used to monitor facial expressions and emotional reactions as people shop.

While this may sound like some sort of dystopian surveillance scheme, the tech aims largely to combat shoplifting. It also garners some usable data for stores, though, revealing which areas of the shop attract the most foot-traffic or what elicits the strongest reaction.

In the end, these methods allow companies to know their customers better than ever before. Essentially it all comes down to better customer relationship management: Applications that streamline the entire process from person to purchase require less manpower to achieve better results.

The Best Store Possible

It's under the hood of e-commerce stores where the possibilities of analytics and artificial intelligence really come to the fore. Smart systems are able to help businesses manage their inventory, automate indexing, instantly categorize, detect low-quality images, and flag objectionable content faster than ever before.

Humans no longer need to go through each post and every page manually. Instead, analytical tools can be used to maximum effect, making the online customer experience as smooth as possible.

Automated processes help to optimize a website, which in the world of e-commerce and online browsing is of the utmost importance. Some software operates like artificial intelligence with vision -- essentially using advanced image and video recognition to see the world as humans do.

Machine learning then allows these systems to sort through huge volumes of data and customize Web pages for each shopper. It's this personalization that is key to winning over buyers.

The more a website can appeal to individual needs, the more likely a browser will become a buyer.

This can take the form of anything from a simple website greeting to something more elaborate like a chatbot. Almost half of consumers who participated in a survey last year reported live chat as their preferred way to connect, and roughly the same number of shoppers said they would buy from a chatbot.

Evidently, high-tech solutions and relatively straightforward customer connections can live side-by-side in the online environment.

Market to Me

These trends all point to one simple aim for e-commerce platforms: Sell more things. No matter how much the world or technology changes, selling goods and services to customers always will be the paramount aim. So, the last -- but likely largest -- element to discuss is the impact these technologies have on advertising and customer experience.

The latest technologies herald a movement toward individual, tailored marketing. Unlike past advertisements, which aimed for blanket appeal, advanced marketing solutions can pinpoint customer desires and accurately foreground products for every single user.

This method can be incredibly effective, with the right ad in the right place allowing e-commerce stores to snag customers before they leave the house. An estimated 80 percent of shoppers conduct online research even when they plan to buy an item in-store. Therefore, when marketed with intent, e-commerce retailers can attract customers by the sheer benefit of being online and adjacent to information the customer requires.

All of these metrics allow analytical tools to retarget prospective customers with meticulous precision. For instance, these systems can recognize when a customer spends a notable amount of time browsing a specific product and store this information for the next time that customer visits. This knowledge can then be used to make special offers or promotions based on the previous user activity.

Tech-based systems effectively remove missed sales opportunities. In fact, the marketing opportunities using artificial intelligence are almost endless. Cart abandonment rates, ease of catalog navigation and customer engagement all can be improved through the implementation of smart, customer-based systems.

Just the Beginning

The e-commerce sector is ripe for collaboration with artificial intelligence systems. They can improve customer service, pinpoint marketing, and overhaul ineffective online stores -- and that is just the start. There are many other elements of marketing and sales that can be improved significantly through the implementation of smart systems, and the uptake is expected to continue.

By the year 2020, 85 percent of a client's relationship with a business will be managed without the need for human interaction, Gartner has predicted. The message seems to be clear: join the revolution or get out of the way.

E-commerce has been generating historic demand, and failure to integrate smart solutions that convert browsers to buyers ultimately could hurt a company's bottom line.

Abhijit Shanbhag is the president and chief executive officer of Graymatics, an artificial intelligence company that classifies images and videos to provide customer-centric solutions.




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Braavo Capital on Tuesday announced it has raised US$6 million in Series A funding, led by E.ventures with participation from SWS Venture Capital and Bill Smith, CEO of Shipt.

The company also converted $2 million in seed capital from investors including SV Angel and BoxGroup, bringing the total equity raised to date to nearly $8 million.

Braavo, which claims to be the first company to offer Capital as a Service to mobile app entrepreneurs and developers, will use the funds to add personnel to further its mission of funding clients in this space.

(Click Image to Enlarge)

"Our goal is to arm founders with both the capital to take advantage of every opportunity to scale and the insights to know which path will get them there," said Braavo cofounder Sergei Kovalenko.

The company offers two financing products -- Accelerate and Extend -- that employ an automated system to gather and analyze real-time business data on applicants, including current and future earnings.

The application doesn't require any personal credit checks or the applicant's Social Security Number.

Once approved, entrepreneurs begin to receive funding in one to two days.

"This fills an important niche for mobile developers," said Holger Mueller, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

"They usually have to bootstrap themselves as single workers, and may be short on cash when they need to invest into, say, another app or platform or employee," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Braavo formerly was known as "Aprenita."

"We renamed the business to have a more memorable and positive name," said Braavo Marketing Director Alexandra Northington.

The "Braavo" name "reflects better what we do -- provide performance-based financing," she told the E-Commerce Times.

The Series A funding follows combined debt and equity financing of more than $70 million, led by Mark 2 Capital, which Braavo closed last year.

Those funds were earmarked to scale Braavo's financing originations and support the rapid growth of its customer base.

Braavo's Financing Products

Accelerate gives entrepreneurs up to 85 percent of their receivables in weekly payments that they can spend as they see fit.

Entrepreneurs decide what percentage of the previous week's earnings they'll get in advance from each of their platforms, and can adjust the amount at any time. The first payment covers earnings from the beginning of the month.

Clients get a customizable reporting dashboard, consolidated weekly payments, and the visibility to know how they're doing.

Extend provides clients with funds to spend on user acquisition through approved channels, such as Facebook, Instagram and Google.

Braavo typically provides enough capital to double clients' short-term user acquisition budget. Funding terms are based on a client's current budget and performance.

Funds are deposited directly into clients' bank accounts. They can begin spending on growth immediately.

Braavo's free analytics software surfaces insights across clients' accounts so they can see the impact of their efforts and find opportunities to improve.

Loan amounts depend on clients' revenues for Accelerate, and on budget and performance for Extend, Braavo said.

The company charges a fixed percentage of future payments. It does not charge interest.

Braavo receives payments directly from ad networks and app stores, automatically deducts the money it has advanced and its fee, and delivers the remaining balance to clients the following day. The repayments correlate with earnings, decreasing in bad months.

Braavo's financing would be considered medium-risk, noted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

The company "basically takes control of revenue and then pays itself, so their risk is far lower than if they were letting you collect and make payments," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Qualifying for Braavo Financing

There is some confusion over the way Braavo operates.

For example, a Highya review states that applicants' apps must have analytics that can be reviewed using sources such as Flurry, Localytics, Mixpanel or Appfigures.

Applicants also must show they have revenue coming in from their apps, the review says.

Qualifying applicants will need at least six months of revenue history for at least one active app, and most qualifying customers have at least three full-time employees with $10K-plus in monthly revenue, the review states.

However, "none of the info you've been able to gather from Highya is accurate," maintained Braavo's Northington. "We're not sure where they got their information, but we have never spoken with the company."

For analytics, Braavo integrates "with a number of platforms such as Facebook, Appsflyer, Adjust and Aplitude," she said.

Braavo's clients incude Very, Fanatee, Pixite, Homer, Studio, Radish and Spring, Northington said.

"I would think there could be demand for this kind of financing," said Michael Jude, program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.

It gives app developers "an easy-to-qualify-for source of financing that, assuming they continue to grow, would be less onerous than using consumer credit to keep operating," he told the E-Commerce Times.

How Braavo Differs

Braavo's approach differs markedly from that of venture capitalists and equity investors.

"Venture capitalists typically want ownership and some aspect of control," Enderle remarked. "Lenders for a revolving credit line may want points up front and collateral."

Braavo lets founders retain control of their companies and not have to give up board seats or equity. It also saves entrepreneurs from spending resources looking for funders or serving their needs.

"VCs can ask for as much as 20 percent of the company plus a three-year return on investment just to say hello," Frost's Jude pointed out. "Angel funding can require not only interest, but equity in the company."

BI Analytics for Clients

Braavo also announced the rollout of a business intelligence analytics tool that will help mobile app businesses understand their performance in real time.

This is "critical if you want to sustain growth and have a reliable revenue source," Enderle said.

The tool is designed for revenue-generating long-tail and mid-market mobile apps. It will be available at no cost for the rest of this year.

"A smarter move would likely have been to partner with Flurry or App Annie rather than build their own analytics tool," Enderle suggested. They are more analytics pure-play, while Braavo is kind of a collections and revenue management agent."

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.


(Photo:  Peter Kenny)Abune Mathias, Patriarch (Abuna) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 11, 2017.

Christians in Africa and Latin America tend to pray more frequently, attend religious services more regularly and consider religion more important in their lives than Christians elsewhere in the world, a recent Pew Research Center study has found.

At the same time, Christians in the United States also have comparatively high levels of commitment to their faith.

Christianity is the world's largest religion, with a big presence in most parts of the globe. But not all Christians share the same levels of religious commitment, the Pew research finds.

Among Christians, religion most important in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the United States, the study which was released on August 22 found.

The study analyzed 84 countries with sizable Christian populations.

In 35 of those countries, at least two-thirds of all Christians say religion is very important in their lives. All but three of these 35 countries are in sub-Saharan Africa or Latin America.

The three exceptions are the United States, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Among Christians, worship attendance and prayer frequency highest in sub-Saharan Africa, lowest in Western Europe.

Levels of religious salience are particularly high in sub-Saharan Africa: Over 75 percent in every country surveyed in the region say religion is very important to them.

At the other end of the spectrum, levels of religious importance are lowest among Christians in Europe, where deaths outnumber births among Christians.

'MARCH SOUTHWARD'

These findings reflect the broader pattern of Christianity's "march southward" from wealthy countries to developing ones which a number of recent studies have found.

This phenomenon is particularly evident in sub-Saharan Africa, where Christianity is rapidly growing, largely due to high fertility rates.

Still, the United States remains an outlier among wealthy countries in terms of its relatively high levels of religious commitment.

In the U.S., more than two-thirds of Christians say religion is very important in their lives, compared with significantly lower levels in other rich democracies.

For instance, only 12 percent of Christian adults in Germany and 11 percent in the United Kingdom say religion is very important in their lives.

Christians in Africa and Latin America also tend to pray and attend church at higher rates than Christians in most of the rest of the world.

For instance, at least four out of five Christians in Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Cameroon and Chad pray every day.

Prayer frequency is just as high in six Latin American countries, including Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay.

Similarly, in every African country surveyed, more than 60 percent of Christians say they attend church at least weekly.

In Latin America, more than two-thirds of Christians in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador also report weekly attendance.

Prayer frequency is lowest among Christians in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Malaysia, where fewer than 10 percent of Christians pray daily.

Likewise, fewer than 10 percent of Christians report attending church weekly in nine European countries, including Denmark, Estonia and Russia.
News that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is considering whether to let school districts use federal money to buy guns set off a cascade of anger from lawmakers and others, and put the polarizing issue of arming teachers back at the center of the debate over school safety.

At the request of officials in Texas, DeVos and her staff are considering an idea that a grant program under the Every Student Succeeds Act could be used by school districts to pay for firearms and firearms training for school-based staff.

The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants , established when Congress passed ESSA in 2015, is a $1.1 billion program for districts to spend on student wellness and health, education technology, and a variety of other priorities. It can also be used to cover costs related to student safety. The statutory language governing the grants does not prohibit using the money for firearms.

The idea that DeVos would back plans to use these grants for guns, first reported by the New York Times, has been blown way out of proportion, according to Liz Hill, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education. A Trump administration official said the potential use of the money did not originate with DeVos, but with Texas education officials who inquired in a letter to DeVos department about whether districts could use the support and enrichment grants to purchase firearms.

A spokeswoman for the Texas education department said it had simply passed along questions from districts in the wake of the Parkland shooting about whether certain expenditures could be covered by Title IV grants, including guns. Janet Robinson, who was the superintendent of Newtown, Conn., schools during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, said she tells people that having been impacted so directly by a school shooting, she believes giving guns to school staff is not the answer.

The government is not giving us enough money for social-emotional learning and equity, said Robinson, who is now the superintendent of Stratford schools in Connecticut. And were going to waste money now on a danger were inserting into the classroom?

The proposal was roundly condemned by Democrats on Capitol Hill and a broad swath of the education field. Arming teachers is not generally a popular idea in the education community. However, the Federal School Safety Commissionestablished by President Donald Trump after the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February and led by DeVoshas heard from educators who support the idea. Some statesTexas among themdo allow school staff to carry guns for safety reasons under certain conditions.

In a March Gallup poll of teachers, about 70 percent of respondents said they do not think they or other school staff members should have guns in school, with nearly 60 percent saying that guns would make schools less safe.

In a poll of public school parents released in July by PDK International, 26 percent said having armed staff would make their child safer at school, compared to 36 percent who said it would make their child less safe. Republicans and gun owners were more likely to support such measures. President Donald Trump has expressed support for the idea in the past.

Safe and Drug-Free Schools

The ESSA-related dollars in questionknown as Title IV grantsare controlled and spent at the district level, and are intended to support a well-rounded education and student health and wellness.

Congress approved a $700 million increase for the Title IV grants for this current federal fiscal year shortly after the Parkland school shooting. Lawmakers from both parties said the money would help districts pay for services such as additional mental counseling, crisis training, and violence prevention in schools, among other priorities. They did not mention guns as a possible expense.

Supporters of the grants have also highlighted how schools can use them for programs promoting academics such as dual enrollment, arts education, and similar initiatives.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the grants in its first two spending proposals.

In June, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, reported that in a survey of more than 600 district leaders, 63 percent said they planned to use their Title IV grant cash to create safe and drug-free schools. The survey did not specifically ask if district leaders would use the grant money for guns. (AASA officially opposes arming school staff.) The second-most-popular use of the grants was additional school counseling, for which 43 percent of districts reported theyd use the money.

Among the ways districts plan to use the money to improve student health and safety, the most popular option for districts was positive behavior interventions, at 63 percent, according to the AASA survey results. Meanwhile, 26 percent of districts surveyed said they planned to use the money for school safety equipment. Again, districts were not asked by AASA specifically about guns.

Each of the nations school districts is supposed to receive at least $10,000 under Title IV. However, a district that gets a grant of more than $30,000 must use 20 percent of its funding on at least one activity that helps students become well-rounded, and another 20 percent on at least one activity that helps kids be safe and healthy. The rules of the grant are silent about guns.

Swift and Strong Reactions

A senior Trump administration official stressed that DeVos did not come up with the idea herself of using Title IV for guns, stating, Department officials have been researching the issue, like they do with every issue, in response to this Texas letter.

Among the questions shared by the state with the Department of Education was: Many have asked due to the increased focus on school safety, will allowable purchases under safe and healthy students also include such things as guns, gun training/marshal training for school personnel, metal protectors, bullet proof entries, or other services associated with crisis management?

The Texas department simply sought clarification on allowable uses of Title IV funding for school safety purposes. These were questions being presented to us by some of our school systems, said the spokeswoman, DeEtta Culberson. To date, [the U.S. Department of Education] has not provided us with a final answer on this specific issue.

But lawmakers and advocates rushed to weigh in, and many expressed harsh opposition to the idea, including groups such as the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the American Federation of Teachers.

This is absurd and appalling, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate education committee and one of the principal authors of ESSA, in a statement. Its not surprising that Secretary DeVos would have the gall to try to sneak guns into schools through a program intended to support students and provide academic enrichment opportunities.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tried, unsuccessfully last week after the report to insert an amendment into a spending bill that would ban the Education Department from allowing its federal dollars to buy guns for schools. He called it a direct contravention of ESSAs language, as well as the intent of Congress.

That is not what parents want. That is not what students want. That is not what teachers want, Murphy said on the Senate floor.

Earlier this year, Congress passed the STOP School Violence Act to help schools improve safety. It includes language that explicitly bans the laws grant funds from paying for firearms.

It is way outside the scope of what Congress intended for this program, said Ally Bernstein, the executive director of the Title IV-A Coalition, which has lobbied Congress to boost grant funding. In our conversations with the department, we were never made aware that they were considering this. (The coalition does not take a position on arming staff for school safety.)

However, Bernstein conceded that Congress would probably have to pass a law or else put pressure on districts in order to get the idea off of school districts radar.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate education committee who was also a key ESSA architect, had a more circumspect response to the news: Im not a fan of arming teachers, but the safe schools block grant [Title IV] for many years has allowed states to make the decision about how to use those federal dollars to make schools safer for children.

This is School

DeVos school safety commission has heard arguments both for and against arming teachers since the group began its work earlier this year.

Supporters of arming educators say schools are sitting ducks without the presence of armed adults to respond quickly in crisis situations. At a recent commission hearing in Arkansas organized by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, administrators from rural districts said arming select staff had given them a sense of safety despite long response times from law enforcement, who can take as long as 30 minutes to respond to a call in isolated areas.

Were not willing to take that chance, Lake Hamilton, Ark., schools Superintendent Steve Anderson, who carries a gun at school, told the commission. We need someone to protect our kids.

Still others, including educators who are survivors of school shootings, have actively opposed arming school staff. Some of them say suggestions that school attacks would have turned out differently had teachers been armeda common argument of proponentsamounts to blaming of survivors.

You must understand how fast shootings happen and how chaotic and confusing it is. Theres no way to determine who and where the gunfire is coming from, Abbey Clements, who was a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, told the safety commission in June. She waited out the 2012 massacre in the Newtown, Conn., school by singing Christmas carols to her students to distract them.

Say I had a gun. Would I have left my terrified children? Never, Clements said. Would I have been able to find, approach, and fire at him, and not somebody else, without perhaps, a child getting in the way? Its completely unrealistic to think that an educator ... would have been able to navigate all of this in such a short period of time and take down the gunman without interfering with law enforcements response, or harming or killing other educators, or God forbid, children. ... This is not the movies. This is school.
Access to rigorous, Advanced Placement coursework has expanded significantly over the past decade, but not without serious gripes from some parents, teachers, and media commentators.

A popular argument against offering more students the opportunity to take to Advanced Placement courses is that many are not sufficiently motivated to succeed in them. AP classes are challenging, this argument goes, and if underprepared or unmotivated students try to take them, they will fail or the College Board will have to dumb down the curriculum at the expense of their more advanced peers.

This criticism is buttressed by some troubling statistics about the AP program. Students from historically marginalized communitieslow-income students and students of color whose communities have been systematically denied access to economic and educational opportunitiesare taking far more AP classes than in previous decades. However, many of these students have struggled mightily to pass the AP exams.

Some critics may dismiss ethnic studies coursework as a vapid effort to enhance political correctness, but lets consider some tangible academic benefits."

Between the early 1990s and today, the participation of Black and Latinx students in AP has more than doubled, but test passage rates have fallen precipitously. More than 60 percent of Latinx students taking the AP exam passed it in 1997. In 2012, that number decreased to 42.8 percent. Black students passed 35.9 percent of their exams in 1997, but only 29.1 percent in 2012. And in that same period, pass rates for Native American students dropped from 51 percent to 45.5 percent. In addition, these student groups remain underrepresented in nearly all AP courses.

However, as a former teacher, and now a researcher of Black and Latinx youth, I find the implication that these young people lack the smarts or motivation to succeed in rigorous coursework extremely problematic. This argument is grounded in deficit-based assumptions about the academic abilities and aspirations of students from historically marginalized communities.

Perhaps, however, the challenges these students face in AP classes have less to do with their personal shortcomings, and more to do with the inability of AP curricula to speak to the realities of their communities and cultures.

As a recent addition to many high schools, ethnic studies courses may provide a model for how a more culturally inclusive AP offering might be developed. Districts across the nation seeking to increase academic engagement among students of color have begun to introduce non-AP ethnic studies courses in high school . These courses are now a graduation requirement in school districts as different as Los Angeles and Bridgeport, Conn.

Some critics may dismiss ethnic studies coursework as a vapid effort to enhance political correctness, but lets consider some tangible academic benefits. Culturally inclusive curricula have been shown to enhance academic engagement for students from marginalized communities. One study released in 2016 by the Stanford University Center for Education Policy Analysis found that an ethnic studies course in San Francisco Unified School District increased the attendance of struggling 9th grade students by 21 percentage points and overall GPA by 1.4 grade points.

Unfortunately, in Advanced Placement, the histories of people of color exist only at the margins of the curricula, and recently, some of their histories were nearly pushed off the edge.

In June, the College Board made plans to move up the start date of the World History AP curriculum by thousands of years to 1450 to address the overwhelming amount of content covered in the previous edition of the course standards. Critics immediately noted the Eurocentric nature of the decision. Ancient civilizations of Africa, Asia, and South America would be stricken from the AP historical record, and the class would largely be taught through the lens of European colonialism.

After pushback from scholars, teachers, and students , the College Board reconsidered, announcing the course would begin its coverage of world history with the year 1200.

This was not the first time the College Board has been embroiled in controversy over highlighting histories traditionally de-emphasized in high school curricula. In 2015, the College Board reversed its decision to elevate the histories of non-dominant groups after state legislatures in Oklahoma, Georgia, and Texas threatened to remove funding for AP programs and the Republican National Committee accused the College Board of revisionism.

Even before these recent controversies, the College Board has expressed a desire to improve the performance of students from marginalized groups. The organization emphasizes its deep conviction that all students who are academically preparedno matter their location, background, or socioeconomic statusdeserve the opportunity to access the rigor and benefits of AP . It has released numerous reports on the achievement of AP students of color at least since 2005.

To its credit, the College Board has been thoughtful in responding to criticism of its AP content and in striking an appropriate balance between dominant Western conceptions of history and the inclusion of the voices and stories of more marginalized groups. Yet, the recent controversies suggest that in their current iteration, AP courses may be incapable of engaging students in an intensive exploration of issues pertinent to communities of color. Concerns about breadth of content coverage force AP curricula designers into tough decisions about whose stories remain untold. Culturally inclusive curricula has significant potential to affect positive education outcomes, from honoring diversity to improving student GPA. Such approaches cannot be beholden to the political winds that have swept up Advanced Placement history courses.

One way to sidestep some of the challenges confronting the College Boards Advanced Placement program is the addition of an AP ethnic studies course directed explicitly at the experiences and histories of marginalized groups in the United States. Such a course would increase engagement and performance among students of color. As a teacher and a researcher, my conversations with first-generation college students of color have suggested that interactions with culturally inclusive academic content can encourage academic engagement in high school and college.

In adding such a class, the AP program would create a committed space for interdisciplinary, in-depth discussions of issues pertinent to disenfranchised communities and serve as a counterbalance to the Eurocentrism prevalent in much high school curricula. The course could provide a realistic opportunity for students interested in non-dominant cultural histories to engage in an academically rigorous learning experience while earning college credit. Without watering down other AP courses, AP ethnic studies would enhance opportunities for underrepresented students.

Adding an ethnic studies course does not diminish the importance of the incorporation of culturally inclusive content across all AP courses, but its addition would go a long way toward enhancing opportunity and access to AP courses. More importantly, it would be a concentrated effort to elevate histories traditionally obscured across rigorous high school curricula.
The idea of arming teachersor loosening state restrictions to allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns into schoolsis often circulated after school attacks. It gained attention after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 and was revived in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Recently, the sheriff leading a Florida commission investigating the Parkland massacre said he believed trained, volunteer teachers should have access to guns as a last line of defense in a school shooting.

And earlier this fall, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made it clear that she believes districts have the flexibility to use federal funds to arm teachers.

But putting guns in the hands of school staff is often met with resistance from educators, who say they dont want the responsibility of carrying and securing a firearm on top of their already demanding jobs. Many teachers believe that arming themselvesand their peerswould make schools less safe.

Heres what you need to know about the divisive issue:

Who Supports the Idea?

President Trump, for one. At a speech just after the Parkland shooting, he argued that armed teachers with training and experience who love their students might be better able to protect them in an active shooting scenario than an armed police officer.

A teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened, Trump said, referring to the former student who is accused of the slayings.

DeVos herself is not opposed to arming educators. At her Senate confirmation hearing in 2017, she suggested teachers may need guns to ward off potential grizzly bears. As the leader of a federal school safety commission, shes also been hearing from some supporters of the idea .

Not surprisingly, gun-rights advocates have long pushed for laws that allow educators to carry weapons .

And education officials in Texas, where some educators are already packing heat at school , are in favor of it. They were the ones who asked DeVos and her staff if certain federal funds could be used by school districts to pay for firearms and firearms training for school-based staff.

There Are Already Teachers Carrying Guns at School

Many schools are gun-free zones, but the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act allows states to authorize certain individuals to carry firearms on school grounds.

In addition to Texas, the states of Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota allow staff memberswith certain caveatsto carry guns on school grounds.

According to Everytown for Gun Safetya gun-control advocacy group15 states allow concealed carry of some sort in schools, and this year two dozen states considered similar policies:

Adopting a Policy for Arming Teachers Could Be a Minefield

Among the questions schools who want to arm staff members have to answer:

whoexactlyis authorized to carry a firearm,

where should guns be stored, and

should armed employees get some sort of bonus .

And thats only the beginning .

Theres also the thorny question of liability: Who would be responsible if something went wrong? Many things could go wrong, experts saya student could find or steal a teachers firearm, the weapon could accidentally discharge, or a teacher could shoot an innocent bystander during an active-shooter situation.

Arming staff could get expensive. A high-quality, name-brand, semi-automatic pistol or other type of handgun could run anywhere from $500 to $1,200. And the idea of diverting already stretched resources to these and other costs such as firearms training could be a very tough sell. (Perhaps thats why Texas is asking if its districts can tap into those federal dollars.)

Who Opposes the Idea?

All the major teacher, principal, school employee, and school security organizations oppose guns in schools, except when carried by a police or security officer.

And so do most teachers and Americans.

A 2015 CBS News/New York Times poll found that 57 percent of all respondents opposed allowing teachers and staff to carry guns in schools, though the idea was more popular among Republicans.

Among educators, the idea is even less popular, according to recent surveys :

Teach Plus, a national advocacy group for teacher leadership, polled 1,233 teachers and found nearly 80 percent said they strongly oppose arming teachers in school.

The National Education Association surveyed 1,000 of its members and 82 percent of respondents said they would not carry a gun to school even if they had firearms training and were allowed to do so.

And a Gallup poll found less than 30 percent of teachers think that arming teachers would be very or somewhat effective in limiting the number of victims in a school shooting.

Education Week has spoken to many educators who think carrying a concealed weapon is a bad idea , including school shooting survivors themselves.

Second grade teacher Abbey Clements was hunkered down with her students at Sandy Hook Elementary School as the countrys deadliest K-12 school shooting was taking place. Were not trained sharp shooters, were not trained first responders, Clements said . We are caregivers. ... Im sure every educator out there would say that we want school safety, but arming teachers is not the answer.

I think we should have more security at school, but I dont want our school to feel like a prison, said Adeena Teres , a science teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the owner of a concealed-carry permit.

Jim Moffatt, a retired principal who was shot by a student at Fergus High School in Lewistown, Mont., in 1986, actively campaigns against legislative efforts to arm teachers:

While their numbers may be smaller than those who oppose carrying guns, there are teachers, principals, and superintendents who favor it.

Brian Teucke, an 8th grade civics and economics teacher in Hampton Roads, Va., said having a military background makes him somewhat of an aberration among his colleagues. He has a concealed-carry permit and would be willing to carry a gun to school . His students, he said, have told him they would appreciate that extra level of security.

I do think its reasonable for someone like me, but if you look at the landscape of American educators at large, I dont think its realistic, he said. I dont represent the majority of teachers.

Jeffrey Woofter, a former sheriff and the superintendent of West Virginias Barbour County school district, does not think that all school personnel should be armed either. But he believes that trained staff should be allowed to carry concealed weapons or have access to concealed weapons on campus.

Schools are just sitting ducks because people know that you are not permitted to carry in schools, and that just makes them vulnerable, Woofter said .
Manx Government not ignoring no-deal Brexit possibility



Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK

The Chief Minister insists the Manx Government isn't ignoring the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

The UK Government published a series of technical notices, including arrangements in case an agreement between the UK and the European Union isn't agreed.

Howard Quayle believes it's unhelpful to speculate on the outcome and potential consequences of Brexit negotiations, but that it's also irresponsible to ignore the possibility of a no-deal scenario.

Mr Quayle says his Government is working to ensure the Island is well positioned whatever the outcome.

UK Technical Notices will be published on the Isle of Man Government's website as they're released, with comments from relevant Departments on the potential impact on the Island.
2018-08-24

Maeci

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, together with the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and Giorgio Vittadini, the President of the Foundation for Subsidiarity, will speak at the thematic session dedicated to Italy, Europe, Development at the 39th edition of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples. The session was introduced by Luis Miguel Poiares Maduro, Global Governance Programme Director and Professor of Law at the European University Institute.
2018-08-24

Maeci

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, yesterday received the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, for a courtesy meeting at the Foreign Ministry. The meeting was held at the request of the minister who was spending a few days in Rome for personal reasons.

During the talk, the ministers had a general exchange of views on the major European dossiers, including the political perspectives of the European Union, the EUs Multiannual Financial Framework and issues relative to migration. They also reviewed the profile of bilateral relations; the situation in Ukraine, with special reference to the aspects of particular relevance to the Countrys Hungarian minority; relations within NATO and the key importance of the perspective that it also focus its efforts on the Mediterranean; and the relationship with Russia, also within the framework of Italys OSCE Chairmanship.

Speaking of migration flows towards the European Union, Minister Moavero Milanesi asked if the Hungarian government was willing to receive part of the migrants rescued at sea by the Coast Guard vessel Diciotti, and acknowledged the fact that it was not. The Hungarian minister made a point of underscoring that, in his opinion, there is great identity of views on European migration policies between Rome and Budapest. On his part, Minister Moavero explained that Italys vision is in many ways dissimilar from that of Hungary, especially with respect to the need for Europe to have a fully shared systematic approach to managing migration flows and jointly shoulder the ensuing burden.
Throughout the alluvial plains of Amazonia, there are immense forests that are flooded for almost half the year. These Amazonian wetlands encompass a wide array of types of vegetation in or near stream gullies, including blackwater (igapo) and whitewater (varzea) inundation forest, swamp (pantano), white sand savanna (campina), and mangrove (mangue) types.

According to a new study, the region's wetlands are inhabited by 3,615 tree species--three times more than previously estimated, making these the world's most diverse wetland forests in terms of tree species richness.

The study was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP and performed under the aegis of FAPESP's Research Program on Biodiversity Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (BIOTA-FAPESP). The results published in the journal PLOS ONE include the most comprehensive list of wetland tree species produced to date.

The authors compiled data available from tree inventories and botanical collections covering the nine countries spanned by the Amazon Basin.

"The list with the names of all the species is the main contribution made by this survey, which is open access. It will serve as a basis for future studies to fill the gap in botanical knowledge of the region's wetlands, especially on tributaries of the Solimoes and Amazon rivers. If there were more inventories, the number of species could quickly triple again," said Bruno Garcia Luize, first author of the article and a doctoral researcher at Sao Paulo State University's Bioscience Institute (IB-UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil, who has a scholarship from FAPESP.

The number of species is threefold the number inventoried by previous researchers because the area covered by this study was larger, and more habitats were included.

"Prior studies focused only on whitewater inundation forests and floodplains. We included data for blackwater inundation forests, white sand savannas and mangroves, for example. Additionally, there is a very strong bias toward the Solimoes-Amazon river system. We were able to add data for important effluents extracted from rare inventories of forests along the Purus, Jurua and Madeira, among others," Luize said.

For the researchers, the large number of tree species shows the importance of the role played by wetlands in creating and maintaining biodiversity in Amazonia. "This role has traditionally been assigned to the Andes, given the climate gradient there, but the fact that we found almost all families and genera to be well distributed, with species capable of colonizing wetland areas, suggests this ecosystem has been involved in the diversification process for a long time," said Thiago Sanna Freire Silva, a professor in Sao Paulo State University's Geography Department and coprincipal investigator of the project.

The hard lives of trees

The climate in Amazonia's wetland forests is distinctly seasonal, with fluctuations between dry periods and heavy rain leading to floods, during which the trees may be under water by as much as 8 meters. Wetland habitats can therefore be considered environmental filters that select individuals and species capable of tolerating recurrent flooding and drought during their lifespan.

"It's an incredibly beautiful environment," Luize said. "Blackwater inundation forests, for example, are among the most emblematic images of Amazonia. Tree embryos are submerged for four or five months while they develop. Moreover, monkeys swing through the tree crowns, and the pink river dolphin [Inia geoffrensis] feeds on fish deep in the forest."

Despite the difficult hydrological regimen, the Amazonian wetland tree species currently inventoried account for 53% of all the 6,727 tree species thus far confirmed for the entire Amazon region, according to the latest study.

For the researchers at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), the high proportion of trees in wetlands corresponding to 30% of Amazonia's 7 million square kilometers is due to interchange between wetland and upland forest habitats.

Submerged tree roots can rot, and underwater respiration is difficult. "Flooded areas require a different tree metabolism," Luize said. "Some upland or terra firme species are able to tolerate inundation conditions, but studies have shown that populations in the different environments don't manage the same performance. Basically, this means that if you plant a seed from an upland species in a flooded area, it probably won't thrive and vice versa."

This difference suggests either that physiological adjustment occurs during the life of a tree or that the populations found in wetland areas have adapted to that environment. "As a result, we reach an extreme in which species are exclusive to wetland areas or only occur in upland areas," added the FAPESP scholarship holder.

Variations in variations

The duration of flooding in wetland areas varies considerably from one year to the next. "When floods last less and are less intense, the composition of the tree species pool resembles that found in upland areas. However, once these species have developed flood tolerance, even if it is initially a low level of tolerance, the flood provides an opportunity for them to colonize new waterlogged areas. This can lead to specialization in wetlands by some individuals, which become different from upland individuals," Freire Silva said.

Trees may become increasingly flood tolerant or evolve new forms of seed dispersal via water or fish. "Species diversity grows over thousands of years, increasing the variety of niches available," he noted.

South America is considered the region with the largest area of wetlands, a vital ecosystem for the planet's freshwater balance. The researchers stressed the importance of a better understanding of the variations in metabolic and physiological characteristics of both wetland and upland tree species.

"This is a point we need to investigate in more depth, but there are studies that show the effects of dry and wet seasons on forest productivity and on the carbon source-sink balance--the uptake and release of carbon from or into the atmosphere," Luize said. "Tolerance of hydrological extremes, from drought to flood and back again, is a characteristic of floodable trees. It's important to understand these swings and exchanges on the scale of the basin as a whole."

###

The main theme of Luizes doctoral research is the influence of wetlands on tree species richness. He is currently at the University of Michigan in the US conducting a research internship abroad funded by FAPESP via a specific scholarship (http://www.bv.fapesp.br/en/bolsas/176249), studying the phylogeny of a specific Amazonian tree family, Lecythidaceae (which includes the Brazil nut tree Bertholletia excelsa), to understand this migration and adaptation of upland and wetland species.

About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. For more information: http://www.fapesp.br/en.
In a new scientific article published in the journal Nature Communications a group of scientists led by University of Copenhagen authors shows that thawing permafrost releases a high amount and diversity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds are not greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. VOCs are known to be released from plants for example to cope with stress and to communicate with other organisms, but less is known about their release from soil. They react fast in the atmosphere and these reactions have several consequences. For example the production of ground level ozone, which is harmful for human health and toxic for forests. Perhaps the most important consequence of these reactions in the Arctic is the production of tiny particles that scatter solar radiation back to space and form clouds. This can have a cooling impact on climate.

Professor Riikka Rinnan from Department of Biology and Center for Permafrost, University of Copenhagen explains, 'Surprisingly, our new experiments show that VOCs can be released from soil permafrost layers, which often represent organic material stored for decades or longer. Even more surprisingly, VOCs from thawing permafrost may not be released to the atmosphere, as our results show that the annual thaw layers above the permafrost seem to filter the VOCs being released from the permafrost.'

Soil microbes in a crucial role

Using advanced tracing techniques the research team shows, that the VOCs are consumed by microorganisms living in the soil layers. It appears, therefore, that the actual release of VOCs from thawing permafrost is determined by what happens to them on the way from the deeper soil layers to the atmosphere. If the permafrost is exposed to the surface e.g. due to erosion, or if the microbial uptake is hampered for example due to waterlogging, this could be a new, unaccounted Arctic VOC source with potential implications on the regional climate.

###

The work is a collaboration effort between bio- and geoscientists working together at the Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) at University of Copenhagen and in close collaboration in an international team. The study was supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark and the European Research Council. CENPERM is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation.
Leishmania is a microorganism that enters the human body via a sandfly bite. Instead of fleeing the white blood cells deployed by the immune system to destroy it, the parasite allows itself to be swallowed up. In doing so, Leishmania has developed the ideal strategy for continuing its life cycle, threatening the health of over 500 million people at risk of crossing its path in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Leishmaniasis, the disease caused by the parasite, has been on the radar of scientists for a long time, not only because of efforts to find treatment, but because the parasite makes an ideal model for study. Hence, numerous immune mechanisms have been elucidated by researchers thanks to the disease, including at INRS. However, the quest for affordable and effective treatment continues. INRS professors Albert Descoteaux and Steven LaPlante have developed a new, cost-effective strategy to rapidly identify molecules capable of eliminating Leishmania, a disease which can disfigure, disable, or kill its victims, especially in tropical areas.

A DISEASE AFFECTING NUMEROUS SPECIES

"I have been studying this parasite for 30 years, and there is still a lot we do not understand," says parasitologist Albert Descoteaux, who works to uncover the secrets of Leishmania, a genus encompassing some 20 single-celled species. In addition to its human victims, the parasite also targets some 70 other mammal species, according to the World Health Organization. Leishmania moves from an host to another by hitching a ride with tiny phlebotomine sandflies, which transmit the undesirable parasite when they bite.

According to the most recent estimates, 12 million people are currently affected by one form of leishmaniasis or another. There are three main forms: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral. "These are diseases that destroy lives--when they do not kill outright," stresses Professor Descoteaux, adding that the pharmaceutical companies have little interest in developing treatments. "There is little commercial interest in neglected tropical diseases like leishmaniasis," he points out. "It is the second-leading parasitic killer in the world, right behind malaria, yet there has been no real headway made on treatments in decades. There is currently no effective vaccine, and the available treatments all have major shortcomings, including serious side effects, high cost, and problems administering them in endemic areas." He pauses before adding, "Unfortunately, as is the case with many other drugs, the parasite is also developing resistance. That is never good news."

Albert Descoteaux, who is based at Centre INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, is one of five INRS professors currently working on leishmaniasis. Their efforts to better understand the fundamental interaction between the parasite and its host account for one-third of all research activity on the disease in Canada, and their work is recognized worldwide.

Professor Steven LaPlante, who has been with INRS since 2015, specializes in drug discovery. With his colleague Albert Descoteaux, he has developed a project to identify new molecules that show promise for treating leishmaniasis. Their innovative approach is raising hopes of finding a more effective tool for developing drugs for leishmaniasis, but also for many other diseases.

THE CHALLENGE OF FINDING THE RIGHT TARGET

Having evolved its tactics and molecular machinery over millions of years, Leishmania has more than one trick up its sleeve. This is why there are so many obstacles to identifying molecules capable of eliminating the disease. For one thing, unicellular protists like Leishmania have more in common with mammal cells than with bacteria and viruses. "Like fungus, yeast, and worms, Leishmania are complex cells with a nucleus, and they have similarities to human cells," notes the professor. "But they have taken a different evolutionary path, so there are lots of differences we need to identify and understand."

Second, delivering a useful molecule to the parasite is a challenge. "Before it can kill Leishmania, the drug has to get past all kinds of barriers," explains LaPlante." It has to penetrate the infected cell without killing it or being too toxic. Then it has to reach and enter the protist to do its thing. Let's just say that there are a lot of molecules to test before we find the right one for the job!"

Testing a lot of molecules is exactly the approach used by most researchers in the drug discovery process, but it takes extensive resources. Unfortunately, in the fight against leishmaniasis, there is little financial incentive for funding this kind of work. Yet given the prevalence of the disease worldwide, there are numerous calls for urgent action to find new treatments.

A PROMISING NEW APPROACH

This is the context in which the two INRS researchers joined forces, drawing on their combined expertise in biology (Albert Descoteaux) and medicinal chemistry (Steven LaPlante). LaPlante has access to a special small-molecule library from which he selected 1,604 molecules that had the best chances of reaching Leishmania in the macrophages and preventing it from completing its life cycle. Compared to the molecule libraries maintained by pharmaceutical companies--which can hold up to two million molecules--his library represents a very modest number but have special properties which makes it easily manageable within the confines of a university research lab.

"We dubbed our approach Fragment-Based Phenotypic Lead Discovery, or FPLD," says Professor LaPlante. "It's a combination of tried and tested methods that hadn't previously been adapted for leishmaniasis. We start by administering very small molecules to cultured cells and then observe the impact on the infection."

In medicinal chemistry, several phases are required to develop a drug with multiple characteristics. The ideal molecule for fighting an infection should be non-toxic to humans, easy to administer, capable of reaching the infectious agent, affordable to produce, and, obviously, effective against the pathogen in question.

As is the case when designing any everyday object, different components of a drug are selected to perform different jobs. The components in question are molecular fragments. The goal of the two INRS professors was to identify which of these could stop Leishmania in its tracks. The idea is that effective fragments can be combined with other components serving various purposes--stability, delivery, absorption, and so on--to improve efficacy and end up with a viable drug.

"We've been very fortunate to be able to rely on our collaborator NMX Research and Solutions Inc. and General Manager Francois Bilodeau who donated all the molecules we needed for our study. It's a huge contribution," notes Professor LaPlante. NMX designed the molecular fragments at the INRS business incubator, where the young startup is based.

A PAINSTAKING JOB

Yann Ayotte, lead author on the study recently published on the project, systematically--and very patiently--observed cultures treated with the fragments under the microscope, counting the number of parasites in the infected cells in order to compare them. The PhD student, who is currently continuing his research in Professor LaPlante's lab, first joined the project as an intern in Albert Descoteaux's lab at the end of his undergraduate degree. The two professors are quick to praise his outstanding dedication to his work.

After numerous experiments, the highly targeted screening of a small number of molecules allowed the team to identify two families of molecules showing high efficacy against Leishmania: indole and indazole derivatives. A dozen molecules have shown good potential, a very high number compared to other screening techniques.

Is there a new drug on the horizon? "For now, we are still at the very beginning of the process," says Professor Descoteaux. "And you can't skip any steps!" adds LaPlante. First, it's essential to understand why the molecules have a leishmanicidal effect, a task that will keep Professor Descoteaux busy for a good while yet. In the mean time, the active molecule can be improved upon and "dressed up" with other appendages in order to fulfil all the criteria of an effective treatment--a job for Professor LaPlante and his team.

A BROADER VISION

For Steven LaPlante, the most successful aspect of the project so far has been to show that a university lab can help identify potential new avenues for treatment. Pharmaceutical research does not cover all diseases or types of intervention, and from this perspective, academia can also play an important role.

The work of the team garnered enough enthusiasm that the journal ChemMedChem, published by ChemPubSoc Europe, a partnership of European chemical societies, rated it as a "Very Important Paper" and put it on the cover of the issue in which it appeared.

What will the study on the modes of action of the molecules identified at INRS reveal? "Research on Leishmania has lifted the veil on several properties of immune system we would not have been able to observe any other way," affirms Professor Descoteaux. "Every time there is a new avenue to explore, we add to our knowledge on the immune system and on the biology of this parasite. Even if a new drug is still a long way away, these molecules will help us hone our understanding of the disease, which will keep us busy for years to come." ?

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (Aug. 24, 2018) - Dr. Bruce LeClair, Ollie O. McGahee Jr. M.D. Endowed Chair in Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, is the recipient of the Medical Association of Georgia's 2018 Physician's Award for Community Service.

The award recognizes one physician each year for "going above and beyond the call of duty for community service," says Dr. Joseph Hobbs, J.W. Tollison, M.D., Distinguished University Chair and chair of the MCG Department of Family Medicine. "This is truly an appropriate recognition for the many years of work in the community that has been a hallmark of Dr. LeClair's tenure as a faculty member."

LeClair, who joined the MCG faculty in 1992, has served a variety of roles in the department, including as co-director of its Faculty Development Fellowship, core clerkship director, director of inpatient services and supervisor of medical student-run free clinics.

"It was through his clinical teaching the he gained a love of community," wrote Georgia Academy of Family Physicians President Dr. Chip Cowart, a 1992 MCG graduate, in his nomination letter. "He understood being involved in the community would affect positive change in people's health. With this mindset, he has worked tirelessly as an advocate to make quality health care a priority for those without access."

Since 1999, LeClair has been the course director for the medical school's Vulnerable Populations (Homeless Clinic) Elective, a role that sees him advising and often coordinating several free, weekly, student-run clinics for the underserved and underinsured. "He has combined his love of teaching with his love of medicine to create health projects that serve people who are displaced and disadvantaged, as well as the underserved yet growing Asian and Hispanic populations," Cowart also wrote.

He serves as a board member for St. Vincent de Paul Health Center/Coordinated Health Services and as a preceptor for the Women's Health Free Clinic, which he founded in 2001 with students from the MCG student chapter of the American Medical Women's Association. In 2014, he also helped found the Augusta Equality Clinic, which provides an LGBTQ-friendly space for those in the Augusta area who are under- or uninsured and fall below 200% of the federal poverty level.

LeClair also is the director of the MCG Family Medicine Inpatient Service and the medical director of the department's HamesNet Practice-Based Research Network.

A former president of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, he now serves as co-chair of its Legislative Committee. He earned his medical degree from the University of California, Davis, completed his family practice residency at Silas B. Hays Army Community Hospital in Fort Ord, California, and a fellowship in faculty development at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. He earned a master's in public health from the University of Washington.

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In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, federal agencies obligated $31.6 billion to institutions of higher education in support of science and engineering (S&E), an increase of $1.1 billion from FY2015.

The most up-to-date federal S&E obligation levels come from the FY2016 Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions (Federal S&E Support Survey), conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF). Federal obligations are funding commitments to support six categories:

Research and development (R&D).

R&D plant, or facilities and fixed equipment used in R&D.

Facilities and equipment for instruction in S&E.

Fellowships, traineeships and training grants.

General support for S&E.

The 100 higher education institutions receiving the largest amounts of federal S&E support accounted for about 82 percent of the total federal obligations. Johns Hopkins University continued to be the leading academic recipient of federal S&E obligations, with nearly $1.9 billion for S&E support, followed by the University of Michigan with $668 million and the University of Washington with $642 million. The top 10 recipients among the academic institutions received a total of $7.1 billion in S&E obligations.

Five agencies accounted for 94 percent of federal S&E support to higher education institutions. These include the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at 57 percent; NSF at 17 percent; the Department of Defense (DOD) at 12 percent; the Department of Agriculture (USDA) at 4 percent; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at 4 percent.

Sixty-six of the 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) received $373 million in federal obligations for S&E support. Although this is the second year of decreasing total federal S&E support obligations to HBCUs (down 6 percent from FY2015 and down 9 percent from FY2014), support to HBCUs for R&D has remained stable. NSF's obligations to HBCUs rose about 12 percent between 2015 and 2016.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University was the leading recipient of federal obligations for S&E support to HBCUs in FY2016, with $26 million. Morehouse School of Medicine was the second-leading recipient, with $25 million.

High Hispanic Enrollment (HHE) institutions received $1.7 billion in federal obligations for S&E. The majority (55 percent) of the support for HHE institutions came from HHS, with nearly $941 million in obligations. NSF was the second-leading federal agency source of funding, with $390 million, or 23 percent of all federal S&E obligations to HHE academic institutions. The top ten HHE recipients of federal S&E support received a total of $1.2 billion, or 68 percent of the total support to all 134 HHE recipient institutions. The University of Arizona was the leading recipient among HHEs of federal obligations for support of S&E.

Federal S&E support to 33 tribal colleges and universities in FY2016 totaled $55 million. The Department of Education was the leading source of S&E support, with $33 million in obligations, followed by the USDA with $13 million and NSF with $8 million.

The nine High American Indian Enrollment (HAIE) institutions were obligated $75 million in federal funds for S&E support. NSF provided $28 million, followed by NASA with $16 million, HHS with $12 million, and USDA with $6 million. The University of Alaska, Fairbanks is the largest HAIE recipient of federal obligations, with $69 million in support for S&E. All other HAIEs combined were obligated $5.9 million in S&E support.

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For more information, including data tables, please see the report.
After an almost two-year journey, NASA's asteroid sampling spacecraft, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), caught its first glimpse of asteroid Bennu last week and began the final approach toward its target. Kicking off the mission's asteroid operations campaign on Aug. 17, the spacecraft's PolyCam camera obtained the image from a distance of 1.3 million miles (2.1 million km).

OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it safely back to Earth. The spacecraft has traveled approximately 1.1 billion miles (1.8 billion km) since its Sept. 8, 2016, launch and is scheduled to arrive at Bennu on Dec. 3.

"Now that OSIRIS-REx is close enough to observe Bennu, the mission team will spend the next few months learning as much as possible about Bennu's size, shape, surface features, and surroundings before the spacecraft arrives at the asteroid," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. "After spending so long planning for this moment, I can't wait to see what Bennu reveals to us."

As OSIRIS-REx approaches the asteroid, the spacecraft will use its science instruments to gather information about Bennu and prepare for arrival. The spacecraft's science payload comprises the OCAMS camera suite (PolyCam, MapCam, and SamCam), the OTES thermal spectrometer, the OVIRS visible and infrared spectrometer, the OLA laser altimeter, and the REXIS x-ray spectrometer.

During the mission's approach phase, OSIRIS-REx will:

regularly observe the area around the asteroid to search for dust plumes and natural satellites, and study Bennu's light and spectral properties,;

execute a series of four asteroid approach maneuvers, beginning on Oct. 1, slowing the spacecraft to match Bennu's orbit around the Sun;

jettison the protective cover of the spacecraft's sampling arm in mid-October and subsequently extend and image the arm for the first time in flight; and

use OCAMS to reveal the asteroid's overall shape in late-October and begin detecting Bennu's surface features in mid-November.

After arrival at Bennu, the spacecraft will spend the first month performing flybys of Bennu's north pole, equator and south pole, at distances ranging between 11.8 and 4.4 miles (19 and 7 km) from the asteroid. These maneuvers will allow for the first direct measurement of Bennu's mass as well as close-up observations of the surface. These trajectories will also provide the mission's navigation team with experience navigating near the asteroid.

"Bennu's low gravity provides a unique challenge for the mission," said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "At roughly 0.3 miles [500 meters] in diameter, Bennu will be the smallest object that any spacecraft has ever orbited."

The spacecraft will extensively survey the asteroid before the mission team identifies two possible sample sites. Close examination of these sites will allow the team to pick one for sample collection, scheduled for early July 2020. After sample collection, the spacecraft will head back toward Earth before ejecting the Sample Return Capsule for landing in the Utah desert in Sept. 2023.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission's science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the agency's New Frontiers Program for its Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

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Calcium (Ca) is one of the most abundant elements on the earth and it is easily accessible and is very cheap. In comparison with transition-metal elements, Ca is biocompatible and environment-friendly. Therefore, the reactions by using Ca compounds are of good prospect of large-scale production and application. During the last decade, investigations on organocalcium catalysis are just unfolding. Beside conventional Ca salts with strong electron-withdrawing counter anions that may serve as Lewis acid catalysts, many Ca complexes have also been designed recently and found to be good catalysts like transition-metal catalysts. Compared with the conventional inorganic base such as NaOH and KOH, Ca(OH)2 was uniquely active in some reactions. These findings are interesting and may attract continuous attentions of the chemists. Owning to the great abundance, non-toxicity, and biocompatible features of Ca element, Ca-catalyzed reactions are of great application values from the viewpoint of industry as well.

On the other hand, the hydrofunctionalization reactions of element-H (including O-H, S-H, N-H, P-H, C-H, Si-H, B-H, H-H etc) are significant synthetic reactions. By using these reactions, the precise and efficient functionalization of organic compounds can be achieved without the generation of wastes. Thus, in line with the calls of environment protection, the hydrofunctionalization reactions of element-H are good tools to improve the traditional synthetic procedures and reduce the damages of chemical production to the environments. The conventional hydrofunctionalization reactions usually employ transition-metal catalysts, such as Pd, Rh, Ru, Cu, Ni etc, which are expensive, toxic and unfriendly to the environments. Therefore, developing even cheaper and environment-friendly catalysts to achieve the hydrofunctionalization reactions are of good practical values.

Recently, the organocalcium-catalyzed hydrofunctionalization reactions of element-H are widely investigated and have been reported by a series of literatures. Classified by the types of element-H, this short review summarizes the recent advances of organocalcium-catalyzed hydrofunctionalization reactions. The authors hope that it may provide a useful guide for interested readers from both the academy and industry.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions etc.

See the article:

Lei Yu, Rongrong Qian, Xin Deng, Fang Wang, Qing Xu. Calcium-catalyzed reactions of element-H bonds. Science Bulletin, 2018, 63(15): 1010-1016

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2095927318302731
(New York, NY - August 24, 2018)--Mount Sinai researchers have discovered a previously unknown reason for drug resistance in a common subtype of melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of cancer, and in turn, have found a new therapy that could prevent or reverse drug resistance for melanoma patients with a particular gene mutation, according to a study published in Nature Communications in August.

The researchers identified a novel epigenetic mechanism that causes resistance to the standard treatment in melanoma patients with mutations in the BRAF genes, which are found in about half of all melanomas. Researchers also found a biomarker, or a biological signature that accompanies this drug resistance: a gene called IGFBP2, which is also associated with poor prognosis in melanoma patients.

Patients with high levels of IGFBP2 could benefit from combination therapies, which could be created in response to these findings, that inhibit BRAF mutations and IGFBP2-driven biological pathways as a multi-pronged approach to preventing drug resistance or reversing it once it has occurred, the study shows. Other studies show the potential to find IGFBP2 via urine samples so the implications for detection and later treatment are large.

"The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma is rising and its therapeutic management remains challenging," said lead researcher Emily Bernstein, PhD, Associate Professor of Oncological Sciences and Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "In recent years, there has been extensive therapeutic development to inhibit key biological targets. Although a large proportion of patients with advanced metastatic melanoma harboring BRAF mutations respond to the standard therapy, known as MAPK inhibitors, subsequent resistance remains a major clinical challenge."

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This research was funded by La Roche-Posay North American Foundation, American Skin Association, Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

About 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, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally 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 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th 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.
A major advance towards targeting cancer without harming healthy tissue has been discovered by University of Bristol researchers. The team has found a way to exploit hypoxia (reduced oxygen levels) -- a condition which occurs during the development of many common cancers and drives their progression and spread. The findings, which have implications for targeted oncology, are published today [24 August 2018] in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Hypoxia arises because tumours often grow faster than their blood supply, causing oxygen deprivation, which forces cancer cells to adapt -- this makes their behaviour more aggressive and in turn leads to their spread around the body. The team sought to understand how cancer cells adapt to hypoxic conditions, with the hope of finding new ways to stop cancers growing and spreading. Using human cancer cells grown in dishes and a technique called proteomics, the team examined all the proteins that are 'switched on' by cancer cells in hypoxia. These experiments enabled the team to identify a new signalling mechanism that in the future could be therapeutically targeted to kill cancer cells without harming the surrounding normal cells.

Dr Alexander Greenhough, who led the Cancer Research UK-funded study from Bristol's School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, found that using genetic techniques to stop cancer cells 'switching on' a specific receptor (GPRC5A) when oxygen levels are low triggered cancer cell death.

Dr Greenhough said: "Hypoxia is considered an excellent target for cancer therapy because it generally features in cancers rather than healthy tissues. However, finding ways to effectively exploit this difference in the clinic is a major challenge. This work advances our knowledge of hypoxic cancer cell behaviour and take us a step closer towards developing novel therapies that could achieve this goal."

Hypoxia is an area of great interest and well-known to cancer researchers but identifying the proteins most important for cancer cell survival in hypoxia that are also 'druggable' has, until now, remained an unmet challenge.

Dr Greenhough added: "This type of receptor is a GPCR, which are considered to be among the best drug targets for many diseases. We would like to know whether this receptor serves as a biomarker for more aggressive cancers that are resistant to therapy, and whether it has roles in other diseases where hypoxia or inflammation is implicated, which could lead to advances in regenerative medicine as well as oncology."

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The study was led by Dr Alexander Greenhough, Professors Ann Williams and Chris Paraskeva from the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. The work also involved additional researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences, as well as researchers from the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow. The work was funded by Cancer Research UK and supported by researchers funded by the BBSRC, Wellcome Trust and John James Bristol Foundation.

Paper

"Cancer cell adaptation to hypoxia involves a HIF-GPRC5A-YAP axis" by Alexander Greenhough et al. in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Widespread tree felling in African savannas is producing at least three times as many carbon emissions as was previously thought, research suggests.

The findings highlight the extent to which humans are impacting one of the world's major ecosystems - the Miombo woodlands, which cover 2.5 million square kilometres, across countries including Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique.

At the same time, however, the growing number of trees in remote parts of these woodlands is helping to offset the emissions, researchers say.

The study is the first to provide an in-depth analysis of areas gaining carbon while also losing it through degradation - a process where some, but not all, trees are removed, usually as a result of logging and fire.

Until now, scientists had no way to measure these processes over such a large area. Degradation is particularly difficult to detect using satellite imaging as vegetation can often appear unchanged.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh used radar satellite data to show that degradation releases around twice as much carbon as deforestation - the clearing of entire areas for commercial activities. These losses are widespread close to major cities and roads.

Combined carbon losses from degradation and deforestation are between three and six times higher than previously thought, depending on the data used, the team says.

The main cause of degradation is to provide fuel for cooking and heating, mostly in the form of charcoal. Woodlands provide nearly 80 per cent of the energy used in the region, and the practice is often unregulated, leading to extensive overharvesting, researchers say.

The previously unmeasured increases in carbon may be happening as more people move closer to cities, the team says. It could also be linked to reductions in the number of elephants, and increased plant growth rates caused by rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Dr Iain McNicol, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who co-led the study, said: "While the rates of carbon loss we found are alarming, there is some cause for optimism. It is clear that in areas far from human influence, trees are taking in more carbon from the atmosphere. If more land is protected or used in a sustainable way, woodlands can recover relatively quickly."

Fellow lead author Dr Casey Ryan, also of the University's School of GeoSciences, said: "We knew that degradation was a problem, but this new approach means it is now much easier and cheaper for countries to monitor their natural resources and to target actions on the ground to mitigate these losses."

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Growing numbers of families in China are sending their teens on college tours in other countries, creating a potentially lucrative market sector for universities, college towns and tourism-related businesses, a new study suggests.

While the itineraries of these study tours used to concentrate on the Ivy League schools and their peers scattered along the East and West coasts of the U.S., intense competition for admission and rising tuition costs are prompting more Chinese students to look beyond the ivies to the highly ranked public universities in the Midwest, said lead author Joy Huang, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois.

"These short-term overseas tours and summer camps are a very important market for the tourist industry in the Midwest," Huang said. "They are also a very good recruiting tool for universities and a way to 'audition' potential foreign students - who usually pay much higher tuition than domestic students."

In 2013, more than 300,000 young people from China participated in overseas study tours. But by summer 2015, the number of Chinese teens who traveled abroad on these types of trips grew to more than 500,000 annually, according to the study.

Organized by travel agencies and high schools, the two- to four-week trips to the U.S. and other developed countries typically cost Chinese families $5,000-$8,000.

Huang co-wrote the study with Qian Li, then a doctoral student at the U. of I. Their paper appears in the Journal of China Tourism Research.

To learn more about why Chinese teens participate in the tours and the factors that influence families' decisions to send their children on these excursions, the researchers interviewed 30 Chinese adolescents who had traveled on a group study tour within the prior three years and 20 of their parents.

Similar to the grand tours undertaken by wealthy young men in ancient Europe, the study tours typically include sightseeing and an assortment of educational and cultural enrichment experiences as well as social and recreational activities, Huang said.

China's integration into the global economy has given rise to a rapidly growing middle class that is curious about other cultures and perspectives and eager to expand their children's knowledge beyond the Chinese educational system's test-focused curriculum, she said.

The parents interviewed said they hoped that going on the study trip would enrich their children's educational and life experience, and foster "global perspectives" that would enhance their competitiveness in the job market after college. Accordingly, the youths said they were motivated by their desire to learn about other cultures, to experience daily life in other countries and improve their English language skills.

With many of the parents' own college aspirations derailed by China's Cultural Revolution, they sought to fulfill those dreams vicariously by pushing their children to attend colleges in the U.S. and other countries, which they perceived as being more prestigious than the postsecondary institutions in China, Huang said.

Their children were among the generations born under China's one-child family planning policy, which began in 1979 and was phased out in 2016.

Among China's well-educated and more prosperous families, the one-child policy and exposure to Western cultural values has produced child-centered families in which the parent-child relationships are more egalitarian than in traditional Chinese culture, Huang and Li found.

"Several adolescents - and some parents - indicated that they hoped the study tours, which were the youths' first trips without their parents in tow, would foster greater independence" and prepare them for college life, Huang said. "The teens thought it was important to learn how to socialize and communicate with other people in new environments."

While much of the research on Chinese outbound tourists takes a "mass-market perspective, viewing all Chinese as a homogenous group, travel agencies and tourist destinations need to recognize the heterogeneity that exists among these travelers and adapt their products and marketing messages to these audience members' differing perspectives," Huang said.

She suggested that tourist agencies and universities that want to appeal to college-bound Chinese teens offer diverse itineraries with a mix of educational, social and recreational activities that immerse visiting teens in campus life. The itinerary might include attending classes and sporting events, hosting talks that enable visitors to ask questions of current students and housing the visiting teens in college residence halls.

Marketing campaigns aimed at the parents of these teens, however, should highlight the educational benefits and career opportunities available to students who attend the colleges they will visit, Huang said.

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Disruptive noise is almost everywhere, from people talking in the office corridor to road construction down the street to the neighbor's lawn mower. Research being conducted at the University of Illinois' Coordinated Science Laboratory is looking to improve this noisy frustration.

Current noise cancelling technology comes in the form of headphones and earbuds. To cancel noise, these headphones emit an anti-noise signal to contrast the external sounds. The time available for the headphones to produce this anti-noise signal is extremely short. This results in some noise getting through, which is why all these devices must cover the entire ear with noise-canceling material. However, wearing such ear-blocking devices for long periods of time is not comfortable, and can even be harmful.

"Our goal is to not block the ear canal," said Sheng Shen, lead author and a Ph.D. candidate in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). "We envision a behind-the-ear device that still achieves noise cancellation as good as the best headphones or earbuds available today."

The main idea behind this research involves combining wireless IoT networks with noise cancellation. A microphone is placed in the environment that senses sounds and sends them over wireless signals to an earpiece. Since wireless signals travel a million times faster than sound, the earphone can receive the sound information much faster than the actual sound itself.

"This is similar to lightning and thunder -- the lightning arrives much before the thunder, allowing people to prepare for the loud rumble," said Shen's advisor, Romit Roy Choudhury, an ECE Professor. "Similarly, our ear device gets the sound information in advance, and has much more time to produce a better anti-noise signal."

The figure below (and the attached video) shows an example of how this technology would work. The person who wants to cancel noise (Alice) would place the IoT microphone away from her, say on her office door. The noise from her coworkers' conversation in the hallway is picked up by this IoT device and transmitted to Alice's earpiece over a wireless connection. The actual sound arrives at the earpiece later, and because of this lead time, the noise can be fully canceled. As a result, it is no longer necessary to block the ear canal.

There are however, a few limitations. The IoT microphone needs to be between the noise source and Alice. If noise is coming at her from all directions, a couple more IoT devices would need to be placed around her. In tests conducted during the research, the device designed by Shen and Choudhury's group outperformed a leading headphone in overall noise cancellation and was rated better by the human participants.

When asked about the potential privacy concerns involved with the device, Shen nullified some of the most common fears.

"The most common privacy concern is that the device will secretly record someone's voice," Shen said. "This device is analog, so it has no capacity to record the sound. The moment the device hears the sound it is sent out wirelessly."

This differentiation is what separates Shen's device from many IoT devices commonly used today, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, which must record voice samples in order to operate.

Shen and his colleagues are already receiving attention for their work. The research paper about the project was recently selected for presentation at the upcoming Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Data Communication (ACM SIGCOMM) Conference which takes place in Budapest, Hungary, in late August. The conference brings together global researchers across the field of computer networking and communications.

"This is bound to change the way we think of noise cancellation, where networks of IoT sensors coordinate to enable quieter and more comfortable environments," said ECE Assistant Professor Haitham Hassanieh, who is a co-author on this paper. Other co-authors include Nirupam Roy and Junfeng Guan, both ECE Ph.D. students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Looking forward, the team would like to expand the use of their device to provide noise cancellation for more than one individual at a time and make the wearable device even lighter for continuous use.

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Related video: MUTE: Bringing IoT to Noise Cancellation
A virtual dog could soon be used as an educational tool to help prevent dog bites, thanks to an innovative project led by the University of Liverpool's Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC).

In collaboration with Dogs Trust and University of Liverpool animal behaviour researchers, the VEC has created a proof of concept virtual reality (VR) experience in which people can approach and interact with a dog displaying signs of aggression in a safe and controlled way.

The experience aims to help adults and children recognise specific behaviours displayed by dogs, which could potentially lead to an attack or incident if not correctly identified.

6,740 hospital admissions for dog bites and strikes were recorded in the UK in 2013 and University of Liverpool research suggests that the burden of dog bites is considerably larger than those estimated from hospital records.

As part of a desire to better educate children and adults about dog bite prevention, Dogs Trust wanted to explore whether a digital tool could help people identify a range of stress and threat behaviours typically exhibited by dogs, which have the potential to lead to a bite.

In response to this challenge, a team animal behavioural specialists and psychologists from the University worked closely with the VEC to make certain that the body language and detail shown in the virtual environment was both realistic and a truthful reflection of real-world canine behaviour.

As the user approaches the dog, the behaviour and body language of the dog gradually changes, the dog's behaviour begins to display signs of aggression including licking its lips, lowering of the head and body, front paw lifting, growling, and showing of teeth. These behaviours are referenced from the 'Canine Ladder of Aggression' which shows how a dog may behave when it does not want to be approached.

Iain Cant, VEC Visualisation Team Leader said: "This was a really interesting project to work on with a lot of exciting potential for the future.

"The next steps will look to enhance the detail within the immersive environment to ensure the simulation is as realistic as possible. Future developments will also show a wider range of dog behaviours and the dog's reactions to user behaviour."

"More broadly the project highlights how immersive experiences can be used by organisations such as Dogs Trust as a valuable educational tool."

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Ramon Lopez, a University of Texas at Arlington physics professor, has been selected as one of the 2018 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference Education Award, Great Minds in STEM announced.

Great Minds in STEM is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping America technologically strong by promoting science, technology, engineering and math or STEM careers, especially in underserved communities.

The HENAAC award winners will be honored at the 30th Anniversary HENAAC Conference, "Generation Xcellence" in Pasadena, Calif., Oct. 17-21.

Lopez, who has been at UTA since 2007, said the accolade gives him great pride since he is helping communities, especially those that are underrepresented in STEM. "It is the ultimate honor from a top-flight organization that has the respect of everyone in STEM," Lopez said. "We feel like we've turned up the dial here at UTA in recognizing those underserved areas, meeting their needs and seeing them walk across the stage."

Lopez has been instrumental in the success of UTeach Arlington, which started in 2010 and has produced more than 120 graduates. The program recruits outstanding science and mathematics students and provides them with an excellent education as well as with training to receive teacher certification. The program provides early and intensive field experiences for teacher candidates, and the classes are taught by master teachers, who serve as both instructors and mentors.

Additionally, Lopez has worked as a consultant for school districts and state education agencies around the country, including the Texas Education Agency. He has served on scientific or education-related committees with the National Academy of Sciences, American Physical Society, American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and also was on the boards of directors of the Society of the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. In addition, he is the author of a popular science book, Storms from the Sun.

Teik Lim, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said Lopez's accomplishment helps solidify UTA's standing as a Hispanic-serving institution.

"UTA prides itself on diversity," Lim said. "Dr. Lopez embraces that special calling to help underserved and underrepresented communities. That only makes us stronger in bringing students who wouldn't necessarily consider a STEM-related field to delve into those fields."

Great Minds in STEM was established in 1989 in the Los Angeles area. The organization's nationwide programming focuses on STEM educational awareness from kindergarten through college, and on seeking out and documenting the world-class contributions of Hispanic professionals in STEM to serve as role models for the next generation of American engineers and scientists.

Lopez earned a doctorate in Space Physics from Rice University in 1986. Prior to joining UTA, he worked as a research scientist and administrator at the University of Maryland at College Park, as director of Education and Outreach Programs with the American Physical Society, as professor and physics department chair at UT El Paso and as physics professor at the Florida Institute of Technology.

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As India gets stringent about Internet safety in the wake of Whatsapp fake news causing mob lynching, media reports suggest that the Union government is likely to introduce new guidelines by September to heighten the accountability of internet and social media companies under Indian law. This will ensure they react quickly to stop the spread of rumours or offensive content on their platforms.



The stringent move will introduce fresh clauses under existing intermediary guidelines under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, reported certain sections of the media. A legal firm is already said to be vetting the guideline draft, which should be out by September.



The new guidelines will make it compulsory for global internet and social media firms to name a grievance officer in the country who will have to respond to complaints within a few hours, apart from ensuring traceability of content.

Though the intermediary guidelines under Section 79 of the 2011 IT Act mandates companies to follow due diligence and allowed time up to 36 hours for companies to remove objectionable content and name a grievance officer on its website for response, these guidelines were not stringently enforced.



This new guideline will be a significant move as it will make Google, Whatsapp, Facebook and the likes accountable for actively taking part in creating or modifying information rather than just being termed as mere intermediaries that act as facilitators. The government can then take the guideline to the erring party saying that it is not following the rulebook. This will also have far reaching implications on message traceability, particularly Whatsapps end-to-end encryption and text messages on cellular networks. How (and if) it will have an effect on Facebooks news feed still remains to be seen.



Meanwhile there is also the potential violation of the Supreme Courts past verdict during the 2015 Shreya Singhal judgement if this new guidebook comes into practice. Before 2015, GoI restricted freedom of speech for avoiding self-harm and misuse. This allowed arrest of any person which the law per see as harmful or misuse. In 2012, Singhal, an Indian born lawyer, filed a PIL in the Supreme Court of India against the Act and in 2015, the Court struck down Section 66A of IT Act 2000. This was hailed as a major step in the country's quest for freedom of speech and expression.



WhatsApp Rejects Governments Plea



In a latest development, social media platform WhatsApp has rejected India's demand for a solution to track the origin of messages on its platform, saying building traceability would undermine end-to-end encryption and affect privacy protection for users.



According to media reports, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, Building traceability would undermine end-to-end encryption and the private nature of WhatsApp, creating the potential for serious misuse. WhatsApp will not weaken the privacy protections we provide. People rely on WhatsApp for all kinds of sensitive conversations, including with their doctors, banks and families. Our focus remains working closer with others in India to educate people about misinformation and help keep people safe.



WhatsApp Head, Chris Daniels had met IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad earlier this week. After the meeting, Prasad told reporters that the government has asked WhatsApp to set up a local corporate entity and find a technology solution to trace the origin of fake messages circulated through its platform and appoint a grievance officer. He was stern that WhatsApp could face abetment charges if it did not take action to tackle the issue of fake news being circulated on its platform.



Daniels had declined to comment on the proceedings after the meeting.



India is the largest market for WhatsApp with a base of over 200 million users of the over 1.5 billion global user base. With general elections slated to be held next year in India, the government is taking a stern view of use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for spread of misinformation.



The Indian government has served two notices to the Facebook-owned company seeking details of actions it has taken to curb the menace. In its response, WhatsApp had informed that it is building a local team, including having an India head, and has introduced new features to let its users identify forwarded messages.



WhatsApp has also restricted the number of forwards that can be done at a time. Besides, the company is also running advocacy and education programmes to help people spot fake news.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
The Jackson Hole symposium ends a busy week, and Jerome Powells comments will be watched closely.

US-China tariff talks made little progress this week, but that didn't stop the S&P500 from making a new all-time high.

The US dollar uptrend is still intact as it trades 95.5, but there are the makings of a reversal lower and some bearish signs on the chart.

Headlines on Friday are likely to be dominated by the annual Jackson Hole symposium. This year the theme is 'Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy' and the Fed Governor Jerome Powell is due to speak later on 'Monetary Policy in a Changing Economy'. More attention than usual will be paid to his comments in light of the changes in the economic backdrop in recent weeks, namely the emerging market crisis and the US-China trade war. Like it or not, the Fed has its part to play in both of these.

Comments about President Trumps recent outbursts are not likely. On Thursday the Kansas City Fed's George and Dallas Fed's Kaplan spoke on monetary policy matters and noted that political considerations do not play a role when the Fed sets monetary policy. The Fed will try to drill this message home as if there is a policy change in future they can blame it on other factors. The most likely of these is the flattening of the yield curve, which seems like the Feds main threat to projected rate hikes.

That said, neither Kaplan or George made any hints to s slowing of rate hikes and both backed another three to four rate hikes. This was the message in the Fed minutes released Wednesday this week, and is likely to be the message sent by Powell on Friday.

Trade Talks Rumble On

Perhaps the market has tired of trade talks as it has paid little attention to the negotiations between the US and China this week. Perhaps the markets apathy was more due to the low expectation for any material progress.

Markets are a bit on the limp side in terms of the outlook as indications from the Chinese side indicate that talks have been constructive and that communication will continue, but that no new round of talks will take place before the US mid-term elections in November, explained Danske Bank.

Equity and risk markets were initially buoyed when US and China agreed to re-start talks, and the S&P500 did manage to make a new all-time high this week for the first time since January. However, the initial excitement is now wearing thin and the familiar problems and hurdles are likely to make progress slow.

The US is set to impose another 25% tariffs on $200 billion of imported goods from China and the concern is exactly how will retaliate. As ING explain,

China will only retaliate with tariffs on $60 billion because the US doesn't export as much. But China has repeatedly stated that it can retaliate qualitatively.

Qualitative retaliations could include placing administrative measures on US companies operating in China or following the US lead and leveraging 'national security' to prevent some American companies operating in the country. Given that, 'national security' examination has recently been added as a clause in foreigners' investment policies in China, this seems like a possibility. 

This threatens companies such as Apple who have substantial Chinese sales. Imposing any kind of measures would really escalate the situation and threaten equity markets worldwide.

Meanwhile, the US and Mexico are still negotiating a new NAFTA deal. Early indications are positive, and Canada could re-join the negotiations if a deal is made.

The DXY dollar basket is trading near the weeks lows at 95.5 after a brief recovery on Thursday, and the reversal pattern on the charts is still suggesting more weakness to come.
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(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump has warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller to steer clear of his personal business empire in his Russian meddling investigation. But now that a guilty plea by the presidents ex-lawyer has implicated the Trump Organization, federal, state and local prosecutors are circling.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is weighing whether to pursue criminal charges against the company and two top officials, a person familiar with the matter said. Lawyers say former Trump fixer Michael Cohen opened Trump Organization to an array of probes when he pleaded guilty to campaign finance-related charges.

The U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan referred to -- but didnt charge -- the Trump Organization this week in its case against Cohen, suggesting federal prosecutors have already stepped past what the president has said is a red line for him.

Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Trump turned over control of his company to two of his sons and Weisselberg before he was inaugurated.

Now Playing: Trump's longtime financial gatekeeper, Allen Weisselberg, was granted immunity for providing information about Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen in the criminal investigation against him. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Video: Buzz 60

Weisselbergs ties to the Trump family date back to the 1970s when he worked as an accountant for the presidents father, Fred, according to news reports. The 71-year-old has been chief financial officer at the Trump Organization for years, and has served as treasurer for the presidents personal foundation. Hes so trusted by Trump that hes the only non-family member who serves as a trustee for the trust that owns the constellation of business interests that form the Trump Organization.

Revelations in the Cohen charging documents -- that the Trump Organization made sham payments to Cohen to reimburse him for buying the silence of porn actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels -- suggest U.S. prosecutors are laying the legal groundwork for further scrutiny.

Plus, the president is contending with the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan, which is known not just for taking on aggressive cases but also for its expertise in financial crimes.

Look Hard

Its not my experience that federal prosecutors in Manhattan would leave open questions and not pursue them when there clearly are others who might be implicated in crimes, said Noah Bookbinder, executive director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW. They should look hard at all of them.

More for you Michael Cohen was doomed because Trump thinks lawyers are lackeys

Cohens plea also gives state and local authorities a toehold to launch probes of the businesss financial statements and tax records, said Paul S. Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, a Washington-based government oversight group.

That possibility raises the stakes significantly for Trump, threatening not just his political future but his wealth. And Trumps sensitivity to questions about his business extends to his personal income, which he has steadfastly refused to detail by breaking from tradition and shielding his tax returns from public view.

On top of that, the moves pose a different kind of peril for Trump than the investigation by Mueller for its ties to Russia. Unlike in federal cases, Trump has no power to pardon crimes charged by state prosecutors and no authority to shut down a state investigation into his business.

In his plea Tuesday, Cohen admitted that Trump directed him to pay hush money to Clifford shortly before the 2016 election in violation of campaign finance law. The Trump Organization approved paying Cohen $420,000 early last year based on sham invoices he submitted to recoup the $130,000 he paid to Clifford, according to court documents.

One Trump Organization executive instructed an employee to incorrectly record the first of Cohens payments in the companys books as a retainer for the months of January and February 2017, the documents show. But prosecutors said that there was no retainer.

Three Employees

The company paid Cohen more than double what he claimed he ultimately spent for Trumps campaign. At least three Trump Organization employees were involved in the effort, according to court records. According to Ryan, the reimbursement exposes the company to laws banning so-called straw donors.

New York state laws could also come into play. The bogus invoices Cohen submitted to the Trump Organization for reimbursement could open the company to claims it falsified business records, according to Mark A. Bederow, a Manhattan criminal defense attorney.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has already sought a referral from the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to launch a criminal tax probe of Cohens activities, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Conceal the Truth

Its clear that Cohens bills and the way Trumps company accounted for them were intended to conceal the truth, Bederow said, adding that such conduct would be a Class E felony in New York.

Sham invoices clearly are falsified documents, said Alfredo F. Mendez, a former chief of financial crimes for the New York Attorney Generals office whos now a partner at law firm Abrams Fensterman Fensterman Eisman Formato Ferrara Wolf & Carone LLP. But to rise to the level of a felony charge state or local prosecutors would have to determine whether Trump Organization executives knew the documents were bogus and if they were created to cover up other crimes.

In Manhattan, Vances office is weighing whether to investigate the company and the individuals for possible books and records violations, one of the people said. If Vance proceeds, it is expected that he will coordinate his investigation with federal prosecutors to make sure his office is not duplicating or interfering with their efforts, the person said.

Jenny Johnson Ware, a Chicago criminal tax defense attorney, said the details of the Cohen case raise tax questions. The Trump Organization recorded some of the payments to Cohen as tax-deductible legal expenses.

The only reason to do that would be to hide the nature of the payment and to make it tax deductible, Ware said. You know the saying, where theres smoke, theres fire?, Ware said. Well, this is lots and lots and lots of billowing smoke.

(Updates with background on Weisselberg in fifth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Bill Allison, Greg Farrell and Erik Larson.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shahien Nasiripour in New York at snasiripour1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu

2018 Bloomberg L.P.
The May death of 79-year-old W. Marvin Rush II, the founder of what is today the largest commercial truck dealership chain in North America, has sparked a new feud  this one between one of his sons and his widow.

Son W.M. Rusty Rush III, the chains chairman, CEO and president, and Marvins third wife, Barbara Rush, have filed dueling wills over the family patriarchs estate.

Among the assets at stake is most of Marvins stock in New Braunfels-based Rush Enterprises Inc., the business he started, expanded and later took public. The company now has more than 100 Rush Truck Centers in 22 states.

The shares in question were worth almost $74 million at the close of the stock market Friday.

Rusty, 60, contends those shares belong to him based on his fathers wishes memorialized in a 2006 will. Barbara, 58, says that her husband of 26 years revoked that will when he made a new one in May 2013 and then another in November 2013.

The 2013 wills contain no specific bequest of Marvins shares. Therefore, Barbara says, the shares are part of Marvins residuary estate  of which shes the sole beneficiary.

Rusty is opposing both wills even though Barbara is only asking the court to declare the November 2013 will valid. He alleges that Marvin suffered from dementia when he signed the 2013 wills. Barbara disagrees.

The drama has just begun to unfold in Guadalupe County Court of Law, where Judge Robin Dwyer will oversee the contested probate case. The value of Marvins entire estate has yet to be determined.

The new battle follows a lawsuit Rusty filed against his father in 2016 accusing him of reneging on an oral agreement to give him all of his company stock in Rush Enterprises. A judge in February refused Marvins request to toss the case.

That case had been set to go to trial Sept. 10 in Bexar County District Court but was postponed due to Marvins death. A representative for Marvins estate will have to be appointed so the case can proceed.

While the amount of stock in dispute is significant, its not enough to sway control or impact the operation of Rush Enterprises  which has a market value of about $1.7 billion.

The two sides, though, even disagree on the reason for the squabbling. Joyce Moore, Rustys lawyer, called it a family fight over Marvins stock. Ricardo Cedillo, Barbaras lawyer, said the fight is about defending and honoring Barbaras husbands name and legacy.

Rusty has made disparaging and hurtful allegations about his fathers capacity in the probate case that malign Marvins integrity, generosity, and hard-earned reputation, Cedillo said in an email. Marvin deserves far better treatment after all he accomplished and provided to his family, friends and community in his lifetime.

Moore countered, This is purely a fight over Marvins stock. Its what Marvin had promised his son his entire life. We do not wish to malign Mr. Rushs name. Rusty loved his dad.

I dont think theres anything, quite frankly in my (court papers) that has disparaged him, Moore added. We tried to be very accurate and careful about the condition he was suffering from. We actually got that information from Barbara and Mr. Cedillo.

The probate fight

Marvin Rush, who lived in Seguin, died May 17.

Rush Enterprises roots sprang from a GMC truck dealership Marvin launched in 1965 in Houston. Marvin eventually bought out two partners, expanded the business and in 1996 made it the first automotive or truck dealership to trade its shares on the open market. The company posted $172 million in profit on $4.7 billion in revenue last year. It employed 6,875 workers as of Dec. 31.

Marvin served as Rush Enterprises president until 1995, when he became chairman and CEO. He resigned as CEO in 2006 and Rusty took over. Marvin kept the chairmans title until 2013, when he became chairman emeritus  essentially an honorary post that he held until August 2016.

Though his affiliation with the company eventually ended, Marvin continued to own Rush Enterprises shares both individually and with Rusty through a partnership called 3MR Partners.

Marvins obituary revealed that in his last few years he battled Lewy Body Dementia. The disease can present a range of symptoms, including problems with thinking, memory, moving, and changes in behaviors, according to the Lewy Body Dementia Associations website.

On June 4, 18 days after Marvins death, Rusty filed court papers in Guadalupe County seeking to validate the will his father executed in 2006. The will gives Rusty all of Marvins Rush Enterprises Class B shares and his partnership interest in 3MR Partners  which was formed decades ago for the purpose of owning and holding certain assets, including shares in Rush Enterprises. The companys latest proxy statement lists Marvin and Rusty as the general partners of 3MR Partners, which held almost 30 percent of the Class B shares voting power.

Then, on June 29, Marvins widow Barbara entered her opposition to Rustys application to probate the 2006 will. She says her husband redid his will twice in 2013  revoking the 2006 will.

Barbaras filing included a copy of the November 2013 will, which was water-damaged by a flood that inundated the file room of the Houston law firm FizerBeck during Hurricane Harvey. The will was professionally restored, Barbaras filing says.

Marvin completely disinherited Rusty in the 2013 wills.

I do not wish to make any provision hereunder for my son William Maurice Rush, III, or any of his descendants, Marvin states in both 2013 wills. The November 2013 will indicates Marvin had set up trusts for the benefit of some of his other children and his grandchildren.

Even before Marvin made the new wills, he signed a First Codicil in late 2012, according to a copy of the document filed by Barbara in the probate case. In the document, Marvin struck from the 2006 will his intentions to bequeath $2 million to each of four of his other children, citing gifts he had made to them during his life. Marvin was survived by six children.

Barbara was named the executor of Marvins estate in the 2006 will and in each of the 2013 wills.

Mental capacity

On July 9, Rusty filed his opposition to probating either of the 2013 wills  arguing that the onset of his fathers dementia was at least five to eight years prior to his death, thus placing Mr. Rushs mental capacity in doubt from May 2010 onward.

Cedillo, Barbaras lawyer, disagreed with Rustys assertion that Marvin lacked testamentary capacity.

I think his family, friends and business associates who knew him and cared about him would disagree, Cedillo said in an email. But, I also think people who didnt know him personally but had the opportunity to interact with him would disagree.

Cedillo provided a link to a YouTube video of a March 22, 2013, presentation Marvin gave to business students at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin.

Adjunct professor Dave Sather, who invited Marvin to speak to the students, didnt notice anything wrong with the businessman.

I think Marvin was well aware of his surroundings, Sather said in a phone interview. Not only was the presentation clear and well-presented, I think he answered the (students) questions very well.

Marvin came back to the university a couple of months later  around the time he executed the May 2013 will  to have lunch with some of the students, Sather said. He recalled Marvin driving his Rolls Royce on campus.

Marvin let my student drive his Rolls Royce down I-10, Sather said. And Marvin goes, Quit driving it like an old woman. Get on it. Marvin was just very engaging that way.

Rusty, though, remembers his father differently in his final years. In his July court filing, Rusty says his father ceased being involved in the day-to-day business of Rush Enterprises in 2010. Marvin complained of not being able to concentrate and was often unable to remember recent events.

Marvin told the companys board that he intended to step down as its chairman in favor of Rusty in 2011, but subsequently changed his mind, Rusty says in the filing. But in late 2012 and early 2013, it was made clear to (Marvin) by the Board that his resignation was required.

The two 2013 wills, which cut Rusty out of any inheritance, represented a dramatic departure from (Marvins) long-standing estate plan of leaving his shares of Stock in Rush Enterprises to his son Rusty, Rustys filing adds.

These wills were also executed shortly after Mr. Rush, apparently with the encouragement of his wife, Barbara, had formed an irrational belief that his son Rusty was somehow at fault when the Board of Directors insisted that Mr. Rush step down as Chairman of the Board in May of 2013, Rustys filing continues.

Barbara disputes Rustys take, noting the 2013 wills were prepared by the FizerBeck law firm and signed by two witnesses. Jerry Scroggins, one of the FizerBeck lawyers involved, did not respond to a request for comment.

If Marvin lacked capacity or was susceptible to undue influence at the time the May 2013 will was made, Barbara wonders how Rusty  as Rush Enterprises CEO and president  could have entered into a Retirement and Transition Agreement with his father just four days later.

Rustys own course of conduct lends itself to the conclusion that (his father) did not lack capacity and was not susceptible to undue influence in 2013, Barbara says in her filing. Otherwise, it means that (Rusty) knowingly engaged in conduct designed to take advantage of his fathers alleged condition to a gross degree.

Moore had no comment on the allegation.

According to the retirement agreement, Rush Enterprises agreed to pay Marvin $8 million in severance and allowed him free use of the corporate jet and company ranch for four years. He also was provided an office at Rush Enterprises headquarters and an administrative assistant for four years.

Dueling wills

Dueling wills are not uncommon, according to Dayla S. Pepi, a St. Marys University clinical professor of law who has practiced in estate-planning. She is not involved in Marvins probate case.

The court is going to presume that the most recent will  from November 2013  is the valid, controlling will, Pepi said. But then the court will make an inquiry into whether Marvin had capacity to execute the will.

Just because someone has dementia does not mean they lack capacity, she added. She said its her practice to videotape a client with diminished capacity at a will-execution ceremony. She asks a slew of questions to determine whether the client is competent.

If I have that video, it will stave off allegations that he was incapacitated and he didnt know what he was signing, Pepi said. Cedillo did not say whether Marvin was recorded signing the 2013 wills.

Moore is expecting a contentious battle over Marvins estate.

I imagine it will be a pretty tough fight in probate court, she said. Im assuming it will be.

Whatever the outcome, the skirmish may not end in probate court  given the pending litigation in Bexar County.

I cannot predict what ends Rusty will go to oppose his fathers express testamentary intent, but I am currently left to assume that he will continue the district court lawsuit he filed against his father regardless of the outcome of the probate case, Cedillo said.

Moore, though, said she was unsure whether the lawsuit would proceed if Rusty prevails in the probate case.

We dont want to get more than what his daddy promised him, she said.

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
Nathaniel Nelson makes some of the best barbecue in San Antonio. Getting it, thats another thing.

His trucks only open about 10 hours a week  less time than most people spend smoking a single brisket. And the little tattoo parlor lot where he parks holds only a handful of cars at a time, spaces already at a premium thanks to the Singhs Vietnamese trailer right next to Nelsons.

Barbecues a part-time gig for Nelson, one that started as a hobby outside a regular job that doesnt involve meat and smoke. That means he might pull up 15 minutes late and be missing a few things off an already short menu.

A part-time business with a full-time reputation. Thats good news and bad news. The bad news: You wont always get what you want when you want it. The good news: Youll want it when you get it.

Grand champion: In their full shaggy glory, pork spare ribs are a canvas for a good rub and a smart glaze. I got both at Nelsons. Salt and pepper, with a caramelized candy-apple shell that preserved the meats rosy glow, whether its the slippery, cartilaginous give-and-take of the rib tip or the clean, pull-apart lines at the bone ($13.99 a pound).

Related: Review: Jason Dady's Tre Trattoria finds new life on the River Walk at San Antonio Museum of Art

Nelsons BBQ Location and hours: A food truck at 7327 N. Loop 1604 W., 210-473-4988, Facebook: @NathanielNelsonsbbq. 5-8:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday. Rating: A solid neighborhood option See More Collapse

The trinity: From its coarse volcanic bark to its red smoke-ring aurora to the honeycomb of fat and lean at its core, Nelsons brisket ($17.99 a pound) checked all the right boxes. Texturally, the slices from the moist end fell apart at their fatty inseam and the lean slices crumbled in spots, likely the fallout from uneven cooking temperatures.

Nelsons handmade spicy sausage came fully cooked but unwarmed to the truck that day, almost like a dry sausage. Even in that cool state, it radiated chile heat through a balanced grind that suggested an hour on the pit would turn it into something special ($2.49 a link).

More from the pit: Nelson makes a mean pulled pork, I hear. But only eating is believing, and there was no proof to be found.

Sides: It begins and ends with macaroni and cheese ($2.49). Thats true for almost anything, but with no other sides but canned beans  and even those were out, it was a fact at Nelsons. Not just a fact, but the truth, passed down through wife Rachels family recipe.

By a mile the best mac and cheese in this series so far. Baked deep like a pan of lasagna with a crown of broiled cheese, it was cheese at its cheesiest and mac at its  mack-iest.

Related: Review: Hot Joy's buzz is wearing off in Southtown

Sauce: Need a big, spicy ketchup red? Youre out of luck. And in luck at the same time. Because this sauce was like sorghum syrup for Sunday biscuits. Except you pour it on meat.

Mavericks: Take that brisket from before, put it on grilled Texas toast and add a fat slice of that mac and cheese, and youve got the Nasty Nate ($8.99), a sandwich that needs no adjectives, only napkins. I can only imagine what its like with a slice of Nelsons home-cured bacon. Imaginations all Ive got, because he didnt have that, either.

msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking
Hurricane Lane churned dangerously close to Hawaii's Big Island, delivering up to 35 inches of rain to some areas in 24 hours.

The torrential downpour led to landslides and extreme flooding on Thursday and Friday in several areas and the town of Hilo on the island's east side was hit especially hard with roads and fields completely submerged in water.

A National Weather Service meteorologist described flooding on Hawaii's Big Island as catastrophic, with parts of the island soaked with 35 inches of rain in 48 hours.

Chevy Chevalier said the "the sponge is full," meaning the ground is so wet that additional rain to will pond up and flood.

Water levels on the Wailuku River and Honolii Stream surged, and a waterspout, a tornado that forms over water, was spotted off the coast of Paukaa just north of Hilo.

The National Weather Service reported 31.21 inches at its remote Hakalau Station in Hilo.

Police warned people to stay off all roads in South Hilo.

Emergency crews rescued five California tourists from a home they were renting in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed and it flooded Thursday.

Suzanne Demerais said a tiny waterfall and small stream flowed near the home when she first arrived with four of her friends from the Los Angeles area. But the stream turned into a torrent and the river rose rapidly over 24 hours. Hawaii County firefighters, who were in touch with the home's owner, decided to evacuate the group before the water rose further. They floated the five out on their backs, Demerais said.

"It was quite an experience because we weren't planning to have a hurricane during our vacation time," Demerais said.

VIDEO: Raw footage shows flooding on Big Island after torrential downpour

Now Playing: Water surged through rivers and streets after Hurricane Lane dropped nearly two feet of rain on Hawaii's Big Island in a roughly 24 hour period. At least five people had to be rescued from a flooded house. (Aug. 24) Video: Associated Press

Forecasters say Hurricane Lane is moving away from the Big Island but could still drop more rain there. The storm will move close to or over parts of Hawaii's main islands late Friday.

The dangerous Category 3 hurricane is heading north with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. The center is about 200 miles south of Honolulu and moving north at 5 mph.

Sirens wailed while workers piled sandbags in front of hotels and police blared warnings to tourists to leave the world-famous Waikiki Beach on Oahu island.

Lane was not projected to make a direct hit on the islands, but officials warned that even a lesser blow could do significant harm. Some areas could see up to 30 inches (about 80 centimeters) of rain.

United Airlines canceled its Friday flights to and from Maui. The airline added two additional flights from Honolulu to San Francisco on Thursday to help transport people off the islands.

Hawaiian Airlines canceled all Friday flights by its commuter carrier, Ohana by Hawaiian.

Hawaii's biggest hotels are confident they can keep their guests safe as long as they stay inside, said Mufi Hannemann, CEO of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association.

"The only concern is those that venture outside of the properties, that would like to hike on a day like this or who would like to still go into the ocean and see what it's like to take a swim or surf in these kind of waters," Hannemann said.

ALSO, Bay Area emergency crews head to Hawaii as Hurricane Lane approaches islands

Honolulu shopping malls and office buildings closed early on Thursday and planned to shut their doors Friday.

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Shelters were open throughout the islands, with 350 people in them in Oahu. Aid agencies were also working to help Hawaii's sizable homeless population, many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Because there's not enough shelter space statewide, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis urged people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

The National Weather Service downgraded the Big Island to a tropical storm warning, meaning it expects sustained winds of 39 mph to 73 mph on the island instead of stronger hurricane force winds.

But a hurricane warning remains in effect for Oahu and Maui County.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

Because people in Hawaii are confined to the islands, they have to make sure they have enough supplies to outlast power outages and other potential emergencies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency moved several barges packed with food, water, generators and other supplies into the region ahead of Hurricane Hector, which skirted past the islands more than a week ago, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said.

"Hurricane Lane is not a well-behaved hurricane," Gov. David Ige said in a statement. "I've not seen such dramatic changes in the forecast track as I've seen with this storm. I urge our residents and visitors to take this threat seriously and prepare for a significant impact."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
A principal operator of a canine training business in San Antonio swindled about $1.26 million from the GI Bill program by fraudulently claiming his trainers were certified and using a dead mans identity to further the scheme, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

The indictment said Bradley Croft, 46, submitted to the Texas Veterans Commission the names of people he claimed to be certified training instructors, but they never gave permission for him to use their names for Universal K-9s application. One instructor who was cited had been dead for two years.

Croft is charged with eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of money laundering.

Arrested Wednesday, Croft had his initial hearing Thursday in federal court. Over the objections of one of Crofts lawyers, Tom McHugh, U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad ordered Croft held for a bail hearing and arraignment Tuesday.

RELATED: Operator of dog training school charged with fraud, money laundering

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Surovic told the judge that Croft is a flight risk and danger to the community. Croft has a lengthy criminal history, which includes shooting at people and other violence and a federal conviction in the late 1990s involving insurance fraud, for which he got five years of probation, court records show.

Over the past 20 years, he lived a life where he basically intimidated everyone around him, Surovic said, requesting Tuesdays hearing to bring in witnesses to show why Croft should not be released on bond.

Agents with the FBI, and the IRS Criminal Investigation division raided Universal K9 at 15329 Tradesman, near Loop 1604, which is billed as a nonprofit, on Aug. 8. The business was shut down.

Of the 31 dogs found on the site, 26 were taken into custody by the city's Animal Care Services.

According to the indictment, Croft laundered some of the ill-gotten money by paying nearly $320,000 for the property on Tradesman, and $452,789 on a luxury 2017 American Eagle 45T Motorhome.

The indictment also puts him on notice that prosecutors intend to use forfeiture laws to keep a 2018 Ford F-150 King Ranch Lariat, a 2017 Dodge 1500 Laramie, two jet skis and a 2012 Rocket International Trailer that were seized during the raid. Some of the vehicles were registered under his teenage daughters name, and not his own, public records show.

Crofts business has had a variety of spellings of its operating name, including Universal K9, Universal K-9 or Universal K-NINE, the indictment said. Universal also billed itself as a non-profit, providing dogs it obtained from pet-rescue organzations to police agencies.

Some of the dogs were used in the training program, which targeted military veterans. The indictment said Universal offered two courses: the K-9 handler dual-purpose detection program for $6,500 and a trainer/instructor program that charged $12,500.

According to the indictment, in 2013, Croft began the application process with the Texas Veterans Commission to obtain certification to allow Universal K-9 to receive GI Bill educational benefit payments for providing dog handler training. In October 2015, Croft emailed several documents to the commission containing the names of four people who were purported to be instructors for Universal K-9 classes for which Croft was seeking approval to obtain GI Bill benefits. They are listed as victims 1-4 in the indictment.

The application also included training documents purporting to show the training and certification of each of the instructors.

RELATED: After K9 school raid in San Antonio, other groups step up to help veterans and their dogs

In fact, none of those individuals had granted Croft permission to use their names and were not working as instructors at Universal K-9 in the classes described in the application, the indictment said. In the case of Victim 1, he had died two years prior to the submission of the application for approval and therefore could not have been a trainer for Universal K-9.

Based on the documents, the TVC granted Universal approval for participating in the GI Bill program.

Croft and others, who are not charged, then solicited veterans as students for the dog-handler course, indicating that veterans could use their GI Bill benefits to pay for the course. Croft and the others would enroll veterans in the course and submit enrollment records to the VA for payment, knowing the approval of the training had been fraudulently obtained, the indictment said.

Between 2016 through the date of the indictment, Universal filed approximately 185 claims relating to the education of 132 veterans, totaling $1.26 million, the indictment said.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years on each count of money-laundering and wire fraud and two years on each ID theft count, consecutive to what he may get on the other charges.
A San Antonio couple has been charged in what is billed as the most prolific illegal opioid distribution network in the country on the darknet, the Justice Department said.

Matthew Alan Roberts and Holly Roberts, both 35, were arrested and charged earlier this year with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and other crimes in a case that originated in Cleveland. The case was publicized in a news conference there this week by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and federal prosecutors in Ohio, who said the Robertses operated the most prolific dark net fentanyl vendor in the United States and the fourth most prolific in the world  MH4Life.

The case is a warning to every trafficker, every crooked doctor or pharmacist, and every drug company, every chairman and foreign national and company that puts greed before the lives and health of the American people: this Justice Department will use civil and criminal penalties alike and we will find you, put you in jail, or make you pay, Sessions said in a statement.

The joint federal effort, called Operation Darkness Falls, targeted sellers of fentanyl and other drugs over the darknet, according to the Justice Department statement.

The Robertses created and operated several darknet marketplace accounts, including MH4LIFE, TRAPPEDINTIME, FASTFORWARD and MRHIGH4LIFE. They operated these accounts on darknet marketplace websites including Dream Market, Silk Road, AlphaBay, Darknet Heroes League, Nucleus and several others.

Court records said the couple ran their operation from a house owned by a fitness trainer a few blocks from Adams Hill Elementary on the far West Side, and used at least one Northwest Side hotel as a staging point in the illegal drug network. The trainer is not charged.

Officials said the Robertses used the accounts between 2011 and May 12, 2018, to possess and distribute fentanyl, MethoxyAcetylFentanyl (MAF), other fentanyl analogues, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD, marijuana, Xanax, Oxycodone and other drugs.

The Robertses MH4LIFE vendor account on Dream Market had 2,800 verified transactions with a 4.89/5 rating as of May 2018. Dream listed that MH4LIFE had 500 verified transactions on the Agora marketplace and 719 transactions on the Nucleus marketplace. The only products listed for sale by MH4LIFE were illegal narcotics.

MH4LIFE had the highest number of verified transactions worldwide of any fentanyl vendor based upon a review of Dream Market.

The Robertses used private messaging, encryption software, Virtual Private Networks and proxies through the TOR network to provide security for the criminal organization. They used decoys, such as glow bracelets and other mundane items, to hide the fact they were mailing narcotics. They also purchased postage from third parties with cryptocurrency in an effort to conceal their activities.

Customers used digital currency to purchase narcotics, which the defendants sent to digital currency exchangers, where the funds were converted into official fiat currency and spent on person goods and services, as well as prepaid Visa and gift cards.

Court records show the operation was compromised in April as U.S. Postal Inspectors watched a home the Robertses used in the 1900 block of Harpers Ferry Street, near Adams Hill Elementary. Matthew Roberts saw the inspectors in a dark-tinted vehicle, and immediately posted on the darknet account: Code Red. Change Your Drop Spots Immediately. This is all I can say. ... Assume address and packs have been compromised. B. Do not send messages or inquire about packages being delivered. Please trust and cut ties.

Agents moved in shortly after and arrested the couple, leading to arrests in other cities around the country, according to court records. The Robertses remain behind bars in Ohio.

Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
A Republican judge who Wednesday tearfully discussed his decision to resign and not seek re-election  after getting himself on the Nov. 6 ballot  but hours later said he was retiring rather than resigning, withdrew his withdrawal Thursday and said he is still running.

His Democratic challenger called it erratic.

County Court-at-Law No. 1 Judge John Fleming, who was first elected in 2010, had said his health issues and those of his aging parents, who live near Wichita Falls, prevented him from running in good conscience for a third term.

It left Republican Party leaders with about 48 hours to recruit a replacement candidate to meet a Friday deadline. But on Thursday, Bexar County Republican chair Cynthia Brehm emailed county Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen the following note: I am declining Judge John Flemings withdrawal from the County Court at Law Place 1. In God We Trust, Cynthia Brehm.

Brehm did not return a call seeking comment. Callanen said the note complied with the state election code and was sufficient to put Fleming back on the ballot that he never actually left.

I think he is behaving erratically, said Flemings challenger, Democrat Helen Petry Stowe, a prosecutor in the district attorneys office for the past 10 years.

I last spoke with John last Friday by phone, and he said he wanted me to know he would be stepping down, Stowe said. He said, I would like you to keep some of my staff, and I said only that I would give them consideration.

Stowe said there was no deal-making over the employees, adding, I would never do that. I think that would be unethical.

Fleming, in a text message Thursday, told the San Antonio Express-News that he had re-entered the race because Stowes husband had called the discussion over employees unethical and attempted to persuade me to enter my resignation in such a way and deadline as to control the ballot, by blocking the Republican Election Committee from being able to enter a Straw Candidate as allowed by law.

This, Fleming said, has left me with no other choice but to stay in the race as my greatest duty is to the voters, legal community, and defendants in my court.

Fleming, who says he is facing a messy divorce trial in September, acknowledged that he is consulting with a woman who until recently was his fiancee, Michelle Moore. Moore said Thursday that in a drive back to San Antonio from Wichita Falls, she implored Fleming to not give up the bench.

He was concerned that he would look like a flake for retracting (his withdrawal), Moore said. And I said, You cant in good conscience run for judge if youre planning on retiring soon, but you also cant leave the people with a candidate (Stowe) we believe is unqualified.

Moore, like Fleming, accused the Stowes of deliberately misinforming them about the ballot deadline to make it difficult for Republicans to find a replacement in time. Fleming and Moore both said they had been having private, cordial phone conversations with Stowe about the November election, and Stowe said that was true.

But Stowe, in her first run for public office, said it was bizarre that Fleming would rely on her to advise him about ballot deadlines.

This is all so out of left field, she said. Its insane. They reached out to me. I am trying not to run any kind of negative campaign, but I do feel attacked.

bselcraig@express-news.net
The parents of a young man fighting for his life in a San Antonio hospital after a deadly fire at a San Marcos apartment complex have filed a lawsuit against the property owner and managers.

Zachary Sutterfield, 20, of San Angelo suffered head trauma and third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body as he tried to escape the pre-dawn blaze July 20 at Iconic Village Apartments, near Texas State University.

He has undergone several surgeries and skin grafts and remains in critical condition at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center.

The lawsuit, filed by Zacharys parents, Karl and Deona Jo Sutterfield, claims negligence on the part of the owner and managers by, among things, failing to provide a fire sprinkler system, adequately inspect and test fire alarm systems and warn people that the apartments were unreasonably dangerous.

Their suit was filed in Travis County against Iconic Village owner San Marcos Green Investors LLC, the property management company Elevate Multifamily LLC and apartment manager Deborah Jones of Austin.

The Sutterfields, who are represented by the Dallas law firm of Steckler Gresham Cochran, are seeking damages, including past and future medical expenses.

The attorney for the defendants, Jennifer Akre of Houston, declined comment Thursday on the Sutterfields lawsuit.

Sutterfields parents have said, through a family friend and spokeswoman, that their son was preparing to transfer to Texas State in the fall from Angelo State University. He was in San Marcos because he was scheduled to meet with his Texas State adviser three days after the fire. His friend from San Angelo, Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, died in the fire.

The blaze started in Building 500 at Iconic Village and spread to Building 300 and a building in the adjacent Vintage Pads apartments. Building 500, which had two stories and a center courtyard, was destroyed. More than 200 residents were displaced.

San Marcos current city code didnt require the apartments  built in 1970  to be retrofitted with sprinklers unless they underwent significant renovations.

Separately, six people are also suing Iconic Villages owner and managers, plus Thomas Steubing Jr., who is identified as a manager of the complex.

The plaintiffs in that lawsuit are five people who survived the blaze and the father of James Phillip Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant, who died in the fire. The survivors had to leap out of windows on the first or second floors, resulting in broken bones and other injuries.

In response to that suit, the defendants have said in court documents the fire was caused by acts or omissions of others that were beyond their control or legal responsibility.

Investigators havent yet determined how the fire started and are still waiting on test results, which may not be complete until October.

In addition to Miranda and Frizzell, the people found dead after the fire were Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; David Angel Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena; and Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells.

Autopsy results showing how they died are still pending.

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
Since a Pennsylvania grand jurys report on sexual abuses by Catholic clergy last week named a priest who later worked in San Antonio, the Archdiocese of San Antonio has received dozens of angry calls and emails.

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said people have registered scorn and resentment toward church leaders who knew of the abuses and systematically covered them up  but so far none have raised additional allegations against the late Father David Connell, he said.

Garcia-Siller, in an extended interview, said he has been overwhelmed by his own sadness, anger and shame at the Pennsylvania report. Local responses to it, which the archdiocese asked for after it was released, have been difficult to take in, Garcia-Siller said, but he has embraced the criticism because, Its a way for conversion and change.

The archbishop was also emphatic this week about how such crimes must be handled.

Call the police, he said.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio asks that reports also be made to its Office of Victim Assistance and Safe Environment. Garcia-Siller said victims should feel free to contact Apostolic Nuncio Christophe Pierre, the Holy Sees diplomatic representative in the United States, and the Vatican itself.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops must deal with the fallout of the grand jurys scathing report, considered the largest ever against the U.S. Catholic Church, with more than 300 priests accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 minors over a 70-year period in Pennsylvania..

We have to account for them, Garcia-Siller said of the priests. We, the bishops, need to assume the shameful situations of these crimes and know we are accountable.

Second, all of us need to help with change, he said. The sexual abuse of minors is serious and, in different ways, is very present, sadly.

Garcia-Siller called for prayer, penance and fasting, materially and internally.

In the aftermath of the report, the archbishop said, he called his staff together and reminded them how they should handle allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

Say it, he said he told them. If you know something, express it to me, the auxiliary bishop or the police directly.

Garcia-Siller said the archdiocese has followed policies in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, since it was established in 2002 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It calls on every bishop to report a priest accused of sexual abuse of a minor to a local district attorney.

Garcia-Siller said the archdiocese has done so twice since the charter was created, resulting in two priests serving time.

Father Jerzy Sieczynski of St. Matthews Catholic Church was sentenced to a three-year prison term in 2006 for child pornography and indecent exposure. Father John Fiala, who had served in several parishes outside San Antonio, pleaded guilty in 2014 to aggravated sexual assault of a teen boy and was sentenced to 30 years, the archdiocese said. He also got 60 years for solicitation of capital murder for trying to hire a hit man to kill the boy.

Fiala had left a trail of accusations from parishes in Nebraska dating to 1988 and was repeatedly ousted by church officials, which Fialas religous order didnt reveal when the archdiocese here accepted him as a pastor in 2005, San Antonio archdiocese officials have said. Then-Archbishop Jose Gomez fired him three years later, after complaints about his conduct with the minor he was later convicted of raping.

It was a lawsuit the victim filed in 2010 that led to the criminal charges, however. The archdiocese has said the lawsuit was its first indication that the misbehavior was sexual and prompted it to cut its ties with Fialas religous order.

Until an investigation can be completed, an accused priest must be removed from public ministry, Garcia-Siller said.

Law enforcement does what it does, and we have our system in place, he said, referring to the charter.

The case against Connell, who worked in the San Antonio archdiocese for almost 20 years after leaving Pennsylvania, is clear, Garcia-Siller said.

Its also graphic. In Pennsylvania, the report says, he drugged and raped a minor on at least two occasions, sexually abused his brother and tried to have sex with another victim on a camping trip.

Connell, who died in 1995, served as a principal of Antonian College Preparatory High School and pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

When Connell arrived here in 1976, the archdiocese was led by Archbishop Francis Furey, who had spent decades in Pennsylvania earlier in his career. The Archdiocese of San Antonio said in a written statement last week that Connell provided documentation about the alleged camping trip incident but denied it had happened.

Archdiocesan officials in San Antonio said they were not made aware of the rape allegations until the grand jury report was released. They said Connell had drawn no complaints of misconduct during his years here.

Garcia-Siller, who this month marked his 42nd year as a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, said he was grateful to news media and civil authorities for helping people come forward to relay their stories and express how they have been suffering.

He said victims of priests are courageous when they do so. Others may think its easy to report such crimes, he said, but its very difficult.  They need signs and gestures of compassion and understanding.

The church is in pain, too, and Jesus himself is suffering these crimes committed by clergy, and bishops for covering up, the archbishop said.

Elaine Ayala covers religion and minority affairs in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eayala@express-news.net | Twitter: @ElaineAyala
A three-justice panel from the 4th Court of Appeals on Thursday breathed new life into a lawsuit over whether the local fire unions proposed charter amendments should go on the November ballot.

The court ordered the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association to file by Tuesday its response to a request from the Secure San Antonios Future political action committee to overturn a district court ruling that led to the City Councils calling of the Nov. 6 charter amendment election.

That was expected, and were happy to send in a brief on the merits, said Cris Feldman, a Houston attorney representing the fire union. And we look forward to resolving this on the appellate level.

The order is the latest turn in a case that began when the PAC, formed to oppose the charter amendment proposals, sued to block the measures from appearing on the ballot.

The PAC, led by campaign manager Christian Archer, failed to persuade District Judge Cathleen Stryker to block the council from calling the Nov. 6 election.

The amendments would make it easier to use referendums to challenge council ordinances, cap the pay for future city managers and give the fire union unilateral power to take contract negotiations to binding arbitration.

In their Thursday order, appellate Chief Justice Sandee Bryan Marion and Justices Karen Angelini and Irene Rios indicated that they plan to consider the case, rather than dismiss it.

This court believes a serious question concerning the mandamus relief sought requires further consideration, the order states. The respondent and the real parties in interest may file a response to the petition in this court no later than Aug. 28.

Archer said he is pleased with the courts order.

I think there is no question that the 4th Court agrees with us that theres clear impropriety, he said. And they want to know all of the facts, which is great news for us.

This summer, a series of stories in the San Antonio Express-News reported that the union and its own PAC had failed to disclose more than a half-million dollars in payments to Texas Petition Strategies, a Buda company hired to collect petition signatures. After the story ran, the unions PAC erroneously amended its monthly campaign finance reports to indicate that Texas Petition Strategies had donated its services.

The Express-News next reported that the unions PAC didnt have enough funds to cover the cost of the petition campaign. The union then filed a direct expenditure report indicating that it spent its own funds on the political activity.

The looming question is whether a Texas labor organization can legally spend union dues on such activity. Chris Steele, the unions president, has said he and his colleagues have done nothing wrong. Archer and Mikal Watts, attorney for Secure San Antonios Future, say otherwise.

It was clear after the July 18 Express-News story that Chris Steele got caught, Archer said. They know it. We know it, and were going to have our day in court to expose them for it.

In a court filing Wednesday, Watts asked the 4th Court to rule on the matter before Sept. 5, when ballots are to be printed.

Josh Baugh 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. | jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaugh
Aretha Franklin heard that Taj Matthews was at a low point in his life.

Matthews, 42, an East Side activist and the grandson of the late Rev. Claude Black, was simultaneously grappling with personal and professional crises last year.

On the personal front, he was going through a divorce. On the professional front, after nearly a decade of mentoring at-risk local teens, he had seen 16 of those kids meet violent deaths over a three-year period. He heard whispers in the community questioning whether his painstaking efforts were effective.

Franklin, the legendary queen of soul, would periodically ask mutual friends about Matthews and his nonprofit work. When she heard last year about his struggles, she gave him a call.

Unbeknownst to Matthews, Franklin was experiencing troubles of her own. Her health was deteriorating, the result of a battle with pancreatic cancer, which took her life last Thursday at the age of 76.

RELATED: Scenes from the Queen of Soul's 2007 visit to San Antonio

She was very kind, Matthews said. Me not knowing that she was sick, that phone call went on for a little while. I was kind of whining to her about what was going on with me.

Matthews said Franklin advised him, Take your time. Dont let your emotions ruin it all.

She also encouraged him not to air family conflicts in public, warning him hed later regret it.

Her thing was, Everybody doesnt need to know whats going on in your house, Matthews said.

To be sure, Franklin lived those words.

While she bared her soul in the recording studio and on the concert stage over an incomparable six-decade career, she was relentlessly secretive about her personal life. Her interviews were generally cordial, but came with an unspoken sense that some boundaries  such as the fact that Franklin gave birth to two children by the time she turned 15  were not to be crossed.

While Matthews and Franklin shared only a handful of personal encounters over the years, these two children of the church were linked by a family bond that goes back nearly 80 years.

His grandfather and her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, became friends in the early 1940s, when Franklin was a young pastor at the New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, and Black was studying at the Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts.

The two men had much in common. They were born a year apart. Both were Baptist ministers. Both had long tenures at a single church (33 years for Franklin at Detroits New Bethel Baptist Church and 49 years for Black at San Antonios Mount Zion First Baptist Church). And both felt compelled to use the power of their ministries to speak out on social injustice.

After moving his family to Detroit in 1946, the Rev. Franklin became a superstar on the gospel circuit. Touring the country during the 1950s  with a young Aretha showcasing her vocal brilliance  he earned $4,000 per appearance, an astounding figure for that period.

RELATED: All hail the Queen - Aretha Franklin

Matthews said his grandfather called Franklins style  with its dramatic cadences and ecstatic emotional crescendos  whoop preaching and recalled that Franklin encouraged him to bring some whoop to his own sermons.

Franklin often invited Black to address the congregation at his Detroit church and hosted Black and his wife, ZerNona, at the Franklin home.

There was a network of people who worked together, Matthews said. They worked together in ministry, they worked together in civil rights. Back then, of course, (African Americans) couldnt go to a hotel, so a lot of times they would host people here and when they traveled they would be hosted.

In the mid-80s, while Aretha Franklin was experiencing a career resurgence boosted by her chart-topping hit, Freeway of Love, Matthews met her at a tour stop in Houston.

She and her siblings were at the home of his Houston-based cousins and a pre-adolescent Matthews observed the two families eating, laughing and talking about their church experiences.

I remember she had the prettiest hair, Matthews said. He also recalls that Franklin encouraged him to join her in an impromptu version of her hit, Whos Zoomin Who?

His dominant memory, however, is more abstract.

She had a commanding personality, because she ran the situation, Matthews said. Whatever was going on, you could guarantee that she was in control of it.

Based on his brief, infrequent encounters with Franklin, Matthews came away convinced that she was a civil-rights activist to the core.

She was very much for disruption, he said. She believed in fighting for the rights of the unheard. She said, You cant affect anything if you dont disrupt something.

Matthews keeps reminding himself to heed those words.
WASHINGTON  Rallying cheering supporters in West Virginia, President Donald Trump called border security the beating heart of this election and suggested to the faithful that he has $3.2 billion for his long-promised border wall.

The wall  right now, that wall is coming along. Were over $3 billion, its moving along very nicely. Very nicely, Trump told a packed arena in Charleston on Tuesday night.

Left unsaid was that Congress has approved only half that amount, and that the battle for more money comes amid the threat of another government shutdown  possibly at the end of September, scarcely a month before the November midterm elections which could serve as a referendum on his first two years in office.

Of the $1.6 billion Congress allocated for border security this year, almost all was to reinforce and expand existing barriers  not the wall that Trump campaigned on. In a further setback for the administration, a government watchdog agency found this month that the wall prototypes commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security would not always work for the rugged terrain along the Mexican border.

Environmental challenges also are pending in the courts.

Border security money President Trump says he has secured $3.2 billion for his promised border wall. But so far Congress has given him only $1.6 billion, and most of that was to replace existing barriers and make other security enhancements. A pending bill in the House would set aside $5 billion for fiscal year 2019, which starts Oct. 1. But the Senate has proposed just $1.6 billion more, and even that would require negotiations with Democrats. FY18 Omnibus enacted $1.6 billion, highlights include: $445 million for 25 miles of primary pedestrian levee fencing (Rio Grande Valley); $196 million for primary pedestrian fencing (Rio Grande Valley) $445 million for replacement of existing primary pedestrian fencing $38 million for border barrier planning and design Proposed FY19 U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee $1.6 billion, (represents president's original request) Based on the length of fencing or wall construction they can complete in a fiscal year. Proposed FY19 U.S. House Appropriations Committee $5 billion ($3.4 billion above the White House request) Provides for over 200 miles of new physical barrier construction Technology and physical barriers for the most urgent areas identified by CBP See More Collapse

Nevertheless, Trump has maintained on several occasions in recent months that work on the project is well underway.

Were getting the wall built. Its going up, were getting it built, Trump said to more applause in West Virginia. So we have $3.2 billion. Were looking for $5 billion this year, and all of a sudden its going to be finished and its going to be very, very effective.

The political reality, however, looks very different.

Trumps new push for $5 billion is more than double the $2.2 billion the administration asked for in its latest request in June, upping the ante substantially ahead of an election that could determine control of Congress.

While the House Republican majority has proposed $5 billion in a 2019 spending bill, the Senate has proposed $1.6 billion in funding to beef up existing barriers. Even that is subject to negotiation, given that Republicans would need the votes of at least nine Senate Democrats to get the 60 needed to pass a major spending bill.

Well do everything we can to get the presidents demand, said Texas U.S. Sen John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber. But in the end, obviously therell have to be some negotiation taking place.

As it stands, Trump was able to wrangle only $1.6 billion to beef up the border this year as part of a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. It passed in March in the face of a veto threat from Trump, who complained that the wall was not fully funded.

Despite Trumps boast, that $1.6 billion remains the total amount Congress has approved so far for a project that is estimated to cost as much as $25 billion to complete.

As elections near, shutdown politics gets risky

Asked about the $3.2 billion Trump claimed at last weeks rally, White House spokesman Judson Deere said that the president was counting the administrations original $1.6 billion request for 2019, which he said is currently anticipated from Congress.

That total, Deere added, is the amount DHS requested as a down payment for the first two years of construction.

But many Democrats remain adamantly opposed to continued wall spending absent a broader immigration deal on family separations at the border, curbs on Trumps zero tolerance enforcement policies, and legal protections for Dreamers brought into the country illegally as children.

The fight over Trumps effort to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program already has led to two brief government shutdowns this year, one in January and another in February.

Among the most outspoken congressional critics of the wall was Brownsville Democrat Filemon Vela, who lamented the willingness of some 100 Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, to go along with the $1.6 billion in wall funding for 2018.

The political environment in the runup to the November elections could be more challenging, Vela said. Things are so crazy right now that Democrats may finally take a stand and draw a line in the sand.

Trump, for his part, vowed in a tweet last month that he would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes on Border Security, which includes the Wall!

But with the end of the 2018 fiscal year falling on September 30  less than 40 days before the midterm elections  Republican leaders in Congress have urged the White House to delay the debate over immigration until after November.

I certainly dont like playing shutdown politics, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told CBSs Face the Nation, acknowledging that a government closure could hurt GOP chances of holding both chambers of Congress.

Even with majorities in both wings of the Capitol, Republicans have had a hard time allocating dollars to anything resembling Trumps vision of a big, beautiful wall.

So far, its mostly replacement wall

After the collapse of a deal to trade a DACA fix for $25 billion in wall funding, Congress went small and attached strings. Little to none of the $1.6 billion Congress provided in March could be used toward the sort of wall Trump campaigned on in 2016, when he vowed to make Mexico cover the costs.

Instead, much of the money was slated for fixing or reinforcing existing barriers on the southwest border, including four miles of 30-foot bollard wall in El Paso and about 25 miles of pedestrian levee fencing in the Rio Grande Valley.

Its basically replacement wall, said Vicki Gaubeca, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which represents 60 local groups from San Diego to Brownsville. The idea that Trumps border wall is under construction is just political theater.

Complicating Trumps task was this months U.S. Government Accountability Office report on wall designs, which found that most of the prototypes designed for DHS failed to take into account border terrain and construction challenges. Taking those factors into consideration, the GAO said, the wall could cost more than projected, take longer than planned, or not fully perform as expected.

The report also gave ammunition to wall skeptics in Congress, including border hawks in both parties who argue that security requires more than physical barriers.

We cannot continue using border security as a campaign strategy to attract crowds, said Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar, who sought unsuccessfully to shift wall spending in the pending House bill to technology and programming.

About half the people living illegally in the U.S., Cuellar noted, arrived with legally issued visas and stayed after they expired.

Meanwhile, even some of Trumps Republican allies in Congress have pressed for a view of border security that puts less emphasis on a wall.

Im absolutely committed to border security that works, including the infrastructure which some people refer to as the wall, Cornyn said. But I think its really more of a system of infrastructure, technology and personnel, and I want to make sure that it is adequately funded because weve got a lot of work to do to make sure our border is more secure.

kevin.diaz@chron.com
STAMFORD  Between elected and police officials, the frustration was evident.

Half an hour into a rambling discussion about a yearlong effort to beef up the citys park police unit, Rep. Rodney Pratt, D-9, said Public Safety Director Ted Jankowski and Assistant Chief Tom Wuennemann had not answered his question about hiring a third officer.

So  nothing has been done? Pratt asked during a meeting of the Board of Representatives Parks and Recreation Committee.

We are pushing regular officers to try and spend more time in the parks, Wuennemann said. But as far as hiring another park police officer, no, nothings been done.

Its out of our control, Jankowski said. Its in union negotiations.

So the police department is actually pro-park police then? Pratt asked.

Who was ever against park police? Jankowski replied.

More for you Stamford residents continue push for park police

The next hour and a half revealed a rift between representatives, police, and Mayor David Martin, who did not attend Tuesday nights meeting. It is rooted in the lead-up to last years municipal election, when residents demanded better security in the parks, citing problems that include drunkenness, drug use, fighting, sexual activity, loud music, public urination, vandalism, illegal dumping, and homeless encampments.

In response, representatives pushed for more park police, but during budget negotiations in the spring, Martin cut one of the three officer positions and asked for $300,000 to start a park ambassador program instead. Representatives did not give him the money.

Rep. Dennis Mahoney, R-20, wanted to know about $260,000 the parks supervisor put in his budget to hire three more permanent park officers, who work part time, and five to work only in the summer.

Somewhere down the line ... that disappeared and  became ambassadors, Mahoney said. Somewhere in the city someone is against having additional park police or, at least, believes that another program is more important than park police. The board has been clear it is in favor of park police. The only thing stopping us is that somewhere in the administration or the police department, I dont know where, there is this opposition to park police.

After representatives cut the $300,000 for Martins ambassador program, they put the money in the contingency fund, hoping he would change his mind about park police.

It cant happen until union talks are resolved, Jankowski and Wuennemann said. Thats because in June the Police Commission refused to reappoint the two remaining park police officers until they come under the supervision of the police department. Park officers are armed and sworn police but report to the parks supervisor and belong to UAW Local 2377, not the union that represents regular police.

Mahoney said theres a feeling on the board that union negotiations are not the obstacle.

Every neighborhood coalition and association in the city is in favor of park police, but we still sit here with this almost stubbornness that you dont want to try tofigure out a way to get more park police. So I think youve lost a lot of good faith in this effort, he said. I dont understand how the city finds itself completely opposed by the public on this issue and continues to dig itself into a hole. Im convinced that the goal of the city is that the park police fade away.

Jankowski and Wuennemann did not respond to his comment directly.

We are looking at other initiatives and viable options to make sure that we respond to what the public concerns are, Jankowski said, questioning how board members can ask for park police after cutting the funding.

To say we didnt want to provide the money is factually inaccurate, Mahoney said. We wanted to give it to (the parks department) under the structure we had.

And we put it in contingency, said Rep. Marion McGarry, D-12.

A lot of that money is already gone, Jankowski said.

Wuennemann explained the difficulty of hiring park police, who must meet all the training requirements of regular officers but work only part-time. The jobs are most likely filled by recently retired officers, Wuennemann said, but the department has seen little interest among those planning retirement.

Representatives said thats because the city wants to hire only seasonal officers, not permanent part-timers, making the job far less attractive. They also said they fear the police department will fold park officers into the patrol division and not dedicate them to parks.

Theres a total lack of trust. I get that, Wuennemann said, which is why he asked that the park unit be given its own separate line in the departments budget.

Rep. Nina Sherwood, D-8, addressed the distrust.

There is some sense of animosity from either the administration or the Stamford Police Department  thats how it comes across, Sherwood said. The people of this board and the people of this city have been very clear that they want park police...but you have not given me any comfort thatyou would bolster the numberor use them in the parks.

Jankowski wrote representatives a memo saying park police are an important part of the Stamford Police Department. But, representatives pointed out, the memo also says that other policing options or additional hires will be considered in the future if the budget supports, current issues are resolved, and viable candidates are available to be hired.

Rep. David Watkins, R-1, said he thinks police officials have dismissed residents concerns. He referenced Jankowskis comment to the Parks and Recreation Commission earlier this month that police reports dont indicate many problems.

Theres a lot of hysteria going on that our parks arent safe, Jankowski told the commissioners.

You said it troubles you that we dont have confidence in your professionalism, Watkins said. It troubles me that our citizens dont have the same view of the problem as you.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296.
GREENWICH  Could a deal be on the horizon on the proposed electrical substation on Railroad Avenue? Nothing has been finalized, but First Selectmen Peter Tesei offered hope that Greenwich could reach an agreement with Eversource Energy.

At Thursdays Board of Selectmen meeting, Tesei gave an update on the controversial project. Many residents are worried about its aesthetic and environmental impact and have questioned whether a second substation is even needed in town.

I think were making progress, Tesei said of the ongoing discussions with Eversource. There is a court-directed process, and we expect that we may come up with some kind of agreement.

He did not give any details about what the agreement might entail. The Board of Selectmen, which initiated the appeal of the proposal, would have to approve any agreement.

Stay tuned, Tesei said at Thursdays meeting. I like what Im seeing and what were receiving in terms of feedback to our requests.

Eversource spokesman Frank Poirot would not say Thursday whether a deal was imminent, but he agreed with Teseis positive assessment.

We have been working collaboratively with town officials for months and have made good progress toward addressing the towns concerns, Poirot said. We are optimistic about delivering a solution that will reliably serve the towns energy needs.

Under the current plan, which has been approved by the Connecticut Siting Council, an open-air substation would be built at 290 Railroad Ave., the former site of Pet Pantry. It would then be connected via 2.3 miles of transmission lines going through Bruce Park to the existing substation in Cos Cob.

Eversource says the project is needed because it can no longer meet the high demand for electricity in Greenwich with just the one existing substation.

Electricity use per capita in Greenwich is among the highest of all the municipalities served by Eversource, Poirot said in June. Strengthening the infrastructure and adding the second substation would reduce the strain on the system, he said, particularly during prolonged stretches of heavy use, such as during a heat wave.

Opponents have rejected that view, saying that the demand for electricity has gone down and that Eversource has better ways to handle demand than by building a second substation.

After the Connecticut Siting Council ruled last year that the substation could go forward, the town filed an appeal in December. In June, the towns legal department said settlement talks between the town and Eversource were taking place, but it acknowledged the difficulty of winning an appeal.

At that time, Town Attorney Wayne Fox said Greenwich had reached some agreements with the utility and that he considered it a good faith effort on both sides to find a solution.

Construction on the substation, which had been expected to begin in May, has not begun and is not likely to start until after the towns appeal has been resolved. But Poirot said he expected site preparation work on Railroad Avenue to begin soon.

Work has been ongoing since May, though, inside the Cos Cob substation. New equipment has been brought in to facilitate the connection that would eventually be made to the new substation.

After consultation with the town, we expect to submit a construction work plan to the Connecticut Siting Council for their review and approval by the end of September, Poirot said. Substation construction would start late this year or early 2019 with construction completion late in 2019.

Both sides are expected to be in court in New Britain in September on the appeal, but Tesei did not indicate whether he believed the matter would be resolved before then. He said it was possible it could happen or the court date could become the forum in which we kind of finalize.

Its always preferable to avert litigation and come to a mutually agreed upon settlement, Tesei said.

The meetings with Eversource have also included town Deputy Commissioner of Public Works James Michel and town Director of Planning and Zoning Katie DeLuca. Michel is out of the office for the week and could not be reached for comment.

DeLuca said she has been involved but had no comment on any potential agreements.

Tesei said Thursday there has been constructive dialogue over the last several weeks.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
FAIRFIELD  Sonal Rajan made her way to Fairfield from the West Coast. Born in Walnut Creek, CA, Rajan attended high school in August, Georgia. She graduated from Georgia Tech, where she earned a bachelor degree in management, and also met her husband, Kumar.

They lived in Seattle before moving here in 2005. A mom of two McKinley School students  Kiran, 8, and Mira, 5  Rajan works as a marketing consultant, after a career of working in marketing for a variety of technology companies. Two of her current clients are Operation Hope, the towns Community and Economic Development Department.

Rajan recently answered some questions about her busy life.

Q: Why did you want to get involved in the town government?

A: When we moved here, I joined the Junior League of Eastern Fairfield County, a womens leadership and volunteer organization that has been making an impact in the greater Bridgeport area since 1920. During my active membership, I held committee chair & board positions in fundraising, marketing and community development, as well as serving as president in 2013-2014. Learning more about our community, and the non-profits and people that are served by it, as well as a love for Fairfield, have all inspired me to be involved in Town government.

Q: Why the Board of Library Trustees, and what does serving on that board mean?

A: I cherished my tenure in leadership for the Junior League; I like to see how organizations run and in collaboration with like-minded people, take an active role in helping them move forward. Because of my League experience, I was approached with the opportunity to be considered for the Board of Library Trustees. Im an avid reader and Im excited that both my girls also share a love of reading; we spend a lot of time at the library. Serving in this role filled personal and professional goals, and it has been eye-opening, educational and inspiring. As the chair, Ive enjoyed getting to know Town and political leadership, and understanding how the town works. Being a library trustee has made me a better-informed citizen and mother, as I can see where and how to advocate for whats important for my family.

Q: When did you get involved with Operation Hope?

A: The Junior League has been supporting Operation Hope since the non-profit formed over 30 years ago, which is how I became involved in the organization as a volunteer. When transitioning from a full-time career three years ago, Executive Director Carla Miklos offered me an opportunity to support Operation Hopes marketing efforts. In my small part, moving forward Operation Hopes mission to end hunger and end homelessness, along with its passionate staff and volunteers, is a dream come true. Its a privilege to know that what we do directly impacts the lives of families and individuals, helping them achieve stability and experience transformative change.

Q: What would you say to someone who says theyre too busy to get involved in their local community?

A: Just do it. Read the paper (or watch FairTV). Get to know how the town works. Attend Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance meetings during budget season and advocate for whats important to you - thats where youll learn lots of interesting things! Support a candidate that speaks to your interests and work on his or her campaign. Send letters to state and nationally elected officials. Or simply start with your childs school and join the PTA. Join the Junior League (our membership drive is currently open) and get to know the community or join the Friends of the Library and volunteer either at the Main Library or Woods Branch for a few hours. Theres always time for someone to do something  and try to involve your kids.

Q: Have you ever thought about running for an elected office?

A: The time has never been better for women running for office, across the country and especially here in Fairfield. I am inspired by the many female candidates in our town and state and support and applaud them for seeking to drive change. Serving as a library trustee, as well as my work with Operation Hope and the Department of Community & Economic Development, has given me a unique perspective of our town. For now, Im happy focusing on these roles, as well as having the privilege of raising our girls and being involved in their extracurricular activities and McKinley Schools very active PTA. But never say never!

greilly@ctpost.com
COLUMBUS  The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio wants Ohioans to remember that when hiring a moving company, you have rights guaranteed by law and enforced by the commission.

Before deciding to hire a mover, ensure they are properly registered with the commission to do business in Ohio (for in-state moves), or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (for interstate moves).

When planning your move, it is important to know a few things about your rights regarding estimates, bill of lading, insurance coverage and claims.

Estimate

An estimate is the expected cost, in writing, the company provides to you prior to your move. The estimate should be in writing unless your move will cost $500 or less or is scheduled within five days of request.

The moving company has the option of providing you with one of three kinds of estimates: nonbinding, binding and guaranteed-not-to-exceed.

The type will be clearly stated on the estimate. Do not assume that something is included in the estimate if it is not in writing.

Bill of lading

The bill of lading is similar to a receipt, identifies who owns the household goods on the moving companys truck. A bill of lading will be attached to the estimate while the shipment is in route.

You may request an inventory of your household goods when the company is loading them, but the company may charge an additional fee for that service.

Liability coverage

All moving companies are responsible for the value of the goods transported. Companies must have cargo insurance in an amount equal to the declared value of your shipment.

Moving companies may offer different types of reimbursement for lost or damaged goods, but must offer full replacement value. Generally, the higher the carrier cargo liability, the higher the cost to you. On your estimate, you will initial to indicate the type of coverage you choose.

The moving company may reserve the right to repair any damaged items prior to replacing regardless of the level of coverage selected. This must be stated in your written estimate.

If the company does not have a reimbursement option, you are entitled to the full replacement value of any lost or damaged goods. Claim. Claims are a written explanation of any loss or damage to any items during your move, submitted to the moving company. The company must provide you with at least 60 days to file a claim.

The company must acknowledge the receipt of your claim, in writing, within 15 days after they receive it. The company, within 30 days of receiving your claim, must pay, decline, or make a firm compromise settlement offer.

If you are planning an interstate move, visit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website for more information.

Visit www.PUCO.ohio.gov for more information on hiring a moving company, a moving to-do checklist and a list of registered household goods movers.

If you cannot resolve a dispute with your moving company, contact the commission at 1-s800-686-PUCO (7826) or file a complaint online.
A no deal Brexit scenario would "damage" the British pig industry, in particular its ability to export pork to the EU.

The UK's leading pig industry body said it would be easier to export pigs to China than the EU if the UK leaves without a deal.

The National Pig Association (NPA) said the publication of a range of technical notices highlighting the implications of a no deal only serve to underline the importance of securing an agreement with the EU.

Although we have only seen a handful of all the technical notices that will be published, it will come as little surprise to us that a no deal scenario would bear considerable impacts to the UK pig sector, NPA senior policy, Ed Barker said.

The most striking challenge lies in the difficulties of the UK exporting products to the EU as it would be treated as a third country in such a scenario

In 2017 the UK exported 157,000 tonnes of pork to the EU, worth 208m, and this still represents our biggest export market for pork, he said.

In this eventuality, new arrangements for trade would kick in from March 2019.

Exporters would have to familiarise themselves with new export codes and processes, while anyone exporting would have to deal with "serious red tape" that will likely mean having an export agent to do it for them, according to the NPA.

Supply chains and contracts would have to be reconsidered in light of this. In essence it is not seamless at all and the costs and barriers of moving the product would be prohibitive," Mr Barker said.

This would offer difficulties in the export in cull sows with the irony that exporting pig products to China will probably be easier on Day One, Ed added.

He said: With such an integrated supply chain in pork, it is difficult to see what exporters can do to adequately prepare for third country status without passing on costs to producers, or seeing this export trade as fundamentally unviable."

With further uncertainties about the future status of permanent migrant labour, the notices underline the pig industry's for the government to find a suitable EU/UK deal that allows a continuity in frictionless trade.
A Facebook post has gone viral describing how a cow was "mauled down" by dogs after it was chased on farmland in Cumbria.

Farmer Ryan Twentyman used social media to describe the incident, which happened on Sunday (19 August) on farmland in Whitrigg.

The cow was chased by out-of-control dogs and was forced to jump barbed wire, which consequently ripped its stomach.

Mr Twentyman said the cow suffered a "horrible death".

He said of the ordeal: "Definitely one, possibly two or three dogs chased a batch of young stirks round and round a field, until they pinned them in a corner and forced them over two large barbed wire fences.

"The animal that died had all its belly ripped open from the barbed wire, then mauled down by the dogs until it suffered a horrible death."

Several other cows needed veterinary attention after they were bit by the out-of-control dogs.

Mr Twentyman said a person was seen by a neighbouring farmer from a couple of fields away with two dogs off the lead.

"Guessing by the size of the bite marks they must of been large dogs but not sure what type of breed," he added.

He has now put signs up on the farm, and on all the bridal path gates and the field gates next to nearest road, warning dog owners that any dogs caught attacking livestock will be shot.

Facebook users reacted with anger to the post.

Robert Marrs said: "Some people have no clue about what happens in the country side and what dogs can do to animals!"

Doris Harrison added: "And there it is, clear for all to see, the lack of understanding and compassion."
The sheep industry will celebrate all that is great about British lamb as farmers take part in events as part of Love Lamb Week 2018 next month.

This year's campaign, now in its fourth year, is running from Saturday 1st to Friday 7th September.

The Love Lamb campaign aims to change perceptions of when to eat lamb.

It highlights that the highest volume of UK product is actually available during the last six months of the year, despite many consumers typically choosing to enjoy lamb around Easter time.

The National Sheep Association (NSA) will be involved in the industry-wide campaign, alongside AHDB Beef & Lamb and other UK levy bodies.

Sheep farmers will be using social media and local events to promote themselves and their produce during the week.

'Enjoy lamb year round'

NSA Chief Executive, Phil Stocker said the support for Love Lamb week has grown year-on-year since it started as a social media campaign by Cumbrian sheep farmer Rachel Lumley in 2015.

"As well as encouraging consumers to eat more lamb, NSA believes educating them to understand its availability is crucial," Mr Stocker said.

Tradition has conditioned us to buy lamb at Easter and in the spring, with shoppers probably unaware that the volume of our home produced lamb increases towards the autumn.

He added: With Love Lamb Week landing in the first week of September, its a perfect time for our industry to remind people to enjoy lamb year round.

Lending support to the campaign are the NSA Next Generation Ambassadors, a group of young sheep farmers keen to open the eyes of consumers who may not be aware of the environment in which their lamb is produced and all that the sheep sector does to enhance it.

Farming all the way up in the Shetland Isles, Next Generation Ambassador, Zoey Symington said: We are lucky to farm in beautiful surroundings so protecting the environment is very important.

"On our farm we do various things to do this including putting goodness back into the ground by ploughing in muck that is spread on the land.

The sheep organisation is also encouraging individual farmers to get involved at whatever level they can, be that hosting or supporting on-farm events or by sharing lamb recipes on social media.
Scottish farming businesses will face a "no deal Brexit nightmare" as the UK government publishes 'technical notices' preparing for a no deal Brexit.

The Scottish government's Constitutional Relations Secretary, Michael Russell's remarks comes as the UK government published the first batch of 'technical notices to prepare for leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

The notices provide details of significant new regulatory processes for EU imports and exports, including for food and farming.

It has already been announced that the trade of UK organic agri-food products would face a cliff edge situation after Brexit.

Mr Russell said such uncertainty reveals the "no deal Brexit nightmare" that faces Scottish businesses, farmers, the economy and public services.

From the bureaucratic burden that will be imposed on EU imports and exports to the need to strike a wide range of no deal deals before the end of March, these notices only add to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit," he said.

"People want to know if their medication will still be available and farmers and fishermen want to know if they will still be able to sell their products."

'Disastrous no deal'

Mr Russell has called for the UK government to rule out a "disastrous no deal" and focus on the "best outcome" for the UK, which he says is staying part of the Single Market and Customs Union.

Scotland's Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing added that the technical notices will be of "no comfort" to farmers and rural businesses "facing the real risk of a no deal Brexit nightmare."

Farmers and food producers want to know if they will still be able to sell their products in the event of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal in March 2019," Mr Ewing said.

"So, while these technical notices from the UK Government lay bare the risks facing Scottish farmers and the wider rural economy, they fail to provide much needed clarity over the long term.
The UK's largest veterinary group has urged the government to confirm whether British lamb exported under a new trade deal with Saudi Arabia will be stunned before slaughter.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has called on the government to "urgently clarify" whether home-grown lamb will be stunned before slaughter.

Defra has not yet clarified if it will be, and in April 2018 the department stated that it did not hold data on what percentage of meat from non-stun religious slaughter is exported.

The veterinary group believes that all exported meat should come from animals that have been stunned before slaughter.

However, it says there is "current ambiguity" around the details of the trade deal, which UK halal certification bodies it will involve and whether the meat that will be exported will come from stun or non-stun sources.

In the UK and Europe all animals must be stunned before slaughter, but there is a derogation for animals killed for religious purposes.

BVA said it "strongly believes" that this derogation should only apply to meet the needs of the local community.

In Germany, for example, the law states that produce from non-stun slaughter cannot be exported.

'Unnecessary pain'

BVA President, John Fishwick said the group welcomes new trade deals that demonstrate the quality of UK agriculture.

However, he said the UK must not compromise on animal welfare. "Animals slaughtered without stunning suffer unnecessary pain at the time of death," Mr Fishwick said.

If non-stun slaughter is permitted under the derogation in the UK it should only be available for local communities and not for export.

We have raised these issues directly with the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, and have asked for clarity on whether or not meat for export is stunned in accordance with the UKs high animal welfare legislation.

Mr Fishwick added: BVA is calling for an end to all non-stun slaughter, but while it is still permitted we would like to see new laws to ban export of non-stun meat such as those in Germany.

The comments by the BVA follow news of Lancashire County Council voting to allow only stunned halal meat to be provided to schools in the county, citing animal welfare concerns.

According to AHDB Beef & Lamb, the growing domestic market for Halal sheep meat presents a "significant opportunity" for the farming industry.
Scotlands Agri-Environment Climate Scheme to reopen in 2022

Aims to double the area of land under organic
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Paltan is the story of Chinas betrayal, Says JP Dutta | FilmiBeat

Veteran film-maker JP Dutta believes in making his projects look authentic, and his upcoming war drama, Paltan, is proof of that. The lead characters are all based on real-life soldiers who fought in 1967.

Arjun Rampal plays the role of Col. Rai Singh, who was commanding a unit at the border outpost at Nathu La when the Chinese attacked.

Gurmeet Choudhary plays Captain Prithvi Singh Dagar who was detailed as the Officer in charge of a party ordered to strengthen the wire laying party opposite South shoulder at Nathula.

Genius Movie Review: Utkarsh Sharma's Debut Film Is Anything But 'Genius'!

Harshwardhan Rane plays Major Harbhajan Singh who bayoneted three Chinese soldiers and then moved forward to silence their light machine gun, which was firing on the Indian troops, by throwing a hand grenade.

Sonu Sood, on his part, has stepped into the shoes of Major Bishan Singh, who comes from a traditional Rajput family with an Army background. In April/May 1967, Singh was responsible for taking over the front line to hold Nathu La Pass, and he carried out detailed reconnaissance with the necessary personnel. At about 5 AM one morning, Chinese troops opened fire on Indian soldiers exposed in the open, causing casualties.

The real Bishan Singh is all praises for the maker. "It felt great to watch the trailer of Paltan. JP Dutta has displayed his sharp intellect and skill of translating real-life battle sequences onto the screen beautifully. Such war movies inspire our nation's youngsters to join the army and serve the nation. A lot of research has been done to bring to light the real facts, which marked a turning point in the history of the Indian Army after the debacle of 1962," he says.

Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi Movie Review: What's In A Name? Some Goofball Fun!

Director JP Dutta says, "Most of my films are based on the Army and the real-life clashes that took place. Paltan came to me as a story I didn't know, and I wondered why it had not been told till now. It was difficult to dramatise and make it as masaledaar as possible, but I preferred to forego that and stay as true to events as possible."

Zee Studios and J P Dutta Films' upcoming war drama Paltan starring an ensemble cast of Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Harshvardhan Rane and Siddhant Kapoor amongst others will complete India's biggest war trilogy.

Based on the Nathu La military clashes of 1967, which took place along the Sikkim border, Paltan showcases an untold story of the Indian forces facing off in an intense battle to ward off a Chinese infiltration.

Renowned filmmaker J P Dutta returns to direction after 12 years with Paltan. The National Award winning director had earlier treated the audience with war films like Border, LOC Kargil, and Refugee among others.

With power-packed performances, the film promises to tell the riveting, untold story of the bravest of Indian soldiers who fought with their brothers next to them till the end.

Presented by Zee Studios and produced by JP Dutta Films, 'Paltan' is directed by J P Dutta and is slated to release on 7th September.
ALTBalaji's upcoming series 'Home' dwells upon the story of a family struggling to fight for their home stuck into the corrupt hands of the builders. The series is loosely based on the true events revolving around the story about a housing society where families lost their homes due to the misconduct of the builder. Habib Faisal, who presented the story of a middle-class family with his debut film Do Dooni Chaar, will be exploring the genre yet again.

The trailer of the web-series, which was released recently, received a lot of appreciations from celebrities as well as fans. Now, Ekta Kapoor took to her social media to share a heart-touching monologue that features Jeetendra.

Ekta shared the video on Twitter and captioned it as, "My hero my dad my HOME ! We launch our most special show campaign with my dad at d place he calls #MyHOME ! Send in ur photos or videos n we will share d best ones #MyHOME #ALTBalajiOriginal @altbalaji." - (sic)

The one-minute long monologue showcases Jeetendra taking a trip down the memory lane by visiting his first ever house in Mumbai. The veteran actor goes all emotional as he was seen reminiscing his first home.

Recently, the producer visited the residents of Shahberi village in Greater Noida who lost their homes due to illegal constructions. Regarding the show, Ekta had said, "I hope people like it because it has got nothing that it doesn't rest on any kind of edginess. Apparently, people tell me the bravest thing I've done is by making a show like this which does not have anything that would probably be in the slightest bit different or edgy or shocky which I am quite known for. But this is India and this is for India."

'Home' stars Annu Kapoor, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Amol Parashar and Parikshit Sahani in pivotal roles. The 12-episode show will start streaming on the ALTBalaji app and website from August 29, 2018.

Exclusive Interview! Shaleen Bhanot Says He Would Love To Work With Jennifer Winget & Karan Patel!
Record Growth in Online Subscribers - On Track to Reach 1 million by 2020



1H18 Results Market Release

-------------------------------------------------------- Country Number -------------------------------------------------------- Australia toll +61 2 8038 5221 Australia toll free 1800 123 296 Canada 1855 5616 766 China 4001 203 085 Hong Kong 800 908 865 India 1800 3010 6141 Japan 0120 994 669 New Zealand 0800 452 782 Singapore 800 616 2288 United Kingdom 0808 234 0757 United States 1855 293 1544 --------------------------------------------------------

Sydney, Aug 24, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MYOB Group Limited (MYOB) ( ASX:MYO ), a leading provider of online business management solutions to Australian and New Zealand businesses is pleased to announce its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2018.Highlights- Solid half year financial results delivered during investment period; Revenue and underlying EBITDA maintaining growth, up 7 per cent and 3 per cent respectively year on year- Strong operational growth with online subscribers surging to 492,000, up 61 per cent on prior year and on track to reach 1 million in 2020- MYOB Platform delivery is accelerating, with new online tools released to market across compliance, tax and advisory in 1H18; MYOB awarded #8 in AFR's Top 100 Most Innovative Companies list- Lifetime value of SME subscriber base continues to strengthen through improvements in online subscriber numbers, ARPU and retention rates- Proactive capital management, with dividend and share buyback delivering $69 million of capital returned to shareholders in 1H18- Accelerated investment strategy in place to drive online growth; FY18 - FY22 guidance reaffirmedFinancial SummaryRevenue for the six month period increased to $218.5 million, up 7 per cent on the prior year and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew to $92.7 million, up 3 per cent on the prior year. MYOB's preferred measure of after tax profit, NPATA (see Note below), was $45.6 million, 6 per cent lower than the prior year, with associated NPATA earnings per share of 7.7 cents, 5 per cent below prior year due to higher costs under the investment period.Tim Reed, Chief Executive Officer:"The first six months of 2018 has seen exceptional growth in our online subscriber base, reaching almost 500,000 online subscribers. This growth demonstrates that SMEs and accountants have embraced our Connected Practice vision for the industry and recognise the role we play to help their businesses succeed.The continued momentum in online subscriber growth, including both newly formed SMEs and migrations from our non-paying subscriber base, supports our decision to accelerate investment in the MYOB Platform, which features industry-leading online tools, real time data feeds and automation delivering greater efficiencies for small business owners and their advisers.The first half of this year saw advancements in our online tools released to market, with a focus on compliance, tax and advisory. This included the launch of MYOB Advisor, which uses AI and Natural Language Generation alongside financial data visualisations, to enable accountants and advisers to start a conversation with their clients and support their clients' business needs and financial position. This innovative technology enables advisers to play a more integral role in the lives of their clients, beyond servicing compliance and transaction needs.It is exciting to see our investment yielding results for our clients and with our commitment to invest further for future growth, we are looking forward to this momentum continuing to deliver long term value for our clients and shareholders."Capital ManagementThe Company's balance sheet remains strong and as a reflection of the Board's confidence in the growth trajectory of the business, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 5.75 cents per share, representing a payout ratio of 75 per cent of 1H18 NPATA.As previously announced on 24 August 2017, MYOB initiated a share buyback of up to 5 per cent of the Company's issued capital. Since then, MYOB has acquired more than $38 million in shares up until the close of 1H18, with the buyback arrangement coming to an end on 7 September 2018. Together, the dividend and buyback represent a total of $69 million of capital returned to shareholders in 1H18, and more than $238 million returned to shareholders since listing in 2015.Justin Milne, Chairman:"MYOB has delivered a solid set of half year results. The growth in online subscribers of 61 per cent year on year has been outstanding.This growth trajectory supports the Company's decision to advance its investment plans, and to achieve its target of 1 million online subscribers by 2020.It is also pleasing to see continued growth in MYOB's two expansion segments, Enterprise Solutions and Payments, contributing 17 per cent to total group revenue in 1H18.Additionally, the return of $69m in capital to shareholders in the period is a testament to the Board's confidence in the business and MYOB's commitment to delivering value to its shareholders."Investing for Future GrowthAs previously announced, MYOB has embarked on a strategic plan to accelerate its investment in R&D and sales & marketing to leverage growth, capture market share and achieve its target of 1 million online subscribers by 2020. For further details, refer to ASX announcement (31 May 2018) Investing for Future Growth.In summary, the Company's 2018 - 2022 investment plan comprises of:- $50 million MYOB Platform R&D acceleration over the next 2 years to bring forward the delivery of MYOB's online platform. This investment will bring new online Adviser and SME solutions to the market more quickly and will allow MYOB to retire legacy solutions.- $30 million Sales & Marketing investment over the next 2 years to increase the size of MYOB's Adviser sales team and maximise the impact of the accelerated platform delivery by increasing the rate of referrals from the Adviser base of accountants and bookkeepers. MYOB will also invest further marketing spend over the next 2 years to support direct SME sales.MYOB continues to provide leading solutions that enables our clients to manage their business efficiently, and importantly remain compliant within the evolving regulatory environment. To this end, MYOB has commenced notifying clients that it will no longer provide features, patches, compliance updates or product support for AccountRight Classic desktop (v19) as of 30 September 2019.Other legacy products will be retired as the MYOB platform is built out over the next 3 years.Guidance: Reaffirming FY18 and BeyondAs in prior years, revenue growth and EBITDA margins are expected to be higher in 2H18 than 1H18. Full year 2018 revenue growth is expected to be > 8 per cent.Segment Revenue PerformanceClients & Partners (82 per cent of total revenues)Revenue from SME products grew by 7 per cent compared to the prior year. Growth was primarily due to an uplift in SME recurring revenue of 8 per cent, representing 99 per cent of total SME revenue in 1H18. SME recurring revenue growth was driven by:- Average Paying users growing 6 per cent, which was driven by a 32 per cent year on year increase in online SME subscribers (from 257,000 to 340,000), an increasing rate of migrations from active non-paying to paying online users and a record 83 per cent retention rate.- ARPU growing by 2 per cent year on year to $430 in 1H18, impacted by price-led migration campaigns in 2H17. ARPU growth expected to be >3% for FY18.Revenue from Practices grew by 1 per cent, slightly below 1H17. Recurring revenue was up 2 per cent, which is in line with 1H17 and driven by a 3 per cent growth in subscription revenue, offset by a reduction in services due to uncertainty around the Reckon transaction. As new online modules continue to replace desktop sales opportunities, MYOB saw a 33 per cent decrease in desktop software sales.During 1H18, MYOB launched a number of innovative new products and connected services to SMEs and Accountants, including the release of new Compliance tools such as Online Assets in Client Accounting, plus enhancements in Online Tax, Portal, Dashboard, Essentials, Connected Ledger and MYOB Advisor. Key updates include the addition of capturing rural quantities, single touch payroll, enhanced security and new payment functionality (BPay).Enterprise Solutions (15 per cent of total revenues)MYOB Enterprise Solutions continued its strong momentum, delivering organic growth of 10 per cent in 1H18 compared to 1H17. The number of sites for MYOB's online ERP solution, MYOB Advanced, increased by 57 per cent on the prior year, reaching more than 500 sites at the end of 1H18. Organic recurring revenue growth of 11 per cent was driven by continued strong uptake of MYOB Advanced, with Advanced Business sales continuing to make up more than half of MYOB ERP sales in 1H18 (58 per cent). New licence revenue grew by 7 per cent with continued strength in Tier 2 PayGlobal and Greentree products.Payment Solutions (2 per cent of total revenues)Payments Solutions revenue for 1H18 was $4 million. This revenue represents six months of revenue from the Paycorp acquisition (rebranded MYOB PayBy), compared to 3 months in 1H17. Separately, revenue from MYOB's online invoice payment solutions, integrated within the SME online software, is accounted for within the SME Revenue in Clients & Partners. This grew organically by 91 per cent in 1H18 as the number of merchants and transactions continued to climb, boosted by the introduction of BPay in late 1H18.Further information and web conference detailsThe MYOB ASX release should be read in conjunction with the corresponding MYOB Interim Financial Report and 1H18 Investor Presentation. All documents are available on the MYOB Investor website: http://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/2608I0SC A live webcast and conference call will be held at 10.00am (AEST), and can be accessed via the following the link http://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/2NT6W09I Playback facilities and a conference call transcript will be made available on our investor site.Dial in detailsConference Call ID: 1597465Note: MYOB considers NPATA (net profit after tax and after adding back the tax effected amortisation expense related to acquired intangibles), rather than NPAT, to be a more meaningful measure of after tax profit due to the large amount of non-cash amortisation of acquired intangibles that is reflected in NPAT.To view tables, please visit:To view MYOB 1H18 Results Investor Presentation, please visit:About Myob Group Ltd

MYOB Group Ltd (ASX:MYO) is a leading provider of online business management solutions. It makes business life easier for approximately 1.2 million businesses and accountants across Australia and New Zealand by simplifying accounting, payroll, tax, practice management, CRM, job costing, inventory and more. MYOB operates across three core segments  Clients and Partners (business solutions to SMEs and Advisers); Enterprise Solutions (larger businesses) and Payment Solutions. It provides ongoing support through client service channels including a network of over 40,000 accountants, bookkeepers and other consultants. It is committed to ongoing innovation, particularly through its Connected Practice Strategy and through the development of the MYOB Platform. For more information, follow @MYOB on Twitter or visit http://investors.myob.com.au/Investors
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Sichuan Province Sichuan Province: Opening Ceremony Launches Inaugural 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week' 24-Aug-2018 / 05:30 GMT/BST *Opening Ceremony Launches Inaugural 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week'* _A new international initiative celebrating China's Giant Panda conservation and research officially inaugurated on August 23 at Beijing'__s China Millennium Monument_ BEIJING, CHINA - Media OutReach [1] - August 23, 2018 - China's admired achievements in Giant Panda conservation and research rescuing the Giant Panda from the brink of extinction were celebrated with the launch of "China Giant Panda International Culture Week" on August 23. The new international initiative was officially inaugurated at The China Millennium Monument in Beijing. 'Panda Week' is in future scheduled on the environmental calendar as a biennial international celebration of China's 60 years of conservation efforts saving the icon of vulnerable species. The Giant Panda has since become a beloved cultural envoy representing friendly Chinese foreign exchanges and global environmental cooperation. Gifts of giant pandas to foreign zoos marked some of the first cultural exchanges between China and the western world in the 1970s - known as "panda diplomacy" - and research and breeding has since extended worldwide to 22 zoos in 17 countries. Continuing this theme as a global ambassador, 'Chinese Giant Panda International Cultural Week' extends a philosophy of "peace, development, cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships" to the world", said Mr. Li Chunliang, Vice Administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration at the opening ceremony. "The Giant Panda is revered as a "living fossil" and "China's national treasure", a flagship species of global biodiversity, as well as a unique national and cultural symbol," he said. "China has always attached great importance to their conservation and protection, and President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that more efforts need to be made to strengthen the protection and restoration of their panda habitats, scientific research and personnel training to promote rejuvenation of the wild population. "This fully reflects China's confidence and determination to boost ecological protection, laying a solid foundation and guidance for the protection and management of Giant Pandas." He said habitat protection has since extended to 67 reserves through Sichuan and neighboring Northern provinces Shaanxi [2] and Gansu [3] - with key ecological projects including forest resources protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, wildlife protection and natural reserve construction. "We have also made great efforts to reinforce the construction of wildlife protection laws, artificial breeding and releasing giant pandas to the wild," he said. Key research in rare animal protection biology has meanwhile brought "important scientific and technological breakthroughs" including nearly 100 national patents "driving the research on giant panda protection to a higher level, enabling effective conservation". As a result, the wild population has "gradually restored" to 1,864 individuals, along with 518 in captivity worldwide, this represents "a healthy, dynamic and sustainable species". In addition, he said a pilot project for a "Giant Panda National Park" with an area of 27,000 square kilometers has been launched, "opening a new chapter for the conservation of Giant pandas". The park will cover three times the area of Yellowstone National Park in the US, with major ecological projects including construction of reserves, ex-situ protection and release of giant pandas to the wild, focused on solving the problems of fragmented habitats and isolated genes. Last but not least, he said China will promote panda culture globally through "peace, friendliness, green and sharing" with scientific and international exchanges "headlined by Chinese characteristics, spirits and wisdom, leading the world to raise people's awareness of ecological civilization". "The Giant panda is a messenger of peace and a symbol of friendship," he added. "Panda culture is an important part of Chinese traditional culture, promoting China's philosophies of international peace, development, cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships." "We have made great efforts and accumulated a wealth of experience in the conservation and protection of giant pandas as well as related cultural exchanges and cooperation. "We are willing to make joint efforts with the international community to protect giant pandas and promote panda culture, and make a positive contribution to building a community of a shared future for mankind while enhancing international peace and development!" Austria's Ambassador to China, His Excellency Dr. Fritz Stift, said: "Pandas are a symbol of friendship between Austria and China. I would like to congratulate the National Forestry and Grassland Administration for its great success in protecting Giant Pandas. He noted that Giant Pandas have been the most popular attraction at Vienna Zoo since a pair was loaned in 2003. Four years later the first Panda conceived naturally in Europe was born. Two more cubs followed in 2010 and 2013, followed by twins in 2016 - the first in the world raised without human assistance. "Austria also would like to continue contributing to this great endeavor in the future," he added. "We hope our success story of raising Panda cubs can be continued." 'Panda Week' features a public exhibition from August 23-26 (free entry, 8am-9pm) at The China Millennium Monument telling the multi-faceted story of the panda through photos, film, television, virtual reality, research exhibits, works of art and cultural and creative products. A 'First Day Cover' of postage stamps presses the message home nationwide and abroad. With the inaugural event themed 'Panda Culture, Shared Around the World', international involvement is also encouraged with a Chinese Giant Panda Promotional Agreement. To help panda lovers around the world better understand the species and learn more about panda culture, Mr. Cui Baohua, Deputy Chairman of Sichuan Provincial Political Consultative Conference, announced that Sichuan will launch a recruitment campaign for "Panda Culture Global Promotion Envoys", inviting 100 from around the world to visit Sichuan over the next five years. He added: "China Giant Panda International Culture Week will be a great platform that helps promote scientific research and protection of Giant pandas in Sichuan, as well as ecological civilization construction, opening-up international cooperation. It will be an important bridge that fosters cultural exchanges and friendships between Sichuan and the world." "It showcases China's great achievements in multiple aspects, including conservation and research of giant pandas, international exchanges and cooperation, and ecological civilization construction". "This event will certainly enhance exchanges and friendships between China and other countries, and promote sharing of Chinese culture with the world," he said. Known as the "Land of Abundance" and "Hometown of Giant Pandas", he said Sichuan Province has been at the forefront of protecting the species with natural forest protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, wild fauna and flora protection, natural reserve construction and scientific research. "The Giant panda has become the most dynamic and most promising wildlife tourism brand in Sichuan, and most charming 'business card' for Sichuan and even China in international cultural exchanges," he added. A Chinese Giant Panda International Design Competition was also launched, inviting designers from around the world to create "a unique cultural image" and international symbol for the species. The invitation extends until December 31, 2018 with the winning design revealed in 2019 for global promotion. "We hope this campaign will convene global inspiration and strength of cultural and artistic creation, helping promote the sharing of panda culture with the world," said Mr. Jing Shuiqing, Vice President, China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC), which promotes international exchanges and Chinese culture. "The Giant Panda is gentle and adorable in the eyes of people all over the world, and a "business card of China" with worldwide popularity," he said. "It symbolizes gentleness, friendliness, sustainability and sharing in Chinese culture, resonating with the philosophies of respect for life, harmony between human and nature and sustainable development." 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week' is supported by the State Council Information Office, organized by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Provincial People's Governments of Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu, the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda and CICC. *China's Giant Panda Conservation* Native to south-central China [4], the Giant Panda was on the brink of extinction from deforestation of its natural habitat of bamboo forest and poaching until conservation efforts formally began in 1958 with the establishment of Wolong National Nature Reserve [5] in Sichuan [6]. Habitat protection has since extended to 67 nature reserves through Sichuan and neighboring Northern provinces Shaanxi [2] and Gansu [3] - compared to just 13 reserves in 1998. Wild population estimates vary, with latest estimates of steady growth reaching 1,864 individuals along with 518 in captivity worldwide - representing a healthy, sustainable breeding population. While strengthening protection and preservation of wild Giant Pandas, research centres including the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

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August 24, 2018 00:30 ET (04:30 GMT)
DJ Sichuan Province: Opening Ceremony Launches Inaugural 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week'

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Sichuan Province Sichuan Province: Opening Ceremony Launches Inaugural 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week' 24-Aug-2018 / 05:30 GMT/BST *Opening Ceremony Launches Inaugural 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week'* _A new international initiative celebrating China's Giant Panda conservation and research officially inaugurated on August 23 at Beijing'__s China Millennium Monument_ BEIJING, CHINA - Media OutReach [1] - August 23, 2018 - China's admired achievements in Giant Panda conservation and research rescuing the Giant Panda from the brink of extinction were celebrated with the launch of "China Giant Panda International Culture Week" on August 23. The new international initiative was officially inaugurated at The China Millennium Monument in Beijing. 'Panda Week' is in future scheduled on the environmental calendar as a biennial international celebration of China's 60 years of conservation efforts saving the icon of vulnerable species. The Giant Panda has since become a beloved cultural envoy representing friendly Chinese foreign exchanges and global environmental cooperation. Gifts of giant pandas to foreign zoos marked some of the first cultural exchanges between China and the western world in the 1970s - known as "panda diplomacy" - and research and breeding has since extended worldwide to 22 zoos in 17 countries. Continuing this theme as a global ambassador, 'Chinese Giant Panda International Cultural Week' extends a philosophy of "peace, development, cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships" to the world", said Mr. Li Chunliang, Vice Administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration at the opening ceremony. "The Giant Panda is revered as a "living fossil" and "China's national treasure", a flagship species of global biodiversity, as well as a unique national and cultural symbol," he said. "China has always attached great importance to their conservation and protection, and President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that more efforts need to be made to strengthen the protection and restoration of their panda habitats, scientific research and personnel training to promote rejuvenation of the wild population. "This fully reflects China's confidence and determination to boost ecological protection, laying a solid foundation and guidance for the protection and management of Giant Pandas." He said habitat protection has since extended to 67 reserves through Sichuan and neighboring Northern provinces Shaanxi [2] and Gansu [3] - with key ecological projects including forest resources protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, wildlife protection and natural reserve construction. "We have also made great efforts to reinforce the construction of wildlife protection laws, artificial breeding and releasing giant pandas to the wild," he said. Key research in rare animal protection biology has meanwhile brought "important scientific and technological breakthroughs" including nearly 100 national patents "driving the research on giant panda protection to a higher level, enabling effective conservation". As a result, the wild population has "gradually restored" to 1,864 individuals, along with 518 in captivity worldwide, this represents "a healthy, dynamic and sustainable species". In addition, he said a pilot project for a "Giant Panda National Park" with an area of 27,000 square kilometers has been launched, "opening a new chapter for the conservation of Giant pandas". The park will cover three times the area of Yellowstone National Park in the US, with major ecological projects including construction of reserves, ex-situ protection and release of giant pandas to the wild, focused on solving the problems of fragmented habitats and isolated genes. Last but not least, he said China will promote panda culture globally through "peace, friendliness, green and sharing" with scientific and international exchanges "headlined by Chinese characteristics, spirits and wisdom, leading the world to raise people's awareness of ecological civilization". "The Giant panda is a messenger of peace and a symbol of friendship," he added. "Panda culture is an important part of Chinese traditional culture, promoting China's philosophies of international peace, development, cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships." "We have made great efforts and accumulated a wealth of experience in the conservation and protection of giant pandas as well as related cultural exchanges and cooperation. "We are willing to make joint efforts with the international community to protect giant pandas and promote panda culture, and make a positive contribution to building a community of a shared future for mankind while enhancing international peace and development!" Austria's Ambassador to China, His Excellency Dr. Fritz Stift, said: "Pandas are a symbol of friendship between Austria and China. I would like to congratulate the National Forestry and Grassland Administration for its great success in protecting Giant Pandas. He noted that Giant Pandas have been the most popular attraction at Vienna Zoo since a pair was loaned in 2003. Four years later the first Panda conceived naturally in Europe was born. Two more cubs followed in 2010 and 2013, followed by twins in 2016 - the first in the world raised without human assistance. "Austria also would like to continue contributing to this great endeavor in the future," he added. "We hope our success story of raising Panda cubs can be continued." 'Panda Week' features a public exhibition from August 23-26 (free entry, 8am-9pm) at The China Millennium Monument telling the multi-faceted story of the panda through photos, film, television, virtual reality, research exhibits, works of art and cultural and creative products. A 'First Day Cover' of postage stamps presses the message home nationwide and abroad. With the inaugural event themed 'Panda Culture, Shared Around the World', international involvement is also encouraged with a Chinese Giant Panda Promotional Agreement. To help panda lovers around the world better understand the species and learn more about panda culture, Mr. Cui Baohua, Deputy Chairman of Sichuan Provincial Political Consultative Conference, announced that Sichuan will launch a recruitment campaign for "Panda Culture Global Promotion Envoys", inviting 100 from around the world to visit Sichuan over the next five years. He added: "China Giant Panda International Culture Week will be a great platform that helps promote scientific research and protection of Giant pandas in Sichuan, as well as ecological civilization construction, opening-up international cooperation. It will be an important bridge that fosters cultural exchanges and friendships between Sichuan and the world." "It showcases China's great achievements in multiple aspects, including conservation and research of giant pandas, international exchanges and cooperation, and ecological civilization construction". "This event will certainly enhance exchanges and friendships between China and other countries, and promote sharing of Chinese culture with the world," he said. Known as the "Land of Abundance" and "Hometown of Giant Pandas", he said Sichuan Province has been at the forefront of protecting the species with natural forest protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, wild fauna and flora protection, natural reserve construction and scientific research. "The Giant panda has become the most dynamic and most promising wildlife tourism brand in Sichuan, and most charming 'business card' for Sichuan and even China in international cultural exchanges," he added. A Chinese Giant Panda International Design Competition was also launched, inviting designers from around the world to create "a unique cultural image" and international symbol for the species. The invitation extends until December 31, 2018 with the winning design revealed in 2019 for global promotion. "We hope this campaign will convene global inspiration and strength of cultural and artistic creation, helping promote the sharing of panda culture with the world," said Mr. Jing Shuiqing, Vice President, China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC), which promotes international exchanges and Chinese culture. "The Giant Panda is gentle and adorable in the eyes of people all over the world, and a "business card of China" with worldwide popularity," he said. "It symbolizes gentleness, friendliness, sustainability and sharing in Chinese culture, resonating with the philosophies of respect for life, harmony between human and nature and sustainable development." 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week' is supported by the State Council Information Office, organized by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Provincial People's Governments of Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu, the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda and CICC. *China's Giant Panda Conservation* Native to south-central China [4], the Giant Panda was on the brink of extinction from deforestation of its natural habitat of bamboo forest and poaching until conservation efforts formally began in 1958 with the establishment of Wolong National Nature Reserve [5] in Sichuan [6]. Habitat protection has since extended to 67 nature reserves through Sichuan and neighboring Northern provinces Shaanxi [2] and Gansu [3] - compared to just 13 reserves in 1998. Wild population estimates vary, with latest estimates of steady growth reaching 1,864 individuals along with 518 in captivity worldwide - representing a healthy, sustainable breeding population. While strengthening protection and preservation of wild Giant Pandas, research centres including the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

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August 24, 2018 00:30 ET (04:30 GMT)

and Shanxi Louguantai Giant Panda Rescue Center continue advancing scientific research into breeding in captivity. As well as loss of habitat, the Giant Panda's survival has been additionally hindered by a curious lack of libido, brief breeding season, low fertility and poor survival rate of cubs. To increase their interest in procreating, some research centres have even tried inspiring their sex-drive with a version of Viagra, and showing them the equivalent of adult movies - with film of other pandas mating. "After nearly 40 years of hard work, the number of artificially bred Giant Pandas is now steadily on the rise," said Mr. Yang Chao, Director of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management of National Forestry and Grassland Administration. "As the technique for artificial breeding becomes more sophisticated, the number of captive Giant Pandas is reproducing at a faster rate." China has so far bred 63 Giant Panda cubs through artificial insemination, with 58 surviving. "By the end of 2017, the captive Giant Panda population reached 518, achieving basic self-sustainment," said Director Yang. As a result of conservation success, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified the species in 2016 from endangered, meaning threatened with extinction, to 'conservational-reliant vulnerable', indicating population recovery with conservation support. As the National Forestry Administration of China continues to reinforce conservation efforts for one of the worlds most adored and protected rare animals, the Giant Panda is one of the few species with its natural habitat designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries covering seven natural reserves were inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2006. China is now embarking on amalgamating and extending reserves in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu under a Giant Panda National Park protecting 70% of its habitat and 86% of the wild population. The park will cover 27,134 square kilometres, three times the area of Yellowstone National Park in the US. By spanning three provinces, it aims to encourage migration of the species to strengthen its gene pool. As most of the area is mountainous where residents are poor, it will also enable local governments to alleviate poverty. A fund of at least 10 billion yuan (US$1.57 billion) will finance a variety of poverty alleviation projects from 2018 to 2023. The programme includes financial assistance, charity foundation, disaster relief, community education, tourism development and ecological construction. Qumu Shiha, head of a national park working group, called the initiative a "big step to building a moderately well-off society" in the region. "It will help mobilize the efforts of the whole society into protecting giant pandas, promoting harmony between nature and humans, and exploring a new model to combining environmental protection, financing, poverty reduction and charity care." He described the vision as a "model for ecological development and social development globally." *For more information please contact:* Rhoda Adams GHC Asia Beijing Mobile: +86 (0) 158 1034 2850 Email: rhoda.adams@ghcasia.com Attachment Document title: Opening Ceremony Launches Inaugural 'China Giant Panda International Culture Week' Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=AFVHYGGXJV [7] Dissemination of a CORPORATE NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. End of Announcement - EQS News Service 717117 24-Aug-2018 1: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=8fb96749ec59423ef89723f5f07dfbe3&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 2: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=cb0c91a024a9380ed05e827cc1a33199&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 3: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=a39b40a1b193375cfc8ceba955238459&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 4: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=31a299e4bd7efa2c7ceb9c96eaad6510&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 5: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=be845106da6e1fce510db1f321b4296e&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 6: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=bb0944c1a40dacd905059cf4938fa409&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 7: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=d16be89b69e8d824fe466f0654ba6440&application_id=717117&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

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August 24, 2018 00:30 ET (04:30 GMT)
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Dow Jones received a payment from EQS/DGAP to publish this press release.

Edison Investment Research Limited Edison Investment Research Limited: Edison issues outlook on EQS Group (EQS) 24-Aug-2018 / 08:55 GMT/BST London, UK, 24 August 2018 *Edison issues outlook on EQS Group (EQS)* EQS's interims show good progress in its evolution into a leading technology provider to corporate entities. With its revamped cloud-based COCKPIT platform scheduled for launch in Q418 and an ever-tightening regulatory environment, the elements are in place to underpin medium- term growth. The additional costs are weighing on current-year profitability and FY18 EBITDA guidance has been reduced, but our view is that this is an investment in making the group a credible and scalable partner in investor relations and compliance, with an attractive monthly recurring revenue base. With the current investment draining earnings, peer-based comparisons are less useful than usual. On an FY1 EV/sales basis, EQS is trading at a +30% discount. On a reverse DCF, taking the company's 2018-25e revenue CAGR guidance of around 17% and assuming a WACC of 8%, an EBITDA margin of c 17% is required to get to the current share price. A 1pp increase in margin would result in an EUR85/share valuation. Given the element of execution risk, the shares appear to be well underpinned at current levels. Click here [1] to view the full report. All reports published by Edison are available to download free of charge from its website www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com [2] *About Edison:* Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and AsiaPac. The heart of Edison is our world-renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise. At Edison Investment Research, our research is widely read by international investors, advisers and stakeholders. Edison Advisors leverages our core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting. Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority [3]. Edison is not an adviser or broker-dealer and does not provide investment advice. Edison's reports are not solicitations to buy or sell any securities. *For more information please contact Edison:* Fiona Orford-Williams, +44 (0)20 3077 5739 Neil Shah, +44 (0)20 3077 5715 media@edisongroup.com Learn more at www.edisongroup.com [4] and connect with Edison on: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/edison-investment-research [5] Twitter www.twitter.com/Edison_Inv_Res [6] YouTube www.youtube.com/edisonitv [7] Dissemination of a CORPORATE NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. End of Announcement - EQS News Service 717173 24-Aug-2018 1: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=955cac3a65cf618e6e51d6a471dd6775&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 2: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=e7266211cbf0b72f2b3d94ab8bdaae97&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 3: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=105fe9be9b5e36892886e5a39d51d4b7&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 4: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=88c95533002fab2316572f9ef6cf3cc6&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 5: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=edc5483da45ef361071849742dbf1595&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 6: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=ec2d264fe4f303e2143a2e85c6eaa823&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 7: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=6b959e4d7ee3c402b931a274d2bbe945&application_id=717173&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2018 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT)
Today, Paidy Inc. ("Paidy"), an instantly-issued post-pay credit provider, announced an investment from Visa (NYSE:V) as part of the company's Series C funding. Paidy is Japan's first instantly-issued post-pay credit service for ecommerce consumers. In addition, the two companies are partnering on new digital payment experiences that will give Japanese consumers more options when buying online and in-store.

Paidy does not require pre-registration or a credit card to use; Paidy consumers purchase products online using a mobile phone number and email address (verification is established though a four-digit code sent via SMS) and settle all their purchases in a single monthly bill. Paidy also supports instalment and subscription payments. There are currently over 1,500,000 Paidy users.1

Visa is working to develop and support new payment methods, as the world moves beyond plastic and towards digital credentials. In 2017, the scale of the domestic ecommerce market in Japan expanded by 9.1% to 16.5 trillion yen.2 Japan is among the world's fastest growing ecommerce markets3, but is also heavily reliant on cash. Visa and Paidy have a shared objective to offer consumers more convenient alternatives to current popular payment methods, like cash on delivery. The companies' collaboration will also support Paidy's expansion into new types of services for their customers.

"We have been following Paidy's progress and the enhanced shopping experience they provide at the time of purchase," said Chris Clark, Regional President, Asia Pacific, Visa. "In Japan there is enormous opportunity to bring consumers more options to pay, whether all at once or in instalments, especially when shopping across multiple channels. We look forward to this partnership to deliver these kind of new experiences."

Russell Cummer, Founder and Executive Chairman of Paidy said, "We are extremely honoured that Paidy's business concept was highly valued by the world's largest payment network, Visa. Through this tie-up, we expect to deliver Paidy's frictionless and intuitive transactional credit to a much broader audience. Furthermore, by adding new payment functions and diverse financial services, together with Visa, we can promote our vision of removing barriers and create unique consumer experiences for as many people as possible."

1 Paidy, August 2018

2 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2017

3 Export.gov, September 2017

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005083/en/

Contacts:

Paidy

Kayoko Kobayashi, +81355448729

pr@paidy.com
Dow Jones received a payment from EQS/DGAP to publish this press release.

EQS-News / 24/08/2018 / 17:51 UTC+8 Wan Leader International Limited proposed listing on GEM of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited Raising up to approximately HK$88,200,000 to actively expand its logistics service business (23 August 2018, Hong Kong) Wan Leader International Limited ("Wan Leader", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", SEHK stock code: 8482), one of the logistics service providers in Hong Kong, announces today its proposed listing on GEM of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK") through the public offer and placing of its shares (the "Shares"). The offering of Wan Leader consists of a total of 252,000,000 Shares (subject to the Offer Size Adjustment Option), including the public offering of 25,200,000 Shares (subject to reallocation) and the placing of 226,800,000 Shares (subject to reallocation and the Offer Size Adjustment Option). The offer price (the "Offer Price") is expected to be not less than HK$0.25 and not more than HK$0.35 per Offer Share. The shares will be traded in board lots of 10,000 Shares each. The price for one board lot will be not more than HK$3,535.27 based on the Offer Price of up to HK$0.35 per share, plus brokerage of 1%, SFC transaction levy of 0.0027% and Stock Exchange trading fee of 0.005%. Huabang Corporate Finance Limited is the Sole Sponsor, Huabang Securities Limited and China Goldjoy Securities Limited are the Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Managers, and HK Monkey Securities Limited and Sincere Securities Limited are the Joint Lead Managers of the public offering and placing. Wan Leader will receive approximately HK$50.9 million (after deducting the underwriting fees and commissions, fees and anticipated expenses and assuming an Offer Price of HK$0.30 per Offer Share, being the mid-point of the Offer Price range of not less than HK$0.25 and not more than HK$0.35 per Offer Share) and intend to apply the net proceeds for the following purposes: - Approximately HK$17.2 million (33.8%) will be used to expand its warehouses - Approximately HK$18.8 million (36.9%) will be used to attract and retain talented and experienced personnel - Approximately HK$10.2 million (20.0%) will be used to develop its trucking fleet - Approximately HK$3.1 million (6.1%) will be used to further enhance its information technology systems - Approximately HK$1.6 million (3.2 %) will be used as general working capital Wan Leader is one of the logistics service providers in Hong Kong, who offers air freight forwarding and sea freight forwarding services. The majority of the cargo space that the Group sells are for goods being exported from Hong Kong to various destinations over the world, mainly to the United States and Europe. The Group generates profits by (a) acquiring cargo space from suppliers at competitive prices, a portion of which are under block space arrangements; (b) consolidating its cargo spaces; (c) co-loading with other freight forwarders; and (d) selling its cargo space to customers on a cost-plus basis. Furthermore, the Group strategically offers warehousing and related value-added services as part of its freight forwarding and related logistics services at its warehouse in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong (the "Warehouse"), in order to compete against other market players and in response to the rising demand from its customers. Services offered include warehousing, repackaging and labelling, palletising, supply chain management, and local delivery services within Hong Kong. The Group integrates warehousing and related value-added services into its core freight forwarding and related logistics services to increase competitiveness and better facilitate the needs of its customers. The Group's Warehouse is equipped with floor with dust-proof and anti-static material, 24-hour electronic monitoring system, 24-hour temperature, humidity control systems and relatively high ceiling, in order to provide the most suitable solution to its customers. For the financial year ended 31 March 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Group's revenue attributable to its freight forwarding and related logistics services amounted to approximately HK$68.2 million, HK$53.8 million and HK$170.4 million, respectively, while its revenue attributable to warehousing and related value-added business amounted to approximately HK$8.0 million, HK$25.5 million and HK$27.5 million, respectively. For the financial year ended 31 March 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Group's total net profit amounted to approximately HK$6.3 million, HK$11.5 million and HK$11.0 million, respectively. Logistics services industry is the major contributor to the economy of Hong Kong. According to the market research report prepared by Frost & Sullivan Limited, the market size of logistics services industry in Hong Kong increased from HK$344.1 billion in 2012 to HK$352.8 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 0.5%. Logistics industry is estimated to remain stable in the future underpinned by the robust economic development in Hong Kong. The market size of logistics industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.0% and reach HK$368.8 billion in 2022, benefiting from the improved transportation infrastructure and network and the resilient merchandise trade market in Asian countries. With over 20 years of successful experience in developing and operating freight forwarding and related logistics services of the management team of the Group, Wan Leader will further expand its scales and develop its existing portfolio of cargo routes from Hong Kong to the United States, Europe and other regions, in order to boost sales performance and enhance market share in the logistics industry in terms of its future business strategies. Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=OGPUCNNESR [1] Document title: Wan Leader International Limited proposed listing on GEM of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited Raising up to approximately HK$88,200,000 to actively expand its logistics service business 24/08/2018 Dissemination of a Marketing Press Release, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com 1: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=3f050d6b35a683b579a2272c2a52861c&application_id=717103&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2018 05:52 ET (09:52 GMT)
In a meeting in Brussels, the majority of EU member states have decided not to re-apply the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures for crystalline solar PV modules and cells. As such, the undertaking on the minimum import price (MIP) is likely to end on September 3.The European Commission has reportedly decided not to re-examine the existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures for crystalline solar PV cells and modules imported from China. While it remains silent, with the Directorate General for Trade at the European Commission declining to comment on pv magazine's enquiry, Reuters reports ...

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
PORTLAND, Oregon, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Affordable & innovative products, advancement in audio technology, and growing partnerships between smart home developers & Smart Speaker OEMs are some key factors leading to the growth of the smart speaker market.

Allied Market Research published a report, titled, Smart Speaker Market by Intelligent Virtual Assistant (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana, and Others), End User (Personal, and commercial), Distribution Channel (Online and offline), and Price (Low, Mid, and Premium): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025. According to Allied, the global smart speaker market was pegged at $4.3 billion in 2017, and is expected to accrue a sum of $23.3 billion in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 23.4% from 2018 to 2025. The study offers the present scenario as well as the growth prospects of the global smart speaker system market for the forecast period. It presents a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market by the studying the current trends, industry growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, prolific investment zones, marketing strategies adopted by the players, and competitive landscape.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg )



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The growth in demand for smart home and multifunctional devices, increase in consumer readiness to invest in trending technologies, the rise in disposable income, the greater inclination of tech-crazy young consumers, and growing adoption of advanced 5G network technology are aiding in the fast expansion of the smart speaker industry. On the other hand, the market growth is hampered by privacy and security concerns and localization of language spoken by intelligent virtual assistants. Moreover, 5G infrastructure and advancement of natural language processing (NLP) are likely to pave way for new opportunities in the market.

Siri segment expected to grow at the highest rate by 2025

The intelligent virtual assistants majorly discussed in the study include Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and Cortana among others. The Amazon's Alexa generated the highest revenue in 2017, contributing to nearly two-third of the total market share. However, the Siri would grow at the highest rate in future, growing at a CAGR of 27.9% during the forecast period.

Low-price range to hold the highest market share by 2025

The report is classified based on price range into low, mid, and premium. The low-price range segment currently accounted for the highest market share of nearly half of the total market share, and is expected to continue its lead position through 2025, followed by mid-price segment.

For Purchase Enquiry:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5017

Online segment to lead in terms of revenue and growth by 2025

The study classifies the distribution channel segment based on online and offline. The former generated the highest market share of nearly 80% and contributed the revenue of $3.53 billion in 2017. This segment is expected to remain dominant by 2025, contributing the revenue of $19.14 billion.

The personal segment currently accounts for the highest revenue

The study discusses the end-user segment based on personal and commercial. The personal segment is currently leading the commercial segment in terms of revenue along with market share of around 82%. However, the commercial segment is likely to grow at the highest CAGR through 2025.

Request for Customization: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/5017

North Americato account for the highest revenue through 2025

The report offers a country-level analysis of several regions including, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Among the regions under study, North America contributed to more than one-third of the market share, and is likely to account for the highest revenue in the global market throughout the forecast period, followed by Europe.

Big players dominating the market

The report offers an extensive analysis of the leading players operating in the global smart speaker industry. The players analyzed in the report include Amazon.com, Inc., Apple, Inc., Alibaba Group, Alphabet Inc. (Google Inc.), Sonos, Inc., Bose Corporation, Xiaomi, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Baidu Inc. and Plantronics, Inc. (Altec Lansing/AL Infinity, LLC). These companies have adopted various strategies such as new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations to sustain their positions in the industry.

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:

Machine Learning Chip Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018 - 2025

Enterprise Wearables Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017 - 2023

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THE SHAREHOLDERS OF OASMIA PHARMACEUTICAL AB ARE HEREBY GIVEN NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2018, AT 14:00 CET, AT THE OFFICES OF THE COMPANY, VALLONGATAN 1, 752 28 UPPSALA. THE REGISTRATION OPENS AT 13:30 CET.

NOTICE OF ATTENDANCE

Shareholders who wish to participate in the general meeting must be recorded in the share register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB as of Wednesday 19 September 2018 and give notice of intent to participate to the company no later than on Thursday 20 September 2018, either by letter to Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB, Vallongatan 1, 752 28 Uppsala, Sweden, by facsimile: +46 (0)18 51 08 73 or by e-mail: info@oasmia.com, and specify the number of advisors.

If shareholder's attendance and right at the meeting will be exercised by proxy, we would be grateful if such is provided in connection with the notification of attendance. A proxy form is available to shareholders upon request and is available at the company and at the company's website, www.oasmia.com. Anyone representing a legal entity is asked to provide a copy of certificate of registration or equivalent documentary authority which evidences authorised signatory.

To be entitled to attend the meeting, holders of nominee registered shares must instruct the nominee to have the shares registered in the shareholder's own name, so that the shareholder is entered in the share register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB as of Wednesday 19 September 2018. This registration may be made temporarily.

PROPOSED AGENDA

Opening of the meeting and election of chairman of the meeting Preparation and approval of the voting list Approval of the agenda Election of one or two persons to verify the minutes in addition to the chairman Determination as to whether the meeting has been duly convened Presentation by the Chief Executive Officer Presentation of the Annual Report, the Audit Report and the Consolidated Accounts as well as the Audit Report for the Group Resolution on

adoption of the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet as well as the Consolidated Income Statement and the Consolidated Balance Sheet appropriation of the company's result pursuant to the adopted Balance Sheet discharge from liability of the Directors and the Chief Executive Officer

Resolution on number of Directors, alternates and auditors Resolution on Board of Directors' fees and other remuneration to Directors Resolution on the auditor's fees Election of Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board of Directors and, when applicable, alternates Election of auditor Resolution on the nomination committee Resolution on adoption of guidelines for remuneration to senior executive management Resolution on issue authorization Closing of the meeting

PROPOSALS FOR DECISION

Election of chairman of the meeting (item 1)

Item 1: The nomination committee before the annual general meeting 2018 consists of Bo Cederstrand (appointed by Alceco International S.A.), Per Arwidsson (appointed by Arwidsro Investment AB) and Julian Aleksov (Chair of the Board of Directors of Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB). The nomination committee, which represents approximately 28 per cent of the shares and votes in the company, proposes that Mattias Anjou, attorney at law, be elected Chair of the meeting.

Resolution on the dispositions in respect of the company's results pursuant to the adopted Balance Sheet (item 8 b)

The Board proposes that no dividends shall be paid and that the share premium reserve SEK 1,232,603,020, the accumulated loss SEK 808,607,126 and the result for the year SEK minus 118,963,649, in total SEK 305,032,245 will be carried forward.

Resolution on number of Directors and the number of deputies,election of Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board of Directors and, when applicable, deputies, resolution on Board of Directors' fees (item 9, 10 and 12)

Item 9: The nomination committee proposes that the Board of Directors unchanged be composed of five Directors with no alternates and that the company elect one auditor.

Item 10: The nomination committee proposes that the fees to the Directors remain unchanged at SEK 150 000 annually for each of the Directors excluding the Chairman of the Board who shall receive SEK 300 000 annually. However, Directors that receive other pay or remuneration from the company shall not receive Director's fees.

Item 12: The nomination committee proposes that Julian Aleksov, Lars Bergkvist, Bo Cederstrand, Alexander Kotsinas and Per Lango be re-elected as Directors of the Board. Furthermore, the nomination committee proposes that Julian Aleksov be re-elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Resolution on the auditor's fees and election of auditor (item 11 and 13)

Item 11: The nomination committee proposes that fees be paid to the auditor on current account.

Item 13: Under the Companies Act, Chapter 9, Section 21 a, the appointment as audit firm of a company at a regulated market may apply for a maximum of ten consecutive years. Since Ernst & Young Aktiebolag was appointed ten years ago, the nomination committee proposes that the registered audit company PricewaterhouseCoopers AB ("PWC") be newly-elected auditor for the period until the close of the next annual general meeting. PWC has given notice that, if the nomination committee's proposal for auditor is adopted at the meeting, Johan Engstam, authorised public accountant, will be appointed auditor-in-charge of the company.

Resolution on the nomination committee (item 14)

The nomination committee proposes that the meeting resolve on the nomination committee essentially as follows.

A nomination committee shall be appointed for the period until a new nomination committee has been appointed to prepare and submit proposals for the shareholders at the annual general meeting in 2019 concerning:

chairman of the meeting,

number of Board of Directors,

election of Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board,

remuneration of Directors,

election of auditor,

auditor's fees,

other questions that may be placed on the nomination committee according to the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance.

The nomination committee shall consist of three members, who shall be appointed as follows.

Before the end of the third quarter of the financial year the Chairman of the Board shall contact the two major shareholders of the company, who shall then appoint one member each to the nomination committee. If any of the two major shareholders refrain from appointing a member, the Chairman of the Board shall invite the third largest shareholder to appoint one member. The analysis of the ownership shall be based on the list of registered shareholders, kept by Euroclear Sweden AB, as of 31 December, and on any other circumstances known to the Chairman of the Board.

If a member resigns from the nomination committee before the nomination committee's assignment is completed, the shareholder who appointed the departing member shall elect a replacement.

Should any significant change in share ownership occur after the election committee has been established, the Chairman of the Board shall hold dialogue with the major shareholders regarding any potential change in the composition of the nomination committee.

The Chairman of the Board shall be one of the members of the nomination committee. Unless the members of the nomination committee agree otherwise, the member representing the largest shareholder in the vote shall be elected Chairman of the nomination committee.

Information about the composition of the nomination committee shall be made available on the company's website well ahead of time, but no later than six months before the annual general meeting, giving details of how shareholders may come into contact with and submit proposals to the nomination committee.

No remuneration is paid to members of the nomination committee. However, the nomination committee is entitled to charge the company with reasonable costs for the execution of the assignment.

Resolution on guidelines for remuneration to senior executive management (item 15)

The Board of Directors proposes that the general meeting adopt guidelines for remuneration to senior executive management essentially as follows.

The following guidelines for remuneration to senior executives are intended to apply as of the 2018 annual general meeting until the 2019 annual general meeting. By senior executives is meant the Chief Executive Officer and other members of the management team at Oasmia, as well as members of the Board to the extent they receive remuneration for other work than their Board assignment.

Pay and other benefits

Remuneration to senior executives shall consist of fixed salary, pension allocations and health insurance.

Period of notice and severance pay

In the event of termination on the part of the company, the period of notice for the Chief Executive Officer shall be no more than 12 months. In the event of termination on the part of the Chief Executive Officer, the period of notice shall be no more than three months. For other people in the company management, the period of notice shall normally be six months if termination is initiated by the company, and three months if termination is initiated by the employee. No special severance pay shall be paid.

Incentive program

A decision regarding any shares and share price-related incentive programs aimed at people in the company management shall be made by the general meeting.

Policy

The more detailed principles for salary payment to the Chief Executive Officer and other members of the company management shall be documented in a policy established by the Board.

Deviation in individual cases

The Board shall be entitled to deviate from said guidelines if there are special reasons in an individual case. If such a deviation is made, information on this and the reason for the deviation shall be reported at the next annual general meeting.

Resolution on issue authorization (item 16)

The Board proposes that the general meeting resolve on issue authorization essentially as follows.

The general meeting authorises the Board to, on one or several occasions during the period up until the next annual general meeting, resolve on an issue of shares, warrants and/or convertible instruments. The Board shall be authorized to adopt decisions on an issue of shares, warrants and/or convertible instruments with or without deviation from the shareholders' pre-emption rights. The issue resolution may be an issue in kind or an issue by way of set-off and/or on such terms and conditions as referred to in Chapter 2, Section 5, second paragraph, points 1-3 and 5, of the Swedish Companies Act. The new shares, warrants and/or convertible instruments shall, in the event of a deviation from the shareholders' pre-emption rights, be issued at a subscription price based on the share price at the time of the issue (or in case of warrants or convertibles, with the share price as basis for a market valuation), decreased by any discount in line with market practice that the Board deems necessary. All other terms are decided by the Board, but shall be in line with market practice. A maximum of 62 million shares may be issued under the authorization (including any new shares following the exercise or conversion of warrants and convertible bonds issued under the authorization).

DUTY TO PROVIDE INFORMATION



The Board and the Chief Executive Officer shall, if any shareholder so requests and the Board believes that it can be done without material harm to the company, at the annual general meeting provide information regarding circumstances that may affect the assessment of an item on the agenda and circumstances that may affect the assessment of the company's or subsidiaries economic situation and the company's relationship to another group entity.

DOCUMENTS FOR THE MEETING

The Annual Report and Audit report and the complete proposals as stated above be available at the company's website, www.oasmia.com, and will be available at Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB, Vallongatan 1, 752 28 Uppsala, as of three weeks before the general meeting and will be sent to those shareholders who so request and state their postal address.

SHARES AND VOTES

The company's shares are issued in one series. Each share in the company entails one vote at the meeting. The number of shares and votes in the company totals 179,309,596 respectively. The company does not hold any own shares.

__________

Uppsala in August 2018

Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB (publ)

The Board of Directors

Attachment
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / August 24, 2018 / Fortem Resources Inc. (TSX-V: FTM; OTCQB: FTMR) (the "Company") is pleased to provide the following corporate update. Further to its news release dated August 21, 2018, the Company has appointed Kon Vatskalis, Sandra Perry, William Via and Brett Matich as directors of the Company and Robert DaCunha resigned as a director of the Company. The Company's board of directors is currently comprised of Marc Bruner, Michael Caetano, Kon Vatskalis, Sandra Perry, William Via and Brett Matich.

The information about the new directors can be found below:

Kon Vatskalis

Mr. Vatskalis was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, Australia from 2001 to 2014, representing the seat of Casuarina and served as a minister in a variety of portfolios from 2001 to August 2012 (including Lands and planning, Multicultural Affairs, Environment, Tourism, Power and Water, Primary Industries and Fisheries, Mines and Energy, Health and Child Protection). His major contribution to the mining, oil and gas sector was the development of the Japan - China Investment Attraction Strategy which resulted in a significant increase in investment in the mining and gas sectors in the Northern Territory by these countries. The updating of the mining legislation, instigated by Mr. Vatskalis, resulted in the opening of new areas in the Northern Territory, Australia for mining and oil and gas exploration which has resulted in a significant interest by international mining, oil and gas companies for exploration in the Northern Territory, Australia. Mr. Vatskalis retired from the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, Australia in September 2014. After a six month break, Mr. Vatskalis has been employed as the Regional Manager of the Northern Territory, Australia with Leukaemia Foundation since April 2015. In 2017, Mr. Vatskalis stood for election in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (the capital city of the Northern Territory) and he was elected as the Lord Mayor of Darwin, for a term ending in 2021. Mr. Vatskalis holds a B.App.Sc (Environmental Health), Western Australian Institute of Technology, Perth, WA, a Grad. Dip in Environmental Science from Murdoch University, Perth, WA, a Grad. Certificate in Public Sector Management from Flinders University, South Australia and he has also completed the Company Directors Course from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sandra Perry

Ms. Perry is an exploration geologist specializing in satellite and airborne imagery analysis and interpretation. Ms. Perry has been Senior Geologist and partner at Perry Remote Sensing, Ltd. since August 1991. Ms. Perry received her B.S. degree in Geology at Indiana State University and an M.S. degree in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines. After receiving her M.S. degree in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines, she focused on digital image analysis of satellite multispectral and airborne hyperspectral data for mineral, hydrocarbon, and geothermal exploration worldwide. Ms. Perry has participated in many exploration efforts around the globe, specifically contributing to eight precious metal discoveries in Latin America, including Refugio Mine in Chile, as well as the San Jose and Martha mines in the Deseado Massif of Patagonia, Argentina. With over 35 years of experience, she participated on the NASA ASTER Science Team and was the lead scientist recommending SWIR band designations for the WorldView-3 commercial satellite system, currently in orbit. In the realm of remote sensing, multispectral and hyperspectral imagery data sets have constituted "big data" for decades, constantly challenging software implementation, data storage/retrieval, and computing capability. Ms. Perry has pioneered these data for structural interpretation, lithologic mapping, and alteration mineral modeling, taking "big data" imagery sources through field exploration and discovery. She helped develop the preeminent ENVI image analysis software, and was a beta-tester for Hewlett-Packard, evaluating imagery hardcopy when plotters transitioned into continuous color/tone technology. She is a member of the Colorado Mining Association, PDAC, Women in Mining, Society of Economic Geologists, a former trustee to the SEG Foundation, official contractor for Department of Energy, NASA, and the University of Colorado, as well as a Professional Geologist in the State of Colorado. Ms. Perry has been appointed as a member of the Company's audit committee.

William Via

Mr. Via is a senior executive with 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in domestic and international locations, managing both exploration and development groups. Since 2007, Mr. Via has provided independent upstream consulting services including evaluation of producing and non-producing properties, exploration acreage, and business / commercial opportunities. Mr. Via holds a Master's Degree in Geoscience from University of Tennessee and Bachelors of Science in Geology from Purdue University. Mr. Via has been appointed as a member of the Company's audit committee.

Brett Matich

From October 2010, Mr. Matich has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Mardu Investments Ltd. From January 2018, Mr. Matich has served as the Chief Executive Officer and President and director of Max Resource Corp., a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. From November 2010 to April 2016, Mr. Matich served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Enforcer Gold Corporation (formerly Natan Resources Ltd.), a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. From March 2013 to July 2016, Mr. Matich served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Moovly Media Inc. (formerly Pantheon Ventures Ltd.), a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. From January 2011 to July 2016, Mr. Matich served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of ML Gold Corp (formerly Cap-Ex Iron Ore Ltd. and Cap-Ex Ventures Ltd.), a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. From June 2013 to August 2014, Mr. Matich served as Managing Director of Vortex Pipers Ltd., a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

About Fortem Resources

Fortem Resources Inc is an oil and gas corporation, which holds properties in Alberta and Utah. The Company is engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and Utah in the United States. The Company is seeking North American & International expansion through an acquisition strategy. The shares of the Company's common stock trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under symbol FTM and on the OTCQB under the symbol FTMR.

For further information about Fortem, please visit the company website at www.fortemresources.com or email info@fortemresources.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

FORTEM RESOURCES INC.

"Michael Caetano"

Michael Caetano

Chief Operating Officer

Tel: (403) 241-8912

Email: info@fortemresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Fortem Resources Inc.
CHICO, Calif. - A Chico man was convicted of manufacturing concentrated marijuana, also known as hash oil.

Aaron M. Andrus, 39, of Chico, was found guilty of a felony charge by Judge Kimberly Merrifield who heard evidence from several experts about the dangers of manufacturing hash oil.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said that the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Homeland Security intercepted a flight by a small aircraft that was delivering 197 pounds of processed marijuana to Florida on February 27, 2017.

Andrus was identified as a suspect in that flight, which was traced back to Chico.

A subsequent investigation by the Butte County Sheriff's Office led to the discovery of a large CO2 and ethanol marijuana processing facility at Andrus' resident on March 8, 2017. Andrus was living at the 2800 block of Alamo Avenue in Chico.

The equipment located at the residence included a high-pressure system for producing concentrated marijuana oil in order to fill vape pens.

Andrus faces seven years in county prison. His sentencing is scheduled for October 10, 2018, and Ramsey said he is also currently being prosecuted on multiple federal felony counts in Hernando County Florida, related to the delivery of the marijuana there via aircraft.
The Chinese solar PV company has signed module supply agreement with PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited for a 240 MW solar project in Vietnam.JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd has signed a 240MW solar module supply agreement with the EPC responsible for the project, PowerChina Huadong. It relates to the second part of the 420 MW Dau Tieng solar plant. The project, located in Tay Ninh, southwest Vietnam, is being developed by Vietnam's Xuan Cau Co Ltd and Thailand's B.Grimm Power Public Co Ltd. Xuan Cau and B.Grimm Power are working on a number of large-scale solar projects in Vietnam. ...

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2018) - Great Bear Resources Ltd. (TSXV: GBR) ("Great Bear" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it will be conducting a private placement financing of units ("Units"), priced at $1.45 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $10 million (the "Financing"). Each Unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant will be exercisable into a common share of Great Bear at a price of $1.75 for a period of two years.

The Company is pleased to announce that Rob McEwen has agreed to purchase $4.8 million of the Financing and that McEwen Mining Inc. has agreed to purchase $1.2 million of the Financing for a total of $6 million. On completion of the Financing, Rob McEwen and McEwen Mining will collectively own 18.8% of Great Bear Resources on a partially diluted basis.

"We are very pleased to have Rob McEwen as a partner of Great Bear Resources. His record of success in the Red Lake district is quite simply unmatched," said Chris Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Great Bear. "We will now be funded to achieve significant milestones at our Dixie project, and anticipate positive opportunities for our shareholders as we advance these new high grade gold discoveries."

"I'm excited to join the Great Bear team in the development of what I believe could be a significant new gold discovery in the Red Lake camp," added Rob McEwen. "Their technical work is excellent and I'm delighted to join forces with them to further unlock, once again, the riches of the world-class Red Lake gold camp."

The proceeds from the Financing will be used for exploration and drilling in Red Lake, Ontario as well as for general working capital purposes.

A portion of the Financing will be brokered by IBK Capital Corp. of Toronto ("IBK") including Units to be purchased by Rob McEwen and McEwen Mining. Great Bear has agreed to pay IBK a cash commission equal to 6 per cent of the amount raised by IBK and to issue to IBK broker warrants equal to 6 per cent of the number of Units sold to investors introduced by IBK. Each broker warrant will be exercisable into a Unit at $1.45 per Unit for a period of one year. Finders' fees may be payable on the non-brokered portion of the Financing on the same basis as the brokered portion of the Financing.

The Financing is subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, including acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities to be issued in the Financing will be subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Great Bear

Great Bear is earning a 100% royalty-free interest in the Dixie property for remaining payments totaling $110,000 over three years. The property consists of 9,140 hectares located approximately 15 minutes' drive along Highway 105 from downtown Red Lake, Ontario. The Red Lake mining district has produced over 30,000,000 ounces of gold and is one of the premier mining districts in Canada, benefitting from major active mining operations including the Red Lake Gold Mine of Goldcorp Inc., plus modern infrastructure and a skilled workforce. The Dixie property covers a drill and geophysically-defined multi-kilometre gold mineralized structure similar to that hosting other producing gold mines in the district. The project has seen over 200 drill holes to-date and has yielded high grade near-surface gold results from several gold zones hosted at an extensive mineralized geological contact - the Dixie Limb Zone. In addition, Great Bear is also earning a 100% royalty-free interest in its West Madsen properties which total 3,860 hectares and are contiguous with Pure Gold Mining Inc.'s Madsen property. All of Great Bear's Red Lake projects are accessible year-round through existing roads.

Mr. R. Bob Singh, P.Geo, Director and VP Exploration for Great Bear, is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the accuracy of technical information contained in this news release.

For further information please contact Mr. Chris Taylor, P.Geo, President and CEO at 604-646-8354, or Mr. Knox Henderson, Investor Relations, at 604-551-2360.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Chris Taylor"

Chris Taylor, President and CEO

Inquiries:

Tel: 604-646-8354

Fax: 604-646-4526

info@greatbearresources.ca

www.greatbearresources.ca

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 new release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, other than as required by securities laws.

We seek safe harbor.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
MONTREAL, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES/

Construction of Tricho-Med's indoor cannabis growing facility is expected to be completed within three months.

Location ensures it will be one of the lowest cost producers in Canada .

. Significant land acquisition to sizably increase Tricho-Med's plans.

LGC Capital Ltd. (TSXV: LG) ("LGC") is pleased to announce that the Phase I construction of Tricho-Med's 34,000 square feet cannabis growing facility in Brownsburg, Quebec is on track and on schedule.

Phase 1 Construction

The roof of the structure is now fully installed, the perimeter walls are now partially installed and will be completed by the end of next week. In addition, the building design has been modified and upgraded to meet the European Union - Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) strict standards.

Phase 1, which will contain the first two grow rooms, is planned for completion by the end of October/early November 2018. The target to complete the review package for Health Canada is mid-to-end November and the target goal of receiving the cultivation license by mid-December 2018.

Roof and walls nearing completion at Tricho-Med's Canton facility in Brownsburg, Quebec, August 2018

Tricho-Med Expansion Plan

Tricho-Med has acquired 18 acres of additional land in close proximity to its site in Brownsburg, Quebec. The company now has the potential for a five-fold increase to its production capacity, compared to its original planned capacity at the time of the agreement with LGC in January 2018. This increase is further supported by the past purchase of approximately 20 acres of land adjacent to the facility currently under construction.

Tricho-Med plans to aggressively expand with a second facility beside its initial 34,000 square foot indoor growing operation, and it will be approximately 600,000 square feet. It will be a fully enclosed one-level building with potential for 475,000 square feet of flowering space. The combined facilities will have the potential to grow over 60,000 kg equivalent per year of dry cannabis and extracted products, based on actual industry observed yields of 30 grams per square foot per cycle when using the same production methods as Tricho-Med. All Tricho-Med products will be produced to strict Health Canada and EU-GMP standards for the domestic and international medical cannabis markets.

Location Assures Low Cost Production

LGC specifically chose to invest in Tricho-Med's project because of its strategic location in one of Canada's lowest electricity cost regions with rates below $0.04 per kilowatt hour. This low electricity rate compares to other producers in Ontario, Atlantic, and Western Canada, who are paying rates on average in between $0.08-0.10 per kilowatt hour or more. Given that electricity is one of the largest input costs for premium indoor hydroponic cultivation; this will give Tricho-Med a natural cost advantage from its competitors.

John McMullen, CEO of LGC Capital stated: "We are very impressed with the pace and quality of construction by the team at Tricho-Med as the company completes its Phase 1 buildout. The aggressive growth and low electricity costs could make them a category leader in the indoor-grown, GMP quality, premium medical cannabis market."

LGC's Investment Into Tricho-Med

LGC invested in Tricho-Med through a four-year secured convertible loan agreement in the amount of $4 million CAD, which is being disbursed in accordance with pre-agreed milestones and related disbursement schedules. Interest on the loan is fixed at an annual rate of 10% which will be payable from available operational cash flow. Upon Tricho-Med obtaining a license to produce Medical Cannabis from the relevant regulatory authorities, the loan will convert into common shares of Tricho-Med, representing 49% of then-issued and outstanding shares. LGC will also receive a 5% royalty on Tricho-Med's net sales.

About LGC (http://www.lgc-capital.com)

LGC Capital is a leading investment firm with a focus on the Legal Global Cannabis market. Through its portfolio investment companies, LGC is building a world-leading, vertically integrated system of interconnected legal cannabis companies with cultivation, processing and distribution in Australia, Jamaica, Switzerland, Italy, and Canada serving domestic and export markets. LGC Capital Ltd. is a Canadian incorporated public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: LG).

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to LGC Capital Ltd. ("LGC") and their respective operations, strategy, investments, financial performance and condition. These statements can generally be identified by use of forward- looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intends", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and performance of LGC and Tricho-Med could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, competition, government regulation and the factors described under "Risk Factors and Risk Management" in LGC's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2017, as filed on SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com). The cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to LGC and persons acting on its behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and neither LGC nor Tricho-Med has any obligation to update such statements, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Chief Executive Officer, John McMullen, +1-416-803-0698, John@lgc-capital.com; Chief Financial Officer, Anthony Samaha, +44-20-7440 0640, anthony@lgc-capital.com; Investor Relations, Dave Burwell, +1-403-221-9015, dave@howardgroupinc.com
Washington, DC--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the agenda for the Sept. 13 meeting of its Investor Advisory Committee (IAC). The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Multipurpose Room at SEC headquarters at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C., and is open to the public. The meeting will be webcast live and archived on the committee's website for later viewing.

The committee will hold panel discussions with outside speakers on two topics: a morning discussion on the U.S. proxy voting infrastructure (which may include two separate panels) and an afternoon session on the implications of passive investing. In addition, the committee will discuss the SEC's Proposed Transaction Fee Pilot in NMS stocks (which may include a Recommendation of the IAC Market Structure Subcommittee).

Members of the committee represent a wide variety of investor interests, including those of individual and institutional investors, senior citizens, and state securities commissions. For a full list of committee members, see the committee's webpage.

The Investor Advisory Committee was established to advise the SEC on regulatory priorities, the regulation of securities products, trading strategies, fee structures, the effectiveness of disclosure, and on initiatives to protect investor interests and to promote investor confidence and the integrity of the securities marketplace. The Committee is authorized to submit findings and recommendations to the Commission.
Shikha Sharma had in April announced her decision to step down from the position of MD and CEO of the bank by the end of the year

Mumbai: With the term of Shikha Sharma, current CEO at Axis Bank coming to an end on 31 December, 2018, Amitabh Chaudhry, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Life Insurance is slated to take over Sharma, according to news reports.

CNBC-TV18 tweeted the news that the news attained prominence in the background of reports that Chaudhry had sold 2.56 lakh shares of HDFC life on 21-22 August, 2018.

CORRECTION: Amitabh Chaudhry sold 2.56 lakh share of HDFC Life from August 20-21 https://t.co/MQ5ONSoBuG  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) August 24, 2018

The sale of shares was mentioned in an Economic Times report today. It said, according to ET data collated from block-deal information on the bourses, Chaudhry had sold 1,162,044 shares between April 26 and August 20 on the National Stock Exchange. Shares of HDFC Life closed 1.06 percent higher to Rs 467.55. The stock has risen 50 percent post listing at Rs 314 a share.

"Amitabh has appeared for the interview and a final approval from the Reserve Bank is pending, a source privy to the development told ET.

News reports have been mentioning of this likely development for some time now.

In July Axis Bank had said that it had shortlisted three candidates for Sharma.

In a regulatory filing to the bourses, the bank said: In terms of extant Reserve Bank of India norms and the Succession Planning Process of the bank, the board of directors of the bank, at its meeting held on July 9, has recommended the names of three candidates in order of preference for the approval of the RBI.

The bank had announced that it had appointed global leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder to recommend a successor to Sharma.

Sharma had in April announced her decision to step down from the position of MD and CEO of the bank by the end of the year. Her term was to end in June 2021, with the board in December 2017 announcing a three-year extension of her term that was then to end in June 2018. However, RBI did not give its nod for further three-year extension.
The Golden Needles variety of tea has small buds which are carefully plucked and the leaves, which have a coating of golden colour, are soft and velvety.

Guwahati: A tea variety from Arunachal Pradesh has fetched a world record price of Rs 40,000 per kg at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre here breaking the record of an Assam tea variety auctioned last month.

A 1.1 kg lot of Golden Needles tea variety of Donyi Polo tea estate in Arunachal Pradesh sold at Rs 40,000 per kg on Thursday, said a statement by Dinesh Bihani, Secretary of Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association.

The tea variety was sold to Assam Tea Traders, which is one of the oldest tea shop in Guwahati.

In July, an Assam tea variety was sold at Rs 39,001 per kg at an auction here.

"These types of specialty teas are attracting more and more buyers and producers to come together and use the GTAC platform. We hope that these specialty teas will make us achieve our past glory in the world map," Bihani said in the statement.

Assam Tea Traders Lalit Kumar Jalan was quoted as saying in the statement, "There is a rising demand for good tea and we are selling specialty tea regularly.

"This Golden Needles will be sold through an online platform, Absolutetea.in."

The Golden Needles variety of tea has small buds which are carefully plucked and the leaves, which have a coating of golden colour, are soft and velvety.

The liquor of this special tea is bright golden in colour, sweet to taste and has a rich aroma, Bihani said.

The manager of Donyi Polo tea estate, Manoj Kumar said, they made a lot of effort to make this type of tea and earlier their Silver Needles white tea had fetched Rs 17,001 per kg.

Kumar further said that such type of tea is made only when natural forces align with precise tea making skills.
Sasha Infrastructure represents several water tech companies from Israel, while BSE Institute is a wholly owned subsidiary of leading stock exchange BSE

New Delhi: The BSE Institute has joined hands with Sasha Infrastructure to promote startups and entrepreneurs in the domain of water conservation and technology.

Sasha Infrastructure represents several water tech companies from Israel, while BSE Institute is a wholly owned subsidiary of leading stock exchange BSE.

"The objective of the collaboration is to promote startups in the domain of sustainable water-related infrastructure and services," BSE said in a statement.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by Ambarish Datta, MD and CEO at BSE Institute, and Romiel Samuel, MD, Sasha Infrastructure, Israel.

The purpose and nature of the water infrastructure investments needs have significantly expanded to water supply and sanitation, flood protection, drought management, and water quality management.

As per the statement, innovative startups can reduce overall investment needs and improve capital efficiency through improving the operational effectiveness of existing water infrastructure.

"This collaboration will focus on driving this innovation in India with the involvement of organizations from Israel who are world leaders in this domain.

"The initial startups shall be in the field of water well refurbishment, groundwater recharge, wastewater treatment, etc. which shall create sustainable impact in water tech," it added.

Ashish Chauhan, the Managing Director and CEO of BSE Ltd, said startups have a critical role to play in this domain by evolving innovative solutions to address this issue.

"It's delighting to see India and Israel cooperating once again on this strategic field of water," Consul General of Israel in Mumbai Yaakov Finkelstein said.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed its first chargesheet against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and others in connection with the IRCTC hotels allotment money laundering case.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed its first chargesheet against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and others in connection with the IRCTC hotels allotment money laundering case, officials said.

The agency has also named Prasad's son and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, his party colleague PC Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, a firm Lara Projects and 10 others in the prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court.

The agency said Prasad and IRCTC officials allegedly misused their position for granting sub-lease of the rights of two railway hotels at Puri and Ranchi to Ms Sujata Hotel Pvt Ltd owned by Kochhars.

In lieu of the hotels sub-lease, 358 decimal of prime plot of land in Patna was transferred to Ms Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd (a company owned by family of PC Gupta, who is a close associate of Prasad and an MP from RJD) in February 2005 at a rate which was much less than the then prevailing circle rates.

"The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi by way of share purchase at nominal prices.

"The funds used to acquire the land had dubious origin and had been laundered through 151 group of companies belonging to PC Gupta by using an NBFC named Ms Abhishek Finance Company Limited," the agency charged.

Subsequently, the shares of Ms Delight Marketing Company Private Limited, it said, were acquired by Rabri Devi and Tejashwi at less than fair market value.

"It is noteworthy that the funds used for acquisition of shares by Rabri Devi are questionable and individuals from whom Tejashwi had purchased shares denied any knowledge of holding them," it said.

The ED said it has attached assets worth over Rs 44 crore in this case till now.

The CBI too had filed a chargesheet in this case sometime back.

The CBI FIR had alleged that Lalu Prasad, during his tenure as the railway minister in UPA-I government, handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the form of a prime land in Patna through a 'benami' company owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, who was also a former Union minister.

The ED registered the criminal case against his family members and others under the PMLA, based on this CBI FIR.

The ED is investigating the alleged "proceeds of crime" generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies, according to the officials.

Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC managing director PK Goel.

The CBI FIR was registered on 5 July in connection with favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as "quid pro quo".
Reddy said consolidation of banks was not an answer to the NPA issue.

Kolkata: Former RBI Governor Y V Reddy on Thursday called for doing away with the dual control of public sector banks by the Centre and the central bank.

Reddy, speaking on the occasion of the third anniversary of Bandhan Bank here, said at present, the RBI does not have all the powers to regulate the PSBs.

The government, however, counters by saying that RBI has all the powers relating to PSBs, he said.

"The Narasimhan Committee flagged the issue 25 years back and recommended that this dual control should end," the former RBI Governor said.

According to Reddy, the Centre governs and the RBI regulates in the case of PSBs, while for private banks, the RBI does both.

"The answer lay in converting the PSBs into companies and then given licences to operate," he said, adding, it should be either government or the RBI, not both.

Commenting upon the rate of interest given to depositors by the banks, he said, "It is true that the returns are not decent due to the high cost of intermediation, owing to the inefficiency of the banking system. This cost of intermediation should come down."

He also batted for reduced "pre-emption", saying that that 20 percent of deposits in government securities should be lowered.

On NPAs, he said the problem started a long time ago but was not recognised.

To a question, Reddy said consolidation of banks was not an answer to the NPA issue.
With a view to mitigate the hardships faced by the people of Kerala, the bank has also waived penalty on delayed payment charges for the month of August 2018

Mumbai: Axis Bank has committed Rs 5 crores towards rehabilitation work in Kerala as torrential rains and floods have disrupted normalcy in the state, over the past week.

Rajiv Anand, Executive Director, Axis Bank on Friday handed over a pay order for Rs 2 crore to the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund. The remaining Rs 3 crore is proposed to be deployed for various rehabilitation work in the state through banks partner NGOs.

Further, with a view to mitigating the hardships faced by the people of Kerala, the bank has also waived penalty on cheques if they bounce and delayed payment charges for the month of August 2018. Credit card and other retail loans such as mortgage, car, gold and personal loans fall under this special provision.

Speaking on the initiative by the bank, Anand, said, We have 109 branches in the state and have always believed in being an integral part of the communities we serve.

Axis Bank employees at Kerala branches also played a role in assisting the flood-affected victims. At the peak of the deluge, Axis Sahaayata was initiated under which employees provided relief kits comprising of essentials like rice, atta, water, sugar, salt, tea, milk powder etc., to flood-affected victims in various locations at Kottayam, Alappuzha, Palai and Vaikom.
Chico State students aren't the only ones getting a big wildcat welcome this week. The university's president addressed faculty and some local officials at Thursday's convocation, with some exciting announcements and a candid look at areas of improvement for the new school year.

President Hutchinson began the convocation with a moment of silence, as the university acknowledged the impact of the recent wildfires. Hutchinson also spoke to the importance of free speech on campus during a time when "Americans are more polarized than ever." She said a faculty learning community will be formed to nurture free expression on campus.

Chico mayor Sean Morgan and Chief of Police Mike O' Brien were among the invited guests of honor. The mayor, a chico graduate himself, pointed a finger at state legislators, who he said are failing to acknowledge the rising cost of being a student.

Chico state welcomes 2800 incoming freshmen this year. We wish them all best of luck with the new semester.
AM Naik who has served L&T for over 52 years, including as its head for over 17 years, retired last September and became non-executive chairman for three years beginning 1 October, 2017.

Mumbai: The 73rd AGM of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Thursday witnessed some unpleasant scenes with an irate group non-executive chairman AM Naik summoning

security marshals to evict shareholders who questioned him for getting the company's land to set up a cancer hospital in his granddaughter's memory.

The drama began when Uday Dixit, a shareholder and an ex-employee of L&T, which is the only large company majority owned by employees, questioned the rationale for the board to allow Naik to set a super specialty cancer hospital at the Powai campus in memory of Nirali, Naik's granddaughter who died of the dreaded disease as a child. It can be noted while announcing the hospital Naik had said it was "his monument and legacy to L&T."

Dixit and a few other shareholders said the land allotted for the proposed hospital was supposed to be a manufacturing facility of the company till 2019.

"The land belongs to the collector who has given the licence to the company for manufacturing till 2019. How can you demolish it? We are not fools. How can the structure be demolished before 2019 and build a hospital and residential units? Let shareholders know," Dixit said. To this Naik said L&T had paid the money for the land and so it belongs to the company.

To calm down the tempo, managing director and chief executive SN Subramanyan intervened saying, "we have done it as per the rules and regulations of the company as well as per the government norms. The hospital is not only for employees but also for the general public.

"We have taken all the necessary permissions and so there is nothing illegal. Moreover, the land will continue to belong to L&T. We have all the documents and I am answering you with all responsibility," Subramanyan said.

As the shareholders continued to interfere during the replies, Naik lost his cool and asked Dixit and others to shut up, angering the shareholders who demanded to be heard.

Following this Naik called security marshals, saying "this is a shareholders' meeting and not a forum for your individual grievances. Where is the security? Let others talk and if anyone interrupts unnecessarily, throw them out."

Another shareholder wondered why Naik, who retired last September should continue to call the shots. "At 75, tell me Mr Naik, why can't you sit at home and play with the kids."

This forced Subramanyan to intervene again and told the shareholders that "Naik has been with this company from nowhere to whatever he is today. And I hope all of you benefited during his tenure including four bonus issues and now a buyback and dividend. Now at 75, he has retired and is only a non- executive chairman."

Some shareholders also did not like the Rs 9,000-crore share buyback announced saying they will not wish to give up their shares and suggested that the company go a rights issue.One shareholder said he stands to lose if he gives up his shares for the money. "I would want to keep the shares for my future generation as I have been possessing L&T shares which originally belonged to my parents. If I retain them, I may earn higher returns in future."

Dixit wondered if the board can maintain the shares with them, then why should shareholders give up theirs. L&T is the only large company in the country that is majority owned by its employees.

Anilkumar Manibhai Naik, who has served L&T for over 52 years, including as its head for over 17 years, retired last September and became non-executive chairman for three years beginning 1 October, 2017. And when he called it quits he took home a whopping a Rs 78.91 crore, including Rs 38.04 crore in retirement benefits of which Rs 32.21 crore is left encashment alone. Other allowances include perquisites of Rs 19.27 crore, and commission of Rs 18.24 crore.

Naik, who drew an annual salary of Rs 3.36 crore for FY17, is said to have rarely taken leave during his career. Naik, the son of a primary school teacher in Gujarat, joined the company as a trainee and became the company's youngest manager ever 33 after four years and eight months of service.
NCLAT on Friday asked Tata Sons not to force Cyrus Mistry to sell his shares in the company till his appeal is pending, refuses to make Tata Sons a private comapny

New Delhi: While declining to pass any order on the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company from a public limited firm, NCLAT on Friday asked Tata Sons not to force Cyrus Mistry to sell his shares in the company till his appeal is pending.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said that pending the litigation here, the Cyrus Mistry camp which was seeking a status quo over it cannot be "forced to sell shares".

The bench said it would decide over the issue of conversion of Tata Sons to a private company at a later stage during the pendency of the appeal.

A two-member bench headed by its Chairperson Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya admitted Mistry's appeal and directed Tata Sons and other respondents to file their reply within 10 days. NCLAT has listed the matter on 24 September for next hearing.

On 14 August, NCLAT had reserved order over the interim relief sought by Cyrus Mistry camp. Mistry had challenged the orders of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) which had dismissed his plea challenging his removal as chairman of the company.

In September 2017, Tata Sons had received shareholders' nod to convert itself into a private limited company from being a public limited company, limiting in effect Cyrus Mistry family's ability to sell their stake to outsiders.

A public limited company allows shareholders to legally sell their stake to anyone, but a shareholder of a private limited firm cannot sell the shares to external investors.

The Mistry camp had challenged the 9 July order of the Mumbai bench of the NCLT which dismissed their pleas against his removal as Tata Sons chairman, as also the allegations of rampant misconduct on part of Ratan Tata and the company's board.

A special bench of the tribunal had held that the board of directors at Tata Sons was "competent" to remove the executive chairperson of the company. NCLT bench members BSV Prakash Kumar and V Nallasenapathy had also said that Mistry was ousted as chairman because the Tata Sons' Board and its majority shareholders had "lost confidence in him".

Under the Companies Act 2013, an order of NCLT can be challenged before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Mistry, who was the sixth chairman of Tata Sons, was ousted from the position in October 2016. He had taken over as the chairman in 2012 after Ratan Tata announced his retirement.

Two months after his removal, Mistry's family-run firms Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Corp approached the NCLT as minority shareholders, against Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, and some other board members.

Mistry in his pleas primarily argued that his removal was not in accordance with the Companies Act and that there was rampant mismanagement of affairs across Tata Sons. He also alleged that Tata Trust chairperson Ratan Tata and trustee N Soonawala interfered with the day-to-day operations of the group companies, they acted as shadow directors, and all of the above caused massive revenue loss for the group.
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Friday warned of more financial scams in the country as non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks are steadily on the rise

Kolkata: West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Friday warned of more financial scams in the country as non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks are steadily on the rise.

He said that while the percentage of NPAs in 2014 was 4.4 percent of total advances of the banks, it steadily rose to 11.06 percent in 2018 which he described as a "dangerous signal".

"Going by the systemic rise in the NPA trends, it appears that more financial scams are in the offing. Not only that, 11 public sector banks (PSBs) are on the list of RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA)", Mitra said at a seminar organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

Mitra said the figures were collated from the latest Financial Stability Report of RBI and in absolute terms, NPA levels had risen from Rs 2.04 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 10.25 lakh crore in 2018.

"This climbing NPAs show surfacing of crony capitalism in the system," he added.

On small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Mitra said these job-creating entities were getting squeezed due to non-availability of finance, adding that there should be a balance between large and small industries.
Most of the problems in the banking sector are due to operational issues rather than ownership issues, Bank of India non-executive chairman G Padmanabhan said

New Delhi: PSU banks should have the same level of operational freedom as being enjoyed by private sector lenders in order to help them resolve their issues including bad loans, Bank of India non-executive chairman G Padmanabhan said on Friday.

Most of the problems in the banking sector are due to operational issues rather than ownership issues, he said at the banking conclave organised by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

"There are limitations with respect to ownerships in public sector banks (PSBs) but those issues can be easily resolved. You give the public sector banks the kind of operational freedom that the private sector banks have (to operate freely)," Padmanabhan said.

He said most of the bad loans in Bank of India is a build up from infra sector by way of consortium lending where it is not even a lead bank, and these are the kinds of problems the public sector banks face.

Most of the public sector banks are saddled with a huge amount of bad loans pile up in their accounts.

Of the 21 state-owned banks, as many as 19 banks posted a combined loss of Rs 87,357 crore during 2017-18 due to various issues including scams and defaults by big corporate houses.

Only two lenders Vijaya Bank and Indian Bank posted profits in the fiscal ended March 2018.

The NPAs in the banking sector stood at Rs 8.31 lakh crore as of December 2017.
Under the Employee Stock Purchase Scheme (ESPS), Punjab National Bank proposes to issue new shares to its employees, including the managing director and executive directors

New Delhi: The Punjab National Bank (PNB) will seek shareholders' approval for issuing up to 10 crore shares to its employees, as the lender looks to raise long-term capital resources.

The approval of the shareholders would be sought during the annual general meeting scheduled to be held on 18 September, according to the agenda for the meeting.

Under the Employee Stock Purchase Scheme (ESPS), the bank proposes to issue new shares to its employees, including the managing director and executive directors.

The proposed issue would help in meeting the growing demands for long-term resources and shore up the bank's capital adequacy in line with the Basel III requirements, as per the agenda.

In June, the bank's board of directors cleared issuance of up to 10 crore new shares in one or more tranches under the ESPS.

"The bank proposes to offer up to 10 crore new equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each of the bank to all the employees under PNB-ESPS with appropriate premium to be decided at the time of making offer in such a way that the government holding does not reduce below 52 per cent," it said.

The offer price of the equity, as well as the maximum number of options to be issued per employee, would be decided by a committee of the board.

In March last year, public sector banks were allowed to issue employee stock options as part of efforts to retain experienced hands as well as to augment capital.

The United Bank of India came out with its ESPS on 30 July and the issue would close on 31 August.

During 2017-18, Allahabad Bank offered 4,38,30,000 equity shares under its ESPS at an issue price of Rs 53.94 a piece.

Among others, the Punjab National Bank would seek shareholders' nod for allotment of preferential shares to the government in lieu of capital infusion of Rs 2,816 crore.

Post the preferential issue, the government's shareholding in the bank would go up to 66.09 percent.
After exiting the Chinese market, Suzuki Motor Corporation will be able to focus more on the Indian market,

Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor Corporation could exit the Chinese market and end its joint venture (JV) with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co, according to media reports.

Suzuki Motor Corporation, which exited the United States in 2012, has reportedly been battling low sales in China. A report in the Mint, which cited the Nikkei Business, said the Japanese car maker will sell its stake in the Chinese JV to the local manufacturer.

But, according to The Mainichi, Suzuki could terminate the JV with Chongqing Changan and mandate the Chinese company to manufacture Suzuki vehicles under a license.

The JV registered a sharp fall of 28 percent in the sale of new cars in fiscal 2017, from a year ago, to around 79,000, the Mainichi report said.

After exiting the Chinese market, Suzuki Motor Corporation will be able to focus more on the Indian market, according to the Mint.

Media reports about Suzuki mulling a China exit hit the stock of the Japanese carmaker, which lost 4.8 percent in Tokyo trade on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.

Maruti logs lower sales

On 1 August, Maruti Suzuki India said it had logged a marginal decline in sales at 1,64,369 units in July 2018. The company sold 1,65,346 units in July 2017.

Domestic sales were up marginally at 1,54,150 units last month as against 1,54,001 units in the year-ago month. Sales of minicars comprising the Alto and the WagonR were at 37,710 units as compared to 42,310 units in July last year, down 10.9 percent.

Exports in July were also down 9.9 percent at 10,219 units as against 11,345 units in the corresponding month of the previous year, the company said.

With inputs from PTI
By Sharay Angulo and Timothy Aeppel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-Mexico talks to craft an agreement on new auto industry rules under the NAFTA trade pact are poised to continue into next week, Mexico's economy minister said on Thursday, as friction persists over the threat of more restrictive U.S. import rules.

By Sharay Angulo and Timothy Aeppel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-Mexico talks to craft an agreement on new auto industry rules under the NAFTA trade pact are poised to continue into next week, Mexico's economy minister said on Thursday, as friction persists over the threat of more restrictive U.S. import rules.

Since restarting last month, talks have focused on settling differences between the two sides over U.S. President Donald Trump's complaint that the North American Free Trade Agreement has undercut U.S. manufacturing to Mexico's benefit.

Trump has threatened to withdraw from the 24-year-old trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada if it is not reworked to the advantage of U.S. workers.

He hopes to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with lower-cost Mexico and claw back jobs, particularly in the auto industry.

"We're on a path that can take us into the weekend and next week," Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters as he entered the offices of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington for talks on Thursday afternoon.

Mexico and the United States have said they are close to resolving remaining bilateral issues in the revamp of the trade pact. However, a day earlier Guajardo had said the two sides might be able to reach agreement in "hours."

The tone has become more cautious since then.

"We are well advanced (but) not there yet," said Guajardo.

The talks could drag on due to unresolved sticking points, such as rules of origin for autos, meant to bring more production to the region, a U.S. sunset proposal that could kill NAFTA after five years and dispute resolution mechanisms.

Canada has been waiting for the Mexican and U.S. teams to reach common ground before rejoining the negotiations.

TARIFF DISPUTE

The Trump administration wants to be able to impose national security tariffs on future Mexican output from new auto assembly and parts plants, auto industry officials say.

That demand has been causing friction at the latest U.S.-Mexico talks, according to an industry source familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, also said there had been discussion of imported products that do not comply with new NAFTA requirements.

"We've not really been making any recommendations to the U.S. government on that topic," he told reporters on a conference call.

Blunt said that stronger automotive content rules emerging from NAFTA negotiations are expected to keep North America competitive as a production base, and that he was "very encouraged" by the direction of U.S-Mexico talks.

The threat of 25 percent tariffs could discourage new automotive investment in Mexico to serve the U.S. market.

A Mexican source said that Mexico would not accept tougher import rules under a new NAFTA than currently prevail in the United States under World Trade Organization tariff commitments, which foresee a 2.5 percent duty for light vehicles.

U.S. and Mexican officials say they will push for a deal that could open the door for Canada to return.

"We need to get an engagement with Canada and the only way that can happen is if we continue through the weekend and into next week," said Guajardo.

Canada's government reiterated on Thursday that it would need to be satisfied with any new rules of origin.

"Updating the 'rules of origin' has always been a very big, important and complicated effort," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in British Columbia. "Canada clearly has an interest in how those rules are updated and we clearly will need to look at and agree to any final conclusion."

Mexico's steel industry association Canacero said it was called to Washington to discuss implementing steel quotas with the United States to replace the 25 percent tariffs Trump imposed on imports of the metal.

(Reporting by Sharay Angulo and Timothy Aeppel; Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington, Dave Graham and Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City and Julie Gordon in Nanaimo, Canada; editing by Marguerita Choy and Phil Berlowitz)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd on Friday said it will pump in around $8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) over the next three years on various projects across businesses.

New Delhi: Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd on Friday said it will pump in around $8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) over the next three years on various projects across businesses.

There is immense growth potential in sight, Vedanta Ltd Chairman Navin Agarwal said at the company's Annual General Meeting, where he made the investment announcement.

"As India's largest private sector oil producer, your company contributes 27 percent to the domestic production and aspires to take it up to 50 percent. Towards this, your company will be investing $3-4 billion over the next 2-3 years, in various growth projects," he said.

This year Vedanta had a record production in its zinc-lead-silver and aluminium businesses, he said, adding that it would further invest $3-4 billion in these businesses in the next 2-3 years.

On Tuticorin unit which has been permanently shut down by the Tamil Nadu government following the deaths of 13 people in police firing on protesters against the plant, Agarwal said the company is greatly grieved by the tragic loss of lives and has extended all possible support to the impacted families.

"Your company has been instrumental in the socio-economic transformation of the region. Our copper smelter strongly complies with all environmental norms and is, amongst the best, globally," he added.

In April, the Tamil Nadu pollution control board had rejected Vedanta Sterlite's plea to renew the Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions. Following this, the government had issued a permanent closure notice to the plant.

After Sterlite announced its plans to expand the Tuticorin plant, villagers around it started fresh protests that continued for over 100 days, culminating in the May 22 police firing on protestors that claimed 13 lives and left scores injured.

The need of the hour is to bring further changes in policies for natural resources sector, particularly the implementation of the much-awaited New Mineral Policy and ensure a level playing ground on imports and duties.

"Encouragement to explore and produce natural resources in India will lead to greater self-reliance, save billions of dollars in imports, generate immense employment opportunities, paving way for socio-economic development," the company said.

During financial year 2017-18, Vedanta Ltd increased its revenue by 22 percent, year-on-year to Rs 92,900 crore.

Its EBITDA or operating profit also increased by 19 percent, to Rs 25,500 crore, and profit after taxes rose up by 10 percent to Rs 8,200 crore.

"Free cash flow stood at Rs 7,900 crore and we reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500 crore," Agarwal said.

During the year, the company acquired Electrosteel Steels Ltd, integrating it with its existing iron ore business.
The Delhi-Mumbai expressway will cut the travel time by half between the two metros from 24 hours to 12 hours for cars, and from 44 hours to 22-22 hours for trucks. The distance will come down from 1,450 to 1,250 km as well, Nitin Gadkari said

Mumbai: The work on the proposed Rs 1-trillion expressway connecting Delhi with Mumbai will begin from December and will be completed within three years, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

The government had announced the ambitious project this April. The road was to originally run parallel to the existing highway (NH-8) but due to high land acquisition cost, the alignment was changed to run it more eastwards.

The new alignment will see the expressway beginning from Gurugram on the Delhi outskirts and running parallel to the existing highway up to Jaipur, from where it will turn eastwards to Alwar, the tribal district of Jhabua and Ratlam in western MP and then move westwards to Baroda, the minister said.

"We will begin the work on the Rs 1-trillion Delhi-Mumbai expressway from end-December and it will be completed within 30-36 months. Money is not a problem at all. NHAI can raise plenty of cheap money from the market," Gadkari told reporters at JNPT near here.

On the land acquisition cost, he said, the new alignment has saved the government over Rs 16,000 crore. While an acre is coming in at Rs 7 crore according to the original alignment, the new alignment has brought it down to Rs 80 lakh a hectare. The land alone will cost around Rs 6,000 crore.

"The expressway will stretch across the states covering two of the nation's most backward districts, Mewat in Haryana and Dahod in Gujarat. The whole route will be: Delhi-Gurugram-Mewat-Kota-Ratlam-Godhra-Vadodara-Surat-Dahisar-Mumbai," he said.

The expressway will cut the travel time by half between the two metros from 24 hours to 12 hours for cars, and from 44 hours to 22-22 hours for trucks. The distance will come down from 1,450 to 1,250 km as well, the minister said.

Gadkari said the biggest objective of the project is to decongest Delhi-NCR as with all the truck traffic which now pass through the outskirts of Delhi will ply past the already congested and polluted national capital. About three lakh vehicles daily ply on the NH-8.

He had earlier said, to speed up the work, the construction will start at 40 different locations simultaneously. But the minister did not say how much of the land is already acquired.

On the Ganga clean-up, Gadkari, who also holds the water resources and Ganga rejuvenation portfolios, said already 80 percent of clean-up is over and his ministry has collected Rs 250 crore from the public. The target is to collect donations from as many as one crore public.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued directions to the schools to roll back their 'arbitrary' fee hike after receiving several complaints from parents. The Directorate of Education (DoE) had in April sent notices to 195 private schools of the city and asked the school heads to roll back their fee hike.

New Delhi: Around 128 schools in the national capital have rolled back their "arbitrary" fee hikes following complaints from parents, a government official said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued directions to the schools to roll back their "arbitrary" fee hike after receiving several complaints from parents.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) had in April sent notices to 195 private schools of the city and asked the school heads to roll back their fee hike.

In July, Kejriwal had asked DoE to submit a compliance report on whether the private schools had rolled back their fee hike as ordered by the government.

"Out of 195 private schools, 128 have informed us that they are rolling back their hiked fees. Remaining 67 private schools will soon be served show-cause notices for not complying with the orders," a DoE official said.

Education Minister Manish Sisodia would be meeting the representatives of all the 128 schools who had complied with the government's directive, the official said.
The outpour of support from surrounding communities and the world the North State has seen after the Carr Fire is overwhelming to say the least.

But do-gooders aren't the only ones who come into the picture when disaster strikes.

But we're not here about those people. We're here about the people who are going to come into our community, who have already started to come into our community to prey on people who are already victims, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said.

In a press conference Thursday, Bridgett said her office has already seen numerous cases of price gouging, looting and fraud from people posing as contractors and charitable organizations.

And we are investigating those cases, she said. We are proactively out there making sure that we are protecting the community and will continue to do that.

United States District Attorney Mcgregor Scott also announced his commitment to help the Shasta County District Attorney's Office prosecute these fraud cases which now carry a felony penalty after the Carr Fire.

The United States Justice Department stands with local and state law enforcement to protect the integrity of the relief efforts, Scott said.

Scott has worked on many disasters and said anytime government funds flow into an area, people will try to profit from it.

Just when you think you've seen the bottom of the barrel, you encounter something like that where those who would prey on those who are having the most rending, devastating moments of their lives are now being preyed upon again, Scott said. So that's what we're trying to stop.

The FBI has also pledged their assistance in investigating Carr-Fire-related fraud cases.

Scott said he has one message for anyone attempting to defraud victims of the Carr Fire: there will be consequences.

We have zero tolerance for those who seek to prey on people at their most vulnerable moments, Scott said.

Scott said residents and businesses are often the first to learn about scams and fraud, so they ask that the public be their eyes and ears during this time.

You can call the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 1-866-720-5721 if you think youve been the victim of any of the scams mentioned above.

Or you can call the district attorneys office or local law enforcement, and they will investigate.
The girl was alone at her home in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi at the time of the incident on Thursday afternoon, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said. An offence under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) have been registered, she said, adding a manhunt has been launched for the culprits

Thane: A 14-year-old girl was found raped and killed by unidentified persons in her house at Bhiwandi near Thane in Maharashtra, police said on Friday.

The girl was alone at her home in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi at the time of the incident on Thursday afternoon, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said. An offence under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) have been registered, she said, adding a manhunt has been launched for the culprits.

However, it was not clear how many people were involved in the crime, which came to light when the victim's elder sister returned home in the evening, Narkar said. The accused entered the house when she was alone and allegedly raped her. They then severely beat her and drowned her in a water tub, Narkar said.

When the victim's elder sister returned home, she was shocked to see her sibling lying dead. After her parents arrived, they lodged a police complaint, she said. The body was sent for post-mortem and based on its findings, the police registered the rape and murder offence against unidentified persons late in the night at the Narpoli police station, Narkar said.
15 pilgrims were injured and a vehicle was set ablaze after a clash between Kanwariyas and the locals of Rajasthan's Tonk took place

Jaipur: Stones were hurled and a vehicle set on fire on Thursday in a clash between kanwariyas and local people in Rajasthan's Tonk district, injuring 15 pilgrims, police said.

The kanwariyas were passing through a Muslim-dominated area in Malpura when some miscreants hurled stones on them, Additional Superintendent of Police Goverdhan Sekaria said.

Fifteen pilgrims were injured, he said.

An SUV was then torched, Station House Officer at Malpura Navnit said.

He said section 144 of CrPC, which prohibits gathering of crowds, was imposed in the area.

He said the situation in the town is tense but under control. Additional police force has been deployed in the area to maintain law and order, he added.
The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabhas official website was reportedly hacked by a group going by Team Kerala Cyber Warriors. The landing page of the Hindu Mahasabhas website displayed a recipe to make Kerala Spicy Nadan Beef Curry.

The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabhas official website was reportedly hacked by a group going by Team Kerala Cyber Warriors on Friday, reported The Indian Express.

The landing page of the Hindu Mahasabhas website displayed a recipe to make Kerala Spicy Nadan Beef Curry. It is speculated that the hack was in response to Swami Chakrapanis controversial comments on Kerala flood victims.

On 22 August, Swami Chakrapani had said only those who don't eat beef should be helped as it is a sin to help beef eaters. "I am also appealing for help in Kerala. But help should be given to those who respect nature and creatures. When roti was available to people in Kerala, they were slaughtering the cow to eat her meat. So, what I mean is that Hindus should provide help to those who avoid cow meat," Chakrapani said.

According to their Facebook page, Team Kerala Cyber warriors is an organization founded in 2015. The group also posted about the hack on their Facebook page and added a video where on a refresh command the Hindu Mahasabha's website changes to a recipe of beef curry.

In September 2017, the group hacked the website of a private school in Gurugram, after a 7-year-old child was murdered inside the school premises.

The group also claimed responsibility for hacking the website of Bharatiya Janata Partys Jammu & Kashmir unit in April 2018. It had demanded justice for the 8-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Kathua.
The Punjab government's proposed decision to amend Section 295 AA, a law which makes acts of sacrilege against the holy books  Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, Bible  of major religions punishable with life imprisonment, is expected to cause quite an uproar as the bill will be tabled in Punjab assembly on Tuesday.

The Punjab government's proposed decision to amend Section 295 AA, a law which makes acts of sacrilege against the holy books  Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, Bible  of major religions punishable with life imprisonment, is expected to cause quite an uproar as the bill will be tabled in Punjab assembly on Tuesday.

Politicians who fail to give schools and jobs to Indians often give them religion. On 21 August, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced that his cabinet has decided to bring an amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) "to make sacrilege of all religious texts punishable with life imprisonment". A legislation to this effect was introduced in the Punjab Legislative Assembly starting on 24 August.

The proposed law inserts Section 295AA to the IPC to provide: "whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Geeta, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life." For the past few centuries, there has been a movement of ideas worldwide to separate religion from the state. Chief Minister Amarinder is seeking to revert this process of enlightenment.

The attitudes of Indians are predominantly religious in orientation. Recently, India has witnessed a wave of violence in the name of religion. Many allegedly took law in their hands to kill Muslims on the pretext of cow protection. Excessive role of religion gives birth to vigilantism in our society. A challenging task, therefore, for opinion makers, legislators, social workers and writers is to curtail the role of religion in society.

But Amarinder is not interested in this task. He wants to give more of religion to people. In recent decades, India has witnessed different types of radicalisation of youths based on religion and ideology. Youths radicalised by Naxalism have gone from universities into jungles to fight against the state. Youths radicalised by jihadi groups have travelled to Afghanistan and Syria to fight for Islam. Hindu groups have been accused of exploding bombs in Muslim religious places.

But, what is far worrisome is that Chief Minister Amarinder heads the government of a state that was engulfed in religious fire not long ago. Radicalisation of Sikhs in Punjab in the 1980s not only threatened the territorial integrity of India but also cost Indira Gandhi her life, a fact that should have kept the chief minister alive to the dangers of excessive religion. Also, it doesn't appear that he has learnt anything about secularism from his days in the Indian Army.

In the fight for civilisation, Amarinder represents the forces of darkness. His legislation is a blasphemy law that will gladden the hearts of religious forces in India. Holy scriptures of various religions need to be examined, critiqued and challenged so that the followers of those religions can move on a path of enlightenment, away from religion into the embrace of science and rational thinking. By enacting the blasphemy law, the former soldier is closing the minds of Indians.

Muslims look 1,400 years back for what a good society should look like. Hindus look 5,000 years back. Americans look into the future and are set to land on Mars in the mid-2030s, possibly on Titan someday. The US, Russia and China are the only three nations that have sent a human into space. Therefore, the announcement by Narendra Modi on Independence Day to send an Indian into space by 2022 is a bold step to inject among Indian minds an attitude to look forward.

But Amarinder's blasphemy law seeks to push Indians deep into the dark ages  a period of intellectual darkness that descended on the European societies after the fall of the Romans and lasted about ten centuries. Galileo, upholding Nicolaus Copernicus's view, argued that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun. For stating this science, Galileo was convicted in 1633 of heresy by the church and given life imprisonment, a jail term also proposed by Amarinder.

India is already where Europe was during the dark ages. From Kohima to Goa and from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari, bookstores are devoid of books on science and reason. Indians do not write books on science. Indian youths, emerging from universities with BTech and MSc degrees, have surrendered their minds before gods and goddesses. We are interested in sending Indians into space but do not respect science. Consequently, we go to work as "digital coolies" in the US.

If the idea is to curb hate speech, existing laws in India are already excessive. Under Section 295A of IPC, anyone can be jailed for three years for "deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs." Sections 505-1(b), 505-1(c) and 505(2) also provide for 3-5 years of jail term for causing public mischief and religious hatred. Sections 153(A) and 153(B) also are used to prevent religious and national disharmony.

In fact, these sections of the IPC are a big impediment to reasoned debate in India. Free speech, when exercised by individuals, challenges the orthodoxies of minds and empowers the progress of societies. Free speech is the engine of democracies. Article 19-1(a) of the Constitution guarantees a fundamental right that "all citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression." The framers of the Constitution chose not to make blasphemy a restriction on free speech. But Jawaharlal Nehru expanded restrictions on free speech by the first amendment in 1951.

In India, there has been a long tradition of free speech, which is now under attack from a range of forces who have roots in religion and institutions of the government in India. In 2017, a group of University of Lucknow students, including girls, spent three weeks in jail for showing black flags to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Indian youths are being imprisonment for posting political comments on Facebook and other social media. This is an attack on our democratic tenets.

Amarinder's proposed law seeks to do two things. One, it arms religious forces that seek to curb free speech in Indian society, enabling them to threaten and harass individuals in the name of so-called hurt religious sentiments. Two, it gives more muscle to the police and politicians to harass critics for political purposes, thereby undermining the secular morality of the Constitution. In doing so, he is also out to prove that the Congress does not stand for secularism.

In Pakistan, blasphemy laws are being wildly misused by religious groups to initiate fake court cases against the weak minorities such as the Christians, Hindus and Ahmadi Muslims. In 2011, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, an elite commando deployed to protect Salman Taseer, the liberal governor of Punjab, assassinated him for advocating reform in blasphemy laws. We understand that Chief Minister Amarinder lives next door to Pakistan, but he doesn't have to go Pakistan's way.

The author is a former BBC journalist and a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC. He tweets @tufailelif.
Amit Malviya, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national head of Information and Technology, on Friday attacked the Kerala government with regard to the UAE aid. He expressed his concerns over the CPI-M government  which he calls a section aligned to the 'Communist-Islamist nexus' celebrating a 'non-existing' offer from UAE and ignoring Indian organisations

Amit Malviya, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national head of Information and Technology, on Friday attacked the Kerala government with regard to the UAE aid. He expressed his concerns over the Left government  which he calls a section aligned to the "Communist-Islamist nexus" celebrating a "non-existing" offer from UAE and ignoring Indian organisations.

Tweeting a picture of a billboard in Kerala thanking the UAE for its aid, Malviya claims that the Communist Party of India(Marxist) government is ignoring the help by Indian organisations like Seva Bharati because it doesnt suit their "ideological narrative."

It is disconcerting to note that a section aligned to the Communist-Islamist nexus in Kerala, celebrates a non existent offer from a foreign country while runs down Indian state and organisations such as Seva Bharati simply because it doesnt suit their ideological narrative... pic.twitter.com/6Z87iG8EXW  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 24, 2018

As the row over foreign aid for the flood-ravaged southern state escalated, the UAE on Friday stated that no official announcement had been made regarding the Rs 700 crore aid. UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna told The Indian Express that the assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing and there has been no official announcement so far on any specific amount as financial aid.

Malviya had previous tweeted the Indian Express article stating that there has been a national debate on the matter when there isn't even an offer on the table.

Union minister KJ Alphons on Thursday requested the Centre to make a "one-time exception" to its 14-year policy of not accepting foreign aid in the face of natural calamities for Kerala. Alphons earlier in the day said the NDA government had "inherited" the policy of not accepting foreign funds for natural calamities from the previous UPA government.

He said the Centre's stand on Kerala was a convention "inherited" from previous governments, when during 2004's devastating Tsunami, then prime minister Manmohan Singh had refused aid from foreign countries.

Earlier, among others, Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac had criticised the BJP-led government over the refusal of aid and said Kerala had asked the Centre for a financial support of Rs 2,200 crore, but was granted only Rs 600 crore. "We make no request to any foreign government but UAE government voluntarily offered Rs 700 crore. No, says Union government, it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy (sic)," Isaac had written on Twitter.

Alphons accused Isaac of playing "misleading politics". Stating that the Centre's Rs 760-crore aid to the state was for the immediate rescue-and-relief operations, the Union minister said the due process will be followed in releasing the required funds to Kerala once it assessed the losses it had incurred.

Heavy rains and consequent floods have claimed 231 lives in Kerala since 8 August, besides causing an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore to the state. Around 13 lakh people are currently put up in relief camps as the southern state is facing its worst flood in 100 years.

With inputs from PTI
The engineering division of the Army from Hyderabad has been entrusted to build two bailey bridges near Kerala's Sabarimala temple, One bridge would be meant for the vehicular traffic, and the other for pedestrians.

The Indian Army is set to build two bailey bridges near the Sabarimala temple to facilitate the pilgrims' return to the temple town, authorities said on Friday. The overflowing Pamba river and the closure of two major bridges forced the authorities to close the Sabarimala temple since 13 August.

Speaking to IANS, State Tourism and Devasom Minister K Surendran said since the Pamba river was flooded, huge damages were caused to the temple town and its infrastructure. "Two bridges have been shut and we are still unable to assess the extent of the damage caused by the floods. We have decided to entrust the Indian Army to build two bailey bridges," said Surendran. The engineering division of the Army from Hyderabad has been entrusted with the job, he said, adding that the final clearance is expected from the Defence Secretary soon.

Surendran said that army authorities will decide the alignment of the bridges. One bridge would be meant for the vehicular traffic, and the other for pedestrians. "Our prime focus is to get the damaged roads repaired. We are hoping the pilgrims will be able to return to the temple when it opens in the middle of the next month," said Surendran.

According to the temple authorities, the floods have caused damage worth Rs 100 crore to its infrastructure. The sluice gates of two dams that form a part of the Sabarigiri project was opened after heavy rains and subsequent floods ravaged places in and around the temple town. However, all the religious rituals of the temple are going on.

The temple is open only from the middle of November till the middle of January, but for several years now, it is kept open for a few days at the start of every Malayalam month which falls during the middle of every month.
As politics over foreign aid for Kerala Flood victims escalates, UAE authorities have denied to have allocated any specific amount to the state, reports have said. An offer will be made once UAE's national emergency committee has made its assessments.

As politics over foreign aid for Kerala flood victims escalates, UAE authorities have denied having allocated any specific amount to the state, reports said.

UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna told The Indian Express on Thursday that no official announcement, setting aside any specific amount as financial aid, has been made so far by the UAE government. When Albanna was asked if he meant that the UAE had not announced Rs 700 crore in aid, he said, Yes, that is correct. It is not yet final. It has not been announced.

UAE authorities say that an emergency committee has been formed to assess the situation and an offer will be made after they have made the assessment, India Today reported.

The only details that the ambassador confirmed were that a national emergency committee has been formed by UAE's vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The committee's objective is to find ways to source funds, aid material, medicines and other things for the people of Kerala. The committee has been working with federal authorities to understand financial aid rules in India and also with local authorities for immediate relief and food material.

Before an all-party meet on 21 August, Keralas chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has offered a financial assistance of Rs 700 crores for the relief and rehabilitation in the state.

However, the announcement stirred up a debate as the Centre expressed its inability to accept foreign aid. While the Centre said that it cannot accept funds from a foreign government due to a UPA era policy, the Kerala government pointed out that there was scope for a case-wise assessment of the situation and taking a decision in accordance to it. Kerala finance minister Thomas Issac said that in time severe calamity voluntary aid given by a foreign government can be accepted in accordance with the National Disaster Management Plan Chapter 9 on international cooperation. He said that in case the Centre wishes to lose out on the much-needed funds, it should be ready to compensate the same amount to Kerala.

A separate controversy has been stewing over the assistance provided by Centre, with several Opposition parties alleging that the funds released so far insufficient to cover the massive destruction that Kerala faced. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had initially announced Rs 100 crore immediate assistance. On 18 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a relief fund of Rs 500 crore after conducting an aerial survey and a meeting with top government officials. The Centre later clarified that the current Rs 600 crore was only interim assistance and it will release more funds following a detailed assessment.
Seemab Akhtar, a journalist in Bihar received death threats after he posted a controversial message on social media about Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Bihar: A journalist of Urdu daily in Bihar has been threatened with death for his post on social media that Prime Minister Narendar Modi will seek votes in 2019 Assembly polls in the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a police official said on Friday.

Seemab Akhtar, journalist of Urdu daily Farooqui Tanzeem, a publish from Patna, repeatedly has been threatened by unknown man for his post on social media in which he stated that Modi will use name of Vajpayee for votes.

After the demise of Vajpayee, Akhtar posted on social media in Hindi that: "Dekh Lena agle chunao mein Modi Atal ki tasveer Lekar roenge, aur bolenge bhai-behno inke naam pe dedo vote unka sapna pura karna hai... (In the next elections, Modi will carry Atal's picture and shed tears asking for vote to fulfil his  former PM's  dream).

According to Akhtar, he received threat calls and was asked not to post anything against the Bharatiya Janata Party on social media. "I was threatened with death if I continue to write against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)".

Bajpatti police station officer incharge, Kanchan Bhaskar, said that an FIR had been filed in this connection. "We have started the investigation," he added.

Sanjay Kumar, professor at Motihari Central University in east Champaran district, Bihar, was beaten up by a group of people last Friday for his comments on social media that appeared to criticise former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Seriously injured Kumar was first admitted at Patna hospital and later shifted to AIIMS Delhi for treatment.
A curfew was imposed in Malpura area in Rajasthan's Tonk district on Friday as fresh violence erupted a day after locals pelted stones at the Kanwariyas.

A curfew was imposed in Malpura area in Rajasthan's Tonk district on Friday as fresh violence erupted a day after locals pelted stones at the Kanwariyas.

"An unruly mob on Friday gathered in the town and torched a shop. We dispersed them and a curfew was imposed," said additional SP Goverdhan Sekaria.

Members of a minority community had attacked the Kanwariyas while they were passing through a Muslim-dominated area in Malpura on Thursday. The incident led to tension in the area following which Section 144 of CrPC, which prohibits the gathering of crowds, was imposed.

On Thursday, in a clash between Kanwariyas and local people in the district, stones were hurled and a vehicle set on fire during the incident. The Kanwariyas were passing through a Muslim-dominated area in Malpura when some miscreants hurled stones on them, Sekaria said.

Fifteen pilgrims were injured, he said. An SUV was then torched, station house officer at Malpura Navnit said.

The yatris had an altercation with local residents following which some miscreants resorted to violence, said IGP Ajmer range, Biju George Joseph, according to a report by The Indian Express.

With inputs from PTI
Its nationwide study found more than two fifths (43 per cent) of those working for themselves admit they do not have a pension, compared to just four per cent of those in employment  a key reason is that 36 per cent of the self-employed say they cannot afford to save for retirement.



Self-employed workers now make up 15.1 per cent of the UK workforce with more than 4.8 million people working for themselves but Prudentials research found they are heading for a less comfortable retirement with many not planning to stop work.



Around one in three (31 per cent) say they will be relying entirely on the State Pension worth around 8,545 a year to fund their retirement, while 28 per cent will be reliant on their business to provide the income they need.



Self-employed workers are savers  but the research found they are more focused on day-to-day emergencies than the long-term of retirement. Two thirds (64 per cent) of the self-employed save to build up a safety net in case of an emergency in comparison with 57 per cent of those in employment.



Just one in 10 self-employed people see a financial adviser regularly, despite having potentially more complex requirements than someone in employment. One in five (19 per cent) are not confident with money and financial matters, while a quarter (24 per cent) worry that they do not know enough about money.



All this adds up to an education gap when it comes to the importance of pensions for the self-employed as 20 per cent admit they do not take pension saving seriously as they do not think it applies to them.



Kirsty Anderson, retirement income expert at Prudential, said: Saving for retirement is tougher when you are self-employed as there is no one to organise a pension for you and no employer making contributions on your behalf.



On top of that self-employed workers often dont have a regular income so many will focus on setting aside money as a safety net if they cannot work.



Saving for a pension is still important as no one wants to work forever and no matter what your employment status, having money to fund your retirement is essential as the State Pension is unlikely to be enough to fund a comfortable retirement.



If you are unsure how much you can afford to save into a pension, speak to a financial adviser as they will be able to help you with all aspects of your financial planning.

 More than two fifths (43 per cent) of self-employed workers do not have a pension

 Up to two out of five (36 per cent) say they cant afford to save into a pension

 Nearly a third (31 per cent) will rely on the State Pension to fund their retirement
In an eight-minute video shared by the Indian National Congress on their Twitter, party president Rahul Gandhi has attacked the divisive politics of the Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and stated that the ruling party's ideology is in contrast with that of Congress'.

In an eight-minute video shared by the Indian National Congress on their Twitter, party president Rahul Gandhi has attacked the divisive politics of the Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and stated that the ruling party's ideology is in contrast with that of Congress'.

On his second day in Europe, Rahul was addressing a group of Indians living in Berlin. Rahul said that presently Congress job is to unite people and focus on development. He referred to the current government and said BJP and RSS are working to divide our own people and spread hate in our own country instead of watching over Indias actual competition, which is China.

While talking about job opportunities in China and India, Rahul said that the Chinese government is able to employ 50,000 youths every 24 hours, where as Indian government can only manage to employ only 450 youth. He added, There are long speeches but farmers end up committing suicides. Youths see no direction.

The Congress had earlier said that Rahul's address could not be aired 'live' due to a technical glitch, but later tweeted out the full video of his speech.

About his own party he said, Congress is for all and works for all. He also added that Congress follows the philosophies of unity preached by Guru Nanak.

Rahul is on a five-day tour to Germany and the UK. The Congress president will be visiting Germany for two days. On Thursday, he addressed a gathering at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, Germany where he cited the creation of Islamic State terrorist group to warn against a similar situation in India if people are excluded from the development process, PTI reported.

I began my 2 day visit to Germany with a speech at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, yesterday. Today, I am in Berlin to meet members of the German Bundestag, NGOs & Business Leaders. I will also be addressing a public meeting organised by the Indian Overseas Congress. pic.twitter.com/11omr91GI3  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 23, 2018

Rahul, in his address, while referring to the dearth of jobs for minorities had cited the example of Islamic State terrorist group to say that the exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of insurgent groups anywhere in the world. Addressing the Congress president directly, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra demanded that Rahul explain his comment, asking that if Modi has not given the 'vision' to minorities, should they join the Islamic State.

"Mr Gandhi, for this comment, we can't forgive you," Patra said.

The Congress and the BJP traded charges over the speech and also hit out at each other over Rahul claiming that incidents of lynching in India were a result of the anger emanating from joblessness and "destruction" of small businesses due to demonetization and "poorly implemented" GST by the ruling BJP.

The BJP accused Gandhi of "belittling and insulting" India in his address in Hamburg yesterday, alleging that the Congress chief tried to justify terrorism and "lied through his teeth" to criticise the Narendra Modi government. The ruling party had demanded that Gandhi apologise for his remarks.

With inputs from PTI
The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the appeal of 15 persons belonging to the dominant Jat community against their conviction and sentencing in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in 2010.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the appeal of 15 persons belonging to the dominant Jat community against their conviction and sentencing in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in 2010.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and IS Mehta said even after 71 years of Independence atrocities on Scheduled Castes community has shown no signs of abating. The court also directed the Haryana government to rehabilitate families belonging to the Dalit community who were displaced after the 2010 incident.

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 15 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case. The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others. The trial court had on 24 September 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on 21 April 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

On 31 October 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. Five others  Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal  were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act. Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case.
Political ecologist Dunu Roy pointed out that the Master Plan should be in conformity with the reality of the city and not vice versa.

Bhim Gali is not a road for convoys to parade on. A nondescript outer rim in the capitals concentricity lining North East Delhis Vishwas Nagar is surrounded by a cocktail of sweatshops that operate from what was once a residential area. Here, small and medium-sized factories mostly operate in basements, some were relocated to Bawana (satellite town off North West Delhi) in the wake of demolitions before the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The association of smallscale manufacturing and traders in Vishwas Nagar had told the National Green Tribunal that the area has more than 70 percent plots under manufacturing activity and according to the physical surveys carried out by the Delhi government, can be declared an industrial zone.

This week, Vishwas Nagar found itself in the eye of a storm when the East Delhi Municipal Corporation sealed 70 polluting industrial units. Firstpost hit ground zero to understand the strain in the equation between the states administrative agencies, the Supreme Court and civil society that is affecting hundreds of sealings of big and small commercial establishments in the last decade and another 6,000 just this year. Some of the markets in direct line of fire are Sadar Bazaar, the largest wholesale market of household items in Delhi; Lajpat Nagar, a popular commercial market lined by housing colonies in South Delhi; Old Delhis bustling food and clothes market in Chandni Chowk; West Delhis residential cum commercial market in Karol Bagh; and specialised wholesale market of brass, copper and paper products in Chawri Bazar.

In Vishwas Nagar, the EDMC is sealing properties for misusing residential properties for running commercial establishments. Under the DMC Act, 2,000 notices have been issued to commercial establishments. Some manufacturers were relocated to Bawana during the 2010 Commonwealth Games demolition drive and the industrial cover is 69 percent, one percent less than whats required for an area to be considered an industrial zone, said a member of the manufacturer and trader association in Vishwas Nagar, where over a lakh people might fall into unemployment if the factories operating out of here are sealed. Ranglal, who runs a utensil manufacturing unit inside a basement in the area, said that he vacated the floor 15 days ago when the municipality stuck notices regarding the sealing. He confessed that he gave a letter to the EDMC affirming that he had done the needful and despite that, his unit was sealed.

How the National Capital sealed the fate of its traders

The story of sealings goes back to 1985 when environmentalist MC Mehta had filed a petition in the Supreme Court that a variety of illegal activities were being carried on in the capital, in the context of residential areas being used for commercial purposes. It is not uncommon to spot shops below homes, be it in Connaught Place in Delhis heart or its civil services and student pulse in East Delhis Laxmi Nagar and in North Delhis Mukherjee Nagar. In 2004, the Supreme Court had set up a monitoring committee to address the flagrant violation of norms regarding misuse of residential premises. The Supreme Court directed that if the misuse wasnt stopped, the process of sealings would commence. After massive trader protests erupted across the capital, in which four people lost their lives, the government attempted to subterfuge the courts order. At that point, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which is a Central body, modified the chapter on mixed land use in the Master Plan for Delhi 2001. Mixed-use streets were now to be identified based on traffic and parking studies. On the basis of identification, mixed-use was allowed on the ground floor in residential plots and mixed-use with respect to retail shops was allowed up to maximum permissible ground floor coverage. Finally, professional activity was allowed up to 25 percent of floor area and up to one floor in case of plotted development. The government then notified the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill, 2006 on 19 May to restore status quo on mixed land use not conforming to the Master Plan and construction beyond sanctioned plans. This offered traders relief from sealing for a year and after further notifications, the said act was made operative until December 2017.

On 15 December 2017, the Supreme Court revived the powers of the monitoring committee and continued its resistance of the proposed amendments to the Delhi Master Plan that was first drafted in 1962 was amended in 1982 as Master Plan 2001 which was later amended in 2007 and today serves as the Master Plan 2021. The monitoring committee consisting of KJ Rao, former advisor to the Election Commissioner, Bhure Lal, chairman, EPCA and Major General (Retd.) Som Jhingan was appointed to oversee implementation of the law regarding residential premises used for commercial purposes. The committee could seal offending premises without leaving the said action to the discretion of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials.

A tug-of-war between state bodies and traders scars Delhi

The amendments to this master plan can shield local traders from sealing. These specifically include the increasing of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) which is the ratio of the buildings total floor area as against the size of the land it stands on. As per the amendments proposed, the DDA approved uniform floor area ratio (FAR) of 350 for shop-cum-residential plots or mixed land and complexes at par with residential plots. The other changes will be the use of basements to run businesses and the rationalisation of conversion charges. The amendments also propose to notify 351 mixed roads for commercial and mixed-use under the Master Plan. The amendments contain the provision to increase of power load from 5 KW to 11 KW in household/non-polluting service industries in residential areas, and permission of godown clusters in non-conforming areas, synchronization and fixation of charges based on locality defined as per circle rates. Firstpost reached out to key members of traders associations around the National Capital to find out the implications of these amendments on both the state agencies and the traders.

Ajay Gupta, a shopkeeper from Sundar Nagar, explained that the area has been notified as a commercial area in the Master Plan and the sealings have been going on relentlessly despite that. The monitoring committee says we havent sealed your area and the MCD has been showing up without any notice or proof and has sealed 20-21 shops in Sundar Nagar, which has been a commercial area since its inception in the 50s and is being sealed on the ground that mixed-use land norms are being flouted, alleged Gupta, adding that their de-sealing application is pending with the Monitoring Committee and the SDMC.

Interestingly, in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957, there was a clause on the Notice of demolition or removal of building specifying that when any building or any portion of a building, liable to payment of property taxes is demolished or removed, otherwise than by order of the Commissioner, the person primarily liable for the payment of the said taxes shall give notice thereof in writing to the Commissioner. In January, the standing committee of the NDMC passed a resolution to give a 48-hour notice to traders before a sealing drive in an area. When Firstpost approached Monitoring Committee member KJ Rao, he asked which law says that a notice is required to demolish illegal establishments that are encroachments on government land. He gave the example of how 450 shops were sealed in Amar Colony, South Delhi, in one day and said that all owners in question are fully aware of the errors of their ways.

Some traders associations said that they had received notices and others flatly denied receiving any kind of intimation before sealings. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) spoke with Firstpost about the strong demand within the trading communities to re-designate commercial, mixed land use and residential areas of Delhi in order to bring an end to the state of utter confusion. It is because of the prevailing confusion, various parts of Delhi are facing the threat of sealing despite enjoying commercial status even under Master Plan but on the pretext of non-clarity or some other issue, the Monitoring Committee appointed by the Supreme Court is hell-bent on sealing shops, he said. For instance, Khandelwal explained that the entire special area including the walled city is a commercial area since even before a century but is still facing the threat of sealing and conversion charges.

He added that the names Chawri Bazar, Sadar Bazar, Khan Market and Chandni Chowk denotes that these are commercial areas. Local Shopping Centres and Community Shopping Centres are in itself having commercial use. Since 1962, the MCD has declared a large number of areas in Delhi commercial and mixed land use zones but still these areas have been forced to pay the conversion charges and are still facing the threat of sealing. Where does it end? he added that to come up with a reasonable solution, the CAIT has suggested Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to constitute a working group comprising of officials from Ministry of Urban Development, Delhi government, DDA, MCD, L&DO (Land & Development Office), Delhi Police and other concerned departments with representatives from trade.

Sanjiv Mehra, president of the Traders Association in Khan Market for 19 years, narrated a story of how ambiguity seeped into the laws overtime. People have paid lakhs to convert residential properties into commercial properties but the multiple civic bodies in Delhi leave a lacuna in the law to keep harassing traders, Mehra said.

Theres another confusion regarding conversion charges that has surfaced in the last months. In 2017, the DDA had directed municipal officials to ask shopkeepers to deposit Rs 22,000 per sqm as a conversion charge along with an affidavit. Before the DDAs rate was notified, sealings in Defence Colony were carried out over non-payment of conversion charges at the rate of Rs 89,000 per sqm. In March 2018, hearing an application pertaining to the sealings in Defence Colony, the Supreme Court asked the DDA to file an affidavit explaining if there was environmental clearance for the constructions and to state the provisions for water and power supply, and asked the authority on what basis it had slashed the one-time conversion charge. The newest amendment to the rule exempts traders who have paid the annual charges for a period of 10 years. But traders are now concerned if the money collected in the form of conversion charges is used towards the upkeep of the market complexes.

Time to think beyond the Master Plan, say experts

As per a public notice issued by the MCD, modifications have been made to the Master Plan 2021 under the mixed-use regulation. One of those professional activities involving services based on professional skills namely doctor, lawyer, architect and chartered accountant, company secretary, cost and works accountant, engineer, town planner, media professionals and documentary filmmaker is permissible in plotted development and group housing. Romi Khosla, founded GRUP (Group for Rural and Urban Planning) in Delhi in 1974, and has designed a number of large institutional complexes as well as small community-based rural projects, explained how this feature and other features in the Master Plan are futile.

There are big flats that are operating solely as legal offices. When municipal officials arrive for inspection, the offices are locked up and guards stand outside the gates. Unless monitoring is decentralised, laws will be flouted, he said, more so in a city where 60 percent of the people live in unauthorised areas. He makes a case for developing not a single master plan but several small-scale plans specific to each area. The DDAs way of consulting locals in urban planning is by inviting suggestions through ads in papers or outside their offices. The complexities regarding water, drainage, roads that are unique to each area, dont get incorporated in DDAs plans, he said that each time the land use is changed in the Master Plan, be it from agricultural to residential to commercial, the city memory is erased.

To put a healthy check on the limitless powers of the DDA, which is a central body, and enable the local government to take charge of rural to urban changes across the capital, in 2016, the Delhi government had invited suggestions for amendments to the Delhi Land Reforms Act 1954. The document observed that the continued pressure of population moving from villages to urban areas and from smaller towns to bigger towns have created a demand for housing and other structures for non-agricultural activities, acknowledging that the act wasnt created to address this demand as its objective was only agriculture. One of the suggestions it made was that Section 81/82 of the act that levels a penalty on the use of land for purposes other than agriculture and connected activities. Instead, it suggested that it be replaced by the clause that the state government can permit conversion of agricultural land into non-agriculture use as prescribed in the rules subject to prevailing planning norms. A mohalla clinic like decentralised approach towards urban planning could increase public consciousness about issues like drainage, waste management, and fire safety.

Khosla feels that instead of going after small and medium-sized traders, residential plots that are continuously getting permissions to turn into multi-floored structures should be brought under the scanner because they can vastly disturb the water and drainage situation of their neighbourhood. The Master Plan 2021 prescribes that all plots must use the ground floor for parking. Now, the height can only be 45 ft owing to an archaic fire regulation. As a result, the height of the flats shrinks, he pointed out the lack of nuance in urban planning in a document that is imposed on the city of fluid and ever-changing landscape.

In the 74th amendment of the Constitution, the municipalities were to be made responsible for the subjects mentioned in the 12th Schedule, which included urban planning, land use, water supply, roads, bridges, health sanitation and slum improvement. Article 243S of the amendment talks about the formation of Ward Committees. There shall be constituted the ward committees consisting of one or more wards within the territorial area of all the municipalities with a population of 3 Lakhs or more.' Khosla felt this act should be implemented in Delhi and local communities familiar of the regions history and present-day demands can be part of urban planning.

Political ecologist Dunu Roy pointed out that the Master Plan should be in conformity with the reality of the city and not vice versa. Shops come up not to defy a plan but because theres demand for whats being sold. These places are not a problem but a solution to problems in areas of employment, industry, housing and commerce," Roy said.

The Master Plan is a byproduct of a colonial hangover. Its British ways of compartmentalising Delhi land use zones fail to understand the city whose character twists and turns to the tune of refugees and migrants who, sooner or later, belong to it.
A disaster management sub-committee to monitor the water level of Mullaperiyar Dam on Thursday asked Tamil Nadu to keep water limit of the reservoir 2-3 feet below the 142-feet FRL

New Delhi: In the wake of Kerala floods, a disaster management sub-committee to monitor the water level of Mullaperiyar Dam on Thursday asked Tamil Nadu to keep water limit of the reservoir 2-3 feet below the 142-feet FRL (Full Reservoir Level) mark till 31 August, a senior official in the Water Resources Ministry said.

The committee comprising officials from the Centre, including the Water Resources Ministry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu reviewed the water level of the reservoir. "Keeping in view that rainfall may take place as monsoon is still active, the government of Tamil Nadu was advised that the reservoir may be operated as per he directions given (by the Supreme Court) last week. The level can be kept 2-3 metres below the FRL of 142 feet," the official said.

Kerala on Thursday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state. Last week, the apex court also took a note of the "grave" flood situation in Kerala and ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level by three feet.

The direction to the disaster management sub-committee to reduce the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet came in the backdrop of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart EK Palaniswami seeking lowering of the water-level in the Mullaperiyar Dam in the interest of its safety.
An entire generation in Punjab being ruined by drug abuse is a fact that became a matter of huge debate and controversy.

An entire generation in Punjab being ruined by drug abuse is a fact that became a matter of huge debate and controversy when in 2012, the then Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi erroneously said that 7 out of 10 youths in Punjab have a drug problem.

Four years later, huge protests were staged against the release of Abhishek Chaubey-directed Udta Punjab, which revolved around the issue of drug abuse by youth in Punjab. The drug menace in Punjab has become an issue that all stakeholders are keen to address but ironically do not want to accept, as it shows the state of Punjab in bad light.

Notwithstanding all attempts made by respective governments in Punjab to conceal or euphemise the abuse, the fact remains that time and again, various think tanks and independent researchers have come out with reports which shed light on the menace, while highlighting the lack of foresight and perspective in dealing with this issue.

Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, an independent think tank, has come up with a report titled 'From Addict to Convict: The Working of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act (1985) in Punjab'. Its focuses on how the NDPS Act, which was meant to deter drug traffickers and peddlers, has in turn been blatantly and arbitrarily used to punish the addicts.

Some findings from the study: From Addict to Convict Background of NDPS Act Punjab has the highest crime-rate for drug offences across India In 2013, 42.3 percent (14,564 cases) of the total number of cases (34,668 cases) were in Punjab  the highest crime-rate for drug offences across India. Age-analysis 71.4 percent of all cases that came to NDPS special courts from 2013 to 2015 across 18 districts of Punjab involved accused aged 20 to 40 years. Out of these, about 40 percent were between age groups of 20-30 years. Patterns in drug-related offenses Category of cases Only 6% of all narcotics cases were of commercial quantity Punishment Average sentence awarded to pharmaceutical drug cases was 10 years and above, far above the average awarded to narcotic drug cases, which was merely one to three months

The importance of the report lies in the fact that it highlights an important failure of the state machinery in implementing the NDPS Act. As correctly highlighted in the report, the NDPS Act  which consolidates laws related to the possession, consumption and sale of drugs  also seeks to achieve (apart from deterrence of drug trafficking through severe punishments) an important objective of rehabilitation of drug addicts. But in Punjab, law and order machinery has failed on both fronts.

While the failure in the first case can be attributed to various factors like porous borders, failure to rehabilitate the addicts raises serious questions on the intent of law enforcement agencies.

Neha Singhal, Senior Resident Fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, said, "The NDPS Act seeks to control both the demand and supply of drugs by criminalising production, trafficking and use. It prohibits the manufacture, production, possession, consumption, sale, purchase, trade, use, import and export of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, except for medical or scientific purposes. While there is extensive commentary on how political factors, cross-border trafficking, narco-terrorism etc have led to a proliferation of drugs in Punjab, there has been no attempt to understand how law has impacted drug use and trafficking in Punjab.

In light of these reasons, and to fill the larger research vacuum surrounding the NDPS Act, we decided to evaluate the Acts effectiveness in Punjab. The study seeks to ascertain whether the Act effectively meets its twin objectives of deterrence and rehabilitation in Punjab. It sheds light on larger questions  whether harsh punishments can lower crime rates, and whether drug addicts are being effectively rehabilitated into society under the NDPS Act."

The report, while analysing 13,350 cases registered in special courts in Punjab under the NDPS Act between 2013 and 2015, comes up with shocking findings that highlight the arbitrary use of NDPS Act, apparent most prominently from that fact that in many cases, the accused persons caught with the same amount of pharmaceutical drugs have been awarded different quantums of punishment.

Consider this fact from the report: In Jalandhar, an accused was sentenced to one year and six months of imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 1,000 for carrying 50 grams of diphenoxylate. Similarly, in Amritsar, an accused was sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3,000 was imposed for carrying 500 grams of dextropropoxyphene. Even though the quantity of drugs found on both persons was almost commercial quantity, the judges gave them lenient sentences.

In contrast, in State v Balwinder Singh in Patiala, the accused was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,00,000 was imposed for carrying 500 grams of intoxicant powder containing dextropropoxyphene. The judge, while sentencing the accused, said, "Keeping in view of the nature of recovery, ie 500 grams of intoxicating powder containing dextropropoxyphene, which is on the verge of commercial quantity, he is not entitled to any lenient view."

It is clear that sentencing for pharmaceutical drugs offences under the NDPS Act varies dramatically across districts and even within districts. While sentencing in cases involving narcotic drugs is remarkably uniform across districts, cases involving pharmaceutical drugs see marked variations, depending on the district as well as the judge dispensing the sentence. This makes justice dispensation akin to a lottery, with sentences primarily guided by judicial whimsy rather than law," states the report.

The report highlights another important fact: Due to its strict liability provisions, the law does not require information beyond proof of drug possession to convict an individual. The report finds, worryingly, that police narratives in chargesheets for drug offences are uniform and repetitive across all districts. This uniformity suggests that the police are not incentivised to look deeply into the reasons for possession, such as consumption, sale etc. It also indicates that penal sanctions under the NDPS Act do not distinguish cases of personal use and addiction from offences involving drug trafficking and sale. These sanctions also do not address the rehabilitative needs of users.

The report also highlights that individuals who should have ideally received the benefit of probation or de-addiction have been directed to the criminal justice system, without being offered long-term solutions for addiction.

It categorically states, Till date, there has been no individual directed by the special courts to de-addiction centres."

Speaking at the release of the report, Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, said, "The disparity that has emerged in the report is distressing. What is more distressing is the ignorance the judges show by sending the addicts to prisons instead of de-addiction centres. Long spells in prisons lead to interaction with hardened criminals and makes addicts hardened criminals as well. Commercial drug dealers are hardly convicted and this is something that needs to be reversed. Deterrence as a theory does not work."
An encounter broke out between security forces and militants in Kokernag area of Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district and is currently underway. The body of a militant was recovered by the police, according to ANI. Three militants are reportedly trapped in the area.

An encounter broke out on Friday between security forces and militants in Kokernag area of Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district. The body of a militant was recovered by the police, according to ANI. Three militants are reportedly trapped in the area.

#BREAKING -- Encounter in South Kashmir's Anantnag district. Joint forces' team lays siege at Vailoo area, Kokernag. Op launched after specific input of militant presence. Sources say that 2-3 militants believed to be trapped | @islahmufti with more details pic.twitter.com/0TWVKk7kqT  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 24, 2018

The militant who was killed is suspected to be a Pakistani national and is reportedly affiliated to the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist organisation. The security forces also seized a huge quantity of ammunition and incriminating material from the site of encounter. The militant was reportedly involved in several attacks on security forces and civilians in the area, according to ANI.

Upon receiving a tip-off about the holed-up militants, the security forces cordoned off Gadole village in Kokernag area. "As the cordon was tightened, the militants fired at the security forces triggering the ongoing gunfight," police sources said. As a precautionary measure, authorities have suspended mobile internet services in the district. Few people have been detained for questioning, Shesh Paul Vaid, Director General of Police (DGP) of Jammu and Kashmir said.

In continued offensive against terrorists, some suspected associates detained for questioning, 4 hideoutes identified, 2 destroyed, some increminating material seized.  Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) August 24, 2018

Earlier on Thursday, militants killed a forest guard in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district. The militants had barged into the house of Tariq Ahmad Malik, 38, a resident of Zandpal village of Tangmarg area and fired upon him, police said in a statement. "Initial investigation in the matter establishes the complicity of LeT militant Yousuf Dar alias Kantroo, a resident of Kawoosa Budgam," the statement said.

With inputs from agencies
Jammu and Kashmir has a new Governor. Former Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was sworn-in on Thursday at a function at Raj Bhawan in Srinagar. Here are the five challenges the 13th Governor of Jammu and Kashmir will be facing at the onset.

Jammu and Kashmir has a new Governor. Former Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was sworn-in on Thursday at a function at Raj Bhawan in Srinagar. At least, four hundred guests, including former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and union minister in Prime Minister's office Jitendra Singh, were present at the ceremony.

Malik replaced the longest-serving governor, Narendra Nath Vohra, who was given a two-month extension on the job after finishing 10 years as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Malik will be the first career politician to be appointed to the position in the last 51 years, indicating a change in the strategy of the centre which has so far relied on former bureaucrats to run show in the troubled state. Malik will face the daunting task of filling into Vohra's big shoes, who knew the state inside out, unlike any other career bureaucrat or politician.

Here are the five challenges the 13th Governor of Jammu and Kashmir will be facing at the onset.

Government formation: The state of Jammu and Kashmir continues to be under Governors rule after the BJP suddenly pulled the plug on the 'unholy' alliance with Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The three-year-old coalition government came to an end and people surprisingly relieved. The governance under Vohra witnessed a remarkable improvement.

All eyes are on Malik now. Even though a few back channels negotiations have been going on to form a new coalition government in the state, Malilk, who sources say is close to BJP chief Amit Shah, will give a fresh push for a new government in Jammu and Kashmir. If there is a claim by BJP or rebel faction of PDP, Malik's role will be very crucial.

Article 35A: Kashmir is mostly to remain shut on 26 and 27 August as Supreme Court starts hearing petitions in Article 35A. The former governor had written a letter to the Centre asking them to defer the case. Article 35A is one the most emotive issues in Kashmir Valley. Jammu, too, recently has joined the chorus for the protection of the law that grants special privileges to the state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir.

The test starts from here onwards. It requires to be seen how he will deal with the issue because the previous governor had put his foot down on the issue of the Article 35A knowing very well that even a small change in the law would put the Valley on fire," Shakeel Qalander, an industrialist and a noted commentator, said.

Article 35A, the Jammu and Kashmir State Subject Law which defines permanent residents of the state, prevents non-locals from buying or owning property in the state. It has been challenged by an NGO, 'We the Citizens', and other groups in the Supreme Court.

Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies polls: N N Vohra announced the Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies elections in the state recently. The polls will start next month and stretch till the end of the year. The last panchayat polls in the state were held in 2011. It is a mammoth security challenge for the state administration. DGP SP Vaid has said security agencies have made all arrangement in order to conduct the elections in the state but the shadow of militancy related violence against political workers will loom large over the process. The former panch-s and sarpanchs have had a bitter experience after being elected. The challenge for Malik and his administration would be to facilitate a free, fair and violence free polls. And also create an atmosphere where people can participate in these polls.

South Kashmir: Since Governor Vohra took reins of the state, the number of cordon and search operations carried by forces in south Kashmir had drastically come down. "This was," as sources from the Indian Army said, a calibrated move to avoid the civilian casualties. The forces would only launch the operations if they were 100 percent sure about the presence of militants, unlike earlier instances where on any given day at least two dozen CASO were launched in different parts of Kashmir, which explains why the civilian casualties had remarkably come down during Vohra's reign. The former governor would stress on using modern technology to confirm the presence of militants in a particular area and before launching the operations to at least have four covers which would stop the protesters from thronging the encounter site. The policy worked.

Restoring faith in democracy: The PDP-BJP's alliance miserably failed to live up to the expectations of the people. Instead of bringing the culturally distinct regions of the state together, communal and sectarian tensions not only pulled these regions apart but also eroded the faith of people in democracy and its institutions. It is going to be a humungous challenge for Malik to restore this faith because democracy will only survive so long as people participate in its varied processes. This also includes creating an atmosphere for a dialogue with Separatists in Kashmir valley, and bridging the gap between the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recently, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said that girls are being sold cheaper than cattle in the country. In Jharkhand, one sees that this statement is true.

Rahim was sold for Rs 75,000. Munni (name changed) was sold for Rs 15,000.

These numbers tell a grim story, because Rahim was a goat that was sold in the livestock market for Bakri Eid in Ranchi, while Munni is one among many girls from Jharkhand who are 'sold' everyday in the 'market' of modern-day slavery.

Ahead of Bakri Eid, a huge market selling goats for sacrifice was set up in the capital of Jharkhand, in which goats were being sold for amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 80,000.

At the same time, girls are being trafficked from villages of Jharkhand and being sold in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram and other big cities for a maximum amount of up to Rs 40,000, with the minimum amount being as low as Rs 1,000.

A few weeks ago, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said that girls are being sold cheaper than cattle in this country.

Dr Sampurna Behura, director, programmes, at Satyarthis Bachpan Bachao Andolan said that the the organisation has been working with the trafficking survivors for years, and have found that Jharkhand, along with Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar is a major source state for human trafficking, while big cities including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai are the destinations.

We have rescued many girls from Jharkhand who were sold for Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000. These girls were forced to work as domestic help, where they were abused and assaulted, both physically and sexually, Behura said.

She added, These girls were taken away from their family by the middlemen, who paid a nominal amount to the families, and promised that they would earn well in big cities by doing domestic work. But at the end, the girl never gets anything. This exploitation has been going on for years, which is why Kailash ji made that statement.

The arrests of hundreds of traffickers and middlemen of Jharkhand in the last few years has revealed the rates at which the girls from the state are being sold away.

Retired police official Aradhana Singh, who has played an important role in the arrest of over 70 traffickers including kingpins like Pannalal Mahato and Baba Bamdev said, Most of the traffickers have confessed to selling girls for Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000, while Pannalal used to sell them for up to Rs 50,000.

Singh said that the girls are priced at three levels.

The first level is at the village, where the local middleman pays between Rs 1000 to Rs 3,000 to the family of the girl as they take them away with the promise of sending more money home in the form of the salary that the girl would receive for the work of a domestic help, she said.

These local middlemen are usually people known to the families of the girls. Singh said that they first visit these families and build trust. The next step is to take the girls to local markets and fairs and get them do some shopping. When the girls and the families develop complete faith on these middlemen, they convince the family to either send away the girl to big cities for earning money, or lure away the girls with the promise of showing them a bigger fair or market, Singh said.

The next level is when the local middleman takes the girls to the placement agents in big cities. This is when the middleman is paid an amount between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per head, Singh said.

However, the middleman is not given the entire amount at once. If they (middlemen) take four girls to Delhi, they will be paid only for three, and will be promised payment for the fourth when they get more girls. This way, the placement agents ensure that they keep getting a constant supply of girls, Singh said.

The final price of the girl goes up to between Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 when the placement agent employs the girl as a domestic help in any of the households. Singh said These placement agents produce a proper receipt for every girl they place, and may charge a one-time fee of up to Rs 50,000 from the employers.

Social activist Baidnath Kumar said that in tribal areas of Jharkhand, not only are goats 'costlier' than girls, but are also cared for more.

A report submitted to NITI Aayog by the government of Jharkhand mentions that 39.1 percent of the people of the state are below poverty line (BPL), as against the national average of 29.8 percent.

The situation is even worse for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) population. In these two communities, the percentage of people below the poverty line in Jharkhand is 49 percent and 40.4 percent respectively.

In the areas which are marked by extreme poverty, families are in such desperate need for money that they dont think twice before sending away their daughters. The promise of getting some money in return is all it takes for them to send away their girls, Kumar said.

A very recent case highlighting the desperation of these poor families is that of 16-year-old Soni Kumari, whose body was chopped into pieces and stuffed in a bag. The body was recovered from a drain in Delhi in May this year.

When the girl from Malgo village of Lapung block in Ranchi went missing in 2017, her family did not bother searching for her.

Sonis mother, Parban Oraon said, Soni had gone missing earlier too, but when she returned, she gave us Rs 2,000 and said that she earned it by working in a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh. When she vanished again, we thought she would return with some more money, so we did not search for her. How were we to know that we will never see her again?

New anti-trafficking Bill

In our country, if a cow gets hurt, everyone revolts, but girls are being hurt everyday, and nothing happens, Behura said.

She added, A number of traffickers and employers of minor girls are moving around freely. The anti-trafficking Bill will help curb this organised crime, and put the criminals behind the bars.

The anti-trafficking Bill, 2018 has been passed by the Lok Sabha and is to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha soon. The Bill provides for a punishment of imprisonment from 10 years up to life, for people convicted of trafficking.

Sanjay Mishra, national treasurer of National Action and Coordination Group for Ending Violence Against Children (NACG EVAC) said that human trafficking is a major problem in the state and uprooting it is a challenge for all. "The Bill will prove to be a big help in getting the criminals convicted and punished. It will also help in getting the survivors rehabilitated."

The Bill creates a classification of the different types of trafficking, and also provides for the establishment of anti-trafficking relief and rehabilitation committees at the national, state and district levels, which will compensate and repatriate the survivors. Apart from this, it provides for the establishment of a national anti-trafficking bureau, district anti-trafficking units and appointment of state anti-trafficking officers, thus building an organised institution to fight against the organised crime of human trafficking.

Inspector General, CID (organised crime), Ranjit Prasad said, "Over the years, the state police has become very sensitive about the issue of human trafficking. Regular training is being provided to the policemen by the CID about nabbing the criminals involved in this organised crime and rescuing the missing children."

The author is a member of The NewsCart - a Bangalore based media startup.
Rahul, who is the first foreign Leader of Opposition to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament, said that India and the UK are connected as they fight people on ideas.

London: The 21st Century should be defined by Mahatma Gandhi's message of compassion and non-violence, Congress party president Rahul Gandhi said in London on Friday.

Rahul, who is the first foreign Leader of Opposition to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament, said that India and the UK are connected as they fight people on ideas.

The other prominent speakers who have spoken at the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons are Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, former South African president Nelson Mandela and former president of erstwhile Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.

"What connects India and the UK is that we fight people on ideas... In the 21st century, the greatest idea is compassion and non-violence as laid out by my hero Mahatma Gandhi," he told an audience of parliamentarians and local political leaders.

"Even though the British ruled us, they left us with many ideas and some strengths as well," he said. He also hailed the Indian-origin politicians that are part of the British political establishment.

"It is rooms like this from where Britain governed India... and many Indian people are today helping run Britain. How far the world has come," he said at the event titled 'India and the World' attended by senior Opposition Labour party MPs Keith Vaz, Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra.
The JNU administration on Thursday issued show-cause notices to 48 teachers for allegedly participating in a day strike on 31 July against the policies implemented by the vice chancellor, said a varsity professor

New Delhi: The JNU administration on Thursday issued show-cause notices to 48 teachers for allegedly participating in a day strike on 31 July against the policies implemented by the vice chancellor, said a varsity professor. The decision was finalised at the Executive Council meeting of the varsity held on Thursday, claimed JNU professor Ayesha Kidwai.

"The notices issued say that the act of a peaceful strike is in contravention of the statutes, rules and regulations of the university. We are extremely disturbed by the manner in which a democratic act of protest is being treated as an act of indiscipline and illegality," Kidwai said. On 31 July, teachers carried placards and wore black badges to express their resistance to the policy decisions of the vice chancellor.

Meanwhile, a statement from the varsity said that the Executive Council (EC) on Thursday proposed to name the School of Management and Entrepreneurship as Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister who passed away on 16 August. The EC also decided to introduce attendance for all regular faculty members, which was approved by the Academic Council last month, the statement said. The provision of introducing biometric attendance for teachers has been condemned by members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association.

The EC has also decided for funding from Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) under HRD Ministry's New funding scheme for creating state-of-the-art research infrastructure, additional hostel accommodation and student facilities, said the varsity.
Thomas Issac told the media that each lottery ticket would cost Rs 250. The entire proceeds of the lottery will go to the CMDRF for Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram: To raise additional funds towards the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) following the floods in Kerala, Finance Minister Thomas Issac on Friday announced a special lottery.

Issac told the media that each ticket would cost Rs 250, and the draw would take place on 3 October. The entire proceeds of the lottery will go to the CMDRF. "The lottery has been named Ashwas' and there would be a first prize of Rs 1 lakh in each series, and Rs 5,000 on 108,000 tickets," said Issac.

According to a source, in all, there would 96 lakh tickets that would be printed in nine series. "The target of this special lottery is to raise Rs 100 crore, which will be the net profit for the state government after meeting all expenses of this special lottery if all the 96 lakh tickets are sold," said the source who did not wish to be identified.

The floods have killed some 370 people  since the monsoon rains began on 29 May  and caused widespread destruction.
While it's true that Kerala has received unprecedented rainfall this year causing water levels to rise abnormally and dams to overflow, many are blaming the floods on man-made mistakes which have destroyed the ecological balance.

Who is to be blamed for Kerala floods?

While it's true that Kerala has received unprecedented rainfall this year causing water levels to rise abnormally and dams to overflow, many are blaming the floods on man-made mistakes which have destroyed the ecological balance. The bipolar state has no one but itself to blame for creating a disaster of this scale which also presents a perfect case study for other states in the country not to repeat the same mistakes.

Lets admit it. All along, Kerala knew the environmental hazards it is facing but refused to acknowledge them. For at least a century, Kerala has been a witness to natural disasters but only from a distance and the presumption was that they are forever immune to natural disasters. They built homes encroaching river banks and destroyed paddy fields. Till recently, beautiful river view villas and resorts was their favourite marketing pitch to lure the wealthy in the state, which obviously will now change to flood-free villas post the catastrophic rains. Inquiries for property seeking flood free areas have already begun, say local real estate dealers.

The writing was on the wall. In May this year, the states cabinet had cleared a white paper on environmental hazards that warned serious damage to the states eco-system. The paper said that 80 percent of the wells are polluted. It cited severe damage to paddy fields in the state on account of encroachment with the total area of fields coming down from 7.53 lakh hectare in 1965 to just 1.9 lakh hectare in 2014-15. Deforestation and illegal constructions have impacted river flow. Sand mining, illegal quarrying and dumping solid waste in rivers by industries and pilgrim centres adds to the woes.

Kerala has 44 rivers and most of these are encroached by people who go for illegal constructions with the blessings of local politicians and bureaucrats on a heavy scale. Local politicians were rarely sensitive to environmental damage and usually resort to vote-bank politics. Major protests, across party lines, erupted in Kerala since 2011 after a report by Madhav Gadgil that year that predicted this sort of calamity. The protesters of 2011 will now be repenting their mistakes in the aftermath of the flood that has taken over 400 lives and has likely caused irreversible damage to the states ecological system.

The panel, known as Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), had cited serious damage to the states environmental balance on account of rapid deforestation since 1970s, illegal quarrying and mining and other illegal constructions in eco-sensitive areas. A PTI report quoted Professor V S Vijayan, a former chairman of the State Biodiversity Board, who was also a member of the Gadgil committee, who said that the report suggested checks on quarrying, discouraging cultivation of yearly crops on hill slopes and planting fruit-bearing tress there and restriction on construction in the area.

But Gadgil was portrayed as villain and his recommendations were ignored. The fate of another report by another panel that was set up subsequently under Kasturirangan committee was not very different. In fact, this panel was set up with an implicit idea to tone down the proposals on strict environmental regime suggested by the Gadgil panel. But even this report was met with severe objection. Even farmers in Kozhikode, who suffered the most in recent floods, protested against the panel's recommendations arguing that they are designed to evict them from their farm lands on Western Ghats.

There were three major points farmers raised: the proposal that some 123 villages were ecologically fragile and warrants protection from encroachers, inclusion of rubber, tea, coffee, pepper, cashew, cardamom, arecanut and coconut in the list of commercial crops that should not be cultivated in ecologically-sensitive areas of Western Ghats and restriction on usage of certain chemicals and fertilizers for cultivation in these areas. Had the state taken sufficient action at that point to reverse the rapid destruction of environment, Western Ghats would have been strong enough to prevent at least part of the recent tragedy the state witnessed.

Also, Kerala has been losing its forest cover rapidly over years. As this report in The Times of India points out, though the National Forest Survey, 2017 showed Kerala has grown its forest cover by 1043 sq km, much of it is plantations and conservation activities. The report cited decline in forest cover in certain districts that included Wayanad, Idukki, Alappuzha and Kollam. Remember, these were the worst-hit during the floods.

Gadgil and Kasturirangan committees should have acted as an eye opener for the state to initiate an urgent course correction. But, Keralites failed to see the writing on the wall. Nature has yet again proved that it can offer small reminders when limits are crossed.
Indian Air Force has airlifted relief materials and food grains to the flood-hit state of Kerala in order to aid the victims soon

Thiruvananthapuram: In a bid to lessen the suffering of the people of Kerala and to provide them timely relief, Headquarters Maintenance Command, Indian Air Force at Nagpur took an initiative under the leadership of Air Marshal Hemant Sharma AVSM VSM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief to airlift relief material for flood-hit Kerala.

Civil Administration and various NGOs at Nagpur have also donated relief material for the flood-affected people.

Even citizens of Nagpur have come forward to contribute relief material. The vendors who supplied the utility materials also extended considerable discounts on the purchases made for relief material.

The collected relief material was airlifted on 23 August from Nagpur by a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force so that it can reach the affected citizens at the earliest.

Apart from relief material being airlifted, 22.5 tonnes worth food grains (rice, dal, wheat flour, vegetables, oils, milk etc.), clothing, medicines, cleaning and sanitary materials and water was dispatched by a parcel van attached to Sabari Express.

Divisional Railway Manager / Secunderabad Division Amit Varadan personally monitored the loading and dispatch at Secunderabad station. These materials were booked to Ernakulam station and consigned to District Magistrate / Ernakulam.

As many as 357 people have lost their lives so far, with the state facing a loss of Rs 19,512 crore. Rescue and relief operations in the state have been stepped up to evacuate the stranded people from the flood-affected areas.
The entire country suffered a meltdown over Centre allegedly blocking UAEs offer of 700 crore towards flood relief work in Kerala.

It happens only in India. The entire country suffered a meltdown over Centre allegedly blocking UAEs offer of 700 crore towards flood relief work in Kerala without bothering to check the veracity of the information. It now turns out that no such offer for financial aid was formally placed on the table by the UAE government. The situation, to put it mildly, is deeply embarrassing.

Before the UAE had cleared the air, though, accusations had flown faster than Scud missiles and sweeping conclusions were drawn even quicker. Why let facts come in the way of a good outrage? It also needs to be said that the appalling communication strategy of the Narendra Modi government contributed towards the needless controversy, but more on that later.

If one hoped that an apolitical issue such as relief assistance for a flood-ravaged state  battling its worst deluge in 100 years  would be kept outside the purview of partisan politics, that expectation was quickly belied.

The polarised nature of Indias polity and mainstreaming of fact-free outrage in public discourse give rise to frequent, spurious debates. Spurious as these debates are, and little that they contribute towards mitigating the crisis, these controversies can be damaging because they are aimed at hitting on the fault lines of this diverse nation. The Kerala tragedy did not take long to take political overtones. The Opposition first raised the stakes by floating a mischievous demand that the floods be declared a national disaster.

Dear PM, Please declare #Kerala floods a National Disaster without any delay. The lives, livelihood and future of millions of our people is at stake.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 18, 2018

The Centre had already declared it a Level 3 calamity. The L3 classification paves the way for the Centre to extend all possible help that the state needs but the Opposition saw in it an opportunity to score some brownie points and generate a narrative that the Centre is willfully negligent about the tragedy.

As Srinivasa Prasad has written in a piece for Firstpost, There is no law or provision in India under which a calamity anywhere in the country can be declared a national disaster. It was either out of sheer ignorance or deliberate political mischief that Keralas CPM-led Left Democratic Front government and other Opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, demanded this label for the Kerala floods.

From here, the debate became degenerated further. It was suggested that the BJP-ruled Centre is discriminating against the southern state of Kerala because it is ruled by a Left Front government. Kerala quickly became a symbol of southern resistance against oppression of north Indian states that feeds off the prosperity of the south. The Modi government was painted into a parochial corner and accused of being tightfisted with funds  denying the state its right during a time of great distress.

In an interview to The News Minute, Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac said: If the Centre views accepting foreign aid as an issue of dignity, let the Union government give us 700 crore. The Centre is neither giving us money, nor allowing anyone else to do it. What kind of attitude is this?

In an article for The Print, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote, Given the scale of devastation in Kerala and the lean relief package announced by the Centre (which, currently at Rs 600 crore, is a fraction of what the state government had requested), it seems imperative that the Centre must be open to the idea of accepting foreign aid.

It is a measure of the bankruptcy of public debates in India that stringent positions are taken on a fact-free environment. First off, nowhere did the Centre assert that the amount of 600 crore already released towards flood relief would be the final amount of disbursal. In response to Keralas demands of a 2600 crore special package for rebuilding the state, the Centre has clarified that its disbursal of 600 crore was only an advance.

The sum of 600 crore, as the Centre has clarified in a notification, was disbursed as an advance assistance to help the state in meeting relief and rescue expenditure. It was in addition to Rs 562.45 crore already allocated to Keralas State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), in which the Centre contributes 75 percent for general category states. A PIB release added that additional funds would be released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on assessment of the damages by IMCT and decision of the high-level committee.

The Centre has also given a detailed account of the massive rescue and relief operations that it had undertaken and provided specifics on other forms of assistance that it has pledged apart from financial support and rescue efforts. It includes emergency release of provisions and announcement of a number of measures such as ex-gratia payments from PMs National Relief Funds; building of damaged houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; additional 5.5 crore person days under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), etc.

The Centre, it must be stressed, isnt doing Kerala a favour. It is merely carrying out its duty. If the Modi government had failed to meet its obligations or been lax in executing its responsibilities, a case could have been made against it. Even with the best of intentions, a government cannot take actions in contravention of procedures. There is nothing to indicate that the Modi government has been guilty of dereliction of duty. In fact, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has clarified that the Centre has not undermined the scale of tragedy.

In an interview to The Economic Times, Vijayan said, I need to make it clear in no uncertain terms that the Government of India was forthcoming and responded positively. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh visited the flood-hit areas and have been understanding the situation fully I am happy that they announced 600 crore as two lots (100 crore after the first spell of floods and 500 crore now) and I am hopeful that they would assess the situation and grant more assistance in the coming days.

The Kerala chief minister's comments put the criticisms against the Centre in perspective.

We asked Union Gov for financial support of 2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious 600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer 700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy.  Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

The allegations look even more ridiculous in light of the UAEs recent clarification that it has not made any official announcement for financial assistance of any kind.

In an interview with The Indian Express, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna said: The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I dont think it is final, since it is still ongoing. On being asked, specifically, if he meant that the UAE had not announced 700 crore in aid, the ambassador said: Yes, that is correct. It is not yet final. It has not been announced.

All that the UAE government has done is to constitute a national emergency committee to take decisions on sourcing out funds, aid material, medicines, etc, for people in Kerala, according to the report. The true nature of the controversy becomes clear when we look at the UAE ambassadors subsequent statement.

Albanna told The Indian Express that the national emergency committee is coordinating with the federal authorities, since we know and understand the financial aid rules in India. He added that the UAE government is working with various agencies to provide humanitarian assistance. This is important. If the UAE was already aware of the Indian rules, why would the country make the mistake of announcing a financial aid?

The mention of the aid was first made by the Kerala chief ministers office through a series of tweets. The CMO Kerala handle mentioned on 21 August that the UAE will provide Kerala an assistance of Rs 700 crore.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan informed that the United Arab Emirates will provide Kerala an assistance of 700 Crore. Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support. #KeralaFloodRelief pic.twitter.com/yfwbt9iEkd  CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 21, 2018

In a subsequent tweet, the source of the news was clarified.

The assistance of UAE was first informed to Malayali businessman and philanthropist Yusuff Ali M.A.  CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 21, 2018

It seems odd that the UAE government would announce the assistance despite knowing the rules that govern foreign financial aid to India. Incidentally, the European Union has channeled 190,000 euros to the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) for immediate relief assistance in compliance with Indian rules.

India is not averse to foreign assistance, as is being wrongly claimed in certain quarters. However, these must be disbursed through proper channels such as Prime Minister's Relief Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund from NRIs, PIOs and international entities and foundations.

On the 700 crore figure, confusion spread even more when it emerged that Malayali businessman and philanthropist Yusuff Ali, chairman and managing director of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group International which owns a hypermarket chain, has threatened to take legal action against people who, according to him, are spreading a false claim that he was ready to contribute Rs 700 crore to Keralas flood relief fund if the Centre opposed an equal offer from the United Arab Emirates, according to a Manorama Online report. The report also points out that the UAEs offer was conveyed to Kerala not by the Union government, but by Ali.

The Centre, too, must share part of the blame for the ongoing confusion. Before the UAE ambassador had cleared the air, it offered no clarification on whether the offer of a specific sum was made. It only issued a generic clarification on rules regarding foreign financial assistance that made the government appear as if it is trying to block external help and putting procedure before people. Its clarification on the fact that 600 crore was an advance and not the final sum also came late, well after a narrative had taken shape.
Faced with the destruction left by the worst monsoon floods in 94 years, 1.2 million in relief camps and now over 400 dead, Kerala has been appealing to the public and private donors to help reconstruction efforts.

The Centre has refused to accept aid relief of Rs 700 crore ($100 million), reportedly offered by the United Arab Emirates, citing policy, but its own 2015 policy allows such aid to be accepted "as a goodwill gesture".

"The Government of India deeply appreciates offers from several countries, including from foreign governments, to assist in relief and rehabilitation efforts after the tragic floods in Kerala. In line with the existing policy, the Government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts," according to an official statement from the ministry of external affairs on 22 August 2018.

That is contrary to the governments official policy.

"If the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the Central Government may accept the offer," says chapter 9 of The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in 2015.

The home ministry should coordinate with the external affairs ministrythe agency primarily responsible for reviewing offers of foreign assistanceand the concerned state government, if it is to accept foreign aid, the NDMP states.

Quoting the NDMP, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and finance minister Thomas Isaac have asked the Centre to accept the offer.

If the Centre remains silent or rejects the offer, Vijayan and Isaac have said that Delhi must compensate the state for the missed opportunity to receive funds offered as goodwill.

National Disaster Management Plan Chapter 9 on international cooperation accepts that in time severe calamity voluntary aid given by a foreign gov can be accepted. Still if Union Gov chooses to adopt a negative stance towards offer made byUAE gov they should compensate Kerala  Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

Faced with the destruction left by the worst monsoon floods in 94 years, 1.2 million in relief camps and now over 400 dead, Kerala has been appealing to the public and private donors to help reconstruction efforts.

Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. 80 dams opened, 324 lives lost and 223139 people are in about 1500+ relief camps. Your help can rebuild the lives of the affected. Donate to https://t.co/FjYFEdOsyl#StandWithKerala.  CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 17, 2018

The state has requested financial aid of Rs 2,200 crore ($286 million) from the Centre, but just over a third has been pledged so far. The Rs 600 crore Central aid is less than the cost of one Rafale fighter jet (Rs 670 crore), 36 of which India hopes to buy from France, IndiaSpend reported on 22 August, 2018.

We asked Union Gov for financial support of 2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious 600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer 700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy.  Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

The governments refusal to accept foreign aid appears to follow a policy established in 2004 following a tsunami. We are following the policy since 2004, and have been turning down assistance from foreign governments since then, a government source told the Indian Express. In Kerala also, we are sticking to that policy.

India received Rs 950 crore in foreign aid from a mixture of inter-governmental organisations and individual nations in 2016-17, according to this response to a Lok Sabha question in March 2017. Over the past decade, the UK has been the largest donor of foreign aid, followed by The Global Fund, an international financing organisation to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and the European Union.

The author is a writer and researcher with IndiaSpend.

FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life
A special court in Lucknow on Thursday convicted two accused in connection with 2007 court blast case in the state capital.

Lucknow: A special court in Lucknow on Thursday convicted two accused in connection with 2007 court blast case in the state capital. The special judge Babita Rani fixed 27 August for awarding quantum of sentence to the accused - Tariq Kajmi and Mohd Akhtar. The trial was conducted in the District Jail, Lucknow. The third accused in the case  Khalid Mohammad  had died during course of the trial. While, the fourth accused  Sajjadur Rehman was earlier given clean chit.

According to government lawyer MK Singh, the accused had been charge-sheeted for sedition, criminal conspiracy and attempted murder under the Indian Penal Code. The accused had also been booked under Explosive Substances Act and Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act. The prosecution produced 44 witnesses in support of its case while the defense examined its three witnesses.

A series of blasts took place in courts at Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi on 23 November 2007. Several people died in Varanasi and Faizabad but there was no casualty in Lucknow. For Lucknow blasts, the FIR was registered in the Wazirganj police station on same day. During course of probe, on 22 December 2007, the STF arrested Tariq Kajmi of Rani ki Sarai village in Sarai Meer police station area of Azamgarh. Mohammad Akhtar of Kashmir were arrested on 27 December.

The STF had then stated that the four were operatives of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). They also accused Mohammad Tariq in a case of a blast in Gorakhpur in May 2007. Later, the Lucknow court blast case was transferred to the anti-terror squad (ATS), which submitted the charge-sheet against the accused in April, 2008.
The Maharashtra Cyber Police department has launched a web portal to help resident report sexual offences against women and children in order to curb the spread of child pornograpy and sexually abusive content depicting rape and gangrape of women

Nearly three weeks after the police busted a WhatsApp group in which was used to share child pornography in Maharashtra, the state cyber police department has reportedly launched a web portal to help residents report sexual offences against women and children in order to curb the spread of sexually abusive content depicting children and/or rape and gangrape of women.

The portal, http://www.cyberpolice.gov.in (inaccessible at the time of publishing this article), according to The Indian Express, started operating on a trial basis on 1 August, and is aimed to curb rising spread of child pornography and other sexually abusive content in the state.

Complainants registered on the Maharashtra Cyber Police portal will receive a status report within 72 hours, the police was quoted as saying.

The portal is aimed at helping residents quickly report all instances of sexual crimes against women and children. Investigations would be initiated on the basis of these complaints. The attempt is to provide a prompt service, said Balsing Rajput, SP of Maharashtra Cyber, the state polices arm that tackles cyber crimes told the newspaper.

The portal is in response to the Supreme Court order, passed nearly eight months ago, on a letter (along with two rape videos in a pen-drive) that Hyderabad-based NGO Prajwala had sent in 2015 to then Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, and is likely to be connected to cybercrime.gov.in, a portal run by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which facilitates online registration (including anonymous reporting) of complaint on sexually abusive content.

The top court had on its own taken cognisance of the letter about the posting of these videos on WhatsApp and asked CBI to launch a probe to apprehend the culprits. The NGO's letter had also mooted the idea of maintaining a national sex offenders' register which should contain details of persons convicted for offences like eve-teasing, stalking, molestation and other sexual assaults.

With inputs from agencies
Though the reasons for the action against Al Jazeera are not known, a documentary on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir telecast by the channel is believed to have upset the central security establishment, leading to the decision.

New Delhi: Al Jazeera, an international English news channel, may have to stop broadcast in India as the Ministry of Home Affairs has withdrawn the security clearance given to it.

The Qatar-based channel has appealed to the government against the withdrawal of the security clearance and a final decision on it is awaited, a government official said.

Though the reasons for the action against Al Jazeera are not known, a documentary on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir telecast by the channel is believed to have upset the central security establishment, leading to the decision.

When contacted, a home ministry official said it is the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which takes the decision on the issue of broadcasting licence given to any media outlet.

"Our role is limited to matters related to security clearance. The decision on cancellation of broadcasting licence will be taken by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting," the official said.

Another official said the security clearance was given by the Home Ministry on 3 December, 2010 and withdrawn on 29 May, 2018.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked forensic experts to take to modern technology to provide speedy justice in rape cases

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked forensic experts on Thursday to adopt modern techniques like DNA profiling in rape cases to ensure speedy justice.

He said the central government had approved the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 in view of the importance of DNA technology in forensic investigation.

"I call upon forensic experts to help the judiciary by using DNA profiling as much as possible so that culprits of brutal rape cases are punished immediately and the victims get justice," Modi said while addressing the 4th convocation ceremony of the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU).

He said technology should be used to the maximum extent to ensure speedy delivery of justice.

"In order to deal with rapidly changing crime scenario, you also have to develop newer techniques to ensure that criminals are not spared," the prime minister said.

He said criminals and their ways of committing crime are constantly changing. "Forensic science, the police and the judiciary are three important pillars to ensure criminal justice delivery system, so that citizens feel safe and the crime is kept under check," Modi said.

He said Gujarat had adopted a holistic approach in developing these three areas.

"Establishment of the Raksha Shakti University, the National Law University and the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University are steps taken in this direction," he said.

It is a matter of pride that the GFSU achieved such a benchmark of academic excellence in short time wherein it was awarded "A" grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, the prime minister said.

Invoking Swami Vivekananda, Modi said the spiritual leader used to say that each soul is potentially divine. "Each one of us has tremendous strength that is waiting to be explored. The first step towards manifesting this strength is to believe in oneself," he said.

Modi said, "Believe in yourself. Believe in your abilities. Your education and intelligence has trained you to think out of the box. Ensure that you use these skills not only to keep pace with the changes around us, but also to drive progressive changes that make our world a better place. Generations to come will thank you for it."

The Union Cabinet had in July approved the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2018, which is aimed at expanding the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.

"In view of the importance of DNA technology in forensic investigation, my government has approved this bill. The aim of the bill is to ensure that all DNA tests remain reliable and the data remains safe," Modi said.


Pick up the phone and call 202 225-5074. It only takes a minutes and ask that Rep Trey Gowdy put Dr. Thompson on the stand to tell congress what the Frieden and CDC did and what he saw. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), blocked CDC whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson, from testifying on scientific fraud and destruction of evidence by senior CDC officials in critical vaccine safety studies regarding the causative relationship between childhood vaccines and autism.



It seems that in 2018 American MEN are as unhealthy and incapable of control as American children. The ME TOO movement now includes another man of power - former CDC Chief and President Obama appointee Dr. Thomas Frieden. I teach self defense - "forcible touching" sounds violent and akin to rape. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE MALE BRAIN? Maybe CDC can investigate the INFECTIOUS DISEASE known as men in America? (I know this is not all men - I'm not a man hater, but Lord, it sure seems to be an epidemic of bad behavior.) My thoughts are with the WOMEN he harmed - surely this woman was not the first. The misogyny we see in the vaccine injury denialists spills into actual violence against women beyond vaccine damage and force. You may recall that it was Frieden who blocked Dr. William Thompson from testifying in a vaccine injury case. What a quality man he was. In charge of our health. Our children's vaccination schedule.

CDC Blocks Testimony by Vaccine Whistleblower in Medical Malpractice Case

Thomas Frieden, the director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), has blocked CDC whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson, from testifying on scientific fraud and destruction of evidence by senior CDC officials in critical vaccine safety studies regarding the causative relationship between childhood vaccines and autism.

The medical malpractice case seeking Dr. Thompson's testimony is on behalf of 16-year-old Yates Hazlehurst. The lawsuit alleges that Yates is autistic as a result of vaccine injuries.

Attorneys Bryan Smith and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., of Morgan & Morgan, have been seeking to have Dr. Thompson testify in a medical malpractice case to explain how the CDC committed scientific fraud in a series of studies, which found no link between vaccines and autism.

In denying the request, Dr. Frieden said, "Dr. William Thompson's deposition testimony would not substantially promote the objectives of CDC or HHS [Health and Human Services]."



KIM





From NBC News:



Former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden arrested on sexual misconduct allegations

Frieden, who stepped down as head of the federal agency when Trump took office, is accused of forcibly touching at least one woman.

Former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Tom Frieden has been arrested for inappropriately touching at least one woman, according to the New York City Police Department.

The alleged incident happened in October 2017 inside Frieden's Brooklyn residence, the NYPD said. Frieden was expected to make a court appearance later Friday.

Frieden was director of the CDC from 2009 and until January 2017, stepping down when President Donald Trump took office. Prior to that, he had served as the New York City Health Commissioner from 2002 to 2009, where he led efforts to reduce smoking and eliminate artificial trans fats from restaurant menus.

As head of the CDC, Frieden championed advances that helped to end the Ebola epidemic.

Thomas R. Frieden is an American infectious disease and public health expert, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and acting administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 2009 to 2017, appointed by President Barack Obama.[1] As a commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) from 2002 to 2009 he came to some prominence for banning smoking and transfat served in foods of New York City restaurants.






The bitter exchange of words took place when Sa Ra Mahesh asked Sitharaman to end the press conference citing paucity of time.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was visiting flood-hit parts of Karnataka on Friday to review rehabilitation work, got into a public spat with a state minister after the latter asked her to wind up the press conference.

According to News18, the bitter exchange of words took place when the district-in-charge minister for Kodagu, Sa Ra Mahesh asked Sitharaman to end the press conference citing paucity of time. Sitharaman retorted saying she was following minute-by-minute the itinerary prepared by the district administration and was not at fault for the delay.

She told Mahesh, I am a central minister and I am following your instructions. Unbelievable. She asked Kodagu deputy commissioner Sri Vidhya if the itinerary was in order and asked her to resolve the differences with Mahesh over the programme, and not embarrass her.

Earlier on Friday, Sitharaman had announced a financial aid of Rs 1 crore from her MPLAD fund for the flood-hit districts of Karnataka.

"I am a member of Parliament from Karnataka. I want to offer Rs 1 crore from my MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) fund for Kodagu district," Sitharaman said at an event.

I'll definitely meet Nitin Gadkari to discuss the roads.I'll speak to Home Minister because he takes care of National Disaster Relief Funding & I'll certainly go back to Prime Minister to give him report of what I've seen here: Defence Min Nirmala Sitharaman in Karnataka's Kodagu pic.twitter.com/MuVuSc8Bmg  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2018

The defence minister was further quoted by ANI as saying, "I have come here as restoration of some of the roads, houses, buildings, water & electricity connections in Kodagu will be done by the Army and the Air Force is also trying to help"

She visited Kushalnagar and Madapura in the district, which were severely affected by heavy rains and flash floods last week. She also interacted with some flood-affected people sheltered at a relief camp at Madikeri in the district.

On 21 August, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had urged the Centre to provide Rs 100 crore relief fund for Kodagu district. Similarly, former chief minister Siddaramaiah also appealed to the Narendra Modi to provide necessary relief for the victims of the floods.

The torrential rains that lashed the district last week left a huge trail of destruction and claimed at least 17 lives. More than 5,000 people have been rendered homeless.

With inputs from agencies
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited the flood-hit Kodagu district in Karnataka and said that some of the 'restoration' of the damage caused due to landslides and heavy rainfall will be done by the Army and Air Force.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited the flood-hit Kodagu district in Karnataka and said that the "restoration" work in the rain-hit district will be done by the Indian Army and air force.

ANI quoted Sitharaman as saying, "I have come here as the restoration of some of the roads, houses, buildings, water and electricity connections in Kodagu will be done by the army, and the air force is also trying to help," while she surveyed the district which has seen a spate of landslides in the last week. Rescue and relief operations are on-going in the region.

The torrential rainfall that lashed the district last week has left a huge trail of destruction and claimed at least 17 lives. More than 5,000 people have been rendered homeless.

At flood relief & rehabilitation camp run by Seva Bharati at Madikeri in Kodagu, Smt @nsitharaman interacted with children,women & elderly.

District officials & personnel responsible for rehabilitation tasks were also present. pic.twitter.com/TW982ys3Tp  Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) August 24, 2018

Sitharaman is to travel to the landslide-hit areas of Madapur after which, she is scheduled to visit a relief camp in Madikeri and interact with the occupants there. The defence minister is also to hold meetings with the district administration and other officials at the Deputy Commissioner's office on the relief and rehabilitation work.

Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, is the second Union minister to visit the flood-ravaged district, after DV Sadananada Gowda, who hails from the state.

On Thursday, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah also visited the district and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief to the flood victims. "I will ask the government of Karnataka to take all necessary relief works and I also demand the Center's assistance. The Government of India should give funds to Kodagu district. The prime minister should have visited this place by this time," Siddharamaiah said.

On 15 August, a high alert was issued in five districts namely Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga.

With inputs from agencies
Putting to rest all speculation, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat on Thursday emphatically ruled out the possibility of holding simultaneous elections to the state assemblies along with the Lok Sabha polls anytime soon.

Aurangabad: Putting to rest all speculation, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat on Thursday emphatically ruled out the possibility of holding simultaneous elections to the state assemblies along with the Lok Sabha polls anytime soon. Rawat also said a legal framework is needed to be in place for holding simultaneous polls.

There has been some speculation in the recent weeks that Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram due this year end may be deferred and held simultaneously along with the Lok Sabha elections, scheduled for April-May 2019. While the term of the Mizoram Assembly ends on 15 December, the terms of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan assemblies will end on 5 January, 7 January and 20 January 2019, respectively.

"Koi chance nahi" (no chance at all), Rawat told a select media meet in Aurangabad when asked if it was feasible to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in the near future. His comments also come against the backdrop of BJP president Amit Shah's recent call for a "healthy and open debate" among stakeholders for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies. "The lawmakers will take at least a year to frame a law that can be enforceable. This process takes time. As soon as the Bill to amend the Constitution is ready, we (the Election Commission) will know that things are now moving)," Rawat said.

The Election Commission commences preparations for the Lok Sabha elections 14 months before the scheduled timeframe of polling, Rawat said. "The Commission has a staff strength of just 400 but deploys 1.11 crore people on poll duty during elections," he said.

To a query on complaints of "failure" of the Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs), Rawat lamented that in many quarters in India, the understanding of the EVM system "isn't comprehensive enough". "There is just a 0.5 to 0.6 percent rate of failure and such a rate of machine failure is acceptable, " he said.

Rawat also said the Voter Verified Paper Trail(VVPAT) usage is a new concept which was put in place after the Commission made a commitment to have 100 percent VVPATs following "political pressure", he said. In Meghalaya assembly bypolls today, there were complaints of VVPAT malfunctioning but that could have been avoided had the authorities there used a high humidity paper, keeping in view that there is high rainfall in the state, he said. "You all know that Cherrapunjee, which records the highest rainfall, is in that state," Rawat said.

To a query, he said the percentage of NOTA option in elections is normally between 1.2 and 1.4 percent. Replying to another query, Rawat said the Election Commission enjoys full autonomy as can be seen from the manner in which poll officials didn't budge under political pressure in the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat 2017. The Congress had then said two of its MLAs had cross-voted and showed their ballot papers to BJP president Amit Shah. The EC ruled in Congress' favour, declaring that the two MLAs had violated polling procedures and secrecy of the ballot.
Bijnor district magistrate Atal Kumar Rai said there were 27 people on the boat which sank in the Ganga near Rajarampur village under Mandawar police station area.

Bijnor: A woman died and nine other people were missing after a boat capsized in the Ganga in Bijnor on Friday, officials said.

Bijnor district magistrate Atal Kumar Rai said there were 27 people on the boat which sank in the Ganga near Rajarampur village under Mandawar police station area.

Seventeen, including six women, have been rescued, he said. Nine people are still missing, he added.

Uttar Pradesh relief commissioner Sanjay Kumar said a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team had reached the spot from Ghaziabad to help in the rescue operation.

Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Singh said the people on the boat were headed for their fields located on the other side of the river.

The boat overturned when the current suddenly increased, he said. The dead woman was identified as Nagini.

In another mishap in Bijnor district, a truck was swept away in Kotawali river. All four people, including the driver, travelling on the tanker were rescued, Mandawali SHO Rajeev Tyagi said.

A purported video clip on the mishap showed 'Bharat Petroleum' painted on the truck.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited flood-hit Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda and Barabanki districts on Friday.

A Central Water Commission statement said major rivers, including the Ganga, were flowing at dangerous levels while Sharda and Ghaghra were flowing well above the danger mark.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday, attacked the Narendra Modi government and the RSS, while addressing students in the Strategic Studies Institute in London. He claimed that the idea of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is similar to that of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday unleashed a no-holds-barred attack on the Narendra Modi government and the ideological parent of the BJP while addressing students in the Strategic Studies Institute in London.

"RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions. RSS's idea is similar to the idea of Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world," said Rahul.

He said, "In the year 1947 the West did not trust India, but India proved the West wrong. We got success because thousands of people have created institutions and this is the institutions which are being attacked today."

The Congress chief also blamed the RSS for the idea of demonetisation.

"The idea came directly from the RSS, bypassed the finance minister and RBI, and was planted in the prime minister's head," he said.

Rahul also criticised the Modi government for its poor strategy regarding Pakistan.

"I would like to say that even with Pakistan, they lack a coherent strategy," he said. "One of my main complaints about the current government in India is that I don't see a coherent strategy based on India's strengths. I only see knee-jerk reactions," he claimed.

Rahul even accused Modi of centralising power. He said that India succeeded only when the power was decentralised and that there has been a centralisation of power in the last four years.

"Today the full power of power has become concentrated with the prime minister," he said.

Rahul praised the Chinese governance system and stated that India should learn how to run local governments from China, as the prime minister in India "holds too much power".

Attacking the Ministry of External Affairs, Rahul stated that all that Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj does is issue visas. "By breaking the monopoly of MEA and by making it more accessible to other elements of society a modern MEA can be formed. The Foreign Minister of India spends a massive amount of time in just issuing visas," he said.

While talking about the Doka La standoff in 2017, the Congress president claimed that if Modi was careful enough, the standoff could have been stopped.

"It was not an isolated issue, it was a part of a sequence of events. The prime minister is episodic, he views Doka La as an event. If he was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it," said Rahul. He also claimed that the Chinese troops are still present in Doka La till date.

Rahul in his earlier address in Berlin attacked the divisive politics of the RSS and the BJP and stated that the ruling party's ideology is in contrast with that of Congress'. He claimed that the BJP and RSS are working to divide our own people and spread hate in our own country instead of watching over Indias actual competition, which is China.

Rahul is on a five-day tour to Germany and the UK.

On Thursday, he addressed a gathering at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, Germany where he cited the creation of Islamic State terrorist group to warn against a similar situation in India if people are excluded from the development process.
Rahul Gandhi said Congress will win the 2019 general elections by building a 'formidable alliance' to fight the ruling BJP

London: Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday said his party will win the 2019 general elections by building a "formidable alliance" to fight the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

During the interactive segment of his 'India and the World' event at the House of Commons complex in London, Gandhi warned against an attempt to impose a rigid, hate-filled ideology by forces like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on India through a politics that excludes the country's lower castes and minorities.

"There is an attempt to impose a very rigid, hate-filled angry ideology on India... This is an ideological battle and the line is very clear  there is the hate-filled ideology of the RSS on one side and there is all the Opposition on the other side, and you will feel the weight of this combined opposition," he said.

"We are going to win the election in 2019 and then we can start going back to India where people were respected and the whole country was carried together," Gandhi said.

He said that the Congress party was building a "formidable alliance" to fight the divisive forces in power in India.

Stressing that the Congress is the party dedicated to "protecting the weak", he attacked "the forces in power" for crushing conversation and those opposed to their views.

The Congress president, who is on a two-day visit to the UK, told the audience of UK-based parliamentarians and local leaders, that the party is committed to transform itself by pulling together younger leaders and by making more space for women leaders.

Asked a question about the Congress party's "involvement" in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Gandhi described the incident as a tragedy and painful experience, but disagreed that the Congress was "involved".

He said: "I think any violence done against anybody is wrong. There are legal processes ongoing in India but as far as I'm concerned anything done that was wrong during that period should be punished and I would support that 100 percent".
Considering that the Sanatan Sanstha has been accused of links to blasts and ammunition hauls, one wonders why it is allowed to be a sanstha at all.

In the wake of the recent arrests made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, the demand to ban the radical Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha has grown. In fact, there are reports which have called it a "mid-sized outfit" which poses an "outsized threat".

Last September, a senior police official said that the modus operandi in the Gauri Lankesh murder seems very similar to what had been witnessed earlier. "Bullets were fired on the chest and head, and the three assailants came on a bike. It's very similar to what was witnessed in the murder of Pansare, Dabholkar, and (MM) Kalburgi," the police official said.

The official also added that like Pansare, Dabholkar, and Kalburgi, Gauri was also not very influential. "She was not someone who could bring down a government. So, why such killings continue to take place also warrants investigation," he added.

While the clamour to ban the outfit, which is allegedly at the heart of these brazen crimes, grows, one may wonder why we allow the Sanatan Sanstha to be a sanstha at all. If they authorities say they did not have a reason to ban it, it's not entirely true, because there were several instances through which the outfit begged to be banned.

'Kill them like dogs'

Calling for action against "anti-national elements", the September 2015 edition of the Sanatan Sansthas newsletter Sanatan Prabhat  which doubles as the mouthpiece for the Sansthas sister concern, the Hindu Jagruti Samiti (HJS), said, '(as) per Samarth Ramdas Swamis teaching, anti-nationals are like dogs, they must be killed'. The implications of this statement are worrying for a few reasons.

First, the release equates those 'who criticised the judiciary (for recommending Yakub Memon's hanging) and those who worked hard to get his capital punishment revoked' as 'anti-nationals'. Second, considering slain scholar MM Kalburgi was also branded anti-national during agitations  by BJP protestors  in Bengaluru in June 2014, the label is one that is thrown around quite liberally. The fact that Kalburgi was later murdered isn't exactly comforting.

The release goes on to lament that "Bharat is the only country in the world where traitors get so much social, political, constitutional and religious support" and proposes that "if terrorism is to be eliminated from our soil, the supporters of terrorists should also feel very afraid".

Don't like killing? The Sanstha has a solution for that too

A piece, in the same September issue, titled 'Only devout Hindus will protect the interests of Hindus and therefore, support them only!' (the article has been taken down) starts out by criticising the BJP for a breach of trust in Goa and across the country. It goes on to exhort its readers to instead stand by the HJS and Sanstha that 'are serving the cause of Dharma sincerely and selflessly', before inviting them to create 'an iron-fist of Hindu unity, and deliver such a punch to those who oppose the interests of Hindus'. Don't like killing? Sanstha advises you to simply punch them.

It wants to reinstate 'divine kingdom' (whatever that means)

In 2016, CBI arrested HSG member Virendrasing Tawde in connection with the murder of Dabholkar. In September 2015, senior journalist Nikhil Wagle had allegedly received a death threat from the Sanatan Sanstha. He had told PTI that he had received threats of this sort from the organisation in the past. Four years ago, Abhay Vartak of Sanatan (Sanstha) walked out of a programme I hosted. Even as recently as last week, Sanatan Prabhat (a publication of the outfit) carried an article warning me, he had added.

In September 2015, the SIT probing the murder of Pansare made its first arrest in the case: Sangli-resident Samir Gaikwad. According to Inspector-General of Police Sanjay Kumar, who told The Hindu, Gaikwad and his family are associated with the Sanatan Sanstha.

The Sanatan Sanstha is a registered non-government charitable trust that, as per its website, seeks to impart spiritual knowledge to the curious in the society, inculcate religious behaviour in the masses and providing personal guidance to seekers for their spiritual uplift(ment).

Established in 1990 by internationally renowned hypnotherapist Dr Jayant Balaji Athavale, the raison d'etre of the organisation is ultimately, the reinstatement of the divine kingdom. It endeavours to achieve this goal through activities which include free-of-charge lectures and weekly satsangs, moral science classes for children (not clear if these are also free of charge), and through VCDs, DVDs and printed literature.

The Indian Express quoted the organisation's managing trustee Veerendra Marate as saying, Our ultimate aim is to build one nation with one identity We are confident that under Dr Athavales guidance, we are ready to be a Hindu nation. In addition, the report noted that in its monthly publication Sanatan Prabhat, the organisation also expounded on the strife of Nepalis trying to have their country declared a Hindu nation.

Don't like something? Bomb it

In 2008, Ramesh Hanumant Gadkari and Vikram Vinay Bhave, both of whom were allegedly associated with the Sanstha, carried out a blast at a Panvel cinema screening Jodhaa Akbar and another at a Thane auditorium staging the Marathi play Aamhi Pachpute. Low-intensity explosives were recovered from a Vashi auditorium that was also staging the same play. The duo was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2011, but was released on bail two years later.

More recently, the Maharashtra ATS recovered a large quantity of explosives that were to be used for triggering blasts in various parts of the state. The authority also arrested three people in this connection. One of them, Vaibhav Raut, allegedly ran the 'Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti' in Nallasopara near Mumbai. While his purported social media account mentioned that he was associated with the Sanatan Sanstha, the outfit denied that Raut was its member.

The Sanstha continues to maintain that it is a spiritual organisation that doesnt kill.

Live life Sanstha-style

Long hair symbolises fickleness  Did you know? In an average man, as the Sanstha preaches, long hair can eventually lead to reduction in the sperm count, while at greater spiritual levels, the length of hair doesnt matter? Or that an individual that wears clothes with variegated, predominantly black and bright colours eventually turns into a ruffian? These tricks of the trade are shared on their official website, which is totally full of handy-dandy tips for a healthier life.
The Trinamool Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on panchayat polls in West Bengal as a 'victory of democracy' and asked opposition parties to apologise to the people of the state

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on panchayat polls in West Bengal as a "victory of democracy" and asked opposition parties to apologise to the people of the state.

The Supreme Court has turned down the pleas of CPM and BJP seeking cancellation of elections on over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal. All these uncontested seats were won unopposed by candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

"We are very happy. We welcome the verdict of the court. It is a victory of democracy. We have been saying this for a long time," TMC Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee said. "This is a historic verdict. This is a big lesson for opposition parties. It has been proved that their allegations are baseless. They should apologise to the people of the state," Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said.

The state BJP said it has accepted the verdict and would fight the TMC democratically. "We accept the verdict of the Supreme Court. We'll fight against TMC democratically in the next Lok Sabha elections. The people of the state will have the last word," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress had contended that not a single candidate approached any court with the grievance that he or she had been stopped from filing nomination papers. The Opposition parties  CPM and BJP  which have opposed the contention of the state government, poll panel and the TMC, had alleged that West Bengal did not witness a free and fair election and the candidates of these two parties were stopped from filing nomination papers.

Elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in Gram Panchayats, 825 posts in Zilla Parishads and 9,217 posts in Panchayat Samitis and the TMC won about 34 percent seats uncontested.
For the SC/ST reservation in promotions, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday that reservation in promotion is impermissible and unconstitutional, and it is the responsibility of the state to strike a balance while giving reservation.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court was told on Thursday that reservation in promotion is impermissible and unconstitutional, and it is the responsibility of the state to strike a balance while giving reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

Those opposing the reservation in promotion told the five-judge constitution bench headed by the Chief Justice Dipak Misra that there cannot be reservation without balance.

"The state is reposed with the responsibility to strike a balance and not just enforce reservation," pleaded senior counsel Shanti Bhushan and Rajeev Dhavan on behalf of the respondents opposing the Centre's plea for reconsideration of 2006 judgment by which top court had laid down the criteria for reservation in promotion for SC/ST.

Spelling out the foundational features of the 2006 Nagaraj judgment, Dhavan said that the creamy layer was a principle of equality and equality has to be substantive and not just formal.

He told the bench that Nagaraj judgment, for ensuring that equality as a basic structure is not violated, had laid the pre-condition of compelling reasons  backwardness, inadequacy of representation  and overall administrative efficiency which the government has to satisfy before embarking for reservation in promotion.

Defending the Nagaraj judgment, Dhavan said it can be revisited only if there is a foundational defect in it.

"There was no fatal flaw in Nagaraj judgment," Dhavan told the constitution bench.

Earlier, arguing for another respondent, senior counsel Shanti Bhushan said that reservation is for a class of people who are backward and not for an individual in a cadre in government job.

Finding no infirmity with the reservation at the entry stage, Bhushan said that once a person is collector, Income Tax officer or holding any such or equivalent position then any reservation in promotion would be for an individual, as at that level no one is backward.

Reservation in government jobs at entry point would be for the "class of backward people", but subsequent intra-cadre reservation would be for an individual, as having occupied a position in government service he cannot be described as backward.

Earlier, seeking reconsideration of the top court decision in Nagaraj judgement, senior counsel Indira Jaising said that the validity of the constitutional provisions could not be tested on the grounds of "compelling reasons backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency".

Contending that there could not be any "quantitative exclusion" of SC/ST, Jaising said that it was only the "100-point roster system that would ensure that nobody (in reserved category) would exceed the ceiling limit of quota".

Jaising appeared for an apex body of SC/ST employees serving in the government.

By its 2006 judgment, the top court had upheld the validity of Constitution's 85th Amendment by which Article 16 (4A)  providing for reservation in promotion with consequential seniority" was inserted in the Constitution.

The reservation in promotion was to come into effect retrospectively from June 17, 1995.

The judgment that was pronounced on 19 October, 2006, had said: "State will have to show in each case the existence of compelling reasons, namely backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency, before making provision for reservation in promotion."

Senior counsel Dhavan will resume his arguments on 29 August  the next date of hearing.
Subramanian Swamy hit out at Rahul Gandhi for cornering Narendra Modi over the death of a witness in Unnao rape-murder case

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for cornering Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the death of a witness in Unnao rape-murder case, involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

On Thursday, Rahul, who is in Germany took a dig at Modi over the case and said, "Is this your idea of 'justice for our daughters', Mr 56?".

"The mysterious death and hurried burial without an autopsy, of the key witness in the #Unnao rape and murder case, involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, smells of a conspiracy. Is this your idea of "justice for our daughters", Mr 56 ?" (sic), the Congress chief tweeted.

Speaking to ANI, Swamy said that "Rahul has led down the country by targeting the prime Minister in the least personal terms and making him look like a sorry figure abroad."

"Rahul didn't succeed and by taking such a move he has only tried to heal his damaged reputation outside India," he added.
Offit, as you know, he typifies what I think youd call MEDICAL FASCISM.

Everything has to be one hundred percent pro. It cannot be ninety-nine percent pro, thats not good enough. Papers should never be published if theyre critical, they might scare the people, the ignorant unwashed masses who wont get their vaccines.

In some peoples eyes, they have crossed a path, theyre going against the creed of the religion. And Paul Offit typifies it perfectly.

WHAT YOU SEE IN THIS ARTICLEyou can see the author is struggling really hard to make it come out a certain wayeverything in this article points to the fact that the scientists who are honestly trying to do their jobs and find whatever there is to find, whether its good or whether its bad, or ambiguous, they are being penalized for being honest scientistseven by their own.

ISIS is an example of taking religion to an extreme. If you were not one hundred percent what they believe, you were an apostate and you had to be killed .

I was in Mosul as a medic in 2017. We were there to support the civilians coming out of Mosul, and support the military forces that were taking the city back from ISIS.

I think religion adds a lot to human affairs, in many cases, but also goes to extremism.

Dr. Shaw, what is your opinion of the Times piece? Are anti-vaccine activists to blame for shutting down legitimate debate on vaccines?

Heres what Dr. Shaw had to say about the NY Times story.

I contacted Dr. Chris Shaw, Canadian neuroscientist and professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Shaws research on the use of aluminum vaccine adjuvants had been retracted from the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry in 2017.

Theres no question that bad vaccine science does not deserve a forum  and much of the research cited by anti-vaccine activists is very bad indeed. But good science needs to be heard even if some people will twist its meaning. One thing vaccine scientists and vaccine-wary parents have in common is a desire for the safest and most effective vaccines possible  but vaccines cant be refined if researchers ignore inconvenient data. Moreover, vaccine scientists will earn a lot more public trust, and overcome a lot more unfounded fear, if they choose transparency over censorship. So is vaccine research really open and honest? Can any legitimate concerns be raised?

It seems that public faith in vaccines is so precarious that EVEN TALKING about side effects scares people away from vaccinating. AND the anti-vaccine community is to blame for this situation. They will go after anything that raises questions about vaccine safety.

Moyer made it sound as though pressure from anti-vaccine activists makes it impossible for scientists to openly talk about possible problems with a vaccine. She cited vaccine developer Dr. Paul Offit who feels that worrying studies shouldnt be published.

Despite her belief that no one needs to question the ever-expanding vaccine schedule, Moyer did talk about hitting a wall when she tried to discuss vaccine efficacy and safety with researchers. When I did get them on the phone, a worrying theme emerged: Scientists are so terrified of the publics vaccine hesitancy that they are censoring themselves, playing down undesirable findings and perhaps even avoiding undertaking studies that could show unwanted effects.

In that article, science and health writer Melinda Wenner Moyer sounded worried about the increasing number of parents who dont vaccinate their kids. Moyer is sure these parents have nothing to worry about, but what drives these wrongheaded decisions is fear  fear that vaccines are somehow dangerous , even though research shows the opposite.

By Anne Dachel On August 4 th the New York Times published an opinion piece entitled, Anti-Vaccine Activists Have Taken Vaccine Science Hostage .

Its a very totalitarian mindset that basically says, science is settled. Which is nonsense. Science is never settled, except in very few exceptions.

The idea that everyone has to kowtow to these people who declare themselves the prophets, or the priests of this science, is also nonsense.

Thats not where scientific breakthroughs come from. Thats not where scientific discoveries come from. Its not how science advances and evolves. In my graduate school career, I learned several things that we now know are not true. 

The idea that science is settled or that we know everything there is to knowwe barely know how adjuvants workso how could we know what theyre doing to the various organ systems, let alone the brain?

So the idea that Offit promotes, that somehow one dare not say these things, I think speaks to the religious aspect that hes promoting.

I think the companies know this. I think they do, but theyre dealing with a very different motive, and thats profit. Theyre looking at the bottom line, and the bottom line is threatened by this sort of stuff.

Its threatened even by their own supporters, the people normally, they would love.

Theres a book that came out in 2002, by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, and if youve never seen it, you should get it. Its called Trust Us, Were Experts.

Its an amazing book. It doesnt talk about vaccines, but you can put the word VACCINE in any of the cases they talk about  So substitute the area that a company wants to protect. Theyre looking at the corporate bottom line. You are peeing in their cornflakes by questioning the safety of those products, and they will get you.

They have a system that is now fairly refined and ready to use. They pull it off the shelves when they need it.

It basically says, first demonize the people who are making these statementsWAKEFIELD THEM. Get their papers retracted.

Get thought leaders to talk about them being conspiracy theorists or tinfoil hat wearers, or pseudo scientists or rogue scientists.

It always happens the exact same way.

I read this book, and I could barely believe it because it was like they were talking to us, but they werent. Its just the same story.

Its the same sort of corporate agenda that the vaccine folks have seized onto. 

The problem is, they cant suppress all the science.

Theyre trying. Theyre trying to get all the people Ive worked within a very systematic attack.

Thats not enough, though. They have to police their own too. They have to go after the people who just deviate from the holy scripture by this much.

In 2011 your research showed harmful side effects from the use of aluminum (a known neurotoxin) in vaccines. What happened to that study?

In 2011, Lucija Tomljenovic and I wrote a paper on aluminum in vaccines. It was our first theoretical paper, an epidemiological study.

And were not epidemiologists, we know that, but we actually had people who were [to] advise us.

The reason we did this is because we had a little bit of time on our hands, because we were waiting for animal care permits to be issued. And that takes a long time at UBC. 

Lucija had just joined the lab. She had written an amazing paper on aluminum and Alzheimers disease. Thats how I got to know her. 

We said lets just look and see if theres any correlation between how many times people get vaccinated with aluminum adjuvants and the changing rate of autism.

The changing rate of autism is something you and I think is happening, other people disagree, whether its changing or not, but the CDC seems to accept it.

There seems to be more to suggest that [its] actually changing and its not just better diagnosis. Certainly not a genetic drift.

So we simply looked at two different data sets. One from the CDC, which was their vaccine schedule over the years, and how many of those vaccines were aluminum adjuvanted.

And then we looked at the changing rates of ASD

And there is a tight correlation. Correlation is not causation. We get that.

Then we took something called the Bradford Hill Criteria.

The Bradford Hill Criteria are meant to help you decide if the observation you have, and the apparent correlation you have, are actually plausible, or if its just random. 

We basically hit on eight out of nine [criteria], so we felt pretty confident, not to claim that aluminum adjuvants cause autism, but to say that theres now a basis for more scientific study. 

Based on that, the idea that it wasnt a completely crazy idea, that there was something that had been satisfied by the Bradford Hill Criteria, there seemed to be the possibility that could be  a link to some sort of causal process.

So we started to do experiments.

We did the experiments with mice. We injected them with aluminum adjuvants, and we saw various things. We kept doing that. We were following that thread, trying to understand if in fact, at an experimental level, we could duplicate some of the feature of autism in animals, with all caveats and all the problems of animal models, 

We got to that point. We started with behavioral stuff. We were working our way through cellular changes. And the next logical step was to look at possible changes in genetic expression.

And thats where that paper went off the rails because someone manipulated data in it. Not all the data, but some of it.

And that led to the paper being retracted. By the way, it was retracted by me in collaboration with the journal.

That work is being done again. Were doing another very, very large study, not using just the aluminum; were using the whole vaccines. 

We actually have a statistician at UBC working with us closely to make sure were doing everything in a way that should be beyond critique. At least hes going to stand by it.

We are going to be putting that out in due course.

We presented some of these data in Lisbon at the Auto Immunity Congress, and well be putting out a paper on this soon.

Itll be a very long paper because it will be ridiculously detailed about stats. 

The aluminum group and the vaccine group seem to show some behavioral changes. Were going to document those. 

And then we have a short term study. Were going to be looking at more biochemical markers to see what else is going on. 

Thats kind of a normal process. You start off with an hypothesis, you check it against the existing literaturewhich is really all the 2011 paper waswhich is still out there, and then you go do the experiments to test the various aspects of the hypothesis.

Thats been the whole process. People thought we just jumped in the middle. We didnt.

We were following a very clear and established means of getting to a scientific answer.

And thats what we continue to do.

Nothing is different from the way most laboratories go about dissecting scientific problems. You look at the big picture and then you zero in on experiments youre going to do. Do the experiments, and you try and tie it back to the big picture.

So were in that process.

Over the past year and a half, Ive been compiling stories from around the world on the decline in the health, learning and behavior of children.

Do you see a connection between this and the aggressive worldwide vaccination program?

What do your behavioral studies in mice show? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akpQpMFI8B4

The answer is yes, we do see behavioral changes in the mice.

Theres always a question whether in the behavioral changes you see, how much they relate to what you see in humans, but in many cases, the outlooks look very similar.

Its always important to recognize that people are not mice and mice are not people. But again, this is as close as youre going to be able to get. 

Thats what the pharmaceutical industry uses too. They dont usually use monkeys.

Were not doing anything different than [the way] the [pharmaceutical industry] is doing their very minimal safety studies.

The interesting thing, going back to that book, Trust Us, Were Experts, first they deny that there is anything happening.

Then they ridicule the people saying theres something happening.

Then they say, oh maybe it is, but its actually a good thing. 

You look at all the discussion in recent years about neuro-diversity and indigo children.

Its like its something to celebrate. We should be happy. The human species is branching out into new domains. We should welcome this. 

You find the happy face to put on all of these things.

So what if it costs us another couple of billion dollars a year in school funds that we dont have anyway? Go back to the book, it just lays it out in detail.

Yes, we see a lot of abnormal features. For example, one of the things we recently saw in our micedo you know what barbering is? Mice sometime over groom themselves, and they over groom each other. They can be very aggressive about it. They basically trim each others whiskers off, and sometimes their fur.

In our last study, the one that is ongoing, there is a ridiculously high level of barbering going on the vaccinated animals.

We dont know what that means.

Lluis Lujan sees it in his vaccinated sheep.

They would basically go up and bite each others wool off. 

There are some very, very interesting things going on thatre very, very striking. Not all the mice do it, but the controls dont do it, or hardly at all. Only the vaccinated animals do it.

Eventually it kind of dies down, but its really intense for a while.

So something is happening in the early stages right after get the treatment.



Your research continues. Describe what youre involved in currently.

Were expanding our set of behavioral tests. This is probably the most intensive series of behavioral tests that weve done.

Not only looking at anxiety, and measures of anxiety, evidences of aggression and how they move in open fields and things like that, which weve done before.

Were also looking at learning and memory. We have a series of tests that are now ongoingvery, very labor intensive. We dont know the outcome yet.

I dont know if there are going to be ambiguous results, or if the results are going to be positive or negative. We dont know. Whatever we find, were going to report.

And the guy whos doing it in our lab is blinded to the identity of the treatment groups. He has no idea which animals are which.

We decode it afterwards, but he never sees what the decoding is.

So we dont know whats going to happen, but were expanding this. We expanding this also when we do the histological analyses, well be looking at a whole series of biochemical markers and a whole series of cellular markers.

Were going to go back and do the genetics test again. If we were wrong, we were wrong. When were finished with this study, well be able to say definitively if there are gene expression changes or not.

And this time, no one is going to mess with the data, and this time no one is going to be able to say we falsified it.

We will have it so well locked down and so statistically checked and rechecked and validated by people that we pay from outside the laboratory. Theyre part of UBC staff people to make sure this happens correctly.

So Im confident that what we come up with will be a clear answer to the question, what happens when you do this vaccine schedule in young animals.

Were being very cautious. Youll never hear me say its identical to what happens in kids because we dont know that. 

What are your concerns about where all this is headed? Will there ever be an honest and thorough examination of vaccine safety?

To be able to do the studies that we do and that others do, takes money. If they are not funding your research from the national granting agencies because of some perceived need to protect vaccine uptake or because of a paper being retracted, then you cant get money from the public agencies. \

Private entities dont have that much money, and the reality is, this stuff costs money to do. None of this is free. These things are labor intensive, they are costly, and without money, you dont do them.

So the idea behind these attacks, the idea behind the calls for not letting this research be done is first to dry up the money.

And secondly to make sure that animal care committees will not approve anything that might draw the ire of the pharmaceutical companies. With those two things, youre done.

And if the science doesnt get done, then the only narrative that is out there is going to be the pharmaceuticals narrative, brought to you by Paul Offit and others like Paul Offit, and repeated endlessly by the media that depends for their profits on the pharmaceutical industry.

SO THE ANSWER IS NO, ITS NEVER GOING TO GET DONE [unless governments change, unless . shouldnt do it, and youre wasting animals. Animal care committees should never approve this research.][this seems pretty garbled. So it should read: unless governments change how willing they are to fund controversial research into scary topics like vaccines. And it will only get done if universities and animal care committees care more about exploring a range of issues and dont get frightened into blocking experiments because of complaints that too many animals are wasted on science thats already solved.

So its a two pronged approach: cut off the money, cut off permission to do the studies. Science doesnt get done. Then the only science done, if you want to call it science, that will be done is done by [the pharmaceutical industry].

And the media will report it, once again, as the science is solved.

And everything youre seeing [with the adverse effects in some children]must be a figment of your imagination because of that tinfoil hat youre wearing. It cant possibly be happening, and even if it were, it would be a good thing because neuro-diversity is wonderful.

Really just shut up and go away. Stop bothering people with this stuff. Youre wasting everybodys time.

No, the sad, short answer is, the science wont be done.

Finally, I asked Dr. Shaw about the possibility of a comparison study of completely unvaccinated and fully vaccinated children. What are the chances that this could be done?

There hasnt been a vaxxed/unvaxxed study, as far as I know apart from the one by Mawson last year. If [the pharmaceutical industry] is looking at the safety of a new vaccine, theyll compare it to another vaccine. They seem to have some problems understanding what a placebo control is.

They will often compare their vaccine to aluminum alone. And if you wanted to design a way to make sure you didnt find anything that would be a good way to do it. Of course, they dont want to find anything, so one has to suspect that maybe thats part of the plan.

No, that kind of study hasnt been done.

We have tried to do that. Thats our most recent study. Weve taken the vaccine schedule of the United States, taken the same vaccines and given them to the mice, at theand this is always a point of contentionequivalent ages that our children would receive them.

So with all those caveats in mind, we are actually doing that study.

And I think it will show some interesting stuff. But, at the end of the day, it might not. Statistically, we may discover theres nothing there. But thats okay.

Thats what NIH should be doing. NIH should be doing those sorts of things, and if it shows theres nothing there, then theres nothing there and you can move on.

You can look at ground water. You can look at other things in the environment, of which there are plenty. You would then eliminate vaccines alone as a single source.

I dont think its going to be that simple because I believe there are multiple contributors to any of the diseases children suffer

So when youre talking about neurological diseases, I dont think there is one factor. 

That kind of study would actually have to be deliberately done. One of those grant agencies would have to say, okay, were going to put aside fifty million dollars. Were just going to nail this one down finally. Were tired of hearing about it. Were just going to get it done. 

Were just going to get people that weve never heard of before, and were going to offer them a grant to go do this. And whatever they get, they get. 

THATS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.



Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government said that in the wake of prior alerts by its engineers, Kerala's Water Resources Secretary had written to her counterpart in Tamil Nadu government and the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, requesting controlled release of water without waiting for the water level in the reservoir to reach its full level.

New Delhi: The sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in Kerala, the state government told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

It said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one-sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods. The Pinarayi Vijayan government said that in the wake of prior alerts by its engineers, Kerala's Water Resources secretary had written to her counterpart in Tamil Nadu government and the chairman of the Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, requesting controlled release of water without waiting for the water level in the reservoir to reach its full level.

"Accordingly, the Tamil Nadu government was requested to gradually release water at least by 139 feet...But no positive assurance in this regard was received from Tamil Nadu even after repeated requests... "But the sudden release from the Mullaperiyar dam, third largest reservoir in the Periyar Basin, forced us to release more water from Idukki reservoir, downstream of Mullaperiyar, which is one of the causes of this deluge," the affidavit said.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river. The state government said that to avoid a repeat of such situations, the Supervisory Committee be headed by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission with Secretaries of both the states as members.

This panel should be empowered to take decisions by a majority opinion regarding operations during the flood or any similar crisis, it said.

The Kerala government also sought the constitution of a Management Committee to manage the day-to-day operations of the Mullaperiyar Dam. "We propose that this committee to be headed by a chief engineer/superintending engineer of the CWC with both chief engineers/superintending engineers of the two states," the state government said.

The affidavit was filed in pursuance to August 18 direction of the apex court which had asked the Kerala Chief Secretary to show the steps they have been taken to meet the needs of disaster management, rescue operations and rehabilitation. Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the dam as the floods in Kerala have created a havoc.

The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level. The direction to consider reducing the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet had come in the backdrop of Kerala chief minister writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart EK Palaniswami seeking lowering of the water-level in the Mullaperiyar dam in the interest of its safety.

The top court had said the committee may suggest measures before releasing water in the downstream areas to handle the disaster so that the people are not hit by "the catastrophe of the flood". Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea with regard to bringing down the water level in the dam, saying the current inflow of water into the dam was 20,000 cusecs and due to rains, it may not be possible to reduce water level immediately.
The Supreme Court Friday ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar Dam be maintained at 139 feet till 31 August keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar Dam be maintained at 139 feet till 31 August keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud considered the Centre's submission that the sub-committee of the Mullaperiyar Dam had met on 23 August and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level is maintained at 139 feet, which is two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court.

The bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management and said that the decision to lower the water limit in the Dam has been taken in view of the devastating deluge in Kerala.

The observation came after Tamil Nadu government alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit.

The bench fixed the matter for hearing on 6 September and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses in the meantime.

The Kerala government had on Thursday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

It had said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one-sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the Dam as the floods in Kerala have created a havoc.

The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level.

The direction to consider reducing the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet had come in the backdrop of Kerala chief minister writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart EK Palaniswami seeking to lower the water-level in the Mullaperiyar Dam in the interest of its safety.

The Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea with regard to bringing down the water level, saying the current inflow of water into the Dam was 20,000 cusecs and due to rains, it may not be possible to reduce water level immediately.
The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the West Bengal government on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of three BJP workers in the state.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the West Bengal government on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of three BJP workers in the state.

A bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notice and sought response of the West Bengal government and CBI on a plea filed by BJP leader and advocate Gaurav Bhatia.

Bhatia, appearing in person, said the three murders of Shaktipad Sarkar, Tirlochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar have taken place in the state but police have not registered FIR and their family members have been allegedly threatened.

He said a CBI probe should be ordered and a compensation of Rs 50 lakh should be directed to be given to the family members. He also sought security for family members of the victims.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to give an urgent hearing on the plea seeking a CBI probe into the killing of two BJP workers in Purulia district of West Bengal after panchayat polls.

The counsel had said that it is a serious matter as the killing of BJP workers have taken place after the panchayat polls in Purulia district.

On 30 May, 18-year-old Tirlochan Mahato, a BJP worker from Balrampur village of Purulia district was found hanging from a tree with a poster written in Bengali struck on his back, saying he was killed for canvassing for the BJP during panchayat election.

Another death of one Dulal Kumar, also a BJP worker, had taken place on 2 June in a similar manner in the same district.

A local BJP leader in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district was hacked to death by unidentified miscreants in Mandir Bazar area of the district on 28 July.
The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

With Kerala government squarely putting the blame of the recent floods on neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Edapaddy Palaniswami government is ready to counter the allegations in the courtroom.

According to CNN-News18, the Tamil Nadu government is preparing to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court to contradict Kerala's claim that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam  which is run and managed by the upper riparian state of Tamil Nadu  was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in Kerala.

Sources informed News18, that the Palaniswami government has instead sought to blame the authorities in Kerala, stating that the state machinery was not ready to handle the torrential rainfall and the resulting unavoidable release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam. The Tamil Nadu government also told the court on Friday that it will submit an affidavit later to respond to Kerala's allegations.

The Kerala government had on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Tamil Nadu suddenly released water from Mullaperiyar Dam, without giving it time to prepare for the resulting deluge.

Kerala said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one-sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government said that in the wake of prior alerts by its engineers, Kerala's Water Resources Secretary had written to her counterpart in Tamil Nadu government and the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar Dam, requesting controlled release of water without waiting for the water level in the reservoir to reach its full level.

"Accordingly, the Tamil Nadu Government was requested to gradually release water at least by 139 feet...But no positive assurance in this regard was received from Tamil Nadu even after repeated requests...

"But the sudden release from the Mullaperiyar Dam, third largest reservoir in the Periyar Basin, forced us to release more water from Idukki reservoir, downstream of Mullaperiyar, which is one of the causes of this deluge," the affidavit said.

However, Tamil Nadu contradicted these claims and said that the Kerala authorities, including Idukki collector were informed on 14 August that water will be released from the dam, the next day. However, the Kerala authorities failed to act.

The Tamil Nadu government alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit.

However, the Supreme Court said that it would not want to go into the differences between the two states, and was only dealing with the disaster management aspect of it. The court has ordered the two states to maintain the water-level in Mullaperiyar Dam at 139 feet, two feet lower than the normal level until 31 August.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

The state government said that to avoid a repeat of such situations, the Supervisory Committee be headed by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission with Secretaries of both the states as members.

This panel should be empowered to take decisions by a majority opinion regarding operations during a flood or any similar crisis, it said. The Kerala government also sought the constitution of a management committee to manage the day-to-day operations of the Mullaperiyar Dam.

"We propose that this committee is headed by a Chief Engineer/Superintending Engineer of the CWC with both Chief Engineers/Superintending Engineers of the two states," the state government said.

The affidavit was filed in pursuance to 18 August direction of the apex court which had asked the Kerala chief secretary to show the steps they have been taken to meet the needs of disaster management, rescue operations and rehabilitation.

Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the Dam as the floods in Kerala have created a havoc.

The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level. The direction to consider reducing the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet had come in the backdrop of Kerala chief minister writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart seeking to lower the water level in the Mullaperiyar Dam in the interest of its safety.

The top court had said the committee may suggest measures before releasing water in the downstream areas to handle the disaster so that the people are not hit by "the catastrophe of the flood".

Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea with regard to bringing down the water level in the Dam, saying the current inflow of water into the Dam was 20,000 cusecs and due to rains, it may not be possible to reduce water level immediately.
A personal security officer (PSO) assigned to Union minister Uma Bharti allegedly committed suicide in Bhopal when he was being taken to the police station following a dispute with wife, an official today said.

Bhopal: A personal security officer (PSO) assigned to Union minister Uma Bharti allegedly committed suicide in Bhopal when he was being taken to the police station following a dispute with wife, an official today said.

Ram Mohan Dauneriya, a company commander-rank officer of Madhya Pradesh police's Special Armed Force, allegedly shot himself with his service revolver late last night in a police vehicle. Kamla Nagar police station in-charge Madan Mohan Malviya said that following an altercation, Dauneriya's wife called the police control room last night and informed that her husband was drunk and was beating her.

A police team was sent to Dauneriya's house. The policemen tried to resolve the dispute, but as Dauneriya's wife insisted on filing a complaint, they asked the couple to come to the Kamla Nagar police station with them, Malviya said.

On the way, Dauneriya took out his revolver and shot himself in the head inside the police vehicle, he said. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he was declared brought dead, the officer added. Superintendent of Police Dhamveer Singh Yadav said the deceased was serving as a PSO of Bharti, who is a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister.
The Uttar Pradesh government said on Thursday that it has suspended Muzaffarnagar Additional District Magistrate Harish Chandra, who has had a spat with a retired Army colonel over an illegal construction at his residence in Noida.

Noida/Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government said on Thursday that it has suspended Muzaffarnagar Additional District Magistrate Harish Chandra, who has had a spat with a retired Army colonel over an illegal construction at his residence in Noida. "Harish Chandra, who was posted as additional district magistrate (executive) in Muzaffarnagar, has been suspended," additional chief secretary Mukul Singhal told PTI.

The webpage relating to Chandra on the website of the state Department of Appointment and Personnel said, "Suspended and attached to Commissioner Chitrakoot Dham Division." Earlier on Thursday, Noida Authority demolished the illegal construction at Chandra's residence in Sector 29. "Two illegal balconies, an asbestos shed above a car garage and two temporary garages were removed from the plot in Sector 29 during an anti-encroachment drive between 6 am and 12 noon in the presence of authority officials and the police," an Authority official said.

"Removing encroachment is a continuous process for the authority. Whenever we are alerted about such construction or illegal developments, the authority takes action against it following due procedures," the official told PTI. Colonel (Retd) Virendra Pratap Singh Chauhan (76), who served in the elite 1 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), had filed a complaint against the illegal construction some time ago with the authority as well as the police. Chauhan and Chandra live on the ground and third floor of the building respectively.

"The ADM was getting some construction done to convert his car garage, near my house, into a guest house. It was illegal and not permitted by the Noida Authority. I had raised objection against it because it was also obstructing the passage, sunlight and air flow into my house," Chauhan had said in the complaint. Chauhan had also claimed that Chandra previously served in the Noida Authority and used his influence to get the complaint overlooked.

The demolition comes two days after Chauhan was released on bail in a molestation case. He was arrested on 14 August after Chandra's wife in a police complaint alleged molestation and that the Army veteran hurled caste-based abuses at her. Chauhan had filed a counter-complaint from Luksar Jail, acting on which the Gautam Budh Nagar administration instructed the police to file a case of assault against the ADM and six others, including his wife, son and aides. During investigation, the CCTV footage of the 14 August incident emerged which purportedly showed the ADM and his family assaulting Chauhan. Subsequently the police arrested two people, including one of the ADM's gunners and his aide.
The Supreme Court also set aside Calcutta High Court order allowing the filing of nomination papers through e-mail, WhatsApp in West Bengal panchayat polls.

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Election Commission to notify winning candidates on uncontested seats in West Bengal panchayat polls. The top court did not allow the pleas of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeking cancellation of panchayat polls over 20,000 uncontested seats. In May, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) had won 20,159 seats without contest.

The apex court, however, took note of the allegations and said the aggrieved candidate may file election petitions to challenge panchayat polls in courts concerned. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud exercised its power under Article 142 of the Constitution and held that the limitation period of 30 days for filing the election petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results.

The Supreme Court also set aside the Calcutta High Court order, which had allowed the filing of nomination papers through email and WhatsApp in the West Bengal panchayat polls.

The apex court had earlier also stayed the Calcutta High Court's order asking the state election body to accept the nomination papers filed through email for the panchayat elections and directed the poll panel not to declare in the gazette the names of those candidates who had won unopposed.

Earlier, the apex court had termed the situation as "grim and grave" and had directed the West Bengal State Election Commission not to declare and notify the results of panchayat body elections in the wake of allegations of large-scale violence and alleged obstruction of filing nomination papers.

The top court had on 13 August asked the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) as to whether it conducted any probe into the fact that a large number of seats in the local body elections in the state went uncontested.

Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayat, village and zilla parishad and panchayat samiti, 20,159 had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May. The top court had told the state poll panel that the issue of the huge number of uncontested seats has been bothering it.

The poll panel had argued that 33 percent of nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested in the state was not "an alarming situation".

It had cited Uttar Pradesh where almost 57 percent panchayat seats went uncontested and the figure was 51 percent, 67 percent and 27.6 percent in Haryana, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh respectively. The panel had also said that it cannot persuade political parties to field candidates and, moreover, it took prompt actions when it received complaints about panchayat elections and even held re-polls.

The West Bengal government had said that the panchayat polls cannot be set aside on the basis of "conjecture and surmises" of some political parties as no individual candidate has approached the court with the claim that he or she has been restrained from filing nomination papers.

The ruling All India Trinamool Congress party had contended that not a single candidate has approached any court with the grievance that he or she has been stopped from filing nomination papers. The Opposition parties CPM and BJP, who have opposed the contention of the state government, poll panel and the TMC, alleged that West Bengal did not witness a free and fair election and the candidates hailing from these two parties were stopped from filing nomination papers.

During the previous hearings, the apex court had expressed shock at the fact that "thousands and thousands" of seats in the recent West Bengal panchayat polls had remained uncontested, observing that these figures showed that grass root-level democracy was not working.

With inputs from PTI
Design is often an afterthought for most small businesses, but Indianama is working towards giving them a visual identity to enhance their prospects

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, yes, but it can be repurposed, redrawn and eventually resold, because at the end of the day, it is an exchange between the object and the person who views it.

The founding principle of any marketing exercise is probably similar; the belief that not only can an image be created, but that it can also be altered from time to time. Indianama, a unique design project that began back in 2015, has in its current season brought together 71 designers to work on 71 small shops and businesses with the motive to change their outlook, all through the soft power of design. Indianama 2018 therefore goes to the roots  the streets of Delhi, of neighbourhoods like Mehrauli and Karol Bagh to give small businesses a new lease of life.

While Indianama 2016 focused on Indias history and the 2017 edition invited designers to create posters about tourism, its current edition intends to engage with the streets. We wanted to go to the grassroots, basically the streets of the city. Design is often an afterthought for most small businesses. If these small businesses have a board and it lists objects and prices that make sense, that is enough for most of them. We wanted to change that perception and help people get noticed. Because to any shop or business, the attention it gets is essential to the eventual business it does, says Jaynish Shah, the manager of the project.

Each of the designers has been assigned one shop from a neighbourhood in Delhi. Shah says the choice of shops was fairly organic and not pre-planned. Our team of three people went around Delhi, walking and speaking to shopkeepers. We did not have set types of businesses in mind. But we were aware that some of them would be more challenging than others, he says. The most difficult part, Shah explains, was where they had to convince the owners of these businesses. A lot of people did not like change. Nor do a lot of them want to have conversations about financial details or anything personal that makes them uncomfortable. Convincing them to allow us this chance at a makeover of their businesses was the most difficult part, he adds.

Once the list of shops had been prepared and documented, each was assigned to a designer who would then bring their own sensibility to the project. Naturally, certain types of businesses, like tea and coffee shops, are easier to market and even improvise on as compared to something like a hardware store. Design is not just a tag, or an information placeholder, it is also often identity. A majority of the small businesses on the streets of Delhi exist without any identity of their own. They are basically generalisations of a business type. We wanted to change that, so even the smallest, meekest of businesses could get that identity and their own sense of place on the street, Shah says.

Delhi itself is a glorious example of how design and visual currency works to elevate neighbourhoods. At the heart of Delhis Hauz Khas village, often considered one of its most culturally affirmative places, has been a gradual exercise in visual language. Most shops, bars and outlets here invest as heavily in the brands they purportedly want to become as in the thing they want to sell. There are similar hubs that are evidence of how effective the language of visuals can be. India has, of course, itself undergone massive change in the way its businesses communicate after globalisation. And the shops chosen by Indianama have now made that long overdue step into the modern era.

But while convincing shopkeepers to allow modern designers to rebrand their place of work is one thing, getting it right is another. The shops, the businesses that we rebrand stand out in their place, but we cant overdo things either. The idea was never to revamp a neighbourhood, but basically give a business a visual identity, so it may enhance its prospects. We cant be too loud. The designers also need to have a conversation with the business owners, because sensitivity towards the work and understanding stakes on both sides is crucial to the project being a success. Then we had to also make sure the installation onsite was as satisfactory as it must have been to work on, inside the designers' studios, Shah says.

Indianama has so far remodelled 14 shops. Since it is self-funded, Shah says the project will move forward cautiously. As for its impact, he is delighted so far. A lot of people have come forward with requests, asking us to rebrand their shops. Some of the businesses we worked on have started to draw more attention. We managed to get a whole lane of shops in Karol Bagh, so it is safe to say that this part of the neighbourhood will look decidedly different," he says. From a little kiosk that sells eggs to a hakeem from old Delhi, Indianamas attempt to bring small businesses into the visual dictionary of the modern world is laudable, and could yet prove decisive to the future of its subjects.
Bihar's urban development minister Suresh Sharma has maintained that his name was being dragged in the scandal because he was the local MLA and has insisted that he has no relations with Brajesh Thakur.

Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Accusing Tejashwi Yadav of dragging his name in the shelter home sex scandal, Bihar minister Suresh Sharma on Friday lodged a defamation suit against the RJD leader.

Sharma, who holds the urban development ministry and represents Muzaffarpur constituency in the state Assembly, filed his complaint before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Hari Prasad.

The matter is likely to be taken up for hearing on 29 August.

Notably, the BJP MLA had in July sent a legal notice to Yadav  the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly  for alleging that he had close links with Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in the sexual abuse of 34 girl inmates of the shelter home run by his NGO.

Sharma has maintained that his name was being dragged in the scandal because he was the local MLA and has insisted that he has no relations with Thakur.

Meanwhile, Yadav has demanded the minister's resignation and accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of being "scared" of pressing for the same as Sharma belonged to the BJP, which was in power at the Centre.

Manju Verma, an MLA of Kumar's JD(U), had resigned as the social welfare minister in July after it came to light that her husband had spoken to Thakur 17 times between January and June.

The scandal had come to light following a social audit report submitted by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences before the state government earlier in 2018.

Medical examinations pointed at the possibility of 34 of of the inmates of the shelter home, all minor girls, having faced sexual abuse.

Altogether 10 persons, including Thakur  who headed the NGO which ran the state-funded shelter home  were arrested in pursuance of an FIR lodged by the social welfare department.

The matter was handed over to the CBI following a huge public outcry.

Thakur's NGO was initially blacklisted and its registration later on cancelled and bank accounts frozen.
Political workers in several parts of Kerala have been making crass attempts to take credit for the selfless service rendered by people out of true concern for their fellow human beings

Editor's note: Described as one of the worst since 1924 by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the rains in Kerala have left over 350 dead and rendered thousands of people homeless. According to the latest tally, 80,000 have been rescued so far. Over 1,500 relief camps have been set up across the state that currently house at least 2,23,139 people. In a multi-part series, Firstpost will attempt to analyse the short-term and long-term impact of these unprecedented floods on the lives of the people, economy of the state, and the environment.

***

Around 500 fishermen from Thiruvananthapuram district rejected the reward announced for them by the Kerala government for saving hundreds of people stranded in flood-ravaged areas of Pathanamthitta district, saying what they did was service. Raju Thomas, who led the team with 130 boats, said that they considered the feeling of gratitude writ large in the face of the rescued men and women as the biggest reward they have got for their work. He said several fishermen had also refused to accept individual rewards offered to them by the rescued people and their relatives.

Like the fisherfolk, thousands of locals rushed to the spots of devastation long before government rescue teams arrived and saved the lives of large numbers of people marooned in the floods, regardless of religion, caste and economic status. Similar unity was also seen in the relief camps, where hundreds of thousands of ordinary people joined hands to provide succour to their suffering brethren casting aside all boundaries of religion, community and politics.

After stories of several such acts of heartwarming solidarity started doing the rounds on social media, political workers in several places jumped on the bandwagon trying to take credit for the self-less service rendered by people out of true concern for their fellow human beings. While a majority of the workers of all parties genuinely worked in tandem with ordinary people serving the victims without any banners (and others under the banner of various voluntary agencies), some tried to derive political capital from the calamity that displaced more than 1.5 million people by trying to take charge of relief camps and claim credit for the relief materials provided by others.

The attempt by a group of ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers to put their party flags on a vehicle transporting the relief materials led to tension at a relief camp at Njarackkal in Ernakulam district. When the police intervened in the issue, the party's area secretary at Nayarambalam put a sack containing relief materials on the head of a police official. The Varappuzha Police has registered a case against the party leader, Ullas. under non-bailable sections of the IPC in this connection.

In another incident, the North Paravur Police censured a local CPI leader for creating a ruckus at a relief camp at St German's LP School in Kochi's Kacherippady. He has been barred from entering the relief camp premises after camp organisers accused him of attempting to pilfer relief materials.

Attempts by the ruling party workers to hijack the camps have also been reported from several places. CPM workers threatened a village official at Kalpetta for preventing them from taking over control of a relief camp at Vythiri in Wayanad district. Party workers allegedly also tried to take over a camp at Kalamaserry in Ernkulam district after evicting a group of students who managed the camp and another at Pandhalam in Pathanamthitta district managed by a group of Muslim organisations.

There have been several such incidents involving not only the workers of the CPM, but also other parties. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party also tried to take credit for the relief work by putting up their party flags and banners in the relief camps. After the fierce competition by political workers to take political mileage from the relief workers triggered tensions in many camps, the state government banned party flags and banners near relief camps. The government has also stopped party workers from entering the camps and interacting with the people housed there.

The state police has posted additional forces in camps to implement the directives. The police has also set up help desks in all the camps equipped with radio communication devices. A woman civil police officer has been posted in all help desks to help women camped there.

Meanwhile, party workers took their claims to social media by sharing images showing them aiding affected people in relief camps. Several parties and their affiliates also launched fundraising campaigns on social media. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was trolled extensively after the images it shared on its official Facebook handle were found to be from an old flood. The social media handle shared pictures of a flood that battered Kozhikode and Kannur in 2012, claiming that the individuals in the images were Seva Bharati volunteers working among victims of the current flood.

One of the images shared as part of the campaign showed a TV channel reporter with many people standing in the background including a few wearing khakhi shorts  the old RSS uniform. The image was widely circulated by many on social media.

The RSS sought to wriggle out of the embarrassment saying that the team from Kerala shared both the photos of 2012 and 2018 in gratitude towards the reporter who was among the few reporters who covered the relief activities in 2012 and in 2018.

"To cover such relief activities and putting themselves at risk is appreciable and hence we thought it fit to share. Both (sets of) the photographs have been shared in this album," the RSS clarification said. The statement claimed that that the extensive relief activities by swayamsevaks and Seva Bharati are there to be seen by people who are involved in the relief activities and the victims themselves. Instead of spreading false canards, everyone should pitch in to save those in distress.

However, a person from the Sangh Parivar ruffled a lot of feathers by circulating an audio clip in the social media saying that most of the people who were impacted by the flood are rich and they do not need any handouts. The person, who has been identified as Suresh Kochattil from Hyderabad, also appealed to the people not to contribute to the chief ministers relief fund and instead put the money in the hands of Seva Bharathi, which was doing exemplary work in providing relief to the victims.

There were also attempts from several quarters to cast communal aspersions on various agencies engaged in the relief activities. Officials at a relief camp at St Albert's College in Ernakulam attempted to assume control of the camp following a slander campaign that they were working on communal lines. However, innumerable heartwarming instances of people joining hands to help their brethren casting away their political, caste, communal and religious differences have drowned out this hate-mongering and mischief for the time being.
Mamata Banerjee called the Supreme Court verdict on West Bengal panchayat poll as a 'victory of democracy and of the people'

Kolkata: Dubbing the Supreme Court verdict on West Bengal panchayat polls as a "victory of democracy and of the people", Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday slammed the BJP, the Congress and the CPM for "defaming" the state through false propaganda.

It was a planned move by the three political parties to gain political advantage, Banerjee said.

Welcoming the Supreme Court's verdict, she said these parties had deliberately resorted to false propaganda.

"I think it is a victory of democracy and victory of the people. I want to dedicate it to the people of the country," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

She said the CPM and the BJP moving the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of elections in over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal had brought bad name to the state.

"It was a planned move by the CPM, the Congress and the BJP to malign the state and they have been doing it continuously," Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress chief, said.

The Supreme Court has turned down the pleas of the CPM and the BJP seeking cancellation of elections on over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal.

All the uncontested seats were won by candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The CPM and the BJP, which opposed the contention of the state government, state poll panel and the TMC, had alleged that West Bengal did not witness a free and fair election and the candidates of these two parties were stopped from filing nomination papers.

Elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in gram panchayats, 825 posts in zilla parishads and 9,217 posts in panchayat samitis and the TMC won about 34 percent seats uncontested.
Rahul Gandhi yet again lashed out at the BJP and Narendra Modi government during an interaction with students at the London School of Economics.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday yet again lashed out at the BJP and Narendra Modi government during an interaction with students at the London School of Economics.

"The next election is going to be pretty straightforward. It's going to be BJP on one side and the entire Opposition on the other side. Almost everybody on the Opposition, and also some members of the BJP alliance, feel that there is an encroachment taking place on Indian institutions. You saw four Supreme Court judges come out and say that they were not allowed to do their work," said Gandhi.

"There is a feeling in the Opposition that for the first time, an organisation is challenging the very idea of India. We need to defend the inclusive idea of India," he said.

"You can look at the UP and Bihar alliances as the central areas (for a united Opposition)," he added.

"What we are defending is the onslaught on the Indian Constitution. And the entire Opposition sees it as defending the nature of the Indian state," Gandhi said. "Our first priority is to defeat the BJP and stop the poison from being spread."

"We are actually constructing a manifesto for the Congress at the state and national level. We are also talking to allies on what a (united) framework would look like. There are also some parties that are not now aligned with the BJP," Gandhi said.

"I see this as an ideological battle. We are not going to make alliances with anybody who is not on our ideological platform," he added.

On the issue of minority rights, Gandhi said that since everyone in India contributes to its development, everyone needs to benefit.

"There are two big transitions taking place on this planet on a massive scale. There is the movement of Chinese people from their villages into their urban areas. The Chinese have organised it. We have a less organised, more chaotic and more organic structure," he said.

"Whatever we have achieved so far has been achieved on the back of all Indian people. If the whole of India has sacrificed to get us where we are, the whole of India has to benefit," he added.

"You cannot say: We are going to exclude tribals, Dalits, farmers, women. There shouldn't be a single Indian person who should feel that his or her voice is not heard," said the Congress president.

When asked about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Congress, Gandhi said, "Congress is an idea that is very old. It is not a new idea, similar to the RSS, which is also an old idea. If you read our history, these ideas have been in combat for thousands of years."

"The RSS vision is a top-to-bottom hierarchy where knowledge is centralised. Congress vision is a decentralised structure," he said. "The Congress has this idea embedded deep inside it. You find non-violence in them (Congress leaders)," he added.

"Our weakness is that the Congress is not able to express that idea to people. People struggle to see that idea clearly," Gandhi said. "It's very clear what the BJP, RSS are saying. The RSS has spent a certain amount of time working on that idea. Gandhiji used to do that for us. That's where Congress has not kept pace. But the good news is that the idea is there in Congress."

"Congress has over time closed itself. The Congress needs to open itself. Congress needs to be precise about what it stands for," he added.

"The opportunity for the Congress for me is bringing in millions of Indians youngsters and delivering to them an organisation which empowers them to transform India," Gandhi said.

"Threat in the Congress: arrogance," he said.

"The reason Congress ran intro trouble in 2014 was because we found that there was an internal fight taking place between the old and younger generation. We have worked on that," Gandhi said.

When asked about his views on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Gandhi vaguely said that he was strictly against any form of violence.

"I think when Manmohan Singh spoke, he spoke for all of us. As I said earlier, I am a victim of violence. I know what it feels like. I am against any sort of violence," he said. "I condemn that 100 percent. I am 100 percent for punishment for people involved in any sort of violence," he added, after which the crowd broke into applause.

"People who haven't faced violence think that violence is something you see in movies. I have seen people whom I loved very much being killed. I have also seen the person who killed my father being killed and I can say that when I saw Mr Prabhakaran lying on the beaches in Jaffna, when I saw him being humiliated, I felt sorry for him because I saw my father in his place. And I saw his children in my place," said the Congress president.

When asked about dynastic politics, Gandhi said that even though him being part of a political family had helped him enter politics, he still had to struggle and fight elections like any other politician.

"I have fought three elections. So, the term 'dynasty' is not precise because I am actually elected. The important thing is that I operate in a democracy and I work with people. I get attacked by the Opposition, I learn, I react," he said.

"I have thought about some of these things in detail. The most important thing is what you actually bring to the table," he added.
For the second time on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi

For the second time on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his comments in Hamburg, Germany. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked Rahul if he had taken supari to attack Indian culture and said that he should apologise for his comments.

Rahul, in his address, while referring to the dearth of jobs for minorities, had cited the example of Islamic State, and argued that the exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of insurgent groups anywhere in the world. The Congress president also compared the RSS to the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world.

Responding to this, Patra said, "What you (Rahul) have said is unforgivable...The headlines of newspapers in Pakistan tomorrow will say that India is ruled by a government which is akin to the Muslim Brotherhood."

He further said, "Is a terrorist organisation ruling in India at present? Have the people of India voted for a terrorist organisation?...Jawaharlal Nehru had invited the RSS at a Republic Day event when he was the prime minister. Was it a terror organisation then?"

Patra also took a dig at photos of the Congress president put out recently on Twitter in a post which read, "The many facets of Rahul Gandhi." The BJP spokesperson said, "You (Rahul) get photos of yourself clicked, in which you are looking in all directions. Why don't you look at the work that RSS cadres are doing in flood-hit Kerala? Are the people who are carrying out this relief work terrorists?"

The BJP spokesperson said that the Congress president has 'no maturity and understanding of India' and added, "The only quality you possess is hatred for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP."

The Congress president on Friday repeated his comparison of the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood, this time in the UK.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest political Islamist group in the Arab world. It is not allowed to operate as an official political party in some Arab countries.

Addressing the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, Gandhi accused the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) of trying to change the nature of India and capture India's institutions.

"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions," he said.

With inputs from PTI
Reuters

Panasonic Corp said on Thursday it has partnered an affiliate of Japan Display Inc to license out a low-cost organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel-making process, a possible alternative to the conventional method used by dominant South Korean manufacturers.

The unlisted affiliate, JOLED Inc, is in talks with several global panel producers to license its printing process for OLED panels, where organic color materials are deposited onto glass substrates in a way similar to ink-jet printing.

The method can produce OLED screens 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper than the current evaporation process as it does not need equipment such as vacuum chambers or metal masks to deposit the color materials, according to JOLED.

Panasonic will design and develop printing equipment, while a unit of the panel and chip-making equipment manufacturer Screen Holdings Co Ltd will be responsible for the actual production of the equipment and maintenance.

JOLED, created in 2015 by merging the OLED divisions of Panasonic and Sony Corp, also plans to start mass production of smaller panels on its own in 2020.

To finance the production plan, JOLED raised 47 billion yen ($425 million) in June from the sale of new shares to auto parts maker Denso Corp and three other Japanese firms, JOLED said separately on Thursday.

Smartphone makers have been increasingly shifting to OLED, with Apple Inc adopting them for its latest iPhone X, as OLED screens are generally thinner and can show more vivid colors than liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.

Japanese manufacturers began investing in OLED technology in the 1990s, led by Sony and Pioneer Corp. Most gave up due to high costs and defect rates, allowing South Koreas Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Display Co Ltd to take the lead.
Indo-Asian News Service

Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 US presidential election, social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, say researchers.

The team led by researchers from the George Washington University discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeted about vaccines and skewed online health communications.

These Twitter accounts entered into vaccine debates months before election season was underway.

"It turns out that many anti-vaccine tweets come from accounts whose provenance is unclear. These might be bots, human users or 'cyborgs,' hacked accounts that are sometimes taken over by bots," said David Broniatowski, assistant professor in George Washington's School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, examined thousands of tweets sent between July 2014 and September 2017.

Dr Broniatowski's team reviewed more than 250 tweets about vaccination sent by accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian government-backed company that interfered in the 2016 US elections.

The researchers found the tweets used polarising language linking vaccination to controversial issues in American society, such as racial and economic disparities.

"These trolls seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," Mark Dredze, professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, said in a paper published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers found that 'content polluters,' bot accounts that distribute malware, unsolicited commercial content and disruptive materials, shared anti-vaccination messages 75 per cent more than average Twitter users.

"Content polluters seem to use anti-vaccine messages as bait to entice their followers to click on advertisements and links to malicious websites," noted Sandra Crouse Quinn, professor from University of Maryland.

The findings suggest that a significant portion of the online discourse about vaccines may be generated by malicious actors with a range of hidden agendas, Broniatowski added.
tech2 News Staff

Two weeks ago, Samsung announced its brand new Galaxy Note 9 smartphone, which was launched in India on 22 August, and is up for orders and available at offline stores for purchase. However, with the sales kicked off, Samsung is also offering some noteworthy offers on the phones, heres a lowdown on all the cash back and discounts that you could claim.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes in two variants, there is a 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage variant, which is priced at Rs 67,900, and there is an 8GB of RAM and 512 GB storage model, which will set you back by Rs 84,900.

Samsung upgrade offer

Samsung is providing an exchange offer on its website, where you can exchange any smartphone against the Galaxy Note 9 for up to Rs 6,000. However, you will be especially benefited if you are an existing Samsung customer. The company is offering an additional Rs 6,000 exchange value discount on and top of its original exchange value.

To put this in perspective, if you exchange a Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, you can get Rs 40,550 off, in addition to the Rs 6,000 exchange value offer. This means, the lower variant of Galaxy Note 9 will cost your Rs 67,900 - Rs 40,550 - Rs 6,000, which is Rs 21,350.

This offer is valid only till 31 August.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Cashback with HDFC Bank

Other than that, under a Finance and Upgrade offer, you can avail a cashback of Rs 6,000 if you make a purchase using an HDFC debit or credit card. However, you can claim this cashback only till 31 August 2018, after which this offer will be discontinued. Per the terms and conditions on the Amazon India website, when you make the purchase, the Rs 6,000 cashback will be credited to your account latest by December 31, 2018. This offer is available via both Amazon India and Flipkart.

Using this offer will bring the Note 9s price at Rs 61,900.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 cashback with Paytm

Similar to the HDFC offer, if you purchase the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 via Paytm Mall, you can get a cashback of Rs 6,000, in form of credit money. This money will be credited to your Paytm Wallet after 12 days of shipment of the product, and will only be valid on payments made via wallet or card.

Using this offer will bring the Note 9s price at Rs 61,900.

Do note, you can't club the Paytm cashback and HDFC card cashback. You will only get one of them at a time.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 exchange offer

On Amazon India, you get an exchange offer of up to Rs 10,293, on the purchase of the Galaxy Note 9. If you buy the device via Flipkart, you can get up to Rs 15,000 on an exchange.

This means, at the time of the purchase, if you exchange your old smartphone against the Note 9, you can get an additional discount. This discount will be determined by the platform that you are exchanging the device on, and the smartphone you are giving in exchange.

This can bring the Note 9s effective price down to Rs 57,607 on Amazon India, and Rs 52,900 on Flipkart.
Indo-Asian News Service

Global software major's Infosys Science Foundation will hold an eight-week online contest for teenage students across India on finding a solution to malnutrition among children below five years and pregnant women, said the not-for-profit organisation on Thursday, 23 August, 2018.

"The contest will be held for eight weeks for 1,000 students in 13-18 years age group enrolling before it commences on 10 September on an online platform," said the Foundation in a statement.

The contestants can work solo or in virtual teams of up to six members from across the country.

The competition will run on Launchpad, an online platform designed to facilitate global collaboration and problem-solving.

During the challenge, solvers will get help from mentors and experts in nutrition. They will be available on the digital platform to advise any team developing a solution.

Malnutrition also affects career prospects and productivity of the economy.

"The contest addresses a range of issues, including a solution to a social problem, develop empathy for their peers in India and promoting scientific thinking in the young students," said the statement.

The nine-year-old Foundation is collaborating with the New York Academy of Sciences to hold the nutrition challenge on its virtual platform.

"According to the National Health and Family Survey 2015-16, around 35 percent of children in India suffer from malnutrition, a condition that can cause stunted growth and negative health effects," said Foundation Trustee T V Mohandas Pai in the statement.

Pai was on the board of the city-based IT major as Director, Head of its Human Resources, Chief Executive of back office operations and Chief Financial Officer till 2011. He is currently Chairman of the Manipal Global Education.

The 200-year-old Academy is popular in the global scientific community.

An expert panel will judge the solutions and winners announced in December.

Winners will be selected based on deployment of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills to present a viable solution to the challenge.

The winning team will receive a scholarship of Rs 5 lakh per team member, and the two top finalist teams will view the launch of a rocket at the state-run Indian Indian Space Research Organisation rocketport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 90km northeast of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
US president Donald Trump on Friday announced the cancellation of his top diplomat's upcoming visit to North Korea.

Washington: US president Donald Trump on Friday announced the cancellation of his top diplomat's upcoming visit to North Korea, while taking a swipe at China over efforts to disarm the nuclear state.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said in a tweet.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearisation as they once were (despite the UN sanctions which are in place)," Trump said.
By Nathan Layne (Reuters) - The one juror who prevented a conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on all 18 criminal charges did not trust any of the witnesses and exasperated other members with her reasoning, a juror in the trial told Reuters.

By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) - The one juror who prevented a conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on all 18 criminal charges did not trust any of the witnesses and exasperated other members with her reasoning, a juror in the trial told Reuters.

The comments from Paula Duncan, the only juror so far to speak out after Tuesday's verdict in Alexandria Virginia, offered fresh insight into how the jury of six men and six women reached a consensus on 8 charges while deadlocking on the other 10 counts. The judge declared a mistrial on the 10 counts.

Duncan, 54, a Trump supporter, told Reuters in a phone interview that she believed Manafort had been "targeted" and "harassed" by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team but that politics did not influence how she considered the evidence. She also said politics did not play a role with other jurors.

Duncan said the other jurors were frustrated with the holdout, who prevented them from reaching a consensus to convict on seven of nine counts of bank fraud and three of four counts of failing to declare foreign bank accounts.

"She was just saying I want to review my notes," Duncan said. "When we asked her to explain her side she really couldnt give us a good reason. She just said she had reasonable doubt."

Manafort was found guilty on all five tax fraud charges related to his tax returns from 2010 to 2014, which contain a box to check on the existence of foreign bank accounts.

In addition to that check on the tax return, U.S. citizens with more than $10,000 in overseas accounts during a given year are required to submit a form called a foreign bank account report, or FBAR, detailing those accounts to the U.S. Treasury.

Duncan said there was no reason to have convicted Manafort on one FBAR count and not the other three. She said the holdout appeared to be willing to convict only for 2012 because there was a piece of evidence with Manafort's name on it.

"We didnt understand her logic and to us if he was guilty on the tax documents he was pretty much guilty on the FBARs," Duncan said. "It made sense to everyone but her."

The verdict was the first courtroom victory from Mueller's investigation of Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election.

Duncan said the documentary evidence was more than strong enough to overcome the testimony of Rick Gates, Manafort's former right-hand man and the prosecution's star witness, whose credibility withered under cross-examination.

"The evidence and the paper trail was there regardless of what Rick Gates said," Duncan said.

Duncan, who graduated with a degree in environmental science and journalism from the University of Missouri in 1989, said she was planning to write a book about her experience.

"I will probably touch on the counts but maybe focus more on being chosen to be a juror and the environment we are in right now," she said.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
















A Calgary-based organization with extreme right wing views were shouted down by protesters at their event last Sunday the 19th of August 2018, as police kept watch.

National Post reports that five members of the National Citizens Alliance tried to hold a rally at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth, but a much larger group of 60 to 80 protesters showed up and interrupted their plans. Police say the organizers left the area, and protesters dispersed shortly afterward.

The rally was earlier scheduled at the same venue for the previous day but they had to cancel and reschedule after a group of protesters shouted them down.

In June, they tried to gather in a central Halifax park after being denied the use of three indoor venues, the report says but they ended up leaving after they were quickly outnumbered by protesters.

The group which believes that extreme multiculturalism is a failed policy, wrote on its Facebook pace, all Canadians to join us in our mission to return Canada to the country it was intended to be.

The group was founded by Stephen J Garvey, a graduate of the University of British Columbia, and University of Cambridge. It claims to be non-tolerant of hate and racism, ironically the immigration policy on the groups website reads:

Implement strong no nonsense immigration policy that puts the well-being and safety of the Canadian people first and a temporary pause and substantial reduction in immigration The group takes its anti-immigration policies seriously claiming that they want to protect Canadas heritage and culture by keeping out immigrants. Some of their policies on immigration however come across as disregarding basic human rights. Some of their migration policies include:

Screening newcomers before entering Canada based upon a willingness to embrace Canadas distinct traditional identities, heritages, and cultural norms

Creating a support network for newcomers who have a genuine interest in integration that goes against their traditional homeland culture and religious norms

Requiring applicants who cannot immediately integrate into our economic, social and cultural norms to have Canadian citizens who sponsor them and who will be accountable for their actions while in Canada for 2 years; screening sponsors for a political agenda that seeks to recruit news arrivals for socioeconomic activism and the level of their own integration into Canada

Restricting or suspending indefinitely immigration rights to individuals from nations prone to terrorism activities, and/or those who have values and beliefs that are diametrically opposed to our own values and beliefs

Prohibiting people from wearing the burqa and niqab in public spaces

Deporting new arrivals who fail over a reasonable amount of time to integrate into our traditional economic, social, and cultural norms; establish a program that will check in on new arrivals who have been sponsored to assess their ability to integrate.





The group had earlier on in May, tried to carry out an anti-immigration rally at the Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival parade in Kentville, N.S. but were quickly shut down and banned from future performances at the festival. Michael Boudreau, a professor in the criminology department at St. Thomas University, speaking to CBC.Ca had then suggested that the group might be a little desperate for funding hence the frequent rallies.
In a speech to the media at a press conference, Pompeo said Biegun's joining is 'timely' as the two of them will travel to North Korea next week 'to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective', Xinhua news agency reported.

Washington: US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has named Stephen Biegun to be the new special envoy for North Korea.

The appointment on Thursday aims to fill key posts regarding the Korean Peninsula so as to facilitate issues like bilateral negotiations over denuclearization, peace regime and economic sanctions, among others.

In a speech to the media at a press conference, Pompeo said Biegun's joining is "timely" as the two of them will travel to North Korea next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective", Xinhua news agency reported.

"As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners," Pompeo said, noting that "using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Donald Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us."

For his part, Biegun said he fully understands the importance of this job.

"The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve," he said. "But the President has created an opening, and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea."

"This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong-un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore," he added.

Biegun is to continue the mission of Joseph Yun, who resigned from his post earlier this year for personal reasons.

US media outlets reported that the departure of Yun, who has been supportive of solving the Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue, was due to his long disappointment over the Trump administration's provocations against North Korea, and diplomats' lacking of speaking in the government's decision-making process.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration also appointed Harry Harris, former commander of US Pacific Command, to become US ambassador to South Korea.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said earlier on 19 August that Pompeo would leave for a trip to North Korea for the fourth visit since he assumed the current office, adding that Washington expects Pompeo to meet with the North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un.

"To move on with the process of denuclearization remains our highest priority," said Bolton, adding that "it's important that they (North Korea) demonstrate seriousness" in this regard.

Bolton said earlier last month that Washington has had a plan to dismantle the majority of North Korea's nuke and ballistic missile programs, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be discussing it with Pyongyang while visiting the country.

However, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the State Department will not provide a timeline for Pyongyang's abandonment of nuclear and missile program.

Pompeo has visited North Korea three times, respectively in April, May and July.

Trump on 20 August said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time.

He also said that he believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, and that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.

In the joint statement after the 12 June Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, Trump committed to providing security guarantees to North Korea, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders also agreed to commit to establish new US-North Korea relations, and to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula.

According to the website of Ford Motor Company, Biegun has been its vice president of International Governmental Affairs, overseeing "all aspects of Ford's international governmental relations, including trade strategy and political risk assessment."

Before joining Ford, Biegun worked in the White House from 2001 to 2003 as executive secretary of the National Security Council. He served as a senior staff member to former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He also served for 14 years as a foreign policy advisor to members of both the House of Representatives and the US Senate.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday spoke to Pakistan's new prime minister Imran Khan and sought 'decisive action' against all terrorists operating in the country.

Washington: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday spoke to Pakistan's new prime minister Imran Khan and sought "decisive action" against all terrorists operating in the country. The US has long been frustrated with Pakistan's overt and covert support to the Afghan Taliban and other terror groups, forcing the Trump administration to warn Islamabad and slash military aid to the country.

State department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that Pompeo, in his talks with Khan, also discussed Pakistan's vital role in promoting the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan. "Secretary Michael R Pompeo spoke today with Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and wished him success. Secretary Pompeo expressed his willingness to work with the new government towards a productive bilateral relationship," she said in the statement.

Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking "decisive action" against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process, she said. Meanwhile in Islamabad, foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by the US State Department on today's phone call between prime minister Khan and secretary Pompeo". "There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected," Faisal said on Twitter.

The Pakistani media this week reported that Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to hold talks with newly-elected prime minister Khan. Pompeo, who is expected in Islamabad on 5 September, would be the first foreign dignitary to meet Khan, Dawn reported, quoting the diplomatic and official sources. The relations between Pakistan and the US nose-dived after president Donald Trump in January accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.

The US Congress also passed a bill to slash Pakistan's defence aid to $150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than $1 billion per year. In his victory speech last month, Khan said he wants a balanced relation between Pakistan and America which should be mutually beneficial, not one sided.
Mike Pompeo along with Stephen Biegun, the new special envoy for North Korea will visit the country next week to discuss the dismantling of the Pyongyang nuclear weapon programme.

Washington DC: The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Thursday announced that he will visit North Korea next week to discuss the dismantling of the Pyongyang nuclear weapon programme.

The announcement came following the appointment of Ford Vice President Stephen Biegun as the US special representative to North Korea. Pompeo will be accompanied by Beigun on the trip.

"Stephen will direct US policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Donald Trump's goal of the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un," Yonhap quoted Pompeo as saying.

Yonhap added that the visit to North Korea is to make "further diplomatic progress towards our objective", which is denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. However, Pompeo did not reveal the exact date of his visit.

This will be his fourth visit to North Korea. During his last visit in July, the state secretary called the meeting with the vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Yong-chol "very productive" and further told media that he "spent a good time talking about denuclearisation."

In June, Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump signed a joint declaration following a summit in Singapore, according to which the North Korean leader committed for "complete denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula", while the US President pledged "security guarantees" to North Korea.
By Scott Malone and Bernie Woodall (Reuters) - Missouri is launching a probe of potential sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, the state attorney general said on Thursday, a week after a report finding widespread clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania. Attorney General Josh Hawley said his office had no power to force cooperation but the archdiocese had agreed to assist with the criminal probe

By Scott Malone and Bernie Woodall

(Reuters) - Missouri is launching a probe of potential sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, the state attorney general said on Thursday, a week after a report finding widespread clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania.

Attorney General Josh Hawley said his office had no power to force cooperation but the archdiocese had agreed to assist with the criminal probe.

"I am firmly of the view that full transparency benefits not only the public but also the church and, most importantly, it will help us expose and address potential wrongdoing and protect the vulnerable from abuse," he told reporters on a conference call.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson, in a letter to Hawley on Thursday said, he had invited investigators to review the archdiocese's files to determine whether it handled allegations of clergy sexual abuse properly.

The archdiocese has removed 27 living priests from the ministry because of sexual abuse allegations, including some who were forced out of the priesthood, Carlson said.

He said investigators would have "unfettered access" to files and that no priests currently serving in the archdiocese had credible abuse allegations levelled against them.

"We did this for one reason, the credibility of the archdiocese," Carlson told reporters.

The probe initially covers only the Archdiocese of St. Louis, one of five Roman Catholic dioceses in the state, Hawley said. He asked the bishops of the four other dioceses to agree to cooperate with the probe.

Dioceses are groupings of parishes and one of the main organizational structures of the Catholic church.

Jack Smith, spokesman for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said the diocese had not yet been formally contacted by Hawley's office, but would cooperate with any requests for a review of files.

Hawley, a Republican, is running for the U.S. Senate this year, a seat now held by Democrat Claire McCaskill.

Pennsylvania officials last week released the results of a two-year grand jury probe that found evidence that at least 1,000 people, mostly children, had been sexually abused by some 300 clergymen in the state during the past 70 years. The most-wide ranging report on clergy sex abuse in the United States said the numbers of actual victims and abusers could be much higher.

Similar reports have emerged in Europe, Australia and Chile, prompting lawsuits and investigations, sending dioceses into bankruptcy and undercutting the moral authority of the leadership of the Catholic Church, which has some 1.2 billion members around the world.

Reuters last week contacted the attorneys general of all states excluding Pennsylvania to see if they were considering similar actions. Only two, in New York and New Mexico, at the time said they had taken some initial steps toward doing so.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; editing by Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that the militant group's ideology has taken root in new corners of the world, demonstrating that it is 'an enemy that adapts, and one that will seek out the world's ungoverned spaces'.

United Nations: US Ambassador Nikki Haley has urged all countries to ensure that the Islamic State extremist group faces "an enduring defeat" and said the United States will deepen partnerships with countries fighting terrorism "when force is necessary".

She told the Security Council on Thursday that the militant group's ideology has taken root in new corners of the world, demonstrating that it is "an enemy that adapts, and one that will seek out the world's ungoverned spaces".

Haley urged countries to outsmart IS which is also known as ISIL, deny its fighters and supporters "safe haven," end conflicts in areas where the extremist group flourishes, and use sanctions "to deny funding to terrorist groups. The fight against terror will take different forms, but the outcome is certain," she said. "The United States will continue to be a force in this effort against ISIS and al-Qaida until we defeat this threat."

Undersecretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov said IS continues to pose a serious challenge, "especially due to its transformation into a covert network, the activities of its regional affiliates, and the complex threat posed by returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters and their families.".

While IS has been defeated in Iraq and "is in headlong retreat" in Syria, Voronkov warned that the rising threat from the militant group's fighters "will be diverse and hard to predict".

Assistant Secretary-General Michele Coninsx, who heads the Executive Directorate of the council's Counter-Terrorism Committee, said the return of IS fighters poses a range of challenges for governments including gathering evidence and having jurisdiction to prosecute them, and their potential for radicalising prisoners if they are incarcerated.

There is also a new potential risk from the forthcoming release of imprisoned IS fighters and members, she said, noting that governments are increasingly concerned some of them may "re-engage in terrorist activities and radicalization to violence".

Voronkov said IS' transformation from a "proto-state" that controlled a large swathe of Iraq and Syria to a covert network has made its finances hard to detect because the group's administrative functions have gone underground. IS "is still able to channel funds across borders often via intermediate countries, to their final destination", he said.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council: "The global terrorist tower of Babel has fallen to pieces. However, ISIL cells continue to speak in one tongue, and they're successfully coordinating among themselves." Following "the destruction" of IS' lucrative smuggling of oil and gas, Nebenzia said "terrorists" have turned to new sources of financial and logistical support.

IS adherents are speculating on stock markets and investing funds "in legal sectors of the economies of a broad array of countries", he said, including in tourism and the hospitality industry as well as agriculture, fish farming, industry and pharmacology and construction companies.

The extremist group "also continues to fight for control over narcotics flows, including from Afghanistan," Nebenzia said, and it "continues to receive revenue from foreign sponsors operating under cover of philanthropic funds, religious organizations and other non-government bodies".

At the start of the meeting, chaired by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt whose country holds the rotating council presidency, members and dozens of diplomats in the council chamber stood in silent tribute to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan who died last Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan has responded to US State Department's statement issued regarding the phone call that took place between state secretary Mike Pompeo and Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan has responded to US State Department's statement issued regarding the phone call that took place between state secretary Mike Pompeo and Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday.

Pakistan's foreign minister, Mohammad Faisal, tweeted that," Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on todays phone call between prime minster Khan and Secretary Pompeo. There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected."

Faisal was referring to US state department spokesperson Heather Nauert's statement in said that "Pompeo, in his talks with Khan, sought decisive action against all terrorists operating in the country qand discussed Pakistan's vital role in promoting the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan." Heather also mentioned in her statement that "Pompeo has expressed his willingness to work with the new Pakistan government towards building a productive bilateral relationship."

Meanwhile, according to reports Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to hold talks with newly-elected prime minister, becoming the first foreign dignitary to meet Imran Khan. Khan, in his victory speech on 26 July had said that he wants a "balanced relation between Pakistan and America which should be mutually beneficial and not one-sided".
South Korea wants to expand the family reunions, but experts say North Korea is reluctant to do so

Seoul: Elderly North and South Koreans wept and embraced each other on Friday at the beginning of a second round of temporary reunions of family members separated for decades by the Korean War.

More than 300 South Koreans travelled to the North's Diamond Mountain resort for three days of meetings with their long-lost relatives. Earlier this week, about 200 other South Koreans went to the scenic resort for similar reunions.

During the meetings on Friday, Kang Jong Hwa, an 85-year-old North Korean woman wearing a traditional hanbok dress, sobbed while touching the face of her 100-year-old sister from South Korea. "I cannot believe this," Kang said.

Two silver-haired brothers in their 80s also wept while surrounded by other relatives, while others asked each other about their lives in a rush of emotions.

"Thank you for being alive," Wu Ki-ju, a 79-year-old South Korean woman, said after seeing her 86-year-old North Korean sister in a wheelchair.

Participants in the latest reunions are to part again on Sunday, likely for good.

The two Koreas occasionally allow elderly people to reunite with loved ones on the other side of the border, but none has been given a second chance to meet.

The previous family reunions were in 2015.

The separated families are a bitter reminder of the division of the Koreas, which were once a single country.

The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

South Korea wants to expand the family reunions, but experts say North Korea is reluctant to do so because of worries that increasing their frequency will loosen its authoritarian control and cause it to relinquish a coveted bargaining chip in negotiations with the South.

This week's reunions were arranged as the rival Koreas take various steps aimed at improving ties amid diplomatic efforts to end the stalemate over North Korea's nuclear program.
Impeachment proceedings against US presidents and other senior federal officers gain a momentum of their own

Impeachment proceedings against US presidents and other senior federal officers gain a momentum of their own. They start small and then balloon into colossal stumbling blocks. Although no US president has ever been impeached and dismissed from office, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House of Representatives and rescued by the Senate.

Never has any president including Richard Nixon come so close to being the first for this dubious honour than Donald Trump this week as a double whammy slammed him in the political solar plexus. The low-blow came in shape of the Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's conviction in cases of tax evasion and bank fraud  gound guilty on eight of 18 counts by a jury of his peers. While Trump, the street fighter, might have absorbed this blow, there swiftly came a second uppercut as his legal advisor and 'Mr Fixit' Michael Cohen confessed to a federal judge that he had made illegal campaign contributions at the president's request to ostensibly silence women who had allegedly had affairs with Trump.

Not a good day at the Oval Office.

With a hostile media only two week ago having declared a collective front through a Boston Globe initiative to fight Trump, the new additions to the already impressive 'Gallery of Fallen Rogues' during Trump's tenure comes as a shiny new full metal jacket for the press top guns who will now make sure the president pays the price for his hostility. Trump is not making it easy for himself either with his belligerent mood unchanged, even going as far as to consider a pardon for his friend Manafort, whom he referred to as a 'brave man'

For those who remember Watergate, the fall of Nixon began with a simple robbery that was so distanced from the White House that connecting the dots was not even considered. But dogged investigation by Bob Woodward and Edward Bernstein and the murky Deep Throat brought a president to his knees. In Trump's case, his defence is now shrill and whining. His two-punch retaliation is based on the rhetorical question: How can anyone impeach someone who is doing such a great job? And on the projected threat of the stock markets collapsing if he was to face proceedings.

Neither of these premises will deter the anti-Trump segments and we can expect the pressure to ratchet up in the coming days. Most damaging is the confession by Cohen and the establishment of a direct link to corruption charges in naming Trump as the instigator.

It is a safe bet that the probe into the Russian role in the elections will now assume a more toxic dimension, and the stalling and confusion that has marked this investigation will heat up. Trump will not see the knockout blow coming. He truly believes the public loves him and to an extent, middle America does, but it is also naive enough to want a perfect paragon in the White House and anything sleazy tends to offend the public sentiment. The change of heart can be swift. For now, Trump will totter on and even if he is impeached by both the House and the Senate, he has to face a legislative vote before he can be removed from office.

Section Four of Article Two of the United States Constitution states unequivocally: "The president, vice-president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." That last word is vast in its application. It is comprehensive enough to cover deceit, evasion, lying, misconduct, theft, misappropriation and anything else one may like to tag as conduct unbecoming.

To date, no president has been removed from office by impeachment and conviction. Trump may be the first but he will not go silently into the good night more like kicking and screaming, if it comes to that.
In a city once called the Saudi Arabia of Venezuela for its vast oil wealth, residents of Maracaibo now line up to buy spoiled meat as refrigerators fail amid nine months of rolling power outages that recently got worse.

Maracaibo: In a city once called the Saudi Arabia of Venezuela for its vast oil wealth, residents of Maracaibo now line up to buy spoiled meat as refrigerators fail amid nine months of rolling power outages that recently got worse.

Some people fall ill eating the rotten beef, but at bargain prices, it's the only way they can afford protein as the country's crisis hits bottom. "It smells a little foul, but you rinse it with a little vinegar and lemon," said Yeudis Luna, a father of three young boys buying darkened cuts at a butcher shop in Venezuela's second largest city.

Venezuelans are enduring the worst economic downfall in the oil-rich country's history. Basic services like running water and electricity have become luxuries.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro blames the strife on an economic war waged by the United States and other capitalist powers. The governor of Maracaibo's Zulia state, Omar Prieto, recently said the rampant blackouts were being repaired, but relief has yet to come.

The sprawling port city of Maracaibo on the banks of a vast lake once served as a hub of Venezuela's oil production, producing roughly half of the nation's crude that was shipped around the world.

A bridge over Lake Maracaibo stands as a reminder of better times. The eight-kilometre long structure built five decades ago once glowed at night with thousands of lights, linking the city with the rest of Venezuela. Maracaibo was clean and bustling with international restaurants.

Today, the bridge's lights no longer shine and broken down oil platforms span the lake with downwind shores soaked in oil. The once-posh shopping centres have fallen into ruin and the international businesses have packed up and left.

For the last nine months Maracaibo's residents have endured rolling blackouts. Things turned dire on 10 August when a fire destroyed one of the main power line supplying the city of 1.5 million people. Refrigeration units fell idle and meat began turning. At least four butcher shops have been selling spoiled meat in Las Pulgas, Maracaibo's central market.

Butcher Johel Prieto said the outage turned an entire side of meat rotten. He ground up much of it and mixed it with a fresh red meat in an attempt to mask the spoilage.

A pungent tray of the ground meat and other greying cuts on display one day at his counter collected flies  and a steady flow of customers. Some feed it to their dogs, said Prieto, yet others cook it for their families. "Of course they eat the meat  thanks to Maduro," Prieto said. "The food of the poor is rotten food."

Across the way in another stall, a butcher  shirtless and smoking a cigarette  offers up trays of blackened cuts. "People are buying it," said Jose Aguirre who was unloading spoiled chicken.

Luna, a 55-year-old parking lot watchman, took a kilogram of cuts home knowing they were bad, but doing what he could to make the meat edible. His wife last year left for Colombia, abandoning him and their boys aged 6, 9 and 10. He said she couldn't stand the hunger anymore. He hasn't heard from her since.

Preparing the meat, Luna says he first rinsed it with water and then let it soak overnight in vinegar. He squeezed two lemons and let it simmer with a tomato and a half-onion. Luna and his boys ate it. "I was afraid that they would get sick because they are small," he said. "But only the little one got diarrhoea and threw up."
Russia will oppose a US request to the UN Security Council to blacklist two Russian shipping firms and six Russian-flagged vessels over their dealings with sanctions-hit North Korea

United Nations: Russia will oppose a US request to the UN Security Council to blacklist two Russian shipping firms and six Russian-flagged vessels over their dealings with sanctions-hit North Korea, the Russian ambassador has said.

The United States presented a request to a UN sanctions committee on Wednesday  its third bid in two months to seek UN action and turn up the pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs. The request was put forward a day after Washington slapped unilateral sanctions on the two Russian companies  Primorye Maritime Logistics and Gudzon Shipping  and the six vessels for supplying oil to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told AFP on Wednesday that the US sanctions were "illegal" and that the evidence put forward by the United States to justify action against the Russian firms was "unconvincing". "Of course we will oppose it," said Nebenzia of the US request to the sanctions committee. "It's obvious." The United States was seeking a global assets freeze on the two Russian firms, according to UN diplomats.

The shippers own a tanker, the M/V Patriot, which conducted ship-to-ship transfers of oil to North Korean tankers twice earlier this year, according to US officials. The five other vessels cited in the US request are owned by Gudzon, which along with Primorye Maritime Logistics operate out of the Russian port city of Vladivostok. The UN sanctions committee has until 29 August to formally consider the US request, but Russia made clear it would not be approved.

Russia and China this month blocked a US bid to add a Russian bank, a North Korean official and two entities to the UN sanctions blacklist. In July, they delayed a US request to cut off fuel deliveries to North Korea. The two countries have called on the Security Council to consider easing sanctions to reward North Korea for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier announced he will be making his fourth trip to North Korea next week, this time with the new US envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun. The United States has called for maintaining "maximum pressure" from sanctions until North Korea has fully dismantled its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

A report by a UN panel of experts this month warned that Pyongyang was circumventing sanctions through a "massive increase" of ship-to-ship transfers of oil products in international waters. The Security Council last year adopted three rafts of sanctions that banned exports of North Korea's raw commodities and other goods, and severely restricted imports including crucial deliveries of oil. The sanctions are aimed at cutting off sources of revenue for North Korea's military programs.
Satellite photos from last week indicate North Korea halted work to dismantle a missile engine test site in the first part of August, in spite of a promise to US President Donald Trump at a June summit, a Washington think tank reported on Wednesday.

Washington: Satellite photos from last week indicate North Korea halted work to dismantle a missile engine test site in the first part of August, in spite of a promise to US President Donald Trump at a June summit, a Washington think tank reported on Wednesday.

The 38 North project said commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station taken on 16 August indicated "no significant dismantlement activity" at either the site's engine test stand or launch pad since 3 August.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that reports that North Korea had started dismantling facilities at Sohae were consistent with a commitment North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made at a summit with Trump in Singapore on 12 June.

The 38 North report said significant progress in tearing down the test stand had been made from July to early August, but added, "The components previously removed remain stacked on the ground."

It said work to take down a rail-mounted transfer/processing building at the launch pad also appeared to have stalled and it was not clear if the work that had taken place on that was associated with dismantling or modification of the structure.

The 38 North report comes at a time of widespread doubts about North Korea's willingness to go along with US demands for it to give up its nuclear weapons.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a report on Monday that it had not found any indication that North Korea had stopped its nuclear activities.

In Singapore, Kim agreed in broad terms to work toward denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula but he has given no sign he is willing to give up his arsenal unilaterally.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Trump defended his efforts to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons, saying he believed North Korea had taken specific steps toward denuclearisation. He said he would "most likely" meet again with Kim.

However, several members of the US negotiating team said they had seen no progress toward denuclearisation and no sign that North Korea was prepared to negotiate seriously until the United States promised relief from sanctions in return.

North Korea state media last week blamed lack of progress in talks since the summit on members of the US negotiating team and said breaking the deadlock would demand "a bold decision on the part of President Trump." A commentary in its Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Saturday said those opposed to dialogue were seeking to derail talks by making baseless references to "secret nuclear facilities" in North Korea.

US officials have been trying to persuade North Korea to declare the extent of its weapons programs, something Pyongyang had always refused to do in past failed rounds of talks.

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said this month that Pyongyang had not taken the necessary steps to denuclearize while US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington was "not willing to wait for too long."

Bolton said Trump, in a letter to Kim, had proposed sending Pompeo back to North Korea for what would be his fourth visit this year and that the president was ready to meet with Kim again at any time.
By Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump drew a sharp rebuttal from his attorney general on Thursday after he gave a scathing assessment of Jeff Sessions as being unable to take control of the Justice Department. Trump intensified his criticism of the Justice Department in a Fox News interview broadcast on Thursday as the White House grappled to respond to the conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on multiple fraud counts and a plea deal struck by Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that implicated the president

By Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump drew a sharp rebuttal from his attorney general on Thursday after he gave a scathing assessment of Jeff Sessions as being unable to take control of the Justice Department.

Trump intensified his criticism of the Justice Department in a Fox News interview broadcast on Thursday as the White House grappled to respond to the conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on multiple fraud counts and a plea deal struck by Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that implicated the president.

He reprised a litany of complaints about the Justice Department and the FBI, attacking both without providing evidence they had treated him and his supporters unfairly.

Trump also renewed his criticism of Sessions, blaming him for what he called corruption at Justice.

"I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department," Trump said.

Sessions, in a rare rebuttal to Trump, issued a statement defending the integrity of his department.

"I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in," he said. "... While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Sessions, a longtime U.S. senator and early supporter of Trump's presidential bid, drew Trump's ire when he recused himself in March 2017 from issues involving the 2016 White House race.

That removed him from oversight of the federal special counsel's investigation of Russia's role in the election and whether Trump's campaign worked with Moscow to influence the vote. Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a witch hunt.

At the U.S. Capitol, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is both close to Trump and a defender of Sessions, said he believed Trump would appoint a new attorney general but should wait until after November congressional elections.

A source close to Trump expressed doubt that Trump would fire Sessions before the elections but said Grahams view that Sessions could go after the voting is a likely scenario.

On a good day he (Sessions) is a wounded puppy, the source said.

'WHAT KIND OF MAN IS THIS?'

Trump told Fox Sessions should not have recused himself from Russia-related matters.

"He took the job and then he said, 'I'm going to recuse myself,'" Trump said. "I said, 'What kind of a man is this?'"

However, Trump told "Fox & Friends" he would "stay uninvolved" in department matters.

Sessions was at the White House briefly on Thursday for a discussion on prison reform.

John Cornyn, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, defended Sessions, a former senator, as an "honourable man" dedicated to the rule of law.

"I know this is a difficult position for him to be in but I think it would be bad for the country, it would be bad for the president, it would be bad for the Department of Justice for him to be forced out under these circumstances," Cornyn told reporters at the Capitol.

Trump told Fox he respected Manafort for work he had done for prominent Republican politicians, adding that "some of the charges they threw against him, every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does."

The Fox News reporter who interviewed Trump said on Wednesday that Trump told her he would consider pardoning Manafort. But in the interview that aired Thursday, Trump never said he was considering the pardon.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump's favour. The Kremlin has denied the allegations and Trump has denied any collusion.

Trump said Manafort and Cohen were charged with matters totally unrelated to his presidential campaign, although Cohen told a federal court in New York that Trump had directed him to arrange payments before the 2016 election to silence two women who said they had affairs with Trump.

Asked if he directed Cohen to make the payments, Trump said only that Cohen made both deals. He attacked Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, for agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors that made Trump look bad.

"It's called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal," he said.

Trump was asked whether he thought Democrats would move to impeach him if they won control of the House of Representatives in November. "I don't know how you would impeach somebody who's done a great job," he said. "If I got impeached, I think the market would crash."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Makini Brice; Editing by Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
There were three contenders in the leadership vote: former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, who narrowly lost a leadership vote against Turnbull on Tuesday, Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Canberra: Treasurer Scott Morrison will be Australias new prime minister after winning a three-way battle for the leadership of the Liberal party on Friday, with incumbent Malcolm Turnbull not contesting the party ballot.

There were three contenders in the leadership vote: former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, who narrowly lost a leadership vote against Turnbull on Tuesday, Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

The Liberal party is the senior partner in the ruling conservative coalition that will face an election by May 2019. The Liberal-National government has consistently trailed the opposition Labor party in opinion polls.

If Turnbull resigns from parliament, he would leave the new government facing a by-election for his Sydney seat that could see it lose its one-seat majority. Turnbull said on Thursday he believed that former prime ministers are best out of the parliament.
If someone were to write a book on how the end of this Presidency began, it would start with Trump tweeting, in all CAPS, at 1 in the morning after Cohens guilty plea. Its looking more and more like the last days of Nixon, when he grew lonely and isolated and the walls closed in.

Up all night! - thats the screaming headline across US news networks other than US president Donald Trumps favourite Fox News channel.

If someone were to write a book on how the end of this Presidency began, it would start with Trump tweeting, in all CAPS, at 1 am in the morning after (Michael) Cohens guilty plea. Its looking more and more like the last days of Nixon, when he grew lonely and isolated and the walls closed in, Peter Baker of the New York Times told CNN.

Has the Trump presidency reached the equivalent of August 1974? Or to put it in a form that's more relevant to the Trump era, would the new horrors be enough to deliver a final blow?

The endgame, if it exists, looks clearer and closer than ever after Cohens flip. Nixons defenders, just like Trumps, used to call Watergate investigations a political witchhunt - an all too familiar moniker in the US today. Even two weeks before his fall from grace, most of Nixons party members voted against impeachment. It was only when the Democrats that year gained 49 more House seats in the midterms that Nixons exit was assured. The parallels are too many and they are stunning.

The legal system dumped two political hazards this week on Trump. His former 'fixer' Cohen pleaded guilty and said he and Trump arranged payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep them silent about their alleged affairs with him. And Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman during a key stretch of the 2016 race, was convicted by a jury of eight counts of bank and tax fraud. The combination set up a world of uncertainty for everyone allied with the president. In addition, Daniels and McDougal who say they were Trump's onetime paramours are suing to invalidate agreements designed to silence them.

The worst hour of his entire life: The walls may feel like theyre closing in on Trump, writes @sbg1 https://t.co/dbROCz8Z0n  Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) August 22, 2018

That pretty much sums up the grim mood in the White House even if nobody there is admitting it.

The US Presidents markedly nervous performance on a Fox and Friends interview the morning after Cohens bombshell speaks to the legal troubles he is up against.

For Trump, whos been ranting about immigration and border control, its the insiders who are turning the knives in. Not just that, more Republicans are talking about impeachment than Democrats. But, just like many of the breathtaking Trump news cycles, we dont know if Trump will ever face the reckoning that everyone's talking about.

Heres how the ducks are lining up with less than 80 days to go before the midterm elections 2018.

The fixer who wants to fix Trump

Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up $50,000.

Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president. Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, commented in court Tuesday that Trump had directed him to arrange payments of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election. While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday that he knew about payments "later on."

Tabloid magnate kept damaging Trump stories in a safe!

The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press. The detail comes as several media outlets reported Thursday that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.

'Loyalty freak' Trump finds that quality is rare in Washington DC

Loyalty has long been a core value for President Donald Trump. But he's learning the hard way that in politics, it doesn't always last.

Days after Cohen, the president's former personal attorney, implicated the president in a stunning plea deal, word surfaced that David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend and media boss, also was cooperating with prosecutors. Taking the Cohen news as a personal betrayal, Trump criticized his longtime fixer for "flipping," saying on "Fox and Friends" that such double-crossers "make up things" to get reduced prison time and become "a national hero."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushes back at Trump

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is declaring that the Justice Department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations" as he pushes back against President Donald Trump's latest jabs. Sessions' response came after Trump, appearing increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations, accused the attorney general of failing to take control of his department - euphemism for allowing the Mueller probe to land on Trump's front porch.Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal "fixer" Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if "flipping"  cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies."

Mueller probe is closing in

Special counsel Robert Mueller's timing has hurt the White House time and again. Mueller is still investigating Russia's attempts to sway voters in the 2016 election. The probe includes the hacking of Democrats' emails, whether the Trump campaign may have cooperated with Russia and if the president obstructed justice. Key to Mueller's investigation is a 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York between Donald Trump Jr., Manafort, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner and people with ties to Russia. Trump calls the probe a "witch hunt" and has not said whether he will sit for an interview with Mueller. A final report from Mueller could go to Congress  a move that would become more significant if Democrats win control in this year's elections.
Donald Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Jeff Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because he'd worked on Trump's campaign.

Washington: Attorney General Jeff Sessions punched back hard at President Donald Trump's latest criticism as their long-running rift exploded into a public smackdown. Trump, concerned by the legal downfall of two former advisers, accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department, leading Sessions to declare on Thursday that he and his department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal "fixer" Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted.

Trump said it might be better if "flipping"  cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favourable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies" to get favourable treatment.

In the wide-ranging interview, Trump also defended himself against talk of impeachment  "the market would crash ... everybody would be very poor"  tried to distance himself from Cohen  "I would see him sometimes"  and said anew that he hadn't known in advance about Cohen's hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman.

Trump's latest shots against law enforcement came as he appeared increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations after this week's one-two punch of Cohen's plea deal and the conviction of Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because he'd worked on Trump's campaign.

Trump, who blames that decision for the eventual appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, told 'Fox and Friends' host Ainsley Earhardt that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department and it's a sort of an incredible thing." "What kind of man is this?" Trump asked. "You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter," Trump said of Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse Trump's bid.

Sessions has made clear to associates that he has no intention of leaving his job voluntarily despite Trump's constant criticism. But his tone in his statement on Thursday made clear he is tired of the president's attacks. "I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda." He then declared, that while he's attorney general the actions of the department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."

In New York, meanwhile, it was reported that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, the publisher of National Enquirer, which bought and killed the stories of two women. People familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the publication kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cosy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 election.

In awkward schedule timing, Sessions met later Thursday with the president on prison and sentencing reform at the White House. But two people familiar with their meeting said the dispute was not discussed. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversation. Sessions has generally absorbed the Trump's blows without responding, though he has occasionally pushed back.
Australian Government has banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network as it is citing the risk of foreign interference and hacking. However, Beijing dismissed saying it as anexcuse to tilt the playing field against a Chinese firm.

We have been informed by the Govt that Huawei & ZTE have been banned from providing 5G technology to Australia. This is a extremely disappointing result for consumers. Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely & securely delivered wireless technology in Aust for close to 15 yrs  Huawei Australia (@HuaweiOZ) August 22, 2018

This move comes following the advice from security agencies, signaling the stance toward its biggest trading partner as relations have soured over Canberras allegations of Chinese meddling in Australian politics. This move also brings Australia in line with the United States, which has restricted Huawei and ZTE Corp.

Furthermore, the government in an emailed statement said that national security regulations that are usually applied to telecom carriers would now be extended to equipment suppliers. Firms who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government would leave the nations network vulnerable to unauthorized access or interference, and presented a security risk. While the statement didnt mention Huawei directly, an Australian government official said the order was aimed at Huawei and precluded its involvement in the network.

Huaweis Australian division on the other denied that it is being controlled by Beijing, and opined that the action to be extremely disappointing for consumers. The foreign ministry and commerce ministry in Beijing said that China is concerned with Australias decision and that Australia shouldnt use the excuse of national security to erect barriers. Going back in time, Australia had previously banned Huawei from providing equipment for its fiber-optic network and blocked it from laying submarine cables in the Pacific.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang in a statement said:

We urge the Australian government to abandon ideological prejudices and provide a fair competitive environment for Chinese companies operations in Australia.

Source
AlphaGraphics Annual Conference And Technology Expo Draw More Than 300 Print And Marketing Innovators To Austin, Texas

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 22, 2018 // PRNewswire // -- AlphaGraphics, Inc. a global leader in print, marketing, signage and technology solutions has successfully concluded its annual industry leadership conference in Austin, Texas. More than 300 attendees representing AlphaGraphics centers across the United States and Brazil gathered at the Hyatt Regency to share best practices with their peers, and discuss their vision for the brand as the company adapts its offerings, processes and culture to maintain its positioning as an industry leader as the landscape of printing and marketing continually evolves.

"In the brand's 48th year in existence, we are leveraging experiences from owners, employees and customers to continue to drive the tremendous growth the network has seen in the first half of the year as we focus on meeting the needs of the customer of today and shape our plan of action to support the customer of tomorrow," said AlphaGraphics President Ryan Farris. "This year's theme of 'Keep AG Wired' resonates well with our brand and the connectivity that continually energizes the network's efforts as we prepare to celebrate the brand's success in our next 48 years of growth."

The start of 2018 has been especially successful for the AlphaGraphics brand and the four-day conference, held August 1st through 4th, featured interactive training sessions, themed networking opportunities as well as subject-matter expert panel discussions on a range of topics including VDP mailing, automated multi-channel marketing campaigns, social media, Web-to-print technology, digital printing, and much more. In addition to providing learning opportunities for franchisees, also on the schedule at the conference, was the AlphaGraphics Technology Expo featuring more than 65 vendors showcasing their latest printing and marketing technologies to franchisees.

The purpose of this conference was to encourage the network's adoption of best practices for operational and sales excellence that will strengthen the brand's capabilities to continue executing best-in-breed marketing communications strategies on behalf of the local markets it supports. Each year, the AlphaGraphics conference empowers franchisees to incorporate robust pieces of industry expertise into their brick and mortar operations and establish benchmarks across the network to support the brand's consultative partnership culture as it further develops into an industry leadership powerhouse helping enterprises increase their brand's visibility and grow sales.

GET NOTICED. GET BUSINESS.

About AlphaGraphics

AlphaGraphics, Inc. is a subsidiary of MBE Worldwide, a family?owned Italian holding company based in Milan. In addition, AlphaGraphics, Inc. is a franchisor of locally owned and operated Business Centers offering a complete range of print, visual communications, and marketing products and solutions including: full?service digital, offset, and large format printing; design services; mailing; one?to?one marketing solutions; promotional products; web to print solutions. The franchise office of AlphaGraphics in Salt Lake City provides support for their Business Centers. For more information about AlphaGraphics services and/or franchise opportunities, go to www.alphagraphics.com.

SOURCE AlphaGraphics, Inc.

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Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
How to use Google Maps on JioPhone 2 Tips Tricks oi-Sandeep Sarkar JioPhone 2 is an upgraded, compact and lightweight device which features a horizontal display and also has a physical QWERTY keypad.

Reliance JioPhone is no doubt one of the best smart feature phones available in India. Following the success of the first-gen JioPhone, Reliance had also unveiled its latest offering which is the JioPhone 2 for the Indian market. JioPhone 2 is an upgraded, compact and lightweight device which features a horizontal display and also has a physical QWERTY keypad. Both the horizontal display and the QWERTY keypad add to the positive aspects of the device and is a notable change over the first-gen JioPhone.

The Reliance JioPhone 2 runs on KaiOS 2.5. The KaiOS has the maximum number of active users (on a mobile operating system) after Android OS. One of the major reason for the KaiOS's exponential growth is due to the fact that the JioPhone runs on the KaiOS. The JioPhone comes with a price tag of Rs 1,500 making it an affordable smart feature phone. The KaiOS 2.5 gives the users access to a whole lot of features and apps such as Google Maps for navigation. It should not come as a surprise that the device is GPS enabled. The JioPhone gives a user access to various important information such as geolocation, direction, and Places among others.

The Google Maps app doesn't come preinstalled on the JioPhone 2. So, the users who are eager to get their hands on the Google Maps can visit the JioStore and scroll through the list of available apps (or navigate to the Utilities tab), to install the app.

Let's now quickly go through the steps on how to use the Google Maps on JioPhone 2:

The first thing which the users need to do is install the Google Maps from JioStore. The Google Maps app on the JioPhone doesn't differ from the Maps on Android and iOS platforms, rather the app is quite similar in terms of UI. In order to see the nearby restaurants or get a direction for any location simply follow the steps below:

1. The geolocation is not enabled by default on the JioPhone 2, therefore a user will need to go to 'Settings > Network & Connectivity' and scroll down to the geolocation option. Once there simply tap on the center button and select 'On' to switch on GPS services.

2. Now, users need to navigate to Google Maps, where they will be asked to allow the app permission to see their location. This will only work once a user has completed step 1. If step 1 is missed the app won't be able to pinpoint the location of the user.

That is pretty much it. Once the above steps are completed the users will be able to use the Google Maps on JioPhone 2 and will be able to locate nearby petrol pumps, restaurants or other places.

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Motorola One Power complete specs, features and render leak News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Here are the complete details of the Motorola One Power.

Motorola introduced a new P series smartphone lineup in China with the launch of the Motorola P30 a few days back. Besides this, the company is also expected to come up with more devices such as the P30 Note and P30 Play in the country. But these are not the only ones that the company is prepping to announce.

We have already come across reports suggesting that the Lenovo-owned brand is all set to launch Motorola One and Motorola One Power smartphones. These devices have already been spotted on benchmark and certification websites. And, we have seen the live images of the upcoming smartphone duo from the brand.

Now, a 91mobiles report has come with the complete specifications of the One Power and a new render of the device as well. Let's take a look at these details over here.

Leaked render

The newly leaked render doesn't confirm if the device will have a unibody design and sport a plastic or metal body. But it shows the display notch housing the selfie camera, LED flash unit, earpiece and sensors. At its rear, there appears to be a dual-camera module with the two lenses positioned vertically along with an LED flash module in the middle. There is a fingerprint sensor at the rear of the smartphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack too.

Motorola One Power specifications

The report also reveals the specifications of the Motorola One Power. The leaked spec sheet reveals the presence of a 6.18-inch FHD+ display with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and a screen-to-body ratio of 81%. The device appears to boot Android 8.1 Oreo with some tweaks made by Motorola.

Under its hood, it will have an octa-core Snapdragon 636 SoC clocked at 1.8GHz. The processor appears to be paired with 3GB/4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB storage space. The imaging aspects include a 16MP primary camera sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor with LED flash and portrait mode. It might be launched with a 12MP selfie camera with a dedicated flash unit and software-based bokeh mode.

The leaked spec sheet goes on revealing that the smartphone could make use of a capacious 5000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging and a USB Type-C port. With such a battery, this smartphone might compete against the likes of the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.

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Motorola patents for a foldable phone; a modern take on the iconic Moto Razr News oi-Vishal Kawadkar Motorola jumps to the latest smartphone fad: foldable devices.

We have heard a lot about the foldable smartphones in the past one year. These smartphones will come with flexible displays and aim to enable new form factors and design elements. But Motorola's new patent for a foldable phone appears to be a modern take on the iconic Moto Razr.

The patent, spotted by Mobielkopen, shows a rather tall phone. But a hinge can also be seen, allowing the device and screen to fold in half like clamshell handsets of yore. However, this isn't the first time we've seen a clamshell form factor in a smartphone with Samsung's W series in China.

But this will be the first time we will see a design with a continuous flexible screen, in contrast to the bottom half of the clamshell being a physical keypad or another screen. The design could prove to be good at avoiding scratches, but it won't be easy to put a protective case on the phone.

Nevertheless, the patent doesn't necessarily confirm that Lenovo/Motorola will soon be unveiling a foldable smartphone with a clamshell design. But it does give us a peek into what the company is planning for the foldable smartphone front.

Previous reports suggest that Huawei and Samsung are working on their respective foldable smartphones. Both companies are expected to launch the phones by the end of 2018.

If the reports are to be believed, Xiaomi has already started the development of its own foldable smartphone. The company is said to be working with the suppliers. Unlike, Samsung and Huawei which have in-folding designs for their devices, Xiaomi's version will have an outward folding design. What remains unclear is how the company would choose to price the device.

While Samsung's device could cost up to $2,000, Xiaomi has committed to a maximum profit margin of 5% on its smartphones. This could mean that Xiaomi can significantly undercut its contemporaries.

Besides, Oppo is also said to jump on the bandwagon soon, however, no specific timeframe has been provided. While there is no information about the existence of these devices, numerous recent patents hint towards what is expected from the companies.

Basically, 2019 could be the year of the foldable smartphones with at least four major smartphone makers have something exciting in the pipeline. And, if we take all the recent patents into consideration, the toll could rise to six thanks to LG and Motorola. What's certain is that these smartphones will come in limited quantities, and might later convert to huge numbers.

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Assyrians in Northern Syria Condemn School Closures By Kurds

The Amal Assyrian Elementary School in Hasaka, Syria. (AINA) -- In a letter sent to the so-called "Autonomous Self-Government in the Jezira Region," the German Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), the Assyrian Federation in Germany and the European Sections (ZAVD) appealed to the Kurdish authorities in the northern Syria region of Jazira not to impose new curricula on Christian private schools in the province of Al-Hasakah. The letter was signed by Society's Middle East spokesman Kamal Sido and Aziz Said, President of the Assyrian Federation in Germany.

"Many Assyrian and Armenian Christians fear that their children's credentials will not be recognized by the Syrian government or elsewhere, and their future plans may be curtailed," said Society's spokesman Kamal Sido on Tuesday in Goettingen. He warned that "the worries and fears of Christian communities must be taken seriously on an equal footing. Otherwise it can quickly give the impression that Christians in northern Syria are no longer welcome. The region has also been home to them for millennia."

The Assyrian communities in Jazira feel pressured by an administrative decree issued by the Democratic Union Party or PYD (affiliated with PKK) authorities to immediately "re-register" their private and church schools in Al-Hasakah province. "Many are worried that this decree could mean a complete closure of these schools if they do not comply," said Sido. Around 7,000 pupils would then no longer have lessons. The new school year begins in early September, 2018.

Kurdish authorities closed a Assyrian school in Derbiseye after Assyrian school officials refused to adopt a Kurdish teaching curriculum (AINA 2018-08-09).

In a press release, the Assyrian Democratic Party (ADP) accused the YPG of "intimidating" the region's Assyrian community. "The YPG is harming education by promoting its ideologies through school curricula," and demanded that the Kurds immediately allow the schools to reopen.

Various Assyrian groups, among them the Assyrian Democratic Organisation (ADO), a founding member of the Syrian Opposition, also condemned the closures. The ADO said in a statement:

We strongly condemn this arbitrary decision by the self-governing authorities, and we believe that it targets the Assyrian Syriac people and exerts more pressure on them...the concern shown by this administration for the unity of the country contradicts the democratic claims that it boasts, the core of which is the freedom of education. We emphasize that the position of the YPG reflects a deficient vision and serves to strike the rest of the educational process and deprive the students to continue their study by imposing certain ideological approaches that have not convinced even the supervisors of teh schools.

Assyrians are demanding the Kurdish PYD group to immediately revoke the decision, to allow the opening of Assyrian schools in Derek and Darbasiya and to allow all students from different ethnicities who want to register in order for them to start the new school year.

The private Assyrian schools, among them those administered by the Syriac Orthodox Church, have been operating in the region since mid-1930s and teach a curriculum specialized in the Assyrian language and religion developed jointly with the Syrian Education Ministry.
Lithuania Not to Appeal European Court Ruling Over US CIA Prisons - Official

Sputnik News

19:38 23.08.2018

VILNIUS (Sputnik) - Lithuania decided not to appeal the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that the Baltic country hosted a secret CIA jail, where the agency held and interrogated terrorism suspects, the press service of Lithuania's representative at the court said in a statement on Thursday.

"A decision was taken not to refer to the Grand Chamber over the case Abu Zubaydah v. Lithuania. Such a decision is a result of several factors which would ultimately prevent the appeal from achieving its goal and could possibly undermine Lithuania's reputation on the international scene," the statement read.

The ECHR ruled in late May that Lithuania was complicit in CIA's secret rendition program which led to rights violations and arbitrary detention in CIA "black sites" of al-Qaeda* suspects, including Palestinian Abu Zubaydah.

Lithuania was ordered to pay 100,000 euros (about $116,000) in damages to Zubaydah for allowing the CIA to subject him to an ill-treatment on the territory of the Baltic country.

According to the statement, Lithuanian authorities would take necessary steps to fulfill the ECHR ruling once it comes into effect on August 31.

*al-Qaeda  a terrorist organization banned in Russia

 Sputnik

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Former German Spy Chief Warns of Perils of Intel Sharing With Austria

By Jamie Dettmer August 23, 2018

A former German intelligence chief says NATO secrets aren't safe to share with Austria, adding his alarm to growing concern among Western intelligence agencies about close ties between senior Austrian ministers and Russia.

Fears have mounted about the security trustworthiness of Austria since a police raid last February on the headquarters of the country's domestic intelligence agency, during which classified files were seized. The raid prompted allegations that Austria's far-right government ordered it for political reasons.

"There is, of course, extreme caution when sharing information," August Hanning, a former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, told the German newspaper Bild. "It is essential for international intelligence-sharing that all sides can be sure their sensitive information is secure with a partner service. Secrecy must be maintained. That is, of course, incredibly difficult when you have such a situation in Austria," he added.

Senior figures in the Freedom Party, which is in a coalition government with the conservative Austrian People's Party, or OVP, have called for the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia, imposed for the 2014 annexation by Russia of Ukraine's Crimea. Austria shunned the coordinated Western expulsions of Russian diplomats following the poisoning earlier this year of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain, which has been blamed on the Kremlin.

The increasing closeness between the Freedom Party and the Kremlin was underlined last week when Russian leader Vladimir Putin was the star guest at the wedding of Austria's foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, held at a vineyard in the picturesque Styrian hills of southern Austria. Putin's attendance transformed the private event into a highly political one and prompted a storm of media criticism for Kneissl for curtseying before the Russian president.

"Kneissl's kneeling in front of Putin is a disgrace," the Austrian daily Der Standard said, adding: "The foreign minister has lost all credibility by the way she handled Vladimir Putin."

The Washington Post reported last week, the day before Kneissl's wedding, that several Western intelligence agencies had stopped sharing sensitive information with their Austrian counterparts, alarmed that their secrets could be shared with Moscow. Police officers during the February raid removed classified documents packed in crates and plastic bags.

Warming ties

The anti-immigrant Freedom Party, which was founded by former SS officers in the 1950s, entered government at the end of last year. The party signed a formal cooperation agreement with Putin's United Russia party in 2016. In June, Putin highlighted the warming ties between Vienna and Moscow when he chose Austria for his first official working visit abroad after being re-elected in March.

The February raid on Austria's domestic intelligence agency, the BVT, was officially undertaken as part of a joint operation with South Korea as part of a probe into the printing in Austria of false North Korean passports, according to government officials. But Austrian intelligence insiders believe the raid had a more sinister purpose, possibly part of an effort to find grounds to replace current officials with Freedom Party loyalists.

Putin on Wednesday insisted his presence at Kneissl's wedding was purely a personal matter. But he told reporters in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that during the celebrations "we were able to speak both to the foreign minister and to the Austrian chancellor." He praised Austria for "arranging dialogue between Russia and the European Union."

Austria isn't the only NATO country that's causing alarm to Western spy chiefs amid the rise of Kremlin-friendly populist parties across Europe. In March, VOA reported U.S. security agencies were assessing what intelligence could be shared with Italian counterparts following the formation in Rome of a coalition government featuring the right-wing Lega and anti-establishment Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S). Like the Freedom Party, Italy's Lega has a formal cooperation pact with United Russia.

U.S. intelligence officials told VOA that they feared leaks to Moscow. "Security risks would increase obviously," one said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "There would be a sharp downgrading of what we give the Italians, although this wouldn't affect our exchanges when it comes to jihadists or terrorist threats," a U.S. counterintelligence official said.

M5S and Lega oppose Western sanctions on Russia, saying the sanctions have harmed Italy as much as Russia. In 2016, several Lega-controlled regions in Italy's north adopted resolutions calling on the government in Rome to endorse Moscow's annexation of Crimea and to recognize the peninsula as part of Russia.

Relations between U.S. and Italian intelligence agencies are not as close as they are with some other Western and NATO countries. Intelligence relations between the United States and Italy were impaired in 2009 when an Italian court convicted in absentia a former CIA station chief and 22 other Americans, almost all agency operatives, for their involvement in the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan in 2003 and his transfer to Egypt.

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-246-18 August 23, 2018

MALD-X Project Completes Free Flight Demonstration

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering's Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), with Air Force Miniature Air Launch Decoy (MALD) Program Office, and Naval Air Warfare Center Point Mugu successfully completed a series of free flight demonstrations of the MALD-X on August 20 and 22.

This innovative and collaborative project builds upon the successful MALD platform and seeks to demonstrate the operational effectiveness and tactical advantage provided by large numbers of collaborative, expendable platforms highlighted with the completion of a complex free flight demonstration of advanced electronic warfare techniques.

"The rapid development and demonstration was made possible by the cross-service technical collaboration between the Air Force and Navy", said Chris Shank, SCO Director. "The MALD-X is handing over to the Navy to complete system development and transition to an operational capability. The superb cross-service technical teamwork is an exemplar for future innovative projects."

MALD-X's modularity allows the Navy to rapidly inject adaptive payloads and capabilities into as yet unknown future mission sets.

"MALD-X gives future warfighters the ability to focus on the nature of the emerging threats rather than being encumbered by the burden associated with making a system interact with mission elements and mission supporting actions," said Matthew O'Connell, MALD-X Program Manager.

The MALD-X program is continuing to pursue multiple enhancements for the vehicle that would provide additional mission sets that will be demonstrated next year.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1610872/

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Navy Accepts Delivery of Future USS Sioux City and USS Wichita

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS180823-09

Release Date: 8/23/2018 12:41:00 PM

From Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs

MARINETTE, Wis. (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of two Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), the future USS Sioux City (LCS 11) and USS Wichita (LCS 13), during a ceremony at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard on August 22.

Sioux City and Wichita, respectively, are the 14th and 15th Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) to be delivered to the Navy and the sixth and seventh of the Freedom variant to join the fleet. These deliveries mark the official transfer of the ships from the shipbuilder, part of a Lockheed Martin-led team, to the U.S. Navy. It is the final milestone prior to commissioning. Both ships will be commissioned later this year, Sioux City in Annapolis, Maryland, and Wichita in Jacksonville, Florida.

Regarding the LCS deliveries, Captain Mike Taylor, LCS program manager, said, "The future USS Sioux City is a remarkable ship which will bring tremendous capability to the Fleet. I am excited to join with her crew and celebrate her upcoming commissioning at the home of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis."

"Today also marks a significant milestone in the life of the future USS Wichita, an exceptional ship which will conduct operations around the globe," he said. "I look forward to seeing Wichita join her sister ships this winter."

Capt. Shawn Johnston, commander, LCS Squadron Two, welcomed the ships to the fleet, saying, "The future USS Sioux City is a welcome addition to the East Coast Surface Warfare Division. Both her Blue and Gold crews are ready to put this ship though her paces and prepare the ship to deploy.

"The future USS Wichita is the first East Coast Mine Warfare Division ship," he said. "She will have a chance to test some of the latest and greatest mine warfare systems after she completes her remaining combat systems trials."

Several additional Freedom variant ships are under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine. The future USS Billings (LCS 15) is preparing for trials in spring 2019. The future USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) was christened/launched in April. The future USS St. Louis (LCS 19) is scheduled for christening and launch in the fall. The future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) is preparing for launch and christening in spring of 2019, while the future USS Cooperstown (LCS 23)'s keel was laid earlier this month and is undergoing construction in the shipyard's erection bays. The future USS Marinette (LCS 25) started fabrication in February, while the future USS Nantucket (LCS 27) is scheduled to begin fabrication in the fall.

LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region. An interchangeable mission package is embarked on each LCS and provides the primary mission systems in one of these warfare areas. Using an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to gain, sustain and exploit littoral maritime supremacy, LCS provides U.S. joint force access to critical theaters.

The LCS class consists of the Freedom variant and Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g., LCS 1). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and follow-on even-numbered hulls). Twenty-nine LCSs have been awarded to date, with 15 delivered to the Navy, 11 in various stages of construction and three in pre-production states.

Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants is responsible for delivering and sustaining littoral mission capabilities to the fleet. Delivering high-quality warfighting assets while balancing affordability and capability is key to supporting the nation's maritime strategy.

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CNO Motivates SPAWAR Workforce, Discusses Today's Increasingly Technological Environment

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS180823-04

Release Date: 8/23/2018 9:05:00 AM

By Elisha Gamboa, Public Affairs, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NNS) -- The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) visited Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Aug. 22, where he focused on how to compete and win in today's increasingly competitive environment.

CNO Adm. John Richardson kicked off the visit with an all-hands gathering of SPAWAR personnel where he spoke about the importance of providing the Navy the nation needs today and in the coming decades.

"We have to approach the competition with a sense of urgency; with a sense that we do not have a divine right to victory," said Richardson. "We have to work extremely hard to achieve victory as we have before. I say that with a tremendous sense of confidence in the team here at SPAWAR."

Speaking to a predominantly civilian workforce, Richardson highlighted the importance of obtaining and retaining the best and the brightest the nation has to offer, and the appreciation he has for those who have chosen to use their talents in support of their country.

"The competition for high-tech talent is extremely intense," said Richardson. "All of you have chosen to raise your right hand, take an oath to our constitution, and be part of this team that today is something bigger than any one of us could have envisioned. I have a tremendous amount for respect for that commitment."

Richardson went on to talk about his appreciation for the SPAWAR workforce, and his attention to accelerating the pace at which technology is put into the hands of the warfighter.

"Every decision that I make starts with Navy personnel in mind," said Richardson. "It starts with me asking, 'what can I do to eliminate obstacles that get in the way of connecting (our people) with their missions? What can I do to accelerate closure on mission success?'"

Following the all-hands event, Richardson took the time to meet with SPAWAR scientists who are developing some of today's most innovative warfighting technologies from lasers, to machine learning technology, to cyber security capabilities.

"It's a privilege be selected to showcase my team's efforts to the CNO," said Dr. Nick Johnson, an engineer at SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific. "I demonstrated the work being done in the area of machine learning, and highlighted how the SPAWAR enterprise is providing critical technology to the fleet across multiple warfighting domains."

Demonstrating these cutting-edge developments, and interacting face-to-face with Richardson provided SPAWAR scientists and engineers with a deeper understanding of how their work is supporting the warfighter and revolutionizing the Navy.

"The ability to engage and interact with the CNO is a testament to the Navy's and particularly SPAWAR's commitment to ensure science goes beyond our laboratories and reaches our warfighter," said Dr. Jose Romero-Mariona, SPAWAR System Center Pacific cybersecurity science and technology branch head.

SPAWAR Commander Rear Adm. Christian Becker thanked Richardson for his time and effort spent talking to the SPAWAR workforce about the Navy's mission and way forward.

"It is an honor to host CNO here at SPAWAR," said Becker. "This opportunity allowed us to demonstrate our dedication to rapidly delivering cyber warfighting capabilities from seabed to space at the ever increasing speed of information. It also provided the chance for our workforce to hear from our boss about his priorities for us as we build the Navy the nation needs."

SPAWAR identifies, develops, delivers and sustains information warfighting capabilities supporting naval, joint, coalition and other national missions. SPAWAR consists of more than 10,000 active duty military and civil service professionals located around the world and close to the fleet to keep SPAWAR at the forefront of research, engineering and acquisition to provide and sustain information warfare capabilities to the fleet.

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At least 31 civilians, mostly children, killed in Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen's Hudaydah

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 06:05PM

At least 31 civilians, mostly children, have been killed after a Saudi-led airstrike hit their vehicle in Yemen's Hudaydah province, only two weeks after a strike by the invading military coalition hit a school bus in the impoverished country and killed scores of Yemeni children.

Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network, citing a spokesperson of the country's Health Ministry, reported that all the victims, whose vehicle was also destroyed in the strike in Durayhimi city on Thursday, were internally displaced people.

Al-Masirah, citing local sources, had reported earlier that at least 22 children and four women lost their lives in the deadly strike, adding that all those on board the vehicle were killed.

Back on August 9, Saudi-led warplanes hit a school bus in the town of Dhahyan in Yemen's northern province of Sa'ada with a 227-kilogram laser-guided Mark 82 bomb, killing a total of 51 people, among them 40 children, and leaving nearly 80 others wounded.

Later investigation by Yemeni authorities revealed that the bomb had been supplied by the US to the Saudi-led military coalition. Furthermore, a report by the CNN also confirmed what Yemeni authorities had announced about the origin of the bomb.

Yemen's Ansarullah movement has condemned the attack, saying that the blood of children was spilt again before that of those killed in the bus attack was dried.

Yemeni forces fire retaliatory missiles at Saudi forces

Later on Thursday, Yemen's Ansarullah fighters announced that they had fired two Zelzal-1 short-range ballistic missile at Saudi forces' positions in the kingdom's Jizan province in retaliation for the Hudaydah attack, killing a number of them.

Meanwhile, Yemeni forces have reported that their snipers killed a Saudi soldier in Saudi Arabia's Asir region.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, launched a brutal war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen's former president and a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The movement, which is a significant aid to the Yemeni army in defending the country against the invading forces, has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective administration during the past three years.

The imposed war initially consisted of a bombing campaign, but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen.

Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression.

The Saudi-led aggression has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

Several Western countries, the United States and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

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Egypt detains Sisi's leading political opponents

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 05:21PM

Egyptian authorities have detained three leading opposition figures, including a former senior diplomat, as part of an ongoing crackdown in the country.

Egyptian security sources said on Thursday that the dissidents were arrested on the orders of Egypt's public prosecutor.

The detainees included ex-diplomat and former ambassador Masoum Marzouk who earlier this month called for a referendum on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government.

He said the government's term should end and parliament be dissolved if a majority of Egyptians gave it a vote of no confidence.

The other two men arrested were Raed Salama, a senior member of the opposition Dignity Party, and academic Yahya Kazaz, who recently called for Sisi's departure on his Facebook page, writing "resistance is the solution".

Human rights groups and activists have constantly accused Sisi of violating public freedoms and suppressing opponents. Most of his opponents and vocal members of civil society have also been arrested in the past few months.

Security forces also detained several journalists and online critics in May.

Prior to Sisi's landslide re-election in March, the vote was marred by allegations that real contenders for the election had pulled out from the race because of an intimidation campaign by the government.

Serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns in January while authorities arrested the main challenger whose campaign manager had been beaten up.

During the past few years, Sisi has faced growing criticism about his way of treating dissidents, especially those linked to ousted president Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, which Sisi outlawed right after taking office.



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Scores of Saudi mercenaries slain, injured in Yemeni army offensives

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 04:31PM

Scores of Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have lost their lives when Yemeni army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Committees launched separate offensives against their positions across the crisis-hit Arab country.

An unnamed Yemeni military source told Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni troops and their allies launched an attack against a gathering of Saudi mercenaries in the al-Maslub district of the northern province of al-Jawf on Thursday afternoon, leaving many of them dead or injured.

Yemeni soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees also dealt a heavy blow to Saudi-backed militia forces on the outskirts of the city of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers east of the capital Sana'a, when they struck their fortifications there.

Elsewhere in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda, Saudi mercenaries suffered a major setback when Yemeni soldiers and their allies targeted their military camp.

Also on Thursday, Yemeni forces launched a barrage of mortar shells at a position of Saudi-backed militiamen at the al-Alab border crossing of Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region of Asir.

There were no immediate reports about possible casualties or the extent of damage caused.

Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen in 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 there is 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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More ministers quit embattled Australian PM's cabinet

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 07:24AM

Three more ministers have resigned from the cabinet of embattled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, further lowering his chances of continued leadership, as a second premiership vote looms at parliament.

In a major blow, Turnbull's influential Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, along with the ministers of employment and education, resigned and announced that he no longer supported the incumbent premier on Thursday.

"It is in the best interests of the [ruling] Liberal Party to help manage an orderly transition to a new leader," said Cormann.

The 63-year-old prime minister narrowly won a first leadership vote, against Peter Dutton, his then-home affairs minister, 48 to 35 on Tuesday.

Dutton, who resigned from his cabinet post after losing the vote, said on Wednesday that he had lobbied in parliament for support and was now confident that he would be chosen for leadership this time.

"Earlier this morning, I called the prime minister to advise him that it was my judgment that the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership," Dutton said in a brief statement, adding, "As such, I asked him to convene a meeting of the Liberal Party at which I would challenge for the leadership of the parliamentary Liberal Party."

In response, Turnbull said he would call a party meeting for midday on Friday (0200 GMT) if he received a letter with the signatures of 43 legislators for a new vote. He added that he would not stand in the vote and would quit parliament provided that a leadership spill motion was then passed.

"If the motion is carried, I will treat that as a vote of no confidence and I will not stand as a candidate in the ballot," Turnbull told reporters in the capital, Canberra, later in the day.

If the confidence vote is held and Turnbull fails to secure it, he will practically set up a contest for leadership among Dutton, Treasurer Scott Morrison, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. The latter two have only lately thrown their hats into the leadership ring.

Local media reported that Morrison, Turnbull's right-hand man, would stand for the leadership in an attempt to derail Dutton's run for power.

Bishop, too, has been deputy leader of the party since 2007.

Before the three ministerial resignations that came on Thursday, ten other ministers, Dutton included, had already resigned.

Turnbull accepted only two of the earlier resignations, those of Dutton and International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. He insisted on Wednesday that the eight others had since "given me unequivocal assurances of continuing loyalty and support."

There are mixed views regarding Dutton. His supporters describe him as a pragmatic legislator who gets things done. His opponents accuse him of holding a racist and a strong anti-refugee worldview.

The forty-seven-year-old Dutton has promised that he would focus on lowering electricity prices, cutting immigration to ease population pressures, and boost water investment to help drought-stricken farmers if he becomes prime minister.

In the past decade alone, three sitting PMs have been replaced by party rivals within their first terms.

Australia is due to hold general elections before May next year.

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U.S. To Appoint Special Envoy On Afghanistan To Promote Peace: Reports

RFE/RL August 23, 2018

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to appoint Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born former U.S. ambassador to Kabul, as his special envoy on Afghanistan, media reported on August 22.

The decision reported by Reuters and AP, citing anonymous U.S. officials, would send a signal that the United States is serious about engaging the Taliban and making progress in peace talks to end the longest U.S. war, media said.

U.S. military commanders recently have acknowledged little progress is being made on the battlefield or at the peace table despite a reported meeting last month between a U.S. diplomat and Taliban leaders to explore possible negotiations.

The White House and the State Department declined to comment on reports of Khalilzad's expected appointment, and Khalilzad did not return messages left by reporters.

The outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan insisted on August 22 that despite a recent wave of violence, Trump's strategy of an open-ended deployment of U.S special operations forces and increased air support for Afghan forces is succeeding.

"I believe the strategy is working... The reconciliation progress is significant and ultimately wars end with a political settlement," said U.S. Army General John Nicholson, commander of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission.

Trump, however, has expressed frustration that U.S. forces still seem so far from withdrawal after 17 years of war. In a policy shift during a June cease-fire, Washington said it would "support, facilitate, and participate" in any Kabul government-led peace talks with the Taliban.

Washington and Kabul both on August 22 said they would not join peace talks that Russia is hosting in Moscow on September 4, saying such talks were unlikely to yield progress. Russia claims that the Taliban will be joining the talks.

Spurned Offers

The Taliban has spurned repeated offers for peace talks by the Kabul government this year, insisting that it will only negotiate directly with the United States -- something Washington refuses to do.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has staged a surge in attacks this summer, including an assault last week on the provincial capital of Ghazni that took U.S.-backed Afghan forces four days to put down.

While the Taliban observed a government cease-fire over the three-day Eid al-Fitr festival in June, raising hopes for peace talks, it has so far ignored an offer by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this week for another cease-fire.

Khalilzad, 67, is considered well-suited to the task of persuading the insurgents to talk, Reuters quotes a former senior U.S. official as saying.

In addition to his experience advising or working for four U.S. administrations and his knowledge of Afghanistan's main languages, culture, and politics, he is from the ethnic Pashtun majority and is close to Ghani, the former official said.

Pompeo's decision to tap Khalilzad shows the administration is "serious about getting a peace process going," the official told Reuters.

Khalilzad was born in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and has served in a variety of U.S. government posts.

As an aide to President George W. Bush, he helped plan the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that followed the September 11, 2001, attacks.

That invasion was largely successful at ousting the Al-Qaeda militant group from Afghanistan while deposing their hosts, the Taliban, which ruled the country at the time.

Khalilzad served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, and he helped draft the country's constitution.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-appoint-special- envoy-afghanistan-khalilzad-afghan-born-promote- peace-media-reports/29448615.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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Report Claims Manafort Promoted Russia's Interests In Kyrgyzstan

RFE/RL August 23, 2018

A team of Russian investigative journalists has reported that U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chief, Paul Manafort, worked in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 to promote the Kremlin's geopolitical interests -- including the closure of a U.S. military installation near Bishkek that was the main logistics hub for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Manafort's work as a political consultant in Russia and Ukraine led to his conviction on tax-evasion and bank-fraud charges on August 21 in a U.S. federal court. He faces a separate trial in September on charges that include failing to register with the U.S. government for work as a "foreign agent."

Project, an independent group of Russian investigative journalists, published a report on August 22 claiming Manafort worked more extensively in former Soviet republics than previously revealed.

Maria Zholobova, a co-author of the report, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that she had confirmed from several sources that Manafort worked in Kyrgyzstan together with his former fixer, Konstantin Kilimnik, in 2005.

The report claimed Kilimnik was working in the Central Asian republic for then-President Kurmanbek Bakiev.

It also said travel costs for Manafort and Kilimnik were paid by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Deripaska, a metals tycoon and close ally of President Vladimir Putin, was placed on the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions list in April for profiting from his association with the Kremlin and Russia's "malign activities" around the world.

A representative of Deripaska told Project that neither he nor his company, BasEl, ever financed Kilimnik.

The representative also told Project that the "private investment relations of Deripaska and Manafort, whose existence is not disputed, have never been aimed at achieving political goals."

Zholobova said her sources included a former colleague of Kilimnik as well as a former member of Manafort's team from Ukraine.

"I heard about Kyrgyzstan -- they went there to strengthen Russia's position," the former team member in Ukraine was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Project quoted a former colleague of Kilimnik as saying that one of the tasks in Kyrgyzstan for Kilimnik and Manafort was "to promote the idea of closing the U.S. military base" at Manas International Airport near Bishkek.

Bakiev announced plans to close the base in 2009, but he was overthrown in a 2010 uprising before the closure was implemented.

The U.S. transit and logistics center continued to operate until 2014, when it was closed by the government of President Almazbek Atambaev.

Feliks Kulov, Kyrgyzstan's prime minister from 2005-07, told the Kloop.kg news website that he did not meet with Manafort nor Kilimnik while he was in office.

Alikbek Dzhekshenkulov, Kyrgyzstan's foreign minister from 2005-07, told RFE/RL that he'd never heard of Kilimnik or Manafort while he was at the post.

Zholobova wrote the Project report with Roman Badanin, a former editor of the news website RBC who left that company in a dispute with management over investigative reporting about the financial interests of oligarchs from Putin's inner circle.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, Kloop.kg, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/report-claims-manafort-promoted- russia-s-interests-in-kyrgyzstan/29449615.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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Trump's Ex-Lawyer Ready To Talk With Russia Investigators, His Lawyer Says

RFE/RL August 23, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer has information "on certain subjects that should be of interest" to the special prosecutor investigating ties between Russia and his 2016 election campaign, his lawyer says.

Michael Cohen's lawyer on August 22 said Cohen is willing to provide information not only to U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller but to committees in Congress investigating Russian election interference efforts.

The offer came one day after the former Trump "fixer" pleaded guilty to making hush-money payments -- allegedly at Trump's direction -- to women who claimed to have affairs with Trump to ensure their silence during his 2016 White House bid.

Media have reported that Cohen is willing to tell Mueller that Trump knew in advance about a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in which his eldest son sought damaging information from a Russian lawyer about Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Cohen's knowledge about that meeting has already drawn the interest of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating ties between Russia and Trump's campaign, with Republican and Democratic committee members saying that they've "recently re-engaged" with Cohen on the matter.

Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, in a series of television interviews also said that Cohen could tell Mueller about whether Trump was aware of and encouraged Russian hacking of Democratic party e-mails during the 2016 campaign.

"It is my observation that what [Cohen] knows will be of interest" to Mueller, Davis said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, when asked if Trump was concerned about what Cohen might tell Mueller, said: "I don't think the president is concerned at all. He knows that he did nothing wrong and that there was no collusion."

In pleading guilty on August 21, Cohen said in court that Trump directed him to arrange payments of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election. Trump denies the affairs.

Trump tweeted on August 22 that the campaign finance violations Cohen pleaded guilty to "are not a crime." He told Fox & Friends that, because the payments came from his personal bank account and not from campaign funds, it's "not even a campaign violation." But legal experts dispute Trump's claims.

'Significant Turning Point'

The revelation of Trump's possible involvement in criminal activity sent shock waves around the world and appear to pose the most grave legal danger for Trump to date after a year and a half of criminal investigations.

While Cohen was fiercely loyal to the president when he was working for him -- saying at one point he would "take a bullet" for Trump -- Davis said Cohen is now intent on telling the truth to whoever asks him, and is "more than happy" to tell Mueller all that he knows.

While Cohen is not officially cooperating with Mueller's investigation of Trump, Davis said his pledge to tell the truth is "the functional equivalent of cooperation."

Davis said that Cohen reached a "significant turning point" in his thinking about Trump after he observed what Davis called Trump's "deference" to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Helsinki last month. Davis said that event led Cohen to believe Trump was "unsuitable" to hold office.

Working out of a Trump Tower office next to his boss, Cohen is believed to have vast knowledge of the inner workings of Trump's empire, his business dealings, and his campaign that could prove important to investigators in Congress and on Mueller's team.

U.S. agents in April seized more than 4 million items from his home, hotel room, and office, including recordings of Trump.

Democrats in Congress seized on Cohen's guilty plea on August 22 and demanded that Republican leaders who control Congress hold hearings on Trump's repeated threats against FBI and Mueller investigators -- which they said amount to obstruction of justice -- and pass legislation to protect Mueller from being fired by the president.

"The president of the United States is now directly implicated in a criminal conspiracy," said Representative Jerrold Nadler, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He said Congress must now act to "respond to this culture of corruption."

House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told the Associated Press, however, that evidence of Trump's involvement in crimes admitted by Cohen would not be enough to prompt Democrats to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump, should they gain control of the House in November congressional elections.

"Impeachment has to spring from something else," Pelosi said. "It's not a priority on the agenda going forward, unless something else comes forward."

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and The New York Times

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-personal- lawyer-cohen-ready-talk-russia-investigators-mueller- congress-lawyer-davis-says/29448555.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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Dodon: Moldova's Biggest Problem Is Population Loss, Not Corruption

RFE/RL's Moldovan Service August 23, 2018

Moldova's No. 1 problem after more than a quarter of a century of independence isn't poverty or corruption, it is depopulation, President Igor Dodon has told RFE/RL.

"We've lost one-third of our population. Therefore, depopulation is the No. 1 problem we're facing at this stage," Dodon said on August 22.

"This is a problem we're going to have to face, regardless of the color of the next government. And, I'm sorry to have to say it, this is going to be a stumbling block for us for many years to come," Dodon said.

According to Moldova's latest census, the population of the former Soviet republic sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine was almost 3 million people in 2014. Various estimates put the number of Moldovans who have emigrated at between 600,000 and more than 1 million.

Moldova, which declared independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991, is one of Europe's poorest countries. Besides endemic poverty, Moldova is also plagued by corruption.

The disappearance of an estimated $1 billion, or one-eighth of the country's gross domestic product, in 2015 enraged a large majority of Moldovans, who took to the streets in protest of what they dubbed "the heist of the century."

It also disrupted negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union on funding and triggered a political crisis.

"All the problems -- corruption, foreign policy, geopolitical struggle, a divided society -- lead to this major depopulation issue," Dodon said.

"Slowly but surely, we are turning into a country of pensioners. I'm not against the pensioners, but young people are leaving the country," Dodon said.

Dodon, the leader of the Socialist Party -- a splinter group from ex-President Vladimir Voronin's Communist Party -- is a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Dodon won the presidency in 2016 after a campaign that capitalized on a wave of nostalgia for what many in Moldova perceived as the more prosperous Soviet era.

During the interview, Dodon pushed again for stronger economic relations with Russia, although he admitted that the bulk of Moldova's mainly agricultural exports goes toward the European Union -- mainly to Romania, with whom Moldova shares a common language and history.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/dodon-moldova-s-biggest-problem -is-population-loss-not-corruption/29448972.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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Saudi-Led Coalition Thwarts Houthi Attack on Commercial Ship in Red Sea - Media

Sputnik News

20:06 23.08.2018(updated 20:31 23.08.2018)

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Houthi movement claimed they had been targeting a military vessel. The incident involved a missile launch conducted by rebels from Yemeni territory targeting different cities in Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi movement continues to fight against the Saudi-led coalition's involvement in the Yemen war, aimed at restoring the power of Yemen's President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. He was forced to flee the country.

Currently, Yemeni pro-government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf States, have suspended their advance into the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. Their military operation, aimed at gaining control of the city, began on June 13 after the Houthis ignored the government's offer for a peaceful settlement, which expired on June 12. The government stated that it had exhausted all available political and diplomatic means to make the rebels withdraw from the port.

Some Saudi cities and areas, such as the city of Jizan and surrounding territories, have been the target of numerous missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi movement. However, Saudi defense systems have managed to intercept most of them.

 Sputnik

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Australian Prime Minister Sets Conditions for Resignation

Sputnik News

08:03 23.08.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Thursday he would step down if his ruling Liberal party called a leadership ballot.

"I now await a letter with signatures of a majority of the party room. That's 43. If I receive that I will convene a new party room meeting," he said at a press conference.

If that condition is met, a meeting will be held at midday on Friday to decide whether to call a new leadership contest, and Turnbull said he would not take part in it.

"If the motion is carried I will treat that as a vote of no confidence and I will not stand as a candidate in the ballot," he assured reporters.

This comes after resigned Liberal home affairs minister and a rival of the Prime Minister Peter Dutton called for a new closed-door party meeting, in a fresh challenge against Turnbull.

"A few minutes ago I spoke with Malcolm Turnbull to advise him I believed the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership. Accordingly, I asked him to convene a party room meeting at which I would challenge for the leadership of the Parliamentary Liberal Party," Peter Dutton tweeted.

Turnbull announced that the lower house of parliament had been adjourned at Dutton's request and that he had asked the solicitor general to consider whether his rival was eligible to sit in the House.

The Australian government has been in turmoil after an exodus of ministers emphasized Turnbull's waning support in his own party, which is a senior member in the ruling coalition. He narrowly won a leadership vote on Tuesday, initiated by Dutton.

 Sputnik

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Greater support needed for refugees and migrants from Venezuela - UN

23 August 2018 - As hundreds of Venezuelans continue to pour into neighbouring countries due to social and political upheaval at home, the heads of the United Nations refugee and migration agencies called for greater international support to meet the most basic needs of the displaced.

As of June, there were about 2.3 million Venezuelans living abroad. Nine out of 10 have sought refuge in countries within Latin America, especially Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Brazil. The trends are accelerating with a total of about 2,700 to 4,000 arrivals in those neighbouring countries daily.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), close to half a million have fled to Ecuador in 2018 alone.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, and the Director General of the UN migration agency (IOM), William Lacy Swing, applauded neighbouring countries for hosting so many Venezuelan asylum-seekers in recent months and years, but expressed concern over recent developments, such as new passport and border entry requirements in Ecuador and Peru, or changes to the temporary stay permits for Venezuelans in Peru.

"We commend the efforts already made by receiving countries to provide Venezuelans with security, support and assistance," Mr. Swing told the press in Geneva on Thursday. "We trust that these demonstrations of solidarity will continue in the future."

Mr. Grandi explained that while they "recognize the growing challenges" associated with the large-scale arrival of migrants and refugees, "it remains critical that any new measures continue to allow those in need of international protection to access safety and seek asylum".

The two UN agency chiefs stressed their concern for the most vulnerable, including adolescent boys and girls, women, people trying to reunite with their families, and unaccompanied and separated children who are unlikely to be able to meet documentation requirements and are therefore more at-risk of facing exploitation, trafficking and violence.

Various UN agencies and their partners are working to support national governments' response plans and address the needs of those arriving, in what has become one of the largest population movements in Latin American history.

"This current situation underlines the urgent need to increase international engagement and solidarity" to address "the most pressing humanitarian needs", and ensure that "safe transit is guaranteed and social and economic integration can be provided in line with larger development strategies," read the joint UNHCR/IOM statement.

The two agencies reminded that following the commitments of the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, "timely and predictable support by the international community is needed for fairer sharing of responsibilities and to complement the efforts of host countries".

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Zimbabwe Awaits Friday Court Ruling on Election Challenge

By Anita Powell, Columbus Mavhunga August 23, 2018

This was supposed to be the poll that set Zimbabwe free: free from the longtime, increasingly oppressive rule of Robert Mugabe. Free from the suspicions and violence that have come to characterize elections, and free from the expectation that, yet again, the powerful ruling party would prevail, as it has since this nation won independence in 1980.

But the July 30 poll has only produced protests, then violent outbursts, in which security forces fatally shot at least six people. Now, a legal challenge is seeking the election to be overturned in the nation's highest court. That ruling is expected Friday.

Opposition presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa has filed suit in the Constitutional Court, claiming his reported 44 percent share of the vote, which put him behind incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa's razor-thin 50.8 percent victory, was inaccurate, and that he won.

International election observers have said the vote suffered from irregularities. On Wednesday, Chamisa's lawyers presented what they said was clear evidence that the results had been falsified.

The nation anxiously awaits with the gnawing fear that yet again, nothing will change.

Zimbabwean author and academic Ibbo Mandaza said he agrees with the opposition. But like many of the nation's top analysts, he expects the court to dismiss the election challenge on Friday.

Once the court rules, the constitution says the presidential inauguration must be held within 48 hours. On Thursday, the eve of the ruling, air force jets conducted flyovers in Harare in what appeared to be preparations for an event.

Dented legitimacy

Mandaza said he and many other Zimbabweans feel the election results were decided by officials long before citizens went to the polls.

"It's an indictment on the African state," Mandaza told VOA. "It's a cynical response to the population, to the people of Zimbabwe. I am disgusted."

Zanu-PF's secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana said he would not comment on an ongoing case. But he and other party brass have repeatedly expressed confidence in the poll. This was Mnangagwa's first presidential run  he took power in November after Mugabe resigned under pressure from the military.

"We've prepared well for our case," Mangwana said. "The rest is for the judges."

This was Mnangagwa's first presidential run. He took power in November after Mugabe resigned under pressure from the military.

"We've prepared well for our case. The rest is for the judges," said Mangwana.

Opposition lawyer Dali Mpofu, one of two South African lawyers who were denied work permits and barred from the court, says what happens inside the court isn't the only challenge ahead for Zimbabwe.

"We can only say that the freeness and fairness of an election is not only determined on election day. These issues of climate and atmosphere, such as what is happening now, obviously contribute and the only good thing is that the international community is watching. Because although we are here as lawyers to talk about legality, there are also issues of legitimacy which are not in our hands," said Mpofu.

Mandaza believes the court's ruling will not be the end of the story.

"I think Mnangagwa's legitimacy is dented even more than ever before. If the intention was to sanitize and legitimize the coup, I think it has failed, dismally. The crisis continues," he said.

The court rules Friday afternoon, and according to the constitution, the presidential inauguration will be held within 48 hours.

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In Leadership Fight, Australia's Prime Minister Threatens to Quit Parliament

By VOA News August 23, 2018

Australia's latest political crisis escalated Thursday with the ruling Liberal Party shutting down Parliament after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lost the support of a key member of his Cabinet, paving the way for a second challenge to his leadership of the party.

Turnbull told reporters in Canberra that he will convene a party meeting Friday if he receives a petition signed by at least 43 Liberal Party lawmakers, but said he would not put his name in consideration if they demanded a second vote, and even threatened to quit Parliament.

Turnbull survived a challenge to his leadership of the conservative party Tuesday, defeating then-Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton by a vote of 48-35. The prime minister called the vote the day after a revolt by the party's hard-line conservatives forced him to abandon plans to legalize the nation's targeted limits of greenhouse gas emissions.

'Bullies' denounced

Turnbull denounced Dutton and his allies of using "a process of intimidation" to try and pull the Liberals even further to the right. He said the faction has "persuaded people that the only way to stop the insurgency is to give in to it. I have never given in to bullies."

Earlier Thursday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann announced that he and two other senior ministers told Turnbull that he had lost support of a majority of members in the conservative party, and that a second leadership vote must be held.

"I can't ignore reality," Cormann said.

Dutton resigned his post after losing Tuesday's party vote, but he told a Melbourne radio station Wednesday that he is seeking support from his colleagues to take on the embattled Turnbull a second time.

Dutton eligibility questioned

But Dutton has come under a cloud over revelations that he has financial interests in childcare centers that receive government funding, a possible violation of Australia's constitution that bans such practices.

In a further twist, Australian news outlets are reporting that Treasurer Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are also considering running for the party leadership if a second vote is called.

The challenge to Turnbull's leadership comes as recent voter opinion surveys show the Liberal Party lagging far behind the opposition Labor Party ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for next May.

The Liberal Party's open turmoil is just the latest chapter in a period of unusual political instability in Australia since former Prime Minister John Howard left office in 2007 after 11 uninterrupted years. The country has since gone through six prime ministers, neither of whom have served a full three-year term, thanks to intraparty squabbles as power changed hands between the Liberals and Labor, including two stints in power for Labor's Kevin Rudd.

Turnbull himself toppled Tony Abbott for the party leadership and the prime minister's post in a similar challenge in 2015.

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Washington's 10th CST builds partners during Konfitma 18

By Sgt. 1st Class Jason Kriess | Washington National Guard August 22, 2018

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands -- The Washington National Guard's 10th Civil Support Team participated in an exercise that included an active shooter, biological weapons manufacturing and hostages on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Approximately 100 personnel from various government agencies of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) responded to the scenarios during the period of Aug. 14-17.

The exercise, called Konfitma, a Chamorran term meaning "confirming with the plans," was designed to test an agency's capabilities, policies and procedures and identify interoperability gaps in its response. The Chamorro people are the original inhabitants of Saipan.

The commercial economy of the Northern Mariana Islands heavily depends on the imported goods that make their way onto the islands by way of commercial ship transport. Even if there were a small-scale attack on one of their ports, there could theoretically be a surge in security requirements at all of their ports, as well as a crippling area-wide disruption of maritime operations.

Washington, along with other CSTs from Guam, Hawaii, Utah and Tennessee, provided chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) support to local first-responders who were the first on the scene. If there was a need for detection for any kind of hazardous chemicals or materials, the CSTs were on site within 30 minutes.

More than merely participating in the exercise itself, Lt. Col. Ricky Thomas, the commander of the 10th CST, said that building and maintaining relationships with the other CSTs is crucial for when real-world events happen.

Thomas said that if there was an actual event that occurred in Saipan or another island in the CNMI, Guam would be the first to respond. If the event proved too much for them to handle, they would reach out to Hawaii first because they're the closest CST. From there they will call the next closest team -- Washington.

"If the incident is large enough, they will be reaching out to us," Thomas said. "But the fact that we've worked with them, they know what we bring to the fight and they know our capabilities, makes the response that much more seamless."

Participating in exercises like these in the U.S. Army Pacific's area of responsibility allows us to demonstrate our abilities to our counterparts, said Maj. Jonatthan Uran, deputy commander of the 10th CST.

"Our involvement in this region, just builds those relationships so that when we do get the call to come out here, we know who these teams are, we know their personalities. We can rely upon them and they can rely upon us," Uran added.

In the waning hours of the 72-hour exercise, the 10th CST was called into action at an abandoned shopping mall where notional perpetrators led SWAT teams to a makeshift laboratory where they were manufacturing a nerve agent intended to be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Two members of the team donned their fully-encapsulated Level A chemical protection suit, complete with self-contained breathing apparatuses, and made their way down range to inspect the contaminated area.

Their mission was to take pictures of any precursors in the area, said Tech. Sgt. Tara Broad, a survey team member.

Precursors are any raw materials that can be used to create nefarious chemicals, explosives or drugs.

The photos, along with any other data the team collected, would then be brought back to the incident commander in order to help them make more informed decisions during the incident.

Resources were wearing thin at another location 10 miles away. Other CSTs had responded to multiple laboratories at a juvenile detention center earlier that morning. As the day wore on, they were running out of survey members to don the hazmat suit and make entry into the crime scene.

The 10th CST was called upon to send two survey members to the detention center to augment the other teams already on site. The two were able to successfully integrate into the incident and provide the support they needed.

All the CSTs combined were able to look at nine makeshift labs during the exercise and all of them were accurately assessed.

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Daesh ringleader urges terror attacks in purported audio recording

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 05:46AM

Daesh ringleader Ibrahim al-Samarrai, aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has called on followers of the Takfiri outfit to keep up their terror attacks after the militant group suffered a crushing defeat in Iraq and Syria and lost all the territories it had seized there.

In a purported audio recording in Arabic released by the terror group's propaganda outlet on Wednesday, Baghdadi hailed recent terror attacks in Canada and Europe and called on its followers to use bombs, knives or cars to wage assaults.

He also urged terrorists to continue targeting those fighting against Daesh in Iraq, warning that Idlib Province, the group's last major stronghold in neighboring Syria, was about to fall due to an upcoming major military operation.

He further called on Daesh elements to remain loyal to the leaders of the terror outfit.

However, there are doubts concerning the authenticity of the audio recording.

Daesh started its campaign of terror in Iraq and Syria in 2014, occupying territory in the two Arab countries and establishing a self-proclaimed "caliphate." The Iraqi and Syrian armies  both receiving advisory military help from Iran  galvanized to retake Daesh-held territory.

The Takfiri group was gradually stripped of all the land it had occupied in both Iraq and Syria. Both neighbors announced Daesh's territorial collapse in December 2017.

Daesh remnants, however, are now believed to be hiding in the Iraqi-Syrian border region.

A recent report by the United Nations estimates that between 20,000 and 30,000 Daesh members are still holed up in Iraq and Syria.

The Daesh ringleader, whose whereabouts are not known, has frequently been reported killed or injured.

Earlier this month, an Iraqi intelligence source said that Baghdadi had been "clinically dead" following an Iraqi strike on a Daesh meeting in Syria in June, and that some Daesh leaders had nominated Abu Othman al-Tunisi as his successor.

Baghdadi's purported audio message -- the first to be released since last September  seems to be an attempt to boost the morale of the terrorists as Syrian government forces, backed by Iran and Russia, are preparing for the liberation of Idlib, which is widely viewed as Syria's final battle against terror.

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'U.S. Won't Tolerate Election Meddling,' Bolton Tells Russia's Patrushev

RFE/RL August 23, 2018

White House national security adviser John Bolton said he warned Moscow in talks in Geneva on August 23 that the United States "wouldn't tolerate meddling" in the upcoming midterm elections.

Bolton said he also discussed with Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of President Vladimir Putin's Security Council, a "series of steps" that would lead to removing Iran's military presence in Syria.

Both Bolton and Patrushev spoke to reporters after the meeting, the first official bilateral talks since Putin's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last month, and they said there would be no joint declaration because Russia opposed U.S. insistence that language be inserted on Russian election meddling.

"I made it clear [to Patrushev] we wouldn't tolerate [election] meddling in 2018 and we were prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening," Bolton told reporters.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian operatives targeted the presidential campaign in 2016 with a hacking and social-media disinformation campaign to try to tilt the election in Trump's favor and that they were likely to do so again in the November midterm vote.

Moscow has denied the accusations, but Washington has imposed a series of sanctions and expelled a number of Russian diplomats in response to the election interference.

Besides Russia's election meddling, relations between Moscow and Washington have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low over issues including Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014 and its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on August 23 charged that Washington's "destructive" approach to ties with Moscow was responsible for the impeding bilateral cooperation.

Lavrov made the assertion in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to Russia's Foreign Ministry.

Bolton said his discussions with Patrushev covered "the whole range of issues that the two countries have on nonproliferation, on arms control, on a range of bilateral issues, counterterrorism, illegal immigration, cyber-related issues, regional issues, like Syria, the broader Middle East, Afghanistan, and Ukraine."

On Syria, he urged Moscow to help end Iran's military presence in the war-ravaged country.

"Our objective is that all Iranian forces return to Iran, and that would be an objective that I think President Putin would share," Bolton said, adding that they "talked about a variety of ways in which it might be accomplished through a series of steps."

Iran, along with Russia, has given President Bashar al-Assad crucial support throughout the Syrian seven-year conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and uprooted millions since it began with a government crackdown on protesters in March 2011.

The United States supports rebels fighting against Assad's government.

Bolton said Patrushev reiterated Moscow's suggestion that, in exchange for restrictions on Iranian troops' geographic movements in Syria, the United States end its oil embargo against Iran.

"That was a suggestion that we rejected before, and we rejected it again today," Bolton said.

Before the Geneva meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters that the U.S. insistence on the withdrawal of Iranian forces is a "reflection of the dominating aspiration in Washington to dictate to everyone else their own beliefs about what is good and what is bad."

Russian state-run TASS news agency quoted Ryabkov, who participated in the talks with Bolton, as saying Washington is "drunk with narcissism."

Patrushev told reporters, without being specific, that no accusations were brought against Moscow during the talks but that the two sides discussed Syria, Ukraine, cybersecurity, and nuclear issues.

He added that he had invited U.S. officials to Russia for a new round of talks, but said no agreement had been reached on the timing for another meeting with Bolton.

He said agreement had been reached to reopen communications channels between the U.S. and Russian defense and foreign ministries, as well as military chiefs-of-staff.

Several tense issues separate Moscow and Washington, in addition to the conflict in Syria and election meddling.

The United States and European Union have imposed a series of sanctions on Russia for its seizure and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 and its support for separatists fighting against Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people since April 204.

Bolton and Patrushev said Ukraine was discussed, but they did not immediately provide details.

The United States has also joined Britain and other allies in imposing sanctions and expelling diplomats after concluding that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England in May. Russia denies involvement in the chemical weapon attack.

U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken often of improving ties with the Kremlin, saying it was the best way to solve a number of global conflicts.

But even his July 16 face-to-face meeting with Putin in Helsinki failed to turn relations around, with the Trump administration continuing to impose new sanctions against Russia.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-won-t-tolerate-election-meddling -bolton-tells-russia-s-patrushev/29449606.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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Alive Not Dead? Daesh Releases New Recording Allegedly by Leader Al-Baghdadi

Sputnik News

13:05 23.08.2018(updated 14:38 23.08.2018)

Despite numerous reports of his death or injury, Daesh's* shadowy leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appears to be more alive than dead, even though his whereabouts are unknown, and he has not been heard from in almost a year.

In a 54-minute audio recording purportedly of al-Baghdadi released by the terrorist group on Wednesday, their leader calls on his followers to "persevere" and continue fighting their enemies everywhere, the newspaper Haaretz reported.

"America is going through the worst time in its entire existence," al-Baghdadi says. He also criticizes the surrenders of rebels in southern Syria to President Bashar Assad's forces, calling them traitors and urges fighters to join Daesh instead.

He also urges patience, perseverance and continued jihad, or holy war.

In the audio message, al-Baghdadi congratulates followers on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and makes references to current events, including US-Turkish tensions over Ankara's detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to be hiding somewhere in the vast desert region along the Syrian-Iraqi border.

In his previous audio message released in September 2017, he urged his followers to burn their enemies everywhere and target the "media centers of the infidels."

Al-Baghdadi's death has been reported numerous times in recent years, but the terrorist leader has re-emerged each time.

In June, the Russian Defense Ministry said that al-Baghdadi could have been killed as a result of a Russian airstrike on May 28, 2017 in the southern suburb of Raqqa.

But in September, an alleged audio recording of al-Baghdadi emerged, casting fresh doubt on whether the terrorist leader is currently dead or alive.

Daesh launched a campaign of terror against Syria and Iraq in 2013 and 2014, respectively, seizing vast territories and killing scores of people.

However, after a series of calamitous defeats at the hands of Syrian and Iraqi national armies backed by their allies, the terrorist group has lost all of its strongholds and around 90 percent of territory it controlled in both countries in 2014, when it declared its so-called "caliphate."

*Daesh (ala ISIL/IS/ISIS, Islamic state) is a terror organization banned in Russia

 Sputnik

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CIA-Backed Firm Tipped Off Facebook to 'Inauthentic' Accounts

Sputnik News

03:25 23.08.2018(updated 03:33 23.08.2018)

Facebook removed 652 pages, groups and accounts on Tuesday for "coordinated inauthentic behavior" after it was tipped off to the accounts by FireEye, a cybersecurity firm bankrolled by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Unlike Facebook's last round of bans, the company has a attributed the operators of the newly removed accounts to the usual scapegoats: Russia and Iran.

"These were distinct campaigns, and we have not identified any links or coordination between them," the company said.

Twitter quickly followed suit. "Working with our industry peers today, we have suspended 284 accounts from Twitter for engaging in coordinated manipulation," Twitter said in a Tuesday statement. "Based on our existing analysis, it appears many of these accounts originated from Iran."

"The thing that strikes me the most is that it's so convenient, that all of these pages that Facebook has been taking down and that Twitter has been limiting, are all somehow related  or they say they're related  to governments or movements or news sources that aren't very friendly to the United States or that the United States government wants to overthrow," web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa told Radio Sputnik's By Any Means Necessary.

"Russia. Iran. TeleSur. Venezuela Analysis. There was a Haitian liberation page that was taken down last week on Facebook as well."

"You don't see any German pages, you don't see any British pages coming down, even if they are doing some sort of sketchy activity," Garaffa added.

According to Facebook's head of Cybersecurity Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, the social media giant got a tip from FireEye, a cybersecurity firm that has received venture capital funding by the CIA since 2009. In a statement, the CIA's investment arm said it will maintain a "strategic partnership" with FireEye, calling it a "critical addition to our strategic investment portfolio for security technologies."

The CIA's venture capital arm is known as In-Q-Tel, which describes itself as a "not-for-profit strategic investor" on its website.

The company was one of the few cyber firms to forensically analyze the alleged hack of the Democratic National Committee. A spokesman for the firm told Defense One that the hackers "wanted experts and policymakers to know that Russia is behind it."

In March 2017, FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia, a former Air Force cyber crimes investigator, told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the company was able to attribute the blame to Russia based off of "deduction" and "process of elimination."

One part of the network FireEye identified to Facebook was a page called Quest 4 Truth. According to Gleicher, it "claims to be an independent Iranian media organization, but is in fact linked to Press TV, an English-language news network affiliated with Iranian state media."

"We're still investigating, and we have shared what we know with the US and UK governments," Gleicher wrote. "Since there are US sanctions involving Iran, we've also briefed the US Treasury and State Departments."

"The social media companies are by and large American companies, and they want to be in favor with the US government," Garaffa told By Any Means Necessary hosts Eugene Puryear and Sean Blackmon. "They will do the bidding of the US government when it comes to data collection [and] when it comes to taking down pages that are not acceptable."

"It's a huge PR weapon that the American government has that almost no one else does," he added.

The investigation came in three parts, according to Facebook. The first netted 74 Facebook pages, 70 accounts, three groups and 76 accounts on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Some $6,000 was spent on ads on the platforms, and three events were created.

The second stage included 12 Facebook pages, 66 Facebook accounts and nine Instagram accounts. No money was spent on advertising, and none of the pages had associated events.

The third part of the investigation found 168 Facebook pages, 140 Facebook accounts and 31 Instagram accounts; 25 events were created, and more than $6,000 was spent on ads.

According to Facebook, many of the pages masqueraded as news organizations. Some real news organizations have reported that the accounts were seeking to influence the US midterm elections, but in reality, Facebook just said one of the account groups was discovered as the company stepped up investigation efforts ahead of the midterms.

"Finally, we've removed pages, groups and accounts that can be linked to sources the US government has previously identified as Russian military intelligence services," the company said. "This more recent activity focused on politics in Syria and Ukraine. For example, they are associated with Inside Syria Media Center, which the Atlantic Council and other organizations have identified for covertly spreading pro-Russian and pro-Assad content."

Facebook has partnered with the Digital Forensics Research Lab to combat so-called fake news. It's worth noting DFL is an arm of the neoconservative Atlantic Council think tank, which is primarily funded by NATO, Gulf monarchies and the US defense industry.

"The shuttering of progressive media amidst the 'fake news' and Russiagate hysteria is what activists been warning all along  tech companies, working in concert with think tanks stacked with CIA officials and defense contractors, shouldn't have the power to curate our reality to make those already rendered invisible even more obsolete," Abby Martin, host of "The Empire Files" on TeleSur English, told Sputnik News after Facebook temporarily unpublished the TeleSur English page. "The Empire Files" announced on Wednesday that they were forced to shut down because of US sanctions.

"The Atlantic Council is like a who's who of the extremely wealthy and NATO countries and allies," Garaffa said. Since the "content moderation" partnership, there's been a "massive uptick in removing of any content that goes against the mass media, US propaganda line."

"So they have this unprecedented control over the narrative and the information that we can see, and these are private companies, but ultimately because of their relationship with the state, they are serving the interests of the state, and the state is actually serving to protect these companies' interests as well."

Facebook's last round of bans came on July 31. That time, the company made no attempt to publicly identify who was behind the "bad actors" on their platform, but said that activity displayed by them was consistent with previously identified activity from the allegedly Kremlin-run troll farm the Internet Research Agency.

That ban included 32 pages and accounts and the main counter-protest to the Unite the Right 2.0 rally held in Washington, DC on August 12  the one-year anniversary to the deadly Charlottesville, Virginia, protest. One of the six administrators on the account supposedly displayed inauthentic activity. The other five were totally legitimate, the company admitted.

The bans on Tuesday follow a long line of similar ones issued by the company since the 2016 election. The company banned 470 supposedly fake Russian accounts in September 2017; then, on April 3, Facebook banned 70 Facebook accounts, 65 Instagram accounts and 138 Facebook pages allegedly controlled by the Internet Research Agency.

Garaffa underscored the power social media giants wield, as they're relied on "much more now than most people did on television or newspaper news, because the stream is always on. You're not picking up the morning edition of the paper, you're looking at what happened in the last five minutes."

 Sputnik

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Bolton Says He Warned Russia Against Meddling in November Elections

By VOA News August 23, 2018

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton says he warned his Russian counterpart not to interfere in the U.S. mid-term elections in November.

Bolton said he made it clear the United States is "prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening."

He spoke at a news conference in Geneva, where met with Russian national security council director Nikolai Patrushev.

Bolton said the issue prevented the issuance of a joint statement at the conclusion of the meeting, the first high-level meeting since U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held talks in Helsinki last month.

The U.S. has already imposed economic sanctions against Russia over it's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. intelligence community concluded Russia meddled in the election, a finding Russia denies.

Patrushev told reporters he and Bolton agreed to re-open communication lines between U.S. and Russian foreign and defense ministries, according to Russia's RIA news agency.

Patrushev also said the two agreed on resuming contacts between the two countries' army chiefs-of-staff, and that he invited Bolton and other U.S. officials to Russia for more talks at an undetermined date.

The two men also discussed Iran. Bolton said the Trump administration's goal is to "put maximum pressure on the regime" with more extensive and effective sanctions. The Trump administration previously withdrew from a 2015 global agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program.

With respect to Iran's role in Syria, Bolton said "our objective is that all Iranian forces return to Iran" and said a "variety of ways" were discussed to achieve that goal.

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China rejects US criticism of El Salvador's decision

People's Daily Online

(China Daily) 08:21, August 23, 2018

Beijing said on Wednesday that there is no reason for anyone to interfere with El Salvador's decision to establish diplomatic ties with China, and it urged Washington to refrain from sending the "wrong signals" to pro-independence forces in Taiwan.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang asked the United States to "correctly view" ties between China and El Salvador, and properly handle Taiwan-related issues to avoid harming Sino-US cooperation and the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

Lu made the remark at a daily news conference after a US State Department spokesman said on Tuesday that Washington was "deeply disappointed" by El Salvador's decision to break ties with Taiwan and that the US is reviewing its relationship with the Central American country.

China and El Salvador are independent sovereign states and have the right to determine their relations with other countries, Lu said, adding that El Salvador made the right decision, and it was the same decision that the United Nations and 177 other countries have already made.

The establishment of China-El Salvador relations will not affect the two countries in their efforts to develop ties with other nations, Lu said.

Washington itself established diplomatic ties with Beijing nearly four decades ago, he said.

He noted that the US has not only interfered in sovereign countries' wishes to acknowledge the one-China principle and develop normal relations with China, but also allowed Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen to "transit" through the US and carry out activities on its territory.

"Such moves are groundless and are firmly opposed by the Chinese people," he said.

The establishment of diplomatic ties between China and El Salvador based on the one-China principle conforms to the trends of the times, he said, adding that it is also in line with the law and basic rules of international relations as well as the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people.

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Beijing, New Delhi to boost military ties

People's Daily Online

(China Daily) 08:30, August 23, 2018

China and India will strengthen cooperation between their militaries and maintain peace along their shared border, the two sides pledged during a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday between State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Wei, who is on a four-day visit to India, said that under the guidance of President Xi Jinping and Modi, friendly coexistence and win-win cooperation have come to characterize relations between the two countries as well as between their militaries.

The visit will help further implement the important consensus the two countries' leaders have reached, deepen military and security exchanges and cooperation, and strengthen the building of mutual trust, Wei said.

It will also help the two countries' militaries promote their ties and maintain peace in border regions, Wei said.

Modi said India and China share vast common interests and should support each other, conduct win-win cooperation and jointly plan for the future.

The two countries should also further enhance exchanges and cooperation between their militaries and work together to maintain stability along their long shared border, Modi said.

Wei is also scheduled to meet with Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the visit.

This year has seen frequent interactions between the leaders of China and India.

Xi and Modi held an informal meeting in Wuhan, Hubei province in Aprila meeting Xi said he hoped would begin a new chapter in bilateral ties.

They met again in June on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Less than two months later, they held bilateral talks while attending the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Lan Jianxue, a researcher of South Asian studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said such frequent high-level exchanges show that bilateral ties are improving.

Both countries believe they should seek common ground while properly settling their differences, he said.

Lan added that strengthened cooperation and mutual trust between their militaries will help prevent conflicts in the border areas, thus further contributing to the development of bilateral ties.

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Pompeo Announces Special Envoy to N Korea to Oversee Denuclearization Progress

Sputnik News

19:58 23.08.2018(updated 20:00 23.08.2018)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday that Ford Motor Company International Governmental Affairs Vice President Stephen Biegun will be the Department of State's special representative for North Korea.

"I'm excited to announce this morning that Steve Biegun is joining our team as the special representative for North Korea," Pompeo said. "Steve will direct US policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Trump's goal of a final, full and verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un."

Pompeo said he and Biegun will travel to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress toward achieving denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Biegun emphasized US President Donald Trump has opened an opportunity to realize the vision of a peaceful future for the people of North Korea, though the issues will be tough to resolve.

The special representative said he will work with his State Department colleagues, US government agencies and international partners to achieve the shared goal of denuclearization.

On June 12, Trump and Kim met in Singapore where they reached an agreement that stipulates North Korea will denuclearize in exchange for a freeze of the US-South Korean military drills and potential sanctions relief. No concrete time frame was announced for achieving these goals.

 Sputnik

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Remarks on the Appointment of Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun

Remarks

Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

August 23, 2018

SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, everyone. I'm excited to announce this morning that Steve Biegun is joining our team as the special representative for North Korea.

Steve will direct U.S. policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Trump's goal of the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un.

It's a very timely moment for Steve to join the team and come on board. He and I will be traveling to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective.

Steve is taking the reins of a great team effort. The State Department has already done excellent work in implementing and sustaining the pressure campaign, putting together the first-ever leader-level summit in Singapore, and laying the groundwork to hold North Korea accountable to the promises that Chairman Kim has made. As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners.

Steve has had extensive career in foreign policy and in tough negotiating settings as well. He comes to us from his position as the vice president of international government affairs for the Ford Motor Company. In this job, he closely engaged foreign governments to advance Ford's goals all around the world. He will now employ the same skill and dedication on behalf of the American people to make sure that their interests are well served in respect to North Korea.

Steve also spent nearly two decades doing foreign policy work on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch. His positions have included national security advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Senator Bill Frist. He was the executive secretary at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and the chief of staff at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us. I'm fully confident that he will be able to lead our mission in ensuring a secure future for the American people and  we hope  a far brighter future for the people of North Korea.

And now I'd like to invite our new special representative for North Korea, Steve Biegun, to say a few words.

MR BIEGUN: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. And I want to start by thanking you and the President for having given me an incredible opportunity to once again serve our great nation.

I fully understand the importance of this job  the President, you, and the American people  and what you expect from all of us in achieving a more peaceful world. The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve. But the President has created an opening, and its one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea.

This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong-un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore. I will work closely with my colleagues here at the State Department and throughout the U.S. Government, as well as our allies and partners around the world, to achieve our shared goal of a safer and more peaceful world.

Once again, I'm honored and grateful for this opportunity, and I look forward to faithfully representing the United States of America. Mr. Secretary, I will give you and the American people my very best. Thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Great. Thank you, sir. Thank you, all.

QUESTION: You're not going to take any questions?



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Iran says Israel, U.S. to be targeted if Washington attacks

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 07:54, August 23, 2018

TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that they would strike Israeli cities with missiles if the Islamic country was threatened, according to local Mizan News Agency.

The Revolutionary Guards added that they will continue increasing Iran's defensive capabilities despite U.S. pressure to scrap its ballistic missile program.

On the same day, a senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami warned that if his country was attacked by the United States and Israel, Tehran will give a tit-for-tat fightback.

Khatami told worshippers attending Eid prayers in Tehran that talks with U.S. President Donald Trump is impossible.

"Americans say you should accept what they say in the talks, which is not negotiation, but dictatorship. The Iranian nation would stand up against dictatorship," he was quoted as saying.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected before Trump's offer of "unconditional talks on a new nuclear deal," saying that "if they (Americans) want to meet, that's fine; if they don't, I couldn't care less."

Khatami also stressed "the price of a war with Iran is very high," adding that if the Americans harm his country in the slightest way, "the U.S. and its main ally in the region, the Zionist regime (Israel), would be targeted."

On May 8, Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and vowed to reinstate sanctions against Tehran to make the latter "change behavior."

The U.S. government on Aug. 7 re-imposed sanctions on Iran on non-energy areas and will slap the remaining sanctions on Nov. 5 that concentrate on areas including energy, shipping and ports.

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US raises the issue of tightening Iran sanctions with Russia: Bolton

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 09:37PM

US National Security Adviser John Bolton says he has said raised the issue of tightening economic sanctions against Iran with the head of Russia's National Security Council, but provided no details.

Bolton made the remarks at a news conference on Thursday after more than five hours of talks with Nikolai Patrushev in Geneva.

He also said they had discussed a phased withdrawal of Iran's presence in Syria during the talks. "Our objective is that all Iranian forces return to Iran... And we talked about a variety of ways in which it might be accomplished through a series of steps."

Bolton, one of the Trump administration's leading hawks in dealing with Iran, said that following the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the Trump administration's objective was to "put maximum pressure on the regime" by making sanctions "more extensive and more effective."

This week, Bolton held talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem al-Quds, where he said on Wednesday that Washington is prepared to use sanctions to drive Iranian oil exports down to zero.

He said that "we want is massive change in the regime's behavior."

"We are going to do other things to put pressure on Iran as well, beyond economic sanctions," he added.

Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six major world powers in May and then signed an executive order earlier this month reimposing many sanctions on Iran to levy "maximum economic pressure" on the Islamic Republic to renegotiate the deal and to end Tehran's what Washington calls interference in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon. Iran denies any meddling in the internal affairs of these countries.

While signing the executive order, Trump repeated his opinion that the international nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was a "horrible, one-sided deal."

Bolton claimed that the return of American sanctions was having a strong effect on Iran's economy.

Bolton: I warned Russian envoy against election meddling

Meanwhile, Bolton also said he had warned Moscow against meddling in the US midterm elections in November during talks with Patrushev.

"I made it clear we wouldn't tolerate (election) meddling in 2018 and that we were prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening," he said.

Washington has already imposed economic sanctions against Moscow accusing it of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Both US President Donald and the Kremlin Trump and deny the meddling allegations.

In July, Trump called the ongoing investigation into his alleged dealings with Russia during the 2016 election "a big hoax," saying it's his predecessor, Barack Obama, who needs to be probed for not taking action against Moscow.

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British Airways, Air France to halt direct flights to Iran next month

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 05:25PM

Flagship airlines British Airways and Air France have announced that they are to suspend all their direct flights to Iran, saying the route is "not commercially viable," as the United States has re-imposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic prohibiting foreign businesses from operating in the country.

"We are suspending our London to Tehran service as the operation is currently not commercially viable," British Airways said in a statement on Thursday.

Back in May, US President Donald Trump announced that he would abandon the JCPOA, a landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers -- the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany -- in 2015. The controversial move did not go down well with the other signatories, which have made it clear that they would stay in the deal.

Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit parts of its peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions. On August 6, Trump, however, ordered all nuclear-related sanctions that were removed under the deal to be reinstated immediately.

The statement by the British Airways, owned by Spanish-registered IAG, further said that its last outbound flight from London to Tehran would be on September 22 and the last inbound flight from the Iranian capital would be on September 23.

The London-Tehran route had been reinstated following the nuclear accord, after a four-year gap.

Meanwhile, Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran's ambassador to London, expressed his regret about the British flagship airline's move, saying, "Considering the high demand ... the decision by the airliner is regrettable."

British Airways apologized to travelers planning to visit Iran and noted that it was offering refunds for affected passengers or a possible rerouting through other airlines.

Separately, Air France also said in a statement that it would suspend all its flights to the Islamic Republic on September 18. The airliner, which had already transferred its connections with the Iranian capital to its low-cost airline Joon, had cut the frequency of its flights from three to one per week since the beginning of this month.

Last month, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, a sister airline of Air France, said that it would stop flights to Tehran due to "negative results and financial outlook."

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US putting maximum pressure on Iran to change its behavior: Bolton

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 06:23AM

US President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton has said the United States is exerting "maximum pressure" on the government of Iran to change its behavior, adding that Washington is prepared to use sanctions to drive Iranian oil exports down to zero.

"Regime change in Iran is not American policy, but what we want is massive change in the regime's behavior," Bolton said on Wednesday on a visit to Israel, claiming that current sanctions had been more effective than predicted.

"We are going to do other things to put pressure on Iran as well, beyond economic sanctions," he added.

Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six major world powers in May and then signed an executive order earlier this month reimposing many sanctions on Iran to levy "maximum economic pressure" on the Islamic Republic to renegotiate the deal and to end Tehran's what Washington calls interference in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon. Iran denies any meddling in the internal affairs of these countries.

While signing the executive order, Trump repeated his opinion that the international nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was a "horrible, one-sided deal."

Speaking in Jerusalem al-Quds, Bolton claimed that the return of American sanctions was having a strong effect on Iran's economy.

"There should not be any doubt that the United States wants this resolved peacefully, but we are fully prepared for any contingency that Iran creates," he told Reuters.

Bolton was bullish about the impact of sanctions. "We expect that Europeans will see, as businesses all over Europe are seeing, that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them," he said.

"[Trump] has made it very clear  his words  he wants maximum pressure on Iran, maximum pressure, and that is what is going on," he added.

Before leaving for Israel, Bolton expressed his desire of strengthening the "alliance between US and Israel" against Iran.

Earlier this month, Bolton accused Iran of trying to produce nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism and said the United States was attempting to stop this.

"What we're focused on is the nuclear weapons program, ballistic missiles, the support for terrorism, and the belligerent activity militarily," he said.

Bolton's anti-Iran rhetoric comes as the longstanding Western dispute over Tehran's nuclear program was settled after the conclusion of the landmark nuclear agreement in 2015. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 also endorsed the nuclear deal, which went into effect in January 2016.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also confirmed Iran's commitment to the terms of the nuclear agreement.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16, 2016.

The deal limited parts of Iran's peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the complete removal of all sanctions against the country.

In May, Washington withdrew from the deal. It also said it would be returning the nuclear-related sanctions, which have been lifted on the back of the accord.

The second wave of sanctions that would hit on November 4 would aim to bring Iran's oil exports to zero as claimed by US officials.

Tehran has said if it cannot sell its oil, other regional countries would not be able to do so either, triggering speculation that it may block the Strait of Hormuz, through which many international oil cargoes pass.

Iranian officials have emphasized that they would seek mechanisms to go around the sanctions and keep the country's oil exports flowing.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has ordered officials and institutions in charge to prepare to build up the country's enrichment capacity in case the nuclear deal falls apart after the US unilaterally scrapped it.

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UN Expert Blasts 'Unjust, Harmful' U.S. Sanctions On Iran

RFE/RL August 23, 2018

A United Nations expert has criticized the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran following the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, saying they are driving "millions of people into poverty."

UN Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy made the comments in an August 22 statement, after the United States earlier this month started reimposing sanctions on the Iranian economy that had been lifted under the nuclear agreement in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.

The U.S. move came after President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord in May.

A second round of penalties targeting Iran's crude exports is due to come into effect in early November.

"International sanctions must have a lawful purpose, must be proportional, and must not harm the human rights of ordinary citizens, and none of these criteria is met in this case," said Jazairy, who is serving as UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.

Calling the U.S. sanctions "unjust and harmful," Jazairy said they are "destroying the economy and currency of Iran, driving millions of people into poverty and making imported goods unaffordable," including "urgently needed humanitarian goods."

The UN expert urged the United States to "demonstrate its commitment to allow agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices into Iran by taking real and concrete steps to ensure that banks, financial institutions, and companies can quickly and freely be assured that relevant imports and payments are permitted."

Trump has consistently looked to increase pressure on Tehran to bring about what his administration has called a "change in behavior" regarding its weapons programs and its "destabilizing" activities in the region, accusations Iran denies.

White House national-security adviser John Bolton said on August 22 that the United States was not seeking to topple Iran's government, but said Washington does want authorities in Tehran to change their behavior.

"Just to be clear, regime change in Iran is not American policy. But what we want is massive change in the regime's behavior," Bolton told a news conference in Jerusalem.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/un-expert-blasts-unjust -harmful-us-sanction-on-iran/29448550.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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British Airways, Air France to Suspend Flights to Tehran Since September

Sputnik News

16:45 23.08.2018(updated 18:51 23.08.2018)

The last British Airways' flight to Tehran will be on September 22, with the return flight to London on September 23, while Air France cancels all flights to Tehran starting September 18.

"We are suspending our London to Tehran service as the operation is currently not commercially viable. We are sorry for any disruption this may cause to our customers' travel plans and we are in discussions with our partner airlines to offer customers rebooking options. Alternatively, they will be offered a full refund or the opportunity to bring their flights forward," the company said in a statement.

The airline stated the suspension of flights had nothing to do with Trump's imposition of new sanctions on Iran, which has impacted foreign businesses operating in the country, with many pulling out completely.

Air France has also announced that it will end flights to Tehran next month, noting that Tehran was airline's only destination in Iran after flights were resumed in 2016.

"We are canceling flights to Tehran for economic reasons starting September 18. The number of [ticket] bookings does not meet our expectations," the representative said adding that the destination ceased to be profitable.

The Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) have also decided to drop flight to the Iranian capital.

"Hi! Starting from September 24, 2018, KLM will suspend its flights to Tehran, Iran. This decision has been made for commercial reasons. If you have booked a flight to Tehran departing on or after September 24, 2018 you will, of course, be rebooked to the most suitable alternative," the airline tweeted.

At the same time, some air carriers announced they would continue to carry out flights in Iran: for example, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, as Lufthansa Group Spokesperson Boris Ogursky told Sputnik on Thursday.

"Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines will continue to fly to Tehran until further notice", Ogursky said.

The decisions announced by British Airways, Air France and some others come amid a deterioration of relations between the US and Iran after President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and restoration of US sanctions against Tehran.

The British Airways had suspended its services in the country in October 2012 as relations between Britain and Iran deteriorated, and then reopened direct flights to Tehran in September 2016.

Dutch carrier KLM announced last month that it was also suspending Tehran flights due to "negative results and financial outlook."

 Sputnik

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EU Earmarks $20Mln for Iran in Effort to Offset US Sanctions

Sputnik News

16:59 23.08.2018(updated 17:17 23.08.2018)

The European Union is working hard to salvage the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which the US withdrew from earlier this year, and widen economic relations "in areas that are of direct benefit to our citizens."

The European Union allocated 18 million euros ($20.6 million) in aid for Iran on Thursday, including for the country's private sector in an effort to lessen the impact of US sanctions and encourage Tehran to stay in the 2015 nuclear agreement aimed at curbing its nuclear program, Reuters reported.

The bailout is part of a 50 million euro ($58 million) aid package that Brussels has set aside for Iran in its budget.

Faced with a US threat to punish foreign companies that refuse to join Washington's sanctions and continue doing business with Iran, the EU has activated the so-called "blocking statute" and has been taking other measures to meet Tehran's demand for practical guarantees that its economic ties with Europe will not suffer as a result of the US sanctions.

In a statement on Thursday, the EU's foreign policy commissioner, Federica Mogherini, said that Brussels remained fully committed to mutually rewarding cooperation with Iran.

"This new package will widen economic and sectoral relations in areas that are of direct benefit to our citizens," she said.

The EU will spend 8 million euros ($9.2 million) on the Islamic Republic's private sector, including assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises and Iran's Trade Promotion Organization.

A further 8 million euros will go to environmental projects and 2 million euros ($2.3 million) to fighting harm caused by drugs.

On Monday, Iran urged the EU to speed up efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned in May, threatening otherwise to stop complying with its terms.

The first wave of US sanctions targeting Iranian exports, the country's financial system and its ability to access the global financial system, took effect at midnight on Tuesday.

A second wave of sanctions to targeting Iran's energy sector is scheduled for November 4.

The 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA, eased sanctions earlier imposed on Iran in exchange for Tehran curtailing its nuclear weapons program.

 Sputnik

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New US Sanctions on Iran to Give Little Room to Waivers - Bolton

Sputnik News

07:24 23.08.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States will continue exerting maximum pressure on Iran, resulting in very few waivers being granted to those wanting to do business with it, the US national security adviser said.

"We're not just going to stop at where the sanctions were in 2015. Our objective really is  essentially we'd like to say no waivers to the sanctions," John Bolton said at a briefing in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Bolton said Washington had only granted two waivers  both very limited  since President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for nuclear curbs.

"And that's intended to be a very different kind of enforcement of the sanctions than occurred during the Obama administration," Bolton promised.

He hinted at a "number of things" he could not disclose publicly  other than economic sanctions  that would help bring down the hammer on Iran and force it to stop "malign" activities in the region.

 Sputnik

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Iraqi military aircraft kill more Daesh members in Salahuddin

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 12:28PM

Iraqi military aircraft have launched a series of aerial attacks against the remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the country's north-central province of Salahuddin, killing a number of extremists in the process.

Provincial police source Mohammed al-Bazi said Iraqi Air Force fighter jets struck the rugged Mutibjah area, killing seven Daesh militants and destroying two of their hideouts.

Bazi added that two underground tunnels and two motorcycles belonging to the Takfiris were also destroyed in the aerial attacks.

Military commander killed in bombing in western Iraq

Meanwhile, the head of the Anbar provincial council's security committee, Naim al-Kaoud, told the Arabic service of Russia's Sputnik news agency that an army commander had lost his life in a powerful bomb explosion.

Kaoud said Lieutenant Colonel Akram Abbas Fahdawi was traveling in a car along the international highway linking the troubled western province of Anbar to Jordan, when Daesh terrorists detonated a roadside bomb.

On August 13, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced the dismantling of a terrorist cell that was apparently preparing to carry out a terrorist attack in the center of Anbar province.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, pledged on June 30 to hunt down the remnants of Daesh militants across Iraq after a series of attacks and abductions carried out by the terrorist group.

"We will chase the remaining cells of terrorism in their hideouts and we will kill them, we will chase them everywhere, in the mountains and the desert," Abadi said.

Abadi declared the end of military operations against Daesh in the Arab country on December 9, 2017.

On July 10 that year, the Iraqi prime minister had formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists' main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19 last year.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

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UNICEF warns of 'lost generation' of Rohingya youth, one year after Myanmar exodus

22 August 2018 - The refugee crisis in Bangladesh sparked by the mass exodus of people from Myanmar almost a year ago risks creating a "lost generation" of Rohingya children who lack the life skills they will need in future, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

Hundreds of thousands of mainly Muslim Rohingya continue to live in cramped and rudimentary camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, after fleeing a military operation in Myanmar that was subsequently likened to "ethnic cleansing" by the UN's top human rights official, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein.

According to UNICEF, the international community needs to do more to prevent some half a million youngsters "falling prey to despair and frustration".

One key need is better education facilities, which some older children say is almost more important than food, according to Simon Ingram, Senior Communication Advisor for UNICEF.

"Now they are starting to look forward, they're starting to wonder, 'What next?'" Mr. Ingram said, citing a child alert issued late Wednesday. "They are starting to think, you know, what sort of future that they really have, and this is where a new level of anxiety and fear starts to come in."

Although huge advances have been made in the living conditions of those forced to flee Myanmar, including in disease outbreak prevention, improved water provision and stronger shelters, UNICEF warns that children in Cox's Bazar face a bleak future.

"If we don't make the investment in education now, we face the very real danger of seeing a lost generation of Rohingya children," UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Edouard Beigbeder said in a statement.

"Children who lack the skills they need to deal with their current situation, and who will be incapable of contributing to their society whenever they are able to return to Myanmar."

Inside Cox's Bazar, some 1,200 education centres were operational by July this year for around 140,000 children  a significant achievement, given the level of demand.

But there is no agreed curriculum and few learning opportunities for all those above 14 years old, problems that UNICEF is intent on resolving, by providing a higher quality education that focuses on literacy, language and numeracy, as well as "essential life-skills".

"It's about an insurance against a loss of a generation of children to hopelessness and despair -something that we really must avoid at all costs," Mr. Ingram said.

"We really want to see everybody accepts that this is not a crisis that is going to go away anytime soon and that we have to plan in a more sustainable way for the future, whether that be in terms of providing water and sanitation or health care, or in need of education."

According to the UN agency report, girls and teenagers are especially at risk of being excluded when it comes to educational opportunities in Cox's Bazar.

It also calls on the Government of Myanmar to ensure that in Rakhine state  where more than half a million Rohingya remain  children from all communities have equal access to quality education.

But verifying this is challenging, given that UNICEF's access to the state is only partial, according to Mr. Ingram, who noted that Rohingya displaced by intercommunal violence in 2012 continue to live without hope in camps located in central Rakhine.

Under an official deal signed by the UN and the Governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh in June, it was agreed that efforts would be made to create appropriate conditions for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Rohingya refugees to their former communities.

To date, no such returns have happened, Mr. Ingram told journalists at a press briefing in Geneva.

"I think everybody would hope that the returns of the Rohingnya people to Myanmar would happen sooner rather than later, as soon as possible indeed," he said. "But the position of the UN and UNICEF have been absolutely clear, that that can only happen when circumstances are right."

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UNICEF warns of 'lost generation' of Rohingya children

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:34AM

The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim children lack proper education both in Myanmar and border camps in Bangladesh, warning that the Myanmarese kids could become "a lost generation."

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, on Thursday gave a bleak assessment of the outlook for Rohingya children on either side of the border, saying refugees who have fled Myanmar and entered Bangladesh faced risks, including disease and floods and those still in Myanmar lacked access to proper education.

"We are talking about risking the loss or the potential loss of a generation of Rohingya children," UNICEF spokesman Simon Ingram told news conference in Geneva.

"It isn't just the half a million children or so on the Bangladeshi side of border but it's also those who are still left behind in Rakhine state, whose access to education is patchy at best and highly limited," Ingram said after spending six weeks in the refugee camps in the Bangladeshi district of Cox's Bazar.

UNICEF spokesman Alastair Lawson-Tancred also said Bangladesh prohibits refugees from receiving formal education as the government is concerned the Rohingya population might become a "permanent fixture."

The UN estimated 530,000 to 600,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims remained in troubled Rakhine State, including about 360,000 children, he said.

The UN official further said the conditions in Rakhine remain unsafe, adding that the prospects for the return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar anytime soon were bleak, despite a voluntary repatriation agreement signed between Myanmar and Bangladesh in June.

There are four million Rohingya around the world, the majority living outside their ancestral land. More than 700,000 members of the minority have fled the state-sponsored violence to Bangladesh over the past nine months.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees by 2020, followed up by an agreement with the UN last month.

Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh and experts say a recent deal between Myanmar and the United Nations falls short of guaranteeing the Muslims' safe return to Myanmar.

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UN: Rohingya Refugee Children Denied Education Face Bleak Future

By Lisa Schlein August 23, 201

One year after violence and persecution in Myanmar forced the mass exodus of Rohingya refugees, the U.N. Children's Fund warns of a lost generation of children in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, because they are being denied the education they need to carve out a viable future. The warning comes as UNICEF announced the launch of a study "Futures in the Balance: Building Hope for a Generation of Rohingya Children."

The UNICEF study notes the scenes of chaos and confusion that reigned throughout the cramped, squalid camps in Cox's Bazar during most of last year are gone. It says improvements in infrastructure and economic activities have been made and it reports major disease outbreaks, such as cholera and widespread damage during the monsoon season, have been averted.

While all this is positive, the U.N. Children's Fund says the growing despair and hopelessness among Rohingya refugee children is of great concern. The agency reports more than one-half million children have few opportunities to get a proper education to learn the basic skills they need to move through life.

UNICEF senior communications adviser Simon Ingram says 140,000 young children are enrolled in school. But he says very little educational opportunities are available for adolescents, and they are frustrated about their future.

"It is something, which is very clearly dangerous for them, for themselves, for their futures, and for the long-term future of the Rohingya people.... So, we really are talking about a whole generation of Rohingya children whose education, whose hopes of learning the basic skills that they need to make a success of their lives, to achieve anything in their lives and contribute to their community's future is in jeopardy."

Ingram says concerns for the children in Cox's Bazar extend to some 360,000 Rohingya children living a life of desperation and deprivation in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state.

UNICEF reports it plans to roll out a new learning framework next month in the refugee camps designed to provide children with a higher-quality education. The curriculum will include competence in literacy, language and math, as well as essential life skills.

The first phase of this program will focus on kindergarten and primary school children. UNICEF says it hopes to provide high-grade educational opportunities to secondary school children up to the 8th grade later in the year.

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Russia to Take Into Account US Sanctions When Deciding on Next 'Practical Steps'

Sputnik News

07:38 23.08.2018(updated 08:01 23.08.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will take into consideration the new round of US sanctions when planning its next practical steps, a high-ranking source told Sputnik.

"We will bear it in mind in our practical steps," the source said, answering the question on Russia's response to the new sanctions.

On August 8, the United States announced new anti-Russian sanctions over Moscow's alleged use of chemical weapons in Salisbury in early March to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The new sanctions include, in particular, a ban on supplies of dual-purpose electronic devices and components to Russia.

The Russian trade ministry previously announced that Moscow had developed response measures to offset the US ban on the exports of dual-purpose goods to the country, noting that the ban would affect several industries, but the impact would not be critical.

Washington also earlier threatened to impose another round of sanctions on Russia that would include banning Russian carrier Aeroflot's flights to the US, limiting diplomatic ties and halting US exports. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev responded to Washington's August 8 sanctions announcement by saying that if some sort of ban on banking activities or currency ban was imposed on Russia  it would mean a declaration of economic war.

 Sputnik

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Moscow calls on Washington to withdraw forces from Syria

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 23, IRNA -- Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on Washington to fulfill its international legal obligations and withdraw its forces from Syria, reaffirming that their presence is illegal.

In a press conference on Thursday, Zakharova said that the Russian side has credible information that the US forces deployed in al-Tanf area, which includes al-Rukban camp, are fully aware of the presence of hundreds of Daesh (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations in the camp and are using the displaced as human shields, SANA reported.

She pointed out that Washington has not yet allowed the United Nations access to the camp to provide aid to the needy.

The Spokeswoman warned of the high frequency of terrorist provocations against the Syrian Arab Army and civilians in areas adjacent to the de-escalation zone in the province of Idleb, noting that the Russian air defense systems recently dropped 45 RC drones which were launched by terrorists from Idleb towards Hmeimim airbase in Lattakia.

The terrorist groups in Idleb recently conducted mass arrests of more than 500 people who called for local reconciliation, according to Zakharova.

Zakharova pointed out that the Syrian government continues to work to create conditions for the return of the displaced to their home, as thousands of them returned recently from Lebanon.

1396**1396

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West leading campaign of hypocrisy on use of chemical weapons: Syria

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:01AM

Syria has denounced a recent statement by the US, Britain and France on the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Damascus government, saying the trio is leading a campaign of misinformation against the Arab country in line with their support for terrorists.

An official source at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates told SANA news agency on Wednesday that the fresh Western threats against Damascus came amid the Syrian army's territorial gains against foreign-backed terrorists.

Washington, London and Paris, in a statement on Monday, claimed that they "shared resolve to preventing the use of chemical weapons" by the government of Syrian President Basher al-Assad.

They also noted that their position on the Damascus' "use of chemical weapons is unchanged. As we have demonstrated, we will respond appropriately to any further use of chemical weapons" by the Syrian government.

The statement was published on the fifth anniversary of the deadly chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August 2013.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Syrian Foreign Ministry source stressed that the Western countries had once again resorted to "a campaign of threats, hypocrisy and misinformation against the Syrian Arab Republic as part of the continued declared support for the armed terrorist groups, particularly Jabhat al-Nusra and its affiliated groups."

"Syria has repeatedly asserted that it considers the use of chemical weapons immoral and condemns its use anywhere, under any circumstance and against anyone. Syria reiterates that it has no chemical weapons," he added.

Syria surrendered its entire chemical stockpile in 2013 to a mission led by the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN.

The source also said it is not Syria which uses chemical weapons, but rather the armed terrorist groups that enjoy direct support from Western and regional countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.

Syria, the source added, has recently "informed the relevant international bodies about preparations by armed terrorist organizations to use poison gas in several areas" in the country.

The statement of these countries is nothing more than a sign of support for "any chemical aggression that these terrorist organizations may undertake in the next few days to use this as a pretext for aggression against Syria, as it did in its brutal aggression on 14 April 2018."

The Western statement seeks to "justify the use of chemical weapons by terrorist organizations, prolong the war against Syria and support the terrorist organizations," the source pointed out.

On April 14, the US, Britain and France launched a coordinated missile attack against sites and research facilities near Damascus and Homs with the purported goal of paralyzing the Syrian government's capability to produce chemicals.

The strike came one week after an alleged gas attack on the Damascus suburb town of Douma.

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Pompeo, Lavrov Discuss US Concerns About Possible Military Activity in Idlib

Sputnik News

23:55 23.08.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed over the telephone on Thursday Washington's serous concerns about a possible military activity in the Syrian city of Idlib, Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters.

"The Secretary discussed the ongoing challenges in Syria and the United States' serious concerns related to possible military activity in Idlib," Nauert said. "He asked Foreign Minister Lavrov to support efforts in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as well as efforts to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons."

The Idlib province is a part of the northern de-escalation zone created under the Astana reconciliation process. Most of the province is currently occupied by militant groups, including al-Nusra Front terror group*.

Previously, the head of the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation, said that the militants operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone continued shelling settlements in Syria.

Earlier, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that the liberation of Idlib was among the priorities for the Syrian military's operations.

 Sputnik

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Turkey: Bolton's remarks prove US waging economic war on NATO ally

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 08:23AM

Ankara has censured US National Security Adviser John Bolton's latest comments about the Turkish financial crisis, saying the remarks prove that Washington is waging an economic war against its NATO ally.

In a statement sent to Reuters on Wednesday, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin complained that the recent policies adopted by the administration of President Donald Trump "are at odds with the fundamental principles and values of the NATO alliance."

The two sides are entangled in a dispute over an American pastor standing trial in Turkey over terror charges.

Pastor Andrew Brunson has been accused of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulen movement, which Turkey blames for the 2016 failed military coup.

The US later took the dispute to the economic front, taking a series of punitive measures against Turkey, including imposing sanctions on Turkish ministers and doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs, which have led to a sharp decline in Turkey's currency, the lira.

Ankara has vowed not to back down in the face of US attempts to achieve its political goals through economic pressure.

Commenting on the row, Bolton said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday that Turkey could end its lira crisis "instantly" by freeing the pastor, and that a Qatari cash infusion would not help Ankara's economy.

The Turkish official described Bolton's statement as "proof that the Trump administration is targeting a NATO ally as part of an economic war."

"The Trump administration has ... established that it intends to use trade, tariffs and sanctions to start a global trade war," Kalin said.

However, he added, Turkey "has no intention of starting an economic war with any party. It cannot, however, be expected to keep silent in the face of attacks against its economy and judiciary."

Elsewhere in his interview, Bolton had accused the Turkish government of holding Brunson "illegitimately."

"Look, the Turkish government made a big mistake in not releasing Pastor Brunson," the US official said. "Every day that goes by that mistake continues, this crisis could be over instantly if they did the right thing as a NATO ally, part of the West, and release pastor Brunson without condition."

In response, Kalin denounced the US "disregard" for Turkey's legal process as "unacceptable."

He further urged the US to respect Turkey's judicial independence, saying, "There is rule of law in Turkey and the Andrew Brunson case is a legal issue. There is an ongoing legal process related to this individual."

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US Policies Violate NATO Principles, Erdogan Spokesman Says

Sputnik News

06:37 23.08.2018(updated 06:51 23.08.2018)

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman on Wednesday criticized Washington for the attempts to intervene into detained pastor Andrew Brunson's case.

Turkish president's spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin urged the United States to respect Turkey's judicial independence in a written statement to Reuters. The spokesperson noted that the US administration had made arbitrary comments and demands in Brunson's case.

"There is rule of law in Turkey and the Andrew Brunson case is a legal issue. There is an ongoing legal process related to this individual," Kalin said. He stressed that Ankara finds "unacceptable the disregard of the legal process by the United States, which has been making certain demands."

Erdogan's spokesman also remarked that the US administration most recent policies were at odds with the principles and values of NATO, saying that the recent US National Security Adviser John Bolton's comments meant that the US was targeting a NATO ally in an economic war.

Kalin's comments came after Bolton told Reuters earlier that Turkey had made a "big mistake" in not releasing Brunson. During his visit to Israel, Bolton claimed that Turkey could end the crisis "instantly" by doing "the right thing as a NATO ally" and freeing American pastor.

The Turkish currency value has been falling recently amid a diplomatic and trade row with Washington. Brunson is currently under house arrest in Turkey on charges of complicity in a failed 2016 coup.

 Sputnik

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'All options on table,' UK Labour Party now open to second Brexit vote

Iran Press TV

Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:22AM

In a surprising U-turn, the UK Labour Party has announced that it is open to the idea of holding a second Brexit referendum if the parliament sees it necessary.

Speaking to BBC on Wednesday Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said his party preferred to keep "all options" on the table in case the Members of Parliament (MPs) decided to vote down Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the European Union (EU) to finalize the country's divorce from the bloc.

In June 2016 over half of British voters opted for leaving the EU, triggering a political storm that saw then PM David Cameron stand down and hand over the position to May, his pro-EU home secretary.

After weeks of clashes over the legalities of the exit given Scotland and Ireland's opposition to Brexit, May was finally able to get the MPs to support her Brexit plan, allowing her to trigger the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

"If that vote is to reject the Article 50 deal parliament must decide what happens next," Starmer told BBC. "In those circumstances it seems to me all options should be on the table."

He said while Labour still preferred a parliamentary vote on the deal rather than a referendum, it was the parliament that was going to decide the next step.

"But I accept the proposition that if it's voted down parliament then decides what happens next," he explained. "And in those circumstances in my experience of the last few years, keep your options on the table not off the table."

A year after the referendum, May, often threatening the EU with a no-deal Brexit, announced snap general elections in the hope of winning a bigger majority in Parliament to secure her footing and reduce the possibility of a rebellion.

But the gamble didn't pay off as Labour won more seats and the ruling Tories lost their absolute majority only to get it back by forming an embarrassing coalition with the Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The new Parliament caused more headaches for May by scrutinizing her Brexit bill and securing the final say on the outcome of the EU talks, a concession May never wanted to make.

Throughout all this, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, also a pro-EU, remained opposed to the idea of a second referendum while calling for a soft Brexit that involved keeping some trade ties with the bloc.

An online petition by The Independent for a Final Say referendum on any Brexit deal reached by May was signed by over 700,000 people as of Wednesday morning.

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Jet Airways Offers International Flight Sale Starting at Rs 4,299 Business oi-Olga Robert

Jet Airways in its latest sale is offering international flight tickets starting at rates as low as Rs 4,299 on one-way tickets in economy class. Discounted rates are being provided on the economy as well as premium class to destinations including Colombo, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Toronto, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Manchester. The offer ends on 25 August.

According to carrier's official website, the lowest fare of Rs 4,299 can be availed for a one-way trip to Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu in economy class. A one way trip to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait and Muscat in economy class start at Rs 5,499 onwards, while that to Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore will be Rs 9,530 onwards.

These fares are available for travel from India only and on flights operated by Jet Airways. For Amsterdam, Paris, London and Manchester locations, discounted fares are only applicable on return journeys. The travel must commence on or after 16 September 2018 and for Manchester, it should start after 5 November 2018.

For further fare details and conditions, check their official website. This offer can be availed from the carrier's website or mobile app.

For investment related articles, business news and mutual fund advise Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 14:23 [IST]
Posted on: August 24, 2018 2:19 PM

There will be an international feel to the consecration of the new bishop of Brechin in Scotland tomorrow (Saturday). The Bishops of Iowa and Swaziland will be taking part the consecration of the Very Revd Andrew Swift as new Bishop of Brechin, of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The service will take place at St. Pauls Cathedral in Dundee and will be presided over by the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Mark Strange.

The Dioceses of Iowa, Swaziland, and Brechin have been a three way companion link for the past 30 years. Particularly in the last 11 years, there have been regular exchange visits between all three dioceses. This link is celebrated by the bishops presence at the upcoming service. Bishop Alan Scarfe of Iowa and Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland will participate in the consecration itself, in the act act of laying on of hands in prayer for the new bishop. According to the Scottish Episcopal Church, the role of Bishops Alan and Ellinah in the consecration is important in recognising the Dioceses role within the world-wide Anglican Communion.

Andrew Swift is looking forward to his new role in the Scottish Episcopal Church. This is an exciting time to be the Scottish Episcopal Church in Dundee, the Carse of Gowrie and Angus and the Mearns, he said. Our church has an important part to play in the life of Scotland, and I am confident that, trusting in God, we can play that part here, in this place.

While all churches face challenges, I am very encouraged by the optimism I have found in the Diocese of Brechin. I am looking forward to meeting with and listening to the people of the charges and helping them to develop as part of the 21st century Scottish Episcopal Church.

The service will be live streamed and available to watch using the following link:

https://www.scotland.anglican.org/live-stream-brechin/
Daniel Ricciardo says "bad blood" wasn't a reason for his shock Red Bull exit. Instead, the Australian claims decision was made because of the lack of motivation.

Ricciardo will race for Renault next season. In the build-up to the summer break, Max Verstappen and Ricciardo faced troubles in qualifying. This added to their crash in Baku. When his move was announced, fans and pundits started to speculate that he moved because Verstappen was on a much bigger and better deal.

When speaking to the media today in Belgium, he shot down these rumours.

To be clear, there was no falling out, no bad blood with anyone in the team, with the bosses, or anyone at all, Ricciardo said.

I know the contract stuff, people assumed I was pretty much done with Red Bull and ready to sign but I think Im pretty sure I said I was close to doing something but I never really said it was going to be 100% with Red Bull."

Ricciardo went on to give the real reasons behind his departure. He claimed that his frustrations on a personal level were beginning to boil over. Earlier in 2018, he won the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix.

There wasnt really one key factor other than really myself and wanting to have a change of scenery. That was probably the biggest overpowering thing but it wasnt necessarily the engine deal or financials or whatever," Ricciardo added.

I felt at times my enjoyment of the sport was becoming a little bit dulled-down and a bit numb at times. I just felt part of the routine was causing that."

Surely the Honda deal would have removed most of these frustrations...
Posted on: August 24, 2018 2:11 PM

More than 2,000 women are returning home from a Mothers Union provincial conference in Kenya inspired to take a lead in their communities. On Monday, 20 August, they arrived at Kabarak University in the Rift Valley for a week of celebration of each others ministry and renewal of their service to the marginalised. They also took time to worship together and minister to each other. The conference ends today.

This conference, which happens every three years, drew its theme from Micah 6:8, And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Over the week, these women have attended Bible studies, workshops, and lecture sessions. They discussed issues such as ending gender-based violence, caring for abandoned children, and achieving reconciliation. The sessions also provided training for entrepreneurship and building savings and credit, allowing women to become self-reliant.

The Mothers Union President of the Mumias Diocese, Brenda Wandera, explained how the conference addressed the womens own spiritual needs. First and foremost, this conference is spiritually uplifting, she shared. It feels nice to just sit and listen to the Word of God and listen to His voice. I feel spiritually nourished.

Brenda went on to say that the spiritual development of these women was just as important for the Church and society overall. All sessions are centred on the well-being of the family and the Church, she said. We are being equipped to spread Godly influence in my community.

Bev Jullien, Chief Executive of the Mothers Union, explained that the training provided these women with skills to impact their communities. The atmosphere is vibrant, and the commitment to members faith is action is stunning, she said. They are recognising that they themselves are best placed to solve the challenges in their own society and want to move away from a culture of dependency to owning problems and finding solutions themselves.

The Mothers Union was founded in 1876, with the intention of bringing together woman from all walks of life to support mothers and children. Today the organisation has chapters around the world and more than four million members. In Kenya alone there are 450,000 members. These women meet every three years for their provincial conference to discuss their work and to support each other.
KCR Confusing Cadre, Media, Opposition!

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been keeping everybody on tenterhooks over the conduct of early elections to the state assembly.

While his own party cadre is in a state of confusion as to what KCR is up to, the media is surprisingly getting different statements from different leaders on the possibility of snap polls in the state.

And the opposition parties are not able to understand how to work out their strategies because of the prevailing uncertainty over the early polls.

And that is what KCR wants. He is sending different signals with every passing day.

His sudden decision to rush to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister in the name of representing the state issues, sending his son K T Rama Rao to Delhi prepare the ground for talks with the BJP top leadership, his officials Rajiv Sharma and others holding secret talks with the Election Commission officials and lastly, his sudden visit to Raj Bhavan to meet Governor E S L Narasimhan  have all given different indications.

Apparently, the BJP state unit is not keen on early elections to the state assembly as it would no way benefit the party.

It submitted a report to the national leadership that the party might win good number of seats if the assembly polls are held along with the Lok Sabha elections.

KCR is said to be of the view that the TRS might be at loss if the elections are held along with Lok Sabha elections, since the falling Modi graph across the country impact will have an adverse effect on the TRS. But he cannot say it openly.

If he dissolves the assembly unilaterally, and asks for early polls now, there is no necessity for the Election Commission to hold the elections to Telangana along with the four other states in November and December, as Modi may agree with the state BJP. So, KCR will be neither here nor there, as he cannot continue as interim CM for such a long time.

That is why, he is going to Delhi to request the Prime Minister to allow him to go in for early elections. It remains to be seen whether Modi will agree for it or not.

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Asus Zenfone Live (L1) with Android Go edition launches on Best Buy
Motorola's Moto Watch 100 is going to be a premium-looking budget smartwatch
A couple of days ago Amazon India started teasing the upcoming launch of Samsung's Galaxy A8 Star in the subcontinent. This phone is already official in China, where it goes by the name Galaxy A9 Star, as well as A8 Star in the Philippines.

The teasers hinted that the device would be priced at INR 3x,xxx, and now a new rumor comes in to fill those blanks. According to "a trusted source" talking to MySmartPrice, the phone will set you back INR 34,990 ($498 or 431) when it finally becomes available.

Its exact release date is still a mystery, but the launch seems imminent. The Galaxy A8 Star boasts a 6.3-inch 1080x2220 Super AMOLED Infinity Display, with an 80% screen-to-body ratio. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, aided by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.

Its dual rear camera setup consists of a 16 MP f/1.7 snapper alongside a 24 MP f/1.7 lens, while for selfies you get a single 24 MP f/2.0 shooter. The device has a 3,700 mAh battery and runs Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0 on top.

It's priced exactly the same as the OnePlus 6, however, which has a higher-end chipset, while the recently unveiled Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi will set you back just INR 29,999 in its most expensive iteration - with a Kevlar back, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. As such, the Galaxy A8 Star will have to rely on Samsung's brand image to actually shine in the Indian market.

Source
Today, Samsung released an infographic, showing the evolution of its Samsung Galaxy Note series over the years in celebration of the market launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note9. However, Samsungs discontinued Note7, which quite literally went up in flames, was apparently not History Worth Noting.

The original Galaxy Note had a huge 5.3-inch screen with S Pen, dual-core CPU, 2,500 mAh battery, and an 8MP main camera. This would be the beginning of the phablet-era, whose massive sizes blurred into mainstream phones of 2018. After all, its been a while since weve heard the term phablet.

The Note2 was an even larger 5.5-inch screen. It had a larger 3,100 mAh battery, quad-core CPU, 720p resolution, and the S Pen from the Note2 introduced the Air View feature that we still see on the Note9 today.

The Note3 brought an even bigger display: 5.7-inches and it was the first 1080p Note, as well as the first LTE-enabled Note. There was a 3,200 mAh battery and a 13MP camera. The Note3 was the first device to introduce Air Command, which showed the user shortcuts to apps to take full advantage of the S Pen.

The Galaxy Note4 was the first to bring fast-charging and a fingerprint sensor was embedded into the home button, though it was that one you had to swipe your finger on. There was a 3,220 mAh battery and a 16MP main camera. The Note4 was also during a time that Samsung exhausted using so much plastic in its devices and the Note4 had a sturdy metal chassis with a bevel cut around the frame.

I actually forgot about the Galaxy Note Edge. It had just been released when I used to work as a Samsung rep in Best Buy on a retail level. The Edge was the phone that defined Samsungs curved edge displays before eventually making the curve a standard part of its flagships.

This was the last Note device to have a removable battery and this one had a smaller 3,000 mAh battery since the edge display took up so much space. The Note Edge also had a very deeply pronounced edge.

The Note5 had a new redesigned S Pen with a felt tip and this phone brought screen-off memo as a new feature. The Note5 was also the first Note to have a glass sandwich design. The Note 5 was also the first Note to get rid of the IR Blaster that was present on the Galaxy Note4 and Note3.

Samsung decided to skip a "6" altogether so that the Galaxy S and Note lines wouldnt have staggered numbering. This is when Samsung launched the Note7. The timing on the two things was juxtaposed in such a way that this infographic skips the Note5 and goes all the way to the Note8.

Since Samsung didnt bother to mention it in the infographic, well tell you that the Note7 was the first Samsung phone to have an iris scanner as a biometric security measure that was secondary to the fingerprint. It was also the first Samsung Galaxy Note to be fully water-resistant. At the launch event, Samsung even was eager to show the media that even the S Pen could even work while the Note7 was submerged under water. The Note7 was also the first Note to have an HDR-supported display.

Samsung Galaxy Note7

The Note7 was also the first Note to be discontinued soon after launch and the first to cause a smartphone recall from a major OEM on a global scale due to batteries igniting and becoming a safety hazard and even lighting a Jeep on fire.

Since weve made it this far, well finish off the timeline of Notes. The Note8 was the first one to have Samsungs Infinity Display with 18.5:9 aspect ratio. It was also the first to have dual cameras, live messages, and the ability to record GIFs from anywhere. The Note8 was also the first Note to support Samsung DeX.

Finally, 2018s Note9 has the largest battery ever in a Note: 4,000 mAh, the largest display ever at 6.4 inches, a Bluetooth-connected S Pen with remote feature, and the first to have stereo speakers.

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 and the Galaxy Watch are now commercially available starting today.

Which of these Galaxy Note devices have you owned or were you considering at some point? Let us know in the comments!

Source
Weve previously seen visual leaks surrounding the Sony Xperia XZ3 that date back as far as July. Today, a new leak comes from MySmartPrice of the Xperia XZ3 in silver. The previous leaks we saw were case renders and CAD 360-degree views, both of which align with the leak from today. Judging by the pixelated shading of the silver side of the phone, wed proceed reading the rest of this post with skepticism.

Of course, there have been conflicting rumors that the Xperia XZ3 is going to have a dual rear camera like the Xperia XZ2 Premium, but the other rumors that line up with this one only show a single large camera sensor, which is believed to be a 48MP sensor. It would make sense for Sony to save a dual camera for a future release of an Xperia XZ3 Premium.

Above the sensor is perceived to be a hybrid autofocus sensor which combines laser with phase-detection autofocus. Above the camera is also a Dual-tone LED flash and the NFC antenna is right here as well. Theres also a fingerprint scanner centered on the back of the phone and the same notch that we saw in the CAD renders is also here.

We do appreciate the dedicated shutter key on this device, which sits right at your right index finger when you hold the phone in landscape.

A previous filing has revealed that the phone will have a 3,060 mAh battery, which is a bit smaller than the one on the Xperia XZ2. Otherwise, the XZ3 will have a Snapdragon 845 CPU, 6GB of RAM, and supposed 128GB of internal storage. Also rumored is a 5.7-inch FHD+ notch-less display with 18:9 aspect ratio. The phone's body will have a curvier feel to it, making it easier to grip.

There is a Sony event going on in less than two weeks at IFA in Berlin where the Japanese OEM might announce the Xperia XZ3. Well be on the show floor in Berlin, so do stick around for Sonys scheduled live event  taking place on August 30.

Source
This year's iPhones and iPads will use chips made by TSMC. Back in 2014, TSMC invested $9 billion and hired 6,000 workers in just 11 months to meet the demand from Apple and this year, the Taiwanese company will depend on the Cupertino-based firm to fill up 80% of its capacity for the 7nm chips. It's a double-edged sword any way you look at it.

If TSMC can keep up with the wield and demand, Apple will continue to choose TSMC as an exclusive provider of its processors. And let's be real for a second here - there aren't many direct rivals to TSMC when it comes to ARM chip manufacturing.

Samsung could potentially snatch Apple off of TSMC's hands, but given the large amount of hardware the Korean giant is already shipping to Apple, the latter would rather stick to TSMC to diversify its supply chain. Samsung is currently selling OLED screens, NAND and DRAM memory chips and camera sensors and by taking a chunk of the processor manufacturing will result in even stronger reliance.

Intel is another chip maker that could meet Apple's demands, although it doesn't have a history of building and designing ARM-based chips and has long been only in the PC hardware business. This leaves only Global Foundries, but they are already making a good amount of Qualcomm's processors.

But for its 7nm chips, Qualcomm will likely return to TSMC once more leaving behind Samsung and Global Foundries.

Here's a graph of the estimated 7nm chip shipments in 2018. It will be interesting to see Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin 980 chip, which is going to be announced next week at IFA, taking around 10% of the pie.

Source




Haiti - FLASH : Military confrontation at the border at least 7 victims





Saturday, Dominican soldiers have repelled in confused circumstances, "an attack" of Haitians at the border post of Carrizal, Elias Pina, a cement truck could be the cause of this serious incident.



According to the report of the specialized body of land border security (CESFRONT), Haitians have attacked the soldiers in service in Carrizal, who have called reinforcements in front of the number of Haitians "CESFRONT members arrived on the scene, were welcomed by long and short arms firing, as well as throwing stones and tear gas," says the report. What prompted a response from the Dominican military "We repelled the aggression and we inform our superiors that they send more reinforcements, because the number of Haitians exceeded that of the military forces responsible for the surveillance of the zone."



During the shooting, at least 6 Haitians and a Dominican soldier were wounded.



The report indicates that after the return to calm, the Haitian and Dominican authorities met in the afternoon, without knowing what it says or what really happened.



Following this border incident, Jean Marie Reynaldo Brunet, the resigning Minister of the Interior, was sent Saturday afternoon on the border in the Commune of Belladere by the Head of State, explaining, the President Moise "[...] was anxious to ensure the safety of the people of the area and good care of the victims and he also wanted a preliminary investigation into the incident [...]"



According to the version of the Minister Brunet from testimonies gathered, "Dominican soldiers would have fired at the level of men in response to shots made by a Haitian citizen" Six Haitians were shot by the Dominican soldiers and led to the Hospital Center of Mirebalais. Brunet said and reassured "the vital prognoses of these people are not engaged. He also said he asked the Dominican Embassy in Haiti to explain the regrettable incident.



For his part Jovenel Moise said "I regret the incidents that occurred on the border in Belladere, following a territorial violation, during which compatriots were injured [...] I ask the people of Belladere to keep calm and his serenity. Instructions have been given to the competent authorities to accompany victims and border residents in general."



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : Senators condition the examination of the PM's documents to those of the ministers





Following the creation on Thursday, August 16, of the Special Senate Committee for the Examination of Documents of Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25275-haiti-news-zapping.html Joseph Lambert the President of the Senate and Senator Onondieu Louis, President of the Special Commission recalled Monday, that under a new provision adopted by the Presidents of the two Chambers, the records of all ministers must be submitted to the Special Committees. at same time as that of the appointed Prime Minister, stating that the PM can not be analyzed separately.



Senator Onondieu confirmed that he had sent a letter to the Senate Speaker, asking him to solicit from the appointed Prime Minister the files of all the members of his cabinet.



This is the first time that the presidents of both chambers make such a requirement, previously the appointed Prime Minister presented the names of the ministers of his cabinet, a few hours before the session of presentation of the general policy, procedure applied at the time of the ratification of the Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant and consistent with the 1987 Constitution as amended, the documents were analyzed after.



Joseph Lambert confirms having delivered Monday the documents of the Prime Minister appointed to the Special Commission waiting for the documents of citizens to form the next government, documents that the PM should have deposited at the same time as his own, says Joseph Lambert.



In the meantime, Gary Bodeau, the Speaker of the Lower House, has set up his special commission consisting of 9 deputies : Jean Wilson Hyppolite, Jerry Tardieu, Benoit Laguerre, Alfredo Antoine, Guerda Benjamin Alexandre, Beaudelaire Noelsaint, Jacquie Guerrier, Jude Destine and Francisque Delacruz.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25320-haiti-news-zapping.html (deposit of PM's documents)

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25275-haiti-news-zapping.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Published on 2018/08/23 | Source

On the latest episode of the tvN drama "Familiar Wife", Cha Joo-hyeok (Ji Sung) busied himself with trying to make things right.

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He went back to the homeless person he met when the time travel happened. He begged on his knees, but the homeless person said, "It can't be undone. Just wish her happiness".

Cha Joo-hyeok tried to get used to the present. He did his best with his wife Lee Hye-won (Kang Han-na) and told Seo Woo-jin (Han Ji-min) good luck with Jong-hoo.

Cha Joo-hyeok remembered it was Seo Woo-jin's father's memorial day and went near her house. He ran into her and found out her mother (Lee Jung-eun) was missing. He snuck from his home to help her look for her mother.

Cha Joo-hyeok said, "I regret not doing my best for someone when she was around. I want to tell her I'm sorry". He pretended he was talking about someone else.

Seo Woo-jin said, "I hope your word get delivered to that person. I have to say everything I want to, but this time I'm going to try to be a grown up and feel it through my heart".
Loss of chain stores a sign of change, not economic failure, experts say

Cars drive past businesses surrounding Town Square Aug. 9 in Havre. Three major retailers closing down in Havre, but experts say that is a sign of the changing worldwide economy and the local economy is adapting and doing well.

Experts and local retailers say the closure of three major stores in Havre is not a sign of an economic failure, and, in fact, the local economy is not doing badly.

In the past year, small businesses have opened all over Havre. The reason for the corporate stores' closures, University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research Director Emeritus Paul Polzin said, is because of the effects of online shopping.

"In many ways, mom and pop operations are the way in which you can compete against the internet," he said, adding that smaller businesses are able to provide hands-on service that online can't.

In the past year Havre has seen three major stores announce that they were closing, while small business are beginning to pop up all over town. Economists, development groups and many Havre business owners agree that this is not a sign that the local economy is in peril, but rather that it is changing and adapting to the modern world.

Herberger's, Sears Hometown Store and Kmart announcing they are closing is more of a reflection of what is happening nationwide and not Havre's economy, Polzin said.

The big thing nationwide for retail is internet shopping, "the Amazon phenomenon," Polzin said. That is probably the single reason why large department stores are shutting down, he added.

Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss said the economy is indeed in a shift from classic large brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping - but that is giving small, local stores an opportunity.

"This isn't just for Havre, it's not just for north-central Montana, or even the state, it's a nationwide global phenomenon when it comes to the transition from a retail perspective," said Tuss, who is challenging state Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, in the race for Senate District 14. "I think, as we look at this evolving economy, we also need to look at similar trends that occurred in the past."

Local businesses and local economy

Scott Young, who has owned Norman's Ranch and Sportswear with his wife, Kaye, since 1982, said they have seen the economy change several times over the past 36 years.

"We've seen some different years," Young said, "Very good ones, very slow ones and now we're hoping it picks up again."

Young said that in the past couple of months business for him has increased. He said with online shopping customers cannot receive the personal service offered by his store and cannot personally select what best fits them, adding that, sometimes, people order items online and they are not always what they think.

"I think the people are realizing, yes, we are losing three major stores, but now they are looking other places, too, to get merchandise, and I think that is just making a big turn," Young said.

Tuss said it is a transition Havre is seeing from large department stores to hometown small businesses, but people should not see it as a struggling economy but a change within the community.

Large corporate stores' closures, he said, are completely divorced from the reality of local economy.

These are decisions being made hundreds of thousands of miles away and, although the company may have gone bankrupt, the individual stores were doing fine, Tuss said, adding that those decisions do not reflect the health of Havre's economy.

Cavalier's Manager Joe Ross said, although Havre's economy is having some challenges, overall the community is fine and corporate stores are leaving but Havre is not. Cavalier's is celebrating its 60th year in Havre, he said, and remains a stable business.

He added that Cavalier's has seen pretty consistent business over the year and overall Havre's economy has been stable.

Online shopping can't really compete with Cavalier's, Ross said, because the store is so specialized.

"Online shopping is not always the best thing to do because stuff doesn't always fit," Ross said, "We pride ourselves that, if you get it at Cavalier's, it fits and it's how it's supposed to be.

"With the closing of Herberger's, Sears and Kmart, it's bad for our community because there are going to be some services that aren't available for our community, right now," Ross said, "but the businesses that have supported and have been in the community ... are still here and still strong and viable and still supporting the community. We are a community with many shopping options."

Tuss said people need to look at the long-range view.

"So sometimes we need to look further on the horizon to realize that these trends really are trends and have nothing to do with the reality of the health of our local economy," Tuss said. "We shouldn't be concerned about some of the difficulties with the retail economy, with regards of these three closures, that we don't celebrate the other side of the equation, which are the grand openings that are occurring."

Tuss said the growth of small businesses and other stores is clearly a positive sign for the economy.

"Those are all signs that people have faith in this economy. You don't stick your neck out and put your life savings on the line if you think things aren't going well," he said. "Obviously, you don't open a new business, like Burger King, unless you've done some level of analysis that tells you that it's going to be successful."

Havre Home and Hardware Manager Scott Stockdill said, for the most part, smaller businesses are able to provide personal service that online shopping cannot provide.

The biggest thing with shopping local, he said, is that it is community-based.

"We're a local hardware store, which helps because when your water heater goes out or your plumbing pipes break, you're not going to Amazon for that," Stockdill said, adding that hardware stores are able to provide immediate service.

People who aren't in retail might get discouraged and lose faith in the local store, he said, but the local stores still are strong.

Stockdill added that the community wants to support community businesses and buy local, and that is a something that he appreciates.

Job losses and unemployment rate

The lost jobs and the loss of convenient larger stores are clearly a negative, Tuss said, but it is also important to look at the families and the individuals most impacted by the closure.

"Any time that you have one job lost, in my opinion, it's serious and you can never take even one job loss for granted," Tuss said.

But, he added, Havre has a low unemployment rate and he hopes that the people affected can find work elsewhere.

"I hear every day from employers that are having a difficult time finding employees," he said, "so I am hopeful, obviously, that those who want employment or want to continue to work can find employment locally through those positions that are open."

Havre's economy, as well as the state's and country's, is full of employment opportunities, Tuss said, adding that the people impacted by the closure will hopefully be able to be absorbed in other markets.

Tuss said he doesn't think Havre has a "hot" economy but a "warm" one. Havre never gets a huge economic boom but remains constant for the most part and remains stable, he said.

He added that when people think of some of Havre's foundational components to the economy they think of agriculture, railroad, health care facilities, the college and other retail components - the area has many legs of economic stability.

"We have a pretty solid foundation," Tuss said.

Strengths: railroad and agriculture

Polzin said Havre's economy is well-mixed and the best news right now locally is that BNSF traffic is up on the Hi-Line.

"I think this bodes very well for the Hill County economy," he said.

The question is, though, how the agricultural prices are going to go, Polzin said.

"We don't know yet," Polzin said, "that's still a little uncertain."

Part of the question there is the impact of tariffs being set by and against the United States, he said.

Tuss said the forecast that he sees, relative to harvest, is that locally it will be a plentiful harvest, although the prices may be uncertain.

There are many entrepreneurial farmers and ranchers in the area, Tuss said, adding that in a short time Montana went from not being on the radar for pulse crops to becoming the No. 1 producer in the nation.

Tuss said the industry has its eyes on the future economic trends concerning commodities. He added that pulse crops have become very profitable in this area, along with organic crops.

The farmers and ranchers themselves have diversified the economy to a point that it is positive for the community, Tuss said.

Economy

Tuss said Havre has always had a pretty stable economy. He added that a few years ago he was doing an analysis for a group he was speaking to and looked at one factor in particular, which was population statistics. For the population, Havre's economy is very stable, he said.

Sometimes people look and point to a community where the economy is flourishing and say Havre is worse off. But many of those communities are reliant on the ups and downs of the national economy and trends, Tuss said, adding that many times this can create a "bubble."

In an economy like that, he said, "you can drop like a rock" once the bubble pops creating a crash or a recession.

Tuss said that the big picture of Havre is not just one thing, but many small things. There will always be some bumps in the road, Tuss said, but that is true anywhere.

"A strong economy is a diverse economy," Tuss said, adding that Havre has it.
Press release

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Societys signature activity and is one of the largest community fundraisers in the world. It is a unique event that offers everyone in the community the opportunity to celebrate cancer survivors, remember those lost to cancer, and fight back against this terrible disease.

Relay For Life represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated.

Because Relay For Life is a community event, anyone and everyone is encouraged to participate. Teams are formed from businesses, clubs, families, friends, hospitals, churches, schools and service organizations.

To learn more about how to become involved with Relay For Life, people can come to the next meeting Monday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m., at the Chinook Eagles. People may also contact the following people for more information: Donna Tilleman, [email protected], 265-6507; Kyndra Hall, [email protected], 945-2411, or Reba Domire, [email protected], 390-1343.
While news sources are waging a battle of perspectives in articles about humans  an easy example being: Is Trump crazy like bat guano or crazy like a fox  recent articles about animals have another side, as well.

A Association Press article about a Belleville, Illinois, man who was trying to rescue his parrot but had to be pulled out of the quicksand-like mud himself, had these informative sentences:

Firefighters had to rescue a southwestern Illinois man from deep mud after he became stuck while trying to reach his pet parrot.

The man was in mud up to his waist when crews arrived. Video shows that firefighters had to extend ladders across the mud to help him out  as the parrot remained perched on his shoulders.

(Fire Chief Tom) Pour says the man often rides a bike around with the parrot on his shoulder.

Neither man nor bird was injured.

What if the article should read:

Firefighters had to rescue a southwestern Illinois man from deep mud after he became stuck when his pet parrot, lured him into the life-threatening situation.

The man was in mud up to his waist when crews arrived. Video shows that firefighters had to extend ladders across the mud to help him out  as the parrot continued trying to push the man under.

Fire Chief Tom Pour says the man often rides a bike around, while the parrot sits on his shoulder scouting prime locations for his next attempt to kill the human.

Neither man nor bird was injured. Give it time.



A family in Annandale, Virginia, the AP says, got violently ill from mushrooms they picked outside their apartment complex. County poison control personnel and fire fighters made a search of the area for the mushrooms and confirmed their identity from a photo shared with the family. The mushroom is called the green spored Lepiota  also known as the vomiter.

Maybe the article is supposed to read:

Woodland fairies, long known for their mushroom fairy rings, confirmed via human testing that they have completed their collection of Every Purpose Mushrooms, inspired by the Every-Flavor Jelly Beans of Harry Potter fame.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said Woodland Fairies Inc., which holds patents on mushrooms that will make you hallucinate, feed you fresh, sauted and deep-fat fried, and kill you in any of at least three ways, submitted an application for the patented vomiter mushroom in advance of the testing.

After the FDAs exhaustive investigation to ensure the company did all of its own studies to recommend its own mushroom and submitted all the properly signed forms, the FDA required that the mushroom producer change its label to have may cause death due to extreme dehydration in much smaller print on the label. Then FDA officials rubber-stamped its approval.

Woodland Fairies representatives said that their data show 100 percent of family members who consumed the mushroom did vomit, at extreme and projectile levels. With this success, they said, they have a deal with Mother Nature LLC to begin distribution in the vicinity of apartment complexes around the nation starting in March of 2019.



All fun and games aside, though, life isnt a Disney movie with birds carrying out elaborate plots against humans, and Woodland Fairies applying for FDA approval on mushrooms. The actual news reflects this or, rather, it should.

In fact, the AP has an article that really needs a reality check.

The article, for real, claims that a herd of 16 cows helped the Sanford, Florida, police corral a fleeing suspect in a pasture. And it says the police pursuit ended when the cows eventually ran Jennifer Anne Kaufman into a fence, where police were waiting to arrest her.

As if. They are cows. They arent capable of a coordinated effort like that, and if they were, they wouldnt do it to benefit a group of humans.

What happened is that a woman ran into their field. The herds sophisticated thought was Oh, look, something new and weird to chase! and the cops just got themselves positioned along the fence where the cows and woman were headed.

Shes just lucky it was cows in the field and not hogs because those buggers wouldve chased her down and ate her.

You wont see that level of reality on the Disney Channel.



But some days we have that reality, served with a touch of cynicism at [email protected]
In the future workplace, HR will be a split function; HR leadership will provide strategic functions driving corporate strategy, rather than simply responding to it. In turn, the delivery of HR solutions will be closely aligned to IT. Accordingly, Ellis is of the opinion that organisations will need to start building HR teams that partner with IT and digital transformation teams. This can then be used to better enable information-sharing on the latest AI products and services, as well as on how other functions such as IT or marketing can embrace AI to drive growth.

Identifying new job roles to leverage the full potential of AI in HR should be a major business concern for organisations today, says Ellis. They need to develop expertise in how AI will impact HR.

Chatbots and other self-service tools are likely to be embedded into future products to enable managers and employees to perform a larger number of tasks themselves, minimising the need for large service centres in the process. Ellis sees them as relieving HR sta of the burden of relatively mundane but frequently time-consuming tasks such as leave requests, updating staff details, and potentially even exit interviews. The benefits arent necessarily limited to the HR department either; employees will be empowered to make their own changes to the system as necessary, streamlining their own roles and reducing wait times in the process.

Ultimately, the trend towards AI and automation is aimed at removing much of the grunt work from the HR department and employees alike. Departments will have more time on their hands to optimise workflow and drive high-quality employee experiences, which in turn can onflow into increased profitability for companies.

Yet digital transformation in HR is more than the simple implementation of self-service platforms and technologies for HR; rather, it carries the potential for new discourse about HR operations. Providing new ways of streamlining HR tasks related, for example, to employee learning, training and performance will lead to better employee engagement, innovation and motivation.
After repeatedly raising password risks with agencies, it is unacceptable that people are still using password123 and abcd1234 to access critical agency systems and information, Auditor General Caroline Spencer was quoted in Western Australia Today.

The audit also showed most government employees were not given sufficient guidance in the creation and storage of their passwords. Some security codes, for instance, were kept in easily accessible document or spreadsheets.

The Office of Digital Government has promised to beef up security across all government agencies by educating employees of best practices to safeguard their account.

In the US, government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Department of Homeland Security have also fallen victim to data breaches. In these instances, cybersecurity analysts reported similar practices of using weak passwords and storing access codes in unsecure locations.

More than 80% of hacking incidents occur because of stolen or weak passwords, Verizons study on data breaches showed.
The initiative delivered a mock job application to companies currently hiring across industry segments, including HR and recruitment, management and telecommunications, health and education, media and publishing, and finance and law.

beyondblue CEO, Georgie Harman, explained how Heads Up takes an educational approach to workplace health.

Were excited to see the recipients reactions to our mock job applications from beyondblue, said Harman.

Its an engaging and creative way to bring a serious and hugely important topic into conversation.

Harman added that Heads Up is for big and small businesses alike, from sole traders to multinational corporations.
Morrison has previously served as Treasurer (2015-present), Minister for Social Services (2014-15) and Minister for Immigration (2013-14).

Moreover, Jobs and Innovation Minister Michaelia Cash tendered her resignation on Thursday morning after finding that Turnbull no longer had the confidence of the party room.

At this point, it is not clear what policy direction Morrison will take the party in, particularly in relation to jobs, innovation and IR.

Morrison holds the safe seat of Cook in southern Sydney with a margin of 15.4%.

Josh Frydenberg was also elected as Deputy Leader.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  Scientists have developed a way to see brain cells talk  to actually see neurons communicate in bright, vivid color. The new lab technique is set to provide long-needed answers about the brain and neurological conditions such as Alzheimers disease, schizophrenia and depression. Those answers will facilitate new and vastly improved treatments for diseases that have largely resisted scientists efforts to understand them.

Before we didnt have any way to understand how [such neurotransmissions] work, said researcher J. Julius Zhu, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. In the case of Alzheimers, in particular, we spent billions of dollars and we have almost no effective treatment.  Now, for the first time, we can see what is happening.

Understanding Neurological Disease

To demonstrate the techniques effectiveness, Zhus team in Charlottesville and colleagues in China have used it to visualize a poorly understood neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine has an important role in how we behave because it affects our memory and mood, Zhu explained. It affects Alzheimers, schizophrenia, emotions, depression, all kind of emotion-related diseases and mental problems. (Acetylcholine also plays critical roles elsewhere in the body, such as regulating insulin secretion in the pancreas and in controlling stress and blood pressure.)

Drugs designed to combat Alzheimers disease actually inhibit acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that degrades acetylcholine, to boost the effect of diminishing acetylcholine released in the brain, Zhu said. But doctors havent fully understood how the drugs work, and theres been no way to determine just how much inhibition is needed. These drugs are not very effective, he said. They only offer a minor improvement, and once you stop the drug [the symptoms] just seem much worse. So probably in trying to treat these patients, you temporarily enhance them but you actually make them even worse.

By being able to see acetylcholine and other neurotransmitters in action in fluorescent color, doctors will be able to establish a baseline for good health and then work to restore that in patients.

We want to first measure how [the neurotransmitters] normally do the job. Weve already found that there are acetylcholine transmissions very different from what we would expect, said Zhu, of UVAs Department of Pharmacology. Then we also want to find how the patient differs. That comparison will provide us important answers.

Findings Published

The researchers have published their findings in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. The project is directed by Yulong Li, PhD, at Peking University in China and Zhu at UVA. PhD student Miao Jing at Peking University and postdoctoral fellow Peng Zhang at UVA are the co-first authors. The other research team members include Guangfu Wang, Huoqing Jiang, Lukas Mesik, Jiesi Feng, Jianzhi Zeng, Shaohua Wang, Jess C. Looby, Nick A. Guagliardo, Linda W. Langma, Ju Lu, Yi Zuo, David A. Talmage, Lorna W. Role, Paula Q. Barrett, Li I. Zhang, Minmin Luo and Yan Song.

The work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, the General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Junior Thousand Talents Program of China and National Institutes of Health grants NS103558, DC008983, MH104227, MH109475, MH109104, NS022061, LH089717, NS053570, NS091452, NS094980, NS092548 and NS104670.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to the Making of Medicine blog at makingofmedicine.virginia.edu.

UVA Health System is an academic health system that includes a 612-bed hospital, the UVA School of Medicine, a level I trauma center, nationally recognized cancer and heart centers and primary and specialty clinics throughout Central Virginia. UVA is recognized for excellence by U.S. News & World Report, Best Doctors in America and Americas Top Doctors.
Cancer tumour cells in the blood can be more accurately and cheaply detected using a malaria protein, new research led by UNSWs Chris Heeschen shows.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney and the University of Copenhagen have developed a new way to detect early-stage cancer tumour cells in the blood using a malaria protein.

UNSW Professor Chris Heeschen said the hope is that this method, in which malaria protein VAR2CSA sticks to cancer cells, can be used as a more effective way to screen for cancer in the near future.

We have developed a method where we take a blood sample and with great sensitivity and specificity, were able to retrieve the individual cancer cells from the blood, Professor Heeschen said.

We catch the cancer cells in greater numbers than existing methods, which offers the opportunity to detect cancer earlier and thus improve outcome for patients.

According to the research, the new method can be used more broadly to diagnose cancer as it is not limited by cancer type. It also means all that is needed for a cancer diagnosis is a blood sample.

Professor Heeschen thinks the new technique could be available in the market within two years if a biodiagnostic company were to take it on.

Previous methods to detect cancer in blood relied on detecting a particular marker found on the surface of tumour cells. However, not all tumour cells display this marker, which renders these methods unable to detect tumour cells spread to other organs such as the liver, lungs and bones.

A microscopy image of a cancer tumour cell (green) that was detected in a blood sample prior to its retrieval using VAR2CSA.

The method based on the malaria protein does not discriminate between cancer types, and can detect all carcinoma cancers, accounting for 95 per cent of cancers detected in humans.

During the development of the new method, the researchers took 10 cancer cells and added them to five millilitres of blood containing millions of red and white blood cells. Magnetic beads coated with the malaria protein were then added to the samples.

The beads stick to the cancer cells only and can then be retrieved with a robotic machine that uses a strong magnet. This way, they were able to retrieve nine out of the 10 cancer cells which had adhered to malaria protein.

Professor Heeschen said this was a definitive result.

The malaria protein sticks to all cancer cells, with no exceptions. The 10th cell was probably missed due to technical limitations inherent to the retrieval technology, he said.

He went on to compare how the malaria protein method compared with traditional methods.

For pancreatic cancer, the standard method (CellSearch, FDA approved) catches 0 to 1 cell per 7.5 ml of peripheral blood, he said.

In the same volume of blood we find around 140 cells using malaria proteins. Since we can get 60ml from each patient, we are able to retrieve around 1000 cells, in some cases up to 2000.

This increase in accuracy is also complemented by the technology being more affordable, Professor Heeschen said.

The CellSearch run for such a small sample costs $500. Our platform can process 60ml in shorter time for $100.

The researchers envision being able to use the method to screen people at high risk of developing cancer in the future. However, they also expect that this method can be used as a biomarker indicating whether a patient with mostly vague symptoms indeed has cancer or not. This may also enable doctors to determine the stage of the disease.

Our method has enabled us to detect cancer at any stages  one, two, three and four, Professor Heeschen said.

Based on the number and character of circulating tumour cells we find in someones blood, well be able to determine whether its a relatively aggressive cancer or not so can then adjust the treatment accordingly.

The latest research follows on from work done by researchers led by University of Copenhagens Professor Ali Salanti, who discovered in 2015 a new method of treating cancer with the protein VAR2CSA produced by malaria parasites.

The findings of Professor Heeschen and his team were published recently in Nature Communications as The VAR2CSA malaria protein efficiently retrieves circulating tumor cells in an EpCAM-independent manner.

UNSW Sydney
Sean Gallagher boasts support among both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail councillors to contest the presidential race as speculation mounts of a rerun of the 2011 battle between the businessman and Michael D Higgins.

Seven councillors in seven different counties have come out in support of a fresh bid for the Aras by the former Dragons' Den investor, who came second to Mr Higgins seven years ago following the "Tweetgate" controversy during the final televised debate on RTE.

Endorsed

In a significant development, Mr Gallagher now has the support of a Fine Gael councillor, John McCartin of Leitrim, and two Fianna Fail councillors - Wayne Harding of Meath and Niall Kelleher of Kerry - along with four Independent local representatives.

Both parties have endorsed Mr Higgins for a second term in office and have urged all members not to support another candidate.

However, all three councillors have said they intend to support Mr Gallagher despite the position of their parties.

Mr McCartin said he had not had any direction from the party.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail councillor Mr Harding said he was very impressed by Mr Gallagher's campaign in 2011.

"He dealt with the loss with dignity," Mr Harding told the Herald.

The group backing Mr Gallagher includes councillors from Roscommon, Westmeath, Wexford and Laois.

Ahead of the last presidential campaign, Mr Gallagher secured the support of four local authorities - in the case of Leitrim without presenting to the local representatives - before asking other councils to back the other hopefuls seeking a nomination.

Supporters have indicated that they believe Mr Gallagher would secure the support of the requisite four local authorities easily.

Mr Gallagher is understood to be actively considering putting his name forward again and is due to make his decision on whether to contest in the coming weeks.

The Cavan man's former Dragons' Den co-star Gavin Duffy is among a handful of Aras hopefuls who have been canvassing local authorities to shore up support in recent weeks.

Meetings have been held in Waterford and Carlow, with further meetings scheduled in Cork and Leitrim.
A large-scale security operation has been put in place at the north Dublin residence where the Pope is expected to stay during his visit this weekend.

Policing operations have already been going on for some time at the Apostolic Nunciature, also known as the Embassy of the Holy See, on the Navan Road.

Armed

At least 50 uniformed gardai are expected to police the area around the property, while armed members of the service will also be stationed at the Ashtown grounds.

Roadblocks will also be in operation along the Navan Road, with sources saying that a large cordon will be placed around the Apostolic Nunciature.

"People will only be granted access to the area on an invitation basis or if they have been previously cleared," said a source.

"If not, the garda cordon will keep people around 200m from the Pope's residency."

The Apostolic Nunciature is also where Pope John Paul II spent a night during his visit in 1979.

It is understood that members of the Swiss Guard, the Pope's private security force, have already visited the grounds to make their own arrangements for his safety.

Dublin City Council said that a large section of the R147 Navan Road will be closed off over the weekend, with closures in place from 6am to 11pm on Sunday.

As part of the policing plan for the pontiff's visit, at least 1,500 armed and uniformed gardai will on duty, working up to 18-hour shifts.

Special anti-drone technology will also be deployed for the first time at a major public event in Ireland to ensure crowd security.

Ceremonies

The Pope will attend major open-air ceremonies in Croke Park tomorrow and Knock and the Phoenix Park on Sunday.

Senior garda officers say there is no perceived terrorist threat to the Pope's visit, although they are conscious of the spate of terror attacks in the Middle East and North Africa in which commercial drones have been used.

Strict no-fly zones will be in operation around both Croke Park and the Phoenix Park.
Mary McAleese was at the centre of a bitter divide yesterday over her stance on the Pope's visit.

Critics, including Independent TD Mattie McGrath, have accused the former president of "hogging the airwaves" with anti-Church rhetoric.

However, as Mr McGrath demanded that Mrs McAleese "get off the stage", former TV3 journalist Ursula Halligan said she would be ranked alongside the great Catholic Emancipator Daniel O'Connell when history is written.

In a lengthy attack, Mr McGrath claimed Mrs McAleese "used" her religion to gain votes in the past and said her criticisms are "bordering on ridiculous".

Divisive

Mrs McAleese has become an increasingly divisive figure in recent weeks over a number of statements relating to the Catholic Church.

In particular, she described the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) which is bringing Pope Francis to Ireland as a "right-wing rally".

Mrs McAleese said it was designed to "rally people to get them motivated to fight against the tide of same-sex marriage, rights for gays, abortion rights, contraceptive rights".

She has also said the Church needs "to navigate out of its current untenable teaching" which encourages homophobia.

In a documentary on RTE this week, Mrs McAleese, whose son is gay, described how her family feels unwelcome in the Catholic Church.

In Mary McAleese's Modern Ireland, she told of her hurt at the airbrushing of same-sex couples from promotional material for the Pope's visit.

Mr McGrath, who met the Pope in the Vatican yesterday, said Mrs McAleese has been given too much air time.

"If she wants to set up her own church, then do, but just go away and let the people who want to enjoy the Pope enjoy him," he added.

"She was damn glad of the support of the Irish people - as she calls them now 'bog standard Catholics' - when she wanted to get elected. She used them."

Senator Ronan Mullen has claimed Mrs McAleese has abandoned her presidential theme of Building Bridges by offending hundreds of thousands of people who will turn out to see Pope Francis this weekend.

However, speaking outside the WMOF yesterday, Ms Halligan said Mrs McAleese had done the country a service by highlighting the flaws in the Church's teaching on homosexuality.

A Catholic who came out as gay during the marriage referendum campaign, she described Mrs McAleese as " a superb champion".

Speaking at a Rainbow Choir protest, she said: "She has inspired me all the way. I cannot speak highly enough about her.

"I believe that in time, in history, we will see her in the ranks of Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell.

"She has shown the courage that I would love the Pope to show.

"It's about doing the right thing for real human beings. We are real, we are human, we bleed like everybody else. We have hearts, we love. Please look on us as human beings."
Ryanair has reached a settlement with the union representing its Irish pilots after months of flight cancellations.

The breakthrough in one of several disputes with pilots across Europe sent the budget airline's share price sharply up.

The deal was reached after a 22-hour session in the latest round of talks, which began last week, ended early yesterday.

"The proposed agreement will go to ballot, with a recommendation for acceptance from Forsa and its Ryanair pilot representatives," pilots' union Forsa said in a statement.

The union added that the talks' mediator had asked that neither side makes further comment while the ballot is conducted.

Ryanair said it would take the proposals to its board after the Irish-based pilots had voted on the agreement.

Ryanair passengers have suffered hundreds of flight cancellations this summer because of protests by pilots over slow progress in negotiating collective labour agreements.

The Irish airline, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, had its worst one-day strike on August 10.

A walkout by pilots in five countries disrupted the plans of an estimated 55,000 people at the height of the holiday season.

That day included a fifth 24-hour walkout of the summer by Irish pilots, which prompted Ryanair to propose fresh talks.

Some of the other unions stuck in negotiations around Europe have said they are watching the Irish talks closely.

Details

However, the Dutch union VNV said that the Irish agreement did not appear to cover all the issues at stake, and was limited to base transfers and promotions.

"We shall have to study the details, but for now we don't see much in this agreement for us to build on as we have different priorities," VNV spokesman Joost van Doesburg said.

Ryanair employs more than 4,000 pilots, with around 350 based in Ireland.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ryanair will no longer allow free carry-on luggage up to 10kg on its flights.

The airline will charge 6-10 for the service from November. Passengers will still be allowed one "small personal bag".

Ryanair said the change was because passengers were delaying flights by taking too much luggage on board.
How many COVID tests do you think Meritus has done? Here's the answer
(ANSA) - Livorno, August 24 - A couple from Livorno were arrested in France Friday after allegedly abducting their five-month-old daughter who is gravely ill, sources said.

The child had been scheduled to have an urgent and delicate operation at Florence's famed Meyer children's hospital, the sources said.

The daughter had been entrusted to the care of social services.

Police were put on the couple's trail after a grandmother reported them to officials.

The operation in Florence had been scheduled for July 24.

The mother, a 28-year-old Italian, and the father, also 28, crossed the border at Ventimiglia on July 20.

The pair were arrested at Asnieres-sur-Seine by French police with the help of Interpol.


(ANSA) - Livorno, August 24 - A couple from Livorno were arrested in France Friday after allegedly abducting their five-month-old daughter who is gravely ill, sources said.

The child had been scheduled to have an urgent and delicate operation at Florence's famed Meyer children's hospital, the sources said.

The daughter had been entrusted to the care of social services.

Police were put on the couple's trail after a grandmother reported them to officials.


(ANSA) - Vatican City, August 21 - Pope Francis will meet victims of priestly sex abuse on his August 25-26 visit to Ireland, an island that has changed greatly since his predecessor John Paul II visited it in 1979.

The Catholic Church has lost its once-dominant position in Irish life after a string of clerical sex abuse and cover-up scandals, as well as revelations of brutality at Church-run institutions for disgraced single mothers.

The Catholic country recently voted to allow abortions and three years ago became the first country to approve gay marriage in a referendum.

Ireland also has an openly gay premier in Leo Varadkar, the son of Indian immigrants.

Francis will pray for the victims of abuse on Saturday in a Dublin cathedral in front of a lamp that has been put there to mark victims' suffering.

"It is important for the pope to listen to them", Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said this week.

He said the victims would decide whether to divulge the contents of the meeting.

The pope will also pray at the tomb of the 'patron saint of alcoholics', ex-Franciscan friar Matt Talbot.

Earlier this week the pope apologised for being "too late" to stop "atrocities" on children, saying the Church had "abandoned the little ones", in reference to about a thousand kids abused in the latest case in the US.

In an impassioned letter to the People of God, Francis voiced "shame and repentance" on the latest clerical sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church, saying authorities had acted too late.

Francis said "with shame and repentance, as an ecclesiastical community, we admit that we did not go where we should have gone, that we did not act in time recognising the scope and gravity of the damage that was being caused to so many lives".

He said "We neglected and abandoned the little ones".

The pope said priestly sex abuse of children is a crime that "generates deep wounds".

Francis said "we ask forgiveness" for the "atrocities" committed in priestly sex abuse of minors.

The pontiff was forced to apologise earlier this year after dismissing victims' claims that Chilean Bishop Juan Barros witnessed and did nothing about abuse committed by the country's most notorious sexual predator, Father Fernando Karadima.

Victims groups have complained that Francis has not done enough on the issue.


The passing of Atal Bihari Vajpayee has led to an outpouring of grief and generated a profound sense of loss across the country. This reflects the mix of affection and admiration that he inspired among his fellow citizens. It is also reflective of a pervasive yearning for a political culture of decency and dignity, of restraint and mutual respect, which is fast fading into oblivion and which were hallmarks of Vajpayees political career. His statesmanship was evident in his ability to find the middle ground, to fashion, then articulate a broad political consensus and to welcome debate and dissent as indispensable to this endeavour. His sense of humour was infectious, designed to soften and soothe, not to injure and sharpen contention. He understood the reality of the pursuit of power, whether in its domestic or external dimensions, but acknowledged the need to retain an ethical and moral anchor and above all, a sense of humanity.

I had the privilege of spending a few memorable days in his company in 1995 while I was serving in Mauritius and he was visiting as leader of Opposition. He was the keynote speaker at the first conference of the Hindi Speaking Union. The theme of his speech was Sarvadharma Samman or respect for all faiths and he spoke with his characteristic eloquence. Mauritius, like India, is a rainbow nation, a happy co-existence of different faiths, ethnicities and languages, so his remarks resonated strongly with the audience. I mention this because Mauritius has a large Indian-origin population from Bihar and U.P. among whom there was a strong RSS presence. Vajpayees visit was greeted enthusiastically by this constituency and he had several interactions with its leaders. However, he readily accepted my advice to reach out to other constituencies as well and his speech was part of this effort.

When Vajpayee became prime minister, I was serving in Myanmar. Engaging the Myanmarese generals then ruling the country had become important to seek their cooperation in dealing with insurgent groups active in our North-East with havens across the border and to countervail expanding Chinese influence in that country. My efforts to engage them were at times complicated by critical public remarks by George Fernandes, the then defence minister, on the human rights situation in Myanmar. He had also offered shelter in his residence to several young Myanmarese dissidents. During one of my visits to Delhi on consultations, I called on the prime minister and during the course of our conversation, requested his intervention with Fernandes, so that statements which irritated the generals, could be avoided. Vajpayee laughed and remarked that his defence minister had his own strong views and may not heed his advice. He added that Fernandes was more likely to appreciate my dilemma if I could convey this directly to him. Despite my obvious reluctance to undertake this exercise, the prime minister telephoned the defence minister, said that he was sending me to make a report on the situation in Myanmar and they could talk about it later. My subsequent meeting with Fernandes went in an unexpectedly positive direction. After I politely and guardedly explained the challenges we were up against, he smiled and said or in so many words  So you are asking me, in national interest, to keep my mouth shut. Ok I will. He added that he would not, however, deny refuge to the young Myanmar dissidents then staying in his outhouse. As I was leaving, relieved, he asked me to convey the outcome of our meeting to the prime minister. I must add that Fernandes did keep to his promise. I think we both understood that the prime minister had dealt with a controversial issue with delicacy and, to my mind, more effectively than would have been possible through his intervening directly with his senior cabinet colleague. No wonder, he was so effective in running a disparate coalition.

During my early calls, I would sometimes find him uncommunicative and this was unsettling. I very quickly discovered that he paid unwavering attention to my briefing. This was reflected in his searching questions and comments afterwards. His principal secretary, Brajesh Mishra, perhaps understood him best but knew that this was a prime minister who would listen but not always follow the script of his advisors.

I called on Vajpayee when I retired as foreign secretary in September 2006. By then, I had become used to his long silences and brief ruminations on whatever subject I raised. I asked whether coalition governments would now be an abiding feature in Indian politics. He said that in a diverse country like India, coalitions appeared to be the natural pattern of governance. A stable polity in the future, he added, may not be a two-party system but rather a somewhat right-of-centre coalition which may be led by the BJP and a left-of-centre coalition led by the Congress. Both would hew to a moderate, middle ground due to the dynamics of coalition politics and that was critical, he said, to sustaining democracy in India. While majority party rule did make a comeback in 2014, the importance of sustaining a moderate, middle ground in a democracy remains and we must thank Vajpayee for nurturing that space throughout his political career. It is a political legacy we must uphold unwaveringly.

Shyam Saran is a former foreign secretary and is senior fellow, CPR

The views expressed are personal
Bollywood dancer and rapper Abhijit Shinde, who has worked with actors such as Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn, committed suicide at his residence in Mumbai on Wednesday. Abhijit was allegedly suffering from depression ever since his wife left him months ago, according to a Mumbai Mirror report.

Shindes wife had been living at her mothers place since the past three months. She was not allowing Shinde to meet their two-year-old daughter, which upset him badly. He had been depressed over the past few days, a police officer told the daily.

Shinde was found hanging from a ceiling fan by his neighbours. He is reported to have hanged himself early in the morning. The door of his house was open and when some neighbours went to check on him, they found him hanging. The police were immediately alerted and he was taken to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

He allegedly left a note saying the money in his bank account should go to his daughter. Police have handed over the body to his family after conducting a postmortem.
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singhs rumoured wedding is on schedule, with a new report providing further details about their upcoming nuptials. It was previously reported that Deepika and Ranveer will tie the knot in a private ceremony in Italys Lake Como on November 20.

According to a SpotboyE report, a grand puja will be organised 10 days before the wedding in Deepikas hometown, Bangalore, which will be followed by a lavish reception in Mumbai expected to be attended by the couples Bollywood friends. A source close to the Padukones has told SpotboyE that a Nandi Puja will be held at their Bangalore residence, and that Deepikas mother Ujjala has spoken to a Nandi Temple about arranging priests for the puja.

A source had previously confirmed to Filmfare that the wedding date had been confirmed. Both Ranveer and Deepika were keen on having a destination wedding in Italy and they have finalised Lake Como as their wedding destination. The place is dotted with exquisite villas along the shoreline, which is why both of them decided to wed in this beautiful place, a source told the magazine.

Ranveer had downplayed wedding rumours in an earlier interview to India Today. These are things I think about. I try to create a life and work balance. As much as I am consumed by my work at the moment, these things (marriage) are on my mind. But nothing decisive as of now, he had said.

Lake Como, Italy. (Shutterstock)

According to Filmfares June report, The maximum time was taken to decide the date. Both Ranveer and Deepika want everything about their marriage to be perfect. November 10th suited their calendars as well as their parents. The roka was done long back and the wedding date was finalised just a few weeks ago.

The families were toying with the idea of hosting the wedding in Udaipur, but that didnt work out. Instead, there is a possibility that two ceremonies might be organised, much like what Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma did.

Preparations are in full swing from both sides. Ladies have begun the wedding shopping. Ranveer is extremely excited about the wedding and is evidently on cloud nine with both his professional and personal life being on a high, the source continued.

Great couple! Great locale in Italy! Great event!

Wishing @RanveerOfficial and @deepikapadukone a wonderful wedding, and a lifetime of happiness.  https://t.co/pPY6gBol8Z  KABIR BEDI (@iKabirBedi) August 13, 2018

Recently, actor Kabir Bedi seemingly provided the first confirmation of the wedding in a cryptic tweet. Replying to a Filmfare tweet about wedding guest and other details, the actor wrote, Great couple! Great locale in Italy! Great event! Wishing @RanveerOfficial and @deepikapadukone a wonderful wedding, and a lifetime of happiness.

While Deepika and Ranveer have never announced their relationship publicly, they have been rumoured to be dating since 2013. Theyve starred in three films together  Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani and the recent Padmaavat  and have been very affectionate towards each other on social media. Ranveer and Deepika frequently leave comments on each others pictures.

Aur Batao | Sonakshi Sinha, Jassi Gill and Diana Penty get Happy with RJ Stutee

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The Kerala floods have shown how devastating natures fury can be. There has also been an outpouring of shock and grief on social media. The call for help and donations has been very vocal. While a number of celebrities including Shah Rukh Khan, Sushant Singh Rajput and Amitabh Bachchan, among others, have contributed liberally, some like Randeep Hooda have gone a step further--the actor has joined the relief work, being done by a group called Khasla Aid, on ground.

Posting a picture of the actor, serving food to a child affected by the catastrophe, the groups Instagram handle wrote: Bollywood actor @randeephooda joins the Khalsa Aid team in #Kerala ! Its great to see celebrities on the ground and not just simply commenting on social media.

Wearing a black T-shirt, with the logo of the group (possibly) printed on it, a flowing beard and a black patka (a head gear worn by Sikhs), Randeep is almost unrecognisable.

Randeep has been in a social work mode for a while now. His social media timeline is full of images and work being done by Mumbai-based environment activist Afroz Shah to free Mumbais beaches of plastic waste. There have been times when he joined Afrozs team. Randeeps contribution in Kerala brings back memories of the work done by actor Siddharth (of Rang De Basanti fame) during the equally havoc-causing Chennai floods in 2015. Randeep has also been sporting the Sikh look for a while now, as he is shooting of his upcoming film based on the battle of Saragarhi, being directed by Rajkumar Santoshi.

Actor Sushant Singh Rajputs gesture of paying Rs 1 crore (that too in the name of a fan) to Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund has been praised. However, some on Twitter are not happy with Amitabhs contribution of Rs 51 lakhs and his personal belongings. Oscar winning sound artist Resul Pookutty has been at the forefront of coordinating relief and donation work.

While much of the focus is on Kerala, neighbouring Kodagu in Karnataka too has had to face the brunt of natures fury. Among those celebs who have contributed and are requesting for help in this region is veteran actor Prakash Raj.

#kodagufloods sent 5 lakhs to begin.. #justaskingfiundation #prakashrajfiundation will further take up reconstructing life in Kodagu and Kerala ..come lets stand by them in this difficult times.. please contribute through organisations around you .. lets give back to life pic.twitter.com/JlnZ8XWKDq  Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 19, 2018

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Looks like Salman Khans Bharat team is having a blast during their prolonged Malta shooting schedule. Many from the team, including the films lead star cast, have been sharing pictures and videos from the Mediterranean island. However, the latest picture shared by Salman will seriously make you jealous.

Late on Thursday, Salman shared a picture of himself, relaxing in an infinity pool, perhaps in his hotel in Malta. He captioned it: #Paani.

#Paani A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on Aug 23, 2018 at 8:50am PDT

With his back to the camera and looking into the horizon, Salmans millions are absolutely going to love this picture. Actually, there is something rather pristine and calm about the picture. And making it special is the blue water and the horizon beyond. Looking at it, one is compelled to wonder just how much fun the Bharat team is having in Malta.

On the occasion of Eid, Salman visited his many fans from a sea shore in Malta and posted a video of the same.

A couple of days back, Salman has shared a video with his mother Salma as he helped her climb a flight of stairs. He captioned it: Yeh bandhan toh .. pyaar ka bandhan hai #Bharat.

Aur Batao | Sonakshi Sinha, Jassi Gill and Diana Penty get Happy with RJ Stutee

Whats more, not just Salman but Atul Agnihotri, his brother-in-law and co-producer in the film, has been sharing some fun videos and stills from Malta. His latest features Salman (but of course) in a picture as he looks at and seems to be interacting with his mother and Atuls mother (both facing the camera while Salmans back again for the viewers). In yet another video shared by Atul, Salman can be seen walking ahead as the camera follows behind during a location shoot.

Atul has also been sharing pictures of comedian Sunil Grover, director Ali Abbas Zafar and himself from the island nation.

Whats more, actor Katrina Kaif too posted a picture of herself from Bharat shoot.

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Sunny Leone joined the list of celebs who have contributed for rehabilitation of people affected by Kerala floods. Sunny revealed in an Instagram post that she and husband Daniel Weber have donated over 1,200 kg food material for the Kerala flood victims.

Sunny wrote: Today Daniel and I will hopefully be able to feed a few of the many people in Kerala that need a warm meal with 1,200 kg (1.3 tons) of rice and daal. I know its not a dent in what actually needs to be sent and I wish I could do more. The actor thanked actor Prateik Babbar and Siddhant Kapoor for organising a special fundraiser for Kerala. She wrote: Humanity at its finest, Prateik Babbar and Siddhanth Kapoor, the men who arranged an amazing event at B in Juhu to bring help to those in need. You guys are so amazing.

The fund-raiser was organised by Prateik and Siddhanth along with restaurateur Suved Lohia here. I wanted to do more than just contributing financially since I believe the victims would need the essential necessities to rebuild their lives and not just financial aid. While we are accepting financial donations, our attempt is to bring together the entire industry on a single platform and show solidarity towards the unfortunate calamity by actually showing up at the event. In fact, we plan to visit Kerala and distribute what we have so collected so that we know our efforts are reaching those afflicted directly, Prateik said in a statement.

Other Bollywood stars have also come to the aid of flood-battered Kerala by providing funds, food items, medicine and personal belongings such as clothes and even cooking for the affected people.

Amitabh Bachchan has sent in his clothes and shoes apart from Rs 51 lakh, while star couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma has provided food and medicines, and

also contributed to the Chief Ministers Relief Fund. Anushka and Virat are sending a truck loaded with food and medicines and support systems for the animals in need, said a source in the know of the development.

They have teamed up with a local animals rights NGO and are also helping to send rescue teams comprising eight members for rehab and treatment. Rescue teams will be looking at rescue of strays in Kerala and the protection of wildlife. They will look to provide support and care to the animals that are in need for urgent help, the source added.

In a heartwarming gesture, Randeep went out of his way to go to ground zero and do his bit. Khalsa Aid posted a photograph of the actor cooking with them to feed the affected people.

Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda joins the Khalsa Aid team in Kerala! Its great to see celebrities on the ground and not just simply commenting on social media, read an Instagram post by the organisation.

On his part, the actor said he felt blessed to be a part of the team of volunteers helping in the relief work. Every little step counts, he added.

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who has contributed Rs 1 crore on behalf of a fan, has also informed people about the requirement of Doxycycline capsules which are being distributed in Kerala for tackling bacterial infections among the affected population.

Immediate and important, here is how you could help in Kerala flood relief. Kerala medical department has estimated a requirement of 2,500,000 capsules of Doxycycline. My team is there, tweeted Sushant, who has sent a team of five volunteers from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, skilled electricians and carpenters, to Kerala.
Amitabh Bachchan likes to keep it graceful on social media, especially when he interacts with followers whom he calls his EF (extended family). Even when he responds to haters or doubters, he does so with that grace intact.

On Wednesday, the actor shared a photo from a recording studio. He posted the photo with a caption stating, .. the best place to be at midnight .. after finishing shoot for the day at KBC - a recording studio in front of a mike ..

A user commented on the post, Kerala ko donation diya? While Big B may not comment usually, the actor made an exception this time. Ji diya.. Pata chal gaya aapko.. Aapne diya kya? Amitabh wrote. The actor and his family has donated Rs 51 lakh to the relief organisations working for the Kerala flood victims. The 75-year-old actor also gave away some of his personal belongings to the flood-ravaged state.

Amitabh contributed to the relief effort being coordinated by Oscar winner Resul Pookutty for Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund. He had earlier thanked Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan for their gesture. He tweeted, Benevolence and kindness in this grave hour of need has no word for thanking, but for sincere gratitude, love and affection. @SrBachchan and @juniorbachchan the people of Kerala consider you one of their own, and your hand of help is deeply appreciated.Respect.

A source close to Pookutty informed ANI that Amitabh has also sent six cartons of his personal clothing, including around 80 jackets, 25 pants, 20 shirts, and scarves. The actor has also donated around 40 shoes.
(ANSA) - Rome, August 24 - Italy's threat to pull its 20 billion euro contribution to the European Union's budget unless it takes in 150 migrants aboard the coast guard ship Diciotti won't work, the EU said Friday as Italy's foreign ministry recognised the duty to pay, EU sherpas failed to reach agreement, and aid agencies called for the migrants to be let off the vessel in Catania harbour.

Threats on the migrant issue do not lead anywhere, the European Commission said Friday.

A spokesman said "threats in Europe do not lead anywhere".

"The way in which Europe functions is cooperation and not threats," he said.

He said the European Commission was "working hard to find a solution" to the migrant emergency.

Italy has a clear duty to fulfill its obligation to contribute to the EU budget, an EC spokesman said after the threat aired by Deputy Premier and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio's. "European rules also apply to the budget, member states have always paid their contribution, there is a clear legal obligation (in the Treaties)" said Alexander Winterstein.

He stressed that such a move as Italy has mooted "has never happened before".

Winterstein said "I don't want to go into hypothetical scenarios" on what might happen if Italy doesn't pay its contribution.

Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said Friday that "paying contributions to the European Union is a legal duty".

He said "we will talk about this and other issues".

The threat will not lead to an Italexit but Rome will not be "fooled" on migrants, Di Maio said earlier.

Di Maio's threat to stop the EU contribution unless the EU agrees to redistribute the Diciotti migrants currently being held and not being allowed to land at Catania "won't lead to an Italexit," the minister told Agora Estate on RAI TV.

"The government is not saying it won't do its bit but we don't want to be fooled," said the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).

Di Maio said EU states were not respecting a July deal.

"What signal do we send by caving in? It means having them ride roughshod over us. Italian citizens are asking us to make sure Italy is respected".

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who said he was "waiting to be arrested", said on a hunger strike by the mostly Eritrean migrants that five million Italians in absolute poverty "are on hunger strike every day".

"#Diciotti migrants on hunger strike? Let them do what they see fit. In Italy there are five million people in absolute poverty (1.2 million children) that do hunger strikes every day", the minister said on Twitter.

He said this happened "amid silence from do-gooders, journalists and their various hangers-on".

Italy expected more collaboration from the EU on the Diciotti coast guard ship carrying 150 migrants who Rome says won't land until the EU agrees to redistribute them, Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said Friday.

"Italy saved thousands of human lives for years and the other EU member States amply recognised that, on several occasions" he said.

"We are asking for deeds and concrete acts of real solidarity to follow nice words.

"The Diciotti ship saved almost 200 people," he said, referring to the 27 migrant children that have been let off the ship in Catania.

"We would have expected an effective and swifter collaboration from the other EU States to arrive, as soon as possible, at the best solution".

The 150 mainly Eritrean migrants stuck on board the Diciotti at Catania have started a hunger strike, Democratic Party (PD) Senator Davide Faraone said Friday.

"There is tension on board and visits to inspect the migrants' conditions have been suspended," he said.

However, he later said the situation on board had returned to normal and visits could resume.

Salvini has said the migrants, who have been at Catania for three days and on the ship for eight days, cannot land until the EU agrees to redistribute them.

The EU must not leave Italy to cope alone with the Dicotti case, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesperson Ulrike Demmer said Friday.

Demmer reiterated Berlin's general position on migration after Di Maio's budget contribution threat.

"The countries particularly struck by the migratory phenomenon, and Italy is one of these, cannot be left on their own," Demmer said.

"All (EU) States must collaborate and we must reach a common solution".

Italy's Asylum Table associations on Friday urged the government to let the migrants off the Diciotti.

In a statement, the Tables said it was "urgently asking the Italian government to authorise the disembarkation of the 150 people still aboard the Diciotti ship".

The associations included: A Buon Diritto, ACLI, ActionAid, Amnesty International Italia, ARCI, ASGI, Caritas Italiana, Casa dei Diritti Sociali, Centro Astalli, CIR, Comunita di S.Egidio, CNCA, Emergency, Medecins du Monde Missione Italia, Mediterranean Hope (FCEI), MEDU, Oxfam Italia, Save The Children, and Senza Confine.

Also on Friday a meeting of sherpas from 12 EU countries failed to reach an agreement on Italy's request to take in the 150 migrants, diplomatic sources said.

One of the points against the request, the sources said, is that the per capita migrant flow is much lower than that in other member States.

Therefore, the sources said, no need to share responsibility has been established.

Italian interior ministry sources reacted by saying "European countries have not advanced any concrete overture to resolve the case of the the Diciotti ship. "Seeing that Italy, in the last few years, has received 700,000 foreign citizens, the interior ministry line does not change. "No one will get off the Diciotti. The government is compact on this front".

Salvini meanwhile said he was waiting to be arrested.

"For me Italians come first, then others," he said on Facebook.

"Some judges want to ARREST ME for this? "No problem, I'm waiting fo them".

Prosecutors in Catania, Agrigento and Palermo are probing the Diciotti case for possible abduction.

Salvini has been reported by citizens in the northern city of Treviso for instigating race hatred, sources said Friday. Salvini was reported by a group of Italian citizens for statements he made in June and July, legal sources said.

They cited statements including "the happy days for clandestine immigrants are over, get ready to pack your bags, in a well-mannered and tranquil way, but they must go home".

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Thursday rejected a request from Italian counterpart Moavero Milanesi to take some of the 150 migrants, the Italian foreign ministry said Friday. Moavero made his request to his Hungarian opposite number at the Italian foreign ministry in Rome.

Szijjarto said Rome and Budapest saw eye to eye on European migrant policy, the ministry said.

Moavero, for his part, explained how Italy's vision differed from Hungary's in some respects, the ministry said.

On Friday Belgium declined to take any of the mostly Eritrean migrants on board the Diciotti.


The festive season is around the corner, and arent we all excited?

But, wait, what about gifts?

Well, now you must be thinking about a few optionsperhaps, a lamp for your mother, a gadget for your brother, a pair of jeans for your sister?

If all this makes you exclaim, No, not again!, you have come to the right place.

Popular Swiss watchmaker Swatch has come up with a collection that is surely to blow your mind! From watches featuring urban art to watches whose straps boast of vertical stripes, the offerings are as unique as they can get.

For instance, a watch called Tacoonset to be launched in Septembercomes with funky patches that are often spotted on denim clothes. Another called School Break, which will also be launched at the same time, has colourful stickers decorating it. The best part, however, is a rainbow on the dialmaking it look truly unique.

Apart from these, there are crystal-studded timepieces as well as watches that come alive with an array of hypnotic coloured bars.

Opt for these watches for your loved ones, and make your celebrations extra special! This exquisite new collection ensures that you never run out of gifting options in the upcoming festive season.
Elon Musk has hired Morgan Stanley to assist him in his potential bid to take Tesla Inc. private, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Morgan Stanley is advising Musk, not the company, its board or a special board committee formed to evaluate a potential take-private proposal, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The bank suspended coverage of the stock on Tuesday without explanation.

Musk, 47, shocked the financial world August 7 when the chief executive officer tweeted that he wanted to take the electric-car maker private and had funding secured. In a blog post, he later indicated that no such financing deal had been closed. The tweet has drawn a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a person familiar with the matter.

By adding Morgan Stanley to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Musk has tied up the top two merger advisers in the US this year. Both banks have been lead underwriters on most of the companys stock and convertible debt offerings. Morgan Stanley is among Teslas 20 largest shareholders, with a 0.6% stake. Its Tesla analyst, Adam Jonas, has historically been one of the more bullish researchers of the stock.

The hiring of Morgan Stanley and GS is unfortunate for investors wanting to take a long-term view of holding the stock, said Jim Osman, CEO of The Edge Group, which analyses special situations. Many funds and investors wont be able to participate should the stock go private. Whilst we are a fan of Musk, GS and MS will have to think of something very creative to let the investors share in any future value creation.

The Palo Alto, California-based automaker didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Tesla shares slipped 0.5% to close at $320.10 in New York trading. After a roller-coaster month in which they soared to almost $380 before falling back below $300, they are up 2.8% this year, best among US automakers.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have longstanding ties to Musk, who is also CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. as well as Teslas chairman and largest shareholder. As of February 2017, Musk owed Morgan Stanley $344.4 million in personal loans backed by his Tesla shares.

Musk tweeted last Monday that he would be advised by Goldman Sachs and by private-equity firm Silver Lake. But he hadnt formally hired Goldman yet, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. By the next day, Goldman announced that it suspending coverage of the stock because its acting as a financial adviser in connection with a matter that is fundamental to the companys value.

(This story has been published from an agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
With India seeking ways to maintain its bilateral ties with Iran in the face of US sanctions reimposed on the Gulf nation, a London-based international law firm said on Thursday that Irans major energy consumers like India and China have indicated they intend to find a way to go around the US sanctions and keep the Iran oil lines open.

According to official sources here, India is discussing with European Union (EU) members to find a way out, apart from trying to convince the US that its economic sanctions on Iran following Americas withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal will have negative implications for the Indian economy.

As the US continues to mount pressure on its allies to prescribe to unilateral sanctions on Iran, Irans major energy customers, including China and India, have indicated their defiance to the USs request, law firm Zaiwalla and Company Managing Partner said in a statement.

India currently has a competitive agreement with Iran for oil supplies -- the shipping costs from the Persian Gulf are minimal in comparison to the US, and Iran also offers a longer credit repayment period.

Iran has become the third-largest oil supplier for India, which imports more than 80 per cent of its energy needs.

Therefore, these cost differences are lucrative in the long run, Reddy said.

With countries including China and India unwilling to completely cut Iranian oil imports, and with the EU also refusing to endorse the withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal, the US finds itself in a compromising position to negotiate with Irans customers to reduce oil imports, the statement added.

India is likely to take up the issue with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis when they come here next month on official visits.

(The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text, only the headline has been changed)
A high-powered committee on Indias 5G road map today said the advent of next-generation wireless services may unleash USD 1 trillion economic opportunity for the country, and suggested that the government announce spectrum allocation and related policy by the year end.

The committee chaired by AJ Paulraj, Professor, Stanford University, has identified and recommended specific bands for 5G spectrum allocation but cautioned that India needs to correct certain anomalies related to high cost of spectrum and that the quantum of spectrum allocation itself needs a big fillip.

In its report submitted to Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, the panel has recommended phase-wise allocation of 5G spectrum including 405 Mhz (readily-available) and additional 137 Mhz (involving further studies) of sub 4 GHz radiowaves, and 5.25 GHz along with 8.3 GHz of sub 45 GHz category.

Back-of-the envelop calculation put the quantum of 5G spectrum which can be made available immediately, at nearly 5600 MHz.

For WiFi, it has favoured opening additional bands of unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band for outdoor use.

The government may announce its spectrum policy by December 31, 2018 and issue the necessary notifications, the report said.

Paulraj said he expected the 5G commercial roll out in India to happen around 2020, a timeline that industry body COAI too endorses.

Emphasising the need for a supportive spectrum policy given the criticality of 5G networks for India, the report said that Indias quantum of spectrum allocation needs a big fillip.

Further, the cost of spectrum, relative to per capita GDP, is much higher than most countries. Both these factors drive up infrastructure costs. Also, in recent years, the high cost of spectrum has left large quantities of unsold spectrum. It is important that India correct these anomalies in 5G, the report said.

The panel gave wide-ranging recommendations to power Indias 5G aspirations in areas like spectrum policy, regulatory policy, education and standards, and said that the economic impact of 5G is expected to be over 1 trillion dollars.

The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India can reach one trillion USD by 2035, the report said.

In another section, the report noted that India will make large investments (estimated at USD 100 billion) over next 5-7 years to create nationwide 5G infrastructure.

The steering committee has also mooted constitution of panel with a five-year term that can advise on building spectrum technology infrastructure for India. It has also batted for creation of a 5G implementation and oversight committee with the participation from Government, academia, industry. It has further asked the Government to appoint an expert committee to carry out 5G initiative.

On the regulatory side, it has suggested appointment of an expert committee for business enablement, security and privacy for smart infrastructure. Guidelines on regulatory matters may be promulgated by October 2019 to facilitate early 5G deployment, the report said.

5G is a massive new opportunity...it can be leveraged for major societal transformation, Paulraj told reporters here.

He added that 5G road map pursued by India should not only move the country forward but also result in progress of weaker sections of society.

When contacted, COAI director general, Rajan Mathews said that identification of particular spectrum bands will be helpful in getting India 5G ready.

Preliminary calculations indicate that each of operator will require at least 600 Mhz of spectrum for various 5G applications, Mathews said.
There is a very thin line that separates pride from insecurity and self-confidence from arrogance. India has badly blurred those lines with a churlish and narcissistic response to the question of foreign aid for relief and reconstruction in Kerala.

Lets set aside the fact that there is a degree of confusion over which country has offered how much. Lets not focus only on the fact that after all the brouhaha, the UAE Ambassador to India says the figure of a Rs 700 crores aid package is imprecise because his country is still assessing details. Lets debate this on principle.

What we do know for sure  and the Thailand envoy went public with this on social media  is that the government has let it be known that any such offer from any country will be politely refused.

Frankly, this is a small-minded, paranoid and xenophobic attitude. Especially because Kerala needs an estimated Rs 2,600 crores to repair itself after the devastation of the deluge; so far it has received only Rs 600 crores from the Centre with the promise of more. Contrast this with the large-hearted spirit of a state where the Malayalis rose as one in this moment of crisis, and it makes even less sense. Keralas heroic fisherfolk saved at least 7,000 lives and then turned down the offer of monetary compensation from the chief ministers office. They must struggle to make sense of what surely is only a kind of petty and egotistical arrogance. That the Manmohan Singh government did the same in 2004 after the tsunami that wrecked Tamil Nadu does not make this better. The Congress was wrong then and the BJP is wrong now.

There is also the staggering hypocrisy of it all. Indias political parties who disagree on everything else conveniently united on passing a legislation that makes it easier for them to receive foreign funds to bankroll their electoral activities and escape scrutiny while doing so. If it doesnt hurt Indias self-respect and self-image as a nation to have outside money filter into its core democratic process, with what face can its political parties object to foreign aid during a natural calamity? Surely, if this is all about esteem and strength, the stakes are way higher when it comes to the elections? What sort of nation would rebuff the foreign hand if it reaches out in compassion, but permit corporates based abroad to donate to its politics? Yes political funding is not permitted from the governments of other countries, but in allowing it from individuals and business houses arent you skewing the moral principles of the same argument?

I can understand that as an emerging power seeking its rightful place on the global stage, India wanted to assert its self-reliance, the scale of its economy and the end of any donor-driven influence. But India is not going around asking anyone for help; the offers have come from other nations on their own. And the National Disaster Management Plan clearly leaves elbow room for voluntary offers and goodwill gestures that come from other countries.

In any case India itself has played the role of aid-giver when disasters and catastrophes have struck elsewhere. In 2005, India sent relief material to the United States of America in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. India did the same after the Sichuan earthquake in China in 2008. Are the US or China diminished in any manner by being the recipients of goodwill help from countries rich and poor and big and small? Have they lost any of their clout and power in the world arena? In fact after the hurricane, America explained that part of the logic in accepting aid from even smaller countries was to permit a spirit of community and kinship across borders.

Yes, India has had to struggle to battle western stereotypes. Yes, we have had to battle the cliches that have previously defined us through postcards of poverty. Cows on the street and fakirs in saffron are not the visual lens through which we see ourselves. But by rebuffing well-intentioned help we are displaying a twisted and meaningless machismo. And one that is coming at the price of our own people. In fact, if we were truly a confident country and if we were truly at ease in our own skin, none of this would even be an issue.

Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and author

The views expressed are personal
Around 128 private schools of the city, including some prominent ones, have decided to roll back their arbitrary fee hikes, an official at the chief ministers office said on Thursday.

The decision comes after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued directions to the schools to roll back their arbitrary fee hike after receiving complaints.

The official said that with the roll-back decision, the government had delivered on its promise of keeping private school fees under check and the move will bring major relief to parents across the city.

On Kejriwals directive, the education department had in April this year sent notices to 195 private schools of the city and asked the school heads to roll back their fee hike. In July this year Kejriwal had asked the directorate of education to submit a compliance report on whether the private schools had rolled back the fee hike as ordered by the government.

Out of 195 private schools, 128 have informed the directorate of education that they are rolling back their hiked fees. The move will benefit 2.03 lakh students studying at these 128 schools. Remaining 67 private schools will soon be served showcause notices for not complying with the orders, a government spokesperson said.

He said that the government believes in the co-existence of private and the government schools but the arbitrary fee hike had been a cause of concern.

An official at the CMs office said that the government in April issued directions to schools after being flooded with complaints from parents regarding arbitrary fee hike.

Checking the arbitrary hike in school fees is one of the main promises of this government. It has been successful in not letting the schools increase their fees arbitrarily and in the past several schools had to return increased fees to the parents after governments intervention, the government official said.

The official said that education minister Manish Sisodia would meet the representatives of all the 128 schools who had complied with the governments directive and discuss how to take forward the education system in Delhi.

Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools refused to comment on the issue.
At least five blackbucks died and a few others were injured in the National Zoological Park in Delhi because of infighting among the herd since April this year.

Allegations have surfaced that the animals started fighting after they got scared and traumatised when the zoo authorities allowed renovation work inside the enclosure without shifting them.

The noise of hammers breaking the night shelter of the animals, labourers working there from morning till sunset, dumping of cement bags and the scattered debris traumatised the black bucks, which started to fight among themselves.

Some were fatally wounded and eyes gorged out. The last death was reported on Monday.

Work has been stopped. I have ordered an enquiry into the deaths, said Renu Singh, director of the Delhi Zoo.

Blackbucks are protected animals under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Act since 1972. Tiger, leopard, elephant, pangolin, monitor lizards, pythons fall in the same category. A Jodhpur court has convicted actor Salman Khan in a blackbuck poaching case earlier in April this year.

The renovation of the permanent shelter started in May this year. The antelopes used to take shelter there during rain and other weather conditions. Sometimes, injured animals used to take shelter to avoid the herd.

The authorities used to treat the injured animal inside the shelter by separating it from the herd. Their feeding platforms and water resources were also there.

A zoo official said permission to break the shelter was given without building any temporary shelter or setting up any barricade to isolate the animals.

The animals used to get scared and traumatised whenever labourers used to work there, making a deafening noise as they broke the single floor building. They used to huddle up in small herds during rains in the open space, as there were no other shelters. This led to more infighting. The stressed animals used to fight among themselves often, said a zoo keeper.

While one animal died in April, the second one died in July. In August, three blackbucks died. The cement bags might have been kept there just for one day and have been removed. At present, no work is going on. Most of the animals that died had grown old. Infighting is common among herd animals, said Manoj, biological assistant of the Delhi Zoo who goes to by his first name.

A senior zoo official, however, said the post mortem report mentions they were traumatised and died of infighting. Zoo veterinarian Abhijit Bhawal could not be contacted for his comments.

Renovation in zoos is round-the-year work. The animals should have been shifted to another enclosure before undertaking such work, failing which they can suffer from stress and trauma. Even though animals in zoo adapt themselves to the noise of light vehicles and onlookers, any loud and unusual noise can traumatise them, Rajesh Gopal, former member secretary of the Central Zoo Authority, said.

The only zoological park in the country to come under the direct administration of the Union government, it has already come under the scanner of the Delhi High Court after a PIL was filed mentioning a series of irregularities and controversies, including suppression of animal deaths, illegally capturing animals to replace the dead, expired drugs being administered to animals, illegally procuring Ketamine and portions of a rhino horn going missing. The PIL was filed based on at least eight reports by the CZA and other agencies filed since 2016.
Police have arrested a property dealer and his uncle who allegedly abducted and beat to death a labourer for not repaying a loan in northwest Delhis Shalimar Bagh on Monday.

The victims body was found on Tuesday morning in Haryanas Bahadurgarh. The two men were arrested from the same town on Wednesday. Police said the non-payment of a sum of Rs 30,000, which the victim had borrowed from the property dealers uncle, led to a dispute between them.

The victim, Moti Lal, worked at construction sites and lived in Shalimar Bagh with his wife Geeta. According to the police, around 10.30 pm on Monday, the Shalimar Bagh police station got a call about a brawl in Singhalpur village.

When the police team reached the spot, they found Lals wife Geeta, who told them that one Vicky came to her house with his associates, assaulted them and abducted her husband.

Geeta told the police that her husband had borrowed Rs 30,000 from Vickys uncle Rajesh Kumar and that the men abducted Lal because of the monetary dispute. Primary probe revealed that Vicky, also known as Vikram, is a resident of Bahadurgarh. A team went to his house but he had fled. His car was seized from his home, said a police officer not authorised to speak to media.

After raids in Bahadurgarh early Tuesday, the police team arrested Kumar.

He said he conspired to abduct Lal to get his money back. He said he roped in his nephew Vicky and two of his friends  Ravi alias Nikki, a resident of village Mundhela Khurda in Delhi and Pawan. Both of them are on the run, the officer said.

Lals body was found in Bahadurgarh on Tuesday morning. The body had blunt injuries and it appeared he was bludgeoned with sticks and stones, the officer added.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Aslam Khan said the victims body was sent for post mortem examination.

Following inputs from Kumar, the police team on Wednesday morning arrested Vicky in Bahadurgarh. Vicky has been booked for abduction and murder while Rajesh for conspiring. We are making efforts to arrest the other two men, the DCP said.
As many as 210 people travelling from Assam to Mizoram have been pushed back since Monday by an influential Mizo students organisation because they did not have draft National Register of Citizens documents, the students claimed.

Mizo Zirlai Pawl, the main students body of the hilly state in North East has initiated a drive against foreigners entering Mizoram from Monday and set up check points on the border. It continues despite the Kolasib district administrations directive to stop it and discussions with authorities from the neighbouring districts of Assam.

We want to make sure no foreigners enter, said Lalnunmawia Pautu, the General Secretary of MZP. Silchar in Assams Cachar district is the surface access point to Mizoram.

We have set up check points in three places, said Lalnunmawia Pautu as he explained how the students activist are checking NRC documents at three entry pointsat the railway station in Bairabi, the road entry points in Variengte and Saiphai all in Kolasib district which shares a border with Assam. More than 200 activists are on the job, Pautu said.

There has been no crackdown by the Mizoram government so far on this parallel security set up in the election bound state.

Anyone who has no NRC document is being sent back, Zoasangliana Rokhum, president of Kolasib unit of MZP said. Over 40 lakh people are out of NRC we have to make sure the illegal people do not come here, he said.

Mizoram has an inner line permit (ILP) regime where a permit is mandatory to enter the state.

Police checks the ILP. We are only concerned with NRC, said Rokhum explaining how they ask travelers for their application reference numbers (ARN) and check it on NRC website. Those who do not have the ARN or are not even carrying any other NRC document are being pushed back. We are checking all vehicles passing through the check gate, Rokhum said.

Asked as to how the activists are identifying those from Assam, Rokhum explained how ILP document have addresses and other information or they are identified through surnames. We know which are the Assamese and Bengali surnames, he said.

Rakesh Roushan, Superintendent of Police, Cachar, the neighbouring Assam district said that Mizoram officials had told him the drive had stopped.

I spoke to my counterpart in Kolasib and he said the drive stopped. We also havent received any complaints since Wednesday, Roushan said.

However, a top district official in Kolasib confirmed that the vigilante action of the students continues.

The district officials had called us for a meeting and said that we should stop this drive and they will increase the police presence on the border. We are not happy with them so we are continuing, Rokhum said as he narrated how activists work round the clock in shifts.

The Supreme Court, the Centre and Assam government have all said the draft NRC cannot be a basis of any action against those whose names do not figure in it.
An amount of $6,00,000 will be sent to UNICEF to strengthen relief and rehabilitation efforts in Kerala which witnessed its worst deluge in nearly a century, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has said.

The emergency grant aims to bolster government efforts and initiatives by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the enormous task of assisting displaced, flood-affected people and helping them rebuild their lives, the foundation said in a statement.

UNICEF, along with NGOs, is currently working in tandem with district administrations to spearhead relief efforts.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extends its sympathies to the thousands of families affected by Keralas worst floods in nearly a century, Chris Elias, president of Global Development at the foundation, was quoted as saying in the statement.

We hope that our grant of fast and flexible funding will help UNICEF work with local governments and NGOs to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases and other severe health risks associated with flooding, Elias said.

Heavy rains and flooding have claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon. More than 10.40 lakh people are still in relief camps across the state.

The state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to the floods and sought an interim assistance of Rs 2,600 crore from the Centre, besides a special package of a similar amount under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
(ANSA) - Rome, August 24 - Italy on Friday marked two years from the quake that killed 300 people in the centre of the country.

There were torchlit vigils at Arquata del Tronto and Amatrice, respectively attended by Premier Giuseppe Conte and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio.

At 3.36 a.m., when the tremblor struck, the names of the victims were read out and bells tolled.

After the commemoration an Arquata resident told Conte "now let's toll our sleeves up" in reconstruction work.


The decision of Bharatiya Janata Partys national president Amit Shah to take part in the Ninaivanjali (remembrance) conference to pay tribute to the late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch M Karunanidhi in Chennai on August 30, has set off speculations that BJP is trying to woo the Dravidian party for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The development comes at a time when MK Stalin who is currently serving as the working president of DMK is likely to be elevated as the party president at a general council meeting on August 28. Karunanidhi had already announced his son Stalin as his successor.

For this remembrance conference in the memory of Karunanidhi, who died here on August 7, Stalin and the DMK had invited all the national and regional party leaders of the country. DMK sources however indicated that Amit Shah was very keen and has confirmed his participation.

While DMK is currently part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Congress president Rahul Gandhi will incidentally not be present, as he is currently abroad, addressing the Indian diaspora. Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will attend on his behalf.

With just eight months remaining for the Lok Sabha elections, parties have already started alliance discussions. Since the BJP president is sharing a dais after a decade with DMK leaders, political observers opine that this development could be the saffron partys move to woo the Dravidan party.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is in a weak position as it has vertically split into two factions. Though Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) were in the alliance of BJP in 2014, PMK founder S. Ramadoss has made it clear that his party will not align with BJP. Actor Vijayakanth who heads DMDK on Friday announced that his party will contest all the 40 parliamentary constitutiencies of TN and Puducherry without any alliance, said Raveendran Duraisamy, a political analyst in Chennai.

He recalled that Amit Shah, on his Chennai visit on July 9, had said that BJP is open for an alliance in the state.

Though DMK and BJP have different ideologies, this is the first time in a decade that the president of BJP is going to share the dais with DMK leaders. Obviously, BJP wants to woo DMK ahead of LS polls, he noted.

Another political commentator A Marx pointed out that prime minister Narendra Modi had visited the ailing Karunanidhi at his residence in November 2017 and when the DMK chief was admitted to the Kauvery hospital on July 28, many senior BJP leaders and Union ministers had visited him.

Prime minister Modi was also present at the funeral on August 8.

While it maybe common courtesy it is also a fact that BJP leaders have gone out of their way to show deference to Karunanidhi and his legacy to keep DMK in good humour, Marx noted. This was despite of occasional accusations by DMK that AIADMK was now being controlled by BJP via proxies, he added.

He also said that DMK seems to have softened its anti-BJP stand now.

If it was the anti-BJP DMK of yore, Stalin could have merely paid his respects at (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayees funeral. However, he went to Kamalalayam  the BJP state headquarters - and paid tribute to the urn containing the ashes of the former prime minister. So, both DMK and BJP are doing a careful dance of trying to gauge each others motives and needs. It may be recalled that Karunanidhi had declared that BJP was not an untouchable party in 1998 itself, said Marx.

In this response, SR Sekar, BJP state treasurer, said that Shah has already made it clear that the party is open to any alliance.

Except for Congress, everyone in the state has been in alliance with us at some time or the other in the past. So, anything is possible at the time of elections. But these developments should be seen as a civilized political culture, Sekar told HT.

However, Congress president Su Thirunavukkarasar says Amit Shahs visit to DMK presidents memorial conference is not a sign that BJP is getting close to DMK.

We are already in an alliance with DMK. Our leader Rahul Gandhi has spent a whole day in Chennai on August 8 to pay his tributes to Karunanidhi. He left Chennai only after the burial of Karunanidhi. As he is traveling abroad now, he is not in a position to take part in the memorial conference. So, it is not right to say that Congress is distancing itself from DMK, Thirunavukkarasar told HT.

R S Bharathi, organization secretary of DMK, however claimed that his party will not align with the BJP.

Our working president M K Stalin has made it very clear that we are not having any relationship with BJP. Since PM and Amit Shah had visited us at the time of the death of our leader Karunanidhi, Stalin attended the funeral of Vajpayee. Since we invited all the regional and national party leaders, Amit Shah has expressed his interest to attend this conference, Bharathi told HT.

Asked about Rahul Gandhis absence, he said that the Congress president is travelling overseas.

Since the BJP government at the Centre is against states autonomy, we had planned for conducting a state autonomy conference on August 30. Hence, we invited all the non-BJP leaders across the state. Even Rahul Gandhi agreed to attend that, but we cancelled it later due to the demise of our leader, he noted.

Bharathi also said the decision to hold a conference to pay tribute to the DMK leader was taken only last week.

However by then Rahul had altered his schedule and left for overseas. So, he is not in a position to attend the conference now, he added.

For now though, the decision of BJP chief to attend an DMK event on the same day when originally an anti-BJP conference was planned has led to sparked of talks on political realignment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday, calling him the wisest fool, and an immature and ignorant leader over his comments likening the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Gandhi is currently on a tour of Europe, where he has addressed several meetings. In one of them, he said the RSS was like the Muslim Brotherhood, which, according to him, wanted to run every institution according to a particular ideology.

The comparison, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, was unforgivable.

Read: A certain degree of arrogance crept into Congress after 10 years of power: Rahul Gandhi

Those who have read European history, know about King James I. He and his courtiers considered him as a wise man while most of the critics felt he was constantly doing foolish things. He was given the title of wisest fool of Christinadom, said another BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. Rahul Gandhi is the wisest fool of Congressdom.

Trivedi said while Gandhi aspired to be prime minister of the country, he was not even capable of becoming a mature opposition leader. Gandhi cannot claim the legacy of the Congress of Bal Gangadhar Tilak who spoke about Purna Swaraj, and Mahatma Gandhi who gave the call of Hind Swaraj, he said.

Trivedi said Gandhi should use his frequent trips abroad to also read reports from international agencies that, the BJP spokesperson said, have given a thumbs-up to the Indian economy. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that India will surpass China in growth rate soon, take over UK as the fifth largest economy by 2020, and it was for the first time in 14 years that rating agency Moodys improved Indias rating, Trivedi said.

The BJP spokesperson also recalled the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 to attack the Congress president.

The BJP also slammed Gandhi for defending the ISIS (Islamic State) and making comparisons with India.

Trivedi said Gandhi claimed the IS was founded because of unemployment, but, he pointed out, that Al Qaedas Osama Bin Laden was not unemployed or misguided. He was a billionaire. Those who were involved in 9/11 attack were not unemployed, Trivedi said.

At a separate press conference, another BJP spokesman, Sambit Patra, demanded Gandhi apologise to 125 crore Indian and stop this acting as a contract killer for the idea of India. The only facet, Patra said, that Gandhi possesses is hatred against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Patra too reacted strongly to Gandhi likening RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood and asked if a terrorist outfit was ruling over India. Are you suggesting that government of India is working like a terrorist organsiation and expanding through invasion, Patra said, a question meant for Gandhi.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shatrughan Sinha was on Friday shown black flags by party workers as he shared the stage with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders at a programme in the national capital.

Sinha took part in a skill development programme for manual scavengers, organised by the office of District Magistrate (Shahdara) here where he praised the AAP and its workers.

Speaking about Dilip Pandey -- AAPs potential candidate and incharge of North-East Delhi constituency for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he asked the public to give their love to him.

Pandey is a very good human being and I respect him a lot. I wish him happiness and you all should bless him, so that he remains happy and makes happy to you all, he said addressing the gathering.

Sinha praised the works being done by the AAP government in Delhi.

They are doing a wonderful job. The AAP government is doing works worth praising. I am with you (AAP) in all works and will be with you (AAP) in all the future works, the actor-politician said in his speech in Hindi.

Delhi government Zindabad, AAP Zindabad, Delhi Zindabad, Jai Bihar and Jai Hind, he added.

Later, the BJP workers, who had gathered outside the District Collectors office, raised slogans against the MP and showed black flags to him.
The alleged presence of Chinese troops in Doklam reflected the Narendra Modi governments episodic and event-centric approach to foreign policy, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said here on Friday, listing a catalogue of its failures.

Addressing a series of interactive events with audiences that included policy experts, diplomats, scholars, students and British MPs, Gandhi said a formidable alliance was being stitched to ensure the defeat of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 elections.

Mentioning Doklam as an example of the alleged failure of the Modi government, Gandhi said the stand-off with China was not a one-off event but part of a sequence. He regretted that instead of viewing it as part of a process, the government had an episodic approach to it.

This government has an event-centric perspective. Doklam is part of a process; he (Modi) sees it as an event. The truth is that the Chinese are still there. If we were in power, Doklam would not have happened, he said at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

On Pakistan too, the Modi government lacks a coherent strategy; but see it as episodic. The problem is who do you talk to in Pakistan, which institution do you talk; they have institutions that hate us, promote terror in our country; we dont want to talk to them.

Gandhi cited the experience of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose initiatives with the civilian government in Islamabad were simultaneously undermined by other institutions in the country, and led to incidents such as the Kargil conflict.

Attacking the Modi governments foreign policy, he took a swipe at the alleged domination of the ministry of external affairs by the prime ministers office, stating that the capable minister Sushma Swaraj would have achieved something if she were allowed to work, instead of being confined to responding to visa requests on Twitter.

Gandhi told a gathering in the Grand Committee Room in Westminster that his party had succeeded in completely dismantling the idea that the Modi government was a success by highlighting what he called its insane economic policies such as demonetisation.

There is a job crisis in India. China is creating 50,000 jobs in 24 hours; India is creating 450; these are not my figures but government of India data. The jobs will come from small and medium enterprises but the Modi government focuses only on some big businessmen, he said.

We are also fighting against attempts to impose rigid, hate-fuelled angry ideology in the country; attempts to capture and destroy institutions nurtured and developed over 70 years. There is a sustained attack on the weak, he added.

According to Gandhi, Modi is not allowing Indians to express themselves, and thus he and the Congress wanted to return the country to the old India of pre-2014, of social inclusion, when journalists and those holding differing views did not face threats to life and limb.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday told the British Parliament that his party is biased towards the marginalised, the party said.

Gandhi is the first foreign opposition leader to be invited to speak at the UK Parliaments Grand Committee Room, the Congress party said, and added that he spoke on a range of issues, including women empowerment.

The Congress president is the first foreign opposition leader to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament... Other prominent speakers who have spoken here are Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev, the party said in a tweet.

Gandhi said centrepiece of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhis and Congress stand is that the party will always look to the person standing at the end of the line. We are for everybody but we are biased to the marginalised, he said.

The Congress leader said he cannot stand someone being disrespected by someone because the person is not in power. I will immediately stand with the person being bullied by a person in power.

Gandhi also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not allow India to express itself.

We unify ourselves in India when we express ourselves. This is the contention I have with PM Modi. He does not let India express itself. Indias strength is its diversity, thats what makes it beautiful, Gandhi said.
The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the appeal of 15 persons belonging to the dominant Jat community against their conviction and sentencing in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryanas Hisar district in 2010.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said even after 71 years of Independence atrocities on Scheduled Castes community has shown no signs of abating.

The court also directed the Haryana government to rehabilitate families belonging to the Dalit community who were displaced after the 2010 incident.

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 15 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case.
Almost three decades after Haryana leader and former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal played an important role in bringing together opposition parties against the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), led by his political successors, will invite key regional parties to Lals 105th birth anniversary celebrations to cement another broad understanding, party leader Dushyant Chautala said.

The event will be held at Gohana in Sonepat, Haryana, on September 25.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, who has an alliance with the INLD in Haryana, is expected to be one of the prominent faces at the event. Senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala met Mayawati in New Delhi on Wednesday to invite her to the rally. This will be the first time that Mayawati will be sharing the dais with INLD leaders after they announced a tie-up.

We will invite all friends of Devi Lal who were with him during his days of struggle, Dushyant Chautala, Devi Lals great grandson, said. Another INLD leader said former prime minister HD Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal (Secular), Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party, Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and several others will be invited to the event.

Devi Lal was one of north Indias most significant political figures. He first entered the Punjab Legislative Assembly on a Congress ticket in 1951. A critic of the Emergency, he was jailed during the period. A follower of the tall Jat leader and former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, he first became Haryana Chief Minister in 1977.

But Lals most significant moment on the national stage was in 1989, when he was chosen by the Janata Dal to become PM. But Lal stepped back and proposed VP Singhs name as the PM. The two soon fell out. And Lal teamed up with Mulayam Singh and Chandrashekhar and helped the latter become PM. He founded Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) in 1998, which was later known as India National Lok Dal.

We want all non-Congress and non-BJP forces to unite, Dushyant said. We want to form a government in Delhi next year that addresses regional aspirations and gives a voice to smaller parties who have a base in different parts of the country.

The INLD draws its electoral strength from the Jat community, and is pitted against the BJP and the Congress in Haryana. It hopes an alliance with the BSP will help attract significant Dalit votes.

The INLD move is significant for it represents yet another effort, in what is turning out to be a multi-pronged effort, to challenge the BJP. The first push is by the Congress, which has indicated its openness to forge state-specific alliances in specific states and even reconcile itself to a junior status. The second push for opposition unity is being led by Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. She has proposed a federal front.

But the third effort, of which the INLD meeting is a part, is the one spearheaded by Mayawati. In Haryana, the two have an alliance. But BSP is also central to an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the RLD in Uttar Pradesh, and is seriously negotiating with the Congress for a tie-up in election-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed its first charge sheet in the IRCTC hotels allotment case against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav, RJD MP PC Gupta, his wife Sarla Gupta and others for allegedly laundering money.

The charge sheet filed in a Delhi court alleges irregularities in the sub-leasing of two railway hotels at Puri in Orissa and Ranchi in Jharkhand to a company named Sujata Hotel Pvt Ltd, in return of prime land in Patna that was transferred to Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd owned by PC Guptas family. This deal was struck in February 2005, when Lalu Yadav was the union minister of railways, and the land transfer to Delight Marketing was at a rate much lower than the prevailing circle rates.

The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Smt Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi Yadav..., ED said. The Directorate also alleged that the funds used to acquire the land in Patna had dubious origins and was laundered through companies belonging to PC Guptas family.

This came hours after the Jharkhand High Court rejected Lalu Prasads plea for extension of provisional bail period for another three months and asked him to surrender by August 30.

Moving the court for the third extension of his provisional bail for continuing treatment at a superspecialty hospital in Mumbai, Prasad, who had undergone surgery for anal fistula, said his health condition has not improved as the infection continues. Rejecting his plea for further extension of bail, a bench of justice Aparesh Kumar Singh observed that Prasads current health condition is not life threatening.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed its first chargesheet against RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and others in connection with the IRCTC hotels allotment money laundering case, officials said.

The agency has also named Prasads son and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, his party colleague PC Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, a firm Lara Projects and 10 others in the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court here.

The agency said Prasad and IRCTC officials allegedly misused their position for granting sub-lease of the rights of two railway hotels at Puri and Ranchi to Ms Sujata Hotel Pvt. Ltd. owned by Kochhars.

In lieu of the hotels sub-lease, 358 decimal of prime plot of land in Patna was transferred to Ms Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd (a company owned by family of P C Gupta who is a close associate of Prasad and an MP from RJD) in February 2005 at a rate which was much less than the then prevailing circle rates.

The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi by way of share purchase at nominal prices.

The funds used to acquire the land had dubious origin and had been laundered through 151 group of companies belonging to P C Gupta by using an NBFC named Ms Abhishek Finance Company Limited, the agency charged.

Subsequently, the shares of Ms Delight Marketing Company Private Limited, it said, were acquired by Rabri Devi and Tejashwi at less than fair market value.

It is noteworthy that the funds used for acquisition of shares by Rabri Devi are questionable and individuals from whom Tejashwi had purchased shares denied any knowledge of holding them, it said.

The ED said it has attached assets worth over Rs 44 crore in this case till now.

The CBI too had filed a charge sheet in this case sometime back.

The CBI FIR had alleged that Lalu Prasad, during his tenure as the railway minister in UPA-I government, handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the form of a prime land in Patna through a benami company owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, who was also a former union minister.

The ED registered the criminal case against his family members and others under the PMLA, based on this CBI FIR.

The ED is investigating the alleged proceeds of crime generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies, according to the officials.

Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC managing director P.K. Goel.

The CBI FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as quid pro quo.
Suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants shot dead a Forest Department official tonight in Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla, police said.

Terrorists this evening barged inside Tariq Ahmad Maliks house in Zandpal area in Tangmarg and fired upon him, a police spokesman said.

Malik sustained critical injuries and later succumbed, he said.

Police have registered a case and initial investigation establishes the involvement of LeT militant Yousuf Dar alias Kantroo, the spokesman said.
NAPLES - Eight Emirati designers will show their work at the London Design Fair (September 20-23), thanks to efforts by Dubai Design District (d3), who will host the second chapter of UAE Design Stories: 'The Next Generation from the Emirates in the UK'. The exhibition, supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, is curated by Emirati product designer Khalid Shafar, reports Gulf News.

Titled 'Objects of the Past: Today', it dives into photographic archives of the UAE and the region's nomadic roots.

Designers have been tasked with providing their own contemporary take on these historical pieces. The exhibition will also travel to Paris as part of the UAE-France Cultural Dialogue programme and return to the UAE for Dubai Design Week (November 12-17).

The eight designers participating are Abdalla Almulla (architect), Alia Bin Omair (jewellery designer), Alia Mazrooei (interior designer), Aljoud Lootah (multi-disiplinary designer), Azza Al Qubaisi (sculpture and product designer), Rouda Al Shamsi (interior designer), Salem Mansoori (interdisciplinary designer), and Ahmad Al Areef (multidisciplinary Bedouin artist).
Lending credence to speculations of early assembly elections, Telangana chief minister Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday asked party functionaries to get ready for the battle which may begin anytime from now.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly called, addressed an extended executive committee meeting of the party, including party MPs, MLAs and MLCs at Telangana Bhavan for nearly two hours, before leaving for New Delhi on a three-day visit.

Leave it to me on when to make an announcement on the elections. They can be conducted anytime from now. So, be prepared for the battle. We are going to win majority of the seats and there is no doubt about it, he said, as per a party MLA.

The TRS is organising a massive public meeting at Kongara Kalan on the outskirts of Hyderabad on September 2 to present the progress report of the four-year old KCR government.

During Fridays party meeting, the TRS chief explained in detail about the arrangements to be made for the public meeting.

He has set a target of mobilising at least 20-25,000 people from each of 119 constituencies so that the total turnout to the meeting would be around 25 lakh, the TRS MLA said.

Another TRS MLA said KCR might make an announcement on the early elections at the September 2 public meeting itself and would go in for dissolution of the assembly in the first week of September.

The TRS government on Friday also announced a series of populist measures, including construction of Atma Gourava Bhavanams (Buildings of self-respect) in Hyderabad for all backward communities at a cost of Rs 2 crore on two acres each, free domestic power supply to all SC/STs for a consumption up to 101 units a month, monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 for imams and muezzins in all mosques in the state and enhancement of retirement age for priests of all temples from 58 years to 65 years, besides paying them monthly salaries on par with the state government employees.

Besides, KCR announced enhancement of salaries of temporary teaching and non-teaching staff of new residential schools, appointed chairpersons to some corporations and academies, and set in motion the reshuffle of his administration by transferring a few IAS officers in crucial positions.

The sudden decision of the chief minister to go to New Delhi in the evening to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a few Union ministers also added to the speculations of early polls.

Though the official communication from the chief ministers office said he had gone to represent on several issues concerning the state to the Centre, the issues were actually not new as it was only on August 4 that KCR had met Modi with the same wish list. The actual agenda of KCR, according to the TRS sources, is to brief the Prime Minister about his decision to go for early elections.

In fact, former chief secretary and presently advisor to the state government Rajiv Sharma had a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa in Delhi on Thursday to discuss the possibility of holding the elections to Telangana along with other states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in November/December.

After getting clarity from the Prime Minister and the Election Commission, KCR will make an announcement on early elections, a party source said.
A farmer turned godman who claimed to cure people through kisses has been arrested in Assams Morigaon, police said.

The 31-year-old Ram Prakash Chauhan, christened the Kissing Baba, was arrested on Wednesday after police took suo moto cognizance of his activities.

There was no complaint. But we have been seeing his activities, Jitumani Borah, an Assam police official investigating the case said. Since he is a local, the villagers were afraid to complain, he claimed.

Chauhan, who is a farmer, recently took to this healing profession.

The young godman, mostly clad in a white vest and a dhoti operated out of the verandah of his mud house in Bhoraltup village where he lives with his parents.

Chauhan is unmarried and has been luring people by claiming to cure them since the last one month.

In a video doing the rounds, he is seen sprinkling water on a man who is lying on his stomach on the floor. Later, he is seen holding a woman by her hair and kissing her.

Chauhan, however, told the local media that he would just blow a kiss.

Chauhan has been arrested under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 417 (cheating) and 419 (cheating by personation) of the Indian Penal Code, Borah said.
Police in Haryanas Jind district have arrested three people, including a woman, after a third-year college student allegedly committed suicide accusing them of rape and blackmail in a suicide note, officials said.

Safidon station house officer Samarjeet Singh said they lodged a complaint following her fathers statement on Thursday and arrested the three accused. They will be produced in a court on Friday.

The student had accused two men of drugging, repeatedly raping and blackmailing her for months. She has also accused a female friend from her village of abetting the two men.

A police officer said on the condition of anonymity that Ravi and Balram had befriended the student through Poonam and raped her in a hotel in March after drugging her.

They also clicked her photographs and raped her repeatedly for months while threatening to post her pictures on the internet. Poonam was helping the accused in blackmailing her, the officer said.

The officer, quoted above, said the student consumed some poisonous substance at her home on Wednesday. After primary treatment, she narrated the ordeal to her father and also told him about the suicide note she had left in a notebook.

The officer said the victims condition later deteriorated and she was referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak, where she died during treatment.
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that Pakistan has concrete proof against Indian national Kulbushan Jadhav, sentenced to death on charges of espionage, and will triumph at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Pakistan will present its stance effectively in the international court, he told reporters in his home town of Multan.

Unfortunately, Pakistan did not have a foreign minister for four years, he said, referring to the handling of Jadhavs case under the previous PML-N government.

In a related development, the ICJ will hold hearings in Jadhavs case in February, Geo News channel reported. Citing its sources, the channel reported that the world court in The Hague is expected to hear the case during February 19-25.

India approached the ICJ after a Pakistani military court gave the death sentence to Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016 and tried for alleged involvement in espionage and subversive activities. Pakistan contends that Jadhav is a serving naval official.

New Delhi has dismissed the accusations levelled against Jadhav and said he is a former naval official who was kidnapped by Pakistani security officials from the Iranian port of Chabahar, where he was running a business.

The ICJ stayed Jadhavs execution till it decides the case. India made its written submissions to the ICJ in September 2017. Pakistan submitted its counter pleadings in December last year.

Pakistan has stated Jadhav is not an ordinary person as he had allegedly entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage. The reply also said Jadhav does not fall under the purview of the Vienna Convention as he is a serving naval official.
The idea of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is similar to that of Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday.

RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties havent tried to capture Indias institutions, Gandhi said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.

Gandhi also said the idea of demonetisation came directly from RSS, bypassed the finance minister and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and was planted in the head of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress president will also speak at the British parliament and the London School of Economics and meet members of the Labour Partys shadow cabinet and business leaders of the country.
India and China have agreed to expand their military ties and enhance interaction to ensure peace on their common border, India said after a meeting between the old rivals defence ministers.

Relations between the Asian giants were strained last year over a 73-day military face-off in a remote, high-altitude stretch of their disputed Himalayan border.

But the neighbours have over recent months been working on mending ties and visiting Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe told Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week that their countries friendship dated back to ancient times.

On Thursday, Wei had extensive discussions with his Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Indian government said.

It was decided to expand the engagement between their armed forces relating to training, joint exercises and other professional interactions, the government said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

The ministers also discussed their border and agreed to implement confidence building measures to ensure the maintenance of peace, including the early operationalisation of a hotline between their armed forces, India said.

India and China fought a war in 1962 and the unresolved dispute over stretches of their 3,500 km (2,200 miles) border has clouded relations ever since.

But the two big Asian economies share similar positions on a host of issues including concern about U.S. tariffs and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Modi agreed in April to improve relations.
A 28-year-old Indian man has been arrested in Thailand for allegedly raping a minor girl.

Bennur Yatheesha was arrested on Thursday from his condo room in Klong Toei district for the July incident, the Nation daily reported. The man, however, denied raping the 14-year-old girl.

The girl said that she met the accused on the Line chat app on June 30 and he asked her to meet him on Khaosan Road on July 1. After meeting, Yatheesha took her to his condo room and made her drink beer before raping her, the girl alleged.

The Indian, however, denied raping the minor and said that he only took her to his room for drinks.

The girl said that she was initially scared to inform her family about the incident so she rented a hotel in the Sukhumvit area till July 3. She later went home and told her father, who filed a complaint with the police.

Yatheesha was charged with raping a girl under 15 and unlawfully taking away a person under 15 from her parents, the report said.
The Arunachal Pradesh Police have arrested a senior government official and a middleman for their alleged involvement in a cash-for-job scam in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation.

On Friday, Pranav Tayal, Superintendent of Police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), Arunachal Pradesh confirmed the arrest of Olik Tareng, the former Chief Municipal Executive Officer of Itanagar Municipal Corporation, and Nitesh Kumar Mishra, Tarengs alleged accomplice in the multi- crore rupee scam.

Tareng was arrested from Dehradun on Thursday with the help of the Uttarakhand Police after he absconded from Itanagar. The Arunachal Pradesh Police obtained a one-week transit remand to bring the two men to Itanagar.

Government sources said the cash-for-job scam involved 170 vacancies in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation.

SIC, the anti-corruption wing of the state police was acting on an enquiry by Itanagar district administration following a complaint by All Arunachal Unemployed Engineers Association.

Investigators say that the preliminary probe has indicated that Rs 5 lakh was taken as bribe from each of the selected candidates for the 30 vacancies of upper division clerks, Rs 3 lakh from those selected for 80 vacancies of lower division clerks and Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh from those selected for 60 vacancies of junior engineers.

An investigator said that despite the district administration cancelling the recruitment, the selected candidates are still undergoing training at a vocational institute in Guwahati.
Three Jammu and Kashmir policemen who were killed by militants on Wednesday and two who narrowly escaped death ignored an advisory which had strictly forbidden them to visit their homes or native places on Eid ul Adha following intelligence inputs that they would be targeted.

A senior police officer told Hindustan Times that he had formed teams to monitor whether any officer or constable neglected the advisory, especially those from south Kashmir. Our force is a big force and it is not possible to keep an eye on every person in the department. Unfortunately, some people neglected the advisory and lost their lives.

On Wednesday, on the first day of Eid ul Adha, militants killed a policeman in the morning outside the mosque where he had gone to offer Eid prayers. The constable Fayaz Ahmad Shah was killed in front of his relatives and died on the spot.

Nine hours later, militants killed another policeman, Mohammad Yaqoob Shah, outside his house when he was on his way to begin his duty at Pulwama and an hour later, inspector Mohd Ashraf who was posted at district police lines Budgam was killed inside his house in Pulwama.

No outfit has claimed responsibility for these attacks, but police say that all three killings were carried by militants and vowed to avenge the murders. Two policemen including an officer had a narrow escape as they escaped from their homes before militants could target them.

Officials said they had credible intelligence that militants were planning to target the policemen during Eid, particularly those visiting their homes. Officials said that the advisory to stay away from their native places was issued by senior officers to their subordinates but, many including those who were killed on Wednesday, did not follow it.

Police said militants had been keeping tabs on the movements of policemen and officers visiting their native places on Eid and had accurate information about those who were visiting their homes and were killed on Wednesday.

Another senior police officer said that some officers and constables take it easy and seek leave on various alibi despite threats. After these incidents, we are planning to make our men and officers more aware about threats which they face especially when they are not on duty.

This year militants have killed around 28 policemen so far. Many of those killed were not on duty when they were attacked. Militants had earlier asked policemen to leave their jobs or face consequences. Recently, over a dozen of Special Police Officers resigned from their jobs in south Kashmirs Tral after a diktat by the militants.
The Jharkhand high court on Friday rejected ailing Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasads plea for extension of provisional bail period for another three months and asked him to surrender by August 30.

Moving the court for a third extension of provisional bail for continuing treatment at a super-specialty hospital in Mumbai, Prasad, who had undergone surgery for anal fistula, said that his health condition has not improved as the infection continues.

Rejecting his plea for further extension of bail, a bench of justice Aparesh Kumar Singh observed that Prasads current health condition was not life-threatening. The treatment for post-fistula surgery could be availed here at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS),  the bench said, asking him to surrender by August 30.

Prasads advocate Prabhat Kumar had told that court that the former Bihar chief minister is currently undergoing treatment at Asean Heart Institute in Mumbai as the infection still persisted after the surgery, while doctors advised him three more surgeries - for prostrate, removal of stone from kidney and cataract.

He said that the court asked Prasad to get the present treatment at RIMS and he can make a fresh application for provisional bail for the aforesaid three surgeries, when the time comes.

Prasad, who was lodged at the Birsa Munda Central Jail on December 23 last year after his conviction in one of the fodder scam cases, has after two months in jail, had developed health complications and undergone treatment at the RIMS at Ranchi and the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, for nearly two months

He was granted provisional bail for six weeks by the high court on May 11 on health grounds. The court had subsequently twice extended the bail period, which finally ended on August 20.
Migrants stuck on Diciotti ship start hunger strike Emergency meeting in Brussels today on the issue

(ANSAmed) - ROME, AUGUST 24 - Some 150 mainly Eritrean migrants stuck on board the coast guard ship Diciotti in the Catania port have started a hunger strike, Democratic Party (PD) Senator Davide Faraone said Friday.



"There is tension on board and visits to inspect the migrants' conditions have been suspended," he said.



Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has said the migrants, who have been in the port for three days and on the ship for eight, cannot land until the EU agrees to redistribute them.



The European Commission will be holding a mini-summit on Friday, August 24, to discuss solutions concerning ports where migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea could be disembarked. The EU is working on the Diciotti case, it said, but noted that ad hoc measures were not enough and that there is the need for ''structural'' solutions. The Migration and Home Affairs Directorate-General is holding the meeting, to which the advisors for European Affairs of 12 countries known as the 'axis of the willing' have been invited: Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Malta, Greece and Ireland. Several similar cases in recent weeks - such as those of the Aquarius, Protector and Monte Sperone ships - required EU intervention. (ANSAmed).




A foreign Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmirs Anantnag district on Friday, police said.

Security forces were conducting a search operation in Kokernags Vailoo area early on Friday when they encountered some militants. One of them was killed in the shootout that ensued, a police spokesperson said, adding that a large quantity of ammunition was recovered from the spot.

From the incriminating material seized from the militants, it has been learnt that the slain person is a Pakistani affiliated with the JeM terror outfit. He was involved in several attacks on security personnel and civilians in the area, the spokesperson said.

Army spokesman Rajesh Kalia also confirmed the militants death.

Protester injured

A police officer from Anantnag said youngsters from the locality pelted stones at security forces while the encounter was on, forcing them to retaliate. A teenager  identified as Yawar Majeed  was injured after a bullet grazed his head, and had to be hospitalised.

There has been a sudden escalation of tension in Jammu and Kashmir since Eid, coinciding with the arrival of new governor Satya Pal Malik. Three policemen were killed by gunmen in separate incidents across south Kashmir even as hundreds of protesters clashed with police after the Eid prayers.

A BJP worker was kidnapped by suspected militants on Tuesday, and his bullet-riddled body was found in south Kashmirs Pulwama the next morning. Militants shot dead a forest department official at Tangmarg in north Kashmirs Baramulla district on Thursday.

Satya Pal Malik was sworn in as the 13th governor of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. He replaced NN Vohra, who has held the post since 2008.
Heavy rains and unprecedented floods in Kerala this monsoon season have claimed 417 lives while 36 people are still missing, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday.

He also asked people impacted by the floods to submit details of the losses they have suffered, by logging on to the Kerala government website and provide the details.

Addressing the media here, Vijayan said that 265 deaths were reported in the torrential downpour that battered the state for over a week from August 8 while other fatalities happened since monsoon rains began on May 29, reported IANS.

At least 7,000 houses were destroyed in the floods and another 50,000 partially damaged, he said, adding that a total of 8.69 lakh people were still sheltered in 2,787 relief centres in the state.

He also announced that Rs 10,000 would be transferred into the bank account of every person in the relief centres.

Asking people to submit to the government details of the losses they have suffered, he said NGOs were going around taking pictures of the material losses on mobile apps.

Watch: Specially-abled Kerala hero saves couple from floods

With some people returning home as flood waters recede but lakhs still in relief camps, the Kerala government is now taking up the task of cleaning up after the worst disaster in the state in a century, and rehabilitating the affected.

Earlier on Friday, Vijayan had demanded Kerala should be treated on a different yardstick for extending flood relief assistance as its huge loss cannot be compared with damage in any other state at any point of time.

Giving a detailed account of the havoc caused by the devastating floods and landslides since early this month, he said the preliminary assessment of losses was around Rs 20,000 crore which was equal to the states annual Plan size for 2018-19, reported PTI.

In support of his stand that Keralas case was unique, he said the state was densely populated and the entire state had infrastructure facilities such as good roads, communication network and hospitals.

Pushing for foreign assistance, Vijayan had earlier said there was no blanket ban and India, by law, could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity.

In his statement on Friday, the chief minister said: It is with a thankful heart that we take note of the fact that foreign countries ranging from the UAE to Qatar have come forward with their promise of assistance.
A congress MLA in Manipur was produced before the court of Special Judge, National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Imphal on Friday in connection with an investigation into the missing of arms and ammunition from the armoury of Director General of Police (DGP) pool,sources said.

Later the court remanded MLA Yamthong Haokip for 15 days in the judicial custody, sources here added. However as per the courts directive, the MLA is likely to stay at the security ward of JNIMS hospital at Porompat in Imphal East district considering his health condition. Recently MLA Yamthong who represents Saikul assembly constituency in Kangpokpi district was flown to a Delhi hospital for treatment.

The NIA has been probing the case relating to the of missing of 56 pistols along with 58 magazines from the armoury of DGP pool located within the premises of second battalion Manipur Rifles in Imphal.

The said weapons which went missing between 2016 and early 2017, were said to be part of a consignment of 570 9mm pistols purchased by the Manipur government on September 11, 2014, for the states security forces.

On July 30, 2018, NIA had raided the residence of MLA Yamthong at Mantripukhuri in Imphal East district and recovered one of the missing pistols.

In March,2018, the state government had handed over the case to the NIA to conduct the probe.Five persons were also arrested in the connection with the case.
The Delhi High Court on Friday overturned the acquittal of 20 people accused in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryanas Hisar district in 2010 while upholding the conviction of 13 others.

The court also enhanced the punishment of the nine convicts, taking to 12 the number of convicts who have sentenced to life imprisonment.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and IS Mehta said 71 years after Independence, instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown no sign of abating.

The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of the complete absence of two things in Indian society as noted by Dr B R Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949. One was equality and the other fraternity, the bench said in its 209-page verdict, reported PTI.

The court held that there was deliberate targeting of houses of members of Balmiki community by members of the Jat community and common object in the case was to teach members of the Balmiki community a lesson and this has been fully achieved by the accused persons.

It said the fine amounts collected from the convicts shall be utilised by the Haryana Government as part of the provision of monetary relief and rehabilitation to the victims.

The verdict came on the appeal of 13 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between the Jat and Dalit communities of the village.

The top court had transferred the case from Hisar to Delhi to ensure a fair trial.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicted died during pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation.

Heres a timeline of the case:

*April 21, 2010: A 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically-challenged daughter burnt alive allegedly by a mob of over 100 people belonging to the Jat community at Mirchpur village of Hisar district.

Over 150 Dalit families flee the village and take shelter at a Temple in Delhi after their houses were torched.

* August: Haryana police arrest the accused after the Supreme Court pulls it up.

* December 8: SC transfers the case from Hisar to Delhi to ensure fair trial on the plea of families of victims.

* December 23: Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau starts hearing and asks Haryana government to appoint special public prosecutor to conduct the trial.

* January 9, 2011: Court orders transfer of the accused to Tihar from a Hisar jail. A total of 98 accused shifted. Out of 103, five are juveniles and one is out on bail.

* January 15: Jat community, to which accused belong, protests the transfer of case, seeks fresh probe.

* January 20: CBI asked to take over the probe.

* February1: Court orders deployment of CRPF at Mirchpur village to protect prosecution witnesses.

* March 10: Trial court passes order on charge against 97 persons.

* September 24: Trial court convicts 15, acquits 82 persons.

* October 31: Three convicts get life term, five awarded five year jail and remaining seven released on probation.

* 2012: Convicts, victims and state move Delhi HC against their conviction and sentencing.

* Oct 6: One accused who was earlier absconding, acquitted of all charges by trial court.

* May 16, 2018: HC reserves verdict on the appeals.

* Aug 24: HC upholds conviction and sentence of 13 convicts, reverses acquittal of 20 and convicts them.
The Delhi high court verdict convicting 33 people for the 2010 anti-Dalit violence in Mirchpur cheered up the scheduled caste families who have not been able to return to their homes eight years after they fled. But they also demanded proper rehabilitation and government action, saying the Dalits in the region still live in fear.

The families, currently around 120, stay in temporary settlements in a plot owned by Dalit leader Vedpal Tanwar, about five kilometers from Hisar town in Haryana.

Who will like to return to that village, where people of our community still feel fear to visit? said Satyawan Singh.

The Haryana government has ordered the local administration to provide makeshift tents and proper facilities for the families.After the violence, the government helped us with everything, like proper food, shelter and water, but now we are struggling to even get pension. We are leading a pitiable life now, said Raja Kumar.

The deputy commissioner of Hisar, Ashok Kumar Meena, said the state government had already selected land in Dhandoor village and that the families would be allotted land soon. But Satyavan Singh, a key witness in the case, was skeptical. We will only believe the government when we will get proper papers in our hand. For the last eight years, we are only getting assurance.

Many women in the settlement said their basic needs was job and home. We are fed-up of living in a six-by-six makeshift tent. Our childrens are not getting proper education. We are leading a miserable life for the last eight years, said Rani Devi.
Naga legislators and other members and organisations of the community, who choose to attend the Manipur assemblys special session or any meeting on peace talks, would be tagged as anti-nationals and barred from entering Naga territories, a declaration passed by two influential tribal bodies has said.

Concerned over the Manipur governments attempts to sabotage the Naga peace talks, United Naga Council, an umbrella body of Nagas in Manipur, and Naga Hoho, the pan Naga organisation, held a joint review meeting in Senapati in Manipur on Thursday.

One of the resolutions passed in the meeting said: any Naga elected representative, political leader, political party unmandated or unauthorised Naga individual or group shall not attend or participate in any assembly or meeting that will sabotage the Indo-Naga peace process.

The resolution also cautioned anyone defying the Naga political principle and its position shall be treated as anti-national and their entry banned in Naga areas.

The Manipur government is trying to sabotage the peace talks from day one. The state government had planned a special assembly session on August 16. The session has been postponed but there is pressure to hold it soon, Gaidon Kamei, the president of United Naga Council, said.

Even if the Naga MLAs attend the session and voice contrary opinion their voices will not be heard, Kamei said.

Manipur assembly has ten Naga MLAs including four from Naga Peoples Front, which is a part of the government, one MLA from the ruling BJP, four who won on a Congress ticket and one from National Peoples Party.

Demands for the integration of Naga areas or Greater Nagalim by Naga groups involved in peace talks with the Centre have seen opposition in other states, including Manipur which sees it as an attack on the states territorial integrity.

The Centre and NSCN (IM) had signed a framework agreement in 2015.
The first Humboldt Penguin chick in the country which hatched in the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan Zoo also called the Byculla Zoo in Mumbai on August 15, has died, the zoo said on Friday.

The chick died of new born anomalies on the night of August 22, it said.

The zoo had planned to add the newborn to the penguin colony.

The zoo has four female penguins and three male penguins. Six of the penguins have already paired up, and zoo officials are looking for a partner for the female penguin.

The seven Humboldt Penguins were brought from South Korea but one, Dory, died.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited the flood-hit Kodagu and assured the people of Indian Armys help in rebuilding the devastated regions roads. She also donated Rs one crore for flood relief in the Karnataka district.

I can assure you that the task force of the Indian Armys Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will visit as consultants and advise the administration on how to build roads in hilly areas, Sitharaman told reporters in Madikeri, about 280km from the state capital Bengaluru.

I am a member of Parliament from Karnataka. I want to offer Rs one crore of my MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) for Kodagu district, she said.

Due to heavy rains and landslips, several of the districts arterial roads have been battered, disconnecting many villages and towns.

The Defence Minister visited Kushalnagar and Madapura in the district, which were severely affected by heavy rains and flash floods last week.

She also interacted with few flood-affected people sheltered at a relief camp at Madikeri in the district.

I will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who also takes care of national disaster relief funding, (Minister for Road Transport and Highways) Nitin Gadkari and also submit a report to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on the districts situation, Sitharaman said.

The Minister, who is an MP from Karnataka, said the Centres financial aid to the region in distress will be decided after an assessment of the loss.

According to preliminary estimates, the district has suffered losses worth Rs 1,140 crore to public and private property as a result of the rains, said Kodagu Deputy Commissioner P. Sreevidya.

At least 34 village panchayats have been badly affected and the municipalities in Kushalnagar and Madapura suffered heavy losses as they are in the catchment area of Harangi river, she said.

The district administration is also working on providing temporary shelters to those affected by floods and residing in relief camps.

We have identified land and an additional deputy commissioner rank officer will oversee the rehabilitation, Sreevidya added.

About 75 Army engineering task force personnel will also be assisting the district officials in restoring the critical roads of the district, the states Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderiya said in a statement earlier.

About 5,000 people are currently sheltered in 51 relief camps across the district, with more than 1,100 houses have been destroyed in floods and landslips.
Indias diplomatic efforts, especially in the Gulf countries, have resulted in the extradition or deportation of more than two dozen terror suspects to India in the last six years, an analysis of data of ministries of home and external affairs shows. Among the suspects, 18 were sent back from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The most recent such deportation was of an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, Habibur Rahman, who was sent to India earlier this month by Saudi Arabia.The new wave of deportations and extraditions related to charges of terrorism began with Abu Jundal, a native of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. He was sent back to India from Saudi Arabia in June 2012.

He was a prized catch due to his presence in a control room established by the ISI and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Karachi to direct the 26/11 Mumbai attackers. Indian diplomatic efforts have played a part here. Besides, the world has become less tolerant to terrorism in any form after the 9/11 attacks in the US, and the Gulf countries too faced terror-related incidents on their soil, said Neeraj Kumar, former Delhi police commissioner in whose tenure Jundal was brought back to India.

After Jundal, there have been about two dozen extraditions or quick deportations from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Thailand and Bangladesh.

The contribution of Saudi Arabia and the UAE is the biggest, said a home ministry official who did not wish to be identified. There was no formal response from the external affairs ministry.

Those sent back to India to face the law include Wuthikorn Naruenartwanich, who is a Thai national accused of supplying arms and ammunition to the insurgent groups in the Northeast. The deportees include Aboobacker Haji, Shareeb Mohammed Yusuf and Abdul Majeed, who have been accused of being involved in fake Indian currency smuggling rings and also those accused of being sympathisers of the Islamic State. Others include alleged Indian Mujahideen members Fasih Mehmood and Abdul Wahid Siddibappa. Mohammed Farooq Yasin alias Farooq Takla, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was also sent back.

Both of Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi governments, have invested diplomatic energy in improving ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Modi was the first Indian PM to visit the UAE in 34 years in 2015. He again visited the UAE in February this year.

Recent joint statements between India and the two Gulf nations have had greater focus on counter-terrorism cooperation.

Saudi Arabian ambassador Saud bin Mohammed Al Sati said: I can assure you the security cooperation is excellent. The foundation for this is the interests of the two people in countering terrorism and extremism. In the Delhi Declaration and Riyadh Declaration, there was a reference to this and we signed a MoU on cooperation in countering extremism, money laundering, terror finance and other crimes. We have excellent cooperation in these areas and (the latest person to be arrested) was deported from Saudi Arabia.

With these two countries, we are placing a lot of importance in dealing with matters of fugitives, issues of radicalisation and terrorism... Working out legal frameworks and sharing of information and taking measures aimed at deradicalisation of youth are part of these strategies. All these measures are paying off, an official said. The UAE embassy here didnt offer an immediate response.

(With inputs from Rezaul H Lashkar)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to the Muslim Brotherhood, the radical Islamist organisation of the Arab world, and alleged the RSS wants to change the fundamental nature of India -- comments that the BJP condemned.

Gandhi made the remarks in the course of a series of interactive events with audiences that included policy experts, diplomats, scholars and British MPs. He said bad economic policy ideas such as demonetisation came from the RSS.

A formidable alliance was being stitched to ensure the defeat of the BJP in the 2019 elections, Gandhi said.

The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties havent tried to capture Indias institutions, Gandhi said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think-tank.

The RSSs idea is similar to the idea of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world, he said.

We are fighting against attempts to impose rigid, hate-fuelled angry ideology of the RSS in the country, its attempts to capture and destroy institutions nurtured and developed over 70 years. There is a sustained attack on the weak, he added.

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is the oldest Islamist political group in the Arab world but several countries do not allow it to operate as a political party. Mohamed Badie, its leader, is currently in prison and it has been labelled a terror organisation by Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Gandhi targeted the RSS for the second time in as many days.

On Thursday, addressing the Indian diaspora at an event in Berlin, he said the Congress binds together the people of India while the BJP and RSS divides them and spreads hatred.

Hitting back, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra demanded Gandhi to apologies to 125 crore Indians and stop his job of acting as a contract killer for the idea of India. Patra reacted strongly to Gandhi likening the RSS to the Muslim Brotherhood and asked if a terrorist outfit was ruling India? Are you suggesting that the government of India is working like a terrorist organsiation and expanding through invasion? Patra asked Gandhi. What Rahul Gandhi has done in London is unforgivable.

Gandhi also spoke on other issues such as Indias relations with China. The alleged presence of Chinese troops in the Doklam region reflects the Narendra Modi governments episodic and event-centric approach to foreign policy, he said as he listed a catalogue of the administrations perceived failures.

Describing the Modi governments handling of the standoff with China at Doklam as an example of its alleged failure, Gandhi said the face-off was not a one-off event but part of a sequence of events. He regretted that instead of viewing it as part of a process, the government had an episodic approach to it.

This government has an event-centric perspective. Doklam is part of a process; he (Modi) sees it as an event. The truth is that the Chinese are still there. If we were in power, Doklam would not have happened, Gandhi said at the IISS.

On Pakistan too, the Modi government lacks a coherent strategy, but sees it as episodic. The problem is who do you talk to in Pakistan, which institution do you talk. They have institutions that hate us, promote terror in our country, we dont want to talk to them.

Gandhi cited the experience of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose initiatives with the civilian government in Islamabad were undermined by other institutions in the country, through events such as the Kargil intrusions.

While expounding on the Modi governments foreign policy, Gandhi took a swipe at the alleged domination of the foreign ministry by the Prime Ministers Office, saying the capable minister, Sushma Swaraj, would have achieved something if she were allowed to work, instead of being confined to responding to visa requests on Twitter.

Gandhi told a gathering in the Grand Committee Room in Westminster that the Congress has succeeded in completely dismantling the idea that the Modi government is a success by highlighting what he called its insane economic policies such as demonetisation.

There is a job crisis in India. China is creating 50,000 jobs in 24 hours, India is creating 450. These are not my figures but government of India data. The jobs will come from small and medium enterprises but the Modi government focuses only on some big businessmen, he said.

According to him, Modi is not allowing Indians to express themselves, while the Congress wants to return the country to the old India of pre-2014, of social inclusion, when journalists and those holding differing views did not face threats to life and limb.

You will feel the weight of a combined opposition in the coming assembly and general elections. Look at the arithmetic, in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, if the opposition come together, the BJP cannot even win five seats; and if they dont do well in these states, they cannot win the election, Gandhi said.

The event in Parliament was hosted by senior Labour MP Keith Vaz and attended by party MPs Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra. Gandhi also addressed students at the London School of Economics on Friday evening.
Eight Emirati designers to show in London They'll provide their own contemporary take on historical pieces

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, AUGUST 24 - Eight Emirati designers will show their work at the London Design Fair (September 20-23), thanks to efforts by Dubai Design District (d3), who will host the second chapter of UAE Design Stories: 'The Next Generation from the Emirates in the UK'. The exhibition, supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, is curated by Emirati product designer Khalid Shafar, reports Gulf News.



Titled 'Objects of the Past: Today', it dives into photographic archives of the UAE and the region's nomadic roots.



Designers have been tasked with providing their own contemporary take on these historical pieces. The exhibition will also travel to Paris as part of the UAE-France Cultural Dialogue programme and return to the UAE for Dubai Design Week (November 12-17).



The eight designers participating are Abdalla Almulla (architect), Alia Bin Omair (jewellery designer), Alia Mazrooei (interior designer), Aljoud Lootah (multi-disiplinary designer), Azza Al Qubaisi (sculpture and product designer), Rouda Al Shamsi (interior designer), Salem Mansoori (interdisciplinary designer), and Ahmad Al Areef (multidisciplinary Bedouin artist). (ANSAmed).




The Supreme Court on Friday turned down the pleas of opposition parties seeking cancellation of elections for over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal in a relief for the Mamata Banerjee-led government in the state.

The top court was hearing pleas by parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleging that only the candidates from the ruling Trinamool Congress were allowed to file the nomination papers. All these uncontested seats were won unopposed by candidates of the Trinamool, they said.

It took note of the allegations and said the aggrieved candidates may file election petitions to challenge the panchayat polls in courts concerned.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justice AM Khanwilkar and justice DY Chandrachud exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution and held that the limitation period of 30 days for filing the election petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results.

The court also set aside the Calcutta High Court decision directing the state poll panel to allow the filing of nomination papers in panchayat elections through electronic forms such as e-mails and WhatsApp.

The high court was in error while allowing the filing of nomination papers through electronic forms, it said, adding, no such process is either mentioned nor allowed under the provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act.

The top court had earlier stayed the high court order asking the state election body to accept the nomination papers filed through e-mail for panchayat elections. It had also said the situation was grim and grave and directed the state poll panel not to declare and notify the results of the panchayat body elections.

Earlier, the West Bengal government had told court that the row over the panchayat polls in the state had led to a constitutional crisis since the tenure of several panchayats were over and new bodies had not been made functional.

The top court had on August 13 asked the state election panel whether it had conducted any probe into the fact that a large number of seats in the local body elections in the state went uncontested. The court had said that the issue had been bothering it.

The poll panel, however, argued that 33% of nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested in the state was not an alarming situation.

Data released by the West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) show 20,076 of the 58,692 posts for gram panchayat, zilla parishad and panchayat samiti had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May this year. It was alleged that around 34% seats were uncontested.

The Trinamool won 16,814 of the 48,650 gram panchayat seats and 3,059 of 9,217 panchayat samiti seats uncontested. And of the 825 zilla parishad seats, the Mamata Banerjee-led party was declared the winner in 203 seats. Most of the seats where Trinamool won unchallenged were Birbhum, Bankura, Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas districts.

The top court had earlier refused to stay the poll process observing that there were a plethora of judgments which have held that once the poll process has begun, it cannot be interfered into by any court.

(with PTI inputs)
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre and West Bengal Government seeking their responses in the alleged killing of three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in the state.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia, who sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.

On May 30, an 18-year-old BJP worker named Tirlochan Mahato was found hanging from a tree in Purulias Balarampur district. Month after this incident, another BJP worker, Dulal Kumar was found dead in a similar manner in the same district.

On July 28, one more BJP leader, Shaktipada Sardar was hacked in West Bengals Diamond Harbour area.

The deaths of three BJP leaders had sparked an outrage in the state with the BJP blaming the Trinamool Congress for the attack.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged killing of three BJP workers in West Bengal after the local body elections in May.

The petition filed by a BJP leader and advocate Gaurav Bhatia, alleges that family members of the victims were being threatened and police have not registered FIRs.

A two-judge bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked the West Bengal government and the CBI to file their response to the petition within four weeks.

Bhatia said the murders in West Bengal were disturbing and asked for a CBI investigation. He also alleged that family members of the three slain BJP workers, Shaktipad Sarkar, Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar, were now being threatened.

Bhatia also demanded that family members of the three men be paid a compensation of Rs 50 lakh.
The Unnao gang rape and murder case has taken a new twist, with the key witness in the attack on the minor gang rape survivors father dying at his Unnao residence on August 18. The survivors uncle alleged foul play but the police claimed that the family said he died of illness.

The survivors uncle said the deceased Mohammed Yunus, 32, was the key witness in the attack on the survivors father who later succumbed to his injuries in judicial custody when he was sent to jail by local police after being allegedly framed in a fake case of possessing illegal firearm.

The rape survivors father was allegedly assaulted by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengars brother Atul and his aides after which he was allegedly framed in a false case by the Makhi police on April 3. He was not provided proper treatment and was sent to jail where his condition deteriorated. He succumbed to injuries in judicial custody on April 9.

The CBI took over the case on April 12 and registered four separate FIRs related to gang rape and murder in the matter. So far, 10 people, including the BJP MLA, his brother and two policemen of Makhi station have been arrested by the CBI in these cases and all are in jail at present

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is in Germany, took to Twitter and cited reports that the witness died under mysterious circumstances and was buried hurriedly without getting his post-mortem done.

The mysterious death & hurried burial without an autopsy, of the key witness in the #Unnao rape & murder case, involving BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, smells of a conspiracy. Is this your idea of justice for our daughters, Mr 56?, Gandhi wrote in comments while re-tweeting the story.

The survivors uncle said Yunus had a small grocery shop at the same intersection in Makhi where the survivors father was allegedly attacked by the MLAs brother and his aides on April 3, 2018. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had recorded Yunuss statement and made him key witness in the case against the MLA and his aides.

The survivors uncle said Yunuss brother Jaan Mohammed had given a written application to conduct the post-mortem examination of the body following suspicion about his death. Yunus was buried hurriedly on the same day and no autopsy was conducted, he said, demanding that the body be exhumed and autopsy be conducted.

However, Sabina Khatoon, wife of the deceased, said he was suffering from a liver ailment for past many months and had undergone treatment at many places in Kanpur and Unnao . She said her husband died of his liver disease.

SP Unnao Harish Kumar said the police inquiry was conducted on the complaint of the survivors uncle but the Yunuss wife had given in writing that her husband died due to liver ailment at his residence , in the presence of several family members, on the morning of August 18 and she did not suspect foul play.

Earlier, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against the BJP MLA, his brother, three policemen and five other associates for alleged criminal conspiracy to frame Unnao rape victims father in a fake case. The CBI had also filed a separate charge sheet against the same people, excluding the police personnel, in connection with the murder of the rape survivors father.

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Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are on alert following the weather office warning of very heavy rainfall in the area for the next two days. The Himachal government ordered the closure of all educational institutions on Friday in Kangra and Mandi districts following the alert.

The Met office has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in the northern plains and gangetic West Bengal over the next two days.

Although Uttarakhand has been receiving widespread rains, the warning is for heavy showers in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat districts.

Following the warning from the Met office, the state government has asked authorities in all the districts to be extra vigilant and have asked people living on the embankment areas of rivers to go to safer places.

Roads and bridges have been damaged at several places. Dehradun and districts of Uttarkashi and Udham Singh Nagar have been receiving heavy rains in the past 24 hours, forcing the district administration to step up vigil. Bajpur area in Udham Singh Nagar district is facing flood like situation, an official said.

In Bajpur, water-logging has become a major scourge with most busy thoroughfares and localities like Teachers colony, Beria road and Ramraj road getting inundated with rain water, he added.

(With agency inputs)
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday termed a victory of democracy and of people the Supreme Courts rejection of the plea of opposition parties to cancel elections for over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in the state.

State minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee also hailed the verdict as a a victory of Maa, Mati, Manush, referring to Banerjees slogan of mother, motherland and people.

Rejecting the pleas, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, however, said the aggrieved candidates may file election petitions to challenge the panchayat polls in courts concerned.

Opposition parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleged that only the candidates from the ruling Trinamool Congress were allowed to file the nomination papers and won all these uncontested seats.
Nearly eight years after his escape from police custody, one of the most wanted accused of UP, Sudhakar Pandey, who carried reward of  50,000 on his head, surrendered before a city court in a dramatic manner on Thursday afternoon  without letting the police and intelligence sleuths know about his move.

Pandey was said to staying in Nepal, Malaysia and Thailand while he was on the run after his escape from the police custody when brought on appearance in Lucknow district court on September 28, 2010.

WHY THE SURRENDER? The sudden surrender of Sudhakar Pandey before the court has puzzled the police and intelligence agencies who have been searching for him for many years. A senior police official said Pandeys last location was tracked in Malaysia when he called up two key witnesses of the murder of former LUSU general secretary around three months ago. He said he had asked the two witnesses, Hemant Singh and Vipin to turn hostile. One of the witnesses was associated with dreaded gangster Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi, who was recently shot dead by another gangster Sunil Rathi inside Bagpat jail on July 9, he said. He said the witness had got associated with Bajrangi fearing life threat from Pandey.

He was the key accused in the murder of Lucknow University Students Union (LUSU) former general secretary Vinod Tripathi near his residence in Nehru Enclave locality of Gomti Nagar on December 11, 2007.

His involvement was also suspected in the sensational murder of chief medical officer (CMO) Vinod Kumar Arya, who was shot dead while he was on a morning walk near his Vikas Nagar residence on October 27, 2010.

In the same manner, another CMO, BP Singh was shot dead while he was on a morning walk near his house in Vijayant Khand, Gomti Nagar on April 2, 2011.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths, who later investigated the two cases, had not included his name in the charge-sheet filed in the matter.

A police official said Pandeys built and appearance had changed a lot during these years and he took advantage of it to surrender before the court without being identified by anyone. He surrendered before the court following a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him in the Gangster Act imposed by the Gomti Nagar police station in April 2008. The Gomti Nagar police had imposed Gangster Act against Pandey after his arrest in connection with murder of former LUSU general secretary.

The police official said cops were not intimated about his surrender application as the NBW was already issued against him. He said Pandey carried reward on his head in connection with an FIR lodged against him at Wazirganj police station when he escaped from the court premises.

He said the court has sent Pandey in judicial custody till September 1.

The official said the police will now apply for his remand in connection with different criminal cases registered against him.
The death of four people in Wednesdays fire at Crystal Tower, where several safety rules were violated, has served as a wake-up call to the fire brigade and the Mumbai civic body to start conducting surprise checks at residential buildings.

After the tragic fire at two restaurants in Kamala Mills in December 2017, in which 14 people were killed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had formed a fire compliance cell to check if commercial structures had fire-safety mechanisms in place.

Until July, this cells inspection were done only to provide clearance certificates, to mainly hotels and restaurants.

As the Kamala Mills fire was at a commercial spot, we focused on inspecting eateries, multiplexes, pubs and bars, said fire brigade officer. High-rise housing societies were not in focus.

The 3,423 buildings the cell inspected since it was formed in February 2018 were hotels, restaurants, theatres, and malls. In July, the BMC issued a circular asking the cell to inspect a minimum of 300 buildings, including residential ones, every month. So far, such checks at residential properties had not been conducted. We have introduced a new and more stringent procedure for fire safety only last month, chief fire officer P Rahangdale confirmed.

Follow-up investigations of existing high-rise buildings will also be done to check if they follow the mandatory bi-annual fire audits, and comply with fire safety.

Currently, all residential societies must conduct a fire-safety audit and send a report to the fire brigade. Under the new circular, buildings across Mumbai have been categorised based on their height and divided among officials of the compliance cell  the tallest buildings will be inspected by senior-most officials. The officials will pick buildings at random, and without giving them notice of an inspection.

Penalties for not complying with the fire safety rule could end in prosecution under the Fire Prevention Act.

The random checks are to ensure buildings continue to stay fire-safe even after the initial inspections.

Housing societies across Mumbai welcomed the move, while urban planners pointed out the need, not only for better compliance by housing societies, but also for regulating how permissions are given in the first place.

Madhu Poplai, a resident of Pali Hills Cozihom  an enclave of five buildings, each 10 storeys high, with 162 residents  said housing societies could learn from such inspections. Cozihom is fire compliant and the housing society even conducts the mandatory bi-annual inspections of its equipment to make sure they work .

Hiren Mehta, who lives in Gasper Enclave, a Bandra apartment constructed in 1962, said, his building was hardly fire compliant.But, if inspections happen, we will welcome them. The law will then take its course, and if irregularities are pointed out in our building, we will fix them. Eight families live here.

In Churchgates Swastik Enclave, a five-storey structure with 25 residents, there are fire extinguishers on every floor, signs and exit plans. Resident Naina Kathpalia was open to the idea of surprise checks. Our building is fire compliant, and we have fire extinguishers with floor plans. We still welcome an inspection by the fire brigade.

Urban planner PK Das pointed out: We are missing the main point here. What we need is to regulate how permissions are given to buildings, where fire safety measures like ensuring there is enough open space and access to refuge areas are given little thought. He added, The root cause of the problem lies in the beginning, at the time of the construction itself, where builders blatantly flout norms, and the government lets them do so. Follow-up inspections is only patch work with little impact.

A fire brigade official conceded that until 2017, there were several instances where officials gave buildings no-objection certificates without necessarily inspecting them. But, after the Kamala Mills incident, the concept of a compliance cell came up and we began mandatory fire inspections before giving NOCs. Now, the concept of fire prevention has been added to this list.
The additional district magistrate of a western UP district was suspended on Thursday evening, six days after he was booked by Noida police for attempting to murder an Army veteran.

The directive came from the Uttar Pradesh government after the administration received flak for the manner in which retired Army colonel Virendra Pratap Singh Chauhan was treated by the ADM and police.

The ADM has been suspended with immediate effect. Regarding allegations against the accused ADM, the divisional commissioner of Chitrakoot will initiate an enquiry, said a UP government spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Noida authorities demolished an illegal structure at the ADMs residence in Sector 29 of Noida on Thursday morning, which had become the bone of contention between ADM and the colonel. In February, Noida Authority had issued a notice to the ADM.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent a notice to the Bihar government days after a woman was assaulted and paraded naked on suspicion of her involvement in a teenagers mysterious death in Bihiya village of Bhojpur district.

The 16-year-old boy from Damodarpur village had gone to Bihiya to seek admission in Class 11. But later, his body was found in the red light area of the village with injuries on his genitals. Soon after, large scale violence had erupted on August 20. The mob set ablaze several shops and also indulged in stone pelting.

The rights body issued the notice to the Bihar government, through its chief secretary, calling for a detailed report in the matter. It also directed the states director general of police to ensure proper protection to the victim woman and her family members so that she is not threatened or subjected to any harassment by the miscreants. The officers have been given four weeks to respond.

The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a woman was beaten and paraded naked by some people in Bihiya village of Bhojpur district in Bihar on suspicion of her involvement in a teenagers mysterious death, the national human rights panel said in a statement on Thursday.

The NHRC had in July sent a notice to the Bihar government and the police chief in connection with alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded short stay home in Muzaffarpur district.

In June, the rights body had issued notice to Bihar government after a man was forced to transport the body of his dead wife on a motorcycle as a government hospital failed to provide mortuary van.

While issuing the notice on Thursday, the NHRC observed that the sequence of incidents pointed towards negligence on part of police authorities and the local administration.

The incidents appear to be a serious case of violation of human rights, including right to life of the teenager and the right to dignity of the victim woman. Though FIRs were registered in the matter and several police personnel placed under scanner, the action does not seem to be sufficient, it said.

Sixteen people have been arrested and eight policemen suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the case.

(With PTI inputs)
TUNISI - The Medina, the ancient heart of the Tunisian capital, will be filled with lights and colors September 6-9 for the second edition of 'Interference', International Light Art Project. The aim is to make these places, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, a work of art and an ideal example of interaction between art and cultural heritage. Dedicated to the art of light, the project offers a journey into the narrow alleys and homes of the Medina through the eyes of contemporary artists from around the world. The darkness of the Medina by night becomes a perfect backdrop for artists wanting to showcase light as a material for creation, means or metaphor. 'Interference' was organized through the collaboration a plethora of organizations, associations, and volunteers and is interdisciplinary.

The festival of lights will be flanked by workshops, and exhibitions of sculpture, design, plastic arts and free guided tours in the key points of the Medina. It is also a way to put the spotlight on one of the most characteristic places of all of North Africa and to revive the interest of tourists towards Tunisia. The first edition in 2016 brought in over 16,000 visitors.


The Patna high court on Thursday pulled up the CBI for its failure to submit progress report in connection with the investigation into Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case. It also sought to know as to why an SP-rank officer, who had been part of the probe team, was transferred.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mukesh R Shah and Justice Ravi Ranjan directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to file its reply by the next date of hearing on August 27 and place it before the court in a sealed cover.

The Patna HC is monitoring the probe in the case of sexual abuse at the government-funded short stay home for girls in Muzaffarpur on the request of Bihar government.

In its previous order of August 6, the court had directed the SP, CBI, to appear before it through a counsel and submit a report with regard to the progress of the investigation.

The police officer, JP Mishra, was shifted from the special crime branch and attached to the office of the DIG in Patna vide an order passed by the CBI headquarters on August 21.

Mishra, who had been transferred to Patna barely two months ago, was transferred on Tuesday evening with immediate effect and posted as SP in the office of DIG (Patna range). Devendra Singh, SP, CBI (anti-corruption bureau, Lucknow) has been given the additional charge held by Mishra.

A CBI official had claimed that Mishra was transferred to Patna from Jammu and Kashmir on health grounds. Devendra Singh had earlier stayed in Patna and hence he has been given the charge. Mishra will continue to cooperate with Singh, he said.

A senior official said that the CBI had interrogated a Unicef counsellor, Sunil Kumar Jha, in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case and next in line would have been those to whom Jha reported.

The official said CBI might portray the transfer as routine, but the timing had left ample scope for people to speculate. The CBI was looking into the financial and other related aspects to get to the genesis of the entire episode, he added.

The court asked the central probe agency to explain as to why Mishra, who was the investigating officer in the case, was transferred.

Opposition parties in the state have criticised the reshuffle, alleging that it would adversely affect the probe.

Meanwhile, the court also expressed displeasure over leak of details of the investigation and asked the media to refrain from publishing the same as it could be detrimental to the probe.

The sexual assault of 34 girls over a period of time in the government-funded Muzaffarpur shelter home came to light after a social audit was conducted by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

An FIR was subsequently registered by the Bihar social welfare department and 10 persons, including prime accused Brajesh Thakur whose NGO ran the shelter home, were arrested.

However, following a huge outcry, the Nitish Kumar government handed over the probe to the CBI a month ago, which was followed by the resignation of social welfare minister Manju Verma a few days later.

At the previous day of hearing on the matter, government had requested the high court to monitor the CBI probe and consider appointing a special judge for speedy trial. Both the requests had been accepted by the court.
Veteran journalist, editor, author, parliamentarian, diplomat and votary of Indo-Pak peace, Kuldip Nayar, who passed away on Thursday, had a long association with Punjab and particularly Punjabi University.

The 95-year-old prolific journalist did his diploma in journalism from a college under Panjab University in Lahore, however, with the conviction for writing he became a doyen in the field of journalism.

Nayar was the founder member of the department of journalism and mass communication at Punjabi University. The department was set up in 1974.

He remained associated with the department for almost two years. Later, he held regular interaction with the students at the varsity and also addressed several seminar there.

It was learnt that during a seminar in Punjabi University, Nayar spoke about his failure to clear diploma in journalism and his failed attempts to crack civil services. However, he brimmed with pride while speaking about his association and with journalism and achievements in the field.

Recollecting the memories and the time shared with Nayar, Navjit Johal, professor at journalism department in Punjabi University, said Nayar remains a role model and the pioneer in the field of journalism. He fought for the freedom of press and human rights till his last breath.

During 2009, Nayar spoke in-length about media, losing its credibility and people losing their faith in the same. He

had also demanded for setting up a press commission, Johal said.

Nayar had left the department after he was imprisoned during the Emergency.

Pioneer for peace efforts between India and Pak

Every year since 2000, Nayar anchored the candle light march on the Independence days of Pakistan and India (14/15 August) at the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar.

He had been advocating the freedom of Indian prisoners in Pakistan who have completed their sentences and vice versa.

In controversy over Bhindranwale

In October 2017, Nayar had hit controversy for writing against slain Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Later, bowing down to the pressure of the Damdami Taksal, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had decided to take back the Shiromani Patarkar Award from the veteran journalist for comparing slain militant preacher Bhindranwale with Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The dera chief is undergoing a 20-year sentence in a rape case.

SGPC had given the award to Nayar on July 3, 2006, at an event marking the 400th anniversary of Akal Takht at Golden Temple in Amritsar. On the decision of taking back the award conferred on him, Nayar had said, I have no comments. They (SGPC) can act as per their wisdom.

However, senior editor and former MP Barjinder Singh Hamdard had strongly condemned the SGPCs move to withdraw the honour bestowed upon the veteran journalist. Kuldip will always be known for his good work and great writing. Its not him, but the SGPC that has damaged its image and stature, said Hamdard who penned down Nayars contribution in field of journalism and his efforts in voicing the issues of Sikhs and Punjabis.

Meanwhile, the Punjabi Universitys journalism department organised a condolence meet led by professor Happy Jeji here on Thursday and remembered Nayars contribution to the department.
Nine people were arrested in Pakur district for attacking policemen and raising pro-Pakistan slogan during a clash between villagers and cops near Maheshpur police station on Wednesday evening, police said on Thursday.

Over two dozen people including 13 policemen and Pakur deputy commissioner (DC) Dileep Kumar Jha were injured in the clashes which took place after a police team arrived in Dangapara village following information that cows were allegedly being slaughtered.

Cow slaughter has been banned in Jharkhand since 2015. The state government had on August 18 directed deputy commissioners of all districts to ensure that cattle is not slaughtered on Eid.

The policemen were beaten and chased away by the villagers. Later, Pakur DC and superintendent of police (SP) Shailendra Barnwal raided the village and collected samples of the banned meat. Protesting police move, the villagers ghearoed the police station in the afternoon and reportedly pelted stone on policemen.

Police resorted to lathicharge, fired shots in the air and also fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Speaking to media, Pakur superintendent of police (SP) Shailendra Barnwal said that situation turned violent after hundreds of villagers, raising Pakistan Zindabad slogans, marched to surround the police station and started pelting stones and firing bullets.

We imposed section 144 in the area and invited the protestors for talks. But, they were not ready for any discussion. They became violent, pelted stone, fired bullets and also hurled bombs on policemen. In defence, police had to resort to firing and use tear gas, the SP said.

We recovered a country made pistol, bullets and threads from used bomb from the site. 13 policemen and officials including Pakur DC received injuries. We have so far arrested nine people, he added.

Ten villagers also received injuries in the incident. They were undergoing treatment in Burdwan and Rampurhat hospitals in West Bengal. We got information that eight to 10 people were injured in the incident and were undergoing treatment somewhere in Burdwan and Rampurhat hospitals, DIG Lakra said.

Police sources said several people had come from West Bengal to support the villagers protest. Pakurs Maheshpur shares border with Birbhum district in West Bengal.

Police claimed the situation remained peaceful and normal on Thursday. Situation is under control. The Pakur SP is camping in the area to avert any untoward incident, said deputy inspector general of Dumka range, Raj Kumar Lakra, who is closely monitoring the situation.
Ghoul

Cast - Radhika Apte, Manav Kaul

Rating - 3.5/5

One controversy is barely over and we must prepare for another. The opening few minutes of Ghoul, Netflixs latest Indian original, unleash some of the bravest filmmaking youll see this year - in fact, the entire first episode is brimming with confrontational carelessness - and I mean this as the highest compliment. To put it in perspective, if you thought the Rajiv Gandhi line in Sacred Games was delightfully irresponsible - especially now, especially here - wait till you watch Ghoul.

Even the opening title card is all sorts of provocative. It informs the viewer that the show is set in the near future, in a country that has been divided and destroyed by sectarianism. Those who oppose the government are sent to specially created military detention centres. So far so dystopian.

But notice how vague all of this seems - and deliberately so. Not once is the country identified - although the show is in Hindi (and Urdu?), and features a cast of Indian actors - and not once is it overtly acknowledged that the persecuted are exclusively Muslims.

But thats exactly what happens.

Watch the Ghoul trailer here

Through images and symbols, and through the violent rhetoric weve become all too familiar with - words like anti national and terrorist - Ghoul reveals itself to be a surprisingly potent show. It isnt merely a critique of modern India - nor is it just a cautionary tale of where we might be headed - but it is a takedown, its a slap in the face, it is humiliation before 130 million paying subscribers.

Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are. For the longest time - perhaps wisely, considering how easily triggered some of us are - no one had said anything about Ghouls pointed politics; the trailers had positioned it as a supernatural horror programme, produced through an exciting collaboration between Ivanhoe, Blumhouse and Phantom, three companies with remarkably similar philosophies. But it wouldnt be too much of a stretch to describe Ghoul as a lesser cousin to one of Blumhouses biggest recent success stories: Get Out.

Like Jordan Peeles Oscar winning film, Ghoul uses genre tropes to comment on muddy matters that mainstream cinema mostly avoids - for different reasons, ranging from commercial potential to political retaliation.

But to watch an old Muslim intellectual being pulled over, profiled, and harassed, brings back familiar memories - just the colour of the skin has changed. And thats the beauty of science-fiction and horror - these genres tap into our deepest fears, they expose our potential for evil, and in doing so, transcend borders. Ghoul is scary, yes, but for entirely different reasons than youd anticipated.

Like Fahrenheit 451, we see Muslim literature being burned, their religious artefacts are declared contraband, and their voices clamped down with cries of sedition! Everyone from student leaders to college professors to intellectuals - because remember, just like in the Armenian genocide, its always the intellectuals that are silenced first - is taken into custody, reconditioned till they declare their undying allegiance to the government, failing which theyre sent to what are basically concentration camps.

Manav Kaul as Colonel Sunil Dacunha in Netflixs Ghoul.

One of these camps is run by Colonel Sunil Dacunha (played by Manav Kaul). His uniform has shades of Hugo Boss SS outfits - perhaps one of the few subtleties of this largely ham-fisted allegory. They certainly have their own version of Inglourious Basterds Bear Jew, replicated in Ghoul by a large Punjabi man called Foulad Singh, who clangs his way through the facilitys halls, his terrifying reputation preceding him.

Foulad Singh is the last resort. He is brought out when all else has failed - all the enhanced interrogation techniques, all the violence, and all the humiliation. Nida Rahim (our protagonist, played by Radhika Apte), a new recruit in this militant, government-aided force, is brought to the facility around the same time as Ali Saeed. Saeed is a particularly legendary man - deemed a terrorist like the rest of his Muslim brothers and sisters, but with a dark secret that is slowly revealed in subsequent episodes.

Nidas religion makes her a traitor in the eyes of her people, and a pariah in the eyes of the (mostly) Hindu soldiers at the facility. This is interesting dramatic territory, ripe for exploration and bursting with possibilities.

It is unfortunate then that Ghoul mostly abandons this fantastic set-up in favour of a more by-the-numbers horror story in episodes two and three, inspired by the insipid Conjuring films probably. Watched in one go - which shouldnt be difficult - the episodes feel arbitrarily separated and not entirely episodic. This could be because Ghoul was originally intended to be a feature film, but was later recut into a miniseries for Netflix. Thats my guess.

Radhika Apte has had a hat-trick of Netflix hits.

In any case, once the supernatural events you actually signed up for crawl out of the shadows, the storys subtext is buried alive. As Nida makes new discoveries about Ali Saeeds true identity, I was overcome by the disappointing realisation that had director Patrick Graham picked a lane and stuck to it, the story wouldve played better. But as it stands, there isnt nearly enough mystical lore to engage the audience in the horror elements, the psychological thrills are oddly limited to a 20-minute patch in episode two, and the politics are largely forgotten until an admittedly well-conceived and emotional conclusion.

Even casual viewers would be able to identify the entire scenes thatve been tacked on to pad up the run-time, and while theyre at it, theyd be able to tell you with superb confidence that the story would have worked infinitely better as a 90-minute film. And theyd be right - especially because the best bits appear to be the ones added on.

The elements are all there - a blazingly original idea, Jay Ozas claustrophobic and atmospheric visuals, and a strong, simmering performance by Netflixs favourite Indian child, Radhika Apte - but Ghoul, the show, much like its namesake demon, suffers from an identity crisis.

It does, however, end with the suggestion that there is more to come. Tackled well, perhaps this could turn into our own version of Handmaids Tale or the Purge?

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar
As Nepal prepares to host the BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu during August 30-31, one of the focus areas of the meeting will be cutting the numbers of areas of cooperation from 14 to five, officials said on Thursday.

This was also communicated by foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali to some former diplomats during a consultation. According to Gyawali, the summit will set connectivity, poverty alleviation, trade and investment, climate change and energy as its core priority areas for the regional grouping.

The proliferation of commitments and increase in areas of cooperation did not yield tangible results in the past two decades, and the seven members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) have agreed to trim the number of priority areas to produce concrete results.

Since its inception in 1997, BIMSTEC, which aims to bridge East and South Asia, has listed trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people-to-people contacts and climate change as areas of cooperation.

Apart from cutting down the priority areas, the member states will focus on strengthening the BIMSTEC secretariat in Dhaka, where a revolving fund will be set up to focus on research on expanding cooperation, officials said.

All members of BIMSTEC have confirmed their participation in the fourth summit and the meetings preceding it, a statement from foreign ministry said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the summit and this will be his fourth visit to Kathmandu since he assumed office in 2014. Some bilateral memorandums of understanding and agreements are expected to be signed between Nepal and India on the sidelines of the summit.

Nepals President Bidhya Devi Bhandari will inaugurate the summit and meet leaders of the BIMSTEC states and host a luncheon in their honour on August 20.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will chair the summit, which will review progress in areas of cooperation and provide guidance for future work, the foreign ministry said. The leaders will witness the signing of a legal instrument of BIMSTEC and consider the draft Kathmandu Declaration of the summit on August 31.

Prior to the Summit, a senior officials meeting and a ministerial meeting will be held in Kathmandu during August 28-29..
A nine-year-old Buddhist novice has died after a beating by a Thai monk who allegedly battered him with a stick and slammed his head against a pillar, officials said Friday.

Monk Suphachai Suthiyano, 64, flew into a rage during a prayer session last weekend when the young disciple disrupted the ceremony with his playful behaviour.

The monk allegedly assaulted Wattanapol Sisawad with a bamboo stick at the temple in Kanchanaburi, two hours west of Bangkok, striking him on his back several times before bashing his head into a pillar.

The child fell into a coma and passed away late Thursday, a hospital worker at Kanchanaburi provincial hospital told AFP on Friday, requesting anonymity.

The incident comes as Thailand, a majority-Buddhist country, grapples with multiple other scandals among its clergy, including cases of extortion, sex and drug use.

The suspect, who was defrocked on Sunday following his arrest, was charged earlier this week with assault.

Police Captain Amnaj Chunbult said the charge will be revised to assault resulting in death once he receives official confirmation.

The boys mother Sukunya Tunhim told Thai media in a taped phone call she will not forgive him (the monk).

An official from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the National Police Office in Bangkok confirmed an autopsy had already taken place, and that the boys relatives have reclaimed his body.

The Buddhist faith is bound with everyday life in Thailand, making it commonplace for most men, even children, to spend some time in a monastery as a novice.

Monks are virtually beyond reproach in the countrys villages, but the ruling junta has taken a strong line against clergy who break the law.

Earlier this month, Thailands infamous jet-set monk -- so-called after footage emerged of him carrying a Louis Vuitton bag on a private jet -- was sentenced to 114 years in prison for money-laundering and fraud.

In May, the abbot of the popular Golden Mount temple in Bangkok surrendered to police after $4 million was found in bank accounts in his name.

The case came on the heels of an ongoing investigation into whether the National Office of Buddhism had misused millions of dollars under its control.

Authorities last year floated the idea of introducing digitised ID cards to better track monks with criminal convictions.
Australias next prime minister is a career public servant from Sydneys southern suburbs who rose to prominence by stopping asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat and has steered the countrys fiscal direction for the past three years.

Scott Morrison, who has served as the countrys treasurer since 2015, represents the predominantly Anglo-Saxon electorate of Cook in Sydneys south - a formerly blue-collar seaside suburban region now extensively gentrified.

Morrison won a Liberal party leadership vote on Friday - and with it the prime ministership - ending a skirmish for control of the party pursued by the governments right wing.

He opened his first speech as prime minister-elect on Friday with a conciliatory tone, acknowledging the pressures felt by families, and the plight of the countrys drought-hit farmers.

Morrison, who has a reputation as an ambitious and accomplished politician, drew on the well-worn colloquialism to have a go to punctuate the address.

If you have a go in this country you will get a go. There is a fair go for those who have a go, Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

Scott Morrison, Australia's prime minister-designate and leader of the Liberal Party, speaks during a news conference in Canberra, Australia, on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Bloomberg)

As a senior member of the government already heavily involved in high-level policy, economists dont expect a Morrison-led government to abruptly shift direction ahead of a general election due by May 2019 at the latest.

It wont be a major change in policy just at the margin, AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver told Reuters.

What you might see is tax cuts occurring earlier. That might shore up support for the Liberals ahead of the election.

Morrisons most recent budget in May outlined plans to implement a package of personal income tax cuts over seven years, although the timeline could be sped up or unwound by future governments.

The Australian dollar rose one-quarter of a cent immediately after the results of the party vote were made public.

PM Morrison is the most market-friendly option, having successfully negotiated through multiple portfolios such as Social Security, Border Security, and more recently presiding over a substantial improvement in the budget balance as Treasurer, said Annette Beacher, Chief Asia-Pacific Macro Strategist at TD Securities in Singapore.

Conservative enough?

ScoMo, as he is nicknamed, forged his reputation in 2013 and 2014 by implementing the governments signature immigration policy, Operation Sovereign Borders, which places asylum seekers who arrive by boat in offshore detention centres.

Despite this reputation, Morrison drew support from moderates in the party and defeated his more conservative colleague Peter Dutton in Fridays vote. Dutton was responsible for asylum seeker policies until standing down this week over his role in unseating leader Malcolm Turnbull.

Morrison, reflecting many of the characteristics of his electorate, describes himself on his website as a netball dad to his two daughters and a member of a local Pentecostal church.

The 50-year-old has worked in the public service for several decades, holding senior government property and tourism jobs in Australia and New Zealand before becoming the state director of the Liberal Party in New South Wales in 2000.

Morrison became the managing director of Tourism Australia in 2004, approving the contentious So Where the Bloody Hell are You? international advertising campaign, which was temporarily banned in the UK due to its crass language.

Incoming Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is congratulated by his new deputy Josh Frydenberg after a party meeting in Canberra, Australia August 24, 2018. (REUTERS)

The uproar reached all the way to the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who quipped on a jet-lagged visit to Australia in 2006: And here I am, in the Australian parliament building at what I think is something like four oclock in the morning in the UK. And so Im thinking, so where the bloody hell am I?

Though he did not enter federal politics until 2007, Morrisons has been involved in political campaigning from age nine when he reportedly handed out how-to-vote cards for his father, who was a councillor and mayor in Waverley council, which includes Bondi Beach.

Morrisons Sydney seat is considered safe, holding it by a large margin of 15.7 percent. But not all locals are happy about his promotion.

Bill Butterfield, a mechanic in Morrisons electorate of Cook, told Reuters that Morrison was not conservative enough.

I wouldnt vote for him. I just dont like the fella, said Butterfield, who said he preferred the former conservative prime minister Tony Abbott.

Hes done nothing for me. I dont want him to be prime minister.

In 2017, Morrison said he would vote no in the same-sex marriage postal vote.

He has repeatedly criticised renewable energy targets and has recently pursued greater restrictions on foreign ownership of sensitive assets, including electricity grids and agricultural land.

Morrison said on Friday that the best form of welfare is a job.

Nick Economou, senior lecturer in politics at Monash University in Melbourne, said the infighting in the Liberal party posed considerable problems to the new leader going into an election cycle.

The bottom line is theyve damaged themselves irreparably, he told Reuters.

It doesnt matter what Morrison says or does now, I think that the coalition is on track for a big defeat at the next election.
In an unusual move, Pakistan tonight asked the US to immediately correct a readout issued by the State Department in which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quoted as saying that he asked Pakistans new Prime Minister to take decisive action against all terrorists operating in the country.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that Pompeo, in his talks with Khan, raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.

However, according to the Foreign Office (FO), Pompeo congratulated Khan while discussing other issues of interest and there was no mention of terrorists operating in Pakistan.

FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Department on todays phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo.

There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected, Faisal said on Twitter.

The Pakistani media this week reported that Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to hold talks with newly-elected Prime Minister Khan.

Pompeo, who is expected in Islamabad on September 5, would be the first foreign dignitary to meet Khan, Dawn reported, quoting the diplomatic and official sources.

The relations between Pakistan and the US nose-dived after President Donald Trump in January accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but lies and deceit and providing safe haven to terrorists.

The US Congress also passed a bill to slash Pakistans defence aid to $150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than USD one billion per year.

In his victory speech last month, Khan said he wants a balanced relation between Pakistan and America which should be mutually beneficial, not one sided.
Pakistans consul general in Toronto has been caught on tape purportedly threatening a Canadian journalist of Pakistani-origin, prompting calls for his expulsion from the country.

The apparent threat emerged during a telephone conversation in March between the consul general, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, and an unidentified caller. Referring to Tahir Aslam Gora, the head of the multi-cultural TAG TV network, the diplomat purportedly says such journalists will have to cooperate if they want to survive.

The Canadian radio show, The Quiggin Report, described Siddiquis purported comments a threat to fix journalists whose views were not acceptable to the diplomat.

Reacting to the contents of the recording, a copy of which was made available to Hindustan Times, Howard Anglin, executive director of Calgary-based Canadian Constitution Foundation, tweeted: This is an unacceptable threat and interference with Canadian press freedom.

Anglin, a former deputy chief of staff to Canadas prime minister, said the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should have the guts to expel the diplomats involved, as the other govts have done when Pakistani diplomats crossed legal/diplomatic lines.

A one point of the conversation, which takes place in Urdu and English, Siddiqui refers to Gora and says: We are working on a treatment. He uses the Urdu word ilaaj or treatment to refer to dealing with Gora and says this is not being done overtly.

Referring to journalists perceived to be anti-Pakistan, Siddiqui is heard saying: Journalists have freedom, they can say whatever they wantWe too have the freedom to do whatever we need to.

He adds, There is a treatment and it is being donethe treatment is being done slowly as the thing has spread.

Anglins tweet was in response to another in a similar vein by Shuvaloy Majumdar, senior fellow at Ottawa-based MacDonald Laurier Institute. Majumdar noted the diplomats remarks constituted a chilling threat against journalists and called on Trudeau and foreign minister Chrystia Freeland to expel the diplomat.

All parliamentarians from all levels of govt shld ban and boycott him, Majumdar added.

The office of Pakistans consul general did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. Gora said when he became aware of this call targeting his freedom of expression as a journalist, he was really in deep anger.

How dare he threaten a Canadian citizen? That too a journalist. Hes a diplomat here, hes not here to threaten or harass journalists, Gora said. He said he expected the Canadian government to pursue this matter and to have the guts to act against Siddiqui.

The identity of the caller and the person who leaked the recording is unknown.

Siddiqui arrived in Toronto in July 2016 to assume charge as the consul general. He has held several top posts, including joint secretary to the National Security Advisor in Pakistans National Security Division.
Australian treasurer Scott Morrison will become Australias new prime minister after winning a Liberal party leadership vote on Friday, ending an internecine battle that has scarred the conservative government ahead of an election due by May 2019.

Morrison, who will be Australias sixth prime minister in less than 10 years, emerged victorious from a three-way race with former home affairs minister Peter Dutton and foreign minister Julie Bishop.

Incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who called the leadership meeting after losing the majority support of the party, opted not to contest the vote. Turnbull told reporters after the vote he would leave parliament not before too long.

The Liberal party is the senior partner in the conservative Liberal-National coalition government that has consistently trailed opposition Labor in opinion polls in recent months.

The leadership battle was sparked on Tuesday by an unsuccessful challenge by Dutton, who narrowly lost a vote against Turnbull.

Under intense pressure to call a second vote, Turnbull convened a party meeting on Friday after receiving a letter signed by the majority of party members calling for a change of leader.

Turnbulls decision to leave parliament means the new government will face a by-election for his Sydney seat that could see it lose its one-seat majority.

Australian media reported that foreign minister Bishop, having been defeated in the leadership ballot, would also likely resign from politics.

Turnbull came to power in a party-room coup in September 2015. A social liberal and multi-millionaire former merchant banker, he has struggled to appeal to conservative voters and only narrowly won a general election in 2016.

Morrisons victory was welcomed by financial markets, which have been rocked by the political instability. Australian shares edged higher on Friday, rebounding after three days of losses that saw the benchmark fall 1.5 percent.

PM Morrison is the most market-friendly option, said Annette Beacher, Chief Asia-Pac Macro Strategist at TD Securities in Singapore.

However, Beacher said markets would be looking to see whether Morrison can narrow the gap with opposition Labor.

The skew towards the Labor party at this stage ensures they will form government at the next election, she said.

It was also hoped Morrison would end a decade of political instability during which time no prime minister has completed a full term in office.

The political turmoil of the past decade has come at the cost of our global competitiveness ... the business community needs policy certainty to promote investment and improve business confidence. said Tony Johnson, chief executive officer of Ernest & Young.

However, Morrisons victory in the final ballot against Dutton, winning 45-40 votes, suggested possibly more political instability, said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital.

Scott Morrisons relatively low margin of victory still poses the risk that there may still be more turmoil ahead, he said.
After secession attempt, Barcelona loses tourists Visitors down 3% in first six months, reputation in decline

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, AUGUST 24 - Barcelona's pro-independence process last October has caused tourism in Catalonia to decline, and the region has lost its lustre in the eyes of international visitors.



The city of Gaudi was the least-visited after the referendum on secession, which was declared illegitimate, on October 1, 2017.



Barcelona fell from 8th place to 15th in the Reputation Institute's global ranking of G8-country citizens' perceptions of the city.



It now stands just ahead of Milan in the ranking - which also considers levels of security and uncertainty - with Tokyo in first place and Venice and Rome in 6th and 7th, respectively.



Last October, Catalonia registered 1.48 million foreign tourists, a 5% drop on the same month in the previous year, while the rest of Spain saw a record number of visitors, according to the non-profit tourism alliance EXCELTUR, which brings together businesses in the industry.



In the first two weeks following the referendum, tourism dropped 15%, with flight bookings down 22%. The downward trend continued throughout the first half of 2018, with a 3% drop in hotel bookings and a 7.2% drop in revenue.



June saw a slight recovery, with two million foreign visitors, a 3% increase on the same month in 2017, according to the country's National Statistics Institute.



The city lost four points in the global ranking, however, going from 79 points (8th place) to its current 74.6 points (15th place).



According to Reputation Institute sources cited by the media, citizens' perception on a global level is estimated not only based on a region's beauty or economic growth, but also in terms of geopolitical and nationalist tensions, as well as social malaise, all of which determine future decisions by individuals and companies.



The sources said Barcelona was damaged "in all aspects that make up reputation".



The pro-independence process, with the unilateral declaration of the Catalan government on October 27, led to the transfer of the legal headquarters of 4,000 of the region's businesses, and to the failure of the city's candidature to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA).



Spain no longer has any cities in the world's top 10, however, Madrid rose two places to 19th, just behind the capital of Catalonia.(ANSAmed).




The US Embassy says it is deeply concerned about restrictions on the work of foreign and domestic journalists in China following Beijings refusal to renew the visa for an American correspondent for BuzzFeed News.

Reporter Megha Rajagopalan was compelled to leave the country after her visa application was denied in apparent punishment for her work on subjects considered sensitive by the communist government.

China has given no details on the reason behind Rajagopalans effective expulsion and the Embassy statement did not mention her by name.

However, it said mentioned delays in processing foreign journalist visas, travel restrictions and violence at the hands of local authorities among its concerns.

It said better access in China was necessary to ensure reciprocity for the open access Chinese media enjoy in the US.
A quirky 20-storey, orange steel apartment block with a suspended, mirrored conference pod is set to take its place along the river in Battersea by 2020.

Heliport Heights, the final major London project from late British architect Will Alsop, will comprise 15 floors of apartments built on stilts above the existing five-storey Heliport House beside the River Thames.

The eye-catching new building will feature multi-coloured balconies, irregular round windows and be clad in jagged panels of weathering steel.

Planning permission for the unconventional block was granted in 2014 but construction stalled after its developer Damsonetti UK went into administration last year.

Financing is now on track to be finalised at the end of the month, with building scheduled to begin on site within "the next few months", according to Alsop's studio aLL Design. Completion is expected two years later.

The three- and four-bedroom apartments with riverside balconies will each take up an entire floor.

The penthouse is designed to span two-storeys and will have a roof terrace.

There will be a small art gallery on the ground floor with a window displaying the work of local artists, while a mirrored, orb-like sculpture suspended from the new building's underside will serve as a conference room.

These additions are intended to spark interest within the surrounding community, with a new art trail planned for the area.

The use of stilts is characteristic of Alsop's style, as seen in Peckham Library, which won him the Stirling Prize in 2000.

People first: Peckham Library was about reclaiming community space (aLL Design)

The elevated design was intended to remove barriers to engagement with the library and reclaim space for the community. The conventional library layout was inverted, offering members of the public views across the whole of London from the reading rooms.

Alsop's philosophy was always to aim, where possible to "knock nothing down", and the same thinking can be seen in the design of Heliport Heights.

"Both designs avoid demolishing existing buildings and instead elevate the new structure up off the ground on stilts, over the existing architecture," said a spokesperson for aLL Studio.
Houthi rebels say coalition raid in Yemen kills 31 civilians Riyadh media sources say victims were militants, not civilians

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, AUGUST 24 - Iran-backed insurgents in Yemen said a civilian "massacre" was carried out by the Saudi-led coalition on a crowd in the port of Hudayda, on the Red Sea.



Saudi Arabian media sources said the victims of the bombing were not civilians but rather were militants. Pro-Iran broadcaster Mayadeen said Saudi airstrikes in recent hours killed 31 civilians, 22 of whom were minors, in the suburb of Durhaymi, where thousands of civilians displaced by the coalition assault on Hudayda are gathered.



Saudi media reported on Thursday that 38 Houthi rebels were killed near Durhaymi, but the information cannot be independently verified on the ground.(ANSAmed).




Now Open

24 August 2018

AccorHotels has expanded its MGallery brand to the mountains of Vietnam, with the highly anticipated opening of the Legacy Yen Tu wellness sanctuary.

Legend has it that a hermit monk An Ky Sinh travelled to Yen Tu mountain in search of medicinal herbs during the pre-Buddhism times some two thousand years ago. Since then, the mountain has been regarded as a divine and sacred place.

The Legacy Yen Tu, MGallery is located on the sacred Yen Tu mountain, approximately 1,068 metres above sea level and near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay.

esigned by Bill Bensley, renowned designer of luxury resorts, each of the 133 rooms at Legacy Yen Tu MGallery is a reflection of heritage and spirituality. Built using ancient methodologies to emulate a peaceful way of life, the rooms feature the signature woodeninked slab traditionally used for calligraphy and an outdoor patio living area.

"Inspired by the ancient architectural design, Legacy Yen Tu, MGallery is a testament to Vietnam's rich history. The property features handcrafted interior decor items with hand-made traditional materials to blend with its surrounding ambience," said Mr Markus Hesse, the resort's General Manager.

Guests can savour Vietnamese cuisine at the hotel's Tho Quang restaurant or enjoy a drink or two at Thien Tra Lobby Bar which boasts stunning mountain views. For events, weddings and meetings, the hotel's ballroom can cater up to 800 guests.

The hotel is also home to a range of leisure facilities, including Tue Tinh Am Wellness that offers an open space for meditation, yoga and Truc Lam Zen practices.
Pipeline

24 August 2018

Developed by Belluna Co. Ltd, Japan and Asia Capital PLC, Sri Lanka, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort is set to herald the Westin brand's wellness positioning in the Maldivian oasis.

Nestled on a beautiful coral island in the Baa Atoll, a designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve site, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort will feature 70 villas and suites, 41 on island and 29 overwaters. Poised over the sea on stilts and with an area of almost 200 square meters each, the overwater suites are amongst the largest a resort has to offer in the Baa Atoll region. Assembled by award-winning Milan-based architects PEIA Associati, the resort's design takes inspiration from the ocean with a visionary approach towards environmental sustainability.

The dining options include three resort restaurants and a rooftop bar. The all-day dining experience at Island Kitchen stays true to the Westin brand's Eat Well pillar through a thoughtful menu combining Chinese, Indian and Maldivian fare. The Pearl is the resort's specialty restaurant and is the ideal venue to indulge in exquisite Japanese cuisine in an elegant setting with exceptional ocean views. At Hawker, guests can sample authentic Asian food in a casual and buzzing restaurant and bar with a live kitchen. The Sunset Bar is a relaxed lounge serving tapas and imaginative cocktails created by talented mixologists.
Appointment

24 August 2018

Sharon began working for Plamondon Hospitality Partners in 2006 as the General Manager of the Courtyard by Marriott Frederick. Throughout her time with the company, she has served in many different roles and has supported a variety of job functions. In 2010 she was promoted to Dual General Manager of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Hagerstown and the Courtyard by Marriott Hagerstown. She later returned to Frederick as an Area General Manager, overseeing the company's four Frederick hotels. Then, in April 2016, was promoted to the role of Regional Manager, overseeing all of the company's Maryland hotels. She celebrates her twelve-year anniversary with Plamondon Hospitality Partners this month.

In her new position, Sharon will take on a more active role in overseeing the sales teams at the company's four Frederick hotels; two Hagerstown, Md., hotels; two Altoona, Pa., hotels; one Grovetown, Ga., hotel; and the hotel opening later this year in Fulton, Md. She will also be responsible for directing revenue management and sales strategies for the company's entire hotel portfolio, which spans three states and several brands.

Sharon has won several major industry awards during her tenure at Plamondon Hospitality Partners. In 2012 she was named a Diamond Manager of the Year for the Courtyard by Marriott brand, and was ultimately presented the General Manager of the Year award for the brand. In 2014, the Maryland Hotel Lodging Association named her a Star of the Industry and the Hotelier of the Year.
Appointment

24 August 2018

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest hotel franchisors, has promoted Pete Metzger to franchise development regional vice president of the Ascend Hotel Collection brand. In this new role, Metzger will lead the growth of the brand's footprint in North America and the Caribbean.

Metzger has been an integral member of Choice's development team for several years, most recently serving as director for the Ascend Hotel Collection brand. In this position, he was responsible for identifying growth opportunities in the southeast United States and Caribbean, and for building relationships with current and prospective owners and developers.

Earlier in his career, Metzger held various sales and franchise development positions within the industry, including a global sales manager for Choice's other upscale brand, Cambria Hotels. During his tenure, he has been named Salesman of the Year three times. Metzger earned his bachelor's degree from Arizona State University.
The message in French Montana's single "Famous" was always one of manipulation. Holding back a partner for fear they will become too hollywood to stick around is like cheating at Bingo, right or wrong the result is satisfactory so long as you can live in good conscience. French Montana knows what it's like to be on either end of the post-breakup glow up, sometimes it doesn't sit pretty.

Adam Levine has every reason in the book to play along. The Maroon 5 frontman has made a career out of overly-romantic sayings and gestures. Lucky for him, he doesn't have to leave his seat to mount sterile comeback, the music video is completely undertaken by talented individuals, a Ugandan dance troupe.

The "Famous" remix video is shot exclusively where his "Unforgettable" journey began. Since filming his breakout pop song in the country, French has established a charitable foothold in the East African Nation, relative to his sizable contributions thus far in building a hospital for HIV/Aids patients.

Check out the choreography in French's video, you won't be disappointed with regards to that.

Quotable Lyrics:

I hope no one discovers you

Hope no one sees her

I hope no one falls in love with you

I've got my reasons

'Cause if they knew what I know then I know I wouldn't stand a chance

There's no way you would go for a man like me if you had options.

-French Montana
Earlier this year, KXNG Crooked pretty much confirmed that a new Slaughterhouse project wouldn't see the light of day after he announced his departure from the group. His reason behind leaving the supergroup was simply due to the fact that they weren't as active and there wasn't much going on with them because everyone was focused on their solo stuff (or retired in Joe Budden's case). He later announced that he'd be joining forces with Horseshoe Gang to form his new group Family Bvsiness. Today, they come through with their new track "Triangle Offense."

KXNG Crooked and Family Bvsiness have returned with a remix to Tyga's summer anthem, "Taste." The crew takes on the bouncy production of Tyga's song while flexing their lyrical dexterity. It's an excellent remix as Family Bvsiness brings a different vibe to the platinum-selling single.

Quotable Lyrics

Fam biz in in this bitch, come get with the gang

These n***as talkin', I'mma spray the brrrat at 'em

Push your cap back, hash tag

Ray J hat challenge
EU sherpas don't agree on Diciotti migrants No need to share responsibility has been established

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, AUGUST 24 - Sherpas from 12 EU countries failed to reach an agreement on an Italian request to take in 150 mostly Eritrean migrants aboard the coast guard ship Diciotti in Catania Friday, diplomatic sources said.



One of the points against the request, the sources said, is that the per capita migrant flow is much lower than that in other member States.



Therefore, the sources said, no need to share responsibility has been established.




Nicki Minaj appears on the new track from K-Pop group BTS, "IDOL." The song comes off the massively successful South Korean act's new compilation Love Yourself: Answer, which completes the Love Yourself trilogy which began with Love Yourself: Her last September, and continued on to Love Yourself: Tear in May. Though the project is made up of mostly material that was previously released, the Nicki-assisted "IDOL" is a brand new single and the closing track on the two-disc album, which also includes the previous version of the song without Nicki. She has the last verse, opening with "Whats good, Korea? You know I've been a boss for my whole career."

This could potentially be another Hot 100 entry for both acts. BTS became the second K-Pop act (after PSY) to enter the top ten of the U.S. Hot 100 and first to debut within it earlier this year with "Fake Love." Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj has continued to climb the ranks of artists with the most Hot 100 entries following the release of her new album Queen.

Listen to the track below.

Quotable Lyrics:

Im here word to John Mayer

Barbies a wonderland my face is top tier

I swear watch the ice glare

They be like Im Gucci but dont shop there

One time, press rewind

Tryna come up off Nicki name press decline

So much power in the mind, yes divine

Take your change youll never be next in line




BMX pro Nigel Sylvester has partnered up with Jordan Brand for the release of an exclusive Air Jordan 1, which takes inspiration from Nigels AJ1s that are often seen with heavy distress marks created during the trial and error period of mastering tricks.

The limited edition Air Jordan 1s feature a weathered "sail" colored leather upper, accompanied by a black tongue, black (or white) laces and a black inner lining, as well as varsity red Nike Air branding and a varsity red outsole.

According to Nike, a reflective material was used on the medial swoosh to provide a flashing effect while night riding. Within the inner collar of the shoe is the designation "Jordan Biking Co., Est. 2017," which signifies the year the project was kicked off. Additional details include multiple built-in scuffs about the toe and heel, along with a small Nike swoosh at the forefoot.

Nike released select pairs in the New York City area today, but the kicks are officially slated to release, in extremely limited numbers, on Saturday, September 1.

Take a closer look at the Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 1 High OG in the IG posts embedded below.
Pete Davidson went into graphic detail this past week when asked about engagement with Ariana Grande.

The star visited Auburn University last night for campus Welcome Week, where he was a guest speaker on mental health issues; a topic Davidson has not been shy about in the past. Davidson has Borderline Personality Disorder, but obviously when presented to a bunch of college students, they were interested in talking about something else.

During a student Q&A session, one student went onto the stage and asked, Whats it like being engaged to Ariana?

Davidson humbly replied, "Its like what you would think it was like but like a 100 times sicker." He added: "Its f*cking lit. Im a very, very lucky boy and very, very loved and Im very lucky."

He didnt stop there, though.

"And my dicks forever hard," he added, to the sound of students' laughter and cheering.

Ariana later posted on an Instagram story, "Bae was funny as f*ck and brilliant today as always."

Watch the video, below:
BlacKkKlansman is one of the year's best films. The Spike Lee Joint tells the real-life story of Ron Stallworth, a police officer who helped stop the KKK's plan to attack Black people in Colorado in the 70's. Stallworth uses a "white voice" to trick KKK leader David Duke into believing he is Caucasian, and infiltrates the hate group through several phone calls while Flip (played by Adam Driver) acts as him in personal meetings with the Klan.

Boots Riley also dropped a politically charged film this Summer that uses "white voice" as a main plot device. Riley infamously took to Twitter to release a scathing review of BlacKkKlansman, where he claims Lee took money from the police for the film. He also claims the story of Stallworth is false, and stated the author who wrote the book that the movie is based on was an informant for COINTELPRO. The FBI led program is infamous for having a hand in the destruction of the Black Panthers. Riley also didn't like Lee painting police in a positive light in the film, writing that the movie was a made up story in which the false parts of it try to make a cop the protagonist in the fight against racist oppression.

Spike Lee was asked about Riley's comments by the UK based outlet The Times, and he had very little to say about his peer. Via an excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter, Lee told The Times, " I'm a young chap, a young man aged 61, but before I was even a younger chap. Now when I get a hint that this stuff is maybe going to dilute the message of my film, I know it is not going to do me any good to comment." When pressed about his alleged connection to the police, Lee stated, "Look at my films: theyve been very critical of the police, but on the other hand Im never going to say all police are corrupt, that all police hate people of color. Im not going to say that. I mean, we need police."
Alex Wong/Getty Images

A Galleria-area Starbucks is holding a hiring fair next week for positions in 13 west Houston area locations.



RELATED: California Rules Hourly Employees Who Perform Tasks 'Off the Clock' Must Be Compensated



Prospective employees are asked to apply online at the Starbucks website's career portal and follow up at the fair being held between 2 and 4 p.m. Aug. 29 at the 2521 Post Oak Blvd. location. No interview appointment is required during that time.

A member of management at the hiring fair location told the Chronicle that the last hiring fair she recalls was a year ago and she herself was hired at one such event two years prior. The fair is being held in advance of the holiday season, she said.



RELATED: Starbucks says key sales figure grew only modestly in US



The Seattle-based coffeehouse chain includes more than 28,720 shops worldwide and opened 511 in the third quarter of 2018.
For years, U.S. producers have counted on Mexico to buy enormous quantities of natural gas from the prolific shale fields in West Texas and elsewhere. The fracking boom has given rise to massive pipeline projects to carry that gas across the border, where energy production has plummeted.

Later this year, four long-awaited pipelines to distribute U.S. natural gas throughout Mexico are expected to start up to supply the nations power generation and industrial sectors, potentially helping to ease bottlenecks in the crowded Permian Basin.

The question is whether those exports will continue  at least at the same rate. That depends on two political variables: The inauguration of Mexicos president-elect and the ongoing renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico ramped up in earnest after 2013 and 2014, when Mexico opened its energy market to foreign investment and pushed to expand its pipeline network to buy cheap natural gas from its northern neighbor. The country imported roughly 1.5 trillion cubic feet of U.S. natural gas via pipeline last year, more than double 2013 levels.

U.S. producers are banking on that export demand. Natural gas shipments to Mexico by pipeline exceeded 5 billion cubic feet per day for the first time last month, up from an average of 4.2 million cubic feet per day in 2017.

The July election of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, however, has spelled uncertainty for the energy sector. Among other things, he has pledged to boost domestic oil and gas production and decrease the countrys reliance on imports by investing billions of dollars in Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, the country's state-owned energy company.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are aiming to nail down a NAFTA deal before Lopez Obrador assumes the presidency in December. NAFTA, long criticized as unfair by the Trump administration, makes it easier for Texas oil and gas producers to pipe or otherwise exports their products across the border.

The pipelines nearing completion, which include Enbridge's Nueces-Brownsville project in the Rio Grande Valley and three projects in Mexico, depend in large part on that ease of access. Theyre expected to start up in October and November, and several other major projects are under construction.

Complicating the equation: Lopez Obrador built his support in part with a vow to oppose Trump. That could further undermine trade relations between the two countries when he takes office. Already, weve seena heated back-and-forth over Trump administrations tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

If relations continue to sour  either because of Obradors policies or Trumps rebuke of NAFTA  natural gas exports would likely take a hit. For Texas, which supplies the majority of Mexicos natural gas imports, that could mean less demand  and fewer projects.

katherine.blunt@chron.com

twitter.com/katherineblunt
Sometimes light that shines out of darkness, to borrow a phrase from St. Paul, is more than it appears to be.

Especially when that light appears in an early-17th-century painting.

Take Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, a work that might be by Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier. Both French artists were active in Rome at the time it was made, a date the experts peg at 1618-20. In the composition, the face of Christ seems to peer up at Paul from the writing table, like a reflection. That prompted a docent to suggest once that the artist had illustrated Pauls New Testament verse Christ liveth in me.

Brilliant but completely wrong, said Jim Clifton, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houstons curator of Renaissance and Baroque painting.

That face actually is a fine example of an oft-seen effect called pentimento, Clifton explained. The canvas top layer of oil paint has become more transparent during the 400 years since it was applied, revealing part of another composition underneath.

But other things about Saint Paul Writing His Epistles remain more mysterious to Clifton and David Bomford, the museums director of conservation. The artwork is a star attraction of Hidden Layers, a fascinating exhibition of 17 Old Master paintings that Bomfords staff has examined with X-radiography and infrared technology.

Some of the discoveries are spectacular and unexpected; others are more subtle, revealing fine-lined drawings.

Hidden Layers: Painting and Process in Europe, 1500-1800 When: Final week: 12:15-7 p.m. Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 3 Where: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 5601 Main Details: $7.50-$15; 713-639-7300, mfah.org See More Collapse

What were looking at is not only pictures under other pictures but ways in which artists prepared their canvases or panels for painting, Bomford said of the shows paintings that date from the 1400s to the 1800s. That is equally interesting to us. When you have a blank canvas or panel, you have to start somewhere. To do a beautiful, animated drawing is a wonderful way to start.

Art CSI unit

A painting thats centuries old can contain all sorts of mysteries.

Though Bomford and his 15-member team constantly examine objects from the museums 65,000-piece collection for display, to keep them well-maintained, their more scholarly work makes them a kind of elite CSI unit for art. They suss out clues that can advance or even rewrite art history, which is why Bomford calls it technical art history.

Infrared reflectograms, a type of digital photography, show the pattern of contrasting absorption and reflection of layers just below the visible surface of a painting. They tend to reveal drawings that might include a grid for measurement as well as preparatory sketching. X-rays can show paint layers, penetrating all the way through the materials of a paintings structure, including the wood supports often used in the early European schools.

Bomford called the drawing under Balthasar van der Asts Still Life of Flowers in a Glass Vase, from 1624, a simple but wonderful example. The small painting, one of the Blaffer Foundations great still-life treasures, clearly began with an elegant drawing that matches the painting exactly. It hasnt been altered one iota, Bomford said. Its just a magnificent example of a drawing translating into a painting. A very fine painting.

The drawing also shows how van der Ast centered the oval composition. The lizard and insects at the bottom are probably not drawn, Bomford said. Theyre painted. So he does the fantastic flower study, then once hes done that, he comes back and adds in these creatures.

That detail also illustrates the kinds of transitions artists made as they began to use canvas, which didnt come along until the late-15th and early-16th centuries. Normally speaking, these great under-drawings are on panel or copper, Bomford said. By the time artists got around to using canvas, they were doing less and less meticulous drawing; they were doing more in the way of painted compositions.

Bomford had more of a scholarly challenge with Jacopo da Empolis The Virgin and Child with Young Saint John the Baptist, studied with infrared reflectography after the museum acquired it in 2016. One of only two Italian Mannerist pictures in the collection, the work was painted on a poplar panel in about 1575.

If you just look at this panel, it looks very straightforward: A Madonna and Child with young John the Baptist, a conventional theme, Bomford said. But when you start doing a little bit of art-historical research, you come up with a drawing by the same artist which is in the Uffizi in Florence. And you come up with another painting with the same composition not by Empoli but Pontormo, who was his mentor-master. You can see tremendous similarities.

Though the paintings previous owner in Florence had taken a partial infrared photograph, MFAH staffers took a deeper dive. They saw how Empoli had transferred a small drawing to the larger panel, square by square, copying Pontormo, and how he later changed up the composition, moving the Madonnas arm  an improvement, really, that opened her figure to the viewer.

But there was more: another face  two eyes and a mouth  in another composition going on underneath that includes a torso, with a shoulder and an arm. This is a great puzzle, Bomford said. It looks like there was a composition on the panel already, before the squaring-up was done.

He thinks the panel may have started its life not as a Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist but as a Madonna with Christ lying across her lap. Then hes moving the head of the child  theres another face there, an eye here. There are probably half a dozen stages here. Incredibly complicated but fascinating  . Its quite a complex sequence of events we dont yet fully understand. But the image gets us started.

The team applied both infrared and X-ray technology to Portrait of a Boy Holding a Book, a beautiful portrait made in the 1560s. Absolutely nobody up until now has had any idea who its by. We always call it Central Italian School, which is pretty vague, Bomford said.

The infrared revealed another pair of eyes and another figure, likely a woman, underneath the paintings top layer. Then the X-rays found another collar, which doesnt seem to belong to either of those layers  its in the wrong position. So theres a third composition.

The imaging also indicated the penetrating style of the eyes, reminiscent of a female Bolognese painter, Lavinia Fontana. Though Bomford said he has no proof, he is tentatively edging towards the idea that its Fontanas work.

This is how reattributions are made, he said. Its not a blinding flash of inspiration.

Accepting unknowns

Even with the excitement of the Fontana theory, that story doesnt quite, uh, hold a candle to the revelations of Saint Paul Writing His Epistles. Researchers have long known the canvas had not just one, but two, under-paintings.

Its always been my assumption that this was an impecunious artist who painted a picture that did not sell; and rather than buy a new canvas, he simply started over with a new composition. And he did that twice, turning the canvas 180 degrees each time, Clifton said.

The middle painting depicts Christ being taunted by Roman soldiers. Below that lies what could be a self-portrait of an artist at his easel.

With X-radiography, the MFAH staff was able to analyze some of the pigments that were used in the lower layers, nonintrusively, without having to take samples. They discovered some yellow around the fist of a soldier in the middle painting.

That would indicate  and the lighting in the composition confirms it  that theres an interior light source behind his fist, Clifton said. Which is to say, a candlelight or a torch.

A number of artists used candlelight in the early 16th century, including one who is known by several names, among them The Candlelight Master. But neither Tournier nor Valentin, the likely painters of Saint Paul, ever worked that way, Clifton said. So its unlikely that they painted the mocking of Christ underneath.

Conservators, unlike CSI agents, often have to accept unknowns. Rarely are their cold cases completely wrapped up.

The investigation of Saint Paul didnt just raise questions about the attribution of the picture. This new information makes it even more complicated than we had imagined, Clifton said. Maybe someday well have more information or will be able to make some kind of comparison that will make it clear.

Though more scholars now believe Tournier painted Saint Paul, Clifton is not convinced it was either Tournier or Valentin because neither Frenchman was likely to have painted a self-portrait at an easel like the bottom picture. This is a very unusual subject for an artist painting in this style, Caravaggesque, in the early 17th century  . We cant assume that all three of these compositions are by the same artist.

Conservators have opted not to correct the pentimento of Christs head, leaving it visible to help demonstrate the objects history. Conservators are very clever people; they can just tone something back a little bit, so that it still shows but not quite so much. So there are degrees, Bomford said. But in this case, its so fascinating and so integral to that layered painting, you just leave it as it is.

.

Hidden center

Not all museum conservation staffs are as well equipped as Bomfords, although the MFAH team has worked decades from multiple facilities that included a warehouse in Montrose. Next month the group will move into the newest and one of the best studios in the nation.

The Hidden Layers exhibition was hung both to acknowledge the completion of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Conservation Center and to share the museums research with about 1,000 experts who visited in May for the annual convention of the American Institute for Conservation.

Designed by Lake|Flato Architects, the center  which is closed to the public  spans nearly 24,000 square feet atop an MFAH parking garage. The gleaming, sunlit space contains large studios devoted to painting, sculpture, works on paper, decorative art and frames as well as a lead-lined X-ray vault, a large photo studio, a machine shop and a spray room all equipped with the tools of a sophisticated (and sometimes chemically dangerous) trade.

Bomford equates the new space to one at the Getty in Los Angeles, where he previously worked. The Getty has the advantage of a 40-mile view across Beverly Hills, he said. In terms of space and light and facilities, theirs would count as the best in the country, and we would be right up there with them.

Hidden Layers closes after Labor Day. But with the new digs, the discoveries may be just beginning. Bomfords eyes lit up as he thought of possibilities across the art world in general, well beyond the MFAH collections. Theres a huge amount of exciting discoveries waiting to be made out there.
Seeing Dean Gladden cry in front of a stage of theater patrons was like watching a father, or president, cry. It was seeing something that sounds trivial but is in fact astonishing. It was seeing a grown man engaged in what so many have forgotten how to do - shed tears in the company of others.

This happened a couple of weeks after Hurricane Harvey hit but mere minutes before the Alley Theatre premiered "Describe the Night" at the University of Houston, after its home in downtown's Theater District was damaged by floodwaters.

As the Alley prepares to open its building on Friday with its production of "A Christmas Carol," I can't stop thinking about that image from months ago. And it's not the only instance. Last week, Stanton Welch of the Houston Ballet shed his tears in front of an audience as he talked the ballet's recovery from Harvey.

Seeing these leaders break into tears in front of full audiences was realizing that Hurricane Harvey was never just about financial loss, nor was the recovery just about financial gain. It was never about losing props, computers or drywall and then figuring out whom to ask for money to buy replacements. Watching the unexpected burst of humanity by Gladden, like Gladden, the Alley's managing director and Texas' most powerful theater administrator, I was reminded that Harvey was about how, when people are truly tested, they show themselves for who they are.

There he was, standing alone, inside UH's black-box theater, at the front of the hastily yet beautifully built stage for Rajiv Joseph's play on an early September night that was quieter and calmer than you'd imagine for a post-disaster opening.

More Information Alley Theatre reopens its doors Friday with its production of "A Christmas Carol," running on its main stage through Dec. 30. See More Collapse

"We did it," Gladden said.

The audience cheered, and when it stopped Gladden went on with how incredible, and incredibly taxing, the past weeks had been. He spoke genuinely and professionally. And I do not remember a single sentence he said.

What I do remember was when Gladden choked on his words, and that when the words finally came out, so did tears. Eyes red, he stammered out the rest of the curtain speech, his sentences composed and intact even if their rhythm was not. When he left the stage, you could tell by his quick, modest gait that he felt a bit embarrassed, or at least uncomfortable, with taking up that space.

The structure of prestigious nonprofit art, with all its trappings of newsletters, fundraising campaigns and media relations, has eliminated emotional honesty in the public space. People in the arts industry do not speak in public unless they're politely pushing an agenda, be it to persuade an audience member to see a show or a patron to support a new festival. People shake my hand and smile at me often during theater outings. They say, "Thank you for being here," a sentence that has no actual meaning without context, yet whose context is never truly known.

And they do not cry.

There is nothing wrong with this. We all accept the fact that public life is not the same as private life. But that mind-set doesn't work very well when privacy becomes a memory and a pre-disaster luxury after a home or theater has been flooded so badly that it emits toxic fumes of bacteria and rot. During Harvey, when the buildings that gave us physical and emotional structure were destroyed, we were forced to reveal our anger, remorse, shock and desperation in the company of strangers. That's too much vulnerability for the average person, and certainly too much for the average adult male. And yet, protocol has no use in the face of the unexpected and inconceivable. Going off-protocol - and everything was off-protocol until recently - meant making choices that said more than any verbal or written public statement.

The Houston Symphony made its first two weekends of performances at Rice University free.

That said something.

The Houston Grand Opera, kicked out of its Wortham Theater Center home for an entire season, decided to drape up the George R. Brown Convention Center and keep opera going.

That said something.

And the Alley Theatre decided to open "Describe the Night" on the day it was supposed to if Harvey hadn't happened, despite everything. And at the end, Dean Gladden cried.

That said something. And the Alley is back with "A Christmas Carol," on schedule and already selling well as usual. That says something.

This man was not lobbying. I refuse to consider it. Even the most jaded view about the problems we have with our public leaders and gatekeepers cannot refute the fact that a grown man crying in public is rare. And, because crying is seen as a sign of weakness, it is also extraordinary.

When asked about that moment, Gladden struggled to remain "professional" - meaning to follow the protocol of burying his emotions - while recalling that memory. It wasn't self-pity, nor was it doubt, he said. It was pride. Normally I'd have scoffed at yet another administrator speaking in broad, positive terms about his own organization. Not this time.

"To have accomplished all of that amid the disaster, they had to redesign the set, shop space, with the actors rehearsing at every place from the Alley to the Four Seasons to the 1100 Louisiana building - all of that, and we got that show up," Gladden said, taking a breath. "We overcame."
Spain expels 116 migrants from Ceuta to Morocco On basis of 1992 accord, Amnesty and CEAR protest

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, AUGUST 24 - The Socialist government in Spain has once again tightened procedures on migration policy. The police have sent 116 sub-Saharan migrants back to Morocco who had managed to cross the border barrier by force on Wednesday. For the pushbacks - dubbed 'express' ones by the Spanish media - Spain made use of an agreement signed in 1992 with Morocco that provides for the expulsion in fewer than 10 days of citizens of third countries who entered Spain illegally from the North African country.



The agreement is currently used only in extremely rare cases due to Morocco's resistance to taking them back. The move sparked a wave of criticism from Amnesty International, the Comision Espanola de Ayuda a los Refugiados (CEAR) and the ombudsman, for whom the expulsions are ''a violation of the human rights of migrants and possible asylum seekers''. Only two minors of the over 100 sub-Sa- who arrived three days ago in a temporary reception center in Ceuta - have been accepted into the autonomous city. The others have all been sent back on buses to Moroccan territory after being identified in the presence of lawyers and notified of the expulsion orders, El Pais quoted police sources as saying. The identification in the presence of lawyers prior to expulsion is different from the case of the immediate pushbacks at the border for which Spain has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights. However, NGOs say that the change in the government's migration policy, with an accelerated expulsion process to be done within 24 hours, ''prevents proper assessment of people in vulnerable situations or in need of international protection'', CEAR sources said in a statement. (ANSAmed).




Brays Bayou is generally a slow-moving waterway that winds through Meyerland, running directly alongside a number of major Jewish institutions  the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center, United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston and Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care, as well as Congregations Beth Israel and Beth Yeshurun.

What is usually a peaceful neighbor to these faith hubs turned into a raging river during Hurricane Harvey, overflowing its banks, seeping into sanctuaries and leaving major destruction in its wake.

A year after the storm, these Jewish institutions are still reeling  and so are their members.

The bayou was a friend for decades, Rabbi Brian Strauss of Beth Yeshurun said. Now its a tormentor. The water isnt flowing, and its a shame. A lot of people were affected.

The synagogue he serves as senior rabbi was flooded by 6 feet of water during the storm. All the seating in the sanctuary had to be replaced, as well as the dry wall, carpet, doors and furniture.

Beth Israels synagogue has flooded three times, in each recent major storm. During Harvey the congregation sustained $1.8 million in damage. Repairs to the sanctuary were only recently completed.

The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center had 10 feet of water flowing through its lower levels. It was basically floor to ceiling, the centers Rabbi Jill Levy said.

The campus preschool, fitness center and theater also flooded, as well as the Merfish Teen Center and the Bertha Alyce Early Childhood School.

The synagogue at the United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston had to be demolished. The congregation has been holding services in its social gathering spaces, while planning and fundraising efforts for a new building move forward.

Seven Acres had to move all residents to the second floor; the first level completely flooded during Harvey. Many staff members also lost their homes, and the senior care center is still not fully operational.

In all, the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston counts seven major Jewish institutions that suffered extensive or catastrophic flood damage during the storm, estimating that institutional damage exceeded $50 million.

This is one of the  if not the  worst natural disasters to affect the Jewish community in the country, president and CEO Avital Ingber said.

She accepted her position at the Houston federation only two months before the storm.

I was glued to the news, she said I wasnt planning to move to Houston until October. But as soon as the airports opened, I came down to see what the community was going through.

Soon after landing, Ingber saw the devastation firsthand, the piles of belongings in residents yards as she drove along Braeswood, the homes damaged or destroyed. I realized the magnitude of what the community was facing, she said.

Only days after Harvey, the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and Jewish Federations of North America joined forces to set up the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund and together raised more than $22 million for recovery efforts.

Being part of a national organization helped tremendously, Ingber said. Funding and volunteers piled in from other Jewish Federations across the U.S.

This permitted the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston to focus efforts on responsibly distributing funds and resources.

It was important for us to get that money out the door to people immediately, Ingber said. We made sure that funds got into the hands of individuals and organizations that needed it most.

The Federation already has allocated about $19 million  and retained $4 million to address continued needs in a multiyear recovery effort.

Its beyond the physical damage, Ingber said. Its the mental damage people are facing  and how that affects their Jewish life.

Take Yael Ross for example. She had just wrapped up her baby shower, and her Meyerland home was full of gifts and nursery furniture when Harvey hit.

The house flooded once before but nothing like the 3 feet of water that it look on during the hurricane.

Ross and her husband left for Denver during the storm and returned to a ruined home.

We didnt know what we were going to do, she said. Do you raise the house? Do you want to live in an area that is going to flood again?

As members of Congregation Beth Israel, the Rosses planned to one day send their child to the Shlenker School, a private Jewish school. Instead, they made the decision to leave Meyerland for higher ground.

While she plans to continue to attend services at Beth Israel, she recognizes that living outside of Meyerland will make it more difficult to be part of the thriving Jewish community.

According to the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, the city is home to about 60,000 Jews and the most concentrated of that population calls Meyerland home.

The organization wants to keep families in the neighborhood  and so do the synagogues.

People are moving out of the neighborhood, Strauss said. I hate to see that, but at the same time, I understand. Im hoping Meyerland will remain the heart of the Jewish community.

Passing Proposition A, which would widen Brays Bayou among other flood control measures, is one way to help, Strauss said.

The Jewish Federation has worked to preserve Jewish life by providing $650,000 in scholarships for Jewish day schools and summer camps, Israel experiences and synagogue membership dues since Harvey.

If you have to pay to raise your house or move or rent while youre out of your home, can you still send your kids to Jewish camp or Jewish day school? Ingber asks. Its important that we dont have a generation lost because parents had to choose between their house and being part of Jewish life.

In total, Jewish Family Services, which was the primary beneficiary of funds raised by the Federation, assisted more than 1,870 households, or 5,672 individuals across Houston.

The quick and effective mobilization of the Jewish community was critical in the recovery, Ingber added.

Rabbi Barry Gelman with the United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston witnessed as all the denominations of the Jewish community banded together.

We didnt have to waste any time, he said. In the Jewish tradition, we place a lot of importance on community. This was it in action. Even the people who were severely affected rolled up their sleeves to help others.

Levy, with the ERJCC, said existing connections between denominations and institutions made recovery efforts more efficient.

Its the focus on community and community partnerships, she said. It was those relationships that enabled our community to heal and move forward. Its all about relationships.

A year after Harvey, the center is 95 percent operational, only waiting for a few final pieces of furniture to complete its renovation, and Levy is looking toward the future.

We see a very exciting time ahead, she said. Theres a lot happening here, and were as busy as ever.

The renovations at Beth Israel and Beth Yeshurun also are nearly complete, just in time for the High Holy Day observances.

Rabbi David A. Lyon, senior rabbi at Beth Israel, welcomed the community to a free commemorative dinner at the synagogue on Aug. 22. Its not that the storm is over, but it has been a year, he said. Its time to reflect.

A grand reopening ceremony for the Beth Yeshurun sanctuary is slated for 8:30 p.m. Saturday, which will include a tour of the remodeled building and a return of the sacred Torah scrolls to the ark.

Theres a sense of gratefulness, Strauss said. Im grateful to be a part of a community thats able to rebuild. Its been a year of rebuilding, resiliency and patience. And we still have more to do.

There are more than 1,600 Harvey-related cases currently open at Jewish Family Services, and new cases continue to come in, especially from residents who were not able to make immediate decisions.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston will continue its efforts for recovery, assessing needs and fundraising accordingly.

What were focused on now is resiliency for the future, Ingber said. What we need to do now is ensure that our community is set up for the future.

She believes that in some ways, the Jewish community is at a crossroads.

We know there are families still suffering, she said. You can drive through the neighborhoods in Meyerland, and its still a ghost town. So many people are out of their homes.

One of her main concerns is how to foster a modern Jewish life after the storm.

I was hired to come here and think about how to take the Jewish community into the future, Ingber said. We want Houston to not be known as a city that floods, but instead for Houston to be known as one of the best places to live a Jewish life. Its a vibrant, meaningful Jewish community.

Gelman said spiritually and emotionally assisting area residents is still paramount.

There was definitely a change of the focus of my job to a lot more pastoral, a lot more helping folks get through the flooding, he said. For a lot of people, its paralyzing to walk back into their homes, having lost everything. They dont know the first step to take.

On the positive side, Strauss believes the storm brought people closer together.

People realize that being part of a community is so important, just being there for each other, he said. We were all in this together.

He plans to discuss what he learned from Harvey in his upcoming High Holy Days sermons.

Ill be speaking about patience and doing more for other people, because weve experienced what its like to be helped, he said. There were so many people in the community, Jews and non-Jews, who were here to help us. It reminds us that we need to do even more in our community.

Lyon said the storm served as a spiritual reminder.

Were not in control as much as we think we are or as much as we would like to be, he said. Weve lost a lot of things. We can repair some things; and the things we cant repair, we can remember. But its still just stuff.

Lyon said that the Jewish people have long been displaced. He is reminded of a Yiddish adage, Man plans, and God laughs.

The saying speaks to the human desire to manage circumstances that are out of our control, he explained.

We learn to laugh too and to band together and make incremental improvements, he said.

His congregants have asked if they can pray that another major storm does not come to Meyerland or Houston. Lyon responded that they may only as long as they also pray that bad weather systems dont go elsewhere and hurt someone else.

We really need our prayers to be answered this year, he said. It should be a sweet, new year for everyone.

As Jews across Houston prepare to celebrate the High Holy Days, starting with Rosh Hashana on Sept. 10, Lyon said many will continue to deal with the aftermath of Harvey.

But we will also speak of the hope and promise of the new year, he said.

Lindsay Peyton is a writer in Houston.
There are many reasons to balk at Friday's sentencing of a former Houston doctor who was charged with sexually assaulting a heavily sedated patient in 2013  the light sentence of 10 years of probation, which brought national attention to the case, for example.

Or the lengthy investigation process that allowed two years to pass from the time of the assault until the arrest of the doctor, Dr. Shafeeq Sheikh. Or his defense lawyer's courtroom plea for mercy on behalf of his family and shattered dreams.

But what is arguably the most infuriating aspect of this whole demoralizing case is the extent to which the survivor has been blamed for her own assault.

'YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL SAFE': Patient says she became doctor's prey at Ben Taub

Victim-blaming permeated this trial. The Chronicle previously reported that the survivor, an established model and actress who promotes clothes for a boutique, was questioned about the photos and videos she posts on Instagram and her YouTube channel. Defense attorneys argued that these photos constituted sexually suggestive online ads, because the images show off the survivor's cleavage and rear end. According to the Chronicle, the victim was pressed during cross-examination to admit her photos were "sexy."

Sheikh and his defense team claim he had consensual sex with the victim. His interest was sparked, he stated, by her breast implants. The Chronicle reported that, during closing arguments, defense attorney Lisa Andrews said, "Here we have this Latina woman with her fake boobs that came onto that little nerdy middle-aged guy, and he lost his mind."

This quote is particularly insidious. While all the above are victim-blaming tactics, highlighting a survivor's ethnicity in order to draw on cultural stereotypes and prejudices against a group of people is also racist.

What a survivor's race or ethnicity, body modifications or Instagram posts have to do with their credibility is clear: nothing. The same is true of their profession, sexual history, addictions, legal or criminal status, etc.

But consistently in our courtrooms, comment sections and even at our dinner tables, we witness this harmful dialogue used to dehumanize, villainize and ultimately dismiss survivors of sexual assault on a daily basis. The result is a rape culture that is hostile and silencing toward survivors, while understanding and forgiving toward perpetrators of violence.

By all accounts, this survivor did everything "right." She reported her assault immediately. She called the police. She pressed her call button numerous times during the attack  it was later found to be disconnected. But still she was shamed for her social media presence and blamed for augmenting her body, and her attacker was allowed to continue practicing medicine for two years before his license was revoked.

If this is the treatment of a survivor with little more than an Instagram account stacked against her, what horrors might a survivor with less social privilege expect to endure? And is it even worth the lengthy, traumatic process of reporting if abusers like Sheikh ultimately receive a probationary slap on the wrist? Victim blaming creates an environment in which survivors must weigh the further trauma of reporting their assault against the slim possibility of institutional justice. Fear of coming forward in such a culture ultimately silences many survivors.

'EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE CHANGED': Rape victim says wait for justice added to her misery

There is no clearer example of the proliferation of victim-blaming than another recent local news story. The Chronicle reported that a Houston ISD middle school encountered controversy last week over a quote displayed on a wall above a bank of lockers: "The more you act like a lady, the more he'll act like a gentleman." Teaching preteens that women are responsible for whatever men might do to them  up to and including sexual assault  plants seeds of doubt and blame that we carry into adulthood.

And into courtrooms where decisions are made by a jury of peers.

When we talk about victim-blaming, we aren't simply discussing a manipulative defense tactic; we are talking about a culture of shame that breeds violence. Because the flipside of that quote is, "If they don't act like a lady, you don't have to treat them like a person."

We absolutely should fight for justice for sexual assault survivors. We should question why it took police two years to investigate sexual assault allegations against such a prominent and privileged figure as a practicing doctor. But to truly end sexual violence, we must also continue challenging rape culture and victim-blaming in our courtrooms, our schools, and, most importantly, in our homes.

Natalie Stigall is the education and outreach advocate and Olivia Rivers is the deputy director of The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a comprehensive crisis center for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and homelessness serving Southeast Harris County. Find them on Facebook and Instagram. If you have experienced domestic or sexual violence and would like to speak with an advocate, call The Bridge's 24-hour hotline at (713) 473-2801.

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Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston in August 2017, submerged my home art studio in its floodwaters for days.

The blow of the destruction of memorabilia, family slides and artworks was similar to a feeling of being violated. The attempt to save these damaged pieces proved to be futile. But in the heat of the moment, as I started to familiarize myself with this new kind of loss, something happened: I entered into a creative state  working with the muddy images, discovering them in their new state.

They were no longer images of loved ones or cherished works of art. They became surfaces with sophisticated lines and colors as though made mindfully and with intent. The accidental effect of a ravaging incident was a silver lining.

The year that followed the flooding was one of remediation, reconstruction and adaptation. Living in a house without a kitchen for months, we were forced to cope as though we lived on a campsite. We found ourselves converting a bathroom sink to an exclusive kitchen sink. Our bedroom became a multipurpose quarter similar to nomads' tents. The heart of the house  the library  became a storage area. Space and the amount of it one needs to live became a constant thought.

Through all this, though, we constantly reminded ourselves that there were people going through much worse. This too shall pass.

The boxes of flooded photos and slides sat in a cramped garage busy with construction going all around it for months. I would go to them once in a while, trying to dry the photographs again and again, to edit them for the show I had promised. Now, the result of these experiences and the discovery of new meaning for my damaged art studio is the focus of "Resurface," now at Vaughan Mason Fine Art.

"Resurface" What: Exhibition and artist talk with Avisheh Mohsenin Where: Vaughan Mason Fine Art, 3510 Lake Street at Colquitt When: Saturday, Aug. 25, 1 p.m. Click here for more information See More Collapse

The works in "Resurface" come in two series: The "excavation" part presents the damaged images in the form of reprinted archival photographs. They are the product of a slow marinating in a mix of photo chemicals and floodwaters. Their new altered state has an archaeological element: from the stamped movement of water to the process of figuring out what is and what was. They serve as a reminder of the power of nature that should not be underestimated and the urgency to take care of it.

As I excavated through years of photographs, I also asked myself why I had kept them in boxes for so many years. What did I really see looking at them now? What role did they have in documenting or reinterpreting my memories? What happens now that I don't have them? What do they mean in the context of how photography has evolved in today's world?

Avisheh Mohsenin

The "reinterpretation" part of "Resurface" includes collages I made using images of our house under construction. Not long after examining questions about attachment, materialism and memories  like a drunk pouring another glass  I was at the store buying art materials, printing hundreds of photos of damaged images and cutting them. The collages are the results of this exercise of recreating and not letting go. The source material is entirely from images related to the aftermath of Harvey.

Some of the collages reinterpret the destruction. Putting pieces of doors and windows and chairs on top of each other on a canvas felt like rebuilding. Saving an image of a seriously damaged artwork by another artist felt like paying respect to the artist's creativity before burying their art. The collaging of covered furniture in a dusty living room was a way of being in charge of the devastation and not its victim.

Creating works of art became a healing tool and one that induced patience and perspective eventually resulting in new meanings.

This too did pass.

Avisheh Mohsenin (@avishehmoh) lives and works in Houston.

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It's been a year since we met Harvey.

He was the monster that battered our city, dropped more than 50 inches of rain, flooded thousands of Texans, claimed at least 82 lives and cost billions.

It's also been a year since we came face to face with another monster named Harvey  Weinstein, the media mogul outed six weeks after the hurricane hit as an alleged purveyor of widespread sexual misconduct.

On their surface, these two Harveys appear to have little more than a name in common. But in this case, the hurricane and the man were more alike than they were different. They were two destructive forces that converged last fall and changed the course of my life and the lives of so many others.

Consider this a tale of two Harveys  and my journey through both.

I spent the first two decades of my career in energy, working for industry giants. I know the business well, and I love it. We talk a lot about technology these days, but innovation doesn't happen without energy. Energy powers the world. It's become a basic human necessity  worthy of Maslow coming back to life and revising his now-famous hierarchy of needs. First food, water, shelter and safety. Then, power.

We forget that  until a hurricane hits and threatens all the comforts of modern life.

When Harvey first descended on our city, our home was dry, fully charged, well lit. We had food, water, shelter, safety and power. We even had Facebook.

Then, late on Sunday, Aug. 27, the Army Corps of Engineers began controlled releases of the west side dams  an act of mercy for many neighborhoods across Houston, but one that came with a price. My neighborhood was forcefully submerged. My home took on several feet of water (which made us lucky  many homes experienced much worse). The notice we had was too late, and our cars were inoperable. My family  my 6-year-old daughter, my husband and our dog  was rescued by men we didn't know who showed up at our door with a boat. Later, I found out we lost our office, too.

HARVEY RESCUE DIARY: We made two rescues. We had dozens more to go.

I didn't realize in that moment that I would spend the next year of my life terrified of rain worried like hell that, once it started, it wouldn't stop. That I was now facing the prospect of rebuilding the life I had quite clearly taken for granted. That I would slip so deep into the storm and what it took that I would wonder if I'd ever bounce back.

I had lost my power, and I didn't know how hard that would be.

I've always been resilient. My mantra before Harvey now seems prescient: "Never waste a good crisis," I would say, with a smile. Because with crisis comes opportunity.

That's true, no matter how large the crisis. I've learned that now. But when Harvey hit, all I could think of was the irony in me, the woman who'd always championed the silver lining, getting hit with the storm of the century.

Then, six weeks later, another Harvey hit: the New York Times broke the story of how the media giant  the man credited with making so many actors stars  had allegedly spent his career engaging in sexual harassment and abuse. It was big news, but bigger than that one story was the movement it inspired.

#MeToo began to take shape across social media, and women everywhere began sharing stories of the attacks they've suffered over the years.

Many of those women are famous; many of the men they outed are, too. But that wasn't the powerful part about #MeToo. The hashtag simplified the act of coming out, clearing a path for women and men  regardless of platform or star power  to come together and illustrate the extent of the harassment epidemic in our country and beyond.

I was one of those women, but the ability to share my story wasn't what I took from #MeToo. I run a business that advocates for the progress of women in my industry, but I didn't home in on #MeToo as a platform. What I saw in the movement was a very different way to handle a hurricane  and an inspiring way to regain power.

THE MOVEMENT: #MeToo: Women tell their stories

Rebuilding your self-worth and confidence is a humbling experience for anyone who has experienced trauma or loss. And loss is deeply personal. As Maslow said, the need for physical and psychological safety is paramount.

But #MeToo gave women everywhere an opportunity to restore their power. They didn't have to wallow in victimhood; they could take a stand  with hundreds of thousands of others around the world. And they could see the impact. Titans of industry have fallen because of two tiny words. That's not switching on a light; that's a power surge.

The same happened in the aftermath of the hurricane. Support, in the form of millions of dollars and thousands of people hours, poured in from around the world in the wake of the storm. Neighbors opened their doors to the displaced and homeless. A stranger in a boat motored up to my door.

It's been a long year. Some are back, but not the same, and many are still just getting started. Just as power is restored home by home, neighborhood by neighborhood, those who suffered at the hands of the storm are coming back  slowly but surely, and even stronger than before. This is what it means to be #HoustonStrong.

Looking back at all this, I've realized something: We've all got our own hurricanes to battle. And we've all got a choice in how we come back from it. We can linger in the pain and destruction, or we can find a way forward. We can isolate ourselves, or we can let others in and build communities of support. We can waste the crisis, or we can find opportunity in it.

I think you know what I choose.

Katie Mehnert is the CEO of Pink Petro and Experience Energy, a global careers and culture company aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion in the energy workforce. She lives in and works in the Energy Corridor.

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On the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey flooding, staff writer Jennifer Bolton reflects on how the flooding of her Dickinson home and the months of repairs and disruption that followed have changed her life.

About a year ago, I was soaking wet and trying to keep my dogs from escaping our small attic room to swim in our flooded living room. My husband sawed a hole into our roof. I was on a video call with my sister, who wanted to see with her own eyes that if the water reached our attic, we could get out.

I know you dont know this, but people are drowning in attics, she said. Please cut a hole in the roof. Let me see that Luke is cutting a hole in the roof.

HARVEY THEN AND NOW: Dramatic photos show how the hurricane devastated Houston

A neighbor who had also just lost everything stopped his boat in front of our home  he was able to pull up right to our roof. My husband helped me through the newly installed escape hatch, I log-rolled down the roof as gracefully as that can be accomplished (which, by the way, is not very gracefully in case you were wondering), got my dogs on the boat and we were off.

Fifty-two inches of water in a house is a lot of water, and the flood took an awful lot of things from us. It took our piano and most of the 1,000-plus books in my collection. It took a pretty sizable chuck of my husbands tools. It took photos, dishes, a couple guitars, drawings and notes from my niece, clothes, beds, ugly curtains that I had been meaning to get rid of, dressers  even, to some extent, my sense of security for a while.

Jennifer Bolton/Houston Chronicle

But now that a year has passed, its odd to look back and see, very clearly, that the flood gave us more than it took.

It gave my husband and me an amazing opportunity to spend time together, to sift through mud and sludge and wet papers and soaked furniture and moldy drywall and soaked insulation and realize that most of those things we lost arent really that important.

The flood showed me how much he loves me. I saw him tirelessly plan the rebuild of our house around me.

DON'T SAY IT'S OVER: A year later, Houston's Harvey recovery remains uneven

Stand here and put your arms up, he said, I want to see how tall I can make this shelf so you can reach it. OK now, stand there and pretend like youre doing something at the counter. I want to make sure theyre a comfortable height for you.

The flood gave us the opportunity to see the huge capacity so many people have for love, kindness, selflessness and thoughtfulness.

Jennifer Bolton/Houston Chronicle

Without a second thought, my husbands sister and brother-in-law drove through flood waters to pick us up from the side of the road, bring us to the safety of their home, wrap their arms around us and offer their sons room for us to sleep in. Ive never been so thankful for a shower.

My sister packed up clothes, shoes, brushes, makeup  anything she could find that belonged to her, my mom and my brother-in-law  and drove through high water to make sure my husband and I had some sense of comfort and normalcy. Giving me these things, in lots of cases, left her without.

Now Playing: Jennifer Bolton and her husband, Luke, escaped through a hole Luke cut in the roof of their Dickinson home as Harvey flood waters rose a year ago. Her videos tell one couple's story of the storm's devastation and a year of recovery, aided by dozens of friends, family and the Dickinson community. Video: Jennifer Bolton/Houston Chronicle

Within hours of being rescued, a Go Fund Me my sister set up for us had about $5,000 in it. Friends, family, anonymous donors and people I had never even met before and people I hadnt seen or spoken with since elementary school so thoughtfully contributed. For months, no one could even say the phrase Go Fund Me in my proximity without it prompting tears. With that we were able to buy the lumber we needed to rebuild and appliances  so many things you dont think about needing when youre rebuilding a home. Do you have any idea how many nails it takes? Way more than I thought, it turns out.

The flood gave me hope.

After I saw the wreckage of the house right after the water receded, if you told me wed have the building empty and down to studs in two days, I would never have believed you. But in the first weekend we were able to get back to our home we had more than 50 people turn up to help purge the hallways of mud, haul things out in the yard to dry, tear out anything the flood had touched. The house was full of laughter, hammering, destruction  the necessary kind that has to happen before things get better. Having these people in our home immediately made things better.

People very close to us, who have been a second family to me almost my entire life, were there every second of the house tear down until one of them had to leave to get stitches after a wayward tile flew into his shin. The rest of his family came back the next day. Anyone willing to risk hepatitis to help is a good person to have in your corner.

Read the original first-person account At 11:30 p.m. Saturday, I was watching "Rick and Morty" and drinking a glass of cheap wine in a pair of horrendous shorts on the couch with my husband. By 8 the next morning, my husband was slowly working his way through the roof of our attic with a dull Sawzall. MORE: A normal weekend turned upside down by Harvey See More Collapse

I sat in our driveway with a friend Ive had since kindergarten and her children, sifting through wet love notes, cards from family members who weve lost, artwork from elementary school, seeing what was salvageable and setting it out to dry in the sunshine.

It could have been sad, but it wasnt. It was really beautiful.

The flood showed me how to be more grateful.

My brother-in-law, who works as a project manager, spent hours, days, weeks helping us. He took a week of vacation and spent it in the moldy, muddy, hot skeleton of our home.

It gave me time with my mom.

After the waters had receded enough to leave my sister-in-laws house, my mom immediately opened the doors of my childhood home to us. I got to sit in the living room with her and hear about her day. I got to spend time with her getting ready in the mornings and at dinner. We got to watch the Astros win the World Series together.

The flood gave me a sense of exactly how much I have to be thankful for.

Complete strangers opened their arms in ways I would have never thought possible.

One person gave me clothes, shoes, her own cell phone charger and her own curling iron out of her purse. Another woman who went to the same high school as me drove down from New Jersey. She brought an entire suitcase of beauty products with her. Let me tell you. You dont know how much you miss good facewash until you dont have it anymore. She will never have any idea how much this meant. It was not a small gesture, and I will be appreciative of this for the rest of my life.

Jennifer Bolton/Houston Chronicle

To this day, if we need toothpaste, body wash, shampoo, lotion, socks  any number of things  all my husband and I have to do is go to one of the many boxes of items people lovingly pieced together and gave to us. In those moments when Im sifting through our storage for a razor or a pair of tweezers among these things, I think about how very lucky we are. I think about how thankful I am and I wonder if there will ever be a way to let those who helped us know what an enormous impact their kindness was on our lives. We have so much. We have always had so much. Harvey gave us that knowledge.

The giving that came from this was constant, is ongoing and started before the flood had even ended, with our neighbor, who, after also losing so much, gave us a ride to the front of our neighborhood.

There is no other way for me to feel but thankful.

jennifer.bolton@chron.com
Houston Police are searching for a male subject wanted in connection to a violent gas station shakedown that started when four women at a bar gave the victim a too-good-to-be-true invitation.

According to information released by Houston Police, in the early morning hours of Sunday July 28, a male patron at La Playita Bar, located 7930 Mosely Road, engaged in conversation with four women at the bar.
Police are looking for a driver who struck and killed a bicyclist Thursday night in southeast Houston.

A man riding a bicycle was traveling south on Cullen Boulevard near Mallow Street around 9:30 p.m. when the driver of a dark-colored sedan struck him, according to Houston Police Department Sgt. Thomas Fendia.

Early reports from HPD indicate the man might have been struck by at least one other vehicle.

Now Playing: Police are looking for a driver who struck and killed a bicyclist Thursday night in southeast Houston. Video: Jay R. Jordan, Houston Chronicle

MCDONALD'S SHOOTING: Suspected robber opens fire, injures two

The driver of the sedan sped off and was not immediately caught, Fendia said.

Paramedics with the Houston Fire Department rushed the bicyclist to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

At least one witness who saw the collision stayed behind and spoke with police, Fendia said.

A Metro bus that was in the area caught the incident on its onboard cameras, and detectives are working to see if they can get any information on the driver from that video, Fendia said.

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
As the water around Houston began to rise, so did the dread. Those long-ago first warnings had been right. Hurricane Harvey would be a killer, with its rains pummeling Texas' most populous region hour after hour, filling streets and then bayous and finally houses.

Sure enough, when skies cleared and the water receded, heartbreaking tales of loss emerged one upon another. A dozen became two, then three. A family of six lost in a van ... a couple carried away by the current ... a medical emergency that could not be tended to.

The statewide death toll from Harvey's march along coastal Texas is 75, with the Houston metro area accounting for two-thirds of that. Most of the other victims came from the southeast corner of the state, though a few were killed closer to where the hurricane made landfall near Rockport. Some remain unidentified. Others may yet be found.

HARVEY'S HUMAN TOLL: Each victim's tale carries its own tragic arc

The 50 local victims tell 50 different stories. Their circumstances varied. Some were poor, some not. Some were old and already in poor medical condition. Some were young and unlucky. At least six of the dead were would-be rescuers accidentally tossed into the roiling waters. Roughly a third died as a result of driving into high water.

In coming months, researchers and social scientists will parse the data of the dead for common threads. What does it mean, if anything, that 24 of the 35 storm victims at the Harris County Medical Examiners Office are minorities? What will our economic geography say about the degree of risk we face? What can we learn?

One thing we already know. As each passing day after Harvey's exit brought another few victims, it soon became obvious that something else had happened during and after the storm, something unpredicted and remarkable, something not about the dead but the living. The human catastrophe that could have unfolded over the course of several days did not.

The ultimate death toll easily could have been, and perhaps should have been, higher, some experts said.

Now Playing: A look at some of the lives claimed by Hurricane Harvey. Video: Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle

Rice University professor Phil Bedient, who oversees the school's severe storm research center, said it was nothing less than "astounding" that more did not die. A similar storm - a former hurricane transformed into a tropical storm - caused heavy flooding in Central Texas and killed 224 in 1921. Five years ago, Hurricane Sandy and its remnants were responsible for 117 fatalities. And just last year, a much smaller one-day storm in West Virginia killed half as many people as Harvey in a flash flood.

The acknowledgement of what might have been is no consolation to hundreds of grieving relatives. At the same time, the collective human damage tells a story of its own, of many things that went right when so much might have gone wrong.

"I don't think there's any question that more lives would have been lost," said Mayor Sylvester Turner of the citizen response. "We can't know how many, but the number definitely would be higher if people had not stepped in."

Staying off the roads

With floodwaters spreading across the county and first responders getting so many calls for help that dispatchers could not keep up, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett stood in front of TV cameras and asked people to help if they had any way to do so. By then, the ad hoc rescue effort was well underway.

"I didn't have to say it," Emmett said later. "I just wanted to give sanction to it. First and foremost, people here help their neighbors."

Of course, there were other factors that helped keep the death toll lower. There were ample and accurate warnings of when the storm would arrive. A number of roads and underpasses that flood during heavy storms were barricaded ahead of time. Most people paid heed to exhortations to stay home and off the roads.

Emmett also said he realized early that it was crucial for people not to try to leave the area en masse. Having seen the consequences of evacuating as Hurricane Rita approached in 2005, he envisioned roadways clogged with traffic as the storm arrived. He could imagine thousands of the trapped floating away hours later - the ultimate nightmare scenario.

Emmett is certain the death toll would have been much higher had evacuation been attempted.

"Evacuation was never a possibility," he said.

Yet with so much rain over such a wide area, and so many people in peril, there was no way for first responders to handle the load of needed rescues. Seeing it unfold on television, with residents of swamped neighborhoods calling for help or wading through waters toward high ground, thousands of ordinary folks walked out into the rain, some with just a scant idea of how they might be of assistance.

High and dry at home, Spring resident Jim Tactay saw pictures of the rising water and knew the dangerous areas near Interstate 45 where motorists might get into trouble. He didn't have a boat, but that didn't stop him. He drove close to the area, walked to the water's edge, and found a guy with a boat who wanted someone to help him help others.

"I guess people could sit comfortably at home and watch it on TV, but instead they woke up every day asking how they could help, where were they needed," said Tactay, a salesman for a building materials company. "That was Houston. We didn't have to be asked."

Chris Ginter used his brother's monster truck to ferry people and supplies into and out of neighborhoods, and as word spread, his phone kept ringing. William Kelsey used his boat to pick up fellow residents of Meyerland from their homes and get them to a nearby shelter. And so it continued everywhere the water had invaded.

Local officials may not be ready to endorse a less formal approach to crisis. Turner said the urgency of rescue needs showed him that the city of Houston still needs to acquire more physical assets to help in flood scenarios: more rafts and boats, more high-water trucks. Emmett said he prefers to have greater high-water capability integrated into the 274 Citizen Emergency Response Teams, which are composed of volunteers who have received special training.

Outdated thinking

Both suggestions may make sense, but if there's a single lesson to be learned from Harvey's inundation of the Houston area and why more people did not perish in it, it's the growing importance of an all-hands-on-deck approach. How the effort of citizen responders is directed is less important than the fact they respond.

"Agencies direct themselves, but an entire community - all its formal and informal systems, its neighborhoods and community groups - is not directed in normal times. It won't suddenly be directed in a disaster," said James Kendra, a director of the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency under past administrator Craig Fugate began to encourage the move toward broad citizen involvement, recognizing that a "command-and-control" structure often will break down in bigger disasters. After Harvey, Fugate said the old way of looking at the public as either victim or potential hindrance - "a liability" - is outdated, especially in an event of such size. Instead, he said, they should be considered a resource.

Tricia Wachtendorf, the co-director of the Delaware center, said a diffuse, improvised response is the new model of success when a disaster overwhelms government's ability to deal with it.

"Rather than waiting for direction from authorities or waiting until one is on the ground, official and improvised resources begin deploying in the same sphere, using the same information, and relying on each other," Wachtendorf said. "This makes sense. All disasters are local, so a local community response is key."

A change in society

While a desire to help may be universal and human, some believe the willingness to not wait for "official response" in a crisis reflects a more fundamental change in society, a tectonic shift in how people relate to their world. Well-known author, blogger and law professor Glenn Reynolds pointed out how people are less beholden to and connected with large institutions than in years past, a trend he documented in his recent book "An Army of Davids."

"You used to need a big organization to do a lot of things that can now be done by small groups of people - or even large groups of people - who organize spontaneously," Reynolds said. "If you had this kind of citizen organizing a century ago, it would have to have gone through an institution: a church, the Elks Club, the VFW, whatever. Now people form their own temporary institution, it does the job, and goes away."

When Harvey reached Houston, it was inevitable that tragedy would ensue. Yet many more were saved. If there is one enduring something left in Harvey's wake, perhaps it is the notion that people no longer look to those with a title or those in a certain uniform or even those with official license to carry the day. They look in the mirror.

Yet the stark, tragic truth remains: Harvey was a killer storm and the fact that it could have claimed more lives than it did is meager balm to the pain of the victims. Each death carried its own tragic arc, often beginning in a moment of desperation and ending in a fateful decision - an elevator taken instead of stairs, a right turn instead of left.

The mysteries of chance accompanied all, including the young mother who drowned while the toddler clinging to her lived, or the retiree with multiple sclerosis who survived the storm's fury only to drown at her condominium days later when water released from a reservoir flooded the complex again.

Hurricane Harvey claimed at least 75 lives in Texas, including some 50 people in the Houston area. Click here to read the stories of those who died as a result of the storm or medical emergencies in which care may have been affected.




The Houston Zoo's brand-new Hamill Foundation Black Bear Exhibit doesn't open to the public until Friday, Aug. 31 but this week the exhibit's two residents were already getting acclimated to their new digs.

Belle and Willow, two female five-year-old black bears, got a chance to explore the newly-upgraded habitat on Monday and zoo staffers were there to capture photos and video of the occasion.

AJARI CHECKS IN: See what it takes to give a Houston Zoo gorilla a physical exam

Now Playing: The Houston Zoo's brand-new Hamill Foundation Black Bear Exhibit doesn't open to the public until Friday, Aug. 31 but this week the exhibit's two residents were already getting acclimated to their new digs. Belle and Willow, two female five-year-old black bears, got a chance to explore the newly-upgraded habitat on Monday and zoo staffers were there to capture photos and video of the occasion. Video: Houston Zoo

According to the Houston Zoo they are fully moved in now but they still have access to the old space they previously inhabited. The Hamill exhibit is three times the size of the space they used to live.

The water feature inside the exhibit, which comes with a stream, multiple pools, and a waterfall are all chilled to 75 degrees. That feature comes in handy when you weigh over 300 pounds, are covered in fur and live in one of the hottest cities in North America. The two bears are also given weekly ice pops to beat the heat.

A HOUSTON GEM: See how the Houston Zoo has evolved over the past 100 years

The pair came to the Houston Zoo in 2013 as orphans from California where they were being fed outside of a bar. Soon US Fish and Wildlife officials relocated them to Houston where they quickly fit into Houston Zoo family. It's not known if they are related.

Next week the Houston Chronicle will have a full, in-depth report about the habitat just after a special media preview.

Craig Hlavaty covers Houston history and pop-culture. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | craig.hlavaty@chron.com
Shelby Taylor Wyse was sitting just one teller away from a woman who was withdrawing $75,000 in cash Friday at the Wallis State Bank on FM1960.

Police say video surveillance footage shows Wyse, who herself was a bank teller, intently watching the woman during the transaction. Wyse then sent a text, which police presume to be a "go signal" triggering a violent robbery just five miles away at a Valero gas station in Jersey Village.

RELATED: Bank teller accused of triggering violent robbery in northwest Harris County

Wyse, 25, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident. Police believe she sent a text to signal multiple other suspects, including her boyfriend, that the woman left with the cash.

The full extent of Wyse's involvement in the robbery is still unclear, but police have said she was involved in the planning.

Now Playing: Shelby Taylor Wyse was arrested this week in connection with a violent robbery in northwest Harris County. Police said she worked at the bank where the victim withdrew $75,000 in cash, and investigators believe she may have alerted the suspects to the transaction. Video: Office of Court Management

Investigators do know that she had been dating one of the suspects, Travonn Johnson, since at least May 2017, when Johnson was accused of pushing her into a pool, gouging her right eye and hitting her with his hand, court records show.

She also leased the black Chrysler 300 that Johnson drove during the robbery from a Budget Rent a Car, police said. When confronted about the rental, she said the vehicle was stolen the morning of the robbery, but she never filed a police report, prosecutors said.

During the robbery, video appears to show Johnson backing over the victim and her husband with the vehicle. Johnson has since been arrested on a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

FOLLOW UP: 2nd suspect ID'd in brutal beating, robbery attempt caught on camera in NW Harris County

The bank declined to comment Thursday on how long Wyse had been working for them, but a Harris County public defender said during her probable cause hearing Wednesday that she's been living in Houston for around six years with an 8-year-old child.

The public defender said she didn't appear to have any previous criminal history, and a judge set her bail at $75,000 in Harris County Jail.

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
One year ago, Texans living along the gulf coast watched with dread as a monstrous Harvey made its approach.

When the hurricane made landfall as a Category 4 on Saturday evening, the first Texas town it laid siege to was Rockport.

Houstonians, not yet afflicted by never-ending rains, watched as 130 mph whipped through the tiny town of some 10,000 people, destroying homes, businesses and schools.

"We've been devastated," Rockport Mayor C.J. Wax told the Washington Post the next day.

Now Playing: Fox 26 Reporter Stephen Morgan Video: Fox 26 Houston

LATEST: Hurricane Harvey, as told through social media

"There are structures that are either significantly disrupted or completely destroyed," he said. "I have some buildings that are lying on the street."

One year later, Rockport and other small towns like Port Aransas are still picking up the pieces.

As part of a larger story on Texas cities recovering along the Coastal Bend, the Houston Chronicle recently sent one of its photographers to capture scenes from the struggle to rebuild what was lost.

See photos of how the first Texas towns to face Harvey are doing one year later above.

Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93




Hurricane Harvey not only went down as one of the costliest storms ever. It also ranks as one of the top disaster-related fundraising causes.

In just a few months, corporations, foundations and individuals donated nearly $1 billion to help the Texas Gulf Coast recover after the 2017 storm, more than university campaigns raise in five or more years. Among natural disasters, only hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012 elicited more philanthropic dollars.

"It certainly felt like an overwhelming generosity that came forward," said Ann Stern, president and CEO of the Houston Endowment, which contributed $5.6 million toward the cause. "It caught everyone by surprise  such a large amount of money. It behooved managers of the money to use it well."

To that end, the Endowment convened meetings of major groups collecting Harvey relief money to help coordinate priorities and strategies. The Greater Houston Community Foundation, which operates the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund set up by Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, enlisted Rice University's Kinder Institute to identify areas of greatest need, vulnerable populations.

RELATED: Texans' J.J. Watt details what Hurricane Harvey donations have done

Together, the Harvey relief groups took in roughly $971 million. That includes $522.7 million by the Red Cross; $114 million by the Greater Houston Community Foundation; $100 million by the Rebuild Texas Fund, which was seeded and created by the foundation of computer magnate Michael Dell; $87.5 million by the evangelical group Samaritan's Purse; $61.4 million by United Way; $41.6 million by JJ Watt's campaign; $30 million by the Salvation Army; and $14 million by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

Created by Jordan Rubio

The overall total was three times more than that collected for Hurricane Irma and six times more than for Hurricane Maria, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Disaster Philanthropy. Center officials note that Harvey was more dramatic, inflicted more damage and occurred amid more people and corporations. It also was unaffected by the "disaster fatigue" that probably set in with the two subsequent hurricanes and the Mexico earthquake and California fires.

In any event, the Harvey philanthropy was marked by a broad donor base, said experts  more grass roots, less double-digit million dollar gifts. The Greater Houston Community Fund, for instance, received gifts from 127,000 donors, and the average amount was $100.

The fund was the quickest to distribute its funds, given to a variety of local nonprofit organizations in four rounds between October and March. The funding's emphasis evolved from temporary housing and food, clothing and other basic necessities initially to legal assistance and behavioral health later. Throughout the distribution rounds, home repair was the most funded area.

Despite the infusions of donor dollars, Harvey is still impacting lives: people still live in temporary housing because of damage to their homes, people remain emotionally wrecked by the losses they incurred. Those and other issues are expected to persist for years.

Fortunately, there is still ample funding remaining. Roughly $293 million of the nearly $1 billion was held back intentionally for long-term recovery needs.

Bob Ottenhoff, executive director of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, has a reply for people who ask if that's a bad thing. "No," he says, "it's the smart thing, the strategic thing, the effective way to allocate disaster donations."

Editor's Note: On Monday, Aug. 27, the Justin J. Watt Foundation released an updated total of $41.6 million.

Todd Ackerman is a veteran reporter who has covered medicine for the Houston Chronicle since 2001. A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, he previously worked for the Raleigh News & Observer, the National Catholic Register, the Los Angeles Downtown News and the San Clemente Sun-Post. Contact him at todd.ackerman@chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ChronMed.

Photos by Houston Chronicle photo staff

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***
We know some of the reasons nearly 63 million people voted for Donald Trump, and not all of them involve a wall.

In Trump, some Americans disillusioned with politics saw a businessman, not an ideologue. They saw a rich man, though not one restrained by political correctness. They saw a man who promised to talk straight. To drain the swamp. To restore American pride for those who found it fading.

Voting for Trump in 2016 wasnt inherently foolish. Its American to take risks, to cast aside tradition, to believe people can reinvent themselves. After the election, many dearly hoped that a billionaire playboy who racked up bankruptcies like tabloid headlines could become presidential. We hoped he would actually put America first  all 325 million of us  not just the minority who elected him, or the lucky few who share his tax bracket.

Now it is time to face reality. Those for whom loyalty runs strong need to ask: Is your allegiance to your country, or to a man?

If it is to the man, no argument will sway you. You will see only the good: the tax cuts, though not the disproportionate benefits to the wealthy; the high employment, though not the decline of real wages; the downfall of Obamacare, though not the millions, including those with pre-existing conditions, who will lose access to health care.

If your allegiance is to your country, you cannot ignore the events of this week.

The presidential candidate who chanted lock her up! about an opponent who stored sensitive email on a home server has now been implicated in an actual crime. His former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, has said, under oath, Trump directed him to violate the law to sway the election.

The people have got to know if their president is a crook, as President Nixon once said. Now it appears Trump is the un-indicted co-conspirator. We should neither convict nor exonerate him prematurely, but we should be honest.

The president, crook or not, surrounds himself with crooks. His former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was found guilty on eight counts of financial crimes as part of special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation into illegal Russian interference with the 2016 election. The verdict further validates Muellers investigation.

Then theres Cohen, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud, wire fraud and breaking campaign finance laws. As part his stunning admission, Cohen incriminated Trump in his illegal payola scheme to silence women during the campaign. He stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election, Lanny J. Davis, Cohens attorney, said. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldnt they be a crime for Donald Trump?

Dont trust Cohen? Dont worry. He has audio recordings of Trump discussing the payoffs.

The man who promised to drain the swamp is compounding its toxic ecology. If were not careful, the American people will find ourselves in a fix similar to a bayou toad plopped into a kitchen pot, slowing growing accustomed to the boiling brew of scandal and corruption until were cooked.

Meanwhile, Trump-aligned politicians are treating their public service like a smash-and-grab. Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price have already left office following their own scandals involving, among other things, spending public funds on private jets. Add that to the guilty pleas by Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos for the crime of making false statements to the FBI, and campaign staffer Richard Gates for making false statements to the FBI and conspiracy against the United States.

For those Americans who say they dont care whether Trump or any of his associates broke the law, for those who may think its a small price to pay for a couple of conservative Supreme Court justices and the still dangling promise of a border wall, we ask this: What about law and order?

Those who demand border-crossers be judged by the letter of the law, making no exception for vulnerable Central American asylum seekers fleeing deadly violence, should demand the same zero-tolerance of our president. Anything else is hypocrisy.

Of course, perfection isnt possible  especially in politics. Yes, President Obama lied when he continued to say you could keep your health plan. He was wrong, but he did it to help millions of Americans get health insurance.

Why does Trump lie? What purposes are served by his daily dribble of falsehoods? Trumps purposes, his highest priority.

If you share that purpose, Team Trump is still the place for you.

If you put America first, youre on a team that includes both Democrats and Republicans. It is a team of patriots, including Robert Gates, the former Secretary of Defense who served eight presidents and led Texas A&M University, and also retired Admiral Bill McRaven, the former Navy SEAL who led the raid on bin Laden and later led the University of Texas. Both stood up to Trump last week after the president revoked security clearance of John Brennan merely because the former CIA director criticized him.

Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation, McRaven wrote.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. President Lincoln knew that. In their hearts, Trump voters know it, too.

They must decide: the man or the country. Amid the lies, scandals, investigations and Omarosa exposes, a record 72,000 Americans died last year of drug overdoses. A much-needed infrastructure bill is nowhere to be found. Tariffs are straining foreign relations and igniting trade wars that cost Americans jobs and drive up prices. Hundreds of migrant children separated from their parents have yet to be reunited.

Americans should pay attention as Muellers investigation continues. Trump has no shame; he wont resign as Nixon did. So it is up to Congress to hold him accountable, and if the facts support it, to call for impeachment. It is up to the American people, including those who voted for Trump, to examine our loyalties: America, or the man?

We already know Trumps choice.
In my eight years as Secretary of the Navy, I worked every day to ensure that our men and women in uniform had everything they needed to prepare for and complete the critical missions they are charged to carry out. So I am acutely aware of the importance of energy resilience and grid security to that objective.

Aggressive investments are critical to ensure that every military installation has secure access to reliable energy. Every homeowner and business owner knows the havoc that power failures cause, so its easy to understand their impact on our militarys ability to execute their mission. That is why I made it a top priority to improve energy resilience on military bases when I led the department.

But rather than advancing that objective, President Donald Trump appears poised to spend tens of billions of dollars on a corporate bailout that would do nothing to improve grid resilience. Worse, his proposal would represent an unprecedented federal intervention into power markets, masking blatantly political objectives with a dangerous and unwarranted use of national security authorities.

Virtually all power outages  including those at military bases  result from problems in transmission and distribution systems or, in the case of the military, on-base energy infrastructure. Ignoring that real problem, the presidents proposal would instead bail out a select number of power plants while doing nothing to harden power lines and other infrastructure that delivers electricity to homes, businesses and military bases.

Equally suspect is the Trump administrations claim that the coal and nuclear plants it seeks to subsidize would promote energy resilience because they have fuel supplies on site. A recent study revealed that fuel shortages were responsible for less than one-in-a-million hours of electricity outages.

But in addressing a nearly nonexistent problem, the White House would spend a very real amount of money. One study found that the small number of companies that would be bailed out would reap a collective windfall in excess of $34 billion over two years. That money would either come from Americas rate payers  showing up on the monthly bills of millions of households and businesses  or from a Pentagon budget that the military needs for the real business of national security. Nevertheless, Trump already ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to prepare immediate steps to stop these unprofitable coal and nuclear plants from shuttering.

The administration has already tried to make its argument and failed. Trumps own Department of Energy asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to implement new rules that would have shielded the plants at issue from the competitive market. FERC stopped the administration cold, pointing out that the plan would do essentially nothing to improve resilience. As FERC Commissioner Robert Powelson recently said, This intervention could potentially blow up the markets and result in significant rate increases without any corresponding reliability, resilience, or cybersecurity benefits.

The president is now reportedly considering another option that would actually do even more harm. One law he apparently plans to invoke is the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era statute that gives the president broad power to intervene in the economy to ensure the availability of strategically important industries and resources. Invoking DPA authority to spend tens of billions of dollars prop up failing companies without a valid strategic reason would set a dangerous precedent, potentially undermining support for the future use of that authority in a real emergency.

There are legitimate ways to make our military bases more energy resilient and to fix what is truly broken. Rather than propping up old power plants, lets invest in new technologies like distributed generation, battery storage and microgrids. Those will help keep the lights on and the mission up and running at our bases, even if the grid goes down. That was the Navys focus when I was in the job and the military services are continuing that work. The administration would be wise to follow their lead.

But the president apparently has his own plan, which involves spending billions of dollars on a political objective, while ignoring the real problem. Even worse, his plan will force American families and businesses to foot the bill, or divert money from supporting our troops, to line the pockets of a select group of power companies and their shareholders. The Trump bailout plan is bad for citizens, bad for the military, and bad for national security. Americans should reject it.

Mabus served as Secretary of the Navy from 2009-2017. He previously served as governor of Mississippi and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He is CEO of The Mabus Group, Washington, D.C.
2 1 of 2 Mark M. Hancock, Staff Photojournalist / The Beaumont Enterprise Show More Show Less 2 of 2 AP Show More Show Less



Texas exploration and production companies and Chinese refiners shared a collective sigh of relief following a recent decision to remove U.S. crude oil from the list of goods entangled in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war. Nevertheless, though U.S. crude oil appears safe from tariffs for now, China reportedly is still considering a 25 percent levy on imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) after officially imposing a 25 percent tariff on U.S. propane, butane, naphtha, jet fuel and coal imports. The escalating trade disputes between the United States and China are putting the success of the American oil and gas sector at risk, and stand to deter investments of long-term energy projects, amongst other negative implications, if tensions continue.

As domestic oil and natural gas production continues to increase, helping support energy demands and expand our economy, potential shifts in the global market as a result of international trade disputes could stall rising output from the United States. TIPRO is projecting crude oil output from Texas will reach a total of nearly 1.5 billion barrels of oil by the end of 2018, an increase of nearly 200 million barrels compared to the total output last year. The Permian Basin alone is expected to account for 50 percent of all new global oil production over the next five years. However, as the West Texas region continues to face output capacity challenges, the ability to move product will be dependent on having additional infrastructure in place, something that is threatened by the Trump administrations current tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Disney Aspire aims to provide workers the chance to study subjects outside of their current role in the company.

Participants can take up their college or masters degree or complete their high school program. They can also sign up for English language or vocational training courses. The program is currently limited to online classes.

The initiative is part of Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Igers US$50m investment in the education of the companys workforce. Additional funding of up to US$25m will be invested each year.

I have always believed that education is the key to opportunity, Iger said. It opens doors and creates new possibilities.

Jayne Parker, Disneys CHRO, said the company is constantly looking at ways to help people realize their ambitions and fulfil their dreams, and that Disney Aspire is one way to do just that.
The Life Saving Missions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Washington, DC - Bottom Line: With more than 60,000 employees, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations and is charged with securing our borders while facilitating lawful international travel and trade. As the United States first unified border entity, CBP takes a comprehensive approach to border management and control, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection into one coordinated and supportive activity.

First, CBP is responsible for securing approximately 7,000 miles of land border, 95,000 miles of shoreline, 328 ports of entry, and the associated air and maritime space from the illegal entry of people and contraband into the United States. The border environment in which CBP works is dynamic and requires continual adaptation to respond to emerging threats and changing conditions.

To enhance CBP's capability in southwest border sectors, the Department of Defense (DOD), in conjunction with border state governors, has deployed the National Guard to assist in stopping the flow of deadly drugs and other contraband, gang members and other criminals, and illegal aliens into this country. There are currently 2,212 Department of Defense personnel supporting the mission to secure the Southwest border. The Deployment of the National Guard has contributed to: Removable alien arrests  14,644 Marijuana Seized (lbs)  14,243 Cocaine Seized (lbs)  17

CBP hosts monthly briefings/teleconferences with federal, state, and local partners regarding the current state of the border  both northern and southern to monitor emerging trends and threats and provide a cross-component, multi-agency venue for discussing trends and threats.

CBP is building more border wall right now than has been funded in a decade. El Centro Pedestrian Fence Replacement Project (2.25 miles): More than 2 miles already built with construction on schedule for completion in October 2018. El Paso Vehicle Barrier Replacement Project (20 miles): Nearly 13 miles of new wall already built with construction on schedule for completion in March 2019. San Diego Primary Pedestrian Fence Replacement Project (14 miles): More than 4 miles already built with construction on schedule for completion in May 2019. El Paso Pedestrian Fence Replacement Project (4 miles): Construction remains on track to start in September.

On a typical day in 2017 CBP conducted: 851 apprehensions between U.S. ports of entry 21 arrests of wanted criminals at U.S. ports of entry 592 refusals of inadmissible persons at U.S. ports of entry



Second, CBP plays a critical role in preventing dangerous drugs, including opioids, from reaching the American public.

CBP leverages targeting and intelligence-driven strategies, and works in close coordination with our interagency and international partners as part of our multi-layered, risk-based approach to enhance the security of our borders and our country.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 the efforts of Office of Field Operations (OFO) and U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) personnel resulted in the seizure of more than 545,000 lbs. of narcotics including over 38,000 lbs. of methamphetamine, over 35,000 lbs. of cocaine, and over 2,700 lbs. of heroin. In the transit zones, CBPs Air and Marine Operations (AMO) disrupted 84,813 pounds of cocaine in FY 18. CBP seizures of illicit fentanyl have significantly increased from approximately two lbs. seized in FY 2013 to approximately 1,131 lbs. seized by OFO and USBP in FY 2017. Approximately 1,218 lbs. of illicit fentanyl have already been seized in FY 2018. Fentanyl is the most frequently seized illicit synthetic opioid, but CBP has also encountered and identified 21 new fentanyl analogues crossing our borders through laboratory testing by CBP forensic scientists.

CBP operates within nine major International Mail Facilities (IMF) inspecting international mail arriving from more than 180 countries, as well as 25 Express Carrier Consignment Facility (ECCF) located throughout the United States. Just recently, CBP officers working at an ECCF in Cincinnati intercepted a package from Malaysia en-route to Texas, manifested as clothing. The package contained a single dress. Upon further inspection of the dress, a small anomaly sewn into the lining was discovered. The lining of the dress was cut open and an object wrapped in paper towel was discovered. The small package contained approximately .75 lbs. of heroin.

At ports of entry and in the international mail and express consignment environments, CBP utilizes technology, such as non-intrusive inspection (NII), x-ray, and gamma ray imaging systems to detect the illegal transit of synthetic drugs hidden on people, in cargo containers, and in other conveyances entering the United States. Since October of 2010, CBP has conducted more than 83 million NII examinations, resulting in more than 18,500 narcotics seizures, and more than $79 million in currency seizures.



Third, CBP works to secure and facilitate imports arriving in the U.S., accommodating the increasing volume and complexities of international trade. CBP protects U.S. agricultural resources through active inspections at ports of entry.

With the Container Security Initiative, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, ten industry-based Centers of Excellence and Expertise, and the Automated Commercial Environment, CBP has a sturdy base of partnerships and technology to safeguard the American public and promote legitimate international commerce.

Approximately $4 trillion worth of international trade crosses our border every year.

CBP collected more than $40.1 billion in duties, taxes, and other fees in FY17.

As with travel, cargo volumes are up  particularly with the rise in electronic commerce shipments. CBP processed $2.39 trillion in imports in FY17, equating to more than 28.5 million imported cargo containers at U.S. ports of entry  up by approximately 5 percent from FY16.

Driven by E-commerce, air cargo volumes are way up, with global air freight traffic climbing by nearly 8 percent year-over-year in November, the start of the peak shipping season. Express cargo shipments in general, meanwhile, have increased by an astonishing 15 percent over FY16 levels  from 96 million bills to 110 million in FY17.

In compliance with the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, CBP is: Protecting Americans from counterfeit products and unsafe imports; Protecting our domestic industries by: Denying entry to imports made with forced labor; and Enforcing anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) regulations. Leveraging CBP's scientific expertise and laboratory capabilities to apply cutting-edge forensic science to further support its trade enforcement mission.

On a typical day in 2017, CBP discovered: 352 pests at U.S. ports of entry and 4,638 materials for quarantine: plant, meat, animal byproduct, and soil



Finally, over a million times each day, CBP officers welcome international travelers, returning U.S. citizens, and over two million shipments into the United States. CBP secures and facilitates legitimate travel by growing trusted traveler programs, embracing business transformation initiatives, fostering public-private partnerships, and employing robust targeting and risk assessment strategies. Working closely with interagency and international partners, CBP keeps international travelers informed, secures the travel environment, and promotes modern global tourism.
He changed the world and revolutionized technology. He could also be biting and cruel.

We're a creative country. In almost 250 years of history, Jobs is definitely near the top of the list of our greatest innovators.

Heck, I'm writing this on a MacBook. Chances are you're reading it on an iPhone.

But he also tore people down when he thought they were in his way, or when they simply annoyed him. He was "vicious to his daughter and those around her," and ultimately "shifted from neglectful to controlling."

That quote comes from a New York Times review of Lisa Brennan-Jobs's book about her relationship with her father, Small Fry, which will be released on Sept. 4.

A few weeks ago, Brennan-Jobs excerpted it for Vanity Fair. She led off with a vignette near the end of her father's life, when he was literally on his deathbed, and he told her as she was leaving after a visit: "You smell like a toilet."

I wrote about this at the time. And now we learn that Brennan-Jobs apparently was troubled by the reaction that people like me had to her story. She seems surprised, or at least disappointed, that the pendulum is swinging away from "Jobs the Genius" toward "Jobs the Jerk."

As Nellie Bowles writes in the Times:

On the eve of publication, what Ms. Brennan-Jobs wants readers to know is this: Steve Jobs rejected his daughter for years, but that daughter has absolved him. Triumphantly, she loves him, and she wants the book's scenes of their roller skating and laughing together to be as viral as the scenes of him telling her she will inherit nothing. Ms. Brennan-Jobs's forgiveness is one thing. What's tricky is that she wants the reader to forgive Mr. Jobs, too. And she knows that could be a problem.

Actually no, I don't think it's a problem. But only because it's not necessary.

I don't want to dive into the complexities of the relationship between Jobs and Brennan-Jobs. The short version, that most of us know, is that he denied being her father for years, until DNA proved it, and treated her cruelly for a long time. They ultimately reconciled, at least in her telling and by her definition.

But let's step back. We recoil when we hear these stories about Jobs's unflattering side precisely because our society builds people like him up so high to begin with.

We react with awe when we hear the stories of how Jobs cajoled teams to overcome massive design and engineering problems, and to create some of the most innovative American products in history.

Then we react with disdain when we hear how bitter and disdainful he could be.

A relatively mild example: When he reportedly interviewed a potential vice-president of human resources, he told her, "I've never met one of you who didn't suck. I've never known an HR person who had anything but a mediocre mentality."

How are we supposed to reconcile someone who created so much, but who could act so cruelly?

Here's an easy answer: We don't have to. We don't need to forgive Steve Jobs; he didn't do anything to most of us to require forgiveness.
Life at an Amazon fulfillment center can seem more like a sentence than a job, according to reports. The stories have been so terrible that Amazon has decided to fight back with specially deputized worker "ambassadors" who take to Twitter to defend the company and its conditions, as TechCrunch reported last night.

From locking customer accounts for no apparent reason to using Nazi symbols in ads on New York City subways for a TV series, Amazon has a genius for frequently screwing up public relations. This latest campaign of happy workers telling naysayers on Twitter how blessed their existences are rings hollow and could be a textbook case of how not to roll out a social-media blitz.

Clone warriors

Someone on Twitter first noticed the program.

I've seen more believable hostage videos pic.twitter.com/lTDj5QAlJ8 -- FLAMBOYANT SHOES GUY (@bornwithatail_) August 23, 2018

TechCrunch followed up on it, finding a dozen of the accounts, all supposedly belonging to "real" Amazon workers, all using the same template and Amazon smiley logo.

My immediate impression--and I later saw some others used the same metaphor--was that the Stepford Wives took jobs at Amazon and continued to work in lockstep. But to understand how badly this program has been designed, you need context, so it's time for a trip down memory lane.

Ugly stories

For years, Amazon has been the subject of many ugly stories about how unpleasant the working conditions can be there. For example:

Fear of being disciplined for not working hard enough.

Workers claiming to have been penalized for not showing up, even though they were sick.

Some feeling so pressured that they urinated in bottles to avoid taking off time to get to a bathroom.

And that's just recently. Back in 2011, there was an expose by a small Pennsylvania paper of such working conditions as toiling in temperatures well over 100 degrees without air conditioning.

One temporary worker said her vision got blurry, she had trouble standing, and couldn't concentrate one shift when heat in some parts of the warehouse exceeded 110 degrees. She went to a nurse station in the warehouse because she was feeling dizzy.

Within minutes of her arrival at the nurse station, an ISS manager asked her to sign a paper saying her symptoms were not related to work, she said.

The employee takes medication for hypertension and signing the papers, she said, would allow her to return to work after cooling off.

The "ISS" stood for "Integrity Staffing Solutions," an agency providing help to Amazon. Reportedly, conditions for temps and full-time employees can vary greatly, according to a Huffington Post report from 2013.

A report from a journalist who went undercover in the U.K. in late 2017 was no more cheerful:

I spent five weeks at the firm's newest warehouse in Tilbury, Essex, armed with a secret camera bought from Amazon's own website.

I found staff asleep on their feet, exhausted from toiling for up to 55 hours a week.

Those who could not keep up with the punishing targets faced the sack--and some who buckled under the strain had to be attended to by ambulance crews.

Then there was the Business Insider story from earlier this year:

Employees say that things like spending time talking to co-workers, going to get a drink, or even taking too long to find a package are billed as "time off task," too much of which leads to penalty points for an employee. Get enough of those, and you're fired.

And, among other things, more stories of no time for the bathroom.

Or a story from The Street...but you get the picture.

Bring on the happy faces

PR people are often called on to spin stories to keep clients or employers from looking bad. To say the equivalent of "fake news" about a long string of stories over the years doesn't do the job.

But that is how Amazon is trying to manage its reputation now. And it's using people who the company claims to be regular employees who aren't all that good at addressing criticism. (By the way, all emojis are stripped out of the tweets for technical reasons. Messages were otherwise unchanged.)

Not hired, offered. We are all actual warehouse employees who do the same thing as everyone else in the facilities. We are giving our stories to help people understand what its really like working here vs. what media sites want everyone to believe (because they dont work here). -- Caleb - Amazon FC Ambassador (@AmazonFCCaleb) August 24, 2018

Yes, Carol is my real name. It's short for Carolyn. (side note: Carolyn is the female version of Charles - my father's name.) Amazon FC Ambassador is my current "title." -- Carol - Amazon FC Ambassador (@AmazonFCCarol) August 24, 2018

This is a full time position. We were given this opportunity to talk about the work life here. I worked in our packing department, and Jemery worked in Stowing (inventory). These are our real and true experiences we are sharing. And no, there is no bonus. This was optional to do. -- Caleb - Amazon FC Ambassador (@AmazonFCCaleb) August 24, 2018

It certainly sounds as though FC Ambassadors are full-time positions and the people are no longer in a warehouse. (I have questions in with Amazon and will post answers if I get them.)

What makes this such a bad approach is that the entire thing screams fake, even if it isn't. You have people whose new job is to say nice things about the company. By focusing on only their past experiences, Amazon effectively tries to pretend that others might not have faced something much more unpleasant and even dangerous.

Part of the campaign apparently is to tout chances to visit an Amazon fulfillment center. Preferably one with A/C.

If not you may have misinformation on what you're saying about the company. If you would like to know more ask me about my experience Here is the link if you would like a tour: https://t.co/UAm42ClV7K (2/2) -- Shauntrelle - Amazon FC Ambassador (@AmazonFCShaunJ) August 24, 2018

Here come the mockers

It's bad enough to try and pretend that any criticism is 180 degrees from reality. That demands a suspension of disbelief and the assumption that every current or former employee who talks about bad conditions is lying. Perhaps the world is always ready for another conspiracy theory.

On top of the inept structure, the approach also begs for people to mock it, including some who have pretended to be with the program. Here are some examples:

hey quick question about your role as an Amazon FC ambassador:

how much is Amazon paying you to be a corporate shill -- the gitrog memester (@Gitrog_memester) August 24, 2018

this amazon fc ambassador thing is insane, think of how much some exec is getting paid for inventing for this pointless scheme vs the dregs being offered to the fulfillment center workers that are put up to this. -- (@_YoungCommodity) August 24, 2018

The speakers in all the Amazon warehouses blare music constantly. All the lyrics are about how hard work is its own reward and how we should sacrifice everything for the company. Jeff Bezos calls it "toilcore." He's very into it. -- John - Amazon FC Ambassador (@JohnSeaborn) August 24, 2018

Entrepreneurial takeaway

Amazon does many things well. Crisis PR is not one of them. If there are unflattering stories coming out about your operation, do the following:
The escalating trade war between the U.S. and China has many detractors--the loudest among them being the business owners and CEOs who fear the tit-for-tat tariffs will imperil their companies' competitiveness. Nearly 360 executives are expected to testify by the time the six days of hearings on Capitol Hill wrap up August 27. While the vast majority are planning to argue against a proposed additional 25 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, you'd be wrong to think all businesses are against them.

Some business owners--particularly those whose products are made in the U.S.A.--welcome the effort as they hope it will lead to a renaissance in U.S. manufacturing, bolster job creation, and elevate the American brand worldwide. Inc. spoke to several such owners who, although they won't be making their case at the hearings, see the tariffs as a win for their industries.

"Nobody makes anything start-to-finish anymore. I find that it's a little scary," says Laurel Murphy, co-owner of Handknitting.com, a Jackson, Wyoming-based online yarn and knitting supplies store founded in 1996. "There used to be a wool industry in this country, and there is not anymore."

Murphy is one of many entrepreneurs who lament the loss of U.S. manufacturing strength, which has indeed plunged. By way of example: Manufacturing jobs numbered 11.5 million in 2009, down from 17 million a decade earlier, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The loss follows the uptick in the U.S.-China trade deficit, which ballooned to $375 billion in 2017 from $83 billion in 2001.

To be sure, many of these jobs were not so much lost but rather moved from manufacturing to other industries, such as construction and commerce, explains Brad DeLong, an economics professor from the University of California, in this thoroughly illustrative piece from May 2017.

Even so, recent reports suggest that the Trump administration's strategy may achieve its goal. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg reckon the ongoing trade battle will effectively reduce China's economic growth--albeit only by an expected 0.2 percentage point this year and 0.3 percentage point in 2019. The most populous nation's economy, before the tariffs, was on track to grow 6.6 percent this year and 6.3 percent in 2019. The trade war also will slow the U.S. economy, which last quarter's data had put on track to grow 4.1 percent this year. Economists peg next year's growth at less than half that rate.

Greg Owens, the co-founder and CEO of Sherrill Manufacturing, is fine with the short-term ding to the American economy if it means China will cease unfair trade practices like devaluing its currency to keep prices artificially low or subsidizing certain industries. "What [the administration is] trying to do is force China to change its behavior, [and] they're using tariffs to get them to the negotiation table," says Owens, whose Sherrill, New York-based company makes Liberty Tabletop, the last American-made flatware brand. (It's worth noting that the U.S. also awards subsidies to American companies in various industries.)

Similarly, Larry Homsher, co-owner of Llads Ventures, a Quarryville, Pennsylvania-based business that buys and sells tire casings for trucks, thinks the trade dispute will be a win for the U.S. Today, he says, people choose to buy new "cheap Chinese tires" rather than retreaded, or repaired, ones like the kind his clients sell. That, he adds, reduces opportunities for his buyers. One of his customers, a Virginia-based company that repairs used tires, has seen a 50 percent drop in sales in the last year, Homsher says, from 9,000 retreaded tires per month to about 5,000.

The trade tactics follow Trump's other so-called business-improvement measures, such as the massive tax cuts passed earlier this year and a bid to reduce regulations curbing coal production in the U.S. Homsher says that Llads Ventures, which he runs with his two brothers, is experiencing its best epoch since their father started the business in 1948. While it is true that some customers are suffering, Homsher says he managed to expand its customer pool in part thanks to President Trump re-igniting the coal industry in West Virginia. The company recently added four new hires, growing the team to 21 employees, as a result of strong sales.
What happens when you attain a major goal? Let's say a project you worked hard on turns into a big success. An investment you made doubles in value. Or you land a dream job. If you're like most people, successes like these can lead you to believe in your own talent and smarts. You may crow to the world about how wonderful you are, which is fine. But in this age of social media and instant access, remember that anyone and everyone will be listening when you do.

That's an important lesson that an unnamed young woman just learned the hard way. Identified only as Naomi H (Twitter handle: @NaomiH_official), she apparently recently landed a coveted internship at NASA. She was very excited--some might say too excited. She announced her appointment with profane exuberance in a tweet: "EVERYONE SHUT THE F--K UP/I GOT ACCEPTED FOR A NASA INTERNSHIP"

Homer Hickam, a former NASA engineer, current member of the National Space Council, and inspiration for the movie October Sky, which was based on his memoir Rocket Boys, happened to see the tweet. "I'm a Vietnam vet and not at all offended by the F-word," Hickam explained later in a blog post which has apparently been taken down but is still archived here. "However, when I saw NASA and the word used together, it occurred to me that this young person might get in trouble if NASA saw it." And so, he tweeted her a one-word warning: "Language."

Now, right here is where Naomi H--and some of her friends--could have changed the whole outcome of this story. Take the warning in the spirit it was intended. Pay it some attention. This is still the federal government you're dealing with, and while it may employ a lot of Right Stuff Chuck Yeager types, it also employs a lot of stuffy bureaucrats not known for their appreciation of youthful exuberance or street language. The smartest move would have been to take down the original tweet. But they probably would have been fine with the second-smartest move, which would have been simply to do nothing.

They didn't choose either of these options. Instead, Naomi H responded to Hickam with even more profanity: "Suck my dick and balls I'm working at NASA"

Hickam, with admirable restraint, merely replied, "And I am on the National Space Council that oversees NASA."

With friends like these...

There might have still been a chance to save the situation at that point. Once Hickam explained who he was, Naomi H may have realized she'd made an error. (Since then, she appears to have made her Twitter account private.) Unfortunately, some of her well-meaning friends apparently jumped in to defend her. Hickam merely notes that they "said a lot of unkind things," although, if their everyday use of language is similar to hers, it seems likely their comments were equally profane. But--and here's the dumbest part of this very dumb story--they used the hashtag #NASA in their messages to Hickam.

It may well be that up until that moment no NASA official was aware of the exchange. But NASA employees do pay attention to the #NASA hashtag, as one might expect. They saw the conversation. And, according to Hickam's blog post, they decided to revoke Naomi H's internship because of it. Hickam goes out of his way to note that he had nothing to with this--and could not have had anything to do with it because he has no direct involvement in hiring or firing. He also writes that the young woman reached out to him with what he terms an unnecessary apology. He says he apologized in turn and, after speaking to Naomi H and reviewing her resume?, has concluded that she deserves a good job in aerospace and is working to help her get one. He also says he contacted NASA to make sure there is no black mark on her record. He even says she can re-apply for an internship if she wants. (NASA has so far made no public statement about the incident nor responded to a request for comment.)

This story may have a happy ending for Naomi H, thanks to Hickam's extraordinary generosity of spirit. If so, she's very, very lucky. In most situations, you just can't tell your boss's boss's boss to "suck my dick and balls" and expect to wind up with a good job.
Just in case youre wondering why theres no drama column in todays, Ive been so preoccupied withthat my editorssuggested I take a week off. Not that they had to push too hard! Ever since my beloved spouse crashed and burned in Cape May a week and a half ago, Ive spent most of my waking hours at her bedside, watching old movies, running errands, and generally spreading sweetness and light in all directions.

Im about to restart the professional machine again: I saw two shows in Cape May last week and will be seeing another one off Broadway tomorrow afternoon, and I expect to crank up the word processor and start generating prose early next week. For the moment, though, Im devoting all of my energies, such as they are, to helping the ICU staff at New York-Presbyterian look after the woman I love. Can you blame me? Like the man says, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The next James Bond movie has been thrown into jeopardy after Danny Boyle parted ways with the project over creative differences.

The producers have been forced to return to the drawing board as they look to scrap Boyle and co-writer John Hodges script.

The result is that Eon productions and MGM will most likely have to postpone the movies release, which is currently slated for 25 October 2019.

Sources told Variety that the companies are not searching for a director but a writer-director, putting emphasis on screenwriting. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the duo behind Skyfall and Spectre, previously submitted a script for Bond 25  something that the producers are reportedly not keen to return to.

Filming was expected to begin on the 8 December with Boyle at Londons Pinewood Studios. Should the filmmakers not be able to make the date, this could cause havoc for scheduling as secured shooting locations and timings would be lost.

Product placement in James Bond films Show all 6 1 /6 Product placement in James Bond films Product placement in James Bond films Sony Vaio in Casino Royale Bond was besotted with his Sony Vaio in Casino Royale. Product placement in James Bond films Heineken In Skyfall, Daniel Craig's Bond controversially had a Heineken. The deal is estimated to have cost the beer producers $45 million. Product placement in James Bond films American Motors In The Man With The Golden Gun, Bond exclusively drove American Motors as part of a $5 million deal which saw the AMC Hornet jump over a broken bridge Eon Productions Product placement in James Bond films Omega Bond has nearly always worn an Omega watch. The one featured in Tomorrow Never Dies was eventually sold at Christies. Product placement in James Bond films Red Stripe Instead of sipping from a Martini, in Dr. No Bond decided to neck a Red Stripe. Product placement in James Bond films Aston Martin The Astin Martin: Bond's main choice of car since the beginning. A new one was made especially for Spectre.

Separate reports have indicated that Boyle departed the project after clashing with Daniel Craig, the movies leading star. The Trainspotting director allegedly wanted to cast Polish actor Tomasz Kot as the villain and bring in Cold War story elements.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Boyle, Craig and Eon Productions for comment.
Hackers linked with the Iranian government are targeting universities and academic institutions around the world as part of a major campaign to steal unpublished research and obtain intellectual property, security researchers have revealed.

Cyber experts from IT firm Secureworks discovered the attacks, which they believe stem from the Cobalt Dickens group operating out of Iran.

The hackers targeted 76 universities located in 14 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States

As the investigation is still ongoing into the hacking attacks, Secureworks has not shared the full list of universities. However, the firm told The Independent that targets include universities listed in the Times Higher Education Top 50..

Countries with targeted universities. The darker the color, the higher the number of affected universities (Secureworks)

The campaign involved creating fake websites that resembled the login pages for each university.

Anyone who accidentally filled in their account name and passwords to the spoofed login pages would have handed the group their login credentials.

After filling in their details, victims would be automatically redirected to the legitimate website, meaning they may have been unaware that they had fallen for the hack.

Iran protests  in pictures Show all 11 1 /11 Iran protests  in pictures Iran protests  in pictures University students at an anti-government protest inside Tehran University, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests  in pictures A university student at a protest inside Tehran University while a smoke grenade is thrown by anti-riot Iranian police, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests  in pictures University students at a protest inside Tehran University, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests  in pictures University students run away from the police during an anti-government protest inside Tehran University, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests  in pictures An image grab taken from a handout video released by Iran's Mehr News agency reportedly shows a group of men pulling at a fence in a street in Tehran, 30 December 2017 AFP/Getty Iran protests  in pictures Demonstrators gather to protest in Tehran, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests  in pictures Iranians chant slogans as they march in support of the government near the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran, 30 December 2017 AFP/Getty Iran protests  in pictures Iranians chant slogans as they march in support of the government near the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran, December 30 2017 Iran protests  in pictures Iranian clerics take part during a state-organized rally against anti-government protests in the country, in the holy city of Qom, south west Iran, 3 January 2018 EPA Iran protests  in pictures In this photo provided by the Iranian Students' News Agency, a clergyman takes a picture of a pro-government demonstration in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran, 3 January 2018 ISNA via AP Iran protests  in pictures Pro-government demonstrators gather at the Massoumeh shrine in Iran's holy city of Qom, some 130 kilometres south of Tehran, 3 January 2018 AFP/Getty

Most of the domains for the fake websites were registered between May and August of this year, with the most recent registration on 19 August.

"The targeting of online academic resources is similar to previous cyber operations by COBALT DICKENS, a threat group associated with the Iranian government," a spokesperson for Secureworks said.

"In those operations, which also shared infrastructure with the August attacks, the threat group created lookalike domains to phish targets and used credentials to steal intellectual property from specific resources, including library systems."

Earlier this year, the US Justice Department charged nine Iranians for conducting a massive cyber theft campaign on behalf of the Iranian government.

The indictment alleged that the Iranians stole more than 31 terabytes of documents and data from more than 140 universities, 30 companies and five government agencies in the US.

"The hackers targeted innovations and intellectual property from our countrys greatest minds," US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at the time.

"These defendants are now fugitives from American justice, no longer free to travel outside Iran without risk of arrest. The only way they will see the outside world is through their computer screens, but stripped of their greatest asset  anonymity.

It is unclear if these nine alleged hackers were involved in the latest attacks.
Giving up drinking completely is the only way to avoid the health risks associated with alcohol, according to a major new study.

Alcohol-related problems kill around 7 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women every year, and drinking is the leading cause of death and disability for people aged 15-49.

Though previous research has shown moderate levels of drinking may protect against heart disease, the new study concluded any supposed boosts to health are massively offset by the costs.

The researchers covered 195 countries between 1990 and 2016, and amassed data from hundreds of other studies.

With the largest collected evidence base to date, our study makes the relationship between health and alcohol clear  drinking causes substantial health loss, in myriad ways, all over the world, said Dr Max Griswold from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, one of the studys lead authors.

They estimated that one drink a day increases the risk of developing an alcohol-related diseases including cancer, diabetes and tuberculosis by 0.5 per cent. This shot up to 7 per cent for those having two drinks a day, and 37 per cent for five drinks.

Top nations by average number of standard daily drinks* (2016) MEN Romania: 8.2 Portugal: 7.3 Luxembourg: 7.3 Lithuania: 7.0 Ukraine: 7.0 Bosnia and Herzegovina: 6.5 Belarus: 6.0 Estonia: 6.0 Spain: 5.8 Hungary: 5.5 WOMEN Ukraine: 4.2 Andorra: 3.4 Luxembourg: 3.4 Belarus: 3.4 Sweden: 3.2 Denmark: 3.2 Ireland: 3.1 United Kingdom: 3.0 Germany: 2.9 Switzerland: 2.8



*The study defined one drink as 10g of pure alcohol, equivalent to a can of beer or a shot of spirits

The findings emerge after another report found the drinks sector in the UK relies on people drinking above government limits for nearly 40 per cent of its revenues.

Official guidelines currently state that to keep alcohol health risks low, it is safest to avoid consuming more than 14 units a week  about seven pints of lager  on a regular basis.

However, the UKs chief medical officers have previously stated that despite this allowance, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption  a point that has been reinforced by this study.

There is a compelling and urgent need to overhaul policies to encourage either lowering peoples levels of alcohol consumption or abstaining entirely, said Dr Emmanuela Gakidou, who also worked on the new research.

The myth that one or two drinks a day are good for you is just that  a myth. This study shatters that myth.

The findings were broadly welcomed by scientists and NGOs as a decisive statement on the impact drinking has on society.

Dr Tony Rao, a psychiatrist at Kings College London who was not involved in the study, commended the effort to unravel the complicated relationship between alcohol and health.

We can now be more confident that there is no safe limit for alcohol when considering overall health risks, he said.

 People who abstain from alcohol are off sick more often than those who drink moderately

The authors of the research, published in the journal The Lancet, noted their efforts did not take in all aspects of alcohol consumption. Ample data were not available for alcohol-related violence and traffic accidents, or for the illicit production and consumption of alcoholic drinks.

The findings have ramifications for public health policy, and have prompted calls for government action to make a serious dent in the population-level consumption of alcohol.

These diseases of unhealthy behaviours, facilitated by unhealthy environments and fuelled by commercial interests putting shareholder value ahead of the tragic human consequences, are the dominant health issue of the 21st century, said Dr Robyn Burton from Kings College London.

The solutions are straightforward: increasing taxation creates income for hard-pressed health ministries, and reducing the exposure of children to alcohol marketing has no downsides.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

However, others were more measured in their response to the new findings, and emphasised the need to weigh them up against the benefits of alcohol.

Given the pleasure presumably associated with moderate drinking, claiming there is no safe level does not seem an argument for abstention, said Professor David Spiegelhalter, a statistician who specialises in understanding of risk at the University of Cambridge.

There is no safe level of driving, but government do not recommend that people avoid driving.

Come to think of it, there is no safe level of living, but nobody would recommend abstention.
Britain stands to lose around half a billion pounds of annual European science funding in the event of a no-deal Brexit, jeopardising research into cancer and other health treatments, new figures reveal.

The UK receives 1.28bn (1.15bn) every year from Horizon 2020, the EUs funding programme for science and innovation.

The nation would lose around 45 per cent of the cash, and its ability to influence key European projects, in a no-deal scenario, according to analysis by the Scientists for EU group.

The government had previously attempted to reassure scientists by claiming they would still have access to EU funding under third country rules, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Recommended Leading scientists back call for Brexit deal vote

But following the publication this week of their plans for a no-deal Brexit, the government has updated advice to scientists to concede funding from the EU would be lost.

Third country participation does not extend to some Horizon 2020 calls, the advice now reads.

That line updated a report published at the beginning of August which said: In a no-deal scenario, UK researchers and businesses would be able to apply to, and participate in all those Horizon 2020 calls open to third country participants from the date of exit.

Without full membership of Horizon 2020, the UK would lose access to money from the European Research Council (ERC), Marie Skodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and SME Instrument grants, which are not available to third countries.

The revelation comes after leading scientists voiced concerns about a chaotic exit from the EU and declared their support for The Independents Final Say campaign, calling for a referendum on the final Brexit deal.

People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Show all 30 1 /30 People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Rex People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young protestor shouts as she takes part in the People's Vote demonstration against Brexit Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A protester's pro-EU t-shirt EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Gina Miller and Caroline Lucas EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Tens of thousands of people march through London EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Demonstrators at the People's Vote March Getty People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal 'Two months too young to decide on my future' REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young girl joins in the march PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal An EU flag is draped across the statue of Winston Chruchill in Parliament Square REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Vince Cable MP, Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller, Tony Robinson and Caroline Lucas MP join with crowds PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Crowds gather on Pall Mall PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A man resembling Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, joins EU supporters Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal People gather in Trafalgar Square REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller and Tony Robinson PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march REUTERS

The highly prestigious ERC and MSCA make up the biggest chunk of funding from the EU, and losing them would be a major hit to the UKs scientific community.

Professor Lisa Bortolotti, of the University of Birmingham, and whose mental health research spans psychology, psychiatry and philosophy, said that without the programmes, projects like mine could not be pursued in the UK.

Losing ERC funding is mad, she added.

Olivier Stephan, who coordinates grants at the Francis Crick Institute, said the ERC drives some of the countrys most important science, citing its work fighting cancer.

While, he said, the institute was working on the basis ongoing grants are safe, there are fears for the future of British scientists and the countrys ability to attract foreign talent.

On top of a hit to UK science, the SME Instrument programme provides 143 million to small, innovative UK businesses, funding around 17 per cent of their research and development.

The government has said it will step in to replace any lost funding if necessary, but the effects of third country status go deeper than monetary value, according to some experts.

Throughout my career I have had many, many grants, but none as transformational as the ERC grants, said Professor Carlos Frenk, a cosmologist at Durham University. Access to these grants to a very large extent determines where the very best researchers in the world want to go.

In short, its a mess, said Dr Mike Galsworthy, programme director at Scientists for EU.

Besides the chilling effect the possibility of a no-deal Brexit is having on grant applications and hiring in the sector, he noted people who received EU grants were having to register with the government just in case.

 Dominic Raab: Government ready to deliver no-deal Brexit

So its devastation if it does happen, and just lesser damage, red tape and waste if it doesnt, he said.

According to Scientists for EU, third country status would also mean UK researchers in European projects could no longer take leading roles, as the EU will not be willing to put them in charge of the money.

That is why Dame Anne Glover, president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, says it is essential the government arrives at some kind of deal.

If that doesnt happen, there is a danger of us being a sort of lame duck, just looking at what the opportunities are and trying to become partners in research consortia without driving anything, she said.

Despite assurances, Dame Anne said she felt we are really no further forward with understanding the status of science after Brexit.

In March next year if there is no deal, the EU is not going to scrabble around to help researchers in the UK, she said.

There may be an accommodation reached for a period of time, but there will be a hiatus, and research does not work well with a hiatus.

Professor Frenk added, unlike some of the predicted effects of a no-deal Brexit, the loss of scientific funds would not change the country overnight.

The effects wont be seen tomorrow, they wont be seen next year  they will be seen gradually over the years as we see a general decline in the scientific excellence of the UK, he said.
A man has been jailed for six years after he pretended to be a survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire, ran up a 40,000 hotel bill with taxpayers money, burgled a nearby flat and then lied to a judge about his victim status to gain a reduced sentence for the break-in.

Derrick Peters was put up in the Park Grand Hotel in Paddington, west London, after he claimed to have lost a friend and all his belongings in last Junes deadly blaze  and Kensington and Chelsea Council continued to pay for his room even while he was on remand in Wandsworth Prison.

His eye-watering bill at the 192-a-night hotel, described on its website as a four-star luxury boutique hotel, included more than 5,000 spent on food, drink and laundry out of a total 38,784.

The council continued paying for his room for two months while he was in custody, after he was arrested on 10 August last year. He had stolen jewellery and other items worth some 3,000 from an apartment near the hotel.

Following his sentencing on 16 October for the burglary, for which he was handed a community order, Peters continued to pretend he had been caught up in the Grenfell fire and was even offered a flat meant for genuine victims of the disaster that left 72 people dead.

But the story unravelled when Rebecca Ross, a Grenfell survivor whose father Steve Power perished in the fire, confirmed Peters had not lived with them and their three dogs as he had claimed.

Peters pleaded guilty to perverting the court of justice and two counts of fraud at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday, and was sentenced to a total of six years in prison yesterday. He was also resentenced for the original burglary charge.

Judge Robin Johnson told Peters he was sure he had been spared jail previously because of his brazen lie to the judge in his burglary case.

It was designed to pull heart strings. It succeeded, just as the similar lies were providing you with hotel accommodation and money, he said.

Your conduct from June last year was utterly disgraceful. You cheated and lied for your own ends, trading on others misery. There can be little mercy in such a case.

The judge said Peters crimes had reached such depths as any right-minded member of the public would find repulsive.

Not only did you burgle a persons house, but when caught you latched on to the same idea that had enriched you for weeks, he continued.

You advanced bogus mitigation which was designed to, and which did, spare you from condign punishment.

On hearing your mitigation, the sentencing judge was sufficiently moved to spare you, a person who has a long and unenviable criminal record, from prison.

The court heard Peters had 40 convictions for 90 offences, including 24 for fraud and 73 for theft.

 Grenfell Inquiry: Firefighter bodycam footage shows how they tackled blaze inside flat where fire started

He is the sixth person to be sentenced for fraud relating to the Grenfell fire and received the longest prison term yet.

Peters received a sentence of three years and four months for two counts of fraud, 20 months for perverting the course of justice, and 12 months for burglary, to be served consecutively, the Metropolitan Police said.

In a statement read in court, Edward Daffarn, a member of the Grenfell United survivors group, said he was left sickened by what Peters had done.

It is upsetting beyond words to learn the tragedy of Grenfell Tower is being used by individuals so that they can exploit our misery for their own gain, he said.

It is pouring salt on the wounds of the bereaved and ex-tower residents to know that the deaths and trauma we have had to endure is seen simply as an opportunity for others to profit and exploit.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Show all 18 1 /18 Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Kitchen in flat 16 where the fire started Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 ReutersGrenfell Tower Inquiry/Reuters Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Hallway in flat 16, leading to the kitchen where the fire started Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Living room in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Toilet in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Living room in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom 2 of flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/Reuters Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom 2 of flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/Reuters Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Kitchen in flat 16 where the fire started Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Door to flat 16 from the lobby on floor 4 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Living room in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Hallway in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA

Corrinne Jones described escaping from the towers 17th floor with her two young children as one of the most horrific things that I have experienced.

I find people lying about living in a building where a considerable amount of people died as disrespectful and distasteful, she said in a statement.

The judge told Peters: The facts of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy are well known. The effect on those who died, their families and friends, cannot be imagined by those who were not directly affected.

Members of the public, indeed the nation, were shocked by the dreadful event.

The fact that the unscrupulous sought to enrich themselves with accommodation, room service and money is the more shocking in the light of the outpouring of grief and sympathy that followed the disaster.

The Independent has contacted Kensington and Chelsea Council for comment.

Additional reporting by PA
McDonalds is under fire from animal-welfare activists who say the chickens it uses for food suffer heart failure and lameness because they are forced to grow fat too quickly.

Menu items such as McNuggets, chicken sandwiches and salads come from birds that have been selectively bred over time to put on weight more rapidly than is natural, causing painful health problems, according to the campaigners.

They claim the worlds biggest fast-food chain failed to address the issue of the fast-growing breed when it issued a new animal-welfare policy last year.

Providing chickens with enrichments and improvements is meaningless until they change to breeds with better welfare Pru Elliott, Humane League UK

The animal welfare campaigners have now launched a worldwide campaign, beginning with McDonalds, lobbying against companies that use the breed in intensive farming systems.

The new guidelines that McDonalds issued in October require suppliers to follow new standards by 2024 for raising and slaughtering chickens, including increasing the amount and brightness of light in chicken houses and providing birds with access to perches that promote natural behaviour.

McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Show all 6 1 /6 McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Humane League UK McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Humane League UK McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Humane League UK McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Humane League UK McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Humane League UK McDonalds condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure Humane League UK

The company also pledged to conduct trials with suppliers to measure the wellbeing of different breeds.

But the Humane League UK says the pledges still allow quickly growing breeds to be commonplace in factory farming systems.



The one billion broiler chickens raised for meat in the UK each year have been selectively bred over decades to prioritise fast growth and big breast muscles.

They grow so big so fast that their bones and organs cannot keep up, according to critics of intensive farming, who claim the weight of the birds upper bodies causes leg pain and lameness, sometimes collapsing under their own weight, while the pressure on their hearts means birds often die prematurely of heart disease.

When they are handled badly before transport or slaughter, their weak bones means their legs often break.

Broiler chickens account for 95 per cent of all land animals farmed in Britain, with animal charities also arguing the barren warehouses where they are reared are cramped and cruel.

The Humane League says todays birds have been made into genetic monsters that grow unnaturally fast and often cannot even walk. Their environment is crowded, filthy and devoid of anything related to a natural life.

Pru Elliott, of The Humane League, said: Despite claiming to invest in animal welfare, McDonalds is showing resistance to change and lack of leadership on the issue of chickens reared for meat.

McDonalds uses free-range eggs and organic milk so why does it source chickens that have been bred to grow so fast their bodies cant keep up? This doesnt make sense, and ultimately chickens are suffering en masse because of it.

Chickens are the most numerous farmed animal and suffer in the greatest numbers, so why are McDonalds failing to make change where it really counts?

A coalition of groups opposed to factory farming wants food firms to sign up to the better chicken commitment, a new set of standards that includes using breeds that grow more slowly, reducing overcrowding, providing better living environments and ending cruel slaughter practices. The standards go above and beyond the minimum legal requirements for poultry welfare.

Ms Elliott said changing the breed used was the crucial factor in curbing unthinkable suffering.

Providing chickens with enrichments and improvements is meaningless until they change to breeds with better welfare, because the birds suffering is such that they cant make use of them or appreciate them, she said.

The Humane League has launched a worldwide campaign, called Im Not Lovin It, to put pressure on McDonalds.

A series of events in the UK included inviting passers-by to throw damp sponges at a volunteer dressed as the chains publicity character Ronald McDonald, who was put in stocks; activists dressed as him visiting the companys headquarters; flashdancing in Leicester Square, London, and handing in a petition with 236,000 names.

Pret A Manger signed up to the better chicken commitment within four hours of the campaigns being launched. Azzurri Group, which operates Zizzi and Ask Italian, has also signed up.

McDonalds said it is committed to sourcing food and packaging sustainably.

This includes continuing to invest significantly to raise welfare standards for the animals in our supply chain and undertaking research to increase industry understanding of the challenges that remain, said a spokesman.

He said farms that rear its chickens must meet independently set farm assurance standards.

In addition to this, for a number of years we have required them to provide enrichment objects for the birds to peck and perch on, as well as windows in their houses to provide natural light, he added.

We recently announced a Global Chicken Sustainability Advisory Council, a multi-stakeholder group including leading academics and animal health and welfare experts, global suppliers and NGOs. This group will provide deep expertise, diverse perspectives, and recommendations for evolving our chicken welfare and sustainability strategy across the world.
Nicola Sturgeon has vowed that sexual harassment claims against Alex Salmond will not be swept under the carpet, as she revealed she had known about them for some time.

The Scottish First Minister said her relationship with her predecessor makes this an extremely difficult situation for me to come to terms with.

But she added: I have been clear on many occasions that all organisations and workplaces must make it possible for people to come forward to report concerns and have confidence that they will be treated seriously.

For that principle to mean anything it cannot be applied selectively. It must be applied without fear or favour, regardless of the identity, seniority or political allegiance of the person involved.

Ms Sturgeon was speaking for the first time since the Daily Record revealed Mr Salmond has been accused of carrying out attacks on two staff members in the first ministers official Edinburgh residence in December 2013.

The Scottish Government has confirmed it received two complaints regarding Mr Salmond, who has described the allegations as patently ridiculous.

The former SNP leader and first minister is taking the government to court over the way it is investigating the claims, arguing a real court should decide whether he has a case to answer.

Ms Sturgeon said: Although I have been aware for some time of the fact of the investigation - initially from Alex Salmond - I have had no role in the process, and to have referred to it before now would have compromised the integrity of the internal investigation, which I was not prepared to do.

Alex Salmond is now challenging the Scottish Government's procedure in court. The Scottish Government refutes his criticisms of its process and will defend its position vigorously.

However, this focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet.

She added: I am also acutely aware how upsetting this will be for my party. However, the over-riding priority must be to ensure fair and due process.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 25 October 2021 Second World War veteran James White, 96, at the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance, marking the start of the remembrance period PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2021 Richard Ratcliffe holds up a photo of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as he protests outside the Foreign Office while on hunger strike, part of an effort to lobby the UK foreign secretary to bring his wife home from detention in Iran Getty UK news in pictures 23 October 2021 Partner of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Stella Morris and Editor in Chief of WikiLeaks Kristinn Hrafnsson attend a protest ahead of the appeal hearing over Assange's extradition, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 22 October 2021 Palace Gardener Justine Howlett adds the finishing touches to pumpkins bearing the face of Henry VIII and his wives, at Hampton Court Palace. PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2021 Flooded fields near Lingfield in Surrey, after southern England was hit overnight by heavy rain and strong winds from Storm Aurore moving in from France PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2021 A wing surfer enjoys the strong winds as they surf in the sea off of Hayling Island in Hampshire PA UK news in pictures 19 October 2021 Actor Jude Law holds hands with Little Amal, a 3.5-metre-tall puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian girl, as it arrives in Folkestone, Kent, as part of the Handspring Puppet Company's 'The Walk' PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2021 A view over Southend-on-Sea in Essex, which is set to become a city in tribute to Sir David Amess MP, who spent years campaigning for the change Getty UK news in pictures 17 October 2021 Members of the Essex Bangladeshi Welfare Association pay their respects by floral tributes laid at the scene where Sir David Amess MP was killed at Belfairs Methodist Church, in Leigh-on-Sea Reuters UK news in pictures 16 October 2021 Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer, Priti Patel and Lindsay Hoyle pay respects to Sir David Amess at Belfairs Methodist Church, in Leigh-on-Sea, the site of his death EPA UK news in pictures 15 October 2021 A person lays flowers at the scene near the Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess has died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery. A man has been arrested and officers are not looking for anyone else PA UK news in pictures 14 October 2021 A red deer stag during rutting season in Bushy Park, Richmond, south west London, which is home to over 300 red and fallow deer PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2021 Police officers detain a man as Insulate Britain activists block a roundabout at a junction on the M25 motorway during a protest in Thurrock Reuters UK news in pictures 12 October 2021 The aerial climate installation by Swiss artivist Dan Acher 'We Are Watching' is unveiled at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2021 A young girl is helped by a Border Force officer as a group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel. PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2021 People walk past a life-size sculpture of British singer John Lennon entitled "Imagine", by sculptor Lawrence Holofcener, displayed to mark what would have been the 81st birthday for the former member of the Beatles in Carnaby Street Reuters UK news in pictures 8 October 2021 WW II veteran, 96-year-old Lorna Cockayne, who served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), popularly and officially known as the Wrens, as a Bletchley Park codebreaker, poses for a photograph with the Legion d'honneur after receiving it during a ceremony at the Pear at Parley in Ferndown, Bournemouth PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2021 British comedian Jo Brand poses with cut-out silhouettes representing women outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard, to highlight violence against women by male police officers or former police officers AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA

Leslie Evans, permanent secretary at the Scottish Government, said two complaints were raised in January against Mr Salmond and he was notified in March.

Ms Evans said the former first minister started legal proceedings last week when informed that a statement on the complaints was to be made public.

Mr Salmond has since dropped the proceedings, allowing the permanent secretary to confirm the issue.

The Daily Record reported that allegations about his conduct towards two staff members in 2013 - while he was in office - have been handed to Police Scotland, but the force would not comment on any inquiry.

In a statement, Mr Salmond said: This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence.

It is therefore with great reluctance that I have today launched a judicial review in the Court of Session which will decide the issue of the lawfulness of the procedure which has been used against me.
Tory infighting has erupted again as Conservative Brexiteers accused Philip Hammond of launching another dodgy Project Fear with warnings over the economic impact of a no-deal Brexit.

In a letter published on Thursday, the chancellor reiterated estimates in a government analysis that borrowing could be 80bn higher if the UK crashes out of the bloc and GDP could fall by 10 per cent.

But his remarks came just hours after his cabinet colleague and Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, attempted to reassure the public over a disorderly exit and cited opportunities that could arise.

Dismissing the chancellors warning on BBC Newsnight, the Eurosceptic Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: I think a free trade deal can be achieved, but that leaving on WTO terms is not as absurdly frightening as the chancellor of the Exchequer thinks it may be.

The Treasurys Brexit panic means you can no longer trust the Treasurys forecasts.

Marcus Fysh, a second Tory MP, referred to the Treasurys previous dubious forecasts before adding that the chancellor seemed determined to wheel them out again for yet another instalment of dodgy project fear.

A government source also told the Daily Telegraph: This was a deliberate intervention by Philip, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Pro-EU campaigners described the contents of the letter as a Brexit bazooka while John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said Mr Hammond ad threw a hand grenade into the debate over a no-deal scenario.

But the Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, defended the chancellor, claiming the letter published on Thursday said nothing new and that Mr Hammond was absolutely committed to the prime ministers Chequers blueprint for Brexit.

This is provisional analysis that the Treasury published back in January this year and I think all Philip was doing was simply referring back to that in response to a senior member of parliament, Mr Lidington told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

In his letter, addressed to the senior Tory MP and chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Nicky Morgan, Mr Hammond said: This January provisional analysis estimated that in a no-deal/WTO scenario, GDP would be 7.7 per cent lower (range 5.0 per cent -10.3 per cent) relative to a status quo baseline. This represents the potential expected static state around 15 years out from the exit point.

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

The analysis did not estimate the path the economy and different sectors might take under no deal and the potential for short-term disruption.

He added: GDP impacts of this magnitude, were they to arise, would have large fiscal consequences.

In her response, the pro-EU MP, Ms Morgan, replied: The chancellor has confirmed that the government forecasts a disastrous hit to our economy and living standards in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The row came as the World Trade Organisation director general Roberto Azevedo has said a no-deal Brexit would not be the end of the world but added it would not be a walk in the park either.

Kael De Gucht, the former European commissioner for trade, also suggested the prospect of a no-deal Brexit was highly unlikely and that he believed at the very least a very vague deal will be agreed before Britain formally leaves the bloc in March 2019.

In the end there will be a deal, he told said. Whether this is a solution is quite a different question.
Donald Trump has been warned the countdown to impeachment is underway, after his former lawyer implicated the president in crimes committed during the 2016 election.

On Thursday, Mr Trump publicly addressed the prospect of impeachment for the first time, claiming the market would crash if his presidency was threatened.

I don't know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job, Mr Trump told Fox News. I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor because, without this thinking, you would see  you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe, in reverse.

Mr Trumps comments came after Michael Cohen, his long-time legal fixer, pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including two counts of campaign finance violations, which he said he committed at the direction of the president.

 Senator Richard Blumenthal says the US is in a Watergate moment after Michael Cohen pleads guilty

Cohen admitted paying hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both alleged to have had extramarital affairs with Mr Trump.

Tom Cole, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, warned it was "too soon" to begin impeachment proceedings, but said: "If something comes out that is clear and convincing and impeachable, I think members will act."

Al Green, a Democratic congressman who has previously filed articles of impeachment against Mr Trump, suggested he may do so again following Cohens guilty plea.

"I think the president has to realise that the countdown to impeachment has already started, he said. "He, at some point, will have to choose if he will face impeachment or if he will resign. It will be his choice. The congress will have no choice but to act.

 Rudy Giuliani: The American people 'would revolt' if Trump was impeached

"At some point, we have to act."

Most Democrats, however, are keeping quiet about the prospect of removing Mr Trump from office, amid fears pushing the issue will fire up the Republican base ahead of the midterm elections in November.

I don't think that we should be talking about impeachment, Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth said.

Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Show all 16 1 /16 Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions New York Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Washington Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Newsday Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions St Louis Post Dispatch Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Chicago Sun Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Star Ledger Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Daily News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The New York Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions San Francisco Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Boston Globe Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Houston Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Miami Herald Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Detroit Free Press Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Wall Street Journal Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Dallas Morning News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions USA Today

Nancy Pelosi, the house Democratic leader, has consistently urged her party not to push the issue, and instead work to uphold special counsel Robert Muellers ability to investigate potential crimes committed by the Trump campaign.

The special counsels team and the prosecutors in New York are conducting thorough and professional investigations, and they must be allowed to continue free from interference, Ms Pelosi told fellow Democrats on Wednesday. As November rapidly approaches, we must also stay focused on delivering our strong economic message to hard-working families across America.

Trump allies, however, have been discussing impeachment  raising the prospect in an attempt to convince Republican voters to turn out in November.

 Sarah Sanders: It is a "ridiculous accusation" to say Trump has ever lied

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor hired by Mr Trump last month to join his legal team, warned there would be a revolt in the US if the president was impeached.

"You could only impeach [Trump] for political reasons and the American people would revolt against that," he said.

"The idea of an impeachment is frankly a sad attempt by Democrats, its the only message they seem to have going into the midterms, Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, told reporters. It is another great reminder why Americans should support other like-minded candidates like the president.

Former chief strategist for Mr Trump, Steve Bannon, told Bloomberg: "November is a referendum on impeachment  an up or down vote. Every Trump supporter needs to get with the programme."
Donald Trump has cancelled US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming visit to North Korea, citing a lack of progress on denuclearisation.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Mr Trump tweeted on Friday afternoon.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearisation as they once were," he added.

Mr Pompeo was scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang next week with his newly appointed special envoy, Stephen Biegun. The trip, Mr Pompeo's fourth as secretary of state, was intended to build on agreements reached between the two countries at a joint summit in Singapore earlier this year.

The secretary told reporters this week that he hoped to "make further diplomatic progress towards our objective" of completely denuclearising the Korean Peninsula  a project North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to work towards during the summit in June.

But North Korean officials have said diplomatic talks are currently "deadlocked," and have accused the US of making "gangster-like demands". US intelligence officials say North Korea has actually increased its production of enriched uranium in recent months, and intelligence reports suggest they have started work on yet another ballistic missle.

Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Show all 20 1 /20 Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim leave following their historic meeting AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim sign a document committing to peace between their nations, amongst other things EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump holds up a document that both he and Mr Kim have signed AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un The two leaders reach out to shake hands for the first time AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim shake hands as they meet for the first time Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim walk off stage, following their historic meeting Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim take a stroll after their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim interrupt their stroll to talk to the media AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim and Mr Trump look out over a balcony at the Capella hotel, where they held their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump takes questions at the press conference following his meeting with with Mr Kim AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump appreciates the crowd in the press conference following his meeting with Mr Kim Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Kim Jong Un travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with President Trump on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim poses for a photo with Singapore's Finance Minister Vivian Balkrishnan and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung ahead of the summit with Mr Trump Twitter/Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump shakes hands with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, meeting on Monday June 11 in the Istana, Singapore's presidential palace AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un At a working lunch on Monday, Singapore's Prime Minister surprised Mr Trump with a birthday cake, in early celebration of his 72nd birthday later in the week EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo answers questions about the summit at a press briefing in Singapore on Monday, June 11 Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US President Donald Trump arrives at the Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore on June 10, two days prior to his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim met on Tuesday June 12 in the Capella hotel on the island resort of Sentosa, just off the south coast of Singapore AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump boards Air Force One following the summit AFP/Getty

After Mr Pompeo's most recent visit, North Korean officials said the talks had "brought us in a dangerous situation where we may be shaken in our unshakable will for denuclearisation, rather than consolidating trust between [North Korea] and the US".

Mr Pompeo called the visit "productive".

Even as the US pushes through the talks, Mr Trump has instigated a trade war with perhaps the largest power in the region: China. The president on Thursday placed another round of tariffs on some $16m worth of Chinese goods, on top of existing sanctions on $34m worth of imports. Beijing has responded with tariffs of their own on American-made goods.

 Mike Pompeo meets Kim Jong-un in North Korea

Mr Trump has previously hinted at Chinese interference with the North Korea talks, tweeting in July that Beijing "may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade". Mr Pompeo said earlier this summer that he believed China had relaxed sanctions against the North in order to undercut those imposed by the UN.

On Friday, Mr Trump said Mr Pompeo would return to North Korea in the "near future," likely after the trade dispute with China was resolved.

"In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim," the president added. "I look forward to seeing him soon!"
Hawaii's Big Island was hit with 12 inches of rain in as many hours as the outer bands of Hurricane Lane swept towards the archipelago.

Residents braced for landslides and widespread flooding as the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) helped state authorities prepare for its arrival. Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the islands.

He tweeted you are in our thoughts! to the people of the state.

FEMA administrator Brock Long said there is a lot of uncertainty about the Category 4 storms forecasted path and intensity. What is for sure: Hawaii is going to be impacted. The question is: how bad?, he said at a news conference ahead of the storms landfall.

Recommended Live updates as Hawaii scrambles to prepare for Hurricane Lane

Mr Long confirmed the agency has several barges with food, water, and supplies it moved into the region ahead of Hurricane Hector, which skirted past the islands over a week ago.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell told Hawaii News Now: Some people might say, Another hurricane, it didnt hit us last time, we dont need to worry. No, we got to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

The National Weather Service reported the speed of the hurricane had dropped to 130mph, but meteorologists say that may lead to prolonged bands of rain, possibly causing inland floods and landslides.

It also warned that some areas could see up to 30 inches of rain before the system passes.

 Hurricane Lane ISS captures video of tropical cyclone from space

Bands of rain on Oahu have already extended 350 miles from the hurricanes centre, and 20 to 30 feet swells have been reported from some parts of the Big Islands southern coast.

Lane was not projected to make direct hit on the islands, but officials warned that even a lesser blow could do significant harm.

You do not need a direct strike to have major impacts from a hurricane this strong, said Steve Goldstein, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told the Associated Press.

Residents of the islands began stockpiling groceries for 14 days, per emergency officials guidelines, with bottled water and canned meat Spam selling out the quickest.

 Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell says he does not want to see what happened in Puerto Rico

Several grocery stories were left with empty shelves as the outer bands of the storm hit the eastern islands.

Shelters are open for residents, but officials warned to use them as a last resort because many are not built to handle winds of more than 40mph.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis said theres not enough shelter space statewide and advised those who are not in flood zones to stay home.

Of concern on the island of Oahu, which was put on a hurricane warning late Wednesday, is Hawaiis homeless population  many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Hawaii has been no stranger to dire natural disasters this year. Mount Kilauea has been spewing lava all summer along the southeastern coastline.

Fortunately for residents new lava flow stopped on 9 August according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Without much lava reaching the ocean, the hurricane may not have too much of an impact on the volcano area, Denison University Geophysicist Erik Klemetti told CNN.

A search and rescue team of 36 members based in Menlo Park, California, has been sent to Hawaii ahead of Hurricane Lanes landfall.

California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 is one of 28 such teams across the country, eight of which are based in California.

Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman told the local CBS News affiliate: The task forces are the Swiss Army knives of technical rescue operations and this configuration is specific to a smaller, more focused, water rescue capable unit that can operate in a dynamic field environment for 10 to 14 days.

Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Show all 45 1 /45 Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Recently planted palm trees lie strewn across the road as Hurricane Irma passes by in Miami Beach, Fla. 10 September 2017. AP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Damage outside the Mercure hotel in Marigot, on the Bay of Nettle, on the island of Saint-Martin AFP/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures People pick up debris in Fajardo as Hurricane Irma howled past Puerto Rico after thrashing several smaller Caribbean islands Reuters/Alvin Baez Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Large waves produced by Hurricane Irma crash into the end of Anglins Fishing Pier in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The category 4 hurricane made landfall in the United States in the Florida Keys at 9:10 a.m. after raking across the north coast of Cuba. 10 September 2017 Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A Royal Air Force Puma has been delivered to the US Virgin Islands to assist with the humanitarian efforts post Hurricane Irma. The Puma will be delivering Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief in support of the Department for International Development. Royal Air Force logisticians from RAF Brize Norton have assisted with the delivery of military personnel and aid cargo to the Caribbean to support disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Irma. RAF aircraft including, C-17 A400M and Voyager are supporting a Joint Task Force of RAF, Royal Marines, Army and RN personnel who are supporting the Department for International Development as it delivers aid to stricken Caribbean Islands. MoD Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Flamingos at Zoo Miami, are shown in a temporary enclosure in a hurricane resistant structure within the zoo, Saturday, 9 September 2017 in Miami. Though most animals will reman in their secure structures, the cheetahs and some birds will ride out the storm in temporary housing. AP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Boats are seen at a marina in South Beach as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. 10 September 2017 Reuters Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Storm clouds are seen over Fisher Island as Hurricane Irma approaches on 9 September 2017 in Miami Beach, Florida. Florida is in the path of the Hurricane which may come ashore at category 4 Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Waves crash over a seawall at the mouth of the Miami River from Biscayne Bay, Fla., as Hurricane Irma passes by. 10 September 2017 AP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Some of the damage on Saint Martin EPA/Gerben Van Es/Dutch Department of Defence Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures The skyline is seen as the outerbands of Hurricane Irma start to reach Florida on 9 September 2017 in Miami, Florida. Florida is in the path of the Hurricane which may come ashore at category 4. Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A tree toped by hurricane Irma is seen on a empty street in Remedios, Cuba, 9 September 2017. Hurricane Irma reached Cuba bringing winds between 160 and 190 kilometers per hour. The hurricane has hit the north coast of the island. EPA Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures James Constantineau loads sands bags in his truck as he prepares for the approach of Hurricane Irma Saturday, 9 September 2017, in East Palatka, Fla. Gov. Rick Scott is urging anyone living in an evacuation zone in southwest Florida to leave by noon as the threat of Hurricane Irma has shifted west. AP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures The Fort Louis Marina in Marigot is seen on 8 September 2017 in Saint-Martin island, devastated by Hurricane Irma. AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Destruction in Orient Bay on the island of Saint-Martin AFP/Getty Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures The wreckage in Orient Bay on the island of Saint-Martin AFP/Getty Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures View of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Saint Martin Reuters Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A mobile network tower snapped in two by the hurricane on the island of Barbuda ABS TV Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A house reduced to rubble on the island of Saint Barthelemy AFP/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures General view of damage on Saint Martin Reuters Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A damaged Casino Royale on Saint Martin after the passage of Hurricane Irma Anna Mazur/AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures An aerial photograph taken and released by the Dutch department of Defense shows the damage of Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, the Dutch section of the Caribbean Island Gerben Van Es/AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Flooded houses in Gustavia on the island of Saint-Barthelemy Kevin Barrallon/AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures The damage on the island of Saint-Martin, a day after Hurricane Irma hit AFP/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A man carrying an umbrella is battered by the wind in Fajardo, Puerto Rico Reuters/Alvin Baez Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A lone police car on patrol during the passing of Hurricane Irma in Fajardo, Puerto Rico Jose Jimenez/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Haitian people walk through the wind and rain on a beach in Cap-Haitien on September 7 as Hurricane Irma approaches Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A flooded street on the island of Saint Martin AFP/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A tree collapsed on a house in Saint Martin Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A hotel in Saint Martin is gutted by floodwater during the hurricane Guadeloupe 1ere Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Cars submerged in Saint Martin Rinsy Xieng Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Debris floats amongst the floodwater in Saint Martin @la1ere Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Household items float down the street in Gustavia, Saint-Barthelemy Carole Greaux Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures The coast of Saint Martin is flooded as the hurricane hits the island Meteo Express Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A whole street underwater in Saint Martin @la1ere Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A car crashes into the tree amongst the chaos in Saint Martin @Bondtehond Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A building on the Saint Martin seafront, destroyed by the hurricane @Bondtehond Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A mobile home overturned at Princess Juliana International Airport in Saint Martin @Bondtehond Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Palm trees bend in the wind in San Juan, Puerto Rico as Hurricane Irma slammed across islands in the northern Caribbean Reuters/Alvin Baez Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A woman runs in the rain as Hurricane Irma slammed into San Juan, Puerto Rico Reuters/Alvin Baez Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A picture taken on September 5, 2017 shows a view of the Baie Nettle beach in Marigot, with the wind blowing ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma AFP/Getty Images Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures A man rides past a boarded up house as part of preparations ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma on September 5, 2017, in the French overseas island of Guadeloupe Helene Valenzuela/AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Employees of the Mercure Hotel fill sand bags on the Baie Nettle beach in Marigot, as part of the preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Irma Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures People in line at Costco, as they find out the store has ran out of water on September 5, 2017 in North Miami Michele Eve Sandberg/AFP Hurricane Irma  devastation caused in pictures Night view of the city of Cap-Haitien, in the north of Haiti, 240 km from Port-au-Prince, on September 5, 2017 Hector Retamal/AFP

Residents have expressed concern over what will happen if the hurricane is more devastating than expected and if the federal governments response will be the same as it was in Puerto Rico in 2017.

Unlike citizens of Florida during Hurricane Irma and Texas at the time of Hurricane Harvey who had some option to travel outside of the path of the storms, many Puerto Ricans had nowhere to shelter from Hurricane Maria due to it being a small island.

Mr Trump and FEMAs response to the disaster relief needed was criticised for being near-sighted and ill-prepared. It took nearly 9 months and $4bn (3.1bn) to restore electricity to the island after the hurricane.

The last time a major hurricane hit Hawaii was 11 September 1992. Hurricane Inki was a Category 4 storm just like Lane.

When Inki made landfall it passed north of Kauai it caused $3bn in damages.

The Red Cross estimated it had destroyed or damaged nearly 15,000 homes and remains the costliest storm to hit the islands.

Six people were killed from injuries related to the hurricane and more than 100 were injured.
National Enquirer boss David Pecker has received immunity in the Michael Cohen investigation for providing prosecutors with information on hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a US media report.

The Wall Street Journal said Mr Pecker, CEO of American Media, Inc and a longtime ally of Mr Trump, has allegedly given prosecutors details on payments Donald Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen arranged to two women who alleged they had sexual encounters with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has denied the alleged affairs.

Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felony charges, including campaign finance violations from 2016, earlier this week. Mr Peckers immunity status was first reported by Vanity Fair.

According to the WSJ report, prosecutors say Mr Pecker and Cohen took part in a tabloid tactic called catch and kill where publications suppress potentially damaging stories by buying the rights to a story and then burying it as a favour to someone.

Although the women were not named in Cohens plea deal filed in court, the women who received the payments are former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 (117,000) and porn star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, who received $130,000 (100,00).

Sources have also told WSJ that prosecutors wont reportedly proceed with criminal charges against Dylan Howard, chief content officer for American Media, Inc. for participation regarding the deals.

Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Show all 16 1 /16 Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions New York Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Washington Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Newsday Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions St Louis Post Dispatch Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Chicago Sun Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Star Ledger Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Daily News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The New York Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions San Francisco Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Boston Globe Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Houston Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Miami Herald Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Detroit Free Press Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Wall Street Journal Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Dallas Morning News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions USA Today

The Independent reached out to counsel for American Media, Inc, parent company for the National Enquirer, for comment but there was no immediate comment.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Mr Trump claimed Mr Cohens payments did not come out of the campaign and therefore his actions werent crimes.
A doctor in Hong Kong is on trial accused of murdering his wife and daughter using a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide gas.

Prosecutors said the man, a Malaysian anaesthetist named Khaw Kim-sun, was having an affair with a student at the hospital where he worked, and that he had become estranged from his wife and four children.

Mr Khaws wife, Wong Siew-fung, was found dead alongside their 16-year-old daughter in their locked Mini Cooper stopped at the side of the road, with a deflated yoga ball in the boot.

The case was at first a complete mystery to police, until a post-mortem revealed they had died from breathing a very high quantity of carbon monoxide.

Mr Khaw was accused at the start of the trial in Hong Kong of putting the leaking, gas-filled yoga ball in the car on the day his wife and daughter died, 22 May 2015, according to the South China Morning Post. He was arrested in September.

Mr Khaw had reportedly told colleagues at the teaching hospital that he wanted to "test the purity of the carbon monoxide and its effects on rabbits.

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Later he told police he had wanted to use it to exterminate rats at home, although a domestic helper employed by the family testified that they had no rodent problem.

Prosecutor Andrew Bruce said Mr Khaw was unaware his daughter was home from school on the day of her death and likely had not intended to kill her.

The last thing the accused wanted was for his 16-year-old to die, Mr Bruce was quoted as saying.

(But) if that person knew what was in the car was carbon monoxide and knew it was a dangerous gas likely to kill you, you can confirm this person had homicide on his mind, Mr Bruce told the jury of five men and four women. The trial continues.
An Iraqi man has had his asylum application rejected after authorities in Austria said they did not believe he was gay because he was too girlish.

The unnamed 27-year-old was reportedly told by officials his behaviour was not authentic.

Austrian media quoted officials in the countrys Styria region as saying the asylum seeker was acting like a girl and his sexuality was therefore not believable.

The decision is the second case of Austrian authorities turning down an asylum case on the grounds they did not believe the applicant was gay.

Earlier in August, an 18-year-old Afghan asylum seeker had his application denied after being told: Neither your walk nor behaviour nor clothing indicate in any way you might be homosexual.

They reported that you frequently got into fights with roommates. You clearly have the potential to be aggressive, which would not be expected in a homosexual.

 Theresa May vows to eradicate abhorrent gay conversion therapy as part of LGBT+ equality plan

The countrys asylum authority later said it had disciplined the employee in charge of the Afghan mans decision, and regretted linguistic lapses on his part.

Amnesty International said the Afghan's man's experience was a "structural problem" and not an "isolated case".

Annemarie Schlack, Amnesty's Austria director, said the "inhumane language" in the asylum process "does not meet the requirements of a fair, constitutional procedure".

Austrias government has pursued a hardline immigration policy since Sebastian Kurz became chancellor late last year.

Mr Kurz, who governs in coalition with the far right, has called for the formation of an anti migration axis of the willing with Germany and Italy, to push for more restrictive border policies across the EU.

Austrias government has pursued a hardline immigration policy since Sebastian Kurz became chancellor (Reuters)

In January, the EUs top court said asylum seekers should not be subjected to homosexuality tests when applying for asylum in member states.

The European Court of Justice said the tests, usually based on a psychologists report, were not essential to determining whether a person was telling the truth about their sexuality, and their reliability was at best, only limited.

But LGBT+ asylum seekers continue to face difficulties, campaigners say.

An Iraqi man in the Netherlands twice had his application turned down because immigration officials did not believe he spoke about his sexuality in the right way.

In the UK, LGBT+ asylum seekers regularly face deportation after failing to prove their sexuality to the Home Office.

Campaign group Stonewall suggests statements from friends, relatives or other members of the LGBT community can prove useful when making an application to UK immigration officials.
The remains of former military dictator General Francisco Franco will be dug up from a controversial memorial, after a decree was passed by Spains socialist government.

Franco, who ruled for nearly 40 years, was buried at the Valley of the Fallen monument to the victims of the Spanish Civil War following his death in 1975.

Proposals to remove his body from the site  which is marked by a 152m cross on a mountainside near Madrid  have been discussed for years but faced opposition from his descendants and supporters.

The decree, which amends Spains Historical Memory Law of 2007 to grant the government power to dig up Francos body, was passed during a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Having Francos tomb there [at the Valley of the Fallen complex] shows a lack of respect ... for the victims buried there, deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo said.

Only the mortal remains of people who died as a result of the Spanish Civil War will lie in the Valley of the Fallen.

The decree still needs to be approved by a parliament in which prime minister Pedro Sanchez holds only a quarter of the seats, but the government says it is certain the amendments will be endorsed.

Plans to turn the mausoleum into a place of commemoration, remembrance and homage to the victims of the war should be finished by the end of the year, Ms Calvo said.

The government also aims to establish a truth commission and identify the 114,000 victims of the 1936-39 civil war and Francos dictatorship.

Some 34,000 people from both sides are buried at the Valley of the Fallen complex, most of them unidentified.

Last year the conservative Peoples Party, then leaders of the ruling coalition, argued removing Francos remains would stress and divide the nation.

Francos descendants also refused to move his body to a family vault in Galicia, and planned a legal challenge to any exhumation.

His descendants will now have 15 days to say where they would like the remains to be placed after exhumation. If they do not reply, the government will choose a dignified place, Ms Calvo said.

Francisco Martinez-Bordiu, a grandson of Franco, described the exhumation plans as barbaric, and told Spanish TV the dictators descendants would assess legal options for halting the process.

Briton who fought against Franco's fascists dies, aged 94 Show all 2 1 /2 Briton who fought against Franco's fascists dies, aged 94 Briton who fought against Franco's fascists dies, aged 94 11.getty.jpg Men of the British Battalion of the XV International Brigade in Spain in the Civil War, 1937 Getty Images Briton who fought against Franco's fascists dies, aged 94 12.jpg

Political events at the Valley of the Fallen were banned under the 2007 Memory Law, which formally condemned the dictatorship under Franco.

The monument, ordered by Franco, took nearly 20 years to complete, and was officially opened in 1959.
Italys far-right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini is set to be questioned by prosecutors over the suspected unlawful detention of migrants on a rescue ship denied permission to dock for days.

An investigation was launched by prosecutors in Sicily against unnamed individuals into the refusal to allow the Ubaldo Diciotti to dock  an order Salvini, the countrys interior minister, will be responsible for.

Yesterday children finally were allowed to disembark from the rescue ship which has been carrying 150 migrants and refugees, after almost a week on board, at the Sicilian port of Catania.

The policy allegedly violates article five of the European Convention on Human Rights, which says asylum-seekers detained for more than 48 hours should be released and given the opportunity to apply for refugee status.

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Prosecutors are reportedly travelling to Rome as part of the investigation.

Salvini, who is not yet officially under investigation, appeared defiant at the prospect of a criminal probe. If someone is thinking about arresting me, theyre mistaken, because the Italian people are asking for order, rules, respect and controlled immigration, he said.

The Italian government on Thursday threatened to stop Italys payments to the EU budget if the European Commission did not take the ships passengers, who currently are on hunger strike, and redistribute them to other countries. Luigi di Maio, the Five Star Movements deputy prime minister in the coalition, said the government had had enough.

A European Commission spokesperson warned against finger-pointing, telling reporters in Brussels on Friday: Unconstructive comments, let alone threats, are not helpful, and they will not get us any closer to a solution.

The European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats European Commission spokesperson

The European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats. So we would call on all parties involved to find a swift solution for the persons on-board in the spirit of good cooperation.

Italys anti-immigrant administration has refused docking permission for the Diciotti, as it has other Mediterranean rescue ships.

In June EU leaders agreed to set up disembarkation platforms for the ships as well as secure holding centres for migrants to be held in in EU countries but none has yet come forward to host them.

Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Italy on MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie DeardenI Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing health checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing security checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily A man being taken to hospital from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden

Last month the European Commission tried to sweeten the deal for member states by offering 6,000 (5,346) per person to states that hosted the centres, but there has still been no progress in their establishment.

The spokesperson said the Commission was looking for a structural, sustainable solution, moving away from this ship-by-ship troubleshooting that has plagued the continent since the new Italian government was formed.
More than 300 holidaymakers have been moved from the hotel in Hurghada where two British tourists died on Tuesday. Susan and John Cooper, who were staying in the Egyptian resort with their daughter and grandchildren, passed away within hours of each other. Here are answers to some of the key questions.

Holiday company Thomas Cook says: The circumstances of their deaths are still unclear. What are you hearing?

Very little of substance, which is fuelling all kinds of speculation. The most significant announcement from Thomas Cook was last night, and said: We have also received further reports of a raised level of illness among guests. That explains the holiday firms very unusual and extreme response of moving all its customers out today, either to different hotels in the resort or flying them home, which is likely to happen at around 8pm British time this evening. Thomas Cook customers who want to leave early are being flown to Manchester.

What possible causes are being discussed for these two tragic deaths?

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Its important to say that Mr and Mrs Coopers daughter, Kelly, said she wants to know the cause  or causes  of death. She says that her parents were fit and healthy prior to going on holiday.

Legionnaires Disease has been mentioned by some medical experts, and it appears that it cannot be ruled out. But theres also a focus on the possibility that an extremely virulent illness is being spread around the hotel  but the Steigenberger remains open, and indeed you can book a room for this evening.

One possible cause appears to have been ruled out. This afternoon, Thomas Cook said: We are aware of the speculation in some of todays media that their deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. Currently we have no evidence to support this.

What do we know about the hotel?

The Steigenberger chain of hotels is well-regarded. Its based in Germany but has a strong presence in Egypt, including four hotels in Hurghada. The Aqua Magic is promoted as offering five-star fun, and features a water park and a private beach. Thomas Cook says it was given a safety audit a month ago and received an overall score of 96 per cent.

How popular is Hurghada with British holidaymakers?

Since the ban on flights by UK airlines to Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada has become the focus of British tourism to Egypts Red Sea shoreline. The prohibition on flying to Sharm el Sheikh was imposed three years ago. It followed the apparent downing of a Russian charter flight by a bomb placed on board at the resorts airport.

While Hurghada is more of a big city than Sharm el Sheikh, its a friendly and relaxed location, and an excellent gateway for the western side of the Red Sea.

What compensation will be offered to holidaymakers caught up in the tragedy?

There is no statutory obligation, but Thomas Cook has offered guests who want to return early a full refund. The firm has also offered those who want to stay for the remainder of the holiday in another hotel 250 per person.

Once the cause of the deaths and any related issues are established, it may be that there is some legal action.

Whats the position for people who are booked to travel to that resort?

Thomas Cook customers with advance bookings in the next four weeks to stay at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic have been offered alternative accommodation at no extra charge. The company has not decided what will happen beyond then.

Travellers who have made separate reservations have no rights to change or cancel their bookings at present.

Holidaymakers booked to other properties have no immediate options, though it is possible that Thomas Cook  and other tour operators  will offer some flexibility to people who want to switch to a different destination. The summer peak is coming to an end and so there is availability in other locations. But you cannot expect a refund.

 Egypt holidays: Thomas Cook says bookings for 2018 have almost doubled

What effect will this tragedy have on tourism to Egypt?

It wont help the image of a nation which is very dependent on tourism, and has suffered as people have stayed away. Like other Egyptian resorts, Hurghada has seen some terrorist acts. It seems that Brits are prepared to tolerate a certain level of risk in return for great holidays and good value. Earlier in the summer, Thomas Cook said visitor numbers to Egypt had almost doubled this year compared with 2017.
Seeing the trauma of Rohingya children is an experience I will never forget.

Last year I travelled to Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh and heard well documented accounts of people who had seen their homes burnt down and family members raped and murdered while fleeing a brutal campaign of terror by the Burmese military.

I vowed Britain would do everything we could to help the Rohingya people who fled ethnic cleansing in Burma. And we have.

Dedicated and selfless British doctors and nurses helped contain a potentially deadly diphtheria outbreak in the camps. We have worked with Bangladeshi medics and other partners to vaccinate more than 900,000 Rohingya and locals against the disease.

Drawings by Rohingya children Show all 18 1 /18 Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Save the Children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children Drawings by Rohingya children

The British public have shown remarkable generosity, raising 28m for a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal, including 5m which has been matched, pound for pound by UK aid.

And the British government has taken a global lead, donating 129m since the latest crisis began and mobilising the international community to secure hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding to meet the urgent needs of refugees.

UK aid, made possible by you, the British taxpayer, has meant nearly half a million people will receive food and clean water, at least 200,000 people will receive shelter and 120,000 under-fives will receive emergency nutrition.

The UK is now training local people to help address the psychological needs of deeply traumatised men, women and children. We are also providing essential hygiene kits, and helping women and girls create sanitary products in the camp. These may seem like small steps, but we are laying the groundwork for displaced Rohingya to start rebuilding their lives.

We have treated and prevented malnutrition, we have reunited traumatised children with their families and we have helped vulnerable women and girls who are at risk of sex trafficking. We have also been leading talks at the UN Security Council to galvanise the international community into action.

However we cannot assume the immediate dangers are over. In the past two months, heavy monsoon rains have raised the risk of flooding, landslides and water borne diseases, in what is now one of the worlds biggest refugee camps.

Rohingya crisis in photos Show all 15 1 /15 Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh November REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees scramble for aid at a camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Betel leaves cover the face of 11-month-old Rohingya refugee Abdul Aziz whose wrapped body lay in his family shelter after he died battling high fever and severe cough at the Balukhali refugee camp near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, December REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos An exhausted Rohingya refugee fleeing violence in Myanmar cries for help from others crossing into Palang Khali, near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh November REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Mohammed Shoaib, 7, who was shot in his chest before crossing the border from Myanmar in August, is held by his father outside a medical centre near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees try to take shelter from torrential rain as they are held by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) after illegally crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugee children fly improvised kites at the Kutupalong refugee camp near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Smoke is seen on the Myanmar border as Rohingya refugees walk on the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos People gather under heavy rain around bodies of Rohingya refugees after the boat they were using to flee violence in Myanmar capsized off Inani Beach near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos The remains of a burned Rohingya village is seen in this aerial photograph near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine State, Myanmar REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees cross the Naf River with an improvised raft to reach to Bangladesh in Teknaf, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos A security officer attempts to control Rohingya refugees waiting to receive aid in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Hamida, a Rohingya refugee woman, weeps as she holds her 40-day-old son after he died as their boat capsized before arriving on shore in Shah Porir Dwip, Teknaf, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya siblings fleeing violence hold one another as they cross the Naf River along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh September Reuters

Thousands of women have, or are waiting to give birth in these desperate conditions, during the cyclone and flooding season. From the moment these infants take their first breath they are fighting against the odds just to survive. Britain is improving those odds. Our support means trained midwives are helping deliver those babies safely.

But the newborns will be stateless people and the Burmese government has denied the Rohingya citizenship in its territory.

If displaced Rohingya families are to return to northern Rakhine state, the Burmese authorities must take clear and verifiable steps to create the conditions for them to do so safely and voluntarily.

This can only happen if Burma urgently implements the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission to deal with the causes of the crisis  one of the legacies the late Kofi Annan has left us. This means permitting immediate and effective access for UN agencies, as well as addressing issues such as citizenship rights for Rohingya, and guaranteeing their freedom of movement.

The UK is already providing emergency support for the estimated 200,000 Rohingya and others who remain in northern Rakhine state. But our work is hampered by lack of access. The Burmese government must remove these restrictions to ensure aid can reach people who need it.

To date there is little Burma has done that creates confidence displaced Rohingya could return safely. Consequently, we must help the Bangladeshi government prepare for the possibility refugees may be in their country for some time.

Burma must do more, and others too.

The UNs joint response plan for the crisis in March called for $950m (739m) from the international community. Only a third of that target has been achieved. Other governments and international donors must step up as the UK has done.

One year on from the culmination of the crisis, I want to say thank you to those Britons enabling us to alleviate the suffering of Rohingya people and ensure their most basic needs are met. Thank you to the medics and humanitarians saving lives. Thank you to our armed forces, whose expertise has helped keep women and children safe. And thank you to the generous British public. All we have done has only been possible because of your voluntary donations and because of UK aid funds, made possible through your taxes.

What you as individuals, and we together as a nation have done over the last 12 months is humbling. I hope you take a moment today to remember the plight of Rohingya people, and take pride in what you have done to help them.

Penny Mordaunt is a Conservative politician and the UKs secretary of state for international development
British finance minister Philip Hammond came under renewed criticism from pro-Brexit lawmakers on Friday for warning that leaving the European Union without an exit deal would hit public finances, underlining discord in the ruling Conservative Party.

Hammond, seen as one of the most pro-EU members of Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet, has long been a target for the so-called Brexiteers who say the finance ministry is too pessimistic about Britain's future outside the EU.

In a letter published on Thursday, Hammond referred to forecasts made by his department in January, highlighting that under a no-deal scenario, borrowing would be about 80bn a year higher in 15 years' time as the economy grew more slowly.

He also outlined specific sectors and regions that would be hit particularly hard.

The letter provoked an angry response from the leader of an influential group of pro-Brexit lawmakers within May's Conservative Party, who said the forecasts were wrong and a no-deal Brexit would not be as damaging as Hammond was predicting.

"The fact is that neither the chancellor nor the Treasury wants to leave the EU so they repeat themselves ever more noisily, lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, head of the European Research Group, told the Times newspaper.

The government is trying to negotiate a smooth exit from the EU but hard-to-resolve differences between London and Brussels and the approach of the March 2019 exit date have led to increased preparations for an abrupt Brexit.

May's "business-friendly" negotiating position on the key issue of trade, published last month, has exacerbated splits within her party between those who want a definitive break from the EU, and those, like Hammond, who want to keep close ties.

The anger over Hammond's comments dominated the front pages of several newspapers, overshadowing the publication of 25 government guidance notes to businesses and the public on how to prepare for and mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

Those official papers showed that companies trading with the EU would face a tangle of red tape, possible border delays, and more costly credit card payments unless negotiators secure an exit deal.
A screenshot of one of the first batch of no-deal Brexit preparation papers. Photo: PA

The UK government's technical notices in the case of a 'no-deal' Brexit make for frightening reading for many reasons.

It was no surprise Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was sweating profusely while delivering the findings.

Mr Raab laid bare one-third of around 80 documents aimed at informing the public at large of what awaits them should the British walk away from the economic and political union they've created and shaped over 45 years.

Most remarkable about yesterday's announcements was the short supply of solutions for some of the most serious implications of Brexit.

Mr Raab - an ardent Brexiteer - offered up a convincing commitment to maintaining the Good Friday Agreement, thereby ensuring there would be no hard Border even if the UK crashes out of the EU.

However, he could offer no detail on how this could materialise. If the UK leaves the EU with no agreement on a future trade arrangement, or a backstop guaranteeing the status quo on the island of Ireland, then it will fall into WTO rules.

As a third country, with no formal arrangement with the EU, Ireland and the UK will become estranged and a customs and regulatory Border will be a legal imperative.

Every single element of trade, including standards and regulations including financial transaction, and consumer rights and laws have evolved from EU membership.

Unravelling all of that and stepping into the unknown would trigger immediate meltdown.

Brexiteers like Mr Raab are fully aware of this, yet both he and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt have been telling the British public that Britain would thrive under the WTO.

Of the most startling revelations yesterday was the official advice for businesses operating on a cross-Border basis, or ones with concerns about changes in UK-Ireland trade relations.

"You should consider whether you will need advice from the Irish Government about preparations you need to make," it states. Essentially, ask Dublin what to do because we have no plans in place.

Does this mean that pro-Brexit traders or members of the DUP will have to call Dublin for advice?

Furthermore is the direct impact to consumers when it comes to credit card charges, access to bank accounts and the increase in prices of goods due to tariffs and customs charges.

On the other hand, hard Brexiteers can be relieved their government is preparing for this as a serious likelihood. With the cost and chaos that will incur for the voting public to see, it might shore up support for a softer Brexit among more sensible members of parliament when the time comes to vote.
Hundreds turned out in Sligo to protest against the closure of rural post offices. Photo: James Connolly

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has expressed deep concern at the planned closure of over 160 rural post offices by An Post.

The farm body said the decision by An Post, coupled with the failure of Government to deliver "functional rural broadband" highlighted the continuing undermining of rural Ireland.

"Since the economic crash, rural Ireland has seen an ongoing reduction in services that if left unchallenged will see large areas of our countryside, especially in the west, turned into a gigantic forest park," said INHFA spokesperson Vincent Roddy.

Mr Roddy said the Government should be investing in the post office network rather than closing it down.

"One option we could look at is adding to our citizen advice service and incorporating it in our post offices.

"This would help many people who currently struggle to get answers from many Government departments who mistakenly believe that an online service is a public service," he said.

Mr Roddy suggested that people should be allowed to pay their motor tax or renew driving licenses in post offices. The decision to close a raft of rural post offices has provoked an angry reaction right around the country, with a major protest held in Sligo on Saturday last.

Hundreds of people turned out at the protest that made its way from from Connaughton Road down to the GPO on O'Connell Street in Sligo town.
Listed housebuilder Cairn Homes has completed a debt refinancing of its 200m senior debt facility with AIB and Ulster Bank into a new 277.5m term loan and revolving credit facility with AIB, Ulster Bank, and Barclays Bank Ireland.

Additionally, the company has completed a 72.5m private placement of loan notes with Pricoa Capital.

The aim of the refinancing is to help the growth of the business and reduce its finance costs, Cairn said in a statement yesterday.

The term loan and revolving credit facility mature in December 2022, while the loan notes will mature between 2024 and 2026.

The new facilities are secured by a corporate level debenture.

"We are delighted to have put this substantial and flexible new debt facility in place and continue our strong relationship with AIB and Ulster Bank, as well as building on our banking partners with the addition of Barclays and Pricoa," said Tim Kenny, finance director of Cairn.

"The new facilities will support the continued growth of our business as well as reducing our finance costs and extending the maturity profile of our debt."

Last month, An Bord Pleanala 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 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.

Shares in the company were trading up marginally, at 1.61, on the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday.
Irish cement giant CRH plans to build up a 7bn cash pile over the next three years, for deployment on anything from acquisitions to share buybacks.

Finance director Senan Murphy said the company was showing the market that it is "not just a one-trick pony that just does acquisitions".

The money will be the cash left over after spending on capital expenditure, interest, tax and other payments. "There are a number of options where that money can be deployed, and we will deploy it wherever creates the most value for shareholders," Mr Murphy said.

"We can reinvest it in our business, we can invest it in acquisitions, we can continue on with buybacks... or we can increase the level of dividends," he added.

The company posted 1pc rises in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) year-on-year in the first half. It has faced challenges ranging from currency headwinds to extreme weather conditions, but said it expects EBITDA in the second half to be ahead of last year. Strong economic performance in the US is a factor in that.

Chief executive Albert Manifold told analysts yesterday that he doesn't expect "very significant" M&A activity from the company over the remainder of 2018.

That comes as the company looks to reduce its debt after the acquisition of sizeable US peer Ash Grove, as well as integrating recent purchases.

One area of the business that has underperformed is its investment in the Philippines - Mr Manifold said yesterday that he believes "there is light at the end of the tunnel" as demand increases.

Mr Manifold said that the company was seeing a rise in input costs across multiple markets - with a recent rise in the oil price among the factors behind that.

That then presents a challenge in terms of passing that increase on to customers.

"In some markets it's been slow in getting that recovery back... this year in the second half of the year we will recover better pricing, there's no question about that.

"Whether we get it all back by the year end, it's hard to say," Mr Manifold told reporters.
Eddie O'Connor's Mainstream Renewable Power is to set up a grey market for shareholders.

The move will give shareholders in the business a venue for trading shares privately, without the company being listed on a stock exchange.

Investec is being appointed to manage the market, which is being funded from the proceeds of Neart na Gaoithe, a massive Scottish offshore windfarm project that Mainstream sold in recent months. Shareholders have been told the company will look to establish additional grey markets in future, in addition to the one being proposed.

The deal will also see Mainstream buy back the stakes of two institutional investors, Barclays and a Japanese firm called Marubeni, at 8 a share.

Shareholders were told the company sees this as a discount to its internal valuation - and that the grey market price would be higher.

The details are revealed in a letter signed by Mr O'Connor and Mainstream CEO Andy Kinsella. Both men said they would not be selling their shareholdings in the grey market.

"While we are proud of the company's recent success, we believe there is much more to come with significant further growth and value creation for shareholders," the letter says.

The establishment of the grey market is subject to shareholder approval.

The letter says the company was sitting on a profit of 520m so far this year after the Neart na Gaoithe sale.

The windfarm was sold to French giant EDF. Mainstream became Mr O'Connor's new focus after he sold Airtricity to SSE for 1bn. He has spoken about his desire to list Mainstream on the stock market, and the company itself has previously flagged that it wanted to create more liquidity for shareholders.

It is working on a number of projects in Africa and South America.
Venezuelan authorities said on Thursday that they had arrested two managers of paper packaging company Smurfit Kappa, two days after the government temporarily took over its local unit in the city of Valencia.

State price control agency Sundde said in a press statement that the people had been charged with price speculation, boycotting, destabilising the economy, and smuggling.

On Tuesday, Sundde ordered the Irish company, which has operated in Venezuela since 1986, to immediately adjust its prices for all its products and accused the company of refusing to sell to certain local businesses.

Smurfit Kappa did not respond to requests for comment.

Earlier on Thursday Smurfit Kappa denied the allegations, which it said came after two days of government inspections at Smurfit Kappa Carton de Venezuela, and said in a statement that it believed they were without merit. It said the

Smurfit Kappa said the unit represented less than 1pc of its core earnings in the first six months of 2018.
Saudi Arabia has formally put the initial public offering of its giant oil company on hold while Aramco focuses on buying a strategic stake in local petrochemical group Sabic for as much as $70bn (60bn).

While the Sabic deal will delay the IPO, it doesn't mean it's cancelled, sources said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Khalid al-Falih, the Saudi energy minister, said yesterday in a statement that the government was committed to the Aramco IPO "at a time of its own choosing when conditions are optimum".

The statement came after Reuters reported on Wednesday that Riyadh had called off the domestic and international listings, citing sources it didn't identify.

Even if the IPO is eventually revived, the Aramco-Sabic deal will allow the kingdom to achieve some of the original aims Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set for the jumbo share sale. The main difference would be the origin of the cash: rather than equity investors, it would come from bank loans and bond investors.

Aramco will raise funds from banks and international bondholders to buy a controlling stake in the petrochemical group. That money will go into the coffers of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, which owns a 70pc stake in Sabic.

That will replace at least some of the money the Public Investment Fund had been expected to receive from the Aramco IPO.

Carrying out a large international bond issue would also compel Aramco to reveal much of the same financial and business information as an IPO prospectus, bringing greater transparency to the world's largest oil producer.

The board of directors of Aramco took the decision to put the preparations for the IPO on hold at a meeting earlier this month in Switzerland, two of the sources said. In his statement, Al-Falih said the timing of the listing would "depend on multiple factors, including favorable market conditions, and a downstream acquisition which the company will pursue in the next few months, as directed by its board of directors."

The IPO has been a centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed's reform programme, known as Vision 2030, to diversify the country's economy away from oil. (Bloomberg)
Food waste could increase by almost a third by 2030 when more than two billion tonnes will be binned, researchers have said.

They warned of a "staggering" crisis propelled by a booming world population and changing habits in developing nations.

In Ireland, Iseult Ward, CEO and founder of FoodCloud, said that there is still work being done in terms of the data on the level of food waste in the country.

However, on a positive note, she said that all of the main supermarket retailers have committed to recording their food waste data.

"The Environmental Protection Agency is also monitoring food waste in Ireland, but we need to get more data," Ms Ward said.

FoodCloud, which operates in Ireland and the UK, has three redistribution hubs in Dublin, Galway, and Cork that connects food businesses which have large volumes of surplus food, such as farms, manufacturers and distributors, to charities.

In addition, FoodCloud provides an app service that helps it collect fresh surplus food directly from local shops and redistribute it.

The company facilitates the donation of more than 50,000 meals a day across Ireland and the UK. To date, it has redistributed more than 30 million meals in both Ireland and the UK to people who need it.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ms Ward said that more food donors were needed to increase the amount of food that was being redistributed to charities.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has set a target of halving food loss and waste by 2030.

But the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study found that if current trends continued, it would rise to 2.1 billion tonnes annually - an amount worth $1.5trn.

"We are seeing a real crisis at a global level," one of the study's authors Esben Hegnsholt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"The amounts of waste and the social, economic and environmental implications are serious if we don't change the trajectory. When we fight food loss and waste, we also fight hunger, poverty and global warming."

Around a third of the world's food is lost or thrown away each year. Currently, we waste 1.6 billion tons of food annually, worth about 1.04trn.

Much of the projected increase was down to a swelling world population, with more people resulting in more waste, said Mr Hegnsholt, a partner and managing director at BCG.

Household waste will increase in developing countries as consumers gain more disposable income, the report found.

It identified five key changes which it said could save nearly $700bn in lost food. They included more awareness among consumers, stronger regulations and better supply-chain efficiency and collaboration along the food production chain.

Liz Goodwin, director of the food loss and waste programme at the World Resources Institute, said the report raised serious issues but oversimplified some of the solutions.

"It's connected with the way our lives have changed and the fact that food is now so much cheaper," she said, also citing a growing demand for convenience and a lack of cooking skills among younger generations.

Goodwin said she believed measures to cut wastage were having an effect, and the world would at least be on the way to meeting the 50pc reduction target by 2030. (Additional reporting Reuters)
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Reuters

European shares slipped into the red on Thursday after the latest round of US-China tariffs hurt car makers and sentiment suffered as Wall Street indexes slipped into negative territory.

In London, the UK Treasury said it will stop classifying debt issued by countries in the European Union as "zero risk" if it leaves the bloc without a deal, raising the prospect that British banks that own German, French and other bonds may have to raise additional capital. That would make UK banks less competitive.

The Europe wide STOXX 600 edged down 0.16pc to 383.42 points, with most European bourses posting only modest losses.

At home, Ryanair shares were up 5.48pc at 13.87 each after the airline announced agreement has been reached with the Forsa union representing Irish pilots to end a long-running labour row. The deal is subject to a pilot ballot.

Elsewhere, the United States and China implemented 25pc tariffs on $16bn worth of each other's goods on Thursday, bringing to $50bn the value of imports subjected to tariffs on either side since early July, with more in the pipeline.

The reminder of potential global trade disruption sent car makers down 1.4pc.

Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen fell by 0.6 to 1.6pc, while Peugeot, Michelin and Renault were the biggest CAC 40 fallers, down 3.2pc, 2.2pc and 1.8pc respectively.

Overall shares continued to move in a range that is unsettling some investors concerned about complacency in the market.

"We have not witnessed (or not yet) a sudden evaporation of risk appetite, as happened, for example, after the summer of 2015, the last time that the health of the world economy was truly in debate," said ODDO BHF economists.
Margaret Cash with six of her seven children after the homeless family had to sleep at Tallaght garda station

Homeless mother-of-seven Margaret Cash is to move into a new home in north Dublin today after she had to leave her temporary accommodation following a "genuine mix up".

A Dublin City Council spokeswoman confirmed to Independent.ie they have sourced a house for Ms Cash to move into with her children.

Ms Cash (28) made headlines earlier this month after photos emerged of six of her children, between the ages of one and 11 years old, sleeping on chairs in Tallaght garda station.

The young mother recently moved into a three-bed flat on Parnell Street, in Dublin's inner city.

At the time, Dublin City Council said it would be offered to her on a week's trial, followed by a month-on-month basis.

However, it transpired that the landlord needed the apartment back as he has let it from September 2.

A spokesperson for the council said it was a "genuine mix up" as they thought the apartment would be available for longer.

South Dublin County Council will now work towards securing Ms Cash a more permanent home.

The pictures of Ms Cash's children sleeping in Tallaght garda station went viral this month and prompted a national debate about homeless services across the country.

The young mother has also been subjected to widespread criticism. Her Facebook page was mined for photographs that she shared of a box of beers and another of her posing beside her daughter in a communion gown, with members of the public sending her abusive messages.

Others remarked she has previously turned down the offer of a council house - a claim which she has denied.

Ms Cash says she is determined to use her situation to highlight the homeless crisis.
The family of a woman last seen nearly three months ago have issued an emotional plea to help track her down.

Giedre Raguckaite (29), originally from Lithuania, was last seen in Dundalk on May 26, while family members say they last spoke to her on the first weekend of June.

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Whatsapp Giedre Raguckaite, 29, has been missing from Dundalk since Saturday 26 May

She contacted her dad to wish him a happy Fathers Day on June 2 and has not been seen or heard of since.

The young womans family is desperate to find her, with her sister Gintare said to be crying every night as a result.

Speaking to Independent.ie, Gintares partner, Roberto Santilli, said it was not uncommon for Giedre to disappear but never for such a long period of time.

We were worried because she used to disappear sometimes but not for such a long time, he said.

She [Gintare] is doing everything she can to find her sister. She is always on the phone and she is always checking Facebook.

If she is , she knows what is going on. We hope she will call us or contact us or try and give us a sign.

It is understood that Giedre gave her passport to her landlord as a deposit for the room she was renting before disappearing.

She moved to Ireland in March having lived in England previously and was said to be staying in Dundalk temporarily with a view to returning to England.

As her father lives in Lithuania, and her sisters live in Italy and Cyprus, the young woman has no family in Ireland.

Childhood friend Gedvile Hibner told Independent.ie that the she was now becoming really worried for her safety as months pass without any contact.

The last time she called her dad it was the first weekend in June, on Fathers Day in Lithuania. She rang him to say Happy Fathers Day and then after that nothing, she disappeared, she said.

We never noticed she disappeared at the beginning. She wasnt calling home every morning or every evening but she used to be in contact every weekend.

She said she would often see her active on social media but since her disappearance her online activity has gone quiet.

She described her friend as always happy, always helpful and said "we expect someone to come with some information. Still we have to hope".

A source close to the family said a bag, believed to belong to Giedre, was located yesterday.

Gardai have issued an appeal for the publics help in tracing her whereabouts and it is understood they are treating her disappearance as suspicious.

Anyone who has seen Giedre or who may have any information is asked to contact Gardai at Dundalk Garda Station on 042 9388400
Sean Gallagher has support among both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail councillors to contest the presidential race amid mounting speculation a rerun of the 2011 battle between the businessman and Michael D Higgins is likely.

Seven councillors in seven counties have come out in support of a fresh bid for the Aras by the former 'Dragons' Den' investor, who came second to Mr Higgins seven years ago following the 'Tweetgate' controversy during the final televised debate on RTE.

In a significant development Mr Gallagher has the support of a Fine Gael councillor, John McCartin (Leitrim), and two Fianna Fail councillors - Wayne Harding (Meath) and Niall Kelleher (Kerry) - along with four Independent reps.

Both parties have endorsed Mr Higgins for a second term in office and have urged all members not to support another candidate.

However, all three have said they intend to support Mr Gallagher despite the position of their respective parties.

Mr McCartin said he had not had any direction from the party.

Meanwhile, councillor Wayne Harding said he had been impressed by Mr Gallagher's 2011 campaign.

"He dealt with the loss with dignity. It was proven that he did nothing wrong. I think he deserves a second chance. He's a good family man now and I'm very happy to support him," Mr Harding told the Irish Independent.

The group backing Mr Gallagher includes councillors from Roscommon, Westmeath, Wexford and Laois.

Ahead of the last campaign, Mr Gallagher secured the support of four local authorities - in the case of Leitrim without presenting to the local representatives - before asking other councils to back the other hopefuls seeking a nomination.

Supporters have indicated they believe he would easily secure the support of the requisite four local authorities.

Mr Gallagher is understood to be actively considering putting his name forward again and is due to make his decision on whether or not to contest in the coming weeks.

The Cavan man's former 'Dragons' Den' co-star Gavin Duffy is among a handful of Aras hopefuls who have been canvassing local authorities to shore up support.

Meetings have been held in Waterford and Carlow with further meetings scheduled in Cork and Leitrim.
Marie Collins, Survivor of Abuse, Former Member of the political commission for protection of minors and patron of the 'Marie Collins Foundation' Ireland speaking at 'Safeguarding Children and vulnerable adults' at the Meeting of World Familes at the RDS Dublin Photo: Justin Farrelly.

THE Catholic Church may be afraid to act on clerical abuse because of a fear of how deep or how wide the scandal may go  but every rotten apple should be gotten rid of and it should happen now, Marie Collins has insisted.

The survivor of abuse and former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has said that every report has shown that the Church has acted to protect itself.

She said there are clerics at a high level within the Vatican who are resisting change  but the Pope should by now know who they are and must act and remove these people immediately. She said the blame should not be placed on Cardinal OMalley of Boston who had pledged to assist survivors.

Advocates for reform have addressed the World Meeting of Families, calling for everybody to support survivors in the strongest possible show of strength in seeking fundamental change in how the church deals with the protection of children and vulnerable adults.

Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Professor Gabriel Dy-Liacco, Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Philippines warned that if the culture is not changed, abuse will continue.

Baroness Sheila Hollins, former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in the UK said that when she told people that she was coming over to Ireland to speak on this issue, a number said that they did not want to think about it, adding that she felt this was true about a number of parts of the Church.

People would rather this went away, she said.

Ms Collins said there were people who would prefer to believe that there are multitudes of false allegations when they are not.

They like to think its a media campaign and that survivors like me are enemies of the Church. Its more comfortable to believe that, she said.

She said she did not know what more can be done to convince these people of the truth, adding that this was blindness and deafness like the three monkeys  hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Barbara Thorp, former head of the office for Pastoral Support and Child Protection in the Archdiocese of Boston in the US said it is a tragic reality that as many as 20pc of adults have been sexually abused before the age of 18.

Im so deeply sorry for what you have suffered. We will not abandon you, she pledged.

There was applause as she produced a hand bound book in which the names of the 1,476 first known survivors of abuse in the diocese of Boston had been written, with over 50 names marked with a cross indicating their death, most often because of suicide or drugs. A copy of this book was given to Pope Benedict and when the apostolic visitation team had visited Dublin in 2010, a copy was laid on the altar at morning mass.

She said the stories of abuse over the past 30 years within the Church all over the world pierces the hearts of every mother and father for the failure of the Church to protect the children.

She gave the example of a cleric in Chile who had gone on to abuse the first child he had ever baptised for many years after the age of 11.

We have a raging fire within the Church and the leaders have shown callous indifference to the suffering and the fire rages on, she said.
THE heavens are set to open before the Pope arrives in Dublin, and it could yet rain on the parade come Sunday.

Forecasts suggest that while tomorrow should be sunny, the rain could return for the massive Phoenix Park Mass.

Met Eireann has warned that Ireland could be hit with rain showers today, and there is also a chance of hail, with temperatures ranging between a cool and breezy 13C to 17C.

However, tomorrow is set to see a return to dry weather for the beginning of Pope Franciss visit to Dublin.

While there will be cloudy spells, there will also be patches of sunshine for those heading to Croke Park or who hope to catch a glimpse of the Pope travelling the streets of Dublin.

Later tomorrow night, rain will spread into western counties, accompanied by extensive mist and hill fog.

Outbreaks

Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands heading into the Phoenix Park on Sunday, Met Eireann predicts it will be mostly cloudy and cool.

There will be occasional outbreaks of rain, again with low cloud and hill mist and moderate south or south-west winds.

Rainfall is most likely to hit during the afternoon in the Dublin area, meaning that Mass-goers should pack something waterproof, although umbrellas will not be allowed in the Phoenix Park during the mass.

Temperatures will be moderate at around 16C during the day time, and cooling off in the evening.

Meanwhile, next week will see a return to the mild, warm weather experienced recently, with temperatures becoming warmer again and a lot of dry weather and lot winds, the national forecaster said.
An art installation has been erected in Dublins main tourist area as a distress signal to Pope Francis ahead of his visit this weekend.

The Somebodys Child site at Exchange Street in Temple Bar had nine wooden panels erected on Thursday, with art and graphics detailing the stages of harm endured from child sexual abuse.

The work was installed by local politician Mannix Flynn, who was subjected to sexual and physical abuse by a priest from age 11, and says he wants the church to admit their guilt in a cover-up.

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This is a continuation of the work which has been done on the site for the last 15 years.

This however, is directed solely at Pope Francis, with flags of the Vatican turned upside down, as an international distress call.

Many victims are asking him why he continues to cover up and protect the guilty.

The nine panels depict the impact of sexual abuse throughout their lifetime, from a child and follows them their whole life, and undermines them entirely.

Particularly those abused in institutions, who in adulthood are still traumatised.

His letter does not suffice, many of us have strong faith, and were not attacking the church, but we need the church to be held accountable.

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Whatsapp The art installed at the site in Temple Bar shows how child sexual abuse effects victims throughout their life

The Gardai should be interviewing the pope, and the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar should not simply wait until the Popes visit but ask questions constantly about the cover up of abuse.

The amount of clerics involved in mass abuse and torture of children, this is a hidden weapon of mass destruction.

This art is on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of victims of clerical abuse throughout the world.

Some of which are no longer with us.

The message is clear, the writings on the wall, its already drawn massive crowds.

The feature which is usually at the site, was installed by Mr Flynn in November 2015 to remember the children and infants who died in the States Mother and Baby Homes.

It lists the names of 796 children who died in the Tuam home for unwed mothers in Galway.

The site in Temple Bars main thoroughfare will be viewed by over a million people this week as Dublin prepares for the Popes visit on Saturday and Sunday.

Mr Flynn added: The Pope has accepted that there was a cover up and now people are less inclined to throw holy water on it, and more inclined to understand us.

However, we do not want prayers and fasting or sympathy, we want people arrested and those who covered it up at least held accountable in court.
Many women may believe that 'just one glass of wine' is not harmful, without realising that there are as many as three 'standard drinks' in a large glass. Stock Image: Getty

Irish women now rank seventh in the world for the amount of alcohol they consume daily as the 'wine o'clock' culture takes a major toll on health.

A shocking new global report shows women in this country are downing three drinks a day on average and are ranked higher in the global league table than Irish men.

Many women may believe that "just one glass of wine" is not harmful, without realising that there are as many as three "standard drinks" in a large glass.

The report warns women and men that going teetotal is the only sure way to avoid risking health and increasing their chances of cancer, injury and heart disease.

Unlike those who believe a glass of red has health benefits, this report says there is no safe limit to alcohol consumption.

The stark findings, which are revealed in the Global Burden of Disease study in the 'Lancet' medical journal, debunks previous research suggesting moderate levels of alcohol - around one drink a day for women and two for men - may protect against heart disease.

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The authors of the new study insist that any benefits from drinking alcohol are outweighed by the harms.

Men in Ireland are also drinking to hazardous levels, consuming an average of 4.5 alcohol drinks daily - but unlike the women, they do not make it into the global top 10.

A "standard drink" in Ireland is equal to 10g of pure alcohol, which is found in about half a pint of average beer, a 35ml measure of spirits like vodka or whiskey, a small 100ml glass of 12.5pc wine or an 'alcopop'.

However, many modern wine glasses hold up to 250ml, which is equal to 2.5 units, or even more if the wine is strong.

Red wines are often 14.5pc, which can push a single large glass beyond three "standard drinks".

The study, led by Dr Max Griswold from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, showed that in 2016 there were 990 alcohol-related deaths among women in Ireland.

In the same year, alcohol was linked to 1,800 deaths among men.

Risks

Dr Griswold warned: "Although the health risks associated with alcohol start off being small with one drink a day, they then rise rapidly as people drink more."

Commenting on the another worrying report card on Ireland's drink culture, Prof Joe Barry of Trinity College, a long-time campaigner against alcohol abuse, said aggressive marketing directed at women, showing attractive images of females having a glass of wine, was contributing to the problem. "Wine can have a strong alcohol content," he warned. And drinking at home means people often pour a large glass.

He called on the Government to pass the Public Health Alcohol Bill, which has already been delayed for more than three years due to strong lobbying by drinks companies.

They were "terrified" of its impact, he said.

It would mean calories are posted on drinks and health warnings would be displayed.

Low-risk weekly guidelines for adults are up to 11 standard drinks in a week for women and 17 for men.

In Ireland, 71pc of men of all ages drink alcohol and 29pc abstain. Among women, some 68pc are drinkers and 32pc are teetotal.

The scientists pooled together data from 592 studies with a total of 28 million participants to assess the global health risks associated with alcohol.
Dublin has been named in the top 10 city destinations in Europe, based on new tourism data.

And on the global stage, Ireland ranked fourth among holidaymakers, narrowly beaten out of the top three by Vietnam, New Zealand and list-topper Costa Rica.

It's the city's cultural experiences that helped the capital place 10th on the list, which is compiled by TripAdvisor and based on travellers' reviews of the city.

Dublin whiskey tours and 1916 Rising walking tours were named as two of the most popular activities for international visitors to the city.

The breathtaking views from Howth also helped Dublin nab a top 10 position, with Howth Peninsula hiking tours in high demand with tourists.

Shane O'Doherty, who leads the hikes in Howth, credits the 8,000 years of history that can be examined and enjoyed in the area by hiking enthusiasts with establishing Dublin as one of Europe's best.

He said people come to Howth from many places around the world, with more Singaporeans than UK citizens joining him for tours.

"We usually have 11 people on a tour. We go for a five or six-hour walk through the various habitats of Howth and through the various eras in history of Ireland and Dublin that haven't been tarmacked over here.

"There has been people here for 8,000 years, and they have left evidence everywhere, and you can wander through that," he said.

Mr O'Doherty started giving tours in March 2016 and works with a group of eight other guides.

Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons welcomed the news of Ireland being ranked so highly.

He said: "The inclusion of Ireland in this list is particularly good news - helping to give us 'stand-out' in a very competitive international marketplace."
Dundalk gardai have issued an alert for any sightings of a UK registered vehicle which rammed a garda patrol car after it was pursued to the border last week.

The vehicle, a grey Audi estate model, registered 0W0 3DPU, was spotted in the Dundalk area on Thursday last after travelling across the border from the north.

A garda spokesman said it was linked to criminal activity, including burglaries. It may have been fitted with a false number plate.

When gardai spotted the vehicle in town, with four males on board, they attempted to stop the car, but eventually pursued it along the Castleblayney Road. It struck a parked taxi before reversing and ramming the garda car in pursuit.

No gardai were injured in the incident.

The driver and passengers escaped when the car fled across the border into South Armagh.

Gardai are appealing to anyone who sees the vehicle in this area to contact them at Dundalk on 042 93 88400 or on the confidential line 1800 666 111

Meanwhile, gardai were involved in a major drugs seizure in Dundalk on August 16th.

Gardai from Ardee and Dundalk assisted by the Armed Support Unit a premises was searched at Knockbridge, Dundalk. During the course of the search Gardai discovered approximately 68,000 of what was suspected to be cocaine. A 26 year old male was arrested and was detained at Dundalk Garda station under the provisions of section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. He was later charged and appeared at a special sitting of Cavan District Court.

Meanwhile gardai are once again advising motorists not to leave cash or valuables in their car after a window was smashed and cash taken from the glovebox of a car parked outside Lidl, Avenue Road on Friday last.

A cash float was stolen from a takeaway on Jocelyn Street in the early hours of Saturday morning after the front door of the premises was kicked in.
Dundalk man Jim Osborne has worked on spectacular property projects around the world, from Dubai to Manilla. Now he is moving closer to home for his latest project, a 400million development including a 13 storey office block in Belfast.

The Belfast Waterside project by Vanguard Real Estate, which is 40% owned by Osborne, was given the go ahead by Belfast City Council last week after councillors approved the first phase one of the development on the former Sirocco site, which includes a 13-storey office building capable of housing 2,500 people.

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, the 55-year-old confirmed that almost 20m has already been spent on the Belfast Waterside project to date by the Vanguard partnership, which includes the Birmingham-based Kelly family, and real estate company Graftongate.

Jim was born in Vancouver in 1962, and the family moved to Dundalk when he was just six months old. His father Joe established a civil engineering office in town and the family also lived in Lisburn, Co Antrim for a time during the sixties when he was working on the M1 motorway.

Jim followed his father's footsteps, studying civil engineering at Trinity College Dublin.

He emigrated to England in 1983, where he worked on a number of significant projects, including Canary Since then he has been a prolific developer, and has worked in Hong Kong, where he set up his own company CM International, which employed 500 people in Singapore, Manila, Shanghai and Seoul, before returning to Ireland.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last week, he said : 'In the past seven years, I've developed and delivered somewhere in the region of 7.5 million sq ft of projects.'

The list includes a one million sq ft building for Citi Bank in Manilla, Ikea's biggest warehouse in the world - at the new airport in Dubai - and the headquarters of Standard Chartered in Accra, Ghana, which was completed last month.

Earlier this month, he completed the $235m sale of a building in Dubai to HSBC, which was built by his Middle Eastern business partnership Gulf Resources Development and Investment (GRDI).

While this is his first project in Northern Ireland, he said : 'Coming from Dundalk, Belfast has always been large in our psyche. Half the people I grew up with were transplants from Belfast - from the Markets or the Short Strand.'

The scheme will provide approximately 2,500 jobs when complete, he said, adding that it was 'only the beginning of our comprehensive vision' to deliver a mix of office space, city centre homes, a hotel and infrastructure including a new pedestrian and cycle bridge and high quality public spaces.
Permission to fill in a former Roadstone quarry at Calary has been upheld by An Bord Pleanala.

Wicklow County Council granted the permission in March of last year.

The company has said in its application that it intends to establish a grassland habitat, similar to that which existed prior to quarrying. The application involves filling the lake with over 3.2 million tonnes of waste material over up to 20 years.

Diving expert Albert Kerr appealed the permission to An Bord Pleanala, having led a campaign to have the quarry lake used for water-based activities. He made the appeal as a representative of a group of environmentally concerned local people and activity and sporting groups who consider that permission negates a unique opportunity to create a public recreational facility.

Mr Kerr said that the site presented potential to create an amenity that would be commercially impossible to create on a greenfield site and as a man-made residual from quarrying activity which could bring pleasure and adventure to the region at viable cost.

He said that the location is within a landscape designated as a mountain and lakeshore area of outstanding natural beauty with several listed views and prospects within a 5km radius and proximity to SPAs NHAs and SACs, and therefore the site is not suitable for the development of a waste recovery facility.

Other concerns included the negative impact of noise, dust and traffic, and negative impact on flora and fauna. Mr Kerr said that a centre of gravity analysis should be carried out, and that alternative locations are available. He said that favourable consideration should be given to a community driven public/private amenity.

SLR Consulting Ltd, responding to the appeal on behalf of Roadstone, said that the extant water body is a flooded quarry void and not a lake. They said that the long term visual effects of the development would be positive. In a do-nothing scenario, the existing quarry faces would remain bare and visible in the wider landscape while the backfilling will restore the land to its original state.

'The site is not for sale,' they said. 'The appellant provides no details on how and by whom the site would be acquired, funded, developed, operated and maintained.'

They said that the proposed inert waste would be largely soil, stones and broken rock, and therefore stable and non-polluting.

Roadstone has committed to making a financial contribution to road improvements. Traffic levels arising will not exceed levels previously generated by the approved quarry development.

They said that there are no guidelines or policies regarding requirements for centre of gravity analysis. In the context of the proximity principle, based on experience at inert soil waste recovery site at Fassaroe, there is a significant demand for inert waste recovery in the Greater Dublin Area and along the N11 corridor. Following the closure of Fassaroe to inert waste, Calary Quarry is the next quarry of sufficient scale along the N11 corridor that could facilitate waste recovery from south Dublin and north east Wicklow.

They said that a habitat and species survey indicated that no buzzards, frogs or newts were observed or previously recorded and the site provide low quality terrestrial habitat for amphibians.

The disused water-filled Roadstone quarry covers about 12 acres and is around 28 metres deep. Mr Kerr said in an earlier submission that it has the potential to be an all-year public recreational facility. He said that the lake could be used for swimming, abseiling, scuba diving, sailing and more. In his vision for the site, he said that a facility could include showers, changing rooms and restaurants.
It's believed that over half a million people descended on Drogheda for the 2018 Fleadh, making it the best attended of all time.

Visitors were reported from all over the world and the majority left with a wonderful appreciation of the local people.

Lolo Robinson, Chairperson of the Fleadh Executive Committee said, "It has been a great privilege to host this fantastic event and showcase Drogheda's beauty and history to a global audience.

'I would like to thank everyone from the many voluntary groups to the visitors to Drogheda, and I sincerely hope that everybody had a wonderful, safe and happy time in our town and county."

Dr Labhras O Murchu, Ardstiurthoir, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann added, "In the region of 500,000 people have attended the Fleadh over eight days, possibly the largest attendance in the history of the Fleadh Cheoil.

'A feature of this year's Fleadh is the widespread representation from countries worldwide, countries such as Japan, North America, Britain and Australia.

'In fact, over 25% of those attending are from out of State, helping to generate an estimated 40 million for the local economy. The Fleadh is a model of partnership between Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and Louth County Council,' he remarked.

For the local gardai it was also a success story with Supt Andrew Watters reporting that there were just 38 public order arrests over the past week.

'A significant number of those arrests were not directly related to the Fleadh or those attending it,' he stated.

'The event allowed An Garda Siochana to further strengthen our relationships with the community and the business people in the town. There was a great vibe and a great atmosphere and we were delighted with how it went,' he remarked.

Next year's Fleadh Cheoil will begin on August 11th and the planning has begun already.

'We will have a full debrief this week about what happened and what we need for next year.'
Residents in Gorey were tirelessly filling up buckets of water from giant tankers after they were left without clean running water over the weekend due to a major water pipe burst.

The water pipe feeding Creagh Water Treatment Plant burst on Thursday, and was restored on Friday afternoon. But further problems occurred on Friday evening and people were left without any water over the weekend.

The water supply interruptions affected Carnew Road to Monument, Creagh Housing Estates, Newborough, Woodbury, Hollyfort Road, Cluainin, Coislinne, Eire Street, Arklow Road and Clonattin Road.

The repair was expected to be completed by Thursday evening, but due to the burst being in an area of rough terrain it was not back to normal pressure and supply until Friday afternoon. After it returned, residents in the areas of Hollyfort Road, Clonattin, Arklow Road and surrounding areas were notified Friday evening that a further watermain burst occurred and they would be left without water over the weekend.

Following the pipe burst, local councillor Malcolm Byrne has called for a review of all of Gorey's water infrastructure.

He said: 'I can only praise the extraordinary work of the Council and Irish Water staff in trying to deal with the problems, especially this weekend, but it is clear that our infrastructure is creaking.

'We need significant investment to ensure that we can guarantee current and future supply. I'm tired of calling for investment in infrastructure as a priority but if we don't do it, we see the results.'

Cllr Byrne added they had to have water tanks out during the snow and this weekend.

'While I have assurances that such tanks will be available if similar problems arise, we should try to avoid such difficulties,' said Cllr Byrne.

Irish Water and Wexford County Council successfully completed the numerous repairs and all water supply should have returned to all customers.

Irish Water said they apologize for the inconvenience caused to those impacted by the unplanned water interruption.
The former Chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party will present his book 'They were friends of mine, Bobby, Jack and Ted' about the Kennedy brothers to the John F. Kennedy Book and Research Archive at New Ross Library during the sixth annual Kennedy Summer School set to take place this September.

Gerard Doherty has played a prominent role in US political affairs beyond his tenure in the Massachusetts House. He was elected as Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party; serving as the campaign manager for Senator Edward Kennedy and as a presidential campaign director for both President Jimmy Carter (NY) and Senator Robert Kennedy (IN).

Gerard was a U.S. Delegate to the Funeral of John Paul I and a member American/Russian Housing Committee. He chaired the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for 25 years and is currently still a Member of the Foundation.

In the last year, Gerard has authored a book about his friendship with President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy called 'They Were My Friends - Jack, Bob and Ted, My Life in and out of Politics', which he will officially present to the New Ross Archive.

At the 2018 Kennedy Summer School Gerard will also sit down with internationally renowned historian and the biographer Professor Richard Aldous for what will be a must-see free event for all Kennedy aficionados, as they will discuss the Camelot era in a public interview at New Ross Library on Thursday, September 6, at 6 p.m.

This is a free event but places are limited and must be booked in advance. To reserve a space on a first come basis, email info@kennedysummerschool.ie to receive confirmation of ticket allocation.

The 'New Ross Kennedy Book and Research Archive' was first launched at New Ross Library in 2017 to mark the 100th Anniversary of John F. Kennedy's birth. It is a collection of books, publications, audiovisual recordings and other research materials on the Kennedy presidency, Kennedy family, and the link between the Kennedys' and County Wexford.

It is a collection of wide variety and contains some items of unique interest including, copies of LIFE magazine from the 1960's a number of books written by John F. Kennedy before taking up political office and other contemporary publications. The New Ross Standard from June of 1963 - during President Kennedy's official visit to Ireland, will also be on display with other pieces of memorabilia. A unique item in the collection is a program from The President Kennedy Memorial Committee of Hartford, Connecticut, who on June 7, 1964, presented a benefit variety show to raise funds for the Kennedy Arboretum in New Ross.

The collection is open to the public and is added to through contributions.
A large crowd turned up to protest against the closure off our post offices in Sligo. Pic: Carl Brennan

It's time to shout 'stop' and save our services - that was the message from Sinn Fein Councillor Thomas Healy, the main organiser of Saturday's protest against post office closures.

"It's time for change and the only ones that can do this is the community who are willing to stand up for themselves, their county and the future of rural Ireland," Cllr. Healy said.

"The community came together to show that they are willing to fight to keep post offices open in their villages," he added.

Hundreds turned out for the rally, and participants were not just from Sligo, but from the whole north west region.

Cllr. Healy continued: "This is just not about Sligo, this will affect the whole country and the fabric of our society in rural Ireland.

"What lies ahead for generations is up to us we can't just let our town and villages close up.

"First the Garda station, then the banks and now the post offices. Next it will be the schools and bus service.

"When you can see semi state bodies saying that they can close post offices down because the population is under a certain number - this is very worrying that the present government is happy to let this happen."

Ballinfull, Dromard, Gureen and Monsteraden are all set to lose their post offices.
Locals turned out in force to protest at post office closures

Protesters from the north west region turned out in their hundreds on Saturday to rally against the closure of post offices in Sligo and further afield.

Twenty-one post offices in the north west are due to close.

Speakers at the rally included Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Cllr Martin Baker, Cllr Chris Mc Manus speaking on behalf of Sinn Fein, Kathleen Henry, Secretary for the IFA in Sligo, TD Marc MacSharry speaking on behalf of Fianna Fail, Vanessa Clarke from Community Alert Development Northern Region, local Activist Roger Meehan from Dunkineally in Co Donegal, Peter Kavanagh head of Communications &Public Affairs for the Active Retirement Ireland, Cllr Sinead Maguire who will speak on behalf of Fine Gael and Gerry Loftus of the Mayo branch of the Irish Nature and Hill Farmers Association.

Deputy MacSharry said: "Silence from the Government is deafening as the Taoiseach and Minister Naughten remain silent and idle as closures begin.

He added: "The closure of these post offices results from what was presented as a necessary retirement package for long serving postmasters but the reality is clear now that the Government used An Post and the Irish Postmasters' Union to shut down 162 local post offices nationwide instead of providing the necessary supports to keep them open."

"Everybody acknowledges that An Post has a commercial mandate and must balance the books. Equally everyone accepts the Postmasters' Union's mandate and entitlement to negotiate a retirement package for long serving members.

"They do not have a mandate to negotiate for communities.

"The Government must direct a stay on all Post Office closures until such time as the Oireachtas debate this matter with a view to providing the necessary 8m in subvention to maintain our existing post office network."

Committee members from Ballygawley and Easkey's campaigns to save their respective post offices were also present on the day to lend their support.

"Today we stand for our villages, our future and most of all for rural Ireland.

"So Minister Naughten and An Post management this is an SOS from Sligo," Cllr. Thomas Healy told the rally.

It is understood that more post office closures could be in the pipeline.
Police said they were shocked that not a single officer was at Krispy Kreme at the time (Philip Toscano/PA)

A robber at a doughnut store who demanded a cashier hand over $10 and $20 notes also placed an order for Krispy Kremes.

The man made the request three times before being scared away from the shop in the US state of Florida and leaving empty handed in the early hours of August 24.

Thats when staff at the store, in Gainesville, called the cops.

In a post on Facebook, Gainesville Police Department explained what had happened, adding that they were also shocked that not a single officer was at Krispy Kreme at the time.

The clerk told us that somebody just tried to rob them. Cars from all across the city lit up and headed to the spot.

As officers were arriving  we know, we know its hard to imagine at least ONE of us wasnt there at the time of the robbery attempt  officers located the suspect walking just south on 13th Street. He was detained and then other officers went to the store to see what happened.

Apparently, a guy entered the business and demanded money. The clerk asked if she could help him and he demanded $10s and $20s from the register and some doughnuts.

She was shocked and didnt respond and then the robber repeated the same demand. The clerk summoned another employee and the robber made the same demands again.

Both female clerks alerted the male clerk from the rear of the business who told the male to leave.

He then fled the business on foot where he was located just south of the business.

The robber told police he was trying to get a doughnut from the secret menu and that he did ask for 10s and 20.

All of the clerks identified the suspect that police had stopped as the person that attempted to rob the store. Instead of a secret menu doughnut and cash he got a trip to the county jail.

Police have opted not to share the mans name or picture as they dont want to make fun of him unduly but said the actual incident was a story worth sharing.

This person made a bad decision and they will have to deal with that but we arent going to blast them here although the story itself is worth sharing.
A prison van (L) transporting Malaysian national Khaw Kim-sun, 53, who is accused of murdering his wife and daughter, leaves the High Court in Hong Kong on August 23, 2018. - Khaw Kim-sun, an anaesthetist, gassed his wife and daughter to death using a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide, a Hong Kong court has heard. Prosecutors told the High Court that Khaw Kim-sun left the inflatable ball in the boot of a car where the gas leaked out and killed them, according to reports from court on August 22. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)PHILIP FONG/AFP/Getty Images

An anaesthetist gassed his wife and daughter to death using a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide, a Hong Kong court has heard.

Prosecutors told the High Court that Khaw Kim-sun left the inflatable ball in the boot of a car where the gas leaked out and killed them, according to court reports.

His wife and 16-year-old daughter were found on a roadside in a locked yellow Mini Cooper in 2015, in a case which initially baffled police. Police found a deflated yoga ball in the back of the car.

Khaw has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder. Prosecutors had said that Khaw, a 53-year-old Malaysian national, was having an affair with a student and his wife would not grant him a divorce.

They accused him of hatching a deliberate plot to murder his wife, the 'South China Morning Post' reported. Prosecutors said it was likely that Khaw had not intended to kill his daughter.

Khaw had been seen filling two balls with carbon monoxide at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Eight arrests have been made after 17 properties in the UK were raided as part of a human-trafficking investigation.t. Photo: PA

A jilted film assistant has avoided jail after he ran amok with a two-foot long machete in an artists' commune, a court heard.

Artist Arif Macaco, 25, admitted going berserk at the converted warehouse within hours of splitting up with his girlfriend Freya Harwood Bond.

Ms Harwood Bond suffered a cut to her chin as she tried to restrain her drink and drug-fuelled ex-boyfriend, describing it as like a scene from a "horror film".

Residents barricaded themselves in as Macaco trashed furniture, brandished the sword and threatened to burn, cut and kill them.

Macaco, originally from Ealing, west London, had been given the machete as a gift for his work on the award-winning film Beasts of No Nation.

He was arrested after police were called to the disturbance at Fountyane Road, Tottenham Hale, north London, in the early hours of July 4.

The defendant, who practices Brazilian dance martial art capoeira, appeared to be sentenced at the Old Bailey via video link from Pentonville prison sporting a moustache and hair tied into a topknot.

Prosecutor Sam Barker told how Macaco had got drunk and taken drugs during a shift in a bar after breaking up with Miss Harwood Bond.

Miss Harwood Bond was in the shower when she heard the ruckus as Macaco returned home just after midnight.

She heard him screaming "I will burn the whole place down", the court heard.

Miss Harwood Bond described the commotion, saying: "I could see him marching towards me. He was holding the machete in his hand. I began screaming at him. He paid no attention and carried on like I was invisible."

Another resident recalled him shouting: "I'm going to cut you. I'm going to burn you. I'm going to kill you."

Mr Barker said: "The defendant went on a rampage around breaking furniture and throwing things about. He armed himself with a machete described as being about two feet long with a bill hook on the end of it.

"Miss Harwood Bond attempted to stop him as he progressed around the warehouse . Other people tried to calm him down.

"Miss Harwood Bond tried to physically restrain the defendant. Accidentally the machete struck her in the chin causing a small laceration. She recalled the incident made her feel like she was in a horror film. She was scared."

Meanwhile, neighbour Jonathan Sendall ushered residents away and barricaded them behind a door.

The defendant hacked at it with the machete, shouting at the terrified people behind the door: "I'm going to kill all you c***s", Mr Sendall said.

Macaco made his escape but police found him nearby with an injury to his hand and arrested him.

In mitigation, Joy Lewis said Macaco was "deeply ashamed" at the domestic violence, having experienced it himself when he was young.

The defendant had not been in trouble before and had worked on some "very high-profile films" which had exposed him to drink and drugs.

She said the machete had "sentimental value" as Macaco was given it as a gift for his work on the production of the film Beasts of No Nation.

Recorder James Wood QC handed Macaco 14 months in jail, suspended for two years, for affray and possession of an offensive weapon. He also ordered 200 hours of community service and the destruction of the machete.

He told the defendant: "This was a completely disgraceful incident. This was a shocking incident with you intoxicated brandishing a machete in public and seemingly out of control.

"You are obviously an intelligent and self-aware man, and what happened at the age of 25 was out of character.

"You are a young man who has obviously worked hard in the film industry and are of good character."

He told Macaco that he was "very lucky" to have friends prepared to help him make a fresh start in Suffolk, away from the "temptations" in the capital.

He added: "You are very lucky but do not expect to have luck twice. This is your chance in life, take it, otherwise you will end up in prison."

Macaco replied: "Thank you. I will not be coming back."
Smyllum Park Orphanage is one of the institutions being examined by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (PA)

Nuns are among 12 people arrested over alleged historical abuse at Smyllum Park orphanage.

Police Scotland said 11 women and one man, aged between 62 and 85, have been arrested as part of an investigation into the Lanark home which was run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul and closed in 1981.

Former residents spoke about their experiences of Smyllum Park at Scotland's child abuse inquiry earlier this year and police said 12 people have now been arrested, with a further four individuals to be reported to prosecutors.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "Twelve people, eleven women and one man, ages ranging from 62 to 85 years, have been arrested and charged in connection with the non-recent abuse of children.

"All are subject of reports to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal. A further four individuals will be reported today.

"Enquiries are continuing, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Taylor, from the national child abuse investigation unit, said: "Investigating child abuse offences is highly complex and every care is taken to ensure that enquiries are proportionate, appropriate and that victims' needs are central to our investigations.

"If you or anyone you know has been a victim of abuse or wishes to report abuse you should feel confident in reporting to Police Scotland.

"We will listen and we will take action regardless of when or where the abuse occurred."
Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has denied claims of harassment made against him.

The Daily Record reported that allegations about his conduct towards two staff members in 2013  while he was in office  have been handed to police.

In a statement, Mr Salmond denied the claims and said he has been prevented from properly challenging them by Scottish Government procedure.

He has launched a court action to contest the complaints process that was activated against him.

Scottish National Party leader from 1990-2000 and 2004-2014

First Minister of Scotland 2007-2014

Stood down after Scotland voted against independence

The Scottish Government said it was vital any allegations of harassment were investigated thoroughly.

Mr Salmond said: For many months now, and on the advice of Senior Counsel, I have attempted to persuade the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government that she is behaving unlawfully in the application of a complaints procedure, introduced by her more than three years after I left office.

This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence.

He went on: The Permanent Secretary chose to deny me contact with any current civil servant, many of whom wished to give evidence on my behalf, and access to documentation to allow me to properly challenge the complaints, all of which I refute and some of which were patently ridiculous.

Statement from Alex Salmond pic.twitter.com/DUOTS7MriX  Alex Salmond (@AlexSalmond) August 23, 2018

The procedure as put into operation by the Permanent Secretary is grossly unfair and therefore inevitably will lead to prejudicial outcomes.

It is therefore with great reluctance that I have today launched a Judicial Review in the Court of Session which will decide the issue of the lawfulness of the procedure which has been used against me.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: We can confirm that Alex Salmond has initiated legal proceedings against the Scottish Government and as a result we are restricted in what we can say.

However, the Scottish Government will defend its position vigorously. As a matter of principle and integrity, it is vital that any allegations of harassment are treated seriously and investigated thoroughly, regardless of the identity of the party involved.

Police Scotland did not comment on the Daily Record report.
Firefighters battle a wildfire near the village of Klausdorf (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP/PA)

Three villages south-west of Berlin have been evacuated as a wildfire the size of 400 football pitches spread on Friday.

More than 500 people had to leave their homes as a result of the fire in Treuenbrietzen, some 50km outside the German capital.

Our main goal is to protect the evacuated villages from the flames, local lawmaker Christian Stein told the German news agency dpa.

We havent been able to push back the fire but none of the buildings have been damaged.

Police said that their plans to douse the flames have been complicated by old ammunition from the Second World War that was still buried in the forests and which could explode due to the fires.

Expand Close Firefighters walk through a forest in Treuenbrietzen, south of Berlin (Julian Staehle/dpa via AP/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Firefighters walk through a forest in Treuenbrietzen, south of Berlin (Julian Staehle/dpa via AP/PA)

The fire started on Thursday afternoon. By the evening, the authorities had evacuated the villages of Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen.

Overnight, winds blew the smoke to Berlin, where people in some areas were asked to keep their windows closed.

Hundreds of firefighters were on the ground in Treuenbrietzen trying to cut trees to make long swathes in the forests to prevent the fire from spreading further. They were also fighting the flames with helicopters and water cannons.

Germany has seen a long, hot summer with almost no rain and large parts of the country are on high alert regarding possible wildfires.

I hope the weather will play along and the winds wont increase again, Mr Stein said. We are yearning for rain.
It began at around 4.30pm on Tuesday. For 90 minutes, Americans witnessed a split-screen legal drama as two men formally crossed over from former employees of the highest-ranking US official to convicted felons, likely destined for prison.

Within the hour, news had broken that Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's one-time attorney, standing inside a Manhattan federal courtroom, pleaded guilty to eight crimes, including violations of campaign finance law "in coordination with and at the direction of" Trump.

In Virginia, Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of eight counts of bank and tax fraud.

Later, federal prosecutors announced that Republican Duncan D Hunter - an early Trump supporter - and his wife have been indicted on campaign finance violations.

There was one recurring refrain throughout the day: No one is above the law.

In three separate cases, from Cohen's guilty plea, to Manafort's conviction and Mr Hunter's indictment, prosecutors have repeated similar lines:

"We are a nation of laws and the essence of (Michael Cohen's) case is about justice. That is, an equal playing field for all persons in the eyes of the law," Deputy US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Robert Khuzami said. "The rule of law applies."

"Mr Manafort is not above the law," Special Counsel's Office prosecutor Greg Andres reminded jurors in closing arguments last week.

"Today's indictment is a reminder that no one is above the law," US Attorney Adam Braverman said on Tuesday as he announced an indictment charging Hunter, congressman for southern California, with wire fraud, conspiracy and more.

But if no one is above the law, what does that mean for Trump?

Cohen's plea directly implicates the president in a slew of illegal activity, raising a tricky issue: Can a president be indicted and prosecuted while he is still serving?

The debate over whether an American president should ever be above the law dates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The founding fathers believed that, unlike the British crown, the answer was no, explained New York University Law School professor David Golove.

"Shall any man be above justice? Above all shall that man be above it, who can commit the most extensive injustice?" asked Virginia delegate George Mason.

The system of impeachment, delegates decided, best reduced the undue politicisation likely to arise alongside accusations against a president.

They specifically discussed the need to impeach for corruption, reasoning that the executive "may be bribed by a greater interest to betray his trust".

The constitution entrusts the House of Representatives with the responsibility of impeachment, which is decided by a majority vote.

Then, the decision is sent to the Senate to preside over a trial.

The Senate's power is limited to removing a president and precluding him from holding future office, though he can still be tried criminally for the same offence.

Only two presidents - Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton - reached the Senate for trial. Neither was removed from office; both were acquitted, Johnson by only one vote.

The "rule of law" is the central theory supporting the indictment of a sitting president, said Golove. Historically, the executive was viewed like a citizen, he said, "having a duty to comply with the law and suffer consequences if he did not, as anyone else would".

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani recently suggested a president could not be indicted while in office, relying on Department of Justice guidelines and the Supreme Court's decision in a civil lawsuit brought by Paula Jones against then-president Bill Clinton.

But Giuliani missed the point, according to legal experts.

Duke University law professor Walter Dellinger, who argued the Jones case on behalf of the government, said the court postponed the suit until the end of Clinton's term, holding that ongoing litigation would have been too big an interference with his duties as head of the executive branch.

"The lawsuit's burden on the executive branch" - which was real and damaging in the short run - "was to some degree offset by the powerful message that's sent around the world about American respect for the rule of law," Dellinger said. Although a criminal indictment may create a cloud over the presidency, nothing precludes the investigation and indictment of a sitting president from moving forward.

Laurence Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard suggested indicting a president but delaying any criminal proceedings until the end of his term, an option other legal experts agreed with.

"Suppose a president went nuclear and without justification pardoned all his or her co-conspirators in serious crimes," said Dellinger. "I have no doubt the Justice Department would revisit its policy and approve an indictment of the only person left standing - the president."

Relying on Cohen's admission, Trump has been cast as either aiding in or conspiring to commit a federal crime. Assuming there's corroborating evidence to show Trump broke the law, it would not be unfathomable for him to face impeachment and a criminal indictment - after leaving office. ( Washington Post)
US President Donald Trump said in an interview yesterday that the US economy would collapse if he were impeached.

"I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor, because without this thinking, you would see - you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse," Trump told the programme 'Fox and Friends'.

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Mr Trump was responding to a question on his mounting legal woes after his former attorney Michael Cohen said under oath that Mr Trump instructed him to commit a crime by breaking US campaign finance laws.

The US president then launched into a rambling statement on job creation and other economic progress he said had been made during his presidency and insisted Americans would be much worse off if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election. "I don't know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job," Mr Trump said.

He also reportedly said he would consider pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on Tuesday of bank and tax fraud, according to a reporter who interviewed Mr Trump.

Fox News reporter Ainsley Earhardt said Mr Trump told her in an interview on Wednesday that "he would consider" pardoning Manafort.

"I think he feels bad for Manafort. They were friends," Ms Earhardt said in an appearance on Fox News's 'Hannity' programme on Wednesday night.

Fox News has been airing excerpts of the interview with Mr Trump, which is scheduled to be shown in its entirety today.

The excerpts have not included a clip of Mr Trump saying he would consider pardoning Manafort. Manafort was convicted of two counts of bank fraud, five counts of tax fraud and one charge of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.

In a tweet on Wednesday about the verdict, Mr Trump called Manafort a "brave man" and said, "I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family."

Members of both parties dismissed talk of impeachment, with some Democrats expressing fears about such a politically risky step, and Republicans shrugging off the accusations or withholding judgment.

Mr Trump's strongest supporters echoed his "no collusion" retorts, suggesting that, absent any evidence that he worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election, there is just no high-crimes-and-misdemeanors case for impeachment.

Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to dampen expectations from their liberal base of taking on the president for fear that impeachment talk will cause Republican voters to rally around Trump in November.

The dynamic underscored the political difficulty of impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill, especially for Republicans who have been reluctant to criticise the president but now face a new chapter in what has been a difficult relationship.

In pleading guilty to campaign-finance violations and other crimes, Michael Cohen, Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, said the president directed a hush-money scheme before the 2016 election to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels and 'Playboy' model Karen McDougal, both of whom said they had sexual relationships with to Mr Trump. Mr Trump has accused Cohen of making up "stories in order to get a 'deal'" from federal prosecutors.

Even those few Republicans who have been willing to speak out about Mr Trump are treading carefully in the wake of Cohen's guilty plea.

"I don't think I've witnessed anything like I've witnessed over the last year and a half. Probably, the American people haven't in modern times," said retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. But he stopped short of passing further judgment on the Cohen case.
Missouri is launching a probe of potential sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, the state attorney general said on Thursday, a week after a report finding widespread clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania.

Attorney General Josh Hawley said his office had no power to force cooperation, but the archdiocese had agreed to assist with the criminal probe.

"I am firmly of the view that full transparency benefits not only the public but also the church and, most importantly, it will help us expose and address potential wrongdoing and protect the vulnerable from abuse," he told reporters on a conference call.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson, in a letter to Hawley on Thursday said, he had invited investigators to review the archdiocese's files to determine whether it handled allegations of clergy sexual abuse properly.

The archdiocese has removed 27 living priests from the ministry because of sexual abuse allegations, including some who were forced out of the priesthood, Mr Carlson said.

He said investigators would have "unfettered access" to files and that no priests currently serving in the archdiocese had credible abuse allegations leveled against them.

"We did this for one reason, the credibility of the archdiocese," Mr Carlson told reporters.

The probe initially covers only the Archdiocese of St. Louis, one of five Roman Catholic dioceses in the state, Mr Hawley said. He asked the bishops of the four other dioceses to agree to cooperate with the probe.

Dioceses are groupings of parishes and one of the main organizational structures of the Catholic church.

Jack Smith, spokesman for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said the diocese had not yet been formally contacted by Hawley's office, but would cooperate with any requests for a review of files.

Mr Hawley, a Republican, is running for the US Senate this year, a seat now held by Democrat Claire McCaskill.

Pennsylvania officials last week released the results of a two-year grand jury probe that found evidence that at least 1,000 people, mostly children, had been sexually abused by some 300 clergymen in the state during the past 70 years. The most-wide ranging report on clergy sex abuse in the United States said the numbers of actual victims and abusers could be much higher.

Similar reports have emerged in Europe, Australia and Chile, prompting lawsuits and investigations, sending dioceses into bankruptcy and undercutting the moral authority of the leadership of the Catholic Church, which has some 1.2 billion members around the world.

Reuters last week contacted the attorneys general of all states excluding Pennsylvania to see if they were considering similar actions. Only two, in New York and New Mexico, at the time said they had taken some initial steps toward doing so.
Petrofac has warned that it will take a 55 million US dollar (43 million) hit on the sale of its shares in a project in the North Sea.

The energy firm said on Friday that it would offload its 20% stake in the Greater Stella area development and its 25% interest in the FPF1 floating rig, both in the North Sea.

Energy firm Ithica will take on the assets, paying up to 292 million US dollars (227 million) in the process.

Under the disposal agreement, Ithaca will pay 145 million US dollars (113 million) on completion and a further 120 million US dollars (93 million) between 2020 and 2023.

The remainder will be paid depending on performance.

But Petrofac estimates that the transaction will result in an impairment charge of 55 million US dollars (43 million).

Proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce gross debt, Petrofac said, adding that the deal is dependent on Ithaca also acquiring Dyas UKs 25% stake in the same Greater Stella area.

Petrofac chief executive Ayman Asfari said: This disposal marks a further milestone in our journey back to a capital-light business and, along with recently-agreed transactions in Mexico and Tunisia, marks the significant progress we are making on our stated strategy.

Shares in Petrofac were up 2.4% in morning trade to 672.4p.
President Donald Trump says he has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a planned trip to North Korea, claiming that there is insufficient progress on denuclearisation.

President Trump put some blame on Beijing, saying he does not believe China is helping because of our much tougher trading stance.

The surprise announcement appeared to mark a concession by the president to domestic and international concerns that his prior claims of world-altering progress on the peninsula had been strikingly premature.

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, president Trump tweeted, barely two months after his June meeting with the Norths Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

President Trumps comment followed a report issued on Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining grave concern about the Norths nuclear programme.

It came a day after Mr Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun, a senior executive with Ford, to be his special envoy for North Korea and said he and Mr Biegun would visit next week.

Excited to announce that Steve Biegun is joining our team as the Special Representative for #NorthKorea. He'll lead our efforts to achieve @POTUS' goal of final, fully-verified denuclearization of DPRK, as agreed to by Chairman Kim. pic.twitter.com/rUNCsiyscU  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 23, 2018

The State Department never confirmed details of the trip, but it had been expected that Mr Pompeo would be in Pyongyang for at least several hours on Monday, according to several diplomatic sources.

White House officials did not immediately comment on what prompted President Trump to call off Mr Pompeos trip. The State Department had no immediate comment on the matter and referred questions to the White House.

President Trump laid unspecified blame on China, North Koreas leading trade partner, which is widely believed to hold the greatest sway over Mr Kims government.

The US and China have been locked in a trade dispute for months, with each side ratcheting up tariffs on imports from the other country in what may be the opening salvos of a trade war.

President Trump tweeted that Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. He added: In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!
The Trump administration has decided to cut more than $200 million (155 million) in bilateral assistance to the Palestinians, following a review of the funding for projects in the West Bank and Gaza, according to US officials.

The State Department notified Congress of the decision on Friday, according to the officials and aides.

But in a brief, three-paragraph notice sent to politicians, the department said it will redirect the money to high-priority projects elsewhere.

The move comes as President Donald Trump and his Middle East envoys, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, staff up their office to prepare for the roll-out of a much-vaunted peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians.

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Trump administration has decided to cut more than $200 million in bilateral #US assistance to the #Palestinians, following a review of the funding for the West Bank and Gaza.

The @StateDept notified Congress of the decision Friday afternoon.  Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) August 24, 2018

At the direction of President Trump, we have undertaken a review of U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority and in the West Bank and Gaza to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with US national interests and provide value to the US taxpayer, the State Department said in the notice.

As a result of that review, at the direction of the President, we will redirect more than $200 million  originally planned for programs in the West Bank and Gaza, it said.

This decision takes into account the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gazas citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation, the notice said.

The notice did not give an exact amount of the funds to be cut, but says it is more than $200 million that was approved in 2017.

The US had planned to give the Palestinians $251 million for good governance, health, education and funding for civil society in the current budget year that ends on September 30.

But with just over a month to go before that money must be used, reprogrammed to other areas or returned to Treasury, less than half has actually been spent.
Alia Bhatt has been in news this year for reasons more than one. Apart from her super-hit film Raazi, her rumoured affair with Ranbir Kapoor is another reason why she has been topping headlines this year.

Agencies

In a recent interview, Alia Bhatt revealed that coming from a family of popular names, she has seen media attention right from childhood -- and such attention doesn't affect her anymore. Talking to IANS, Alia said,

Agencies

"I grew up in a family of popular talent who has always been in the news. I've seen recognition and media attention right from childhood. With time, I've pretty much got used to it and now it doesn't really affect me as much. My only focus is to embody characters that can have a strong, positive impact on the audience."

If we trace back Alia's journey as an actor, she made her Bollywood debut with Karan Johar's Student of The Year, has proved her versatility in Bollywood with films like Raazi, Highway, Udta Punjab and Dear Zindagi.

Dharma Productions

When Alia was quizzed to comment on how she selects her roles, she said,

Agencies

"I want to keep pushing myself with every role that I play. To strike a balance between commercial and brave films has always been a priority. I make it a point to not let pressure influence my choice of roles. An inhibition is always present in every actor's mind when they take up a challenging role, but the focus is always to give it our best shot and that is what we always strive for."

Alia has a line up of some really interesting films that include projects like Brahmastra opposite Ranbir, multi-starrer-Kalank and Ranveer Singh-starrer Gully Boys.
1. 14-Year-Old Maharashtra Girl Gang-Raped, Beaten And Drowned In Water Tub In Own Home

In a case of cruelty and murder, a 14-year-old girl was found raped and killed by unidentified persons in her house at Bhiwandi near Mumbai in Maharashtra. Read More

2. Meet 'True Hero' Brijendra Singh, An ATM Guard In Dehradun Who Teaches Underprivileged Kids

Brijendra Singh, a retired soldier, who continues to serve the nation by teaching the underprivileged kids every evening outside an ATM. Read More

3. Hospital Offers Free Treatment To Girl Who Donated Part Of The Money She Had Raised For Heart Surgery To Flood Relief

The girl who suffers from a congenital heart disease had earlier this week won much applauds after she donated Rs 5,000 to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund to help the flood victims. Read More

4. India's First Biofuel Flight Is Scheduled To Fly On Monday, Here Is Everything You Need To Know

Sources say the plan is that the biofuel-powered Bombardier Q-400 will take off from Dehradun, fly over the city for 10 minutes and then return there. Read More

5. Baby Dies In Ambulance As Haryana Politician's Cycle Rally Causes Traffic Jam

The ambulance was carrying the infant in Haryana's Sonipat, and failed to find a way through to save the baby's life. Read More

6. Watch Students Being Rescued After Their Bus Nearly Submerged In A Waterlogged Underpass

A video shows 50 students being pulled to safety in a dramatic rescue after their school bus almost completely submerged in a flooded underpass in Rajasthan's Dausa. Read More
Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, a Dubai based Indian origin billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist who had earlier pledged Rs 50 crores to rebuilt flood ravaged Kerala has got one of India's most respected infrastructure experts to do the job.

Shamsheer, the founder and managing director of UAE-based VPS Healthcare said India's Metro Man E Sreedharan will be joining their task force to rebuild Kerala.

BCCL

#MetroMan - Dr. E Sreedharan, we are humbled and delighted that you are joining our Task Force for #Kerala in spite of your busy schedule. Your experience and insights will be invaluable in helping shape the #recovery, #rebuilding and #rehabilitation programs. #rebuildingKerala pic.twitter.com/Jcgr1tyOdF  Shamsheer Vayalil (@drshamsheervp) August 22, 2018

According to Shamsheer, Sreedharan will be a part of the group's activities related to rebuilding and rehabilitation in Kerala.

The announcement comes at a time when Kerala is trying to recover from the worst flooding in nearly a century which battered the entire state for nearly two weeks.

Though the flood waters have more or less receded, the damages suffered to the infrastructure is enormous.

AFP

Across the state, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have taken a massive hit and it is estimated that it will take at least a good few years to restore them and expenses running into thousands of crores.

AFP

Earlier, announcing a Rs 50 crore package for the state, the 41-year-old Kerala-born businessmen said the group will work in partnership with key stakeholders, including local authorities, and experts  in education, health care and housing  to use best practices and innovative strategies to ensure these vital ecosystems can recover quickly and efficiently.

He had also indicated that the money will be spent throughout the state and certain areas have already been identified for immediate help.

Shamsheer who is estimated to be worth $1.5 billion is regarded as one of the richest Indian businessmen in the Middle East.

Earlier this year Shamsheer and his wife Dr. Shabeena joined The Giving Pledge, a campaign founded by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage the wealthy to contribute their wealth towards philanthropy.

He is also the son-in-law of MA Yousuf Ali, a successful Malayali businessman in the Middle East and the chairman and managing director of Lulu group who himself has donated Rs 5 crore to the flood relief in Kerala.
Country's largest lender State Bank Of India (SBI) is yet to recalibrate 18,135 automated teller machines (ATMs) even after 21 months of demonetisation, an RTI query has revealed.

The recalibration is a process, in which the cassettes in the ATMs that hold cash are modified to suit the size of the currency.

Madhya Pradesh based RTI activist Chandrashekhar Gaud had asked the SBI that how many ATMs have been recalibrated for dispensing the new currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 denomination.

bccl/representational image

In a reply sent on August 18, SBI said that out of 59,521 ATMs, 41,386 have been recalibrated and an amount of Rs 22.50 crore was spent on this work.

Thus, it is evident that 18,135 ATMs at present are not able to dispense new currency notes.

bccl/representational image

On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.

After this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued new currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 in a phased manner.
A third year college student from Haryana's Jind District ended her life after she was subjected to multiple sexual assaults and blackmail by two men over a period of two months.

The had allegedly consumed poisonous substance and died in a local hospital.

BCCL/ File

According to police, the two men identified as Ravi and Balram befriended her through another girl from the same village called Poonam.

In March the two men raped her and Poonam took photos of her, which was later used to blackmail the victim to remain silent and more sexual abuse in the future.

Based on the girl's father's complaint police have arrested all the three accused, including Poonam who used to blackmail the victim.
It was five years ago that Dr AP Sreekumar, a staunch environmentalist, installed a rooftop solar power plant at his house in Chengannur in Kerala's Alappuzha district. Little did he know then that one day it would help save lives during the devastating floods in the state.

When the electricity board had turned off power distribution at Chengannur to prevent further danger following the unprecedented rain and deluge, Sreekumar's house in the locality remained lit up. It sheltered five families from the neighbourhood.

It became a centre from where the refugees sent SOS messages, everyone charged their phones and remained connected to the outside world.

toi

"Even though we had enough power, we tried our best to reduce the usage as we did not know how long the uncertainty would prevail," Sreekumar said.

The doctor could also alert the local youths, who were carrying out rescue operations along with police, fire and rescue personnel, and save the lives of an elderly man and his son stranded in the neighbourhood. Fortunately, the house was not submerged as it is located on a higher plane.

afp/representational image

Indukantham Hospital run by Sreekumar, which is again solar powered, had sheltered five other families, including that of two in-patients.

Sreekumar and wife Dr Lakshmi Sreekumar had administered first aid to many fishermen who were injured in rescue operations. After the flood waters receded, the couple joined the medical camp at Chengannur.
In the age of smartphones, its become pretty easy to get hooked onto your device, to the point where youre walking and talking or staring at the display, most of the time just moving on autopilot. Well, General Motors has made it clear its having none of that.

At GM, employees are not allowed to walk around on their phones. Considering its a car manufacturer, thats pretty standard for a warehouse or workshop. But in fact, this rule also extends to employees in GMs offices. No checking through emails between meetings, no taking a work call on the way to lunch, and certainly no swiping through Twitter on the way to grab a cup of coffee.

We have asked people not to text and walk or walk and talk on phones because it takes your attention away from potential hazards, Jim Glynn, GMs vice president of Global Workplace Safety, told Fast Company. The new rule was implemented earlier in January this year, but it was first conceived from an open letter by General Motors CEO Mary Barra in 2017. In it one of her key agendas to ensure longer term stability for GM was safety in everything we do.

It makes sense considering how much car companies stake on safety standards. Not only do they have to ensure factory workers are kept as safe as possible, but their cars need to meet stringent standards in order to be sold in a number of markets. So such a full commitment to safety extending to even corporate offices may be a little unorthodox, but certainly not bad. In fact, it may actually improve productivity in some cases.

But while it may be an inconvenience to office workers rushing against deadlines, GM seems like its not about to budge. Some people are going to look at this as another rule. Were being draconian, says Glynn. More important than getting your job done, we dont want you to get hurt.

It cant be, We want to be safe most of the time. You have to be consistent.
Motorala has had various aesthetic changes over the years, to the fairly cookie-cutter mold it has now.

However, ask any fan which their favourite one was and theyll certainly point to the pre-smartphone era Moto RAZR. Well boy do we have good news for you.

The RAZR was a symbol of Motorolas reign at the top, during the days of feature phones. With its iconic design and sleek lines, no phone ever looked cooler. Now, according to a recent patent spotted by Mobielkopen on the US Trademark Patent Office website, the RAZR may be making a grand comeback soon. It wont be called the RAZR (not that we know of), but it will look very similar to the original.

Based on the patent, Motorola seems to be chasing the same dream as a few other smartphone brands, namely a foldable display. At the moment, Samsung and Huawei both seem equally close to achieving the feat while others lag behind. However, thats not stopping any of them from attempting to snag patents for the technology.

As you can see in the images, the rebooted RAZR will be a clamshell device just like the original. However, where the RAZR could easily achieve this with one panel having the display and the other the keypad, the RAZR 2.0 as it were would have to implement a large foldable display. The two halves of the phone chassis meanwhile feature hinges like those on a laptop. Unfortunately, that likely also means the folded end of the device is going to have a gaping hole

This is just a patent after all, so keep your hype to manageable levels. Theres no guarantee a device like this will ever be made, though we can keep our fingers crossed.
In a tear-jerking incident, a 92-year-old Korean woman held her 71-year-old son's hand on Monday for the first time since he was four.

According to an AP report, at the end of the war, Lee and her daughter made it into South Korea, while Ri and his father were stuck in North Korea. After 68 long years, mother and son have now reunited.

AP

"How many children do you have? Do you have a son?" Lee Keum-seom asked her son during their emotional reunion, according to the Associated Press.

"Mother, this is how my father looked," Ri said as he handed his mother a photo of her late husband.

This is the moment a 92-year-old woman saw her son in North Korea after 68 years apart.

They were separated in the Korean War. Yesterday, they reunited: https://t.co/9pvTJiE1M1 pic.twitter.com/f2GsOyKcyY  CNN International (@cnni) 21 August 2018

About 20,000 people have participated in 20 rounds of reunions since 1985, when the first such gatherings were organised. People are chosen to participate through a lottery system, but in the past, some South Koreans have died or become too ill to travel before the reunions, according to reports.

This gathering is a result of the historic meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in that took place earlier this year.
Working hard is one thing and working so hard that you lead yourself into a burnout is another thing. And with today's lifestyle, a lot of people don't even realise that they are workaholics. Heck, there are thousands who are guilt-ridden even if they take a day off from work for genuinely falling sick.

That's exactly what Serena William's husband and Reddit Co-founder, Alex Ohanian points out and brings to everyone's notice in his post about workaholics. Alex Ohanian writes, "Burnout is real and you're not doing great work if you're not in a great condition."

Had an associate at another VC firm text one of my partners about my vacation a couple weeks ago, implying I wasn't working hard. If you spend that much time thinking/talking about your competition, you're going to lose. But less often said in tech--if you think that spending time with your wife and kid on vacation is an example of a poor work-ethic, you're part of the problem. Yes, work your ass off when you're working, but it cannot be everything, forever. And you don't need a family to need time for self-care. Burnout is real and you're not doing great work if you're not in a great condition. Find me in a decade and we'll check the receipts. A post shared by Alexis Ohanian Sr. (@alexisohanian) on Aug 22, 2018 at 11:17am PDT

From his post, it seems he got to writing about this after one of his partners in his company suggested he wasn't 'working hard' because he was on vacation with his family.

"Had an associate at another VC firm text one of my partners about my vacation a couple weeks ago, implying I wasn't working hard," Mr Ohanian says in his post. In just a day his post received 40,000 likes and almost 2000 comments. Clearly, his message struck a chord with many of us.

The 35-year-old adds, "If you spend that much time thinking/talking about your competition, you're going to lose."

A post shared by Alexis Ohanian Sr. (@alexisohanian) on May 27, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT

"If you think that spending time with your wife and kid on vacation is an example of a poor work-ethic, you're part of the problem," he says in his post.

Williams and Alexis have been documenting their parenthood journey through family Instagram posts. Paternity leave was the first time Alexis Ohanian put a stop to his fast-paced life. They welcomed their baby Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, on September 1.
Steven Jacob Reed received a 52-year sentence on Thursday, for stabbing deaths that happened in 2016 in Bradley County.

On Thursday, April 21, 2016, at 11:45 a.m., Bradley County 911 received multiple calls stating that a person had been stabbed at the Springbrook Apartments at 2360 Blackburn Road.

Approximately two minutes later, CPD officers arrived on the scene. They observed Steven Jacob Reed (aka, Stephen Jacob Reed Gaddis) standing in the roadway. His pants were torn and he appeared to have blood on his clothing. He was detained by CPD officers. Officers then located Sewell Anthony Beck with multiple stabs wounds in Apartment 101.

Beck advised officers that Jacob Reed stabbed others in Apartment 68. Sewell Anthony Beck was airlifted from the scene to Erlanger for emergency surgery. Officers then located Crystal Canino and Crystal York McCarter in Apartment 68. Both women had multiple stab wounds. Crystal Canino was pronounced dead on the scene. Crystal York McCarter was transported by BCEMS to Tennova where she was pronounced dead. Steven Jacob Reed was transported to the Cleveland Police Department for further questioning by CPD detectives.

After more than seven hours of interviewing Reed, he was transported to Bradley County Justice Center and charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder.

During the course of this investigation, over 100 individual items were collected and sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab for forensic testing, seven search warrants were obtained and executed, and over 50 people were interviewed.

On Thursday, at 1:30 p.m., Stephen Jacob Reed pled guilty in Bradley County Criminal Court to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. He was given a 52-year sentence.

This incident involved multiple agencies that helped secure this conviction, including the CPD Patrol division, CPD crime scene unit, CPD Criminal Investigations Division, CPD K-9 unit, BCSO patrol division, BCSO criminal investigations division, BCSO Crime scene unit, Bradley County Medical Examiners Office, Hamilton County Medical Examiners Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations crime lab and the 10th Judicial District Attorneys office ADA Matt Dunn and ADA Krista Oswalt.
We all love a good plate of pav bhaji that comes with dollops of butter melting on the dish, don't we? But we're pretty sure you didn't know about the origin of this majestic dish that has become so famous that it is synonymous with the city of Mumbai.

So, basically, the Portuguese got us the most important ingredient needed to make pav bhaji, namely, the pav! Pav gets its name from one quarter in a section of four, which is how the bun is usually baked. Well, later, the Portuguese handed over Bombay to the British in dowry when Princess Catherine D Bragenza was married to British Prince Charles II.

Indiatimes/India On A Plate

However, they just brought us the pav but how did pav bhaji gain all this fame?

Given that India was introduced to potatoes only 500 years back and that Indians thought tomatoes were poisonous well into the 1800s, the fact that dish is today a favourite of all people across India is nothing short of a miracle and one we're glad about.

Indiatimes/India On A Plate

So, when the American Civil War was going on, the British didn't have a stable supply of cotton because of the disruption in America. Hence, they came to India looking for it. The mills started getting huge orders and the workers would often have to work late into the night. And to keep the workers fed, vendors would be found outside these mills selling plates of pav bhaji. The bhaji was essentially made from leftover vegetables and cooked with tomatoes and potatoes. As the number of mills grew, they started spreading across Mumbai and well, the pav bhaji became not just a street food item but the friend who kept the workers company late into the night.

Flickr

Today, we've got different versions of it all over India. The South Indians like to add curry leaves to it and the North Indians give it a twist with rajmah but all in all, a plate of pav bhaji is soothing not just to the palette but to the soul.

Hear all about the history of our favourite street food from Indiatimes and Kubra Sait as we trace the origins of our favourite dish:
To land an internship with NASA is a dream for many, but to blow it off with one vulgar tweet is more than just embarrassing.

In a recent incident, a woman lost her NASA internship after an exchange of profanity-laden tweet with an ex-NASA engineer and member of the National Space Council, Homer Hickam on Twitter.

The woman, who goes by the handle Naomi, celebrated getting an internship at the US space agency with a tweet which has since been deleted, saying, Everyone shut the f*** up, I got accepted for a NASA internship.

Home Hickam replied to her tweet saying, Language implying that she should refrain from using profanity.

But in response to Hickams tweet Naomi replied, Suck my d*** and b**** Im working at NASA. Hickam put her down saying, And I am on the National Space Council that oversees NASA.

In the post, Hickam said he takes no offence to the 'f-word,' but sought to warn her that NASA might and that's exactly what happened.

The woman lost her place in NASA.
Last week, Amazon Web Services said it is partnering with community colleges and high schools to offer cloud-computing certificates. The 19 community collegeswhich include Citrus College, Long Beach City College, Los Angeles Trade Tech, Pasadena City College, and Mt. San Antonio Collegeare hoping to take the program statewide. The California Cloud Workforce Project also is looking to forge agreements with four-year institutions to establish an associates degree in cloud computing, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Not all are in California: Also included is Northern Virginia Community College, where I was an adjunct professor for eight years.

Im not surprised by this news. We have a severe cloud skills shortage, and so there is high demand for people looking to increase or obtain the cloud computing skills necessary to get those gigs. Today, cloud skills could add as much as $50,000 to $75,000 to your yearly salary, depending upon your current position.

Although they can find on-demand training from providers and third-party training services, many people want to get their cloud skills along with traditional IT skills, such as databases, programming, and architecture.

Universities have done a poor job in keeping up with relevant technology trends. You often find classes for a technology thats either gone or on its way out, which means demand for those skills has disappeared or will soon disappear as well. Moreover, you pay about a thousand dollars per credit hour for the privilege of taking the outdated classa class that may be mandated for graduation.

By contrast, community colleges often focus on the tactical skills required by popular technology rather than the basic foundations of the technology itself. Teaching skills has long been community colleges' core mission. Indeed, many of my students already had advanced degrees and were just looking for the knowledge bump at work.

So, should you learn cloud skills in the same building where we learn welding and basic auto repair? Yes. And why not?

Cloud computing training is now so fragmented and confusing that most people dont know where to start. If community colleges can create a curriculum that supports both basic and advanced cloud skills, including provider-specific skills (such as AWS), then thats an effective option to get workforces up to speed on what the cloud is, what it does, and how to effectively use it for the business. As a bonus, the curriculum is cheap and usually just down the street.
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In the notices themselves, we set out clear steps that public institutions, companies, and people should take or consider taking, in order to avoid or mitigate or manage the risk of any potential short-term disruption, said the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. The overarching aim of the notices is to facilitate the smooth, continued functioning of business, transport, infrastructure, research, aid programmes, and funding streams that have previously come from the EU.

In some cases, it will mean taking unilateral action to maintain as much continuity as possible at least in the short term, in the event of no deal, and irrespective of whether the EU reciprocates in practice.

A total of 25 notices were released yesterday.

What the notification on financial services says

The technical notice started out with an offer of assurance that the no deal scenario remains unlikely. It cited the mutual interests of the UK and the EU in securing a negotiated outcome, adding that discussions toward a positive deal are progressing well.

However, its our duty as a responsible government to prepare for all eventualities, including no deal, until we can be certain of the outcome of those negotiations, read the new guidance. For two years, the government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready from day one in all scenarios, including a potential no deal outcome in March 2019.

The notification on banking, insurance, and other financial services discussed in detail the implications for firms, individuals, and business customers in the absence of an agreement with the EU.

How customers of financial services firms will be affected will depend on where they are based, where their firm is based and under what regulatory authorisations they operate, and the services that they access, it noted. If action by customers is needed, then firms should communicate this to their customers at an appropriate time.

For instance, in the case of UK-based customers who access financial services with European Economic Area (EEA) firms currently passporting into the UK, the notice said the temporary permissions regimes will enable these companies to continue to provide the services for up to three years after exit  allowing time for them to apply for authorisation to continue operating in the UK.

By contrast, in the absence of action from the EU, EEA-based customers of UK firms currently passporting into the EEA, including UK citizens living in the EEA, may lose the ability to access existing lending and deposit services, insurance contracts (such as a life insurance contracts and annuities) due to UK firms losing their rights to passport into the EEA, affecting the ability of their EEA customers to continue accessing their services, read the paper. This could impact these firms ability to continue to service their existing products.

In the guidance, the government also cited its commitment to putting in place unilateral action, if necessary, to resolve the issues as far as possible on the UK side.

However, the UK authorities are not able through unilateral action to fully address risks to the EEA customers of UK firms currently providing services into the EEA using the financial services passport, it said. The government is committed to working with EU partners to identify and address such risks.

Industry reaction

Following the release of the financial services technical notice, the likes of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and UK Finance expressed their take on the matter.

Leaving the EU without a deal would cause major inconvenience to millions of pensioners, travellers, and drivers, commented Hugh Savill, ABI director of regulation. We urge the government to agree a deal as a matter of urgency.

Savill said the paper emphasises the risk of insurers not being able to make payments to EU-based customers after the end of March 2019.

Obviously insurers want to meet their commitments to their customers, but this problem has the potential to affect millions of insurance customers, including UK pensioners overseas, he stated. It can be fixed by cooperation between the UK and EU regulators  if the EU authorities wish to do so.

Insurers have, of course, been making contingency plans for their own operations for many months now, but this contract issue is not one that insurers themselves can fix.

Meanwhile UK Finance chief executive Stephen Jones believes the no deal scenario can and should be avoided. UK Finance is the trade association for the finance and banking industry operating in the UK.

Both the UK and our EU partners should focus on agreeing a managed exit and a clear framework for cross-border trade including in financial services, said Jones. However, it is right that contingency plans are made to minimise disruption for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Channel in the event of a no deal.

The government is taking a pragmatic approach to addressing critical cliff-edge issues and to ensure consumers and businesses can continue accessing vital cross-border services. However, these issues cannot be addressed by the UK acting alone.

In Joness view, it is therefore vital that both sides of the negotiation work together to agree solutions.
In its submission to the Australian Law Reform Commissions inquiry into class-action proceedings and third-party litigation funders, the insurance broking and risk-management solutions leader said its seven years-worth of data suggests a direct link between rising D&O insurance fees, and the exit of several major insurers from the D&O market, to the rising number and size of class action activity since 2011.

Qualified directors and officers require companies to buy insurance to protect them against the ever-increasing scope of personal liability to serve on boards or take on senior management roles, said Craig Claughton, head of the financial and professional practice at Marsh Australia. If the market for D&O insurance becomes restricted or too expensive, corporate Australia could lose the depth of experience needed to function in response to regulatory and shareholder demands.

Marsh data showed that, between 2011 and 2018, there has been a 250% plus spike in the cost of D&O insurance for ASX200 companies, most of which has occurred in the past two years. Companies are also retaining more risk, with ASX200 companies typically increasing the amount four-fold to more than $10 million per loss.

Marsh also noted that many insurers have withdrawn from the D&O market since 2011 as research has shown that they have forked out more than $1 billion to securities class action settlements in that time.

Rising premiums would normally attract more insurers to enter a market, Claughton said. However, insurers are now so concerned about the potential size and scope of class action lawsuits that many are either cutting back their offering or no longer write the coverage at all. The D&O market is at a

tipping point with class action liability, and third-party litigation funders, contributing to a situation that has grown increasingly dire for many Australian companies.
Crop insurance has proven to be a successful tool for most major field crops, such as soy beans, corn, wheat and cotton, added the chief economist, and there are 100 different commodities covered under the crop insurance program, but dairy farmers also need help.

There are a variety of pressures that impact the dairy farmer. Certainly, regulatory pressures can impact the farm operations, challenges with access to labor, trade agreements  all of those things factor into the ultimate profitability and well-being of the dairy operation, said Newton.

Two years ago, AFBF and AFBIS began a collaborative effort to develop a new policy through the Federal Crop Insurance Corporations 508(h) process, whereby the corporations board of directors receive proposed crop insurance products, review them, and then vote on whether they should go into development. The launch of the new policy was finally announced on August 08.

This is simply an area-based revenue policy. It moves and functions to protect against revenue declines, and what would drive the changes in the dairy farmers revenue would be changes in US milk prices, such as declines in the prices of cheese, butter or other manufactured dairy ingredients that ultimately determine the farm value of product, said Newton.

Farmers in the US are also being supported through emerging challenges via other resources. Earlier this summer, the US Secretary of Agriculture announced that agricultural producers hit by hurricanes and wildfires in 2017 could now apply for financial assistance through the 2017 Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program from July 16 until November 16 of this year.
I couldnt be more pleased with the verdict, said US Attorney Mike Stuart. Insurance fraud and arson are serious matters that cause insurance premiums to be inflated, the destruction of property, and the very real risk that good folks could die as a result.

Windel Lester was found guilty of 17 felony charges and faces up to 340 years in prison. James Punkin Lester was found guilty of 23 felony charges and faces up to 475 years in prison. Georgetta Lester Kenney was found guilty of seven felony charges and faces up to 140 years imprisonment. Greg Lester, convicted of four felony charges, faces up to 80 years. Sentencing hearings are scheduled for December.

Between April of 2012 and January of 2016, the Lester family and others participated in three separate but related schemes involving arson, mail and wire fraud and money laundering, according to prosecutors. They insured houses for amounts greatly exceeding their value and the value of any contents, the US Attorneys Office said. The houses were then burned in order to collect the insurance proceeds.
Based on transcripts from publicly traded insurance underwriters where speakers mentioned the term blockchain, distributed ledger, or crypto at least once, it was found that insurers discussing blockchain technology the most on conference calls came from Europe.

In addition to earnings calls, the data compiled earlier this month also included transcripts of events such as analyst/investor days and industry conferences.

Europe bested all other regions with 15 transcripts, followed by Asia-Pacifics eight. Tied with APAC was the combined US and Canada  which Mason said could mean that US insurers are taking a wait-and-see approach either that or theyre just more secretive about their blockchain plans.

Meanwhile the Latin America and Caribbean region, which included Bermuda, had two transcripts. As for insurers in the Middle East and Africa, not a single transcript mentioned blockchain technology.

One project that caught our attention in the European market was AXAs Fizzy, noted Mason. The flight insurance product uses smart contracts written to the Ethereum blockchain and automatically pays a claim if a passengers flight is delayed more than two hours. AXA launched Fizzy in September 2017 and at the time offered coverage for only a few routes a day.

As of mid-June 2018, AXA had expanded the app to 5% of worldwide routes. But merely the fact that it launched is noteworthy, as many projects from other companies, both in and outside the insurance realm, remain in proof-of-concept mode.

The analyst also cited the likes of Allianz SE, Prudential Plc, and SCOR SE as among the prominent European (re)insurers who have publicly disclosed blockchain initiatives.

However, theres one particular insurer who looks extra keen on the technologys prospects.

While European insurers collectively discussed blockchain on the most number of conference calls, Chinese insurer Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. took the top spot in our ranking of individual insurers, said Mason. Ping An considers blockchain one of its five core technologies, as executives mentioned during an investor day in November 2017; the others are biometrics, big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

The research also drew attention to blockchain consortiums such as B3i (Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative) and The Institutes RiskBlock Alliance.
The number of U.S. lawsuits brought against Bayers newly acquired Monsanto has jumped to about 8,000, as the German drugmaker braces for years of legal wrangling over alleged cancer risks of glyphosate-based weedkillers.

Bayer had previously disclosed 5,200 such lawsuits against Monsanto, which it acquired in a $63 billion deal completed in June.

The number of plaintiffs in both state and federal litigation is approximately 8,000 as of end-July. These numbers may rise or fall over time but our view is that the number is not indicative of the merits of the plaintiffs cases, Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann told analysts in a conference call on Thursday.

Bayer shares have lost more than 10 percent since Monsanto was ordered on Aug. 10 to pay $289 million in damages in the first U.S. lawsuit over glyphosate-based weedkillers such as Roundup and Ranger Pro.

The legal headache adds to a number of distractions for Bayer, such as falling consumer care product sales and a rebuke on production practices from the U.S. drugs watchdog, as it seeks to strengthen its drug development pipeline and has begun integrating Monsanto into its organization.

While this is disappointing, it is not surprising. Indeed, in our litigation scenario analysis, we assumed a doubling of cases to 10,400, said Alistair Campbell, analyst at brokerage Berenberg.

Bayer shares were down 1.8 percent at 1600 GMT while the German blue chip index was up 0.2 percent.

CEO Baumann reiterated Bayers view that the jurys verdict on Aug. 10 was inconsistent with the science-based conclusions of regulators.

Bayer said it will initially petition the judge to reverse the jurys verdict from Aug. 10, and if necessary challenge the ruling with California appellate courts, which will take at least a year.

When asked whether Bayer would consider settling cases out of court, he said: We will vigorously defend this case and all upcoming cases.

Bayer executives on the call stressed that demand for glyphosate and seeds for crops that tolerate the broad-spectrum herbicide had not been affected by the verdict.

Nothing whatsoever has changed in the regulatory status of the product. There is simply very high demand, and has been for many decades for glyphosate. It is an invaluable tool for growers, said Liam Condon, the head of Bayers newly enlarged Crop Science division.

Bayer also said on Thursday that it sees no reason to re-assess the legal risks from Monsanto.

Last week Bayer, which is retiring the Monsanto name, launched the integration of Monsanto into its organization. That is seen as a daunting task even without the litigation, almost two years after it signed the $63 billion deal.

Bayers second-quarter results, due on Sept. 5, would include provisioning for legal defense costs but no money would at that point be set aside for any possible future damages, finance chief Wolfgang Nickl said.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Douglas Busvine and Susan Fenton)

Related:

Topics Lawsuits USA
A federal jury has awarded $3.35 million to a female ex-firefighter in Ohio who says she was the longtime victim of sexual harassment.

Amie Morningstar of the Circleville Fire Department alleged she was subjected to equipment tampering, clothing destruction and gender-related slurs. She also said she was required to meet tougher training and work standards than male counterparts and denied promotions because shes a woman.

A federal lawsuit said the harassment got worse after she reported it to her superiors. Circleville is about 30 miles south of Columbus. A jury found in favor of Morningstar on Wednesday. Messages were left for attorneys representing Circleville.

Morningstars attorney, Brian Duncan, says she was fired in 2016 after not reporting to work when shed used up all of her personal leave.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Ohio
Marijuana is already a multibillion-dollar business in the U.S. thats drawing attention from some lawmakers eager for tax revenue and investors looking for profits. So far, however, some of the biggest insurers are taking a pass.

Allianz SE, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. are among large insurers that arent covering marijuana-related businesses. Even as U.S. states increasingly permit the use of pot for medicinal or recreational purposes, the federal government has held fast in keeping weed illegal. Thats driven off name-brand insurers and left the field open for smaller firms.

The whole conversation of cannabis crosses the desks of the most senior leaders of the insurance community as they determine whether or not they want to play in this game, said Tom Fitzgerald, global broking officer at insurance broker Aon Plc. Theres not every insurance company in the world anxious to write this stuff, at least not yet.

Pot is big business, with consumer spending on legal cannabis estimated to reach $11 billion this year and $23 billion by 2022, according to a June report by Arcview Market Research with BDS Analytics. Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in nine states and Washington, D.C., while medicinal weed is permitted in more than 25 states and the nations capital, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.

Only a Handful

Just a few handful of carriers will write policies for cannabis-related firms, said James Nelson, a retail insurance broker and owner of New Growth Insurance in Alameda, California.

Growers want protection against crop loss and other business coverage, and weed distributors and retailers need insurance as well. The companies have long known that U.S. banks wont let them open accounts because of the federal law, and now theyre finding it difficult to buy insurance.

One of the smaller firms diving in is Continental Heritage Insurance Co. Ohio-based Continental, which also sells surety products like bail bonds, was licensed this year in California to offer coverage for marijuana-related businesses, including product liability.

We have a history of basically seeking out markets that a lot of the larger companies tend to ignore, said Continental Chief Executive Officer Charles Hamm. We believe cannabis is one of those areas that has a great deal of potential.

Federal Risk

The fear of the federal government stepping in is overblown, according to Dave Jones, the California insurance commissioner. Recreational pot became legal in California, the biggest U.S. state, this year.

Theres no risk of federal intervention and a very important upside for the insurance industry to participate, Jones said in an interview. Marijuana is a very large and growing industry that needs insurance.

Hartford, based in the Connecticut city of the same name, said its abstaining from the industry, and that is unlikely to change while the federal ban is in place.

We do not underwrite any business that sells, grows, transports or distributes marijuana or products derived from marijuana cannabinoids, the company said in an emailed statement.

A spokeswoman for Allianz, Europes largest insurer which also has operations in the U.S., said it currently doesnt offer coverage. Nationwide said in an emailed statement that, while it also avoids pot-related policies, we continue to evaluate the market opportunities and challenges on this issue.

As more states legalize marijuana, more carriers will come into the market, said Matt Porter, vice president with Cannabis Insurance Professionals, a division of Brown & Brown Inc., in Carpinteria, California. Another large market will be opening up later this year when recreational marijuana becomes legal in Canada on Oct. 17. And as the industry matures, insurers will be have access to more stats such as loss histories to help make underwriting decisions.

Theyll want some actuarial data to back it up, Porter said.

For now, smaller insurers are filling the gap. Hamm of Continental said that while no one knows how big the cannabis insurance market is going to get, his company will be there.

We believe in this line of business absolutely, Hamm said.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Carriers California USA Profit Loss Cannabis
Chinas giant Ping An Insurance Group is suing a California-based wholesale brokerage over its use of the name Ping An.

The Chinese financial services firm is demanding that Ping An Insurance Center (www.pingan-is.com), based in El Monte, Calif., cease using the Ping An name and trademark. Ping An Insurance Group says it is a world-renowned insurance company and brand with a strong reputation and influence and alleges that the name, trademark and website of Ping An Insurance Center (PAIC) have misled or are likely to mislead the public into believing that Ping An Insurance Center (PAIC) is the Group or that its insurance products are related to, affiliated with or endorsed by the Group.

PAIC is not related to, affiliated with, endorsed by, or in any way connected to Ping An Insurance Group or Company of China, Ltd. or its subsidiaries, the Chinese insurer said in a statement.

The Chinese groups authorized websites are located at http://pingan.cn/ and http://www.pingan/com.

PAICs website says it a wholesaler doing business with more than 30 carriers and has licenses in all 50 states, including California. The California licensing page says the firm must use the full name Ping An Insurance Center for any business it conducts in the state. PAIC offers auto, home, health, and commercial/specialty insurance.

According to PAICs website, the words Ping An together mean safety and peace.

We choose Ping An as our brand because we wish every one of our customers live happier, healthier and happier lives with safety and peace, the firms website says.

Insurance Journal contacted the California business by phone Friday morning for comment. A man who said he was the owner of the company acknowledged that he was aware of lawsuit, but he declined talk about it or answer any questions.

Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China is its countrys largest insurer by market value and the worlds second-largest insurer by market value behind only Berkshire Hathaway. For the six months ended June, its net profit was 58.10 billion yuan ($8.45 billion), up 34 percent from a year ago, according to its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The tech-oriented Chinese firm is heavily invested in the Ping An name, having a banking arm named Ping An Bank and a healthcare platform called Ping Ans Good Doctor.

Topics Lawsuits California Agencies USA China
West Virginia Governor Jim Justices family coal companies are breaching their environmental responsibilities, according to Kentucky regulators, who are seeking millions in additional fines for surface mining areas that havent been cleaned up.

The Justice companies, which are now being run by Justices children, are no stranger to legal battles. They owe millions in property taxes to Kentucky counties, have been sued by unpaid vendors and recently settled tax disputes with counties in West Virginia.

The court battle is over a 2014 agreement Justice, before he became governor, made with Kentucky officials to restore the environment at some Appalachian mines.

A lawyer for the Justice companies said Tuesday that the restoration at the mines is on schedule to be completed by April.

Federal law dictates that closed surface mines must be restored to resemble the lands original shape and contours. But the work has not kept up with the agreements deadline, the state argued in a motion last week.

The cabinet simply does not trust them to complete the remaining reclamation work, the Aug. 17 motion said. The Justice companies habitually blame others for their own bad debts and breached agreements.

The cabinet had argued to end mediation talks with the Justice companies, but a Franklin County judge on Monday ordered the mediation to continue.

The Justice companies were originally assessed a $4.5 million penalty by Kentucky regulators, but the 2014 agreement lowered the fine to $1.5 million if the companies completed the cleanup by September of 2015.

A lawyer for the companies, Richard Getty, said several deadlines had been extended but state regulators have been difficult to work with.

He called the additional fine of nearly $3 million the state is seeking draconian.

This is not like we had a deadline, and we never made it, Getty said Tuesday. We had a deadline that was by agreement pushed back. Getty said the Justice companies have stayed in business mining coal and keeping workers employed while many other coal outfits have gone out of business.

State officials say there is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) of surface mine area left to be reclaimed under the agreement.

The Justice companies mined Kentucky coal and profited from it. But they have dragged their feet for years in meeting their obligations to restore the land, John Mura, a spokesman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said in an email. Mura said the cabinet is seeking the nearly $3 million in fines and a completion of the restoration work.

Justice has a history of debt problems, including millions in property tax debts to some Appalachian counties in Kentucky. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported earlier this year that those debts in Kentucky counties total nearly $3 million. Earlier this month, Gov. Justice announced that his family-owned coal businesses have resolved all tax disputes with the state of West Virginia and its counties.

Justice has a fortune estimated at $1.9 billion by Forbes magazine from coal and agricultural interests. He was elected governor in 2016 as a Democrat but later changed his party affiliation to Republican.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Virginia Mining Kentucky
A stunt coordinator has been injured on the set of the CBS TV series MacGyver in Atlanta.

CBS Television Studios said in a statement Wednesday that Justin Sundquist was injured late Monday after an accident. The studio says he remains hospitalized with his condition unknown after he sustained a head injury during a stunt.

CBS says the production team is cooperating with authorities to investigate the accident.

News outlets report that Sundquist sued CBS Corp. and CBS TV Studios last year after being injured on the set of Hawaii Five-O.

Last year, stuntman John Bernecker was killed on the set of AMCs The Walking Dead in Georgia.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Common stock shareholders in a publicly-traded company have certain rights pertaining to their equity investment, and among the more important of these is the right to vote on certain corporate matters. Shareholders typically have the right to vote in elections for the board of directors and on proposed operational alterations such as shifts of corporate aims and goals or fundamental structural changes.

Shareholders also have the right to vote on matters that directly affect their stock ownership, such as the company doing a stock split or a proposed merger or acquisition. They may also have the right to vote on executive compensation packages and other administrative issues.

Key Takeaways Anyone who owns stock in a company has a voting right to the decisions that the company makes.

The fewer shares someone owns, the less voting power they have.

Voting has a significant impact on the price of the shares someone owns. For this reason, education about a company's proposed decisions is of the utmost importance.

Voting Rights of Common Stock Ownership

Common stock ownership always carries voting rights, but the nature of the rights and the specific issues shareholders are entitled to vote on can vary considerably from one company to another. Some companies grant stockholders one vote per share, thus giving those shareholders with a greater investment in the company a greater say in corporate decision-making. Alternatively, each shareholder may have one vote, regardless of how many shares of company stock they own.

Shareholders can exercise their voting rights in person at the corporation's annual general meeting or other special meeting convened for voting purposes, or by proxy. Proxy forms are sent to shareholders, along with their invitations, to attend the shareholders' meeting. These forms list and describe all the issues on which shareholders have the right to vote. A shareholder may elect to fill out the form and mail in their votes on the issues rather than voting in person.

The Influence of Voting Rights in a Company's Decisions

Since the issues on which shareholders can vote, at least in part, determine the profitability of the company going forward, voting rights in such matters allow shareholders to influence the success of their investment. Decisions made at the annual shareholders' meeting can be the deciding factor in whether a company's stock price subsequently doubles or declines by 50 percent. Therefore, shareholders need to take advantage of the opportunity to positively influence corporate direction.

Shareholders should thoroughly analyze proposals being presented for a vote. For example, there may be proposals for the company to take action that amounts to creating a "poison pill" designed to thwart a possible takeover by another firm. While such proposals may be beneficial for corporate management personnel, they may not necessarily be in the best interests of shareholders who could realize substantial capital gains from their stock shares in the event of a takeover. Any proposed changes to the company's bylaws should be carefully scrutinized, as should company management proposals to change legal or accounting firms.

Proposed stock option or stock split plans can have a significant impact on the value of existing shares, and so such proposals merit careful evaluation by shareholders before voting. Another item for shareholder analysis is the company's Compensation Committee Report. Investors should review the company's compensation plan to determine things such as the overall reasonableness of executive compensation packages and how effectively bonuses are tied to actual performance.

Hostile Takeover

Because shareholders have a proportional influence per their stake, certain market movers or "hostile" activist investors will amass a large stake in a company through purchasing shares. When they have enough shareholder power to sway a vote, they will step in and direct the company in the direction that benefits them or they may purchase enough shares to become the majority shareholder of the company. When that happens, they can direct it more assertively.
The average for return on equity (ROE) for companies in the banking industry in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 11.39%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. ROE is a key profitability ratio that investors use to measure the amount of a company's income that is returned as shareholders' equity.

Key Takeaways The average return on equity (ROE) as of the fourth quarter of 2019 was 11.39%.

Most nonfinancial companies focus on growing earnings per share (EPS), while ROE is the key metric for banks.

Bank ROEs averaged in the mid-teens for over a decadeprior to Basel III passage in 2009.

Since 2009 banks have averaged ROEs between 5% and 10%, only recently breaking above 11%.

Most megabanks in the U.S. have below-average ROEs, while JPMorgan (JPM) has an industry-high ROE of 15%.

Why Return on Equity (ROE) Matters

The return on equity (ROE) metric reveals how effectively a corporation is generating profit from the money that investors have put into the business. ROE is calculated by dividing net income by total shareholders' equity. ROE is a very effective metric for evaluating and comparing similar companies, providing a solid indication of earnings performance.

Average returns on equity vary significantly between industries, so its not advised to use ROE for cross-industry company comparisons. A higher return on equity indicates that a company is effectively using the contributions of equity investors to generate additional profits and return the profits to investors at an attractive level.

There is one inherent flaw with the ROE ratio, however. Companies with disproportionate amounts of debt in their capital structures show smaller bases of equity. In such a case, a relatively smaller amount of net income can still create a high ROE percentage from a more modest base of equity.

Bank Return on Equity (ROE)

While most corporations focus on earnings per share (EPS) growth, banks emphasize ROE. Investors have found that ROE is a much better metric at assessing the market value and growth of banks. This comes as the capital base for banks is different than conventional companies, where bank deposits are federally insured. As well, banks can offer interest on its deposits, which is a form of capital, that is well below rates other companies pay for capital. Banks are incentivized to focus on managing capital to maximize shareholder value versus growing earnings.

However, minimum capital requirements, such as Basel III, increased the amount of capital banks had to keep in hand. This has pushed ROEs down. As a result, average bank ROEs have been lower following the passage of the reform in 2009. From the early 1990s until the mid-2000s, banks averaged an ROE in the mid-teens. Since Basel III, ROEs have averaged between 5% and 10%, only breaking above 11% since the first quarter of 2018.

As of April 2020, many of the megabanks have ROEs below the industry average. This includes Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC), which have ROEs of roughly 10%. Meanwhile, the largest U.S. bank, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), has an ROE of 14.8%.
Credit scores are so important to people's financial lives that it's only natural to wonder: Just how is my credit score calculated?

The credit score often referred to as a FICO score is a proprietary tool created by FICO, the data analytics company formerly known as the Fair Isaac Corporation. FICO is not the only type of credit score available, but it is one of the most common measurements lenders use to determine the risk involved in doing business with a borrower. Here's a look at what FICO examines to come up with its credit scores.

Key Takeaways A history of timely payments matters most.

The amount you owe is a big factor.

Having unused credit makes you look good.

Applying for new credit can lower your score.

How Is a FICO Credit Score Calculated?

What exactly does a credit score measure? FICO does not reveal its proprietary credit score calculator formula, but it is known that the calculation incorporates five major components, with varying levels of importance. These categories, with their relative weights, are:

Payment history (35%)

Amount owed (30%)

Length of credit history (15%)

New credit (10%)

Credit mix (10%)

All of these categories are taken into account in your overall score, which can range from 300 to 850. No one factor or incident determines it completely.

1:48 3 Important Credit Score Factors

How Each Category Factors In

Payment history

The category of payment history takes into account whether you have paid your credit accounts consistently and on time. It also factors in previous bankruptcies, collections, and delinquencies. It takes into consideration the size of these problems, the time it took to resolve them, and how long it has been since the problems appeared. The more payment issues you have in your credit history, the lower your credit score will be.

Amount owed

The next largest component is the amount you currently owe relative to the credit you have available. Credit score formulas assume that borrowers who continually spend up to or above their credit limit are potential risks. Lenders typically like to see credit utilization ratiosthe percentage of available credit that you actually usebelow 30%.

Though this component of the credit score focuses on your current amount of debt, it also looks at the number of different accounts that you have open and the specific types of accounts you hold. A large total amount of debt from many sources will have an adverse effect on your score.

Your credit score is only one factor a lender will consider, but its a big one.

Length of credit history

The longer your credit accounts have been open and in good standing, the better. Common sense dictates that someone who has never been late with a payment in 20 years is a safer bet than someone who has been on time for two years.

New credit

Also, when people apply for credit frequently, it probably indicates financial pressures, so every time you apply for credit, your score gets dinged a little. Before opening a new credit account, its smart to consider whether having that extra credit is worth the drop in your credit score.

Credit mix

Lenders like to see a healthy credit mix that shows that you can successfully manage different types of credit. Revolving credit (credit cards, retail store cards, gas station cards, lines of credit) and installment credit (mortgages, auto loans, student loans) should both be represented, if possible.

What Isnt Included

It is important to understand that your credit score reflects only the information contained in your credit report. Your lender may consider other information in its appraisal. Your credit report doesn't show, for example, your age, current income, or length of employment.

However, your credit score is a key tool used by lending agencies. It is important that you keep an eye on your credit report. That is the basis of your credit score, so reviewing it at least once a year and correcting any errors on it is crucial. Additionally, if you find that your credit score is low and you need assistance in removing any negative marks, there are credit repair companies that might be able to help.
Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

More than 200 institutional child abuse victims sought housing, health, or other aid for the first time in the two months coming up to the final deadline for claims from the Caranua fund.

The statutory fund for victims of child abuse in residential institutions announced in late May that it would no longer accept applications after August 1.

The law restricts its spending to the 110m promised by religious orders after agreeing to volunteer additional funding in the wake of the 2009 Ryan Report on institutional child abuse.

Figures provided to the Irish Examiner show that Caranua, which administers the fund created by the 2012 law, received 509 applications after the May 31 announcement of this months deadline. They included 230 people who had not previously applied, while 191 previous applications were reactivated.

Caranua has received a further 88 applications up to the August 1 deadline from people who previously sought aid from the fund.

The main publicity around the final Caranua closing date was restricted to a press statement and ads placed in Irish Sunday newspapers and Irish-community news outlets in Britain and the United States. However, Caranua also advised groups working with institutional abuse survivors in May that it would announce a final call for claims shortly, and posters were circulated to public buildings, medical facilities, and other locations.

Caranua is legally restricted from spending any more than 110m, from which running costs that amounted to more than 8m by late May must also be paid. By then, it had already given 74m to more than 5,000 abuse survivors for housing, health, education, and other services.

However, Education Minister Richard Bruton asked in May that applications continue to be accepted in cases of hardship or exceptional circumstances after the August 1 closing date.

With concerns raised by groups working with institutional abuse victims about supports after the exhausting of the Caranua fund, Mr Bruton also promised that an inter-departmental committee to address this issue would meet in the near future.

However, the Department of Education has told the Irish Examiner it will be September before the first meeting of this group is held.

The committee is to examine how survivors needs can be met by existing mainstream State services, and will include representatives from the departments of education, health, justice, and social protection.

Mr Bruton also plans to publish soon the analysis of a survey that closed two months ago for survivors to offer views on the format of planned consultations with them about measures by the State following the realisation of the systemic abuse that occurred in residential institutions.

He said he supports a proposal from a number of survivors for meetings to serve as a forum for former institutional residents to reflect on their experiences, the States response to institutional abuse, and to make any recommendations.

The views on the format of the consultation, which is to be managed by an external facilitator, were also being accepted from survivors through a free telephone service operated by Barnardos.

The Department of Education told the Irish Examiner last month that it still expects the last 8.8m due to the Caranua fund from the Christian Brothers to be paid over this year.
Plans for a housing development in Castlemartyr have been rejected because of the inadequacy of wastewater treatment facilities in the East Cork village.

An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for the development of 30 units on the outskirts of Castlemartyr because of the existing wastewater constraints in the area.

The board said that the Environmental Protection Agency had already found that the existing wastewater treatment plant serving Castlemartyr was significantly in breach of emission limit values which affected water quality.

The development firm, Solas Partnership, had appealed the decision of Cork County Council to refuse a 10-year planning permission for the project.

It disputed claims by council planners that there was uncertainty about plans by Irish Water to provide water services to the development.

It has originally sought to build 209 houses consisting of two, three and four-bed houses as well as a creche, first-floor office units and playground.

It would have been linked with an existing housing estate at Gortnahoma More at the eastern edge of the village through two new pedestrian ways. However, the Solas Partnership subsequently scaled back its plans to 30 houses, the recommended limit for each new development in the East Cork Municipal District Local Area Plan.

Bord Pleanala said it was not satisfied that there was any certainty about when the existing constraints about wastewater treatment capacity could reasonably expect to be addressed.

Irish Water claimed there was capacity in the water network to cater for the first phase of 30 houses with projected full capacity by 2024.

An Bord Pleanala said that there was limited capacity at the proposed location of the new housing estate for development.

The board said that it could not be satisfied, based on the information provided that the proposed development would not have a significant effect on the Ballymacoda Special Area of Conservation because of the wastewater issues which precluded it for granting planning permission for the project.

It also expressed concern at the lack of clarity about part of the location which is identified as a high-risk area for flooding.

Several residents also made submissions opposing the development because of the proposed pedestrian connections through the Castlemanor estate.
By Owen Ryan and Dan Buckley

Around 40 jobs are being shed from Digital River in Shannon, as the work is being transferred to Bulgaria.

Laura May, vice-president of global delivery and commerce operations, said in a statement that the company had recently made a strategic decision to transition a part of its customer service business to an existing third-party provider.

She said that resulted in a reduction of staff in its Shannon office.

Digital Rivers Shannon office remains our largest European office with no plans to relocate the remaining operations, she said.

We have just concluded a collective consultation process within our Shannon office where employee representatives were consulted with and came to agreement on several items related to the transition, including the redundancy package.

We are currently in the process of individual consultation with the at-risk employees and are committed to providing as much support as possible during this transition time.

Pat Breen, Clare TD and the minister of state for trade, employment, and business, said around 60 jobs will remain in Shannon.

This company is there since 2005, he said.

This is a strategic decision to support the future direction of the company. Its not based on cost saving, I understand.

Obviously my thoughts are with the workers and their families, but hopefully there will be opportunities with them in other companies.

Overall in terms of the trend of job creation in Ireland and particularly in the Shannon area, it has been very positive and foreign direct investment continues to grow in the region, with companies like Edwards LifeSciences and Jaguar Land Rover coming in.

Meanwhile, Irish HomeCare is to immediately begin hiring 200 care workers, managers, nurses, and administrative support staff as part of a 3m investment plan.

The Monaghan-based company, which currently employs more than 600 people, will be hiring throughout Ireland and establishing new offices in regional towns and cities.

Chief executive Sally Murtagh said: We have been very successful in this market for 13 years, leading the way in standards, compliance and training.

Community-based care will not only allow our elderly remain in their own homes, as is their wish, but it will also sustain communities by keeping families together.

Irish HomeCares expansion follows the awarding of the new HSE tender for domiciliary care last week.

The Castleblayney-based company is one the biggest Irish-owned domiciliary care companies.
A pioneering Cork school has called on the Government to roll out a cloud-based system which cuts out the need for parents to purchase expensive new PCs, laptops, or tablets.

Bandon Grammar School has already started using a new computer technology to dramatically cut costs which means all students, regardless of the device they use, can access the same material in the same format.

Primary and secondary children are returning to school in the coming days and parents often come under financial pressure, especially since some tablets can cost upwards of 500.

Assistant principal of Bandon Grammar School, Trevor Collins, said the school has been working with Dell through its Flexilabs programme and now hopes it can be expanded nationwide.

Under a new system of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) schools no longer need to purchase new PCs, laptops, or tablets. Instead, once they log on to their VDI account, students using cheap tablets have the same processing power as those using expensive iPads. The system is centrally managed and centrally updated through the cloud.

Every child has their own individual account that they can log on to from any device so you have a kid with a very expensive top-of-the-range device and another kid with a 99 tablet and they will see the exact same material.

Mr Collins said the functions of the laptop or PC are not being used so older computers can be retained with software updates added to them. This means that his school, which received donated second-hand PCs more than five years ago, has not had to upgrade: Its a huge saving from a schools point of view. It is about a change of mindset; often if a school is spending money on IT they want a room full of new computers, they are not needed.

If rolled out nationwide, Mr Collins said children in underprivileged areas would have access to the same resources as those attending exclusive fee-paying schools. He said this system would also give the Irish education system an advantage over other countries.

Minister Jim Daly said: The purchase of costly iPads for schoolwork in a world where technology is constantly changing is a serious worry for parents.

Mr Daly said the initiative is a revolutionary development that could transform education and said the Government now has a political responsibility to pursue it: I have already brought this initiative to Minister Brutons attention.
Fine Gael ministers are fearful their posh boy image and failure to solve the housing crisis will kill their chances of retaining power.

Amid mounting internal calls for a general election before Christmas, several party ministers, speaking to the Irish Examiner in recent days, have said they are increasingly angry at Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy over failure to deliver tangable progress on the housing crisis.

While Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other senior ministers such as Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris have publicly expressed confidence in Mr Murphy, behind the scenes the unease over the housing crisis is mounting and the rookie minister is under pressure to deliver some good news fast.

It is clear Mr Varadkars Fine Gael ministers are increasingly keen to capitalise on the established lead over Fianna Fail, and are concerned that a bad winter on the housing issue could see their support levels fall.

We are getting hammered on health and housing and the posh boy image is killing us, and Murphys name keeps coming up, said one minister.

A number of the ministers have cited pictures of Mr Murphy in his swimming trunks at a Cabinet meeting in Co Kerry as being damaging to partys standing in the minds of the public.

If he is not running, he is out swimming at a time when a family of small children are forced to sleep on uncomfortable chairs in a Garda station, another minister said.

It reinforces a perception we only care about the middle classes.

The ministers also hit out at Mr Murphy being on his holidays in Spain at a time when thousands of students across the country are struggling to secure affordable accomodation ahead of the new college year.

There were 9,874 people homeless in the week of June 18-24 across Ireland, up from 7,421 people homeless, including 2,546 children in 1,239 families in mid-2017.

A canvass of Fine Gael ministers has also shown a strong desire for the Taoiseach to call a general election before Christmas should the party be near 35% in the opinion polls.

Our numbers have been good, but we are vulnerable on the housing front, one minister said. But if we are near 35%, we would be absolutely crazy not to go to the country. A reason to go early could be found.

Ministers have said the party is hoping that, on a good day, it could achieve 70 seats, but increasing to above 60 seats from their current 50 is a minimum.

Responding to the negative briefings from his colleagues, Mr Murphys spokesman accepted that Housing is an exceptionally difficult and challenging portfolio but insisted progress is being made in the fundamental issue of supply.

He cited latest CSO figures which showed that 4,490 homes were built between April and June, more than was built in each of the years between 2011 and 2015. So far, the total figure of new homes built stands at about 8,000.

In response to criticism of his posh boy image, Mr Murphys spokesman said such comments were not helpful in terms of fixing the crisis.

A persons background has no impact on their ability to do a job, he said.

He also rejected concerns that the brief is beyond a first-time minister, saying Mr Murphy is well up for the challenge.

The Taoiseachs spokesman said it is clear a lot of work remains to be done in the housing portfolio and is at present probably the most difficult portfolio.

Asked if the Taoiseach retains confidence in Mr Murphy, the spokesman said: Absolutely he does.

Last month, Mr Murphy was chastised by Fine Gael minister of state Catherine Byrne over plans for the States first cost-rental housing estate.

Ms Byrne begged Mr Murphy not to destroy her local community.

Its the wrong decision at the wrong time and I will not stand idly by any more and not give my opinion, said Ms Byrne.
Handling a Brexit deal in the same way as the last minute bank guarantee would be bad for Ireland, the Government has been warned.

While Opposition parties here gave a cautious welcome to British Brexit secretary Dominic Raabs indication that a good deal with the EU is still in sight, they have also warned of the possibility of a hard Brexit.

Reacting to the statement, Sinn Fein Brexit spokesman David Cullinane said it is simply not the reality that Britain could manage the fallout from a no-deal Brexit.

He said an agreement has to be in place by September at the very latest if it is to be agreed at the October summit of EU leaders.

Its not something that can be parsed in a couple of hours, said Mr Cullinance. You are dealing here with an agreement that will have to go into a lot of detail for Ireland. The protocol has to be rock solid.

The difficulty of getting legal clarity on the night of October reminds me of the bank guarantee and a lot of issues that were rushed where, at the final hour, something is put to an Irish Government which may not be what is desired or what is necessary and then huge pressure is put on the Irish Government to sign up to that.

Fianna Fail Brexit spokeswoman Lisa Chambers said the publication of the technical papers on the British governments preparations for a no-deal Brexit is a signal that a no-deal Brexit could still be a possibility.

This is not in the best interests of Ireland and the Government now needs to step up efforts to ensure that a deal can be reached between the UK and the EU, she said.

I was concerned by some of the language used by Mr Raab, particularly relating to the EUs engagement in the negotiating process, which I believe has always been constructive and practical.

What we need now is a period of concentrated engagement between the UK and the EU to secure a deal, which will serve the needs and interests of both sides so that a successful conclusion can be reached.
John Gilligan has been arrested in the North and charged with money laundering offences.

The 66-year-old was arrested yesterday evening by Border Force officers while attempting to board a flight to Spain at Belfast International Airport.
By Lynne Kelleher

Irish author, Michael Harding, has revealed he never officially left the priesthood  even though he has been married for 25 years.

The Cavan actor and raconteur was ordained for just a few years before walking away from the priesthood in 1984 at the age of 31 because he didnt agree with Pope John Paul IIs agenda.

But in Brendan OConnors new RTE series, Time Out, the playwright and novelist reveals he never applied to be laicised from the Catholic Church.

He said: I was ordained a priest, I never left, thats hugely important.

When the RTE presenter asks him if he still regards himself as a priest he answered yes and when he asks if he is a married priest the writer says yeah, of course.

He said the status of his marriage to his wife, Cathy Carman, is a civil issue: I dont see it as the business of the Church.

He goes on to explain exactly how he left the Church in his early 30s because he didnt like the new direction under Pope John Paul II but he never officially nullified his ordination: I retired from ministry because the Church was going into this restoration papacy that made no sense, that had no validity and with which I could have absolutely nothing to do with, Ive had nothing to do with it since 1984. But I wasnt laicised.

I didnt apply to get laicised which is what priests do, its like an annulment. You go and say, Oh I would like to be laicised now because that was a mistake.

Quite the opposite. I wrote to my bishop making clear that I didnt have any crisis of faith but clerical life within the political context of what was happening in the Church made no sense to me and I was completely finished with it.

So, in one sense I am completely finished with the Roman Catholic Church since 1984 but I didnt lose my faith, No 1. And No 2 when a woman that became the beloved, that to me, is a continuation of a journey of faith, not some sort of chopping and changing.

He told he originally went to the seminary when he was 19 before leaving but returned to the priesthood again when his dad died when he was in his 20s.

I went to the seminary with this notion, it was really a mistake, a kind of deviant childish thing when I was 18. So, I got out of it within a year and I stayed in Maynooth and did a BA and became a teacher and became a social worker and worked in prison.

Somewhere there about 24 years of age I felt this is not satisfying me as a life. I felt to pray was the same as writing a poem.

When his father died when Michael was in his 20s he went back to the seminary and was ordained.

However, he said he wasnt happy to stay in the Church under Pope John Paul IIs restoration papacy. He said his wife Cathy, who is a sculptor, inspired him to be the kind of writer he wanted to be.

In the interview with Brendan OConnor, the 65-year-old also shares the moments that have defined his life, speaking very movingly about the death of his mother and his own depression.

Brendan OConnors Time Out airs on RTE One at 9.35pm tonight.
Opposition leader Micheal Martin is to raise the staffing crisis that has led to the closure to new referrals of a specialist service for children undergoing a mental health crisis in Cork in the context of his partys confidence and supply arrangement with the Government, which Fine Gael is seeking to extend.

Mr Martin said it was quite shocking that the only alternative for children in crisis was to present themselves at an emergency department (ED) in Cork city for the purpose of undergoing psychiatric evaluation. There are currently 162 children waiting to be seen by the North Lee Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team.

The Irish Examiner reported yesterday that the HSE has written to GPs in the North Lee catchment area, which covers parts of the northside of Cork city as well as townlands to the east, advising that their CAMHS team is closed to new referrals for the foreseeable future. This follows the departure of the CAMHS psychiatrist in February.

Shari McDaid, executive director of Mental Health Reform, said that holistic 24/7 crisis mental health services need to be available to everyone in their local communities.

The Government has committed to a seven-day-a-week model for adults, but no provision has been made for a move to a similar model for CAMHS.

The Government and HSE need to look at innovative ways of providing access to urgent care for children and adolescents in this area, said Ms McDaid.

Cork Lord Mayor Mick Finn said asking children to compete in the chaos of already strained EDs is a recipe for further disaster.

Like the housing crisis, the abject failure to get on top of this issue for very vulnerable young people is not being addressed with enough haste and will cause huge problems down the line, said Mr Finn.

He said those involved in the confidence and supply arrangement must challenge what is happening.

Sinn Fein mental health spokesman Pat Buckley said the fact that the resignation of one consultant could grind the service to a standstill and force young people to go to an ED is the clearest indication of the neglect of CAMHS.

He called on Health Minister Simon Harris to address the issue immediately so that the service could resume taking new referrals.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) says it has been unable to identify the source of a mystery discharge which turned a tributary of the River Lee white.

However, the agency said that fish were unaffected by the incident on a stretch of the Bride River near Blackpool, just north of Cork city centre late on Tuesday night.

An IFI spokesperson said they have now reported the incident to the local authority and that they will continue to monitor the situation.

The effects of the discharge were first spotted around 11pm on Tuesday by residents in Blackpool village who noticed that a stretch of the river between an industrial area upstream and the village had turned a milky white.

It was the second such incident in almost two months.

On June 28 last, a milky-white discharge was spotted seeping from a drain upstream of Blackpool village.

It caused the river to turn white as it flowed westwards towards the village, and onwards to where it meets the north channel of the river Lee.

IFI said it was notified of the latest discharge incident on Wednesday morning and that an environmental officer from the agency was dispatched to the site to investigate further.

There was no active discharge evident at the site and the colour of the water had returned to a normal state, IFI said in a statement.

It would appear that whatever had been in the river had passed downstream and a cause or source wasnt identified. Fish were unaffected and alive.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be the lead authority for such instances and that it is understood that EPA officers inspected a site upstream of Blackpool on Tuesday.

In addition, staff from our drainage section had already been out to inspect early on Tuesday morning to investigate the source of the pollution, she said.

This water pollution incident has highlighted the continuing problems in the River Bride. In relation to the dumping of waste, we have scheduled the drainage crew to complete cleaning works in the river, commencing at Orchard Court, Blackpool, for the first week in September.

Prior to this latest incident, we had already scheduled a door-to-door compliance inspection for next week in relation to presentation of waste.

The IFI has also urged members of the public to call their confidential hotline 1890 34 74 24 to report water pollution, illegal fishing or invasive species.
By Sean ORiordan

A special ceremony will take place tomorrow when a new inshore lifeboat will be named after a woman who was a generous benefactor to the RNLI right up to her death last year.

The naming ceremony will take place in Kinsale in honour of a woman known to the local crew as The Godmother.

The lifeboat was funded by Sally Anne Odell, who has been a close friend of the station and a generous benefactor until her death last year at the age of 81.

She was affectionately known to her friends as Baggy and the lifeboat will be named Miss Sally Anne Baggy II  Never Fear, Baggys Here during a ceremony at the Kinsale lifeboat station at 2pm. The Atlantic 85 lifeboat will be accepted on behalf of the station by James Grennan and named by Valerie Good, chairperson of the fundraising team who will be representing the late donor.

The lifeboat replaces the Miss Sally Anne Baggy, which has been retired after 15 years of service.

It was involved in countless high-profile incidents including the rescue 30 young people from the training ship Astrid in 2013 and plucking three fishermen from treacherous seas as their trawler, Sean Anthony, sank in 2016.

Speaking ahead of the naming ceremony, Kevin Gould, Kinsale RNLI Lifeboat operations manager said it will be a very special occasion for the lifeboat station although it is tinged with sadness as Ms Odell is no longer with them.

He said: We want to give her lifeboat the naming ceremony befitting its status. Sally Anne was a lifelong supporter of the RNLI and was affectionately known to the crew as The Godmother. She will always be remembered by our community and we will forever be grateful for her care and affection. She funded the original Kinsale lifeboat and part of the station, and kept in close contact with the crew throughout the years.

The Atlantic 85 is a B-class inshore lifeboat designed to operate in shallower water. It is one the fastest lifeboats in the fleet with a top speed of 35 knots. Inshore lifeboats like the Atlantic 85 are ideal for rescues close to shore or cliffs, among rocks, or even in caves.

They can handle challenging open sea too and operate in a force seven in daylight and at night up to force six winds.

The RNLI charitys volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around Britain and Ireland where it operates 230 lifeboat stations.

It has more than 100 lifeguard units on beaches. Since founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 137,000 lives.
There is immense growth potential in sight, Vedanta Ltd Chairman Navin Agarwal said at the company's Annual General Meeting.

Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd on Friday said it will pump in around USD 8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) over the next three years on various projects across businesses.

New Delhi: Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd on Friday said it will pump in around USD 8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) over the next three years on various projects across businesses.

There is immense growth potential in sight, Vedanta Ltd Chairman Navin Agarwal said at the company's Annual General Meeting, where he made the investment announcement.

"As India's largest private sector oil producer, your company contributes 27 per cent to the domestic production and aspires to take it up to 50 per cent. Towards this, your company will be investing USD 3-4 billion over the next 2-3 years, in various growth projects," he said.

This year Vedanta had a record production in its zinc-lead-silver and aluminium businesses, he said, adding that it would further invest USD 3-4 billion in these businesses in the next 2-3 years.

On Tuticorin unit which has been permanently shut down by the Tamil Nadu government following the deaths of 13 people in police firing on protesters against the plant, Agarwal said the company is greatly grieved by the tragic loss of lives and has extended all possible support to the impacted families.

"Your company has been instrumental in the socio-economic transformation of the region. Our copper smelter strongly complies with all environmental norms and is, amongst the best, globally," he added.

In April, the Tamil Nadu pollution control board had rejected Vedanta Sterlite's plea to renew the Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions. Following this, the government had issued a permanent closure notice to the plant.

After Sterlite announced its plans to expand the Tuticorin plant, villagers around it started fresh protests that continued for over 100 days, culminating in the May 22 police firing on protestors that claimed 13 lives and left scores injured.

The need of the hour is to bring further changes in policies for natural resources sector, particularly the implementation of the much-awaited New Mineral Policy and ensure a level playing ground on imports and duties.

"Encouragement to explore and produce natural resources in India will lead to greater self-reliance, save billions of dollars in imports, generate immense employment opportunities, paving way for socio-economic development," the company said.

During financial year 2017-18, Vedanta Ltd increased its revenue by 22 per cent, year-on-year to Rs 92,900 crore. Its EBITDA or operating profit also increased by 19 per cent, to Rs 25,500 crore, and profit after taxes rose up by 10 per cent to Rs 8,200 crore.

"Free cash flow stood at Rs 7,900 crore and we reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500 crore," Agarwal said. During the year, the company acquired Electrosteel Steels Ltd, integrating it with its existing iron ore business.
Two hospitals have been found to be non-compliant with the national screening guidelines to protect against the superbug CPE.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) carried out unannounced inspections of five hospitals between April and May.

It found that Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Kilkenny and the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise were not complying with the HSEs CPE screening guidelines.

Carbapenemase producing enterobacteriaceae (CPE) is a superbug resistant to most or all antibiotics. It is carried in the bowel and can cause bloodstream infection in people who are vulnerable, such as the elderly and those with low immunity.

More than half of all patients who develop bloodstream infections with CPE die as a result of their infection.

The Hiqa inspections follow Health Minister Simon Harriss declaration, made on October 25 last year, of a national public health emergency plan to address CPE.

Given that the threat associated with the superbug, Hiqa said it had escalated concerns to the two hospitals and the HSE to seek assurances around how each hospital might ensure compliance with the HSEs own guidelines.

Management of these two hospitals proposed measures to address the gap identified, said Hiqa.

It inspected the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise on April 11 and found it had not ensured that national HSE patient screening guidelines for CPE were fully implemented. It escalated the issue to hospital management but acknowledged that the hospital had identified this issue as an area of concern prior to the inspection.

The general manager provided assurances to Hiqa that the hospital was actively managing this risk in the interim of additional resources required to support the full implementation of CPE screening guidelines.

Hiqa inspected the Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Kilkenny on April 25 and found it not to be compliant with the national guidelines.

The general manager provided written assurance in response to Hiqa, stating that the hospital had reverted to compliance with screening guidelines in the immediate aftermath of Hiqas inspection.

CPE has been identified throughout the world in recent years. Ireland has seen an increase in the number of cases year on year.

The number of cases almost doubled in 2016. In the period from January 1 to July 22, a total of 231 new cases of CPE were detected across Ireland.
Tributes have been paid following the retirement of the man who developed Irelands first webpage.

UCC president Patrick OShea, described Peter Flynn, who worked at UCC for more than 30 years and who has retired as manager of the IT Services Units Academic and Collaborative Technologies Group, as a true pioneer.

Im going to miss the people and the work, but its just a phase that has to come to an end, said Mr OFlynn.

There are other projects that I want to get involved in, in related spheres. I just have to take the time to decide now whether I want to get involved or not.

Mr Flynn worked in the British printing and publishing industry and in technical support for a London City firm before joining UCC in 1984 in computing support.

At the time, UCC had three mainframe computers  two IBM 4341s and a VAX 11/780  with a network of terminal servers and less than 10 hard-wired terminals. There was no external connectivity.

However, it was his position on a pan-European committee, which included Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the world wide web, which led to the creation of Irelands first website.

Mr Flynn said they were attending a meeting in 1991 when Berners-Lee said he wanted to show them a project hed been playing with.

It was the world wide web as we know it today.

Tim had invented a way of linking pages, of being able to click on a link and going to a page, said Mr Flynn.

Tim said the software was sitting on his computer in CERN so I went back to UCC and downloaded it from his computer.

Mr Flynn mentioned its potential to the late UCC historian, Donnchadh O Corrain, who had founded the Curia project, later called Celt  a vast archive of electronically-scanned ancient Irish manuscripts  and said it could be used to share the collection with a wider audience.

Donnchadh said give it a go, and we did, said.

The first Celt document (the Aisling Oenguso) was uploaded to the web around March 1993, becoming Irelands first website, and Berners-Lee added it to his homepage list of the worlds then-known webpages. It was ninth on the list.

The Celt collection is still available online today as a free teaching and research resource.

I then started getting enquiries from other departments in the university who said theyd heard about this thing, and wanted their own web pages. And it all went from there, Mr Flynn said.

Meanwhile, identifying fake news and keeping the internet out of government control are two of the biggest challenges facing the web today, he believes.
Update: August 24, 2018: 18-year-old Denzel Ntomo, who was reported as missing in Dublin earlier this week, has been found safe and well.

Gardai would like to thank the public for their assistance.
If you live with a dog you just know when its happy or miserable, dont you? Of course you do, write Jan Hoole and Daniel Allen. Even the scientific community, now admits that dogs have emotions  even if scientists cant directly measure what they are experiencing.

People have had a close bond with domesticated dogs for centuries. In his 1764 Dictionnaire philosophique, Voltaire observed: It seems that nature has given the dog to man for his defence and for his pleasure. Of all the animals it is the most faithful: it is the best friend man can have.

Research has shown time and time again the positive impact pet ownership can have on our lives. Indeed, a study of 975 dog-owning adults, found that in times of emotional distress most people were more likely to turn to their dogs than their mothers, fathers, siblings, best friends, or children.

Its not surprising then that dogs are now the most commonly used animal in therapy. Our canine pals are being increasingly used as participants in a variety of mental health programmes  offering companionship, happy associations and unconditional love.

In the UK, Pets As Therapy (PAT) has more than 5,000 active PAT dogs, which meet some 130,000 people a week. In the US, the American Kennel Club has a Therapy Dog Program which recognises six national therapy dog organisations and awards official titles to dogs who have worked to improve the lives of the people they have visited.

Dogs who heal

Sigmund Freud is generally acknowledged as the accidental pioneer of canine-assisted therapy. During his psychotherapy sessions in the 1930s, a chow chow called Jofi stayed alongside him in the office. Freud noticed that patients became more relaxed and open when Jofi was present, and it helped him to build a rapport.

But the official beginning of animal-assisted therapy is generally linked to World War II, when a Yorkshire terrier called Smoky accompanied corporal William Lynne when visiting service hospitals in New Guinea. Her presence lifted the spirits of wounded soldiers.

Offering a helping hand (paw). Shutterstock

Despite all this, it was not until the 1960s that the first documented case study of a dog working as a co-therapist was made. The US psychotherapist Boris M. Levinson maintained that the presence of his dog Jingles added a new dimension to child psychotherapy. Despite opposition from peers, Levinson strongly defended the use of dogs as therapeutic aids.

How dogs feel

But while there is no question that dogs are very good at understanding us, sadly the reverse is not always so true. A classic example of this is when someone has had a little accident in the house and dog owners think that their pet looks guilty. But for the dog in question, that look is purely submission and is a way for the dog to say dont hurt me rather than an admission of guilt.

It is very difficult for humans to convince themselves that the canine brain is not able to understand the concepts of right and wrong  but without that ability it is not possible to experience guilt. The dog who is looking guilty is simply afraid of your reaction to the situation  usually based on past experience.

Best walk ever! Shutterstock

Some of the main difficulties that happen between dogs and their owners are caused by a humans inability to read their pets body language correctly. Combine this with the human notion that dogs understand abstract concepts and can use reason on complex issues, and the scene is set for problems.

Doggy hormones

Another way to tell how animals feel is to look at their hormonal environment. Studies have shown that when dogs are stroked by their owners they have increased levels of oxytocin. Among other functions, this hormone is thought to help relaxation. It helps to form bonds between mother and child  and between pet and owner.

So although we cant know for sure how a dog feels during pleasurable activities, it seems reasonable that oxytocin produces similar sensations in dogs to those that humans experience  suggesting that they are feeling affection towards and attachment to their owners.

Similarly, dogs that are in unpleasant circumstances show raised levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. One of the situations that produces this stress response is being left alone for any length of time. Dogs are pack animals and really need to have company. A solitary dog is rarely a happy dog  and this is something that all dog owners should take into account when planning their lives.

What this all shows is that for dogs and people to live together and work together  and for both parties to be happy about it  an understanding of each others emotional state is vital. Even if dogs and people dont completely understand each other, it seems clear that each species is essential to the others well-being and we can help each other to be happier and healthier.

This article was written by Jan Hoole, Lecturer in Biology, Keele University and Daniel Allen, Animal Geographer, Keele University and was originally published on The Conversation.

Read the original article here.
Heterosexual and same-sex couples are treated equally by the law if their marriage fails. But do gay relationships have their own unique difficulties, asks Ellie OByrne

IT was one of those raw, unscripted moments in radio.

When novelist John Boyne opened up about the breakdown of his marriage on RTEs The Marian Finucane Show recently, listeners took to the Twittersphere with messages of support for Boyne, praising his honesty.

In the candid interview with Brendan OConnor, standing in for Finucane, the Boy In The Striped Pyjamas author revealed the toll the breakdown of his 11-year same-sex marriage had taken on his mental health, even leading to a suicide attempt the 47-year-old described as a cry for help.

Ive veered between great pain and sadness and brutal fury, and Ive ended up in the hospital at one point after taking too many pills, said Boyne.

Boyne and his ex-husband met 13 years ago and celebrated a civil union in 2014, but the relationship only lasted another two years. The couple split in 2016 and the papers finalising their dissolution were served the week of the interview, adding to Boynes emotional vulnerability.

Gay couples won the right to civil partnerships in Ireland in 2010, and the landmark 2015 Marriage Act, following on from Irelands historic same-sex marriage referendum result, has freed LGBT couples in Ireland to enjoy all the same rights to define and determine their lives with loved ones as their heterosexual peers.

But what about when marriages break down or enter difficulties? Are there struggles specific to gay couples who are in it for the long haul?

Niall Morris is a music producer and former member of The Celtic Tenors, who celebrated a civil ceremony with his Thai partner, Awut Prompan, in 2012. Morris and Awut, or Woody as hes known, have settled into a happy domestic equilibrium in recent years, but they say the relationship hasnt been without its rocky patches.

They met while Morris was holidaying in Thailand several years earlier. A holiday fling developed into something more serious until it got to the stage where Morris was flying to Thailand four times in a year. It was insane, but love makes you go a bit mad, says Morris.

We just hit it off, and when I got home I couldnt stop thinking about him. We Skyped all the time, but long-distance was tough.

Woody eventually joined Morris in Dublin on a holiday visa for a three-month stay. Then I came back on a student visa and went to English School for a year. We really got to know each other in that year, says Woody, who now works as an administrator for a Thai massage parlour in Templebar.

Turning a sunny holiday romance into a life together in Ireland came with challenges and the couple experienced difficulty adjusting, including cultural differences.

The Irish sense of humour can be very dry, says Morris. Woody would take something I said literally and not speak to me for three days. But we havent argued for so long now  years really.

The power dynamic between two men is one difference that Morris thinks is specific to gay male couples. When we stopped competing with each other, that helped. I think that with two men, one can be trying to be more of the boss, but it doesnt work. It works when were equal. Woody is much wiser than me. I always ask his advice on things because hes going to give me the truth in a direct way.

Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993. The ostracisation, social stigma and isolation that LGBT people suffered in the Ireland of old is receding, but Morris is in his 40s and has seen societys attitudes toward gay couples change radically. He says he and Woody have equally accepting families, a far cry from the traumatic family disownment often experienced in the past.

I have to pinch myself sometimes, that my whole family is so inclusive, says Morris. My mum absolutely loves Woody. And in Thailand, its the same.

Working lives have a large impact on relationships, and Morriss work isnt without its pressures. Hes currently in the count-down to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre performance of the show he wrote, Callas  The Life & Music of Maria Callas, in September, and says that directing requires focus and organisation to avoid stress.

Does it put a strain on the relationship?

It is very, very full-on. Then once the shows over theres a lull. I think I handle it OK, he says.

He checks with his husband: Woody, do I get very grumpy?

He gets very grumpy and he gets in bad moods with me, Woody responds mischievously.

You see? I told you he was very honest, quips Morris.

Niall Morris and his husband Woody Prompan have found marriage has its ups and downs because the power dynamic takes adjusting to. Picture: Moya Nolan

The couple didnt swap their civil partnership for a full marriage following the introduction of the Marriage Act, as many couples did. This may account for the sharp increase in same-sex marriages in 2016, the first full year of legalised same-sex marriage. According to the Central Statistics Office 1,056 same-sex couples wed. In 2017, this figure dropped to 759 marriages. One difference between civil partnership and marriage is that to apply for a dissolution of a civil partnership a couple needs to have been separated for two years, while for divorce, a couple needs to have been apart for four years out of the past five.

Caoimhe Connolly, a partner at Moran and Ryan Solicitors on Baggot St in Dublin, specialises in family law and has handled several dissolution decrees of civil partnerships. Shes yet to encounter a same-sex divorce  these will only begin to materialise once the four-year time period elapses, although she says shes already had inquiries.

There are some marriages starting to deteriorate relatively early and certainly people have made inquiries, she says. But theyre advised of the necessary timelines and have to wait accordingly.

When it comes to property and inheritance, Connolly says in her experience same-sex couples face the same issues and difficulties as heterosexual couples.

She has encountered far fewer same-sex couples with child dependents involved, but says this can pose particular problems.

There havent been children involved in the majority of cases. Ive had female same-sex clients where one partner has children from a previous relationship. The new female partner can develop a maternal relationship with [the other womans] children but doesnt have many rights because theyre not blood relations and that can be quite sad for them. To date, I havent had a case regarding male same-sex couples with children involved.

Statistics from other countries with legalised same-sex marriage vary as to how divorce rates among LGBT couples measure up against those among heterosexual married people, with most jurisdictions reporting lower or equal rates of divorce for same-sex couples.

Many countries note a gender difference: lesbian couples are more than twice as likely to get a divorce as gay men, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported.

Is Ireland headed for a spike in divorce applications when the four-year cooling-off period has elapsed? I think it will be a similar situation to when divorce came in across the board in 1996, Connolly says. There might be a small increase in numbers initially that will level out.

Paula Fagan is the CEO of LGBT Ireland, a helpline and online chat service for LGBT people. They dont specifically provide couples counselling, but she says callers to the helpline often want to talk about relationships. I think its partly because they know its an LGBT person that theyre talking to, that they feel more comfortable, she says. Well see the relationship, rather than the sexuality.

LGBT Ireland refers people to counsellors with expertise in LGBT relationships counselling, because, Fagan says, some gay people have reported dissatisfactory responses from therapists.

I think theres a fear among LGBT people that they might be misunderstood, but unfortunately in our experience, that can be the reality too, she says.

We hear that people have tried couples therapy and the service wasnt great. Maybe the sexuality was in some way seen as the problem, rather than seeing the problems in the relationship itself.

Were coming from a recent history where gay people couldnt openly mourn the loss of a relationship, Fagan says. In our work with older people, we see this concept of disenfranchised grief, in the loss of a relationship to either break-up or bereavement. It just wasnt seen as being as important as losing an opposite-sex partner.

The dynamics of all relationships rely heavily on individual personalities, and naturally, the same issues such as trust, or learning coping mechanisms for arguments, are the same for all couples, but Fagan says that LGBT couples can face specific issues.

There can be additional things, like maybe one of the partners isnt that out, or has suffered a lot of rejection, or has had problems with family members, she says. So there can be specificities, but they need to be looked at as part of the persons journey.

Fagan says that relationships counsellors need to ensure they are professionally equipped to offer services to their LGBT clients.

We urge professionals to ensure they offer LGBT-friendly services, and thats a matter of training, skills and practice.

Caught up in the euphoria of the marriage referendum result, were there couples that jumped into marriage head-first, ignoring serious relationship flaws?

Fagan doesnt think so. The high rate of weddings in 2016 is more likely to be as a result of the many older couples who had waited years to tie the knot, she says.

Figures certainly back this. In 2017, the average age of grooms in same-sex marriages was 40.3 and the average age of brides was 40.5, according to the CSO, while in opposite-sex marriages, the average age for grooms and brides was 36.1 years and 34.1 years respectively.

All relationships run the risk of heartbreak, but for many older LGBT people, the rejection and discrimination that was the past norm in Ireland put their relationships under significant strain and often made forming life-long partnerships a near impossibility.

The first love-birds to have tied the knot under the Marriage Act are the pioneers, straddling worlds both old and new. Will their marriages stand the test of time?

The first wave of marriages tended to be of very established relationships and people who had been together for a long time anyway, says Fagan. Will we see more divorces among those couples or less? Its hard to say. We can only wait and see.
Nigel Baxter was surprised to see little representation of Seamus Murphy in his home town. The British carver decided to take matters into his own hands. Literally, writes Ellie OByrne.

When stone carver Nigel Baxter first visited Cork, the birthplace of his hero, sculptor Seamus Murphy, he was bemused to find that the only visible tribute to the man, his own work aside, was a plaque on his Wellington Road home.

Now, Baxter is back in Cork, chisel in hand, to hew his own homage to the master craftsman in the most fitting way possible: a portrait bust of Murphy, carved from limestone.

Hes not immortalised at all and I was rather surprised, because he was quite a prominent man in the arts, in Ireland and indeed internationally, Baxter says. Somehow, hes slipping into obscurity. I said to myself, Im going to carve him, because thats what he would like.

Working in the Crawford Art College on Sharman Crawford St, where Murphy took drawing classes as a young man, the English stone carver is working on the portrait bust of his hero until September 1.

Seamus Murphy, born in Mallow in 1907, was apprenticed to a stone-carver when he left school and rose to become one of Irelands most prolific sculptors following two years of study in Paris on a scholarship.

He opened his own Cork studio in Blackpool, and his distinctive modernistic stone carvings, headstones and cast bronze busts can be seen all over Ireland as well as in England and the US.

Baxter says he feels an affinity with Murphy because of their similar beginnings; he too rose up from apprentice stone carver and his work can be seen in restorations of Westminster Abbey and St Pauls Cathedral.

It was Murphys 1950 book, Stone Mad, documenting his time amongst the Stonies, when even in those days stone carving was a dying artisan trade, that first drew Baxters attention to Murphy and his work.

As an apprentice, I stumbled across a book in the library one day called Stone Mad, and I picked it up, Baxter says. It became my bible. I carried it everywhere with me.

Baxter, describing himself as a traditionalist and first and foremost a craftsman, has dedicated himself to reviving the lost art of the carved portrait bust in recent years. He uses no models or computer assisted

design (CAD) tools, working up is 3D likeness entirely from two-dimensional images, in this case photos of Murphy donated by his son, the artist Colm Murphy.

A specially quarried block of Portland limestone from Dorset, weighing in at a quarter of a tonne, is the blank canvas Baxter is working on to extract a life-size bust of Murphy, who he says will be depicted in middle life.

Seamus worked a lot in a local stone, a Kilkenny Blue limestone, which is a lovely stone, Baxter says. "I thought about using that, but its quite a dark limestone and I didnt think it would work. Seamus also worked a lot in Portland limestone and Ive worked Portland quite a lot so it was a natural choice.

The project is being filmed by Crawford lecturer and documentary maker Padraig Trehy, as a sequel to his 2014 documentary about Murphy, The Quiet Revolution. A bust would usually take around 120 hours but this projects process is slower to allow for filming and photography.

A real labour of love for Baxter, he has self-funded the project until now, but has also launched a 10,000 crowd-funding campaign for the final stages: when the sculpture is complete it will require specialist packing and transport, and installation in what Baxter hopes will be a suitably prominent home in Cork city.

Seamus Murphy founded the sculpture park in Fitzgeralds Park, where several of his pieces including his bronze bust of Michael Collins can be seen, so this may be an fitting resting place for Baxters work. Other locations including the Crawford Art Gallery are being considered.

Murphy died in 1975. If he were alive today to see the project, hed be a tough task-master, Baxter says.

Hed probably be a bit critical but all stone carvers are. I wouldnt have a problem with that at all: it would have been lovely for him to be able to comment on it

As you carve the image and it begins to take shape, you start to become quite friends with him. I often come into the studio and start talking to him. The day we have a real problem is when he starts talking back!

fundit.ie/project/the-carving-of-sculptor-seamus-murphy
On August 25, 2017, the Myanmar military launched clearance operations against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, causing widespread violence and destruction, forcing more than 706,000 people to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh

Abu Ahmad is a 52-year-old father of eight (four daughters and four sons).

His 11-year-old daughter Rukia became paralysed shortly before the violence erupted in August 2017. After arriving in Bangladesh, Rukia spent over seven months at a Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical facility in Kutupalong.

She returns to the facility every couple of days to have her bedsores treated.

Here, Abu Ahmad recounts how the family fled, what life is like for his family in Bangladesh, and their hopes for the future.

Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Before the conflict, we had cows, goats, land, all those things. Our business and livelihoods we earnt ourselves. But we faced lots of threats and torture from the government in Myanmar.

If someone wanted to get higher education, that person would have to flee the country because if the government found out, they would arrest him. Our movements were very restricted; we were not allowed beyond the checkpoints.

We could only move within our area. Other people, like monks and different [ethnic] communities, were free to move around everywhere.

Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Then the conflict began. Fighting, stabbings and the burning of houses. Not long before that, my daughter Rukia had somehow became paralysed.

She complained of pain and then stopped being able to feel anything below the waist. One night I called all my children together to discuss what to do.

We did not see much hope; we could be arrested or killed no matter what we did. My eldest son told me that when the fighting starts, we would not be able to run with Rukia.

There will be no chance to save her life, he said. You and mother should take her to Bangladesh now, ahead of us. We can join you later.

So I told my other children to get ready, and my wife and I left for Bangladesh with Rukia.

Fleeing Myanmar

After we left the house ... we were unable to [openly] leave our village because everywhere we looked we saw government people with weapons. We trekked miles through the mountains, hiring men to carry Rukia.

We finally arrived at the shoreline opposite Bangladesh late at night. By the time a boat eventually came into view, there were around 20 to 30 other people at the shore with us.

The captain took all of us safely across to Bangladesh. When we arrived, the Bangladeshi border police were waiting.

They helped us a lot; welcoming us and giving us food, water and biscuits. In the morning they hired a bus and brought us to Kutupalong camp.

Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

I was anxious after we got off the bus. We had never been to Bangladesh before.

I didnt know where to take my sick daughter and I was asking everyone I saw. People told us about the MSF medical facility in Kutupalong.

The medics there took Rukia from my arms and admitted her as a patient. She spent almost seven and a half months at the hospital.

She had X-rays, blood transfusions and was seen by the doctors several times a day. We were given regular meals.

When I left Rakhine with my wife and Rukia, things hadnt yet become so bad. It became much worse than we thought was possible.

After arriving in Kutupalong, I had no news from my seven children that were left behind. Other people told us that our house had been set on fire and that our children had fled. We didnt have a phone or any other way to contact our children; we were so worried.

After some time, we heard from people that they had arrived in Bangladesh and were looking for us. They made it to Kutupalong and were able to find us at the MSF facility by asking people about Rukia.

When I was finally reunited with my children after two months, I began to feel calm again. I was so happy to have my children back, I felt like I had my world back.

Life in Bangladesh

Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

The government gave us wood, bamboo and plastic sheeting to make a house here. We get rations of oil, rice and dhal [lentils]. We sell some of the oil and dhal they give us. After that, we buy some fish, vegetables and chillies.

The reason why we sell some of our dhal and oil is so we can earn between 100-200 Taka [1-2 euros].

Even if we don't have money, we have to survive. With that 100 or 200 Taka, we have to survive for one month.

Sometimes we can eat such food, sometimes we cannot. We don't have any income. If we could work, life would be easier.

We aren't given the chance to do so. I have no opportunity to work and I've lost my strength. I cannot work outside and earn money to feed my children.

Its very hard with Rukia in the camp. Because she is disabled, we have to take her out of the camp to the hospital and bring her back every few days. The path from the house to the road is very difficult.

The camp has so many ups and downs, and I have to carry her in my arms. I have to get the wheelchair MSF gave us onto the road, then I have to come back and carry her to it.

Then I have to push her in the wheelchair to the hospital. I couldnt find any space in the camp thats flat to build the house on. If I had money, then I could take her to hospital by bus and I could avoid this pain.

The hospital has done so many tests and treatments, but we still dont know why Rukia became paralysed. I am always asking God to help her walk. Sometimes she asks me to take her abroad, so she can get treatment and study.

When she says such things, I become more upset. I become more worried and feel so stressed. I've lost my strength, my ability to work. I always have so many worries; worries about the future. I think about food, clothes, peace and our suffering.

If I have to stay in this place for 10 years, five years, four years or even for one month, I will have to suffer this pain.

If Rukia could move around, she would be happier. She asks me to move her around in the wheelchair, but because the camp is so hilly, I cannot do so. It is too hard for me to take the wheelchair through the hilly camp. I am in too much pain because I have to carry Rukia around.

We are still from Burma (Myanmar), we will return

We are not stateless, we are still from Burma [Myanmar]. Our ancestors are from there; our great grandfathers were born there.

The country in which we cut our umbilical cord is Burma [Myanmar]. We will return if the country becomes peaceful, but we will return with conditions. We will return if we get our freedom back; if they return our house, our land, our cattle and our goats.

People from one country cannot stay in another country. God brought us here and if God wishes, he can take us back to our house and our country. We are ready to go back to our country, but how can we go back while there is still conflict there?
By Noel Campion

Ive always been a sucker for installing the latest updates on my computers and phones and very often install beta software.

Right now Im testing iOS 12 on my iPad and the beta version of Android 9.0  newly revealed as Android Pie on the Nokia 7 Plus.

The release version of Pie is now available for Google Pixel devices, just dont expect it anytime soon for your current Samsung, Sony, HTC, Huawei, etc.

Android Pie has a lot of great new features, so here are some of the best Ive found so far while testing it on the Nokia 7 Plus.

Each Android revision promises improved battery performance. Pie continues this trend with a new Adaptive Battery feature, which uses Google machine learning to ascertain what apps to prioritise based on your typical usage.

Also, Battery Saver mode now features new options including disabling always-on displays on OLED screens as well as allowing you to restrict apps that use more than their fair share of battery capacity.

2018 has been all about screens with minimal bezels. This is why Apple had to develop new iOS gestures to navigate the OS, sans-home button on the iPhone X.

Android phones are going the same way and Pie has a new gestures option that takes into account phones that dont have a home button.

This works a little like the iPhone X, so instead of the three navigation icons, you now get a pill-shaped symbol at the base of the screen and a tiny arrow symbol for back.

Tap the pill to go Home from anywhere, or hold it down for the Google Assistant.

You can also swipe up for the new overview screen, which brings up your active apps, lining them up horizontally so that you can just slide between them.

This works nicely on the Nokia 7 Plus, which doesnt have any physical home button but on-screen icons instead.

By swiping up on the virtual Home Button, I was able to switch between open apps, swipe up again to see all apps and tap once to go home.

You switch between apps by swiping left or right and close them by swiping up.

Swiping all the way to the left reveals the option to clear all open apps. This isnt revolutionary but feels intuitive and efficient.

Although a small tweak, the new auto-rotate feature is one of my favourites. You can still use the quick menu to lock the screen orientation or allow the system to auto-rotate based on your phones orientation.

Auto rotate is handy most of the time, but when youre lying down, its a real pain when it auto switches to landscape when you want it to stay in portrait.

With Pie, youll see a new icon on the right side of the navigation bar when you rotate your phone to landscape with auto rotate off. Tap it to lock in landscape orientation, and it will stay even if you turn back to portrait.

Also new is that your apps drawer will rotate to landscape mode if auto rotate is enabled.

Notifications are essential, yet annoying at times and Pie has some minor tweaks that improve the Android experience.

Like the new Gmail, you get contextual smart replies that you can use right from the notifications screen to save time on those less than important messages.

A big bonus is that now those replies dont disappear when you go to another app.

This means you can hop from one to another app and then come back and finish your reply when youre finished. The ability to manage notifications has also been simplified making it easier to get control over what you see.

Also, very 2018 is the notch. Now Android Pie embraces the notch with native support  the Nokia 7 Plus doesnt have a notch so I wasnt able to see how effective it was, but if you have a phone with one then its something to look forward to.

Another welcome tweak is to the system volume, which now appears on the right side of the screen. By default, the media volume changes instead of the ringer when pressing the volume up and down buttons.

The Google Pixels phones are the only phones to get Android Pie right now.

However, a host of new devices are due out in the coming weeks that may come with it out of the box including the Huawei Mate 20 and Nokia 9.

Some manufacturers are slow to roll out new versions of Android, so youd best check to see if and when your device will get the update.
Mr Kumar, however, was hopeful that the countrys largest lender will be able to achieve a stable growth in advances.

Hyderabad: State Bank of India, which saw its results run into red in June quarter, is likely to return to profit as early as the current quarter as it has set its house in order, according to a top official.

Speaking to the media, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar, said on Friday, A lot of provisioning was done in March quarter as well as in the June quarter. The intent is to take the blow upfront and then from September onwards, start returning to normal.

SBI, which suffered a loss of Rs 4,876 crore for the June quarter due to higher bad loans, saw its total provisions more than doubled to Rs 19,228 crore for the first quarter of this fiscal, from Rs 8,929.48 crore in Q1 of FY 18.

Mr Kumar, however, was hopeful that the countrys largest lender will be able to achieve a stable growth in advances.

Lending (for SBI) is mostly on consumer loans like car loans, home loans, personal loans. SME is showing a good pick up. Corporate loans (are also improving) also because now we have put our house in order...so we are looking at some good lending opportunities and I think this year the corporate lending will be revived. We said 10 per cent growth in advances, said Mr Kumar, who was in the city for some CSR activities where in SBI made donations to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, government hospital and also for tribal welfare.

Mr Kumar said that the bank expects resolutions in about 7-8 power sector projects worth Rs 17,000 crore in about a weeks time as it awaits for approvals.
From Washington to Pyongyang, Paul Manafort may change how the US and its tweeting president are viewed, writes David Eckles Wade.

THE judicial bombshells that rocked the Trump presidency this week will scramble political calculations not just in the US but in capitals around the world.

In the span of a few hours, we witnessed first the conviction of Donald Trumps campaign manager and longtime associate Paul Manafort on eight charges of tax evasion and bank fraud in connection to his work for a pro-Putin Ukrainian politician.

Then we saw the presidents former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, plead guilty to campaign finance violations and say that Trump had directed him to pay hush money to two women during the 2016 campaign to stop them from speaking out about affairs they said theyd had with him.

The US political deck has been reshuffled and with it the geopolitical one as well. The ripples will be felt anywhere Trump engages in high-stakes negotiations, but especially in five capitals: Washington, Moscow, Kiev, Beijing, and Pyongyang. Lets consider this tale of five cities.

First, Washington.

In record time, special counsel Robert Mueller has won convictions or guilty pleas from the presidents campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, a former national security adviser, and two campaign aides.

Its the latest evidence of a methodical, surgical approach by the special counsel thats already yielded a conviction, five guilty pleas, and 35 indictments that include 12 Russian intelligence officials and three Russian companies.

Manaforts trial told the story of him as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ukraines Putin-backed, thuggish, former president, Viktor Yanukovych; a US political operative trying to get whole on his massive debts to Russian oligarchs, working for free for Trumps campaign while offering to do the bidding of Russian interests.

Manaforts next trial, which begins in Washington in September, will be even more explosive. Muellers team will present more than 1,000 pieces of evidence  nearly three times what it submitted in the trial that just ended.

They will tell the sordid story of Manaforts work in the US as an agent of a foreign interest  Yanukovych. They will reveal Manaforts connections to the man charged with him, Konstantin Kilimnik  a Russian national tied to the GRU, Russias main intelligence directive, who also served as liaison between Manafort and Russian oligarchs.

That Manafort was simultaneously the campaign manager of the highly improbable Putin-admiring nominee of the Republican Party might  or might not  consign presidential tweets about witch hunts to the digital dustbin once and for all.

But it might change Washington by at last nudging Congress to pass laws cracking down on Russian election interference. It may shame those in the Republican ranks who planned to spend this autumn holding in contempt deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein for doing his job in issuing indictments over Russian involvement in the US election.

It may insulate the Mueller investigation from a Saturday Night Massacre-style shutdown. It may expose Trumps tweets and lawyer Rudy Giulianis rhetoric as the weapons of mass distraction that they are: the desperate posturing of those who want to change the subject.

Whether it gets congress off the sidelines or separates Trump from a complicit party is another question. But outside Washington, Americans, including Republicans, invariably believe no one is above the law, not even the president.

In Moscow, Putin will surely know his long-sought opportunity for post-Helsinki summitry has evaporated. Although Trump insists Manaforts very sad conviction has nothing to with Russian collusion, his advisers must realise Trump cant afford to be seen within a country mile of this former KGB agent. Putin should know that pressure will only intensify for a confrontation as long as he attacks Western democracies with abandon.

In Kiev, the fallout is more complicated: Manaforts downfall builds pressure to punish Yanukovych hold-overs  those that havent fled to Moscow  for their role in the same rot that consumed the once-fabled Republican operative. Kiev could, paradoxically, feel the need to stay in Trumps good graces, which may curb Ukraines willingness to risk alienating the president.

In Beijing and Pyongyang, the consequences may be subtler to divine, but perhaps even more consequential. Why would Beijing, with its patient command-and-control authoritarian system, its resistance economy, ever rush to resolve a trade war begun by a US president it may now see as permanently weakened?

Pyongyangs calculation may be the opposite: Surely Kim Jong-un perceives that Trump, always too eager to declare a deal without pausing over the fine print, may now be even more desperate for a win on the world stage.

The bottom line? Expect the US and the world to be roiled by the fallout of the Manafort conviction and whatever comes out of his trial. Trump will tweet, Mueller will continue to seek the facts, and the US will suffer a reality TV drama playing out on an all-too-real global stage.

David Eckels Wade was chief of staff to the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee and to the state department from 2013 to 2015. He is a fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. @davideckelswade
The US report on child sex abuse and cover-ups in Pennsylvania has led to calls to extend time limits for more victims to bring cases to court, writes Bette Browne.

THE Pennsylvania probe of child abuse crimes and cover-ups that landed like a bombshell before the Popes visit here is far from over as US lawmakers fight for legal tools that would give victims more time to bring perpetrators to justice before the courts.

The Pennsylvania probe of child abuse crimes and cover-ups that landed like a bombshell before the Popes visit here is far from over as US lawmakers fight for legal tools that would give victims more time to bring perpetrators to justice before the courts.

Investigators and politicians in Pennsylvania are seeking to change time limits for prosecutions under US statute-of-limitation laws. If they succeed it will boost similar moves under way in other states, with potentially devastating consequences for the Catholic Church.

Advocates for victims have been pushing to amend these statutes for some time  after the Pennsylvania revelations, their campaign has become more urgent.

They want to raise the age for civil filings and to abolish or reduce time limitations on criminal charges because they want more victims to be able to seek justice. In addition to statute-of-limitation changes for criminal and civil cases, they are calling for window legislation that would give victims a period of one, two, or three years to file civil charges retroactively.

We strongly support these look-back windows when civil claims can be revived, said Anne Barrett Doyle,

from research group BishopAccountability.org. This would give older victims more time to find evidence and find witnesses to try to bring their case.

Such windows, she noted, would only apply to civil cases because in 2003 the US Supreme Court ruled that extending a criminal statute of limitation after the existing limitations period expires violates the constitution.

Catholic Church authorities in the US are strongly opposing these efforts. They sought, for months, to block or delay the Pennsylvania report, with legal efforts that went all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Ultimately they failed and the two-year investigation by a state grand jury, which reviewed over 500,000 internal dioceses documents, revealed more than 1,000 children had been abused by 301 Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses during the past 70 years.

The report, released last week, implicates senior priests and bishops in knowingly moving offenders from parish to parish, as often happened in similar cases in Ireland, allowing them to continue their abuse unchecked.

It makes for horrific reading, with one section describing how a group of paedophile priests marked their child victims with crucifixes. Another section details the case of a priest accused of raping a seven-year-old girl in a hospital after she had her tonsils removed.

The report has triggered demands for concrete actions by the Vatican to reveal the full details of the cover-ups that facilitated the crimes and to hold those involved accountable.

Catholic theologians, scholars, and lay leaders began circulating a petition after the revelations urging all 271 active bishops in the US to step down, citing the Chilean example in May when all of that countrys 31 active bishops offered their resignations after an abuse scandal. The Vatican accepted five of them.

Some prominent US Catholics, including Illinois state Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, are calling for attorneys general in more US states to follow Pennsylvanias lead and set up grand jury probes.

In Pennsylvanias grand jury system, 23 jurors meet in private to sort through potential evidence on complicated crimes. Prosecutors say such proceedings can help develop difficult cases and bring to light issues that would otherwise remain hidden, while critics caution that the process should not be used to identify and criticise individuals who havent been charged with crimes.

Statutes of limitations can be powerful legal protectors in a democracy. Their aim is twofold: To help maintain public safety and to protect defendants from wrongful charges.

The statutes of limitations are also the reason why just two of the 301 priests named in the Pennsylvania report have been charged with crimes.

As a consequence of the cover-ups, almost every instance of abuse we found is too old to be prosecuted

The grand jurys report states.

The statutes are set down by state legislatures, and the statutes for criminal and civil cases vary widely from state to state. The legislatures set the limitation period for most serious crimes, or felonies, at five years or less, though murder usually has no deadline.

The demands for statute changes began in the aftermath of the 2002 church sex abuse investigation by the Boston Globe which found most victims did not reveal the abuse until decades later, typically when they were in their 40s. Some were subject to intimidation and others felt a sense of shame and fear at reopening wounds in public and revealing the horrors they suffered.

The scandal found that cardinal Bernard Law had been directly responsible for some of the transfers of serial paedophile priest John Geoghan, which allowed Geoghan to keep abusing children with impunity.

This led to Laws resignation as Archbishop of Boston, although he did not resign his position as bishop and cardinal, going on to spend much of his time shaping policy in Rome until his death there last year.

In response to the 2002 crisis, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops established a charter of procedures to deal with accused child sex abusers in the clergy, including a zero-tolerance policy of mandatory reporting of accused abusers. This is similar to what exists today in Ireland; we also have no statute of limitations when it comes to prosecutions for sexual offences, while time limitations in civil cases vary under a number of acts.

In the years since the Boston scandal, at least 29 states have amended their prosecution deadlines so victims of child sexual abuse have more time to pursue criminal cases as adults  including 15 states that now have no cutoff for prosecuting any felony sexual assault of a minor.

At present, the statute-of-limitation laws in Pennsylvania allow victims of child sex abuse to come forward with criminal allegations until they are 50 years old. The age cutoff for filing civil claims is 30. Legislators want to do away with such limits for filing criminal charges and civil suits against child sex abusers.

Leading the effort in Pennsylvania is Congressman Mark Rozzi, who was himself a victim of clerical child abuse. His legislation would lift time limits for authorities to pursue charges of child sexual abuse and for those victims to sue their attackers and institutions that covered it up.

Rozzis bill would establish a two-year window for victims to file civil claims retroactively if they are now older than the current legal age limit.

When Rozzi was a 13-year-old altar boy, a priest sexually assaulted him. It took Rozzi, who says the priest spent a year grooming him with trips to McDonalds and secretly shared beers, over 20 years to talk about the experience publicly.

Rozzi, now 44, is also the driving force behind a number of bills making their way through legislatures not only in Pennsylvania but in a number of neighbouring states, including New York and New Jersey, which aim to give child sex assault victims more time to sue their assailants.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference strongly opposes such statute-of-limitation changes and the introduction of the so-called look-back windows. These proposals, it says, would, in effect, force the people who make up an organisation like the Catholic Church today defend themselves against a crime that was committed in their parish, school, or charitable programme years ago. It is definitely unfair to individual Catholics today whose parishes and schools would be the targets of decades-old lawsuits.

Anne Barrett Doyle dismisses such fears. The accused would still get a fair hearing because the burden of proof will remain on the victim, she told me.

Victims would still have to fund evidence and find witnesses. The legal system will throw out any case that has no merit

On its website, the Catholic Conference urges Catholics in Pennsylvania to send a message to your elected officials that it is possible to strengthen laws to give justice to childhood sexual abuse survivors without bankrupting the men, women and children who make up the Church today.

In New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan expressed his disgust after the Pennsylvania report but made no mention of the debate on the statutes of limitations in his own state, where abuse survivors are seeking passage of the Child Victims Act.

This would erase a statute that bars child sexual abuse victims from proceeding with cases once they turn 23 and would instead allow future victims to bring civil cases until theyre 50 and felony criminal cases until theyre 28. It would also give them a one-year window to retroactively file civil claims against their abusers or the Church.

Back in 2012, insurance experts said in a paper presented to the Vatican that as many as 100,000 US children may have been the victims of clerical sex abuse. In the 16 years since the Boston scandal, lawsuits by abuse victims have forced dioceses and religious orders in the US to pay settlements totalling over $3bn.

At least 19 dioceses have filed for bankruptcy protection. There are 32 archdioceses and 145 dioceses across the US, which has almost 70m Catholics, making up about 22% of the US population.

Filing for bankruptcy does not necessarily suggest the US Catholic Church is running out of money since such filings are aimed primarily at protecting assets. Thats what bankruptcy protection is all about, says Anne Barrett Doyle. The Catholic Church is an immensely wealthy organisation.
Burma Analysis: The Rohingya Crisis and Kofi Annan's Legacy

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan tours the Rohingya community of Aung Mingalar in Sittwe, Rakhine State, in September 2016. / Maung Kyaw Hein, MPA / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  This weekend is the one-year anniversary of both the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and a major attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on government border posts in northern Rakhines Maungdaw Township. But the chairman of the commission and the architect of its ultimate report, Kofi Annan, will miss it. The former UN secretary-general died last week in a Swiss hospital at the age of 80.

Annan was offered the lead role on the commission by Myanmars de facto leader, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the first time a foreigner was invited to join the governments efforts to address the countrys tortured relationship with its Rohingya minority .

The state counselor approached Annan only a month after a peaceful transfer of power from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to the National League for Democracy in April 2016, well aware that the deeply rooted communal tension in Rakhine could become a major political obstacle during her tenure.

The commission was comprised of three international figures including Annan and six local experts. Its formation faced stiff opposition from the USDP and the Arakan National Party as well as from supporters of the ultranationalist group Ma Ba Tha. The commission was tasked with recommending solutions for a lasting peace in Rakhine State and a salve to the wounds of the deadly 2012 riots between its Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities.

Nearly 100 people were reportedly killed in those riots and more than 100,000 Rohingya were displaced and evacuated to newly established camps on town outskirts to separate the communities and prevent further violence. For the past six years, the displaced Rohingya have been living behind barbed-wire fences without some of the most basic rights and unable to even leave the camps without permission without risking arrest. Some observers have labeled the facilities nothing short of concentration camps.

In an ambitious bid to tackle the profound discrimination and distrust and help rebuild a harmonious and diverse community, the advisory commission submitted its final report with 88 recommendations to the Presidents Office on Aug. 24, 2017, followed by a press conference in Yangon. Only eight hours later, ARSA staged its attack in Maungdaw, killing several officers. The militarys response was swift and severe, reportedly unleashing a systematic campaign of arson, rape and extrajudicial killings and driving some 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh, doing heave damage to Myanmars reputation on the world stage in the process.

The UN has called the militarys actions ethnic cleansing. Rights groups have urged the UN to bring the armys top generals before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The US and EU have recently imposed targeted sanctions on senior army officers.

Praise abroad, rebuke at home

Despite the international criticism that began mounting against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi even after the militarys response to ARSAs first attack in October 2016, and claims of genocide by some of her fellow Nobel laureates, Annan struck a moderate tone. Genocide, he said during a press conference the following December, is not a charge that should be thrown around loosely.

And in the face of a sharp deterioration in relations between Myanmar and the West after August 2017, the government maintained that it was dutifully implementing the advisory commissions recommendations. The Presidents Office went so far as to say that the commission was a shield for Myanmar against serious international repercussions.

Over the past year, the government has formed several more ad hoc bodies to tackle the crisis in Rakhine State comprising local experts. But their reports and findings have found little traction abroad, rather drawing criticism from the EU, UN, US and Organization of Islamic Cooperation. In the UN General Assembly, they have repeatedly urged Myanmar to allow Rohingya equal access to citizenship and to return to their original communities.

The advisory commissions final report, on the other hand, has been widely welcomed and was applauded by the UN Security Council when Annan presented it in October. Myanmar has since gone on to sign deals with two UN agencies accepting their help to assist with the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, including a joint assessment of Naypyitaws resettlement plans.

Despite the positive international reception of the report, the military objected to its background section and urged the commission to avoid any mention of the armed forces partial control of the government. A statement from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief accused the report of some flaws and shortcomings, according to a report by the commission released in June reflecting on its work.

Among its final recommendations, the commission advised the government to: review its Citizenship Law, which denies citizenship to anyone claiming Rohingya ethnicity, and to streamline a citizenship application process that even normally takes years; guarantee freedom of movement to all groups; develop a strategy for closing down its camps for displaced people; facilitate inter-communal dialogue; simplify the security infrastructure in Rakhine State and monitor the performance of security forces there; and collaborate with Bangladesh on border issues.

The report also made several recommendations addressing infrastructure and economic development, health, education and the rule of law.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi quickly endorsed the recommendations it their entirety as a de facto roadmap for Rakhine State and appointed a committee to implement them, headed by Social Welfare Minister U Win Myat Aye. In a public address during a state visit to Singapore earlier this week, she said Myanmar had already implemented 81 of the recommendations, though she did not say which were the seven it had not.

A generous, positive mold

Though the commissions mandate expired early this year, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has kept in touch with Annan by phone. During her address in Singapore, she said he took the time to talk, listen and offer encouragement. She praised the late chairman and said he remained committed to helping her even after the international fallout from the militarys latest crackdown in Rakhine.

He agreed to take on the responsibility of advising us on how we might resolve deep-rooted problems in Rakhine because his nature was cast in a generous, positive mold, she said.

His approach was constructive and caring, she added. He wanted us to succeed, to reach our goals of peace, prosperity, security and progress for our country.

U Win Myat Aye last met with Annan in June in Denmark, where he attended the commissions launch of a report on lessons learned and joined him in a private meeting along with other Myanmar officials to discuss the Rohingya crisis.

We are deeply saddened by his death because we recently met in Copenhagen and at the time he seemed in very healthy condition. We never heard about his chronic or serious fever. Its a great loss for us, U Win Myat Aye said.

He said the advisory commissions recommendations were very useful and matched the priorities of Myanmars civilian government, and that his own implementation committee was working to put more than 80 of them into effect. But he said a few of the recommendations would not be implemented any time soon because they conflicted with existing laws.

He mostly told us that he wanted a peaceful and prosperous future for Rakhine and suggested holding peace talks at the grassroots level where the two communities could negotiate and exchange their points of view because peace comes through negotiation, he said.

When asked whether the commission would have enjoyed the level of international goodwill that it did had it not included any foreigners, the minister said: It doesnt need much explanation, I think.
Burma Myanmar Citizens Out of Luck Under Proposed Gambling Law

Gamblers try their luck at a casino in Myawaddy, Karen State, in February. / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYITAW  Myanmar citizens would not be allowed to gamble in the countrys casinos under the proposed 2018 Gambling Law, according to U Kyaw Soe Lin, secretary of the Lower House of Parliaments Bill Committee.

Casinos are intended for foreigners only, the secretary told The Irrawaddy, and would be used mainly to spur tourism and the national economy.

The new legislation would replace the existing 1986 Gambling Law, which was drafted by the Socialist Program Party of Burma.

The 1986 law does not meet the needs of the current administration and the penalties it prescribes are out of date, U Lin Lin Kyaw, a member of the Lower Houses Public Affairs Committee, told Parliament on Thursday.

He said casinos could become a useful tax generator for the government and would be good for Myanmar so long as they could be managed without harming citizens.

The bill did not specify who could or could not gamble at a casino when the government introduced it in Parliament. The Lower House Bill Committee later added a clause stipulating that Myanmar citizens would be banned, U Aung Hlaing Win, a lawmaker representing Yangons Mingaladon Township, told The Irrawaddy.

But with the country in the midst of a democratic transition, he said, the government should be encouraging citizens to make their own informed decisions.

Under the new law, a Myanmar businessman will find it difficult to go inside a casino with his foreign business partners. I dont want citizens to be restricted unnecessarily. The Union government should be granted authority. If necessary, the union government can restrict gambling by citizens, he said.

In February, U Aung Hlaing Win submitted a proposal in Parliament urging the government to legalize casinos in Myanmar.

It is because of casinos that Macau and Hong Kong do not have any foreign debt. While we have a huge deficit, they have large surpluses. The gambling industry has been the main source of income for them, he said.

The Bill Committee said the Home Affairs Ministry was also drafting other laws related to casinos and lotteries but had yet to submit them to Parliament.

Before submitting the new gambling bill to Parliament, the Public Affairs Committee held several meetings with the Bill Committee, Home Affairs Ministry, General Administration Department, Myanmar Police Force, Planning and Finance Ministry, Internal Revenue Department, Myanmar Investment Commission and Attorney Generals Office.

Although the existing Gambling Law bans casinos, a few, approved by the previous government, still operate on the island resorts of Myeik in Tanintharyi Region catering to tourists. Another casino near the Thai border in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, is reportedly owned by a colonel in a local border guard force.
Burma Netizen Offends, Calls Riang Cannibals and Ghosts

Women in Taang villages in Mongyawng and Lashio, northern Shan State, still wear traditional clothing. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  A lawmaker filed a complaint with Myanmars president after a netizen shared a live video on social media of a Taang tribe, calling them cannibals and ghosts.

I have filed complaints with the president, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Information, Upper House and Lower House, said Nan Moe, a Lower House lawmaker representing Mongton Township, in the Palaung Self-administered Zone in northern Shan State.

Ive made myself clear in the complaint that we will be satisfied only when harsh action is taken in accordance with existing laws, she said.

On Aug. 18, Daw Khin May Tun, a resident of Mongping Township in eastern Shan State, shared a live video on her Facebook account Yuri Miko of Riang tribal people walking on the Union highway in Namhsan Township, northern Shan State, stating that they are man-eating ghosts who have the power to disguise themselves as humans who can only be seen on moonless nights.

She circled back in her car, asking other netizens to watch with her.

The Riang tribe is a sub-ethnic group of the Palaung or Taang, and those that were recorded on live video are local residents of Maemunglon village in Namhsan. They were celebrating their courtship ritual.

Many people in Myanmar eat pickled tea leaves but they dont know that it is derived from the Palaung ethnic group. This video tarnishes the image of our tribe. There is no excuse for this, said Nan Moe.

On Wednesday, she met Union ethnic affairs minister Nai Thet Lwin and urged him to take action against Daw Khin May Tun.

The video went viral on social media and drew the ire of Taang. Nineteen Taang civil society organizations released statements denouncing the live video and demanding an apology.

Her live video has been viewed by more than 300,000 people. Even if 100,000 understand the truth, the remaining 200,000 may be misled. This affects all Taang people, said Tagu Kunsi, treasurer of the Namhsan Township Taang Literature and Culture Association.

He said legal action would be taken against Daw Khin May Tun if she does not apologize according to the customs of Riang tribal people in Maemunglon village.

Mai A Mai of the Taang Youth Empowerment Association in Namhsan Township said that Taang youth would go to meet with Daw Khin May Tun on Saturday. If she does not take responsibility, we will take action according to the law.

There are several sub-tribes in the Taang ethnic group that live across Shan State, and their languages, customs, and clothing differ from one place to another. Riang are a minority tribe that has preserved its age-old customs.

The Irrawaddy was unable to obtain a comment from Daw Khin May Tun.

Though many Taang people today wear modern clothing, many tribal people living in remote areas and rural villages still make their own cotton clothes and wear turbans, silver belts and earrings.

Riang men living in Maemunglon village never cut their hair until they reach an advanced age while women shave their heads once they get married.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma Suspect in U Ko Ni Murder Trial Says Officials Framed Him

Zeya Phyo appears at his trial at Yangon North District Court on July 10. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  Zeya Phyo, one of the suspects in last years assassination of prominent lawyer U Ko Ni, said on Thursday the case against him was based purely on hearsay and false documents.

At a trial hearing yesterday, he said the only evidence in the case was testimony from a so-called witness, false information presented at a Home Affairs Ministry press conference, along with what he described as fake telephone records.

After U Ko Ni, who was also a legal adviser to the ruling National League for Democracy, was gunned down by Kyi Lin outside Yangon International Airport in January last year, Aung Soe, (a.k.a. Insein Aung Soe) said another suspect, Aung Win Zaw, had tried to hire him to kill a person some seven months before the assassination.

Kyi Lin, Aung Win Zaw, Aung Win Tun and Zeya Phyo have since been arrested and brought to trial, though Aung Win Khaing, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the conspiracy, remains at large. He was last seen in Naypyitaw in February 2017.

Zeya Phyo is charged with aiding and abetting an offender in murder. During the trial on Thursday at Yangon North District Court, he said the case was built solely on the accounts of Aung Soe and the statements of the Home Affairs Ministry.

He said time and again during previous trial hearings that the accounts of Aung Soe are baseless and the information released at the ministrys press conference was false.

He also claimed that the phone records detailing calls on his mobile phone submitted by the public prosecutor to the court as evidence of his communication with Aung Win Khaing were fake.

The most important thing in this entire case is the call history. It [the call history submitted to the court] is not an official document released by the telecom operator. The telecom operator [records dont look] like that, Zeya Phyo told the media.

And the call history record bears no official stamp [of the telecom operator]. Such a list can be printed easily with a printer. Its a fake, Zeya Phyo told the media.

The public prosecutor, showing the call history, called on Zeya Phyo to admit that he called the mobile phone of Aung Win Khaing one day before the assassination.

Zeya Phyo said he did not remember whether the phone number he was shown was that of Aung Win Khaing, adding that he made phone calls to several people at that time.

Aung Win Zaw, the brother of Aung Win Khaing, has testified at a previous trial that the phone number belongs to Aung Win Khaing. The public prosecutor pointed out that the phone was handed over by Aung Win Khaings wife during a police search.

Zeya Phyo insisted the call logs were false.

The Criminal Investigation Department has officially requested the call history [from the telecom operator], said public prosecutor U Robert San Aung.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma Tatmadaw Cracks Down on Posters Celebrating 71st Mon Revolution Day

An ethnic Mon villager in Kalawthut village, Mudon Township, Mon State, paints over a slogan on a poster commemorating the 71st Mon Revolution Day, after the Tatmadaw complained that the wording was too harshly anti-government. / Myint Soe / Facebook

MON STATEThe Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) has ordered that signboards announcing this weekends commemoration of the 71st Mon Revolution Day be taken down or changed, on the grounds that they advocate rebellion against the central government amid the ongoing peace process between ethnic Mon and Naypyitaw.

Ethnic Mon residing in southern Myanmar had put up signboards around Mon State bearing a slogan commemorating the 71st Mon Revolution Day, to be celebrated on Aug. 26.

The Mon-language slogan says: If you dare to do rebel, you will gain your freedom. When Myanmar Army officials realized the meaning of the slogan, they ordered the signs taken down.

Revolution Day commemorates the day in 1947 that a group of Mon attacked a police station with knives in order to seize weapons from police. That year, ethnic Mon first established armed groups to oppose the central government and fight for their ethnic rights.

The committee in charge of organizing 71st Mon Revolution Day celebrations put up the first signboards in Ye Township on Aug. 17, prompting an order from the Army that they be taken down for opposing the central government. In other townships, Army and state government officials have asked the New Mon State Party (NMSP) to tell the youths who put up the signs to cover up the slogan.

When ethnic Mon from other townships in Mon State also set up Revolution Day signboards, the Myanmar Army and Mon State government called on the NMSP to hold a meeting to discuss the signboards.

Mon State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Win Naing Oo and Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan met with NMSP leaders on Aug. 20.

Nai Hong Sar, the vice chairman of the New Mon State Party, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that, They called a meeting with our members and said it was time the NMSP signed the NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] and worked with the government to achieve peace. Therefore, the wording of the slogan is too harshly anti-government.

He said that, Our members told [the Army] that we [the NMSP] did not arrange [the harshly worded posters]. Youths in Mon State created them, Nai Hong Sar said.

Col. Win Naing Oo said he asked the NMSP to tell the Mon youths to drop the slogan.

This is the first time the Tatmadaw has raised any objections to ethnic Mon celebrations of their revolution day since the NMSP agreed to a ceasefire with the central government in 1995.

The 71st Mon Revolution Day working committee agreed to drop the slogan, but continued to put up signboards in various townships in Mon State.

Nai Htor Pana Ong, a committee member helping to organize the celebrations in Mon State, reported that the Myanmar Army told them that it would not allow the committee to celebrate Revolution Day in towns in Mon State.

However, he said his committee still planned to celebrate the day as usual.

He said his committee had come up with a different slogan each year advocating support for Mon Revolution and had not had any problem with the Tatmadaw in the past.

We are freely celebrating our revolution as usual.  Unfortunately [the Army] has made a problem about it this year, Nai Htor Pana Ong said, adding, They told us that this slogan harms the peace process.

Ethnic Mon usually gather in their townships to celebrate Revolution Day. After that, they often travel to other townships to pay their respects before statues of Mon leaders who sacrificed their lives for the revolution.
Sonakshi and Ajay gave memorable songs Rani Tu Main Raja in Son Of Sardaar and Keeda in Action Jackson.

Sonakshi Sinha, who recently appeared in the recreated version of Chin Chin Chu for her movie Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, the movie which released today, is all set to recreate Helens iconic track Mungda for Indra Kumar upcoming film, Total Dhamaal. The actress will be seen shaking a leg for this special number.

After the song was finalised the makers wanted a fantastic dancer who could match Helens moves. Indra Kumar shared, Helenji, is a legend, but I thought Sonakshi is the right girl for it.

Sonakshi Sinha who is very excited about doing the song shares, Indraji was sure that he wanted only me for it. When I heard it for the first time, my instant response was, I want to do this! It has the potential of becoming a chartbuster again. They are shooting it on a lavish scale, making everything larger-than-life, and I would love to be a part of that vision. We start shooting early next week and Im super excited!

Sharing details of the shoot, Indra Kumar reveals that the film will wrap up with the song. The director further adds, We had saved this song for the end of the shoot. We begin filming on August 26 and it will go on for four days. We have roped in a new music director duo Gaurav-Roshan to recreate the song which will be choreographed by Adil Shaikh. The old song was a big hit so its a huge responsibility on Sonakshis shoulders and mine too. We have picked up an iconic song now we have to deliver.

The actress has already begun rehearsals and Ajay will enter midway through, so the song is a duet towards the end. The duo will start shooting for the song this Sunday.

Sonakshi is happy to reunite with Ajay with whom she was paired in Son of Sardaar and Action Jackson. Co-incidentally they gave memorable songs in both  Rani Tu Main Raja and Keeda.

Total Dhamaal features Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Riteish Deshmukh, Javed Jaffery, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Pitobash Tripthy and Sanjay Mishra, and is produced by Devgn, Fox Star Studios and Ashok Thakeria.

Meanwhile, Nora, who is bonding with Helen post bagging a role in Bharat, spoke about her idol saying, Helenji has truly blessed me! She gave me her blessings the first time I met her during Salmans birthday party in December. I had a long chat with her about my career goals and she put her hand on my head and said Im giving you blessings and I want all the doors to open up for you. You will do very well in your career. And she advised me not to let people bring me down and not to give up. I took a lovely picture with her and since I met her and had the talk, everything has changed for me. My career literally took off and Bharat, Dilbar and Stree happened for me.
Australia's decision to ban Huawei Technologies from playing a role in the country's 5G networks is "politically motivated, not the result of a fact-based, transparent, or equitable decision-making process", a spokesperson from the company's headquarters in Shenzhen says.

In a lengthy and impassioned statement on Friday, the spokesperson said the decision was "not aligned with the long-term interests of the Australian people, and denies Australian businesses and consumers the right to choose from the best communications technology available".

The decision to keep Huawei, and its fellow Chinese firm ZTE, from playing any role in the 5G rollout Down Under, was announced in a joint statement on Thursday by Acting Home Affairs Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.

The Huawei spokesperson said the lack of competition among 5G providers would increase network construction costs and have "a lasting effect" on Australia's transition to a digital economy.

"In the end, everyday businesses and consumers are the ones who will suffer the most from the government's actions," the spokesperson added.

"Huawei is one of the core developers behind 5G. The Australian Government recognises the massive benefits that 5G technology will bring to Australia's economy, and yet it has restricted the use of Huawei's technology," the spokesperson said.

"Innovation works because innovators are rewarded for their work, but the government has effectively denied Huawei a right to compete for a return on our investment."

In a sharp rebuke to the legal interpretations made in Australia, the spokesperson said that interpreting Chinese law should be left to qualified and impartial legal experts.

"Huawei has presented the Australian Government with an independent, third-party expert analysis of the Chinese laws in question: Chinese law does not grant government the authority to compel telecommunications firms to install backdoors or listening devices, or engage in any behaviour that might compromise the telecommunications equipment of other nations.

"A mistaken and narrow understanding of Chinese law should not serve as the basis for concerns about Huawei's business. Huawei has never been asked to engage in intelligence work on behalf of any government."

The spokesperson also pointed out that there was no fundamental difference between 5G and 4G network architecture with the core networks and access networks still separated.

"Moreover, 5G has stronger guarantees around privacy and security protection than 3G and 4G. We urge the government to take an objective and fact-based approach to security issues, and work together on effective long-term solutions. Open dialogue, joint innovation, and close collaboration are essential to the ongoing development of the telecommunications industry.

"For any country, fair and robust market competition is essential to strong economic growth. The Australian Government's actions undermine the principles of competition and non-discrimination in fair trade.

"The government has not issued any specific concerns about Huawei's governance, security, or suitability to safely and securely conduct business in Australia, so weve been given nothing to respond to. We will continue to engage with the Australian Government, and in accordance with Australian law and relevant international conventions, we will take all possible measures to protect our legal rights and interests."
American plans to strip the spouses of holders of H-1B visas of the right to work have reached the final stage, with the Department of Homeland Security inching towards approving the change.

A report in the Los Angeles Daily News said the change, which had been promised by the DHS in February, was now in its final clearance review.

The DHS made its statement as a filing in a case brought by an advocacy group, Save Jobs USA, which claims that the DHS does not have the right to grant work permits without approval from Congress.

The visas granted to spouses and adult dependents of H-1B visa holders are known as H-4 visas. They were introduced during the Obama era.

The technology industry has lobbied against banning H-4 visa holders from working, claiming that it would undercut their ability to hire foreign workers.

Since the rule was introduced, a total of 41,526 people have been given work permits.

Save Jobs says it is comprised of workers who were employed by energy utility Southern California Edison until they were replaced by foreign workers imported on H-1B guest worker visas".

Edison, along with Disney and UC San Francisco, are reported to have forced tech workers to train their H-1B-carrying replacements.

Three Save Jobs members mentioned in the case allege they were told by Edison that they would lose their jobs and then had to train their H-1B replacements from Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services.

They were reportedly told that if they did not do so, they would be denied severance pay and documentation that would entitle them to unemployment benefits.

Since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the US has been clamping down on H-1B visas which are used to bring in about 85,000 people a year to work in the country. Many of them are Indians who work in the technology industry.

In October 2017, the government issued new guidelines making it tougher for existing H-1B holders to renew their visas, specifying that they would have to go through the same process for renewal as they did to first obtain the visa.

The number of applicants for H-1B visas fell this year for the second time in five years. In April 2018, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services received 190,098 applications compared to 199,000 a year earlier. The figure was 236,000 in April 2016.

Another new stricture on H-1B visas, is that computer programmers would not be presumed to be eligible for an H-1B visa. Rather, details of qualifications need to be supplied so that it could be determined whether the individual is fit to do the specialised task for which the visa is sought.

This guidance means that H-1B visas will go to very high-skilled and higher-paid professionals, with low- and mid-level jobs presumably to go to American workers instead.
Former auDA director Josh Rowe has issued an apology for comments made last month, in which he characterised the means used for mass recruitment of members to the organisation that manages the .au namespace as being "potential cartel behaviour".

In the apology, published in the Australian Financial Review on Friday, Rowe said: "In communications on 24 and 26 July, I suggested that auDA and certain of its officers and staff engaged in criminal cartel conduct in relation to recent applications for auDA membership.

"I had no basis for making these allegations. I hereby retract the allegations and apologise to auDA and its officers, staff and members for any offence, harm or damage caused by the allegations."

A statement issued by auDA chair Chris Leptos said the apology had been accepted.

"Good people, with good intentions and driving passion, will inevitably disagree on some important matters when it comes to Internet governance," Leptos said.

"However, Rowe stepped over the line of civil debate that is at the heart of the multi-stakeholder model."

auDA has gone through some internal turmoil over the past few months, with some members seeking to throw out three directors. Their bid failed at a special general meeting held on 27 July.

In June, one member, Jim Stewart, the chief executive of StewArt Media, called for a motion of no-confidence in chief executive Cameron Boardman and the sacking of directors Leptos, Suzanne Ewart and Sandra Hook.

The board is in the process of attempting to meet the demands of a Federal Government review issued in April that found its management framework was no longer fit for purpose. A new framework has been proposed and has to be put in place by April 2020, as per the government's demands.
Eckley Scholar Examines Class Struggles in Ancient Rome

Aug. 24, 2018

Brent Baughan '19

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  By examining the struggle to rise above one's station thousands of years ago in ancient Rome, Eckley scholar Brent Baughan '19 (Bloomington, Illinois) hopes to better understand the socio-economic imbalance of the modern day.

As one of five 2018 recipients of the Robert S. and Nell B. Eckley Scholars and Artists Program fellowship, Baughan is using a $4,000 stipend to conduct his summer-long research project "Statecraft and Class Power in the Ancient World," with faculty mentor Associate Professor of History Amy Coles.

"I've been impressed with the way he's grappled with ideas and theories from Gramsci, who wrote early in the 20th century, as well as contemporary theorists and applied these sophisticated ideas to the words of Roman intellectuals from the first century BCE," Coles said. "I think his project will result in an interesting and valuable analysis of the power of ancient intellectuals to support or tear down contemporary hegemonies."

Baughan's methodology involves looking at the Roman Republic through the theories of Antonio Gramsci, a founding member of the Italian communist party. In his research paper, Baughan uses Gramsci's ideas about intellectuals and the social order to explore the relationship between the oppressed and the oppressors of Rome.

By examining how subjugated classes exerted their influence on the government and the role of intellectuals in maintaining or destroying social systems, Baughan hopes to provide a different look at Roman culture and shed light on contemporary issues relating to class. Baughan will deliver a full presentation of his research on campus in September.

A Greek and Roman studies and history double major, Baughan's project directly ties in with his intended career path of teaching the classics as a professor.

"Thanks to Dr. Coles' support and the chance to tackle this project otherwise independently, I feel that the Eckley program has given me a fairly accurate depiction of how I can expect future scholarship as a professor to go," Baughan said. "It has encouraged me to press forward with that goal, rather than scaring me off."

By Rachel McCarthy '21
The aforementioned details of the plot may give you an idea of the film being very authentic and qualitatively superior.

Rating:

Cast: Utkarsh Sharma, Ishitha Chauhan, Mithun Chakraborty, Ayesha Jhulka, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, K.K. Raina

Director: Anil Sharma

An orphan, whose parents get killed in communal riots, is raised by a brahmin who lives at an ashram in Mathura, cracks IIT with distinction, and therefore, is a brilliant mind, is offered a key job by the RAW, and seems to be the perfect young lad whom girls swoon over and guys admire. Although pretty young, he seems to be the sharpest at RAW, where as an ethical hacker, he has nearly all his seniors gaping wide-mouthed at his jaw-dropping capabilities.

Quite naturally, he wears loads of attitude on his sleeve, though he also has a heart of gold. Notwithstanding his aplomb and dare-me attitude, a young girl Nandini (Ishitha Chauhan) gets attracted to him in college, and swears undying love for him. In short, there is nothing that he doesnt have, or cannot achieve!

With everything going perfect for him, there has to be something that awaits his nod, for him to get into trouble. You guessed it right: He has a greater mission at hand, and, as the RAW in-charge, leads a team.

Even as everything goes well, fate has other plans laid out for his future: He is burdened by the killing of his entire team while on an assignment. His world comes crashing down, and an inquiry ensues. But until he doesnt avenge their death, he cant live in peace with his love. So he hatches a genius plan.

In the midst of all the dramatic turn of events, we are also informed of his being a great desh bhakt. With almost every conceivable frill that would ensure a certain course of direction and an objective on the part of director Anil Sharma (whose earlier works include the jingoistic Gadar, Elaan-E-Jung) you almost second guess which way the film is headed.

IIT topper Vasudev Shastri (Utkarsh Sharma) whose entry into the engineering college is a breeze, rubs the second ranker, Nandini, the wrong way on the very first day of college. As they cross paths intermittently, Nandini finds him to be beneath her dignity, only to fall head over heels in love.

Later, as a team working on some of the most top-secret tasks with RAW, Vasu suffers a setback and becomes a victim of tinnitus after a physically challenging mission in Porbandar leaves him somewhat disabled. He has to endure a serious underlying medical condition due to damage to the inner ear that leads to high decibel levels of hearing. Doctors pronounce him getting close to becoming brain dead too. He survives multiple bullet wounds during a high-level mission as the head of a division of RAW named TOCSI. The agencys primary aim is to track MRS (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a dreaded Islamist terrorist who works closely with the ISI. Together with Pakistan, MRS is determined to plant bombs in India, and make the lives of Indians miserable.

The aforementioned details of the plot may give you an idea of the film being very authentic and qualitatively superior. You may have seen juvenile plots converted into watchable fare on screen only for their great production values and believable acting skills of actors. Not in Genius. Here, you cannot ignore its gratuitous jingoistic flavour, shoddy CGI, poor production qualities and some jejune writing. Anil Sharmas son Utkarsh in the lead will have to start from scratch to learn the basic in acting if he is serious about a career in films. His co-star Ishitha is even worse. For her, a crash course in acting will not even do the needful!
The damage due to this deluge is approximately estimated at Rs.19500 Crores.

New Delhi: Ahead of the Friday hearing the Kerala government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that despite addressing the need for maintaining the water level at 139 ft in Mullaperiyar dam to avoid floods, there was no positive assurance from Tamil Nadu authorities for this request.

On the overall flood situation, the Kerala Chief Secretary said the deluge faced by the State of Kerala is unprecedented in its recent history. It has already surpassed the devastation caused by the 1924 flood, it is now considered the most intense flood to have hit the State in the last 100 years.

The death toll touched 373 and 32 people are missing. The state has evacuated more than 12.5 lakh people to more than 3941 odd camps. 38 tonne Food materials along with medical supplies were air dropped to approximately 50,000 stranded people. The damage due to this deluge is approximately estimated at Rs.19500 Crores.

Making this assertion in an affidavit in response to the petition filed by Russsel Joy, the Kerala Chief Secretary blamed Tamil Nadu for the sudden releases from the Mullaperiyar Dam, the third largest reservoir in the Periyar Basin. He said this forced Kerala to release more water from the Idukki reservoir, downstream of Mullaperiyar, which is one of the causes of this deluge.

Kerala said it had raised the issue regarding operational flexibility of water release from the dam as early as in 2014, in the Supervisory Committee meetings and Tamil Nadu Government was directed to prepare a Gate Operation Schedule in this regard, fully taking into account flash floods in the downstream areas.

The draft gate operation schedule, which suggests an operation of spillway of Mullaperiyar reservoir, was found to be deficient by the Central Water Commission and their Hydrology Directorate (South). Kerala said with a view to having sufficient flexibility of operation during moderate to high floods, it is imperative that Mullaperiyar reservoir should have enough maneuverability.

Consequently Kerala suggested that the gradual releases should start when the water level reaches 136 feet itself, so that there should be at least 1.548 TMC space, which translates into 17,917 cusecs for 24 hours, thus Kerala would get at least 24 hours response time to evacuate people and can avoid flash flooding of the downstream area.

Kerala said while Idukki reservoir has an effective storage capacity (utilisable storage) of 51.543 TMC (Gross Capacity being 70.5 TMC). Mullaperiyar only has an effective storage capacity of 7.666 TMC and a Gross capacity of 12.758 TMC. Mullaperiyar therefore is exceptionally vulnerable because it has a large catchment area and limited storage capacity when compared to Idukki, which has a four times the storage capacity with almost similar catchment area. Consequently the water level in the Mullaperiyar reservoir increases with rapidity when compared with Idukki.

It said with a view to avoiding a repeat of such situations, State of Kerala wanted that the Chairman, Central Water Commission with Secretaries of both States as members, head the Supervisory Committee. This Committee ought to be empowered to take decisions by a majority opinion regarding operations during flood or any similar crisis. Further it prayed that there must be a Management Committee, reporting directly to the Supervisory Committee, to manage the day-to-day operations of the Mullaperiyar Dam.

On the steps taken as flood relief, Government of Kerala sought immediate assistance of the armed forces and deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from the Union Government to address rescue and relief operations keeping in mind colossal magnitude of the flood spanning 13 of the 14 districts in the State.

In addition to this, the entire State machinery was galvanised to manage the disaster. Kerala has 1564 villages, and out of that 774 villages were inundated. Kerala has a population of about 3.48 crores. This deluge directly affected more than 54 lakhs, one sixth of the population.

It said that Central forces are presently deployed in addition to a large contingent of State Police, Fire and Rescue Personnel and the entire contingent of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). Over and above this about 1,400 fishermen from coastal villages of Kerala rushed to the affected villages with their 600-odd country vessels.

They ventured into the most remote corners of the affected areas rescuing people. 59 rescue teams of NDRF with 207 boats, 23 columns of Army units with 104 boats, 94 rescue teams of Navy with 1 medical team, 9 helicopters, 2 fixed wing aircrafts and 94 boats and 36 teams of Coast Guard with 49 boats, 2 helicopters, 23 fixed wing helicopters, 2 fixed wing and 27 hired boats, were deployed.

Air Force provided 22 helicopters and 23 fixed 3 wing aircrafts, BSF provided 2 companies with one water vehicle team and10 teams of CRPF were deployed. 4100 Fire and Rescue Services personnel were engaged and they operated 69 Rubber Boats. Odisha fire services provided 244 Firemen and 63 Rubber Boats.
In support, he said the state was densely populated and had good infrastructure facilities like roads, communication network and hospitals.

The chief minister said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and preliminary estimate of losses comes around Rs 20,000 crore. (Photo: File | PTI)

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala should be treated on a different yardstick for extending flood relief assistance as its huge loss cannot be compared with the damage in any other state at any point of time, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday.

Giving a detailed account of the havoc caused by the devastating floods and landslides since early this month, he said the preliminary assessment of losses was around Rs 20,000 crore which was equal to the state's annual Plan size for 2018-19.

The heavy rains and floods have claimed 231 lives in Kerala since August 8 and more than 10.40 lakh people are still in relief camps across the state.

In support of his stand that Kerala's case was unique, he said the state was densely populated and the entire state had infrastructure facilities such as good roads, communication network and hospitals.

Hence, the loss suffered in the floods was huge in nature and was something which cannot be compared to the damage suffered by any other part of the country at any point of time, Vijayan said, urging that the state should be treated on a different yardstick for extending assistance.

His stress on the magnitude of the calamity and assistance comes at a time when there is a standoff over accepting foreign aid for the flood-ravaged state. While the state government was keen on receiving foreign aid, including USD 100 million offered by the United Arab Emirates, the Centre has taken the stand that it cannot accept any assistance from overseas governments and cited an existing policy.

Pushing for foreign assistance, Vijayan had earlier said there was no blanket ban and India, by law, could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity.

In his statement today, the chief minister said: "It is with a thankful heart that we take note of the fact that foreign countries ranging from the UAE to Qatar have come forward with their promise of assistance."

Vijayan also mentioned about the immediate release of Rs 100 crore by the Centre and further interim aid of Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately after his aerial survey of flood-affected areas on August 19.

The Centre has already released Rs 600 crore to the state. The chief minister said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and preliminary estimate of losses comes around Rs 20,000 crore.

It goes without saying that the actual losses will steadily go up once the water recedes and the final assessment is made.

"To put it in a nutshell, the size of the loss caused by the calamity is equal to the size of the annual plan the state has chalked out for 2018-2019," Vijayan said.

More than 26,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed and crops spread over 40,000 hectares lost, Vijayan said, adding, "We have lost more than two lakh poultry and at least 46,000 milch animals."

The magnitude of the havoc truly gets reflected in the fact that a vast area of the state still remains submerged in flood waters, the chief minister said.

Floods have washed away several multi-storeyed buildings, shops, commercial establishments and even bridges, he said. Telecommunication network and electricity lines have been damaged. The power sector suffered losses of around Rs 750 crore while damage to water supply infrastructure was close to Rs 900 crore, he said.

He also noted that more than 300 landslides have occurred, resulting in hills being razed in several places. Major rivers such as Bharathapuzha, Periyar, Chalakkudy and Pamba have altered course in many places.
United States Senator Lamar Alexander Thursday said the Senate passed a bill that provides the fourth straight year of record funding in a regular appropriations bill for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, $3.7 billion to help fight the opioid epidemic, and raises the maximum Pell grant to $6,195 to help more students afford higher education.

For the fourth straight year, the Senate has provided record funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health$2 billion additional dollars in the first year, $2 billion the second year, $3 billion the third year, and $2 billion this year, which is a 30 percent increase over the last four years," said Senator Alexander. "As a result of investing in our biomedical research, we will have more access to life-changing treatments and cures, and see more medical miracles.

I continue to urge President Trump to make science and research part of his America First agenda. The president has already signed into law two consecutive bills that provide record funding for science, technology, energy and biomedical research, and this legislation will build on that.

On opioid crisis funding: Senate passage of this legislation is also a step in the right direction for our countrys ongoing fight against the opioid crisis," said Senator Alexander. "This legislation provides $3.7 billion for programs aimed at putting an end to opioid abuse, including $500 million for NIH research to develop non-addictive pain medicines, and $1.5 billion for State Opioid Response Grants, originally authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act. These grants will fund prevention activities, training for health care practitioners, and increase access to medication-assisted treatment in states like Tennessee.

On charter school and education funding: The bill also provides $445 million for our nations charter schools, which give teachers more freedom and parents more choicesand give students a real opportunity to attend a good school thats right for them," said Senator Alexander. "Additionally, the legislation provides a $125 million increase for each of the three largest K-12 education funding accounts that would allow states to provide better education to disadvantaged students, support academic enrichment, and provide services for special education. The bill also raises the maximum Pell grant to $6,195 to help more students afford higher education.

The Fiscal Year 2019 Labor, Health & Human Services, Education Appropriations bill includes:

$39.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health.

$562 million for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

$3.7 billion for programs to combat opioid abuse.

$445 million for Charter Schools.

$15.9 billion for Title I Grants to local education agencies.

$1.2 Billion for Title IV-A Student Supports and Academic Enrichment Grants.

$160 million for apprenticeship grants.



The Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2019 Labor, Health & Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill on Thursday, which is consistent with the spending limits set by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 approved by Congress, and signed by President Trump, in February.
The affected people have not only lost property worth crores but have also been rendered homeless.

New Delhi: Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and other judges of the Delhi high court have decided to contribute for the rehabilitation of the people of Kerala. Besides the judges, the the Regis-try of the high court wou-ld also contribute to the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), Kerala.

A circular issued on Thursday by Delhi high court Registrar General Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the state of Kerala is facing the natural calamity of floods, where thousands of people have been adversely affected.

The affected people have not only lost property worth crores but have also been rendered homeless.

Herculean efforts are required to be taken for rehabilitation, reconstru-ction and restoration of infrastructure. In such a situation, the responsibility of rendering help is not confined to the states. Persons from all walks of life in society are coming forward to give a helping hand.

It said the Chief Justice and judges of the court have decided to contribute voluntarily to the Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund for rehabilitation of those affected. The contribution would be exempted under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Earlier, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and other judges of the Supre-me Court had decided to contribute `25,000 each to the relief fund.

Chief Justice Misra had visited the relief collection centre on Wednesday in the Supreme Court and said there is a calamity. We all are with the people of Kerala. He had himself brought some relief supplies to the camp.
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Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014.

New Delhi: Delhi police on Thursday handed over various documents to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor before a court here in a case agai-nst him regarding his wife Sunanda Pushkars death almost four years ago in a luxury hotel here.

The documents included statements of various witnesses recorded in the case. During the hearing, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy requested additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal that he be allowed to ass-ist the police in the case, even though senior advocate Vikash Pahwa and advocate Gaurav Gupta, appearing for Tharoor told the court that Swamy had no locus in the case which was already being probed by the police.

The court, thereafter, posted the matter for further hearing on Septem-ber 20. Pushkar was fou-nd 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 had directed the Delhi police to hand over various documents filed along with the cha-rge sheet, including statements of witnesses, to Tharoor on a plea moved by him.

The Thiruvananthapur-am 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 Thar-oor, observing there was sufficient ground to proceed against him.

Tharoor has been char-ged under sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cr-uelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but has not been arrested in the case.
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The Hague (AFP)  Irans legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UNs top court Monday, as Tehran seeks to avert painful punitive measures that could hurt its still fragile economy.

Tehran filed a suit against US President Donald Trumps decision to reimpose economic sanctions at the Hague-based International Court of Justice last month.

After unilaterally pulling out of a historic hard-won deal aimed at curbing Irans nuclear programme in May, Trump slapped a first round of sanctions on the country in early August.

And a second round is set to come into effect in early November, this time blocking Irans valuable oil and energy sales.

But Tehran argues that Washington has no right to reinstate such measures and is calling on the ICJ to order the US to immediately suspend them.

It is also demanding compensation.

The ICJ is expected to take a couple of months to decide whether to grant Tehrans request for a provisional ruling, while a final decision in the case could actually take years.

International sanctions against Iran were lifted in 2015 when it a struck a landmark accord with the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, agreeing to rein its nuclear ambitions.

 One-sided deal 

But Trump described it as a horrible one-sided deal (that) failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb.

And even though all of the other parties pleaded with him not to abandon the pact, Trump pulled out and announced he would reinstate sanctions.

Tehran  which argues that the move violates a little-known Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations signed by the two countries in 1955  says that the new sanctions are already hurting its economy. And its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April.

A raft of international companies  including Frances Total, Peugeot and Renault, and Germanys Siemens and Daimler  have already suspended operations in Iran in the wake of the US move.



AFP / ATTA KENARE. Iran says the sanctions are already hurting its economy and its currency, the rial, has lost around half its value since April.

Washington is besieging Iran economically, with all the dramatic consequences that a siege implies for the besieged population, Tehran said in court papers.

Iran requests that, pending final judgement in the case, the Court indicate that the USA shall immediately take all measures at its disposal to ensure the suspension of the implementation of all the May 8 sanctions, it said.

Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that the support of many European states for the nuclear deal meant that Irans position is strengthened.

And the publicity generated by Iran filing a lawsuit at the ICJ could work in Irans favour, the expert suggested.

One of the objectives is to publicly denounce the acts of the United States, De Brabandere told AFP.

 Malign activities 

In his executive order, Trump argued that the sanctions would turn up the financial pressure on Tehran to come to a comprehensive and lasting solution regarding the activities that the international community regarded as malign, such as its ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorism.



AFP/File / Nicholas Kamm, HO. Trump described the 2015 nuclear deal as horrible and one-sided.

But earlier this month, Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to rule out any immediate prospect of talks, saying there will neither be war, nor negotiations, with the US.

Meanwhile, both the US and close ally Israel have called on European countries to do more to pressure Iran.

A separate 2016 complaint lodged by Iran against the US for freezing around $2 billion of its assets abroad is due to begin in October, when the United States will argue the ICJ has no authority to hear the case.

Featured Photo: ANP/AFP / Jerry Lampen. The International Court of Justice will hear Irans challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States.
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By Abier Almasri | 

Traveling Under Occupation Almost Impossible for Palestinians Locked Inside Gaza

Earlier this year, the Israeli army gave me a permit to leave the 11-by-40 kilometer Gaza Strip for the first time in my life and travel to the United States for work. Last month, I left again  this time, to see the rest of Palestine and Israel. The one-hour trip from the Israel-Gaza crossing to Jerusalem felt like a journey to a distant world.

 2018 Human Rights Watch

I have always dreamed of smelling Jerusalems air and hearing the call to prayer ring from its mosques. When the prospect of traveling there was still a distant dream, I told a colleague, I just hope to have the chance to pray in al-Aqsa Mosque before I die.

I couldnt sleep the night before my journey to Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers at al-Aqsa. All that stood between me and my dreams was a short drive and the Qalandia checkpoint, which divides Palestinians living in Ramallah from those in East Jerusalem, both within the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Having lived for years under Israeli closure, which has turned Gaza effectively into an open-air prison, whats a checkpoint when you possess a precious permit to leave, I asked myself.

I was wrong. Packed tightly together, hundreds of Palestinians and I waited for metal turnstiles to turn for 30 seconds every 15 or 20 minutes, to allow a small group to advance and present their papers. An argument broke out when one person tried to cut in line. A woman fainted waiting her turn. Was I about to miss perhaps the only chance in my life to pray at al-Aqsa? I felt the humiliation of daily life under occupation in the West Bank, of being made to feel I dont belong in my own homeland.

Two hours later, I finally walked through the turnstiles, showed a soldier my permit, and crossed over. We drove as fast as we could to al-Aqsa and dashed inside. We missed the sermon, but the imam, as if waiting for us, called everyone to pray just as we arrived.

Al-Aqsa was even more spectacular than I had imagined. I couldnt hold back the tears  both of joy at beholding its beauty, and of sadness that such a majestic place has witnessed a half-century of ugly, abusive military occupation, where soldiers control who can pray there.

I also fell in love with Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jaffa, Acre, and Haifa during my whirlwind tour, snapping pictures everywhere that I could to share with family and friends back home.

Im now back in Gaza, not sure if Ill ever be able to return. But I remember the sights and smells, and wait for the day that everyone in Gaza can travel freely.

Abier Almasri is a Research Assistant, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch @abier_i

Via Human Rights Watch.

Featured Photo: Abier Almasri, Human Rights Watchs research assistant for the Gaza Strip, in front of the Dome of the Rock in the al-Aqsa Compound in occupied East Jerusalem in July 2018.  2018 Human Rights Watch.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2018) - Great Bear Resources Ltd. (TSXV: GBR) ("Great Bear" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it will be conducting a private placement financing of units ("Units"), priced at $1.45 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $10 million (the "Financing"). Each Unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant will be exercisable into a common share of Great Bear at a price of $1.75 for a period of two years.

The Company is pleased to announce that Rob McEwen has agreed to purchase $4.8 million of the Financing and that McEwen Mining Inc. has agreed to purchase $1.2 million of the Financing for a total of $6 million. On completion of the Financing, Rob McEwen and McEwen Mining will collectively own 18.8% of Great Bear Resources on a partially diluted basis.

"We are very pleased to have Rob McEwen as a partner of Great Bear Resources. His record of success in the Red Lake district is quite simply unmatched," said Chris Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Great Bear. "We will now be funded to achieve significant milestones at our Dixie project, and anticipate positive opportunities for our shareholders as we advance these new high grade gold discoveries."

"I'm excited to join the Great Bear team in the development of what I believe could be a significant new gold discovery in the Red Lake camp," added Rob McEwen. "Their technical work is excellent and I'm delighted to join forces with them to further unlock, once again, the riches of the world-class Red Lake gold camp."

The proceeds from the Financing will be used for exploration and drilling in Red Lake, Ontario as well as for general working capital purposes.

A portion of the Financing will be brokered by IBK Capital Corp. of Toronto ("IBK") including Units to be purchased by Rob McEwen and McEwen Mining. Great Bear has agreed to pay IBK a cash commission equal to 6 per cent of the amount raised by IBK and to issue to IBK broker warrants equal to 6 per cent of the number of Units sold to investors introduced by IBK. Each broker warrant will be exercisable into a Unit at $1.45 per Unit for a period of one year. Finders' fees may be payable on the non-brokered portion of the Financing on the same basis as the brokered portion of the Financing.

The Financing is subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, including acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities to be issued in the Financing will be subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Great Bear

Great Bear is earning a 100% royalty-free interest in the Dixie property for remaining payments totaling $110,000 over three years. The property consists of 9,140 hectares located approximately 15 minutes' drive along Highway 105 from downtown Red Lake, Ontario. The Red Lake mining district has produced over 30,000,000 ounces of gold and is one of the premier mining districts in Canada, benefitting from major active mining operations including the Red Lake Gold Mine of Goldcorp Inc., plus modern infrastructure and a skilled workforce. The Dixie property covers a drill and geophysically-defined multi-kilometre gold mineralized structure similar to that hosting other producing gold mines in the district. The project has seen over 200 drill holes to-date and has yielded high grade near-surface gold results from several gold zones hosted at an extensive mineralized geological contact  the Dixie Limb Zone. In addition, Great Bear is also earning a 100% royalty-free interest in its West Madsen properties which total 3,860 hectares and are contiguous with Pure Gold Mining Inc.'s Madsen property. All of Great Bear's Red Lake projects are accessible year-round through existing roads.

Mr. R. Bob Singh, P.Geo, Director and VP Exploration for Great Bear, is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the accuracy of technical information contained in this news release.

For further information please contact Mr. Chris Taylor, P.Geo, President and CEO at 604-646-8354, or Mr. Knox Henderson, Investor Relations, at 604-551-2360.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Chris Taylor"

Chris Taylor, President and CEO

Inquiries:

Tel: 604-646-8354

Fax: 604-646-4526

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.greatbearresources.ca

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 new release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, other than as required by securities laws.

We seek safe harbor.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2018) - Spearmint Resources Inc. (TSXV: SRJ) (OTC Pink: SPMTF) (FSE: SQH) ("SRJ" or the "Company") wishes to announce it is looking to start up operations on its 100-percent owned Chibougamau Vanadium Prospects, consisting of four separate claim blocks totaling 9,735 acres, located in the direct vicinity of Lac Chibougamau, Quebec. These properties directly border BlackRock Metals' (private) Ilmenite vanadium project, Vanadiumcorp Resource Inc.'s Lac Dore vanadium project and Vanadium One Energy Corp.'s Mont Sorcier vanadium project.

Recently, the Government of Quebec announced a $248 million investment in the BlackRock Metals project and the development of the Grande-Anse Sector.

James Nelson, President of Spearmint, stated, "Vanadium has garnered a lot of market attention recently as the use of vanadium in battery storage is gaining momentum. Spearmint is well positioned in the heart of the expanding Chibougamau mining district's vanadium circle and is very pleased to maintain a significant footprint in one of Canada's best-known vanadium districts. The recent commitment by the Government of Quebec to invest into the growth of our neighbor BlackRock Metals' only validates and strengthens the bright future for Vanadium and this district. We are now active and excited to become operational in two areas, B.C. and Quebec, both of which have garnered global attention recently for significant discoveries that have been made beside us."

News release below from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy, Science and Innovation and Minister responsible for the Digital Agenda:

The Government of Quebec is providing a total of $185 million in financial assistance to BlackRock Metals to support the construction of an open pit mine of iron, vanadium and titanium near Chibougamau, in the Nord-du-Quebec region. This financial assistance is also aimed at setting up a secondary processing plant in the Grande-Anse sector of the industrial port area of Saguenay. The project represents investments valued at nearly $1.3 billion and will create more than 800 jobs during the construction of the mine and mill. Some 200 jobs will also be created during the operation of the mine, while the operation of the processing plant will result in the creation of about 300 jobs.

The above government financial support includes an equity investment, through Capital Mines Hydrocarbures, of $85 million in the capital of BlackRock Metals, a $50 million loan from Investissement Quebec, acting as agent for the government, as well as a $50 million loan granted by Ressources Quebec from its own funds.

In addition, the government is providing $63 million in financial assistance to Port Saguenay Developments, a subsidiary of the Saguenay Port Authority, to ensure the implementation of the energy infrastructure necessary for the implementation of BlackRock Metals, which could be favourable to the attraction of new businesses in the Grande-Anse sector of the Saguenay industrial-port zone.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation and Minister responsible for the Digital Agenda, Mme Dominique Anglade, and the Minister for Maritime Affairs and Minister responsible for the Bas-Saint -Laurent, Mr. Jean D'Amour, accompanied by the Member for Dubuc and Parliamentary Assistant to the Prime Minister for the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, Mr. Serge Simard, made the announcement today of these financial contributions awarded to BlackRock Metals and Port Saguenay Developments.

Source:

News Release from Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy, Science and Innovation and Minister responsible for the Digital Agenda, August 21, 2018, 09:30 Eastern Time.

Recent Developments:

On August 15, 2018, Spearmint Resources Inc. announced that is has acquired a 100-per-cent interest in two separate gold-copper prospects totaling 1,989 acres. The Henry prospects are all located in the Golden Triangle gold district in British Columbia and in the direct vicinity of Golden Ridge Resources Ltd.

On August 10, 2018, Spearmint Resources Inc. announced that it has ongoing work programs on its NEBA Golden Triangle property. The company has just finished an airborne survey, completed by Precision GeoPhysics, and the data is currently being analyzed. Additional work programs will be formulated with this data and the highest-priority drill locations will be targeted. The NEBA property directly borders Aben Resources Ltd.'s Forest Kerr project in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, where Aben announced significant drill results over an interval of 38.7 grams per tonne gold over 10.0 metres, including 62.4 grams per tonne gold over 6.0 m, starting at 114 metres downhole.

About Spearmint Resources:

Spearmint's current projects also include three areas of focus on gold in British Columbia: the 'Golden Triangle Gold Prospects' comprising of four separate claim blocks totaling 4,095-acres, bordering GT Gold Corp; the 'Gold Mountain Prospects' comprising of three separate claim blocks totaling 1,245-acres, bordering Barkerville Gold Mines; and the 3,052 acre 'Neba Prospect' bordering Aben Resources Ltd. Spearmint's 8,482 acre 'EL North' Nickel-Copper Prospect is a contiguous land package that includes the 'EL North, EL North 2 and the BUDDY claims' in the Eskay Creek Camp bordering Garibaldi Resources Corp. Spearmint's 10,300 acre 'WHY WEST' Magnesium project near Rossland, B.C., directly borders West High Yield Resources.

Spearmint's current projects include a portfolio of lithium prospects. The 'Clayton Valley Lithium Prospects' in Nevada comprise of two claim blocks totalling 800-acres, bordering Pure Energy Minerals & Cypress Development Corp.

Spearmint's 'Chibougamau Vanadium Prospects' comprise of four separate claim blocks totalling 9,735-acres, bordering, or in the direct vicinity of, the vanadium deposit of BlackRock Metal's (private) Ilmenite vanadium project, Vanadiumcorp Resource Inc. and Vanadium One Energy Corp.

If you would like to be added to Spearmint's news distribution list, please send your email address to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Contact Information:

Tel: 1604646-6903

www.spearmintresources.ca

"James Nelson"

President

Spearmint Resources Inc.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceylon Graphite Corp. (Ceylon Graphite) (TSX-V: CYL) (OTC: CYLYF) (FSE: CCY) is pleased to announce that it has received assay results of laboratory testing of graphite samples taken from the overburden of its exploration GRID no 23, under Exploration License No EL/222/R/2 in the Pasyala area in Sri Lanka.

These new site test results indicate a carbon content (Cg) of 96.13% which is vastly superior to virtually every other natural graphite source globally. The laboratory testing was done by the Sri Lanka Governments Geological Survey and Mines Bureaus laboratory.

Upon these material findings, the company is pleased to report it has signed three new land agreements under Exploration Licenses 222 and 224 and is accelerating its exploration, and commencing a drilling program on the recently added site(s) to determine an additional resource estimate, in addition to its currently verified ore holdings.

We are delighted with this result which confirms that Ceylon Graphite has some of the worlds purest graphite available in its grids, said Bharat Parashar, Chief Executive Officer. With three active sites at present, we fully expect to bring the new land packages online for commercial extraction over the next several months  as we are now executing on a dual strategy of drilling and clearing out the historical shafts simultaneously.

The new sites contains several historic shafts and adits. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 120km with substantial reserves of the worlds purest graphite.

These tests were conducted in the normal course of exploration work with samples taken from the overburden  ie. subsurface materials. The company is looking forward to additional testing from its drilling efforts, as bedrock extracted Graphite from this site will likely be of even higher quality than the (Cg) of 96.13%.

Qualified Person



Robert Marvin, P. Geo (ONT) is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the geological information provided in this news release.

About Ceylon Graphite Corp.

Ceylon Graphite Corp, is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (CYL:TSX-V), that is in the business of exploration and development of graphite mines in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 120km. These exploration grids (each one square kilometer in area) cover areas of historic graphite production from the early twentieth century and represent a majority of the known graphite occurrences in Sri Lanka. Graphite mined in Sri Lanka is known to be some of the purest in the world, and currently accounts for less than 1% of the world graphite production.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes statements about Ceylon Graphites grids, Ceylon Graphites plans to undertake additional drilling and to develop a mine plan, Ceylon Graphites Mining License application and to commence establishing mining operations. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Ceylon Graphite, including the assumption that, the drilling exercises will confirm the presence of high quality graphite, sufficient financial resources will be available, the records from the drilling exercises prove to be accurate, there will be no unanticipated delays or costs materially affecting Ceylon Graphites exploration, development and production, there will be no material adverse change in metal prices, all necessary consents, licenses, permits and approvals will be obtained, including various Local Government Licenses and the market. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things, an inability to reach a final acquisition agreement, inaccurate results from the drilling exercises, a failure to obtain or delays in obtaining the required regulatory licenses, permits, approvals and consents, an inability to access financing as needed, a general economic downturn, a volatile stock price, labour strikes, political unrest, changes in the mining regulatory regime governing Ceylon Graphite, a failure to comply with environmental regulations and a weakening of market and industry reliance on high quality graphite. Ceylon Graphite cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, Ceylon Graphite does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com)

Further information regarding the Company is available at www.ceylongraphite.com

Bharat Parashar, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Corporate Communications

(604) 559-8051
With a repatriation plan in tatters and funding evaporating for a million refugees with ever-growing needs, Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh face a grim future one year after the latest eruption of a decades-old conflict.

Raids by Rohingya militants on August 25 last year across Myanmars Rakhine state spurred an army crackdown which the United Nations has likened to ethnic cleansing.

Around 700,000 of the Muslim minority fled by foot or boat to Bangladesh, their villages ablaze behind them, in an exodus unprecedented in speed and scale.

The crisis has heaped enormous pressure on Bangladeshs impoverished Coxs Bazar district, which already hosted around 300,000 of the stateless group.

Myanmar says it is ready to take those who fled back.

But it refuses to recognise the Rohingya as citizens, falsely labelling them Bengali illegal immigrants.

A deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to start sending them back has also gone nowhere, caught up in bureaucracy and mistrust, with fewer than 200 having been repatriated so far.

Myanmars civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week said it was up to Bangladesh to decide how quickly repatriation can be done, while insisting the terrorist threat posed by Rohingya militants remains real and present.

Without safety, citizenship and compensation for homes and land torched or commandeered by the army since they fled, the Rohingya do not want to go back.

 Funding crunch 

But life in the camps, among the most densely populated places on earth, looks set to get harder.

A UN-led appeal for around $1 billion to fund the refugees until March has yielded only a third of that sum.

The slow response has alarmed experts.

Giving generally peaks in that first year (of a crisis) then its much harder to fund, Dr Peter Salama, the emergency response chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), told AFP.

Without a major cash injection, remarkable success in controlling outbreaks of diphtheria, cholera and other diseases could be undone, he said, and provision of non-life saving help  such as family planning and mental health  will likely evaporate.

Bangladeshs government really deserves more regional and international solidarity and support, he added.

The World Bank has pledged $500 million to help with infrastructure, health and education of the Coxs region.

But Bangladesh is tiring of its role as host and insists it will soon relocate around 100,000 Rohingya from Coxs to a remote, flood-prone island.

 History of darkness 

Myanmar has driven out its Rohingya since the late 1970s.

Our history is of darkness, said Mohammed Kashim, 27, one of thousands of Rohingya refugees born in Bangladesh, but denied citizenship by both countries.

I have never stepped on Myanmar soil.

And he probably never will.

First he must be verified as someone who belongs in Myanmar  near impossible given he was born outside the country.

Refugees who are verified are required to take a NVC card that does not grant them full citizenship or rights.

Myanmar is unrepentant about last years crackdown and denies widespread human rights violations, murders, rapes and mass arson of Rohingya villages despite reams of evidence.

But international pressure for accountability is mounting.

Last week Washington hit four Myanmar military commanders and two infantry divisions with punitive financial sanctions over rights abuses and ethnic cleansing.

The UN Security Council is set to meet next week to discuss the issue, while testimony is being gathered across the camps to press the International Criminal Court (ICC) into launching proceedings against Mynamar.

There is finally a recognition (in Myanmar) that they cannot merely outlast the opprobrium, Aaron Connelly from the Lowy Institute think tank told AFP.

But Myanmar is shielded at the UN by ally China, a permanent member of the Security Council. Meanwhile state media reported that the Myanmar militarys Commander-in-Chief was in Russia  another permanent member  on the eve of the anniversary of a crackdown he ordered.

 Security high in Rakhine 

Myanmar has remade northern Rakhine state without the Rohingya, redistributing land and building new security posts.

It has built massive transit camps  some with room for 30,000  for any returnees.

Rohingya refugees fear without citizenship those camps will become permanent, like the ones holding 129,000 Rohingya since 2012.

We are citizens by birth, said Nay Lin Aung, 35, among hundreds of Rohingya living on a patch of no-mans land between the two countries.

We wont go back as they (Myanmar) are not calling us with a sincere mind.

Inside Rakhine fear, tension and hatred are razor sharp.

Both communities (of remaining Rohinya and eEthnic Rakhine Buddhists) have their worries now so the government has reinforced security, ahead of the anniversary said Ye Htoo, deputy administrator of Maungdaw district on a government-steered trip to Rakhine this week.

burs-apj/fa
As in Spain, where the divisive tomb of dictator Francisco Franco may be removed, various countries have had difficulty dealing with the remains of controversial leaders.

Here are some examples:

 Soviet Union: Joseph Stalin 

On his death in 1953, Stalin was buried in the Moscow mausoleum of his predecessor, Vladimir Lenin.

But eight years later, a process of de-Stalinisation was launched to dismantle the dictators cult of personality and his remains were quietly transferred to a more modest resting place near the Kremlin.

The site is still, however, a site of pilgrimage for some die-hard communists.

 Albania: Enver Hoxha 

The authoritarian communist ruler of Albania for 40 years was buried as a national hero in the Martyrs Cemetery after his death in 1985.

But after the fall of communism, his remains were exhumed in 1992 and transferred to an ordinary public cemetery in a suburb of Tirana.

A pyramid-shaped complex in his honour served for a while as a cultural centre but is in ruins today.

 Romania: Nicolae Ceausescu 

The dictator and his wife Elena were arrested after a popular anti-communist uprising in 1989, summarily judged and executed by firing squad.

Fearing their graves might be desecrated, they were surreptitiously buried at night under crosses bearing false names.

The bodies were exhumed in 2010 to dispel doubts about the identity and reburied at Ghencea cemetery in Bucharest, this time together.

Amid rising nostalgia for the communist era, some Romanians visited the red marble grave in January 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of Ceausescus birth.

 Libya: Moamer Kadhafi 

Killed during the Libyan revolution in October 2011, the dictator for nearly 42 years was buried in a secret location in the desert after a religious ceremony.

The military said it wanted to avoid his grave becoming a rallying point for his supporters.

One official said the aim was to follow the example of what happened to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, whose body disappeared after his suicide as Soviet troops stormed Berlin in 1945.

 Iraq: Saddam Hussein 

Having ruled since 1979, Saddam was arrested by US forces in 2003 as he hid down a hole near Tikrit.

After his execution in 2006 for crimes against humanity, his body was buried in a mausoleum he had built for himself in the village in which he was born, Awja, near Tikrit.

The tomb became a place of remembrance for his family and supporters but around 2014 was destroyed in mysterious circumstances.

Some suggested an attack by the Iraqi air force, while others said it had been blown up with dynamite.

The whereabouts of the body, including whether it remains in the ruins, is a subject of much speculation.

 Ethiopia: Haile Selassie 

The remains of the last emperor of Ethiopia were discovered in 1992 and exhumed from a grave in Addis Ababa where they had been cast by leaders of the 1974 revolution.

It was only in November 2000 that Selassie, who died in 1975 in mysterious circumstances, was finally buried in a church in the presence of the imperial family.

 Germany: Rudolf Hess 

The remains of Hitlers former righthand man, who died in prison in 1987, were exhumed in secret in 2011 in Bavaria and his grave destroyed to get rid of the biggest neo-Nazi pilgrimage site in Germany.

His remains were placed in another coffin which was incinerated and his ashes scattered at sea.
On his Twitter account, Mr Kejriwal shared a video report by a news channel, which showed families, whose names were struck off the ration list.

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the Prime Ministers Office has pressurised its officers to cancel around 3 lakh ration cards in the national capital because of which poor are struggling for food.

On his Twitter account, Mr Kejriwal shared a video report by a news channel, which showed families, whose names were struck off the ration list.

In the video, Harjeet Kaur, who has been living in South Delhis Savitri Nagar village with her family for the past eight years, said on many occasions, the children in her house had to sleep hungry because they had no food in their home. I have been taking ration for several months, but ever since the fingerprint scanner came in, I have not been able to avail my share of ration. Now, suddenly, they (the central government) sent me a notice that my ration card has been cancelled, she said. On Twitter, Mr Kejriwal wrote: Despite strong objections by the Delhi government, the PMO created pressure on the officers to cancel ration cards. Now, look how the poor are suffering. The PMO should not have cancelled the ration cards.

On the other hand, Opposition BJP hit out at Mr Kejriwal, saying he should immediately resume the electronic point of sale system of ration distribution
The accused had reportedly misappropriated over Rs 50 lakh of scholarship amount, said ACP (Crime) Rajiv Ranjan on Friday.

New Delhi: The sleuths of Delhi police crime branch busted a major scholarship scam of the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT). An ex-employee, along with five other accused, has been arrested. The accused had reportedly misappropriated over Rs 50 lakh of scholarship amount, said ACP (Crime) Rajiv Ranjan on Friday.

A crime branch team comprising of 12 policemen under the close supervision of DCP Bhisham Singh and ACP Aditya Gautam arrested Sandip and Vishnu. Later at their instance, four more accused persons were also arrested.

The arrested accused were identified as Sandip Kumar (33), Vishnu Prasad Tiwari (30), Jay Prakash Pal (19), Prosanta Mondal (41), Koushik Sinha Roy (35), and Chandra Prakash Mishra (26).

The fraud to the tune of Rs 37.25 lakh was committed by ex-employee Sandip Kumar, who had worked as a programmer on contractual basis for the last 7 years in CCRT.
The penguin baby died on Wednesday over liver ailments.

Mumbai: Barely a week after Mumbai went delirious over its birth, the city has lost its most celebrated baby. The penguin chick, which hatched on August 15, died on Wednesday night. The news has sent shockwaves among Mumbaikars, who expressed profound grief over the tragic death.

According to civic officials, the preliminary examination during the post-mortem has revealed that there were newborn anomalies like yolk sac retention and liver dysfunction that led to the death of the chick.

This is the second penguin death at the Byculla zoo after eight Humboldt penguins  Flipper, Molt, Olive, Dory, Bubble, Donald, Daisy and Popeye  were brought to Mumbai from South Korea in July 2016. However, 18-month-old Dory had died at the zoo within three months of her arrival due to bacterial infection.

The penguin chick was born to Flipper and Molt, who are the oldest and youngest respectively among the penguins. But, it died suddenly due to internal complications on August 22 during the night. According to zoo officials, the chick was found to be sinking des-

pite good care by its parents. Despite all efforts made by the veterinary doctors, it was found dead in the nest only.

A post-mortem was conducted by the team  consisting of a pathologist, microbiologist and an avian specialist  from Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, on August 23. Dr Sanjay Tripathi, the zoo director, said, Both parents were taking good care and the chicks development was proper. There were no signs of any discomfort as it even witnessed an increase in weight. But its condition started deteriorating on August 22 and within 10-12 hours, it died.

Civic officials said that multiple references on penguins shows that 60 per cent mortality is expected in eggs and chick due to infertility of egg, malpositioning of chick in egg, failure to hatch on its own, chick deformity, inability of parents to feed the chick, yolk sac retention, residual albumin etc.

Further, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan and scientific paper 'Artificial incubation and hand rearing of Humboldt penguins' have mentioned a 30-35 per cent mortality rate for chicks less than 30 days of age and also the first three months are crucial for survival of penguin chick.

Questions are being raised over the BMC's delay to announce the news. The penguin chick died on August 22 late night and the announcement was made on Friday evening raising speculation that the civic body was trying to hide the news.

BMC Opposition leader Ravi Raja from Congress said, "The death of a baby penguin has again proved that the zoo authorities are not capable of providing good care to them. In addition to this, there was nearly a delay of almost couple of days to announce the death. Why was the BMC trying to hide the news?"

However, Dr Tripathi said, "We were waiting for the post-mortem result, which came on Friday. Only then we decided to go public with the news. We are hopeful of better results of breeding and chick survival of Humboldt penguins at the zoo in future."
Cakeface Patisserie in Irishtown have become one of the first cafes in Kilkenny to introduce compostable single-use cups to their business. Husband and wife team Laura and Rory Gannon are sourcing their environmentally friendly packaging from Irish company Zeus Packaging who recently hit the headlines when they introduced the revolutionary new sustainable single-use cup product line.

Joining a host of big brand names nationally, Cakeface will now play an important part in preventing more than 19 million coffee cups ending up in Irish landfills every year.

Laura Gannon of Cakeface Patisserie says  This has been an investment as the cost of our new sustainable packaging is higher than the traditional non-environmental friendly cups. However, it is one which we are more than happy to make as it is very much in line with the ethos of what we do in Cakeface. Our customers have really appreciated it and we feel good knowing that we are playing our part in protecting the environment.

Having first met while pursuing their love of food, Laura and Rory Gannon have since travelled the world perfecting their craft, the art of patisserie. Their backgrounds in Finance and Chemical Engineering are evident with the precision, flair and acumen that they bring to their business.

Two Years ago, they opened Cakeface Patisserie in Irishtown and a year later their second premises in Irishtown the product laboratory followed. The cafe is now a firm favourite with locals of all ages and a pleasant surprise for the bustling tourist trade of Kilkenny City who stumble upon Cakeface while exploring the medieval mile.www.cakefacepastry.com
One of Kilkennys finest youth institutions is celebrating a massive milestone this year, with the No Name Club turning 40.

Four decades have passed since three friends  Fr Tom Murphy, Eamonn Doyle and Eddie Keher  came together with an idea. They were concerned about the alcohol culture, and how young people were becoming increasingly exposed to it.

The idea grew into a significant national movement of social outlets for young people, with clubs now located all over the country.

The special anniversary will be marked in September by an evening in Kilkennys Newpark Hotel attended by adult volunteers and young people. Speakers on the evening for attendees will include leading childrens rights advocate Jillian Von Turnout and CEO of Special Olympics Ireland Matt English.

INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING?

Meanwhile, Kilkenny No Name Club is on the lookout for new adult volunteers. Adult volunteers play a crucial role in the No Name Club community by helping clubs to meet members' needs and deliver activities and events for all. It can be a hugely rewarding experience.

With youth drinking becoming a significant public health concern, the No Name Club provides a safe, social alternative to today's drinking culture for local teenagers. The club offers a safe, supervised space for young people to socialise and have fun without the need for alcohol or other drugs.

If you might be interested in getting involved or finding out more, contact kilkennynonameclub@gmail.com.

READ MORE: TICKETS ON SALE FOR NO NAME CLUB DISCO
The police said the racket was exposed when one of the arrested accused spilled the beans on his accomplice.

The police started making inquiries with Dhabre, who had earlier claimed that he had unknowingly become party to Chhilotres scam.

Mumbai: The MRA Marg police has arrested two conmen for allegedly cheating job seekers out of large sums of money by promising them jobs in the Indian Railways from Union railway minister Piyush Goyals quota. According to the MRA Marg police, the accused have been identified as Rufus Dhabre and Manjit Singh Chhilotre. The police said the racket was exposed when one of the arrested accused spilled the beans on his accomplice.

Dhabre wrote an email to Mr Goyals official email id, saying that he had unknowingly collected money from several job seekers at Chhilotres behest, as Chhilotre had told him that he knew Mr Goyal personally.

The ministers private secretary Pravin Gedam subsequently registered a case with the MRA Marg police station, and inquiries were initiated, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Abhishek Trimukhe said.

The police started making inquiries with Dhabre, who had earlier claimed that he had unknowingly become party to Chhilotres scam. He further told the police that Chhilotre was offering jobs through Mr Goyals personal quota, to aspiring job seekers who were preparing to appear for the Indian Railway's upcoming recruitment drive for Class B and Class C posts.

However, during interrogation, we established Dhabre's culpability in the crime and placed him under arrest on Thursday. Based on the results of his interrogation, we arrested Chhilotre from Delhi on Friday. Inquiries so far indicate that they have cheated several job seekers to the tune of Rs 93 lakh, and we are investigating the matter further, Mr Trimukhe said.

Investigating officers said that Dhabre, who stays in Vasai, would approach young men and women from his locality and offer to secure jobs for them in exchange for Rs 6 to 7 lakh each. Police have found at least seven victims from Vasai who have been cheated in this manner, while inquiries are underway to find more victims.

We also have information which indicates that there are five more accused involved in the con, and efforts are on to trace and apprehend them.

The arrested accused have been remanded in police custody till August 30, Mr Trimukhe said.
Olivia Pearson writes:

I am now in the process of fundraising for an upscale forum to hold in-depth and entertaining debates in Auckland. New Zealand speakers for a New Zealand audience.

Dear Cicero Debate Forum seeks to become New Zealands liveliest platform to debate ideas. They will be intelligent debates to indulge in our democracys gift of freedom of speech and self-expression. A place where people can ride into battle, but only with their wits!

This will be a platform for clear thinkers and strong speakers to engage in classy, civilised debates and discussions on matters which are important to New Zealanders, both culturally and politically. Two or three debaters on each side of a stated motion will be hosted by an objective moderator. Well known speakers will be sourced from New Zealands media, political landscape, academia and also from our speaking circuit.

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The Herald reports:

The Government will cap clamping fees at $100 in a crackdown on predatory practices, with clampers who charge more subject to police enforcement

New measures to address cowboy wheel clamping and exorbitant fees were announced by the Government today.

Pressure has been mounting for tougher penalties on clamping contractors over the past year in particular, following a number of complaints from the public largely relating to one west Auckland retail complex.

Today Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi and Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced that a maximum of $100 will be able to be charged for removal of a wheel clamp, enforceable by police if clampers try to charge more.

Infringement fees of up to $1000 for an individual and $5000 for a company will be charged by police, and a fine of up to $3000 for an individual and $15,000 for a company can be imposed if the matter goes to Court.

Faafoi said he had heard the concerns of the public who were being targeted by clampers charging as much as $700 for removal of a wheel clamp.
According to the Narpoli police, the incident occurred at around 6 pm on Thursday, when the victim was alone at home.

On suspicion, the police picked up the 24-year-old accused and questioned him at length, after which he allegedly broke down and confessed to the crime. (Representational image)

Mumbai: The Narpoli police in Bhiwandi on Friday arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly raping and murdering his neighbours 13-year-old daughter at her residence on Thursday night.

According to the Narpoli police, the incident occurred at around 6 pm on Thursday, when the victim was alone at home. The police said that her father reached home around 7.30 pm on Thursday and saw his daughter lying on the bathroom floor, with her head inside a tub filled with water. He rushed her to a local hospital with the help of some neighbours, where she was declared dead before admission.

The hospital authorities, after finding out that the victim had been strangled to death, informed us and we sent a team to make inquiries with the father. Our team then visited the house, and as there were no signs of forced entry, we suspected that someone known to the victim, might be behind the offence, an officer with the Narpoli police station said.

The victims younger brother, who was playing outside the house on Thursday evening, told the police that he had seen the accused, who stays in the same locality, leave the house in the evening.

On suspicion, the police picked up the 24-year-old accused and questioned him at length, after which he allegedly broke down and confessed to the crime.

"The accused said that he was alone in his house and saw the victim return home from school. He knew that the victim would be alone till her brother came back home after playing with his friends, or till her father returned home from work, and decided to take advantage of the situation. He entered the victim's house and first forced himself on her, after which he strangled her to death fearing that she might tell her parents about what he had done. He also forced her head inside a water tub to make sure that she was dead before fleeing the scene," the officer said.

The accused was placed under arrest on Friday afternoon following his confession and charged with rape and murder under the Indian Penal Code, along with sexual assault on a minor under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, officers said.
The case of Farah Alhajeh may seem like victory in the individual sense of receiving damages and being vindicated.

To shake or not to shake hands has become a crucial question for Muslims in Europe. One of the controversies began in Stockholm several months ago. A 24-year-old girl named Farah Alhajeh went to the office of a Swedish company called Semantex to interview for a job. She had applied to be an interpreter for the company whose headquarters are located in Uppsala, a town outside of Sweden. When she arrived, a male interviewer was waiting to interview her. Instead of shaking his outstretched hand, Alhajeh touched her hand to her heart and stated that she did not shake hands with men or women.

What happened next shocked her. Instead of being seated for an interview as she expected, she was asked to leave and shown the way to the lift. In an interview given to the media, she described being completely astounded. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She was not about to just let it happen, however. Instead of forgetting about the incident, as some would have, Alhajeh filed a complaint with Swedens equality ombudsman, saying that she had been discriminated against owing to her religious beliefs. In turn, the company responded that they were protecting gender equality and that Alhajehs decision not to shake hands went against the companys policy of treating men and women equally.

In front of the court, Alhajeh insisted that she did not shake hands with either men or women, hence treating both genders equally and not violating any company policy. Her attorney argued that Article 9 of the European Charter of Human Rights protected her behaviour. Semantex argued that hiring Alhajeh would have meant compromising their principles of gender equality and would have created awkward situations when Alhajeh was called to greet subjects for whom she was interpreting. In a three-two decision, the labour court came out in favour of Alhajeh, saying that they had tried to balance principles of gender equality against the individuals right to religious freedom. They decided that Alhajeh had the right to offer a greeting of her choice and one that comported with her religious beliefs. They ordered Semantex to pay approximately 3,500 in damages to her.

But while Muslims in Sweden may be rejoicing over the decision, the prospects for no-handshake Muslims are not looking quite so good in Switzerland. The countrys somewhat odd immigration rules require the town councils or cantons to vote on whether or not citizenship should be awarded to immigrants. So it is in the small city of Lausanne, where a Muslim couple case came up for consideration. In the interview the couple refused to shake hands with the opposite sex. The canton voted to reject their application for citizenship because they felt that their views revealed an inability to integrate into Swiss society. They would never become Swiss citizens because they did not want to shake hands with the opposite gender.

Neither of these cases is new; in previous instances even applicants who refused to shake hands at citizenship ceremonies have been excluded from citizenship.

Victory is hard to define in contexts where even the handshake has been afforded such significance. The case of Farah Alhajeh may seem like victory in the individual sense of receiving damages and being vindicated. In the collective sense, where the Swedish Muslim community as a whole is considered, the very existence of the case signifies just how wary employers have become of hiring Muslims. The Swiss case reveals what many Swedish people would also have done  if they only could.

The question for European Muslims then is not whether one should or should not shake hands but rather how and what strategies for survival must be deployed in a Europe that is so very wary if not outright inimical to Muslims. Headscarves may be permitted in some places and handshakes considered unnecessary in others but what they connote is the refusal to accept Muslims on their own terms.

In a world where lines have been drawn and walls erected, where coexistence seems like a foolish dream and each side wants its dominance in one or another territory to be visible and clear, a handshake may no longer be a handshake. In purely legal terms, the refusal to shake hands may be deemed permissible; in cultural terms it labels Muslims as targets whose stubborn desire to remain different, makes then undesirable as neighbours and employees.

Next time, employers like Semantex may note the refusal, continue with the interview and then offer a different reason for not offering the applicant a job. Farah may have won her individual case against the company, but Swedish Muslims or rather all Muslims who live as minorities in Western countries may have lost, their fates closer to the couple denied citizenship in Lausanne. The premise that they can never fit into Western society, never be a good member of society or the workforce, share a commitment to gender equality, has in the view of their Western neighbours, pushed a bit closer to being a truth, the truth. In this world where Muslims are watched and judged, a handshake is no longer just a handshake.

By arrangement with Dawn
Significantly, the polls mention economic anxieties as the principal cause for peoples sentiments turning against the government and the BJP.

We are just seven or eight months away from the start of the next parliamentary elections, the results of which will have the most profound impact on national values and political culture. The verdict will determine if India continues hurtling in the direction where long-cherished principles are replaced with new ones, conspicuous since 2014, or if this process will either be checked or reversed. Several political developments since the results of the Gujarat Assembly elections underscore that neither is the BJP as certain of a thumping victory as in 2014, nor is Prime Minister Narendra Modis nationwide popularity as high as it was once, especially during the mid-months of 2017 when his graph was soaring.

The recent electoral setbacks to the BJP, however small they may be in the emerging big picture, are backed by significant empirical pointers in the form of two opinion polls. The first in the month of May by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Indias respected premier autonomous social science research institution which has tracked peoples opinion for more than two decades, and the the second, partnered by India Today and Karvy Insights recently, show the declining fortunes of the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance. The two surveys looked at the political scenario from the perspective of if the polls were held today and assume credibility which is greater than other surveys for two reasons. First, these were conducted by two organisations from diverse backgrounds but arrive at a common conclusion, and second, the indications provided by the CSDS poll, that anti-incumbency had set in and the BJP was slipping considerably, was a consistent trend and between April, when the CSDS surveyed opinion, and now, the ruling party has failed to initiate steps to either stem its fall or reverse the decline.

Significantly, the polls mention economic anxieties as the principal cause for peoples sentiments turning against the government and the BJP. People in both surveys declared unemployment as their biggest worry and the governments biggest failure. Three major concerns of people are the age-old issues which have been cause of the downfall of several incumbents in the past  lack of jobs, price rise and corruption. Beneath the economic dream that Mr Modi sold in 2014, the people expected relief on these three issues immediately. Mr Modis worries are accentuated by the fact that on the issue of corruption, almost two-thirds of the people surveyed were of the view that the government is corrupt, and that demonetisation has boomeranged. People also think that instead of curbing corruption, DeMo was a reckless move and dealt a telling blow to small businesses, especially in the informal sector.

Mr Modis worries gets accentuated by the paradox that while he is complimented for a host of issues, including ushering in new programmes like the Goods and Services Tax, Swachchh Bharat and other infrastructure programmes, the people are not greatly enthused by showcase items like Jan Dhan, Direct Benefit Transfer and Digital India, and instead remain focused on the question of jobs, or the lack of them, and on rising prices. The conclusions of the two polls are, however, drawn before the Prime Minister has begun his electoral campaign, and cannot be considered as final. However, the evidence so far suggests that he is yet to identify a national narrative on which he can seek another term in office. His speech on Independence Day pointed towards the governments dependence on its achievements, which might prove inadequate, raising worries that eventually the BJP will have to settle for polarising political issues in a bid to win elections.

Peculiarly, despite all the indications of anti-incumbency setting in, the Opposition parties have yet to provide people with a dream of what they wish to do if the BJP is defeated and non-BJP parties form the government. True, the people are not expecting a national-level anti-BJP front to be announced so early, like it was in the late 1980s when opposition to the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government had crystallised well before the general election. In the era of coalition politics, the people have got used to alliances being struck at the last minute, but they do expect an alternative vision.

The Opposition parties are still focusing their energies on raising fear at the prospect of the BJP returning to power and not emphasising on the partys failures on the three big issues over which people are mostly concerned. While it may be necessary to talk about how the BJP has undermined the fundamentals of the republic over the past four years, the issue has capacity to motivate only a small section of people, chiefly the intelligentsia. Mr Modi came into office on the promise of hope and can only retain power by either convincing the people that he has delivered and that the nation has been put on the right track after years of paralysis, or he has to create a fear of the other. The response to the BJPs efforts to maximise support from the majority community cannot be by emphasising Indias secular values. Instead, the Opposition parties need to harp on the basic issues which concern the people and highlight the governments dismal record in the areas where the people had expected the most.

Unless Mr Modis popularity crashes further, the Opposition stands little chance by expecting the present disenchantment with the BJP-NDA government to turn into the kind of loathing that people had towards the Congress and the UPA in the last year that it was in power. The Opposition parties must realise that while in 2013, the UPAs defeat was a certainty, this time only a setback for the NDA is visible. To be able to convert this sentiment into a wave against the government, the Opposition has to be proactive not just in terms of cobbling up credible state-by-state alliances but also by presenting an alternative idea to what Mr Modi presented in 2014. It will not be enough to expect the people to vote out the BJP. People must be able to visualise what is coming next, and only then can the Opposition parties expect to sit in the treasury benches next year.
Salman Khan is presently in Malta, shooting for his upcoming film 'Bharat'. Last night, the actor took to the micro-blogging site to share a picture of him, where he is seen enjoying the 'deep blue sea' at Malta beach. The 52-year-old captioned the post as, "#paani" Though Salman, who is seen posing in a swimming pool 'SHIRTLESS' is not facing the camera, the picture is sure to excite his millions of fans and followers. Looks like Salman is enjoying every bit of his stay out there.

Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif starrer Bharat is one of the most awaited films in the upcoming year and has been in the news ever since its announcement. Earlier Priyanka was roped in to play the role of Salman's love interest in the film but the actress left the cast of Bharat owing to her engagement with beau Nick Jonas. However, Katrina has replaced PeeCee after the latter's sudden exit from the film. Katrina has already flown down to Malta to begin her shoot for Ali Abbas Bharat's next.

Check out Salman Khan's 'Shirtless' picture here:

Helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Bharat is an official adaptation of the Korean film Ode To My Father and will span over 50 years. With Salman and Katrina playing the lead roles in the movie, Bharat will also see an ensemble cast of actors like Tabu, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani, Nora Fatehi and Sunil Grover. bankrolled by Salmans brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri, the film is slated to release on June 5, 2019.

On the professional front, Salman Khan has quite a number of films in his kitty. The actor, who is riding high on the success of his latest film Race 3, will be seen soon in Kick 2 and Dabangg 3. The actor also has Remo D'souza's dance film. Salman Khan will, reportedly, be collaborating with Padmaavat director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in a movie titled Inshallah. Watch this space for further updates.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 10:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Kerala, August 24: Here comes the latest twist where the UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna has spoken to the Indian Express that there has been no official announcement by United Arab Emirates UAE on any specific amount as financial aid. He was quoted saying, The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I dont think it is final since it is still ongoing." This comes after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on August 21 said that UAE has offered financial assistance of Rs 700 crore to the state which has been devasted due to floods. Kerala Floods: UAE Offers Rs 700 Crore as Financial Aid, More Than What Indian Central Govt Commits

On Thursday there were reports that India has rejected the offer by the UAE government. According to reports, the foreign ministry said in a statement explaining the move, "In line with the existing policy, the government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts," the foreign ministry said in a statement explaining the move. The ministry added that foreign money could only be donated through Indian-origin individuals or foundations."

Narendra Modi has been receiving a lot of flak on social media for offering only Rs 600 crore financial aid for the flood-affected victims. According to an ANI report, the Centre on Thursday clarified that Rs.600 crore released for tackling the flood situation in Kerala was only an advance assistance, and additional funds would be released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on assessment of the damages in the flood-hit state as per laid down procedure.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 10:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Imphal, August 24: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested chairman of terror group Kuki Revolutionary Army David Hangshing on Friday. Hangshing was arrested in connection with missing arms case related to the theft of 56, pistols and 58 magazines went missing from DG Pool Armoury located within the premises of 2nd Manipur Rifles Battalion, Imphal between 2016 and 2017. Earlier in the day the NIA also arrested Manipur Congress MLA Yamthong Haokip for his alleged involvement in the case. Haokip represents Saikul assembly.

According to a report published in The Times of India, the NIA probe revealed that Haokip had provided some pistols to Hangshing. The Congress MLA was produced before the NIA court in Imphal and was sent to 15 days judicial custody. Meanwhile, Hangshing will be produced before the court on Saturday. Last Month, the missing arms were recovered from the residence of Haokip. The NIA also arrested the Congress leader's driver.

Earlier on Thursday, NIA had recovered nine missing pistols from the residence of United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) chief, Soson Haokip, at Mantripukhri. The court has rejected bail plea of Haokip. However, the judge ordered Haokip to be lodged at the security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMA) hospital, Imphal. Manipurs Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren termed the incident as a breach of National Security. Till now, the NIA has recovered 14 pistols from different individuals.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 10:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
In a terrifying incident, villagers of Matveevtsy in eastern Ukraines Ternopil Oblast region found corpses of eight sheep allegedly killed by a vampire-like creature. The savage massacre has left local authorities, vets and villagers baffled and say they have no idea what kind of creature could have sucked all the blood from eight adult sheep. As reported in The Sun, farmer Mykhailo Ostapyuk discovered the dead animals in the morning where he was moving his flock of sheep from an open-air sheepfold to pasture. The incident has left the villagers scared to leave their homes. Vampire Killer Slits Throat of Woman & Drinks Blood, Gets Caught in Zimbabwe.

Mykhailo told local media, The corpses of the sheep were scattered in different parts of the sheepfold. Looks like they were hunted and killed one by one. He now plans to install CCTV cameras in the sheep pen to catch the mysterious creature. A local vet with 40 years experience, Maria Andriychuk, examined the victims and said that each corpse had two holes on the neck artery and some of them had holes in their legs where veins were located.

All the blood was sucked from their bodies through the holes in their necks and legs. I did not find any single spot of blood on the ground near the corpses, said Andriychuk. The vet was even more shocked after an autopsy was done on some corpses. There was not even a drop of blood in the animals hearts. They were just empty. Ive never seen anything like it before. Each of the killed sheep weighed about 154 pounds.

Ostapyuk pictured footprints which he believes belong to the mysterious vampire-like creature near the fence of the sheepfold. Some say that the footprint is like that of a wolf or a large dog. But local hunter Yaroslav Yurchuk believes that a wolf or a dog could not have killed the sheep. We do not have wolves in the area as we do not have large forests here, he said. He further added, If it had been a wolf, it would have pulled the carcass to a safe place before eating it. Also, a wolf usually eats the flesh of its victim. It couldnt have been a fox as they do not attack animals larger than they are. One of the local women said, All this is a total mystery to us. Im afraid to go out of my house.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 01:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Facebooks algorithms just caught a cold, marking various posts, including them from news agencies, as spam. Yes, it's true! It was brought to light by Salena Zito, a post columnist at New York Post, whose article  Why Trumps supporters wont care about Cohen and Manaforts convictions was removed from the social media platform and was labelled as violating community standards. To which the columnist tweeted, So this is interesting  @facebook took down my post of my reporting for the @nypost  Ive received nine separate messages from readers telling me the same thing has happened to them. sup @facebook?.

So this is interesting@facebook took down my post of my reporting for the @nypost  Ive received nine separate messages from readers telling me the same thing has happened to them. sup @facebook ?https://t.co/dCwG9HQiJI  SalenaZito (@SalenaZito) August 23, 2018

Also, another article shared by India Today Higher GDP growth during the Manmohan era on Facebook was also marked as spam. Whereas, the social media giant has taken down many Kerala volunteer-run flood relief pages. As per reports from Livemint states that Kerala Flood Disaster Urgent Help - a page designed to cater donations to the flood-affected areas in Kerala was also taken down and labelled as spam. Ahead of US General Elections Facebook Rolled Out a New Tool that Lets Journalists Scrutinise Political Ads.

Now, a news website The Daily Caller addressed the issue to Facebook, to which the companys spokesperson said, An error affected our automated systems today, which meant that some posts were incorrectly marked as spam. Weve identified the issue and worked to fix it. We apologize to everyone whos been affected. Hopefully, we can expect the affected post to be visible again.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 03:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Jakarta, Aug 24: The death toll in the devastating earthquakes that hit Indonesia's Lombok island between July 29 and August 19 was raised to 557 on Friday, authorities said.

More than 390,000 people remain displaced due to the quakes, while 76,765 buildings were damaged. The National Agency for Disaster Management spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Twitter that the majority of the fatalities -- 466 people -- were from North Lombok municipality, the most affected area.

The rest of the victims were from West Lombok, 40; East Lombok, 31; Central Lombok, two; and nine in the provincial capital Mataram. In addition, seven people were killed on neighbouring eastern Sumbawa island and two others on Bali island, Efe news reported.

The spokesperson said that the agency's main focus was distributing humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of people currently in displacement camps.

An Indonesian Armed Forces aircraft landed on the island on Friday morning with 100 assistance packages for families, 100 wheelchairs, 30,000 tents and tarpaulins, said Nugroho.

The camps are in need of clean water, medical treatment and materials for sheltering. Only helicopters and motorcycles are able to access the steepest and most remote areas of the island as landslides blocked some routes.

Lombok has suffered hundreds of aftershocks since a 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook the region on July 29, some of them as strong as a magnitude-5.9.

The most serious quake occurred on August 5 with a 6.9-magnitude, killing at least 460 people. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity where some 7,000 earthquakes, mostly moderate, are recorded each year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 04:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Students in Prague mounted a protest, and demanded to speak to Dubcek.

In March 1968, when Antonin Novotny resigned as the President of Czechoslovakia in the wake of a corruption scandal, a couple of months after he had been removed from the more important post of Communist Party first secretary, it fell upon his successor in the latter capacity, Alexander Dubcek, to pick a new head of state.

He went for the least popular option, Ludvik Svoboda, a former general who was considered least likely to displease Moscow. Students in Prague mounted a protest, and demanded to speak to Dubcek. He turned up to explain his choice. One student asked: What are the guarantees that the old days will not be back? The party leader responded: You yourselves are the guarantee. You, the young.

It was springtime in Prague, and by then Czechoslovakia had been in a creative turmoil for several months. The verities that had determined its trajectory since it became a one-party state 20 years earlier were crumbling under popular pressure and new thinking within the Communist Party. Slovakian party leader Dubceks ascendancy to the top job brought with it official intimations of socialism with a human face.

Soviet Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev had refused to intervene on behalf of Novotny when the latter sought Moscows assistance to stay in office. Dubcek had spent several of his formative years in the Soviet Union and was seen as a safe pair of hands.

Dubcek was keen not to aggravate the men in Moscow. There was little talk of Czechoslovakia distancing itself from the Soviet Union, let alone quitting the Warsaw Pact, as Hungary had been inclined to do a dozen years earlier, before it was invaded by its purported comrades to restore the status quo ante. Whats more, opinion polls from 1968 that around 90 per cent of Czechoslovak citizens favoured greater freedom within the socialist context rather than any reversion to capitalist orthodoxies or bourgeois democracy.

Notwithstanding Dubceks inclination towards gradualism, the freedom of expression and the indiscriminate right to travel abroad that Czechoslovakia had offered its citizens perturbed the party patriarchs in neighbouring states, not least Wladyslaw Gomulka in Poland and Walter Ulbricht in East Germany. The idea of essential freedoms within socialism was anathema to Moscow, too, even though it initially baulked at the idea of a military intervention  before eventually convincing itself that Warsaw Pact troops would be greeted with flowers, just as Red Army soldiers were in 1945.

Fifty years ago this week, on the night of August 20-21, after numerous efforts to verbally coerce the Czechoslovak party leadership failed to bear adequate fruit, Soviet tanks rolled in. Czechoslovakian youth greeted the invasion with Molotov cocktails rather than flowers. Even Svoboda refused to sanctify the violation of sovereignty, threatening to commit suicide instead. Most party leaders were imprisoned before they were produced at so-called negotiations in Moscow. They, including a heavily sedated and possibly brutalised Dubcek, eventually caved in. On their return to Prague, a demoralised Dubcek sought to convey the impression that the hiatus was temporary. He was removed as party leader the following year, and temporarily became head of the federal parliament. When he returned to the latter post 20 years later, he was still a popular figure, but the possibility of socialism with a human face no longer existed. Today, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia props up a right-wing, vaguely pro-Moscow government in the Czech Republic, long separated from Slovakia, which also veers to the right.

In his stint as party leader, Dubcek faced many of the same conservative and radical pressures that Mikhail Gorbachev encountered in the 1980s; it is probably no coincidence that Zdenek Mlynar, one of Gorbachevs closest friends at Moscow University, was, as central committee secretary, one of the leading lights of the Prague Spring. Perhaps the biggest fear in 1968 was that the Czechoslovak example would fire up similar ambitions elsewhere in Eastern Europe. But the idea of democratic socialism also scared the capitalist powers, and criticism of the Soviet action was therefore somewhat muted in the West, even though many Communist parties  including those of France, Italy (both of which were then fairly formidable political forces), Romania, Yugoslavia and China  decried the subjugation of Czechoslovakia.

There can be little doubt that Eastern Europes trajectory  and that of the Soviet Union, which fell into a period of stagnation thereafter would have been very different had the Czechoslovak experiment been permitted to continue.

Thousands of miles away in Chicago the same week, police brutality against young protesters outside the Democratic Party convention, exemplified the fascist tendencies of the American state. The alternative is still struggling to be born.

By arrangement with Dawn
Washington D.C., Aug 24: Pakistan has been playing a dubious role in Afghanistan while dealing with the Taliban and other terror outfits, alleged a veteran United States army colonel, Lawrence Sellin. Sellin, who has served in Afghanistan, northern Iraq and a humanitarian mission of West Africa, wrote in The Daily Caller that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided arms and ammunition to Taliban fighters in October 2001, just after U.S. bombing of Afghanistan began. The then Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf held a meeting with ISI director Lt. Gen. Mahmod Ahmed and other top brass of the army, who argued that Pakistan should not help the United States at all in its war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

"Pakistan's duplicity has continued for seventeen years. While accepting billions of dollars in military and economic aid, Pakistan has been slowly bleeding the U.S. to death in Afghanistan through its support of the Taliban, Haqqani Network and other terrorist groups", said colonel (retd.) Sellin.

Shortly before his death in 2015, Lt. General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan's ISI, a committed Islamist and known as the "godfather of the Taliban", explained Pakistan's strategy in Afghanistan in an Urdu television interview.

"One day, history will say the ISI drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of USA and another sentence will be recorded that says the ISI drove the USA out of Afghanistan with the help of the USA".

The Pakistani audience roared with laughter and applauded in approval.

Sellin wrote that contrary to the conventional wisdom, there is no combination of U.S. conventional, CIA or special operations assets that can defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan as long as the Taliban infrastructure and support network in Pakistan remains vulnerable.

He said, "Unlike 2001, the Taliban are not exposed in Afghanistan but sheltered in Pakistan, including a network of education, recruiting, training, financial and command and control centers. It is also no secret that the ISI employs local individuals and groups as "cut-outs" to facilitate the movement of Taliban fighters and supplies across the porous border.

After the recent Taliban attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni, large numbers of Pakistani nationals were found dead. They were presumably fighting with the Taliban. The bodies were subsequently returned to Pakistan.

The veteran U.S. Army colonel also blamed Beijing for changing the strategic dynamics of the region largely rendering U.S. Afghanistan policy obsolete. "Not only does China maintain enormous leverage over Pakistan, financially and militarily, Beijing has been conducting its own secret negotiations with the Taliban for over a year", he wrote.

In July, Pakistan hosted an unprecedented meeting of the intelligence chief of China, Russia, Iran and its own ISI to map out a security strategy for the region, apparently for a post-U.S. Afghanistan. "Lacking any new ideas or even a recognition of reality, we have chosen to continue pursuing a proven unsuccessful strategy on Afghanistan", said colonel Sellin.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Aug 24, 2018, 9:45am ET

Waymo establishes China subsidiary

Parent Alphabet is also planning to relaunch Google in the world's largest internet market.

Waymo has apparently established a business presence in China, hinting at global expansion plans.

The company set up a subsidiary in Shanghai known as Huimo Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co on May 22, as first reported by Bloomberg.

A filing with regulators says the company will focus on developing and testing self-driving vehicle products, along with providing consulting services on logistics and other subjects.

Waymo is quickly approaching its first launch, starting in Arizona where its fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans is headquartered. The company is believed to be planning a quick expansion into other US markets.

Google has had a limited presence in China after pulling its search services in 2010, refusing to comply with the country's strict internet filtering regulations.
The craft beer industry in the United States doesn't get any bigger than what it's become in Pennsylvania.

The 3.72 million barrels of craft beer produced in 2017 ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association.

Thursday night in Bethlehem, the Brewers of Pennsylvania assembled five heavyweights of the industry for a panel discussion at the seventh Meeting of the Malts.

Leading up to a beer-pairing dinner followed by a late-night festival featuring samples from 31 breweries, the brewers looked back and talked about the future of beer.

On Thursday's panel were Jim Koch from Boston Beer Co., maker of Sam Adams; Wendy Yuengling, a sixth-generation brewer at the 189-year-old D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. in Pottsville; Bill Covaleski from Chester County-based Victory Brewing Co.; Tom Kehoe of Yards Brewing Co. in Philadelphia; Joey Redner from Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Florida; and Mike Stevens of Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"These are the up-and-coming stars," said Meeting of the Malts emcee Bump Williams. "This is the future of the beer business right here in front of you."

What makes a craft brewery? For starters, their annual production is 6 million barrels of beer or less, according to the Brewers Association.

Nationwide, the industry contributed $76.2 billion to the economy in 2017, the association says, employing more than 500,000 people.

Pennsylvania's own Yuengling is the biggest craft brewer -- producing more craft beer than anyone else, followed by Boston Beer Co., the Brewers Association says.

The key to Yuengling's success is perseverance at making a quality product in its Pottsville and Tampa breweries, Wendy Yuengling said, noting the brewery has survived much harder times than a 2018 crowded with competitors for consumers' beer dollar.

"And you have to be passionate about what you're doing," she said.

Boston Beer, meanwhile, has made the old Stroh's brewery in Breinigsville, Upper Macungie Township, the "backbone" of its three-brewery operation, Koch said.

"The Lehigh Valley is a great area to get terrific, hardworking people," Koch said.

The company he founded by starting out making Sam Adams in his kitchen in 1984 has invested more than $300 million in Breinigsville, he said.

Pennsylvania encourages that kind of investment through a tax credit program for brewery capital improvements, said Dan LeBert, executive director of the Brewers of Pennsylvania.

To offer thanks, Brewers of Pennsylvania on Thursday honored a bipartisan mix of six lawmakers with their second annual legislative awards: state Reps. Paul Costa, Adam Harris and Patty Kim; and state Sens. James Brewster, John Rafferty and Charles McIllhinney.

Meeting of the Malts also included the presentation of its president's award to Carol Stoudt. Founder of Stoudts Brewing Co. in Lancaster County, she is the nation's first female brewmaster since Prohibition.

Thursday's panelists included a look back at how they got their start brewing beer. Covaleski, from Victory, grew up watching his dad -- born a year before Prohibitions' repeal in 1933 -- making ends meet by making a lot of homemade food, including his own beer starting in 1980.

Redner, from Cigar City, hated beer when he first tried it.

"If that sucked let me try again, it can't get worse," he remembered thinking. "Then I found a few I liked."

Kehoe, a fourth-generation pipefitter, went to Lehigh University to become an engineer then got sidetracked by a home-brewing kit he picked up in Philadelphia.

"I built a brewery, and I am still a pipefitter," he said.

The panelists touched on competition from the big breweries Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, with Stevens advocating for a no-holds-barred approach.

"Bud, Miller and Coors had their time," said Stevens, from Founders. He then used an expletive to say, in essence, forget them. "Let's go get 'em."

Williams, the emcee, brought 33 years' experience in consumer packaged goods to the discussion held before a packed third floor and balcony inside the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.

Outside the tall glass windows, illuminated against the blast furnaces left behind by the closure of Bethlehem Steel, the violinist duo Black Violin performed at SteelStacks' Levitt Pavilion.

The lawn was at capacity, and listeners lined the Hoover-Mason Trestle elevated path overhead, alongside those blast furnaces. The Bethlehem plant stopped making steel Nov. 18, 1995.

Williams said he sees the future of beer on the decline, facing new competition from wine, spirits and, increasingly, legalized recreation marijuana.

"I think beer's in for a very hard row ahead of us," he said.

Hope is not lost, Covaleski insisted. Stevens allowed that breweries might be harming themselves through too much infighting.

Redner, of Cigar City, echoed Stevens' call to remember to make beer sexy, though he noted the "fine line between sexy and slutty." The latter makes consumers recoil away, he said.

To continue drawing consumers, the brewers stressed they must never forget their own backyard, in terms of listening to their fans and brewing things they'll like.

That means innovation, said Koch, of Boston Brewing, which has expanded into cider and spiked seltzers, among its products.

"This is an industry that has attracted very interesting, super-creative people," Koch said. "This crazy group of semi-misfits have changed the way America and, today, the rest of the world think about American beer.

"It's an amazing story: In 34 years, a bunch of kind of semi-misfits in the United States reinvented brewing and now there's 3,000 craft breweries."

There's room for the start-up breweries like the nearly two dozen that dot the Lehigh Valley, said Victory's Covaleski.

"I like to think new breweries bring more consumers with them than they take away," he said.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Victor Cueto admitted he set up a meeting with a 15-year-old for sex.

As a consequence, he'll probably never get to meet his daughter, according to his lawyer.

Cueto has been in prison the past eight months and missed her birth four months ago, attorney Anthony Rybak said.

Northampton County Judge Michael Koury sent him to prison Friday for two to six years for making unlawful contact with a minor and using his phone to set up the Dec. 8 meeting at a Bethlehem Sunoco.

When he's paroled, the 24-year-old Allentown resident faces deportation to Peru, Rybak said.

"We're 99 percent sure he's going to be deported," Rybak said.

Cueto met the girl online in November 2017, according to Koury. After they exchanged explicit photos of each other and sexually-charged messages, the girl reported Cueto to police, the judge said.

"I know he regrets getting involved in this at all," Rybak said.

Rybak asked for a time-served sentence so Cueto could be deported and to spare the Pennsylvania taxpayers from the cost of housing and sex offender treatment for Cueto.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lupackino asked for a state prison sentence due to the seriousness of the offense and due to Cueto's criminal history. The judge mentioned five theft arrests and a history of drug abuse dating to when Cueto was a juvenile. He also has a history of probation violations and was labeled a high risk to reoffend during a sexual assessment.

Cueto's status as a resident alien was challenged twice before but he was not deported, Rybak said.

"I guess this is my last chance," Cueto told Koury. "If it's possible for me to get time served, just give me time served and let me face immigration."

Cueto's wife, father and brother were present during the hearing but didn't speak.

"They just want it to go on the record that they love Victor," Rybak said. "He's welcome back to the family once he pays his price for what he's done. They're going to do everything they need to do to help him stay on the right path."

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A new otherworldly-themed graphic novel featuring the natural beauty of County Laois was recently launched at Laois County Hall.

Creative Ireland Laois were delighted to support writer and artist Barry Keegan in publishing his debut graphic novel, The Bog Road, as part of the Creative Ireland 2017 Community Grants Scheme.

County Laois was what inspired Barry to create The Bog Road. Barry, a Dubliner, loved to explore the surrounding areas whilst living in the county for over four years. The illustrations are magnificent and the storyline is intriguing. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of speeding on our roads and the reaction of the spirit world to this phenomenon. It is an inspirational book and one created with love and passion for County Laois.

When writing the book Barry got a thrill from creating strange events taking place around many famous locations in Laois. Amongst the places which inspired him are Lea Castle, Emo Court, The Portarlington Life Sculpture, the amazing Slieve Bloom and the Stoney Man.

There are many more places in the county featured throughout the book and Barry wants to share his love for the county with others.

The Bog Road is available to purchase for 15 at the Celtic Com Shop, Railway Street, Portlaoise and also online at www.subcitycomics.ie.

Barry will be part of the forthcoming Leaves festival of Writing and Music and looks forward to visiting schools and libraries during November.

For more information telephone:057 8664033/13 or, email artsoff@laoiscoco.ie. Website www.laois.ie
Unless youve been hiding under a stone, you will know that Pope Francis is visiting Ireland this weekend as part of the World Meeting of Families 2018.

People from Laois are expected to be among the hundreds of thousands who travel to see the Pope in person during his short visit here.

Will you be there? Then share the atmosphere from this once in a generation experience by sending your photos from the journey up, the day itself or even a snap of the man himself if you manage it on the day! We will publish a selection of your photos on DundalkDemocrat.ie and in next weeks Dundalk Democrat/

Email your photos to pat@leinsterexpress.ie or share them with us via Facebook or Twitter



What is the Popes itinerary?

Pope Francis will be in Ireland for just 36 hours in total but he has a packed schedule during his time here. He will arrive in Dublin Airport on Saturday, August 25, and will go first to Aras an Uachtarain where he will meet with President Michael D Higgins at 11.30am.

The Pope will then travel to Dublin Castle where he will deliver a speech.

That afternoon he will visit St Marys Cathedral before going on a private visit to Day Centre for Homeless Families of the Capuchin Fathers.

On Saturday evening, he will attend the World Meeting of the Families event in Croke Park.

On Sunday morning he will visit Knock Shrine in the morning to say the Angelus on the square in front of the famous shrine. Afterward, he will travel back to Dublin and will arrive at the Phoenix Park for Holy Mass at 3pm.

See also: Retired Laois doctor part of huge choir to sing for Pope Francis in Ireland
The Governments Green Week campaign was a bad joke, according to Laois-Offaly Green Party candidate Pippa Hackett, who accused the Fine Gael Government of greenwashing.

Speaking in response to the campaign which ran from August 20 to August 24, Ms Hackett, who is the Green Partys spokesperson on Agriculture, Forestry and Heritage, said: In one way, you have to admire the brass neck of Fine Gael to run a Green Week environmental campaign, given its appalling record in this area. However, the truth remains that this Fine Gael Government has failed completely in addressing important environmental issues, and in tackling climate change. A week-long spin campaign wont change that.

She went on to say that the campaign was deeply insulting to those who work so hard to improve and restore our natural environment. Ms Hackett said that since the 2016 General Election, Fine Gael, along with support from Fianna Fail has placed Ireland as the second worst country in Europe on efforts to tackle climate change, which will likely see Irish tax payers pick up a 600m bill come 2020.

She also said the Government had opposed not only efforts to halt future fossil fuel exploration in Irish territory, but also the Green Partys Waste Reduction Bill.

The Governments food policies (Food Harvest 2020 & FoodWise 2025) are also environmentally unsustainable. These policies are having a devastating effect on our water quality, our soil fertility, and our biodiversity, as well as driving up our agricultural emissions, and all with little or no benefits for the primary producers - our farmers, said Ms Hackett.

I believe people in the Midlands want to live in an Ireland that is truly green, and the current Government is just not cutting it. It is vital that we get more green voices into local and national government, so that we can drive these growing and ever-important environmental concerns, concerns that affect every single one of us  now and in the future.
A motorbike run in the midlands organised in memory of a Newbridge woman who passed away from breast cancer in 2015 will be held for the third time this September.

Noirins Run, named after 43-year-old Noirin Conlan from Moorefield Park, will leave from Toughers Restaurant between Newbridge and Naas on Sunday, September 9.

The 100 mile round trip will travel through parts of Laois, Kildare and Offaly.

The cost is 10 per bike and the run will start at 12 sharp.

The event is run by the East Ireland Bikers group, and all proceeds raised will go to the Friends of St Brigids Hospice on the Curragh.

This year the route will take the participants from Toughers Restaurant on to Naas, Sallins, Clane, into Kilcock, Enfield, Moyvally, Clonard, Kinnegad, Rochfortbridge, Tyrrellspace, and the Topaz at Kilbeggan, where there will be a half-hour break.

After that, the bikers will continue to Tullamore, Geashill, Clonygowan, Portarlington, Monasterevin, Kildare town, Newbridge and return back to Toughers around 3.45pm.

The first iteration of Norins Run took place in 2016, just a year after Noirin sadly passed away.

It was organised by her husband Brian, himself a keen biker, and their teenage son Adam.

Toughers who are sponsoring tea and sandwiches on return will be delighted to see the bikers come along on the morning, said Brian.

Brian and Noirin, who worked in Burns Nowlan Solicitors in Newbridge, had been together for some 24 years, after meeting as youngsters at a disco.

The Hillsboro native, nee ONeill, was well-known for her stylish and quirky dress sense, and Brian said his wife always saw the good in people and loved the simple things in life.

She passed away peacefully at her home in Newbridge in October 2015, where she was cared for by her family with the help of hospice nurses.

Gardai appeal to driver of silver Nissan who may have seen fatal Monasterevin crash.
Aug. 28, Demystify Business Plan Writing  Introductory

9 to 11 a.m.

INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Park across the street in the Republic Parking lot)

Whether you just tried applying the Pitch Page worksheets after attending Small Business Orientation, or you are a mature business looking for a refocus or in growth mode, this course is for you. From the ground up, we will facilitate conversations through the fundamentals of writing a business plan and guide participants in an interactive, group setting workshop, to get those ideas on paper.

Speakers: TSBDC Staff

Register at tsbdc.org/chscc/.

No cost.

August 28, East Brainerd Chamber Council Meeting

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Car Barn: 6721 Heritage Business Ct.

Speaker: Lynn Chesnutt, TSBDC

$12

August 28, Ooltewah/Collegedale Chamber Council Monthly Mixer

5 to 7 p.m.

Puleo's Grille: 6108 Artesian Cir.

Join the Ooltewah/Collegedale Council for their monthly mixer at Puleo's Grille, held on the 4th Tuesday of every month. There will be complimentary light appetizers as well as drink specials.

No cost.

Aug. 28, 2018 ACEs Documentary Screening

6 to 8 p.m.

The Camp House: 149 E. ML King Blvd.

Chattanooga 2.0, in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee (PCAT) and the Office of Early Learning, City of Chattanooga, is hosting a screening of the tremendously powerful documentary, Resilience: the Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope.

Registration required; call 423.763.4355.

No Cost.

Aug. 30, Ribbon Cutting for The Adventure Guild, LLC

3 to 3:30 p.m.

The Adventure Guild, LLC: Camp Jordan

Join the Chattanooga Chamber for a ribbon cutting event for The Adventure Guild, LLC.
The case stemmed from the Panama Papers leak that disclosed expensive and undeclared property owned by the Sharif family in London.

Islamabad: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leaders were not allowed to meet former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz in Adiala Jail Thursday.

The PML-N leaders were scheduled to meet with Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz in Adiala Jail however, due to Eid holidays in jail their meeting was not possible, jail authorities said.

Officials said that on Friday (today), the family and others will be allowed to meet.

Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and her husband Mohammed Safdar were convicted and sentenced to prison in absentia for ten years, seven years and one year respectively, in Avenfield verdict that is likely to further disrupt an already chaotic campaign for national elections this month.

Maryam Nawaz and Mr Safdar, who were candidates for the July 2018 general elections were also disqualified from contesting elections for 10 years each.

The sentence and a fine of $10.6 million, came almost a year after Supreme Court removed Mr Sharif from office and less than five months after the court barred him from holding office for life.

Nawaz Sharif was convicted under section 9(a)(5) of the NAB ordinance. The case stemmed from the Panama Papers leak that disclosed expensive and undeclared property owned by the Sharif family in London.
Laois Civil Defence volunteers will work in both Mayo and Dublin this weekend for the Papal visit to Ireland.

Laois is the only county to have Civil Defence staff taking part at both Knock and Phoenix Park events this weekend as Pope Francis visits Ireland.

The volunteers will work with paramedics and as first responders assisting the gardai and ambulance services. They will also provide mini buses and ambulances and their state of the art communications unit is will be put to use in Knock.

Volunteers will be involved on the ground on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 August supporting the principal response agencies of the gardai and the National Ambulance Services.

At Knock Shrine, 140 national volunteers will be on duty and coordinated by Rose Doherty who is the Civil Defence Officer for Mayo.

The 140 volunteers are drawn from counties Laois, Donegal, Sligo, Roscommon and Galway all working together.

Damian Dollard from Portlaoise is the Laois Civil Defence drone team member who helped gardai with mapping Phoenix Park for security.

For Civil Defence Officer, Liam Preston, this is not his first time to work at a Papal visit as he was also on duty with Laois Civil Defence in 1979 when Pope John Paul II visited Ireland.

Mr Preston said it is a very different country now and a different event.

It is a different kind of event, there are a lot of different elements involved that are not in other events.

It is different to 1979, I was up there at that stage at Phoenix Park, I havent seen either site yet this year but it is different, we are all on radio now, compared to the communication back then technology now is so far advanced.

On our communication unit we have mapping and our radios are mapped, there are only a few of these in the country, he said.

Laois Civil Defence group is one of the most advanced in the country, which Mr Preston says is down to huge events like Electric Picnic in the county and the location means they network with groups in other counties.

Laois Civil Defence volunteers wont have much down time after the Papal visit as they will be back to work next week when over 50,000 trek to Laois for Electric Picnic.

Mr Preston said that many counties come together to work at the festival because it is such a large event.

The whole civil defence work at Electric Picnic not just Laois, they come in from other counties.

This year we are doing the pontoon at Electric Picnic for the swimming. Cork, Kerry, Sligo Civil Defence will help, he said.

Mr Preston praised the work of the volunteers, he said the hours and effort they put in is phenomenal, and all at their own expense.

Final equipment checks in advance of the Papal visit this weekend. pic.twitter.com/6L7jzTsnA1  Laois Civil Defence (@LaoisCivilDefen) August 23, 2018
Kildare Civil Defence volunteers will play a major role in the Papal visit this weekend, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 August.

They will be involved on the ground at the Phoenix Park in supporting the Principal Response Agencies of the Gardai and the National Ambulance Services.

The Kildare volunteers will make up part of the 400 on duty at the Phoenix Park where up to 500,000 people are expected on Sunday the 26 August. While Dublin Civil Defence under James McConnell, the Dublin CivilDefence Officer, will be the lead for Civil Defence they will be assisted by Kidlare and volunteers from Wexford, Wicklow, Clare, Cork, Laois, , Limerick, Meath, Monaghan, Kildare, Cavan, Louth and Offaly.

Volunteers will be supporting the National Ambulance Service and the Gardai. Civil Defence will provide a range of equipment including 11 ambulances, 9 fire appliances, 19 heavy vehicles including four wheel drives, large vans and medium size trucks and 2 minibuses for transportation and logistics. A number of volunteers will also support the Gardai with drone capability if required.

Dublin Civil Defence will also provide a communications vehicle using the TETRA network to ensure efficient communications between all volunteers and with the Gardai and National Ambulance Service if required. Civil Defence will also have a welfare unit in operation to provide food for all volunteers on duty over the Saturday night and Sunday.
Iarnrod Eireann has issued a final reminder to customers intending to travel this weekend to be aware of service arrangements arising from the World Meeting of Families events. There will be capacity for up to 250,000 journeys by rail for those travelling to and from the Phoenix Park Papal Mass on Sunday alone.

In particular, customers are reminded:

SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST  PHOENIX PARK PAPAL MASS

Intercity:

All Intercity trains on Sunday 26th August travelling to Dublin before the Papal Mass and from Dublin afterwards must be prebooked. Tickets will not be available from stations on the day. This includes existing ticket holders, including free travel pass holders, who must reserve a seat in advance.

Most Intercity routes are sold out. Trains are sold out for Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Mayo, Waterford to Dublin; a small number remain from Rosslare, Sligo and Galway to Dublin and must be booked ASAP. Tickets and reservations are available at irishrail.ie and 018366222.

Please travel on the train you have booked. You cannot switch to an alternative service. Seating is unallocated on Intercity services on this date.



DART/Commuter:

DART, Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Drogheda and Kildare/Portlaoise Commuter routes will have extra frequency, and is a walk-up service with pre-booking not required. Customers are advised to travel early due to high demand.

Those travelling within the Dublin Short Hop Zone (DART, Balbriggan, M3, Kilcock, Sallins and Kilcoole) can travel for free with a Papal Mass ticket.

Heuston, Ashtown and Navan Road Parkway Stations are the closest stations to Phoenix Park. DART/Northern Commuter customers should change at Connolly to reach Ashtown/Navan Road Parkway.

Heuston, Connolly (also Saturday 25th August) and Maynooth station car parks are closed on Sunday 26th August due to event operational requirements. Alternative parking in Maynooth is available at NUI Maynooth. All other station car parks are open.

Bikes are not permitted on DART and Commuter services on Sunday 26th August due to volumes travelling.

Customers travelling for any reason seeking to access Dublin City Centre stations are advised to allow extra time to reach the station, taking account of road closures and bus and Luas restrictions (in particular, please note Luas is not operating between Smithfield and Blackhorse, including Heuston Station).





SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST  DUBLIN CITY AND CROKE PARK EVENTS

A normal Saturday service will operate on most routes, with additional capacity. Customers attending the Papal procession through Dublin city centre are advised to travel as early as possible.

Extra Maynooth line services will operate before and after the Croke Park event.

Late night Intercity services will operate from Heuston Station to Cork, Limerick and Galway, and must be prebooked.

Connolly Station car park is closed due to event operational requirements.




John Gilligan, who lived in Kildare for many years before he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for drug dealing, is in custody this afternoon after he was arrested in Northern Ireland yesterday and charged with alleged money laundering offences.

Mr Gilligan was arrested while attempting to board a flight to Spain at Belfast International Airport.

Northern Irelands National Crime Agency alleged that Mr Gilligan, 66, had 23,000 in cash when he arrested. He appeared earlier today at Coleraine Magistrates Court.

The case was remanded in custody until next Tuesday week, September 4, when he will appear before Antrim Magistrates Court.

Read also: Review of loans at Newbridge Credit Union raked up consultancy costs of 55,000

Mr Gilligan built and owned Jessbrook Equestrian Centre in north west Kildare in the 1990s. It was in the townland of Mucklon, between Johnstownbridge and Timahoe and was considered to be one of the biggest in the country at the time.

The Criminal Assets Bureau initiated legal action to remove the equestion centre from his ownership and also, eventually, the house. His wife resided in the house while he served his prison time and he lived there for some time after his prison sentence but left the area in 2014.

Mr Gilligan was arrested at Belfast International Airport on Thursday

Although he fought the CABs application in the courts, in 2014 the Supreme Court finally ruled against him. Also in 2014, he was the subject of a failed assination attempt.

After Jessbrook Equestrian centre was sold it was renamed Emerald International Equestrian Centre.

In March of 2017, Mr Gilligan and his family lost a Supreme Court appeal against the CAB's application, and was given three months to leave the property.

Read more: Gilligan has three months to leave Kildare home

Read more: CAB welcomes Supreme Court decision on control of John Gilligan's Kildare house
It will be an early start for those attending the Papal mass in the Phoenix Park this Sunday.

Clane parish is running two buses, carrying 104 people.

It will leave from the town at 9.00am on Sunday.

In Newbridge, five buses have been booked out to leave on Sunday morning for the Phoenix Park with each bus containing 56 people. They expect to leave the Parish Church between 8pm and 8.30pm.

In Rathangan, the parish office is still getting calls from people asking if there are cancellations. Its bus is fully booked up with 56 people expected to travel.

Three buses are leaving Naas for the papal mass in the Phoenix Park on Sunday.

The buses are booked for young people to travel to the event. The buses are scheduled to depart at 8am from the Church of the Irish Martyrs, Ballycane Road.

Prosperous parish had arranged for three buses and 174 people will be going on these, said a parish office spokesperson this morning (August 24).

Angela Delaney from the parish office in Prosperous explained that with an early start on Sunday morning (8am), its unlikely pilgrims will be able to leave Dublin before 8.30pm that evening - and notwithstanding what is likely to be a long and physically demanding day, the 174 includes several who are well into their 80s.

Buses will be taking advantage of several parking spots along the Long Mile Road and Kylemore, which will necessitate a walk of up to 5kms for locals heading to see the mass in the Phoenix Park.

The three buses will leave at 7.45 am and are heading to the Kylemore car park area, which will necessitate a walk of up to 5kms for locals heading to see the mass in the Phoenix Park.

Read more: Kildare hope that Jesuit priest will be declared saint

Read more: Kildare Civil Defence to aid Pope's visit

Read more: Pope Francis visit: Weekend rail services to Croke Park and Papal Mass from Kildare announced

Allen parish is running one bus which will carry 50 people. Organiser there, Ronan Ashe, said that some people had dropped out after they realized the distance which would have to be walked. That is estimated as around seven kilometres.

The Allen bus leaves Allenwood at 6.45 am, and will depart from Robertstown at 6.55 am. It will leave Allen itself at 7.05 am, where it will collect people from Milltown. Mr Ashe is not sure when they will arrive back.

The bus must be at the Kylemore car park between 8.00 am and 8.30 am. With mass starting at 3.00 pm and taking around an hour and a half, there is likely to be four hours before people leave. Return time is in the region of 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm, all going reasonably to plan.

Special bus services have been announced for Pope Francis's visit.

An Garda Siochana have urged motorists and the public to use public transport to travel there. In order to cater for anticipated demand, Bus Eireann will operate a greatly enhanced schedule which will see overall capacity increasing by over 100% on August 26. Over 500,000 people are expected to visit Dublin City on Sunday August 26, where a Mass will be celebrated by Pope Francis.

Over 800 trips on both commuter and Expressway services will provide for over 30,000 passenger journeys to and from Dublin on the day. A bus on Route 12, serving Kildare, Newbridge, Naas, Kill and Dublin.

Read more: Papal visit: Kildare Jesuits to meet Pope Francis

Read more: Pope Francis may nod to sainthood of Kildare priest Blessed Fr John Sullivan
Six Presidential hopefuls are now listed to speak at Mondays special meeting of Kildare County Council.

Earlier this week it emerged that three people had applied to address the Council on August 27 in connection with a Presidential election nomination - Kevin Sharkey, Gavin Duffy and James P Smyth.

Since then three others have indicated their intention: Joan Freeman, Marie Goretti Moylan and John Groarke.

Each have been given approximate speaking times as follows: Gavin Duffy (2.10pm), Joan Freeman (2.30pm), Marie Goretti Moylan (2.50pm), John Groarke (3.10pm), Kevin Sharkey (3.30pm) and James P. Smyth (3.50pm).

The public meeting takes place, Monday coming, August 27 at the Council HQ in Aras Chill Dara, Naas at 2pm.

SEE ALSO: Kildare ranked 13th as tourism destination

A candidate must get the support of at least four local authorities or 20 TDs and Senators to enter the election race.

The Council cannot formally nominate anyone until the presidential election order is given.

The meeting is to give potential candidates for election as President of Ireland the opportunity to attend and present to the members of Kildare County Council.

A Council spokesperson said the potential candidates have been advised that they shall address the members for not more than ten minutes and that following each address, there will be a period of not more than 10 minutes for questions and answers.
Those praying for the canonisation of Blessed John Sullivan, based in Kildare for much of his life, are fervently hoping that Pope Francis will highlight the life of the the Jesuit this weekend or even declare him a saint.

Cait Cullen, who attended the World Family Day mass in Carlow Cathedral August 21, said they would love for something to happen.

The beatification of Fr John Sullivan took place on May 13 last year. A number of medical miracles have been attributed to him. One includes the curing of Michael Collins, a nephew of the famous Michael Collins, in 1928.

It was Pope Francis, who, on April 27 2016, formally approved the beatification of Fr Sullivan who died on February 19 1933.

Fr Sullivan is intimately connected with Clongowes Wood College and the Jesuit order.

Ms Cullen and many others hope that Pope Francis might declare him a saint when he is here.

SEE ALSO: Pope Francis may nod to sainthood of Kildare priest Blessed Fr John Sullivan

Last Tuesday, August 21, along with Angela Bright and Padraig McEvoy, Cait was in the procession at the World Family Day event in Carlow Cathedral.

She carried one of three crosses associated with Fr Sullivan. It was very emotional..an absolutely wonderful evening, said Cait who added that Sarah Egan, from Clonfert, was a Kildare representative in choir on the evening. The beatification was the best day of my life and last Tuesday was the second best, said Cait, who appeared in an RTE documentary on Fr Sullivan recently.

People have been asking me if Fr Sullivan will be declared a saint this week, said Cait, who was honoured to be part of the committee for his beatification, led by Fr Conor Harpur.

She does not know. But if it does not happen this time, it will happen soon, she believes.

For Cait, a declaration of sainthood does not really matter. He is already a saint to me, she said, recalling going to the grave at Mainhaim when she was two year old.

Fr Sullivan was born near St Francis Xavier Church on Dublins Gardiner Street in 1861. He is intimately connected with Clongowes Wood College and the Jesuit order.

The move to declare him a saint focuses on many events around the college and Kildare in the priests dealing with local people.

Fr Sullivan joined the teaching staff at Clongowes Wood college, where he remained until his death in 1933 aged 71.

He became familiar in the Kildare villages around Clongowes, and spent much of his time visiting the troubled, sick or dying.

In the 2017 edition of the history journal, Coiseanna, Fr Conor Harper SJ said whenever anyone was ill, it was usual to send for Father John to pray with the sick person and to bless them. And in some cases it was only after Father Johns visit that the call would be sent for the doctor.

At the time of Fr Sullivans beatification, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson said that the recognition of Fr Sullivans holiness has a strong ecumenical feel to it, as he never rejected the influence of the Anglican tradition on his spiritual flourishing.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern quoted him in his farewell speech when he stepped down in 2008. Take life in instalments. This day now, at least let this be a good day. Be always beginning. Let the past go. Now let me do whatever I have the power to do.
Dromod based company ICS Furniture have given a preview of a seat they have been commissioned to make for the upcoming visit of Pope Francis.

Having worked on the extensive refurbishment of the Basilica in 2015, the company have once again been called upon to produce a special chair for Pope Francis to be used by him during his silent prayer this Sunday morning.

The chair will be positioned in front of the gable wall in the Apparition Chapel and will be on permanent display there following the visit.

Having himself delivered the Papal Chair to Knock this week, Gavin Duignan MD of ICS Furniture commented For the past few months we have worked with Fr. Richard Gibbons PP and Rector at Knock to come up with the design of a contemporary chair with a distinctly Irish feel which is also in keeping with the Basilica itself.

"Our design team here in Dromod along with our craftsmen have put in many man hours to ensure this Papal Chair was created to the highest standard. It has been a great honour to work with Knock once again on this project.

"There is great excitement here over the last few weeks as we made the finishing touches to the piece and we are looking forward to seeing it being used on Sunday.

Sneak Peak!

We have been working behind the scenes for a number of months on a specially commissioned chair for Pope Francis to be used by him during his silent prayer this Sunday morning. #PopeInIreland #papalvisit @joelittlerte @rtenews @bbcnews @ShannonsideFM @LeitrimToday pic.twitter.com/1z5rztrabU  ICS Furniture (@ICS_Furniture) August 24, 2018

A reminder has also been issued that there will be a number of road closures on Sunday due to the visit of Pope Francis. Anyone travelling towards Knock or Galway on the N17 is advised to familarise themselves with the detours that will be in place.

Read Also:

Limited availability remaining on special inter-city services for Pope Francis' visit
Carrick-on-Shannon is one of five finalists in the AIB Merchant Services-Retail Excellence Friendliest Place in Ireland Awards 2018.

Carrick-on-Shannon is, along with Ennis, Limerick, Slane and Waterford, vying for the top spot come November when the winner will be announced at a sell-out black-tie event in Killarney, Co Kerry.

Retail Excellence, the largest retail representative body in Ireland, run these prestigious awards to drive standards and celebrate excellence in retail operations and town centres throughout the country. Last year Ennis won the prestigious title at the Retail Excellence Awards which was attended by more than 700 Irish retail industry executives. The awards are the biggest and best supported event in the Irish retail industry calendar.

Commenting on the announcement Lorraine Higgins Chief Executive of Retail Excellence said Ireland is renowned the world over for its warm welcome and hospitality to all. Nothing conveys this more effectively than our retailers operating throughout every village, town and city in the country.

We are delighted with the quality of entries we received this year for Irelands Friendliest Place Award and the standard set was second to none. It is always difficult to choose the finalists but the five towns selected are standard bearers in driving customer excellence, hospitality and pride in their town. The five finalists can be justly proud of this achievement and I all look forward to the announcement of the overall winner in November concluded Ms. Higgins.

Mark Patterson, Head of Field Sales, AIB Merchant Services said being shortlisted for Irelands Top 5 Friendliest place represents an achievement in itself, and it is recognition of the efforts made by each finalist driving customer excellence, hospitality and pride in their town. My sincere congratulations to all of this years finalists.
Speakific and Speakersbase have announced the planned merger of their business operations to offer even more international speaking opportunities and professional services to their users.

Speakersbase acquires the Speakific.com online booking platform and the merged business will operate under the Speakersbase brand. All existing Speakific users will see a seamless transition to Speakersbase over the coming weeks, where they can avail of even more features, services and access to international representation.

Speakific, based in The Hive, Carrick-on-Shannon was founded by Johnny Beirne and Fergal Donlon in 2014 to take the pain out of finding that specific speaker for a specific event. It has since grown to be the largest speaker source in Ireland in addition to having a vast user base in the UK and other English-speaking countries around the globe.

Speakific provides an opportunity for Speakersbase to immediately grow its community of speakers in Ireland and the UK after it has already become the market leader in Belgium and its rapid growth in the Netherlands explains Tanguy Verbelen, Growth Manager at Speakersbase.

With a range of exciting new and well-known speakers plus its online Academy for speakers to improve their skills and grow their business, the acquisition of Speakific supports the Speakersbase strategy of becoming the leading platform that supports and connects speakers and event organisers around the world.

Johnny Beirne of Speakific also commented that Speakersbases acquisition of Speakific provides a major opportunity for both our services to extend our offering to speakers and showcase them to a huge range of event organisers, from companies looking for a keynote speaker to kick-off their internal event up to the big stage global conferences, both locally and internationally.

The public speaking landscape has changed dramatically over the last 5 years with events requiring more specialist speakers about a wide range of emerging topics, and yet having no efficient way to find and book them.

Mr Beirne added "we are really grateful to have a facility like The Hive to work from and the ongoing support of it's Business Manager, Colm Keane".

The acquisition of Speakific will now take the number of speakers on Speakersbase to just under 2,000 in over 55 countries.

Speakific co-founder Johnny Beirne will represent Speakersbase and its range of professional services in Ireland and the UK from The Hive.
by Louis Raphael Sako*

In a letter the Chaldean primate recalls the sufferings and persecutions of community in the last decade. He calls for future "guarantees" and a "common foundation" based on equal citizenship. The challenge of emigration, can only be defeated by restoring a social and political fabric on which to rebuild life.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) - Christians and other Iraqi minorities need "guarantees" to survive and a "common foundation" from which to build based on "citizenship, not religion or doctrine, writes the Chaldean primate, Card Louis Raphael Sako in a message published on the website of the Chaldean patriarchate and sent to AsiaNews for information. The "deterioration" of security in the last 13 years, warns the cardinal, including kidnapping, ransom, homicide, destruction of houses and property has caused a progressive "loss of confidence" among Christians, who have been forced to emigrate.

However, today more than ever it is important to rebuild the social and political fabric and guarantee a future in their country of origin, to which they have provided "very important contributions" in the past from the "economic, social and cultural" point of view. Returning to them, warns Card Sako, the lost "dignity".

Below the full text of Patriarch Sakos message. A translation from the original Arabic

In this article I would like to discuss the main reasons why Christians must on one hand remain in their homeland, that is Iraq, or on the other hand to leave it and emigrate. In any case, I want to express my concern about the current and future situation of our country.

First of all, it should be pointed out that Christians are an original people in Iraq, not an immigrant community that has come from another planet. In fact, the roots of Iraqi Christians date back to the first century AD, while their ethnic origins go back thousands of years before, being descendants of Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs and Arabs.

Throughout their long history, Christians have served their country in a very decisive and influential way at all levels, including economic, cultural and social. They firmly believe that Iraq is their land of origin and an integral part of their identity, and that they represent a fundamental part of the different components of society.

Therefore, they refuse to be marginalized as regards their membership of the land and the Iraqi people. And despite all that has happened in Iraq, Christians desire, from the depth of their hearts and for all, peace, stability, true equality, real recognition of citizenship, freedom and dignity.

The reasons that push towards immigration

Iraqi Christians have withstood prolonged social and political pressures, and are treated as an insignificant minority and second class citizens. And of course, this way of treating them hurts. We only need to recall all that Christians suffered during the war between Iran and Iraq, the occupation of Kuwait, the 13 years of embargo, the fall of the regime in 2003, and the failure of successive governments in to lay the foundations for a national state and to consolidate a culture of citizenship and equality.

On the contrary, sectarianism and tribalism triumphed, which are founded on the protection of one groups members only, the spread of a religious preaching based on fundamentalism, which refers to ancient concepts to justify violence, although religion should be based on mercy , acceptance of the other, and a respectful attitude towards everyone.

What's more, the deterioration of the security situation in the last 13 years, and its consequences such as the series of kidnappings, ransoms, murders, bombing and seizures of homes and properties, has meant that Christians have lost confidence and hope for a better future, and everything that forced them to leave everything and migrate.

But the real shock was the invasion of the Islamic State "Daesh" and its conquest of the city of Mosul and the whole territory of the Nineveh plains in 2014, and the emptying of its Christians (). [The symbol: (: Nazarenes), placed on the houses and properties of Christians in Mosul and in the Nineveh plains, by Isis has now become the symbol of today's anti-Christian persecution.

In reality, the Islamic State had given three choices to Christians: conversion to Islam, payment of a tax, of so-called protection (jizya - dhimma), or forced and immediate abandonment of their land, otherwise they would have been killed. And unfortunately, Daesh has erased Christian monuments and symbols in Mosul, both ancient and modern ones.

Immediately after the fall of the regime (by Saddam Hussein), some local political forces began a conflict among themselves to dominate the Christian towns and villages of the Nineveh plains, with the aim of redesigning the demographic map of that area, each of those forces for their own interests.

The military barrier that separates the Christian town of Batnaya (under the control of the Iraqi army and the Shiite militias) from those of Telesqof and Alqosh also Christian (under the control of the 'Peshmerga' armed forces of the autonomous region of Kurdistan Iraqi) is the concrete proof of this conflict. This barrier has not been removed even today, despite promises made to remove it from both the Iraqi Kurdistan region authority and the Iraqi government.

International organizations have also encouraged Christians to emigrate, offering them all the support and tools to do so. Equally, the Western mass media have pushed in this direction, reiterating that - within five or ten years - there would be no more Christians in Iraq.

All these factors have contributed in bringing Christians to a point where they feel that their dignity is attacked, their trust is lost, their millennial existence is threatened. And this is also true of their membership, history, identity, faith, and language. Allow me to give a concrete example concerning the university of Hamdaniya (Qaraqosh, which is a Christian city on the Nineveh plains). An academic who does not belong to this city has been appointed as president. While we know that the Church has helped the university to continue after the invasion of Daesh in that area, and even today the students belonging to it use the halls and buildings of the Church as university classrooms. And there are other unpleasant and sad examples like this.

Christians were about 4 or 5% of the Iraqi population. They were about a million and a half before the fall of the regime [by Saddam Hussein], and they were a national, cultural, social and economic elite.

But since the beginning of 2003 about 1220 Christians have been killed in various incidents of violence throughout Iraq, including 700 people, including religious, killed for their Christian affiliation. And 23,000 Christian properties were seized, 58 churches were blown up. Let it be clear that none of these statistics include what the Islamic State did. Daesh, in reality, burned, desecrated, etc. all the churches in Mosul and in the towns and villages of the Nineveh plains. And as a consequence of all this, one million Christians, out of a million and a half, left Iraq.

The factors that encourage them to stay

Iraqi Christians and other minorities need reassurance to stay in their land, continue their millennial presence, and continue their coexistence with other members of society. They want the government to look at them with the same eyes with which they look at other groups, making them feel that they are citizens of equal dignity, both in rights and duties. Because citizenship, as we know, is not based on religion and doctrine, but on common foundations.

Christians want quick and clear solutions for some issues, such as: respect for their identity, diversity, the areas historically belonging to them (against attempts at demographic and ethnic change), their protection from any threat, attack, or from any law that oppresses them. Moreover, there is a great need to rebuild trust between Christians and their neighbors in the areas freed by Daesh, through concrete procedures such as: punishment of criminals, compensation for damages in favor of victims, restitution of property to rightful owners, the removal of mines from their fields, the reconstruction of their homes, and the improvement in essential services, so that they can return to their homes.

The current situation requires a precise strategy to establish social justice and equal opportunities. And it is very important to work on discernment, teaching, culture education of the acceptance of the other, and mutual respect among people belonging to different religions. All this must be done in homes, in places of worship, in schools, on books and school programs, and in the formation of teachers. Finally, we must condemn any insult or aggression against any citizen, especially if caused by his religious, doctrinal, ethnic, or sexual affiliation.

* Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad and president of the Iraqi Episcopal Conference
Iarnrod Eireann has issued a final reminder to customers intending to travel this weekend to be aware of service arrangements arising from the World Meeting of Families events. There will be capacity for up to 250,000 journeys by rail for those travelling to and from the Phoenix Park Papal Mass on Sunday alone.

In particular, customers are reminded:

SATURDAY, 25TH AUGUST  DUBLIN CITY AND CROKE PARK EVENTS

A normal Saturday service will operate on most routes, with additional capacity. Customers attending the Papal procession through Dublin city centre are advised to travel as early as possible.

Extra Maynooth line services will operate before and after the Croke Park event.

Late night Intercity services will operate from Heuston Station to Cork, Limerick and Galway, and must be prebooked.

Connolly Station car park is closed due to event operational requirements.

SUNDAY, 26TH AUGUST  PHOENIX PARK AND KNOCK EVENTS

Intercity

All Intercity trains on Sunday 26th August travelling to Dublin before the Papal Mass and from Dublin afterwards must be prebooked. Tickets will not be available from stations on the day. This includes existing ticket holders, including free travel pass holders, who must reserve a seat in advance.

Most Intercity routes are sold out. Trains are sold out for Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Mayo, Waterford to Dublin; a small number remain from Rosslare, Sligo and Galway to Dublin and must be booked ASAP. Tickets and reservations are available at irishrail.ie and 018366222.

Please travel on the train you have booked. You cannot switch to an alternative service. Seating is unallocated on Intercity services on this date.

DART/Commuter

DART, Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Drogheda and Kildare/Portlaoise Commuter routes will have extra frequency (see notes to editor), and is a walk-up service with pre-booking not required. Customers are advised to travel early due to high demand.

Those travelling within the Dublin Short Hop Zone (DART, Balbriggan, M3, Kilcock, Sallins and Kilcoole) can travel for free with a Papal Mass ticket.

Heuston, Ashtown and Navan Road Parkway Stations are the closest stations to Phoenix Park. DART/Northern Commuter customers should change at Connolly to reach Ashtown/Navan Road Parkway.

Heuston, Connolly (also Saturday 25th August) and Maynooth station car parks are closed on Sunday 26th August due to event operational requirements. Alternative parking in Maynooth is available at NUI Maynooth. All other station car parks are open.

Bikes are not permitted on DART and Commuter services on Sunday 26th August due to volumes travelling.

Customers travelling for any reason seeking to access Dublin City Centre stations are advised to allow extra time to reach the station, taking account of road closures and bus and Luas restrictions (in particular, please note Luas is not operating between Smithfield and Blackhorse, including Heuston Station).

Knock

Knock event: extra service from Athlone to Claremorris is sold out, still availability from Westport and Ballina to Claremorris, advance booking mandatory. Train tickets are valid on a free shuttle bus between Claremorris and Knock.

Full details on rail services for the World Meeting of Families events are available at www.irishrail.ie

Full details on the Papal visit are available at http://gov.ie/en/visit-of- pope-francis/
North West Hospice is calling on everyone to get on board for Irelands Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice together with Bewleys on Thursday, 20th September.

Thats the day when people everywhere will share a cup of Bewleys coffee to support their local hospice and their vital work caring for people in their local communities nationwide.

Since the first coffee morning 26 years ago over 35 million has been raised by people around Ireland.

This year it is hoped that Irelands Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice Together with Bewleys will raise a much needed 2 million for local hospice and homecare services nationwide, to meet with growing demands for the service.

Speaking at the launch, Ambassador Brendan Gleeson said, "I have seen first-hand the important work hospices do in local communities and have been personally touched by the vital work done in St. Francis Hospice. The money raised through Irelands Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice Together with Bewleys helps hospice and homecare services around Ireland give patients the best quality of life during illness. I urge people to host a coffee morning on Thursday, 20th September and continue to make a difference."

Bernadette McGarvey of North West Hospice said, "Coffee Morning is the biggest fundraiser of the year for North West Hospice. Funds raised will go directly towards maintaining our specialist palliative care service and to support those living with life-limiting illness in our community.

"To maintain our current level of service, we have to fundraise over 1 million every year which is an ongoing challenge. By hosting a coffee morning you can make a difference to peoples lives and help us continue to help our community.

"All you have to do to host a coffee morning is register with us at North West Hospice on (071) 9170523 or online at www.northwesthospice.ie/ coffeemorning

"We will organise your free coffee pack and you just put the kettle on."

John Cahill, Bewleys CEO said Irelands Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice Together with Bewleys has raised over 35 million for local hospice and homecare services around the country and Bewleys is proud to support the campaign each year. As a family business, community has always been at the heart of what we do and year on year we see how vital the work done by hospice is to local communities. Thats why were asking everyone to join together with a cup of Bewleys coffee on the 20th September."

People can help to make a difference in someones life by hosting a coffee morning to help raise funds at home, work, school or with a local club or society. You can register at www.northwesthospice.ie/ coffeemorning or by calling (071) 9170523.

Hosts are provided with a Coffee Morning Pack containing Bewleys coffee, posters and invitations free of charge.

Remember, every cup counts!
LifeStyle

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A MAN in his 20s will appear in court this Friday morning, charged with the double stabbing in the northside of Limerick city this week.

The suspect, aged 27, was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the violent incident which left two young men hospitalised with stab wounds.

A 23-year-old male, who suffered stab wounds to the head, remains in critical condition at Cork University Hospital.

A 22-year-old male, who suffered non-life-threatening stab wounds, was discharged from CUH on Wednesday afternoon.

The 27-year-old suspect was detained at Henry Street garda station and was formally charged this Thursday night.

He will appear before a judge at Nenagh District Court this Friday morning.

Gardai cordoned off two areas in the estate, which is just outside the Christ the King church and close to the community centre.

A small section of Walnut Drive, pictured above, and a green at Blackthorn Drive and Woodbine Avenue were cordoned off.

Gardai were carrying out door-to-door interviews in the Caherdavin community, and undertaking extensive searches of the area.
Apr 27, 2021, 1 PM

Scott and Linns Stamp News are both owned by Amos Media Company of Sidney, Ohio.

By Linn's Staff

Linns Stamp News editor-in-chief Jay Bigalke will become editor-in-chief of both Linns and the Scott catalogs and album line Sept. 3. Bigalke returned to Linns in 2017, after serving as editor of the American Philatelist from 2014 to 2017.

The announcement was made by Rick Amos, CEO of Amos Media Co., the parent company of Linns, Coin World, and the Scott catalogs.

After 46 years as a stamp editor for Amos Media, Scott editorial director Donna Houseman is stepping aside. Scott and Linns are both owned by Amos Media Company of Sidney, Ohio. Houseman, who has edited the Scott line of catalogs since 2015, will remain with Amos Media as editor-at-large of both Linns and Scott. She will continue to support the Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Values 1840-1940.

Jays vision and leadership will be important as we implement new strategies to serve the stamp hobby, Amos said.

Bigalke started his philatelic journalism career at Linns, where as senior editor he covered U.S. stamp stories. Since returning to Linns, he led the team in the recent redesign of the weekly newspaper and monthly magazine.

In addition to lending support for the Scott Classic Specialized catalog, Donna will continue to work with the stamp team and me on special projects, Amos continued. Amos Media has aggressive initiatives planned for the next year or two, and she will play an important role as an advisor.

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Houseman oversaw the reorganization of the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogues. Beginning with the 2018 edition, each volume of the six-volume Scott Standard catalog was split into two volumes, A and B. This change alone represented a reduction in weight for each book by almost 50 percent, making the catalogs easier to reference, transport and store.

Houseman has held several roles at Amos Media. Her Philatelic Gems columns in Linns, detailing the worlds most intriguing and rarest stamps, were compiled in a five-volume set of books titled Philatelic Gems. She developed and edited the Linns Handbook series and was instrumental in the development of Linns.com and ZillionsofStamps.com. She served as editor of Linns U.S. Stamp Yearbooks, the Linns Handbook series and more than 50 books.

In 2017, Houseman was inducted into the American Philatelic Society Writers Unit #30 Hall of Fame.

I am leaving the catalogs in capable hands, said Houseman. The Scott editorial team combined has more than 100 years experience in the stamp hobby.

Charles Chad Snee has been named editor of the catalogs, and Tim Hodge is the new managing editor. Other members of the Scott editorial team are Martin J. Frankevicz, senior editor/new issues and valuing, and James E. Kloetzel, editor emeritus, former editor of the catalogs and an independent contractor who supports the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers and the Scott Canada stamp listings.

Michael Baadke remains as editor of Linns, and Denise McCarty is senior editor.

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Follow us on Twitter Having these numbers handy will allow you to easily locate these stamps in the catalogs and learn about their production and values. Now that you have some context, here are the new U.S. and U.N. Scott numbers:
Aug 24, 2018, 4 AM

An example of The Art of Magic souvenir sheet of three stamps with die cutting omitted. This error sheet was sold in early August by the U.S. Postal Service at APS Stampshow in Columbus, Ohio.

By Molly Goad

Its time to catch up on the week that was in stamp-collecting insights and news.

Linns Stamp News is looking back at its five most-read stories of the week.

Click the links to read the stories.

5. California fires, Hawaii volcano disrupting postal operations: Recent wildfires in northern California and volcanic activity on Hawaiis Big Island have caused the closure of multiple post offices this summer.

4. Alluring El Salvador 1894 Discoveries of Columbus stamps: Long a favorite of Christopher Columbus topical collectors, the classic stamps of El Salvador appeal to the eye and the budget.

3. John Lennon honored with first multistamp Music Icons set: Four new United States stamps will be issued Sept. 7 to honor John Lennon.

2. A philatelic Supreme Court decision: Inside Linns: Also, a Schaefer stamp mix review and a look at the Stamp Paradise website.

1. Magic sheet errors and freaks: So if the rabbit can disappear on The Art of Magic souvenir sheet, why not the die cuts, too?

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Aug 24, 2018, 4 AM

The 1868 stamps of the North German Confederation were the first issued by unified regions that would become part of the German Empire in 1871. The 1/3-groschen green stamp was created for use in the Northern District.

A 3.20 German stamp issued in 2017 commemorates the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the North German Confederation.

Germanys 0.70 Stamp Day postage stamp will be issued Sept. 13. The design shows four stamps of the North German Confederation and marks the 150th anniversary of the postal administration established in 1868.

By Michael Baadke

Germany will issue a new 0.70 postage stamp Sept. 13 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the countrys first unified postal system.

The stamp-on-stamp design by Ursula Lautenschlager pictures four issues of the postal district of the North German Confederation. The confederation was established in 1867 following the Second Schleswig War of 1864 pitting Prussia against Denmark, and the 1866 Austro-Prussian War.

King Wilhelm I and Prussian minister president Otto von Bismarck created the confederation dominated by Prussia, unifying the 22 German states north of the Main River.

Postal laws for the confederation went into effect on Jan. 1, 1868, but because a unified currency had not been established, typographed stamps using three different currencies were issued.

The northern district used the thaler for currency, with 30 groschen equaling 1 thaler. Six stamps denominated gr, ?gr, gr, 1gr, 2gr and 5gr were issued. The text-only design reads Norddeutscher Postbezirk (North German Postal District) inside a round double ring (Scott 1-6).

The southern district used the gulden, with 60 kreuzer equaling 1 gulden. Stamps denominated 1kr, 2kr, 3kr, 7kr and 18kr were issued for the southern district (Scott 7-11). The Norddeutscher Postbezirk inscription on these stamps appears within an oval.

The four classic issues shown on the new German Stamp Day stamp are the 1gr rose at upper left, 7kr ultramarine at upper right, 1kr green at lower left, and gr orange at lower right. Not shown on the new stamp is an example of the third currency variety, a single nondenominated (-schilling) lilac brown stamp issued in 1868 for use in Hamburg (Scott 12).

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The rouletted stamps for all three regions are also known imperforate. Perforated varieties were issued in 1869, and Official stamps for government use appeared in 1870.

The southern German states of Baden, Bavaria, Hesse and Wurttemberg joined with the North German Confederation as France declared war on Prussia. With the French defeat in 1871, the German Empire was declared by Bismarck in Versailles, with Wilhelm I as kaiser (emperor).

The denomination of the new 0.70 Stamp Day stamp fulfills the current German domestic letter rate for mail weighing up to 20 grams (about 0.7 ounces).

The new issue comes a little more than one year after a 3.20 stamp was issued on July 13, 2017, for the 150th anniversary of the 1867 North German Confederation (Scott 2985). The design of the 2017 stamp shows a red seal impressed with the arms of the confederations members.
These ossuaries  containers for human remains  from the Chalcolithic Period were excavated at Peqi'in Cave in northern Israel.

Thousands of years ago in what is now northern Israel, waves of migrating people from the north and east  present-day Iran and Turkey  arrived in the region. And this influx of newcomers had a profound effect, transforming the emerging culture.

What's more, these immigrants not only brought new cultural practices; they also introduced new genes  such as the mutation that produces blue eyes  that were previously unknown in that geographic area, according to a new study.

Archaeologists recently discovered this historic population shift by analyzing DNA from skeletons preserved in an Israeli cave. The site, in the north of the tiny country, contains dozens of burials and more than 600 bodies dating to approximately 6,500 years ago, the scientists reported. [The Holy Land: 7 Amazing Archaeological Finds]

DNA analysis showed that skeletons preserved in the cave were genetically distinct from people who historically lived in that region. And some of the genetic differences matched those of people who lived in neighboring Anatolia and the Zagros Mountains, which are now part of Turkey and Iran, the study found.

Ancient Israel (then called Galilee) belonged to a region known as the southern Levant, part of a larger area, the Levant, which encompasses today's eastern Mediterranean countries. The southern Levant experienced a significant cultural shift during the Late Chalcolithic period, around 4500 B.C.E. to 3800 B.C.E, with denser settlements, more rituals performed in public and a growing use of ossuaries in funerary preparations, the researchers reported.

Though some experts had previously proposed that cultural transformation was driven by people who were native to the southern Levant, the authors of the new study suspected that waves of human migration explained the changes. To find answers, the scientists turned to a burial site in Israel's Peqiin Cave, in what would have been Upper Galilee 6,500 years ago.

Unraveling an ancestry puzzle

Peqi'in is a natural cave, measuring around 56 feet (17 meters) long and about 16 to 26 feet (5 to 8 m) wide. Inside the cave are decorated jars and burial offerings  along with hundreds of skeletons  suggesting that the location served as a type of mortuary for Chalcolithic people who lived nearby.

However, not all of the cave's contents appeared to have local origins, study co-author Dina Shalem, an archaeologist with the Institute for Galilean Archaeology at Kinneret College in Israel, said in a statement.

"Some of the findings in the cave are typical to the region, but others suggest cultural exchange with remote regions," Shalem said. The artistic styles of these artifacts bear closer resemblance to styles common to more-northern regions of the Near East, lead study author Eadaoin Harney, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, told Live Science in an email.

The scientists sampled DNA from bone powder from 48 skeletal remains and were able to reconstruct genomes for 22 individuals found in the cave. That makes this one of the largest genetic studies of ancient DNA in the Near East, the researchers reported.

Blue eyes and fair skin

The scientists found that these individuals shared genetic features with people from the north, and those similar genes were absent in farmers who lived in the southern Levant earlier. For example, the allele (one of two or more alternative forms of a gene) that is responsible for blue eyes was associated with 49 percent of the sampled remains, suggesting that blue eyes had become common in people living in Upper Galilee. Another allele hinted that fair skin may have been widespread in the local population as well, the study authors wrote.

"Both eye and skin color are traits that are controlled by complex interactions between multiple alleles, many  but not all  of which have been identified," Harney explained.

"The two alleles that we highlight in our study are known to be strongly associated with light eye and skin color, respectively, and are often used to make predictions about the appearance of various human populations in ancient DNA studies," she said.

However, it is important to note that multiple other alleles can influence the color of eyes and skin in individuals, Harney added, so "scientists cannot perfectly predict pigmentation in an individual."

The scientists also discovered that genetic diversity increased within groups over time, while genetic differences between groups decreased; this is a pattern that typically emerges in populations after a period of human migration, according to the researchers.

A dynamic past

By presenting DNA from the distant past, these findings offer exciting new insights into the dynamic ancient world and the diverse human populations that inhabited it, said Daniel Master, a professor of archaeology at Wheaton College in Illinois.

"One of the key questions of the Chalcolithic has always been to what extent the groups in Galilee were connected to the groups in the Be'ersheva Valley or the Jordan Valley or the Golan Heights," Master, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email.

"The publication of the artifacts from Peqi'in has shown many cultural links between these regions, but it will be interesting to see, in the future, whether those links are genetic as well," Master said.

The researchers' results also resolve a long-standing debate about the pivotal factor that changed the trajectory of the Chalcolithic peoples' unique culture, Shalem said in the statement.

"We now know that the answer is migration," she said.

The findings were published online Aug. 20 in the journal Nature Communications.

Original article on Live Science.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Think tank responds to question How can we continue to collaborate with ones own Alma Mater?" raised by Fr Joseph Kristanto Suratman, executive secretary of the Seminaries Commission of the Bishops Conference. Proposals target major and minor seminaries.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  The Association of the Good Shepherd (Paguyuban Gembala Utama, PGU) is an organisation of graduates from Church-run schools in Indonesia. Its goal is to contribute to vocational programmes offered in Indonesian seminaries and help seminarians face the challenges of modern society.

Several months ago, during a meeting with former classmates from the St Peter Canisius Minor Seminary in Mertoyudan (Magelang, Central Java), Fr Joseph Kristanto Suratman, executive secretary of the Seminaries Commission (Komisi Seminari) of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI), asked "How can we continue to collaborate with ones own Alma Mater?"

PGU accepted the challenge. To answer the question, Basuki Ismael, one of Fr Suratmans former classmate, set up a think tank under Johannes Wasisa, which came up with several proposals.

Fr Suratman shared them with the participants in the national gathering of the rectors of major seminaries held in Muntilan (Central Java) at the end of July.

"Everyone was happy to get the proposals to develop the personal and professional skills of Indonesias seminarians," Fr Suratman told AsiaNews.

"What we need from PGU is its strong network of knowledgeable and skilled professionals to help students in major seminaries to meet modern challenges in terms of communication skills, emotional management and leadership."

In view of this, a three-day workshop will be held in Ambarawa (Central Java) next year, which the PGU will organise and run in cooperation with the Bishops Conference.

Minor seminaries can also rely on PGU support. Two days ago, Intony Yuswanto gave a lecture on study methodologies (pictured), attended by 107 students from the Stella Maris seminary in Bogor (West Java). The aim of the initiative was to provide the tools needed to better organise ideas and thoughts, better understand the content of books, and identify issues more quickly and effectively.

Starting next month, similar activities will also be held in other schools, like the St Vincent de Paul Minor Seminary in Garum (East Java) and the St Paul Minor Seminary in Palembang (South Sumatra).
Mirror, mirror on the wall, how do light and matter mingle after all?

Scientists have known for a while that light has momentum and exerts force on whatever it hits. But because this momentum is so small, experiments haven't been able to observe exactly how it affects matter.

In search of answers, an international group of researchers turned to mirrors in a new study. "The mirror always tells the truth," Tomaz Pozar, the lead author of the study and assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia wrote in the playful analogy referencing "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" that he created and sent to Live Science. [What's That? Your Physics Questions Answered]

Though Pozar and his team didn't have a conversation with the mirror, they did listen intently to how it reacted when it was hit with a beam of light. They attached acoustic sensors, which work similarly to a medical ultrasound, to a mirror fitted with a heat shield. (Heating can create elastic waves that would hamper the signal they were trying to study: the elastic waves created by momentum.)

Then, the researchers shot laser beams into the mirror and used the acoustic sensors to listen to the waves created as light hit the surface. "It's like a hammer smash made by light," Pozar told Live Science.

These tiny waves caused "sounds," or tiny movements among the atoms of the mirror. The smallest displacement they found was about 40 femtometers, which is about four times the size of the core of an atom, Pozar said.

Before this experiment, scientists could only measure how light would transfer momentum to an object as a whole, Pozar said. But this new method allowed them to see how this force is distributed throughout the material. And though previous research predicted that light moves matter by depositing momentum into different elastic waves, now there is experimental evidence that it does, Pozar said.

Currently, scientists have a handful of ideas about how momentum is transferred from light to a material, Pozar said.

Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell was the first to propose, in 1873, that light carries momentum in its electromagnetic fields. His equations along with a few others form the basis of electromagnetism. "Everybody agrees with Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism" and the laws that say momentum and energy are conserved, Pozar said. But different scientists have their own views on how the force of light is distributed throughout matter.

One famous example is the so-called Abraham-Minkowski controversy, an argument between German physicist Max Abraham and German mathematician Hermann Minkowski. Abraham suggested that the momentum of a photon should be inversely related to the "refractive index," a number that describes how light travels through a material, whereas Minkowski suggested it should be directly related.

Though the new study hasn't yet determined which, if any, hypothesis was correct, the researchers hope to fine-tune and use this experimental procedure in liquid and other materials to eventually figure it out.

Pozar continues in his analogy: is it Snow White or the evil Queen? "Is it the formulism proposed by Abraham? Perhaps the one suggested by Minkowski? Or is it the one of EinsteinOr of a yet anonymous scientist whose name will [one] day appear in all textbooks?"

As far back as 1619, German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler suggested that a comet's tail seemed to always point away from the sun because the sun's light was exerting pressure on it.

Understanding the physics behind light momentum would most likely have thrilled Kepler, but it would also have some practical applications. For example, optical tweezers could be optimized to exert the least force on the tiny, organic objects they handle. Or grand solar sails could be created to sail through the galaxy on the sun's energy.

The researchers reported their findings Aug. 21 in the journal Nature Communications.

Originally published on Live Science.
Drinking alcohol in moderation is more harmful than previously thought, according to a new study that concludes there's no "safe" level of alcohol consumption.

The comprehensive study, which analyzed information from millions of people in nearly 200 countries, found that alcohol is tied to nearly 3 million deaths globally each year, with about 1 in 10 deaths linked to alcohol use among people ages 15 to 49.

What's more, any protective health effects of alcohol were offset by the drink's risk, including strong links between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer and injuries such as those resulting from car accidents. [7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health]

"The widely held view of the health benefits of alcohol needs revising," the researchers wrote in their paper, published online Aug. 23 in the journal The Lancet. "Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none."

The findings contrast with most health guidelines, which say that moderate drinking  about one drink a day for women and two for men  is safe.

However, it's difficult to estimate the risks for a person who drinks fairly infrequently  such as someone who has one drink every two weeks  so the findings might not apply to this population. "[It] doesn't mean, if you drink on birthdays and Christmas, you're going to die," said Keith Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University who was not involved in the study.

Rather, the findings apply more to people who have one drink a day, most days of the week, Humphreys said. Contrary to what some previous studies have found, "the kind of person who drinks every week, but never drinks much, is in fact not better off than somebody who doesn't drink," according to the new study, Humphreys told Live Science.

No "safe" level

The study analyzed information from nearly 700 previous studies to estimate how common drinking alcohol is worldwide, and examined almost another 600 studies including a total of 28 million people to investigate the health risks tied to alcohol.

The researchers found that, globally, about 1 in 3 people (32.5 percent) drink alcohol, which is equivalent to 2.4 billion people worldwide, including 25 percent of women and 39 percent of men.

Worldwide, drinking alcohol was the seventh-leading risk factor for early death in 2016, accounting for about 2 percent of deaths in women and 7 percent of deaths in men. For people ages 15 to 49, alcohol consumption was tied to 4 percent of deaths for women and 12 percent for men in 2016.

The study found that moderate drinking was, in fact, protective against ischemic heart disease. But this benefit was outweighed by the health risks of alcohol.

Specifically, for people who consume one drink a day, the risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related health problems increases by 0.5 percent over one year, compared with someone who doesn't drink.

But the risk increases rapidly the more people drink. For people who consume two drinks a day, the risk of developing one of the 23 alcohol-related health problems increases by 7 percent over one year, and for those who drink five drinks a day, the risk increases by 37 percent over one year. [Top 10 Leading Causes of Death]

"Alcohol poses dire ramifications for future population health in the absence of policy action today," Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor of global health at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and a co-author of the study, said in a statement.

The researchers said that, based on their results, public health campaigns should consider recommending abstinence from alcohol.

Alcohol abstinence?

Humphreys called the work the "most sophisticated global study of the impact of alcohol on human health ever conducted."

"The study confirms that alcohol is one of the world's leading causes of disability, disease and death," Humphreys said.

However, in terms of recommending abstinence from alcohol, Humphreys said that promoting such a message would be difficult, in part because of the large number of people who currently drink alcohol and the influence of powerful industries in the alcohol market. "I'm not saying it's a terrible idea," Humphreys said, but "it would be a very tough uphill battle to be established."

Still, in addition to considering abstinence, the researchers called for other policies that focus on reducing the population's consumption of alcohol, such as increasing alcohol taxes, controlling the availability of alcohol and the hours it can be sold, and regulating alcohol advertising. "Any of these policy actions would contribute to reductions in population-level consumption, a vital step toward decreasing the health loss associated with alcohol use," Gakidou said.

The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Original article on Live Science.
The ultra-pure icicle is pictured on the left, and the water droplet on the right.

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then this is one divine droplet.

Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology announced yesterday (Aug. 23) that they have created the cleanest drop of water in the world.

This ultrapure water could help explain how self-cleaning surfaces, such as those coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2), become covered with a mysterious layer of molecules when they come into contact with air and water.

"We had four labs [around the world] studying this and four different explanations for it," said study co-author Ulrike Diebold, a chemist at the Vienna University of Technology. [The Mysterious Physics of 7 Everyday Things]

In the light of day

When TiO2 surfaces are exposed to ultraviolet light, they react in ways that "eat up" any organic compounds on them, Diebold told Live Science. This gives these surfaces a number of useful properties; for example, a TiO2-coated mirror will repel water vapor even in a steamy bathroom.

But leave them in a dark room too long, Diebold said, and the mysterious dirt forms.

Most of the proposed explanations for this involve some sort of chemical reaction with ambient water vapor. But Diebold and her colleagues applied the ultraclean water droplet to the surface and showed that water alone doesn't cause the film to appear.

Creating that superclean drop was a challenge, though. As Live Science previously reported, water very easily becomes contaminated with trace impurities, and perfectly pure water does not exist.

To get as close to perfectly pure as possible, Diebold said, her team had to design a specialized gadget that pushed water to its limits.

In one chamber of the device was a vacuum, with a "finger" hanging from its ceiling cooled to minus 220 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 140 Celsius). The researchers then released a thin, purified sample of water vapor from an adjacent chamber into the vacuum, so that the water formed an icicle at the tip of that finger. The researchers then allowed the icicle to warm up and melt, so that it dripped onto a piece of TiO2 below before quickly evaporating into the ultra-low-pressure chamber. Afterward, the TiO2 showed no sign of the molecular film that some researchers suspected came from water, the researchers reported today (Aug. 23) in the journal Science.

"The key is that neither the water nor the titanium dioxide had ever been exposed to air before," Diebold said.

Follow-up scans of TiO2 using microscopes and spectroscopes showed that the film wasn't made up of water or water-related compounds at all. Instead, acetic acid (which gives vinegar its sour taste) and formic acid, a similar compound, turned up on the surface. Both are byproducts of plant growth and are present in only tiny quantities in the air  but, apparently, there's enough of this material floating around to dirty a self-cleaning surface.

Originally published on Live Science.
A Texas man was bitten by a what was likely a bull shark (<em>Carcharhinus leucas</em>). The bite wound became infected by flesh-eating bacteria.

A Texas man who survived a shark bite earlier this month has since developed a "flesh-eating" bacteria infection in his wounds, according to news reports.

In the late morning of Aug. 9, Blaine Shelton, a 42-year-old construction worker, was enjoying a solo dip in the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, about 200 yards (183 meters) from the shore at Crystal Beach, Texas, local news station KHOU11 reported. But his refreshing swim was painfully interrupted when a shark suddenly attacked him, biting him just above his knee.

"I already saw the fin, and I knew it wasn't a porpoise," Shelton told KHOU11. "So, I turn around to get out of there, and that's when he grabbed me by the leg. And I guess the only way to explain it would be like sandpaper, is what it felt like; just grabbed on, like gritty." [In Photos: Underwater Cameras Capture World's Sharks]

Fortunately, he was able to swim to shore and with the help of a friend, he flagged down a Galveston County Sheriff's deputy who was patrolling the area. Shelton told USA Today that based on the bite mark, an expert guessed that a 7-foot bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) had bitten him.

Bull sharks average between 200 and 290 lbs. (91 and 132 kilograms) and grow to about 7.5 to 8 feet long (2.3 to 2.4 m), according to the University of Florida's Florida Museum. They're common in the coastal waters of Texas, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, and unlike most sharks, they can live in both fresh and saltwater.

Blaine Shelton's gruesome shark bite wound, which wound up becoming infected with flesh-eating bacteria that was in the seawater. (Image credit: Galveston County Sheriff's Office)

Shelton was treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for four days before being sent home to recover, KHOU11 reported. But a few days later, his wound was painfully aching, so he returned to the hospital.

"You see all that dried stuff right there? That's what was dying," Shelton told KHOU11, as he pointed to the tissue around his wound that flesh-eating bacteria had infected.

Shelton was likely infected by Vibrio vulnificus, a species of bacteria that thrives in warm, coastal seawater, just like what is found on the Gulf Coast of Texas. V. Vulnificus is often called flesh-eating bacteriabecause when it infects a wound, it causes the skin and surrounding tissue to gruesomely break down and die, a condition called necrotizing fasciitis. If not treated immediately, the infection can be fatal.

"I'd heard there was bacteria in the water; I just never treated it serious," Shelton told KHOU11. "But to tell you the truth, if you've got a scratch on your arm or your leg, I wouldn't get in that water."

Experts say that's good advice.

"Seawater is teeming with bacteria and viruses and all sorts of things," Craig Baker-Austin, a marine microbiologist at the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in the United Kingdom, previously told Live Science. People with any kind of open wound, cut or abrasion have a "portal of entry" for the bacteria, he said, so they need to minimize their exposure to seawater.

Original article on Live Science.
We live our whole lives wandering from one cloud of dust to the next. The air is full of the stuff: salt wafting in from the sea, black carbon soot from wildfires and all sorts of dusty emissions from heavy industry.

Usually, all that aerosolized gunk is invisible to us  but not to NASA's satellites and ground sensors. In a stunning new illustration, shown above, NASA's Earth Observatory reveals the invisible, tiny particles swirling around us.

NASA combined data from multiple sensors on satellites such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on Aqua and Terra, as well as ground based sensors, to create a colorized image of the aerosol plumes. [Earth Pictures: Iconic Images of Earth from Space]

Some of these dust clouds are the result of weather events. Hurricane Lane near Hawaii and typhoons Soulik and Cimaron off the coast of Japan have all kicked sea salt into the atmosphere. Over the Sahara Desert in northwest Africa and the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China, landlocked winds have similarly formed clouds of fine particles.

A full-globe image highlights all three major varieties of aerosol cloud. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

Western North America and south-central Africa reveal signatures of another sort of aerosol: the smoke from wildfires, which are often set by humans  either intentionally, as part of annual agricultural cycles in Africa, or through carelessness as in North America. Some of that smoke from North America appears to have drifted east over the Atlantic Ocean in the image.

NASA noted that this image wasn't shot by a single camera and isn't even a composite of a group of images directly taken by satellites or ground sensors. Instead, NASA used some careful mathematics to bring together data from a range of different types of sources in order to figure out where the densest concentrations of loose particles in the atmosphere are right now.

Originally published on Live Science.
Authorities arrested a 32-year-old San Francisco man Thursday on suspicion of starting last months 38,008-acre Klamathon Fire, which killed one person and forced thousands to evacuate a wide-ranging area that stretched from Yreka (Siskiyou County) to Oregon.

John Colin Eagle Skoda was booked into Siskiyou County Jail on five felony counts of recklessly causing a fire and involuntary manslaughter, plus two fire-related misdemeanors.
Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

The second round of major track and infrastructure repairs at East Bay BART stations will commence this weekend, forcing some riders to bridge their commutes with 10-15 minute bus rides, officials said.

On Saturday and Sunday, trains will neither run from West Oakland to Lake Merritt nor West Oakland to 19th Street in what is expected to be the second of four weekend closures. Shutdowns are scheduled to resume Labor Day Weekend and conclude Sept. 22-23, according to BART.
You've seen the photos of the elaborate sculptures, the quirky art cars, and the wild and skimpy costumes that look like something out of a "Mad Max" film.

And of course you know about the burnwhen a gigantic man built of wood goes up in flames.

But have you ever wondered what people actually do at Burning Manbeyond sex, drugs and rolling around Nevada's Black Rock Desert on old bicycles decorated with faux fur?

You need not travel any farther than the official Burning Man website to get a taste of the hourly goings-on at the week-long gathering of 70,000 people Saturday through Sept. 3.

The site offers a highly entertaining-to-scan list of activities offered by the hundreds of camps that foster the virtue of givingwhether it's dispensing cold water, teaching how to make tutus or puckering up to strangers in a kissing booth.

ALSO, Burning Man with kids: A photo book captures the family friendly aspects of the festival

Some of the activities can be a little titillating. Imagine a summer camp sponsored by Good Vibrationswith ample quantities of booze, glitter and body paint. You won't find these recreational diversions on a cruise director's list. No, this is Burning Manwhere fun and games are taken to unimaginable extremes.

Below we list several activities along with the descriptions provided by their organizers, and you can find hundreds more at BurningMan.org.

Naked yoga: Join us for some morning stretches to get the day started and connect with the beauty of the playa and those around you. All levels welcome. We have some yoga mats to borrow, but please bring your own if you have it with you. Location: Gymnasium.

Ice bath & brrreathing challenge: Get to know the iceman inspired method to activate self-healing and boost consciousness throughout commitment, breathing and cold therapy. We will lead you through a guided breathing session, give you lots of background information and led you chill in an ice bath afterwards. You will start your day recovered and with a new perspective. Location: Camp Contact

Fried baloney & bourbon breakfast: Enjoy a fried baloney sandwich and wash it down with a shot of KY Bourbon. Takes the dust right outta your throat! Location: Kentucky Fried Camp.

"Break your caterpillar cage" pralaya yoga workshop: Grasp the Caterpillar Cage that imprisons the TRUE YOU! Take your next step toward Transformation. Himalayan Yoga + Modern ideas on Joints and Fascia. Location: HeeBeeGeeBee Healers.

Ketamine assisted psychotherapy: Come learn about how low dose ketamine is transforming treatment for depression and anxiety. Ketamine is a medicine that is FDA approved for anesthesia and has psychedelic and anti-depressant effects at low dose. We will discuss how it can provide durable benefit. Location: Naked Heart Camp.

Unicorn tea party on Playa: Explorers & the Heavy Petting Zoo-an art car are hosting a tea party and playa tour! Explorers and their grown ups meet at Black Rock Explorer Camp for a little face painting before starting the journey on the colorful Heavy Petting Zoo Art Car. We will be going into playa looking for lost unicorns, rainbows, while enjoying a peppermint tea party. Other kid friendly surprises planned. It will a fun party with our friends spreading love and joy to the citizen of Black Rock City. Unicorn attire highly encouraged-wear your unicorn horn proudly! Location: Black Rock Explorers.

Polegasms, get yours!: Come over to our exclusive facility. We provide the best equipment and instruction there is for creative essence, existential growth, and Polegasms. Location: Polegasm Camp.

Delicious hot donut holes!: Delicious hot donut holes! Topped with your choice of rainbow flavored icing. Bring your own container. Serving it fresh on the playa since 2010. Location: Camp Not For Prophets.

Naked March of Liberation: Love your body! Tired of feeling constrained, imprisoned or ashamed of your skin? Join us in liberating yourself from the bondage of the default. Be free in your natural state and march with us!

Open dungeon play: A play space for adults where you can explore your playful side. In our main dungeon you can learn or experience sensation play in our well-equipped dungeon. We encourage beginners, intermediates and those curious about BDSM play to come, learn, and experience in a safe, non-pressured, and supervised environment. We focus on the lighter, softer, and more sensual side of dungeon play. Location: Playfully Yours Village.

Full Moon Shamanista! Ritual: An Intention Setting Red Line Ritual for your burn week. Release what you don't need. Set your deepest psychic project. Wear White. Hear the drum. Location: Shaman Dome.

Soulmate Trading Outlet: Are you looking for a paradigm shift in your life? Why not go forward to the staff at Costco Soulmate Trading Outlet (CSTO) where we facilitate procurement and distribution of soulmates around the playa. Bring in a friend to trade or find one en route to us. Customers at CSTO are treated with the utmost care and attention throughout their interview, as we provide complimentary drinks, insightful interviews and a comprehensive synergistic approach to finding your soulmate! Location: Costco Soulmate Trading Outlet.

Raising backyard chickens: Interested in raising your own flock? Learn more about breeds, coops, and the life of a backyard chicken. Novices and aficionado's welcome! Location: Camp DIY.

Ken and Barbie Cosplay experience: Out of the dust a New Order of Cosplay has emerged! Gifting to couples a radical adventure into Cosplay. Location: Barbie and Ken Camp.

Hoppity Ball Obstacle Course Challenge: Bring your best game and maybe you'll get listed on the prominent leaderboard at Camp D^5. Riding a Hoppity ball over, through, around and under numerous obstacles, you'll feel the exhilaration as your hair blows in the wind and you grip the ball tightly with your legs. Maybe you have what it takes to be the fastest Hoppity ball rider this side of Gerlach! Location: Camp D^5.
PORT ARTHUR, Texas  As the nation plans new defenses against the more powerful storms and higher tides expected from climate change, one project stands out: an ambitious proposal to build a nearly 60-mile spine of concrete seawalls, earthen barriers, floating gates and steel levees on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Like other oceanfront projects, this one would protect homes, delicate ecosystems and vital infrastructure, but it also has another priority  to shield some of the crown jewels of the petroleum industry, which is blamed for contributing to global warming and now wants the federal government to build safeguards against the consequences of it.

The plan is focused on a stretch of coastline that runs from the Louisiana border to industrial enclaves south of Houston that are home to one of the worlds largest concentrations of petrochemical facilities, including most of Texas 30 refineries, which represent 30 percent of the nations refining capacity.

Texas is seeking at least $12 billion for the full coastal spine, with nearly all of it coming from public funds. Last month, the government fast-tracked an initial $3.9 billion for three separate, smaller storm barrier projects that would specifically protect oil facilities.

That followed Hurricane Harvey, which roared ashore last Aug. 25 and swamped Houston and parts of the coast, temporarily knocking out a quarter of the areas oil refining capacity and causing average gasoline prices to jump 28 cents a gallon nationwide. Many Republicans argue that the Texas oil projects belong at the top of Washingtons spending list.

Our overall economy, not only in Texas but in the entire country, is so much at risk from a high storm surge, said Matt Sebesta, a Republican who as Brazoria County judge oversees a swath of Gulf Coast.

But the idea of taxpayers around the country paying to protect refineries worth billions, and in a state where top politicians still dispute climate changes validity, doesnt sit well with some.

The oil and gas industry is getting a free ride, said Brandt Mannchen, a member of the Sierra Clubs executive committee in Houston. You dont hear the industry making a peep about paying for any of this and why should they? Theres all this push like, Please Senator Cornyn, Please Senator Cruz, we need money for this and that.

Normally outspoken critics of federal spending, Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz both backed using taxpayer funds to fortify the oil facilities protections and the Texas coast. Cruz called it a tremendous step forward.

Federal, state and local money is also bolstering defenses elsewhere, including on New Yorks Staten Island, around Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in other communities hammered by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Construction in Texas could begin in several months on the three sections of storm barrier. While plans are still being finalized, some dirt levees will be raised to about 17 feet high, and 6 miles of 19-foot-tall floodwalls would be built or strengthened around Port Arthur, a Texas-Louisiana border locale of pungent chemical smells and towering knots of steel pipes.

The town of 55,000 includes the Saudi-controlled Motiva oil refinery, the nations largest, as well as refineries owned by oil giants Valero Energy Corp. and Total S.A. There are also almost a dozen petrochemical facilities.

Youre looking at a lot of people, a lot of homes, but really a lot of industry, said Steve Sherrill, an Army Corps of Engineers resident engineer in Port Arthur, as he peered over a Gulf tributary lined with chunks of granite and metal gates, much of which is set to be reinforced.

The second barrier project features around 25 miles of new levees and seawalls in nearby Orange County, where Chevron, DuPont and other companies have facilities. The third would extend and heighten seawalls around Freeport, home to a Phillips 66 export terminal for liquefied natural gas and nearby refinery, as well as several chemical facilities.

The proposals approved for funding originally called for building more protections along larger swaths of the Texas coast, but they were scaled back and now deliberately focus on refineries.

That was one of the main reasons we looked at some of those areas, said Tony Williams, environmental review coordinator for the Texas Land Commissioners Office.

Oil and chemical companies also pushed for more protection for surrounding communities to shield their workforces, but not every property can be protected, said Sheri Willey, deputy chief of project management for the Army Corps of Engineers upper Texas district.

Our regulations tell us what benefits we need to include, and they have to be national economic benefits, Willey said.

Once work is complete on the three sections, they could eventually be integrated into a larger coastal spine system. In some places along Texas 370-mile Gulf Coast, 18 feet is lost annually to erosion, threatening to suck more wetlands, roads and buildings into rising seas.

Protecting a wide expanse will be expensive. After Harvey, a special Texas commission prepared a report seeking $61 billion from Congress to future proof the state against such natural disasters, without mentioning climate change, which scientists say will cause heavier rains and stronger storms.

Texas has not tapped its own rainy day fund of around $11 billion. According to federal rules, 35 percent of funds spent by the Army Corps of Engineers must be matched by local jurisdictions, and the GOP-controlled state Legislature could help cover such costs. But such spending may be tough for many conservatives to swallow.

Texas should be funding things like this itself, said Chris Edwards, an economist at the libertarian Cato Institute. Texans are proud of their conservatism, but, unfortunately, when decisions get made in Washington, that frugality goes out the door.

State officials counter that protecting the oil facilities is a matter of national security.

The effects of the next devastating storm could be felt nationwide, Rep. Randy Weber, a fiercely conservative Republican from suburban Houston who has nonetheless authored legislation backing the coastal spine.

Major oil companies did not return messages seeking comment on funding for the projects. But Suzanne Lemieux, midstream group manager for the American Petroleum Institute, said the industry already pays into programs such as the federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and the Waterways Trust Fund, only to see Congress divert that money elsewhere.

Do we want to pay again, when weve already paid a tax without it getting used? Id say the answer is no, she said.

Phillips 66 and other energy firms spent money last year lobbying Congress on storm-related funding post-Harvey, campaign finance records show, and Houstons Lyondell Chemical Co. PAC lobbied for building a coastal spine.

The coastal spine benefits more than just our industry, Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell, one of the worlds largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, said in March. It really needs to be a regional effort.
Seaweed Chronicles: A World at the Water's Edge

By Susan Hand Shetterly

Algonquin. 267 pp. $24.95

---

There are books that change the way you see things. Nicholson Baker's "The Mezzanine" brought a quirky new perspective to shoelaces. John McPhee's "Annals of the Former World" forever altered my view of highways cut through cliffs of schist. Similarly, after reading Susan Hand Shetterly's "Seaweed Chronicles," chances are that you'll look at sushi rolls and the brackish tangles of seaweed washed up on beaches in a new light.

Shetterly, who lives in rural Maine, is the author of the essay collection "Settled in the Wild." "Seaweed Chronicles" is a fascinating portrait of this valuable, increasingly threatened resource and a passionate plea for its wise management. It's a beautiful book, both educational and inspirational, though it would have been even better with illustrations and maps.

Shetterly is a wise, attentive observer, open to the wonders of nature. Although generally more lyrical than didactic, she helpfully frontloads the book with important facts about seaweeds: To wit, lacking roots, leaves and stems, they are not actually plants or weeds, but multi-celled macroalgae. These underwater "forests of unparalleled ecological value" anchor on rocks, shells and other rigid, stable surfaces, and supply the Earth's atmosphere with "at least half its oxygen," Shetterly writes.

Her main focus is on the brown seaweeds, including (BEGIN ITAL)Ascophyllum nodosum(END ITAL), which grows along rocky shores and provides habitats for many creatures, including vulnerable young fish and eider ducks. Also known as rockweed and knotted wrack, it is the most extensively harvested seaweed in Maine because of its many industrial uses, including in cosmetics and fertilizers.

The Japanese consume the most edible seaweed, mainly in the form of kelps like Alaria, (BEGIN ITAL)Undaria pinnatifida(END ITAL) (wakame), (BEGIN ITAL)Laminaria japonica(END ITAL) (kombu) and (BEGIN ITAL)Sagassum fusiforme(END ITAL) (hijiki). The red seaweed Porphyra, called laver in America, is raised in large aquaculture projects for nori. After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, concerns about contamination of Pacific seaweed led to increased seaweed farming in the North Atlantic, including Maine.

Demand for all seaweeds, commercial and edible, is on the rise worldwide. Never mind sushi nori, "most of us cannot get through a day without meeting seaweeds in disguised and processed form in toothpaste, pudding, pie fillings, and other soft foods, in makeup, soaps, dog and cat foods, cattle feed, and farm fertilizers," Shetterly writes.

The question is, what has the collapse of fisheries like Atlantic cod taught us? Shetterly reminds us that we have chowed our way down the food chain from whales all the way to "harvestable habitat" - seaweed. She asks urgently: "Now, faced with the loss of finfish as well as diminished populations of many other species, and with the ballooning effects of climate change and acidification, can we learn from what our oceans are still able to teach us? ... Have we learned, for instance, how to take - but not take too much? And what's too much?"

In pursuit of answers, Shetterly attends policy meetings and interviews an impressive array of phycologists (algae scientists), marine biologists, ecologists and purveyors of sea vegetables. She also accompanies seaweed harvesters and aquatic farmers to remote, rocky outposts, and makes it clear that their physically demanding, mainly solitary work is not for the weak or timid.

"Seaweed Chronicles" is filled with delightful characters and adventures. One chapter describes a frigid February day when Shetterly visits Maine's Flat Island, three miles offshore in the "wind whipped," not-so-pleasant Pleasant Bay, where shepherd Donna Kausen tends her flock of saltwater sheep. Pastured year-round on the small, windswept island in a centuries-old manner brought over from Ireland and Scotland, the sheep require no fencing and get much of their nutrition and water from kelp; feeding at low tide, they consume up to 20 pounds daily.

Another captivating chapter, "Seaweed Stories," includes instructions for an Irish farmer's "lazy" potato bed, which uses storm-tossed kelps, knotted wracks and bladder wracks to line a sort of turf-and-potato sandwich. Even more enchanting is her mother's recipe for blancmange custard thickened with carrageenan, an emulsifying phycocolloid (seaweed gel) extracted from clumps of "the cream-colored, sun-bleached blades" of Irish moss, which the author and her sister were sent to collect above the low-tide line. She notes that agar, another phycocolloid derived from red seaweeds, is widely used as a growth medium in petri dishes and to separate strands of DNA.

Much of the book focuses on efforts to protect seaweed - and the "living mosaic" ecosystem of which it's an integral part - before it is too late. While scientists study the effects of harvesting to determine guidelines, a more primal issue is being fought in the courts between Maine locals and Acadian Seaplants, the Canadian "Goliath in the seaweed business": Who owns the seaweed and the shoreline - landowners or the state? Shetterly believes that landowners are likely to be more protective of their resources and is heartened by the fact that, unlike fishermen of yore, "people who make their livelihoods out on the flats" recognize that nature's supply is limited and are increasingly becoming "dedicated stewards."

Shetterly begins and ends this book by extolling her often "bone cold" but magnificent chosen habitat, with its "mudflats that glisten like a harbor seal's wet pelt, low-tide rocks covered in layer upon layer of seaweeds," and migrating purple sandpipers and harlequin ducks. "Seaweed Chronicles" adds up to a persuasive and loving argument for "a new model of how to manage ocean resources that doesn't edge them toward oblivion."

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McAlpin reviews books for NPR, the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.
by Kamran Chaudhry

The transmission is called "Family Fellowship" and lasts one hour. It will discuss diverse themes: the effects that lies cause in family life; tolerance and respect towards your partner; the education of children. Director: "Even Muslims appreciate the talk show".

Lahore (AsiaNews) - It is called "Family Fellowship" and promotes solidarity among families. It is a program that airs on the Catholic TV channel launched by the Archdiocese of Lahore in 2009. Its director Jasber Ashiq tells AsiaNews that the purpose of the broadcast is to bring the community closer by sharing practical life experiences.

We observed that married couples are gradually lacking mutual understanding. The basis of their clashes is usually flimsy; it may be a comment by an elderly parent or attitude of an indifferent sibling. We wanted to bring them back to Church through their television sets," he added.

The 46 year old has produced more than 100 episodes of "Family Fellowship" programs on Lahore Archdiocesan cable based channel since 2009. The different themes of the hour long program include impact of lying in families, tolerance, respect for life partner, education for children etc.

"Most of our guests are working couples with low morale. We also use social media to offer guidelines for a better family. Even the Muslim viewers appreciate this talk show," said Ashiq who hosts the weekly program along with his wife.

"Some of the invited couples develop deeper relations. A few married their children with those of another guest. Some lucky ones used these references in seeking jobs."

The shows recorded this week referred to the 9th World Meeting of Families scheduled from August 21 to August 26 in Dublin (Ireland). Pope Francis, who chose its overarching theme "The Gospel of the family, joy for the world", will join last two days of the meeting.

Founded by Capuchin Father Morris Jalal in 2009, Catholic TV broadcasts programs on catechism, family issues, youth, children, hymns, bible quiz, career counseling, biblical movies in Urdu (National language) as well as live homilies on social media. It is presently being viewed in more than 20,000 Christian houses in Lahore archdiocese and some villages of Punjab and Sindh province. This week, on the occasion of the World Meeting of Families taking place in Dublin, it is broadcasting insights on the event.

Msgr. Sebastian Shah Archbishop of Lahore is presently running a fundraising campaign to launch the channel on satellite. "Our families seriously need spiritual formation in today's era. They need guidance about selecting their life partner. My families are poor because their youth avoids hard work. This is increasing depression in the community," he said. "Matchmaking is another issue. Young Christian females are more educated than the boys. Resultantly the parents find it difficult to marry them.
The Disordered Mind: What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves

By Eric R. Kandel

Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 285 pp. $30

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I called it "fascinating," and to this day I regret the word. I was a young medical student assigned to present the case of a woman in her 60s with sudden onset of psychotic behavior. The tests showed a variety of abnormalities: an MRI of her brain with abnormal signal in the deep temporal lobe and inflammatory cells in a sample of spinal fluid. But the lynchpin in the diagnosis was surprising: a mass in the left lung. She had a lung tumor that secreted an antibody that attacked her brain, causing psychosis. Fascinating. Or so I thought until I met her, along with her husband and children, and saw a glimpse of how a family confronts a devastating diagnosis, realizing that the real story of medicine lies beyond the research and revelations, beyond the scans and the science, in the human experience.

Moving from the hospital to the laboratory, neuroscientists are similarly challenged to bridge the gap: Synaptic transmission and enzymatic cascades aren't easily translated into insights about why we think or act the way we do. But Eric R. Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize for his memory research, is uniquely qualified. By studying how the neurons of the sea slug (BEGIN ITAL)Aplysia californica(END ITAL) generate a gill-withdrawal response, he mapped out the biochemical pathway that turns environmental stimuli into learned behavior - a finding that directly linked biological mouthfuls like "cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein" to more relatable and profound concepts: how we learn and remember.

In his new book, "The Disordered Mind: What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves," Kandel says that "advances in the biology of mind offer the possibility of a new humanism, one that merges the sciences, which are concerned with the natural world, and the humanities, which are concerned with the meaning of human experience." With that goal in mind, Kandel expertly surveys the great scientific advances in neurological and psychiatric disease, from the role of neurotransmitters in depression and bipolar disorder, to the neuronal anomalies in schizophrenia, to the genetics underlying Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The book is encyclopedic in covering not only the molecular biology, diagnostic techniques and treatment of each disease, but also in tracing the relevant scientific advances through history.

Yet what's notably missing amid all that information, much of which can be found in neurology or psychiatry textbooks, is the tangible human connection or, as the title promises, what all these "unusual brains tell us about ourselves." For instance, the chapter on depression opens not with broad questions about the nature of emotion but rather with the simple assertion that "we all experience emotional states." The pages that follow describe the symptoms of depression, detail how Hippocrates first recognized the condition some 25 centuries ago, account for the brain regions involved, and discuss various treatments like medication and psychotherapy, but there's faintly a mention of the repercussions for our understanding of emotion.

Even in a section titled "Emotion in Decision-Making," Kandel misses an opportunity to make the connection. He talks about a famous case: a patient named Elliot who sustained damage to his frontal lobe and developed problems with both decision-making and emotional expression, suddenly having no reaction to emotionally charged stimuli such as a picture of a severed foot. The case raises provocative questions. Why did this pattern of brain damage cause simultaneous deficits in emotion and decision-making? What does this mean about the relationship between them? Does this case illuminate why emotion is so integrated in our decision-making, often overriding our better judgement? Kandel does not ask or address these questions, which is unfortunate because there is a rich literature on this very case that could have brought Kandel's work to life.

In his book "Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain," neuroscientist Antonio Damasio postulates that the area damaged in Elliot's brain creates something called "somatic markers," physical representations of emotional states that are stored in memory and affect future decisions. So, for example, suppose you are visiting universities that you'd like to attend and, during a tour of one of them, the tour guide screams at you for walking on the grass, making you cry. That emotion is stored, Damasio says, as a somatic marker and becomes permanently associated with your memories of that university. Months from now, as you make your decision about which school to attend, that emotion re-emerges to influence your choice. You may not know why, but a feeling in your gut tells you that's not the school for you. This is Damasio's theory of how emotion and decision-making are intertwined: Our intuition or "gut feelings" are derived from emotions we've experienced and accumulated through life, and they are crucial in guiding how we choose to act.

Had Kandel spent more time merging the sciences with the humanities, a bar he set for his book, he could have transcended the raw research to address deeper questions. Like the section on emotion, the other disorders in the book receive equally pedantic treatments. When discussing memory and its pathological counterpart, dementia, Kandel delves into amyloid plaque pathology in Alzheimer's, abnormal proteins in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's, and the dementia genetics research on presenilin 1 and C90RF72, but offers no examples to illustrate how any of this affects the way a layperson might think about the nature of memory in everyday life. In a chapter on autism and social behavior, Kandel presents a master class on the history of the field, encapsulating in clear paragraphs the contributions of Leo Kanner, Hans Asberger and Bruno Bettelheim, yet he doesn't pause to contemplate the ramifications for the nature of social interaction.

The treatment of the subject matter, while coherent and systematic, seems emotionally distant from the human-level questions it concerns. Kandel unintentionally mirrors the tone of his work by quoting the psychologist Uta Frith as she describes her early interest in children with autism: "I wanted to find out what makes them behave so strangely with other people, and what made them so totally untouched by the kind of everyday communication we take for granted. ... They were completely fascinating." Scientific research can be so engrossing that even the greatest scholars can occasionally lose sight of the fact that behind all of that useful and fascinating data, there are human beings.

As an introduction to the biological underpinnings of neurological and psychiatric disease, "The Disordered Mind" is a lucidly written, accessible and fascinating read. Kandel approaches each topic with the same rigor and discipline that he must have exhibited when studying the basis of the gill-withdrawal response in primitive sea slugs. It is that meticulousness that has made him the greatest neuroscientist of our time. But if the goal is to bridge the sciences and the humanities, perhaps the scientific method in isolation falls short. To really understand the intimate connection between the mind and the myriad facets of human consciousness to which it gives rise, we must not only investigate the coding of the genome, the mapping of nerves and the architecture of the brain, but also the experience of the heart.

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Sternberg is a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the author of "NeuroLogic: The Brain's Hidden Rationale Behind Our Irrational Behavior."
The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity

By Kwame Anthony Appiah

Liveright. 256 pp. $27.95

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In his excellent new book, "The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity," Kwame Anthony Appiah takes on an estimable, if - at first glance - naive pursuit. In an era of Brexit, the 2017 Charlottesville incident, and "I Really Don't Care, Do U?," Appiah hopes to inspire a rethinking of our restrictive and therefore divisive notions of who we are. But if that seems an impossible task, should the massive obstacles stop us from trying? Appiah, a professor of philosophy and law at New York University and the author of eight previous books, brings to the task a good number of insights and the mind of a realist.

"There's no dispensing with identities, but we need to understand them better if we can hope to reconfigure them, and free ourselves from mistakes about them that are often a couple of hundred years old," Appiah writes. "We are living," he notes, "with the legacies of ways of thinking that took their modern shape in the nineteenth century, and ... it is high time to subject them to the best thinking of the twenty-first." He insists it's time for such an examination because we now live "with 7 billion fellow humans on a small, warming planet," and "the cosmopolitan impulse that draws on our common humanity is no longer a luxury; it has become a necessity."

Appiah devotes a chapter to each of the five bases of modern identity: creed, country, class, color and culture. In these areas, he writes, "we fall into an error ... of supposing that at the core of each identity there is some deep similarity that binds people of that identity together. Not true, I say; not true over and over again." In each area, Appiah details the ways a particular conception of identity is built not on solid ground but on shifting sands or, in some cases, pure illusion.

He begins with creed. At a time of ceaseless conflict between the radical Islamic fundamentalism represented by groups such as the Islamic State and the Judeo-Christian values of nations in the West, few things would seem to be more fixed and rigid than religious beliefs steeped in traditions dating back millennia. But as Appiah explains, traditions not only change - they survive by doing so, in response to the realities each generation confronts. That might suggest that religions deviate over time from rock-solid beginnings, except that a close examination of many of those beginnings reveals a fluidity of beliefs. In just one example Appiah cites, biblical scholars doubt that Saint Paul wrote the first of the Epistles to Timothy; for this and other reasons, there is room for debate about which books belong in that bedrock of Western civilization: the Holy Bible.

Appiah also takes on the very concept of "the West" on the grounds that its meaning is alternately slippery and racist. During the Cold War, for example, the West meant the opposite of everything behind the Iron Curtain, making for a dichotomy that ignored most of the globe. Often, however, the West encompasses societies with little or nothing in common, even as it "delicately carves around nonindigenous Australians and New Zealanders and South Africans, so that 'Western' ... can look simply like a euphemism for white." The concept of "Western civilization," Appiah writes, is "at best the source of a great deal of confusion, at worst an obstacle to facing some of the greatest political challenges of our time."

Appiah exposes cracks in the foundations of other fiercely defended sources of identity, such as nationality. While the dividing of land according to ethnicity may seem as old as land itself, it was only in the 19th century, the author maintains, that political movements attempted to bring national borders into alignment with identities of peoples, who had previously been defined more by culture and language than by location. He cites the example of Aron Ettore Schmitz - better known by the name under which he wrote novels, Italo Svevo - who was born in 1861 to a German father and an Italian mother in Trieste, which was part of the Austrian empire at the time of his birth but had become an Italian city by the time he died. Schmitz, the author writes, "was a citizen of one country who became a citizen of another without leaving home."

Appiah also explores the meaning of class. Status and wealth, two indicators of class, are not always linked, as demonstrated by the fact that "a penniless graduate student is differently situated from the janitor of his dormitory." Appiah quotes the work of an American sociologist of the 1970s who "discusses a Boston pipefitter who makes twice as much as the schoolteacher next door: 'when they meet, the pipefitter calls the schoolteacher "Mister" and is called in turn by his first name.'" At the same time, Appiah finds that the apparatus with which America has sought to replace the class system - meritocracy - has instead entrenched that system's worst features. Our supposed tendency to focus on talent and hard work rather than birthright may seem to be our escape route from the class system, until another tendency - the handing down of our success to our children - puts some ahead of others from the moment they're born. The difference between a traditional class system and our so-called meritocracy, Appiah notes, is mainly that the latter is free of guilt, providing little argument or incentive for changing it.

The author takes issue with those who jealously guard the language and creations of their own cultures and regard the use of such cultural expression by others as theft. His argument is that the sharing of culture elevates us all and is, in any case, inevitable; he also suggests that the very basis of cultural guardianship - the notion that any given creation is solely the work of one people - is itself suspect. We "should resist using the term 'cultural appropriation' as an indictment," he writes. "All cultural practices and objects are mobile; they like to spread, and almost all are themselves creations of intermixture." Once an object, concept or form of expression is introduced, it belongs to the larger world, and in some cases what might be called cultural appropriation certainly benefits society. The works of Aristotle might have been lost to us but for the commentaries of the 12th-century Muslim scholar ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes and frequently called "the Commentator," whose works were in turn translated into Latin. In fact, as Appiah writes, "a good deal of what we now know of the texts of classical philosophy and how to read them we know only because that knowledge was recovered by European scholars in the Renaissance from the Arabs."

Closely related to the impulse to restrict cultural achievements to specific groups is the idea that certain groups are genetically disposed to certain kinds of achievement - a notion that exposes the mistakes of racism. With regard to race, Appiah notes, as have others, that while genes help determine one's abilities, "those genes," contrary to 19th-century ideas still embraced by some today, "are not inherited in racial packages."

Having both acknowledged the necessity of identity and demolished some notions of it, "The Lies That Bind" has little specific to say about how to awaken the world to a more productive understanding of what makes up our identities. But perhaps that will be the subject of Appiah's next book. In the meantime, if the solution to the fracturing of our world remains elusive, this book at least helps us think clearly about the problem.

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Thompson's nonfiction book "What It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man's Blues" will be published next year.
A female employee of a local drive-thru that sells alcohol was dragged by a vehicle as she held on to some beer during a theft, police said.

Laredo police officers responded to the auto-pedestrian incident at about 11:13 p.m. Wednesday at Coyote Drive-Thru, 3401 Santa Maria Ave. Officers said they met with a woman who had scrapes on her knees, abrasions to her abdomen and minor bruising and bleeding on the right side of her head.
The family of a missing 32-year-old man from Laredo is asking for the public's help to find him.

According to the Laredo Police Department, a missing person's report for Pedro Javier Aguilar has been filed, but the case is under investigation by federal authorities.

Jenny Villanueva, Aguilar's sister, told LMTonline.com that Aguilar was last seen Sunday night by his wife leaving their Nuevo Laredo home.

READ ALSO: Help needed to find missing Zapata County woman

Aguilar is a U.S. citizen, but has lived in Nuevo Laredo for the past 10 years, she said.

Villanueva turned to Facebook earlier this week in a desperate attempt to find her brother and ask the community for prayers on his safe return.

"I ask you all with all my heart to please have him in your prayers and that God brings him back safe and sound," she said in a post.

Anyone with information on Aguilar's whereabouts can contact the San Antonio FBI at 210-225-6741. Information can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov. Individuals providing information may remain anonymous.

JeriLynn Thorpe is a digital reporter for the Laredo Morning Times. Read more of her stories on LMTonline.com | jerilynn.thorpe@lmtonline.com
The Webb County Sheriff's Office has a message for local drug dealers: "Report your competition."

The recently launched "Operation Report Your Competition" has been promoted with billboard advertising. The ads read: "ATTENTION DRUG DEALERS! Report Your Competition," followed by the number 956-415-BUST.

The Sheriff's Office announced that the operation resulted in four arrests in two separate investigations Thursday.

READ ALSO: Woman allegedly stole over $200K from Laredo medical office

The narcotics unit, assisted by the sheriff's deputies, conducted an investigation at a residence on the 2600 block of Saunders around 6 a.m. where a search revealed 91 baggies of crack cocaine and 65 baggies of heroin.

Celerino Jasso, 34, was arrested and charged with second-degree felony possession of heroin and crack cocaine. He was remanded to the Webb County Jail.

At approximately 11 a.m., Hector Martinez, 18, was arrested on charges of state jail felony possession of marijuana and Class A misdemeanor possession of controlled substance in the 3400 block of South Texas Avenue. He was taken to the Webb County Jail.

As deputies were conducting the investigation at the second home, a red pickup sped through the scene. Obscenities were shouted at the deputies and the vehicle ran a stop sign, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies gave chase as the driver refused to stop. He eventually pulled over and was identified as Armando Manuel Ramos, 17.

RELATED: WCSO: 14 arrested in August as part of 'Operation GOTCHA'

He was charged with evading arrest with a vehicle, a third-degree felony. A passenger in the car, Jesus Cisneros, 18, was charged with possession of controlled substance.

"These drugs are known to be part of organized crime and we need to stop them from getting to our children. The method of how these drugs were packaged are clearly an indication to be distribute in our streets and could land in the hands of our children. I congratulate our deputies for a job well done," said Sheriff Martin Cuellar. "We will continue to fight crime and keep our community safe."
A logging truck driver is dead after being struck by a piece of lumber Wednesday in Liberty County.

The driver, later identified as 33-year-old Matthew Aaron Sellers, was waiting for another worker to load logs onto his truck around noon.

While waiting, Sellers walked around the back side of the truck and into a blind spot for the worker loading the logs, according to Liberty County Sheriff's Office Capt. Ken DeFoor.

The worker loading the logs then accidentally hit Sellers in the back of his head with one of the logs, DeFoor said. Deputies and paramedics rushed to the site and immediately performed CPR on Sellers.

He was rushed to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The incident happened in a wooded area off County Road 2164 in central Liberty County. Sellers was working for Goodrich, Texas-based South Texas Logging and Transport Company at the time of the incident, DeFoor said.

Liberty County Precinct 6 Justice of the Peace Ralph Fuller ordered an autopsy on Sellers.

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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
Already convicted of murder, a North Carolina woman was convicted this week of helping her husband dispose of his ex-girlfriend's dismembered body, first trying to dissolve it in acid, then throwing it into an alligator-infested Fort Bend County creek.

Both attempts to hide the body failed, the Fort Bend County District Attorney's office said Friday. Investigators found the torso and lower leg of Laura Ackerson floating in Oyster Creek in Richmond on July 24, 2011. More of Ackerson's remains were later found by dive teams.

Ackerson was murdered by Grant Hayes and Amanda Perry Hayes in the couple's Raleigh, North Carolina apartment in 2011, the DA's office said.

Ackerson was last known to be going to the Hayes home to retrieve two young children she shared with Grant Hayes.

THINGS TO KNOW: Bank teller accused of triggering brutal robbery

The couple murdered Ackerson, cut up her body and packed it into coolers, then drove to the Richmond home of Amanda Hayes' sister.

"Once in Richmond, the couple first attempted to use muriatic acid to destroy Ackerson's body," the press release states. "When that didn't work, they took a boat onto Oyster Creek and dumped Laura's body parts into the water with hopes that alligators would eat her remains."

In North Carolina, Amanda Hayes was already convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 13-16 years in prison. Grant Hayes was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Amanda Hayes testified in her Fort Bend County trial that she did not kill Ackerson and that her husband threatened her if she did not help him dispose of Ackerson's body.

UNPROVOKED SHOOTINGS: Suspect had 'dim view of women,' deputies say

A jury convicted Amanda Hayes of tampering with evidence to impair its availability in an investigation, a second-degree felony. Judge Maggie Jaramillo of the 400th District Court sentenced her to serve 20 years in prison, consecutive to the North Carolina sentence.

"The jury verdict was swift and the Court's sentence was appropriately harsh," said lead prosecutor Amanda Bolin. "Laura Ackerson's family can be assured that Amanda Hayes will be punished for all of her barbaric behavior  whether it was in North Carolina or the great state of Texas."
WASHINGTON - Technology giants increasingly are casting themselves as defenders of online integrity as American democracy, yet again, comes under attack. Recent revelations from companies including Facebook, Microsoft and Google about foreign hacking and disinformation amount to a public answer to charges that the technology industry should have done more to thwart Russia's online attacks in 2016.

But the industry's highly publicized moves against Russian and Iranian online meddling also have thrown into sharp relief the fractured response by the federal government, say experts, lawmakers and former U.S. officials who have served in Democratic and Republican administrations.

They express frustration that a sophisticated, meticulously documented and allegedly criminal attack from Russia in 2016 has generated so little White House response, even as federal agencies are taking steps to forestall a repeat this year. They further wonder why - with the November midterm elections looming amid signs that Russia and other nations are ramping up their online interference campaigns - private companies have been left to take the most public roles in protecting the country from well-financed, hostile foreign government hackers and disinformation operatives. They also warn that foreign nations - especially Russia - are waging a multi-front assault on U.S. democracy and its critical computer systems.

"Mr. President, Trump, our nation is under attack. To members of Congress, our nation is under attack," warned GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in a hearing Tuesday. "Not just by Russia, by other outside influences. They're not knocking buildings down. They're not killing people. But they are trying to destroy our democracy."

The FBI and other federal agencies have been quietly supplying intelligence that has helped tech companies make their discoveries.

Several technology companies, including Facebook and Twitter, are meeting Friday in San Francisco to discuss combating disinformation. No government representatives are expected to attend.

White House officials have repeatedly insisted that they are forcefully engaged in the fight against foreign online interference. In response to a request for comment, a National Security Council spokeswoman referred to White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders's comment to reporters last month that "the president has been incredibly tough on Russia," including "unprecedented sanctions." The administration in March imposed sanctions on Russian hackers and spy agencies for interfering in the 2016 election, though several had already been sanctioned under the Obama administration.

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said in Geneva on Thursday after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, "I made it clear that we wouldn't tolerate meddling in 2018 and that we were prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening." Bolton said that sanctions "will remain in force until there's the required change in Russian behavior."

Yet the White House has struggled to maintain a consistent message in light of Trump's repeated public challenges to U.S. intelligence findings about Russia's disinformation campaign and its hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other sensitive targets.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 12 Russians for that intrusion and 13 others related to the disinformation campaign by the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, but Trump has repeatedly sought to undermine Mueller's investigation.

"There is nothing more important than having the commander-in-chief, the chief executive of the United States, clearly verbally assert the threats and challenges that America faces so that the American people, government, private sector and civil society are galvanized and focused," said Evelyn Farkas, who was deputy assistant defense secretary for Eurasia in the Obama administration.

Tech companies, which have been pilloried for nearly two years for not doing enough to combat disinformation during the presidential vote, increasingly are acting in urgent, public ways.

Microsoft has announced detecting hacking attempts on politicians and think tanks. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have closed Russian and Iranian disinformation accounts. Twitter has become more aggressive in tackling its long-standing problem with fake and automated accounts, called "bots," suspending tens of millions of suspicious accounts each month.

Friday's tech industry meeting in San Francisco follows a meeting in May that was attended by high-level officials from agencies responsible for election security, and was organized by Facebook's recently departed chief security officer, Alex Stamos.

Though publicly praising each other, both sides argue that the other could be more aggressive. Stamos said he felt the tech industry's response since the election has been "appropriate," but that it can do only so much without a stronger federal government response.

Federal officials "have done more, to be fair, but it's very disjointed. There are like five guys over here and 10 guys over there," said Stamos, who recently took a position at Stanford University and wrote about the struggle against foreign interference for Lawfare, a national security blog associated with the nonprofit think tank Brookings Institution.

Technology companies grew frustrated with law enforcement in the run-up to the 2016 election because they believed they were not given enough guidance on how to confront a fundamentally new kind of threat. The firms had sophisticated defenses against traditional cyberattacks but were unprepared to combat disinformation in the form of divisive social media posts and phony websites.

Stamos in particular clashed with government officials and repeatedly asked for more assistance after the election, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

By waging their information warfare on turf that is almost entirely in the private sector, Russia and other foreign adversaries have exploited the fact that their battleground is off-limits to unfettered government surveillance. That means federal agencies such as the National Security Agency and the FBI lack a holistic view of what is happening inside these networks, putting much of the burden on the private sector to detect and thwart malicious behavior.

"The NSA will never see all of these threats," said Eric Rosenbach, a former senior Pentagon official who runs the Defending Digital Democracy project at Harvard University. "We would never want the NSA to be positioned to see all of these threats. So it will have to be Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, working together to exchange threat information and taking actions on their own."

Information sharing with Congress is also hampered, tech firms say, by privacy laws that bar them from voluntarily disclosing user information - unless it is to federal law enforcement agencies with a court order.

For years, technology companies wanted to create platforms that would host speech for the largest number of voices - who, of course, also were customers for rapidly growing businesses. They were reluctant to police most content, no matter how objectionable, out of concern that it could open them to new legal scrutiny and responsibility.

But that calculus has changed in the aftermath of Russian meddling, the surge in fake news and abuse by ideological actors. Technology companies say they increasingly realize that there are serious reputational costs to the public perception that they are hurting democracy and that they face potential regulation if they are seen as not doing enough to stop the problems.

Microsoft President Brad Smith this week said that companies were accustomed to operating more secretively. "I think we in the tech sector have been on a journey for how to talk about this publicly, and how much to talk about this publicly."

The government response, meanwhile, has been hamstrung by a shortage of visible presidential leadership. Some of the most important actions when nations clash, say experts and former officials, are political, economic or diplomatic. Forceful sanctions - or the credible threat of action - can be more effective at curbing bad international behavior than an entire army of cyberwarriors trying to protect the nation's digital resources.

A clear declaration from the president could galvanize the creation of a comprehensive strategy and prompt more coordinated action among government agencies and with the private sector, experts and current and former U.S. officials say. Such a public statement also could put other nations on notice that there will be serious consequences for interfering in America's democratic processes.

"It's very important for Russia and for President Putin to hear a declaratory statement from the president," said Richard Ledgett, former deputy director of the National Security Agency. "It's important for our allies to hear it and for folks in the United States, to include people in the government, to hear that because it adds heft to the idea of an integrated U.S. government response directed from the top. By not having the president say that, Putin could perceive that the president doesn't really support this and he could keep on doing the things with impunity."

Though the government doesn't have free license to peer into private sector networks, it is gathering intelligence overseas on what activities foreign adversaries are preparing against the United States; when directed, it advances options for countering them. Taking action as a government - and with allies - is an important deterrent, experts say. In particular, they say, hard-hitting sanctions that have an immediate impact on Russia's economy are most likely to produce results.

Other options might include beefing up military alliances in the Baltic and Eastern Europe, cyber-operations that can disrupt Russian disinformation efforts, and diplomatic steps such as ensuring Russia is not readmitted to the group of highly industrialized nations, currently the G-7, experts say.

No single U.S. agency is in charge of countering foreign disinformation operations, much less advancing a strategy. "Our government just doesn't have a coordinated plan, and it makes it extremely difficult to understand who is in charge," said Stamos, the former Facebook executive.

The government could also enhance its sharing of intelligence with tech firms so that they have the most relevant data possible to help detect attacks on their networks. And, experts say, the government should be more strategic about convening private sector partners to help formulate a coordinated national response.

"Neither under Bush nor Obama nor Trump have we articulated a cyber-doctrine that says, 'If you punch us, if you interfere in our elections, if you steal our intellectual property, if you shut down our grid, here's what we'll do in response,'" said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. "This problem is not going away until we do that."

- - -

The Washington Post's Gabriel Pogrund contributed to this story.
by Thomas Han

About a hundred young people took part in the third edition of the World Youth Pilgrimage for Peace organised by the Archdiocese of Seoul. In our youth, we want to be peace makers and agents of peace, not only in the future, but now as well, in every corner of the Earth," they said. Card Yeom and Nuncio Mgr Xuareb celebrated Mass during the pilgrimage. Unification Minister said that if the wind of peace is blowing on the peninsula it is thanks to prayers by Catholics.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  About a hundred young people from around the world took part in the 300-km Wind of Peace pilgrimage between 16 and 22 August along the Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas as part of the World Youth Pilgrimage for Peace.

The event ended with a Mass concelebrated by Father Achilleo Chung, organiser, and four young priests from Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, in the chapel of Coste Hall, in Myongdong Cathedral, Archdiocese of Seoul.

The young pilgrims came from 16 countries and all continents, as well as the two Koreas. The march, right along the border, convinced them to commit themselves to peace, a desire that they expressed in a letter to Pope Francis in which they say: "In our youth, we want to be peace makers and agents of peace, not only in the future, but now as well, in every corner of the Earth".

For them, be they "Koreans and non-Koreans, Asians, Africans, Europeans and Latin Americans, Christians and non-Christians," peace is not an abstract concept. "We incarnated it when we were together, noting that there is always something to learn from each other and that we are happier when we become a gift at the service of others."

This is the third edition of the pilgrimage, which was started in 2016 by the Archdiocese of Seoul. The pope's homily in the final Mass of his apostolic trip to Korea, 18 August 2014, inspired the initiative.

During the pilgrimage, Card Andrew Yeom, archbishop of Seoul and administrator of Pyongyang, Apostolic Nuncio Mgr Alfred Xuereb and Mgr Peter Chung Soon-Taick, auxiliary bishop of Seoul, concelebrated the Mass.

South Koreas Unification Minister Cho Myoung Gyon also attended the ceremony.

Mgr Xuereb urged those present not to be discouraged by the obstacles that will be in the path to peace, but to go forward with faith in the Lord.

Card Yeom again emphasised the importance of dialogue, prayer and humanitarian aid to help the people of North Korea and promote peace on the Korean peninsula.

For Minister Cho, the wind of peace blowing on the Korean peninsula is due to the prayers of the Catholic Church.
WASHINGTON - A Republican senator whose vote could be decisive in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh called their meeting Thursday "an important step," stopping short of an endorsement after an hour-long discussion of abortion rights, health-care and executive power.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, a crucial swing vote with Republicans holding a slim 51-to-49 majority, said she and Kavanaugh had a substantive conversation in their first meeting. She said she looked forward to confirmation hearings next month to learn more.

"What I am seeking is a Supreme Court Justice with the character, the intelligence, and the balance to impartially apply the law to the facts of the case," Murkowski said in a statement. "Today's meeting represents an important step in my vetting process. That process, however, has not concluded."

An abortion rights supporter, Murkowski said ahead of the meeting that Kavanaugh's position on Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion, would be vital to her decision.

Earlier this week, Kavanaugh met with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said after their meeting that the judge regarded the decision as "settled law."

Those words delivered the strongest sign yet that President Donald Trump will likely see the appointment of a second judge in as many years to the nation's highest court.

Senate arithmetic dictates that favorable votes from Murkowski and Collins will all but guarantee Kavanaugh's confirmation, with other Republicans in favor. The pair backed the confirmation of Trump-nominee Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings start on Sept. 4. If the three- to four-day schedule proceeds uninterrupted, the GOP should deliver on its goal of having Trump's pick on the court seated by the time it convenes in early October.

Kavanaugh has faced intense partisan pressure since Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen implicated his former boss in criminal wrongdoing, with Democrats citing his potential role in deciding questions directly related to Trump to call for a delay in the confirmation process. He is accused of holding an expansive view of executive power and a hostile approach toward the indictment of a sitting president, having argued in a 2009 article for the Minnesota Law review that such a process was "badly flawed."

Democratic senators also stepped up their pressure on Republicans over their failure to release documents from his 35 months as staff secretary to President George W. Bush, saying it had created a "constitutional travesty." Asked whether he was optimistic about the judge's prospects of being confirmed amid stern opposition, Donald McGahn, Trump's White House lawyer, told The Washington Post: "I'm always optimistic."

The National Archives hold millions of files relating to Kavanaugh's career, but Republican senators overseeing the disclosure of documents fear delays to the confirmation process and say that the 184,000 pages of documents from his time working as an associate counsel in the White House and for independent counsel Kenneth Starr are sufficient.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has said that the most important documents - among them Kavanaugh's 300-plus decisions as an appeals court judge - are already public.

Kavanaugh spent Thursday morning and early afternoon meeting senior Democratic senators, who emerged from their meetings unmoved and insistent that more of his papers are released. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., a member of the Judiciary Committee, immediately emerged from his half-hour meeting to declare that the nominee's views on impeachment remained unclear and that the "black hole" covering his time in the White House meant it was impossible to further probe his views on executive power and other contentious matters.

With the aid of a calendar in his Senate office, Durbin told reporters: "What you see here in the blacked-out months is what I call the black hole in Brett Kavanaugh's record."

"That 35-month period of time - where Brett Kavanaugh served as staff secretary to President Bush - was a period of time that was rife with issues of grave constitutional moment. It's the reason why the American people have the right to know what he said, how he advised the president, what he wrote," he said.

Durbin added after their meeting that Kavanaugh had not provided reassurance on whether a sitting president should be culpable for crimes they may have committed. "There is no clarity on his position as to whether or not President Trump in this circumstance would be subject to investigation or prosecution. It's an unanswered question," he said.

Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., said he understood why people thought Kavanaugh was not being "square" with them, stating: "After what was a vigorous conversation, I know no more about Judge Kavenuagh, his values, his priorities and how he will decide cases. And if I don't know based on difficulty getting access to documents and difficult getting answers from Judge Kavenaugh about his current views and values, I'm not sure how I will know enough."

"Stonewalling, declining to answer, being hesitant or being resistant to speak I think is an invitation that leads some of us to conclude that he's not willing to be square about these issues," he added.
PARIS TOWNSHIP  Huron County's dry bean crop has potential despite the early summer drought.

"It's amazing that all of our crops look as good as they do," said Terry Cramer of ADM Edible Bean Specialties, Inc. of Ubly.

He was one of several men to address a crowd of farmers this week during Huron County's installment of the Dry Bean Variety Research Plot Tour, which was sponsored by Michigan State University and the Michigan Bean Commission.

Cramer told the Tribune there are good spots and bad spots throughout the county.

"This rain couldn't have come at a better time," he told about 40 local growers Tuesday.

Allen Bischer owns Gentner-Bischer farms, and hosted the tour.

He told the Tribune this week's rain helped the beans complete their fill and make good-sized beans.

"The early August rains helped the blossoms set into the pods instead of the plant aborting pods," he added. "When it gets too hot and dry, the plant will abort their blossoms. The won't set any pods, so the August rains helped set pods."

"From Aug. 1 on, we've received a fair amount of rain," Cramer told the Tribune. "That really changed the crop and the direction of it. We were going backwards until that point ... The most important time is when we're setting pods to have the right weather to set pods."

Cramer added: "We struggled to get emergence (beans out of the ground). Normally we have areas that (have) had too much rain and had pulls, and we've really not had that until this last rain, where we've created a few yellowing areas. But overall, with the moisture we've had (Tuesday), it's been a blessing for the bean crop."

"You've got some early planted beans that didn't set pods as well. And now, it's a race to the end of how the pods fill and set from here forward. We have potential. Whether it amounts to anything is yet to be determined."

Another benefit of the early dry weather was a decrease in the instance of white mold, which, in the past, has had an effect on yields, Cramer said.

Greg Varner, research director at the Michigan Bean Commission, addressed whether farmers should spray for white mold during dry weather.

He told the Tribune if it's dry during late July, growers should hold off spraying until the rain comes.

However, the test plot at Gentner-Bischer farms had been sprayed twice and still had white mold.

"Overall, across Huron County, you have a lot less white mold than you normally have in most years," Varner said.

During his research presentation, Varner also cautioned growers about using Glyphosate, or Roundup, noting that they would have to contact their elevator or bean buyer regarding whether they are allowed to use it.

"Some canners, and also some bean elevators, don't want you to use Roundup, or Glyphosate," he said. "Work with your elevator and your bean buyers (to find out) if they'll allow you to use it. I think as we go down the road ... with all of the controversy right now, I think we're going to have a tough road to hoe."

The research report distributed to farmers included information on fungicide use, root rot surveys, the effect of adding nitrogen in the white mold trial, dry bean characteristics, navy, black bean, small and pink bean trials and weed control recommendations.
UPPER THUMB  A non-profit organization wants to develop a residential-recovery center in Sanilac County.

The Greenleaf Township Planning Commission will host a hearing 7 p.m. Aug. 31 on Michigan House of Hope's request for a special land-use permit to build and operate a group home/residential recovery center. The plan is to develop a 30 acres site one-quarter miles east of Thomas Road on Spencer Road for it.

"We looked at several locations. We want to serve the Thumb and where we would like to build is centrally located between the Thumb's three counties. It's a perfect spot," said Jeff Kramer, who moved to the Thumb from Arizona, to develop the center.

"We are seeking to start a 12-month residential-recovery community. We are faith based and operate similar to Teen Challenge USA. We will use them as model in our program."

Teen Challenge USA uses a holistic model of drug and alcohol recovery for addictions.

"The main difference with our program is we are going to incorporate agriculture in our structure," he said. "We are looking at purchasing 30 acres where we will incorporate animal husbandry and greenhouses to teach work ethic and responsibility."

And, the Michigan House of Hope will focus primarily on those age 18 and up.

"This is a free-will program for people who want to do it. If someone does come from court or prison, we will look at accepting them. We want people who want to be here. It is hard to help someone who doesn't want help, so our program is one for people who want help," said Kramer. "We have a thorough screening process. We will not take sex offenders or people with violent crimes in their past. The safety of the community is keenly important to us.

"In our screening process, we want to take people who want to be here and who will not be a risk to the community. That is key."

Michigan House of Hope is non-profit, and is in the process of becoming a 501-C3.

"We are getting started with the backing of several churches in the Thumb. We want to create a solution in the Thumb area in opioid crisis," said Kramer. "Rural communities are dealing with the opioid crisis three times faster than urban communities. Even though some seem to think that problem doesn't exits in the Thumb.

"The Michigan House of Hope is a path to recovery for those who are looking for it."

Kramer and his wife, Judy, will live on site and manage it. The first step is getting housing units built. The plan is to hire three to four others once the center is fully operational.

There is a five-year strategic plan for the Michigan House of Hope. It starts with working with eight men and eight women, and then eventually ramping up to a complex for programs for 16 men and 16 women.

"I'm just a guy who loves Jesus. My wife and I helped the homeless in Phoenix, Arizona. That is how we got started," he said. "We prayed about ways to get more involved helping others and doing this has developed."

Kramer, whose background is in construction management, is in the process of getting his bachelor's degree for Christian addiction counseling, and then getting a masters degree.

Michigan House of Hope is overseen by a nine-member board. They are working on creating a promotional website and video to explain who they are, and will be asking communities to join in funding to help with addiction problems.

Residents who are unable to attend the township meeting about the special land use request can submit comments by mailing them to Greenleaf Township Clerk, P.O. Box 135, Cass City, MI, 48726.
WASHINGTON - A lawyer for alleged Russian agent Maria Butina filed a motion Friday arguing that federal prosecutors misconstrued a three-year-old playful exchange between Butina and a male friend in Russia to smear the 29-year-old student as a seductress who offered sex for access.

Attorney Robert Driscoll also argued that Butina should be released from jail, where she has been held since she was arrested July 15 and charged with working to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and other conservative political groups as an unregistered agent of Russia.

Butina was ordered held without bond pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson of Washington, who cited risks that Butina might flee or resume her alleged unlawful activities, as well as the government's significant evidence against her.

Last week, Butina was moved from the District of Columbia jail to another facility in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. The Russian Embassy in Washington had complained about the conditions in which she was being held.

Prosecutors have argued that Butina, who moved to the United States in August 2016 to attend a graduate program at American University, was a flight risk with deep ties to Russia and whose U.S. connections were based on "deception."

In court papers, they argued that her romantic relationship with a 56-year-old American political operative was "duplicitous" and that she had at least once offered sex to someone else "in exchange for a position within a special interest organization." Prosecutors said she also had expressed "disdain" about having to live with the operative, who has been identified as South Dakota-based consultant Paul Erickson.

The evidence that prosecutors turned over to the defense to support those claims showed that they were nothing more than a "sexist smear," Driscoll wrote, adding that they were designed to "gratuitously and falsely" impugn her reputation.

Driscoll wrote that the claim that Butina had offered sex for a position leans on a 2015 joking text exchange between Butina and a Russian man.

The man was a longtime friend who did public-affairs work for the Russia gun rights group Butina founded and had taken Butina's car in Russia to get its insurance renewed as a favor, according to Driscoll.

"I don't know what you owe me for this insurance[.] They put me through the wringer," the man wrote to her in Russian, according to the filing.

"Sex," she responded, adding: "Thank you so much. I have nothing else at all. Not a nickel to my name."

Later, she wrote, "Ask for anything," adding: "That they hire you?" - a joking reference, Driscoll wrote, to the fact that Butina's group already employed the man.

"Think of something!!" he replied. "Sex with you does not interest me."

Butina was close friends with the man's wife and child, and the exchange was "nothing more than a long-running joke between old friends," Driscoll wrote, adding that their banter included no promise of a job in exchange for the sex.

"The impact of this inflammatory allegation, which painted Ms. Butina as some type of Kremlin-trained seductress, or spy-novel honeypot character, trading sex for access and power, cannot be overstated," he wrote.

Butina is being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, which has not yet responded to the filing. A spokesperson for the office declined to comment. Judge Tanya Chutkan indicated Friday that she would address the bond issue during a Sept. 10 status conference ordered in the case.

Driscoll also argued that the prosecution's evidence that Butina had expressed disdain about Erickson is based solely on a 2015 text exchange with a female friend who had complained about her own boyfriend.

In a chain replete with emoticons and cat pictures, Butina responded that Erickson had been "bugging" her about his mother, causing her to feel like she was "residing in a nursing home," the filing said.

"Three-year old, offhand complaints about one's romantic partner being too close to their mother should be out of bounds, and certainly not asserted to be proof of a 'duplicitous' relationship," Driscoll wrote.

The Russian Embassy has campaigned extensively on Butina's behalf, calling her arrest politically motivated, complaining about her jail conditions and promoting the hashtag #FreeMaria.

Driscoll argued that Butina should be freed to home detention, noting that the activities for which she is charged were not covert and involved no collection of sensitive information. There is no evidence, he wrote, that she was ever funded by the Russian government.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed with the court a letter they had written to Driscoll, complaining that comments he has made to the media violate a standing local order prohibiting lawyers from talking about the merits of the case or its evidence outside court. They wrote that they were not yet asking the judge for relief but could do so in the future.

Chutkan on Friday indicated that she is weighing imposing a gag order in the case and asked that both sides file a submission about whether they believe one is advisable by Sept. 9.
Local drivers again got a little break when it came to the price of gas, but according to this weeks AAA Texas gas report, Midland is the only city among the 27 larger metropolitan areas with an average price of gas at or above $3.

The report also shows the two cities with the lowest average price in the state are not along the Texas coast or anywhere near it. They are Amarillo and Wichita Falls, where drivers are paying an average of $2.50 a gallon, which is 56 cents lower than what drivers in Midland pay.

On the bright side, Midland drivers did see the average price drop 1 cent. This extends the streak of weeks when the average price inside the city did not increase. But still, there are cities where gas is cheaper, much cheaper. To the west, the average price is 35 cents less in El Paso. To the southeast, drivers in San Angelo are paying an average of $2.58. To the east, AAA Texas reported an average of $2.64 in Abilene. And to the north, drivers are finding themselves in cheap-gas paradise. In Lubbock, the average price, according to the organization, is $2.51.

Distributors have told the Reporter-Telegram there are many complexities in the fuel business that impact pricing. They pointed to the high cost of transportation from Gulf Coast refineries and Midlands distance from pipelines. There are also issues with the high cost of living, at least in Midland and Odessa, where rents are climbing at rates incomparable around the nation. Theres also the supply-and-demand factor. There is a great demand in Midland and Odessa relative to the amount of supply.

Midland drivers are seeing an average price, according to AAA Texas, that is 45 cents higher than the state average and 23 cents higher than the national average. One year ago, the average price in Midland was $2.23  10 cents higher than the state average and 11 cents lower than the national average. The average price in Amarillo was $2.07. The average price in Wichita Falls was $2.09.

The average price of gas in Odessa fell by 1 cent to $2.99. Midland and Odessa still rank Nos. 1 and 2 among the larger metropolitan areas. The third highest average can be found in El Paso and Dallas ($2.71).

AAA Texas reports that gas prices across the state are getting less expensive with many Texans seeing slow, but steady pump price drops during the last few weeks.

Compared to July, consumer demand for gasoline is weaning and prices are following suit, the AAA Texas report stated. In September, gas stations will start selling winter-blend gasoline. This blend, which is cheaper to produce, contains a fuel that evaporates at low temperatures for vehicle engines to operate properly, especially when the engine is cold.

Gas price report

Cheapest gas: $2.83 (Sams Club, Tradewinds/SH 191)

Cheapest gas (non-membership club): $2.89 (Murphy USA, Briarwood/Midland Drive)

Most common price: $3.03 and $3.05

Cheapest prices in West Texas: Amarillo $2.36, Lubbock $2.38, San Angelo $2.42, El Paso $2.45, Abilene $2.54, Odessa $2.85, Midland $2.83

Mid-Odessa Texas

Thursday $3.019 $2.602

Last week $3.013 $2.620

Last month $3.046 $2.631

Last year $2.219 $2.139

Source: TexasGasPrices.com
Three injured when semi, pickup collide

GREENFIELD  Three people were injured Thursday in a crash involving a tractor-trailer on Illinois Route 267 near Greenfield.

One person was flown to St. Johns Hospital in Springfield with serious injuries. Two were taken to Thomas H. Boyd Memorial Hospital in Carrollton.

According to reports, a pickup truck crossed the centerline on Illinois Route 267, 7 miles north of Greenfield, about 2:40 a.m. Thursday.

Illinois State Police Lt. William Guard said the pickup truck collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, which went off the road and jackknifed.

Names of those involved have not been released.

The pickup truck driver was cited on a charge of improper lane use, according to police.

Morgan County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Todd S. Alexander, 56, of 1609 Rainbow Lane was booked into the Morgan County jail at 12:40 p.m. Thursday on a theft charge.

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Paul D. Gray, 28, homeless, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:16 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of aggravated assault.

 Sierra C. Daniels, 23, of 120 E. Vandalia Road was booked into the Morgan County jail at 4:13 a.m. Thursday on charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Compiled by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree and Greg Olson
Republican lawmakers taking cues from their leaders about how to address the conviction and guilty plea of two former top aides to President Donald Trump so far have two strategies to choose from: silence or avoidance.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made no mention in a Thursday floor speech of the conviction of former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort or the guilty plea by the president's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. McConnell's office also had no comment when asked to weigh in. A day earlier, McConnell declined to respond to questions from reporters about the president's growing legal woes.

The House isn't in session, and the office of Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., hasn't offered a reaction since saying Tuesday that he needs more information before commenting.

"It's hard to draw any hard and fast conclusions," said South Dakota's John Thune, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate. "Until we know more, I think everybody is in a wait and see mode."

The muted GOP reaction reflects a difficult political calculation for lawmakers ahead of November elections that will determine controls of the House and Senate. Republican candidates who criticize Trump risk alienating his supporters when they need a strong turnout from core GOP voters. But avoiding the legal and political storm around the president risks turning off independent voters and Republican Trump skeptics who will be decisive in dozens of swing districts where Democrats pose the biggest threat to the GOP House majority.

The latest political hurdle for Republicans was thrown up Tuesday when Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign law in 2016 while implicating the president in the payment of hush money before the election to two women who said they had affairs with Trump. The same day, Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted on eight counts of tax-and bank-fraud charges related to his work in Ukraine as a result of an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

There are a lot of Republican House members who represent pro-Trump districts where their constituents aren't paying attention to the legal troubles ensnaring the president's associates or don't believe the inquiries are legitimate, according to two GOP aides. For that reason, they said, the Republican-controlled House isn't going to jump into the lead on executive branch oversight.

Trump's job approval among Republican voters was 87 percent in a Fox News poll released Wednesday - nearly twice his rating among Americans overall.

But the party's concern is that the rolling controversies and bad news may depress Republican turnout in competitive districts, the biggest threat to GOP chances of keeping control of the House, according to the aides, who asked for anonymity to discussing internal strategy.

It's unclear whether the GOP-controlled Congress will look further into the allegations raised by Cohen. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Thursday his committee staff has contacted Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, as a first step before deciding whether the panel will investigate Cohen's claims about Trump.

So far, there have been no instructions directly from GOP leaders on how to respond to questions about Trump and his inner circle, one of the aides said, but there is a previously planned conference call next week, before members return to Washington in September.

Rep. John Faso of New York is among House Republicans who say they don't need guidance in staking out a positions to Trump's legal battles.

Faso said in an interview that he's not avoiding discussion of Trump's legal issues in his tight re-election race against Democrat Antonio Delgado, which the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates as a toss-up.

"The special counsel should be permitted to complete its work, and let the chips fall where they may. It's important for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to allow the legal process to play out." Faso said. "Those who are drawing any legal conclusions now are being highly speculative."

Other lawmakers, such Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Tim Scott of South Carolina and John Kennedy of Louisiana, took a similar approach to specific questions about Cohen and Manafort.

"We haven't heard all the chapters of this book yet," Kennedy said, declining to say if there should be hearings, investigations or pardons.

Democrats are trying to turn the response by Republicans into a campaign issue itself.

"Was this the moment when Republican leaders finally stood up and said 'enough'?" Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday. "Apparently, my Republican colleagues cannot rouse themselves to offer even a word of criticism for a president now implicated in a federal crime."

Democrats depicted the Cohen and Manafort cases as the latest examples of what they alleged was the corruption pervading the Republican ranks. They revived their calls for legislation to protect Mueller's Russia investigation, which Ryan and McConnell have declined to bring to a vote.

Trump plans to travel the country to campaign on behalf of Republican candidates -- a decision likely to ensure the 2018 elections are a referendum on his presidency. He went to West Virginia on the day of the convictions to campaign for Patrick Morrisey, a Republican running for the Senate against incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin.

On Thursday morning, Trump remained defiant in an interview on Fox News's "Fox & Friends," criticizing Cohen's plea deal and complaining that Republicans are targeted too often by federal prosecutors. He tweeted Wednesday that Manafort, unlike Cohen, "refused to 'break' -- make up stories in order to get a 'deal.' "

The White House response has been "rather unhelpful" to Republicans, adding to the bind GOP candidates are in, said Alex Conant, a former spokesman for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. .

"Echoing the president's statements that Manafort is a great guy and Cohen is a bad lawyer isn't the best talking point if you're a Republican facing a tough re-election," he said. "Bottom line is that Republicans really don't want to to be talking about Trump's legal problems because it's a huge distraction from our positive story."

--With assistance from Bloomberg's Anna Edgerton and Billy House.
The Spanish government decreed the removal of dictator Francisco Franco's remains from a mausoleum outside Madrid, fulfilling a pledge made by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez when he took office in June.

The decree was approved Friday and is still subject to confirmation by a vote in parliament. Until that happens, Franco won't be removed from the Valley of the Fallen monument, 34 miles from Madrid. The government has disclosed no new destination.

The military general governed the country from 1939 until his death in 1975 after leading nationalist forces to victory in the Spanish Civil War in which an estimated half a million people lost their lives. The dictator's body was interred in a basilica cut into the mountainside near the town of El Escorial under a giant stone cross that for many Spaniards remains a symbol of the divisions of the conflict.

The memorial was built using forced labor from political prisoners between 1940 and 1958. It contains the remains of 33,847 people killed during the civil war, according to Patrimonio Nacional, the agency charged with managing the property. The dead are from Franco's winning nationalist army and the losing Republican side.

"To have the victims of both sides in the same place where Franco continues to have -- in a manner that's totally unacceptable for a modern democracy like ours -- a state tomb, is a lack of respect and peace for the victims who are buried there," Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said in a news conference on Friday.

About 41 percent of Spaniards approve of the idea of removing Franco from the monument compared with 38.5 percent who don't, according to a Sigma Dos survey carried out last month for El Mundo, a center-right newspaper. Even though the survey pointed to a slim majority in favor of exhuming Franco, 54 percent of those asked said they didn't think that now is the right time to do it, according to the poll released July 15.

The conservative People's Party, the largest group in the Spanish parliament, and the liberals of Ciudadanos -- the fourth biggest -- say they don't support Sanchez's bid to remove Franco because the government should have other more important priorities.

The Spanish parliament last year approved a Socialist proposal to remove Franco from the monument but the symbolic vote had no legal force.

Sanchez promised to unearth Franco's remains from the memorial when he made his case in late May to overthrow his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, in the country's first successful no-confidence motion in its 40-year democratic era. The Socialist leader lined up an alliance of formations including anti-establishment party Podemos, and nationalists and separatists groups from Catalonia and Basque Country regions.

About 500,000 people died in the Civil War, according to estimates cited by the Encyclopedia Britannica.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump continued to publicly spar Friday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, urging him in early morning tweets to investigate a long list of what the president termed "corruption on the 'other side.'"

"Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

His exhortation followed a remarkable public war of words Thursday between Trump and the former senator from Alabama, whom he appointed to lead a Justice Department that is now conducting multiple investigations related to the president and his closest associates.

FIGHTING WORDS: Trump, Sessions spar as president rages

After Trump offered fresh criticism of Sessions on Twitter on Thursday, Sessions responded with a statement saying his department would "not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

In his Friday tweets, Trump quoted Sessions's statement, calling it "GREAT" and "what everyone wants."

But Trump then ticked off a list of issues that he said Sessions should be investigating, including Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state; the alleged "lies & leaks" of former FBI director James Comey; the alleged "conflicts" of special counsel Robert Mueller; the anti-Trump texts sent by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page; and the alleged "illegal surveillance" of Trump's campaign in 2016, a claim that has been largely discredited.

In a later tweet, Trump referenced the case of Reality Winner, a Georgia woman who was sentenced this week to 63 months in prison for leaking a classified report on Russian hacking.

Trump called that "small potatoes" compared to what Clinton had done regarding her email server, an issue that was investigated by the FBI that led to no criminal charges.

"So unfair Jeff, Double Standard," Trump wrote.

LOCKED AWAY: National Enquirer hid damaging Trump stories in a safe

Trump's tweets come amid a relentless attack on Mueller's ongoing investigation into possible coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 election and whether Trump has obstructed that probe.

Earlier this week, the Justice Department secured a guilty plea from Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and a guilty verdict against his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, on charges that surfaced amid the investigation but were not directly related to Russian election interference.

Cohen pleaded guilty to charges that included campaign finance violations stemming from payments to two women to remain silent about alleged affairs with Trump. Manafort was convicted on fraud charges related to work before he joined the Trump campaign.

On Thursday, speaking to the Fox News Channel, Trump said that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department" and again faulted him for recusing himself from the investigation of Russian interference in the presidential campaign.

"What kind of man is this?" said Trump, who also asserted that he appointed Sessions as attorney general only because of the loyalty that the then-senator demonstrated during the campaign.

That prompted the statement from Sessions defending his department and pushing back against attempts at improper political influence.

During the Fox interview, Trump declined to say whether he plans to fire Sessions, a move that even some Republicans have cautioned Trump not to make.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump declared his support Thursday for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., wading into a closely watched race that has divided Republicans.

In a pair of late-afternoon tweets, Trump wrote that Hyde-Smith has helped him "put America First!" and has his "complete and total Endorsement."

Hyde-Smith was appointed earlier this year to succeed Republican Thad Cochran, a longtime senator who stepped down amid health problems. She is running in a special election that will be held on Nov. 6, the same day as the regularly scheduled midterms.

Republicans are defending a slim 51-49 Senate majority - making every race a potentially decisive contest in the battle for control of the upper chamber of Congress.

Also in the Mississippi race is Chris McDaniel, an insurgent conservative who has been hostile to Senate GOP leaders and nearly defeated Cochran in 2014. McDaniel was encouraged to run by Stephen Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist. He was a supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the 2016 presidential primary.

Candidates of all parties will compete on the same special election ballot in Mississippi. If none of them receive a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will head to a runoff.

Some Republicans have worried that if McDaniel, a polarizing figure, advances to a runoff against a Democratic candidate, the seat would be at risk of flipping from red to blue.

Trump's endorsement has proven to be a valuable asset to Republican candidates in primaries this year. While Trump is a deeply unpopular figure in many areas of the country, in ruby-red Mississippi, Republican strategists believe he can be a powerful motivator.
This is a perilous political moment for President Donald Trump, which means that it's time to pay a visit to the well of resentment and hatred that got him to the White House.

This week, the president has promoted two stories - an imagined oppression of white farmers in South Africa and the murder of an Iowa woman named Mollie Tibbetts. His actions offer a vivid illustration of how he and the entire conservative movement use race-baiting to keep the Republican base in a state of agitation and anger. The move takes the focus away from issues that could weaken the standing of the president and his party.

We'll start with the Mollie Tibbetts story, which has a familiar ring: A young white woman allegedly murdered by an immigrant, whom the president then uses to argue for both immigration restrictions and the election of more Republicans. Here's what Trump said at a rally this week in West Virginia:

"You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico, and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman. Shoulda never happened. Illegally in our country. We've had a huge impact, but the laws are so bad. The immigration laws are such a disgrace. We're getting them changed, but we have to get more Republicans."

We should note that whether the suspect is actually undocumented is in dispute. And you'll notice that, as he always does in these cases, Trump describes the victim as "beautiful," as though her death might be less of a tragedy had she been less attractive. But how did this story get on Trump's radar?

The answer lies in the fact that Trump is not an outlier within the GOP. It's not as though he dragged an unwilling party toward the use of race-baiting as a core political tactic. He's only the most visible manifestation of a strategy that reaches back decades and today is on a constant hair-trigger.

There's a network of conservative media outlets and political figures always on the lookout for ways they can promote hate, fear and resentment among white people. When something like Tibbetts' murder happens, they swing into action. Trump's own involvement actually comes only after he has been alerted to the case by this network.

On Wednesday, the morning of that rally, Axios reported that "Former Speaker Newt Gingrich emailed Axios' Mike Allen to make sure that we'd be covering" the Tibbetts story, which was already in heavy rotation on Fox News. Gingrich - who is more responsible than any other single figure for America's slide into vicious, bitter partisanship over the last couple of decades - explained that "If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble. If we can be blocked by Manafort-Cohen, etc., then GOP could lose [the House] badly."

In other words, the danger for Republicans is that the news media might pay too much attention to one of the largest presidential scandals in decades and not enough attention to the story of one young woman's murder. They're doing what they can to forestall that possibility: I searched this morning on foxnews.com for Mollie Tibbetts' name and came back with a remarkable 192 results - 192 separate stories and videos about this case.

In 2016, the last year for which we have complete data, there were 17,250 homicides in America, so Tibbetts' murder is one of a huge number of tragic stories of violence that could draw national attention at any given moment. And as you've probably heard by now, we know that immigrants in general, and undocumented immigrants in particular, commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans do.

But when conservatives decide immediately upon hearing about it that this is the story they want to call attention to, they aren't doing it because of their commitment to stopping crime. They're doing it because it gets Republicans mad - an anger that was the basis of Trump's victory and is the foundation of the business model for Fox News and other conservative media outlets.

On Wednesday, the White House tweeted out a video featuring family members of people killed by undocumented immigrants, whom they say were "permanently separated" from their loved ones, a direct reference to the Trump administration's family separation policy at the border. The linking of these isolated cases with the policy of taking children from the arms of parents seeking asylum almost seems to posit that policy as a kind of revenge taken out on immigrant families for crimes other people have committed, or at the very least setting up a ludicrous and repellent moral hierarchy: Sure, we're traumatizing children and parents, but it's better than killing the children, right?

Now let's turn to the second issue Trump decided to draw attention to this week: a white supremacist conspiracy theory. On Wednesday he tweeted:

"I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeoto closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. 'South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.'"

Sen. Bob Corker called the tweet a "base stimulator," and when asked what that meant, he replied, "Well, there are portions of those who support the president that are - I'm sure that generates excitement. I mean, it's - you know what I'm saying."

Indeed we do.

Where did the story come from? A pipeline of hate that pours its effluent into the Oval Office. For years, white nationalists, alt-righters, neo-Nazis and other assorted deplorables have been complaining about an alleged "white genocide" occurring in South Africa around the issue of land reform. From various Internet chat rooms, the cause was taken up by right-wing hucksters like Ann Coulter and Mike Cernovich.

Then Wednesday, Tucker Carlson did a segment about it on his Fox News show, which Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple says might be better titled "Your hour of white grievance." Trump watched and sent out his tweet, and the result is a minor diplomatic crisis.

Naturally, white nationalists are elated that Trump has taken up one of their pet causes. But they may not realize that he couldn't care less about South African land reform. By next week he'll have forgotten all about it, just as he'll forget all about Mollie Tibbetts once she's been replaced by another "beautiful" white girl whose death he can exploit for political ends. The only constant is that he'll keep looking for new ways to keep white voters angry and afraid, in the hopes that it can save him from whatever political peril he faces.

Which is why it may only get worse.
President Donald Trump has warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller to steer clear of his personal business empire in his investigation of Russian meddling. Now that a guilty plea by the president's ex-lawyer has implicated the Trump Organization, however, federal, state and local prosecutors are circling.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is weighing whether to pursue criminal charges against the company and two top officials, a person familiar with the matter said. Lawyers say former Trump fixer Michael Cohen opened the Trump Organization to an array of probes when he pleaded guilty to campaign finance-related charges.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan referred to - but didn't charge - the Trump Organization this week in its case against Cohen, suggesting federal prosecutors have already stepped past what the president has said is a red line for him.

Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Trump turned over control of his company to two of his sons and Weisselberg before he was inaugurated.

Revelations in the Cohen charging documents - that the Trump Organization made sham payments to Cohen to reimburse him for buying the silence of porn actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels - suggest U.S. prosecutors are laying the legal groundwork for further scrutiny.

Plus, the president is contending with the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, which is known not just for taking on aggressive cases but also for its expertise in financial crimes.

"It's not my experience that federal prosecutors in Manhattan would leave open questions and not pursue them when there clearly are others who might be implicated in crimes," said Noah Bookbinder, executive director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "They should look hard at all of them."

Cohen's plea also gives state and local authorities a toehold to launch probes of the business's financial statements and tax records, said Paul S. Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, a Washington-based government oversight group.

That possibility raises the stakes significantly for Trump, threatening not just his political future but his wealth. And Trump's sensitivity to questions about his business extends to his personal income, which he has steadfastly refused to detail by breaking from tradition and shielding his tax returns from public view.

On top of that, the moves pose a different kind of peril for Trump from the Russia investigation. Unlike in federal cases, Trump has no power to pardon crimes charged by state prosecutors and no authority to shut down a state investigation into his business.

In his plea Tuesday, Cohen admitted that Trump directed him to pay hush money to Clifford shortly before the 2016 election in violation of campaign finance law. The Trump Organization approved paying Cohen $420,000 early last year based on sham invoices he submitted to recoup the $130,000 he paid to Clifford, according to court documents.

One Trump Organization executive instructed an employee to incorrectly record the first of Cohen's payments in the company's books as a "retainer" for the months of January and February 2017, the documents show. But prosecutors said that there was no retainer.

The company paid Cohen more than double what he claimed he ultimately spent for Trump's campaign. At least three Trump Organization employees were involved in the effort, according to court records. According to Ryan, the reimbursement exposes the company to laws banning so-called straw donors.

New York state laws could also come into play. The bogus invoices that Cohen submitted to the Trump Organization for reimbursement could open the company to claims it falsified business records, according to Mark A. Bederow, a Manhattan criminal defense attorney.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has already sought a referral from the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to launch a criminal tax probe of Cohen's activities, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It's clear that Cohen's bills and the way Trump's company accounted for them "were intended to conceal the truth," Bederow said, adding that such conduct would be a Class E felony in New York.

Sham invoices clearly are falsified documents, said Alfredo F. Mendez, a former chief of financial crimes for the New York Attorney General's office who's now a partner at law firm Abrams Fensterman Fensterman Eisman Formato Ferrara Wolf & Carone LLP. But to rise to the level of a felony charge, state or local prosecutors would have to determine whether Trump Organization executives knew the documents were bogus - and whether they were created to cover up other crimes.

In Manhattan, Vance's office is weighing whether to investigate the company and the individuals for possible books and records violations, one of the people said. If Vance proceeds, it is expected that he will coordinate his investigation with federal prosecutors to make sure his office is not duplicating or interfering with their efforts, the person said.

Jenny Johnson Ware, a Chicago criminal tax defense attorney, said the details of the Cohen case raise tax questions. The Trump Organization recorded some of the payments to Cohen as tax-deductible legal expenses.

"The only reason to do that would be to hide the nature of the payment and to make it tax deductible," Ware said. "You know the saying, 'Where there's smoke, there's fire'? Well, this is lots and lots and lots of billowing smoke."

- - -

With assistance from Bloomberg's Bill Allison, Greg Farrell and Erik Larson.
A man running from Medina County authorities was shot in the abdomen Wednesday night while struggling with a deputy in Hondo.

Roy Guzman Jr., 42, is facing charges for aggravated assault of a public servant and other charges, the Medina County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

Medina deputies and the Hondo Police Department were attempting to serve search and felony arrest warrants at about 8 p.m. in the 1800 block of 16th Street in Hondo.

A deputy found the suspect, identified as Guzman, while he was driving and tried to pull him over.

Thats when a short pursuit began and Guzman rammed the deputys vehicle with his own, authorities said.

Guzman then drove to a home near 16th and Avenue F, deputies said. Once there, he ditched his vehicle and started running with officers still in pursuit, authorities said.

A deputy caught up to him and the two started fighting, investigators said.

During their struggle, the deputy fired a round from his service weapon, striking Guzman in the abdomen, the release states.

Guzman was airlifted to University Hospital where he is in stable condition as of Thursday, deputies said.

The Medina County Sheriffs Office is investigating.

jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
By Toby Walsh, Professor of AI at UNSW, Research Group Leader, Data61

Sshutterstock/Alexandr III

When it comes to the tech giant Google, secret plans to launch a new search service in China prompted a furious reaction from more than 1,400 of the companys employees.

A staff letter, obtained by Buzzfeed and published late last week, says:

To make ethical choices, Googlers need to know what were building. Right now we dont.

They are reacting to news, revealed earlier this month by The Intercept, that Google is developing a new censored search engine in China, codenamed Dragonfly.





Read more:

Hackers cause most data breaches, but accidents by normal people aren't far behind





In the letter, staff demand more transparency and oversight into such decisions, and question whether the project meets Googles recently announced ethical principles for AI.

They are asking for a Code Yellow to address ethics and transparency at Google. This is a standardised and transparent process used in engineering to tackle problems that span multiple groups.

Google and China

Google search has been available to Chinese users before, but to keep the site open, Google self-censored results that the Chinese government didnt want its citizens to see.

That changed after sophisticated cyber attacks began to be directed at Googles servers in 2009. Google decided that the cost of doing business in China was too high, and stopped censoring the search results.

As a result, in March 2010 Google joined the list of internet services blocked by the Chinese government. The list currently includes Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Youtube, Dropbox and the websites of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters.

Google now appears to have changed its mind and decided that it will pay the price to do business in China.

The secret Project Dragonfly has been under development since early last year, but was accelerated after a meeting at the end of 2017 between Googles chief executive Sundar Pichai and a top Chinese government official.

The new search engine is planned to be launched within nine months, pending approval from Chinese officials. (It may be a coincidence, but Dragonfly is also the name of the 240ft superyacht owned by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.)

When employees revolt

This isnt the first time employees of tech companies have raised ethical concerns about the impact of their work.

Workers at Microsoft, Amazon and Salesforce have also called on their management to cancel controversial contracts with US agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection.

Even Google has faced criticism from staff before. Earlier this year, employees concerns were raised about the companys involvement in Project Maven. The episode prompted Google to announce its ethical principles for AI.

Its not just employees who are speaking out. Customers, investors, journalists, human rights activists and regulators are all raising ethical concerns about the actions of the technology companies. Even comedians are getting in on the act.

The big tech

The six largest companies in the world today by market capitalisation are all technology companies. This has given them immense power over our lives.

For instance, recent events show that tech giants have the potential to shape elections.

With this immense power comes immense responsibility. But why are so many of their employees, their customers, their investors and their regulators concerned about the ethics of their behaviour?

There is probably not a simple, single answer, but a lack of transparency is not helping.

Google, for instance, announced some thoughtful principles to guide its use of AI. But it hasnt been more open in how these are applied. Who, for instance, sits on its ethics board? What decisions have they blocked? Its not enough to be ethical. You have to be seen to be ethical.

The preferential share structures set up by many tech companies also dont help. Mark Zuckerberg owns fewer than 20% of Facebooks shares but has nearly 60% of the voting power.





Read more:

Taking on big tech: where does Australia stand?





Similarly Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt own a minority of shares in Googles parent company Alphabet, but control more than 60% of the voting power. The founders of both companies can pretty much do as they wish.

It may be time then to reconsider the modern corporation. The public limited company was an invention of the industrial revolution, designed to let the new industrialists take risks and exploit the steam engine and electricity for the benefit of society as a whole.

Perhaps we need a new, more responsive, more inclusive type of corporation. One that lets entrepreneurs exploit new digital technologies, but holds them to account within the wider society in which they act.

The article includes a summary of research into AI and ethics appearing in the author's recent book, "2062: The World that AI Made".

Originally published in The Conversation.
Last week, a jury awarded $289 million to a groundskeeper who worked with Monsantos weed-killer, Roundup, because of its ability to cause cancer. The verdict paves the way for additional Roundup lawsuits.

Details of the Monsanto Roundup Lawsuit

According to FOX Business, Dewayne Lee Johnson became sick with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Roundup for two years as a groundskeeper for a school district outside of San Francisco. The California jury concluded that Monsantos weed-killer put Johnson, who is now terminally ill at age 46, in danger of severe health complications.

It is the belief of the jury that the company either knew, or should have known, about the health risks of the weed-killer.

There are thousands of people looking to sue Monsanto under similar allegations, for which Johnsons case has now opened the floodgates.

There is another case, brought by Aaron Johnson, a 48 year-old macadamia nut farm manager. In 2014, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Monsantos weed-killer for over 12 years, and is looking to sue the company.

Despite the verdict in Dewayne Lee Johnsons case, and the impending lawsuits, Monsanto Vice President Scott Partridge it does not change the fact that more than 800 scientific studies and reviews  and conclusions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and regulatory authorities around the world  support the fact that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and did not cause Mr. Johnsons cancer.

Monsanto is planning to appeal the decision next month.

Verdict Could Open Way for Pending Lawsuits

Monsantos history with this chemical, and information revealed from the companys internal records is detailed in the new book Whitewash, written by investigative journalist Carey Gillam. Gillam says that the companys attempt to cover up studies connecting the chemical with cancer is now in the public spotlight.

Due to this case, and the 4,000 other impending cases, Bayer, the new owner of Monsanto, may have to pay out hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in damages.

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The Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced that he has allocated 4.25 million to a new Fodder Import Support measure. The Minister made the announcement having secured the agreement of the Minister for Finance & Public, Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe T.D.



In light of the recent severe drought conditions and their impact on an already difficult fodder situation, I am introducing a support measure contributing to the cost of importing fodder from abroad. This additional commitment to securing adequate fodder supplies builds on a range of supports already put in place the Minister said.



This measure is being introduced to reduce the cost to farmers of imported forage (hay, silage, haylage, alfalfa etc.) from outside the island of Ireland. The measure will operate through the Co-operatives/registered importers and will cover forage imported from 12th August 2018 to 31st December 2018 and will be subject to EU State Aid (de-minimis) rules.

The Minister stressed that while the measure will operate through the Co-operatives/registered importers, the actual beneficiaries will be farmers who need supplies of fodder.



Minister Creed added that, As was the case in the earlier Fodder Import measure of last spring, participation will be straightforward for the farmer who contacts a participating Co-op/registered importer and purchases fodder. My Department will subsequently reimburse the Co-op/ importer with a contribution towards the cost of transport.

Application forms and terms and conditions are made available through the Co-ops/registered importers shortly and will also be available on the Departments website at https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmerschemespayments/fodderimportsupportmeasureautumn2018/





The Minister concluded by saying that the measure I am announcing today will provide a valuable extra source of fodder, complementing the range of initiatives I have already introduced this summer focused on maximising the production of fodder from our own land resources. I will continue to monitor the fodder situation closely and work with all stakeholders until we have successfully addressed the issues around fodder availability.

How do farmers apply?

Farmers should contact their local participating Co-op/registered importer indicating their intention to purchase, and volume of fodder requested. Farmers pay the Co-op/registered importer for the purchase of the fodder.



How will payment be made?



The Department will pay the participating Co-op/registered importer a standard contribution towards the cost of transport.



Which are the participating Co-ops/registered importers?

A full list of participants will be made available on the Departments website.



Support measures already put in place include securing advance payments of EU aid under Pillar 1 and 2, resulting in 260 million in additional cash flow; additional flexibilities to certain GLAS measures to increase fodder production; the allocation of 2.75 million to a Fodder Production Incentive measure for tillage farmers and an extension to the period for spreading chemical and organic fertilisers to allow farmers avail of late season grass growth.




Longford children will form part of 40 dancers who will perform Sean Nos dancing for the Pope in Croke Park on Saturday, August 25.

Edwina Guckian's Airc Damhsa Dance Club were asked to perform at the World Meeting of Families 2018 by Tyrone Productions following a number of TV appearances such as the Late Late Toy Show and the All Ireland Talent Show.

The teacher said the children are more excited about dancing in Croke Park than dancing on TV or for the Pope!

She said children from Cullyfad, Drumlish and Killoe will join other dancers at the club from Leitrim, Westmeath, Sligo, Roscommon, Mayo and Offaly.

Over 70,000 will be in Croke Park for the event where Pope Francis will deliver an address to all assembled and five testimonies by families from Ireland, Canada, India, Iraq, and Africa will be presented.

The Sean Nos dancers aged 5-15 years will open the show and join Riverdance on stage for a six minute performance. Edwina said they are performing a brand new piece with original music composed by David Brophy. They have been rehearsing in Dublin and will rehearse again in Croke Park on Friday, August 24.

The Longford children will be performing along with big names such as Daniel O'Donnell and Nathan Carter, The Priests and around 2,000 performers.

It is a huge honour to be asked to perform and it is certainly one the children will never forget says Edwina.

The World Meeting of Families 2018 Festival is a two hour event. It is a ticket only event and will be broadcast live on RTE2 television as well as on radio on Saturday 25th at 6.30pm.

Read Also: Timetable for visit of Pope Francis to Knock released

Road closures for Pope's visit to Knock
A man has been arrested and charged after a large quantity of cannabis herb was recovered from a house in Edgeworthstown last Wednesday afternoon (August 15).

In a joint operation with customs officers, gardai carried out a search of a premises at around 3pm.

It's understood the cannabis herb, which was recovered, has a street value of 5,000.

A man in his 30s was arrested at the scene and detained for questioning before later being charged and subsequently released.

He is due to appear at a court sitting at a later date.

The recovered drugs have been sent away for analysis, a garda spokesman said this afternoon.

The events of last Wednesday come hot on the heels of recent revelations which showed gardai are continuing to ramp up the pressure on gangs believed to be involved in the cultivation, sale and distribution of cannabis.

As revealed in last week's Leader, no fewer than 15 targeted operations have been carried out by detectives locally.

The relatively high number of targeted operations levelled against well established criminal enterprises is something senior garda management have been keen to continue on in recent times.

Only eight weeks ago, 60 gardai and members of the Armed Support Unit arrested nine people following an 18 month surveillance led operation that concentrated on high value targets involved in the supply and distribution of drugs in the Longford town area.

Eight of those nine individuals later appeared and were charged at a special District Court sitting on misuse of drugs charges.

The Garda operation, which was conducted by two undercover gardai, included around 50 transactions with the estimated value of drugs seized at between 1,500 and 2,000.

Three more people appeared at a subsequent court sitting just before the summer recess and are due back before Judge Seamus Hughes on September 25 next.

That followed a further breakthrough back in January when two Lithuanian men were charged in connection with the discovery of professionally modified 360,000 cannabis growhouse in Abbeylara.

Read Also: BREAKING: Man charged after gardai and customs carry out drugs raid on house in Edgeworthstown

Longford Gardai ramp up pressure on cannabis gangs
Since 2005, 21 pubs across the county have closed according to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI).

There are almost 1,500 less pubs in Ireland since that time indicating a decrease of 17.1% within the sector.

Rural counties saw the most significant drop in pubs, which the industry says have served as a major source of employment regionally.

Commenting on the findings, Padraig Cribben, Chief Executive Officer, Vintners Federation of Ireland and member of DIGI said the fact that the number of pubs was down 17.1% in the period from 2005 to 2017 was a worrying statistic.

These pubs are small businesses, mainly in rural Ireland, that provide significant employment and continue to create jobs in local communities, he added, before pointing to the fact that in Longford-Westmeath alone, the hospitality and drinks businesses enabled 6,139 jobs while in Donegal, there were 368 pubs and 7,445 jobs supported by the industry.

This demonstrates the scale of employment that this sector creates rurally, however, the sharp decline in the number of pubs is worrying and is further evidence of the need to monitor the industry and ensure the necessary supports are in place to reverse this trend.

Mr Cribben went on to say that while it was clear the Government was committed to assisting small rural businesses recover during the recession, business owners in the drinks industry had been challenged by two increases in alcohol excise tax in Budget 2012 and Budget 2013.

Our punitive alcohol excise tax  the second highest in the EU  slows the growth of these businesses and impacts their day-to-day operations and bottom line, he continued.

DIGI is calling on the Government to reduce Irelands high rate of excise tax.

A reduction in alcohol excise tax will encourage the growth of our drinks and hospitality sector, return money to Irish consumers and make Ireland more competitive internationally.

According to the latest findings by DIGI, there were 7,831 pubs in Ireland outside of Dublin in 2005. By 2017, that number had dropped by 18.7% to 6,367.

Cork, which has the largest number of pubs, saw the most significant decline in the country. In 2017, Cork had 915 pubs  a 25% decrease from 1,221 in 2005.

Wicklow, Meath and Dublin saw the smallest decline in publicans licenses with Wicklow pubs dropping from 158 to 157 while Meath was down three pubs from 210 to 2007.

Meanwhile, in 2017, there were 773 pubs registered in Dublin city and county  down only 1.7% from 786 in 2005.

However, the number of Dublin pubs in 2017 is 4.3% higher than in 2012 - the lowest year for the number of pubs in Dublin and in contrast to publicans licences, off-licences have seen an increase of 11.8% since 2005.

3,331 premises registered an off-licence in 2017, compared to 2,966 in 2005.

Licences for wine-only bars and restaurants were also up 3.1% since 2005.

In total, there were 866 fewer liquor licences registered in Ireland in 2017 than in 2005 - a decrease of 5.6%.

Read Also: Is Longford's rural pub industry on the brink of collapse?

Its made a Good Friday a great Friday - Longford folk give thumbs up to relaxing of Good Friday drinking laws
Sports & Recreation, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2018

All donations and race proceeds will assist local veterans.

East Meadow, NY - August 24, 2018 - Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, in partnership with the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency and JP Morgan Chase, announced a 5K/10K Walk and Run for Veterans this Saturday, August 25th from 9:00am-2:00pm at Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, in partnership with the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency and JP Morgan Chase, announced a 5K/10K Walk and Run for Veterans this Saturday, August 25th from 9:00am-2:00pm at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow

My administration is committed to serving our veterans and ensuring resources are provided to them once they return home from service, said County Executive Curran. I thank JP Morgan Chase for partnering with Nassau County for this event and helping to provide much needed assistance to our local veterans, including employment, food, clothing and other living expenses.

The 5K/10K Veterans Walk & Run 2018 will help disadvantaged veterans with much needed assistance to include housing, suicide prevention and help sponsor the bi-annual stand down event. All donations and race proceeds will assist local veterans. Awards will be presented for the fastest runners of the 5K and 10K races. Donations will be accepted in place of walking or running.

Interested participants can pre-register online at www.NassauVetsRun.com . Race Day Registration will be permitted on the day of the event from 7:00am-8:45am. The cost of race entry is $30.00 and will provide direct support for local veterans in the community.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2018

Owenburg is a member of the Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen's Association where he served as President.

Jerry Owenburg has been re-elected to the Board of Trustees of the FASNY Firemens Home.

West Babylon, NY - August 24, 2018 - Jerry Owenburg, a 48-year veteran of the fire service, has been re-elected to the Board of Trustees of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Firemens Home, a specialized residential healthcare facility for retired volunteer firefighters in Hudson, NY. Owenburg was elected at FASNYs 146st Annual Convention in Syracuse, New York on August 12. He will continue to serve another five-year term as a Trustee.

Owenburg joined the West Babylon Fire Department in 1970 at 20 years old. He joined his father-in-laws fire company, Rainbow Hose Co. 1, and served as Lieutenant in 1973. In 1974 he moved to Mastic , where he joined the Mastic Fire Department . He served with the Mastic FD for six years, serving as second Lieutenant in 1978, before moving back to West Babylon where he rejoined the West Babylon FD.

He then rose up the ranks in West Babylon from Chief Driver, Lieutenant, Captain and now Treasurer of Rainbow Hose Co. 1. In 1992 he became the Third Assistant Chief and then Chief of Department in 1998. In addition, Owenburg is a member of the West Babylon Rescue Squad as an EMT for 10 years.

A member of FASNY, he began with the Communications Committee and then moved to the EMS Committee. He has organized the Long Island Day at the FASNY Firemen's Home for the past twelve years, where Suffolk County and Nassau County come together to visit and honor their fellow firefighters.

Owenburg is a member of the Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen's Association where he served as President. He is also the Past President and Treasurer of the Suffolk County Firefighter's Burn Center at Stony Brook University Hospital . In addition, he is a Director from Suffolk County to the Southern New York Firemen's Association, a member of the Suffolk County Fire Safety Educators, where he is now the voice of Sparky the Fire Dog, and is the Caregivers Coordinator for the Firefighters Cancer Support Network.

He worked for the Town of Babylon Highway Department for 32 years, from a laborer to a General Supervisor.

Owenburg is married to his wife Ellen of 48 years and they have three children Jerry Jr., Shawn and Jennifer. They also have seven grandchildren; Andrew, Emily, Connor, Meghan, Jack, Abigail and Emma.

About FASNY
Nassau, Suffolk Elected Officials to Join Panel Discussion on What IS Albany Doing for Long Islands Small Businesses in 2018?

Local News, Business & Finance, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2018

A number of small business owners have left for greener pastures in other states because they feel lawmakers here are not working in their best interests.

Long Island, NY - August 24, 2018 - Is there a Nero fiddles while Rome burns sentiment growing in the small business community on Long Island? Based on the increasing number of empty store fronts and vacant office buildings, that seems to be the case.

A number of small business owners have left for greener pastures in other states because they feel lawmakers here are not working in their best interests.

But one organization, Long Island Advancement of Small Business is seeking to change that perception by inviting elected officials from both counties to join their peers in a panel discussion where they will be questioned about how they intend to vote on issues that directly or indirectly affect small businesses.

It is important to keep our politicians cognizant of the state of small businesses on Long island, says John Hill, founder and president of Long Island Advancement of Small Business (LIASB) whose mission is to provide a single voice to its members that will be heard by Local, State, and Federal political leaders.

Panel participants include: Assemblyman Michael Montesano, Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo, Senator Elaine Phillips, Senator Phillip Boyle, Senator John E. Brooks, Assemblyman Frederick Thiele, Assemblyman David McDonough and Assemblyman Andrew Raia who will be moderating the discussion.

The panel will be asked questions such as:

What incentives have you proposed to keep businesses on Long Island?

What economic incentives have you proposed to help Long Island businesses grow?

The panel discussion is open to the public and will be held at Adelphi University Conference Center, 55 Kennedy Drive in Hauppauge on Wednesday, September 12th from 7:30am to 10:00am. A complimentary buffet breakfast will be served. Admission is free for LIASB members, $25 for online registrants and $30 at the door. All are welcome, but attendees must sign up for the event before attending.

Tickets can be purchased on the website at www.liasb.org
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2018

Free Pension Benefits Briefings Available to Veterans and Family Members.

Suffolk County, NY - August 24, 2018 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announces multiple outreach events throughout the fall designed to give substantial information regarding disability and pension claims, including eligibility requirements and benefits, for Suffolk County veterans. The Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency (VSA) collaborates with other county agencies, such as the Suffolk County Office for the Aging and the Department of Social Services, to inform veterans of potential benefits that may be available to them and to assist them in applying for them, including the VAs best kept secret  pension funds available for the widows of veterans.

The Veterans and Widows program includes Pension with Aid and Assistance. To qualify, the veteran or widow must require the assistance of another person with their daily living skills (such as bathing, dressing, eating, or administering medication) and they must be paying a caregiver (family members may qualify) or live in an assisted living facility.

The Veterans Service Agency (VSA) brings a wealth of information to our residents, said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. Our veterans have served the American people with honor and sacrifice. Its important that we support their service when they come home by not only making sure they know what is available to them, but helping them to access those resources.

Suffolk County VSA is a valuable resource to the community, said Director of Suffolk County Veteran Services Tom Ronayne. Tasked with serving not only veterans but also Active Duty military, National Guard, Reserves, family members, dependents and survivors, we extend well into the community. County Executive Bellone has been very effective in advancing the philosophy that we owe our very best to those who have and those who continue to serve this great nation. Through VSA, and in partnership with many other county agencies, we accomplish much of that.

The Office for the Agings mission is to assist older residents remain independent and safe in their homes and communities for as long as possible, said Holly Rhodes-Teague, Director of the Suffolk County Office of the Aging. We have a long history of working with the Suffolk Veterans Service agency to ensure that older Veterans receive the community based services they need to stay in their communities near family and friends.

Partnering with additional agencies provides added value to the population. For example, when working with the Office of the Aging, participation can be significant, as they share a large crossover of clients. Medicare, HEAP, Meals on Wheels, and other aging and senior-specific services and programs may apply to veterans as well. DSS often assists with more immediate benefits such as SNAP, emergency housing, childcare and other traditional DSS services. Together, the agencies work together to provide comprehensive services for those in need.

About the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency

The Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency is dedicated to ensuring that all veterans, both peacetime and wartime, receive the maximum amount of support, services and benefits they are due in the shortest amount of time. The Suffolk County VSA handles claims for benefits; compensation, health care, pension, housing, employment, education, burial benefits and a variety of other services. All Suffolk County Veterans Service Officers are veterans themselves who are devoted to assisting other veterans. Working with partner agencies including military organizations, the Office of the Aging, the Department of Social Services and non-profit organizations such as Beacon House, Long Island Cares, and Supportive Services for Veterans Families. In 2017, the VSA participated in approximately 25 outreach events. Their hope and intention is to continue to grow and expand that outreach each year.

Across all points of contact, including office visits, home visits, hospital visits, nursing home visits, correspondence and outreach, the Suffolk County VSA serves approximately 20,000 veterans and family members annually.

The outreach tour schedule is as follows:
The Alt-Left needed a big win, oh did it ever. With the stock markets highs, unemployments lows and the mid-term elections bearing down fast, the frantic fanatics needed a ruckus and what better place to stage it than at the antifa hotbed, Chapel Hill, N.C., this where a Civil War statue was just ripe for picking. I know these strange words that have crept into our diction are confusing but think of antifa and alt-left as hard-left liberals and rowdies at that, for lack of a better term.

Monday nights toppling of a Civil War statue at the University of North Carolina went exactly as planned. Four minutes before the shouting crowd grabbed hidden ropes and pulled Silent Sam onto the statues face with a mighty boom, the police were quietly ordered to stand down. The lone arrest during the entire melee was a 24-year-old hothead who was not a student at the university.

Add that Chancellor Carol Folt had said she was for the removal of the statue. Its presence has been a source of frustration for many people not only on our campus but throughout the community," but later she added, Last nights actions were unlawful and dangerous."

And now the questions swirling among the leaves on the gorgeous campus are not pretty at all. As state legislators, the Governor and wealthy university benefactors raise their eyebrows and wondered Is this what we have become? university officials seemed to sense what was coming.

UNCs top two leaders issued a joint statement: The safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount," President Margaret Spellings and board chairman Harry Smith said in a statement Tuesday. "And the actions last evening were unacceptable, dangerous, and incomprehensible. We are a nation of laws  and mob rule and the intentional destruction of public property will not be tolerated."

House speaker Tim Moore added that those involved should be arrested and prosecuted. Mob rule and violence will not be tolerated in this state, he vowed, but rumblings around the state included how much money do the taxpayers give to support such shenanigans. Weve come a long way since pantie raids, one quipped.

Campus leadership is in collaboration with campus police, who are pulling together a timeline of the events, reviewing video evidence, and conducting interviews that will inform a full criminal investigation, Smith and Spellings said.

Phil Berger, who leads the state Senate, told reporters, Many of the wounds of racial injustice that still exist in our state and country were created by violent mobs and I can say with certainty that violent mobs wont heal those wounds, Berger said.

Only a civil society that adheres to the rule of law can heal these wounds and politicians  from the Governor down to the local District Attorney  must start that process by ending the deceitful mischaracterization of violent riots as rallies and reestablishing the rule of law in each of our states cities and counties.

And therein lies the real rub. Bob Woodson, a genuine hero in the Civil Rights movement, told Fox News several days ago, I'm outraged that, as a veteran of the Civil Rights movement, we fought to fulfill the dream of America. We supported our founding values and our principles, but we also didn't destroy anything in the name of justice. For those people who are out there, who are supposed to be heirs of that legacy, they are a fraud.

I am against taking those statues down. To remember something doesn't mean that you are celebrating it. The Jewish people bought the Holocaust Museum because they said it's important to remember it. As a Christian, we remember the cross not because it celebrates Roman oppression, but because it is victory over death, we celebrate.

Woodson scoffs at the word activists. These are anarchists. They're not Freedom Fighters, stated Woodson. Those of us in the Civil Rights movement should speak out against this outrage.

He says the monument issue is being used to detract from the real picture. We have more blacks killed in one year than were lynched in 70 years, he said. Between 1873 and 1950, 4,000 were lynched, brutally, but 6,000 blacks were killed in one year and taking a Confederate statue down does nothing for saving a life in Chicago.

The wise heads know hes right. It is easy to see how some, eager to fine-tune upheaval before an election just a month away, have used the University of North Carolina as no more than a cheap tool but, boy, give them credit for the delivery.

In the aftermath, I am thinking Silent Sam may trigger the truth, even if it has taken over a decade of standing sentry for todays folly to arise. If the independent investigations, with FBI experts pouring over the many videos and matching the faces that we saw in Charlottesville, become clear, youll find that the Civil War of 150 years ago has little to do with todays true strife.

Just wait, youll see that sometimes things are far different than when they first appear. Just find out who bought the ropes 

royexum@aol.com
Early in July, Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson announced that the province would be reverting back to a sex-ed curriculum last updated in 1998. The new PC government has called the updated 2015 curriculum age-inappropriate, a failed ideological experiment, and claim that not enough parents were consulted in its development. Thousands of teachers, parents, students, and health care professionals have spoken out and taken action against this decision, rightfully concerned about the impact this measure will have on students.



The conservative argument

The decision to revert back to the 1998 curriculum has been applauded by right-wing conservative groups such as the Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), a religious, pro-life non-profit that advocated extensively for the repeal. This curriculum, after all, was approved before gay marriage was legalized in 2005. The CLC even created a petition, allegedly collecting 16,000 signatures, demanding that Ford fulfill his promise. The brochure that explains their position on the curriculum makes arguments that are clearly homophobic, calling the 2015 sex-ed component gay propaganda, a parody of true marriage, and an assault on the mind and innocence of your child. Their main concerns are clearthat the curriculum [w]ill normalize homosexual family structures and homosexual marriage in the minds of 8-year-olds, without regard for the religious/moral beliefs of families. Added to this are arguments against the inclusion of transgender people in the curriculum, claiming that teaching children about transgender issues would be too confusing.

The CLC also opposes the 2015 curriculum because of its inclusion of content related to reproductive health, something that was completely left out of the 1998 curriculum. They would rather students remain ignorant on how to prevent sexually transmitted infections or unwanted pregnancy. According to their website, these discussions teach values that are fundamentally incompatible with Catholicism. The 1998 curriculum, on the other hand, was much more compatible with the Catholic faith.

According to Ford, the reversal to the 1998 curriculum will remain in effect until a more thorough consultation with Ontarian parents has been completed. Ford claims that this will be the largest education consultation ever conducted in Ontario, aiming to consult parents from all of Ontarios 124 ridings. Ford wants us to believe that his real issue is not with the curriculum per se, but the fact that parents werent consulted. In truth, Ford is openly pandering to the religious right for political gain, but doesnt dare admit it. However, many in Ontario are seeing through Fords smokescreen.

Teachers, parents, students fight back

On July 21, a thousand students, parents, and teachers rallied in Queens Park in Toronto in solidarity against the PC governments decision to repeal the 2015 curriculum. Overall, the government has faced substantial resistance since their announcement in early July.

Nearly 500 registered teachers have signed an online Pledge to Teach the Right Thing, vowing to continue teaching the 2015 curriculum.

Whether you have it enshrined in the documents or not, you cant simply say were going to pretend like these things dont exist and expect 60,000 teachers in Ontario to suddenly go along with pretending that its 1998 says Jason Kunin, an English teacher in Toronto. You can repeal the curriculum but these conversations are still going to happen.

In support of their teachers, Ontarios two largest teachers unions came out saying they oppose the decision, 26 school boards have spoken against the repeal, and several public school boards have said that important sex-ed lessons will continue to be taught this fall despite whatever the government tells them to teach.

The government is also facing a petition signed by nearly 1,500 health care professionals, as well as a Human Rights Challenge being filed on behalf of at least six families worried that their children will be harmed and have their rights violated by the old curriculum.

An open letter to the new Ford government was signed by 21 community and sexual health organizations, demanding that the 2015 curriculum be reinstated: Revoking the 2015 update means our children and youth will lack key education on consent, online safety, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and sexual health. This will put Ontarios children and youth at higher risk of sexual violence, sexually transmitted infections, exploitation, bullying and abuse.

In response, the Ford government appears to be backtracking somewhat on their hardline position. As Lisa Thompson said in late July:,We know they need to learn about consent We know they need to learn about cyber safety, we know they need to learn about gender identity and appreciation. But we also know that the former Liberal governments consultation process was completely flawed. This shows that a mass movement of working class people is the most effective way to fight against the bigoted views of Doug Ford.

Which way forward in the fight against Ford?

Since coming into office, Doug Ford and his administration have done nothing but attack the education system, social services, and the overall conditions of the working class. His actions against the sex-ed curriculum are another unacceptable attack that panders to the most bigoted layers in Ontario, and threatens the security and social development of its youth.

This cannot be tolerated. The actions taken by the teachers, students, and parents are a huge step forward in the fight against the Ford government. The refusal by the teachers to teach the old curriculum is just one example of the type of civil disobedience that is needed to defeat Ford and his administration. Its that same defiant spirit that needs to be taken up by the anti-Ford movement as a whole, and the labour movement in particular. Only then can we teach this government the lesson it so badly deserves.
There is a crisis flowing downstream towards the mouth of arguably the worlds longest river. The Nile has been the source of Egypts water supply  and therefore the basis of agriculture in the country  for many thousands of years.

Through a complex system of dykes and man-made basins in the flood plains of Upper Egypt, and of canals in the Nile Delta, Egyptians have managed to wield this marvel of nature for their own ends, allowing agricultural production to thrive in otherwise inhospitable conditions. In modern times, first the Aswan Low Dam, and then more significantly the Aswan High Dam, have taken Egypts mastery of the Nile to a higher stage. At one point, the High Dam generated half of the countrys electrical power (around 10-15% today), and its water reserves have helped supplement irrigation to overcome potential crop failures during years of drought.

Now, a situation is developing upstream in Ethiopia, which carries an existential threat to the Egyptian Niles fundamental place in the countrys economy. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) situated on the Blue Nile, which is set to house the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa, is nearing completion. Once construction of the dam is finished, the reservoir it will contain will be filled over a three to five-year period, massively depleting the volume of water flowing into Egypt during that time.

The Nile water supply is already struggling to sustain the growing Egyptian population, and issues such as water contamination and salinisation caused by rising sea levels are badly affecting farming in the Delta. The added factor of a dramatic drop in the amount of river water arriving in Egypt could be catastrophic. As well as leading to the ruin of huge swathes of farmland, it could result in a shortage of water for personal consumption affecting millions of Egyptians.

Ethiopia stands to benefit enormously from the opening of the dam, which should actually produce a more electricity than the country needs during the rainy seasons. This will be sold on to Sudan, which will have a power line connected to the Ethiopias national grid. Sudanese farmers will also benefit from the regulation of flooding that the dam will bring about, which should reduce the damage to crop production occasionally caused by the Nile.

In theory, surplus electricity generated by the GERD could also be directed to Egypt. Given the devastating effect that the dam could have on Egypts water supplies, however, the Egyptian government has been wholly opposed to the project from the beginning. As the construction process nears its conclusion, the GERD is becoming a major source of tension between Egypt and several North African countries.

The Nile and Egypts position in North Africa

Egypt has one of the largest economies in Africa, and for historical reasons has for a long time been able to assert its dominance over the sub-Saharan countries with whom it shares the Niles water supply. Up until 1952, the Egyptian administration played a part in governing Sudan on behalf of the British Empire. Because of its strategic importance to British imperialism, Egypt was guaranteed control over the lions share of Nile water, as signified in a 1929 agreement with Sudan. This meant that there was no question of the rivers water supply being siphoned off before it reached Egypt.

In the 1950s, however, a group of revolutionary officers took power in Egypt and overthrew British colonial rule. Their leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, initiated a programme of industrialisation, which included the building of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s. Under Nasser, Egypts position towards Sudan changed from declaring unilateral rule over the country to calling for Sudanese independence from Britain.

This was achieved through an anti-colonial revolution in Sudan in 1958, which led to discussions with Nassers Egypt regarding the division of the Nile waters on a more equal political footing. Nasser aimed to gain the approval of the Sudanese government for the construction of the new dam by offering compensation for any potential flooding of northern Sudan, as well as the rights to a portion of the Nile waters. The conciliatory hand extended to Sudan also reflected the vision of Pan-Arab Socialism which Nasser, taking his anti-imperialist stance to its logical conclusion, was being driven towards.

However, although the nature of the Nile Water Agreement of 1959 was completely different from the previous diktats of British imperialism, it still reflected Egypts dominant position in relation to Sudan. Egypt was apportioned 55.5bn cubic metres of Nile water to Sudans 18.5bn cubic metres. The industrialisation under Nasser raised the Egyptian economy further above its North African neighbours, and with this came political seniority. During the regimes that followed in Egypt, this relationship shifted more and more to its advantage.

Throughout the 20th century, Ethiopia, which, in theory, being far upstream controls the flow of 86% of Nile water, was nowhere to be found in any political discussions about use of the river. This is because the country figured as an economic non-entity in the region. Still one of the poorest countries in the world, there was no question of it having the financial or political clout to muscle in on any discussions regarding the division of the Niles water supply.

That is, until 2009, when the Ethiopian government surveyed a site proposed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 1964 for building a dam to rival the High Aswan Dam, which was then being funded by the Soviet Union. The government has evidently been successful in its campaign for foreign investment, with Chinese banks funding the turbines and electrical equipment of the power plant to the tune of $1.8bn.

The advent of this project points to two things. Firstly, the need for imperialist powers  in particular a Chinese ruling class with a massive excess of capital accumulation which it cannot invest internally  to seek new markets for investment. These new markets necessarily include the most backward economies in the world, which were previously a no-go area for the most costly infrastructure developments. And secondly, the grave decline of Egypt as the dominant power in North-East Africa.

Egypts crippling economic crises of the past decade, along with the weakness and instability of its regime, has meant that it cannot impose its political will on a situation such as this one as before. This was made clear when the Egyptian government effectively signed away any rights guaranteed by the 1929 and 1959 agreements in a declaration with Sudan and Ethiopia, proposed on Ethiopias terms, in Khartoum in March 2015.

Lately, in a laughable attempt to show that they will not be pushed around by their supposedly weaker neighbours, the Egyptian regime has deliberately reignited tensions with Sudan over the Halaib Triangle, a long-disputed territory on the borders of the two countries. In January this year, Sudan recalled its ambassador from Cairo, citing these tensions. Egypt then sent troops to an Emirati military base in Eritrea, which led to Sudan closing their border with the country.

Any military, or even serious diplomatic action, against Sudan at this stage would be an adventure too foolish for even this senile Egyptian presidency to consider an option. Such a conflict would almost certainly spell a hasty exit for the Sisi regime from the scene of history. However, the hysterical ramping-up of tensions being conducted by the regime demonstrates the extent to which they have been humiliated over the GERD. They are trying to distract the Egyptian people from this humiliation by appearing to take significant measures regarding an unrelated issue.

Nevertheless, this regime cannot help but expose itself at every turn. This June, in front of the worlds media, President Sisi asked the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to swear to God that Ethiopia will not do any harm to Egypts water. Ahmed gladly obliged, and Sisi returned triumphantly to Cairo, looking rather like Neville Chamberlain as he stepped off a plane waving a piece of paper proclaiming peace with Hitler.

The construction of the GERD puts Egypt in a difficult position politically. But this situation only serves to underline the complete bankruptcy of the regime, which is at a total loss as to how they can stem the tide. Now, yet another crisis heading their way, this time from the source of their countrys greatest natural asset.

The socialist solution

The building of this new dam will undoubtedly help the economies of Ethiopia and Sudan, and may well lead to some improvements in the lives of people afflicted by the most awful poverty. But these improvements will almost certainly come at great cost to the lives of millions of Egyptians, as is being predicted. Coupled with the desperate economic predicament already being suffered by the majority of Egyptians, and the ecological problems already damaging Egyptian farming, the arrival of a Nile crisis at the rivers mouth could cause an all-out social crisis in Egypt.

This situation makes clear, above all else, the utterly inefficient and deeply destructive nature of capitalism. Three countries could share a wonderful and indispensable natural resource, planning the distribution and use of this resource for the benefit of all, aided by international support on the basis of necessity. Instead, the governments of these countries are pitted against one another in a scrap to appropriate Nile water for the gains of their own states and at the expense of others. Meanwhile, international investors look to facilitate this dispute by piling ever-greater levels of debt on the backs of one of these peoples. This is to be paid back with interest to the detriment of public assets in that country.

The overthrow of capitalism and the successful struggle for a socialist society would remove the need for crises such as this one. The Nile water would not be divided up or appropriated on a national basis. Any decisions taken on how best to exploit the resource for human consumption would be taken democratically in the interests of all ordinary workers and peasants, and would ultimately have to be arrived at according to human need. The whole world economy could be run by planning under democratic workers control, with key decisions affecting workers in many countries at once necessarily taken with transnational agreement. In this way, any negative side effects of a particular decision, such as farming in one area being affected by the decision to build a dam in another, could be offset by a reorganisation of relevant production and distribution on an international scale.

It is examples like the developing Nile crisis which, provide us with a stark reminder of the disastrous future that awaits humanity under capitalism. Thats why it is imperative that in all countries, from northern Europe to Egypt to Ethiopia, we must continue the fight for socialism.
SPRINGFIELD -- "Beautiful" and "impressive" were among the words overheard again and again from visitors who streamed into MGM Springfield on Friday as the $960 million gaming establishment opened its doors to the public for the first time.

More than 10,000 people lined up outside the casino and resort -- the first of its kind in Massachusetts -- ahead of its grand opening. Hours later, many of those visitors said they were not disappointed by the wait or their experience at MGM Springfield.

"From what I have seen of it so far it looks fabulous," said East Longmeadow resident Gail Miller, who attended opening day festivities with her husband, Bob Miller.

"It's here, and I am so excited about it," she said. "We are going to gamble and have a good time."

Nagel Stone, who drove two hours from Reading for the casino's opening, said his first impression of MGM Springfield was "very positive."

"It's very impressive. ... Even the elevators were impressive," he said, adding that the property "looks beautiful."

Margaret Drobiak, 51, of Chicopee, called the casino resort "absolutely beautiful."

"It's a lot better than I had expected," she said. "Happened to be a great turnout. I'm excited. Hopefully I'll win some money."

Maria Estrada, a Springfield resident who arrived bright and early for the procession before the casino's 11 a.m. opening, was one of the first people to walk through MGM Springfield's doors.

"I've played the penny slots so far," said Estrada, who visits Foxwoods regularly. "I think it is a good thing for the city."

Estrada's son, Doug Rosemond, came from Washington, D.C., to visit the casino with his mother.

"I'm excited to be here and check it out," he said. "I really like they way they designed this place. I've been to the MGM National Harbor, and that one is very glamorous, but this one has a sense of nostalgia and an appreciation of Springfield history that I really like."

Pete Deering, 57, of Saratoga Springs, New York, said there's no comparison between MGM Springfield and gaming establishments near his home in upstate New York.

"It's like on steroids and much nicer," he said of MGM Springfield. "I've been to Rivers (Casino in Schenectady) as well. Rivers is nice, but the layout of Rivers doesn't compare to this - Rivers is kind of like a box, while this one really looks like a Las Vegas casino."

Pedro Rivera, a 63-year-old Holyoke resident, said he thought MGM Springfield was "very nice, very nicely decorated."

"The parade was nice, there's a lot of people down here, which is one of the things you want - to bring people to the area. So far, so good," he said.

Rivera added that he's "optimistic" about what MGM Springfield will do for the city.

"So far, there's been a lot of employment. That's a big deal," he said.

Wilbraham resident Maura Lessard, who took the shuttle over to the casino from the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, said she was struck by the excitement and high spirits of those around her.

"People are nice, they are excited," she said. "This is really a big deal, it's history in the making."

The Republican's Elizabeth Roman and George Graham contributed to the reporting of this story.
Thursday night marked 99 years of a vibrant Italian religious celebration that is a cornerstone of Boston's North End neighborhood.

Saint Anthony's Feast began Thursday evening with the procession of the Feast of Saint Lucia, the patron saint of the blind and eyesight.

Women young and old helped lead the procession as members of Saint Lucy Society of Boston. Younger members lifted the statue of Saint Lucia down the tight city streets in the North End, setting her down as supporters adorned the saint with dollar bills that help their non-profit society.

Tomorrow night, male members of the non-profit San Antonio Di Padova Da Montefalcione, Inc. will help lead a similar procession with Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost and stolen things.

The societies were found in the early 20th century when Italian immigrants first arrived in Boston.

"I stop and think about all those guys that came here, and they came here with nothing. Like every immigrant that comes to the U.S., they come here with nothing but a dream," said Christian Guarino, a North End resident and the vice president of the neighborhood's Saint Anthony non-profit group.

"These guys came here and they brought the dream of Saint Anthony and continuing the tradition from their hometown. So the fact that we're doing it almost 100 years later, it kind of gives me the chills," Guarino added.

The initial Saint Anthony's Feast began in 1688, according to Guarino, and is now an international event in cities around the world.

Gary Pasquale, financial secretary of the group, said he loves to see how the tradition is passed down generationally.

"It's like Christmas in August," Pasquale said. "When Saint Anthony comes out Friday night, he's coming out at the exact moment that he's coming out in Italy."

The event, which runs from Thursday through Sunday, includes a variety of food vendors (mainly Italian with some other options), festival games, as well as jewelry and souvenir stands. There are signs aplenty for homemade ravioli, Italian sausages and fried calamari.

As the Italian street bands and society members carried Saint Lucia down the winding neighborhood streets, they shouted "Viva Saint Lucia!"

While Boston's North End neighborhood has changed dramatically over the last 99 years -- namely with rising real estate costs pushing some tenants out -- 69-year-old lifelong resident Michele Tirella said the family-oriented feast continues to draw a familiar crowd each August.

"The neighborhood has changed," Tirella said. "But you can see a lot of these people are North End or former North End. They always come back for the festival."
Worcester police arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with a July 4 quadruple shooting in Dorchester.

Jyarie Shoulder, of Dorchester, was arrested in Worcester Thursday on a warrant for multiple counts of assault and battery with a firearm. Worcester police worked with Massachusetts State Police and Boston police to find Shoulder.

Police were called to Fayston Street in Dorchester around 7 p.m. on July 4 for reports "multiple people" shot. Then-Boston Police Commissioner William Evans told NECN that an argument broke out on Fayston Street.

Four men were shot close to a child's birthday party in a neighboring yard. All were taken to a local hospital.

"What's real frustrating to me is we had, close by, one of those bouncy things where we probably had 25 kids jumping up and down... which, it's fortunate, we didn't have any young kids hit by the crossfire," Evans told NECN at the time.
WESTFIELD -- Governor Charlie Baker and his entourage gathered Thursday at Westfield Gas & Electric headquarters to hear an update on rural broadband deployment in Western Massachusetts.

"This is big," said Baker to employees of the municipal utility, which is planning and building fiber optic networks in 20 small towns. "You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves."

The utility's Whip City Fiber division is partnering with communities that have long struggled without high-speed internet service. Networks are already live in Otis and Alford, and 18 communities are in the queue.

"It's like drinking from a firehose," said WG&E operations manager Aaron Bean. "We're looking at 20,000 poles and a thousand miles of buildout."

Baker lauded general manager Daniel Howard for the company's "geographic and professional credibility," and said implementing the state's "Last Mile Program" would not be possible without Whip City Fiber.

State and local officials exchanged expressions of hope and gratitude.

"This is critical infrastructure," said Gayle Huntress, chair of the Shutesbury Broadband Committee. "And we've made tremendous progress in the last nine months."

She and others described years of delay and frustration on the local level, and said there's now a light at the end of the tunnel.

Present were Baker; Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito; Massachusetts Broadband Institute chair Peter Larkin; deputy housing and economic development secretary Carolyn Kirk; and Bill Ennen, who is the state's broadband liaison to the towns. On the legislative side, Sen. Adams Hinds, D-Pittsfield, sat and listened.

Broadband committee leaders from Shutesbury, Otis, Plainfield, and New Salem fielded questions from Baker and talked about progress and challenges.

The 20 towns working with Whip City Fiber are Otis, Alford, New Ashford, Plainfield, Rowe, Shutesbury, Leyden, Washington, New Salem, Ashfield, Cummington, Windsor, Chesterfield, Colrain, Wendell, Heath, Becket, Goshen, and Blandford.

Outside of the Whip City Fiber rubric, two other municipal broadband projects -- a fiber-optic network in Mount Washington and a hybrid fiber-wireless project in Royalston -- are complete. A town-managed wireless project in the town of Warwick is also underway.

Many towns are combining state grant money and local taxes to fund their own broadband infrastructure. The idea is that the networks, once built, will be self-supporting via internet service provider subscription fees.

Other towns are going with different solutions, including build-outs by cable providers Comcast and Charter, or partnerships with other infrastructure providers. There have been disagreements and bumps in the road in some towns, and a small handful are still in limbo.

At Thursday's meeting, local officials in Whip City Fiber towns said they've been beating the drum to gain commitments from households. "If we don't have a 70 percent subscriber rate, we won't be sustainable," said Kimberly Longey, a longtime broadband leader in Plainfield.



Baker thanked the town leaders "for giving us a chance" after previous "bad blood."

While the name "Wired West" was never mentioned, many hilltown residents were angry after the administration in 2015 blocked the grassroot entity's plan to build and run a 44-town network using public money and subscriber fees.

"We've moved beyond the one-size-fits-all approach," said Larkin.

Baker said Whip City Fiber approached the administration soon after his 2016 "reset" of the state's broadband program.

That year, Baker installed new leadership at Massachusetts Broadband Institute, formed in 2008 under former Governor Deval Patrick. Baker also created a flexible infrastructure grant program, which around two-dozen communities have used.

Baker moved to the floor of the Westfield Gas & Electric warehouse to thank the municipal utility's employees.

"This is a great story," he said. "And it's a story that's not over."

"We will get to every single community," said Polito. "This is a public safety issue; it's a public health issue; and it's a quality of life issue."

Over the years, the Legislature has authorized $95 million to bridge the digital divide in Western Massachusetts. Towns also raised their own property taxes to help pay for broadband projects, and devoted thousands of hours of volunteer time. Since 2016, the administration has invested $30 million.

Baker added that some people in the eastern part of the state have no idea that rural Western Massachusetts has been struggling without broadband.

"They just take it for granted," he said. "Broadband is fundamental to our ability to succeed in the 21st century."
BOSTON (AP) -- A former Massachusetts fishing boat captain has pleaded guilty to interfering with a U.S. Coast Guard inspection.

Prosecutors say 57-year-old Thomas Simpson pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to destruction or removal of property subject to inspection.

Prosecutors say Simpson, of South Portland, Maine, was the captain of a New Bedford commercial fishing boat in 2014 when he dumped a fishing net into the ocean in defiance of Coast Guard commands to haul it in.

A salvage company later retrieved the net and found it was in violation of commercial fishing regulations.

The vessel was one of several owned by Carlos Rafael, known as "the Codfather," who was sentenced to nearly two years in prison for violating several fishing regulations.

Simpson faces up to five years in prison at sentencing.
Sen. John McCain has elected to end treatment for the brain cancer he has battled since July 2017.

"Last Summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious," his family said in a statement. "In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict."

McCain, the 81-year-old senior Senator from Arizona, returned to the Senate weeks after brain surgery to cast the deciding vote against Senate Republicans' bill to overturn the Affordable Care Act last year.

Since then he has returned to Arizona, where he has been receiving treatment for the glioblastoma.

"With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment. Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John's many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers," the family said.

McCain, who has served in the Senate since 1987, was a naval pilot in the Vietnam War when he was shot down by North Vietnamese forces in 1967. He was captured and tortured, and survived five and a half years as a prisoner of war until he release in 1973.

He cultivated an image of bipartisan independence in the Senate, working with Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold to pass landmark campaign finance legislation in 2002. He was an advocate of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, though wrote in a recent memoir that the war had been a mistake.

McCain was the Republican nominee for President in 2008, losing to Barack Obama.
Massachusetts and parts of New England could see the smokey remnants of dangerous and intense wildfires from the western part of the country this weekend.

The National Weather Service reports that in parts of Maine and potentially eastern Massachusetts, the sunrise and sunset on Friday could include haze from the wildfires that have raged in the western part of the state, from California to Oregon to Colorado.

"Elevated smoke" from the western U.S. and Canada will move across northern and eastern Maine, and parts of Massachusetts may see some very light smoke as well.

"Radar capturing birds taking flight," the National Weather Service's Boston-area arm reported in a 7 a.m. update. "A hazy sunrise thanks in part to smoke from wildfires."

Major metro areas out west this summer have seen one of the worst wildfire seasons to date, according to reports. Areas impacted include the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, Portland, and even Denver and parts of Idaho, which saw thick smoke pour over the border from wildfires in Canada.

Though Massachusetts will not be strongly impacted, the National Weather Service did say any haze drifting toward New England could "make for some spectacular sunsets later" Friday evening.
SOUTHWICK -- The town's beloved retired K-9 Jax died Tuesday after a short illness.

The dog served the town from 2007 to 2017 and lived with Detective Sgt. Tom Krutka, his handler, with whom he remained after retirement.

Police Chief Kevin Bishop said Jax was an outstanding member of the department.

"Jax performed above and beyond the standard for K9's," Bishop said in a statement posted on the department's Facebook page. "He was instrumental in finding lost children, wanted suspects, numerous large successful drug searches, one such search produced over a million dollars in drug money being discovered.

"Jax also became one of the most recognized ambassadors for the Police Department. Not only did he serve the Town of Southwick, but he also was used by many police departments in Western Massachusetts where he was referred to as 'The Best of the Best,' Bishop said.

"Jax would not have been able to be so successful in his career if it were not for the endless hours of training and commitment put in by Sgt. Krutka during Jax's time with us," the chief said.

In the same Facebook post, Krutka thanked the Southwick VCA Animal Hospital for attending to Jax.

"Dr. Dana Klaiber is an inspiration to her field," Krutka said.

"People talk about police officers going above and beyond, Dr. Klaiber went way above and beyond with all of the endless text messages and calls on her personal cell phone," said Krutka, who also acknowledged the staff and doctors at Boston Road VCA Animal Hospital.

Bishop asked residents to keep Krutka in their prayers.

"I now ask all of you to say a prayer and keep Sgt. Krutka in your thoughts while he suffers through this great loss," Bishop said. "Jax was more than just a dog, he was family."

Krutka will receive Jax's ashes Tuesday.
EASTHAMPTON -- Women were granted the right to vote in 1920, and Sunday will mark the 98th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment.

August 26, Women's Equality Day, was established by Congress in 1971 to forever commemorate women's "full rights and privileges," and as a symbol of the continued fight for equal rights.

In that spirit, women and their allies will gather in Easthampton Sunday morning for a gala "Equality Day Breakfast: A Celebration of the Right to Vote."

One of the organizers is Mary Olberding, Hampshire County Register of Deeds. She said that even though she's a Democrat, that the event is non-partisan, not a political fundraiser, and designed as a celebration of unity and progress, regardless of political affiliation or viewpoint.

"In our current political culture, we like to divide people," she said. "But we're united in support of women's leadership. We all succeed when we support each other, even across divisions."

Olberding said this year is particularly inspiring, because so many women are running for office, "but none of us could have achieved any of this without our right to vote."

Advance sales have wrapped up, but tickets will be available at the door. Olberding said the price will cover expenses. She said that any larger donations will go to holding future unity breakfasts, and that the donations are tax-deductible.

Retired Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, will present a special honor to Lucy Wilson Benson, 91, the former president of the League of Women Voters and Undersecretary of State under President Jimmy Carter.

"Democracy works best when we all participate," said Olberding.

If you go:

What: Women's Unity Breakfast

Where: The Boylston Rooms, 122 Pleasant St., Easthampton

When: Sunday, August 26, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Tickets: $30 at the door; cash or checks only

Tickets $25 in advance until Aug 24th

$30 at the door ~ cash or checks only
James David Christie has resigned from his post as an artist-in-residence at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester and is discontinuing his services at Wellesley College in Wellesley following allegations from several students who say they were sexually abused by the renowned organist.

The Boston Globe reported the allegations on Friday morning following interviews with several students from Holy Cross and Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio who described unwanted touching and manipulation by Christie.

Holy Cross President Rev. Philip L. Boroughs addressed the college community in an email Friday afternoon, saying he was "deeply saddened and disturbed" to read the accounts detailed in the Globe story.

"These alumni have shown tremendous courage to share their painful stories," Boroughs wrote. "I want them to know that I hear them."

Boroughs received a letter from some of Christie's accusers earlier this month and placed Christie on administrative leave that day, barring him from campus and from interacting with college community members, he wrote in the email.

"I also want to assure you that the College took immediate steps as soon as these alumni came forward with allegations against Mr. Christie. We did not, however, know all the details contained in today's story," Boroughs wrote.

Christie submitted his letter of resignation to Holy Cross last week.

Boroughs said he is committed to completing a review of Christie's conduct.

"Words are not enough in moments like these, and while it is true that I will hold these members of our community in my heart and prayers, I also vow that the College will be aggressive and thorough in pursuing a full review of the issues and behaviors articulated in the Globe article," Boroughs wrote. "You have my commitment to address this situation head on. In addition to completing our current review into these specific allegations, we will immediately undertake a thorough review of culture, structure and/or procedures at the College to prevent misconduct. If issues are found, we will address them. Quickly."

Anyone who wants to share their experiences, access support services or come forward with a report related to this matter or any other incident of sexual discrimination, harassment or assault, is asked to contact Tracy Kennedy, the College's Title IX Coordinator at 508-793-3336 or tkennedy@holycross.edu, Boroughs wrote.

In an email to the Wellesley College community Friday morning addressing the "serious allegations of sexual misconduct" against Christie, Wellesley College President Paula A. Johnson wrote that Christie has discontinued his services for the college, effective immediately.

"James David Christie served as Wellesley College's organist for many years, most recently as an independent contractor," Johnson wrote. "He was responsible for the maintenance of the College's organs and occasionally performed on campus at events such as Baccalaureate. We have no record of any complaints against him during his tenure at the College, and we were not previously aware of these allegations."

Johnson asked that anyone who knows of sexual misconduct affecting students or any other members of the Wellesley College community contact Sonia Jurado, who recently joined Wellesley on an interim basis as its dedicated Title IX coordinator.

"Wellesley College does not tolerate sexual harassment, which includes gender harassment, sexual assault, and sexual coercion," Johnson wrote in the email. "We are committed to providing a safe environment for our Wellesley students, faculty, and staff."

Christie has also reportedly resigned from his position at Oberlin.

"Oberlin College & Conservatory explicitly prohibits sexual relationships between faculty/staff and students. On Friday, August 10th, the Title IX Coordinator took a report alleging that James David Christie, Professor of Organ, had violated Oberlin's Sexual Misconduct Policy by engaging in inappropriate behavior with students," Oberlin College said in a statement. "The college informed Mr. Christie of these allegations on August 11 and immediately placed him on administrative leave pending an investigation, at which point he tendered his resignation. The investigation, supervised by the Title IX Coordinator, will move forward."

The Globe obtained an e-mail sent to Oberlin students, staff, and faculty in which conservatory dean Andrea Kalyn wrote that the school's Title IX officer had received reports that Christie allegedly violated the school's sexual misconduct policy.

"Professor Christie was informed of these allegations and was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation," wrote Kalyn in the email, according to The Globe. "He has resigned, and no longer teaches at Oberlin."

Christie is a 1975 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and professor of organ since 2001, according to the school's website.

Christie, 66, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

Pages that appear to have at one time linked to a teaching profile for Christie on the Oberlin and Wellesley college website now appear with 404 error messages.

Christie is regarded as one of the most talented organists of his generation.

Last year, Christie was named the International Performer of the Year for 2017 by the American Guild of Organists' New York City Chapter.

Christie has also performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

In a statement to The Globe, a BSO spokeswoman said Christie has performed with the orchestra as a freelance musician and does not have a formal title. The orchestra was not aware of the allegations.

"The Boston Symphony Orchestra has never had complaints against Mr. Christie," the statement read, according to The Globe. "Mr. Christie is not on the schedule to perform with the BSO this upcoming season, and there are no plans to engage him for future performances with the orchestra."

A group of former students reportedly sent a letter to Boroughs earlier this month, writing that Christie "is an imminent danger to students on your campus," according to The Globe.

Several of the students wrote that they were abused by Christie while they were Holy Cross students, the newspaper reported.

The students in the letter accused Holy Cross of enabling Christie's misconduct.

In interviews with The Globe, former students described incidents that took place between 1994 and 2017 that included "a sexually charged environment that included lewd comments, large amounts of alcohol, and unwanted touching."

Two of the former Holy Cross students who signed the letter described long-term sexual relationships that Christie initiated while they were undergraduates, The Globe reported.

The students, who were younger than 21 at the time of the incidents, said the interactions involved heavy drinking and "unprotected sex in a variety of public spaces, including green rooms, concert halls, Christie's office at Holy Cross, and in and around the pipe organ at the school's Saint Joseph Memorial Chapel."

The Globe reported that it was able to confirm key elements of the former students' accounts through emails, Facebook messages, and interviews with friends and acquaintances of the former students who either witnessed the incidents or learned about them soon after they occurred.
In a testy debate on Friday, Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin and Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim butted heads over policy, experience and character.

"The most important qualification for office is not election law knowledge... it's honesty," Galvin said at one point. "On that front, I think I have a superior position."

Galvin was responding to claims by Zakim that Galvin opposed abortion rights and gay adoption while in the state Legislature in the 1980s. Zakim said under President Donald J. Trump, women's rights are under attack and "people need to know where their elected officials stand."

Galvin said he believes women should have a right to abortion, and that is settled law. He said Zakim distorted the gay adoption vote.

Zakim is challenging Galvin in the Sept. 4 Democratic primary for secretary of the commonwealth.

The debate was hosted by The Boston Globe, WBUR and the University of Massachusetts Boston McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. It was moderated by WBUR's Deborah Becker and James Pindell of the Boston Globe at the UMass Club in Boston.

Zakim has positioned himself as a "progressive" challenger to Galvin, arguing that he will push to make voting more accessible through policies like same-day voter registration, weekend voting and early voting. Galvin has said he has a record of protecting state elections and ensuring voter access.

The two candidates traded charges throughout the debate.

Zakim went after Galvin for what he referred to as $1 million over two years in no-bid contracts that Galvin's office awarded to politically connected individuals, including Galvin's campaign donors. According to the Zakim campaign, Galvin's office gave out contracts worth $916,000 to 14 individuals and two law firms who had political connections to Galvin.

Galvin said they were not no-bid contracts, but he was hiring former state employees who had retired as consultants because of their expertise in particular areas.

Zakim also hit Galvin for employing, through a contractor, M. Jay Herod, who was later arrested by the FBI for running a Ponzi scheme. Galvin said he fired Herod and the company that employed him as soon as he found out about the arrest.

Galvin attacked Zakim for accepting campaign money from financial service companies that Galvin had disciplined, as the state's securities regulator.

Galvin, 67, also criticized Zakim, 34, for skipping voting in 16 elections. Galvin said Zakim has criticized Galvin for declining voter turnout, a claim that is "hypocritical."

"If you don't vote in 2004 and 2006 and subsequently the state primary in 2008, then it's not my fault," Galvin said. "If you're an advocate for voter rights, you should participate."

Zakim said he was in his teens and early 20s and was moving frequently, though he has voted in every election since he moved to Boston in 2011.

Zakim said Galvin missed 253 votes in his last term as a state representative, or 24 percent of the votes. Zakim called that an "abdication of duty" and a failure in his responsibility to constituents.

Galvin did not explain the missed votes. He was running for state treasurer at the time.

Galvin said Zakim's focus on Galvin's legislative votes "is an effort to hide your total lack of qualifications for the office you seek."

Zakim criticized Galvin for scheduling the primary for the day after Labor Day, which Zakim called "another example of old school backroom politics trying to accrue advantages to the incumbent."

Galvin said he was forced into that date due to state and federal law, conflicts with the Jewish holidays and the day Boston public schools open.

When Zakim criticized Galvin for his enforcement of the public records law, Galvin responded that some of the worst public records offenders are municipal agencies in Boston, and the city council has not acted.

"If you're so interested in transparency, you might begin at home," Galvin said.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, August 24, 2018

Faced with a public relations debacle, Verizon says it will no longer throttle broadband connections for fire fighters on the West Coast and "first responders" in Hawaii, which is bracing for Hurricane Lane.

"As of yesterday, we removed all speed cap restrictions for first responders on the west coast and in Hawaii," Verizon Senior Vice President Mike Maiorana stated Friday. "Further, in the event of another disaster, Verizon will lift restrictions on public safety customers, providing full network access."

The company's announcement came days after Santa Clara County fire chief Anthony Bowden said in court papers that Verizon throttled service to firefighters who were battling wildfires in Mendocino, California. Bowden said service was slowed to 1/200th of the typical speed this summer, after firefighters had consumed more than 25 Gigabits. Verizon only agreed to restore high-speed connections to the fire department after the county agreed to purchase a more expensive plan, Bowden said.

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The revelations -- which drew nationwide headlines -- came in a lawsuit by 23 attorneys general who are suing to restore the Obama-era net neutrality rules. Those regulations, which are now repealed, prohibited broadband providers from throttling based on the type of material being transmitted, but didn't outlaw data plans that slow service after customers hit a cap. But the Federal Communications Commission also has "transparency rules" that require broadband providers to disclose their traffic management practices to customers.

Verizon's Maiorana apologized on Friday for the slowdowns. "We didnt live up to our own promise of service and performance excellence when our process failed some first responders on the line, battling a massive California wildfire," he stated. "For that, we are truly sorry. And were making every effort to ensure that it never happens again."

He added that the company plans to introduce a new "unlimited data" plan next week. That plan won't include caps on what he calls "mobile solutions," and will include "priority access," he stated.
Many people wonder whether it is safe to start taking birth control pills in the middle of their menstrual cycle. The answer usually depends on the type of pill and the needs of the person. Birth control pills are a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancy. For some people, the pill can also help reduce symptoms caused by their periods, such as heavy bleeding and irregular cycles. In this article, we examine whether a person can start their birth control pills midcycle, and the benefits, risks, and side effects of doing so.

Can you start the pill midcycle? Share on Pinterest It can take several days for the pill to start preventing pregnancy. To understand how the pill works, it is important to know what happens during a typical menstrual cycle. The average cycle takes place over the course of 28 days: Days 17 : This is the beginning of a period when bleeding usually occurs for around 4 to 8 days. During this time, a persons hormone levels, especially estrogen, are low and growths called follicles develop on the ovaries. These follicles contain an egg, or ovum.

: This is the beginning of a period when bleeding usually occurs for around 4 to 8 days. During this time, a persons hormone levels, especially estrogen, are low and growths called follicles develop on the ovaries. These follicles contain an egg, or ovum. Day 8 : A person has usually stopped bleeding, and one of the follicles will start releasing estrogen and grow larger. This estrogen causes the uterine lining to become thicker.

: A person has usually stopped bleeding, and one of the follicles will start releasing estrogen and grow larger. This estrogen causes the uterine lining to become thicker. Days 1113 : Estrogen levels reach their peak, and there is an increase in luteinizing hormone (LH). This hormone will eventually cause the follicle to burst and release an egg.

: Estrogen levels reach their peak, and there is an increase in luteinizing hormone (LH). This hormone will eventually cause the follicle to burst and release an egg. Day 14 : This is typically the day of ovulation when the follicle releases an egg. This egg usually lives for around 12 to 24 hours. If sperm is present during this time, it may fertilize the egg. Sperm can live for 3 to 5 days inside the body.

: This is typically the day of ovulation when the follicle releases an egg. This egg usually lives for around 12 to 24 hours. If sperm is present during this time, it may fertilize the egg. Sperm can live for 3 to 5 days inside the body. Days 1524 : The egg, regardless of whether fertilization has taken place, will travel down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. The ruptured follicle will now begin producing the hormone progesterone, which makes the uterine lining even thicker, creating an ideal environment for a fertilized egg to implant.

: The egg, regardless of whether fertilization has taken place, will travel down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. The ruptured follicle will now begin producing the hormone progesterone, which makes the uterine lining even thicker, creating an ideal environment for a fertilized egg to implant. Days 2428: If the egg is unfertilized, it will break down during this time. Estrogen and progesterone levels start to decrease, which leads to the uterus shedding its lining and the start of a persons next period. Most people can start taking birth control pills at any point during their menstrual cycle. However, it can take several days for the pill to establish a consistent hormone cycle that prevents pregnancy. By starting the pill midcycle, around the point of ovulation, a person is at risk of pregnancy and should use a backup contraceptive method until they have taken the pill for at least 7 consecutive days. To be extra cautious, use another form of birth control, such as condoms and foam, during the first month.

How and when to start the pill? No hard-and-fast rule exists as to when to start the pill. The recommendations on when to start also depend upon what type of pill a woman is taking. There are two main types of birth control pill: The combination pill , which contains synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. These hormones prevent ovulation from occurring as well as reducing the likelihood of fertilization and implantation.

, which contains synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. These hormones prevent ovulation from occurring as well as reducing the likelihood of fertilization and implantation. The minipill, which contains a synthetic version of progesterone only. It is also known as the progestin-only pill. The minipill primarily prevents pregnancy by causing the cervical mucus to thicken and the womb lining to thin. This reduces the chances of fertilization and implantation of an egg. Combination pill Doctors often recommend starting the combined pill either on the first day of a persons period or the first Sunday after starting their period. Starting on the first Sunday serves two purposes: it provides a consistent day for starting pills and may affect the menstrual timing so that the person will not likely be on their period over a weekend. This may or may not be a benefit to some people. However, not everyone has a regular menstrual cycle. A person may start their period and then have it again 2 weeks later. In this instance, some people may find it difficult to time their pills according to starting a cycle. For a person with irregular periods, the best time to start taking the pill may be whenever they are ready to begin regulating their periods. Minipill A person can usually start the minipill at any time during their cycle. The minipill typically protects against pregnancy within 48 hours of starting it. However, people who do not start taking the minipill during their period should use another form of contraception for at least the first 2 days. It might be wise to use other contraceptive measures for a full cycle. For maximum effectiveness, it is crucial to take the minipill during the same 3-hour window each day. A person should choose a time of day that is convenient and easy to remember. Many people set up a daily reminder to ensure they take their pill at the same time each day.

Benefits and risks of starting midcycle Share on Pinterest Results of one study suggest that taking birth control pills when pregnant may not cause any harm. While there are no clear health benefits to starting midcycle, some people may find it convenient to begin taking their birth control pills as soon as they get them. However, starting the pill midcycle means that a person will not be protected from pregnancy immediately. Anyone who chooses to start the pill outside the first 5 days of their menstrual cycle should use a backup method of contraception, such as condoms, for at least: 7 days if using the combined pill

2 days if using the minipill Another potential risk of starting the pill midcycle is that a woman may already be pregnant. However, a large Danish study suggests that taking birth control pills during early pregnancy will not harm the fetus. When starting midcycle, it can also take longer for a persons body to adjust to the new hormone cycle. In some people, this may cause spotting or irregular bleeding. It may take a few months after starting the pill midcycle for more regular periods to return.

Side effects of starting the pill midcycle The possible side effects of birth control pills are the same regardless of when the person starts taking them and include: breast tenderness

dizziness

headaches

irregular menstrual bleeding

mood changes

nausea Typically, these symptoms will subside within 3 months of taking the pill. However, if a person continues to experience bothersome side effects after this time, they may wish to talk to their doctor about switching to another type of birth control pill.
Love a good scare? Do you like skipping plans with the gang because Netflix and a good movie is the definition of a chill life for you? High five buddy, because Netflix is like that friend who is just there for you.

This list is also your friend, if your weekend plans include watching a movie that'll scare the crap out of you:

1. The Strangers

A simple family vacation over the weekend turns into a bloodbath in this slasher horror movie. What is even creepier is the fact that it draws inspiration from real life horror incidents, which include the Manson family murders and the Caddie Cabin murders which took place in California in the 80's. The original movie was released in 2008 followed by a sequel that came this year only.

2. Train To Busan

This South Korean horror flick traces a father-daughter duo travelling on a train to Busan when a Zombie apocalypse jeopardises everything around them. This movie makes for a good scare!

3. The Boy

What happens when a couple hires a nanny for their young boy before they leave town for forever? Nothing much, except that the boy is a doll, with an evil soul! The doll gets obsessed with his nanny and will kill for her love and attention. This one is a one-time, yet gripping watch.

4. A Dark Song

This one is a niche Irish horror movie but nevertheless super intriguing to watch. The movie follows a character named Sophia who seeks the help of her occultist to tap her guardian angel. Things get weird from there and guarantee a good scare that leaves you hooked.

5. It Follows

A young teenage girl is being chased by some supernatural entity post a sexual encounter, and then things get creepier and of course scarier from here. Sex + Scare= Satisfaction guaranteed!

Wish you a spooky weekend ahead!
If you ask any guy what is that one fashion staple in his wardrobe that he simply CANNOT do without, most of them will have one resounding answer - a pair of jeans. Often considered to be the most underrated fashion staple in a man's wardrobe, the jeans you are wearing can often make all the difference in ensuring how good (or outdated!) your ensemble looks. As such, investing in the right pair of jeans pretty much becomes essential. So on that fashion-forward note, here are some of the best jeans for men that will help you upgrade your fashion game.

Take A Look At The Best Jeans For Men In India

1. Dhatu Design Studio's Black Cotton Jeans

 MXP Shop

Black is one colour that pretty much goes with anything. Every fashion-forward guy understands the importance of owning and wearing black, especially for fashion staples like a pair of jeans. As such, this black variant from Dhatu Design Studio makes for a great addition to your closet.

Product description: Black solid jeans, has a tapered fit, and four pockets.

Fabric composition: 100% Cotton

MRP: Rs 1850

Buy it here

2. Levi's Men's 511 Slim Fit Jeans

 Amazon

Ripped jeans are becoming a fashion fad nowadays, and so there's no reason why you shouldn't be owning a few yourself. As such, these blue jeans from Levi's (as great a brand for denim as there could be) make for a great choice.

Product description: Blue ripped jeans, has a light fade, slim fit, and five pockets.

Fabric composition: 99% cotton and 1% elastane

MRP: Rs 1,438

Buy it here

3. Ed Hardy Men's Slim Fit Jeans

 Amazon

Jeans with cat scratches, especially those that come in lighter hues, are yet another fashion fad that men are opting for. So you probably shouldn't think twice before you opt for these blue jeans from Ed Hardy.

Product description: Light blue jeans, has a light fade, slim fit and five pockets.

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MRP: Rs 1,699

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4. French Connection Men's Slim Fit Jeans

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While light blue jeans can be a bit tricky to pull off, if done properly they can make all the difference in elevating your ensemble to new heights. As French Connection happens to be a premium brand, opting for this slim fit variant will make for a wise choice.

Product description: Light blue jeans, has a slim fit, heavy fade, and five pockets.

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5. Flying Machine Men's Tapered Fit Jeans

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What are the colours that come to your mind when you think of a pair of jeans? I'm sure blue - and to an extent black - would be the first colours you think of. So why not opt for something different and less common with these gray jeans from Flying Machine?

Product description: Grey solid jeans, has a light fade, tapered fit and five pockets.

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6. United Colors of Benetton Men's Carrot Jeans

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UCB is a brand that is known for curating fashion-forward products. As such, pretty much anything from their collection will help you upgrade your fashion game, especially these light fade jeans with subtle rips that don't overwhelm their basic structure. These will go really well with a grey t-shirt or a checked shirt.

Product description: Blue jeans, has a light fade, and five pockets.

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7. Wrangler Men's Slim Fit Jeans

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Finally, you can opt for these light blue, slim fit jeans from Wrangler. They make for a worthy investment as they are reasonably priced. Also they score pretty highly on utility as you can team them up with a variety of options - including solid t-shirts and checked shirts.

Product description: Light blue jeans, has a light fade, slim fit, and five pockets.

Fabric composition: Denim

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Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board during Asian morning trading on Friday, with the complex largely ignoring a resurgence of US-Sino trade tensions.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here Korea Resources Corp (Kores) has initiated a sale process for its 10% stake and offtake agreement in First Quantums Cobre Panama copper mine, four sources with knowledge of the matter told Metal Bulletin.Mining companies active in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have formed a new body to engage with the government on industry concerns about the countrys new mining code and any other material issue concerning the mining industry.Brass scrap prices in the United States have plummeted and most copper and brass scrap discounts have widened over the past week, driven by ample domestic supply - exacerbated by Chinas 25% tariff on copper scrap imports - exceeding US demand.The aluminium market has been thrust into a period of uncertainty that has become a feature of the trade in recent months because of tariffs and sanctions, a situation that seems unlikely to change, the head of Norwegian producer Norsk Hydro said.Chinas cobalt tetroxide prices have been under pressure in the past few months from high inventories, weak spot demand and substitution by battery makers, market participants told Metal Bulletin.
CASS CITY  Several Vietnam War era veterans received some long overdue recognition and honor during commemorative events in Cass City Saturday.

Tuscola County Veteran Affairs Director Mark Zmierski and members of Cass City VFW Post #3644 coordinated a 50th anniversary celebration honoring those who served in that war.

It was a step in the right direction and the right thing to do. When we were in Vietnam, the country was torn apart by the war. When we were over there, we didnt know what was going on except what Hanoi Hannah told us on the radio, said William Bill Mielke of Sebewaing, who was a U.S. Marine who served during that time. When we came home, the comments we heard was surprising.

When many of the veterans returned stateside, they were called murders and baby killers, and some were spit on.

Thats something that you can never forget, but you have to try to forgive, he said. Being honored now is a great thing. Im going to try to get something like what was done in Cass City to honor (Vietnam) veterans in Huron County. It was a great thing, and Im going to trying to do that. American Legion Post 293 asked me to get involved in doing that.

The Vietnam War was Americans longest running war  ranging from 1995 to 1975.

State Rep. Edward Canfield, a Sebewaing Republican, was the guest speaker at both events.

Canfield is a Vietnam veteran who served five years in the U.S. Navy. He is vice chair of the Military and Veterans Affairs appropriations subcommittee. He said that during the Vietnam War, 7.2 million veterans served, and 58,272 were killed.

One out of every 10 were either injured for killed, he said. Michigan currently has 600,000 veterans, and of that number, 200,000 are Vietnam veterans.

Mielke said he was moved by the way veterans were honored during Cass Citys programs, and he was especially touched by Canfields speech where he quoted former President Barack Obamas 2012 speech commemorating the Vietnam War.

It was a national shame and disgrace the way (Vietnam) veterans were treated when they came home, quoted Canfield, who noted it was a painful chapter in Americans history how those veterans were treated.

Mielke said he was humbled by the event.

"I wasnt sure that I deserved anything more there was a lot of people we lost over there, he said Because of that, it was kind of depressing, but I do appreciate being honored and it was wonderful  but overall, it doesnt change me much.

As part of the event, there was a tribute display of the two men from Cass City who lost their lives in that war. The War Memorial beside the Cass City Municipal building lists those from the community who were killed in action during the various wars. Those from the community on the wall who were killed during Vietnam are Sgt. E/5 David Graham, and SPC4 John P. Giddings.

That display was nice. I talked with the lady who set it up, said Mielke. She said the packets were done so people would know who they were, not forget them, and so they were more than just names on the wall.

The packets made a point that those men were someones son, brother, father, husband, uncles, and friend.

That really struck a chord with me. It hit me deep that that is true, he said.

Although those who served left the jungles of Vietnam 50 years ago, some veterans never felt they truly returned home because of how they were treated when they arrived stateside.

Saturdays ceremonies were a small effort to rectify that.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Sleek new condos rise up amid the graffiti-covered warehouses, artist's studios and homeless encampments of West Oakland. Construction cranes dot the downtown skyline, and scaffolding-shrouded towers march down Broadway into Temescal.

An extraordinary residential building boom is shaking up Oakland, part of a transformation sweeping the Bay Area as market forces and political initiative combine to address the region's desperate housing crisis.

"The city is being radically reconfigured -- the whole Bay Area is," said urban geography expert and UC Berkeley professor emeritus Richard Walker. "The Oakland we knew is not going to remain."

The change is particularly stark in Oakland, where developers and investors began clamoring to build after decades of dismissing the city as dangerous and crime-ridden. Oakland has permitted a staggering 9,710 new homes since 2016, more than twice as many as during the prior nine years. But the construction of those new dwellings -- creating hip, trendy neighborhoods for newcomers while pricing out old-timers -- is exacerbating the divide between the city's haves and have-nots.

Other cities are struggling with the same tensions.

In East Palo Alto, long thought of as the blue-collar cousin to ritzy Palo Alto, the median sale price of a home has risen 80 percent since 2015, according to Zillow. In parts of downtown San Jose, low-income residents fear the proposed Google campus of 20,000 employees will price them out. And in San Francisco, an influx of tech companies and their workers has helped push rents into the stratosphere, driving some residents to Oakland in search of cheaper housing -- which in turn inflates rents in the East Bay city.

Adam Kleinberg, who moved from San Francisco eight years ago in search of cheaper housing, has enjoyed watching his new town change around him.

"The moment I moved here, the nightlife downtown started to take off," said 47-year-old Kleinberg, who runs an advertising agency in San Francisco and owns a home in the Oakland Hills. "No one goes to the city anymore, because there's so much going on in Oakland. It's definitely becoming hipper and cooler."

The building boom is altering Oakland's skyline, ushering in a new wave of high-rise apartment buildings. Towers in the works include a 33-story building at Broadway and 17th Street, a 40-story building at 1314 Franklin St., and a 23-story building on Webster Street. Construction crews broke ground in May on the 24-story Skylyne at Temescal tower next to the MacArthur BART station.

Those developers have a big incentive to build -- Oakland rents have spiked nearly 25 percent since 2015, according to RentCafe, and home prices have jumped almost 40 percent, according to Zillow. But as projects are completed, supply should go up and prices could come down.

"Over the next three years we're finally going to see more balance between tenants and landlords, because there's going to be so much more supply coming online," said Michael Ghielmetti, president of Signature Development Group and Oakland director of city planning and research association SPUR.

Cities throughout the Bay Area are struggling to keep up with the demand to live here, and to make up for years of failing to build enough housing, but the amount of construction they are willing or able to approve varies widely. Oakland permitted 4,284 new homes in 2017, up from 2,121 in 2016. San Jose permitted 2,712 new homes in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, down from a five-year high of 4,724 in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. San Francisco permitted 6,731 new homes last year, a 20-year high.

But permitting is just the first step -- projects a city approves may not get built right away, or ever, if the developer runs out of funds or faces other delays. To keep pace with the demand in Oakland, developers need to build an average of 2,125 homes a year for the next eight years, according to a 2017 report by the city's Housing Cabinet. As of July 31, there were 884 homes completed so far this year.

The building boom and resulting gentrification are squeezing the city's most vulnerable. After living in Oakland his entire life, 54-year-old Marcus Emery recently found himself homeless for the first time. His landlord died about three years ago, Emery said, and the new owner wanted to raise the rent beyond what he could pay. Emery, who already was behind in payments because of admittedly poor financial decisions, was evicted from the house in West Oakland he'd called home for almost two decades.

"It still hurts me when I go by there now," he said.

After spending time in one of Oakland's many sprawling homeless encampments, Emery moved into a community of Tuff Sheds the city set up on Northgate Avenue to house the homeless, and is working on finding permanent housing.

In 2016, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf promised to build 17,000 new housing units in the next eight years -- 28 percent would be subsidized, low-income housing -- and preserve another 17,000 existing homes as low-income rentals. So far, Oakland is on track to meet its overall goal, but is falling short in its affordable housing mandate. Of the 6,982 new units under construction as of July 31, less than 6 percent were reserved for low-income residents.

Oakland officials say they have to work harder to find money for affordable housing. In 2011, the state axed redevelopment agencies, depriving Oakland of about $37 million a year in affordable housing funds, said Housing and Community Development Director Michele Byrd.

The city has found new sources of funding -- including a real estate fee approved by state legislators last year, affordable housing bonds and an affordable housing impact fee that took effect in Oakland in 2016 -- but has yet to come up with a "cash cow" to replace redevelopment agency funds, Byrd said. The city also has expanded its focus to include buying existing buildings and keeping them affordable, working with organizations like Oakland Community Land Trust, in addition to building new units.

Oakland needs affordable housing now perhaps more than ever, as high prices push more families out of their homes and onto the streets. Last year there were 2,761 homeless people counted in Oakland, up more than 25 percent from 2015, according to EveryOne Home's point-in-time survey.

"I go from a block where there are tents lining the sidewalk, to a block where there are Teslas and Mercedes lining the sidewalk," said Osha Neumann, a staff attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center. "It's almost like we're dividing into two species. And it's increasingly difficult for people to move from the streets, from the bottom, anywhere up away from there."

Zane Burton, who moved to Oakland after getting priced out of San Francisco about seven years ago, now worries rent increases will push him out of Oakland, too. As prices go up, Burton, who is African-American, says everyone who looks like him is leaving his Lake Merritt neighborhood.

It's not just Lake Merritt -- Oakland's black population is shrinking. In 2007, African-American residents made up nearly 33 percent of Oakland's population, according to census data. By 2016, that had dropped to less than 24 percent.

Burton is determined to stay.

"Lake Merritt is the last frontier," Burton said. "After Lake Merritt, people of color will have to go out to East Oakland, where there's fighting, shooting, you can't let your kid be on the porch. And then it's just a matter of time before the rent in East Oakland gets high."

Burton, who gets paid twice a month as a mental health worker, says an entire paycheck goes toward rent every month. Even so, he's feeling pressure to move out from a landlord he suspects wants to charge more. Burton says his wife recently found an eviction notice taped to their front door, falsely accusing the family of failing to pay the rent. He got the matter cleared up, but it was scary, he said. Now Burton is fighting a $65 rent increase -- a relatively small amount that nevertheless would eat into the family's budget, he said. And if this hike goes through, Burton worries larger increases might not be far behind.

The fast-paced changes also are troubling for some of Oakland's small business owners.

For Bob Tuck of Atlas Heating and Air Conditioning, whose family has run the business in the same West Oakland building for more than 100 years, watching the blocks around him change is nerve-racking. The area is becoming more residential. Most recently developer oWow, which converts blighted buildings into trendy co-living spaces, bought the abandoned sausage factory on Adeline Street. Tuck worries about pressure from new neighbors who might not appreciate the loud noises, streams of delivery trucks and other disturbances that go along with manufacturing.

"It's sort of our own version of global warming," Tuck said. "We're all going to be flooded by the rising sea of residential development."

While some people worry their neighborhoods are changing too quickly, others fret the city's building boom will slow down before it can make a dent in the housing shortage. As construction costs soar, some builders already are hitting the brakes. Three years ago, it cost about $350,000 per unit to build a residential project in downtown Oakland, said real estate developer John Protopappas, president and CEO of Madison Park Financial Corporation. Now it's closer to $585,000. And impact fees -- the amount developers of market-rate units pay toward Oakland's affordable housing budget -- are rising. Developers of multi-family buildings paid $7,000 per downtown unit in 2016, which rose to $13,000 last year and jumped to $24,000 in July.

Meanwhile, though rents are still high, the speed at which they are increasing has slowed. That discrepancy can leave developers struggling to make their buildings profitable.

"We are putting projects on hold," Protopappas said. "We're not taking on any additional debt. We're being very cautious."

Other developers say they're doing the same, which could jeopardize the mayor's goal of 17,000 new units.

"It's probably going to be closer to 6-7,000 units," Protopappas said.

That creates more unknowns for Oakland residents who find themselves at the mercy of the housing market, the construction industry, the city's Planning and Building Department, and other factors outside their control.

Pam Davis, who has lived in Oakland since 1961, is spending her golden years fretting about housing. The 63-year-old rents a one-bedroom apartment near Lake Merritt, and though her unit is rent-controlled, as prices rise around her, she worries that won't protect her forever.

"I've got all this uncertainty here, at a vulnerable time," Davis said. "It's saddening, and it makes you a little angry."
HURON COUNTY  A North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal could be reached with Mexico soon.

Michigan agricultural officials who visited Huron County this week updated local farmers on the trade and politics surrounding farming.

Michigan Farm Bureau President Carl Bednarksi spoke at the Huron County Farm Bureau annual meeting Wednesday, and Joe Cramer, executive director of the Michigan Bean Commission, spoke Tuesday at Huron County's installment of the Dry Bean Variety Research Plot Tour at Gentner-Bischer Farms.

"I think Mexico could get done here yet this month," Bednarski said. "They were hoping maybe even yet this week. I'm going to say expect this month to have Mexico wrapped up in NAFTA. But just Mexico."

And Canada will not be the next agreement reached, he added.

"Japan is waiting in line to get done," he said. "They want to move on that one, because that one is pretty much done. ... After that, Canada should come in line.

"And China, from what we're hearing, don't expect anything soon," he added. "Don't expect anything this year. Probably won't be even next year. This could be a two- or three-year process before we wrap up something with China."

Cramer recently had a conversation with Ted McKinney, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs.

"He wanted to spend more time talking about NAFTA than he did the EU (European Union) ... We've got issues there, too."

Cramer reported that a deal with Mexico is close, but officials will have to get Canada to the table before the final NAFTA agreement is reached.

Cramer also addressed the $12 billion farm bailout recently announced by the Trump administration.

"That $12 billion is supposed to sort of heal all the wounds that the tariff mess created," he said. "... $12 billion isn't enough. We're too small of an industry. It gets gobbled up by the big industries like milk and pork and soybeans."

"... Because there isn't a good mechanism for paying dollars out to the dry bean industry," Cramer added, "We're seeing them (the government) in the market buying dry beans. Part of that $12 billion Band-Aid is, essentially, 'We're going to buy enough beans to try to put a floor in this market, to try to prop the market up.'"

"The U.S. government is our customer," he said. "So in the big picture, we do want to get back to business with the EU ... The farmers in the great state of Michigan support the administration ... for the most part ... but there's a little clock ticking, so don't drag your feet. Let's get this negotiation moving ..."

Todd Wisenbaugh, bean marketing specialist with Cooperative Elevator of Pigeon, gave a market update.

He noted that with current trade and market conditions, it will be hard to regain customers who find other suppliers.

"When you lose a customer like that ... It will be hard to get them back," he said.

"All I hear is Michigan quality, it's above anything else," he added.

"The domestic opportunities for black beans are going very well," Wisenbaugh said. "Central America, we've got a lot of business down there. They're very dry too right now. That could open up some opportunities there."

"We have a lot of opportunities, right now, in Mexico," he added. "That's our hot landing spot right now."

Bednarksi said soybean farmers will get $1.65 per bushel for production.

"They're doing the numbers," he said. "They want to get it out in early September, but it's going to be based on your actual production.

He did not know the numbers for any other commodities.
HURON COUNTY -- Huron Behavioral Health is hosting National Mental Health speaker, author, documentary filmmaker and brain health advocate, Kevin Hines next month.

Hines is scheduled to speak with Huron County high school students on World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10. In the evening, he will be sharing the Art of Wellness, a free community presentation from 6 to 8 p.m. at Bad Axe High School.

There is no cost to attend, but reservations are requested for the meal provided by Everyone 4 Prevention at the high school immediately prior to the event. Make your reservations by calling Ruth at 989-269-9293.

Financial support provided by Huron County Commissioners, Mid-State Health Network and Everyone 4 Prevention through the Huron County Health Department.
BRIDGEPORT  U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal on Friday announced that the state will be receiving a $10 million grant to better coordinate the treatment that substance abusers receive, an often overlooked aspect of the recovery process those in the field say.

The grant will promote integration and coordination between primary care services and mental health and substance use services, Murphy, D-Conn., said.

This is a very important grant for us because it means that well be able to step up our integrated care, said Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Now well be able to serve an additional 2,200 individuals statewide, and those who are treated for mental health and addiction will now be connected to a primary care provider as well.

Murphy said that the grant helps correct mistakes made decades ago when it was thought that addiction and mental health services should be separated from primary care.

Theres no practical reason why the primary care system should be physically separated from the substance-abuse system, he said. We did that in the 1960s, and this separation was a huge impediment to good care  forcing people to run all over town. And lets not forget that a lot of people with addiction suffer from other health issues, so it makes sense to treat them under one roof.

Im in recovery myself, said Karen A. Kangas, a senior policy adviser with DMHAS. This gives us the chance to integrate all of it together. With mental health and addiction, nobody seems to care. So this will allow us to put the treatment options together so people can be whole again.

Announcement of the grant took place at the Kinsella Treatment Center on State Street Extension near the Fairfield line. Murphy made a second announcement of the grant in Waterbury later in the day. At both locations, he and Delphin-Rittmon conducted roundtable discussions with local professions in the fields of mental health and addiction.

This will allow clients to, in effect, go in the primary care door and receive treatment for mental health and substance abuse, said Moira Rizzo, Kinsellas chief clinical officer.

She said that substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities such as Kinsella will be paring with Optimus Health Care for primary care services. Optimus has nine facilities in Bridgeport and four in Stamford. Kinsella serves 850 outpatient clients.

This a population thats been underserved,said Michael Askew, Bridgeport recovery center manager of Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery, better known as CCAR. People dont understand the magnitude of the problem until it hits home.

The funding was provided through the Mental Health Reform Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2016.

jburgeson@ctpost.com
When we are planning our next years campaign, we focus on trying new ideas that will help reach the largest possible audience. This year, we went with the theory that the more the merrier, and I am pleased to announce for the first time ever, we have the pleasure of announcing four new campaign co-chairpeople: Justin Carbonella, Toral Maher, Joe Santaniello and Meg Slater. These co-chairs are excited to take on this shared responsibility, and it does not hurt that they are all friends and longtime supporters of Middlesex United Way.

In case you dont know, Justin, Toral, Joe and Meg are all founding members of our Young Leaders Society, and have all served in a leadership position as chairperson. As campaign co-chairs, these four individuals will volunteer with us throughout the year to engage companies to support the United Way campaign. This unique group is already hard at work sharing the United Way mission and the importance of changing lives in the areas of education, income, health and housing throughout Middlesex County.

They will focus their efforts on developing innovative ways of raising money, new business relationships, and strengthening our existing relationships with our generous workplace campaign contributors. They hope to do this all while also engaging and educating community and business leaders in our county about United Ways work in education, income, health and housing.

Let me take a moment to share a little about them.

Justin Carbonella has served as director of the city of Middletowns Youth Services Bureau for the past 12 years, and, in his time there, has established his department to be the central coordination hub around youth development, youth justice, and behavioral health issues in the Middletown community. Justin chairs a number of community coalitions, including the Greater Middletown Community Collaborative, Middletown Youth Diversion Team, Right Response coalition, and the Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council. He has also initiated a community-wide youth engagement campaign that has been recognized multiple times as prevention program of the year, on both state and local levels.

Justins work and leadership have been recognized by the Connecticut Youth Services Association, Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council, Hartford Business Journal, Middlesex County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the University of Connecticuts Public Policy Program, Northern Middlesex YMCA, and others.

It is pretty clear we are incredibly lucky to have him volunteering with us. He is a former staff member for Middlesex United Way, where he helped guide our strategies to maximize the impact of our funding to local nonprofit partners.

Toral Maher began working for Liberty Bank in 2005 and is currently serving as the senior program officer of the Liberty Bank Foundation. Toral manages the foundations education grants portfolio, working with nonprofit partners on programs that support economic success.

We are fortunate to work side by side with Toral during the Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project, as she manages the Liberty Bank/Rotary Club Thanksgiving Dinner Drive. She has dedicated herself to building lasting relationships with various nonprofits and has served as chairwoman of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy Program Officers Network, Bridge to Success Community Partnership, Advisory Board member, and the Middlesex Coalition for Children board member. Her work within United Way has included former chairwoman of the Middlesex United Way Young Leaders Society, and member of both the Board of Directors and governance committee.

Joe Santaniello currently works for Charles IT in Cromwell as a business developer. Joe is a U.S. Navy veteran and is widely known for his contagious enthusiasm and positive attitude. Joe is a current United Way board member, and even helped found the Middlesex United Way Young Leaders Society, serving at times as chairman and co-chairman.

Joe has proven his leadership skills through serving as a mentor for young students with the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce School mentor program, as well as working with Middletown schools Project Graduation program. His volunteerism throughout the community spans from participating in the Credit 4 Life event, Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Annual Car Cruise, Motorcycle Mania, Holiday on Main Street, and many more.

In 2017, he was a recipient of the Middlesex United Way Community Leadership Award, which is awarded to an individual whose leadership helps to strengthen communities. Joe also serves on the board of MARC Community Resources, and was a member of St. Lukes Community Services board, both of which are Middlesex United Way funding partners.

Meghan Slater is executive assistant at Wright-Pierce in Middletown. Meghan has over 10 years of experience in marketing and administrative support to environmental engineering teams. She is involved with the Middletown Racial Justice Coalition and has served on the Middletown Refuges Resettlement Coalition and CT AWWA Water for People Committee. Meghan has served as a United Way board member since 2015 and was chairwoman of the Middlesex United Way Young Leader Society in 2014, and also served as the Wright-Pierce workplace campaign coordinator from 2006 to 2014.

Im hoping that as young professionals, we can increase the United Ways connection to the youth in our community, and I hope we can leverage the expertise of those who have come before us to help us innovate and continue to build on, Slater said when asked for her goals for this years campaign.

I would like to personally thank all of you who are volunteering for this years campaign, as well as the thousands of you who contribute each year. Its really something amazing to see when our community comes together and support each other.

On Sept. 25, we are inviting the community to join the incredible folks who run the campaigns at your workplaces to our campaign kickoff at the Wesleyan Center for Film Studies. We are excited to honor 30 years of leadership giving. Please join us for the opportunity to network, learn more about the impact of our work in our community and meet our campaign co-chairs. You will also have a first look at a special film being shown in Goldsmith Family Cinema and access to The Rick Nicita Gallery.

Please RSVP to Maria Woods at maria.wood@middlesexunitedway.org or 860-346-8695.

Kevin Wilhelm is executive director and CEO of the Middlesex United Way in Middletown.
SHORELINE  When the morning is quiet and still, Scott Markovich goes out to his backyard to feed his flock of hens. The minute he opens the back door of the coop he is greeted by his five ladies, all excited, cackling and ready to start their day.

They start talking as soon as I get out there, said the Guilford resident, laughing. Oh, yes. Theyre usually quiet in the morning  but as soon as they hear me or see me, oh ya, they start going.

Chicken farming for the Markovich family started two years ago with three hens from Killingworths CT Rent A Hen. From April to October 2016, they raised the chickens, enjoying their companionship and the bonus of having fresh eggs every morning.

It was really a great opportunity for us to see if we liked it and if we really wanted to do it, before having to invest a lot of money in a coop and everything else you need to do to take care of the chickens, Markovich said.

After a month they started thinking of having a permanent coop and expanding their family to include chickens. So, this past spring, John Farrugia built a coop on the Markovich property and five, 8-week-old hens moved in.

This is exactly the type of client that flock to Farrugia and Marisa Fabrizis business. Started four years ago, this unique enterprise offers hen rentals, in groups of three, to people who want to experience chicken farming.

People get happiness out of it, theres egg production, theres a teaching value, theres companionship, said Farrugia, a former teacher.

In addition to the hens, rentals include delivery, set up and removal of a portable chicken coop, food and bedding, water and feeding containers, plus instructions on how to keep the chickens safe, happy and thriving. This also includes unlimited support.

The baby chicks come from licensed breeders from all over the country, including Iowa and Indiana. They start laying at about six months and live to a maximum of 7 years old.

Every year well have a third of our renters who will say, We love these birds, theyre part of our family, we want to purchase them and were going to buy a coop,  he said.

The farm is located on six acres and has about 200 hens, including Leghorns and a mix of Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshire Reds. In addition to six large coops, the business has 50 triangular coops, handmade by Farrugia, ready for delivery to area homes. Currently, there are about 40 hens onsite, with the rest roosting on property around the state.

While Farrugia is the birds primary caregiver, Fabrizi assists with the chickens, as well as working on the website, social media and bookkeeping. As a Connecticut licensed poultry dealer, the business must comply with state law of handling birds.

For egg lovers, this investment can yield about four to six dozen eggs a month. While hens will lay all year round, they do slow down with extreme heat, in the fall when they shed their summer feathers and grow in their winter feathers, and in the extreme winter cold.

Meadow Mills Assisted Living & Memory has been renting hens for the past two years. State law prohibits them from serving the eggs on premises, so while the employees enjoy the fresh eggs, the clients appreciate the hens.

Many of our residents are of an age where many of them grew up on farms or grew up with chickens, at some point in their lives, said Bill Cahalan, executive director of the Hamden facility. It stimulates memory and been a good addition.

The facility sits on about 6 acres and the hens have free range in the secured backyard.

Not only do they watch them roam around the property, he said, referring to the enjoyment the fowl provide for the clients. The colors of the hens are very unique and it just brings out more stimulation and then when the residents are sitting outside the hens will come up to them and theyll walk around them. Its helping to stimulate their senses.

Farrugia cautions that when allowing chickens to free range it is imperative that renters are with them at all times to deter predators - such as hawks and foxes. This year alone, 15 hens have been killed. Since the flocks need to be in groups of three, renters must pay for a replacement.

Its really hard to go and attend to a hen thats been attacked, Farrugia said. Its really difficult.

From children to older adults, people form a bond with these animals.

A couple weeks after having them we all fell in love with these chickens, recalls Markovich. I think that most people think theyre just simply birds, but they all have personalities, they learn your habits, they learn the routine of when you come outside, your shake the bag of treats, they come running.

Farrugia, like Markovich, sees this in his morning routine.

I come down in the morning, between six and seven, and feed them, he said. When Im coming down the hill they see me, so they start to talk, they start to call out because they know Im coming to greet them and feed them.

Its just really a nice grounding, he said. Its a connection to other living things and its a happy connection.

For the Markovich family, there is so much joy of having the hens free range on their property and bond with them, with the added benefit of supplying them with farm fresh eggs.

When those eggs come out, they are clean as a whistle, Markovich said. Sometimes if you get to the coop at the right time, theyre warm, so you know theyre very fresh. The quality of the eggs is so different from what you get in a grocery story. The color of the yolk, the fluffiness of the egg, the way they taste. Plus, we know what theyre eating because were the ones feeding them.

Im really glad we took the leap, he said. We just enjoy it so much, its so much fun, and, again, the best part about it is we get some really great eggs in the process.

CT Rent A Hen LLC; 860-452-4562; www.ctrentahen.com; ctrentahen@outlook.com; Facebook CT Rent-A-Hen, LLC.

Sarah Page Kyrcz can be reached via email at suzipage1@aol.com
Bruno is a "chatty" 25-pound cat who likes to stand on his back feet like a round, furry little egg-shaped man when hungry. He's got a lot of specific preferences ("Yes, I know I am EXTRA" the animal shelter's post advertising him declares). He's got some extra toes. And he has captured the internet's heart, which is good, because he's looking for a new home.

Bruno is one of the adoptable pets on offer at Wright Way Rescue in Morton Grove, Ill. Here are some of his quirks:

GOOD BOY: Dog goes viral for being a model BART passenger

His preference is to be petted while eating, and if you decline to do so, he will meow and afix you with a penetrating stare while he grudgingly eats anyway.

He likes to be petted on the top of his head, sides of his face, his neck and his spine, but absolutely not his belly (this seems understandable).

He loves to drink water, but will not drink the water if it's placed in the same room as his food.

Although his rotund physique is both striking and adorable (one might say he is a MEGACHONKER, in the parlance of those who make up words to describe animal body types online), he is on a diet to get him down to a healthier size, according to Wright Way Rescue.

MEOWZA: Get paid to hang out with cats on a gorgeous Greek island

Applications have been pouring in, with hundreds of inquiries about Bruno coming from around the world since the shelter posted about him on Wednesday, according to Wright Way.

If you are interested in adopting Bruno, you can submit an application of your own here.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, and his wife, Margaret, arrived separately at a San Diego courthouse Thursday for an arraignment at which they both entered "not guilty" pleas to charges of using $250,000 in campaign funds for vacations, groceries and $600 air travel for a pet rabbit, among other personal expenditures.

"I feel good," Hunter said as he brushed past reporters and a small group of protesters at the federal courthouse who chanted "Lock him up" and "Shame, shame."

Bail was set at $15,000 for Hunter and $10,000 for Margaret Hunter at the brief arraignment, and a hearing in the case was scheduled for Sept. 4. Duncan Hunter was also ordered by the court to surrender his personal weapons by Monday, local ABC 10 News reported.

Hunter earlier said he was the victim of a "witch hunt" concocted by a "bunch of leftists." He said he would not resign and would run for re-election in November for the seat in the San Diego area that he has held for five terms, and that was previously held by his father, Duncan Hunter, Sr., from 1981-2008.

Duncan told Politico in early August that "I knew the rules" of campaign finance and any violations were the result of honest mistakes.

"And if I did [spend improperly], it was an accident and I paid it back," he said at the time.

He also suggested that his wife, who was his campaign manager, was much better versed on the rules.

"My wife, she ran my Dad's FEC [Federal Election Commission reports] and his campaign prior to us getting married," Hunter said. "So I assumed -- not assumed -- she knew the rules. She knows the FEC rules as much as anybody who does that stuff."

The Justice Department filed a 60-count indictment Tuesday against the Hunters on charges including wire fraud and filing false reports with the FEC for allegedly using $250,000 in campaign donor money for personal expenditures such as ski weekends, bar tabs, dentists' bills, school tuition for their three children, and vacations in Italy and London.

From 2009-2016, the Hunters "spent substantially more than they earned," and used campaign funds to make up the difference as they skirted insolvency, the indictment said.

"They overdrew their bank accounts more than 1,100 times in a seven-year period resulting in approximately $37,761 in 'overdraft' and 'insufficient funds' bank fees," the indictment charged.

At one point, after withdrawing $20 from his personal bank account, Hunter was left with a balance of $15.02, the indictment said.

Hunter and his wife left the court without making any statements, but Duncan Hunter's lawyer, Gregory Vega, told reporters that "We are hoping the public will keep an open mind" on the case, according to media reports.

Vega called the charges against his client "politically motivated" by prosecutors who supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race against then-candidate Donald Trump.

"We believe there is a possible cover-up," Vega said.

Hunter was the second member of Congress to announce his support of Trump in 2016. The first was Rep. Chris Collins, R-New York, who was indicted for insider trading earlier this month and has announced that he will not run for re-election.

Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, Hunter's opponent in November, was also at the courthouse.

"I think the voters will be making the decision" on the merits of the case against Hunter, he said, according to local reports.

Campa-Najjar also thanked Hunter for his service as a Marine and suggested that when he returned from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he had been caught up "in the corruption that has plagued Washington for too long."

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Hunter joined the Marines and was an artillery officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he served in the battle of Fallujah. He left the reserves as a major.

In the lead-up to the indictment, Hunter has also denied rumors circulating on Capitol Hill that he had been drinking heavily and was involved with other women. He told Politico that the accusations were "tabloid trash."

"For over two years, I have made myself available to cooperate with this investigation in any manner," Hunter said in a statement Wednesday. "To date, I have not been asked one time to answer any questions or address any issue."

"All the while, there has been a constant barrage of misinformation and salacious headlines in our media regarding this matter," he continued. "I purposely choose to remain silent, not to feed into this witch-hunt and trust the process."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
WASHINGTON  The Senate on Thursday approved a massive spending bill that would direct more than $670 billion towards a wave of Defense Department increases, including the largest boost to servicemembers' pay in nearly a decade and new gains in the number of troops, equipment and weapons for the 2019 fiscal year.

The measure, which was part of a larger funding package of more than $850 billion, will fund priorities directed in the recently passed 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which directs policy and spending plans for the Defense Department.

The Senate voted 85 to 7 to pass the legislation, with some lawmakers absent, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who is battling brain cancer.

The legislation, H.R. 6157, now goes to a congressional conference committee to be reconciled with its House version before requiring votes in both chambers. If approved, the legislation goes to the president for his signature.

"The funds meet many of the requirements of our military commanders, equipping and training units to meet and overcome the most dangerous of emerging global threats," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said ahead of Thursday's vote. "As ever, our obligation to this all-volunteer force is to provide adequate training, weaponry and skills so that Americans always prevail on the battlefield."

Last week, President Donald Trump signed into law a more than $715 billion NDAA authorizing a 2.6 percent pay raise for servicemembers, as well as new purchases of aircrafts, ships, submarines and weapons. In June, the House passed its defense appropriations measure, H.R. 6157, in a vote of 359 to 49, followed by today's Senate passage.

Related content:

The defense budget moves on two tracks: the annual NDAA sets policy changes and expenditures for the military and determines how the money will be spent, while the defense appropriations bill is what actually moves money to the Pentagon to support the plan. The defense spending legislation is part of a larger labor, health and human services and education spending bill, an unusual combination, a lawmaker noted.

"It probably sounds like a pretty unusual combination even though I think most voters, most taxpayers understand that to get this work done in the time frame we have to do it, we generally need to bring more than one topic together on the floor at the same time," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Thursday of the combination of efforts being funded by the same appropriations bill, adding it could be on Trump's desk by the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1.

The so-called "minibus" appropriations bill saw more than two days of debate on the Senate floor this week. During that time, Senators added measures to boost funding for the identification of Korean War remains by $10 million and trigger a study of a new digital, military health records system.

The 2019 NDAA, H.R. 5515, passed Aug. 13 and will usher through a series of new reforms, such as revamping the military's "up or out" promotion system and policies to reign in sexual misconduct and domestic abuse among the ranks.

The plan builds on the momentum to increase the size and might of the military in response to China and Russia's growing capabilities as laid out in Trump's $686 billion defense budget proposed earlier this year. The Trump request for fiscal year included an increase of more than 15,000 active-duty troops, which lawmakers matched in the NDAA.

A two-year spending deal that lifted federal budget caps allowed the defense budget to increase to more than $715 billion. Coupled with approaching November midterm elections, lawmakers worked to pass the measures earlier than in past years.

At this pace, it's possible the defense spending bill could see passage by Oct. 1, which would mark the first on-time passage of the NDAA and its funding companion bill in more than 20 years.

However, lawmakers are on a tight clock. The House is on recess until Sept. 4, and Republican lawmakers are racing to confirm Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh ahead of the midterms. Congress is also facing an array of challenges from the Trump White House that could derail their work.

For example, Trump has threatened not to sign off on government spending plans if there isn't sufficient money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. This, as Trump is facing questions tied to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and a growing list of former administration aides facing criminal charges, which could divert attention on Capitol Hill from finishing up its NDAA funding measure on time.

Without a spending measure in place by Oct. 1, lawmakers might need to pass a temporary budget measure, which is known as a continuing resolution, to keep the government operating.
Still undetermined is whether the impact caused the October leak, or if the line was hit by something else at a later date.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, has ordered doctors to stop treating him for brain cancer, ending a year-long battle against the terminal disease and accepting his fate, his family said Friday.

"John has surpassed expectations for his survival" since disclosing last summer that he was suffering from an aggressive form of glioblastoma, "but the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict," the McCain family said in a statement issued through his Senate office.

"With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment," his wife, Cindy; daughter Meghan; and others in the McCain family said in the statement.

"Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John's many friends and associates," the family said. "God bless and thank you all."

Following his announcement of the diagnosis last July, McCain returned to the Senate, where he was chairman of the Armed Services Committee, but he has remained at the family ranch in the red rock country of Sedona, Ariz., since last December.

On Twitter, Cindy McCain said, "I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey."

Meghan McCain thanked those who share her love for her father during his fight against the disease: "We could not have made it this far without you; you've given us strength to carry on."

At the ranch in Sedona, while undergoing treatment, McCain liked to sit under a tree near a stream to read and rest, according to Mark Salter, a long-time aide, alter ego, and co-author of McCain's books.

McCain admittedly was not the best of patients and would jokingly accuse his nurses of being in the witness protection program.

"His nurses, some of them are new. They don't really know him, so they don't understand that sarcasm is his form of affection," Salter said earlier this summer on the "CBS This Morning" program. "He fights. He's fought with everybody at one point or another. You know, he always talks about the country being 325 million opinionated, vociferous souls -- and he's one of them."

In his last book, co-authored with Salter, "The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights," McCain faced mortality.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be here," he said in an audio excerpt from the book. "Maybe I'll have another five years. Maybe with the advances in oncology, they'll find new treatments for my cancer that will extend my life. Maybe I'll be gone before you hear this. My predicament is, well, rather unpredictable."

With the family's announcement, the tributes to McCain began to pour in, even from those with whom he had clashed on issues.

Last year, McCain came to the Senate floor and famously flashed a thumbs down to cast the deciding vote that scuttled the Trump administration's attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, watched in dismay.

"Very sad to hear this morning's update from the family of our dear friend," McConnell tweeted Friday. "We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour."

Members of the House and Senate joined in a collective tribute to McCain earlier this month in naming the $717 billion National Defense Authorization Act for him -- the "John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019."

"I am particularly humbled that my colleagues chose to designate legislation of such importance in my name," McCain said in response.

On Aug. 13, President Donald Trump signed the NDAA at an event at Fort Drum in upstate New York. He never mentioned that the bill was named for McCain, a constant critic.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump declared that he did not consider McCain a war hero, saying he preferred "people who weren't captured."

McCain has acknowledged that he did not vote for Trump and has mocked the president's attempts to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

McCain was elected to the House from Arizona in 1982 and to the Senate in 1986. John Sidney McCain III, the son and grandson of four-star admirals, entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1954 and retired as a captain in 1981.

In Vietnam, he was known as "air pirate McCain," according to Radio Hanoi. For five years, he was a prisoner of war after his A-4 Skyhawk was shot down. He was awarded the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

In a Senate floor speech before returning for good to Arizona last year, McCain chided his colleagues for the divisiveness that plagues American politics, while asserting his pride in serving among them.

"Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and on the Internet. To hell with them," he said. "We've been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. We're getting nothing done, my friends; we're getting nothing done.

"I'm going home for a while to treat my illness. I have every intention of returning here and giving many of you pause to regret all the nice things you said about me," he added. "And I hope to impress on you again, that it is an honor to serve the American people in your company."

McCain has already outlined plans for his funeral. He has asked that former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush give eulogies. He has requested that Trump not attend.

He has also asked to be laid to rest alongside Adm. Chuck Larson at the Naval Academy's cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. Larson, who was twice superintendent of the academy, was McCain's roommate at Annapolis.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
James C. Melton, a native of Manchester, Ga., volunteered to join the armed forces after college as an Army Engineer Officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served in Vietnam from September 1969 through June 1970.

In 1969 he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces in the Republic of Vietnam. But, he was never formally presented his medal until July 18 at the USACE ceremony that was originally scheduled to promote his son to the rank of Air Force major.

"It was given to him on his way out of Vietnam. Kind of like a, 'Here you go, take this and throw it in your backpack,' type of thing," said Maj. James "J.D." Melton.

J.D. is Melton's son and followed in his father's military footsteps. He joined the U.S. Air Force and currently works as the USACE staff weather officer. J.D. was promoted from captain to major during the July 18 ceremony.

J.D. decided to share the moment with his father who inspired him to join the military. He wanted to honor his father by having the Bronze Star Medal formally presented during the promotion ceremony.

"He was never formally presented the award the way it should have been. So, I decided to put this together," said J.D. "He had such a big influence on me. I joined the Air Force and now I'm working for the Corps of Engineers. It's full circle for the whole family."

J.D.'s family at the ceremony, in addition to his father, included his wife, daughter, mother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Maj. Gen. Michael C. Wehr, USACE deputy commanding general, hosted the promotion ceremony.

Following the promotion, Wehr shared a few words about the poor treatment of troops after they returned from Vietnam up until recently.

"I think now we are finally starting to right those wrongs," said Wehr.

Wehr then formally presented Melton with the Bronze Star. Melton stood tearfully as his wife and J.D. joined him at the front while his medal was pinned onto his shirt.

"This was a big surprise, awesome, unbelievable, and a great honor," said Melton a resident of Arden, N.C.

Following the ceremony guests were able to speak with the family and view a table set up with several of Melton's personal items from his time in Vietnam including a journal he kept, his helmet and pictures.

"After all these years it's like your time in Vietnam is finally worth it and you finally get recognition," said Melton. "Before this it seemed like my time in Vietnam was worthless."
The U.S. Air Force is still inspecting its KC-10 Extender fleet weeks after one of the aircraft experienced slide-raft deployment issues, Air Mobility Command officials said.

The issue affects the service's entire fleet of 59 KC-10 refueling aircraft, which are stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, AMC spokesman Maj. Bryon McGarry told Military.com on Friday.

"Our maintenance and engineering experts continue to investigate the root causes for the slide-raft issue," McGarry said in an email.

He could not provide a timeline for the conclusion of inspections or a fix for the problem. Inspectors and maintenance personnel have not yet found a singular root cause for the problem, McGarry said.

Related content:

"Upon completion of the investigation, we'll be able to provide more info as to how many aircraft require targeted maintenance and how long that maintenance will take," he added.

Refueling operations continue globally, and the Air Force has not ordered a stand-down or pause of any kind, McGarry said. "Fleet analysis shows this issue is only applicable to the KC-10 fleet."

Although the slide raft is the primary way for crews to exit the aircraft in an emergency, airmen "are trained on secondary egress procedures so it doesn't affect their ability to conduct worldwide operations," he said.

In May, a KC-10 Extender at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst had an emergency on the ground, during which the slide rafts failed to deploy.

A KC-10 "aborted takeoff due to smoke in the flight deck, causing the crew to evacuate the aircraft," AMC spokesman Col. Chris Karns told Military.com at the time. However, the slide rafts failed to inflate.

The Air Force began a series of "confidence checks" on its KC-10 fleet. The tests turned up additional incidents, AMC said.

"During additional slide-raft deployment attempts, two failed, so the enterprise decided to conduct a deeper evaluation to identify the specific cause of failure," Karns said at the time.

In all, there were four failures, he said: two separate cases of the slides not deploying during the May 20 incident; one incident at Travis; and another involving a McGuire-based aircraft receiving depot maintenance in Greensboro, North Carolina.

As a result of the check failures, the investigation was accelerated and deepened, Karns said.

Given the problems with the KC-10 fleet, the Air Force reduced space-available travel for family and service members.

Space-A travel remains scaled back, McGarry said Friday. "Space-A flights remain restricted pending completion of the investigation and associated necessary repair actions."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
Lightning Packs, LLC has created what could be a ground-breaking new pack-frame design that appears to float while being carried, reducing fatigue. It may even generate power, the makers say.

"Our ergonomic backpacks use an innovative pulley system to reduce impact forces on the user by 80 to 90 [percent], which reduces exertion and injury," according to the Lightning Packs website.

Lightning Packs founder and pack inventor Lawrence Rome is a muscle physiology expert, according to the company's website. He also teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

"We first designed, built under contract, and delivered a series of ergonomic and electricity-generating backpacks for personnel of the United States Army and Marine Corps. The ergonomic benefits of our design have been field-tested and approved by soldiers themselves," the website states.

The Hoverglide Floating Backpack

The Army's Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center put out a brief video in 2015 to showcase the new pack frame technology.

Yakira Howarth, of CERDEC'S Command, Power and Integration Directorate, said in the video that the frame "generates electricity through rotary motion that we can capture and use to trickle-charge any batteries or electronics that they have on them."

"Our aim is for a net-zero soldier which means that whatever he is powering that is on him will be powered by what he is carrying on him at the same time," she continued. "We are supporting tactical power for the small unit so we are continually gathering data and feedback from soldiers so that we can continue to improve the wearability of this working prototype."

It's unclear if the Army is still looking at the technology.

Lightning Packs now plans to market its new ergonomic backpack, the "Hoverglide," on the commercial market, using Kickstarter.com to raise funding.

Using Suspended Load Technology, or SLT, the frame slides up and down as the weared walks to reduce "the accelerative forces that cause injuries and reduce mobility," according to the website.

"The pack reduces the metabolic energy requirement by 40-80 watts, allowing a wearer to carry 8-12 extra pounds 'for free,'" the website states.

The Hoverglide will be offered in several models for backpacking, commuting and light hiking. There will also be a tactical model which is about the size of a standard daypack or assault pack, according to the review website Hot-Newtech.

"Our company is ready to produce a pack that enables quicker, easier travel while reducing back pain and injury, [and] with your help, we can make that happen," the Lighting Packs website states.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
Since 2003, Soldiers' Angels has lived its mission to provide aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, their families and a growing veteran population.

Thousands of Soldiers' Angels "Angel" volunteers make up the heart of the organization, dedicating their time and talent to supporting our nation's heroes and provide a wide range of support to deployed service members, wounded heroes, veterans, military families and veterans of all eras.

The Soldiers' Angels trademark is "May no soldier go unloved."

Soldiers' Angels Hunger Relief

Soldiers' Angels sponsors monthly mobile food distributions for veterans in need of hunger relief. Through a partnership with the Veterans' Administration (VA) and local food banks, Soldiers' Angels Hunger Relief Program provides up to 200 veteran families with approximately 75 pounds of food each.

The program helps more than 14,400 veterans each year in San Antonio, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Charleston, North Carolina; Detroit, Michigan; and Orlando, Florida. The organization plans to expand the Hunger Relief Program to other cities as the program continues to grow.

You can volunteer or sponsor the Hunger Relief Program at 210-629-0020 or by email at info@soldiersangels.org.

If you're a veteran and need food assistance, contact your local VA. In the markets where Soldiers' Angels has a Hunger Relief Program, veterans must register for the mobile food distribution each month.

Registration is limited to 200 families per month, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be asked to provide:

 Your name

 Address (or indicate homeless, if applicable)

 Phone number

 Email address

 Proof of military/veteran status

 Pre-9/11 or post-9/11 service

 Rank at discharge

 VA disability rating

Soldiers' Angels Deployed Support Teams

Soldiers' Angels has programs to support deployed and active-duty service members, including:

 Angel Bakers: Send care packages of homemade baked goods

 Cards Plus: Support the military community with cards of celebration and encouragement

 Letter Writing: Write a letter of support to service members

 Chaplain Support: Support the chaplains who support service members

 Deployed Adoptions: Support a service member throughout their deployment with care packages and letters

 Ladies of Liberty: Support female service members with care packages

 Special Operations Forces: Dedicated support for these troops

You can help contribute to these efforts by registering as a Team Angel.

Soldiers' Angels Family Support Teams

Soldiers' Angels also supports military families with dedicated programs, including:

 Adopt-A-Family: Support for a deployed military family or veteran family during the holiday season

 Living Legends: Support for a loved one left behind when a warrior falls in the line of military duty

 Baby Brigade: Virtual baby showers for expectant spouses of deployed and expectant active duty mothers

 Sewing and Crafting: Make hand-made gifts for service members, veterans and families

 Women of Valor: Support female caregivers of post-9/11 wounded, ill and inured service members and veterans

You can help contribute to these efforts by registering as a Team Angel.

Soldiers' Angels Collection Campaigns

Throughout the year, Soldiers' Angels collects thousands of items that are crucial to supporting deployed service members, veterans in VA hospitals and military families.

 Valentines for Veterans: Write and send Valentine's Day cards

 Warm Feet for Warriors: Collect and ship warm socks

 Blanket Drive: Assemble and deliver blankets

 Treats for the Troops: Collect extra Halloween candy

 Holiday Stockings for Heroes: Stuff and send holiday stockings

 Adopt-A-Family: Make the holidays special for military/veteran families in need

You can help collect and contribute these items year-round. Contact 210-629-0020 for more information about schedules and deadlines.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Pediatricians concerned that marijuana can be harmful to adolescent health and development are trying to convince Ann Arbor to place stricter limits on dispensaries.

Gregory Yanik, a pediatric oncologist at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, said there's a common voice among pediatricians in the community.

Joined by several of his colleagues at Thursday night's City Council meeting, Yanik told council members the potential neurocognitive effects of marijuana on children are real.

"The potential effects to a fetus from a pregnant woman who's using cannabis are real," he added. "The potential effects to a young child of a nursing mother who's using cannabis are real. This is an agent that is highly fat soluble, meaning that its uptake into the brain, into breastmilk, into a fetus are real."

Several members of the local medical community showed up to the Aug. 23 meeting to support ordinance changes to increase the city's distance requirements for medical marijuana dispensaries.

The changes await final approval after an initial first reading last month. They would require new marijuana dispensaries approved after Oct. 31 to be at least 1,000 feet apart from other dispensaries, a change from the city's current 600-foot buffer rule.

The proposed ordinance changes would additionally require marijuana businesses to be at least 1,000 feet from child care centers or group child care homes, an expansion of the existing requirement that they must be at least 1,000 feet from schools.

With four council members absent Thursday night, the council decided to put the matter on hold until Sept. 4.

Yanik said he supports the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement from January 2015, which reaffirmed the organization's opposition to legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use and stated its opposition to medical marijuana outside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory process for pharmaceuticals.

The AAP statement also discouraged adults from using marijuana in the presence of children "because of the influence of role modeling by adults on child and adolescent behavior."

The AAP has taken a position that making marijuana more available to adults also increases access for teens, arguing merely the campaigns to legalize marijuana can have the effect of persuading adolescents that marijuana is not dangerous, "which can have a devastating impact on their lifelong health and development."

According to the AAP, marijuana can impair memory and concentration for adolescents, interfering with learning, and is linked to lower odds of completing high school or obtaining a college degree.

"It can alter motor control, coordination and judgment, which may contribute to unintentional deaths and injuries," the AAP stated. "Regular use is also linked to psychological problems, poorer lung health, and a higher likelihood of drug dependence in adulthood."

Ann Arbor resident Kelly Walkovich, a mother and pediatrician at the Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, has lobbied the council to add distance protections for daycare centers and other youth centers to the regulations for marijuana dispensaries in Ann Arbor.

She said she has sent a significant amount of documentation and peer-reviewed literature to council documenting with knowledge and "not fear" the concerns about marijuana as it relates to children.

Noting there's already a 1,000-foot buffer requirement for K-12 schools, Walkovich argued Thursday night it's illogical to assume the risks aren't the same for children in other settings.

"I urge you to heed the medical advice that toddlers and infants are equally and in many ways more vulnerable and to take action to help protect our vulnerable populations within Ann Arbor," she said.

Ann Arbor resident Barbara Felt, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at the Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, said she has done animal studies on nutritional deficiencies and knows that even minor deficiencies during development can affect brain structure, metabolism, neurotransmitter systems and longterm behavioral and developmental outcomes.

"That experience, plus what I've learned as a developmental behavioral pediatrician, really urged me to come to you today to lend my voice with Dr. Walkovich in support of the amendments," she told council. "I've lived here for 24 years, I've raised two children who benefitted from a safe community and participated in the public schools and benefitted from all the resources that the city had to offer.

"I hope that we can present the same safe environment for future families and present families to also raise their children to their potential," she continued, arguing even storefront advertisements for marijuana can influence the behavior of teens and increase their risk of use and negative outcomes.

Council Member Jane Lumm, who ran Thursday's meeting in the absence of Mayor Christopher Taylor and Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Warpehoski, thanked members of the medical community and others who've spoken out, saying it's been informative.

"We've received a lot of communications in support of this ordinance revision," she said, adding it seems clear there are a lot of people in the community with concerns about the concentration and location of medical marijuana dispensaries.

"I agree with those residents, and I believed from the outset that the minimum distance between medical marijuana provisioning centers should be at least 1,000 feet, not the 600 that we originally established, so I appreciate that we are revisiting this," she said.

Since the 600-foot buffer rule took effect earlier this year, Lumm said, the city has seen more dispensaries come forward than many expected. She thinks revising it to 1,000 feet is reasonable to limit the concentration, especially near neighborhoods and daycare centers.

Council Member Kirk Westphal, D-2nd Ward, said he was probably guilty of some "public health relativism" in the city's earlier discussions about the allowable density of marijuana dispensaries.

"I recognize our citizens' strenuous embrace of medical marijuana and we have a lot of other public health issues going on, but I really appreciate the outreach from the physicians in our community and other medical professionals who keep an eye on this and who know the data," he said. "This is a tough balance, and my thinking has evolved on this, and I'm glad we're having the discussion."

Council Member Anne Bannister, a cannabis advocate who spoke at the Hash Bash marijuana rally in Ann Arbor this year, has suggested marijuana can help address the opioid addiction crisis.

With all due respect to the medical community, she said, she'll be opposing the ordinance changes.

Bannister said Ann Arbor residents have a lot of strong opinions on the topic and there shouldn't be more restrictions for marijuana dispensaries than there are for pharmacies.

And if Michigan voters legalize marijuana in November, she said, there shouldn't be more restrictions for marijuana dispensaries than there are for liquor stores or bars that serve alcohol.

Lorraine Shulman, a psychiatric social worker for Michigan Medicine's addiction treatment program, said there are adolescents and young adults who are trying to stay sober and need safe places, but that can be hard to find in a cannabis-friendly city.

"There's a lot of adolescents who are psychiatrically vulnerable who don't have the same unanimously positive effects from marijuana use that others might have, who are fighting against depression, anxiety, psychosis, schizophrenia and these things that have been shown to be exacerbated by cannabis use," she said. "And I do think that environment, it sends a message, and that it's important to be mindful about the environment around youth-oriented centers."

Walkovich said there are more than 3,500 patients in Ann Arbor who have active medical marijuana cards.

She said council members have an obligation to also serve and protect the 16,000-plus children who live in Ann Arbor.

"Their hardworking parents and families who live in this community are counting on you to protect them," she told council members, urging them to form a strategic planning committee to leverage local expertise around the issue, including public health, medical professionals and other stakeholders, to come up with "a rational and harmonious policy so that we all can live in safety together."

Chuck Ream, a longtime local marijuana activist, offered a different perspective at Thursday's meeting.

"This is Ann Arbor. Our voters support cannabis," Ream said, arguing council members seem to not know where they live.

"Our city charter forcefully supports cannabis, just like our voters," he said. "Our voters have no big fear of cannabis. By initiating the $5 fine in 1972, Ann Arbor stepped out decades ahead of any other place on the face of this earth in terms of reasonable cannabis policy."

Ream argued many people have moved to Ann Arbor because it's cannabis-friendly and they feel safe here.

"We need bold and creative leadership from City Council in terms of safely integrating cannabis into western culture," he said.

"Cannabis can create much enjoyment and commerce, and serve to mitigate damage caused by alcohol, opiates, methamphetamine or whatever," he added. "The cannabis industry in the United States will be worth many tens of billions of dollars. Ann Arbor is going to be a world leader in cannabis commerce."

Ream argued "a few conservatives" who have approached council "full of various reefer madness fears" shouldn't control policy in Ann Arbor. He suggested they should move to Saline instead.

"Our voters don't believe in any distance requirements between dispensaries or any limited numbers for dispensaries allowed," he said. "This policy is born of fear. And now some propose to go back further to a 1,000-foot requirement? Please, no."

Ream, a former kindergarten teacher, said if the city is going to keep dispensaries away from anything, it can only be K-12 schools.

"If you show no proactive creativity with cannabis policy and step back into blatant discrimination still further, you can be certain cannabis policy in Ann Arbor will be made directly by the voters by ballot initiative in 2020," he told council members, suggesting they should choose to take the lead themselves before it comes to that.

The city's Planning Commission has approved 21 marijuana dispensaries so far this year:

Arborside, 1818 Packard St.

Arbors Wellness, 321 E. Liberty St.

Bloom City Club, 423 Miller Ave.

District Arbor 1, 3005 Packard Road

Exclusive PR Center, 3820 Varsity Drive

Green Planet, 700 Tappan St.

Greenstone Society, 338 S. Ashley St.

Huron View, 3152 Packard Road

Liberty Gallery Inc., 702 S. Main St.

Liv Cafe N Wellness, 603 E. William St.

Medicine Man of Ann Arbor Inc., 2793 Plymouth Road

Northside Narnia, 811 N. Main St.

Om of Medicine, 111 S. Main St.

Parkhurst Services, 3294 Winewood Ave.

People's Choice Alternative Medicine, 2247 W. Liberty St.

Pure Roots LLC, 3430 Washtenaw Ave.

Scientific Method Holdings II Inc., 1115 Broadway St.

Stadium Ventures Inc., 2460 W. Stadium Blvd.

The Rabbit Club, 450 S. Main St.

TC MI Ann Arbor 2 LLC (TreeCity), 1958 S. Industrial Highway.

Treecity Health Collective, 2730 Jackson Ave.

Some of those were existing dispensaries going through the approval process to become official under new regulations, while some are brand-new ones. Several others are still under consideration.

The City Council has capped the number of marijuana dispensaries allowed in the city at 28 for now to see how things go.

That means there can be seven more as of right now. Whether all of them go into operation and whether there's enough market demand for all of them to remain in business remains to be seen, City Council Member Zachary Ackerman said at a recent meeting.
Khiem Pham

HOWELL, MI - His son Phillip Pham, 43, of Dexter recalls the yearly telling of the story well.

Sitting at his kitchen table after reading the Vietnamese Bible, the family would recount the story of how his father took a C-130 with 53 passengers to escape Vietnam days before Saigon fell.

As a child, Pham didn't quite appreciate the significance of the story, and the American lives that played a role.

Pham and his father, 71-year-old Pham Quang Khiem, shared the story with Vietnam veterans Thursday, Aug. 23, when an education center and replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known as the "Wall that Heals," opened at the Spencer J. Hardy Airport in Livingston County. The mobile exhibit is in town through Sunday, Aug. 26

"When we look at freedom, what we escaped from, the communist government ... that's something I feel the need to give back," Phillip Pham said. "We owe our lives to these soldiers."

When reached by phone on his way to Livingston County on Thursday, his father laughed as he explained he really only borrowed the plane and didn't steal it.

"I didn't keep it myself - the Air Force got it back," he said.

Lt. Pham Quang Khiem, who goes by Khiem Pham, was a South Vietnamese Air Force pilot in April 1975, when he fled the country with his family in tow.

At that point, it seemed certain that the country would fall to the communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces and Khiem Pham, then 27, feared he and his relatives in the military would be captured by their enemy and forced to do hard labor. They might die doing it, he thought.

So, Pham and a close friend devised a plan.

The United States, an ally to South Vietnam, had pulled out two years before, but they'd provided pilot training and airplanes. One of those airplanes was the C-130 that Khiem Pham now keeps pictures of in his wallet and phone.

Pham talked another member of the Air Force into letting him co-pilot the plane and he gave his family notice to meet at an abandoned airstrip. The other crew members didn't know the true plan until they landed, and the buddies unloaded the rice they were supposed to be delivering.

As Phillip Pham recalls the story, his mother ran to help his older sister, who was almost trampled as everyone boarded. Then someone had to run and grab him, four or five months old, before they took off.

When they did, the elder Pham was full of joy at the successful takeoff. Still, they were leaving behind all they knew. Phillip Pham said his mother grabbed only a few photo albums.

"It's hard, when you are born there, you've grown there," Khiem Pham said. "Suddenly in a moment you have to leave the country with your family and you are thinking it's a better future with leaving the county (than if) we stay back there and we don't know what the future looks like."

The family made it to Singapore a few hours later and would become refugees in California before eventually settling in Dayton, Ohio. The U.S. took the plane back. Khiem Pham went on to be commercial pilot. He's since retired.

He's gone back to Vietnam three times since his escape, but Khiem Pham said it no longer feels like he belongs.

Phillip Pham said he's watched his dad tell the story over the years and recount that he wishes he could have saved more people.

The younger Pham said with age he's grown to appreciate the sacrifices of the fellow crew members left their families behind that day, but also of the Americans who died for them and taught his dad the skills he needed to escape.

He recalled one veteran embracing him in tears after he told the story and said thank you. That's why he hopes to keep sharing it.

His father shares similar sentiments.

"They came to Vietnam and fight along us and I have to thank them for the fight for our freedom," Khiem Pham said. "I just think, I wish we won the war, so we don't have any regret."
BAY CITY, MI - Next year's Tall Ship Celebration now has a new port sponsor to help put on the event.

At an announcement party Thursday, Aug. 23, at Bay City's Wenonah Park, Michigan Sugar Company has signed up to be the main sponsor for the event that is returning in 2019 for the first time since 2016.

The company joins other organizations that have committed to sponsoring the event next year, including: Consumers Energy, Wildfire Credit Union, Chemical Bank/Amerilodge Group, Huntington Bank, McLaren Bay Region and Independence Bank.

"Tall Ships Celebration is a world-class event that has been here approximately every three years since 2001 and we are about the smallest community on the circuit to do so," said Shirley Roberts, executive director of BaySail and the Tall Ship Celebration event coordinator. "We are incredibly pleased and relieved to have a company like Michigan Sugar to sign on to our event."

The event's main sponsor in 2016 was Dow Corning Corp., which no longer exists after being incorporated into Dow Dupont Inc. as part of the 2017 merger.

The cost of the event for 2016 totaled more than $730,000 and that went toward investment in the ships' appearance fees, performances by international maritime musicians and free activities for children and families, according to a news release.

Roberts said the financial benefits, which includes the main sponsor giving $50,000 at the beginning, are great but she also said it helps act as a "nod" that they are doing something meaningful for the community.

Rob Clark, director of communications and community relations for the sugar company, said they are excited to be the main sponsor for the event.

"So it's a $50,000 commitment right off the bat to be the presenting sponsor, obviously there are some perks that come with being the top dog on the bill but that's not really what this is about," he said, "It's really about helping this community host an incredible world-class festival that literally welcomes people from all over the world, certainly all over the Midwest."

Clark also said that his company has never been involved as a sponsor of the festival but knows how important the event is and is excited to help out with it.

Michigan Sugar Company is also the second-largest supplier of jobs in Bay County with roughly 750 year-round employees and more than 1,300 seasonal employees that work during the sugar beet season.

Roberts also added that Chicago is not doing the event next year, and Cleveland skipped a year in the past, which makes Bay City the longest serving port in the Great Lakes region. She called it "a big deal" because the relative small size of the community compared to those larger metropolitan cities.

The maritime event attracts tens of thousands of visitors during its run, which usually is over a weekend. Next year it will take place July 18-21, according to a news release sent out by BaySail.

This week also marks the 20th anniversary of the nonprofit organization as well.
A 24-year-old man accused of running from and opening fire on Detroit police before they returned fire and shot the suspect, was arraigned on 11 felony counts.

Detroit police approached Olajuwon Israel of Novi, who on Aug. 20 was standing near a corner on Asbury Park in Detroit with other men, who were drinking from plastic cups, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig says the officers, part of a three-man Special Operations team, spotted a "large bulge" on Israel's side and suspected he might be armed.

"The men were asked if they had weapons and it is alleged that all of the men raised their shirts to show that they had no weapons, except Israel," the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said. "It is alleged that Israel stepped away from the group and began running."

After ignoring orders to stop, Israel hopped a fence, his gun discharged -- the prosecutor's office didn't say if he fired at police -- and officers returned fire, striking Israel once. He was critically injured but is expected to survive.

Chief Craig gives an update regarding the officer involved shooting Posted by Detroit Police Department on Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Craig said the shooting, for which there is body camera footage that hasn't been released, is under review.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office charged Israel for being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, seven counts of possession fraudulent credit cards and resisting and obstructing police.

It's not clear what felony crime Israel was previously convicted of. While Wayne County Circuit Court records indicate he was charged with more than 20 felonies related to counterfeiting and credit card fraud in 2016, the case is unresolved and Israel was never convicted.

A review of Oakland County Circuit Court and Michigan Department of Corrections online records, likewise, revealed no felony convictions.

At the time of the shooting, Craig said Israel had an open out-of-state arrest warrant.
A black Detroit police officer with a checkered disciplinary history is suing the department over claims of racism and a hostile work environment.

Detroit Police Office Johnny Strickland, a Detroit native and 12-year veteran of the force, says that while off duty on Jan. 22, 2017, he was handcuffed by white officers after accidentally walking into a crime scene, called "stupid," "dumb" and an "idiot," and subjected to an unwarranted vehicle search.

Officers at the scene, including Rodney Ballinger, whom Strickland knew and who is named a defendant in the lawsuit, notified Stickland he'd walked into a bomb-threat investigation, even though Strickland's attorney, ACLU racial justice attorney Mark Fancher, says the scene wasn't cordoned off or secured.

Even after he identified himself as a Detroit police officer, the lawsuit says the officers berated and temporarily detained Strickland while a K9 searched his car.

"Although (Strickland) was accused of not leaving the scene when ordered, he was given no opportunity to leave before defendant Ballinger unlawfully placed (Strickland) in handcuffs and detained him with malicious intent and without cause or justification of any kind," the lawsuit says.

Strickland filed a complaint against the officers involved, sparking an internal investigation. Fancher said the Internal Affairs Unit also initiated an investigation into Strickland based on counter-complaints filed by the officers who detained him, but never notified Strickland an investigation was underway.

Fancher says, in addition to the personal civil rights violations committed against Strickland, Detroit Police Chief James Craig and other leaders are responsible for creating and not correcting a hostile work environment wrought with racism.

The gas station encounter occurred 10 days after the police chief and union president, Mark Diaz, independently held press conferences to downplay a report that claimed a "growing racial problem" within the police force.

The report came from the Committee on Race and Equality (CORE), an advisory body formed by the chief in February 2016 to review race, gender and sexual orientation inequality issues within the department. Craig called the findings "rumors" and "innuendo" and said they were never intended to become public and suspended the committee's activities.

Diaz called the report "reckless" and requested the committee be immediately disbanded.

The report said that while the department is staffed by 67 percent black officers, certain units, including crime analysis, gang intelligence, Cease Fire and other desirable task forces, are predominantly staffed by white men.

"African-American officers reported retaliatory tactics aimed at those officers who saw bias in the process of appointments to the rank of detective," the report says. "A few white command officers were blatant in their attacks against black officers who voiced dissatisfaction with the exam or sought redress through the collective bargaining process.

"There were common threads in all of the testimony given; repeat offenders among the white command staff."

Detroit police representatives didn't reply to requests for comment following the filing of Strickland's lawsuit, which is demanding a declaration that Detroit police policies are illegal, as well as financial compensation for punitive damages, lost wages and legal fees.

While Strickland has been previously disciplined for department violations and accused of filing a false insurance claim, Fancher said his prior discipline has nothing to do with the decision to file this lawsuit.

"I filed this lawsuit because discrimination and retaliation were directed at me, and I don't want any other officers to have to suffer the way I did," Strickland said, reading from a prepared statement at the Detroit ACLU offices Thursday, Aug. 23.

In April of 2013, Strickland was accused of insurance fraud and issued a 20-day suspension, which was later reduced on appeal.

Detroit Police Commission Chief Investigator Pamela Davis Drake accused Strickland of purchasing insurance on his motorcycle and reporting it stolen to the Rochester Hills Police Department, even though he knew the motorcycle hadn't been stolen.

"He ran out and got insurance and then the next day reported it stolen," Drake said. "I won't go in detail about the specifics of Officer Strickland's disciplinary history but there have been five issues... before this.

"I believe that taken together with the seriousness of the actions in this case support the 20-day suspension."

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office declined to charge Strickland with any crimes related to insurance fraud.
Detroit police on Thursday, Aug. 23, arrested an 18-year-old man in Dearborn who is suspected in the fatal shooting of Detroit Firefighter Jack Wiley Jr.

The suspect hasn't been named publicly, no charges have been announced and no further details were provided.

The firefighter was found dead inside his home in the 15000 block of Penrod in Detroit about 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21. He'd been shot.

"There is very little information on the circumstances," Craig said of the homicide Monday. "His home was ransacked."

According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Detroit police, as of 1 p.m Friday, Aug. 24, hadn't submitted a warrant request.
Keonte Sadler

FLINT, MI - A murder suspect out on bond now faces federal bank fraud and gun charges.

Keonte R. Sadler, 32, allegedly opened bank and credit card accounts using a fake social security number, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday, Aug. 22, in Flint U.S. District Court.

Sadler appeared Thursday in front of U.S. District Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis and was ordered into federal custody until a detention hearing could be held.

He became the target of the investigation after authorities were notified by Fifth Third Bank in March about a possible identity theft right operating in the area, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint alleges Sadler opened an account at Fifth Third under his own name but used a Social Security number not belonging to him.

Investigators claim Sadler then deposited a check for $4,200 that came from an account that was opened by his girlfriend using a fake Social Security number, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities claim Sadler's actions were also tracked to other states.

He bought a 2017 Dodge Ram in North Carolina after fraudulently obtaining a loan from Pentagon Federal Credit Union, according to the complaint.

Investigators also allege Sadler used a fake Social Security number to open a bank account at Credit One Bank in Las Vegas.

Federal investigators on Aug. 17 went to an address listed on one of Sadler's bank applications and discovered the Dodge Ram that Sadler bought, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities searched his residence and allegedly discovered a loaded Glock handgun, according to a criminal complaint.

A second criminal complaint was then filed against him for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He previously served federal prison time for a drug conviction.

The new charges arise from actions that federal investigators claim occurred while Sadler was out on bond while awaiting a second trial for a 2014 killing.

Sadler and his brother were convicted in May 2016 of second-degree murder and sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison for the May 30, 2014, killing of Gregory Hodo outside the Shop-n-Go Mini Mart on West Pierson Road.

The conviction was later overturned by the State Court of Appeals after the court gave jurors an improper verdict form and a new trial was ordered.

Sadler was released on a $75,000 bond in Aug. 2017 while awaiting a new trial for Hodo's death. The new trial is set for Oct. 9.

He was on bond for a supervised release violation at the time of Hodo's death in connection to the previous drug conviction.

Sadler was arrested by federal authorities in January 2015 on the murder charge after he fled to Arizona to avoid arrest. The U.S. Marshals Service claimed he was using a fake name. He was found at a home in Phoenix and surrendered without incident.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Twenty-eight homeless youth will have a safe place to stay, programs and wrap around services to put them on a path toward a job, home and independence in November.

Detroit-based Covenant House Michigan is building a $3.5 million three-story, 17,000-square-foot youth home, south of the intersection of Franklin Street and Division Avenue at 26 Antoine St.

"We are not a shelter, we are a program designed to help young people get on their feet,'' said Pam Spaeth, chief operating officer for Covenant House Michigan Grand Rapids. "This is an investment in our youth and this community.''

Approved by the city commission as a 90-day emergency shelter, Spaeth said it is a program of self-sufficiency to help 14 men and 14 women, ages 18 to 24, become successful adults.

A ribbon cutting is planned for Nov. 14 and youth will begin moving in on Nov. 26.

"If our youth are not ready to leave after 90 days, they will remain in this program until they are ready and self-sufficient to move out into appropriate housing,'' Spaeth said.

"We want them to be capable of managing their life, so they will be successful adults when they leave. We will have benchmarks to help them understand their readiness to move on.''

The temporary home is next door to Covenant House's charter high school, Covenant House Academy Grand Rapids for homeless, at-risk and runaway youth. The high school opened in 2013 with a long-term vision of a shelter.

The year-round school, located at 50 Antoine St. SE, usually has about 350 students in the fall and 20 percent identify as homeless.

Statewide there were 36,811 homeless students reported by public schools for 2016-17, according to most recent state data released last December. More than 3,300 of those students attended school in Kent and Ottawa counties.

Spaeth said Covenant House will begin working with its referral partners in early November to discuss youth who are most in need. She said those partners include, HQ, a drop-in center for homeless and runaway youth ages 14 to 24, 3:11 Youth Housing, and Mel Trotter Ministries.

Homeless advocates told city officials when Covenant House was seeking approval for the home that the area lacked safe, affordable and youth-appropriate shelter and housing options.

The youth home will have 30 staffers, including an employment education and life skills specialists, a psychologist, three case managers, 16 resident advisers, security, outreach coordinators, and cooks, who will provide three meals a day.

"The focus is education, employment, socialization and life-skills training,'' Spaeth said. "If they are not working and they are not in school, they will be in life-skills training here every day such as financial awareness.''

Spaeth said they will we working with the youth, who want to be in school, to determine which school choice in the area is the best fit for them.

The youth will be housed on the upper floors by gender - second floor (female) and third floor (male).

The original plan was to have two people to a room but after input from homeless youth, many of whom have never had their own room, each student will have their own room with dorm room style loft bed.

They will have a card key entry system such as used by hotels.

The bathrooms/ showers are in a common area but with private stalls. Each floor will have a technology area for computer usage, a lounge with a big screen TV, a cafe where there will be food and drinks stored, and a washer and dryer.

The multipurpose training area is on the main floor, along with the administrative officers, a reflection room, welcome room, conference room and kitchen. There is also an outdoor seating area.

The building has a lot of windows and bright lights that Spaeth said is intentional.

"This whole building has been built with transparency because so many kids in this situation have been with held behind doors and in darkness,'' she said.

Covenant House Michigan also operates a youth shelter in Detroit near its three charter high schools in Detroit.

Grand Valley State University authorizes the Grand Rapids academy, as well as the three in Detroit. The schools are managed by Youth Vision Solutions.

The organization launched the public phase of its $4.5 million campaign in November 2017, for the area's first homeless youth home. More than $3 million has been raised.

Spaeth said from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, an anonymous donor will match donations dollar for dollar.

People can make online donations at www.covenanthousemi.org, call 616-401-2336, or email pspaeth@covenanthouse.org. Donations can also be mailed to Beyond These Walls, Covenant House Michigan Grand Rapids, P.O. Box 150350, Grand Rapids, MI 49515.

The school and youth home are neighbors to Campau Park, New Hope Baptist Church, Delaware Manor, an affordable housing building for seniors, and Campau Commons, an complex for low-income families, senior citizens and the disabled.
Betsy DeVos quickly drew the ire of Democrats and educators alike this week when her Education Department said it was mulling whether states should be allowed to use grant funds to buy guns for schools.

According to the Associated Press, a senior Trump administration official said federal officials are trying to decide if academic enrichment grant money can be used by school districts to purchase firearms for use by school employees.

DeVos, the U.S. Education Secretary and a West Michigan native who chairs a federal commission on school safety, has said in the past that schools should have the option to arm teachers.

Reaction on Thursday was swift.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the idea "one of the most egregious, short-sighted and dangerous executive branch abuses of our education system in modern history," the AP said.

"Secretary DeVos continues to lead an anti-student and anti-teacher campaign on behalf of special interests and the NRA that rejects proven and effective initiatives to ensure a safe, welcoming school climate for children."

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, claimed DeVos is doing the bidding of the National Rifle Association.

"Instead of after-school programs or counselors, programs that are critical for creating safe and welcoming schools and addressing the mental health needs of kids, DeVos wants to turn schools into armed fortresses and make kids and educators less safe," Weingarten said in a statement.

"She wants to turn the U.S. government into an arms dealer for schools. That's insane," she added.

The Education Department began weighing the issue after Texas educators asked for clarification on whether the federal funds could be used to purchase weapons, according to the New York Times. Texas, one of a handful of states that allow school employees to be armed, has a school marshal program.

"The department is constantly considering and evaluating policy issues, particularly issues related to school safety," said Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, according to the Times.
Clerks throughout the state of Michigan are determining how to deal with broad requests from a secretive group asking for copies of voted ballots and other material from the November 2016 election.

The requests submitted under the Freedom of Information Act are signed with only a first name, "Emily," and are coming from the "United Impact Group," although it's unclear what the group is or why it wants copies of seemingly every ballot cast in Michigan during the last general election.

The mysterious requests have been sent to "many, many clerks around the state, if not all of the clerks" this month, state elections director Sally Williams said Friday.

Williams said the general legal consensus is that voted ballots are open record, and that the ballots themselves are fully anonymous. But some of the requests are for poll books, provisional ballots and other material that could need further legal review, and Williams said the state and other groups are helping locals navigate the requests as they also prepare for the 2018 general election.

"It's unnerved a lot of the clerks, rightfully so," Williams said. "Right now we're just in the request stage...I greatly suggest that if they get a deposit, they make sure that the check clears and then they can move towards fulfilling that request.

"Depending on how all that goes, their main focus also has to be on administering the election," she continued.

Per federal law, municipalities have to keep their ballots for at least 22 months after an election. Williams said she's advising Michigan clerks to hang onto those ballots for a while longer while the requests are ongoing.

Lisa Borgacz is the City Clerk for Mt. Clemens in Macomb County. She said she got an initial FOIA request from "Emily" on June 4 asking for copies of voted ballots and other information from the November 2016 election from one precinct. Later, on Aug. 20, "Emily" sent a second request seeking the same information from all the precincts.

In total it's about 7,000 ballots the city will have to produce. It's not a lot in the grand scheme of Michigan elections, but it's enough to make the two-person office grind to a halt.

"...it's pretty labor intensive. It will really shut down the operation of this office to fulfill that timely," Borgacz said.

She received a check for the first FOIA request. It looks like a check from a business, she said, this "United Impact Group." But the address was blacked out.

One of the materials requested is the front of absentee voter envelopes, which include a voter's signature. Borgacz is not comfortable fulfilling the requests, partially because she doesn't know who she's giving it to.

"They would have a signature and an address of a person. I do think there's a danger in that. You don't know who it's going to and what they're using it for," she said.

Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski said his office got a request on May 25. The requestor, though, didn't seem to know much about how ballots are stored in Michigan, because she asked for a lot of things local clerks, and not county clerks, would have.

The request was extensive, but the Allegan County Clerk only had a tiny piece of it on hand: the Lee Township poll book.

Genetski said he sent a response and the group remitted payment of $26.26. But the check had an address and phone number that were blocked out. After consulting with the county treasurer the county decided not to accept it, and has written back to "Emily" requesting another form of payment.

"Our response letter to Emily indicates that we're going to need a different form of payment, one that has at least a return address on the check and a phone number, and a semi-legible signature at least," Genetski said.

He said most other clerks he's heard from are consulting with their legal counsel before fulfilling the request. One of the big mysteries is the requestor and their motivations.

"I just think you've got a person who doesn't even put his or her last name with an envelope that has a return address to Astoria, New York and a check to an account where the address is blacked out, that just seems incredibly odd," Genetski said.

Genetski said the ballots in Allegan County have already been counted twice, once by the tabulator at the polling place and once in a recount. The county got through its entire recount and confirmed results before the courts put a stop to the process.

Kentwood Clerk Dan Kasunic, the 2018-19 President of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, said that like many other clerks throughout the state, he's currently preparing cost estimates and determining what additional resources will be necessary should the requests go through.

Fulfilling the entirety of the requests would be a monumental task, both in monetary costs and time, Kasunic said - additional staffing hours "would absolutely be required," and he said his office would need to lease a copier solely for handling the FOIA request.

He said he would require "Emily" to deposit 50 percent of the cost prior to beginning the work, but added his office would be split between the two full-time tasks of fulfilling the request and preparing for the 2018 general election if it goes through.

"I believe that this is kind of an unintended consequence of having transparency - if Emily does pay the 50 percent to me or to everyone else, we're coming awfully close to the November election," he said. "Certainly, it becomes an enormous burden."

MLive reporter Emily Lawler contributed to this report.
OKEMOS, MI - Starting Friday crisis counselors will be monitoring Michigan's first statewide sexual assault helpline, providing counseling and connecting victims with services.

Just down the hall from where the counselors sit are framed quotes from survivors of Larry Nassar, an ex-Michigan State University doctor and sexual predator whose victims shook state and national consciences with their stories of abuse at his sentencing hearings.

It was shortly after that, back in February, when Gov. Rick Snyder called Debi Cain, acting director of the state's division of victim services and executive director of the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board. First Lady Sue Snyder has been active in fighting sexual assault and the governor wanted ideas for how the state could do more for victims of sexual assault, Cain said.

At the time, Nassar's victims were all over media nationally and internationally. Cain was picturing a 40-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted years ago seeing the coverage and struggling with the memories of her own assault.

"It was really on my mind that one of the services I thought we could use as a state was a place that sexual assault survivors could call," Cain said.

The governor agreed. As of Friday, Michigan will be the second state in the nation with an operational helpline. It's available 24 hours a day every day and reachable at 1-855-VOICES4.

The hotline is for anyone who has experienced sexual assault, but it was important to the governor and first lady that the hotline be operational as college students came back to campus.

"That's the highest incidence is usually the month or first six weeks of school," Sue Snyder said after a tour of the help line's physical space on Thursday.

She's been fighting campus sexual assault for years, helping convene an annual "Inform. Empower. Prevent. Let's End Campus Sexual Assault" summit. By the time this year's takes place on Sept. 24 the state will have informational materials - including window clings for people to stick on mirrors around campus - advertising the hotline's number.

The Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence is operating the call center. It has nine lines plus four backups, and counselors have gone through 200 hours of intensive training.

People who call can stay on the line and get counseling for as long as they want. Counselors may also connect them directly with sexual assault programs in local communities for additional counseling, advocacy and support services.

Before the helpline's opening, 40 percent of Michiganders didn't have access to direct sexual assault services, said Sarah Prout Rennie, executive director of the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.

While calls to the new helpline are confidential, the aggregate data will help paint a picture for the state so it can learn more about what areas and populations it needs to be serving.

"We will be keeping data around what they've experienced, where they're from, whether it was culturally specific, what language access there might be, all of those things will inform," Prout Rennie said.

Cain said funding for the hotline - it will cost $1.8 million to operate this year, and perhaps up to $2.5 million as more features are added - comes from the federal Victims of Crime Act funds the government collects from people who have been convicted of federal crimes.

The Nassar scandal, Governor Snyder said, helped the state think about how to better serve all victims of sexual assault.

"It was a horrific situation to have happen, so you wish it had never happened. As a practical matter, it could also be a way, though, to have other people that were not part of it now feel that they could reach out to people and get help," Snyder said.

"So, in some ways it could actually aid people to know they're not alone and to have more resources available."

The new helpline is available at 1-855-VOICES4.
LANSING, MI - Michigan's political parties will meet over the weekend, finalizing their picks for offices like Attorney General, Secretary of State and university boards.

The Michigan Republican Party and Michigan Democratic Party will hold their conventions in Lansing. The Libertarian Party of Michigan, which for the first time gained major party status from the Secretary of State after Gary Johnson secured a significant number of votes in the 2016 presidential election, is also holding a convention to nominate their candidates in Romulus.

Here are some of the biggest races to watch:

Attorney General:

Democrats in an unofficial process earlier this year

This is regarded as the most contentious race up at the Republican convention this weekend with two term-limited and well-known political figures running: Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawtwon, and House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt.

Secretary of State:

Democrats in an unofficial process earlier this year endorsed Jocelyn Benson and are expected to officially nominate her for the position at their convention this weekend.

On the Republican side, Mary Treder Lang and Joseph Guzman are facing off for that party's nomination. Guzman has the backing of some Trump supporters, including the Michigan Trump Republicans. A third candidate, Stanley Grot, recently dropped out of the race.

One Libertarian candidate, Gregory Scott Stempfle, has filed paperwork to raise money for a Libertarian run for the position.

Supreme Court:

There are two spots up for election on the Michigan Supreme Court. Though these candidates appear on the nonpartisan section of the ballot, parties nominate candidates for the positions.

Republicans are expected to put up two sitting justices appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder: Kurtis Wilder and Elizabeth Clement. However, there could be sparks around Clements' nomination after she joined

Democrats in an unofficial process earlier this year endorsed Megan Cavanagh and Sam Bagenstos. They are expected to be nominated to the two open Supreme Court spots at the convention this weekend.

MSU Board of Trustees:

The board has come under fire amid the scandal caused by former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar, who sexually assaulted patients and students. Some have called for its ouster. The two Trustees whose terms are up this year, Brian Breslin and Mitch Lyons, both Republicans, declined to seek the nomination for re-election. That leaves the two seats wide open.

Republicans have two people seeking nomination to run for the seats, Dave Dutch and Mike Miller.

On the Democratic side it's a more crowded field. The party lists nine contenders on its convention web page: Justin Johnson, Kelly Tebay, Corinne Shoop, Teri Bernero, Matt Clayson, Betsy Riley, Brianna Scott, Dennis Denno and Andy Spencer.

University of Michigan Board of Regents:

Two spots are up, and parties will nominate the people running on their tickets this weekend.

Republicans seeking the nomination are Andrea Fischer Newman and Andrew Richner, both incumbents who currently hold the positions.

Democrats seeking the nomination for the spots are Jordan Acker, Wade Rakes and Paul Brown.

Wayne State University Board of Governors:

Two spots are up, and parties will nominate the people running on their tickets this weekend.

Republicans seeking nomination are Diane Dunaskiss and David Nicholson, both incumbents seeking to retain their spots on the board.

Democrats seeking nomination are Yvette McElroy-Anderson, Anil Kumar, Sue Carter and Bryan Barnhill.

State Board of Education:

Two spots are up, and parties will nominate the people running on their tickets this weekend.

Democrats seeking the nomination are Lily Schulting, Ida Short, Tiffany Tilley and Judy Pritchett.

Republicans seeking the nomination are Ida Byrd-Hill, Tami Carlone and incumbent Richard Zeile.

And candidates for governor have picked their lieutenant governor running mates, which the conventions are expected to make official. Republican candidate for governor Bill Schuette chose Lisa Posthumus Lyons as his running mate, Democratic candidate for governor Gretchen Whitmer chose Garlin Gilchrist II as her running mate and Libertarian candidate for governor Bill Gelineau chose Angelique Thomas as his running mate.
WASHINGTON, DC -- New bipartisan legislation in Congress would accelerate nationwide testing for PFAS contamination sources and quicken cleanup at military bases.

The bill package is helmed by Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow and includes Republican co-sponsors from Florida and South Dakota, two states with active military bases where PFAS contamination is being investigated.

Senate Bill 3382, or the PFAS Detection Act, is co-sponsored by Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. It authorizes $45 million for the U.S. Geological Survey to test for PFAS contamination near drinking water sources around the country and develop advanced methods for finding "as many compounds as possible" at lower concentrations.

Sampling areas specified in the bill include "estuaries, lakes, streams, springs, wells, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and soil" near "known or suspected" contamination.

Senate Bill 3381, or the PFAS Accountability Act, is backed by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. It would help expedite cleanup at contaminated federal facilities and enable states to recover costs associated with addressing the polluted sites.

Other co-sponsors include Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Tom Carper, D-Del., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Both bills were filed on Thursday, Aug. 23.

The bills were met with swift praise by groups advocating for greater regulation and accountability around PFAS, a class of toxic chemicals widely valued and used by the military and private industry for decades due to their ability to repel water, oil, grease and resist heat.

The industrial chemicals are being found in greater amounts in U.S. drinking water supplies.

"Neither bill will fully address the PFAS contamination crisis, but in combination, these bills will allow drinking water consumers to know more about what they are getting from the tap and accelerate cleanups near military bases," said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group.

The bills follow an announcement by Sen. Peters this week that the Senate spending oversight and emergency management subcommittee will hold a Sept. 26 hearing on the federal government's role in the PFAS crisis.

In Michigan, state data from an ongoing effort to test all public water supplies and schools on well water shows that more than 1.5 million people have been drinking municipal water contaminated by PFAS, although most detections are at what authorities consider low levels.

High exposure levels have been found in city of Parchment municipal water near Kalamazoo and private wells in Kent County around former waste dumps used by shoemaker Wolverine World Wide.

To date, more than 30 sites in nearly 20 Michigan communities have known PFAS contamination. The number of confirmed sites in Michigan continues to climb as testing progresses.

Human studies show that PFAS exposure has been linked to health problems like thyroid and liver disease, and an increased risk for certain cancers among other illnesses.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which is heavily involved in a multi-agency state effort to find and reduce PFAS exposure, said it was still reviewing the new bills.

"People across Michigan exposed to PFAS-contaminated water and soil are living with incredible uncertainty about the impact of these chemicals on the health and well-being of their families," said Stabenow. "There is so much we do not know, and it is imperative that we get answers soon."

Florida is home to two military bases with known PFAS issues, including Patrick Air Force Base, where PFAS in groundwater tested at 4.3 million parts-per-trillion (ppt). The chemicals have also been found in municipal systems in Stuart, Miami-Dade, Ocala and Zephyrhills.

Ellsworth Air Force Base in western South Dakota is among the more than 400 active and closed bases nationwide dealing with PFAS contamination in the groundwater caused by the use of PFAS-laden AFFF firefighting foam to train with and battle hydrocarbon fires.

"Our bill authorizes funding to learn more about the extent of PFAS contamination nationwide so we can protect ourselves and our families from any negative health effects they may cause," said Rounds, a key Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Affected residents in Michigan praised the bill package.

Tony Spaniola, a Metro Detroit attorney active in the Need Our Water group in Oscoda, where he owns property on Van Etten Lake, said that community has been pushing the U.S. Air Force for years to halt the spread of PFAS from the closed Wurtsmith Air Force Base -- even as the pollution spread under the lake and into Lake Huron.

That response by the Department of Defense has been too slow, Spaniola said. PFAS first was studied on the base in 1999.

"We're not satisfied with the way they've responded," he said. "They really seem not to want to do more than the absolute bare minimum.

"They really don't appreciate the public health aspect of this and the impact it's having on the entire community" he said. "They've been way too focused on trying to save money instead of trying to do the right thing."
JACKSON, MI - When William A. Foote - founder of Jackson Power & Light Co., now Consumers Energy - died in 1915, his wife Ida was disturbed by overcrowding conditions in Jackson's hospital.

In response, she bought a N. East Avenue estate and donated the site to become Foote Hospital.

One hundred years after opening its doors, the hospital now known as Henry Ford Allegiance Health is doing more of the same - taking steps to expand and improve patient comfort.

A three-story, 59,000-square-foot addition is expected to open in the first week of September. The addition was built atop a four-story structure that was built a decade earlier.

"The expansion is going to give us the opportunity to provide all private rooms for our patients virtually all of the time," said Georgia Fojtasek, president and CEO. "It speaks to how health care has changed - from ward care to semi-private rooms to all of us rightfully expecting privacy as we're healing from illness."

The $45 million project began in February 2017 and stayed within its budget, said George Gancsos, director of plant engineering. Christman Group, based in Lansing, managed the project.

There are 66 new rooms, 22 on each floor. There won't necessarily be more beds available - as double rooms in the existing building will be converted to private rooms.

While the exterior nearly matches the main portion of the hospital built in 1983 - which is also seven stories high - the interior is newly designed.

"There's a lot of glass, a lot of natural light, patient space and family space - which we didn't have room for in the existing tower," Gancsos said. "You walk up there and you just feel like you're in an open, airy, almost like a hotel."

One noted change is the location of the bathrooms - they're attached to the wall bordering the hall instead of the exterior wall. This allows for more light to enter, if desired.

Other amenities include controlled blinds, a personal fridge, a lockable bathroom with a wardrobe and on-demand TVs with teaching videos, said Karen Chaprnka, director of projects and integration.

Each room also has a piece of artwork created by a local artist, she said.

Tower Tour:  Take a first look at our new Patient Tower! The tower includes 66 private rooms to provide a quieter, more healing environment for a truly patient-centered experience. Posted by Henry Ford Allegiance Health on Thursday, August 23, 2018

A look inside

Invited guests and media had a look inside the new tower Thursday, Aug. 23. The public is invited for a grand opening event and tour through the new space from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26 at 205 N. East Ave.

The event includes prizes, marching bands, food trucks, face painting, inflatables, photo booths and more. Former Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson as well as mascots from the Lions and Detroit Pistons are special guests slated for the event.

A sculpture and plaque were unveiled Thursday in celebration of the hospital's 100th anniversary.

Attendees had their handprints cast in cement, Thursday. They will eventually surround the sculpture, signifying how "we're holding the community's lives in our hands," Chaprnka said.

The sculpture won't find a permanent home until the next major hospital project is finished. A renovation to the lobby area and front landscape is set for 2019, Gancsos said.

As the hospital enters its second century in Jackson, Fojtasek said the vision remains a constant - the same one Ida Foote had when insisting on better conditions 100 years ago.

A May 1918 article featuring Foote Hospital in Modern Hospital Magazine exemplifies this, Fojtasek said. Workers discovered the magazine while doing spring cleaning through the archives earlier this year.

"The field editor made Jackson, Michigan her first stop on what was called 'Little journeys to places and people worth knowing,'" Fojtasek said. "She called Jackson 'A little city that is doing big things by making public health a civic responsibility.'"
JACKSON, MI - A parole absconder found hiding under a mattress during a police raid of his home a year ago is heading to trial with six felony gun and drug charges.

James Lee Powell, 32, was bound over to Jackson County Circuit Court, Aug. 22, on one count each of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, possession of firearms by a felon, possession of ammunition by a felon and three counts of felony firearms.

"The Michigan State Police Fugitive Task Force, Jackson Narcotic Enforcement Team and the Jackson Police department all assisted in the investigation and recapture of this dangerous parole absconder," Jackson County prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka said.

The Jackson Special Response Team was called at about 5 p.m., Oct. 10, 2017, when state police received a tip a suspected armed parole absconder was hiding out in a home in the 800 block of Helena Avenue, police said.

Police entered the home and found Powell hiding under a mattress. He was arrested without further incident, police said.

Officers searched the home and found a 40 caliber semi-automatic handgun, several boxes of ammunition and cocaine.

Powell is currently incarcerated in the Michigan Department of Corrections for violating parole.

He was sentenced to serve 10 to 25 years in 2005 after pleading guilty to one count of armed robbery in Kent County, according to MDOC records.

Possession with intent to deliver cocaine is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
HANOVER, MI - Police are seeking help locating two suspects in an armed robbery early Friday morning at a Hanover convenience store.

Deputies from the Jackson County Sheriff's office responded to a report of an armed robbery Before 3 a.m. Aug. 24, at the Jax 'n Mix, 110 S. Jackson St. in Hanover.

Police said two suspects -- one armed with a long gun and the other with a handgun -- entered the store and demanded money from the clerk.

The suspects took money and goods from the store before leaving the scene, police said.

Authorities released surveillance images Friday afternoon.

One suspect was wearing a blue ski mask, gray hoodie sweatshirt, jeans and gray shoes. The other suspect is wearing a black ski mask, black sweatshirt, green gloves and was carrying a bright blue bag.

Anyone who recognizes the suspects or has any information is asked to call Detective Thomas Freeman at 517-768-7934 or Mid-Michigan Crime Stoppers at 1 855-840-7867.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A man who ran from a hefty child support bill for decades and became known as a "Most Wanted Deadbeat" has been sentenced to prison.

Joseph Stroup, 65, was sentenced in U.S. District Court this week to two years in prison and one year of supervised release.

Stroup also was ordered to pay $533,724 in restitution.

Stroup pleaded guilty in May to an indictment alleging failure to pay child support from 1998. Stroup, who was captured living in Canada, had amassed $559,000 in arrears when the case was unsealed in 2014. He lived in the country under an assumed name, Joop Cousteau.

Stroup and his wife divorced in 1989, leaving her to care for four children for which Stroup had an obligation to pay child support, according to court documents. Stroup then told a Van Buren County judge he was disabled and unemployed. The judge lowered payments for his four children from $100 per month to $14 per month.

Then, in 1996, according to the U.S. Office of Inspector General, Stroup sold a successful Internet business for more than $2 million. After the discovery, authorities said the order for Stroup to pay child support was modified to account for his unreported income.

Stroup, a fugitive for nearly 20 years, was named the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General's "Most Wanted Deadbeat." The second person on the "Deadbeat" list owes $250,000 -- less than half of what Stroup owes.

The Office of Inspector General may get involved in cases where the non-custodial parent doesn't pay child support for more than one year and doesn't live in the state where the child lives; where the non-custodial parent owes more than $5,000 and lives in a different state from the child; or when the non-custodial parent travels to another state or country to avoid paying support, according to the OIG.

Stroup was arrested Feb. 1 on an immigration warrant in Cochrane, Alberta, near Calgary. He was deported and arraigned Friday, Feb. 16 in federal court in Chicago.

Steven Warren, a special agent for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General at the Detroit field office, said Stroup's case was reopened in 2014, and he was able to locate Stroup in the Calgary area using newer technology that wasn't available 17 years earlier.

Warren said he gave the Canada Border Services Agency their leads, but hadn't heard anything back until November 2017.

That's when a restaurant owner contacted authorities saying Stroup -- who he knew as Cousteau -- had frequented his restaurant. The restaurant owner said Stroup had claimed to have damaged dental work on maraschino cherry pits at the owner's restaurant and demanded money.

"He was a big talker," Warren said of Stroup. "He liked to brag about things that he had done in his life."

The owner in turn started doing some online research and found Stroup's picture on the "Most Wanted Deadbeat" page on the Office of Inspector General's website.

The tip was "basically saying this guy comes into my restaurant on a regular basis. This is definitely the guy."

Warren said he next heard from Canadian authorities that Stroup had been arrested Feb. 1. He said Canadian authorities ran him thorugh law enforcement databases and found his active warrant in the United States, then deported him on the immigration violation.

Warren said authorities believe Stroup entered Canada using his real name and then assumed the identity. He said Stroup is believed to have been using the Cousteau name for at least a decade.
MUSKEGON, MI - An apparent "furry fandom" enthusiast who dresses up as a cartoon wolf has been convicted of raping a boy under age 13.

Kyle Damiean Kerbersky, 29, of Kentwood was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct on Aug. 22 following a jury trial in Muskegon County Circuit Court. The charge is punishable by up to life in prison.

Kerbersky was accused of repeatedly raping the child in 2015, according to the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office.

Police began investigating Kerbersky after receiving a tip from Child Protective Services.

The prosecutor's office agreed to dismiss without prejudice an additional charge of lying to police.

On his Facebook page and Twitter account, Kerbersky identifies himself as "Lavadog Ashpaw," and uses an avatar of a dire wolf as his profile picture.

Lavadog Ashpaw posted a video on YouTube of a parade of "furry" enthusiasts at the Great Lakes Fur Con - a convention of furry enthusiasts held in Holland.

Furry fandom is defined by Wikipedia as "a subculture interested in fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. They often dress as "furries" depicting their "fursonas" in animal costumes called "fursuits."

Prior to his trial, Kerbersky received a psychiatric evaluation at the request of his attorney. He was found competent to stand trial.

Kerbersky is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:15 p.m. Oct. 2 by Muskegon County Circuit Judge William Marietti. Sentences are based on state guidelines.
The focus of the East Ridge City Council meeting Thursday night was dealing with the request from Lexington Assets Management to rezone property at 3623 Fountain Ave. from R-1 single family residential to R-3 residential apartment district. This was first brought up at a meeting June 14 when it was tabled.

Five citizens came to the meeting Thursday and two letters were read into the record to tell the council of their opposition of allowing this company, which they said manages other apartment complexes that cause problems in the city, to build more in their neighborhood. The existing buildings are poorly built and maintained and considered an eyesore and a magnet for undesirable tenants, said multiple citizens. They said this causes nearby homeowners to fear dangerous activity, a decrease in the value of their homes, and increased traffic and hazards for children getting to school.

The general consensus was that more rental units, especially of this caliber, will not increase ownership in the city which is only around 50 percent in East Ridge. It also would not contribute to community building, said one speaker.

City Attorney Mark Litchford, at the direction of the Council, did research to determine if the city could require Lexington to include a crime-free clause in leases for this property. Unfortunately, he reported to the Council that is not allowed in Tennessee, but he said the Council holds the keys to rezoning, which would be the way to restrict building more apartments at this location.

A representative from Lexington Assets Management addressed the Council to give a response to concerns that came up at a public meeting regarding this apartment development. He said he was disappointed to hear overwhelming negative comments. He said the property was bought in 2013 with plans to renovate the buildings right away, but that failed to happen due to a contractor walking away followed by a lawsuit. He said the only request currently on the table is to complete renovating 20 units that face the street. As for quality of construction, he said inspections would be done during each stage of the building by the city of East Ridge. One building on their property has been completely demolished now. He said that his company would be putting seven figures into the Sweetbay Apartments, if the city allows it.

Feedback from the public meeting with Lexington includes that a landscape architect has been hired to create a visual of landscaping and fencing plans. He has agreed to install traffic mirrors at the entrance for safety, and would work with local entities to have a bus stop pad built. Adequate lighting would be put on the buildings and surveillance cameras put where needed. He said that Lexington would implement a crime-free addendum to their leases, without the city asking for it. He told the Council and the audience that his door is open, and he could be contacted by email. Finishing the 20 units, he said, would be better for the neighborhood than leaving a vacant building. He is still in process of addressing other concerns or questions he heard at the meeting with the community.

Mayor Brent Lambert said he respected everyones opinion, but he said he found it interesting that the same folks who are concerned about their own property have not considered the property rights of the owners of the Sweetbay Apartments. The Council left the rezoning request for this property on the table.

In other business the Council approved awarding a bid for the purchase of an inflatable rescue boat to be used by the fire rescue department. The low bid of $13,967 was accepted for this budgeted item.

The Council also authorized City Manager Scott Miller to purchase two 2018 Nissan Frontier trucks for the building and codes department for $36,030 and one Nissan NV 200 Van that will be for the animal services department for the cost of $18,485.

Talley Construction was the only company to submit a bid for building the Adventure Guild Pathway in Camp Jordan Park. This will be one of many on the long lists of improvements that the Council has decided to make to update the park. This path will lead from the North East parking area of the park to the zip-line area. It will be 12 feet wide and paved with asphalt and be big enough to accommodate emergency vehicles if needed. The winning bid amount was $118,000.

Also approved by the Council was a resolution that will authorize the use of the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office server for the East Ridge records management system. The agreement is for a three year term at a cost of $12,820 per year.

Mr. Miller announced that East Ridge received a $500,000 grant from the state of Tennessee that will be used for improvements to Pioneer Park and for a splash pad. He said construction will not begin until next year.














LINCOLN TOWNSHIP, MI - An Isabella County farmer started a controlled burn on his land to use it for agriculture. But weeks later, the fire continues to smolder underground at the site.

"The whole issue was there was a lot of smoke from the fire," said Dave Marshall, the 57-year-old farmer. "It was a controlled burn, we had all the permits and stuff to do it."

But then, unexpectedly, the fire began smoldering below ground and refused to die, he said.

Marshall and his wife said they began the controlled burn on July 9 because he was getting his farm ready for next year's season, when he will plant crops instead of taking care of cattle.

Dave Marshall talks about muck burning at his home in Shepherd on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. (Nate Manley | MLive.com) Nate Manley

"To me, it smelled like you're in the middle of a state park, when I was a kid my parents used to take me to a state park and everyone's got their own little fire going, this one's burning pine, this one's burning oak," he said.

Marshall said that the local fire department, as well as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, is helping watch the underground fire and intervening when needed.

Shepherd Tri-Township Fire Department Chief Brett Baker said the the farmer didn't do anything wrong, it's just unfortunate that underground peat caught on fire. He added that most likely because of the heat and lack of rain Michigan has had helped to ignite it underground.

"It acts like charcoal, (there's) never open flames, it just smolders," Baker said, adding that he has seen this before and, sometimes, in places that have burned in multiple years.

Baker added that he has also seen situations where it will burn right through the winter, die down, then kick back up in the spring.

To help combat the smoke, Baker said they are bringing in a person from Georgia, where they have similar scenarios in their swamp lands, on Friday, Aug. 24, who will use a foam to seep into the ground and choke out the fire underneath, hopefully ending the smoke.

Marshall said that he has also dug ditches on his land and put water in them to help contain the fire.
WASHINGTON -- The National Enquirer allegedly had a safe at its headquarters that contained several documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories about President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press.

The revelation of the safe comes on the heels of several reports that federal prosecutors have granted National Enquirer chief David Pecker immunity in exchange for his cooperation in the investigation about payments made by Trump to keep damaging stories quiet.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer pleaded guilty earlier this week to campaign finance violations alleging he, Trump and the tabloid were involved in buying the silence of two women who said they had affairs with Trump.

Pecker, a longtime friend and known ally of Trump was in charge of the tabloid which arranged to keep former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal's claim under wraps.

McDougal is reported to have received $150,000 and adult film star Stormy Daniels received $130,000.

The contents of the safe and exactly how many stories could be held inside are unknown. Employees of the American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer say the contents of the safe were moved shortly after news of McDougal's story became public.

American Media did not respond to request for comment from the AP.
During an address at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Vice President Mike Pence made it clear that "soon and very soon American astronauts will return to space on American rockets launched from American soil."

Pence, who is also chairman of the National Space Council, more specifically said that NASA and the Trump administration is "working tirelessly" to put an American crew on the prospective lunar orbiting platform by the end of 2024.

The vice president also added that the U.S. isn't just looking for NASA to return to the moon, but "to establish a permanent presence around and on the moon." This statement comes two weeks after Pence said that the Space Force would become the sixth U.S. military branch by 2020.

As for what the lunar orbiting platform could be, the U.S. space agency says on its website that it has "been studying an orbital outpost concept in the vicinity of the Moon with U.S. industry and International Space Station partners." NASA says the platform is part of 2019's budget proposal, and that it hopes to build it in the "2020s."

"The platform will consist of at least a power and propulsion element and habitation, logistics and airlock capabilities," NASA writes on its website.

"While specific technical and mission capabilities as well as partnership opportunities are under consideration, NASA plans to launch elements of the gateway on the agency's Space Launch System or commercial rockets for assembly in space."

While our sights are once again set on our lunar neighbor, this time, were not content to leave behind only footprints, or even to leave at all. The time has come for the United States of America to establish a permanent presence around and on the Moon. pic.twitter.com/aVJontekIE  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 23, 2018

Soon, American astronauts will return to space on American rockets launched from American soil  and they will be guided by the dedicated team at @NASA_Johnson. pic.twitter.com/ma0lmU8TIl  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 23, 2018

Our destiny  mankinds destiny - is not only on the Earth  its in the heavens, as well. Let us go forth to meet this destiny, together. And do what Americans have always done. Lets seize it with ingenuity and courage, and lets seize it with faith. pic.twitter.com/b6qUYQed2i  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 23, 2018

From the home of our astronaut corps, @NASA_Johnson, @VP Mike Pence & Administrator @JimBridenstine shared their vision for the future of human space exploration. Heres a recap: https://t.co/OzD9wYBw6U  NASA (@NASA) August 23, 2018

--

In the past year, the Trump administration has taken an interest in NASA and space travel mainly pushing it to travel deeper while looking for more commercial opportunities. Trump signed the new space policy directive in December 2017, which called for the space agency to head back to the moon for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The goal of the White House Space Policy Directive 1 is to "make America a leader in space exploration again" and to send NASA astronauts back to the Moon, and then eventually onto Mars "and the broader solar system." Trump's budget signed soon after fell in line with this directive as it allocated money for missions to the moon at the expense of the International Space Station.

Trump has said he hopes to end "direct federal government support" of the International Space Station by 2025, with calls to push for more commercial involvement.
Martin Public Schools Superintendent David Harnish announced that the new solar panels on school buildings started producing energy on Aug. 15.

"We are using net metering, so we are selling the power to Consumers Energy and this will reduce our energy bill," Harnish said. "Our ultimate goal is to be able to produce the same amount of energy that we need, and to eliminate our energy bill altogether."

In July 2017, the Martin Public Schools Board of Education approved the first phase of the solar project. The project is financed for 10 years at $400,000 with an option to pay off the loan in year five or 10.

The first phase alone will generate up to 40 percent of the district's energy needs.

"Our project with the first phase alone, with 622 solar panels, will generate 198,222 kwh per year of electricity equivalent to powering about 20 homes," Harnish said. He said a kilowatt hour equals 1,000 watts per hour, or the equivalent of 10 100-watt light bulbs burning each hour.

"This phase of the project will save over 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere," Harnish said.

Martin Public Schools entered into a lease purchase agreement with Verde Solutions of Chicago last year to install solar panels on the current K-12 facility roofs.

Harnish said phases two and three of the solar project will start taking place this school year. These phases will include a combination of solar panels and solar arrays.

"After the school year commences, I will have conversations regarding the options for the next phases," Harnish said. "This process could take a while as we work within energy regulations."
Tesla founder Elon Musk has roped in Morgan Stanley to assist him in his bid to make Tesla a private company, according to report by Bloomberg.

Musk has tied up with the investment firm in a personal capacity. Morgan Stanley will not be advising Tesla or its board, which had set up a special committee to evaluate the option of going private.

The investment bank gave no explanation after it suspended its coverage of electric car company's stock on Tuesday.Musk has earlier bemoaned the inability to make risky financial bets to drive innovation at Tesla as he was beholden to its investors.

Going private will give Musk more leeway in decision making, and strengthen his hand in financial matters, without him having to assuage shareholders' concerns over the company's finances.

On August 7, the 47-year-old took to Twitter to say that he had "secured funding" and that it would only be a matter of time before he took the company private. Tesla launched its initial public offering on June 29, 2010.

However, in a blog post, he retracted his earlier statement, saying no such deal had been finalized.

The tweet drew the ire of the US' Securities and Exchange Commission, which subpoenaed Musk for revealing sensitive information about a listed company in the public domain.

Musk's preference for angel investors has been written and talked about widely. He had reportedly sounded out Softbank and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund about financing a deal that valued Tesla at around $70 billion, according to a CNBC report.

The latest development means that Musk be advised by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, two of the top deal advisers in the US, in his bid to take Tesla private.

Both banks are among the biggest underwriters on the company's stock and bond offerings. Morgan Stanley also holds 0.6 percent stake in Tesla, making it one of the top 20 shareholders in the company. Adam Jonas, its Tesla analyst, has been bullish on the stock.

Jim Osman of the Edge Group told Bloomberg that taking Tesla private would mean that investors who are bullish on the company will have to find creative alternatives to partake of any future value creation.

It will also disrupt the calculations of fund managers and investors who had made long-term bets on the stock, he was quoted as saying.

Both Tesla and Morgan Stanley did not comment on the move. It was a chaotic month on the bourse for Tesla. Its shares slipped 0.5 percent to close at $320.10 on August 23.

The stock price jumped to almost $380 following Musk's cryptic tweet, before falling below the $300 mark. It is currently up 2.8 percent for this year, making it the best performer among auto manufacturers.

Musk and Morgan Stanley go back a long way. The Tesla chairman, who is also CEO of SpaceX, owed Morgan Stanley $344.4 million in personal loans, as of February 2017.

Musk posted a tweet on Monday that Goldman Sachs and private-equity firm Silver Lake will be advising the proposed privatisation bid. Sources told the news website that Goldman Sachs was not aware of this at the time of Musk's tweet.

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs put out a statement saying it was suspending coverage of Tesla's stock as it was acting as a financial adviser "in connection with a matter that is fundamental" to the company's future valuation.
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Eicher Motors, which operates Indian motorcycle brand Royal Enfield, is set to launch dual-channel anti-lock braking system (ABS) in all its 350cc models. The official launch is scheduled for August 27, reports suggest.

Royal Enfield aficionados have long hoped for the bike maker to introduce ABS in its entry-level cruisers, which include the Thunderbird 350, Thunderbird 350X, Classic 350, and Bullet 350 models.

Leaked photos that recently surfaced online also suggest that the Indian motorcycle company is planning to introduce two new colour variants for the Classic range- matte beige and matte blue.

According to Team-BHP, the cruisers are expected to sport a single brown leather seat, the serial number on the tank and an orange, white and green decal, which could be representative of the Indian Flag.

Royal Enfield shared an invite for the launch, which reads -- "It gives us a great pleasure to invite you on behalf of Royal Enfield at the bike launch. Here are the details  An ode to Royal Enfields in service and those who ride them. Please join Rudratej Singh, President, Royal Enfield, as he takes you through our much-storied heritage with the Indian Armed Forces and the motorcycle it inspired."

Currently, the 350 range is powered by a 346cc single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that pushes out 19.8 PS and 28 Nm of torque.

Royal Enfield Classic 350 is the top-selling model for the company, amounting to nearly 85 percent of all Royal Enfield sales, making it one of the highest selling 350cc motorcycles in the world.
A rickshaw-puller carries an elderly woman through flood waters after rains, in Patiala on Monday (Image: PTI).

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Every cloud has a silver lining. Bankers are living by the expression after the catastrophic floods wiped out livelihood of millions in Kerala.

While the state is just about crawling back from the natural calamity that hit it earlier this month, banks are staring at a rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) from loans in Kerala due to likely delay in collections and repayments.

However, putting forth an optimistic view on Tuesday, Kerala-based Federal Banks Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Shyam Srinivasan told analysts and investors that retail credit demand will grow as individuals would try and bring back their lives to normal.

He said the bank would incur costs of about Rs 8-10 crore to restore the damages caused to the bank's infrastructure but added that the deposits and credit will grow going forward.

Floods may have a positive impact considering that the flow could increase to compensate the wealth destruction that has happened. It is still not clear if there is a big direct overlap between flows and borrowers. In other words, it is not clear if borrowers have access to other sources of cash flows, said a note by Kotak Institutional Equities.

A senior State Bank of India (SBI) official said, We are helping the state to bring the situation under control and giving them time to rebuild their lives. With the help, it will also bring in demand for the loans to rebuild and reconstruct their houses and businesses.

The banker added that they are asking their officers to be more considerate and go slow on the collections. But there is no official leeway given unless the government or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announces as it may disrupt credit discipline for other borrowers.

On the whole, though, Kerala contributes only about 3 percent of total bank loans and 4 percent of total deposits of the banking sector.

Kerala's outstanding bank credit stood at Rs 2.81 lakh crore as of Q4FY18 ending March. There has been an increase in credit growth in the region in recent quarters. The year-on-year credit growth was 14.2 percent in 2017-18.

We believe that reconstruction activity would entail higher borrowings by the households and businesses, resulting in an increase in bank credit off take/growth in the region. Credit growth could grow by 17-21 percent year-on-year in Kerala this year assuming all average rebuilding expenditure by households of the order of Rs 50,000-Rs 1 lakh per unit is financed by banks. It is however likely that a large part could be from NBFCs (non-banking finance companies) too, said a Care Ratings report.

Lending in Kerala is primarily dependent on agriculture or retail and less on industrial activity while the states contribution to non-resident deposits is quite high at approximately 20 percent of the overall non-resident deposits.

Despite a low contribution to overall business for most banks, there are four regional banks who have a high share of dependence from this state. Federal Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, South Indian Bank, and Catholic Syrian Bank have 35-65 percent of their loans and 50-75 percent of their deposits coming from Kerala.

Federal Bank, among the largest lenders in Kerala, expects its bad loans from Kerala to go up 20-30 percent in the next two-three quarters, from average levels of Rs 150-170 crore in the last eight quarters, amid some implications on credit.

Analysts estimate that banks will have to restructure a large portion of their loans to the state and hence provisioning requirements will increase in the coming quarters.

In terms of deposits, Federal Bank expects remittances to increase substantially due to the weak rupee and given the support needed by Kerala pointing to the large Kerala-origin non-resident Indians.
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Sales maximization has been the key force behind earnings growth of Prataap Snacks. Earlier this year, to meet the capacity constraints, company activated contracts for third party manufacturing at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata for producing chips.

Now with the acquisition of Avadh Snacks (13.5 percent of Prataap Snacks sales), company has suddenly ramped up their presence in the snacks industry of Gujarat without additional debt on its balance sheet.

This EPS (earnings per share) accretive deal is positive for the company as it helps in further expanding its product portfolio range, makes it improve its competitive position (4th player in the region) and brings in operational synergy.

Deal details: Similar margins, strong growth while valuation appears attractive

Prataap Snacks is acquiring 80 percent stake in Avadh Snacks for Rs 148 crore valuing it at 1.33x FY18 sales. The acquisition would be funded through internal accruals (Rs 140 crore cash in books). It translates to enterprise value (EV) multiple of 17.8x FY18 EBITDA which is at a discount to EV multiple (26.5x) prevailing for Prataap Snacks before the announcement.

Sales growth of the target company has been phenomenal - increased 42 percent in last fiscal year and grown 5 time in last two years. Margin profile is broadly in the same range as that of parent company  EBITDA margin is at 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent and net profit margin at 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent.

Source: company. Note: Based on lower range of margins provided by the management

Gujarat snacks market: Among the top four

As per Frost and Sullivan, Western India along with North India, constitute more than 60 percent of demand in Indian snacks industry. With this transaction, Prataap snacks own sales exposure to West India increases from 30 percent to more than 40 percent of net sales. However, within West India, Prataap snacks is mainly located in MP, Maharastra and Rajasthan. Sales exposure to Gujarat is to the tune of Rs 25 crore which is minuscule given the market size (~ Rs 2,500 crore) and the dominant presence of regional majors like Balaji Wafers. As per Euromonitors market share estimate, and given the high presence in Gujarat, Balaji Wafers sales in Gujarat could be higher than Rs 700 crore.

With this acquisition, Prataap Snacks could clock sales higher than Rs 150 crore to start with and would be placed amongst the first four players in the biggest regional snacks industry of India.

Synergy on cards

Other than the easy access to the Gujarat market, the deal also brings a few more benefits. Firstly, it expands the product portfolio range, which in case of Avadh Snacks is more localized in nature. Additionally, it adds to the distribution network. While the margin profile of Avadh Snacks is similar, Prataap Snacks expects synergy benefit out of economies of scale, rationalization of operational and distribution cost for the Gujarat region.

Prataap Snacks Q1 FY19: Steady growth for topline impacted by raw material cost

In the recent quarterly reporting, Prataap Snacks maintained its sales growth momentum by posting a growth of 19 percent YoY (Year on year) on the back of improved distribution reach and new product launches. Gross margins contracted by 130 bps YoY on account of higher key raw material cost. EBITDA margins were also impacted by higher other expenses and employee cost, partially offset by rationalization of trade margins and change in grammage.

Outlook

Over the years, key concerns for the company related to higher logistic cost and limited geographical reach have abated due to decentralized manufacturing through contracts and now with the inorganic growth. Strategic steps like these have helped Prataap snacks to remain ahead of few of its peers like Balaji wafers and DFM Foods which have been struggling to move beyond their regional strength area.

Raw material costs in terms of packaging cost (17 percent of sales), vegetable oil/palm oil (~10 percent of raw material cost) and potatoes remain the key monitorables. Companys EBITDA margin is expected to remain in the range of 7.5-8.5 percent till the time high margin product launches like Yum Pie and Nachos make significant contribution to sales.

Currently, the stock is trading at 32x FY20e proforma earnings for the consolidated numbers. Valuation remain fair. However, given the volume led earnings growth expectation of 18-20 percent CAGR (FY18-20e), long term investors can consider it for accumulation.

Follow @anubhavsays
Onida

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Onida, the consumer durables brand of Mirc Electronics has launched an Android 4K UHD Smart TV with HDR10, for sale exclusively via Flipkart. It is an Android 8.0 Oreo operating system.

Powered by Google Assistant, the TV comes embedded with a voice search command. It is available in three sizes -- 43, 50 and 58 inches and comes at a starting price of Rs 52,000.

The company said in a statement it is targeting market share expansion and better revenues in the smart LED TV category.

The television comes with the Pixel Illuminating Engine (PIE) which is aimed at giving a sharper picture quality, runs on a quad-core processor, and has 2.5 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory.

In addition, to enhance the personal experience of the user, the TV also supports audio streaming to external Bluetooth devices like wireless headphones or even a home theatre system.

Vijay Mansukhani, MD, Mirc Electronics said, "We have been working with Google to come out with ultra-high-end television and are happy to launch this in such a short span."

This product will help position Onida as a new generation brand among younger customers, he said.

The product will be exclusively sold on e-commerce platform Flipkart, just ahead of the festive season. In India, almost 50-60 percent of the annual sales is generated between August to January.
Moneycontrol News

Financial regulators in China are in the process of blocking over 100 foreign crypto exchanges that are making an attempt to offer trading services to domestic investors.

As per a report in the Shanghai Securities Times, the China National Fintech Risk Rectification Office has identified 124 trading platforms till now. These exchanges have overseas IP addresses but are still available in China. The office plans to increase its monitoring activity related to commercial use of cryptocurrency and block internet access to the trading platforms.

The National Fintech Risk Rectification Office, a government agency, was empowered in 2016 by China's State Council to protect against financial risk. The agency deals in issues like peer-to-peer lending and cryptocurrency trading.

In 2017, the People's Bank of China had announced a rule banning initial coin offerings (ICOs) and consequently crypto trading platforms in the country. Post this action, major exchanges which were based in China moved their businesses overseas.

Currently, internet access to some major exchanges such as Binance, OKEx, and Bitfinex may be unavailable in China. The agency is in the process of permanently shutting down domestic websites and official accounts on the WeChat messaging app. They will be blocked if they provide crypto trading and ICO services. Recently, many Chinese cryptocurrency media outlets were banned from operating on WeChat. Some of the sites were shut down permanently.

The agency is also having discussions with third-party payments vendors for scrutinising and deactivating accounts suspected of handling cryptocurrency transactions.
Corporate Social Responsibility-related activities in the health sector need to "move beyond cities" to the deeper pockets of the country which have been deprived of healthcare, Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel today said.

Addressing a gathering at a CSR award event organised by India Health and Wellness Summit Initiative here, she also said the government "wants the corporate sector to really supplement our efforts".

"But, I must say that we need to move forward, and take CSR to the remotest parts of the country, the deeper pockets, which have been more backward and more deprived of healthcare for a long time," Patel said.

Patel also asserted that the tendency to do good "must continue", irrespective of whether a company gets awarded or not for its CSR work.

"Various enterprises have been contributing to the society even before the CSR funding initiatives came up. But, the tendency to do good must continue," she said.

The minister in her address also outlined the vision and efforts of the Centre in taking health care to the poorest and the needy.

"As announced by our Prime Minister from the Red Fort, our Jan Aarogya Abhiyan is all set to be rolled out in September, which seeks to cater to each and every aspect of healthcare," she said.

Ayushman Bharat is the flagship initiative under which 1.5 lakh primary healthcare centres across the country would be transformed into "wellness centres".

"Earlier they (primary healthcare centres) were just seen as points of maternity care and delivery, but now they will turned into facilities offering a complete package of 12 different services, that will include ENT, dental and geriatric care, management of communicable disease such as as dengue and malaria," she said.

"They will also have facilities for screening for non-commumicable diseases, diabetes and hypertension, as well as three types of cancer -- oral, cervical and breast, and leprosy and tuberculosis," the minister said.

For Ayushman Bharat, we are also going to have largee-scale deployment of digital tools.

Union minister Vijay Goel also emphasised that CSR funds should be taken to remotest villages which need attention.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, leader of opposition Congress party, said he would seek to shift the focus of the country's economic policy towards supporting small and medium-sized firms if he won power at an upcoming election.

The fourth-generation politician of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty spoke to reporters and academics in London, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for concentrating economic support on big companies at the expense of job-creating smaller enterprises.

Speaking ahead of an election due early next year, Gandhi used a broad question and answer session covering foreign policy toward neighbours China and Pakistan and even Brexit, to sketch out his approach to defeating the Hindu nationalist Modi.

"Of course we have to support the large industries, but the focus has to shift to developing small and medium businesses," he said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

The centrist Congress party has been critical of the Modi government's job creation record, and Gandhi said the solution to the unemployment problem was a shift away from what he called Modi's focus on "large industrialists".

"You're not going to get the jobs from there," Gandhi said.

"You are going to get jobs from small and medium businesses, you are going to get jobs from a transformation of agriculture, you are going to get jobs from construction, you are going to get from building housing."

He said the party could also consider "strategic plays" such as opening up the air travel sector like China has done.

Modi's inability to generate tens of millions of jobs for the country's youth - a promise which helped him secure the largest mandate in three decades in 2014 - would be the biggest threat to his bid for another term in the general election due by May, political analysts have said.

The government told parliament in July that creating jobs was a priority. The labour ministry said it was "encouraging" the private sector, fast-tracking various projects involving substantial investments, and increasing public spending on various state-run employment-generation programmes.

Opinion polls show Modi remains the front runner to win another five-year term, but his Bharatiya Janata Party has suffered reverses in some local elections in the past few months that have energized the opposition.

BALANCING ROLE

On foreign policy, Gandhi said India was uniquely positioned to act as a balance between the West and China, defusing tensions that have emerged during Beijing's ascent to economic superpower status.

"India can play a balancing role - India has some of the design elements, some of the ideas that can bring people together and build a bridge," he said.

"We specialise in reducing confrontations."

He was less optimistic about the prospect of renewing relations with neighbouring Pakistan after its new Prime Minister Imran Khan offered an olive branch to India by proposing talks to resolve a long-standing dispute over Kashmir.

"Pakistan is a number of institutions, so the difficulty from an Indian perspective is which institution do you talk to? Some of those institutions are hostile to India," Gandhi said.

"I don't think you can pull a solution out before the solution is ready, and I don't think that solution is ready."
Fish and crabs are seen for sale at a wholesale market at a fish harbour in Mumbai, March 16, 2015. India's wholesale prices declined at a much faster-than-expected pace of 2.06 percent on year in February, their fourth straight monthly fall, on the back of plunging global oil prices, government data showed on Monday. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (INDIA - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS) - RTR4THQT

Fish traders today resumed full scale business across Meghalaya, a day after a 30-day ban on fish import was lifted by the state government.

The food safety authorities had enforced a ban on sale, storage and distribution of fish from Assam, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal following detection of formalin in imported samples.

Formalin, a toxic solution of formaldehyde, is chiefly used to preserve biological specimens.

The prohibition was initially imposed for 15 days on July 23, but was later extended till August 22 in view of the "fear psychosis" among the consumers, Food Safety Deputy Commissioner S N Sangma said.

"The government has decided not to extend the ban any longer but would keep a close eye on the quality of products being sold to the consumers," Sangma said.

Of the 92 samples tested at a Assam-based laboratory before July 23, 12 tested positive for formalin, Food Safety Commissioner P W Ingty said.

"The government will take a stricter call on the matter in case of fresh detection of unsafe chemicals in fish in the days to come," he said.

Welcoming the state government's decision to lift the ban, Khasi Jaintia Wholesaler and Retailer Association (KJFWRA) president Mitchel Wankhar said they would abide by the strictures of food safety authorities.

"We do not want to put the health of fish-eaters at risk. All traders here have decided to go by the strictures of the food safety authorities," Wankhar said.

Meghalaya Fisheries Minister Comingone Ymbon had earlier said that the state imports about 21,000 MT fish, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam.

"The state produces about 12,330 MT during fiscal 2016-17, while the total requirement stands at 33,000 MT annually," he had said.
Rescue workers search for the bodies of missing persons after a landslide, triggered by heavy rains and floods, at Nenmara in Palakkad, Kerala. (Image: PTI)

A natural catastrophe (nat-cat) pool to payout insurance claims for incidents like floods, earthquakes and landslides has been in the making for almost five years now.

However, insurance companies have been unable to arrive at consensus on who (centre, states or insurers) will fund the pool and what will be the size of the pool.

Sources told Moneycontrol that insurers are still toying with the idea as they haven't been able to zero-in on what the size of the cover will be, the limits for each individual/corporate, and who will contribute how much.

This pool would be used during natural disasters like the Kerala floods to pay out insurance claims. It was planned to set up the initial pool by getting the government to contribute a part of it and getting the rest from insurers.

However, the quantum of each party's share could not be agreed upon. It was initially decided that the pool will have a structure similar to the terrorism pool that is currently operational.

The insurance of terrorism risks in the Indian market is undertaken through a pool system. All non-life insurance companies operating in India are members of the pool.

The Indian Market Terrorism Risk Insurance Pool provides capacity up to the specified limit of liability to the insurers.

The 2013 proposal

The idea to have a nat-cat pool was mooted as early as 2013 by the finance ministry in the wake of the Uttarakhand floods and landslides, which led to the loss of almost 4,500 lives.

Following this, non-life insurance companies had presented a concept paper on catastrophe insurance to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The paper highlighted the need for a pool mechanism to deal with losses from catastrophic events. Due to an absence of such a pool, both insurers and reinsurers have to bear a big hit to their profitability.

In the last five years, losses due to catastrophes have led to insured losses of almost Rs 25,000 crore. This includes losses due to the Uttarakhand floods, cyclones Hudhud and Phailin, the Chennai floods as well as the recent Kerala floods (initial estimates of Rs 1,000 crore insured loss).

"As an industry, there is an urgent need to have a pool in place to have a better claims support system for natural disasters," said a senior official at a private general insurer.

Losses from natural disasters

According to a report by global reinsurance major Swiss Re, total insured losses from natural catastrophes and large man-made disasters were $144 billion in 2017.

An active hurricane season in the North Atlantic, and a series of wildfires, thunderstorms and severe precipitation across different regions pushed global catastrophe claims to their highest-ever level for a single year.

Total economic losses stood at $337 billion, making an all-peril global catastrophe protection gap of $193 billion in 2017. Globally, more than 11,000 people lost their lives or went missing in disasters, while millions were left homeless.

Longer wait for the pool

Unless insurance companies agree on the premium rates and the standardised products for nat-cat events, the pool will not be set up.

It is estimated that the size of the pool will need to be around Rs 5,000 crore at the initial stage, considering the number of incidents reported across the country.

Once the pool is operational, covers can be taken against nat-cat incidents at a pre-decided premium, depending on the location and the risks specific to that geography.
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A strong day for Indian markets but traders preferred to book profits at higher levels. But, benchmark indices managed to end at a fresh closing high on Thursday.

Nifty hit 11600 for the first time in history. This was the 25th time when Nifty ended at a record closing high in 2018.

Traders become cautious after Beijing implemented new retaliatory tariffs against the United States. China officially retaliated against fresh duties, worth USD 16 billion, from the United States.

Things which could act as a spoiler for Indian markets is rupee which closed above Rs 70/USD and crude oil prices which rose for the fifth consecutive session on Thursday.

With the rupee once again reclaiming the Rs 70/USD mark analyst feel that IT and pharma companies will tend to benefit.

The index is facing resistance as it is approaching the key level of 11640.

The Nifty is likely to find support near 11,500-11,480, which is close to the lower end of the rising channel and the recent gap area on the daily chart.

Big News:

The Nifty hit 11600 for the first time in history

Nifty hit 11000 for the first time in January 2018 and it hit 11500 just last and now we are standing near 11600 levels

Over 50 stocks hit a fresh record highs along with Nifty50 in August which include names like RIL, TCS, Infosys, M&M, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv.

As many as 49 stocks which hit record high in August gave 10-200 percent return in 2018

Three stocks which more than doubled investors wealth include names like Indiabulls Ventures, Merck, and NIIT Technologies.

Technical View:

Nifty formed a Hanging Man kind of pattern on daily charts

Investors are advised to tread with caution as the pattern suggests that the momentum could be fizzling

If Nifty forms a bullish candle on Friday, it will negate the negative impact of Hanging Man

Three levels: 11485, 11600, 11640

Max Call OI: 11600, 11500

Max Put OI: 11500, 11300

Technical Recommendations:

We spoke to IIFL and heres what they have to recommend:

United Breweries: Buy| Target: Rs 1570| Stop Loss: Rs 1397| Return: 8.1%

Ashok Leyland: Buy| Target: Rs 145| Stop Loss: Rs 126| Return: 10%

HCL Technologies: Buy| Target: Rs 1112| Stop Loss: Rs 986| Return: 8.3%

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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Shares of Ashok Leyland added nearly 1 percent in the early trade on Friday as company won a tender for defence tracked combat vehicle.

The company will collaborate with combat vehicles research and development establishment (CVRDE), Chennai for manufacture, assembly and testing of light weight clutch for the design and development of weight optimized 1500 hp automatic transmission for main battle tanks.

Amandeep Singh, Head - Defence, Ashok Leyland, said, "As part of our strategy to enhance our contribution to our Defence Forces and to expand our business scope within our focus area of 'Solutions for Mobility on Land', we have been working on Tracked Vehicles."

"With this win, we mark yet another milestone where we start working on the tracked vehicles that our soldiers use," he added.

At 09:17 hrs Ashok Leyland was quoting at Rs 133.10, up Rs 1.00, or 0.76 percent on the BSE.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 167.50 and 52-week low Rs 102.20 on 08 May, 2018 and 24 August, 2017, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 20.54 percent below its 52-week high and 30.23 percent above its 52-week low.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
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Shares of Axis Bank rose around 2 percent on buzz of a management change at the bank. According to a report in The Economic Times, Amitabh Chaudhry of HDFC Life is likely to be the successor to Shikha Sharma, Axiss current CEO and MD.

The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 641.80 and an intraday low of Rs 635.00.

The report further quoted block deal data from exchanges, which revealed that the executive sold over 11.62 lakh shares between April 26 and August 20, 2018 on the NSE.

Amitabh has appeared for the interview and a final approval from the Reserve Bank is pending, a source privy to the development told the publication.

The stock was in the news recently after its market valuation took a hit of around Rs 4,700 crore. The company's market valuation diminished by Rs 4,708.84 crore to Rs 1,41,265.16 crore.

The bank also reported 46 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 701.09 crore for June quarter due to increase in provisioning for bad loans.

The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 1,306 crore in the June quarter of 2017-18.

The lender's asset quality worsened as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 6.52 per cent as on June 30 of this year, from 5.03 per cent on June 30, 2017.

Likewise, net NPAs or bad loans increased to 3.09 percent of advances furnished by June-end from 2.30 per cent a year ago.

The provisions and contingencies of the bank increased to Rs 3,337.70 crore as compared to Rs 2,341.93 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

The stock has gained around 18 percent in the past one month, while in the past three days, it rose around 3 percent. At the close of market hours, Axis Bank was quoting at Rs 640.50, up Rs 8.70, or 1.38 percent, on the BSE.
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Share price of Cadila Healthcare rose 3 percent intraday Friday after USFDA has completed the inspection at its Ahmedabad unit.

The USFDA (US Food & Drug Administration) inspected company's Biologics manufacturing facility (Zydus Biologics) located at the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, from August 14 to 24.

At the end of the inspection, no observation (483) is issued.

At 15:17 hrs Cadila Healthcare was quoting at Rs 401.30, up Rs 10.45, or 2.67 percent on the BSE.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 519.90 and 52-week low Rs 332.85 on 07 September, 2017 and 16 August, 2018, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 22.82 percent below its 52-week high and 20.55 percent above its 52-week low.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
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Share price of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) added 2.3 percent intraday Friday as research house UBS maintained buy rating with a target of Rs 245 per share.

The company is deleveraging through the potential listing of OVL and non-core asset sales, said UBS.

There is an upside risk as stock currently discounting less than USD 50/bbl of net realisation.

It believes that strong earnings trajectory and potential of stake sales would be positive for the company.

At 10:40 hrs Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 174.20, up Rs 2.45, or 1.43 percent.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 212.90 and 52-week low Rs 152.45 on 25 January, 2018 and 28 June, 2018, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 18.18 percent below its 52-week high and 14.27 percent above its 52-week low.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
Mumbai: New logo of National Stock Exchange (NSE) displayed outside the headquarter, in Mumbai on Thursday, August 16, 2018. (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)(PTI8_16_2018_000101B)

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Recently, BSE and NSE said trading in nine stocks will be suspended. These companies, including well-known names like Gitanjali Gems, Amtek Auto, are under scanner for not complying with listing norms pertaining to submission of financial results.

The Modi government has been stringent with regards to shell companies and compliance with market nomrs. The corporate affairs ministry (MCA) and even the regulators  RBI and SEBI  have hinted that non-compliance will not be tolerated.

The number of cases has gone up where investors have suffered because of company management decisions. In some cases, oversize debt or overambitious projects destroyed companies' or even forced them into bankruptcy.

So what should investors do with such stocks?

Experts who Moneycontrol spoke to said companies which don't comply with regulations are better avoided.

"The framework (LODR - Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements - Regulations) was put in place as a stronger mechanism to check non-compliance of listing conditions, wherein exchanges will have powers to freeze promoter shareholding and even delist the shares of such defaulting companies," Prashanth Tapse, AVP Research, Mehta Equities told Moneycontrol.

The exchanges said if any company complies with the provisions of the LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations on or before the date prescribed by the exchanges, the trading in its security will not be suspended.

The BSE asked companies to comply with regulations by September 4 and in case of NSE, the date is September 5.

Trap of Badly-run Companies

If someone is caught in such a trap then it would be difficult for one to exit as the value of shares either would be far below their buying price or they would have to keep hoping for improving performance which can give them better valuations.

"Exit as much as possible, these are companies which have corporate governance issues for long time," AK Prabhakar, Head of Research at IDBI Capital advised.

Arpit Jain, AVP, Arihant Capital Markets also said it is better to exit looking at the track record of the company, since once it is suspended it is difficult to exit. "However, investors will continue to remain as shareholders if they don't exit."

There is no way out from exchange platform once suspension is applicable, Jain said, adding client can sell through off-market route but it is subjective.

In the recent case, the exchanges have said that suspension will continue till the time they do not comply to the norms.

Re-trading - False Hopes?

So what should investors do once the stock starts trading again in case the company complies to rules?

Vineeta Sharma, Head of Research, Narnolia Financial Advisors, said as the companies which are getting suspended for non-compliance of Regulation 33 or non-payment of fine as prescribed raise doubts on management as well as financial capabilities of a company, it is advisable for investors to stay away from such companies even after trading is allowed again.

Arpit Jain said if stocks are allowed to trade again it is positive for short term since company has fulfilled all exchange compliance and it will be an opportunity for investors to exit who are stuck.

Case of Samruddhi Realty and Noble Polymers

With regard to Samruddhi Realty and Noble Polymers, the BSE said that both the firms have submitted the financial results but "not paid the applicable fines".

Also, the entire promoter shareholding of these firms have been frozen from August 17 till further notice, the exchanges said.

The Z Group

Suspension does not mean investors' shareholding is dead. After suspension, they can still offload their holding once a week but they have to queue up as exchanges can't hurt small investors.

"The exchange will allow trading after 15 days of suspension on 'Trade to Trade' basis in Z group only on the first trading day of every week for six months," said Vineeta Sharma.

The Z group includes companies which have failed to comply with listing requirements and/or have failed to resolve investor complaints and/or have not made the required arrangements with the depositories  CDSL and NSDL  for dematerialisation of their securities.

In Z group category, liquidity will be low, which can lead to higher selling pressure on these days, Hemang Jani said.

He further said if this (Z Group) doesnt work, investor will have to wait till company becomes compliant and gets relisted (provided it doesnt go bust till that time). "Such a move would try investor patience."

Complete Suspension

If a listed entity remains non-compliant for six months after suspension, then the trading will stop completely.

"If the non-compliant entity fails to adhere to rules within 6 months from the date of suspension, the process of compulsory delisting of the non-compliant listed company will take place which will be commenced by the stock exchanges," Vineeta said.

In the case of complete delisting, she said, it is difficult to sell the shares as an investor will have to sell it privately. "In this case, the investor will have to approach the issuing company directly for sale of such shares."
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Motherson Sumi Systems (MSSL), one of Indias largest auto components firm, reported a decent set of Q1 FY19 earnings. The company continues to have umpteen growth triggers going forward. Strong demand in domestic and export markets, robust order book, expansion at various locations globally, shift towards electric vehicles (EV) and new emission norms (Bharat Stage VI) should boost topline as well as operating margin. At the current price, MSSL is reasonably valued and could be a strong portfolio fit for the long term investor.

The company recorded a 12.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated operating revenue, led by strong performances of the standalone entity as well as PKC Group. Standalone business revenue, adjusted for the impact of IndAS, grew 21 percent on the back of strong growth accruing from domestic (21 percent) and export (25.7 percent) markets.

Finnish subsidiary PKC Group, which is a wiring harness specialist, posted 16.5 percent growth in revenue. This was on the back of strong growth emanating from US commercial vehicle (CV) sales and contribution from commissioning of its third joint venture in China.

Samvardhana Motherson Peguform (SMP), a leading global supplier of door, instrument panels and bumpers, reported a 6.9 percent decline in revenue (adjusted revenue grew 12.4 percent YoY). Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec (SMR), a global supplier of exterior mirrors, reported flat numbers due to weak order flows from Hyundai and Kia Motors.

On the profitability front, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin contracted 30 bps on the back of 20 bps contraction in SMPs EBITDA margin due to high start-up cost. PKC Group surprised with a 140 bps expansion in adjusted EBITDA margin.

MSSL has multiple growth levers ahead:

The company reported the highest ever order book of 17.2 billion euro at Samvardhana Motherson Automotive System Group (SMRPBV) in FY18, which provides strong revenue visibility going forward.At present, the company has six plants at different stages of completion globally. The management said start-up cost would be lower as SMPs Kecskemet plant in Hungry has turned operational. They also mentioned that the Tuscaloosa plant in the US has also begun operations. These plants are expected to add 1 billion euro in revenue on a full ramp-up in FY19.

Once the new plants start operations and ramps up fully, operating leverage will kick-in, thereby contributing to margin expansion. The company said it would spend around Rs 2,000 crore capex in FY19.

The management said topline growth for the India operations was due to strong growth in domestic passenger vehicles. Growth was also fuelled by an increase in content per vehicle.

With regulatory challenges in Indian automobile industry easing, MSSL was able to register strong growth, indicating strong position of the company in the Indian market. With teething problems related to Goods & Service Tax behind, it is in a vantage position to gain from increased vehicle demand. New upcoming BS VI emission norm would lead to complex wiring harness requirement that would benefit the company as the value is expected to go up.

The management believes that demand growth remains strong across businesses and key markets, especially for commercial vehicles in the US.

Integration of PKC is happening smoothly as is evident from the strong growth during Q1. The firm benefitted from strong demand in North American and European truck markets. The management expects to achieve 35-40 percent of return on capital employed (RoCE) by FY20.The company had acquired Reydel Automotive Group a few months back and consolidation of its financials would start from Q2 FY19, which would aid performance. Reydel had a revenue and EBITDA of $1.05 billion and $67 million in CY17, respectively.The Centres thrust on EVs will be an important catalyst for the next leg of growth for MSSLs India operations. The management said EVs would need more wiring components, which would increase the content per vehicle by close to 10-20 percent. Other businesses related to polymer and mirror-based products would not be affected because of the shift to EVs.MSSL is currently trading at 10.5 and 8.1 times FY19 and FY20 projected EV/EBITDA multiples, which is reasonable. On the back of multiple growth levers and reasonable valuations, we advise investors to be a part of this long-term journey.

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) wants to review whether Indian mutual funds are overcharging their customers by imposing a high total expense ratio (TER).

TER is the cost that an asset management company (AMC) charges for managing an investors money and includes various fees and expenses. But should the regulator interfere or should it let market forces decide the TER?

A report by Morningstar, a mutual fund advisory, said that India was among the most expensive markets when it comes to expense ratios. This was strongly contradicted by the Foundation of Independent Financial Advisors, an industry association of financial advisers, which benefits from higher fees.

To be sure, there is no argument why mutual funds should charge a fee. Asset managers have costs associated both with managing money as well as collecting it from investors. There are also promotion and marketing costs.

Now, mutual funds, insurance or for that matter any financial products are typically 'push' products. The financial literacy in the country and the level of time an investor can devote to managing her money has necessitated the creation of an entire industry called financial advisors. This industry is driven largely by commissions.

The point that is debatable is how high can these fees and commissions go and whether the consumer gets benefits for what she pays.

Retail investors typically end up being charged the most. High net-worth individuals (HNI) are treated better, but not always.

The settlement between actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and her bank HSBC highlights how bigger institutions and brokers treat customers money. In this case, Krishnamoorthi was assured of a 24 percent return if she appointed the bank as her portfolio manager. The bank, in turn, invested her money in 38 different funds and was found to be excessively churning her money. As banks and portfolio managers earn their revenue from the fees the AMCs pay them, they are encouraged to churn the portfolio into various schemes. The salary of the relationship manager or financial advisor is linked to the revenue he generates through such fees.

Then, there is the blatant abuse of commission. HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said that he was personally against the practice of rewarding distributors with foreign trips in the garb of training programmes which is a common practice now. While such practices may impact the smaller to medium-sized distributors, the bigger ones go scot free.

Moreover, the size of the mutual fund industry has also increased exponentially. Large fund houses are making 40-50 percent profit margins, pointed out SEBI chief Ajay Tyagi. There is a case for costs to come down as a portion of assets under management. At the same time, many actively managed funds are seeing their alphas (extra returns over the benchmark) getting smaller.

Having said that, the fact remains that when it comes to health or wealth, a customer prefers to let professionals handle it. A recent survey conducted by Paisabazaar.com found that 96% of its non-mutual fund consumers were not aware of the existence of direct plans of mutual funds even though it was launched in 2013. This is despite the fact that the TER in a direct fund is much lower and returns higher.

The portfolio management scheme (PMS) industry is also a case in point, where high fees havent deterred growth. Wealth managers, who get a flat fee for managing their clients assets, also get a commission from the PMS manager. The point here is that if there is a superior product in the market, then customers are willing to pay higher fees.

In the ultimate analysis, it is worth remembering that the financial sector in India is just developing. Despite growing nearly four-fold in the past five years, assets under management in the country are just 11 percent of GDP compared to the world average of 62 percent. Like any other industry, the financial services industry is maturing and the commissions will shrink as competition increases. There is nothing stopping an investor in moving away from a distributor or an advisor to a direct investment plan. The fact that they want to rely on experts to do so is a message to the regulator to stop bothering about commissions.
Myntra (Image: Company website)

Online fashion retailer Myntra will soon open brick-and-mortar stores under the Myntra Beauty brand to compete with cosmetics retailers such as Nykaa, Sephora, Body Shop, and L'Oreal, The Economic Times reported.

The Flipkart-owned company is looking for large spaces in malls and high-street shopping areas to open these stores, sources told the paper.

Myntra will get franchisees to run the outlets, Myntra-Jabong Chief Executive Officer Ananth Narayanan was quoted as saying.

"Beauty and personal care is a fast growing segment for us which has been growing at 400 percent year-on-year. Today we have over 250 leading brands across make up, skin care, bath and body, perfumes and beauty appliances," Narayanan told the news daily.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the news.

This will be Myntra's third brick-and-mortar venture, but its first under the Myntra brand name.

The company has opened outlets of its private brand Roadster, and also operates franchisee outlets for Spanish brand Zara.

The first Myntra Beauty store will be opened in Bengaluru later this year or in early 2019, a source told the financial daily.

The outlets will be modelled on the French chain of stores Sephora, with the company looking at stores of around 3,000-4,000 square feet, the source said.

Online beauty and cosmetics products retailer Nykaa already has offline stores under its own brand name.

Other e-commerce companies with physical stores under their own brand names include Urban Ladder, Pepper Fry, Lenskart and Zivame.

Myntra is also reportedly looking for commercial spaces in malls to open franchisee stores of Hong Kong-based Esprit.
Japan's top steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal sees India as the most promising market and wants to become "an insider" to capitalise on growth of the world's third-biggest steel market, a senior executive said.

"India will be the fastest-growing steel market in the world going forward," Nippon Steel Executive Vice President Katsuhiro Miyamoto said in an interview on Thursday.

"But since it's not an easy market to export to due to trade and distribution issues, it's important for us to become an insider. That's why we are bidding for Essar Steel," he said.

Nippon Steel has teamed up with Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, to bid around $6 billion for bankrupt Essar Steel, India's 4th-biggest steelmaker.

But the bidding process has been delayed due to legal battles over eligibility for the bidders. Asked if he thinks the chances are in their favour in the bidding race, Miyamoto said: "We have always believed so."

"We have submitted all the documents requested to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and we expect their decision by the end of this month," he said.

World Steel Association (WSA) forecast steel demand in India will climb 5.5 percent in 2018 and 6 percent in 2019, becoming the fastest-growing market among the world's top ten steel consumption countries.

Even so, Japan's steel exports to India nearly halved in 2016 after India imposed duties of up to 20 percent on some hot-rolled flat steel products in September 2015. India also set a floor price in February 2016 for steel product imports to deter countries such as China, Japan and South Korea from undercutting local mills.

Since then, Japan's annual steel exports to India have been hovering at around 1.3 million tonnes, just 3 percent of the country's total exports of the metal.

Nippon Steel has a joint venture with India's Tata Steel to produce cold-rolled sheets for automobiles, but it has little presence in steel used in other areas in the South Asian nation. "If we can buy Essar, it will give us access to India's general steel users including builders," Miyamoto said.

Nippon Steel said in March it will spend 600 billion yen ($5.4 billion) for business investment, including for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), over the next three years. That would be up from 210 billion yen spent over the previous three years to step up global expansion.
Representative Image

Public sector Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) today said it has recorded the highest-ever turnover of Rs 15,923 crore, a growth of 14 percent, despite lower profits of Rs 2,042 crore during 2017-18.

At the 25th Annual General Meeting here, Chairman D Rajkumar said the company recorded the highest-ever revenue from operations at Rs 15,923 crore during 2017-18, registering a growth of 14.17 percent over the previous year.

Rajkumar is also the Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). The Gross Refining Margin (GRM) at US Dollar 11.43 per barrel continued to be one of the best in the industry, Rajkumar said.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the year stood at Rs 27.79. The company has declared a dividend of Rs 18.50 per share for 2017-18. The company's profit after tax for the year was however, marginally lower at Rs 2,042 crore as compared to the prenious year, Rajkumar said.

NRL's contribution to the Central and State exchequers in the form of taxes, duties and dividends during the year has been the highest-ever at Rs 4,672 crore, he said. The refinery processed 2,809 TMT of crude oil during 2017-18 achieving a capacity utilisation of 93 percent, he said.

NRL recorded highest-ever sales volume of 2,912 TMT during the year, surpassing the previous high of 2,728 TMT in 2011-12. He said NRL's share of the domestic wax market climbed up to 45 percent.

On exports, Gas oil (Diesel) amounting to 25 TMT was sent to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation at Parbatipur from the company's terminal at Siliguri in West Bengal.

"Accelerated by the continued efforts and commitment of its employees and unwavering support of all stakeholders, I assure you that NRL will continue to perform par excellence and deliver results beyond expectation," Rajkumar said.

He said the company is planning refinery expansion from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA as part of the ambitious 'Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the North East' which is under active consideration by the Centre.

Plans for implementing the first-of-its-kind Bio Refinery with bamboo as feedstock have also taken a definite shape. A Joint Venture (JV) company Assam Bio-Refinery Pvt. Ltd. has been incorporated in June 2018 with equity participation from NRL, Fortum 3BV, Netherlands and Chempolis Oy, Finland, he said.

Another JV company Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited was incorporated this month with equal participation of NRL, IOCL, ONGC, OIL, and GAIL for implementation of the North-East Natural Gas Grid Pipeline, he said.

The ambitious project will connect all Northeastern states to the National Gas Grid through Barauni-Guwahati Gas Pipeline being laid by GAIL, he saud.
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Did you know Larsen and Toubro was a company started in India by two Danish engineers, Henning Holck-Larsen and Sren Kristian Toubro, who were taking refuge in this country during the Second World War? Well, its now an $18 billion multinational company but with roots very much in apna des. And today, the company has announced a share buyback proposal. And that is our story of the day. My name is Rakesh, and you are listening to Moneycontrol.

THE LATEST:

Larsen & Toubro on Thursday approved a buyback proposal of 6 crore shares, amounting to Rs 9,000 crore, at a price of Rs 1,500 apiece. This is a premium of 13.45 percent as of Tuesdays closing price of Rs 1,322.15. The number of shares make up for 4.9 percent of total paid up equity share capital.

The buyback is proposed to be made from the shareholders of the Company on a proportionate basis under the tender offer route using the stock exchange mechanism in accordance with the provisions contained in the Regulations and the Companies Act, 2013 and rules made thereunder, the company said in a filing to the exchanges.

Further the company said that the actual premium would be over the daily average of the closing prices of equity shares of the Company quoted on the National Stock Exchange during the two weeks preceding the date of the Board meeting.

The buyback is subject to approval of the members by means of a special resolution through a postal ballot. The timeline for other processes will be announced later.

In the past one month, the stock has rallied around 6 percent, while in the past three days, it has risen 9 percent.

A M Naik, Group Executive Chairman, told ETNow: We want to give back to our shareholders. They have been loyal to us. We have been publicly listed from 1951 and we were looking for an opportunity to reward with so much cash lying with us and all the capacity build-up we have done ahead of time for all our future requirements. He further said that for the next five years, the group has little capital expenditure. If there is a major acquisition, we have made sure that cash flow is available. So, you must also understand this is our 80th year and it is the right time to reward shareholders. And we had opportunity to reward them and we have done that, he explained.

L&T had cash and cash equivalents worth Rs 8,700 crore on its balance sheet at the end of the previous financial year.

ANALYST-VIEW:

G Chokkalingam, founder, Equinomics Research and Advisory, said, L&T is a good stock. Capex cycle is reversing down. I see around 20 per cent upside in L&T stock in another 3 months.

Global brokerage firm CLSA last week said the buyback will support return on equity (RoE) of the company. It may not be the last buyback as cash on books stands at $2.1 billion. We maintain buy on L&T with a target price of Rs 1,730, CLSA added.

In our view, Larsen is looking at a buyback given no large capex plans over next few years, apart from Hyderabad Metro, asset divestments adding to cash balances with the most recent being the Road INVIT in May18 and E&A segment for Rs 140 billion, low yield on cash which is ROE dilutive and tight control over NWC and resultant improved cash generation, Motilal Oswal Securities said in a note.

L&T remains our top pick in the sector  we believe it is an attractive play on a recovery in industrial and infrastructure capex in India. We maintain Buy with an SOTP-based TP of Rs 1,560 (E&C business at 21x FY20E EPS, higher-end of 5-year trading band to which we add Rs 550 for subsidiaries), it added.

WHAT IS A SHARE BUYBACK?

This year, boards of many IT firms including TCS, HCL Technologies and Mphasis have approved proposals to buy back shares. TCS announced buybacks worth 16000 crore rupees and HCL 40000 crore worth of share buybacks in the last few months.

For the uninitiated among us, what is a share buyback proposal? And why do companies do it?

Investopedia describes share buyback thus:

Stock buybacks refer to the repurchasing of shares of stock by the company that issued them. A buyback occurs when the issuing company pays shareholders the market value per share and re-absorbs that portion of its ownership that was previously distributed among public and private investors. With stock buybacks, aka share buybacks, the company can purchase the stock on the open market or from its shareholders directly. In recent decades, share buybacks have overtaken dividends as a preferred way to return cash to shareholders. Though smaller companies may choose to exercise buybacks, blue-chip companies are much more likely to do so because of the cost involved.

Why would companies do this? There are plenty of reasons. One of the most common reasons cited is ownership consolidation. Lets say there is a company with one owner and 10,000 shareholders. It effectively means that the company has 10,001 owners. Why do companies issue shares? To raise equity capital to fund expansion. But when a company gets to a point where there are few expansion opportunities in sight, it essentially means holding on to all that equity funding that is not even being used, and sharing ownership for no good reason. Lets also not forget that shareholders expect dividends which is a cost of equity, meaning the business is paying for the privilege of accessing funds that it is not even using. As Investopedia cited, Buying back some or all of the outstanding shares can be a simple way to pay off investors and reduce the overall cost of capital. For this reason, Walt Disney (DIS) reduced its number of outstanding shares in the market by buying back 73.8 million shares, collectively valued at $7.5 billion, back in 2016.

It is a case we see with L&T as well. L&Ts proposal for a share buyback is a natural fallout of limited investment opportunities in EPC (engineering, procurement and construction), its aversion to investment in long-gestation projects, and strong cash-flow generation in its core E&C business, said Kotak Institutional Equities said in a 21 August report.

Consistency of dividend payout through the weak past five-year period and a large quantum of current dividend payout ($350 million) strengthen the case for a structured buyback programme for L&T. The current buyback meaningfully supports L&Ts case for achieving 18% RoE (return on equity) by 2020-21, the Kotak report added, as reported by Mint.

More so, the company is expected to keep the shareholders happy  by giving dividends. And indeed one of the goals of the company executives is to increase shareholder wealth. And this is where the great balancing act comes. They also need to ensure that the company stays in lithe financial condition should there be a recession. The tightrope walk of ensuring the company stays afloat in tough times while also keeping shareholder wealth increasing is a tough one. One way to do that is by offering share buyback. Per Investopedia, If the economy slows or falls into recession, the bank might be forced to cut its dividend to preserve cash. The result would undoubtedly lead to a sell-off in the stock. However, if the bank decided to buy back fewer shares, achieving the same preservation of capital as a dividend cut, the stock price would likely take less of a hit. Committing to dividend payouts with steady increases will certainly drive a company's stock higher, but the dividend strategy can be a double-edged sword for a company. In the event of a recession, share buybacks can be decreased more easily than dividends, with a far less negative impact on the stock price.

Share buyback is also a quick fix for the financial statement. By reducing the number of outstanding shares, a company's earnings per share (EPS) ratio is automatically increased  because its annual earnings are now divided by a lower number of outstanding shares.

One analysis of buybacks is that the company offering it is fiscally healthy and wants none of the excess of equity funding. Even though credit rating agencies dont often see buybacks in a positive light  as it is essentially taking on more debt  it can also be seen by the market that the management has enough confidence in the company to reinvest in itself. Writer Troy Segal says, Share buybacks are generally seen as less risky than investing in research and development for a new technology or acquiring a competitor; it's a profitable action, as long as the company continues to grow. Investors typically see share buybacks as a positive sign for appreciation in the future. As a result, share buybacks can lead to a rush of investors buying the stock.

And that is what we saw on Dalal Street today with regards the L&T stock.

STOCK MARKET RESPONSE TO L&T BUYBACK PROPOSAL:

Shares of Larsen & Toubro Ltd on Thursday closed over 2% higher after its board approved a share buyback of 9,000 crore, at a premium of more than 13% from Tuesdays closing price. L&T shares ended at Rs 1,352.50 on the BSE, up 2.3% from their previous close, while Indias benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.13% to 38,336.76 points. Year to date, L&T has risen 7.6%.

Share buybacks can be good for the financial economy as they lead to a rise in stock prices. Research has shown that increases in the stock market have an ameliorative effect on consumer confidence, consumption and major purchases, a phenomenon known as "the wealth effect."

L&T today certainly contributed in some measure to the wealth effect today. And so, I will be having an L&T of my own for dinner  latte and avocado toast. Thanks L&T!
Ruchi Soya Industries | Ram Bharat designated as Managing Director of the company. (Image: Moneycontrol)

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Lenders of Ruchi Soya have approved the Rs 6,000 crore bid of Adani Wimar to acquire the debt-ridden edible oil firm, sources said. Adani Wilmar and Baba Ramdev's Patanjali group have been engaged in a long-drawn battle to take over Ruchi Soya.

Adani Wimar's bid was approved by the committee of creditors (CoC) with about 96 percent votes in favour.

The resolution professional will now seek approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Adani group firm Adani Wilmar, which sells cooking oil under Fortune brand, and Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali were in the fray to acquire Ruchi Soya.

While Adani Wilmar emerged as the highest bidder with Rs 6,000 crore offer, Patanjali group came second with a Rs 5,700 crore bid.

Following this, Patanjali Ayurved had also sought clarification from the RP (resolution professional) of Ruchi Soya related to eligibility of Adani Group to participate in the bidding process.

It also sought to know the parameters adopted by the RP to declare Adani Wilmar as the highest bidder.

The Haridwar-based firm had also questioned the appointment of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the RP's legal advisor as the said law firm was already advising Adani Group.

Patanjali was asked to submit a revised bid by June 16 to match or better the highest offer of Rs 6,000 crore by Adani Wilmar under the Swiss Challenge system adopted by the RP and the committee of creditors.

However, Patanjali wrote to the RP seeking clarifications instead of submitting a fresh bid.

Adani Wilmar has been selected by the CoC after two-rounds of bidding.

Spokespersons of Adani Wilmar and Patanjali could not be contacted for a comment.

Ruchi Soya, which is facing the insolvency proceedings, has a total debt of about Rs 12,000 crore. The company has many manufacturing plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold.

In December 2017, Ruchi Soya Industries entered into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) and Shailendra Ajmera was appointed as the RP.
UK-based Liberty House is serious about investing big bucks to acquire stressed assets in its bid to gain a strong foothold in India. The company owned by Indian origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta is ready to invest $5-10 billion to takeover such assets in the country. In general terms, our comfort zone in different hubs has been $5-10 billion. Thats the point at which we feel we have scale in a country, Gupta told Bloomberg Quint.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has opened a lot of avenues for companies looking to take over stressed assets. The banking sector has bad loans of over Rs 10.5 lakh crore are being resolved under IBC.

Liberty House has won bids for Amtek Auto and Adhunik Metaliks and still is in the race for two other companies Bhushan Power & Steel and ABG Shipyard. Amtek investment was worth more than $1 billion.

Liberty will not get into business anywhere it doesnt have a presence currently and every company they are bidding for are part of their global portfolio, Gupta said.

If the valuations go beyond a certain level, we will sit back. Everyone has to build their own model and see what works best for them. Some assets may be more synergistic for some companies. We wont pursue everything at any price. There is a number at which we will sit back, Gupta had told Moneycontrol in February.

Also Read: Sanjeev Gupta eyes stressed assets for headstart in India

Liberty House faced trouble when it was discovered that the company owed $2.8 million to Exim Bank. IBC Section 29A bars entities with NPA, links to insolvent companies and willful defaulters from bidding for stressed assets. However, the company has since settled their debt.

A committee of creditors had disqualified the company as it failed to provide information regarding the funding. This has created a lack of confidence regarding credibility of the company.

Sanjeev Gupta doesnt have too many accounts in India and operates in the UK and other countries. Inside India, he is an unknown commodity trying to make an entry, Sunil Srivastava, a former deputy managing director at State Bank of India told Livemint. He doesnt have an established record in India, and people here dont know too much about him. But if he hadnt brought in upfront commitments from banks, he would not have been allowed to participate (in bids for distressed assets), he added.

However, Liberty House plans to bid for assets on the RBIs second stressed asset list. We will definitely be involved in the second round. There will be a lot of opportunities, Gupta had told Moneycontrol in February.
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Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd today said it will pump in around $8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) over the next three years on various projects across businesses.

There is immense growth potential in sight, Vedanta Ltd Chairman Navin Agarwal said at the company's Annual General Meeting, where he made the investment announcement.

"As India's largest private sector oil producer, your company contributes 27 per cent to the domestic production and aspires to take it up to 50 percent. Towards this, your company will be investing $3-4 billion over the next 2-3 years, in various growth projects," he said.

This year Vedanta had a record production in its zinc-lead-silver and aluminium businesses, he said, adding that it would further invest $3-4 billion in these businesses in the next 2-3 years.

On Tuticorin unit which has been permanently shut down by the Tamil Nadu government following the deaths of 13 people in police firing on protesters against the plant, Agarwal said the company is greatly grieved by the tragic loss of lives and has extended all possible support to the impacted families.

"Your company has been instrumental in the socio-economic transformation of the region. Our copper smelter strongly complies with all environmental norms and is, amongst the best, globally," he added.

In April, the Tamil Nadu pollution control board had rejected Vedanta Sterlite's plea to renew the Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions. Following this, the government had issued a permanent closure notice to the plant.

After Sterlite announced its plans to expand the Tuticorin plant, villagers around it started fresh protests that continued for over 100 days, culminating in the May 22 police firing on protestors that claimed 13 lives and left scores injured.

The need of the hour is to bring further changes in policies for natural resources sector, particularly the implementation of the much-awaited New Mineral Policy and ensure a level playing ground on imports and duties.

"Encouragement to explore and produce natural resources in India will lead to greater self-reliance, save billions of dollars in imports, generate immense employment opportunities, paving way for socio-economic development," the company said.

During financial year 2017-18, Vedanta Ltd increased its revenue by 22 percent, year-on-year to Rs 92,900 crore. Its EBITDA or operating profit also increased by 19 percent, to Rs 25,500 crore, and profit after taxes rose up by 10 per cent to Rs 8,200 crore.

"Free cash flow stood at Rs 7,900 crore and we reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500 crore," Agarwal said.
Unrest in Kashmir

The security clearance of English TV news channel Al Jazeera has been withdrawn by the Indian government. Without the clearance, the channel will need to stop broadcasting in the country.

While the government has provided no explanation, media reports suggest that the decision was taken after the broadcast of a documentary about militancy in Kashmir.

Senior officials have told The Economic Times that the final decision is now in the hands of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which will hear a review petition from the channel. While the home ministry is in charge of issuing security clearances, the information and broadcasting ministry renders the broadcasting licence. According to official documents, the home ministry gave clearance to Al Jazeera on December 3, 2010, while it was withdrawn on May 29, 2018.

The channel, which is run by AJI International Private Limited, told the Centre that it has allotted a significant 10 minutes to the Centres efforts in the Valley and the view of its officials in the complete version of the documentary, which has been missed in the edited version presented to the home ministry.

This is not the first time that Al Jazeera has been on the receiving end on the governments strictures. In 2015, the channel was suspended for five days for incorrectly showing the map of India with respect to Jammu and Kashmir. At that time, the channel put out a blank screen for five days with the following message: As instructed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, this channel will not be available from 00.01 hours on April 22 till 00.01hours on April 27, 2015.

According to government figures, India has 867 private satellite TV channels, out of which permissions for 236 channels have been withdrawn due to various reasons. Out of these, permissions for 147 channels were cancelled between 2015 and June 2018 alone.

Sources have also told the paper that the government would be cracking the whip on foreign journalists reporting on Kashmir. In May this year, the Ministry of External Affairs had sent letters to foreign journalists and reminded them to seek prior permission to travel to certain areas under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958. These include Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and parts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.
Separatists today deferred the two-day strike to protest against any tinkering with Article 35-A of the Constitution to August 30 as the case has been listed for hearing on 31 August in the Supreme Court.

Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), consisting of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, had on August 17 called for a two-day strike from August 26, but the strike has now been deferred to the end of the month.

"As the Supreme Court of India is now hearing the case challenging the state subject law of J&K on 31st August as such the statewide protest hartal by JRL (Joint Resistance Leadership) against this nefarious move will now be observed on 30th & 31st Aug. However protests by different segments of society will continue, Mirwaiz wrote on Twitter.
book-education-student

Moneycontrol News

CBSE has released a statement slamming tweets and media reports that criticised the board for an essay from a book by a private publisher meant for school children that had a controversial essay defining who is a 'modern girl'.

The board clarified that it has not recommended any such book, adding, that "any reference to CBSE in the reports in totally incorrect".

"It is clarified that CBSE does not publish books and nor does it recommend books by any private publishers to the affiliated schools. Therefore, any reference to CBSE in this context is baseless," read the statement.

The statement follows after tweets carrying pictures of an essay from a textbook called "Current School Essays and Letters" on a 'Modern Girl' went viral.

Here is the full statement:

The pictures of the essay, written by Kolkata-based author Purabi Chakraborty, were originally shared by Kolkata-based Abhik Hazra, who spotted the essay in his cousins textbook.

The essay read that a modern girl is "too selfish to think about others and cares only about clothes and cosmetics".

"She is more a self-centered creature than a loving daughter or sympathetic sister. She is eager to enjoy life fully and so she does not want to miss any party, cinema show, concert, fashion parades and such outdoor activities. She talks and makes friendship with boys freely and easily," the essay says.

It adds, "It is true that parents are partly responsible for the self-centered nature of their daughters. A girl child should be guided on how to behave at home."

Some parents in Bengaluru among scores others on the social media had also expressed their disapproval of the regressive ideas conveyed in the essay, writing collective letters to schools to ensure that the book is not included in the syllabus or kept in libraries.

I would be shocked if my childs school has this book even in their library for reference's sake, said Ranjitha Srivatsa, administrator of one such mothers group, told The New Indian Express.



Wow this is not parody. The definition of a "modern girl" in a school essay book, via @mtanmay from the wall of Abhik Hazra. Modern girls are apparently "self-centred creatures". https://t.co/6cNunsA4MEpic.twitter.com/HMnX4QTlrx

 Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) August 20, 2018

The essay has also been criticised on social media.



What a disgusting definition of modern girl! Students should unlearn this if already they have learned from the book. pic.twitter.com/MONJdSFbkh  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) August 21, 2018





My God! The writer fails to completely understand what a modern girl is capable of doing! Such narrow view of the women world. Pathetic. https://t.co/sYiGJcCrNy

 Rajesh Rajgor (@rajeshrajgor) August 22, 2018



Such an insightful article on modern girl. Its so inspiring to see that women having any kind of ambition,wishes or in general a life makes them self centred. This is what we teach our kids&then wonder why are we so misogynistic as a society. pic.twitter.com/p0Ef8rH2qX  Kamayani Vyas (@k4ms) August 20, 2018





I think that by using the word like "selfish, self-centered, not obedient" and the likes the author herself is presenting the so called "modern girl" in bad light. One needs to explain/elaborate it properly to the kids studying it.

 Kumar Abhishek (@abhishekAQ) August 23, 2018

The statement released by the CBSE says that the "Rule 15.1 (d) of the Affiliation-bye-laws of the Board clearly states that the school will

follow the syllabus on the basis of curriculum prescribed by NCERT/CBSE and textbooks published by NCERT or CBSE as far as practicable. It also states that the schools will exercise extreme care while selecting books of private publishers. The content must be scrutinized to preclude any objectionable content that hurts the feelings of any class, community, gender, religious group in society if prescribing books having such content, the school will have to take the responsibility of such content."

The statement while criticising the media reports over careless reportage informed that any claims regarding CBSE publications must be verified through the link http://cbseacademic.nic.in/publication_sqps.html available at Boards official website www.cbseacademic.nic.in.

The story was updated today to include CBSE's statement.
The Centre today said Rs 600 crore released two days ago to flood-hit Kerala was only the advance assistance and additional funds would be released when an inter-ministerial team visits the state again and assesses the damage.

The Home Ministry statement came amidst a row over accepting funds from foreign governments for Kerala after the United Arab Emirates offered USD 100 million (around Rs 700 crore) and the government declared that it will not take any financial assistance from foreign governments in sync with an existing policy.

"It is clarified that Rs 600 crore released by Centre is the advance assistance only. Additional funds would be released from NDRF on assessment of the damages as per laid down procedure," the statement said.

On Tuesday, the central government had released Rs 600 crore to flood-hit Kerala as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Rs 500 crore) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Rs 100 crore) during their visits to the state.

The home ministry said during the floods in Kerala, the Centre has provided urgent aid and relief material in a timely manner and without any reservation.

The situation has been regularly monitored by the Prime Minister on daily basis and he visited the state on August 17-18, 2018. On his instructions, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, regularly monitored and coordinated rescue and relief operations by holding daily meetings from Aug 16-21, 2018.

Senior officers of Defence Services, NDRF, NDMA and Secretaries of Civilian Ministries attended these meetings. Kerala Chief Secretary participated in these discussions through video conference.

Following the decisions taken during these meetings, the Centre launched massive rescue and relief operations. In one of the largest rescue operations, 40 helicopters, 31 aircraft, 182 teams for rescue, 18 medical teams of defence forces, 58 teams of NDRF, 7 companies of Central Armed Police Forces were pressed into service along with over 500 boats and necessary rescue equipments.

They successfully saved over 60,000 human lives by rescuing them from marooned areas and shifting them to relief camps, the statement said.

Defence aircraft and helicopters have made 1,084 sorties of duration 1,168 flying hours and airlifted 1,286 tonne of load and carried 3,332 rescuers. In addition, a number of Navy and Coast Guard ships were pressed into service to carry relief material to Kerala. The search and rescue operations and mobilisation of resources alone would cost the central government hundreds of crore of rupees.

The statement said after floods and landslides in Kerala last month, an interim memorandum was submitted by the state government on July 21 and immediately an inter ministerial central team (IMCT) was constituted, which visited the state on August 7-12 for on-the-spot assessment of the damages.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had visited Kerala on July 21 followed by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 12. Since there was a second spell of floods in the state, the state government has stated that they will submit an additional memorandum on the fresh damages caused by the floods and landslides once rescue efforts are over.

Since submission of additional memorandum by the state government will take time, with a view to assist the state in meeting relief and rescue expenditure, the central government has released Rs 600 crore in advance pending assessment by IMCT and decision of a high level committee.

This is in addition to Rs 562.45 crore already made available in State Disaster Relief Fund of the state. In addition to the financial support, the Centre has made available large quantities of emergency food, water, medicines and other essential supplies, including additional allocation of foodgrains, as requested by the state. Financial mechanism to meet the rescue and relief expenditure during any notified disaster event is governed by notified guidelines on State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

State Disaster Response Fund has been constituted in each state in which the Centre contributes 75 per cent for general category states and 90 per cent for special category states of hilly regions every year as per the award of the successive Finance Commissions.

As per the guidelines, the central government provides its allocation to SDRF of each state in advance in two installments. In case of any natural calamity, State meets the expenditure of relief and rescue from the SDRF already available at its disposal.

In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a state, the state government submits a detailed memorandum indicating the sector-wise details of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations of immediate nature.

On receipt of a memorandum, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is deputed by the Central Government for on-the-spot assessment of damages and additional requirement of funds.

The report of IMCT is considered by the Sub-Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC) headed by the Union Home Secretary in conformity with the norms and then by a High Level Committee (HLC), chaired by the Home Minister for approving the quantum of additional assistance from the NDRF, the statement said.
The family members of an Indian national lodged in police custody in Bangladesh after being allegedly abducted and taken there have sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's help in bringing him back.

Phalgun Arengh (66) was abducted from a Meghalaya village and was stuck in the neighbouring country for over three months now, a police official said.

Confirming the presence of the man in Bangladesh, West Garo Hills SP MGR Kumar said since the matter involved a foreign country, the BSF, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the IG, Special Branch, were being consulted.

"We are hoping for a solution to the matter soon," Kumar said. Arengh, a resident of Hatimara village in West Garo Hills, had been abducted by Bangladeshi miscreants from his residence on May 24, he said.

Subsequently, an FIR was lodged by his wife, Ponji K Sangma, at the Purakhasia Outpost in this matter.

The Achik Indigenous Justice Initiative Forum (AIJIF), a social organisation, which visited Arengh's family, has recently sought help from the prime minister in getting the man back home.

"We want to bring to your notice that an innocent man, an Indian citizen, was victimised by criminals from Bangladesh and is still facing immense hardship and pain for the past three months," Alex K Sangma, AIJIF director, said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.

Arengh was able to escape his captors on June 2 and had reached Christianpara area in Bangladesh, he claimed.

"He was helped by villagers of Christianpara and handed over to the Bangladesh police in a very poor physical condition. He is in custody of the Sribordi Police Station in Sherpur district of Bangladesh," Sangma said.

Arengh's family is currently in Bangladesh trying to bring him back. Coordinator of the NGO, Chenang G Momin, said, "It becomes an imperative responsibility of the Indian government to intervene in the matter and bring him back to .
A fresh plea has been moved in the Supreme Court today challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35-A that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

The petitioner, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) 'Ikkjut Jammu', sought quashing of the provision which has been challenged by several others including civil society groups, individuals. There have also been petitions supporting the retention of Article 35-A of the Constitution.

The fresh petition, filed through advocate Sumit R Sharma, says that Article 35-A furthers "two nation theory which is against the theory of secularism".

"It is an enabling provision for the creation of a theological state within secular territory of India. It ensures that the character of J&K's Legislative Assembly shall remain Islamic," the petition stated.

It added that Article 35-A provides absolute powers to the Jammu and Kashmir's legislative assembly to infringe the fundamental rights of Indian citizens. Earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) had moved the apex court in support of Article 35-A.

The NC had said that the Article serves as an important link between the state and the Union and its people and serves to maintain a fine balance of constitutional federalism.

The apex court is already seized of a batch of petitions in the matter, including the one filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' seeking quashing of the article, which confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC's intervening application, filed through advocate Adeeba Mujhaid, had sought intervention in the 'We the Citizens' petition, saying that the challenge raised in the pending writ petition suffers from gross delays and latches and being raised after more than 60 years and cannot be maintainable.

"Any attempt to tinker with the said balance would ruin the fabric of the federal structure envisaged under the Constitution and jeopardise the avowed special status guaranteed to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, thereby landing a devastating fatal blow to the state and its probe," the petition filed by NC through its provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani had said.

On July 31, CPI(M)'s J-K unit had moved the apex court and said in its petition that it was of the unequivocal opinion that the Article shall in "no circumstance be annulled, modified or repealed".

On May 14, Attorney General K K Venugopal had informed the apex court that the Centre's interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir is currently discussing with all stakeholders the "sensitive" issues relating to the challenge to Article 35-A of the Constitution.

Dineshwar Sharma, former director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was appointed as the Centre's interlocutor for the state on October 23 last year.

Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of J&K and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.

The provision, which leads such women from the state to forfeit their right over property, also applies to their heirs.

Several interlocutory petitions have also been filed in support and against of Article 35-A by various individuals and civil society groups.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir government through its standing counsel Shoeb Alam had referred to two judgments by the constitution benches of the apex court and said the issues raised in the pleas challenging Article 35-A were already covered by these verdicts.

The state government, while defending Article 35-A, had cited two verdicts by the constitution benches of the Supreme Court in 1961 and 1969 which had upheld the powers of the President under Article 370(1)(d) of the Constitution to pass constitutional orders.

The article was incorporated in the Constitution in 1954 by an order of president Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the then Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet.

It empowers the state legislature to frame any law without attracting a challenge on the grounds of violation of the right to equality of people from other states or any other right under the Constitution.

The apex court had on August 14 last year said a constitution bench may examine whether Article 35-A was gender-biased and violative of the basic structure of the Constitution.

The state government had earlier said the issue has already been "prima facie settled" by a full bench of the High Court in its verdict in 2002.

In the case, the high court had, by a majority view, held that a daughter of a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir marrying a non-permanent resident will not lose the status of a permanent resident.
Finshots.in compiled a list of the largest loss-incurring companies in India. The website amassed data for all listed companies using reported figures for the last 12 months. For unlisted companies such as Air India, the figures are as per the latest available annual financials. Here is a list of 10 companies that incur the highest loss. (Image: Reuters)

An Italian DJ has claimed that she was allegedly assaulted by an Air India ground staffer at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Sunday, a news channel has reported.

Olly Esse was in Hyderabad for a charity gig at the Heart Cup cafe on Saturday night. The incident reportedly happened when she approached an Air India ground staffer seeking a response for the delay in her Mumbai-bound flight for over nine hours.

Esse narrated the incident through a Facebook post in which she claimed that the Air India staffer misbehaved with her when she enquired about the revised timings of the flight and sought help with getting a new boarding pass issued. On persisting with her queries, Esse wasnt responded to properly; and when she warned the staffer of an official complaint, the staffer allegedly got violent and slapped her.

In her post, she has claimed, She slapped me so hard I felt back and my cell phone fell from my hand! I literally started to scream from pain! (sic) Even when she tried approaching the airport security to report her grievance, she wasnt paid attention to.

Airport police inspector M Mahesh was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express as saying, We are verifying the details. When Olly enquired, the staff did not give complete details. That is when she took out her phone to take down details of the Air India staff. We are looking into the footage of the area to verify facts."

Meanwhile, Air India has refused to comment on the issue. An Air India spokesperson told Moneycontrol that the alleged victim has not lodged a formal complaint yet and has only shared her grievance on social media; and until she does, no legal recourse can be taken.
India is a sprawling reality with layers of multiple economic and social realities and during the struggle for independence, slogans like "karo ya maro', "Inquilab Zindabad," "angrezon bharat chhodo," worked like dabs of magic glue to unify the country in the embodiment of a single ideal, "poorna swaraj" or complete freedom and self-governance.

Post independence, slogans like "jai jawan, jai kissan," "aaram haram hai," "India shining" and more have during different times in history captured the mood and priorities of the nation. Over time though, a vast majority of Indians have become jaded with sloganeering and manifesto promises because of the way election propaganda often has more momentum than grass root change. Take the idea of total electrification in India that over 71 years after independence seems like a given but what exactly is the ground reality?

This is Rakesh and today on Digging Deeper with Moneycontrol, we will fact-check not just the official claim that total electrification of all the villages in India has been achieved but also explore a brief history of how we have come this far. Or exactly just how far we have come.

How it began

According to information available in the public domain, of the 1.4 billion people in the world who have no access to electricity, India accounts for over 160 million, some 32 million homes. The International Energy Agency estimates India will add between 600 GW to 1,200 GW of additional new power generation capacity before 2050.

India's tryst with electricity though began when the first demonstration of an electric light in Calcutta was conducted on 24 July 1879 by P.W. Fleury & Co. According to www.gseva.in, on 7 January 1897, Kilburn & Co secured the Calcutta electric lighting license as agents of the Indian Electric Co, which was registered in London on 15 January 1897. A month later, the company was renamed the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation. The control of the company was transferred from London to Calcutta only in 1970. Enthused by the success of electricity in Calcutta, power was thereafter introduced in Bombay (now Mumbai). Mumbai saw electric lighting demonstration for the first time in 1882 at Crawford Market and the Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways Company (BEST) set up a generating station in 1905 to provide electricity for the tramway.

Wikipedia informs that the first hydroelectric installation in India was installed near a tea estate at Sidrapong for the Darjeeling Municipality in 1897. The first electric street light in Asia was lit on 5 August 1905 in Bangalore.

Post-independence says Wiki, India began utilizing grid management on a regional basis in the 1960s. We quote," Individual State grids were interconnected to form 5 regional grids covering mainland India. The grids were the Northern, Eastern, Western, North Eastern and Southern Grids. These regional links were established to enable transmission of surplus electricity between States in each region. In the 1990s, the Indian government began planning for a national grid. Regional grids were initially interconnected by asynchronous high-voltage, direct current, back-to-back links facilitating a limited exchange of regulated power. The links were subsequently upgraded to high capacity synchronous links."

Wiki further informs, "The first interconnection of regional grids was established in October 1991 when the North Eastern and Eastern grids were interconnected. The Western Grid was interconnected with the aforementioned grids in March 2003. The Northern grid was also interconnected in August 2006, forming a Central Grid synchronously connected operating at one frequency. The sole remaining regional grid, the Southern Grid, was synchronously interconnected to the Central Grid on 31 December 2013 with the commissioning of the 765 kV Raichur-Solapur transmission line, thereby establishing the National Grid."

By the end of the calendar year 2015, despite poor hydroelectricity generation, India had become a power surplus nation with huge electric power generation capacity idling for want of power demand.

Wiki further adds that on March 29, 2017, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) stated that for the first time India has become a net exporter of electricity. India exported 5,798 GWh to neighbouring countries, against a total import of 5,585 GWh.

So yes, we have come a long way from that time in 1947, when just about 1500 villages were electrified in India. Considering how vast our rural population is, rural electrification was not as fast as the development pace in urban India and things picked up only around 1991. As per Central Electricity Authority, 481124 villages were electrified by 1991 but due to de-electrification of some of the villages, this number came down to 474982 by 2004.

What was the cause of the de-electrification of villages?

Well, lack of adequate resources in State Power Distribution Utilities because of which the high-cost maintenance of infrastructure in far-flung, low-density rural areas, became difficult.

We quote, indiaenergy.gov.in, "The Ministry of Power launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in April 2005 with an objective to provide access to electricity to all rural households through the creation of rural electricity infrastructure comprising of Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone, Village Electricity Infrastructure, and Decentralized Distribution Generation & Supply System. Under RGGVY, households belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) were to be provided connections free of cost. Ninety percent of capital subsidy was to be provided by Government of India for projects under the scheme. RGGVY was initially approved with a capital subsidy of Rs.5,000 Crore for the last two years of the 10th Plan period ending March 2007 and continued in 11th Plan with a capital subsidy of Rs.28,000 Crore."

The same report states that the pace of rural electrification continued to be a source of concern and as on March 31, 2012, electrification works in 104,496 un-electrified villages, intensive electrification in 248,553 partially electrified villages had been completed and free electricity connections to 194.25 lakh BPL households had been released under RGGVY which started in April 2005.

The report states that during 2013-14, RGGVY was approved for its continuation in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Plan wherein the task was to complete spillover works of project sanctioned in Tenth and Eleventh Plan and to cover the remaining villages, habitations (with population 100 & above) and BPL households. The outlay approved under RGGVY was carried forward by the current government in addition to its own outlay.

Where we are now

On 28 April 2018, 12 days ahead of the set target, all Indian villages, said the government, were electrified powered by the separation of feeder lines (rural households & agricultural) and the strengthening of transmission and distribution infrastructure. As we said before, the earlier scheme for rural electrification viz. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) was subsumed in the new scheme as its rural electrification component.

As of 15 August 2018, 195.5 million rural households were provided with electricity, which is 89 percent of the 219 million total rural households.

Here is where some intent reading of the fine print is necessary because electrification of villages does not necessarily mean the electrification of households and there is also the question of consistent and reliable power availability which needs to be examined closely.

Many articles in the public domain, including one in The Wire, says and we quote, "as per the Union power ministrys definition, a village is said to be electrified if at least 10 percent of the households in it have power connections and if electricity is provided in public places such as schools, panchayat offices, health centres and community centres. This is why even though 100 percent electrification of villages has been achieved, government data shows that as of today, there are still 31 million households without electricity. In states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Assam, fewer than 60 percent of households have electricity. In 12 out of the 30 states, fewer than 80 percent of the households have been electrified."

Another promise has been made to deliver uninterrupted power supply to all households by March 2019, and it remains to be seen if this goal will be achieved not just in intent but in reality.

In this age of vibrant social media, a resident of Sirathu village, Uttar Pradesh, even replied to the 100 percent electrification claim on Twitter, saying that despite several requests electrification in his village had not yet been achieved.

Many residents in Odisha's villages also claimed to news sources that they have never experienced electricity and have relied on oil-based lanterns in a sequence that seems out of Ashutosh Gowarikar's Swades.

News18 revealed that a few villages, just a few kilometres from the capital Patna, are also dependent on lanterns as they are electrified only on paper. State chief minister Nitish Kumar had on November 27, 2017, before the centre made an announcement, said that power supply in all revenue villages had been achieved. Many villages have poles and transformers but no electricity running in them.

India Today found that many villages in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand are yet to be electrified. Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das had claimed two years ago that electricity poles were installed in Saprum village, about 90 km from Jharkhand. The poles, however, remain powerless.

A similar report was posted from the north-east and News18 reported that villages like Tengasot, Badaril have lived without electricity since independence.

Comparisons are odious and each government comes with its own challenges but we have already traced the journey of electrification in India and it bears repeating and multiple news reports state that between 2005 and 2014, during the years of UPA-I and UPA-II governments, over 1,082,280 villages were connected to the grid and connections were provided to over 20 million households, out of which 19 million were given free connections.

So logically, when the current government announced its new rural electrification scheme, only 18,452 villages were without power supply. It is interesting to note also that villages are considered electrified if they have poles and distribution lines, even if non-functioning.

We quote The Wire, "This meant that on average, the UPA electrified 12,030 villages per year while the current government electrified 4,842. Granted, most of the 18,000 odd villages the current administration had to tackle are in far-flung areas and remote locations, making its task doubly harder. And to its credit, in 2016-17, 6,015 villages were electrified, five times more than what was done by the UPA-II in 2013-14."

The current scheme also focused on what it calls intensive electrification and claims have been made that while 99.8 percent of census villages had been electrified, intensive electrification had been completed in around 80 percent of villages.

But a Livemint analysis shows that even in five states that reported the biggest rise in rural household electrification rate, four of them had also reported a decline in the total number of households due to re-estimation exercises carried out by the state power distribution companies. Therefore, adds Wire, a good chunk of the increase may have come due to downwardly re-estimating the number of rural households in a particular state.

Also, total electrification necessarily means delivering uninterrupted power to every household and that milestone is yet to be achieved.

There is also the question of whether villagers, who have preferred paying a fixed amount for monthly electricity consumption rather than for actual consumption, will take to the new scheme.

It cannot also be disregarded that most power distribution companies (discoms) struggle with their financial turnaround plans, says The Wire, and unable to charge cost-reflective tariffs, discoms have been resorting to widespread load-shedding to check their operational losses.

There are other issues too and state-owned Coal India has struggled to supply adequate coal to power plants, leaving half of the installed coal-based generation capacity reeling under depleted fuel stocks, says the same article.

We quote, "With India depending on coal to meet more than 60 percent of its electricity requirement and coal production stagnating, how the government will fulfill its promise of uninterrupted power supply remains a puzzle."

We are almost in a nudging distance from the next Lok Sabha elections, and this just may be a time ripe for more sweeping promises and claims. But the need of the hour like always is less tokenism and more commitment to connect the sleeping giant that is rural India to the development engine powering urban India. Because, only when all Indians can see the light, will we grow as one, cohesive nation.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi yesterday said some of his own party members did not like it when he hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament. In his address in Hamburg, Germany, Gandhi also said there is a big job problem in India but the prime minister refuses to see it.

"You have to accept the problem to fix it," he said. Gandhi also spoke about India and its progress over the last 70 years.

Referring to his famous hug, after a no holds barred attack in a Parliament debate last month, Gandhi said, "When I hugged PM Modi in Parliament, some within my party did not like it."

Gandhi also talked about his father former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assailants. "When I saw the man who killed my father lying dead in a field in Sri Lanka, I did not like it, I saw his crying children in him," he said.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabhakaran, responsible for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, was shot dead by Sri Lankan troops in 2009.
Skytrax released its list of worlds 100 best airports. Singapore Changi Airport continues to lead for the eighth consecutive year. Four Indian Airports managed to take their place in the list. Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport ranked 50th, while Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Bengalurus Kempegowda Airport and Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport ranked 52, 68 and 72 respectively. Here are the worlds top 10 airports of 2020 on the basis of airport customers review. (Image: PTI)

Moneycontrol News

The brown beige colour carpets at the T3 terminal of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport will finally be removed, from both domestic and international sides. Various travellers have complained that pulling their baggage trolleys over the carpets is a difficult task. However, junior aviation minister Jayant Sinha's tweet did the trick, and the airport operators got into action to get the carpets removed.

As reported by The Times of India, the Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) will start removing the carpets from both domestic and international sides of Terminal 3 of IGI airport. The passengers have for years been complaining about pulling their trolley bags over the carpet.

A passenger named Suyash Gupta on August 18 tweeted about the inconvenience faced in pulling trolley bags on the soft-carpeted floor tagging both the DIAL and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha. He also said that T3 needs a massive makeover. Almost all passengers want these dirty rugs to go. Please, let us not fall prey to a sunken investment fallacy. It is very inconvenient and now, stinkingly smelly also, to walk to the boarding gates.

After this tweet, Jayant Sinha had asked DIAL to Follow up. We have initiated the design and implementation process for the replacement of the carpet with hard flooring in the passenger movement area, along with piers in a phased manner, the Delhi Airport Twitter handle said in its reply yesterday. The replacement of carpets will begin in October this year and the passengers will surely get rid of this annoying soft carpet soon.

Terminal-3 is spread across 5.4 million sq ft. It has been adjudged the Worlds Best Airport by Airports Council Internationals (ACI) in 2017 in the category of above 40 million passengers per annum.
Amid the debate on whether to accept or not financial aid pouring in from foreign governments for relief in flood-ravaged Kerala, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna told The Indian Express that the Gulf nation has not made any official announcement so far on the specific amount.

Albanna told the paper that the assessment of relief needed for relief and rehabilitation is still going on and when asked if the UAE had not announced Rs 700 crore in aid, he said, Yes, that is correct. It is not yet final. It has not been announced.



This was communicated to the Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi (@PMOIndia) by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (@MohamedBinZayed), Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE's Armed Forces.

 CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 21, 2018

Earlier this week, Chief Minister of Kerala had announced that the UAE will provide the flood-stricken state an assistance of Rs 700 crore and that the same has been communicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE's Armed Forces.

PM Modi had even tweeted his gratitude to the Emir of Abu Dhabi for his generosity.

However, the Ministry of External Affairs  while expressing gratitude financial aid from foreign governments  stated that, In line with the existing policy the Government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts.

Ambassador Albanna told the paper that the discussion happened between UAEs Prime Minister, Vice President and the Ruler of Dubai, and it primarily focused on sourcing out funds, medicines and other aid material to Kerala. He said that his country is also coordinating organisations like Red Crescent in UAE with local authorities in Kerala so as to disburse aid immediately. The committee is coordinating with the federal authorities, since we know and understand the financial aid rules in India, Albanna added.

Albanna mentioned that the UAE leads the world in providing humanitarian aid  from Kerala to Sudan, Bangladesh to Somalia. It is part of UAEs responsibility, he said.

Aid Concerns

Meanwhile, the Left government in Kerala is at loggerheads with the BJP government at the Centre on the question of accepting foreign aid for rehabilitation purposes in Kerala. In fact, Union Minister of Tourism KJ Alphons, who hails from the state, said that he has pleaded with his fellow Cabinet ministers to make an exception in the case as there are more than 1.3 million people in relief camps and more than two lakh houses have been damaged.

However, Keralas BJP chief Sreedharan Pillai told that there was no such offer from the BJP and that this is the biggest lie of the century, spread by the CPI (Marxist) and the Left. He said that in the case such an offer was made, then it is the Centres prerogative to take a stand on it.

In the light of this, the EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski announced a contribution of 190,000 euros for relief and channeled it through the Indian Red Cross. The aid will directly benefit 25,000 from among the most affected people in some of the worst hit areas of the state, the EU mission said in a statement.



If memory serves, the 2004 decision was to not accept foreign participation in relief but accept it for long term rehabilitation case by case. No rescue teams needing hand-holding and interpretation but yes to help rebuilding houses, bridges, roads etc. A way forward for Kerala?

 Shivshankar Menon (@ShivshankaMenon) August 23, 2018

While the incumbent government is in keeping with policy of not accepting foreign aid for a disaster which was formed in 2004 by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, former National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said that foreign aid could be used for long-term rehabilitation case by case if not for immediate relief.

Former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Tao also tweeted:



True that as country we can give rather than take assistance,but 80% of Indians in the Gulf are Malayalis. Offer of flood relief assistance from region must be treated with sensitivity. Saying no is simple, but for Kerala-in-crisis, its not so simple. https://t.co/4ojS5gX3BH  Nirupama Menon Rao (@NMenonRao) August 22, 2018



BJP's national in-charge for information and technology, Amit Malviya also reacted to the development.



It is disconcerting to note that a section aligned to the Communist-Islamist nexus in Kerala, celebrates a non existent offer from a foreign country while runs down Indian state and organisations such as Seva Bharati simply because it doesnt suit their ideological narrative... pic.twitter.com/6Z87iG8EXW

 Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 24, 2018

In a tweet, Malviya said, "It is disconcerting to note that a section aligned to the Communist-Islamist nexus in Kerala, celebrates a non existent offer from a foreign country while runs down Indian state and organisations such as Seva Bharati simply because it doesnt suit their ideological narrative..."
Have a long-term outlook | Timing investment is logically impossible because the best entry and exit opportunities are known only in hindsight. No one can predict market movements with certainty. Therefore, it is important to allow your investments to compound over a long term.

To attract investment in the northern state of Uttarakhand, its government today held a road show in the city and expressed confidence that a good number of entrepreneurs from Gujarat would invest in their state.

The roadshow was organised here today in the run up to Uttarakhand's first ever investor summit Destination Uttarakhand:Investors Summit 2018 - to be held on October 7 and 8 at Dehradun and will be inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi.

According to Uttarakhand chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat, the roadshow received a good response from Gujarat.

"We have received good response from Gujarat. Investors have shown their keen interest in starting their business in our state in various sectors, such as food processing, aromatics, dairy, e-vehicles and solar energy," Rawat told reporters ahead of his meeting with prospective investors from Gujarat.

He added that this upcoming mega event in Dehradun is the first investor summit since the state came into existence 18 years back.

"The main objective of today's roadshow was to share the investment opportunities in Uttarakhand and to seek active participation for the Summit. We have received encouraging response from the business community of Gujarat" said Rawat.

The CM added that though manufacturing is the key contributor to the state GDP, his government is keen on developing tourism as well as other service sectors, which according to him, has huge potential.
ahmed_patel_Congress

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday appointed Ahmed Patel, the former political secretary of Sonia Gandhi, as the treasurer of the party. He will replace Motilal Vora, who was appointed the general secretary of the administration.

Lok Sabha elections are less than a year away and major state elections are later this year. The Congress party needed someone experienced and well-networked to take up the important task of raising funds and putting them to good use.

The party has been experiencing a severe cash crunch and hence, Rahul entrusted Patel with this responsibility. About two decades ago, Patel was the treasurer, before becoming Sonia Gandhis political secretary and was said to be an expert at it.

Patel cultivated a set of sources on the inside of the party and the outside while he was an aide to Sonia. He was the link between the party and the government when the UPA was in power between 2004 and 2014. His friendships reportedly exist among lower rank workers as well as corporate giants.

Sources in the party told Scroll that Patel had been helping Vora in raising funds for many years. He was functioning as de facto treasurer but it has been made official, a Congress official said.

Another official laughingly said that if Patel has been made treasurer, "this only means we are broke".

Congress cash crunch

The bad time for the partys accounts started with the run-up to the 2014 elections. When the corporates and other donors realised that Congress would be losing, they quickly switched sides and went to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) instead.

The party has been suffering since. After Lok Sabha, Congress lost elections in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana which only reduced the number of donors for the party. As Congress went out of power in many states, funds coming from the state governments also shrank.

Congress is only in power in Punjab, Mizoram and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Therefore, it is important for the party to raise funds through its influential leaders like Kamal Nath and Niranjan Patnaik.

What is Patel inheriting?

Congress has been practising austerity measures by asking party members to contribute more to the party fund. Three years ago, outgoing treasurer Vora floated these measures but it has done little. Patel is getting a virtually-bankrupt party, and he may not be able to go to corporates for help.

One reason for that could be that the Congress has been trying to build an anti-BJP coalition, but it is still not seen as an alternative to BJP. Therefore, corporates may not be inclined towards donating.

Another glaring reason is that the Congress has been incessantly attacking corporates in the past four years. By calling Prime Minister Narendra Modis government a suit-boot ki sarkar (a government for the corporates), Rahul has essentially put himself in an anti-corporate position.

With these details in the background, Patel will need to do more than just persuade industries to help the Congress with funds.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit back at the ruling BJP for misrepresenting his comments related to the Islamic State terror group, saying it has adopted a "default position" of attacking everything he says.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Gandhi of "belittling and insulting" India in his address in Hamburg on August 22, alleging that the Congress chief tried to justify terrorism and "lied through his teeth" to criticise the Narendra Modi government.

The ruling party demanded that Gandhi apologise for his remarks.

During the interactive segment of his 'India and the World' event at the House of Commons complex in London, Gandhi said that the BJP has adopted a default position of attacking everything he says.

"All I said (in reference to ISIS) was that there are a number of ideas running around and we must make sure we are giving a vision to all those people or somebody else will it is very important that we involve people and carry people with us so that they feel part of nation building.

"Now that is not how the BJP describes what I said".

"The BJP attacks everything I say. It is their default position," he said in response to a question from the audience of the UK-based parliamentarians, local leaders and media.

The Congress president, who is on a two-day visit to the UK organised by the Indian Overseas Congress, tackled a range of subjects during his interaction in the UK Parliament complex.

The central focus of his message was on "conversation and listening" to the needs of the people as well as the diaspora. "The way I see it, India is millions of people's voices and it is important to listen to as many as you can and help structure them.

"Today the farmers in India are screaming, small businesses are screaming: 'please do something about the GST'. It is our duty to see what can be done to help them and not just imposing a vision on them, which is what is happening in India today," he said.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out in India on July 1, 2017. It has replaced more than a dozen central and state taxes or Value Added Tax with an aim to create a seamless unified market for the $2 trillion Indian economy.

Gandhi also reiterated his message about job creation from his interactions in Germany earlier this week, attributing the so-called US-triggered trade wars to an underlying job crisis in the world.

"We are struggling to produce the numbers of jobs required. The western world can't answer how it will give jobs to its blue-collar workers. The Congress party has the vision for it," he said.
rahul gandhi

While his party binds the people of India, the BJP-RSS divides them and spreads hatred, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said and alleged that women have no place in the RSS where they are treated as "second-class citizens".

Addressing the Indian diaspora at a function organised by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin last night, he claimed the mood in the country is very divisive and the government is trying to impose a particular ideology on people while the Congress is fighting this tendency.

Gandhi said the entire opposition is coming together and will not allow the BJP and RSS to destroy institutions of the country, be it the Election Commission, the Supreme Court or others.

"The Congress belongs to all, works for everyone and our work is to spread the thought of unity in diversity. Today, the government in India is working differently," he said.

"The BJP-RSS people are dividing our own people. They are spreading hatred in our own country. Our job is to bring the people together and take the country forward and we have shown how to do it," he said.

Talking about the BJP, he said the opposition is getting united. "There is no doubt. If the opposition gets together, there is no way that the BJP can win the election."

"We are going to undo some of the damage that has been done. We are going to reinvigorate the institutions that have been attacked and damaged. We are going to create a situation where the Supreme Court can do its work. We are going to create a situation where the bureaucracy can do its work.

"We are going to fix the damage that they have done. We are going to calm the situation in the country and we are going to take the country back to the point where everybody was happily working together," he told the gathering.

He said the Congress' thought of "unity in diversity" came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev and is an inspiration from the first Sikh Guru.

The Congress chief also said that though he disagrees with the prime minister, he "will not be abusive and will respect his position, even though the same may not be true" about Prime Minister Modi.

"I might disagree with Mr Modi, I might not agree with anything he says, but I would not be abusive of him. He is the prime minister of the country and I will respect that position. However, that cannot be said about him, because the type of language he uses about me and about many other people is very offensive we will engage with people, but we will also fight them politically," he said.

Noting that there is a lot of difference between the philosophy of the BJP/RSS and the Congress, Rahul Gandhi said women are not allowed to go in RSS and cannot even enter their organisation.

"They have no place in their organisation. Women are treated as second-class citizens there," he said, adding that while they talk about women one does not see women in their organisation while there is no such discrimination in the Congress.

Gandhi said there is need to change the mindset towards women in India and it is everyone's responsibility.

"In India, the treatment towards women on the street and in home, there are a lot of shortcomings. It cannot be rectified merely in a political way, it can be done by changing the mindset and that is everyone's responsibility," he said.

The Congress chief said he wanted the women reservation bill to be passed in Parliament and wants to see women in leadership role within the party.

Taking on the BJP-led NDA government, Gandhi alleged while long speeches were being given and hatred was being generated, farmers continued to commit suicide and youngsters were unable to see a future for themselves.

"The mood in the country is very divisive. There is a government which is trying to impose a particular ideology in the country and we are fighting that," he said. "We want India to go forward and you will never hear of any Indian spreading hatred or anger anywhere. This is our culture, this is your culture," he said.

Gandhi said the country's competition was with China and jobs would either go there or come to India.

Gandhi also noted that his thoughts emanated from those of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, and thanked the members of the Indian community living in Germany, many of whom are from Punjab, for supporting the Congress and helping the party form government in the state.

The Congress chief also mentioned that a German MP had told him that Europe's strength was unity in diversity.

"I thought, you are saying this today, we have been speaking of unity in diversity from the times of Guru Nanak. Our strength is listening to everyone, even the weakest, the poorest person. Every Indian religion talks about helping the last man in the line," he said.

Gandhi also cited the "langar" concept in Sikhism, which follows the philosophy that no one should go hungry, no matter how weak or poor. "The work Guru Nanak used to do, we work on the same philosophy," he said.

He also spoke of alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, accusing the prime minister of favouring a "businessman friend" who had no experience in manufacturing aircraft.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chances of getting re-elected in the 2019 elections have slipped from 99 percent in 2017 to 50 percent, says economic analyst Ruchir Sharma, noting that a fragmented opposition is showing signs of coming together.

The BJP won with 31 percent vote share in 2014 because the opposition was fragmented, seat share was disproportionate and its vote was concentrated, said the New York based columnist and economist who is working on his new book Democracy on Road.

The 2019 elections are going to be a complete toss up. If I was a betting person, this time last year I would say chances of Modi getting re-elected were 99 to 1, which basically means it was a done deal yes, it appeared that way after the UP election wave.

However, the odds have shifted dramatically. Now it is a 50:50 election and a lot is going to come down to alliances again. The opposition, from being totally fragmented, is now actually showing signs of coming together that's India for you, nobody likes if it becomes one-sided, Sharma said in an exclusive interview.

The economist has a keen eye on world politics, especially India. His new book, which is expected to hit the stands in February ahead of the 2019 elections, claims to provide an insightful account of how Indian democracy works, using elections as a lens.

Sharma, who has covered two dozen elections in India since 1990s, recalls the 2004 elections and argues that the gap in popularity between then prime minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the opposition is similar to the situation between Modi and the present opposition today.

You (BJP) won with 31 percent vote share because the opposition was fragmented, seat share was disproportionate and the BJP's vote was concentrated.

And even against Vajpayee, when the opposition began to come together, the same question was asked, who will become the PM, if not Vajpayee'  and you had an accidental PM, said Sharma who earlier wrote the New York Times bestseller The Rise and Fall of Nations".

In 2004, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) conceded defeat and the Congress returned to power with Manmohan Singh being appointed prime minister.

Describing Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, as a microcosm of India, Sharma said if there is an alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party in the state, they will sweep the elections. Otherwise, it will be the BJP, as simple as that.

According to Sharma, the vote in Uttar Pradesh is still decided on the basis of caste.

It is just about how the caste and arithmetic are going to work depending on the alliance in that way, nothing has changed there in past 30 years. Because the question Who are you going to vote' in UP is still along caste lines, if you are an upper caste you will vote BJP, Dalit then Mayawati everybody there laughed when I asked them about development being an issue, he said.

Of 26 election trips that he has taken across the country, six or seven have been in Uttar Pradesh, he said. Bijnor, a small town in the state, where he spent some of his childhood will make the first and concluding chapter of "Democracy on Road".

This is how I try to go the whole circle in the book, Sharma said, adding that he plans to do one more election trip for the book during the upcoming state election in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

To be published by Penguin Random House India, the book is touted to be a must read before the 2019 elections.
Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today claimed there was no lack of clarity on UAE aid for the flood-ravaged state and expressed hope the Centre would accept the "offer" of Rs 700 crore.

Earlier today, officials at the UAE embassy in New Delhi said the UAE had not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief.

Vijayan said NRI businessman M A Yusfuf Ali had informed him about the aid.

"When I asked him whether it could be made public, he said there is no problem in it," the chief minister told reporters after a meeting to review the post-flood situation and relief operations.

The UAE aid was communicated to Ali when he had met the crown prince to convey Bakrid greetings, Vijayan said.

Vijayan said the issue whether or not to accept the aid was a matter to be decided by the Centre.

"I hope that this will be accepted," Vijayan said replying to a question on the row.

There was no lack of clarity on the UAE aid to Kerala, he added.

The chief minister said he had nothing more to add to what he had stated on August 21 about the aid and added it was a matter discussed by Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Syed Al Nahian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both had informed the world about the aid issue, the chief minister said.

The issue of UAE aid had triggered a row, with the Centre deciding not to accept the foreign aid for relief work, even as the ruling CPI-M led LDF and the Congress in Kerala came out against the government's move.

Officials in UAE embassy in New Delhi said no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala was finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the state.

UAE ambassador Ahmed Albannam, without mentioning financial aid, said his government only set up a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to people affected by flash floods in Kerala.

The gulf nation may come out with its plan in the next few days to extend assistance to flood victims, an official said.

Vijayan earlier this week said the UAE has decided to extend a financial assistance of Rs 700 crore to Kerala, considering the Gulf nation's special relationship with Kerala.
Kamlendra Kanwar

After the bitter experience of how the blasphemy law in Pakistan has been misused to target the minorities who it professedly sought to protect, the decision of the Amarinder Singh government in Punjab to expand the scope of Indias desecration law has understandably raised eyebrows.

What the amendment has sought to do is to add Section 295AA to the Indian Penal Code to make injury, damage or sacrilege to Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people a crime punishable with life imprisonment.

Other countries which have blasphemy punishable under law are Australia, Canada and China, among others. Britain had such a law repealed in 2008.

In Punjab, an earlier legislation formulated by the erstwhile Parkash Singh Badal government, which was rejected by the Centre, had sought to confine the punishment to only the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, which the Narendra Modi government found unacceptable in a secular country.

Indeed, the Centre insisted that it must cover sacrilege under all religions. Now, meeting the Centres objections, the Amarinder government has covered the religious texts of the Hindus, Muslims and Christians too, besides Sikhs. But among Hindus, while the Bhagavad Gita has been covered, the Ramayana has not.

What of other religions in India and the apprehension that a religious group or individual could be hounded under the pretext of punishing for desecration? In an increasingly polarised society like India, this could well happen, if not now, then in the foreseeable future.

The apprehension among many is that Punjabs blasphemy law could be invoked to silence dissent by drilling the fear of law in the minds of the dissenters.

We have the extreme and ugly example of Pakistan where a prominent former journalist and member of its parliament, Sherry Rehman, who had moved a private member's bill to amend the blasphemy law, seeking introduction of provisions to prevent its misuse and reduced sentencing, faced stiff opposition leading to her bill being withdrawn.

Rehman, an inveterate crusader for human rights, had a case slapped against her for committing blasphemy by criticising blasphemy laws.

In a horrifying spectacle, people on the streets were baying for her blood for being critical of a law that had seen thousands in Pakistan either thrown into jails or executed for 'hurting religious sentiments'.

In January, 2011, Pakistan's Punjab province governor, Salmaan Taseer, was shot dead while he was getting into his car in an Islamabad market. Taseer was a target of attack over his defence of a Christian woman who was condemned to death under Pakistans blasphemy laws. A month later, religious minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who spoke out against the law, was shot dead in Islamabad. This was ostensibly to deter critics of the law.

Ironically, vested interests used the law to protect religion itself to kill those who spoke out against it.

While Pakistan is a theocratic state where the minorities have been poorly treated all along, there can be no guarantee that some day in Indias Punjab too, the blasphemy law would not be misused grievously.

There was the recent case in Haryana where comedian Kiku Sharda was arrested for mimicking Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is currently in jail for having raped women who came to him for spiritual guidance. The charge against Sharda was that he had hurt sentiments of Gurmeet's followers.

Sharda was booked under section 295A of the IPC (outraging religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief). Though this was a rare case, it is a pointer to how laws like the blasphemy law can be misused by vested interests.

Instead of rushing into a law or a provision that is intended to help the minorities but proves counter-productive, it would be wise to build in due safeguards against its misuse.

The motivation should be not to score brownie points for having brought a law to protect the minorities, but to come up with a fool-proof law that genuinely protects minority rights.

It is also imperative that the scope of the new law be extended to all religions in India and not confined to the four major ones.

(Kamlendra Kanwar is a senior journalist and political commentator. Views expressed are personal)
Rahul Gandhi Congress president

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today met the senior leadership of the UK's Opposition Labour Party and discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, and highlighted the difficulties faced by Indian professionals and students following the change in Britain's visa policy.

Gandhi and the Labour leadership, including Shadow Cabinet members, discussed issues of unemployment, growing protectionism, trade wars and threat to rule-based international order.

They expressed concern over threats of terrorism and forces of violence to stability and peace.

Both the sides also acknowledged the value of the UK-India economic partnership including growing investments and technology cooperation.

The Congress and the Labour leadership agreed to reinvigorate party-to-party exchanges and create an institutional mechanism for a regular exchange between the leadership of the two parties, the Congress said in a statement.

Gandhi was accompanied by Congress Working Committee member and chairman of the foreign affairs department Anand Sharma, besides chairman of Overseas Indian Congress Sam Pitroda and Milind Deora.

The Labour Party was represented by Barry Gardiner MP and shadow secretary for International Trade and Climate Change, Valerie Vaz, MP and shadow leader of the House of Commons, Sir Keir Starmer, MP and shadow Brexit secretary, Gareth Thomas, MP and shadow minister of Foreign Commonwealth Office, Preet Gill, shadow minister for International Development, Rajesh Agarwal, deputy Mayor of London among others.

Gandhi specifically referred to the fallout of the Brexit, increasing inequality and youth unemployment. Britain will leave the 28-member European Union in March 2019, following a historic referendum held on June 23, 2016.

He referred to the concerns over the visa for Indian professionals and students following the change in the UK visa policy and the fall in the number of Indian students in the UK after the closure of Old Tier- 1 post study work route, the statement said.

Gandhi said India has made huge intellectual investments in the UK and the contribution of Indian doctors and nurses to the country's National Health Scheme is immense.

"Nothing should be done to hinder the movement of professional," the Congress president was quoted as saying.
Representative image

The Tamil Nadu government today rejected Kerala's contention that sudden water released by Tamil Nadu from the Mullaperiyar dam was one of the reasons for the deluge in the neighbouring state.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said Kerala suffered the deluge due to the discharge of excess water from 80 reservoirs spurred by heavy rains in that state.

The Kerala government had yesterday filed an affidavit in the Supreme court, saying the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the unprecedented flooding in the state.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, however, told reporters today, "It was not just one part of Kerala that was affected due to the floods. It happened because of the discharge of excess water from 80 dams. The (Kerala) government is deliberately giving false information so as to not store water at 152 ft." The dam is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu.

Further, water release was not sudden but done only after periodic alerts issued at various levels, he said. "Therefore, I wish to say that filling up of dams in Kerala due to the heavy rains and (discharge) of their excess water resulted in floods." The dam's safety has been a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In a May 2014 verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court had held that the Mullaperiyar dam was safe, and allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level up to 142 feet from 136 ft and and ultimately to 152 feet after the completion of strengthening measures on the reservoir.

The Kerala government affidavit also said that out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh (or one-sixth of the population of Kerala) had been directly affected by the floods.

Kerala had said that in the wake of prior alerts by its engineers, its Water Resources Secretary had written to her counterpart in the Tamil Nadu government and the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, requesting controlled release of water without waiting for the water in the reservoir to reach full level.

"Accordingly, the Tamil Nadu government was requested to gradually release water at least by 139 feet. But no positive assurance in this regard was received from Tamil Nadu even after repeated requests.

"But the sudden release from the Mullaperiyar dam, third largest reservoir in the Periyar Basin, forced us to release more water from Idukki reservoir, downstream of Mullaperiyar, which is one of the causes of this deluge," the affidavit had said.

Palaniswami, however, today said the water released from the dam was not sudden as alleged by Kerala and that periodic alerts were issued at 139 ft, 141 ft and 142 ft.

The Kerala government had also sought constitution of a committee to manage the day to day operations of the Mullaperiyar Dam, located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

Today, Palaniswami said that a central team had reviewed the dam a month before the floods in Kerala, and had opined that it was "safe". "They had said that water could be stored at 142 ft the flooding had happened 20 days after that," he said.

The Chief Minister further said torrential downpour in various parts of Kerala had contributed to the deluge, besides the discharge of excess water from the dams in that state.

Water was released only a week after the flooding had happened in Kerala, he added. There was 'small levels' of discharge in the range of 11,000-12,000 tmcft and that water was not released "at one go," Palaniswami added.
Hardik Patel

On the eve of the third anniversary of the quota agitation in Gujarat, Patidar leader Hardik Patel today said that he would proceed on an indefinite hunger strike from August 25 even if authorities deny him permission for it or the court cancels his bail.

Clashes had broken out during the quota protests led by Patel in August 25, 2015, leading to the death of 14 people and large-scale destruction of public property.

Gandhinagar Collector S K Langa today denied Patel permission to hold the fast at Satyagrah Chhavni area.

Meanwhile, the city sessions court is expected to announce its verdict on Monday on a government plea seeking cancellation of Patel's anticipatory bail in a rioting case.

Speaking to reporters today in the wake of these two developments, Patel said that he would proceed with the fast in jail, in the event of the court cancelling his bail, or at home if government authorities deny him a venue for the protest.

"If the court cancels my bail than I am ready to go to jail. I will sit on hunger strike in jail. I am not afraid of the BJP government or of going behind bars. I am not going to drop my plans out of any intimidation" Patel told reporters here.

Hitting out at the state government, he said, "I am not being allotted a venue (for the fast) because the government is afraid of me. I will sit on hunger strike at my house if need be. However, attempts are being made to stop me from sitting on fast at my house."

Patel claimed that several national leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, may come to Gujarat to support him.

"This hunger strike is not a one-day affair. Thousands across the state would sit on fast and it will continue for days. I have also invited people to come to my house to join me in the fast. This is not about me. It is about numerous people" the Patidar leader said.

Earlier this month, Hardik had announced that he would sit on an indefinite hunger strike from August 25 at a ground in Nikol area here demanding reservations for Patidars and loan waivers for farmers.

After being denied permission for the Nikol venue since it was now a parking lot, Patel approached the Gandhinagar collector seeking Satyagrah Chhavni as an alternate spot for the fast. This, too, was rejected today by the Gandhinagar collector.

"Based on the opinion of the police on law and order and past experiences, we have decided not to grant permission," Collector Langa told reporters today.

Meanwhile, a sessions court here today reserved its order on the state government's plea to cancel Patel's anticipatory bail in a rioting case lodged against him in March 2017 for allegedly creating ruckus outside Vastral BJP corporator Paresh Patel's residence.

While he had obtained anticipatory bail in this case in April last year, the state government had approached the city sessions court seeking its cancellation.

In its plea, the state government had claimed that Patel had violated a bail condition by entering Ramol area. The court is expected to give its verdict on the government's plea on Monday.
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Tyre companies such as Apollo, MRF, Ceat and JK Tyres could face pressure on margins due to reduced supply of natural rubber from Kerala that has been severely impacted by floods.

Kerala accounts for 85-90 percent of domestic natural rubber supply, in turn making up for 65 percent of the total rubber consumption in the country. Tyre companies have to depend on imports to meet their natural rubber requirements.

Speaking to Moneycontrol Rajiv Budhraja, Director General, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association said, Already the gap between natural rubber production and its demand is widening. In the first quarter (Apr-Jun) of current fiscal, more than 40 percent of the demand had to be met from imports in view of the domestic deficit."

Domestic natural rubber production fell 12 percent in Q1FY19 compared with a 14 percent rise in consumption, thus imports saw a rise of 25 percent. Local natural rubber production has been falling since January 2018 due to weak prices.

From an average of Rs 136/kilogram (kg) last calendar year prices of natural rubber were down to Rs 125/kg in the January-July period, according to the Rubber Board. However, with a limited supply from domestic companies prices are expected to spiral upwards.

With a depreciating rupee, imports are likely to be more expensive and thus will hurt margins of tyre companies amid a rise in rubber procurement costs," said a statement from India Ratings and Research.

The agency further expects margins of the aggregate tyre industry could fall by 1.5-2 percent between Q2-Q3 of FY19, due to a higher cost of production as rubber is a major raw material in tyre production, forming around 50 percent of the total raw material costs.

In the month of July because of continuous rain there was very limited tapping and in August there has been virtually no production of natural rubber. Arrivals in the market are practically nil or negligible. The industry expects a gap of over half a million tonnes during the ongoing fiscal," added Budhraja.

Tyre companies said monsoon is a low supply period for natural rubber and they have to depend on imports to fill requirements. ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Indonesia are the biggest suppliers of natural rubber.

Imported rubber attracts 25 percent duty which ATMA is lobbying with commerce ministry to bring down to nil. Market watchers say the share of import of natural rubber is expected to hit 70 percent in the coming months. This will likely increase global prices leading to a hike in tyre prices in India.

Apollo Tyres, countrys second-biggest tyre maker, for instance, had stocked on imported natural rubber ahead of the monsoon season to minimise the impact of the low output from India.
Come November and your WhatsApp backup will not be counted against your Google Drive storage quota. The move comes as a result of a new agreement between Facebook owned WhatsApp and Google.

The new policy announcement was made by Google when it sent emails to its users asking them to manually backup their data so as to avoid any loss. It also stated that backups older than a year will be automatically deleted from their servers.

Due to a new agreement between WhatsApp and Google, WhatsApp backups will no longer count against Google Drive storage quota, Google said in its statement. However, any WhatsApp backups that have not been updated in more than a year will automatically be removed from storage, it added.

The statement left users confused about what will happen to their existing backups, especially after Google said backups will be deleted. Long story short, not much has changed. Your data will not be deleted, provided you back it up manually before November 12 if you are doing it for the first time. Meanwhile, users who just want to refresh their existing backup should do it before October 30.

So, whats new? And how would this affect an existing user?

Previously, WhatsApp backups used to take up storage space on Google Drive. From November 12, users will still be backing up their data on Google Drives, however this time it will not take up any space. This means good news as users will have unlimited backup size along with freeing up valuable space on Google Drive.

How to manually backup WhatsApp data?

Open WhatsApp. Tap on the three dots in the top-right hand side.

Tap on Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.

Once you are on the page ensure that you have logged in with your Google account by tapping on Account tab.

Finally, tap on the Backup button to backup manually.

It is advisable to back up the device while one is connected to a Wi-Fi, as the backup size could be large and may result in users exhausting their data limit.

WhatsApp also provides an option where one can automatically back up to Google Drive at regular intervals such as Daily, Weekly or Monthly. Users can also opt to set it to Never backup or Back up manually only.
State of Confusion, which opened this week, raised nearly $5,000 to support the work of the Chattanooga Community Kitchen through their pre-opening celebrations. The new restaurant offers made-from-scratch, authentic fusion of Latin American, New Orleans and low-country food, as well as ceviche and wood-fire grilled meats and vegetables and is located at the former Estate of Confusion on East Main Street.

Allen Corey, CEO of Square One Holdings, who owns and operates the new restaurant, supports the Community Kitchen and the local community. Square One also held a similar benefit for the Community Kitchen when they opened Stir a few years ago.

The donations received from the opening will directly benefit the Community Kitchen in their mission to meet the most basic needs of hungry, homeless and vulnerable people in Chattanooga while also offering them a clear path to self-sufficiency, said officials.
The Asian rout | The continents 128 billionaires lost $144 billion in 2018. The top three losers were from China, with Wanda Groups Wang Jianlin losing $11.1 billion this year. Close to 40 percent of the Asians under the index, lost their billionaire status as of December 7. (Image: Reuters)

China wants to build houses and roads in Sri Lanka's north, much of which is in a state of disrepair nearly a decade after the end of civil war, Chinese and Sri Lankan officials said, in a bid to expand it influence beyond the island's south.

China's latest push in the Indian Ocean island nation comes despite criticism that a big Chinese port project and related infrastructure in the south are dragging the country of 21 million people deep into debt.

Luo Chong, chief of the political section at China's embassy in Colombo, said China wanted to help with reconstruction in Sri Lanka's north and east, the centre of a 26-year war between the government and ethnic minority Tamil separatists that ended in 2009.

"Since the situation is different now, we are willing to have more projects in remote areas in the north and east with the support of the Sri Lankan government and from the Tamil communities," he told Reuters.

In April, state-run China Railway Beijing Engineering Group Co Ltd won a more than $300 million project to build 40,000 houses in the northern district of Jaffna. China's Exim bank was to provide the financing.

But the project has been halted after residents demanded brick houses instead of the concrete structures planned by the Chinese firm, saying they preferred their traditional dwellings.

That has given an opportunity for China's old rival India to step in. M.A. Sumanthiran, a legislator from the regional Tamil National Alliance, said authorities had opened negotiations with India for the housing project.

India has already built 44,000 houses in the north in the first phase of reconstruction through a grant to Sri Lanka and has planned to rebuild Palaly airport and Kankesanthurai harbour, both of which were heavily damaged in the war which ended with the defeat of the guerrillas.

Two senior ministers in the Sri Lankan cabinet told Reuters that China had offered to build houses, roads, and water storage facilities at a cost lower than offered by its competitors.

"They are willing to take up even rural infrastructure projects like road networks and water projects and expressed their willingness to complete them faster," said one of the ministers who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of engagement with China.

India has longstanding ties with Sri Lanka, located just off the tip of southern India, bound by cultural and ethnic links with Sri Lanka's Tamils, many of whom live in the island's north and east.

But in recent years China has swept in, building ports, power plants and highways in the island that sits near busy international shipping lanes and is seen as part of China's String of Pearls strategy of building a network of friendly ports across Asia.
The Asian rout | The continents 128 billionaires lost $144 billion in 2018. The top three losers were from China, with Wanda Groups Wang Jianlin losing $11.1 billion this year. Close to 40 percent of the Asians under the index, lost their billionaire status as of December 7. (Image: Reuters)

China's central bank has resumed use of a counter-cyclical factor in the yuan midpoint-fixing mechanism, three sources told Reuters on Friday.

The move is a reversal of a step taken in January to loosen control over the yuan exchange rate, when the People's Bank of China effectively reduced the influence of the "counter-cyclical factor".

China introduced the "counter-cyclical factor" in 2017 in what regulators said was an effort to better reflect supply and demand, lessen possible "herd effects" in the market and help guide the market to focus more on macroeconomic fundamentals.

The central bank did not immediately reply to a faxed request for comment after business hours on Friday.
Answer: Donald Trump.

The Trump administration's "inconsistent" immigration policies, including on the H1-B visa for professionals, could "disrupt" operations of American firms and inflict "substantial harm" on their competitiveness, CEOs from top US companies have warned.

In a letter to US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, members of the Business Roundtable, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, President and CEO of Mastercard Ajay Banga and Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems Chuck Robbins said that confusion around US immigration policy "creates anxiety for employees who follow the law."

The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of America's leading companies, told Nielsen yesterday that "inconsistent government action and uncertainty undermines economic growth and American competitiveness."

Due to a shortage of green cards for workers, many employees find themselves stuck in an immigration process lasting more than a decade, they said.

To avoid unnecessary costs and complications for American businesses, the US government should not change the rules in the middle of the process, the CEOs said, pointing out to the several policy memoranda over the past year by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued that has resulted in "arbitrary and inconsistent adjudications".

"Companies now do not know whether a work visa petition that was approved last month will be approved when the company submits the identical application to extend the employee's status," they said.

In particular, the CEOs said they are worried about changes to the review process for H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, expected changes to the rules for spouses of H-1B employees and planned changes to certain deportation rules.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Employees who qualify for H-1B jobs often hold degrees in science, tech, engineering or math, and are highly sought after by employers, the CEOs said.

The Roundtable members said that a confusing immigration system in the US which threatens to split their families apart, could encourage them to seek employment in a different country. That would put the American economy at a disadvantage.

They also noted that in many cases, the US Labor Department has determined that "no qualified US workers are available to do that person's job." President Donald Trump has said that some IT companies were abusing the US work visas to deny jobs to American workers.

"As the federal government undertakes its legitimate review of immigration rules, it must avoid making changes that disrupt the lives of thousands of law-abiding and skilled employees, and that inflict substantial harm on US competitiveness," the CEOs noted.

The Business Roundtable will continue to work with Congress to reduce the Green Card backlog, they said.

In the interim, inconsistent immigration policies are unfair and discourage talented and highly skilled individuals from pursuing career opportunities in the United States, they said.

The reality is that few will move their family and settle in a new country if, at any time and without notice, the government can force their immediate departureoften without explanation.

"At a time when the number of job vacancies are reaching historic highs due to labour shortages, now is not the time restrict access to talent," the CEOs said.

The group has called for increasing the number of H-1B visas and letting people with advanced STEM degrees from American universities qualify for a green card immediately.

Meanwhile, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement the "administration has been relentlessly pursuing necessary immigration reforms that move towards a merit-based system.
Mexican farmers are suing automaker Volkswagen to the tune of USD 3.7 million for allegedly changing the weather at its factory in Puebla, Mexico.

According to a report by Jalopnik, the factory uses massive cannons to destroy hail in the atmosphere before it can form and rain down on the factory and its new cars.

These hail cannons fire powerful blasts of compressed gas into the sky in order to break apart the hail.

The regions farmers are claiming that these cannons are influencing the weather and has led to a drought in the area, thus damaging several crops.

But Volkswagen is not the only company in Puebla to adopt this technology; some farmers themselves use these cannons to stop hail from trampling their crops.

The manufacturer of the cannons states that a drought is unlikely as the effective radius of a cannon is only about 600 square feet.

However, Volkswagen issued a statement saying that it would turn off the cannons automatic mode, which is currently in operation, and instead install anti-hail nets over the factorys storage yards.

Both the farmers and Volkswagen are collaborating to reach a common consensus with the local government serving as an intermediary.
Saudi Arabia, the second largest producer of crude oil to world, faced an attack on its oil infrastructure facilities on September 14, which caused a sharp increase in fuel prices. Do you know where petrol prices were the highest? Here's a list of the countries where petrol is the cheapest and most expensive. (Note: All price comparisons are on rupee terms only. Global rates as of September, 16 2019 - Image: Reuters)

Oil markets were steady on Friday as the unresolved trade dispute between Washington and Beijing muted activity.

Brent crude oil futures were at $74.50 per barrel at 0105 GMT, up 7 cents from their last close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $67.93 per barrel, up 10 cents. Both oil benchmarks saw low liquidity during early trading on Friday.

US and Chinese officials ended two days of talks on Thursday with no major breakthrough as the trade war between the world's two biggest economies escalated with activation of another round of duelling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country's goods.

"Investors are likely to feel nervous as the two countries vow to step up the pressure," ANZ bank said on Friday.

While the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing darkens the economic outlook, the supply versus demand outlook for oil markets remains relatively tight especially because of the looming US sanctions against Iran, which will target oil exports.

Iran is the third-biggest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the nation exports around 2 million barrels per day of crude, equivalent to around 2 percent of global consumption.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on August 23 spoke to Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan and sought "decisive action" against all terrorists operating in the country.

The US has long been frustrated with Pakistan's overt and covert support to the Afghan Taliban and other terror groups, forcing the Trump administration to warn Islamabad and slash military aid to the country.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that Pompeo, in his talks with Khan, also discussed Pakistan's vital role in promoting the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

"Secretary Michael R Pompeo spoke today with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and wished him success. Secretary Pompeo expressed his willingness to work with the new government towards a productive bilateral relationship," she said in the statement.

Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking "decisive action" against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process, she said.

Meanwhile in Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by the US State Department on today's phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo".

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected," Faisal said on Twitter.

The Pakistani media this week reported that Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to hold talks with newly-elected Prime Minister Khan.

Pompeo, who is expected in Islamabad on September 5, would be the first foreign dignitary to meet Khan, Dawn reported, quoting the diplomatic and official sources.

The relations between Pakistan and the US nose-dived after President Donald Trump in January accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.

The US Congress also passed a bill to slash Pakistan's defence aid to USD 150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than USD one billion per year.
Moneycontrol News

Pictures of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, posted on Twitter from his two-day trip to Germany, have become a talking point in social media. Pictures of him standing against the backdrop of a graffiti wall, trying to be 'candid', have created room for amusing comments and views, coming in from Twitter users. Even the BJP did not want to miss out on the chance and retweeted the pictures. The pictures have gone viral to the point that they are being used as memes for quirky comments on Twitter.



CP @RahulGandhi walks through the 'Archive of German Members of Parliament', the 'archive' has boxes labeled with every MP elected to the Bundestag from 1919 & 1999. The 'archive boxes' resemble brick walls, which are a metaphor for the foundation of the parliamentary structure. pic.twitter.com/o6Fi2ak5Sx  Congress (@INCIndia) August 23, 2018





Even we couldn't resist retweeting this ;) https://t.co/M0y9Uvun7M

 BJP (@BJP4India) August 23, 2018

Rahul, as part of his partys NRI outreach programme ahead of the 2019 elections, was in Germany to meet business leaders and delegations from non-profit organisations. His speech at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg was subjected to some criticism by the BJP. However, the photos from his visit have gone viral, generating curiosity and amusement as to what was the Congress party trying to convey with the photos.

The graffiti wall is the background is the icon wall from World War II and the Archive of German Members of Parliament. The photos carry a caption - The many facets of Rahul Gandhi. #Bundestag, showing his different facial expressions.

BJPs official account manager retweeted the photos, captioning it,"Even we couldnt resist retweeting this".
Kim Hyun-ji voted for Moon Jae-in to be South Korea's president last year thinking things would improve with his promises to create jobs and address inequality. She now says that was a mistake.

"Since Moon came in, it has become so much more expensive to hire part-timers," said the 32 year-old owner of a clothing store in Itaewon, Seoul's prime party district.

"I've been single-handedly running the shop after my husband found another job last year, and it's been really rough. But knowing that wages would only go up, I'm not bothering to look for anyone," Kim said.

Just two months ago, Moon's popularity was sky-high as the public lauded the left-leaning former human rights lawyer's diplomatic progress with North Korea.

But his approval ratings since then have plunged by nearly 30 percentage points to the lowest since his election in May 2017. Many blame his controversial plans to sharply raise minimum wages and cut working hours for contributing to the worst job market since the 2008-2010 financial crisis.

With job losses hitting his main support base particularly hard, Moon may have little choice to roll back, or at least soft-pedal, some of his ambitious "income-led growth" policies that centered on higher minimum wages, officials, economists and political analysts say.

Failure to address the public uproar over jobs could also cost Moon political capital to pursue his other signature initiative - closer ties with North Korea - because a poorer public will be less supportive of using taxpayer money to fund cooperation with Pyongyang.

"The main determination that the public make about Moon is now less about North Korea, but more about whether he can create jobs and fatten people's pay," said Lee Sang-jae, an economist at Eugene Investment & Securities.

"Moon could first draft another extra budget, slow down on taking wage floor higher, and turn less hawkish about regulating conglomerates," Lee said.

In a major setback for the self-styled "Jobs President," South Korea's July jobs report showed Asia's fourth largest economy added a mere 5,000 jobs from a year earlier, logging the worst performance since January 2010 when the economy was still reeling from the global financial crisis.

Moon's approval rating, which peaked at 83 percent in June after his April summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, now stands at 56 percent, according to an opinion survey by polling firm Gallup Korea published on Friday.

In a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Moon told his economic team to "stake their positions on solving the job issue, saying: "We need to fear losing the people's trust more than anything else."

At an urgently scheduled ruling party meeting to discuss the job situation on Sunday, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said the government awill consider improving or revising them if needed after reviewing the effects of the economic policies, in coordination with the ruling party.a

One finance ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "Perhaps the right thing to do is stick with the plan, but take it slower, rather than trying to see the results within his term."

The government raised minimum wages to 7,530 won ($6.73) an hour this year, the biggest hike in nearly two decades, and announced a further 10.9 percent increase to 8,350 won ($7.46) for 2019.

Arguing higher paychecks would boost consumption, Moon campaigned for president pledging to raise minimum hourly wages to 10,000 won by 2020.

Last month, he conceded that was unlikely to happen now, amid signs companies and self-employed businesses like Kim's have slowed down hiring. What's more, the average disposable household income declined for a seventh straight quarter in annual terms in the April-June period.

Hardest hit are Moons core supporters led by workers aged in their 30s and 40s and lower-income households. Those in their 40s, where a whopping 87 percent identified themselves as Moon supporters in May, lost 147,000 jobs in July from a year ago, the biggest decline since 1998.

Some 33 percent of respondents to the Gallup Korea poll said Moon was doing a bad job, the highest-ever disapproval rating during his presidency.

Two-thirds of the disapprovers cited Moon's handling of the economy, including his 'inability to improve livelihood of ordinary citizens,' and 'minimum wage increases,' the poll showed.

I used to be a frenzied supporter of Moon since day one, but after seeing about five of the cleaning ladies got fired in my company due to his careless decision to hike minimum wages, my view has changed," said 29-year-old Jeong Myung-jin, who works at a marketing firm in Seoul.

"He was elected after gaining huge support from the working class, but he is doing the polar opposite now."

The dismal jobs data comes at a time of growing doubts about North Korea's intentions on denuclearisation.

Washington and Pyongyang agreed to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula at their leaders' June summit in Singapore, but little progress has been made since.

"It would be critical for Moon to solve the jobs situation, in order not to lose people's blessing for his North Korea policy," said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

"Unlike in the past, young generations have little patience about their money being spent to aid cooperation with North Korea."
De Mistura: Brez prekinitve ognja v Alepu bodo posledice ... Primorske novice Staffan De Mistura Foto: Wikipedia

UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura has invited Iran, Russia and Turkey to talks on Syria's Constitutional Committee, to be held in Geneva on Septemberr 11-12, a UN spokeswoman said on Friday.

The talks on forming a committee to draw up a new constitution for Syria are expected to be followed by parallel UN talks involving countries including the United States, but she had no date for those.
US_China_Trade_Trade war_Tariff

The United States and China concluded two days of discussions on trade on Thursday and discussed "how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship, including by addressing structural issues in China," the White House said.

We appreciated the Chinese delegation coming to the United States to participate in these meetings.

The US delegation will be briefing their principals on the discussions, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement.
Many a times, most senior citizens (70 years and above) and persons with disabilities find it difficult to visit ATMs or bank branches for their banking requirements. Banks also discourage and turn away such people instead of empathising with their difficulties or helping them avail of services. Consequently, based on representations and complaints, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked banks to provided doorstep banking service to senior citizens and differently abled persons. However, many in the target groups, who need such help, are not aware of this direction. Since senior citizens were often harassed for submission of a life certificate and were asked to visit specific branches, the RBI has also directed banks to accept them at all branches. This is another facility that is not known to the lay person.

In a circular issued on 9 November 2017 , the Reserve Bank had said, "...in view of the difficulties faced by senior citizens of more than 70 years of age and differently abled or infirm persons (having medically certified chronic illness or disability) including those who are visually impaired, banks are advised to make concerted effort to provide basic banking facilities, such as pick up of cash and instruments against receipt, delivery of cash against withdrawal from account, delivery of demand drafts, submission of know your customer (KYC) documents and life certificate at the premises and residence of such customers.

RBI Governor Dr Urjit Patel, in a statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies issued in October 2017, had explicitly mentioned about providing banking facilities to senior citizens and differently abled persons. "It has been reported that banks are discouraging or turning away senior citizens and differently abled persons from availing banking facilities in branches. Notwithstanding the need to push digital transactions and use of ATMs, it is imperative to be sensitive to the requirements of senior citizens and differently abled persons. It has been decided to instruct banks to put in place explicit mechanisms for meeting the needs of such persons so that they do not feel marginalised. Ombudsmen will also be advised to pay heed to complaints in this context," the central bank had said.

The circular issued by RBI in November 2017, had asked banks to implement its instruction by 31 December 2017 and also give due publicity of these extended facilities to senior citizens and differently able persons in their branches and on website.

(a) Dedicated Counters/Preference to Senior Citizens, Differently abled persons

RBI had asked banks to provide a clearly identifiable dedicated counter or a counter, which provides priority to senior citizens and people who are differently abled including visually impaired persons.

(b) Ease of submitting Life Certificate

As per extant guidelines issued by Department of Government and Bank Accounts, in addition to the facility of Digital Life Certificate under Jeevan Praman Scheme, RBI says pensioners can submit physical life certificate form at any branch of their pension paying bank.

Reserve Bank said it is observed that often the life certificate is not updated promptly by the receiving branch in the core banking solution (CBS) system of the Bank, resulting in avoidable hardship to the pensioners. "It is, therefore, advised that banks shall ensure that when a life certificate is submitted in any branch, including a non-home branch, of the pension paying bank, the same is updated or uploaded promptly in CBS by the receiving branch itself, to avoid any delay in credit of pension," RBI says.

This means a customer a Bank can submit her life certificate in any branch of the Bank. For example, a senior citizen customer of State Bank of India (SBI) from Mumbai can submit her life certificate in a branch at Delhi or any other place and not necessarily at the home branch (where she has her account).

(c) Cheque Book Facility

(i) Banks shall issue cheque books to customers, whenever a request is received, through a requisition slip which is part of the cheque book issued earlier.

(ii) Banks are advised to provide minimum 25 cheque leaves every year, if requested, in savings bank account, free of charge.

(iii) Banks shall not insist on physical presence of any customer including senior citizens and differently abled persons for getting cheque books.

(iv) Banks may also issue cheque books, on requisition, by any other mode as per Banks laid down policy.

(d) Automatic conversion of status of accounts

Presently, in some banks, even fully KYC - compliant accounts are not automatically converted into Senior Citizen Accounts on the basis of date of birth maintained in the banks records. Banks are advised that a fully KYC compliant account should automatically be converted into a Senior Citizen Account based on the date of birth available in banks records.

(e) Additional Facilities to visually impaired customers

RBI has advised banks to provide facilities to sick, old or incapacitated persons. (Ref: Paragraph 9 of RBI Master Circular DBR.No.Leg.BC.21/09.07.006/2015-16 dated 1 July 2015 on Customer Service in Banks) This circular talks about operations of accounts through identification of thumb, toe impression or mark by two independent witnesses and authorising a person who would withdraw the amount on behalf of such customers that should be extended to the visually impaired customers.

(f) Ease of filing Form 15G/H

RBI also asked banks to provide senior citizens and differently abled persons Form 15G/H once in a year, preferably in April, to enable them to submit the same, where applicable, within the stipulated time.

What to do if Bank refuse any of the above mentioned services?

Reserve Bank had directed banks to set up an appropriate Grievance Redressal Machinery internally for redressing complaints about services rendered by its agents. The name and telephone number of the designated Grievance Redressal officer of the bank must be made available to customers including on the banks website. The designated officer is required to ensure that genuine grievances of customers are redressed promptly.

This means, the senior citizen or differently able person first need to approach designated Grievance Redressal officer of the bank and submit her complaint. If there is no reply received within 30 days or the bank had rejected her complaint or the customer is not satisfied with the bank's reply she need to escalate the matter.

If a customer feels that her complaint has not been satisfactorily addressed by the designated Grievance Redressal officer of the bank, she can approach the Banking Ombudsman's office in her area. Here is the link to offices of Banking Ombudsman spread across the country... https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/English/Scripts/AgainstBankABO.aspx

From this link, the customer can even file complaint online.
Although the Railways and the Mumbai municipal corporation have jointly agreed to rebuild the Delisle Bridge in 11 months, the decision does not change the havoc that is likely to be unleashed on people and business that use the route to connect to the citys busiest new business district and residential areas in what was formerly a sleepy mill area around Lower Parel and central Mumbai.

While the jury  in this case the Railways  has pronounced a death sentence of Delisle Bridge, there is an equally strong view that the decision has been taken in a hurry and the bridge could be saved.

In a typically bureaucratic manner, the decision to demolish the bridge has been taken after a hurried report from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

In fact, the report was furnished in such a hurry, that knowledgeable sources in the railway ministry say that IIT has been asked to take its time in deciding the safety of a couple of other bridges where its views have been sought.

Having obtained a report, the Railway Ministry wants to take no chances of being held responsible and shut it down abruptly without any attempt to seek alternatives.

This ought to be a matter of grave concern to Mumbaikars since the record of the Railways building alternatives is pathetic. Civic activist Kamlakar Shenoy had to approach the Bombay High Court to force the railways to consider the plight of commuters after the Hancock Bridge was demolished four years ago.

Till date, no alternative has been provided to people who used the bridge while the Railways has strongly defended its action in court.

The disagreement and divergent views over the closure and demolition of the Delisle Bridge are confirmed by a document that we have been able to access, which minutes a meeting called by Mumbai municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta on 25th July to find out of the chaos and harassment unleashed by the closure of Delisle bridge.

On 24th July 2018, Delisle Bridge was closed for vehicular and pedestrian movement following an audit by the IIT, Bombay that found the Bridge to be unsafe. Earlier this week, the Railways had started demolishing the bridge.

At the meeting, local members of legislative assembly (MLAs), Ajay Choudhari and Sunil Shinde, as well as several municipal councillors had expressed displeasure over the abrupt closure of the Delisle Road Over Bridge by the railway authorities without proper information to the public.

The situation after the closure of the bridge was very grave, as thousands of public had to use the lower level road, creating a situation close to stampede.

The Chief Engineer (Bridges) submitted that the bridge was constructed in the year 1921 by the Western Railway and maintained by the Western Railway.

Various meetings were held between MCGM and Railway officials in November and December 2017 as well as March 2018 at which Railway officials apparently said that they would float a tender for planning and designing the bridge.

However, "Western Railway did not act on their assurance and all of a sudden, and on 20 July 2018, MCGM received a letter from Principal Chief Engineer (WR) stating that during the joint inspection on 17th July, the road over bridge (ROB) at Lower Parel was found to be severely corroded and required to be reconstructed. The Chief Bridge Engineer stated that the Delisle Bridge needed to be demolished and reconstructed by a single agency and it should be done by MCGM, say the papers available with us.

The fact that the Railways had agreed to float a tender would indicate that they were fully aware of the dilapidated condition of the bridge, but got serious about the safety issues only after the portions of the Gokhale Bridge collapsed on the track.

The Railways officials present at the meeting alluded to above, that they have acted as per the report of IIT, Bombay and had closed the bridge immediately as the safety of pedestrians was their top priority.

During the meeting, Mr Mehta, had directed the Railways to construct the Bridge over the Railway portion, as per provision of Section 17 and 19 of the Railway Act.

The payment for the same (construction of the Bridge by Railways for their portion) would be made by the MCGM. As regards construction of the approaches in the MCGM area, the same will be constructed by the MCGM if so desired by the Railways at MCGM cost as per GA drawings provided by the railway, the letter from the municipal commissioner states.

In 25th July meeting, the Western Railways was advised to carry out a health assessment/ second audit of the Rail over bridge through a third-party, who has expertise in the matter, since the demolition contractor was still not appointed.

The third party was to assess the feasibility of immediate repairs and possibility of allowing restricted traffic and pedestrians. This was considered to reduce the inconvenience caused to the public and provide time for demolition and reconstruction. It is not clear whether a second audit was conducted and any alternatives to closure had been sought.

We now learn from the media that Railway Minister Piyush Goyal conducted urgent meetings at the State guesthouse yesterday with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis present, after which the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the Railways has decided to jointly re-construct Delisle Bridge near Lower Parel station.

The bridge, it is learnt will be constructed in 11 months. However, this information and plan is hard to believe, because the demolition of the complex bridge itself will require time.

The question that remains unanswered is whether the IIT's conclusion is the last word on the matter and whether the bridge can still be saved and repaired  if nothing else, to buy time until and alternative plan to ease commuter concerns is worked out.

Earlier both the Railways and MCGM have refused to commit to build the bridge at their own expense. However, during a meeting on 25 July 2018, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had directed the Railways to build their portion of the Bridge for which he said MCGM would pay for.
In Australia, were lucky that when we go to the supermarket, butcher, fishmonger, market  the list goes on  we dont usually have to second guess or be concerned that were not actually getting what we asked for.

In Chinaits a different story.

You may remember a few years ago the Chinese lost their trust in locally produced products after mass death and illness was caused by contaminated baby formula. Now, many Chinese here in Australia are sending back Australian made formula to parents in China.

But its not only baby formula that the Chinese have been lied to about.

Chinas rising middle class

Due to a rising middle class in China, many Chinese consumers now want the best of the best. Including healthy organic products and more exclusive foods, such as salmon.

And when the Chinese are paying premium price for salmon, they expect to be eating salmon. Except, thats not exactly what theyve been receiving. Instead, theyve been eating rainbow trout thats being sold as salmon.

Now, if youve ever looked at a piece of salmon next to a piece of rainbow trout, youll be able to understand why Chinese consumers may not have recognised the difference at first. Theyre very similar, and they come from the same family. But just because they look the same, doesnt mean Chinese consumers are okay with eating rainbow trout when they thought they were purchasing salmon. Once again the Chinese were being deceived and lied to. After the baby formula scandal, they were already skeptical, and this new issue didnt help.

So its understandable that they wouldnt trust products from China.

And the fact that, according to CNBC, China is now able to sell rainbow trout as salmon, doesnt help. Their reasoning is that salmon and rainbow trout belong to the same fishy family.

One of the Chinese companies with the responsibility of providing salmon for retail sale, stated that Chinese consumers concern with buying rainbow trout instead of salmon was unwarranted. Not because they wont be getting what they asked for, but because rainbow trout has a higher market value than salmon.

The company went on to claim that countries such as Chile and Norway prefer rainbow trout, and the price of rainbow trout is higher than that of Atlantic salmon.

Based on that quote alone, its easy to see why Chinese consumers dont trust Chinese products.

How can they put any faith in Chinese food products when the suppliers and associations such as the China Fisheries Association, dont seem to understand why consumers are hesitant to buy Chinese products? Especially when they themselves are OK with not providing the people with authentic salmon.

How Aussie investors could potentially win big when China takes on Silicon Valley  Download your free report now.

How can Australia gain from Chinas distrust?

These arent the only issues of food fraud in China. There have been many cases, but the formula fraud and the salmon fraud have both featured heavily in Australian news. And with Australia now exporting salmon to China and many Chinese nationals sending baby formula back to their homeland, Chinese consumer distrust may just be a gain for Aussie companies.

According to Undercurrent News, China imported 5,137 metric tons of whole fresh Atlantic salmon from Australia between January-October of this year, up 477% compared with the corresponding period last year.

And as Tassle Groups managing director and CEO, Mark Ryan told Undercurrent News:

Supply volumes are seasonal, and the recent increases have been in part due to strong biomass growth from our farms, with fish reaching their optimal harvest weight and seasonality of market demand We are harvesting some of the largest salmon in the world at present, meaning a strong supply of very large fish, which the Chinese tend to favor.

Australia is currently the third largest exporter of Atlantic salmon to China.

But its not only our salmon and baby formula hoping to make an impact on the Chinese market. Capilano  Australias largest honey brand  is also starting to make waves.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Ben McKee, Capilanos managing director, stated Were at a stage where our business has been growing over recent years, and now the export markets that were entering into, like China and so on, take a fair bit of investment, in regards to their attempt to tap into China.

China is currently going through a food revolution. The rising middle class is no longer happy with just accepting fraudulent foods. They want organic, fresh and healthy food. Our very own Ryan Dinse, editor of Exponential Stock Investor is well aware of this trend, and has conducted extensive research into the middle classs obsession with Aussie food.

Kind regards,

Alana Sumic,

Editor, Money Weekend

PS: Silicon Valley is losing ground to this hot new competitor  and you could potentially profit with this concise guide. Read the free report now.
Equifaxs (EFX) massive data breach last year has drawn a fair amount of unfavorable attention to the credit bureau industry. While uncertainty around this issue persists, we think Equifaxs results since the breach, first reported in September 2017, have been about as good as can be expected, due in large part to the wide economic moat the company and its peers-- Experian (EXPGY) and TransUnion (TRU)--enjoy. We believe these companies have meaningful opportunities to expand without diluting the moats around their legacy operations. We view the growth of the middle class in emerging markets to be the most value-creative long-term growth opportunity for the industry as the companies tap this secular trend to replicate their business model internationally. Additionally, selling credit data and related services directly to consumers is a natural extension of the credit bureau business model, and while new entrants have appeared, we think the credit bureaus will retain control of this market, given that they control the credit data. Finally, we believe the credit bureaus have been relatively disciplined in entering new verticals that play to their strengths. We see Experian as the stalwart in the industry and expect it to rebound from recent headwinds. TransUnion is the smallest but most aggressive player and has the best growth prospects. While uncertainty persists, Equifax looks positioned to start to return to growth.

Simple Businesses With Wide Moats

Credit bureaus have a relatively simple and attractive business model: They take consumer credit information from lenders and other sources, aggregate this data to form a complete-as-possible picture of consumers credit history, then sell this data back to lenders and any other businesses that find the information useful. The data in the credit report is the input for a scoring system (with FICO being the dominant scoring system in the U.S.) that provides an overall quantitative rating on the consumer.
Transparency is how we protect the integrity of our work and keep empowering investors to achieve their goals and dreams. And we have unwavering standards for how we keep that integrity intact, from our research and data to our policies on content and your personal data.

Wed like to share more about how we work and what drives our day-to-day business.
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
In its examination of the latest Equifax data, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation found that the average credit score of Canadian home owners nationwide has improved.

Residents in almost all major metropolitan markets reported an average of very good credit scores. The most improvements have been observed in the past 5 years, Better Dwelling reported.

A poor credit quality score is any number below 620, with the average of every Canadian (not just home owners) hovering between 620 and 679. Any credit score above this is less likely to be denied a loan, with good in the 680 to 719 range, very good between 720 and 779, and excellent anything above 780.
Congress should force the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to testify regarding allegations of sexual harassment that have been leveled against him, says a lawyer representing his accuser.

In a letter to more than two dozen lawmakers, attorney Diane Seltzer Torre said that FHFA Director Mel Watt has refused to cooperate with an investigation into the allegations, according to a Politico report. Seltzer Torre also said that the FHFA and its inspector general have retaliated against her client, Simone Grimes.

Grimes, an FHFA special advisor, accused Watt last month of sexual harassment. Watt, an Obama appointee, denied the allegations and said the accusation was politically motivated.
If a person wants to buy an average house in Midland County, he or she has to act fast and will have to spend more than ever before.

The Permian Basin Board of Realtors reported that July was another month when prices went one direction and the number of days a home sold stayed on the market went the opposite direction. Both either set or tied new PBBOR records and provided more data the sellers market has never been stronger.

Homes, according to PBBOR information, went for an average price of $355,469 during the month of July. That amount was more than $5,000 greater than June, nearly $30,000 greater than the average this year and more than $33,000 greater than July 2017.

On the other hand, the average number of days on market stayed at 19 for the second straight month. That record low is 13 fewer days than the average for this year and 17 fewer days than July 2017. The quickest sales in July happened for homes in the $400,000 to $499,999 range (13 days) and the $250,000-$299,999 range (14 days).

July continued our steady real estate trends for the market in Midland, wrote Carroll Nall, vice president of operations for the PBBOR. This makes four months straight we remain the No. 1 Real Estate Market in the country as stated by several reporting agencies.

There was a little silver lining for buyers, as the total number of homes on the market rose from 304 in June to 356 in July. While the number of homes is still less than two months of inventory, it is nearly double the 184 homes that were on the market in March.

We are still short on inventory on homes in the $200,000 to $300,000 price range but that range appears to be gaining some ground, Nall wrote. We remain optimistic that these trends will continue into the late fall. There are still a great number of people and companies moving into the area.

Seems that the Permian Basin is the place to be these days. There are families here from all over the world making the market work day in and day out for our economy.

Other notables from the July report included:

-Total inventory for July was $77.5 million.

-The number of homes sold fell from 232 in June to 216 in July.

-The median price for a home sold also dropped but only by less than $1,000. The median price for a home is still more than $314,000, just off the record, according to the PBBOR.

-The most homes sold was in the $300,000 to $399,999 price range (57).

Homes on the market: 356

Homes sold: 216

Day on the market: 19

Average sold price: $355,469

Average list price: $361,633

Median sold price: $314,107

Median list price: $319,950

Source: Permian Basin Board of Realtors
It took a while for Houston's Gulf Coast-focused Nicklos Drilling to decide to head west and enter the Permian Basin drilling market.

The eight-decades-old company took about four years to decide to establish a Permian presence.

The original Nicklos Drilling, founded in 1935, had rigs from South Texas to North Dakota when it sold to Nabors in 1996. Jim Nicklos, whose grandfather founded the company, and Jack Blanton immediately started a new Nicklos Drilling with the intent of keeping it small, manageable and focused on the Gulf Coast.

OIL REPORT: Petroleum index continues to climb

Roland Smith, senior vice president, recently was in Midland to help establish the company's Permian Basin operations. He said he left a division of a large drilling company intending to start a drilling company in the Permian Basin. But after discussing his plans with Jim Nicklos, company president, he decided to join Nicklos and extend the company's footprint into the Permian.

"There's no grand plan for 100 rigs," Smith said. "We'll start with four rigs and if we go to six, great."

The way Smith sees it, the success of a drilling company rests on three legs.

The first leg is, "you need the right rigs." He said the company is doubling its fleet by purchasing four rigs to deploy in the Permian Basin. The four will be 1500 HP walking rigs with7500 psi capabilities and AC top drives.

The second leg is capital. He said drilling companies come into the region underfunded and quickly fail.

The third is what Smith calls the most important leg of a drilling company's success: people.

"The human resources aspect is so tough to get (out here)," Smith said. "That's what I was the most nervous about. But that's been the easiest piece. But having an 80-year-old reputation behind you helps. People respect it."

He said the company is paying wages that are a little higher than the market rate and paying 100 percent of employees' insurance. The company recently hired Jerry Ware as West Texas drilling superintendent. Ware, who has more than 25 years operational management experience, first came to the Permian in 2010 and managed the start-up of two major drilling contractors in the area.

OIL REPORT: Widening price discounts sending Midland crude to export markets

"That third leg plays such an important role. If crews work together continually, that brings a lot of efficiencies that are not on the spec sheet," Smith said.

It also brings safety, he said. "Senior, tenured employees: You get that when you care for your employees."

"Everyone is talking about the Permian," he said. "They come here, they don't have all three legs, it doesn't work out, they go home. So many companies don't think long-term. It took Nicklos four years to decide to come to Midland."

Drilling companies are challenged because the industry has changed so significantly because od efficiency gains and technological advances.

"You used to drill wells in 30 to 60 days and get a day rate per day," Smith said. "Now it's shrunk to 17 to 19 days."

While those efficiencies are great, they impact the rates drilling companies earn as well as their employees. It is easy to measure the additional stress on equipment; however, keeping up with employees' well-being proves to be more of a challenge.

OIL REPORT: 'Extreme' growth in frac sand fueled by activity, capital investment

The answer, he said, is long-term contracts. Drilling contractors seek six-month to three-year contracts with clients to justify the investment required to keep up with the changes.

Yet another challenge is to build the newest in drilling rigs, at a cost of $25 million to $30 million each, or upgrade older rigs, he said.

"There's only so much updating to a rig you can do. At the end of the day it's still a 20- or 30-year-old rig," Smith said. "And a rig that was drilling 5,000-foot vertical wells is now drilling 10,000-foot laterals."

The rigs Nicklos is bringing to the Permian Basin were built to drill in the Bakken. The company that was selling them considered moving to the Permian but decided to stay in the Rocky Mountain region and upgrade its fleet to new AC rigs, Smith said.

"It's hard to work a rig that's more than 10 years old up there, with the emissions regulations and other regulations," he said.

He acknowledged that now may not be the best of times for a drilling company to enter the Permian Basin market as pipeline constraints are prompting oil and gas producers to tamp down on activity.

"We're seeing the drilling rig market lighten a little, which is not great for us," Smith said. "But a little bit of lightening is probably good for the market. I've talked to a few operators who plan to keep drilling, at some level, but not complete all their wells. When the new pipeline capacity comes online, it will be another set of challenges."

Mella McEwen is the Oil Editor and covers the latest business and energy news. You can read more from her here. |mmcewen@mrt.com|
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Beto ORourke of Texas has said that in younger days he was twice arrested in his hometown of El Paso--once, he says, for leaping a campus fence and the other time for driving while intoxicated.

Readers have asked us whether the third-term congressman challenging Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has a criminal history. We decided to fact-check mention of the arrests in a 2012 TV ad that also was screenshot for an April 2017 Texas Tribune news story.

In the ad, sponsored by then-U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, text next to what looks like ORourkes mugshot states that the "facts" are that ORourke has a "criminal record" including burglary and DWI. The ads narrator says ORourke "has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests."

That he does, we confirmed, which hes acknowledged since his first run for office.

We tried to phone and email Reyes about his claim and failed to connect. Next, we attempted to get our own fix on the facts by seeking documentation of the DWI arrest through a public information request to the El Paso Police Department. Martin Rodriguez, a department records specialist, said by email the agency had no responsive records. We similarly queried the University of Texas at El Paso about the earlier arrest and didnt immediately hear back.

GONE VIRAL: Beto ORourke eats Whataburger, shreds parking lot with skateboard

A background check

Separately, we ran a background check of ORourke using the LexisNexis service. According to the results, ORourkes May 1995 misdemeanor arrest on the UTEP campus was later declined and his September 1998 misdemeanor DWI arrest in El Paso was dismissed.

The check gave us case numbers for the arrests enabling us to fetch an El Paso County record stating that ORourke was initially arrested in May 1995 and that case was disposed of in February 1996. We saw too that after the DWI arrest, according to another county record, ORourke was referred to a misdemeanor diversion program in March 1999 and completed "DWI school" in May 1999. That documents last entry, dated Oct. 20, 1999, says: "Misdemeanor diversion completed successfully."

Campaign: ORourke often confirms arrests

When we sought detail from ORourkes spokesman, Chris Evans, he said by email that ORourke had consistently addressed his arrests, notably during campaign stops in Paris, Sunnyside, San Antonio and Houston, where ORourke told a group in August 2018 that he spent a night in the El Paso County jail after what he referred to as his 1995 arrest for criminal trespass.

In San Antonio, a resident told ORourke shed seen what someone described as his mugshot. ORourke replied: "More than 20 years ago, I was arrested--not once, but twice. So you should know that and we should all own that, if asked." ORourke specified that hed been arrested for attempting to hop a fence at the University of Texas at El Paso and later, he said, for a "far more serious mistake: I drove under the influence of alcohol. Theres no justifying that."

April 1995 news story

The oldest published account of the arrests appears to be an April 1995 El Paso Times news story about ORourkes successful run for a seat on the El Paso City Council. The story, which we found by searching the Nexis news database, quoted the incumbent, Anthony Cobos, stressing ORourkes DWI arrest. Cobos, who later served as county judge before being convicted on embezzlement charges, said at the time: "I think you lead by example and his example speaks for itself."

According to the story, O'Rourke was arrested on a DWI charge in September 1998 that was dismissed in 1999 after he completed a court-recommended DWI program. "I've been open about that since the very beginning. I have owned up to it and I have taken responsibility for it," ORourke told the paper.

The Times further reported that court records showed that ORourke earlier was arrested in 1995 at UTEP on a burglary of building charge, which was later dropped. ORourke told the paper: "That happened while I was in college. I along with some friends were horsing around, and we snuck under the fence at the UTEP physical plant and set off an alarm. We were arrested by UTEP police. ... UTEP decided not to press charges. We weren't intending to do any harm," he was quoted saying.

ORourkes campaign later provided a photo of a document Evans described by email as the original UTEP police report on ORourkes arrest there. It says ORourke and two other students were arrested at the universitys Physical Plant under the "burglary" portion of the state penal code, section 30.02, for "attempted forcible entry."

DEEP DIVE: Documentary about Ted Cruz-Beto O'Rourke race to screen in Houston

Congressman Reyes TV ad

Seven years later, then-Rep. Reyes unveiled his ad, which was still viewable online as of Aug. 22, 2018.

A May 2012 Times news story on the ad quoted ORourke saying that he was driving an intoxicated friend home when he was arrested for DWI. The story said that according to police records, ORourke completed a diversion program and the charge was dismissed.

In August 2017, more recently, ORourke described the arrests to an East Texas newspaper. The Palestine Herald-Press quoted him saying: "Some 20 years ago, I was charged with driving under the influence and, during my college years, I jumped a fence at the University of Texas at El Paso which resulted in a burglary charge," O'Rourke said. "I was not convicted of either.

"Both incidents were due to poor judgement and I have no excuse for my behavior then. However, since then, I have used my opportunities to serve my community and my state. I'm grateful for the second chance and believe that we all deserve second chances."

Our ruling

A 2012 Reyes TV ad still viewable online six years later said ORourke "has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests."

O'Rourke's comments and records indicate that UTEP police arrested O'Rourke in 1995 for burglary, a misdemeanor charge disposed of the next year. In 1998, El Paso police arrested O'Rourke for DWI, a misdemeanor charge that was dismissed after he completed "DWI school" the next year.

We rate the claim True.

TRUE  The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

See Figure 1 on PolitiFact.com

UPDATE, 6:40 p.m., Aug. 22, 2018: After this fact-check initially posted, O'Rourke's campaign provided a photo of a document described as the UTEP police report on the 1995 arrest. We've added that information, also noting that O'Rourke and fellow students were arrested for "attempted forcible entry" under the section of the Texas penal code titled "Burglary." We also added O'Rourke's reference, in Palestine, to the burglary arrest. These additions didn't affect our rating of Reyes' claim.
A computer engineer at Conoco Phillips is running for the District 6 school board position at Midland ISD.

Austin Beam, a former Midland ISD student and son of a 35-year-plus educator, told the Reporter-Telegram on Thursday that he wants to make students and teachers his top priorities as he ventures into education politics.

District 6 is one of three seats up for election in November; the others are Districts 3 and 5. Beam joins Rick Davis and Lauren Party as those who announced candidacies to represent District 6, which includes Lee High School, Abell Junior High, Rusk Elementary, Scharbauer Elementary and Bush Elementary.

When you are in a family of an educator, education is an important part of you, Beam said. I want to be a part of enabling folks to see not only how great this community can be but how great the community is.

Beam said his father was an educator for more than three decades, including six years in Midland. Having his father in education -- and even as his own school principal -- created a passion for the public education system, Beam said. The 29-year-old said that over the past decade he has not had the opportunity to be as engaged in education as he would like, so the father of a 2-year-old saw running for school board as an opportunity to get involved.

Beam said it is important that his son receive a quality education.

He can do that in Midland, and Midland ISD can continue to grow the school system and develop, he said.

Beam made it clear his campaign wont focus on what other people have done or are doing but what he brings to the table. Beam, who graduated from Seagraves High School in Seagraves, has a computer engineering degree from Texas Tech University and an MBA from Mississippi State University. He and his wife are engineers for ConocoPhillips. They are active at Crestview Baptist Church and are part of this wave of young people who have come to Midland and are deciding if Midland will be that long-term home. The 20-something said he gets mixed responses about Midland from young families in the city.

One of the reason they dont love Midland is the schools, Beam said.

He believes the board doesnt have that representation from the demographic he represents, and that matters. He also made clear he can still be a voice for the entire community.

Beam said quality education is of the utmost importance and that caring for teachers is part of his background. He said district must equip students and teachers with everything needed to improve that quality of education.

Beam also reflected on his experience in the Midland ISD system. He said he was a student during the cluster system days, which he said meant being bused to numerous elementary schools. Still, he felt his experience at MISD was very good.
Fox News drew criticism on Thursday over its coverage of the death of Mollie Tibbetts from an unlikely source: one of its own.

Geraldo Rivera, the flamboyant correspondent who appears regularly on "Fox & Friends" and "Hannity," accused his own network of putting "spin" on the Tibbetts story, turning it into a political debate over illegal immigration. Authorities have said that the man accused of killing the Iowa college student entered the country illegally, a piece of information that Rivera said has been inflated, creating a "false impression" about undocumented immigrants more broadly.

"We, at this network, are putting that spin on this story," Rivera told Fox News host Martha MacCallum, who had commented that the suspect never should have been in the country. "This is a murder story. It's not an immigration story."

Rivera said he was well aware that "most of the Fox audience disagrees with me - but I'm begging you to have compassion and not brand this entire population by the deeds of this one person."

The evening segment presented a microcosm of how the tragic death of a 20-year-old woman has fanned the flames of the immigration debate and become a talking point for GOP politicians with hard-line immigration stances, including President Donald Trump. MacCallum argued on behalf of Americans who see the suspect's immigration status as directly related to Tibbetts' death. Rivera argued on behalf of those who believe immigration status has nothing to do with it, that its prominent display in the narrative of Tibbetts' killing runs the risk of painting all undocumented immigrants as threatening.

Lost in the mix are the voices of Tibbetts' family, some of whom have spoken out against attempts to politicize the college student's death. As her aunt told CNN, "I don't want Mollie's memory to get lost amongst politics."

"Mollie Tibbetts would be horrified by the fact that this case is being used against unlawful immigration," Rivera told MacCallum, citing some recent statements from family and friends. "They would be horrified. She wasn't that person. Anyone could have done this. They do it on a daily basis: white people, black people, red people, yellow people. It is horrible that they do these crimes."

Rivera's comments appeared to be triggered in part by an earlier claim from Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, R, on Fox News that the media, Democrats and Rivera were "accomplices" in Tibbetts's murder, a claim for which Patrick provided no explanation.

"The CNNs, the MSNBCs, most of the print media in this country and the Democrats, they are all accomplices in the death of this young girl and the death of everyone else. And even Geraldo Rivera," Patrick said toward the end of an interview on "America's Newsroom."

More for you Editorial: The distraction of bigotry

Patrick then appeared to reference earlier statements from Rivera warning against politicizing Tibbetts's death - before challenging Rivera to a TV debate about it.

Rivera accepted. He began his segment with MacCallum saying that Patrick was "stereotyping 11 million people in our country here without documentation." The focus on the suspect's immigration status, he said, "feeds the false impression that this population increases violent crime.

"It is a falsehood and to use this case to make the point is wrong," Rivera said.

Tibbetts was found dead in a cornfield in Brooklyn, Iowa, more than a month after she went on a jog and disappeared. According to a court affidavit, the suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, told police he saw Tibbetts while she was on her run along a country road, parked his car and decided to follow her. Eventually, Tibbetts noticed and threatened to call the police, and that is when he "panicked and got mad." But then he claimed he blacked out.

The next thing Bahena Rivera claims to remember is that he found a headphone piece in his lap, and then realized he put Tibbetts in his trunk, according to the affidavit. He found her with blood on her head, he said. Then, he dragged her into the corn and covered her body in the stalks, he told police.

Revelations from authorities that Bahena Rivera was undocumented led to immediate responses from GOP politicians. (His defense attorney, Allan M. Richards, has disputed claims his client was in the country illegally.)

Trump used the opportunity to ratchet up support for the border wall and slam Democrats for inaction on immigration legislation.

"A person came in from Mexico illegally and killed her," Trump said in a Wednesday video message posted to Twitter. "We need the wall. We need our immigration laws changed. We need our border laws changed. We need Republicans to do it because the Democrats aren't going to do it."

"If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble," former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich told Axios in an email.

The Tibbetts case recalled the death of Kate Steinle, who was fatally shot in San Francisco in 2015 by a Mexican national, a felon who had been deported multiple times. Steinle's death became a flash point amid a contentious debate over "sanctuary cities," such as San Francisco. Lawmakers quickly blamed Steinle's death on the sanctuary city policy, turning the tragedy into ammunition that would be used to condemn such policies throughout the country.

The suspect, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, was acquitted of murder and involuntary manslaughter charges and convicted only of being a felon in possession of a firearm. His defense attorney had claimed the shooting was a result of an accidental weapon discharge.

"You just hope it ends one day," Steinle's father, Jim, told the San Francisco Chronicle, referring to the use of his daughter's name in America's immigration debate. "I don't know when."
The Illinois Farm Bureau and Farmers for Free Trade will host U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood on Monday for a discussion on trade.

The meeting will take place at CHS Lowder Grain Elevator at 10955 North St. in Waverly.
PIASA  Public school families in southwestern Macoupin County will continue to benefit from Illinois new school funding formula, which guarantees the Southwestern School District an additional $129,432 for the academic year that is getting underway, state Sen. Andy Manar said Friday.

That means the new formula will have pumped more than $417,600 in additional money into Southwestern public schools during its first two years on the books and more than $4.2 million additional into eight Macoupin County public school districts combined.

Long underfunded school districts are finally getting the attention and the state support theyve been starved of for too many years, said Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat and the driving force behind passage of the new school funding formula.

I am delighted the evidence-based model is working as we expected it would. Its exciting to learn about the growth and innovation happening in our classrooms because of this new, equitable approach to funding education.

Many school districts are rehiring teachers and counselors who were laid off because of budget constraints, reinstating vital programs, creating innovative new learning programs, and establishing much-needed stability so they can budget for the future.

Under the evidence-based model, no schools receive less money than they did the previous year, and the previous years new money becomes part of the current years base funding. This allows long-underfunded schools to achieve adequate funding over time without penalizing schools that have already had adequate funding.

Last year  the first year under the new formula  Southwestern CUSD 9 received $288,179 in new, additional money under the evidence-based model, bringing its total state funding to more than $6 million.

This school year, the district will receive an additional $129,432 in new money under the evidence-based model, bringing its total state funding for the year to more than $6.1 million, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

More Information Macoupin County school districts will receive more than $1.7 million in new, additional funding under Year 2 of the formula for 2018-2019:  Bunker Hill CUSD 8 - $124,058 in new money; $2.9 million total state contribution  Carlinville CUSD 1 - $297,112 in new money; $4.9 million total state contribution  Gillespie CUSD 7 - $473,360 in new money; $8 million total state contribution  Mount Olive CUSD 5 - $77,987 in new money; $2.2 million total state contribution  North Mac CUSD 34 - $220,717 in new money; $5.9 million total state contribution  Northwestern CUSD 2 - $40,956 in new money; $1.5 million total state contribution  Southwestern CUSD 9 - $129,432 in new money; $6.1 million total state contribution  Staunton CUSD 6 - $352,485 in new money; $5 million total state contribution See More Collapse

In all, public school districts in the 48th Senate District will receive nearly $5.8 million in new money this year under the new formula. Added to last years total of about $8 million, public schools represented by Manar have received nearly $14 million in new money in just two years.
BEARDSTOWN  Beardstown Police have identified a possible suspect connected to the Sunday morning slashings in Beardstown that left two with life-threatening injuries and two with minor injuries.

According to a Cass County Star-Gazette news report, police are not releasing the potential suspects name because the person is considered a flight risk. The investigation into the slashings is ongoing and messages left with the Beardstown Police Department were not returned Thursday.
We are not at loggerheads with ...
Vallarta Provides 52,000 Students with School Supplies

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - With Puerto Vallarta schools now back in session, the City Council, through the Social Development Department, has begun the annual distribution of backpacks filled with school supplies, along with uniforms and shoes, to local preschool, primary and secondary school students.

At the program's launch on Wednesday Puerto Vallarta's Interim Mayor, Rodolfo Dominguez Monroy, explained that the backpacks, which are filled with all of the school supplies listed for each grade, are the Municipal Government's priority since the new school year has already begun for the 52,000 students that will benefit from this program.

The 29,800 students that were enrolled in the Department of Social Development's School Shoes and Uniform Program will have to wait a little bit longer to be outfitted for the 2018-2019 school year, since ensuring that they all receive the correct uniform type and size takes extra time.

The Deputy Director of Social Development, Alejandro Aguilar Gutierrez, said that parent involvement facilitates the delivery process. "Our staff has been working with parents for a couple of years now; the majority are helping us deliver the supplies to their children's schools," he said.

Parental involvement comes as no surprise since the municipal program allows their children to go back to school wearing good shoes and nice uniforms; carrying backpacks with all the tools and supplies they'll need over the course of the school year; and protected by student insurance that provides school accident coverage of up to 40,000 pesos. All of this represents a significant cost savings for local families.

While the parents' participation is greatly appreciated, it should be noted that the municipal government has invested $27,113,00 pesos to fund these back-to-school programs. While the State of Jalisco supports the backpack program by matching municipal funds peso for peso, the city of Puerto Vallarta covers 100% of the cost of the school uniforms, shoes and insurance.
A large crowd filled the Museum Center at 5ive Points Thursday evening to celebrate more than two and a half decades of service to the city of Cleveland by Mayor Tom Rowland.

Mayor Rowland became mayor in 1991 and is the longest serving city mayor in Tennessee. He announced in January that he would retire this year.

Clevelanders of all ages and backgrounds gathered to celebrate Mayor Rowlands 27 years of leadership and accomplishments.

Mayor-elect Kevin Brooks and Councilman-elect Ken Webb along with re-elected Councilmmen Charlie McKenzie and Bill Estes begin their new terms Sept.

10 when they take their oaths of office at 3 p.m. at the Museum Center at 5ive Points.
Mexican Farmers Blame VW Hail Cannons for Drought

Puebla, Mexico - Mexican farmers have accused German auto giant Volkswagen of "arbitrarily" provoking a drought in the central state of Puebla by using controversial weather-altering technology to protect its newly manufactured cars from hail.

Volkswagen, which has a major plant in Puebla, has been using "hail cannons" - sonic devices that purport to disrupt the formation of hail in the atmosphere - to disperse storm clouds menacing the thousands of newly manufactured cars parked on its lots.

But farmers in Cuautlancingo, the rural municipality where the plant is located, say the controversial technique is causing a drought that has made them lose 2,000 hectares (nearly 5,000 acres) of crops.

Scientists are skeptical over whether the devices actually work, but local farmers say the cannons work so well they have dispersed not only hail storms but all precipitation since May - what was supposed to be the start of the rainy season.

The farmers are reportedly seeking more than 70 million pesos (nearly $4 million) in compensation from the automaker.

"The company can take other measures to protect its cars, but people here can't live off anything but their land," said Rafael Ramirez, the top local environmental official.

Volkswagen tried to defuse the conflict this week by announcing it was taking the cannons off automatic mode and would only fire them when potential hail storms approached. It also pledged to invest in protective mesh to serve as its first line of defense against hail.

Volkswagen launched operations in Mexico in 1965. The Puebla plant is its largest in the world outside Germany. It produces more than 450,000 vehicles a year and operates around the clock, employing some 15,000 people.

Sources: El Universal
Sacramento, CA  The California legislature has now passed a bill to effectively end the cash bail system currently in place within the judicial system.

The main author, Democratic Senator Bob Hertzberg, says it will no longer be about whether an alleged criminal has enough money to post bail, but instead whether a judge feels it is safe for them to be released ahead of future court dates.

Some Republicans raised opposition when it went to the legislative floor this week. Senator Jim Nielsen argued that instead of bail being seen as a get out jail card, it is a stay out of jail card, that helps ensure alleged criminals return for court hearings. He added, Without a bail system and the fear of being tracked down by a bail bondsman, what is the motivation for anyone to appear in court?

Governor Jerry Brown has indicated that he will sign the bill.
Andrew Allison was always intrigued with flying and the military.

His mother, Renee Allison, recalls him flapping around with eagle wings at home when he was younger.

So she wasn't surprised when, several years later, he approached her about joining the Civil Air Patrol.

Andrew joined the Civil Air Patrol when he was 12-years-old. On Aug. 14, he was presented with a Genera Carl A. Spaatz award  the Civil Air Patrol's highest cadet honor.

According to the Spaatz Association's website, eligible cadets must have been a part of the program for at least five years and progress through 16 achievements while demonstrating "excellence in leadership, character, fitness and aerospace education." To receive it, cadets must also pass an exam.

During his six years in the Civil Air Patrol program, Andrew has collected numerous accolades but the Spaatz award, he said, is the one he's most proud of.

"It's like a capstone of what very few cadets ever reach," Andrew said during a recent visit to the Herald. "Even fewer manage to attain it."

Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) presented him with the award.

Renee said attaining the honor has been a goal since the day he signed up to join the program. She's very proud.

Andrew isn't sure when exactly he decided a career in the military but that's his next step.

A few family members before him served in different branches of the United States military. Renee suspects that's what got her son interested.

The family traveled a lot with her husband's former employer before settling down in Plainview. Andrew showed a great interest in flight and rocket science, Renee recalled.

"I just remember being awestruck by the capability of flight," Andrew said.

So Renee and her husband took Andrew and his sister to places and events that fed their interests  like air shows, camps and museums - while providing a homeschool education.

It was at one of those camps that Andrew first heard about the Civil Air Patrol program, which is an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.

"He was literally dragging me by the hand saying 'Mom, Mom, you have to listen to this!'" Renee said.

They had plans to move to Plainview so she told him she'd look into it when they were settled.

Since he joined in 2012, he's earned accolades like the Solo Pilot Award, 2017 Texas Wing Cadet of the Year, National Blue Beret Honor Flight Award, NASA Aerospace Scholar and numerous others.

Andrew has now aged out of the Civil Air Patrol program and is old enough to join the Air Force. He's already signed on.

And his parents couldn't be prouder.
Ellysa Harris/Plainview Herald

The driver of the semi that crashed into a pole Monday night has been identified as Kelly Don Jackson, 56, of Amarillo.

Sgt. John Gonzalez, public information officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Jackson was headed northbound on Interstate 27 when the semi, which was pulling an empty trailer, struck a Texas Department of Transportation sign on Monday.
'Stop California Fires' Ceremony at Los Muertos Pier

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - You are joyfully invited to join in the global "Stop California Fires" ceremony on Saturday, August 25 at 12:00 noon at Cuates y Cuetes Restaurant, next to Los Muertos Pier. If you can't make it, please take a moment to send some love to Mother Earth, ideally at that time, in solidarity.

The ceremony will be led by Azteca Itzcax and his Danzas, Cherokee Phil Kerr, and Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee, whose Native American Olympic Team Foundation (NAOTF.org) organized the event here in PV through Vallarta Saludable.





You will be in solidarity with gifted Elders and Earth healers, like NAOTF's Olivia Ellis, who helped end Southern California's 7-year drought in 2004. They will be leading ceremonies on holy mountains from LA's Mt. Baldy, Tahoe's Mt. Tallac (led by the Washoe) and Mt. Shasta (led by the Karuk) to Oregon's Mt. Ashland, Colorado's Telluride (Rabbi Saftler) and on Mexico's oceans (led by Azteca-Huicholes) - all to give more love, appreciation, peace and joy to Mother Earth. Then California need not lose another 10 million precious trees, billions of animals, plus people, homes and snow as in 2017, which Harvard says causes the heating of our oceans and planet.

Many places worldwide are in drought, and fire prone, and the warming oceans are killing our coral. So know that wherever you are praying from is also being blessed with what is dearly needed.

The elders and Japan's Dr. Emoto say this love energy helps raise the vibration of the mountains and oceans that helps clear them of pollution, which enhances natural precipitation. That is why the UN Sustainability officer urged us to spread these ceremonies. And why Robert 'Bobcat' Brothers, a Harvard-Berkeley PhD NW forest protector who organizes annual snow gratitude ceremonies at Oregon's Mt. Ashland, was inspired to help Olivia spread this to a global embrace.

To learn more about the Mt. Baldy ski area interfaith pilgrimage ceremony through LA's Aetherius Society, click HERE.

If you would also love to give a hand with travel expenses for the Elders and Earth healers to get to their mountain ceremonies on Aug 25, and help make possible Native ski programs so they can give this nurturing love to Mother Earth's mountain chains year-round, you can do so through The Native American Olympic Team Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization which accepts tax-deductible donations in the U.S and Mexico at snow-riders.org, or via PayPal to suzynativevoices@aol.com. Tsunamis of love of appreciation for also spreading the word!

Olivia said, "The Star People are reaching out with their invisible hands to help us mightily at this time. Let us stand and deliver with them, arms interwoven with theirs as we praise Creator for perfecting this Earth Goddess we call Home and for guiding us all!"
The logo is up atop the new Frost Tower downtown.

After the Spurs announced Frost Bank would be the first corporate entity to advertise on the team's jerseys, the bank's emblem was fastened to the top of the new skyscraper that bares its name.

The tower is the first major change to San Antonio's skyline in years, and one that signals some significant upgrades to the downtown area.

READ ALSO: Upcoming, proposed projects that are about to change the Broadway corridor in San Antonio

Major developement projects are underway at Hemisfair, along the River Walk, and the Broadway corridor.

One project, a luxury condo tower near the Tobin Center that broke ground at the beginning of 2018, received a $10 million incentive package from the city  or about $173,400 for each condo  through a program to encourage downtown housing.

Click through the slideshow above for a rundown of the major hotels, office buildings and renovation projects underway in downtown.

*Staff writer Richard Webner contributed to this report.

ceudaily@mysa.com
The West Texas sun is still hours away from rising, and the line at the First Presbyterian Church in Midland is already forming.

These arent teens waiting for concert tickets. Theyre tired moms and dads hoping to get a spot at the churchs Mothers Day Out program for their children, the babies of the boom.

Its like youre scalping for tickets to a Rolling Stones concert, said Jessica McCoy, a soon-to-be mother who sells oilfield services equipment for United Safety Ltd. in Midland. McCoys solution: her mother has moved to Midland from Austin allowing McCoy to keep her job when her son is born this fall.

Others arent as lucky. More than 1,400 children were on daycare waiting lists in Midland and the surrounding area earlier this year, according to the latest available data. Its a statistic thats keeping both families and communities from taking full financial advantage of the Permian Basins rise to energy dominance.

Affected the most: Moms. With women still making less than men generally, theyre more likely to quit work to provide care for their children, said Michelle McCready, chief of policy at Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit that promotes affordable childcare.

Heidi Winkler, married to a petroleum geologist, knows the feeling well.

Winklers 20-month-old son will attend extended childcare at First Presbyterians childcare center for the first time starting next month. Thats allowing her to finally achieve a long-sought goal: Starting her own graphic design business.

It was a huge relief to be able to get into childcare, she said. I know so many other moms who are on the wait list, and they may not make the cut for childcare this fall.

In Texas, a family of four that make less than about $48,000 a year is eligible for government funding for childcare, according to Shay Everitt, director for early childhood education initiatives for the non-profit group Children at Risk. But only about 17 percent of the facilities that serve those children are considered quality providers, meaning theyre certified by the states rating system.

At a Bright Horizons childcare center in Midland, monthly rates are subsidized by Concho Resources Inc., a Permian shale driller. That means parents pay between $600 and $700 a month per child, compared with more than $1,000 a month many are forced to shell out without employer help.

Kinder preppers

Even with a facility specifically reserved for one company, though, most age groups still have a pretty good-sized wait list, said Jessi Silva, the centers director.

Right now, if your infant is already born and you want to get your child in, itll probably be next summer before you can get them in, she said. There were 18 infants, five toddlers, seven preschoolers and five to six Kinder-preppers on the waiting list as of early August, according to Silva.

At the same time, the lack of childcare is hurting local communities like Midland and nearby Odessa, where local officials are working hard to increase the number of families that move to the shale patch for good.

Cities aspire

While many rig operators and truck drivers leave families back home while they pull two- to three-week shifts, the cities aspire for oilfield workers and white-collar employees alike to come with their spouses and kids. That means more money for area restaurants, movie theaters, grocery stores and shopping malls, according to Jerry Morales, the mayor of Midland and a local restaurateur.

Families wont move here because they cant get into daycare, Morales said in an interview at his Mulberry Cafe. Thats why Morales plans to make childcare one of his main calls for action in a September State of the City address.

Companies desperate to hire are also moving to tackle the issue. A 200-child facility backed by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Chevron Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. just broke ground in Midland. And Pioneer Natural Resources Co., like Concho, already has a partnership with Bright Horizons for childcare centers that exclusively serves its employees.

Youre seeing more and more companies coming together to solve the problem around childcare, said Katie Mehnert, chief executive officer of Pink Petro, a group that provides resources for women in the oil and gas sector. Its a topic everyones talking about.

Motivated and skilled

In Monahans, a smaller town in the heart of the frack sand boom, daycare is so hard to come by that Mayor David Cutbirth built one himself. The 62-child facility currently serves employees of his recently opened Bennigans restaurant for a subsidized $1.40 an hour, and he recently opened it up to the general population for around $4 an hour.

Its a difficult thing to do. Its not one of those things where you go, Hey, Im going to put in a daycare, said Cutbirth, who spent $150,000 to put in the facility and has about $800 a day in labor costs. But it really is important if you want to have a workforce that is highly motivated and skilled.

Rod Slaton, business administrator at First Presbyterian, says theyre going digital so parents wont have to physically wait in line in the wee hours of the morning. Demand has been outstripping resources on numerous fronts in the region, according to Slaton. Everything is such a mess out here, he said.
Petroleos Mexicanos will be free to choose its own partners if Mexicos next government has its way.

President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador may seek to change a part of the 2014 energy reforms requiring Pemex receive regulatory approval when choosing partners in oil blocks, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Previously, Lopez Obrador has said that he will review the 107 contracts already awarded for signs of corruption.

The practice of requiring regulatory approval for partners has been a point of contention for some Pemex executives, who have compared it to an arranged marriage and say that the added bureaucracy bogs down the process. Proponents say its aimed at providing greater transparency to what is often an opaque state company.

PREVIOUSLY: As likely Mexican president Obrador softens tone, U.S. oil sector crosses fingers

The original scheme was awkward in the sense that Pemex was unable to choose its partners and market practice is such that its normally the case, John Padilla, managing director of energy consultant IPD Latin America LLC, said by phone from Denver. That being said, what this is all going to boil down to is what kind of corporate governance is put in place.

Finding Partners

Today, the rules require Pemex to partner with the highest bidder for blocks it puts out for farm-outs, or deals in which oil field stakes are exchanged for help developing them. While its Pemexs decision to offer a farm-out and the company is responsible for the economic terms of the partnership and the terms and conditions of the joint operating agreement, other aspects are determined by regulators and the government. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the changes under consideration.

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the fiscal terms of the contracts. The Ministry of Energy determines what type of contract it will be, such as license or production-sharing. And the National Hydrocarbons Commission is responsible for running the bidding process and approving the winners, according to the CNH.

PERRY: US energy secretary: Mexico's energy independence good goal

If licensing rounds are canceled and joint ventures are the only vehicle for entry to the country, it reflects a consolidation of power within Pemex, Maria Cortez, Latin America Upstream Senior Research Manager at Wood Mackenzie, said in an email. That could be viewed negatively by outside investors.

Lopez Obrador will take office in Dec. 1, and has named loyalist Octavio Romero Oropeza to lead and strengthen the struggling state company, whose production has declined every year since 2004. He has pledged to inject Pemex with an additional 75 billion pesos for exploration and production and plans to boost output by one-third over two years.

A spokesman for Pemex and media representatives of Lopez Obradors transition team declined to comment.

2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Oil rose in New York and headed for its first weekly gain in two months amid signs of tighter supply from the North Sea to the Middle East.

Futures in New York are headed for a gain of almost 4 percent this week, ending their longest run of weekly losses since 2015. U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by more than twice what analysts expected last week, while strikes at Total SAs fields in the North Sea could curb supply. Irans exports are set to decline sharply as renewed U.S. sanctions take effect, analysts at FGE and Cowen & Co. said.

This week marks an impressive rebound in fortunes for the oil market, said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. This is largely due to a tightening fundamental outlook on the back of looming Iranian supply shortages.

Oil has recovered about 5 percent since sinking in mid-August to the lowest in almost two months, amid supply threats in Iran and Venezuela and as a slide in the U.S. currency makes dollar-priced assets more attractive. Yet gains have been offset by concern that the trade dispute between the U.S. and China, and risk of contagion from Turkeys economic crisis, could hurt global oil demand.

West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery rose as much as 67 cents, or 1 percent, to $68.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Aug. 8. It traded for $68.43 as of 10:36 a.m. London time. Total volume traded was about 27 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for October settlement increased as much as 76 cents, or 1 percent, to $75.49 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest since July 13. The contract is up 4.8 percent on the week. The global benchmark crude traded at a $6.83 premium to WTI.

U.K. Strike

The North Sea industry faces further industrial action from next month. The Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin fields operated by Total SA will be affected by a series of 12-hour strikes after talks on pay and working hours broke down, the U.K.s Unite union said on Thursday.

U.S. government data released on Wednesday showed that nations crude stockpiles declined by 5.84 million barrels last week, more than double the forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Industry consultant FGE predicts that Iranian oil exports will drop below 1 million barrels a day by the middle of next year after the U.S. reimposes sanctions targeting its crude in early November. The Persian Gulf nation has shipped about 2.5 million barrels a day of crude and condensate so far this year, FGE said in a report on Aug. 23.

Still, investors remain wary that escalating tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China could imperil global economic growth and weaken energy demand. Trade talks between the nations wrapped up Thursday without major progress, setting the stage for further escalation of the conflict between the worlds two largest economies.

Other oil-market news:

Kazakhstans Kashagan oil production declined about 30 percent amid planned maintenance that began last week, said the countrys Deputy Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev.

Chinas Cnooc Ltd. said it plans to boost spending through the remainder of this year to meet investment targets as the resurgence in crude prices pushed its half-year profit to the highest since 2014.

--With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima.

2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Houstons office market continues to struggle, while the super-charged industrial sector barrels forward with bigger deals in the pipeline.

The major oil and gas companies have not started expanding, Dan Boyles, office tenant representation group partner for NAI Partners, said at a quarterly press update. We hope theyre done giving space back.

Companies that are signing deals frequently take less space than they had before, brokers said during the Tuesday event.

Go back to 2000. Weve not had this volume of negative absorption even through 08, 09 or the Enron mess, NAI managing partner Jon Silberman said. Its a pretty rough stretch.

Houston posted a net occupancy loss of almost 500,000 square feet in the second quarter, an improvement from 1.4 million square feet of negative absorption in the first quarter, according to NAI Partners.

CUBICLE-FREE: Open office plans are as bad as you thought

Trouble could be ahead when landlords take back space thats been on the sublease market and no longer collect rent checks in the next 24 months, Silberman said.

Well-capitalized landlords have upgraded their buildings with conference centers and fitness facilities to stay competitive, Boyles said.

Meanwhile industrial activity, which typically slows during the summer, is heating up. Liberty Property Trust landed huge distribution centers in two of its north Houston projects, including a 727,600-square-foot project for Grocers Supply, and a 656,700 square-foot distribution center for Conns.

100 PERCENT LEASED: Online home furnishings giant Wayfair leases industrial space in NW Houston

Well see another one, two or three deals of that size announced before the end of the year, said Nick Peterson, senior vice president of the industrial group.

Also, crane-served manufacturing buildings that once sat empty have started to fill as oil has surpassed $67 a barrel.

I think 2019 going to be good year for manufacturing side of the business, Peterson said.

katherine.feser@chron.com

twitter.com/kfeser
NEW YORK  This week has seen major social media sites step up their policing of online disinformation campaigns.

Google disabled dozens of YouTube channels and other accounts linked to a state-run Iranian broadcaster running a political-influence campaign.

Facebook removed 652 suspicious pages, groups and accounts linked to Russia and Iran.

Twitter took similar action shortly thereafter.

What did they have in common? The security firm FireEye.

Best known for its work on high-profile cyberattacks against companies including Target, JPMorgan Chase and Sony Pictures, FireEye is emerging as a key player in the fight against election interference and disinformation campaigns.

Founded in 2004, FireEye is based in Silicon Valley and staffed with a roster of former military and law-enforcement cyberexperts.

Theyve really become the Navy SEALs of cybersecurity, especially for next-generation cybersecurity threats, said GBH Insights analyst Dan Ives.

Lee Foster, manager of information operations analysis at FireEye, said his team works within the companys intelligence outfit, which researches not only info-ops  like the Iran-linked social media activity it recently uncovered  but espionage, financial crime and other forms of vulnerability and exploitation. Specialist teams at FireEye focus on particular areas of cyberthreats, each with their own expertise and language capabilities.

We kind of operate like a private-sector intelligence operation, he said.

FireEye was founded by Ashar Aziz, who developed a system for spotting threats that havent been tracked before, unlike older companies that sold firewalls or anti-virus programs that block known malware.

Aziz, a former Sun Microsystems engineer, created a system that uses software to simulate a computer network and check programs for suspicious behavior, before allowing them into the network itself.

FireEye raised its profile in 2014 by acquiring Mandiant, known for expertise in assessing damage and tracing the source of cyberattacks. Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia, a former U.S. Air Force investigator, is now FireEyes CEO.

While businesses are spending more on information security, FireEye itself has spent heavily on research, development, sales and marketing. That has led to struggles to remain profitable, as heavy investments offset revenue growth.

Mandia said that during the three months ended June 30, FireEyes email security found 6 million spear-phishing attacks, a type of hacking, and its security products alerted companies of attempts to breach security 29 million times. Thats important, Mandia said, because most of FireEyes products are deployed behind their clients existing firewalls or antivirus software, so everything FireEye catches has already evaded other defenses, he said.

We are the investigators called in when the processes, people, and technology fail to prevent a security breach or incident, he said. We find the gaps in the security fabric and we find the needle in the haystack.

FireEye Inc.s second-quarter revenue rose 6 percent to $203 million but it lost $72.9 million, or 38 cents per share. That met Wall Streets expectations, but its shares fell as investors expected more.

Thats a common problem in the white-hot cybersecurity sector, which includes competitors like Palo Alto Networks, CloudFlare and Check Point. The companies are facing high expectations as the cybersecurity market booms, fueled by heightened cyberattacks and hacking fears.

As the space has become more competitive ... profitability and growth has been a challenge for (FireEye), Ives said.

Still, FireEyes stock jumped 6 percent on Thursday when news broke of its role in uncovering the fake accounts on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. It was up another 3 percent Friday.

FireEye shares hit their all-time peak of $95.63 on March 5, 2014, a few months after they went public, but began a long decline after that, hitting an all-time low of $10.40 almost exactly three years later on March 14, 2017. In the past month the stock has traded between $14.38 and $16.69.

And the companys reputation continues to grow.

There are many vendors that play in cybersecurity when you look at some of the very sophisticated threats facing enterprise and governments, Ives said. FireEye many times gets that first phone call when it comes to assess threat environment for companies.
BRIDGEWATER  A young man seriously injured after being run over by a tractor near the Bridgewater Country Fair remained in critical condition Friday.

Friends and family members of Tim Meeker Jr. attended a vigil held for him Thursday at the Salem Covenant Church in Washington. Meeker was injured last weekend when he fell from the back of a tractor and was run over by one of the wheels.

The family cannot begin to convey how much your prayers, visits, notes, texts, meals, hugs and more mean to them in this time of waiting and uncertainty, stated a post by the church on its Facebook page Friday. Our heartfelt thanks to those who were able to be at the prayer vigil.

While Meeker had been placed in a medically-induced coma earlier this week, doctors have begun slowly easing him off the sedation, according to the posting.

It seems he is aware of his familys presence with him, the post states.

While those who know Meeker pray for his recovery, questions remain about how the accident occurred. According to State Police, Meeker had been asked by fair workers to help pull cars out of the mud.

Dozens of cars had to be pulled from the muddy parking lot at the fair on Saturday after more than 2 1/2 inches of rain fell on the region the week before.

While family members said they have no doubt that Meeker was helping out with the effort, officials with the town and the fair said they had no knowledge of his assistance and only limited knowledge of the accident.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
A little break from the political:

I was intrigued a couple of months ago to receive an email announcing a new study edition of the Scriptures with notes highlighting the relationship between the land and people of Israel.

The Israel Bible, published by Israel365 and Menorah Books (an imprint of Koren Publishers Jerusalem) is the world's first Bible centered around the Land of Israel, the People of Israel, and the dynamic relationship between them. Designed for both Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike, The Israel Bible offers a unique commentary that seeks to explain God's focus on the Land of Israel alongside the original Hebrew text and the New Jewish Publication Society translation. All 929 chapters highlight verses that relate to Israel, including relevant quotes and perspectives from prime ministers, as well as abundant maps, charts, and illustrations. "We are thrilled that The Israel Bible has reached No. 1 on Amazon in these categories," said Matthew Miller, publisher of Menorah Books. "Its success shows that across the religious and denominational spectrum, people are thirsty to study from a modern edition of Tanakh, and even more so, are deeply curious about the connection between the Jewish People and Israel." Rabbi Tuly Weisz, founder and CEO of Israel365 and the editor of the Israel Bible, said Jews teaching the world Tanakh is a core Jewish concept that can be found in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 2. Isaiah describes that in the end of days, the nations will stream up to Jerusalem for Torah "shall come forth from Zion, The word of Hashem from Yerushalayim" (Isaiah 2:3). "A new Bible coming forth from Israel and sending the light of Torah into the world is the embodiment of Isaiah's prophecy," Weisz said. "It is clearly a Bible whose time has come." Weisz said the Bible has been a source of division between Jews and Christians for a millennium. He said that today the Bible is becoming the point that connects Jews and Christians. His Bible, he said, should build a bridge between Jews and the nations. "The Bible and Israel are what Jews and Christians have in common," he said.



I sent a reply requesting a review copy and received one, gratis, shortly thereafter.

As a book, The Israel Bible is impressive, a hardcover tome weighing in at nearly 2200 pages, with a dustcover featuring illustrations of the flag of Israel, the Temple, the leaders declaring Israel's independence at Tel Aviv in 1948, and the famous photo of awed Israeli soldiers entering the Old City of Jerusalem after liberating it in 1967.

For the Christian reader, The Israel Bible offers the interesting experience of encountering the Hebrew Scriptures as the Jewish people do. The books are arranged in the standard Hebrew order, read "back to front," beginning with the Torah (Five Books of Moses), the Neviim (Prophets, which include most of the books Christians typically categorize as history, such as Joshua and Samuel), and the Ketuvim (Writings, which include Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, and Chronicles).

The front matter includes an overview and introduction; a chart of the Hebrew alphabet, which includes final forms of certain letters, numerical values, and vowels; a list of each week's Torah portion with the corresponding Haftarah reading from the Prophets and the Hebrew word by which the portion is known; a list of the Torah readings for holy days and special occasions; and the blessings for before and after reading the Torah, provided in Hebrew, transliterated Hebrew, and English; and a table of maps, charts, and lists.

These maps, charts, and lists often appear with the introduction to a specific book. Many of the maps are like those you've seen in English Bibles -- the territories of the tribes of Israel, the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah -- and some that were new to me. For example, a map the shows the places mentioned in the commentary for Psalms, another shows the places mentioned in the Song of Songs, and the book of Ruth has a map showing Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem) and Moab. Lists include rabbinical opinions of when Job lived and opinions about when Solomon wrote his books. With Leviticus, there is a chart showing the offerings that would be brought by an individual.

As for the Biblical text itself, each book begins with a brief introduction. The text is presented in Hebrew and in English, from the Jewish Publication Society edition of 1985. On many pages, a verse is highlighted in gray accompanied by transliterated Hebrew, indicating commentary at the bottom of the page. The selected verses typically are chosen to highlight something about the land of Israel mentioned in the text or to link the text to later historical events. Some of the commentary is from renowned rabbis of the past.

Some commentary ties the selected verse to events in the history of the modern State of Israel. For example, Exodus 9:1, when the Lord calls Moses to go to Pharaoh and say, "Let My people go to worship Me," has commentary discussing modern day bondage suffered by the children of Israel:

Unfortunately, the bondage of Jews was not limited to the period of slavery in Egypt. There have been many other such incidents in history, even in the 20th and 21st centuries. Golda Meir (1898-1978), while serving as Israel's first ambassador to the Soviet Union, worked tirelessly to facilitate the immigration to Israel of Jews trapped behind the "Iron Curtain." Upon her arrival, some 50,000 Jews greeted Golda for the Shabbat, despite fear of the Soviet regime. She was astonished. "I prayed to gether with them. Oh, how I prayed. I was caught up in a torrent of love so strong it literally took my breath away!" The 10,000 old Israeli shekel banknote, followed by the first 10 New Israeli Shekel banknote, honored Golda Meir with her image on one side and on the other, an illustration of the mass of Russian Jews and the expression, taken from this verse, "Let My people go."

The Israel Bible is easy to navigate (once you know where to look for the books). Printed tabs along the edge of the page make it easy to find a particular book, and the head of each page has the book and chapter in Hebrew and English, as well as the Torah portion name.

At the back of the book are biographical sketches of the contributors to The Israel Bible, descriptions of the scholars and historical figures mentioned in the commentary, and an index to the people, places, and concepts discussed.

The list of transliterated Hebrew names and terms (shown in italics in the English translation of Scripture) is especially helpful to this gentile reader, to be able to look up Yechezkel and see how it's pronounced in Hebrew (y'-khez-KAYL) and that it's the name we see translated in English editions of the Bible as Ezekiel. A section is devoted to the names of Biblical measurements and Jewish holidays.

While I can think of some improvements -- more color, more maps, modern day photos of the places described -- The Israel Bible is a resource that I enjoy browsing through and am happy to have in our home, as a way of seeing the Old Testament through different cultural lenses, both ancient and modern.
HAMDEN  Cheshire resident Gina Rossi Priest recently took over the Whitney Avenue store Bon Appetit, returning to the food service business in which she worked for years and keeping a community fixture alive.

She said this week she became friendly with former owner Roland Blakeslee more than 30 years ago when shed come over to shop from her nearby job as a server, and, years later, heard by happenstance that he was hoping to retire. She decided to step in and take over the place.

I really didnt feel it was time for the store to close. I felt like there was still such a big need for it in this area, said Rossi Priest. I think people like the idea of coming into a small store like this and people knowing them  knowing what their likes and dislikes are - and taking very good care of them.

Bon Appetit has been an institution in Hamden for decades. It was founded by the Blakeslee family in 1971, then passed to Roland in 1985.

It features a variety of specialty and gourmet food options  Rossi Priest pointed out the Hungarian pick salami and duck prosciutto, among other items, while showing off its wares last week.

Shes added a little bit to the place since taking over for Blakeslee  a fresh coat of paint, for example, and offering hot coffee  but the focus of the store is the same, Rossi Priest said.

She hopes to provide hard-to-find products, aiding gourmands and people hailing from different places in finding foods that suit their palates.

It provides something special when people are looking for it, and aims to provide excellent, personal customer service - something handed down from Blakeslee. You can come in, try different cheeses  learn something, find something that suits your taste, she said.

I see when people come in here, and when they leave here  how happy they are. And I think thats what separates things, said Rossi Priest. They can go to Big Y or Super Stop & Shop, but this is an experience when you come in here.

The store also offers baskets of food  Rossi Priest has started creating packages of in new bamboo boxes  cheese boards and other offerings, aiming to provide people the chance to enjoy good food and convenient connoisseurship. She delivers food to those who have trouble traveling, as well, she said.

By taking over Bon Appetit, Rossi Priest is returning to a line of work she knows well.

After working in food and beverage all her life, in restaurants, running catering companies and pasta shops, she took a job working in an accountants office, aiming to slow down. But she wanted something more.

I felt like the world was passing me by, and I felt like my world was getting smaller and smaller  and I would really rather it be getting bigger and bigger, said Rossi Priest. The timing was right. I felt I needed a new challenge and something to do, and so I said, You know what, I think Im going to do it.

She said she has big shoes to fill, given what Blakeslee meant to customers, and its been more work than she initially expected. She's nervous but excited by this new venture, and her family has been supportive and proud, easing the transition.

She hopes the store is a boon to residents and a pleasure in their lives.

I hope that for the half-hour theyre in the store that they have just a great experience. They come in, I know them, they know me, we have a nice little conversation, and they pick up their favorite things, and they walk out feeling just great, said Rossi Priest. Like they were visiting a friend and picking up ... just some food for the soul.

She said the purchase seems like the right thing to do.

When I see how happy everyone is that Im open, that we didnt close... that makes me very happy.

More information about Bon Appetit is available on its website  http://www.bonappetitct.com/. The store is located at 2979 Whitney Ave.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
A year to the day after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas Gulf Coast, residents will vote on a $2.5 billion bond referendum for critical flood control projects in an area that the Category 4 storm plunged underwater.

Harris County officials purposely chose Saturday's anniversary for the election, seeking to bring out voters and quickly cash in on matching federal funds. Proceeds from the bond, if approved, would finance about 237 projects, including repairs to flood-damaged drainage infrastructure, buyouts of flood-prone properties and channel modifications to improve the flow of storm water. It's the largest bond measure in the county's history.

The vote comes as coastal cities around the country are facing the threat of catastrophic infrastructure damage from storms exasperated by climate change. Last year, the U.S. was hit by three major storms that virtually destroyed Puerto Rico's electric grid, flooded Texas with record rains and ripped into Florida, sending the sea into the streets of Miami. The number of deaths is still uncertain and the storms racked up losses totaling more than $200 billion, the most ever.

To Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, D, the vote is one of the most important decisions residents there will make. "We can't afford to wait any longer. We cannot afford to get this one wrong," he said during a press conference earlier this month.

My report at today's City Council meeting: I urge all Harris County voters to vote Saturday on the county flood control bond -- an election taking place on the anniversary of #HurricaneHarvey. @hcfcd

A poll by the University of Houston found that 55 percent of residents support the bond referendum even though it would result in a 1.4 percent property-tax increase for the average homeowner in Harris County, the nation's third most populous. Just 10 percent of those surveyed said they would vote against it, while a third were undecided.

Before Harvey, the Houston area had never experienced flooding of the magnitude caused by the storm as it lingered over land for four days, dropping record rainfall. Even experts were unprepared. The National Weather Service had to add two colors to its graphics when mapping the storm movement because of the unprecedented amount of rain.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates Harvey caused $125 billion in damages, making it the second costliest storm in recorded U.S. history behind the $161 billion in damages inflicted by 2005's Hurricane Katrina, according to Moody's Investors Service.

"It will not accomplish everything we need to accomplish. We need to recognize that," Judge Ed Emmett, head of the county commissioners court, the governing board for Harris County, said during a meeting in June prior to placing the measure on the ballot.

The storm was too much for the Harris County Flood Control District and its $120 million annual budget. "We just have a lot of ground to cover, a lot of infrastructure to maintain and a lot of problems to solve and $120 million doesn't go that far," said the district's director of operations Matthew Zeve.

Harris County isn't alone in asking voters to back bond sales to cope with climate change.

In 2012, Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved a $290 million debt measure to rebuild the Elliott Bay seawall that protects the downtown waterfront. In the San Francisco Bay area, residents approved a tax to fund a $500 million restoration of tidal marshes, which act as a buffer against storm surges. Following Hurricane Irma last year, Miami voters approved $400 million in bonds to finance projects to protect the city against the impact of global warming.

The Union of Concerned Scientists found that sea level rise, driven primarily by climate change, puts hundreds of thousands of homes and commercial properties in the U.S. at risk of being flooded at least 26 times per year by 2030. The incessant deluges would depreciate property values, erode infrastructure and eventually diminish tax revenue, causing local credit ratings to sour and making it more difficult to finance projects needed to contend with rising sea levels.

"The more that we wait the worse the effects of climate change will be," said AllianceBernstein LP's Eric Glass, who manages the firm's $365 million municipal-impact portfolio. "And the bigger investment in climate change we will have to make."

--With assistance from Bloomberg's Sophie Alexander, Brian K. Sullivan and Joe Carroll.
Israelis whose sons were killed four years ago in a war with Hamas are demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make sure a cease-fire deal being negotiated guarantees the return of the soldiers' remains.

"We have to make noise," said Leah Goldin, mother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who died in an Aug. 1, 2014, shootout with Palestinian militants. "If I let myself think it's not going to happen, that's the attitude of losers."

Other Israelis warn that lopsided exchanges in the past, such as the 2011 release of soldier Gilad Shalit for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, may salve a few families' emotional wounds but are bad for the country -- and encourage future kidnappings. Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, says the Shalit deal remains a model for future exchanges.

Talks brokered by Egypt and the United Nations to end five months of protests at the Gaza border are set to resume Saturday in Cairo after a break for a Muslim holiday. The multi-year cease-fire on the table could pave the way for lifting a decade-long Israeli blockade of Gaza, freeing more than $5 billion in international aid pledges and financing major infrastructure projects.

If no prisoner deal can be arranged, Israel may agree only to much smaller gestures to ease Gaza's humanitarian situation in exchange for quiet at the border, without the plans to rehabilitate the territory.

A sliver of coastal land that's home to 2 million Palestinians, Gaza has been the scene of air-raids, firefights and missile battles since residents started weekly protests at the border fence in March, demanding to reclaim ancestral lands in what is now Israel. Israeli troops have killed more than 170 Palestinians in the protests. Gazans have launched hundreds of rockets into Israeli towns and sent arson kites and balloons across the border, razing thousands of acres of Israeli farmland.

The protests come as Gaza suffers from crippling unemployment, a lack of clean drinking water and electricity shortages, a product of Hamas misrule, the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory and sanctions imposed by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. President Donald Trump's budget cuts to the UN refugee agency serving Palestinians threaten to further strain social services.

Handing over the bodies of Goldin -- killed in a Hamas attack launched about 90 minutes after a cease-fire had been announced -- and Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, killed in fighting 12 days earlier, remains one of the main sticking points in truce talks. Both were officially declared dead by the army based on limited forensic and intelligence information, an unusual step in Israel, where soldiers are classified as missing in action unless their deaths are proven. Hamas refuses to provide information on the soldiers' fate.

Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and European Union, also holds two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza voluntarily and are said by their families to suffer from mental disabilities.

Nickolay Mladenov, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, has been shuttling among Gaza, Jerusalem and Egypt for weeks trying to secure the cease-fire. The Bulgarian diplomat, who has met with the Goldin family several times, has repeatedly raised the issue of the missing Israelis in Gaza, his office said in an email.

Mladenov calls on Hamas "to abide by international law and to enable their immediate return to Israel," his office said.

Before any deal, Israel must lift its blockade and release some 70 Palestinians who it rearrested after they were exchanged for Shalit in 2011, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said. Only then will the group discuss releasing the soldiers' bodies -- if Israel also agrees to free additional Palestinian prisoners, he said. An estimated 7,000 Palestinians are held in Israel jails on security-related allegations.

Israel says some of those released in the Shalit deal were rearrested after they returned to militant activity.

The release of Shalit, a tank gunner captured in a 2006 cross-border raid by Hamas commandos, turned into a popular crusade led by his parents during the five years he was held hostage. Similar imbalances marked prisoner exchanges in the past, but Israelis are wary of such deals now, said Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli general and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

"Shalit was a young soldier who was captured when he was on duty, and Israelis felt great sympathy for his family," Brom said. "Here we're talking mostly about bodies, and two disturbed persons who are completely responsible for what happened to them."

Goldin's case has been taken up by Irwin Cotler, Canada's former justice minister and head of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal. Cotler has appeared with Goldin's parents at the United Nations and European Commission in Brussels, making the argument that holding back the remains of the soldiers is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing public pressure to bring quiet to towns bordering Gaza, says he has insisted that Goldin and Shaul's bodies be returned, though precisely when that would happen in the course of a cease-fire process is unclear.

"No arrangement will be complete without that issue being addressed." said Michael Oren, Netanyahu's deputy minister for public diplomacy. "If people are shooting at us -- I include fire kites and balloons -- we have to stop that" first, he said. "But there are other issues, and primary among them are the prisoner issues."

--With assistance from Bloomberg's Saud Abu Ramadan.
When Pope John Paul II landed in Ireland in September 1979, he stepped off his Aer Lingus flight and bent down to kiss the ground.

An Irish national news broadcaster said at the time that children were cheering so loudly, they drowned out the sound of the plane's roaring engines.

"The older people, some of them carrying babies, holding them up so that they can whisper in their ears, when they in turn are old, they can say to their children they were here on this day," the RTE broadcaster said.

The pontiff's brief visit to the island was one of the largest gatherings in Ireland's history: Some 2.7 million people came out to see him, lining the streets to watch him pass and later cramming into Dublin's Phoenix Park, where he performed Mass for more than 1 million people.

Diarmaid Ferriter, a professor at University College Dublin, called it a "massive national mobilization."

Rob Savage, a professor at Boston College, said Pope John Paul II was like "a rockstar."

"That's how Ireland saw that pope," he said.

On Saturday, almost 40 years since the last papal visit, Pope Francis will greet a vastly changed country.

Pope John Paul II's arrival in 1979 came at a fraught time for Ireland. The predominantly Catholic country was deeply affected by the dark period known as the Troubles, a decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland that ultimately left at least 3,600 dead. Around a month before the pope landed, the Irish Republican Army bombed Lord Louis Mountbatten's boat, killing him and one of his grandsons. He was Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, and that same day, a separate IRA bombing killed 18 British troops in Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland.

Pope John Paul II's visit to Ireland came early on in his time as the leader of the Catholic Church, at a moment when much international attention on the country had to do with the unabated conflict. For some, the pope's visit may have offered a momentary reprieve from so much negative coverage.

"This was the world looking in while he was there for a reason other than us shooting each other in Northern Ireland," said Anne Dolan, a professor at Trinity College, Dublin.

The pope initially planned to visit Northern Ireland on the same trip, but security concerns held him back. He made it only as far as Killineer, close to Drogheda near the border. He famously - and unsuccessfully - called for an end to the conflict.

"On my knees I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence and return to the ways of peace," he said. "You may claim to seek justice. I too believe in justice and seek justice. But violence only delays the day of justice."

Savage called 1979 "one of the most difficult years of the Troubles." He said he remembers the pope "making this impassioned plea for them to end this."

"Of course it just got worse," Savage said. "His plea for an end to the violence fell on deaf ears. No one was interested in listening to him."

The 1970s were "such a bloody decade in Ireland," Ferriter said. And it would take nearly two more decades from the time of the pope's visit for a peace deal that put an official end to the Troubles in 1998.

In recent years, Ireland has experienced an almost unbelievable wave of social change. Same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015, and an abortion ban was repealed this year. Divorce is legal and contraception is readily available. Sex-abuse scandals and revelations about Magdalene Laundries and baby homes have deeply shaken the predominantly Catholic country, leading to wide distrust in the Catholic Church - an institution that once wielded tremendous power in Ireland. As Post correspondent William Booth wrote this week, the recent abortion referendum marked Ireland's "full emergence as a socially liberal state no longer obedient to Catholic dictates."

"Ireland was white, English-speaking and Catholic in 1979. It was very monocultural," Ferriter said. "In some ways, the 1979 visit was a reward for this steadfast loyalty of the Irish and their allegiance to the faith."

This weekend, Pope Francis will meet with survivors of sex abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is gay. While Pope Francis has condemned sex abuse, many in Ireland see him as not having gone far enough. Varadkar is expected to press him on how the church could do more for victims of abuse and the ways the church has excluded the LGBT community.

Although there will be a large gathering for the pope's Mass in Phoenix Park this weekend, observers don't expect anything like the showing in 1979. The church is still influential in Ireland, especially in the educational system. Ireland is still largely Catholic, though far fewer people attend Mass than once did. Too much has happened, and too much has changed.

"The church in Ireland became far too powerful and it abused that power," Ferriter said. "There was no critical questioning going on during that visit about the church and its teachings. It was an opportunity for unbridled celebration. Things are very different now."
CUTHBERT, Ga. - Some residents of this town are old enough to remember when government officials would intimidate and punish black residents for trying to exercise the right to vote. Others, having come of age when an African-American man was president of the United States, thought the days of such brazen discrimination were long past.

But nearly everyone saw a recent proposal to close more than two-thirds of the polling places in Randolph County, a predominantly black community in southwestern Georgia, as a reminder of the lingering traces of the state's history of voter suppression.

After a week of ferocious pushback - including two packed town hall meetings in which residents berated local elections officials, as well as warning letters, threats of lawsuits by civil rights groups and national media coverage - county officials fired the consultant who came up with the plan.

Then on Friday morning, the Randolph County Board of Elections voted down the proposal to close seven of its nine polling locations, saying no changes would be made. The meeting of the board lasted no more than five minutes.

"In the United States, the right to vote is sacred," the board said in a statement, adding that displays of interest and concern have been "overwhelming and . . . an encouraging reminder that protecting the right to vote remains a fundamental American principle." It said the board's only interest was in "making sure elections in Randolph County are fair and efficient."

Activists and residents applauded the action and said that they would continue to meet and share information to make sure their voting rights were not eroded.

In an interview Thursday ahead of the board's vote, Tommy Coleman, the Randolph County attorney, said: "I'm quite sure the Board of Elections didn't intend to disenfranchise any voters. . . . This morphed into something that wasn't their intention."

Coleman sent a letter to the consultant who came up with the plan, Michael Malone, advising him to "take no further action or carry out any services on behalf of the Board of Elections." Malone had advised closing the facilities because, he said, they did not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Residents and activists criticized the Board of Elections for even entertaining such a proposal, now less than three months before a crucial midterm election in which Democrat Stacey Abrams is a strong contender to become the nation's first black female governor.

Her challenger, Republican Brian Kemp, is the secretary of state and Georgia's chief elections official. Kemp, who has supported and enforced tougher voter registration and identification laws, has dismissed calls to step down from overseeing his own election.

Malone was on a shortlist of referrals that the secretary of state's office sent to Randolph County officials, who needed someone to step in and run their elections after the county supervisor quit in the spring. Malone, who has contributed to Kemp's campaign, oversaw the May primary and last month's runoff elections.

Kemp urged the county board to abandon the planned closures before the Friday meeting. On Thursday, state elections director Chris Harvey, who works for the secretary of state's office, sent a letter to the county elections board chairman berating him for reaching out to ask for advice and for letting the matter to get out of hand.

"You have created a national media spectacle by seeking to make major changes right before an election and failing to act in a decisive manner that is responsive to the demands of the voters in Randolph County," Harvey wrote.

Randolph County, about 160 miles south of Atlanta, is a rural community of about 7,000 people, 61 percent of whom are black. African-Americans also are a majority of the 4,000 voters in the county, which Democrat Hillary Clinton carried with 55 percent in the 2016 presidential election.

For resident Sandra Willis, who lives in Cuthbert, the county seat, the controversy stirred up a painful but proud moment in her family's history. During the 1950s, her aunt, Charlie Will Thornton, worked with voting rights activists in Randolph County despite threats from officials that she could lose her teaching job in neighboring Terrell County.

When Thornton continued her activism, she was fired from her job, and she could not find work in any of the surrounding counties. She ended up working briefly as a maid for a local family before finally landing another teaching job in Meriwether County, about 100 miles north of Randolph County. Thornton worked in Meriwether for 30 years, eventually becoming a principal. After more than three decades, she was able to get hired in her hometown and retired from teaching in Randolph County.

"That right is something that she fought for . . . and it wasn't that long ago," Willis said in an interview, explaining why she joined others at meetings and rallies to protest the closures.

Willis said she thinks local officials backed off the plan because "they got scared because of all the media coming to town and exposing them."

Activists also said that it was a reminder of the need for Congress to restore portions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was severely weakened by a 2013 Supreme Court decision. The ruling dropped a requirement that states with a history of voter suppression first seek Justice Department approval before making changes to voting laws and procedures.

The plan came to light when Bobby Jenkins, a 66-year-old retired schools superintendent and chairman of the Randolph County Democratic Party, saw the legal notice while reading the local paper.

"It was August 8, two days before my birthday," he said in an interview. "I said, 'This doesn't sound right.'" He alerted other local activists, and the rally cry went out. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, the Georgia NAACP and the state Democratic Party weighed in with letters and other support for local residents. The New Georgia Project, a voter education group, launched a petition drive to collect signatures from registered voters to block the move. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington offered legal advice.

Temeisha Moore, 34, grew up in Shellman, a town of fewer than 1,000 people in Randolph County. She shook as she talked about coming back home to teach in the public schools after graduating from the University of Georgia and finding that "not much has changed."

She was incredulous that county officials relied on a legal notice in the newspaper and didn't try harder to get the word out to residents about the proposal.

"I feel like we weren't supposed to see it, but it happened that someone did see it and spread the word," she said. "It doesn't seem right that, right in the middle of an important election, they want to talk about closing those polling locations."

On Wednesday, Black Voters Matter, a grass-roots effort to energize black voters in the rural south, held a rally in Cuthbert to urge residents to fight the proposal.

Marcia Killingsworth, who lives in the city of Edison in Calhoun County, was one of a handful of white people at the gathering in a restaurant that also serves as a community center for the town of about 3,700 residents. She said she heard about the controversy through the ACLU and her contacts with other progressives in the state.

"Voting rights are everybody's issues. The right to vote is one of our, if not the most, fundamental rights that we have as Americans," she said. "Restricting it or making it more challenging for anybody should be everybody's concern."

Republicans who control the state legislature and the executive branch "just keep putting up more and more hurdles" for some voters, Killingsworth said. "I think it's to disenfranchise people who might vote against their power base."
A Maryland judge Friday told prosecutors it was "very unlikely" he would allow jurors to visit a remote field where an accused murderer allegedly lured his pregnant girlfriend, shot her in the head and buried her in a shallow grave.

"It's a logistical nightmare," Montgomery County Circuit Judge Michael Mason said from the bench after reviewing prosecutors' plans to take not only jurors to the area in Damascus but also the suspect, attorneys and judge.

The 45-minute hearing came ahead of the trial set to start next month for Tyler Lewis Tessier, 33, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death last year of Laura Wallen, a 31-year-old high school teacher.

As for the proposal to take jurors to the spot where Wallen's body was found, the judge noted basic legal standards that would forbid anyone from talking to the jurors once they arrived there, which, he said, could create a situation where the jurors wouldn't get much out of going to the scene.

"So, you're going to take the jurors to this vast open space," Mason asked prosecutors, "have them all get out of an SUV while we sort of all stand around and look at each other, and look at the area without anybody saying anything to anybody?"

Such a trip "may create more confusion in their minds than anything else," Mason said. "What if we get out there, and one them has a question?"

Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy suggested the jurors be given some basic guidelines before going. But Mason appeared unmoved. "It's very unlikely I would let you do it," he said.

Prosecutors are seeking the visit to the field, they said in court filings, to underscore that it is secluded. "This is a spot that is known uniquely to a very small universe of people," McCarthy said in court.

But the judge told McCarthy he could explain the area's characteristics through photographs and witnesses. "There are other ways that it can be done," he said. Mason said he may revisit the site trip request once the trial starts.

Tessier was in court Friday, wearing a dark-green prison jumpsuit, and displayed little emotion as McCarthy asserted that Tessier killed Wallen and used a skid loader to dig a hole to bury her body.

Wallen failed to report for the first day of school in early September, and her body was found Sept. 13 after a massive search in which Tessier made an emotional appeal for her to return.

The court hearing Friday also offered a glimpse of the upcoming strategies in the case.

Prosecutors clearly want to use prominently a photograph of a smiling Wallen that they say Tessier took at the remote area the night before she was killed. The two were together at the site on back-to-back days last September, prosecutors say.

McCarthy said in court filings this week that Wallen was shot by someone who fired a .22-caliber weapon into the back of her head at the brainstem. On Friday, he said Tessier had access to four .22-caliber rifles - one as short as 18 inches - that were kept near the burial site at a meat-processing and slaughterhouse facility.

"Testimony will be admitted that the defendant knew exactly where to shoot that would lead to Ms. Wallen's death," McCarthy and two other prosecutors wrote. "The defendant has executed hundreds of animals in the exact same manner in which he executed Ms. Wallen."

Tessier's attorney continues to try to tamp down the emotional aspects of the case. He objected to the site visit, saying there was no reason to place the jurors right next to where Wallen was buried. He has asked the judge to prevent prosecutors from showing photos of Wallen's body after it was discovered in the graveand halt them from dwelling on medical records that highlight her pregnancy.

"This is a highly emotional case. It's the homicide of a pregnant, young woman," said the attorney, Allen Wolf. "I think a major concern, I know for me and my client, and I think a major concern for the court has got to be how to make sure that a jury decides this case fairly, based on the facts and the evidence."

The judge said he would reserve judgment about allowing the prosecutors to show jurors photos from the gravesite.

Prosecutors indicated in court Friday that, if need be, they would turn to photographs showing the site's topography and to witnesses to convey its isolation. They would then try to establish that Tessier and Wallen went there alone twice during the weekend she was killed.

Among their evidence on that point, they indicated in court filings, are the photograph that Tessier took of Wallen seated in a truck the night of Sept. 2, which Tessier texted to Wallen's sister, and a photograph Wallen took that same night, showing the area's unique tree line.
To the Editor:

A few weeks back, I wrote a letter asking where Fairfields Republican representatives stand on their partys inability or refusal to hold Donald Trump accountable for his actions. Only Tony Hwang made a public statement on his social media page regarding Mr. Trump siding with Vladimir Putin; Laura Devlin and Brenda Kupchick have made no public statements on theirs.

In the days since then, Ive been horrified not only by the public actions of members of the state Republican party (a GOP gubernatorial candidate just yesterday made a racist tweet about a political candidate who is Asian American), but by the silence and inaction of their chairman, J.R. Romano, and Fairfields Republican representatives. Their social media pages seem to be solely focused on fighting with the opposing party instead of calling out the repugnant behavior of their own partys members or saying bigotry is not a Republican value. Do they approve of the racism and xenophobia that have infested their party not only at the national level, but at the state level?

I will close with an excerpt from Elie Wiesels Nobel Prize speech:

We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must  at that moment  become the center of the universe.

Leanne Harpin

Fairfield

Poetry groups

offered in town

To the Editor:

As much as I like poetry, how easily I forget Robert Penn Warren, whose Fairfield home is featured on the front page of the Real Estate section, C1, of the Fairfield Citizen, Aug. 17.

Robert Penn Warren was the first of our poet laureates  of this we are reminded. I had not only totally forgotten, which is my mistake, because I never knew, and, truthfully, I had never thought of Warren as a poet. The designation was revealed on Feb. 27, 1986. He died in Stratton, Vt., on Sept. 15, 1989.

A critic says that Warrens poetry was an emotional journey. His fiction was that, too. I knew him, of course, for his novel, All the Kings Men, perhaps it was the movie, first, when I was an usher in 1949 when I was 16 and later read the book, when I started buying and reading books during my service years.

Which brings me to poetry in Fairfield: There is a program at the Fairfield Library for interested and active poets. And theres a longstanding program at the Fairfield Senior Center where for several years a group of seniors have been gathering to discuss their own poems, twice monthly, at the Bigelow Center for Senior Activities.

I joined the senior center group, and I do enjoy writing poetry very much. The meetings are fun, challenging, at times, and always helpful for our interchanges of the work we read. In the process, we subject ourselves to mild critique.

Not to worry, the leader, Emerson Gilmore, poet, author of two books of poetry, is well prepared to provide models and resources, as well as critiques and encouragement.

Gerard Coulombe

Fairfield

Small acts of

kindness count

To the Editor:

Oh my God, am I becoming a cantankerous, complaining old woman? When did I cross the line? When did I begin to think my rants about corporate greed, disinformation, built-in obsolescence and obscene drug costs were so important?

Only a few years ago I was firmly rooted in gratitude, global kindness and generosity. I took groups of U.S. women to visit with womens groups in rural Haiti, Bosnia, Palestine, Kenya and Guatemala. Then I wrote grant proposals and now I write letters of complaint. I think I am disappointed in the new American way, which puts consumption and greed on the top of the To Do list.

When I traveled to underdeveloped countries, I kept my heart open and my spirit hopeful. I recall one morning, when we were meeting with women in the small village of Plaisance, Haiti, the electricity was turned off till noon and there was a riot in town. Crowds were burning tires and demanding change in the government.

A baby was born in the mountains the night before without a midwife. The mother hemorrhaged and died. Another young mother who had just fed her own 3-week-old twins was now suckling the dead mothers newborn. None of this was unusual. Women died in childbirth; other women feed children that were not theirs. The villagers took care of one another.

Being in Plaisance that morning and listening to that story compelled me to return to Haiti over and over again for more than two decades. I knew that if I had lived there during the time of my last birthing experience, I would have died. I gave birth in a U.S. hospital to premature twins. One died. I hemorrhaged and teetered on the edge of death as the surgical team replaced all of my blood. This would have been impossible in Plaisance.

I ask myself why am I living in privilege, while other women live in poverty? Is it only an accident of birth? I was driven to help women in those countries and to expose the conditions they live with every day to others in my country. We started a small health clinic in Cite Soliel that was run by a nurse and her friends and brought radio equipment to establish a womens radio station in a small mountain village,

I continued to bring U.S. women, teachers, reporters and volunteers to visit Haiti and we made a small difference in the lives of some. These experiences permeated my being and created a stark awareness of the vast gap between first world and Third World living.

When I returned home, I could start a pot of coffee perking with my fingertip, open my garage door and find my car filled with gasoline ready to go. My computer and phone were always available with a live internet connection. Excellent medical help was a phone call away. Gratitude filled me for all the conveniences I took for granted.

Now, years later, I have become a complainer. I have forgotten how privileged I am. I rant and harangue about the wrongs I experience which are all problems of privilege. Shortsighted and deep into minutia, I complain and groan about poor service for a washer and dryer, a malfunctioning computer, underpayment of an insurance claim and the lack of attention at a brokerage firm.

How do privilege, poverty, kindness and generosity partner with irritability and complaining? Perhaps here at home in the U.S., where privilege lives next door to poverty often without noticing, I expect people to be kind to each other. I expect to buy products that work, continue to work, without built-in obsolescence. I expect service companies to be of service. Perhaps I expect too much.

After years of traveling to other countries to offer help in small ways, now I take care of my own family, my friends, my own town and those nearby. Now I focus on noticing small acts of kindness and generosity at home and replicating them.

I recently watched a woman picking up the garbage on Jennings Beach; the next day a stranger offered me her inhaler when she noticed I was having trouble breathing. A person at Cumberland Farms pointed to me and said to the cashier, Ill pay for her coffee too.

I had to travel round the world to notice the presence of and the need for kindness and generosity in my own neighborhood. Now, I try to live by Desmond Tutus quote:

Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Rosemary Williams

Fairfield

How to send a letter to the editor

Letters should not exceed 300 words. Occasionally The Fairfield Citizen publishes Viewpoint pieces, which should be issue-oriented and not exceed 600 words.

The Citizen reserves the right to edit submissions for brevity, clarity, appropriateness and libel and to determine the frequency with which a writer's submissions are published.

All submissions must be signed and include the writer's town of residence (for publication) as well as a home address and phone number (not for publication).
NEW HAVEN  The citys chief administrative officer will resign next month, Mayor Toni N. Harp announced Friday in a news release.

Harp received a letter from Michael Carter earlier in the day, the release said. Carters letter did not include a reason for his resignation, which will be effective Sept. 7.

It came from a blue sky, city spokesman Laurence Grotheer said of the announcment, adding Harp was surprised to hear of Carters resignation. It was news in the office today.

Carter has been out of the office all week on vacation, Grotheer said, and could not be reached for comment.

The chief administrators office oversees the police, fire, and emergency management departments, the New Haven Free Public Library system, as well as public works, parks and recreation, engineering, human resources and public safety communications.

The city has not yet established a transition plan for when Carters resignation becomes official in September, Grotheer said.

The mayor will work with Mr. Carter over the next two weeks to arrange a smooth transition to ensure the continuing operation of all city departments, he said.

Grotheer said he didnt have the resignation letter when asked to send a copy to the Register.

Harp appointed Carter in 2014 following a national search of candidates for the CAO position. Carter was the deputy director for operations of public works for the District of Columbia before being hired by the city and holds degrees from Dartmouth College, Rutgers University and Indiana University.

Carter is a respected member of the administration who was known as a problem solver. On his curent agenda has been the issue of overtime costs for the police and fire departments, plus contract negotiations for each of the public safety unions as police enter binding arbitration.

His resignation caught everyone at City Hall by surprise, from Deputy CEO Maggie Targove, to Fire Chief John Alston Jr., Police Chief Anthony Campbell and city Engineer Giovanni Zinn.

Im a little shocked  a little frustrated, Alston said. He was not only my boss, but my friend, a theme repeated by others.

In the spring, there were supporters who thought he might resign this fiscal year, but then felt comfortable that he would be here another year when he kept working after July1.

Mike is the consummate professional, Campbell said. He called Carter a great friend, almost a father figure who taught him a lot.

The chief said Carter had a way of getting the job done by bringing people together and making them feel that they all had added important elements in solving a problem. He has been fantastic, the chief said.

He praised Carter for getting new vehicles for the rank and file and for organizing a number of police training classes to fill the ranks as the number of vacancies keeps climbing. It has now hit 91 police officers and detectives, as well as four sergeants, two lieutenants and four captains.

When he wasnt working hard for the city, he was doing things for the community, Campbell said. The chief said Carter made several trips to Haiti to work with crews bringing the residents fresh water after one of the devastating hurricanes to hit that island.

Zinn said Carter was a public servant who put his head down and successfully attacked the tough problems.

It was something I really admired, Zinn said. He leaves a great legacy.

Speculation turned to who might take his place.

There is no bench, one employee said of an obvious replacement within city government.

Carter had one confrontation in his four years with the city.

In April 2017, Harp issued a written reprimand for the chief administrative officer over an outburst the month before with Local 3144 Vice-President Harold Brooks.

Carter told Brooks to take this outside during a disciplinary hearing on March 30 involving another member of Local 3144. Brooks told police he felt threatened by Carter, but also said Carter never made a direct threat to cause bodily harm.

Harp at the time said she did not consider firing him, which Local 3144 had sought.

Hes been a great asset to the city of New Haven. I would not support that, Harp said in a television interview last year.
NEW HAVEN  City Hall has turned its attention to fashion.

And so far, it is costing city taxpayers nearly $4,000  and at least one alder is questioning the expenditure.

The city spent nearly $4,000 on uniforms in May for the receptionists in the mayors office in an effort to standardize their appearance.

City spokesman Laurence Grotheer said there was a desire, not a need, to create a more professional standard in the reception area and maintain that standard.

In most places Ive worked, those who greet and interact with the public have worn uniforms; I wanted the Mayors Office in New Haven to follow suit, with a standard, professional look to greet all those entering the reception area, Mayor Toni N. Harp said.

Invoices of the purchases obtained by the New Haven Register show three women were provided with varying colored apparel  blouses, polo shirts, cardigans, pants, skirts, blazers and scarves  totaling $3,959. Grotheer added clothing is also being looked at for a recently hired receptionist, but an order has not been placed yet.

Grotheer said the mayors office then worked with the fire department to get the best price it could.

The uniforms were purchased from Horwitz Uniforms in West Haven, using city funds appropriated for the fire department. Grotheer said the New Haven Fire Department has an existing contract with the company, so it was cheaper for the purchase order to be run through the fire department.

The fire departments relationship with the vendor is established and a regular feature in fire department business. There is a better pricing structure because of that volume, he said.

Robert Horwitz, owner of Horwtiz Uniforms, said due to client confidentiality, he couldnt disclose whether the city would have had to pay more if the uniforms were purchased directly from his company but said it can be cheaper to purchase the same exact apparel if there is an existing contract in place.

Regardless of what budget the shopping spree came from, why are the taxpayers footing the bill for $4,000 worth of clothing for City Halls office staff? This has never happened before, Local 825 President Frank Ricci said.

Ricci said this expenditure is three times what a firefighter receives, which is especially problematic when firefighters are in need of proper equipment and uniforms to meet the new threats to our profession such as body armor for active shooter alarms, he said.

Ricci said he believes it was improper for the assistant chief of administration to allow funds to be allocated from the fire departments budget as it demonstrates a complete ambivalence to his responsibilities and a betrayal of public trust.

Grotheer said he wasnt sure if other, lower-priced alternatives were considered. An online search of several uniform websites found most of the items could be purchased for less than the prices listed on the invoices.

For example, the invoices list an Edwards Ladies Tailored V-Neck Long Sleeve Blouse as costing $33 to $34, but the same shirt can be bought online for $26.80 from Vicco Uniforms and $26.99 from Uniform Difference.

Alder Anna Festa said she was unaware and confused by the city spending that amount of money on uniforms for the receptionists in the mayors office.

I guess Im just wondering what the purpose of it is because weve never had that before, Festa said.

While shes doesnt have all the details to comment on whether the purchase order was a necessity, Festa said she believes the funds could have been put to better use elsewhere.

We could be spending our money on more important resources than on uniforms for receptionists. Its a bad time for us to be moving forward with this type of initiative, Festa said. Were laying off teachers, were laying off important people, were in a deficit, and to be spending $4,000 on uniforms, at a time when we should be minding our Ps and Qs, is, I dont get it.

While the money has yet to be reallocated to the fire department, Grotheer said the plan is to transfer the funds from the mayors office. By the time an invoice is paid, and the request for a transfer made, and the request for the transfer is approved, it can take several months for the money to move, he said.

However, Ricci alleged the only reason the city said they would return the funds is because they got caught.

When asked whether this could be considered a misappropriation of funds, Grotheer said the city provides equipment and clothing to many departments, so its not really a departure from that.

Other city personnel  firefighters, police officers, public works employees  wear uniforms on a daily basis, but the receptionists in the mayors office are the only full-time city employees who work out of City Hall that wear uniforms. Security and building maintenance personnel, who also work out of City Hall, wear uniforms, but they are employed by companies that have a contract with New Haven.

Vasishth Srivastava, spokesman for the mayors office in Hartford, said Hartford doesnt have a specific or formal policy in place for City Hall employees but professional attire is expected. He said employees can wear whatever they want within those expectations.

jessica.lerner@

hearstmediact.com; @jesslerner on Twitter
New U.S. sanctions against Russia for last spring's nerve agent attack in Britain will go into effect Monday, but their impact will be limited among a raft of other punitive measures already in place.

But while the measures themselves - largely prohibiting U.S. technological exports and government financing - mostly overlap with sanctions previously imposed for other Russian behavior, they indicate the ongoing deterioration of U.S.-Russian relations.

The law also gives Russia 90 days to acknowledge the attack, eliminate its chemical weapons stocks, and open its doors to international inspections or risk more draconian actions that theoretically could lead anywhere from elimination of all U.S. commercial bank financing to the severing of diplomatic relations.

Those are among the measures that are spelled out in the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act. The State Department posted a notice Friday in the Federal Register outlining the measures.

Russia has denied involvement in the March attack against Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy living in Britain, and his daughter, Yulia. Both survived exposure to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, although a British woman later died from exposure to residue of the toxin left on a perfume bottle.

In prohibiting U.S. foreign assistance, defense sales and military financing, government credit, and national security-sensitive exports to Russia - all mandated in the legislation - the posted notice carves out exceptions for humanitarian aid and technology related to commercial air safety and space cooperation.

It says that licenses for excepted exports will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Those restrictions and exceptions are already in place for most exports, under sanctions imposed for Russia's activity in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, as well as interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

U.S. Export-Import Bank activity in Russia has been under a formal hold because of Crimea.

The administration has resisted a push by lawmakers for even more stringent sanctions, as President Donald Trump has called for more cooperation with Russia on a range of foreign policy issues. But Trump, in an interview with Reuters this week, said he has no intention of lifting existing sanctions. White House national security adviser John Bolton said on a visit to Ukraine that "the sanctions remain in force and will remain in force until the required change in Russian behavior."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday that "all options are on the table" in terms of a response to the sanctions, according to the Interfax news agency.

"Many have been saying that Russia should stop supplying the United States with rocket engines, aircraft titanium, and uranium concentrate. But that's shooting ourselves in the foot," he said.

"We should get ready for the United States' eventual decision to stop or significantly reduce its purchases of such Russian products. We should not jump the gun," Ryabkov said. "There will be no rapid change for the better in any event, given the sentiment in the United States today."
A federal investigation that led President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer to implicate Trump in two campaign finance crimes this week also secured the cooperation of one of the top-ranking executives at Trump's private company.

Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors in New York who were investigating Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen, according to people familiar with the probe.

On Tuesday, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felonies, including two counts related to hush money paid to women who alleged affairs with Trump. Cohen admitted he violated campaign finance law with the payments, which he said he made at Trump's direction. The president has denied knowing about the payments when they were made.

Weisselberg, who began working with the Trump family in the 1970s as an accountant for the president's father, was one of the executives who helped arrange for Cohen to be reimbursed $420,000 for money paid to keep adult-film star Stormy Daniels quiet, according to a person with knowledge of his role.

The decision to grant Weisselberg immunity gave prosecutors access to one of the highest-ranking figures inside the president's private company, an executive who is considered practically part of Trump's family.

Over the decades, Weisselberg rose from serving as an accountant to the keeper of Trump's personal books. After Trump's election, he was appointed to help run the trust that controls the president's assets, along with two of the president's sons, Donald Trump Jr., a fellow trustee, and Eric Trump, chairman of the trust's advisory board

"He was really the guy in charge of the money, and that's always a position of honor," said one person close to the Trump Organization who requested anonymity to describe the company's internal dynamics.

It is unclear whether investigators in New York have sought to get information from Weisselberg beyond his knowledge of Cohen's reimbursements. Prosecutors also granted immunity to David Pecker, a longtime Trump ally and chief executive of a tabloid publishing company, to describe his company's role in suppressing stories about the alleged affairs, according to a person with knowledge of the probe.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Weisselberg's immunity deal.

Weisselberg is the person identified in court filings as "Executive-1," who prosecutors said helped authorize payments to Cohen, according to one person familiar with his role. He testified last month before a grand jury investigating Cohen.

According to court filings, Cohen in early 2017 submitted an invoice to Weisselberg seeking to be repaid for legal expenses he said he made on Trump's behalf.

Among the expenses for which he was seeking reimbursement: $130,000 paid to Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

A person familiar with the Trump Organization said Cohen explained that $130,000 expense, which he had paid to Daniels's attorney, was a settlement "of a personal nature."

Weisselberg did not know the nature of the settlement but approved the reimbursement because of Cohen's long-standing role as counsel to Trump, according to one person familiar with the situation.

In February 2017, Cohen sent Weisselberg, identified as "Executive-1," an invoice seeking two monthly payments of $35,000 "pursuant to [a] retainer agreement," according to court documents.

Weisselberg forwarded Cohen's invoice to another Trump Organization executive, "and it was approved," prosecutors wrote.

Weisselberg then forwarded that email to another employee, writing: "Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses. Put 'retainer for the months of January and February 2017' in the description," according to court filings.

In fact, prosecutors said, Cohen had no retainer agreement with the Trump Organization at the time, and the invoices were not in connection with any legal services he provided in 2017.

Weisselberg, now 70, got his start in the family business by working as an accountant for Trump's father, real estate magnate Fred Trump, in the 1970s.

In 2000, he was named chief financial officer of the company. But his role is greater than that: Weisselberg has been at the center of a financial operation that covered all parts of Trump's life: his corporation's finances, his personal accounts and his personal charity.

In a deposition with the New York attorney general's office, conducted as part of a state investigation into Trump's charity, Weisselberg recalled being told to fly to Iowa with the foundation's checkbook in 2016.

Trump was holding a fundraiser for veterans as part of his presidential campaign, and Weisselberg was told that the candidate might want to give out checks that night.

Weisselberg said he was surprised to be asked to accompany Trump. "I had never gone anywhere with Donald on any kind of - anything," he said, according to a transcript of the interview.

Weisselberg started to describe what he thought of that odd order. But then he stopped himself.

"It doesn't matter what I thought," Weisselberg said. "He's my boss. I went."

A person close to the Trump family who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions said Weisselberg is viewed with the highest respect by the family, calling him "truly a class act."

Peter Wu, a real estate broker who has worked with the Trump Organization, said Weisselberg was always quietly at Trump's side during negotiations and handled the payments to the company's partners.

"He gets involved in all the transactions, all the money flows, so he's quite an important man and I'm sure he's very loyal to Donald," Wu said. "I would be surprised if they would be able to get too much out of him."

The low-profile executive was thrust into the headlines last month, when Cohen attorney Lanny Davis released a secret recording Cohen made of a September 2016 conversation with then-candidate Trump.

In the recording, Cohen can be heard discussing the need for Trump to purchase the rights to Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal's story of an affair with Trump. In their conversation, Cohen told Trump that he had discussed buying the rights to McDougal's story with Weisselberg.

After the disclosure of the recording, Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Organization, disputed the idea that Weisselberg had signed off on Cohen's plan.

"Mr. Weisselberg is a bookkeeper who simply carries out directions from others about monetary payments and transfers," he said.

But federal prosecutors in New York quickly subpoenaed Weisselberg to appear before a grand jury.

It is not uncommon for prosecutors to offer immunity to a person who may have wittingly or unwittingly facilitated a crime if investigators decide that person is more of a witness than a perpetrator, or if prosecutors decide they cannot get necessary testimony without offering some degree of immunity.

For example, when former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort went on trial this month in Alexandria, Va., prosecutors granted immunity to several people who worked on his taxes and finances. One of those witnesses testified that she suspected Manafort was submitting false information to the IRS to lower his tax burden but went along with it.

- - -

The Washington Post's David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O'Connell contributed to this report.

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Video: Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been granted immunity in the federal investigation into Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

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Before the streaming waterfall and rocky exterior of Africa Live!, San Antonio Zoo keepers, board members and patrons gathered Thursday afternoon for the unveiling of a mural by students from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Or so it seemed.

Former zoo director Steve McCusker and his wife, Jonolyn, joined the crowd, as zoo CEO and executive director Tim Morrow announced the event was a ruse. Morrow said there werent any UTSA students present and the mural wasnt the reason for the ceremony.

Steve McCusker is a true visionary and it is with great honor that the San Antonio Zoological Society dedicates Africa Live! to Steve McCusker, Morrow said, taking McCusker by surprise as the crowd burst into applause.

Then Morrow and members of the zoological society revealed a bronze plaque, bolted to the entrance of the grotto that allows visitors to watch the hippos swimming underwater. The plaque has an engraved image of McCusker wearing his trademark cowboy hat.

They lauded the former director for leading with heart, passion and enthusiasm. They spoke about how 20 years of his 44-year zoological career were spent at the San Antonio Zoo. Among the exhibits that he and his team opened were Africa Live!, Gibbon Forrest, Lory Landing, Kronkoskys Tiny Tot Nature Spot and Zootennial Plaza.

Morrow said the idea for the dedication came to him while he was walking through the zoo, and noticed recognitions for former zoo directors Fred Stark and Louis DiSabato. He wanted something similar to commemorate McCuskers legacy.

Steve, thank you for setting the standard for all youve done for the San Antonio Zoo and our community, he said to a stunned McCusker. And were honored to dedicate this building in your honor for generations to come.

Morrow said the Africa Liva! exhibit set the standard for the future plans that include expanding the rhino exhibit and renovating the jaguar habitat to include a catwalk which will cross above guests heads.

Keeping the event a secret took coordination and a little persuasion.

Morrow said they had to trick the reserved McCusker to come to the zoo for a photo shoot. His wife Jonolyn was the one who told him about the supposed unveiling of the mural and told him they had to be there.

I just think its a wonderful honor and hes very pleased, she said, as well wishers dined on snacks lining tables draped with zebra-striped tablecloths. Its a wonderful zoo and the fact that he was part of it for so long is something that well both always remember.

McCusker, who retired in 2014, entered the grotto part of the newly renamed building to hugs and handshakes.

He said incorporating animals from Africa in one setting was the inspiration for the Africa Live! exhibit.

It just shows that animal varieties are endless, he said. You can teach much better with all the classes of animals and environments. Its a great teaching tool.

Guests snapped cell phone photos through the underwater viewing windows of Timothy the young hippo and his grandmother, Uma, as they swam in their lagoon.

San Antonio Zoo Board President Chris Bathie said that the five-year Africa Live! project transformed the zoo and increased attendance twofold. He called the underground rock structure design revolutionary.

It was a massive impact, he said. Steve took on the job from day one and you dont know what peoples tastes are going to be in five years time. Its quite fortuitous that things turned out quite well. Hats off to him for addressing that problem and solving it.

Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis
A San Antonio water park built to be accessible for people with special needs was named one of Time Magazine's World's Greatest Places in 2018.

Morgan's Inspiration Island made the cut of 100 spots around the globe. It's the world's first water park made to be "ultra accessible."
A San Antonio couple has been charged in what is billed as the most prolific illegal opioid distribution network in the country on the darknet, the Justice Department said.

Matthew Alan Roberts and Holly Roberts, both 35, were arrested and charged earlier this year with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and other crimes in a case that originated in Cleveland. The case was publicized in a news conference there this week by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and federal prosecutors in Ohio, who said the Robertses operated the most prolific dark net fentanyl vendor in the United States and the fourth most prolific in the world  MH4Life.
An 18-year-old man was arrested Friday morning after he made a threatening social media post regarding Highland High School, according to the San Antonio ISD.

Police found out about the post around 11:30 a.m., according to a news release from the district. Officers found the suspect on campus property around 11:45 a.m. and took him into custody. He did not make inside the school, however, officials said.
Bexar County sheriff's deputies arrested three people after finding drugs and loaded guns inside a home and marijuana inside a car also carrying a 3-year-old, officials said.

The narcotics unit served a search warrant Wednesday in the 3000 block of Morales Street, where they detained Mark Anthony Lopez, 24.
Donald Trump has made politics less rational and more reflexive.

If he supports something, his backers will say that they also support it  even if they would normally oppose it. Consider the Trumpsters who call themselves conservatives but now support tariffs and trade barriers.

In the same way, if the president ends a program, his opponents want it back  even if that program is flawed, problematic and not in the best interests of the people it is supposed to help.

More and more these days, no one really stops to think about how they feel about anything. What matters most is how they feel about Trump. The rest evolves naturally from there.

For instance, in September 2017, Trump announced the end to a controversial Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

As to whether Trump had the power to do so, federal judges are of mixed minds.

Recently, in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge John Bates issued an injunction on the attempt to end DACA and ordered the administration to once again start accepting applications. But Bates delayed his own order until Aug. 23, which gave the administration time to begin the process of appealing the ruling.

Meanwhile, another judge seems to be intent on ending DACA. In the Southern District of Texas, Judge Andrew Hanen previously struck down the Obama administrations Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), which afforded legal protection to the undocumented parents of U.S.-born children. More recently, he heard arguments from 10 states seeking a nationwide injunction against DACA because they claim it is unconstitutional. Hanen didnt issue an immediate ruling but he is considering the request.

Any way you slice it, the legal fate of DACA seems to be headed for the Supreme Court.

Having skipped law school, I cant give you a legal opinion about DACA. But heres a logical one. If Democrats argue that Trump doesnt have the authority to end the program, it becomes very difficult for them to argue that President Barack Obama had the authority to launch it.

At the same time, DACAs defenders face a different question: whether the program is even worth fighting for in the first place.

It isnt.

DACA was always an empty gesture, a sorry excuse for the comprehensive immigration-reform solution Obama should have come up with. As a pro-labor Democrat who was sympathetic to claims that employers use illegal immigrants to deny jobs to working-class Americans, legalizing the undocumented was never going to be Obamas cause. He just fooled a lot of people on the left into thinking he cared about what happened to the undocumented, even as he was deporting about 3 million of them.

Still, Obama needed a tool to patch up his relationship with Latino voters during his 2012 re-election campaign. So Obama took the easy way out instead of working with Congress to pass a catch-all immigration reform bill that secured the border, provided guest workers for employers and legalized undocumented immigrants. He simply issued an executive action that gave young people who were brought here as children by their parents (so-called Dreamers) a two-year reprieve from deportation and a temporary work permit.

But what the executive branch giveth, the executive branch can taketh away.

And thats just what the Trump administration did. Worse, Trump now has  thank you, Obama  the personal information of the nearly 700,000 Dreamers who agreed to this Faustian bargain because they believed the people from the government when they said they had come to help them.

DACA offers false hope, and it puts in peril the very group that it sought to protect. It also acts as a pressure valve to make members of Congress comfortable with doing nothing to fix the main problem  the fact that an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants are living in the United States.

Truth is, DACA has always been more trouble than its worth. It was a bad idea, and it was proposed by people with bad intentions.

So, if the courts decide to back the White House and end it, good riddance.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
The worst disaster in the history of the United States Navy only began with the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.

Three hundred men died in the initial catastrophe on July 30, 1945, then the survivors cast into the sea suffered unimaginable horrors, abandoned for days without food or water in shark-infested waters.

The new book Indianapolis is a bestseller, a testament not just to its novelistic style, but the enduring fascination with the tragedy.

Another book published about 15 years ago, In Harms Way, also was a best-seller. A feature film was released about the doomed ship two years ago. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen spearheaded an expedition in August 2017 to discover the wreck at the bottom of the Pacific, and PBS aired a special of underwater footage of the majestic graveyard shortly thereafter.

As long as tales of the sea move human hearts  which is to say, approximately, forever  the story of the Indianapolis will shock and inspire.

The ship had been commissioned in 1932. She was a heavy cruiser, in between a larger battleship and smaller destroyer. Sleek, fast, and elegant, she bristled with firepower  her 8-inch guns could fire a 250-pound shell 18 miles. Franklin Roosevelt made her his ship of state, and she became the flagship of the Navys 5th Fleet.

During World War II, she saw significant action and suffered a debilitating kamikaze strike at Okinawa. Quickly repaired, she embarked on a secret mission to deliver components of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. She then proceeded unaccompanied to Leyte in the Philippines.

A Japanese submarine operating in her path stumbled upon her on a dark night. It fired six torpedoes, two of which struck the ship in quick succession right after midnight. The ship sank in 12 horrifying minutes.

Nine hundred men made it off, suddenly in the middle of the Philippine Sea at night with their home, their weapon, their mistress gone. Only about half had a life jacket or life vest. They were spread over miles. Many were wounded.

At first, they were hopeful about a rescue that didnt come for four excruciating days. The ships SOS call was picked up at three places, but the message was ignored. A failure in the Navys tracking system meant no one noticed when the Indianapolis didnt show up at Leyte. Day by day, hundreds more men died.

During the day, the sun tortured them. The salt water weakened them. Thirst agonized them. Their life jackets began to give out.

They died of exposure and exhaustion. They died from the nightmarish attacks of circling sharks. They died from the terrible temptation of drinking salt water. They died from madness. They died from sheer despair, giving up and sinking beneath the waves.

Still, somehow, at the extreme edge of human endurance, 317 men survived when a plane on a surveillance mission finally came across them.

For Capt. Charles McVay, a new agony began. As the Indianapolis sank, he had considered going down with the ship before getting swept away by a wave. At first separated from his men, he had the horrifying thought that he alone might have survived.

The Navy court-martialed him for not having zigzagged to evade attack, even though his orders only made it mandatory during the day, even though the maneuver was of dubious effectiveness, even though the captain of the Japanese sub said he assuredly would have sunk the Indianapolis anyway.

There was a much stronger case that McVay had been let down by the Navy, since he wasnt apprised of reports of Japanese subs operating in his vicinity and the Navy, shockingly, lost track of his ship. Yet McVay was found guilty. A broken man, he took his own life in 1968, and the Navy didnt expunge his record of wrongdoing until 2001.

Its another tragedy associated with a ship whose drama, heartbreaking and astonishing, will never leave us.

comments.lowry@nationalreview.com
There is a disconnect in the case of former Army Spc. Yea Ji Sea and it goes to the heart of why the Pentagons eagerness to boot out noncitizen soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines is nonsensical. Her case also serves as one more piece of evidence that this administrations immigration policies are more broadly irrational.

Sea joined the service four-and-one-half years ago through a program that promised immigrants a fast track to citizenship. By all accounts she served well, but was discharged after the Trump administration shut down the program  the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program or MAVNI. This followed the Obama administrations suspension of the program, citing security concerns that, its clear now, were unfounded.

She was discharged though she wanted to stay in the service. Heres the disconnect: Two weeks later, the Justice Department approved her for another fast track  also to citizenship. Seas circumstances were the subject of an Express-News article recently by Sig Christenson.

RELATED: Immigrant GI booted out of Army at Fort Sam

The military believed her language skills  she speaks Korean  were important. And they proved so when she served in South Korea as an ambulance driver and pharmacy technician. She also translated for Army doctors. She came to this country when she was 9 and was one of more than 10,000 immigrants recruited through the program, mostly into the Army.

An Army review found that some of the MAVNI recruits may have made or possessed fraudulent student visas before joining. Theoretically, this rendered them vulnerable to being security risks. However, as Christenson reported, a RAND Corp study found no publicly available reports of MAVNI recruits engaging in terror-, sabotage- or espionage-related activities.

In a citizenship interview in 2014, Sea incorrectly stated that a date on a form filled in for her by a corrupt immigration agent was accurate, according to the article. It wasnt and the government rejected her application. After more than a year of demonstrating good moral character, she was allowed to reapply. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on her behalf after the government let two years lapse without acting on her application.

A judge changed that earlier this month, ordering the government to explain why it had not acted. The Justice Department then sent an email shortly after approving her naturalization application. She was scheduled to be sworn in this week.

Which begs the question: Worthy enough to become a citizen but unworthy of remaining in the Army?

Sea will be able to rejoin the military after she gains citizenship if she chooses. But there is no credible reason why the Army should have so cruelly discarded her in the first place. Yes, it started with that Army review in the Obama administration but came to a head with the Trump administrations shutdown of MAVNI for no credible reason.

As with much of the Trump administrations immigration policies, this has all the earmarks of being all about knee-jerk biases  in this case, involving foreigners in the Army. But we also have a push for a border wall to secure a border that has never been more secure. We have overheated rhetoric about threats that immigrants  with and without documents  pose that bear no resemblance to facts on the ground, even if undocumented immigrants do  less than the native born  commit crimes, some heinous.

Some of those immigrants booted out of the military are also threatened with deportation. And asylum seekers, who have a legal right to walk up to the border to ask for refuge, are separated from their children and deported, their children in too many cases remaining.

Seas story might have a happy ending, but, overall, this is altogether still madness.
In South Windsor, Connecticut, a daycare worker facing child abuse charges related to babies between the ages of 12- and 18-months of age.

Details of the Windsor Daycare Abuse Charges

According to WFSB, 25-year-old Ashley Swietek faces three felony risk of injury to a minor charges for abuse allegations at Mother Goose Childrens Center in South Windsor. The arrest warrant says the three victims were only 1 to 1-and-a-half years old and abused under Swieteks care between 2016 and 2018.

The documents say Swietek threw one victim into a wall resulting in his head snapping backward and slamming into the wall. A teacher also reported Swietek forcefully restraining a 27-pound child, and later that day the childs mom reported noticing unexplained bruising on his lower back.

The owner of the daycare and two others were arrested for failing to report the alleged abuse. Mother Goose Childrens Center had no comment on Thursday. Swietek will be back in court next month.

Daycare Abuse Statistics

According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, more than 3.5 million reports from CPS agencies were received in 2013 alone.

The majority of these reports dealt with neglect, followed by physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and medical neglect trailing closely behind. In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,700 fatalities resulting from child maltreatment, marking a 7 percent increase from the 1,589 reported fatalities in 2015. A 2005 report states that 47.3 percent of all abused kids were male, while 50.7 percent were female. The age group most likely to be abused is children between the birth and 3 years of age. The same report states that 49.7 percent of all child abuse victims were white, 23.1 percent were African-American, and 17.4 percent were Hispanic. American Indians accounted for 1.2 percent of abused children, while Asian-Pacific Islanders accounted for less than 1 percent of victims.

Contact an Experienced Child Injury Attorney

If your child has been injured after an accident or abuse at a daycare center, contact Thomas J. Henry. Parents put their trust in the staff of a daycare facility to keep their children safe and out of harms way. It is unacceptable for a child to be subjected to abuse or an unsafe premises while in their care. If your child was seriously injured due to the negligence or abusive actions of daycare staff, call our experienced child injury attorneys today. Thomas J. Henry has the legal and financial resources necessary to develop your childs case properly. Call for a free case review.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. 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.
WILTON  Abuse of power allegations against a Wilton detective have ended in a payout by the town.

The town agreed to pay $750 to New Canaan resident Janet Trifero following a January incident in which a senior Wilton detective allegedly followed and intimidated her. In return, Trifero has waived all claims to pursue the case any further.

The complaint claimed Detective Scott Sear and an unnamed female officer followed Trifero for several miles from Norwalk to Wilton in an unmarked vehicle on Jan. 19, 2018.

Trifero, who was on the way from her Silvermine residence to her job in Wilton, claimed Sear pulled her over on Old Belden Hill Road but would not state his reason for stopping her. During the exchange, Sear allegedly exposed a gun tucked into his belt with no holster, according to the complaint.

I was profiled, presented with very questionable charges and exposed to a gun that provoked intense fear and was meant to intimidate me, read the complaint.

The incident ended in Trifero being issued a citation for failing to stop at a stop sign and failure to grant right of way.

Trifero lodged an illegal discriminatory practice complaint against the Wilton Police Department through the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities on Feb. 23.

The Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, which oversaw the mediation of the complaint, would not comment on the incident.

The complaint is still in investigation, said Michelle Dumas-Keuler, a human rights attorney with the CHRO.

On July 23, a short-handed Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed to settle the complaint in a 3-0 vote. Selectman Deborah McFadden was absent from the meeting and the seat of Michael Kaelin hadnt been filled at the time.

The terms of the settlement were not revealed by the town until nearly a month later, once Trifero had agreed to it.

The Wilton Police Department would not comment on the incident.

I am not able to comment on the settlement or the details, said Police Chief John Lynch. Any comment regarding the settlement or circumstances must be directed to the selectmans office.

The First Selectwomans Office also had no comments on the settlement.

Lynch refused to reveal if Sear is facing any discipline as a result of the incident.

Sear, who was hired by the Wilton Police Department in October 1992 and has been a detective since 2005, has previously been named in complaints against the department.

Sear was one of four officers named in a lawsuit filed on April 10 by Wilton resident Neelu Pal. Pal claimed Sear had detained, threatened, assaulted, imprisoned and forcibly prevented her from leaving the Wilton police station during an encounter on March 20, 2017.

The Pal case is still being reviewed by Judge Michael Shea, of the Connecticut District Courts Second Circuit.
Munyaradzi Shoko, the leader of the Children of Zimbabwe War Veterans Association (Cozwa), a known critic of President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been arrested and charged with criminal nuisance for allegedly posting some offensive statements on Facebook against the Zanu PF leader.

Cops arrested Shoko on Tuesday and detained him at Harare Central Police Station. He has been charged with criminal nuisance as defined in section 46 as read with paragraph 2 (v) of the third schedule of the Criminal Law (Codification Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

Police officers claimed that Shoko, who is represented by Moses Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, posted some statements on Facebook between March and May 2018 criticising Mnangagwa.

The statement allegedly read: At one time he beat up his own biological mother, he was later suspected for killing his own family head-boy.

He was pinpointed for being the brains behind Ndebele 1980s scum. His name is generally associated with evil and devilish deeds. Today he is pleading for ur vote.

WHAT A SHAME!!!!!!!!.

Officers said Shokos statements were likely to create a nuisance and were likely to interfere with the ordinary comfort, peace or quietness of the public.

Shoko was also charged with public violence as defined in section 36 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 for allegedly participating in protests staged in Harare early this month over delays in announcing the results of the harmonised elections held last month.

Cops alleged that Shoko engaged in acts of violence in Harares Central Business District on August 1 together with some MDC Alliance party supporters during a demonstration held in the capital city to protest against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissions management of the harmonised elections held on July 30, which reportedly resulted in the destruction of property and left at least six people dead after they were shot by some members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

Shoko was also charged with assault as defined in section 89 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 for allegedly assaulting Energy Mutodi, a Zanu PF member on August 25, 2017 at Holiday Inn Hotel in Harare.

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- The All Progressives Congress is doing all within its power to control at least three states in the south-south geo-political zones in 2019

- The party has intensified efforts in convincing ex-governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, to join the ruling party

- Uduaghan is being asked to dump the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for APC

The All Progressives Congress has mounted fresh pressure on a former governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, to dump the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the ruling party.

The pressure mounted on the ex-governor to join the ruling party is for the purpose of controlling Delta state in 2019.

Vanguard reports that the lobby for Uduaghan by APC strategists was led by the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.

Legit.ng gathers that a source said: Comrade Oshiomhole is already discussing with Dr. Uduaghan, never mind the attempts by another former governor of Delta state, Chief James Ibori, Governor Okowa and others to stop Uduaghan from joining APC, he is coming to APC.

READ ALSO: Coalition against Wike, upland dominance thickens ahead of 2019 general elections

Even when they were calling and meeting with Uduaghan not to dump PDP, Oshiomhole was briefed on their plans, but he just allowed them to waste their time because he had finalised talks with him and was sure that he would not fall for their gamble.

Uduaghan is APCs talisman to take over Delta and Oshiomhole is not going back on him. Uduaghan has played commendable roles in APC and he knows that is where his heart is now.

Already, Senator Akpabio, who installed the current governor of Akwa Ibom state, Udom Emmanuel had been given marching orders by Oshiomhole to do all it will take for the APC to take over Akwa Ibom in 2019. He will be given all the required support from the centre and that is why you see that Akpabio has remained in the state to put things in place.

"With Governor Godwin Obasekis performance in Edo state and the fact that Oshiomhole is from there, APC has no problem in Edo. The problem is Delta, where Chief Ibori is calling the shots, but APC wants Uduaghan to come over as a prelude to Ibori joining the party if he wishes. But to say that APC will leave Delta in the hands of PDP is a joke.

"With Uduaghan and others, the party will retool and sack PDP from power. They know that they are on their last days in the state."

According to Vanguard, one of Uduaghan's former aides said: Our boss has made up his mind to join APC, our people have been directed to register with APC, he will follow suit shortly.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the past governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Wednesday, August 8, said he was still in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of two people - James Ibori and the governor of the state, Ifeanyi Okowa.

Debunking rumors of his possible defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Uduaghan said he would remain in the PDP.

The Next President of Nigeria. Who Will Win the 2019 Elections? | on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
A Nigerian music legend Ras Kimono had passed away on Sunday, June 10, after he reportedly complained of stomach ache the night before.

The final burial rites of the reggae legend have finally commenced at the early hours of Thursday, August 23. The late musician's body was moved from the TOS Funeral Home where it was preserved since the tragic incident occurred.

It was gathered that a convoy of vehicles filled up with the deceased musician's family and friends lined the road that leads to Magodo as his remains were driven out of the funeral home.

Fans and friends also gathered to pay their respect to the great music legend. From the funeral home, Ras Kimono was reportedly taken to his Onicha Olona ancestral home in the Aniocha local government area of Delta state.

READ ALSO: Talented Delta-based lady paints beautiful portraits of Davido and Chioma (photos)

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Legit.ng had reported that the dreadlocked music legend had been rushed to the hospital while he was waiting to board a flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Ras Kimono reportedly died after he was moved to a second hospital in Lagos.

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After rumours that the musician had passed away due to a serious ailment began circulating, his manager Daddy Faizer had debunked the stories.

He revealed that Ras Kimono underwent a medical test that revealed that he was healthy, three weeks before the tragic incident.

Here is a report done by Legit.ng on the life and times of the music legend.

What Mercy Aigbe, Fathia Balogun Had to Say About Late Moji Olaiya | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
- Muhammadu Buhari says the APC has the full understanding of Nigerias challenges

- The president states that his administration has not lost focus of what he campaigned for in 2015

- The Nigerian leader reportedly makes final decision on sacked DSS boss Daura

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the combined efforts of defectors and their backers in the opposition will not distract his administration from the good work it is doing for the benefit and development of Nigeria.

President Buhari, who spoke in Daura on Thursday, August 23, stressed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has the full understanding of Nigerias challenges and is encouraged by the support of Nigerians in addressing them, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report.

The president spoke at a lunch with some APC governors accompanied by some members of the national and state assemblies and commissioners.

READ ALSO: PDP will produce next president - Saraki

We are always encouraged when all our constituents are happy with the work we are doing and our genuine efforts to make sure that what we campaigned for in 2015 is still very much in our minds and we have not lost focus," Buhari said

Buhari says his administration has not lost focus of what he campaigned for in 2015, photo credit: Bashir Ahmad - Twitter

In terms of security, economy and the fight against corruption we have maintained focus. Even the opposition with all their resources cannot fault our identification of Nigerias priorities and the efforts being made to better them.

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We will continue to do what we ought to do in the leadership position God has placed us and we thank the constituents for the support."

On the defections within the major political parties, the president reiterated his earlier message to them: for those who have decided to change camp for whatever reason, we wish them good luck.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has reportedly ruled out the reinstatement of the former director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura, who was removed by then-acting president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

The Nation reports that this is despite pressure from some members of the presidents kitchen cabinet.

A source reportedly said the president has no plan to bring back Daura and that the argument has now shifted to the possible retention of the new acting director-general, Mathew Seiyefa.

Nigeria Latest News: Buhari Reacts To APC Senators Betrayal | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Kofi Annan died on August 18, in Switzerland

- The former Secretary-General has been mourned by people from all walks of life

The family of late United Nations (UN) Secreatry-General Kofi Annan have indicated that the former diplomat will be buried in Ghana. According to reports by YEN.com.gh, the UN will also hold ceremonies in New York and Geneva.

The family made this information available on Thursday, August 23, according to Starrfmonline.com. The announcement also said the Government of Ghana will announce the state's plans for a ceremony in Accra.

It continued: The dates for those events will be announced in due course.

READ ALSO: 9 quotes by Africa's foremost diplomat and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

The family has kindly asked that no flowers be sent. For those still wishing to have their thoughts and support reflected in a gift, they suggest a contribution to the Kofi Annan Foundation:www.kofiannanfoundation.org/donate

The Annan family wishes to thank most sincerely the many who have expressed their condolences following the passing of Kofi Annan. The family has found great solace in the outpouring of love and support.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News

Legit.ng had reported that Annan passed on Saturday, August 18, in Switzerland after a short illness. He has been mourned by politicians, athletes, entertainers and a whole host of others.

Annan was said to have fallen ill while on a trip to South Africa and had been flown back to his Switzerland base for treatment.

The widow of the deceased diplomat Nane Maria, however, disclosed to Ghana's president, Nana Akufo-Addo, in a phone call that he died peacefully in his sleep.

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PDP's Magnificent 7 For 2019 Election | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on Thursday, August 23, honoured two guards of the Halogen Security, Francis Emepueaku and Achi Daniel, who reportedly returned foreign currencies to a returnee of the United States of America.

FAAN released photographs of the two security guards being honoured with a short message on its Twitter handle after calling them exceptional

Award ceremony of the two exceptional staff of Halogen Security,Francis Emepueaku & Achi Daniel security guards at the multi level car park of the Murtala Muhammed Int'l Airport, who returned a bag forgotten by a passenger containing large sum of money and expensive items, the tweet said.

Francis Emepueaku and Achi Daniel being honoured. Credit: FAAN

Two security guards at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, were, on Thursday, rewarded with N250,000 each after returning a passengers missing bag full of dollars and jewelry.

Also giving details of the honour, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Daniel was with his colleague, Emepueaku, when he found the bag on August 18 at the airport.

Inside the bag, we saw a mobile phone, jewelry and huge amount of money in dollars and several other documents.

At that point, I went straight to the managers office who now put a call through to somebody in Atlanta, Georgia, and the person happened to be the daughter of the owner of the bag.

If the money was in multi-millions of foreign currencies, I would still have returned it.

Addressing the duo. Credit: FAAN

I saw the bag on a trolley at the car park, and I said to myself that somebody must have forgotten it there.

It was not padlocked and without opening it, I went to the ground floor with the bag to meet my supervisor, Daniel explained adding that it was not his first time of returning money in foreign currencies to their rightful owners.

When they returned (passengers involved), they were jittery that some of the items in the bag might have vanished.

But after crosschecking it, she (owner) discovered that everything was intact and the family attempted to give us some amount of money as a form of appreciation, which we rejected, telling them that we had only done our job.

It never crossed my mind to steal the money; I wouldnt have done that because it was not my first time of finding such and returning to the owners.

No amount of money would make me to take what does not belong to me. I believe my own time will come and at the right time, he added.

FAANs managing director, Saleh Dunoma, said such good deeds had been recorded at the airport.

The two were earlier praised by President Buhari. Credit: FAAN

Represented at the event by the FAAN director of engineering services, Salisu Daura, Dunoma said that the duos act gave confidence and credibility to the agencys security profiling system.

Some others may look at you and tag you stupid, but I want to assure you that by virtue of this act, you have secured seats for yourselves in the comity of those with credibility and integrity.

I want to advise other members of staff to emulate this great virtue and become role models, just like these two security guards, he said.

Legit.ng earlier reported how President Muhammadu Buhari praised two security men who returned a bag full of valuables to its owner after it went missing at Murtala Muhammed Airport.

This was contained in a statement by Femi Adesina who is the special adviser to the president on media and publicity on Wednesday, August 22.

Smiling after the honour. Credit: FAAN

The president called on Nigerians to emulate the two security men saying the country will no longer be associated with corruption.

Source: Legit.ng
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo, on Thursday, August 23, met behind closed door with Yinka Ayefele days after the government demolished his Music House in Ibadan, the capital of the state. He also set up a committee to resolve the impasse over the demolition of the building.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ajimobi set up the committee at a reconciliatory meeting with the popular musician in his office.

Ayefele in company with some of his workers had arrived at the Governors Office at about 11.30 am.

Governor Ajimobi with Ayefele and others. Credit: Punch

READ ALSO: PDP will produce next president - Saraki

The report quoted the governor as saying the demolition exercise was neither a witch-hunt nor politically motivated, insisting it was due to contravention of the states property laws.

Ajimobi reportedly described Ayefele as a good man and a responsible citizen, stressing that the next step was to find a compassionate means of resolving the issue.

He further urged Ayefele to ensure that his radio station embraced ethical reportage of the issue.

Ajimobi with others during the closed-door meeting. Credit: Punch

The report added that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who was at the governors office in company with some monarchs, also pleaded with the governor to resolve the impasse.

Earlier, Ayefele had stated that his office responded to all letters forwarded to it by the state government.

He expressed regrets at not being able to see the governor, adding that the emissaries he sent failed to deliver his messages.

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Ayefele stated that he remains a law-abiding citizen who is ready to comply with the regulations of the state government.

The governor discussing with Ayefele. Credit: Punch

The report said that the committee, comprising of government official and some workers of Fresh FM station, including Ayefele, had since commenced the resolution process.

The meeting, which lasted hours, was later adjourned for another day.

Election 2019: How Did Okorocha React To Abukabars PDP Statement? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged by a former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Obong Victor Attah, to rescue Leah Sharibu, the kidnapped Christian Dapchi schoolgirl, even as he plans to send more looters to jail.

Attah made the call at a media briefing in Lagos on Thursday, August 23, Punch reports.

READ ALSO: Governor Ajimobi, Alaafin and others meet Ayefele behind closed door

Legit.ng gathers that the former governor said it was necessary for Buhari to do so, so he could consolidate on his feats in his first term.

Attah further called for Nigeria to be restructured; saying the country is doomed if this does not happen urgently.

Sharibu was one of the 112 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state. While others were later released, she was held because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Aisha Wakil, popularly known as Mama Boko Haram, revealed that she is partnering with the International Committee of Red Cross to rescue Leah Sharibu.

She said Sharibu had not renounced her Christian faith; and that her NGO, Complete Care and Aid Foundation, in collaboration with the Red Cross, will see to her release.

I am really worried about Leah and her freedom from Boko Haram is very important to me. Leah did not renounced her religion, that I can assure you and we shall do everything with both the government and the international organisation to ensure she regain her freedom just like her colleagues that were reunited with her families," she said.

Exclusive: Freed Dapchi girl recounts her ordeal with Boko Haram - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng
- Senator Shehu Sani says he chose to remain in the APC because of the intervention of President Buhari and the national leadership of the party

- He urged all aggrieved members of the APC in the National Assembly to put aside parochial interests and join hands with the party in promoting national interest

- Sani also said he was not so keen about automatic ticket; but that the party had pledged to reward loyalty

Senator Shehu Sani (APC- Kaduna Central) has stated that his decision to remain in the ruling party was not because his grievances against the party leadership in Kaduna state had been addressed, but due to the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the national leadership of the party.

Sani made the disclosure during a Sallah visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state on Thursday, August 23, NAN reports.

READ ALSO: FG to submit 2019 budget in September - Minister

Legit.ng gathers that the senator called on all aggrieved members of the APC in the National Assembly to put aside parochial interests and join hands with the party in promoting national interest for the general good of all citizens.

Well, there is no human being without any grievances but when national interest is put at the front side you have to put aside other parochial interests.

What we need to do as politicians and as people representing those who elected us is to always put the country first and know very well that we have both constitutional and moral duty to work to the progress of Nigeria and of this government.

So, I think these are the basic issues which we discussed. Grievances are natural, but we have to know that we have a country that we need to keep and also we have a country that we need to support, so that it can progress," he added.

On whether he has been assured of automatic ticket to seek re-election in 2019, Sani said even he was not so keen about automatic ticket, but that the party had pledged to reward loyalty. He, however, stressed that while rewarding members for their loyalty to the party, due process must be followed.

I think the party had made it very clear and known to each and every person that there will be reward for loyalty; but in every sense of the word, due process of the party needs to be followed

And as far as we are concerned, what matters most to us is not simply about automatic ticket but about the peaceful and transparent conduct of the 2019 election and also the very need for us as a people and as a nation to know that the fate of the country is on our hands.

There is the need for us to keep aside all sectional, ethnic and religious differences for the progress of this country and going by the very fact that the president has intervened and chairman of the party has intervened, all family squabbles would certainly come to an end," he said.

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Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that Senator Shehu Sani threatened to dump the APC over its alleged inability to address the internal crisis rocking the party in the past three years.

The lawmaker said the various congresses were held on a very shaky foundation because there was no reconciliation and peace among aggrieved members.

Senators, lawmakers defect from APC - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit Nigeria
Nigerians have been warned by former Senate president, Ken Nmamani, to beware of desperate politicians who dont have a second address.

Nnamani gave the warning during a chat with State House correspondents, after meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Vanguard reports.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani

Legit.ng gathers that the former Senate president, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), also advised struggling politicians to have a second address.

He said: I think our problem is that if you enter politics and you have no second address,the chances of your getting in trouble is very high.

Nnamani was accompanied on the visit by oil magnate, Chief Emeka Offor, who said he had brought foreign investors from Europe to meet with Osinbajo about investment opportunities in the oil, gas, power and electricity sectors.

Offor said: We brought a major investing group from Europe; thats why we are here. We are looking into investing in oil and gas, electricity power and others. They have seen that the atmosphere in the country is conducive for investments.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Ken Nnamani revealed that he would stop the third term agenda of any president if he had the chance, the same way he did to then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2006.

Nnamani who served as Senate president during the administration of Obasanjo, had presided over the tumultuous debate for third term agenda championed by the former president.

He insisted that if given the chance again, he would still prevent it from happening.

Who is Nigeria's smartest politician? - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit
- The Republics of Benin and Niger have cleared the debt they owe Nigeria after they were supplied electric power

- This came as Nigeria recently threatened to disconnect all its debtors if they fail to pay their accrued debt

- Both neighbouring countries paid a total of about sum of $10 million, with Niger paying $3.79m and Benin remitting $6.32m

In a bid to avoid being disconnected from their power source by Nigeria, the Republics of Benin and Niger have paid the sum of $10.1m as electricity bill to the federal government.

The quick move by both neighbouring nations was in response to the threat by Nigeria to disconnect its debtors.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani

Punch reported that the countries made the payment through their respective power firms, with NIGELEC of the Republic of Niger paying $3.79m, while the Community Electric du Benin of the Republic of Benin remitted $6.32m to Nigerias electricity market.

Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari had resolved to join the league of operators in the power sector in calling on international customers receiving electricity from Nigeria to either pay their bills or be disconnected.

Nigeria supplies power to Togo, Niger and Benin, and regards the West African countries as international customers. The payment was disclosed to operators in Nigerias electricity industry at the August 2018, power sector stakeholders meeting by the Market Operator, an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria

According to some personnel of the federal ministry of power, works and housing, the international customers, pay for the power received from Nigeria in dollars, a trend that had increased the financial indebtedness to Nigerias power generation companies.

On its dashboard on the summary of energy delivery in the month of June 2018, the Market Operator (MO) stated that energy delivered to international customers and Ajaokuta Steel was 229,487.29 megawatts/hour.

Under bilateral trading, it stated that the quantum of energy sent out by power generation companies was 104,861.92MWh, while energy delivered to bilateral customers was 95,939.31MWh.

Figures on the dashboard showed that indigenous power distribution companies, as always, got the highest quantum of energy, 2,355,623.4MWh, from the Generating companies (Gencos) in the month under review.

The MO further stated that part of the foreign exchange inflows from international customers had been disbursed to service providers in Nigerias power sector.

The indebt of international customers was also confirmed by Babatunde Fashola, the minister of power, works and housing, in July 2018, who revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari was doing his utmost to ensure that the electricity debts by Nigeria's debtors were paid.

The minister had also directed the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company to go ahead and collect its money from the international customers.

He stated: We issued disconnection notices and that is why Im asking the NBET to go and collect your money because we have duties, obligations and international agreements with them as brother and sister nations.

But that does not mean they will not pay us if they are defaulting. So, we have issued letters to them to pay their bills, and from time to time, they pay.

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There was a time one head of state came to visit President Buhari and little did I know that the real reason he came was to come and tell him that the (power) sector had issued a notice of disconnection to his country. And you may be interested to know that President Buhari simply told him to go and pay, otherwise we will disconnect you because we are also paying at home.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that hundreds of women from Alaba-Oro, Mosafejo and Amukoko area of Lagos on Thursday, April 5, stormed the Marina headquarters of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) protesting over six-year epileptic power supply.

Legit.ng gathered that the all-women protesters prevented workers and visitors from entering EKEDC premises and caused traffic gridlock on the ever-busy Lagos Marina.

Can Nigeria solve its power problems? Top engineers offer solutions - On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- Jones Abiri, a Bayelsa-based journalist, has disclosed why DSS linked him to a militant group in the Niger-Delta

- Abiri said the security operatives found a phone that they had been tracking in his office

- He further explained that the phone was brought to his office by some men who wanted him to do a statement for them as a journalist

A Bayelsa-based journalist, Jones Abiri, who was arrested and detained for more than two years by the DSS, has explained the circumstances that resulted in his arrest and how he was linked to a militant group in the Niger-Delta.

Premium Times reports that Abiri said he was arrested by the security operatives because found a phone they had been tracking in his office in Yenegua.

I was arrested in my office in Yenegua. That was on the July 21 2016. About 23 minutes after three o-clock. Twelve men came into my office and showed me a warrant for searching my office, duly signed by a magistrate, Lucky. I gave them the privilege to search my office. After the search, they could not find any incriminating thing.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani

What they found was a phone that they had been tracking. The phone was brought to my office by some men who had come to ask me to do a statement for them as a journalist. They said someone directed them to me. And I did not know that they were having an ulterior concept (motive) for asking me to anchor the statement, when there were other journalists.

At a point, I wanted to resist. But two of them threatened me. They said I must write the press statement, if I was mindful of myself. So I became afraid for my life and decided to write the press statement for them. It was published by various media houses and later they called me and said that there was a particular story that was published that the government had reacted to the story and that they would like to react to the position of government.

At that point, two of them came. They were looking quite haggard. They asked me to help them charge a small Nokia phone. The phone should cost about N2,000 or so in the market. Its one of these old phones. Unknown to me that was the phone they were using to send text messages to oil companies demanding for money.

I ignorantly agreed to help them charge the phone. I did not know that AGIP had sent a petition to the SSS, state command, which had resulted in the tracking of the number inside the phone. They gave me the phone and left, as if to return shortly.

When they did not come back, I realised that there was no way I could contact them, because the phone I was using to contact them, was charging in my office. So I removed the phone and put it in my drawer.

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They (security operatives) found the phone in my drawer. That purportedly linked me to becoming the leader of Joint Niger-Delta Liberation Force which I do not know. I am not the founder nor a member of the militant group.

Abiri added that the ease with which he was found by the operatives was proof of his innocence since militants were mostly known to be elusive.

Abiri said: If I had been attending any of their meetings, I would not have been operating an office for the production of newspapers, in Yenagoa.

''I would have been in the creeks. They wouldnt have seen me. More so, I was running a programme, I was a law undergraduate. A level three law undergraduate. As a law undergraduate and mindful of the facts about the illegality of militancy, why would I condescend so low as to be involved in such a thing?

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a Bayelsa-based journalist, Jones Abiri, narrated his bitter experience in the hands of some operatives of the Department for State Services (DSS) who kept him in detention.

Speaking at the secretariat of the NUJ, Abiri told newsmen and leaders of the Civil Liberties Organisation that he was arrested in his office, detained for seven days in DSS cell in Yenagoa and later blindfolded and flown to Abuja.

He said he was kept in seclusion in an underground cell in Abuja and denied access to medical treatment for about two years.

If Any Police Officer Misbehaves With You, Call Any of These Numbers | Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit
- The Ajuwale of Ijebuland has warned against turning the Ojude Oba festival ground into a political arena

- The Oba said the council would not tolerate acts by politicians to drag politics to the event in subsequent festivals

- According to him, Ojude Oba festival is about culture and tradition

A traditional ruler in Ijebuland has warned Nigerian politicians and their supporters against turning the Ojude Oba festival into an avenue to play any form of politics.

The Awujale, Oba Sikiru Adetona, reacting to shouts of APC! APC! (the ruling All Progressives Congress Party) at the venue of the event said such acts would not be tolerated in subsequent ones.

He also warned all broom-wielding group to desist from bringing their political emblems or items to the Ojude Oba festival as he said that those carrying the brooms are not indigenes of Ijebu.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani finally opens up, speaks about automatic ticket for 2019

The Oba said: Those who were waving the brooms are not of Ijebu extraction. I believe they must have been hired.

Ojude Oba is over 100 years (old); what you did today has never happened before. Many groups are here but what you have done today has never happened. I believe most of you are not members of the APC. We have people from the Peoples Democratic Party, APC, and Social Democratic Party, among others, here.

READ ALSO: President Buhari sends another crucial message to defectors ahead of 2019

"Ojude Oba is about culture and tradition. It is non-political. It has been like that since our forefathers started it. It is an abomination for anyone to drag politics into it.

I want to appeal in the name of God, such an act should not repeat itself here. Those people who hired you, if they are bold enough, they should show their faces," the Oba said.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Senate President Bukola Saraki, alongside fellow senators, Dino Melaye, Ben-Murray Bruce and others were at the venue of the Ojude-Oba. The senators were at the festival amidst wild jubilation from guests.

Saraki arrived at the Oba Sikiru Adetona Golden Jubilee Centre, Ijebu-Ode, venue of the Ojude-Oba, as the special guest of honor for the event.

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His entrance erased doubts over his presence, having raised controversy in some quarters over his choice for the 2018 edition of the festival.

Nigeria Election 2019: What are Bukola Sarakis chances against President Buhari? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News
- Musa Edotsu, a pilgrim from Niger state, partaking in the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, had returned a missing cash sum to its owner

- Edotsu found the sum, N400,000 in equivalence, in a toilet the holy land and returned it to its owner, Zukalraini Saeed, the chairman of the Enugu state pilgrims board

- In appreciation, Saeed said that the board will offer Edotsu the sum of $200 for his honest gesture

A pilgrim from Niger state, Musa Edotsu, has reportedly returned a cash sum in foreign currency equivalence of N400,000, which he found in a toilet in Saudi Arabia while performing the Hajj in Mecca.

READ ALSO: Dont drag politics into Ojude Oba festival - Awujale warns

Punch reported that the money belongs to Zukalraini Saeed, the chairman of the Enugu state pilgrims board.

A journalist from Niger state, Abdul Isa, reported from the holy land through social media that Edotsu returned the money to the Niger state pilgrims board operatives who in turn gave it to Saeed.

A member of the board, Abubakar Magaji, revealed that the amount alongside other items (handbag, passport and some keys) that were formerly missing were returned to the owner.

Magaji was said to have appreciated Edotsu for his honesty at a time most pilgrims had run out of cash, adding that the pilgrim would be rewarded with $200 by the board.

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Saeed commended Edotsus honest gesture and the operatives of the pilgrims board for displaying such a high level of honesty by returning the money.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that not less than two million pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Monday, August 20, to mark the climax of the 2018 pilgrimage.

Legit.ng gathered that at least 55,000 Nigerians were part of the gathering. The event at Mount Arafat featured pilgrims supplication for Allahs guidance and forgiveness. It also involved staying at Arafat from sunrise until sunset as a major rite of the pilgrimage.

Eid-el-Kabir: Why the ram killed must not exceed three days in your house - On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- A ship allegedly carrying illegal weapons and explosives to Nigeria has been intercepted in South Africa

- Olwethu Mdabula, spokeswoman for the Transnet state transport company made this known to the AFP

- Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, spokesman for the Hawks police investigative unit, has also confirmed the report

Emerging reports have it that the South African police Thursday, August 23, declared that they had boarded a Russian-registered cargo ship allegedly carrying illegal weapons and explosives en route to Lagos, Nigeria.

Channel TV reports that the vessel, named Lada, had left Madagascar before stopping at Ngqura port outside the eastern city of Port Elizabeth, where it was detained after a security check on Sunday.

We are aware that she has dangerous cargo explosives and weapons on board, Olwethu Mdabula, spokeswoman for the Transnet state transport company told AFP.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani

Meanwhile, Mdabula declined to give further details. Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, spokesman for the Hawks police investigative unit, confirmed to AFP that the vessel was carrying weapons.

According him, This is a very, very sensitive matter. It is receiving attention.

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It was learnt that police had searched the vessel after an anonymous tip-off and found weapons and explosives worth about $3.5 million in 20 containers on board.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a container load of arms were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service at the Tin Can Island in Lagos,

The container was discovered at the ports and cargo terminal of the port. A source at the ports said the customs authority have ordered everyone out of the terminal and locked everywhere.

Suspected traffickers reject Police accusations | Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit
- Residents of Alimi Ogunyemi street in the Ifako Ijaiye area in the Mushin, accuse the police of raiding clubs and picking up innocent passersby in the area

- They accuse the DPO, Nwabuisi, of spearheading the raid on their area

- Jones Abiri, a Bayelsa-based journalist, discloses why DSS linked him to a militant group in the Niger-Delta

Residents of Alimi Ogunyemi street, in the Ifako Ijaiye area in the Mushin areas of Lagos state have accused the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the Pen Cinema police division, Nwabuisi, of arresting innocent residents and extorting money from them during raids.

The Punch reports that the DPO was accused rounding up some Muslim faithfuls who had just finished praying in a mosque on Wednesday, August 22.

READ ALSO: Defectors cannot distract my administration - President Buhari

The residents claimed the police stormed the area around 12am with a Black Maria and four police vans and allegedly raided clubs and picked up passersby in the area.

The policemen were said to have taken all the suspects to the Pen Cinema police station, where about 37 arrested residents were reportedly forced to pay money for bail.

One of the victims, Sheriff Aranjure, said those arrested were asked by the policemen to pay N15,000 bribe before they could be released.

Sheriff said his elder brother, Ibrahim, bargained with the DPO through a police sergeant, adding that Ibrahim paid N30,000 for three arrested Muslims.

He said: Our mosque is in front of our house. We had just observed Ishai (8pm prayers) and were in front of the mosque when the policemen from the Pen Cinema Police Station appeared. They had a task force van, a Black Maria and four other vehicles.

Before they got to the house, they had arrested some people. When they got to the front of the mosque, they stopped a motorcycle rider and arrested him and his passenger.

The man that led the team was the DPO of the Pen Cinema Police Division. The name on his tag is H.E. Nwabuisi. He came to where we were and asked what we were doing outside. We told him that we were in front of our house and we had just finished praying in the mosque.

He ordered some of the policemen to take us into the Black Maria. We asked what we did wrong. When I tried to resist, the DPO dragged me by the shirt and tore my clothes. They took three of us into the Black Maria.

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After they raided other places, we were taken to the Area G Command and put in a cell. They went out to conduct more raids. Around 15 minutes to 12am, they came back with new people. They put all of us in the Black Maria and took us to the Pen Cinema Police Station. We were about 37 people that they arrested. When we got to the station, they asked us to write our names. They started calling us out one by one, asking if we wanted to bail ourselves, he added.

Sheriffs brother, Ibrahim, who allegedly paid N30,000 for the bail, said he was lucky to have escaped arrest.

Aside from Sheriff, I was the one who sent the 15-year-old boy they arrested on an errand to buy medicines for me because I was ill. So, when I saw what had happened, I followed them in a tricycle. We trailed them as they went to Area G. But from my observation, it appeared the area commander did not know anything about the raid.

READ ALSO: Why I chose to remain in APC - Shehu Sani

When they got to their station, I saw one of them, called Bigi, a police sergeant. He asked me what the problem was and I told him what had happened. He went to meet the DPO and negotiated on our behalf. They collected N30,000 for the three of them. Bigi said it was important that we secured their bail that night because they would take them to court the following day. For fear that our people could be arraigned for what they knew nothing about, we had to look for the money that night.

In my presence, he gave the DPO the money and they spoke briefly. The owner of the bar where some other people were arrested also paid some money to the policemen, he added.

Meanwhile, a Bayelsa-based journalist, Jones Abiri, who was arrested and detained for more than two years by the DSS, has explained the circumstances that resulted in his arrest and how he was linked to a militant group in the Niger-Delta.

Premium Times reports that Abiri said he was arrested by the security operatives because found a phone they had been tracking in his office in Yenegua.

Abiri added that the ease with which he was found by the operatives was proof of his innocence since militants were mostly known to be elusive.

Lagos Police Commissioner Parades Suspected Criminals (Nigeria News) | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
A member of the House of Representatives, Nkeiru Onyejeocha, from Abia state, has reportedly dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Details of the defection had not been made known at the time of this report.

Nkeiru Onyejeocha, a female lawmaker, is the chairman of the House committee on aviation.

READ ALSO: Governor Ajimobi, Alaafin and others meet Ayefele behind closed door

The action was, however, confirmed by Order Paper, which reported: BREAKING: Rep. Nkeiru Onyejeocha, from Abia state, chairman, House of Representatives committee on aviation, has announced her defection from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Legit.ng earlier reported that Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, on Thursday, August 23, confessed that he and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were truly pained by the defections that hit the party recently.

Channels Television reports that Okorocha spoke in Daura, Katsina state when he led other APC governors to visit President Muhammadu Buhari to felicitate with him as Muslims celebrated Eid-el Kabir.

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Legit.ng also reported that a member of the House of Representatives, Danlami Kurfi, described the defection of lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday, July 24, as good riddance to bad rubbish.

The lawmaker representing Kurfi and Dutsinma federal constituency in Katsina state said defection cannot in any way hinder President Muhammadu Buharis bid for re-election in 2019.

President Buhari proves he is fit to run in 2019 | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Violence in Rivers state politics, especially during election period, has continued to be an issue of concern to many in the country

- The leader of an advocacy group known as the Rivers Unity House (RUH), Kingsley Wali, has said that his generation introduced violence in the state's elections

- In regret, Wali said that those within his age bracket owe Nigerians apologies for the awful trend in the state

Kingsley Wali, the leader of an advocacy group known as the Rivers Unity House (RUH) on Thursday, August 23, blamed his generation for introducing the culture of violence and destruction in elections in the state, Vanguard reports.

READ ALSO: Businessman laments neglect by LAGBUS 7-years after accident

Decrying the negative influence of violence in the development of the state, Wali said: My generation destroyed our politics and I think my generation owes this current generation a duty to say we are sorry we created this wrong and we need to move on.

"Moving forward, you need to do it differently. Lets face it, what has violence done for the people politically? People have gotten into power. You use people and discard them. Even those who used and discard people, what has it done to them? Nothing.

"They have not really made any progress. What you see are people having temporary comfort and at the end of the day because of the way they got the wealth, it is not sustainable.

Why not try sustainable growth where people are seen as part of a system and they put all hands together to ensure it works because if it works, it will work for everybody. We are looking for a situation where we create a system that works.

What we speak for and against is the ailment in the society. It affects the political class, affects my own party, APC. So, it is not a case of demoralizing the other side of the coin. It is something that is destroying every facet of the economy.

You will find out that whatever transpired in last Saturdays by-election will equally play out in the parties. I wouldnt bother myself with details of who did what, but at times like this, the whole system is flared up and the confusion out there will blind most of us to the truth.

Former Deputy Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Leyii Kwanee, on the occasion said that his generation was ready to make amends, having failed the people.

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Kwanee said: The very day you realise you have erred, you apologise and take it up from there, that is your good morning. Our generation, those within our age bracket, we have failed the people. There is no shame about it.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had disagreed with Governor Nyesom Wike's allegation that the police should be blamed for the violence that marred the Saturday, August 18, by-election in Rivers state.

While the INEC chief praised the police for wading in and preventing total break down of law and order during the election, Governor Wike blamed the police for causing the violence that marred the election.

The Next President of Nigeria. Who Will Win the 2019 Elections? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
Veteran Nollywood actor on Thursday, August 23, turned a year older. Aside from being celebrated by some of his colleagues, the actor was also celebrated his family and friends.

Umez who was shot into limelight due to his consistent roles in ritual related movies, took to his social media handle to gush about himself.

He also shared pictures from his private birthday celebration. His children gifted him a beautiful 54th birthday cake. Some closed friends to the family were also present to celebrate with the talented actor.

Nollywood actor Tony Umez celebrates 54th birthday with family and friends. Source: @toneroangel

READ ALSO: BBNaijas Alex finally opens up on allegedly partying ways with Tobi

His birthday post reads: Yaaaaay!!! Happy happy birthday to me. I am a YEAR older today. God I bless You, I appreciate You, I celebrate You, I adore You, I thank You for You are the Source of all I am and have. I thank You for Your Grace and Glory upon my life. I thank You for Today. It can ONLY be You. May Your Blessings, Mercy, Grace and Love continue to be upon me today and always I pray through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

See post below:

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Happy Birthday!

Top Nigerian Celebrities Kids You Cant Stop Admire | Legit.ng TV - on NAIJ. com TV.

Source: Legit
- Malik Bosso, representing Bosso constituency in the Niger state House of Assembly has offered scholarship to at least 100 students

- Bosso said the scholarship was part of efforts to support the education development of youths in his constituency

- The lawmaker disclosed that after satisfying certain criteria 10 beneficiaries were drawn from each of the 10 wards of Bosso constituency

A lawmaker, Malik Bosso, representing Bosso constituency in the Niger state House of Assembly says he has offered scholarship to at least, 100 students pursuing various courses at the Kaduna Polytechnic.

Bosso told newsmen on Friday, August 24, in Minna that the scholarship was part of efforts to support the education development of youths in his constituency.

The lawmaker disclosed that 10 beneficiaries were drawn from each of the 10 wards of Bosso constituency, after satisfying certain criteria.

READ ALSO: Buhari remains the only president that has truly touched the lives of the poor - Keyamo

I have decided to offer them this scholarship as part of my own little way of boosting the level of education in my constituency.

We all know that education is critical to the growth and development of any society, that is why I offered 10 per ward and we have 10 wards, thus making 100 students.

I will continue to support people who are willing to embrace education," he said.

Bosso disclosed that he had also distributed learning materials worth N2.3 million to primary and secondary schools in Bosso and constructed two classroom blocks in Garatu, Gbata and Gbaiko communities.

According to him, other projects executed by him are: construction of 19 motorised boreholes, 33 hand boreholes and purchase and installation of 13 transformers.

Others include distribution of 2400 bags of fertiliser to farmers at subsidised rate as well as wrappers and cash donations of N2000 each to 500 widows, according to him.

I gave a subsidy of N2,000 on each bag of fertiliser which is sold at N5,500 in the market. So instead of paying N5,500 for a bag, you only pay N3,500.

As for the widows, available statistics shows that their number is very high within my domain, that is why I decided to come to their aid.

We need to remember the widows among us because they are passing through a lot as bread winners, he said.

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He restated his resolve to provide more dividends of democracy to his constituents before the expiration of the tenure of present administration in the state.

The lawmaker said the 8th legislature in the state was committed to enacting laws and executing projects that had direct bearing on the lives of the people.

We are committed to improving the lot of our people by passing legislation that will impact them positively.

Legit.ng previously reported that the Dangote Foundation donated a well-equipped secondary school in Lagos valued at N120 million as part of its interventionist programme to boost education. The foundation has also offered annual free tuition to 250 indigent pupils.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, said this at the inauguration and handing over of the school with well-equipped laboratories to Nawair-Ud-Deen Comprehensive College, Idi-Oro, Mushin, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Benue IDPs: Education amidst crisis | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- Ephraim Okundolor shared a harrowing experience of his attempt to go to Europe

- He said he regretted his decision considering the amount of money he spent

- The Libya returnee urged Nigerians to desist from going to Europe through the desert

One Ephraim Okundolor has given a harrowing tale of his experience in his attempt to go to Europe through Libya.

Vanguard reports that Okundolor who just returned to Nigeria from Libya through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) described his action as senseless.

He revealed that he suffered through Libya and also went to prison after going through a similar fate in the Mediterranean Sea. He said in spite of the money he spent, he was still not able to get to Europe.

READ ALSO: Just in: Rep member from Abia reportedly leaves PDP, joins APC

He said: I regret everything that has happened. I spent over N3 million in the journey. I paid N450, 000 to the person who assisted me from Nigeria while my wife paid N500,000.

I made four attempts to cross the Mediterranean but failed on each occasion. It was during the last attempt, when we had almost entered the blue sea that the Libyan militants intercepted our boat, and sent us back to Libya, where we were thrown into the prison. In each of the attempts, I paid N120, 000; so I spent a total of N480, 000 trying to cross over the sea to Italy from Libya.

I also paid N700, 000 to regain my freedom when we were dumped at a camp in Tripoli. My people also sent N700, 000 to me with which I initially wanted to procure a return ticket to Nigeria before IOM came to our rescue.

So, when you add all those money to the expenses I made during the desert journey and the ones I spent to sustain myself for the over six months that I wasted in the journey, you will agree with me that I spent over N3 million, without any positive result.

However, I thank God for sparing my life because many people died in the process. In short, I took part in the burial of some of the dead persons both in the desert and in Tripoli.

He called on Nigerians to desist from embarking on the dangerous journey urging them to use the proper channel when travelling to Europe.

Meanwhile, over 700 Nigerians died in the Mediterranean Sea while migrating illegally in the last six months, the Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN) disclosed.

The group made the disclosure via its president, Femi Awoniyi, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, the nations capital, Vanguard reports.

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Legit.ng gathers that Awoniyi, however, pointed out that compared to those who died while trying to cross the Sahara Desert, the figure is low.

He lamented that Nigerians have the highest rate of rejection among sub-Sahara asylum applicants in the European Union; as he pointed out that the country has the highest number of illegal migrants from Africa.

Mass deportation: Tales of woes from Libya - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng
It was a major defeat for some members of the Boko Haram terrorist group after they ran into an ambush set by soldiers of the Nigerian Army along Banki Junction - Mayanti village in Bama local government area of Borno state.

Three insurgents were killed in the attack.

A statement by Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, the director of Army public relations, confirmed the success recorded by the soldiers.

READ ALSO: Just in: Rep member from Abia reportedly leaves PDP, joins APC

Some of the guns recovered from the terrorists. Credit: Nigerian Army

The statement further said some weapons were recovered from the Boko Haram terrorists after the attack.

The Nigerian Army listed the items recovered from the insurgents to include:

a. Three AK 47 rifle.

b. 3 Magazines.

Some of the live ammunition and vests recovered from the suspects. Credit: Nigerian Army

c. 32 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.

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d. One motorcycle.

e. Two Android phones.

 Efforts are on by the troops to get the other fleeing members of the Boko Haram terrorists, the statement said.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian Army announced its plan to begin an annual training programme of "Operation Python Dance III" popularly referred to as Exercise Egwu Eke III in the southeast states.

The exercise which had its two previous phases, I and II, would take place in states' formations and units under the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army.

Nigeria News: How I Took the Lives of Four People - 20-Year-Old Lady Confesses | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- The police in Edo arrested one Benson Ordia

- The suspect was one of those who attacked the convoy of the governor

- The police said it was on the lookout for other members of the group

One Benson Ordia has been arrested by operatives of the Edo state police command in connection with the attack on the convoy of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

The Sun reports that the suspect was arrested at Igueben council area of the state and is being detained at State Criminal Investigative Department (SCID) of the Police Command in Benin-City.

READ ALSO: I spent N3m to go to Italy but failed at the end - Libya returnee gives scary tale

It was reported that members of the Esan Youth Movement attacked the governor and it was later discovered that they were youth members of the All Progressives Congress as they had initially claimed.

The governor had reportedly ordered the police to look into the attack and fish out the perpetrators.

Governor Obaseki was reportedly angry at the action of the youths for coming to a meeting they were not invited.

Anselm Ojezua who is the chairman of the APC in the state said: Every criminal act will have repercussions. The police will carry out thorough investigation and prosecute accordingly.

The disrupted meeting was between Governor Obaseki and leaders of the APC in Edo Central senatorial district.

They insisted that the governor address them but they were turned away.

In reaction, they pelted the governors convoy with sachet water.

Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has condemned the attack on Governor Godwin Obaseki by some youths in Edo Central senatorial district on Monday, August 20.

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The chairman of the CNPP in Edo, Roy Oribhabor, who gave the condemnation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin on Thursday, August 23, described the attack as callous, irresponsible and unnecessary.

He called on parents to warn their wards against undermining constituted authority, noting that the attack negated democratic principles.

The Next President of Nigeria. Who Will Win the 2019 Elections? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- A young lady was allegedly killed by her boyfriend in South Africa

- The South African lady ha reportedly dated the young man for three weeks before the incident

- It was gathered that the murder suspect was arrested

Tragedy struck a family in South Africa after a 19-year-old was found dead. The young lady from Windmill Park Boksburg, identified as Jabulile Omuhle Nkosi had allegedly been murdered by her boyfriend.

It was gathered that the 19-year-old was allegedly hacked to death with an axe by her boyfriend who she has been dating for three weeks.

The suspect identified as Atoro Hector Molapi Thabo was reportedly taken into police custody on Sunday, August 12.

19-year-old South African girl allegedly murdered by her boyfriend of 3 weeks Photo source: Lindaikeji

READ ALSO: Father of a boy who killed his 18-year-old girlfriend dies as he can't cope with grief

According to reports, the young man was arrested after he was caught trying to hide evidence of the crime. He was allegedly seen trying to hide the body.

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Legit.ng had reported that another 19-year-old had also been arrested in Edo state, after he killed his 18-year-old girlfriend.

The 19-year-old had reportedly dumped his 18-year-old girlfriend's body by the roadside in Edo state.

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At what point should a person walk out of an abusive relationship? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- The Nigeria Police Force has invited Femi Fani Kayode for questioning

- The police asked Fani Kayode to appear on August 28 for alleged conspiracy and criminal publication

- He is expected to appear before SP Usman Garba on August 28, 2018

The Nigeria Police Force, in a letter dated August 20, has invited a former minister of aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, for alleged conspiracy, criminal and inciting publication.

In the invitation letter with Ref. No CR/3000/IGP.SEC/MU/T.G/ABJ Vol.54/226, the police asked the former minister to appear before SP Usman Garba on August 28, 2018, The Punch reports.

The letter, signed by the commissioner of police in charge of the IG Monitoring Unit, Force Headquarters, Habu Sani, was titled Conspiracy, criminal defamation, inciting publication, injurious falsehood and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

READ ALSO: 5000 PDP members defect to APC in Lagos

The letter read: This office is investigating the above-mentioned case reported to the Inspector-General of Police in which your name featured.

In view of the above, you are requested to interview the undersigned through SP Usman Garba on 28/08/2018 by 10.00hrs to shed light on the allegations raised.

You are to, however, note that the invitation is purely for fact findings and your cooperation in this regard is highly solicited, Please.

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Legit.ng earlier reported that Fani Kayode denied casting aspersions on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some of its prominent leaders.

Fani-Kayode denied the rumours making the rounds in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Friday, August 10.

According to him, the quote attributed to him is fake, and is the handiwork of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

News Nigeria Today: Will Senators, Lawmakers Defection from APC Change Power in 2019? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali has been congratulated by by President Muhammadu Buhari

- President Keita was congratulated on his re-election victory

- Buhari also congratulated President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe on the ruling by the country's constitutional court over the July 30 presidential election

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali on his re-election and also congratulated President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe on his declaration by the countrys constitutional court as the winner of the July 30 presidential poll.

Legit.ng gathers that the congratulatory messages were contained in a statement by President Buhari's senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, on Friday, August 24.

In the statement, President Buhari felicitated with majority of Malians for giving the incumbent president another opportunity to serve them after the August 12, 2018 presidential run-off.

READ ALSO: PDP stakeholders divided over partys presidential ticket for 2019 election

The statement read in part: "The ECOWAS chairman urges the main challenger, Soumaila Cisse and his supporters to abide by the verdict of the people as confirmed by the ruling of the constitutional court, and join hands with President Keita in the interest of the country in particular and peace and stability of West Africa.

"The Nigerian leader firmly believes that the successful outcome of the election in Mali further strengthens Africas democratic credentials as the people are allowed to choose their leaders without let or hindrance.

"President Buhari wishes President Keita a successful second tenure in a peaceful and stable atmosphere.

"Similarly, the Nigerian President congratulates President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe following his declaration by the countrys constitutional court as the lawful winner of the July presidential poll.

"President Buhari calls on all Zimbabweans especially the politicians to unite and work for the progress and development of their country."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the outcome of the Zimbabwe's presidential election of July 2018 where President Emmerson Mnangagwa emerged winner, was upheld by Zimbabwe's constitutional court.

The court on Friday, August, 24, dismissed the main opposition party's challenge that the July election was rigged.

President Buhari on 2019 Presidential Election: Will You Vote For Him? | on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- 114 women who were arrested while protesting in Imo state have been relaesed

- The protesting women were arrested on Friday August 17 by the police

- They were held for unlawful assembly

A high court sitting in Owerri on Friday, August 24, granted the unconditional release of 114 women arrested for protesting in Imo state.

The women who were remanded on the orders of a magistrates court in Owerri were arrested on Friday August 17 by the police. They were held for unlawful assembly.

READ ALSO: PDP stakeholders divided over partys presidential ticket for 2019 election

NAN reports that the bail application filed by the lead counsel to the women, Ejiofor Uche was not opposed by the police..

Theaddus Oke, prosecuting for the police, told NAN correspondent that the case had been referred to the state ministry of justice for advice.

He said that the police had no say in whatever decision that was taken by the court.

NAN recalls that the arrests sparked off widespread condemnation by residents of the state and sympathisers.

Legit.ng had reported that there was confusion at the magistrate court in Orlu, Imo state as over fifteen youths set the building on fire.

Legit.ng gathered that the fire destroyed all the documents in the court before it could be quenched. The building is located in premises of Orlu High court.

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The police spokesperson in the state, Andrew Enwerem, who confirmed the incident to newsmen said that it was a premeditated act.

My life after the plane crash  Nigerian plane crash survivor Kechi Okwuchi speaks to Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
Normally, I never write on energy topics, even though, as a resident of the Northeast, I heat the house in the winter. Thats because, along with most other Mainers down to the convenience store clerks, I believe the energy markets are totally gamed and rigged, and who wants write about a market like that? Maine also has the oldest housing stock in the nation [ticks box], and the greatest dependence on home heating oil. Back when I heated with oil, Id run out on the last day or three of the month before the next delivery, and Id have to take a five-gallon jerry can up to the truck stop, fill it, and pour it down the fill pipe. Oil is nasty! Its ugly, corrosive, and it stinks so badly it gets in your clothes. Clearly, you should never touch it: Its obvious that any sane society would instantly make it a taboo substance and leave it in the ground, forever. Now Ive converted to natural gas  as a public utility, they cant shut me off at the end of the month  but come to think of it, Im not all that enthusastic about an invisible, odorless, explosive substance, either. They added the rotten-egg stink for a reason

All of which is to say I have strong priors on hydrocarbons as a substance; and I also have strong priors on the politics of fracking, since I view fracking as akin to landfills in their local impact, especially on watersheds (Our resource curses in Maine are trees, water, wind, and empty land. Not hydrocarbons, fortunately.) I admit my priors are stronger than my knowledge, but I will carry on as best I can! I was struck by two recently released studies on fracking and water, and the connections I saw between them:

First, for those who came in late, Ill define fracking, and briefly look at the politics and business of fracking. Then Ill look at the water cycle and compare it to the fracking cycle. After that, Ill look at fracking and groundwater. Finally, Ill look at fracking sacrifice zones, and conclude.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines fracking as follows (PDF). Frack from fracture:

What is Hydraulic Fracturing?

Hydraulic fracturing is a well stimulation process used to maximize the extraction of underground resources  oil, natural gas and geothermal energy. The hydraulic fracturing process includes the acquisition of source water , well construction, well stimulation, and waste disposal.

Hydraulic fracturing involves the pressurized injection of fluids commonly made up of water and chemical additives into a geologic formation. The pressure exceeds the rock strength and the fluid opens or enlarges fractures in the rock. As the formation is fractured, a propping agent, such as sand or ceramic beads, is pumped into the fractures to keep them from closing as the pumping pressure is released. The fracturing fluids ( water and chemical additives) are then returned back to the surface. Natural gas will flow from pores and fractures in the rock into the well for subsequent extraction.

As you can see, water is involved at every stage of the process, which is why they call it hydraulic fracking. (Wikipedia has a heavily-linked entry on fracking, but Im going to keep this discussion at a high level, not distinguishing between oil and gas fracking, for example, or focusing on technical detail.)

Fracking really got its start under the Bush administration, when then Vice President Dick Cheney, the First of His Name, got it exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act, through the Halliburton Loophole. Food and Water Watch:

Fracking  the extreme oil and gas extraction method that involves blasting millions of gallons of water mixed with toxic chemicals underground at enormous pressures to break apart subterranean rock  has exploded in the last decade. For this we can thank the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the law that holds the Halliburton Loophole. Named after Dick Cheney and the notorious corporation he led before becoming vice president, the law (championed by Cheney and disgraced Enron founder Kenneth Lay, among others) explicitly exempted fracking operations from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. These exemptions from one of Americas most fundamental environmental protection laws provided the oil and gas industry the immunity it required to develop a highly polluting process on a grand national scale .

Inside Climate News describes the Halliburton Loophole:

The ambiguity is typical of water tested near fracking sites. If water quality has worsened, there is seldom a bright line to the fracking. Thats partly because under the Halliburton loophole, companies do not reveal everything they inject underground , so labs do not know all the substances they should test for. And in many cases, homeowners enter into settlements with energy companies that prohibit them from revealing what happened.

(So if you see Christopher D. Kassotis et all. going through what some might regard as methodological contortions, thats because the Halliburton Loophole makes it impossible to gather the data at the obvious source: The wellhead.) Lest it be thought that fracking is a creature of those mean Republicans, heres how the fracking industry did under the Obama administration. From CNN:

Americas biggest oil boom came under Obama Believe it or not, Obama has presided over the biggest increase in oil production in American history, even if he cant take direct credit for it all. The U.S. was pumping just 5.1 million barrels per day when Obama took office in January 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Fast forward to April and the U.S. produced 8.9 million barrels per day. Thats an incredible 74% increase. In fact, in 2015, the U.S. pumped the most oil in 43 years. The U.S. is now the worlds No. 1 petroleum producer when you count not just crude but also liquified natural gas.

(To his credit[1], Obama at least attempted to reverse the Halliburton Loophole through regulation, but the effort was defeated in court, and seems to have died there. Another Obama-era regulation prevented fracking in national parks, which Trump reversed.[2])

So the fracking industry was done quite well politically (and, given that one (that is, I) can heat ones home with it, quite well for households, too). But as a business Well, as Kevin Drum wrote in 2017, Fracking Is a Huge American Money Pit:

Every year, fracking operations in the United States produce more than a billion barrels of oil and gas. And were basically just giving it all away Thats right: the whole industry is a huge money sink. If you invested $100 in the S&P 500 a decade ago, youd have $180 today. If you invested $100 in fracking, youd have $69. Fracking is bad because it releases methane; bad because it destabilizes fault lines; bad for pumping poisonous dreck into the ground; and of course, bad for climate change. But all along I figured that at least greed could explain why we put up with this. Greed explains a lot of odious human behavior. But whats the point of frantically digging up all our fossil fuel resources now now now if no one is even making any money from it?

Frankly, I dont know either; cray cray logic like this is why I never write on energy topics. Yes, Silicon Valley had Juicero, but at least Juicero didnt disrupt your endocrine system. Even Elizabeth Holmes didnt do that.[3]

With fracking defined and politics and the business out of the way, lets turn to the water cycle. I learned about the water cycle back in grade school, along with civics. Heres a diagram of the water cycle from the United States Geological Survey (USGS):

Figure 1: The Water Cycle

Youll notice that the USGS depicts the cycle as a cycle; specifically, surface water flows into ground water through infiltration, seepage, and from fresh water, but groundwater flows to the surface also through seepage, through springs, and via the ocean. (Ive helpfully highlighted the groundwater flow in yellow.)

And here is a diagram of the fracking cycle from the EPA:

Figure 2: The Fracking Cycle

Youll notice that the fracking cycle is not a cycle; it is a linear movement from water acquistion to wastewater disposal, with no involvement of groundwater whatever. (Ive helpfully highlighted the presumably ever-pristine groundwater in yellow.)

So, who is right? The USGS or the EPA? Our first study, Endocrine-Disrupting Activities and Organic Contaminants Associated with Oil and Gas Operations in Wyoming Groundwater, provides the answer. From the rather dense abstract:

Unconventional oil and natural gas (UOG) operations couple horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing Hydraulic fracturing, a common form of stimulation, involves the high-pressure injection of water, chemicals, and sand to fracture the target layer and release trapped natural gas and/or oil. Spills and/or discharges of wastewater have been shown to impact surface, ground, and drinking water. The goals of this study were to characterize the endocrine activities and measure select organic contaminants in groundwater from conventional oil and gas (COG) and UOG production regions of Wyoming. Groundwater samples were collected from each region, solid-phase extracted, and assessed for endocrine activities (estrogen, androgen, progesterone, glucocorticoid, and thyroid receptor agonism and antagonism), using reporter gene assays in human endometrial cells. Water samples from UOG and conventional oil areas exhibited greater ER antagonist activities than water samples from conventional gas areas. Samples from UOG [fracking] areas tended to exhibit progesterone receptor antagonism more often , suggesting there may be a UOG-related impact on these endocrine activities. We also report UOG-specific contaminants in Pavillion groundwater extracts, and these same chemicals at high concentrations in a local UOG wastewater sample . A unique suite of contaminants was observed in groundwater from a permitted drinking water well at a COG well pad and not at any UOG sites; high levels of endocrine activities (most notably, maximal estrogenic activity) were noted there, suggesting putative impacts on endocrine bioactivities by COG. As such, we report two levels of evidence for groundwater contamination by both UOG and COG operations in Wyoming.

So, from this study we know what the Halliburton Loophole seeks to prevent us from knowing: (1) Fracking contaminates groundwater and with it, the water cycle, and with (2) endocrine cycle-disrupting chemicals. This is bad. Lead author Christopher Kassotis:

[KASSOTIS:] There are really no other known progesterone antagonists [disruptors] in the environment. The only other is RU 486  the morning after pill. Traces [of RU 486] might show up in sewage water, but thats not at high levels and thats not common.

The Casper Star Tribune summarizes:

Thus, the studys conclusion: Groundwater from near a fracked field disrupts human cells in ways that adversely affect the critical endocrine hormone messaging system, and to a more serious degree than polluted groundwater near a conventional oil and gas operation.

The fracking industry and local fracking-dependent compradors are, as one might expect, fighting the study tooth and nail, and although Id welcome reader comment, it looks like a sound, common-sense study to me; the Archives is peer-reviewed.

From the fact of frackings contamination of the water cycle, lets turn to the amount of water used, and the distribution of the contamination. Thats the subject of our second study, in Science The intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing. From the abstract:

The process of hydraulic fracturing uses large volumes of water mixed with chemicals and proppant (sand) to fracture and hold open fractures in low-permeability shale and tight oil rocks to allow extraction of hydrocarbons. Despite higher water intensity (the amount of water used to produce a unit of energy; for example, liters per gigajoules) of hydraulic fracturing compared to conventional vertical oil and gas wells, it has been shown that the overall water withdrawal for hydraulic fracturing is negligible compared to other industrial water uses on a national level. On a local scale, however, water use for hydraulic fracturing can cause conflicts over water availability, especially in arid regions such as western United States , where water supplies are limited.

First, egligible though overall water withdrawal may be, holy moley, look at the growth. Courthouse News summarizes:

[A] new study has found that water usage for hydraulic fracturing has increased nearly ninefold in the semi-arid [Permian Basin region in Texas and New Mexico] over a five-year period. According to the study, the Permian Basin used 42,500 cubic meters per hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, well in 2016  the most water of all the regions  and experienced an increase of nearly 800 percent of water usage per fracking well during the study period. in addition to an increase in water use, the salty groundwater that results from the fracking process  known as flowback and produced water  has increased by up to 1,440 percent . Flowback and produced water, or FP water, has high levels of salts that include toxic materials and naturally occurring radioactive material, which could threaten ecosystems with spills and is extremely expensive to treat, according to the study. The study called this increase alarming given the extreme water scarcity in these regions.

The Sciencestudy presents the local scale contamination in these regions in map form:

So, as we can see, the shale plays in the West are contaminating the water cycle, presumably with endrocrine disruptors, in arid regions where theres very little water to be had. I dont see how this makes sense, but  see again Kevin Drums remarks on profitability above  very little about fracking makes sense. These areas have become sacrifice zones, just like colonized Maine sacrifices its groundwater for trash from away in landfills, but for what? Not even, it would seem, profit. Except, perhaps, for Michael Burry.

NOTES

[1] WaPo: If extracted safely, Obama said, natural gas is the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change. That if extracted safely is doing a lot of work. Im not sure I buy the bridge fuel argument, given that drilling for gas also produces methane. But thats not the subject of this post.

[2] And why not, if fracking is not dangerous, as the controlling factions in both major parties insist?

[3] See also Exploring the endocrine activity of air pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction, Ashley L. Bolden, et al., March 2018. Unconventional meaning fracking.
Moses is one of the most recognized figures of the Bible and much more than an Exodus hero. We know a great deal about Moses from the details we are provided in the Old Testament books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; however, theres much more to Israels mighty leader than what weve seen on the big screen. Recognized universally as the deliverer of his people, the Israelites, from slavery to Egypt, Moses is also credited with establishing Israels judicial and religious systems. He was so incredible and his life was so instrumental that his story has been brought to life in many film adaptations, including The Ten Commandments, the film that ended up becoming Charlton Hestons most successful work. While there are many things you likely know about Moses from the Bible and film, there are also a number of things you may not know about the great hero of faith. There are likely a number of facts on this list you may have missed. Here are six of the most interesting facts about Moses.

He was the first abandoned child mentioned in the Bible.

Moses mother hid her baby until he was three months old because she didnt want him to be killed by the Egyptians. She knew that Moses might be found, so she did what she had to do to save him by setting him afloat in a basket on the Nile River. The Bible tells us, But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile (Exodus 2:3).

He was 80 years old when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt.

We know from Scripture that Moses lived to be 120 years old, but it wasnt until he was 80 years old that God called him to lead His people out of Egypt. When Moses was 80 years old, God told him to return to Egypt and He would free the Israelites from slavery. God gave Moses specific directions on what to say and do. Moses was also told ahead of time that Pharaoh would not let the people go first, but finally after 10 plagues fell on the Egyptians, Pharaoh sent for Moses and told him to take the Israelites out of Egypt.

He had leprosy.

Moses is believed to have had leprosy, at least briefly. We can see the instance referred to in Exodus fourth chapter. Moses objects when God tells him to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh. God has Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he pulls it out again, his hand was covered with scales, like snowflakes. When Moses again puts his hand in his cloak, it comes out clean (Exodus 4:6-7). What exactly Moses did wrong has been debated by scholars. Biblical leprosy is described in Leviticus 13 as a progressive disease that causes scabs, crusts and white patches on the skin, turns hair white and causes bald spots.

He likely stuttered.

Moses most likely had a speech impediment. There are two points of interest in Exodus 4:10. The minor of the two comes at the beginning of the response in which Moses expresses his feelings of his calling of God. The major of the two comes at the end of his comment in expressing why he feels that he cant accept his calling. The New Living Translation of the Bible records Moses response to Gods call in Exodus 4:10, O Lord, Im not very good with words. I never have been, and Im not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.

He wasnt allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Moses is believed to have sinned by not having faith in the Lord and disobeyed a direct command from Him. That is the reason he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. God asked Moses to speak to the rock before his eyes and water would pour out which could be used by them and their livestock to drink, but Moses went ahead and hit the rock and water poured out. But the Lord said that as he didnt show faith in Him and instead hit the rock so he must not bring this community to the land He has given them. His punishment for disobedience and pride was that he was barred from entering the Promised Land.

The location of his tomb is unknown.

Another interesting fact about Moses is that God buried him in a location which is hidden from everybody. The tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacobs are known but Moses tomb is still unknown. God had sent back Moses to Egypt to demand the release of Hebrews into the desert. God told him that the elders will listen to him and then he can take the elders with him to the King and ask him to release the Hebrews. He died in Midian at the age of 120. The Bible tells us he was healthy and unimpaired when he died.

Before Moses died, he reminded the people of all the Lord had done for them. The whole book of Deuteronomy is a record of what was said. Moses read the Ten Commandments to them again. He then went up into the mountain, looked into the Promised Land and then died as God said. Today, we have someone who is greater than Moses: Jesus Christ who is still leading people out of sin. His shed blood still allows Gods fierce wrath to pass over those who have repented and put their trust in Him.
What to expect from Federal Reserve chairs Jackson Hole speech FT

Elon Musk Hires Morgan Stanley to Help Take Tesla Private Bloomberg

Tesla Factory structure caught on fire in Fremont [update: fire now extinguished] electrek. I worked in many factories, back in the day, and never once encountered a fire; supports my view that the Tesla shop floor is a hell-hole.

Kalashnikovs CV-1 electric car touted as Russias answer to Tesla BBC. Hard to beat the Kalishnikov brand, but the styling is a bit Soviet.

Banker pleads guilty to money laundering charges, S. Fla. properties could be seized South Florida Business Journal. Krull admitted that he helped private clients from Venezuela embezzle about $600 million from Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), a state-owned oil company. E. Mayer: Perhaps this sort of insider-looting explains at least part of Venezuelas financial woes.

Puerto Rico

Year after Harvey, poor having toughest time recovering AP

Brexit

Goldman Sachs sells new London headquarters for 1.2bn Finance News

Jeremy Corbyn vows radical shake up in how the BBC is run if Labour takes power Daily Mirror

Syraqistan

Scott Morrison beats Peter Dutton in Liberal spill to succeed Malcolm Turnbull; Julie Bishop loses deputy position ABC Australia

China?

New Cold War

Musician Bobi Wine Arrested and Tortured by USAs Man in Africa Black Agenda Report (GF).

Trump Transition

Reality Winner, National Security Agency Leaker, Sentenced To 5 Years HuffPo

Democrats in Disarray

The lesson we refuse to learn about Republican voters The Week

Health Care

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Net Neutrality

Class Warfare

Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 19902016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 The Lancet. From the conclusion: Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none.

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

This little fella taking a ride on my lawnmower. I took it off and it climbed back on.. Enjoying the vibration.  pic.twitter.com/VfuK3BDWS0  . (@FreeSpirit_444) August 21, 2018

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
The Fethard Historical Society will marry history with modern technology when it launches its Digital Atlas of Historic Fethard next Friday, August 24, in the Abymill Theatre.

The Societys celebration of national Heritage Week 2018 and the European Year of Cultural Heritage comprises the following events on Friday, August 24:

Exploring Fethards Past from 2pm to 5pm

A seminar on the history of this important medieval walled town in the Abymill Theatre, Fethard featuring a most eminent panel of speakers. Dr. David Butlers talk on The Butler Influences in and around Fethard will be followed by Marie Taylor (Irish Historic Towns Atlas/UCC), talk on Continuity and Change in the parish of Fethard 1185-1665.

Well-known local archaeologist Barry OReilly (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) will present Forward with Fethard, developing the historical picture.

Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas Project, Royal Irish Academy) will outline the background to the Irish Historic Town Atlas of Fethard and the information it contains, while Rachel Murphy (Irish Historic Towns Atlas/UCC), will explain exactly how the new Digital Atlas of Fethard came into being and how it can be used. There will be two breaks during the seminar and refreshments will be served.

Guided Walking Tour of Fethard at 5pm

A Guided Walking Tour of Fethard with Mary Hanrahan, Chairperson, Fethard Historical Society, will take place at 5pm, featuring the Augustinian Abbey, the Sile na Gigs, Court Castle, The Town Hall, the medieval Holy Trinity Church, Watergate and the Town Wall. The walk will follow a circular route, starting and ending at the Abymill Theatre. The tour will take approx one hour.

Launch of the Digital Atlas of Fethard at 6pm

The Fethard Historical Society invites everyone to the launch of its latest project, the Digital Atlas of Fethard in the Abymill Theatre. Come along, download the link and see how it works for yourself

Exhibition of Patrician Presentation Secondary School Art

There will be an exhibition of artwork created by the local secondary school students as their response to the original map of Historic Fethard on which the new Digital Atlas of Historic Fethard is based. Viewing will be available at the Abymill from 2pm onwards.

Admission

All events are free of charge and people are welcome to attend any or all of them but please register interest by signing up via the Historical Societys events page: digitalatlasfethard.com/events, by email on history@fethard.com or by texting Tel: 087 9009722.
Vehicles and equipment for NATOs largest military exercise in recent years have arrived from Italy to Norway this week. This is the first batch of equipment arriving for the exercise, which will take place in late October and early November.

The equipment belongs to the Italian armoured brigade Ariete. The Italian Armed Forces will participate in Trident Juncture 2018 with some 1,200 troops, making Italy one of the main contributors to the exercise.

Bringing together more than 40,000 troops and equipment from more than 30 countries for the Trident Juncture exercise will be an enormous logistical undertaking, led by NATOs Joint Force Command Naples. Some 130 logisticians are working on determining the best air, land and sea routes for the deployments, and facilitating the deployments.
(Natural News) The apologists for open borders and unlimited immigration into the United States  legal and illegally  may not be anywhere near a majority of Americans, but they are influential enough that they are at least making inroads into our culture.

How else would it be possible for a murder suspect in our country illegally to insist that he not be referred to as being in our country illegally if he didnt think he had enough cultural support to do so?

Or at least his lawyer thinks so.

The attorney for the suspected killer of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa sophomore who went missing about a month ago, is criticizing the sad and sorry POTUS Donald Trump for daring to comment publicly about an issue that is near and dear to his heart (and a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign  curbing illegal immigration and illegal immigrant crime).

The Daily Wire reported that lawyer Allen Richards complained in court papers filed this week that POTUS characterized his client, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, a Mexican national, as an illegal alien because he claims Rivera was working at an Iowa dairy farm legally.

Sad and sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national media which will poison the entire possible pool of jury members, Richards wrote.

That said, Richards assertion that his client is a legal resident is patently false. As reported by KJAN:

Immigration authorities say they have no record of granting admission into the United States to the man suspected of killing an Iowa college student. A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Wednesday that a search of the agencys records found nothing indicating that Cristhian Bahena Rivera has any immigration status.

You know what else influences a jurys eventual guilty verdict? A lawyer who lies to them. Clearly, Rivera is in the country illegally, and it seems equally clear that he killed Tibbetts since he led authorities to her body and told them he blacked out after hitting on her on the street and she threatened to call the police.

Enabling illegal immigrant murder

As for Richards, his filing seeks a gag order after accusing the federal government and especially the president for lying about his clients legal status. On POTUS Trumps personal account and the White Houses official Twitter account, Rivera was referred to as an illegal alien and then held up (correctly) as an example of our broken, lame, unenforceable patchwork of immigration laws.

Hitting on Democrats theme of bashing POTUS over his now-ended policy of separating families caught sneaking across the border  the same policy immigration authorities used under Obama  the president said in a tweeted message that Mollie was now permanently separated from her family.

A person came in from Mexico illegally and killed her, he said  though, admittedly, theres been no trial yet and no guilty verdict. We need the [border] wall, we need our immigration laws changed, we need our border laws changed, we need Republicans to do it because the Democrats arent going to do it. (Related: New legislation from Steve King would put open borders lawbreakers like Oakland Mayor Schaaf behind bars.)

No, they arent. In fact some of them, like a certain highly probable 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who used fake American Indian heritage to get plumb professorial positions at Ivy League schools, are dismissing Mollies death as a minor issue compared to really important things like harassing immigrants as they break into America (*cough!* Elizabeth Warren *cough!*).

Whats worse, as The National Sentinel reports, is that Mollie isnt the first and wont be the last. In 2017 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 127,000 illegal aliens with pending charges or criminal records. Of those, more than 1,800 were wanted for or had committed homicides.

These are the people Democrats are not just defending but normalizing. So much so that the attorney of an illegal alien murder suspect is more worried about squelching his immigration status than the crime he is said to have committed.

Read more about the criminal invasion at our borders at InvasionUSA.news.

Sources include:

DailyWire.com

NewsTarget.com

TheNationalSentinel.com
(Natural News) According to researchers, algorithms that factored in a shaking mouse cursor, slow scrolling speed, and repetitive online searches could be used to determine if certain individuals were experiencing early signs of Alzheimers or Parkinsons disease.

Computer usage and disease prevention

A team of researchers from Microsoft and Duke University has revealed a connection between a trembling mouse cursor and online searches which implied that certain individuals could have Alzheimers or Parkinsons disease.

For the study, scientists analyzed data from over 31 million Americans who used the Bing search engine. Their goal was to determine if the behavior of these individuals indicated that they might have the conditions.

The researchers shared that the shaking (a symptom of Parkinsons) and memory loss (a symptom of Alzheimers) could be noticed in the online activity of certain individuals.

The team of researchers and scientists tried to find out how much peoples mouses shake side-to-side or back-and-forth as they try to make normal movements. Using data from the Bing searchers, they also determined when users searched for the same things online repetitively, which implied memory problems, a symptom of the brain degeneration associated with both Parkinsons and Alzheimers. (Related: Good fats, antioxidants, and sunshine: A recipe for beating Alzheimers.)

The researchers reported that they identified about 703 individuals who may already have Parkinsons. These people often searched for things like just diagnosed with Parkinsons.

The study authors added that they would try to compare those peoples online activity to that of volunteers who have a confirmed diagnosis of the diseases.

Once the algorithms could accurately identify individuals who already had Parkinsons or Alzheimers, these could be then be used to create software that could spot the symptoms of either condition before people are diagnosed. The computers could even take note of symptoms before a patient or relatives notice them and issue an alert so users can consult a healthcare professional.

The computer algorithms needed to analyze user activity for a long time, and the study participants were observed for 18 months. This length of time could offer detailed information that can be used when diagnosing an individual.

Dr. Murali Doraiswamy, the lead author of the study, said that since the early stages of both Alzheimers and Parkinsonss can be very hard to differentiate from a host of benign conditions the misdiagnosis rate is alarmingly high. Dr. Doraiswamy added that computer data, which can track how a persons online habits change over time, could be crucial to a greater sensitivity and accuracy in making a diagnosis.

To address concerns about data security, the researchers stated that the people were monitored in the original study werent aware that they were part of it. The data was also anonymous, so it wasnt a breach of privacy.

Microsoft and Duke Universitys research was published in the journal npj Digital Medicine.

Alzheimers and Parkinsons

While both Alzheimers and Parkinsons are both degenerative brain diseases, they have different symptoms and biological and physical manifestations/pathophysiology.

Alzheimers disease is a form of dementia thats closely linked to a patients age. The main pathophysiology of this disease is nerve cell deterioration which manifests as an increased loss of coherence and a gradual loss of the ability to accomplish normal daily tasks.

Parkinsons disease, a degenerative brain disease, is believed to be due to a prolonged decrease of dopamine. The absence of dopamine may restrict the normal neural impulses in the brain. This can eventually cause impaired/involuntary body movements, muscle rigidity in the facial muscles, problems swallowing, stuttering, and tremors. In the latter stage of the disease, patients will experience mental deterioration.

Read more articles with tips on how technology can help prevent diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons at Prevention.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

DifferenceBetween.net
(Natural News) Financial experts are desperately trying to get an accurate sense of where the cryptocurrency market is headed amid a continued downward spiral trend thats seen many crypto values plunge to disastrous lows. The bloodbath has been so dramatic in recent days that some observers are now predicting that more than 90 percent of all existing alt coins will eventually disappear entirely.

Ted Rogers, president of the Xapo Bitcoin Wallet & Vault, tweeted on August 13 about how he believes that were currently in the midst of the extinction-level event for cryptoassets that many maximalists have predicted. He added that he believes the vast majority of cryptos are on their way out, and that it might as well happen now in order to get it over with.

At the same time, he says, the current low prices for the more legacy cryptos like Bitcoin suggest that its an incredible opportunity to buy for people who were deterred by the all-time highs of $20,000 per coin that were reached back at the end of 2017. With Bitcoin prices now hovering around $6,000 per coin as of this writing, a fraction of what they were last year, Rogers believes that now is the time for many people to make their move.

I think Bitcoin is a long-term investment and I personally wouldnt get into it for short-term trading, Rogers stated back in June, adding that, its not a matter of if, but when Bitcoin will eventually become a global reserve asset.

Be sure to check out this video segment (or watch below) from a recent episode of the Health Ranger Report, which explains how even Bitcoin could eventually see a total collapse due to the fact that its backed by nothing and remains largely vulnerable to cyber attacks and other forms of manipulation.

Pending SEC approval, Chicago-based exchange holding company plans to make Bitcoin an exchange-traded fund (ETF)

With that said, we really cant be too sure as to the future of any of these crypto coins, seeing as how pretty much all of them are currently in the red. Zero Hedge reports that, as of August 12, the top five cryptos, which include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ripple, have all shed somewhere between 10 to 15 percent of their value.

There are groups that still have faith in cryptos, however, including Cboe Global Markets, which wants to be the first company to list a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Though the road to gaining federal regulatory approval for this concept still has a ways to go, some investors are confident that its going to happen sooner or later.

As we chip away at their issues to make them less concerned, at some point theyll be comfortable with an ETF, says Chris Concannon, the president and chief operating officer (COO) of the Chicago-based exchange operator thats working feverishly to make this goal a reality.

SEC hesitant to approve Bitcoin-based ETFs because of manipulation and fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has already rejected a similar ETF proposal by the Gemini Trust Co. cryptocurrency exchange, citing concerns about manipulation is a mostly unregulated digital currency market rife with fraud. Weve covered this here at Natural News on numerous occasions, including so-called 51 percent attacks that can be utilized to steal other peoples virtual coins.

The SEC is likely to delay until February of 2019 and the chances of a Bitcoin ETF approval in 2018 have always been low, says Hany Rashwan, chief executive officer (CEO) of the crypto startup Amun Technologies Ltd.

To keep up with the latest news about where Bitcoin is headed, be sure to check out BitRaped.com.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NewsBTC.com

Brighteon.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Just when you thought conspiracy theories about the Russians couldnt get any more insane, the corporate-controlled media is now pushing a whole new conspiracy theory about the Russians. According to practically every corporate news outlet in the world, Russian trolls are responsible for much of the social media activity around vaccines. Even worse, were told, its all a villainous plot to destroy America by spreading measles.

Seriously. This is what the laughably fake news media has come to.

Russian accounts may use vaccine arguments to destabilize the US and Europe, screams the UK Daily Mail, without any sense of skepticism or intelligent questioning whatsoever. These mysterious Russians  presumably the same Russians that stole the election for Donald Trump  are trying to get people to stop taking vaccine shots so that measles takes over and decimates America, were told.

[S]ince 2009, the proportion of so-called anti-vaxxers has increased notably in several parts of the country, and measles outbreaks are suddenly reappearing worldwide, warns the Daily Mail, right in line with the same conspiracy theory being pushed by the New York Times, the Washington Post and other controlled fake news outlets.

Russian internet trolls meddling in the 2016 presidential election also lashed out at Americans debating the safety of vaccines, declares the New York Times, completing the hilarious conspiracy theory now being pushed by vaccine propagandists. First, the Russians stole the election and somehow made Hillary lose. Now, theyre making people stop believing that vaccines are completely safe, were told. Whats next? Will the Russians try to confuse our mating habits by telling us that men can get pregnant and female vaginas should be called front holes? Oh wait, the American Left already did all that.

Laughably, the Russians did it has become the new mantra of the desperate corporate-run media that cant imagine why intelligent, informed moms might question the irrefutable fact that vaccines still contain mercury, MSG, aborted human fetal tissue and squalene. And if you dont absolutely love the idea of injecting your children with that toxic stew of neurologically damaging chemical, youre obviously working for the Russians.

New study claims anti-vax facts are weaponized communication

The Russia bots hysteria traces back to this study published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). Its entitled, Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate. According to nearly all media reporting on this study, anyone who is opposed to vaccines for any reason at all is obviously working for the Russians.

Now were told the Russians are pursuing all this in order to get all Americans killed by infectious disease. In the first half of 2018 alone, there were 40,000 cases of measles in Europe, screams the Daily Mail, utterly failing to mention the real reason why infectious disease is on the rise: Migrants carrying infectious disease are invading Western Europe. (Watch this video called Paris is a sh#thole to see shocking visual examples.) But since its not politically correct to talk about the disease-carrying migrants who are invading both Europe and the United States, the media must blame someone else so why not the Russians?

The Russians have become the scapegoat for every shred of fake news the deranged, pathetic Western media wants to push on the public. When an all-out media push couldnt get Hillary Clinton elected even though she was the worst presidential candidate in at least two generations, they blamed it all on the Russians.

Another vaccine deep state plot to censor reasonable skepticism about vaccine safety

This media push, of course, is all about pressuring social media giants to censor vaccine skeptics by claiming theyre all Russian bots. Not surprisingly, its all just another CDC vaccine deep state disinfo campaign to silence moms of children who are vaccine damaged.

According to U.S. government statistics published through the VAERS system, in 2017 alone there were 38,906 Americans who were harmed, maimed or even killed by vaccines administered in the United States alone. In fact, the VAERS data records that 120 people died from vaccine immunization in 2017. The conspiracy media refuses to report any of these data, of course. You can view and download the full VAERS data set at this link:

https://vaers.hhs.gov/data/datasets.html

There isnt a single story about the Russians pushing vaccine disinfo that also reports the truth about children in America being maimed and killed by vaccines according to the United States governments own published statistics.

Because when it comes to the issue of vaccines, the real trolls are the lying fake news journalists who still havent come to realize theyre all puppets of CDC military intelligence. Ask yourself this question: Why was the widely-publicized anti-quarantine nurse named Kaci Hickox trained as a CDC intelligence officer in a program modeled after the military?

Oh wait, maybe thats a Russian conspiracy theory, too, according to the fake news media.

You want the truth about vaccines? Check out the Del Bigtree HighWire channel on Brighteon.com:

Brighteon.com/channel/highwire

 and dont believe anything about vaccines you read in the corporate-run media.
(Natural News) At a recent pro-abortion event, Rise Up For Roe, in New York City, Chelsea Clinton declared that the advent of legalized abortion has been great for the economy. So great, in fact, that the young Clinton credited baby-killing for the $3.5 trillion American women contributed to the economy between the years of 1970 and 2009. As if women couldnt be contributors to the world without Roe vs Wade, Clinton assumes that the success of women in America is not disconnected from the controversial 1973 legislation.

Clinton reportedly stated, It is not a disconnect fact that American Women entering the labor force from 1970 to 2009 added $3.5 trillion dollars to our economy. The net, new entrance of women, that is not disconnected from the fact that Roe became the law of the land in January of 1973.

So, whatever it is that people say they care about, I think you can connect to this issue. Of course I would hope that they would care about our equal rights and dignity to make our own choices, but if that is not sufficiently persuasive hopefully some of these other arguments you are hearing expressed so beautifully, will be, the monologue continued.

Many conservatives and other pro-life supporters were incensed by Clintons contention that human life can be translated to a dollar value. Indeed, regardless of your feelings on the issue of abortion, the loss of life should not be a celebratory cause.

Evangelist Franklin Graham was particularly outraged by Chelsea Clintons statements. In a Facebook post, Graham reportedly stated, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, claims that legalizing abortion added trillions of dollars to the economy. What a lie. Hitler probably also claimed that killing the Jews would be good for their economy. Legalizing abortion hasnt added anything to our country, it has only taken away. It has cost this nation more than 60 million liveslives precious to God. Just think of the contribution these people would have made.

Conservative Erick Erickson likened abortion to slavery over Twitter:

In the 1800s, slave owners said slavery was about economic rights. Always and without fail the arguments of the abortion movement in the United States mirror the arguments of slave owners. Both are grave evils. https://t.co/3tkd4Vj03i  Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 15, 2018

Beyond the outrage, there is also truth: Abortion has not been good for the American economy. In the year 2000, the Ethics and Public Policy Center reported:

By reducing the size of the population, abortion has correspondingly reduced the size of the economy; over time, it will undercut one main cause of the American economys current dynamism: innovation. By contributing to a sharp drop in the net marriage rate, legalized abortion has already reduced the standard of living of the average American household. Legalized abortion is also single-handedly responsible for anticipated imbalances in the Social Security retirement system

John D. Mueller further contended that abortion is perhaps the single largest economic event to strike the American economy, even more momentous than the Great Depression or World War II. Mueller argues that if abortion had not been legalized, the American population would be substantially larger, there would be more marriages and more two-parent families, and that the overall standard of living in the United States would be higher than it is now.

In the past, economists agreed that population reduction inherently corresponded to economic decreases of about the same size. If the population is decreased by five percent, the economy can expect to shrink accordingly.

In other words, Chelsea Clintons assertion that abortion added trillions of dollars to the economy is false: While women whove had abortions may be making economic contributions, the fact remains that abortion inherently takes away from the economy, by virtue of the fact that abortion takes away from population size. Liberals may love abortion, but that doesnt mean theyre right.

See more stories about how abortion effects society at Abortions.news.

Sources for this article include:

WesternJournal.com

EPPC.org

CNSNews.com
(Natural News) Disaster preparedness is important no matter which state you live in. Two researchers from Western University have revealed that they devised a method that can give warnings at least 20 minutes before a tornado hits.

Even a warning given several seconds before a storm hits can spell the difference between safety and total catastrophe. Anna Hocking, a Western alumna and Ph.D., along with Professor Wayne Hocking, the leader of the Atmospheric Dynamics Group based at Westerns Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science, explained that their radar-based calculations can forecast a tornado. The forecasts are at least 90 percent accurate from within a 100-kilometer radius. (Related: Heres why you should keep your shelter preparations up-to-date and bugout bag close.)

Anna Hocking says that meteorologists often monitor specific signatures like wind speeds and an overshoot, or a dome-like knob that forms atop a thundercloud. She adds that they both succeeded in incorporating a third factor, turbulence, for the first time.

The two scientists made use of a one-of-a-kind Ontario-Quebec network of purpose-built radars used to measure wind and turbulence via the upper atmosphere, troposphere, and lower stratosphere. Called the O-QNet, the network is comprised of 10 radar arrays, with one located just north of London.

Wayne Hocking, who is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, adds that since O-QNet is incredibly extensive, they made use of its design which is perfect for measuring turbulence as well as winds. The network helped both researchers to determine patterns and predictors that havent been evident before.

The method was developed after the Hockings gathered and studied 16 years of tornado data. The information included reports to Environment Canada from citizen observers. The researchers then compared this data with both real-time and archived data gathered from radar arrays.

The pair shared that from the 31 documented tornadoes, certain profiles of cloud overshoot into the stratosphere, wind velocity, and turbulence were uniquely present 90 percent of the time. The three signature features were all present at least 10 to 20 minutes before the tornado formed.

Wayne Hocking comments that there is only a less than a 15 percent chance of false detection, which is a vast improvement compared to current predictions. Earlier warnings that encompass huge regions, sometimes include false alarms.

Meteorologists have longed for accurate, timely and geographically precise tornado warnings, but proprietary technologies and differing methodologies among forecasters are some of the obstacles that they must face before they can fully understand weather patterns.

Wayne Hocking concluded, Theres still a lot to be done and were not going to say this is going to solve the whole forecasting problem  but this is a large step in the right direction. He continued, The data suggests we now have a more reliable tool for forecasting than has been possible before this.

Tornado safety tips

If youre indoors when a tornado hits, follow the tips below to stay safe:

Keep a portable radio in hand to check for weather alerts and updates.

Seek shelter in the lowest level of your home (e.g., a basement or storm cellar). If you dont have a basement, stay in an inner hallway, a smaller inner room, or a closet.

Stay away from all windows and glass doorways.

A mattress can be used as a cushion, but dont cover yourself with one. Use a blanket or jacket to protect your head and eyes from flying debris and broken glass.

Leash your pets or keep them in a crate or carrier.

Do go outside unless youre sure that the storm has passed. Multiple tornadoes can emerge from the same storm.

Do not leave your house to escape a tornado.

You can read more articles about how to use technology wisely at FutureScienceNews.com.

Sources include:

MediaRelations.UWO.ca

Weather.com
(Natural News) In January 2017 nearly one hundred donors and progressive groups came together at a retreat in Florida to discuss ways to control information online, to delegitimize conservatives, and subvert the President of the United States. Hoping to take back power in Washington, these progressive groups discussed ways to censor independent media sources that were influential in getting Trump elected. At the center of the coalition is Media Matters, a George Soros-funded outfit that seeks to impeach President Trump and elect Progressives to the Senate and House.

Their plan to coordinate censorship across social media networks is being carried out today and is challenging legal and ethical lines. Working with tech giants like Facebook, YouTube, Apple, and Twitter, these progressive groups are successfully shadow banning the voices they want eliminated from political and ideological discussion. Media Matters, American Bridge, Shareblue, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington came together and wrote up a four-year plan to attack conservatives and Trump supporters by censoring their voices on social media.

The recent wave of censorship against conservatives, Trump supporters, libertarians, and independent thinkers on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Apple is a coordinated, premeditated attack on Americas liberties. It is a progressive plot to silence influential voices and independent media sources. This truth is revealed in a confidential 49-page memo obtained exclusively from the progressive retreat at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura, Fla. The memo, Democracy Matters: Strategic Plan for Action reveals exactly what is happening today across the social media networks.

Part of Media Matters plan is to create a digital attack to combat President Trump. Founder David Brock also unveiled a plot to work with Facebook to eliminate fake news  the kind of information that progressives dont want to hear. The plot entails a path to influence the 2018 midterm elections and to monetize political advocacy for the left. Media Matters is run by David Brock, a puppet of Hillary Clinton and George Soros, and a shrewd political operative who is working with the technology giants to suppress content and information that is not supportive of the political and business interests of the progressive agendas.

Democrats, once supporters of free speech, are now claiming that democracy matters only if their opposition is silenced. Republicans are too weak to take a stand against this coordinated and manipulative effort to control information online. The memo unveiled that Media Matters has access to raw data from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites so they can systemically monitor and analyze unfiltered data. The memo boasted that the left can now identify a fake news story so they can more effectively quash it.

These progressives believe they have the power to determine which ideas and information are fit for the internet. The memo clarifies their plan: With this new technology at our fingertips, researchers monitoring news in real time will be able to identify the origins of a lie with mathematical precision, creating an early warning system for fake news and disinformation.

Media Matters sought to raise $40 million in 2017 to influence the technology giants and control fact checkers from the top down. According to the memo, Brock worked with Facebook hierarchy to determine which right-wing Facebook pages were the most influential purveyors of fake news. Media Matters met with Facebook to discuss the best ways to crack down on these pages. Since then, Facebooks newsfeed algorithms have been denying traffic to targeted fake news sites while promoting progressive platforms. Isnt this a violation of anti-trust laws?

Brocks shady work doesnt end with Facebook. In fact, the shrewd manipulator worked with Google to identify forty of the worst fake news sites so they could be demonetized by Googles advertising network. Since then, several influential sites have been shadow banned, including Breitbart, the Drudge report, Zero Hedge, Conservative Treehouse and Infowars.

As the censorship of conservatives and independent news sources escalates across social media, what will be done to restore true American democracy, freedom of speech, and unfettered civil discourse?

The Left seeks to regain political power by silencing anyone with a different idea or vision. This is wholly un-American and should be exposed for what it truly is. The rule of law should put these totalitarians in their place, restoring an equal platform across the internet for all voices and ideas.

For more on political bias and silencing of conservative voices, visit Censorship.News.

Sources include:

WND.com

FreeBeacon.com

ScribD.com



Censorship.News
(Natural News) Days after suspending Alex Jones for alleged hate speech and inappropriate conduct, Twitter hypocrites awarded racist, anti-white Sarah Jeong, with the coveted blue check mark of certification. Jeong is a writer for The New York Times and recently came under fire for her history of tweeting about how much she hates white people. But the hate speech street only works one way, apparently, as Jeong has been largely defended by the left-wing media. Candace Owens, communications director for TPUSA, was also briefly suspended by Twitter for imitating Jeongs racist tweets.

Hypocrisy is par for the course when it comes to liberals these days: Its not a secret that the Left has taken it upon themselves to revise history and redefine words to suit their agenda. For example, Alex Jones has been accused of hate speech, and his account was suspended by Twitter for abusive behavior. Jones has been censored by multiple social media networks including Facebook and YouTube, alongside other conservatives who dare to publicly disclose their political leanings. Conservative pundit Gavin McInnes was just banned from the platform.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said of the decision to suspend Jones, I feel any suspension, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors. Apparently, Dorsey thinks it is his place to penalize adults for expressing opinions liberals dont like.

Meanwhile, Sarah Jeong, who has tweeted about how she cant wait for white people to go extinct, how white people are only fit to live underground like groveling goblins and #CancelWhitePeople, somehow is not guilty of hate speech. Instead, Jeong has been rewarded for her blatant bigotry and prejudice with a blue check mark.

The hypocrisy here is just astounding  and its not gone unnoticed. As Candace Owens contends, this isnt just about so-called hate speech or fake news, or whatever new crimes the Left has drawn up to accuse conservatives of  its just plain political discrimination.

In a week that Gavin McInnes who has NEVER tweeted ANYTHING racist gets kicked off of this platform, @sarahjeong who wishes that 60% of this country was forced to live underground based on the color of their skin receives a verification. BLATANT POLITICAL DISCRIMINATION.  Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) August 17, 2018

Candace Owens, a prominent black conservative pundit, has been accused of being a white supremacist. Earlier this summer, she was chased out of a coffee shop by a group of deranged white people who were shouting F*** white supremacy! The antifa mob that attacked a black woman clearly fails to understand reality. But under psychotic liberal dogma, attacking black people for exercising their freedom is perfectly a-okay, as long as they are conservative.

Owens was also recently suspended from Twitter for mimicking tweets put out by Sarah Jeong  tweets Jeong herself was never penalized for, by the way.

Jewish people are bullt  like dogs pissing on fire hydrants #cancelJewishpeople Are Jewish people genetically predisposed to burn faster in the sun? The above statements are from @nytimes editor @SarahJeong. I simply swapped out the word white for Jewish, Owens said on Twitter. The social media giant did reverse her suspension after some serious backlash.

To say Twitters actions are controversial would be an understatement. As sources note, Twitter has long held that their blue check mark is not a sign of endorsement, but simply just a sign that the user is who they say they are  but their recent actions surely seem to indicate otherwise. Many right-wing figures have seen their little blue check mark disappear without reason, prompting some to question if the mark is indeed a sign of approval, and its absence a condemnation. The social media network has also come under fire for shadow-banning conservatives by making their tweets less prominent and making it harder to find their accounts.

See more stories about political bias at Censored.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheGatewayPundit.com

RT.com

BBC.com
A turtle's shell is the most recognizable feature of the creature, but that wasn't the case in a turtle fossil from 228 million years ago.

At that stage in turtle evolution, it hasn't grown a shell yet. The newly discovered species is also the very first known stem turtle with a toothless beak.

Scientists Find New Turtle Species

A study published in the journal Nature introduced the modern turtle's ancestor as Eorhynchochelys sinensis. Found in the Guizhou province of China, it was reportedly a gigantic animal that's more than 6 feet long with a Frisbee-shaped body and a long tail.

Olivier Rieppel, one of the study authors and a paleontologist at Chicago's Field Museum, says that the Eorhynchochelys likely lived in shallow waters, digging for food in the mud.

Of course, the most striking characteristics of the animal fossil are the absence of the shell and the presence of the distinct toothless beak, both of which help piece together the complex lineage that resulted in the modern turtle.

Turtles And Mosaic Evolution

Until now, turtle evolution has been a huge question mark in palaeontology. Fortunately, the Eorhynchochelys is able to clear up a few of the lingering questions about the evolution of these creatures.

"This impressively large fossil is a very exciting discovery giving us another piece in the puzzle of turtle evolution," Nick Fraser, another study author from the National Museums Scotland, explains. "It shows that early turtle evolution was not a straightforward, step-by-step accumulation of unique traits but was a much more complex series of events that we are only just beginning to unravel."

Scientists have previously found evidence of an early turtle with a partial shell, but no beak. On the other hand, the Eorhynchochelys had a distinctly formed beak but no shell.

The contradiction suggests that mosaic evolution took place, which means traits evolve independently at varying rates with the different ancestral species potentially getting different combination of traits. While modern turtles have both shells and beaks, its ancestors may have just gotten one or the other until the various genetic mutations occurred in the same animal.

Skull Secrets Solved

Finally, the Eorhynchochelys was also able to settle one debate: whether early turtles were diapsids with two holes on the side of the skull or anapsids with none. It turns out, the species was a diapsid, belonging in the same reptile group as modern lizards and snakes.
Two convicted robbers have been charged with special circumstances murder for the death of the owner of a Vietnamese restaurant in Alameda during an attempted robbery in April, prosecutors said.

Paul Paez, 38, and Donte Holloway, both of Oakland, were arraigned on Wednesday for the death of 61-year-old Cindy Le and are scheduled to return to court Thursday to be assigned attorneys and possibly enter pleas.

Alameda police said Le was attacked outside the Pho Anh Dao restaurant at 1919 Webster St. at about 11 p.m. on April 6 and died from her injuries on April 10.

Alameda police Officer Koby Burns wrote in a probable cause statement that surveillance camera footage shows Paez followed Le from a restaurant she owned in Oakland to her restaurant in Alameda.

Burns said that when Paez arrived in Alameda he tried to take Le's purse from her and when she resisted he punched her in the face, causing her to fall and strike her head on the concrete sidewalk.

Burns said Holloway also participated in the attempted robbery and struck Le and her daughter's boyfriend, who was trying to defend Le, in the head with a metal pipe.

The officer wrote that Holloway "admitted to being at the scene and swinging the metal pipe at unknown individuals."

In addition to murder, Paez and Holloway are charged with two special circumstance clauses: murder by lying in wait and murder during the course of a robbery.

The two men also are charged with attempted second-degree robbery and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

Prosecutors allege that Paez has a prior conviction for second-degree robbery and Hollowy has three prior convictions: two for second-degree robbery and one for being an accessory after the fact.

Both men are being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail.
NEW YORK - Derek Holland has been one of the more popular additions to the Giants' clubhouse in recent years, keeping it light throughout what has turned out to be a rough summer. On Thursday, Holland issued an apology for an attempt at humor that fell flat.

The Giants left-hander had appeared on MLB Network's "Intentional Talk" one day earlier and brought Haro Ogawa, the team's massage therapist, as his "hype man." The appearance was awkward, and a day later, Deadspin ran a story criticizing Holland for making insensitive jokes. Many Giants fans complained about Holland on Twitter as well.

After Thursday's 3-1 win over the Mets, Holland asked to speak to reporters about the incident.

"Obviously that was not our intention. I want to make sure that it's clear that that's all on me," he said. "This is directly on me. Me and Haro were just doing a bit. We didn't expect it to turn out the way that it did. Obviously it was not meant to be that way.  I apologize for what I've done and what I've caused. Now it's become a distraction for the team, and I don't want that, and I don't want to have offended anybody, and I apologize for doing that."

Holland said he spoke to Ogawa, a beloved team employee, and bullpen catcher Taira Uematsu, who also is Japanese. He apologized to both men.

"We were just doing a bit, but obviously it was too far," Holland said. "Those were not the intentions. If we're going to blame anybody, it needs to be me. I want to be held accountable for anything that I've done and caused with all of this.

"It's embarrassing what I did. I was just trying to have some fun. Haro and I entertained trying to take it to a different level and make the interview more exciting, and I obviously crossed the line with that."

Holland said he had seen the Deadspin article, and while he didn't agree with the wording -- the headline was "Giants pitcher Derek Holland uses Asian team staffer for stale, racist jokes on MLB Network" -- he understands why people are upset.

"I understand I've offended people, and that's on me," he said.

A few hours after the game against the Mets wrapped up, the Giants issued the following statement regarding Holland:

"The Giants were disappointed to learn of the Derek Holland's behavior on Intentional Talk. We do not condone that type of behavior nor does it reflect our organizational values. Derek has taken full responsibility for his actions and has made a public apology."
Alameda County is cracking down on a popular foodie craze that has been thriving just across the bay in San Francisco.

A health inspector shut down a pop-up restaurant in Oakland last week, calling such eateries illegal in the county. In San Francisco, pop-ups with a permit are perfectly fine.

The spirit behind pop-up restaurants is "Chefs with a restaurant helping other chefs without a restaurant." The Kebabery in Oakland is closed on Tuesdays, so last week, the owner decided to lend his space to a friend for a Korean pop-up restaurant. Less than an hour after it opened, a health inspector with Alameda County walked in.

"Her reaction immediately was her eyes widened, went and grabbed a seat and wrote her notice and told us that we needed to shut down," said Steve Joo, co-owner of Nokni.

The pop-up's chef, Julya Shin, said: "We had maybe like 15, 16 people who had ordered, and we had people coming in the door."

The foodies in line were turned away. Shin and Joo were stuck with a loss of $800 and pounds of leftover food.

"I did have to scale and gut 8 pounds of anchovies, so I really wanted to see them served!" Shin said.

The business partners met years ago when the two worked for acclaimed chef Alice Waters at her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. With their shared love for Korean cuisine, the two created Nokni. For the past two years, the chefs have hosted pop-up restaurant experiences throughout Oakland.

"Theyre not to generate like a huge profit," Shin said. "Its mostly to put ourselves out there."

The Alameda County Environmental Health Department argues only the Kebabery is permitted and licensed to run a food business out of the address. The chefs say they understand the reasoning behind the notice. They just hope what happened to them sparks a conversation over how to regulate pop-up restaurants in Alameda County.

"You have to acknowledge that they exist and maybe not drive them deeper under the radar," Shin said.

For now, Shin and Joo said they are regrouping and trying to figure out what their next step is. They said they are ultimately trying to save up for a brick-and-mortar location.
After months of calls for his resignation and termination, the San Jose Independent Police Auditor resigned from his position Thursday.

In his resignation letter, Aaron Zisser thanked the city of San Jose, said he's proud of the work he had done and that he remains "available and committed to supporting San Jose communities, the steadfast grassroot leaders, City leaders SJPD and the next IPA."

The Assistant Independent Police Auditor, Shivaun Nurre, will serve as the Acting IPA until Mayor Sam Liccardo appoints a permanent replacement, officials said.

"The City Council and I look forward to working with all stakeholders in the community to create an even higher standard of trust, accountability and transparency within the San Jose Police Department," Liccardo said in a statement.

Zisser's resignation comes a month after the San Jose Police union called for his resignation after he allegedly attended an what they called an anti-police rally, a complaint Zisser denied.

In June, The San Jose Police Officers Association (SJPOA) also turned in a petition with more than 500 signatures to the Mayor's Office to demand Zisser be fired for misconduct.

The police union said Zisser's annual report excluded important data and misled the public about racial disparities in the department's use of force.

Speaking with NBC Bay Area Friday, Zisser said the SJPOA's tactics seemed "focused on derailing the community's own efforts to expand oversight and thereby accomplish broader needed reforms at SJPD."

"The reality is that San Jose has not structured the IPA office with protections to ensure independence. The oversight model is not designed to accomplish real reform," Zisser said.

The SJPOA said it's important to note that although the union had issues with the judgement and actions of Zisser, "the SJPOA never questioned the vital and essential role that the Office of the IPA plays in the administration of justice for all San Jose residents."

The union said it will make an announcement next week on specific steps to help strengthening the oversight of the Office of the Independent Police Auditor.

The community also immediately reacted to Zisser's resignation, questioning the city's commitment to police transparency and accountability. People Acting in Community Together (PACT), a multiracial community organization, said the police union's attack campaign raises major concerns.

"People of color, immigrants, people with mental health issues, and houseless people, in particular, wonder who they can trust to ensure the safety and justice of our community," PACT said in a statement.

NBC Bay Area's Damian Trujillo contributed to this report.
Hurricane Lane unleashed torrents of rain and landslides that blocked roads on Hawaii's mostly rural Big Island on Thursday as residents and tourists in the state's biggest city braced for the dangerous storm to come their way.

Emergency workers rescued five people from a flooded house in Hilo after a nearby gulch overflowed, said Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe. They weren't injured and were taken to a shelter, he said.

On the state's most populated island, which is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of the Big Island, employees of the Sheraton Waikiki resort filled sandbags to protect the Oahu oceanfront hotel from surging surf. Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for heavy rain and flash flooding.

Hurricane Lane, which was still offshore, already lashed the Big Island with nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain in nearly 24 hours and was moving closer, putting it and Maui "in the thick" of the storm, National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said. The agency says the storm has weakened to a Category 3 but can still cause major damage.

The hurricane, which was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (193 kph), was expected to move close to or over portions of the main islands later Thursday or Friday, bringing dangerous surf of 20 feet (6 meters), forecasters said.

Lane was not projected to make a direct hit on the islands, but officials warned that even a lesser blow could do significant harm. Some areas could see up to 30 inches (about 80 centimeters) of rain.

"Rain has been nonstop for the last half hour or so, and winds are just starting to pick up," said Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island. "Our usually quiet stream is raging right now."

Beimler, who posted videos of trees being blown sideways, said staying put is about the only choice he has. The road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides, he said.

United Airlines cancelled its Friday flights to and from Maui. The airline added two additional flights from Honolulu to San Francisco on Thursday to help transport people off the islands.

Hawaiian Airlines cancelled all Friday flights by its commuter carrier, Ohana by Hawaiian.

On Oahu, an island of nearly 1 million people, Elisabeth Brinson watching surfers earlier in the day from her balcony on the ninth floor of the Hawaiian Hilton Village in Waikiki. Later Thursday, police on loudspeakers in Waikiki told surfers and swimmers to get out of the water. They said the beach would be closed until further notice.

Hotel staff left a notice that the rooms will still have water and phone service, and a backup generator will power one elevator per building.

Brinson, a native of the United Kingdom now living in Denver, said many shops were closed, and those still open were frantic with people buying food, beer and water to take back to their rooms.

"We knew it was coming, so I tried to just cram as much as I could into the last few days in anticipation so we could cross things off of our list," said Brinson, who is accustomed to hurricanes after living in Florida.

Hawaii's biggest hotels are confident they can keep their guests safe as long as they stay inside, said Mufi Hannemann, CEO of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association.

Members of his association, which include the state's major hotels, are shifting into high gear with their emergency management plans, he said.

The Marriott Resort Waikiki Beach in Honolulu designated a ballroom on the third floor as a shelter for guests and began removing lounge chairs from around the pool and bar area.

The Queen Kapiolani Hotel brought construction equipment inside from a pool deck that's under renovation. The hotel will encourage guests to stay in their rooms if the weather worsens and evacuate to hallways if it becomes necessary to avoid windows.

"The only concern is those that venture outside of the properties, that would like to hike on a day like this or who would like to still go into the ocean and see what it's like to take a swim or surf in these kind of waters," Hannemann said.

Honolulu shopping malls and office buildings closed early on Thursday and planned to shut their doors Friday.

Shelters were open throughout the islands, with 350 people in them in Oahu. Aid agencies were also working to help Hawaii's sizable homeless population, many of whom live near beaches and streams that could flood.

Because there's not enough shelter space statewide, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Tom Travis urged people who were not in flood zones to stay home.

The National Weather Service downgraded the Big Island to a tropical storm warning, meaning it expects sustained winds of 39 mph (62 kph) to 73 mph (117 kph) to reach the island instead of stronger hurricane force winds.

But a hurricane warning remains in effect for Oahu and Maui County.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

Because people in Hawaii are confined to the islands, they have to make sure they have enough supplies to outlast power outages and other potential emergencies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency moved several barges packed with food, water, generators and other supplies into the region ahead of Hurricane Hector, which skirted past the islands more than a week ago, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said.

Associated Press writers Brian Skoloff, Audrey McAvoy, Mark Thiessen, Dan Joling, Seth Borenstein and Annika Wolters contributed to this report.
On the heels of the church sex abuse scandal in Pennsylvania: Illinois' attorney general promises a similar investigation here--not only in Chicago, but statewide.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Thursday she will meet with the Chicago Archdiocese.

This comes after a Pennsylvania grand jury report identified seven priests with connections to Illinois -- including the Chicago Archdiocese.

"Over 1,000 child victims were identified by our investigation," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. "Though the grand jury notes that they believe that that number was in the thousands."

Madigan says shes reviewed that report which identifies the priests with Illinois connections.

The Catholic Church has a moral obligation to provide its parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois," she said.

She plans to meet with all the dioceses in Illinois and expects the bishops to fully cooperate or shell investigate them.

We have been contacted by the Illinois attorney general and look forward to discussing our policies and procedures related to misconduct issues with her and her office," the Chicago Archdiocese said in a statement. "We have worked cooperatively with the Cook County and Lake County states attorneys for many years."

The St. Louis Archdiocese agreed to voluntarily open records of sex abuse for the Missouri attorney generals investigation.

"While we don't know the protocols yet that the attorney general's office will use, any files that they want to see will be available to them," said St. Louis Archbishop Rober James Carlson.

Shapiro says the grand jury investigation uncovered secret church files.

In each diocese, the bishops had the key to the secret archives, which contained both allegations and admissions of the abuse and the cover up," he said.

Asked if if the Chicago Archdiocese has any secret archives to show the Illinois attorney general, the religious institution's response was vague.

The archdiocese didnt specifically answer  instead saying "its been working with the states attorney for years."
A child-support check sent to the wrong ex-wife has given the Libertarian candidate for Illinois governor 30 more days to rectify the late payment.

The Daily Herald reports that Grayson "Kash" Jackson of Antioch told a judge Wednesday that a third-party online child-support disbursement firm erroneously sent the $3,067 payment to his first ex-wife in North Carolina.

Jackson was found in contempt of court in May for refusing to pay his second ex-wife $6,067 in back child support and other education and health care needs. He was ordered to pay the lesser purge fee to stay out of jail.

Parental rights have been a key issue in Jackson's campaign for governor.

He says he is unemployed and living on disability payments from a 20-year Navy career.
More than four years ago -- the Chicago Archdiocese released thousands of documents detailing allegations of priest abuse. The crisis is not over.

With the allegations and removal of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the Pennsylvania grand jury report, now Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is asking to meet with Catholic officials in all six Illinois dioceses. Madigan has identified seven priests who served in Illinois from the Pennsylvania report.

Marc Pearlman is an attorney who represents survivors.

"This is not a Chicago problem, it's not an Illinois problem, this is a worldwide problem within the leadership of how the Catholic church has dealt with this issue," Pearlman said.

Cardinal Blase Cupich -- in Dublin this week for Pope Francis' visit there -- other cardinals from Washington, D.C. and Boston, cancelled their plans to attend because of the fallout from the priest abuse crisis.

"Pope francis says greater accountability, urgently, not only for those who committed these crimes but also for those who covered them up, which in many cases means bishops," Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said.

The Chicago Archdiocese says it looks forward to meeting with Madigan and notes it has been working with the Cook and Lake county state's attorney's offices.

"Could there be anything more important than the welfare of children and holding institutions responsible for covering up these heinous crimes," Pearlman said.

Friday afternoon the attorney general from New York also announced a preliminary step into investigating sex abuse by Catholic priests there.
Chicago Catholic priests are being encouraged to discuss the priest sex abuse crisis this weekend, according to a letter from a high-ranking member of the Chicago Archdiocese obtained by NBC 5.

The latest letter follows one published by Cardinal Blase Cupich last week, expressing his "anger, shock, grief and shame" following the explosive grand jury report that detailed hundreds of "predator priests."

Vicar General Ron Hicks, a Bishop-elect, sent a second letter to the priests, telling them I encourage you to publish the Cardinals letter in your bulletin and put it on your parishs website.

Hicks tells the priests we should not be afraid to touch these wounds.

While not every priest addressed the issue last week, its now very clear the Archdiocese wants the topic addressed. There are reports that parishioners applauded  and in some cases offered standing ovations  to those priests who did speak last Sunday about the crisis.

"Thank you for your priesthood and pastoral leadership. Lets continue to pray for each other and for our people, especially for the victims and survivors. May Gods mercy and healing grow in our lives, the Church and the world," Hicks' letter read.
What to Know Dozens of migrant parents allege that ICE coerced them into signing documents they didn't understand

Some of them gave away rights to be reunited with their children, according to a complaint expected to be filed Thursday

Stories of parents who said they were coerced into signing off on their deportations have also circulated

Immigration authorities coerced dozens of parents separated from their children at the border to sign documents they didn't understand, according to a complaint expected to be filed Thursday.

In some of those cases, parents gave away rights to be reunited with their children when the non-English speaking mothers and fathers signed documents in English they couldn't read, according to the complaint provided to The Associated Press. In other cases cited in the complaint, parents who had been reunited were threatened with another separation if they didn't agree to be deported with their children.

The complaint will be filed with the Department of Homeland Security by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council, who say attorneys spoke with 76 parents who said they were asked to sign forms affecting their rights to reunify with their children.

All of them said they weren't allowed to ask what would happen if they signed the form.

The U.S. government separated over 2,500 children from their parents this year as the Trump administration adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy requiring anyone who crossed the border illegally to be prosecuted. That resulted in parents who had to go to federal court to face criminal misdemeanor charges of illegal entry to be separated from their children, often for months.

The policy ignited a worldwide furor and Trump eventually reversed course.

A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against the government gave authorities until July 26 to reunite all families, although as many as 366 parents who were deported to their home countries have yet to be reunited with their children.

The complaint to the Department of Homeland Security's Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Inspector General claims several mothers said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers told them that if they didn't sign the form, they would never see their children again.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security have previously denied similar allegations. A spokesman for the department did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment.

Attorneys say separated parents were subjected to verbal and physical abuse, including being deprived of food and water and being put into solitary confinement.

In one example, a Guatemalan mother who was separated from her 5-year-old son said an officer at the Port Isabel, Texas, detention center told her to sign a document to be returned to her home country so that she could get her son back.

The officer didn't explain what she was signing and the woman did so out of desperation, according to the complaint. The woman, like many others, also reported being threatened with solitary confinement because she was crying so much over being separated from her son.

The woman, referred to only as "A.E." in the complaint, was eventually reunited with her son and is currently being detained with him in Dilley, Texas.

"Coercive tactics employed against a vulnerable population raises significant legal concerns and threatens the fundamental due process, statutory, and regulatory rights of parents who were separated from their children," the attorneys wrote.

Stories of parents who said they were coerced into signing off on their deportations and further separations have circulated for months.

Rolando Antonio Bueso Castillo, the father of a 1-year-old boy, said he was told he'd be reunited with his son if he signed off on his deportation. But it would be five months before the boy, Johan, would be reunited with his parents in Honduras. And that happened only after an immigration judge granted the boy a voluntary departure order, which allowed the government to fly him home.
An excessive heat warning has been issued for Hartford County through Wednesday night and there is a heat advisory for the rest of the state, which prompted some school districts to dismiss students early for the second day in a row.

NBC Connecticut's meteorologists issued a First Alert for intense heat on Tuesday and Wednesday as students begin returning to school across the state.

The heat index is approaching 100 degrees, just as students in many parts of the state return to school.

See the full school closing and early dismissal list here

FIRST ALERT: Timing Out the Excessive Heat

The humidity rose to oppressive levels, and combined with temperatures in the mid-90s, is making for a very uncomfortable couple of days.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued a warning that ozone levels across Southern Connecticut could be unhealthy for sensitive groups through Wednesday.

The Milford, Naugatuck and West Haven school districts announced early dismissals Tuesday and Naugatuck and Norwalk have announced an early dismissal for Wednesday.

For the full First Alert forecast, click here.
Massachusetts issued a warning Thursday of possible measles exposures in a pool, hospital and library around Boston and Lexington.

State health officials confirmed a case of the infection was diagnosed at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington. The person reported being at numerous locations when they were in their infectious period. Such locations include:

Boston Logan International Airport Terminal B between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 15

The Lexington High School Library between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 16

The Irving H. Mabee Town Pool Complex in Lexington from noon to 2 p.m. on Aug. 19

The Lahey Outpatient Center in Lexington from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 20

The emergency department at Lahey Hospital in Burlington from 1 to 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 20

The intensive care and critical care units at Lahey Hospital in Burlington from 8 p.m. on Aug. 20 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 21

The Massachusettes Department of Public Health warns residents that the infection is highly contagious. Those who are not immune and recently visited the affected locations are urged to visit health officials as they may be at risk of developing measles.

At the Lexington Town Pool on Friday, there was no panic but camp counselor Fritz Hyppolite said there is always some cause for concern.

"It always gives you just pause to take a second and think about it," Hyppolite said.

He said he and the other counselors were told about the possible measles exposures this week.

"They asked if we knew if our kids were immunized because our kids are at the camp. Luckily, all our kids are," Hyppolite said.

Symptoms of the infection are similar to that of the common cold. A fever, cough, red eyes and a runny nose are common symptoms associated with the infection. Victims contracted with measles may also develop a rash.

Early symptoms of measles occur 10 days to two weeks after exposure. People with the infection may be contagious for up to four days before the rash appears and for four days after the day the rash appears.

"You never know what can be an issue. You know, something that is seemingly innocuous as the measles just because you are immunized - you don't worry about it. But you never know who is and who isn't," said Hyppolite.

For more information, contact your local health department or call DPH at 617-983-6800.

Click here for additional information on the DPH website.

Earlier this summer, Boston health officials alerted the public to a potential measles exposure on July 19 and 20 at a Tasty Burger near Fenway Park and Boston Logan International Airport.
U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal are fighting a federal proposal that could allow schools to use federal funds to provide guns to teachers.

This comes after a senior Trump administration official told The Associated Press Thursday that the Education Department is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants to see if the money can be used to procure firearms.

Arming teachers is one of the most dangerous ideas that anyone could ever come up with for our school children, Murphy, a Democrat, said. Teachers dont want to be armed. Parents dont want schools to be armed. Kids dont want their schools to be armed. We are going to do everything n our power to make sure that Department of Education funds, taxpayer dollars, do not get used to put weapons in our classrooms.

The plan, first reported by The New York Times, prompted swift condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and many educators on Thursday, who accused the Trump administration of wanting to deprive students of much-needed mental health support and other resources in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who chairs a federal commission on school safety, has previously said that schools should have the option to arm teachers. The commission, formed in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, has been criticized for omitting the topic of gun control.

Nearly six years have passed since the shooting here in Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 students and six faculty and staff members were killed in December 2012.

As Connecticut enacted stricter gun control legislation in the state, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, stepped up calls for stricter gun control laws on a federal level. On Thursday, he introduced an amendment that would block the Education Department from using the funds to arm schools.

Teachers jobs are already hard enough, Murphy said Friday morning. We ask teachers to do more today than we ever have before.

He said teachers are stretched thin today and dont have the ability to be trained in firearms and to safely manipulate and store weapons in schools.

The Secretary of Education cares more about the firearms industrys bottom line than the safety of our kids, and that should scare parents to death. I have two elementary school age boys, and so Im going to do everything in my power to make sure that Secretary DeVoss plan to arm our schools is stopped in its tracks. Im introducing legislation today to block the arming of teachers, and I do so knowing that earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to pass a bill that expressly opposed putting guns in the hands of teachers. Congress doesnt think this is a good idea. Parents dont think this is a good idea. Teachers dont think this is a good idea. Only Betsy DeVos and the gun industry want this. More kids will be killed in schools if this policy is put in placeplain and simple. Thats why Congress must block its implementation, Murphy said in a statement Thursday.
Actor and restauranteur Mark Wahlberg visited the new MGM Springfield Thursday to announce the future opening of a Wahlburgers restaurant at the new resort casino.

Wahlburgers, a popular family-run burger chain that has been profiled in an A&E reality series, is scheduled to open in late 2019 in Springfield.

When we started this family business, our goal was to invite friends and families from around the world to enjoy great burgers together, Mark Wahlberg said. We cant wait for Wahlburgers to be a part of MGM Springfield.

President and chief operating officer of MGM Springfield Michael Mathis said We are incredibly excited to partner with the Wahlberg brothers to bring this fun destination to our property. The Wahlbergs are a staple in the Massachusetts community, making this restaurant the ideal addition to our resort.

The first western Massachusetts location will be constructed at Main and Union streets.

The company's motto is "Our Family, Our Story, Our Burgers."

The only Wahlburgers currently in Connecticut is located in Trumbull.
David Hogan and his wife have lived in their West Haven home for 55 years. Their daughter, Gail Franklin, checks on her parents often, but she was not aware that someone else was also checking in on the couple.

My father was receiving phone calls. They were cold calls from a company called All Star Chimney, where they were calling him and asking if he needed chimney cleaning. He said no, said Franklin.

Franklin said her dad gave in after the third phone call and a crew from the New York-based company showed up to do what they said was a chimney inspection.

They went downstairs and he was watching my mom and he came upstairs and he heard this banging, said Franklin.

Franklin told us her dad then discovered a huge hole in the chimney. The workers told him the chimney was not safe to use and needed to be relined so he paid them $2,902 for the repairs. Franklin claimed the company never gave her dad a price quote before starting the work.

They got ripped off. They got ripped off, said Franklin.

She called All Star Chimney Solutions and told the customer service representative that there was a miscommunication because her parents have a service contract with another company. When she couldnt reach the company again, Franklin said she filed a complaint with the Department of Consumer Protection, the Better Business Bureau, and disputed the $2,902 charge with the credit card company, but the company ruled in favor of the business.

Thats when Franklin turned to NBC Connecticut Responds.

We emailed and called the companys owner, John Estevez, and he got back to us saying his crew did what was needed. He declined to speak with us further about what happened and he would not provide a statement. Instead, Estevez tells Responds that he will refund Franklins parents the $2,902 they paid.

Responds found out that All Star Chimney Solutions is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, but the company has a C minus rating with the BBB. Eight other complaints were filed against the company for similar issues.

This is a typical thing that occurs this time of year, said Lora Rae Anderson, Department of Consumer Protection. Anderson is looking into Franklins complaint.

When we found out it was unsolicited phone call to a member of the elderly community, we thought this sounds like somebody whos clearly somebody who could be more susceptible to a scam, said Anderson.

She suggests that seniors have someone with them when scheduling home improvements and avoid unsolicited callers.

Dont do business with that person. If you havent requested a quote and someone is just calling you, its probably not the best person to do business with, added Anderson.

A lesson learned for Franklins parents, but shes pleased that Responds was there to intervene.

I just want to thank you very much for your time and for taking on this case, said Franklin.
The Education Department said Thursday that it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators.

If approved, the plan would likely generate a lot of controversy at a time when a string of especially deadly school shootings earlier this year led to the rise of a powerful student-led gun control movement.

A senior Trump administration official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the agency is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants to see if the money can be used to procure firearms.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the bipartisan Every Student Success Act, passed in 2015, does not expressly prohibit or allow the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the purchase of firearms. The official said the agency received several letters asking it to clarify what those funds could be used for and began researching the issue.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who chairs a federal commission on school safety, has previously said that schools should have the option to arm teachers. The commission, formed in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, has been criticized for omitting the topic of gun control.

The plan, first reported by The New York Times, prompted swift condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and many educators on Thursday, who accused the Trump administration of wanting to deprive students of much-needed mental health support and other resources in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the idea "one of the most egregious, short-sighted and dangerous executive branch abuses of our education system in modern history."

"Secretary DeVos continues to lead an anti-student and anti-teacher campaign on behalf of special interests and the NRA that rejects proven and effective initiatives to ensure a safe, welcoming school climate for children," she added.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, which was the site of the Sandy Hook school shooting, swiftly introduced an amendment that would block the Education Department from using the funds to arm schools.

"The Secretary of Education cares more about the firearms industry's bottom line than the safety of our kids, and that should scare parents to death," he said.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, accused DeVos of trying "to do the bidding of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers."

"Instead of after-school programs or counselors, programs that are critical for creating safe and welcoming schools and addressing the mental health needs of kids, DeVos wants to turn schools into armed fortresses and make kids and educators less safe," Weingarten said in a statement.

"She wants to turn the U.S. government into an arms dealer for schools. That's insane," she added.

Martin West, professor of education at Harvard University, expressed skepticism.

"It seems very hard to imagine that members of Congress drafting Title IV envisioned that the funds would be used to arm teachers," West said.

One of the requests for clarification came from Texas, where many school districts allow staff to carry weapons on campus. The Texas Education Agency said in a statement Thursday that it asked Washington for guidance in April after schools started asking whether they can use the grant money to cover the cost of guns. The problem took on even greater urgency in Texas after 10 people were killed in a school shooting outside Houston in May.

Associated Press writer Paul Weber contributed to this report.
"Just start now and be creative" - Pepe Marais on Growing Greatness

Pepe Marais, group chief creative officer at Joe Public United, is already a creative inspiration to many, so his recently published book, Growing Greatness, is sure to be well-received. I caught up with Marais post-Loeries to find out the relevance of the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Woodstock as a location for the Cape Town book launch, and a taste of what readers can expect from the book.

Pepe Marais, author of Growing Greatness. Hardly a day goes by that I dont see an inspiring, motivational tweet from Marais in my morning Twitter timeline.



His Twitter bio also offers an excellent glimpse into what makes him tick: Founding partner of Joe Public United. Chairman of One School At A Time. Closet Afrikaans rocker. Humanitarian at heart. Core interest: Growth of people. So it makes sense that his book is titled, Growing Greatness. He shares that his tweets do tie in with his book, but it wasnt planned that way. Ill let him explain in his own words



Thanks for fitting in a few minutes for us this morning. Your arm was in a sling when we saw you at Loeries last week  that wasnt related to the agencys run to the Loeries, I hope. Thanks for fitting in a few minutes for us this morning. Your arm was in a sling when we saw you at Loeries last week  that wasnt related to the agencys run to the Loeries, I hope. Hardly a day goes by that I dont see an inspiring, motivational tweet from Marais in my morning Twitter timeline.His Twitter bio also offers an excellent glimpse into what makes him tick:So it makes sense that his book is titled,. He shares that his tweets do tie in with his book, but it wasnt planned that way. Ill let him explain in his own words

Thank you @heidi_marais for walking this 27 year journey, every step of the way. So great to finally be at the start of something great. pic.twitter.com/Km5lqMqFKS  Pepe Marais (@pepemarais) August 21, 2018

Wishing you a speedy recovery. Lets focus on the book itself then, and your decision to put your thoughts to paper. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Lets focus on the book itself then, and your decision to put your thoughts to paper.

If a poor person earns R10k a month, and a rich person earns R100k, that poverty gap is R90k. So if you get a 10% increase year-on-year, the poverty gap also increases by 10% year-on-year, because the person earning R10k will earn R11k, and the person earning R100k will earn R110k, so the gap in effect goes up to R99k.

Amazing. Ive been a fan of those tweets of yours for years, really inspirational stuff. Do they tie in with the overall message of the book? Amazing. Ive been a fan of those tweets of yours for years, really inspirational stuff. Do they tie in with the overall message of the book?

Definitely seems to be working for you guys, so that's fantastic. Then theres the fact that youre launching the book at the Ruth Prowse School of Arts, talk us through the relevance of the location in terms of empowering the creative youth. Is there any other aspect to that, in terms of getting those students on board and helping them in their own journey? Definitely seems to be working for you guys, so that's fantastic. Then theres the fact that youre launching the book at the Ruth Prowse School of Arts, talk us through the relevance of the location in terms of empowering the creative youth. Is there any other aspect to that, in terms of getting those students on board and helping them in their own journey?

Thats incredible. Are there any other tips for entrepreneurs, or anyone aspiring to follow your path? Thats incredible. Are there any other tips for entrepreneurs, or anyone aspiring to follow your path?

The send off team for our team who are currently running from Jozie to @loeries in Durban, raising funds for One School At a Time, one step at a time. pic.twitter.com/jphK4AGBvu  Pepe Marais (@pepemarais) August 16, 2018

Leigh Andrews' articles About Leigh Andrews Leigh Andrews AKA the



Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen , is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews

Everyone thinks its broken when they see the sling, but I just tore a muscle while playing with my ten-year-old, Jasper  its nothing to do with the Joe Public team run to the Loeries!OK so, I didnt really plan on writing a book. I was an avid blogger about ten years ago, but I stopped when Joe Public United started growing as it has been doing over the past five years.An independent publisher, Tracey McDonald, actually read some of those old blog posts and thought leadership, so I was approached out of the blue around March last year, with the motivation that I should write a book for entrepreneurs on entrepreneurship. I really didnt have the time, but I do have a strong belief that the only way to close the poverty gap in South Africa is by means of creating more entrepreneurs. It makes complete, logical sense to me.To make the maths easy, let's oversimplify the numbers, as explained to me by Andrew Human over a lunch a few years ago:The only way to fix that is to give the bottom end of the market massive year-on-year increases of almost 120%. You simply cant do that, or youll bankrupt the economy. So the only logical way to reduce the gap is to get more and more people to start their own entrepreneurial enterprises.Thats my belief, and thats what my publisher tapped into. Through our conversation, I realised that I could not but make this book work. Its for a greater cause, about how to create your own destiny as a human being, and if through this book I could inspire just one aspiring young entrepreneur, then my job would be done. Thats the long and the short of it.Everything I do, from my tweets to our business, its people and our product, is aligned to my greater purpose in life. And my book touches on all these aspects of my life. For one, I started working for an income when I was 12-years-old, subsidising our household income at times because I grew up with a single mother. She was a teacher with three kids, so by old South African white standards, we were relatively at the bottom end of the community.Im by no means blind to the state of South Africa today, with many of our people living in shacks, but that's where I started back then, and I thought I'd share my whole journey, to get people to understand that you really can start something from nothing.By 2007 I was partying as hard as I was working, the business I founded with Gareth Leck was firmly in the hands of an American multinational, I was really overweight and out of shape and my marriage was heading towards the rocks. All of this culminated in the demise of our business, which lead to the turning point of my life.There are massive insights in the book on what happened and the process I went through in finding greater purpose to my life.I share everything openly to show people that theres a different side and way of living life, and also as a creative person in a very festive industry, I thought Id set the tone and example for creatives. And then I applied that whole methodology of my personal life to our business.It is this aspect of doing business for a greater cause, based on a profound and authentic purpose, that is at the heart of our business. It is what has turned our ship, it is what is leading us and inspiring us to do more and be more as a business and as people within our business, every day. My partner Gareth Leck, has coined the phrase: Hippy s#it makes business sense. I should maybe have made that the title of my book!So I share all of that in the book. Its about my life journey, our business journey, finding personal purpose, a greater business purpose and allowing all that to move towards unlocking the potential of greatness within our people, our clients, and who knows, maybe even our country.The call to launch there is fascinating. I just said to my wife last night that life truly is incredible. A guy who I met in Toronto in 2014 called me last night out of the blue. I left my last meeting of the day at 19:45pm, so the call was really inconvenient, as all I wanted to do was eat and go to sleep.Then Maged phoned me, all excited as hes from Egypt but spending some time in South Africa, and asked me to join him at Codfather in Sandton. I asked when he was leaving and he said at 6pm the next day.My diary simply would not allow any time to meet with him that day, so I did what I mostly do in life and allowed my heart to overrule my head. It turned out to be the most amazing dinner. Hes a big businessman and a top entrepreneur in Egypt, and we spent the night talking about entrepreneurship.Its just so amazing how these things work. We connected back in 2014, and the next moment it's like chat, chat, chat, and now were going to join him and his family for New Years in Cairo. Its spectacular how life works in such a synchronistic way, and we hardly ever realise it.For example, when I came out of the army, I wanted to be a civil engineer because the dad of a friend of mine was very rich, so I wanted to become a civil engineer to make money because I was poor. It was that simple.Then I met a guy on the northern border of Namibia  South-West Africa, back then  whilst waiting for a plane in Rundu, and he was a graphic designer. I'd never heard of such a profession, he even had a portfolio of work with him.So the bizarreness that there was a guy at the border waiting for a plane with me, with this portfolio, inspired me to go and study. But because my Matric results were so poor, I couldnt apply at normal institutions, so ended on the doorstep of the Ruth Prowse School of Arts in Woodstock, Cape Town. Thats where I found my art, which I never even knew I had within me.Thats where my commercial advertising journey started, a place which significantly impacted on my life. So I could think of no more appropriate place to have my book launch.Can you imagine, an Afrikaans guy coming out of the army, indoctrinated with the beliefs of the time  if I think back, its obscure  and then being in art school, with people speaking about freeing Nelson Mandela and long-hair, smoking marijuana? I had a complete overhaul at the age of 20.People should look out for: Everything you need to know to start a business. It's a chapter thats pretty much one-word long: Start.Theres an amazing business conference I attended, where one of the speakers shared that the most valuable properties in the world are graveyards. Because thats where most people's dreams end up. I think people over-rationalise and over-strategise with all their business plans, and through all this rubbish, which holds you away and sets up so much fear, you end up never starting.That's always been one of my strengths. I'm a hard worker, but I'm also not afraid to start anything. For example, if you want to fix the 22,000 dysfunctional schools in South Africa, rather than crawling into a hole because of the scale of the problem, break it down and start with one school at a time.Just roll up your sleeves, get down, and get creative.
Hawaii emerged Saturday from the threat of a potentially devastating hurricane after flooding forced evacuations on some islands but damage appeared less than feared despite historic amounts of rain.

Tropical Storm Lane, once known as Hurricane Lane, began to break apart as it veered west into the open Pacific, leaving behind sighs of relief and plenty of clean-up, especially on the Big Island where rainfall totals approached 4 feet (1.2 meters).

No storm-related deaths have been reported, though Big Island authorities said they plucked families from flood waters and landslides had closed roads.

The National Weather Service canceled all storm warnings for the state, several hours after shopkeepers in Honolulu's tourist-heavy areas started taking down plywood meant to protect windows if the storm had made it that far.

Preliminary figures from the weather service show that Lane dropped the fourth-highest amount of rain for a hurricane to hit the United States since 1950. Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Texas a year ago, topped the list.

The storm's outer bands dumped as much as 45 inches (114 centimeters) on the mostly rural Big Island, measurements showed. The main town of Hilo, with 43,000 people, was flooded Friday with waist-high water and authorities rescued people from more than 20 homes overnight, Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe said.

Landslides and pooling water forced the temporary closure of several highways, but the flooding was not as bad as it might have been because porous volcanic rock on parts of the Big Island absorbed it, said Brooke Bingaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu.

One of the island's volcanoes is still erupting, and the rain could still cause whiteout conditions on some active lava fields due to steam.

About 200 miles and several islands to the northwest, tourists wandered Waikiki Beach and took leisurely swims as shopkeepers prepared to reopen.

Hotels began putting deck chairs back alongside pools. Dozens of surfers were in the Pacific, riding small waves. The breeze was light.

Winds were also calmer on Maui, which had seen about 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain and wind gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph). On Saturday, winds were about 11 mph. Like the Big Island, Maui experienced flooding and landslides.

Lane first approached the islands earlier this week as a Category 5 hurricane, meaning it was likely to cause catastrophic damage with winds of 157 mph (252 kph) or above. But upper-level winds known as shear swiftly tore the storm apart.

As flooding hit the Big Island, winds fanned brush fires that had broken out in dry areas of Maui and Oahu. Some residents in a shelter on Maui had to flee flames, and another fire forced people from their homes.

Flames burned nine homes in the historic coastal town of Lahaina and forced 600 people to evacuate, Maui County spokeswoman Lynn Araki-Regan said. Some have returned, but many have not because much of the area lacks power, Araki-Regan said.

Those outages meant the water provider on Maui's west side was unable to pump, so officials at the Maui Electric utility urged conservation  particularly important because firefighters need supplies to put out the remaining flames.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with only about four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.

Brian Skoloff and John Locher in Honolulu; Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska; Darlene Superville in Washington; and Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
What to Know President Trump tweeted that his administration would be looking into farm seizures and the "large scale killing of farmers" in South Africa

South Africa's government said Trump's tweet was based on "false information" and the government would seek clarification on the remarks

Black South Africans, 80 percent of the population, own 4 percent of the country's land. The ANC has pledged to close that gap

South Africa's government lashed out at President Donald Trump on Thursday after he tweeted that his administration would be looking into alleged seizures of white-owned farms and the "large scale killing of farmers" in the country, an assertion it said was false and "only seeks to divide our nation and remind us of our colonial past."

South Africa is in the throes of a racially charged national debate over land reform, a lawful process that seeks to correct the legacy of decades of white minority rule that stripped blacks of their land. Today, nearly a quarter-century after the first democratic elections, black South Africans comprise 80 percent of the population but own just 4 percent of the country's land, according to the government.

Though the ruling African National Congress has pledged to close that gap, progress has been slow. In July, President Cyril Ramaphosa said his party would amend the constitution so the state could expropriate land without compensation to speed up the land reform process, but that has not yet happened and no land has been seized.

Trump's tweet followed a segment on Fox News on Wednesday in which host Tucker Carlson claimed Ramaphosa had already started "seizing land from his own citizens without compensation because they are the wrong skin color," calling the alleged seizures "immoral."

The government said Trump's tweet was based on "false information" and reflected a "narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past." It called a meeting with officials at the U.S. Embassy as it sought to clarify Trump's remarks.

Though no land seizures have occurred, the prospect has sent panic through some white farming communities who worry the policy will strip them of their land, cause land prices to plummet or make them the target of potentially violent land seizures.

For years, a small but vocal group of white South Africans have claimed white farmers are the target of violent, racially motivated farm attacks.

Experts say the attacks reflect the country's generally high crime rate and that there is no evidence connecting them to the victims' race.

Farm murders have been declining since their peak in 2001, according to research by Agri SA, an umbrella group of South African agricultural associations. In 2016-17, there were 74 murders during farm attacks, according to Africa Check , compared to 19,000 murders across the country in the same period.

"People are not being targeted because of their race, but because they are vulnerable and isolated on the farms," said Gareth Newham, head of the crime and justice program at the Institute for Security Studies in the capital, Pretoria.

"There is no white genocide in South Africa," Julius Malema, leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party, told reporters. "There is black genocide in the USA; black people are killed every day. There is a black genocide here in South Africa; just recently a farmer was convicted for the murder of a black farmer."

Trump's tweet did find some supporters.

AfriForum, a group that represents some white South African interests, welcomed his comments. In May, its leaders went to the U.S. to lobby officials and institutions about Ramaphosa's proposal to expropriate land and the alleged targeting of white farmers.

Earlier this month the group posted a list of farms it said were earmarked for expropriation, a list the government said is fake.

"Everyone in South Africa should ... hope that the pressure from the USA will lead to the (ruling party) reconsidering the disastrous route that they want to take South Africa on," AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said in a statement Thursday.

AfriForum and other critics say the government's proposal to expropriate land without compensation could lead to economic disaster, pointing to the collapse of the agricultural sector in neighboring Zimbabwe after the government of former President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms, sometimes violently, in 2000.

"We are going to take back the land and we'll do it by any means necessary," said Lindsay Maasdorp, national spokesman for Black First Land First, a group that condones land seizures in South Africa.

Proponents of South Africa's policy, including Ramaphosa, say it is necessary to address historic injustices and can be done in a way that is lawful and will not compromise the beleaguered economy or food security.

"It is absolutely unbelievable that a head of state at that level can be so disrespectful to issues of dispossession that South Africa is painfully trying to address in a democratic way," Vuyo Mahlati, president of the African Farmers' Association of South Africa, said of Trump.

Later on Thursday in Washington, the State Department toned down Trump's language suggesting that massive land seizures were underway. Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said expropriating land without compensation "would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path," but she did not repeat the president's suggestion that large numbers of white South African farmers had been killed.

In parliament on Wednesday, Ramaphosa said land expropriation could make more land available for cultivation, and that the process would begin by seizing state-owned land, not privately held land.

"This is our South Africa, this is our land, this is where we live," Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told South Africa's public broadcaster SABC. "Only solutions of land reform that are South African will work in South Africa."

Trump has never experienced apartheid and doesn't know its legacy of inequality in which the majority of South Africans own nothing, Zizi Kodwa, a member of the ruling party's national executive committee, told The Associated Press.

"He is part of the right-wing lynch mob using the fear factor in order for us to maintain the status quo," Kodwa said. "Donald Trump is a weapon of mass destruction."

On Monday, Trump faces another chance to address the continent when he welcomes just the second African head of state to a White House meeting, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.
What to Know John McCain, the longtime Republican senator from Arizona, told Americans in July 2017 that he had glioblastoma

The McCain family said in a statement that he has discontinued medical treatment

The family said, "the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict"

Sen. John McCain, who revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer, has decided to discontinue medical treatment, the McCain family said in a statement Friday.

The family said McCain has surpassed expectations for survival, but "the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict." The family added, "With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

McCain, in his sixth term representing Arizona, told Americans in July 2017 that he had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The Republican underwent surgery that month to remove a blood clot in his brain.

McCain rebounded quickly, however, returning to Washington and entering the Senate in late July to a standing ovation from his colleagues. In a dramatic turn, he later cast a deciding vote against a Republican replacement for "Obamacare," the health care law approved under President Barack Obama. It earned him the wrath of President Donald Trump, who frequently cites McCain's vote at campaign events.

McCain's condition worsened last fall and he has been at his Arizona ranch since December, where he underwent physical therapy and received visitors.

The Vietnam War veteran, who would be 82 next week, has been away from the Capitol since December and has said he is not running for re-election.

The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain is a former Navy pilot and was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years. He was elected to Congress in the early 1980s and elected to the Senate in 1986, replacing Barry Goldwater who retired. McCain gained a reputation as a lawmaker who was willing to stick to his convictions rather than go along with party leaders. It is a streak that draws a mix of respect and ire.

McCain has also had melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, and is a long-term survivor. Doctors classified his brain cancer as a "primary tumor," meaning it's not related to his former malignancies.

Cindy McCain, John McCain's wife of nearly 40 years, shared the family statement on her personal Twitter account, writing, "I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey." On Saturday, she followed up with a tweet saying the family was "overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from around the world."

The entire McCain family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from around the world. Thank you.  Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) August 25, 2018

McCain's 33-year-old daughter, "The View" co-host Meghan McCain, also tweeted the update on her father and added, "My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you - you've given us strength to carry on."

She has visited her father at his Arizona ranch, along with his friend former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Beau Biden died in 2015 after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Other close friends, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and retired Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, visited McCain at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.

"Becoming John McCains friend has been one of the great blessings of my life," Lieberman said in a statement. "Today I am praying for him and his family.

I love my husband with all of my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband along this journey. pic.twitter.com/v27sEbboii  Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) August 24, 2018

Members of Capitol Hill responded to the news Friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was "very sad" to hear about McCain, who he called a "dear friend."

"We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour," the Republican senator wrote on Twitter.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Senator McCain and his family," tweeted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said McCain "personifies service to our country." He wrote on Twitter that the members of the House are praying for the McCain family.

The GOP currently holds a bare 51-49 Senate majority.

McCain has been a frequent target of criticism from President Donald Trump, especially for his health care vote. Trump signed a military policy bill this month named for McCain, but in a sign of their testy relationship, the president made no mention of McCain's name in remarks at a signing ceremony.

Trump notably was not among those who tweet an outpouring of tributes for McCain in the hours after the health announcement.

At a fundraising dinner for the Ohio Republican Party Friday night, Trump failed to mention McCain, but gave shoutouts to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who ran as McCain's vice presidential candidate in 2008, offered prayers for the McCain family "at this trying time.

"May comfort and peace envelope them. May my friend sense appreciation for his inspiration to serve something greater than self," she tweeted."

.@SenJohnMcCain is an American hero. Angela and I send our prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy and the entire McCain family. Read my statement: pic.twitter.com/oxzKPKXucq  Doug Ducey (@dougducey) August 24, 2018

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Attorneys representing Roy Oliver, a former Balch Springs police officer facing a murder charge in the killing of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, rested their case Friday morning.

Judge Brandon Birmingham sent the jury home for the weekend, telling jurors they had a lot to process before beginning deliberations Monday morning

Roy Oliver Trial - Curated tweets by NBCDFW

Friday began with Roy Oliver's defense resting their case and then prosecutors called rebuttal witnesses to respond to testimony given by Oliver Thursday.

Roy Oliver Trial

During that testimony, Oliver said he had no option but to use lethal force when he fired into a moving vehicle carrying five teenagers in April 2017, killing Edwards.

Former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver testifies, answers questions about what took place the night Jordan Edward was shot and killed.

Rebuttal witnesses included two sisters who got into a fender bender with Oliver just days before the shooting. They said he was enraged following the crash and that he pointed a gun at them, never identifying himself as a police officer.

Roy Oliver, a former Balch Springs police officer facing a murder charge in the killing of 15-year-old Jordan Edwars, testified Thursday that he had no option but to use lethal force when he fired into a moving vehicle carrying five teenagers in April 2017.

Oliver said he was not pointing the gun at the woman's head and that he only took his gun out because he saw them rummaging around their car and was concerned for his safety.



Another witness, a prosecutor, testified Oliver was extremely uncooperative and cursed in front of the jury during a DWI case.



Deliberations will resume Monday morning.

The fifth day of testimony in a former police officer's murder trial offered a packed day of expert witnesses, the investigators who worked on the case.
A North Texas Marine has a new vehicle, thanks to a donated car and donated time.

Cpl. Michael Fox was wounded in Afghanistan in 2011, when he stepped on an improvised explosive device and lost both his legs. On Thursday, Fox got a donated and adapted 2014 Nissan Pathfinder through the National Auto Body Council's Recycled Rides program. Fox was nominated by Homes for Our Troops, a national nonprofit that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes for severely injured post-9/11 veterans, like Fox.

"It's incredibly humbling and I'm incredibly grateful for all of you," said Fox after his new ride was unveiled. "I can't thank you enough."

The SUV was donated by GEICO, and workers at Caliber Collision in Little Elm donated 200 hours to adapt it for Fox's special needs.

"I put myself in this guy's shoes," said auto painter Jesus Hernandez, whose brother is a Marine. "I would want somebody to reach out to me, help me out, make my life a little bit easier."

"Right now I'm usng portable hand controls on my wife's vehicle, and this one has permanent hand controls," explained Fox. "So it's going to be a lot safer."

The donated vehicle came with a bonus; a back seat full of toys for Fox's 9-month old son, Grant.

"Our son was actually born on his 'alive day'," said Erica Fox. "All these little milestones, everything just comes together, and it's just been a really long, but rewarding road."
What to Know After Michael Cohen pleading guilty, President Donald Trump accused his former lawyer of "flipping," saying that "almost should be illegal"

He also said that if he were impeached, "everybody would be very poor"

Trump spent the Fox News interview defending himself against allegations that he orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy two women's silence

Attorney General Jeff Sessions punched back hard at President Donald Trump's latest sneering criticism Thursday as their long-running rift exploded into a public smackdown. Trump, concerned by the legal downfall of two former advisers, accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department, leading Sessions to declare that he and his department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal "fixer" Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if "flipping"  cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies" to get favorable treatment.

In the wide-ranging interview, Trump also defended himself against talk of impeachment  "the market would crash ... everybody would be very poor"  tried to distance himself from Cohen  "I would see him sometimes"  and said anew that he hadn't known in advance about Cohen's hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman.

Trump's latest shots against law enforcement came as he appeared increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations after this week's one-two punch of Cohen's plea deal and the conviction of Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because he'd worked on Trump's campaign. Trump, who blames that decision for the eventual appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, told "Fox and Friends" host Ainsley Earhardt that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department and it's a sort of an incredible thing."

"What kind of man is this?" Trump said.

"You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter," Trump said of Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse Trump's bid.

Sessions has made clear to associates that he has no intention of leaving his job voluntarily despite Trump's constant criticism. But his tone in his statement on Thursday made clear he is tired of the president's attacks.

"I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda." Then he declared, that while he's attorney general the actions of the department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."

Trump responded Friday morning, tweeting that Sessions' declaration that his department would be politically impartial is "GREAT, what everyone wants," but subsequently told him to "look into all of the corruption on the 'other side,'" citing alleged crimes by Hillary Clinton, James Comey and others he's railed against as political enemies.

In New York, meanwhile, it was reported that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, the publisher of National Enquirer, which bought and killed the stories of two women. And people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the publication kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 election.

In awkward schedule timing, Sessions met later Thursday with the president on prison and sentencing reform at the White House. But two people familiar with their meeting said the dispute was not discussed. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversation.

Sessions has generally absorbed the Trump's blows without responding, though he has occasionally pushed back.

In February, after Trump complained that Sessions' response to Republican complaints about the FBI was "disgraceful," the attorney general said in statement he would "continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor" and the department would "continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner."

Allies, including Republican members of Congress have long advised Trump that firing Sessions  especially before the upcoming midterm elections  would be deeply damaging to the party.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who in March said firing Sessions would "blow up" the Judiciary Committee, has been shifting his tone.

"I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice," he told reporters on Thursday. "Clearly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president."

But others stood by Sessions.

Republican Ben Sasse of Nebraska told Senate colleagues, "Everybody in this body knows that Jeff Sessions is doing his job honorably, and the attorney general of the United States should not be fired for acting honorably and for being faithful to the rule of law." He said it would be really difficult to confirm a successor "if he is fired because he is executing his job rather that choosing to act as a partisan hack."

People close to the president said they were not aware of any immediate plans to dismiss Sessions, at least before the November congressional elections.

Cohen's claims that Trump orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who claimed he had affairs with them has shaken the White House and the president, who has expressed worry and frustration behind closed doors that a man intimately familiar with his political, personal and business dealings for more than a decade had turned on him.

His anger was palpable overnight as he bellowed to the world in an all-caps tweet at 1:10 a.m.: "NO COLLUSION - RIGGED WITCH HUNT!"

In his interview with "Fox & Friends," which was taped at the White House on Wednesday and aired Thursday, Trump railed against Cohen for "flipping."

"I know all about flipping," Trump said. "For 30, 40 years I've been watching flippers. Everything's wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they  they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go."

That arrangement "almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair," Trump said, adding that it creates an incentive to "say bad things about somebody ... just make up lies."

That drew immediate rebukes from the legal community.

Neal Katyal, Supreme Court lawyer and former acting solicitor general, compared Trump's comments in a tweet to "what one expects from a mobster, not the President of the United States." He later said it was outrageous that Trump had "decided to condemn the entire practice of flipping nationwide, which is essential to law enforcement operations."

"If President Trump's views were the law, literally thousands of criminals would be on the street today," he said.

The president's comment and others in recent days have fed criticism that Trump, a "law and order" candidate, is now living in an upside-down world in which campaign finance violations are "not a crime," former White House Counsel John Dean, who helped expose the Watergate scandal, is a "RAT," and Manafort, a man found guilty of defrauding the government, should be applauded.

Trump has said repeatedly that he feels bad for Manafort, and has praised him for refusing to cooperate with the DOJ.

"(U)nlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order to get a 'deal.' Such respect for a brave man!" he tweeted.

Dean, counsel under President Richard Nixon, went to jail for his role in the Watergate scandal, but also cooperated with the government. He tweeted Thursday that Trump "thinks, acts and sounds like a mob boss."

Some Democrats, meanwhile, are discussing the possibility of impeaching Trump  should they retake control of the House in November's elections.

Trump argued such a move could have dire economic consequences, but added: "I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job."
The Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad is now a step closer to resolving a sex abuse scandal that rocked the 100-year-old military school.

Attorneys for the Army and Navy Academy settled a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money.

The suit was filed by a former cadet who says the schools counselor Juan Munoz sexually assaulted him when he was in the 9th grade.

The assaults allegedly went on for years.

Munoz later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.

In July 2017, another former cadet was awarded $1.9 million for the abuse he allegedly suffered by Munoz.

Munoz, however, was not the only alleged sex offender, according to the lawsuit.

Then headmaster, Jeffrey Barton, is now serving a life term in prison for six counts of sex with a minor, during the same time Munoz was a counselor.

One of Bartons victims also has a pending civil suit.

It is unclear if that lawsuit will soon be settled as well.

The school released a statement, which said in part the academy is grateful the lawsuit has been settled without the need for protracted litigation. And, it is important to keep in mind that the incidents referenced in the lawsuit occurred more than 17 years ago, well before the academys current administration and Board of Trustees assumed their management and oversight responsibilities.
Over a hundred senior citizens have to be evacuated from the La Palma Royale assisted living home in Anaheim Thursday night.

Firefighters received a call about a gas leak at the 5000 block of La Palma Ave and evacuations began at around 10:30 p.m.

People at the La Palma Royale facilities are sheltering in place.

Southern California Gas Co. crews were on scene and firefighters waited for the utility to give them the all-clear before allowing residents to return, a fire department official said.

No injuries were reported.

City News Service contributed to this story.
What to Know The CDC reported eight deaths so far this year: two in South Dakota, one in Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

"One out of 10 (with neuroinvasive West Nile virus) will die; one out of 10 will have permanent disabilities."

Most people bitten by an infected mosquito never show any symptoms.

Louisiana and Mississippi are leading the nation in the number of people who have become the most seriously ill from West Nile virus this year, with California coming in fourth. State health departments are warning residents to take precautions against mosquitoes, which spread the virus.

"Not in my house, not on my skin, not in my yard," said Dr. Raoult Ratard, Louisiana's state epidemiologist, as he repeated the state slogan for fighting the disease Wednesday. Precautions include making sure door and window screens don't have holes; wearing long clothes and using mosquito repellent; and making sure the yard doesn't hold any standing water where mosquitoes might breed  even a bottle cap.

As of Aug. 21, Louisiana had 18 cases of West Nile encephalitis or meningitis out of a national total of 133, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday on its website. Mississippi had 15 such "neuroinvasive" cases, Texas 14 and California 12.

South Dakota had nine, Iowa seven, Nebraska six and Alabama and Pennsylvania five each.

Dr. Paul Byers, Mississippi's state epidemiologist, said Mississippi is "always" among the states with the highest rates for West Nile virus.

"Regardless of whether we report the disease in your county ... we want everybody to take those appropriate precautions," Byers said.

Reports of infections of the brain and nervous system are more reliable indicators of West Nile's seriousness than statistics for flu-like West Nile fever or symptomless infections found most often when people donate blood, he and Ratard both said.

That's because most patients will be hospitalized, Ratard said. "And it's the major problem with West Nile," he added. "One out of 10 (with neuroinvasive West Nile virus) will die; one out of 10 will have permanent disabilities."

The CDC reported eight deaths so far this year: two in South Dakota and one each in Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Overall, the CDC said, 45 states and the District of Columbia have reported the virus in people, birds or mosquitoes this year.

About one in five infected people becomes ill, and the virus spreads to the nervous system in about one in 150, according to the CDC.

West Nile fever diagnoses depend on whether a patient even goes to the doctor, and then on whether the doctor tests for it. And most people bitten by an infected mosquito never show any symptoms. They're diagnosed only if their blood is tested.

The CDC reported 98 cases of fever and 89 positive blood tests.

Six states  Florida, Indiana, Missouri, New York, Oregon and Utah  have diagnosed only one or two fever cases and none in the nervous system. The only reports in New Mexico and Montana were from a single blood test in each.

Ratard said 1,054 people in Louisiana have come down with the most serious form of the disease over the past 16 years. "So we probably have 100,000 to 200,000 people that were infected in Louisiana, and that are immune," Ratard said.

CDC figures often lag behind state reports. Louisiana reports there have been 31 residents with dangerous nervous system infections, including two deaths, and 13 cases of West Nile fever. Mississippi has reported 10 fever cases in addition to the 15 nervous system infections, Byers said.

Variations from state to state and year to year depend on various local factors, Ratard said.

He noted that although Louisiana is seeing more cases this year than last, numbers are still down considerably from the worst years, such as 2002 and 2012. Louisiana had 142 nervous system infections by this week in 2002, out of a total of 204 for the year. There were 95 such cases by now in 2012, out of 160 for the year.

There were nearly 3,000 cases of encephalitis and meningitis caused by the virus in both 2002 and 2012.
Innovation in technology has revolutionised the workplace, enabling employees to work from home, on the go or from a different country. Gone are the days when employees clock in at 9am, work in a specified location and then clock out at 5pm.

Fiona Leppan, director in Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyrs Employment practice

The benefits of flexi hours

Things employers must consider

This has seen an increase in the implementation of flexi hours and a complete change in the traditional employer/employee relationship. Fiona Leppan, a director in Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyrs Employment practice, believes that the rise in the popularity of flexi hours is mainly due to many organisations using it to help reduce job losses as a result of retrenchments.I have seen local businesses becoming much more aware of international trends, like flexi hours. Because of tough trading conditions, companies are starting to realise how effective flexi hours can be to help reduce operating costs, as there is no need to have so many employees in one location. However, flexi hours should only be applicable in industries that are outcome orientated and not hourly driven like most manufacturing or mining operations, she explains.If used correctly, flexi hours can be beneficial to both the employee and the employer.The employer expects a certain outcome to be achieved, irrespective of how an employee achieves this. For an employee, flexi hours enable them to have the perfect work-life balance. They get to work the hours they want and still be available to fetch the children from school. In turn, this will help motivate employees to work harder to achieve the desired outcome, which in itself is advantageous for the employer, she says.However, if this relationship becomes one-sided and the employee is no longer capable of delivering what he/she is contractually obliged to, then the relationship will come undone.Fatima Moosa, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyrs national HR manager, believes that at the outset of any employer/employee relationship, there needs to be a meeting of the minds, with regards to what is required from the employee.Communication is key. Employees must understand what is expected of them and in turn, employers must take into account the circumstances the employee finds themselves in. For example, if an employee is a single parent, the employer must make provisions to allow that employee to fulfill his/her family responsibilities, says Moosa.Every employment contract that is signed must specify the employees expected outcomes and under which parameters the employee is expected to work. These contracts may differ from person to person, and will relate to the role that the employee needs to fulfil in terms of the business requirements. For example, some employees may need to work remotely, while some dont.At the end of the day, these contractual requirements need to be agreed upon and signed up front. Most importantly, each contract must state that if the employee fails to achieve the desired outcomes, the employer reserves the right to retract the flexible arrangement. This will help protect employers against under-performing employees who tend to abuse the flexi hour policy, concludes Moosa.
What to Know Pinellas County Judge Joseph Bulone ruled Thursday that the $100,000 bail amount for Michael Drejka should stand.

The 48-year-old Drejka said he shot 28-year-old Markeis McGlockton in self-defense in an encounter that has revived debate.

A Florida judge has decided not to reduce the bail of a white man charged with manslaughter in the death of an unarmed black man in a store parking lot.

Pinellas County Judge Joseph Bulone ruled Thursday that the $100,000 bail amount for Michael Drejka should stand. He said it's a reasonable amount, since Drejka faces anywhere from 11 to 30 years in prison if convicted.

The 48-year-old Drejka said he shot 28-year-old Markeis McGlockton in self-defense in an encounter that has revived debate over Florida's "stand-your-ground" law.

Surveillance video shows Drejka confronting McGlockton's family for parking in a handicapped spot. McGlockton then left the store and shoved Drejka to the pavement. Drejka then pulled a handgun and fired as McGlockton backed away.
New surveillance footage shows a Miami model allegedly clubbing a panhandler with a bat during an argument at a gas station that ended with the panhandler dead and the model facing a murder charge.

The video, released Friday, shows the June 8 encounter at the Valero gas station at 570 Northwest 79th Street between 32-year-old Hivo Rolando Gonzalez and Pedro Cruz.

Gonzalez had stopped for gas in his black pickup truck that was towing a boat when Cruz approached, according to an arrest report. At one point, Gonzalez lunged at Cruz with a "large object" in his hand and struck him in the head, the report said.

Cruz began to run away and Gonzalez chased after him and struck him on the head a second time, knocking Cruz to the ground, the report said. The "large object" was a bat used by anglers to subdue large fish, the Miami Herald reported.

Gonzalez fled the scene without calling 911 or rendering aid, the report said. Cruz was taken to a nearby hospital where he never regained consciousness. He died a few days later.

Gonzalez was arrested the day after the incident, and now faces a second-degree murder charge. He remains held without bond.

An attorney for Gonzalez told the Herald that Cruz had been yelling threats after Gonzalez refused to give him money. He also said Gonzalez was unaware Cruz had been critically wounded.

"This is a really good-natured guy who believed he was put into a life-or-death situation," lawyer H. Scott Fingerhut told the paper. "We are deeply sorry about what happened to Mr. Cruz. The bottom line: Hivo Gonzalez is no killer."

Gonzalez, whose occupation is listed as a "boater" on the arrest report, runs charter fishing trips and works in the fitness industry, according to the Herald. He is also a fitness model and participates in workout competitions.
Pope Francis faced a lukewarm reception and scattered protests Saturday on his trip to Ireland, with even his vow to rid the church of the "scourge" of sexual abuse and his outrage at those "repugnant crimes" dismissed as a disappointment by some of Ireland's wounded victims.

But others who met with him in private left heartened that he would respond to their plight, including two of the thousands of children who were forcibly put up for adoption for the shame of having been born to unwed mothers. They said Francis described the corruption and cover-up in the church as "caca"  translated by the Vatican translator for the English speakers as "filth as one sees in the toilet."

The abuse scandal  which has exploded anew in the U.S. but has convulsed Ireland since the 1990s with revelations of unfathomable violence and humiliation against women and children  took center stage on the first day of Francis' two-day trip. The visit was originally intended to celebrate Catholic families.

Francis responded to the outcry by vowing to end sex abuse and cover-up during a speech to Irish government authorities at Dublin Castle.

"The failure of ecclesiastical authorities  bishops, religious superiors, priests and others  to adequately address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community," he told them. "I myself share these sentiments."

He cited measures taken by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, to respond to the crisis. But while Benedict is credited with cracking down on abusers, he never acknowledged the Vatican's role in fueling a culture of cover-up or sanctioned bishops for failing to protect their flocks from predator priests.

Francis followed his promise with a 90-minute meeting with eight survivors of both clerical and institutional abuse and prayed quietly before a candle lit for victims in Dublin's cathedral. But neither his words nor the meeting with victims is likely to assuage demands for heads to roll.

"Disappointing, nothing new," was the reaction from Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins, a former member of Francis' sex abuse advisory panel who quit last year in frustration. She later took part in Francis' meeting with seven other abuse survivors, including two priests and a public official.

Colm O'Gorman, who is leading a solidarity rally on Sunday in Dublin for abuse victims, said Francis' remarks about sharing the shame felt by Catholics were an "insult to faithful Catholics, who have no reason to feel shame because of the crimes of the Vatican and the institutional church."

The reception that Francis received in Dublin contrasted sharply with the raucous, rock star welcome that greeted St. John Paul II in 1979 in the first-ever papal visit here. No one from the public was at the airport or the roads nearby when Francis arrived Saturday and the streets near a church-run homeless shelter that Francis visited were practically empty despite barricades designed to hold back crowds.

At one protest, people tossed baby shoes to remind the pope of the poor treatment the Catholic Church doled out to the children of unwed mothers.

Crowds did throng Francis' popemobile route and gathered outside Dublin's cathedral, basking in the sunny weather, and a stadium was nearly full for his evening vigil to close out the church's family rally.

And two of the Irish adoptees said they were heartened Francis said he would address their concerns at Mass on Sunday. They are asking him to publicly state that their mothers had done nothing wrong and to encourage reconciliation between all unwed mothers, many of them now aged, who were forced by society and the church to give up their children.

Paul Redmond, who was born in a home and given up for adoption at 17 days, urged the pope to publicly call on the six orders of Catholic nuns who ran the homes to accept responsibility for the traumas they caused, issue an apology, and pay for the costs of inquiries.

"The pope did apologize to all of us for what happened in the homes," he said.

The coalition of survivors of mother and baby homes estimates 100,000 single mothers were forcibly separated from their babies and that 6,000 babies died at the homes.

Deeply Catholic Ireland has had one of the world's worst records of clergy sex abuse, crimes that were revealed to its 4.8 million people over the past decade by government-mandated inquiries. The reviews concluded that thousands of children were raped or molested by priests or physically abused in church-run schools  and Irish bishops worked for years to hide those crimes.

After the Irish church enacted tough new norms to fight abuse, it had been looking to the first visit by a pope in 39 years to show a different, more caring church.

More than 37,000 people, most of them young Catholics, signed up to attend a Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families that ends Sunday in Dublin, more than twice the number of a rally in Philadelphia three years ago.

Francis urged the Irish to recognize that for all its failings, the Catholic Church educated and cared for generations of Irish children in times of famine and great poverty.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar concurred, saying the church stepped in to care for Irish children when the state did not. But in his speech at Dublin Castle, he said both church and state had a history of "sorrow and shame," and he urged the pope to ensure that victims of sex abuse find "justice and truth and healing."

Varadkar cited the recent Pennsylvania grand jury report, which found 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years in six dioceses, in urging Francis to "ensure that from words flow actions."

"In recent weeks, we have all listened to heart-breaking stories from Pennsylvania of brutal crimes perpetrated by people within the Catholic Church, and then obscured to protect the institution at the expense of innocent victims," Varadkar said. "It's a story all too tragically familiar here in Ireland."

That history of abuse has left its mark. Irish voters in recent years have turned their backs on core Catholic teachings. They have overturned a constitutional ban on abortion and legalized divorce, contraception, previously banned homosexual acts and same-sex marriage.

Survivors of one of Ireland's wretched mother and baby homes were to hold a demonstration Sunday at Tuam, site of a mass grave of hundreds of babies who died at a church-run home.

Francis will be nearby, visiting the Marian shrine at Knock, but has no plans to visit the grave site.

He did, however, hear about Tuam on Saturday from Ireland's minister for children, Katherine Zappone. Their conversation wasn't released but Francis said her words "still echo in my ears."

An amateur Irish historian, Catherine Corless, traced the deaths of 796 children at the Tuam home to a grave in the orphanage's sewage area. Corless and survivors of the home and their families want to unearth the site and give the children  all of whom were baptized  proper Christian burials.

Zappone's ministry is to recommend this fall whether to accept that proposal or build a memorial at the site.
What to Know 12 active duty minority officers first went public with claims of illegal racial quotas within the Department in an I-Team interview in 2016

Some NYPD officers says the pressure is still on them to reach a quota for tickets and summones

The NYPD disagrees with the officers' claims, saying the current administration has worked hard to get away from the quota mentality

Are there quotas in the NYPD for arrests and summonses? The department says no. Some officers disagree, with several willing to speak out publicly and others quietly saying the pressure remains to "get numbers" even after the elimination of the so-called stop and frisk era.

The hot-button controversy takes center stage with the Hulu release of a documentary film, Crime+Punishment, which focuses on the NYPD12. Twelve active duty officers of color first went public with claims of illegal racial quotas within the department in an I-Team interview in March 2016.



The officers, who patrolled in primarily neighborhoods of color, claimed they were pressured to make arrests and write summonses, and they say they were retaliated against if they didnt comply. They filed a class action lawsuit in federal court claiming that the department violated a 2010 state ban on quotas.

In a new I-Team interview, a number of officers claim quotas still exist.

Edwin Raymond, now a sergeant said, The pressure is still there.

Officer Pedro Serrano added, They will retaliate if you dont get the numbers.

Filmmaker Stephen Maing spent four years following the NYPD12 and documenting what he says was additional retaliation for the officers decision to go public on the matter of quotas.

It was startling to see the wave of retaliation after the interview you did, said Maing, adding, Its a really rare thing for cops to speak out and break the blue wall of silence. This is about the first group of black and Latino cops who were willing to speak out against practices they thought were harmful to minority communities.

In a lengthy interview with the I-Team, NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker said major crime within the current administration is down in New York City, along with arrests, summonses and civilian complaints.

We dont expect there to be quotas. Were not expecting them to focus on the quantity or the numbers," Tucker said. "Thats the thing we fought to get away from. It was happening in prior administrations, perhaps. Its not happening in this administration.

A federal judge has dismissed the officers class action claim based on the quota argument and certain individual claims, but the officers say they will continue their battle for a dialogue about policing and perception.

"We are not here to talk bad about the department," Derick Waller, now a retired detective, said. "We hope the department and the public will have a real discussion on this subject."

All the officers said they have no regrets.



"We hope that other officers, if you see something wrong, speak out," said another retired officer, Julio Diaz.
What to Know NBC 4 reporter Michael George is on a quest to eat food from every single country in the world, right here in New York City

Michael has spent the last two years eating his way around New York, and he's ticked off 114 countries and counting

But he needs your help -- Michael is still looking for restaurants from Iceland, Saudi Arabia and multiple central African nations

Can you find food from every single country on Earth right here in New York City? One reporter is trying to find out.

NBC New York reporter Michael George covers some of the biggest news stories in the tri-state every night at 11 p.m. But in his off-time, hes spent the last two years exploring New York for the best food from all over the world.

Hes documenting his quest, called Mike George Eats The World, on Facebook and Instagram. Hes already tried food from 114 countries so far, and hes looking for more! Over the next few weeks we're going to show you all of the world restaurants Michael has eaten at during his mission, and maybe you can help us help him finish his quest. Here is Part 1, Afghanistan to Ecuador, and here is Part 2, Egypt to Lebanon.

Mike George Eats the World Part 1: Afghanistan to Ecuador

Mike George Eats the World Part 2: Egypt to Lebanon

In the meantime, this is how it all went down, according to Mike.

How did it start?

"I was covering a fire on Staten Island one night, and the only thing open was an Uzbek restaurant. The food was fantastic! I immediately started thinking what a waste it is that we usually stick to the food we know -- American, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, etcetera. This is New York- the city of immigrants! I came up with a plan to try food from every country in the world, and to share it with others.

How did you find these places?

I wanted it to be authentic, so I asked people from those countries -- friends, coworkers, even Uber drivers and complete strangers! Turns out everyone loves talking about food. When possible, I would go to a restaurant with a friend from that country so they could help me order, which was especially helpful when the staff didnt speak English.

Whats are some of your favorites?

Theres so many! Bhutan, Belgium, and the Philippines all make my top 10. A Georgian dish called khachapuri- its basically a bread boat filled with cheese. South Africas bobotie is amazing. Its curried ground beef with an egg custard topping. I also learned a lot about real Mexican and Chinese food -- not the kind were used to in America. Oh, and French fries are way better when eaten the Belgian way; with mayonnaise instead of ketchup."

Whats your least favorite?

Im the kind of guy who likes pretty much everything. But I will say the only challenging one for me was a Filipino street food called balut. Its a boiled duck embryo, and its not for the faint of heart. Dont Google it.

Whats next?

Ive done 114 countries so far, and Im always looking for more! I still need an authentic Icelandic restaurant, Saudi restaurant, and lots of central African countries! If you know a good spot, hit me up on my Instagram or on Facebook.

Did you ever get sick?

People always ask that! I never got sick, not once. Maybe eating so many different things all the time gives me a cast-iron stomach. The only downside is the 15 pounds I put on eating all this food over the last 2 years.

How can I try some of the food you ate?

"Youll find the location of every restaurant I visited on Facebook and Instagram and right here at nbcnewyork.com."
A 23-year-old western New York woman has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for hiring a hit man to kill her mother for $30,000 in life insurance money.

Jasmine Harlee of Sodus admitted planning the murder of her mother, 52-year-old Julie Martin. She was sentenced Thursday in Wayne County Court.

Prosecutors say Martin was smothered with a pillow in her home in the Wayne County town of Ontario in February 2017.

Authorities say Harlee and her boyfriend Knowledge Couser recruited Couser's 19-year-old brother Davontae Devine and another man to kill Martin.

Couser and Devine have pleaded guilty to murder, and 19-year-old Malquan Drayton has pleaded guilty to robbery charges in connection to the crime.
What to Know The former head of the CDC and seven-year commissioner of NYC's health department has been arrested on sex abuse charges

The charges stem from an alleged incident at his Brooklyn Heights home in Oct. 2017 that was reported to police only last month

A spokesperson for Thomas Frieden said the charges do not reflect who he is or the values that he has

A former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was accused of grabbing a woman's behind and was arrested on Friday on a sex abuse charge but said the woman's allegation "does not reflect" who he is or the values he has.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, appeared in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Friday in connection with what the woman says happened on Oct. 20, 2017, at his Brooklyn home. He pleaded not guilty to the charges of forcible touching, sex abuse and harassment, according to his defense attorney Laura Brevetti.

The accuser reported the encounter in July, and Frieden was taken into custody after an investigation. The 55-year-old woman, who knew Frieden, told police that he grabbed her buttocks.

The judge ordered Frieden to refrain from any contact with the woman and to surrender his U.S. passport. Frieden was freed on his own recognizance, leaving in a car with his attorney. His next court appearance is Oct. 11.

Frieden leads a health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives, which is housed by nonprofit global health organization Vital Strategies.

"The allegation does not reflect Dr. Frieden's public or private behavior or his values over a lifetime of service to improve health around the world," said a statement issued by a spokesman on his behalf.

The president of Vital Strategies, Jose L. Castro, came out in support of Frieden. He said Frieden informed him in April that "a non-work-related friend of his and his family of more than 30 years accused him of inappropriate physical contact."

"I have known and worked closely with Dr. Frieden for nearly 30 years and have seen first-hand that he has the highest ethical standards both personally and professionally," Castro said in a statement. "In all of my experiences with him, there have never been any concerns or reports of inappropriate conduct."

Nonetheless, earlier this month Vital Strategies hired an investigator to interview Resolve to Save Lives employees even though the woman didn't work there. Castro said the investigation found no inappropriate workplace behavior.

"Vital Strategies greatly values the work Dr. Frieden does to advance public health and he has my full confidence," Castro said.

Frieden was a disease investigator at the Atlanta-based CDC, the nation's top public health agency, in 1990 when he was assigned to New York City and worked on a large outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis. He stayed, taking a job heading the city's tuberculosis control.

In 1996, he began working in India with the World Health Organization on tuberculosis control.

Frieden became New York City's health commissioner in 2002 and was known for his aggressive measures to attack chronic diseases. In 2003, New York banned smoking in almost all workplaces, a precedent-setting move that inspired other cities to do the same. In 2006, it became the first U.S. city to ban restaurants from using artificial trans fats and required hundreds of eateries to post calorie counts on their menus.

In 2009, President Barack Obama's administration picked Frieden to head the CDC. Frieden led U.S. public health efforts during a range of high-profile national and international health crises, including pandemic flu, Ebola and Zika.

Frieden was CDC director until January 2017, when he resigned as part of the turnover to President Donald Trump's administration.

In September 2017, Frieden announced he had moved back to New York City to head the $225 million Resolve to Save Lives initiative.

Associated Press writers Kiley Armstrong and Mike Stobbe in New York and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
U.S. House candidate Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera has a long list of accomplishments to bolster her campaign in Florida. But she is perhaps best known for claiming that she was abducted by space aliens as a child.

Rodriguez Aguilera is a longshot in the race for the Miami-area seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Yet last weekend, the Miami Herald endorsed her for the GOP nomination in the Tuesday primary out of a field of nine candidates.

In an interview, Rodriguez Aguilera said she is grateful for the endorsement and that her tale of kidnapping by aliens does not define her.

"It has nothing to do with what I have done. It happened when I was 7 years old," she said. "I am so proud of the Herald and what they did."

Rodriguez Aguilera says she was taken aboard a spaceship as a young girl by blond extraterrestrials who resembled the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. She says they told her that the "center of the world's energy is Africa" and that thousands of non-human skulls were once discovered in a cave on the Mediterranean island of Malta.

She has said she witnessed paranormal activity since then and saw a UFO at age 17. She also said she has been in touch with the aliens telepathically long after the abduction.

Even if it's hard to believe there's a starman waiting in the sky, Rodriguez Aguilera won't back down.

"I stick to my guns when I believe in something," she said.

In its Sunday editorial, the Herald reported that two of the leading Republican candidates  former Miami-Dade commissioner Bruno Barreiro and Spanish-language television journalist Maria Elvira Salazar  did not take part in the paper's endorsement process. And beyond Rodriguez Aguilera, the editorial found the remaining candidates unprepared or unqualified.

"We realize that Rodriguez Aguilera is an unusual candidate," the editorial noted, adding that the paper was impressed with her "boots-on-the-ground ideas and experience."

Rodriguez Aguilera is a former City Council member in the suburb of Doral who is the daughter of a Cuban political prisoner. She previously was a social worker, ombudsman at the Miami-Dade county manager's office and now runs a business training women in other countries how to run for political office.

"The theme of my campaign is people above politics. I train people around the world about democracy," she said. "I have the most experience. I can go in there and start working just as I have all my life."

Whoever emerges from the GOP field Tuesday will face one of five Democratic candidates and the seat is considered one of the party's best chances for a switch from the GOP.

Polls show the leader on the Democratic side is former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who was also president of the University of Miami and University of Wisconsin. The Herald, however, endorsed state Rep. David Richardson over Shalala.

CORRECTION (Aug. 24, 2018, 12:10 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this story misspelled Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera's name.
President Donald Trump pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday to investigate his perceived enemies, as the long-running feud between the men bled into another day.

Responding to Sessions' declaration that he would not be influenced by politics, Trump tweeted that Sessions must "look into all of the corruption on the 'other side,'" adding: "Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!"

The president's tweets marked the second day of a highly public smackdown by Trump of his attorney general  the latest in a dispute that has simmered since Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.

Earlier this week, Trump, who has been rattled by the legal downfall of two former advisers, accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department. Sessions punched back Thursday, saying that he and his department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal fixer Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if "flipping"  cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies" to get a break from prosecutors.

Some of the issues Trump raised with Sessions on Friday have either already been examined or are in the process of being investigated.

He cited two former FBI officials, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who were sharply criticized in a Justice Department inspector general report in June for trading derogatory text messages about Trump. Strzok, who was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation in the summer once the texts were brought to his attention, was fired by the FBI this month. Page has resigned from the bureau.

Trump also mentioned the Russian probe. The inspector general is also investigating potential abuses in the early stages of the FBI's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump and other Republicans have complained that the political opposition research used to support a wiretap application on a Trump associate was paid for by Democrats, something the inspector general is expected to look at.

Trump also addressed the five-year sentence given to a former government contractor convicted of mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization.

Trump tweeted Friday that is "small potatoes" compared with "what Hillary Clinton did." Prosecutors are calling that sentence handed down to 26-year-old Reality Winner the longest imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

Earlier he defended himself on Fox against talk of impeachment  "the market would crash ... everybody would be very poor"  tried to dissociate himself from Cohen and said anew that he hadn't known in advance about Cohen's hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman.

Trump's latest criticisms of law enforcement came as he appeared increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations after this week's one-two punch of Cohen's plea deal and the conviction of Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because he'd worked on Trump's campaign. Trump, who blames that decision for the eventual appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, told "Fox and Friends" host Ainsley Earhardt that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department and it's a sort of an incredible thing."

"What kind of man is this?" Trump asked.

"You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter," Trump said of Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse Trump's bid.

Sessions has made clear to associates that he has no intention of leaving his job voluntarily despite Trump's constant criticism. But his tone in his statement on Thursday made clear he is tired of the president's attacks.

"I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda," he said. He said that while he's attorney general the department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."

In New York, meanwhile, it was reported that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, the publisher of National Enquirer, which bought and killed the stories of two women. And people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the publication kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading to 2016 election.

Allies, including Republican members of Congress have long advised Trump that firing Sessions  especially before the midterm elections  would be deeply damaging to the party.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who in March said firing Sessions would "blow up" the Judiciary Committee, has been shifting his tone.

"I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice," he told reporters on Thursday. "Clearly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president."

Others stood by Sessions.

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Zeke Miller, Jonathan Lemire, Chad Day, Ken Thomas contributed to this report.
#Loeries2018: Gordon Ray on winning a Grand Prix for Nando's '#rightmyname'

M&C Saatchi Abel took home a Grand Prix for Nando's '#rightmyname' in the print communication category for tactical use of newspaper at this year's Loerie Awards, which took place on Friday, 17 August and Saturday, 18 August at the ICC in Durban.

Photo by Roy Esterhuysen / 2018 Loerie Awards / Gallo Images

The campaign itself received a Campaign Gold in both the Design Mixed-Media Campaign and PR & Media Communication Campaign categories, and a Campaign Silver in the Digital Integrated Campaign category, contributing to a total of 12 Loerie awards this year.



I interviewed founding partner and ECD Gordon Ray to find out what makes this particular campaign stand out and what the win means to them



Why are you proud to have won a Grand Prix for Nandos #rightmyname in the print communication category? Why are you proud to have won a Grand Prix for Nandos #rightmyname in the print communication category? The campaign itself received a Campaign Gold in both the Design Mixed-Media Campaign and PR & Media Communication Campaign categories, and a Campaign Silver in the Digital Integrated Campaign category, contributing to a total of 12 Loerie awards this year.I interviewed founding partner and ECD Gordon Ray to find out what makes this particular campaign stand out and what the win means to them

What does this win mean to you and for the agency? What does this win mean to you and for the agency?

Why do you think this campaign was deserving of such a win? Why do you think this campaign was deserving of such a win?

The campaign resonated with people. It addressed something that affects millions of people every day. We spotted the red line and decided to do something about it. Our solution was simple but imaginative  that always connects with people. Simple, powerful ideas that people can get behind and feel part of.

Tell us a bit about the thinking behind the idea? Tell us a bit about the thinking behind the idea?

Which Loeries win(s) did you personally feel to be most deserving, and why? Which Loeries win(s) did you personally feel to be most deserving, and why?

Looking beyond the two award nights, share your Loeries Creative Week experience with us. Looking beyond the two award nights, share your Loeries Creative Week experience with us.

What was your main takeout from Loeries 2018? What was your main takeout from Loeries 2018?

Comment on the current creative landscape in South Africa and how this compares globally? Comment on the current creative landscape in South Africa and how this compares globally?

Whats next? Whats next?

Jessica Tennant's articles About Jessica Tennant Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. moc.ytinummoczib@swengnitekram

A Grand Prix is always exciting to win, its the big one  the best of the best in its category  so yes, were super excited to have won it. We are proud to have won in this category because the execution was so stand-out. Having the nations largest newspaper underline names in their editorial in order to bring your idea to life, was quite a thing. A media first I think.Its our first, so that makes it extra special  and its for Nandos, a great client, so that means a lot to us too.Spellchecks red line appears under any name that isnt a traditional English name. That means that every day, millions of South Africans are made to feel like their names are a mistake. Thats just not fair. How in 2018 can our software still be discriminatory against people with non-English names?So Nandos decided to challenge the status quo, as they always do, and fix this for South Africans. We asked people to submit their names to a database, which was then made available to the public on Human Rights day for download. By simply updating your computers dictionary, typical South African names no longer get the red line in all Word documents. Much cooler.I loved the Sanlam 2-Minute Shower Songs campaign. I thought it was a fun way to tackle quite a serious issue. It was also executed beautifully.Loeries is a great weekend of reconnecting with people youve worked with, bonding with your colleagues and spending time with your clients outside the demands of live campaigns.Big ideas beautifully executed always win, and thats how it should be. I think the judges got it right this year.South African work has always stood tall globally. We have always punched far beyond our weight, and that continues to be the case. Im excited to see ideas that have true local flavour and relevance being recognised on the international stage.Loeries 2019 starts now. Im hoping to take our wins and use it as the rocket fuel to power the next round of work that makes our clients brands famous.
What to Know Shomari Taylor went missing in Aug. 2006 after being abducted at gunpoint by a group of men posing as police officers.

Taylor's body was recovered from a North Philadelphia lot this week and positively identified on Thursday, police said.

Kenneth Tuck was tried twice in the kidnapping and eventually acquitted.

The body of a former Pennsylvania state representative's son has been found buried in a vacant Philadelphia lot 12 years after the man was abducted at gunpoint.

Earlier this week, Philadelphia police recovered the remains of Shomari Taylor at an undisclosed location in North Philadelphia. The body was positively identified on Thursday, Philadelphia Police Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said.

Taylor, who was 26 when he went missing, was the son of the late Democratic state legislator, John Myers, of Philadelphia. Myers died in 2015 after serving nine terms in the state House.

Authorities went searching for the remains after they received a new lead.

"There's cold cases where some of the leads begin to dry up, but there's never a case that's closed. So anything we get could reignite a case," Kinebrew said.

It was Aug. 26, 2006 when Tayor and his girlfriend were pulled out of a car at gunpoint at 76th Street and Woodbine Avenue in the city's Overbrook Park section. Prosecutors said the abductors were posing as police with flashing lights on their car and badges around their necks.

Taylor's mother and sister were also shot in a home invasion hours after the abduction. It was alleged that Taylor was dealing drugs.

The girlfriend, Caren Murphy, was released the next day. She told police she heard Taylor pleading for his life before he went silent. One of the alleged abductors, Kenneth Tuck, was also identified by Murphy.

Tuck was tried twice in the case on kidnapping, robbery, conspiracy and gun charges. The first trial, in 2007, ended in a mistrial after the jury couldn't come to a verdict. He was acquitted after the second trial in 2008.

Tuck's attorney tried to discredit Murphy by bringing up her prior sexual relationship with the defendant. Defense witnesses also testified that Tuck was playing cards with them at the time of the abduction.

There is no statute of limitations on homicides so new charges can be filed in the case.
What to Know A 36-year-old woman was found dead Wednesday night by police performing a welfare check at her Ardmore condo.

An autopsy on Thursday revealed she was strangled and the manner of death was ruled homicide.

Police scoured her home for clues, but believe the incident to be isolated.

A former model who has posed for Playboy was found strangled inside her upscale condominium near the popular Suburban Square shopping center on Pennsylvania's Main Line, authorities said.

The body of 36-year-old Christina Carlin-Kraft was discovered at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday inside her bedroom at a condo complex on Sibley Avenue in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, according to Montgomery County prosecutors. Police performing a welfare check found the woman's body.

The Montgomery County coroner on Thursday ruled the manner of death as homicide.

Detectives spent much of Thursday combing the condo and the complex for evidence. They collected surveillance video from nearby businesses. The complex sits adjacent to the Ardmore Farmers Market and Suburban Square.

Carlin-Kraft's modeling credits include Playboy, Maxim, David Yurman and MAC Cosmetics, according to a profile on a modeling website. In 2016, she was charged with assault in New York City for striking a restaurant staffer. The charges were later dropped.

Prosecutors said there doesn't appear to be concern for nearby residents.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lower Merion police at 610-649-1000.
Two dockless bikeshare businesses left D.C. in July, citing city regulations, but people can purchase one company's brand new yellow bikes in Virginia at a deep discount.

Velocity Bicycle Cooperative will be selling 170 of Ofo's bikes at its warehouse on Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria, the bike shop said on Facebook.

Interested cyclists can buy the bikes for $100 each from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

The bike shop reached out to companies that were leaving Washington, D.C., due to city regulations and asked for their surplus instead of the bikes being dumped in a landfill, Velocity co-founder Christian Myers said.

Ofo Dockless Bikeshare donated the bikes and removed the locking mechanisms, Myers said.

These bikes forget their previous life as a bikeshare bike, Myers said.

The Chinese bike company donated their remaining bike surplus to other community organizations in cities like Atlanta and Seattle where the company stopped service. The dockless bikes had been littered across the D.C. area in strange places.

Theres been a huge response to the event with a ton of people calling, Myers said.

For more information on how to purchase an Ofo bike, check Velocity Bicycle Cooperatives Facebook page for more information.
An elementary school in Prince George's County, Maryland, will be shuttered when the new school year starts due to concerns about air quality and mold, the school district confirmed to News4.

District Heights Elementary School will be closed for the entire school year, and buses will take students to nearby Forestvill High School, the school district said.

Crews will work during the closure to remove mold inside the school and install a new air conditioning system, officials said.

In March 2017, parents raised concerns about the school's air quality and said there was mold at the school.

Parent Phyllis Wright told News4 at the time that she kept her two daughters home from school because she believed there was mold at the school.

"I'm hurt not only for my children. I'm hurt for the 500 other children that goes there," Wright said.

She said she had complained to the school after she volunteered at the school and overheard two teachers talking about the mold.

Prince George's County Public Schools officials sent a letter home to parents at the time and said that they would work to improve the air quality.

Most areas tested at the school were clear of mold except for a classroom where tests showed mold levels were higher than outside, officials said last spring. But 24 ventilation fans on the school's campus were not working properly and required repairs. Officials, however, insisted that the school was safe for students and teachers.
A bear charged a family hiking in Yellowstone National Park on Thursday, knocking down and injuring a 10-year-old boy before his parents were able to drive the animal off with bear spray, park officials said.

The unidentified boy from Washington state was transferred to a hospital for puncture wounds to his back, wounds around his buttocks and an injured wrist, park officials said in a statement. It's unclear how serious his injuries are, spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said.

The park is home to grizzly and black bears, both of which are a top draw for the more than 4 million tourists who visit each year. It's not clear whether the bear that attacked the boy was a grizzly or a black bear.

Yellowstone averages about one bear attack on a human per year, but it's been three years since the last attack within in park boundaries, according to officials.

The family of four was hiking along the Divide Trail southeast of Old Faithful when the bear charged from the vegetation, chased the boy and knocked him to the ground, park officials said in the statement.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the bear to charge.

The boy's parents deployed bear spray about 5 feet (1  meters) from the bear's head, causing it to leave. The family walked to the trailhead and drove to the ranger station at Old Faithful, where they were sent to a nearby clinic.

He was then transferred to a hospital in Big Sky.

Wildlife and law enforcement officials are investigating the attack and looking for signs that would identify the type of bear involved.
New York's attorney general is looking to open a criminal investigation into whether Michael Cohen violated state tax law.

A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday that Attorney General Barbara Underwood recently requested a criminal referral from the state tax department to investigate and potentially file charges against Cohen, the former personal attorney for Donald Trump.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

A lawyer for Cohen declined to comment on the development, which was first reported by The New York Times.

Cohen owes at least $1.4 million to the IRS after pleading guilty Tuesday to evading federal taxes. It's unclear if he also misstated his income on state returns.

The attorney general must get a referral to opening a criminal probe. Such requests are almost always granted.

Cohen personally called tax officials in New York on the same day he received a subpoena from state investigators looking into the Trump Foundation.

A state official confirmed the call from the former personal attorney and "fixer" for President Donald Trump, but would not divulge the details of the exchange, which came Wednesday just hours after Cohen received the subpoena. The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Associated Press first reported the existence of the subpoena on Wednesday. It was issued as part of the state's ongoing investigation into Trump and the Trump Foundation to determine whether the Republican commander in chief or his charity broke state law or misstated their tax liabilities.

Cohen pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.

The subpoena was issued after Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, said on television that his client has information that would be of interest to investigators in Washington, as well as New York state.

If evidence of alleged crimes is found, the matter could be referred to state Attorney General Barbara Underwood, a Democrat, who could pursue criminal charges and seek the release of Trump's tax returns. The state investigation is seen as a potential backstop to the federal probe by special counsel Robert Mueller, since state charges typically cannot be cleared by a presidential pardon.

A loophole in state law, however, could make it harder for state officials to pursue anyone pardoned by Trump. The state's double jeopardy law, which protects people from repeat prosecutions for the same allegations, contains several exceptions allowing prosecutions to go ahead  but does not specifically list an exception allowing state prosecutors to move ahead with charges when a person has been pardoned for similar federal crimes.

Underwood and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo have called on lawmakers to close the loophole. The Legislature is not scheduled to be back in Albany until January.

Cuomo told reporters on Thursday that he believes "it would be an impeachable offense" if Trump used his pardon power to prevent someone like Cohen from implicating him in a crime. He said state law must be clarified to ensure that "even if the president pardons someone, they can still be prosecuted in the state of New York."

A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about whether Cuomo would call a special session.

The state's investigation follows Underwood's lawsuit alleging Trump illegally tapped his Trump Foundation to settle legal disputes, help his campaign for president and pay for personal and business expenses, which included spending $10,000 on a portrait of himself.

The attorney general's office is seeking $2.8 million in restitution and other unspecified penalties in its civil suit. It said that it had referred its findings to the IRS and the Federal Election Commission for possible further action.

Besides his work for Trump, Cohen spent years amassing yellow cab medallions, the hard-to-get licenses adorned to the hoods of taxis in New York and Chicago that were once worth a fortune, but whose values have plummeted in recent years due to competition from ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.

Many medallion owners who used them as collateral to borrow money are now in deep financial trouble, unable to pay back creditors.

Once such taxi magnate, Evgeny Freidman, nicknamed the "Taxi King" by New York's tabloid newspapers, managed Cohen's medallions for years even after he was charged by state prosecutors last summer with pocketing more than $5 million in taxes.

Freidman, who told a real estate publication last year the two men were so close that Cohen helped him name his eldest son, pleaded guilty in May to a single count of tax fraud. As part of the deal, Freidman agreed to cooperate in federal and state investigations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
What to Know The crash on Monponsett Street near Cranland Airport in Hanson, Massachusetts happened around 4 p.m. Friday.

Two people were on board when the plane crashed into a pond, and were trapped inside the wreckage.

FAA says they along with NTSB will investigate to determine the cause of the crash.

Two brothers were badly injured Friday after the small plane they were in crashed near a Massachusetts airport on a trip to scatter their late father's ashes.

The single-engine plane crashed around 4 p.m. into a pond near Cranland Airport in Hanson, trapping the victims inside the wreckage.

Family members have identified those on board as Scott Landis, an experienced helicopter pilot who flies Blackhawks with the Army National Guard, and his younger brother, Patrick. Both are from Hanson and were up in the air to scatter their recently deceased father's ashes. Scott was on leave because his dad passed away.

"From what I understand, they were coming back from spreading the ashes," said Dan Conway, the victims' uncle.

The plane's owner lent the plane to Scott, according to the owner's brother.

Scott was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Patrick was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where he remained in critical condition Friday night. Scott's condition was not known.

Because of the significant damage to the front of the plane, firefighters had to remove the brothers after they became trapped in the water.

"It was heavy, thick brush that we were working with, and mud conditions, along with aviation fuel in the water, so Hanson Police and Hansen Fire worked together to extricate him," said Hanson Fire Deputy Chief Rob O'Brien. "They did have to use sawzalls and hand tools to remove part of the aircraft."

"From the time the call came in to extrication was probably 15 minutes, and they were both taken out simultaneously," said Sgt. Peter Daley of the Hanson Police Dept.

FAA officials say that the aircraft was an Aeronca 7AC Champion, and that they, along with NTSB, will investigate to determine the cause of the crash.
This past weekend saw a group of talented students from Vega , a brand of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE ), take home an impressive eight Loeries and the Instagram Instahack Award at the 40th annual Loerie Awards, which took place from 17-19 August 2018 at the Durban ICC.

Left to right, Alecea Basson (Vega CT), Chanre Bosch and Bernedene Clausing (Vega Pretoria)

The project submissions that won silver at the Loeries were:

Helpin' Hands by Kabelo Mabaso and Mafedi Lenake  a clever initiative to help prevent the spread of cholera in developing countries.



Montagu by students Eduan Viljoen and Aime Rose Feinberg  a quirky, colourful direct mailer designed for South African fruit and nut brand, Montagu.



Hire Us by students Andre De Jager and Ayesha Kaprey  a logo and identity programme of the two students innovative personal branding for an internship application to KesselKramer in Amsterdam.



A campaign for Kelloggs Froot Loops entitled Toucan Sam, by Kelsey Neethling  a new take on packaging design for one of South Africas most-loved breakfast cereal.

Bronze birds were also awarded to the following students:

Michaela Chantes submission entitled, Smile



Get More Dog by Megan Naidoo



Zed.En Fin by Michael Kostakis and Jordan Davidson



Hire Us by Andre De Jager and Ayesha Kaprey

The student awards were established to develop creativity, quality and excellence among young creatives, encouraging entrepreneurial drive and nurturing new talent in the industry.The Loerie submissions provide our students with a platform to showcase their creative concepts and campaigns that strive to develop meaningful solutions to brand challenges. Working freely on reputable brands like Scarfini and Operation Smile is testament to the positive impact we as advertisers have on the world we live in, says Lurie.Vega students once again exceeded expectations with a total of 17 students making it to the finals  13 of them were announced as Loerie winners and received four silver and four bronze Birds In addition, Alecea Basson (Vega CT), Chanre Bosch and Bernedene Clausing (both Vega Pretoria) were named this years winners of the coveted Instahack Award, making this the third consecutive year that Vega students have been recognised in this category. This year, the students were required to create a short film using Instagram Stories to entice attendees to visit the Loeries before the awards ceremony to get the most out of Creative Week We are thrilled and honoured that our students have been recognised for their outstanding quality of work and would like to congratulate them on these achievements, says Shevon Lurie, Managing Director of Vega. The standard of competition was extremely high as it is every year, but each Vega student finalist along with the guidance of their lecturers have produced agency quality work. Our students continue to do us and the Vega brand proud.Visit www.vegaschoolschool.com to find out more about the IIE qualifications available to study at Vega.
A New Hampshire man was stabbed inside his own home after interrupting a burglary in progress. Thursday night, police say the suspects are still on the loose.

The Jackson family has lived on Koper Lane in Pelham for the last 19 years. They always felt safe inside their home, until Wednesday night.

Taylor Jackson was at the beach with her mom, Nicole, when they got word from Pelham Police that her dad was being rushed to the hospital.

"I think I was just in shock," said Nicole Jackson.

"We're in Pelham, New Hampshire," Taylor Jackson said. "It's absolutely horrifying."

She says when her dad, Steven, got home from dinner around 7 p.m. Wednesday, he knew something was wrong because his dog, Buddy, wasn't there to greet him.

"He was like, 'Where is the dog,' and then he heard him scratching at the door," Taylor Jackson said.

As her dad let Buddy out of the vacuum closet, she says two men came running down the stairs. One of them stabbed him before they both took off into the woods.

"If he didn't put his arm up to defend himself, he would've been stabbed in the chest," Taylor Jackson said. "Who is to say it wouldn't have killed him?"

Steven Jackson was treated for stab wounds on his back and arm. He was back to work on Thursday.

"This gentleman is extremely lucky," said Pelham Police Sgt. Glen Chase. "Obviously, the burglars aren't expecting someone to be there, so bad things can happen, bad things did happen, but it could've been extremely worse."

The intruders ransacked jewelry boxes and dressers, but dropped everything during the scuffle.

Still, the Jackson family says, they've been robbed, and peace of mind is hard to replace.

"This will horrify my family forever, we don't feel safe in our own house, and my dad has to live with this," Taylor said.

Police say Steven Jackson did not recognize the two men, so they're trying to figure out why the suspects targeted his home.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Pelham Police.
Authorities in Massachusetts are on the hunt for a kidnapping suspect.

Kevin Hamel, 49, is accused of violently assaulting a female victim and holding her against her will in Townsend back in March. He is wanted by Massachusetts State Police and Townsend Police.

Hamel has an arrest warrant for charges including kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a family or household member and vandalizing property.

State police say Hamel's criminal record in Massachusetts includes convictions for firearms charges, stalking, kidnapping and restraining order violations. Police add that there have been eight restraining orders against him in Massachusetts.

Police note that Hamel has ties to Townsend, Fitchburg, Ayer, Acton and parts of New Hampshire.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-527-8873.
Manchester, New Hampshire Police Chief Carlo Capano's daily stroll through city parks led to the arrest of a man found drinking on a bench.

Capano, along with Assistant Chief Ryan Grant, were on their regular afternoon patrol of the city parks when they happened upon two adults consuming alcohol in Enright Park around 1:10 p.m. Thursday.

Aaron Brunelle, 31, and Rachel Bemis, 35, were sitting on a park bench with open containers of alcohol when the officers approached them. Capano noticed a blue straw with white powder inside of an open cigarette pack, which was located in plain sight on top of an open bag between Brunelle's legs.

Capano asked Brunelle about the items he observed, which prompted Brunelle to grab the cigarette pack and throw it in the trash.

While he was able to dump some of the contents out, a partially folded piece of paper -- also with a white powdery substance -- landed in front of the officers.

Capano recognized the substance to be cocaine and placed Brunelle under arrest.

Brunelle is facing charges for possession of a controlled drug and falsifying physical evidence. He's set to appear in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Friday. It's unclear if he has an attorney.

The blue straw was also found to have cocaine residue. Inside of a second cigarette pack, Capano discovered a glass pipe and a steel wool pad.

No charges were placed against Bemis, who was released from the scene.
What to Know New details have been released about the three women found dead in a Springfield, Massachusetts home in May.

The medical examiner concluded the three women had been assaulted, but could not identify a specific cause of death.

Stewart Weldon was indicted last week on 52 charges, including three counts of murder, in connection with the case.

The medical examiner who conducted autopsies on the bodies of three women found in a Massachusetts home concluded they had been assaulted, but could not identify a specific medical cause of death for any of them.

The women - Kayla Escalante, America Lyden, and Ernestine Ryans - were found at the Springfield home of Stewart Weldon in May.

Weldon faces murder and rape charges in connection with the deaths. He was indicted last week on 52 charges. The charges stretched over a year of time and involved 11 different victims.

The victims' death certificates obtained by Masslive.com listed the cause of death as "homicidal violence." They also say while the dates, times and locations of their injuries are unknown, they were caused by assault.

Weldon was arrested on May 27 after fleeing a traffic stop. A woman in his car said she had been held against her will.

Three bodies were found during a search of his Page Avenue home several days later.

Weldon is being held on $2 million bail and is scheduled for arraignment on Monday.

His attorney has said Weldon is looking forward to defending himself in court.
Massachusetts health officials are warning of potential measles exposures at an area hospital, library, pool and other locations.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said it has confirmed a case of measles that was diagnosed at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington. The individual, during their infectious period, was in a number of locations that could have resulted in exposures to other people.

Those locations include:

Boston Logan International Airport Terminal B between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 15

The Lexington High School Library between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 16

The Irving H. Mabee Town Pool Complex in Lexington from noon to 2 p.m. on Aug. 19

The Lahey Outpatient Center in Lexington from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 20

The emergency department at Lahey Hospital in Burlington from 1 to 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 20

The intensive care and critical care units at Lahey Hospital in Burlington from 8 p.m. on Aug. 20 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 21

Measles is very contagious and people who are not immune and visited those locations may be at risk for developing measles or may now be developing symptoms of the disease. Anyone who visited the locations during the times listed is advised to contact their health provider to confirm their immunization status.

Those who were exposed and begin to develop measles symptoms should call their health care provider before visiting an office, clinic or emergency department to avoid putting others at risk.

Early symptoms of measles occur 10 days to two weeks after exposure and may resemble a cold, with fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes. A rash also occurs on the skin two to four days after the initial symptoms develop, usually appearing first on the head and then moving downward.

People with measles may be contagious for up to four days before the rash appears and for four days after the day the rash appears.

For more information, contact your local health department or call DPH at 617-983-6800.

Click here for additional information on the DPH website.

Earlier this summer, Boston health officials alerted the public to a potential measles exposure on July 19 and 20 at a Tasty Burger near Fenway Park and Boston Logan International Airport.
Vermont State Police are investigating alarming incidents of gunfire on Interstate 89 northbound after detectives said at least two vehicles were struck by bullets Wednesday afternoon while traveling at highway speeds.

The man accused of firing the shots, 38-year-old Jason Dion of Winooski, appeared in court in St. Albans Thursday and entered not guilty pleas on several charges, including attempted second-degree murder.

In one instance, detectives said Dion was weaving in and out of traffic in Milton, and when a man he cut off gave him the middle finger, Dion allegedly shot at the other car with a handgun.

The bullet tore through the door and landed in the back seat, detectives said.

No one was injured, according to Vermont State Police.

At the arraignment, Dion's attorneys told the court their client was having a mental health crisis.

"I don't think that the evidence of guilt is great here," defense attorney Rosie Chase said. "I think it's very clear Mr. Dion will likely have a mental health defense."

Lt. Jason Letourneau of the Vermont State Police said investigators have reason to believe Dion had drugs in his system, but said Thursday that tests were still pending.

Letourneau added that there could be even more victims from earlier in the dangerous drive, closer to the Burlington and Colchester area.

"A lot of people could've been at danger with this," Letourneau observed, urging others to come forward if they witnessed any unusual behavior from a silver Dodge Dart on the highway during Wednesday afternoons commute.

One woman told police she also encountered the vehicle, when she had two children in her car.

The woman told investigators she initially thought the suspect had thrown firecrackers at her, but she later found a bullet hole  making that at least two cars allegedly struck, Deputy Franklin County State's Attorney John Lavoie said in court Thursday.

"Not only is firing a gun around people dangerous, but now you're firing a gun around or into vehicles that are moving down the interstate at speeds of 60, 65 miles per hour or maybe even faster," Letourneau said, describing the seriousness of the public safety risk.

Judge Martin Maley ordered Jason Dion jailed without bail and called for a sanity and competency evaluation to be conducted at the correctional facility. The judge said after that screening, the defense could appeal his bail decision.
Should people be allowed to vote on city ballot questions, even if they are not U.S. citizens? That provocative question is now up for consideration in the Vermont communities of Winooski and Montpelier.

In Winooski, Lauren Sampson is an attorney, a city planning commissioner, a guardian ad litem, and a library committee member. But theres one thing shes not: a city voter.

Because the lawyer is still a Canadian citizen, she cant cast a ballot on Winooskis local school budget or in municipal bond votes that affect city taxes.

Its frustrating, Sampson said of her inability to vote on such city ballot measures.

Sampsons situation could change, though.

This week, the Winooski City Council agreed to ask voters in November whether to change the city charter to allow every resident of the cityeven people who are not U.S. citizensto have a voice in those community-specific issues.

Just like all residents, our non-citizens are local business owners, work and pay taxes, are homeowners in many cases, and to have an inability to have any say in local decision-making about how their tax dollars are being spent is unjust, said Eric Covey, a Winooski City Council member who enthusiastically backs the proposal.

Not being able to vote can you make you feel not quite part of a place that youre trying to make your home, whereas if you are able to voteif you feel you really have a stake in a placethat makes you want to put down your roots there. It makes you want to invest in that community, Sampson told necn.

Non-citizens like Sampson would still be barred from voting in federal and statewide elections, Covey noted.

The issues also under consideration in Montpelier, where council support there and a citizen petition drive appear to have enough energy to get the question on the capital citys November ballot.

If either community approves the change, the Vermont Legislature would ultimately have to sign off on it.

This weeks Winooskis City Council meeting did expose some hurdles, however.

Nicole Mace, Winooskis deputy mayor and a member of the council, indicated that she supports the spirit of the charter change, but expressed worry that a vote on it in November may be too soon for a robust community discussion.

This is a really big issue, that, if we get it wrong, there could be a lot of backlash, Mace warned at the council meeting Monday.

City resident George Cross agreed with Mace, and spoke at the meeting to add his view that many members of the community are not ready to lend their support to the measure.

Theres a certain set of privileges and rights that come with citizenship, and voting happens to be one of them, Cross said.

Covey said he believes there is plenty of time for broad outreach to educate voters ahead of Election Day, and called Winooski an engaged city where he believes people will pay attention to the issues before them.

Covey said Winooski will hold a series of public forums about this question.

Its worth pointing out that the people most affected by the votethe non-citizenswill not be able to weigh in on the proposed charter change.
Dell EMC has launched a new line of high-performance servers called the PowerEdge MX that the company said is designed to support a wide variety of traditional and emerging data center workloads, such as artificial intelligence.

PowerEdge MX offers the first modular infrastructure architecture designed to easily adapt to future technologies and offers what Dell calls server disaggregation. What that means is customers can tailor configurations to their needs from shared pools of disaggregated resources, which can be changed as needed. If a company needs more or less compute, it can reprovision that resource on the fly to avoid overprovisioning and wasted assets.

This is done through resource blocks of servers and storage that connect to the infrastructure through a smart I/O fabric and managed by software-defined computing. The PowerEdge MX is designed for the software-defined data center  able to support a combination of dense virtualization, software-defined storage, software-defined networking, artificial intelligence and big data projects.

PowerEdge MX enables a modular approach to flexibly build and combine compute, storage and networking, so organizations can transform their IT in a way that optimizes resources and offers investment protection for future generations of technological advances, said Ashley Gorakhpurwalla, president and general manager, Dell EMC server and infrastructure systems in a statement.

And Dell claims the PowerEdge MX, with its kinetic infrastructure, is future-proofed to support multiple generations of future technology releases, such as processor technologies, new storage types and new connectivity innovations, and not be obsolete by the time you install it.

The absence of a mid-plane enables direct compute to I/O module connections, allowing for future technology upgrades without disrupting customer operations and without a mid-plane upgrade. This will allow support down to memory-centric devices, such as storage class memory, GPUs and FPGAs.

The PowerEdge MX comes in the form of a PowerEdge MX7000 chassis, PowerEdge MX740c and MX840c compute sleds or a MX5016s storage sled, and PowerEdge MX Ethernet and Fibre Channel switching modules.

Dell EMC PowerEdge MX will be available globally beginning Sept. 12.
Social media exploded when a video of Johannesburg businessman, Adam Catzavelos, using the 'K-word' on a beach in Greece went viral.

Adam Catzavelos. Picture: Twitter

Foreign country

Long-term reputational harm

Postscript

Since then, Catzavelos has been fired from the family business, St George's Fine Foods, which is losing clients; his children's school has barred him from its premises; the EFF has laid acharge; his life has been threatened and social media continues to condemn him.Attorney Buang Jones said the incident will be investigated by the Human Rights Commission, but whether his offence can be prosecuted in SA is another matter.In a report in. Legal experts saidcould be difficult to prosecute as he committed it in a foreign country that does not deem the use of the K-word as a criminal offence.Advocate Zola Majavu said it would be a long stretch to prosecute Catzavelos. The offence was committed in a foreign country so you cant prosecute him in SA unless what he did is also an offence where he recorded the video; then you can have him extradited. The rule is, you are prosecuted where you commit the offence.He added that even though Catzavelos video circulated on social media, the state would have to determine the exact original location of the offender at the time of distribution. If he posted the video (directly to Twitter) while in SA then he can be charged in terms of the Electronic Communications Act. Also, if he shot the video in SA and then distributed it while overseas, said Majavu. Advocate Mark Oppenheimer agreed that prosecuting Catzavelos for crimen injuria would be challenging . He reportedly told: is the unlawful, intentional and serious impairment of a person's dignity. Should the NPA decide to prosecute Catzavelos for his statement, there will be two hurdles to overcome: First, it must be proven that he intended to impair someones dignity. This may be difficult because his words were aimed at his friends in a private message, not at someone he was intending to demean. Secondly, his words are offensive to all South Africans, particularly black South Africans, but unlike the case of Vicki Momberg, they are not aimed at a particular individual (as is required).Verlie Oosthuizen, social media lawyer at law firm Shepstone and Wylie, said she could not see how Catzavelos would be criminally charged, although she understood the video was very offensive.needs to be directed at someone. His comments were not directed at anyone in particular, said Oosthuizen. The government has entered the debate, strongly condemning the video .His racist comments cannot be justified and display one of the most despicable forms of racism. Government urges law enforcement agencies to take action against Mr Catzavelos said the official statement recorded by. Racism is punishable by law under the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes & Hate Speech Bill. Whilst government respects freedom of expression the public should be responsible in how they express their views. Racism has detrimental effects in disrupting the advances we have made as a country said acting Government Communication and Information System DG, Phumla Williams. For somebody to take a video of themselves (saying the K-word) and posting it in a WhatsApp group is just unbelievable, lawyer and social media expert Emma Sadleir reportedly toldShe said perpetrators of racism are usually filmed on CCTV cameras or by another party. For me, the biggest issue here is reputation. There may be criminal charges or civil cases, but the big thing is the long-term reputational harm. If you google this guys name in five years time, this is still what youre going to get.While the fact that the video was taken from a WhatsApp group was an infringement of Catzavelos privacy, and that he himself had not posted it on social media,its a valid infringement. There are two defences to privacy infringement: consent and public interest. Theres a lot of public interest in rooting out racism, Rene Koraan, senior lecturer at the law faculty of North West University, reportedly toldthat Catzavelos actions could lead to a stiff fine or suspended sentence, with the possibility of jail time. But Sadleir reckons that a show of remorse could play a big part in what happens to him. I think one of the reasons Vicki Momberg was sent to prison was because she didnt show any remorse. She said the K-word 48 times, she tried to plead severe emotional stress, temporary insanity, and messed around with the judicial system.Sadleir said she found it unacceptable that people are targeting Catzavelos wife and children. Public opinion is important, but you have to be careful that youre not held to ransom by the digital vigilante mob.Catzavelos has issued an apology , although it has been rejected by many on social media as insincere.
Environmental Affairs minister Dr Edna Molewa has invited South Africans from all walks of life to join global efforts to combat climate change. Molewa made the call at the opening of the South African National Talanoa Dialogue in Midrand on Thursday, 23 August.

Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa, Flickr (Photo: GCIS)

Serious challenges ahead

Efforts to operationalise Paris Agreement continue

Periodic multilateral reviews

The Talanoa Dialogue is a process designed to help countries implement and enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by 2020.The dialogue was mandated by the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to take stock of the collective global efforts to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015.Molewa said all South Africans must work to address the climate change challenge and broaden the national conversation on how best to achieve the transition to a low carbon and climate resilient world.If we adopt the same can-do spirit that secured our transition to democracy, there is no doubt that we can also bring about the low emissions transition in a manner in which our environment, health and development gains are protected and new opportunities are created for development, Molewa said.She said South Africas national story of struggle for dignity, self-determination and inclusive, sustainable social and economic development shows that it is possible to overcome even seemingly intractable challenges through dialogue.The democratic dispensation we have collectively achieved through this dialogue has already delivered on a number of our political, social and economic development objectives. However, clearly more needs to be done and there are serious challenges in the road ahead.Climate change is one of these key challenges and it poses the single biggest threat to development, with its widespread and unprecedented impacts that disproportionately burden the poorest and most vulnerable, Molewa said.The minister said the multilateral process represents their best hope of addressing this pressing global challenge.South Africa continues to actively and constructively engage in efforts to fully operationalise the Paris Agreement and to raise ambition, both at the international and national level.The Paris Agreement makes provision for the communication every five years of contributions and intended efforts of state parties with regard to mitigation, adaptation and provision of support.These contributions are nationally determined and the onus is on each party to determine its own best effort towards the global cause and to draw from international best practices and partnerships to help shape its pathway towards the transition to a low carbon future.In this way, the Paris Agreement has the flexibility and ownership by parties that allows it to cater for the very different levels of capacity and national circumstances of countries, the minister said.However, Molewa said national efforts are part of a collective effort linked to the achievement of globally agreed goals, and have to be premised on a number of key multilateral principles, including those of no backsliding; progression of effort over time and the need to be guided by science.This necessitates periodic multilateral reviews of the collective effort and a vigorous multilateral process of scientific review, reporting and dialogue to encourage all of us to continuously strive to do more.The Talanoa Dialogue is the first of these multilateral dialogues ahead of the full operationalisation of the Paris Agreement from 2020. As such, it is an important opportunity for South Africa and other parties to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to the Paris Agreement, Molewa said.With this in mind, Molewa said the environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China - who form the BASIC group - decided during a meeting held in Durban in May 2018, to each hold preparatory national Talanoa Dialogues to prepare for the high-level international Talanoa Dialogue at CoP24 to be held in Poland in December 2018.We have been advised that the Talanoa concept is an inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good. During the process, participants build trust and advance knowledge through empathy and understanding [and] this consultation will be conducted in that spirit, Molewa said.
OXFORD  A local man was taken into custody Tuesday on charges related to money laundering out of California, officials said.

Werner Janer, 56, of Oxford, was arrested at his place of business on Route 67 in Oxford on Tuesday, said Dan Semosky, the state police resident trooper in Oxford.

Semosky said he and several of his Oxford officers went to the business to ensure a safe apprehension.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Defense Attorneys Office contacted Semosky about a an active warrant they had for Janer. Semosky said the DAs office said they were willing to extradite Janer to California to face charges for his alleged crimes.

The charges Janer faces include money laundering, identity theft and larceny, he said, adding that Werner Janer wasnt the only name the Oxford man was known by.

He has a pretty extensive criminal history in Connecticut, New York and California, Semosky said. Hes had numerous arrests in the past, and several aliases.

He said Janer was taken into custody as a fugitive from justice because of warrant carries the California charges. He was arraigned on Wednesday, Semosky said, where a judge set his bond at $270,000.

Janer was not released from custody. Semosky said he is being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center, pending extradition to California. Janer is expected to enter a plea in court on Sept. 21.
The Glenholme School in Washington recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with a jubilee gala at the Ethan Allen Hotel in Danbury.

The June 29 gala was distinguished by an assemblage of faculty, families, and former students, along with honorees and celebrities.

Film director David O. Russell and Robin Roberts of ABCs Good Morning America lent their star-power for the evening.

Leading the evening as emcee to the honorees, Roberts captured the essence of the Van Sinderen legacy with each detail of their philanthropy to the town of Washington, and the gift of their estate, The Glenholme Farm, to Devereux.

Jeff Gildersleeve, a Glenholme board member, accepted the Beacon of Hope award on behalf of his family and their contributions to the lives of many young people over the last 50 years.

Roberts bestowed awards to three other honorees.

Susan and her late husband, Bruce Glickman, were honored for their devoted efforts to advance the schools programs while serving as board member and board chair, respectively.

Barbara Feeney, former Glenholme parent and present board chairman, designer of the Beacon of Hope award, received this honor as recognition of her passion to address the needs of children with mental health needs who lack access to appropriate programs.

Ending her 42-year career at Glenholme, Maryann Campbell was honored for her dedicated service and program development.

Following a dinner, two trips were auctioned off.
Healing, inspiration, empowerment and self-care.

Those are four components of what Lisa Lent hopes she can provide for and educate clients about at her new business, the HeartSpace Studio for Healing Arts in New Milford, which opened Aug. 1.

Lent offers intuitive and therapeutic massage, and holistic health advocacy at the studio on the second floor of 42 Main St., which is also home to GeronNursing & Respite Care.

She will begin weekly meditation, a monthly womens circle and a mens group in September.

Its a place to support the healing arts, said Lent, who obtained her massage therapy license from New York College of Health Profession in Long Island in 2011.

Lent describes the studio  painted a blue reminiscent of ocean waters, accented by rich browns and creams, and messages of peace and love on the walls  as a collaborative space, where she welcomes other practitioners of the healing arts to share their knowledge and services.

Sarah Brunelle, of Pawling, N.Y., sought holistic alternatives to address health issues, including migraines, earlier this year. Lent put Brunelle on a path to wellness that has drastically changed my life for the better, she said.

She is a phenomenal massage therapist  Ive never had a better massage in my life and my migraines are few and far between now, Brunelle said.

Michele Rybos Mattice, of Sherman, has been a client of Lents for about a year and a half.

Its partly for peace of mind, she said of why she regularly gets a massage. And it helps alleviate the problem areas she has in her neck, shoulders and back.

Mattice praised Lent for incorporating stretching into massage and keeping up with various modalities.

After working in office administration for several years, Lent found she missed the physical labor of organic farming, which she had pursued while living in California after college, and sought a license in massage therapy.

She is a Swedish classic massage therapist trained in medicinal massage. Part of her education was in traditional Chinese theory.

Lent worked for Massage Envy for six years before opening her own business, while also working at Touch of Summer and New Morning Market Vitality Center in Woodbury.

The self-described reborn country girl  having been born and raised in Queens, N.Y., but at home in New Milford  emphasized the benefits of massage and its role in holistic health.

She stressed how massage is part of self-care and self-love, two things many people neglect in todays busy world.

Lent said its easy for individuals to be disconnected from our bodies, in part because many people arent used to, or dont feel they deserve to feel good.

However, massage is one of most valuable mind, body, heart connections, she said.

In general, massage releases muscle tension, increases range of motion, promotes relaxation and relieves stress.

Lent related how massage is amazing for anxiety and depression, not just physical ailments.

In the past, Lent, a dancer, offered movement classes to teach individuals how to stretch and give range of motion. For now, though, posture awareness training and education will be one on one.

Common ailments such as neck and shoulder aches often lead clients  including teens through adults to Lents door. Others seek her expertise when other treatments they have tried have failed.

Having experienced migraines for many years and finding healing through alternative modalities, Lent said she listens closely to clients needs and concerns, and has open communication with clients.

Its about listening and responding, Lent said, adding each client has a customized treatment based on their needs.

Brunelle said Lent is very intuitive and knows exactly what areas to work on without me even telling her.

Brunelle said Lent has provided her with healing on multiple levels. She constantly empowers me through our conversations and has helped me realize the importance of self-love and self-care, she said.

It is a tough and challenging journey that Im on, she said. Lisas unwavering support and compassion have helped me beyond words. She has so much knowledge, love and wisdom to share with the world.

The HeartSpace Studio for Healing Arts is located at 42 Main St. in New Milford. For more information, visit www.intuitivemovementct.com or call 860-605-4043.
Anti-vaccine campaigners were bad enough, now Twitter bots and Russian trolls have joined in on the action and misinformation.

Worldwide there is a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, whooping cough etc. This rise has been attributed to campaigns against vaccines by a section of activitists that deter parents from vaccinating their children.

Public health experts now have two new major enemies to face in this aspect. The Russian trolls are have been found to stoke debates on vaccine use by tweeting both pro- and anti-vaccine messages. This simulates a real argument that seems to catch up.

Misinformation is spread thus among parents who are wary of immunizing their children. The Twitter bots then start sending anti-vaccine messages that stimulate both sides of the argument to message and keep the debates going. On investigation, this has been seen to occur quite a few times over the last three years.

The results of the investigation from researchers at George Washington University, in Washington DC, looking at these anti-vaccine malicious elements were published in the latest issue of the journal American Journal of Public Health.

Image Credit: Monster Ztudio / Shutterstock

For example one of the Russian troll accounts tweets, Apparently only the elite get 'clean' #vaccines. And what do we, normal ppl, get?! #VaccinateUS. This caused a line between people with unequal incomes and also promoted fear of inferior vaccines. Yet others said, Did you know there was secret government database of #Vaccine-damaged child? #VaccinateUS, or #VaccinateUS You cant fix stupidity. Let them die from measles, and Im for #vaccination!

David Broniatowski, an engineer at George Washington University who led the research explained that the tweet is typically not a line that an anti-vaxxer would drop. This was a unique approach by the Russian trolls  dividing people based on their incomes. The team of researchers found that these trolls came from a troll farm - Internet Research Agency, which is connected to a Russian propaganda. These trolls were identified from a list released by Twitter to the Congress. The team then found twitter robots that are non-human and are known as content polluters that spread malware, scam individuals and spread terror.

The team of researchers looked at Twitter data between 2014 and 2017 and found that Russian trolls have been 22 times more likely to use anti-vaccine statements than other users. Their tweets usually gave out statements debating the issue rather than just focussing on anti-vaccination propaganda. These tweets seemed to play on socioeconomic differences as well as racial differences.

According to one of the researchers Renee DiResta, who studies computational propaganda with the collective Data for Democracy, there are only one in 550 tweets from these trolls that are about vaccines. Their purpose is not to stop vaccinations but to propagate class and racial divides. For example in September 2017, several Russian trolls tweeted, Diseases Expert Calls for White Genocide Since Most Vaccine Deniers are White. DiResta said, It's opportunism - opportunistically amplifying controversial topics. She explained one of the Russian bots @WadeHarriot that went around stoking debates on anti-Obama or pro-Trump campaigns or anti-gay issues. In early 2017, it started on anti-vaccination topics. Still, out of the 6000 tweets, only 38 were against vaccination she added.

Until now the extent of influence this campaign has had on peoples behaviours have not been studied. They are unsure if this has increased or affected the anti-vaccination sentiments of the general population.

Source: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304567
Once considered vandalism and destruction of public property, graffiti has been embraced by fashion houses and major corporations in their advertising campaigns. There are three terms commonly used to describe this kind of art - street art, graffiti and vandalism.

US case study

Copyright in SA

Public spaces

Freedom of panorama

Amendment Bill

Street art is an umbrella term for most public art (legal and illegal), and includes commissioned murals, graffiti and public art displays.Graffiti is merely illicit public art, generally spray-painted murals, writings or drawings, which does not have the prior permission of the property owner, whereas vandalism is any wilful destruction of property, which is how many people perceive graffiti.Overall, these art forms have now become a marketable commodity, although their legal status as art has not been established. Can graffiti be protected by copyright? And what about the commercial use of the artists work?The question of copyright protection may be settled in the USA this month (August 2018), when the lawsuit brought by graffiti artist, Adrian Falkner against General Motors (GM) is heard before a federal judge in California.Falkner, known by his tagline SMASH 137, filed a lawsuit against GM in January this year, after a mural he had been commissioned to paint on the outdoor elevator shed of a 10-storey parking garage in Detroit in 2014 featured prominently in GMs Cadillac XT5 advertising campaign across most of its social media platforms.Falkner alleged copyright infringement, as well as damage to his reputation, because he has carefully and selectively approached any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism.GM, however, claimed that the graffiti mural painted on the Detroit parking garage is architectural work, and therefore use of the work does not constitute copyright infringement. The court filing states: This right to photograph an architectural work extends to those portions of the work containing pictorial, graphic or sculptural elements. Because [Falkners] mural is painted onto an architectural work it falls squarely within the pictorial representation exemption, and his copyright infringement claim should be dismissed.GM also stated that the photographer who took the image in question was part of a programme in which Cadillac loans cars to a variety of artists to use in their work, and the photographer had provided Cadillac with the images with written permission to use in social media.Although the Falkner/GM decision will be based on US copyright law, the decision in this case could impact on copyright protection for graffiti in South Africa.To qualify for copyright protection, a work needs to be original and reduced to material form. Originality refers to the fact that the author or creator created the work through his or her own skill and efforts (and without copying another work).Graffiti, then, meets both of these requirements. It is creative and is a tangible medium of expression. There are no formalities required, and copyright subsists in an artistic work as soon as it is created. The Copyright Act 98 of 1978 grants the creator or owner of the work the exclusive right to do or authorise, amongst other things, the reproduction of the work, the publishing of the work or the inclusion of the work in a cinematograph film or television broadcast.So, does this mean that a graffiti artist can claim copyright protection when his or her graffiti is applied to statues and buildings (legal or otherwise) and appears in a video/film or photograph of the Johannesburg skyline or any other public space? Public art may be defined as visual artwork that has been planned and executed with the intention of being displayed in public spaces, and includes works of architecture.The man in the street or average person has the expectation that he or she can photograph or film whatever he or she sees in a public space, which includes public art. This expectation can and does conflict with the exclusive rights of the creator or owner of the copyright in such work. Although some public artwork has entered the public domain, such as the Union Buildings in Pretoria, due to the expiry of the works copyright term which, for artistic works, is 50 years from the end of the year in which the creator died, many other works are still under copyright protection, and the (mostly incidental) use of these works create a potential risk for photographers and videographers in public spaces.The Copyright Act 98 of 1978 (the Act) contains several exclusions to copyright infringement, such as fair dealing and freedom of panorama. Section 12 of the Act deals with fair dealing, and is not discussed here.Section 15(1) of the Act provides a general exception from the protection of artistic works, and states that the copyright in an artistic work will not be infringed by its inclusion in a cinematograph film or television broadcast providing the inclusion is merely by way of background, or is incidental to the principal matters represented in the film or broadcast.This exception can and does lead to ambiguity, as it is not always clear what constitutes the principal matter of a work. An example would be the wide shot of a public square, as all of the elements of the square could constitute principal matter. The use, however, needs to be by way of background, or incidental thereto, and case law in South Africa does not provide guidance on the interpretation of the concept of incidental inclusion.Freedom of panorama generally allows for the creation of images such as photographs, films, paintings, etc, that predominantly include three-dimensional copyright-protected works such as buildings, sculptures, etc which are permanently or ordinarily located in the public space, without permission.Section 15(3) of the Act further provides that the copyright in an artistic work shall not be infringed by its reproduction or inclusion in a cinematograph film or television broadcast if the work is permanently situated in a street, square or similar public place. Although a public gallery may also qualify as a public space, these often restrict photography and videography on their premises, leading to additional ambiguity.Further ambiguity appears in the meaning of the phrase permanently situated, and the Act does not provide any guidance with regard to the interpretation of this concept. This means that artistic works which are temporarily displayed in the public space would not qualify.The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry recently published specific clauses of the Copyright Amendment Bill [B13-2017] for public comment. The draft Bill seeks to substitute subsection (1) of Section 15 with a new clause relating to the incidental and/or background use (previously inclusion) of an artistic work within another work.In seeking to address the limits of the current Section (which does not include photographers and other visual artists in the exception, which is restricted to inclusion in cinematograph films, television broadcasts or transmission in a diffusion service), the legislator has attempted to broaden the general exception relating to incidentl /background use of an artistic work to apply to all types of works.It is difficult to see how the exception can apply to use of an artistic work in, for example, a sound recording or a literary work, and perhaps the Bill should rather specify the additional types of works to which this exception will apply, such as cinematographic films, television broadcasts, transmissions in a diffusion service, photographs, drawings, engravings or paintings.Furthermore, the application of this exception has been extended to cover background or incidental use of an artistic work that is situated in a public space, leading to the concern that it may be open to abuse. The mere fact that the artistic work happens to be located in a public place means that its use would not constitute an infringement, providing the infringer could show that its inclusion was of a background or incidental manner.A knock-on effect of this amendment is that artists may not want to display their artistic works in public places for fear that other parties could use these (normally copyrighted) works in their own works under this general exception.The South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL), amongst other parties, has submitted its comments to the Portfolio Committee, to address issues in the Bill, and it remains to be seen in what form the final Bill will emerge.
Penn Findings Point to Genetic or Environmental Characteristics as Possible Culprits for Racial Disparities in Kidney Disease

Although black and Hispanic veterans with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are more likely than white patients to see a kidney specialist-;a nephrologist- they are more likely to suffer disease progression from early stage to advanced kidney disease, reports a study published this month in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Although previous studies have indicated that access to nephrology care before kidney disease progresses to end stage is associated with better clinical outcomes, these results suggest that biologic and/or environmental factors may actually be central to racial disparities in CKD progression. Previous research has found that while black and white patients experience similar rates of CKD, black patients were more likely to suffer from end stage renal disease. This led the authors to investigate whether limited access to a nephrologist could explain this rapid progression among black and Hispanic patients in a veteran patient population.

"Access to care is a major driver of disparities in many illnesses, but surprisingly, our findings show that may not be the case among veterans with CKD," said senior author Peter P. Reese, MD, MSCE, an associate professor of Medicine, Epidemiology in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy. "Our study could help researchers target efforts to prevent individuals with CKD from progressing to end stage kidney disease."

The study looked at a nationwide population of 56,767 patients in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system, most of whom were male (39,767 whites, 12,747 blacks, and 4,017 Hispanics) with stage 4 CKD, which is characterized by advanced kidney damage and a likely need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. Half of the non-Hispanic white patients visited a nephrologist, compared to 72 percent of blacks and 64 percent of Hispanics. Although fewer whites saw a nephrologist, only 14 percent of whites in the study progressed to stage 5 CKD, compared to 34 percent of blacks and 27 percent of Hispanics. These differences in risk of progression to stage 5 CKD persisted after accounting for important factors such as age, other illnesses, socioeconomic status, smoking history, and distance to the closest Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "Now that we have evidence that limited access to care does not seem to influence disease progression in a population of veterans, researchers must delve into other potential contributing factors. Closer evaluation of other environmental exposures, like poor access to healthy fruits and vegetables, may help to pinpoint important catalysts for this disparity," said co-first author Jordana Cohen, MD, MSCE, an assistant professor of Epidemiology in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics. "Our findings suggest that the main reason(s) for progression to end stage kidney disease is/are not something that nephrologists are treating." The authors did not set out to evaluate the value of consulting with a nephrologist, and note that such appointments can help if a patient needs quicker referral for a kidney transplant or needs surgery in an arm to connect an artery to a vein in preparation for dialysis. Other suspected causes of this disparity include genetic risks, such as APOL1 mutations, found almost exclusively among those of African ancestry. APOL1 mutations are known to increase the risk of many types of CKD, and have no known treatment options.
Most neurons in the human brain live out their lives, enduring the processes of aging before eventually dying. Some, however, choose a more violent route: suicide.

In a new project, researchers hope to better understand a form of programmed cell death known as necroptosis, believed to play a crucial role in the massive destruction of neurons typical of Alzheimer's disease.

The new $3.2 million, 5-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, entitled Necroptosis as a novel mechanism underlying neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease, will investigate an important contributor to neuronal loss. The investigations could pave the way for effective therapeutics capable of blocking the necroptosis pathway and slowing or arresting some of the cell death characteristic of the disease.

According to Salvatore Oddo, Principle Investigator of the new project: "We anticipate that our findings will spur a new area of research in the AD field focused on developing new therapeutic strategies aimed at blocking its activation."

Oddo is a researcher in the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center and an associate professor at ASU's School of Life Sciences.

Fate of cells

Alzheimer's disease is one of the most darkly inscrutable human disorders and remains the only leading killer that cannot be prevented, treated or cured. Yet one thing has been clear from the first diagnosis of the memory-stealing ailment, over 100 years ago: Alzheimer's disease is a prolific destroyer of brain cells. A post-mortem brain that has been ravaged by the disease will appear markedly reduced in volume, due to the brain's relentless insurgence against its own neurons.

Until now, however, researchers have remained puzzled as to just how the disease attacks and destroys cells in the brain--a foundational issue in Alzheimer's research. The new project will explore this mystery, investigating a unique pathway of destruction, necroptosis.

Historically, cell death has often been described in two primary forms, apoptosis, (a programmed cell suicide common in early development and other normal physiological processes), and necrosis, an uncontrolled cell death usually resulting from illness or injury. New research has underlined the importance of necroptosis, a programmed form of necrosis.

Creation and destruction

The human brain is known to undergo dramatic transformations over the course of a life, more than any other organ in the body. Programmed cell death, while devastating in the case of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, plays an essential role in many biological processes, particularly during normal embryonic brain development.

In the first few years of a newborn child's life, the brain creates roughly 1 million new connections per second. This extravagant overproduction of neurons is followed by a phase of radical pruning to complete the early brain's formation. Programmed cell death of this kind, known as apoptosis, is critical for many other aspects of embryonic and early fetal development.

The process of programmed cell death, however, can take a tragic and malevolent turn should it occur in the adult brain, leading to the telltale signs of neurodegeneration: severe memory loss, disorientation, declining motor abilities and speech functions and eventually, death.

As Alzheimer's disease continues its sinister trajectory, the urgency for effective treatments and strategies of prevention intensifies. Without a significant breakthrough, the disease is on track to afflict 20 million people in the US alone by 2050. In addition to the shattering of so many lives, the epidemic could deal an economic knockout blow to the health care system, with estimated costs topping $1 trillion dollars.

Aging brain

While the processes of aging are inevitable, their rate is not uniform among individuals. Further, researchers are unsure why some brain regions are more susceptible to degeneration or why some cells within a given region appear resistant to degradation and cell death.

Necroptosis activation is known to play an important role in multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. Oddo and his colleagues have identified the first evidence of the activation of necroptosis in the case of Alzheimer's disease and linked the advance of necroptosis to the increasing severity of cognitive decline and neuronal loss, which are hallmarks of the disease.

The effects of necroptosis are clear from the examination of affected neurons. The process appears to attack neuronal membranes, which become perforated, causing cells to lose function, eventually bursting from inside. In earlier research, Oddo has explored the molecular mechanisms giving rise to necroptosis.

Entering the necrosome

The process begins when a key protein, RIPK1 binds with a second protein, RIPK3, forming a complex known as the necrosome and completing the first ominous phase of necroptosis.

Next, the necrosome activates a third protein, MLKL. It is this final protein that will complete the necroptosis pathway, delivering the coup de grace to affected neurons. MLKL appears to deliver the lethal blow in part through an attack on the cell's energy storehouse, the mitochondrion.

Oddo's group measured levels of RIPK1 & 3 and MLKL in post-mortem brains stricken with Alzheimer's disease. Within the temporal gyrus, a known hot spot for cell loss in Alzheimer's, they found that during necroptosis, these diagnostic markers were increased. Necroptosis activation was also shown to correlate with the abundance of Tau, one of two key proteins (along with amyloid beta) forming the characteristic plaques and tangles long associated with the disease.

Further, necroptotic protein levels in autopsied brains were shown to negatively correlate with the earlier scores achieved by Alzheimer's patients on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a widely used evaluation of cognitive health.

Having established compelling links between necroptosis, cell loss and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease, the researchers designed a therapeutic proof of concept treatment, which was successfully demonstrated in a mouse model of the disease. A pharmacological blocking of the key necroptosis binding event of RIPK1 with RIPK3 prevented the formation of the necrosome, leading to reductions in cell loss and improved performance by the mice on spatial memory-related tasks.

The NIH project will further the exploration of the necroptosis pathway and investigate other potential proteins implicated in programmed cell death, which could provide additional targets for therapeutic intervention and new hope for preserving neurons.
People are falling into a trap of greater inactivity during middle age, according to new research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), which calls for its findings to be considered in future national physical activity guidelines.

The study, published today in the American Journal of Epidemiology, is the first time age-related physical activity changes, from inactivity to vigorous exercise, have been examined at such a large scale across midlife. People in the study who were between the ages of 38 and 50 dropped their activity rates over the next decade by an average of a half an hour a day and replaced it with doing something sedentary.

"We know higher intensity physical activity tends to decline with age. But these findings show just how much even gentle forms of activity that are part of daily routines, like casual walking, slip in midlife, which doesn't bode at all well for future health and should serve as a wake-up call to us all," said first and corresponding author Kelley Pettee Gabriel, Ph.D., M.S., associate professor of epidemiology, human genetics and environmental sciences at the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at the UTHealth School of Public Health Austin campus.

Investigators were able to draw the conclusions using data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, also known as CARDIA, which started following 5,115 participants between ages 18 to 30 more than 30 years ago, measuring their activity levels with an accelerometer, or activity monitor, that is similar to a pedometer.

These decreases of physical activity over a 10-year period in middle age were observed in both men and women. However, the decline was steepest among black men who typically started being the most active but reduced their activity levels by nearly one hour daily. Black women began as the least active, and continued to have the lowest physical activity levels 10 years later.

"Our next step is to determine what is causing these changes towards a more inactive daily routine. It could be that during midlife people become busy with their jobs and taking care of children and aging parents. Or, they may be experiencing more difficulty moving around because of aching joints, for instance," Gabriel said. "What's clear is that these trends are happening at a time when people face increased risk of disease and disability. Yet, compared to older adulthood, they're also potentially in a better position to introduce more physical activity back into their daily routine, particularly as they retire."

National guidelines recommend at least two and a half hours of moderate intensity activity per week, or an hour and 15 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous intensity activity. They also discourage prolonged sedentary time.

Physical activity is advised to help manage conditions including obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. There's also a growing body of evidence demonstrating the health benefits for older adults of undertaking light intensity physical activity, such as going for a gentle stroll or doing household chores. Such evidence led to the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee recommendation that additional research is needed for further understanding.

"Given the findings of our study and others, the health consequences of age-related switches from time spent in light intensity physical activity to sedentary pursuits merit serious consideration and could pave the way for future physical activity guidelines to set targets in these important areas," said Gabriel. "Making relatively small lifestyle changes, and taking advantage of missed opportunities to be physically active could have a crucial bearing on how people are setting themselves up for being more resilient during older adulthood. Simple changes all add up, like walking to the corner coffee shop, parking further away from the store entrance or taking the stairs rather than the escalator."

Barbara Sternfeld, Ph.D., emeritus research scientist of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, was senior author of the study, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging, both part of the National Institutes of Health.

The vision of UTHealth School of Public Health is to improve the health of the population through prevention, better health outcomes and a trained population health workforce.
The Senate is still working, well into August - something it hasn't done in years  and its debating the funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services.

There is a back-to-school shortage of EpiPens, needed by people with severe allergies to treat potentially life-threatening reactions, and the Food and Drug Administration is weighing in. And reinsurance is back in the picture. The Trump administration has granted permission for New Jersey and Maryland to create such programs aimed at helping bring down premiums in the individual insurance market by helping pay for the most expensive enrollees.

And in weird science: An asthmatic otter sends a signal about the serious public health impact of this summer's wildfires in the western U.S.

This week's panelists for KHN's "What the Health?" are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times.

This is your last chance to send questions for next week's "ask us anything" episode. You can email us at [email protected]

Among the takeaways from this week's podcast:

 One provision of the HHS funding bill that is getting attention is the effort to require drugmakers to add their prices to any advertisements. President Donald Trump is pushing for this, and it could be popular politically. But since consumers pay different prices depending on a variety of factors, including their insurance and the source of drugs, it isn't clear how impactful such a law would be.

 The announcement this week by federal authorities that an estimated 72,000 people had died of drug overdoses  49,000 of them as a result of opioids  has spurred interest on Capitol Hill for legislation to help fight the opioid epidemic. Bills that had been expected to move after the election could now see a faster track to voting.

 Consumers are reporting a shortage in EpiPens, the prescription drug and self-injector that can prevent death from a lethal allergy. The FDA has agreed with the EpiPen maker to extend the expiration date to ease the shortage. The FDA also approved a generic version of the EpiPen, but that is unlikely to lower costs anytime soon. Generics often don't have much impact on pricing until there are several generic options available.

 The announcement by New York University's medical school that it will provide free tuition to all students sent a shock wave through the academic community. Although it appears to be a great strategy to attract students, it's unclear whether it will encourage more new doctors to choose primary care rather than higher-paying specialties. Doctors do come out of school with high debt levels, but most studies show that they also have high salaries and pay off those debts within 10 years.

Plus, for "extra credit," the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: NPRs "NYU's Move To Make Medical School Free For All Gets Mixed Reviews," by Julie Rovner

Joanne Kenen: Politicos "Lax State Ethics Rules Leave Health Agencies Vulnerable to Conflicts," by Brianna Ehley, Sarah Karlin-Smith, Rachana Pradhan and Jennifer Haberkorn

Alice Ollstein: The New York Times "Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It," by Liz Szabo

Margot Sanger-Katz: The Wall Street Journals "What Does Knee Surgery Cost? Few Know, and That's a Problem," by Melanie Evans

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to What the Health? on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play.
People with serious mental illness (SMI) have a reduced life expectancy of up to 25 years compared to the general population. Smoking is one of the primary reasons for this disparity. An estimated 53 percent of adults with SMI, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and major depression, smoke cigarettes, whereas, only 18 percent of adults in the general population smoke. While studies have shown that most smokers with SMI want to quit, they are less likely to do so--or to take advantage of available smoking cessation treatments. In order to better understand why quit rates were so low among this group, researchers from Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School explored how social networks (defined as social interactions and personal relationships) influenced smoking outcomes among people with SMI who participated in smoking cessation programs.

The researchers asked 41 people with serious mental illness, who participated in smoking cessation treatment in community mental health centers throughout New Hampshire, to identify their social contacts and their relationships, including whom they spent the most time with during a typical week. They were also asked to name up to five people who have said or done anything to influence their smoking in the past year. In total, each person named up 10 friends, family members, roommates, romantic partners, coworkers or others who they spent the most time with and/or who had influenced their efforts to quit smoking. They then were asked to give information on the type and strength of the relationship; whether and how often they had smoked cigarettes with the contact in the past 12 months; if the contact was a current, former or never smoker; and if the contact had ever helped them quit or gotten in the way of them quitting. They also were asked whether they thought the contact would approve of them using cessation counseling or medications to quit smoking.

Among their

Study participants had an average age of 47; 49% were female; 42% had a psychiatric diagnosis of bipolar disorder; 32% had a diagnosis of major depressive disorder; 26% had a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Forty-four percent of the 243 contacts identified in the social network interviews were family members, with 12% identified as parents; friends comprised 45% of social networks--with coworkers, neighbors, peers at the mental health center, and members of a shared social group comprising the rest of the network.

Participants reported contacts' smoking status as 52% current smokers; 30% never smokers; and 18% former smokers.

Sixty-three percent of participants had smoked with a contact at least once per month during the past year.

Fifty-seven percent of contacts had helped a participant quit smoking within the past year, whereas 14% of contacts hindered a participants' efforts to quit smoking.

According to participant reporting, 90% of contacts approved of them using counseling to quit smoking, while 75% approved of using medications to quit.

The researchers say the strongest result they found was the association between contacts' smoking status and study participants' smoking status--having contacts who were former smokers decreased the odds that participant was still a smoker following cessation treatment. They also found that having a highly connected friend group was associated with decreased odd that the participant was still smoking post-treatment. The researchers noted that having former smokers in one's network may be a valuable resource for quitting, particularly for vulnerable groups where there is a high prevalence and acceptability of smoking. They also suggested that future cessation treatments could teach smokers with SMI effective skills for seeking support for quitting from people in their social networks.

"The clustering of health behaviors and outcomes, such smoking and obesity, in social networks is well-documented," says lead author and Assistant Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice Kelly Aschbrenner. "As researchers and behavioral health specialists, it's important we investigate these social networks and their impact on our health, so we can design better public health programs and policies, particularly for vulnerable or disadvantaged groups like people with serious mental illness."
Blain Shelton, a 42-year-old Texas man was swimming around 200 yards off the shore of Boliver Island near Galveston on 9th of August when he encountered a shark. The shark attacked Shelton and severely mangled his leg. Shelton, a construction worker, managed to escape with his life with the injury. Now his wounds are infected with flesh-eating bacteria for which he is receiving treatment.

Blaine Shelton's wound / shark bite

The doctors treating him speculate that his bite wound got infected with these bacteria due to exposure to the water. A break in the skin  even a scratch could let these bacteria in and cause severe infection, say experts.

After the accident, the wound in his lower thigh above the knee, seemed to be mending. Soon he started experiencing pain in the wound, said Shelton. He returned to the hospital and the doctors found that his skin seemed to be rotting away near the wound. He was started on another course of antibiotics and also treated with pain medication as he was finding is difficult to walk. He is expected to recover soon.

He has clocked up a total bill of over $100,000 however and since then has set up a GoFundMe page to help him cover part of the expenses.

Flesh eating bacterial infection or Necrotizing Fasciitis



According to the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), necrotizing fasciitis is a rare form of bacterial infection that can spread rapidly throughout the body and may become life threatening.

This form of infection usually occurs under the skin surface around the muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels. The entry point of the bacteria is usually through an injury which may be a large would or even a small cut or nick. It can spread fast and may cause loss of limbs or even death.

Bacteria that cause nectrotizing fasciitis include Group A Streptococcus or group A strep, Bacterioides, Klebsiella, Clostridium, Escherichia coli or E. Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila, says the CDC page.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health totaling $8.9 million to fund a multiyear program evaluating the role of a new medication in a clinical trial for patients suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Victor Thannickal, M.D., the Ben Vaughan Branscomb Chair of Medicine in Respiratory Disease and division director of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, says UAB was selected among a highly competitive group of academic institutions to move this translational program project grant into the clinical testing phase.

"UAB has one of the largest interstitial lung disease programs in the country," he said. "It is important that we receive grants like this so we can continue to develop better treatments for fibrotic lung diseases."

While there currently is no cure for IPF, the drug GKT831 is designed to improve on current drugs that do not improve survival or quality of life, and Thannickal says it may be better tolerated than current medications.

The phase II clinical trial will be a placebo controlled, double blind, randomized, parallel group study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of GKT831. A total of 60 patients will be allocated to a 48-week treatment with the drug or matching placebo. The clinical trial is the centerpiece of the program project grant that will be led by Steven Duncan, M.D., professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine. Other key UAB investigators in the program include Brent Carter, M.D., Veena Antony, M.D., and Rui-Ming Liu, Ph.D.

IPF is a disease in which the gas-exchanging regions of the lungs known as alveoli become thickened and scarred over time. As alveoli scar, the capacity of the lungs to properly move oxygen into the bloodstream becomes limited. This results in progressive shortness of breath and eventually leads to right heart failure and death.

Thannickal says approximately 150,000 Americans and 5 million people worldwide suffer from IPF, and 40,000 die each year. He cites that genetic risks as well as environmental risks - smoking - can increase the likelihood of developing the disease.

He adds that being able to test drugs like GKT831 in both early and late phase clinical trials makes UAB a unique place to advance novel therapies for IPF.

"The science that allowed us to develop this therapeutic strategy was actually based on a biochemical activity I discovered almost 20 years ago," he said. "IPF has been my lifelong passion, not only to understand the disease process, but to be able to devise more effective treatments. Is this going to be the answer? We don't know, but we think it has more promise than what is already out there."

Recruiting for the trial will begin as early as April 2019. UAB is the primary center, and other participating institutions include the University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Temple University and Tulane University.
Marvel's new Iron Fist probably is a Chinese hero that's been waiting in the wings for years

Marvel may have revealed the new Iron Fist the moment it announced Danny Rand's retirement
GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
New Delhi : The Army contingents of India and Thailand have rehearsed multiple scenarios in a joint exercise aimed at counter-terrorism and enhancing interoperability to meet any contingency around the globe, an Army spokesperson said on Thursday.

He said the joint exercise, Maitree 2018, provided an opportunity to the armed forces of the two countries for integrated training on tactical level operations.

"Multiple scenarios were rehearsed during the joint exercise with a view to understand each other's organisational structure and battle procedures. The exercise aims at a higher degree of jointmanship that would further facilitate interoperability between the armed forces of both countries to meet any unforeseen contingency across the globe," he said.

The spokesperson said the exercise is also an ideal platform to learn from each other's experiences of planning and executing operations with primary focus being "counter terrorism or counter insurgency operations in rural or urban environment under the mandate of United Nations."

The joint military training exercise was held at Chachoengsao in Thailand and ended last week. It was the eleventh edition of Maitree.

During the training exercise, both armies jointly trained, planned and executed a series of tactical operations for neutralising threats of varied nature.

The contingents also carried out cultural exchanges and played traditional games to foster friendship.

The exercise culminated with a validation field test exercise consisting of various tactical operations. The validation exercise was witnessed by joint observer delegation of both armies consisting of senior generals and other senior commanders.
Islamabad : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said the country will have to take "some bitter decisions" in the case of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, hinting at his execution.

"We will try to move forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The nation should be ready as we will have to take some bitter decisions," Geo News quoted Qureshi as telling the media in Multan city.

The Minister expressed hope that Pakistan will win the case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which will hear it for a week in February 2019.

"We have solid evidence against Jadhav and are hopeful we will win the case in the ICJ," he said. "We will try our best to present our stance in an effective manner before the ICJ.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for espionage in April 2017 following which India moved the ICJ. A 10-member ICJ bench restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the case was adjudicated on.

Pakistan stated that "Jadhav was not an ordinary person as he had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities" in Balochistan. India denies all the charges.

Jadhav was apprehended on March 3, 2016 after illegally crossing into Pakistan from Iran, according to Pakistani officials. Indian officials say he was abducted from Iran and taken to Pakistan against his will.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe

In order to strengthen bilateral agreement, India and China has decided to work together to formulate a new deal on defence cooperation and also agreed to enhance interactions between their militaries at several levels so as to avoid Doklam-like confrontation. The two-hour meeting was held in August 23, wherein decisions were taken between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, officials said. The main aim of the meeting was to focus was to build mutual confidence between the two armies guarding the 3,500-km border. The two sides also decided on early operationalisation of the future hotline between the two armies as part of confidence-building measures, the defence ministry said. Sources said Indias defence minister discussed about security challenges India has been facing because of cross-border terrorism. The ministry aims to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan and the requirement for freedom of navigation and over-flight in South China Sea. The sources said she also raised the issue of the $46 billion China- Pakistan Economic Corridor which is passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as she observed that it violates India's sovereignty. The meeting primarily focused on implementing decisions taken at the Wuhan summit in April by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which included improving the strategic communication between the armies of the two countries. Wei four-day visit in New Delhi, India, will aim to explore measures to build trust between the armies of the two countries. Doklam in the Sikkim is a deliberately important area which is claimed by Bhutan. India has been working as a security guarantor to the Himalayan kingdom in the sensitive region. In the meeting, both India and China agreed that the proposed hotline between the armies of the two countries should be operationalised soon. It was, however, not immediately known whether the two sides could resolve the issues, delaying its operationalisation
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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
Radical socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just a PUPPET of George Soros; new financial ties unveiled

The more she is exposed to public scrutiny, the more we learn about Democratic Socialist candidate for Congress in New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs faux revolutionary bona fides.

Such as the fact that shes bought-and-paid-for, more or less, by a far more well-known fake socialist, the billionaire George Soros.

As reported by Mac Slavo at SHTFPlan.com, Soros growing media network helped ensure Ocasio-Cortezs primary win over a 10-term Democrat, Rep. Joe Crowley, who is certainly no Right-wing extremist in his own right.

So, it turns out our little Communist revolutionary put her economics degree to good use after all: She hooked up with money to get elected. Why is it that all socialist and Communist leaders are wealthy or well-to-do, but their people are always poor and struggling?

Anyway, The Daily Caller noted further that Soros, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in just the past decade or so attempting to get far-Left anti-libertarians in power in the U.S. and abroad, is trying to place a super-majority  400  Sen. Bernie Sanders-type socialists in the U.S. Congress, and backing Ocasio-Cortez was part of that effort:

A former organizer for Bernie Sanderss presidential campaign, Ocasio-Cortezs under-dog win in the Democratic primary was undoubtedly helped by online actors.

The New York Times writes that she was able to defeat her opponent, who greatly outspent her, due to her online presence. In an interview with progressive digital media outlet The Young Turks, a member of a Soros-funded network of far-left publications called The Media Consortium, Ocasio-Cortez also admits that their coverage helped her win.

The DC noted further that Soros-funded digital media approached Ocasio-Cortez and urged her to run for office, despite a dearth of experience. But by backing her, she received non-stop favorable coverage that buried her extremist beliefs by a media network that reaches nearly 300 million people every month. (Related: Left-wing socialist Ocasio-Cortez goes full WTF trying to explain how government will fund socialized medicine for all.)

Soros didnt back her because shes a policy expert

Not all the media actors in Soros circle are acceptable to the gaggle. Far-Left kook Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks digital show founded one of two political organizations that asked Ocasio-Cortez to run, Justice Democrats  which is also committed to getting Bernie Sanders clones (in ideology, anyway) inside the halls of power.

However, the former denier of Armenian genocide who is of Turkish descent was banished from the organization after previously-made sexist comments about women surfaced (a killer in the #MeToo era).

I wouldnt be running if it wasnt for the support of Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress, Ocasio-Cortez told Uygur in June as he fawned all over her in an interview on his YouTube channel (because Left-wing YouTube doesnt ban progressive hate). In fact, it was, it was JD (Justice Democrats) and it was Brand New Congress that asked me to run in the first place.

In terms of Soros digital and traditional media reach, its massive: The Media Research Center claims that more than 300 million people a month are influenced [brainwashed?] by media he funds and finances:

Just counting 13 prominent operations of the 180 media organizations he has funded equals 332 million people each month. Included in that total are big players like NPR, which received $1.8 million from Soros, as well as the little known Project Syndicate and Public News Service, both of which also claim to reach millions of readers.

Mind you, Soros media empire (which he denies he has despite loads of evidence to the contrary) didnt back Ocasio-Cortezs candidacy because shes smart or well-versed in policy. She can barely explain herself and even then if her brand of socialism is ever implemented it will break the U.S. like its broken Cuba and Venezuela.

He backed her because she is pushing his anti-libertarian agenda.

Soros is a destroyer of freedom, not a supporter of it.

Read more about George Soros meddling in American politics at Soros.news.

Sources include:

DailyCaller.com

ZeroHedge.com
Photo by Jennifer Chase for The Washington Post. Food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post.

If you're the type of wine drinker who stops enjoying rose after Labor Day, well, you're missing out on something. But if this is your last hurrah for the pink stuff this season, why not make it an interesting wine, such as a scintillating Greek rose from an endangered grape variety being rescued by a history-loving vintner? Or a classically styled rose from France's Mediterranean shores? Then, after you've slaked your thirst, enjoy your cookout with some hearty Rhone reds, or a delightful bargain gruner veltliner from Austria.

Gavalas Winery Voudomato Rose 2017

2.5 stars

Greece, $24

Voudomato is an indigenous Greek red grape variety vintner George Gavalas is trying to rescue from obscurity. It appeals to my sense of adventure and exploration, as well as my love of puns. It is deliciously fruity, with an herbal bitterness that makes it refreshing, an ideal pairing with that voodoo with tomato that you do so well. Alcohol by volume: 12.5 percent.

GREAT VALUE

Chateau Mourgues du Gres Galets Rouges 2016

2.5 stars

Costieres de Nimes, France, $15

This is a deep, savory Rhone-style red blend. Look for scents of wild herbs and sea air, known by wine lovers as "garrigue." These give way to deep flavors of dark fruits and the bright warmth of Mediterranean sunshine. ABV: 14 percent.

Trinity "Love & Grapes" 2016

2 stars

France, $19

Fans of "natural wines" will want to seek out this Rhone-style blend of Grenache and cinsault, simply labeled as Vin de France. While the grapes are sourced from southern France, the wine is made by the folks behind Domaine de L'Ecu, a leading producer of Muscadet in the Loire. The wine is vibrant and fruity, with a noticeable lift from volatile acidity, a hallmark of the natural wine category. ABV: 14.5 percent.

GREAT VALUE

Croix d'Or Syrah Rose 2017

2 stars

Pays d'Oc, France, $14

This wine, from vineyards near Carcassonne along France's Mediterranean coast, is classic rose - flavors of citrus and melon, with wild herbs and a hint of sea air. Soak this up with the late-summer sunshine and some garlicky, spicy snacks. ABV: 12.5 percent.

GREAT VALUE

Ruttenstock Gruner Veltliner 2017

2 stars

Austria, $12 (1 liter)

Gruner Veltliner is one of my favorite white wines; top bottlings offer impressive complexity and nuance, while basic offerings such as this Ruttenstock provide pure, simple pleasure. Put this in the "patio pounder" category, as it goes down easily. So it's a good thing it comes in a liter-size bottle, because you'll be looking for the extra wine! ABV: 12 percent.

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Three stars exceptional, two stars excellent, one star very good

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Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.
DANBURY  A man who authorities said ran a sex trafficking ring for more than two decades admitted guilt in court Friday after accepting a deal from prosecutors.

Robert Kings eyes welled up with tears as he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in connection to the ring that preyed on young men with disabilities. He accepted a deal offered by the court that calls for 4 1/2 years in prison followed by 35 years of probation.

While King said in court that he continues to dispute the allegations as presented by prosecutors  and attempted to alter the deal on several occasions  he said he accepted the offer out of respect for the victims family members, including Lin Marino. Marinos son committed suicide nine years ago this month after being victimized by the ring.

Out of respect for Marino being here today I will proceed, King said.

Authorities said King would target young men in their early 20s with mental health and substance abuse issues. He would befriend the men, offer them drugs, then sell them into prostitution when their drug debts piled up.

Assistant States Attorney Sharmese Hodge said King would often send photographs of the victims to clients of the ring asking if they were interested in the young men. King would then deliver the men to the clients and take a cut of the profits.

King would often befriend his victims at group homes and drug addiction centers in the area, offering to help the men get back on their feet by promising odd jobs and other assistance.

He was arrested two years ago along with two clients after an extensive investigation by both local and federal authorities. While investigators identified 15 victims, lawyers said that number could stretch well into the hundreds.

Marino said King had told her that he was a Green Beret and he liked to take kids under his wing and help them out. King, who had a shrine in his mobile home dedicated to Marinos son, even attended the young mans memorial services and set up a Facebook page in his honor.

Among the shrine items in Kings mobile home was a hand-written note authored by Marinos son shortly before his death. Marino said she instantly recognized the writing as her sons, who was diagnosed with dyslexia.

Westport resident William Trefzger, 73, who authorities said was a client of the ring, pleaded guilty in February to one count of patronizing a trafficked person  marking the first time anyone in Connecticut had been convicted of the charge. The plea deal called for a 10-year prison sentence suspended after one year served, followed by probation.

Judge Susan Reynolds explained that the plea deal took into account Trefzgers age, his willingness to take responsibility for his actions and the fact that he has agreed to testify against King and Bruce Bemer of Glastonbury, another purported ring client.

King said Friday that he is also willing to testify against Bemer, who rejected a deal earlier this year that called for probation. Bemer appeared briefly in court Friday. His case is expected to go to trial next month.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Daniel Ortega was a young, victorious revolutionary in olive fatigues and oversized glasses when Jimmy Carter welcomed him to the White House in 1979 and asked him to "be kinder" to the United States.

To Ronald Reagan, Ortega was a dangerous Marxist - a "little dictator" backed by the Soviet Union - and a starring player in the 1980s Cold War drama when the United States fought communism in its backyard. During the Obama administration, Ortega was seen as an aging, but not entirely benign, leftist who had warmed to capitalism and kept gang violence at bay.

Now 72 and in his fourth term as president, Ortega has lost the fatigues and glasses. His hair has thinned, and he speaks just above a whisper. And yet to many, this incarnation of Ortega is the most dangerous of all.

Over the past four months, he has waged a merciless and bloody attack against protesters who want him to resign, prompting many to liken the former guerrilla commander to the dictatorship that he helped overthrow nearly 40 years ago. The United States has responded with condemnations, sanctions against his inner circle and a push for early elections.

Ortega has refused to step down and blames the unrest on his old foe.

"The United States has always had its eye on us," he told CNN last month.

While many in Nicaragua were shocked by the swift escalation of violence, the warning signs started long ago. Throughout his political career, Ortega has spurned democracy time and again, preferring to seize every opportunity for his Sandinista party to secure perpetual rule through fraud at the ballot box, institutions stacked with supporters, and changes to the constitution.

"The Ortega of today is not recognizable to anyone who knew him," said Henry Ruiz, one of Ortega's fellow guerrillas and a former cabinet member.

Ortega rules Nicaragua with a small group of family and loyalists. He made his wife, Rosario Murillo, his vice president. Together they fostered an image on billboards and government broadcasts as beneficent parents of the nation. Their Sandinista party, which began as a guerrilla group in the 1960s, has become a stand-in for the state: At a border crossing into Costa Rica, black-and-red Sandinista flags fly, but not the blue-and-white stripes of Nicaragua.

As his family has grown wealthier and more powerful - amassing land and strategic businesses in media, energy and more - these anti-democratic tendencies have grown more pronounced.

In the most recent crisis, police and masked gunmen working with them have hunted down opposition leaders and protesters by the hundreds. Many have been killed, arrested or disappeared. Thousands have fled south to Costa Rica.

Ortega has blamed the unrest on coup plotters backed by the United States. He has some experience in this area: In the 1980s, the CIA secretly created a rebel army, known as the contras, to try to overthrow his government.

He now claims he has neutralized the threat against him, regained control over all cities, and rejected early elections. He seems intent on weathering the storm, saying he will not step down before the next election, in 2021.

Nicaragua's ambassador to Washington offered an interview with Ortega, then retracted it. Several other members of his government and family did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.

Many observers, including his former Sandinista comrades, believe his days as Nicaragua's leader are numbered.

"When an animal has been shot in the leg, he runs and runs and runs, but he has to fall," said Sergio Ramirez, a famous Nicaraguan novelist who served under Ortega as vice president in the 1980s. "I think Ortega has taken a leg shot. The world that he created is collapsing very quickly."

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Daniel Ortega was never the most charismatic Sandinista leader. He was not a great military strategist; his younger brother, Humberto, who went on to become defense minister, was known for that. Nor was he the most zealous Marxist ideologue among his comrades. He had a reputation as a pragmatic consensus-builder.

Ortega grew up in a working-class neighborhood in the capital, the son of a man who fought against the U.S. Marine Corps and instilled in him a strong anti-imperialist streak. While a teen, he joined the resistance against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, whose family had ruled Nicaragua for decades.

After robbing banks to fund the revolution, Ortega spent much of his 20s in prison, where he endured torture and abuse. The man who emerged in 1974 was terse, withdrawn and distrustful, according to people who knew him then.

"It seems this period influenced his personality a lot," said Ramirez, the novelist. "He has always been a very isolated man. Not someone with a lot of friends."

Once the Sandinistas overthrew the government in 1979, Ortega maneuvered his way into the ruling junta and won the presidency in 1984. He emerged as a leader in part because he was seen as someone who wouldn't impose his will on the others.

"He was not going to put anybody in his shadow," Ramirez said.

Many opponents found the Sandinistas undemocratic, as the government censored the media, stacked the electoral council and used control over ration cards to encourage loyalty to the party.

Then, as now, Ortega had a reputation as a hands-off leader, a man interested in outmaneuvering rivals but who delegated often. These days, his wife, Murillo, often runs meetings with cabinet ministers and speaks on behalf of the government.

"He was never someone who governs," said Monica Baltodano, a former guerrilla who fought alongside Ortega and is a historian of the Sandinistas. "He traveled a lot in the countryside. And part of the strength of his leadership rests in those years and the links he developed with the Sandinista masses and the people in general."

During his first term, Ortega also had to contend with a U.S.-organized war against him. The contras, who blew up bridges and mined Nicaraguan harbors, fought the Sandinistas for years in a conflict that killed tens of thousands.

"The United States government is sponsoring a campaign of death aimed against Nicaragua," Ortega said at a rally before the 1984 election, according to Stephen Kinzer's history of Nicaragua, "Blood of Brothers." "They say we're anti-democratic, but we know what real democracy means. Democracy is literacy, democracy is land reform, democracy is education and public health."

After one term, a war-weary nation voted Ortega out of power in 1990.

- - -

The Ortega who recaptured the presidency in 2006 - after losing three straight elections - had dropped the Marxism, toned down the anti-Americanism and amped up his talk of peace and Christian values. He reached out to the private sector and cultivated foreign investment. Hundreds of millions of dollars in cheap Venezuelan oil provided by Hugo Chavez's government padded the budget and boosted social programs.

Nicaragua, which remains the second-poorest country in the hemisphere, after Haiti, went on to average more than 4 percent annual GDP growth over the next 10 years.

"It was a very pleasant surprise to me that he went about managing the economy in a way that I would have done it," said Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, who was Nicaragua's foreign minister in a period before Ortega retook the presidency. "But what we did also notice is that he was tightening his control on the National Assembly, he was tightening his control on the judicial power, and right at the very top the Supreme Court. He had completely taken control of the electoral power at that point."

There were persistent accusations of fraud on behalf of Ortega's supporters in the 2006 vote and the ones after that. When he won in 2011, the European Union's electoral mission said the vote was "opaque and arbitrary." Before the 2016 vote, Ortega's allies in the legislature changed the constitution, eliminating term limits and forcing lawmakers to vote along party lines.

The Supreme Court also blocked a leading opposition candidate, Eduardo Montealegre, from participating in the election, and the Supreme Electoral Council forced 16 opposition lawmakers from their seats. Ortega refused to allow independent election observers into Nicaragua.

The protests that broke out in April were remarkable in part because dissent had been so effectively muzzled in Nicaragua for years. Even small demonstrations, such as those over Ortega's plan to build a canal across the country with Chinese financing, were met with swift repression and sometimes violence.

"It surprised me how quickly this exploded," said Montealegre, a former foreign minister and finance minister. "But knowing all we have gone through, there was an enormous built-up dissatisfaction."

In April, police and pro-government militias used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to subdue the crowds. As the death toll mounted, Ortega agreed to a dialogue process, mediated by the Catholic Church, to hear from protesters, business executives and civil society leaders.

Early on in the crisis, Ortega expressed a willingness to consider early elections, according to two senior U.S. officials. But he ultimately chose not to pursue that path with negotiators, and talks with the church broke down.

Those who oppose Ortega are viewed as enemies of the state.

If you are against the government, "they either want you out of the country, jailed or dead," said a senior U.S. official. "They've been actively working on this."

Ortega's former Sandinista allies talk of splits within upper levels of his government and aides who remain loyal only out of fear.

"For a majority of people, he is an assassin, he is a criminal, he is a torturer," said Baltodano, the Sandinista historian and former Ortega ally. "He's already been defeated strategically."

- - -

The Washington Post's Ismael Lopez Ocampo contributed to this report.

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Video: A pro-government caravan drives through Diriamba, Nicaragua, in support of President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN. Paramilitaries are accused of leading a violent crackdown against protestors critical of Ortega's government. The violence has killed more than 400 people in the past three months.(Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post)

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Supreme Cannabis adds top-level talent to leadership team to accelerate the company's strategic priorities, drive global growth, and build long-term shareholder value

TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2018 /CNW/ - The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. ("Supreme Cannabis" or the "Company") (TSXV:FIRE) (OTC:SPRWF) (FRA:53S1), announced three senior leadership appointments to accelerate the company's strategic priorities and global growth.

"Over the last year, we have made significant progress in becoming a leading premium brand in the Canadian recreational market, having secured to-date supply agreements with Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba and anticipate being coast-to-coast on October 17," said Supreme Cannabis CEO John Fowler. "Our ability to execute on our Canadian recreational market strategy while simultaneously making investments that position the company for long-term growth is a testament to our people. Across the entire business, from our frontline operators to our senior executives, Supreme Cannabis is home to talented people passionate about the cannabis industry. These leadership appointments advance our objective to create shareholder value and propel Supreme Cannabis forward."

Vice-President, Corporate Development: Scott Walters is a director of Supreme Cannabis and is the founder and former CEO of Molecular Science Corporation. Mr. Walters will focus on execution of the Company's growth strategy, work closely with business units to deliver top line growth, drive productivity to enable this growth, and invest in new areas of disruptive innovation.

Mr. Walters brings more than 20 years of capital markets experience and has focused on legal cannabis industries since 2013. In his most recent position, Mr. Walters took a mobile cannabis testing business from concept to dealer licensed status and multi-year contracted revenue with Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED)(NYSE: CGC) in under 18 months. Mr. Walters also has developed successful cannabis start-up's focused on providing medical sales channels, cannabis products and scalable services to the sector. He previously developed and led THC BioMed (now TSX-V: THC), Canabo Medical (now TSX-V: ALEF) and Empower Clinics (now CSE: EPW).

Vice-President, Sales: Craig Young will continue evolving Supreme's sales strategy, building a top-tier sales team, forming strong relationships with provincial cannabis boards and private retailers to position Supreme Cannabis' current and future brands for retail success

Mr. Young has been instrumental in developing strong relationships with provinces coast-to-coast and securing supply agreements with four provinces to-date. Mr. Young comes to Supreme Cannabis with over 15 years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry. He has held senior roles with both the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation and The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation. For the past ten years, he was a senior manager for Treasury Wine Estates, the world's largest publicly traded wine company (ASX: TWE) leading sales efforts across Canada, with a focus on the premium brand categories.

Vice-President, Government Relations and International Affairs: Barinder Bhullar is currently a Principal of Mainland Strategies. Mr. Bhullar will guide Supreme Cannabis' international and emerging markets strategy to take advantage of the global market opportunity for medical cannabis. He will also lead government relations across Canada for the Company.

Mr. Bhullar is a public affairs strategic advisor with over a decade of experience in public policy, strategic communications and politics. He has served in a variety of senior roles within Government, including, Director of Policy in the office of the B.C. Premier, where he worked to ensure specific policy development aligned with the broader objectives of government. In this role, he led a team responsible for strategic planning and cross-government coordination. As Senior Director of International Missions for the British Columbia Government, Mr. Bhullar identified and led execution of targeted international trade missions and events, ensuring missions delivered trade and investment outcomes for BC. Mr. Bhullar engaged with external parties both in Canada and in International Markets to encourage business to business, and business to government relationships. His experience with dealing with major International companies will bring a tremendous asset to the Company.

The appointments are subject to customary approvals of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Grant of Stock Options

In addition to the aforementioned leadership changes, the Company granted 375,000 stock options (each an "Option") to various employees, directors and consultants pursuant to the Company's Employee Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"). Each Option has an exercise price of $1.50 and is exercisable at any time prior to August 23, 2023, subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.

About Supreme Cannabis

The Supreme Cannabis Company (TSXV:FIRE) (OTC:SPRWF) (FRA:53S1) is a Canadian publicly traded company committed to providing premium brands and products that proudly reflect its consumers, people and uniquely innovative culture. The Company's portfolio includes its wholly-owned subsidiary and flagship brand 7ACRES.

7ACRES is a federally licensed producer of medical cannabis operating inside a 342,000-square-foot facility in Kincardine, Ontario. 7ACRES is dedicated to providing consumers with a premium-quality product that recognizes its customers are informed, discerning and value a brand and culture that aligns with their principles. 7ACRES brand success has been reflected in provincial supply agreements, where 7ACRES' product is consistently listed in the highest brand category available to recreational consumers.

The Company's growing portfolio also includes an equity investment and long-term global distribution partnership with Lesotho-based Medigrow for the exporting of medical-grade cannabis oil.

The Supreme Cannabis Company has consistently set the standard for innovation in the sector, including the design of growing facilities and development of operational excellence metrics. We are confident that together with our flagship brand, proprietary technology and products, truly unique culture, and industry-leading team, we will deliver our shareholders consistent long-term value creation.

Please visit www.supreme.ca and www.7ACRES.com for more information.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements made in this press release may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. These statements may relate to anticipated events or results and include, but are not limited to, expectations regarding our regulatory environment and potential changes in law, future supply agreements with provinces and territories in Canada, our future position of high quality product and other statements that are not historical facts. Particularly, information regarding our expectations of future results, targets, performance achievements, prospects or opportunities is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may" "will", "expect", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "could", "should", "would", "outlook", "forecast", "anticipate", "foresee", "continue" or the negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are current as of the date they are made and are based on applicable estimates and assumptions made by us at the relevant time in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, we do not undertake to update any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Information Form dated January 22, 2018 ("AIF"). A copy of the AIF and the Company's other publicly filed documents can be accessed under the Company's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com. The Company cautions that the list of risk factors and uncertainties described in the AIF is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc.

For further information: Investor Relations, Scott Davidson, Bayfield Strategy, Inc., Phone: 416-466-6265, Email: [email protected], Website: supreme.ca
TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2018 /CNW/ - Newstrike Brands Ltd. (TSX-V:HIP) ("Newstrike" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that Up Cannabis Inc. ("Up Cannabis"), its wholly-owned subsidiary, has been selected by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation ("NSLC") as one of fourteen licensed producers who have received initial purchase orders for adult-use cannabis.

"We are very excited to announce this partnership with the NSLC," said Jay Wilgar, CEO of both Newstrike and Up Cannabis. "Being among the select group of licensed producers who will supply cannabis to the Nova Scotia marketplace is a privilege, and we look forward to helping the NSLC achieve its goals of providing safe, reliable product to adult-use consumers."

The NSLC intends to sell adult-use cannabis in a dozen retail stores throughout the province and provide online sales.1

Up Cannabis is now positioned to offer its products from coast-to-coast as Nova Scotia is the fourth Canadian province to announce distribution of its adult-use cannabis. Up Cannabis has, as previously announced, formalized supply agreements with the Ontario Cannabis Store and the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the British Columbia Liquor Distribution.

----------------------

1 https://www.mynslc.com/en/Cannabis/Cannabis-Store-Designs

About Newstrike and Up Cannabis

Newstrike is the parent company of Up Cannabis Inc., a licensed producer of cannabis that is licensed to both cultivate and sell cannabis in all acceptable forms. Newstrike, through Up Cannabis and together with select strategic partners, including Canada's iconic musicians The Tragically Hip, is developing a diverse network of high quality cannabis brands. For more information, visit http://www.up.ca or http://www.newstrike.ca

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Newstrike to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Newstrike's expectations with respect to the legalization, supply and sales of cannabis. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties.

Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date.

Newstrike does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, except as required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Newstrike Brands Ltd.

For further information: Newstrike Investor Relations, 1-877-541-9151, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.newstrikeresources.com/


Syracuse, N.Y. -- While the newly paved, $27 million Orange parking lot at the New York State Fair has had some "growing pains" since opening day, the lot and the traffic flow are a major improvement over the past, said a state trooper.

Sgt. J. Place said the lot has more spaces, better traffic flow, and easier access to and from I-690. Shuttle buses from the three bus stops in the lot are running "like clockwork," he said.

"The Orange lot is a really good lot to use," Place said today as he surveyed the lot. "It's moving really well, there are more spaces than ever, and it's only $5."

Narrow parking spaces, especially in the straight-on B parking area near the pedestrian walkway, are causing problems, though. Mike Schultz, of Syracuse, struggled to get a backpack out of his car without banging the driver's door into another car just a few inches away.

"I hope we don't ding that car," Schultz said, "and I hope they don't ding us."

Drivers of full-sized trucks had to pull forward and back up several times to squeeze into narrow spaces, which are just 8-foot-2 inches wide. Gina and Bob LeClair, of Glens Falls, worried about damage to their red Toyota Tundra, which barely fit into the space.

"These are worse than at Walmart," Gina LeClair said.

Angled parking spaces in the next section, toward the west, are slightly wider, at 8-foot-6 inches. After receiving complaints that the narrow spots were too narrow, the transportation department at the last minute told the contractor to make the remaining spaces bigger. That cut the number of planned spaces from 7,500 to about 7,000.

Transportation officials also said that larger vehicles would be directed to the wider spaces, but that wasn't happening this morning in the B area of the lot. Compacts and large pickups were being parked side-by-side.

Place acknowledged the 65-acre lot has had some "growing pains," and troopers and others are still learning the best way to direct traffic. More signs have been added since the fair opened Wednesday, he said, including one that directs motorists to I-690 east. Department of Transportation crews today were adding new striping to the exit to help people get out better.

Place said there are twice as many troopers in the lot this year to make sure things run smoothly. (He declined to give exact numbers.)

Place said staffing, traffic flow, and the size of the spaces will be among the issues reviewed after this year's fair. He said troopers, fair officials and Onondaga County, which owns the St. Joseph's Health amphitheater at the west end of the lot, will meet after the fair and figure out what worked and what didn't.

"Next year, it's going to be even better," Place said.

Contact Glenn Coin: Email | Twitter | Google + | (315) 470-3251
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The bald eagle was found in Missouri, wrapped in monofilament line and unable to fly.

"He was tangled up in discarded fishing line," said Tanya Lowe, a wildlife rehabilitator with Hawk Creek Wildlife Center, in East Aurora. "He lost a toe and had permanent damage to his wings."

It took more than a year for the eagle, named Griffin, to recover from his injuries. But it turned out that the line had permanently damaged the follicles in his skin that hold his flight feathers.

"They grow in, and then they just fall out," Lowe explained. "He's constantly losing feathers."

Unable to fly again, Griffin found a home at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis. Then, a couple of years ago, Hawk Creek had to retire its bald eagle, and Griffin made his way to New York.

At eight pounds and with a 6-foot wingspan, Griffin is the star attraction of the New York State Fair's Birds of Prey show. The show runs three times a day -- 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. It's held in the state park at the fair, in front of the Horticulture Building, and the birds are on display in a tent between shows.

Griffin might be coming to the fair for a long time. He's 13, and Lowe said bald eagles can live 30 to 60 years in captivity.

The granddaddy of the show is Canyon, a 28-year-old golden eagle. He was hit by a plane, Lowe said, and suffered permanent damage to his left wing. He and his mate, though, have raised two chicks, both released into the wild.

The show features more than a dozen raptors, from the screech owl to the Mahmoomeh eagle, native to sub-Saharan Africa. The bird's ability to shift its feathers and change the outline of its head was the inspiration for the Stealth bomber, Lowe said.

"Our goal is to let people see birds, some of them that live in their own back yards, and develop a better appreciation of them," Lowe said.

Hawk Creek rehabilitates about 500 animals and gives thousands of presentations each year, according to the group's website.

Contact Glenn Coin: Email | Twitter | Google + | (315) 470-3251
ONTARIO, N.Y. (AP) -- A 23-year-old western New York woman has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for hiring a hit man to kill her mother for $30,000 in life insurance money.

Jasmine Harlee of Sodus admitted planning the murder of her mother, 52-year-old Julie Martin. She was sentenced Thursday in Wayne County Court.

Prosecutors say Martin was smothered with a pillow in her home in the Wayne County town of Ontario in February 2017.

Authorities say Harlee and her boyfriend Knowledge Couser recruited Couser's 19-year-old brother Davontae Devine and another man to kill Martin.

Couser and Devine have pleaded guilty to murder, and 19-year-old Malquan Drayton has pleaded guilty to robbery charges in connection to the crime.
The Pentagon report indicates that Chinas navy and air assets are about ten times Taiwans capabilities but assesses a Chinese amphibious D-Day invasion as a risky and challenging operation for China.

China has military capabilities which could successfully intervene in North Korea

A Pentagon report discussed the possibility that China could respond militarily to a crisis on the Korean Peninsula. China has long been concerned about stability along its border with North Korea. Should a crisis or conflict occur on the Peninsula, Chinas leaders could order the PLA to engage in a range of operations. These could range from securing the China North Korea border to prevent the flow of refugees to a military intervention into North Korea.

The Northern Theater contains three group armies of approximately 170,000 soldiers, a naval fleet, two air force bases, one specialized air division, two naval aviation divisions, and Peoples Armed Police (PAP) units that conduct border defense operations. Additional theaters could also be asked to support a larger North Korea related contingency.

In response to a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident on the Korean

Peninsula, the PLA could deploy emergency response units with specialized equipment and

personnel who routinely train for rapid responses.
Russias Rostec showed off a passive exoskeleton which increases physical abilities of a soldier, protects joints and the spine and was already tested in combat. It is the third generation Ratnik infantry combat suite.

The exoskeleton is made of lightweight carbon fiber and supports the musculoskeletal system when a person carries weights up to 50 kg (packs, special gear, armaments and ammunition) during long marches and assaults. It is a mechanical device with levers and swivels in the shape of human joints.

The helmet prototype is able to change color depending on the color of its surrounding environment. It has electrically activated color changing material.

The passive exoskeleton has no power sources, servomotors, electronics and various sensors. This makes it more reliable and light (4 to 8 kg depending on the configuration). It is absolutely autonomous and easy to maintain.

Industrial Director of the Armament Cluster of Rostec Sergey Abramov claims it has already been tested during real military operations. The exoskeleton was tested by special detachments of the Russian Ministry of Defense and Internal Affairs bodies in years 2017-2018. In addition, an active exoskeleton is also being designed, and its working prototype has already been made by Rostecs enterprise.

Rostec is a $22 billion company (1.59 trillion rubles in revenue. 67 rubles is 1 USD).

US will have powered, Titanium tactical special ops TALON assault exoskeleton late in 2018

The US Special Forces is building the TALOS (tactical assault light operator suit) exoskeleton.

The suit has :

* physiological and biological sensors

* actuators that serve as the muscles to power the suit

* processors and computers,

* and a durable exoskeleton that offers support to the operator.

* the helmet has thin, transparent glass with ballistic protection and a heads-up display

It will provide protection against shrapnel and small arms fire, but could be targeted by an electromagnetic pulse weapon.

Special force exoskeletons have need to operate under for shorter times than Army exoskeletons would.



Powered knee joints could help armored exoskeleton wearers to climb 100 flights of stairs and then still engage in combat.

A commando might only need to breach a fortification and be involved in a short fight of an hour or less.

An Army soldier could need powered exoskeletons to operate for days between recharging.

US has powered lower-body exoskeletons and soft exosuits

Lockheed Martin ONYX powered lower-body exoskeleton can increase mobility and reduce fatigue of its users.

ONYX detects what the body is doing and provides support at the exact time it is needed. Sensors distributed on the exoskeleton report speed, direction, and angle of movement to an on-board computer that drives electro-mechanical actuators at the knees. The exoskeleton delivers the right torque at the right time to assist knee flexion and extension. ONYX ultimately reduces the energy needed to cross terrain, squat, or kneel. These benefits are most noticeable when ascending or descending stairs or navigating inclined surfaces.

ONYX syncs up with the user. It will be improved even more. It takes 75 milliseconds for the human body to go from thought to action. Speeding up ONYX will improve the impact on human endurance.

Military exoskeletons could finally arrive ten years after the Lockheed HULC exoskeleton first appeared.

Currently it improved VO2-max by nine percent and the powered system lasts for 16 hours when using four batteries.

The ONYX system weighs less than 14 pounds.

The current net benefit is a soldier who could normally perform 26 reps of 185-lb squats could perform 72 similar reps while wearing ONYX.

During a demonstration of the suit last week, people can perform an essentially effortless squat and it could allow an hour of effortless squatting.

Lockheed is currently working on

* hardening the components so they can withstand battlefield use

* improving the harnessing so its even more discreet and unobtrusive

* tweaking the fitting process to ensure that soldiers can properly adjust it without tools

ONYX will soon use a common electro-mechanical structure and control software, which will be customized for firefighting, logistics, and military load transport. ONYX is being upgraded to use military-specification batteries that are approved for infantry use, to ruggedize and improve control box ergonomics, and to incorporate faster actuators that generate more torque.

Robotic third arm

A robotic third arm appears to be highly useful. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory is developing it. It weighs less than four pounds and hangs at a soldiers side, stabilizes rifles and machine guns. It lifts over 27 pounds.


To the CEO of Target, it is the best outlook for retail in 15 years. For Sears Holding, it has been an ongoing retail apocalypse with another round of closures in store heading into the crucial stretch of holiday shopping.

As for southwestern Connecticut? It is somewhere in between  but trending downward as back-to-school shopping wraps up ahead of the inevitable early barrage of holiday reminders.

Southwestern Connecticut retailers saw their combined sales receipts ebb 1.5 percent last year to below $5.3 billion, according to updated retail sales figures published by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.

On balance, the region lost between 60 and 110 retail stores, if the DRS data is accurate after accounting for entities that have yet to report taxes for the 2017 fiscal year, and isolated discrepancies between data sets last year and in 2016. That left less than 6,200 stores in the retail triangle formed by Greenwich, Milford and New Milford that includes some of the states biggest retail districts in Bridgeport, Danbury, Stamford and Norwalk, with DRS also including non-store retailers like websites in its annual analysis of sales receipts.

In South Norwalk, the rough outline of the SoNo Collection mall is taking shape alongside Interstate 95, with 14 months to go before its promised opening in time for the 2019 holiday season. The SoNo Collection will add more than 80 stores to Norwalk, which led southwestern Connecticut last year with retail receipts of $1.2 billion as reported to DRS, a slight decline.

Chasing the things that are working

SoNo Collection developer GGP is in the process of being acquired by Brookfield Property Partners, whose CEO Brian Kingston told investment analysts last month that his companys properties have escaped any significant effects of a wave of retail bankruptcies this year, but that it is already examining ways to further some of GGPs initial efforts to find new uses for mall space beyond retail stores.

We feel we will be able to execute reconfiguration of GGPs retail properties into alternative, mixed-used assets at a more rapid pace and better financial returns that would have been possible on a standalone basis for GGP, Kingston said.

Along with Bloomingdales, Nordstrom plans to open a new department store at the SoNo Collection, with a member of the Nordstrom family telling analysts last week that the company is trying to design its newest stores to be able to adjust on the fly to the whims of consumers and the brands trying to reach them.

Were just trying to have our whole physical setup be as absolutely nimble and fluid as it possibly can be, said Pete Nordstrom, company co-president. Obviously, theres some limitations to that, but thats a theme that weve been (working) on for quite some time, ... making sure that were really funding and chasing the things that are working, and then working hand-in-hand with the stores to make sure that we get the floor space to do that.

Elsewhere in southwestern Connecticut, DRS recorded Fairfield with the biggest net gain in retail stores, adding nine to its base, with Ridgefield and Danbury store managers reporting the biggest gain in revenue at more than 10 percent. At the other end of the scale, Darien, Monroe and Redding all saw double-digit declines in revenue from 2016.

All are looking ahead to a final holiday shopping season without the extra competition that the SoNo Collection will bring, and with the continued uncertainties for the retail sector as Amazon, Walmart and others continue to build out their online customer bases.

I would need to be clairvoyant to tell you exactly whats going to happen for holiday time, Nordstrom said in mid-August. But I think were on a good trajectory in terms of what were focusing on and that its bearing fruit.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
HARTFORD  Unbeknownst to some blues fans, the great Rockin Johnny Burgin has been quietly threading a path around the Northeast for a few weeks now, including several appearances already this summer in Connecticut and just over the borders.

If you dig the blues, you really need to see Rockin Johnny.

So if you missed him earlier this month at the Tipping Chair Tavern in the Milldale section of Southington, the Stomping Ground in Putnam, or Corner Music or the Deacon Timothy Pratt Bed and Breakfast in Old Saybrook, mark Sept. 1 on your calendar.

Thats the night the Rockin Johnny Band will play at Black-Eyed Sallys. Showtime is 9 p.m. Cover is $10  not including the barbecue youre highly likely to eat. Sallys is located at 350 Asylum St. in Hartford.

(If you miss him AGAIN, your last chance anywhere near these parts will be Sept. 15 at Daddys Jacks (181 Bank St., New London). That show starts at 8:30 p.m.)

Wait  maybe you dont even know who Rockin Johnny is.

OK, lets fix that: If you havent spent a lot of time around Chicago in recent years, Rockin Johnny may be among the best blues guitarists youve never heard of.

If you were in Chicago in the 90s and again in the 2010s, you couldnt help but know him  Burgin and his Rockin Johnny Band were a bunch of younger guys who played as much in the spirit of the classic, post-war 40s and 50s Chicago blues as anyone who was there at that time.

And they were EVERYWHERE.

He released several albums on Chicagos venerable Delmark Records label and became a Monday night fixture with The Rockin Johnny Band (with guest vocalist Jimmy Burns) at the Smoke Daddy barbecue joint and bar on Division Street in Chicagos Wicker Park neighborhood.

But aside from an occasional trip to perform in Europe, he didnt get out much.

Now, on the tails of a move to the Bay Area a couple of years ago  and with a goal to get out and be a national touring bluesman rather than just one of Chicagos great secrets  hes been working overtime to change that.

So he was out here to make new friends last September, and now hes back again.

Im late to the party, but Im coming, Burgin, 49, who now lives in Petaluma, California, said last time out  and it still applies.

Burgin grew up in Starkville, Mississippi, and Greenville, South Carolina. He went to the University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer, but ended up diving deep into the Chicago blues scene.

While he no longer lives in Chicago, Im a homeboy in Chicago, Burgin said last year.

Chicago is where Burgin, originally from Mississippi, had lived on and off since 1988, performing at little-known joints on the West Side and making his name by backing Chicagos quirky, full-of-personality James Taildragger Jones, one of the great original bluesmen still on the scene.

In 2015, he recorded an independently released album, Greetings From Greaseland, in San Jose that was well-received. This record made me cool all over again, he said. He now has seven CDs to his credit.

He also featured on a great, just-released CD on West Tone Records called Chicago: The Blues Legends Today! which has the Rockin Johnny Band backing underexposed Chicago blues artists Mary Lane, Milwaukee Slim and Little Jerry Jones, along with the CDs producer, fine Pennsylvania blues harp player Mike Mettalia.

While he mostly stayed around Chicago until recently, Burgin has been featured over the years in major media outlets such as The Chicago Tribune, WGNs After Hours with Rick Kogan, The Illinois Times, and KPFAs Blues by the Bay.

He has recorded with many blues greats, including Billy Boy Arnold, Taildragger, Paul DeLay, Jimmy Burns, Andre Williams, Eddie Taylor Jr., Jimmy Lee Robinson and toured with such artists as Muddy Waters late, longtime piano man Pinetop Perkins and Howlin Wolf drummer Sam Lay.
Whether or not he wins the Independent Party endorsement at its weekend caucus, Oz Griebel and Monte Frank, the bipartisan team of unaffiliated candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, will likely be on the statewide ballot November 6.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill on Friday reported that the duo has 7,161 certified petition signatures, as local voting officials continue to verify the names of registered voters from throughout Connecticut.

By next week, Griebel, a former regional business leader from Hartford, could have enough names to exceed the 7,500 needed to make the November election, even without the backing of a political party. There is a Sept. 5 deadline to certify the signatures.

Weve been treated very well by the secretary of the state, Griebel said in an afternoon interview. Were continuing to make our voices heard on important issues.

Earlier this month, Griebel, a former Republican candidate for governor from Simsbury, and Frank, a Democratic lawyer from Newtown, submitted more than 10,000 signatures that as many as 200 volunteers gathered from state voters.

Griebel on Sunday will be among five people, including Bob Stefanowski, the Republican candidate for governor, and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, in Waterbury to seek the state Independent Partys endorsement to run on that partys line on Nov. 6.

Folks in the party have encouraged us and weve been articulating that Monte and I are the only independent option, Griebel said. Weve been running as independents from the beginning. I would argue that we are the most independent option.

Griebel said that if he and Frank win the Independent Party endorsement, they will appear on that line party on the ballot. It would just make it a little bit easier, he said.

Unlike Stefanowski, who is assured listing as a Republican candidate, Griebel cannot win two ballot lines. So if he fails to get the Independent Party nod, he and Frank will only be listed under Griebel Frank for CT on the statewide ballot.

Since announcing his intentions to run independently for governor, Griebel has been confident that the required signatures could be accumulated. But without joining the states voluntary public-financing program, Griebel and Frank has been way behind in fund-raising.

The July filing Griebels campaign submitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission indicates that they have raised less than $221,000, with a meager $12,624.11 on hand to run a campaign on which other candidates are spending multi-millions.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
When does a debate for governor fail to live up to its definition?

Probably when only one of the two major candidates agrees to show up.

Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich on Friday chided Bob Stefanowski, the Republican candidate from Madison, over his reluctance to commit to a scheduled post-Labor Day debate in Hartford.

The people of Connecticut deserve straight answers from Bob Stefanowski on how he plans to fire thousands of teachers, firefighters and police officers through a dishonest and irresponsible tax plan, Lamont said in an aggressive statement. I look forward to debating him and explaining to voters exactly how I will change the business climate, bring jobs back, grow the economy and protect Connecticut values.

Stefanowskis campaign did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Stefanowski, who has promised to phase-out the state income tax if he is elected, has balked at saying whether he would attend a Wednesday September 5 debate hosted by Fox61, WNPR and The Connecticut Mirror at the University of St. Joseph on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

The challenge was a possible attempt to seize on the political momentum Lamont may have received from this weeks Sacred Heart University/Hearst Connecticut Media poll, which had him with a slight lead, as well as the Quinnipiac University Poll, which said Lamont has a 13-point advantage over Stefanowski.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
DANBURY  The new freshman class at Western Connecticut State University began their college careers with the ceremonial walk through the Midtown campus black iron gates on Friday afternoon.

But the annual college tradition held a special place in the hearts of one Southbury family filled with WCSU alumni.

To begin the march, 1982 graduate William Gernert handed the class of 2022s official flag to incoming freshman Keith Gernert  his son and the familys third generation at the college.

I couldnt be happier, he said. I just loved it when I was here and Im so glad hes going to get this experience. Three generations and five total alumni. Were definitely big fans of WestConn.

This is not the same school it was in 1982 at all, he said. Its just tremendous. Its so strong in so many different areas.

Keith Gernert led hundreds of his new classmates through the gates to mark move-in day on the schools two Danbury campuses.

The class of 919 freshmen is a 10.5 percent increase over last years class  the first time the enrollment has increased since 2010, university spokesman Paul Steinmetz said. The new crop of students brings the schools total enrollment, including part-time and graduate students, to just under 5,500 students.

WCSU President John Clark implored the new class to enjoy their time on campus but not miss class, which earned a loud round of applause from parents.

I dare say for myself and most of us in this audience today, we were not born with the proverbial silver spoon, but a good wooden one, he said. We were brought up to believe that to achieve the great American dream, we have to possess the work ethic, the skill and the knowledge to do so. Thats our mission here at WestConn.

Keith Gernert is excited to finally move in to campus on his own without having to go too far from home and without the heftier price tags of a major university. He visited other campuses but as soon as he stepped on the Midtown campus, he knew his college search was over.

He plans to study psychology and wants to get practical experience as a peer counselor, which he was able to do with the guidance counselors in his high school.

Everyones like, You need the college experience, he said. But I can get all of that right here with my classmates and studies and all the programs they have here ... I just gravitated toward it.

New Milford High School grads Victoria Pascento and Alexis Turian moved into Litchfield Hall and will study nursing, while several friends of theirs live in Danbury and will commute to campus.

Four childhood friends from Westchester  Clinton McKeel, Daniel DiSanzo, Ryan Melendez and Andrew LaSala  made the move across the state line to study business and are all looking forward to living on their own for the first time. Theyre participating in the WCSU program that lets students in New York and New Jersey receive in-state tuition.

The squad didnt get to room with each other, but that just means they might be able to add to it, they laughed.

Itll be a lot of fun, DiSanzo said. Its far enough away that our parents cant just surprise us, we dont think, but were close enough that we can get back home for some good food.

zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com
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MILFORD  As time for one of their big fundraisers approaches, a local couple who lead the nonprofit Uganda Farmers Inc. are upping the urgency of providing water for Uganda, a drought-ravaged East African nation where famine threatens more than 1.6 million people, said UFI president Jane Holler.

UFI, which provides funds to dig water wells and has two projects ready to go, recently made their case to members of the West Haven Rotary Club and is also hoping for a great turnout at its eighth annual Running for Water for Africa 5K race and walk fundraiser.
Contributed photo

ANSONIA The Rev. James M. Sullivan, pastor of Assumption Church and School, was named the 2018-2019 Distinguished Catholic Elementary School Pastor by the Archdiocese of Hartford.

The honor was announced Aug. 23 by Superintendent of Catholic Schools Michael S. Griffin. Sullivan will be recognized at the annual Hopes Dinner on Sept. 25 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.
NEW HAVEN  The city has yet to determine whether an employee dismissed for her alleged misuse of a city credit card will get to keep the clothing bought for her by the mayors office.

In May, the city spent $1,279 on apparel for Bianca Bowles, who was working as a receptionist in the mayors office. She recently was transferred to Youth Services  she had worked as a city employee for more than 20 years  but was terminated Wednesday after an internal investigation found she allegedly used a city credit card without permission, according to a release.

A review of the credit card statements revealed unauthorized charges of $11,088.15 connected with room and board at a local motel, according to the release. The unauthorized charges appeared over the last few months, city spokesman Laurence Grotheer said Thursday, with the nature of the charges mostly related to the local motel the city will not name.

Police are conducting a separate investigation, but no arrests have been made at this time, police spokesman Officer David Hartman said.

City credit cards are issued to Mayor Toni N. Harp, Controller Daryl Jones, Deputy Chief of Staff Patricia Lawlor and Purchasing Agent Michael Fumiatti. The card Bowles allegedly used was issued to Lawlor and is believed to have been accessed by Bowles while Lawlor was on extended medical leave, Grotheer said. As the investigation is ongoing, he declined to say whether the card was stolen or placed in Bowles possession.

Along with Bowles, two other women  another receptionist and an aide  were bought clothing, bringing the total spent on the attire to nearly $4,000. Invoices of the purchases show the three women were provided with varying colored apparel, including blouses, polo shirts, cardigans, pants, skirts, blazers and scarves. Grotheer also said Thursday clothing may be purchased for a recently hired receptionist, but an order has not been placed yet.

Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said in a statement that the purchase of clothing speaks volumes about Mayor Harps priorities for the city of New Haven. City firefighters are justifiably furious. Taxpayers in New Haven and throughout the state should be furious, too.

Mayor Harp falsely blames the State of Connecticut for New Havens budget woes. She says the overdoses that took place on the New Haven Green were the fault of Republicans in the state legislature. Since then, she applauded the first responders on doing a great job, and she now rewards them by removing money from the firefighters account. All of this just to buy outfits for her City Hall staff? Its preposterous, Fasano said in the release. Our firefighters deserve better than this. You cannot make this stuff up. I look forward to her explanation of this irresponsible decision, and I am certain that city firefighters and taxpayers look forward to hearing the details of Mayor Harps logic as well.

The city plans to reimburse the Fire Department account for the clothing and said that account was used to take advantage of a discount.

Bowles is one of the 37 executive management and confidential employees who were awarded a raise from Harp in June.

Bowles got a 7.5 percent increase in her salary, which equals an extra $3,000 annually. When Harp gave the raises, members of the Board of Alders criticized the move, saying Harp had no right to do it without their approval. They approved an ordinance in direct response to the awarded raises, mandating that each department that received them would need to cut their budgets by an equal amount.
WEST HAVEN  The West Haven Public Schools are all set to begin classes on Monday, which this year will be a full day of school, with breakfast and lunch served for all students for the first time, Superintendent of Schools Neil C. Cavallaro said this week.

Were in really good shape. We have a full staff ... Cavallaro said. Were ready to go.

The one issue that was still outstanding as of Monday, when Cavallaro briefed the Board of Education, was the hiring of one more special education teacher. But Cavallaro said he expected to have the new teacher in place before school opens.

As far as the physical plant goes, Our buildings look really good, he said. Were finishing up some summer projects  things that will really improve the quality and conditions of the building.

Weve done some boiler projects ... paving ... intercom systems, which will really help our safety and security, Cavallaro said.

At West Haven High School, where a major construction and renovation project is underway, We have worked very closely with the administration at the high school, as well with Gilbane Construction and the building committee, Cavallaro said.

We anticipate very little disruption, he said. Right now, the only thing that may be affected is, we may have a few less parking spaces. But we should have enough to cover us.

Overall, We anticipate meeting the needs of the current student body as we prepare for future generations, Cavallaro said.

This year, for the first time, all students will be eligible to receive free meals as part of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, the district said in a news release.

Information on bus service has been published in the local West Haven Voice, as well as at www.whschools.org, the release said.

For any questions regarding bus routes and scheduled, call Winkle Bus representative Jean Mitchell at 203-937-4331. Guidelines for bus service are based on School Board Policy No. 3541, which also is available at www.whschools.org.

New students need to register at their schools. Call 203-937-4300 for information regarding school assignments by home address. The districts residency policy requires that all students, without exception, produce bona fide proof that they live in West Haven, the release said.

As evidence of residency, the parent or legal guardian of each student must provide the school building administrator with the following most recent documents: mortgage statement or lease with landlord name and phone number, plus a current utility bill such as phone, cell, cable, electric, gas or water.

Parents must accompany all new students who are under 18 years of age to register. They also are required to present education and health records obtained from the school the student previously attended, the release said.

The opening day school schedule for Monday is as follows:

Haley, Mackrille, Pagels, Savin Rock, and Washington Elementary Schools will admit students at 8:55 a.m. Classes begin at 9:10 a.m. and dismiss at 3:25 p.m.

Forest Elementary School will admit students at 8:25 a.m. Classes begin at 8:40 a.m. and dismiss at 2:55 p.m.

Carrigan Intermediate School will admit incoming fifth- and sixth-grade students at 8:15 a.m. and dismiss at 2:40 p.m.

Harry M. Bailey Middle School will admit incoming seventh- and eighth-grade students at 7:40 a.m. and dismiss at 2:15 p.m.

West Haven High School will admit students at 7:25 a.m., with dismissal at 1:45 p.m.

For additional information on the start of school, go to www.whschools.org.
ANSONIA  The Ansonia Police Department is using todays technology as a tool to help fight crime.

The department is launching a phone app called the tip411 alert system, as a new and interactive way to keep the community connected and informed through emails, text messages and online public safety alerts, according to Police Chief Kevin Hale.

The app allows users to report crimes and other suspicious activities directly to police by sending anonymous text messages from their cell phone or via a free smartphone app.

We believe an informed community is a safer community, Hale said. The new tip411 system allows our department to engage with the public and share information that will help make Ansonia a safer place.

Residents can register to receive alerts from Ansonia police via email and/or text message to their cell phone by opting to receive neighborhood-specific or citywide alerts about public safety issues in their area. Community members are encouraged to sign up online by visiting the citys website

The public can also share information on crimes and other suspicious activity by sending an anonymous web or text tip to police. While the new app is not a replacement for dialing 911 in an emergency, those wishing to share information anonymously with police can simply text AnsoniaPD and their message to 847411 (tip411), according to Hale.

The new AnsoniaPD App for iPhone and Android from tip411 enables the public to share an anonymous tip with police and lets the officers respond back creating an anonymous two-way conversation.

The AnsoniaPD App and tip411 anonymous text a tip system are 100 percent anonymous, as the technology removes all identifying information before police see the tips and there is no way to identify the sender.

Residents in the City of Ansonia without a smartphone will still be able to send an anonymous text tip via their cell phone to police by texting keyword AnsoniaPD and their message/tip to 847411 (tip411). Anonymous web tips can also be submitted through the departments website or on the departments Facebook page on the Submit a Tip- tip411 tab.

Hale said making the app available to the public is a great way to boost communication and help the city fight crime.

People will be able to provide us with timely information while remaining anonymous, Hale said. In essence, tip411 allows residents to have a direct say in the safety of their neighborhoods, without fear of retaliation. It is another tool we utilize in order to help make our neighborhoods safer.

Hale noted that the Hamden Police Department has been using the tip411 app for a while, and on a national scale, the Cincinnati, Ohio Police Department recently rolled out the app.

Mayor David Cassetti lauded the police for launching the app.

I think it is a great addition to the police departments tool box, Cassetti said. Our residents and others can be of tremendous assistance to our police department. They hear things and observe things that can be helpful in solving crimes. Our police officers do a great job canvassing our city and fighting crime, but they can't be everywhere. The new tip app will make it easier and faster for people to help our law enforcement personnel.

Anyone with questions, or who need help signing up for alerts, are asked to call Ansonia Police at 203-735-1885.

jean.sos@snet.net.
JERSEY CITY -- The man accused of murdering a woman this month in Jersey City performed a Google search on the day of the fatal stabbing to find out whether peroxide removes blood stains, authorities said.

The detail emerged during a Thursday detention hearing for Ishmeal Coleman, 41, who is charged with the Aug. 12 murder of 38-year-old Takeela Wilson.

Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Keith Travers said Coleman Googled "whether or not peroxide removes blood from your hands" the same day Wilson was stabbed to death inside her Forrest Street home. Coleman also went to NJ.com on the day of the homicide and read The Jersey Journal story on the murder, Travers said.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said authorities learned of the Google search and his visit to NJ.com when they recovered Coleman's cellphone.

Coleman was ordered detained through the course of his prosecution during Thursday's hearing, which was held before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mark Nelson.

Travers also noted that the father of two has four prior convictions, adding that he failed to appear for a hearing in a previous matter.

Travers told Nelson the defendant was captured on video at the scene of the crime and when he was arrested the next day he was wearing the same clothing. Video also captured Coleman leaving the area in his vehicle, which was also recovered.

Before ordering Coleman to be detained, Nelson noted that there is a presumption of detention for defendants facing murder charges because they face a possible life sentence if convicted. He found that the defense arguments had not overcome that presumption.

Authorities say Coleman was acquainted with Wilson, but additional details surrounding their relationship are unclear and a possible motive for the homicide was not discussed.

Jersey City police were called to Wilson's home at 391 Forrest St. on Aug. 12 and found she had been stabbed in the chest. She was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene at about 4:35 p.m. that day.

A relative of Wilson living in her apartment later told authorities that he had let a man he did not know into the home and then left shortly after, leaving him alone with the victim. When the relative returned, he discovered Wilson unconscious and called 911.

Detectives interviewed a witness who saw a man driving a green four-door Mercury Sable that had been parked in front of the building. Authorities reviewed security footage from the building, which showed Coleman arrive in the Sable and make phone calls on the steps of the building before being let in, officials said.

Evidence gathered by police at the scene includes fingerprints and a cellphone belonging to the victim.

Coleman's car was later discovered near the Lafayette Village Apartments and detectives placed the car under surveillance. He was arrested after he approached the vehicle in possession of its keys.
JERSEY CITY -- Two of the three men charged with killing a 19-year-old outside an apartment complex on the edge of Downtown Jersey City this spring have pleaded not guilty.

Omar Williams and Kai Robinson, both 20, were arraigned before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mark Nelson in the Hudson County Administration Building where their attorneys entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.

Both are charged with the May 2 fatal shooting of Kamal McCord, who was found with a gunshot wound to his torso inside a City Crossing home at 21 Merseles Court. A 21-year-old woman was also injured during the incident, officials said at the time.

Williams and Robinson have been indicted on the charges of murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault, weapons offense related to guns, and receiving stolen property related to a vehicle, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Rinaldi said.

Williams' attorney, Scott Finkenauer, told Nelson that a motion to dismiss the indictment will be filed. Robinson is represented by Janet Costello.

A third man, 24-year-old Lasaun Rose, was also indicted in the incident but he was not arraigned Friday because his lawyer had a scheduling conflict. He is represented by Peter Willis.

Rose was originally charged with aggravated assault but has since been indicted on the charges of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, Rinaldi said.

Williams and Robinson remain in custody at the Hudson County jail in Kearny as they await trial. Rose has been released with conditions of supervision pending trial. Rose will be arraigned Sept. 10.

The next hearing in the matter for all three defendants is scheduled for the morning of Sept. 24 before Nelson.

During Friday's hearing, Rinaldi noted that Williams has a sentencing pending for a robbery charge. The prosecutor said there is no plea offer on the table at this time in the murder case, but he will discuss a possible plea offer with the defense attorneys as the case moves forward.

On the night of the shooting, police responding to the scene around 9:50 p.m. found McCord wounded inside the building. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The wounded woman was treated at Jersey City Medical Center, officials said at the time.

Murder carries a possible sentence of 30 years to life in prison upon conviction. Aggravated manslaughter carries a possible sentence of 10 to 30 years upon conviction.
Lianna Bonacorsi, 17, of Franklin Township is this year's Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair Ambassador.

She has been involved in 4-H for five years and is also active in various organizations at North Hunterdon Regional High School, where she is a senior.

A daughter of Sam and Laura Bonacorsi, she is in the Creative Kids food and arts club and the Junior Leaders. She has been photographer, vice president and president in Creative Kids and vice president of Junior Leaders.

The family this year got some goats and she joined the No Goats No Glory Club. For the past year she was a Hunterdon 4-H Ambassador, which includes working with youngsters in the Clover Buds program.

Lianna Bonacorsi is the 2018 Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair Ambassador. (Photo by Terry Wright)

As fair ambassador she helps with various shows and events during the event, which runs through Sunday, and will represent and promote the fair at several county and state ag events over the next year.

The fairgrounds is at 1207 Route 179 just south of Ringoes in East Amwell Township (use Lambertville for GPS mapping.)

Lianna is particularly interested in art and in Creative Kids, teaches workshops on various techniques such as watercolors and charcoal. She has done club, county, and state presentations in 4-H public speaking contests. She served as a co-host/emcee for the North Jersey Teen Conference and ran committee meetings.

This November she will fly to Atlanta, Ga. to represent New Jersey at the National 4-H Congress. Also in November she will take part in the contest to select the state fair ambassador.

Her parents operate Bonacorsi Family Farm, with locations in Franklin and Kingwood townships, and Lianna helps out in the summer, on weekends and after school, especially during U-pick apple and strawberry seasons. They grow mostly fruits to sell.

This year for the first time they have a booth as a fair vendor, selling the farm's produce. Besides goats they also raise rabbits, ducks, chickens and goats, and in the past had sheep and pigs.

At North Hunterdon High, she is vice president of the National Art Honor Society, as well as president of the German Honor Society. Through the art group, last year she organized a fundraiser night to help a friend and neighbor with ALS disease that degenerates muscles.

An artist, the friend paints with her toes, "and is one of my most inspiring role models and closest friends," Lianna said. She plans to pursue a career in either education or art therapy.

Submitted by the Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair
By Jennifer Rubin

President Donald Trump's actions during the campaign -- possible conspiracy to accept help from a foreign national and to violate campaign-finance laws in order to hide two alleged extramarital affairs -- as well as his actions once he became president (e.g. possible obstruction of justice, witness-tampering) are at issue for special counsel Robert Mueller and for Congress in the context of impeachment.

For now, let's assume that Trump did nothing wrong during his presidency, that only his pre-election conduct is at issue. Most commentators have taken the view that Mueller cannot indict for criminal activity during Trump's presidency, although this is a matter of current Justice Department policy and not airtight law.

Impeachment hearings are a vivid reality, according to many on cable news pic.twitter.com/JvFdPYTi1f  NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 22, 2018

We've never been confronted with the situation where the means by which a candidate got elected allegedly violated the law. When he should arguably have never gotten to the presidency to enjoy temporary immunity, must the prosecutor refrain from criminal indictment? There is no definite answer. One could look at pre-election criminal conduct as no different from criminal conduct during the presidency (i.e., no indictment), or one could look at the pre-election conduct as a fraud on the electorate. In the latter case, one could argue that the president cannot use his ill-gotten gain (the presidency) as a shield to immediate prosecution.

To take this question to the extreme, what if a candidate killed his opponent?

Joshua Matz, co-author of "To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment," points out that indicting for pre-election conduct raises all sorts of practical problems, including proving that the criminality swung the election.

Matz concludes (and I agree) that "the better (and more realistic) approach is to conclude that pre-election conduct 'defrauding' the electorate and corrupting the electoral process constitutes an impeachable offense. The president might then be impeached and removed for his misdeeds, at which point he could face criminal liability without all these questions."

In any event, I suspect that Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will adhere to the current Justice Department policy whether we are talking about pre- or post-election conduct.

The more interesting question is for Congress. When the president's conduct, as in my hypothetical, all occurs before the election, can the House impeach and the Senate convict? (This is really hypothetical, since Republicans will do nothing, I strongly suspect.) Some top legal scholars, fortunately, address this question in a report in The New York Times.

Matz tells the Times, "At the constitutional convention, the framers repeatedly expressed anxiety about the president seeking to obtain office through corrupt means. In fact, that was one of the principal reasons they included an impeachment power in the first place."

The Times notes that the framers "singled out one offense in particular as worthy of impeachment: a candidate's interference with the Electoral College."

Legal experts agree that meddling in the electoral college (an actual rigged election) is different from conspiring with a foreign power or illegally paying hush money.

But both interfere with the democratic process, said Laurence Tribe, a law professor at Harvard, the other author of "To End a Presidency" and a frequent critic of Mr. Trump:

"The felonies of which Cohen, in statements that were self-incriminating and thus particularly trustworthy, accused his former client, the president, didn't literally involve bribery," he said, referring to Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump's former lawyer, "but certainly involved criminal conduct designed to reduce the risk that disclosure of his extramarital affairs and dalliances on the eve of the election would cost him the votes he ended up needing in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin."

The short answer is that a conscientious House member who concluded that Trump intentionally violated the law in winning the presidency would certainly be acting in accordance with the framers' design if he voted to impeach.

A member of the Senate would likewise fulfill his constitutional obligation by voting to convict.

We conclude therefore that right now, if lawmakers believe Cohen's assertion that Trump directed him to violate the law in order to pay off two alleged paramours, they could well conclude that Trump should be impeached. At the very least, there are grounds to begin the discussion and the congressional fact-finding process.

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Washington Post, offering reported opinion from a center-right perspective.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Blackwater founder Erik Prince is currently on a media tour promoting his plan to privatize the war in Afghanistan. As reports circulate that President Donald Trump is growing frustrated with the ongoing war, advisers worry he is becoming more open to the idea of privatization. Prince says he could dramatically reduce the cost of the war and new tactics are needed to end the conflict. Critics say his plan is poorly constructed and sets a dangerous model for American warfare. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

Erik Prince appeared on "Andrea Mitchell Reports" on MSNBC to discuss his plans for replacing U.S. troops with trained civilians and dramatically decreasing the overall U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

Prince has been promoting his plan for over a year. In an August 2017 op-ed in The New York Times, Prince went into greater detail about his plan.

Military experts warn that not only is Prince dramatically oversimplifying what it would take to end a conflict like the one in Afghanistan, his plan could lead to a whole new set of issues in the region. In an essay for Politico, Sean McFate, who touts his own extensive experience in working with military contractors, lists several main problems he sees with Prince's plan.

McFate is not the only military expert who sees serious issues with Prince's plan. Business Insider reports a Department of Defense official expressed concerns that unleashing a private military on Afghanistan would be a step backward.

Prince's supporters say that using a private military force would help end the war quickly and would help the administration politically. Per The Independent:

Some critics have expressed worries that putting a private military force into Afghanistan would come dangerously close to policies held during colonialism.

Robert Reich, a former Secretary of Labor and current professor at the University of California at Berkeley, pointed out that Prince's plan calls for the installation of a "viceroy," a position that was used by colonial powers to maintain their control foreign nations.

The plan would replace U.S. troops with private military contractors overseen by a "viceroy" -- yes, viceroy -- who would report directly to Trump. https://t.co/OPy96eYp3u  Robert Reich (@RBReich) August 17, 2018

The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say.
The Star-Ledger's Aug. 6 editorial, "ICE's spokesman in N.J. has disturbing ties to hate groups," contains malicious statements about me.

It is manifestly biased and based on discredited sources. The Hill, which originally reported on your editorial, has since taken down its story and replaced it with an editor's note, clarifying that it was an opinion piece.

Your editorial relies solely on two politically biased sources.

First, the Center for American Progress, a well-known politically motivated think tank, and second, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which recently issued an apology and paid $3.375 million to a Muslim reformer for errors in its "Journalist's Manual: Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists," which has been removed from its website.

At the same time, The Star-Ledger editorial ignores positive comments on my work by significant U.S. officials, such as former counter-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke (who wrote in his book "Against All Enemies": "Emerson had written the book 'American Jihad,' which had told me more than the FBI ever had about radical Islamic groups in the U.S."), former U.S. Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Oliver "Buck" Revell, former associate FBI deputy director, former FBI counter-terrorism chief Bob Blitzer, and former New York Times managing editor A.M. Rosenthal.

Your editorial claims I criticized former Gov. Chris Christie for merely nominating a Muslim, Sohail Mohammed as a New Jersey judge. In fact my story on Christie pointed to his support of Mohammad Qatanani of Passaic County, convicted by an Israeli court for being a member of Hamas and incarcerated for three years.

Your editorial also ignored my reason for criticizing Christie's judicial nomination of Sohail Mohammed. As I wrote, it was because of his defense of the Holy Land Foundation after it was shut down by the U.S. government for illegally funding Hamas, and for defending Sami Al-Arian, who was revealed to be the secretary of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and who pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide goods and services to PIJ.

Your editorial further omits that I unhesitatingly apologized for misspeaking about Birmingham and that German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that no-go zones do exist in Europe, a contention I similarly stated.

Finally, your editorial reeks of racism in its attack on ICE's New Jersey spokesman Emilio Karim Dabul, an Arab American who has spoken out in support of me and of Israel. He has received death threats for his courageous words.

-- Steven Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)

Send letters to The Star-Ledger by emailing eletters@starledger.com.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh could sit in judgment of the president who picked him, an important reason to oppose his nomination, according to U.S. Sen. Cory Booker.

Booker, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on Kavanaugh next month, reiterated his opposition to his nomination after meeting with the judge.

He said Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, "refused to commit to recusing himself" from cases involving special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign and "has already reached the legal conclusion that a sitting president should not be investigated or indicted while in office."

"It's clearer than ever that Judge Kavanaugh will not be an independent check on this president," said Booker, D-N.J.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., also has said he will vote against Kavanaugh's nomination.

Booker earlier asked the Judiciary Committee to delay action on Kavanaugh until after Muller's investigation.

"At a moment in history when the president has been directly implicated in a federal crime, the Senate should not be acting to advance the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice who could ultimately rule to shield President Trump from accountability," Booker said.

Booker also suggested that Kavanaugh would provide the fifth vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.

Trump promised during the campaign to appoint justices who would overturn the decision, a long-sought goal of the Christian conservatives who strongly supported him.

"Judge Kavanaugh was unable to assure me that he believes Roe v. Wade is correctly decided Supreme Court precedent, which further reinforces that his confirmation would be a direct threat to a woman's right to make her own medical decisions," Booker said.

Booker will get to question Kavanaugh when the Judiciary panel holds hearings on his nomination beginning Sept. 4.

In yet another departure from legislative norms, Senate Republicans are rushing ahead with Kavanaugh's nomination before receiving the documents lawmakers have sought about his past government service, including his time in President George W. Bush's administration.

The National Archives has said it won't be able to provide all of the material until late October.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Staffing was so low at Ann Klein Forensic Center, New Jersey's psychiatric facility for patients with criminal histories, patients were routinely and unnecessarily locked inside their rooms overnight and for hours during shift changes.

On his first day on the job in January, State Health Department Commissioner Shereef Elnahal told NJ Advance Media the Mercer County facility was on the verge of losing its national accreditation from The Joint Commission -- the independent stamp of approval verifying a hospital is safe and functioning properly -- if the "lock-ins" didn't stop and other safety risks were not fixed.

On Friday, Elnahal explained how the department averted the crisis at Ann Klein, and detailed a multi-million-dollar 18-month turnaround plan for all four publicly funded psychiatric facilities serving 1,453 patients.

The changes include:

Hiring 220 new employees at a cost of $10.4 million, including about 90 at Ann Klein to end the reliance on lockdowns, and 37 at Greystone;

Appointing Tomika Carter, formerly of Bellevue Hospital in New York, as CEO at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Parsippany, the most populated of the four facilities where overcrowding and assaults escalated a year ago;

Reducing the patient population at all facilities by 57 people from January to July;

Committing $23 million to capital improvement projects to improve building safety.

"As any hospital CEO will tell you, it takes time to improve the quality and safety of care in hospitals," said Elnahal, who worked U.S. Veteran's Affairs hospitals during the Obama administration. "Nevertheless, we are laser focused on achieving sustainable improvements for patients and family members."

The state's strategy is guided in part by a consultant's report, also released Friday, which described how the hospitals have deteriorated due to financial neglect, stifling bureaucracy and a lack of focus on treatment.

"There is a palpable sense of futility that permeates all the institutions that is not compatible with a culture of recovery, hopefulness or empowerment for patients," according to an executive summary of the report by New Solutions, Inc. of New Brunswick. "Nor does this this culture of futility offer a rewarding working environment for staff or management."

Gov. Chris Christie spent $740,500 to hire New Solutions in the final days of his administration in response to months of criticism from Greystone's board of trustees and news coverage about the hospital's dwindling medical and executive staff, overcrowding and escalating violent episodes.

Christie also fired the entire volunteer board which brought the hospital's problems to light.

New Solutions identified a problem with the lack of interaction between patients and psychiatrists, noting, "acute patients are only seen weekly and chronic patients seen monthly."

The relationships between nurses and patients are nearly as remote, the consultant's report said.

"With few exceptions, there was no evidence that nursing staff had working relationships with patients or that they knew that this was important," the report said.

According to the health department's "action plan," also released on Friday, New Solutions "present a picture of a hospital system that has been under-resourced, understaffed, and otherwise afflicted with a culture that has not prioritized the system's role in achieving patient-centered clinical care delivery."

Led by Deputy Commissioner Deborah Hartel, a 37-year hospital administrator appointed in April, and Assistant Commissioner Valerie Mielke, the commissioner said the department will operate the institutions like a regional hospital network. They will share treatment strategies and create policies to more effectively manage the workforce of nearly 5,000.

Elnahal said recruiting and retaining staff has been and remains a challenge, in part because state government often cannot compete with private-sector salaries and the civil-service structure of hiring is a slow process.

"Our goal is to create a hospital system with a culture of care that is top-notch a mission that is appealing," he said.

Progress is evident already, state health officials.

At Greystone, the patient census is 486, 62 fewer patients than last August. Across all hospitals, there was an 11 percent decline in patient assaults in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017. The department did not make aggregate numbers available.

Hartel said recruitment efforts are paying off to hire psychiatrists and top medical executives at Greystone and Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township, Hartel said. Additionally, there are 10 nursing hires "in the queue."

Sen Richard Codey, D-Essex, who has made improving the psychiatric hospitals a focus of his 36-year political career, said he was briefed on the reports and the Murphy administration's turnaround plan.

"They are headed in the direction in the right direction, and I hope they don't stop," Codey said.

The four institutions are Greystone, Ancora, Ann Klein Forensic Center, which is on the campus of Trenton Psychiatric Hospital located in Ewing and Trenton.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Gov. Phil Murphy and fellow Democrats who lead the New Jersey Legislature said Friday they are undeterred by proposed IRS regulations that would kneecap efforts to circumvent a new $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions, and vowed to keep fighting.

"Fairness is worth fighting for," Murphy said, flanked by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, at a news conference Friday afternoon. "Equal treatment among peer states is worth fighting for. New Jersey property taxpayers are worth fighting for."

The leaders convened Friday, a day after the Internal Revenue Service published proposed rules invalidating federal income tax deductions for donations to charitable funds made to get around the truncated state and local tax deduction.

The proposed rule would defeat the schemes high-tax blue states like New Jersey devised to workaround the new tax law.

"The proposed rule will uphold that limitation by preventing attempts to convert tax payments into charitable contributions," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement Thursday.

Lawmakers here passed a law earlier this year allowing municipalities, counties and school districts to set up charitable funds to accept donations in lieu of property taxes. Murphy signed the measure.

In exchange for their donations, homeowners would receive a tax credit they could use against their local real estate tax bill.

This was, most experts said, a risky game the IRS was likely to quash.

But Murphy and state officials have argued there was precedence, pointing to states that have charitable funds, often to use taxpayer subsidies for private schools.

Murphy accused the administration of President Donald Trump, a Republican, inistration of throwing those red states under the bus in order to "settle a political score" with Democrat-leaning states.

"It's an extraordinary politicization of a regulatory process," Murphy said Friday.

The governor said the state intends to lodge its complaints during the comment period for the proposed rule, and consider other steps, including legislation and litigation.

"We're sick of sending a boatload of money down and getting very little back," Murphy said. "And this only exacerbates an already existing condition. And we're saying collectively, 'enough.'"

New Jersey taxpayers sent $31 billion more to Washington in 2015 than they received in services, more than any other state but New York, according to the State University of New York's Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Also in New Jersey, more than four in 10 taxpayers claimed that tax break and deducted an average deduction of $17,850 in 2015, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

New Jersey also brought suit with three other states against the Trump administration, alleging the federal tax code reforms infringe on the states' "sovereign authority to determine their own taxation and fiscal policies."

No local taxing body has moved to create a charitable fund under this arrangement. Local government lobbyists say local officials were waiting for Murphy's administration to issue guidance, which it held back pending the IRS' opinion.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Jonathan Salant contributed to this report.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
The billboard in the center of Union Township is emblazoned with President Trump's picture next to the words in bold letters: "Our Leader, The Idiot."

The sign, which is posted on Morris Avenue, went up one day after Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to fraud and campaign violations and implicated the president in a felony.

The sign is meant to promote an anti-Trump documentary.

Union Township officials want residents to know they had nothing to do with it.

"Residents, it's come to our attention that a potentially offensive billboard has gone up on Morris Ave promoting a documentary about the president," the township stated on Facebook.

"While we take these matters very seriously, billboards are privately owned and as such the Township of Union has no authority or role in approving what goes up on each of them," the town said.

Neil Harrison, a political activist from New York, told News12 he paid nearly $1,000 to protest the president and publicize a film he is producing.

Harrison, who could not be reached for comment Friday, told the news station he chose New Jersey because New York City does not allow political messages on billboards.

Natalie Pineiro, spokeswoman for Union Township, said the municipality has no policy against political messages on billboards.

"However, it needs to be understood that while the billboard features a politician, the president, it's ultimately a billboard promoting a documentary," Pineiro said.

A spokeswoman for OutFront Media, which owns the billboard, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Elsewhere in the nation, some anti-Trump signs have quickly been taken down.

In Georgia, a billboard calling for Trump's impeachment was taken down Tuesday after being up for just a day. The man who paid to have it erected is now complaining his right to freedom of speech had been violated.

Residents, its come to our attention that a potentially offensive billboard has gone up on Morris Ave promoting a... Posted by Township of Union, New Jersey - Government on Thursday, August 23, 2018

Right after the Union Township sign went up, it drew emotional responses from all corners.

Some wanted Harrison's address and phone number to be made public while others said taking the sign down would be censorship.

Others blamed Trump for creating a climate that encouraged such a sign in the first place.

"There is no decency anymore and the hatred gets worse and worse, and the names that people are called because they voted for our president are just pure venomous," wrote Robin Wehrle Zukowski, a longtime Union resident.

"Why didn't this clown put it up in NY where he lives?" she asked.

Deni Jerome of Clark wrote that a United States president should never be disrespected.

"I don't care if Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny was president of the United States, this is such disrespect," Jerome wrote.

Elizabeth Zembilis posted a screenshot of a Trump tweet from Aug. 18 that stated in part: "Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police."

"Interesting, out of his own mouth," Zembilis wrote. "But I guess it's only OK for him to say whatever he wants, right?"

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Government has allayed fears that it plans to make foreign companies cede 51 percent of their shareholding to locals.

Bogolo Kenewendo, the minister of Investment, Trade and Industry on Wednesday said the new administration only wants the business community to support its endeavors.We are not asking any company to give us shares but if you decide at your own volition, we support that, said Kenewendo at the launch of Bokomo Full Mix Plant.

She said the current government wants to see big foreign companies act as an anchor to build the local producers capacity. Kenewendo reiterated that her government is open and is implementing a transformation agenda for economic activities to thrive. We are looking at developing this economy with the private sector for the betterment of Batswana and those living in Botswana, said Kenewendo adding that government remains open and hopeful for sustainable partnership with the private sector.

We are continuously engaging so that we can assure the private sector of our commitment, collaboration makes us better, said Kenewendo. She said the private sector should participate in governments efforts to drive local producing capacity.Kenewendo applauded Bokomo for job creation and empowerment of locals, which has led to the company employing over 700 Batswana with a minimum of three expatriates in the past 14 years of operation in Botswana.

The minister said government and the private sector should align to one anothers objective. To continuously harmonise its relations with the private sector, government has initiated an after care programme to find their challenges and regulatory impediments.

In the retail space, government wants the sector to put forward a commitment of how they (retailers) can grow locals and develop SMMEs capacity. She said local SMMEs could only grow if the economy makes a deliberate decision to provide a market for the budding entrepreneurs.We want to facilitate them to meet the standards that established companies have set, said Kenewendo, adding that preference for local raw materials over imports will assist in the growth of local stakeholders.

Meanwhile Bokomos new Full Mix Plant is expected to improve efficiency and increase the companys production capacity from one tonne per hour to one and half tonnes per hour. The over two million pula investment of the new full mix plant is part of Bokomos blueprint to grow the company. The companys recent proposal with regulators for a sorghum milling plant has been approved.
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, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: journalist Karen Gadbois.

The icon: Karen Gadbois.

The legacy: Karen Gadbois was "just" a blogger during those dark days after 2005's Hurricane Katrina hit, working from the kitchen table in her ruined Carrollton home and venting her outrage on a site she called Squandered Heritage. But she was a determined one; public officials who underestimated her did so at their own peril. Her digging, dismissed by some as "amateur investigations," ended up uncovering widespread misuse of federal recovery money by local public agencies and -- working with TV reporter Lee Zurik -- led to such coveted journalism honors as a Peabody Award and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. It would also set her on a new and unexpected career path as a founder of the local nonprofit investigative newsroom The Lens -- and prove once more the indispensable value of solid watchdog journalism.

The artist: Connie Kittok.

The quote: "It has set off a bomb that has exploded in slow motion here in the past three weeks, largely thanks to Ms. Gadbois: the federally financed program to gut and repair the storm-damaged homes of the poor and elderly, on which the city spent $1.8 million, has been exposed as -- at least partly -- a sham." -- The New York Times' Adam Nossiter, in a 2008 story about Karen Gadbois' work

Explore more of Kittok's work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

Before she was a citizen journalist, Gadbois was a textile artist living in San Miguel, Mexico. She moved to New Orleans in 2002. "We picked New Orleans because it seemed to be the place in the United States that is the most similar to Mexico in terms of its sense of daily life," Gadbois said in a 2010 interview with The Times-Picayune.

Source: The Times-Picayune archives; The Lens; staff research

More on 300 for 300:
iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- In the 2016 presidential election Facebook and other social media platforms were utilized by political campaigns and interest groups to run advertisements with very few rules regulating their disclosure and little public information about their source.



The lack of knowledge about these advertisements underscored the ease with which political actors, both foreign and domestic, were able to manipulate platforms like Facebook to disseminate misleading and often false information to Facebook users in the United States and around the world.



The spread of misinformation meant to foment political discord and stir unrest continues to be a concern less than three months out from a consequential midterm election. Just this week, Facebook announced it removed "652 pages, groups and accounts for coordinated inauthentic behavior that originated in Iran and targeted people across multiple internet services in the Middle East, Latin America, UK and US."



Facebook also said it "removed multiple pages, groups and accounts" linked to "inauthentic behavior" on its platforms, including actions that originated in Russia.



Aside from the threat from nefarious actors, Facebook's influence as a medium through which American politicians and campaigns communicate with voters has skyrocketed in the last decade. But exactly how that influence and power is being yielded by politicians, campaigns and outside groups from all sides of the political spectrum still remains somewhat of a mystery due to the lack of rules governing the disclosure of that information.



In order to better understand the tactics and strategies of all political actors on Facebook, ABC News is partnering with ProPublica, a nonprofit, award-winning news organization that has built a tool to collect information and data on political ads that are being targeted to users of the social media giant.



ProPublica's tool is a simple, free browser plugin on a Firefox or Google Chrome web browser, that Facebook users can opt into and report political advertisements they see on the site. Those advertisements will then be collected by ProPublica in a public database to track and analyze advertisements on Facebook.



ABC News and other news organizations will then use that database and information to better understand and report on how political actors are utilizing one of the most powerful communication mediums on the planet.



Thus far the tool has gathered almost 60,000 individual advertisements from over 12,500 contributors, according to ProPublica.



ProPublica clearly states: "The tool doesn't collect your personal information," and privacy controls ensure that the information that is being collected relates only to the advertisement that appeared on the site.



Earlier this year Facebook announced steps to make the source of political advertisements on the site more transparent and understandable, but has still not given news organizations or academic institutions full and total access to all of the data behind what goes into purchasing and targeting those ads.



The site has created its own archive of political advertisements that allows users to obtain "more information about some of the ads they see and the advertisers who are funding them," according to Facebook. But that archive remains an incomplete picture of how political advertisements are tailored to certain users because it does not show who was targeted with the ad.



By utilizing ProPublica's tool to track advertisements, Facebook users can more easily report political advertising, giving news organizations more data to gather and a greater ability to understand, analyze, fact-check and investigate political communication on the site.



Already the tool has helped locate political ads that were actually scams and malware, political ads that were ignore federal election rules by not disclosing who funded them, and uncovered a fake Facebook page claiming to belong to Special Counsel Robert Mueller with more than 100,000 followers.



The midterms are fast approaching, and ProPublica's tool will be a key asset in understanding how politicians, their campaigns, and powerful outside interest groups are using the medium to communicate with voters.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) has plans to revitalise business process outsourcing (BPO) initiatives mooted 14 years ago by the then Botswana International Financial Services Company (IFSC) before its merger with Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA), as part of efforts to fight unemployment scourge in the country.

Reginald Selelo, Acting BITC Chief Executive Officer said the current administrations decision to place youth unemployment at the apex of its agenda has led to identifying BPO as a critical sector for the development of the economy.

There is willingness by the government to create employment which is one of the biggest priorities particularly for the youth demographic.

We do not need to look any further than the BPO sector particularly domestic and international contact centres which have a proven track record in creating labour intensive sustainable job opportunities particularly for the youth, said Selelo highlighting that the countrys spiraling youth unemployment currently sits at 20 percent.

He said the recent decoupling of the network from Botswana Telecommunication(BTC) to form Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet)followed by heavy investments on network infrastructure and other advantages should spur the industry through low data and voice cost.

Botswana also offers an abundance of IT graduates, other graduates and form five leavers available who are currently unemployed can be employed in the sector, said Selelo, adding that Batswana have a neutral English speaking accent which can attract international companies to set up call centres in Botswana. Since 2015, BITC has hosted five reputable contact centre companies employing a combined 10, 000 agents in both India and South Africa to benchmark.

It was evident from the interactions that despite our investment offering being a compelling one there was need to further enable investment attraction through availing tailor-made incentives targeting the BPO sector, if as a country we are keen to grow the sector locally, said Selelo.

Selelos sentiments were also echoed by Asnath Breseno, Direct BPO Managing Director who highlighted that a BPO skills gap exists in the local market. The labour force is there but people that are skilled are not many and we need to develop that, said Breseno highlighting that skills development will enable Botswana to compete international in the BPO sector.

Currently only one course is registered with Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) and few individuals are accredited trainers.If Botswana is to succeed in BPO, we need to have people trained so that we do not struggle to get skilled people emphasized Breseno. Direct BPO, a subsidiary of telecommunications operator Mascom, set up in 2017 as an alternative revenue stream offering multi-channel contact service, not only limited to voice calls and employing 120 agents, has already started scanning the international market.

We have already started engaging regional companies. This is not a cast in stone industry, we hope to break into the international market by the 5th year, said Breseno. Breseno is optimistic that Direct BPO will move from 60 seats to 800/1000 seats in the next four to five years.Its something that can be done, said Breseno.

With a total of 14 call centres currently active in the country, the domestic industry also offers more opportunities for utilities companies, insurance, banking, retail, travel and hospitality sectors offers the BPO sector an opportunity to grow fast and wide. Gareth Pritchard, BPESA Western CapeChief Executive Officer an industry association also encouraged Botswana invests in skills development for the BPO industry.

Central to the BPO ecosystem is the talent pool, said Pritchard citing that South Africa is not having any major competition on the continent in the BPO industry. Most countries are fairly small and on the start up phase, the supply chain is massive, said Pritchard urging Botswana to come up with a value proposition that will immensely kick off the sector.
New Orleans police arrested a 41-year-old man accused of hitting a man in the face with a bottle before robbing him and threatening his life on Louisiana Avenue early Friday (Aug. 24). The incident was one of five robberies reported overnight across New Orleans.

Enio Zelaya was arguing with another 41-year-old man in the 1900 block of Louisiana Avenue (map) around 1:25 a.m. when he hit him in the side of the face with a glass bottle and demanded his money, according to an initial NOPD report. The victim complied.

Zelaya then "threatened the victim's life if he called the police" and fled, according to the report. Police caught up to Zelaya and arrested him not far from the scene.

The incident was first classified as an armed robbery with a gun, but NOPD spokesman Aaron Looney said that was a mistake in the initial report. The robbery has since been re-classified as an armed robbery.

Booking information for Zelaya was not immediately available.

New Orleans police also received reports of four robberies that occurred Thursday evening and early Friday morning, including two in the French Quarter. All were classified as simple robberies, not involving a weapon.

At 4:56 p.m. Thursday, a 32-year-old man was riding his bike in the 1400 block of St. Bernard Avenue (map) when an unknown man in a wheelchair entered the street and blocked his way, according to a preliminary police report. The two were arguing when a second unknown man approached the victim from behind, took his cell phone from his back pocket and "assaulted him," police said.

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Just before 3 a.m. Friday, a 53-year-old man was approached from behind by an unknown person near the intersection of Esplanade Avenue and Chartres Street (map) on the edge of the French Quarter. The robber demanded the 53-year-old's property and fled in an unknown direction with his wallet, according to an initial police report.

In a third robbery, a 39-year-old man was attacked by three men who took his wallet, money and cell phone near the intersection of Dauphine and St. Louis streets (map) in the French Quarter, according to an initial police report. The incident was reported at 3:51 a.m. Friday.

Police said the victim followed one of the suspects, flagged down NOPD officers in the area and told them about the incident. Police caught up with Calvin Davis, 33, two blocks away at Bienville and Dauphine streets and arrested him in connection with the robbery. Davis has a number of previous arrests on various charges, including possession of marijuana and crack cocaine, and criminal trespassing, according to court records.

At 4:35 a.m., police reported a fourth robbery in the 600 block of Frenchmen Street (map). A 30-year-old man was attacked by three unknown men, who stole money from his wallet, according to the initial report. The subjects fled in an unknown direction, police said.

No other information -- including possible suspects and motives -- was immediately available.

This story was updated at 11:52 a.m. after NOPD noted a mistake in the original crime report. The robbery on Louisiana Avenue was an armed robbery, not an armed robbery with a gun as listed on the preliminary report sent Friday morning (Aug. 24).
A 36-year-old New Orleans man was indicted in federal court Thursday (Aug. 23) in a late July robbery at a Mid-City bank, according to the local U.S. Attorney's office.

Jamie Early is accused of stealing about $2,600 during the July 27 robbery at the Capital One Bank at 3001 Tulane Ave.

According to federal court documents, the robbery occurred about 11:20 a.m., when a man approached the bank's teller window and passed a demand note beneath the safety glass.

The note "stated in substance: put all of the money in the bag except the dye pack, I have a gun," states a criminal complaint filed Aug. 9 against Early. The robber did not produce a bag for the money, so the teller just slid a stack of cash beneath the window, and the robber fled.

According to the complaint, sworn by FBI agent Jonathan Fretwell, Early confessed to the robbery on Aug. 8, after several people saw publicized surveillance images from the bank and identified Early as the robbery suspect. One person identified Early by his bicycle, which he used to travel to and from the bank.

"(Early) explained that he was financially strained due to his drug usage and bills," according to the complaint, which states the robbery occurred while Early was on a two-week suspension from his work.

A booking photo of Early was not available Thursday night.
Two suicides - those of a 61-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy -- that occurred inside the Orleans Parish jail in 2016 have cost the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office and taxpayers who fund the agency a total of $1 million in payouts to settle two lawsuits.

OPSO and the family members of Cleveland Tumblin and Jaquin Thomas agreed on the settlement amounts in January and March, respectively, according to sheriff's office records obtained through a public records request.

The deaths of Tumblin and Thomas, which were scrutinized by federal jail monitors and city leaders, happened in March 2016 and October 2016. They died in OPSO custody less than a year after incarcerated people in New Orleans were moved from the now-shuttered Orleans Parish Prison facility to a new $145 million jail referred to as the Orleans Justice Center.

Settlement documents in both cases stipulate the defendants, including OPSO Sheriff Marlin Gusman, do not admit liability in the deaths by agreeing to a settlement and that each of the defendants "expressly deny liability."

The plaintiffs in the lawsuits each agreed to dismiss their case after the final payments are made, and the settlement prevents them from bringing any other claims related to the in-custody deaths.

Jailed man hanged himself from shower that locked from inside

Tumblin hanged himself inside a shower stall that locked from the inside on March 5, 2016, and died two days later after he was taken to a hospital, according to information from the sheriff's office and testimony by a federal jail monitor.

A corrections expert who reports to the federal judge about the jail's mental health services as part of the jail's consent decree, Dr. Raymond Patterson, testified in April 2016 he told jail administrators during a tour of the jail -- before the facility opened -- they should remove exposed metal poles in the shower stalls because they posed a suicide risk. The administrators did not heed the advice, he testified. Patterson also said that in 35 years of practice in the corrections field, he had never seen locks on jail shower stalls that could keep out staff members. When a deputy first saw Tumblin hanging in the shower stall, using the pipes as a tie-off, Patterson said, the deputy went to a control booth and asked for backup rather than first seeking to support his body. A nurse was the first to reach Tumblin and support his body and did so only after crawling underneath the locked stall door, he said. The sheriff's office removed the interior locks shortly after the April 2016 court hearing when Patterson testified about them, a department spokesman said at the time.

The lawsuit filed by Tumblin's son, Cleveland Henderson, was settled for $575,000, to be paid in three installments, records show. The first payment of $240,000 was made Feb. 1; the second installment of $150,000 is scheduled for Oct. 1; and the third installment of $175,000 is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2019.

The lawsuit states the exposed pipe and interior locks on the shower were "both known suicide risks." The suit also states Tumblin had a number of documented mental health problems, including bipolar and paranoid schizophrenia, and had asked jail staff to see a mental health professional because he had suffered a recent loss and had been depressed. Tumblin was placed in a general population unit, however, and was never seen by a mental health professional, the suit states.

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The suit claims Gusman, the then-warden of the jail and Correct Care Solutions, the health care contractor, showed "deliberate indifference" to those jailed in OPSO's custody, resulting in Tumblin's death, and that the staff was not properly trained to provide "constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care."

Jailed teen assaulted, given wrong medication before suicide, lawsuit claims

Thomas hanged himself in his cell Oct. 17, 2016, OPSO has said. Court documents stated his body hanged in his cell for more than an hour before an employee supervising the juvenile housing unit discovered him. The sheriff's office fired and then arrested that employee, who was later indicted with malfeasance of office, accused of failing in her duty to properly supervise the unit. Orleans Criminal Court Judge Camille Buras quashed the indictment in May, however, after the employee's attorneys argued the lapse in supervision was attributed to systematic failures, not the failures of one person. The employee had not yet been deputized and lacked training required to guard juveniles, her attorneys said.

New Orleans City Council members seeking answers about the teen's in-custody suicide learned he had been held in the adult jail for nearly a month without bond before he was seen by a judge, despite a law requiring defendants to appear before a judge within 72 hours of their arrest. Thomas had also been assaulted in a fight, jail officials confirmed.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Thomas' mother Tresscel Thomas, was settled for $425,000, to be paid in two installments, records show. The first payment of $$212,500 was made April 1; the second installment of $212,500 is scheduled for Oct. 1.

The claims at one point during Thomas' incarceration at the adult facility, he was given the "incorrect medication," which resulted in medical staff at the jail pumping his stomach. It says that after Thomas was assaulted, none of his family members were notified. He was also not properly medicated for his depression, the suit claims, "because the hospital never sent medical forms to his legal guardian...who was required to sign off on them due to Thomas' minor status."

"The physical and emotional injuries inflicted upon Jaquin and the (plaintiffs) were willful, wanton, cruel and the result of intentional or deliberate indifferent conduct," states the lawsuit.

After Thomas' death, New Orleans City Council members and jail officials discussed a series of changes they planned to make regarding the way juveniles charged as adults are handled in the local justice system.

Galen Hair, an attorney representing Thomas' family, said shortly after the lawsuit was filed that while Thomas' family was pleased to see the teen's death become "a catalyst for sweeping changes" related to the juvenile justice system, "unfortunately, that sweeping change doesn't bring Jaquin back."

Tumblin and Thomas are two of 10 people who have died in OPSO custody or in the hospital after being taken there from jail since the new facility opened in 2015. The sheriff's office remains under a costly 2013 federal consent decree mandating reforms to conditions there and is now run primarily by an independent compliance director, Darnley Hodge, with the help of Gusman.
New Orleans police said they are investigating attempted armed robberies that were committed just minutes apart Friday morning (Aug. 24) at two Algiers stores, possibly by the same suspect.

The first incident was reported at 9:49 a.m. at the Walmart store in the 4000 block of Behrman Place, a police department spokesman said. A second attempted robbery was reported at 9:56 a.m. at a nearby Winn-Dixie store in the 3000 block of Holiday Drive, he said.

No injuries were reported in either incident.

Detectives believe the same perpetrator may have been responsible for both incidents, but that has not been confirmed, the spokesman said.

The suspect in both incidents was described as a 20- to 30-year old man with long dreadlocked hair in a bun/ponytail style, police said. He was last seen wearing a knit cap, an orange work vest, blue shirt and dark jeans.

No additional details are available at this time, police said..

Authorities ask that anyone with information about either incident contact 4th District detectives at 504-658-6040 or Crimestoppers anonymously at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.
The Walmart Neighborhood Market in the 3200 block of Manhattan Boulevard was robbed Friday (Aug. 24), according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office - the second Walmart store and third major retailer on the West Bank to be hit with robbery attempts within a span of a few hours.

New Orleans police said they are investigating attempted armed robberies that were committed just minutes apart Friday morning (Aug. 24): The first incident was reported at 9:49 a.m. at the Walmart store in the 4000 block of Behrman Place, a police department spokesman said. A second attempted robbery was reported at 9:56 a.m. at a nearby Winn-Dixie store in the 3000 block of Holiday Drive, he said.

New Orleans Police believe the same perpetrator may have been responsible for both attempted robberies in Algiers, but that has not been confirmed, the spokesman said.

There were no injuries reported in the third robbery, on Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey. JPSO sent out an alert about that robbery at 12:21 p.m.

According to New Orleans police, a man walked into the West Bank Winn-Dixie and proceeded to the customer service desk where he handed the cashier a hand written note demanding money to be put in a bag. The man lifted his shirt implying a weapon. The cashier refused and the man fled the location.

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JPSO spokesman Glen Boyd said a man walked into the Harvey Walmart Neighborhood Market and slipped a female cashier at the customer service desk a note demanding money. He was armed with a gun, Boyd said. The cashier gave the man cash and he fled on foot.

Detectives and crime scene deputies were at the Harvey scene at about 12:40 p.m. Friday, clustered around the customer service desk near the entrance. The store remained open and customers continued shopping.

Boyd could not say whether the Harvey robbery is connected to the attempts in Algiers.

The suspect in the Algiers incidents was described as a 20- to 30-year old man with long dreadlocked hair in a bun/ponytail style, police said. He was last seen wearing a knit cap, an orange work vest, blue shirt and dark jeans.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporter Robert Rhoden contributed to this report.
The families of two sixth-graders who attend a private Roman Catholic School in Terrytown are pursuing legal action against the school and school system. They argue that school policies that led to the two students being removed from class due to their hairstyles are discriminatory and adversely affect minority girls.

Montrelle Fennidy Thursday (Aug. 23) filed a lawsuit in the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish on behalf of her 11-year-old daughter Faith, according to a copy of the petition sent to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune by family attorney Inem O'Boyle. Fennidy is filing the suit alongside Toyonita Parquet, whose daughter Tyrielle Davis has also not been allowed to return to Christ the King School, the lawsuit states.

The families asked the court to enact a temporary restraining order against Christ the King, its principal Dawn Swear Castillo, and the Archdiocese of New Orleans to prevent them from enforcing the policy keeping their daughters out of class. That temporary restraining order was approved by Civil District Court Judge Piper Griffin Thursday afternoon, according to documentation provided by family attorney James Williams.

The temporary order would be in place until the court address whether it will place a preliminary and permanent injunction on the school to stop it from upholding its new policy.

Video footage of Faith in tears at Christ the King gained national attention this week. Administrators said her braided hair extensions violated school policy. The video spread rapidly on social media and has been covered by national news outlets, putting the school in a harsh spotlight as critics say black children have historically experienced more school discipline over their hairstyles.

In a statement, the families of Faith and Tyrielle said the families are "heart-broken that this situation has come to this."

"The rule about hair care for students was created without the consideration of anyone who is African American," the statement says. "No person of color provided feedback to the rule before it was uniformly put in place by Christ the King School and the Archdiocese of New Orleans."

Page 18 of Christ the King's handbook for the 2018-19 school year states the following for "boys and girls: only the student's natural hair is permitted. Extensions, wigs, hair pieces of any kind are not allowed." Handbooks from the previous years didn't include this rule. The school's website states its first day of school was Aug. 9.

The lawsuit states the school's policies have prohibited the middle schoolers from completing the school year with their peers, thus resulting in "clear irreparable harm."

In a statement Thursday, Catholic Schools Superintendent RaeNell Billiot Houston said "we continue to reach out to the family and attorneys with the goal of having the student return to school."

The school notified parents in newsletters on July 19 and Aug. 6 that it had changed its policies, according to documentation provided to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune earlier this week by the school system. Parents were all asked to sign a handbook to indicate they understood the school's policies, Houston said previously.

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Faith was sitting in homeroom with her peers on the first day of class Aug. 9 when her teacher called across the room from her desk to ask Faith if her hair was "real," the lawsuit states. The teacher handed Faith a letter that stated Faith wasn't compliant with the newest policy regarding hair extensions. Her mother was supposed to sign the reprimand letter and return it the next day. Before classes dismissed, however, the lawsuit states that a school guidance counselor called Faith out of homeroom and ordered her to bend down so the counselor could check Faith's hair for extensions.

Montrelle Fennidy called principal Castillo Aug. 13 to seek permission for Faith to keep her braided extensions in order to preserve the child's hair, the lawsuit states. However, Castillo said the extensions are prohibited because they fall under a list of styles that "draw undue attention to the student and cause distractions in class." Faith's mother and Castillo agreed Faith would get her hair re-styled before Aug. 20.

Faith returned to school Aug. 20 with braids that didn't extend beyond her shoulders, but the lawsuit states Faith was still removed from class because of her extensions. Castillo had Fennidy come to school to pick up Faith, and the lawsuit states Fennidy tried to explain the "complexities of African American hair in hopes that Castillo would understand the discriminatory nature of the policy," according to the lawsuit.

Castillo nonetheless said girls have a tendency to "twirl" and "flip" their extensions, the lawsuit stated. Fennidy continued to press the principal on the matter until Castillo said "we don't want them wearing fake hair." The lawsuit states Castillo said Faith "can't come back to school."

The lawsuit also states Tyrielle Davis was approached by an administrative assistant, who commented on Aug. 10 that Tyrielle's hair appeared to have grown significantly since the previous year. Parquet fitted her daughter Tyrielle with hair extensions that fell 3 inches below her shoulders because Tyrielle suffers from "medically diagnosed hair loss," the lawsuit states.

The assistant and a school administrator compared Tyrielle's hair with photos of her from the 2016-17 year book, the lawsuit states. When they asked Tyrielle if she had "that stuff" in her hair, the lawsuit states the middle schooler confirmed she was wearing extensions. Tyrielle was later scolded by her teacher, who told the girl she had to take "that stuff" out of her hair, according to the lawsuit.

Tyrielle's mother Parquet also sought a compromise with Castillo on Aug. 16, the lawsuit states. She explained her daughter's medical condition to Castillo, but the lawsuit states the principal reiterated that the hairstyle would "cause distractions." Castillo, who told Parquet to cut Tyrielle's extensions to the nape of her neck, also told Parquet she would monitor the child's hair growth, according to the lawsuit.

In a statement, the families Thursday said their daughters were "called out and embarrassed" in front of their peers for no reason other than their hair. They blamed this situation on "a lack of perspective and understanding" by school administrators. The lawsuit stated the new policy has a "disparate impact" on the black girls attending the school.

"On information and belief, only the African American girls who attend Christ the King have been inspected, investigated, reprimanded, and subsequently punished for wearing extensions in violation of the Equal Protection clause of the US Constitution and their due process rights afford under the Laws of Louisiana," the lawsuit states.

. . . . . . .

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.
In the sopping aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the books in the 7th Ward's Nora Navra Library became the story themselves, their pages swollen and warped and splotched with mold, no matter the title. Six months after the flooding, "The Junior Book of Water Experiments" lay splayed at the top of a jumbled pile, untouched since Aug. 29, 2005, The Times-Picayune reported in 2006. The building at 1902 St. Bernard Ave. wouldn't be demolished until 11 years later.

Last week, Nora Navra Library's assistant branch manager, Adrienne Strock, photographed two girls, one dressed in a vibrant turquoise, the other in pink, as they sat together on a bench in the newly reopened children's section, a stuffed animal alligator draped across their laps with an open book on top. Thirteen years after the Hurricane Katrina flooding, the library reopened at nearly three times its original size.

The 7,800-square-foot structure, designed by Manning Architects and a team of library and archive consultants, is the last of the six libraries destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to reopen its doors to the community. In addition to its collection of more than 16,500 media items, including books, newspapers, magazines, DVDs and CDs, the Nora Navra Library has printing, copy, fax and scanning kiosks; 28 computers; a community meeting room; and seating areas with phone and laptop charging stations and glossy white-topped tables that can be written on, dry-erase board style.

There's not a poorly lit spot to be found in the place, Branch Manager Charles Young said. It's hard to disagree. The building faces St. Bernard Avenue, with large windows taking up a majority of the front left side (when viewed from the street).

The interior walls are a rich pear-colored shade of green, echoed in a few square pieces of the otherwise light gray floor. At the top of the tall ceilings are five narrow LED light strips that run the width of the building, parallel to the street; a handful of shorter light strips illuminate the computer area to the right of the circulation desk. Part of the ceiling has dark wood grain-printed aluminum baffle "beams," an architectural feature that helps with acoustics, said project architect Ryan Bertucci.

In front of the computer section is the community room, an adjustment to a typical library design, Ray Manning, owner of Manning Architects, said, "making this facility not just a library but a community resource." Before constructing the library and building its collection, the library and architecture staffs held community meetings and completed demographic studies to ensure that the new space best met the wants and needs of the 7th Ward.

Unfortunately, the plans for the additional parking at a nearby vacant lot didn't come through, Manning said, but he and Bertucci noted the presence of bike racks and benches in front of the building in its courtyard space. The library is convenient to RTA Bus Line 51 (St. Bernard-St. Anthony) and Line 52 (St. Bernard-Paris Avenue), with the St. Bernard and N. Prieur bus stop at the nearby corner.

Before Katrina, Nora Navra Library serviced the 7th Ward, beginning in May 1954, weeks shy of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that essentially overturned Plessy v. Ferguson's "separate but equal" doctrine. The library was named after New Orleanian library patron Nora Navra, who left $15,000 to the public library after her death, according to The Times-Picayune archives. Nora Navra Library was built to replace Branch 9, the second of two black libraries in New Orleans, which had opened in 1946, first in temporary quarters in the Valena C. Jones Elementary School and then more permanently in two army surplus huts.

The library system integrated later in 1954, according to a 2017 story in The Times-Picayune, giving extra weight to the remarks A.P. Tureaud made at the 1954 opening ceremony, documented in Nora Navra Library's history: "Public facilities which are provided on a racially segregated basis are not only a drain on our economic resources but are an outmoded relic of a slave psychology," he said. "Libraries tend to free the mind of bigotry and prejudice; they are supposed to be a civilizing influence on the community. We need more of them."

Young, the branch manager, learned of this history after returning to Louisiana from a 30-year library career in Atlanta. The Houma native said it gave him chills.

"I said, 'Wow, I got chosen for this,'" Young said. "And I felt--I'm a history major--so I felt the weight of the ancestors was on my shoulders, saying 'Wow, you've got a big job you've gotta do, so don't blow it.'"

Young said, "I came from a situation in Atlanta where the most beautiful thing I ever saw in the world was a kid reading a book by themselves with all the chaos going on around in the neighborhood."

Library patron Reina Rodriguez, 37, has lived in New Orleans for 15 years and returned to the 7th Ward earlier this summer after living in Bywater. She's visited other libraries in New Orleans, she said on Tuesday (Aug. 21) afternoon, but appreciates that the inclusive materials in the Nora Navra Library collection are items she wants -- black and queer media, for example -- and not just things to settle for.

She and her roommate rode their bikes to the library, a more modern-looking construction than the surrounding homes in the 7th Ward, a look that, though different, makes it feel more accessible than a historical building where one feels they have to "be careful," Rodriguez said. "And I think central air is cool, too, y'know?"

Although the grand opening isn't until this afternoon, members of the community have spread the word that the Nora Navra Library is open again, filling the seats in the children's and computer sections, and in front of the big windows reading a book or charging a phone (or both).

Strock was leaving the library after one of her first Nora Navra Library shifts as assistant branch manager when a woman in a car stopped by and waved.

"When will the library be open?" the driver asked. Strock responded that the construction was completed, and it was open to the public.

"That was my childhood library!" the woman said, and then the three children in the backseat cheered.

The Nora Navra Library grand opening is Friday (Aug. 24) from 2 to 5 p.m. The community celebration is on Saturday (Aug. 25) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It was obvious from the beginning that expanding Medicaid in Louisiana would reduce the number of people without health insurance.

The state expected 375,000 people to sign up when Gov. John Bel Edwards approved the expansion during his first week in office in 2016. That number has grown to 473,900 since the expansion went into effect.

The impact on Louisiana's uninsured rate has been dramatic.

A new study by LSU researchers found that 11.4 percent of adults here who are under age 65 lacked health insurance in 2017. That was down from 22.7 percent just two years earlier.

Cutting the rate of uninsured residents in half in Louisiana is an important accomplishment. Those people now have access to preventive care and to treatments that can keep them healthier and extend their lives.

Medicaid patients in Louisiana have access to a primary care physician to manage their care. That allows them to get routine checkups and have prescription coverage. With regular care, doctors can catch serious illnesses earlier and help patients control chronic conditions.

Researchers at LSU have been tracking health insurance-related data since 2003 with the Louisiana Health Insurance Survey. The survey helps track the effects of health care policy.

"Over time, Louisiana has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of uninsured children thanks in part to expansions of Medicaid for children. During that time, however, uninsured rates for adults remained relatively unchanged at about 20 percent," the report released Monday says.

The drop is clearly due to the Medicaid expansion.

That is why it was so frustrating that former Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Legislature refused for two years to accept the federal government's offer to expand Medicaid.

Before the expansion, only Louisiana's poorest residents qualified for Medicaid. The expansion, which was a key component of the Affordable Care Act, raised eligibility to 138 percent of the federal poverty level and drew in many low-income workers.

The federal government paid 100 percent of the cost for the first three years. Louisiana is still paying only a small fraction of the cost, but the state left money on the table by delaying the expansion until 2016.

The state also left thousands of people waiting for coverage that could have helped them sooner.

The Department of Health and Hospitals chief of staff in 2014 was dismissive of the expansion's benefits. "Expansion to Medicaid is not a silver bullet solution," he said.

The almost 474,000 people who have coverage now might argue that it is.

The resistance by the Jindal administration to the expansion was political. They didn't want to admit that President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act was helping people.

But Louisiana had already seen the life-changing benefits of providing Medicaid coverage to children. Only 2.4 percent of children -- an estimated 28,900 -- in Louisiana lacked insurance in 2017. "The most common type of coverage among children is Medicaid, with 53.9 percent of children covered by the program," the LSU survey found. Employer provided policies covered an estimated 39 percent of children.

The survey didn't only look at how many people are covered. It examined whether residents have access to care.

Those numbers were encouraging. Eighty-seven percent of people surveyed said they had not delayed care during the previous year. Of the 13 percent, who had delayed care, cost was the main reason. Difficulty getting an appointment was the second-most common reason.

Policymakers ought to continue to look for ways to bring costs down and improve access. But the fact that so many people were able to get treatment without delay is a good sign.

Gov. Edwards deserves great credit for putting the Medicaid expansion in place. Almost half a million Louisiana residents needed that help. And if our neighbors are healthier, the state as a whole is healthier.
The Botswana Export Manufacturers Association (BEMA) said the local industry should swiftly respond to expanding e-commerce and e-platforms in the region.

The Associations Chief Executive Officer, Mmantlha Sankoloba said the electronic supported trade presents a huge market potential for logistics service providers that are able to respond to new consumption and supply chain trends.

She said the e-commerce and e-platforms are also hinged on growing demand in the region for high-end consumer products ranging from luxury goods to gourmet food. Apart from upgrading physical infrastructure, we are hoping Government will continue scaling up efforts to groom more talent with various expertise to help support the growth of our transport and logistics services sector, said Sankoloba.

This week BEMA in collaboration with USAID organised a transport and logistics workshop to create an excellent networking platform.The deliberations of the workshop are expected to enable the industry to formulate a strategy and roadmap for expanding the local transport and services.

Sankoloba believes that Botswana represents important opportunities for investors to connect with some of the worlds most dynamic emerging economies such as Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia presenting exciting opportunities for the logistics and transport sectors.For the best part of the 20th and 21st centuries we were ignored and now we must harness all the available opportunities to be the center of trade between Africa, US, Europe, China and South-east Asia, she said.

Apart from international trade, BEMA says intra-Africa trade has been expanding on the back of strong domestic demand and is expected to grow further as the formation of more integrated economic community takes shape in the next few years. In addition, BEMA is preparing to negotiate favorable deals with many of the international economic blocs to help strengthen trade and logistics for the country.

Sankoloba said BEMA will continue to lobby for the enhancement of local transport infrastructure. Our focus is to ensure that Gaborone retains its potential competitive edge in multi-modal connectivity in air, land and rail, said Sankoloba.She further said the growth of overseas logistics business will enhance Gaborones role as a super-connector linking Africa and the rest of the world.

On infrastructure Kazungula Bridge scheduled for opening in a few years time will expand both Botswana and Zambias cargo, adding to the Trans Kalahari Highway connecting Botswana to Walvis Bay, Namibia. The road links travel time is about two days which is less than half the time it takes for ocean going cargo via other ports.
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
South Carolina's attorney general and his legal team have accused the U.S. Department of Energy of hasty decision making, lackadaisical analysis and blind faith in reference to the department's latest attempt to shutter the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility.

On Aug. 10, a 59-page appellee brief was filed with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the termination of MOX, which was blocked June 7 by a federal judge's preliminary injunction.

In the brief, the state argued U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry  and the DOE as a whole  decided to kill MOX without taking "the hard look required by law as to the longterm implications to SRS and the state of South Carolina."

The state continued its argument citing the National Environmental Policy Act, a position taken and point made repeatedly over the course of the lawsuit.

NEPA, signed into law in 1970, requires federal agencies to study the consequences of proposed actions and projects. A NEPA review takes into account a venture's impact on human and environmental health.

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson has argued the DOE does not intend to remove plutonium from the state in a timely manner and has not properly studied MOX alternatives.

The brief reflects that.

"Whatever urgency DOE may now feel is the result of its own procrastination," the brief reads. It's also littered with DOE-disparaging phrases: "so-called commitment," "duplicitous argument," "self-serving," "unsupported" and "nonsensical," for example.

MOX is a roughly 70 percent complete facility being built at the Savannah River Site. Once finished, initially expected in 2016 at a cost of $4.8 billion, MOX is designed to turn weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for commercial reactors.

The DOE has for several years now tried to mothball the project, claiming better and cheaper plutonium disposal options exist. On May 10, Perry submitted a waiver to Congress, which among other things began the MOX termination clock and certified dilute-and-dispose as the right path forward.

Dilute-and-dispose involves mixing plutonium with inert material for burial at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

Perry's authority to do so stemmed from the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. The same power is afforded to Perry in the fiscal year 2019 NDAA, which was signed into law earlier this month.

In a footnote, Perry's congressional waiver is ridiculed. A charge before the footnote describes DOE's decision to kill MOX as "arbitrary and capricious" because supporting material and commitments have proven "baseless."

Trump signs defense bill; package authorizes MOX money, questions SRS pit production The $220 million is to be used for continued MOX work: construction, design, long-lead procurement and site preparation, according to NDAA language.

"The federal government's argument is essentially that as long as Secretary Perry used magic words, he need not act in good faith or within the bounds of reality," the brief reads. "Under their theory, if the alternative commitment was to drop all the plutonium to the bottom of the ocean or launch it into space towards the sun, this would be perfectly acceptable."

This MOX case landed in appeals court after the DOE took issue with the ruling of U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs.

The district court case has since been paused. Childs, in mid-July, said it would not make sense to push the case along while "pertinent aspects" were being argued at the appellate level.

Wilson filed the initial legal action on May 25.

Both the National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense have recommended MOX be turned into a plutonium pit factory, which further complicates the matter.

Plutonium pits are grapefruit-sized nuclear weapon cores.
A senior U.S. Department of Energy official on Wednesday said a National Nuclear Security Administration takeover of the Savannah River Site would eventually be the right path forward, given the Site's current overarching mission: complete cleanup.

"At some point, it would be logical," SRS manager Michael Budney said during the Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness "Up & Atom" breakfast. "Because if I'm doing my job right, we're going to be finishing the EM (Environmental Management) mission out there at some point, turning over stuff to Legacy Management."

SRS is an active DOE Office of Environmental Management remediation site. DOE Environmental Management is the current Site landlord, as well.

DOE memos: NNSA considers taking over SRS, relocating tritium mission In a June 29 internal memo, ultimately obtained by the Aiken Standard, NNSA chief Lisa Gordon-Hagerty told the Savannah River Field Office man

The DOE Office of Legacy Management, established in 2003, is tasked with following up and perpetually ensuring World War II and Cold War era nuclear sites are closed, constantly monitored and well-maintained.

The NNSA  a semiautonomous DOE agency in charge of the nation's nuclear complex  is currently reviewing its role at the Site, according to a June 29 internal memo obtained by the Aiken Standard.

More specifically, a working group, convened by NNSA chief Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, is evaluating a potential landlord switch, among other things.

Budney acknowledged the study on Wednesday.

"And I know you've heard about this study that's going on about should NNSA be the landlord versus Environmental Management," Budney said. "We're working through that. Doesn't change the scope of the work out there."

DOE Environmental Management represents a 60 percent stake at SRS currently, the Site manager said. The NNSA represents a 35 percent stake.

Budney said Site parties, including the NNSA, are figuring out "what the right timing is" and "what the right sequence is" in regards to proper  potential  transition. He described the entire process as "very careful."

If the NNSA was to assume control of SRS, the agency would "maintain its ongoing work while bringing another enduring national security mission to South Carolina," a senior NNSA spokesperson told the Aiken Standard last week.

In May, the NNSA and the U.S. Department of Defense jointly recommended bringing plutonium pit production to SRS. Doing so, the agencies stated, would work best if the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility was repurposed and refitted.

Plutonium pits are grapefruit-sized nuclear weapon cores.

Pit production at SRS would be a longterm boon for the Site and would require a grand influx of funding, workers and equipment.

Near the end of July, Budney told a nuclear advisory board the NNSA's review is run of the mill.

"This is just a routine kind of process we always go through  especially when theres different, new leadership  about looking at doing an evaluation of how things operate and whats the best way to do it, whats the most efficient means," Budney said at the time.
Standard Chartered Bank Chief Executive Officer Mpho Masupe said they expect better performance this year as the bank realised profit before tax of P28 million in the first half of 2018 after three years of consecutive losses. We are beginning to see the green shoots and the market is all looking positive.

We believe that we should continue with the projection that we started into the second half of the year. The results that we have achieved today are a validation that we are on the right track. We decisively took appropriate steps in response to challenges we faced during last year, and we have always ensured that prudence guides the way we do business, said Masupe.

In the same period last year the bank recorded a loss of P66 million mainly driven by poor performance of the diamond and jewellery industry. Masupe said the bank implemented a number of portfolio rebalancing initiatives, which significantly contributed to a decrease in loan impairments.

Masupe emphasized that as a more efficient and performing business, the bank has greater confidence to implement more service and product enhancements throughout 2018, some of which have already been achieved. Speaking on technology, he said their digital capabilities, supported by their wide global network, allows the business segments a greater degree of focus, cost-efficiency, convenience and innovative market access.

Our easy to use mobile app offers transformative banking experience to our retail clients, while our corporate clients have increased control over their banking preferences through our award winning straight2bank platform, he said.

He also noted that as the bank looks to the second half of 2018 and beyond they have increased confidence.

We have a business that will deliver the value that our shareholders are accustomed to. We pursue enhanced service delivery through innovation that puts the customers first. We are excited about our recently launched partnerships and remain fully committed to contribute in driving commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity.

Presenting the results on Wednesday, Standard Chartered Bank Chief Financial Officer, Mbako Mbo highlighted that the bank recorded a marginal growth of 1.8 percent in December 2017. Total operating expenses were eight percent down year on year as the Bank continues to tightly control costs.

The impairment charges were significantly down during the period reflecting positively on portfolio rebalancing that was implemented at the onset of the year, said Mbo. He explained that in line with the market wide liquidity trends, customer deposits declined by five percent, with a marginal three percent decline in overall client assets.

Driving the decline in overall client assets is a decision to reduce exposure in certain subsectors on the corporate book. However, the retail segment assets grew by five percent year on year, he said.

Mbo, who is a former finance chief at Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), also highlighted that the rebalanced portfolio is supportive of the banks sustainable growth path. The Banks balance sheet and the capital position remain strong and our costs are under control.
Microsoft has confirmed that it has fired four employees and terminated business relationships with four partners in Hungary over ongoing probings for bribery and corruption. The investigation is on for sale of Microsoft software to middlemen for a discounted price who then resold the same to the Hungarian Government at full price.

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Microsoft has fired four of its employees and four business partners at its Hungarian office amidst allegation of bribery and corruption. This was confirmed by the company after a Wall Street Journal report that the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are a probing potential scheme of bribery and corruption in selling software to the Hungarian Government.

The case goes back to 2014 after it came to light that Microsoft sold some of its products to intermediary business partners at highly discounted prices who in-turn sold these products to the Hungarian Government at closer to full price. Under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, officials are investigating whether the intermediaries used the difference amount to provide kickbacks and bribes to the Hungarian Government officials. Microsoft itself is not charged with any wrongdoing but the company quickly started internal investigations to probe the matter. Since then, Microsoft said it had put in efforts to increase transparency when it comes to discounting and working with business partners. Microsoft Hungary country manager, Istvan Papp, is among the four who were fired.

The discounted deals, however, did help Microsoft bolster its image locally and increase revenue for its Hungarian operations. Microsoft said that it is fully cooperating with the Department of Justice and SEC re-affirmed its commitment to ethical business practices. That said, in its SEC filing earlier this month, Microsoft did admit that it was battling corruption issues in various countries including the Czech Republic and Romania.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Botswana, Professor David Norris is pushing boundaries to market the University.

The University is this evening (Friday August 24, 2018) hosting its Alumni that hold lofty positions of Chief Executives of corporations , companies and parastatals both in the public and private sector as well as Permanent Secretaries.

The event is being held at the UB Conference Centre at the Gaborone campus. Prof. Norris emphasized the importance of engaging the Universitys alumni, saying they are central in marketing the institution of higher learning not only as marketers, but also for advisory purposes.

In his quest to take the University to its stakeholders, Prof. Norris recently hosted the UB Alumni at his residence in Gaborone where he pleaded with the Alumni to promote the UB because they understand the institution better.
The Manhattan district attorneys office is considering pursuing criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two senior company officials in connection with Michael D. Cohens hush money payment to an adult film actress, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter.

A state investigation would center on how the company accounted for its reimbursement to Mr. Cohen for the $130,000 he paid to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, who has said she had an affair with President Trump, the officials said.

Both officials stressed that the offices review of the matter is in its earliest stages and prosecutors have not yet made a decision on whether to proceed.

State charges against the company or its executives could be significant because Mr. Trump has talked about pardoning some of his current or former aides who have faced federal charges. As president, he has no power to pardon people and corporate entities convicted of state crimes.
Readers have been quick to respond to the editorial All the Presidents Crooks about the guilty plea of Michael Cohen, President Trumps former lawyer, and the conviction of Paul Manafort, Mr. Trumps former campaign chief. The most stunning outcome of Tuesdays legal proceedings was Mr. Cohens implication of the president in a crime. An overwhelming number of comments expressed relief that, though badly dented, our system of justice still works. Still, some expressed disbelief that Mr. Cohens word was so easily believed and doubted that the president would be affected much by the accusations. Looking to make sense of the extent of the corruption, one reader questioned whether we arent all fundamentally crooked. More reactions, edited for clarity and length, are below.

The system is working, so far

Today we can see that though our justice system has been badly dented it can still come through. I do not know where this ride ends but it will not be a soft landing. Trump will not go gently into the good night. If he has to, he will torch everything and anyone he can. His end will not be similar to Nixons final moments. Yet there is still hope. Who knows what Cohen knows? Manafort has another trial and voters will have their say in November.  DM, Paterson

Liberals will fail to dislodge Trump

Stop embarrassing yourself by doing this voodoo magic. You are offending the intelligence of your readers. This is all nonsense. Mueller will have a hard time proving that these payments were illegal campaign contributions. This and a couple of ghost indictments is all that Mueller has after more than a year of investigation. This is not Trumps worst hour. In fact, it will make no difference for Trump. People who hated him (like Soros) will continue to hate him. People who supported Trump will continue to support him. The economy is doing well. The liberals will fail to dislodge Trump.  Gennady, Rhinebeck

I want my country back

For the last two years, every time I heard someone say President Trump there has been a little voice of protest inside of me saying, no, thats got to be a joke, he cant possibly be president. Now, for the first time since Trump announced his candidacy four years ago, I wake up to headlines that suggest, yes, there is order, there is sanity and there is rule of law. Real news, real truth. I cant wait to get my country back.  Michael B., Washington, D.C.
Trust President Trump, following his familiar tactic of deflecting attention from yet another scandal by issuing some outrageous tweet, to come down hard on the wrong side of an issue he knows nothing about, based on no more than a slanted Fox News program. In a late-Wednesday tweet, Mr. Trump said he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to look into land seizures and the large-scale killing of farmers in South Africa. It was the first time he has mentioned Africa by name in a tweet as president.

His source was a grossly one-sided report by the Fox host Tucker Carlson asserting that the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was seizing land from his citizens because they are the wrong skin color. There have been no large-scale killings of white farmers, and Mr. Ramaphosas proposal to change the Constitution to allow expropriation of land without compensation has not yet passed. That said, the issue does deserve a close look.

There can be no question that South Africas black people were long denied fair access to land. The Natives Land Act of 1913 essentially reserved most of the land to the white minority, and the restrictions became more onerous in the apartheid era. When that system was finally dismantled almost 25 years ago, a new Constitution did provide for land reform, but the process has moved slowly. Statistics vary, but what is clear is that whites, who are less than 10 percent of the population, continue to own more than two-thirds of the land, while black South Africans, the overwhelming majority, own a much smaller share.

That highly skewed distribution of land and productive assets, according to the World Bank, contributes heavily to making South Africa the worlds most unequal country. This does not mean that expropriation without compensation is a wise remedy, especially in light of the disastrous consequences such action had in undermining the economy in neighboring Zimbabwe. Nor does it absolve the African National Congress for the corruption that has infected the governing party after more than two decades of virtually unchallenged rule, most egregiously under Jacob Zuma, who was ousted as president in February and is on trial on charges of fraud and racketeering.
A new musical about the Temptations will open on Broadway next spring, the latest in a series of shows using familiar pop songs to tell stories and lure audiences.

Aint Too Proud  The Life and Times of the Temptations will run at Broadways Imperial Theater, the shows producers said Thursday; they did not announce a cast or an opening date. The musical will have had four developmental productions before coming to Broadway, starting last year at Berkeley Repertory Theater in California and earlier this year at the Kennedy Center in Washington; it is now playing at the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles, and is scheduled to run in Toronto this fall.

Aint Too Proud is directed by Des McAnuff and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, who previously collaborated on the long-running Tony-winning hit Jersey Boys, which closed last year, and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which opened this year. There are two other jukebox musicals now running on Broadway  Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Head Over Heels, featuring songs by the Go-Gos. Bruce Springsteen is performing a concert show, Springsteen on Broadway; The Cher Show opens in December; and there are several more jukebox musicals circling Broadway, including Jagged Little Pill, featuring songs by Alanis Morissette, and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, as well as multiple others in development.

Aint Too Proud features a book by the playwright Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew, Pipeline). Ms. Morisseau, like the Temptations, is from Detroit; the show is about the R&B groups formation, successes and challenges. The lead producers are Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce, who previously produced the Tony-winning Spring Awakening; the pair have told the Securities and Exchange Commission that they will seek to raise $16.75 million to capitalize the new musical.
They treated our men like goats. Thats why were suing.

CHITRA KUMARI KOIRALA, a Nepalese widow whose husband was killed while working as a security contractor for the Canadian Embassy in Afghanistan. After his death she discovered his employer had drastically reduced his insurance benefits.
Two other men, Daniel P. Borden and Tyler Watkins Davis, were arrested in connection with the beating. Mr. Davis will face his trial later this year, and Mr. Borden pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing in October, according to court records.

On Tuesday, Mr. Preston, a Maryland man described as an imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, was sentenced in Charlottesville Circuit Court to four years in prison for firing a gun during the rally, the records show. As in the case of the garage beating, footage of Mr. Prestons shooting also spread online, and amateur sleuths set out to identify the assailant.

In the video, released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Mr. Preston was shown pulling out a handgun, and firing at the ground in the direction of a black counterprotester, Corey A. Long, 24. At the time, Mr. Long was igniting a can of spray paint that a protester had thrown, turning it into an improvised flamethrower.

Joseph Platania, the commonwealths attorney, said in an email statement on Thursday about Mr. Prestons Tuesday sentence: After careful consideration of the evidence presented, the Commonwealth feels that Judge Moore imposed a fair and just sentence for the choices Mr. Preston made on August 12, 2017.

Image Alex Ramos was sentenced to six years in prison for participating in the beating of a black man in a garage at the white nationalist rally last year. Credit... Monroe County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press

He was not immediately available to comment on Thursdays sentences.

No one was injured by the shot that Mr. Preston fired. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia submitted the video to the F.B.I. and the local police.

Mr. Preston, from Baltimore, was arrested on Aug. 30, 2017, and charged with discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, a crime punishable by two to 10 years in prison.


The din of outrage coming from all sides  on the left, accusations of callous exploitation and fearmongering; on the right, criticisms that political correctness is trumping public safety  underlines the growing disparity between those who largely trust Mr. Trumps diagnoses of the countrys problems and believe he and Republicans should be given more time to fix them, and those who are disgusted with his leadership and want to throw him and his party out of power.

She was killed by a person who is exactly what Trump has been warning about, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, said on Fox News, bringing to mind Mr. Trumps first speech as a presidential candidate in 2015, in which he blamed Mexico for sending criminals and rapists across the southern border. The left has to bear the burden of being the party that is tolerating Americans being killed by people who are here illegally, he added.

Senator Tom Cotton, the Arkansas Republican who has been one of the presidents biggest defenders on issues of immigration, tweeted, Mollie would be alive if our government had taken immigration enforcement seriously years ago.

The news of the break in the Tibbetts case on Monday was a tragic ending to her disappearance a month ago. But the timing, as far as Mr. Trump and his allies were concerned, could not have been better. Word that an immigrant had been charged in her death came the same afternoon that Mr. Trumps longtime lawyer and fixer implicated him in a scheme to pay off alleged paramours and his former campaign manager was found guilty of eight counts of financial fraud.

The stories, and the different ways they were covered, played to the themes that Mr. Trump returns to frequently: illegal immigration and the crime and economic devastation he says it wreaks; a corrupted, one-sided justice system that he says punishes him and his allies but no one else; and a political system controlled by elites in both parties who he believes never accepted his victory.

Fox News set the tone for how prominently the Tibbetts story would feature in the media universe the president and his supporters follow most closely. As other networks covered the presidents growing legal exposure, Fox alone broke in with news of Ms. Tibbettss death. Its coverage of her disappearance, and of the discovery of her body, has been exhaustive, with correspondents on the scene in Iowa featuring in multiple segments every hour. On Wednesday night, the host who was filling in for Laura Ingraham opened the program by boasting, Fox News is the only network fully covering the case.
Prosecutors investigating President Bill Clintons affair with a White House intern made questionable decisions in providing information to reporters, but a review found no evidence that they violated grand jury secrecy rules, according to a long-secret 1999 report released on Thursday by the National Archives.

Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trumps Supreme Court nominee, was among the lawyers investigating Mr. Clinton, and it was his nomination that led to the release of the report. But Judge Kavanaugh, who now sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was not named in it.

American Oversight, a liberal watchdog group, went to court last week seeking the report, saying that Judge Kavanaughs potential involvement in misconduct is a matter of great public importance and current national debate.

Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, said on Thursday that the request had reflected liberal desperation in opposing Judge Kavanaughs nomination. This report refutes the latest false accusation by Senate Democrats and fully exonerates Judge Kavanaugh, he said.
WASHINGTON  Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa said on Thursday that President Trump had committed to supporting a rewrite of the nations federal sentencing laws after Novembers elections, breathing life into a long-stalled priority that has united an unlikely coalition of conservatives, libertarians and liberals.

He is very satisfied to have this thing come up after the election, Mr. Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said minutes after ending a phone call with Mr. Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, who has helped push for the changes.

Mr. Grassley said that he and Mr. Kushner had earlier had a very positive meeting with Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, who signaled he was willing to allow a vote on the legislation during the Senates lame-duck session this fall if the bill could draw sufficient support from Republicans.

The legislation itself has yet to be finalized but would be more modest than a wide-ranging sentencing and prison overhaul that was introduced with great fanfare in 2015. The compromise language would preserve a suite of key sentencing changes, including reducing some mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, retroactively extending a reduction in the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine and a provision that allows judges greater discretion in sentencing.
WASHINGTON  For much of the 1980s and 1990s, the Dapper Don and the Donald vied for supremacy on the front pages of New Yorks tabloids. The don, John J. Gotti, died in a federal prison in 2002, while Donald J. Trump went on to be president of the United States.

Now, as Mr. Trump faces his own mushrooming legal troubles, he has taken to using a vocabulary that sounds uncannily like that of Mr. Gotti and his fellow mobsters in the waning days of organized crime, when ambitious prosecutors like Rudolph W. Giuliani tried to turn witnesses against their bosses to win racketeering convictions.

I know all about flipping, Mr. Trump told Fox News this week. For 30, 40 years Ive been watching flippers. Everythings wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go.

Mr. Trump was referring to the decision by his former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, to take a plea deal on fraud charges and admit to prosecutors that he paid off two women to clam up about the sexual affairs that they claimed to have had with Mr. Trump.
Negotiations seemed to be progressing in May, when officials announced that they had agreed on a framework that would see China increase its purchase of American goods and services to reduce a trade imbalance between the countries. But that consensus quickly evaporated, as Mr. Trump was criticized for being soft on China and the White House ramped up its tariff threats.

China has expressed frustration that the United States has not established a clear point person in the negotiations, which have been led by an alternating group of officials including Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary; Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States trade representative; Mr. Ross; and others. This week, the Treasury Department designated David Malpass, the under secretary for international affairs, to lead the discussions.

While the Trump administration has outlined its broad priorities, the specifics of its demands remain murky and China continues to meet every new tariff threat with its own promise of retaliation.

Im not particularly optimistic that were going to see a deal anytime soon, said David Loevinger, the Treasury Departments senior coordinator for China from 2009 to 2012. Its still kind of unclear what it would take for the U.S. to get to yes on a trade deal.

Also unclear is whether the tariffs and investment restrictions have done much to persuade China to make further concessions on trade, beyond its offers this year to purchase American goods and open up some markets to more foreign competition. Some Chinese officials now appear to suspect that Mr. Trumps trade plans are part of a broader effort aimed at thwarting Chinas rise, and that any concessions would do little to prevent what looks like an intensifying struggle for global dominance between the countries.

At a campaign rally in West Virginia on Tuesday, Mr. Trump lauded his success in slowing Chinas rise.

When I came, we were heading in a certain direction that was going to allow China to be bigger than us in a very short period of time, Mr. Trump said. Thats not going to happen anymore.
CUTHBERT, Ga.  The consultant, a white man, came to the mainly black Randolph County in rural southern Georgia and recommended that it eliminate seven of its nine polling places. He said the move would save the county money. He said the polling places had disability compliance issues.

But many people in the county assumed a more sinister motive, especially with the state in the midst of a hotly contested election for governor. It pits a Democrat who would be Georgias first black chief executive against a white Republican who has been called a master of voter suppression by his political opponents.

I think it was an effort to suppress the vote, Bobby Jenkins, 66, a retired Randolph County school superintendent, said after a meeting on Wednesday where local residents complained that African-Americans in poor rural areas would be left having to drive long distances to vote. This is one typical strategy in the Republican playbooks.

The Randolph County plan was rejected Friday morning on a 2-0 vote by the countys board of elections. The two members, a black woman and a white man, voted hastily and without comment, leaving a press statement that acknowledged the interest from the news media, residents and civil rights groups.
BUENOS AIRES  Investigators on Thursday raided homes owned by former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, a significant development in a corruption investigation that officials are calling the most consequential in the countrys history.

The searches were requested by prosecutors who have described Mrs. Kirchner, who governed Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, as the leaders of a wide-ranging kickback scheme involving government contracts.

The investigation was begun after the newspaper La Nacion obtained notebooks belonging to a driver who took meticulous notes about bags of cash he purportedly ferried around the city as part of the scheme.

The authorities searched Mrs. Kirchners apartment in the upper-class neighborhood of Recoleta in Buenos Aires and her home in the city of Rio Gallegos, in southern Santa Cruz Province. The searches took place just hours after the Senate unanimously authorized the raids.
KAMPALA, Uganda  The Ugandan government filed a treason charge on Thursday against a pop star-turned-lawmaker who is a major critic of the countrys longtime president.

Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine appeared weak and struggled to walk into court. His lawyer said he was severely beaten in custody, an accusation the government denied.

It was the first time Mr. Ssentamu had been seen in public since his Aug. 13 arrest that outraged leading musicians from around the world. He clenched his fists as he greeted supporters and a colleague wrapped a scarf in the colors of Ugandas flag around his shoulders.

Mr. Ssentamu, 36, was arrested with other lawmakers while campaigning for a candidate, Kassiano Wadri, in the northwestern town of Arua. He had been charged with illegal possession of firearms after he was accused in the stoning of President Yoweri Musevenis motorcade. The president, too, was campaigning in Arua, for a rival candidate who eventually lost.
Australias conservative lawmakers chose one of their own to become the countrys newest prime minister on Friday, after a vote that capped days of chaos in the capital and underscored the turbulence of the countrys politics.

Scott Morrison, who had been the countrys treasurer, was sworn in as the sixth prime minister in 11 years after a vote by the governing Liberal Party, in which he defeated Peter Dutton, a former home affairs minister, and Julie Bishop, the countrys foreign minister.

Josh Frydenberg, who had been energy minister under the ousted prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was elected deputy leader.

At a news conference shortly after the vote, Mr. Morrison said he and Mr. Frydenberg represented a new generation of Liberal Party leadership. After a week of contentious party infighting and back-room backstabbing, Mr. Morrison pledged to heal our party.
GORTAHORK, Ireland  If any place illustrates the depth and depravity of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church  and why the Irish are so angry about it  it is this unlikely corner of the country, where among rolling hills of wild heather, castles and bucolic fishing villages, predatory priests terrorized children with impunity for decades.

County Donegal, which overlooks the Atlantic in northwestern Ireland, has fewer than 160,000 residents, but it may have the worst record of clerical abuse in the country. According to a watchdog group that monitors the Catholic Church in Ireland, 14 priests have been accused in recent years, four of whom were convicted. They include the Rev. Eugene Greene, one of the nations most notorious pedophile priests, who served nine years in prison for raping and molesting 26 boys between 1965 and 1982, though the real figure may be far higher.

Yet this year, when Pope Francis needed someone to head a neighboring diocese, he chose Bishop Philip Boyce, who had been heavily criticized for refusing to defrock Father Greene when the priest was under his management in the late 1990s.

Image Bishop Philip Boyce was heavily criticized for refusing to defrock one of Irelands most notorious pedophile priests in the late 1990s. But Francis appointed him head of a neighboring diocese this year. Credit... Niall Carson/Press Association, via Associated Press

As Francis prepares for a visit to Ireland this weekend  the first by a pope since John Paul II in 1979  the painful specter of such abuses hangs over his trip, as well as the churchs long history of protecting pedophile priests. It is cases like this one that many faithful say make it incumbent on Francis to give them not just words, but action.
While President Trumps travel ban closed the countrys doors to those from some Arab countries, like Syria and Yemen, the Metropolitan Museum and other major New York institutions are taking the opposite tack. This fall, they will participate in the Arab Art and Education Initiative, a season of programming that celebrates Arab culture through art exhibitions, films and interviews.

The most extensive exhibition will take place at the Brooklyn Museum. Their show, Syria, Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, will run from Oct. 13 through Jan. 13, and present artifacts from medieval Raqqa alongside works by contemporary artists in response to the current refugee crisis. The artists presented include Mohamad Hafez, who creates tiny, war-torn urban edifices; and Issam Kourbaj, who created an installation of a scaled-down view of refugee camp in 2015.

Over at the Met, a daylong symposium on Oct. 24 will explore the relationship between Islamic art and avant-garde abstraction. On Oct. 23, the Guggenheim Museum will host a conversation with the Palestinian artist and scholar Samia Halaby.

The Museum of Modern Art, Asia Society, Columbia University and other institutions will also participate through interviews, exhibitions, films and walking tours. The initiative is being spearheaded by the Misk Art Institute in partnership with the United Nations, who will host the New York-Arab World Culture Summit on Oct. 16.
Sit down at a table for one, with a bottle of the meal-replacement drink Soylent, in a recreation of a Dutch restaurant for solo diners. Marvel at the models of planned floating cities, or a 13-year-olds vision of a rebuilt Aleppo. Pick up a book from a library curated for the end of civilization, and read.

Alongside these there are works of art, like Ms. July and Mr. Idrissas. Im the President, Baby is a lens into issues of migration, app-based communication, the gig economy, surveillance, social media and privacy  all that from four sets of elegant curtains, opening and closing on a museum wall.

Ms. July first met Mr. Idrissa when he was her Uber driver in Los Angeles in 2015. She was on the way to interview the pop star Rihanna, for a profile in T: The New York Times Style Magazine. They got to talking, eventually, about his trouble sleeping.

Image Ms. July and Mr. Idrissa in front of Im the President, Baby. Credit... Mike Mills/Victoria and Albert Museum

Mr. Idrissa said his insomnia started in about 2006. He came to the United States on a student visa, which expired. I was supposed to be deported, and they sent me a letter, Mr. Idrissa said in a recent interview. He said that one day the immigration authorities came to my door at 4 or 5 in the morning and the lady there wouldnt let them in. So there were three or four years of just hiding, and I sleep only a couple hours a night. Now, Mr. Idrissa is a citizen of the United States, but the insomnia hasnt left. He says he often spends hours awake on his bed, scrolling through apps.
Watch The Road before it leaves Netflix and catch Season 3 of Trolls: The Beat Goes On!

Whats Streaming

THE ROAD (2009) on Netflix. In this film adaptation of Cormac McCarthys haunting novel, Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee play a father and son traveling through a post-apocalyptic world, trying to survive. There are few humans left, and those that remain are just as likely to be predatory cannibals as possible allies or companions. In his review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott, praised Mr. Mortensens ability to bring Mr. McCarthys austere prose to life, saying he puts flesh on the bones and a soul behind the exhausted, terrified eyes. John Hillcoat directs from a screenplay written by Joe Penhall. The film will leave Netflix on Saturday.

TROLLS: THE BEAT GOES ON! on Netflix. Not content with one star-studded film about trolls (the dolls, not the internet nuisance), DreamWorks Animation went on to produce a series in which Poppy, Branch and the other residents of Troll Village continue their adventures. The series picks up where the 2016 film left off and follow the trolls as they go about their daily lives. In the film, Anna Kendrick lent her voice to Poppy and Justin Timberlake was Branch; those parts are played by Amanda Leighton and Skylar Astin in the series, while Walt Dohrn reprises his role as Cloud Guy. The show features original songs by Alana Da Fonseca and music from Alex Geringas.

Whats on TV
Should we expect to see more of that with her in Season 3?

There are no scripts available. I dont even know if theyve started writing them. We were going to start shooting next year, but Donalds schedule is really full, so we dont know really when things are happening. But just based off of initial conversations, yes, I think were definitely going to continue on that path.

Youve spoken publicly about your struggles with anxiety. Now that you have the Emmy nomination, how are you managing those feelings? Does some of the pressure come from being a black performer in a fickle industry?

Its interesting you bring that up. It almost makes me feel emotional.

Im sorry.

No, no. Its O.K. Its just a big part of my life. I think this is actually a little bit weird  its where my not resounding, complete excitement for receiving an Emmy nomination is coming from; a feeling of complete impostor syndrome, and feeling like I dont deserve it. I dont know  I hesitate saying that publicly, because I dont want to come off like I dont appreciate it.

Yeah.

Sorry, Im just  its something really hard to deal with, being in an industry where your validation is only from the outside, especially if your confidence isnt high in your work. I just really want to do good work. Thats just important to me, and when something is really being publicly lauded, I just really want to feel like I did my best work, and Im never sure if I do my best work. Thats something Ive always struggled with within my work and in this industry.

Ive gotten much better at feeling like I have found my place, and like I deserve to be in a place. Ive gotten much, much better at being able to deal with feeling very insecure or very anxious, or having panic attacks on set. But I think initially for Atlanta, it was my biggest opportunity. It was my first time showing my face to the world. So, I was very incredibly terrified of that.

In the context of being a woman of color: Honestly, I dont worry as much about feeling like things in five years arent going to come. I worry more that Im being cast just because they need to fill a brown quota, and because they feel obliged to do that, and not because they actually want me. I feel like, does that mean my work isnt as good? Would I have been cast if there wasnt public pressure now to make sure that one brown face is among the sea of white? So, thats where I believe that comes from, this feeling like Im not actually maybe wanted, and that theyre just feeling pressure to want me.
The United States has started a trade war with China, and art is caught in the cross-fire.

The administration announced this month that President Trump had proposed duties as high as 25 percent on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods to encourage China to change its harmful policies. The proposed tariffs, initially set at 10 percent, followed two earlier rounds of penalties.

The latest list of targeted Chinese goods ran to 205 pages. It included sand blasting machines; eels, fresh or chilled (excluding fillets); hats; and, at the bottom of the last page, paintings and drawings executed entirely by hand, original sculptures, and antiques more than 100 years old.

The tariffs would apply to all artworks that originated in China, regardless of how they entered the United States. That means American buyers could be required to pay 25 percent more for a Ming dynasty bowl sold by a British owner at an auction in New York, as well as for a painting by a young Beijing-based artist at a gallery in Hong Kong.

The announcement has caused outrage in the art world.

James Lally, the founder of J.J. Lally & Co., a dealer based in New York that specializes in Asian art, said that the proposed tariffs were a matter of great concern to museums, collectors, curators and dealers worldwide.
Piper Kermans memoir about her prison stint, Orange Is the New Black, has been part of the cultural conversation since its 2010 publication. But writing books from prison  or mining ones time in prison for book ideas  isnt exactly new: Miguel de Cervantes did it. So did O. Henry, Ezra Pound, Oscar Wilde, Eldridge Cleaver, Jack Abbott, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, to name a few.

Now theres Nico Walker, a decorated Iraq war veteran turned serial bank robber who wrote his raw, simmering autobiographical novel, Cherry  which debuts this week at No. 14  in the middle of an 11-year sentence at a federal prison in Kentucky.

It was something that I was doing when I was locked up, he told NPR. Something to pass the time.

His publisher, Knopf, describes the book as Jesus Son meets Reservoir Dogs, New York magazine called it the first great novel of the opioid epidemic and writers from Dan Chaon to Thomas McGuane have praised it. Walker told The New York Times that McGuane has even been corresponding with him: Its like a kid getting a letter from Spider-Man or something, he said. Its crazy.

According to a recent article, the novel has sold in several countries, and Walker is using the cash from his foreign rights sales to repay the banks he robbed.
THE TRAITORS NICHE

By Ismail Kadare

Translated by John Hodgson

200 pp. Counterpoint. $25.

After World War II, tiny Albania became a hermit state, rigidly controlled by a Stalinist dictator, Enver Hoxha, who broke with both the Soviet Union and Maoist China, desecrated the countrys mosques and churches and planted the beaches across from the Greek island of Corfu with pillboxes before his regime collapsed in 1990, five years after his death. But the Albanian writer Ismail Kadares 1978 novel, The Traitors Niche, is an allegorical fable, finally (and very elegantly) translated into English by John Hodgson, about an earlier Albania, which for centuries formed part of the sprawling Ottoman Empire.

The novel begins with a severed head sitting in a dish of honey. It occupies a special niche in a square of the imperial capital, Istanbul, where it outstares the milling crowds. The head belonged to a hapless pasha who failed to suppress a rebellion in the distant province of Albania; it is tended by Abdulla, the guardian of the heads, and regularly inspected for signs of decay by a benign doctor who also advises Abdulla on how to overcome his impotence.

The popular expectation is that the head of Ali Tepelena, the rebel pasha of Albania, will soon come to replace it, now that his uprising is faltering and he is besieged in his castle by the young and vigorous Hurshid Pasha. The imperial courier Tundj Hata waits for the head. If Hurshid Pasha succeeds, Tundj Hata will pack the rebels head in salt and ice, according to the regulations contained in the state manual, and transport it posthaste to the niche in the capital; if not, hell be taking Hurshids head instead. Its all the same to him  except that Alis head will make a better show when the villagers come to gawp at it in the little impromptu displays he always gives on his way to the capital.

Image

The display of heads quickens the villagers sluggish interest: For them, this is literature, theater, art, philosophy and perhaps love. They live in the terrible wasted lands of the empire, somewhere between Albania and Istanbul, where everything that is theirs, down to their language and their legends, has been erased. They speak in a crude patois, satisfied to gaze mutely at one of the heads the state values so much, inhabitants of a region where a man was found half-strangled and scratched by his own hands, wrestling to compose a ballad in his own tongue.
Its tempting to say that if you dont love the poetry of Edward Lear, youve missed something essential about what makes poetry worth loving in the first place. We are talking, after all, about the man who stands in relation to the limerick much as Petrarch stands in relation to the sonnet; which is to say, not as the inventor, but as the first truly great practitioner, against whose writing all subsequent attempts must be judged. Consider the following, picked at random from Lears A Book of Nonsense (1846):

There was an Old Person of Ewell,

Who chiefly subsisted on gruel;

But to make it more nice

He inserted some mice,

Which refreshed that Old Person of Ewell.

Lears limericks are a screwball assemblage of people (often an Old Man or Old Person) from places with names that make for satisfyingly clanking rhymes (Ischia, Portugal, Moldavia) doing things like dressing in a sack, drinking hot beer or falling off a horse and being mended with glue. The poems are generally recursive  if we meet an Old Man of Calcutta in Line 1, were going to see him again in Line 5  and the seeming regularity of the structure can make the lunacy of the actual lines even more pronounced. If Lears poems lack the raunchiness for which the limerick is also (in)famous, their clattering, absurdist humor is central to our modern conception of the form. Without Lear, the man from Nantucket may as well have been from Marthas Vineyard.

To which one might say, so what? Arent even the best limericks just, you know, sort of amusing rather than properly poetic? Maybe. But poetry isnt only the sum of its greatest forms, much as a woodland isnt only the story of its tallest trees. There is virtue in the creeping myrtles lack of grandeur  and that antic, humble, low and resilient growth may be what makes grandeur possible in the first place.

This is an impression that is hard to avoid when reading Jenny Uglows compassionate and comprehensive biography MR. LEAR: A Life of Art and Nonsense (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $45). Biographies of artists are always vexed by the counternarrative set in motion by the art itself  the story of Nabokov is the story of where he went and what he ate and so forth; but it is also the story of Lolita or Pale Fire, which loom over and apart from the facts of Nabokovs day-to-day existence in a way that the work of, say, a famous politician does not. Lear is an especially challenging subject because, as Uglows subtitle suggests, he was a remarkably gifted painter and illustrator in addition to being one of the founding figures of English nonsense writing (and he was apparently an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and composer to boot). How does one square the Old Person of Ewell with the careful brilliance of Lears depictions of birds for the Zoological Society (his first publication was a collection of bound lithographs called Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots)? And how does one manage this while also chronicling the hours of a man who appears to have been in near ceaseless motion from early adolescence until his death?
REAL AMERICAN, by Julie Lythcott-Haims. (St. Martins Griffin, $17.99.) As the daughter of an African-American father and a white British mother, I come from people who survived what America did to them, the author writes. Im so American it hurts. Her memoir charts the process of coming to terms with herself, and replacing the self-loathing and negative messages she had internalized about race with pride and love.

TOUCH, by Courtney Maum. (Putnam, $16.) Sloane, the protagonist of this charming satire, is a trend forecaster out to sell the benefits of virtual relationships, but shes losing faith in tech, and envisions a return to intimacy and genuine relationships. Good writing about creativity is rare, our reviewer, Annalisa Quinn, wrote, but Maum captures that fragile, gratifying, urgent process.

THE BETTENCOURT AFFAIR: The Worlds Richest Woman and the Scandal That Rocked Paris, by Tom Sancton. (Dutton, $17.) Liliane Bettencourt, the LOreal heiress worth billions, became infatuated with a man 25 years her junior (a former Dali protege and an apparent social climber), giving him lavish gifts and even moving to adopt him. The story has all the trappings of a juicy affair, including graft and hidden Nazi sympathies.

QUICKSAND, by Malin Persson Giolito. Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles. (Other Press, $16.99.) Maja, a wealthy Swedish teenager, is on trial for her role in the mass shooting started by her boyfriend, which left him, her best friend and many classmates dead. This courtroom drama, the authors first novel to be translated into English, offers a window into Swedens underlying racial and economic tensions; Maja is scorned for her privilege, and her story takes aim at the countrys self-image as multicultural haven.
1. More tensions in the White House:

President Trump renewed his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, urging him to look into corruption on the other side.

And he asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his trip to North Korea, which was planned for next week.

Mr. Trump has boasted of his diplomatic success with North Korea, but the country has taken few steps toward denuclearization. The announcement was a blow to Mr. Pompeo, who only a day earlier announced the appointment of a special envoy for North Korea.
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__________

The worlds largest initial public offering is on hiatus. The spending it was to enable may not be.

Saudi Arabia planned to take its giant oil company, Saudi Aramco, to the public markets. It was to be the linchpin of a grand economic vision, generating billions of dollars to pay for future-proofing the kingdoms economy, including huge investments in technology.

It is now postponed, leaving a large funding shortfall. But Saudi Arabia is pursuing alternative transactions that could ensure its dreams arent dashed:

 Saudi Aramco is in discussions to buy a large stake in Sabic, a publicly traded chemical company. Sabics controlling shareholder is Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. While the size of that potential acquisition is unclear, media reports say it could be as big as $70 billion.

 The Public Investment Fund is in talks to raise $11 billion in bank loans from international lenders, according to The Financial Times. It would be the first time the sovereign wealth fund borrowed money.
Good Friday. The DealBook Briefing is taking a summer break next week, so well be back on Sept. 4. Want this in your inbox every morning? Sign up here.

Solving Elon Musks equation

Removing Tesla from the stock markets was always going to be tricky. David Gelles and Peter Eavis of the NYT have calculated how tricky. They estimate the cost of buying out unwilling shareholders at up to $24 billion. And finding the right support  perhaps even from SpaceX, Mr. Musks other company  could be complex.

One investor, Catherine Wood of ARK Invest, did her own calculations to demonstrate that Tesla should stay public. If the company focused on providing on-demand autonomous vehicles, she argued, its stock price could rise as high as $4,000 a share, far beyond Mr. Musks proposed $420.

Unconvinced by the numbers? Tara Lachapelle of Bloomberg Opinion agrees. She argues that Tesla shows how, when it comes to big deals, math is becoming unmoored from reality.
Perhaps a more difficult issue to proving a violation of Rule 10b-5 would be showing that the defendant acted with an intent to defraud, or at least was reckless in making statements that were misleading or incomplete. Mr. Musk gave an emotional interview to The New York Times about how excruciating the past year has been. Unfortunately, the securities laws do not provide an exhaustion defense, and just saying never mind does not necessarily dissipate the market impact of statements.

Another danger to Tesla and Mr. Musk is this: The S.E.C. could seek to bar Mr. Musk from serving as a director or an officer of a public company if he is found to have committed fraud. Such a ban would cause Tesla significant problems. It could force Mr. Musk out of Tesla. And if the company was taken private, an order barring him from a leadership role at a public company would complicate Teslas return to the public markets.

One possible defense to a potential fraud charge would be that Mr. Musk reasonably believed there was sufficient financing at the time he posted the statement.

But there are hurdles to that defense. The S.E.C. would need to prove only that Mr. Musks actions had been reckless, defined as a significant departure from the proper standards of business conduct. Evidence that Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund or the private equity firm Silver Lake had reservations about financing a deal, or that the discussions were still continuing, may be enough to show recklessness.

The S.E.C. may investigate whether Mr. Musk sought to drive up the price of Teslas shares to harm short-sellers, a group he has blamed for much of his stress over the past year. Issuing a statement designed to affect the share price can constitute market manipulation in violation of Rule 10b-5.

It is a difficult violation to prove. It requires the S.E.C. to show that the person acted with that specific purpose. Making a case based only on a single tweet would be a challenge even though the statement drove up Teslas stock. Mr. Musk could offer a more innocent explanation, such as he was merely jumping the gun to reveal his desire to take the company private.
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Climate change policy toppled the government in Australia on Friday.

How much does that really matter?

It is certain to keep Australia from meeting its emissions targets under the Paris climate agreement.

Its also a glimpse into what a potent political issue climate change and energy policy can be in a handful of countries with powerful fossil fuel lobbies, namely Australia, Canada and the United States.

In Australia, the worlds largest exporter of coal, climate and energy policy have infused politics for a decade, helping to bring down both liberal and conservative lawmakers.

This week, the failure to pass legislation that would have reined in greenhouse gas emissions precipitated Malcolm Turnbulls ouster as prime minister. He was elbowed out by Scott Morrison, an ardent champion of the Australian coal industry who is known for having brought a lump of the stuff to Parliament.
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GREENSBORO, N.C.  The air in the Shiloh Baptist Church was thick with the heat of human bodies. The crowd, a mix of black and white faces, filled the pews in what was ostensibly the black side of town, straining the capacity of this good-sized church.

On the dais stood the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, draped in a black robe, a black vest and a cream stole emblazoned with the credo Jesus was a poor man. Al Gore, the former vice president, sat behind him.

Dr. Barbers message to the community members in the church last week would have been largely recognizable to civil rights leaders of generations past, addressing issues of poverty and racism. But he and Mr. Gore were here in Greensboro to focus on another concern that many in the audience believed was just as insidious: pollution from North Carolinas coal-powered electrical plants.

Jesus said love your neighbor, Dr. Barber told the crowd. I dont care how many times you tell me you love me, if you put coal ash in my water you dont love me. Because if there was nothing wrong with the coal ash, then put it in the wealthy communities.
On Dec. 4, Mr. Maxwell, feeling stressed out, suggested a hike in the rolling hills of Chester County. Twenty minutes in, they reached a scenic trail with no other hikers around. Mr. Maxwell paused, ready with a speech about loving her with all his heart, and pulled out the ring, which he had stuck in his pocket without a box.

She said yes before he could finish proposing. I immediately started crying, she said.

Later that day, a visit to the Downingtown Public Library, where the mayor was to show his support at a fund-raiser, turned into a celebration. Not to be too Gilmore Girls, but we were in this small town and everyone we wanted to share the news with was there and so happy for us, Ms. Thornburgh said. I just hope we didnt upstage the library.

On Aug. 4, about 100 Downingtown residents trekked to Philadelphia, where Ms. Thornburgh and Mr. Maxwell were married at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill by the Rev. Cynthia A. Jarvis, with assistance from the Rev. Brigid Boyle. Both are Presbyterian ministers who have known Ms. Thornburgh since she was 6.

The bride, wearing an ivory Nicole Miller column dress, a long veil and her signature eyeglasses, walked down the aisle with her mother, Rebecca McKillip Thornburgh, and her father to meet a broad-smiling Mr. Maxwell. He wore a royal blue suit with a yellow rose boutonniere. Mrs. Thornburgh and Ms. Maxwell each read bible passages from behind a podium before the couple were pronounced married in front of 192 guests. They then raised their joined hands in victory.

Ginny Thornburgh, Ms. Thornburghs grandmother, lingered in the church with her husband, Dick Thornburgh, who is now 86 and uses a wheelchair, as guests filed into the church yard to toast the couple. The longtime political wife, has been a mentor to Ms. Thornburgh and a supporter of Mr. Maxwells political career. (She and Mr. Thornburgh had contributed to his unsuccessful campaign for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives earlier this year.)

She offered some advice for her granddaughter as she embarked on a life of future campaigns and elections. In the political world, theres going to be criticisms, she said. Always remember to think about where the criticism is coming from. And love your husband.
So the industry that brought the world the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel and slogans like Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet has latched onto the selfie generations screens in a highly adaptive way that skirts the advertising rules of old.

What they are doing is a really effective way to get around existing laws to restrict advertising to young people, said Robert V. Kozinets, a public relations professor at the University of Southern California, who led an international team of researchers examining the tobacco industrys use of social media.

The most surprising thing to me was the level of sophistication of these different global networks. You get incredible campaigns, the likes of which Ive never seen before.

International public health organizations are pushing back against tobacco companies around the world. Earlier this month, Bloomberg Philanthropies chose three international research centers to lead a new $20 million global tobacco watchdog group called Stop (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products), with partners in the United Kingdom, Thailand and France, that will partly focus on social marketing.

Dr. Kozinetss work, paid for by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an advocacy group, analyzed social media in 10 countries by looking for hashtags that connect to tobacco cigarette brands.
Builder Levy taught in the New York City public school system for 34 years. Most of that time he spent working in black and Hispanic neighborhoods, where he encountered rich cultures and warm family life. But that was not how those neighborhoods were portrayed in most of the published images he saw  so he photographed them himself when he was not at work.

I looked at my photographs as a counter to the racist depictions the mass media had of the very students I was teaching, he said.

Though he rarely photographed professionally, his images of the New York neighborhoods where he worked and lived are now collected widely by various institutions, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the International Center of Photography and the Museum of the City of New York. Along with some of his images of political protests from 1962 though the late 1980s, they are compiled in a new, somewhat autobiographical book, Builder Levy: Humanity in the Streets, published by Damiani.
Ronny Chieng with his wife, Hannah Pham, as they wait for their massage appointments.

Credit... Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times
This much is certain: Helen Gambichler is running for office.

She is the Queens Democratic Party bosses nominee for a spot on a little-known body called the Democratic County Committee.

County committee members are the very blades of grass of grass-roots politics in New York, the worker ants of participatory democracy. There are more than 1,100 Democratic committee members in Queens alone, most representing only a few blocks, all of them unpaid. Collectively, though, they have the power  at least in theory  to choose candidates for higher office and even determine party policy.

There is just one problem: Ms. Gambichler, a 72-year-old retired court clerk, did not know she was running for anything. Nor does she wish to run. I have no idea what thats about, she said.

She had been nominated, without her knowledge, by the boroughs Democratic Party leadership, which is struggling to maintain control after the longtime Queens party chairman, Representative Joseph Crowley, was trounced by the left-leaning insurgent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a June Congressional primary that sent tremors through the Democratic establishment nationwide.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, who ran the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eight years under President Obama, was arrested in Brooklyn on Friday morning and charged with groping a woman in his apartment in October 2017, the police said.

A 55-year-old woman came forward to the police in July and said that Dr. Frieden squeezed her buttocks against her will nine months earlier, on Oct. 20, the police said. She told investigators the incident happened as she was leaving a gathering at Dr. Friedens residence on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights.

At 10 a.m. on Friday, Dr. Frieden surrendered to the police at the 77th Precinct in Crown Heights.

He was arraigned Friday afternoon before Justice Michael Yavinsky in Kings County Criminal Court on charges of forcible touching, third-degree sexual abuse and harassment. The judge released Dr. Frieden without bail, ordering him to surrender his passport and to have no contact with the victim. Neither he, nor his lawyer, Laura A. Brevetti, commented as they left the courthouse.

The woman who said she had been groped, an artist in New York City, had been a vocal #MeToo activist before the Oct. 20 incident, creating artwork related to the movement. In April, she wrote an article in an online publication describing her transition from activist to victim, and related the events of that night without naming her abuser.
Trump Plaza. Trump Place. Trump Park Avenue. Trump World Tower. Trump International Hotel and Tower. They all have another name in common:

Costas Kondylis.

Mr. Kondylis was the architect of choice for Donald J. Trump and other developers of luxury apartment towers in New York for three decades. He died on Aug. 17 at his home in Manhattan at 78.

The cause was complications of Parkinsons disease, his daughter Alexia Leuschen said.

My concern is to create value for the developer, because theyre my clients, Mr. Kondylis told The New York Times in 2007.

Mr. Kondylis (pronounced kon-DEE-lis) was a senior partner at Philip Birnbaum & Associates from 1979 to 1989, when he founded Costas Kondylis & Associates. That practice, renamed Costas Kondylis & Partners in 2001, dissolved in 2009.

Costas was an incredible friend to our family and a remarkable architect, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump of the Trump Organization said in a joint statement on Thursday. He leaves behind an amazing legacy.
The political firestorm ignited by a huge anticorruption investigation and the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff should have generated a new wave of Brazilian political leaders. But instead the two main contenders in this years presidential election  Brazils former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the retired military officer Jair Bolsonaro, a veteran congressman in Brazils Chamber of Deputies  represent the past.

Mr. da Silva, who is running his campaign from his jail cell following a conviction on corruption charges, appeals to voters nostalgia for the bygone days of political civility and economic boom that are unlikely to return soon. The political landscape and Mr. da Silvas own reputation are not what they once were.

Mr. Bolsonaro has surged in popularity with about 20 percent of voter support, according to the latest polls, a high percentage in a fractured race. A conservative populist, he has defended the deplorable military dictatorship that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985 and has justified the use of torture.

There is a diverse group of presidential contenders along the political spectrum between Mr. da Silva and Mr. Bolsonaro. Though they all have their shortcomings, they by and large share a respect for the countrys young democracy. Mr. Bolsonaro, however, has glorified Brazils sinister authoritarian past. He is tempting Brazilians to return to a dark chapter in their history.
Against all that, as far as the secular state is concerned, there is no legitimate reason to privilege an institution that has contributed to such monstrous wrongdoings. From this viewpoint, exempting priests who hear confessions from mandatory reporting of crime, when doctors and teachers arent, simply because thats what Canon Law requires, places the church above the law.

And yet the focus on the confession booth is not the answer, mainly because its unlikely that priests will comply and turn in confessors.

For a Catholic priest to violate the confessional seal and report a confessed abuser is to face the gravest spiritual penalty the church can muster: excommunication and eternal damnation. You dont need to value Canon Law or Catholicism to recognize that is an extremely serious matter for someone who does. So serious, in fact, that the state has no way of outbidding it.

What criminal penalty can be severe enough to make someone who is Catholic enough to be a priest decide to risk excommunication? South Australia has set the punishment for failing to report abuse at a maximum of about $7,500. Who are these priests who value their spiritual salvation about as much as they might value a secondhand car?

Little wonder that South Australian priests have echoed their peers from around the country in declaring they will defy this law. The royal commission acknowledged this possibility, having heard from several priests who said as much in their testimony.

For all of its impressive rigor, the royal commission report simply doesnt engage with the question of what to do about a law that seems likely to be ignored.

But the royal commission reported on testimony from several priests who said, in the words of one, that a priest hearing confessions has always been required to have at least moral certitude of the penitents contrition and purpose of amendment before granting absolution.
Where does the conservative commitment to limited government and individual freedom, always more rhetorical than real, finally go to die?

One strong candidate is rural America, where Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old student at the University of Iowa, was brutally murdered this summer at the hands, allegedly, of a Mexican immigrant who may be in the country illegally.

The killing of Ms. Tibbetts, who went missing on July 18 but whose body was found only this week, is an unspeakable tragedy. Her killer should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Yet many conservatives who have long assailed the government as incompetent at best are now so blinded by xenophobic rage over her murder that theyve turned into the thing they claim to despise: vociferous boosters of big government.

Consider a piece posted this week at Conservative HQ, the official site of the direct-mail innovator Richard Viguerie, the legendary funding father of the postwar conservative movement going back to its early days supporting Barry Goldwater in the 1960s. In The Politicians Who Killed Mollie Tibbetts, the sites editor, George Rasley, lays the blame not on the man in police custody but on a cabal of elected officials and profit-hungry plutocrats.
To the Editor:

Re An E.R. That Treats Opioid Use as an Emergency (The Treatment Gap series, front page, Aug. 19 ), about Highland Hospital in Oakland, Calif ., one of a small group of institutions that have started initiating opioid addiction treatment in the E.R.:

As parents of a heroin addict we became all too familiar with a number of emergency rooms in Manhattan hospitals in 2012, the year in which our 24-year-old son died of an accidental heroin overdose.

Stigma was the order of the day. Doctors and other staff members met the opiate overdose victims with impatience, condescension, ignorance, annoyance, scorn and judgment, and no offer of inpatient treatment. The sum of the patient engagement was simply catch and release  little to no desire to help the addict begin on a path toward recovery was exhibited.

The fact that nearly 50,000 people died from opioid overdoses alone last year is clear evidence that we need to replicate the Highland Hospital model many times over if we are to achieve any success in overcoming this opioid epidemic.

Bill Williams

Margot Head

New York

To the Editor:

The Highland Hospital approach, together with San Franciscos health care worker outreach to homeless people with opioid use disorder, profiled in the accompanying article (San Francisco Increases Aid by Taking It to the Streets), illustrates the importance of seizing opportunities to help people by literally meeting them where they are.
Iowa police announced this week what we long suspected: Mollie Tibbetts, the Iowa college student who was missing for over a month, is dead. The preliminary autopsy report, released Thursday, reveals that she was killed by multiple sharp force injuries. Prosecutors have filed first-degree murder charges against Cristhian Rivera, a 24-year-old Mexican who had been working at Yarrabee Farms in Brooklyn, Iowa, since 2014. The police say that Rivera is in the country illegally  though this has been disputed by his lawyer  and that he presented fraudulent identification to his employer when he was hired. Anyone really interested in understanding why Trump was elected president should pay careful attention to this episode.

We dont yet know for sure if Rivera is guilty, but the tragedy of the scenario painted by the charges is explosive. The way many people see it, if a foreign national, apparently in the country illegally, kills an American citizen, it underscores the urgency of Trumps message of putting Americans first. In other words, the murder of Mollie Tibbetts was not only ugly and evil, it was unnecessary and utterly preventable by government action.

Some supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country, as well as increased legal immigration, dont seem to be able to acknowledge the reality of Tibbetts murder. Senator Elizabeth Warren is a case in point. Rather than admit during a CNN interview that our failure to enforce our immigration laws and control the border contributed to Tibbetts death, she changed the subject. After saying that she was so sorry for the family here, Warren argued that we need an immigration system that is effective, that focuses on where real problems are, in effect casting those crossing the border illegally as the real victims.
But the harsh divisions among Americans in 1968 have largely endured. They are rooted in profound disagreements based on culture and creeds that are impervious to compromise. If one thinks abortion is murder or that L.G.B.T.Q. people deserve every right that heterosexuals have, the very idea of finding a middle ground is abhorrent. The mutual hostility between religious conservatives and liberals  and nonbelievers  that emerged in the 1960s also fuels these seemingly irreconcilable differences. Each side is convinced it represents a majority  and a moral one at that.

In addition, the alienation of rural white Americans from cosmopolitan urban dwellers has only increased since big cities became e ntry points of immigrants from all over the world. The family reunifications made possible by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 helped create todays polyglot big cities.

The absence of a stable partisan majority also keeps our domestic conflicts on a persistent burn. Richard Nixons victory in 1968 and his landslide re-election four years later tore apart the New Deal coalition that had dominated national politics, with barely a pause, since the early 1930s. Of the 11 presidential contests from 1976 to 2016, Republicans have won six and Democrats five. But on just four occasions has the Republican victor gained a plurality of the popular vote.

Control of one or both houses of Congress has swung back and forth too. In 1951, the eminent political scientist Samuel Lubell observed that the Democrats were like the sun, the Republicans the moon. It is within the majority party that the issues of any particular period are fought out, he explained, while the minority party shines in reflected radiance of the heat thus generated. But for the past half-century, the major parties have been more akin to asteroids that occasionally collide but whose gyrations move neither of them much closer to the center of the political solar system.

In many ways, the civil war fought out in Mayor Daleys city that summer has never really ended.

Since the late 1960s, officeholders have sought to gain an advantage for their side by stoking the fires of conflict. This has been a consistent habit more on the right than among liberals. Dividing the American people has been my main contribution to the national political scene, acknowledged Spiro Agnew, who served as Nixons vice president until he resigned in disgrace in 1973. I not only plead guilty to this charge, but I am somewhat flattered by it. During his first term in Congress a few years later, Newt Gingrich accused Speaker of the House Tip ONeill of placing Communist propaganda in his office. Last June, Eric Trump emulated these predecessors as well as his own father when he told Sean Hannity on Fox that Washington Democrats are not even people.
One of the reasons candidates like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Ms. Salazar speak the language of class so fluently is that its central to their identities. Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton struggled to cobble together a credible self out of the many selves theyd presented over the years, trying to find a personal story to fit the political moment. Todays young candidates of the left tell a story of personal struggle that meshes with their political vision. Mr. Obama did that  but where his story reinforced a myth of national identity and inclusion, the socialists story is one of capitalism and exclusion: how, as millennials struggling with low wages and high rents and looming debt, they and their generation are denied the promise of freedom.

The stories of these candidates are socialist for another reason: They break with the nation-state. The geographic references of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez  or Ms. Tlaib, who is running to represent Michigans 13th District in Congress  are local rather than national, invoking the memory and outposts of American and European colonialism rather than the promise of the American dream.

Ms. Tlaib speaks of her Palestinian heritage and the cause of Palestine by way of the African-American struggle for civil rights in Detroit, while Ms. Ocasio-Cortez draws circuits of debt linking Puerto Rico, where her mother was born, and the Bronx, where she lives. Mr. Obamas story also had its Hawaiian (as well as Indonesian and Kenyan) chapters. But where his ended on a note of incorporation, the cosmopolitan wanderer coming home to America, Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez arent interested in that resolution. That refusal is also part of the socialist heritage.

Arguably the biggest boundary todays socialists are willing to cross is the two-party system. In their campaigns, the message is clear: Its not enough to criticize Donald Trump or the Republicans; the Democrats are also complicit in the rot of American life. And here the socialism of our moment meets up with the deepest currents of the American past.

Like the great transformative presidents, todays socialist candidates reach beyond the parties to target a malignant social form: for Abraham Lincoln, it was the slavocracy; for Franklin Roosevelt, it was the economic royalists. The great realigners understood that any transformation of society requires a confrontation not just with the opposition but also with the political economy that underpins both parties. Thats why realigners so often opt for a language that neither party speaks. For Lincoln in the 1850s, confronting the Whigs and the Democrats, that language was free labor. For leftists in the 2010s, confronting the Republicans and the Democrats, its socialism.

To critics in the mainstream and further to the left, that language can seem slippery. With their talk of Medicare for All or increasing the minimum wage, these socialist candidates sound like New Deal or Great Society liberals. Theres not much discussion, yet, of classic socialist tenets like worker control or collective ownership of the means of production.
At their summit in Helsinki, Finland, in July, President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia reportedly agreed to end the Syrian war and to move Iranian forces away from the Syria-Israel border. President Trump has also indicated that he is willing to accept President Bashar al-Assads remaining in office and is prepared to withdraw American forces from Syria. This is a start. But more is needed to end the violence in Syria.

Beginning in 2011, Western and Middle Eastern powers rallied around the slogan Assad must go. This singular focus on the fate of Syrias president hardened positions on all sides and made it much more difficult to explore other options.

The calls for regime change have diminished since then, but there are still some voices in Western policy circles that demand a full transition of power from the Assad government. A better approach at this point would be to test the Syrian governments ability to embark on a new course that has the potential to bring the war to a close.

Western countries, including the United States, should re-engage incrementally with the Syrian government. They can start by reopening their embassies in Syria, since Western diplomats absence from Damascus has led to missed opportunities. The West should also abandon the goal of regime change and temper expectations of democratic transition in Syria in the short-to-medium term. Instead, the focus should be on patiently building democracy.
The answer is a neoliberal.

After the economic chaos of the 1970s, it was decided that the United States and Britain had become too collective. Previous decades had seen the introduction of the New Deal, which included the Social Security Act, strict regulations on banking and business, and the rising power of the unions. This collectively tilted economy sired a collectively tilted people: monkey-suited Corporation Man and his children, the hippies. For Mr. Reagan and Mrs. Thatcher, saving ourselves meant rediscovering our individualist roots.

They cut taxes and regulations; they battled unions; they shrunk the welfare state; they privatized assets and weakened the states safety nets. They pursued the neoliberal dream of globalization  one free market that covered the earth. As much of human life as possible was to become a competition of self versus self.

In 1981, Margaret Thatcher said, Whats irritated me about the whole direction of politics in the last 30 years is that its always been toward the collectivist society.

She then made a comment that bordered on the sinister. Economics are the method: The object is to change the soul. And thats precisely what happened.

A 2010 study of 325 million American names by Jean Twenge of the University of San Diego and others found a sharp increase in parents giving their children uncommon names starting in 1983. Parents, suggested its authors, wanted them to stand out and be a star. The previous year Jane Fondas Workout Video appeared, selling over a million copies and heralding a fitness craze thats still with us. The 1980s saw the rise of a self-esteem movement whose promoters promised that self-love would make America competitive again. We have been relatively narcissistic ever since. The individualist West had always been me-focused, but this was something new. Neoliberalism was a heightened form of individualism that brought great benefits and grave costs.

Todays culture of selfies, influencers, side-hustles, the gig economy and the fetishization of entrepreneurs and C.E.O.s is all thoroughly neoliberal. And, for millions, the system has worked. Living standards have risen for many while global poverty has dropped by more than half, according to the World Bank. But inequality has increased, too. And the relentless focus on the individual, combined with an increasingly harsh economic environment for the ordinary person, has proved toxic for our mental health. We individualists are great at crediting ourselves for our victories, but we are just as good at blaming ourselves for failure. And today, exacerbated by the rise of social media, more and more of us are feeling like failures.

We call such sensitivity to signals of failure perfectionism. This mode of thinking is a predictor of self-harm, depression and suicide. A 2017 study by Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill of 40,000 students in the United States, Britain and Canada found that, between 1989 and 2016, the extent to which people felt they had to display perfection to secure approval had risen by a staggering 33 percent. An adult morbidity survey in England shows that between 2000 and 2014, the number of adults reporting self-harm more than doubled. In the United States rates of anxiety and depression in adolescents are rising. Despite widespread adoption of antidepressants since the 1980s, the United States suicide rate rose by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, according to the C.D.C.
On the day of Eid, after gathering up the strength we could muster, we celebrated. And I realized what Eid was about: reflecting and appreciating the community you have created in a world that sometimes requires strength greater than just your own.  Kinza Haq, New York City

A ritual that has lost its childhood appeal

As a child, I would get excited during the sacrifice ritual and tried to help whichever way I could. In my teenage years, I gradually lost interest and sometimes wouldnt even leave bed until the blood was swept off.

Today, it has been six years since I left Morocco and I dont miss it at all. I dont tolerate the sight of chaos that reigns in the streets, the bloody gutters and putrefaction smells.

My stance isnt related to any ideological position toward animal rights, nor is it due to my being an atheist. I simply outgrew it somehow and now find this day an unreasonable weight put on many poor families, in societies where there are much higher priorities, among which is a necessary improvement of hygiene and health care.  Anass Cherki, Nantes, France

Appreciating what matters in life

Eid al-Adha helps me mark the passage of time in my life, gives me an opportunity to appreciate whats important (financial stability over fancy toys, and good health over new clothes).  Reem Edan, Los Angeles

Image Roasted lamb Credit... courtesy of Samia Serageldin

An all-American holiday

The child of relatively secular Muslim-American immigrants from Tunisia, I experienced a celebration of Eid that has never been religious. As a kid, it meant a day off school and a trip to Chuck E. Cheeses. As an adult, I take the day off work and join the rest of my family for a day of barbecuing.
The maker movement has spawned countless crafting and repair spaces in recent years. So it was perhaps just a matter of time before it worked its way into the amenity offerings in New York Citys luxury housing market.

Denizen Bushwick, a new rental development in Bushwick, Brooklyn, will have not only a wood shop and a darkroom, but labs for laser cutting, metalworking, printing and video production  all located in a vast subterranean co-working space that includes glass-fronted private studios so tenants can peek in on neighbors in the throes of artistic ferment.

And if renters want to display or even sell their wares, theres a gallery for that, on the lobby floor above.

We were inspired by the doers and makers in this neighborhood, said architect Eran Chen, founder and executive director of ODA New York.
Longtime New Yorkers Joanne and Vince Intrieri left their 3,100-square-foot three-bedroom near the United Nations earlier this year, trading it in for a sunny three-bedroom condominium in Downtown Miami.

Ms. Intrieri, who has a construction and design firm that she is moving to Miami, and Mr. Intrieri, who owns VDA Capital Management, were not ready to retire. But they decided to move to the Florida coast to escape exorbitant taxes that they knew would be exacerbated by the Trump administrations new tax law.

My husband and I have been in New York City for more than 20 years, but we arent tied to an office anymore and our kids are older, said Ms. Intrieri, 59. Between the state and city taxes, plus about $50,000 in property taxes, it is a lot of money going out the door. Why do it?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as the legislation is known, was passed last year and will be applied to 2018 returns, which are due in April 2019. The law limits the deductions taxpayers can take on property taxes and state and local taxes (known as SALT deductions) up to $10,000  a cap that many New Yorkers easily exceed. For the highest earners, New York states income tax rate is 8.82 percent and New York Citys rate is 3.876 percent. Nearly half of Manhattans taxpayers have taken SALT deductions in the past, and the average deduction has been over $60,000 a year.
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Carl Linnaeus first collected samples of these weird spheres in Sweden in 1753. But they werent called marimo until Takuya Kawakami, another botanist, found them along Lake Akan in Hokkaido, Japan, more than a century later. Now they are a protected national treasure, and every October (this year Oct. 8 to 10), Japans Ainu people host a festival in which they first welcome the marimo to Lake Akan, collect them and then return them in a sacred ceremony.

Collecting them from Lake Akan is otherwise prohibited, but some keep marimo, man-made or collected elsewhere, as aquarium pets  which is how they captured the attention of Dora Cano-Ramirez, the lead author of the paper.

After purchasing her own marimo, she noticed that bubbles covered them at some times of day and not others. And during the day, a few moved to the top of her tank. Because she studied how biological clocks control photosynthesis in land plants, she wondered if the same kinds of processes might be at play in her light-harvesting algae balls. She took her idea to Antony Dodd, a biologist and head of her lab.

The rationale behind the work was a little whimsical, Dr. Dodd said. But in science sometimes you get interested in things, and if you have a chance, its worth pursuing them just to find out more about the world.
Mr. OBrien, 55, started to realize his love for the biographer-historian was perhaps unrequited some eight years ago.

At the time, he had recently made the move to TBS after 17 years as a late-night host at NBC  a run that had come to an end with his brief stint behind the desk of The Tonight Show. Newly ensconced at Conan in the lower-stakes environs of basic cable, he had the freedom to give serious airtime to guests who would have gotten five-minute segments during his network days.

Were talking about authors, and Im thinking, Lets get Robert Caro on  Ill do two segments with him, Mr. OBrien said. The request went out. It was the equivalent of putting a penny in a well and never hearing the splash.

Later invitations also resulted in polite refusals.

The Path to Power, the first installment of Mr. Caros biography of President Johnson, was published in 1982, when Mr. OBrien was a student at Harvard. He received the book as a Christmas present from his father and soon fell under its spell, as did his roommate, Eric Reiff. They shared their new enthusiasm during a trip away from campus.

Think of two guys in college going on a road trip, Mr. OBrien said. You think about how we get a bunch of beer, we go to Fort Lauderdale, we get hammered. No. We go to a quiet beach in Rhode Island and were lying there and yelling at each other back and forth about Lyndon Johnson. It was his father! His father had been disappointed! But what about Pappy ODaniel?
When I was young and poor, I sold my kiss to pay the rent.

Two years out of college, I moved to Japan for a position at a small, English-language magazine near Tokyo. Never mind that the editor of the magazine said she could not pay me. She offered me a place to sleep and claimed she would set me up with students who would pay to learn English. Best of all, she said I would have tons of time to write. I bought a ticket and went.

As I tugged my suitcase out of the train station, I spotted a tall Caucasian woman, white hair piled atop her head, my new boss. Waiting in a black Mercedes was an older Japanese man. We got into the car and she introduced him to me as her boyfriend. Years before, she said, they had been lovers.

Before she became fat, he said as he drove, and she hit him, hard, his body shuddering before he straightened and laughed low in his throat.

I shifted uncomfortably in the back seat.

He was in his 60s, she in her 50s. I would stay with her until I had saved enough money to pay for my own place. I had a return ticket and a tourist visa.
Cantilevered into the wall on one side and glassed in on the other, there is a staircase at the University of Padua that, like an M.C. Escher sketch come to life, seems to float in space. In fact, it leads to the schools historic womens library and is one of many poetic details dating from a nine-year (1932-41) building project overseen by the 20th-century polymath Gio Ponti. Then an up-and-coming Milanese architect, Ponti was 43 when he was commissioned to update the interiors of the schools 16th-century Palazzo del Bo as well as design an entirely new building, the nearby Palazzo Liviano. Both feature sumptuous frescoes, the most notable of which may be a 26-foot-tall scene in the Palazzo Liviano that depicts mans pursuit of knowledge, and that Ponti painted with his daughter Lisa and artist friends Fulvio Pendini and Giovanni Dandolo. Its a lesser-known chapter of a storied career that will be a focal point of the first major retrospective of Pontis work, opening in October at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

The museums director, Olivier Gabet, and his co-curator Sophie Dumas bonded over their shared love of the architect and designer when they met at a dinner party eight years ago, hatching a plan for the show that very night. They knew it would be difficult to sum up the work of someone so prolific, and so they looked for highlights in an oeuvre that includes the needly Pirelli Tower in Milan (1958) and a glass-tiled building for the Denver Art Museum (1971). For the Padua project, they worked with Pontis estate to convince the university director to give curators unprecedented access to the buildings.

Theyre the epitome of Ponti, Dumas says of the palaces, conceived as a unified, clear expression of his unique style and ability to marry Italian tradition with a keen sense of modernity. She points to the floor of a lounge in the Palazzo del Bo: green-and-white terrazzo divided by thin black lines like the stripes on a mens shirt. Almost a century later, professors still gather there, sitting on slim chairs that anticipated Pontis famous 1957 Superleggera model and browsing magazines at one of his glass-plated tables. For another fanciful staircase, this one running alongside the pursuit-of-knowledge fresco, Ponti made risers out of green and rose marble and treads out of beige, so that one ascends seeing color and descends with a starker view. Charles Eames once observed that Ponti was the rare designer who saw each element of his work as architecture. Here, hes in every step.
For one weekend every summer, artists from around the world come with their wares to Santa Fe, N.M., for the International Folk Art Market. And it was here I recently had the most wonderful shopping experience of my life. Imagine a treasure-filled souk of exquisitely crafted objects and textiles in which you know everything to be authentic, the best of its kind, but with prices clearly marked, so no haggling. The enthusiastic and informative sellers are the same people who have made what you see. They, along with others from their communities and cooperatives, have dyed and stitched and knitted and woven and embroidered and painted and hammered and thrown and hand printed everything on offer.

Folk art is not just funnily painted animals or colorful dioramas  it is the manifestation of some of humankinds finest manual skills. And it is an expression of a community within a culture. Humans have always made the things we need  vessels, blankets, clothing  in ways that transcend necessity. As Muhammad Yunus, whose pioneering work in microfinance earned him a Nobel Peace Prize and who served as the honorary chair of this years market, said to me, All those marks in the caves, no one paid for it, nobody bought it, but they did it. Making things with our hands is the most natural human expression of creativity.
EDINBURGH  Ulster American, a satirical dark comedy about a female playwright from Northern Ireland, a British director and a self-important American actor  both male  working on a play about a violent Protestant loyalist, is the winner of the 2018 Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh award. The award is to be presented on Friday morning in a ceremony here in the Scottish capital by Ms. Tambor.

The play, by David Ireland, is one of several at this years Edinburgh Festival Fringe that ponder how men are reacting to a world in which women are increasingly empowered. In Mr. Irelands play, which has won some rave reviews, arguments about gender and identity politics reach a fever pitch and a violent conclusion.

The Best of Edinburgh award, presented annually since 2004, awards one production from the Fringe (there are almost 1,000 theater productions this summer) with either a fully produced run in New York, for smaller, independent shows, or, in the case of larger shows created by professional companies, like Ulster American, a $25,000 cash prize to help facilitate a New York transfer. Ulster, a production of the Traverse Theater, will aim for New York in early 2019.

The award is one of several prizes presented annually at the Fringe. The Scotsman newspaper has also announced a number of Fringe First awards, coveted honors for new writing at the festival  several of which have gone to productions at the Traverse, Edinburghs year-round theater dedicated to new writing and always an important stop on the Fringe circuit.
Good morning.

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This week I profiled Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve Jobss first child, whose memoir Small Fry comes out this fall. She is the one whose paternity he denied until the government sued him for child support, the one whose tuition fees he stopped paying after she offended him, the one whose mother lived on welfare even as her fathers wealth grew. The story is a rare look inside a Silicon Valley family and a childhood right before staggering amounts of money flooded into the region.

In the book, she reckons with her place in the Jobs narrative, which has been the great narrative of Silicon Valley. And she wants to rewrite it.

Instead of the victim, Ms. Brennan-Jobs wants to show how she is stronger for the deprivation she experienced and that her father was trying, albeit clumsily, to teach her greater values. According to Ms. Brennan-Jobs, her father, the towering archetype of the tech founder, was trying to instill in her a tougher character, and she forgives him. As she lays out the details of his cruelty to make this argument, the question for readers is: Can we forgive him, too?

One scene I couldnt include in the profile because of space is when she decided to call him dad. She was 28 years old. She told me she thought it bothered him that she kept calling him Steve, and she liked being able to twist that a bit. But one day she decided she wanted to be able to call someone dad. She asked him, and he said yes. No one else in her family commented on the change.
Mr. Mensa, a Grammy-nominated artist who grew up on the citys South Side, said he came up with the plan because he wanted to find a way to invest in the neighborhood. The timing of the sting operation  during a period of summer violence  was disrespectful, he said.

To see the police escort a bait truck full of shoes through a low-income neighborhood where people cant afford basic necessities, it seemed very representative of how ill-equipped they are to deal with the citys issues, Mr. Mensa said in an interview.

The bait truck was left near 59th Place and Princeton Avenue in Englewood, a neighborhood where nearly 60 percent of the residents earn less than $25,000, according to 2015 census data. It is also among the most crime-ridden, though last year it recorded fewer shootings and other violence than in past years.

The Chicago police referred questions to Norfolk Southern, which said the action was in response to cargo thefts that had included guns and ammunition. Earlier this month, the Chicago police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, said he would take a hard look at the episode, but defended the motives behind it.

They had been experiencing a lot of theft of firearms over there, so we have a responsibility to keep these firearms off the street and out of the hands of the wrong people, Superintendent Johnson told reporters.

Still, some critics have questioned why the Chicago police were involved at all, and encouraged the department to take responsibility, even if it only assisted with the arrests.

If you plan on doing a murder and I come with you to drive the getaway car, Ill go to prison too, Mr. Mensa said. Whether or not the initiative was an idea generated by the police, theyre an accomplice.
These cyber actors are using social media platforms to spread disinformation  and set Americans against each other  targeting both sides of a countrys most divisive issues. Youre watching a recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about how foreign internet trolls are using social media to influence American politics. In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, Russian trolls used disinformation campaigns to sow discord. Experts are now seeing similar activity heading into the 2018 midterms. The trolls are trying to improve their tactics. Theyre trying to get better at hiding their traces. So its going to be a game of cat and mouse. Ben Nimmo is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. He works to identify and analyze online disinformation. The way these accounts work has always been a combination of infiltration and radicalization. He walked us through some of the imagery and strategies used by notorious online trolls from Russia and, perhaps, elsewhere. First, they pick a hot-button issue. There are certain very high-profile problems that American society has, which are well-known abroad. And it tended to be those ones which are targeted. So the original troll factory accounts were very heavily engaged in the debate on gun control and the Second Amendment, on womens rights and abortion rights. They were heavily engaged on Black Lives Matter. A slew of inauthentic accounts that Facebook recently deleted took the same approach, updated to fit the latest top news. They use identity politics and emotion to appeal to followers. Next step, tap into a community. So you start off by making positive comments about the target group. Lets say you want to masquerade as a Black Lives Matter supporter. You start by making lots of positive comments about the African-American community. You talk about how beautiful the girls are. You talk about their glorious cultural history and you try and engage with real activists who are busy on this subject. Now its time to ramp it up. Once youve established your credentials, you start slipping more and more toxic content into the mix. So, rather than saying positive things about your community, you start saying negative things about other communities. The war against colonialism is a theme that comes up on this page time and again. Its a hint at violence. And last, they try to move from the online world into real life. And then maybe you slip into the mix a suggestion: Lets have a protest. Lets get real people out on the streets. And then, because youre operating probably from some time zones away, you need to think, Well, how do we get this to happen? And you start trying to reach out to genuine local organizations. Maybe you say, Well, we cant turn up on that day because weve got something else going on. Why dont you organize this for us? In 2016, Russian trolls organized political events for and against both presidential candidates. At an Islamic center in Houston, they organized a protest and the corresponding counterprotest. Down with the racists! Down with the Nazis! So why go to such lengths? These bad actors are trying to polarize the American public by exploiting existing tensions in our society. The goal? Make Americans see each other as enemies, especially during high-stakes events such as elections. If people feel they cant trust their neighbors or their government, democracy falters. There is a massive, sophisticated, persistent campaign on multiple fronts to misinform, divide and ultimately manipulate the American people. Is that accurate? Yes.
Governor John Kasich, the states Republican governor and an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump, skipped the dinner, highlighting divisions in the party over the presidents leadership.

Matt Borges, an ally of Mr. Kasichs whom Mr. Trump helped to force out as chairman of the states party, said that the presidents divisive messaging on issues like immigration was driving up the enthusiasm of Democrats in a way that could spell peril for Republican candidates in November.

His constant desire to polarize the electorate  whether it be polarized Democrats or polarized Republicans who just arent comfortable with the president  could be a dangerous strategy, Mr. Borges said. Hes goading the other side  he does it all the time  so what we have now is an electorate where the people who dont like him are maxed out, and the question is whether that sort of rhetoric really helps energize Republicans to vote.

So far, it has succeeded, Mr. Borges added of Mr. Trumps approach. But I just think it could be playing with fire.

During the dinner, Mr. Trump stoked the themes of cultural division that he has made his trademarks. He lashed out at the N.F.L., as well as the television networks ESPN and CBS, for their handling of the controversy over football players kneeling in protest during the national anthem.

He falsely accused journalists of ceasing to cover the death of Mollie Tibbetts, a young woman killed in Iowa, after they discovered that the suspect in her killing was an undocumented immigrant.

And he claimed that Americans had refrained from saying Merry Christmas before his election, but were doing so now, and proud of it.
WASHINGTON  Senator John McCain of Arizona, who has been battling brain cancer for more than a year, will no longer be treated for his condition, his family announced on Friday, a sign that the Republican war hero is most likely entering his final days.

Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict, the family said in a statement. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

Mr. McCain, 81, had been undergoing treatment since July 2017, and has been absent from Washington since December. Mr. McCains family has gathered in Arizona, and people close to him say his death is imminent.

From his ranch in Arizona, Mr. McCain had managed to maintain a voice in key foreign policy and military policy debates, sharply criticizing President Trump after his summit meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, an old adversary of Mr. McCain. At home, he has welcomed close friends to renew ties. But after decades as a fixture in Washington and a larger-than-life character, he had largely retreated from the public eye.
Aug. 24, 2018

The way Republicans often tell the story, America is on a roll. Unemployment is down. Economic growth is strong. Tax cuts are putting more money in peoples pockets. Best financial numbers on the Planet, President Trump declared on Twitter recently.

But sometimes a good story just isnt enough  especially when the political and legal threats to Mr. Trump are posing a graver threat than ever to Republicans majorities in Congress.

As voters consider whether to put Democrats back into power on Capitol Hill after the midterm elections, Republicans are painting a grim picture of what that might look like.

Violence and drugs will become greater scourges, Republican ads and campaign messages say. The nations borders will be less secure. Undocumented immigrants will bring more crime  a narrative that took center stage this week.
Joseph Y. Yun, who retired in February as the administrations envoy to North Korea, said Mr. Trumps tweet was a belated public recognition of what weve known for a long time: The negotiations are not going well on the denuclearization front.

Washington must now fundamentally rethink how to approach North Korea, he said.

Mr. Trumps about-face was also a setback for Mr. Pompeo, who announced the appointment on Thursday of Stephen E. Biegun, a Ford Motor executive, as his special envoy. Mr. Pompeo cast the move as further evidence of the administrations commitment to reach a deal with North Korea.

The tweets carried an echo of Mr. Trumps handling of Mr. Pompeos predecessor, Rex W. Tillerson, last October. After Mr. Tillerson promoted his efforts to open a channel to North Korea, the president tweeted that he was wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.

It was only the second time that Mr. Trump had tweeted anything other than praise for Mr. Pompeo. On Wednesday, the president tweeted that he had directed his secretary of state to scrutinize what he said was the targeting of white farmers in South Africa  a request seen by many as embracing a false narrative spread by white supremacists.

By all accounts, Mr. Pompeo has a much better relationship with Mr. Trump than Mr. Tillerson did. He has been in sync with him on the negotiating strategy with North Korea, and White House officials said that Mr. Pompeo was with the president when he sent the tweets.

Mr. Trumps cancellation of the trip mirrored his letter to Mr. Kim in May, in which he pulled out of a planned summit meeting with him in Singapore after a series of disagreements. Mr. Kim sent an emissary to Washington to smooth things over, and the meeting was quickly reinstated.

You can only run this play so many times, said Evan S. Medeiros, a former senior Asia adviser to President Barack Obama. It is much less likely to work this time. In June, Kim wanted the summit; now he can take or leave a nuclear deal.
Ive seen the soldiers and the trucks of the soldiers  theyre holding guns. It wasnt supposed to be like this. People have been beaten by the soldiers. Some of our guys have been killed. This was supposed to be the moment that proved that Zimbabwe was moving on from its oppressive past. Instead, city streets look like this, with soldiers opening fire on protesters and leaving at least three people dead only days after an election. Its not safe, its not safe  the soldiers, they are coming, that side. Reporter: O.K. Oh, we should go? Lets go. So what happened? Heres what we saw. This is Harare, the capital, two days earlier. Polls are about to open, but the lines are already long. Voters are peaceful and excited. I woke up early in the morning. I didnt have time to bathe today because I was really eager to come and vote. This is the first election in decades without the name of Zimbabwes longtime leader, Robert Mugabe, on the ballot. A military coup in November forced Mugabe out, raising hopes that the system he put in place would also go away. For a while, violence subsided, and people talked more openly, allowing someone like Vincent to show his support for the opposition. People were not free to express our feelings, like we are doing right now. So now voting is something that we are doing willingly. Today Ive exercised my right. Im very happy. We drive east, away from the city. We see fewer signs of support for the opposition. Rural areas are traditional strongholds for the ruling party, mostly because of years of intimidation and vote rigging. We saw people walk miles to reach their polling centers. Unlike in previous elections, this time the ruling party promised transparency. And to convince the world, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the ruling party candidate who replaced Mugabe after the coup, invited international observers. But in these rural villages, we didnt see any of those observers. Instead, we saw this: This man is camped outside a polling station, writing down the names of everyone coming to vote. Its an old strategy that could mean food and fertilizer for those on his list or retribution for those who are not. His name is Norman. When confronted, he shows us his list and quickly starts to explain that hes part of a larger group, mobilized by the ruling party, spread across multiple villages. Police and election officials watch. So this is the complaint. They dont try to stop him, but they ask us to stop shooting. Off the camera, yes we can talk  off the camera. Reporter: Well turn it off. Its the next day and markets reopen, while people wait for official results. But they dont come. Optimism turns to unease, with growing concerns that the vote count will not be fair. In a preemptive move, Nelson Chamisa, the leading opposition candidate takes to social media and claims victory. Hours later, he deletes this tweet. But its too late. Hundreds of his supporters take to the streets to celebrate in front of the party headquarters. Wednesday morning, still no winner. In the meantime, officials announce a sweeping parliamentary victory for the ruling party and international observers release statements criticizing the election. Protests form, peaceful at first. But quickly escalate. Soldiers and army tanks deploy, hunting down opposition supporters. In just over 48 hours, we watched as a hopeful city was overtaken by fear and now is bracing for the announcement of who the next president will be.
HAVANA  The rebels have blown up oil pipelines and blasted police stations in Colombia with homemade bombs. They take over highways, shutting down parts of the country for days. They have killed soldiers in ambushes  and kept others alive as hostages of their guerrilla movement.

For years, the rebel chain of command has run through Israel Ramirez Pineda, one of the five guerrilla leaders who run the last major insurgent group in Colombia, the National Liberation Army.

From an old basement in an empty Havana hotel, only a short distance from where he now lives, Mr. Ramirez is demanding that the government negotiate with him, counting off the latest captives his rebel group has seized: four soldiers, three police officers and two military contractors.

A Colombian liberal leader once said a half-century ago, Better to use your mouth than use your bullet, Mr. Ramirez told The New York Times this week in Havana, saying that he ultimately wanted to talk with the government, rather than take hostages. He added that the hostages could be released in the coming days as a gesture of good will.
TOKYO  Japans wartime emperor, Hirohito, was anguished right up until his death about his responsibility in World War II, according to a newly examined diary by one of his close aides.

The diary of the imperial chamberlain Shinobu Kobayashi, borrowed from his family and analyzed by the Kyodo News Agency, showed that the emperor was ruminating about how much people blamed him for the atrocities of World War II and the preceding Sino-Japanese War.

In an entry from April 7, 1987, just under two years before the emperor died at 87, Mr. Kobayashi recorded Hirohito as saying he had been told about my war responsibility and did not see any point in living longer because it would only increase my chances of seeing or hearing things that are agonizing.

Hirohito, the last emperor to be regarded as a deity by the Japanese people, was not among the thousands of Japanese military leaders prosecuted for war crimes. Although the Japanese waged the war in Hirohitos name, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the Allied powers supreme commander during the postwar occupation of Japan, helped shape a narrative that absolved the emperor of direct responsibility for the war.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  The fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, a prime suspect in the theft of billions of dollars from the government, was charged Friday with eight counts of laundering money, much of it reportedly used to purchase a $250 million yacht.

The Malaysian police issued arrest warrants for Mr. Low and his father, Low Hock Peng, who was charged with one count of money laundering.

The warrants are a first step in seeking the pairs extradition. Their location is unknown but there has been recent speculation in the news media that the younger Mr. Low is in China.

He is accused of playing a key role in the theft of at least $4.5 billion from a government investment fund, 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, that was established and overseen by the former prime minister, Najib Razak.
SEOUL, South Korea  Park Geun-hye, South Koreas impeached and ousted president, was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison, as an appeals court convicted her of collecting more bribes than previously believed from Samsung, the countrys largest business conglomerate.

In a lower-court ruling in April, Ms. Park, 66, was sentenced to 24 years in prison on bribery, extortion, abuse of power and other criminal charges and ordered to pay 18 billion won ($16 million) in fines. But on Friday, the appeals court in Seoul added another year to her prison term and increased her fine to 20 billion won, saying that the collusive ties between Ms. Park and Samsung were more expansive than the lower court had ruled.

Ms. Park, who has been in jail since last year, did not appear in court on Friday to hear the verdict. Her trial does not end until the Supreme Court rules on the case.

Ms. Parks fall from power began in 2016, when hundreds of thousands of protesters began months of weekly rallies in central Seoul demanding that she be forced from office. That December, the National Assembly impeached her on charges of bribery and abuse of presidential power. In March 2017, Ms. Park became the first South Korean leader removed from office through parliamentary impeachment after the Constitutional Court upheld the lawmakers decision.
On Aug. 27, Aung Thein Mya arrived in the Rohingya section of the village at around 9 a.m. accompanied by a group of soldiers, witnesses said, and stole a widows cow. What happened next was described by six witnesses, including Shom Khatun, the cows owner.

Aung Thein Mya had the cow slaughtered and the meat cooked in a large pan as a curry. Just hours before the violence began, Aung Thein Mya sat down with his comrades and ate the curry in view of the people he was about to massacre.

The killing started around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, witnesses said.

Abdul Hashem, a 73-year-old religious leader, said he was with a group of men at the mosque before afternoon prayers. Karima Khatun, 20, said she was cleaning the kitchen when she saw soldiers approaching her home. Roushon Ali, 48, said he heard someone give an order for everyone to come out of their houses.

Aung Thein Mya seemed to be helping soldiers identify targets, witnesses said. Mr. Hossain, the administrators former subordinate, said he saw Aung Thein Mya talking on his phone immediately before the shots rang out.

We are ready on this side, he said he heard Aung Thein Mya say. Come and shoot soon. Kill. Kill them all.

After that they started shooting, Mr. Hossain said. He watched the carnage, he said, while hiding in a pond with seven other people. People were dying. Injured people were screaming in pain. They were being burned alive. Some people were hiding in the hills, some were in the ponds, some were in the bushes, some were in the toilets.

Fir Mohammad, 16, said he bolted out the back door when soldiers rushed into his house. Almost immediately, he was hit by a bullet, which entered his back and burst from his chest.
HONG KONG  The White House on Thursday accused China of apparent interference in El Salvadors domestic politics after the Central American nation established diplomatic ties with Beijing this week.

The statement also sharply criticized El Salvador, saying the United States would re-evaluate its relationship with the country.

The Trump administrations comments are its strongest pushback to date on Chinas efforts to curb the international recognition of Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy Beijing claims as part of its territory. They also reflect a growing unease about Chinas growing influence in a region where the United States has long been the dominant force.

El Salvador severed ties with Taiwan on Tuesday, leaving Taiwan with just 17 formal diplomatic partners. China has stepped up its campaign to woo Taiwans diplomatic partners since Tsai Ing-wen was elected Taiwans president in 2016, replacing a more pro-Beijing leader.
Peter Dutton, an Australian politician, was defeated in his efforts to become prime minister on Friday.

But Peter Dutton, a popcorn seller in Austin, Tex., turned a fleeting moment of mistaken identity into fame on the other side of the world, plans for a new vacation and a potentially lucrative business opportunity.

The latter Mr. Dutton, 30, experienced a now-common social media phenomenon: sharing the name of a person in the news, he (@PeterDutton5) received a barrage of messages intended for someone else (@PeterDutton_MP). This being Twitter, most of the messages were less than pleasant.

It has happened many times before, and will happen many times again. Ask George Papadopoulos, Jonathan Martin or Gerry Sandusky.
The back-room bloodletting that has come to typify Australias turbulent politics claimed one conservative prime minister and anointed another on Friday, in the sixth change to the countrys leadership in 11 years.

By the time the new prime minister, Scott Morrison, formerly the countrys treasurer, emerged from the room where Liberal Party lawmakers elected him on Friday, his colleagues had ousted his predecessor, shut down the lower house of Parliament and blown up their own signature piece of energy legislation  all in the span of a week.

Members of the governing party forced out Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull  the fourth time an Australian leader has been undone by his own party since 2010  leading many citizens to complain that the countrys officials were more interested in Game of Thrones-style political machinations than actual governance.

Mr. Morrison, 50, an erstwhile ally of Mr. Turnbull, was a compromise candidate who initially distanced himself from those who led the insurgency. In his first news conference after the vote, Mr. Morrison pledged to end the infighting and heal the party.
The United Nations said Friday that a Saudi-led airstrike had killed at least 22 children and four women in Yemen as they fled a fighting zone  the second mass killing of Yemeni civilians by Saudi Arabia and its military partners in two weeks.

Mark Lowcock, the top United Nations relief official, asserted without qualification that the Saudi-led coalition warring with Yemens Houthi rebels was responsible for the attack, which happened on Thursday in a pro-Houthi district near the Red Sea port of Al Hudaydah. He said an additional airstrike in the area had killed four more children.

The assertion by Mr. Lowcock, in a statement on his offices website, came as the Saudi coalition and the Houthis were accusing each other of the attack, which has underlined the vulnerability of civilians in a war that has lasted more than three years and become what the United Nations considers the worlds worst man-made humanitarian crisis.

Criticism of Saudi Arabia and its partners has been growing over thousands of civilian casualties, many of them caused by munitions fired from the coalitions warplanes.


Leslie Moonves

Embattled CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has hired Daniel Petrocelli, whose legal clients have included Donald Trump in the Trump University case, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and the family of Ron Goldman in a civil suit against O.J. Simpson, to represent him in CBSs ongoing internal investigation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Petrocelli will face off against former SEC chairman Mary Jo White from Debevoise & Plimpton and ex-federal prosecutor Nancy Kestenbaum from Covington & Burling, who will be leading the probe. Petrocelli, who recently defended the AT&T-Time Warner merger, has been called a lawyer clients call in the toughest situations, by The American Lawyer. He is currently chair of the trial practice committee at OMelveny & Myers. The examination into Moonves' conduct follows a New Yorker story which alleged that he made unwanted sexual advances on several women employed by CBS. CBS might be the target of a wrongful termination lawsuit if they fire Moonves. That would increase the companys legal challenges as it looks toward an October trial with its controlling shareholder, the Shari and Sumner Redstone-owned National Amusements, over a possible merger between CBS and Viacom, also controlled by the Redstones.



Bill Maher

Bill Maher, host of HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher, has donated $1 million to the Senate Majority PAC, a fundraising committee dedicated to building a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. The committee is run by allies of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In 2012, Maher donated the same amount to Priorities USA Action to help get Obama reelected. On his show, Maher has attacked billionaire liberals for not making contributions on the same scale as those made by such Republican donors as Sheldon Adelson. Im very appreciative of Bills generosity and urge all Americans to do everything they can to take back the Senate and restore our democracy, Schumer said in a statement.



Phillip Picardi

Phillip Picardi is the latest high-profile exit from Conde Nast. The chief content officer at Teen Vogue, which shuttered its print edition last year, as well as the founder of THEM, the publishers LGBT-focused media platform, Piccardi is heading to Out magazine, where he will become editor-in-chief, succeeding Aaron Hicklin. At Out, he will supervise the print magazine, as well as its digital platform. Picardi started out as an intern at Conde Nast, becoming online beauty editor at Teen Vogue in 2014, with a promotion to digital editorial director in 2015. He was considered to be a linchpin in Conde Nast artistic director Anna Wintours plans to refashion the company for the digital era. He understands how young people are thinking today, Wintour told the New York Times for a March article about Picardi.


Christine Hardman and Scott Tangney co-authored this article.

From global law and management consulting firms to accounting and engineering firms, the competitive need to aggressively promote brand, talent and POV on key business issues has become imperative to differentiating and achieving a thought leader status. That thought leadership is the heart of business development at professional services firms and core to the DNA of the best rainmakers. Its something that needs to be constantly attended to and refreshed with new ideas and content, or irrelevancy and loss of leadership can quickly set in.

Developing an effective thought leadership plan involves many ingredients, including top PR professionals, thoughtful messaging and careful orchestration. Here are some of the key steps to driving a successful thought leadership campaign:

 Building out a roster of engaging spokespersons that can represent the company well and offer strategic insights.

 Determining the key themes and trends generating news while focusing the messaging and positioning for each spokesperson.

 Developing an immediate response agency team that is dedicated to the client.

 Establishing a media strategy and interaction approach for key media.

 Creating an integrated program that combines content, visibility and digital initiatives.

 Staying vigilant and inoculating the brand for potential crises.

First, when we work with professional services spokespersons, we try to understand the burning business issues theyre advising clients on at that moment and what potential pitfalls lie ahead. We determine what clients are struggling with and the consequences for non-compliance, especially with new regulations. In many cases, we identify opportunities for businesses, where theres great potential for revenue growth, or tax and cost savings associated with changes in laws or tax code. Recent trending topics where weve brought clarity of consequences or opportunity to interact with the media include tax reform, GDPR, cannabis legislation, data breaches and wealth transfer.

A campaigns success is dependent on understanding the news and selecting emerging trends that will become bigger, sustained stories in the near future. Tracking themes related to a spokespersons -expertise is a 24/7 diligence where our team is monitoring for opportunities to have spokespersons address the latest business issue or industry trend. The agency team is critical to making this work seamlessly and pay off. The team must be dedicated and have relationships with influential journalists to be in the right place at the right time. Speed is critical, especially with the breaking news cycle, where the agency must secure national print and broadcast appearances before the rest of the world piles on.

Just as important, each spokesperson needs to build strong relationships with the media. Weve found one of the most effective methods is by having introductory conversations with the media where the spokesperson can offer insights and information to key reporters ahead of any breaking news stories. For a partner at a law firm, we arranged a briefing for an editorial team at a major newspaper and a group of producers at a national network on GDPR. The meeting cemented the relationship by featuring our expert in a purposeful manner and the media received valuable information to better report on how the upcoming event could affect business. This method led to many additional interviews on topics addressed during the briefing. For an accounting firm that competes with larger Big Four competitors, we started our campaign by making media introductions and providing background calls where the firms top partners would explain complex tax reform issues to reporters and editors over 45 minutes. The time invested and relationship building phase with key reporters led to our team delivering over 60 media placements with top tier print and online media in one year, as well as broadcast TV appearances on Fox Business, Bloomberg, Fox News, NBC and MSNBC. By nurturing relationships with top-tier business and financial media and bringing spokespersons and media together to collaborate on story development, our team was able to position this accounting firm as the go-to tax experts with the most influential media outlets.

Once a media thought leadership campaign is in place and off to a good start, the next step is to integrate it with executive visibility, digital and content-building efforts. The goal is to expand reach and influence using myriad initiatives.

We submit our spokespersons for speaking roles at industry conferences or key events where they can speak directly to executive decision makers. This includes keynotes, serving as a panelist or simply networking with key players and industry media. On the content end, some of the most successful thought leadership campaigns are fueled by a pithy and punchy blog focused on key themes driving the program or a series of byline articles in top-tier and key trade outlets. Many media outlets are looking for new perspectives on national business issues so there are plenty of opportunities for top-notch visibility. In fact, we recently introduced a new partner specializing in the food industry at an accounting firm to a reporter at Forbes. The conversation went so well, the Forbes reporter asked the partner to serve as a monthly contributor to the news outlet. For an attorney specializing in privacy and litigation, we were able to use a national news item to place a byline in a well-respected Washington, D.C. outlet.

Digital is also a powerful thought leadership tool. The thought leadership media coverage generated for spokespersons and their firm is gold on all social media channels carrying the endorsement of the top media in the world. We also utilize video to help break down and explain complex issues, which can be repackaged easily for social media channels. In addition, Facebook Live allows your spokespersons to hold their own events, such as roundtables and panels, where you can invite interested executives as guests to join the conversation. LinkedIn is hungry for original business content on their platform and will use SEO and powerful algorithms to bring the most readers to the new content as an incentive. An influencer campaign also works well to target and engage interested Key Opinion Leaders that are driving conversations around key themes. The right approach can result in them carrying forward your message and brand.

Finally, every effort towards building thought leadership and strengthening the brand of spokespersons and the firm is the strongest defense strategy in preparation for a crisis. The reputation and goodwill developed through a thought leadership program helps businesses weather unanticipated crisis events. Still, how a firm responds to and manages crises can either strengthen or erode reputation and affect stakeholder confidence for many years to come. For professional services firms, we have managed many crises, including data breaches, litigation, regulatory scrutiny of audits and compliance, top partner or CEO departures, misconduct in the workplace and regulatory impact on business, among others. What matters most in these situations is an open channel with the client, scenario planning and messaging, strong reporter relationships and a team of crisis experts ready to act. With the right process and team, you can successfully communicate broadly to the full range of stakeholders and ensure your positive messaging and brand is protected.

Developing a successful thought leadership plan is critical for gaining visibility as an industry expert and attracting new business. Having a dedicated team of public relations professionals to advance your message, build key media relationships, protect your brand and raise your profile is essential to your campaigns success.

***

Scott Tangney is Managing Director at ICR Corporate Communications. Christine Hardman is Account Director at ICR Corporate Communications.


Bey-Ling Sha

The Institute for Public Relations has named Bey-Ling Sha winner of the IPR Pathfinder Award. Sha, professor of public relations and acting associate dean of the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at San Diego State University, will be presented with the award as part of IPRs 2018 Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on November 28. The Pathfinder Award recognizes an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions to the body of knowledge and practice of public relations through published research. Shas work has developed a theoretical framework for intercultural public relations, grounded in the importance of cultural identity for understanding organizational publics and organizations themselves. For more information on the dinner, which will feature a lecture by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, immediate past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, go to the IPR website.

The Museum of Public Relations and the Hispanic PR Association are putting on their second annual Celebration of Latino PR History event on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at the City University of New Yorks Baruch College. Catherine Hernandez-Blades, chief brand and communications officer at Aflac, will be the programs keynote speaker. Blades will talk about the many contributions Latinos have made to the PR profession over the years, as well as discussing her own experiences. Her presentation will be followed by a moderated panel of professionals from the HPRA. A networking reception with wine and food is included with admission. To register for the event or to find out more about becoming a sponsor, go to the Museum of Public Relations website.



David Isaacs

#SocialWallStreet, a financial social media-focused MeetUp hosted by the New York Chapter of PRSA, is holding an event to show communications professionals how they can catch the attention of audiences through a better use of visual design. Led by Edelman vp, executive creative producer David Isaacs, the Aug. 30 presentation will be aimed at teaching attendees how to speak graphic designfrom color and fonts to design principles that go all the way back to medieval tapestries. The goal is to make working relationships with artists better, faster and cheaper. The event will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at SHIFT Communications (125 Fifth Ave, NYC). To attend, click here.
Vanguard Africa has partnered with Biram Dah Abeid, whos campaigning as presidential hopeful in Mauritania's upcoming elections next year.

An anti-slavery abolitionist and human rights activist who was himself the son of a slave, Abeid founded anti-slavery group IRA-Mauritanie in 2008. Abeid, who ran a failed presidential bid in 2014, has been imprisoned three times for his activist efforts to free slaves in that Northwest African country.



Biram Dah Abeid

The last country in the world to abolish slavery, Mauritania didnt officially outlaw the practice until 1981, but unofficially slavery continues. Current CIA World Factbook figures suggests that up to 20 percent of Mauritania's population is estimated to remain enslaved.

Vanguard Africa will build awareness around Mauritanias upcoming elections and will advocate Abeids pro-reform credentials as well as the need for human rights and democratic reforms in the country, according to Foreign Agents Registration Acts documents filed in August.

Key elements of the campaign will include outreach to journalists in a bid to secure media opportunities for the candidate, and to enact a fundraising operation to support a free and fair Mauritania campaign.

D.C.-based Vanguard Africa was launched in 2016 by former Ted Kennedy media consultant Joe Trippi, who later worked for Greeces former prime minister Andreas Papandreou, ex-UK PM Tony Blair and Italys ex-leader Romano Prodi; and Sanitas International founding partner Christopher Harvin, who held senior advisory positions in the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

The nonprofit bills itself as a pro-democracy advocacy group that lends PR and campaigning services in a bid to support pro-democracy candidates and advocate for free and fair elections across Africa.

Vanguard Africa supported efforts last year to usher in The Republic of Gambias newly-elected president Adama Barrow, which resulted in the shocking ouster of longtime dictator Yahya Jammeh, who initially refused to cede his office before eventually going into exile.

The nonprofit has also supported recent democratic presidential elections in Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Kenya.

Vanguard Africas campaign for Abeid began in late July. The contract brings the advocacy group $7,500.
Members of a Longford based Traveller crime family have been forced to flee the country after falling foul of the Kinahan cartel over a 400,000 debt, the Longford Leader has reported.

The six figure sum is being linked to the sale of a number of vehicles from a dealership in the south east of the country which remains outstanding.

It's understood the arrears have since been passed on to senior factions of the Kinahan crime gang who have been tasked with collecting the money.

In an attempt to follow through on those undertakings, sources have said that the gangs prime target has flown out of Ireland amid fears at least one, or possibly two dangerous criminals have been hired as a consequence.

One of those is believed to be closely associated with a well known crime figure from the Blanchardstown area.

The other, has in the past, been regarded as a Kinahan cartel enforcer who, himself, has been warned of a credible threat on his life from members of the the gangs rival Hutch mob.

That, in turn, has brought with it an increasing number of garda patrols and heightened policing presence to keep a lid on the situation.

Despite no incidents having taken place, gardai are well aware of the situation and continue to monitor it closely.

Members of the family that the cartel linked gangsters are targeting are involved in a series of crime fuelled activities from money lending to handling stolen goods and Traveller feuding, the Leader reported.
Tributes have been paid this week following the death of legendary Offaly publican Breda Dempsey.

Breda and her husband Gus ran Dempseys Pub in Cadamstown for many decades, and having passed away in her 90s, breda became a much loved and well-known figure in the locality.

Pre-deceased by her husband, Breda died peacefully on Wednesday, August 22 at the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore.

She will be very sadly missed by her sorrowing family, James, Alo, Tim, Anne Marie, and Austin, sister-in-law Veronica, grandchildren Bridget, Nora, Denise, Peter, James, Teresa, Serena, Vincent, Thomas, Michael, Kevin, and Andrew.

Breda's son Austin took to social media on Wednesday morning to deliver the sad news. Posting a photograph of himself with his beloved mother, he wrote: "We lost this lovely woman early this morning. She will never be forgotten, she was a fantastic mother. May she rest in peace."

Hundreds of people reacted to the news, delivering tributes and condolences on social media. Offaly TD Carol Nolan said, "I'm very sorry to hear that Austin, your Mam was a lovely lady, may she rest in peace."

Neighbour Jack Ryan said, "Our condolences to the whole family. She was a great neighbour and a fantastic woman."

Sharing fond memories, Noelle Kennedy commented, "I always remember her when I was small. She was always so very kind to me."

Colleen O'Mahony echoed the sentiments, saying, "We will forever cherish the memories we have of her visits to Canada."

Trisha Deegan Ryan said, "She was a great woman and very good to so many children throughout the years, always said hello when we walked passed. She is reunited with Gus after many years."

In this week's Leinster Express, the writer of the Camross notes reflected their community's regret at Breda's passing. "The couple [Breda and Gus] ran the only watering hole in this beautiful village in the heart of the Slieve Blooms for many years and attracted thirsty customers from all over the counties of Laois and Offaly as well as tourists from many other faraway places," they wrote.

"She will be sadly missed by her extended family, great neighbours, friends and the many customers who enjoyed her company over many years in her cosy drinking establishment," they concluded.

Funeral Arrangements

Reposing at Lawless's Funeral Home, Mucklagh, Tullamore on Friday from 4pm with Rosary at 8pm. Her remains will leave Lawless's Funeral Home on Saturday at 1pmarriving to St. Luna's Church, Cadamstown, for 2pm Funeral Mass. Burial afterwards in St. Flannan's Cemetery, Kinnitty. Funeral Home private on Saturday morning, Please.

May She Rest in Peace.
Delhi HC asks Centre to respond to pleas by FB, WhatsApp challenging IT Rules

PM CARES not a government fund, can't be brought under RTI: Centre tells Delhi HC

Right to be forgotten: HC asks Centre, Google to reply to plea for removing verdict from search engine

Appeals of 15 convicts in Mirchpur Dalit killing case rejected

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 24: The Delhi High Court today dismissed the appeal of 15 persons belonging to the dominant Jat community against their conviction and sentencing in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in 2010.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said even after 71 years of Independence atrocities on Scheduled Castes community has shown no signs of abating.

The court also directed the Haryana government to rehabilitate families belonging to the Dalit community who were displaced after the 2010 incident.

Kerala Floods: Judges of Delhi High Court to contribute to CM relief fund

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 15 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

HC seeks response from UIDAI on plea raising concerns over Aadhaar data security

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 15:11 [IST]
Bihar shelter home case: Defamation case filed against Tejashwi Yadav

India

pti-PTI

Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Aug 24: Accusing Tejashwi Yadav of dragging his name in the shelter home sex scandal, Bihar minister Suresh Sharma on Friday lodged a defamation suit against the RLD leader.

Sharma, who holds the urban development ministry and represents Muzaffarpur constituency in the state assembly, filed his complaint before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Hari Prasad.

The matter is likely to be taken up for hearing on August 29. Notably, the BJP MLA had last month sent a legal notice to Yadav-- the leader of opposition in Bihar assembly-- for alleging that he had close links with Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in the sexual abuse of 34 girl inmates of the shelter home run by his NGO.

Sharma has maintained that his name was being dragged in the scandal because he was the local MLA and has insisted that he has no relations with Thakur. Meanwhile, Yadav has demanded the minister's resignation and accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of being "scared" of pressing for the same as Sharma belonged to the BJP, which was in power at the Centre.

Manju Verma, an MLA of Kumar's JD(U), had resigned as the social welfare minister last month after it came to light that her husband had spoken to Thakur 17 times between January and June this year. The scandal had come to light following a social audit report submitted by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences before the state government earlier this year.

Medical examinations pointed at the possibility of 34 of of the inmates of the shelter home, all minor girls, having faced sexual abuse. Altogether 10 persons, including Thakur - who headed the NGO which ran the state-funded shelter home - were arrested in pursuance of an FIR lodged by the social welfare department.

The matter was handed over to the CBI following a huge public outcry. Thakur's NGO was initially blacklisted and its registration later on cancelled and bank accounts frozen.

PTI
Bringing rural population to cities is unrealistic approach: Ashwini Mahajan

India

oi-Vinod

By Vinod

New Delhi, Aug 24: At the India Banking Conclave (IBC), Swadeshi Jagran Manch co-convener Ashwini Mahajan advocated for the protection of the interest of poor especially on the issue of providing them small finances respectfully by institutional financing. How banking and NBFCs can help poor to get loans? What is the importance and utility of creation of Mudra and many other issues He spoke to OneIndia correspondent.

Excerpts of Ashwini Mahajan's interview:

Q. How do you see the condition of poor people in the country seeking financing?

A. There is a NABARD report on financial inclusion that is very interesting. According to the report which was prepared after doing a household survey of rural areas. It has found that there are 48 per cent agriculture households and 52 per cent non-agriculture households. Agriculture households have their average income Rs 8931 per month while non-agricultre household have Rs 7269 per month with an aggregate income of Rs 8059 per month per household. If you translate into per capita per person it gets translated into Rs 22000 but in the urban area it comes to around 2.69 lakh. So the income of the urban household is 12.5 times more. So you can well understand that how wealth is getting concentrated with handful people of urban area. You will be amazed to know that total income from farming in rural area is just 23 per cent. Now, you can understand the extent of poverty and deprivation in the rural areas among farmers. The quantum of distress is there but how much it will be able to get resolved? Important thing is that how to improve condition of poor in the rural area.



Q. There are non banking financial institution working there in the country, what role do you envisage for them? What role they can play for poverty alleviation?

A. See these NBFC, banks and even imagination behind creation of Mudra was that how can we create an ecosystem whereby small borrowers could be funded. Because RBI, its conditions and its regulations continued, they are the same for big and small. The same credit score and all were put forth so the small won't get anything. We thought with the creation of Mudra that something good will happen but from the very beginning RBI started that separate regulator does not emerge. So the original plan of Mudra got changed and it has been brought in under the RBI guideline. So Mudra is also working under the RBI guidelines.

Q. So the purpose for which it was created stands defeated!

A. Yes the purpose for which it was created was not fully met though certain changes like micro finance and refinance has become better. As far as refinance of NBFC goes, conditions are so stringent that neither banking nor NBFC doing refinancing as there is no growth of banks. Since there is no credit growth so they don't refinance. If credit growth is better then they need it otherwise they don't get refinance done. They are overladen with funds. NBFCs are not getting refinance done for the stringent condition they are faced with. Whatever refinancing is happening that is happening in other sector. The original Rs 20 thousand's allocation for refinance half of it has been given to stand up. So there is a need to give Mudra a big push. There is a need to develop an ecosystem where there is not the same guidelines which is for the big finance seeker because problem and solution of smalls are different. So the creation of different ecosystem was thought about. I hope with the restructuring of the board something like that happens.

Q. Aren't you suggesting the government on these issues the way you are saying that problem and solutions of small are different?

A. It is we who are making all the noise against it like providing the right value to the produce of farmers. They get right credit and right finance. People ask how to do it. They are obsessed with the idea that nothing could happen in the rural area therefore bring the rural population to the cities and their problem will be solved. What have you done for them in cities that they should come here. Is there employment for them in big cities. So from Arvind Subhramanyan to Arvind Pangariha, all the imported consultants say that crowd should come out of the rural area. But do they have idea of the urban areas. Per capita income that is 12.5 times more in urban area may attract people. In the era of technology location is not important. Develop ecosystem in the rural areas things will improve.

Q. A thought has emerged that lots of survey and research is happening in rural areas, so what are the opportunities there?

A. S P Gupta Committee gave its report long back that what could be the major area of employment generation in rural area but the report has been sent to trash. The present government has also not looked at it. We have suggested them to bring out that report make whatever changes you want but implement it. Kisan Credit card has been given to two such section which don't belong to the category of farmers. It has been given for animal husbandry and fishing. There is a need to extend it. Agricultural loans are given for non-crop and agricultural activities.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 23:21 [IST]
Nowadays, our smartphones are great at doing almost everything just at a few taps of our fingers or with a simple voice command. Groundbreaking innovations are making them smarter with each passing day, except being able to keep them alive for more than a day. Our craze for edgy glowing screens, thinner devices, faster processors and speedy data connectivity are making it all the more difficult for modern smartphones to last through a day without being charged. Add to the list social networking, gaming, taking photos, making videos, watching films, listening to songs, and everything else-all of these deplete your phone's battery charge faster than you imagine. No wonder that one of our lives' constant concern now is to find a power plug to recharge our phones.

However, such days are coming to an end now and making it possible is the newest addition to OPPO's flagship line-up-the OPPO F9 Pro. OPPO has made a number of breakthroughs, including fast charging, to bring the F9 Pro to life. Powered by OPPO's VOOC Flash Charge Technology, the OPPO F9 Pro promises as much as two hours of talk time in exchange of just five minutes of charging the device.

The VOOC Flash Charge technology has been exclusively developed by OPPO with the aim of revolutionizing the battery-life of modern day smartphones. It provides up to four times faster charging speed compared to regular charging. The OPPO F9 Pro banks on the prowess of VOOC Flash Charge, which gives it 2 long hours of talktime in just 5-minutes of charging.

Curious to learn more about this technology? Well, apart from being an ingenious fast charging technology, VOOC Flash Charge also comes with an intelligent five-layer protection system and effectively prevents the mobile phone and its 3500mAh battery from overheating while charging. Moreover, you can even use your phone while retaining the fast charging speed, which regular high voltage fast charge technologies cannot do.

To top it, the new OPPO F9 Pro also flaunts an array of industry-first tech and design specifications. The smartphone flaunts a uniquely attractive design crafted with the Indian millennial audience in mind. The classy Water drop screen backed by an extremely high screen-to-body ratio of 90.8 percent allows users to have better-than-ever viewing experience. The impressive 6.3-inch bezel-less screen features a crystal-clear resolution of 23401080 pixels.

Keeping up with its legacy of offering state-of-the-art cameras in its smartphones, the OPPO F9 Pro is equipped with AI-enhanced dual rear cameras. It comprises a 16MP primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture and a 2MP secondary sensor as well. And, with such a camera module, this phone can capture bokeh shots AI beauty effect and portrait lighting capabilities.

It's also setting new standards for the mid-range smartphones with its 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM that promises outstanding performance. The MediaTek Helio P60 processor enhances the performance further.

And what's even more exciting is the fact that this neoteric powerhouse comes in three stunning gradient color combinations-Sunrise Red, Twilight Blue and Starry Purple. Cutting edge techniques have given the phone its refined gradient outlook partnered with flower-petal pattern on the phone's body. Such trendy looks of the F9 Pro clearly represent how the young, fashionable audience and their lifestyle has inspired OPPO to push boundaries not only in terms of technology but also carve out design-specific innovations that subtly slides into our digitally savvy lifestyles.

It's true that the OPPO F9 is well-positioned as a major milestone not only for OPPO but also for the smartphone world as it debuts world's first VOOC Flash Charge technology, gradient colored body and water drop screen design. And this robust beauty was unveiled on 21st of August and you can purchase it starting August 31 via both offline and online channels.

Follow OPPO's official Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages at @oppomobileindia for more exciting news and updates.
Centre may accept foreign aid, this document reveals

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 24: As the row over accepting funds from foreign governments for flood-hit Kerala continues, a 2016 document prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on how to handle an emergency situation suggests that assistance offered by any other country as a goodwill gesture "may" be accepted by the central government.

The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), a publication of the NDMA, on planning framework for disaster situations, has noted that as a matter of policy, the government of India does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster.

"However, if the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the central government may accept the offer," the NDMP says.

Natural disaster: When India accepted foreign financial assistance and when it did not

The handbook carries messages of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The NDMP says the Ministry of Home Affairs is required to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs, which is primarily responsible for reviewing foreign offers of assistance and channelising the same.

In consultation with the state government concerned, the MHA will assess the response requirements that the foreign teams can provide.

The document says in case of an offer of assistance from UN agencies, India will accept it only if the government considers it necessary, based on various factors.

If accepted, the government of India will issue directions to the respective ministry or state government to coordinate with the concerned UN agency.

"Any financial assistance offered by UN financial institutions involving foreign exchange will require the approval of the Department of Economic Affairs. India will allow UN agencies and international NGOs already operating in the country at the time of the disaster event to continue their humanitarian assistance to people in the affected area in coordination with the relevant central ministries/departments and the state government as per applicable norms and protocols," it says.

Kerala: It has been a policy since Dec 2004 to refuse foreign aid during disasters

When asked for a comment on the NDMP, a home ministry spokesperson said: "At this stage, the ministry of home affairs has no comment to offer".

Yesterday, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said India will not accept any assistance from foreign governments for flood-ravaged Kerala in sync with an existing policy.

He said the government was committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation in Kerala through domestic efforts.

A number of countries have announced assistance for flood relief operations in Kerala. While the United Arab Emirates has offered USD 100 million (around Rs 700 crore), Qatar has pledged around Rs 35 crore and Maldives has announced a donation of USD 50,000 (Rs 35 lakh).

The Kerala government is keen to accept the donations from the UAE. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said the state government would approach the Prime Minister to clear hurdles, if any, in receiving the aid offered to the state by the United Arab Emirates.

Vijayan and Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac yesterday said India, by law, could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity. They cited the National Disaster Management Plan.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 6:07 [IST]
Centre to give more funds to Kerala, Rs 600 cr only advance assistance

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 24: The Centre on Thursday said Rs. 600 crore released two days ago to flood-hit Kerala was only the advance assistance and additional funds would be released when an inter-ministerial team visits the state again and assesses the damage.

The Home Ministry statement came amidst a row over accepting funds from foreign governments for Kerala after the United Arab Emirates offered USD 100 million (around Rs. 700 crore) and the government declared that it will not take any financial assistance from foreign governments in sync with an existing policy.

"It is clarified that Rs. 600 crore released by Centre is the advance assistance only. Additional funds would be released from NDRF on assessment of the damages as per laid down procedure," the statement said.

On Tuesday, the central government had released Rs. 600 crore to flood-hit Kerala as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Rs. 500 crore) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Rs. 100 crore) during their visits to the state.

The home ministry said during the floods in Kerala, the Centre has provided urgent aid and relief material in a timely manner and without any reservation.

The situation has been regularly monitored by the Prime Minister on daily basis and he visited the state on August 17-18, 2018. On his instructions, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, regularly monitored and coordinated rescue and relief operations by holding daily meetings from Aug 16-21, 2018.

Senior officers of Defence Services, NDRF, NDMA and Secretaries of Civilian Ministries attended these meetings. Kerala Chief Secretary participated in these discussions through video conference.

Following the decisions taken during these meetings, the Centre launched massive rescue and relief operations. In one of the largest rescue operations, 40 helicopters, 31 aircraft, 182 teams for rescue, 18 medical teams of defence forces, 58 teams of NDRF, 7 companies of Central Armed Police Forces were pressed into service along with over 500 boats and necessary rescue equipments.

They successfully saved over 60,000 human lives by rescuing them from marooned areas and shifting them to relief camps, the statement said.

Defence aircraft and helicopters have made 1,084 sorties of duration 1,168 flying hours and airlifted 1,286 tonne of load and carried 3,332 rescuers. In addition, a number of Navy and Coast Guard ships were pressed into service to carry relief material to Kerala. The search and rescue operations and mobilisation of resources alone would cost the central government hundreds of crore of rupees.

The statement said after floods and landslides in Kerala last month, an interim memorandum was submitted by the state government on July 21 and immediately an inter ministerial central team (IMCT) was constituted, which visited the state on August 7-12 for on-the-spot assessment of the damages.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had visited Kerala on July 21 followed by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 12. Since there was a second spell of floods in the state, the state government has stated that they will submit an additional memorandum on the fresh damages caused by the floods and landslides once rescue efforts are over.

Since submission of additional memorandum by the state government will take time, with a view to assist the state in meeting relief and rescue expenditure, the central government has released Rs. 600 crore in advance pending assessment by IMCT and decision of a high level committee.

This is in addition to Rs. 562.45 crore already made available in State Disaster Relief Fund of the state. In addition to the financial support, the Centre has made available large quantities of emergency food, water, medicines and other essential supplies, including additional allocation of foodgrains, as requested by the state. Financial mechanism to meet the rescue and relief expenditure during any notified disaster event is governed by notified guidelines on State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

State Disaster Response Fund has been constituted in each state in which the Centre contributes 75 per cent for general category states and 90 per cent for special category states of hilly regions every year as per the award of the successive Finance Commissions.

As per the guidelines, the central government provides its allocation to SDRF of each state in advance in two installments. In case of any natural calamity, State meets the expenditure of relief and rescue from the SDRF already available at its disposal.

In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a state, the state government submits a detailed memorandum indicating the sector-wise details of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations of immediate nature.

On receipt of a memorandum, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is deputed by the Central Government for on-the-spot assessment of damages and additional requirement of funds.

The report of IMCT is considered by the Sub-Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC) headed by the Union Home Secretary in conformity with the norms and then by a High Level Committee (HLC), chaired by the Home Minister for approving the quantum of additional assistance from the NDRF, the statement said.

PTI

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 11:28 [IST]
Disillusioned with discrimination, top naxal surrenders

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 24: Pahad Singh, a senior Maoist leader, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 25 lakh has surrendered before the Durg police in Chhattisgarh. He was a member of the newly formed Special Zonal Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh Committee (SZMMC).

The surrender of Singh is a major breakthrough in the war against naxalites. Inspector General of Police, Durg, G P Singh said, "Pahad Singh is resident of Rajanandgaon and joined the party in the late 90s after he met some Maoists in the jungles of Rajanandgaon. He was a crucial man in the SZMMC and was given various roles in the party."

Also Read | Major anti-Naxal ops likely in Chhattisgarh; 7000 CRPF troops withdrawn from 4 states

He was disillusioned with the naxal ideology as a result of which he surrendered. There was discrimination in his party between the cadres of Andhra Pradesh and local ones. He told the police that the locals were seen as outsiders and they were always under the radar of those from Maharashtra and AP.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 11:09 [IST]
Mamata Banerjee to visit Goa next week; will meet leaders from smaller parties

Rahul has lunch at roadside eatery in Goa, rides pillion on two-wheeler taxi for few kms

Go Goa Gone: After all candidates fail accountants exam, re-evaluation proposed

India

oi-Madhuri

Panaji, Aug 24: Two days after announcing that all 8,000 candidates who had appeared for an examination for the post of accountant in the Goa government had failed, a senior official today said that the Accounts department would ask for a re-evaluation of the answer papers.

Goa's director of accounts, Prakash Pereira, in a notification issued on August 21, had said none of the candidates, who appeared for the recruitment examination held on January 7 this year, secured the minimum qualifying marks of 50 out of 100.

The directorate of accounts had advertised 80 posts of accountant in the common account cadre in October last year.

Also Read | Too much Goa? All 8,000 candidates fail accountant's exam

The five-hour examination included a 100 marks paper on English, general knowledge and Accounts.

Pereira today said that he would submit a proposal to the state government to re-evaluate the papers of these candidates.

He said that he would also ask the government to upload the re-evaluated answer papers on the department's website.

The official told reporters that the question paper for the examination was set by the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education based on the syllabus prescribed by the Accounts department.

Meanwhile, political parties hit out at the Goa government with the Congress stating that it was a "cruel joke" on the candidates while the Aam Aadmi Party termed it "examgate" having "touches" of the Vyapam scam in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

The scam refers to alleged irregularities in exams conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also known as Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal or Vyapam, for recruitment to professional courses and state services.

The Shiv Sena alleged that the issue "smacked of corruption and favouritism" and demanded a judicial inquiry.

The Congress today also held a protest at the state Directorate of Accounts here and a party delegation met Pereira.

Congress' North Goa block president Amarnath Panjikar said that failing all aspirants in an examination was a cruel joke on the candidates.

AAP Goa general secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar, in a press statement, alleged that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had "crippled" recruitment and promotion processes at all levels.

"This examgate has touches of Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh and has become a national shame with all the leading media covering it," Padgaonkar said.

Shiv Sena's Goa vice president Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik said that it was wrong to curse the state's education system, against the backdrop of the exam results, claiming that the state had produced some of the best professionals in all streams including commerce.

Alleging corruption, Naik said, "An inquiry by a retired judge, preferably from the High Court, would bring out the truth behind this mass failure.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 10:36 [IST]
If only the Gadgil report was implemented, Kerala devastation could have been avoided

India

oi-Madhuri

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 24: The miseries and destruction caused by the rains and floods in Kerala would have been less severe if the government had taken the initiative to implement the recommendations made in the Gadgil Committee report on preservation of the Western Ghats, a noted environmentalist has said.

Ecologist Madhav Gadgil's report had suggested checks on quarrying, discouraging cultivation of yearly crops on hill slopes and planting fruit-bearing tress there and restriction on construction in the area, according to Prof V S Vijayan, a former chairman of the State Biodiversity Board.

"Climate change is a reality and heavy rainfall leading to floods witnessed in Kerala and droughts would occur in future also," Vijayan, also a member of the committee, told PTI.

Also Read | Kerala: The rains have stopped, but the misery has not

"What we can do is to take precautionary steps to resist the impact of such calamities. In this regard, the recommendations of the Gadgil Committee are very important," he said.

The committee recommendations were submitted in 2011 and if the government had started implementing it, the damage caused now could have been less than 50 per cent of what has happened, he said.

Advocating the implementation of recommendations in toto at least now, Vijayan said the main suggestion was to protect and preserve the Western Ghats as an ecologically sensitive zone.

"However, it was not possible to protect and preserve the whole of the Western Ghats as we need development also. So what is required now is to take development and conservation together," he added.

The basic concept of the report was that development and conservation were not two conflicting things, he said.

Also Read | As floods recede, Kerala returned to shattered and hardly liveable homes

Dismissing charges that the Gadgil report is "anti-development" and "anti-farmer", he said it is a pro-development report to the core but it wanted development initiatives in the region to be carried out in a sustainable manner.

Vijayan said he had warned earlier that the extremely fragile Western Ghats region was prone to natural calamities and chances of an Uttarakhand-like tragedy in the region could not be ruled out. He said scientific conservation initiatives have to be implemented at the earliest.

Indiscriminate plundering of natural resources and illegal and unscientific constructions have made it geologically fragile, he added.

Those who are agitating against the Gadgil report should try to understand the facts first before making a hue and cry, he said.

The Gadgil Committee report had been a point of debate in the state ever since it was submitted with all major political parties showing reluctance in accepting and implementing the recommendations in toto following protests from local people in high range areas.

Business interests having stakes in granite quarrying, real estate, timber and tourism, who thrive in the biodiversity hotspot for decades, opposed the report.

The local people and those who oppose the report fear the implementation would result in large-scale displacement of small and marginal farmers settled on the slopes of the hill ranges.

Even the Kasturirangan report, which studied the recommendations of Madhav Gadgil report, has also not received total support.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 10:48 [IST]
Kerala: Now Pakistan comes forward to offer assistance

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 24: In the backdrop of the Centre refusing to accept funds from the UAE for the rehabilitation of Kerala, Pakistan has come forward and offered help.

"On behalf of the people of Pakistan, we send our prayers and best wishes to those who have been devastated by the floods in Kerala, India. We stand ready to provide any humanitarian assistance that may be needed," Prime Minister of Pakistan said in a social media post.

The Ministry of External Affairs had said, "in line with the existing policy, the government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts."

Centre may accept foreign aid, this document reveals

The MEA was indicating that the decision not to take foreign financial assistance was taken in 2004, in the aftermath of the deadly tsunami.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 9:40 [IST]
Merger of public sector banks suggested one of the options to propel growth

India

oi-Vinod

By Vinod

New Delhi, Aug 24: Efficiency of the banking sector has been the major concern for the experts at the India Banking Conclave (IBC) as that plays very important role to ignite the growth engine but the sector is plagued by many problems. One of the many views that emerged in deliberations has been tightening and strengthening banking operations in India and if need be they should be merged into two three banks instead of over two dozen.

The suggestion for the banking sector from the Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chirman, NITI Aayoh has been like this when he said, "My bottom line on this issue is that we must need to change it completely

whether foreign banks, public sector banks or private sector banks. And the government must keep arm-length distance from the banking sectors

Also Read | Banking sector should be people-friendly and development-friendly, says Sunil Ambekar

While speaking to experts in the sidelines of conclave, they said that unless banking sector is strengthened the fast growth trajectory of the country is unthinkable. One of the director of a public sector bank bank said that to propel growth engine whatever correction is required that should be done.

Speaking on the occasion Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog reiterated, "We don't have any bank in the top 100 companies in the world. State Bank of India (SBI) making it to the list is placed between 250 and 300. But there are seven Chinese bank in top hundred. So the very imagination of fast growth is not possible."

The total lending by the two Chinese bank is more than the total lending of the world bank. Kumar quipped, "We are talking about becoming third largest economy by 2030 as projection tells but without putting banking sector in order this is not possible."

Also Read | IBC 2018: Indian banks have limited capability to assess risk, says NITI Aayog vice chairman

He asked, "Has the time come to look public sector banks into one entity." He stated to merger all 26 banks into two or three so they are at least able to improve world ranking.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal earlier said that SBI has initiated the process of merging it's affiliate banks. And they are now cohesively working.

Sources said that merger of some banks is being discussed from long but nothing concrete emerged. As the issue of merger is so extensively being discussed in the conclave, it appears that it will prominently figure into the report that would be handed over to the government both by the NITI Aayoga and Centre For Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
Manipurs news website becomes first target of new rules on digital media, later withdrawn

NIA charges 5 persons after they declared independence of Manipur from India

Amidst border clash, Manipur CM says northeast will always be one

NIA arrests Manipur MLA in missing arms case

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 24: The National Investigation Agency has arrested Manipur MLA Yamthung Haokip in connection with the missing arms case.

The NIA has been probing a case which pertains to theft of 56 Pistols and 58 Magazines from the DG Pool Armoury located within the premises of 2nd Manipur Rifles Battalion, Imphal. The above weapons went missing between 2016 and early 2017.

During investigation by NIA, one of the missing pistols, bearing no. 18506735 was recovered at Mantri Pukhri, Imphal on 30.07.2018 in the search conducted at the residence of Yamgthung Haokip MLA, Saikul Assembly Constituency besides other incriminating articles.

Other than the above recovery, during investigation, sufficient material and other evidences have been collected, which have established the complicity of MLA Yamthung Haokip in the above case.

Yamthung Haokip was arrested today (24th August 2018) for his involvement in procuring police pistols illegally and distributing them to different terrorist groups to wage war against the State.

Yamthung Haokip was produced before NIA Special Judge, Imphal. He has been remanded to Judicial Custody. Owing to his recent illness, NIA Judge ordered Jail Authorities to admit him in Government hospital.

NIA has recovered 14 weapons till date in the case and investigation is continuing.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 18:59 [IST]
Rahul Gandhis Assessment of Islamic State is Irresponsible and Bizarre

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Manoj Ladwa

Speaking in Hamburg earlier this week, the Congress president and candidate for the prime ministry of India, Rahul Gandhi, made a strange and convoluted assessment of the roots of the Islamic State. He linked the creation of the Islamic State to the alleged denial of jobs to a particular tribe (presumably a Sunni Muslim tribe) by US-led forces after the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. These suddenly unemployed people then "connected with the global Internet", and moved into "empty spaces" in Iraq and subsequently Syria. And this led to the creation of the Islamic State - at least according to the Congress president.

The sustained period of religious radicalism that has given rise to successive variants of Islamist terror groups - of which Islamic State is only one of the new incarnations - was ignored. So was the fact that radicalisation affects even well-heeled and educated among the young. In fact, there is ample empirical evidence to establish that the correlation between economic deprivation and terrorism is simply non-existent.

To trivialise an important phenomenon and security risk such as Islamist terrorism in this manner is not just irresponsible, it is bizarre. It leads to the inescapable conclusion that even 14 years after he formally entered politics and was elected to Parliament, Rahul Gandhi remains supremely innocent of policy issues. At best he appears as an amateur who prefers grand-sweep generalisations and stream-of-consciousness assessments to rigour, details and evidence-based analysis.

Two points follow. First, what does this do to his credibility to the voter at home? Is Rahul Gandhi trusted enough to answer and address the challenges of the proverbial "3.00 am call"? The second question runs slightly deeper. It is for India's partner countries.

Over the years, and especially since the horrific disruption of 9/11, the international community has come to see India as a reliable and pragmatic anchor of the global security system. Of course, this international community cannot and should not influence voting patterns in India. Even so, as an aggregate group it has a stake in India and in any potential leadership for the country. Does Rahul Gandhi, with his assessment of the Islamic State as an army of the economically dispossessed, give the world the faith that would be expected from a serious political leader in India? That is a question that needs to be pondered - and not necessarily only among those who vote in Indian elections.

About Author: Manoj Ladwa is the founder & CEO of London based India Inc., publishers of India Global Business Magazine.
ED chargesheet Lalu, wife, son others in Railway Tender scam

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 24: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a prosecution complaint against former Bihar Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with the Railway Hotel Tender Scam.

The ED has also filed the complaint against Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav, P C Gupra, Lara Projects LLT and others in connection with the case. The attachment worth Rs 44.75 Crore of Delight Marketing has also been confirmed by Adjudicating Authority in the case.

Jharkhand HC rejects Lalu Yadav's bail, asks to surrender by August 30

The case, for which Lalu Yadav and his wife and son, who was Bihar deputy chief minister, have been booked, dates back to when he was Union railway minister in the UPA government.

It is alleged that Lalu Yadav as railway minister handed over the maintenance of two railway hotels to a company after receiving a bribe in the form of prime land in Patna through a benami company owned by Sarla Gupta.

The FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with alleged favours extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as a "quid pro quo", the CBI has alleged.

IRCTC scam: Lalu Prasad, wife, son Tejashwi Yadav summoned by Delhi court

Briefing the media on the case, CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana said the criminal conspiracy spanned 2004-14 during which the tender process was "rigged" in favour of Sujata Hotels.

"In return, the owners of Sujata Hotel gave three acres of land in western Patna to Delight Marketing which is known to the family of Lalu Yadav at a very low cost.

Subsequently, between 2010 to 2014, this land was further transferred to another company Lara Projects owned by family members of Lalu Yadav," he said.
RSS affiliate says contract labour now default employment in India

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 24: RSS-affiliated labour union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) threatened to stage protests across the country on September 6 if the Centre does now withdraw its notification on fixed term employment with immediate effect, PTI reported.

Castigating the Centre, it said that contract labour has now become the default model of employment in India and claimed the Union Labour Ministry notification on April 6 on fixed term employment will "legalise hire and fire, while permanent jobs would vanish".

The BMS will stage protests across the country on September 6 to pressure the state and central governments to withdraw the notification on fixed term employment, its General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said.

Noting that 67 per cent of the organised sector workers belong to contract category, Upadhyay, in a statement, that "sub-contract and supply chain are becoming emerging global models of employment."

In April this year the government amended the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946, by issuing an notification, to extend the facility of fixed term employment to all sectors.

It was available for apparel manufacturing sector earlier.

Fixed-term employment was defined as a workman who is employed on a contractual basis for a fixed period. Thus the services of the workman will be automatically terminated as a result of non-renewal of the contract between the employer and the workman concerned.

Under this law, when permanent workers retire, their vacancies are filled by the industries with temporary fixed-term employment thereby increasing the number of new unemployed youth, the BMS said.

"Therefore, we have to stand up to face the Himalayan challenge to make contract labour exploitation free," the BMS asserted.

The BMS' protest to the notification assumes significance as it is affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of ruling BJP.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 11:01 [IST]
Seeing Shashikala, a mischievous and fun-loving child from Mumbai, turning into a pale and weak child due to the illness was what brought the world crumbling down for the parents of this little girl. Once a happy family, it had turned into a gloomy one after knowing about their daughter's illness and more so because they knew that they would be having a tough time getting their daughter cured due to the never-ending financial reasons behind it.

This is when crowdfunding served to be a blessing and OneIndia served the purpose of the blessing in disguise.

Oneindia played a major role in bringing strangers together to help Lakshmi by funding her daughter's treatment. With the help of the fund raised, Shashi was successfully operated. She has been recovering ever since. She goes to the doctor for a check-up every two weeks.

She has resumed school and is slowly turning into the happy and active child that she always had been. Lakshmi wholeheartedly thanks all the fundraisers and for the efforts made by each one, especially Oneindia, that has brought her cheerful daughter back to her.

Lakshmi, Shashikala's mother spoke about how the happy family comprising her husband, three daughters and a son came crashing down when they found that their ever-smiling Shashi was down with an illness that they had hardly heard about. Shashi's father is a garbage cleaner who barely earned Rs. 5000 per month. In spite of the financial difficulties, the family was a happy one who supported and loved each other very much.

The storm struck the family one night before Shashi's history exam, when her mother found her worried. Lakshmi knew that her daughter loved the subject and is always well prepared before an exam. Hence, she was surprised to see that her daughter appeared restless and stressed. On asking, Shashi said that her legs ached and that she was not feeling very well. Lakshmi also found that Shashi had a fever.

The local doctor examined Shashi and asked her to be admitted to a hospital immediately. She was admitted to the nearest Baba Hospital. Her fever continuously shot up. She collapsed when trying to sit up. She was then immediately rushed to Nanavati Hospital for immediate and better care from the doctors.

The doctors examined her thoroughly. Lakshmi was devastated to see her daughter, just of 9 years of age, undergoing so many tests. The sight of a tube being passed through Shashi's nose broke down her mother immensely. She could no longer see her daughter in so much pain and agony.

The doctor at the hospital explained and informed Shashi's parents that their daughter was suffering from GBS (Guillain-Barre Syndrome). This disorder had made Shashi's immune system attack the peripheral nervous system making her breathless and weak and could also cause complete paralysis.

To recover, Shashi had to undergo a surgery that would cost about Rs. 9,65,000. Even before the actual treatment had started, the cost of just the tests and medicines went up to about Rs. 1,50,000 - an amount that was quite difficult to bear for a low-income family like that of Lakshmi's.

The doctors had informed Shashi's parents that she would be kept in the hospital for 15 days and within this period she would need to be operated. The situation was not just emotionally stressful for the parents but also financially as well. With ever-mounting costs, Shashi's parents thought that they would lose their precious daughter.

Lakshmi spoke up and asked help from people whom she did not know to help her in this time of distress. Although Lakshmi prayed that her request would be heard, her mind said that it would be difficult to arrange such a heavy sum in this short duration.
Jharkhand HC rejects Lalu Yadav's bail, asks to surrender by August 30

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Ranchi, Aug 24: Granting no further relief to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad, the Jharkhand High Court has asked Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief to surrender before it by August 30. The court also rejected his request for a bail extension of 3 months on medical grounds.

Hearing the prayer for extension of provisional bail for three months on grounds that the RJD leader needed to undergo treatment, Justice Apresh Kumar Singh asked Prasad to surrender by August 30 before the CBI court and directed the state government to provide medical care whenever needed.

Appearing for Prasad, Abhishek Manu Singhvi prayed for extension of provisional bail for three months for treatment of anal abscess, kidney stone and enlarged prostate glands.

CBI counsel Rajiv Sinha objected to the prayer, saying the RJD leader has availed about 12 weeks for his treatment.

Medicare is available in the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi, he said.

The court had on August 10 extended the provisional bail till August 20 on medical grounds and again on August 17 extended it till August 27.

It had on May 11 granted six weeks provisional bail to Prasad on medical grounds and again extended it till August 14.

Prasad has been convicted in four cases of the multi-crore rupees fodder scam.

The cases relate to illegal withdrawal of money from government treasuries in different districts for the animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar in the 1990s when the Rashtriya Janata Dal was in power in the state.

On September 30, 2013, he was convicted in the first fodder scam case related to the Chaibasa Treasury.

The former Bihar chief minister was again convicted in another case related to the Chaibasa Treasury on January 24, 2018. On February 23 and March 19, he was convicted in cases related to the Deoghar Treasury and the Dumka Treasury respectively.
Nothing official says UAE on Rs 700 crore flood relief to Kerala

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 24: At a time when Centre and Kerala government are at loggerheads over financial aid announced by United Arab Emirates for the rehabilitation of the flood-ravaged state, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna told a leading daily that there has been no official announcement so far by the Gulf country on any specific amount as financial assistance.

While speaking to Indian Express, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna dismissed Vijayan claims saying,"The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I don't think it is final, since it is still ongoing.

Cock and Bull story of Rs.700 crore aid from UAE for Kerala flood relief. Who fooled Kerala CM? Who played mischief? https://t.co/5UZgRL31eE via @PGurus1  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 23, 2018

It is learnt that on August 21, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, made Rs 700-crore assistance offer when he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone.

According to Vijayan, this offer of assurance was made by the UAE Ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and that this message was conveyed to him by Kerala-based business tycoon M A Yusuf Ali.

However, the Dubai based Keralite industrialist Yusuf Ali said on Thursday (August 23) said that he does not know anything about this offer and that he has nothing to do with this.

Yusuf Ali's communication department also issued a statement that they would initiate legal proceedings against media houses if his name is dragged into the controversy. Yusuf Ali's Lulu Group has already donated Rs five crores to Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Thursday said Rs 600 crore released two days ago to flood-hit Kerala was only the advance assistance and additional funds would be released when an inter-ministerial team visits the state again and assesses the damage.

The Home Ministry statement came amidst a row over accepting funds from foreign governments for Kerala after the United Arab Emirates offered USD 100 million (around Rs. 700 crore) and the government declared that it will not take any financial assistance from foreign governments in sync with an existing policy.
Unfunded to be funded with dignity but bottleneck seems continuing

India

oi-Vinod

By Vinod

New Delhi, Aug 24: The government has always been concerned about the funding of the sector that remained unfunded due to many reasons and despite certain changes taking place certain guidelines by regulators have been marring chances of small entities to get funded. Right from the rural areas to urban employment scenario, small formers, workers, street venders and many other such workers you name form 93 per cent of the total work force of the country facce the hard time. And mostly they remain unfunded. However, RBI defined micro funding in 2000. There are 3.5 Micro Finance Borrower in the country.

Ashwini Mahajan, co-convenor, Swadeshi Jagran Manch, said that actually the big and small will have to grow together as without the growth of small, the growth of big is not possible. Most of the small borrowers live in the rural areas. And a NABARD report on Financial Inclusion which gave reveling Data about the disparity of rural and urban divide that needs to be plugged.

Mahajan asked that If you really want financial inclusion, funding the unfunded and banking the unbanked are equally important and with the help of Jan Dhan Yojana this was tried to be done. But still why at all we envisage Mudra Bank? Because the government wanted small could be funded in the honourable manner as other banking sector don't treat small venders well.

Also Read | Merger of public sector banks suggested one of the options to propel growth

Raman Agrawal, Chairman Finance Industry Development Council, said, "Non-banking Finance Company has always funded the non-funded and had this was not been happening the sector would not have grown that much as it is today. Non-Banking Financial Corporation is 18 year old by now. The industry is around Rs 22 lakh crore and its average growth has been 15 per cent average growth."

Agrawal said that net profit flexibility was the most important element. It is because of the structure and there is some kind of rigidity in funding the unfunded. Collateral is the big issue with poor people. They won't have any CIBIL record so the funding becomes an issue. World over the biggest challenge has been asset creation but leasing has provided solution to it but in India leasing is heavily taxed. Now with GST in place so the leasing has started emerging in India as well. This needs to be encouraged.

Also Read | Banking sector should be people-friendly and development-friendly, says Sunil Ambekar

Mahajan obseved that so what if the poor people don't have credit history but they surely have credit worthiness.

M V Nair, chairman TransUnion CIBIL said that this engagement was becoming attracting to lenders. One million new credit seeker this year to be added with no lending record. With GST in place clear formalization is happening. There are registered 51 million MSME unit out of that 5 million have been extended credit. However, 60 per cent still waiting for finance to be extended to them. But MSME and retail are going to be the best places to lend in the days to come in next ten years.

Also Read | IBC 2018: Indian banks have limited capability to assess risk, says NITI Aayog vice chairman

B K Mani, Mudra Bank, said that financing small lender has over seven decade old history. Today score of a person has become his/her collateral. MSME lending is embedded in cooperative, bank nationalization, Nabard and Self Help Groups.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 13:00 [IST]
Pakistan says India should avail its offer for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav

Here is the evidence Pakistan claims it has against Kulbhushan Jadhav

International

oi-Madhuri

Islamabad, Aug 24: Pakistan has "solid evidence" against Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav and is hopeful of winning the case against him at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the country's new Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on spying charges in April 2017. India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the verdict. The world court has halted Jadhav's execution on India's appeal pending the final verdict by it.

Both India and Pakistan have already submitted their detailed pleas and responses in the world court.

"We have solid evidence against Jadhav and are hopeful we will win the case in the ICJ," Qureshi told the media in his home city of Multan in southern Punjab.

ICJ sets February hearing in Kulbhushan Jadhav's case

"We will try our best to present our stance in an effective manner before the ICJ," he said.

Yesterday, the Geo TV citing sources had said that the world court will hear the case daily for a week in February next year.

Pakistan says its security forces arrested Jadhav from Balochistan province in March 2016 after he reportedly entered the country from Iran.

In its submission to the ICJ, Pakistan had stated that Jadhav is not an ordinary person as he had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities.

India denies all the charges and maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy and that he has no links with the government.

On Indo-Pak talks, Qureshi said Pakistan wants to resolve the core issue of Kashmir in a peaceful manner through dialogue with India.

He hoped that India would reciprocate Pakistan's offer for talks.

Pak says case against India on Kulbhushan Jadhav's conviction strong

Qureshi expressed confidence that Pakistan will be able to pull itself out from the quagmire of challenges it faces but urged the people to continue supporting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-led government as "bitter decisions are made".

He said that in the first 100 days, the PTI will chart out a clear path for the direction the government will take, based on its manifesto.

"It has only been 2-3 days since we have come into power and there has only been one working day so far," said Qureshi.

"In the first Cabinet meeting, [Prime Minister] Imran Khan sahab has made some major decisions. He has given directions and you should see how happy the people are with those directions."

"They [the people] believe that their leader has understood their difficulties and taken on the mantle to adopt austerity," he said while addressing a query regarding how the Prime Minister plans on meeting the nation's expectations.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 5:57 [IST]
Rahul equates RSS with Muslim Brotherhood, attacks Modi in London address

International

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

London, Aug 24: Congress President Rahul Gandh on Friday equated Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with the Muslim Brotherhood and held RSS responsible for dilution of institutional autonomy in India.

Speaking at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in LondonRahul Gandhi said that RSS is trying to change India's nature unlike any other political party in the country.

"RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions. RSS's idea is similar to the idea of Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world," said Rahul.

Continuing his attack on demonetisation, Gandhi said that the idea came from RSS. "The idea of demonetisation came directly from RSS, bypassed the Finance Minister & RBI, and was planted in Prime Minister's head".

Attacking government over foreign policy, Gandhi said "there is no deeply thought out strategy by Narendra Modi when it comes to Pakistan." It's very difficult to converse with Pakistan because there is no one institution that holds supremacy. So we wait until they come to form a cohesive structure.

Claiming that Chinese are still in Doklam, Rahul said that Prime Minister Modi could have stopped Doklam. "Doklam is not an isolated issue. It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process. Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event. If he was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it," Gandhi said.

In a swipe at Modi over alleged centralisation of power, the Congress president said that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is busy in just issuing visas and that she has no say in deciding the foreign policy of the country. He said that Swaraj can do more than just visas but the Ministry has failed on almost all fronts.

"By breaking the monopoly of MEA and by making it more accessible to other elements of society a modern MEA can be formed. The Foreign Minister of India spends a massive amount of time in just making visas," he said.

His speech in London comes a day after he addressed the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin, where he attacked the BJP and the RSS, accusing them of spreading hatred in India. Gandhi was in Germany for two days before he reached London on Friday, 24 August.
About NASA's ICESat-2

NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. It has been in the works for about 10 years. It is the second iteration of this satellite. The first - which used a much less precise laser - was operational from 2003 to 2009 and provided the space agency with elevation data needed to determine the mass balance of Earth's ice sheets, as well as information about cloud properties. It was decommissioned in 2010.

How the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica contribute to sea level rise?

The satellite will measure the average annual elevation change of land ice covering Greenland and Antarctica to within the width of a pencil, capturing 60,000 measurements every second.

The $1.1 billion mission "will advance our knowledge of how the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica contribute to sea level rise," said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a statement.

Reason behind melting ice sheets and glaciers

Melting ice sheets and glaciers is mainly caused by global warming. It is one of the primary reasons sea level is rising across the globe. Sea level rises an average of .3 centimeters per year, according to NASA researchers, and a study published in conjunction with the European Space Agency in June found that Antarctic ice loss has tripled since 2012, causing sea levels across the globe to rise faster now than ever before in history.

Tracking Ice Melt

Hundreds of billions of tons of land ice melt or flow into the oceans annually, contributing to sea level rise worldwide. In recent years, contributions of melt from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica alone have raised global sea level by more than a millimeter a year, accounting for approximately one-third of observed sea level rise, and the rate is increasing.

How much is the cost of the satellite:

ICESat-2, which cost a little over $1 billion and is about the size of a Smart car, will follow two previous major NASA projects to monitor ice thickness.
Rahul Gandhi meets party leaders from Gujarat, asks them to be prepared for assembly polls

Cong's poll assurances not just commitment, but guarantee: Rahul Gandhi in Goa

Rahul has lunch at roadside eatery in Goa, rides pillion on two-wheeler taxi for few kms

WATCH: Grandma told me not to cry, Rahul Gandhi's video tribute for Indira Gandhi

Rahul Gandhis Berlin speech could not be aired live due to technical glitch

International

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Berlin, Aug 23: Congress president Rahul Gandhi's address to the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin in Germany Thursday could not be aired 'live' due to a technical glitch.

Gandhi's address was to be aired via a YouTube link, starting 9:30 pm IST, which was later rescheduled to start from 10:30 pm IST.

The address, however, could not be aired 'live' and the Congress party cited a technical glitch as the reason for it.

Gandhi is on a five-day tour to Germany and the UK. On Thursday night, he had addressed a gathering at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, Germany.

He accused the BJP and RSS of spreading hate in the country. "Our job is to unite India and focus on development," Gandhi said.

Gandhi claimed that the incidents of lynching in India were due to anger emanating from joblessness and "destruction" of small businesses due to demonetization and the "poorly implemented" GST by the ruling BJP.

In his address in Hamburg, Germany, Gandhi traced the creation of Islamic State to warn against a similar situation at home if people are excluded from the development process.

"It is very dangerous in the 21st century to exclude people. If you don't give people a vision in the 21st century somebody else will give them one."

"And that's the real risk of excluding large number of people from our development processes," he said, accusing the BJP government of excluding tribals, Dalits and minorities from the development process.
AUKUS neither relevant to Quad nor will impact on its functioning: India's first reaction

Scott Morrison elected Prime Minister of Australia

International

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Canberra, Aug 24: Australian ruling party has picked Scott Morrison as new Prime Minister on Friday. This is the sixth change of prime minister in 11 years in Australia. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Treasurer Scott Morrison and the only declared challenger Peter Dutton, a former Cabinet minister was in the fray.

Scott Morrison, or ScoMo as he is better known, was appointed Treasurer in September 2015 and was first elected as the Federal Member for Cook in 2007.

During his more than ten years in the parliament, ScoMo has established a reputation as a passionate advocate for his local community as well as a proven fixer for difficult policy problems in three senior Cabinet portfolios.

As Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, he successfully stopped the boats. As Social Services Minister, he reduced abuse of the welfare system and put Australia's social safety net on a more sustainable footing.

As Treasurer, his achievements have included reducing the deficit, getting debt under control, maintaining Australia's AAA credit rating, record jobs growth, cutting corporate and personal income taxes, ensuring multinationals pay their fair share of tax and reforming Australia's banking and financial system.

Beleaguered Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull become the fourth prime minister to be dumped by his or her own party before serving a full three-year term since the revolving door to the prime minister's office started in 2010.

Turnbull demanded the names of lawmakers in the conservative Liberal Party of Australia who wanted him to go before he would allow them to choose a new prime minister at a meeting at Parliament House today. The names would provide proof that a majority of his government had abandoned him.

(With PTI inputs )

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 9:11 [IST]
Are Imran Khan and Gen Bajwa at war over appointment of new ISI chief?

Stand by our statement says US after Pak seeks correction on Pompeu-Khan call

International

oi-Madhuri

Washington, Aug 24: After Pakistan termed it as factually incorrect, the Unites States has maintained its secretary of state Michael R. Pompeo told new Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said there would be no correction in response to Pakistan's complaint that the issue of terrorists operating in its territory never came up in the phone call.

"I can only say we stand by our readout," she said at a press conference on Thursday, calling Pakistan "an important partner" in the region.

"The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future," Nauert added.

The row comes ahead of Pompeo's visit to Islamabad in the first week of September to meet Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister on August 18.

Also Read | US suspends military training with Pakistan

The US State Department readout of the call said Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked Khan to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan", but Pakistan's foreign ministry asserted that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call between Pompeo and Khan.

"Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on today's phone call," the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected."

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 15:45 [IST]
For safekeeping: Congress alliance candidates flown to Jaipur ahead of May 2 counting

Curfew announced in Jaipur from 6 pm to 5 am

4 calves, three cows rescued from jeep in Rajasthan

Jaipur court sentences rapist 20 years in prison within 9 days of committing crime

Stones hurled, SUV torched as Kanwariyas clash with locals in Rajasthans Tonk, 15 injured

Jaipur

oi-PTI

Jaipur, Aug 24: Stones were hurled and a vehicle set on fire on Thursday in a clash between 'kanwariyas' and local people in Rajasthan's Tonk district, injuring 15 pilgrims, police said.

The 'kanwariyas' were passing through a Muslim-dominated area in Malpura when some miscreants hurled stones on them, Additional Superintendent of Police Goverdhan Sekaria said.

Fifteen pilgrims were injured, he said. An SUV was then torched, Station House Officer at Malpura Navnit said.

He said Section 144 of CrPC, which prohibits gathering of crowds, was imposed in the area.

He said the situation in the town is tense but under control. Additional police force has been deployed in the area to maintain law and order, he added.

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PTI

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 11:46 [IST]
Chengannur bishop Thomas Mar Athanasios falls to death

Kochi

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Kochi, Aug 24: Thomas Mar Athanasios, the metropolitan of the Chengannur Diocese of the Orthodox Syrian Church, passed away early on Friday after he fell from the train he was travelling in Kochi. He was 80.

The accident happened near the Pullepady bridge between the Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town railway stations. The body of Mar Athanasios has been kept at the Ernakulam General Hospital.

Police suspect that the senior priest, who was travelling from Gujarat, fell after being hit by the door of the compartment as he was preparing to alight at Ernakulam junction a few minutes away.

Police and locals conducted a search after his helper informed the police about priest going missing in between two stations and recovered his body from the Pulleppadi bridge area.

Orthodox Church officials said the priest was a celebrated educationist, an efficient administrator and a pioneer in organising congregations in western India. He was also the founder of several educational institutions including six schools in Gujarat.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of Thomas Mar Athanasios. In a message here, the Chief Minister described him as the embodiment of simplicity and compassion, who dealt equally with all sections of society.

For more Kochi news Click Here
Brave girl foils chain snatching bid, hands over accused to cops

New Delhi

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 24: A 22-year-old woman, who was out for her birthday shopping, became the victim of a snatching bid but despite sustaining injuries, she managed to catch hold of the accused and handed him over to police.

The incident was reported from central Delhi's Paharganj yesterday.

Police said they are investigating the matter.

Also Read | Army captain robbed of his car, valuables in Delhi's Dwaraka

Tanya Sharma, an executive with a private firm, was out for her birthday shopping yesterday with her sister and mother when a man snatched her phone and handbag.

Sharma said the man started running towards his accomplice who was waiting two-three steps away on a motorcycle.

"I did not let go of my bag and cell phone and in the scuffle, my cell phone fell on the ground and the man fled with my bag and sat on the motorcycle," she said.

However, she did not let go of the bag and was dragged for a some distance by the motorcycle-borne men. She ended up sustaining injuries on her neck and legs but did not give up.

Also read | Man arrested for robbing businessman

Meanwhile, her mothers and sister managed to catch hold of the snatcher with help from the locals while the motorcycle rider fled from there, she recalled.

Sharma said it was her birthday today but since her phone had been seized by the police she was unable to contact anyone.

She claimed that the police had taken her phone yesterday and had told her they would return it today but it was not returned as yet.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 9:49 [IST]
Delhi: Police constable dismissed for honey trapping

New Delhi

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 24: A Delhi Police constable was dismissed from service in connection with his alleged involvement in a case of honey trapping and cheating, police said.

The action was taken on a complaint filed by a businessman on Tuesday alleging that the constable posted in Rohini's Vijay Vihar Police Station, along with a woman, honey trapped him and demanded Rs 7 lakh, they said.

They even threatened the businessman to implicate him in a false case of rape if he did not pay the amount, a police officer said.

Also Read | Big honey-trap racket busted

In his statement to police, the businessman said he came in contact with the woman through Facebook and even met her couple of times in the city.

The businessman paid only Rs 3 lakh to them, the officer said.

They often threatened him over phone. Based on his statement, a case was registered and the constable arrested, police said.

Also Read | Man arrested for killing woman and her son

On interrogation, the constable disclosed details of other accused involved in the crime, the officer added.

The woman and her associates are absconding, he said, adding a police investigation is underway.

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Story first published: Friday, August 24, 2018, 9:25 [IST]
By Catherine WilsonSpeculation about the future of the Panguna copper mine in Papua New Guineas autonomous region of Bougainville, which ignited a decade long civil war in the 1990s, peaked late last year when an application for exploration by former Rio Tinto subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), was put to a local vote.The outcome revealed that the mine remains a contested site and that a new battle for its riches is deepening divisions among traditional landowning groups. Chris Baria, a Bougainville writer and commentator, who lived through what is known as the Crisis, explained the sentiment in a recent interview:When those with mining interests meddle with Panguna, it makes people revisit the pain and suffering, and the horrors of war that the government wrought on its citizens for closing down a mine, which they felt had not compensated them enough for their loss.The mine still stands in ruin. From the Morgan Junction checkpoint near the entrance, the drive is long and winding up into the white mist that often veils the peaks of the Crown Prince mountain range. In a valley at the top is the scene of a time warp: rusting mine machinery disintegrating into the allconsuming jungle, rows of silenced trucks and gutted housing blocks.In 1989, the Nasioi on Bougainville were the worlds first indigenous people, angered by inequity and environmental damage, to shut down a multinational mining venture. But the feat came at a huge cost. The ensuing civil war, primarily between local rebel groups and the PNG Defence Force, decimated infrastructure and development and left 15,00020,000 people dead, with many more suffering still from untreated trauma.Yet debate about the mines possible revival has persisted for the last eight years. Its the focus of the Bougainville autonomous governments ambitions of fiscal selfreliance as an independence referendum approaches in June 2019; an enormous challenge for a region still occupied with postconflict reconstruction and heavily dependent on aid. Last year, only 14% of the governments expenditure, totalling K162 million (AUD$67 million), was covered by internal revenues, while experts point out that an independent nation of Bougainville will need a budget two to three times greater.This is a dilemma for many Panguna landowners. A few years ago, as I sat with villagers near the mine pit, noone expressed a wish for mining to return to this beautiful valley. But views faltered among those committed to secession. Janet Colman from Guava Village said she did not really want the mine to reopen.If I had a choice, but I dont think I have a choice. If I am crying for independence; then I need the mine.When BCLs latest bid was defeated, Bougainvilles President John Momis announced an indefinite moratorium on exploration and mining in Panguna, highlighting his fears of potential conflict between landowner factions.However, the link between mining and political aspirations continues to fuel the contest for Pangunas wealth. Other foreign companies are jostling for position, such as Perthbased RTG Mining, which has forged an alliance with Philip Miriori, former combatant and now president of the Pangunabased Mekamui government, and chairman of the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association.Three years ago, Bougainville passed new mining legislation vesting traditional landowners with ownership of minerals on their land and rights to participate in key development decisions. At the same time, power plays appear to be mounting between Panguna landowning clans and groups; those who previously, without rights, united against a common external foe. As Baria explains:"People who come from around the mine area are not homogenous, and deep divisions exist along family and clan lines going back to the time before the Crisis."Mining companies now understand they will not be successful without landowner support. At least five excombatants and local leaders are known to be entertaining a range of corporate interests from Australia, Canada, China, Brazil and the US.It is another hurdle for Momis and his government, who are working to rally a sense of political unity in a Melanesian society, where people still prioritise allegiance to their clan and customary land.Suspending developments in Panguna aligns with those landowners, such as Lynette Ona, Chairwoman of the Bougainville Indigenous Womens Landowner Association, who believe the mine should stay closed until they can master their own destiny. Yet independence in itself wont remove landowner rivalries or other risk factors Bougainville is currently challenged with, such as high youth unemployment, constrained institutional capacity to reach and govern rural areas and incomplete disarmament. Some armed groups, such as the Mekamui Defence Force, didnt sign the peace agreement or surrender firearms.Helen Hakena of the local Leitana Nehan Womens Development Agency has expressed concern that they [the Mekamui] get their strength from guns  there needs to be a priority set by the government in getting those arms out before the reopening of the Panguna mine.Bougainville is still working toward establishing the postwar unity, strong governance and state resources that are needed to manage the complex combination of postconflict recovery, unaddressed mining grievances, and risks of resourcerelated corruption and land disputes. For mining, without peace, wont contribute to Bougainvilles longing for successful selfgovernment and equitable development.SOURCE: THE INTERPRETER/PACNEWS
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksas Chief of Staff Gamini Senarath and four others were granted bail by the Permanent High Court at Bar, over the case of misappropriating funds belonged to the Litro Gas Lanka limited.

The three Judges of the Special High Court released each suspect on a cash bail of Rs.100,000 and two sureties of Rs.1 million each.

The suspects were banned from leaving the country as well. The case was postponed to September 19.
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The US remains a key driver of the hedge fund industry across the globe, accounting for 72% of the approximate $3.6tn in global assets as of 31 May 2018, according to Preqin special report: Hedge fund spotlight.

Despite hedge fund activity in other regions globally expanding alongside that of the US, the country accounts for 3,405 of the 5,523 institutional investors active in hedge funds and 3,319 of the 5,383 active hedge fund managers tracked by Preqin.

The report on hedge funds in the US revealed that all the 50 states are home to at least one institutional investor actively investing in hedge funds, and there are only two states that have no hedge fund managers operating within them.

New York accounts for just under half of all US hedge fund industry assets; Connecticut is home to the two largest hedge fund managers in the world.

According to the report, pension funds are, by some distance, the largest aggregate allocator to hedge funds, contributing almost half of all institutional capital invested in the asset class by US-based institutional investors.

Over half of US-based funds of hedge funds are based in New York, with the aggregate AUM of fund of funds managers headquartered in the state totalling $310bn. Blackstone Alternative Asset Management is the largest fund of hedge funds manager in the US and, indeed, the world, currently managing $75bn (as of May 2018).

More than one-third (36%) of all US-ba......................

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Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast to 2025 Top Key Players are IAbbott Laboratories, Novartis, Pfizer, Mylan Laboratories, Merck & Co. and more

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market 2018

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Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market 2018 Global Research Reports provide a detailed analysis of market growth, size, share, trends, industry policies, latest innovation, top key players analysis and forecast to 2025. The Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) industry report has studied key opportunities, investment plan, and development history, cost structure in the market and influencing factor which is useful to the business.Get Sample Copy of this Report The testosterone replacement therapy is majorly opted by geriatric male patients suffering from hypogonadism. Certain impact rendering drivers include aggressive direct selling campaigns by the company to individuals desiring a quality life, increasing product availability, and development of new gel-based formulations.In 2017, the global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) 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.Complete report on Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Industry 2018 Market Research Report is spread across 90 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector. Inquire more or share questions if any on this report @Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the TOP PLAYERS including:- Abbott Laboratories Novartis Pfizer Mylan Laboratories Merck & Co. Amgen Novo Nordisk BayerThe report also focuses on global major leading industry players of Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) market providing information such as company profiles, product picture, and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis are also carried out. The Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) market, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Order a copy of Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market Report 2018 @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, and market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Oral Parenteral Transdermal OthersOn 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, including Menopause Hypothyroidism Male Hypogonadism Growth Hormone Deficiency OthersMajor Points from Table of Contents:Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)2 Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Competition Analysis by Players3 Company (Top Players) Profiles4 Global Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)5 United States Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Development Status and Outlook6 EU Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Development Status and Outlook7 Japan Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Development Status and Outlook8 China Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Development Status and Outlook9 India Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Development Status and Outlook10 Southeast Asia Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Development Status and Outlook11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)12Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market Dynamics13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Research Finding/ Conclusion15AppendixData SourceAbout Us:Orian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact Us:Ruwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (832) 380-8827 | UK: +44 0161-818-8027Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn:
Medical Implants Market Trend Analysis with Boston Scientific Co, Dentsply Sirona, Institute Straumann AG, Johnson & Johnson Services Involved during 2018-2023

Medical Implants Market

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Medical Implants Market - SegmentationThe Global Medical Implants Market is segmented on the basis of types, type of material, and end user.On the basis the types, it is segmented into orthopedic implants, cardiac implants, spinal implants, dental implants, ophthalmic implants, cosmetic implants, and others.On the basis of the type of material, it is segmented into metallic material, ceramic material, polymers material, and others.On the basis of the end users, it is segmented into hospitals & clinics, research laboratories, and others.Request Premium Sample Copy atTop Players:Boston Scientific CorporationDentsply SironaInstitute Straumann AGJohnson & Johnson ServicesMedical Implants Market - OverviewMedical implants is the process of replacing missing or damaged biological structure of the body. These are the manmade devices or tissues that placed over or inside the surface of the body. There are range of application where these implants are used for the treatment and help to repair the damaged part of the body. Rising prevalence of chronic disease, improvement of surgical outcomes, acceptance of advanced medical implants devices by patients, and increasing ageing population around the world are the key drivers of the global medical implant market. According to the registry of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, approximately 500-600 pediatric heart transplantation procedures are performed globally every year, which represents around 12% of the total number of heart transplants performed. And in 2014, a total number of children heart transplants executed globally were 586. The Global Medical Implants Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.07% during the forecast period 2018-2023.Moreover, companies are more into mergers, acquisition, and collaboration activity in order to provide better treatment procedure. In this regards, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. in September 2016, acquired Abbott Medical Optics for developing the product line of intraocular lenses implanted into cataract patients following surgery, and a variety of eye drops and cleaning solutions that will complement J&Js extensive line-up of contact lenses. Also, in May 2016, Knifeless Tech Systems was acquired by 3M. The business acquired is an installation tool used to cut self-adhesive films applied to vehicle wraps 3M.Furthermore, increasing consumer awareness about various repairs and preventive cares associated with body and rapidly increasing population worldwide have consistently added to the growth of the medical implants market globally. Furthermore, increasing spending in the healthcare domain fuelling the growth of the medical implants market. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in 2015, the U.S. healthcare spending increased by 5.8% reaching USD 3.2 trillion. In 2016, the healthcare spending in North America had increased to some extent.However, high cost of the devices and ambiguous regulatory framework may affect the growth of the global medical implants market, negatively.Get Prime Discount atMedical Implants Market - Regional Analysis:America dominates the global medical implants market owing to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. Additionally, high health care spending, well-developed technology, and increasing geriatric population are likely to fuel the growth of the market. On the other hand, saturation of the market, the high cost of the devices, and changing reimbursement policies may slow the market growth over the review period.The Americas market for medical implants is divided into North America and South America. North America holds the major share of the market whereas, South America shows the fastest growth across the globe owing to the presence of an opportunity for the development of the market.The European medical implants market comprises of Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Western Europe comprises of countries such as Germany, the U.K, France, Italy, and Spain. Europe accounts for the second largest global medical implants market owing to increasing support from the government, the presence of huge geriatric population, and high health care spending. Additionally, many European countries are trying to encourage the manufacturers for research & development for the introduction of advanced devices. In addition to this, increasing awareness and developed healthcare infrastructure has provided a push to the growth of the market. However, strict regulatory rules may hinder the progress.On the other hand, The Middle East & Africa holds the least share, but it is likely to grow rapidly during the forecast period. However, due to the presence of poor and slow developing countries, especially, in the African region, the market may hold least market share.Major TOC of Medical Implants Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023:1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Market Dynamics5 Market Factor Analysis6 Global Medical Implant Market, by Type7 Global Medical Implant Market, by Type of Material8 Global Medical Implant Market, by End User9 Global Medical Implant Market by Region10 Competitive Landscape11 Company Profile12 Appendix13 List of Tables14 List of FiguresGet Customized Report with niche Segments, exhaustive Overview and Vital Players 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.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com
Epoxy Coatings Market 2018: Global Opportunities, Industry Share and Revenue Generation by Top Key Players | BASF SE, PPG industries, Aditya Birla Chemicals, AkzoNobel N.V, Tikkurila OYJ, RPM International Inc.

Epoxy Coatings Market

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Industry Related News:1 January, 2018 - Versa flex Incorporation and Raven Lining has successfully completed its merger. This merger is expected to build up their product portfolio and technology in polyurea, epoxy, polyurethane, and cementations technologies.Receive Sample Copy Of Epoxy Coating Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023 At:Market Overview:An Epoxy Coating has compounds that are used as coatings or paints, cross-linked with a co-reactant or hardener prior to application in order to give a performance oriented outcome. Epoxy Coatings are widely used in the production of adhesives and resins. They are the type of external coverings, provided by epoxy resins which serves resistance to UV light and corrosive chemicals among other properties. The global epoxy coating market relies on improved and durable coatings. Moreover, stringent rules and regulations are implemented by the regional governments to curb down VOC content in the paints and coatings industry which are projected to drive the demand of global epoxy coating markets. These coatings are used in combination with concrete and steel to give them water, alkali, and acid resistance. Epoxy coatings are generally used in industrial and automotive applications.The prominent driving factors in the global epoxy market are increasing construction activities and growing demand from the paints and coatings industry. Rapid growth in automotive and construction industries are projected to fuel the demand of global epoxy market during the forecast period, 2017-2023.Major Key Players:The Major Players operating in the Epoxy Coatings Market are: BASF SE (Germany), AkzoNobel N.V (the Netherlands), Axalata Coating System LLC (U.S.), The Valspar Corporation (U.S.), PPG industries (U.S.), Aditya Birla Chemicals (India), Tikkurila OYJ (Finland), RPM International Inc. (U.S.)Market Segmentation:The Global Epoxy Coatings Market is categorized on the basis of Type, Application:On The Basis Of Type- Waterborne Powder-BasedOn The Basis Of Application - Construction, Paints and Coatings, Automobile & TransportRegional Analysis:Geographically, Epoxy Coatings Market is segmented across Five Regions in the world namely: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa.The worlds largest share of global epoxy coating market has been held by Asia Pacific followed by Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. China, India and Malaysia are the countries in Asia Pacific region, expected to grow with the same pace in the forecast period, 2017-2023. Germany, U.K and Italy in Europe have observed a rapid growth due to increasing investment by the paints and coating industries. A stunning growth has been projected in North American and Latin American regions due to the production of environmental friendly products. The demand for epoxy coating market has been increasing in the Middle East and Africa due to growing investments in the construction and industrial activities.Browse Complete Report Detail Of Epoxy Coating Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023 At:About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora Chambers,Pune- 411028Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com+16468459312
Middle East & Africa Blood Coagulants Market Top Players Analysis  Pfizer, Bayer, Novo Nordisk, Shire etc. during Forecasted Period 2018-2027

Blood Coagulants Market

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Blood Coagulants Market - Segmental AnalysisThe MEA blood coagulants market is segmented on the basis of types, indications, and by country.On the basis of types, the market is segmented into coagulation factor and others. Coagulation factor is further segmented into recombinant coagulation factor, plasma coagulation factor, and others.On the basis of indication, the market is segmented into haemophilia, surgery, other bleeding disorders, and others. Haemophilia is further divided into haemophilia A and haemophilia B.On the basis of country, the market is segmented into KSA, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, and Rest of Middle East & Africa.Avail Premium Sample Copy atKey Players for Blood Coagulants Market:PfizerBayerNovo NordiskShireSOBIAnd Others.Blood Coagulants Market- OverviewThe market is expected to grow at the CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period 2017-2023 Coagulation is the process, by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. In general terms, coagulation is a process in which the blood forms clots to block and then heal a lesion/wound/cut and stop the bleeding. The Middle East & Africa blood coagulant market growth is majorly attributed to increasing prevalence of the bleeding disorders, rising funding, healthcare insurance coverage, and awareness programs for bleeding disorders. In the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, bleeding disorders have become a huge problem due to limited screening, ignorance of diseases, and poor access to treatment.As per the study published in Blood Coagulation Fibrinolysis journal, 2016, it is reported that in the Yaounde Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) of Cameroon multiple cases of hemophilia and von willebrand disease (VWD) have been registered According to the 2014 Annual Global Survey of World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH), in 2014 the total population of Egypt was 86,895,099 out of which 5,246 people were living with hemophilia, 513 were living with von willebrand disease, and 1,123 with other bleeding disorders. It is also reported that 4201 cases of hemophilia A were registered and among them 37% were under 4 years A research study published in Medicine journal in 2017 stated that hemophilia A is the most common type of hemophilia in Saudi Arabia and most dominant in male patients: 1 : 5000 to 10,000. Whereas, prevalence rate of hemophilia B: 1: 34,500 male patients.Avail Stunning Discount atThe Middle East & Africa blood coagulant market growth is majorly attributed to increasing prevalence of the bleeding disorders, rising funding, healthcare insurance coverage, and awareness programs for bleeding disorders. On the other hand, there are certain factors that also hinder the growth of this market such as lack of R&D capabilities in the regions, presence of counterfeit drugs, and lack of awareness in most of the parts of developing and underdeveloped countries in the region.Blood Coagulants Market - Regional AnalysisThe Middle East & Africa blood coagulants market is segmented on the basis of countries into Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, and rest of Middle East & Africa. Saudi Arabia account for the largest market share of the Middle East & Africa blood coagulants market by countries in 2016. The large share is majorly attributed to increasing prevalence of the haemophilia disease in this country, high usage of the expensive recombinant coagulation factors for the treatment, and high disposable income of the population, and better healthcare facilities in this country.Major TOC of Blood Coagulants Market  Middle East & Africa forecast till 2023:1 Report Prologue2 Research Methodology3 Market Dynamics4 Middle East & Africa Blood Coagulants Market by Type5 Middle East & Africa Blood Coagulants Market, By Indication6 Middle East & Africa Blood Coagulants Market, By Country7 Company ProfilesHave any Query, Ask to Experts 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.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com
Vibratory Filling Machines Market - Recent Study including Growth Factors, Applications, Regional Analysis, Key Players and Forecasts

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There is a high requirement of packaging machines that can provide continuous filling of even and uneven material, in packaging products. Conventional filling machines are not compatible with the uneven size of the granule. Further, these filling machines are standardized to fill specific quality in packs, thus faces issue to switch from bulk to small quantity.Obtain Brochure For Latest Technology Advancements@Vibratory filling machines are also known as vibratory fillers. Vibratory filling machines allow continuous filling of the material into the packaging product. The machines filling operation is not affected due to the size and shape of the granule. The machine comprises of three essential parts- the hopper, feeder, and weighting system.Obtain Report Details@The material that needs to be filled is fed in the hopper, through the hopper, the material enters to the feeder, the vibratory feeder has trays. The microcontroller controls the speed of the tray. Microcontroller maintains the speed of the tray, to the required filling speed. Then, the material travels from feeder to the weighing system. The required quantity is weighted and filled up in the packaging product.The vibratory filling machines account for about 2-3% of overall filling machines market. The global packaging machines market is expected to expand with a CAGR of 5.7%, by the 2028 end. The pricing analysis is done by the machine type. The global vibratory filling machine value is in (million) and the global volume taken in (units).About UsTransparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.Contact UsState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesUSA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Drum Pump Market 2018 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023

Drum Pump Market Research, Drum Pump Market Analysis, Drum Pump Market In-depth Analysis

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The Drum Pump Market research report displays the latest industry insights with future trends and analysis of the products and services, enabling you to deeply penetrate the market with high profitability. It also makes you aware of the leading competitors influencing the market along with the key factors to help you sustain your products or services with better forecast of demand and growth opportunities.Drum pump refers to pumps that are used to empty barrels, tanks, IBCs and drums. Many liquids used on manufacturing and processing plants are delivered in 100 or 200 litre barrels and are too heavy to tip to empty the liquids inside. Drum pumps consist of a vertical shaft inside a narrow tube which fits inside the drum opening. The pump motor is attached to the vertical shaft at the top of the tube outside and above the drum and the pumping element is located at the end of the shaft inside the drum. This configuration allows the drum to be emptied without tipping and so reduces the risk of spills and operator injury.For Inquiry of sample copy here @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Drum Pump 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.Although international economic situation is complicated, there will be many uncertainties in the next few years. Due to the government policy and the high production of drum pump in the international market, the current demand for drum pump product is relatively high in the mature market, such as North America and Europe.According to research and analysis, the companies located at North America and Europe is major leader in the drum pump international market. The China's company is immature technology; there is a large market space in the China market. But meanwhile, there is a big gap between abroad brand and domestic brand on the price.The worldwide market for Drum Pump is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly xx% over the next five years, will reach xx million US$ in 2023, from xx million US$ in 2017.Browse more In-depth information with TOC here @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Lutz Pompen ARO Flux KIJEKA New Pig Xylem Fluimac Koshin Serfilco Finish Thompson NZ Pump Ambica Machine ATM JiangSu Orient TNT Fengyuan China Success Shanghai Yangguang Shanghai ShangwoMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers Hand-cranked Drum Pump Electric Drum Pump Pneumatic Drum PumpMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Petroleum Industry Chemical Industry Environmental Potection Industry Pharmaceutical Industry Food Processing Industry OtherFor Purchase a sample Copy here @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Drum Pump market. Chapter 1, to describe Drum Pump Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Drum Pump, with sales, revenue, and price of Drum Pump, 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 Drum Pump, for each region, from 2013 to 2018; Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Drum Pump market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023; Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Drum Pump sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout us: - MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on Shipping Containers industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact us: - Mr. Jeet Jain, Sales Manager, sales@marketresearchnest.com ;+1-240-284-8070(U.S), +44-20-3290-4151(U.K);Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Global Baby Food Cereals Market Chain Structure Analysis, Import Export Consumption, Development Overview, Trend Analysis Forecast to 2022

Baby Food Cereals

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The report firstly introduced the Baby Food Cereals basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on.Download Sample Copy @Then it analyzed the worlds main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Baby Food Cereals Report by Material, Application, and Geography  Global Forecast to 2022 is a professional and in-depth research report on the worlds major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).Enquiry @The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) Basic Information;2.) Asia Baby Food Cereals Market;3.) North American Baby Food Cereals Market;4.) European Baby Food Cereals Market;5.) Market Entry and Investment Feasibility;6.) Report Conclusion.Complete report on Global Baby Food Cereals Industry 2017 Market Research Report is spread across 150 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and landscape details in this niche sector.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Baby Food Cereals Market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, Baby Food Cereals landscape analysis, and major regions' development status. The report focuses on Global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What's more, the Baby Food Cereals industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed...Download Direct Copy @In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Then this Report analyzed the worlds main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysisTable of ContentsPart I Baby Food Cereals Industry OverviewChapter One Baby Food Cereals Industry Overview1.1 Baby Food Cereals Definition1.2 Baby Food Cereals Classification Analysis1.2.1 Baby Food Cereals Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Baby Food Cereals Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Baby Food Cereals Application Analysis1.3.1 Baby Food Cereals Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Baby Food Cereals Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Baby Food Cereals Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Baby Food Cereals Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Baby Food Cereals Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Baby Food Cereals Product Market Development Overview1.6 Baby Food Cereals Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Baby Food Cereals Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Baby Food Cereals Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Baby Food Cereals Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Baby Food Cereals Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Baby Food Cereals Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Baby Food Cereals Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia Baby Food Cereals Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Baby Food Cereals Market Analysis3.1 Asia Baby Food Cereals Product Development History3.2 Asia Baby Food Cereals Competitive Landscape Analysis3.3 Asia Baby Food Cereals Market Development TrendAbout Us:Research Reports Inc. is one of the leading destinations for market research reports across all industries, companies, and technologies. Our repository features an exhaustive list of market research reports from thousands of publishers worldwideContact us for your special interest needs and we will get in touch within 24hrs to help you find the market research report you need.With our expertise and research offerings, we ensure we deliver on all your requirements, whether youre looking for industry analysis or market trends or anything else, first time and every time!Email us sales@researchreportsinc.comCall: US / Canada Toll Free: +18554192424, UK : +4403308087757
Respiratory Care Devices Market to Rear Excessive Growth During 2025

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The rapid growth of the healthcare segment has resulted in a high growth of the global respiratory care devices market in the last few years. The rising prevalence of tobacco smoking and the rising incidence of preterm births are projected to enhance the growth of the overall market in the next few years. The advent of enhanced portable devices and the rising use of multimodal ventilators are predicted to accelerate the market growth and generate potential growth opportunities for the market players in the next few years. The research study offers a detailed overview of the respiratory care devices market and throws light on the competitive landscape of the market.Read Report Overview @The rising geriatric population and the increasing prevalence of respiratory diseases are considered as the key factors that are estimated to encourage the growth of the overall market in the next few years. In addition to this, the high rate of urbanization and the rising pollution levels, along with the changing lifestyle of consumers are projected to accelerate the growth of the global respiratory care devices market in the next few years. On the other hand, the concerns related to reimbursement and the easy availability of low cost products are predicted to restrict the growth of the market in the next few years. Nonetheless, the rising popularity of point-of-care diagnostics and the growing demand for home care therapeutic devices are estimated to enhance the growth of the market and offer potential growth opportunities for the market players in the next few years.The global market for respiratory care devices has been categorized on the basis of geography into Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and Europe. Among these, North America is estimated to account for a large share of the overall market in the next few years. This strong growth of this region can be attributed to the favorable reimbursement policies and enhanced diagnosis. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is likely to register a promising growth rate in the next few years, thanks to the increasing contribution from India and China. In addition to this, the rising level of pollution in several developing economies is likely to accelerate the growth of this region in the next few years. As per the study, this study is expected to offer potential growth opportunities for the market players in the next few years.Obtain the Report Brochure @The global market for respiratory care devices is competitive in nature and is estimated to witness a stiff competition among the key players in the next few years. The entry of new players and the growing focus on the development of new products are predicted to enhance the overall growth of the market in the next few years.Some of the leading players operating in the respiratory care devices market across the globe are Medline Industries, Inc., Rotech Healthcare, Inc., Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd., ResMed, Inc., Hamilton Medical AG, Dickinson and Company, Smiths Medical, Inc., Medtronic plc, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Becton, Philips Respronics, and Masimo Corporation. The rising emphasis of the players on research and development activities is estimated to accelerate the growth of the overall market and is likely to enhance the market penetration across the globe.Request for Report TOC @About UsTransparency 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.Contact UsTransparency Market Research,90 Sate Street, Suite 700,Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Experts Says Security Paper Market is Growing Exponentially and Its Fueled By Various Trends

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Security paper is a paper which constitutes features that help qualify and identify a document as authentic or original. The use of security paper exemplifies the importance of a document and helps in distinguishing between authentic and counterfeit documents. It is widely used for printing currency, legal, and government documents.Counterfeiting of documents and currency has augmented over the recent past, resulting in major losses being incurred by companies, governments and individuals. This has increased the demand for the development of various security features, with security paper as the most significant. However, growing digitization in the developed markets emerging economies, which ensures expeditious authenticity of documents, is a major challenge faced by the security paper market.The hybrid papers make use of inks, threads, and fibers to help distinguish them from ordinary paper. Other security features such as watermarks and holograms are used to minimize the risk of counterfeiting. Tear resistance, threaded paper, UV fibers are used to help withstand wear and tear of documents that require longer lifespan. Standard security papers have a multitoned watermark and is made using cotton, pulp and plastic. This paper is widely used for passports, licenses, tickets, vouchers, vehicle papers, policies, and excise seals. TonerFix security paper is specifically used for laser printing, and maintains the clarity of adhesive tapes Tonefix papers are used for checks, tickets, vehicle papers, contractor ID cards, and transport documents. JetFix security paper, suitable for inkjet printing offers excellent film adhesion and immediately ink absorb, without any smearing. Color pigments are deeply embedded in this paper, making it useful for ID cards, ID papers and visas. The largest application of security paper is currency, which employs multiple security features in the same paper. With growing counterfeiting activities, demand for improved security features have increased.Download PDF Brochure of this Report @Security Paper Market OutlookAsia Pacific is the largest market for security paper, as the largely populated countries India and China are present here. The use of security paper across all applications is swiftly increasing in these countries, with currency printing being the largest application. With increasing population and strong economic growth, the security paper industry in Asia Pacific, is expected to flourish over the forecast period. North America is the second largest market for security paper. The US dollar is the worlds most used reserve currency and the most traded currency in the foreign exchange market.Europe is a shrinking market for security paper due to increased digitization in both, government and private dealings. Moreover, use of plastic currency i.e. credit and debit cards has reduced demand for paper currency. Sweden is poised to become the first country to shift to completely digitized currency system.Africa is estimated to be the significant market of security paper, as low income groups tend to use paper currency due to lack of bank accounts and stable income sources. The Middle East, despite having high public digital penetration lags in business and the surge in digitized government affairs is projected to negatively impact the security paper industry.Latin America is witnessing slow growth due to political and social instability in many countries. This has resulted in an economic slowdown in the region, hindering growth of the security paper industry as well.In 2016, the demonetization drive in India was a major event for the security paper industry. Around 84% of Indias currency was stripped of its status as legal tender and was reprinted. The reprinted currency included new design and added security features. This enabled immense growth of the security paper market in the country. Major players in the security paper market are China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, Ciotola S.R.L., Document Security Systems, Inc., EPL House for Security Printing, Security Paper Limited, Sequana Group, De la Rue plc, Giesecke & Devrient, Fedrigoni Group, and Goznak.For More Information @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.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Gene Delivery System Market is predicted to be worth US$ 4,281.0 Mn by 2025

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Gene Delivery System Market: SnapshotGene delivery systems are used to deliver therapeutic drugs targeting a specific area. Gene delivery is a procedure that introduces foreign DNA into host cells. The global gene delivery system market was valued approximately US$ 2,227.8 Mn in 2016 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of over 7.8% from 2017 to 2025 to reach value of nearly US$ 4,281.0 Mn by 2025. Increase in demand for targeted therapies and rise in technological advancements are likely to fuel the global gene delivery system market from 2017 to 2025.Report Overview @The global gene delivery system market is driven by increase in need for advanced technologies for targeted systems. Launch of new and advanced technologies, rise in demand for targeted and low dose frequency drug delivery, increase in investment in research & development, surge in demand for self-administration devices for home health care, and increase in prevalence of chronic life-threatening diseases are driving the global gene delivery system market. However, high cost of the treatment and increase in drug recalls due to stringent regulations in developed countries are likely to restrain the market. The global gene delivery system market is segmented according to delivery system, application, route of administration, and geography.According to delivery system, the global gene delivery system market is divided into viral gene delivery system, non-viral gene delivery system, and combined hybrid system. The viral gene delivery system is further classified into adenovirus system, lentivirus vector, retrovirus vector, adeno-associated virus vector, sendai virus vector, herpes simplex virus vector, and others. The non-viral gene delivery system is further segmented into natural organic compounds, physical methods, and chemical methods. In terms of revenue, the viral gene delivery system segment dominates the global gene delivery system market. Increase in demand for viral gene delivery systems for the treatment of genetic and acquired diseases caused by insertion or deletion of a gene drives the segment. The combined hybrid delivery system segment account for a small share of the market.Request A Sample Of Report @Based on application, the global gene delivery system market is segregated into infectious diseases, oncology, ophthalmology, urology, diabetes, CNS, and others. In terms of revenue, the oncology segment dominates the global gene delivery system market. Rise in incidence of cancer across all regions drives the global gene delivery systems market. According to WHO report (2017), around 1 in 6 deaths occurs due to cancer globally. CNS is the second largest segment boosting the market. Increase in incidence of neurological diseases is likely to drive the segment by 2025. According to EurekAlert, neurological disorders is a leading cause of death globally. Diabetes is also a chronic disease which affects majority of population across the globe. According to WHO report, in 2016, around 1% of total deaths occurred only due to diabetes in Japan.In terms of route of administration, the global gene delivery system market is segmented into oral, injectable, inhalation, transdermal, ocular, nasal, topical, and others. The injectable segment dominates the global gene delivery system market. The oral and injectable segments together accounted for 62.4% share of the market in 2016. The injectable route of administration is used for rapid drug absorption. Especially, drugs with low oral bioavailability are administered through the intramuscular or subcutaneous route. Oral formulations are inexpensive as compared to other dosage forms. This route of drug administration allows sustained release of formulation to reduce the frequency of the medication. These are some of the factors driving the segment. The inhalation segment accounts for less share of the global gene delivery system market. Drugs targeted for the treatment of lung diseases such as bronchodilators and steroids can be inhaled to achieve rapid action. This is likely to boost the segment.Request Brochure @Based on geography, the global gene delivery system market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global gene delivery system market. North America and Europe together accounted for 72.4% share of the market in 2016. Rise in prevalence of chronic diseases in the U.S. and Europe and technological advancement in drug delivery systems are driving the global gene delivery market. Rise in prevalence of acute and chronic diseases in the U.S. drives demand for drug delivery systems in the country. According to WHO report (2016), cancer accounts for around 23% of total deaths in the U.S. Demand for drug and gene delivery system is increasing in the region due to increase in prevalence of several chronic diseases. According to WHO report 2016, around 40% of total death in Germany were caused by cardiovascular diseases. The global gene delivery system market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a rapid pace due to increase in prevalence of diseases and rise in investment of key players in this region. The market in Middle East & Africa is likely to expand at a sluggish pace.Major players operating in the global gene delivery system market include Novartis AG, Amgen Inc., Oxford BioMedia plc, SIBIONO, Shanghai Sunway Biotech Co. Ltd., Pfizer Inc., Bayer AG, Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Human Stem Cells Institue, and Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation. These players adopt organic and in-organic growth strategies to expand their product offerings, expand geographically, increase customer base, and garner market share.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact Us90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Online Beauty and Personal Care Market Report 2018-2025- Analysis By Top Key Player Like LOreal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder, Shiseido

Online Beauty and Personal Care Market Report 2018-2025

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UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Online Beauty and Personal Care Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 101 pages which highly exhibits on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Get Free Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This ReportOnline Beauty and Personal Care Industry research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Online Beauty and Personal Care Industry global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018 - 2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.For More Information Please VisitThe report for Online Beauty and Personal Care market analysis & forecast 2018-2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region-wise Analysis Global Online Beauty and Personal Care Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The Major Manufacturers covered in this report LOreal Unilever Procter & Gamble Estee Lauder Shiseido Beiersdorf Amore Pacific Avon Johnson & Johnson Kao Chanel LVMH Coty Clarins Natura Cosmeticos Revlon Pechoin Philips JALA Group FLYCO Shanghai JawhaMarket Size Split by Type Skin Care Hair Care Color Cosmetics Fragrances Oral Hygiene Products Bath and Shower Products Male Grooming Products Deodorants Baby and Child Care ProductsMarket Size Split by Application Luxuary/Pharmarcy Market Mass MarketIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Online Beauty and Personal Care are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Buy Online Beauty and Personal Care Market analysis & forecast 2018-2025 Report along with complete TOCThe Report covers in-depth analysis as follows1 Study Coverage2 Executive Summary3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers4 Breakdown Data by Type5 Breakdown Data by Application6 North America7 Europe8 Asia Pacific9 Central & South America10 Middle East and Africa11 Company Profile12 Market Opportunities, Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis13 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis14 Research Findings and ConclusionOnline Beauty and Personal Care Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market-driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real-time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real-time scenario.Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Online Beauty and Personal Care Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 and its commercial landscape Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations To understand the future outlook and prospects for Online Beauty and Personal Care market analysis and forecast 2018-2025.Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch 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 UpMarketResearch:UpMarketResearch () 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 States
Global Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies Market Report Analysis By Top Key Players Like Farmer Bros., JAB Holding Company And Global Forecast 2018-2025

Global Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies Market Report Analysis

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The Report published on UpMarketResearch.com about Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies Market is spread across 97 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 market.Get free sample report:Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies 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. Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies Industry research report provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.The report begins with the overview of the Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies 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.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 Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies 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 major manufacturers covered in this report BUNN Farmer Bros. Hamilton Beach Brands JAB Holding Company NestleGlobal Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies Market: Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Production Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023): United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South AmericaBy Application, the market can be split into Offices Foodservice outlets Restaurants and convenience stores Healthcare and hospitalityBuy this report :Major Points in Table of Content:1 Study Coverage2 Executive Summary3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers4 Breakdown Data by Type5 Breakdown Data by Application6 North America7 Europe8 Asia Pacific9 Central & South America10 Middle East and Africa11 Company Profiles12 Market Opportunities, Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis13 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis14 Research Findings and Conclusion15 AppendixReasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies and its commercial landscape. Assess the Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies market 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 Office and Commercial Coffee Equipment and Supplies MarketFor more information:Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch 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 UpMarketResearch: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
Oils and Fats Market Estimated with Key Players like Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge, Cargill, Incorporated, International Foodstuff during the Forecast Period 2018-2025

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UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Oils and Fats Market Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 95 pages which highly exhibits on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Oils and Fats global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018 - 2025.Get FREE Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Report @Oils and Fats market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Oils and Fats market industry analysis & forecast 2018-2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region-wise Analysis Global Oils and Fats Market covers: North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaThe major manufacturers covered in this report Archer Daniels Midland Company Bunge Cargill Incorporated International Foodstuff Wilmar Associated British Foods Ajinomoto ConAgra Foods Unilever United Plantations BerhadOils and Fats Breakdown Data by Product type Edible Vegetable Oils Palm Oils Industrial Oils Animal Fats Marine Oils Oils and Fats Breakdown Data by Application Food IndustrialOils and Fats Breakdown Data by Application Process Industries Discrete IndustriesFor more information, Visit: https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/6316In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Oils and Fats are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025The Report covers in-depth analysis as follows:1 Study Coverage2 Executive Summary3 Market Size by Manufacturers4 Oils and Fats Production by Regions5 Oils and Fats Consumption by Regions6 Market Size by Type7 Market Size by Application8 Manufacturers Profiles9 Production Forecasts10 Consumption Forecast11 Upstream, Industry Chain and Downstream Customers Analysis12 Opportunities & Challenges, Threat and Affecting FactorsBuy report @ https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/oils-and-fats-marketGlobal Oils and Fats Market Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market-driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real-time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real-time scenario.Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Oils and Fats Market Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 and its commercial landscape Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations To understand the future outlook and prospects for Oils and Fats market industry analysis and forecast 2018-2025.Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch 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 UpMarketResearch:UpMarketResearch () 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 States
Advanced Glass 2018 Global Market Challenge, Driver, Trends & Forecast to 2022

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Report DescriptionThis report analyzes the global advanced glass market by type (laminated glass, tempered glass and others), by end- user (construction, infrastructure, automobiles, electronics and others) and by region; it also studies the top manufacturers in the market.GET SAMPLE REPORT @The major players in global advanced glass market include: Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd (Japan) American Precision Glass Corp (U.S.) Atheer, Inc. (U.S.) Vurix Corporation (U.S.) Thermoseal Industries LLC (U.S.) Packerland Glass Products Inc. (U.S.) Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd (Japan) CoorsTek, Inc. (U.S.) Saint-Gobain Glass (India) SCHOTT AG (Germany)The market revenue and share have been analyzed with respect to the following regions and countries:AmericasNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeWestern EuropeGermanyU.K.FranceSpainRest of EuropeAsiaPacificAsiaChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia-PacificRest of the WorldOn the basis of type, the global advanced glass market has been categorized into the following segments: Laminated Glass Tempered Glass OthersOn the basis of end-user, the global advanced glass market has been categorized into the following segments: Construction Infrastructure Automobiles Electronics OthersOn the basis of region, the global advanced glass market has been categorized into the following segments: North America Europe Asia-Pacific Rest of the WorldResearch MethodologyAnalysis is conducted by industry experts who offer insight into industry structure, market segmentation, technology assessment, competitive landscape (CL), and market penetration, as well as on emerging trends. Besides primary interviews (~80%) and secondary research (~20%), their analysis is based on years of professional expertise in their respective industries. Our analysts also predict where the market will be headed in the next five to 10 years, by analyzing historical trends and current market positions. Furthermore, the varying trends of segments and categories in different regions are estimated based on primary and secondary research.Both the top-down and bottom-up approaches were used to estimate and validate the size of the market and to estimate the size of various other dependent sub-markets. The key players in the market were identified through secondary research, and their market contributions in the respective regions were determined through primary and secondary research. This entire process included the study of the annual and financial reports of the top market players and extensive interviews for key insights with industry leaders such as CEOs, VPs, directors, and marketing executives. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns were determined using secondary sources and verified through primary sources. All the possible parameters that affect the market covered in this research study have been accounted for, viewed in extensive detail, verified through primary research, and analyzed to arrive at the final quantitative and qualitative data.Table of Content: Key Points1 Executive Summary2 Research Methodology3 Market Dynamics4 Global Advanced Glass Market, By Type5 Global Advanced Glass Market, By End-User6 Regional Market Analysis7 Competitive AnalysisContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your needs.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Diabetes Drug Market: Global Industry Top Key Players: Eli Lilly and Company, Abbott, Biocon, SUN PHARMA, Sanofi, Novartis, Merck, Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.

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Company profiles can be quite useful for making any revenue, import, export and consumption related decisions in the Diabetes Drug Market in Healthcare industry.This report on Diabetes Drug market will assist you to take thoughtful decisions in the global market by explaining what the market definition, classifications, applications, and engagements are and informing you about all the recent product launches & their researches, their joint ventures, merges, and accusations, while also explaining about all the market drivers and restrains which are collected using SWOT analysis.This reports main focus will be to make you aware of what the CAGR levels are going to be in the forecast period of 2018-2025.Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body glucose level is elevated. There are two type of diabetes namely type-1 diabetes and type-2 diabetes. During last decade there is a tremendous increase in the number of diabetic population.Request Free Sample Copy of the Report @The analysis shows human insulins and analogues dominated the antidiabetics market in 2017.The report includes market shares of Diabetes Drug market for global, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Central & South America.THE MAJOR PLAYERS COVERED IN THIS REPORT Eli Lilly Novo Nordisk Abbott AstraZeneca Biocon Sunpharma Sanofi Novartis Merck Pfizer Daiichi Sankyo Boehringer Ingelheim Akros Pharma Amgen Adocia Peptron TakedaBrowse Full Report with TOC @This report focuses on the Diabetes Drug 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.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Insulin Sensitizers SGLT-2 Inhibitors Alpha-glucosidase Inhibitors Secretagogues Peptide Analogs OthersBY APPLICATION, THE MARKET CAN BE SPLIT INTO Hospital Clinic OthersPARTIAL CHAPTER OF THE TABLE OF CONTENT1 Industry Overview of Diabetes Drug2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Diabetes Drug3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Diabetes Drug4 Global Diabetes Drug Overall Market Overview5 Diabetes Drug Regional Market Analysis7 Global 2013-2018E Diabetes Drug Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Diabetes Drug9 Development Trend of Analysis of Diabetes Drug Market10 Diabetes Drug Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Diabetes Drug12 Conclusion of the Global Diabetes Drug Market Professional Survey Report 2017Place a Purchase Order for Diabetes Drug Market@Note: Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.About Research for Markets:Research for Markets indulges in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.Contact:Mr. A NaiduResearch for MarketsTel: +44 8000-4182-37 (UK)Email: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.com
Africa Medical Devices Market Research Report 2018 Analysis and Forecast to 2023

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Report DescriptionThis report analyzes the Africa medical devices market by product type (monitoring devices, diagnostic devices, diagnostic molecular devices, drug delivery devices, surgical devices, bio implants and stimulation devices, automation and robotics and others), by therapeutic application (general surgery, diagnostic imaging, respiratory, orthopedics, cardiovascular, dental, neurology, ophthalmology, ear-nose-throat (ENT), nephrology and urology, and others) and by end user (hospitals, ambulatory and home); it also studies the top manufacturers in the market.GET SAMPLE REPORT @The Africa medical devices market was valued at USD 4900 million in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 7069.61 million, at a CAGR of 6.3 % during the forecast period.The major players in Africa medical devices market include: Mindray Medical International Limited Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV. Siemens Ltd Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation GE Healthcare Medtronic Johnson & Johnson OthersThe market revenue and share have been analyzed with respect to the following regions and countries:South AfricaEgyptNigeriaMoroccoAlgeriaOthersOn the basis of product type, the Africa medical devices market has been categorized into the following segments: Monitoring Devices Diagnostic devices Diagnostic Molecular Devices Drug delivery devices Surgical Devices Bio implants and Stimulation Devices Automation and Robotics OthersOn the basis of therapeutic application, the Africa medical devices market has been categorized into the following segments: General Surgery Diagnostic Imaging Respiratory Orthopedics Cardiovascular Dental Neurology Ophthalmology Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) Nephrology and Urology OthersOn the basis of end user, the Africa medical devices market has been categorized into the following segments: Hospitals Ambulatory HomeResearch MethodologyAnalysis is conducted by industry experts who offer insight into industry structure, market segmentation, technology assessment, competitive landscape (CL), and market penetration, as well as on emerging trends. Besides primary interviews (~80%) and secondary research (~20%), their analysis is based on years of professional expertise in their respective industries. Our analysts also predict where the market will be headed in the next five to 10 years, by analyzing historical trends and current market positions. Furthermore, the varying trends of segments and categories in different regions are estimated based on primary and secondary research.Both the top-down and bottom-up approaches were used to estimate and validate the size of the market and to estimate the size of various other dependent sub-markets. The key players in the market were identified through secondary research, and their market contributions in the respective regions were determined through primary and secondary research. This entire process included the study of the annual and financial reports of the top market players and extensive interviews for key insights with industry leaders such as CEOs, VPs, directors, and marketing executives. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns were determined using secondary sources and verified through primary sources. All the possible parameters that affect the market covered in this research study have been accounted for, viewed in extensive detail, verified through primary research, and analyzed to arrive at the final quantitative and qualitative data.Table of Content: Key Points1 Introduction2 Research Methodology3 Market Dynamics4 Market Factor Analysis5 Africa Medical Devices Market, By Product Type6 Africa Medical Devices Market, By Therapeutic ApplicationContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your needs.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank 2018 Global Market Key Players  Universal Industrial Gases, ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE, Thermo Scientific, Jinfeng, Hengda, INOX India -Analysis And Forecast To 2023

Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Market 2018

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Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Market 2018Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank  Global Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2023 To Its Research Database.Description:The Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market revenue was xx.xx Million USD in 2013, grew to xx.xx Million USD in 2017, and will reach xx.xx Million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of x.x% during 2018-2023. Based on the Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank industrial chain, this report mainly elaborate the definition, types, applications and major players of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market in details. Deep analysis about market status (2013-2018), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise Products, industry development trends (2018-2023), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also be included. From raw materials to downstream buyers of this industry will be analyzed scientifically, the feature of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. In a word, this report will help you to establish a panorama of industrial development and characteristics of the Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market.The Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market can be split based on product types, major applications, and important regions.Major Players in Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market are:Universal Industrial GasesASCO CARBON DIOXIDEThermo ScientificJinfengHengdaINOX IndiaTENAKPanasonicCryosafeBiomedical Sales EuropeStatebourne CryogenicsRequest for Sample Report @Major Regions play vital role in Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market are:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanMiddle East & AfricaIndiaSouth AmericaOthersMost important types of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank products covered in this report are:Stainless steel Storage TankGlass fiber reinforced plastic Storage TankCarbon steel Storage TankOtherMost widely used downstream fields of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank market covered in this report are:Chemical and Petrochemical FacilitiesWater Treatment PlantsFood IndustryOthersEnquiry before Buying @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Content:Global Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Industry Market Research Report1 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Introduction and Market Overview1.1 Objectives of the Study1.2 Definition of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank1.3 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Market Scope and Market Size Estimation1.3.1 Market Concentration Ratio and Market Maturity Analysis1.3.2 Global Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Value ($) and Growth Rate from 2013-20231.4 Market Segmentation1.4.1 Types of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank1.4.2 Applications of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank1.4.3 Research Regions1.4.3.1 North America Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.2 Europe Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.3 China Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.4 Japan Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.5 Middle East & Africa Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.6 India Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.7 South America Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Drivers1.5.1.1 Emerging Countries of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank1.5.1.2 Growing Market of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank1.5.2 Limitations1.5.3 Opportunities1.6 Industry News and Policies by Regions1.6.1 Industry News1.6.2 Industry Policies8 Competitive Landscape8.1 Competitive Profile8.2 Universal Industrial Gases8.2.1 Company Profiles8.2.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.2.3 Universal Industrial Gases Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.2.4 Universal Industrial Gases Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.3 ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE8.3.1 Company Profiles8.3.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.3.3 ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.3.4 ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.4 Thermo Scientific8.4.1 Company Profiles8.4.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.4.3 Thermo Scientific Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.4.4 Thermo Scientific Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.5 Jinfeng8.5.1 Company Profiles8.5.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.5.3 Jinfeng Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.5.4 Jinfeng Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.6 Hengda8.6.1 Company Profiles8.6.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.6.3 Hengda Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.6.4 Hengda Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.7 INOX India8.7.1 Company Profiles8.7.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.7.3 INOX India Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.7.4 INOX India Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.8 TENAK8.8.1 Company Profiles8.8.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.8.3 TENAK Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.8.4 TENAK Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.9 Panasonic8.9.1 Company Profiles8.9.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.9.3 Panasonic Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.9.4 Panasonic Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.10 Cryosafe8.10.1 Company Profiles8.10.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.10.3 Cryosafe Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.10.4 Cryosafe Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.11 Biomedical Sales Europe8.11.1 Company Profiles8.11.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.11.3 Biomedical Sales Europe Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.11.4 Biomedical Sales Europe Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 20178.12 Statebourne Cryogenics8.12.1 Company Profiles8.12.2 Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Product Introduction8.12.3 Statebourne Cryogenics Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.12.4 Statebourne Cryogenics Market Share of Liquid Nitrogen Storage Tank Segmented by Region in 2017Continued..Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune  411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Tax Software Market Expected to Reach US$ 19,513.2 Mn by 2026

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According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research , the global tax software market is expected to reach a value of US$ 19,513.2 Mn by 2026 on account of growing adoption of tax software and e-accounting solutions across various industries. The market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2026.The market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to experience healthy growth which is expected to be followed by Middle East & Africa during the forecast period.The tax software services segment is expected to see flourishing growth, owing to rising demand of tax software in various industries such as banking, retail, information technology, etc.Get Brochure For More Information@Adoption of tax software driving the global tax software marketRapid developments in technologies for tax management have made it possible for a range of industries to increase their number of consumers across the world. There has been a significant need for technological solutions in the taxation industry due to advance features that help in enhancing financial management of various organizations. This is likely to create strong demand for tax software in the near future. Similarly, vendors across countries such as China, India, the U.S., U.K, Germany, Finland, Singapore, and Denmark are focusing on enhancing tax management solutions aspect of the taxation industry. Public agencies as well as private companies are emphasizing on providing tax software mainly due to the benefits offered by electronic accounting, as these solutions are highly effective in improving the performance and infrastructure of organizations across regions.Tax Software Market: Scope of the ReportThe tax software market is segmented based on component, tax type, software deployment type, end-user, industry, and geography. According to the research study, the cloud segment is anticipated to experience flourishing growth during the forecast period. This is mainly due to multiple cloud applications and adoption of cloud computing in BFSI, government, retail, IT and telecom etc. In addition to this, various end-users across regions prefer cloud based software to be the reliable solution with respect to its cost, security, and accessibility. By 2026, commercial enterprises software is projected to cover more than 60% of the global market. Apart from this, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) also plays a vital role in supplementing the growth of the tax software market. Vendors are offering tax software due to the rise in need for tax management systems and a move by the governments across regions toward digitalization in the taxation industry. Furthermore, the income tax segment is likely to hold a significant share of the tax software market.North America is leading the tax software market with more than 30% share globally. This is due to increase in advance technologies for tax management systems and also high penetration of accounting software in the region. Furthermore, strong presence of tax software providers across the region is contributing to the growth of the market. North America is contributing the highest share in the tax software market because the U.S. is considered as a highly developed country in terms of technological innovations and adoptions.In terms of new opportunities, the market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period. Increasing awareness of tax software as well as adoption of advance and technological solutions in the taxation industry across countries such as Singapore, India, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and Thailand is expected to offer prominent opportunities to the tax software market.Get Customize Report@Global Tax Software Market: Competitive DynamicsThe research study includes profiles of leading companies operating in the global tax software market. Some of the key players profiled in the market include ADP LLC., Blucora, Inc., Chetu, Inc., Intuit Inc., Drake Software. Thomson Reuters Corporation, Vertex, Inc., Wolters Kluwer N.V. (Kluwer Publishers and Wolters Samsom), Xero Limited, Sage, and Avalara.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Soft Skills Management Market Expected to Reach US$ 33,736.1 Mn by 2026

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According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research, the global soft skills management market was valued at US$ 11,289.7 Mn in 2016 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 11.9% from 2018 to 2026, reaching US$ 33,736.1 Mn by the end of the forecast period. According to the report, the global soft skills management market will continue to be influenced by a range of macroeconomic and industry-specific factors. Asia Pacific will continue to be at the forefront of global demand, with the market in the region growing at a CAGR of about 12.6% throughout the forecast period.Get Brochure For More Information@Increasing demand for higher education continues to drive the marketThe global soft skills management market is majorly driven due to rising awareness and adoption of skill development training programs. Improved development rates in secondary and primary schools is also one of the major factors resulting in increasing demand for higher education. As more students complete cycles of secondary education, they look forward to higher education to prepare themselves for new professions and life opportunities. Growing number of enrolments for higher education indicates growth in number of graduates that are ready to join the workforce of the economy. These graduates/post graduates are expected to master the soft skills suitable for the job role the recruiter is looking for. This compels students to enroll themselves in soft skills training programs, thus supporting the growth of the market. As the number of students passing out each year is expected to increase, it is estimated that the market will expand at a significant pace. However, the global soft skills management market is challenged mainly by the fact that there is lack of awareness of soft skill development training courses, especially online asynchronous courses, in the under developed countries and in some economies of the developing countries.Soft Skills Management Market: Scope of the ReportThe report offers detailed segmentation based on the soft skill type, delivery mode, end-use industry, and provider. During the initial years, the offline market will dominate the market. However, due to key benefits such as flexibility and scalability, the online market is expected to contribute significantly during the forecast period. On the basis of soft skill type, the market is segmented into Management & Leadership, Administration & Secretarial, Communication & Productivity, Personal Development and others. There are various soft skills which recruiters seek in a candidate while recruiting. However, these skills develop over a period of time in a candidate. Communication & productivity courses refine both oral & written communication and also nurtures the related skills. In terms of end-use industry, IT & Telecom experiences huge demand for employees who are well trained and aware of soft skills. According to 60% of IT leaders, IT skill gap severely or moderately impacts the team or organization. Furthermore, the software industry recruits the most millennial who are required to go through soft skills training courses to improve their overall work quality.Global Soft Skills Management Market: Competitive DynamicsMajor strategies adopted by soft skills management providers include strategic acquisitions and partnerships. Major players such as Cengage Learning, Inc., edX, Inc., Pearson PLC, and NIIT Limited are working toward integration and creation of user-friendly and effective solutions. During the forecast period, it is estimated that the established players in the market would either get merged into large enterprises or would give tough competition to the emerging players in the market. It is estimated that large soft skills management vendors would acquire regional players to improve their distribution networks in domestic as well as international markets. Some other significant players active in the soft skills management market are The Insights Group Ltd., Tata Interactive Systems, Skillsoft Corporation, and D2L Corporation.Get Customize Report@About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Exoskeleton Market 2018 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023

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The Exoskeleton Market research report displays the latest industry insights with future trends and analysis of the products and services, enabling you to deeply penetrate the market with high profitability. It also makes you aware of the leading competitors influencing the market along with the key factors to help you sustain your products or services with better forecast of demand and growth opportunities.Exoskeleton is a mobile machine consisting primarily of an outer framework worn by a person, and powered by a system of motors, hydraulics or Pneumatics that delivers at least part of the energy for limb movement.The main function of a powered exoskeleton is to assist the wearer by boosting their strength and endurance. They are commonly designed for military use, to help soldiers carry heavy loads both in and out of combat. In civilian areas, similar exoskeletons could be used to help firefighters and other rescue workers survive dangerous environments. The medical field is another prime area for exoskeleton technology, where it can be used for enhanced precision during surgery, or as an assist to allow nurses to move heavy patients.For Inquiry of sample copy here @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Exoskeleton 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.As international economic situation is complicated, in the next few years there will be many uncertainties. The demand is strong in US and Europe, without of the influence of the world economy situation.Japan, Germany, US, UK are major consumption regions in Exoskeleton industry market.The exoskeleton industry is a new high-tech industry, and only a few companies in developed countries can make breakthroughs. Therefore, the study group recommends the new entrants who just having money but without technical advantage and downstream support, do not to enter into the Exoskeleton field hastily.The worldwide market for Exoskeleton is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly xx% over the next five years, will reach xx million US$ in 2023, from xx million US$ in 2017.Browse more In-depth information with TOC here @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Sarcos Cyberdyne Ekso Bionics Rex Bionics ReWalk Robotics Lockheed Martin AlterG HocomaMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers Upper Exoskeleton Robot Lower Exoskeleton Robot Body Exoskeleton Robot Other Exoskeleton RobotMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Rehabilitation Types Increases Strength TypesFor Purchase a sample Copy here @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Exoskeleton market. Chapter 1, to describe Exoskeleton Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Exoskeleton, with sales, revenue, and price of Exoskeleton, 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 Exoskeleton, for each region, from 2013 to 2018; Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Exoskeleton market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023; Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Exoskeleton sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout us: - MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on Shipping Containers industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact us: - Mr. Jeet Jain, Sales Manager, sales@marketresearchnest.com ;+1-240-284-8070(U.S), +44-20-3290-4151(U.K);Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Sensors in Mobile Phone Market Expected to Reach US$ 20,046.0 Mn by 2026

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According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (the global sensors in mobile phone market is expected to reach a value of US$ 20,046.0 Mn by 2026 on account of growing smartphone adoption and sensor technology across the mobile industry. The market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.01% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2026. North America is anticipated to experience healthy growth followed by Middle East & Africa during the forecast period.The interface sensor segment is expected to see flourishing growth, owing to rising demand for proximity sensors, ambient light, IR, UV sensors, NFC sensors, and touch sensors in smartphones.Get Brochure For More Information@Emerging technologies in mobile phones driving the global sensors in mobile phone marketRapid developments in technologies have led the mobile industry to increase the number of consumers. There is significant need for technological solutions for sensor technology due to its advance features that helps in enhancing the quality of smartphones. This is likely to create strong demand for smart sensors in the near future. Vendors across countries such as China, India, the U.S., Australia, Germany, Finland, Singapore, and Denmark are focusing on enhancing the technological aspects of sensor technology. Public agencies as well as private companies are also emphasizing on manufacturing sensors for mobile phones mainly due to the benefits offered by sensor technology, as sensors are highly effective in improving the performance of mobile phones.Sensors in Mobile Phone Market: Scope of the ReportThe sensors in mobile phone market is segmented based on sensor type and geography. In terms of sensor type, the motion sensors segment is anticipated to experience flourishing growth during the forecast period. This is mainly due to increasing use of accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and other magnetic sensors in smartphones across the world. In addition, growth of motion sensors is also expected to be supplemented by increasing demand for advance technological solutions across the mobile industry. By 2026, motion sensors are projected to cover around 40% of the global market. Apart from this, interface sensors also play a vital role in supplementing the growth of the sensors in mobile phone market. Vendors are integrating various solutions to enhance the interface sensors due to the increasing demand for proximity sensors, ambient light, IR, UV sensors, NFC sensors, and touch sensors in smartphones. Furthermore, security sensors have a strong opportunity in the sensor market due to the increasing adoption of fingerprint sensors embedded in smartphones. Strong smartphone players such as Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, etc. are using this sensor for their smartphones in order to offer reliability in terms of security. Security sensors are anticipated to have more than 20% market share by 2026 due to the growing penetration of fingerprint sensors and demand for advance technology for security in smartphones.Asia Pacific is leading the sensors in mobile phone market with more than 50% share globally. This is due to increase in advance technologies for sensors and also high penetration of smartphones in the region. Furthermore, strong presence of sensor manufacturing vendors across the region is contributing to growth of the market. As China is the leading country for smartphones manufacturing, Asia Pacific is contributing the highest market share in the sensors in mobile phone market.In terms of new opportunities, North America and South America are expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period. Increasing awareness of sensor technology as well as adoption of advance and technological solutions in the mobile phone industry across countries such as Singapore, India, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, and the US is expected to offer prominent opportunities to the sensors in mobile phone market.Global Sensors in Mobile Phone Market: Competitive DynamicsThe research study includes profiles of leading companies operating in the global sensors in mobile phone market. Some of the key players profiled in the market include Alps Electric., Bosch Sensortec, Fujitsu Limited, Hillcrest Labs, Inc., InvenSense Inc., MEMSVision., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.., Goertek Inc., Panasonic Corporation, Pyreos Limited, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Senodia Technologies, Sensirion, Silicon Laboratories, Inc., and STMicroelectronics,Get Customize Report@The global sensors in mobile phone market is segmented as below:Global Sensors in Mobile Phone Market, by Sensor TypeInterfaceProximityNear Field Communication(NFC)Ambient Light SensorSecurityFace/Eye/Iris RecognitionFingerprint SensorEnvironmentalBarometerThermometerHumidity SensorMotionAccelerometerGyroscopeCompassPedometerOthers(Touch Sensors, Optical Sensor)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Ureteroscopes Market Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

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Ureteroscope is a device, which is used for examining upper urinary tract and the technique is called ureteroscopy. Ureteroscope works similar to a cytoscope, however, it is longer and thinner than cytoscope, and is passed through the urethra to the bladder and then into the ureter (the tubes, which carry urine from kidneys to bladder). Ureteroscope has illuminating light and lens for capturing images of urinary tract organs for presence of tumors and calculi. This device helps to find the position of stone in ureter and is also used for the removal of kidney stone. Ureteroscopy is less harmful and less time consuming procedure to remove kidney stone and shows high accuracy and less complications than conventional methods such as percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL).Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @Ureteroscopes Market DriversIncreasing approvals and launches of new ureteroscopes devices is expected to be a major factor for growth of the global ureteroscopes market. For instance, in 2016, Boston Scientific Corporation launched its new LithoVue single-use digital flexible ureteroscope in the U.S. and Europe market. LithoVue is used in minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of kidney stones and other conditions of the kidney, ureter, and bladder.Furthermore, increasing prevalence of kidney stone is expected to increase demand for ureteroscopes and fuel the market growth. For instance, according to the data published by National Kidney Foundation in 2016, globally, over half a billion people suffer from kidney stone annually. According to data published by National Institute of Health, in 2016, globally, total prevalence of chronic kidney disease is around 14.0% of the general population.Moreover, prevalence of kidney stones also increases with increasing age. According to the data published in National Center for Biotechnology Information, in 2017, in Mainland China the prevalence of kidney stone was 5.96% in the people aged between 30-39 years, while the prevalence was around 9.68% in people above 60 years of age. Hence, rise in geriatric population is also expected to increase incidence of kidney stone, which in turn is expected to increase demand for ureteroscopes and fuel market growth in the near future. For instance, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) 2016, around 547 million people were aged above 60 years in Asia Pacific and the number is projected to reach around 1.3 billion by 2050.Ureteroscopes Market Regional AnalysisNorth America is expected to hold the dominant position in global ureteroscopes market, due to presence of key players in the region and high success rates of ureteroscopy. For instance, according to data published by Department of Urology, New York Medical College, in 2016, after a single procedure, around 37% of patients who had undergone flexible ureteroscopy were stone free as compare to only 21% of the patients who were treated with Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). Moreover, Boston Scientific Corporation and Stryker Corporation are the two U.S.-based major players in this market. Furthermore, increasing prevalence of kidney stone in the U.S. is also expected to increase demand for ureteroscopes, which is turn is driving the market growth in North America. For instance, according to data published in National Center for Biotechnology Information, in 2014, according to survey done by National Health and Nutrition Examination in 2012, around 10.6% of men and 7.1% of women in the U.S. are affected from renal stone disease and there is a rapid increase in prevalence of urinary tract stone disease. Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit significant growth in the global ureteroscopes market, owing to increasing incidence of kidney stone disease in population in India and China. For instance, according to data published in National Center for Biotechnology Information in 2017, the prevalence of kidney stone in Mainland China was estimated to be around 10.34% in males and 6.62% in females.Ureteroscopes Market RestraintHigh cost of ureteroscopy procedure is expected to be a major restrain for growth of the global ureteroscopes market. The average cost of ureteroscopy in the U.S. can go up to around US$ 3,000. Such high cost procedures are not easily affordable by everyone and hence it restrain the market growth.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report @Ureteroscopes Market Key PlayersKey players operating in ureteroscopes market include Boston Scientific Corporation, Olympus Corporation, Stryker Corporation, KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, Richard Wolf GmbH, PENTAX Medical, Elmed Electronics & Medical Industry & Trade Inc., AED.MD, SCHOLLY FIBEROPTIC GMBH, OPCOM Inc., Prosurg, Inc., SOPRO-COMEG GmbH, and others.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.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Smart Medical Devices Market Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

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Smart medical devices refers to the electrical devices that have an autonomous processing system within them and are used to monitor a range of health and fitness parameters on an everyday basis. These devices provide a multitude of advantages to the patient and caregiver in monitoring and measuring various healthcare regimens such as sensing the lowered levels of insulin through artificial intelligence among type 1 diabetes patients and delivering insulin.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @Smart medical devices have radically changed the perspective of disease management by offering easy and sustainable solutions to patients at home and reducing the turn-around hospital visits. The integration of emerging technologies such as internet of things (IoT) in the smart medical devices have helped to build an interface between functionality and communication. These devices assists in simplifying the medical complexities and convert it into logical format that helps to obtain results in understandable form. Smart medical devices have the potential to enable the patients to deal with serious health disorders, which required the intervention of healthcare professionals in the earlier days.Market DynamicsIncreasing demand for better disease management tools and shift of populace towards smart medical devices are major factors propelling growth of global smart medical devices market. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and other chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD) are highly prevalent across the globe, which increases the demand for tools and services to manage their symptoms. For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2017, the number of people over 18 years of age suffering from diabetes have increased from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% of the global population by 2014. Moreover, the WHO also states that over 235 million people across the globe are suffering from asthma. The development of smart medical devices such as continuous glucose monitors as well as smart sensing wearable devices to monitor the patients suffering from various chronic diseases have resulted in the growth of smart medical devices market. For instance, in March 2017, Health Care Originals, a U.S. based company developed an Intelligent Asthma Management Kit (ADAMM) that is capable of identifying asthma attack before the wearer notices its symptoms.Moreover, the rising awareness of patients in disease monitoring and fitness is further expected to boost growth of global smart medical devices market. According to a survey article published by the Oxford University in 2016, internet of things associated with smart wearable devices is expected to connect over 20 billion object modules to the internet by 2020. Thus, the rapid surge in adoption of smart wearable gadgets will propel growth of smart medical devices market. However, inaccuracy of the devices in monitoring medical parameters and differences between the actual and displayed results could hamper the market growth. For instance, according to the study by Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics in 2016, the accuracy and precision of continuous glucose monitors (CGM) were less than that of blood glucose meters for the measurement of capillary blood glucose, indicating the increased risk of errors in the clinical application of CGM.Regional InsightsOn the basis of region, the global smart medical devices market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America holds the dominant position in the global smart medical devices market and is expected to retain its dominance over the forecast period, owing to technological advancements and broadened recommendation of healthcare professionals for the use of these devices. For instance, Cycadia Health, a U.S. based start-up introduced a novel product named iTBra in 2017 with inbuilt sensors that helps to keep track of patients breast health by monitoring the rhythmic pattern and conditions of the breast tissues.Furthermore, Asia Pacific is expected to witness a significant growth in the market, owing to a massive pool of patients and innovative manufacturers delivering smart solutions to the market at marginally lower costs. For instance, Ten3T Healthcare Pvt Ltd, an Indian manufacturer developed Cicer, a wearable monitoring device that is capable of measuring ECG and other indicators such as heart rate, blood oxygen, and temperature in real time at affordable price.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report @Competitive InsightsThe key players operating in the global smart medical devices market include Apple, Inc., Fitbit, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La-Roche, Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Plc, Dexcom, Inc., NeuroMatrix, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and others. Market players are focused towards providing technologically advanced products to sustain their presence in the market. For instance, in April 2018, Teradata introduced the first 4D analytics that can be used in wearable and personal medical devices to translate the three dimensional geospatial location data with time as the fourth dimension.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.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Global Trade Finance Market 2018 Key Players: BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC Group, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, ICBC, China Exim Bank, Mizuho Financial Group, MUFG.

Trade Finance Market

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Trade Finance Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Trade Finance Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting 2025 reports tits database.Executive SummaryGlobal Trade Finance Market (TFM) valued approximately USD XXX billion in 2016 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 4.21% over the forecast period 2018-2025. The technology development is the main factor in the growth of the Global Trade Finance Market (TFM). The technological advancement has reduced processing time by the digitalization of trade documentation like purchase orders, invoices, and bills of lading, and the risk management approaches like tracking the progress of transactions reduce the associated risk with the transactions process aiding to the growth of trade finance market. Trade finance includes both domestic and international trade. Trade finance includes issuing the letter of Credit (LC), lending, the export-credit services, and insurance services. However, uncertain economic conditions, legal certainty limitations, and political situation are hindering the growth of the Global Trade Finance Market (TFM).The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:By Product:Supply chain financeExport and agency financeBy Service Providers:BanksTrade Finance housesOthersBy End Use:ExportersImportersTradersOthersFurthermore, years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year  2015, 2016Base year  2017Forecast period  2018 to 2025The industry is seeming to be fairly competitive. Some of the leading market players include BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC Group, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, ICBC, China Exim Bank, Mizuho Financial Group, MUFG, Commerzbank, Bank of Communication, Credit Agricole, Standard Chartered, ANZ, Afreximbank, Export-Import Bank of India, AlAhli Bank, EBRD and so on. Acquisitions and effective mergers are some of the strategies adopted by the key manufacturers. New product launches and continuous technological innovations are the key strategies adopted by the major players.Request Sample Report @Target Audience of the Global Trade Finance Market (TFM) in Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers (VARs)Third-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsTable of ContentsChapter 1. Global Trade Finance Market (TFM) Definition and Scope1.1. Research Objective1.2. Market Definition1.3. Scope of The Study1.4. Years Considered for The Study1.5. Currency Conversion Rates1.6. Report LimitationChapter 2. Research Methodology2.1. Research Process2.1.1. Data Mining2.1.2. Analysis2.1.3. Market Estimation2.1.4. Validation2.1.5. Publishing2.2. Research AssumptionChapter 3. Executive Summary3.1. Global & Segmental Market Estimates & Forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)3.2. Key TrendsChapter 4. Global Trade Finance Market (TFM) Dynamics4.1. Growth Prospects4.1.1. Drivers4.1.2. Restraints4.1.3. Opportunities4.2. Industry Analysis4.2.1. Porters 5 Force Model4.2.2. PEST Analysis4.2.3. Value Chain Analysis4.3. Analyst Recommendation & ConclusionChapter 5. Global Trade Finance Market (TFM), By ProductChapter 6. Global Trade Finance Market (TFM), By Service ProvidersChapter 7. Global Trade Finance Market (TFM), By End UseChapter 8. Global Trade Finance Market (TFM), by Regional AnalysisChapter 9. Competitive Intelligence9.1. Company Market Share (Subject to Data Availability)9.2. Top Market Strategies9.3. Company Profiles9.3.1. BNP Paribas9.3.1.1. Overview9.3.1.2. Financial (Subject to Data Availability)9.3.1.3. Product Summary9.3.1.4. Recent Developments9.3.2. Citigroup9.3.3. HSBC Group9.3.4. JPMorgan Chase9.3.5. Wells Fargo9.3.6. ICBC9.3.7. China Exim Bank9.3.8. Mizuho Financial Group9.3.9. MUFG,9.3.10. Commerzbank9.3.11. Bank of Communication9.3.12. Credit Agricole9.3.13. Standard Chartered9.3.14. ANZ9.3.15. Afreximbank9.3.16. Export-Import Bank of India9.3.17. AlAhli Bank9.3.18. EBRDTABLEContinuousFor further information on this report, visit About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042
Global Oncology Drugs Market - Competitive Analysis

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Oncology drugs and medications have become a blooming business for players in the pharmaceutical industry. Major pharmaceutical companies are focused on manufacturing and development of oncology drug. Market players have oncology drugs in pipeline, which are expected to be in the market as potential medications in near future. Also, the global oncology market is expected to gain a significant traction with the increasing prevalence of cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide, which accounted for around 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012. The number of new cancer cases is projected to rise to 22 million in near future. The major competitors are focused on developing efficient treatment for specific type of cancer which is expected to be a prominent factor to augment the global oncology drugs market.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @Major manufacturers in the oncology drugs market include:RocheCelgeneJohnson & JohnsonPfizerSanofiBristol-Meyers SquibbNovartisGlaxoSmithKlineEli LilyMerck & Co.Top 5 company described for competitive analysis in detail:Roche is a world leader in oncology, which is engaged in developing new approaches for advanced cancer treatment. Roche operates in two segments, which includes pharmaceuticals and diagnostics with annual sales of US$ 39.1 Bn and US$ 11.5 Bn respectively. Roche is at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy with ten investigational drug candidates currently in the clinical development phase. In 2016, the company entered into 10 new clinical collaboration agreements to explore drug combinations for maximizing therapeutic benefits and develop the lead immunotherapy drug. The company has set up imCORE, a network of 21 academic institutions working with Roche to advance research into cancer immunotherapies, thus contributing to enhance the global oncology drugs market in the near future.Johnson and Johnson operates in three business segments namely consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices. The business of Johnson & Johnson is conducted by more than 230 operating companies located in 60 countries worldwide. In 2016, the company has invested around US$ 9.1 Bn in research and development activities. Janssen, the pharmaceutical division of J&J registered the oncology drug sales of around US$ 5.9 Bn among the total pharmaceutical therapeutic area sales. Janssen is focused on strategic collaborations for the development of cancer therapeutics, which in turn favors the oncology drugs market. For instance, in November, 2017, Janssen collaborated with Zymeworks, Inc. to develop six bispecific antibodies based on Azymetric and Effector Function Enhancement and Control Technology (EFECT) platforms for research, development, and commercialization with a potential to generate US$ 1.5 Bn. High sales of IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) and DARZALEX (daratumumab) were due to increasing patient uptake, additional country launches, and additional indications, which contributed to the growth of oncology drugs.Pfizer, Inc. develops oncology therapies that provide maximum efficacy while minimizing adverse effects on the patient. The current portfolio of oncology drugs covers a range of cancers. The company studies these therapies alone and in combination with other treatments to improve the lives of cancer patients. Pfizers overall strategy is anchored on innovation for developing new medicines and vaccines through collaborations and business relationships which is expected to bolster the oncology drugs market. For instance, Pfizer partnered with Merck KGaA for building a strong portfolio in immuno-oncology, Biolnvent International AB to develop antibodies to advance the novel technology platform of cancer vaccine as well as business relationship with IBM Watson for drug discovery by identifying potential new targets and combination therapies in immune-oncology.Novartiss aims to develop approaches for extending the lives of people suffering from cancer, by adopting the strategy to use science-based innovation for delivering better patient outcomes in growing areas of healthcare. Novartis operates in two business segments namely Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, which together form Innovative Medicines Division. The Novartis Oncology segment contributed around 39% of its net sales, it was valued around US$ 12.8 Bn. Increase in revenue is attributed to the strong performance for oncology products Tafinlar + Mekinist, a combination therapy for advanced melanoma, and Jakavi, for blood cancers. Novartis is leading provider of cancer treatments, following the acquisition of oncology products from GlaxoSmithKline in 2015. In 2016, the company collaborated with Surface Oncology to bolster the cancer immunotherapy pipeline that will provide access to four preclinical programs. Also, with a licensing agreement with Xencor, it plans to co-develop two bispecific antibodies designed to target acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell malignancies, thereby aiding the growth of oncology drugs market.Sanofi operates through two business segments namely pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Sanofi gains insights through its network of collaborations with biotech companies such as Immunogen and Evotec, academic cancer centers such as Institut Gustave Roussy, Institut Curie, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, enabling superior use of software, analytics, and new technology, which helps to increase its productivity, maximize return on R&D investment, and accelerate the development of new products. Sanofi Oncology has a large number of collaborations and alliances to support its R&D portfolio. In 2015, Sanofi collaborated with Regeneron focusing on cancer immunotherapy to generate high value development candidates in the emerging field of immuno-oncology and to accelerate its development pipeline in the oncology drugs market. In 2016, the company entered into a collaboration with Innate Pharma to develop innovative bispecific antibody formats engaging natural killer (NK) cells to kill tumor cells. Also, it collaborated with Warp Drive Bio to develop drugs targeting human oncogenes, thus accelerating the innovations for oncology drugs.Ask for customization @The major strategic collaborations included in the competitive analysis include:Sanofi and Regeneron collaborated to develop REGN2810, with an overall expenditure of US$ 325 million each towards developing the therapy currently in the Phase IBristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and CytomX Therapeutics collaborated to develop four target cancer therapies using CytomXs Probody drug discovery platform. The collaboration would provide CytomX with a net US$ 1.2 Bn.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.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Acromegaly Treatment Market Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

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Acromegaly is a rare disorder caused due to the excess production of growth hormone by the pituitary gland, affecting a patients physical appearance and internal organs. It is usually caused by benign pituitary tumor (adenoma), however, in rare cases acromegaly symptoms can be observed due to ineffective control of growth hormone-secreting cells by hypothalamus. Abnormal enlargement of hands, arms, feet, legs, and head, and gradual changes in facial features such as eye-brow, lower jaw, and nose are visible symptoms of this disorder. Untreated acromegaly leads to serious and life threating complications such as cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @Blood test to measure levels of growth hormones or insulin-like growth factor and imaging of tumors through MRI scan and CT scan are commonly used diagnostic approaches to detect acromegaly. Some medications are 90% effective in shrinking tumor, however, success rate of type of treatment varies based on age, health or medical history of patients. According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 14,230 individuals of the U.S. were diagnosed with pituitary gland tumor in 2017, of which majority are benign tumor. Furthermore, in 2017, the National Organization for Rare Disorders estimated the prevalence rate of acromegaly as 50-70 person per million and 3 new cases occurs per million every year, which is expected to increase the demand for acromegaly treatment market.Market Driver:New drugs in the market widens the choice of therapies for doctors and patients. In 2017, Midatech Pharma PLC submitted clinical trial application in human study of Q-Octreotide (MTD201) programme in cancer and acromegaly, and now it has received oral confirmation from Polish regulators for its approval in January 2018. Furthermore, Chiasma Incs new oral maintenance therapy for acromegaly treatment named Mycapssa, which has completed an international Phase 3 trial and further conducting an international Phase 3 clinical trial under a protocol accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for adult patients with acromegaly is also expected to boost growth of acromegaly treatment market over the forecast period. Expiration of drug patents during the forecast period can hamper the market temporarily.As acromegaly is a non-preventable disease, early detection of the disease will help to cure the disease symptoms. Increasing awareness to differentiate between acromegaly and other disorders like gigantism, Marfan syndrome, and Pachydermoperiostosis, and further detecting the symptoms and diagnosing it will help in propelling the acromegaly treatment market growth. For instance, Acromegaly Awareness Day was celebrated on November 1, 2017 for the first time by World Alliance of Pituitary Organization (WAPO) and Pituitary Network Association to increase awareness on diagnosing the symptoms of this disease without any delay. Some foundation provided financial assistance to medicare patients suffering with acromegaly. For instance, in December 2017, HealthWell Foundation launched a new fund scheme where it provided a fund of US$ 10,000 for a 12-month grant to acromegaly patients who have annual household incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Such funding programs will provide financial ease to the patients suffering from acromegaly, which in turn will propel growth of acromegaly treatment market. In 2017, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was awarded Phase IIB Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant of up to US$ 2.8 million from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the development of companys orally-available, non-peptide somatostatin agonist drug candidate, CRN00808 that can be used for the treatment of acromegaly.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report @Acromegaly Treatment Market - Competitors:Pfizer Inc., Novartis Pharma AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Midatech Pharma PLC, Strongbridge Biopharma plc, Chiasma Inc, Aegis Therapeutics LLC, Amryt Pharma plc, Antisense Therapeutics Ltd, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc, Dauntless Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Inc. are the major players involved in acromegaly treatment market.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.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Road Safety Market Competitive Analysis | By Key Vendors: Redflex Holdings Limited & Redflex Traffic Systems Pty Ltd, Kapsch TrafficCom, Sensys Gatso Group AB, 3M, American Traffic Solutions, FLIR Systems,

Road Safety Market

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Global Road Safety Market Research Report Forecast 2018-2025 is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists. It provides the Road Safety industry overview with growth analysis and historical & futuristic cost, revenue, demand and supply data (as applicable). The research analysts provide an elaborate description of the value chain and its distributor analysis. This Road Safety Market study provides comprehensive data which enhances the understanding, scope and application of this report.Get Free Sample Report@Global Road Safety Market accounted for USD 3.1 billion in 2016 growing at aCAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2014, 2015,& 2017 the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Major Market Competitors/Players:Global Road Safety 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. Some of the prominent participants operating in this market are: JENOPTIK AG, Kapsch TrafficCom, Sensys Gatso Group AB, 3M, Redflex Holdings Limited & Redflex Traffic Systems Pty Ltd, American Traffic Solutions, FLIR Systems, Inc., Motorola Solutions, Inc., SWARCO AG, INFORMATION ENGINEERING GROUP INC., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Johnson Controls, Saab AB,Company Share Analysis: Global Road Safety MarketThe report for road safety market 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.Customization With Discount Available On This Report @Major market drivers & restraints: Increase in mobility and associated demand for transportation systems Increase in urbanization Increase in road accidents/fatality rate Growing government regulations for road safety Insufficient government funding in decentralized areas Barrier to implement advanced road safety infrastructureMarket Segmentation: Global Road Safety Market The global road safety market is segmented on the basis of solution into red light enforcement, speed enforcement, incident detection system, bus lane compliance, automatic license plate recognition, and others. On the basis of service, the global road safety market is segmented into professional services, and managed services. The professional services segment is further sub segmented into consulting and system integration, training, support, and maintenance, risk assessment and analysis. On the basis of geography, the global road safety 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. In 2017, North America is expected to dominate the market.Key questions answered in the report: What will the market growth rate of Road Safety Market in 2024? What are the key factors driving the Global Road Safety Market? Who are the key manufacturers in Road Safety Market space? What are the market opportunities, market risk and market overview of the Road Safety Market? What are sales, revenue, and price analysis of top manufacturers of Road Safety Market? Who are the distributors, traders and dealers of Road Safety Market? What are the Core Materials Market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Road Safety Market industry? What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by types and applications of Road Safety Market? What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by regions of Road Safety Market industry?Note: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Read More about 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: +1-888-387-281Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
Future Outlook of Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market to reach US$ 1586 Million by 2022 | Global Key Players - 3M, Bristol Meyer Squibb, ECR Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Church & Dwight

Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market

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Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Report 2018 report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Overview:The report spread across 116 pages is an overview of the Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Report 2018. The Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2018 to 2022 according to new research. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies.Available Exclusive Sample Copy of this Report @With the slowdown in world economic growth, the Mouth Ulcers Treatment industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Mouth Ulcers Treatment market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 3.46% from 1183 Million $ in 2014 to 1310 Million $ in 2017, market research analysts believe that in the next few years, Mouth Ulcers Treatment market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Mouth Ulcers Treatment will reach 1586 Million $.Increasing use of chemicals in food and oral products such toothpaste, anxiety and stress and the use of tobacco are some of the factors that may trigger recurrent mouth ulcers. The global mouth ulcer treatment market has observed tremendous growth owing to the growing consciousness for dental and oral hygiene, globally.The Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market is segmented on the basis of Drug Type, Formulation, Indication and Region. On the basis of Drug Type, the market is further segmented into Corticosteroid, Antihistamine, Antimicrobial, Analgesic and Anesthetic. According to Formulation the market is segment into, Mouthwash, Ointment, Spray Gel and Lozenges. The market is also segmented on the basis of indication into Aphthous Stomatitis, Oral Lichen Planus and Others.A complete analysis of the competitive landscape of the Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market is provided in the report. This section includes company profiles of market key players. The profiles include contact information, gross, capacity, product details of each firm, price, and cost. This report investigates new project feasibility with a purpose of enlightening new entrants about the possibilities in this market. In this report, thorough SWOT analysis & investment analysis is provided which forecasts imminent opportunities for the Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market players.Purchase this report online with 116 Pages, List of Tables & Figures and in-depth Table of Contents on Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Report 2018 @Major Key Players:1 3M Healthcare2 Bristol Meyer Squibb Company3 ECR Pharmaceuticals4 GlaxoSmithKline plc5 Church & Dwight Co Inc and More.................Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers:1 North America Country (United States, Canada)2 South America3 Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)4 Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)5 Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount @This study answers to the below key questions:1 What will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate be?2 What are the key market trends?3 What are the challenges to market growth?4 Who are the key players in this market?5 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key players?In the end, this report covers data and information on capacity and production overview, production, market share analysis, sales overview, supply, sales, and shortage, import, export and consumption as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin of Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market.Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Report 20181 Mouth Ulcers Treatment Product Definition2 Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview3 Manufacturer Mouth Ulcers Treatment Business Introduction4 Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Segmentation (Region Level)5 Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)6 Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Segmentation (Industry Level)7 Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Segmentation (Channel Level)8 Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market Forecast 2018-20229 Mouth Ulcers Treatment Segmentation Product Type10 Mouth Ulcers Treatment Segmentation Industry11 Mouth Ulcers Treatment Cost of Production Analysis12 ConclusionAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune  Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940
Application Management Services Market - Global Structure, Size, Trends, Analysis and Outlook 2018-2021

Application Management Services 2018

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On  Application Management Services Market - Global Structure, Size, Trends, Analysis and Outlook 2018-2021.Description:-The analysts forecast the global AMS market to grow at a CAGR of 4.75% during the period 2017-2021.AMS help organizations manage their business applications to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness. These services also support business growth and help organizations evolve with the changing business directions. The main stages involved in AMS are application development, monitoring, maintenance, and support.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global AMS market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of AMS.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAThe report, Global AMS Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Accenture IBM Infosys TCSOther prominent vendors Atos Origin Bourntec Solutions Capgemini Cognizant CSC Deloitte Fujitsu HP Iblesoft Ingenuity Technologies L&T Infotech Logica Tech Mahindra NTT Data Wipro XeroxMarket driver Need for better business productivity For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Integration issues with existing legacy systems For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Widespread adoption of personal devices in the workplace For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Complete Report Details @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the report Market definition Market overview Market segmentation Geographical information Vendor selection Summation errorsPART 03: Market research methodology Research methodology Economic indicatorsPART 04: Introduction Key market highlights Economic overviewPART 05: Market description Offerings by AMS providers AMS delivery models Major AMS platformsPART 06: Market landscape Market overview AMS as a segment of global application services market Global AMS Market Market size and forecastPART 07: Market segmentation by type Global AMS market by type Global discrete AMS market Global embedded AMS marketPART 08: Geographical segmentation Global AMS market by geography Americas EMEA APACPART 09: Market driversPART 10: Impact of driversPART 11: Market challengesPART 12: Impact of drivers and challengesContinuedFor more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
Helical Screw Blowers Market Top Industry Players - Atlas Copco, Gardner Denver, Inc. and KAESER KOMPRESSOREN.

Helical Screw Blowers Market

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Global Helical Screw Blowers Market will grow significantly with a CAGR of 6.0% in the next seven years owing to usage of helical screw blowers in cement industry for blending raw meal; combustion of air, kiln and burner; and aeration of raw materials. India infrastructure industry notably use cement instead of bitumen for construction of new road projects as cements are more durable and cheaper to maintain compared to bitumen. Indian domestic cement consumption has increased from 165.6 million tons in 2011 to over 275 million tons in 2017. Such traits exhibit brighter scope for global rotary screw blowers market in cement industry.Helical Screw Blowers Market will surpass USD 1.15 billion by 2024. Food industry significantly requires helical screw blowers for pneumatic conveyance of bulk materials. Increasing demand for high-efficiency blowers from food processing sector will substantially drive the global rotary screw blowers market.Sample copy of this Report @Food processing industry optimizes rotary screw blower systems for food plant to manage energy at mill and for reducing wastage. These blowers require only 120 horsepower electricity instead of 320 horsepower to operate, thus resulting in efficient energy saving and reduced maintenance cost for food processing industries. For instance, General Mill, one of the largest food manufacturing company, witnessed over USD 13.5 million in energy saving by 2016 by installing blowers in their food processing plant.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis:Gardner Denver, Inc.Atlas CopcoKAESER KOMPRESSORENPerformance System III, Inc.Universal Blower PacSwam Pneumatics Private LimitedZhejiang Kaishan Compressor Co., Ltd.Chandler EquipmentZhengzhou Qugong Machinery EquipmentMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Screw blowers components & parts manufacturers require specialized designs for their structural intricacy. The manufacturing steps including: designing, testing and quality checking are time consuming that in due course reflect on their product price structure. This complex and capital-intensive manufacturing process is likely to hinder market growth over the projected timeframe.Direct driven blowers are efficient in terms of energy saving and maintenance compared to belt driven, as belt driven blowers require constant belt adjustment. Due to this, the direct driven blowers will be majorly used in several end-user industries such as food & pharmaceutical, chemical & petrochemical, etc. by 2024.Chemical & petrochemical end-user industries will be growing at remarkable pace with a significant CAGR by 2024. Chemicals and petrochemicals industries require rotary screw blowers for conveying raw materials and compressing explosive gases of chemical refineries. These gases include hydrogen, nitrogen, natural, chlorine gas, etc. Power, steel plant and food & pharmaceuticals industries have shown significant growth in terms of both volume and revenue in 2017, which will grow substantially over the projected timeframe.Browse Report Summery @Middle East and Africa (MEA) will hold high potential in coming years as major oil & gas companies are based in UAE and Saudi Arabia. In addition, ongoing large construction projects in the region will stimulate the demand for cement in future. For instance, projects such as AL-Maktoum International Airport Expansion valued over USD 33 billion is one of the biggest project in Dubai authorized by Dubai Airport Authority (DAA). In May 2016, Majid Al Futtaim company had invested USD 8.2 billion to construct 6 hotels, 28 cinemas, 10 cities centers mall and super markets in UAE within next 10 years. Growth trends in the regional construction industry will positively influence MEA rotary screw blowers market over the projected timeframe.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
The market for "keyword" is growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new report titled Global Pomegranate Seed Oil Market Insights - Market Research report 2018 -2025 which offer details about the current trends and analysis, as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production, consumption and market share based on different active 
Amid news that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is considering giving schools federal grants to buy guns, Washington state schools chief Chris Reykdal was quite to say Thursday that no Washington teacher will carry a gun at work.

"I will not authorize, permit, or distribute any resources to support efforts to arm teachers," Reykdal said in a statement. "State law is clear that our schools are gun-free zones for teachers and students. The law allows exceptions for commissioned police officers on our school grounds, and for designated and trained school resource officers."

Reykdal, a Democrat, said better mental health resources are the best way to ensure school safety.

"My agency will continue our efforts to increase mental health supports for students," his statement said. "We are seeking additional resources for school counselors, threat assessments for students believed to be at risk of suicide or other violence, and professional development for educators to better recognize students who are in need of mental health support.

"Secretary DeVos should be utilizing every resource at her disposal to reduce the number of firearms in schools and to increase resources to address our students' growing mental health needs."

DeVos' office has made clear that the grants would only be extended to schools that want guns and think they would promote school safety. No school would be required to make such purchases.

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com
By Elizabeth Sherman, American University School of Public Affairs

(THE CONVERSATION) Arizona Sen. John McCain - scion of Navy brass, flyboy turned Vietnam war hero and tireless defender of American global leadership - now faces terminal brain cancer.

I am a scholar of American politics. And I believe that, regardless of his storied biography and personal charm, three powerful trends in American politics thwarted McCain's lifelong ambition to be president. They were the rise of the Christian right, partisan polarization and declining public support for foreign wars.

Republican McCain was a champion of bipartisan legislating, an approach that served him and the Senate well. But as political divides have grown, bipartisanship has fallen out of favor.

Most recently, McCain opposed Gina Haspel as CIA director for "her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality" and her role in it. Having survived brutal torture for five years as a prisoner of war, McCain maintained a resolute voice against U.S. policies permitting so-called "enhanced interrogations." Nevertheless, his appeals failed to rally sufficient support to slow, much less derail, her appointment.

Days later, a White House aide said McCain's opposition to Haspel didn't matter because "he's dying anyway." That disparaging remark and the refusal of the White House to condemn it revealed how deeply the president's hostile attitude toward McCain and everything he stands for had permeated the executive office.

So McCain ends his career honorably and bravely, but with hostility from the White House, marginal influence in the Republican-controlled Senate, and a public less receptive to the positions he has long embodied.

The outlier

McCain's first run for the presidency in 2000 captured the imagination of the public and the press, whom he wryly referred to as "my base."His self-confident "maverick" persona appealed to a more secular, moderate constituency who like him, might be constitutionally opposed to the growing political alignment between the religious right and the Republican Party.

McCain enthusiastically bucked his party and steered his "Straight Talk Express" through the GOP primaries with a no-holds-barred attack on Pat Robertson and Rev. Jerry Falwell. The two were conservative icons and leaders of the Christian Coalition and the Moral Majority.

McCain branded Robertson and Falwell "agents of intolerance" and "empire builders." He charged that they used religion to subordinate the interests of working people. He said their religion served a business goal and accused them of shaming "our faith, our party, and our country." That message earned McCain a primary victory in New Hampshire but his campaign capsized in South Carolina, where Republican voters launched George W. Bush, the stalwart evangelical, on his path to a presidential victory in 2000 against Democratic nominee, Vice President Al Gore.

By 2008, McCain saw the political clout of white, born-again, evangelical Christians. By then, they comprised 26 percent of the electorate. Bowing to political winds, he adopted a more conciliatory approach.

McCain's willingness to defend America as a "Christian nation" and his controversial choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, an enthusiastic standard bearer for the Christian right, as his running mate, signaled the electoral power of a less tolerant, more absolutist "values-based" politics.

McCain's about-face reveals a political pragmatist willing to make peace with the Christian right and accept their ability to make or break his last attempt at the presidency.

His strategy reflected his tendency to abandon principles if they threatened his quest for the presidency. Having railed eight years prior against the hypocrisy of the right-wing religious leadership, McCain may have felt some personal discomfort kowtowing to the dictates of self-appointed moral authorities. But the electorate had changed since then, and McCain showed he was willing to shift his position to accommodate their beliefs.

The primary that year also required an outright appeal to independents and even crossover Democrats. That would potentially provide enough votes to boost him past George W. Bush, whose campaign had already expressed allegiance to the conservative religious agenda.

In 2008, Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon considered religiously suspect by many evangelicals, emerged as McCain's main rival for the nomination.

Sensing an opportunity to establish a winning coalition, McCain jettisoned his former objections to the political influence of the religious right, shifting from antagonism to accommodation. In doing so, McCain revealed his flexibility again on principles that might fatally undermine his overriding ambition - winning the presidency.

In fact, the incorporation of the religious right into the Republican Party represented but one facet of a more consequential development. That was the fiercely ideological partisan polarization that has come to dominate the political system.

The lonely Republican

Rough parity between the parties since 2000 has intensified the electoral battles for Congress and the presidency. It has supercharged the fundraising machines on both sides. And it has nullified the "regular order" of congressional hearings, debates and compromise, as party leaders scheme for policy wins.

Fueled by highly engaged activists, interest groups and donors known as "policy demanders," partisan polarization has overwhelmed moderates in our political system. McCain was a bipartisan problem-solver and was willing to compromise with Democrats to passcampaign finance reform in 2002. He worked with the other side to normalize relations with Vietnam in 1995. And he joined with Democrats to pass immigration reform in 2017.

But he was also one of those moderates who ultimately found himself on the outside of his party.

McCain's dramatic Senate floor thumbs-down repudiation of the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare turned less on his antipathy to Trump and more on his disgust with a broken party-line legislative process.

On an issue as monumental as health care, he insisted on a return to "extensive hearings, debate, and amendment." He endorsed the efforts of Sens. Lamar Alexander, a Republican, and Patty Murray, a Democrat, to craft a bipartisan solution.

Foreign and defense policy was McCain's signature issue. He wanted a more robust posture for American global leadership, backed by a well-funded, war-ready military. But that stance lost support a decade ago following the Iraq War disaster.

McCain's 2008 presidential campaign slogan of "Country First" signified not only the model of his personal commitment and sacrifice. It also telegraphed his belief in the need to persevere in the war on terror in general and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in particular.

But by then, 55 percent of registered independents, McCain's electoral base, had lost confidence in the prospects for a military victory. They favored bringing the troops home.

Over the course of six months that year, independent support for the Iraq war fell from 54 percent to 40 percent. Overall opposition to the troop "surge" was at 63 percent. Barack Obama's promise to wind down America's military commitment and do "nation-building at home" resonated with an electorate wearied by the conflict and buffeted by their own economic woes.

Advocate for global leadership

McCain continued to assert the primacy of American power. He decried the country's retreat from a rules-based global order premised on American leadership and based on freedom, capitalism, human rights and democracy.

Donald Trump stands in contrast. Trump, like Obama, promises to terminate costly commitments abroad, revoke defense and trade agreements that fail to put "America First," and rebuild the nation's crumbling infrastructure.

In his run for the presidency, Trump asserted that American might and treasure had been squandered defending the world. Other countries, he said, took advantage of U.S. magnanimity.

In Congress, Republicans have become cautious about U.S. military interventions, counterinsurgency operations and nation-building. They find scant public support for intervention in Syria's civil war.

Seeing Russia as America's implacable foe, McCain sponsored sanctions legislation and prodded the administration to implement them more vigorously.

Accepting the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, McCain repudiated Trump's approach to global leadership.

He declared, "To abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history."

McCain spent his life committed to principles that, tragically - at least for him - have fallen from favor.

He faces the ultimate personal peril now - at the same time that the country's repudiation of the principles he's championed may put the nation at risk.

-- Elizabeth Sherman, American University School of Public Affairs

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
By Michael Koncewicz, New York University

(THE CONVERSATION) Republican leaders in 2018 are profoundly different than the ones who dealt with Watergate in the 1970s.

During Watergate, a significant number of GOP members of Congress and the Nixon administration publicly resisted President Richard Nixon's efforts to undermine the rule of law.

Today's GOP leaders, with few exceptions, meekly follow President Trump.

Republicans in Congress, and even GOP candidates for Congress, have been loathe to criticize the president. Their submissiveness has significant implications. In my view, some Republicans today are, with the support of the president, openly impeding an ongoing investigation that may or many not implicate Trump.

Recent attacks from Republicanson Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election has made that much clear.

That's in contrast to how some prominent members of the GOP acted during the Watergate crisis that led to President Nixon's resignation.

Research in my forthcoming book "They Said No to Nixon" reveals that Republican civil servants serving in President Nixon's administration blocked his attempts to politicize their work.

Their stories, when contrasted with the actions of Republicans today, show how the GOP has transformed from a party that included moderate civil servants to one that embraces a culture of loyalty now.

Past isn't prologue

The political backdrop today is of growing crisis for President Trump as Mueller's investigation has spawned indictments of the president's associates.

Two dozen people, including five in Trump's circle, have been charged in Mueller's investigation. On Tuesday, Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud on the same day the president's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes, including campaign finance violations.

Trump feeds the crisis atmosphere with intemperate tweets and inflammatory statements.

Earlier this month, Trump sent out a tweet that openly encouraged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end Mueller's investigation.

Following the Manafort conviction, the president once again referred to the Mueller investigation as a "witch hunt" and praised Manafort, calling him a "brave man" for refusing to "break."

The president has set the tone for Republicans in Congress who have mostly followed his lead.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has attempted to rally Republicans in Congress to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Mueller investigation. House Majority Leader Paul Ryan disavowed this effort, though he was still supportive of other measures conservative House members wanted to take that would escalate the conflict with Rosenstein and the Justice Department.

The House Republican attacks on Rosenstein follow those of California Rep. Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, who has repeatedly tried to find ways to limit the scope of the Mueller investigation.

Moderate Republicans

Here are three instances when Republicans in both Congress and the Nixon administration stood up to Nixon.

One: Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974, more than two years after five men who worked for the president's re-election campaign were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex.

Subsequent investigations uncovered evidence that the White House attempted to cover up their involvement in the break-in in order to hide their broader campaign to spy on their political opponents. That evidence included the "smoking gun" tape which featured the president discussing with his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman how they could stop the Watergate investigation.

On Aug. 7, Republican Senators Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott, along with Congressman John Jacob Rhodes, went to the White House andtold the president that his support in Congress had collapsed. They also told the president that the House would impeach him and that the Senate would convict him.

Two: In contrast to the Republican party of 2018, which has largely followed Trump's brand of conservatism, the GOP of the Nixon era represented a wider range of views. The Nixon administration and Republicans in Congress included many moderates whose priorities were not always in line with the more conservative White House.

Among the moderates were cabinet members Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Treasury Secretary George Shultz.

Less than two months before the 1972 presidential election, in which Nixon was running for re-election, IRS Commissioner Johnnie Waltersrefused to comply with the White House's plan to audit hundreds of the president's enemies. Shultz defied the White House and supported Walters, who worked for him.

When Nixon later sent orders to the staff of the Office of Management and Budget to punish universities that permitted large antiwar protests, Shultz defied him again and refused to carry out a plan to cut federal funds to MIT.

Three: Elliot Richardson, Nixon's attorney general, famously resigned on Oct. 20, 1973, after refusing Nixon's order to fire the Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Cox was investigating the Watergate burglary and crimes related to it.

In what came to be known as the "Saturday Night Massacre," Richardson's deputy, William Ruckelshaus, a fellow moderate, also resigned in protest. Cox was subsequently fired by the man who became acting attorney general, Robert Bork.

After Cox was fired, Congress was besieged by telegrams calling for Nixon's impeachment. By the end of the month, a plurality of theAmerican public were in favor of impeachment.

Nixon later wrote in his memoirs of Richardson, a product of the Ivy League establishment, "The first major mistake was the appointment of Richardson as Attorney General." He added, "Richardson's weakness, which came to light during the Cox firing, should have been apparent."

Nixon labeled moderates who resisted his orders as weak and disloyal, similar to how Trump has described Attorney General Jeff Sessionsand others who disagree with him.

Commitment to civil service

I believe that the individuals who said "no" to Nixon placed an emphasis on finding nonpartisan solutions in their work instead of slavishly following their party and its leader.

For example, former IRS Commissioner Johnnie Walters, the Republican who refused to audit Nixon's "enemies," said in 2008, "By doing the job right, we were protecting our tax system and the tax laws and the taxpayers, and not the Administration." Like Shultz, Walters' stand demonstrated that he was someone who was not bound by his political party.

Walters and other administration officials were committed to nonpartisan civil service. Nixon was a politician.

Nixon once said to his outgoing cabinet member John Connally: "I don't believe that civil service is a good thing for the country."

Culture of loyalty

The actions of Walters, Shultz, Richardson and Ruckelshaus, as well as the Republican congressional leaders who told Nixon he'd lost party support, show that there were GOP officials and leaders who were willing to challenge President Nixon.

Similar to today, each of these Republicans had to overcome the president's culture of loyalty. Nixon frequently obsessed over creating what he called a "new establishment" that would move the country in a more conservative direction. Its central component was loyalty to him.

During a meeting where he plotted out his second term, Nixon said: "I'd rather take a dumb loyalist than a bright neuter."

Soon after the Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon wrote that "establishment types like Richardson simply won't stand with us when (the) chips are down."

Today's Republicans are led now by a president who also demands loyalty at every turn. And their actions stand in marked contrast to those who once were faced with similar challenges, and who chose country over loyalty to one man.

-- Michael Koncewicz, New York University

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
SAN DIEGO  U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and his wife pleaded not guilty Thursday to allegations of widespread misspending of campaign funds on personal items  from family vacations to video games to private school tuition.

The arraignment in San Diego federal court was the first court appearance for Hunter, a California Republican, and his wife, Margaret Hunter, since being indicted by a grand jury Tuesday.

The couple are charged in a 60-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, falsification of records, bank fraud and aiding and abetting in the prohibited use of campaign contributions.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Gallo allowed both to remain out of custody, with Duncan Hunter released on a $15,000 bond secured by the signature of a related, financially responsible adult, and his wife released on a $10,000 similar bond. Both had to be fingerprinted by the U.S. Marshals Service and give DNA samples.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern told the judge that while the government considers the allegations "to be extremely serious," the two have shown no signs of being a flight risk during the investigation. He said the couple also didn't have any substantial assets and were "living paycheck to paycheck."

The judge set additional conditions of release, including restricting travel to within the continental U.S. Duncan Hunter must also submit to drug testing and give up two guns that he owns.

The couple arrived separately with their attorneys and did not speak to one another in the courtroom, which was filled to capacity with reporters, investigators, attorneys and other onlookers. The Hunters held stoic expressions during the short hearing.

About an hour later, Hunter emerged from the courthouse and continued down the sidewalk silently, trailed by news cameras and protesters chanting "Shame!"

Hunter a day earlier had assailed the prosecution as a "witch hunt" and blamed "partisan Democrats" for bringing the case against him and his wife. He flatly denied ever using his campaign funds for personal expenses.

His attorney, Greg Vega, stopped to address reporters after the hearing, saying the investigation was "politically motivated" and that he was prepared to fight the charges.

"On behalf of Congressman Hunter and his wife, Margaret, we are hoping the public will keep an open mind until we have an opportunity to respond in a court of law, not the court of public opinion," Vega said.

He added that Hunter had faced "more difficult battles" in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine.

Vega reiterated accusations of partisanship on behalf of the U.S. Attorney's Office, pointing to two prosecutors on the case who attended a Democratic fundraiser for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2015 in La Jolla.

The prosecutors were there in an official capacity at the request of the U.S. Secret Service as a matter of routine, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

"We believe that there is a possible cover-up as far as why two of the prosecutors in this investigation were at the fundraiser and then were intimately involved in this investigation," Vega told reporters after the hearing.

The Secret Service has declined to discuss the matter.

Vega said others with the Department of Justice have not heard of similar requests from protection details.

The indictment details some 200 instances of personal expenses using campaign funds. The $250,000 total went toward everything from airfare for a pet rabbit to tequila to Pittsburgh Steelers tickets, according to the indictment. Using political contributions for personal expenses is illegal under federal election law.

The couple is also accused of lying to cover up the spending and of continuing to draw from campaign coffers despite warnings from staffers and inquiries from investigators and reporters.

Their personal bank account was overdrawn some 1,100 times over a seven-year period, prosecutors allege.

Hunter is paid $174,000 a year as a member of Congress, while Margaret Hunter receives $3,000 a month as her husband's campaign manager.

The criminal investigation began after the Federal Election Commission and The San Diego Union-Tribune began raising questions about certain campaign expenses in April 2016.

Hunter reviewed the matter and repaid more than $60,000 back to the campaign, calling the expenditures mistaken, personal or insufficiently documented. He sold his home in Alpine to make the payment and moved in with his father, also named Duncan Hunter, a longtime former congressman.

Hunter, who succeeded his father in 2008, is up for re-election in a runoff race in November. He represents the 50th Congressional District, a region that includes the East County and portions of the North County, into Temecula.

Hunter's opponent in the November election, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, addressed reporters outside the courthouse after the arraignment.

"Hopefully we can explore unity and not exploit division for too long," he said. "There has been too much chaos, corruption and greed, and I think that chapter in our history is coming to term. My hope is to represent the people of this district and bring national pride, not national shame to this community."

The Hunters are set to return to court on Sept. 4.

Prosecutors told the judge they are ready to hand over to defense attorneys discovery in the case  enough to fit on a two-terabyte hard drive  as soon as possible.

Tribune News Service
This story was originally published on Feb. 8, 2000.

By BILL GRAVES



The Oregonian

Geoffrey Brooks leans forward, bent at waist, head down so far he's staring at the floor of his classroom.



"Yes, boss," he says in a raspy voice as he shuffles forward a few steps, scratching his head, looking feeble and old. "I go get the cows out 'n de pasture."



Then Brooks snaps up straight, becoming once again the animated, lean, gray-bearded 52-year-old that his African American U.S. History students have grown to respect. He is showing students how slaves used fake humility to manipulate their owners and protect themselves.



"It is a form of resistance," he says. "Slaves resisted. They didn't just roll over and say, 'OK, make me a slave.'"



Brooks has been teaching African American history to Portland students for more than a decade, initially at Jefferson High and for the past five years at Franklin High in Southeast Portland. His mission is to help young people understand that history looks different through the eyes of African Americans and other minority groups such as Native Americans, Latino Americans and Asian Americans.



Brooks groans when reporters show up at his door each February for quotes about Black History Month. If Americans faced their multicultural history, if teachers infused the perspectives of all Americans into their history lessons, there would be no need for a Black History Month, he says. Setting aside a month is a gesture, a nod, toward racial issues the nation refuses to confront, he says.



"The inability of America as a multicultural country to deal with its own racialness is beyond sick," Brooks says. "If we, as a country, are not dealing with race, we have a form of mental illness."



"He can get wound up," says his mother, Beria Brooks. "I call him 'the preacher.'"



A family influence



She, along with other family members, helped instill a love of history in her son by telling him stories of family members going back to the days of slavery. Sometimes Brooks brings his mother to class.



Like his mother, Brooks was born and raised in Portland. He served two years in the U.S. Army and attended Oregon State University, where he headed the Black Student Union and graduated with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. During his 28 years in the classroom, he moved from elementary to high school, joining Jefferson's staff in 1982.



He was teaching social studies at Jefferson in the late 1980s, when a group of students asked him for help forming an African American history club. Administrators resisted, arguing it would foster the kind of separatism they were trying to eliminate. But some white students, including a girl named Portia Hall, said they wanted to join the club, too. So it was allowed, and Brooks took charge. The club evolved into a class.



"What Mr. Brooks did was let me know there were a lot of things I hadn't learned," says Hall, 27. "Anybody who has ever had him will smile whenever they hear about him. He is very passionate and very funny and has bad handwriting."



She was so inspired by him that she went on to study history at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and got her teaching credentials at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. Today she teaches U.S. history at Franklin High, too.



And she is doing what Brooks longs to see all teachers do, infusing the perspectives of African Americans and other minority groups into her history lessons throughout the year, not just in February.



For nearly two decades, Portland administrators have encouraged all teachers to do the same. The district created a teacher's guide called the "African American Baseline Essays." But the essays still sit on the shelves in most corners of the district, Brooks laments.



Elsewhere in city



Brooks was the only teacher in Portland offering an African American history course for years and there are still not many. Jefferson High continues to offer one, and so does Grant. In addition, Grant and Roosevelt offer courses in African American literature.



At Franklin, Brooks' history students, who are diverse, say they have gained new perspectives and insights about the nation's past in his class.



"I don't think I was lied to (in previous history classes), but I think I was misled," says Constance Walsh, 17, a junior. "I'm going to dig deeper on my own."



Lydia Jackson, 15, a sophomore, says Brooks' class has made her want to learn more about the history of Native Americans and other minority groups.



Brooks works out of an office where scores of Africans and African Americans look down from the bulletin boards -- figures such as Billie Holiday, Malcolm X, Nat King Cole, Joe Lewis and Coretta Scott King -- along with a sign from the segregated South that says, "No White People Allowed in the Zoo Today." All day, teachers and students rotate in and out of his office as though it were a cafe.



Among his other duties at Franklin, Brooks serves as student integration coordinator, guiding students, especially minority ones, through school and on to college. He also oversees a program that helps students learn how to settle their conflicts. What's more, he teaches African American history on occasion to graduate students and other teachers at Lewis & Clark College and Portland State University.



But his favorite place is his Franklin classroom, where he begins each day with African American history.



"I look forward to seeing that group of kids in the morning," he says. "It is very important for me."
A 27-year-old man was sentenced Friday to life in prison with a 25-year minimum for killing a Northeast Portland marijuana grower and dealer on his front porch six years ago.

A jury in 2014 found Marcellus Ramon Allen guilty of the 2012 murder of Kenny Ray Henry Jr., but the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned the conviction. He was again found guilty of murder in March by a second jury -- and sentenced Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Investigators suspected one possible motive: Henry had angered rivals because he was selling a small amount of marijuana at considerably lower prices than gang-affiliated dealers.

Two other co-defendants -- Tracey Lomax and Xabian Riley -- are scheduled in 2019 to be retried for allegedly killing Henry alongside Allen, in a barrage of bullets.

Allens 25-year minimum prison sentence will run consecutively to a 20-year prison sentence he is already serving for attempted aggravated murder. In 2014, a jury found Allen guilty of having tried to hire another inmate to kill a key witness in the Henry case.

Henry, 29, was fatally shot in front of his home in the 14800 block of Northeast Fremont Court, while his two children slept inside.

-- Aimee Green
Netflix announced today that the streaming giant has acquired rights to air new episodes of "The Great British Baking Show." In a press release, Netflix says the service will air 10 new episodes of "The Great British Baking Show" in the U.S. on Aug. 31. Previously, the show has aired on PBS in the U.S.

The batch of episodes that stream on Netflix beginning on Aug. 31 represents Season 8 in the U.K. (where the program is called "the Great British Bake Off"), and is the first season that doesn't feature beloved former regulars, judge Mary Berry and hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.

Netflix will also be the first-run home for two more not-yet-filmed seasons, which are expected to stream on Netflix later this year, and in Fall 2019 (these will be U.K. Seasons 9 and 10.) In addition, Netflix will debut two-episode holiday specials, coming up during holiday seasons in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The new seasons and specials will join U.K. Seasons 4-7, which are known on Netflix as "collections 1-4," and are available to stream now.

This answers at least one question U.S. fans of "The Great British Baking Show" have been wondering about. Namely, how will stateside viewers be able to watch the show now that it's left the BBC and is airing on a commercial station in the U.K.?

At the recent Television Critics Association 2018 summer press tour, PBS CEO Paula Kerger said it was unlikely that PBS would air new seasons of "The Great British Baking Show," since it's now on commercial TV, not public TV, in Britain.

This summer, hungry fans have been devouring "Great British Baking Show" episodes that aired in 2012 in the U.K., and are called Season 5 on PBS.

The move from the BBC caused Berry, Perkins and Mel Giedroyc to depart, leaving only co-judge Paul Hollywood continuing. The first season of the revamped version of the program has already aired in the U.K., featuring Hollywood, new judge Prue Leith, and new hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.

So now that we know how American viewers can see the new formula, the other question is: how will we like "The Great British Baking Show" without the -- let's face it -- irreplaceable Berry, Perkins and Giedroyc? Will the bakers be amiable enough to help us get over the heartburn of losing three invaluable members of the cast?

We'll find out starting on Aug. 31, thanks to Netflix.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist
Updated, Saturday 3 p.m.

A driver on U.S. 26 north of Banks crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into a car Thursday night. The collision killed the driver of the first car and two people in the other vehicle, police said.

A 2014 Kia Cadenza, carrying just the driver, was traveling east around 10:10 p.m. when it crossed the centerline near milepost 43 and crashed into a 2010 Lexus HS 250 with four people inside, Oregon State Police said.

The collision killed the Kia driver along with the driver and a backseat passenger in the Lexus, authorities said.

Oregon State Police identified the driver of the Kia as Stephanie Breiger, 45, from Ocean Park, Washington. The driver of the Lexus was identified as Ignacio Torres, 48, of Vancouver. A 16-year-old boy riding with Torres was also killed, but troopers did not identify him.

Stacy Torres, 45, and a 12-year-old boy, both from Vancouver, were also riding in the Lexus and sustained serious injuries. They were rushed to a Portland-area hospital by helicopter.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office, Banks Fire Department, Oregon Department of Transportation and Washington County Medical Examiner's Office assisted state police at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing.

Update: This post has been updated with the identities of the adults involved in the crash.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh
A Beaverton Township special meeting next week will help officials determine if there will be three-phase electric power at a new marijuana grow plant at McCullough and Lang roads.

"This is not going to be a protest," said Beaverton Township Supervisor Tim Mickler. "I'm not going to allow it."

He said the meeting, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Beaverton Township Hall, located at the corner of Dale and Townhall roads, will focus on the power source.

Yet, residents against the facility plan to be at the meeting to voice their opposition. A group of residents told the Daily News the project being proposed is in the middle of Amish country and they knew nothing about it.

Mickler said the 30-acre proposed grow facility already has its state and federal permits and licenses. Per the township board, it is a done deal. He said all that is left to decide is if the residents will approve three-phase electric power. The supervisor said that will determine if they process the plants inside a building or outside.

The three-phase power alternates the electric current generation, distribution and transmission. It is used to power large motors or other heavy electric loads.

Mickler said he would prefer marijuana be processed inside to cut down on any potential odor.

"If I were a resident in that area, I would want the smell contained inside," Mickler said.

The township was only one of three areas in Gladwin County to opt into authorizing and permitting commercial marijuana facilities. He knows there are some people who don't agree with having it in their community. Yet, Mickler said they notified residents via public notices.

He said it was a "hard decision" for the board to opt into allowing such facilities.

"We felt we needed some way to regulate (marijuana) if it becomes legal in November," Mickler said. "It was not about the money."

He notes the $5,000 for applications to be considered to operate in the township is helpful and will be used. But it was not the deciding factor for opting into commercial marijuana. The township also receives an additional $5,000 annually per facility to maintain the licensing under the township ordinance.

Mickler doesn't expect it will be long before the respective facility is up and running.

"They will break ground as soon as they have the property title," Mickler said.

He said no one is complaining about another, smaller marijuana facility that has been operating in the township since May. He said this is an issue of a group of people who don't want it on their block.
The Tridge will likely be the backdrop of scenes in an independent movie being produced by Isiah Barnes, who has called Midland home for most of his life.

Barnes, 27, started acting at the Midland Center for the Arts when he was a teenager. The 2009 Midland High School graduate is the lead protagonist, writer and producer of the full-length feature film "That Wasn't Supposed to Happen." The "wild comedy" will feature scenes shot mainly in Midland, but also in Saginaw, Bay City and other cities across the state, Barnes said.

Filming for "That Wasn't Supposed to Happen" is expected to wrap up in September with scenes being shot this weekend in Midland. The movie has a release date planned for late spring, or early summer next year. Barnes is looking into places he can screen the film.

"We have so many talented people out here, especially at the (Midland) Center for the Arts," Barnes said. "Nobody pursues it here because they think it's just a giant dream, acting, and that movies can only be done in California or New York."

Barnes is making the movie alongside many local talents, as well as a few big-name actors like Richard Pryor Jr., son of comedy icon Richard Pryor. Daniel Roebuck is another core actor in the film, who also can be seen in "Final Destination," "The Fugitive," and "Getting Grace." Barnes himself starred in "Torn Soul," a drama from 2012.

The movie will portray a story of old friends reconnecting after a 10-year high school reunion in a "Hangover"-esque narrative. Zeke Sweet, played by Barnes, is a former high school star athlete who the viewer will see on the worst day of his life in a dead-end job and all-around low point in his life. When he returns to Mount Pleasant for his high school reunion, he connects with old friends from high school  the other four main actors in the film  and shoots his shot with his high school crush, Aleezya, played by Kylie Cunningham. The director of the film is Tonia L. Carrier.

"We plan to shock people with how funny it is, and have people leave and say 'That was a whole lot better than big-budget comedies,'" Barnes said.

Barnes said he had the opportunity to make the movie in Detroit, but it was important to shoot it in the town he grew up in and nearby locations. He wanted to inspire younger actors in the area and show them, "If you work hard enough, you can accomplish it and get it done," he said.

"Just because we're in a smaller city doesn't mean we can't do big things," Barnes said.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter John Kennett.

Wednesday, Aug. 22

12:06 a.m.  A person at a Jerome Township campground reported another camper was possibly using and/or making drugs. Deputies found no evidence of drugs being manufactured or used.

12:16 a.m.  A 23-year-old woman was arrested in Jerome Township on her outstanding Midland County warrant. A 25-year-old man who was present in the home was also arrested for two outstanding Midland County warrants.

2:51 a.m.  Lee Township fire/rescue, EMS and the Midland County Sheriff's office responded to a Lee Township residence for a possible overdose. The caller said that they were performing CPR on a 35-year-old Charlotte man who was not conscious and was not breathing. EMS arrived on scene and revived the man who admitted to using heroin. The man was transported to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for treatment. No drugs/evidence were found at the residence. The 35-year-old man was visiting family who didn't know the man had a heroin problem.

2:57 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township roadway for a report of a vehicle driving recklessly and passing in a no passing zone. The deputy checked the area, but the vehicle was gone upon arrival.

9:03 a.m.  Midland County Animal Control received a complaint of a dog attacking some chickens in Larkin Township. The chicken owner only wanted the situation reported.

9:32 a.m.  A deputy responded to a report of a subject riding a bicycle the wrong way on U.S. 10 in Jerome Township. The deputy checked the area and was unable to locate the subject.

9:42 a.m.  A deputy discovered a 51-year-old Harrison man walking on the highway. The man was given a ride to Coleman.

12:01 p.m.  A deputy responded to Lee Township for a report of two small children running around naked. He arrived and made contact with the grandmother, the 30-year-old father, and a 3- and 4-year-old boys. The boys were clothed. The children had run out of the house when the grandmother went to the bathroom. They were inside, dressed and being cared for.

12:17 p.m.  A deputy responded to a Jerome Township residence to assist Midland County Animal Control with a disorderly man who was upset about his neighbor's loose dog.

1:40 p.m.  A deputy stood by while Consumer's Energy disconnected power from a Warren Township residence.

3:40 p.m.  A deputy assisted a motorist who hit a low cable line in Larkin Township. The Larkin Township Fire Department removed the line from the roadway.

3:02 p.m.  A small black car failed to pay for $10 in gasoline from a Warren Township station. Neither a plate nor the direction of travel were obtained.

11:21 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Jasper Township residence in reference to a 41-year-old woman who called and stated there was a 25-year-old woman in her driveway who wouldn't leave. The 25-year-old woman left prior to the deputy's arrival on scene.

9:42 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to an assisted living center in Homer Township after a worker observed someone drive down the driveway and park near a garage. Contact was made with a 42-year-old Homer Township man. He said he was setting up his telescope to look at Mars. He thought since this was Midland County property, he didn't think he needed to get permission to be on the property. The man was told to contact the property management next time to obtain permission.

8:50 p.m.  Deputies conducted a salvage inspection in Mills Township.

8:15 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence in reference to a 51-year-old man who stated his 22-year-old son was suicidal. The deputies made contact with the 22-year-old man and his 22-year-old girlfriend. The man was later taken to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for a mental health petition due to suicidal statements.

7:29 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to Poseyville Cemetery for a complaint of shots fired. The deputy searched the area but was unable to locate anyone shooting.
Allen Weisselberg is an unassuming, soft-spoken guy who has spent decades avoiding the limelight, first in the 1970s as an accountant for President Donald Trump's father, Fred, and then as the Trump Organization's chief financial officer.

Those days are over.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Weisselberg - who has also watched over the president's personal finances and tax returns while currently running the Trump Organization with Trump's two eldest sons - received immunity from federal prosecutors in their case against Trump's lawyer and self-described fixer, Michael Cohen.

Weisselberg's cooperation is a potentially momentous turn of events for the president. Depending on how prosecutors proceed, it may take the federal tax- and bank-fraud investigation of Cohen - and, more important, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe involving Russian interference in the 2016 election - out of some of the relatively low-stakes legal issues in play so far and into the heart of the Trump Organization and the president's business and financial dealings.

Last month, it was reported that a grand jury had subpoenaed Weisselberg to testify in the federal investigation of Cohen and Trump's hush-money payments to two Trump paramours during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen also mentioned Weisselberg during a tape recording he made of Trump and him discussing a payment to one of the women. Immunity liberates Weisselberg from potential criminal exposure of his own to share more detailed information with prosecutors than he otherwise might have, and heightens Trump's own legal peril.

Federal prosecutors have also granted immunity to David Pecker, who publishes the National Enquirer. In 2016, the Enquirer purchased the rights to a former Playboy Playmate's account of an affair with Trump. Pecker reportedly has shared details about Cohen's payments and Trump's knowledge of the deals. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-finance fraud on Tuesday and said that Trump directed him to pay the hush money, making Trump criminally liable as Cohen's accomplice.

Pecker's immunity agreement may, therefore, be relatively narrow and limited to the prosecution of Cohen by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney. Weisselberg, on the other hand, surely knows things that travel beyond the borders of the Cohen investigation and into the more sprawling landscape of potential crimes that Mueller is investigating - including obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting a fraud, conspiracy against the U.S., and, in the words of the Constitution's impeachment clause, possible "high crimes and misdemeanors" in the Oval Office.

To be sure, the only people who have a complete handle on the parameters of all of this are Mueller and his tight-lipped team of investigators. So it will take time for all of this to be subjected to a more transparent appraisal. Still, Trump has had few loyalists in his operation historically, and Weisselberg is certainly one of the most longstanding members of that tiny club. His cooperation with investigators will resonate personally for the president, and is likely to force an already combative man to lash out in ever more forceful ways.

Weisselberg is deeply familiar with the Trump Organization's financial housekeeping. Trump - a man who rarely trusts anyone - confided in Weisselberg and relied on him to sign off on details of the company's most significant deals. Weisselberg oversees the trust that Trump set up to manage his interests in the Trump Organization while he's in the White House, and also had a prominent position inside the president's troubled charitable foundation. In short, he was privy to decisions at the Trump Organization that Cohen was never allowed to take part in.

That kind of knowledge is gold to federal investigators. Mueller's team signaled long ago that it might take a closer look at the president's business dealings as part of its examination of Russia's assault on the presidential campaign. It's likely that the probe is exploring whether Trump or others on his business and campaign teams - including members of his family - discussed exchanging policy favors (lifting economic sanctions on Russia, for example, or shifting the U.S. stance on Russia's military incursion into Ukraine) in exchange for financial or political quid pro quos.

Trump's intersection with murky funding from overseas sources, including Russia, goes back years (as I've detailed before in columns about the Trump SoHo hotel and Trump's partnership with the Bayrock Group). In a column about Cohen and Weisselberg in April, I noted that Weisselberg was a possible candidate for a subpoena given the fact that Mueller had already subpoenaed the Trump Organization for business records - and given the fact that Weisselberg has had a front-row seat in deals involving transactions like the Trump SoHo.

Adding all of that up suggests that federal prosecutors have had incentives to pressure Weisselberg to reconsider his loyalties to Trump. That makes the Trump family's reclusive accountant a significant player in this unfolding historical drama, even though he spent decades shunning the spotlight his famous boss courted so obsessively. And remember: It was a forensic accountant - the guy who knew all the boring details about taxes and buried financial bodies - who ultimately brought down Al Capone.

- O'Brien is the executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion. He has been an editor and writer for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, HuffPost and Talk magazine. His books include "TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald."
To the editor:

Midland County Habitat for Humanity would like to thank the over 600 volunteers who helped during our Neighborhood Revitalization event this year. From painting homes to building porches, repairing roofs and replacing windows, volunteers were willing to assist with whatever was needed. We could not have accomplished all that we did on 20 homes without the help of our volunteers and sponsors.

We would like to give a special thank you to all the crew leaders: Phil Baker, Mike Babcock, Bob Donald, Jerry Hahnfeld, Bill Fothergill, Roger Miller, David Summers, Rob Mortenson and Joel Davis and Ted McBride for keeping our equipment organized and supplies ready for delivery to our workers. We would also like to thank Marcia Hahnfeld for providing her landscaping expertise.

We would like to give special thanks The Dow Chemical Co. for their support as our event sponsor and the many teams of Dow volunteers who joined us throughout the week. Special thanks to Heather Gallegos for her inspiring words of support for the Neighborhood Revitalization program.

Thank you to the City of Midland for your annual help and support of Neighborhood Revitalization. In particular, a special thank you to Karen Murphy, Bart Heil and Jordon Pena for your attention to all the needs of this event, we couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you to Great Lakes Safety Training Center, Executive Director Kelly Juday, and her staff - Jill Dougherty, Doug Altenburg, James McDaniel and Lynette Wisniewski - for providing safety tips on how important it is for each volunteer to work safely for both themselves and others around them.

Thank you to the several pastors that prayed over our volunteers and the projects being done throughout the week. They include: Pastor Danielle Shealy - Trinity Lutheran Church, the Rev. Rhonda Myers - Chapel Lane Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Leonard Clevenger (retired) - First United Methodist Church, Pastor Dave Vercellino - New Life Vineyard Church, and Pastor Ed Doerner - Messiah Lutheran Church.

Thank you to our many sponsors and supporters. Without your financial, volunteer and in-kind support, we would not have been able to help as many homeowners as we did. Many thanks for the support and sponsorship from the following organizations: Midland Public Schools, City of Midland, The Dow Chemical Co., Lowe's of Midland, Chemical Bank, Consumers Energy, Midland Public Schools, City of Midland, CPI Fluid Engineering, Ayre/Rhinehart Realtors, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Huntington National Bank, Barton Malow, Valley Electrical Contractors, Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union, ACE Hardware, Bone and Bailey Insurance & Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Companies, Midland Ford, Rider Type and Design, Horizon Bank, Jim Bluemer Contracting LLC., Trinity Lutheran Church, Memorial Presbyterian Church, Servinski Sod, Home Builders Association of Midland, The Hampton Inn by Hilton, Weed Man, M & K Lawn Care, Cintas, and Midland Eye Care.

Finally, we would also like to thank the many organizations and businesses who supported our efforts with in-kind donations. Thank you: Assumption Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bierlein Companies, Biggby Coffee, Chapel Lane Presbyterian Church, Coffee Chaos, CPI Fluid Engineering, Dominos, First United Methodist Church, Garber Chevrolet, Gordonville United Methodist Church, Great Lakes Safety Training Center, Huntington National Bank, Kroger, Live Oak, McKay Press, Memorial Presbyterian Church, Messiah Lutheran Church, Midland Ford and Servinski Sod, Starbucks Coffee, The H Hotel and Trinity Lutheran Church.

A sincere thank you to our Board of Directors for its continued support of the mission and the vision of Midland County Habitat for Humanity.

We look forward to working with everyone again next year at our 10th Annual Neighborhood Revitalization as we seek to put God's love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope.

JENNIFER CHAPPEL, CEO

Midland County Habitat for Humanity
I do not want to be the big looking glass of civilization but just the little pocket mirror of everyday life.  Peter Altenberg

People didnt explain things to children when I was 5. Today I think we overload small children with too much information. So I dont know which way is better. Not much or too much.

I had a cousin six months older than me, but we had the same name. I dont really remember her. My aunt and uncle lived in Greenville and the few times we visited didnt leave any memories of our trips for some reason.

But I remember when she died.

A telegram came and I remember it because Mom had it saved in a box with other letters. It read something like: Funeral for Virginia Tuesday. Explain later. Shirlee.

The telegram came while Dad was at work and Mom was so upset that she took Jean and me to Grandma and Grandpas house, a little ways from where we lived on Sturgeon Road. She showed them the telegram and then Jean and I were sent outside while the telegram was discussed, I suppose.

What happened? What did that yellow piece of paper say?

When Dad came home that night from work, he sat down to read the telegram.

Things seemed to be turned upside down. Mom began packing a few clothes in a suitcase for Dad and her. She told me that Jean and I would be staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of days.

Later, when I was a teenager, Mom told me that the reason nothing much was said is because they had no idea of why a 5-year-old girl would die suddenly. All sorts of possibilities were discussed, but since they didnt know what had happened Jean and I wouldnt be going to Greenville with them.

Staying with Grandma and Grandpa had always been one of my favorite things to do, but this was different somehow. Something strange and mysterious. Something ominous hung in the air. A little girl with the same name as mine had died. Maybe that was the first time I had heard about someone dying. A lonely feeling crept into my heart even before Jean and I were taken over to stay for two nights.

Everything was so strange. Mom and Dad seemed like two strangers. They whispered so we didnt know what was happening. Would they come back and get Jean and me or would this mysterious thing that had happened mean that we would no longer have a mother and father? When youre only 5 and nobody explains anything, you fear for the worst.

There is nothing to compare with the loneliness of being a child. They have no memory to hold on to that things will turn out all right. That life will take up where it left off and things will be the same after a while. When youre 5, you havent had enough experience to know that things will be normal again.

Youre just stuck out in a sort of desert with the people around you upset and crying and then leaving you behind.

Stories varied about Virginias death. She was playing in the backyard with her older brothers Roy and Don and some neighbor kids were out there, too. There was something like a playhouse and one of the older boys had hung a blanket to cover the door opening up. But the blanket wouldnt stay in place so someone got the idea of holding the blanket in place by dragging a cement block to the roof to hold the blanket.

Virginia was the youngest one playing that afternoon. The children went in and out of the playhouse and nothing happened. Then Virginia started through the doorway and she stumbled, pulling the blanket hard enough that the cement block fell off the roof striking her in the head.

She fell to the ground with a wound by her temple and one of the boys ran in to get their mother. Uncle Shirlee was called home from work at the refrigerator factory where he worked and they took Virginia to the local hospital. She was unconscious by now and the doctor said they would need a special surgeon to do the brain operation. So she was put in an ambulance and taken to Grand Rapids.

While the surgeon was scrubbing up for the operation, my cousin died on the operating table.

Mom and Dad came home. Jean and I went back home. I have a vague memory of holding Jean by the hand walking in Grandma and Grandpas driveway, wondering where Mom and Dad had gone? Would they ever come back for us?

Jean at 3 years old didnt know what had happened anymore than I did but she had the advantage of having an older sister, me. She wasnt alone. But I was. And I had to take care of my sister.

Time passed. Things went back to normal. Only years later did I wonder what my uncle thought when he said my name.

Then one day Judy (my youngest aunt) and I were vacationing in Traverse City and we spent the best part of the day going through cemetery records because the Voorhees and the Crains and the Merritts were from there. Thats when the subject of Virginias death came up. Judy had been 13 years old and had gone to the funeral.

But her story of what had happened was different than what I had been told for years. Judys story was that one of the neighbor boys got mad at Virginia and picked up a brick and hit her in the head. But the result was the same. She died on the operating table while the surgeon scrubbed up.

And still today, I remember the loneliness I felt when Jean and I were taken to our grandparents with no explanation. Would I have been less lonely if things had been explained to me? Its something that had no closure. Or maybe the loneliness was the closure.

Virginia Florey is a freelance writer from Midland. Three Pocket Mirror books are now available. "Childhood  The Distant Land," " One Foot in Eden" and "We Were Young Together" are available on Amazon, Kindle or by contacting ginnyflorey@gmail.com.
Note: This post contains graphic images and video from Yemen, where American bombs used by Saudi coalition forces have resulted in horrific scenes of deathmany involving children. The video comes after the second paragraph in the story, while the images come at the conclusion. The photos are not obscured in any waythis will be the last warning.

Admittedly, its not an easy photograph to look at. Childrenor at least whats left of them after American bombs ripped through their school bus in Saada, Yemen, on Aug. 9lie in a heap in the back of a pickup truck. Its a veritable mosaic of human destruction. Vibrant hues of red, pink, blue, and yellow are punctuated by blacks, greys, and skin tones. Muscle tissue erupts from shredded flesh, mouths hang slightly agape, and charred, mutilated limbs protrude like gaunt twigs, their sources indistinguishable amidst the carnage.

The video footage is even worse. A minute-long tape shows a father sobbing and wailing hysterically, shaking the pickup carrying his sons corpse. He desperately kisses the dead boys hand, and for moment lifts him by the arm in an apparent effort to wake him. As he lays the body back down, his face betrays mournful resignation to his new reality. Another clip. Childrens screams and frantic shouts sound in the background as the camera pans across bodiessome dead, looking like debris, others attempting to crawl from the blast zone, bloodied and twisted. One child sits in the mud, shell-shocked, his leg shredded by the blast.

Saying it again & again: These are American-made bombs dropped on children by the Saudis and Emiratis with refueling and targeting support from the U.S. Army. America and Britain is just as complicit as Saudi & UAE in #YEMEN war crimes.



Sell Saudi more arms.#USAKillsYemeniPeoplepic.twitter.com/9Mt6eRQPJf  Right word (@abcdaee198) August 13, 2018

These searing images document a masterwork of unbounded cruelty for which American tax dollars supplied the medium, and which American apathy has enabled. For the last three years, the United States has been providing military and logistical support to a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Muslim countries trying to restore Yemens internationally recognized Hadi government which was deposed by Shia Houthi rebels in 2015. Claiming to be fighting against Iranian influence in the region (a connection the rebels deny), the coalition has been targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Saada attack killed over 50 people, 44 of whom were children between the ages of six and 11.

Despite their propensity to offend viewer sensibilities, these scenes are necessary for American audiences. Images have a unique power to humanize brutalityto connect terms like civilian casualties and collateral to faces across the globe belonging to people who, as it turns out, look an awful lot like us. Footage can sway public opinion and catalyze policy change by delivering us from our detachment and laying bare our egocentrism. The editors of Jet Magazine understood this power when they published photographs of Emmett Tills battered, decaying body in 1955. So too did the editors of The Cleveland Plain Dealer when they printed Ron Haeberles pictures of the My Lai Massacre 13 years later.

But today, the sense of responsibility to the public discourse that once motivated these bold editorial decisions has been largely eclipsed by a focus on advertising dollars. The news cycle is increasingly driven by ratings, clicks, shares, and likessomething MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes candidly acknowledged in a Twitter interaction on July 24 when he called climate change segments a palpable ratings killer. As Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi put it in an exchange with this writer, [j]ournalists like stories. And readers like them even more.

In this environment, access to political insiders (and by extension juicy scoops) has become currency. The perfect storm of incentives has given rise to a comfortable arrangement for all parties involvedadvertisers, executives, sources, and anchors. To maintain balance between the different agendas, coverage is sanitized.

Gone are the days when journalists like Walter Cronkite would go on air and question whether or not the US could win the war. Its a foregone conclusion that on a long enough timeline, victory can be ours given our superior military might. American audiences would never expect to hear anyone say that the only rational way out of a conflict will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.

As a rule, coverage today generally avoids painting American involvements abroad in too negative a light. Graphic images are used sparingly, like when Gary Knights photograph of the dead Marine in Iraq made the rounds, or when Nilufer Demirs picture of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian refugee named Alan Kurdi went viral. However, the worst carnage resulting from current US foreign policy is never shown.

In Hayes 2-minute Aug. 9 segment on the school bus bombingthe first airtime MSNBC had given Yemen in a yearno dead bodies or catastrophic injuries were shown. The next day, Hayes colleague, Stephanie Ruhle, followed up. Once again, the dead and the grievously wounded were left off the air. None of MSNBCs coverage since the attack has shown the full extent of the violence.

Print outlets havent done any better. Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The New York Times also declined to include the worst images.

This is not to say there has been no good coverage. In an Aug. 14 segment, Democracy Now! showed bodies. Meanwhile, in its Aug. 10 report, CNN aired the clip of the grieving father finding his sons body in the back of the pickup. However, the clip was cut just before the devastated man lifts the corpse from the indistinguishable mass of human remains. In an Aug. 17 broadcast, CNN went so far as to display a map of fatal coalition attacks on civilians in Yemen, identifying each by the weapons manufacturer responsible.

Even so, without showing carnage, the coverage fundamentally fails to capture the humanity of the war and leaves the Yemeni people largely without an avenue to share their experience with the world. In response, many have turned to social media. Abu Ezzeddine of Sanaa, for example, has taken to Twitter since the conflict began, sharing graphic videos from his country.

Ezzeddine was wounded four years ago when a suicide bomber attacked his mosque. The injuries to his feet he sustained are still not healed, and he now faces amputation. Supply shortages at government medical facilities, along with the blockade, have left him unable to get affordable treatment.

[T]he air, land and sea blockade that prevented the Ministry of Health from taking me for treatment abroad and is now threatened with amputation of my feet, he wrote over Twitter direct message. There are private hospitals that can perform surgery for me, but the cost of the operation is$ 4,000 and because of the salary cuts for more than 3 years, there is no possibility for me to save me from my amputation.

Western medias general reluctance to show the full extent of the violence in Yemen is doubly frustrating for journalists living and working in the war-torn country.

I think most western media didnt want to cover the situation in Yemen because they dont want to bother the Saudi regime, explains Sanaa-based journalist Fatik Al-Rodaini. We feel sometimes that we are alone in this world as the whole world didnt care about our suffer[ing]. I have been reporting about Yemen since 2015 but I feel that our voice is still low.

Thus far, the outcry from Americans over the US role in the Yemen crisis has been predictablyand to an extent, intentionallymuted. The Saada school bus bombing never even trended on Twitter, nor did many take notice when the US State Department deferred to Saudi Arabia to conduct its own internal investigation into the war crime it had apparently committed. On Aug. 14, five days after the brutal attack, a seemingly emboldened coalition launched new airstrikes, hitting a market, several homes, a medical center, and a mosque in Hodeidah. Thirteen civilians died. Five days after that, more airstrikes reportedly hit fishing boats in Hodeidah. Another 13 were killed. Neither massacre sparked widespread outrage.

The same was true three days later when the amendment proposed by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) to end US involvement with the Saudi-led coalition was blocked by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL). The next day, Aug. 23, Houthi media reported yet another coalition airstrike in Hodeidah. At least 31 civilians, including 4 women and 22 children, all of whom were fleeing the violence, were killed. As images emerged of destroyed little, brown bodies, Jeff Sessions trended on Twitter. The attorney general had rebuked claims made by President Trump that he never took charge of the Department of Justice, reassuring Americans that political considerations would not factor into the commission of his duties. Given that two days earlier, Trumps former attorney, Michael Cohen, had pleaded guilty to eight separate felony charges, it was a foregone conclusion that any news about the presidents legal woes would dominate the cycle.

Back in April, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared Yemen the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Between cholera outbreaks, famine, and relentless violence, as many as 50 thousand Yemenis have already died. Three quarters of the populationa stunning 22 million peopleare in desperate need of food, water, medical supplies, and protection. Half of the countrys medical facilities have been crippled. The situation is beyond desperate, and the world must take notice. Its time for journalists to give human suffering its dueto prioritize the urgent stories, and to show the graphic realities. Its time to de-sanitize the news.

The following photos are classified as Military information, and come courtesy of the Ansar Allah Ministry of Defense in Sanaa. Ansar Allah is commonly referred to simply as Houthi by western media.

Bakil Almeer VillageHajja Gov., May 5, 2015

Arhab Village (north Sanaa), Aug. 21, 2017

Hamid Al-Rafiq, Legal Advisor to the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights

The following two photos come from Hodeidah, Apr. 2, 2018

The following two photos come from Hodeidah, Aug. 23, 2018

The following six photos are from the aftermath of the Saada bus attack

Waleed Abdullah Al-Khulani in intensive care for three days following Saada bust attack. He went into a coma and died on the fourth day.

Yahya Mohammed Ali Hanash, Saada attack victim
You can plan a pretty picnic but you cant predict the weather.  OutKast

Over the past 15 months, special counsel Robert Mueller has been building brick by brick a palace, a narrative structure big enough and intricate enough to accommodate dozens of people who have committed dozens of crimes connected in hundreds of ways  both obvious and obscure  in what will amount to one of the biggest and most bizarre criminal conspiracies in modern memory. He is telling this story chronologically. Weve seen, in the first half-dozen or so indictments, the backstory and some expository evidence Mueller is using to set up his take on the explosive events of the late spring and summer of 2016, the events that comprise whats become known colloquially as collusion  the treasonous conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to destabilize the American democratic process and steal an election from the American people.

The scope of Muellers investigation goes far beyond this, however. His team must untangle a sprawling web of financial and computer crimes related directly and indirectly to this conspiracy, many of which cross international lines. Muellers mandate also includes a meta-investigation into an arachnoid conspiracy to obstruct the broader initial investigation, including into what extent the president himself should be held criminally accountable for that obstruction.

Its herculean, and we have to admit that some allegations might prove impossible to, well, prove. Still, Mueller has managed to deliver the goods in the form of more than 100 charges filed against dozens of people, guilty pleas from multiple senior Trump officials turned cooperating witnesses, and, last week, the first criminal conviction of a senior Trump associate, his campaign manager and crime enthusiast Paul Manafort. Muellers most recent indictment named members of Russian intelligence and laid out in extraordinary detail the Kremlins side of the plot to hack America. That indictment alluded to Russias cooperation with WikiLeaks, but pointedly it didnt name WikiLeaks or a Trump associate (Roger Stone) who prosecutors said approached WikiLeaks from the US side.

In other words, it appears Mueller has walked us, one fastidious step at a time, on a high-wire to the brink of something big. Then along comes Michael Cohen on a unicycle, juggling a playmate, a porn star, the National Enquirer, and the president of the United States, driven under the bullwhip of one Michael Avenatti, TV lawyer and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful.

And the metaphor has metamorphosed from palace to circus.

Cohen, who earlier this week stunned the country by incriminating Trump under oath in open court in a felony conspiracy, might blow right past Mueller. Its unclear just how prepared federal investigators  and the rest of us  are to handle such a development. It could change everything, and though Cohen might bring Trump down faster, considering the brewing chaos  and that the president thrives in chaos  this might not be such a good thing.

First, none of this would be a surprise to Mueller. He has been investigating Cohens finances since at least October of last year, and thanks to some expert babbling by former Trump staffer San Nunberg  who said on television this week that Mueller had asked him far more questions about Cohen than about Roger Stone  we can assume Mueller has been zeroing in on Trumps former lawyer for some time.

At this point its worth noting that Cohens plea deal this week did not include a cooperating agreement. Its unclear why, but the fact that Cohen wasnt proffered such a deal indicates that Mueller, who knows how integral Cohen is to the conspiracy, might not actually need the dude. Cohen is a liar and probably not the best guy to put on the witness stand, and if the special counsel has already obtained enough documentary and electronic evidence from the FBIs raid on Cohens offices and residences, they probably wouldnt need to have him say anything.

This is why its interesting that Cohen is starting to talk. And hes saying a lot.

Cohen, through his lawyer Lanny Davis, said this week that he knows that Donald Trump knew in advance not just about the Trump Tower meeting, but about the hacks on the DNC. If true, and if provable, thats the ball game. Youd think Mueller would be interested in this information, but again weve seen no sign that Mueller is interested in Cohens help at all.

Why? We have no clue. Mueller might very well want to enjoin Cohen. But as things stand now, were watching a frightened and vindictive Trump confidant gone rogue, dropping a series of bombs that could very well blow up the White House in a last-ditch inveigling for mercy from the law. Cohen for some reason  along with his lawyer  believes his best option is to take his case straight to the court of public opinion. Unlike the President of the United States, though, Robert Mueller doesnt get his information from cable news  Cohen and Davis are sending this message to you and me, and probably also to our elected officials: its time to take Trump down.

But is it?

Well, of course it is. Has been for a long time. But there might be unintended consequences to the Cohen route, because every route Cohen has taken in his life has had unintended consequences.

Look, Mueller probably knows everything Cohen knows, but Cohen doesnt know anywhere near the amount of information Mueller knows. If Cohen gets out ahead of Mueller, he also gets out ahead of all the necessary evidentiary groundwork and support needed to shore up one of the most serious and precarious investigations in US history. Cohen could in a matter of weeks and perhaps even days put an unbearable amount of pressure on the president, but if this moves too fast the chaos might be impossible to contain. Keep in mind that all these vectors, along with an impending report on the Presidents role in the conspiracy to obstruct justice, are converging on November and the midterm elections, where Democrats are poised to take control of the House.

Hard to imagine a more volatile scenario, right? The politics point to a power grab. Trump will at some point feel threatened enough to do the unthinkable, and if the GOP, fearing a major political loss, is handed any excuse, their track record shows theyre probably willing to let him get away with anything. This is precisely why Mueller has been so deliberate about telling his story and building his palatial case: Its got to be perfect.

Michael Cohen isnt exactly a perfectionist. In the interest of saving himself and his family, he might do too much too quickly, and force this moment to its crisis before any of us are prepared.

Then again, Mueller might have accounted for this months ago when he referred the Cohen investigation to the Southern District of New York rather than taking it on himself. He knew he didnt have the resources to fold the Cohen thread into the narrative he was weaving at the time, and Cohens flakiness and volatility might have been part of that calculation. Mueller needed SDNY to take this one off his hands. Or maybe he didnt want to tempt fate by blurring the lines of his mandate. Either way, Mueller has been cautious about Cohen, and with good reason.

Which raises a final thought. Cohen, by threatening Trop in the court of public opinion, might also be telegraphing a threat to Mueller. The only leverage Cohen has are his secrets, and secrets are only leverage to people who dont know them. If Mueller doesnt want Cohen to spill the beans, Cohens gambit here might pay off in the form of a cooperation deal that ironically enough would be solely intended to shut him up while Mueller does his stuff.

Of course, Cohen and Mueller arent the only ones who know these secrets. The Wall Street Journal just reported that many people were prepared to flip on Cohen and Trump, too. The investigation has shifted into a higher gear. Look out.
Every macOS antivirus utility must handle the essential tasks of scanning for existing malware and preventing any future malware attacks. Some stop there, while others offer a little more security, or a lot more. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac belongs to the latter group. It gives you secure online banking with the Safe Money tool, privacy protection components, VPN protection, and a parental control system. Its a security suite that goes for the same price as many simple Mac antivirus tools.

A big image of a MacBook dominates the product's main window. If the pictured monitor is green, with a check mark, everything is fine. The monitor turns red if something's wrong, and it also shows an explanation and a button you can click to fix the problem. Four icons occupy a strip across the bottom: Scan, Update, Privacy, and Safe Kids. Despite having more features than most competitors, this product maintains an uncluttered main window.

A big blue button opens the Protection Center, which has three pages. On the Protection page, you can confirm that important features are enabled. The Recommendations page offers advice to get the most from your antivirus. For example, it advised installing the browser extensions, connecting to My Kaspersky online, and installing the VPN and password manager. Finally, the News page offers product information, such as what's new in the current edition.

Pricing and OS Support

A one-Mac license for this product costs $39.99 per year, while extending protection to three Macs raises that to $59.99. Kaspersky's Windows antivirus product also costs $59.99 per year for three licenses. Bitdefender and ESET precisely match those one- and three-license plans, while Webroot charges $49.99 for three licenses.

You can also get away with paying nothing at allSophos Home Free (for Mac) and Avira don't cost a thing. As for Trend Micro, it, too, costs $39.95 per year for a single license. However, to get a three-license plan for PCs and Macs you must upgrade to the full security suite, for $79.95 per year.

You pay more for Intego, which lists at $99.99 per year for three licenses, but you get more security features, too. At $99.99 per year for five licenses, Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac) also looks pricey. However, on a per-device basis it's about the same as Kaspersky, and it also offers a full suite of features. As you can see, there is quite a range of pricing for Mac antivirus software.

Some Mac antivirus utilities extend support back to antiquated versions of vgb. ESET, for example, runs on anything from Mavericks (10.9) on, while ClamXAV (for Mac) and ProtectWorks go back to Snow Leopard (10.6). Others, among them Bitdefender and Norton, only support the very latest few iterations of the Mac operating system. Kaspersky, too, wants a modern macOS, at least Mojave (10.14).

Excellent Malware Protection Test Results

When evaluating a Windows-based antivirus program, I study the reports from four independent testing labs around the world, and supplement what I learn with hands-on testing. Kaspersky's Windows antivirus earned perfect and near-perfect scores in all the latest tests from all four labs.

Only two of those labs perform tests on macOS antivirus, alas. Their reports are important, because my hands-on testing routines use programs that only work under Windows. Both AV-Test and AV-Comparatives certify Kaspersky for Mac malware protection.

Like most tested products, Kaspersky detected 100 percent of macOS malware in a test by AV-Comparatives. It also detected 100 percent of Windows-focused malware. Why does that even matter? It's important because your Mac could conceivably serve to transmit such threats to one of your Windows machines, where they could do some damage.

This labs latest test added detection of PUAs, or potentially unwanted applications. Many products scored 100 percent. Kaspersky, like Trend Micro, came close with 99 percent. The test noted that Kaspersky users must actively turn on detection of PUAs.

AV-Test Institute rates antivirus products on three criteria: effective malware protection, a small impact on performance, and few false positives (valid URLs and programs slammed as malicious). A product can get six points in each category. Along with Airo Antivirus for Mac, Norton, and several others, Kaspersky scored 18 points, the maximum.

You'll notice in the chart that quite a few products don't show results from either lab. All of these did appear in one or more previous reports, just not in the current ones.

Diminished Phishing Protection Score

Almost all viruses, Trojans, and other types of malware work on only one operating system. Many rely on security holes in a specific, vulnerable version of that platform. Phishing attacks, on the other hand, are totally platform-agnostic. If your Linux-powered internet-aware towel warmer includes a web browser, a phishing site can trick you into giving away your login credentials. Kaspersky's plug-in for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox scans your internet traffic for fraudulent or malicious pages and steers the browser to safety.

To test phishing protection, I first collect hundreds of reported fraudulent URLs, making sure to include ones that haven't yet been analyzed and blacklisted. I use a hand-coded utility to launch each URL simultaneously in three browsers, relying on the protection built into. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. That utility is a Windows program, so for Mac product testing I use my button-mashing skills to copy/paste each URL into the browser and record the results manually.

If any browser displays an error message, I discard that URL. If the page isn't clearly an imitation of a sensitive site, with fields to capture your username and password, I also discard it. When the test is finished, I compare the detection rate of the product under test with that of the three browsers.

The last time I put Kaspersky to the test, both the macOS product and Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows scored a perfect 100 percent protection. This round of testing couldnt be more different. The Windows product initially scored 89 percent, and the macOS product got 84 percent. In addition, each product detected some frauds that the other missed. I checked with Kaspersky and fine-tuned my settings, then ran the test again. The Windows version pulled up to a respectable 96 percent, but on macOS it didnt improve.

Theres no real way to precisely duplicate this test, because it depends on using URLs that are very new, often just hours old. When I tried to share some of the links with my Kaspersky contacts a day or two later, I found that almost all were defunct. I hope to see better results the next time Kaspersky comes up for this test.

Other top phishing protectors retain their high scores. Trend Micro tops the list on both platforms, with 100 percent detection, and Bitdefender comes next, with 99 percent. McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac) , Webroot, and Avast all scored 97 percent or higher.

Scans and Schedules

In addition to the expected quick and full scans for malware, Kaspersky offers a custom scan that lets you scan specific files or folders. In addition, it automatically offers to scan any removable drive you mount.

On the Mac I use for all my testing, a quick scan finished in two minutes, while a full scan took 44 minutes, just a little longer than the current average. Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) is the speediest of current products. Its full scan finished in just two minutes, and it completed a quick scan in 5 seconds.

I'm not equipped to release actual macOS malware on the test system, but I did mount a thumb drive containing malware from my Windows antivirus testing. As promised, it offered to scan the drive. The scan wiped out 83 percent of the samples, including all the ransomware samples, which is quite a bit better than the current average of 74 percent.

ESET Cyber Security (for Mac) includes an elaborate scheduling system that even lets you schedule the launch of third-party applications. McAfee and Webroot, among others, let you create a daily or weekly scan schedule. Kaspersky includes the simple ability to schedule a daily or weekly run of a full or quick scan.

Safe Money for Safe Online Transactions

Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Total Security both include a feature called Safe Money. When you're about to visit a financial website or other sensitive site, it offers to open the site in a special browser that's hardened against outside interference. In the Windows version, a glowing green border serves as a visual reminder that you're using the safe browser.

The Mac antivirus also has a feature called Safe Money, but it's a completely different thing. When you visit what appears to be a sensitive website, Kaspersky double-checks it with the Kaspersky Security Network online and slides out a notification to let you know whether the site is legitimate. In testing, I found that it skipped some well-known American banks. I solved that problem by manually adding those sites to the list for protection.

Free and Premium Parental Control

Both Sophos and Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac offer a degree of parental control in their Mac products. Specifically, they let the administrator block access to websites matching categories deemed inappropriate. That simple content filter is as far as those products go. Kaspersky offers more to those who need parental control, in the form of Kaspersky Safe Kids. Its not installed by default, so if you dont need it, just leave it alone.

Do note that what you get is the free, feature-limited version of Safe Kids. As with Kaspersky Security Cloud Free, a shield icon identifies features that require a premium upgrade. You get a content filter that lets you either block access to specified categories or display a warning before the child visits a matching site. Likewise, you can set a daily limit on device usage and either warn when time's up or block further usage. (Setting a schedule for usage is a premium feature). Finally, you can ban or time-limit specific apps.

In testing using Chrome and Safari, we discovered that the content filter simply doesnt handle secure HTTPS sites. A porn site that uses an HTTPS connection will slip right through, as will a secure anonymizing proxy. Connecting through such a proxy cuts the content filter out of the loop, defeating parental control. Under Windows, this problem occurs only in unsupported browsers.

Premium features include the ability to locate the child's device, get a geofencing notification when the child enters or leaves a location, monitor social network activity, get a warning if the battery is low on the child's device, and get real-time alerts on risky activity. You also need to upgrade if you want to see detailed reports on the childs online activity. Read our review of Kaspersky Safe Kids if these features sound interesting. You may decide that an extra $14.99 per year for unlimited kids and unlimited devices is a bargain.

The Windows equivalent of this product, Kaspersky Internet Security, also gets the free version of Safe Kids. Only at the top tier, with Kaspersky Total Security or Kaspersky Security Cloud, do you get premium features built in.

Privacy Protection

Do you ever worry that some internet creep might be spying on you through your MacBook's webcam? Kaspersky's Privacy Protection features include a simple webcam block. Under Windows, you can set Kaspersky to allow specific programs while blocking unknowns, and you can also block spying through the microphone. The macOS version is just an on/off switch for the webcam, so you must unblock the camera for tasks like video conferencing.

To confirm that this feature works, I blocked the webcam and then launched FaceTime. FaceTime reported "no camera available," and a slide-in notification reported that Kaspersky blocked access.

You can also turn on website tracker blocking, to prevent advertisers and other trackers from following you around the web. This feature lets you choose whether to block four types of trackers: ad agencies, social networks, web analytics, and web behavior trackers. Note that blocking social networks doesn't prevent you from clicking links to like or share a page.

Bandwidth-Limited VPN

All programs in the current Kaspersky product line come with a bandwidth-capped copy of Kaspersky Secure Connection VPN. You can use 200MB per day of secured connectivity on each Mac, and the VPN chooses the server you'll use. Connecting to My Kaspersky raises the cap to 300MB. For $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year you can upgrade to the premium edition, which removes the bandwidth cap and lets you choose the country you want to use for your connection. Please read our review of the VPN for full details.

Bitdefender's product line now offers a very similar VPN arrangement, with 200MB total bandwidth and no server choice for free, or unlimited bandwidth and choice of servers for a premium. It's no surprise that the two are similar, since both are backed by the server network of Hotspot Shield, an excellent product that currently holds the title of fastest VPN.

This suite costs no more than several of the Mac antivirus utilities I've reviewed, but it offers quite a lot more. While not precisely a full-scale firewall like that found in Intego Mac Internet Security X9 and Norton, its Network Attack Blocker watches for port scans and other attacks from the internet. When Kaspersky detects an attack, it imposes a temporary block on all traffic from the offending site.

In addition to fending off fraudulent and malicious websites, Kaspersky's URL Advisor marks up dangerous links in search results. Under Windows, this feature puts a green icon next to safe links as well. On the Mac, it marks only dangerous links. Norton's similar feature lets you bring up a full analysis of the page, showing exactly why it's marked as dangerous.

You can also utilize an onscreen keyboard in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, to eliminate the possibility of password capture by a software or hardware keylogger. Among the product's many recommendations is a suggestion to install Kaspersky Password Manager. Note, though, that this is the free, feature-limited edition, something anyone can download and use.

A Wealth of Features

Kaspersky doesn't offer a stand-alone Mac antivirus, so Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac is this company's entry-level security product for macOS. In addition to high-scoring malware protection, you get a parental control system, protection against fraudulent and malicious URLs, privacy protection features, a firewall-like Network Attack Blocker, a bandwidth-limited VPN service, and more. It's an impressive array of features.

Norton 360 Deluxe isn't just for macOS; you can install its protection on Windows, Android, and iOS devices as well. Like Kaspersky, it's more than just antivirus. Notably, its included VPN comes without limits on bandwidth or server choices. Like Kaspersky, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac earns perfect scores in lab tests. It, too, includes a VPN, though like Kaspersky's this feature has limits. Bitdefender, Norton, and Kaspersky are our Editors' Choice Mac antivirus products. You won't go wrong with any of these three.

Editors' Note: We are aware of the allegations of Kaspersky Labs' inappropriate ties to the Russian government. Until we see some actual proof of these allegations, we will treat them as unproven, and continue to recommend Kaspersky's security products as long as their performance continues to merit our endorsement.

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Safe Kids and VPN require additional subscription for full functionality The Bottom Line Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac excels in independent lab tests, and it goes far beyond mere antivirus, offering parental control, protection against network attacks, privacy protection, and many other useful features.
Voice over IP (VoIP) systems have long dominated the small-to-midsize business (SMB) telephone market. Not just because they're less expensive than on-premises PBX (private branch exchange) systems, but because they're mostly software, which makes them far more flexible. There's nothing an old-fashioned PBX can do that a VoIP system can't, but there's a very long list of things you can do with VoIP that just aren't possible using on-premises hardware, which makes them ideal for most offices, especially those with hybrid work plans. Even residential VoIP includes features that are simply impossible with conventional telephone systems.

VoIP systems, sometimes called cloud PBXes, can manage all your voice communications from a central web console no matter how many extensions you've got, where your employees are located, or even what devices they're using. Most systems also offer features like video conferencing and team collaboration. Combine those features with subscription-based pricing that's generally much less expensive than an old-fashioned PBX, and VoIP wins. That's especially so during the pandemic when so many employees that typically work in the office are now working from home. If you opt for VoIP over PBX, it's simply a matter of downloading a softphone client to an employee's PC. In one step they can now use that computer just as they would their office phone extension.

Still, COVID-19 won't last forever and hybrid work may not be right for your business, so keeping in mind core VoIP criteria is also important. That means providing voice communications for employees at their desks once they start returning to the office. VoIP systems may also need to support a call center for sales or customer service and support; and they often need to connect with and through a host of other communications channels, such as conference calls, fax machines, mobile communications, text messaging, video conferencing, and wireless handsets.

On top of that, they're often expected to provide more advanced functionality through software, like shared meeting collaboration, voicemail to email transcription, and call recording. And lest we forget, many businesses still need a service that will connect to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Because they're working across such a broad array of features and channels, many of today's phone systems are classified as Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS). These are generally cloud-based, virtual PBXes that include at least one (usually multiple) software clients to enhance their functionality on the web, desktop, and especially mobile devices. Now let's dig into what you need to look for in a VoIP provider.

How to Choose the Right VoIP System

Before you can start considering a brand, you need to figure out exactly how you want your business to use a phone system. Look at your existing phone system and decide whether you're going to simply keep all of it and bolt some VoIP functionality on top, retain only part of it, or replace the whole thing. Frequently, a total replacement isn't in the cards if only because some parts of your existing phone system can't be easily changed over to softphones or even desktop VoIP handsets.

For example, if you have a heavy manufacturing environment with outdoor activities, such as a steel fabrication yard or a landscaping company, your rugged old outdoor phones may be exactly what you need. You also need to decide what features of the existing phone system are required, and what features of a new phone system you feel are necessary to carry into the future.

When planning, it's important to include stakeholders from all the key parts of your business. Yes, this especially includes the IT staff and the data security folks since your voice calls will now be data communications. But it also needs to include the workers who'll actually be using the system to get work done, especially the work that drives revenue and engages customers.

These people have invaluable insights into what's actually needed versus what's simply cool and new. Remember, a VoIP system is much more than just a new set of phones; these platforms have very long feature lists, but many of those features can change your overall price so you need to know what you need and what you don't. For business-level users, figuring all that out starts with understanding what VoIP really is.

(Photo: d3sign / Getty Images)

Wait, So What Is VoIP, Exactly?

VoIP is a method of digitizing voice signals, and then sending the digital voice information over an IP network. To accomplish this, the analog voice information is encoded using software called a codec. When it comes time to change the digital signal back to analog so that it's understandable, another codec does that job.

For a VoIP system to work, it needs a means of routing calls between users or to the outside world. In a cloud-based system, this gets handled by a virtual PBX. In the cloud, this routing is managed by your VoIP provider, which is part of why you're paying them. Whatever vendor is supplying that is also running a large PBX operation in a data center somewhere, and slicing off a little of it to dedicate to your organization in exchange for your subscription fees.

You're essentially sharing a large PBX with that provider's other customers, but because these companies use multi-tenant segmentation, your PBX will appear dedicated to you. This engine will take care of routing calls on your VoIP network and out to others as well.

However, for many businesses, there's a need to route calls to the PSTN and other analog phones. This may mean a PSTN gateway, or even a hybrid PBX, where there's at least a small telephone switch located at your office. Your VoIP vendor will let you know if this is necessary at the planning stage. Note that these days, a PBX looks exactly like the other servers in your data center, except with an attached means of handling local and analog phones.

However, many small businesses try hard to avoid any on-premises PBX components. That's partially due to cost savings and partially because the capabilities offered by all-cloud systems are more than advanced enough for their needs. Some virtual cloud PBXes, for example, can handle PSTN connectivity without any on-site hardware requirements. Make sure you ask any potential VoIP service providers about this before committing.

How UCaaS Benefits Your Business

If all this is starting to sound like more trouble than it's worth, remember that turning your PBX into a software solution means a significant opportunity for flexibility and integration that you simply can't get any other way. After all, programmers can now treat your phone as an app. Where that's taken us is to the fast-changing UCaaS paradigm mentioned above. Here, VoIP providers, like the ones we've reviewed, provide additional software capabilities that are all implemented and managed from a single, unified console.

While the exact features offered in any particular UCaaS solution can change radically from vendor to vendor, most include options for video conferencing, shared meeting and online collaboration tools, integrated faxing, mobile VoIP integration, and device-independent softphone clients. That last one is especially important now because it means that your employees can download an app to their personal smartphone or company laptop and that app will mirror all the functionality of their corporate phone, including responding to calls coming into your business phone number and their extension in particular. For folks trapped at home by the pandemic, that's a perfect solution.

Softphones are at the heart of most UCaaS instances, and for many VoIP buyers, they're becoming the primary use case, sometimes completely obviating the need for physical handsets. Part of that is because they work as well on mobile phones and tablets as they do on desktop PCs or laptops. For workers in call centers, softphones are often the only tool because they're the front-end window to any CRM or help desk integration, which is nowadays a must-have for that job.

So, for example, a softphone can combine a telephone conversation with text chat and screen sharing, which means a conversation between two employees can seamlessly add more participants, handle private text chats between those participants while the call is still going on, and extend to a collaboration session in which the group shares screens, documents, and datano prep, no reserved lines, just button clicks. In the case of a CRM integration, the system could recognize the customer's phone number or some other identifier and automatically pull up that record for the technician or salesperson answering the call. It can even alert a manager to monitor the call if it's an especially important client.

That's the basics of UCaaS, but the concept is constantly evolving to include more communication and collaboration technologies. Those capabilities also get tweaked to provide new benefits, sometimes general, sometimes aimed at specific verticals, like healthcare, for example. The key is integration. Voice is becoming integrated with other back-end apps, and UCaaS is making that easier. In fact, it's become so popular that it's seen rapid growth over the last several years as recent research from Statista bears out.

UCaaS Projected Market Growth in US Through 2024

That rich feature fabric can change radically between vendors, however. For example, RingCentral's softphone offers a long list of app integrations and features, including not just collaboration platforms, but bi-directional email and scheduling among other things. Line2's softphone client, on the other hand, is specifically designed to be simple so users can pick it up quickly, and it does this by mostly mirroring the buttons you'd find on a standard desktop handset. Two ends of the spectrum, but that means you need to be very careful when testing these apps to make sure you're getting not only what you need but in the right way for how your company does work.

Looking ahead to 2022, you'll see UCaaS extending into another sector of integration, namely desktop as a service (DaaS). Services like these will become popular for hybrid work because they let IT pros push out fully managed corporate desktops virtually so users can access them from anywhere and (almost) any device. Just like VoIP, DaaS solutions let IT pros manage those desktops from a web console. This makes deploying new desktops, removing unneeded ones, super simple.

The bigger DaaS providers, especially Microsoft with its newly announced Windows 365 Cloud PC service will start combining DaaS with productivity suite bundles. In Microsoft's case, this means one monthly charge for Windows 365 Cloud PC and a Microsoft 365 instance. It makes sense for a compatible VoIP instance, like Microsoft 365 Business Voice, to quickly become part of that bundle.

Getting the most out of not just basic VoIP communication, but all these UCaaS features, too, means understanding some of the technologies running underneath or next to VoIP. For most every VoIP installation, that starts with SIP.

(Editors' Note: Line2 is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

What Is SIP?

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is one of the underlying technologies that make VoIP possible. This is a text-based protocol similar to HTML. It's the most commonly used standard for setting up and controlling phone calls in most VoIP systems. You'll run across references to SIP in almost anything you do with these kinds of phone systems, especially when you're selecting any handset hardware you want to use.

There are still other legacy protocols around, and some non-SIP standards, including H.232. Other protocols that are still around are the Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) and the Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP). The former is known for being overly complex and also that it doesn't support some of the functions that people need in their phones, like caller IDs. Cisco is the primary proponent of SCCP since they developed it. But even so, Cisco is currently phasing SCCP out in favor of the much broader SIP standard.

SIP is what's used for the vast majority of modern VoIP phone systems. It also handles phone service, video conferencing, and several other tasks just fine, which is why its use is so widespread. Where it has trouble is data security, but more on that in a bit.

What makes SIP so popular is not only that it's deep and flexible, but also because it was purpose-built to engage in multimedia (meaning not just audio but also video and even text) communications over TCP/IP networks. For VoIP calls, SIP can set up calls using a number of IP-related protocols, including the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), among others.

But it can also handle other functions, including session setup (initiating a call at the target endpointthe phone you're calling), presence management (giving an indicator of whether a user is "available," "away," etc.), location management (target registration), call monitoring, and more. Despite all that capability, SIP is simple compared to other VoIP protocols primarily because it's text-based and built on an easy request/response model that's similar in many ways to both HTTP and SMTP. Yet, it's still capable of handling the most complex operations performed by business-grade PBXes.

However, while understanding the basics of VoIP and SIP is important, setting one of these systems up will require some general network skills, too. For the best voice quality, your network will need to meet certain minimums levels of throughput for upstream and downstream data. In addition, you'll also need to meet a minimum latency number (that is, the time between when a signal leaves a remote computer and when your system receives it), typically measured in milliseconds. You'll also need a business-grade connection to the Internet if that's where your call traffic is going to go.

(Photo: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock)

Optimizing Your Internet Connection for VoIP

Most VoIP solutions will require stable and consistent internet connectivity at all your office locations where VoIP will be used. At the very least, your business phone system must have access to a business-class internet link, so discuss these needs with your company's internet service provider (ISP). This should be a dedicated link through a dedicated router if you expect your phone calls to sound as if they were coming from a business and not someone's home Skype connection. At a minimum, it's important to have a router that can create virtual LANs (VLANs) and also has the ability to encrypt your voice traffic. These days, you need end-to-end VoIP security for any call.

For larger systems, and for systems where security is critical for things like being compliant to vertical regulatory needs, your current internet connection might not be adequate. The internet doesn't do quality of service (QoS), and bandwidth can be unpredictable. Network congestion can ruin a conference call, and activities such as DNS hijacking can put your business and data at risk.

We all love the internet, but it's not necessarily the safest place for your business voice communications. If you fall into this category, remember that while the internet uses the IP protocol and VoIP runs over IP, that doesn't mean that VoIP must run over the internet. You can get all the UCaaS software benefits we've mentioned by running your voice network over dedicated lines. Sure, it'll cost more, but it will also ensure crystal clear voice quality as well as the ability to implement much-improved data security.

Managing VoIP on Your Internal Network

In addition to making sure your internet service can handle your VoIP traffic, you also need to make sure your local area network (LAN) can handle it. What makes network management tricky with VoIP is that if you simply drop it onto your network, that traffic will get processed the same as any other traffic, meaning your shared accounting application or those 20 gigabytes worth of files your assistant just moved to the cloud.

The problem there is that VoIP traffic is much more sensitive to network bumps and potholes than most general office traffic. That translates to garbled conversations, difficulty connecting over Wi-Fi, or (worst case) dropped and lost calls. If your business is small and your network is essentially contained in one or two wireless routers, then your configuration and testing headaches might be fairly easy (though still there). For medium and larger networks, these tasks can be complex and time-consuming, which translates into added cost in terms of man-hours.

Fortunately, most of the providers reviewed here have engineering staff that will contact you as part of your setup process to help your IT staffers test and optimize your network prior to deployment. That's definitely something we recommend, even if it costs extra, but there are steps you can take now to prep your LAN for VoIP and make the deployment process that much easier.

For one, be sure to understand QoS (mentioned above). This means going beyond understanding the concept and moving to how the networking equipment in your office -- or your employees' home offices if you're still at that stage -- can actually implement QoS. Most business-grade networking hardware will be able to handle QoS in more than one way, so testing which method will handle voice traffic more smoothly in your environment is important.

Next, you want to understand codecs. This technology is what really gives each call its voice quality because it controls both bandwidth usage and the voice data's compression. There are several proprietary and open source voice codecs, so know which is supported by your networking equipment. Then make sure those codecs are supported by your VoIP vendor, and then test different kinds to see what's most efficient.

Last, you'll want to take a close look at your current network monitoring tools. At its core, VoIP is simply a specific kind of network traffic, so in the end it'll be these tools that allow you to see that traffic and manage it across your network. Make sure that the tools you're using support VoIP's needs, especially around QoS, traffic analysis, and network congestion issues.

Once you've engaged with a VoIP provider, their engineers will help you determine the overall service grade of your network (look at that as your network's basic "VoIP readiness factor") and how to tweak their service and optimize your network so VoIP can run effectively over your infrastructure.

How COVID-19 Is Impacting VoIP

The pandemic has hit most VoIP installations very hard. That's because what we've discussed above has been mainly about optimizing one network, namely your primary office network, for VoIP traffic. Those steps mean significant work and time, both for your VoIP vendor's engineers as well as your IT staff.

But what COVID has done is move your VoIP system off of a single internal network with one big and well-managed internet connection out to dozens, hundreds, even thousands of small home routers where your home-working employees now need to use their softphones. Maintaining good call quality there has been one of the chief challenges faced by IT professionals since 2020.

The problem is maintaining control over your voice quality at so many different locations. Even if you've got several business-grade routers working in a bunch of branch offices, this problem is surmountable since (1) it's usually not overly difficult to provision those branch office routers remotely, and (2) the routers at those locations were chosen by your IT staff specifically because they work well with the routers at your primary location. That's not the case with home routers.

If you've still got a legacy voice system, meaning an on-site PBX with analog phones, then your only real COVID response will be call forwarding to your employees' home phones. That may or may not be acceptable to your employees, especially since these days many of them won't have an analog phone available, which means you'll need to do your forwarding to a personally-owned mobile phone.

If you've got a VoIP system, however, then you've likely got one of the aforementioned softphones as part of that service, and that's how most organizations are meeting the COVID challenge, as evidenced by a survey conducted last year by sister site, Spiceworks Ziff Davis:

Softphones are perfect for the pandemic because using one means your employees can simply boot up their laptop or mobile device, install the softphone, strap on a headset, and they're good to go. Theoretically.

In reality, that's when you can bump into voice quality problems. Your IT staff not only can't control those home routers remotely, they often won't even know their capabilities. These routers were either chosen by the employee or by the employee's ISP, so even in a midsized company, you're looking at hundreds of different makes and models. Some will have more advanced features, like QoS, some won't. Those that do may also implement QoS and similar features in different ways.

All that makes configuring and managing home routers very difficult for IT personnel, but they'll still be faced with that task because if employees run into conversation problems over their softphones, their first call will be to the IT help desk. Shunting them off to the VoIP provider, or worse, the ISP isn't a good idea either. It'll likely cause employee frustration since those outfits won't be familiar with your company and they'll either refuse support or it'll take a very long time.

In practice, most businesses are simply handling this on a case-by-case basis since COVID is a temporary problem. Most home networks can handle the extra load as long as the employee makes sure that other latency-sensitive traffic, like gaming or video streaming, is kept to a minimum during the hours when they need to talk. If some home routers develop problems, IT staff simply build a queue and handle those one at a time. Sometimes they'll be able to access the router remotely with the employee's permission, sometimes they'll have to walk that employee through configuration steps to fix the problem. Sometimes the employee will just have to live with it unless the company springs for a new router or a higher bandwidth tier from the employee's ISP.

Future-Proofing Your VoIP Communications

Looking beyond COVID, VoIP makes the most sense for the vast majority of SMBs, not just because subscription costs are less expensive than buying on-site PBX hardware, but also because VoIP is the only way to keep up with evolving communication trends.

But with integration being at the heart of VoIP and UCaaS, you can't make a purchasing decision here without thinking about the future. On one side, consider each vendor carefully to see what they've done over the last half-decade in terms of product development and keeping up with VoIP and UCaaS trends. On the other side, think about what you'll need in the next five years.

At PCMag, we've noticed two trends that almost all the vendors we've tested here mentioned as being important to their customers over that last year. That means they'll be important capabilities those vendors will want to add to their platforms in 2021 and 2022:

Mobility and 5G. While some VoIP services still offer mobile handsets, these devices seem to be on the downslope. After all, if talking while walking is your goal, why carry around a clunky handset when you should just be talking on your smartphone? Seamless voice switchover based on geofencing is one approach. So if your smartphone detects that it's inside your company's wireless network it can seamlessly engage your VoIP client over Wi-Fi, not your cell service and now you'll be making and receiving calls from both your personal calling plan as well as your business' VoIP service. This generally goes beyond simple calls to also include texts, voicemail-to-email, and collaborative online meetings. However, a little further down the road is ubiquitous 5G. When that happens several VoIP vendors seem bent on simply connecting their service to 5G so workers will be able to access their business VoIP service wherever they are and across any device as long as it's 5G compatible. While some vendors do this with current mobile technology, the latency limits around 4G calling often make it a sub-optimal experience, not just for video and collaboration, but often simple voice traffic, too. 5G is the first service that promises the bandwidth necessary to make true mobile UC a reality.

VoIP security. As touched on above, the underlying protocol for VoIP is SIP and it wasn't built with security in mind. This means hackers are taking advantage of several new attack vectors. One example is a denial of service (DoS) attack specifically on a phone service rather than the network as a whole. This will garble or drop your service because it results in your connection quality degrading, heavy latency, and system crashes. Caller ID spoofing is also becoming more common. This amounts to a phishing attack using a phone rather than an email. By calling workers with a caller ID that looks like it's coming from inside the company, hackers are able to get employees to cough up all kinds of sensitive information because they think they can trust the person at the other end of the call. Every vendor we spoke to during this round of testing mentioned security as a major sales and development factor over the next several years. Potential solutions include, managed call encryption with no service degradation, integration with identity management systems, and even artificial intelligence (AI) measures to detect and respond to attacks as they happen. And these measures should be implemented sooner rather than later now that VoIP providers are becoming common targets of massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. These are leveled by ransomware attackers, who use them to disrupt and in some cases completely stop, international VoIP services. Attackers promise to restore service only if the provider pays a ransom fee. In 2021 alone such attacks have been aimed at Bandwidth Communications (a US provider), VoIP.ms (a Canadian provider), and VoIP Unlimited (an operator in the UK). In each case, business customers reported wide-scale service disruptions in multiple nationalities though providers managed to restore service fairly quickly.

For at least the next two years, these trends are likely to become important selling points in most VoIP vendor-customer pitches. While that's great, be sure to fully understand what's being offered and how the vendor is going to go about delivering it. Is a 5G implementation truly standards-based or are there still some proprietary hardware or software components? Have much will any new security measures affect overall voice performance, and does the vendor fully support the changing security requirements in important industry regulations, like HIPAA and SOX?

If all this seems like a lot of homework, remember that it's well worth the effort. Just about anything you can picture a business needing from a phone or collaboration system can be delivered by a hosted VoIP PBX solutionand generally at a more affordable price than purchasing and maintaining your own on-premises PBX. It's just a matter of selecting the right solution for your business.

If you have questions about business VoIP, subscribe to PCMag's BusinessWatch newsletter and join the [email protected] business community on LinkedIn, where you can ask vendors, other professionals like yourself, and PCMag's editors.
Gamescom wrapping up, PAX around the corner, so you know its busy this week. Weve got an onslaught of news, including the first BattleTech expansion, a Game of Thrones-themed sequel to Reigns, release dates for Mutant Year Zero and Shenmue III, the debut of Life is Strange 2, and Gabe Newell struggling with the concept of a triple kill.

This is gaming news for August 20 to 24.

Free for the weekend

Honestly it seems like you could have your fill of Overwatch by just waiting until Blizzard makes it free-to-try again. It happens almost every month at this pointseriously, the last free weekend was at the end of July. In any case, its free again through Monday. Have at it.

You can also pick up Ubisofts sword-and-board fighting game For Honor this weekend, and that ones free-to-keep. Its only the $15 Starter Edition, which means youll need to grind to unlock new heroes, but its still a decent deal.

Dorito gremlin

Oh, theres also a reason why Overwatch is free this weekend: a new map. Its set in Busan, a.k.a. D.Vas home in South Korea, and the map is on the test server at the moment. You can take a look at it here, or check out another one of Blizzards Pixar-quality animated shorts below.

This little piggy

Back at E3 I said Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is like XCOM with a quirky personality. Case in point, maybe the weirdest game trailer Ive ever seen. Check it out below, or just be content with the knowledge that Mutant Year Zeros locked down a December 4 release date.

Hitman Cinematic Universe

In case you needed more proof the upcoming Hitman 2 shouldve been called Hitman: Season 2, IO announced this week that its bringing 2016s Hitman levels into the sequel. Calling it the World of Assassination, all six locations will be remastered and updated with Hitman 2s enginewhich means working mirrors, new items, and so on. And if you own the 2016 Hitman? Its all free.

Life is Stranger

The wait is over, as Dontnod finally dropped a Life is Strange 2 trailer during Gamescom this week. And wow, itsambitious. From the announcement: Two brothers, Sean and Daniel Diaz, 16 and 9, are forced to run away from home after a tragic incident in Seattle. In fear of the police, Sean and Daniel head to Mexico while attempting to conceal a sudden and mysterious supernatural power.

Its one of those premises that could either be a bold landmark for the medium or go horribly awry. Well see.

Kick the Kickstarter further off

I hope you werent waiting for Shenmue 3 or Bloodstained: Symphony of the Night this year. The former announced an August 27, 2019 release date this week, so almost exactly a year outassuming it hits that release date, of course. Theres also a new trailer:

And the belabored Bloodstained slipped its release date again. First set to release in early 2017, then delayed until early 2018, its now set for an ambiguous 2019 no word on whether itll be the first or second half of the year. Remember Kickstarter? Oh, we were all so naive back then.

The horror

Until Dawn is one of the better PlayStation exclusives this generation, and like all PlayStation exclusives Im sad itll never show up on PC. Luckily the same team has been commissioned by Bandai Namco to make The Dark Pictures, a horror anthology in the same vein. The first episode, Man of Medan, can be seen in the trailer below.

Snake pit

Assassins Creed: Odyssey continues to tease bits of Ancient Greek mythos in its trailers. At E3 it was a quick shot of the Minotaur. For Gamescom? A Gorgon. Whether Medusa or one of her sisters, the snake-hair is immediately recognizable.

Black Ops 4K

I feel like every year Activision is quick to tout that this years Call of Duty is PC-ready, and every year the Steam community disagrees. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII is trying again though, with this PC trailer touting ultrawide monitor and 4K support, plus an uncapped framerate. Ill also say that my demo at Gamescom this week was on mouse and keyboard, which Ive never seen at a Call of Duty preview. So hey, maybe.

BattleTech

Mech toybox BattleTech announced its first expansion this week, Flashpoint. Its what I wanted out of Harebrained Schemes: More writing. The titular Flashpoints are mini-stories, wrapping BattleTechs procedurally-generated missions in a short narrative framework. Along with all the quality-of-life changes made over the past few months, it might be time for me to go back.

Surge is back

Did you hear you can get that old 90s soda Surge at select Burger Kings, nationwide? Oh wait, this is actually supposed to be about The Surge 2, sequel to 2017s sci-fi Souls-like. This week Focus dished out an incredibly short trailer with some game footage.

Sit the Iron Throne

Reigns, that game where you rule over a kingdom by swiping left or right on events a la Tinder, is getting a Game of Thrones-themed sequel. Titled (as you might expect) Reigns: Game of Thrones, youll be able to play as a bunch of different characters including Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister as you fight to keep control of Westeros. Its a neat little tie-in, though I assume itll be much more grim and less weird than the main Reigns games.

Hello, Im Gabe Newell

How many kills in a triple-kill? Well, if youre Gabe Newell its More than two kills, less than four. Newells finally come down from on-high to do his own Dota 2 custom announcer pack, and its full of fantastic one-liners, many of which are covered in the sketch below. My personal favorite though? Youre a beautiful person with a charming personality. Imagine hearing that in the middle of a hard-fought Dota 2 match.
dallam.jpg

After Irene Dallam, pictured in her Red Cross uniform, went a long period without receiving a letter from her son, Bill, she sent a note to Eleanor Roosevelt. The rest is history.

(Provided)

This is the seventh in a series of veterans reflections, part of the 100 Years of Heroes package that will run through Veterans Day. The story was sent in by Mary Lou Dallam. She and husband Bill, from Mechanicsburg, visited PennLive's offices Aug. 18 for a veterans photo shoot and mentioned the story in passing. Mary Lou, in addition to retelling the story, also provided the two photos.



Irene Dallam wasn't pleased that her youngest son had decided to enlist in the Navy at the age of 17 and she reluctantly signed the permission forms. Her older son was already serving in the Army Corp of Engineers in the European Theater.

William Morgan Dallam III, "Bill," enlisted in the Navy in June of 1943 and soon found himself on board the USS Moale DD 693 as a Torpedoman Striker, later promoted to Torpedoman 3rd Class by the war's end.

Shortly after his enlistment his father, William M. Dallam, was sent to Hanford, Washington, as part of the engineering team building components of the atomic bomb that would eventually be used on Nagasaki. Everything about this project was top secret. Bill's father agreed to go only if he could take his wife and two daughters to the secret city the government had built to house the workers.

Meanwhile, young Bill had become a bit lax about writing home and not received a new address for his family following their move.

Irene became increasingly concerned when months went by and she hadn't heard from her youngest child. Irene was a prominent volunteer with the Red Cross and a great admirer of the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Knowing the first lady had sons of her own serving in the war, Irene believed that appealing directly to Eleanor would be an effective way to get her neglectful son to write.

Irene was not the sort of woman who believed in starting at the bottom, so she wrote directly to the first lady and laid out her case.

One day shortly after mail call aboard ship, Bill heard his name over the ship's loudspeakers summoning him to the captain's quarters. With some trepidation Bill reported to an irate Capt. William M. Foster, who demanded to know when Bill had last written to his mother. Bill confessed it had been a while because he didn't know their new address.

The captain tossed a slip of paper to him and ordered Bill to his bunk to write to his mother immediately, adding that he "never wanted to receive another message from Eleanor Roosevelt about Bill not writing to his mother again."

Bill was very conscientious about writing home on a regular basis from then on until he was discharged at the end of the war.

After the war, Bill went to West Chester State Teachers College, graduating in 1950. Upon graduating, Bill re-enlisted to serve 13 months during the Korean War on the USS Oriskany Cv 84 as an Ariel Mineman 2nd class.

Editor's note: If you are a Pa. veteran or know of one who has a story to tell, contact Paul Vigna at 717-255-8404 or send an email to pvigna@pennlive.com. While we are looking for veterans of all wars, we would like to increase the number of stories we have on veterans who fought in the Vietnam War and the wars that followed.



Read more:
Puppy mill raid in Hopewell Township, Washington County on Aug. 22, 2018.

A suspected puppy mill raid resulted in the rescue of 91 German shorthaired pointers and a cat in Washington County, according to the Pennsylvania State Animal Response Team.

The team was called in to help Pennsylvania State Police with the seizure on Aug. 22, in Hopewell Township, Washington County, PSART said in a release.

The Washington County Animal Response Team assisted PSP, Humane Police Officer Cathy Cunningham and the Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone, by establishing a temporary shelter and helping provide transportation of the animals to rescues and shelters. The Federated Humane Societies of Pennsylvania also assisted with the process.

The PSART is a nonprofit, statewide emergency animal response organization, supported by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. The team can be dispatched through 911, or pursuant to a memorandum of understanding in response to emergency involving the animals, according to the release.
Shawn Christy, who is accused of threatening President Donald Trump, may have been spotted in Schuylkill County.

A man described as having a scruffy beard broke into a house near the Still Creek Reservoir near Tamaqua, but a homeowner chased him off, The Morning Call reports.

Police told the news agency they are following up on the sighting, and have also sent officers to the area of Ben Titus Road in Rush Township, which is not far from Christy's home in McAdoo.

Christy, 26, of McAdoo, Pennsylvania, is wanted for threatening to harm and/or kill a police chief, other law enforcement officers, a district attorney and Trump.

Christy is accused of posting threats to Facebook between June 3 and 12, 2018, saying he was going to shoot Trump in the head, and was going to use "lethal force" on any law enforcement officer attempting to detain him.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Christy on June 19th.

Christy was believed to have left the state, but a truck believed to be stolen from Western Maryland by Christy was located in Schuylkill County.

The FBI previously said he may be in possession of several stolen handguns, and the FBI asked the public to remain vigilant and report sightings of him to police.
Police charged a Lebanon resident with arson, risking catastrophe and more, saying he sprayed lighter fluid inside a home and ignited it.

Before the fire, Taylor Austin Jayde, 25, assaulted a woman, leaving her with eye and facial injures, Lebanon police said.

Police were called to the 1500 block of Walnut Street, Lebanon, just before 8 p.m. Aug. 21 for the reported assault - plus a report of a fire.

Jayde is accused of spraying lighter fluid on the floor and items in the home before igniting the fire, police said. Police extinguished the fire and Jayde was taken into custody, police said.

The woman was the only one hurt, police said.

Jayde has been charged with felony arson and risking catastrophe, misdemeanor possession of an instrument of a crime, simple assault, and nine counts of reckless endangerment because people were inside neighboring properties when the fire was set, according to online court documents.

Jayde was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Carl Garver, police said.He was jailed at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $200,000 bail, according to online court documents. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 30.
Middletown Mayor James Curry went online Thursday to denounce comments critical of the police department by the former borough council president in the aftermath of the arrest of Middletown Police Chief George Mouchette.

The borough did all it could to complete a thorough background check of the police chief before hiring him, Curry said.

On Wednesday, former council president Chris McNamara told abc27 that he believed the police department should be disbanded and the public safety oversight committee should be reinstated. The committee was disbanded in 2015, he told the station.

George Mouchette

Curry responded in a press conference Thursday, which was posted to his Facebook page, saying McNamara had the same agenda to disband the police department when McNamara was on council.

"I am deeply disappointed to learn of statements made by former borough council member Christopher R. McNamera," Curry said.

"It is simply wrong to use the alleged criminal acts of one individual as a political platform," Curry continued. "His comments and their timing are disrespectful to the victim of the crime and all individuals who had absolutely no involvement in the alleged crime. This town had not heard from him in two years, and his actions yesterday are a reminder why."

Curry said McNamara's suggestions to both reinstate the oversight committee and disband the police department were inconsistent with each other and called the suggestions "reactionary and impulsive."

The committee was used to interview and perform background checks on police chief candidates, abc27 reported.

Curry responded to this criticism by listing all of the things the borough did before it hired Mouchette, including among other things:

vetted Mouchette's prior work history

communicated with references

completed a state police criminal background check

had him go through the process for a Pennsylvania child abuse history certification,

conducted a physical exam, including drug and alcohol screening

fingerprinted the candidate at central booking, which confirmed no criminal record in two FBI databases

"Nothing pointed to any likelihood of a decision [that he would] engage in a criminal act," Curry said. He also said no establishment of a committee would have changed that. "The borough of Middletown refuses to allow a tragedy to divide it or its police department," Curry said.
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) -- The police chief in a western Pennsylvania borough is accused of falsifying his time cards and threatening his own officers if they cooperated in a state police investigation into the suspected theft.

Ambridge Police Chief James Mann faces a slew of charges, including theft by deception, fraud, witness intimidation and making threats to influence judicial matters, all felonies.

The Tribune Review says the investigation began in February with the Ambridge mayor told police a man in disguise left a letter at his door alleging the 61-year-old police chief was filling out fraudulent time cards while on sick leave in the borough about 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

According to an affidavit, Mann was out of sick days but continued to get paid his full wage by filling out time cards improperly.

A message seeking comment from Mann's attorney, Stephen Colafella, wasn't immediately returned Thursday.
The attorney for the parents of Penn State hazing victim Timothy Piazza, has issued this statement on the outcome of the latest preliminary hearing on criminal charges flowing from Piazza's death.

Magisterial District Judge Carmine Prestia Jr. threw out involuntary manslaughter charges, marking the third time that state or county prosecutors have lost bids to attach homicide charges to Piazza's death.

Thomas R. Kline's statement:

"While disappointed in today's rulings, the parents of Timothy Piazza remain steadfast and resolute in their support of the Pennsylvania Attorney General seeking to achieve a full measure of justice in the tragic death of their son.

"Also, the addition of the conspiracy (to commit hazing) charges is a significant enhancement against many defendants and is indeed a significant advancement towards accountability for those who caused Tim's death."

Kline, in a follow-up telephone interview with PennLive Friday, also said he believes Prestia's ruling on the manslaughter charges - which takes the greatest potential punishment off the table for prosecutors - bolsters the argument for tougher hazing statutes as proposed by Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County.

Corman has proposed a tiered set of charges for hazing incidents with increasing grades of severity working up to aggravated hazing in cases, like Piazza's, that result in a death.

Under the regrading, any incident of hazing that results in death or "significant bodily harm" would be graded as a third-degree felony, carrying likely jail time and a maximum sentence of up to seven years.

"There is no doubt that the Corman bill will provide prosecutors with the exact tools which were missing in this case," Kline said.

Corman's bill passed the state Senate without opposition earlier this year, but it has yet to receive a floor vote in the House of Representatives.

Piazza, a 19-year-old from Lebanon, N.J., is believed to have fallen down the basement stairs of Penn State's Beta house shortly after 11 p.m., Feb. 2, 2017, the night that he accepted a bid to join the fraternity.

That drunken fall - Piazza had just endured a drinking ritual known as "the gauntlet," and continued to drink heavily during an ensuing bid acceptance party - triggered an evening of amateur accident first aid and / or neglect.

It may not have been clear to many of the fraternity members how severe Piazza's internal injuries were.

But the lack of professional medical attention at any point during the night is believed to have contributed to Piazza's death at Hershey Medical Center on Feb. 4, 2017.
Student move in for Harrisburg University of Science and Technology will close off portions of Market Street on Friday, according to University officials.

From 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Friday, parking between Third and Fourth Streets on Market will be blocked for Harrisburg U students loading and unloading, according to Steve Infanti, Associate Vice President of the university's communication's office.

The left and right lanes can be expected to have cars double parked, Infanti said.

The middle lane between Third and Fourth Streets will be open.

Infanti warned that motorists may want to avoid Market Street during the move in times.

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.
Commuters planning on using Interstate 81 northbound near the Maryland border will have to find another route, as a section of the interstate will be closed due to construction this weekend.

A pavement repair operation in the vicinity of the Pennsylvania Welcome Center north of the state line will result in the northbound lanes being closed, starting at around 9 p.m. Friday.

This section of roadway is in Antrim Township, Franklin County.

When the road is closed, crews will remove damaged concrete slabs and replace them with new ones, then resurface the roadway with blacktop overlay.

The interstate is expected to be reopened by 6 a.m. Monday.

PennDOT offered the following tips for commuters to bypass the closed section of the interstate:

Truck traffic coming from West Virginia and Maryland is encouraged to bypass the construction work by using Interstate 70 at the I-81 interchange near Hagerstown, Maryland.

As northbound motorists approach Pennsylvania, there will be an alternate route starting at Exit 1 at the Maryland/Pennsylvania state line that will utilize PA Route 163 and U.S. Route 11 to bypass the construction work and return to northbound I-81 at Exit 3.

For motorists continuing north on I-81 into Pennsylvania, traffic will be limited to a single lane and directed to bypass the construction work by using the off-ramp for the Pennsylvania Welcome Center and then continuing to the on-ramp back to northbound I-81. Welcome Center building and facilities will be closed and unavailable to travelers during this weekend while traffic is diverted through it.

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.
By Arthur Motta

Natural gas is being increasingly used for electricity production, because of the historically low prices brought about by the development of fracking technology.

Arthur Motta (submitted photo)

Because natural gas emits half the greenhouse gases as coal, this is good news for the environment and it puts money in the consumer's wallets.

Is this really good? And what could be wrong with this picture?

A few things, it turns out. First, the good: it is true that gas does not have soot in its emissions and does not add much to acid rain, because the sulfur is removed before the gas is burned.

However, burning natural gas does emit nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog. In addition leaks in pipelines put methane into the atmosphere. On a per-molecule basis, methane is a greenhouse gas agent about 30 times worse than carbon dioxide.

The not-so-good: Gas does makes the environment cleaner if it replaces coal, but now it has started to replace our largest zero-carbon energy source, nuclear.

Several plants, including Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg, have announced plans to close. These are among the best performing plants in the country, and are invaluable assets, virtually impossible to replace.

The reason given by the owners is that the reactors cannot compete in price with abundant natural gas.

Ironically, the reason natural gas is beating them in price is that the environmental benefits of nuclear power are not factored into its price, an error that the Pennsylvania Legislature now has an opportunity to correct.

The previous presidential administration instituted the Clean Power Plan which gives credits to non-greenhouse gas-emitting power sources, such as solar and wind.

Inexplicably, and in the face of the current administration's support of nuclear power, these credits were not automatically extended to the existing nuclear power plants.

Instead, the federal government passed the buck to the states, and they are individually deciding whether to extend the credits to nuclear power plants. This is counterproductive, because when nuclear plants are shuttered, their output is replaced by natural gas generation, increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Saying that "nuclear power's costs are much higher than natural gas" is like sending a fighter into the ring with a hand tied behind the back, and then complaining that the fighter cannot punch effectively.

Nuclear power has higher costs than natural gas as a direct result of our failure to put a consistent price on greenhouse gas emissions. For fossil fuels (coal and gas), we are now accepting those emissions for free.

And it does not make much sense to be spending substantial amounts of taxpayer money and ratepayer money to add zero-carbon wind and solar while giving no acknowledgement in the marketplace to nuclear energy's ability to hold down climate-changing emissions.

In addition, nuclear power contributes to the resilience and reliability of the electrical supply.

The reliable supply of electricity at a low cost US electricity consumers have been used to could now be in danger as large reliable sources of electricity such as nuclear power are eliminated in favor of an over reliance on natural gas and renewables.

Unfortunately, the natural gas lobby is exerting very strong pressure on the Pennsylvania Legislature notto put the proper value on carbon emissions.

Their strong motivation to do so stems from that fact that the closure of the nuclear power plants would give them a near monopoly on electricity production.

So it is now time to ask: do we really want to put all of our eggs in one basket, that of natural gas? The diversity of electricity sources is one of the cornerstones of electric reliability and stable prices. We now have it but could soon lose it.

Our neighbors in New York and New Jersey, plus Illinois and Connecticut, have decided to properly account for the environmental benefits of nuclear-generated electricity, in the process also preserving major sources of jobs and local tax revenue.

The Pennsylvania Legislature should strongly consider following suit and setting up a system that takes nuclear power's benefits into account.

Rather than a subsidy or a giveaway, this act would constitute a proper accounting of the environment benefits of nuclear power and of the environmental harm caused by fossil fuels, including natural gas.

Acting now will help maintain these valuable assets to our country. Their disappearance would put the steady supply of electricity to consumers at risk and ultimately damage the environment.

This is the time to act.

Arthur Motta is chairman of the Nuclear Engineering program at the Pennsylvania State University. He writes from State College, Pa.
The clergy sex abuse of children and teens that occurred over a 70-year period in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania revealed in a grand jury report released last week has spurred a number of calls for strengthening laws to better protect children, one of them is coming from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

Casey, D-Pa., is calling for swift action by Congress on legislation he is offering that would strengthen and make uniform across the states the requirements for mandatory reporting of suspected or known child abuse or neglect.

His Speak Up to Protect Every Abused Kid Act would make it clear that in order to receive federal funds to raise awareness about child abuse prevention, states within two years must have laws requiring mandated reporters to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect directly to law enforcement or state authorities.

Among other requirements, it would also mandate states identify at a minimum the following categories of people as mandatory reporters: medical professionals, school employees, peace and law enforcement officers, clergy, day and child care operators and employees, employees of social service agencies who have direct contact with children, foster parents, court-appointed special advocates, and camp and after-school employees.

"The kinds of abuses that took place over decades in Pennsylvania should be the subject of continued scrutiny, review and transparency, and anyone who has abused a child or has been involved in covering it up must be held fully accountable," Casey said in a news release following a Friday news conference in Philadelphia on his bill. "Congress can and must act to make sure the types of abuses reported by the grand jury never happen again.

Casey's staff said Pennsylvania already is largely in compliance with what the bill hopes to accomplish but it adds uniformity and gets at the reporting and investigating of inter-state cases that only federal law can address.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro commended the call for stronger standards for reporting child sexual abuse.

Casey's Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, also indicated he'd be supportive.

"The grand jury report was heartbreaking, and as a practicing Roman Catholic, made me sick. Any abuse of children is abhorrent and those responsible for such actions should be held accountable. I will support any measure that will provide justice to victims and hold the abusers accountable," Barletta said.

One of his third-party opponents, Neal Gale of the Green Party, said he is in absolute agreement with Casey on his call for strengthening abuse reporting standards. His opponent from the Libertarian Party, Dale Kerns Jr., however, is not.

"This bill is not the answer to protecting children," Kerns said. Aside from questioning the federal government's authority to delve into this area, he said, "This is just a bill that takes money from individuals and states, and reallocates them after dispersing to lobbyists groups. States are sovereign, and the answer to protecting children comes from within the states, within the communities and within the home."

Rather than give money to states to address this problem, he said he would "insist on giving money back to families and allowing them to protect their children, rather than sending the money off to Washington D.C. so that the politicians can fund lobbyists and their re-election campaigns."

On a related topic, a Casey aide responded to a proposal by state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, calling for the U.S. Attorney General to launch a nationwide investigation into child sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Church.

"While child abuse laws are primarily under state jurisdiction, Senator Casey would support efforts, including hearings, to examine what role Congress can play to further protect children," said his spokesman Andres Anzola.
East Jordan's historic season closes in district loss to Ishpeming-Westwood

ISHPEMING  The first major steps to building up the East Jordan football program were taken by the Red Devils this season.
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Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Thursday that the president has been thinking of pardoning his convicted felon former campaign manager for weeks.

According to The Washington Post, the bumbling TV lawyer said Trump sought advice about the potential of a Manafort pardon weeks ago.

The report noted that Trump was furious that federal prosecutors were trying to beat up Manafort. Of course, the term beat up translates to hold him accountable for anyone who cares about the rule of law.

More from The Post:

The subject of pardoning Manafort came up as Trumps former campaign chairman faced multiple charges of bank fraud and tax evasion in an Alexandria court and the president was expressing his anger at how federal prosecutors had beat up and mistreated Manafort, Trump attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani said in an interview. Trumps lawyers counseled the president against the idea of pardoning anyone linked to the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election, according to Giuliani, saying Trump should at least wait until special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has concluded his probe. Giuliani said the president agreed and did not push the issue further.

A Manafort pardon is in the works

While the presidents babysitters convinced him to hold off on a pardon for the time being  likely afraid it would only add more evidence to Muellers obstruction of justice case  its clearly in the works.

Thats because, unlike Michael Cohen, Manafort doesnt appear to have flipped on Trump. The president even admitted as much in a tweet this week, praising Manafort and assailing Cohen.

I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. Justice took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to break  make up stories in order to get a deal. Such respect for a brave man!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018

In other words, Trump values criminals who sit on information that would incriminate others  him in particular  and not criminals who come clean about the extent of their illegal activities.

The United States is being run by a man who doesnt even believe in the laws he swore an oath to protect. He only believes in blind loyalty to himself.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.
Democratic Rep. Denny Heck of the House Intelligence Committee called on Donald Trump to resign his office before the walls completely close in on him and his family.

The Washington representative said this weeks stunning developments, particularly in the Michael Cohen guilty plea, makes it clear that this is the most corrupt administration in modern history.

I dont think thats a subjective evaluation or interpretation of the number of criminal indictments and convictions at the felony level, he said.

Video:

Rep. Denny Heck says the Trump administration is the most corrupt in modern history and the walls are closing in. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/t6glloVaLj  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) August 24, 2018

The Democratic congressman said:

Most of us believe that we ought to allow Director Mueller to conclude his work before that even becomes a serious conversation but Ill tell you this, Chris: I think the walls are closing in on President Trump. And as of Tuesday, August 21st, I think we can officially mark it as the most corrupt administration in modern history. I think thats a matter of fact. I dont think thats a subjective evaluation or interpretation of the number of criminal indictments and convictions at the felony level. I actually think the president ought to start having a conversation with his god and his family and himself about resigning.

If Trump truly wants to put America first, he should resign

The Democratic congressmans argument essentially boils down to this: Trump should resign, so the country can avoid the political circus of impeachment proceedings and restore some stability in the nations capital.

This would allow the country to move on from the era of chaos Trump has brought about and instead focus on the issues that so many voters care about: health care, wage stagnation, the environment and equal rights for every American, among so many others.

At the very same time, the legal process could carry on separately to hold Trump accountable for the federal crimes in which hes been implicated this week  and those yet to be revealed.

To borrow a phrase from the Watergate era, its time to end this long national nightmare and begin to repair the vast damage the Trump presidency has done over the past year and a half.
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While there has (appropriately) been a lot of attention paid to the conclusion of the first Paul Manafort trial, Rachel Maddow pointed out that his second trial could potentially do great damage to the Trump presidency.

According to Maddow, not only does the next chapter in the Manafort saga revolve around the former Trump campaign managers work as a foreign agent, but its telling that the special counsel has held onto the case tightly, even while handing off other cases.

We do not know if the president has anything to worry about, the MSNBC host said. But the Manafort case is the one case that is actually being tried by the special counsels office.

Video:

Maddow explains why Trump should be worried about the next chapter in the Paul Manafort saga. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/bNHUnttZuZ  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) August 24, 2018

Maddow said:

In the next trial for Manafort, he is going on trial for being an unregistered agent of a foreign power while he was running Donald Trumps campaign to become president. His co-defendant for some of the charges that hes about to face in his next trial is his Russian-speaking, Soviet-born, longtime business partner who the FBI says is linked to Russian intelligence and who is believed by prosecutors to have fled to Moscow ahead of him being charged alonside Paul Manafort with some of the felony charges that have led to this next trial that Manafort is about face. Old bank fraud and tax fraud charges back in the day? Okay. But being a secret foreign agent running a presidential campaign and committing felonies in cahootz with your Russian-speaking, Russian military intelligence-linked business partner as recently as this year? Thats going to be a different kind of case. And we dont know if the president has anything to worry about in terms of what may come out in that second trial of Paul Manafort, or if the president has anything to worry about if Manafort, in fact, decides to change his mind and start cooperating with prosecutors in order to lessen his prison time and the pending charges against him. We do not know if the president has anything to worry about. But the Manafort case is the one case that is actually being tried by the special counsels office, that the special counsels office has held onto to prosecute itself with its own personnel.

Paul Manafort could soon get the Michael Cohen treatment from Trump

First, the eight charges that Paul Manafort was found guilty of this week shouldnt be overlooked. The fact that Trump hired a convicted felon to run his campaign is a big deal.

Thats even more true of the Michael Cohen trial, which directly implicated Trump in the commission of a federal felony. This is serious stuff that, with a half-decent Congress, would at the very least result in immediate investigations.

But as Rachel Maddow pointed out on Thursday, the next Manafort trial could do even more legal damage to Trump as it relates directly to his former campaign managers work as a foreign agent during the 2016 election. It could provide similarly damning links to Trump as the Cohen case revealed.

Donald Trump may be showering Paul Manafort with praise after the first trial, but he may be getting the Cohen treatment when all is said and done.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.
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The safe at The National Enquirer contained damaging stories about Trump and documents related to hush money payments.

The AP reported:

The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press. The detail came as several media outlets reported on Thursday that federal prosecutors had granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.

.

The Journal reported Pecker shared with prosecutors details about payments that Cohen says Trump directed in the weeks and months before the election to buy the silence of McDougal and another woman alleging an affair, porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels was paid $130,000, and McDougal was paid $150,000.

If those documents still exist, the odds are good that prosecutors have them as part of their immunity deal with Pecker. Prosecutors appear to be after something bigger than Michael Cohens guilty plea. It looks like they might be building a case against Donald Trump for leading and being the mastermind behind a criminal conspiracy. Trump is in big trouble, and it is easy to see why the White House has been so worried about Michael Cohen.

Cohen and Pecker have flipped. Cohen has pointed the finger at Trump as the person who was giving the orders. It is looking more and possible that the President Of The United States could become an indicted criminal conspirator, and if this happens, whether Trump is impeached or not, his presidency will be effectively over.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.
By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters)  Thomas Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was arrested in New York City on Friday on charges of sexual abuse, forcible touching and harassment of a woman last year, the New York Police Department said.

Frieden, who also once served as New York Citys health commissioner, turned himself into a Brooklyn police station on Friday morning, Arlene Muniz, a police spokeswoman, said.

A 55-year-old woman filed a complaint against Frieden in July, accusing him of grabbing her buttocks against her will last October at his apartment in Brooklyn Heights, Muniz said.

Frieden, 57, had a prominent role in helping respond to the outbreaks of Ebola in West Africa in 2014 and Zika fever that began in Brazil in 2015.

As New Yorks health commissioner from 2002 to 2009, he oversaw efforts to ban smoking in public places. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him to head the CDC, the countrys main public health agency. He stepped down in 2017.

Frieden remained in custody on Friday, Muniz said.

It was not immediately clear if he was represented by a lawyer. He was due to make an initial appearance in Brooklyns criminal court later on Friday, the district attorneys office said.

Frieden graduated from Columbia Universitys medical school in 1986. After leaving government last year, Frieden became the president of Resolve to Save Lives, an effort by the non-profit health organization Vital Strategies to improve public health systems around the world that is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Vital Strategies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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New York state prosecutors in Manhattan are reportedly considering pushing for criminal charges against the Trump Organization and top company officials. The charges would relate to the hush-money payments made by former longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

In Cohens guilty pleas this week he admitted he had made illegal payments on behalf of the president, and then submitted invoices to the Trump Organization for payment.

According to charging documents, several high-level executives in the Trump Organization were aware of the illegal payments at the time they were made, and approved them. This means that Trumps company, as well as its senior executives, have been implicated in the same crimes to which Michael Cohen pleaded guilty.

Other than the Chief Financial Officer and the president himself, the only high-level executives within the Trump Organization are Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr..

Yesterday the New York Times reported that the Manhattan District Attorneys office is considering criminal charges against the company based on Cohens payment to Stormy Daniels. The state officials said they are reviewing the matter and no decision has been made on pursuing charges at this time.

CNN analyst explains how state case against Trump Organization would be nightmare that destroys the entire family

CNN analyst explains how state case against Trump Organization would be 'nightmare' that destroys the entire familyhttps://t.co/wB09qmT48E  Raw Story (@RawStory) August 24, 2018

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the Manhattan District Attorney may be eyeing criminal charges against the Trump Organization.

According to CNN analyst Michael DAntonio the filing of criminal charges against the company and its top executives would be terrifying for Trump for several reasons. (DAntonio is the author of over 20 books including a Trump biography, and he is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize.)

For one thing, because the charges would be prosecuted at the state level, Trump could not issue pardons since presidents dont have the ability to pardon state crimes. Trump is reportedly discussing using a pardon to free former campaign manager Paul Manafort who was convicted of 8 federal crimes earlier in the week.

Also, because the Trump Organization is a family business, charges brought against the company would mark the end of Trumps long standing plans for his family business, according to DAntonio.

Speaking to CNN host Don Lemon, DAntonio said:

This is an organization that has 500 different entities, businessman Donald Trump, before he was president, really specialized in clever engineering, clever financial dealings, in order to fund these enterprises, shift profit around. Now, for the first time, its all going to be opened up for examination. This is why he didnt release his tax returns. He didnt want people to actually have access to the numbers, and we may now have access to the numbers.

As a privately owned (non-public) company, all of its financial records are kept private, but a criminal case against the Trump Organization would open up all financial records to prosecutors and eventually to the public through the trial process.

All of the presidents confidential financial documents, including his tax returns, would probably be disclosed to member of the jury as well as the general public. In DAntonios opinion, This is really his nightmare. Hes operated as a private, family business for all these years to avoid scrutiny.

If the company and its executives are found guilty of crimes, it would also mark the demise of the entire Trump Organization as we know it today.

He wanted to hand this whole enterprise off to his children, and his children spoke to me about how they would run it as a normal business and not be so flagrant in their publicity seeking, DAntonio said. They may never get the chance.
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Katy Tur reported that Trump is a notorious micromanager who signs all of the Trump Organizations invoices and checks, which suggests that the Trump Organization executive that prosecutors are looking at is Donald Trump.

Video:

Tur said, I have been making calls today trying to figure out how money was paid out in the Trump Organization. I talked to two folks who worked for the Trump Organization. One told me that when they needed to be reimbursed for an expense, Donald Trump had to sign that invoice. That person had to go to Donald Trumps office, explain what it was and get Donald Trump to sign it before they went to Allen Weisenberger to get paid out. Both people said that Donald Trump was a huge micromanager when it came to the finances, that he knew about everything leaving the Trump Organization, that he personally signed checks. There was no auto sign. He knew all of it.

If Trump was this heavily involved in the finances of the Trump Organization, it makes sense that after pleading out Trumps personal attorney and giving immunity to the organizations CFO, the person that prosecutors are building a case against is the President Of The United States.

Trump Never Separated Himself From The Trump Organization

When Trump took office, he didnt separate himself from his private businesses. At the time, this was criticized for being a conflict of interest, but it presents an epic legal problem for the president today. Since Trump is still legally involved with the Trump Organization, it would be possible for prosecutors to indict the company, not the president.

An indictment of the Trump Organization would essentially be an indictment of Trump that would avoid the constitutional question of whether or not a sitting president can be indicted.

Trump set himself up for prosecution by choosing the path of corruption and greed. Trump has opened the door for prosecutors to take down the Trump Organization, and a sitting president at the same time.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Some Republican House members are discussing for the first time what would have to happen for them to seek to impeach President Donald Trump.

Back home among their constituents, some Republicans are dropping the I word.

Back home among their constituents, some Republicans are dropping the I word. https://t.co/dzJwtcgkuT  Roll Call (@rollcall) August 24, 2018

Nobody has jumped to any conclusions yet about whether Trump should face impeachment, of course, but at least it is being discussed.

Some GOP Members of Congress have spoken openly the past few days about the prospect of impeaching the president.

Weve got to wait for the investigations to finish, House, Senate, and more, North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, who has criticized Trumps remarks in the past, told WITN. At whatever point, if its justified, that they recommend impeachment, then that would be on the table.

On Thursday Michigan Rep. Justin Amash tweeted that the criminal allegations against Trump are serious and should be taken seriously, especially by members of Congress.

Many of the allegations against @POTUS are serious and should be taken seriously, especially by members of Congress.

Many of the allegations against @POTUS are serious and should be taken seriously, especially by members of Congress.  Justin Amash (@justinamash) August 23, 2018

Amash echoed Jones in saying that Congress should wait until special counsel Mueller finishes his investigation. He said Mueller could uncover more of the 2016 Trump campaigns ties to Russia, and he could also find other crimes that the president was involved in.

We dont impeach simply because we dislike a person or disagree with his policies. If youre unhappy about the president, then dont vote for him in 2020, Amash wrote. The electoral process should determine who holds the executive power.

At a town hall event in his New York district, Rep. John Katko was asked questions about Trump and impeachment. He said its dangerous to speculate before the investigation has wrapped up. He also said that he will abide by the facts wherever they lead us, the Auburn Citizen reported. Im not saying hes innocent Im not saying hes guilty, Katko added.

Clearly the issue of impeachment is looming large over many GOP House members this year, in advance of the November elections.

This years midterms will decide whether their party keeps control of the House, or if Democrats win the majority.

According to Jones, Republicans are in deep political trouble. But he maintains that if there is a blue wave election it wont be the fault of the GOP candidates.

The sad thing is, its not so much what we have done as a party, but what the head of the party in the White House has done, Jones lamented, no doubt expressing the sentiments of many others.

Former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Cole said that GOP candidates should not defend the president, just in case more incriminating information comes out.

Where theres smoke, and theres a lot of smoke, there may well be fire, Cole reportedly told Republicans, according to The New York Times.

Anybody who says this is not disturbing is not being honest, Cole said. My advice to any candidate would be: Keep your powder dry and dont rush to attack or defend anybody because you just dont know enough to have a reaction that you can still defend three months from now.

So far Republicans in Congress have enabled the president to carry out his anti-American agenda while getting away with crimes. They have allowed corruption to flourish in Washington in ways never before seen.

If the current environment means this is changing, and the GOP will now stand up and fulfill their constitutional role of presidential oversight, then there is hope that our country will survive the trying ordeal of the Trump presidency.
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Former federal prosecutor Paul Butler said that the Southern District of New York federal investigation into the Trump Organization could be looking at Trump kids Don Jr., and Ivanka along with son in law Jared Kushner.

Video:

Former federal prosecutor Paul Butler said on MSNBCs Deadline: White House, Remember, Robert Mueller, forwarded this case to the southern district for an investigation of Michael Cohen. Well, on Wednesday Michael Cohen became a convicted felon eight times over. So a question now is whats the southern districts end game? They have managed to prosecute and convict Michael Cohen. It seems like their target now is the president of the United States, but he cannot be indicted and prosecuted in a criminal case while in office, according to D.O.J. Guidelines, which the southern district is bound to follow. And so what are they trying to do? It could be that they are looking at people who are higher up than  in the Trump Organization, so that would include Don Junior, Jared, and Ivanka.

The Trump Crime Family Is Collapsing

The American people are watching as the spotlight, and the intensity of the coverage of the presidency is shining light on the years of crime and corruption carried out by the Trump family. With the Trump Organization CFO, David Pecker, and Michael Cohen all either pleading guilty or being granted immunity; the Trump family is watching the people who worked within their organization spill their darkest secrets.

There is also a state-level investigation into the Trump Foundation, and all of the Trump children sit on the board of directors. Trump cant pardon away any state charges that are leveled against his children. A crime family is cracking before the eyes of a nation, and the only thing saving the man at the head of it all is the office that he currently and temporarily holds.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump Organization executive Alan Weisselberg was granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Michael Cohen in the criminal investigation into hush-money payments for two women during the 2016 presidential campaign.

As Chief Financial Officer for all of Trumps business and nonprofit entities, Weisselberg literally knows everything about Trumps finances going back decades. Weisselberg first started working for Fred Trump, the presidents father, in the 1970s.

He has reportedly been granted legal immunity in exchange for his testimony in front of a grand jury as part of the probe of former Trump fixer Michael Cohen being carried on by the U.S. Attorneys office in the Southern District of New York.

The scope of Allen Weisselbergs responsibilities:

* Handled Trump Org. finances for decades

* Been involved with the Trump Foundation

* Managed Trumps private trust

* Has reviewed the Trump presidential campaigns books

The scope of Allen Weisselbergs responsibilities: Handled Trump Org. finances for decades Been involved with the Trump Foundation Managed Trump's private trust Has at times reviewed the Trump presidential campaign's books https://t.co/CCQYnRuXEf  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 24, 2018

Cohen this week pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges, including making illegal campaign contributions to PresidentTrumps campaign that were used to pay off Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal as hush money so they wouldnt talk about their affairs with the president. Cohen also implicated the president, his company, and company officers in the commission of crimes.

Weisselbergs cooperation with investigators may be a much bigger threat to the president than Cohens, even though Cohen was Trumps personal lawyer for over ten years. Weisselberg has all of the detailed information about all of Trumps business and finance operations for such entities as:

The Trump Organization, which consists of 500 different for-profit entities, The Trump Foundation, which is under criminal investigation by the State of New York, and The Trump campaign organization, which has been charged with crimes and violations of several federal laws.

The Journal also mentioned that Donald Trump gave Weisselberg financial control over the Trump Organization after he was elected president, although he shared that responsibility with the presidents sons, Eric and Don Jr..

It is believed that Weisselberg personally approved all expenditures by the Trump Organization and its many different entities.

The Journal has also reported that it doesnt know yet whether or not Weisselberg has verified Cohens charges that President Trump knew about the illegal payments made to Daniels and McDougal and was in fact part of the negotiations for those payments.

Weisselbergs reported cooperation with prosecutors is a severe blow to the president, coming just one day after one of his closest friends, National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, also agreed to testify against him in exchange for immunity from prosecution. It will inevitably lead to speculation that federal prosecutors are looking the presidents sons as potential targets of their criminal investigation.
The feud between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions continued on Friday morning as Trump hit back at Sessions Thursday comments where he defended himself against Trumps attacks.

Trump had criticized Sessions and the Justice Department in a Fox News interview broadcast on Thursday. He went through a long list of complaints about the Justice Department and the FBI, and attacked both of them, although he provided no evidence that they had treated him and his supporters unfairly.

Trump also renewed his criticism of Sessions, blaming him for what he called corruption at Justice. I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department, Trump said.

Sessions, in a rare rebuttal to Trump, defended the integrity of his department in this statement:

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the Presidents agenda. While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action.

Then Trump on Friday morning said Sessions should look into all of the corruption on the other side.

In a series of three tweets he also listed all of the supposed corruption that he wants his attorney general to investigate on his behalf.

Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the other side including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr. . .

.FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems  and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!

Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the other side including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

.FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems  and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

His third tweet was another cheap shot at Hillary Clinton:

Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over classified information. Gee, this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.

Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over classified information. Gee, this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

Unsurprisingly, Trumps list of individuals and entities he wants subject to criminal investigation by the Department of Justice includes mainly his politcal enemies. This shows that he still views the job of the Attorney General as that of a lawyer who serves his personal agenda instead of the countrys.

Trump has been angry with Sessions ever since he recused himself in March 2017 from issues involving the 2016 White House race, such as Russian interference in the election.

The recusal removed Sessions from oversight of the federal special counsels investigation. Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a witch hunt.

Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldnt have done, Trump said. He took the job and then he said, Im going to recuse myself. I said, What kind of a man is this?
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The Randolph County, Georgia elections board on Friday stopped the proposed closing of 7 of 9 polling locations. The move, in a majority black county, was seen as a victory for voting rights advocates just weeks before the November election. This year in Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams is trying to become the first African-American female governor in U.S. history.

Randolph Co rejects plan to close 7 of 9 precincts! Thanks ACLU supporters!

Randolph Co rejects plan to close 7 of 9 precincts! Thanks ACLU supporters! pic.twitter.com/s98stwCCox  ACLU of Georgia (@ACLUofGA) August 24, 2018

The Randolph County board of elections, in a meeting that lasted just one minute, voted 2-0 to make no changes to voting precincts, a spokesman for the board told CNN.

Both Abrams and Republican candidate Brian Kemp, who serves as Georgias secretary of state, had asked county officials to drop the plan.

The proposal to close seven polling stations was submitted by an outside elections consultant who had donated money to Kemps campaign. County officials who had hired the consultant in April to work on election management fired him on Wednesday, according to the CNN report.

We won! Voter suppression proposal in Randolph County abandoned, Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said on Twitter following the vote. This is a victory for African-American voters who, too often, are subject to voting discrimination and racial animus.

BREAKING: We won! Voter suppression proposal in Randolph County abandoned. All 9 polling sites across the county will stand. This is a victory for African American voters who, too often, are subject to voting discrimination and racial animus. @LawyersComm  Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) August 24, 2018

The proposal would have closed the seven rural polling sites because they were not wheelchair accessible, which is a violation of federal disabilities law.

CNN reported:

The vote came amid widespread national criticism and days after the county terminated its contract with Mike Malone, the consultant who made the recommendation. Malone had argued that closing the polling stations would save the county money, and that some of the sites suggested for closure did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Edward Dubose, a member of the NAACPs National Board of Directors, had this to say about the events in Randolph County:

We are excited about this moment, but were watchful. This is a victory, but by no means should anyone relax. All of this happened under the leadership of Brian Kemp. We need to follow the trail all the way back and search out all of these attempts to set us back in voting rights. This is a small example of whats happening across Georgia to disenfranchise African Americans and minority voters.

Over 60 percent of Randolph Countys residents are black. The county is located 125 miles south of Atlanta.
Correction: Polygraph.info has been convinced to remove from our story an assertion that Russias use of high-resolution digital electro-optical sensor is a violation of the Open Skies Treaty. We have also removed from the story reference to Russian violations dating back to 2004 and we will seek clarification from U.S. and independent authorities. We do not change this verdict. Please see the editors note below.

The U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump moved to suspend funding for the Open Skies Treaty on August 13 after the U.S. accused Russia of not complying with the terms of the international agreement.

The Open Skies Treaty allows states to perform certain number of observation flights over each others territories. The accord was signed in Helsinki, Finland in 1992 and took effect in 2002. The 34 signatories include NATO allies, Eastern European members of the former Warsaw Pact, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia.

Russia denied committing any violations of the Treaty, saying the accusations are groundless, and insisting that Moscow is fully committed to the accord.

The claim is false  Russias violations of the Treaty are documented in the annual compliance reports that are publicly available on the U.S. State Department website.

The U.S. says the Russian government sets distance limits on flights over the Kaliningrad Oblast, imposes altitude restrictions for the Moscow region, denies permission for Open Skies aircraft to fly within 10 kilometers of the Russian border with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The limits set by Russia are forbidden by the treaty. For its own observation flights over the United States, Russia uses aircraft with high-resolution digital electro-optical sensors  the use of the sensors is controversial.

In 2016, a Brookings Institution report said U.S. objections to the sensors comes as something of a surprise. The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, at the time, Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, testified digital techniques allow Russia, in my opinion, to get incredible foundational intelligence on critical infrastructure, bases, ports, all of our facilities, so from my perspective, it gives them a significant advantage.

The Question: Stay in or Withdraw From Treaties With Russia

One thing is completely clear. The State Department does not fabricate charges of Russian arms control violations. They typically do the opposite, U.S. arms control expert and a senior analyst at the National Institute for Public Policy Mark Schneider told Polygraph.info.

Schneider believes the U.S. must withdraw from other agreements with Russia, that constrain our military and are being violated by the Russia, including the New Start and the INF Treaty.

Russia always lies about its compliance record. Its compliance record is generally compliance to the extent convenient, Schneider said.

Robert McCreight, Adjunct Professor at the George Mason University believes, that despite Russias noncompliance, the Open Skies Treaty is remains essential to the U.S. and especially to its allies in Eastern Europe. The Treaty provides valuable information, especially for our Allies and partners that do not have the same imaging capabilities as the U.S., McCreight told Polygraph.info.

Still, McCreight said the distance limitations and other restrictions Russia imposes for the flights over its territory give Russia the ability to move weapons or other assets out of the flight path and thereby prevent treaty members from getting an accurate picture of Russian military assets, comprising the purpose of the treaty.

The issue of the digital sensors, mentioned earlier in this article, also seems to play a part in the question of whether some experts in the West consider the Open Skies Treaty useful. Brookings said the U.S. objections came after Russia operationalized the capability first, that the U.S. was fully aware of Russias move and was taking its own steps to replace

One thus has to wonder whether this debate is about the new Russian sensors, or whether it is about the value of the treaty itself, Pfier and Ben-Chorin wrote, their own conclusion being that the Treaty still has value to the U.S. despite what they saw as superior satellite reconnaissance capabilities. .

Editors note:
You are here: World

 Flash

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Wednesday met with foreign leaders who were in Chongqing to attend the first Smart China Expo, held from Thursday to Saturday.





During his meeting with Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Ulziisaikhan Enkhtuvshin, Han said it was in line with the fundamental interests of the people of China and Mongolia that the two neighboring countries enhance all-round cooperation.





China has always regarded its relations with Mongolia as important in its foreign policy of neighboring countries and followed the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in conducting neighborhood diplomacy, Han said.





The year 2019 will mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Mongolia. Han said China will implement the consensus reached by the presidents of both countries to enhance high-level exchanges, promote cooperation and expand people-to-people relations.





Enkhtuvshin said his country would stick to the one-China policy and better dovetail the Development Road Initiative of Mongolia with China's Belt and Road Initiative.





During his meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somdy Duangdy, Han expressed condolences regarding the dam collapse disaster in southern Laos last month.





Han said the development of China-Laos comprehensive strategic partnership benefited both sides and the region.





"China has always viewed Laos as its good neighbor, good friend, good comrade and good partner, and will continue to follow a friendly policy towards Laos," Han said.





He said China hoped to enhance communication and coordination with Laos to implement the consensus of both leaders and provide momentum in exchanges to build a shared future with Laos.





Somdy thanked China for providing aid after the dam collapse, and commended the deepening of bilateral relations.





During his meeting with Singapore's Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Han said China and Singapore had embarked on a road of mutual learning and benefit.





He said China will work with Singapore to safeguard rules-based multilateral trade system and help create an open, inclusive and balanced global economy.





Goh said Singapore had always attached importance to relations with China, which continued to develop steadily.





He said Singapore opposed unilateralism and protectionism, and wanted to work with China to ensure greater interconnectivity and an open world economy.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 73F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable.
Andrew Knapp is editor of the Quick Response Team, which covers crime, courts and breaking news. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor at Florida Today, Newsday and Bangor (Maine) Daily News. He enjoys golf, weather and fatherhood.
Gregory Yee covers the city of Charleston. He's a native Angeleno and previously covered crime and courts for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA. He studied journalism and Spanish literature at the University of California, Irvine.
David Slade is a senior Post and Courier reporter. His work has been honored nationally by Society of Professional Journalists, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Scripps foundation and others. Reach him at 843-937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com
ATHENS, Ala.  A county at the heart of Alabamas cotton industry is getting a new gin for the first time in generations.

Associated Growers Cooperative is building a more than $7.2 million gin in Limestone County, near the Tennessee line in northern Alabama.

The facilitys assistant manager, Billy Stickler said the complex is the first cotton gin constructed in Limestone in 60 years. Gins separate cotton fibers from seeds and are a vital component in cotton production.

Government statistics show Limestone and adjacent Madison counties were Alabamas top-producing cotton areas last year.

Max Runge of the Alabama Extension System says cotton is a bright spot in Alabama agriculture, and a new gin is good news because the state needs the infrastructure.

Va. finds 1st case of equine encephalitis

RICHMOND, Va.  Virginia officials have announced the first case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in a horse this year.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says it was a Quarter Horse mare from Suffolk. Officials say the horse entered the North Carolina State Veterinary school hospital in late July and subsequently died.

The disease has an 80 percent to 90 percent mortality rate.

The hospital recently received notice of the positive disease result. Officials say the horse was vaccinated incompletely with an initial vaccination, but not a follow-up shot.

For full effectiveness, officials say horses must be vaccinated initially with a follow-up booster, and then again every six to 12 months.

South Dakota corn, soybean production forecast to be up from last year

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.  Corn and soybean production in South Dakota is forecast to be up from last years drought-impacted season.

The latest forecast from the federal Agriculture Department puts the soybean crop up 15 percent to a record 277 million bushels, and the corn crop up 12 percent to 825 million bushels.

South Dakotas winter wheat crop is forecast to be up 79 percent to just over 37 million bushels, and the spring wheat crop more than double at about 43 million bushels.

North Dakotas wheat production expected to be up dramatically

FARGO, N.D.  Wheat production in North Dakota is forecast to be up dramatically from last years drought-plagued crop.

The latest forecast from the federal Agriculture Department puts the durum wheat crop up 31 percent to about 38 million bushels, the spring wheat crop up 50 percent to 312 million bushels and the winter wheat crop more than double at 2.8 million bushels.

Production of barley, oats, corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay also is projected to be up from 2017. Production of dry beans is expected to be down, and the sugar beet crop appears relatively stable at down just 2 percent.

White House annual Thanksgiving turkey to come from South Dakota

HURON, S.D.  The White Houses annual Thanksgiving turkey for the first time is set to come from South Dakota.

The finalist turkeys are getting fattened up in a special facility at a Beadle County farm. South Dakota Poultry Industries Association executive director David Zeman says the birds are getting fed by hand.

Zeman says the farms location isnt being publicized to make sure crowds dont come to gawk. The best two turkeys will be taken in November to Washington for President Donald Trump. Traditionally, the president "pardons" the birds from the fate of their brethren and the turkeys are sent to a farm to live out their days.

Cheers! Italian wine harvest begins

ROME  The Italian wine grape harvest season has started with Pinot and Chardonnay grapes in the northern Lombardys Franciacorta region, with experts anticipating a better year after an especially weak 2017.

The Coldiretti agricultural lobby said its expecting a 15 percent increase in wine production this season to 1.2 billion gallons, from about 1 billion gallons last year.

The higher production this year is due to a greater abundance of rain in key regions, while last year heat and drought combined for one of the lowest post-war yields.

Coldiretti forecast a 5.9 percent increase in wine exports this year.
Minnesotans can breathe easy for now, but our states tobacco funding may be falling short.

Following a reportfrom the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation pointed out that Minnesotas state funding for tobacco prevention is less than the Centers for Disease Control recommends.

According to a press release, Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation fears that number will plummet when ClearWay Minnesota ends in 2022.

In 2017, Minnesota received more than $840 million in tobacco taxes and ongoing tobacco settlement payments, the press release states. Less than 1 percent of the funds went toward tobacco-use prevention. ClearWay Minnesota currently provides 70 percent of total funding for tobacco cessation and prevention efforts across Minnesota.

The nonprofit was created in 1998, and tasked with reducing tobacco use in Minnesota over a 25-year period.

ClearWay has operated Minnesotas QUITPLAN Services since 2001, a free service that nearly 170,000 Minnesotans have used to quit smoking. Those services will end in March 2020.

ACS CANs "How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality" rates states in nine areas of public policy.

Currently, Minnesota is among the states that spend between 25 and 49.9 percent of the CDCs recommended amount on tobacco prevention and cessation.

The state spends about $20.6 million per year, a little less than half of the recommended $53 million.

But according to Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, within four years, the state could fall into the red zone of states that spend less than 25 percent of the recommended amount.
Yes, we'll have warmer days ahead even after school starts, but it's sort of the unofficial end of summer when the Minnesota State Fair starts. Worry? Nah, just enjoy.

Great Minnesota Get-Together

It's Minnesota State Fair time! This is a gathering of people, food, fun and crowds! I get up to the fair nearly every year and, if I'm lucky, I get to see my buddy John McCormick, an old former PBer, who is keeping his string of annual visits going since birth even though he now resides two states away. The fair's site is a great place to begin your planning. It's got easy to find information on transportation, tickets, food, exhibits and much more. They improve it each year. So if you go, give it a look before you travel north to Falcon Heights.

www.mnstatefair.org

State Fair T-shirts

This is always one of my favorites. The State Fair T-shirts Tumblr. You'll see every kind of of message. I'm a fan of T-shirt messages and bumper stickers, but not all do I find thoughtful or helpful. The site does offer a warning: "Like many fairgoers, you may find some of the following ACTUAL fairgrounds apparel offensive and even appalling. Inclusion here DOES NOT constitute endorsement or even acquiescence. Although some are cute."

http://statefairtshirts.tumblr.com

Opinion or news?

I'm proud I scored 100 percent correct. Will you? The Pew Research organization has a good quiz to determine if you if a statement is fact or opinion, which is a key to sleuthing through the information we digest daily. Give it a spin and then practice, practice.

www.pewresearch.org/quiz/news-statements-quiz

Drone's-eye view

I'm fan of the aerial photo. With the advent of drones using cameras, we can see so much more and enjoy the fruits of the pilots' eyes. Here's a site that highlights the view with some of the best shots you'll see. Getting up above gives the view so much more perspective and beauty. Take a look.

https://droneawards.photo/gallery

Map the mayhem

The Destination Medical Center-related development has created many opportunities, but also a lot of construction work. Hard to keep track? Read a newspaper to stay updated. Another option is to consult the DMC site, which has the developments mapped out to show you what's done, what's under construction and what's in the works. I like it. Look and see as our city changes.

https://dmc.mn/maps

Shooters

With the retirement of Lindsay Whalenfrom the Minnesota Lynx, I was reading about the WNBA and some of its great athletes. Here's a piece from the Player's Tribune that highlights the best shooters. It's done well and reminds you of the influences of kids who eventually become adults. Allie Quigley, the author and athlete, does a nice job. Give it a read.

www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/wnba-allie-quigley-7-best-shooters-period
The Guam Power Authority has finalized a contract with KEPCO-LG CNS Consortium, the second renewable energy agreement the utility signed this week.

KEPCO will construct a 60-megawatt facility by 2021.

The additional renewable power will help GPA save on 10 million gallons of fuel per year  a boon for ratepayers as the price of oil rises, according to GPA General Manager John Benavente.

The utility signed a deal with Hanwha Energy Corp. on Wednesday for a separate 60-MW renewable energy power plant.

GPA will pay KEPCO 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour of energy. An escalator rate will apply each year for 25 years of the agreement.

By the end of that period, GPA will be paying about 10 cents per kWh. The same can be said of the utility's agreement with Hanwha, which begins at a slightly lower 8.25 cents per kWh.

The costs will be factored into the fuel surcharge, which includes GPA's cost of fuel. By the time both plants are online, renewable energy will make up about 22 percent of the fuel surcharge.

While new renewable integration will save on expensive oil, not all renewable energy is cheap.

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Payments to NRG  the first utility scale solar provider on Guam  is currently 20 cents per kWh. An annual escalator will see that cost rise even higher.

The cost for NRG is reflected in about 3 percent of the fuel surcharge.

Benavente said the purchase rate was negotiated when the price of oil was at $100 per barrel and climbing. At the time, the purchase rate was beneficial for the utility, he added. The rate will remain, Benavente said.

However, NRG's output is 25 MW. The two new plants, with a combined output of 120 MW and with cheaper purchase rates, should still result in fuel oil savings, Benavente said.

Looking ahead

With the Hanwha and KEPCO deals finalized, GPA closes out its second phase of renewable energy integration. A third phase will use Department of Defense property and include energy storage capabilities that can supplement traditional generation in the evening.

Benavente said he hoped to have a contract for Phase 3 by the end of the year.
LINCOLN, Neb.  Nebraska carried out its first execution in more than two decades on Tuesday with a drug combination never tried before, including the first use of the powerful opioid fentanyl in a lethal injection.

Carey Dean Moore, 60, was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. Moore had been sentenced to death for killing two cab drivers in Omaha in 1979. He was the first inmate to be lethally injected in Nebraska, which last carried out an execution in 1997, using the electric chair.

Witnesses said that there appeared to be no complications in the execution process, which also was the first time a state used four drugs in combination. Moore remained mostly still throughout the execution but breathed heavily and gradually red and then purple as the drugs were administered.

Media witnesses including The Associated Press saw Moore take short, gasping breaths that became deeper and more labored. His chest heaved several times before it went still. His eyelids briefly cracked open.

At one point while on the gurney, Moore turned his head and mouthed several words to his family, including I love you. No members of the victims families witnessed the execution.

The Department of Correctional Services said the first lethal injection drug was administered at 10:24 a.m. Moore was declared dead at 10:47 a.m.

In his final written statement , Moore admitted: I am guilty. But he said there are others on Nebraskas death row who he believes are innocent and he said they should be released.

How might you feel if your loved one was innocent and on death row? Moore asked.

The execution drew only about a dozen death penalty supporters and protesters who stood in the rain outside the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. Death penalty opponents planned to gather outside the Nebraska Capitol at 5 p.m. for their own rally.

The light turnout stood in contrast to the 1994 execution of Harold Lamont Otey, when more than 1,000 people created a raucous, party-like atmosphere. Otey was executed shortly after midnight in the electric chair, and some in the crowd sang the song Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye after it was announced. Later executions were scheduled at 10 a.m.

Moores execution comes a little more than three years after Nebraska lawmakers abolished the death penalty, only to have it reinstated the following year through a citizen ballot drive partially financed by Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts. The governor, a wealthy former businessman, has said he was fulfilling the wishes of voters in the conservative state.

The Nebraska drug protocol called for an initial IV dose of diazepam, commonly known as Valium, to render the inmate unconscious, followed by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, then cisatracurium besylate to induce paralysis and stop the inmate from breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.

Diazepam and cisatracurium also had never been used in executions before.

According to prosecutors, Moore was 21 when he fatally shot Reuel Van Ness during a robbery with his younger brother, and used the money to buy drugs and pornography. Moore fatally shot Maynard Helgeland by himself five days later, saying he wanted to prove he could take a mans life by himself. Moore was arrested a week later. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder, while his 14-year-old brother was convicted of second-degree murder.

In his statement, Moore also apologized to his brother for dragging him into the robbery and murder.

I should (have) led him in the right way to go instead of bringing him down, way down, Moore said.

Moore had faced execution dates set by the Nebraska Supreme Court seven times since he was convicted, but each was delayed because of legal challenges and questions over whether previous lethal injection drugs were purchased legally. For some relatives of Moores victims, that was far too long  and they hope his name and crimes will finally vanish from headlines.

Were sick of hearing about Carey Dean Moore, Steve Helgeland, one of Maynard Helgelands three children, said ahead of the execution.

Helgeland said the numerous delays in executing Moore had left him ambivalent about whether his fathers killer died by lethal injection or spends the rest of his life in prison.

There was a point in my life when I probably would have pulled the switch myself, but 39 years has a way of dissipating your anger, he said.

A Germany-based drugmaker tried to halt the execution last week, filing a lawsuit that alleged the state had illegally procured at least one of the companys drugs. The company, Fresenius Kabi, argued that allowing the execution to go forward would harm its reputation and business relationships.

But a federal judge sided with state attorneys , who argued that the publics interest in carrying out a lawful execution outweighed the companys concerns. The judge also noted that Moore had stopped fighting the states efforts to execute him.

A federal appeals court upheld that ruling Monday, and Fresenius Kabi decided not to appeal.

Follow Grant Schulte on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GrantSchulte
This morning, President Trump attacked his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, once again. He complained that Sessions never took control of the Justice Department.

Trump fails here to distinguish between taking control of the Russia investigation and taking control of the Justice Department generally. He also fails to recognize that its not the Attorney Generals job to protect the president or to promote his political interests  to be the presidents wingman, as Eric Holder once described his function as AG.

Sessions fired back at Trump, something hes been reluctant to do in the past. He stated, While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. Sessions also said:

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the Presidents agendaone that protects the safety and security and rights of the American people, reduces violent crime, enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances religious liberty.

Then, in the afternoon, Trump and Sessions were together at the White House. Sessions was there to urge the president not to endorse leniency-for-criminals legislation, at least not before the mid-term elections. Trump decided he will not endorse it before then.

By all accounts, the Trump-Sessions encounter went fine. There was no animosity on display. This was an Attorney General advising the President, and the President taking his advice.

Things became really odd when Trump told Sessions that fentanyl dealers should get the death penalty in certain cases. Reportedly, he wants it in cases where the sale of the drug causes someones death.

In the context of discussing the possibility of leniency legislation, Trumps statement struck a discordant note, to say the least.

Sen. Mike Lee, a key supporter of leniency for drug felons, was not pleased. In an interview, he said the fentanyl death penalty provision would not be added to the criminal justice overhaul because it would jeopardize passage. Translation: Dont rain on our jailbreak. This bill is about leniency. If you want tough, do it on your own dime.

Lee whistled past the obvious disconnect here. It would be daft for Trump to support the death penalty for a fentanyl dealer whose sale happens to cause a death, while supporting legislation that significantly reduces prison time for dealers whose sales dont.

In both instances, the criminal intent of the dealer is the same. The unlucky dealer gets put to death. His more fortunate counterpart gets a reduced sentence with the opportunity for further reductions if he participates in some form of rehabilitation program. A lethal injection for one, an ankle braclet for the other. Thats a ridiculous set of outcomes.

President Trumps policy positions arent always completely coherent, but so far they have never been ridiculous.
Barack Obama and his foreign policy team led us into an upside down world in which friends were treated as enemies and enemies treated as friends. President Trump has led the great undoing of Obama administration policies on the home front. Senior Trump administration officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton are instrumental to the great undoing of Obamaian foreign policy.

When it came to Iran, Obama chose to get in bed with the mullahs. Nothing was allowed to stand in the way of the consummation represented by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to place Iran on the path to a nuclear weapon and fund its international wrongdoing. In the annals of misguided international diplomacy, the JCPOA takes pride of place over the Munich Agreement. Not even Neville Chamberlain thought to fund the realization of Hitlers dreams for Europe.

Following the adoption of the JCPOA, Secretary of State John Kerry hit the road to build up foreign investment in Iran. He sought to reward the Iranian regime for its deigning to take the cash and do the deal. No greater fool has ever served in that high office.

Bolton is abroad this week in furtherance of the great undoing. See, for example, Caroline Glicks Jerusalem Post column drawing on her interview with Bolton in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

The impeachment hysteria at home has virtually drowned out the news of Boltons trip. In the foreign press, however, the Guardian is paying attention. The Guardian quotes Bolton in the opening of the linked story: The US is prepared to use sanctions to drive Iranian oil exports down to zero[.] He explained: Regime change in Iran is not American policy, but what we want is massive change in the regimes behavior. Its an idea so crazy it just might work.
At a White House meeting this afternoon, President Trump reportedly decided that the leniency-for-criminals legislation Jared Kushner, Sen. Chuck Grassley, and a host of liberal Democrats have been pushing is too politically difficult to endorse before the elections. Lets hope he understands that the legislation is politically fraught after the elections, as well.

The legislation is also terrible policy. This point is forcefully made in the following letter, hand-delivered to White House today, from heads of leading organizations representing law enforcement officers:

Dear President Trump:

We write to express our strong concern and opposition to the First Step Act and sentencing-related proposals that will endanger our communities and put the lives of law enforcement officers at risk. These proposals, regardless of their stated aims, will trigger the premature release of thousands of dangerous criminals from federal prison, including gang members, firearms traffickers, and high level drug traffickers of deadly fentanyl, methamphetamine and other poisons.

We are in the midst of a fentanyl and heroin crisis. Last year alone, 72,000 Americans were poisoned by these drugs  more deaths than the entire Vietnam war. Most of this fentanyl and heroin is coming from Mexico and China. This is no time to relent and give back the gains we have made since the early 1990s when our current sentencing regime was established.

The claims of proponents that their proposals are targeted to low-level offenders who pose no danger to our country is patently false. Releasing tens of thousands of federal offenders from prison with placement into community supervision will result in higher rates of homicides, robberies, rapes, and drug overdose deaths.

Mr. President, you campaigned on a platform of law and order that included removing illegal alien gang members from this country. The First Step Act, the bill you are being asked to support, does quite the opposite.

For example, under the House passed bill, illegal alien gang members will become eligible for early release to home confinement instead of being turned over to ICE. We have not seen bill text from Senator Grassley or others that removes this provision, which otherwise represents a clear and present and danger to our communities.

As your strong allies in the preservation of law and order, we ask you not to support any legislation that reduces mandatory minimum penalties, including those for fentanyl and heroin trafficking, or that prematurely releases dangerous criminals back into our communities.

Sincerely yours,

Bryan Chesshir

President

Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association

John A. Costanzo

President

Association of Federal Narcotics Agents

Thomas OConnor

President

FBI Agents Associations

Nathan R. Catura

President

Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association

Lawrence J. Leiser

President

National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys

William J. Johnson

Executive Director

National Association of Police Organizations, Inc.

Bob Bushman

President

National Narcotics Officers Associations Coalition

Jonathan F. Thompson

Executive Director and CEO

National Sheriffs Association

There are many local sheriffs, police, and prosecutors who strongly oppose the jailbreak legislation being peddled by Team Leniency. Its my understanding that President Trump will be hearing from them soon.
Ammo Grrrll has traveled THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD that leads to her door. She writes:

I love America and Americans  even the white ones who smell like wet dog and have bad teeth  and I especially love The Heartland. Still, there are only so many times  maybe 50?  you can go from I-35S in the Twin Cities to I-10W without feeling a profound sense of deja vu. Mr. AG favors turning west at OKCity on the I-40 to go to Flagstaff and then south to our Dusty Little Village. That route was spoiled for me when I drove it in my previous car, a 2002 Saturn filled to bursting with everything we needed for 5 months of wintering. The Saturn, never known for zippiness, complained bitterly in the Rockies, especially stuck behind an actual house! Yes, theres a practice evidently common in the region, of people taking their pre-fab homes out for a little spin. Maybe just trying to air them out from the wet dog smell.

So I was definitely in the market for a new route. Many regular Commenters had suggestions. And though I always let Mr. AG tell me how to vote, like all the married white women who caused Hillary to lose, I am stubbornly resistant to his routes. How to get from Alexandria, MN to Prescott, AZ while meeting my two non-negotiable demands for the route  no big cities and no rush hour traffic? This time, my whole trip would be on weekdays. I much prefer to start any road trip at 0 Dark 30 on a Saturday morning, but that was not how it worked out.

Even though I am severely dys-mapic (or map-lexic, if you prefer), I bought a beautiful new Road Atlas and studied it for days. My first thought was to go 100 miles north to Fargo and then continue on 94W to Billings, before turning south, possibly even catching sight of Commenter Par Excellence, Deborah. She lives SOMEWHERE in the great and also large state of Montana. I was not confident that I could find her. If, indeed, she even lived there  SOME people are not entirely truthful on the Internet, though Im pretty sure Deb is.

Anyway, every male person I consulted, opened with the totally non-judgmental Whats the matter with you? Are you *&%$ crazy? Why would you go 100 miles NORTH to get south?

Eventually, I consulted with my best friends husband, Wayne the Wonder Planner, who claimed to have a route that could get me back to AZ in 1400 miles. He did revise that irrationally exuberant estimate upon reflection, but he also recommended an excellent opening leg of the trip. I was unaware that there was a two-lane highway  29  that went through many small towns in Minnesota along the spine of the state and eventually meandered into South Dakota, where I had one heart-stopping moment at a sign that said, Toronto. How the hell did I get to Canada? Not that it would be beyond my ability to get that far off course. But, no, it was just a sweet little South Dakota town. Whew!

I LOVED 29South! Once you get used to an oncoming pickup or farm implement every 20 minutes, it was extremely relaxing, almost Zen-like with lakes, prosperous-looking farms (one with a yuge TRUMP banner on the barn), creeks, trees and many crops. Many. What crops? I have no idea. The only crops I know about are ladies pants that are meant to hit just below calf-length, but which always fit me just fine as full-length pants.

But I am going to take a page from the gun experts who write or speak in favor of gun control. They dont know enough about guns to stick in a thimble, or wherever one might stick things, and I know a similar amount about farming. So Im going to just go ahead and bloviate in a confident and arrogant manner, like they do, OK?

There was corn, of course, because who cant recognize corn? Then there was what I am pretty sure were soybeans. After that came field after field of stuff that might have been either carrots, or tobacco and something that looked like pineapple. Yeah, that surprised me, too. Is sorghum a thing? It sounds like a disease made up by dentists. And Alfalfa, which looked nothing like that kid in Our Gang short films. Maybe just stick with the generic, crops.

In South Dakota, I passed by my peoples old stompin grounds in Hamlin County. At SDSU in Brookings, the claim shack, with which my ancestors staked their land claim, resides in a nice little museum there. It is smaller than my garage. How they managed to have FIVE children in such cramped quarters is surely a testament to the human sex drive. And I waved to Watertown, from whence our Power Line host, John H, was launched to the Ivy League, Law School, fame, and fortune, despite his humble beginnings in Flyover Land.

Daddys delayed sendoff from Rehab altered my plans a bit, and put me right square in the middle of evening rush hour in Omaha, which turned out to be much worse than I would have guessed due to blinding rain. I hydroplaned on to Lincoln, Nebraska, stopped for a restless night, and awoke to four hours of dense fog all the way to North Platte. Surreal! If there were more crops  Beets? Wheat? Cilantro?  I couldnt see them.

And here was where I had mapped out the most cunning part of my route  a little Farm to Market road, 83S, which ran from North Platte, 350 miles to the unpleasantly named Liberal, Kansas. From there I picked up the 54West all the way to Tucumcari, New Mexico. On this route, you cross parts of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, including the hometown of the Paranoid Texan next door, a town I thought he was making up. Along this route, you find feed lots with tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of cattle. Cattle as far as the eye could see and the nose could smell. Which at least tamped down the wet dog smell from the white people that Sarah Jeong, Forensic Nasal Detective and brain-dead racist NYT Editorial Board Member, discussed on Twitter.

When I asked the desk clerk  Hispanic, not white, with no obvious damp canine odor  at my hotel in Tucumcari whether rush hour would cause any problem getting on the I-40W early in the morning, she tried gamely to be polite. But she could not contain her smirk. Maam, there are 4700 people in Tucumcari, many of whom dont have cars. Youll be fine. Okie-dokie. Where was my rabbi who always said, There are no stupid questions? Evidently thats just a comforting thing one says to a moron who asks stupid questions.

The 40 is a major major truck route. I believe I have the only regular passenger car left in America. It was just me, 500,000 eighteen-wheelers leapfrogging each other across America at random, annoying intervals, and a steady stream of pickups all the way to Flagstaff. To be continued next week. Until then, be kind, and for Gods sake, white people, dont forget to put in your bridgework and shower more often so you dont continue to embarrass our race.

Its the only race you can insult, root for its members to be killed, and still keep your job. Its nice theres still one.
According to Goldstein Research, global automated transmission market size is expected to reach USD 46.1 billion by 2024 from USD 24.6 billion by 2016, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2% during the forecast period 2016-2024

Automated Transmission Market

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According to Goldstein Research, global automated transmission market size is expected to reach USD 46.1 billion by 2024 from USD 24.6 billion by 2016, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2% during the forecast period 2016-2024. The growing application of robotics in the warehouses such as use of Kiva robotics in Amazon warehouses is thus opening opportunities for the players and to manufacture automated material handling equipment. Global automated transmission market segmentation has been carried out on the basis of product type, application type, services, end users, and geography. Globally manufacturing industry accounts for largest revenue share in the application of automated transmission equipment, followed by e-commerce industry. Global automated transmission market is largely driven by the Asia Pacific due to rising manufacturing industry across the region majorly in China & India. Moreover, the presence of a large automotive industry in Europe has led to closely follow the APAC market share of global automated transmission market.Browse Full Report:Market SegmentationOn the basis of our in-depth analysis, Global Automated Transmission Market can be segmented as follows:By Product Type Material Handling Equipment Conveyor systems Cranes/Hoists Automatic guided vehicles (AGV)By Applications Type Storage and Retrieval Transportation Assembly Packaging DistributionBy Services Software and Hardware (Installation and Up-gradations) Training Support and MaintenanceBy End Users Marine and Air Ports Manufacturing Sector Transportation and Logistics Construction Industry E-commerceBy Region North America (US, Canada) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion, Adoption Rate (%)} Europe (UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, Poland and Rest of Europe) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, North Africa, South Africa and Rest of Middle East & Africa) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Rest of Latin America) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Rest of Asia-Pacific) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Rest of the World {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)}Global Automated Transmission Market Outlook 2024 contains detailed overview of the global automated transmission market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, the market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by product type, application type, services and end users.Download Exclusive Sample Report:Further, for the in-depth analysis, Global Automated Transmission Market Report encompasses the market growth drivers, market challenges, risk analysis, market attractiveness, BPS (Base Point Scale) analysis, Porters five force model and SWOT analysis. This market report also includes competitive outlook of some of the major players profiling of companies such asDaifuku Co., Ltd., SSI Schaefer, Hyster-Yale Material Handling, Inc., Jungheinrich AG, KION Group AG, Toyota Industries Corporation, Vanderlande Industries, Avancon SA, iFuture Robotics Private Ltd.,etc . The company profiles include business strategy, geographical revenue distribution, major information of the companies which encompasses business outlook, products, services and industries catered, financial analysis of the company and recent developments. Overall, the report represents the global automated transmission market trends along with market forecast that will help market consultants, technology providers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Key questions answered in this Global Automated Transmission Report What is the Global Automated Transmission Market Size by 2024 and what would be the expected growth rate of the market? What is the total revenue per segment and region in 2015-16 and what would be the expected revenue per segment and region over the forecast period? What are the automated transmission market trends? What are the factors which are driving this market? What are the major barriers to automated transmission market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities for the existing and entry level players? What are the recent developments and business strategy of the key players?Browse Similar Report:
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According to Goldstein Research, Brazil ICS market is expected to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.93% over the forecast period 2017-2025. The factors such as automated industrial environment and use of advanced technologies such as robotics are increasing the demand for efficient and secure industrial solutions and thus driving the growth of industrial control system market in Brazil

Brazil Industrial Control System (ICS) Market

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According to Goldstein Research, Brazil ICS market is expected to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.93% over the forecast period 2017-2025. The factors such as automated industrial environment and use of advanced technologies such as robotics are increasing the demand for efficient and secure industrial solutions and thus driving the growth of industrial control system market in Brazil. Brazil ICS market segmentation has been carried out on the basis of the control system, applications, end users, and geography. The multiple processes in the manufacturing industry which require effective monitoring and automation of the processes. Thus the Manufacturing industry segment of the end users accounts for a market share of 25.68% in 2017. Brazil ICS market has immense growth opportunities owing to the fact that Brazil is a developing country and thus it facilitates developmental activities in the power and energy and transportation industry. Moreover, the growing chemical industry and agricultural sector are further fuelling the opportunities in the application of ICS.Browse Full Report: https://www.goldsteinresearch.com/report/brazil-industrial-control-system-market Market SegmentationOn the basis of our in-depth analysis, Brazil ICS Market can be segmented as follows:By Types of Control System Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) Distributed Control Systems (DCS) Supervisory control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)By Applications Industrial Security Process Controlling Others (Supervision, etc.)By End-Users Energy and Mining Sector Transportation and Logistics Sector Manufacturing Industry Electric and Electronic Industry Aviation Industry OthersBy Region Tier-1 Cities {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion)} Tier-2 Cities {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion)} Tier-3 Cities {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion)}Brazil ICS Market Outlook 2025 contains a detailed overview of the Brazil ICS market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, the market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by types of the control system, applications, and end users.Further, for the in-depth analysis, Brazil ICS Market Report encompasses the industry growth drivers, market challenges, risk analysis, market attractiveness, BPS (Base Point Scale) analysis, Porters five force model and SWOT analysis. This market report also includes competitive outlook of some of the major players profiling of companies such as ABB, Honeywell, Siemens, General Electric, Cisco, Symantec, Fortinet, Kaspersky, IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, Citrix Systems, Brocade Communication Systems, Computer Science, EMC, F-Secure, L-3, Trend Micro,etc. The company profiles include business strategy, geographical revenue distribution, major information of the companies which encompasses business outlook, products, services, and industries catered, financial analysis of the company and recent developments. Overall, the report represents the Brazil ICS market trends along with the market forecast that will help industry consultants, technology providers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Download Exclusive Sample Report: https://www.goldsteinresearch.com/request-sample/brazil-industrial-control-system-market Key questions answered in this Brazil Industrial Control System (ICS)Report What is the Brazil ICS Market Size by 2025 and what would be the expected growth rate of the industry? What is the total revenue per segment and region in 2016-17 and what would be the expected revenue per segment and region over the forecast period? What are the ICS market trends? What are the factors which are driving this industry? What are the major barriers to ICS industry growth? Who are the key vendors in this industry space? What are the industry opportunities for the existing and entry level players? What are the recent developments and business strategy of the key players?Browse Similar Report:
The global automotive drive-shaft market size is expected to reach USD 9.4 billion by 2024 from an estimated USD 5.6 billion in 2015, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 6.6% during the forecast period 2016-2024

Global Automotive Drive-Shaft Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-24 06:13:30

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The global automotive drive-shaft market size is expected to reach USD 9.4 billion by 2024 from an estimated USD 5.6 billion in 2015, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 6.6% during the forecast period 2016-2024. The factors such as concerns over fuel efficiency, government automotive regulations, increase in automobile sales together drives the growth of the market and lead OEMs to manufacture lightweight drive-shafts. Commercial vehicles have the highest impact on the growth of automotive drive shaft market, as such sales of commercial vehicles were more than 20 million units.Browse Full Report:On the basis of the geographical analysis, Asia Pacific is the leading region, with India & China being the top impacting countries, owing to large automotive industry & high sales. APAC is closely followed by Europe due to rising automobile sales in the region.Market SegmentationThe Global Automotive Drive-Shaft Market can be segmented as follows:By Product Types Flexible Drive-Shaft Torque Tube Drive-Shaft Hotchkiss Drive-ShaftBy Vehicle Type Passenger Cars LCV (Light Commercial vehicles) HCV (Heavy Commercial vehicles)By Region North America (US, Canada) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion, Adoption Rate (%)} Europe (UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, Poland and Rest of Europe) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, North Africa, South Africa and Rest of Middle East & Africa) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Rest of Latin America) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Rest of Asia-Pacific) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)}Global Automotive Drive-Shaft Market Outlook 2024 contains a detailed overview of the global automotive drive-shaft market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, the market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by product type and vehicle type.Download Exclusive Sample Report:Global Automotive Drive-Shaft Market Report encompasses the market growth drivers, market challenges, risk analysis, market attractiveness, BPS (Base Point Scale) analysis, Porters five force model and SWOT analysis. This market report also includes competitive outlook of some of the major players profiling of companies such asGKN PLC, NTN, Dana Holding Corporation, Nexteer, Hyundai-Wia, Yamada Manufacturing, American Axle Manufacturing Inc., JTEKT, Neapco, Meritor, Showa, SDS, Yuandong, Wanxiang, Guansheng, Lingyun, Hengli, Danchuan, IFA Rotorion,etc. The company profiles include business strategy, geographical revenue distribution, major information of the companies which encompasses business outlook, products, services, and industries catered, financial analysis of the company and recent developments.Get More Information Automotive Drive-Shaft MarketThe industry report represents the automotive drive-shaft market outlook which includes the market-oriented data that will help market consultants, technology providers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Key questions answered in this Global Automotive Drive-Shaft Market Report What is the Global Automotive Drive-Shaft Market Size by 2024 and what would be the expected growth rate of the market? What is the total revenue per segment and region in 2015-16 and what would be the expected revenue per segment and region over the forecast period? What are the automotive drive-shaft market trends? What are the factors which are driving this market? What are the major barriers to automotive drive-shaft market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities for the existing and entry level players? What are the recent developments and business strategy of the key players?Browse Similar Report:
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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Ivrnet Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Ivrnet Inc. (TSX Venture:IVI). has issued a press release with the following headline:Ivrnet Central Exceeds First Half TargetsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Ivrnet Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Ivrnet Inc.Source: Ivrnet Inc. (TSX Venture: IVI)Date: August 24, 2018Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Ivrnet Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
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SYDNEY, Aug 23, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Asia-Pacific specialist CRO Novotech has been selected as one of the Top 10 CROs globally by leading industry media magazine Pharma Tech Outlook.See the article here: https://bit.ly/2LkwdO3 Pharma Tech Outlook said CROs are an integral part of the pharma industry because they can reduce the risks and costs associated with clinical trials.The Magazine said the selection process for the Top 10 CROs involved a distinguished panel of CEOs, CIOs and VCs and analysts, along with the Pharma Tech Outlook editorial panel to identify the leading CROs using key metrics including technology platforms and capabilities.The Magazine said that by continually deploying cutting-edge technologies including wearables and sensors, AI and Machine Learning, CROs will be able to support rapid and high-quality research to bring new treatments to market faster.Novotech CEO Dr John Moller said the company was pleased to receive the Top 10 accolade and said Novotech was especially focused on the Asia-Pacific and providing sponsors with value from local partnerships, regulatory knowledge, and integrated technology to successfully speed-up approvals and timelines.The size of the urban population, now more than 1.4 billion, is also a key factor in the decision by sponsors to include the Asia-Pacific in their global studies."These patients can be accessed professionally and quickly via modern specialist and hospital facilities that work with our advanced technology platforms to ensure the highest quality data and reporting," said Dr Moller.Novotech has now signed 10 MoUs with strategic specialist medical facilities around the region to support high-quality investigator access, patient recruitment, and advanced imaging and clinical testing procedures."Our in-country relationships enable a more comprehensive understanding of local regulatory changes, access to leading PIs, strong site connections, and productive patient populations to deliver success for our clients within timelines and budgets," he said.Novotech was established in 1996, headquartered in Australia with offices in 11 countries across the region, and MOUs with major health providers.About Novotech - https://novotech-cro.com/welcome Headquartered in Sydney, Novotech is internationally recognized as the leading regional full-service contract research organization (CRO). With a focus on clinical monitoring, Novotech has been instrumental in the success of hundreds of Phase I - IV clinical trials in the Asia Pacific region.Novotech provides clinical development services across all clinical trial phases and therapeutic areas including: feasibility assessments; ethics committee and regulatory submissions, data management, statistical analysis, medical monitoring, safety services, central lab services, report write-up to ICH requirements, project and vendor management. Novotech's strong Asia Pacific presence includes running clinical trials in all key regional markets. Novotech also has worldwide reach through the company's network of strategic partners.For RFP enquiries: Please fill out the form available at www.novotech-cro.com/contact-us-0 Media ContactSusan Fitzpatrick-Napiercommunications@ novotech-cro.com AU: +61 2 8218 2144USA: +1 415 951 3228Asia: +65 3159 3427
According to Goldstein Research, 99% of beer consumers are happy with craft beers from independent brewery and 85% buyers are happy with gypsy brewer, who doesnt own a brewery. More than 90.0% travellers and 74.0% of the Australian population prefer to dine out, look out for the craft breweries and craft beer in the menu.

Australia Craft Beers Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-24 05:42:02

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Steve blade

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# 516 Words

99 Wall Street, Suite No:- 527Global Sales Manager6465687747

According to Goldstein Research, 99% of beer consumers are happy with craft beers from independent brewery and 85% buyers are happy with gypsy brewer, who doesnt own a brewery. More than 90.0% travellers and 74.0% of the Australian population prefer to dine out, look out for the craft breweries and craft beer in the menu. Australia Craft Beers market outlook also includes new business models, product developments and capital investment as the key strategies adopted by the major players for significant expansion of business in developed and as well as in developing countries across the globe. Just as soft drink companies have expanded into bottled water, craft brewing is an opportunity for large companies to tap into a fast-growing market. For instance, Coca-Cola Amatil hasentered into the market, by acquiring brands like Blue Moon and YendaBrowse Full Report:Market SegmentationOn the basis of our in-depth analysis, Australia craft beer market can be segmented as follows:By Craft beer Styles Ale Stout Wheat Beer Lagers Porter Sour Beer Barley Wine Others (Saison, pilsners, etc)By Outlets On-Premise Outlets Off-Premise OutletsBy Distribution Channel Online OfflineAustralia Craft Beer Market Outlook 2024 contains a detailed overview of the Australia Craft Beer market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, the market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by craft beer style, by outlets, and by distribution channel.Download Exclusive Sample Report:Further, for the in-depth analysis, Australia Craft Beer Market Analysis encompasses the industry growth drivers, market challenges, risk analysis, market attractiveness, BPS (Base Point Scale) analysis, Porters five force model and SWOT analysis. This market report also includes competitive outlook of some of the major players profiling of companies such as Ferrel Brewing Co., Pirate Life, Stone & Wood, Bridge Road Brewers, $ PinesThe Crafty Print, Little Creatures, James Squire, BoatRockeretc. The company profiles include business strategy, geographical revenue distribution, major information of the companies which encompasses business outlook, products, services, and industries catered, financial analysis of the company and recent developments. Overall, the report represents the Australia Craft Beer market trends along with the market forecast that will help industry consultants, technology providers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Key questions answered in this Australia Craft Beer Market Report What is the Australia Craft Beer market Size by 2024 and what would be the expected growth rate of the industry? What is the total revenue per segment and region in 2015-16 and what would be the expected revenue per segment and region over the forecast period? What are the Craft Beer market trends? What are the factors which are driving this industry? What are the major barriers to Craft Beer industry growth? Who are the key vendors in this industry space? What are the industry opportunities for the existing and entry level players? What are the recent developments and business strategy of the key players?Browse Similar Report:
The high internet penetration and investment in hardware and infrastructure by European commission are constructing a potential market for IoT in Europe. In 2015, to support the internet-driven environment, the European Commission has launched Association named Alliance for the Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI) which is one of the largest European IoT associations.

Europe IoT Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-24 08:16:49

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99 Wall Street, Suite No:- 527Global Sales Manager6465687747

The high internet penetration and investment in hardware and infrastructure by European commission are constructing a potential market for IoT in Europe. In 2015, to support the internet-driven environment, the European Commission has launched Association named Alliance for the Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI) which is one of the largest European IoT associations. Europe internet of things market outlook also includes new technological advancements, product developments and capital investment as the key strategies adopted by the major players for a significant expansion of business in developed and as well as in developing countries across the globe. Moreover, implementation of IoT in fleet management and asset tracking is hugely impacting the Europe transportation industry.Browse Full Report:However, privacy and data security concerns are inhibiting the market expansion of IoT in Europe. Combination of the physical and virtual environment increases the risk of accessing and illegal use of data.Market SegmentationOn the basis of our in-depth analysis, EuropeInternet of Things market can be segmented as follows:By Components Devices Wearable Devices Non-Wearable Devices Sensors & ActuatorsBy Platforms By Connectivity/M2M Platforms By Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas) Backend Platforms By Hardware Specific Software Platform By Consumer/Enterprise Software Extension Platforms By Software By Data Management Software By Network Management Software By Real Time Streaming Analysis Software By Security Software By Remote Monitoring SoftwareBy End-User By Consumer Electronics By Transportation & Logistics By Manufacturing By Retail By Energy By Agriculture By Healthcare By Others (Education)By Application By Smart Homes By Smart Cities By Wearables By Smart Grid By Industrial Automation By Connected Cars By Connected Health By Smart Retail By Smart Agriculture By Smart Supply ChainBased on Countries The U.K. {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Germany {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} France {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Italy {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Spain {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Poland {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Sweden {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Russia {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%)} Rest of Europe {Market Size (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Adoption Rate (%Europe Internet of Things Market Outlook 2024 contains a detailed overview of the EuropeInternet of Things market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, the market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by product, by concentration, by packaging, and by distribution channel.Download Exclusive Sample Report:Further, for the in-depth analysis, EuropeInternet of ThingsMarket Analysis encompasses the industry growth drivers, market challenges, risk analysis, market attractiveness, BPS (Base Point Scale) analysis, Porters five force model and SWOT analysis. This market report also includes competitive outlook of some of the major players profiling of companies such as Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, IBM Corporation, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated etc. The company profiles include business strategy, geographical revenue distribution, major information of the companies which encompasses business outlook, products, services, and industries catered, financial analysis of the company and recent developments. Overall, the report represents the EuropeInternet of Things market trends along with a market forecast that will help industry consultants, technology providers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Get More Information About Europe internet of things MarketKey questions answered in this EuropeInternet of Things Report What is the Europe internet of things market Size by 2024 and what would be the expected growth rate of the industry? What is the total revenue per segment and region in 2015-16 and what would be the expected revenue per segment and region over the forecast period? What are the IoT market trends? What are the factors which are driving this industry? What are the major barriers to IoT industry growth? Who are the key vendors in this industry space? What are the industry opportunities for the existing and entry level players? What are the recent developments and business strategy of the key players?Browse Similar Report:
The Consumers Protection Council says it has set up a special channel to check Multichoice Nigeria Limited as more customers allege the DSTV owner is implementing new tariffs despite a court restriction.

Days after a Federal High in Abuja restrained Multichoice Nigeria Limited from going ahead with its recent decision to hike subscription rates for DSTV and GoTV, customers have reported difficulties in renewing their subscriptions with the old rates.

Early last month, MultiChoice Nigeria announced its decision to review upwards the monthly subscription rates for its cable television systems, DSTV and GoTV, with effect from August 1.

According to the company, under the new price regime, the Premium package subscribers would have to pay about 7.5 per cent more (about N15,800) from about N14,700 every month.

Besides, their Compact Plus customers were to pay N10,650, from N9,900; Compact bouquets N6,800, from N6,300, while the Family package was increased from N3,800 to N4,000, with Access from N1,900 to N2,000.

However, last Monday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja issued an order restraining Multichoice Nigeria or any of its agents or representatives from going ahead with the increment till further notice.

The order was sequel to an application filed on behalf of the Nigerian government by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in case No. FHC/ABJ/CS/894.

The application was facilitated by the director general of the CPC, Babatunde Irukera, who led other concerned Nigerians to appear in court for the case.

Other applicants who signed a nine-paragraph statement of claim they jointly signed included Abimbola Ojenike, Eme David-Ojugo, Moray Adebayo, Teniola Medupin and Florence Abebe.

In his order, Justice Dimgba said the interim injunction restrained Multichoice Nigeria or its agents and representatives from continuing the implementation of any increase in subscription rates or price review policy imposing increased charges and costs on the consumers pending the determination of the motion on notice.

Also, the court restrained DSTV from further carrying on or continuing any conduct or activity which interferes with or has effect of circumventing the outcome of ongoing investigations by the CPC into the companys compliance or non-compliance with the February 16, 2016 order pending the determination of the motion on notice.

However, a statement by the CPC on Thursday said since the restraining order on Monday, Mutichoice Nigeria customers have been finding it difficult to renew their subscriptions based on the rate that prevailed prior to the take-off of the price review on August 1.

The statement signed by the CPC DG and sent to PREMIUM TIMES said the Council received several petitions from the affected customers about their experiences.

The Council is informing the public that it is a violation of the order of the court for Multichoice to require consumers to pay, or to receive any new rate for their service, from consumers.

For clarity, the current, valid and prevailing rate for DStv and GOtv services are the rates that were effective as at July 31, 2018, the statement said.

Consequently, the Council said it has set up a special channel for subscribers to lodge their complaints detailing their difficult experiences over the issues.

In view of the continuing and increasing complaints that consumers are unsuccessful in renewing subscription in compliance with the order of the court, even after service of the order upon Multichoice, the Council is setting up a special channel for receiving complaints for this purpose.

As such, any consumer who has, or is experiencing this challenge should please send an email to multichoicecompliance@cpc.gov.ng, stating relevant information, including smart card number, name, telephone number, date and time of failed attempt to pay, supporting same with relevant evidence such as a screenshot or document (where necessary), the statement said.

On Monday, when PREMIUM TIMES contacted Multichoice Nigeria for its official reaction, its spokesperson, Carole Oghuma, said the company was unable to give any reaction, as it was not aware of any court order.

We are aware of media reports regarding an alleged court order to halt DStv subscription price changes.

MultiChoice Nigeria would like to state that we have no knowledge of a court order of this nature and therefore, cannot comment further at this time, Ms Oghuma said.

When our reporter contacted Ms Oghuma again on Friday for the companys reaction on the issue, including the reported inability customers to renew their subscriptions, she still did not have any response.

We only received the court document yesterday (Thursday), and are reviewing it. Ill get back to you later today, she said in a short text message.
Nigerian rapper and Chocolate City boss, Jude Abaga popularly known as M.I Abaga, has officially released his highly anticipated fifth studio album titled A Story On Self Worth: Yxng Dxnzl.

The album, released midnight on Friday is M.Is second album in 2018; the first, Rendezvous was released in February.

Prior to the unveiling of the album, M.I had dropped hints of the release by sharing the official track-list and tweets to keep his fans pumped up with anticipation.

The record features 10 tracks including his highly controversial cut You Rappers Should Fix Up Your Lives which stirred a wide range of arguments in the music scene as at the time of its release.

M.I Abaga used this album as an avenue to answer some of lifes pressing questions, ably assisted by some of the finest bubbling pop and Afro-fusion artistes like Odunsi The Engine, Tay Iwar, Lady Donli, Niyola, Lorraine Chia, PatrickxxLee and Cina Soul.

Currently topping the charts on iTunes, the album has been getting rave reviews since its release as some have referred to it as one of the most socially conscious projects ever done by a Nigerian rapper.

In a tweet before the release of the album, M.I gave an impression of insecurity as he wasnt so sure if the album would be accepted by his fans and especially by critics.

Sigh This album is career suicide. Hopefully yall are still with me, he said as fans awaited the release of the album.

Impressed by the outcome of the album, some fans even tagged the album therapeutic.

Did @MI_Abaga just release his therapy tapes to the entire world on his

new album #YxngDxnzl? This dude just gave all of himself on this album. He went very very personal on this one. Been up listening since 2am till now, Streams of Music @streamsofmusic

said.

Just listened to @MI_Abagas new album and it legit feels like I just got out of a therapy session didnt even know I needed. Thank you so much MI, thats a beautiful body of work #aStudyOnSelfWorth #YxngDxnzl, Imperfect me (@AdyRockTown) said.

The multiple-award winning rapper and United Nations (UN) Goodwill Ambassador 2012 has a total of eight projects  Five albums and three mixtapes.

The Jos-raised rapper who broke into the industry after his groundbreaking single Crowd Mentality has been a force to reckon with and one of the few people to greatly influence mainstream hip hop in Nigeria.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has fired back at President Donald Trump after the president said he never took control of the Department of Justice.

Mr Sessions, in a statement after Mr Trumps attack, said he was in charge of the department from day one, adding, however, that the department would not be influenced by politics.

While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action.

However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the Presidents agenda  one that protects the safety and security and rights of the American people, reduces violent crime, enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances religious liberty.

I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law, Mr Sessions said in a statement.

Mr Trump had lashed out at Sessions in an interview that aired on Fox News Thursday morning.

I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department. Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department. Its sort of an incredible thing, Mr Trump said during the interview.

The president had frequently criticised Mr Sessions since taking office and often expresses frustration over the attorney generals recusant decision over the Russia investigation.

Mr Trump said even his enemies had told him that Mr Sessions should have informed him he planned to be recusant so that he could have picked a different attorney general. (NAN)
U.S. Republican Senator John McCain, the Conservative Partys 2008 Presidential nominee, has halted treatment for brain cancer, 13 months after revealing the illness, his family announced on Friday.

This is a year after the Vietnam War hero announced his prognosis.

McCain, 81, announced in July 2017 that he was suffering aggressive glioblastoma.

In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict, the McCain family said in a statement.

With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.

The retired Navy fighter pilot, who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years, entered Congress in 1983 from Arizona and has served in the Senate since 1987.

The hawkish chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee is a top Republican voice on defence and foreign policy.

He fell short in his 2008 presidential bid, losing to Barack Obama.

Mr McCain has been a leading Republican dissident since Donald Trump was elected president.

(dpa/NAN)
Aggrieved residents of Iwo Town in Osun State have burnt down a police station following the killing of a young man allegedly by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a notorious police unit.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the victim, Tunde Nafiu, was shot while he was trying to board a commercial motorcycle to Ile-Ogbo, a neighbouring community, at about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The victim was said to be a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Iree in Osun State.

Consequent upon the shooting, residents gathered on Friday in protest, leading to the burning of the police station in the town.

A witness said a stray bullet hit Mr Nafiu when the SARS officers were shooting into the air.

At about 9:30 pm yesterday, there was a carnival along Ile-Ogbo area of Iwo, said a witness who asked not to be named. At that time, the SARS guys were trying to parade and they were obstructed as a result of the on-going carnival. Afterwards, the officers were able to pass but they saw people gyrating. That prompted the shooting from the security operatives.

Another resident, Iyanu Ajao, told this newspaper that the death of the young man led youth in the town to mobilise for a protest, today, against the unlawful killing, which then resulted in the razing of the police station.

According to Dauda Ahmed, who also witnessed the protest, the incident was not the first as the police officers are reportedly fond of threatening residents by shooting.

This is not the first time. We need to show them that they cant just behave anyhow. All these have to stop, he said.

The Press Secretary to the monarch of Iwo land, Ibrahim Ali, also confirmed the incident but could not give our reporter a detailed report on the killing.

We are discussing the issue with the king now, he said. Ill get back to you later.

Angry residents set police station ablaze at Iwo Town, Osun state Angry residents set police station ablaze at Iwo Town, Osun state Angry residents set police station ablaze at Iwo Town, Osun state Angry residents set police station ablaze at Iwo Town, Osun state

However, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Folashade Odoro, refused to comment on the issue. She said she was in the middle of a programme when contacted.

There are reports that the police officer who fired the shot has been detained.

The killing happened a week after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the Inspector General of Police to ensure the reformation of SARS in the police structure.
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will on Wednesday, tour three West African countries, paying visits to Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria.

Ms Merkel is to spend Wednesday through Friday in the three countries, accompanied by an economic delegation, Deputy Government Spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer said Friday in Berlin.

Ms Merkel is expected to meet President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday morning at the State House, Abuja, as part of her visit, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Migration politics, particularly Ms Merkels campaign to tackle the causes resulting in a stream of refugees to Europe, are likely to feature on the discussion agenda.

A large percentage of African migrants trying to cross to Europe through the Mediterranean are Nigerians. While some make it to Europe, mainly Italy, as refugees, several others drown in the Mediterranean. Thousands are, however, stranded in Libya from where they normally cross the sea to Europe. The Nigerian government working with the International Organisation for Migration has successfully returned, in 2018, thousands of Nigerians stranded in Libya.

The first leader Ms Merkel would meet on her trip is Senegalese President, Macky Sall.

Ms Merkel is to meet Wednesday afternoon with Mr Sall to discuss economic developments in the country and regional cooperation.

In the evening she will meet with civil society representatives.

Then its onto the Ghanaian capital of Accra to meet President Nana Akufo-Addo, on Thursday to discuss economic affairs and foreign policy.

The chancellor is also to take part in a German business-organised round table that will focus on private investment linked to the G20 Compact with Africa initiative.

Finally, Ms Merkel is to head to Nigeria on Friday to meet with the president of the ECOWAS economic alliance of West African states, Jean-Claude Brou.

She will hold talks with Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that on October 7, 2016 Ms Merkel visited three African countries before hosting leaders from Chad and Nigeria for talks in Berlin, as she seeks ways to stem a migrant influx to Europe.

Ms Merkel first traveled to Mali and Nigeria before heading to Ethiopia where she is to visit the headquarters of the African Union in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Her talks with leaders of all three countries are to focus on migration issues and the battle against terrorism.

FAT/SH
A Magistrate Court in Owere, Imo State, has ordered the release of over 100 women detained after a protest demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

The women were arrested on August 18 and detained following allegations of alleged treason and unlawful assembly among other offences.

There have been campaigns and demands for their release, especially on social media. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Global rights group, Amnesty International, on Friday condemned the detention of the women protesters describing it as a violation of their rights.

In an interview on Friday, a human rights lawyer who was at the court, Sam Amadi, confirmed their release, saying they were let off following a directive of the Imo State director of public prosecution.

Yes, they have been released. The DPP gave a directive for the case against them to be struck out, earlier today and we took it to the magistrate, along with the detained women. The court ordered the immediate release of the women. All them who came to the court were released from there.

Only about 12 of them who were not in this prison are expected to be released from the Okigwe prison where they are held. The case has also been struck out, Mr Amadi said.

The lawyer who represented the women, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, confirmed the development.

Earlier on Friday, the Takeitback Movement spearheaded by Omoyele Sowore, a presidential aspirant of African Action Congress (AAC), demanded the release of the women.

We strongly protest the unjust detention of over 100 Nigerian women in Owerri, Imo State, and are outraged at the biased treatment of Nigerians in their own country, the movement said in a statement by its Director of Media and Communication, Rachel Onamusi-Kpiasi.

Nigerians are slaughtered mercilessly at an increasingly disturbing frequency by herdsmen and the present government neither speaks nor acts. There have been zero arrests of the perpetrators and no compensation for the surviving victims. Boko Haram has decimated the North with scant retribution save for the present government swelling their coffers in ransom money.

But women  our mothers, wives and sisters  who carried out a peaceful protest and caused neither harm nor disturbance to civic peace are quickly rounded up like cattle.

The group said the governments disregard for human rights of citizens is a disrespect for human life.

The governments disregard of the fundamental human rights of her citizens, as well as the reports of starvation of the arrested women since their incarceration points to a disrespect for human life and well-being. Carrying IPOB memorabilia can never be sufficient justification for this gross miscarriage of justice.

The TakeitBack Movement fundamentally believes that all Nigerians have a right to peaceful protests. We also believe that raising questions about the restructuring of Nigeria is an inalienable right.

Again, we ask, where is the justice? While men, who have maimed and killed hundreds walk around free and unfettered, our mothers from the South-east are in prison for raising a flag. We demand the immediate release of these women, the group said.
A Kano House of Representatives member and leader of the Parliamentary Support Group, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has denied media reports of crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus of the green chamber.

He stated this on Friday morning via his verified twitter handle @AbdulAbmj.

He however did not deny there were internal issues rocking the ranks of the ruling party caucus in the House and affirmed his support for the house leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Against the back drop of media reports, I wish to state that there is no crack in APC caucus of the House. We have internal issues and there is nothing unusual about it. However, these issues will be resolved internally. We have one caucus and @femigbaja is the leader. Thank you, he tweeted.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the Parliamentary Support Group, led by Mr Jibrin had criticised their leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, over an interview he had with this newspaper.

In the interview published on Tuesday, Mr Gbajabiamila said APC has only one group in the House, dismissing suggestion of the existence of various groups of loyalists of President Muhammadu Buhari within the caucus.

The statement, it was gathered, angered members of the Pro-Buhari groups.

Aside the main caucus led by Mr Gbajabiamila as House Leader, there are two other groups, the Parliamentary Support Group coordinated by Mr Jibrin; and another headed by a lawmaker from Sokoto State, Musa Sarkin-Ada.

In a related development, a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives known as the Parliamentary Democrats Group on Thursday sent a warning to the APC caucus to stop distracting the House with its internal rumble.

The group, made up of mostly members of the Peoples Democratic Party, is a counter group for the APCs Parliamentary Support Group.
Baring any last minute change of plan, Nigerian pilgrims who performed this years Hajj pilgrimage are billed to start returning home from Monday.

The chairman of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Mohammed, said the first flight is expected to carry pilgrims from Kogi State.

Mr Mohammed made the announcement Wednesday when he addressed pilgrims and officials from the state during a tour of the tents in Muna, Saudi Arabia.

Kogi pilgrims were the first to be airlifted to Saudi Arabia during Hajj 2018 inaugural flight in Abuja on July 21.

Before the commencement of the return flights, NAHCON will hold a post Arafat conference where Nigerias outing during the Hajj will be appraised.

The conference will have in attendance all relevant Hajj officials from both the federal and state governments, as well as private tour operators.
As the 2019 elections draw near, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has expressed concern over what it described as overtly heated inflammatory statements by top political leaders.

According to the NMA, such statements have the potentials of plunging the country into unrest.

Though the medical doctors were not specific, their concern may be connected to the war of words between political leaders after the recent gale of defections from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

Last month, at least 12 senators including the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, 36 members of the House of Representatives and two state governors dumped the ruling party.

Of note majorly are the overtly inflammatory statements by top ranking political leaders which have the real potentials of incensing partisan conflicts which could degenerate into communal clashes and attendant mass casualties worsening the already cheerless level of insecurity and violent conflicts in the country, NMA said in a statement jointly signed by its National President, Francis Faduyile, and National Secretary, Olumutiwa Odusote, on Thursday.

The association said it found it important to call politicians and some state operatives to order.

The Association encourages the spirit of politics without rancor and bitterness and one that is strictly based on constructive engagements, factual debates and constitutionality. If by acts of omission or commission the nation is thrown into serious political chaos, the poor and vulnerable including women and children will bear the greatest brunt.

The doctors said their worry was based on the fact that the countrys health system still faces challenges ranging from chronic underfunding, poor governance, poor service delivery to lack of political will to implement extant laws, regulations and policies.

These have manifested in poor health worker-population ratio with escalated emigration of medical and health workers, low carrying capacity of existing health facilities, absence of basic equipment, consumables, reagents, modern effective drugs and other tools needed to deliver efficient, effective, prompt and culturally acceptable medical care to the people of Nigeria.

The NMA urged politicians, political parties, and aspirants to elective offices and other relevant stakeholders to play by the rules.

It also urged law enforcement agents to demonstrate unambiguous loyalty to their calling and the constitution of the country. They should be stringent in dealing with defaulters objectively and without let or hindrance.

The NMA advised Nigerians to be law abiding and resist the luring of politicians in being used as ready tools of the devil to destroy human lives and property in the name of political support and loyalty to politicians.
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali on winning the countrys election for a second term in office.

President Buhari, in a press statement on Friday, also felicitated with majority of Malians for giving the incumbent another opportunity to serve them after the August 12, 2018 presidential run-off.

The ECOWAS Chairman urged the main challenger, Soumaila Cisse, and his supporters to abide by the verdict of the people as confirmed by the ruling of the Constitutional Court, and join hands with President Keita in the interest of the country in particular and peace and stability of West Africa.

Mr Buhari said he firmly believes that the successful outcome of the election in Mali further strengthens Africas democratic credentials as the people are allowed to choose their leaders without let or hindrance.

President Buhari wishes President Keita a successful second tenure in a peaceful and stable atmosphere, the release added.

Similarly, the Nigerian President congratulated President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe following his declaration by the countrys Constitutional Court as the lawful winner of the July presidential poll.

President Buhari calls on all Zimbabweans especially the politicians to unite and work for the progress and development of their country, the statement said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is heart-warming that more Nigerians are appreciative of the implementation of policies and projects of the federal government aimed at improving the standard of living in the country.

Receiving the leadership of Kano Traders Association led by Ahmed Sani, Chairman of Kanti Kwari Traders Association Friday in Daura, President Buhari pledged that his administration will not relent in doing the needful to create jobs, expand trade and encourage greater productivity.

The president told members of the business community that under the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), more traders and farmers have expanded their trade and increased food production.

While the GEEP provides free interest loans to farmers, the N40 billion ABP targets rice farmers across the country to boost their production.

According to the president, some of the policies and projects were misconstrued by some critics at the beginning of this administration but with steady and rigorous implementation they have realised that these interventions are very beneficial for the development of the country.

The president promised to look into the concerns of the traders on the GEEP programme as well as the influx and dominance of foreigners in the retail sector.

Earlier in his remarks, Mr Sani had commended the president for reviving the $2.8 billon Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, which was abandoned by the previous administration due to corruption and mismanagement.

The market leader also applauded the Buhari administration for the ongoing works at river ports in Baro, Niger State; Lokoja, Kogi State; and Oguta in Imo State which were abandoned for about a decade but will now be completed before May 2019.

It is also another gesture of Mr. President in fulfilling his promise to end fuel problem in Nigeria by signing the Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a new 150,000 barrels per day refinery in Katsina State, Mr Sani said.
Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), a not-for-profit organisation, has sent a Freedom of Information request to Kemi Adeosun on the payment to lawyers in the recovery of $321 million Abacha Loot from Luxembourg.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had engaged two Nigerian lawyers, Oladipo Okpeseyi and Temitope Isaac Adebayo, for the recovery after the money was returned to Nigeria with $1.5 million interest by the Swiss government.

However, TheCable online newspaper, a partner organisation to Cable Foundation, reported that Enrico Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer, had done all the legal work and completed all the recoveries for which he had been paid in full by the Goodluck Jonathan administration as far back as 2014.

Mr. Monfrini denied allegations that he was asking for extra payment to complete the job, maintaining that the recovery had been finalised and that all that was left was for Mr. Malami to write a simple letter to the Swiss government.

However, Mr. Malami still engaged the services of two lawyers for a fee $16.9 million (about N7 billion).

CNJF had sent an FoI to Mr. Malami to make available copies of the agreements signed with Mr. Monfrini, but the attorney-general did not respond to the request.

Cable Foundations lawyers, Kusamotu & Kusamotu, are now in court seeking an order of mandamus to compel the AGF to make the documents available in line with public interest.

In the FoI request to Mrs Adeosun, the Cable Foundation is seeking a breakdown of the amount approved and released for the Nigerian lawyers between the time they were appointed and today as well as records showing payment timeline for the services of the Swiss lawyer.

This request is in line with Sections 2(3) & (4) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 which require all information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution to be widely disseminated and more readily available.

We are trying to help President Muhammadu Buhari in his war against corruption, Abiose Adelaja Adams, the programme officer of CNJF, said in a statement on Thursday.

The House of Representatives has set up an ad-hoc committee to probe the payments to the lawyers.

TheCable also reported earlier in the year that the American government has told Mr. Buhari it would not entertain the involvement of private lawyers in the return of another $500 million Abacha Loot which was domiciled with the US Department of Justice in 2014 after the recoveries by the Jonathan administration.

The US government would only deal with Nigeria on a government-to-government basis, TheCable reported.

Signed

Mrs Abiose Adelaja Adams

Programme officer, CNJF
A senator, Shehu Sani, on Thursday, paid Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, and thanked him for intervening in the crisis facing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State.

Mr Sani, representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, who spoke to journalists after a closed door meeting with the president, said they deliberated on issues bordering on strengthening the APC through resolution of all internal strife in the party.

According to him, he used the opportunity to assure the president on the support of his constituency to his re-election bid in 2019.

He said: I am also here to fully assure him of the support of my constituency, Kaduna Central, to his aspiration for the second term.

Im also here to assure him of my own wholehearted support to the success of his administration and his return to office for the second term.

Those were the basic issues that we discussed with him and other issues that border on the need to strengthen our party; the need to end all internal strife and also the need to put heads, hearts and hands together for the success of his administration and also for the success of the party.

The senator stated that his decision to remain in the APC was not because his grievances against the party leadership in Kaduna State had been addressed, but due to the intervention of President Buhari and the national leadership of the party.

He, therefore, called on all aggrieved members of the APC in the National Assembly to put aside parochial interests and join hands with the party in promoting national interest for the general good of all citizens.

Well, there is no human being without any grievances but when national interest is put at the front side you have to put aside other parochial interests.

What we need to do as politicians and as people representing those who elected us is to always put the country first and know very well that we have both constitutional and moral duty to work to the progress of Nigeria and of this government.

So, I think these are the basic issues which we discussed, grievances are natural but we have to know that we have a country that we need to keep and also we have a country that we need to support, so that it can progress, he added.

On whether he has been assured of automatic ticket to seek re-election in 2019, Mr Sani said even he was not so keen about automatic ticket but the party had pledged to reward loyalty.

He, however, stressed that while rewarding members for their loyalty to the party, due process must be followed.

I think the party had made it very clear and known to each and every person that there will be reward for loyalty but in every sense of the word due process of the party needs to be followed

And as far as we are concerned, what matters most to us is not simply about automatic ticket but about the peaceful and transparent conduct of the 2019 election and also the very need for us as a people and as a nation to know that the fate of the country is on our hands.

There is the need for us to keep aside all sectional, ethnic and religious differences for the progress of this country and going by the very fact that the President has intervened and chairman of the party has intervened  all family squabbles would certainly come to an end, he said.

(NAN)
A judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Ijeoma Ojukwu has ordered the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, to pay N11 million to 11 Gombe State indigenes that were of illegally detained by the Army.

Mrs Ojukwu, in her judgment, said the detention of the applicants since July 6 was illegal and unconstitutional.

The detainees are James Yusuf, Ishaya Ali Poshiya, Nehemiah Yohanna Poshiya, Husseini Poshiya, Hamma Poshiya, Yusuf Mafindi, Yila Boyi, James Bare, Ezekiel Dandaudu, Ali Ishaku and Ilya Bala.

She added that the detention of the 11 people was a breach of their fundamental rights and ordered their immediate release.

Mrs Ojukwu announced also in her judgement that Mr Buratai should pay detainees N1 million each and maintained that no arresting authority was permitted to arbitrarily detain a person beyond the statutorily prescribed period.

According to the courts processes, the applicants were arrested by officers of the Nigerian Army on July 6 following the murder of one David Jauro Stephen.

According to the papers, Mr Stephen was attacked on his farm by some unknown assailants from a neighbouring village, Shongom in Gombe State.

However, after the applicants discovered the corps of Mr Stephen on his farm, they tried conveying it home but were in the process caught by the army and arrested.

The arrest was followed by their detention at the Army barracks in the State.

The Judge noted that; The long detention and torture, without detention order, of the Applicants since July 6, 2018, by servants and agents of the 1st defendant, COAS, is illegal and unconstitutional and is a violation of the applicants fundamental rights as enshrined under Sections 34 and 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

The 1st Respondent shall pay the sum of N11, 000 000 (Eleven Million Naira) only to the applicants (jointly) as damages for the breach of the applicants rights under Sections 34 and 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

Mrs Ojukwu added that law enforcement officers must obey the rule of law while discharging their duties.

No circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as a justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. All law enforcement officers must conform to accepted norms and rule of law in the discharge of their statutory duties.

The judgement followed a fundamental right enforcement suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/777/2018, which the applicants filed through their lawyer, Mela Audu Nunghe.

The applicants however, according to the papers, anchored their suit on sections 34, 35, 36, 41 and 46 of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

Aside Mr Buratai, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was equally cited as the 2nd Respondent in the matter.
President Muhammadu Buhari says the victory of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent by-elections gives an indication the party will win the 2019 general elections.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the president said this on Friday in his country home in Daura, Katsina State.

Candidates of the APC were last month returned in two senatorial by-elections in Katsina and Bauchi states as well as in another for the House of Representatives in Kogi State.

Receiving the representatives of the 34 chairmen of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Katsina State, President Buhari said: coming against the backdrop of the victory in Ekiti governorship election, the string of victory by our party, the APC, is a clear indication of the way things will go in 2019.

For those who are discerning; those who have ears and eyes they will see, hear and understand. Those who dont understand are entitled to their mistaken assumptions, the statement quoted Mr Buhari as saying.

The president stressed that the victories of the APC in the recent polls were the sign of things to come.

He thanked the local ALGON leaders for paying Sallah homage to him and for their message of congratulations on the performance of the APC and his administration, assuring them that he would continue to do his best for the nation.

Speaking on behalf of the members, the Chairman of ALGON in the state, Mohammed NaAllah, expressed their support and commitment to the success of the Buhari Administration.

At another meeting with the leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Katsina State, President Buhari expressed his continued determination to respect the diversity of the country, saying that he will run a government that is fair and just to all Nigerians.

According to the statement, the president thanked the CAN leadership in the state for living in peace and harmony with other religious groups, and for supporting his administration in its policies and programmes.

The State Chairman of CAN, Nelson Onyeakachukwu, and an elder and coordinator of the Christian Pilgrimage in the state, Haruna Danjuma, who spoke during the visit, expressed happiness with the presidents performance.

They described him as the states good ambassador who had made everyone proud.

Christians in Katsina are happy with both Governor Masari in the state and yourself at the centre. We will continue to support both of you, the CAN leaders told the president.
A round table discussion around the welfare of Nigerian journalists will hold in Abuja, Tuesday, August 28.

Event organisers, the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism and the Coalition of Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF), said in a release on Friday that a social media campaign with the same purpose will hold earlier in the day.

Spokesperson for the organisers, Stephanie Adams, said the campaign is to advocate for and highlight the welfare status of journalists in Nigeria while seeking new creative responses for better working conditions of service for journalists, including welfare provisions for journalists and their families in the event of proven cases of extreme hardship and neglect by their employers.

Commenting on the current sorry state of journalists welfare, the coalition identified poor remuneration as one of the biggest challenges facing the industry today.

The coalition said it believed this was an effect of the revenue crisis facing the industry; adding to that, the wider ramifications of the problem is that most media organisations also do not pay salaries, as well as benefits like pension, insurance and other statutory requirements like tax remittances.

The coalition said it hopes the campaign will create a positive impact on Nigerian journalists by helping find ways of restoring the dignity of journalists as well as help lobby and advocate for a better welfare for members.

The Civic Innovation Lab in Wuse2, Abuja is the venue of the round table discussion which is expected to start at 9 a.m. Attendance is strictly by registration.
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Daura broached the issue of his opting to trek some distance after observing Eid prayers at Kofar Arewa Eid Ground and the humbling heros welcome from the well-wishers that lined the street.

In a meeting with representatives of the five local governments in Daura Emirate, President Buhari explained that the walk was not about proving his fitness level or scoring cheap political capital.

This is my constituency, the people came out in their large numbers to see me and the car in which I was being driven had tinted windows.

They were not seeing me so I came down so they could see me. I didnt need to convince anyone about my health and the decision to contest for a second term- a decision that I made public in April this year, he said.

The president used the opportunity of his meeting with his kinsmen to inform them that he has directed the Ministry of Agriculture and the CBN to review the processes on the issuance of loans to smallholder farmers.

We want to make it easier for them to assess the loans, particularly the underprivileged people in the society. It has become necessary for the government to do this because banks will insist on collaterals which majority of farmers do not have.

For our agriculture policy to succeed, we must be able to reach small farm holders with loans without collaterals. Collaterals are always a problem with smallholder farmers, he said.

The president also highlighted the achievements of the administration on local rice productions which had expectedly led to the reduction of imports by over 90 percent.

The oresident expressed delight that young people are returning to the farms and reaffirmed the Federal governments commitment to implement policies to promote agriculture.

Speaking on behalf of the civil society groups in Daura Emirate, the spokesman of the group, Yusuf Maiadua, applauded the president on his numerous achievements.

You have made us proud, the economy is back on the path of growth and you have laid a solid foundation for the development of the country.

Mr Maiadua who hinted the president of plans by the Daura Emirate to organise a massive rally for his 2019 campaign, as soon as the ban on political campaign is lifted, invited him to make out time to attend.
Residents of Kongo Rosha area of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State on Friday demolished suspected criminal hideouts following a clash on Tuesday that almost led to the burning down of a church in the area.

The residents who are Christians and Muslims said their action was aimed at averting religious crisis in the area.

The clash on Tuesday between two groups of hoodlums would have led to inter-religious violence but for the prompt intervention of the police.

Our reporter gathered that the members of the two groups engaged in sale of narcotics but their clash took a religious colouration.

According to the residents, the demolished hideouts were buildings abandoned after being burnt during a violent crisis in 2001 but were converted by the hoodlums.

Community leaders held a meeting on Monday at about 8: p.m. and agreed to demolish the buildings to free the area of the hoodlums.

Police personnel were also present during the demolition to ensure security.

The reason why we resolved to demolish the dilapidated buildings is that hoodlums used them as their hideout to cause tension and religious crisis, Dang Choji, a resident, told PREMIUM TIMES.

They stab and kill one another. So if the buildings are demolished, the security people would have a clear view of what is happening.

What the hoodlums want is to instigate crisis between Christians and Muslims and seize the opportunity to loot peoples properties. The hoodlums are not residents of this area. They come from different places within Jos, Mr Choji said.

Another resident who identified himself as Safiyanu also said the demolition was necessary for the security of the community

The Christians and Muslims of the area are not fighting. The problem that happened on Tuesday was just the handiwork of criminal elements who come from different places to cause problem, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported on Wednesday how the police foiled the attempt to burn a church following a clash between the two groups of hoodlums.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has visited the families of two youth who were killed in a communal clash in Kwaru and Ungwan Yero communities on Friday.

Both communities are in the Kaduna North Local Government Area.

During the visit, the governor listened to the families.

While condoling them, Mr El-Rufai expressed his sympathy and condemned the loss of innocent lives.

The governor assured the families that the law enforcement agencies have been directed to thoroughly investigate the killings, and to prosecute those involved. He appealed to the residents of the communities to reject division in the name of religion or ethnicity, and to uphold harmony in the area.

Mr El-Rufai was accompanied by Deputy Governor Barnabas Bala and senior government officials.

The government has also announced a curfew in the two communities, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., effective from today. A government statement disclosed that more security agents have been deployed to the area, and appealed to residents of the communities to observe the curfew which will be strictly enforced.
The Acting Director, Defence Information, John Agim, a brigadier general, says over 6000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have returned home in Zamfara State.

Mr Agim disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Gusau, the state capital on Friday.

He said the return of peace and security in Maradu, Shinkafi and Zurmi local government areas led to the massive return of the IDPs to their respective villages.

Mr Agim said farming and other economic activities had picked up again as bandits no longer had freedom to operate in such areas.

He said Zamfara State which was once bedeviled by incessant killings due to banditry, cattle rustling, kidnappings and armed robbery was now assured of safety of lives and property.

He said with the support of Air Task Force (ATF), the Operation Sharan Daji (OPSD) had recently launched series of air strikes against bandits hideouts and camps in SUBUBU and RUGU forest.

The acting director of defence information said the attacks had successfully neutralised a large number of armed bandits and destroyed their camps.

He said the momentum would be sustained, and that the tempo in the fight to wipe out criminalities in the state would also be increased.

(NAN)
The Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel, will today declare his intention to seek a second term in office.

The declaration, which is scheduled to take place at the states international stadium in Uyo, is expected to be witnessed by a large crowd of supporters from the different parts of the state.

Tomorrow, just as I did in 2014, I will submit myself again as your Servant- Leader and ask for your support for a second term. I know I can always count on your support, so the Akwa Ibom story will continue to be told in poetry and in prose. God bless you! Mr Emmanuel said, Thursday, on Twitter, using his personal Twitter handle @MrUdomEmmanuel.

The ruling party in Akwa Ibom, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been organising several political meetings and rallies in the state since a senator, Godswill Akpabio, defected a few days ago from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defection of Mr Akpabio, a former governor of the state, is seen as a major threat to Mr Emmanuels re-election.

Governor Emmanuels declaration on Friday, on the platform of the PDP, would bring an end to speculations that he was planning to defect to the APC.

Top APC leaders in the state, including the state caucus chairman of APC, Don Etiebet, had told PREMIUM TIMES that the governor had reached out to the national leadership of the party on his planned defection.

Honestly, I can tell you because I have been aware of it. It has been going on for a long time. His interest in joining APC is not new at all. The only thing is that Godswill Akpabio beat him up to it, Mr Etiebet said.

He has realised that APC has become very strong in the state and as such his chances of retaining his position as governor have become very slim, Mr Etiebet said on August 18.

The governors adviser on politics, Ekong Sampson, dismissed the speculations as being absolutely untrue.
The Akwa Ibom Governor, Udom Emmanuel, on Friday declared his bid for a second term in office.

Mr Emmanuel, elected governor in 2015 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), told a large crowd of supporters, who gathered at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium to witness his declaration, that he has done well and deserves the peoples vote for a second term.

His wife, Martha, stood beside him as he addressed the people for more than 37 minutes in the 30,000-capacity stadium.

The governor faces stiff opposition from the All Progressives Congress (APC) which controls the government at the centre.

More so, his political ambition looks threatened by the recent defection of a senator, Godswill Akpabio, from the PDP to the APC.

It was Mr Akpabio, a former governor of the state, who helped Mr Emmanuel to become governor in 2015, despite the opposition within the PDP.

Both politicians have parted ways and look set to battle each other in the forthcoming general elections.

Mr Emmanuel, while declaring his second term bid, mentioned peace and security in the state as one of the achievements of his administration.

He also mentioned pencil and toothpick-manufacturing company, metering company, coconut refinery, and other industries which he said he has brought to the state.

The governor said his administration has done over 1,700 kilometres of roads in the state in less than three years, renovated over 349 schools, brought down the cost of garri, (a staple food in the state), at least by 50 per cent, and revived the healthcare system.

He said given the resources available, he has performed more than any other first-term governor in Nigeria.

Not only are we preparing our youth for the future, we are also preparing the future for our youth.

The collective future of all of our youth, our women, and our elders is the centre of our policy, the governor said, adding that he would surpass his performance, if voted back into office.

Mr Emmanuel said any country that does not build its economy cannot build its politics. Politics, he said, must be anchored on the economy.

Never in history has Akwa Ibom been this unified. Never in history has Akwa Ibom been this peaceful.

I am overwhelmed. The number of people here (in the stadium) is enough for me not to say anything here today. Youve written the story, youve shown it to the whole world that Akwa Ibom is PDP, Mr Emmanuel said.

The governor attacked the legacies of his predecessor, Mr Akpabio.

He claimed that some of the projects in the state like the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene Road and the five-star hotel at Ikot Ekpene were left undone and abandoned by Mr Akpabio, before he (Mr Emmanuel) came into office to restart them.

Let nobody deceive you, it is this administration that has taken that road (Uyo-Ikot Ekpene Road) up to 23 kilometres.

They talked about Four-Point by Sheraton. Today, I dont want to answer them. But let me state, the facts must come out fast and the facts must point to the truth because the truth is constant.

It is just now that we have incorporated a company to negotiate with Starwood for that name Four-Point by Sheraton. If anybody has ever done that, let him show me the agreement he signed.

It is now that we are doing external works in that premises in order to turn it into a hotel. Is building a hotel? Can a building be a hotel?

I dont want to join issues today, I just want to humbly submit myself. But the truth must be told that it is just now that I have paid $7.2 million to Starwood so that we can retain the name that was surreptitiously put on the building called Four-Point by Sheraton Hotel.

Who is telling you a lie? Who is telling you a lie? Can they tell you that there were mechanical or electrical fittings in that building?

Governor Emmanuel, in his address, criticised a remark said to have been reportedly made by Senator Akpabio that the APC would take over Akwa Ibom the way the German dictator, Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland in 1939.

I heard human being boast that the Akwa Ibom politics in 2019 will be like the invasion of Poland by Hitler. Whoever is buying guns, trying to kill our children, meanwhile they have gone to hide their own children abroad, we say Holy Ghost.

The crowd responded, Fire!

The governor continued, Politeness is not weakness, so you need to go and warn them.

I submit myself for your consideration to continue with the good work youve supported me to do in the state, he said. He added that no single person can determine who governs the state.
International rights group, Amnesty International, has begun investigation into the arrest and detention of over 100 women reportedly arrested in Imo State, after a protest on August 18.

The women were arrested following a protest, while demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The women, who were mostly half-nude had taken to the street to express their support for the proposed state of Biafra and called on the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, to help them actualise their dream.

They were subsequently arrested by the police and arraigned at a Magistrate Court. The women were accused of unlawful assembly, treason and other offences.

The Magistrate, S.K. Durumba ordered the detention of the protesters till September 3.

Reacting to the decision of the magistrate to detain the protesters, while awaiting further directive from the Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, a former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili condemned the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and the Magistrate for their actions.

IG @PoliceNG, how in the world did you put this level of blight on our Democracy with this saga of the protesting Imo women? I read that the Magistrate says her #court lacks jurisdiction, adjourns till 3 Sept for attorney generals advice. #Women remanded in #prison. Wow. How? Mrs Ezekwesili said on her twitter handle Thursday.

Various twitter handles including that of the former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, also joined in a twitter campaign demanding the release of the Imo women, with hashtags; #ProtestNotTreason, #FreeOwere112, #FreeIpobWomen, among others on Thursday.

While some hashtags put the number of detained women at 112, others suggest 114.

Meanwhile, in its reaction, the Amnesty international said via a tweet that it has commenced investigation.

Amnesty International is investigating (the) disturbing arrest of 114 peaceful protesters, the international rights group said in a tweet Thursday evening.
There have been war of words between supporters of the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and the director general of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, over the Enugu West Senatorial seat.

Both parties, the APC Youth Circle (APCYC) Enugu West Senatorial District and the Enugu West Peoples Assembly have not only shown solidarity with the politicians but also condemned the workings of the opposing political parties.

Although it is not clear if he would seek re-election into the senate, Mr Ekweremadu, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is currently spending his fourth term in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, having been elected in 2003.

Mr Okechukwu has however, declared his intention to contest election for the senate in 2019 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent the Enugu West Senatorial District  the district currently represented by Mr Ekweremadu.

He had asked his party members to supports his ambition to retire Mr Ekweremadu from politics.

Mr Okechukwu, becomes the second APC member from the South-east serving in president Muhammadu Buharis government to indicate his intention to seek election into the Senate in 2019.

Pledging their support, the APCYC, wished Mr Ekweremadu a successful retirement from the senate.

In a statement by the groups general coordinator, Geofrey Eze, the group assured that Mr Okechukwu would give selfless service to the people of Enugu West and unite the zone, which they claimed has been divided by Ekweremadus divide and rule tactics.

Allegations and counter allegations

Mr Eze said unlike Mr Ekweremadu who was buying Okada motorcycles for youths, Mr Okechukwu would revamp the abundant coal deposits in Enugu State to ensure the creation of employment for thousands of youths in Enugu West.

He listed some appointments that Mr Okechukwu influenced so far in the district to include, Awgu  Titus Okolo, Commissioner ICPC, Oji River  Polycap Udah  member Board Ministry of Federal Capital Territory, Udenu, Major General Chris Eze  Ambasador to India, Igboeze North, Barister Bath Ugwoke  Member Board of Voice of Nigeria, Isiuzo-Hon. Ejike Eze, Member National Population Commission and Nkanu West  Nonye Okoro, Board Member, and Federal Medical Centre.

Distinguished Senator Ekweremadu never mentioned the huge coal deposit in the district in his 16 years sojourn. Okechukwu has been on this mission and it is elementary knowledge that he will facilitate the revamping of the coal deposits in Inyi, Amansiodo, Onyeama and Okpara mines, better as a senator.

Mr Okechukwu as a Buharists no doubt as a senator will easily hook up with President Buharis RRAP Projects  Roads, Rails and Agriculture  to facilitate the Eastern Corridor Railways, which will cover the Port Harcourt, Umuahia, Owerri, Abakaliki, Awka, Makurdi, Lafia, Akwanga, Jos, Damaturu, and Maiduguri, he said.

The Enugu West Peoples Assembly on the other hand, advised the Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop fantasizing over the Enugu West Senatorial seat currently occupied by Mr Ekweremadu, as there is no vacancy yet.

The national president of the Enugu West Peoples Assembly, Paul Anikwe, in a statement, told the opposition that they were taking their lucks too far.

While stating that the people of Enugu West have since endorsed Mr Ekweremadu and governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for additional terms, Mr Anikwe said they are more concerned with getting Senator Ekweremadu to take another shot at the senate, than joining issues with people of no political consequence in Enugu politics.

He accused the APC of being disjointed and speaking from both sides of the mouth.

While their National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was at the National Assembly a few days ago promising a return ticket to APC National Assembly members, using US Senator, John McCain, as an example of long-serving lawmakers, these ones in Enugu are daydreaming about retiring the best performing Senator and the longest serving presiding officer in Nigerias history with a lot of experience, clout, infrastructural and human development to show for his quality representation.

We know that APCs violent congresses in Enugu produced at least two factions. While a faction led by Ben Nwoye is loyal to the likes of Senator Ken Nnamani as well as Sullivan Chime and Osita Okechukwu, the other Deacon Ogbodo is loyal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyeama, the chief promoter of Mrs. Ibekaku-Nwagwu.

So, let him and APC first put their chaotic house in order before daydreaming over Ekweremadus seat. On Ekweremadu Enugu West stands and we have no reason to change our minds, he said.

Mr Anikwe, however, said he did not begrudge the Enugu APC factional candidates and officials for mentioning Mr Ekweremadus name as that was the only way to make their ambitions newsworthy.
An Ondo State High Court in Akure on Thursday sentenced seven men to death for armed robbery and killing of a US-based businessman, Banji Adafin.

Mr Adafin was said to be on vacation in Nigerian in July last year when the gunmen gained entrance into his home in Akure and killed him,

The convicts include Jimoh Sodiq a.k.a Akamo; Blessing Ogunlade, Yomi Balogun a.k.a Regal; Oluwaseun Oluwalola a.k.a Iyan; Akeem Adedayo, Oso John Omoniyi a.k.a Bosco and Sodiq Babatunde.

They were found guilty of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit murder and illegal possession of firearms.

However, Jimoh Sodiq, who actually shot Mr Adafin to death, was convicted of murder contrary to and punishable under section 316 of the criminal code, cap 37 vol 1 laws of Ondo State of Nigeria.

The court also sentenced to one-year imprisonment, an accomplice, Damilola Samuel a.k.a Mama, who was the girlfriend of one of the convicts, for allegedly aiding the criminals.

She was said to have helped in disposing the stolen goods and served as the armourer to the gang. She was convicted for accessory after the fact contrary to section 10 of the criminal code, cap 37, laws of Ondo State.

The robbery incident occurred on July 4, 2017, at No. 5 Temidire street, Muyiwa Oni Avenue along Akure\Owo expressway, Akure.

The robbers were said to have killed Mr Adafin in the presence of his wife, before making away with valuables.

The trial judge, Samuel Bola, in his judgment, concluded that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused persons were culpable in the death of late Banji Adafin.

Mr Bola said the offenders committed the offences in contravention of the Robbery and Firearms Act, laws of the Federation (2004) and the Criminal Code, laws of Ondo state (2006).

In her statement, Ms Samuel had confessed that she was in a relationship with the second defendant, Blessing Ogunlade.

She said she had to do his bidding when he asked her to remove some incriminating items from his home.

While relieving her experience during the robbery incident, the wife of the deceased, Abimbola Adafin, told the court that she had a scream from her housemaid and a female relative, but before she could do anything, the robbers had gained entrance through the kitchen door.

l was inside the bedroom with my husband and daughter when l heard Hannah Temitope (a relative) and Deborah Petti (a housemaid) suddenly scream at the top of their lungs which made me rush out of the bedroom to the living room, she explained.

When I got to the sitting room, I saw why the two women screamed. They were held at gunpoint by two armed robbers.

When I saw the armed robbers, I panicked and ran back to the room. Unknown to me, the armed robbers had gained access inside the house through the kitchen door.

She also told the court that the robbers beat up the two ladies with an iron rod, and made away with two Samsung plasma television sets, her husbands Samsung phone, one techno phone and an electric pressing iron.

An official of the State Security Services, Olajiri Fadipe, who testified before the court, revealed that while six of the gunmen were actively involved in the armed robbery, the seventh accused person had supplied unlicensed firearms for the operation.
Cracks seem to have appeared among organised labour in Ekiti State, following the declaration of an indefinite strike by council workers, beginning from Thursday.

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), had last week issued a strike notice to the state government over its failure to pay workers salaries, threatening to commence an indefinite strike on Thursday.

The government had made efforts to reach out to the union, in a bid to ensure the strike did not hold.

Following the governments appeals, many council workers trouped to their offices to resume work early on Thursday.

Their action was also informed by a late notice by the NULGE leadership, suspending the strike.

However, there was commotion when some senior workers stormed the various secretariats, chasing away their colleagues who turned up for work.

They also staged a protest, during which they announced the dissolution of the state executives of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of the state, alleging that the leadership of the unions were compromised.

During the protest, led by former Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayodeji Aluko, and his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Kolawole Olaiya, the workers accused the state government of deceit in its commitment to defray between six and 10 months of outstanding salaries.

While addressing the workers, the labour leaders urged them to leave their offices and begin an indefinite strike.

They said it was wrong for Governor, Ayodele Fayose, who accused his predecessor, Kayode Fayemi, of insensitivity for owing one month salary in 2014, to betray the trust and confidence the workers reposed in him that earned him victory in 2014.

Today, we are dissolving the executives of NLC and TUC in Ekiti and they stand dissolved , because their leaders, Ade Adesanmi and Odunayo Adesoye, have lost their values. They are no longer talking about the welfare of the workers they were expected to defend.

We decided not to do this protest before election, so that they wont read political meanings to it. Workers have died, just because they are not paid. In 2014, Governor Fayose said any governor who owed just a month salary because he is building infrastructure doesnt worth being a governor.

Today, the governor is owing pensioners 10 months, LG workers eight months and civil servants and teachers are owed six months. We are not fighting Governor Fayose but he must pay the workers, said Mr Aluko.

Shortly after the election, Fayose quickly paid six months salaries and furniture allowances of political office holders, then what becomes of our teeming workers?

It was sad that Adesanmi and Adesoye decided to give Fayemi three months moratorium to pay workers when he assumes office, when they were practically doing nothing to ensure that Governor Fayose doesnt leave office a debtor governor as he promised.

We hereby declare indefinite strike commencing from today and only the national secretariats of both TUC and NLC can negotiate on our behalf, because we no longer trust the State leaderships of the two congresses.

The workers had earlier accused the labour leaders of receiving N14 million as mobilisation from Governor Fayose to enlist their backing for the July 14 governorship election.

Mr Adesoye, the TUC chairman, however, described the dissolution of his executive as illegal, null and void and flies in the face of law as prescribed by International Labour Organisation(ILO).

He also refuted the accusation that the labour leaders collected N14 million to mobilise for Mr Fayose in the recent governorship election, saying the ex-labour leaders were only trying to malign his person and other labour leaders to gain recognition from Mr Fayemi.

I dont think they have such power to dissolve an organised labour centres as former leaders. Only the national bodies could do such, said Mr Adesoye.

We have tried our best to ensure that the government paid outstanding salaries. We have not shirked our responsibilities, even the State Executive Council of NLC and TUC just passed vote of confidence in us.

It was very unfortunate that these leaders are trying to destroy the house that brought them up. We are trying our best to ensure that salaries are paid.

We are expecting government to reduce the outstanding to a reasonable level at the end of this month. So, the protest was in bad taste. What they wanted is political relevance.

On the allegation that they collected N14 million to mobilise for Mr Fayose, Mr Adesoye said, It is a blatant lie that we collected a sum of N14 million from Fayose, to do what?

 It was a lie. Blatant lie, they wont succeed in this attempt to malign our personalities. Fayemi didnt recognise them and they want it by force. I believe if they should get recognition, it has to be through a clean way.
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.




LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MEGIN (formerly Elekta Oy), the leading provider of magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology, today announced Arkansas Children's Hospital has signed an agreement to acquire a TRIUX neo for functional brain imaging.

MEG is a completely non-invasive diagnostic device and directly measures magnetic activity generated by neurons in the brain. TRIUX neo is being used in the diagnosis and assessment of complex neurological disruptions and is able to detect and localize neural events with millimeter accuracy and with millisecond resolution. This detection capability is impactful when diagnosing patients across a wide spectrum including epilepsy, brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autism.

"MEG is a state-of-the-art device that can precisely localize the source of seizures within the brain to help provide a life-changing cure for select children with uncontrolled epilepsy," said Gregory Sharp, MD, chief of Neurology at Arkansas Children's, the state's only pediatric health system. "This asset will lead to new understandings of neurologic disorders through research."

"We are very excited to be working with Arkansas Children's Hospital and providing our latest technology in functional brain imaging for their patients," said Janne Huhtala, CEO of MEGIN. "The information gained through the use of MEG can have a significant impact on patients who are otherwise left with few definitive answers when faced with surgery."

TRIUX neo is scheduled to be installed by the end of 2018.

For further information, please contact:

For MEGIN Instruments:

Tyler Lecceadone

SeyferthPR

[email protected]

For Arkansas Children's Hospital:

Hilary DeMillo

Media Relations Manager

[email protected]

About Arkansas Children's

Arkansas Children's, Inc. is the only health care system in the state solely dedicated to caring for children, which allows the organization to uniquely shape the landscape of pediatric care in Arkansas. The system includes a 336-bed hospital in Little Rock with the state's only pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center, burn center, Level 4 neonatal intensive care and pediatric intensive care, and research institute as well as a nationally-recognized transport service. It is one the 25 largest children's hospitals in the United States and is nationally ranked by U.S. News World & Report in cardiology/heart surgery, neurology/neurosurgery, nephrology and pulmonology. Arkansas Children's Northwest in Springdale includes 233,613 square feet of inpatient beds, emergency care, clinic rooms and diagnostic services. Arkansas Children's also blankets the state with outreach programs that include telemedicine, mobile health and school-based health solutions. A private nonprofit, Arkansas Children's boasts an internationally renowned reputation for medical breakthroughs and intensive treatments, unique surgical procedures and forward-thinking research and is committed to providing every child with access to the best care available, regardless of location or resources. Founded as an orphanage, Arkansas Children's has championed children by making them better today and healthier tomorrow for more than 100 years. For more info, visit www.archildrens.org.

About MEGIN

Based in Helsinki, Finland, MEGIN is the leading global provider of magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology. Now in our 30th year with the largest install base worldwide, MEGIN continues the advancement of MEG technology for functional brain imaging in the presurgical evaluation of epilepsy, brain tumors, or other lesions, and surgical planning for localization of sensory information. MEG provides highly precise information to support medical professionals in the delivery of quality care and improved outcomes. TRIUX neo, a fourth-generation system, is the latest innovation to be introduced by MEGIN. In July 2018, MEGIN became a part of Croton Healthcare, the global leader in functional brain imaging solutions.





SOURCE MEGIN
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- International supermodel and UNICEF Supporter Gigi Hadid traveled with UNICEF USA to Bangladesh last week, promoting the rights and well-being of every child. During her visit, Hadid saw first-hand the impact of UNICEF programming, including education, child-friendly spaces, health support and more. The trip fell on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Rohingya refugee crisis, which began on August 25, 2017.

There are 1.3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the region since the mass influx of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh from Myanmar last year, and more than half are children. On a visit to the Sabrang river border area, Hadid saw the route that so many children and families took in hopes of a safer life.

At a Learning Center in Shamlapur Camp, Hadid met students and joined in educational games and activities. At an Information Feedback Center, she met with inspirational young people, mothers and community mobilizers who are engaging their communities in response efforts.

At a Women-Friendly Space in Jamtoli Camp, Hadid met women who are leading their households with support from UNICEF and partners. In the Kutupalong camp, Hadid saw the lifesaving impact of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Packets for malnourished children at an Outpatient Therapeutic Feeding Center and saw the power of play at a Child-Friendly Space, where kids receive support and recover from trauma.

"Visiting the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh with Gigi Hadid ahead of the one-year mark of the crisis was a hugely impactful experience. It gave me a renewed sense of purpose to make sure that these bright, dynamic children have everything they need to grow and thrive," said Caryl M. Stern President and CEO of UNICEF USA. "We are so thankful that Gigi gave her time, voice and platforms to this mission. She is a living example of what it means to put 'children first' and was a natural in the environment  warm and engaging with everyone she met. We are thrilled to have her as a UNICEF USA Supporter."

Upon her return, Hadid and UNICEF Ambassador Halima Aden started a CrowdRise page to support UNICEF's work to protect children on the move around the world and celebrate their September cover of CR Fashion Book. Both Hadid and Aden are represented by IMG Models, whose parent company Endeavor helped introduce them to UNICEF USA.

"We were so proud to connect Gigi with Endeavor's social impact partner, UNICEF, and watch her mobilize immediately through her first field visit to Bangladesh. Gigi was able to witness firsthand the incredible work UNICEF is doing with the Rohingya refugees in helping them not only survive, but thrive. The impassioned support from Gigi, Halima and their teams at IMG Models will continue to raise awareness for and have a direct impact on the communities UNICEF serves around the world," stated Tascha Rudder, Executive Director of the Endeavor Foundation.

Join Hadid and Aden in their initiative to support uprooted children around the world by visiting www.crowdrise.com/UNICEFuprooted

Download Multimedia Assets from Hadid's visit

https://unicefusa.box.com/s/kma0awbzil924mg5mgoycnmffpaupz1k

Support the CrowdRise page

www.crowdrise.com/UNICEFuprooted

For more information, view the August 2018 Rohingya Child Alert

https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/UNICEF_Child_Alert_Rohingya_Aug_2018.pdf

About UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. UNICEF USA supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

SOURCE UNICEF USA

Related Links

https://www.unicefusa.org


DUBLIN, Aug 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market by Product (Disposables and Monitors), Type (Invasive, Minimally Invasive, and Non-invasive), End User (Hospitals, Clinics & Ambulatory Care Center, and Home Care Setting), and Region - Global Forecasts to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global hemodynamic monitoring systems market is expected to reach USD 1,167.4 million by 2023 from USD 857.8 million in 2018, at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period.

The growth of this market is primarily driven by factors such as the technological advancements in hemodynamic monitoring systems, increasing research into hemodynamic monitoring systems, influx of VC funding, and the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases & diabetes.

The hemodynamic monitoring systems market is segmented on the basis of product, type, end user, and region. By product, the market is segmented into two broad categories monitors and disposables. The monitors segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the increasing prevalence of CVDs, technological advancements in monitoring systems, and increasing funding by government authorities to improve patient-centered care, safety, and efficiency.

By type, the global hemodynamic monitoring systems market is segmented into invasive, minimally invasive, and noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring systems. The noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring systems segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast, The rising incidence of respiratory disorders, increasing geriatric population, fewer complications of noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring as compared to invasive methods, better portability, ease of use, and better precision are the major factors driving the growth of this market segment.

On the basis of end user, the global hemodynamic monitoring systems market is segmented into hospitals, clinics and ambulatory care centers (ACCs), and home care settings. In 2018, the hospitals segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global hemodynamic monitoring systems market. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the presence of big cath labs in hospitals, successful applications of hemodynamic monitoring systems in several procedures, increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, and continuous technological advancements coupled with government funding.

Geographic segments in this report include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and RoW. Of these, the North American region is expected to account for the largest share of the market in 2018. In North America, the hemodynamic monitoring systems market is driven by rising geriatric population and the increasing prevalence of diabetes and hypertension. In the US, the availability of technologically advanced hemodynamic monitoring systems, a large base of major device manufacturers, and favorable reimbursement scenario are some of the key factors driving the market for hemodynamic monitoring systems. In Canada, the growth of the market is driven by the growing use of patient monitoring systems and the development of technologically advanced hemodynamic monitoring systems.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights



4.1 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market Overview

4.2 Asia Pacific: Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Country and End User

4.3 Geographic Snapshot: Global Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market

4.4 Global Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Type (2018 vs 2023)



5 Market Overview



5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.3 Drivers

5.3.1 Technological Advancements in Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

5.3.1.1 Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

5.3.1.2 Hypotension Prediction Index (HPI) Software

5.3.2 Increasing Research Into Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

5.3.3 Influx of VC Funding

5.3.4 Rising Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes

5.3.5 Rising Geriatric Population and Growing Number of Surgeries

5.3.6 Awareness Initiatives By Industry Players

5.3.7 Government Focus on Critical Care Infrastructure and Services

5.4 Restraints

5.4.1 Risks Associated With Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring

5.5 Opportunities

5.5.1 Emerging Markets

5.5.2 Growing Demand for Patient Monitoring Devices in Non-Hospital Settings

5.6 Challenges

5.6.1 Increasing Pricing Pressure on Market Players

5.6.2 Limited Patient Awareness Related to Disease Diagnosis

5.6.3 Dearth of Skilled Professionals



6 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Product



6.1 Introduction

6.2 Disposables

6.3 Monitors



7 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Type



7.1 Introduction

7.2 Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

7.3 Minimally Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

7.4 Noninvasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems



8 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By End User



8.1 Introduction

8.2 Hospitals

8.3 Clinics and Ambulatory Care Centers

8.4 Home Care Settings



9 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Region



9.1 Introduction

9.2 North America

9.2.1 US

9.2.2 Canada

9.3 Europe

9.3.1 Germany

9.3.2 UK

9.3.3 France

9.3.4 RoE

9.4 Asia Pacific

9.4.1 Japan

9.4.2 China

9.4.3 India

9.4.4 RoAPAC

9.5 RoW



10 Competitive Landscape



10.1 Introduction

10.2 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market Share Analysis

10.2.1 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

10.2.2 Pulsion Medical Systems Se

10.2.3 Lidco Group PLC

10.3 Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market Share Analysis, By Region

10.4 Competitive Scenario



11 Company Profiles



11.1 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

11.2 Pulsion Medical Systems Se (Part of the Maquet Getinge Group)

11.3 Lidco Group

11.4 Deltex Medical Group PLC

11.5 ICU Medical

11.6 Cnsystems Medizintechnik GmbH

11.7 Caretaker Medical

11.8 Osypka Medical GmbH

11.9 Cheetah Medical

11.10 NI Medical

11.11 Uscom



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/v2cr7r/global?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


LOS ANGELES, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Biopharma Inc. (GTBP) and (Euronext Paris: GTBP.PA), an immuno-oncology biotechnology company focused on innovative treatments based on the company's proprietary platforms, today announced the appointment of David Cardino, CPA, MBA as Vice President of Finance effective August 20, 2018.

"Dave brings extensive pharmaceutical and biotech experience to GT and is a valuable and timely addition to our team. Given our strong portfolio and compelling science we continue to attract talented colleagues such as Dave. I am looking forward to working with Dave and continuing our culture of fiscal discipline and budget oversight," said Dr. Raymond W Urbanski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GT Biopharma.

"I am very excited to join GT Biopharma at this stage in the Company's development. I look forward to working with Dr. Urbanski and the team and contributing to the advancement of the Company and progression of its impressive immuno-oncology pipeline," stated Mr. Cardino

David Cardino is a financial and operational leader with over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Most recently, he led the finance and accounting operations of Agensys, Inc., a U.S. based oncology research center of Astellas Pharma, Inc., with a pipeline of naked and antibody-drug-conjugated (ADC) therapeutic antibodies directed at a variety of cancer indications, with annual expenses and capital investment in excess of $100M. Prior to joining Agensys, Mr. Cardino held positions of increasing responsibility at MannKind Corporation, providing strategic and financial support to the R&D and commercial organizations, and serving on the finance and pharmaceutical development leadership teams. Previous to MannKind, David held various positions at Merck & Co., Inc in areas including pharmaceutical economics, R&D portfolio evaluation, insurance and risk management, and manufacturing financial services. David began his career as an auditor with Price Waterhouse LLP. He is a certified public accountant in the state of New Jersey and holds a B.A. degree in Economics-Accounting from the College of the Holy Cross, and an M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

About GT Biopharma, Inc.:

GT Biopharma, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company predominantly focused on the development and commercialization of immuno-oncology products based off our proprietary Tri-specific Killer Engager (TriKE), Tetra-specific Killer Engager (TetraKE) and bi-specific Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) technology platforms. Our TriKE and TetraKE platforms generate proprietary moieties designed to harness and enhance the cancer killing abilities of a patient's own natural killer, or NK, cells. Once bound to a NK cell, our moieties are designed to enhance the NK cell and precisely direct it to one or more specifically-targeted proteins (tumor antigens) expressed on a specific type of cancer, ultimately resulting in the cancer cell's death. TriKEs and TetraKEs are made up of recombinant fusion proteins, can be designed to target certain tumor antigens on hematologic malignancies, sarcomas or solid tumors and do not require patient-specific customization. They are designed to be dosed in a common outpatient setting similar to modern antibody therapeutics and are expected to have reasonably low cost of goods. Our ADC platform can generate product candidates that are bi-specific, ligand-directed single-chain fusion proteins that, we believe, represent the next generation of ADCs.

GT's nervous system platform is focused on acquiring or discovering and patenting late-stage, de-risked, and close-to-market improved treatments for nervous system diseases (Neurology and Pain) and shepherding them through the approval process to the NDA. GT Biopharma's neurology products currently include PainBrake, as well as treatments for the symptoms of myasthenia gravis, and motion sickness.

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are inherently unreliable and actual results may differ materially. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the payment of dividends, marketing and distribution plans, development activities and anticipated operating results. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include such factors as the Company's ability to accomplish its business initiatives, significant fluctuations in marketing expenses and ability to achieve and expand significant levels of revenues, or recognize net income, from the sale of its products and services, as well as the introduction of competing products, or management's ability to attract and maintain qualified personnel necessary for the development and commercialization of its planned products, and other information that may be detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact:

Raymond Urbanski

+1-800-304-9888



Company website: http://www.GTBiopharma.com

SOURCE GT Biopharma Inc.
The 2018 LUI Che Woo Prize laureates were unveiled at a press conference held earlier today. Honourable guests in attendance included Dr. Lui Che Woo, Founder & Chairman of the Board of Governors cum Prize Council of the LUI Che Woo Prize; Dr. Moses Cheng Mo-chi, member of the Board of Governors of LUI Che Woo Prize Limited; and Prof. Lawrence J. Lau, Chairman of the Prize Recommendation Committee.

The 2018 Positive Energy Prize -- which this year had the Specific Area of Focus Elimination of Illiteracy -- was awarded to Pratham Education Foundation. Dedicated to improving quality of education and contributing to literacy attainment, Pratham directly helps one million children attain basic literacy and numeracy annually. Profoundly wedded to evidence-based models, it is now one of the largest NGOs in India and focusses on high-quality, low-cost interventions which address gaps in the education system. Through replicable, scalable models that emphasises on result-driven accountability, Pratham is able to achieve lasting and widely influential success in India's educational landscape and beyond, creating an adaptable demonstration model for governments.

Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of the Pratham Education Foundation, said, "We are both surprised and delighted to have won the LUI Che Woo Prize! Our own values and vision of making the world a better, more positive place are very similar to that of the Prize, and this generous honour from an international award will greatly support the work of Pratham in continuing to promote quality education to the children who are most in-need."

The 2018 Welfare Betterment Prize  with Reduction of the Impact of Natural Disasters being this year's specific area of focus  was awarded to World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO sets worldwide standards and provides the framework for international cooperation by supporting its 191 member states and territories to implement the adopted policies, leading to better monitoring, forecasting and communication of meteorological hazards on a global scale. Its persistent effort is pivotal in the tenfold reduction in global loss of life from extreme weather, climate and water-related events observed over the past half-century.

Professor Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, said, "We are honoured to be recognised by the LUI Che Woo Prize for the Organization's long-term efforts in mitigating disaster losses related to extreme weather, climate and water events. As always, our top priority is to support our members in tackling weather, climate and water-related challenges. With the LUI Che Woo Prize, we will no doubt be even better positioned to lend our leading expertise and crucial support."

The 2018 Sustainability Prize -- this year with the Specific Area of Focus Development of Renewable Energy -- was awarded to Hans-Josef Fell. Internationally recognised as a founding figure of the global renewable energy movement, Mr. Fell has been an environmental pioneer since the 1970s. He founded the world's first energy community to produce solar power in 1994, transforming the market for renewable energy, and successfully fought for the adoption of the Renewable Energy Act in the German Parliament. This law has since been replicated over 100 times around the globe, contributing to changes in renewable energy practices worldwide. Building on his huge success in bringing Germany to be the world's first major renewable energy economy in 2000, he has since then been sharing best practices and negotiating with governments and parliaments worldwide to accelerate the global transition to 100% renewable energy, extending his impact to the global level.

Mr. Hans-Josef Fell said, "Promoting sustainable energy with the goal of transitioning to 100% renewable worldwide has been my life's work. Being awarded the LUI Che Woo Prize is a great honour and will strengthen my future activities to energise people for a sustainable and peaceful world. Thank you very much."

Dr. Lui Che Woo, Founder & Chairman of the Board of Governors cum Prize Council of the LUI Che Woo Prize said, "This year's laureates have contributed tremendously in enhancing sustainability, welfare of mankind and bringing about positive energy, and are unanimously selected by the Prize Council. I am truly grateful for the concerted effort of the Prize Council, Prize Recommendation Committee and the Selection Panels to make the recognition of such outstanding laureates possible. Congratulations once again.

"The Lui Che Woo Prize is sowing seeds of goodwill, hoping to spread the positive energy to a broader audience; yet your support to the Prize and its laureates on carrying on their meaningful works is what is truly instrumental to further broaden its influence."

Looking ahead, the Prize will continue to evolve and to further widen its scope of each prize category, enabling the nomination of more individuals and organisations which have made outstanding contributions across a broad array of diverse arenas.

The nomination period for the 2019 LUI Che Woo Prize will begin in September this year. The process of nomination is by invitation only. The LUI Che Woo Prize will send invitations to more than 1,000 nominators, including heads of universities, academic institutions and professional organisations. Nominations will be considered regardless of race, religion and nationality (for individuals), or place of establishment (for organisations).

To find out more about the LUI Che Woo Prize, please visit the official website www.luiprize.org.

For multimedia assets of the event, please download in the following link: https://www.webcargo.net/l/pV5OEyIUW9/

About the LUI Che Woo Prize

Founded by Dr. LUI Che Woo in 2015, the "LUI Che Woo Prize  Prize for World Civilisation" is an annual, first of its kind international cross-sector innovative award for advancing world civilisation and inspiring people to build a more harmonious world. It aims to recognise and honour individuals or organisations all over the world for outstanding contributions and encourages the continuation of that work in three objectives: sustainable development of the world, betterment of the welfare of mankind and promotion of positive life attitude and enhancement of positive energy.

Each laureate received a cash award of HK$20 million (equivalent to approximately US$2.56 million), a certificate and a trophy. Each Prize is awarded to a single recipient, who can either be an individual or an organisation.

The LUI Che Woo Prize is administrated and managed by LUI Che Woo Prize Limited, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in Hong Kong. The Prize Company is led and supervised by the Board of Governors.

For enquiries, please contact PR representatives at Golin:

Cyndi Cheng +852 2501 7929 [email protected] Christi Ho +852 2501 7906 [email protected]

SOURCE LUI Che Woo Prize Limited
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network  it's easy and free. Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform

EXPERT ALERTS

Miss America Pageant: Recent Changes and Beauty Culture

School Desegregation: Educational Challenges and What Lessons Can We Learn for Today

MEDIA JOBS

US Culture Writer  The Independent (NY)

Story Editor  Barron's (NY)

(NY) Money & Politics Reporter  MarketWatch (DC)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

Save Time and Money: 6 Tips to Maximize Your Video Production Budget

Convert Your Broadcast Voice to Print: 5 Tips From a Former TV Reporter

Blog Profiles: Yoga Blogs

EXPERT ALERTS:



Miss America Pageant: Recent Changes and Beauty Culture

Michelle Filling-Brown, PhD

Acting Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Associate Professor, English

Cabrini University

"Beauty culture reveals what people in our society both value and reject and is a place where important change can take place. It must be criticized, engaged with, and learned from, for it is a powerful construction with real ramifications on our ideas about gender and race, as well as the development of healthy self-image. If we are to become a more accepting and inclusive society, we must demand acceptance of all people and search for the beauty that lies within each of us."

An instrumental voice in gender and body studies, Filling-Brown examines beauty culture as an agent for change including the iconography of black beauty as it became interconnected with social and political aesthetics of the era. As facilitator of the National Undergraduate Conference on Body Image, Filling-Brown brings together student voices from across the nation to discuss timely issues in the field of body studies. She is available to speak on topics including beauty culture, gender and body studies, and pageantry including the recent changes to the Miss America Pageant.

Website: www.cabrini.edu/experts

Contact: Lori Iannella, [email protected]



School Desegregation: The Educational Challenges and What Lessons Can We Learn for Today

Michael C Gengler

Author, Speaker, Education Advocate

"The lawyers, the courts, and the first black students to attend white schools in the South were heroes about which much has been written, but school desegregation was an encompassing effort by communities across the South. For many years, Southern public schools were the most integrated in the nation. The generation of community and school leaders, teachers, parents and students that integrated Southern schools is aging, and their stories need telling as their accomplishments continue to be relevant in today's schools."

Gengler is available to discuss what educators and communities today can learn from how people from all walks of life came together to ensure the schools were successfully integrated, the history of school desegregation, and specifically school desegregation in Florida. He graduated from Gainesville High School in Florida in 1962. He received his AB degree from Columbia College (New York) in 1966, magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a member of the managing board of the Columbia Daily Spectator. In 1969, he received his JD degree from Harvard Law School. Until 1974, he served as an assistant staff judge advocate in the USAF. For most of his career, he was a corporate lawyer in Boston and Chicago. He also worked for a few years as a full-time volunteer lawyer for Legal Action of Wisconsin, Madison, representing clients who could not afford counsel. He lives in Gainesville and is a vocal advocate for public school education. He recently published "We Can Do It: A Community Takes on the Challenge of School Desegregation," writing out of a deep respect for the Southern whites and African-Americans who came together to create unitary desegregated schools.

Website: www.wecandoitbook.com

Contact: Penny Sansevieri, [email protected]



MEDIA JOBS:

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US Culture Writer  The Independent (NY)

Story Editor  Barron's (NY)

(NY) Money & Politics Reporter  MarketWatch (DC)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected]

SAVE TIME AND MONEY: 6 TIPS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR VIDEO PRODUCTION BUDGET. Making a successful video -- be it live action, animation, or mixed media -- can be summed up in one word: planning. Without proper planning, you're guaranteed to waste time and money. By following a few simple guidelines, though, you can ensure that your video will make your message stand out and shine. Here are some scene-stealing (and money-saving) tips to ensure your message shines: https://prn.to/2vLvsZo





CONVERT YOUR BROADCAST VOICE TO PRINT: 5 TIPS FROM A FORMER TV REPORTER. Today, journalists, bloggers and all variations of content creators must be able tell their stories in all formats. But this transition isn't always easy. Here are some lessons a former TV reporter learned to help her inner print chick: https://prn.to/2nrv79P





BLOG PROFILES: YOGA BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few yoga blogs: https://prn.to/2nHdanR

PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire.

To contact ProfNet: [email protected] or 800-776-3638, ext. 1

SOURCE ProfNet

Related Links

http://www.profnet.com


Robert Eglet has received an unprecedented record of verdicts and settlements, with more multi-million dollar verdicts than any other trial attorney in Nevada, including the largest catastrophic injury verdicts in the country in 2010 and 2013, including the 2 largest and 3 of the 4 largest catastrophic injury verdicts in Nevada history of $525 million, $505 million, and $186.2 million. Mr. Eglet was twice named "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Nevada Justice Association (NJA) in 2005 and 2012. In 2010 Mr. Eglet was named the National Lawyer of the year and in 2013, he was honored as the National Trial Lawyer of the year.

The Inner Circle of Advocates was founded in 1972 with a mission to promote the highest standards of courtroom competence, the mutual fellowship and exchange of knowledge and justice for their clients, along with changes for the good of society. Originally membership was limited to just fifty members. Today membership is limited to 100 members meeting the qualifications for membership.

The firm Eglet Prince appears frequently in the news nationally and internationally for its representation of nearly 3,000 victims in the 1 October Mandalay Bay massacre. The firm also is currently representing many Nevada counties and municipalities in the opioid crisis, suing manufacturers and distributors, which have resulted in a national epidemic of opioid deaths and addictions. Local governments have hired Eglet Prince due to the strain this public health crisis has cost local communities.

For additional information

or an interview with Robert Eglet

Contact: Tom Letizia 702-545-8777

or [email protected]

SOURCE Eglet Prince
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- University and middle school students from South Dakota, and junior high students from Texas, will talk live with astronauts on the International Space Station next week. Both Earth-to-space calls are part of NASA's Year of Education on Station, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold will answer questions from students gathered at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota, at 12:10 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 27. Students from the university and sixth through eighth graders from Madison Central School District will participate. The younger students are enrolled in Earth and space science courses exploring the theme of science and engineering in zero or low-gravity environments. Arnold is expected to discuss topics such as gravity, water cycles, rocketry, astronomy, mechanics and radiation. The event will be held in the Beacom Institute of Technology, 8010 N. Washington Ave., Madison. Media interested in covering should contact Jim Maloney at [email protected] or 605-480-0013.

Later in the week, NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor will talk with students gathered at Eugene Kranz Junior High School in Dickinson, Texas, at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 30. Students from Barber Middle School in Dickinson will join the students at Kranz Junior High as part of an academy serving high-performing students from across the district. Kranz Junior High, named in honor of legendary Apollo-era NASA flight director and long-time Dickinson resident Gene Kranz, is a brand new facility serving seventh and eighth graders. The address is 12850 FM 346, Dickinson. Media interested in covering the event should contact Tammy Dowdy at [email protected] or 281-229-6080.

Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).

In addition to the calls with students, astronaut Drew Feustel will participate in a conversation with Sky Sports, which covers London Formula One racing, at 10:25 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28. That conversation also will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Follow the astronauts on social media at:

https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts

See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


ST. LOUIS, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Accella Tire Fill Systems has partnered once again with American Forests, the nation's longest running non-profit conservation organization, as part of a long-standing collaboration to replant thousands of new trees in our nation's most devastated fire zones. This year, as part of its signature "One Tote, One Tree" sustainability campaign, Accella and its customers and dealers will specifically assist with the reforestation of the El Dorado National Forest located in Northern California.

This area, located within the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain and foothill environ west of Lake Tahoe, was especially hard hit by the 2014 King Fire disaster. By donating thousands of tree seedlings to be replanted, Accella will help reinvigorate the natural beauty and landscape of a beloved tourist destination and favored outdoor recreation spot that has been admired for generations.

For nearly a decade Accella Tire Fill Systems, which manufactures eco-friendly polyurethane fill for pneumatic industrial and commercial tires, has teamed up with American Forestsalong with its valued OEMs, aftermarket dealers, and distributors around the worldto plant one new tree for every tote of its tire fill product purchased. To date, the company's "One Tote, One Tree" initiative (www.onetoteonetree.org) has been responsible for the successful replanting of more than 164,000 trees.

Explains Accella Tire Fill Systems Vice President Mike Arnold: "The El Dorado region is richly steeped in Gold Rush lore and has been revered for its incredible wilderness vistas for years by visitors from around the world, attracting two million tourists annually to its rugged mountainous terrain. Accella's 'One Tote, One Tree' campaign will help enable a regeneration process making it possible for future generations to continue to enjoy the natural beauty of this scenic West Coast mountain region. We cannot thank our valued dealer and OEM network enough for their continued support with this flagship project."

The commitment to ensuring greater sustainability across the communities it serves is a central mission of the Accella brand. As the industry's market leader in tire fill solutions, Accella Tire Fill Systems seeks to bring more eco-friendly solutions to market throughout the global OTR tire sector.

For more information on Accella Tire Fill Systems and the "One Tote, One Tree" campaign, please visit www.accellatirefill.com.

About Accella

Accella Tire Fill Systems is a division of The Carlisle Companies. Accella Tyre Fill System's patented TyrFil flatproofing, also known as foam fill, can be pumped into any pneumatic tyre to replace air with a resilient, synthetic elastomer core that completely eliminates dangerous flat tyres in commercial and industrial heavy equipment vehicles. Since TyrFil reduces the need for tyre replacement, it directly helps to defray vehicle repair costs and also drastically eases environmental strain by helping to keep whole tyre and scrap tyre waste  and the unwanted emissions and carbon footprint they create  out of domestic and international landfills. With TyrFil, "it's what's inside that counts."

SOURCE Accella Tire Fill Systems

Related Links

https://www.accellatirefill.com


At the invitation of the U.S. side, a Chinese delegation has held "constructive and candid" exchanges on economic and trade issues of mutual concern with the U.S. counterparts in Washington from Aug. 22 to 23, an official statement said Friday.

[File Photo: IC]

"Both sides will keep in contact about the future arrangement," China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.

The Chinese delegation was led by Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen, while the U.S. delegation was led by David Malpass, Under Secretary for International Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
HOUSTON, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- American Gilsonite Company (the "Company" or "AGC"), the world's principal commercial miner and processor of uintaite, the unique mineral marketed under its trademark name "Gilsonite," today announced that it posted financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 to the Company's Intralinks site on August 14, 2018.

The Company will host a conference call for holders of its Subordinated Notes and holders of the Company's common stock on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 10:00am ET. David G. Gallagher, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Steven A. Granda, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the Company's financial results and answer questions from the investment community.

A rebroadcast of this conference call will also be available through September 18, 2018. The dial-in information for both the conference call and the rebroadcast has been be posted to the Company's Intralinks website. Participants for the conference call are requested to dial in five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

Holders of the Company's Subordinated Notes and holders of the Company's common stock who have executed the Stockholders Agreement can request access to the Company's Intralinks site by contacting Peter Hill by email at [email protected] or by phone at 212-521-4800.

About American Gilsonite Company (www.americangilsonite.com)

AGC operates as an industrial minerals company and is the world's primary miner and processor of uintaite, a variety of asphaltite, a specialty hydrocarbon which AGC markets to industrial customers under its registered trademark name "Gilsonite". Gilsonite is a glossy, black, solid naturally occurring hydrocarbon similar in appearance to hard asphalt and is believed to be found in commercial quantities only in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. Because of its unique chemical and physical properties, Gilsonite has been used in more than 160 products. The Company sells its products to customers in four primary markets: (i) oil and gas, (ii) inks and paints, (iii) foundry and (iv) asphalt. AGC is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Contact

Peter Hill

Kekst and Company

212-521-4800

[email protected]

SOURCE American Gilsonite Company

Related Links

http://www.americangilsonite.com


PETALUMA, Calif., Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- There's a lot of talk about making sure everyone is treated fair and equally, especially from a business standpoint. But is equality really what is going to best help a business succeed? Brandon Frere, successful entrepreneur and CEO of several companies, has some words about the need to balance equality and equity in a business.

"Every employee brings with them a new opportunity for the company. They might need some sort of accommodation to achieve their top productivity, but they're a part of the team in a business. It's the job of the business owner to take care of employees because they're the ones who take care of your business," said Frere. Equality means every employee gets the same thing. The same desk, the same training, all of the same tools to use. But each employee is a unique person and won't need the same things to reach maximum productivity. An employee that suffers from back issues might need a standing desk or another might need more hands-on training to gain a new skill because of how they learn.

But not every situation will need specifics for it to be fair. The need for equality versus equity is all about giving people what is fair. If there's a spot opening up in a department that might be best filled by someone already working there, giving everyone an equal shot at it is what would be fair. "Doing right by employees to get the most out of them is a good shot at a successful business and a healthy work environment. My employees come first in my business because they chose to come and work for me, and I want to show them that that is appreciated," said Frere.

About Frere Enterprises

Run by CEO Brandon Frere, Frere Enterprises is a California-based company with a global vision based around the usage of special financial technology, or SpecFinTech, with a current focus on financial wellness and productivity.

He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers, alike. Frere's website, www.FrereEnterprises.com, is used as a means to communicate many of the lessons, fundamentals and information that he has learned throughout his extensive business and technological endeavors. Through Frere Enterprises, he aims to apply those lessons to other business opportunities.

Frere Enterprises' mission is to acquire traditional businesses and digitally transform them to meet and exceed modern day demand. This mission seeks to transform such businesses by developing the newest and most evolved technologies to speed up the evolution of financial services in order to meet the demands of the modern consumer and exceed the potential of the modern era.

FrereEnterprises.com

Related Images

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Idea Exchange

digitalista/Bigstock.com

Related Links

Brandon Frere website

SOURCE Brandon Frere

Related Links

https://brandonfrere.com


LONDON, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Business Worldwide Magazine (BWM) is pleased to announce the winners of its annual CEO Awards 2018.

Now running for its fourth year in succession, the popular magazine's CEO Awards celebrate the inspirational leadership and top management qualities of individuals from a range of different sectors across the globe. This includes such diverse groups as industry, pharmaceuticals, health, finance and technology.

The nominations received by our BWM team are shortlisted by a panel of judges, themselves from different sectors. The background and careers of those candidates were then researched in detail and the winners finally chosen for each individual category by mutual agreement of the panelists.

Countries and regions represented in the short list included Western Europe, North America, Scandinavia and the Middle East. CEOs from Asia, South America and Africa also made an appearance in the nomination categories.

BWM congratulated all the CEO winners, describing them as "passionate individuals" and leaders who have proven themselves to be exemplary, not just in terms of bringing success to the company in which they operate, but also in their nurturing of staff.

The magazine added that in encouraging and enthusing those under their leadership, the CEOs were creating the next wave of inspiring and compassionate CEOs in turn.

BWM went on to laud each of the individual winners from various parts of the world, who had all gone above and beyond the call of duty, and that they deserved the award they had achieved today. BWM would like to wish them well and is also looking forward to keeping an eye on their future successes because it is convinced that this might just be the beginning of their story.

More information on our Business Worldwide Magazine CEO Awards can be found at https://www.bwmonline.com/awards/ceo-awards-2018-winners/

About Business Worldwide Magazine

Business Worldwide Magazine is the leading source of business and dealmaker intelligence throughout the world. Our quarterly magazine and online news portal enables an established audience of corporate dealmakers to track the latest news, stories and developments affecting the international markets, corporate finance, business strategy and changes in legislation. This readership includes of CEO/CFO - Banks, Corporate Lawyers and Venture Capital/Private Equity Companies to name a few.

www.bwmonline.com

Contact

David Jones

Awards Department

E: [email protected]





W: http://www.bwmonline.com

SOURCE Business Worldwide Magazine
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Architect Sigurd Larsen and his team took part in the City Above the City architecture design competition organised by Metsa Wood in 2016. Their project "Dachkiez, Village on the Roof," was one of the winners in the competition. This year, the project and the architect were invited to the Venice Biennale.

The Venice Biennale of Architecture is globally one of the biggest exhibitions for architecture. The event takes place every other year, and this year it lasts from 26 May until 25 November. The main architecture exhibition takes place at 30 pavilions in the Venice Giardini, many of them designed by the biggest names in architecture, like Carlo Scarpa and Alvar Aalto.

City Above the City competition

Metsa Wood's competition inspired architects worldwide to design wooden extensions to go on top of existing buildings in city centres. Some 170 entries from 40 countries proposed wooden solutions to the challenges of urbanisation. The idea was to show how wooden materials, like Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) can make construction fast, light and green.

Sigurd Larsen together with Simon Jendreizig, Vanessa Panagiotopoulou, Marlene Kjeldsen, Guillermo Fernandez Villar and Pedro Campos Altozano designed a project called "Dachkiez, Village on the Roof" for the competition. A massive, 270-metre-long concrete block in Berlin was selected as the building plot for the design. The building is located at Heinrich-Heine-Strae between the attractive Kreuzberg and Mitte neighbourhoods.

In Dachkiez, the extension on top of the building is designed to use a flexible, wooden, modular system. The basic module is an apartment suitable for singles or couples. The basic unit can be extended with one or two plug-in modules, which can include additional bedrooms and an extension to the bathroom. The design also includes common areas like a green park on the rooftop. Each unit has big windows with a view of the Berlin skyline.

"This entry was both believable and utterly relevant to its social and urban context. It's entirely possible to construct and adds a further layer of landscape to the city," commented competition jury member Mike Kane, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at London South Bank University.

Sigurd Larsen design & architecture studio

Sigurd Larsen is a Danish architect based in Berlin and working in the fields of architecture and furniture design. He uses wood as the main material in the majority of his work. "The haptic of the material, the endless possibilities and the many positive attributes regarding sustainability make it a convincing choice," says Larsen.

Larsen founded his own design studio in 2009. This is his first invitation to the Biennale. "I was very excited about the invitation. We had a lot of great feedback from visitors. Several journalists described the Dachkiez project under the topic of wood construction, densification of inner cities and housing shortage."

Images: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/GBNs5ph8qVfd

Read a full description of the "Dachkiez, Village on the Roof" project.

For more information, please contact:

Viivi Kylama

Marketing Manager

Metsa Wood

tel. +358-40-820-9850

[email protected]

Kirk Nichols

VP Sales, Americas

Metsa Wood USA

mobile: (404)861-1098

[email protected]

For press information in UK, please contact:

Matt Trace

Director

Defero Communications

tel. 07828663988

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/metsa-wood/r/city-above-the-city-winner-dachkiez-on-show-at-venice-biennale,c2599933

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Metsa Wood
BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Five Oregon community colleges have selected the full suite of CampusNexus solutions to transform the way their institutions use technology to enhance their students' experience and modernize business processes.

Five Oregon community colleges have selected the full suite of CampusNexus solutions to transform the way their institutions use technology to enhance their students experience and modernize business processes.

The Oregon Community College Consortium, which consists of Blue Mountain Community College, Clatsop Community College, Columbia Gorge Community College, Oregon Coast Community College and Rogue Community College, have been serving their students with a homegrown technology platform and collaborated on moving to a modern, cloud-based SaaS enterprise solutions provider to leverage the innovative architecture for data-driven outcomes to create capacity for student engagement.

The presidents of the colleges have issued the following statements in regard to their recent selection:

"Blue Mountain Community College always puts Students First, and the suite of CampusNexus solutions will make us future-ready so that we may better serve our students and improve upon our operational efficiencies," said Blue Mountain Community College President Dr. Camille Preus.

"Through this partnership, Clatsop Community College has the benefit of shared cost, which elevates the level of innovative technology and student services that will be accessible to students across Oregon and increase the cost efficiency of implementing new business processes," said Clatsop Community College President, Dr. Chris Breitmeyer.

"Student success is at the forefront of Columbia Gorge Community College's technology vision, and we are looking forward to utilizing the newest features of the CampusNexus system, specifically guided pathways and CampusNexus Occupation Insight," said Columbia Gorge Community College President, Dr. Marta Yera Cronin.

"Our shared commitment to supporting Oregon's economy by preparing the workforce for current and future job markets, not only brought our consortium together, but allowed Oregon Coast Community College to select a modern system that would not have been possible on our own," said Oregon Coast Community College President, Dr. Birgitte Ryslinge.

"The consortium has a partnership built on many years of working together, and we're excited to welcome a new technology partner, Campus Management, whose software and services allows us to advance our collaboration with common business processes and configurations," said Rogue Community College President, Dr. Cathy Kemper-Pelle.

Deploying CampusNexus, as a consortium, enables the member institutions to set a new standard of excellence within the state of Oregon that balances operational efficiencies within the unique communities that each college serves.

"Community colleges are critical to helping resolve the skills gaps for the jobs of tomorrow's economy. By selecting the CampusNexus suite, including Occupation Insight for workforce analytics, these colleges are setting the pace to empower students to improve their skills, create better employability and economic growth for families, communities and, ultimately, our nation. There is no greater cause and Campus Management is deeply honored to support this imperative," stated Campus Management CEO Jim Milton.

About Campus Management Corp.

Campus Management is a leading provider of cloud-based SIS, CRM and ERP solutions and services that transform higher education institutions. Today, more than 1,100 institutions in over 30 countries partner with Campus Management to transform academic delivery, student success, and operational efficiency. Campus Management is the 2018 Microsoft Global Education Partner of the Year.

Media Contact:

Ashley Prince

Media Relations

Campus Management Corp.

954-249-1124

[email protected]

SOURCE Campus Management Corporation

Related Links

http://www.campusmgmt.com


To mark the occasion, CVS Health held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the distribution center today with Governor Mike Parson, Kansas City Councilman Dan Fowler and Platte County Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber. The event provided an opportunity for area partners to celebrate the opening and commemorate the collaborative support among state and local agencies throughout the planning and development process for the new facility.

"CVS Health is creating 360 good paying jobs; jobs that will support area families," Governor Mike Parson said. "That's a good story in and of itself, but on top of that, this facility will ship products to 500 CVS Pharmacy locations all over the Midwest. It all starts here. It starts with CVS Health and the partnerships that made this project possible. That's something that CVS Health, all of Kansas City and all of Missouri can be proud of."

"As North America's logistics center, Missouri knows logistics and distribution, and can get products to the global market quickly and efficiently," Steve Johnson, CEO of Missouri Partnership, said. "We are North America's multimodal crossroads, and we are thrilled to celebrate with CVS as they cut the ribbon on their new facility. It was great to be a part of the team that supported their expansion, and we look forward to their continued growth and investment in Missouri."

CVS Health selected Kansas City for the location of the new distribution center because of Missouri's high-quality workforce and centralized geography. The 762,000 sq. ft. distribution center will support the service and fulfillment needs of more than 500 CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the Midwest by reducing the driving distance for these deliveries and, as a result, will significantly reduce carbon emissions and help improve highway safety.

"We are proud to create new jobs and contribute to the economic growth and development of the greater Kansas City, Missouri area. We appreciate the leadership of Governor Parson and all of the state and local officials here who worked with us to make this project a success," said Thomas Moriarty, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer, CVS Health. "As our business continues to grow, this new facility is a critical part of our infrastructure to ensure we can best serve our customers throughout the Midwest region and beyond."

"The Platte County Economic Development Council is pleased to welcome CVS Health and to celebrate their investment and job creation," said Alicia Stephens, Executive Director of the Platte County EDC. "The KCI Corridor continues to attract quality businesses and we look forward to working with the company as they grow in Platte County. CVS Health's decision to locate to the KCI Corridor affirms Platte County's position as a leader in the logistics sector due to our transportation accessibility and quality workforce."

The new distribution center is expected to begin shipping orders to Midwest CVS Pharmacy locations on October 1, 2018, and adds to CVS Pharmacy's network of 18 distribution centers nationwide.

"The KC region is regularly proving its value as a regional hub for distribution, eCommerce and fulfillment operations," said Tim Cowden, president and CEO, Kansas City Area Development Council. "We are honored to add CVS to the list of companies that are finding KC is an ideal location for reaching customers more efficiently than almost anywhere else in the U.S."

About CVS Health

CVS Health is a pharmacy innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Through its more than 9,800 retail locations, more than 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 94 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year, expanding specialty pharmacy services, and a leading stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, the company enables people, businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable and effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at https://www.cvshealth.com.

Press Contacts

Stephanie Cunha

CVS Pharmacy

P: 401-209-0755

E: [email protected]

Maggie Kost

Missouri Department of Economic Development

P: 573-291-9831

E: [email protected]



SOURCE CVS Health

Related Links

http://www.cvshealth.com


ROSWELL, N.M., Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel Lyman Ridout III MD, FACP, AGAF, FASGE is recognized by Continental Who's Who as Prominent Physician of the Year.

Eastern New Mexico Gastroenterology patients can always count on a rising selection of resources and technology to further assist them in their medical endeavors. With a team of over 150 well trained professionals, Eastern New Mexico promises promoting, maintaining and restoring health with exceptional patient-focused care in a compassionate setting. With excellent success from both a quality care and economic standpoint, the clinic is currently being run by Dr. Jessie Surla, who is a Certified Nurse Practitioner with a PhD in nursing and who contributed a great deal with her impeccable knowledge in the correlation of economics to the healthcare industry.

Known for his excellence and outstanding contributions, Dr. Ridout has become a trusted authority in all aspects of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. Dr. Ridout's professional experience began as an Internist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he realized his passion for working in the field of Gastroenterology. Inspired by his time in working with the minority community in underserved areas, Dr. Ridout continued on his mission to serve the general public with the highest quality medical care possible. In this capacity, Dr. Ridout specializes in educating patients on prevention and medical options, community-based medicine, gastroenterology procedures, consultations, clinical care, and mentoring residents and medical school students.

A prominent scholar, Dr. Ridout is sought after for his astute knowledge and keen sense of understanding in the field of medicine. Dr. Ridout taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate Hospital for twelve years prior to his assuming his teaching role at Crozer Chester Medical Center for seventeen years. Here, Dr. Ridout was responsible for teaching, guiding and mentoring residents and minority-premedical students every year the moral and ethical duties as an attending physician.

Highlighting his ability to combine the humanistic, the business and skill aspects of medicine and putting it all together to develop a successful product, Dr. Ridout feels there is a responsibility for the gifts, skills and talents that have been given to him in order to improve humanity.

Dr. Ridout's greatest mentor, his father, raised him to believe that humanity and being productive in society was more important than anything, and he continues to live by that philosophy every day.

Early in his career, Dr. Ridout attained his Medical Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati and attained Board Certification in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. In his previous years, Dr. Ridout attained his Bachelor of Art degree in Music Composition and Orchestration from Dartmouth College. Dr. Ridout conducted his internship in Internal Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate Hospital where he also completed his Residency.

It is no surprise that Dr. Ridout's long-standing, successful career comes with several professional licensures and certifications that he has culminated throughout the years. Licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, Delaware, California, Virginia, New Mexico and Arizona, Dr. Ridout holds certifications in Advanced Trauma and Life Support, Advanced Cardiac and Life Support, Endoscopic Laser Therapy, and Endoscopic Ultrasonography Training.

In an effort to further enhance his professional development, Dr. Ridout is an elite member of several organizations including the Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy; the American Gastroenterological Association; American Professional Practice Association; American Medical Association; Pennsylvania Medical Society; Philadelphia County Medical Society; New Castle County Medical Society; Medical Society of Delaware; Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania; Delaware County Medical Society; American Society of Internal Medicine; Crohns and Colitis Foundation; Delaware County Medical Society; and Virginia Medical Society. In addition, Dr. Ridout has served as a Fellow with the American College of Physicians.

Extending his scope of interest to the community at large, Dr. Ridout maintains charitable ties to the Sylvia Olden Music Guild, American Cancer Society, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.

An extraordinary career filled with several professional accolades, Dr. Ridout was named in Who's Who in America, Top 101 Industry Experts in 2012, and the recipient of the Achievement and Service in Medicine Award from the African American Historical Society of Delaware. Dr. Ridout has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of African American Museum and Historical Society of Delaware, inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Physicians in 2005, and inducted as a Fellow in the American Gastroenterological Association.

An active philanthropist interested in the arts and music, Dr. Ridout has been active in the preservation of the arts for many years. Involved with the Arts Council Eastern Shore of Virginia Advisory Board where he utilizes a community- based business model for new ventures at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, Dr. Ridout administers enhanced methods of efficiency, profitability and cost effective, quality healthcare.

When he is not working, Dr. Ridout enjoys listening to music, boating, choral singing, and conducting choirs.

In looking to the future, Dr. Ridout would like to become a director of musical ensembles and involved in musical composition and orchestration in the future.

For more information, please visit www.enmmc.com

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Dashlane announces its role as the official digital safety partner of the upcoming film Searching, in select theaters August 24th and everywhere August 31st. Searching is the critically acclaimed film that won the audience award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Told entirely via the technology devices we use every day to communicate and transact online, Searching is a hyper-modern thriller that follows a father who must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she disappears forever.

Dashlane's intuitive password manager and suite of online security tools help everyone keep a close eye on their own digital footprints, and tells them what to do if their personal information shows up where it doesn't belong. And as Searching illustrates, when it comes to the safety of critical accounts and personal information for the whole family, busy parents need a way to make online safety that much simpler.

"As a parent of 3 teenagers, I can certainly relate to the increasing complexities kidsand parentsface when managing their growing digital identities," says Jeff Paradise, CMO of Dashlane. "My kids already have dozens of accounts for school, work, social, shopping, streaming, and more."

Dashlane's researchers estimate that the average adult today has 150 online accounts, including many that end up forgotten or unused. With kids establishing accounts at earlier and earlier ages, that number will balloon, making the next generation's task of keeping track of their digital footprints even more onerous.

"When we were approached to partner with Searching, I jumped at the opportunity because Dashlane is the perfect fit," Paradise continues. "Dashlane empowers both children and parents to easily manage and protect their identities while also providing security alerts in the event of a breached account and reinforcing online safety habits like securing public WiFi connections. As both a parent and a citizen of the digital age, Searching feels like it's tapping into something uniquely challenging about the risks of life online in this particular moment."

By partnering with an innovative film like Searching, which highlights the positives and perils of the digital world, Dashlane is spreading the word about the importance of keeping yourselfand your informationsafe online.

About Dashlane

Dashlane simplifies and secures your digital identityall your personal information that lives online. Available across all platforms and devices, the intuitive Dashlane app automatically fills and stores passwords, personal data, and payment details to help you manage and protect your digital identity. With patented security architecture, dark web and credit score monitoring, and $1 million in identity theft insurance, Dashlane is the only app that both prevents and protects you from the risks of digitally storing and sharing your data. Available in 11 languages and trusted by 10+ million people in 150 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.

About Searching

After David Kim (John Cho)'s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she disappears forever.

SEARCHING stars John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee and Michelle La. SEARCHING is directed by Aneesh Chaganty and produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Sev Ohanian, Adam Sidman and Natalie Qasabian. The film is written by Aneesh Chaganty & Sev Ohanian. Searching is in select theaters on August 24th and everywhere on August 31st. Check out the film's website for more information and updates or follow them on @SearchingMovie.

SOURCE Dashlane

Related Links

http://www.dashlane.com


MONTREAL, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Engagement Labs Inc. (TSXV: EL) (OTCQB: ELBSF) released results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2018. Condensed interim consolidated Financial Statements and Management Report are available on SEDAR's website at www.sedar.com.

Second Quarter Financial Highlights

Revenue of $952,670 for Q2 2018 represents a 20% increase vs Q2 2017 ($795,441) and revenue of $1,951,206 for H1 2018 represents a 22% increase vs H1 2017 ($1,601,261) .

Gross margins year to date it increased to 44% in H1 2018 from 39% in H1 2017. In Q2, an increase in amortization of TotalSocial led to a decrease to 39% in Q2 2018, from 42% in Q2 2017

Operating expenses increased 29% or $358,641 vs Q2 2017, and it increased 28% or $722,752 from H1 2017. The increase from 2017 reflects management's commitment to invest in sales and marketing to drive TotalSocial technology sales growth, including the hiring of a Chief Revenue Officer in late December.

Net loss before income taxes increased 21% or $254,147 , from - $1,189,675 for Q2 2017 to - $1,443,822 for Q2 2018, and it increased 17% or $409,788 from - $2,458,247 for H1 2017 to - $2,868,035 for H1 2018.

Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss of - $819,886 for Q2 2018, representing a decrease of $294,908 compared to - $524,978 for Q2 2017 and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss of - $1,745,655 for H1 2018, representing a decrease of $495,545 compared to $1,250,110 for H1 2018.

Basic and diluted loss per share was ($0.01) for Q2 2018 compared to ($0.02) for Q2 2017 and ($0.02) for H1 2018 compared to ($0.03) for H1 2017.

As at June 30, 2018 , the Company had cash (excluding restricted cash) of $613,771 , compared to $2,677,049 as of December 31 , 2017.

"Revenue growth and gross margin improvements are key priorities for Engagement Labs in 2018, and we have been investing in 2018 to drive sales, including the hiring of a Chief Revenue Officer to build out our sales organization," said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. "Our 20+% revenue growth year to date is reflective of this commitment, and our growing pipeline is expected to yield continued growth for the remainder of the year and into 2019."

The Company also announced that the Board has approved the issuance of 500,000 restricted share awards to an officer of the Corporation. Each Restricted Share will be subject to risk of forfeiture over a period of three years. 797,500 stock options at an exercise price of $0.05 per share having a term of five years have been granted to employees of the Corporation.

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.

Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Engagement Labs does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.

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.

For media inquiries please contact:

Vanessa Lontoc, Marketing Director / Ed Keller, CEO

Engagement Labs

732-846-6800

[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Engagement Labs

Related Links

http://www.engagementlabs.com


PUNE, India, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Floating LNG Power Vessel Market by Component (Power Generation System and Power Distribution System), Power Output (Up to 72 MW, 72 MW-400 MW, Above 400 MW), Vessel Type (Power Barge and Power Ship), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 860.1 million in 2018 to USD 931.6 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 1.61%. Factors such as growing population, industrialization and increasing urban business activities, and an increase in the demand for power generation are expected to drive the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market.

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Browse 27 market data Tables and 40 Figures spread through 108 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Floating LNG Power Vessel Market"

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/floating-lng-power-vessel-market-243464281.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report

The power generation system segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, by component, during the forecast period.

The power generation system segment led the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market in 2017 and is projected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period. The power generation system segment is further classified into gas turbine & IC engine and steam turbine & generator. The arrival of gas turbines and the increasing availability of natural gas, coupled with widespread R&D investments and evolution of the combined cycle technology, have led to an increase in the application of gas turbines in the power generation system.

Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=243464281

The power ship segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, by vessel type, during the forecast period.

The power ship segment led the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market in 2017. A power ship is a special type of ship that has been modified for power generation. It is generally used in the energy leasing market for short- and mid-term contracts because of its self-propelling property. Karadeniz Holding (Turkey) holds the major share in supplying power ships to the market. Moreover, the World Bank provides funds for building FPPs, but the funding is restricted to 129 MW per FPP.

Asia Pacific: The leading market for Floating LNG Power Vessel Market

In this report, the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market has been analyzed with respect to 4 regions, namely, Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East & Africa, and RoW. The RoW includes South America and Europe. The Asia Pacific led the global Floating LNG Power Vessel Market in 2017. It is one of the most populated regions in the world and continually witnesses an increasing demand for electricity. Moreover, due to the limited land availability for power plant construction, the Southeast Asian island countries are expected to generate high demand for floating LNG power vessels. The governments of several Southeast Asian island countries plan to increase investments to meet the increased demand for power. For instance, Myanmar Electric Power Generation Enterprise awarded a contract to Karpowership to provide an FPP in Rangoon, Myanmar. Such factors are expected to drive the growth of the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market in the Asia Pacific region.

To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market. The key players include Siemens AG (Germany), MAN Diesel & Turbo SE (Germany), Wartsila Corporation (Finland), General Electric Company (US), and Caterpillar Inc. (US). The leading players are adopting various strategies to increase their share in the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market.

Know more about the Floating LNG Power Vessel Market:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/floating-lng-power-vessel-market-243464281.html

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Shelly Singh

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/floating-lng-power-vessel-market.asp

Connect with us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
FREMONT, California, August 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market intelligence report by BIS Research, titled "Global Radiofrequency-based Devices Market for Lower Back Pain - Analysis and Forecast, 2018-2026", the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is anticipated to grow over $444.4 million by 2026. The radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is projected to grow with an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.52% between the years 2018 and 2026, aided by the rising prevalence of lower back pain globally.

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Browse 56 market Data Tables and 374 Figures spread through 515 Pages and in-depth ToC on "Global Radiofrequency-based Devices Market for Lower Back Pain"

BIS Research Report: https://bisresearch.com/industry-report/global-rf-based-devices-lower-back-pain-market.html

Lower back pain is one of the most prevalent types of chronic pain and is the leading cause of disability, globally. The global incidence of lower back pain was 539 million in 2015. The annual societal costs of lower back pain in the U.S. was valued at $300 billion in 2012. The massive economic burden of lower back pain was attributed to the complexities involved in diagnosis and treatment of lower back pain. More than 13% of incidence population in 2015 required surgery to overcome the severe pain. Due to the severity of pain, the consumption of painkillers such as opioids has witnessed significant growth in the past decade. The rising concerns regarding the misuse and abuse of opioids have resulted in the emergence of stringent governmental regulations abiding the prescription and sales of opioids. High mortality rate pertaining to opioid use disorders and high economic burden of pain management medication procedures, has significantly elevated the requirement of alternative cost-effective pain management procedures with a reduced risk of mortality, increased efficiency of treatment resulting in long-lasting effect, and reduced risk of pain recurrence. The technological advancements in interventional pain management procedures and neural anatomy have resulted in the emergence of pain management procedures based on radiofrequency alternating current. The specificity and ability of radiofrequency alternating current to treat chronic pain with minimal or no tissue damage have resulted in the massive adoption of pain management procedures based on radio frequency.

According to Manu Koushik, Analyst at BIS Research, "North America is the leading contributor to the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain. North America radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain was valued $85.1 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $165.0 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 7.63% in the forecast period 2018-2026. The significant demand for pain management procedures among the geriatric population to avoid adverse side effects of drug-based treatment is the prominent factor propelling the growth of the North America radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain."

Research Highlights:

The emergence of pain management procedures based on radiofrequency has enabled a reduction in opioid consumption, ensured treatment approaches to pain with no or minimal tissue damage, increased efficiency of treatment by ensuring long-lasting effect, reduced mortality risk and scope for disease recurrence, and alleviated the economic burden associated with opioid use.

Despite the remarkable advantages of the pain management procedures based on radiofrequency, the market growth is hampered due to the exorbitant costs of pain management therapies and lack of favorable reimbursement policies.

Currently, radiofrequency generators are the leading contributors to the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain. The contribution of generators was valued at $85.2 million in 2017 and is anticipated to reach $165.6 million by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 7.67% during the forecast period 2018-2026.

in 2017 and is anticipated to reach by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 7.67% during the forecast period 2018-2026. The rise in the establishment of ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient clinics globally is anticipated to boost the growth of the radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain pertaining to the ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient clinics. The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain, by ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient clinics, is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR of 10.20% in the forecast period 2018-2026.

Request for Sample Report: https://bisresearch.com/requestsample?id=537&type=download

This market intelligence report provides a multidimensional view of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain in terms of market size and growth potential. This research report aims at answering various aspects of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain with the help of the key factors driving the market, threats that can inhibit the overall market growth, and the current growth opportunities that are going to shape the future trajectory of the market expansion.

Furthermore, the competitive landscape chapter in the report explicates the competitive nature of the global market and enables the reader to get acquainted with the recent market activities, such as product launches, regulatory clearance, and certifications, partnerships, collaborations, business expansions as well as mergers and acquisitions, among others. The research report provides a comprehensive analysis of the product sales and manufacturers and trend analysis by segments and demand analysis by regions.

This report is a meticulous compilation of research on more than 20 players in the market ecosystem and draws upon insights from in-depth interviews with the key opinion leaders of more than 15 leading companies, market participants, and vendors. The report also profiles 15 companies including several key players, such as Bramsys Industria e Comercio Ltda, BVM Medical Limited, CONMED Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic PLC, Diros Technology Inc., Epimed International, Halyard Health, Inc., joimax GmbH, Merit Medical Systems, Inc., RF Medical Co., Ltd., sfm Medical Devices GmbH, Smith & Nephew plc, Abbott Laboratories, and Stryker Corporation, among others.

Key questions answered in the report:

 How did radiofrequency ablation technology evolve, and what is its scope in future?

 What are the key developmental strategies that are being implemented by the key players to sustain in this market?

 What are the regulations abiding radiofrequency-based devices for lower back pain management in different regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)?

 What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain?

 What are the consumers' perceptions and their preference rates for radiofrequency-based pain management procedures in different regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)?

 What are the leading companies dominating the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain?

 What is the future scope for expansion by the key players of the market in different regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)?

 What is the scale of impact on market dynamics by the operations of key players of the market?

 What is the best value chain model adopted by the leading players in the market?

 What is the best supply chain model adopted by the leading players in the market?

 What was the market value of the leading segments and sub-segments of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain in 2017?

 How will each segment of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain grow during the forecast period and what will be the revenue generated by each of the segments by the end of 2026?

 How will the industry evolve during the forecast period 2018-2026?

 Which geographical location will contribute to the highest sales of the radiofrequency-based devices for lower back pain management during the forecast period?

 What is the scope of expansion in the emerging economies of Asia-Pacific and Latin America?

 What are the consumers' perceptions for different offerings of key players in the market?

About BIS Research:

BIS Research (Business Intelligence and Strategy Research) is a global B2B market intelligence and advisory firm focusing on those emerging technological trends which are likely to disrupt the dynamics of the market.

With over 150 market research reports published annually, BIS Research focuses on high technology verticals such as 3D Printing, Advanced Materials and Chemicals, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Healthcare, Electronics and Semiconductors, Robotics and UAV, and other emerging technologies.

Our in-depth market intelligence reports focus on the market estimations, technology analysis, emerging high-growth applications, deeply segmented granular country-level market data, and other important market parameters useful in the strategic decision-making for senior management.

What distinguishes BIS Research from the rest of the players is that we don't simply provide data but also complement it with valuable insights and actionable inputs for the success of our clients.

Contact:

Bhavya Banga

Email: [email protected]

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Visit our Blog @ http://bisresearch.com/blog/



Connect with us on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/3720474

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SOURCE BIS Research
DUBLIN, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Global Rotavator Market 2018-2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global rotavator market to grow at a CAGR of 3.11% during the period 2018-2022.



Global Rotavator Market 2018-2022, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of hydraulic rotavators and fixed rotavators to end-users in the agricultural sector.



The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is the growing focus on agricultural mechanization. Government authorities across various countries are focusing on offering support for agricultural mechanization. The growing focus on agricultural mechanization is expected to drive the use of various farm implements including rotavators during the forecast period.



According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is the growing need for nutrient protection in agriculture fields. Rotavators are highly used in soil preparation for seeding and implantation operation. The growing need for proper nutrient protection in the agriculture fields is expected to fuel the growth of the global rotavator market.



Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is the rise in end-user inclination toward pre-used and rental rotavators. Many farmers prefer investing in pre-used equipment, owing to the lack of sufficient funds to invest in new equipment, in turn, hampering the market's growth.



Key questions answered in this report

What will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate be?

What are the key market trends?

What is driving this market?

What are the challenges to market growth?

Who are the key vendors in this market space?

Key vendors

AGCO

CNH Industrial

Deere & Company

KUBOTA

Maschio Gaspardo

WECAN GLOBAL

Key Topics Covered:



PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT



PART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



PART 04: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 05: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2017

Market size and forecast 2017-2022

PART 06: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 07: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Hydraulic - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Fixed - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Market opportunity by product

PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY BLADE TYPE

Segmentation by blade type

PART 09: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE



PART 10: REGIONAL LANDSCAPE

Geographical segmentation

Regional comparison

APAC - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Americas - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

EMEA - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 11: DECISION FRAMEWORK



PART 12: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 13: MARKET TRENDS

Growing focus on agricultural mechanization

Influx of rotavators with automated features

Growing preference of rotavators with cost-saving features

PART 14: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 15: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/g6xf4v/global_rotavator?w=5



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Hydro One Inc. ("Hydro One") received a decision today from the Ontario Energy Board ("OEB") upholding its decision to deny Hydro One's proposed acquisition of Orillia Power Distribution Corporation ("OPDC") from the City of Orillia, Ontario.

"Hydro One is disappointed by this decision," said Patrick Meneley, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Development Officer, Hydro One. "We will continue to work with the City of Orillia to seek a transaction that is in the interests of all stakeholders."

A copy of the decision is available on the OEB's website.

On August 15, 2016, Hydro One announced the agreement to acquire OPDC for $26.35 million and the assumption of approximately $14.9 million of debt and regulatory liabilities for a total transaction value of $41.3 million.

About Hydro One Inc.

Hydro One Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of Hydro One Limited, Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with more than 1.3 million valued customers, $25 billion in assets and 2017 annual revenues of nearly $6 billion. Our team of over 7,400 skilled and dedicated regular and non-regular employees proudly and safely serves suburban, rural and remote communities across Ontario through our 30,000 circuit km of high-voltage transmission and 123,000 circuit km of primary distribution networks. Hydro One is committed to the communities we serve, and has been rated as the top utility in Canada for its corporate citizenship, sustainability, and diversity initiatives. We are one of only six utility companies in Canada to achieve the Sustainable Energy Company designation from the Canadian Electricity Association. We also provide advanced broadband telecommunications services on a wholesale basis utilizing our extensive fibre optic network. Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: H).

Forward-Looking Statements and Information

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "attempt," "may," "plan," "will", "can", "believe," "seek," "estimate," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking information. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actions and involve assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed, implied or forecasted by such forward-looking information, including some of the assumptions used in making such statements, are discussed more fully in Hydro One's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Hydro One does not intend, and it disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking information, except as required by law.

SOURCE Hydro One Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hydroone.com


The cutting edge electric vehicles were officially unveiled to automotive media, select dealers and powersports professionals on August 21. The momentous event included congratulatory speeches delivered by Garland Mayor Pro Tem Rich Aubin, State Representatives Angie Chen Button and Cindy Burkett as well as Garland Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Mayer. During the event, State Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-District 113, honored Sportsman Country Chairman David Shan with a commemorative Texas flag.

Ushering in a new automotive era, the all-electric Kandi vehicles are loaded with advanced technology that aims to maximize functionality, efficiency and performance. The brand hopes to not only serve the dramatically growing number of environmentally conscious consumers across the country, but also the population of consumers who may be unfamiliar with the bountiful benefits of electric driving.

"This is electrifying news, literally," jokes Sportsman Country CEO Johnny Tai. "The charging port settings, software system language and the user interface were upgraded from the original models to satisfy U.S. market needs. They are now compatible with DOT standards and conventional charging stations."

"Recently, we have conducted a series of surveys regarding the consumers' preference for pure electric vehicle products in the American market," said Kandi CEO Hu Xiaoming. The Company found that these two models should be very competitive in America. "I am very pleased about the efficiency and diligence in our technical staff and US sales team in terms of preparation. It took our team less than a month to complete the upgrades necessary to comply with US standards. We will continue our efforts to expand our US market."

Dallas-based Sportsman Country was formed last year when Bennche and Massimo Motor joined forces to expand the reach of their ATV/UTV business. At that time, Tai told the dealers "Access to Kandi's EV technology is an opportunity for our existing dealers, but we are actively and aggressively seeking qualified EV dealers as well as potential OEM partners."

Dealers interested in learning more about Kandi EV opportunities are encouraged to contact via Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Sportsman Country
DENVER, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Offen Petroleum, a leading independent fuel distributor, announced today that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire the business assets of Overland Petroleum, a respected fuel distributor. Offen Petroleum is a portfolio company of Lariat Partners ("Lariat"), a Denver-based private equity firm, Offen is a provider of motor fuel, lubricants, and petroleum logistics services in Colorado and 12 surrounding states. The combination creates one of the largest fuel distributors in the Greater Rocky Mountain region and will operate as Offen Petroleum.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter upon completion of regulatory and closing conditions.

Based in St. George, Utah and owned and operated by the Snow and Ipson families, Overland Petroleum is an independent fuel distributor that operates in the Greater Rocky Mountain Region. In recent years, Overland has focused its growth by delivering branded fuel to independent convenience retailers. Overland has focused on the Sinclair brand but also offers Conoco, Phillips 66, and the brands licensed by Andeavor. In addition to these branded relationships, like Offen, Overland distributes wholesale gasoline and diesel fuel to unbranded fuel retailers and commercial customers across the Rocky Mountains and Southwest regions of the United States. Overland controls its own fleet of tankers and currently operates in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico.

"As leaders in our core markets, the combination creates a stronger company, better able to optimize the utilization of our fleet assets and expand upon our supplier relationships as we continue to efficiently serve our valued customers," said Bill Gallagher, CEO of Offen Petroleum. "I am pleased that Darin Snow and Danny Ipson will be joining our expanded leadership team. Further, with a team of 100+ experienced drivers combined with our longstanding supply relationships, modern fleet, scalable processes and systems, and best-in-class team, we will continue to safely deliver superior levels of customer service and a full slate of motor fuel product offering."

Jay Coughlon, Managing Partner at Lariat Partners, said, "This transformative acquisition nearly doubles the size of Offen and creates a leader in the greater Rocky Mountain region. Since partnering with Bill, Offen has outperformed our expectations with strong organic growth and continued investment in people and systems while maintaining industry leading safety performance. The addition of Overland's strong management team deepens our already strong executive bench and enhances our ability to continue growing. We continue to pursue acquisition opportunities that will strengthen our existing operations as well as penetrate new geographic markets."

About Offen Petroleum

Offen traces its roots to the 1930s and was acquired by Bill Gallagher and Gwen Stukey in 1997. With Overland, the company will deliver nearly 1 billion gallons of motor fuel annually and will serve as both a branded and unbranded wholesale motor fuel distributor in 12 states. In addition to motor fuels, Offen also sells lubricant products and solutions for the commercial, industrial, and passenger car segments, as well as diesel exhaust fluids used in emission controls. More information on Offen can be found at www.offenpetro.com.

About Lariat Partners

Denver-based Lariat Partners is a private equity firm focused on redefining the private equity experience in the lower-middle market. With its People First, Strategy Second relationship philosophy and its CORE investment strategy targeting Consolidations, Consumables and Recurring Revenue businesses, Lariat offers a differentiated approach to partnering with entrepreneurs and growing their middle market businesses. The firm targets companies across a number of industries, including Specialty Distribution, Energy & Environmental Services, Food & Agribusiness, Consumer Products and Maritime Services. For more information, visit www.lariatpartners.net

Contact: Chris Tofalli

Chis Tofalli Public Relations, LLC

914-834-4334

SOURCE Lariat Partners

Related Links

http://www.lariatpartners.net


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MYM Nutraceuticals Inc., (CSE: MYM) (CSE: MYM.CN) (the "Company" or "MYM") is pleased to announce it has entered into a partnership with the University of Sherbrooke to study the medicinal and industrial uses of cannabis and hemp. Researchers at the University of Sherbrooke will work with an on-site coordinator to create partnerships by targeting expertise in various faculties and training centres.

During cannabis prohibition, research on its compounds and by-products remained very limited. This partnership aims to explore the benefits of the cannabis plant. "Universite de Sherbrooke groups together a broad set of skills in relation to the opportunities associated with cannabis," said Vincent Aimez, Vice-President, Commercialization and Partnerships, University of Sherbrooke. "MYM's contribution will help actively explore multiple research projects. This is a completely new and highly promising multidisciplinary partnership we wish to nurture and grow in the coming years."

Avenues of collaboration range from identifying the best alternative energy systems in greenhouses to the effects of cannabinoids on the nervous and immune systems. Research will also include: industrial materials manufacturing, eco materials, hemp fiber biofuels and opportunities created from the by-products of cannabis production.

"The signing of this partnership agreement with University of Sherbrooke furthers our goal to be at the forefront of cannabis plant research and development," said Rob Gietl, CEO of MYM. "Furthermore, I am delighted to see our company associated with a large Quebec university that has an outstanding reputation in research and innovation."

Charith Adkar, MYM's Chief Science Officer commented "I believe that this innovative agreement with the University of Sherbrooke will allow our company to achieve its objectives in research and development in connection with our medical cannabis-based products. We have much to do to demonstrate the relevance of prescribing medical cannabis to deal with health problems. In this respect, research is an important lever to show the usefulness of our products relative to health issues."

About University of Sherbrooke

University of Sherbrooke is at the heart of one of Quebec's three major research poles. Known for its spirit of innovation, U of S partners with all levels of government to promote social, cultural and economic development. The U of S enjoys strong growth in research activities as has been demonstrated over the past years. The U of S excels in technology transfer and initiatives focused on entrepreneurship and innovation in collaboration with the industrial and social communities.

About MYM Nutraceuticals Inc.

MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. is an innovative company focused on acquiring Health Canada licenses to produce and sell high-end medicinal cannabis supplements and topical products. MYM is a shareholder in two production projects in Quebec that are anticipated to have over 1.5 million square feet of production space. MYM is also a shareholder in two additional cannabis production projects in Australia and Colombia. The "Northern Rivers Project" in New South Wales, Australia is expected to have 1.2 million square feet of cannabis production space. In Colombia, MYM partner, Colombia Organica, currently hold a seed to sale license for low THC cannabis and are in the licensing process for the cultivation and production of high THC cannabis extracts. Plans are underway for MYM and Colombia Organica to build a cannabis production facility in the region. To ensure a strong presence and growth potential within the industry, MYM is actively looking to acquire complementary businesses and assets in the technology, nutraceuticals and CBD sectors. MYM shares trade in Canada, Germany and the USA under the following symbols: (CSE: MYM) (OTC: MYMMF) (FRA: 0MY) (DEU: 0MY) (MUN:0 MY) (STU: 0MY).

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Rob Gietl, CEO

MYM Nutraceuticals Inc.

www.mym.ca

Keep up to date with MYM on our social media channels:

Twitter: @mymnutra

Facebook: @mymnutra

Instagram: @mymnutra

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE or CNSX Markets), nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE), accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the "United States", as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

Media Contact:

Investor Relations

Terry Brown

+1-855-696-2261

[email protected]

SOURCE MYM Nutraceuticals Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mym.ca


VANCOUVER, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Namaste Technologies Inc. ("Namaste" or the "Company") (TSXV: N) (FRANKFURT: M5BQ) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF) is pleased to announce that the Company has received official approval of the latest version of its NamasteMD ("NamasteMD.com") cannabis telemedicine App for Google Android devices, which is live in the Google Play store as of 8 AM EST August 23rd, 2018. Approximately 50% of mobile phone users in Canada use Android devices. With the new launch of the apps on both iOS and Android platforms, NamasteMD can now facilitate online patient consultations, free of charge, within 15 minutes from sign-up on the App. The Company anticipates launching real-time consultations through NamasteMD within the next 10 days. Further to the Company's Aug 22nd news release, NamasteMD has achieved over 14,000 registered users, representing a 130% increase over a 2-month period. The Company anticipates significant acceleration in conversion rates with additional exposure through the Google Play store.

Namaste has developed Canada's first fully-compliant medical cannabis patient portal, available on iPhone or Android devices, which allows Namaste to acquire patients faster and at a lower cost in comparison with other Licensed Producers. Patients acquired through NamasteMD have access to purchase medical cannabis through Namaste's cultivation partners ("Licensed Producers). Under the terms of various Educational Service Agreements ("Service Agreements"), Namaste collects between 15-20% of the gross revenue derived from patient purchasing through referrals to Licensed Producers under NamasteMD. Namaste is presently partnered with over 10 Licensed Producers.

With Namaste's medical cannabis "sales-only" license imminent, the Company anticipates a sharp increased revenue and margin with Cannmart booking full revenue amounts from patient ordering and the Company will aim to maintain a minimum of a 50% gross margin on cannabis products sold directly on its website.

Namaste operates over 30 e-commerce sites across the globe with over 1.5 Million customers. Integration of cannabis and consumable sales including CBD products into Namaste's platform will propel the Company to become a global leader in the online retail of all things cannabis. The Company will launch the same strategy in leveraging its consumer databases along with its innovative technology platforms to expand NamasteMD and Cannmart's model into international markets where Namaste maintains significant market share.

Management Commentary

Sean Dollinger, President, and CEO of Namaste comments: "We're very pleased to announce the launch of NamasteMD in the Google Play Store. We have been overwhelmed by the acceleration rate of our registered users and anticipate seeing even faster growth having now received approval from Google. With approximately 50% of mobile phone users operating on Google Android devices, we are expecting to see patient numbers accelerate even quicker than we have experienced so far. NamasteMD is a key component of our strategy in developing Canada's largest medical cannabis patient database and in launching cannabis sales in Canada and abroad. While the process of acquiring a medical cannabis prescription and onboarding with a Licensed Producer typically can take several days or weeks, Namaste will offer a fully-integrated platform for new patients to consult with a nurse practitioner and immediately be connected with Cannmart to order their product. We believe in bringing value to our patients through technological innovation and aim to set the highest standard for patient care going forward."

About Namaste Technologies Inc.

Namaste Technologies is Your Everything Cannabis Store. Namaste operates the largest global cannabis e-commerce platform with over 30 websites in 20+ countries under various brands. Namaste's product offering through its subsidiaries includes vaporizers, glassware, accessories, CBD products, and the company will soon be selling medical cannabis in the Canadian market, subject to approval by Health Canada.

Namaste has developed and acquired innovative technology platforms including NamasteMD.com, Canada's first Health Canada compliant telemedicine application, and in May 2018 the Company acquired a leading e-commerce AI and Machine Learning Company, Findify AB. Findify uses artificial intelligence algorithms to optimize and personalize a consumer's on-site buying experience. Namaste is focused on leveraging its cutting-edge technology to enhance the user experience throughout its platforms. Namaste will continue to develop and acquire innovative technologies which will provide value to the Company and to its shareholders as well as to the broader cannabis market.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Sean Dollinger"

Chief Executive Officer

Direct: +1 (786) 389 9771

Email: [email protected]

Further information on the Company and its products can be accessed through the links below:

NamasteTechnologies.com

NamasteMD.com

NamasteVapes.ca

Everyonedoesit.ca

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, Namaste assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The TSXV has neither reviewed nor approved the contents of this press release.

SOURCE Namaste Technologies Inc.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club Board of Governors announced today that Chuck Plunkett, a former editor at the Denver Post, will receive a 2018 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award.

In April of this year, Plunkett was responsible for producing a special six-page editorial section of the Denver Post (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/06/as-vultures-circle-the-denver-post-must-be-saved/) that took the extraordinary step of criticizing the paper's owners, a private equity company called Alden Global Capital.

The lead editorial in the special section--titled, "As Vultures Circle, the Denver Post Must be Saved"--decried the decimation of the newspaper's staff in recent years even as Alden Global Capital had reaped profits from the paper that exceeded the industry norm.

"A flagship local newspaper like The Post plays a critically important role in its city and state," the editorial said. "It provides a public record of the good and the bad, serves as a watchdog against public and private corruption, offers a free marketplace of ideas and stands as a lighthouse reflective and protective of  and accountable to  a community's values and goals."

Two photographs included in the section--one from the Pulitzer-winning team of 2013 and the other from five years later--dramatically depicted the shrinking of the paper's workforce. The photo quickly went viral online.

Plunkett resigned from the Denver Post on May 3 after the paper tried to block him from publishing another editorial criticizing Alden Global Capital. He is now director of CU News Corp, which produces student journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

"Chuck Plunkett's decision to publish a newspaper that called out its owners for mismanaging that paper was a remarkable act of courage," said Andrea Edney, president of the National Press Club. "That special section of the Denver Post gave voice to papers all around the country that have seen their ranks thinned. It was a clarion call to save local journalism."

The National Press Club, founded in 1908, is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. The club's John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award is given each year to both domestic and international recipients who courageously manifest the principles of free expression and transparency.

Earlier this year, the club announced that the international Aubuchon winners for 2018 are Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists in Myanmar who have been jailed for months. They are standing trial on trumped-up charges of violating that country's secrecy laws, but their prosecution is believed to have been triggered by their publication of first-hand accounts of murders of Rohingyas by state security forces.

Plunkett and the Reuters journalists will be celebrated at the Fourth Estate Dinner on Nov. 29, 2018, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Proceeds from the dinner support the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the club's non-profit arm, which conducts press-freedom programs and professional development seminars.

Contact: John M. Donnelly, Chairman, NPC Press Freedom Committee, 202 650 6738

SOURCE National Press Club

Related Links

https://www.press.org


SEATTLE, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today announced it has been named one of the Best Workplaces in Washington by the Puget Sound Business Journal in the category of businesses with over 250 employees. To generate this list, the Journal administers employee surveys across four size categories and ranks the top 25 companies in each category based on employee satisfaction scores. Out of hundreds of nominations, PitchBook ranked 14 out of 25 in this year's list and a four-time Best Workplace winner.

"At PitchBook, our workplace culture is something we're deliberate about maintaining  especially as we continue to grow," said John Gabbert, founder and CEO of PitchBook. "This award in particular is a tremendous honor because it's based solely on employee feedback. Our people are what makes PitchBook such a great place to work and we look forward to continue investing in our culture to ensure PitchBook remains a great workplace for years to come."

Following its acquisition by Morningstar in December 2016, PitchBook has continued to grow from a revenue and workforce standpoint, while maintaining high levels of employee engagement as exemplified by the Puget Sound Business Journal's annual list. This honor comes on the heels of a record year for PitchBook, having grown from just over 600 employees globally in 2017 to 908 today, which led to an expansion in both PitchBook's Seattle and New York offices. With a 60% year-over-year compound annual growth rate since 2009, the company is a leading source of private capital market data, serving more than 18,000 users today, up from 11,000 at the end of 2017. PitchBook will continue to prioritize its people and culture through various HR initiatives, including a leadership development program, inspiring speaker series and other office perks.

The Best Workplaces score factors in 30 items across six categories including communication and resources, trust in leadership, team dynamics, personal engagement and more. Companies that made the List had the highest composite scores in an employee survey administered by Quantum Workplaces on behalf of the Puget Sound Business Journal. PitchBook has been named a Best Workplace in Washington in 2014, 2015, 2017 and now 2018. Companies that made the esteemed list were honored during a special ceremony at Seattle Mariners Safeco Field on August 16.

For more information about PitchBook, click here.

About PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscapeincluding public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook has offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York and London and serves more than 18,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.

Press Contact

Bailey Fox

PR Manager

[email protected]

+1 206.823.3022

SOURCE PitchBook

Related Links

http://www.pitchbook.com


WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Christian Voice of Pakistan is hosting a press conference at the National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045, on Monday, August 27, 2018 at 6:00 pm. Speakers include Salma Shahbaz Bhatti, M.Ed, M.A, wife of the late Minority Minister of Pakistan who was gunned down by Taliban in Islamabad; and Victor Gill, M.Sc, M.Div, an advocate for the underrepresented and downtrodden Pakistani Christian community.

The title of this forum is "Pakistan, Democracy and Minorities" with the intent of answering specific questions including: Is Pakistan heading towards the dream of its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah or is it heading towards a theocratic state under new Prime Minister Imran Khan? PM Imran Khan has repeatedly referred to making Pakistan a Medina-style welfare state while also praising Jinnah as his leader. This conference is a rejoinder to Imran Khan's inaugural speech from the minority point of view.

The event is open to media, think tanks, and engaged members of the public.

RSVP to receive the entry barcode to the event. Light refreshments served at 6:00 PM. Presentations to begin at 6:30 PM.

Date: Monday August 27, 2018 at 6:00 PM

Venue: National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045

Topic: Pakistan, Democracy and Minorities

Speakers: Salma Shahbaz Bhatti, M.Ed; M.A.

Victor V Gill, M.Sc; M.Div.

Organization: CVOP (Christian Voice of Pakistan)

RSVP:

Victor V Gill

[email protected]

215-687-5009 (tel & text)

SOURCE Christian Voice of Pakistan
BEIJING, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Qudian Inc. ("Qudian" or the "Company") (NYSE: QD), a leading provider of online small consumer credit products in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Second Quarter 2018 Operational Highlights:

Total outstanding loan balance [1] as of June 30, 2018 increased by 40.3% to RMB15.0 billion from June 30, 2017

as of increased by 40.3% to RMB15.0 billion from Total number of registered users as of June 30, 2018 increased by 41.7% to 67.9 million from June 30, 2017

as of June 30, 2018 increased by 41.7% to 67.9 million from Number of active borrowers [2] was 4.0 million during the second quarter of 2018, compared with 5.6 million during the second quarter of 2017 as a result of tightened credit policies and longer loan term

was 4.0 million during the second quarter of 2018, compared with 5.6 million during the second quarter of 2017 as a result of tightened credit policies and longer loan term Number of outstanding borrowers [3] as of June 30, 2018 was 5.1 million, compared with 5.0 million as of June 30, 2017

as of was 5.1 million, compared with 5.0 million as of M1+ Delinquency Rate by Vintage [4] for loans generated during the first quarter of 2018 returned to less than 1.0% through June 30, 2018 , as a result of successful implementation of tighter credit standards

for loans generated during the first quarter of 2018 returned to less than 1.0% through , as a result of successful implementation of tighter credit standards Cumulative number of cars sold since the launch of the Dabai Auto business was 15,082 as of June 30, 2018

[1] Including off-balance sheet loans directly funded by our funding partners. [2] Active borrowers are to borrowers who have drawn down credit in the specified period. [3] Outstanding borrowers are borrowers who have outstanding loans as of a particular date. [4] M1+ Delinquency Rate by Vintage is defined as the total balance of outstanding principal of a vintage for which any installment payment is over 30 calendar days past due as of a particular date (adjusted to reflect total amount of recovered past due payments for principal and without taking into account charge-offs), divided by the total initial principal in such vintage.

Second Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights:

Total revenues increased by 124.7% year-on-year to RMB2,243.7 million ( US$339.1 million )

- Loan facilitation income and others increased substantially year-on-year to RMB452.1 million ( US$68.3 million ) from RMB15.2 million

- Financing income increased by 7.8% year-on-year to RMB895.1 million ( US$135.3 million )

- Sales income generated by the Dabai Auto business was RMB784.8 million ( US$118.6 million ), compared to nil in the second quarter of 2017

( ) - Loan facilitation income and others increased substantially year-on-year to ( ) from - Financing income increased by 7.8% year-on-year to ( ) - Sales income generated by the Dabai Auto business was ( ), compared to nil in the second quarter of 2017 Net income increased by 42.4% year-on-year to RMB724.2 million ( US$109.4 million ), or RMB2.19 (US$0.33) per diluted ADS

( ), or per diluted ADS Non-GAAP net income increased by 42.0% year-on-year to RMB737.6 million ( US$111.5 million ), or RMB2.23 (US$0.34) per diluted ADS

"We are very pleased to deliver a record net income in the second quarter," said Mr. Min Luo, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qudian. "Our registered users continued to increase; and our total loan balance also continued to grow while seeing marked improvement in risk metrics. Our swift adjustments on tightening credit policies and improving product structures initiated from the first quarter worked well into the second quarter. The M1+ Delinquency Rate by Vintage declined to less than 1.0% for new loans generated this year after we implemented tighter credit standards while the total delinquency rate increased slightly due to legacy of loans generated last year but also shows tapering off trends. As our registered users grew steadily and reached 67.9 million, we can focus our growth on activating and monetizing our large existing user base, instead of over-reliance on expensive marketing. We continued to diversify our funding sources through partnerships and remain committed to strict compliance with both existing and new laws and regulations."

"Our Dabai Auto business generated conservative healthy growth in the second quarter," added Mr. Luo. "During this quarter, we sold 8,474 cars and credit performance was in line with expectation. Dabai represents our efforts to activate and monetize our massive existing user base by offering a diversified service scope. Going forward, we look to increase operational efficiency and grow the business at a prudent pace without sacrificing profitability."

"Looking ahead, we will further grow our business by focusing on our core online consumer finance businesses, continuing to invest in technology and expanding our funding sources while prudently growing our new Dabai Auto business. We are increasingly confident that we can achieve our full-year 2018 guidance for non-GAAP net income to be more than RMB2.5 billion. In addition, with further clarity from regulators and many players exiting the online consumer finance industry, our competitive advantages in being regulatory compliant, expertise in risk analytics and cost structure driven by technology, big-data and software development will ensure the long-term business growth and further solidify our leadership position," Mr. Luo concluded.

"We achieved a new milestone by achieving record net income while navigating a maturing regulatory environment," said Mr. Carl Yeung, Chief Financial Officer of Qudian. "Our non-GAAP net income increased by 42.0% year-on-year to RMB737.6 million as a result of successfully growing our loan balance while managing risk appropriately. Meanwhile, we continued our efforts to diversify funding sources and entered into new funding arrangements with 8 regulated and licensed institutional funding partners during the second quarter of 2018. We believe this combination of stable and diversified funding sources and our stockpile of liquidity reserves enables us to maintain confidence in our liquidity positions and sustain long-term growth. Meanwhile, we firmly believe Qudian's strategy of not relying on individuals for funding, but rather utilizing stable, regulated and licensed institutional funding sources will further differentiate us and avoid the liquidity concerns that some P2P businesses may be struggling with. We remain confident about future growth as the industry continues to evolve and mature."

"Looking ahead, there is a robust demand for consumption credits and the regulatory environment is becoming increasingly stable and mature. With delinquency managed within expected ranges and volume growing healthily on the consumption credit side, we hope to grow the Dabai Auto business at a more prudent pace and lower expected unit sales from 100,000 units to between 25,000-30,000 units. Considering these factors, we wish to provide an assertive tone on our full-year 2018 guidance for non-GAAP net income to be more than RMB2.5 billion."

Mr. Yeung further comments, "In light of the strength of our business fundamentals, as of June 27, 2018, we have purchased approximately US$149.7 million under the repurchase plan announced last December, which demonstrated our confidence in our businesses and commitment to drive long term growth for our shareholders. We expect to continue to purchase shares in the open market given our view of the visible disconnect between company's value and fundamentals."

Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Total revenues were RMB2,243.7 million (US$339.1 million), an increase of 124.7% from RMB998.4 million for the same quarter of 2017, mainly driven by growth of revenues from sales income generated by Dabai Auto business and loan facilitation income and others.

Financing income totaled RMB895.1 million (US$135.3 million), an increase of 7.8% from RMB830.5 million for the same quarter of 2017, due to an increase in loan balance as a result of increases in average loan size and term, partially offset by a decrease in active borrowers as a result of tightening credit policies.

Loan facilitation income and others substantially increased to RMB452.1 million (US$68.3 million) from RMB15.2 million for the same quarter of 2017, as a result of a substantial increase in off-balance sheet transactions and the adoption of ASC 606 Revenue from contracts with customers, effective January 1, 2018. Prior to the adoption of ASC 606, the loan facilitation service income was limited to the amount that is not contingent on the delivery of the undelivered post origination services. Upon adoption of ASC606, the total consideration is allocated between the loan facilitation service and post origination services performance obligations. Loan facilitation service income is recognized when the service is rendered i.e. successful matching borrowers with institutional funding partners. The amount recognised is limited to the amount of variable consideration that is probable not to be reversed in future periods. Accordingly, the timing of revenue recognition for loan facilitation service income collected in periodical instalments will be recognised earlier under ASC 606. The adoption of ASC 606 resulted in an increase of RMB156.7 million (US$23.7 million) in loan facilitation income for the second quarter of 2018.

Sales income was RMB784.8 million (US$118.6 million) compared to nil in the second quarter of 2017 as a result of the launch of the new Dabai Auto business.

Sales commission fees decreased by 29.9% to RMB105.9 million (US$16.0 million) from RMB151.1 million for the same quarter of 2017, as a result of a decrease in the gross merchandise value relating to the merchandise credit business.

Total operating costs and expenses increased by 263.7% to RMB1,473.1 million (US$222.6 million) from RMB405.0 million for the same quarter of 2017.

Cost of revenues increased by 387.8% to RMB947.8 million (US$143.2 million) from RMB194.3 million for the same quarter of 2017, primarily due to costs incurred by the Dabai Auto business, partially offset by a slight decrease in funding costs associated with our core online consumer finance business.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by 68.5% to RMB160.6 million (US$24.3 million) from RMB95.3 million for the second quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to expenses associated with the new Dabai Auto business, partially offset by a decrease in sales and marketing expenses for our core small credit businesses as a result of a significant increase in repeat transactions directly on our apps.

General and administrative expenses increased by 154.8% to RMB69.1 million (US$10.4 million) from RMB27.1 million for the second quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in travel expenses and administrative fees payable to trust companies as a result of increased use of trust funding.

Research and development expenses were RMB36.9 million (US$5.6 million), and remained flat from the second quarter of 2017.

Provision for loan principal, financing service fee receivables and other receivables increased by 357.3% to RMB222.0 million (US$33.5 million) from RMB48.5 million for the second quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to an increase in the loan balance and M1+ overdue loan principals and financing services fees receivables.

As of June 30, 2018, the total balance of outstanding principal and financing service fee receivables for on-balance sheet transactions for which any installment payment was more than 30 calendar days past due was RMB537.0 million (US$81.2 million), and the balance of allowance for principal and financing service fee receivables at the end of the period was RMB580.6 million (US$87.7 million), indicating M1+ Delinquency Coverage Ratio of 1.1x.

The following chart displays the historical lifetime cumulative M1+ Delinquency Rate by Vintage from the second month after credit drawdowns up to the twelfth month after such transactions for all transactions for each of the quarters in 2017 and 2018, before charge-offs:

Click here to view the chart.

Income from operations was RMB773.8 million (US$116.9 million), an increase of 27.3% from RMB607.9 million from the second quarter of 2017.

Net income attributable to Qudian's shareholders increased by 42.4% to RMB724.2 million (US$109.4 million), or RMB2.19 (US$0.33) per diluted ADS, compared to RMB508.5 million, or RMB1.70 per diluted ADS, for the second quarter of 2017.

Non-GAAP Net income attributable to Qudian shareholders increased by 42.0% to RMB737.6 million (US$111.5 million), or RMB2.23 (US$0.34) per diluted ADS, compared to RMB519.4 million, or RMB1.74 per diluted ADS, for the second quarter of 2017.

As of June 30, 2018, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB2,904.6 million (US$439.0 million) and restricted cash of RMB1,458.5million (US$220.4 million).

For the second quarter of 2018, net cash provided by operating activities was RMB672.5 million (US$101.6 million), mainly attributable to net income of RMB724.2 million (US$109.4 million). Net cash used in investing activities was RMB2,137.3 million (US$323.0 million), mainly due to payments to originate loan principal of RMB12,070.0 million (US$1,824.1 million) and payments to originate finance lease receivables of RMB704.5 million (US$106.5 million) and partially offset by proceeds from collection of loan principal of RMB10,904.8 million (US$1,648.0 million). Net cash used in financing activities was RMB560.2 million (US$84.7 million), mainly comprised of repayments of borrowings of RMB1,696.3 million (US$256.3 million), partially offset by proceeds from borrowings of RMB1,206.4 million (US$182.3 million).

Board Member Changes

Qudian announced that to comply with the NYSE corporate governance standards, Mr. Rong Shengwen was appointed as independent director and member of Audit Committee and Mr. Du Li resigned as director and member of Audit Committee, both effective on August 24, 2018. Mr. Rong currently serves as CFO of Yixia Tech Co. Ltd, a leading VC-funded private company focusing on short-form video and live streaming services in China. He holds an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a master's degree in accounting from West Virginia University and a bachelor's degree in international finance from Renmin University of China.

Mr. Min Luo, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qudian said, "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Mr. Du for his invaluable contributions to the Company during his tenure. His experience and counsel contributed to our success and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. Meanwhile, we are honored to welcome Mr. Rong to our Board and look forward to working with him and benefiting from his valuable experiences and expertise as we further grow our business."

Update on Company's User Engagement

The Company's agreement with Ant Financial relating to user engagement through Alipay's dedicated channel for online third-party service providers expires in August 2018, and the parties have decided not to renew the agreement. The Company has primarily engaged users through its own mobile apps since the first quarter of 2018, and it does not expect the non-renewal to have a material impact on the Company's current business.

Update on Share Repurchase

On December 1, 2017, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to US$300 million of the Company's American Depositary Shares in open market transactions. As of June 27, 2018, the amount purchased under this repurchase plan was approximately US$149.7 million.

Outlook

For the full year of 2018, the Company reaffirms its expectation for non-GAAP net income to be over RMB2.5 billion. Meanwhile, for the Dabai Auto business, the Company expects the number of vehicles sold during the full year 2018 to be between 25,000-30,000, down from the previous guidance of 100,000, as the Company focuses on profitability.

The above outlook is based on the current market conditions and reflects the Company's preliminary estimates of regulatory, market and operating conditions, and customer demand, which are all subject to change.

Conference Call

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call on August 24, 2018 at 7:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (7:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

U.S.: +1-845-675-0437 U.S. (toll free): +1-866-519-4004 International: +65-6713-5090 Hong Kong: +852-3018-6771 Hong Kong (toll free): 800-906-601 Mainland China: 400-620-8038/800-819-0121 Conference ID: 6192956

Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide either the conference ID, 6192956, or the passcode, "Qudian earnings call," to join the call. Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.qudian.com. A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until August 31, 2018, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

U.S.: +1-646-254-3697 U.S. (toll free): +1-855-452-5696 International: +61-28199-0299 Hong Kong: +852-3051-2780 Hong Kong (toll free): 800-963-117 Mainland China: 400-602-2065/800-870-0206 Replay Access Code: 6192956

About Qudian Inc.

Qudian Inc. ("Qudian" or the "Company") is a leading provider of online small consumer credit in China. The Company uses big data-enabled technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to transform the consumer finance experience in China. With the mission to use technology to make personalized credit accessible, Qudian targets hundreds of millions of young, mobile-active consumers in China who need access to small credit for their discretionary spending or budget auto financing solutions but are underserved by traditional financial institutions due to lack of traditional credit data. Qudian's data technology capabilities combined with its operating efficiencies allow Qudian to understand prospective borrowers from different behavioral and transactional perspectives, assess their credit profiles with regard to both their willingness and ability to repay and offer them instantaneous and affordable credit products with customized terms, and distinguish Qudian's business and offerings.

For more information, please visit ir.qudian.com

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. We believe that adjusted net income helps identify underlying trends in our business by excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses and fair value gains, which are non-cash charges. We believe that adjusted net income provides useful information about our operating results, enhances the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allows for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by our management in its financial and operational decision-making.

Adjusted net income is not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure has limitations as analytical tools, and when assessing our operating performance, cash flows or our liquidity, investors should not consider them in isolation, or as a substitute for net (loss)/income, cash flows provided by operating activities or other consolidated statements of operation and cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We mitigate these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable U.S. GAAP performance measure, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance.

For more information on this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results" set forth at the end of this press release.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("US$") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from RMB to US$ were made at the rate of RMB6.6171 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on June 29, 2018 in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or US$ amounts referred could be converted into US$ or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Statement Regarding Preliminary Unaudited Financial Information

The unaudited financial information set out in this earnings release is preliminary and subject to potential adjustments. Adjustments to the consolidated financial statements may be identified when audit work has been performed for the Company's year-end audit, which could result in significant differences from this preliminary unaudited financial information.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the expectation of its collection efficiency and delinquency, contain forward-looking statements. Qudian may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the SEC, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Qudian's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Qudian's goal and strategies; Qudian's expansion plans; Qudian's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; Qudian's expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, its credit products; Qudian's expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with borrowers, institutional funding partners, merchandise suppliers and other parties it collaborate with; general economic and business conditions; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Qudian's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Qudian does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

Contacts:

In China:

Investor Relations



Annie Huang

Director of Capital Markets

E-mail: [email protected]

Media



Binbin Yang

VP, Public Relations

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Ross Warner

Tel: +86-10-5730-6200

E-mail: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

E-mail: [email protected]

QUDIAN INC. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations













Three months ended June 30, (In thousands except for number 2017

2018 of shares and per share data) (Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

RMB

RMB

US$











Revenues:









Financing income 830,532

895,131

135,275 Sales commission fees 151,149

105,898

16,004 Sales income -

784,753

118,595 Penalty fees 1,492

5,766

871 Loan facilitation income and others 15,223

452,103

68,323











Total revenues 998,397

2,243,651

339,069











Operating cost and expenses:









Cost of revenues (194,295)

(947,817)

(143,238) Sales and marketing (95,298)

(160,586)

(24,268) General and administrative (27,118)

(69,110)

(10,444) Research and development (38,448)

(36,863)

(5,571) Loss of guarantee liabilities (1,294)

(36,747)

(5,553) Provision for loan principal, financing service

fee receivables and other receivables (48,539)

(221,951)

(33,542) Total operating cost and expenses (404,991)

(1,473,074)

(222,616) Other operating income 14,514

3,203

484











Income from operations 607,919

773,780

116,936 Interest and investment (loss)/income, net (725)

4,584

693 Foreign exchange gain, net -

18,420

2,784 Other income 309

7,828

1,183 Other expense -

-

-











Net income before income taxes 607,504

804,612

121,596 Income tax expenses (98,974)

(80,420)

(12,153)











Net income 508,529

724,192

109,442











Net income attributable to Qudian Inc.'s

shareholders 508,529

724,192

109,442























Earnings per share for Class A

and Class B ordinary shares:









Basic 6.83

2.21

0.33 Diluted 1.70

2.19

0.33











Earnings per ADS (1 Class A ordinary

share equals 1 ADSs):









Basic -

2.21

0.33 Diluted -

2.19

0.33











Weighted average number of Class A

and Class B ordinary shares outstanding:









Basic 74,507,376

327,811,355

327,811,355 Diluted 298,686,013

330,060,963

330,060,963











Other comprehensive gain:









Foreign currency translation adjustment -

113,240

17,113











Total comprehensive income 508,529

837,432

126,556











Total comprehensive income attributable to

Qudian Inc.'s shareholders 508,529

837,432

126,556

QUDIAN INC. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

























As of

March 31,

As of

June 30, (In thousands except for number 2018

2018 of shares and per share data) (Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

RMB

RMB

US$ ASSETS:









Current assets:









Cash and cash equivalents 5,736,836

2,904,627

438,958 Restricted cash 538,031

1,458,463

220,408 Short-term investments -

67,579

10,213 Short-term loan principal and financing service

fee receivables, net 9,039,610

10,098,603

1,526,137 Short-term finance lease receivables 188,806

389,683

58,890 Short-term amounts due from related parties 517,313

336,179

50,805 Contract assets 266,282

433,532

65,517 Other current assets 793,335

1,242,202

187,726 Total current assets 17,080,213

16,930,867

2,558,654











Non-current assets:









Long-term finance lease receivables 367,000

690,612

104,368 Investment in equity method investee 44,972

42,253

6,385 Property and equipment, net 7,595

11,361

1,717 Intangible assets 5,803

8,553

1,293 Land use right -

106,000

16,019 Long-term contract asset -

9,209

1,392 Deferred tax assets 172,877

178,359

26,954 Other non-current assets 114,292

8,407

1,270 Total non-current assets 712,539

1,054,752

159,398











TOTAL ASSETS 17,792,752

17,985,619

2,718,052























QUDIAN INC. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

























As of

March 31,

As of

June 30, (In thousands except for number 2018

2018 of shares and per share data) (Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

RMB

RMB

US$











LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY









Current liabilities:









Short-term borrowings and interest payables 6,253,398

6,031,503

911,502 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 419,808

386,229

58,368 Short-term amounts due to related parties 703,706

1,112,257

168,088 Guarantee liabilities 48,004

86,085

13,009 Income tax payable 268,471

231,601

35,000 Total current liabilities 7,693,387

7,847,675

1,185,969











Non-current liabilities:









Long-term borrowings and interest payables 255,000

-

-











Total non-current liabilities 255,000

-

- Total liabilities 7,948,387

7,847,675

1,185,969











Commitments and contingencies





















Shareholders' equity:









Class A Ordinary shares 223

176

27 Class B Ordinary shares -

44

7 Treasury shares (421,165)

(557,406)

(84,237) Additional paid-in capital 7,594,353

7,186,744

1,086,087 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (220,495)

(107,255)

(16,209) Retained earnings 2,891,449

3,615,642

546,409











Total shareholders' equity 9,844,365

10,137,945

1,532,083











TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS'

EQUITY 17,792,752

17,985,619

2,718,052

QUDIAN INC. Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP And Non-GAAP Results













Three months ended June 30,

2017

2018 (In thousands except for number (Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited) of shares and per share data) RMB

RMB

US$























Total net income attributable to Qudian Inc.'s

shareholders 508,529

724,192

109,442 Add: Share-based compensation expenses and

fair value gains 10,886

13,449

2,032 Non-GAAP net income attributable to Qudian Inc.'s

shareholders 519,415

737,640

111,474











Non-GAAP net income per share--basic 6.97

2.25

0.34 Non-GAAP net income per share--diluted 1.74

2.23

0.34 Weighted average shares outstanding--basic 74,507,376

327,811,355

327,811,355 Weighted average shares outstanding--diluted 298,686,013

330,060,963

330,060,963

SOURCE Qudian Inc.

Related Links

http://ir.qudian.com


ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) testified Wednesday before the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Section 301 Committee, requesting that all Chinese-origin chemicals be removed from the latest list of proposed tariffs because of the disproportionate impact they will have on the specialty chemical sector.

Many, if not most, chemical supply chains touch China. Accordingly, SOCMA is increasingly concerned that the proposed additional 10-25 percent tariff on $200 billion in Chinese goods will have a profoundly negative effect on U.S. specialty chemical manufacturing.

In testimony to the Section 301 Committee, Matt Moedritzer, SOCMA Manager of Legal and Government Relations, emphasized three particular aspects of specialty chemical manufacturing:

Alternative sources are finite because specialty chemicals - as the name implies - are specially made to meet particular purity, quality and performance demands; U.S. chemical manufacturing is a value-added industry in which manufacturers along the value chain must import chemicals they then use to manufacture new chemicals; and The combined effect of proposed tariffs and Chinese retaliatory tariffs may overwhelm some small- and medium-sized U.S. specialty chemical manufacturers.

By putting tariffs on raw materials or intermediates coming into the U.S., the Administration is aiding China's "Made in China 2025" plan. This increase in tariffs will raise the costs of manufacturing higher-value products in the U.S. and make such products less competitive globally. By keeping the status quo, domestic specialty and fine chemical manufacturers remain competitive in the global market because Chinese companies will not be incentivized to enter these high-end, technically challenging and expensive-to-enter markets.

Specialty chemical sectors are driven by intellectual property, and SOCMA supports efforts by the Administration to resolve long-standing concerns over Chinese intellectual property theft. Nevertheless, when combined with the fact that one-fifth of China's latest retaliatory lists are chemicals, these proposed tariffs will create a disproportionate competitive disadvantage. SOCMA also supports the Administration's goal to reach zero-tariff trade, but imposing heavy taxation on domestic specialty chemical manufacturers - made worse by retaliatory tariffs - is not the proper method to achieve that aim.

SOCMA encouraged the Section 301 Committee to remove the listed chemicals, specifically the hundreds of individual product lines SOCMA will provide in comments.

Read a transcript of SOCMA's testimony.

For more information, contact Matt Moedritzer.

About SOCMA

The Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) is part of a $300 billion industry that's fueling the U.S. economy. Our members play an indispensable role in the global chemical supply chain, providing specialty chemicals to companies in markets ranging from aerospace and electronics to pharmaceuticals and agriculture. www.socma.com.

SOURCE Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates

Related Links

http://www.socma.com


Net revenues increased by 134.1% year-over-year

Gross billings (non-GAAP) increased by 53.8% year-over-year

New student enrollments increased by 63.2% year-over-year

BEIJING, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunlands Online Education Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), a leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Second Quarter 2018 Financial and Operational Highlights

Net revenues were RMB481.8 million ( US$72.8 million ), representing a 134.1% increase year-over-year.

( ), representing a 134.1% increase year-over-year. Gross billings (non-GAAP) were RMB769.6 million ( US$116.3 million ), representing a 53.8% increase year-over-year.

( ), representing a 53.8% increase year-over-year. Gross profit was RMB393.3 million ( US$59.4 million ), representing a 119.6% increase year-over-year.

( ), representing a 119.6% increase year-over-year. Net loss was RMB271.8 million ( US$41.1 million ), representing a 105.3% increase year-over-year. Net loss margin, defined as net loss as a percentage of net revenue, decreased to 56.4% from 64.3% in the second quarter of 2017.

( ), representing a 105.3% increase year-over-year. Net loss margin, defined as net loss as a percentage of net revenue, decreased to 56.4% from 64.3% in the second quarter of 2017. New student enrollments were 133,887, representing a 63.2% increase year-over-year. [1]

As of June 30, 2018 , deferred revenue balance was RMB2,893.5 million ( US$437.3 million ).

[1] New student enrollments for a given period refers to the total number of orders placed by students that newly enroll in at least one course during that period (including those students that enroll and then terminate their enrollment with us).

Mr. Tongbo Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Sunlands, said, "We achieved healthy revenue growth as students continued to realize the benefits of our highly effective mobile and online tutoring offerings. During the quarter, we improved our sales and marketing approach to enhance the experience of prospective users and optimize brand positioning. We also introduced free trial classes so that potential students can experience Sunlands' unique offering first-hand. We are pleased with the initial results of this initiative, which indicate that participants in free trial classes are significantly more likely to both become Sunlands' students and enroll in courses with higher price points. While it will take some time to realize the benefits of these initiatives, we are confident that they will translate into better user experience and more sustainable growth over the long term."

"In the second quarter, we continued to invest in introducing better technology and content that improve learning efficiency and ultimately lead to higher test pass rates. We enhanced our content by doubling knowledge points, which are essential to improving learning effectiveness, to approximately 275,000 by the end of the second quarter. We also continued to roll out our AI-powered personalized study programs that accelerate the learning process and significantly improve learning outcomes. These initiatives have contributed to ongoing improvements in the pass rates of Sunlands' students. For example, Sunlands' students based in Jiangsu achieved a Self-Taught Higher Education Examination, or STE, pass rate of 79.2% in April 2018, compared to a pass rate of 71.9% in 2017. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in our content, teaching quality and technology platform to cement our leading position in China's online post-secondary and professional education market."

Mr. Steven Yipeng Li, Chief Financial Officer of Sunlands, said, "We are pleased to have exceeded our revenue projections reflecting the strong demand for online STE tutoring. In the second half of 2018, we will introduce new course packages and incrementally adjust pricing to better reflect the value we deliver to our students. At the same time, we will continue to focus on optimizing our sales and marketing operations to both increase effectiveness and improve the profitability of our business."

Financial Results for the Second Quarter of 2018

Net Revenues

In the second quarter of 2018, our net revenues increased by 134.1% to RMB481.8 million (US$72.8 million) from RMB205.8 million in the second quarter of 2017. The increase was mainly driven by the growth in new student enrollments. The increase in new student enrollments was driven primarily by the continuous improvement the quality of our online content offerings, our technology platform, as well as an increase in sales, branding and marketing efforts.

Cost of Revenues

Our cost of revenues increased by 230.8% from RMB26.8 million in the second quarter of 2017 to RMB88.5 million (US$13.4 million) in the second quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to the increase in compensation for our faculty members, which mainly included teachers and mentors, as we continued to retain our existing faculty members and attract new faculty members.

Gross Profit

Our gross profit increased by 119.6% to RMB393.3 million (US$59.4 million) from RMB179.1 million in the second quarter of 2017.

Operating Expenses

In the second quarter of 2018, operating expenses were RMB688.3 million (US$104.0 million), representing a 118.8% increase from RMB314.6 million in the second quarter of 2017.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by 105.8% to RMB581.7 million (US$87.9 million) from RMB282.6 million in the second quarter of 2017. The increase was mainly due to increases in (i) our sales and marketing compensation; and (ii) spending on branding and marketing activities, including investments in broadening our search engine and mobile application channels.

General and administrative expenses increased by 258.8% to RMB92.2 million (US$13.9 million) from RMB25.7 million in the second quarter of 2017. The increase was mainly due to the increase in compensation, mainly as a result of hiring more R&D talent to further strengthen our IT infrastructure and R&D abilities.

Product development expenses increased by 126.6% to RMB14.3 million (US$2.2 million) from RMB6.3 million in the second quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to an increase in compensation for our course and educational content professionals and technology development personnel during the quarter.

Net Loss

Net loss for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB271.8 million (US$41.1 million), compared with RMB132.4 million in the second quarter of 2017.

Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Share

Basic and diluted net loss per share was RMB39.37 (US$5.95) in the second quarter of 2018.

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments

As of June 30, 2018, we had RMB1,419.2 million (US$214.5 million) of cash and cash equivalents and RMB926.9 million (US$140.1 million) of short-term investments, compared to RMB559.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and RMB353.1 million of short-term investments as of December 31, 2017.

Deferred Revenue

As of June 30, 2018, our deferred revenue balance was RMB2,893.5 million (US$437.3 million). Revenues related to online courses are recognized on a straight-line basis over the service period. Deferred revenue consists of tuition fees received from students for which services have not yet been provided to such students pursuant to the terms of those service contracts.

Capital Expenditures

Our capital expenditures were incurred primarily in connection with purchases of buildings and IT infrastructure equipment necessary to support our operations. Our capital expenditures were RMB97.3 million (US$14.7 million) in the second quarter of 2018, compared to RMB2.6 million in the second quarter of 2017. The increase was mainly due to purchases of buildings and leasehold improvements for the purpose of business expansion.

Financial Results for the First Six Months of 2018

Net Revenues

For the first six months of 2018, our net revenues increased by 145.7% to RMB888.2 million (US$134.2 million) from RMB361.5 million in the first six months of 2017.

Cost of Revenues

Our cost of revenues increased by 244.8% from RMB46.2 million in the first six months of 2017 to RMB159.2 million (US$24.1 million) in the first six months of 2018.

Gross Profit

Our gross profit increased by 131.2% to RMB729.0 million (US$110.2 million) from RMB315.3 million in the first six months of 2017.

Operating Expenses

In the first six months of 2018, operating expenses were RMB1,276.5 million (US$192.9 million), representing a 131.8% increase from RMB550.7 million in the first six months of 2017.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by 119.3% to RMB1,080.7 million (US$163.3 million) from RMB492.8 million in the first six months of 2017.

General and administrative expenses increased by 262.5% to RMB169.9 million (US$25.7 million) from RMB46.9 million in the first six months of 2017.

Product development expenses increased by 134.6% to RMB25.9 million (US$3.9 million) from RMB11.0 million in the first six months of 2017.

Net Loss

Net loss for the first six months of 2018 was RMB517.0 million (US$78.1 million), compared with RMB231.8 million in the first six months of 2017.

Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Share

Basic and diluted net loss per share was RMB91.06 (US$13.76) in the first six months of 2018.

Capital Expenditures

Our capital expenditures were incurred primarily in connection with purchases of buildings and IT infrastructure equipment necessary to support our operations. Our capital expenditures were RMB245.0 million (US$37.0 million) and RMB5.0 million in the first six months of 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Outlook

For the third quarter of 2018, we currently expect net revenues to be between RMB500.0 million to RMB520.0 million, which would represent an increase of 89.4% to 96.9% year-over-year.

The above outlook is based on the current market conditions and reflects our current and preliminary estimates of market and operating conditions and customer demand, which are all subject to substantial uncertainty.

Exchange Rate

The Company's business is primarily conducted in China and all of the revenues are denominated in Renminbi ("RMB"). This announcement contains currency conversions of RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("US$") solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to US$ are made at a rate of RMB6.6171 to US$1.00, the effective noon buying rate for June 29, 2018 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on June 29, 2018, or at any other rate.

Conference Call and Webcast

Sunlands' management team will host a conference call at 7:30am U.S. Eastern Time, (7:30pm Beijing/Hong Kong time) on August 24, 2018, following the quarterly results announcement.

The dial-in details for the live conference call are:

International: +1-412-902-4272 US toll free: +1-888-346-8982 Canada toll free: 855-669-9657 Mainland China toll free: 4001-201203 Hong Kong toll free: 800-905945 Hong Kong: +852-301-84992

Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin. When prompted, ask to be connected to the Sunlands Online Education Group Call. Participants will be required to state their name and company upon entering the call.

A live webcast and archive of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of Sunlands' website at http://www.sunlands.investorroom.com/

A replay of the conference call will be available 1 hour after the end of the conference call until August 31, 2018.

International: +1-412-317-0088 US toll free: +1-877-344-7529 Canada toll free: 855-669-9658 Replay access code: 10123257

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Sunlands may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Sunlands' beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: Sunlands' goals and strategies; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and services; its ability to retain and increase student enrollments; its ability to offer new courses and educational content; its ability to improve teaching quality and students' learning results; its ability to improve sales and marketing efficiency and effectiveness; its ability to engage, train and retain new faculty members; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; its ability to maintain and improve technology infrastructure necessary to operate its business; competition in the online education industry in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to Sunlands' corporate structure, business and industry; and general economic and business condition in China Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Sunlands' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and Sunlands does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About Sunlands

Sunlands Online Education Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company") is the leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education in terms of gross billings in 2017, according to iResearch. With a one to many, live streaming platform, Sunlands offers various degree and diploma-oriented post-secondary courses as well as online professional courses and educational content, to help students prepare for professional certification exams and attain professional skills. Students can access its services either through PC or mobile applications. The Company's online platform cultivates a personalized, interactive learning environment by featuring a virtual learning community and a vast library of educational content offerings that adapt to the learning habits of its students. Sunlands offers a unique approach to education research and development that organizes subject content into Learning Outcome Trees, the Company's proprietary knowledge management system. Sunlands has a deep understanding of the educational needs of its prospective students and offers solutions that help them achieve their goals.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use gross billings and EBITDA, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes.

We define gross billings for a specific period as the total amount of cash received for the sale of course packages, net of the total amount of refunds paid in such period. Our management uses gross billings as a performance measurement because we generally bill our students for the entire course tuition at the time of sale of our course packages and recognize revenue proportionally over a period. EBITDA is defined as net loss excluding depreciation, amortization, interest income, and income tax expenses. We believe that gross billings and EBITDA provide valuable insight into the sales of our course packages and the performance of our business.

This non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, its most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of the historical non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP measure has been provided in the tables included below. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of the historical non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. As gross billings and EBITDA have material limitations as an analytical metric and may not be calculated in the same manner by all companies, it may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider gross billings and EBITDA as a substitute for, or superior to, net revenues prepared in accordance with GAAP. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

For investor enquiries, please contact:

Yingying Liu

IR Director

Tel: +86 182 5691 2232

Email: [email protected]

For media enquiries, please contact:

Brunswick Group

Anqi Yang

Tel: +86 10 5960 8639

Email: [email protected]

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)





As of December 31,

As of June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB

US$ ASSETS











Current assets











Cash and cash equivalents

559,459

1,419,167

214,470 Short-term investments

353,070

926,916

140,079 Prepaid expenses and other current assets

48,993

113,810

17,201 Amounts due from related parties

250,096

-

- Deferred costs, current

55,073

88,053

13,307 Total current assets

1,266,691

2,547,946

385,057 Non-current assets











Property and equipment, net

525,288

557,017

84,178 Intangible assets, net

1,552

1,385

209 Deferred costs, non-current

43,187

60,032

9,072 Long-term investment

3,300

2,023

306 Other non-current assets

129,641

216,971

32,789 Total non-current assets

702,968

837,428

126,554 TOTAL ASSETS

1,969,659

3,385,374

511,611













LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLDERS' DEFICIT

























LIABILITIES











Current liabilities











Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (including accrued expenses











and other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to











Sunlands Online Education Group of RMB223,298 and RMB218,738











as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

235,900

308,590

46,635 Deferred revenue, current (including deferred revenue, current of the consolidated VIEs











without recourses to Sunlands Online Education Group of RMB1,325,954 and











RMB1,624,898 as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

1,325,954

1,624,898

245,560 Payables to acquire buildings (including payables to acquire buildings of the











consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Online Education Group of











RMB180,390 and nil as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018,respectively)

240,390

121,540

18,368 Total current liabilities

1,802,244

2,055,028

310,563 Non-current liabilities











Deferred revenue, non-current (including deferred revenue, non-current of the











consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Online Education Group of











RMB784,474 and RMB1,268,608 as of December 31, 2017 and June 30,











2018, respectively)

784,474

1,268,608

191,717 Other non-current liabilities (including other non-current liabilities of the consolidated











VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Online Education Group of nil and RMB135











as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

-

17,845

2,697 Total non-current liabilities

784,474

1,286,453

194,414 TOTAL LIABILITIES

2,586,718

3,341,481

504,977





UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS-continued (Amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)





As of December 31,

As of June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB

US$ MEZZANINE EQUITY











Series A convertible redeemable preferred shares

292,000

-

- Series B convertible redeemable preferred shares

601,605

-

- Series B+ convertible redeemable preferred shares

131,104

-

- TOTAL MEZZANINE EQUITY

1,024,709

-

-













SHAREHOLDERS' (DEFICIT)/EQUITY











Ordinary shares (par value of US$0.00005, 1,000,000,000 shares











authorized; 4,329,000 and nil shares issued and outstanding











as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

1

-

- Class A ordinary shares (par value of US$0.00005, 796,062,195 shares











authorized; nil and 1,818,383 shares issued and outstanding











as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

-

1

- Class B ordinary shares (par value of US$0.00005, 826,389 shares











authorized; nil and 826,389 shares issued and outstanding











as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

-

-

- Class C ordinary shares (par value of US$0.00005, 203,111,416 shares











authorized; nil and 4,265,286 shares issued and outstanding











as of December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively)

-

1

- Additional paid-in capital

289,674

2,424,927

366,464 Accumulated deficit

(1,922,748)

(2,440,322)

(368,790) Accumulated other comprehensive (loss)/income

(8,759)

58,667

8,866 Total Sunlands Online Education Group shareholders' (deficit)/equity

(1,641,832)

43,274

6,540 Noncontrolling interest

64

619

94 TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' (DEFICIT)/EQUITY

(1,641,768)

43,893

6,634 TOTAL LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLDERS' (DEFICIT)/EQUITY

1,969,659

3,385,374

511,611















UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)

















For the Three Months Ended June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB

US$ Net revenues

205,826

481,798

72,811 Cost of revenues

(26,753)

(88,508)

(13,376) Gross profit

179,073

393,290

59,435













Operating expenses











Sales and marketing expenses

(282,611)

(581,722)

(87,912) Product development expenses

(6,314)

(14,307)

(2,162) General and administrative expenses

(25,707)

(92,248)

(13,941) Total operating expenses

(314,632)

(688,277)

(104,015) Loss from operations

(135,559)

(294,987)

(44,580) Interest income

3,197

16,446

2,485 Other income, net

-

7,199

1,088 Loss before income tax expenses

(132,362)

(271,342)

(41,007) Income tax expenses

-

-

- Loss from equity method investment

(50)

(441)

(67) Net loss

(132,412)

(271,783)

(41,074)













Less: Net (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interest

(30)

254

38













Net loss attributable to Sunlands Online Education Group

(132,382)

(272,037)

(41,112) Net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders of











Sunlands Online Education Group:











Basic and diluted

(34.67)

(39.37)

(5.95) Weighted average shares used in calculating net loss











per ordinary share:











Basic and diluted

3,818,618

6,910,058

6,910,058















UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (Amounts in thousands)

















For the Three Months Ended June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB

US$ Net loss

(132,412)

(271,783)

(41,074) Other comprehensive income, net of tax effect of nil:











Change in cumulative foreign currency translation adjustments

2,190

84,377

12,751 Total comprehensive loss

(130,222)

(187,406)

(28,323) Less: comprehensive (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling











interest

(30)

254

38 Comprehensive loss attributable to Sunlands Online Education Group

(130,192)

(187,660)

(28,361)

SUNLANDS ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES TO THE MOST COMPARABLE GAAP

MEASURES (Amounts in thousands)





For the Three Months Ended June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB Net revenues

205,826

481,798 Less: other revenues

(1,732)

(2,722) Add: tax and surcharges

6,894

16,160 Add: ending deferred revenue

1,269,073

2,893,506 Less: beginning deferred revenue

(979,703)

(2,619,134) Gross billings (non-GAAP)

500,358

769,608





























Net loss

(132,412)

(271,783) Add: income tax expenses

-

- depreciation and amortization

1,672

6,585 Less: interest income

(3,197)

(16,446) EBITDA (non-GAAP)

(133,937)

(281,644)

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)

















For the Six Months Ended June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB

US$ Net revenues

361,463

888,171

134,224 Cost of revenues

(46,179)

(159,208)

(24,060) Gross profit

315,284

728,963

110,164













Operating expenses











Sales and marketing expenses

(492,795)

(1,080,698)

(163,319) Product development expenses

(11,039)

(25,893)

(3,913) General and administrative expenses

(46,879)

(169,945)

(25,683) Total operating expenses

(550,713)

(1,276,536)

(192,915) Loss from operations

(235,429)

(547,573)

(82,751) Interest income

4,053

23,290

3,520 Other income, net

-

8,541

1,291 Loss before income tax expenses

(231,376)

(515,742)

(77,940) Income tax expenses

-

-

- Loss from equity method investment

(398)

(1,277)

(193) Net loss

(231,774)

(517,019)

(78,133)













Less: Net (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interest

(42)

555

84













Net loss attributable to Sunlands Online Education Group

(231,732)

(517,574)

(78,217) Net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders of











Sunlands Online Education Group:











Basic and diluted

(60.68)

(91.06)

(13.76) Weighted average shares used in calculating net loss











per ordinary share:











Basic and diluted

3,818,618

5,683,699

5,683,699















UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (Amounts in thousands )

















For the Six Months Ended June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB

US$ Net loss

(231,774)

(517,019)

(78,133) Other comprehensive income, net of tax effect of nil:











Change in cumulative foreign currency translation adjustments

-

67,426

10,190 Total comprehensive loss

(231,774)

(449,593)

(67,943) Less: comprehensive (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling











interest

(42)

555

84 Comprehensive loss attributable to Sunlands Online Education Group

(231,732)

(450,148)

(68,027)

SUNLANDS ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES TO THE MOST COMPARABLE GAAP MEASURES (Amounts in thousands)





For the Six Months Ended June 30,



2017

2018



RMB

RMB Net revenues

361,463

888,171 Less: other revenues

(2,620)

(4,392) Add: tax and surcharges

12,124

31,951 Add: ending deferred revenue

1,269,073

2,893,506 Less: beginning deferred revenue

(727,569)

(2,110,428) Gross billings (non-GAAP)

912,471

1,698,808





























Net loss

(231,774)

(517,019) Add: income tax expenses

-

- depreciation and amortization

3,124

11,272 Less: interest income

(4,053)

(23,290) EBITDA (non-GAAP)

(232,703)

(529,037)

SOURCE Sunlands Online Education Group

Related Links

http://www.sunlands.investorroom.com


FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In one of the industry's most stringent crash tests, the 2018 Hyundai Kona was named a TOP SAFETY PICK+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Kona scored a good rating for occupant protection in the passenger-side small overlap front crash test and when equipped with its newly available good-rated LED headlights, qualified for the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award. The Kona also earned good ratings in the Institute's five other crashworthiness evaluations and a superior rating for its optional front crash prevention system, which avoided collisions in 12- and 25-mph IIHS track tests.

"Hyundai is honored to receive the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award from IIHS," said Dr. MinSup Lee, vice president, Hyundai America Technical Center. "Having our engineering recognized by one of the leading indicators of vehicle safety inspires us to continue making advancements through passive and active safety integration."

"Safety is one of the most important markers for every vehicle Hyundai develops and we are proud of our entire engineering team, who helped Kona achieve the highest possible rating from the IIHS," said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "Hyundai continues to prioritize making the most advanced safety features available. The Kona is a great example of the stylish, fun-to-drive, affordable and safe vehicles you can find in the Hyundai lineup."

According to IIHS, models that earn TOP SAFETY PICK honors are the best vehicle choices for safety within their size categories. Kona's award adds to the list of eight new Hyundai models that are rated TOP SAFETY PICK+ or TOP SAFETY PICK when equipped with front crash prevention and specific headlights, tied for the second most in the industry. The 2018 Elantra (built after Dec. 2017), Sonata (built after Sept. 2017), Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Sport (built after June 2017) all earned the organization's highest rating, while the Elantra GT, Ioniq Hybrid and Tucson received a TOP SAFETY PICK rating. IIHS crash test results for the all-new 2019 Santa Fe will be released next month.

This award is for Konas built after May 2018, as Hyundai made changes to the Kona's available LED projector headlights to minimize glare for oncoming drivers. Following the change, the LED headlights, which are available on the Limited and Ultimate trim lines, earned a good rating. The Ultimate trim's headlights also feature high-beam assist, a feature that automatically switches between high beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles in the path of the lights.

To earn the 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and an acceptable or good rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. Qualifiers also need an available front crash prevention system that earns an advanced or superior rating and available good-rated headlights.

Hyundai's compact SUV Kona appeals to consumers with active lifestyles of all kinds and comes equipped with the latest safety technologies. Kona offers optional advanced active safety features, including Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), which uses the car's front-facing camera and radar to help detect an imminent collision and avoid impact or minimize damage by braking autonomously. Three additional optional systems also utilize the front-view camera to boost safety and convenience: Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), High Beam Assist (HBA) and Driver Attention Warning (DAW).

By sensing road markings, Lane Keeping Assist helps to prevent accidental lane departure by automatically steering the car, if required, while the Driver Attention Warning system monitors a spectrum of driver-related characteristics to help detect driver fatigue or careless driving.

Kona's radar systems also assist with the Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW) to help detect approaching vehicles that may be obscured from view during highway driving. The Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning (RCCW) helps detect when another vehicle may have entered the car's rearward path, such as backing out of a parking spot, by providing a driver alert.

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America is focused on delivering an outstanding customer experience grounded in design leadership, engineering excellence and exceptional value in every vehicle we sell. Hyundai's technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to deliver peace of mind to our customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide and the majority sold in the U.S. are built at U.S. manufacturing facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea.

Please visit our media website at www.HyundaiNews.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America

Related Links

http://www.hyundainews.com


DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The case of Harley-Davidson alleging discrimination by the California income tax apportionment structure has had a long history through the California court system. The essence of the challenge is that under California law, a unitary group of intrastate taxpayers has the choice to file a combined California income tax return or separate returns. However, a unitary group of interstate taxpayers may only file a combined tax return.

The first hearing on this issue at a trial court was in the Superior Court of San Diego County. The state filed a demurrer to dismiss Harley-Davidson's action for a refund, which was denied by the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). A demurrer is a pleading that objects to the pleading by the opposing party. Here, the FTB asked the court to dismiss Harley-Davidson's refund complaint, saying that there was no discrimination. The trial court sustained the Board's demurrer to Harley-Davidson's commerce clause challenge to the California Tax Code. The Court of Appeal, Fourth District reviewed the trial court's decision, overruled its finding,1 and remanded the case back to the trial court.

The case was reheard on the facts at the Superior Court of San Diego County, with a finding that whether or not the state's disparate of apportionment methodology for intrastate versus interstate unitary groups was discriminatory, the state had a legitimate purpose for the discrimination. The legitimate reason was to apportion and tax all California source revenue, and the court ruled this goal could not be accomplished by any other reasonable method.

On August 23, 2018, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, in a decision not certified for publication, agreed with the trial court. The Court of Appeal reasoned that the state has a legitimate interest in taxing all income of an interstate unitary group. The combined method of reporting for unitary groups has been upheld as constitutional in numerous cases.2 Interstate unitary groups have the ability to shift income out of California if they were allowed to file their returns on a separate company basis. While intrastate California unitary groups earn all their income in California, reporting on a separate or combined basis is virtually irrelevant because all income of the group is attributable to California in either case. The Court of Appeal did not address Harley-Davidson's claims that different reporting mechanisms also affect the use of tax attributes among the group. However, unless Harley-Davidson steers for the California Supreme Court, this would appear to be the end of the road for this motorcycle adventure.

1 Harley-Davidson v. FTB, 237 Cal. App. 4th 193 (5/28/2015).

2 Container Corp. of America v. FTB, 463 U.S. 159 (1983); Barclays Bank PLC v. FTB, 512 U.S. 298 (1994); Butler Brothers v. McClogan, 315 U.S. 501 (1942).

About Ryan

Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is a six-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,200 professionals and associates serves over 14,000 clients in more than 50 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com. "Ryan" and "Firm" refer to the global organizational network and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ryan International, each of which is a separate legal entity.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Mark Nachbar

Principal

Ryan

630.515.0477

[email protected]

Mary Bernard

Director

Ryan

401.272.3363

[email protected]

SOURCE Ryan

Related Links

http://www.ryan.com


Business savvy Miami resident, Scott Cooper, appreciates cultural diversity, believing that Universities cultivate a sense of community and encourage young individuals to excel in their educational endeavors.

MIAMI, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Scott Cooper, Founder and CEO of Scott Cooper Miami (SCM), is proud to announce two academic scholarships for individuals pursuing a career in business management, communications, journalism, education, or fitness. With an eye for opportunity, Scott Cooper encourages individuals to take advantage of higher education claiming that knowledge generates success.

The Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship Program is open to both American and Canadian students currently enrolled in an accredited post-secondary institution. Each scholarship is valued at $500 (USD/CAD) and is available to individuals in all years of post-secondary programs.

The application process requires candidates to complete an online registration form and attach a letter of acceptance to their current program. Applicants must also compose a 500-word essay demonstrating a passion for his or her field of study and provide a detailed explanation as to why they selected their program. Competitive submissions will explore the role of their chosen industry as a significant contributor to society and how they aim to make a positive impact in their role as a future professional.

Candidates have until October 1st, 2018 to submit all required documentation, and a winner will be selected November 1st, 2018 at 11 PM, EST. Applicants applying in the winter semester will have until February 1st, 2019 to submit all documents.

For further information regarding the Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship program and to apply visit https://scottcoopermiamischolarships.com

About Scott Cooper Miami

Scott Cooper Miami is a lifestyle brand which aims to support Miami's diverse tourism industry. By creating various platforms to demonstrate Miami's unique multicultural attractions, Scott Cooper aims to support local businesses by producing engaging online content. Valuing creativity and commitment, Scott also offers consulting services for individuals looking to start their own business as his goal is to educate visitors on what makes Miami the best international city in the world.

SOURCE Scott Cooper Miami
Enhanced Market Penetration of Core Marketed Products

Pipeline Product Uni-PTH is Expected to Launch in 2019

HONG KONG, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A fully integrated biopharmaceutical company -- Uni-Bio Science Group Limited ("Uni-Bio Science", together with its subsidiaries referred to as the "Group", stock code: 0690.HK), is pleased to announce its interim results for the period ended 30 June 2018 (the "Period" or "1H2018"), as well as its comparatively figures for the six months ended 30 June 2017 ("1H2017").

Key Accomplishments in 1H2018

During the Period, the Group's marketed products, namely GeneTime, GeneSoft, Pinup and Bokangtai have made steady progress respectively, while solid accomplishments have been achieved for the products in pipeline. The key highlights include:

During the Period, the Group also fostered the strategic cooperation with Beijing Baiao Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd ("Beijing Baiao") to jointly develop and market the Acarbose tablets project. With an estimated market value of US$3.2 billion , Acarbose tablets is an oral anti-diabetic drug which is used to treat Type 2 diabetes and is reimbursed under the National Reimbursement Drug List ("NRDL") Class A. Both parties shall jointly bear the relevant expenses on project research. In the marketing stage, the Group shall be responsible for pre-launch declaration and registration, post-launch production and sales. While Beijing Baiao Pharmaceutical, pursuant to the said agreement, shall be responsible for the post-launch promotion in markets of designated provinces and invest to acquire interests in Acarbose tablets products as well as be entitled to future marketing revenue. During the Period, core marketed products have successfully won additional provincial tendering amid the tightened pressure on pricing. In particular, Pinup tapped into the Guizhou market, bringing its national network coverage to 33 provinces. Bokangtai entered into Shandong , Guangxi and Xinjiang provinces, bringing the total distribution coverage to 12 provinces. Currently, the Group is collaborating with Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. to conduct BE study on BoKangtai. The preparation work was commenced and the BE on-line registration is scheduled to submit in this year. Approval is expected to be obtained in 2020. Uni-PTH, a biosimilar of Forteo (Teriparatide), which is used to treat osteoporosis has come to the last stage of China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA") approval. It is expected to launch in 2019 and aiming to be the 2nd of such products to launch in the PRC. Uni-E4 is a proprietary innovative drug for the treatment of Type II diabetes. After the meeting with CDE, it is highly likely that the liquid formulation of Uni-E4 will be allowed to conduct bioequivalence study ("BE study") and Phase III clinical study directly. Uni-EPO-Fc is a long acting version of EPO, which can increase the maturation of red blood cell. Pre-clinical trials of Uni-EPO-Fc had completed and the pre-clinical Phase I study will continue as soon as CDE conducts drug review in 2018. GeneTime, one of the Group's core products, is a prescription biological drug for wound healing. Its effect in healing ranges from mere burns and dermatology to obstetrics and plastic surgery. During the Period, revenue generated from GeneTime 15ml totaled HK$28.4 million , representing a solid year-on-year basis ("YoY") growth of 25.7%. GeneSoft, mainly used for the treatment of corneal ulcer in the field of ophthalmology, has recorded a sharp increase in revenue from approximately HK$8.1 million to HK$15.1 million , representing a YoY growth of 86.0%. The contribution of biopharmaceutical drugs in sales revenue and gross profit has continued to increase, indicating the Group is smoothly transforming into an integrated bio-pharmaceutical company with extending through the whole industry chain. The endocrinology-related pipeline products are expected to be the strongest driver in the short term.

Other than the above accomplishments at the product level, the Group has also progressed with the strategic collaborations to further widen its value chain as well as product reach.

Following the formation of strategic alliance with HeungKong Group last year, the Group continued to strengthen the collaborations to explore potentials for merger and acquisitions ("M&A") worldwide.

Interim Results

In 1H2018, the Group recorded a turnover of HK$59.6 million, representing a moderate decrease of approximately 5.3% YoY, from HK$62.9 million in 1H2017. The decrease in turnover was mainly attributable to an unexpected one-off incident, which negatively impacted GeneTime, as well as a decrease in sales of Pinup due to mounting pressure from the environment. Gross profit decreased slightly by 1.7% to approximately HK$51.6 million (1H2017: HK$52.5 million). The gross profit margin increased by 3.2 percentage points to 86.6% as compared to 83.4% in the same period last year, as some of the Group's marketed drugs enjoyed limited competitions, which placed the Group at a better position for price negotiation.

During the Period, the Group has continued to expand its sales team by increasing direct sales personnel and through restructuring and re-organization. The Group's goal is to further enlarge its direct sales channel, build solid rapport with more hospitals and adapt to the "two-invoice" system. In addition, significant marketing expenses were invested to promote Bokangtai, the new product that launched in 2017. The result is promising with Bokangtai successfully entered into three new provinces. Moreover, the Group decided to make an one-off expense to minimize any potential impact may have been caused by the incident of GeneTime mentioned above. Therefore, the selling and distribution expenses increased from HK$27.1 million in 1H2017 to HK$59.5 million in 1H2018, representing an increase of 119.8%. In light of this, the Group recorded a loss of HK$63.2 million during the Period with a basic loss per share of HK$1.02 cents.

Prospects

For the second half of 2018, the zero price mark-up policy and the provincial tender price cuts, as well as the approaching deadline for chemical generics quality and efficacy consistency will continue to appear as uncertainties for drug manufacturers in the PRC. Moreover, the CFDA issued guidelines relating to the evaluation of consistent quality and efficacy of generics, which apply to domestically-produced and imported generic drugs. Such guideline requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to better allocate and utilize their resources and R&D capability by focusing on compelling product. However, with the sustainable organic growth in some sub-segments like diabetes market and favorable national environment supporting innovation, the Group believes that potential growth opportunities still exist.

Mr. Kingsley Leung, Chairman of Uni-Bio Science, commented "we have pursued the strategy of accelerating the BE of Pinup, Bokangtai and Acarbose tablets, in view to strengthen our competitiveness in the future. Such move will be posing a higher entry barrier for followers. The BE of Pinup, Bokangtai is scheduled to be completed in 2020 and 2021, respectively."

Mr. Leung continued, "On the other hand, the Group will also focus on opportunities in fast growing sub-segments, such as the diabetes market. Acarbose tablet, one of the major compounds of -Glucosidase inhibitors with limited competitors in China, is the Group's key R&D project in the second half of 2018. Together with Beijing Baiao, the related BE of our Acarbose tablet have been initiated shortly. We are confident that we will be the first batch of manufactures to apply for production approval and the application for marketing is expected to be submitted in the first half of 2019."

Mr. Leung further commented, "We will continue to keep a keen eye on M&A opportunities, aiming to further diversify our geographical coverage in Northeast and Central China, so as to pursue advanced technologies. By fully leveraging on our resources and advantages in the second half of 2018 and beyond, we hope to move ambitiously for greater market penetration. With steady progress being made for our marketed drugs and drugs in the pipeline, the Group will strive to generate the best return to our supportive shareholders."

-- END --

About Uni-Bio Science Group Limited

Uni-Bio Science Group Limited, a leading integrated biopharmaceutical company, is principally engaged in the research and development, manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical products. The research and development center located in Dongguan, PRC is fully equipped with a complete system for the development of genetically-engineered products with a pilot plant test base which is in line with CFDA requirements. The Group also has two GMP manufacturing bases in Beijing and Shenzhen. The Group is focused on the development of novel treatments and innovative drugs addressing the therapeutic areas of diabetes, ophthalmology and dermatology.

Uni-Bio Science Group Limited was listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 12, 2001. Stock code: 0690.

This press release is issued by DLK Advisory Limited for and on behalf of Uni-Bio Science Group Limited and its dedicated WeChat ID is UniBio-IR.

For further information, please contact:

DLK Advisory

Michelle Shi ([email protected])

Linda Liang ([email protected])

Cathy Wu ([email protected])

Max Lau ([email protected])

Tel: +852 2857 7101

Fax: +852 2857 7103

SOURCE Uni-Bio Science Group Limited
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan recently lauded Malaysia's Best-In-Class firms at the 14th annual Malaysia Excellence Awards banquet, held at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur on 26 June.

Mr. Hazmi Yusof, Senior Vice President and Malaysia Managing Director at Frost & Sullivan noted that the Frost & Sullivan Awards in Malaysia have been consistently identifying and recognizing the best-in-class companies that have demonstrated excellence in various industries.

"Through this initiative, we hope that the recognition will encourage companies in Malaysia to continue their best in expanding their business locally and regionally. Frost & Sullivan is proud to recognize these companies for their strategic ideas that drive corporate growth," he added.

Aerodyne Group, Celcom Axiata, Mah Sing, Sunway Medical Centre and POS Malaysia and U Mobile were amongst the companies honored.

The Malaysia Excellence Awards aim to recognize Malaysian companies for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices.

For more information, please visit www.malaysia-awards.com

Frost & Sullivan congratulates all the 2018 Malaysia Excellence award recipients, listed below in alphabetical order.

Aesthetic Medicine Growth Excellence Leadership Award 1 DOC MEDICAL GROUP SDN BHD BPO Service Provider of the Year AEGIS BPO Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Services Company of the Year AERODYNE GROUP Fertility Centre of the Year ALPHA FERTILITY CENTRE Pharmaceutical Company of the Year  Generics Market CCM DUOPHARMA BIOTECH BERHAD Halal Pharmaceutical Company of the Year CCM DUOPHARMA BIOTECH BERHAD Excellence in Customer Experience  Telecommunications Industry - In Store Experience CELCOM AXIATA BERHAD Excellence in Customer Experience - Telecommunications Industry - Contact Center Experience CELCOM AXIATA BERHAD Telecom IoT Service Provider of the Year CELCOM AXIATA BERHAD Home Water Filter Growth Excellence Leadership Award CUCKOO E-Commerce Company of the Year - Food Delivery Service DAH MAKAN (FARM TO FORK SDN BHD) E-Commerce Service Provider of the Year DHL EXPRESS (MALAYSIA) SDN BHD Solar Power Company Of the Year DITROLIC SDN BHD Food Ingredients Company of the Year FUTURA INGREDIENTS Express Service Provider of the Year - Private Sector GD EXPRESS SDN BHD Contact Center Applications Vendor of the Year GENESYS Excellence in Customer Experience - Health Insurance Industry - Online Experience GREAT EASTERN Excellence in Customer Experience - Health Insurance Industry - Contact Center Experience GREAT EASTERN Energy Management Solutions Growth Excellence Leadership Award HARTA MAINTENANCE SDN BHD IT Infrastructure Services Competitive Strategy, Innovation and Leadership Award HEITECH PADU BERHAD Dental Growth Excellence Leadership Award ICARE DENTAL SDN BHD Payment Gateway Provider of the Year IPAY88 HOLDING SDN BHD Malaysia Online Property Platform of the Year IPROPERTY.COM MALAYSIA SDN BHD Smart Waste Solutions Company of the Year KDEB WASTE MANAGEMENT SDN BHD Medical Tourism Hospital Customer Value Leadership Award MAHKOTA MEDICAL CENTRE SDN BHD Property Development Company of the Year MAH SING GROUP BERHAD Automotive Finance Company of the Year MALAYAN BANKING BERHAD (MAYBANK) Excellence in Customer Experience - Retail Banking Industry - Net Promoter Score MALAYAN BANKING BERHAD (MAYBANK) Online Classifieds Company of the Year MUDAH.MY SDN BHD Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Services Entrepreneurial Company of the Year OFO TECH SDN BHD Smart Building Solutions Company of the Year OPTERGY - MALAYSIA Express Service Provider of the Year POS LAJU Project Logistics Service Provider of the Year POS LOGISTICS Private Healthcare Insurance Customer Value Leadership Award PRUDENTIAL ASSURANCE MALAYSIA BERHAD Excellence in Customer Experience - Health Insurance Industry - Overall Experience PRUDENTIAL Excellence in Customer Experience - Health Insurance Industry - Insurance Agent Experience PRUDENTIAL Excellence in Customer Experience - Retail Banking Industry - Self-Service Experience RHB CRM Cloud Vendor of the Year STAR SOLUTIONS (M) SDN BHD Healthcare CSR Company of the Year SUNWAY MEDICAL CENTRE HR Technology Entrepreneurial Company Of The Year SWINGVY Facilities Management Company of the Year UEM EDGENTA BERHAD Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year U MOBILE SDN BHD Excellence in Customer Experience - Telecommunications Industry - Mobile Experience U MOBILE SDN BHD Excellence in Customer Experience - Telecommunications Industry - Online Experience U MOBILE SDN BHD Excellence in Customer Experience - Telecommunications Industry - Overall Experience U MOBILE SDN BHD Organic Food Customer Value Leadership Award ZENXIN AGRI-ORGANIC FOOD SDN BHD

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants.

For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact Us: Start the discussion

Media Contact

Melissa Tan

Corporate Communications, Asia-Pacific

Phone: +65.6890.0926

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Related Links

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United Nations, Aug 24 : The UN Security Council on Thursday observed a minute of silence in honour of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Current Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined the representatives of the 15 members of the council for the solemn moment, Xinhua news agency reported.

The minute of silence was held at the beginning of a high-level meeting of the Security Council chaired by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, whose country holds the council presidency for the month of August.

Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died on Saturday in Switzerland, at the age of 80. He served as UN secretary-general for 10 years till the end of 2006.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2018 - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing in Washington D.C., the United States, Aug. 16, 2018. U.S. State Department on Thursday announced the ... Image Source: Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2018 - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing in Washington D.C., the United States, Aug. 16, 2018. U.S. State Department on Thursday announced the ... Image Source: Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS

Washington, Aug 24 : US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he has appointed Stephen Biegun as the new special envoy for North Korea.

He also said that he and Biegun will travel to Pyongyang next week for further talks with the North Korean side, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the remarks on Thursday, Pompeo said that "it's a very timely moment for Steve to join the team and come on board. He and I will be travelling to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective".

"As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners," Pompeo said, noting that "using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Donald Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us."

For his part, Biegun said he fully understands the importance of this job.

"The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve," he said. "But the President has created an opening, and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea. This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore."

Biegun is to continue the mission of Joseph Yun, who resigned from his post earlier this year for personal reasons.

US media outlets reported that the departure of Yun, who has been supportive of solving the Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue, was due to his long disappointment over the Trump administration's provocations against North Korea, and diplomats' lacking of speaking in the government's decision-making process.
Washington, Aug 24 : A woman who pleaded guilty to leaking to media a secret US government report about alleged Russia's attempts to hack the 2016 US elections has been jailed for five years and three months.

Reality Winner, 26, from the US state Georgia, on Thursday, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and no fine, except for a $100 special assessment fee.

The crime carried a maximum penalty of 10 years, Xinhua news agency reported.

Winner was a contractor with the US National Security Agency.

She pleaded guilty in June to copying a classified report that detailed the alleged Russian government's efforts to penetrate a Florida-based voting software supplier.

The US authorities have never confirmed what exactly the report said, or identified the news organisation that received it, according to reports.

Winner's attorneys called her a good person with an otherwise clean criminal record, and said that she suffers from depression and bulimia.

Russia has denied that it is government had any role in hacking the Democrats in 2016.
Washington, Aug 24 : US State Department said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland to discuss Canada's diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia, urging the two sides to solve their disputes quickly.

According to a statement issued on Thursday by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo on Wednesday spoke over telephone with Freeland, as the US top diplomat "reiterated the US' commitment to our close partnerships with both Canada and Saudi Arabia", Xinhua reported.

He also extended the "hope for a quick resolution of differences through diplomatic channels".

The US on August 14 tacitly ruled out intervening in the current diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia, though it said it supported free speech.

In a press briefing, Nauert said Pompeo believes "this is an issue for the Canadians and... for the Saudis to resolve themselves."

"It's not necessary for the US to have to step in between two countries that... have the ability to pick up the phone and handle these issues among themselves," she said.

Recently, Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador, froze new trade and investment in Canada and withdrew thousands of Riyadh-funded students from Canada. It also announced the suspension of Saudi Arabian Airlines flights to and from Toronto.

The measures were taken to show the kingdom's displeasure at Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and other officials criticising the detention of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia and urging for their immediate release. Riyadh called it an intervention in its internal affairs.

As the dispute escalated, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that Canada will always stand up for human rights.

In response, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir ruled out the possibility of mediation and warned of more measures against Canada.

Saudi Arabia is Canada's 19th largest trading partner and the source of some 10 per cent of Canadian crude oil imports. Trade between the two countries amounts to nearly 4 billion Canadian dollars (about $3 billion) annually, according to reports.
Washington, Aug 24 : US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has named Stephen Biegun to be the new special envoy for North Korea.

The appointment on Thursday aims to fill key posts regarding the Korean Peninsula so as to facilitate issues like bilateral negotiations over denuclearization, peace regime and economic sanctions, among others.

In a speech to the media at a press conference, Pompeo said Biegun's joining is "timely" as the two of them will travel to North Korea next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective", Xinhua news agency reported.

"As the special representative, Steve will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with our allies and partners," Pompeo said, noting that "using diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all remains one of President Donald Trump's greatest priorities, and Steve is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us."

For his part, Biegun said he fully understands the importance of this job.

"The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve," he said. "But the President has created an opening, and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea."

"This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore," he added.

Biegun is to continue the mission of Joseph Yun, who resigned from his post earlier this year for personal reasons.

US media outlets reported that the departure of Yun, who has been supportive of solving the Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue, was due to his long disappointment over the Trump administration's provocations against North Korea, and diplomats' lacking of speaking in the government's decision-making process.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration also appointed Harry Harris, former commander of US Pacific Command, to become US ambassador to South Korea.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said earlier on August 19 that Pompeo would leave for a trip to North Korea for the fourth visit since he assumed the current office, adding that Washington expects Pompeo to meet with the North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un.

"To move on with the process of denuclearization remains our highest priority," said Bolton, adding that "it's important that they (North Korea) demonstrate seriousness" in this regard.

Bolton said earlier last month that Washington has had a plan to dismantle the majority of North Korea's nuke and ballistic missile programs, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be discussing it with Pyongyang while visiting the country.

However, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the State Department will not provide a timeline for Pyongyang's abandonment of nuclear and missile program.

Pompeo has visited North Korea three times, respectively in April, May and July.

Trump on August 20 said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time.

He also said that he believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, and that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.

In the joint statement after the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, Trump committed to provide security guarantees to North Korea, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders also agreed to commit to establish new US-North Korea relations, and to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula.

According to the website of Ford Motor Company, Biegun has been its vice president of International Governmental Affairs, overseeing "all aspects of Ford's international governmental relations, including trade strategy and political risk assessment."

Before joining Ford, Biegun worked in the White House from 2001 to 2003 as executive secretary of the National Security Council. He served as a senior staff member to former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He also served for 14 years as a foreign policy advisor to members of both the House of Representatives and the US Senate.
Canberra, Aug 24 : Former treasurer Scott Morrison is set to become Australia's 30th Prime Minister following a leadership vote on Friday, ending a week of chaos.

A member of the party's conservative faction and former immigration minister, Morrison defeated former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40 at a closed door leadership vote earlier in the day, reports CNN.

It followed days of speculation and confusion over whether now former leader Malcolm Turnbull, who took office in 2015, could maintain his grip on the premiership in the face of a conservative uprising.

The leadership crisis began on Tuesday following a backlash in the ruling Liberal Party over Turnbull's climate change policy, which would have legislated the Paris Agreement goals.

The right-wing of the party would prefer greater investment in the country's coal sector and policies to lower Australians' power prices.

Dutton, a leader in the party's conservative faction, stood against Turnbull for the leadership in a vote on Tuesday, losing only narrowly by 48 votes to 35 and all but guaranteeing a second vote.

But as Dutton's momentum began to grow, Morrison put his hand up for the leadership in the face of questions over Dutton's eligibility to sit in parliament.

Turnbull said on Thursday that he would step down and leave Parliament following the vote, potentially cracking the government's slender one-seat majority and leading to a by-election or even a general election.
San Francisco, Aug 24 : Facebook on Friday announced to hire Antonio Lucio, currently Global Chief Marketing and Communication Officer at HP Inc, who will work across the social media giant's family of apps, including WhatsApp and Instagram.

Lucio will report to Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox and will be part of Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg's leadership team.

"Antonio will join us from HP, where he led their marketing team for three years. Before that he was the CMO at Visa and at PepsiCo," Cox wrote on Facebook.

Lucio, replacing Gary Briggs who has announced to step down, will start as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Facebook from September 4.

"Facebook's story is at an inflection point. We have never faced bigger challenges, and we have never had more opportunities to have a positive impact on the world by improving our products at their core," said Cox.

Lucio spent over three years with Palo Alto-based HP Inc following its separationAfrom the The Hewlett Packard Corporation.

"(Lucio) has been outspoken on the need to build authentic global brands with integrity and from places of principle, and also on the importance of building diverse teams at every level in the organisation (HP)," added Cox.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 24 : Two Kerala government officials were arrested on Friday in Wayanad district for the embezzlement of relief materials, police said.

A senior police official told IANS that the arrests were made based on a complaint received from another senior government official.

According to the complaint, the two accused, S. Thomas and M.P. Dinesh, were stopped by residents at a relief camp Panamaram village while they were loading the relief materials into a vehicle.

Thomas and Dinesh said that they were moving the materials to another camp in the village. But the residents called the police and upon interrogation it was found that they lied.

Meanwhile, a similar incident was also reported from Chengannur where the accused was a temporary government official.

Relief materials have been coming into Kerala from various places ever since the heavy monsoon rains hit the state on May 29 followed by subsequent floods leading to some 370 deaths and displacing over a million people from their homes.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi has lambasted the BJP and RSS, saying they were working "to divide and spread hatred" in India.

Gandhi made the statement while addressing the Indian Overseas Congress on Thursday in Berlin, the Congress said on Friday. His address was not aired live due to a technical glitch.

Interacting with the Indian-origin parliamentarians, Gandhi said that "the government which is now ruling in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, want to divide and spread hatred in the country. The Congress party will not let this happen".

Gandhi said the strength of India lies in listening to the views of every citizen, despite religion, section of the society and caste.
Patna, Aug 24 : An FIR was filed by an Urdu daily journalist here after he was threatened with death for a social media post that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would seek votes in the 2019 general elections in the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a police official said on Friday.

Seemab Akhtar, who works at 'Farooqui Tanzeem' published from Patna, was repeatedly threatened by an unidentified man for his social media post in Hindi: "Dekh lena agle chunao mein Modi Atal ki tasveer lekar roenge, aur bolenge bhai-behno inke naam pe dedo vote unka sapna pura karna hai... (in the next elections, Modi will carry Atal's picture and shed tears asking for votes to fulfil the former PM's dream).

According to Akhtar, he received threat calls and was asked not to post anything against the Bharatiya Janata Party on the social media. "I was threatened with death if I continued to write against the BJP."

Bajpatti police station incharge Kanchan Bhaskar said that an FIR had been filed.

Sanjay Kumar, a Professor at Motihari Central University in east Champaran district, was beaten up by a group of people last Friday for his comments on the social media that appeared to criticise Vajpayee. A seriously injured Kumar was first admitted in Patna hospital, but later shifted to AIIMS in Delhi.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra has been roped in as the face of contemporary ethnic fashion brand Rangriti by Biba Apparels Pvt Ltd.

"I am glad to partner with Rangriti on its journey in creating Indian fashion that appeals to women across age groups and genres," said the actress in a statement.

Siddharth Bindra, Managing Director, Biba Apparels, is excited about having Parineeti on board.

"Parineeti's style, high energy and immense popularity amongst the audience especially the youth is what makes her the perfect fit for Rangriti. Rangriti is a growing brand and with Parineeti for Rangriti, we expect the brand to grow even faster," said Bindra.

The brand is set to launch its new campaign 'Your World, your stage' with Parineeti this festive season. It will encourage women to be themselves and feel like a star on their own stage.
San Francisco, Aug 24 : Micro-blogging site Twitter is ending support for all iPhone and iPad users who are running iOS 9 or older versions of the operating system.

According to a message in the app's update text in its latest App Store released this week, only those users running iOS 10 or higher will continue to have a supported mobile client. The company's message notes that this decision will allow it to streamline its app development for all clients, TechCrunch reported late on Thursday.

Twitter has until now supported devices like the iPhone 4, 5, 6 and their variants.

The company is now officially dropping them from their supported device line-up, meaning the device users will no longer receive feature updates or bug fixes for the Twitter app.

"It's not unprecedented for social apps to make this choice -- LinkedIn and Snapchat also only support iOS 10 or higher. Facebook, meanwhile, caters to anyone on iOS 9 or above," the report added.
New Delhi : When one of the rulers of Travancore, now a part of the southern Indian state of Kerala, handed over the reins of his territory to Lord Padmanabha, the presiding deity of Thiruvananthapuram, and undertook to take care of it in the Lords name, his idea was that he had assumed even greater responsibility as he was answerable to the Almighty.

But the characterisation of Kerala as "God's own country", though made as a tribute to its beauty and tranquility, has an unfortunate connotation that the welfare of the state is in the hands of God and the people have been absolved of responsibility of safeguarding its future. "God alone knows", "God save his own country" and such comments are common at times of crises. No wonder, therefore, that the devastating floods of August have been attributed by some to the ire of gods.

Many believe stoically that the recent debate regarding certain rituals and practices in the temples has displeased the gods. But the most important consequence of the current crisis is the realisation that the responsibility of taking care of the safety and security rests squarely on the people themselves.

The figures of deaths and displacement of people and loss of infrastructure may not be alarming by international standards, but for a small state like Kerala, more than 350 deaths, 800,000 people displaced, 4000 relief camps and 10,000 km of roads damaged and its global award winning airport damaged are beyond its capacity to endure and to overcome.

It took the international media and the United Nations a whole week to realise that this is a tragedy of humongous proportions. National and international assistance is pouring in rather belatedly after the state was stretched beyond its capacity to save lives. It took time even for the Government of India to realise the extent of the tragedy.

It goes to the credit of the state government voluntary organisations that no time was lost in launching rescue and relief efforts with wide participation of the people. Normally a state torn by political, religious and caste strife, where violence is not uncommon, Kerala rose to the occasion, leaving aside the differences and without engaging in the blame game.

The stunning effect of the tragedy metamorphosed the community. Kerala's addiction to social media, which was considered an evil, played a major role in rescue operations. Of course, some depraved minds used the social media either to spread false information or to discredit the relief effort.

"Accidents are inevitable, but disasters are not" is the repeated refrain of Muralee Thummarukudy, the chief of the disaster management unit of the UN in Geneva, who has come to be known as "Nostradamus of Kerala" because of the dire predictions he had made about such a disaster after he saw what had happened in Uttarakhand.

But it will take a long time to assess what could have been done and what should be done in the future. The only disaster of a similar nature the Kerala remembers rather vaguely is the flood of 1924. The lessons learnt from that experience have been lost after a century.

But what could have been done was to locate the water levels recorded in certain places and avoided building homes and other facilities above those levels or moved away from those areas altogether. This was obviously not done because of a feeling that history would not be repeated.

Then there was the Madhav Gadgil report on the Western Ghats, which had suggested several measures to preserve the ecology of the region. Gadgil himself agrees that there was an intense rainfall which has caused this, but he goes on to say that "I am quite convinced that the last several years' developments in the state have materially compromised its ability to deal with events like this and greatly increased the magnitude of the suffering that we are seeing today. Had proper steps been taken, the scale of the disaster would have been nowhere near what it is today."

In its report submitted in 2011, the Gadgil panel had suggested measures for the preservation of the natural environment of the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region. The report had recommended that the entire Western Ghats, spread over six states, including Kerala, be declared ecologically sensitive.

Then the Environment Ministry appointed another panel, headed by the space scientist K Kasturirangan, to "examine" the Gadgil committee report in a "holistic and multidisciplinary" fashion. His report, published in 2013, severely watered down the recommendations of the Gadgil panel, effectively suggesting that only a third of the Western Ghats be identified as being ecologically sensitive.

Even the second report was not implemented and care was not taken even to prevent encroachments around the sensitive dams.

The theory that implementation of the Gadgil or Kasturirangan report may have prevented the tragedy does not stand against the evidence that great floods had taken place periodically even when the Western Ghats were pristine without human habitation. The biggest floods, even the biblical and mythical ones, cannot be attributed to human activity.

The generally accepted conclusion that human activity causes climate change, which leads to disasters, may be true only to a certain extent. Otherwise, we may not be able to explain phenomena like the extinction of the dinosaurs without man- made ecological changes.

The more pertinent reason could be the intensity of the precipitation and the inadequate protection and management of the dams. Natural calamities will take place regardless of the precautions, but what is needed is a disaster warning system and the machinery to mobilise people and provide them the means of survival and sustenance. We should also not lose sight of the precarious condition of the Mullaperiyar dam, a mighty water bomb, which remains unattended because of the disputes between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The number of deaths in Kerala did not rise sharply because of the timely help of volunteers. Even though it was brought to the attention of the Ministry of External Affairs that this tragedy merited international assistance, the government stuck to its policy of self reliance, even after the disaster was recognized as a Type 3 one.

The policy is based on the premise that India is now powerful enough to give rather than take assistance. But the massive rehabilitation and reconstruction work is clearly beyond our means and presents a big challenge.

As a frontrunner in the health sector in the country, Kerala has another challenge to prevent the outbreak of an array of communicable diseases in the aftermath of the floods. Mercifully, the government is willing to work with the UN and the Red Cross to frame projects to be funded by them. The window of opportunity presented by the generous assistance pouring in must be utilized to build a modern Kerala, free of the pitfalls of the unscrupulous activities of the past.

(The author is a former Ambassador of India and Director General, Kerala International Centre. The article is in special arrangement with South Asia Monitor)
New Delhi, Aug 24 : In a partial relief to Cyrus Mistry, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday stated that Tata Sons cannot force him to sell his shares.

However, the two-judge bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya, declined Mistry's appeal to stay the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company.

The court said it will decide on conversion of Tata Sons into a private company after the final hearing on September 24.

Further, NCLAT has admitted Mistry's appeal against his removal from the post of Tata Sons' Chairman in 2016. The appeal was against the order of the NCLT, Mumbai bench.
Moscow, Aug 24 : Russia is currently executing $4 billion worth of defence contracts with India and is in the process of negotiating sales of military equipment costing a further $11 billion.

Contracts under negotiation include the S-400 air defence system, an order for 48 Mi-17 helicopters and the joint production of KA-226T helicopters, besides Project 11356 frigates, A.A. Mikheev, General Director of Russian Arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, told a select group of journalists in Moscow on Friday.

Referring to sanctions imposed by the US against Russian arms manufacturers and its impact on Indo-Russian arms trade, Mikheev, who was addressing the journalists together with D.A. Shugaev, Director, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), said: "Sanctions pressure is being gradually built on us. Every day we wake up some new sanctions being imposed."

He said a recent waiver given to India from secondary sanctions was conditional to shrinking its arms trade with Russia.

However, given the scale of current and future projects, it is unlikely that Russian arms sales to India would ever shrink. On the contrary, they are poised to grow even further owing to Russia participating in a number of procurement tenders of the Indian Ministry of Defence.

Responding to a journalist's question, Mikheev admitted that US sanctions on Russia had affected the mode of payments for defence equipment by New Delhi to Moscow. Both countries were working on ways to neutralise the effect of sanctions and that resorting to Rupee-Ruble payments was one of the options being considered.

He said the contract to purchase the S-400 air defence system was expected to be signed before the end of the current year. He denied Russia was putting pressure on India to sign the contract and that all negotiations had been concluded, with only the contract signing awaited.

The S-400 would not only protect India from incoming missiles and aircraft but could be integrated with short-range air-defence systems such as the Buk-M4 and Tor to provide protection against lower-level threats such as UAVs and low-flying aircraft.

Mikheev said Russia was keen to increase participation in the "Make in India" programme and would welcome proposals from Indian public and private companies for joint production of military equipment.

(Mohammed Ahmedullah is Editor, www.defenseworld.net. He can be reached at editor@defenseworld.net)
San Francisco, Aug 24 : Google is expanding the side panel that the search engine giant added in the revamped version of Gmail to other G Suite apps, attempting to make navigation and multi-tasking for users smoother and quicker.

"We're adding a quick-access side panel to the Docs editors and Google Calendar to help you quickly access other G Suite products without leaving what you're working on," the G Suite team wrote in a blog post late on Thursday.

With the new side bar, users would be able to access three G Suite products from Docs itself-- Sheets, Slides, and Drawings.

This new addition to the G Suite also gives users the liberty to minimise the side panel.

The side panel was rolled out to Gmail earlier this year to enable users to quickly navigate through Google apps like Tasks and Calendar via a sidebar, enabling users to edit their to-do list and manage their schedules without having to leave your inbox.

"We hope that this integration will help you work more efficiently within and across G Suite," the post added.

The features should be arriving from those on Google's "rapid release" schedule and more broadly for all G Suite users over the course of the next two weeks, the report added.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Making theatre visually exciting and interactive could draw in children as spectators to an offline world, said Justin Taudien, production head of the Indian theatrical debut of a globally-read children's book character.

The musical drama is adapted from the first book -- "Geronimo Stilton and the Kingdom of Fantasy" -- of Scholastic's bestselling book series on Geronimo Stilton.

The show which has enthralled the audiences in India, Hong Kong and Singapore, will now go to Australia.

Titled "Geronimo Stilton LIVE", it was presented in a Broadway style, pulling back curtains into the imaginative world of Mouse Island.

With Stilton as the story's pivot, the 90-minute production took place earlier this month at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium here, and saw a staggering number of children attend and participate.

What made the musical drama a hit were its 3D effects, multimedia projections and its interactions with the spectators.

The characters came to life as they actively engaged the young audience through questions, songs and dance.

"The show has got visual graphic elements as well as physical elements. In a world with overwhelming devices, we have to connect to that mindset," Taudien told IANS.

Bringing in the added elements just enriches the viewing experience, he said.

"You don't have to worry about kids sitting in front of a screen, you can bring them to the theatre with the extra visual elements," he told parents.

The show opens with a lively introduction of Stilton as the editor of "The Rodent's Gazette", and shows how a little adventure in his attic led him to freeing the fairy queen as the "chosen knight".

As he makes friends on the way, and tackles the villains dramatically in a land of fairies and dragons, the simple character of Stilton also exudes a bundle of positive values that children can pick vicariously.

What is most interesting is how subtly they are slipped into the narrative, setting an example as a performed fable.

"Acceptance of everyone is a key value we tried to push. Geronimo forgives, and he was always humble about him being a knight. I think that's one of the powerful messages," Taudien said.

"But, he was still the hero in the end. (He) kept pushing forward through the hard times, telling the children the hard and unpleasant times don't matter, but what you do with those hard times does.

"Children want to chip in and help Geronimo, because he is so likeable," he said.

Upon asking if they liked the musical better than the book, many children replied they liked the latter for its detail, but the musical for the interest it grew in them.

Most parents reacted positively, something that Taudien's words sum up well: "Kids everywhere have been dancing and jumping. What more would you want your children doing? Do you ever see them doing that with a device? It makes people feel alive."

In India, Geronimo Stilton's books are rated as the second most popular by the Nielsen Report.
London, Aug 24 : An Indian-origin pathologist in the UK has been accused of mishandling post-mortems and the police were investigating if any criminal charges needed to be brought against him.

Khalid Ahmed, who qualified as a doctor in 1989 in Bengaluru, worked as a consultant histopathologist at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Manchester and carried out an undisclosed number of post-mortem tests for the north Manchester coroner's office, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Ahmed repeatedly recorded the wrong cause of death for patients, misidentified organs and potentially mixed up bodies, the report said.

In May 2017, the office's senior coroner raised concerns about Ahmed's examinations and a recent review found "significant concerns" with his "inadequate" reports.

Professor Simon Kim Suvarna, a consultant histopathologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, carried out the review of Ahmed and found some reports to have an "incorrect" cause of death.

Suvarna was also reported to have noted that Ahmed's tests "did not even meet the standards expected for pathology students to pass the autopsy component of the final exam", the daily reported.

A subsequent police referral was made by the coroner and a police investigation was ongoing.

"The Greater Manchester Police is assessing what, if any, criminal offences may have been committed in relation to findings presented to the coroner," an official said.

Ahmed joined Pennine Acute NHS Trust in January 2007, but he no longer works there. In a statement, the trust said after they were told of the coroner's concerns an "in-depth internal review" into Ahmed's practice was carried out, which concluded in February this year.

The trust added that a "thorough and extensive investigation" of Ahmed's NHS work "provided assurance" his practice was "within the range of a reasonable pathologist".

The General Medical Council said Ahmed was still licensed to practise as a histopathologist. He was not available for comment.
Moscow, Aug 24 : Russia has offered to upgrade the Indian Air Force (IAF) Su-30MKI fighter jets along with the improvement programme of the Russian Air Force's Su-30SM aircraft.

Such a move would lead to cost effectiveness and bring in some technologies and systems which have been planned for the Su-30SM aircraft, said A.A. Mikheev, General Director of Russian Arms exporter, Rosoboronexport here on Friday.

A part of the IAF Su-30MKI fleet was approaching its mid-life overhaul period and carrying out the upgrade programme together with the overhaul would save time and money, he said during an interaction with journalists.

Among the additions and improvements proposed to the Indian Ministry of Defence as part of the Su-30MKI upgrade are a new radar, avionics and communication systems besides some improvements to its engine.

Russia has a contract with India to supply 272 Su-30MKI fighter jets of which over three-fourths have been assembled by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and provided to the IAF.

The Su-30MKI is currently the front-line fighter jet of the IAF but its superiority would be challenged by the more modern Rafale jet when the French aircraft will begin to be inducted into the IAF in the 2019-20 timeframe.

(Mohammed Ahmedullah is Editor, defenseworld.net. He can be reached at editor@defenseworld.net)
Imphal, Aug 24 : Sleuths of National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday night recovered nine 9mm pistols from the residence of P. Haokip, the 'commander-in-chief' of the United Kuki Liberation Front, a signatory to the peace pact with the Centre.

The UKLF is an insurgent outfit in Manipur whose members came overground after signing Suspension of Operations pact with the Centre and Manipur government. Though there have been no talks so far, the outfit's leaders are allowed to remain overground.

Official sources said that soon after the installation of the BJP-led government in Manipur in 2017, the government found that 56 9mm pistols and 58 magazines were missing from the 2 Manipur Rifles' battalion in Imphal.

Chief Minister N. Biren, who also holds the Home portfolio said, "We had decided to hand over the case to the NIA since the matter concerns national security".

Officials said NIA sleuths have so far recovered 14 pistols which are part of the missing 56 hand guns.

As part of the investigation, the NIA sleuths raided the houses of the UKLF chief located at Mantri Pukhri in Imphal and Pallel in Chandel district.
Tehran, Aug 24 : Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years in jail in Iran for spying, has been temporarily released from prison for the first time in more than two years.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose plight has cast a shadow over Iran-UK relations, was given a three-day furlough on Thursday, taking her and her family by surprise, reports the Guardian.

She was arrested in April 2016 by members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards as she and her daughter were about to board a flight back to the UK following a visit to her family in Iran.

She was accused of attempting to orchestrate a "soft overthrow" of the Islamic Republic, spying and running "a BBC Persian online journalism course which was aimed at recruiting and training people to spread propaganda against Iran".

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has since been reunited with her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who has been in the care of her Iranian family since she was 22 months old.

"It will be just awesome for Gabriella to have mummy home finally," Zaghari-Ratcliffe said, according to her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who remains in the UK.

"We can play with her doll's house and she can show me her toys. The thought of brushing her hair and giving her a bath, of being able to take her to the park and feed her and sleep next to her - it just kills me. It is still so hard to believe."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was notified that her furlough was about to begin in the early hours of Thursday, while she was still in her nightclothes, and told that she had 10 minutes to get ready and leave.

After passing through the prison gates, she borrowed a mobile phone from a stranger to tell her brother she had been released.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release is limited to three days - the standard period in the Iranian penal system - but could be extended, as in cases involving other political prisoners, the Guardian reported.

Her release comes after an extraordinary public campaign mounted by her husband that has made her case familiar throughout the UK.

Iran's ambassador to the the UK welcomed the news.
Los Angeles, Aug 24 : Actor Andrew Scott is set to join the cast of hit comedy series "Fleabag".

The BAFTA-winning "Sherlock" actor will join the second season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's show, which has begun filming in the UK and will debut on BBC Three and Amazon Prime Video in 2019, reports variety.com.

Scott joins the returning ensemble from Season 1, which includes actress Waller-Bridge, multi-BAFTA-winner Olivia Colman, Sian Clifford, Bill Paterson, Brett Gelman, Jenny Rainsford and Hugh Skinner.

Waller-Bridge won a BAFTA Television Award for best female performance in a comedy programme for the show's first season in 2016, one of the six nominations the show received, beating out Colman, who was nominated in the same category.

"I can't believe they let me do this again. I'm so happy to be back with the incredible 'Fleabag' team, and I'm as surprised as anyone about where this series has taken usAThank God for Andrew Scott," Waller-Bridge said.
Jakarta, Aug 24 : Ace Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar finished at a disappointing fifth spot in the women's balance beam final at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

The 25-year-old scored 12.500 in the final, which wasn't enough to lift her to a podium finish.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dipa had not competed in the women's gymnastics artistic team final due to an injury on her right knee, which she picked up during qualification training.

China's Yile Chen secured the gold medal after scoring 14.600. North Korea's Su Jong Kim clinched silver while Chinese Jin Zhang settled for bronze.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 24 : With the state government cancelling the Onam celebrations, it is unlikely that Kerala households within the country or overseas will witness any festivities this year ignoring the huge loss of life and property in the devastating floods.

The Kerala government has already diverted the Rs 30 crore earmarked for state-sponsored celebrations to extend relief to the survivors of the worst floods in the state in nearly a century.

Similarly, reports of cancellation of the Onam celebrations by Kerala expatriates have come from the Middle East and even Canada.

Around 370 persons have lost their lives since the monsoon rains began on May 29, with widespread destruction to public and private property, which the state has pegged at more than Rs 20,000 crore. More than one million people have taken shelter in relief camps in Kerala.

Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who was overseeing the Onam festivities, said that he too failed to recollect any instance when the celebrations were called off.

"This tragedy has damaged our state immensely as lakhs of people continue to suffer. Many people have lost their life-long savings... thus, the celebration of Onam by the state is out of the question."

Cardinal Moran Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, head of the city-headquartered Syro Malankara Catholic Church, told IANS that this could be the first Onam with no festivities in the state.

"Onam provides a sense of unity as everyone celebrates the festival. However, this time too there is 'unity' but it is about people coming out in huge numbers to help those affected by floods," he remarked.

Celebrations of Onam start on 'Atham' day, 10 days before 'Thiruvonam' (which falls on August 25). However, on that day, the state was grappling with torrential rains and their aftermath as a red alert was issued in several areas after dams overflowed and rivers were swollen.

Onam, the harvest festival, is marked by three important days -- First Onam that falls on Friday (today), followed by Thiruonam on Saturday, and third Onam on Sunday.

According to a legend, the state witnessed its golden period during the reign of King Mahabali. Onam is celebrated to mark King Mahabali's annual visit to see his subjects.

A traditional 26-dish 'Onam Sadya', often dubbed the 'mother of all vegetarian meals', is served in every household on the three Onam days.

Onam falls in the month of 'Chingam', the first month according to the Malayalee calendar. On that day (August 17), thousands of Kerala residents in several districts were fleeing their homes to find shelter in relief camps.

As many as 12 of the 14 districts in the state have been devastated by floods, with Kasargode and Thiruvananthapuram the exception on this count.

"I am 93... I cannot recall any year when the Onam festivities were called off. I also cannot recall any tragedy of this magnitude ever hitting Kerala in my lifetime," a retired teacher told IANS.

However, a few old-timers recall the Vypeen hooch tragedy in 1982, in which 77 persons were killed near Kochi on Onam day. The victims were mostly fisherfolk and labourers.

Sarala Devi, a retired government official residing near Thiruvalla, which was badly affected, also sounded gloomy over Onam celebrations this year.

"I don't think anyone will be able to savour a sumptuous Onam Sadya, as one or the other you know has been affected by floods. Besides, one has been witnessing on TV channels the huge loss of lives and destruction caused by floods. I doubt if anyone will be able to enjoy the Onam lunch after all this," she said.

The business of sellers of flowers in various places on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, has been clearly affected. "Even in the state capital, which has not been much affected by floods, people are not coming out to buy flowers," a retailer in the city pointed out.

However, amid the gloom, there are many trying to cheer up the survivors. Those managing the relief camps plan to serve at least a decent Onam lunch to nearly a million persons still lodged in relief camps.
New York, Aug 24 : Do you have an on and off relationship with your romantic partner? Beware, it can affect your mental health, say researchers.

The findings showed that an increase in breaking up and reuniting was associated with more psychological distress symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

It is because such relationships are associated with higher rates of abuse, poorer communication and lower levels of commitment.

"Breaking up and getting back together is not always a bad omen for a couple. In fact, for some couples, breaking up can help partners realise the importance of their relationship, contributing to a healthier, more committed union," said Kale Monk, Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri in the US.

"On the other hand, partners who are routinely breaking up and getting back together could be negatively impacted by the pattern," she added.

For the study, appearing in the journal Family Relations, the team examined data from more than 500 individuals currently in relationships.

They found that partners often break up and reunite on necessity or practicality.

For example, a person might stay in a relationship for financial reasons or partners might stay together because they feel they have invested too much time into the relationship to leave.

Former partners should get back together based on dedication, not obligation, Monk suggested.

The researchers suggested that people in these kinds of relationships should make informed decisions about stabilising or safely terminating their relationships.

"The findings suggest that people who find themselves regularly breaking up and getting back together with their partners need to 'look under the hood' of their relationships to determine what's going on," Monk said.

"If partners are honest about the pattern, they can take the necessary steps to maintain their relationships or safely end them. This is vital for preserving their well-being," Monk noted.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : In a move that will enable thousands of commuters to take hassle-free daily rides in the national capital, Delhi Metro cards will now be valid for travel on all DTC and cluster buses as well, the Delhi government announced on Friday.

In a print advertisement, the Delhi Transport Department said: "Great news for the people of Delhi! Metro card is now valid on all DTC and cluster buses."

It said that the Metro cards are available at all Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) outlets where passes are made.

"With this step, travel of commuters on Metro and DTC buses will become smoother. A pilot project in this regard has been a success. Now, it will be applicable to all the buses," a government official told IANS.

This will also popularise commuting on public buses among Metro users.

"I board a bus to reach my office after getting down at the nearest Metro station. This arrangement will be of great help to me," said a 25-year-old professional.

In January, the government had launched the pilot project on use of Metro cards to pay fares on around 250 buses.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had integrated the common mobility card with its feeder buses and a few parking lots.
Mumbai, Aug 24 : Small screen actors like Karan Kundra, Sourabh Raaj Jain, Sumit Kaul and Aditi Sharma are all praise for their brothers or sisters ahead of Raksha Bandhan on Sunday.

Here's what they have to say about the festival:

Karan Kundra: Raksha Bandhan is a very special occasion in my life as I have grown up in a home where I have been treated as a prince by my family, comprising women. I have always been around three sisters. It is a wonderful feeling to be a brother. This year mostly, I will be shooting for my show "Dil Hi Toh Hai" and won't be able to celebrate this occasion with them.

Debina Bonnerjee: I always thought that when you have your own sibling, you do not need an artificially made up relationship. But as time passed by, I realised Romanch Mehta is not just a friend, but more like a brother whom I can trust, I can fight with and I can ask for things and gifts without thinking too much about it.

Sourabh Raaj Jain: Apart from my two sisters, I also have one sister I made during my school days. Sudeepti Karmakar happened to live two houses ahead of my house. We went to the same school and tuition classes.

After my real sisters got married, I was still studying in school back then. So Sudeepti and I developed a strong bond. We are still in touch even though she moved to the US after her marriage.
Shimla, Aug 24 : Agitating Youth Congress activists were cane-charged outside the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday over deteriorating law and order in the state, including drug-related incidents. At least 10 of them sustained injuries.

The protesting activists, who were joined by their party leaders, including legislative party leader Mukesh Agnihotri and state president Sukhwinder Sukhu, were lathicharged by the police after the protest turned violent outside the assembly premises.

The police also used water cannons to disperse them.

Earlier, the Assembly could not take up the question hour due to protests by the Congress. The opposition legislators were demanding debate on law and order.

As soon as the question hour started, the Congress members shouted slogans against the government when Speaker Rajeev Bindal refused to accept their demand at that point.

Later, Congress lawmakers walked out of the assembly.

In the post-lunch session of the assembly, the opposition legislators again staged a walkout when they came to know that the police used water cannons to disperse the Youth Congress activists.

They staged a sit-in outside the Assembly gate.

The assembly session, however, continued despite the Congress walkout.
Mumbai, Aug 24 : Iconic yesteryear superstar Dharmendra, whose new film "Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se" is set to release, does few and far projects now. But he says he has never been away from showbiz, which he joined to earn love from people rather than money.

"I never felt that I was away from the limelight, but here only in the mind of people who have shown their love for me for years. It is a natural human tendency to be loved and admired by people in one's lifetime. Even I have that dream. I am fortunate enough to earn that because people have loved me so much in cinema," Dharmendra said in a group interaction here.

The actor, who never went to acting school and had no formal education in acting, said earning money was never the reason why he entered the world of Indian cinema.

"Money and power that cinema offers was never the reason for me to become a film star. I watched a film of Dilip Kumar saab and his on-screen aura just got into my mind. I was thinking how someone could mesmerise people with his performance and screen presence like Dilip saab does. I started imagining becoming a part of that world."

Asked how he gained the confidence to face the camera, the "Sholay" star said: " I was the elder in the house so I had certain responsibility. It was important for me to analyse if I am capable to take the responsibility of not only the family but of a film."

As he found the answer within, Dharmendra packed his bags and came to Mumbai from Ludhiana and made his debut in cinema with "Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere" in 1960. There was no looking back as the actor started becoming part of some of the iconic films like "Soorat Aur Sirat", "Bandini", "Anpadh" among many others, before he started sharing screen space with Hema Malini and delivered some of the iconic commercially successful films like "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Sharafat" and "Sholay" to name only a few.

"For me, acting is mostly about reacting emotionally in a situation. The fact is, all of us have emotions, but for a performer it is about how we are bringing it out. I am an emotional individual, so I knew that I will be able to act. How will I do that was of course a thing that happens in the process," said the much-loved star.

Dharmendra, who will feature with his actor sons Sunny and Bobby in "Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se", really admires the new talent in the industry.

"I think today's filmmakers are very smart in serving to the audience. I find some of the films are really great. I can talk about Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh... Both are very good actors and very talented. I also watched 'Dangal' and it really touched my heart. I was in tears... Some good work is happening," added the 82-year-old.

Anything that he finds missing nowadays?

"People are busy these days. Pehle dino jaisi tehzeeb aur tameez aajkal dekhne ko nahi milti (We don't get to see the discipline and manners that we had in our time). People were more connected with each other on face and our way of respecting women was different. These days, people's approach is different. But I guess such change happens with time."

The film "Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se" is releasing on August 31.
: White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders attends a press briefing at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Aug. 15, 2018. The White House ... Image Source: Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2018 - White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders attends a press briefing at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Aug. 15, 2018. The White House said on ... Image Source: Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS

Beijing, Aug 24 : China urged the US on Friday not to interfere in the foreign policy of El Salvador, following an announcement that Washington was going to review its diplomatic ties with the country over its choice of allies.

White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders had announced that Washington would revise its policy on El Salvador after it broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China.

"Only the Salvadorians know which decision is correct and serves their interest, we hope the relevant countries can respect the right sovereign states to develop international relations instead of interfere in their internal affairs," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Friday.

El Salvador had established diplomatic relations with China after recognizing the One China principle, Lu was quoted as saying by Efe news.

"It corresponds with the trend of times and history, complies with international law and serves the fundamental interests of the two countries," Lu said, adding that China considered Latin America an important economic ally.

Lu also referred to Republican Senator Cory Gardner's appeal that the US should prepare a legislation to help Taiwan maintain its allies and said that "some American politicians have made some noises upon the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and El Salvador".

El Salvador is the fifth diplomatic ally that Taiwan has lost since the pro-independence Tsai Ying-wen came to power in 2016.

China was able to persuade El Salvador, Panama, Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe to abandon diplomatic ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing.

Taiwan is now left with 17 diplomatic allies in the world, of which nine are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Chennai, Aug 24 : Tamil Nadu's anti-corruption bureau on Friday told the Madras High Court that a preliminary inquiry against Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has started.

The DMK had on Thursday filed a petition in the high court alleging corruption in road construction projects and sought a direction to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a case against the Chief Minister.

When the matter came up for hearing, the government counsel told the court, the DVAC started a preliminary probe into the complaint on June 22 this year.

The petition, filed by DMK leader R.S. Bharathi, alleged Palaniswami misused his official position in allocation of various road construction projects to companies owned by his relatives and others.

Bharathi said a complaint was made to the DVAC against Palaniswami on June 13, but no case was registered nor was an inquiry held into the allegations contained in the complaint.

The court directed the government to submit a report on the action taken by the DVAC in the next hearing on September 3, 2018.

Last month, the Madras High Court had also ordered the DVAC to complete its probe against Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam for allegedly having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Bharathi had filed a case in the high court after making a complaint with the DVAC, alleging that Panneerselvam has amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Meanwhile, DMK Working President M.K. Stalin in a statement said it is shocking to note that corruption complaints filed against Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Ministers to DVAC move at a the speed of a tortoise.
Moscow, Aug 24 : Any Syrian government military offensive against Idlib, the last major rebel-held area of Syria, would result in a humanitarian catastrophe, Turkey's Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Cavusoglu, whose country opposes the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and provides active support to rebel forces, was in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Efe news reported.

"Of course, we have to work to separate the militias from the civilians," Ankara's top diplomat said at a press conference. "The fight against the militants must continue, but doing this militarily would be a catastrophe."

He said such an offensive would only spark prolonged armed conflicts.

Russia shares a close relationship with the Assad regime and continues to support Syrian government troops.

"For everyone, it is important to liquidate radical groups, because they are a threat to the national security of Turkey, Russia and western nations, that's why they need to be differentiated from the civil population," Cavusoglu said.

Idlib province, which backs onto Turkey to the north, is controlled by a tapestry of militias of varying ideology, from the Free Syrian Army to groups with links to or origins in Al Qaeda.

Over the last year, Idlib was used as a depository by the Assad regime for rebel fighters evacuated from elsewhere in the country.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are part of the so-called Astana process, which seeks to negotiate a solution to the Syrian civil war.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday described Congress President Rahul Gandhi as an "incapable opposition leader" and accused him of justifying the terrorist outfit ISIS.

"Congress President is on foreign tours. Earlier he used to go after Parliament session and say that he had gone for 'dhyan' and to 'gain knowledge'," senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi told media here.

"And now, on the recent tours he has been sharing his knowledge with the people. This shows his immaturity, incapability and ill will. It shows clearly that he is not capable of being a good opposition leader, leave aside holding the post of Prime Minister," Trivedi said.

The BJP leader also slammed Gandhi for justifying Islamic State (IS) and making comparisons with India.

Trivedi was reacting to Congress chief's criticism of the government by citing the example of IS to say that exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of terrorist groups in the world.

Gandhi had said that the US, while invading Iraq had stopped a tribe, Tikriti network, from getting government and army jobs and later the tribe linked up with other groups. He referred to the recent incidents of lynching and attack on the Dalits, saying people in India were angry and the ruling alliance was weakening "support structures" meant for the weaker sections.

"Yesterday, he said that the IS was founded because of unemployment. I want to ask him that Osama bin Laden, who was one of the most wanted terrorists...was he an unemployed youth and a poor?" he said.

"No, he was a billionaire. And the persons who hit the World Trade Center with the aeroplane were also poor or unemployed? No, they were leading a good life in the US and having all the means to lead a good life," he said.

"You tried to belittle the fight of ideologies for your petty political gains. It is condemnable," said Trivedi slamming the Congress leader.
Pune (Maharashtra), Aug 24 : A forensics audit of dual cyberattacks against Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd here is in an advanced stage and the probe team is likely to complete its task soon, official sources said on Friday.

The forensics team was appointed by the country's second oldest and second biggest (in terms of deposits-advances) cooperative bank immediately after a 'virtual' loot of Rs 94.42 crore on August 11 and August 13, shocking the country's banking industry.

The tentative report will throw light on the modus operandi deployed by an international gang to carry out the fraud and is likely to be submitted shortly.

Cosmos Bank Chairman Milind A. Kale told IANS that the audit is "in an advanced stage", but declined to elaborate on the ground that it could affect the ongoing police investigations.

After the fraud came to light at the 112-year-old bank, Kale told the media that the bank will appoint a professional forensics agency to probe the 'malware attack'.

This week, Pune Police and Maharashtra Cyber Cell completed the verification process of all online transactions during the cyberattack on the bank.

The officials said that the focus is on the international transactions which account for nearly 97 per cent of the total fraud involving 12,000 Visa Card transactions in 28 countries.

Besides, the probe is underway on domestic transactions of Rs 2.50 crore carried out through 2849 RuPay Card transactions.

SWIFT transaction was initiated by the hackers to transfer Rs 13.92 crore to the accounts of 'ALM Trading Ltd' in Hang Seng Bank Ltd, Hong Kong.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : In a temporary relief to Cyrus Mistry, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday stated that Tata Sons cannot force him to sell his shares till the disposal of his appeal.

However, the appellate tribunal declined his plea for a stay on the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya said it will decide on the conversion of Tata Sons, parent company of $103 billion Tata Group, from a public limited company into a private limited company after hearing the final arguments. The next hearing of the case is slated for September 24.

Mistry, who took over as Tata Group Chairman in December 2012 and was ousted in October 2016 by the Tata Sons board, had filed the petition with the NCLAT against the July 9 decision of the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) Mumbai bench.

The bench had upheld the decision of the Tata Sons board dismissing Mistry as Chairman.

On July 9, the NCLT Mumbai bench ruled that the Tata Sons Board of Directors was competent to remove the Executive Chairman and that Mistry was ejected as the board members had lost confidence in him.

The NCLT verdict had come on a petition filed by Mistry after he was abruptly ousted as the Chairman that had created an upheaval in the Indian corporate world.

Mistry later quit from the board of other six Tata Group companies but challenged the Group, and former and interim Chairman Ratan Tata's decisions, before the NCLT.

Last September, the shareholders of Tata Sons agreed to convert the public limited company into a private limited company, which in effect would restrict any shareholder from selling its stake to outsiders.

The shareholders approved the conversion saying it would help the company become more swift in decision making despite Mistry's opposition to it. Mistry, through his family firms Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investments, owns 18.4 per cent of Tata Sons while 66 per cent is owned by Tata Trusts.

Mistry's family had termed the decision as an act of oppression of minority shareholders.

On August 10, the Registrar of Companies approved the decision of Tata Sons to go private.
Agartala, Aug 24 : The CPI-M politburo member Prakash Karat on Friday asked the Indian government to refrain from "false prestige" and allow United Arab Emirates (UAE) to donate Rs 700 crore for flood-hit Keral.

"The UAE has decided to give Rs 700 crore for the relief of flood-ravaged Kerala people, but the Indian government without consulting the state government declined to accept the donation," The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said.

Terming the Government of India's decision as "uncalled for", he said that when a foreign government on its own is keen to provide help to the people affected by the devastated natural calamity, "central government should not stand on the false prestige."

"Kerala needs huge funds to deal with the massive devastation due to the colossal floods across the state. Central government must allow the UAE to release the amount," he added.

Karat, a former General Secretary of the country's biggest Left party CPI-M, said that thousands of Indians, 80 per cent of them from Kerala, have been working in the UAE.

"The Indian workers are engaged in many developmental works in UAE. Responding to the contributions of Indian workers, the UAE government wanted to donate the funds for the relief."

The CPI-M leader along with party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury came to The Tripura capital on Thursday to attend the party's two-day state committee meeting, which discussed various issues including "ongoing political violence in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state".

Accusing the Modi government for its "misgovernance on the economic front", Karat said that farmers, dalits and unemployed people are the victims of the BJP-led NDA government.

"Sexual attacks on the minor girls are rampant in many BJP ruled states. Mob lynching in the name of cow slaughter, beef eating and child lifting have been going on. Despite Supreme Court's strong observations against the crime, mob lynching is going on in many parts of the country," he said.

The CPI-M leader said that the BJP-RSS leaders and cadres are continuously campaigning against the minorities and dalits creating a serious fear and hatred situation across the country.

He said that over two lakh farmers and workers would assemble in Delhi on September 5 to press for their demands, which include providing better wages, more jobs, better prices for farm produce, end to privatisation and changes in labour laws, ending the contract labour system.

"The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally' would mark a new stage in the struggle of working people of India for a better life and just future," Karat added.
Qalat (Afghanistan), Aug 24 : Taliban key commander Mullah Hemmatullah was among 10 killed as the Afghan government aircrafts targeted the militant group's hideout in the country's Nawbahar district.

Acting upon an intelligence report, the government forces' fighting aircrafts hit a meeting of Taliban insurgents in Piruzi village in the morning, resulting in the deaths of 10 militants including Hemmatullah, a police official was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Hemmatullah, according to the official, was a notorious commander and his elimination could prove to be a major setback to the Taliban militants in Zabul and the neighbouring Kandahar and Helmand provinces.
Islamabad, Aug 24 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said dialogue was essential for Islamabad-New Delhi relations to move forward as he sought positive signals from India, emphasizing that it "takes two to tango".

"India-Pakistan relations are not hidden from you. We have to see how to proceed. Pakistan is not shy of engagement. In the Prime Minister's first address, he had said, 'You take one step, we will take two'," Qureshi was quoted as saying by Geo News.

"We have signalled positively towards India."

Qureshi also thanked his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj for sending him a congratulatory letter but emphasised that it "takes two to tango".

"You cannot clap with just one hand. We have a positive stance and will remain hopeful.

"I want to ask the Indian Foreign Minister if there is any option other than dialogue. In my opinion, there isn't. When there is dialogue, regardless of the progress, the climate improves," he said.

Qureshi said that everyone was aware that Jammu and Kashmir was a core issue but there were other issues such as the water crisis which needed to be discussed between the two South Asian neighbours.

Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan had earlier said that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government favoured good relations with India and wanted to see leaders of the two countries to sit across the table and resolve all disputes, including Kashmir.

"If Indian leadership is ready, we are ready to improve relationship. If you take one step, we are ready to take two. Now it is one sided blame on Pakistan. We have to resolve the main issue through dialogue. This is important for the sub-continent," Khan had said.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Maruti Suzuki on Friday launched 'Quick Response Team on Bikes' (QRT) to offer faster on-road assistance to customers.

The company said a QRT biker will be equipped with essential tools and critical spares needed to quickly restore the vehicle in distress.

"The QRT will have a fleet of 350 bikes in over 251 cities in the first phase. The initiative will be progressively expanded in 500 cities by the end of 2020," the company said in a statement.

Customers can avail of the new service on a complimentary basis under the extended warranty offered on Maruti Suzuki cars.

"For cars not covered under Maruti Suzuki warranty or extended warranty, the QRT service is available on a per-call basis with visiting charges ranging between Rs 420 to Rs 575, depending on location of customer's car," the statement said.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Fourth Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) regional bloc to be held in Kathmandu on August 30 and 31, an official said on Friday.

Briefing the media here, Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, said that the programme will start with a joint call by the Bimstec leaders on host of the Summit, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, on August 30 which will be followed by the inaugural plenary.

On August 31, there will be a leaders' retreat after which the closing ceremony will be held.

A joint declaration to be issued after the Summit is also being worked out, according to Saran.

Bimstec came into existence on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration.

It comprises seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The bloc brings together 1.5 billion people, or 21 per cent of the world's population, and has a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion.

The main objective of Bimstec is technical and economic cooperation among South Asian and Southeast Asian countries along the rim of the Bay of Bengal.

With the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) virtually rendered ineffective as a bloc, largely due to non-cooperation on the part of Pakistan on issues like connectivity and counter-terrorism, India has been giving more importance to Bimstec in recent times.

India is the lead country for cooperation in four priority areas: counter-terrorism and transnational crime, transport and communication, tourism and environment, and disaster management.

Saran said significant progress has been made in cooperation within the bloc since the Bimstec Outreach Summit held on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in Goa in 2016 in the areas of security, counter-terrorism, transport and connectivity, tourism, environment and disaster management, and people-to-people contacts.

"Bimstec is growing economically and strategically," she said.

"The strength of the group is in responding collectively in the face of adversity."

Saran said that Bimstec is important for India in terms of New Delhi's Act East Policy and Neighbourhood First Policy, with northeastern India acting as a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia.

A Bimstec free trade agreement (FTA) is under negotiation as also a customs cooperation agreement and a motor vehicles agreement.

"Connectivity is an important component of our discussions within Bimstec. There are two landlocked countries (Nepal and Bhutan) and for them access to water is very important," Saran said.

Another area of concern, she said, is human-trafficking especially for Nepal and described it as humanitarian issue.

In the 21 years of Bimstec's existence, only three summits have been held -- in 2004, 2008 and in 2014.

However, Saran said that leaders of the regional bloc are meting more frequently, with the Kathmandu Summit happening just two years after the Goa Outreach Summit.

"Bimstec is yet to establish its own charter," she said.

"Organisationally, the member countries are also discussing and consolidating its rules and procedures."

Saran said that the Bimstec Secretariat in Dhaka will assist the Bimstec member countries to draw up its rules and procedures and consolidate the bloc internally.

"I am hopeful that at some stage in the future, it (summit) will become an annual affair," she stated.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : The BJP on Friday said the Congress is identified with 1984 anti-Sikh riots and slammed its President Rahul Gandhi for invoking Guru Nanak Dev during his address in Berlin. The BJP also demanded his apology for the heinous crime against Sikhs.

"Rahulji is invoking Guru Nanak Devji merely for vote-bank politics. For him, Sikhs are merely a vote bank," BJP national secretary Sardar R.P. Singh said. "Rahul should apologise for the heinous crime in front of Akal Takht at Golden Temple in Amritsar," he said.

He was referring to the Congress leader's remarks while addressing the Indian diaspora in Berlin on Wednesday night. In his address, Gandhi said that the BJP and RSS were weakening the country "by causing divisions and spreading hatred."

Singh said that Gandhi's thoughts are actually in line with the "Congress culture of divide and rule".

"We think that his thinking does not resemble with the thinking of Guru Nanak Devji, but his thinking resembles the ideology of Congress, the culture which divided the country and has only tried to rule the country," Singh said.

The BJP leader also said that the Congress President referred to Sikhs as a friend in need . "To take votes you have a friendship, but when the justice for Sikhs is sought, you can't see the same friendship," he said.

"You and your party always promoted people like Sajjan (Kumar), (H.K.L.) Bhagat, (Jagadish) Tytler, Kamal Nath," he said.

He also said that about 3,000 Sikhs died in Delhi in 1984. "The Home Minister at that time said that only 600 people had died, but the real list was given in Parliament by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji that 3,000 people died in the massacre. That forced the government to accept that about 2,700 people died in Delhi," he added.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Compared to last year, more Indians are now choosing to visit and study in the United Kingdom, a survey conducted by the UK's National Statistics Office said on Friday.

According to the study, there is a 32 per cent increase in student visas and a 10 per cent increase in visit visas.

"(A total of) 550,925 Indians were granted UK visas in the year ending June 2018, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year. Visit visas increased by 10 per cent to 454,658, which demonstrates that Indians are continuing to choose the UK as a holiday destination," said a statement from the British High Commission.

"The latest figures reinforce a trend we have noticed for some time - that across the board more and more Indians are choosing the UK as a destination to visit, work in and study. This is fantastic," British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith said.

Looking at the statistics, the UK has announced the launch of the Chevening Scholarship and Fellowship programmes for 2019-20.

Chevening Scholarships offer full financial support for one year for candidates to pursue a Master's degree at any UK university.
Islamabad, Aug 24 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that the US handout on a phone call between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo which mentioned terrorists operating in Pakistan was "contrary to facts".

Pakistan's Foreign Office on Thursday night categorically rejected a statement by the US State Department which said that Pompeo had raised the importance of Islamabad taking decisive action against all terrorists operating on its soil during his phone conversation with Khan.

"There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan," the Foreign Office said. However, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert later said that Washington "stood by their readout".

Qureshi in a press conference said that he directed the Foreign Secretary to issue an immediate rebuttal over the statements issued from Washington. "I will say, yes, their press release mentioning terrorists operating in Pakistan is contrary to the facts."

The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan was looking forward to Pompeo's visit to Islamabad on September 5, Geo News reported.

"Pompeo in his conversation with the Prime Minister said he wanted a constructive and productive relationship. I am looking forward to his visit and engage with him for peace and stability and look for areas where both countries stand to gain."

"We don't share the same cordial relations with the US as we had before in the past. The US authorities have to understand Pakistan's view," he said. "I believe that the meeting between Khan and Pompeo will be very important."

Qureshi said that Pakistan's relationship with the US has had its ups and downs. "This is an important bilateral relationship. In order to bring relations with the US to a past level, there is a need to understand the situation," he added.

Talking about Afghanistan, Qureshi said that peace in Kabul was essential for Islamabad. "The Afghan President (Ashraf Ghani) has pointed towards a peace process and we have to see how Pakistan can help in this process."
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Friday requested Air India (AI) to sensitize its male employees so that the women employees do not feel threatened or insecure in any manner.

Gandhi's reaction came after she reviewed the progress of cases of sexual harassment in Air India.

In May this year, an Air India employee wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu alleging sexual harassment by a senior executive. Later, Gandhi also stepped in and asked the AI head of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to complete the inquiry.

The Minister also met officials from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Civil Aviation Ministry and the airline's CMD, and urged the staff of various airlines, both public and private, to remain sensitive to the dignity of women colleagues.

The Ministry further added that many more cases of sexual harassment pertaining to private airlines too have emerged which have been forwarded to the Civil Aviation Ministry.

"Along with the cases of sexual harassment, some women employees also tend to file complaints of administrative nature under the garb of sexual harassment. It is important for the ICC to very quickly dispose of these cases," Gandhi said.
Srinagar, Aug 24 : A delegation of political leaders including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Friday bid farewell to former Governor N.N. Vohra, who served for 10 years in the post in Jammu and Kashmir.

The leaders called on Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here.

The delegation included senior members and former Ministers representing the National Conference, Peoples Democratic party and Congress besides prominent representatives of the Sikh community and leaders of business, trade and travel groups.

Abdullah thanked Vohra for his "able guidance, sage advice and sincere service" to the troubled state.

Abdullah's sentiments were supported by Mehbooba Mufti, who thanked Vohra for guiding her particularly after her father passed away.

Other speakers also expressed appreciation of the "constructive and pro-people role" played by Vohra, particularly over the way he handled various sensitive issues.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : India and Singapore on Friday signed the "Second Protocol" amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to boost trade ties between the two countries, an official statement said.

The protocol was signed by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Rajneesh and Francis Chong, Senior Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Government of Singapore, it said.

The CECA was signed on June 29, 2005 and its first review was concluded on October 1, 2007.

"The signing of the Second Protocol, amending CECA, will boost bilateral trade between India and Singapore," the Commerce Ministry statement said.

It further said, signing of the Second Protocol formally brings the negotiations on second review of CECA, which began on May 11, 2010, to a closure.

"India and Singapore have successfully reached mutual understanding and agreement in closing the second review," it said.

Both sides agreed to expand the coverage of tariff concessions, liberalise the "Rules of Origin", rationalise "Product Specific Rules" and include provisions on "Certificate of Origin" and cooperation on its verification The conclusion of the Second Review of CECA was announced during the visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore on June 1, 2018. The provisions of the Second Protocol will come into effect on September 14, 2018.

As per Commerce Ministry, both the countries are exploring the possibility of launching the third review of India-Singapore CECA in September, 2018.

Singapore is the second largest trading partner of India within ASEAN and India is the largest trading partner of Singapore in South Asia, with a bilateral trade of $17.7 billion in 2017-18.
Palghar (Maharashtra), Aug 24 : An elderly Parsi woman who died here of old age in Thane district was cremated by her Hindu and Muslim neighbours after her married daughter living in Gujarat did not come as "she is very busy in work", area residents said on Friday.

After the death and subsequent cremation of Niru Patel, 65, on Thursday in accordance with Hindu rituals in Manor village in Palaghar tehsil, the daughter declined to come and collect the ashes and sought these be sent to her in Ahmedabad by courier.

Now, the villagers said, they are worried for Niru Patel's paralytic husband Dhiraj Patel, who needs constant attention due to his medical condition.

Villagers said that Niru and Dhiraj Patel were staying in the village while her married daughter is settled in Ahmedabad with her family, a journey of seven hours.

The woman did household work to support herself and her husband, but their only daughter rarely visited or kept in contact with them.

A neighbour called up the daughter after her mother's death on Thursday, but she claimed she had a very busy work schedule.

Since there was no arrangement for Parsi-style disposal of the body in the village or nearby area, the villagers decided to cremate the body at the crematorium.

The villagers informed Manor police but it expressed inability to interfere in a "purely family matter".

However, police official Siddhva Jaibhaye termed it "utterly irresponsible and socially unacceptable behaviour" on the part of the daughter and her husband, for abandoning her aged parents.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to file its response to a petition that alleged power distribution companies are raising bills for unreasonable amounts in an arbitrary manner.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon asked the DERC to file the response within four weeks on a public interest litigation filed by advocates Sanjana Gahlot and Hargyan Singh Gahlot.

The petitioners alleged that the central and state governments had failed to protect the rights of consumers despite having plenary powers in matters of tariff and others.

The plea sought amendment of Regulation 17(4)(i) of the DERC (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulation, 2017, Gazettee Notification dated August 17, 2017, for the purpose of taking the average of the demand values of all 12 months of the preceding year to calculate power bills.

These governments had failed to protect the interest of the consumers as only average of the maximum demand of four months is taken instead of all 12 months of the preceding year, the plea said.

"In Delhi, the power demand is low in winters and highest in summer months. Taking the average of four months is arbitrary and erroneous," the petitioners said.

"As per the regulation, consumers are arbitrarily divided into two categories -- one having load upto 5kW and other with load of more than 5kW in the last billing cycle of preceding financial year. For consumers in the first category, the power load is reduced automatically, but for the second category the load is not reduced as such," the plea said.
Kolkata, Aug 24 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that several people from a certain community fled BJP ruled-Jharkhand to Bengal after police firing on them on Eid al-Adha and are being treated at hospitals in her state.

At least a dozen persons, including five policemen, were injured after villagers clashed with police over reports of alleged cow slaughter in Jharkhand's Pakur district on Wednesday during Eid celebrations. Cow slaughter has been banned in Jharkhand since 2015.

According to police, the clashes took place after a police team arrived at Dangapara village and tried to stop animal slaughter in public.

"Several people belonging to a specific community were shot at in Jharkhand on Eid. They fled to Bengal and were admitted in our hospitals for treatment. Why would the BJP shoot people of a specific community just because they are the ruling party there? Isn't it inhuman?" Banerjee said at the state Secretariat Nabanna here.

"It is mentioned in the United Nations' convention that one has to give shelter to the refugees, whether they come from across the state or across international border. So, we are treating them here. But such incidents should not happen," she said.

Accusing the BJP of trying to regulate people's food habit, Banerjee dared the party to ban beef in northeastern states.

"Tribals and people from the northeast eat beef. Several Christians in European countries also eat it. I dare the BJP to ban beef in the northeast. Why can't they do it there?" she said.

"We have no right to dictate what others will eat. Plants also have life. What will happen if someone raises questions about eating vegetables like potato? This is not right," she claimed.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP was intimidating and buying off news channels while politicians of other parties were being threatened by misusing central agencies.

"We are living in an autocratic situation. The Centre's ruling party (BJP) is deciding which agency will conduct raids in whose house, which television news channels should be stopped from broadcasting or which reporter should be sacked from a newspaper," she said.

"The agencies conducted raid at the house of Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's officer yesterday (Thursday). They also raided the office of Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal recently. Such things never happened in the country before. But their advantage is that they have bought off the entire national news channels," she added.
Ranchi, Aug 24 : The Jharkhand cabinet on Friday gave its approval to name upcoming roads and airport medical college in memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and start three awards in his name.

The Jharkhand Innovation Laboratory run by the Science and Technology Department will now be known as Atal Innovation Centre. The Ranchi Convention Centre has been named the Atal Convention Centre. A medical hospital in Palamu will be known as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College.

The cabinet also gave its approval to start Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Award in three sectors: literature, media and good governance.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Friday sought the permission of Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu to donate Rs 1 crore from his MPLADS fund and adopt a village in flood-hit Kerala.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader's decision came days after Naidu urged all MPs to contribute from their Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for flood relief and rehabilitation work in Kerala.

"I would like to allocate Rs 1 crore from my MPLADS funds for rehabilitation works to be carried out in the district of Ernakulam," Singh said in his letter to Naidu.

He requested Naidu to grant him permission to adopt "any one of the worst affected villages" in Ernakulam district.
Mumbai, Aug 24 : Natural resources company Vedanta Chairman Navin Agarwal on Friday said the company will invest around $8 billion in growth projects across businesses, over the next three years.

"With this immense growth potential, I'm pleased to report that your company will invest around $8 billion, on growth projects across our businesses, over the next 3 years," Agarwal said in his speech delivered at the Annual General Meeting 2018 held here.

Agarwal called for further changes in policies for natural resources sector, particularly the implementation of the much awaited "New Mineral Policy" and ensure a level playing ground for imports and in the matter of duties.

"Encouragement to explore and produce natural resources in India will lead to greater self-reliance, save billions of dollars in imports, generate immense employment opportunities, paving way for socio-economic development," he said.

"Urbanisation and infrastructure development will continue to generate demand for natural resources, including commodities where your company is a leading producer. Such is the scale of the nation's needs, we believe that in times to come, everything that we produce in India - will sell in India."

According to Agarwal, the company will invest in its oil, zinc-lead-silver and aluminium businesses.
Rome, Aug 24 : A total 1,546 people died this year till August 22 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa while 65,576 migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea over the period, the UN migration agency said on Friday.

Spain, with 42 per cent of all arrivals through the year, was the leading destination in 2018. It has continued to receive seaborne migrants in August at a volume more than twice that of Greece and more than six times that of Italy, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported.

Arrivals to Italy through late August were the lowest recorded at this point of a normally busy summer season in almost five years, IOM noted, after anti-migrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini controversially barred charity and international rescue vessels from delivering migrants to Italian ports and set a target of zero arrivals.

Total arrivals to Europe this year are less than half 120,624 boat migrants who entered the region at the same point of 2017 and fewer than a quarter of the 271,951 who landed in 2016, IOM reported.

IOM said 12,998 migrants have been returned to Libya this year by the country's European Union backed Coast Guard.
Rome, Aug 24 : Italy's populist Premier Giuseppe Conte said his country would "take stock" of the European Union's failure to agree on Friday to relocate 150 migrants stranded for days aboard the Coast Guard ship Ubaldo Diciotti at the port of Catania.

"Italy can only take stock of the fact that Europe today lost a very good opportunity," Conte wrote on Facebook after the emergency EU meeting in Brussels.

From now on Italy "will follow a coherent and determined course of action on all the issues it has to tackle in Europe", Conte wrote.

Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has refused to allow the migrants to disembark from the Diociotti until other EU countries agree to step in.

Senior officials from 12 member states held emergency talks in Brussels on Friday which the Commission said not were not organised to find a long-term answer to the migration crisis but get an immediate solution to the stand-off.

Arrivals to Italy have plunged since Italy's populist government took office in June. It has taken a tough stance on migration, demanding the EU do more to share the responsibility of taking in migrants.

Salvini has set a controversial goal of zero immigration and has barred charity and international rescue ships from delivering migrants to the country's ports.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : If the employees' provident fund figures show 47 lakh new jobs were created between September 2017 and June 2018, over 23 lakh jobs were lost in the 10-month period, going by the employees' state insurance figures.

The number of existing employees contributing for insurance cover under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) fell by 23.43 lakh in the period from 2,95,34,395 in September 2017 to 2,71,91,147 in June 2018, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said on Friday.

The Ministry released "Payroll Reporting in India" study for June 2018, giving an employment perspective based on the number of beneficiaries for three major schemes -- Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), ESIC and National Pension Scheme (NPS).

The levels of employment are from various sources, there are elements of overlap and the estimates are not additive, the Ministry said.

As per the retirement fund EPFO's payroll data, the total number of EPF subscribers went up by 47.13 lakh during the 10-month period till June. And, the total number of new NPS subscribers for the period is 6.10 lakh, the Ministry's report said.

As per the report, EPF is applicable to establishments having more than 20 workers drawing up to Rs 15,000 per month with some exceptions and ESIC is for setups having more than 10 workers with monthly wage ceiling of Rs 21,000.

The Ministry has clarified that the number of members subscribing to the schemes merely gives an idea of the level of employment in the formal sector and that there is a need for better method of employment estimation.

"The present report gives different perspectives on the levels of employment in the formal sector and does not measure employment at a holistic level," the Ministry said as it invited suggestions for improving content, coverage and presentation.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an email interview with The Times of India published on August 12, used the EPFO data to counter the opposition claims on rising unemployment, saying more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector in the last one year.

"According to our study based on the EPFO data, more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector alone last year... I believe the shortcoming lies in the absence or lack of a streamlined database of jobs," Modi said.

He also said more than 45 lakh formal jobs were created between September 2017 and April 2018.
London, Aug 25 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the Narendra Modi government lacks a "coherent strategy" towards Pakistan and attacked Modi for his foreign policy based on "hugs".

Speaking at an event at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) of London, Gandhi said that Pakistan promotes terrorism in India and it is not possible to talk in such a situation.

"The Modi government lack a coherent strategy towards Pakistan, it's episodic. The Prime Minister flies there for a wedding. There's no deeply thought out strategy," he said.

Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "I've also been trapped in the hug politics but I don't think you can run foreign policy based on hugs. It doesn't work. We have tremendous structures in our country, institutional structures that understand these things, one has to use those structures to develop strategy."

"The question with Pakistan is who do you talk to in Pakistan. Pakistan, from our perspective, has a number of institutions. So the difficulty from an Indian perspective is which institution do you talk to?" Gandhi said.

The Congress leader said some of the institutions in Pakistan are hostile towards India and some are attacking India. "So we don't want to talk to them."

He said: "You wait till the time Pakistan is able to resolve some of these issues, you wait till the time Pakistan is able to have a coherent structure you can talk to, but it's very difficult to sign something if you don't know what's going to happen the next day."

"It's a huge commitment of political will...and if you sign something and the next dayAlike that happened for example with Mr. Vajpayee and that is a classic example," he added.

On India's relationship with South Asian countries, Gandhi said: "What is important is that you develop a strategy based on your foundational strengths."

"I don't see a coherent strategy based on India's strength, I see tactical responses, I see knee-jerk reactions but I don't see a strategic vision that says this is how India is going to chart its course through 21st century," he added.

He also attacked the Prime Minister for what he temed "centralisation of power" and said: "What is being going on in the last four years is a massive centralisation of power, in the CM on one hand and the PM on the other."

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
New Delhi, Aug 25 : Actress Minissha Lamba, who is returning to the small screen with a new age love story-based show "Internet Wala Love", feels in the Indian television industry, shows featuring strong and powerful women are very less.

The 33-year-old actress, who will be seen playing a role of a wedding planner and owner of a radio station in the show, is proud of the makers for opting a female character to essay the owner of a big empire.

"It was so easy to have a male character for my role, but this was the vision of the makers to have a female character in a powerful role.

"There are lot of women out there who are working and successful, but I feel in Indian television, they are not represented much," Minissha said while interacting with the media during her show's promotion here on Friday.

As the show is about internet and how love blossoms in today's time through social media, Minissha expressed her anger over the concept of trolls nowadays.

According to her, trolling someone by passing derogratory remarks is not acceptable.

She said: "In personal life, we don't insult and abuse someone on a regular basis. But people who think something bad about someone and cannot express in open, they use social media platform to draw fire on the other person."

The actress feels in today's time a lot of emphasis is being given to trolls, which should end soon.

"One should be strong enough to deal with the trolls and should focus on the good things. Paying heed to the bad comments won't be of any use.

"Talent of creating trolls is increasing day by day. We have already given so much attention to the trolls. Now we should stop it," added the "Bachna Ae Haseeno" actress.

Also starring actors Shivin Narang and Tunisha Sharma, "Internet Wala Love" is scheduled to premiere on August 27 on Colors.
London, Aug 25 : Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said there is a monopoly of the PMO on the External Affairs Ministry and that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has no job except spending a lot of time working on people's visas.

Speaking at an event in London in the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), Gandhi said: "You notice one thing, everybody says that it is a great thing that India's Foreign Minister spends a lot of her time working on visas.

"Do you realise what that statement means? It means the Foreign Minister has nothing better to do than get people visas. So, only there is the monopoly of the Foreign Ministry, and the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) has monopoly over the Foreign Ministry."

Sushma Swaraj really has nothing to do, though she is quite a capable lady, the Congress leader said. "If you actually give her the power to do something, she could probably break that monopoly (in the ministry)."

He maintained: "In India...if you're seeing something that is not scaling in India, just look at the monopoly that is not letting that happen.

"If you bring in new voices, if you bring in business, if you bring in other think tanks and give them actual power in the Foreign Ministry, it'll scale immediately."
Kolkata, Aug 25 : The city unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday seized 230 kgs of ganja from a vehicle in West Bengal's Alipurduar district and arrested two residents of Assam in this connection, a senior NCB official said.

The seizure was made from Alipurduar district's Madarihat area during a joint operation by the NCB personnel and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) troopers.

"The two accused, both residents of Assam's Dhubri district, brought the contraband worth Rs 40 lakh from Assam and were travelling to a nearby Falakata railway station when they were arrested from the truck. They were planning to take the contraband to Kolkata," Zonal Director of Bureau's Kolkata unit Dilip Kumar Srivastava said in a release.

"The two arrested accused will be produced in the Jalpaiguri court along with the seized contraband on Saturday for further legal action," he added.
Kolkata, Aug 25 : West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Chowdhury on Friday accused the state government of not taking action against two private companies charging "significantly higher rates" for providing High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) for the vehicles here, compared to other states.

The two companies were awarded the 10-year contract for HSRP project way back in 2010 by the erstwhile Left Front government.

In a statement, Chowdhury said the two companies are implementing the scheme with weighted average cost of Rs 350 for each vehicle in West Bengal, while in other states like Rajasthan, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, the HSRP charges are much lower.

The Congress leader alleged that the state government has not taken any steps against the two companies in the last eight years in spite of the irregularities.

"In West Bengal, the average weighted cost for HSRP by one of the companies is Rs 350, while the average rate for the scheme by the same company is Rs 145 and Rs 135 in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, respectively," the release said.

Chowdhury also accused the two companies of being involved in irregularities like subcontracting which is strictly prohibited by the Supreme Court and also violates the HSRP order of 2001.
London, Aug 25 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a straight contest between the BJP and the "entire opposition" and their "first priority" is to defeat the ruling alliance.

He said the issue of leadership will be taken up by opposition parties after the polls.

In an interactive session at the London School of Economics here, Gandhi also said that quality of debate in parliament was "low quality" as parliamentarians were not involved in making laws, "which were made by the prime minister, ministers and bureaucrats".

Gandhi, who was asked questions about the next Lok Sabha elections, said it will be "pretty straightforward" contest between "Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on one side and the entire opposition on the other".

Gandhi said almost the entire Opposition feel that "systematic attack was taking place on Indian institutions".

"We are going to have a clear-cut election," he said, adding that once the arithmetic of Opposition unity comes into play in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, "it becomes very difficult for the BJP to win".

He said the Opposition was working to defeat an onslaught on the Constitution and to defend the nature of Indian state.

"The first priority is to defeat the BJP. Once election is over all conversation can take place (about the leadership). Not till we defeat the BJP," he said.

Apparently referring to parties such as Shiv Sena, which are not likely to contest polls as partners of BJP, Gandhi said the next election was an "ideological battle".

"We will not work with somebody who is not ideologically with us," he said.

"I have tendency to reach out, listen," he said, adding that it can help build coalitions.

Gandhi said he had over 15 years of experience in politics and has taken his share of shots to the chin.

Referring to the weaknesses of the Congress, Gandhi said the party is not able to express the ideas very effectively.

"The BJP and RSS are very clear in what they are saying. There is no confusion. RSS spends time on an idea. Congress needs to expand and be precise about what it stands for."

Gandhi also said a reason the party did not do well in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was due to "internal fight" between the younger and older generation.

"There are senior leaders with experience and with understanding and there are youngsters who are developing. You cannot break the past because there is a lot of value in some of the senior people. So, in a sense, the present has to be a merger of the future and the past. That's really why Congress ran into trouble in 2014."

Gandhi said he has tried to bring them together successfully. He also said that the threat in the Congress is "arrogance".

He also said there was a full-blown job crisis in India but the government does not accept that.

Answering a query, Gandhi said he viewed the government as an enabler. "India has tremendous amount of energy. We have to put it together."

On dynastic politics, Gandhi said he operates in a democracy and is attacked by the opponents and reacts to them. "The most important thing is what you bring on the table and how far you listen."

He said there is need to make MPs more powerful in the process of making laws.

"Why debate in parliament is of such low quality... there is so much shouting. You give lawmakers more power. Quality of debate will improve," he said.

Answering another query, he said the single biggest instrument against corruption is RTI.

Referring to the power of dialogue, he said "the extent of power in conversation surprises me".

Gandhi said that rather than a top-down approach, he would prefer asking farmers about their problems and finding solutions.
London, Aug 25 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said "Congress was not involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots", in which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed, mostly in the national capital when the party's government was in power at the Centre.

To a question being asked by the CNN-News18 at an event in the UK Parliament about the 1984 riots, Gandhi said: "I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy."

Later, during an interactive session at the London School of Economics (LSE) when he was again asked about the anti-Sikh riots and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement on it, Gandhi said: "When Manmohan Singh spoke, he spoke for all of us. As I said earlier, I am a victim of violence and I understand what it feels."

"So, I am against any sort of violence against anybody on this planet. I get disturbed when I see anybody being hurt. So, I condemn that 100 per cent and I am 100 per cent for punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody. That's crystal clear," said Gandhi.

He further explained that people who haven't had violence inflicted upon them, think that violence is what you see in movies. "That's not what it is. I have seen people who are loved very much being killed."

"I have also seen the person (Prabhakaran) who killed my father (Rajiv Gandhi) being killed. When I saw Prabhakaran lying on the beaches in Jaffna, when I saw him being humiliated, the way he was, I felt sorry for him, because I saw my father in his place and his children in my place," he added.

"So, when you are being hit by violence, when you understand it, it has a completely different impact on you. Most people don't actually understand violence. It's a horrible thing," he added.

Some Congress politicians, including Sajjan Kumar, have been accused of leading the killer mobs. They have denied the allegations.
GUEST OBSERVATION

Skilled professionals are increasingly likely to have an equally skilled partner at home. This makes it harder for companies to fill overseas positions when the move affects two professional careers.

Multinational corporations are starting to recognise and try to understand the complexities of managing talent globally. But we wondered whether they are considering the right scope of complexities. As an example of these complexities, and contrary to popular belief, the expatriate spouse  not the expatriate  remains the number one influence on the success of overseas postings.

Three major, interrelated elements create this largely unrecognised complexity.

The family context

An overseas assignment can be an enriching experience for the whole family, but making it a success is a different story. Career paths are no longer choices for a single breadwinner, but compromises between couples or within families.

This means there are a number of stakeholders to consider when an overseas assignment is on offer. The dynamics between the various immediate family members play a major role in whether the assignment is a success.

Research often reports organisational support for spouses as either inadequate or misaligned. One reason for this is that organisations do not have a good enough understanding of expatriate spouse experiences and attitudes to relocation.

Most recently, research has identified that there are four different types of spouses  some more resilient and ready for an international relocation than others. This is to say that spouses and their personal and professional career endeavours may differ greatly. And the lack of knowledge about this makes it difficult to manage.

The reason for any inadequacy or misalignment of organisational support might well stem, then, from not fully understanding the journey of the other family members who are likely invested but involuntarily affected by the way the assignment is managed.

This type of reasoning similarly applies to families with a female breadwinner, families with or without children, those who identify as LGBTIQ, single parents and families going through a divorce, among other scenarios. The chart below illustrates the range of family contexts.

Author provided

Philosophically, it is about managing the family as a dynamic and complex network of actors. That is in addition to the complexities inherent in any particular individual employee or family member.

The assignment context

We are seeing an increase in the types of international assignments, including short-term, long-term, rotational, flex-assignments and so forth. You can add to this the propatriate (a professional expatriate committed to their parent company), the glopatriate (a globetrotting expatriate committed to a global career beyond their parent company), the inpatriate (a relocation from the subsidiary into HQ) and the self-initiated expatriate (a non-organisational form of expatriation) among others. We now have many assignment types  some of which have not existed or been recognised as such, say, ten years ago.

The assignment type matters to the multinational corporation. It is the context for the length, purpose and expatriate and family allowances of the assignment.

The location context

Globalisation continues to create opportunities across borders. These in turn are linked to international assignment opportunities.

Today, countries like China, Brazil, India, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Angola, Nigeria and Iraq present some of the greatest challenges for international assignees, their partners and children.

But what do we really know about these countries? And to what extent are dual-career families ready (or supported) to relocate to these places and be successful  as a family or as individuals?

Another difficult challenge to manage is the fact that some assignment locations are considered more dangerous than others. Some research suggests this keeps potential expatriates and their families from considering the assignment in the first place.

Managing challenges of diversity is key

In short, the increased diversity of assignments  in all ways  presents policy and compliance challenges for talent management departments. Creating the right tools to enable multinational corporations to understand and respond swiftly to these challenges is key to competing and winning with a global talent strategy.

Global mobility specialists must fully understand past, present and potential trends to then acquire the agility needed to manage talent in todays world  across diverse demographic, assignment and family contexts.

In the end however, if the expatriate and their family are not convinced this will be a good experience, no amount of deliberation or support will make it a success. The real key to success is to ensure the expatriates and their families understand their window of opportunity for such a life-changing move.

Miriam Moeller, Senior Lecturer, International Business, The University of Queensland

Jemaine Tsoi, PhD Researcher, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
The Woollahra terrace of Caroline O'Connor and her husband Barry Shaw has been scheduled for September 6 auction.

The musical theatre star - currently on stage - and her musical husband expect $2.5 million.

They have been on Edgecliff Road since 1999 when they paid $625,000 for the three bedroom semi.

The couple will often enjoy a morning coffee on the balcony in the sunshine.

It was when OConnor was 19  having studied for two years at Londons Royal Ballet School, then returning to Sydney to dance with the then Australian Opera Ballet  that the idea of combining dance with her singing began to take shape.

They have had a home in Surrey, England where Caroline was born.

This article first appeared in The Daily Telegraph.
Its hard to read a paper at the moment without finding an array of negative headlines about Sydneys declining property market. While media reports paint an overwhelming gloomy picture for the market, a closer look at the data tells a more nuanced story.

Sydneys top end dragging down the averages

The Sydney residential property market as a whole recorded negative growth in the first quarter and for the year to April 2018.

However, the latest data from CoreLogic shows this result was largely driven by the premium end of the market.

The most affordable 20% of dwelling values recorded gains in these periods.

In fact, the more affordable half of Sydney dwelling values recorded an uptick in prices when averaged out over the year to April 2018. However, a pullback at the more expensive end caused the overall average to be weighed down.

The top end of Sydney dwelling values ($1.4m-$1.8m+) experienced the most significant decline. These properties suffered a substantial 7.2% decline over the 12 months to April 2018 which dragged the average down to -3.4% for the market overall.

Affordable property at the medium-low price ranges (under $875K) has been far more resilient.

We often tell our investors to read the numbers, and understand the data, not the sensational headlines, and this is a typical case in point, said Ironfish Head of Property, William Mitchell.

Sydney has been an incredibly hot market so we do expect the overall market to trend sideways for a period. However, as the data demonstrates, there are sub-markets which can outperform the wider market, and these are the markets that we are looking for when it comes to selecting property to recommend to our investors.

Though there will be a pullback in prices in pockets of Sydney, owners need to remember the market has increased significantly since the boom began in 2011, so a small adjustment is not a bust.

Melbourne property market continues to perform

Like Sydney, the headlines for Melbourne property have focussed on the negative; specifically, Melbournes marginal decline (-0.7%) in residential property values for the first quarter of 2018.

Yet the data reveals that the Melbourne market has continued to perform, with the vast majority of price points recording positive growth over the 12 months to April 2018.

The affordable end of the market again recorded the largest gains. Properties priced $803K and under recorded an average gain of 9.87% in the year to April 2018  a very strong result.

Only the most expensive dwellings (i.e. the top 10% of prices) recorded a negative gain in Q1.

The return of first home buyers

The outperformance of more affordable product has been much attributed to more first home buyers returning to the market. This is a trend weve seen not just in Sydney and Melbourne, but also across all the 5 major capital cities.

First Home Buyer mortgages on the rise

In Melbourne, strong population growth coupled with the increasing appeal of apartment living has further underpinned demand for the affordable end of the market.

Melbourne apartments recorded the strongest capital growth (6.8%) compared to apartments in any of the other 5 major capital cities for the year to April 2018.

Given Melbourne house prices have increased up to 70% since mid-2013, apartments continue to offer a significantly more affordable alternative to buyers. At current median values, a Melbourne apartment is about 33.9% cheaper than purchasing a standalone house  providing a very strong incentive.

With the tighter lending environment at the moment, affordability is definitely the flavour of the month. As a result, we are seeing more buyers turning to apartments and this market is expected to perform well in the medium term, Mr Mitchell said.
MadeComfy, a performance-based short-term rental specialist, has opened a Brisbane office.

It has appointed 13-year property veteran Melissa Baker as its new Queensland general manager.

This follows a $6 million capital raising in May following consistent 500% year-on-year growth in Sydney and Melbourne.

MadeComfy recently released a study of the Queensland short-term rental market that showed the demand for short-term rentals (STR) more than doubled over the last two years, with STR making up 11.8% of Australias total tourist accommodation.

The STR report showed that short-term rentals in Queensland contributed $162 million to national tourism revenue in 2016, providing over 1.2 million nights of accommodation to the almost 1.5 million international visitors Brisbane attracted.

Melissa Baker said MadeComfys research has shown conclusively that Australias demand for short-term accommodation options are only going to keep increasing.

"Compared to Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane enjoys year-round bookings which is great for local property owners who may be considering short-term rental options such as Airbnb, Booking.com or HomeAway.

MadeComfy claims they are delivering property owners in Sydney and Melbourne an approximately 7% to 11% rental yield return.

It was recently recognised as Sydneys most innovative company at the 2018 NSW Business Chamber Award as well as being named as one of Westpacs 200 Businesses of Tomorrow.

MadeComfy say they combine technology and property management services to deliver easy, transparent and profitable short-term rental experience for homeowners.
Allan Raad of Wentworthville, NSW and his brother-in-law Yousef Joseph Bazouni of Sandringham, NSW, have been convicted and sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court after pleading guilty to ASIC charges concerning a breach of directors duties and the fraudulent removal of company assets.

Raad pleaded guilty to using his position dishonestly to gain an advantage and for having fraudulently removed property.

Bazouni also pleaded guilty to these offences on the basis of complicity, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured the commission of the offences by Raad.

Raad was sentenced to a total of 18 months' imprisonment for the offences and released on a recognisance order to be of good behaviour for two years. Bazouni was convicted but no penalty imposed and ordered to be of good behaviour for 12 months. As a result of the convictions, both men are automatically disqualified from managing companies for five years.

ASIC had alleged that on 2 July 2011 in Sydney, NSW Raad engaged in illegal phoenix activity by dishonestly using his position as a director of Cornish Property Services Pty Ltd (the Company) with the intention of indirectly gaining an advantage for himself by causing the sale of the assets of the Company to Bazounis newly-incorporated company Flow Management Pty Ltd (Flow Management) for an amount of $20,000. Raad later onsold some of those same assets for $176,000, Raad received the proceeds of the sale and subsequently used the proceeds to pay:

$50,000 for outstanding legal fees owed by the Company but for which he was personally liable;

$23,509.20 to creditors of the Company who held personal guarantees against Raad and/or his wife;

$51,731.81 towards credit card debts for which he was personally liable;

$10,000 towards repayments for a home loan account Mr. Raad shared with his wife;

$22,300 to Bazounis credit card; and

$4,000 was paid to existing unsecured creditors of the Company.

The Company was placed into voluntary liquidation soon after with an estimated deficiency of $1,110,695.93.

ASIC also alleged that between 21 July 2011 and 13 August 2011 Raad fraudulently removed $21,609.16 and $16,044.93 from the Companys account. It was alleged that Bazouni was complicit in helping Raad remove the funds.

ASIC commenced an investigation following the lodgement of a report by the Liquidator Bruce Gleeson of Jones Partners Insolvency & Recovery. ASIC assisted the Liquidator to conduct an investigation and prepare his report by providing funding from the Assetless Administration Funding.

ASIC Commissioner John Price said, ASIC is committed to addressing illegal phoenix activity. ASIC is a member of the Australian Taxation Office-led Phoenix Taskforce, which comprises 29 Commonwealth and State governments agencies who are sharing intelligence and information to detect, deter and prosecute directors and facilitators that engage in illegal phoenix activity.'

Suspected illegal phoenix can now be reported directly to the Phoenix Hotline on 1800 807 875. Further information is also available from ASICs website.

The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Every year something magical and meaningful happens during the transformative process of creating, completing and then sharing their mannequin art while describing its body image significance, says Blanche Williams, Assistant Managing Director at the iaedp Foundation.

The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp) Foundation is seeking artists and art therapists within treatment centers or private practice to participate in its 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.

Every year something magical and meaningful happens during the transformative process of creating, completing and then sharing their mannequin art while describing its body image significance, says Blanche Williams, Assistant Managing Director at the iaedp Foundation. Participants are amazed at how simple yet powerful our ongoing theme is, Imagine Me Beyond What You See. The response from audiences has been overwhelming as people are moved by the depth of courage and heartfelt expression displayed. We look forward another unforgettable year.

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.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 Discovery; 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; Keller Life Center for ED; and Veritas Collaborative.

Early registration (for discounted rates to attend the iaedp Symposium and for hotel rooms) for the 2019 iaedp Symposium is now open. More information about all aspects iaedp and its 2019 Symposium can be found at iaedp.com.
Every summer, the Naples Daily News Best of Naples Awards takes place and local Naples' businesses come together to celebrate the best local businesses and organizations. For the second year in a row, the Aesthetic Surgery Center has been selected as winner of the "Best Plastic/Cosmetic Surgeon" category. Dr. Anurag Agarwal, Dr. Richard Maloney, Dr. William Ross and staff were honored to be recognized by their community.

Aesthetic Surgery Center's facility in North Naples features a state of the art Skin Spa, laser suite, and an AAASF accredited operating room. Patients enjoy safety and privacy inside the beautiful facility.

Dr. Anurag Agarwal, MD, FACS is a double board certified facial plastic surgeon who focuses 100% of his practice on cosmetic surgery of the face and neck. He is reknowned for his trademarked Uplift procedure, endoscopic midface lifts, rhinoplasty, revision rhinoplasty, eyelid blepharoplasties and Laserwash techniques. Dr. Agarwal has been featured on ABC news, NBC news, FOX news, and Wink TV. He is a recognized expert on facial plastic surgery. He was selected by Gulfshore Business magazine as one of Southwest Floridas top 40 under 40 business leaders, featured as a Super Man in Naples Illustrated magazine, and is consistently recognized by Castle Connolly as a Top Doctor, year after year.

Dr. Richard W. Maloney, MD, FACS is a double board certified facial plastic surgeon who focuses on facial plastic surgery, multimodality laser surgery, and injectable enhancements. It is his belief that facial plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery require concentrated expertise achieved only by a face and neck specialist.

Dr. William Ross, MD is an experienced Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon focused on aesthetic surgery of the breast, face, and body. He regularly performs the full spectrum of plastic surgery at the Aesthetic Surgery Center, with specialized expertise in breast and body contouring treatments. Dr. Ross summarizes his philosophy as such, My belief is that patients should be treated as if they were members of my own family. I always strive to provide the best care possible, using all of my skills to deliver excellent results. Whether it is a simple Botox injection or complex breast reconstruction, I want my patients to be happy that they chose me to be their doctor.

Our three specialized surgeons take great pride in achieving their patient's cosmetic goals and are successful at providing natural, lasting, and beautiful results. It is this dedication to quality patient care that sets each surgeon at the Aesthetic Surgery Center apart from others in the area. Trust Your Face, Trust Your Form to our specialists. To schedule an appointment or learn more about their offerings, visit their website (http://www.aestheticsurgerycenter.com) or call their Naples office at (239) 594-9100.
In the world of retirement investing, phrases like rollover and transfer can fill investors with dread of paperwork. But the Self-Directed IRA administration firm American IRA, based in Asheville, recently used a blog post at http://www.AmericanIRA.com to explain the differences between the two actionsas well as what investors can expect when undertaking them.

As the post explained, one of the first decisions any Self-Directed IRA holder has to make is how to fund this account. One can be a transfer from an existing IRA account. Another is the rollover of one or more retirement accounts. Each method has strict procedures which should be taken into consideration sooner than later, according to the post.

For a transfer of funds, the post mentions that the financial institution which already holds the account should implement this action. For a Rollover, the account holder will be the one expected to implement the change.

There are different options you are looking at if you want to accomplish different things with your Self-Directed IRA, said Jim Hitt of American IRA. The good news is that if you do your homework, you can generally find a great way to fund your new account without missing a beat. So many investors avoid this altogether because they are afraid of taxes or penalties. The truth is that it is very possible to not only fund a new Self-Directed IRA account easily, but you might just find out that it was the best decision for you in the long run.

The post identifies other key differences between transfers and rollovers before talking about the funding of the Self-Directed IRA itself. It makes special note of handling any and all paperworkand mentions the advantages of working with a proper Self-Directed IRA custodian to ensure that the paperwork is accurate and comprehensive.

Paperwork does not excite anyone, said Jim Hitt. Least of all, investors. That is why there are people out there who can help. And that is the idea behind putting this post out thereto let people know that a transfer or a rollover do not have to be scary if you know who to work with.

For more information, visit http://www.AmericanIRA.com or call 866-7500-IRA.

"About:

American IRA, LLC was established in 2004 by Jim Hitt, CEO in Asheville, NC.

The mission of American IRA is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry. Jim Hitt and his team have grown the company to over $400 million in assets under administration by educating the public that their Self-Directed IRA account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more.

As a Self-Directed IRA administrator, they are a neutral third party. They do not make any recommendations to any person or entity associated with investments of any type (including financial representatives, investment promoters or companies, or employees, agents or representatives associated with these firms). They are not responsible for and are not bound by any statements, representations, warranties or agreements made by any such person or entity and do not provide any recommendation on the quality profitability or reputability of any investment, individual or company. The term "they" refers to American IRA, located in Asheville and Charlotte, NC."
South Korean families, separated by the 1950-53 Korean War from relatives living in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) left for Mount Kumgang in southeast DPRK Friday morning for the second session of three-day reunions.

South Koreans depart from the eastern coastal city of Sokcho on Aug. 24, 2018, for North Korea's Kumgang Mountain resort on the east coast for this week's second-round reunion with war-separated families. [Photo: Yonhap]

Eighty-one South Koreans, mostly in their 80s or older, departed in buses from a coastal city of Sokcho in northeast South Korea to meet DPRK relatives they never saw since the Korean War ended with an armistice that left the Korean Peninsula divided.

The separated elderly people sat in wheelchairs or were supported by their accompanying family members. The South Korean participants arrived at the coastal city the previous day to register for reunions and get their health checked.

South Korea and the DPRK agreed in June to hold the humanitarian event, the first in nearly three years. The latest was held in October 2015.

Since the fratricidal war was halted by the armistice in 1953, the separated families have been banned from exchanging letters and phone calls, let along meeting each other.

A combined 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions had been arranged since the first inter-Korean summit was held in 2000, but the reunions had been limited to about 200 separated families from each side. Over half of South Koreans on the waiting list for reunions are in their 80s or older.

Their meeting, arranged after decades of separation, will be painfully short. They will be granted permission to meet for only 12 hours in group and private gatherings during the three-day reunions.

It could be the only chance for the separated families to meet face-to-face. The eldest South Korean participant for the second session is a 100-year-old grandmother, Kang Jeong-ok who will meet her younger sister from the DPRK.
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If you've waited for a day to enjoy the unconditional love of your canine companion, August 22 is the day! Just like ever-joyful pets, Never Bean Better Day casts away the worries and spreads enthusiasm for life.

Never Bean Better Day encourages both the spirit of generosity and sharing the joys of life with delight, Said Trinity Clark, Never Better spokesperson. Go out into the world with your family pet and plant the bean of love everywhere you go. Share it generously, like dogs do when they are taking care of us when we are sick or down, giving us all their love with abandon in the forms of licks and snuggles or tricks and antics only canines know how to do. Sometimes, they even have their own love song or woo woo, like Bean. According to National Calendar, it's a Never Bean Better Day to share all the love your dog has stored up!

HOW TO OBSERVE

In recognition of the Never Bean Better Day, share the Bean wuv. Fetch up fun and make a difference like Bean, a very special therapy dog and canine celebrity, does every day in providing comfort and joy to so many though his physical and virtual presence. Help someone by sharing your time, talent or treasure or just by making someones day by getting them to play  human or canine! Follow Beans tail on Facebook at Never Bean Better @neverbeanbetter, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to spread the Bean wuv by using the #NeverBeanBetterDay and @neverbeanbetter to share your Never Bean Better moments on social media. Get out and fetch up some fun! Make every day a Never Bean Better day!

THE INFAMOUS BEANS HISTORY

Born in Morgantown, Pennsylvania on August 22, 2009, with the canine registered name, Neversinks Never Bean Better, and then residing in Montana and traveling North America, this lovable Golden Retriever grew up to be an ambassador of love. He became a registered therapy dog at the age of two through the observation of Berks County Therapy Dog Group and certification through Alliance of Therapy Dogs. Before he became a celebrity, he served as a therapy dog for Penn State Health

St. Joseph in his early years and spent three years serving as a comfort dog at North Valley Hospital in Whitefish, MT. He has traveled the United States and Canada sharing his Bean wuv, with sick and disadvantaged children, and wooing for his less fortunate canine brethren. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and played a dog that sensed the paranormal on Animal Planets television show, The Haunted. He is known around the globe for is woo woo. You ask and he answers.

Never Bean Better Day to recognize the unconditional love dogs bring to human lives. Never Bean Better Day honors the birth of this special therapy dog, Bean, who eagerly spreads his Bean wuv everywhere he goes and improving the lives of those who need it most. Today also launches the start to Beans Never Bean Better Kickstarter initiative Never Bean Better Toys that Teach Giving that will bring comfort and joy through a buy one give one toy for children and canines.

The Registrar at National Day Calendar declared Never Bean Better Day to be observed August 22 in perpetuity annually.

Bean is owned by Jim and Michelle Drager. Bean shares his home with two Golden relatives, his Uncle Trooper and cousin Carly Q. They too, are featured often on the Never Bean Better Facebook page  woo woo!
The Social Room at PENZONE Salon + Spa Dublin The Penzones wanted to offer a premium craft coffee experience, so we helped them develop a menu that included espresso, hot lattes, iced cold brew coffee and iced lattes.

In the 50 years since the opening of the first Charles Penzone salon, the name Penzone has been synonymous with beauty in Columbus, Ohio. In May, the brand launched a new concept, PENZONE Salon + Spa Dublin, with a new mantra: beauty from the outside in.

Traditional salons focus solely on the outward appearance, focusing on hair and nails, said Debbie Penzone, president and CEO of Charles Penzone, Inc. and wife of the founder. But we know that feeling better physically, mentally and spiritually is the foundation of beauty from the outside in.

The centerpiece of the 14,000-square-foot salon at 6645 Village Parkway is a Social Room that caters to inner comfort with a cafe offering up breakfast, lunch, organic juices, a variety of alcoholic drinks and coffee and tea service from Columbus coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea.

During development of the new concept, our team noticed that many guests entered the salon with a coffee cup in hand, said Crimson Cup Founder and President Greg Ubert. Serving cafe-quality coffee drinks at the salon enables guests to cut a stop out of their day, giving them a shot of relaxation with their caffeine boost.

To create the coffee menu, Crimson Cup worked with team PENZONE to learn about guest preferences, the planned ambiance and other menu items.

The Penzones wanted to offer a premium craft coffee experience, so we helped them develop a menu that included espresso, hot lattes, iced cold brew coffee and iced lattes, said Bob Fahringer, business development manager for Crimson Cup. Guests receive complimentary batch-brewed coffee, or they can purchase an espresso-based drink.

Crimson Cup provided barista training covering everything from drink preparation to customer service to three full-time social hosts. Training took place onsite and at the Crimson Cup Innovation Lab.

The coffee service has been a hit with customers and PENZONE stylists alike. Hot beverages are most popular in the morning hours, and they see a surge in cold-drink orders during sizzling summer afternoons.

He said guests really love the signature Penzone Mocha, with its rich blend of white chocolate and caramel flavors. The social hosts are creative with the caramel swirl on top, using the CP logo or hearts as a finishing touch.

Ubert said he is seeing an increase in business like PENZONE that want to upgrade the coffee service they offer to guests and employees. Coffee brings people together, he noted. A really great cup of Joe or espresso drink sets the tone for a successful work day, meeting or meal.

About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced specialty and craft coffee in small batches, which it sells directly to consumers and as wholesale coffee beans. The company also teaches entrepreneurs to run successful coffee houses through its coffee franchise alternative program, which includes a coffee shop business plan. Crimson Cup coffee is available through a community of more than 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 37 states, Guam and Bangladesh, as well as the companys own Crimson Cup Coffee Houses. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com.
IllumeTALK Podcast Were excited to be working with Illumetek on taking their brand message in a unique direction with this podcast, says Moss.

Illumetek Corporation (Illumetek), an industry-leading provider of energy efficient lighting, electrical and controls solutions, has partnered with Front Porch Media (Front Porch) on a new branded podcast series entitled IllumeTALK.

"Were so excited to launch IllumeTALK with the team at Front Porch. This new podcast series is a unique way for us to connect with both partners and customers on a more personal level, says Erin Plivelich, President at Illumetek.

As our industry continues to move through a rapidly evolving landscape, IllumeTALK affords us the opportunity to meet people where they are. Were tying into the best thinkers and innovators, asking the right questions, and cultivating enlightened conversations on illumination, energy efficiency, sustainability, connected technology, and so much more."

The series provides a new-level of thought leadership in the lighting business. IllumeTALK hosts explore topics that challenge industry standards, break down the status quo, and highlight how technology is completely changing the lighting marketplace.

"The conversation has shifted dramatically, and this new chapter is driven by todays rapid advancement of innovation and technology. Its no longer just about light bulbs and rebates. Its about connected, efficient systems and the intelligent, real-time data and analytics they can produce, says Aaron Woloszyn, the podcasts main host.

IllumeTALK gives us the opportunity to both educate and entertain while covering these complex changes. We want this podcast to inspire discussion."

Todays business-to-business brands have found podcasting a dynamic way to connect with customers and redefine their value proposition, according to Front Porch Chief Creative Officer, David Allen Moss. Were excited to be working with Illumetek on taking their brand message in a unique direction with this podcast, says Moss.

Listen to the first episode of IllumeTALK here: https://www.illumetek.com/illumetalk-common-obstacles-commercial-lighting-program-management/

About Illumetek

http://www.illumetek.com

Illumetek is an industry leader in lighting and technology upgrades with a unique commitment to logistical expertise for enterprise level program management. From LED upgrades and simple controls to energy management and smart building technology, Illumetek has maintained an unparalleled reputation in nationwide coverage and managed services. Additional specialties include: Reactive and Preventative Maintenance, Electrical Rollouts and Installations, Lighting and HVAC Controls, IoT initiatives, and Labor Only Management.

About Front Porch

http://www.thefrontporchpeople.com

Front Porch Media Network is a podcast production company and radio syndication network based in Cleveland, Ohio. Led by a team of knowledgeable executives, supported by rock-star talent, and backed by experienced production professionals, Front Porch Media is committed to bringing premium content to people wherever they are. It's our passion to produce and distribute high-quality storytelling that entertains, inspires, and delights intellectually curious listeners across digital, mobile, and broadcast platforms.

Press Contacts

Kate Reynolds

Illumetek

Marketing Manager

800-644-2566

kreynolds@illumetek.com

Paige Koteles

Front Porch Media

Marketing Manager

440-591-8692

pkoteles@thefrontporchpeople.com
Leslie Kelly Hall, Vice President of Health Systems Integration Patient care begins with the patient and care begins with communication.

LifeWIREs new addition to its management team brings to the fore the core of its value proposition - patient engagement. Leslie Kelly Hall, widely recognized health technology leader, is bringing 30 years of experience in health systems to the innovative company as its Vice President of Health Systems Integration.

Patient care begins with the patient and care begins with communication. The bridge that will connect patient to that care is technology. My role in LifeWIRE will ensure that the platform for communicating care enables and empowers both patients and providers for better and informed health decisions, said Kelly Hall.

Prior to joining LifeWIRE, Leslie led strategy, decision, and change management initiatives for clients that advanced the goals and products and policy for Healthwise, a non-profit provider of health education and technology services.

Kelly Halls executive role at LifeWIRE will further enhance LifeWIRE technologys interoperability and integration of the patient, their data, goals, values and direction in the healthcare system.

I have known Leslie for years, seeing her as a thought leader and innovator in patient engagement, consumer empowerment, and health technology, said Rosen. She will be a great asset for LifeWIRE and our clients. We are thrilled to include her on the team.

Idahos first physician web portal that integrated 56 systems across 7 organizations in 1996 was credited to Kelly Hall. The portal made a significant impact on patients and physicians and on the health care system in the state and earned her recognition as one of Business Weeks Top 50 Websmart Companies in 2004.

As a former hospital administrator, she understands that technology fuels patient engagement, enables efficiency, relationships, growth, and empathy in health care organizations. And as consumer/patient advocate, her insights help guide health information technology and policy, enabling patient and provider engagement in a private and secure manner, resulting in better healthcare.

Kelly Hall also recently earned a seat in a committee that will advance interoperability and health information exchange at Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), a global, non-profit organization focused on better health through information and technology.

Kelly Hall joins Rosen who was previously named to HIMSS's North America Public Policy Committee. With two LifeWIRE executives on HIMMSS strategic committees, LifeWIRE has a great opportunity to share its collective experiences and insight on important industry areas.

About LifeWIRE (http://www.lifewiregroup.com)

LifeWIRE operates throughout North America with offices in Richmond, Virginia and Toronto, Canada. Providing a secure and interactive communication engine and population management tool though the LifeWIRE platform, organizations are able to communicate with individuals under their care anywhere, at any time, through any device. For the individual, it means they can engage when they want, how they want, about what and with whom they want at any time. As valuable as the twoway response is to the organization and the individual, it is the non-response as a response that is also monitored and equally valuable. All LifeWIRE interactions are recorded and validated to FDA audit standards, tracked on a date/time basis, and managed by our clients. Captured data is used for advanced analytics that include customer engagement levels, customer behavior, service and operational levels, performance measurement, and predictive modelling.

For more information, please contact Jocelyn Brodie, Brodie & Co. at (416) 428-7705.
Jeremy Sack Im committed to leading this company with smarts, determination, and a heart toward better human understanding and making a positive impact on the lives we touch.

LRW, a leading market research and global analytics consultancy, today named Jeremy Sack as the fifth President in the companys 45-year history. Sacks promotion is effective immediately, and he will report to LRW Group President and COO Jeff Reynolds.

As President, Sack will oversee several businesses, LRW, LRWTonic and LRWMotivequest, which all provide research and consulting services to solve complex business challenges for their roster of Fortune 500 clients.

Jeremy is a leader of great character, values and judgment who cares deeply about our company, our people, our mission and our clients, said Reynolds. Jeremy has built our business by developing our next generation of leaders and cultivating new and successful relationships with blue chip clients. He is also a visionary innovator. Jeremy led the development of LRWs Pragmatic Brain Science Institute, which uses behavioral science to provide companies with a holistic understanding of humans, and acted as a key advisor in the development of LRWs Digital Analytics practice. Theres no doubt that he will continue to lead and inspire LRW in this important leadership role.

It is an honor to lead LRW at a critical time, said Sack. The world is changing, and were in a powerful position to help our clients adapt to those changes and win. We can do this by keeping humans in focus, including the people our clients serve, our clients themselves and our amazing team at LRW. Im committed to leading this company with smarts, determination, and a heart toward better human understanding and making a positive impact on the lives we touch.

Sack joined LRW in 2009 as a Research Director. He rose through the ranks quickly, earning increasingly senior roles as Vice President, Account Manager and Senior Vice President, General Manager. Sack most recently served as Executive Vice President of one of LRWs most successful divisions. Sack holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara and a B.S. in Psychology from Union College in Schenectady, NY.

About LRW

LRW Group is a globally-minded collaboration of data-driven companies best known for its ability to translate deep human understanding and sophisticated data analytics into business success for its clients. LRW has been advising top global brands on issues of strategy, branding, communications, innovation, product development and customer experience since 1973 and is recognized among the 10 most innovative and 20 largest market research consultancies in the world. LRW Group companies include: LRW, Kelton Global, ISA, LRWTonic, LRWMotiveQuest, Strativity and icanmakeitbetter.
Gautam, according to his official biography, became good friends with several U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who were English language teachers at the school. He learned to play Scrabble with them and surprised them by often beating them  quite a feat for a Nepali 7th or 8th grader.

Kul Chandra Gautam, a native of Nepal who rose from humble beginnings to become Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, has received the highest honor bestowed to a global leader by National Peace Corps Association (NPCA).

Currently chairman of the board of the anti-poverty non-profit RESULTS, Gautam accepted The Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award today at NPCAs annual Peace Corps Connect conference in Shawnee, PA.

The award is named for the former U.S. Senator who was instrumental in the formation of the Peace Corps in 1961 as a special assistant to President Kennedy. NPCA is the largest non-profit organization representing Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

Born in a small village without running water or electricity, Gautams ties to the Peace Corps date back to 1962 when he attended a school in Tansen, about a three-day walk from home. According to his official biography, Gautam, an outstanding student, became good friends with several U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who were English language teachers at the school. He learned to play Scrabble with them and surprised them by often beating them  quite a feat for a Nepali 7th or 8th grader.

Recognizing Gautams talents, Peace Corps volunteers encouraged Gautam to seek a college scholarship in the United States. Gautam eventually graduated with degrees from Dartmouth College and Princeton University and then worked for UNICEF over three decades, rising to become Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations in the early 2000s.

After retiring from the UN, Gautam was briefly Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal on International Affairs and the Peace Process. He continues informally to advise his countrys senior political and civil society leadership on the peace process, consolidation of democracy, human rights, and socio-economic development.

"I am thrilled and most grateful for this honor, said Gautam. My experience with the Peace Corps has been a source of great inspiration for me from my early student days in Nepal and throughout my long career with the United Nations in the service of the world's poor and disadvantaged, particularly women and children.

The author of a new memoir Global Citizen from Gulmi, Gautam is donating proceeds from the book and the monetary component that accompanies the Harris Wofford award to a UNICEF-assisted girls education project in Nepal.
Florida Hospital Waterman celebrated the topping out of their new patient tower and emergency department expansion on August 23. This is a big day for Florida Hospital Waterman. We are committed to delivering the most advanced and efficient care possible in our community and we are blessed to have the opportunity to build on our historic commitment for the future. - Abel Biri, Florida Hospital Waterman CEO

Florida Hospital Waterman, Jacobs, Robins & Morton, Gresham Smith & Partners and honored guests joined together to celebrate the structural topping out of the Florida Hospital Waterman Emergency Department Expansion and New Patient Tower located in Tavares, Florida.

The $70 million expansion and renovation project will add more than 111,000 square feet of patient care space to the hospital, including an expansion of the emergency department to 58 beds and a 24-bed women and childrens unit. Floors three and four of the new patient tower will be shelled for future growth, and the structure will support an additional expansion up to six floors. The project will more than double the hospitals emergency department capacity as well as expand womens services, pediatrics and support future growth. The project also includes the addition of a sub-grade connecting tunnel, a connecting structure, and required MEP capacity upgrades to the existing Central Energy Plant.

This is a big day for Florida Hospital Waterman, said Abel Biri, Florida Hospital Waterman CEO. As our community continues to grow, and more Lake County residents choose us for their care, we have expanded to meet that demand. We are committed to delivering the most advanced and efficient care possible in our community and we are blessed to have the opportunity to build on our historic commitment for the future.

The expansion and renovation is scheduled to be completed in October 2019.

###

About Robins & Morton

About Robins & Morton

Robins & Morton is a privately-held, innovation-driven construction firm committed to Building with Purpose. Since 1946, the firm has built a reputation as a trusted advisor to clients nationwide by cultivating a high-performing team that values integrity, safety, and innovative thinking. Robins & Morton consistently ranks among the Top 100 U.S. Builders in Engineering News-Record. Robins & Morton is based in Birmingham, Alabama, with additional offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Miami and Orlando, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee. Learn more at http://www.robinsmorton.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.
The production version of the Jaguar E-Type Zero was unveiled Thursday evening in Monterey, California at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

"E-type Zero showcases the incredible heritage of the E-type, and the expertise and craftsmanship at Classic Works, while demonstrating Jaguar Land Rover's dedication to creating zero emission vehicles across every part of the business, including Jaguar Classic," Tim Hannig, Jaguar Land Rover's classic director, said in a statement.

Combining restoration expertise with the zero-emissions technology that made Jaguar's I-PACE SUV so successful, the new E-type Zero will be a custom-made car restored to be an environmentally friendly electric vehicle.

These specified restoration and conversion jobs will be done at Jaguar's Classic Works facility in Coventry, U.K., which handled Jaguar E-type Reborn restorations.

The E-type Zero will use an electric powertrain battery pack that is similar in weight and dimensions to the departing gasoline engine and transmission. This similarity will ensure a smooth conversion, as neither the car's suspension nor brakes will be changed, keeping the driving and handling experience the same as the original E-type. The electric vehicle conversion is fully reversible.

According to Jaguar Land Rover, the E-type Zero will have a quicker acceleration than the original Series 1 E-Type. The car targets a driving range in excess of 170 miles prior to charge and will be powered by a 40kWh battery that should only take six to seven hours to be recharged, depending on the power source.

The Jaguar E-Type Zero first gained publicity when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drove away from their May 19, 2018 wedding reception in a prototype version of the vehicle.
New York state prosecutors are said to be weighing possible criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two unnamed senior officials at the company, The New York Times reported Thursday night.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office is trying to determine what role the organization may have had in the arrangement of a payment Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress who said she had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump.

According to The Times report, the DA's investigation would try to determine how the Trump Organization accounted for the reimbursement it paid Cohen, who was Trump's personal lawyer at the time he facilitated the $130,000 payment to Daniels in 2016.

The identities of the two senior officials reportedly being targeted in the Manhattan DA's inquiry were not immediately clear. As Business Insider's senior politics reporter Allan Smith wrote this week, observers pointed to Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, as likely to be one of the two.

The Times report notes that the Manhattan DA's inquiry is still in its early stages, and prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will proceed.

Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other charges on Tuesday. As part of the deal, he testified under oath that he made the hush-money payment to keep Daniels quiet about her alleged affair with Trump in order to preserve his candidacy in the 2016 election.

Court documents related to Cohen's plea deal said the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen $420,000 for the payment to Daniels and labeled it as legal fees. The money covered the $130,000 payment to Daniels plus costs and fees, a bonus for Cohen, and money to cover his tax liability.

The Trump Organization paid Cohen in $35,000 installments through 2017, and submitted false invoices for the payments which it said were part of a monthly retainer.

"In truth and in fact, there was no such retainer agreement, and the monthly invoices Cohen submitted were not in connection with any legal services he had provided in 2017," prosecutors in Cohen's case said.

A New York state case against the Trump Organization could add to the president's worries because his pardon power does not apply to businesses or individuals convicted of state crimes.
The war in Afghanistan is nearing its 17th anniversary and a new graphic suggests the conflict has reached its deadliest point in years.

Data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program suggests

Related content

The US currently has 15,000 troops in Afghanistan after the Trump administration decided to increase America's footprint in the country by several thousand last year.

Despite the increase in US troops in Afghanistan, the situation there has not improved.

There continues to be fierce fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan and it currently

ISIS has also emerged as a threat in the country and last week claimed responsibility for a brutal attack that left 34 students dead at an educational facility in Kabul.
According to FleetMon, a vessel position tracking platform, the ship, LADA, was intercepted on August 19, 2018, after a security check off Elizabeth Port in South Africa.

The website reported that the inspection of the ship was carried out after an anonymous tip-off.

According to reports, it was headed for Lagos, Nigeria and the United States.

Weapons found on the vessel

- There are 34 containers with arms and explosives on board

- 14 destined for South Africa, to be offloaded at Elizabeth Port (Reports say the South African containers are legal, with all required permits)

- The other 20 are to be transported to Lagos, Nigeria, and to the US

South African newspapers point a torchlight on the story

The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) confirmed the arrest of the vessel to News24 on Thursday.

The Herald also put the cost of the explosions and "weapons of mass destruction" at a value of about R50 million (about $3.4 million)

Smuggling of illegal ammunitions at Nigerian ports

Nigerian ports are always at the receiving end of a large cache of arms being smuggled in the country.

In 2017 alone, over 2,000 arms were seized at various ports and a large of cache of ammunition was intercepted in two separate operations carried out between July 9 and 10, 2018, in Lagos.

Maritime experts and stakeholders continued to call on the government to provide standard technological equipment and implement global conventions to better guard the country's seaports.
President Donald Trump excited white nationalists on Wednesday when he unexpectedly announced that his administration would look into farm seizures and the "large-scale killing" of white farmers in South Africa  a disputed claim promoted by some right-wing and white supremacist groups in the country.

I have asked Secretary of S... @ Donald J. Trump

Trump's tweet was prompted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who aired a segment on his prime-time show on Wednesday condemning South African land redistribution and labeling the country's black president "a racist." Carlson, who has been accused of promoting a host of white nationalist talking points, attacked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for allegedly ignoring an issue Carlson said "should be getting worldwide attention."

"In other words, 'nothing to see here,' says Mike Pompeo's State Department," the host said.

Also on Wednesday, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones aired his own segment on the South African issue on his show Infowars.

Land redistribution and a right-wing backlash

Issues surrounding land ownership have a long history in South Africa, where black people were prohibited from owning much of the country's land for more than 80 years.

Since the end of the apartheid era and the establishment of South African democracy in 1994, the government has purchased some white-owned land and redistributed it to black citizens in an attempt to address the inequalities between the racial groups. (Today, black South Africans make up 79% of the population, but own just 9% of the country's land.)

Last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he supported amending the constitution in order to seize unused land without compensation, so long as the process doesn't "undermine the economy, agricultural production and food security."

Right-wing and white nationalist groups, including AfriForum, a white Afrikaner rights group with 200,000 members, have pushed back against the practice and promoted a narrative of widespread "farm murders" and attacks on white farmers, many of which have not been independently verified. In fact, murders of South African farmers are at a 20-year low. Some white South Africans say attacks on farmers are intentionally underreported.

AfriForum, which has lobbied the US government to take up the cause, has called apartheid a "so-called" injustice.

White nationalists in Europe, North America, and Australia have latched on to the issue. The American right-wing conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich has called it "white genocide."

Former Ku Klux Klan leader and white supremacist provocateur David Duke celebrated Trump's tweet on Wednesday and suggested that the US should "take in" white South Africans.

The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale pointed out on Thursday that this tweet marked the first time the president has ever named the continent in a tweet  and the message was in support of white people. Some noted that Trump's tweet came just days after he was accused by a former White House staffer of using the N-word.

South Africa condemns Trump

The South African government was not pleased with Trump's announcement, tweeting on Thursday that it "totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past."

It continued, "South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation."

And former US ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard accused Trump of seizing on the issue in order to distract from the press surrounding the criminal convictions of two of his top former aides this week.

"The President of the US needs political distractions to turn our gaze away from his criminal cabal, and so he's attacking South Africa with the disproven racial myth of 'large scale killings of farmers,'" the former diplomat tweeted Thursday. "This man has never visited the continent and has no discernible Africa policy."
He further explained that if he grants the request of the plaintiffs, it will inconvenience the fresh students who had already been allocated halls at the University.

However, the Lead counsel of the Katanga Hall, Stephen Asante Bekoe, told journalists after the ruling that he disagreed with the courts explanations as reasons for quashing the case.

He said that they may proceed to the Supreme Court for a proper interpretation of the matter.

The halls include the all-female hall, Africa Hall.

According to the management of the university, it took the decision in line with the universitys policy of periodic review of Residential Accommodation for students.

It noted that the Universitys policy of expanding access to female students remain unchanged.

READ ALSO: 6 things you should know before going to SHS

However, the alumni of the Unity and University Halls have been protesting the decision by management to convert the halls. Their unheeded pleas led them to go to court.

There was a heavy police presence at the premises of the court today, Friday, August 24, 2018.

Meanwhile, the Students Representatives Council of KNUST earlier petitioned the office of the president, Nana Akufo-Addo urging him to intervene in the current impasse over the conversion of halls into mixed at the school.
And there are some movies that benefit from being watched with your significant other.

Do you and your boo have a choice when it comes to picking out which movie to watch. Do you go with a romance to reflect your feelings? A comedy because you need to laugh? A serious drama that you can dissect together afterward? A scary movie so you have someone to be freaked out with? Or something completely fantastical to take you away from real life?

Well, here are a list of 5 movies to watch with your significant other.

Acrimony

A faithful wife (Taraji P. Henson) tired of standing by her devious husband (Lyriq Bent) is enraged when it becomes clear she has been betrayed.

Power

It appears James "Ghost" St. Patrick has it all -- a drop-dead gorgeous wife, a stunning Manhattan penthouse, and the power and success that come with owning hot new nightclub Truth. But a closer look reveals a man living a double life. When Ghost isn't tending to his Fortune 500 business, he's catering to clients of another operation: a drug empire that serves only the rich and influential. While loyal sidekick Tommy protects the cash-cow narcotics venture at all costs, Ghost's new reality is using Truth as more than a front to launder money. It's a way out of the drug game and into a legitimate life with his family, even if everything he loves becomes unknowingly threatened. "Power" is co-executive produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson (who also co-stars) and show creator Courtney Kemp Agboh ("The Good Wife").

The Darkest Mind

When teens mysteriously develop powerful new abilities, they are seen as a threat by the government and sent to detainment camps. Sixteen-year-old Ruby soon escapes from her captors and joins other runaways who are seeking a safe haven. Banded together and on the run, they soon combine their collective powers to fight the adults who tried to take away their future.

Mission: Impossible  Fallout

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team join forces with CIA assassin August Walker to prevent a disaster of epic proportions. Arms dealer John Lark and a group of terrorists known as the Apostles plan to use three plutonium cores for a simultaneous nuclear attack on the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca, Saudi Arabia. When the weapons go missing, Ethan and his crew find themselves in a desperate race against time to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

Equalizer
The lawmaker was reportedly sued by some voters who accused him of having presented a fake Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2013 based on which he became a lawmaker in the East African countrys national assembly.

Meanwhile, Tuko.co.ke reported that its investigations have revealed that, Part of Sudi Oscar Kipchumba's education background on his membership profile in parliament indicated he attended Ngeria Primary School between 2003 and 2006 and attained the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.

The news website added that the same profile which was pulled down leaving the education background empty unlike for other legislators, also showed Sudi attended Highway High School between 2003 and 2006 and got a KCSE certificate.

It goes without saying that the lawmaker must have cut some corners to obtain his basic and high school certificates without necessarily having attended the schools for the mandatory eight years.

It might be based on the same fake certificate that Oscar Sudi got admission into Kenya Institute of Management between 2007 and 2008 and obtained diploma in Business Management.
In August 2017, the Bank of Ghana raised the MCR from GHS120 million to GHS400 million and gave all commercial banks up to the end of 2018 to meet the new requirement or risk having their licences revoked or downgraded to savings and loans companies.

READ ALSO: Domestic airfares reduced

In July 2018, the BoG Governor Dr Ernest Addison said that 6 banks have net the MCR. He added that 2 others were almost there.

Addressing a press conference in Accra after the 83rd Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the BoG, Dr Addison said about 15 banks would meet the requirement by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, 7 local banks have their licences revoked since the central bank announced the new MCR.

READ ALSO: Sinohydro clears path at Atewa Forest bauxite mining

UT Bank and Capital Bank were the first casualties. BoG gave its approval for GCB Bank to purchase both banks after experiencing what the BoG described as irredeemable liquidity challenges in August 2017.

On August 1, 2018, the BoG also announced the merger of 5 local banks into a totally new entity called the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.
The president will be the recipient of the prestigious OUTSTANDING CHANGE LEADERSHIP AWARD at the 2018 edition of the Ghana Procurement & Supply Chain Awards.

The event will be held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

The award is in recognition of the presidents institution of an unprecedented paradigm shift in procurement and supply chain management which, today, has become inextricably linked to the governments "Ghana Beyond Aid" agenda, and accepted within public and private sector decision-making corridors.

The honour also recognises the presidents persistent and tactful advocacy regarding procurement and supply chain management in many national and global fora, in support of Ghanas industrialisation and socio-economic development goals, as part of his visionary leadership and unflinching determination to transform the procurement and supply chain sector in Ghana.

The president shall publicly receive a specially designed trophy and a certificate for his outstanding leadership which has transformed Ghanas procurement landscape.

Additionally, Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement, Ms. Adwoa Safo, will be recognised at the awards ceremony for her role in Promoting Sustainable Procurement through laudable procurement initiatives, such as the procurement quota to women initiatives as well as eliminating corruption and fraudulent procurement processes.

According to Akin Naphtal, CEO of InstinctWave, organisers of the award ceremony, "Aside from awarding operators in the industry that have shown excellence, the Ghana Procurement & Supply Chain Awards, will also emphasise the value and importance of procurement functions and convince organisations of the need for its further development and professionalisation".

The first of its kind in Ghana, the Ghana Procurement & Supply Awards Chain (GPSCA) aims to celebrate outstanding achievements, by rewarding companies, teams, stakeholders and individuals who have demonstrated unparalleled ability to succeed as well as those that have continually set standards of excellence in the procurement sector.

Also, the awards ceremony will witness the unveiling of the top twenty (20) Procurement Leaders.

The Ghana Procurement & Supply Chain Awards, is in collaboration with the Ministry of Procurement, Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Ghana Institute of Procurement & Supply (GIPS), Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management (CISCM).

Millions saved

During his second State of the Nation Address to parliament, Nana Addo has said his government has saved about GH800 million from sole sourcing and restricted tendering processes within its first year in government.

He said said in his first year in office, 394 sole-sourcing requests were made, out of which 223 which represents 56.6 per cent were approved, and 171, which represents 43.4 per cent were rejected.

He noted that there were 346 requests for restricted tenders, and 167, that is 48 per cent were approved, and 179 representing 52 per cent were rejected.
Accra-based Joy FM reports that the deceased, Alhassan Arisu, drowned whiles swimming in the deserted project.

Explaining what really happened, brother to the deceased, Seidu Damba Abdulai, said the victim went out to play with friends but never returned.

He narrated that upon a thorough search, they found Alhassan in the deserted One-Village, One-Dam project.

We were worried. We began going to houses and one guy said [Alhassan] had gone to the abandoned dam site. It was at that moment that we knew something wasnt right, Abdullai is quoted as saying.

He explained that the victim was alive when they found him, but passed on en route to the hospital.

The deceased has since been buried, in line with Muslim custom.

Meanwhile, Alhassans family and some members of the community have blamed government for the tragedy.

According to them, when contractors initially made plans to build the dam under the One-Village, One-Dam initiative, residents argued that the dam would hamper on their living conditions, yet their concerns were ignored.

They complained that contractors immediately abandoned the project following President Akufo-Addo's last visit to the site.

The community raised two legitimate concerns. Some suggested that the land earmarked for construction was too close to their homes and they feared it would overflow, Abdullai lamented.

Others said the land was all they had left from their ancestors. Residents, he added, requested compensation for use of the land  land taken from them without any recompense. The government never responded to our calls.
The event, to be held at the Accra International Conference Centre, will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dr Busias death.

The President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will deliver a keynote address.

Other distinguished guests include Ex-President H.E John Agyekum Kufuor, who will serve as the chairman for the occasion, and the Speaker of Parliament, RT. Hon Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, who will be a guest speaker.

Born July 11, 1913, Dr K.A Busia served as the Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Ghana. He was educated at Mfantsipim School, Wesley College, University of London and Oxford University.

The celebrated academic is noted for having been the first African student at University College, Oxford, where he also served as the first lecturer in African Studies. He later became the first African to occupy a chair at the University College of the Gold Coast (now University of Ghana).

Dr Busia was a founder of the influential Danquah-Busia-Dombo political tradition of Ghana, which currently manifests itself as the ruling New Patriotic party (NPP). On the ticket of the Progress Party (P.P), a precursor of the NPP, he won the Wenchi East parliamentary seat during the 1969 elections and was later confirmed Prime Minister, serving under Head of State Edward Akufo-Addo.

Aged 65, the bespectacled politician died of a heart attack on August 28,1978 in England, while in exile following a military coup detat that overthrew his government in 1972.

Follow these pages for updates on this event:

Website: http://kofiabrefabusia.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drkofiabrefabusia?_rdc=1&_rdr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kabrefabusia/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kabrefabusia/
Last month, it was reported that some 94 out of the NDCs 106 representatives in Parliament have decided to throw their weight behind the former president.

At the time, the names of the said MPs were not made public, while Mahama had also not officially declared his intentions of contesting in the 2020 elections.

However, on Thursday, the list of the 94 NDC MPs who endorsed Mahamas candidature was finally made public, following the ex-presidents official declaration to contest the next elections as flagbearer of the party.

In a statement, the MPs said: As Members of Parliament, we would like to express our profound gratitude to His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama for hearkening to the cries of our Constituents which we presented to him when we met him four (4) months ago. Our Constituents had one simple message  President Mahama should avail himself to the people of Ghana to salvage the sinking ship under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Today He has heeded the clarion call of the people and we are grateful.

The NDC MPs said Mahama would present Ghanaians a credible alternative to this abysmal government with workable and tangible policy alternatives that would alleviate the suffering of the Ghanaian masses, restore confidence in our economy and set Ghana on the path of socio-infrastructural development.
He said Mahama distanced himself from Stan Dogbe after the Ghana@59 brochure scandal in 2016.

He made this known after some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said Stan Dogbe was given too much power under Mahama.

Some said Mahama gave too much power to his close friend, Stan Dogbe who was a presidential staffer. A situation some believes caused the downfall of the NDC adminstration.

Speaking on Joy TV, the NDC MP said "After the Independence Square brochure brouhaha, I was privileged to meet the Presidenthe told me what he was trying to do and he did it. But people simply did not appreciate what he had done. Stan Dogbe, before the Independence Day celebration thing, was always with the President [but] after that Stan Dogbe was never with the President."

Error-ridden brochure

In 2016, Ghana's 59 Independence Day celebration was marred by some embarrassing mistakes in the anniversary brochure.

Among the numerous errors in the brochure is a designation of the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, as President of the Republic of Ghana, as well as other numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Uhuru Kenyatta and Jose Mario Vaz of Guinea-Bissau joined Mahama at the Black Star Square, in Accra on March 6 for the celebration.
Suspected new cases continued to emerge in Mabalako and Oicha areas of North Kivu, according to the UN relief wing.

It said new alerts were under investigation in three more provinces: Mongala, Haut-Uele and Haut Katanga.

A joint United Nations-Ministry of Health team is implementing activities to combat the Ebola outbreak including alerts investigation; vaccination; water, sanitation and hygiene education; epidemiological surveillance; and psychological assistance to the affected families.

Since Aug. 8, more than 2,000 people have been vaccinated, OCHA said.

A joint response plan by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health was finalised with funds secured from donors and humanitarian partners.
It is said the richest place in the world is the graveyard and there is no place richer in Nairobi, Kenya than the Nairobi War Cemetery.

Located some 13 kilometres from the Nairobi Central Business District, the graveyard is one of the most famous graveyards ri in the world and rich in history, yet few people find time to visit it.

Here is a peek inside the rarely seen Nairobi War Cemetery.

Sandwiched between the Ngong Forest Sanctuary and Dagorettis furniture makers, towards the leafy suburb of Karen, lies Nairobi War Cemetery where 1,942 documented heroes from the World War II rest in peace.

While here, one wont fail to notice the well-manicured green lawns and beautiful flowers next to each grave that welcome visitors to the cemetery.

The combatants fought under the Allied-forces led by Britain against the Berlin-Tokyo-Rome axis led by Germany.

Albert Edward, a Lieutenant Colonel with Kings African Rifles who died at 68 years is the oldest while Arthur Lundstrom, David Philip, Donovan Bertram and Dennis Charles all who perished at 18 years are the youngest in the graveyard.

They are among the 1808 British soldiers at the Ngong Road graveyard, thousands of miles from their home country.

The cemetery is one of the 1.75 million World War graves, spread throughout the world.

All the cemeteries across more than 100 countries look alike, with the only difference being the trees grown.

South Africa has 131 soldiers, while Australia, Canada and New Zealand all have one while no Kenyan soldier is buried there.

Army soldiers make up the highest number with 1960 graves, followed by Air-Force with 63 while Navy has 12 combatants.

Acelam Adoch, a private officer with the East African Army ordnance Company in Kenya was the last casualty from the war to be buried at the Ngong Road cemetery following his death on December 23, 1947.
With this additional new funding, the US government said it has provided assistance under the five-year Development Objectives agreement to the tune of $1.1 billion.

Erin Holleran, the acting Mission Director, said, The United States believes that as the most populous country in Africa, with the largest economy on the continent, Nigeria holds tremendous influence over the future of Africa.

She said USAID is committed to partnering with the government and the people of Nigeria to address its development challenges.

Breakdown of the fund

- $25 million will strengthen good governance by supporting state governments efforts to bolster Nigerias Open Government Partnership commitments to improve transparency and fight corruption.

- $1.5 million will support a healthier, more educated population in targeted states through the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

USAID is also partnering with federal and state health ministries to build stronger health systems with the aim of guaranteeing equitable access to quality healthcare services nationwide.

The additional new funding brings the total U.S. government assistance provided under the five-year Development Objectives agreement to $1.1 billion.

United States and Nigeria sign billion dollar agreement to reduce poverty

In 2015, the United States of America, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Federal Republic of Nigeria signed a developmental assistance agreement covering the next five years.

Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and USAID Nigeria Director, Michael T. Harvey signed the agreement during a ceremony on September 29, 2015, at Aso Rock Villa.

The $2.3 billion agreement which covers between 2015 through 2020 was as a result of President Muhammadu Buhari's first visit to Washington, D.C.
Visser, who is the Cambridge University's Country Examination Manager for Nigeria added that students from Nigeria can compete favourably with students from anywhere in the world.

I have no reason to disbelieve this because the observation of this Cambridge official about Nigerian students is absolutely correct.

However, there are questions to ask?

Why do the Nigerian students always shine abroad and looked down upon at home? Why does a seemingly dull student in Nigeria leave the country for a foreign university only to become the best graduating student?

These questions I guess can best be answered by the students who have their education both in Nigeria and oversea.

Pulse spoke with some of these students who were recently celebrated by Nigerian media and they gave us four reasons why Nigerian students perform better abroad.

Here are the observations of outstanding students like Salisu Dasuki, EugeneXavier, Ifeoma Onuike and Muhammed Cengis all of whom had their first degree outside Nigeria.

1. Lecturers' ego

A lot of Nigerian lecturers are too egocentric to see a brilliant student. Their sense of pride is measured by how many students fail their course. Have you ever wondered why some lecturers would swear that you cannot have an A or B in their courses? This attitude has killed the morale of many students because no matter how much they try, the A will not be granted.

2. ASUU Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities incessant strike action is a major problem of university education in Nigeria. The never fulfilled agreement between the Federal Government and the Union has caused many to drop out of school. ASUU strike can be frustrating especially when the union says the strike is an indefinite one.

ALSO READ: FG finally speaks on corps members allowance increase

This is what happened to Folafoluwa Oginni, who left Obafemi Awolowo University in 2012 due to the unions' strike and left for Hertfordshire University in the U.K. She returned in 2017 with a perfect 5.0 GP only to find her friends in OAU sitting at home because ASUU has gone on strike again. This disrupts academic performance in more ways than one.

3. Sexual Harassment

For female students in Nigerian tertiary institutions, getting good grades sometimes is not determined by their academic performance.

There have been so many reported cases of lecturers trying to force students to have sex with them in exchange for grades.

4. Poor learning environment
1. Keep gas cylinder at a safe distance

Sadly, three siblings have lost their lives as a result of an explosion from a cooking gas cylinder.

The disheartening incident occurred in Sara village, Jigawa.

A spokesperson for the state police ASP Abdu Jinjiri confirmed the event to newsmen on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.

Last week, there was a fire incident in the house of one Alhaji Wada Sara and the following people, Zainab Wada, Abdul Wada, Aliyu Wada, Fati Wada and Abdulrahman Wada, sustained various degrees of injuries.

They were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre Birninkudu in Birninkudu LGA for medical attention.

"The incident was as a result of explosion from a cooking gas cylinder," says Jinjiri in a Punch News report.

According to more reports, the victims Zainab, Fati and Abdulrahman died at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. They were of ages 3, 2 and 4.

ALSO READ: Man who could not kill himself with bleach tries petrol

2. When using mosquito coil, ensure you place it on a metallic object

This is important and can save you from becoming a victim of a house fire.

A mother, Iya Adams, and four children have been reportedly killed by a house fire which resulted from a mosquito coil in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The incident occurs on Wednesday, February 21, 2018. The neighbours of the deceased try unsuccessfully to put out a raging inferno which rendered by bodies badly burnt.

This is confirmed in a tweet by a Twitter user, Dan-Borno who added gory images of showing the victims in the dead state.

"VIEWER DESCRETION: Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhin raji'un. FAMILY BURNT TO DEATH.

"Mother and her four kids burnt to death following midnight fire out- break from a burning mosquito coil in #Maiduguri.

"People should be sensitized on how to make use of mosquitor coils," Dan-Bornu expressed on the day of the event.

ALSO READ: Nigerian lady thanks God after surviving nasty gas explosion

3. The best form of protest is not setting yourself on fire

A former Ukrainian soldier, Serhii Ulianov, reportedly set himself on fire to protest his sacking from the force during a televised ceremony.

Ulianov had reportedly poured the content of a bottle - suspected to be petrol - on himself and lit himself up right at the middle of the ceremony.
The accused, who resides at 10 Makoko Road, Yaba, Lagos, is being tried for conspiracy and stealing.

The complainant, Miss Blessing Agu, and her friend were coming from church after a vigil when the accused and other accomplice waylaid them, according to the Police Prosecutor, Insp. Raji Akeem.

The accused and his other accomplice snatched the complainants bag that contained a Holy Bible and her mobile phone valued at N150, 000.

They were, however, intercepted by a vigilance group; they all ran away but the accused was later arrested, he told the court.

Akeem said the offences were committed on Aug. 12 at 5:00am along Makoko Road, Yaba.

The offences contravened Sections 287 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
TEDx is a global platform created in the spirit of TEDs mission, ideas worth sharing. The TEDxLagos event was a celebration of brilliant ideas and inspiring talks organised by members of the TEDxLagos team led by Mercy Akamo, organiser/ licensee of TEDxLagos. The event had Michael Ryan who heads Global Partnerships at TED in attendance.

The interesting line-up of speakers included former Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Olasupo Sasore; popular performer, Bankole Wellington also known as Banky W; Medical Thought Leader, Clare Omatseye and CEO of 9Mobile, Boye Olusanya.

Other prominent attendees included the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa, the Banks Head of Corporate Communication and Marketing, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem and other Senior Executives of the Bank. Also in attendance was Claire Wathen, Community Manager at Skoll Foundation, co-sponsors of the event.

As part of the line-up, there were performances by Dream Catchers, a childrens dance crew and Femi Leye, Afro-jazz guitarist & vocalist.

A major highlight of the day was the Next100 workshop organised by Union Bank. This was an interactive session to discuss the recently unveiled Next100 Fund idea; an initiative to galvanise definite action by private sector participants and Nigerian citizens at large towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), placing the country on an accelerated path to development and prosperity.

The day-long event came to a close with a cocktail and networking session for members of the TEDx community, sponsors, speakers and guests.

Speaking about the event, the Mr. Emuwa said:

Union Bank is pleased to be a principal partner of this years TEDxLagos event. Widely recognised as an initiative synonymous with sharing and inspiring great ideas, we identified the TEDxLagos initiative as one that will amplify our efforts to encourage private sector participation for the achievement of Nigerias economic and social advancement.

We are excited by the innovative ideas and potential partnerships that emerged as a result of todays sessions.

Union Banks partnership with TEDxLagos reiterates its continued commitment to innovation, creativity and support for Nigerias growth.

The Bank continues to focus on maintaining its leading position as a socially driven and responsible corporate organisation.The Bank recently released the second edition of its Citizenship, Sustainability and Innovation (CSI) report, a compendium which outlines the impact Union Bank has made within its host communities and its commitment to its customers and other stakeholders.

It also emphasizes the banks vision to inspire a future where private sector participants are committed drivers of the nations sustainable development.
Though there are many unfit international territories in which to have children and raise a family, these 10 countries are said to be avoided at all costs.

Relocating, starting a family or raising kids are dependent on some determinants that have to be critically considered before taking the step.

In determining which country or countries that are the most fit for bringing up children in, intending parents or couples should take into serious consideration the overall safety, crime rate, healthcare systems, and the quality of education.

In the recent rankings of the Legatum Prosperity Index from the Legatum Institute, the 10 worst countries to raise a kid or start a family have been highlighted after taking into account the quality of education, personal safety, national security, healthcare systems, poorest economies, as well as overall quality of life.

ALSO READ: 10 poorest countries in the world

Going by the ratings and rankings of the Legatum Institute, its safe to say these 10 countries are neither fit for raising kids nor starting families.

Before you make that decision to start a family or raise kids, here are the 10 worst countries in the world where you shouldn't contemplate of raising kids or starting a family.

1. Central Africa Republic

The Central African Republic is one of the countries in the world that have been ravaged by internal wars for several years. The country is situated in the middle of Africa and has been rated the worst international country to raise kids or start a family.

Healthcare system: Worst in the world

Educational system: 3rd worst in the world

Economic system: 5th worst in the world

Security: 2nd worst in the world

Overall quality of life: 2nd worst in the world

President: Faustin-Archange Touadera

Verdict: UNSAFE

2. Chad

Rating closely behind Central Africa Republic is Chad. Interestingly, Chad shares same border with Central African Republic and the entire area is notably ridden with the same poverty, violence, and lack of economic growth. The country is neither safe to raise kids nor start a family.

Healthcare system: 2nd worst in the world

Educational system: 3rd worst in the world

Economic system: 8th worst in the world

Security: 23rd most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 5th worst in the world

President: Idriss Deby

Verdict: UNSAFE

3. The Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been generally been considered unsafe and dangerous for citizens of the world. This is because violence and bloodshed are permanently occurring in the country. From education to healthcare and economic system in the country ranks the lowest in the world.

Healthcare system: 10th worst in the world

Educational system: 12th worst in the world

Economic system: 10th worst in the world

Security: 2nd most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 7th worst in the world

President: Joseph Kabila

Verdict: UNSAFE

4. Iraq

Iraq has remained not only unsafe but politically unstable for over a decade and it is wise to say it is not a country to raise kids or a family. Most people are familiar with the unfortunate conditions plaguing the country which is situated in Western Asia and borders with Turkey.

Healthcare system: 18th worst in the world

Educational system: 20th worst in the world

Economic system: 21st worst in the world

Security: Most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 8th worst in the world

President: Fuad Masum

Verdict: UNSAFE

5. Yemen

One obvious reasons why it is totally unacceptable to raise kids or start a family in Yemen is because the country tops the list for worst overall quality of life. Situated just South of Saudi Arabia, the word peace and tranquility can't be found in Yemen as the country has become synonymous with religious wars and internal conflicts.

Healthcare system: 21st worst in the world

Educational system: 6th worst in the world

Economic system: The worst in the world

Security: 11th most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: The worst in the world

President: Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi

Verdict: UNSAFE

6. Sudan

Despite sharing a border with Egypt, Sudan is neither a safe nor better country to raise kids or start a family. The emergence of militias and religious extremists in the country has left Sudan more dangerous to live in and making it non conducive for immigrants.

Healthcare system: 19th worst in the world

Educational system: 17th worst in the world

Economic system: 6th worst in the world

Security: 6th most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 3rd worst in the world

President: Omar al-Bashir

Verdict: UNSAFE

7. Niger

Also referred to as the Republic of Niger, the country shares a border with Libya. Niger has become porous for religious extremists to penetrate the country. Niger, which also shares border with Nigeria has seen many of its nationals crossing over to Nigeria for improved life. However, the country remains unfit to raise kids or start a family.

Healthcare system: 14th worst in the world

Educational system: 2nd worst in the world

Economic system: 20th worst in the world

Security: 25th most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 11th worst in the world

President: Mahamadou Issoufou

Verdict: UNSAFE

8. Afghanistan

Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. Enjoying a border with Iran, the country in the last decade is synonymous with crisis, violence and in the news for violent reasons. Afghanistan has had its fair share of war and chaos, hence it's inclusion in the worst countries to raise a kid or start a family.

Healthcare system: 17th worst in the world

Educational system: 12th worst in the world

Economic system: 20th worst in the world

Security: 4th most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 4th worst in the world

President: Ashraf Ghani

Verdict: UNSAFE

9. Liberia

Liberia is a country in West Africa, bordering Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire. Situated on the Atlantic coast, Liberia has been through thick and thin and is mereley trying to come out of its doldrums. The country has been tagged 9th worst country to start a family or raise kids and remains not too safe.

Healthcare system: 4th worst in the world

Educational system: 11th worst in the world

Economic system: 16th worst in the world

Security: 20th most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 19th worst in the world

President: George Weah

Verdict: UNSAFE

10. Nigeria

Coming in last on the list of worst countries to raise kids or start a family is Nigeria. Sharing borders with Niger, Chad and Republic of Benin, Nigeria has over the last 16 years become one of the most dangerous countries to live in and the emergence of Boko haram insurgents have neither helped the story. It has the 32nd worst educational system. While this may not seem as bad compared with other countries listed, it is ranked as the 5th most dangerous country to live in, has the 8th worst healthcare system, and 19th worst economy.

Healthcare system: 8th worst in the world

Educational system: 32nd worst in the world

Economic system: 19th worst in the world

Security: 5th most dangerous in the world

Overall quality of life: 22nd worst in the world

President: Muhammadu Buhari
On Thursday, August 23, 2018, the lady with the handle @EniolaHu tweeted "Speaking of submission, during my Yoruba engagement, my husband and I told the Alagas to not use that word or ask me to kneel for him. Everyone told me it wouldn't be possible because, culture. But guess whose knees didn't touch the ground?"

She also went on to say "My sisters wedding was earlier this week and she also warned against using the term ile oko (husbands house). Everyone is setting their house rules and removing the bs one act at a time. Looking forward to subversive no wedding family members lol."

The first tweet has been retweeted over 2,000 times and has sparked a Twitter debate on so called patriarchal practices in Nigerian traditional wedding ceremonies.

Quite a number of people disagree with @EniolaHu's point of view.

On the other side of things;

The Yoruba traditional wedding ceremony is known for its celebration of culture. It is a colourful affair that celebrates the love and union of a man and his wife. It has gone on to influence fashion and style because of the extravagant display of aso-ebi, music and food.

Lately some of the practices of the traditional ceremony have raised eyebrows because they no longer fit into the 'wokeness' of today's generation.
Tiwa Savage took over London with her 'Savage' pop-up which held at Berwick street, Soho in the heart of the city. The event was put together by London-based stylist, Irene Agbotaen who was responsible for Wizkid

Irene Agbontaen is a fashion stylist and designer who created Taller Than Your Average (TTYA) London; an apparel brand offering accessible, modern, functional pieces that are specifically cut for women who are 59 or taller. Her label launched in Selfridges in 2013 and has gone on to be stocked Barneys, New York as well as being the first pioneering tall brand to debut on ASOS.com.

Featuring inscribed t-shirts, bandanas, jumpers, hoodies and phone accessories, Tiwa's merchandise looked strikingly similar to Kanye West's from his Ye launch with the bold neon colours and slogans.

Tiwa herself showed up looking casual in an orange sweatshirt and baggy denim jeans. Her best accessory however was her darling son who came rocking a Savage bandana in support of his Mummy.
Despite our Jollof wars, Nigerians and Ghanaians are very fond of each other. In the past few years, there has been an influx of tourist Nigerians to Ghana than ever before. Ghana has great street food, great tourist markets and amazing people.

Thinking of taking a trip to Ghana? We've compiled information for what you should expect and things you would need for the trip.

Documents you need

To travel from Nigeria to Ghana by any means, you need a valid international/ECOWAS passport and a yellow card. It is very advisable to get your yellow card before travelling as it is very important and can be a means by which officials extort you. You can get the yellow card for about N1000 at the Port Health office close to the international airport. It is also advisable to have your another means of ID like a drivers license or a student/work ID, and your accommodation details.

Choosing your means of transport

A flight from Nigeria (Lagos) to Accra averages at 1 hour 10 minutes. However, if you are going by road, brace yourself for a full 17-24 hours on the move (consider your bladder). The journey from Nigeria to Ghana by road is quite a long one but it's the scenic route, so brace yourself for the adventure. There are different ways to cross, if you choose to go by road, you can either choose to go directly with a transport company or hire out a taxi that will take you. For an intense budget trip, you could consider hitchhiking.

Money moves

Hopefully, by this time, you have already created your budget for the trip. After knowing the amounts you have to spend, best bet is to have your naira in raw cash and prepare to change it for Ghanaian cedis at the Aflao border, which is the border between Togo and Ghana. Travelling with US dollars is a good idea too because even if you don't change it at the border, you can find any Bureau de Change in town and change it for cedis because dollars is widely accepted. Some hotels also accept USD but you can hardly find one that accepts Naira. It is also important to keep up with the exchange rates so you won't get cheated. Naira fluctuates crazily too. It might be scary hanging on to such huge amounts of cash but this is your best bet unless you have a dollar Mastercard , because your naira cards will not work in Ghana.

Crossing borders

If you're going by road, there are three borders you have to cross. The Lagos-Cotonou border, the Cotonou-Togo border and the Togo-Ghana border. Crossing the borders mean a lot of stress, negotiation and "settlement", especially if you are a first time traveller or you have a "virgin" passport. Most times, if you are using a transport company, they will take care of the crossing logistics for you. However, if you plan on crossing the border on your own, brace yourself for a lot of paying-offs you would have to do at all the stops.
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The group of women numbering 112 were arrested by the Police on August 17, 2018 for conducting an "illegal assembly and holding an unlawful protest".

The women had protested topless to question the government over the disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who disppeared without a trace, alongside his parents, after an alleged invasion of soldiers on his father's residence in September 2017.

The women have been locked up since and their detention has created a storm with Nigerians calling the act undemocratic.

Moghalu visited the Owerri prison on Friday, August 24, to demand for the release of the women. He disclosed this on his Twitter account where he argued that every Nigerian should have the freedom to express themselves.

He posted, "I have just left Owerri prison where I demanded the release of the 112 women detained for several days. We must not become a country where impunity by the authorities is the response to peaceful dissent. Freedom of association and expression should apply to all Nigerians.

"I support efforts being made by well-meaning Nigerians to secure the unconditional release of 112 women detained in Owerri prison for a peaceful demonstration. Their freedom of speech and assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution, and is non-negotiable."

Nigerians have right to peaceful protest - Moghalu

According to a report by Vanguard, Moghalu was largely ignored by the Deputy Controller General of Nigeria Prisons in charge of Works and Logistics, Charles Ahaotu, when he staged his protest.

Despite his best efforts to get the attention of the official, he reportedly said he was busy with official assignments.

While addressing the media at the prison, Moghalu said Nigerians have the constitutional rights to express themselves without being subjected to abuse by the state as long as it is peaceful.

He said, "I am shocked that this kind of thing is happening in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigerian citizens have a right to peaceful protest. Nigerian citizens are not prisoners. They should not be caged. People have a right to express themselves. You may or not agree with them as far as they are peaceful.

"Why would any society throw over 112 women into prison for some days now. I think this is gross abuse of their fundamental rights and it is time we all as Nigerians rise up and take a stand.

"Nigeria is not an animal farm in which some animals are more equal than the others. All the citizens of Nigeria, have the right to free expression. They have the right to freedom of movement, they have the right to freedom of Assembly.

"They should not be treated as if they are sub-humans simply because we don't like what they are saying or doing."
Senate President Bukola Saraki, three State governors and a slew of lawmakers had no squabbles dumping the APC for the PDP.

Many political pundits saw the defections as a sign that Buhari would have troubles keeping a chunk of the base that got him into office at the fourth time of asking.

Speaking during lunch with some APC governors, members of the national and state assemblies and commissioners in his home town of Daura on Thursday, August 23, 2018, President Buhari said he isnt losing sleep over the defections.

Here are 5 things he said:

1. Buhari wished the defectors good luck

For those who have decided to change camp for whatever reason, we wish them good luck, Buhari said.

2. Buhari takes on PDP

The president had some words for the opposition PDP: Even the opposition with all their resources cannot fault our identification of Nigerias priorities and the efforts being made to better them.

3. The president says the APC government hasnt lost focus

Some say the APC which promised change during the 2015 electioneering campaigns, has lost its way. Buhari disagrees.

We are always encouraged when all our constituents are happy with the work we are doing and our genuine efforts to make sure that what we campaigned for in 2015 is still very much in our minds and we have not lost focus, he said.

4. President speaks on focus areas

The APC promised to tackle insecurity, fix a broken economy and fight corruption. Buhari says his party still remembers its three cardinal promises.

In terms of security, economy and the fight against corruption, we have maintained focus, Buhari said.

5. Buhari says it wont be distracted by the PDP
The Owerri-born US-based technology entrepreneur disclosed this during an interview with Pulse on Thursday, August 23, 2018, noting that the party aligns with his vision for Nigeria.

AAP is one of the political parties that were recently registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), bringing the total of parties to 91.

35-year-old Ukaegbu told Pulse that the party is committed to taking care of all Nigerians and is poised to emerge victorious at next year's polls.

He said, "Two days ago, after several months of talking to different parties and trying to make sure my ideology and the vision of our movement aligns with any party I align with, we decided to go with one - Advanced Alliance Party (AAP).

"People ask why and I'll tell you. So the leadership - for one, their symbol is a golden spoon and our very first solution is to feed the people and for them the spoon is symbolic (for) access to food for anyone - for the rich, for the poor, for the old, for the young, for male, for female. We all have to eat.

"For me, more importantly, they share the same ideologies that I share and their leadership was comprised of different organisations that are important for us to be successful. So, we bring a lot to the table - we bring the vision, the ideology, the technology and all of that, but we needed the party that has structure, that can help us get into all 36 states.

"It was important for us to make sure that this was not just playtime but whosoever we're aligning with was the one who had the capacity to get the message across but also the machine to drive the votes out. AAP did that for us.

"Two, AAP embraced the importance of youth leadership, so to run for office in the party, candidates between the ages of 25 to 35 don't get to pay for the forms to encourage more young people to run for office."

AAP has more structure than PDP, APC

Presidential aspirant Chike Ukaegbu thinks Buhari doesn't cut it

Ukaegbu also boasted about the new party's structure which he claimed has more ambassadors than Nigeria's biggest parties, the All Progressives' Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

He said, "The people who came together to form this party are the leadership of the National Youth Council, several civil societies, several trade unions, several women organisations and a very famous big organisation that I cannot mention the name for now.

"That actually gives us a base of between 3,000 and 11,000 in each state which means, membership-wise, between 200,000 and 300,000 (people) starting off.

"That's 200,000 and 300,000 ambassadors you have who are going out to campaign. There's no party, not even your PDP or APC, that has that structure right now."
The lawmaker made his pledge when he paid a visit to the president in Daura, Katsina State on Thursday, August 23, 2018.

While speaking to the media after a meeting with the president, Sani said he discussed several issues with Buhari bordering on uniting the All Progressives' Congress (APC) and ensuring his second term victory.

He said, "I am also here to fully assure him of the support of my constituency, Kaduna Central, to his aspiration for the second term. I'm also here to assure him of my own wholehearted support to the success of his administration and his return to office for the second term.

"Those were the basic issues that we discussed with him and other issues that border on the need to strengthen our party; the need to end all internal strife and also the need to put heads, hearts and hands together for the success of his administration and also for the success of the party."

Sani says national interest made him stay with APC

Despite his several public criticisms of the administration, Senator Sani did not join the party of a dozen lawmakers that dumped the APC for the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in July.

After Thursday's meeting, Sani said he refused to leave the party due to national interest which he put over his own personal interests so as to contribute to the nation's progress.

He said, "Well, there is no human being without any grievances but when national interest is put at the front side you have to put aside other parochial interests.

"What we need to do as politicians and as people representing those who elected us is to always put the country first and know very well that we have both constitutional and moral duty to work to the progress of Nigeria and of this government.

"So, I think these are the basic issues which we discussed, grievances are natural but we have to know that we have a country that we need to keep and also we have a country that we need to support, so that it can progress.

"I think the party had made it very clear and known to each and every person that there will be reward for loyalty but in every sense of the word due process of the party needs to be followed.

"And as far as we are concerned, what matters most to us is not simply about automatic ticket but about the peaceful and transparent conduct of the 2019 election and also the very need for us as a people and as a nation to know that the fate of the country is on our hands."
On Thursday, two of the men received prison time for participating in the beating of a black man in a garage. Jacob Scott Goodwin, 23, was sentenced to serve eight years, and Alex Michael Ramos, 34, received a sentence of six years.

Goodwin, who is white, was found guilty this month of malicious wounding in the assault of DeAndre Harris, which was captured in a video that spread widely on social media. Ramos, who court records list as being Hispanic, was convicted in May of malicious wounding for his role in the beating.

Goodwin was sentenced to 10 years in prison, though two of those years were suspended. Ramos was sentenced to six years, and the judge added an additional three-year term that will be suspended on the condition that Ramos successfully completes three years of probation, according to his lawyer.

The video from Aug. 12, 2017, showed six men surrounding Harris and hitting him with wooden boards and a metal pipe. Harris, 21, suffered a head wound and a broken wrist.

Goodwin, of Ward, Arkansas, was described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white supremacist who wore pins celebrating Adolf Hitler and the neo-Nazi Traditionalist Worker Party. The SPLC, which tracks racist hate groups, also described Ramos, of Marietta, Georgia, as a former member of a militia group called the Georgia Security Force III.

The lawyer for Goodwin, who is also representing Preston, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Ramos lawyer had no comment apart from the details of his clients sentence.

Two other men, Daniel P. Borden and Tyler Watkins Davis, were arrested in connection with the beating. Davis will face his trial later this year, and Borden pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing in October, according to court records.

On Tuesday, Preston, a Maryland man described as an imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, was sentenced in Charlottesville Circuit Court to four years in prison for firing a gun during the rally, the records show. As in the case of the garage beating, footage of Prestons shooting also spread online, and amateur sleuths set out to identify the assailant.

In the video, released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Preston was shown pulling out a handgun and firing at the ground in the direction of a black counterprotester, Corey A. Long, 24. At the time, Long was igniting a can of spray paint that a protester had thrown, turning it into an improvised flamethrower.

Joseph Platania, the commonwealths attorney, said in an email statement on Thursday about Prestons Tuesday sentence: After careful consideration of the evidence presented, the Commonwealth feels that Moore imposed a fair and just sentence for the choices Preston made on Aug. 12, 2017.

He was not immediately available to comment on Thursdays sentences.

No one was injured by the shot that Preston fired. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia submitted the video to the FBI and the local police.

Preston, from Baltimore, was arrested on Aug. 30, 2017, and charged with discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, a crime punishable by two to 10 years in prison.

He pleaded no contest to the charge in May, records show, meaning he acknowledged that enough evidence existed to convict him, without admitting to committing a crime.

His sentence of eight years  four years of which was suspended  will be followed by three years of supervised probation, the records show.

The Daily Progress reported that at the hearing Tuesday, Platania said Preston was lucky the conflict did not escalate after he fired his gun. Its difficult to describe how poorly that could have gone, he said.

Woodard had argued that Preston was defending himself and his friends from a wall of flames, the newspaper reported.

Judge Richard E. Moore, noting Prestons anger in the video, said, I dont find you were saving anyones life, the newspaper reported.

The Baltimore Sun, in a profile, reported that Preston founded the KKK chapter in Cecil County, Maryland, in 2013. He was identified from the video as the imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan shortly after the rally, the SPLC said.

In an interview posted on YouTube in 2015, Preston said the Klan was a Christian, white patriotic organization. Were here for America, he said.

He kept the same line in 2017 shortly after his attendance at the Unite the Right rally, telling an Indiana TV station: We didnt go as the Klan.

We didnt go there to create havoc and fight. We went there to protect a monument, he said, referring to the protest by white nationalists over the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.

But the rally turned violent  and then deadly. A 32-year-old woman, Heather D. Heyer, was killed when a man drove into a crowd of counterprotesters. James Alex Fields Jr., who was charged with first-degree murder in 2017, faces new hate crimes under a federal indictment announced in June.

Long, who has said that he was protecting an older white man when he ignited the spray can, faces a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, court records show. He will stand trial in January.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Today, "of course, I am standing by Georgia's territorial integrity," she added.

Merkel last visited Georgia in August 2008, a few days after an EU-brokered ceasefire ended Russia and Georgia's armed conflict over the Moscow-backed breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.

After the five-day war, Moscow recognised the two enclaves that constitute 20 percent of Georgia's territory as independent states and stationed permanent military bases there.

On Friday, Merkel will travel to Armenia and on Saturday to Azerbaijan, where she will encourage "a peaceful and consensual solution" to the two countries' long-running territorial conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region, her office said.
"Not only for the Idlib region but for the future of Syria, it will cause catastrophe and the clashes may last a long time," he warned.

Speculation is increasing that there could be a Russian-backed government assault on the northwestern province, home to Syria's last major rebel stronghold.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime still holds Idlib's southeastern tip and he has set his sights on retaking control of the region, which borders Turkey, calling this one of his priorities.

Cavusoglu warned of the risk heavy fighting would pose to the large civilian population.

"Civilians will be harmed. Where will the 3.5 million civilians go?" he asked, as Turkey has already taken in more than three million refugees from Syria.

'Halt refugee influx

Idlib is one of the so-called "de-escalation" zones set up as a result of talks by Russia, Turkey and Iran last year.

Cavusoglu stressed the need to keep the de-escalation zone in place "to halt any refugee influx".

"It's also important for Turkey because they are on the other side of our border. They pose a threat to us first," he added.

Nonetheless rebel-backer Turkey considers "it is very important that those radical groups, terrorists are rendered ineffective," he said.

Putin later met both the Turkish foreign and defence ministers in Moscow.

In televised comments the Russian leader said that through the efforts of Russia, Turkey and other countries, they had "managed to seriously move forward in settling the Syrian crisis".

Yet the situation in Syria remains one of the "burning questions" for Russia, he admitted.

Russia's Lavrov on Friday called the situation in Idlib "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures".

"When the de-escalation zone was created in Idlib, no one proposed using it for terrorists to hide behind the civilian population like a human shield," he said.

"Especially as they aren't just lying low there. Raids are constantly coming from there as well as firing on the positions of the Syrian army".

Strategic role

The Turkish foreign minister said Ankara would still rely on talks with Russia and Iran, known as the Astana peace process, widely seen as an attempt to circumvent largely fruitless UN talks on Syria.

The high-level visit to Russia by Turkish ministers comes as Turkey is feuding with NATO ally United States over an American pastor held for two years on terror charges.

US President Donald Trump this month announced sanctions against Turkey that caused the lira to plunge in value.

Idlib is a strategically important province adjacent to Latakia, a regime stronghold on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad's clan.

The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance controls around 60 percent of Idlib while other Turkey-supported rebel groups hold most of the rest.

Analysts say any regime offensive will probably be limited to a small area of Idlib, with a deal between Russia and Turkey likely to determine the fate of the rest of the province.

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.

Russia began a bombing campaign in support of Assad's regime in September 2015 and has helped him win back large parts of the country.
"Nazanin was released from Evin prison on furlough this morning. Initially the release is for three days -- her lawyer is hopeful this can be extended," her husband Richard Ratcliffe said in a statement.

Ratcliffe said his wife, who has denied all charges filed against her in Iran, was currently with her parents and their four-year-old daughter Gabriella in Damavand, a mountain resort near Tehran.

"I cried so much. I felt so overwhelmed," she said of the reunion, according to a statement released by The Free Nazanin campaign, which is run by her husband.

Her husband voiced thanks to those in Tehran and London involved in making the release happen, including Britain's new Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

"This was a very happy surprise after a number of false dawns recently, which had been increasingly unsettling," her husband said.

Hunt, who met Ratcliffe in London earlier this month after he was appointed as Britain's top diplomat in July, called her temporary release "really good news" and paid tribute to the "tireless campaigning by husband Richard and her friends".

"But being in prison AT ALL is gross injustice and she must be PERMANENTLY released for which every effort will continue," he wrote on Twitter.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation -- the media organisation's philanthropic arm -- was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2016.

She is serving a five-year jail sentence for sedition -- a charge she has always contested.

Hunt's predecessor Boris Johnson came under heavy criticism after appearing to jeopardise her defence last year by saying she was training journalists during her visit -- something her employer and family strongly deny.

Johnson later clarified his remarks, saying it was clear that she was only on holiday.

Ratcliffe and his supporters have held multiple protests and vigils in London to seek her release, attracting celebrity support from the likes of Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson.

'Had to borrow a phone'

The Free Nazanin campaign said she was told on Thursday she had just 10 minutes to get ready because she was being released.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was not allowed to call her family and had to borrow a phone from someone outside the prison to call her brother, who lives in Tehran, to pick her up.

She then called her husband and the British embassy and travelled to join the rest of her Iranian family, including her grandmother and daughter, in Damavand.

"I wasn't expecting it at all when it was mentioned two weeks ago," she was quoted as saying by the campaign.

"I didn't tell Gabriella or for a long time my mum -- so if it didn't happen I would be the only one to suffer."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told she must return to prison on Sunday and the two conditions of her release are that she not give any media interviews or visit the grounds of any foreign embassy.

Bail for her temporary release was set at one billion rials ($23,800, 20,600 euros), with her family's home in Tehran used as collateral, the campaign said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's lawyers will on Saturday ask the authorities to extend her furlough, it added.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  What other place would a 100-foot flamethrower created by students from Purdues School of Aeronautics and Astronautics fit in better than the annual Burning Man event in the Nevada desert?

The flamethrower, dubbed Big Friendly Flame, was created by a 10-member team in the Propulsion Design, Build, Test class this year. Attached to a fire truck called Heathen, the project will be center stage at the event, which begins Sunday(August 26).

Carson Slabaugh, an AAE assistant professor who taught the course for the first time in the spring, said the directives for the project were simple: They wanted a really, really big flame, he said.

I was interested in doing a Burning Man project because most of the work we do is very targeted, very focused on some specific research objective. We want to learn some specific thing, said Slabaugh. As an engineer, I really enjoyed the opportunity to design and build something just for the fun of doing it.

The 10-member team that developed, tested and assembled the large, artistic flame device delivered the flame thrower project in July to Walter Productions, the company that sponsored the project. Some members of the Purdue student team headed out to Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada this week to help to get the project integrated.

For video of the project, go to https://youtu.be/UUZNLjhHwMI.

The project was not as simple as creating a big flame. There were restrictions. For one, the team would not be allowed to use liquid fuel, Slabaugh said.

Unfortunately, any fuel that is ejected but doesnt burn comes back down, so you have to maintain a safety perimeter, he said. That just isnt possible at a festival like Burning Man where this flame effect is going to be mounted on a truck and driving through crowds of people.

With that in mind, the group opted for the gaseous fuel propane. But that brought other challenges.

That makes it really, really hard, actually, to get very large-scale flames like this, Slabaugh said. Liquid fuel flamethrowers can reach distances of 40-60 feet, but we were stuck with a gaseous fuel and needed to reach flame heights that are twice as large as known liquid systems. That was the technical challenge.

Philip Piper, the team leader on the project and a graduate research assistant, said Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, the nations largest university propulsion lab, was used to develop and build a prototype of the concept.

(Zucrow is) amazing because they really have all the expertise, all the components, all the facilities that were needed, he said.

The system that ultimately was created has three combustion devices: A pilot system that stays lit at all times; a torch ignitor and an ejector. The team also built an accumulator, or a tanking system, to transfer liquid propane into it and eject the propane as liquid. It flashes to vapor quickly. But using an accumulator system as well as ejecting the liquid allowed the team to bring the pressure to about 500 PSI. A typical propane tank has pressure about 100-150 PSI.

We created a nitrogen pressurization system that let us not only eject the propane in a liquid phase but also push it up to much higher pressures, Slabaugh said.

A liquid propane test with 480 PSI and 16.4 pounds of mass flow produced a 103-foot flame height  as well as a vortex ring and massive, lingering smoke ring. Ultimately, Slabaugh said the team reached nearly 130 feet high in testing.

Its not the first time the course has designed projects to be displayed at Burning Man.

In 2015, a student group designed a pulse jet, twin valveless pulse jet engines that attached to Walters Mona Lisa. In 2014, another student team designed Helios, music-controlled propane torches that initially were attached to Walters three-story mobile dance party machine. In 2013, a team of students created a combustible vortex ring generator to be mounted onto Heathen. That device was featured in a piece on Discovery Channel. Those classes all were led by Timothee Pourpoint, an associate professor in AAE.

Piper was joined on the project by Rohan Gejji, a post-doctoral research associate in Slabaughs research group, as project mentor, as well as AAE students Hasan Celebi, Blair Francis, Tristan Hagerman, Mark Hurt, Naveen Joel, Steven Pugia, Angel Rodriguez and Brandon Smail.

Media contact: Brian L. Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu

Writer: Stacy Clardie, 765-496-0291, sclardie@purdue.edu

Sources: Carson Slabaugh, 765-494-3256, cslabau@purdue.edu

Philip Piper, piperp@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Broadcast-quality B-roll is available at http://bit.ly/2MpgfHU
The inquiry into the leaking of Simon Bridges expenses has been called off, which National MP Gerry Brownlee says is a mistake.

On Friday, Speaker Trevor Mallard called off the inquiry into who leaked the information to Newshub, citing that it's a National Party matter and not something the country or the Parliament needs to be involved in.

But Mr Brownlee told RadioLIVE that in his opinion, the Speaker outrageously alleged that the leaker is from the National Party.

Hes pointed the finger at 56 MPs, half the Parliament, and said you guys are the guilty ones.

Mr Brownlee argues that the finger-pointing cant be ignored, which is precisely why the inquiry into the leaker should carry on.

Last Thursday, Mr Bridges, Mr Mallard and Newshub's political editor Tova O'Brien were sent a text from the leaker pleading for the inquiry to be called off, indicating that they had a "prolonged serious mental illness".

The leaker identified themselves as a member of the National Party caucus and gave examples from the caucus meeting to prove it.

In the text, the leaker says: "You [Mr Bridges] told [an MP] in front of everyone that you thought it was the Speaker that leaked the information."

Nevertheless, Mr Brownlee emphasised that there is no evidence to prove that the text actually came from the leaker and was unsure whether the leaker came from his own caucus.

He told RadioLIVE that should the leaker be identified, their actions would be seen in the context that they did while they were in an unwell state.
When trying to reduce your single-use plastic use you will generally find that meat comes plastic-wrapped on non-recyclable polystyrene trays.

Enter new compostable packaging from Hawke's Bay organic free-range chicken brand, Bostock Brothers.

George Bostock told RadioLIVE that the new packaging is made from two layers of certified GMO-free corn sources and wood pulp, which took a year to develop.



Mr Bostock told RadioLIVE that "it looks and feels like plastic, and its just as strong as the conventional packaging that we were using."
Three months ago, the NZ Herald came under fire for its role in sex crimes against a young Auckland teenager, by publishing sex ads that sold the services of a teen, believed to be 18 in the ads, when it was revealed later on in court that she was 14. Stop Demand works to reduce the demand that drives the global sex trade. Denise Ritchie is the founder and barrister, and she says it's still happening.

Ms Ritchie claims that NZME has tightened up processes and in a time when we're asking for greater respect for women, shouldn't the publisher "step-up and get it sorted"?
The penalties are the result of several complaints from beIN subscribers due to its violation of competition rules in the kingdom, the authority said.beIN Sports stands accused of requiring subscribers to purchase multiple channels offered by beIN Media rather than only those viewers wish to see. It has also been criticised for creating year-long subscription packages during the Euro 2016 football tournament even if viewers only wished to watch the month-long action.The move also comes as Saudi Arabia faces mounting pressure to close down the pirate TV station beoutQ which beIN Media, supported by major international sports bodies and technology companies , claim broadcasts via the Riyadh-based Arabsat satellite platform.The Qatar-based broadcaster claims the Saudi competition authoritys decision is manifestly politically motivated and is threatening to take legal action in response.In a statement it said: beIN is being attacked by the Saudi authorities for doing exactly what sports and entertainment broadcasters around the world do, and indeed what other broadcasters active in the Saudi market also do. The decision would require beIN to meet conditions that no broadcaster anywhere in the world is required to meet.This is simply another illegitimate attempt by Saudi Arabia to drive beINs highly successful business from the country, putting politics ahead of the interests of Saudi consumers. It also sends a deeply troubling message to the international business community about the arbitrary conditions of commerce and lack of the rule of law in Saudi Arabia. We are considering all legal options.The move formalises the block on beIN Media in Saudi Arabia, however, given the 14-month long trade ban between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Saudi sports fans have been unable to renew their subscriptions to the pay-TV service over the past year
Starring Suranne Jones and Lennie James, who also co-wrote and created the drama which he calls a love letter to the south London of his youth, Save Me follows Nelson Nelly Rowe (James) and his search for Jody, his missing daughter. A daughter he hasn't seen for ten years - more than half her life. Nelly's a charmer, a chancer, a lover, a fighter, and a liar. Hes now also an estranged father, accused of kidnapping the daughter he barely knows.James is also a series executive producer with Jessica Sykes of Independent Talent and Simon Heath from World Productions, the company that produced the award-winning Line of Duty. Other co-writers are Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith. The series was directed by Nick Murphy and producer is Patrick Schweitzer.The Sky original series, which aired on Sky Atlantic in the UK, became Skys most rapidly binged boxset ever with more than a million people watching the entire series in less than a fortnight. The new season will premiere on 6 September, running over three nights on Starz, the Starz app and Starz On Demand.Commenting on the deal, Leona Connell, director of sales, Sky Vision said: Its testament to the quality of this drama and the talented cast that Starz decided to invest in the series and showcase it this Autumn. Save Me has sold to over 132 territories, including Latin America, Italy, Australia, Germany, Spain and the Benelux, which is proof of its international popularity.The second series of Save Me is currently in pre-production.
This week, the formerly politically astute former House Speaker Newt Gingrich lost his bearings a bit -- declaring we are now at the end of the failed investigation of the special counsel, and telling a prominent Washington journalist on the record that Republicans must politicize the alleged murder of an Iowa student by an illegal immigrant or they will lose the midterm elections badly. But Gingrich knows whats coming for the GOP, he has seen it before.

If you gave Gingrich truth serum he would concede that 2018 represents as bad a threat to House Republicans as 2006 did, when -- at the time -- Gingrich recommended that all Democrats needed to ask voters was Had enough?

The special counsels investigation into the 2016 election, headed by Robert Mueller, certainly isnt ending anytime soon. Yet on an afternoon when two close associates of President Trump officially became convicted felons, Newt must have found it hard to think straight. On Tuesday, as a jury found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty on eight counts of financial crimes that could put him away for years, Trumps former personal attorney was pleading guilty to his own eight counts of financial crimes -- and telling a judge he did some of them at the direction of Donald Trump. On that same day, a second GOP congressman who endorsed Trump early for president was indicted. California Rep. Duncan Hunter follows Rep. Chris Collins, one charged for misuse of campaign funds, the other for insider trading.

In 2006, when voters grew increasingly weary of the war in Iraq, congressional Republicans covered their ears as multiple scandals exploded within their ranks. For example, Rep. Randy Duke Cunningham had taken bribes the year before to splurge on a 19th century Louis-Philippe commode; in 2018 its Hunter, who is also from the San Diego area, charged with spending campaign dollars on tequila shots and Hawaiian shorts. Both are decorated military veterans whom voters considered the best of public servants.

Unlike 2006, this year Congress isnt the source of the worst scandals; those are mostly spewing from the executive branch. But Republicans in Congress, a separate and co-equal branch, have abdicated their responsibility to oversee the Trump administration. They were apparently betting that voters wouldnt notice, a calculation that may end up costing them their majority.

Polling in 2006 showed that voters, who considered both parties in Congress to be corrupt, trusted Democrats more to counter corruption. Recent polling shows independent voters especially do not believe Republicans in Congress are conducting necessary oversight of the Trump administration.

It turns out voters have been paying attention to the Trump administrations many ethical lapses. There isnt room here for an inventory but if you have forgotten, Google the various transgressions of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and, worst of all -- former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

The Republican National Committee is paying Trumps former personal bodyguard Keith Schiller $15,000 per month for  what? The Trump 2020 campaign tried offering Omarosa Manigault Newman $15,000 per month for her silence. Republican political entities have spent $3 million at Trump properties, foreign government officials stay at the Trump International Hotel, helping amass $40 million in revenue in 2017 while membership fees have doubled at Mar-a-Lago, the Winter White House where Trump mingles with the guests who are delighted to pay any price for such access.

Republicans have sat mute as Trump has demanded the Justice Department prosecute his political enemies, sought influence over the Federal Reserve and the judiciary, threatened private companies like Harley-Davidson and revoked the security clearances of his critics. Although Republicans have given lip service to passing legislation to protect Muellers investigation, GOP leaders have refused to allow a vote.

Terrible Tuesday, to the surprise of no one, didnt quiet Trump. Unbowed, he made it clear he feels Paul Manafort has earned special stature as a loyalist, which makes the prosecution illegitimate, and he is considering a pardon for him. Not only was it sad what they did to Manafort, Trump said, but he expressed respect for his former campaign chairman because he refused to break... to get a deal. Trump even told Fox & Friends that the whole use of cooperating witnesses, flipping, he said, should be outlawed. He continued his attacks on his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for not sparing him from the Russia probe by recusing himself from it, during the same Fox & Friends interview.

All of it, of course, quieted Republicans. Sen. Lindsey Graham did tell reporters that pardons are traditionally for people who have reformed themselves and since Manafort hadnt even been sentenced it may look self-serving for Trump to pardon him. But Graham, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, also indicated that while it wasnt wise to replace Sessions before the midterm elections, it was likely to happen sooner rather than later -- which amounted to Graham blessing a likely attempt by Trump to quash the Mueller probe with a new attorney general. With two months to go before Election Day, Democrats arent likely to let that one slip by the voters.

In 2006 Gingrich told Time magazine that voters hire you to govern, not just to tell them you are right. Democrats, he said, needed nothing beyond an appeal to end the corruption. What they are going to try to do, what they should do, is say nothing except Had enough?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi remembers that campaign well, because it made her speaker. On Wednesday she circulated a letter to her colleagues describing GOP control of government as a cesspool of self-enrichment, secret money and ethical blindness and blamed Republicans for turning a blind eye to the corruption and criminality at the heart of President Trumps inner circle.

That same day Gingrich had emailed Mike Allen at Axios to make sure he played up the story of immigrant homicide. If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble. If we can be blocked by Manafort-Cohen, etc.., then GOP could lose [the House] badly, Gingrich wrote.

Desperation traveled quickly in the GOP this week as the normally bad Trump news grew ominous. Another top GOP insider told Axios: The Republican party looks like a criminal enterprise. On Thursday the New York Times reported top GOP leaders are urging vulnerable Republican incumbents to speak out and find some distance from Trumps legal woes.

This, as they say, is the eleventh hour. Voters will decide soon if Republicans came to their newfound concern a bit too late.
Every U.S. president except George Washington lived in the White House, and despite Americas current anxiety about its political leaders, the home that Abigail Adams called the great castle remains an alluring draw for visitors who come to the nations capital from all 50 states, and around the globe.

More than just the home of the president, the iconic building symbolizes democracy and freedom throughout the world. The White House has been burned, renovated, nearly demolished  and redecorated many times, with each resident and his family leaving their mark in history. For those with a more intense connection to this building -- presidential scholars and historical preservationists as well as family members of presidents, living and dead -- preserving this history amounts to more than venerating the majesty of the White House. Its also a way telling the continuingly unfolding American story.

This goal is why the White House Historical Association is launching a new event, the Presidential Sites Summit, with the intention of making it a biannual affair. The first such summit kicks off this weekend with a focus not just on the executive mansion but on the network of presidential sites around the nation.

Weve identified about 200 presidential sites across the country, White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin told RCP. A lot of them are small, volunteer-run, small-budget operations.

McLaurins hope is that the WHHA can act as the hub between these sites and serve as a resource for them. The four-day conference includes panel discussions and lectures on subjects ranging from digitalizing historical records to more timely  and timeless  ones such as presidents and the press. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are planning to host a reception for some attendees at the White House.

A number of presidential descendants -- many of whom are already involved in presidential libraries or sites -- plan to attend the summit to talk about what the White House means to them. Some of them spoke to RCP ahead of the event and discussed the importance of preserving the building itself as part of a greater American legacy. This dedication to the physical structure of the White House has long been a priority. After the War of 1812, when the British burned down the executive mansion, work immediately began to rebuild it.

The reason they did it was because of the symbol. Its a symbol of our democracy, said Clifton Truman Daniel, the oldest grandson of President Harry Truman. Its the White House, but its a symbol of the executive, the legislative and the judicial. It was important to them then. He said his grandfather shared that sentiment when he undertook a major renovation of the building in the 1940s. They didnt want to leave their national symbol in ruins. My grandfather felt similarly.

Maintenance on the White House had been neglected during the Great Depression and World War II and the building was found to be in danger of collapsing. Truman added the balcony on the South Portico as well as a complete remodel of the structure. According to his grandson, Harry Truman told construction crews they could do what they needed inside, but the outside of the building must look as it always had, down to the last brick.

First ladies have often made the White House renovation part of their platform. Jacqueline Kennedy, a lover of art and history, famously redecorated the house with antique pieces, and oversaw the hiring of the first curator for the White House. Her changes were later made into a television special for CBS, which drew over 80 million viewers.

While Mrs. Kennedys restoration focused primarily on the arts and aesthetics of the mansion, other first ladies turned their attention to more modern advances. Christopher Nixon Cox, grandson of President Nixon and wife Pat, said his grandmother was responsible for the lighting of the exterior, which is now a major attraction for visitors. She also made the house more accessible by installing wheelchair ramps and had visitor pamphlets translated into foreign languages.

The physical structure of the house represents so much of American history, but given todays highly polarized political climate, the summit will steer clear of the daily political fight. The focus will not touch on the current administration or any of the political baggage of past occupants. Theres nothing about the summit that is particularly focused on now. Its really about whatever these sites are facing from [the descendants] perspective, said McLaurin.

Presidential descendants say that the reason the building is so special is because it has remained above the fray. I think the White House always transcends occupants. That will always be a permanent feature of our political legacy, said Cox.

Tweed Roosevelt, great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, agreed. Its an institution which has its own life no matter who the occupant is, he said. Roosevelt acknowledged that his family legacy is more positive than many others as Roosevelt is widely remembered for his conservation of public lands and as the trust breaker who took on Big Business monopolies. More to the point of the summit, Teddy Roosevelt  in evidence in the capital these days mainly as one of the Washington Nationals Racing Presidents -- is also credited with giving the White House its current name after being known as the Presidents Palace and the Executive Mansion.

Jack Massee McKinley, a descendent of both Grover Cleveland and William McKinley, said that each leader has his good and bad attributes, but that every new administration can learn from the mistakes of the past.

He hinted at another pitfall for presidential families besides being unloved: being forgotten. Cleveland and McKinley are often not remembered as two of the greater presidents, but I think historians and presidential authors and writers have brought the two of them to the forefront, said Jack McKinley. People remember them as public servants, and I think every presidential [site] and presidential family has that obligation to make sure the American people remember their ancestors.
The Trump administration recently announced the creation of a State Department council that will coordinate and promote pressure policies against Iran across the government and with other nations. Add the Iran Action Group to an extensive list of bold actions by President Trump to tighten the noose around Irans already flailing economy.

Ayatollah Khamenei and the mullahs have been weakened as everyday Iranians storm the streets to protest the current economic disaster of the regimes own doing. Make no mistake: These positive developments are a result of the policies pursued by President Trump, not Obama.

Predictably, however, Trumps critics have relentlessly tried to confuse the public about the presidents solid record on Iran. Led by Ben Rhodes and John Kerry and equipped with augmented reality glasses and an army of left-wing pundits, officials from the previous administration have sought to paint the American people a sunny picture of Obamas Iran record.

In this fantasy world driven by alternative facts, the Iran deal led to coexistence between Washington and Tehran. Americas regional partners supported said agreement. The regime in Tehran moderated. And the Middle East was more stable than ever.

Maybe in George Orwells 1984 these fictions could pass for truths, but the results on the ground deliver a hard dose of reality.

Despite what some in the media attempt to portray him as, Ayatollah Khamenei is no fool or religious loon. Hes a savvy autocrat with a realistic vision of Iran becoming a regional hegemon. Unfortunately, Obamas policies made that dream closer to a reality.

The Obama administration handed Tehran a significant win by penning a nuclear deal that would still allow the regime to develop nuclear weapons in due time.

Irans spread of terror and development of advanced ICBMs also went untouched in the agreement.

Hezbollah, Tehrans favored terrorist proxy group, was given a pass by the Obama administration to smuggle drugs into the U.S. to appease the ayatollah.

Worse, hundreds of billions of once frozen Iranian assets flooded back to fuel the regimes war chest.

As Tehrans ambitions grew, Americas partners were forced to show restraint and bow to Iran so Obama could secure his signature foreign policy achievement.

Ever since, Americas allies have become embroiled in what seems to be never-ending proxy wars due to an empowered and well-funded Iran.

The regime continues to funnel cash and weapons to Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 500,000 and displaced millions.

Additionally, Tehran has established a massive military apparatus hosting 10 bases and thousands of loyal fighters in the country.

Hezbollah is better equipped than ever and is itching for another go at Israel with over 150,000 rockets aimed at the Jewish state.

Tehran has bankrolled the Houthis in Yemen who are locked in a brutal conflict against the U.S.-supported Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The results are crystal clear: Obamas strategy was a complete disaster. Appeasement brought more bloodshed and instability, not less.

Thankfully, President Trump instituted a 180-degree course correction and has put America on a path to confronting the Iranian regime head-on.

To start, he ripped up the disastrous Iran Nuclear Deal and blasted the corrupt regime on the world stage.

Economic sanctions have been slapped back on with a stinging effect. The Iranian rial plummeted to historic lows in late July in part due to the sanctions.

Better yet, the administration is preparing an even more damning round of measures to go into full effect in November. Irans Central Bank and energy sector will be the main targets.

Countries will also be held accountable if they continue to do business with the murderous regime. Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States, Trump noted in a tweet.

He also cut the demeaning Obama-era leashes off of our allies. Tehran got that message loud and clear after Israel attacked nearly all of Irans Syria military installations in May.

In a stark contrast, the Trump administration issued cash bounties on Talal Hamiyah and Fuad Shukr  two top Hezbollah officials -- and launched a Department of Justice team focusing on Hezbollahs drug trade in the U.S.

The administrations establishment of the Iran Action Group is just one of many steps taken to restore American credibility on Iran. Tehran will be brought back to the table or face further consequences.

Trumps maximum pressure campaign is showing strong results. Time to grab the shovel and take Obamas Iran appeasement policies where they belong  the grave.
The Pennsylvania grand jury report, detailing abuse, crimes, and coverups by Catholic priests over many years, provides plenty that sickens the stomach and soul:

--The filth -- to use Pope Benedict XVIs word from Good Friday 2005 -- found from church to church, parish to parish, school to school, diocese to diocese.

--The more than 1,000 identified victims across Pennsylvanias Catholic community over seven decades.

-- And, amid all the clerical squalor, the bishops talk of "inappropriate contact," "boundary issues," "sick leave," "nervous exhaustion," and other nauseating euphemisms.

Yes, I know the bulk of these violations occurred decades ago. Yes, I know that my Catholic Church has taken substantial steps over the last decade to make our places of worship and learning safe spaces for our boys and girls. On the heels of the Cardinal McCarrick disgrace and resignation, however, the Pennsylvania grand jury report makes plain that the church hierarchy has failed utterly their flock, the men and women, the boys and girls, the faithful families who have put their trust  wrongly, it turns out  in their shepherds.

Enough. Its time for Catholic laity to step up and ensure that victims of clerical abuse and cover-ups have a second avenue of redress beyond the local bishop or chancellery office.

I say this as a life-long Catholic, a devoted and, I hope, devout Catholic mother of six. I say this as someone who loves her church more each day, who knows that the Judas priests and bishops are the rare exceptions and who knows how much good the church does in the world. I see this every day, and I am richer for it. The world is richer for it.

But it is this love for the church, this love for all the faithful priests and bishops and all the positive works of the church, that requires Catholic laymen and laywomen to take action now. We must help our Catholic Church reform itself and emerge from  yes, we must be frank  the rot and ruin that besets Christs church today.

So much in the Pennsylvania grand jury report breaks the heart when it doesnt shock the conscience. One horror story, in particular, stood out for me. Its the story of Joe and the loss of his Catholic faith.

As a high school student in Scranton, Joe would join his friends to play cards at the parish rectory. One night in 1961, Fr. Joseph T. Hammond called him up to his room, where he was naked and masturbating. He tried to fondle Joe. The victim and his family did everything they were supposed to do. They went to the police (no action) and his mother went to the diocese. There she was told that the chancellery office would investigate and take action. Joe remembered his mother saying that Bishop Jerome D. Hannan had been informed. Nothing happened. Hammond continued his ministry until his death in 1985. Although angry and distrustful, Joe and his wife built a family and successful life together, but the man lost his connection to his church home. Who wouldnt?

[I] didn't want to be any part of that Catholic faith anymore, he told the grand jury, especially since we were trying to report what happened to his supervisor or boss, like you would in a workplace. If someone does something bad, you report it to the boss and something happens. But this wasn't happening. When my parents got involved and the other parents got involved, I'm thinking now something is going to happen. It was just totally ignored. I had lost my faith basically because I didn't believe in all that stuff I was growing up with.

Disgust and anger over what such priests and church officials have wrought are understandable  indeed, required  though disgust and anger are not enough. I want to be part of the solution so there are no more Father Hammonds, no more bishops who look the other way, and no more victims like Joe.

Its hard to say what the solution looks like, precisely. But this much we know for sure:

First, the Catholic laity must be the key part of this reform. The U.S. bishops alone cannot be counted on to clean it up. Clericalism, careerism, and a misplaced sense of collegiality have contributed to this mess. It will take Catholic lay leaders to rid the church of this rot.

Second, we should not use this hour to round up scapegoats or ride our ideological hobby horses. Some outside commentators  and some prominent Catholics -- have focused on longstanding church theological debates between conservative and liberal Catholics. This festering issue has nothing to do with any of that. We need to put doctrinal disputes aside while we root felons and their enablers from our church  a goal every Catholic should share.

In the aftermath of what he termed the Archbishop McCarrick catastrophe, Los Angeles-based Bishop Robert Barron put it this way:

Lots of commentatorsleft, center, and righthave chimed in to say that the real cause of the McCarrick disaster is, take your pick, the ignoring of Humanae Vitae, priestly celibacy, rampant homosexuality in the Church, the mistreatment of homosexuals, the sexual revolution, etc. Mind you, Im not saying for a moment that these arent important considerations and that some of the suggestions might not have real merit. But I am saying that launching into a consideration of these matters that we have been debating for decades and that will certainly not admit of an easy adjudication amounts right now to a distraction.

Third, mass and indiscriminate resignations or sackings are not enough. Although scapegoating is unjust and counterproductive, anyone whose abuse is demonstrated by credible evidence, or who has participated in a cover-up, should go  and go immediately. But we need to alter the culture of an institution that kept producing such predators.

In the meantime, prayer and fasting in penance for what Pope Francis has called these atrocities is certainly called for. But it is important that the cardinals and bishops and priests take up this call first. It is they, the leaders of the church, who have failed their flocks. It is laymen and laywomen who have been their victims  whether direct victims of the abuse or cover-ups or parishioners who watched their hard-earned contributions to the church go for settlement payouts.

I know the Catholic laity will come alongside their leaders, but its critical at this moment that our leaders recognize the cankered locus of this problem. The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on Sept. 15 would seem a fitting day for the American Catholic clerics day of prayer and fasting. Before that, it would be equally fitting for Pope Francis to dedicate his pilgrimage to the Holy Island on Lough Derg to the reform of the church when he visits Ireland this week.

Catholics everywhere are sad, sickened, and yet also energized by this crisis. Its time for us to double down on our Catholic Church. We have faced these problems before, and the Canticle of Mary offers a starting point amid the current ruins:

He has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.
The Chinese See Trade War as 'Existential,' and They're Right

The U.S. and China are now in the most dangerous period in the past 40 years, Lu Xiang of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told Bloomberg. Mr. Trump put a knife on our neck. We will never surrender.

In Beijing, what Americans call a trade war is now considered an existential struggle, an attitude revealing fault lines in Chinese political circles. As a result, no one should expect a quick settlement of the dispute.
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Steven Rogers is a senior entertainment reporter for Reality TV World and been covering the reality TV genre for two decades.

star Paola Mayfield has shared a new baby-bump photo and she's definitely embracing her sexuality.It's clear the mom-to-be loves to express herself and doesn't feel the need to cover up just because she has a growing belly.On Thursday, the : Happily Ever After? star posted a photo of herself in a tight, white crop top and pencil skirt as well as red high-heel sandals."I guess I'm no regular prego and I am super ok with that," Paola captioned the photo, adding a winking emoticon.Four days earlier, on Monday, Paola posted a video of herself showing off her body in a thong bikini."Too many changes and I'm loving them all #needanewbikini #fitnessmom #pregnant #fitmom," Paola wrote.Paola is currently rocking a shoulder-length haircut, and the mom-to-be is in incredible shape.Paola and her husband Russ Mayfield announced last week they have a baby boy on the way.Russ from Oklahoma met Paola, a model and former fashion designer, in her home country of Colombia while he was on a work assignment in the petroleum industry.The reality TV stars got married in October 2013 and initially starred on Season 1 of .Paola and Russ announced last month they're expecting a child together after Paola's miscarriage and the issues it caused in their marriage were documented on Season 3 of : Happily Ever After? earlier this summer.A different spinoff of called : Before the 90 Days currently airs on Sunday nights at 8PM ET/PT on TLC.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/24/2018



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Steven Rogers is a senior entertainment reporter for Reality TV World and been covering the reality TV genre for two decades.

's Ben Higgins is commenting on his ex-fiancee Lauren Bushnell 's reported split from her boyfriend of more than one year, Devin Antin."From my side, I did hear that, I've been asked about it a lot. It's such an interesting place for me to sit in where all you hope for that person at first, you're angry and hurt and confused, then all of a sudden you turn to this thing where you're like there is no good from me being mad," Ben, 30, told Us Weekly on Thursday."There is nothing good coming from me wishing any ill will on Lauren. Then you start to celebrate her new life, then that ends, and I'm in a weird place, like what do I do now?"Ben starred on Season 20 of in 2016 and ended up proposing marriage to Lauren during the March finale.It was widely believed Ben had nothing but the best of intentions during his season, and the couple really seemed to be in love with each other.But after more than one year together and starring in a spinoff, Freeform's Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?, the couple sadly announced their split and decision to end their engagement in May 2017.Lauren told People in June 2017 their breakup mainly came down to the fact they weren't compatible but there was no blowout fight or bad blood between them.While it took quite a while for Ben to get over the split and find himself ready to date again, Lauren moved on within a couple of months by getting romantically involved with Devin, whom she had met on Tinder prior to appearing on .Lauren met up with Devin as friends once she moved out of Ben's home in Denver, CO, and returned to her family and friends in Los Angeles, CA, and a spark quickly evolved into a relationship.However, multiple sources have informed several media outlets Lauren and Devin's relationship is over.An insider told E! News earlier this week, Lauren and Devin were "on and off for a couple of months" before deciding to split once and for all."It's hard for Lauren right now because she really loves Devin, but it just was not working and they ultimately decided to split up," the insider added.Ben told Us that while it's "so cliche to say" he wants her to be "happy," he really means it."I just want Lauren to feel fulfilled, joyful and to be celebrated," Ben explained."I know these times in life. I haven't had to go through it in the last year and a half, but when breakups happen, it's really raw and hard. So I just hope whatever happens, she can recover with grace. She will. She'll do alright."Meanwhile, Winter Games participant says he isn't exactly playing the field although he's still single."It's not like I haven't [dated] since Lauren. I guess maybe it's just a weird place where I am at in life. I haven't been in Denver, where I live, for the last month, I've been gone, traveling consistently," Ben shared."Generous [Coffee] is picking it up, but I'm traveling the world trying to get this coffee company off the ground. I think unfortunately my personal life has maybe gotten pushed behind. I don't want that, I don't desire that, I don't want that long term.""But it's where I'm at now. So I guess I would say I'm not dating, but am interested in dating, open to dating."Ben's name has recently been tossed into the mix for 's upcoming Season 23 star. Host Chris Harrison , in fact, said he would absolutely love for Ben to come back and find love on the ABC reality series again.Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
The news desk has compiled a list of events going on throughout the upcoming week that are open to Athenians and University of Georgia students.
The word grief is often associated with loss of a loved one and a five-part process, but it can be brought on in different ways and requires
For the first time the University of Georgia Involvement Fair was held in the Tate Student Center on Aug. 23 from 7 to 10 p.m., whereas in the
LITCHFIELD  Monk, contemplative, spiritual writer, poet, journalist, photographer, ecumenical guide, activist. All of these describe the breadth of Thomas Merton. His life and talent spread across so many disciplines that it is impossible to hold him to just one.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of his death and to bring to light his importance in the field of religion, Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center is presenting an exhibition of his photography and a lecture on his life. It will mark the first time his pictures have been displayed in New England.

We have had programs on Merton before, Sister Jo-Ann Iannotti, spirituality coordinator, said. But this is a significant anniversary and I know how interested people are in his work. His archives are housed at The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., and I knew that the photographs he had taken were there as well. I wondered if there was a traveling exhibition which we could use for our celebration.

The program is co-sponsored by Fairfield Universitys Center for Catholic Studies. Paul M. Pearson, director and archivist of the center, has been instrumental in coordinating the exhibition and the event at Wisdom House. He is the editor of the forthcoming book, Beholding Paradise: The Photographs of Thomas Merton.

Michael W. Higgins, will lead a discussion when the exhibition opens. He is the former vice-president for mission and catholic identity at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, and is Distinguished Professor of Catholic Thought. One of the foremost authorities on Merton, he authored Heretic Blood: The Spirituality of Thomas Merton and The Unquiet Monk: Thomas Mertons Questing Faith.

Merton has been called the most influential Catholic-American author of the 20th century. Born in France in 1915, his father was an immigrant from New Zealand, his mother an American Quaker. After private schools in France and England, and Clare College in Cambridge, Mass., he returned to the United Sates and attended Columbia University. It was there that he converted to Catholicism and his life moved closer to religion and he contemplated a life in the priesthood. He entered the Abbey of Gethsemane in Trappist, Ky., became a Trappist monk and began his writing. Among his many books, his autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain is perhaps his most famous. It follows the path of his quest for God and his conversion to Catholicism.

Merton used his writing as a way to explore and express his relationships with the world around him. When he discovered photography, it enabled him to use the camera as a contemplative instrument, as well. His images give us a reason to pause, to stop and see what is in front of us every day.

Robert Waldron, the author of Thomas Merton, Master of Attention: An Exploration of Prayer, said, The display of simplicity one finds in Mertons photography is but an affirmation of things as they are, in their simple, humble, fragile normality. In this kind of opening, in the still, everyday being of things and beings, God reveals Himself.

Iannotti believes Merton is as relevant, perhaps even more so today, as he has ever been. He is a staple in terms of religious development.

He was a staple in terms of religious development, she said. He can be a figure of encouragement. Nothing really escaped him in terms of the human experience and the divine as well. The experience of the divine made him more the human that he was. He knew Gods mercy and His love. The crossing over for him was the arts, first as a writer, then as a photographer. He defines the relationship between art and spirituality.

He has been a part of my life since I was a teenager. In fact, I wrote my masters thesis at Fordham on him: Merton on Solitude. There is so much more we can learn from appreciating Merton and his beliefs.

A Hidden Wholeness: The Zen Photography of Thomas Merton opens on Sept. 8 and will be on display through Nov. 10. For information, visit wisdomhouse.org.
The former chief of Cambodias now-dissolved opposition party on Friday accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of using the countrys political detainees as pawns in a bid to silence his critics at home and shield himself from international condemnation over an election widely seen as unfree and unfair.



On Aug. 23, Hun Sen said he is mulling a mass release of political detainees that is likely to include a dozen members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)Sam Rainsys former party, but that it was contingent upon the opposition putting an end to statements suggesting he is under pressure from the international community to do so following the July 29 general election.



The premier also suggested that the prisoners would have to sign statements condemning those who challenge his authority before they could be released.



Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) steamrolled last months ballot and secured all 125 parliamentary seats in play, but the victory has been widely dismissed as illegitimate following the dissolution of the CNRP in November and the arrest of its president Kem Sokha two months earlier over an alleged plot to topple the government, and amid a crackdown on the media and NGOs.



In response to Hun Sens comments, former CNRP President Sam Rainsy, who is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a host of what are seen as politically motivated convictions, slammed the prime minister for holding the detainees hostage in a bid to muzzle him and other critics of his government.



Everyone in Cambodia, even the king [Norodom Sihamoni], is held hostage by Hun Sen, he said during a Friday call-in show with RFAs Khmer Service.



Now the detainees are being forced to do what Hun Sen wants against their will. They are compelled to bow down to Hun Sen just to secure their release.



Sam Rainsy said Hun Sen can never hold me hostage and vowed to continue to speak the truth about how the prime minister is failing Cambodia.



The truth is that Hun Sen is under such tremendous international pressure that he has to release the detainees  its not a coincidence, he said.



Hun Sen pretends that he is a good-hearted person who sympathizes with the detainees. He is not. If he were a good-hearted person, he would not have arrested these people in the first place and would have released them long ago.



Earlier on Friday, Sam Rainsy wrote in a post to his Facebook page that Hun Sen is at a dead end.



The sham election he arranged has been strongly condemned and his new government lacks a mandate, he said.



The international community is mounting more pressure on him to restore democracy and he is desperate for legitimacy, so that is why he announced that he will release more detainees.



The former CNRP chief suggested that even by releasing all political prisoners, Hun Sen will still fall short of satisfying international demands, and will have to reinstate the CNRP and allow its members to take part in politics again before pressure subsides.



Recent clemency



The prime minister, who secured another five-year term to add to his 33 years in office after official election results were announced last week, has made a practice of heavy-handed crackdowns on his critics, followed by a relaxation of restrictions after facing international condemnation.



The U.S. last week announced an expansion of visa bans on individuals seen as limiting democracy in the country, as part of a series of concrete steps aimed at pressuring Cambodia to reverse course that included a decision to withdraw funding for last months elections.



The European Union, which was the second-largest trading partner of Cambodia in 2017, also withdrew support ahead of the ballot and is currently reviewing a preferential trade scheme for Cambodian exports based on the countrys election environment.



Since the election was finalized, King Sihamoni has granted a pardon at Hun Sens behest to prominent land activist Tep Vanny and three other campaigners convicted for their roles in a protest over a land grab. A court in the capital Phnom Penh, meanwhile, has released on bail to two former RFA reporters who are facing charges of espionage.



Social commentator Kim Sok was also freed from prison last week after completing an 18-month sentence for defamation related to his suggestion that the CPP orchestrated the July 2016 murder of popular political pundit Kem Ley, although he still faces another defamation charge following a complaint filed by Hun Sen in January.



Political analyst Lao Mong Hay told RFA that Hun Sen is trying to turn public opinion against Sam Rainsy in Cambodia by making it appear as if the former opposition leader is responsible for the continued incarceration of the political detainees.



Sam Rainsy is still popular among Cambodians at home, so the more condemnation of Sam Rainy there is, the better Hun Sen feels, he said.



The CNRP received more than 3 million votesaccounting for nearly half of the countrys registered votersin Cambodias 2013 general election, and enjoyed similar success in last years commune ballot, making it the only legitimate challenger to the CPP before it was dissolved.



New conviction



Also on Friday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed Tep Vanny and five other land activists from the Boeung Kak Lake community in the capital a suspended sentence of six months in prison based on a complaint filed in 2012 by a fellow villager, which has since been withdrawn, over an alleged death threat.



The new conviction came four days after Tep Vanny was granted a pardon from the king and released from prison, having served more than two years of jail time on a 30-month sentence for aggravated intentional violence while protesting a forced eviction at Boeung Kak in front of Hun Sens home in 2013.



Tep Vanny and the other defendants decried Fridays verdict as unjust, given that the complaint had been withdrawn years ago.



There is no justice for me, Tep Vanny told reporters after the hearing, saying she has remained a victim of this unjust court system.



The land activist said she and the other defendants will appeal the sentence.



Am Sam Ath, the head of investigations for local rights group Licadho, told RFA that the level of reasonable doubt was high regarding the hearing of this case, and urged Cambodias Appeals Court to reverse the decision.



Tep Vanny was awarded the 2013 Vital Voices Global Leadership Award for her work campaigning on behalf of the community evicted from Boeung Kak Lake, which was later filled with sand to make way for a development project with ties to Hun Sen and the CPP.



A day ahead of Tep Vannys latest hearing, Dublin-based Front Line Defenders issued a statement welcoming her release from prison, but said she should never have been convicted or imprisoned in the first place.



The group demanded that authorities drop the remaining charges against Tep Vanny and ensure that she will not be subject to any further judicial harassment or reprisals.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Members of the Hong Kong pro-democracy party Demosisto hold copies of newly published school textbooks backed by the Chinese government, which they say are 'biased' and aimed at 'brainwashing' students, at a press conference in Hong Kong, Aug. 24, 2018.

A pro-democracy party in Hong Kong has hit out at newly published school textbooks backed by the Chinese government as "biased," and aimed at "brainwashing" students.

The books and teaching materials published by Educational Publishing, which is wholly controlled by Beijing's Central Liaison Office in the city, contain a biased account of the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy Central movement, according to activists who led the movement.

The account of the 79-day civil disobedience movement for fully democratic elections offers only quotes from four opponents and relegates movement co-founder and Hong Kong University law professor Benny Tai to the status of "supporter."

The group said that even textbooks not published by the company had begun using terminology that is approved by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to describe the histories of Hong Kong and China.

According to Demosisto committee member Isaac Cheng, a history textbook published by Marshall Cavendish describes Hong Kong as being "occupied" during British colonial rule.

He said the 1919 student-led May 4th movement protesting against the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles that handed territory in the eastern province of Shandong to Japan had been misrepresented.

"For example, there is a sentence added in at the end which describes the May 4th movement as a patriotic movement close to Chinese people's hearts, but makes no mention of the emphasis in the May 4th movement on fighting for democracy and westernization," Cheng told RFA.

"This is a deliberate bid to cater to the government view [of the era] and to stir up students' emotions," he said.

Elsewhere, Cheng said, a General Studies text refers to the British colonial era that ended with the 1997 handover to China as an "occupation."

"They refer to the period of British rule as one of British occupation, which is exactly the same as Chinese officials insisting that China never gave up sovereignty over Hong Kong," he said.

Hong Kong Island was ceded in perpetuity to Britain by the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) after the First Opium War (18391842).

The Kowloon peninsula was added to the colony after the Second Opium War (18561860), while the New Territories were added under a 99-year lease that expired in 1997, when Hong Kong was handed back in its entirety to become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Under the terms of the handover treaty, the city was promised the continuation of its existing freedoms for at least 50 years.

But recent interventions by Beijing in the political and cultural life of the city, including edicts from the National People's Congress that resulted in the disqualification of sitting lawmakers and potential election candidates, have led many to conclude that those freedoms are likely a thing of the past.

This isnt transparent

Demosisto also called on schoolteachers to alert them to any more phrases they think are biased.

Council Front lawmaker Au Nok-hin agreed with the party's assessment of the textbooks.

"Everyone can see that certain textbooks and teaching materials within our education system contain political judgements, and that this isn't transparent," Au told reporters on Friday.

"We call on the education department to make public the names of those who were on the curriculum drafting committee, and whether or not they are sufficiently qualified to be reviewing teaching materials," he said.

High-school history teacher Johnny Siu said Chinese government propaganda is beginning to make its way into teaching materials across the whole curriculum in recent years.

"Even the most basic primary school materials have started to get red-washed, and they don't really need much analysis at that foundational level," he said.

"These are only very small modifications to the wording, but they are constantly changing," Siu said. "After a further two years' worth of revision after revision, the situation will be very serious."

"I think this is a slow, incremental and pervasive attempt at brainwashing ... they won't even need to implement 'national patriotic education' because it has already gotten into the textbooks," he said.

Anti-brainwashing campaign

In 2012, proposals for patriotic education in Hong Kong's schools were shelved after thousands of protesters camped outside government headquarters for several weeks, dressed in black and chanting for the withdrawal from the curriculum of what they called "brainwashing" propaganda from the Communist Party.

Student activist Joshua Wong and his Scholarism group, which spearheaded the "anti-brainwashing" campaign, went on to play a key role in the Occupy Central democracy movement two years later.

Demosisto was founded in April 2016 by three former leaders of Occupy Central: Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, and Agnes Chow.

Law returned just five months later as the youngest-ever member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo), but was later stripped of his seat after Beijing intervened with a ruling on the validity of oaths of allegiance made by him and five other pro-democracy lawmakers.

Chow, also a veteran of the Scholarism movement, was debarred by election officials from standing in the 2018 Hong Kong Island by-election, for advocating self-determination for the city, in a move that was widely condemned as a threat to the city's political life.

Reported by Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Jasic Technology support groups from Peking University and other colleges pose for a group photo in Shenzhen, southeastern China's Guangdong province, Aug. 21, 2018.

Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Friday detained some 50 Maoist activists who had gathered in Shenzhen to support workers at a local factory in their campaign for an independent union.

Police in full riot gear burst into the rented apartment where the activists were living early on Friday, detaining them, the Hong Kong-based labor rights group SACOM said via its Twitter account.

Video footage from the scene of the raid showed several officers wearing helmets, body armor and carrying riot shields force open the door and push into the apartment, scuffling with young people as they did so.

At 5 a.m. this morning, more than 50 workers and students from the #Jasic Workers Solidarity Support [group] were taken away by the police in a raid, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions said via its Twitter account.

[Their] whereabouts are still not known, it said.

The activists had been supporting workers fired, beaten and detained after they tried to set up an independent trade union at the Jasic Technology factory in Shenzhen.

The Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin (CLB) quoted sources familiar with the incident as saying that those detained included student activists Yue Xin, Zhan Zhenzhen and Feng Ge from Chinas prestigious Peking University.

A number of unnamed students from Beijings Renmin University and Nanjing University in the eastern province of Jiangsu were also among those held, the group said in a news report on its website.

Jasic workers Lan Zhiwei, Yu Kailong, and Yu Weiye, who were out on bail after a previous mass detention by police, were redetained, CLB said.

Two workers representatives and a student supporter, Gu Jiayue, who had advocated for the workers with the government-backed All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and All-China Women's Federation about the workers struggle were also incommunicado, it said.

It said the students were part of a growing informal coalition of labor activists, leftist and Maoist groups in China and labor groups overseas who had supported the Jasic workers cause.

Protesters said last week that social media accounts and chat groups used to organize the protests are now being shut down by government censors.

Former employee taken away

Earlier this month, Shen Mengyu, a Maoist labor activist and former Jasic employee, was taken away by unidentified personnel after she led the campaign for a union to negotiate collectively on behalf of some 1,000 Jasic workers that led to the detention of dozens of workers in the local Pingshan district police station.

Her detention on Aug. 11 came after she led protests outside Shenzhens Pingshan police station to call for the release of workers held there after an earlier mass detention. Some workers were later released on bail, but it was unclear how many remained in custody on Friday.

A number of Maoists, who are critical of growing inequality from within the leftist wing of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), joined the Jasic workers cause, some of them taking jobs at the factory.

On Aug. 19, Yue Xin had published an open letter to the ruling party's Central Committee and President Xi Jinping, calling on the central government to intervene to deal with local vested interests in the dispute.

Activists say that Jia Lei, owner of the Jasic factory, and personnel manager Guo Liqun are both delegates to the Shenzhen People's Congress, a rubber-stamp body entirely controlled by the CCP.

They are calling on local party secretary Tao Yongxin, the Pingshan district government and the regional branch of the ACFTU to step in to support unionization at the factory.

A number of prominent leftists, including Zhang Qinde of the former Central Policy Research Office and Fan Jinggang the now-shuttered Utopia Maoist website, have issued calls from within the ranks of party leadership to treat the Jasic standoff as a "serious political incident."

CLD deputy director Cai Chongguo said the Jasic dispute isn't the first of its kind in China, but the involvement of young, highly educated Maoist activists has made political waves in the ruling party.

"The younger generation of leftists are becoming openly involved in the workers' movement, and stand in open opposition to the police," Cai told RFA. "They are also backed up by the older generation of leftists and Maoists."

"This has shaken the ideological basis and the legitimacy of the current regime, and it continues to be shaken by it," he said.

He said the workers' movement comes amid growing public anger among the poorest in China over a quickly expanding wealth gap and the power of the financial and political elite, all of which lend a new momentum to the leftist movement.

"Maoists have gotten involved in labor disputes at state-owned enterprises in major cities before, and some of them were even detained," Cai said.

But he said an influx of younger activists had taken the Jasic dispute onto social media, and changed the way such protests are organized.

According to Cai, the leftist faction has considerable support within the ruling party's own ranks, within the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and among government officials, and has great potential for mass mobilization.

U.S.-based political commentator Chen Pokong agreed, saying that the left's bid to return to the basics of communist ideology could pose a threat to the administration of Xi Jinping.

"The Communist Party claims to promote the ideology of the far left, but in reality, it acts like the extreme right  the Nazis," Chen told RFA. "That is the whole reason the Maoist left exists in the first place."

"So they are embarrassing to the Xi administration, and they are even more of a threat," he said.

Inspiring solidarity

The government has shut down a number of Maoist websites in recent years, including Utopia, but has previously allowed them to reopen after politically sensitive events.

The Jasic protests have also inspired solidarity among labor groups across the internal immigration border in the former British colony of Hong Kong, who have protested outside Beijing's Central Liaison Office for the release of detained Jasic workers.

The detention of workers came on July 27 as they protested the dismissal by factory management of those involved in a bid to set up a union through legal channels.

Seven workers said they had been beaten up by police for their involvement in the campaign to found a union, which began on July 18.

More than 40 years after his death at the age of 82, late supreme leader Mao Zedong still presents a political dilemma to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

While revering Mao as the leader who founded the People's Republic on Oct. 1, 1949, the party has been forced to conclude publicly that the leader made some "serious political mistakes."

Locally funded statues of Mao have been torn down in recent years, reflecting official concerns over the potential use of the Great Helmsman's image as a focus for millions of poor and dispossessed people in China, including the country's army of petitioners, many of whom have lost their land or homes to government-backed development.

Reported by Shi Shan for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Myanmars top electoral body has accepted the registration application of a new political party started by members of the 88 Generation pro-democracy group, after rejecting two previous submissions based on the partys proposed name, a party official said Friday.

Ko Ko Gyi, one of the leaders of 88 Generation Students Group and a former political prisoner in Myanmar, has been leading the efforts to register the Peoples Party, which the Union Election Commission (UEC) previously rejected under the names Four Eights Party and Four Eights Peoples Party.

We received a letter from the Union Election Commission on Aug. 23, saying the party is allowed to register, he told RFAs Myanmar Service, referring to the national-level body responsible for organizing and overseeing elections in Myanmar and for vetting political parties and parliamentary candidates.

The party, which launched official operations Friday, will not be able to field candidates in the Nov. 3 by-election to fill 13 seats in the national parliament and in state and regional legislatures.

The Peoples Party has already opened offices in the towns of Yangon and Mandalay; in Ayeyarwady, Bago and Magway regions; and in Shan and Mon states, Ko Ko Gyi said.

We believe that it is important to create alliances with ethnic parties when we discuss ethnic unity, as well as with democratic forces that we have been working with for a long time, he said.

Some believe that the Peoples Party could become a competitor to the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won general elections in 2015 by a landslide but has suffered setbacks since taking power on account of ongoing civil wars in ethnic minority regions and the Rohingya Muslim crisis in Rakhine state.

The Peoples Party will begin preparations to contest the 2020 general election by forming alliances with other parties, Ye Naing Aung, another party leader, told RFA.

We can use the party name now because we can register our party, he said.

We have to submit names of 1,000 party members names [to the UEC] within three months, but we will do it as soon as possible, he said.

Ko Ko Gyi and other former members of the countrys 88 Generation Peace and Open Society activist group (formerly called the 88 Generation Students Group) first submitted an application to the UEC in December 2017 to register under the name Four Eights Party.

But other activists from the 88 Generation, who also participated in Myanmars 1988 pro-democracy movement, criticized the move, arguing that the party did not represent all those who took part in the demonstrations against the government and opposing the use of the historically significant number 8888.

The number refers to Aug. 8, 1988, the date on which a bloody crackdown by soldiers ended a nationwide democracy uprising against the then military regime.

The UEC told the group to come up with a new name, resulting in the creation of the Four Eights Peoples Party, which won approval in April. But after more complaints about the would-be party, the commission ordered the group to change its name again, along with its logo and flag, and to refrain from using the number 8888.

UEC meets with parties, candidates

Also on Friday, the UEC told the leaders of 24 political parties and seven independent candidates who are eligible to run in the Nov. 3 by-election that it will form central and township electoral commissions to prevent problems and confrontations between parties.

The UEC made the decision after the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) expressed concern that leaders of the NLD party would violate a day of silence just before the vote, as they did the day before a 2017 by-election, when they appeared on state-run television.

The USDP discussed five points, including the day of silence during the 2017 by-election, said party spokesman Thein Tun Oo. We reported to the Union Election Commission that the leaders of the other party [NLD] talked on state TV the day before voting day to discuss the nations development.

The NLD responded by saying that it was not canvassing on state media, and that [the appearances of party leaders on TV] was just a coincidence, he said.

Ahead of the 2015 general election and the 2017 by-election, the UEC had rejected the USDPs complaints about NLD campaign violations, Thei Tun Oo said.

During the meeting at UEC headquarters in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, representatives from the parties urged the commission to treat all candidates equally and to conduct its work in accordance with relevant laws during the by-election.

Candidates can campaign for 60 days, beginning on Sept. 3, the commissioners said.

Reported by Wai Mar Tun and Nay Rein Kyaw for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
More than one in 10 residents of Toqsun township in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have been detained in three political re-education camps in the area, according to an official source, who said he is unaware of anyone ever having been released.



Beginning in April 2017, Uyghurs accused of harboring strong religious views and politically incorrect ideas have been jailed or detained in political re-education camps throughout the XUAR, where members of the ethnic group have long complained of pervasive discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression under Chinese rule.



Toqsun township, in mostly Uyghur-populated Aksu (in Chinese, Akesu) prefectures Bay (Baicheng) county, consists of eight villages with a combined population of just over 193,000 people.



Staff members who answered the phone at Toqsuns Qi He Village Police Station told RFAs Uyghur Service they had been instructed by the county Public Security Bureau not to respond to questions about re-education camps in the area and hung up when pressed for information.



But an employee at Toqsuns Peyshenbe Bazar Police Station confirmed that the township currently maintains three re-education campsthe No. 1 Re-Education Camp, which is located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) outside of the township center; the No. 2 Re-Education Camp, located near the townships depot; and the Party School Camp.



Approximately 22,000 people, or more than 11 percent of the population of Toqsun, have been held in the three re-education camps, said the employee, speaking on condition of anonymity.



I heard that a small number of people have been released, but I have never met any, he added.



The employee said that around 5,000 people are being held at No. 2 Re-Education Camp alone, after being transferred from a now-defunct fourth camp in nearby Tasheriq village, which was formerly a nursing home.



He said residents of Peyshenbe Bazar are being sent for detention to No. 1 Re-Education Campa three-story building that used to be the townships No. 1 Middle School.



According to the employee, there is also a so-called open facility for daily re-education classes, which permits trainees to return to their homes in the evening, located alongside the No. 1 Re-Education Camp.



He did not provide an estimate of the number of Toqsun residents required to attend the classes.



Camp network



A recent editorial in the official Global Times dismissed international coverage of the political re-education camps in the XUAR, which it referred to as training institutes, saying western media outlets were incorrectly labeling them as detention sites and baselessly criticizing Chinas human rights.



China's central government authorities have rarely acknowledged the existence of political re-education camps in the XUAR, and the number of inmates kept in each facility remains a closely guarded secret. But local officials in many parts of the region have in RFA telephone interviews forthrightly described sending significant numbers of Uyghurs to the camps and even described overcrowding in some facilities.



Citing credible reports, U.S. lawmakers Marco Rubio and Chris Smith, who head the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said recently that as many as 500,000 to a million people are or have been detained in the re-education camps, calling it the largest mass incarceration of a minority population in the world today.



Adrian Zenz, a lecturer in social research methods at the Germany-based European School of Culture and Theology, said the number could be closer to 1.1 million, which equates to 10-11 percent of the adult Muslim population of the region.



Earlier this month, a delegate from China present for the countrys review at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination acknowledged the existence of "resettlement or re-education programs," but said the suggestion that some 1 million Uyghurs were held in the camps was completely untrue. He refused to provide information about how many are detained in the facilities.



Ahead of the review, China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and a partner NGO, Equal Rights Initiative, said they had found through interviews with people in the region that up to 3 million residents of the XUAR, especially ethnic Uyghurs, may have been detained in the political re-education camps or forced to attend education sessions for de-radicalization as of June this year.



Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Dissident rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, 54, disappeared just over a year ago from a remote cave dwelling in the northern province of Shaanxi, where he was being held under house arrest. Gao, who had yet to regain his freedom following his release from prison in August 2014, is believed to be in the custody of state security police, but local police have said they aren't holding him. Gao's wife Geng He, who escaped to the U.S. with her son and daughter in January 2009, recently spoke to RFA's Mandarin Service about her husband's renewed disappearance:



After he got out of prison in August 2014, Gao Zhisheng was held under house arrest at his older brother's home in northern Shaanxi. He had lost nearly all of his teeth but they wouldn't let him go to the dentist or to see a doctor. But he still wrote a lot of articles about human rights, in spite of all of these restrictions. I was always very moved to read these articles when I saw them, or when they were sent to me by friends. I really felt that he was sacrificing his life to expose the workings of the Chinese state, to expose cases of human rights violations in China.



Over the past year, Gao's older brother has done so much to try to find out Gao Zhisheng's whereabouts, but he hasn't been able to get any reliable information this whole time. His brother regularly goes to the Jia county police department to inquire after Gao, but they would always say 'he's in Beijing.' So his brother said after a while that he would go to Beijing to look for him, and the Jia county police said 'we will go there and make an application for you.' But then they started talking about Yulin [in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region], so his brother has been running between Yulin and Jia county and he still doesn't have any news of him.



I spoke with his brother [the other day] and asked him if there was news, and he said no, nothing had changed.



We have no idea where he really is. They're never going to tell us the truth. One minute they're talking about Yulin, and the next they're talking about Jia county.



He has been disappeared so many times before. The most recent disappearance has been for one year. His family in Shaanxi runs a small business, and since Gao Zhisheng went missing, the Chinese government has levied fines of more than 200,000 yuan (U.S. $29,320) on his family and forced them to stop operating for 10 days. They are treating his family as 'guilty by association.'



My side of the family dare not even contact me, and they've told me not to call them. Relatives tell me that their ID cards have been confiscated, and they're not allowed to leave town. They also make them sign a report every month at the police station.



'Looking for Gao'



I feel so low. Gao Zhisheng cared for so many people, so many human rights cases, and now his own family doesn't even know where he is, and they have gotten dragged into it too. I can't even call my own family on the major holidays, let alone the rest of the time.



I feel as if my whole life over the past 10 years has been spent looking for Gao Zhisheng. When the day came that we got news of him, he didn't waste a single minute writing about his experiences of persecution, or paying attention to the human rights of other oppressed Chinese people. And so the whole cycle started all over again.



He has basically lost most of his teeth. He has no teeth in the front, on his lower jaw. The bigger teeth have also been falling out one by one so he barely has any left now. Sometimes he would joke that he didn't eat food; he drank it. He would have to take care when he took in liquid food that it didn't all pour out of his mouth again.



We are doing everything we can to try to speak out on behalf of Gao Zhisheng, and to find out where he is. What has he done wrong? They won't let him go home. They have forcibly disappeared a person who should be free to do as he pleases and to go where he pleases.



Reported by Zhang Min for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
KYIV -- White House national-security adviser John Bolton says U.S. sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Moscow changes its behavior.

Speaking at an August 24 news conference in Kyiv after talks with President Petro Poroshenko, Bolton said he told the Ukrainian president that Moscow should not interfere in Ukraine's 2019 presidential election.

"We talked about it in several different meetings," Bolton said. "I described some of the things we have said to the Russians about why they shouldn't engage in election meddling in the United States and certainly by interference in Ukraine and elsewhere."

Bolton's visit to Kyiv comes a day after he met in Geneva with Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of President Vladimir Putin's Security Council, and warned his Russian counterpart that the United States "wouldn't tolerate meddling in upcoming elections.

Bolton also said on August 24 that Kyiv had made progress in its efforts to join NATO. But he said Ukraine still needs to do more work.

Nord Stream Concerns

Bolton also suggested that the Ukrainian government should consider looking for alternatives to natural gas supplies from Russia.

He said U.S President Donald Trump was concerned about the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would carry Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

"That's one of the concerns that President Trump has about Nord Stream 2 -- why Europe would voluntarily tie itself even more to Russian energy supplies." Bolton said.

"I told the prime minister, when Prime Minister [Giuseppe] Conte of Italy visited President Trump recently in the White House," Bolton continued. "They talked about why we thought it was advantageous for Italy to bring the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) into Italy to be able to be supplied by natural gas from Azerbaijan."

"There are other potential sources of natural gas as well," Bolton said.

Washington has threatened to impose sanctions against European allies over the project, which it maintains will increase European dependence on Russian energy.

Putin defended the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project on August 22 , saying Russia is the most suitable supplier of energy for Europe.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Reuters


KYIV -- White House national-security adviser John Bolton has said that the United States would not oppose a territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia to resolve their long-running dispute  provided Pristina and Belgrade work out a "mutually satisfactory settlement" between themselves.

Bolton made the remarks on August 24 at a press conference in Kyiv where he was asked by RFE/RL what he thought about the idea exchanging territories between Kosovo and Serbia.

"I think there are new signs that both governments very quietly may be willing to negotiate on this," Bolton said about a Kosovo-Serbia territorial exchange. "Our policy, the U.S. policy, is that if the two parties can work it out between themselves and reach agreement, we dont exclude territorial adjustments. Its really not for us to say."

"We would not stand in the way, and I dont think anybody in Europe would stand in the way if the two parties to the dispute reached a mutually satisfactory settlement," Bolton said.



Were ready from a distance or up close to help out, Bolton added. We dont think were going to solve it for them. We think theyve got to solve it for themselves.

Earlier in August, senior government officials in Kosovo and Serbia indicated a willingness to consider border changes as part of a peace process aimed at ending a dispute over Kosovos independence that has hampered both countrys accession to the European Union.

'Correction Of Borders'

That willingness became apparent after Serbias Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met with Bolton in Washington in late July and said the United States was, for the first time, "prepared to hear creative solutions to possible problems, including Kosovo."

Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008 has been recognized by more than 100 UN member countries. But Belgrade, backed by Russia, refuses to recognize Kosovo as a state.

Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci has suggested that the idea of unifying Serbias southernmost Presevo Valley region with Kosovo should be raised during the next round of EU-mediated talks between Pristina and Belgrade, which are expected to take place in Brussels in September.

Ethnic Albanians form an overwhelming majority of the residents in the Presevo Valley, as well as in southern Serbias nearby regions of Bujanovac and Medvedja.

On August 6, Thaci defended his proposal  saying he was open to discussing what he called a "correction of borders" in order to normalize relations with Serbia.

But Kosovos president rejected the idea of dividing Kosovos territory along ethnic lines -- including the predominantly ethnic-Serb region of northern Kosovo.

Separated from the rest of the country by the Ibar River, northern Kosovo is home to about 50,000 ethnic Serbs who oppose Pristinas rule and still look to the government in Belgrade as their government.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said Thacis proposal could be an opportunity to reach a compromise and resolve Belgrade's long-running differences with Kosovo.

'Very Dangerous Message'

The U.S. State Department says the full normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo is "essential for regional stability."

"Now is the time for the parties to be creative and flexible," a State Department spokesman told RFE/RL in early August.

But critics warn that the entire Balkan region could be destabilized by a swap of a predominantly ethnic Albanian part of southern Serbia for mostly ethnic Serb populated parts of northern Kosovo.

A joint letter sent to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on August 7 by more than two dozen civil society organizations in Serbia and Kosovo warns that "the division of Kosovo or the exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia" on the basis of ethnicity risks destabilizing the Balkans.

"More frequent mentions of the possibility of redrawing the borders send a very dangerous message to the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo, as well as to the entire region, that there is a real possibility of legitimizing a dangerous propaganda of ethnic ownership over the territory -- a principle that has pushed the region on several occasions into bloody conflicts," the letter says.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Kyiv and RFE/RL's Balkan Service in Pristina and Belgrade
British Typhoon jets based in Romania have scrambled for the second time in three days to investigate "provocative" Russian aircraft flying on a path toward NATO airspace, the British Defense Ministry says.

The jets launched on August 23 from the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near the Romanian city of Constanta in response to a Russian Be-12 maritime patrol aircraft heading south over the Black Sea from Crimea, the ministry said on August 24.

The Typhoons were operating in accordance with NATOs enhanced air-policing mission designed to deter." Russian aggression, reassure Romania and assure NATO allies of the U.K. commitment to collective defense, the ministry said.



On August 21, two British Typhoon jets from the same Romanian airbase scrambled to investigate suspected Russian fighter aircraft operating in the region.

The ministry said the Typhoons launched when two suspected Russian Su-30 Flanker aircraft appeared to be heading toward NATO airspace from Crimea.

The statements did not say if the craft actually entered NATO airspace, and there was no immediate comment from Russian officials on either incident.

Encounters between Russian and NATO warplanes have increased in recent years as Moscow demonstrated its resurgent military might. Russia has also increased the presence of its navy in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and other areas.

Tensions are high in the region since Moscow's 2014 takeover and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, a move that led to Western sanctions being imposed against Russia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized an EU economic aid plan for Iran, warning that the bloc will come to regret it.

"I think giving money to this regime at this time is a big mistake and should be stopped," he said during an official visit to Lithuania on August 24, referring to a first 18-million-euro ($20.9 million) tranche that the European Union has earmarked for Iran as part of the 28-member bloc's commitment to keeping a landmark nuclear deal alive.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal signed by world powers with Tehran, and began restoring U.S. sanctions. The move has been deepening a financial crisis in Iran that has sent its currency tumbling.

More U.S. sanctions are due in November, including measures to prevent Iran from selling oil.

The EU said the funds, part of the 2015 deal, was the first of a wider package of 50 million euros ($58 million) for Iran intended to help it "address key economic and social challenges."

But Netanyahu said the money would be used to advance Iran's military goals in the region.

"I think that the decision yesterday by the EU to give 18 million euros to Iran is a big mistake. It's like a poison pill to the Iranian people and to the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and beyond the region," Netanyahu said.

"It is going to go to the missiles and the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East."

Based on reporting by dpa, AP, and AFP
Google says it has disabled dozens of YouTube channels and other accounts linked to an Iranian state broadcaster that it said was running a political influence campaign.

Google said on August 23 that its forensic research shows the accounts were set up by people associated with the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

The tech giant said it blocked 39 YouTube channels that had racked up a total of 13,466 views in the United States and disabled six accounts at Blogger and 13 accounts at its Google+ social network.

The cybersecurity firm FireEye, which alerted technology companies to some of the suspicious activity, said in a report this week that the overall operation originates from Iran and promotes Iranian interests to audiences in the United States and elsewhere.

IRIB didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

FireEye said that, combined with Facebook and Twitter moves on August 21 to remove fake accounts allegedly set up by Iran, the Iranian YouTube campaign shows that it's no longer just Russia conducting disguised political influence campaigns on social media.

Facebook said it removed 652 suspicious web pages and accounts linked to Russia and Iran, while Twitter said it had deleted nearly 300 accounts.

In addition to removing the Iranian broadcaster accounts on YouTube, Google said it has also blocked "state-sponsored phishing attacks" in which deceptive messages were sent to users of its free e-mail service in an effort to trick people into disclosing information such as passwords.

"In recent months, we've detected and blocked attempts by state-sponsored actors in various countries to target political campaigns, journalists, activists, and academics located around the world," Google said.

The California-based Internet giant added that in the past year it has strengthened defenses against "actors linked to" Russia's Internet Research Agency, a so-called troll factory in St. Petersburg that has been charged with interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Tech companies are becoming much more proactive about ferreting out and quashing political influence campaigns by foreign governments since last year, when Facebook, Google, and Twitter were widely criticized for allowing Russian agents to spread propaganda on their networks during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Several companies are now offering specific help to protect U.S. political candidates from Russian hackers and other bad actors ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Microsoft said this week it's offering an AccountGuard service to federal, state, and local candidates of all parties as well as to party committees and certain nonprofit groups. The company said it might also work with other tech firms such as Facebook and Twitter on coordinated election security efforts, though no agreements have been made.

Google last year also launched a protection program for hacking targets such as politicians, journalists, and business leaders.

At least one prominent security expert believes it may be too late to stop foreign interference in November's elections.

Alex Stamos, who stepped down as Facebook's security chief last week, said in an online essay that U.S. officials haven't taken the threats seriously enough.

He cited Microsoft's revelation early this week that it discovered efforts by a hacking group tied to the Russian government to spoof websites belonging to the U.S. Senate and two conservative institutions. Such fake websites have previously been used by the group known as Fancy Bear to trick targeted victims into letting their computers be infiltrated.

Stamos said that "in some ways, the United States has broadcast to the world that it doesn't take these issues seriously and that any perpetrators of information warfare against the West will get, at most, a slap on the wrist."

He said "this failure has left the U.S. unprepared to protect the 2018 elections," though there's "still a chance to defend American democracy in 2020."

The midterm elections in the United States are on November 6, but primary elections have already been held in many U.S. states.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
YEREVAN -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described Ottoman-Era mass killings of Armenians as heinous crimes against Armenians," which "cannot and must not be forgotten.

Merkel, who arrived in Armenia from neighboring Georgia on the second leg of her three-country visit to the South Caucasus, made the statement following a visit to a memorial dedicated to the victims of what Armenia describes as genocide.

After being greeted at Yerevans airport by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Merkel traveled to the Tsitsernakaberd hilltop complex to lay a wreath at the monument dedicated to the World War I-era dead.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by many other countries.

Germany's parliament recognized the massacres as genocide in a resolution overwhelmingly adopted in June 2016. It also acknowledged that Germany, then a military ally of Ottoman Turkey, did nothing to stop the killings.

Merkel avoided using the term "genocide" in her remarks, apparently sidestepping an escalation of tensions similar to that in June 2016, when Turkey reacted furiously to the resolution, recalling its ambassador in Berlin.

Successive Turkish governments have for decades vehemently denied a premeditated effort to exterminate the ethnic Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey says Armenians died in much smaller numbers and because of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate the Christian ethnic minority.

Nagorno-Karabakh

Before the trip, Merkel's office said, that during her stop in Armenia and subsequent visit to Azerbaijan on August 25, the chancellor would encourage efforts to reach "a peaceful and consensual solution" to the two countries' long-running territorial conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In Yerevan, Merkel told reporters that "it is important that the conflict is resolved peacefully" and that Germany "stands ready" to contribute to a solution.

Merkel noted that Germany is a member of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which was established to help find a solution to the conflict and that "we stand ready to assume responsibility within the framework of the Karabakh settlement process."

Nagorno-Karabakh, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan amid a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Since 1994, it has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces that Baku says include troops supplied by Armenia, and international efforts to mediate the dispute have failed.

The stop in Yerevan marked Merkel's first official meeting with Pashinian, the former anticorruption campaigner and opposition politician who was elected to the premiership in May after weeks of mass protests against corruption and cronyism.

She told reporters after the meeting that German leaders "followed the events in Armenia and the velvet revolution [that led to Pashinians election]."

She said she spoke with Pashinian about both bilateral relations and those within the framework of the European Union.

"Our relations can develop in the economic and cultural fields" and that cooperation can be increased in cultural, education, and IT matters, she said.

Merkel also met with President Armen Sarkisian, telling him Germany wants "to be involved in the reforms" announced by the new government.

"We have closely watched the changes and processes ongoing in your country. We stand ready to continue cooperating on this difficult but important way," she was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Sarkisian said that "Germany is a very important partner for Armenia. I cannot fail to

mention also Germany's political assistance, which we feel in the process of our cooperation with the EU, as relations with the EU are of very great significance to us."

Armenia has pursued a delicate balancing act over the past decade, maintaining strong ties with Moscow while also developing relations with the European Union.

During her visit to pro-Western Georgia, Merkel said she backed Tbilisi's aspirations to eventually join the EU and NATO, but said she was not able to provide "hasty promises" and that EU membership was not on the "current agenda."
Pakistan has called on Washington to correct what the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad describes as a "factually incorrect" account of an August 23 phone call between Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

A description of the call released by the U.S. State Department said Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.



But Islamabad later said "no issue relating to terrorists in Pakistan" was raised.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry insists that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call.

"Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by U.S. State Department" on the phone call, a ministry spokesman said on Twitter. "There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected."

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. government stands by its statement.

She described the call as good and said Pompeo expressed willingness to work with Khan toward a productive bilateral relationship.

Pompeo is expected to visit Islamabad on September 5.

U.S. officials accuse Pakistan of harboring Taliban and other militants who carry out attacks in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan denies the charges.

Khan has been an outspoken critic of U.S. military policy in Afghanistan but said after winning the prime minister's post that he seeks better relations with Washington after a series of aid cuts and the suspension of U.S. military training in Pakistan.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
A man from Russia's volatile North Caucasus region shot and wounded a police officer in Moscow on August 23 and was fatally wounded by retaliatory fire, officials said.

Russia's Investigative Committee said the assailant fired at two police officers near the main Foreign Ministry building in downtown Moscow. Police shot back and wounded the attacker.

Police identified the attacker as Renat Kunashev, 30, and said he was from the Russian province of Kabardino-Balkaria in the North Caucasus, the Interfax news agency reported. It said the weapon he used to attack police fired nonlethal ammunition, but did not give further information.

TASS and Interfax later quoted police as saying that the attacker died of a head wound.

The assailant's motives weren't immediately clear, but police said they don't believe that he had any links to Islamist militants active in parts of the North Caucasus.

Militants, some of whom have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group, have spread across the region after two separatist wars in Chechnya.

The incident in Moscow comes days after Islamist militants launched a series of attacks in Chechnya, leaving at least five teenage militants dead and several police officers wounded.

IS claimed responsibility for the attacks in Chechnya on August 20 that defied regional strongman Ramzan Kadyrov's claims of stability.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa
KYIV -- President Petro Poroshenko has marked Ukraine's Independence Day by announcing at a military parade in Kyiv that his country "has cut all ties with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union."

Poroshenko also said during the August 24 event that Ukraine needs to cut all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church "that blesses" Russia's "hybrid war against Ukraine."

"Our generation's major goal is to make our independence irreversible, to turn Ukraine into a strong and great country without the possibility of returning to the zone of Russian influence," Poroshenko said.

"The issue [of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's split from the Russian Orthodox Church] is of the same importance as such issues as strengthening of our army, defending our language, our struggle to join the European Union and NATO," he said. "That is another aim of our historic path, a significant component of our independence."

Some 4,500 soldiers, 250 military vehicles, and 18 units comprised of 300 foreign troops took part in the parade, which also featured women who are in Ukraine's military forces.

Dispensing with a traditional Soviet-era military greeting used in previous years, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak greeted the marching troops by declaring, "Glory to Ukraine!" The troops replied: "Glory to the heroes!"

Poltorak's greeting had been used by Ukrainian nationalist troops who fought for Ukraine's independence during World War II.

Poroshenko announced that he will propose that parliament pass legislation to make the expression the official military greeting in Ukraine.

Ukraine announced its independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, almost four months before the official dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Ties between Ukraine and Russia have worsened since Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea region and instigated a conflict between pro-Kremlin separatists and Ukrainian armed forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
A California-based environmental organization was placed on Russia's "undesirable" blacklist, after Moscow said on August 24 that the group poses a threat to "Russia's state security."

The Pacific Environment (PERC) group is the 15th organization to be blacklisted, but it is the first environmental group to be placed on the "undesirables" law targeting foreign entities adopted in 2015.

The NGO works to protect Pacific Rim communities and operates in the United States as well as Asian and Arctic regions, its website says.

Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement that it had been found to "pose a threat to the constitutional foundations of Russia and state security."

"Following the results of the inspection of material received by the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office, it was decided to declare PERC, a foreign nongovernmental organization, to be undesirable on Russian territory," Aleksandr Kurennoi, a spokesman for the office, told Russian news agency Interfax.

The blacklist has so far targeted mainly U.S. democracy-promoting organizations, such as the National Endowment for Democracy, or groups controlled by figures like George Soros and Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment about specific current activities in Russia.

A Russian activist said he was shocked by the news as the NGO had stopped supporting projects in Russia long ago. "It's absurd," said Mikhail Kreindlin, an employee of Greenpeace Russia.

Entities put on the "undesirable" list are banned from issuing any publications in Russia and risk having their bank accounts blocked, while people cooperating with the "undesirables" could be hit with fines, pirson sentences, and Russian entry bans.

Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax


In the powerful, perestroika-era film Repentance, the corpse of a Stalin-like local official mysteriously appears again and again, despite efforts by locals to bury him and turn their backs on the consequences of his crimes. Now the town of Kusa in Chelyabinsk Oblast is experiencing something eerily similar, with the specter of the late Soviet dictator appearing unexpectedly from the past and tearing open old wounds. Earlier this month, local officials began repairs on a 200-year-old dam on the Kusa River by lowering the water level in the pond behind it. On August 2, local photographer Andrei Parfyonov and his family were walking along the muddy bank when they found themselves staring into the stern face of Josef Stalin. "Think back to a time 60 years ago, when Stalin died [in March 1953] and Nikita Khrushchev said we need to end the cult of personality," says Natalya Rostovtseva, director of the Kusa Historical Museum. "A monument to Stalin stood in the city park, the only one in the city, a favorite location where locals relaxed. Many local residents said it was made of cast iron. Others said it was bronze."

Shortly after Soviet leader Khrushchev's so-called secret speech to the 20th Soviet Communist Party Congress in February 1956 partially denouncing Stalin's crimes, local residents pulled down the statue, broke it into pieces, and threw the chunks into the pond through holes cut in the ice. "We at the museum had been hoping to find the pieces for a long time," Rostovtseva continues, describing how Parfyonov called her with news of his discovery. "My husband and I drove right over, and another worker at the museum came. We confirmed that it was a fragment of the upper part of the monument."

She says one reason the museum failed to find the statue earlier was that it was on the opposite side of the pond from where the monument had originally stood. Rostovtseva and her colleagues were able to establish that the statue was, in fact, made of concrete "of quite good Soviet quality." The head and chest were largely intact, except for damage to the area around the neck from which, apparently, the statue had been pulled to the ground. The following day, Rostovtseva, Mayor Valery Vasenyov, and an "improvised committee" of local dignitaries gathered around the concrete dictator to decide his fate. It was decided to gather all the fragments and display them in the courtyard outside the town museum. "We planned to allow free access for around three weeks and then, in early September...we would take it into the museum and formulate a plan for its further display. We would conserve it after consulting with specialists," she says. "I didn't think we should restore the monument in the city, but a decision on that would have to be made by the mayor and the head of the region in consultation with the public and with veterans." It was determined that the fragments would be removed on August 6 to give time for journalists and others from Chelyabinsk and farther afield to attend the event. That's when things got weird. Over the weekend, a group of people representing the local branch of a pro-Kremlin, pro-Stalin public organization called Essence of the Age swept in and carted the Stalin fragments away. The group was headed by a local businessman named Sergei Stafeyev, with whom Rostovtseva had already had run-ins.

The group announced plans to restore the statue and erect it on a public square in Kusa. At a press conference in Chelyabinsk on August 10, Stafeyev said he doesn't have confidence that local authorities can handle the Stalin statue properly considering the "lamentable condition" of other Soviet monuments in Kusa, including a statue of Vladimir Lenin that still dominates the town's Revolution Square. Although Stafeyev denied his group "stole" the statue, he said he has no intention of returning it. "They want to display it in pieces like it was found -- just cleaned up and laid out," he said. "But we want to restore it and re-erect it. We will conduct a referendum." Stafeyev claimed a survey has already been conducted on the VK social-media site that showed that "80 percent" of respondents want the statue returned to a place of honor. "This is our history," he said. "Stalin is a figure who has been widely slandered. There are various opinions about his personality, but thanks to him, we won the war. Take the United States. No one there is lamenting and punishing themselves about the things their leaders did. Look at the Great Depression. How many people starved to death? No one is now saying it was 'genocide against their own people.' They just call it the Great Depression. "In my father's family, there were also some people who were repressed," Safeyev added. "But that isn't the whole story. For one thing, Stalin didn't sign the orders personally. For another, the concept of 'repression' doesn't always mean that they were shot. And third, we need to establish exact figures, to publish them, and to agree what is the truth and what is false."

Kusa is a fascinating backdrop for this controversy. The town of some 18,000 people was founded in 1778 when some 50 serf families were relocated there to build an ironworks. They also built the dam that is currently under repair. The original ironworks became the foundation of the current Kusa Foundry and Machine-Building Factory, which is still the town's monopoly employer. The plant was once known for its decorative iron pieces, including busts of cultural figures, but it now only rarely makes such pieces -- although it has produced a bust of President Vladimir Putin that is on display in Rostovtseva's museum. The town also got off easily during Stalin's reign, says local pensioner Anatoly Blinovsky, who has written two books about the local history of the period. According to Blinovsky, not more than "60 or 70" people from Kusa were repressed under the dictator.
DUSHANBE -- A lawyer and opposition politician in Tajikistan has been released from prison after serving nearly four years on bribe-taking charges that he and his supporters have called politically motivated.

Shuhrat Qudratov's relatives told RFE/RL on August 24 that he is currently at home but does not want to talk to journalists because he needs rest.

A court in Dushanbe convicted and sentenced Shuhrat Qudratov to nine years in prison in January 2015.

Tajikistan's Supreme Court later shortened his prison term to three years and eight months.

Qudratov is a leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan.

As an attorney, he defended Zayd Saidov, a businessman and leader of the unregistered opposition party New Tajikistan who was sentenced in December 2013 to 26 years in prison on charges of financial fraud, polygamy, and sexual relations with a minor.

Saidov's lawyers, including Qudratov, say those charges were also politically motivated.

International human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, have urged Tajik authorities to "immediately and unconditionally release" several imprisoned lawyers convicted on what rights activists say were politically motivated charges.
An oil tanker with 19 crew members on board, most of them Georgians, has gone missing in waters off West Africa frequently plied by pirates, and no word has been heard from it for a week, the ship's managers said.

Officials said on August 23 that communication was lost with the Panama-registered Pantelena on August 14 when it was near the port of Libreville in Gabon. The ship is owned by Greece's Lotus Shipping company and was en route from Lome to Libreville.

The Georgian crew agency Ialkani and the Georgian government said 17 Georgians were aboard the tanker, along with two Russians.

While piracy has decreased worldwide, it has increased recently in the Gulf of Guinea, with more than 100 incidents of ship seizures, crew abductions, and robberies reported so far this year.

Piracy in previous decades thrived off the East African coast, where Somali pirates ply the waters.

Ships in the Gulf of Guinea were the target of a series of piracy-related incidents last year, according to a report in January by the International Maritime Bureau, which highlighted the waters off West Africa as an area of growing concern.

It said 10 incidents of kidnapping involving 65 crew members took place in or around Nigerian waters last year, while seven vessels were fired on in the Gulf of Guinea.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, and TASS
We know that rferl.org isn't the only website you read, and it's possible that you may have missed some of our most interesting journalism from the past week. To make sure you're up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.

The Invasion of Czechoslovakia Through Women's Eyes Fifty years ago, five Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia. Here are stories of four women who didn't hesitate to act bravely during these days. By Kristyna Foltynova

Manafort Is Convicted. Now He Must Prepare For An Even Bigger Trial. A U.S. court's conviction of Paul Manafort was a big blow to the man who served as President Donald Trumps campaign chairman. But its nowhere close to the end of legal woes for the once-powerful Republican lobbyist. By Mike Eckel

Fearless Beauty: Ukrainian Photography Project Aims To Erase Stigma Of Cancer Ukrainian photographer Tetyana Krukovets has created the Fearless Beauty project to break through the isolation that cancer patients often experience. By Olha Modina and Robert Coalson



'A Terrible Panic': Czech Photographer 'Haunted' By 1968 Invasion When Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia 50 years ago, crushing the period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring, a young photographer named Libor Hajsky captured scenes of violence and fear -- as well as moments of empathy and dark humor. By Coilin O'Connor and Margot Buff Also check out our photo gallery: 'It Still Moves Me To This Day': Photographer Recalls 1968 Invasion Of Czechoslovakia

How Autocracy Is Trending Again The number of countries shifting significantly toward autocracy has increased since roughly around the turn of the century. Heres why global democracy is facing one of its biggest challenges in at least half a century. By Wojtek Grojec and Carlos Coelho

Czech Leaders Silent, Or Spurned, As Country Marks 50th Anniversary Of Crushing Of 'Prague Spring' An outpouring of sympathy and remembrances was expected to flow into the Czech Republic and Slovakia from far and wide to mark the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops to crush the Prague Spring uprising. Except from one place: Prague Castle. By Alan Crosby
U.S. President Donald Trump says he has told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his scheduled trip to North Korea next week because of what he sees as a lack of progress toward the denuclearization of the peninsula.

In Twitter remarks on August 24, Trump also criticized China, saying it was not being helpful in efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump wrote.

"Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place)," he added.

Nevertheless, Trump wrote that Pompeo would still go to North Korea "in the near future," most likely after U.S.-China trade differences are "resolved."

He also said he wanted to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim [Jong Un]. I look forward to seeing him soon!"

South Korea's Foreign Ministry called Trump's decision "unfortunate" but says it's most important for the allies to pursue "substantial progress" on denuclearization.

The ministry said South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa spoke with Pompeo over the phone and they pledged joint efforts to keep the momentum of dialogue alive.

Trump met Kim in Singapore on June 12 in a summit, after which the U.S. president said he had "largely solved" the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear program and that the North was no longer a nuclear threat.

But negotiations have stalled since, and U.S. officials have complained about a lack of progress on Pyongyangs part.

As recently as August 23, Pompeo had said he would go to North Korea next week for the next stage in establishing the "final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.",



Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
WASHINGTON -- Sanctions against Russia announced after the United States determined that Moscow used a nerve agent in an attempt to "assassinate" a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain will take effect on August 27, the government says.

The details were posted by the U.S. State Department on August 24 on the Federal Register and follow the announcement made in early August that said they would take effect on or around August 22.

The penalties were announced after the United States said it determined that the Russian government "has used chemical weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical weapons against its own nationals."

Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on March 4 on a bench in the southern English town of Salisbury. They were seriously ill but later made a full recovery after spending several weeks in a hospital.

British authorities determined that the Skripals had been poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade chemical weapon that was developed in the Soviet Union.

Britain and the United States have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's government for the attack. Russia rejects the accusation.

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence agency, was convicted of treason in 2006 by a Russian court that found him guilty of spying for Britain.

Russia released him from prison in 2010, sending him to the West in a spy swap.

The State Department posting said the measures would terminate assistance to Russia except for urgent humanitarian issues, end some arms sales and financing, restrict access to U.S. credit or other financial assistance, and prohibit the export to Russia of restricted goods or technology.

Second Round Of Sanctions

A second batch of sanctions related to the poisoning case will be imposed after 90 days if Russia it does not allow inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to confirm that it no longer has chemical weapons.

Russia has rejected the accusations and the demands, with state-run RIA Novosti news agency on August 24 quoting the Foreign Ministry as saying the sanctions will create more tension between the two countries.

White House national-security adviser John Bolton said earlier on August 24 during a visit to Ukraine that the list of U.S. sanctions, including those imposed for other activities, would "remain in force" until Moscow changes its "behavior."

The United States and the European Union have also imposed sanctions on Moscow for its illegal 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and its support for separatists fighting against Kyiv's forces in eastern Ukraine.

In addition, the United States has imposed sanctions and taken diplomatic measures against Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, allegations Russia also denies.

With reporting by Reuters, RIA, and TASS
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton called on Ukraine and European nations to be less reliant on Russia for energy and urged them to find alternative sources of natural gas. On a visit to Kyiv on August 24, Bolton said the United States was concerned about the implications of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project that would carry Russian gas to Germany.
A U.S. intelligence worker who pleaded guilty to sending a secret report on Russian election cyberattacks to a news website was sentenced on August 23 to five years in prison by a federal court in Georgia.

Reality Winner, 26, a U.S. Air Force veteran with a top-secret clearance who was working for an intelligence contractor, admitted leaking secrets to The Intercept, which published details of the National Security Agency document in June 2017.

The revelation dealt with Russian hacking targeting a company that supplies election technology.

The U.S. Justice Department said Winner printed out and mailed the report in May 2017 to the website, which specializes in investigative reporting on national security topics.

She was arrested in June 2017 and reached a plea agreement two months ago, admitting one count of unlawful retention and transmission of national defense information.

A federal judge in Augusta, Georgia, accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Winner to five years and three months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

The sentence is the longest ever given to someone for illegally disclosing government information, Winner's attorneys said, and it comes amid efforts by the White House to crack down on leaks to the press.

John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said Winner's leaks "put our nation's security at risk" and he hoped that her jail sentence "will deter others from similar unlawful action in the future."

Betsy Reed, editor in chief of The Intercept, said that Winner should be honored and that her sentencing and other prosecutions of whistle-blowers are attacks on freedom of speech and of the press.

"Instead of being recognized as a conscience-driven whistle-blower whose disclosure helped protect U.S. elections, Winner was prosecuted with vicious resolve by the Justice Department," Reed said.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
DOYLESTOWN >> Jarrod Eisenhauer, a detective with the Bucks County District Attorneys Office, has been honored by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the hard work of the Bucks County Detectives in taking down a large-scale drug trafficking ring that sold dangerous drugs in Bucks County and surrounding areas. Eisenhauer was among those honored at the Law Enforcement Partner Agent Awards...
His image was ubiquitous and his name everywhere as he ruled Uzbekistan with an iron fist for 27 years before his death was announced on September 2, 2016.

But just ahead of the second anniversary of Islam Karimov's death, Uzbek officials are reportedly talking much less about Karimov as they focus on his successor, Shavkat Mirziyoev, instead.

Several Uzbek state TV journalists say they have been given strict instructions not to mention the late president's name on air.

"The managers told us: 'If Karimov's name is heard during your programs you'll [be seriously punished for it],'" one TV moderator told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service on August 22.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the presenter said the employees were told that the order allegedly came from Khairiddin Sultonov, an adviser to Mirziyoev.

A chief editor at another state TV station confirmed he'd been given the same order, which he said was issued to all state television and radio channels in the country about one month ago, he said.

"It wasn't a recommendation, it was a demand," said the editor, who requested his name not be published. Fearing possible retaliation, Uzbeks are often reluctant to speak to foreign media outlets.

"In a [recent] staff meeting...they reminded us about the order once again," the editor told RFE/RL. "Actually, since the beginning of the year we've been advised to talk less about Karimov and instead praise Mirziyoev more."

"In the past month, editors are thoroughly checking all texts to remove Karimov's name," the editor said.

"Mentioning Karimov's name on air has become riskier than talking about [the founding leader of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan] Tohir Yuldosh," he added.

A journalist from the state Yoshlar (Youth) channel says the "ban" extends to showing Karimov's images and monuments to him in TV reports.

RFE/RL's Uzbek Service was unable to get comments from state TV officials about reports of the injunction on Karimov's name and image.

Meanwhile, at the Institute of History at Uzbekistan's Academy of Sciences, an employee told RFE/RL that "all portraits of Karimov have been removed from the building along with posters bearing his quotes."

And according to a student in Bukhara, all of the books alleged to have been written by the late authoritarian leader were removed from the library at his university and taken away in a truck.

Mixed Message

There has been no official word about a policy change regarding media mentions or items bearing the image of Karimov.

His long rule was constantly criticized by international rights organizations and Western states for its horrific record on human rights and for being void of free media or elections.

The UN Committee against Torture found in 2013 that torture was "institutionalized, systematic, and rampant" in Uzbekistan's judicial system. Karimov and his government were also severely criticized for the 2005 Andijon massacre, in which hundreds of antigovernment protesters were killed.

But since succeeding Karimov -- under whom he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2016 -- Mirziyoev has actually taken measures to immortalize his autocratic predecessor.

Large monuments were erected for Karimov in Tashkent and other cities and a marble-clad mausoleum with gilded walls and a dome was built in Samarkand, his birthplace.

The mausoleum was officially opened by Mirziyoev on January 30, 2018, on what would have been Karimov's 80th birthday.

Mirziyoev often takes his high-ranking guests -- including heads of states -- to Samarkand to pay tribute to Karimov.

Mirziyoev's most recent visit to Karimov's grave was on August 18, when he brought visiting Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to Samarkand.

Just two days later, however, police conducted a raid in the area on merchants selling Karimov memorabilia.

On the same day, a similar raid targeted souvenir sellers in front of a Karimov monument in the southern city of Qarshi.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL Uzbek Service correspondent Shukhrat Bobojon.
Bratislav Zivkovic, the commander of the Chetnik paramilitary force in Serbia, has been arrested on suspicion of organizing a group of Serbs who joined Russia-backed separatists in their war against Ukraine's government, Serbia's Interior Ministry said on August 23.

"The suspect will be detained for up to 48 hours and he will be brought to the competent prosecutor's office along with the criminal charges, the ministry told RFE/RL.

Zivkovic is under investigation in Ukraine for participating with six Serbians on the side of the separatists.

Zivkovic, 42, is also reported to have joined Russian forces that took control of Crimea when Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's peninsula in 2014.

Ukraine's prosecutor-general is investigating charges that the Serbians participated in separatist attacks on government forces in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as part of an extreme right-wing organization called Unite Continentale.

Amendments to Serbia's criminal law in 2014 made it a crime for Serbian nationals to participate in foreign wars, with violations drawing penalties ranging from six months to five years in prison.

An individual who participates in a foreign conflict as part of a group faces imprisonment of one to eight years, according to the law.

Someone convicted of organizing participation in a foreign conflict faces a prison sentence of two to 10 years.

In February, the Higher Court in Belgrade announced 28 convictions against Serbian citizens who participated in the war in Ukraine.

All but two of them pleaded guilty and agreed to settle with the prosecutor's office. Four people were sentenced to prison, while others were sentenced to parole.

The Chetnik paramilitary group gained notoriety in the 1990s when its units committed atrocities against non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
The scene of the accident on Church Street, Swinton

A WOMAN was taken to hospital after crashing a car into a telegraph pole in Swinton.

Emergency services were called to Church Street, Swinton, at around 2.15am yesterday (Thursday) after a collision involving a grey Citroen Xsara Picasso.

The car ended up on its side and the 35-year-old driver was taken to hospital to be treated for lacerations, a spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said.

Her injuries were not described as serious, she added.

Eyewitness Mr Malcolm Godfrey said he was woken by the noise of the collision.

He said the car flipped over in the collision and a telegraph pole had been flattened.
Image credit: ALROSA

ALROSA, the largest diamond mining company in the world, will auction special size rough diamonds (over 10.8 carats) in Vladivostok in the period from August 27 to September 12, 2018.The assortment to be put up for the auction includes 129 gem-quality rough diamonds with the total weight of 2312 carats. All the stones belong to ALROSA, and its subsidiaries  ALROSA-Nyurba and Severalmaz.The company invited 76 firms from Russia, Israel, Belgium, India, Hong Kong, UAE and the USA to participate in the auction. The results will be summed up on September 13.Since the formation in 2016, our branch in Vladivostok has established itself as a reliable trading platform. Every our auction is visited by clients not only from Russia and nearby Asian countries, but also from Europe and the USA. This confirms the good demand for our diamond products. Since the beginning of the year, at the Far East site, we have conducted two auctions and already received more than $30 million of sales revenue, said Evgeny Agureev, the Member of the Executive committee, Director of the USO ALROSA.ALROSA branch in Vladivostok was established in 2016 by the decision of the Companys Supervisory Board with the purpose of development of the Eurasian Diamond Centre in the territory of the Free Port of Vladivostok. The branch sold the first rough diamonds at the EDC in August-September of 2016.
Agricultural mechanisation in Africa can raise productivity and make rural employment more attractive, thus ensuring the continents future growth and poverty alleviation, experts say.

The experts, in a report launched in Malawi last month (10 July), examined seven countries  Ethiopia, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia  that are at the forefront of mechanisation and how their successes could be replicated across Africa.

The report was published by the Malabo Montpellier Panel, a group of 17 African and international agricultural experts.

Africa is the region with the least mechanised agricultural system in the world, says the report. African farmers have ten times fewer mechanised tools per farm area than farmers in other developing regions.

This report provides evidence needed to shape successful strategies on mechanisation and experience-sharing in the African context. Noble Banadda, Makerere University

According to the report, the seven countries selected for the case studies had average annual agricultural machinery growth rates ranging from 2.73 to 3.12 whereas that of their average annual agricultural output rates ranged from four to 8.5 between 2005 and 2014.

The success stories include the Moroccan government having a department of agronomy and agricultural machinery that designs and develop machines and tools for use by Moroccan farmers while Rwanda has, among others, village mechanisation service centres operated by the government.

Noble Banadda, a member of the panel and chair of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Ugandas Makerere University, tells SciDev.Net that more than 70 per cent of the young population in Africa live on less than US$2 a day as they struggle with high unemployment.

The report makes seven recommendations including a need to elevate national agricultural mechanisation investment strategies within national agricultural plans, design socially and politically mechanisation pathways that are sustainable and prioritise the entire agricultural value chain mechanisation.

The Malabo Montpellier Panel seeks to provide actionable recommendations for African policymakers on agricultural mechanisation, says Banadda. This report provides evidence needed to shape successful strategies on mechanisation and experience-sharing in the African context.

The experts examined policies, institutional changes and programmatic interventions these countries have made, and their likely impact on the food value chains.

Mechanisation, according to Banadda, is necessary along the whole value chain, including production, post-harvest handling, processing, transport and marketing stages. Technologies make these stages more efficient and lucrative, especially for the youth, he notes.

The benefits of mechanization along the agricultural value chain

Banadda adds that mechanisation needs not replace labour but can provide millions of jobs in processing, packaging, marketing and transport.

More and more Africans can be employed as the food and beverage market grows, he explains, citing the opportunity to bring value addition to Africa, for example, turning cocoa into chocolate and converting maize into breakfast cereals.

Banadda explains that mechanising agriculture to make it more lucrative and tech-savvy would encourage young people into agricultural jobs. Start-ups and app developers such as Hello Tractor, which links tractor owners to [Nigerian] farmers, are a great example of this.

Nuhu Hatibu, regional operations head for Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, says it is high time Africa mechanised agriculture as a pathway for alleviating poverty.

The continent, Hatibu says, needs to adapt already existing technologies such as small engines that are affordable, and can be operated with solar energy and make them affordable, and usable by smallholders instead of going for the expensive technologies.

Planners do not need to be paralysed by past failures and they should go for licenses to support adaptation, build local capacity and mechanise the entire agricultural value chain including value addition to agricultural products, he says.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
The need to help retirees make prudent spending decisions has led to the growth of a large industry of financial advisors, but a new article suggests that improved policy approaches may be more effective. Published in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the study reviews the psychology behind rapid spending decisions and presents five policy options that lead to the smarter self-management of assets.

Decisions regarding decumulation, or the spending of savings during retirement, are often greatly affected by psychological factors, include trade-offs between current and future income, and have long term implications. Impulse, loss aversion, and the desire for ownership are all psychological predictors that can lead retirees to manage their assets poorly and spend savings too rapidly or too slowly.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and City, University of London built upon existing decumulation research in order to offer insight to public policy experts, financial industry regulators, and social program administrators. They proposed the following policy options to optimize retirement income solutions:

1. Financial Literacy: Financial training programs offered before complicated or risky investment decisions, similar to the training required to obtain a driver's license. 2. Safe Automatic Options: A low-cost option to protect a proportion of the individuals' total wealth, yet still allow discretion by the retiree for the remainder. Such an option could be built into an employee's retirement benefit program. 3. Precommitment: If individuals are at risk of future intellectual decline as a result of dementia or another similar disorder, commitment to financial decisions during younger working years could be especially useful. Options could include payments made over time. 4. Disclosures and Framing: Changes in language can also affect decumulation decisions. For example, reframing continued employment as an investment in future social security income may cause those considering retirement to feel more inclined to wait. 5. Customized Interventions: A financial robo-advisor that would perform an assessment of a retiree's key psychological drivers, biases, and inclinations before leading them through personalized solutions. Such interventions would provide policy makers with more insight to individual biases, preferences, and problem solving techniques, allowing them to work in tandem with individuals, rather than in opposition.

"Baby boomers are now retiring at the rate of almost 10,000 per day," wrote authors Suzanne and Stephen Shu. "These millions of retirees, and the families and providers who look out for their financial well-being are counting on a smarter approach to decumulation."
LMU chemist Professor Ivan Huc, who heads a research group devoted to the study of Biomimetic Supramolecular Chemistry, has designed and synthesized a molecular structure which features a helical binding pocket that is made-to-measure for the recognition and capture of xylobiose, a member of the disaccharide class of carbohydrates to which sugar (sucrose) also belongs. The molecule's synthesis and characterization are described in the new issue of Angewandte Chemie.

Huc's research is aptly characterized by the term 'biomimetic'. He seeks inspiration for the synthesis of chemicals with specialized binding properties in the principles that underlie the organization of biopolymers. Biopolymers, such as proteins, nucleic acids and polysaccharides, typically contain several different kinds of subunits, whose sequence and spatial disposition determine their structural and functional characteristics. Huc's creations -- which he calls foldamers -- are similarly based on a small set of synthetic subunits, which can be readily modified for specific purposes. The subunits largely consist of rigid and planar aromatic rings, and are assembled, rather like Lego bricks, into linear polymers whose helical shape is reminiscent of that of the helices found in DNA and proteins. The goal of the new study, which was carried out in collaboration with colleagues at Bordeaux University (where Huc was based before moving to LMU in 2017), was to use this approach to design a foldamer that is capable of selective saccharide binding in organic solvents.

The sugar-binding properties of the resulting foldamer, which consists of 18 subunits of seven different types, were tested by incubation with several disaccharides, and the molecule was found to bind detectably only to xylobiose. Analysis of the crystal structure of the complex confirmed that the helical foldamer fully encapsulates the disaccharide within its internal cavity. Moreover, the bound disaccharide adopts an unusual conformation with its hydroxyls in the axial position, such that the two sugar rings are stacked one above the other. Binding is due to the formation of a network of hydrogen bonds between the sugars and functional groups that project from the inner wall of helical foldamer. Indeed, several of these bonds are mediated by water molecules within the cavity itself. This reflects the fact that the receptor was purposely designed to provide more than enough room for its guest molecule. And it testifies to the precision with which Huc's concept of molecular design "from first principles" can be implemented in practice. "We succeeded in constructing a selective receptor only with the knowledge of the basic principles that rule folding and molecular recognition properties of these compounds," says Ivan Huc. The next steps include to extend saccharide recognition to an aqueous medium, and to transform such helical receptors into sensors, for example using fluorescence, for saccharide quantitation and imaging in living systems.
Researchers advise caution as a commercial-scale nuclear reactor known as HTR-PM prepares to become operational in China. The reactor is a pebble-bed, high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), a new design that is ostensibly safer but that researchers in the U.S. and Germany warn does not eliminate the possibility of a serious accident. Their commentary, publishing August 23 in the journal Joule, recommends continued research, additional safety measures, and an extended startup phase that would allow for better monitoring.

"There is no reason for any kind of panic, but nuclear technology has risk in any case," says first author Rainer Moormann, a nuclear safety researcher based in Germany. "A realistic understanding of those risks is essential, especially for operators, and so we urge caution and a spirit of scientific inquiry in the operation of HTR-PM."

In addition to generating electrical power more efficiently, pebble-bed HTGRs such as HTR-PM avoid some of the safety challenges that earlier reactor designs faced. They use graphite- and ceramic-coated grains of uranium fuel that can withstand the core's very high temperatures and passive cooling systems, which together should eliminate the possibility of a core meltdown. "Pebble-bed reactors have been described by their supporters as 'free from catastrophes' and 'walk away safe,'" he says.

What this means in practice, however, is that the soon-to-be-operational HTR-PM has been built without the safeguards that nuclear reactors in operation today are usually equipped with: it does not have a high-pressure, leak-tight containment structure to serve as a backup in case of an accidental release of radioactive material. It also does not have a redundant active cooling system.

"No reactor is immune to accidents. The absence of core meltdown accidents does not mean that a dangerous event is not possible," Moormann says. He and his coauthors, Scott Kemp and Ju Li of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argue that with new technology, there is always a higher chance of user error. And prototype HTGRs have surprised their operators in the past by forming localized hot spots in the core and unexpectedly high levels of radioactive dust. The pebble-bed design also produces a larger volume of radioactive waste, which is challenging to store or treat.

Moormann acknowledges the potential of HTGRs and supports further research into them. "HTGR designs with what's known as a prismatic core seem to be less problematic than the pebble-bed one, so development work should concentrate on that," he says.

But to reduce risk, he and his colleagues advocate for several precautionary steps, including rigorous, continuous monitoring, the installation of containment and cooling systems, and an extended startup phase to allow the reactor to be observed and monitored as it comes to temperature. They also recommend investigating more secure long-term storage options for the fuel waste, which currently will be stored in aboveground canisters potentially vulnerable to environmental stresses and terrorism.

"There was already some controversy about pebble-bed HTGRs, but my impression was that many problems of them were not sufficiently published and thus not known to some of my colleagues," says Moormann. "I hope that the pros and cons will be broadly discussed."
Harmful algae isn't just a problem for high-profile bodies of water -- it poses serious, toxic threats in small ponds and lakes as well, new research has found.

A team of researchers from The Ohio State University examined water samples from two dozen ponds and small lakes in rural Ohio and found plenty of cause for concern, with particularly high levels of toxins at one lake.

Toxins from algae can cause skin rashes, intestinal problems and damage to the liver and nervous system. Fertilizers common to agriculture -- including nitrogen and phosphorus -- create an environment in which harmful algae can flourish.

The researchers said that the way farmers manage runoff could play a significant role in creating water bodies that are ripe for harmful algal blooms. A primary concern is tile drainage, a widely used agricultural approach to removing excess water from the soil below the surface. That water -- and the nutrients found in it -- are rerouted, often toward ponds on farm property, said study co-author Seungjun Lee, a postdoctoral researcher in environmental health sciences at Ohio State.

"A lot of people and government agencies are paying attention to larger lakes, including Lake Erie, but these smaller bodies of water are also used for recreation, fishing and irrigation," he said.

The study was published recently in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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The research team, led by Ohio State's Jiyoung Lee, analyzed samples from the 24 bodies of water over a three-month period in late summer 2015.

Ten of the sites had detectable levels of microcystins, toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria during algal blooms.

One site had repeated instances of microcystin concentrations above recreational guidelines set by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and so the research team paid particular attention to the samples from that site.

"Samples from this lake in early July were particularly concerning, as they contained four times the recommended amount of microcystin for recreational use and more than 800 times the recommended level for drinking," Seungjun Lee said.

A pond or lake with high toxin levels presents a risk to people, pets, farm animals, wildlife (including fish) and crops and could benefit from routine monitoring and work to lower the risk of algal blooms, he said. The researchers did not name the lake in question, because it is privately owned.

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Jiyoung Lee said the impact of tile drainage may be elevated in small lakes and ponds, compared to larger lakes.

"Highly concentrated nutrients are being introduced into a smaller volume of water, making small lakes and ponds more sensitive to this influx of phosphorus, nitrogen and other nutrients," she said.

Nitrate and phosphorus are linked to the primary type of toxic microcystin found in the water. Judicious use of fertilizers could help control the algal blooms, as could measures to reduce animal waste contamination of ponds and lakes, Seungjun Lee said.

Though the study concentrated on Ohio agricultural areas, its findings likely apply to many areas throughout the U.S. and the world where agriculture and small lakes and ponds coexist, the researchers said.

Researchers from Kenyon College also contributed to the study, which was partially funded by the Ohio Water Development Authority.
It may be possible in the future to screen patients for Alzheimer's disease using an eye exam.

Using technology similar to what is found in many eye doctors' offices, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have detected evidence suggesting Alzheimer's in older patients who had no symptoms of the disease.

Their study, involving 30 patients, is published Aug. 23 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

"This technique has great potential to become a screening tool that helps decide who should undergo more expensive and invasive testing for Alzheimer's disease prior to the appearance of clinical symptoms," said the study's first author, Bliss E. O'Bryhim, MD, PhD, a resident physician in the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences. "Our hope is to use this technique to understand who is accumulating abnormal proteins in the brain that may lead them to develop Alzheimer's."

Significant brain damage from Alzheimer's disease can occur years before any symptoms such as memory loss and cognitive decline appear. Scientists estimate that Alzheimer's-related plaques can build up in the brain two decades before the onset of symptoms, so researchers have been looking for ways to detect the disease sooner.

Physicians now use PET scans and lumbar punctures to help diagnose Alzheimer's, but they are expensive and invasive.

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In previous studies, researchers examining the eyes of people who had died from Alzheimer's have reported that the eyes of such patients showed signs of thinning in the center of the retina and degradation of the optic nerve.

In the new study, the researchers used a noninvasive technique -- called optical coherence tomography angiography -- to examine the retinas in eyes of 30 study participants with an average age in the mid 70s, none of whom exhibited clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's.

Those participants were patients in The Memory and Aging Project at Washington University's Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. About half of those in the study had elevated levels of the Alzheimer's proteins amyloid or tau as revealed by PET scans or cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting that although they didn't have symptoms, they likely would develop Alzheimer's. In the other subjects, PET scans and cerebrospinal fluid analyses were normal.

"In the patients with elevated levels of amyloid or tau, we detected significant thinning in the center of the retina," said co-principal investigator Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. "All of us have a small area devoid of blood vessels in the center of our retinas that is responsible for our most precise vision. We found that this zone lacking blood vessels was significantly enlarged in people with preclinical Alzheimer's disease."

The eye test used in the study shines light into the eye, allowing a doctor to measure retinal thickness, as well as the thickness of fibers in the optic nerve. A form of that test often is available in ophthalmologist's offices.

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For this study, however, the researchers added a new component to the more common test: angiography, which allows doctors to distinguish red blood cells from other tissue in the retina.

"The angiography component allows us to look at blood-flow patterns," said the other co-principal investigator, Gregory P. Van Stavern, MD, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences. "In the patients whose PET scans and cerebrospinal fluid showed preclinical Alzheimer's, the area at the center of the retina without blood vessels was significantly larger, suggesting less blood flow."

Added Apte: "The retina and central nervous system are so interconnected that changes in the brain could be reflected in cells in the retina."

Of the patients studied, 17 had abnormal PET scans and/or lumbar punctures, and all of them also had retinal thinning and significant areas without blood vessels in the centers of their retinas. The retinas appeared normal in the patients whose PET scans and lumbar punctures were within the typical range.

More studies in patients are needed to replicate the findings, Van Stavern said, but he noted that if changes detected with this eye test can be used as markers for Alzheimer's risk, it may be possible one day to screen people as young as their 40s or 50s to see whether they are at risk for the disease.

"We know the pathology of Alzheimer's disease starts to develop years before symptoms appear, but if we could use this eye test to notice when the pathology is beginning, it may be possible one day to start treatments sooner to delay further damage," he said.

O'Bryhim BE, Apte RS, Kung N, Coble D, Van Stavern GP. Optical coherence tomography angiography findings in pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease. JAMA Ophthalmology, Aug. 23, 2018.

This work was supported by Research to Prevent Blindness and by a grant from Optovue Inc.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus, which causes acute encephalitis in Eastern and Southern Asia, is traditionally considered a rural disease. Now, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have shown that pigs in a peri-urban and a rural farm were infected by the virus at the same rate. This finding suggests vaccination efforts should be widened to encourage travelers to receive JE virus immunization.

JE is caused by a Flavivirus and transmitted mostly by mosquitos. Domestic pigs are considered major hosts, although the disease infects a wide range of vertebrates. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 68,000 human cases occur annually, of which 15,000 -- mostly young children -- die of the virus. JE has long been considered a rural disease, with proximity to rice fields and pig farming known to be risk factors of the disease.

In their new work, Juliette Di Francesco, of the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Cambodia, and colleagues started their work based on a series of previous studies of JE virus by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). Francesco and her colleagues followed 15 pigs in a rural farm and 15 pigs in a peri-urban farm. In both cases, they collected blood samples from the pigs every 8 to 11 days in 2015. Each sample was tested for the presence of JE virus antibodies and JE virus RNA.

In both groups, all the pigs tested positive for JE virus antibodies by the age of 6 months. The force of infection was similar in both farms, with a force of 0.61 and 0.69 per day in the peri-urban and the rural farm, respectively. The researchers detected six different strains of JE virus in the pigs. The pigs became infected later in the rural farm, which may be due to their later loss of maternal antibodies and to the larger amount of pigs in their proximity. Additional larger studies in other urban, peri-urban, and rural settings are needed to confirm these findings.

"These results demonstrate that Japanese encephalitis virus circulates intensely both in a rural and a peri-urban setting in Cambodia," the researchers note, "They suggest the importance of changing vaccination recommendations for travelers and of not focusing national immunization programs against Japanese encephalitis solely on rural areas," the researchers say.
After decades of trapping, the last known American marten was spotted on Isle Royale in 1917. Fifty years later, in 1966, the National Park Service planned to reintroduce martens to the national park situated in Lake Superior, but nobody knows if the agency ever followed through. Then, in 1993, martens were confirmed on the island for the first time in 76 years.

Whether these small, forest-dwelling carnivores -- valued historically for their fur -- had been hiding there the whole time, found their way back, or were introduced in the 1960s without any records has remained a mystery for the last quarter century.

But in new research published today (Aug. 23, 2018) in the journal Scientific Reports, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, collaborating with the National Park Service, traced the recolonization to martens likely arriving in the 1990s, shortly before they were spotted.

Genetic studies of martens from Isle Royale and nearby populations in America and Canada showed that the contemporary population came from nearby Ontario, Canada. The animals likely wandered over on an ice bridge in the winter, the researchers speculate.

The results provide much-needed context about the natural history of an island long considered an unspoiled wilderness, but one with a long history of ecological disruptions and recoveries. The island park may be best known for the ebb and flow of its wolf and moose populations, which have been tracked for 60 years.

With additional wolves set to be relocated to Isle Royale in the coming months, the new research provides ecologists and land managers with a fuller picture of how dynamic even seemingly isolated island ecosystems can be.

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After all, say the researchers, if the house-cat-sized marten can find its way over, islands like Isle Royale may be less isolated and static than we think.

Jonathan Pauli, a professor of forest and wildlife ecology at UW-Madison, has studied martens for years as part of efforts to understand how communities of wild animals respond to human disturbance. In 2015, his group provided evidence that martens had long escaped detection on islands in southeastern Alaska prior to deliberate reintroduction efforts in the 20th century. And in work published in 2016 with graduate student Phil Manlick, Pauli called into question the effectiveness of periodic augmentations of reintroduced marten populations in Wisconsin, where the once-extirpated carnivore remains an endangered species.

Part of the problem in studying martens: They're hard as heck to spot in the wild.

"I've never seen a Wisconsin marten without trapping one," says Manlick.

Manlick, Pauli and co-author Mark Romanski of the National Park Service collected marten scat samples on the island from 2006 to 2008 and again from 2012 to 2013. They gathered additional samples from nearby marten populations in Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Samples from a different species, the Pacific marten, located in Colorado, served as a comparison. In total, the researchers collected samples from 230 individuals.

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They analyzed DNA extracted from the samples to get a genetic fingerprint of the different populations. The team then evaluated three possible colonization scenarios: that an ancient population of martens had escaped detection after presumed extirpation, that the planned 1966 reintroduction actually occurred and was successful, or that a more recent reintroduction took place.

An initial analysis of the martens' DNA showed that the Isle Royale population was related to martens from Ontario. But the island population's DNA fingerprint was different, unique enough to suggest that they might have been isolated from the mainland for sufficient time to diverge into their own subpopulation. This distinct pattern supported the idea that a hidden population of martens had escaped detection during the 20th century.

"If something's been isolated out there for thousands of years, there's going to be some (genetic) mutations that build up in that population, where they're going to look distinct from everybody else around them," says Manlick, explaining how, over generations, genomes slowly accumulate mutations. "And that's what we anticipated seeing. But we didn't."

A closer look at DNA from the mitochondria -- the energy-generating part of the cell has its own, tiny genome -- revealed that the Isle Royale martens were part of one larger, common population around Lake Superior.

"They actually look just like all the other martens in the region who have come from Ontario and Minnesota and Michigan, and all these groups of martens all kind of look the same" genetically, says Manlick.

The low genetic diversity of the Isle Royale martens indicated that their population had experienced a severe genetic bottleneck. Analysis of the bottleneck estimated that the island's population began with just two individuals -- or even one pregnant female -- and that they migrated to the island less than a generation before samples were first collected in the early 2000s.

In other words, Isle Royale's martens repopulated the island just before they were spotted again, in 1993, after a 76-year absence. Though it's impossible to prove, the researchers venture that the martens walked 16 miles over an ice bridge from Ontario, a known pathway for other animals. Such connections to land are becoming less common in a warming climate.

"Much of what we understand about the island and its ecosystem evolves as we develop new techniques for analysis. At the onset of the project I was pulling for a remnant population, but to find out that martens just arrived blew my mind," says Romanski. "I am used to being wrong, but in this instance I certainly don't mind, as the story is richer."

"If they naturally colonized the island, it has implications for the management of Isle Royale in general," says Pauli.

That's because ongoing management decisions, such as the relocation of more wolves to the island slated for this fall, are based in part on assumptions that the island ecosystem won't recover from disturbances without human help. But the small marten found its way back. So might other species. The take-home lesson, say the researchers, is that even protected, isolated ecosystems can be resilient and are rarely static.

"This does suggest that these islands are maybe not as insulated as we think," says Pauli, "and that they are indeed way more dynamic than we give them credit for."
Friday, August 24, 2018 at 8:23AM

Nokia, which once dominated the mobile phone market, was sold to Microsoft until that company abandoned its stake in smartphones is back in Canada. The new Nokia handsets run the gamut of devices, from a nostalgic 3310 feature phone being sold for $90 to a range of affordable and capable Android-powered smartphones for every budget.

HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, announces that the Nokia 3310 3G, Nokia 1, Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6.1 are available to buy in Canada. Retailers carrying a range of devices online include Best Buy, Canada Computers, Staples and Walmart. Several of the aforementioned devices are also available in-stores at Best Buy and Staples now. Hit jump for the details.

Nokia 3310 3G: a modern classic reborn

With fresh colours and a new user interface that lets fans pick a theme to suit their mood, this modern classic is 3G enabled. The retro user interface has been improved to deliver an enhanced, customisable experience. That means you can now change the icon colours and position to ensure your favourite functions are exactly where you want them to be. Ergonomically redesigned for an even better in-hand experience, Nokia 3310 3G has more spacing between the buttons, letting you dial, text and tweet more comfortably. With 6.5 hours of talk time and an impressive up to 27 days of standby time, youre always able to stay in touch. And yes, it still has Snake! This device is $89 and is available online now at Best Buy, Staples and Walmart and can be found in-store at Staples.

Nokia 1: a complete smartphone experience accessible to everyone

A breakthrough in accessible technology, the Nokia 1 delivers smartphone essentials, refreshingly familiar design and the reassuring quality of a Nokia phone to fans around the world. With a quad-core processor, front and rear cameras and 4G connectivity, the Nokia 1 elevates everything you love about feature phones in an accessible smartphone package. Combining a removable 2150 mAh battery and power-efficient IPS display, its hardware works with optimised apps so you can make the most out of each charge. Running the latest Android Oreo (Go edition), a version of Android for devices with 1GB RAM or less[1], the Nokia 1 delivers extraordinary value with an exceptional experience encompassing all the features youd expect from a quality smartphone. This device is $129 and is available online and in-store at Best Buy and Staples now.

Nokia 3: a stunning smartphone with unprecedented value

With a precision machined aluminium frame forged out of a single piece of aluminium, a laminated 5 display with sculpted Corning Gorilla Glass and seamlessly integrated 8MP wide aperture cameras (front and back), the Nokia 3 packs a truly premium quality smartphone experience into its compact and elegant form. This device is $209 and is available online at Best Buy, Canada Computers and Staples now.

Nokia 5: the quality of a high-end flagship for everyone

A sleek and compact smartphone, the Nokia 5 nestles in your hand. It has been precision engineered out of a single block of 6000 series aluminium to create a perfect pillowed body that flows seamlessly into the laminated 5.2 IPS HD display with sculpted CorningGorilla Glass. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 30 mobile platform and the Qualcomm Adreno505 graphics processor, the Nokia 5 brings robust structural integrity, attention to detail and the quality of a high-end flagship to everyone. This device is $279 and is available online at Best Buy, Canada Computers and Staples now.

Nokia 6.1: our award-winning phone just got even better

Building on the success of its predecessor, the Nokia 6.1 packs even more powerful performance and great new features into a more compact, durable body. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 Mobile Platform, the Nokia 6.1 is over 60% faster than its award-winning predecessor. Also, now offering enhanced Dual-Sight, ZEISS optics, USB-C fast-charging, Nokia spatial audio and pure, secure and up-to-date Android Oreo, the Nokia 6.1 has been selected by Google to join the Android One family. The Nokia 6.1 will stay fresh over time with the latest Google innovations and regular security updates.

Taking the originals precision craftsmanship to the next level, the Nokia 6.1 combines a unibody, made from a solid block of 6000 series aluminium, with an 11-hour two-tone anodising and polishing process. And by uniting a sculpted 2.5D display with damage-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, the Nokia 6.1s compact and refined body is designed to stay beautiful for longer. The Nokia 6.1 delivers fast and smooth performance
Social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, according to new research led by the George Washington University. Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 United States presidential election, these Twitter accounts entered into vaccine debates months before election season was underway. The study, "Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate" was published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, examined thousands of tweets sent between July 2014 and September 2017. It discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the U.S. election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeted about vaccines and skewed online health communications.

"The vast majority of Americans believe vaccines are safe and effective, but looking at Twitter gives the impression that there is a lot of debate. It turns out that many anti-vaccine tweets come from accounts whose provenance is unclear. These might be bots, human users or 'cyborgs' -- hacked accounts that are sometimes taken over by bots. Although it's impossible to know exactly how many tweets were generated by bots and trolls, our findings suggest that a significant portion of the online discourse about vaccines may be generated by malicious actors with a range of hidden agendas," David Broniatowski, an assistant professor in GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science, said.

For example, the researchers found that "content polluters" -- bot accounts that distribute malware, unsolicited commercial content and disruptive materials -- shared anti-vaccination messages 75 percent more than average Twitter users.

"Content polluters seem to use anti-vaccine messages as bait to entice their followers to click on advertisements and links to malicious websites. Ironically, content that promotes exposure to biological viruses may also promote exposure to computer viruses," Sandra Crouse Quinn, a research team member and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, said.

Russian trolls and more sophisticated bot accounts used a different tactic, posting equal amounts of pro- and anti-vaccination tweets. Dr. Broniatowski's team reviewed more than 250 tweets about vaccination sent by accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian government-backed company recently indicted by a U.S. grand jury because of its attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections. The researchers found the tweets used polarizing language linking vaccination to controversial issues in American society, such as racial and economic disparities.

"These trolls seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," Mark Dredze, a team member and professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins, said. "However, by playing both sides, they erode public trust in vaccination, exposing us all to the risk of infectious diseases. Viruses don't respect national boundaries."
Michael Chatman, president and CEO of the Cape Coral Community Foundation, invites the Southwest Florida community to nominate outstanding local nonprofit organizations, leaders and partners for the second annual Excellence in Nonprofit Performance Yearly awards (The ENPYs). Finalists and winners will be recognized at a luncheon Tuesday, Oct. 9, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza Bell Tower, 13051 Bell Tower Drive, Fort Myers.

Up to three finalists will be selected in each of the following categories by a panel of judges:

Nonprofit Organization of the Year (established more than three years ago)

Nonprofit Rising Organization of the Year (established less than three years ago)

Nonprofit Executive of the Year (CEO, president, executive director)

Nonprofit Board Leader of the Year (board member)

Nonprofit Employee of the year (paid staff member)

Nonprofit Volunteer of the Year (individual who serves the organization and/or community)

Nonprofit Business Partner of the Year (business who supports nonprofits and the community)

In addition, the Community Impact Award, the Paul Sanborn Service Above Self Award and the Elmer Tabor Generosity Award will be presented to three inspirational individuals. The Organization of the Year and Rising Organization of the Year will each be awarded a grant from the Cape Coral Community Foundation.

Application submissions are due Friday, Aug. 31, at 10 a.m. Criteria, instructions and nomination forms are available at TheENPYs.com. For more information, call 239-542-5594 or visit CapeCoralCF.org.
UPDATE: "Hello, Universe" has been picked up by Netflix for a live-action movie adaptation. Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker ("Black Panther") will be co-producing the movie and Michael Golamco (Always Be My Maybe) will be adapting the book.

Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  Erin Entrada Kelly has been writing since she was eight years old but it wasnt until she was in her 20s that she realized shed been publishing short stories which had characters who were aged 10, 11, or 12, even though these stories were written for adults.

I realized that that age is a very interesting age, says Kelly, who was recently in Manila for the Readers and Writers Festival 2018. Youre starting to look to your friends for approval, you want to fit in, and you want everyone to notice you but you also dont want everyone to notice you [Laughs]. Youre trying to figure out how to do all these things in this world that we live in. So that can make it very challenging. Theres a lot of opportunities to tell stories so thats what kind of drew me to that.

The Filipino-American recently won the Newbery Medal, the most prestigious prize in Childrens Literature, for her novel Hello, Universe. It features a young boy, Virgil (short for Virgilio), stuck in a well. Virgil has a wild imagination, thanks mostly to the stories of his lola who told him grisly tales of child-eating trees, monster birds, and sad kings.

Her writing owes much to her Filipino heritage, though she initially struggled with it first. When she was in school, being the only Asian meant being bullied by her classmates and it made her resent her mothers cultural background (she was born in Sogod, Southern Leyte). But, much like Kellys characters in her books, she learned to overcome it and put her experience of social isolation and being bullied in many of her writings, like in Hello, Universe and her latest book, You Go First. And the reception has been very positive.

I get a lot of letters and emails from FIlipino Americans, she says. Young people and their parents and their families saying thank you. I also get a lot of emails from white kids who [say] that the bottom line is we all know what it feels like to be left out, to want to fit in, to feel different. So it doesnt matter if youre Filipino or white, its something that we all can relate to. People of all backgrounds obviously are bullied. I get a lot of letters and emails from kids who are bullied who are just happy to see that theyre not alone.

Hello, Universe is Kellys third book and had earned her the 2018 Newbery Medal, the prestigious award that recognizes achievement in American literature for children. Previous winners include Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book, Lois Lowry for The Giver, and Madeleine L'Engle for A Wrinkle in Time.

In You Go First, there are no fantastic stories that come to life but Kelly goes a little deeper in tackling the loneliness of being a child. The story focuses on two brilliant, yet socially withdrawn middle school kids, Ben and Charlotte, who live far away from each other yet share a link and many commonalities. Together, they help each other deal with surviving school, family problems, and betrayal. And in between, theres Scrabble, lessons on leadership, and art history.

CNN Philippines Life talks to Kelly about the books that she grew up with (spoiler alert: theyre mostly written by white authors), the negative feedback from her young readers, and her upcoming fantasy book which draws inspiration from Filipino folklore. Below are edited excerpts from the interview.

Are there written or unwritten rules about writing childrens books?

You never want to write down to kids and [you want] to respect them as young readers and respect them as three dimensional people with their own opinions. They have a lot of opinions, ideas, and thoughts. I think adults sometimes, when we think about kids, we think of them as a little naive, waiting to grow up, but we forget to think of them as their own person. They have their own thoughts about the world.

What role does language play when you dont want to talk down to your audience?

Before I start writing, I spend a lot of time thinking about my characters and what they sound like. I think some writers are more suited to write for certain audiences than others and I find young people much more interesting and imaginative and creative than grown ups [Laughs]. Im very inspired by them all the time. I think its kind of easy for me to get into their head and think about what their language sounds like, I think I have more trouble writing for adults. Its just about what we tap into.

What kind of kids are you surrounded by?

Im surrounded by all different kids. I do a lot of school visits, I talk to a lot of young people. And whats interesting to me is how the more you travel, people are different but  even though people have different ethnicities, backgrounds, there are things that we have in common. So thats what I kind of want to tap into. Ive talked to kids as young as second or third grade. I usually dont talk to high school [kids], but as old as eighth grade. Its just funny how the different age groups you talk to, the different personalities that they have, because the older they get, the more theyre trying to be cool.

"I think one of the things that my books have in common is I want to share this idea to embrace who you are," shares Kelly. "Thats kind of the mission statement of all my books ... to love who you are and dont let other people define who you are for you." Photo courtesy of NATIONAL BOOK STORE

Do you think thats where the difficulty of relating to older kids come from?

Yeah. I think because as they get older, they get even more and more self-conscious. So if I talk to a fourth grade [group] and ask if they have questions, everyone has a question. And they all have five questions each. But the older you get the less they want to raise their hand. So that does make it a little difficult. Because when I talk to young people, I can be goofy and silly. I think young kids appreciate that. The older they get, the more they dont want to laugh because they want to look cool [Laughs].

When you write stories, is there some kind of specificity that you aim to write about?

I think one of the things that my books have in common is I want to share this idea to embrace who you are. Thats kind of the mission statement of all my books is to love who you are and dont let other people define who you are for you.

Does race play a big part in what you write?

I think it does in the fact that everything that I write has a piece of myself in it. Im always writing from things that Ive experienced, things that are important to me and its really important to me to not just share my experiences growing up as the only Filipino in my neighborhood or in my school but also to show what our world looks like. In Hello, Universe, theres a Japanese character, theres a deaf character, theyre people who live in our community.

Our books and our films and our commercials, they should all depict what our world looks like. Thats something that Im always aware of and thats something thats important to me. Especially now in the States, its charged, theres some social upheaval going on and there are a lot of communities that are being told that theyre not welcome or that theyre not Americans or that theyre criminals, just based only on their race, which obviously is horrifying and scary. Its also very important for me that young people who are part of those communities who are being marginalized to see that they still have a safe space and thats not how everyone feels.

What kind of childrens books did you grow up with?

I read a lot of Judy Blume. All the books that Ive read all have white characters [Laughs]. So Im happy that today, people are more and more [able to] have access to books that have other faces on them. I wish there had been books with Filipinos or even Asian characters. But I grew up reading a lot of authors who wrote great books but theyre all white. I think its important for young people to see themselves in books so that they know if thats all you read and all you see are light skin, light hair, light eyes, youre thinking that thats something youre supposed to be. So Im hoping that as time goes on, kids will see more and more that there are different kinds of things you can be and things that you are. And its all good. It doesnt have to be that one basis.

Erin Entrada Kelly's writing owes much to her Filipino heritage, though she initially struggled with it first. But much like Kellys characters in her books, she learned to overcome it and put her experience of social isolation and being bullied in many of her writings, like in Hello, Universe and her latest book, You Go First. Photo courtesy of NATIONAL BOOK STORE

One thing I love about reading childrens books is that you get reminded of how it really is to be a kid. Because when youre older, there are things you forget and you have this idealized version of childhood. How do you want to immerse you readers, of all ages, in that idea?

As we get older, we only tend to remember the happy things. The problem with that is we no longer take young people seriously as we get older. We want them to listen to us and respect us but we dont always want to listen to them and respect them. But respect is always earned. When a child is saying Yes, maam and No, maam or being very polite, theres a difference between respect and obedience. We have to respect young people just as we expect them to respect us. The way we do that is by listening to them and taking them seriously.

Have you had kids tell you what they want to read about?

They dont necessarily tell me what they want to read about. Sometimes they ask if Im gonna write a sequel [Laughs]. A lot of them mostly want to talk about how theyre being bullied or how theyre being treated in school. And the best is when they feel like they learned to stand up for themselves or stand up to someone else because they read one of my books, because they read a book where a character did that. I think thats what its all about, changing lives even if just a little bit.

In your books, youve had an affinity for children who are actively intellectual but lacking in social skills. What draws you to these characters?

I think one of the things that appeals to me about that is that I really have an affinity for young people who are different, who are left out. I feel like what happens is if youre a misfit kid, its easy for you to go unnoticed and then you start to feel like youre invisible in the world. Its important for me because I was a kid like that. They know that theyre seen and theyre valued, that theyre important. Those are things that I didnt know when I was a kid so thats what I want to bring to them.

Youre writing a fantasy book partly influenced by Pinoy folklore. Can you talk about that?

Its about a 12-year-old girl named Leilani. She lives in a fictional island and theyre having a lot of challenges because it hasnt rained in a very long time. Their crops are failing. Theres a legend on their island that theres a mountain across the distant sea that has all of lifes good fortunes on it. So every year or so, men sail off on this island but never return. For all these various reasons, 12-year-old Leilani sets off to find this fictional island. I did a lot of research and Filipino readers, and all readers I think will find familiar things, folklore-wise, especially trees, they play a very special part in the book so Im very excited.

How dark can you go when you write your books? In You Go First, divorce plays a large part and one of the characters is weighed down by it. Theres also the physicality of being bullied in Hello, Universe.

I go as far as where the story will take me and thats one thing about Leilanis story. I started writing it around the time of the elections, because I wanted to write a story about hardship and hope and so its very dark. Its fantasy so its different but its definitely my darkest book yet. But the thing about darkness is whenever youre [in it], hope shines even brighter, right? The further away you are from hope then you are on your journey back, its even more incredible. Thats why I think its important to write books that have darkness and sadness, we all experience it. Its important to know that whenever you are in darkness and sadness, its so important to hold on to hope, even if its just one little kernel, youre just holding on as tight as you can. Its important to never let it go because thats what keeps us going.

Whats the most interesting feedback that youve got from your readers?

Young people are very honest, so I would get emails from young people who did not like my book [Laughs]. It just makes me laugh because I think its funny that first of all, they took time to send me a little note but they have opinions, which I like. Whenever you go to readings and talk to adults theyre always very polite, the wont tell you I did not like your book! But young people will always tell you. Its refreshing. As we get older, we learn all these social [standards] that youre not supposed to say this or that. Its always great to be around kids who havent figured that out [Laughs].

Are there specific things that they didnt like?

Sometimes they would say they didnt like the ending or they would offer their own ideas [Laughs] for how the book should end. It always makes me smile. It doesnt matter that they didnt like it. I love that theyre reading books, for one thing. [Laughs]

***

Erin Entrada Kellys books are available in National Book Store and Powerbooks.
Frey & Son Homes completes home in Cape Coral

Southwest Florida home builder, Frey & Son Homes, has announces the completion of another Cape Coral home, complete with its signature open-span lanai. Frey & Son Homes has been building homes to last generations for over 46 years, and has built over 5,000 homes in the area.

Located at 11750 Royal Tee Circle in Cape Coral, this St. Lucia model boasts three bedrooms, three baths and 3,680 square feet of living space. The home also features high ceilings, wrap-around panoramic windows in the morning room, designer pool/spa, wood cabinetry and granite counter tops throughout.

Founded in 1972 by Doris and Bill Frey, Sanibel Homes was launched on Sanibel Island. Joined by son Barry in 1985, Frey & Son Homes was born, and since then, the team has been building homes for clients all over Southwest Florida, from Marco Island to Cape Coral.

To learn more about Frey & Son Homes, call 239-495-8200, email info@freyandson.com or visit www.freyandson.com.

REIS, FPZA to present 2018 Real Estate Symposium Sept. 13

Developers, government leaders and real estate experts will address the trends and impacts of shifting growth patterns at the 2018 Real Estate Symposium to be held at Florida Gulf Coast University Thursday, Sept. 13. The annual event is presented by the Real Estate Investment Society in partnership with the Lutgert College of Business at FGCU and the Calusa Chapter of the Florida Planning & Zoning Association.

Local development trends and impacts will be discussed by a panel of industry experts and government officials, moderated by Sean Ellis, Esq., of Roetzel & Andress.

REIS President Bev Larson, CCIM, notes that Southwest Florida is adapting to new market trends and economics and REIS is pleased to provide a forum with knowledge and ideas that will help our members and our community leaders succeed in this dynamic environment. The presenters are leading experts who will share their expertise with property owners, government officials, and real estate development professionals who attend.

The symposium will begin with registration and continental breakfast at 8 a.m. and the program 8:30 a.m. noon, Sept. 13, at the Cohen Center Ballroom at FGCU. Admission is $35 for members of REIS or FPZA and $45 for all other interested persons, with the exception of FGCU students who may attend at no charge. Admission includes a campus parking pass and refreshments.

Seating is limited and reservations are required by Sept. 11. AICP credits are pending approval. Reserva-tions may be made online at www.reis-swfl.org.

B & I welcomes Sandbach

B & I Contractors, a Florida based subcontracting and building services firm, announces the addition of Regina Reggie Sandbach as an electrical estimator. In her role, she is responsible for take-offs, estimating, project bid follow up and customer relationships.

Sandbach comes to B & I with 11 years of electrical career experience, specializing in electrical control panel design for RO systems and water and waste management treatment. She holds a degree in electrical engineering and water treatment.

Established in 1960, B & I has offices located in Fort Myers, Tamarac, Sarasota and Tampa. The employee-owned company specializes in construction and building maintenance services for HVAC, electrical, plumbing, pipefitting, refrigeration, sheet metal and CAD engineering for clients in commercial, institutional and industrial industries throughout Florida and beyond. The company is a leader in providing reliable, energy efficient and sustainable solutions for building owners and contractors and has won many awards including Excellence in Construction, Top Specialty Contractor and Best Contractor to Work For. To learn more, call (239) 332-4646. Online at www.bandiflorida.com

Closed sales stay steady for most of Lee County in July

Home sales held steady in July for Lee County, despite the impact of ongoing water issues, according to the Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association, which based its notice on a report issued by Florida Realtors. Coastal communities fared well last month, and homes in the highest price points were a popular purchase.

The biggest shock for closed single-family home sales came in Pine Island where there was a 78.6 percent increase in the number of closed sales year-over-year going from 14 in July 2017 to 25 in 2018. North Fort Myers also saw a significant jump of 22.7 percent. The biggest drop was in Sanibel/Captiva at 6.3 percent, which represented one fewer home sold last month than the year before.

Sanibel/Captiva and Fort Myers Beach were the only places that saw a dip in median sale price. Sanibel/Captiva dropped 20.5 percent from $779,950 to $620,000, while Fort Myers Beach dropped 24 percent from $575,000 to $436,950.

Buyers were closing on many more pricey homes last month. The $600,000-$999,999 range jumped 48.7 percent, while the $1 million and above range saw a jump of 85.7 percent. There was also a significant increase in the $300,000-$399,999 price range of 46.2 percent.

On top of more closed sales last month in many Lee County areas, homes are also taking less time to get to that point. The median time to contract was 75 days, down 13.8 percent from 87 days in July 2017.

REIS meeting to feature discussion of county watersheds

The condition of Lee Countys watersheds and efforts to manage water resources will be addressed by Lee County Natural Resources Director Roland Ottolini, P.E., at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Real Estate Investment Society.

The program will provide updates on the algae crisis, flood prevention and remediation, and the role of the 20/20 conservation program in water resource management. Lee County Division of Natural Resources oversees the protection and management of natural and water resources through well permitting, water conservation, water quality inspections and monitoring, drainage and flood protection, beach preservation, water-way/marine resources, hazardous waste management and pollutant storage tanks programs.

After his presentation, Ottolini will respond to questions from the attending real estate development and investment professionals.

The meeting is sponsored by Stevens Construction, and will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. in the Osprey Room at Pelican Preserves Clubhouse, on Treeline Avenue at Colonial Boulevard, one mile east of I-75, exit 136, in Fort Myers. Admission is $30 for members and $40 for guests, which includes lunch. Reservations are required by Sept. 6 and may be made at the REIS web site: www.reis-swfl.org.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former Sangamo BioSciences Inc. executive and others with participating in a scheme that generated $1.5 million of illegal profits on insider trading ahead of the announcement of a licensing agreement between Sangamo and Biogen Idec Inc., another large pharmaceutical company.

In its complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that late in 2013, Winson Tang, then a Vice President of Clinical Research for Sangamo, tipped his close friend and business associate Deshan Govender about the agreement, knowing that Govender was in the business of selling non-public information to traders. According to the complaint, Govender tipped former day trader Steven Fishoff and others in Fishoff's insider-trading ring who purchased stock and options and made $1.5 million in illegal profits when the licensing agreement was announced in January 2014, causing Sangamo's stock price to jump 38 percent.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, charges Fishoff, Tang, and Govender with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, penalties, and injunctive relief. In parallel actions in 2015 and 2017, the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey charged Fishoff and four members of his group - Paul Petrello, Ronald Chernin, Steven Costantin and Joseph Spera - with illegal insider trading ahead of secondary public stock offerings. All five defendants have pled guilty to the parallel criminal charges and Petrello, Chernin, Costantin, and Spera have agreed to partial settlements with the SEC for conduct including their trading on the Sangamo-Biogen license agreement, with potential monetary sanctions to be determined at a later date. The SEC's previous action against Fishoff for alleged insider trading ahead of the secondary stock offerings is continuing.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by David Austin, Chevon Walker, Matthew Lambert, Stephen Johnson and George Stepaniuk. The litigation is led by Todd Brody and the case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority.
SACRAMENTO  Restaurants in California would not be able to give out plastic straws unless a customer asked for one under a bill passed by the state Legislature Thursday and headed to Gov. Jerry Brown.

AB1884 by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), would create a straws-only-upon-request policy at dine-in restaurants, in the latest attempt to reduce plastic pollution in the state. Three years ago, California lawmakers passed a ban on single-use plastic bags. Last month, Starbucks announced it would ditch plastic straws from all its stores  not just in California  by 2020.

This does a lot of good, and I think it is the right first step and the right balance when it comes to helping us try to tackle the issue of single-use plastics in our environment, Calderon said.

The bill is a light first step. It does not apply to the biggest source of plastic straw pollution  fast-food restaurants, cafes, delis or any takeout orders. The bill passed the Assembly 45-20 on Thursday, with Republicans largely voting against it. It passed the Senate 27-12 on Monday.

When I take my wife out to eat and we sit down and finally have a chance to get away from the kids, Im not looking for a lecture on straws and ocean health and an interruption of the ambiance, said Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia (Tulare County). Lets look at education for cleaning up the ocean and stuff.

The bill has been significantly watered down since it was introduced in January, when it called for waiters to face up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail for handing out straws without being asked first. Those penalties were quickly removed from the bill and replaced with two warnings, followed by a $25-per-day fine to the restaurant, capping at $300 a year.

Plastic straws and stirrers are the sixth-most-common type of litter on state beaches, according to logs from the California Coastal Commissions annual coastal cleanup days, which list the types of trash found. Between 1989 and 2014, the cleanups yielded 736,000 straws and stirrers.

Some cities have already created policies requiring that straws be handed out only on request.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance last month prohibiting restaurants, bars and retailers in the city from giving customers plastic straws, stirrers or toothpicks beginning July 1, 2019. The measure is pending approval by Mayor London Breed.

Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the states straw bill.

Among the bills also sent to Brown Thursday was AB2343 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, which would extend the amount of time tenants have to fight evictions. The bill would ensure that weekend days and holidays do not count in the time allowed tenants to respond to an eviction notice. Instead, renters have three court days to pay rent after receiving an eviction notice and five court days to respond to an eviction lawsuit.

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.

Tenants in California are facing unprecedented hardships and constantly living under the threat of eviction, Chiu said. A few extra days can be the difference between staying in their home or becoming homeless.

The Legislature also approved a bill that would prohibit for-profit corporations from managing or operating charter schools in California. Under AB406 by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, for-profit businesses would be barred from running charter schools beginning July 1, 2019. Currently, 34 charter schools with 25,000 students are run by for-profit corporations in the state.

The privatization of public education must end, McCarty said.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
A 28-year-old environmental scientist with a San Francisco consulting firm died this week after falling to her death while rock climbing in New Zealand, the apparent victim of faulty fixed bolts.

Lauren Kimi Worrell, who grew up in the Montclair neighborhood of Oakland and was a star in the drama program at Head-Royce School, had been working off and on for Panorama Environmental on Market Street while earning her masters degree in environmental policy at the University of Auckland. She had recently graduated and received an A-plus grade on her thesis.

Worrell was also a rock climber, and on Sunday she and a friend, Richard Graham, conquered a steep face called Castle Rock, using the safety aids of bolts and ropes. A picture of Worrell taken at the peak was posted to Facebook.

She fell as she was about to make the descent on a 400-foot rock face, Worrells family said in a statement released Friday by New Zealand police.

The cause of death is being investigated, but the statement said, The family asks climbers to consider very carefully reliance on equipment left permanently fixed to rock faces, and the condition of this equipment. This equipment will naturally be affected by UV rays and other elements of nature affecting its condition and reliability.

Worrells mother, Carrie Oto of Oakland, was in New Zealand preparing for a memorial.

Worrells close friend Hanna Schurman said that Worrell had started outdoor climbs a year or two ago after mastering the indoor walls in the East Bay. She was always an incredibly careful climber and wouldnt have done anything unsafe, Schurman said.

After speaking to Oto on the phone, Schurman has concluded that Worrell was leading the descent down from Castle Rock and clipped into a bolt that had been placed as a permanent climbing aid to start her rappel. At that point, the bolt tore loose from the rock and Worrell fell 300 or 400 feet. Two climbers and the Kuaotunu Land Search and Rescue Team were unable to reach her in time to give medical assistance.

Kimi was larger than life, Schurman said. She did a million and one things. Rock climbing was just one of them.

She had picked that up in high school, to burn off energy left over from being on the swim team, running the student kitchen, serving as senior class treasurer and being involved in every theatrical production starting with her freshman year at Head-Royce.

High schools can be cliquey, Schurman said, and Kimi got along with every group there was.

By her senior year, Worrell had risen to the role of student director in drama, and also played the sheriff in The Laramie Project. It was an incredibly powerful performance, said Schurman, One of the emotional linchpins in the play.

After graduating from Head-Royce in 2008, Worrell went to Syracuse University in New York to study acting but transferred to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she co-founded an a cappella singing group. She was the class valedictorian, Schurman said, and her application was one of 250 received for an entry-level position at Panorama Environmental, which does consulting on renewable-energy projects.

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When we interviewed her, I knew she was more than 1 in 250, said Tania Treis, principal at the firm. She was one in a million.

For four years, Worrell commuted to Market Street from Redwood City, where she lived with a boyfriend in a doctoral program at Stanford University.

That relationship ended before Worrell made the decision to move to Auckland. Kimi had been bit hard by the wanderlust, Schurman said.

During school breaks, Worrell returned to work on projects at Panorama but recently informed the firm she planned to stay in New Zealand and look for a job there.

She was unique in her curiosity and absolutely was fearless, said Laurie Hietter, the other principal at Panorama. Kimi was an outstanding person.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art
All of the roughly 200 inmates detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Richmond jail have been moved out of the facility on the heels of the county severing its contract with ICE, according to jail officials.

Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office, said Thursday that the West County Detention Facility no longer has any ICE detainees. His comments came as immigrant-rights advocates said they believed that nearly all the detainees were moved to ICE facilities in Colorado and Washington state.

Lee said the office had nothing at all to do with where the detainees are moved after we terminated our contract with ICE last month.

ICE officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Juan Prieto, a representative with the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, a statewide collection of immigrant-led community organizations, said the inmates were moved from the West County facility to ICE facilities in Tacoma, Wash., and Aurora, Colo. Prieto said his organization and other immigrant-rights advocates were informed of the mass relocation from attorneys working closely with inmates previously held in Richmond.

Prieto said the relocation of the ICE detainees interferes with due-process rights because many immigrants are now separated from their attorneys and will miss scheduled immigration hearings in San Francisco.

These people are now robbed of legal representation as their attorneys dont have the capacity to travel to other states, and witnesses will no longer be able to present evidence, Prieto said.

Contra Costa County officials announced in July that they were ending their contract with ICE, eight years after agreeing to incarcerate undocumented immigrants on behalf of the agency.

The jail came under fire after The Chronicle reported on alleged abuses, including interviews with female detainees who said they were locked up in toilet-less cells for up to 23 hours at a time and forced to use plastic bags to relieve themselves.

Mistreatment allegations prompted California and U.S. officials to demand federal and state probes into the jail conditions for ICE detainees.

When Sheriff David Livingston announced the decision to end the contract, he said recent protests at the facility had become expensive and time-consuming for jail staff to monitor, and those rising costs were not covered by the federal government.

In late June, more than 1,000 people squeezed into the detention center parking lot and protested President Trumps policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The decision to sever the contract drew the ire of ICE officials and immigrant-rights advocates alike.

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Richard Rocha, an ICE spokesman, said in July that the decision would negatively impact local immigration enforcement operations.

On Wednesday, one inmate from West County Detention Facility, Hugo Aguilar, was granted release on an $80,000 bond, but he could not afford the fee, Prieto said.

Immigration court officials have become retaliatory toward people who are just trying to hold immigration courts accountable, Prieto said, referring to the bond amount. It highlights the inhumanity and unrealistic standards set against people already struggling to win bread for their families.

Prieto said the out-of-state relocations will result in prolonged detention of immigrants, even those who were close to reaching a resolution in their respective cases in San Francisco immigration court.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
A quiz for you, dear readers. Which one of these is true? (A) Elvis is still alive. (B) The Loch Ness monster exists. (C) San Francisco spends more than $40,000 per homeless person each year.

Its a trick question. None of them is true, not even close.

People all over the world hold deep beliefs that are patently silly. Here, spending on the homeless ranks near the top of the list.

I cant tell you how many times Ive received emails from San Franciscans outraged that their tax money goes to such outlandish spending on homeless services when the city could use the same funds to put them up in apartments instead.

Heres how they do the math: Last year, the city spent $305 million on homelessness. In the most recent one-night homeless tally in January 2017, the counters found 7,499 homeless people. People understandably divide the first number by the second and come up with the so-called fact that the city spends $40,672 per homeless person per year.

And thats obscene, they righteously add. The average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is about $3,300. If you multiply by 12 months, its less than $40,672! (Not by much, mind you.) Clearly, these mathematicians point out, City Hall officials are stupid or corrupt.

Hey, Im a taxpayer living in San Francisco. And moreover, Im a journalist covering City Hall who loves unearthing foolishness or wrongdoing on the part of politicians. If this math held up, Id be the first to let you know. But it doesnt.

Thats a ridiculous number, said Jeff Kositsky, director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. If that was the case, I should definitely not have a job.

So whats the correct number? Last years $305 million total included some small amounts spent by other departments, but was composed mostly of the $250 million spent by Kositskys department. He provided a breakdown of his spending last year, and the proportions are expected to be about the same for this year, when hell have $285 million.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Of the $250 million he spent last year, two-thirds went to people who arent homeless at all. Thats the amount spent on rental subsidies, eviction prevention and permanent supportive housing. Those are great causes, but theyre aimed at preventing people from becoming homeless or to house the formerly homeless.

Take away 11 percent for administrative costs and one-time capital spending, and youre left with 17.6 percent spent on temporary shelters, 3.2 percent on street outreach and 2.2 percent on health services. That means about $57 million was spent on the visible homeless population, the group of people we see every day who so clearly need help.

And that pot isnt just divided by 7,499. That was the citys homeless population on one random night. Over the course of a year, 20,000 people will be homeless in San Francisco, Kositsky said, adding that 5,000 of those wont use city services because they figure out their own housing arrangements or are just passing through.

But divide $57 million by 15,000 homeless people who need city help each year, and you see the city spends $3,800 per person per year. Or $10.41 a day. An outlandish figure? I dont think so.

So what can be done? As for me, Ill be voting for Proposition C on the November ballot. Its called Our City, Our Home, and it would levy a gross receipts tax averaging about 0.5 percent on San Francisco companies making at least $50 million in revenue each year. The tax would raise about $300 million a year.

Just 375 companies made more than $50 million last year, according to the city treasurers office, which said the names of those companies are confidential. But heres betting Twitter, Salesforce, Visa, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and AT&T are on the list. Your favorite corner store, sandwich shop or boutique? Not affected at all.

The Chamber of Commerce is fighting the measure, saying it would jeopardize middle-class jobs. But the tax would apply only to gross receipts above $50 million  the first $50 million wouldnt be affected. And for the retail sector, which has thin profit margins, it would levy just a 0.175 percent tax. That means a major retail company like Safeway or Whole Foods would pay just $1,750 for every million dollars it makes above $50 million.

This tax is a tiny fraction of the Trump tax cuts they just received, said Christin Evans, one of the main proponents of the measure and the owner of three small businesses in the Haight: the Booksmith, the Bindery and the Alembic. If these companies are struggling to pay $1,750 on a million in sales, Id be happy to offer them business advice.

Evans said her gross receipts last year were $2 million so she wouldnt be affected, but said she thinks businesses of all sizes would benefit if the homeless crisis were alleviated in a major way.

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Of the $300 million the tax would raise each year, 50 percent would go to building more housing so theres somewhere for the people in shelters and Navigation Centers to navigate to. Twenty-five percent would serve the severely mentally ill; take a five-minute walk around downtown, and it couldnt be more obvious we need that! Fifteen percent would go to homelessness prevention, like eviction defense, and 10 percent would go to adding more shelters and Navigation Centers, as well as hygiene centers  restrooms and showers sprinkled around town.

Proponents also say this spending would alleviate sucking money from elsewhere in the city budget. I was surprised to see cleaners with the citys new Poop Patrol will make $71,760 annually  wouldnt it make more sense to spend that money on, you know, public restrooms? (By the way, it would take a starting public school teacher in San Francisco 13 years to get to a salary as high as a brand new poop scooper for the city, which is the kind of math thats the real outrage.)

Asked what he thinks of Our City, Our Home, Kositsky said, I have no opinion at this time. Were looking at it, and we havent completed an analysis. Personally, though, he must support it, as he donated $500 to the measure in June.

Mayor London Breed also deferred, saying she is awaiting more data on how the measure would affect businesses.

There are challenges, and its not always about money, she said, pointing to an example of a couple she helped move into a Navigation Center and then left the next day. There are people who unfortunately we are having difficulty helping.

Thats why theres no silver bullet. And this measure certainly wont solve homelessness, but it could help.

So could more treatment beds for the mentally ill, a strengthened conservatorship program for those too ill to know they need help, safe injection sites to get open-air drug use and dirty needles off our streets, and increased law enforcement for those who are dealing drugs, running bicycle chop shops or engaging in other illegal behavior. Lets try it all, because its obvious San Franciscos street misery isnt tenable to anybody.

Were an incredibly rich city filled with wildly successful businesses and creative, smart people. We can do so much better.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
San Francisco Public Health Director Barbara Garcias abrupt resignation Wednesday came after a months-long conflict-of-interest investigation into allegations that she had failed to disclose her wifes income from an educational institution that had been awarded a million-dollar, sole-source contract with the health department, multiple sources have confirmed.

Garcias departure sent a shock wave through City Hall, where she was a key ally in Mayor London Breeds campaign to open safe injection sites and find other ways to deal with an epidemic of drug use on the citys streets.

The circumstances surrounding Garcias departure, however, were kept quiet, with the 63-year-old director saying only that she was leaving for personal reasons.

Breed, who had been briefed on the investigation, is also staying mum.

The mayor does not comment on personnel issues, said her communications director, Jeff Cretan.

However, City Hall sources tell us Garcia, who earned $313,000 a year, was given an ultimatum  either resign or face possible disciplinary action stemming from an investigation by the city attorneys office and the Department of Human Resources.

According to those close to the case, the investigation was initiated well before Breed was sworn in as mayor, and began with a whistle-blower complaint to the San Francisco controllers office alleging that Garcia had improperly shielded a potential financial conflict of interest involving her wife, Dorotea Reyna.

Publicly accessible records show that until early last year, Reyna, 61, had worked at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a nonprofit college in the Mission District focused on the professional development of women and minorities. Reyna was vice president of development.

In a 2016 college newsletter, the institute made reference to a seven-year contract worth a total of more than $1 million with the San Francisco Department of Health for recruitment efforts, mentoring and services for students historically under-represented in professional psychology.

The contract began in late 2009, months before Garcia was promoted from deputy director to the top job at the health department. She and Reyna wed in 2014.

Health department records show the contract was amended seven times after it was awarded, including four times since Garcia and Reyna were married. Along the way, sources say, it was also converted to a sole-source contract, which means no competing bids were required.

Records on file with the city controllers office show that the institute had been paid $862,406 since 2014  the earliest year for which records were immediately available. The biggest payment  $265,608  came in 2017, the final year of Reynas employment at the college.

The contract was funded with state money from Proposition 63, the so-called millionaires tax  1 percent on income over $1 million  approved by voters in 2005. In this case, were told the health department provided funds to the school to help attract minority and LGBTQ students into the mental health profession.

Institute President Judie Wexler, said the school has been working closely with the citys investigation.

We also looked through all of our files, and we could not see anything that the university did wrong or anything that anyone at the university did wrong, Wexler said.

From our files we could not see anything that Ms. Reyna had do with the contract, Wexler said. She left the university a while ago, before we heard about this investigation. As far as I know, no one in leadership at the university has heard from her since she resigned.

Wexler said the contract with the city expired last year and was not renewed.

According to our sources, given the potential conflict, Garcia would have been required to list her spouses income on her annual Form 700 economic disclosure report, which she submitted on March 23. She did not.

However, city records show that on July 9, apparently after the city had opened its inquiry, Garcia amended her 2017 Form 700  as well as earlier ones  to reflect $100,000 of income for Reyna.

Sources familiar with the probe also claim that Garcia had failed to be truthful with investigators when she was questioned about aspects of the contract.

The investigation has been a closely guarded secret, and it was only within the past two weeks that the mayor was informed of the pending case and a recommendation from human resources that Garcia be removed from her job.

Were told Breed chose not to intercede, and Garcia was given the choice either to step down immediately or face disciplinary action that could result in her firing.

Garcia could not be reached for comment, and neither she nor her spouse responded to a message left Tuesday on Reynas cell phone.

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Attempts to reach Garcia through the Municipal Executives Association, whose attorneys represented her, also were unsuccessful.

While not commenting on the reasons for her dismissal, mayoral spokesman Cretan praised Garcia for advancing progressive health policies that have made San Francisco a national leader on issues such as advancing safe injection sites, working to end new HIV infections and helping those suffering from mental health issues on our streets.

Dr. Edward Chow, president of the San Francisco Health Commission, added in a statement that the city has been benefited from her service, and highlighted Garcias role in completing the rebuilding of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, inaugurating the San Francisco Health Network and achieving Public Health Accreditation status for the department.

Her focus has always been patient-centered, as she worked to make health care services accessible to all, especially for the underserved, Chow said.

Its not the first time that a high-ranking city official has been the subject of active inquiries for a conflict in the awarding of a city contract.

Five years ago, Juliet Ellis, an assistant general manager at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, faced similar city and state investigations over her awarding of a $200,000, no-bid contract to Green for All, an East Bay nonprofit on which she served as a paid board member.

At the time Ellis helped steer the contract in 2013, she also earned between $10,000 and $100,000 as the nonprofits board chair, according to economic disclosure statements.

But PUC General Manager Harlan Kelly said that although an internal probe confirmed that there were violations of reporting requirements and a possible violation of state conflict laws, the fact-finding also uncovered mitigating circumstances suggesting that there was no unethical intent behind any of the violations.

Green for Alls contract with the PUC was scrubbed, but Ellis is still a top deputy at the PUC.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@ sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
With one week left to pass bills, California lawmakers on Friday proposed wildfire legislation that could let Pacific Gas and Electric Co. pass on to its customers some of the costs of settling lawsuits from last years Wine Country fires.

Lawmakers issued a two-page outline of legislation intended to help prevent wildfires, respond to those that do happen and help electric utilities deal with the costs when their equipment is responsible for sparking the flames. State fire investigators have blamed PG&Es power lines for starting at least 16 of the fires that erupted across Northern California in October, and estimates of the companys potential liability in lawsuits range as high as $17 billion.

For months, the utilities had pushed politicians to change the states liability rules, which hold the companies liable for any financial losses from fires that their equipment started. But a conference committee set up by Gov. Jerry Brown abandoned that idea last week, saying it is too complex and contentious to resolve by the end of the legislative session next week.

The brief outline issued Friday by the committee, however, would let utilities issue bonds to cover costs arising from fires, with customers paying off those bonds over time through their monthly bills. The outline does not specify which costs would be covered and does not mention lawsuits.

But a bill introduced in July by Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, whose son works at PG&E, specifically called for using such bonds to help the company pay lawsuit settlements from last falls fires. (That bill has stalled.) And at a hearing of the conference committee Friday, some speakers urged committee members to ensure that the legislation help utilities deal with the liability they face from last year.

Scott Wetch, a lobbyist for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said that if the final language produced by the committee next week does not specifically address PG&Es liability from 2017, credit agencies would downgrade the utilitys rating to junk status. That, in turn, would force the company to put up as much as $1 billion more in collateral on its power purchase agreements with power plant operators, he said.

Itll be challenging to keep the doors open and keep California safe going forward, Wetch told the committee. Thats why the devils in the details.

Representatives of utility customers, however, pushed back.

We urge the conference committee to reject any provision that would give PG&E and other utilities a bailout, said Becky Warren, a spokesperson for the Ratepayer Protection Network, a coalition of consumer, business and agriculture groups.

Any provision that makes ratepayers the insurance of last resort while PG&E shareholders pay nothing and reap the financial benefits needs to be rejected by the Legislature, Warren said, in a press release.

A PG&E spokesman said the company would review the committees legislative language once its drafted.

Committee members said they understand the need to strike a balance between costs borne by utility ratepayers and shareholders.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

What we want to do is have a proposal that makes sure (utilities) dont go belly up, and the ratepayers are protected at the same time, said Assemblyman Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County). I havent heard anyone up here talk about bailing out PG&E.

Other elements of the outline include imposing new requirements for utility companies to prepare comprehensive wildfire prevention plans that will be reviewed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, removing drought-killed trees from the states forests, and tracking greenhouse gas emissions from wildfires.

Committee member Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, tried to assure environmentalist that the focus on tree removal would not turn into a license for indiscriminate logging.

We recognize that clear-cutting is not the answer, she said at the hearing. We dont want to blast roads through every nook and cranny.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
SACRAMENTO  Verizon executives came to the Capitol on Friday to get a tongue lashing over the cell phone giants throttling of data service for firefighters battling the massive Mendocino Complex fire  but en route they nipped the scolding in the bud by abruptly lifting all data caps on emergency first responders.

The policy went into effect for fire-ravaged California and Hurricane Lane-lashed Hawaii on Thursday, the company said, and a fuller plan for the rest of the nation will be rolled out next week. Public agencies will be able to switch to the new plan at no additional cost.

It was a little surprising to hear, and the right thing to do, said Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, who had called for a hearing Friday before the committee he co-chairs to investigate Verizons decision to drastically slow data speed. A firefighting agency said that move put their first responders in danger because they were relying on the service to communicate during the fight against the fires.

Levines committee went ahead with its session anyway, hearing from Verizon brass as well as leaders of the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, whose data was throttled last month as they were in the thick of helping fight the Mendocino Complex, the biggest wildfire in state history. But with Verizons surprise announcement, the conversation switched from how to address the individual problem that the Santa Clara County firefighters faced to how to craft future policy preventing similar trouble for other emergency responders.

Ill make it brief  this is about safety, safety, safety, said Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters (Yolo County). My district has been on fire for three years. ... Our main interest is in making sure this kind of thing never happens again.

Rudi Reyes, a Verizon vice president, read a statement outlining the new policy, saying the company was truly sorry ... and we are making an effort to make sure it never happens again. He declined to comment after the hearing.

What emerged in the nearly two-hour session before the Select Committee on Natural Disaster, Response, Recovery and Rebuilding was a realization that there is no comprehensive policy dictating full service for first-responders, and that when things go bad, as they did for Santa Clara Countys firefighters, there isnt much else to do but call the customer service representatives any other customer would call, which could lead to frustrating waits.

After hearing everything we did, my thoughts are now that in January we could introduce legislation to prioritize first responders for unlimited data service with no caps, and to address the fact that there is really nobody to complain to, Levine said after the session. There needs to be accountability.

The issue came to light this week in a court filing made by Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden in an addendum to a federal lawsuit over net neutrality. Bowden said his crews saw their Verizon data flow throttled to 1/200th of its usual speed during the Mendocino battle because they had exceeded a cap on what they thought was a fully unlimited plan. This rendered useless the live video streaming, strategic plan communications and other capabilities of their command vehicle, he told the committee Friday, so his IT managers quickly came up with a workaround using other providers.

The need to do that workaround, however, followed two earlier throttlings by Verizon during his crews work on 2017s Thomas Fire and another blaze in June, and I found the situation unacceptable, he said.

Losing the ability to fully communicate during a wildfire puts both firefighters and residents in danger, Bowden said in his court filing. On Friday, he reiterated that concern. Our ability to connect is critical to being able to provide for the public safety, he said.

The Santa Clara County fire district now uses both Verizon and AT&T, Bowden said, to ensure steady flow of data.

One source of the trouble, he contended, could be the fact that his agency  like other emergency responders  has to balance cost with need as they deal with limited budgets. Shopping for data plans may not have been necessary decades ago when pre-internet fire communications mostly consisted of dedicated radio transmissions, but now departments have to balance those costs with the existing costs of, say, firefighters salaries.

We dont have unlimited funds. We have to select a plan that meets our needs, but one that is not too expensive, Bowden told the committee.

He and his managers abruptly left the session as the Verizon executives got up to speak. When asked outside the chambers if he felt all the issues had been properly addressed, he said only, Im satisfied that I was given the opportunity to come speak.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

Also on Friday, several members of Congress weighed in on the controversy, sending a letter to the Federal Trade Commission demanding an investigation into whether Verizons throttling amounted to unfair or deceptive practices.

The company had explained earlier in the week that the Santa Clara County firefighters data plan was indeed unlimited, as firefighters had called it, but that it also had a proviso that when the department reached a certain allotment the data would be slowed down drastically. That had not been adequately explained to the department, managers admitted, and under company policy the throttling was supposed to be canceled in emergency situations  which mistakenly did not happen.

However, the letter to the FTC, signed by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and 12 other representatives, didnt find those explanations to be sufficient.

It is unacceptable for communications providers to deceive their customers, but when the consumer in question is a government entity tasked with fire and emergency services, we cant afford to wait a moment longer, the Congress members wrote. The FTC must investigate whether Verizon and other communications companies are being unfair or deceptive in the services theyre offering to public safety entities, and if so, to determine what remedies are appropriate to ensure our first responders have adequate service when lives are on the line.

Unfortunately, with its repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order, the FCC has abdicated its jurisdiction over broadband communications and walked away from protecting consumers, including public safety agencies. We, therefore, call on the FTC to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive acts or practices stemming from this incident.

Chronicle staff writer David Baker contributed to this report.

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com
SACRAMENTO  The names of 26 victims of a serial rapist and killer known as both the East Area Rapist and Golden State Killer were read in a Sacramento court Thursday as the man accused of committing the crimes stood practically motionless while arraigned on new charges.

Tearful victims including Margaret Wardlow, who was 13 when she was raped in 1977, sat in the court, with a prosecutor handing her a tissue while Judge Michael Sweet of Sacramento County Superior Court read the lengthy list of charges against Joseph James DeAngelo.

To hear the judge say the victims names was really hard, Wardlow, one of the youngest victims linked to the East Area Rapist, said after the hearing. It was really hard, more so than I ever thought it would be.

Now Playing: A Santa Cruz woman said her father and her step-mother were victims of the Golden State Killer, a serial killer also known as the East Area Rapist, in 1980. Jennifer Carole said her 12-year-old brother found Lyman and Charlene Smith dead in their bed. According to investigators, evidence collected from their murder scene helped them find the suspect. Video: KCRA

DeAngelo, 72, is charged with 13 murders, with prosecutors filing 13 new kidnapping charges Tuesday for crimes that included rapes in Sacramento and Contra Costa counties. Those rapes, including Wardlows assault, cant be charged due to the statute of limitations at the time, but for crimes that included kidnapping for robbery there was not the same restriction.

DeAngelo is accused of being a man with many monikers during the 1970s and 1980s, including the Original Night Stalker and Visalia Ransacker, whose reign of terror was pieced together decades later by investigators using DNA and the suspects modus operandi to link cases up and down the state. Prosecutors said additional charges still could be filed against DeAngelo, who is next scheduled to appear in court Dec. 6.

Prosecutors in six California counties  Sacramento, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Contra Costa  announced Tuesday they will jointly prosecute DeAngelo in Sacramento. Prosecutors are asking DeAngelo to prove to the court that he does not have the financial means to afford an attorney. He is now represented by public defender Diane Howard, who declined to comment after the hearing.

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.

For decades, he evaded justice and devastated communities across California, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said on Tuesday. Thankfully, we can now hold someone accountable for these crimes and seek justice for our victims.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
A 60-year-old San Francisco man convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend to death in her Mission District apartment in 2015 has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.

Rickey Joseph Roberts was sentenced by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Carol Yaggy on Thursday. Earlier this summer, Roberts was convicted of second-degree murder and making criminal threats in the killing of 60-year-old Olga Diaz-Clark, who told paramedics on the day of the assault that she awoke around 5 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2015, to find Roberts beating her in the face and head with closed fists while yelling I will f kill you before choking her into unconsciousness, according to the San Francisco district attorneys office.

Paramedics said she sustained a bruised face, cut lip, swollen jaw, red throat and pain on her stomach and body. Before she lost consciousness again in the ambulance on the way to San Francisco General Hospital, Diaz-Clark told officials through tears that Roberts attacked her for several minutes and that he lived in the same apartment complex.

Responding officers found Roberts asleep on the couch after his brother gave officers permission to enter the apartment. He was arrested on the scene.

Medical officials later determined that a blow to the right side of Diaz-Clarks head caused blood clotting. Doctors tried releasing pressure on her brain by removing a piece of her skull, but she slipped into a coma and died three days later at San Francisco General Hospital.

Roberts denied killing Diaz-Clark, but investigators learned he left multiple voice messages threatening to hunt her down and kill her throughout November 2015 leading up to the brutal attack, according to the San Francisco district attorneys office.

In one message, Roberts warned, I might kill you on the f street.

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.

Ms. Diaz-Clark suffered many years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of Rickey Roberts, Sam Totah, San Francisco assistant district attorney, said in a statement.

The victims family showed remarkable strength during the pendency of this case, and I commend them for working with our office to achieve justice for their loved one, Totah said.

Prosecutors said that Diaz-Clark had filed for a restraining order against Roberts just a month before she died. The restraining order detailed a November 2014 incident in which he was arrested, but not charged or convicted, for allegedly beating Diaz-Clark. She declined to go forward with the case, officials said.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
For the second summer in a row, we had to cancel a camping trip to the Sierra because of the wildfires. Day by day, as the date in early August approached for our vacation in Yosemite, we watched as blazes raged around the state, and worried that even if the flames didnt reach the valley, ash would rain over us and turn the air noxious.

Our group ended up just south of Pescadero, where the invigorating winds blew briskly over the beach as our children frolicked in the waves, building dams in a clear stream and climbing sandstone formations. Later that night, we stargazed and munched on smores while my husband strummed on a ukulele and another friend played his guitar.

Happy as we were, I couldnt help but feel that this haven was at risk, too. We could escape here now, but what about in the future? In July, wildfires sweeping through the Greek village of Mati, east of Athens, killed scores of people, including victims who tried to flee the flames by scrambling down to the sea.

Ive been thinking about how global warming is altering our collective memory and imagination. When my twin sons are adults and look back at their childhood summers, will a haze of smoke hang over it?

In July, when we stayed in a cabin at Lake Tahoe, wildfire smoke drifted north, so thick you couldnt see the mountains opposite the shore. As we floated down the Truckee River, the air smelled like burning. Until now, for me, the scent of the mountains has been of crisp air tinged with pine needles, above granite peaks sharp against the high dome of the sky.

But whats going to become the norm, and what will be a rarity?

The wildfire season in California is seemingly year-round, and with that comes the tragic losses of life, homes and businesses. The Mendocino Complex fire is now the largest in state history, bigger than the city of Los Angeles. For those who live away from the burn zone, outdoor activities still get postponed or canceled, our eyes sting and our throats catch, and we end up trapped up inside at the times we had hoped might be most carefree.

A report by the National Wildlife Federation suggested that by the end of the century, the climate wont be favorable to the state tree or flower in 28 states, including the Mississippi magnolia or Ohio buckeye. And unless we curb carbon emissions, San Franciscos temperatures will become more like those in Los Angeles.

Its hard  and disturbing  to imagine San Francisco without frigid #Fogust, our polar fleeces zipped up against the mists coming in on little cat feet. Without the atmospheric backdrop of noir movies and the bane of unprepared tourists, all while climate change imperils populations, stirring up destructive weather patterns and leading to rising oceans that swamp shorelines worldwide.

Over the weekend, I was picnicking with another family in the East Bay and we studied the ominous tea-colored skies, wondering if we should go inside. As depressing as it feels now, my friend said, she was heartened to consider how global efforts to shrink the ozone hole  which began in the mid-1980s with the ban of emissions of chlorofluorocarbons in refrigerators and aerosol propellants  are working.

It also reminded me of how Los Angeles fought back against its horrendous smog that was synonymous with the city, due to emissions spewing from cars and refineries. The polluted air triggered asthma attacks, and led to difficulty breathing and lung damage. But federal laws such as the Clean Air Act and tightened emission standards, catalytic converters for vehicles and other remedies helped clear up the skies  which are still less than pristine, but much improved.

All of that gives me hope, but hope means nothing, of course, if we dont take action, if we dont call upon or vote in elected officials who enact and enforce laws to protect and restore balance to the environment, if we dont make changes in our own lives to reduce our impact, and model those actions for our children, to keep up the fight.

It will still take decades to restore the protective ozone layer, until perhaps 2080, scientists say. That year, my twin sons will turn 70. This week, they started the second grade, and already I can see the teenagers, the adults they will become, and I wish desperately that they, their children and every generation after will enjoy the blue skies of summer.

Vanessa Huas column appears Fridays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com
WORCESTER, Mass.  Gun control advocates, including one of the survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting and the parents of one of the victims, are marching 50 miles across Massachusetts this week to the headquarters of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson as part of a youth-led push for stricter gun laws.

About 40 students and supporters set off from downtown Worcester in central Massachusetts on Thursday morning holding signs denouncing gun violence and chanting slogans criticizing gun makers and the National Rifle Association. Theyre destined for Smith & Wessons headquarters in Springfield, where theyll hold a large demonstration Sunday.

As he set off with marchers, David Hogg, a survivor of the February massacre at a Parkland high school who has since become a prominent gun control advocate, emphasized the importance of turning the energy of nationwide demonstrations into lasting political change.

The kids of America have to stand up when our irresponsible politicians wont, he said. Were here to elect morally just leaders that will protect us as Americans.

Manuel and Patricia Oliver, the parents of a Parkland shooting victim, also joined marchers and condemned Smith & Wesson for making the powerful rifle used to kill their 17-year-old son, Joaquin Oliver, and 16 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Manuel Oliver said the weapon isnt even allowed to be sold in the companys home state because of Massachusetts strict gun laws. Thats an ironic situation, he said.

Spokespeople for the gun-maker didnt respond to requests for comment this week.

The companys headquarters was the site of a similar demonstration during Marchs nationwide protests against gun violence.

Smith & Wesson has become a target for gun control activists because the companys military-style rifles were used not only in the Parkland shooting but a number of other recent massacres, including the 2015 shooting at a California holiday party where 14 people died and the 2012 shooting at a Colorado movie theater where 12 died.

Organizers for Thursdays 50 Miles More march say they specifically want the gun-maker, which changed its parent company name to the American Outdoor Brands Corp. in 2016, to stop making weapons outlawed under Massachusetts 2004 Assault Weapons Ban.

Philip Marcelo is an Associated Press writer.
Alex Brandon / Associated Press

To suggest that hearings on Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination must be delayed for an election remains as wrong now as it was two years ago, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invented the principle he is now abandoning to bottle up Obama nominee Merrick Garland. But Kavanaugh shouldnt be rushed into a life term to beat the election either, and thats what McConnell and company are doing.

Senate Republicans have scheduled hearings on President Trumps second high court pick to begin after Labor Day, with the goal of having Kavanaugh tidily confirmed come early October. The trouble is that National Archives officials dont expect to finish vetting Kavanaughs voluminous paper trail for release to the Senate Judiciary Committee until late October. During his tenures as staff secretary and associate White House counsel to George W. Bush and in Independent Counsel Kenneth Starrs office, Kavanaugh amassed nearly 3 million documents.
In typical midterm election years, political campaigns wait until after Labor Day to go all out with advertising and events.

But nothing about the 2018 election campaigns is shaping up to be ordinary.

That includes the misinformation campaigns.

After facing sustained criticism for their failure to get ahead of Russian meddling before the 2016 presidential elections, technology companies are scrambling to avoid the same mistakes.

So far, their efforts have been an alarming reminder that our foreign enemies arent hesitating to influence our democracy  and that they now regard internet influence campaigns as particularly effective ways to do so.

Last week alone, Microsoft announced that it had uncovered new Russian hacking attempts against U.S. political institutions. Microsoft detected and seized fake domains created by the hacking group, which it described as having ties to the Russian government.

The websites spoofed a pair of conservative think tanks  the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute  which are known for their democracy-promotion efforts and their criticism of Russias president, Vladimir Putin.

Microsoft also discovered websites imitating the U.S. Senate.

Broadening cyberthreats to both U.S. political parties make clear that the tech sector will need to do more to help protect the democratic process, Brad Smith, Microsofts president, wrote in a blog post. In the face of this continuing activity, we must work on the assumption that these attacks will broaden further.

Meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter discovered a startling amount of unusual activity on their networks this week, too.

On Tuesday, Facebook announced it had discovered a new political influence campaign that appears to have originated out of Russia and Iran. Facebook has stated that the Iranian accounts it discovered were the work of Liberty Front Press, which was advancing an anti-President Trump, anti-Israeli message.

The social network removed 652 fake accounts and pages that were attempting to sow discontent around divisive social issues  including race, gun control and the environment.

This is similar to the strategy used by Russian hackers ahead of the 2016 elections. That year, Facebook (and Instagram, one of its properties) was the hackers favorite social network for sowing confusion and inflammatory content.

This is the second time in less than a month that Facebook has identified and removed this kind of activity on its platform. On July 31, the company announced it had removed 32 pages and accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior.

In a blog post, the company noted that those who had set up these fake accounts had done a better job of concealing their identities than past Russian hackers had.

The final alarm came from Twitter on Tuesday evening, when the company announced it had suspended nearly 300 accounts for coordinated manipulation. The company believes the accounts originated in Iran.

Russia and Iran are seeking to advance different U.S. political narratives in accordance with their own national interests. Whats important about the two nations activities isnt which U.S. political party they would like to see win in November. Its the fact that they are attacking our country.

To their credit, U.S. technology companies are responding with more transparency to these attacks than they did in 2016. But when it comes to the defense of our democracy, Americans should not be forced to depend on the whims of the tech giants.

Last week must serve Congress as a warning to get serious about cybersecurity. Our enemies feel like they have little to lose from trying to manipulate our elections. Congress needs to prove them wrong.
As San Francisco prepares to host Gov. Jerry Browns historic Global Climate Action Summit in September, we, the San Francisco Bay Area mayors of cities impacted by the toxic consequences of fossil fuel production, are standing with elected representatives from frontline communities and throughout California in calling on the governor to phase out fossil fuel production.

Benicia and Richmond both face the toxic consequences of Californias complicity in one of the most toxic, polluting, dangerous industries on Earth and the primary driver of climate change: the oil and gas industry.

Benicia is home to the Valero oil refinery, and our residents are regularly exposed to emissions during standard operations. In May 2017, a power outage sent flames, heavy black smoke and toxic gases spewing into the air for two straight weeks. Among the pollutants were nearly 80,000 pounds of toxic sulfur dioxide  five years worth of normal emissions  and carbonyl sulfide, a highly toxic and extremely flammable gas. Accidents are only the most visible of the toxic pollution that impacts our public health, day after day. Our asthma rates are three times the state average.

The Texas-based petroleum giants Benicia refinery employs 480 people and supplies nearly a quarter of our citys tax revenue, but at what cost?

When Valero proposed a crude-by-rail project to bring 70,000 barrels of tar sands and Bakken crude oil per day by rail through the Sierra, Sacramento and Davis to Benicia, our residents resisted, and our small, historic town stood up to our biggest employer and taxpayer. After three years of environmental review, national attention and a failed effort by Valero to get the federal government involved, the City Council voted unanimously against it.

Farther south on San Francisco Bay is Richmond, one of the poorest communities in the Bay Area. Our city of largely Hispanic, African American and Asian residents fought against toxic industrial pollution from Chevrons Richmond refinery that processes 250,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Chevron is our largest employer and taxpayer. Nonetheless, our community has risen up, defeating Chevron-backed candidates in 2014 that outspent us 5 to 1 in our local election, and elected true champions for our community. Richmond forced major environmental conditions on Chevron as it expands the refinery and strengthened our Industrial Safety Ordinance in response to the refinerys toxic explosion and fire in 2012 that sent 15,000 residents to seek medical treatment.

Toxic pollution isnt the only threat we face. With 32 miles of shoreline, more than any other city on San Francisco Bay, Richmond is at extreme risk from sea level rise that will soon cost our community far more than we can afford. So, Richmond, home to an oil giant, became the ninth city in less than a year to bring major fossil fuel companies to court over climate change. We filed a lawsuit against 29 oil, gas and coal companies  including Chevron, along with BP and Exxon  to hold them accountable for their role in climate change and its impacts on the community.

The fossil fuel industrys business plan is destroying not only our health and communities, but also the survival of our species.

Yet, under Gov. Jerry Brown, the state of California has not only tolerated the fossil fuel industry, but expanded it  granting permits for drilling 20,000 new oil wells.

The Bay Area has had enough of this climate hypocrisy. It is wrong to make communities sick. As one of the top oil-producing states, it is time to bring the fossil fuel era to an end.

While our small towns have the courage to stand up to a billion-dollar fossil fuel industry to protect our public health and climate, why hasnt Brown?

On the toxic front lines of climate change, we stand with 150 local elected officials from a majority of counties in California that are taking bold steps to stop fossil fuels. We all are urging Brown to make a plan to phase out oil and gas production in California, to clean up our cities, towns and agricultural lands, and protect our people.

If our cities can say no to expanding fossil fuels, Gov. Brown, you can, too  and well have your back.

Elizabeth Patterson is mayor of Benicia. Melvin Willis is vice mayor of Richmond.
A small brush fire ignited this afternoon near the summit of Mount Diablo, and after jumping quickly on it with aircraft and ground crews, state firefighters appeared to have kept it from burning too close to the historic Summit Museum that sits at the top of the peak.

The fire broke out around 3:30 p.m., according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which dispatched crews because the 3,849 foot-mountain is within the Mt. Diablo State Park. It soon spread to about 4 acres, and investigators were trying to determine its cause.
Dozens of flights scheduled to depart from San Francisco International Airport were delayed Thursday night due to low visibility and heavy smog, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay until midnight for SFO after smoky, smoggy conditions made it unsafe for departing and inbound flights, said Jeff Figone, an airport duty manager for the San Francisco International Airport.

When we have low visibility issues, things slow down and we try to maintain a safe cadence so planes can get in safely and depart safely, Figone said.

Flights departing for other California cities or cities on the West Coast are taking the brunt of the delays so that officials can accommodate cross-country and international flights arriving onto the airstrip, he said.

Figone said an additional 25 departing flights have been canceled for various reasons including the Category 3 Hurricane in Hawaii, mechanical issues and crew reasons.

Were just trying to make sure all planes get in safely, Figone said.

Operations are expected to resume after midnight, although flight activity typically slows then, Figone said.

The announcement comes hours after the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an air quality alert as ozone pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area dipped to unhealthy levels due to smoke from the wildfires raging in California, Oregon and Canada.

Figone said ground delays are common during the summer months, where temperatures coupled with thick smog causes low visibility for aircraft.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
Facebook has pulled one of its own products from Apples App Store because it didnt want to stop tracking what people were doing on their iPhones. Facebook also banned a quiz app from its social network for possible privacy intrusions on about 4 million users.

The twin developments come as Facebook is under intense scrutiny over privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal this year. Allegations that the political consultancy used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts have dented Facebooks reputation.

Since the scandal broke, Facebook has investigated thousands of apps and suspended more than 400 of them over data-sharing concerns.

The Menlo Park company said late Wednesday that it took action against the myPersonality quiz app, saying that its creators refused an inspection. But even as Facebook did that, it found its own Onavo Protect security app at odds with Apples tighter rules for applications.

Onavo Protect is a virtual-private network service aimed at helping users secure their personal information over public Wi-Fi networks. The app also alerts users when other apps use too much data.

Since acquiring Onavo in 2013, Facebook has used it to track what apps people were using on phones. This surveillance helped Facebook detect trendy services, tipping off the company to startups it might want to buy and areas it might want to work on for upcoming features.

Facebook said in a statement that it has always been clear when people download Onavo about the information that is collected and how it is used.

But Onavo fell out of compliance with Apples guidelines after they were tightened two months ago to protect the reservoir of personal information that people keep on their iPhones and iPads.

Apples revised guidelines require apps to get users express consent before recording and logging their activity on a device. According to Apple, the new rules also made it explicitly clear that apps should not collect information about which other apps are installed on a users device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing.

Facebook will still be able to deploy Onavo on devices powered by Googles Android software.

Onavos ouster from Apples app store widens the rift between two of the worlds most popular companies.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been outspoken in his belief that Facebook does a shoddy job of protecting its 2.2 billion users privacy  something that he has framed as a fundamental human right.

Cook sharpened his criticism following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He emphasized that Apple would never be caught in the same situation as Facebook because it doesnt collect information about its customers to sell advertising. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg fired back in a separate interview and called Cooks remarks extremely glib. Zuckerberg implied that Apple caters primarily to rich people with a line of products that includes the $1,000 iPhone X.

Late Wednesday, Facebook said it moved to ban the myPersonality app after it found user information was shared with researchers and companies with only limited protections in place. The company said it would notify the apps users that their data may have been misused.

It said myPersonality was mainly active prior to 2012. Though Facebook has tightened its rules since then, it is only now reviewing those older apps following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The app was created in 2007 by researcher David Stillwell and allowed users to take a personality questionnaire and get feedback on the results.

There was no misuse of personal data, Stillwell said in a statement, adding that this ban appears to be purely cosmetic. Stillwell said users gave their consent and the apps data was fully anonymized before it was used for academic research. He also rejected Facebooks assertion that he refused to submit to an audit.

Kelvin Chan and Michael Liedtke are Associated Press writers.
Two days after Facebook revealed far-reaching Iranian and Russian disinformation campaigns on its social network, Google said Thursday that it had removed 39 YouTube channels linked to the Iranian state broadcaster.

In a blog post, Google said it had determined that the 39 YouTube channels were linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. It discovered those accounts working off a tip from Milpitas cybersecurity firm FireEye about a handful of suspicious Google accounts.
WASHINGTON  The Treasury Department moved on Thursday to block high-tax states from circumventing new federal limits on state and local tax deductions, escalating a dispute with Democratic governors.

A proposed Treasury Department rule, which is certain to face legal challenges from several states, would limit the type of charitable contributions Americans are allowed to deduct on their federal taxes. The rule would effectively exclude donations that are rewarded with state tax credits, such as charitable contributions made to certain private or charter schools and universities, land donated for conservation purposes and donations to housing assistance programs.

It is expected to affect only a small slice of the population, according to Treasury estimates, although it will probably be concentrated among high earners in high-tax states, like New York and California. The regulations would affect taxpayers who currently deduct more than $10,000 in state and local taxes, a group that officials put at about 5 percent of the population.

In proposing the rule, the Treasury Department is looking to block efforts by New York and other states to circumvent a provision of the new Republican tax law that set a $10,000-a-year limit on deductions for state and local taxes. That helped Republicans keep the estimated cost of the tax law, which centers on a sharp reduction in the corporate tax rate, under $1.5 trillion, to comply with a budget procedure that allowed the bill to pass without the support of any Democrats.

But the cap angered lawmakers in several states, and they moved quickly to find ways to circumvent the limits. New York and New Jersey passed laws that set up charitable funds for state services, such as schools, and award state tax credits based on donations to those funds. The idea was to create a roundabout way of funding state services that preserves a higher federal tax deduction for residents  because the charitable deduction, unlike the state and local tax deduction, remains uncapped.

The Treasury rule would render those credits effectively useless for taxpayers. They would still be paying the same amount to the state but receive no additional tax deduction from the federal government for their trouble.

Under the proposal, someone who makes a $10,000 charitable contribution to the state and receives an $8,500 tax credit can deduct only $1,500 from federal taxes  the difference between the value of the credit and the contribution. Previously, Americans were allowed to deduct the entire value of a charitable contribution linked to a state tax credit.

The rule does not apply to state tax deductions, only to credits, and it does not affect taxpayers who receive a credit worth 15 percent or less of the amount they donate  a loophole that could exempt landowners who donate large tracts for conservation purposes.

The proposal is designed primarily to hit high-tax states like New York that are trying to jury-rig a way around the cap. In New York, according to IRS data, more than a third of taxpayers took the state and local tax break in 2015, deducting more than $20,000 on average from their federal taxes. In Alabama, just over a quarter of taxpayers took the deduction, and claimed less than $6,000 on average.

More than 90 percent of households earning at least $200,000 in 2015 took the state and local deduction, writing off $269 billion in taxes. Those households accounted for less than 5 percent of all filers in 2015 but took nearly 50 percent of the total deduction that year.

Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman are New York Times writers.
When bad weather or other unexpected events occur, airlines frequently waive change fees, or even offer refunds to help travelers avoid sticky situations.

Right now, there are waivers in effect for Hawaii flights and there's even one in effect today (August 24) due to the smoggy skies over San Francisco.

But what do those waivers really mean?

Let's look at the waivers most airlines have put into place for Hawaii flights due to Hurricane Lane.

In short, most airlines are offering to waive the standard $200 or so fees they normally charge to make changes to booked itineraries into airports threatened by the hurricane. That means that if you have plans to fly to Hawaii this week, you can change those plans and not get hit by a $200 fee to do so.

The airlines have also waived another "gotcha:" fare differences. As many travelers know, if you book a new fare at the last minute, you'll pay significantly more that what you'd pay for an advance purchase fare.

In the case of Hurricane Lane, airlines will not force travelers to pay those sometimes exorbitant fare differences, but only if those schedule changes occur within a specific time frame. Once you get beyond that time frame, the airline "may" force you to pay the fare difference.

When it comes to refunds, it's important to know that you can ONLY get one if the airline cancels your flight or if it is significantly delayed. If your flight is not canceled, or you decide to bail on the trip, you can't get your money back. Or you can opt to get a refund minus the $200 cancellation fee.

So right now, United is saying that if you have a reservation for travel to Hawaii between August 21 and 26, you fall under a waiver. Here are parts of its latest notice: (see this for updates)

Original ticketed travel dates: August 21 - 26, 2018 for flights into:

Hilo, HI (ITO)

Honolulu, Oahu, HI (HNL)

Kahului, Maui, HI (OGG)

Kailua-Kona, HI (KOA)

Lihue, HI (LIH)

Here's United's waiver language: The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new flights departing on or before September 9, 2018, as long as travel is rescheduled in the same cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed. For wholly rescheduled travel departing after September 9, 2018, or for a change in departure or destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a difference in fare may apply. Rescheduled travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued.

When it comes to refunds, United says it will offer refunds only in the following conditions:

-Original flight is canceled

-Original flight is delayed and is estimated to arrive at the final destination more than 2 hours after originally scheduled arrival time

Have you been affected by the hurricane or fog? How'd you fare? Please leave your experiences 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.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  Upo ka na, love.

Those four words may seem endearing-yet-insignificant, but they carry much weight when you consider that they were said by actress Kathryn Bernardo, and that shed just called Daniel Padilla  her love team partner of over six years  her love.

Just a few years ago, any direct proclamation or show of affection was almost taboo for the pair, who have remained tight-lipped about their off-screen relationship ever since their Got to Believe days.

During the Q&A at the press conference for their upcoming movie, The Hows of Us, the two skipped anything remotely cryptic, instead blindsiding reporters with their honest and revealing answers. The tipping point was when Daniel was asked how many years its been since they officially got together. After joking around, he paused, gave his signature bad boy snicker, and matter-of-factly declared: Together? Basta more than five years.

Photographers clicked away. Reporters breathed a sigh of relief. Fans watching the livestream bowled over from the kilig. Though their social media posts and candid moments never really caused anyone to doubt, Daniels reply was still treated as a revelation considering that this was the first time theyd ever admitted to being official. But now that that mystery has been put to rest, what could be next?

Photo by CHARISMA LICO

At 22, Kathryn Bernardo is one half of a pairing thats earned a spot in the Pinoy pop culture hall of fame. KathNiels influence spans both film and television: theyve got countless endorsements, and have worked with big stars and directors in the business.

Six years may not seem like a long time, but as a couple who is used to having all eyes on them, it seems like its been ages. The current generation practically watched them grow up in front of their T.V. screens.

There are downsides to this, too. Its become almost impossible to talk about one without mentioning the other. Can Kathryn or Daniel exist without the other? Its clear that both Bernardo and Padilla seem to think so. With over 14 projects to their combined name, Bernardo believes that now is the best time as ever to explore new territory and widen their breadth as actors.

Alam mo, pinag-usapan namin ni DJ na gusto niyang gumawa ng ibang projects without me, Bernardo says, referencing Padillas MMFF starrer with Vice Ganda. Given all the strings attached to being in a loveteam, Padillas name often comes up when we ask Bernardo about her plans for a solo career.

Of course, mas comfortable ako na nandoon si DJ, pero alam ko na darating na rin yung time na maghihiwalay muna kami and ayoko alisin sa kanya yun, she adds. Ayoko maging selfish na solohin siya, na tayo lang parati kasi ang daming magandang project for him without me and sino ba naman ako para mag-no doon, diba? Career-wise, let's see.

Photo by CHARISMA LICO

***

The Hows of Us is set to be KathNiels most mature film to date, and it also happens to be one of the final four projects that director Cathy Garcia-Molina has promised to make before retiring. Bernardo and Padilla have been working with the acclaimed romance director ever since the T.V. series Got to Believe in 2013.

In the The Hows of Us, Bernardo plays George, a headstrong fresh graduate who goes through the ups and downs of a long-term relationship with Primo (Padilla). The story is supposed to explore the millennial tendency to give up, and uncover their reasons for staying along the way.

The new topic strays from the wholesome persona that Bernardo is used to. She says that Georges personality is far from her own, so hopefully nga pag napanuod nila, si George talaga ang nakikita nila kasi it's totally different from Kathryn in real life.

Garcia-Molina recounts how it was a conscious move to make a film different from their usual to let the pairs acting shine. Na-exhaust na somehow ang romcom kasi both in soap operas and film, ginagawa nila, she says. For those who are tentative pa kung may acting prowess ba 'tong dalawa or hindi, hinahanapan na. Pwede ba silang tawaging aktor other than the romcoms that they do? This is the answer.

The director thinks that Bernardos performance, in particular, stood out from the usual. I've been hearing na maraming nagda-doubt sa capacity ng mga artista ko, especially Kathryn. Talagang sabi ko, hindi. Ilalabas ko ang galing ni Kathryn sa pelikulang 'to. And I think she did it with flying colors.

Padilla, meanwhile, gushes while trying to explain how his partner has grown as an actor, saying that he thinks their growth pattern was similar. Sa reactions pa lang. Ang lapad na ng emotions, ang lapad na nung span ng reactions.

All of this is part of their mission to grow as individuals, and Bernardo admits that theres still so much they havent learned. Marami pa kaming kailangang matutunan. Nag-mature kami, nag-grow kami, pero ang dami pa pala.

Photo by CHARISMA LICO

***

Little by little, were seeing that Kathryn Bernardo is emerging all on her own. In the vein of other famous celebrity bosses, it was her kakikayan that led her to start Kathnails, a nail salon that she runs with her family.

Personally, Im very particular with my nails  I like getting my nails done, bonding yan namin ng mom ko, says Bernardo. So nag-try lang kaming gawin siyang business and maganda yung naging feedback ng tao.

Coming from a non-business background hasnt been without challenges for the young actress, but she is eager to learn.

She says: Its not easy, especially for me kasi bago siya, pero Im really learning sa Kathnails and okay yun kasi nagiging aware ako sa mga [bagay]. Okay lang din kasi nandiyan na din mom ko to guide me. Magaling siya sa ganyan. Last week, nag-start na kami mag-franchise. By 2020, sana 30 branches. So lets see kung may mga ok na deal sa franchise. Fingers crossed.

More recently, Bernardo collaborated with local makeup brand Happy Skin for their new diffusion line aimed at a younger market  a feat she calls a dream come true. At the Generation Happy Skin launch last Aug. 18, Happy Skin founders Rissa Mananquil-Trillo and Jacque Gutierrez share the actresss hands-on involvement in the collection that they made specifically for her.

She didnt want pieces or colors in the collection that she wouldnt use kasi kilala daw siya ng fans niya. She also does her own research, so even before presenting all the products, during a trip to the States, she bought nine mascaras, tested them, Mananquil-Trillo says. She really studied formulas, the brushes. [It shows that] she's diligent and does her homework because not a lot of people do that.

Gutierrez echoes those sentiments, saying that one thing that they really liked about Bernardo was that she made sure of two things: that all of the products in the collection were things she would use in her typical makeup routine, and that all the shades and colors would suit morena skin. From the first time we brought our products to her at ABS-CBN, she actually said, Oh, Im really not a user of brow pencils. Can we do a liquid brow pen instead? Gutierrez recalls.

Bernardo was very particular about one shade in the collection: authenticity, and Mananquil-Trillo and Gutierrez recall how important it was for Bernardo that they keep it despite it not being as catchy as what they were used to.

Shade names [in the collection] had to be representative of values or traits that are important to her, adds Mananquil-Trillo. She knows that makeup is a tool to not just make women pretty, but to also empower [them]. Kath told us she wanted to use that word because [she] feel[s] like the women in my generation are pressured to be different just because of society.

Photo by CHARISMA LICO

***

Next on Bernardos list is an upcoming film with Sharon Cuneta and Richard Gomez, which is her first acting gig without Padilla.

More on family naman, hindi love story [yung bagong movie], she says. Okay naman si DJ with that at mixed yung emotions ko kasi I'm not used to not seeing him, especially sa shoot.

As to what she plans to explore moving forward, Bernardo still hasnt thought about it. Given the time, shed like to work more on the business side of things, maybe dabble more in photography and take up a short makeup course.

But of course, being an actress in this industry has its own trade-offs.

Kailangan lang talaga, time. Once may time, ang dami-dami kong gustong gawin, she says, with sparkles in her eyes. Sana may magawa ako next year.
ROME  Many of the 150 migrants stranded aboard a coast guard ship for a ninth day began a hunger strike Friday out of frustration that Italy wont let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by Italys anti-migrant interior minister.

They can do whatever they believe, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini tweeted, shrugging off the development that migrants were refusing meals aboard the Italian coast guard vessel Diciotti. The ship rescued them on Aug. 16 from a foundering human traffickers boat in the central Mediterranean, and for days now has been docked in the port of Catania, Sicily.

An opposition lawmaker, Sen. Davide Faraone said that on Friday Catania port officials told him theres tension on the ship and that migrants have stopped eating.

Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama. On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania. Salvini has been adamant that Italys populist government wont allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking the asylum seekers.

All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean; the others are from Somalia, Syria and Sudan. They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya, while waiting to leave that lawless country aboard smugglers boats.

Another opposition lawmaker who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20, still there.

Appealing to Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off the Diciotti.

Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch Friday but the men refused the meal.

But Salvini was staying tough, as was fellow deputy premier, Luigi Di Maio, who heads the senior coalition partner, the euro-skeptic 5-Star Movement.

Di Maio threatened that Italy could withhold some of its yearly $23 billion contribution to the bloc if EU nations didnt make good on promises earlier this year for more solidarity toward the Italians, who have seen more than 600,000 rescued migrants brought to Italian shores in recent years.

Similar standoffs in recent weeks both involving rescue ships reaching Italy and Malta have been resolved when other EU members agreed to take some of the migrants.

Frances DEmilio is an Associated Press writer.
CONCORD (BCN)



A woman's body was found behind a Concord business Wednesday and surveillance-camera footage quickly led police to a suspect in her slaying, Concord police said today.



Rickie Keefer, a 58-year-old transient was arrested Thursday when police found him sleeping in a vehicle, police said. The victim's name has not been released pending notification of relatives, according to the Contra Costa County coroner's office.



The woman was found by a security guard Wednesday night during his regular rounds at a business in the 2700 block of Clayton Road, near Oakland Avenue, police said. The body was on the ground in a fenced-in enclosure near a dumpster behind the business.



The guard called police who determined the woman was dead and was the apparent victim of a homicide. Video from several security cameras in the area provided investigators with clear images of Keefer, "coming and going from the crime scene," police said.



On Thursday, a Concord police officer on patrol spotted Keefer's car. Keefer was found sleeping inside and was taken into custody.



Keefer's last address was in Antioch, but it appeared he was living out of his car, police said. He has previous convictions in Illinois for robbery and burglary, and in California for burglary, theft and narcotics-related crimes, police said.



Anyone with information about the slaying is asked to contact Detective Phalen at (925) 603-5858, or call the anonymous tip line at (925) 603-5836.





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sued U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department in U.S. District Court in San Francisco today, challenging immigration-enforcement conditions placed on federal law enforcement assistance grants.



California and local governments within the state are due to receive $28.9 million appropriated by Congress for the 2018 fiscal year in Justice Department grants from a program known as Justice Assistance Grants.



The department is requiring that recipients certify that they comply with certain federal immigration laws and that they are not impeding federal officials in carrying out the laws.



Becerra filed a similar challenge last year to conditions attached to grants for the 2017 fiscal year. That lawsuit is still pending before U.S. District Judge William Orrick of San Francisco.



Two federal judges in Chicago and Philadelphia partially struck down the conditions, in rulings that are now being appealed by the government.



Becerra said this year's grants are tied to additional conditions, including the condition that recipients must certify they aren't impeding federal officials.



The lawsuit claims that the conditions are unconstitutional because they interfere with Congress's power to determine spending and to set laws.



State attorneys say in the lawsuit that California does comply with the conditions in the JAG authorizing law and with law providing justice assistance and with federal immigration laws.



But the lawsuit claims the certification conditions set by the Justice Department are not authorized by Congress and in some cases go beyond federal laws to require states to aid the federal government in carrying out its immigration enforcement responsibilities.



Becerra said in a statement that withholding grants from local police and sheriffs "doesn't make our communities safer - it leaves them more vulnerable."



A Justice Department spokesman was not immediately available for comment.





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A former case worker at an East Bay nonprofit organization has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to one year in prison for stealing $26,300 in federal funds intended to aid homeless veterans with short-term housing.



William Andrews, 50, of Windsor, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco on Tuesday. Donato also ordered him to pay the government $26,300 in restitution.



Andrews pleaded guilty before Donato on April 25 to one count of theft of U.S. government property and acknowledged stealing a total of $26,300 in 2016.



Andrews formerly worked with the Oakland-based East Bay Community Recovery Project, which provides substance abuse treatment and services. Its services included helping homeless veterans obtain grants from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs for short-term rental housing.



Prosecutors said in a sentencing document that Andrews used stolen identities of homeless veterans to funnel grants in their names to his own landlord to pay his own rent.



According to the prosecution document, Andrews used the identities of two veterans for a period of months. The nonprofit group discovered the fraud during an audit when Andrews tried to use the identity of a third homeless veteran.



As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped a second charge of aggravated identity theft, which would have carried a mandatory two-year sentence upon conviction.



Andrews is due to begin serving his sentence on Nov. 16.





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A suspect being pursued by Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office deputies was killed in a collision Thursday night.



On Thursday at 11:41 p.m., deputies in Rodeo noticed two individuals exit their vehicle and discard an unknown item at the Rodeo Post Office at 499 Parker Ave.



The deputies tried to pull the vehicle over, but the suspects refused to stop and drove south on San Pablo Avenue.



As deputies pursued the vehicle, it went trough a red light at San Pablo Avenue and Richmond Parkway and collided with the side of a truck.



The driver of the vehicle was killed in the collision.



The passenger was able to exit the vehicle and was taken into custody.



The sheriff's office has not released the identity of the two suspects.



Deputies later discovered the item the suspects discarded was a firearm, according to the sheriff's office.







BART officers found a man dead early this morning at San Francisco's Embarcadero BART station.



Around 4:10 a.m., the man was discovered unresponsive and not breathing at the station's entrance along Drumm Street, BART police said.



Paramedics arrived at the scene and pronounced him dead.



BART spokesman Jim Allison said there is no indication of foul play.







Dixon police have arrested a juvenile from Sacramento in connection with an attempted murder at a party on July 21.



The 17-year-old boy was in custody in Sacramento County on an unrelated charge and he was booked in the Solano County Juvenile Hall Tuesday for attempted murder and robbery.



Police responded around midnight July 20 to a shooting in the 1300 block of Bello Drive. They found a large crowd and two men with gunshot wounds lying in the street.



An argument escalated to a fight in the backyard of the residence, police said. An unidentified 43-year-old man was shot in the leg when he tried to stop the fight, and he was shot at least two more times when he ran out into the street.



Mario Yokoi, 38, of Dixon was fatally shot when he confronted the group he thought was involved in the fight, police said.







A 21-year-old transient was arrested Thursday night in connection with a stabbing of another homeless man outside the Warm Springs BART station in Fremont earlier the same day, BART officials said.



Joshua Fecker was taken into custody by BART police at the Richmond station after officers recognized him from the Fremont station's surveillance video. Officers interviewed Fecker and determined he was the suspect in the knife attack.



Police had received a call at 2:18 a.m. Thursday about a man lying in the street near the Warm Springs station. The man was discovered to be a 39-year-old transient with non-life-threatening stab wounds to his chest and buttocks. He was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose where he was treated.



The stabbing occurred outside the station, but was still on BART property, BART officials said. The station was closed at the time.







The San Jose Independent Police Auditor has resigned following months of repeated accusations from the police officer's association claiming he was unfit for the position.



Aaron Zisser submitted his resignation to the Mayor and City Council in a letter Thursday evening, saying he is grateful to San Jose, its advocates and grassroots leaders for the opportunity to work in the city.



"Unfortunately, the extraordinary personal attacks on my office and my work have become a distraction from the important goals of reform and expanded oversight of the police sought by the public and community groups," he wrote in the letter.



POA President Paul Kelly first brought allegations against Zisser in June, saying he was a "rogue watchman" who had skewed numbers in a report to the Mayor and City Council to over represent police bias against people of color.



The POA then asked the City Council for a formal investigation into Zisser's actions, saying he had attended an anti-police rally and withheld information regarding a threat to the police department.



Throughout the attack campaign, Zisser maintained that he was open to discussing the situation with Kelly, but Kelly would not be swayed.



PACT, an interfaith group of community advocates, expressed support for Zisser earlier this month and said Kelly's attack was distracting from a grassroots movement - years in the making - to hold police accountable.



"The resignation of Independent Police Auditor Aaron Zisser after a heavy-handed attack campaign by the Police Union, SJPOA, raises major concerns for community members about the City's commitment to police transparency and accountability," PACT said in a statement today.



The POA says it will release information next week outlining specific steps to strengthen police oversight in future IPA offices.



Though the POA said it had legitimate concerns about Zisser, the office said in a statement that it "never questioned the vital and essential role that the Office of the IPA plays in the administration of justice for all San Jose residents."



Zisser touted his office's accomplishments in the resignation letter, including "innovative" community outreach, identifying the need for police to issue annual reports on officer-involved shootings and prompting changes in how internal affairs investigates cases that involve use of force, racial profiling and other serious issues.



"I will also continue to work for change in my own community, and I applaud the outstanding advocates and community leaders who work so hard to make important progress," Zisser said in the statement. "There is much work to be done to implement meaningful oversight and reform at SJPD."







A two-alarm fire early this morning seriously damaged an unoccupied house under construction in Campbell, fire officials said.



No one was injured in the blaze that began around 2:30 a.m. at the house in the 1700 block of Hurst Avenue.



When Santa Clara County Fire Department crews arrived on scene, they discovered flames shooting from the rear of the structure. Residents in three homes adjacent to the property were evacuated.



Firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 3 a.m. and neighbors were allowed back in their homes.



More than 50 percent of the structure was damaged, and the fire is under investigation.









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Alameda County prosecutors have disclosed that they are seeking the death penalty for an Oakland man who's scheduled to stand trial later this year on a murder charge with three special circumstances for the fatal shooting of Hayward police Sgt. Scott Lunger three years ago.



The District Attorney's Office made the decision in the case of 24-year-old Mark Estrada shortly after he was ordered to stand trial at the end of his preliminary hearing on May 8, 2017, but that move wasn't made public until a hearing Thursday at which he sought to fire both of his attorneys.



The decision marks only the second time that District Attorney Nancy O'Malley has sought the death penalty since she took the job as the county's top prosecutor in 2009.



The other time was in the case of Darnell Williams, who in 2016 was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced to death for the killings of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine and 22-year-old Anthony Medearis in separate incidents in 2013.







San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said that the city will join a lawsuit filed Monday against the Federal Communications Commission by Santa Clara County, its fire department and over two dozen other parties supporting Net Neutrality after Verizon allegedly cut internet speeds for firefighters battling the Mendocino Complex fire.



Liccardo made the announcement Thursday.



The California State Assembly's Select Committee on Natural Disaster, Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding will hold a hearing at 9 a.m. today over the alleged actions by Verizon, according to the office of Assemblymember Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, the select committee co-chair.



Santa Clara County's fire chief claims in the lawsuit that Verizon "throttled" data speeds for firefighters who were battling the Mendocino Complex fires this summer. The multiple fires have grown to over 400,000 acres, according to Cal Fire, becoming the biggest fire in state history.







California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has sued U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, challenging immigration-enforcement conditions placed on federal law enforcement assistance grants.



Becerra filed the suit Thursday.



California and local governments within the state are due to receive $28.9 million appropriated by Congress for the 2018 fiscal year in Justice Department grants from a program known as Justice Assistance Grants.



The department is requiring that recipients certify that they comply with certain federal immigration laws and that they are not impeding federal officials in carrying out the laws.



Becerra filed a similar challenge last year to conditions attached to grants for the 2017 fiscal year. That lawsuit is still pending before U.S. District Judge William Orrick of San Francisco.



Two federal judges in Chicago and Philadelphia partially struck down the conditions, in rulings that are now being appealed by the government.







A 60-year-old convicted murderer was sentenced for fatally beating and choking his ex-girlfriend at a Mission District senior housing complex in San Francisco nearly three years ago.



Rickey Joseph Roberts was sentenced Thursday by Judge Carol Yaggy to 15 years to life in prison for killing Olga Diaz-Clark, 60, and three more years in prison for making criminal threats, which a jury also found him guilty of.



Roberts' attorney, Deputy Public Defender Phong Wang, on Thursday sought a new trial for Roberts on grounds that Diaz-Clark's killing was voluntary manslaughter in the heat of passion, and not murder.



Yaggy, however, did not grant a new trial, because Roberts in his initial statement to police denied beating Diaz-Clark and there was no evidence to support that the killing was in the heat of passion.







Two suspects were arrested for a homicide and robbery that occurred at a Vallejo hotel on Monday, a police lieutenant said.



Police found the victim in the hotel room in the 1400 block of Enterprise Street around 9:40 p.m. His name is not being released, Lt. Joe Iacono said.



Devonte Hicks, 22, and Jessica McCraven, 31, both of Vallejo, were arrested Wednesday and booked in the Solano County jail on suspicion of murder and robbery, Iacono said.













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A 60-year-old convicted murderer was sentenced today for fatally beating and choking his ex-girlfriend at a Mission District senior housing complex in San Francisco nearly three years ago.



Rickey Joseph Roberts was sentenced by Judge Carol Yaggy to 15 years to life in prison for killing Olga Diaz-Clark, 60, and three more years in prison for making criminal threats, which a jury also found him guilty of.





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A 60-year-old convicted murderer was sentenced today for fatally beating and choking his ex-girlfriend at a Mission District senior housing complex in San Francisco nearly three years ago.



Rickey Joseph Roberts was sentenced by Judge Carol Yaggy to 15 years to life in prison for killing Olga Diaz-Clark, 60, and three more years in prison for making criminal threats, which a jury also found him guilty of.



Roberts' attorney, Deputy Public Defender Phong Wang, today sought a new trial for Roberts on grounds that Diaz-Clark's killing was voluntary manslaughter in the heat of passion, and not murder.



Yaggy, however, did not grant a new trial, because Roberts in his initial statement to police denied beating Diaz-Clark and there was no evidence to support that the killing was in the heat of passion.



After his sentencing, a victim advocate with the District Attorney's Office read letters from Diaz-Clark's family members to the court, including one from her daughter Karina.



"All she (Diaz-Clark) wanted was love, that was priceless to her. She thought she had found it in someone and made an effort to keep it going," the letter said. "She tried until her last breath and her spirit was taken from her. That's how much love meant to her."



Roberts also wrote a letter to Diaz-Clark's family, apologizing for the pain he's caused them. Wang read the letter to the court on his behalf.



"Every day I have to live with and feel the pain I've caused. I have great remorse that will stay for the rest of my life... I did not mean for Olga's death," Roberts said in the letter.



He also apologized for leaving threatening messages on Diaz-Clark's voicemail, saying in the letter, "I was intoxicated and when my lawyer played them for me I was shocked. They should not have been left for Olga and no one should have heard those words. They are not me. I take responsibility for my actions and I apologize for them."



According to court documents, on Dec. 13, 2015, Roberts entered Diaz-Clark's room at the Mission District senior housing complex in the 1800 block of 15th Street where they both lived at in separate units. He then beat and strangled her, causing her to lose consciousness.



After regaining consciousness Diaz-Clark was able to eventually make it to the lobby and ask for help. When responding officers and medical personnel arrived, they found her with several head, face and neck injuries and took her to a hospital.



Although severely injured, she was able to identify Roberts as her attacker, saying that he choked her and beat her, while also threatening to kill her. Diaz-Clark succumbed to her injuries at the hospital three days later.



Police arrested Roberts for the killing.



In a November 2015 voice message left for Diaz-Clark, Roberts threatened to "hunt" her down and kill her, adding that he knew people who were ready to kill her. Sometime after that, she filed a restraining order against him.



During Roberts' trial, Assistant District Attorney Sam Totah said Roberts had a history of abusing Diaz-Clark, who he said was retired and was struggling with health and financial problems.



"Diaz-Clark suffered many years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of Ricky Roberts," Totah said today in a statement. "The victim's family showed remarkable strength during the pendency of this case, and I commend them for working with our office to achieve justice for their loved one."



"The defendant, over time stripped Ms. Diaz-Clark of her right to live her life in peace," District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. "Domestic violence is not a crime that only occurs in the shadows; it's visible and intervention is possible. If you're living under constant threat, or know someone who is, please reach out. You're not alone."





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Opening statements have begun in a murder trial in which a man is accused of beating his elderly cancer-stricken friend to death at the victim's apartment in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood last year in order to steal money.



Michael Phillips, 65, has been charged with murder, first-degree robbery, burglary, elder abuse and elder theft.



Prosecutors allege Phillips beat and killed James Sheahan, a 75-year-old former employee of San Francisco's Health and Human Services Department.





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Photo: Contributed The road was closed between Pandosy and Ellis, several ambulances and fire trucks attended the scene.

A computer melted and the ensuing smoke caused crews to close down part of Bernard Avenue last night in downtown Kelowna.

Just before 1 a.m. emergency crews were called for the faint smell of smoke coming from the Sun FM building downtown near Pandosy and Bernard.

Platoon Captain Tim Light said without knowing exactly what was going on, the incident commander on the scene was ready for anything.

"It looked like it might turn into something, so the incident commander at the time had three trucks there and had everything ready to go," he said.

Light said firefighters knew which room the smoke was coming from and before they started squirting water everywhere, an engineer from Sun FM arrived and told them the room was full of computers.

It turned out one of the computers had actually melted, it was not immediately clear why.

Crews de-energized the equipment and the situation was largely over.

Otherwise the building was not damaged and no people were injured.
DIXON (BCN)



Dixon police have arrested a juvenile from Sacramento in connection with an attempted murder at a party on July 21.



The 17-year-old boy was in custody in Sacramento County on an unrelated charge and he was booked in the Solano County Juvenile Hall Tuesday for attempted murder and robbery.



Police responded around midnight July 20 to a shooting in the 1300 block of Bello Drive. They found a large crowd and two men with gunshot wounds lying in the street.



An argument escalated to a fight in the backyard of the residence, police said. An unidentified 43-year-old man was shot in the leg when he tried to stop the fight, and he was shot at least two more times when he ran out into the street.



Mario Yokoi, 38, of Dixon was fatally shot when he confronted the group he thought was involved in the fight, police said.



The suspects fled on Folsom Downs Circle toward Valley Glen Drive, police said.



Police said the incident is still under investigation and they are seeking additional suspects.





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San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said today that the city will join a lawsuit filed Monday against the Federal Communications Commission by Santa Clara County, its fire department and over two dozen other parties supporting Net Neutrality after Verizon allegedly cut internet speeds for firefighters battling the Mendocino Complex fire.



The California State Assembly's Select Committee on Natural Disaster, Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding will hold a hearing at 9 a.m. Friday over the alleged actions by Verizon, according to the office of Assemblymember Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, the select committee co-chair.



Santa Clara County's fire chief claims in the lawsuit that Verizon "throttled" data speeds for firefighters who were battling the Mendocino Complex fires this summer. The multiple fires have grown to over 400,000 acres, according to Cal Fire, becoming the biggest fire in state history.





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SAN JOSE (BCN)



San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said today that the city will join a lawsuit filed Monday against the Federal Communications Commission by Santa Clara County, its fire department and over two dozen other parties supporting net neutrality after Verizon allegedly cut internet speeds for firefighters battling the Mendocino Complex fire.



The California State Assembly's Select Committee on Natural Disaster, Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding will hold a hearing at 9 a.m. Friday over the alleged actions by Verizon, according to the office of Assemblymember Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, the select committee co-chair.



Santa Clara County's fire chief claims in the lawsuit that Verizon "throttled" data speeds for firefighters who were battling the Mendocino Complex fires this summer. The multiple fires have grown to over 400,000 acres, according to Cal Fire, becoming the biggest fire in state history.



Chief Anthony Bowden said when he requested that Verizon restore data speeds, the company instead offered a data plan that was almost twice as expensive.



The FCC repealed net neutrality, which mandates equal access to all internet websites, in December 2017. The county's lawsuit claims that Verizon is among several internet service providers who will now use the loosened regulations to "prioritize their economic interests, even in situations that implicate public safety."



Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a tweet today that the city will be joining in on the lawsuit, and to expect further information about its decision in the coming week.



The repeal of net neutrality also reduced the FCC's control over internet service providers, according to San Jose State computer science Professor Melody Moh, who called it a "Christmas gift" for companies like Verizon.



"Before, the FCC would quickly come to claim that this is wrongdoing," Moh said of the data throttling. "Because of [the repeal], the FCC sort of raised their hands and said, 'No, this is not really our domain.'"



Bowden said in court documents that firefighters were forced to use personal devices and other agency's internet providers to effectively communicate, and that Verizon had limited their data to 1/200 of its original speed.



He said data was only restored after the department upgraded to a new, more expensive plan.



Verizon spokeswoman Heidi Flato said today that the company's response to Bowden was a "customer support mistake" and "has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current proceeding in court."



"In this situation, we should have lifted the speed restriction when our customer reached out to us," Flato said in a statement, explaining Verizon's policy of cooperating with government agencies during emergencies. "We are reviewing the situation and will fix any issues going forward."



Moh rejected Verizon's defense, saying a customer service team wouldn't have the power to limit the fire department's data on such a large scale during an emergency.



"[Verizon] wouldn't dare to do this before," Moh said. "Almost no one could imagine that this could happen ... but this actually happened and really blew our minds."



She compared it to a hypothetical water company cutting off water supplies during a fire, and forcing public agencies to pay a higher rate to effectively do their jobs.



Moh said the action by Verizon is an "excellent" opportunity to reclaim net neutrality.



"Right now our social lives -- and in this emergency case -- rely so much on data," she said, "I think ... this specific incident ... really touched a lot of people, not just Californians."













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Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area are urged to avoid exercising outdoors this evening because of "unhealthy" air, officials with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said.



District officials issued a late Spare the Air alert for today and for Friday because smoke from wildfires, which was over the Pacific Ocean, is blowing into the area.



The alerts are the ninth and 10th of summer Spare the Air season.





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Photo: buykelowna.com/

Recent rumours of a fall snap election were dispelled pretty quickly by the Prime Minister last week.

Nevertheless, local potential candidates are actively out in the community preparing for the next election.



Unfortunately, for some, it means peddling the idea that the constituents of Kelowna-Lake Country are being ignored by the federal government or that they are not being well represented.

Nothing couldnt be further from the truth.

Just in the past few months, weve been able to highlight more than $5.5 million in important federal investments that directly benefit our Okanagan communities including:

$500,000 investment in research, education and outreach to help prevent invasive mussels from reaching local waterways

$1.3 million for the Rails to Trails project

$3 million contribution which helped build the new state-of-the-art Okanagan College Trades Training facilities in both Kelowna and Vernon

$675,000 for the Canada Summer Jobs program in Kelowna-Lake Country.

Last week and this coming week, our riding will be visited by no fewer than six federal cabinet ministers, all of whom will be meeting with local organizations and individuals to seek their input on where our government can continue to help.

Aug. 23-24th, our riding will once again host Pacific Caucus, which it did earlier in our governments mandate in 2016.

Here again, a number of stakeholder meetings are being arranged so that my B.C. colleagues can better understand our local priorities and help me advocate for them in national caucus.

Many will remember that national caucus, including the Prime Minister and the cabinet, visited our riding last summer. To say they left energized by the innovation and progress in Kelowna-Lake Country would be an understatement.

Good economic news is welcome by governments and our communities are delivering it in spades as evidenced by the latest report from the Regional District of Central Okanagans Economic Development Commission (COEDC):

median individual and household incomes have risen faster than provincial rates

our tourism, aerospace, tech, health and film sectors continue to generate thousands of jobs and deliver billions of dollars in revenue generation and economic impact

our post-secondary sector is educating more than 16,000 full time and part time students ensuring a skilled workforce is in place.

Additionally, Kelowna was named the best city in B.C. to open a small business by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in 2018.

Our federal government is actively working together with the other levels of government to make our communities better, safer and prosperous and it has infused millions of dollars in federal support to Kelowna-Lake Country and throughout the Okanagan.

It may be fair game in politics to be constantly critical of government, but, in reality, its the kind of negativity that undermines all the good work that is driving local economic growth and making our communities some of the finest places to work and live in the country.

2019 will come soon enough. Until then, Im focused on delivering for our community.
Photo: Police photo

John Lennon's killer has been denied parole for a 10th time and will remain behind bars for at least two more years.

Mark David Chapman appeared before New York's parole board on Wednesday. In a denial decision obtained by The Associated Press Thursday, the board said it had determined Chapman's release "would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law."

Chapman, 63, shot and killed the former Beatle outside Lennon's Manhattan apartment on Dec. 8, 1980. He is serving 20-years-to-life in the Wende Correctional Facility in western New York.

"You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety," the parole panel wrote in its denial decision. "While no one person's life is any more valuable than another's life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world renown person and beloved by millions, regardless of the pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the pain and suffering of others."

It said releasing Chapman would not only "tend to mitigate the seriousness of your crime," but also would endanger public safety because someone might try to harm him out of anger or revenge or to gain similar notoriety.

As Chapman faced the parole panel Wednesday, politicians and fans called for his release to be denied during a rally at Strawberry Fields, Lennon's memorial in Central Park across from his former home.

Jonas Herbsman, the attorney for Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.

A transcript of the parole hearing wasn't immediately released. At previous hearings, Chapman has said he still gets letters about the pain he caused and was sorry for choosing the wrong path to fame.

Chapman will be up for parole again in August 2020.
Photo: Twitter

A large sink hole that swallowed up a towering spruce tree in a Nova Scotia park appears to be growing by the day, and sparking concerns about a nearby community centre.

Yellow caution tape has been put up around an area at the Oxford and Area Lions Parkland in Oxford because of the widening hole in the ground.

Bruce Selkirk, a member of the nearby Oxford Lions Club, said some trees quickly plunged into the hole when it opened up weeks ago.

"It swallowed about an eight-inch maple tree and about a 24-inch spruce tree  40 feet high and it just swallowed it," Selkirk said. "It was like flushing a toilet. They were just like, 'Bumph,' they're gone."

Selkirk said members of the club first noticed the sink hole around the end of July during a wedding reception. He said it continues to grow every day. And now, he says the Lions Club is concerned about their community centre, which is close to the park.

"It's not stopping," Selkirk told Global News. "We don't know when it's going to stop or where it's going to stop or what else is going to go."

Although maps of the area show the prospect that a sink hole could develop, geologists say there's no way to know when one will open up or when it will stop growing.

"We can predict because of the kind of rock underneath that they will occur in the area, but where in the area is sort of similar to putting a thousand people in an open field with steel umbrellas in a lightning storm," said geologist Bob Ryan. "You know it's likely that one of them is going to get hit with lightning, but (you can't tell) which person.

The Oxford sink hole is the second such hole to open up in Nova Scotia in less than a year. Last fall, a home in Falmouth started to fall into a sink hole in the middle of the night and had to be demolished.
Photo: The Canadian Press Helicopter pilot Joe Shupac flies past the Shovel Lake wildfire in Northern B.C.

Mother Nature appeared to be teasing with Thursday afternoon's reprieve from the smoke in parts of the Okanagan. It's back with a vengeance today.

Meanwhile, Environment Canada is offering some hope to residents of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley after nearly a week of stagnant, smoke-filled air  but the forecast is not as positive for people closer to the wildfires burning in B.C.'s Interior.

Air-quality advisories remain for most of the province due to high particulate levels in the wildfire smoke.

The weather office does say those fine particles should continue to decline across the Lower Mainland and a smog advisory has been dropped.

Cooler temperatures and fresh Pacific air blowing toward the coast are credited for the reprieve, but forecasters say winds over the Interior will pin the smoke there and communities downwind of wildfires will stay shrouded for the foreseeable future.

Winds are also complicating the battle against many fires, including two with a combined area of more than 1,000-square kilometres southwest of Burns Lake and along the south shore of Francois Lake.

Officials say no new homes have been lost since the blaze destroyed three in Lower Post near the Yukon boundary and a trace amount of rain has fallen.

Crews are now working to keep flames away from the Alaska Highway.

It was hoped cooler, showery conditions might offer a weekend break for firefighters in the province until Environment Canada said if any rain falls, it is likely to be too spotty to make a difference.

The BC Wildfire Service says nearly 600 wildfires are burning.
Photo: RCMP Police would like to talk to the driver of this car regarding a suspected arson.

Chase RCMP are on the lookout for a suspected arsonist.

On Aug. 12 at 4:10 a.m., police received a report of a structure fire at the Royal Bank, 746 Shuswap Ave.

The Chase Fire Department attended to extinguish the fire.

Police investigation has determined the fire is suspicious in nature, said Cpl. Scott Linklater. A grey or silver hatchback, similar in style to a newer model Honda Civic, was observed leaving the area immediately after the blaze was set.

Chase RCMP would like to speak with the occupants of the vehicle or anyone who may have information regarding this vehicle.
Photo: RCMP

RCMP say six people have been arrested following the seizure of drugs, firearms and a large amount of cash at a home in Williams Lake.

Police say the seized drugs include fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and testosterone as well as miscellaneous pills and drug paraphernalia.

Insp. Jeff Pelley says in a news release that offences involving weapons and drugs, especially those alleged to include trafficking of fentanyl, are a high priority for the force.

The arrests and seizures came after an investigation that began during the July long weekend.

The investigation is ongoing, and court proceedings are set to begin in December.
A storied Lake Tahoe estate built by Harrahs Hotel and Casinos founder William F. Harrah is on the market for $34.5 million, making it this weeks most expensive new listing on realtor.com.

Built in 1963 in Zephyr Cove, NV, Villa Harrah was last sold in 2012 for $12 million. This year, the almost 21,000-square-foot estate was "completely re-designed and re-modeled," according to the listing.

But it still comes with an enviable history. One of the first casino magnates to transform the gambling industry, Harrah built the lakefront estate to host world-famous entertainers.

Great room realtor.com

Open kitchen with island seating realtor.com

Retro-style bar realtor.com

One of eight bedrooms realtor.com

Resort-style spa realtor.com

Terrace with lake views realtor.com

Secret tunnels reportedly ran the length of the property, to help conceal high-profile guests such as Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.

Previous homeowner Richard Costa, who sold the property in 2012, kept many of the original features. The current homeowner modernized the interiors, which now include impeccable amenities and finishes not found in 5-star resorts, the listing notes.

The property comes with private beach access. There are eight en suite bedrooms and 14 total baths. The bunk room also sleeps 12.

The great room features a wall of glass that looks out to the lake, and includes an open kitchen, and living and dining spaces. Outside there are spacious terraces and a pool. A rec area contains a pool table, flat-screen TV, eating space, and fireplace.

Elsewhere there's a full spa (including a steam room, sauna, jetted bath, cold plunge, and salon for hair and nails), home theater, and retro-style wet bar.

The home boasts a dazzling array of high-end details, including walnut and gray elm cabinetry, imported flooring inlays, custom concrete sinks, stone slabs imported from Brazil, European fumed oak floors, leather and steel railings, and horse hair murals by Kyle Bunting.

In the winter, youll never have to worry about shoveling snow, as the circular driveway and porte-cochere are heated.

While the price tag is steep, the listing notes that the property has great rental revenue potential. With the location, the history, and the incredible look of the place, wed say its a savvy wager.

Peter Aulicino holds the listing.

The post $34.5M Lake Tahoe Estate Once Owned by Casino Magnate Is Most Expensive New Listing appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
A low-pressure system moving across the West Coast Thursday kicked up winds that blew smoke from wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California into the Bay Area.

The Mendocino Complex Fire has been burning since July 27, growing into the largest blaze in California modern history, and Tom Flannigan, a spokesperson with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, says smoke from this fire was settled over the Pacific Ocean and on Thursday onshore winds blew it into the San Francisco area.

Fires in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia also contributed to the polluted air, and in fact, the wildfire situation in the Pacific Northwest is currently more severe than in California. The state has more fires burning and lower containment levels on existing incidents.

There are currently 560 wildfires burning in British Columbia alone right now, while in California, the Mendocino Complex, is now 74 percent contained.

Seattle and Oregon have seen unprecedented smoky conditions in recent days with the AQI soaring just above 180. Now, a lot of the smoke has moved into the Bay Area while the Northwest is experiencing cleaner air.

ALSO: It's not just fog turning the sky gray: SF air quality is 3 times worse than Beijing

On Thursday afternoon air quality around the Bay Area reached unhealthy levels and those who are sensitive to smoke or have respiratory issues were advised to limit outdoor activity.

The Air Quality Index runs from 0 to 500, with higher numbers meaning worse air pollution. In San Francisco Thursday, the AQI registered as high as 152, which is considered unhealthy for the general population.

The thick sooty haze led the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue a Spare the Air Alert for Thursday and Friday.

On Friday morning, the air quality was unhealthy in the South Bay and East Bay.

The National Weather Service expects the low-pressure system to move east on Friday, carrying the smoke with it. Conditions should improve Saturday.
FWC(HUDSON, Fla.) -- After hours of searching the waters off the coast of Florida, rescuers on Thursday found a missing diver who they said had spent an entire night alone, lost at sea, but said he had "a will to survive."



Terry Hayes, 57, and Michael Pavlich, 34, were exploring a popular scuba diving site on Wednesday known as the RJ Thompson wreck in the Gulf of Mexico, some 30 miles off of Hudson, Florida. But the two men, who are seasoned recreational divers, failed to resurface near the 25-foot dive boat that afternoon, officials said.



The dive boat operator alerted authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard subsequently launched a search effort, with help from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Four hours later, the crews located Pavlich six miles southeast of the dive site, officials said. His partner was nowhere to be found.



Search and rescue crews resumed their efforts Thursday morning. They searched an area of more than 1,700 square nautical miles before Hayes was spotted alive in the water by an offshore vessel belonging to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation.



"Hes a fighter, he had a will to survive," Lt. George Wells of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation said during a press conference Thursday. "I personally think thats what helped keep him alive throughout the night."



By that point, Hayes had been treading water for more than 20 hours and was "very exhausted," officials said. He was still in full scuba gear and had a buoyancy compensator, a piece of diving equipment with an inflatable bladder that officials said helped Hayes stay afloat.



"He had his diver buoyancy compensator, which kept him alive. He had a flashlight. He drank water," Coast Guard Cmdr. Bill Walsh told ABC News' Tampa affiliate WFTS on Thursday. "But also, he had the will to live."



Officials said Pavlich had no reported injuries. WFTS reported that Hayes is said to be doing OK, though both men are exhausted from the ordeal.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  Police have arrested for illegal possession of firearms and explosives a man who was in an a viral video of an altercation with traffic enforcers.

Police search the home of Arnold Padilla in Makati Friday morning and found one .45 caliber Glock 21 pistol, one Keltec shotgun, two MK2 hand grenades, ammunition, a firearms license for one Alfie Bautista Ortiz, and other firearm paraphernalia, officials said.

Earlier this month, a viral CCTV video showed Padilla and his girlfriend in a heated argument with traffic enforcers in Makati after allegedly beating the red light. One of Padilla's bodyguards was seen in the video punching an enforcer.

Both Padilla and Ortiz were arrested following the police raid.

Hours after his arrest, Padilla was sent to the St. Luke's Hospital for a possible stroke.

Attorney Raymond Fortun, Padilla's counsel, claimed the grenades were planted by the police themselves.

A CCTV footage given to CNN Philippines of police entering a room in Padilla's house shows the police turning the camera to face the ceiling.

CNN Philippines is trying to reach the police for comment on the matter.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday extended his condolences for the devastating floods that has ravaged the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Taking to his official Twitter account, Khan said, "On behalf of the people of Pakistan, we send our prayers and best wishes to those who have been devastated by the floods in Kerala, India. We stand ready to provide any humanitarian assistance that may be needed."

Several world leaders have sent their messages of condolences for the flood-hit state, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issuing a similar statement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and conveying the island nation's "readiness to provide any assistance."

India, however, is not accepting any foreign aid that is not being sent through the Prime Minister's Relief Fund or the Chief Minister's relief fund. Addressing a presser, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar expressed gratitude towards countries offering financial help but said India will not change its existing foreign policy.

"In line with the existing policy, the Government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts. Contributions to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund from NRIs, PIOs and international entities such as foundations would, however, be welcome," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged the government to accept foreign aid, saying, "if Government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the central Government may accept the offer."

The controversy kicked up after India had denied financial aid to the tune of Rs 700 crore sanctioned by the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates, Shaik Mohammed Bin Sayid Al Nahyan.

Earlier today, Vijayan conducted a review of the relief camps set up by authorities in the state, where nearly a million people are currently seeking shelter.

Over 400 lives have been claimed by the worst floods in the state in more than a century, with the state incurring a loss to the tune of Rs 19, 512.

(ANI)
John McAfee wants you to know that he never goes anywhere unarmed.

The controversial tech mogul, who claims to have been targeted by numerous bad actors in the past, is protected around the clock by his own security team, but should they be comprised, he'd be more than ready.

In a Twitter post this week, he revealed just how ready.

His sidearm never leaves his hand, he wrote.

Not when he sleeps. Not in the shower. Not when he's sitting on the toilet. Not even when he makes love.

"Puts a kink in foreplay but some women love it."

And in a follow-up tweet, he shared that the Glock in the photo was just part of his on-person arsenal:

"I carry three sidearms. Hip, shoulder, ankle," he said.

Why pack so much firepower? Well, because a lot folks are out to get him, he says  the U.S. government, violent cartels, corrupt Belizean officials, food poisoners and "six women" who tried to shoot him.

In the last few months, the cybersecurity pioneer and cryptocurrency evangelist has claimed to be on the run from Securities and Exchange Commission, which forced him into hiding. His life was in danger, he said.

Then again, it always seems to be in danger.

In June, he was hospitalized. A photo showed him lying in bed with tubes sprouting out of his body. Something he ate, drank or inhaled was spiked with poison by "incompetent enemies," he said.

He has previously maintained that violent cartels have attempted to kidnap him on several occasions over the last few years, most recently in September. The cartels want to abduct him, he said, because of his connection to the murder of his neighbor in Belize in 2012. (He was a "person of interest" in the investigation.)

When he escaped from Belize to Guatemala, he says he was chased through the jungle by "17,000 armed men."

It's worth noting that the entire armed forces of Belize number 2,100 personnel.

Naturally, McAfee's tweets prompted a flurry of comments. Here are a few:

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Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at mmoffitt@sfchronicle.com.

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DUBLIN  A prominent Irish survivor of priestly sexual abuse told a Vatican-sponsored conference Friday that the Holy See must put in place robust structures and strong sanctions to hold accountable bishops and Vatican officials who fail to protect children from predator priests.

Marie Collins, a former member of Pope Francis abuse advisory board, urged Catholic families attending the Dublin conference to ask why the pope scrapped such a structure  a proposed Vatican accountability tribunal  several years ago.

Collins was the headline speaker at a panel discussion on keeping children safe from pedophiles at the World Meeting of Families, a once-every-three-year Vatican-sponsored rally meant to encourage and energize Catholic families. Francis arrives Saturday in Dublin to close out the conference with a Mass on Sunday in Dublins Phoenix Park.

While the sex abuse crisis was always going to cloud Francis trip, given Irelands devastating history of abuse and cover-up, new revelations in the U.S. of misconduct and cover-up by the U.S. hierarchy have ensured that Francis trip will be dominated by the issue.

Cardinal Sean OMalley, Francis top abuse adviser, had been expected to head the Dublin safeguarding discussion Friday but stayed home due to what he called serious pastoral needs in Boston. OMalley launched an investigation into his diocesan seminary, and removed its rector, after reports of misconduct went public.

Its the third seminary that is now under church investigation because of reports of sexual misconduct and possible abuse.

In a letter read out to the conference, OMalley apologized for not being there in person but made clear he believed that protecting children was the single most important issue facing the Catholic Church today.

All endeavors at evangelization and other great works will be dependent upon our ability to own our crimes and failings and to make the protection of children and vulnerable adults our No. 1 priority, his message read.

Collins, who resigned in frustration from OMalleys panel last year, was more direct in demanding accountability for abusers and those in the church hierarchy who covered up for them, including at the Vatican.

Anyone in the Vatican who would stand in the way of proper protection of children should be accountable as well, she said. This accountability must have strong sanctions for the guilty: Dismissal from their post, removal of their titles and privileges and if necessary, removal from the clergy entirely.

Nicole Winfield and Leo Enright are Associated Press writers.
JERUSALEM  The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees suggested that the United States slashed his budget early this year to punish the Palestinians for their criticism of the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital, but he warned that the Palestinian refugee issue will not go away.

The comments by Pierre Kraehenbuehl came amid signs that the U.S., with Israeli support, is aiming to abolish the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in an apparent attempt to remove one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the negotiating agenda.

One cannot simply wish 5 million people away, Kraehenbuehl, commissioner of the UNRWA, said.

In January, the U.S., the largest donor to the agency, slashed some $300 million from its annual contribution to UNRWA, prompting what Kraehenbuehl called an unprecedented financial crisis.

And on Friday, Trump administration announced that it had cut more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians, following a review of the funding for projects in the West Bank and Gaza, the State Department said. The announcement does not include some $65 million in frozen U.S. funding for UNRWA.

Fridays decision follows a similar decision last week in which the State Department announced that it was redirecting $230 million in aid that had been planned for stabilization programs in liberated areas of Syria. In that case, however, the department said the loss of U.S. funding would be more than offset by other nations, including Saudi Arabia, which announced a $150 million contribution for Syria stabilization.

Although Kraehenbuehl has made up some of UNRWAs deficit by raising money from other countries, the agency still lacks more than $200 million. It recently laid off more than 100 people in the Gaza Strip and cut back the hours of 500 other employees. The upcoming school year for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children across the Middle East has been threatened.

Kraehenbuehl said he was caught off guard by the American decision, which came just weeks after he had held what he described as a successful meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law and chief Mideast adviser.

He said he believes it is connected to the uproar over the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital in December. The Palestinians, who seek East Jerusalem as their capital, condemned the decision and severed nearly all ties with the Americans.

And privately, there are signs that the American agenda runs deeper and that the Trump administration seeks to abolish UNRWA altogether.

In an internal email recently published by Foreign Policy magazine, Kushner called for a sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA.

Also Friday, Gazas Health Ministry said Israeli gunfire wounded 50 Palestinians protesting along the border with Israel, and dozens more were treated for tear gas inhalation. Israeli fire has killed at least 168 Palestinians, most of them protesters, since weekly demonstrations organized by the Islamist militant group Hamas began in March.

Josef Federman is an Associated Press writer.
Page Content

Pennsylvania employers will have to comply with new overtime rules if proposed changes to the white-collar exemptions are finalized. Here's what employers need to know about the proposed regulatory changes.

Currently in the state, employees who are exempt from overtime under the administrative, executive or professional (white-collar) exemptions must be paid on a salary basis at a rate of at least $250 per week ($13,000 per year) and must perform certain duties.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry has proposed incremental increases to the salary threshold as follows (assuming the regulations are finalized and published in 2019):

2019: $610 per week ($31,720 per year).



2020: $766 per week ($39,832 per year).



2021: $921 per week ($47,892 per year).



In 2022, and every three years thereafter, the salary threshold would be automatically set to the 30th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers in the Northeast census region.

Though the state's current salary threshold is far below the federal rate of $455 per week ($26,660 per year), the proposal would raise the threshold to just above the failed 2016 federal overtime rule's $47,476 salary level.

"The Pennsylvania regulations haven't been updated since the 1970s," noted Shannon Farmer, an attorney with Ballard Spahr in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania employers that are subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) currently must comply with the federal threshold for white-collar exemptions.

"Four decades is far too long for Pennsylvania's overtime regulations to remain stagnant," said acting Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak.

Opponents of the proposed regulation, however, say the increase is too much. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) supports an updated federal salary level but believes that the 2016 rule's increase would have presented challenges for small employers, nonprofits, employers in certain industries and employers in certain geographic regions that tend to have lower costs of living.

A federal judge in Texas struck down the 2016 rule, finding that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) exceeded its authority when it nearly doubled the current salary threshold.

"Pennsylvania regulators are risking litigation by following the same strategy the federal DOL pursued in 2016, which resulted in the court striking down that rule as regulatory overreach," said Nancy Hammer, SHRM's vice president of regulatory and judicial affairs counsel.

Exempt Job Duties



To fall under a white-collar exemption, employees must perform certain duties, such as those that require discretion and independent judgment. The Pennsylvania proposal would also make changes to the state's duties test.

Those familiar with the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA) know that the state's law has a number of quirks that make it inconsistent with the FLSA, said Jennifer Betts, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Pittsburgh. While courts have largely analyzed the duties test under the PMWA in the same way they analyze the FLSA, there have been a number of differences in the statutory text for decades.

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Determining Overtime Eligibility in the United States]

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) indicated that the proposed changes to the duties test were designed to better align the state's law to the test under the FLSA.

"What's important to know, however, is that the proposed changes don't fully accomplish this objective," Betts added. Some key differences she noted are that the proposed changes:

Include language concerning requirements for meeting the white-collar exemptions that appear to impose heavier proof burdens on employers than under federal law.



Still do not incorporate a computer-professional exemption, which is available under the FLSA.



Do not recognize a highly compensated-professional exemption.



Do not harmonize the outside-sales representative exemption with the FLSA.



The Pennsylvania State Council of SHRM submitted a comment in opposition to the rule. "If the proposed changes become final before the new FLSA rule is finalized, one can anticipate an even greater chasm between federal and Pennsylvania law," the comment states. "Such a lack of alignment between federal and Pennsylvania law will leave employers struggling to implement inconsistent federal and state regulations in a legislative and regulatory environment that cries out for consistency."

What's Next?

The public comment period closed Aug. 22. Now the DLI must consider all the public comments and possibly make changes to the proposed regulations. The final rule is expected to be published sometime in 2019.

Meanwhile, it makes sense for employers to have their compensation department audit their workforce to determine who falls below the first salary threshold increase (of $610 per week) under the proposed regulations, Betts said. "Identifying employees who are close to this line will allow for some advanced planning and awareness to the extent that the proposed regulations become final."

The biggest thing that employers need to remember is that federal law sets the floor, and states can have more employee-friendly requirements, Farmer said. "Employers in Pennsylvania can't just assume that the state follows federal law and that they don't have any further obligations under state law," she added. "Employers need to look at both."


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A parent of one of the kids who was allegedly abused by instructors at a Tottenville special-needs preschool has filed initial paperwork for a $5 million lawsuit, court records show.

Colleen Daly, on behalf of her son, intends to sue the Volunteers of America (VOA) and school staffers Barbara O'Connor and Bonnie Wohl for "physical and verbal abuse" that allegedly began on Feb. 4, according to the summons with notice filed in state Supreme Court, St. George.

"The defendants were grossly negligent, reckless and/or acted intentionally in causing the endangerment of the defendant's welfare," the filing said.

The Advance exclusively reported that another VOA parent secretly recorded the classroom staff allegedly verbally abusing and using foul language with the non-verbal students.

The concerned mother sent her son to school with a recording device in a backpack when she felt he wasn't acting like himself. The parents claim the boy was agitated, acting out and not wanting to go to school.

The recordings, taken over several days, allegedly captured staffers verbally abusing the children, calling them names and using foul language.

The mom behind the recordings sent a group text to the other parents in her son's class to alert them to the situation, the parents said.

Several parents said the recordings, captured over four days, revealed the students were called "morons" and told "you f------ smell," "get f----- away from me, you stink" and "you're staying in your s----- diaper all day."

The school has since fired two teachers and four teaching assistants in the wake of the controversy.

The summons does not state O'Connor and Wohl's specific titles, but the school's yearbook identifies Wohl as the education director and O'Connor as a teacher.

The VOA previously said the main teacher in the classroom where the abuse allegedly took place was terminated, and a second teacher was fired because she allegedly was aware of the actions and failed to report them.

They were both fired Aug. 13.

"Defendants were further negligent and reckless in its operation and supervision of its school employees, servants, agents, teachers and teacher's assistants in control of the infant plaintiff's classroom," said the filing.

A spokeswoman for the VOA said Friday the school has not been notified or served with the suit, and therefore cannot comment.

Daly's lawyer, Efrom Gross, could not immediately be reached Friday.

O'Connor and Wohl also could not be reached.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- District Attorney Michael E. McMahon lauded Kansas City police in a Tweet for arresting a bus passenger bound for New York allegedly carrying a large amount of the lethal drug fentanyl in her luggage.

"Great work by the Kansas City PD @kcpolice and federal partners to seize five pounds, equal to 1.5 million deadly doses of fentanyl which were on their way to New York," McMahon tweeted on Thursday. "Their actions undoubtedly saved lives."

Great work by the Kansas City PD @kcpolice and federal partners to seize five pounds, equal to 1.5 million deadly doses of fentanyl which were on their way to New York. Their actions undoubtedly saved lives. https://t.co/y79CdvAujZ  Michael E. McMahon (@StatenIslandDA) August 23, 2018

Fentanyl, a synthetic drug, is 50 to 100 times stronger than the heroin it is typically mixed with.

Evelyn C. Sanchez, 33, was busted around 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday in the Greyhound bus station in Kansas City, according to a detective's affidavit filed in federal court for the Western District of Missouri.

Sanchez was en route to New York from Los Angeles, said authorities.

The defendant "appeared nervous" as detectives and a K-9 Unit began checking luggage on the bus, said the affidavit.

Detectives' suspicions were further aroused when Sanchez told them she was traveling to New York for at least a week, despite having no clothes in her luggage, the affidavit said.

Sanchez said she intended to buy new clothes at her destination; however, detectives didn't believe her, said the affidavit.

During an open-air sniff on the bus, the K-9 alerted authorities to a gray, hard-sided suitcase under one of the seats.

When questioned further, Sanchez ultimately admitted the suitcase was hers and drugs were inside, the affidavit said.

Asked what kind of narcotics, Sanchez replied, "I don't know, but it's a lot," said the affidavit.

Detectives found two bundles of fentanyl vacuum-packed in plastic and heat-sealed in the suitcase's liner, the affidavit said.

The narcotics weighed more than five pounds, said authorities.

"This was a huge amount of fentanyl capable of killing thousands of people," said Kansas City Police Chief Richard C. Smith in a statement released by the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Missouri.

Sanchez remains in custody pending a detention and preliminary hearing on Monday, online court records show.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the first week of Staten Island's newly redesigned express bus network nears completion, the MTA has continued to adjust the routes as it aims to optimize the system.

"Today's adjustments to the new Staten Island express bus network are going to give commuters more options to go home later in the evening, and to travel to points on the southern parts of the Island," said MTA New York City Transit president Andy Byford.

Starting Friday, a shuttle will provide late-night service from the Eltingville Transit Center to Woodrow Road and Huguenot Avenue between 10:43 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.

For weeks, South Shore residents have been voicing their concerns regarding the lack of late-night service to the southern most points of the borough.

"After 8 p.m., one can't get any farther south than the Eltingville Transit Center. That is just ridiculous," Arden Heights resident Elisa Blandi told the Advance earlier this month.

With the new shuttle in place, more riders will be able to travel closer to their homes during late-night commutes.

The MTA on Thursday also announced two additional changes to provide increased service during the evening commute.

Starting Friday, two trips will be added to the SIM6, at 7:20 p.m. and 7:50 p.m., to give commuters options to go home later in the evening.

Also beginning Friday, two trips will be added to the SIM35, at 6:35 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., to give commuters options to go home later in the evening.

"Keep that feedback coming because as you can see we're rapidly making changes every day to make this the best system we can make it," said Byford.
Officials in Mexico said Tuesday that they discovered eight bodies in multiple locations across Cancun, a popular beach resort city - and magnet for American tourists - on the Yucatan Peninsula.

At least one victim had been bound before being shot, while another was apparently killed while lying in a hammock, the Associated Press reported. Others victims were dumped on the streets, dismembered and stuffed into plastic bags, or left inside an abandoned taxi, according to the news agency.

All the bodies were found outside the resort city's beachside hotel zone, according to the Associated Press.

The grisly discoveries were at odds with Cancun's reputation as a resort haven in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, one that has typically been shielded from the violence that has plagued other parts of Mexico.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday issued an updated travel advisory for Mexico after the news of the bodies was announced, advising travelers to "exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime."

While other news outlets have reported that the travel advisory was issued because of the killings in Cancun, a State Department spokesman said Thursday that the updated advisory was related to a security alert by the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, in a different state than Quintana Roo.

A Level 2 travel advisory is in place specifically for Quintana Roo, and it cites an increase in homicide rates for the state compared with the same period in 2016.

"While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens," the advisory reads. "Shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred."

It's not the first time this year that a Mexican tourist destination has been shaken by reports of violence. Last month, five people were killed and three injured in a shootout that occurred after gunmen ambushed police in Cancun, the Associated Press reported.

In March, the State Department closed its consular office in Playa del Carmen, another popular resort city on Mexico's Caribbean coast, and issued a security alert for the city after receiving "credible information" about a threat. Nevertheless, Mexican officials insisted that Playa del Carmen was safe and that all tourism would continue as normal.

Last month, an American tourist was killed by a stray bullet in Mexico City during a drive-by shooting. That shooting occurred when Tatiana Mirutenko and her husband had been celebrating their first wedding anniversary and eating in Lomas de Chapultepec, a wealthy neighborhood in the Mexican capital.

Earlier this year, the State Department rolled out a new tiered travel advisory system to warn U.S. citizens of potential dangers while traveling abroad. Now, travel advisories range from Level 1 ("exercise normal precautions") to Level 4 ("do not travel"). Previously, the department had used "travel alerts" for short-term dangers and "travel warnings" for long-term concerns, a distinction that was often confusing.

(c) 2018, The Washington Post. By Amy B. Wang.
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Braitlings modelling estimates there could be $350 million worth of synergies with a Vodafone tie-up. Intelligent Investors Gaurav Sodhi has also called it a brilliant move. Sodhi previously told investors the fourth network plans had been laughed at openly and called crazy by rival telcos, who had mocked the plan at the same time as fearing its ability to undercut the prices they were charging. Telecommunications industry veterans know not to underestimate rich-lister Teoh, well-known for being so cost-conscious he was once willing to walk round the office to turn off the lights to save on the electricity bill, but as one executive says hes cheap but not a miracle worker. When he revealed a $600 million budget to build the network, this turned to confusion and outright ridicule with many describing his plans as a bamboo network. By way of comparison, Telstra spends more than $1.5 billion a year predominantly on maintenance for its already-built mobile network.

In May, Sodhi argued TPGs current spectrum holdings, pre-existing backhaul through its fixed broadband network and no requirement to build or maintain legacy networks like 3G meant Teoh could make it work on a budget, particularly with a customer base of millions to sell to. TPG has spent 10 years building one of the strongest fibre networks in the country, so it actually starts with a really strong advantage, and thats why the capital expenditure ... is so small, he said. Their job is a small one, they have to build the towers to connect to their existing fibre base. Towers is the easy part, fibre is the hard part  theyve done the hard part already. Teoh has got a really good track record. He owns a third of that business. His entire wealth he has put into that business Gourav Sodhi Teoh has been planning to deliver a network focused on highly-populated locations rather than building a national network, which would cover expensive and less profitable regional areas, potentially meaning a roaming deal with another telco would be required.

Teoh has got a really good track record. He owns a third of that business. His entire wealth he has put into that business, Sodhi said. But some believe the move towards a fourth network was predominantly a way to bring Vodafone to the table. Loading Was a fourth network ever on the cards? Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton has always been skeptical of a fourth network in Australia, with the American market of 320 million people unable to sustain four carriers, saying it would never have been profitable for Teoh.

I dont believe that TPG ever had the intention to build a full, nationwide network, Adderton says. This was only ever a game of poker. TPG was playing poker, they spooked the market, and Vodafone just showed their hand which is exactly what I believe TPG was hoping would happen, he says. For Vodafone the deal allows it to expand more into fixed line internet and kills off a network that would have fought hard for its budget-sensitive customers, he says, but TPG are the real winners if the deal goes ahead. So this was never Vodafone taking out an actual competitor, it is Vodafone taking out the potential threat of a competitor Peter Adderton So this was never Vodafone taking out an actual competitor, it is Vodafone taking out the potential threat of a competitor, he says.

Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi has a similar perspective on Teohs moves in a fragile telecommunications sector. "Its arguable there was never really going to be a fourth entrant and ultimately TPGs tactics were more about forcing Vodafone to the negotiation table," Fadaghi says. Loading While share prices of rival telcos rallied over the last few days with the expectation there won't be a fourth network, some think the positivity is ill-placed with a larger third player potentially able to squeeze Optus and Telstra further. There's also no telling whether the deal will go ahead - it's still early days, with both TPG and Vodafone keeping quiet since the merger was revealed to the Australian Stock Exchange, but sources close to the telco say an outcome is expected in "a matter of weeks".
GPT Group has expanded its footprint into the booming western Sydney office market, snapping up the $277.6 million Eclipse skyscraper from the super fund REST.

The 23-storey tower at 60 Station Street will add to GPT's 32 Smith Street development which recently struck a deal with QBE as the anchor tenant.

Eclipse tower is an A-Grade building with car spaces, modern end-of-trip facilities, a 5 Star NABERS energy rating and a 5 Green Star rating.

Parramattas landmark Eclipse Tower has been sold to GPT by super fund REST.

GPTs head of office and logistics Matthew Faddy said the group has increased its exposure to one of Australias best performing office markets.
Food giant Heinz has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $2.25 million in penalties after being found guilty of "misleadingly and deceptively" targeting sugar-heavy snacks at toddlers.

But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which initiated the legal battle, remains unsatisfied with the result, having sought $10 million in penalties.

Food multinational Kraft Heinz enjoyed global net sales of $6.7 billion in the latest June quarter. Credit:AP

"The Heinz Group is one of the largest food companies in the world," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

"We will continue to advocate for stronger penalties to deter large companies from engaging in serious contraventions of Australias consumer laws (ACL), particularly now that Parliament has passed legislation substantially increasing the maximum penalties for breaches of the ACL."
The One Central Park Towers on Sydney's Broadway. Credit:Murray Fredericks

You could be forgiven for imagining the striking towers of One Central Park on Sydney's Broadway, whose north and west facades are smothered with up to 40,000 indigenous plants, are a one-off exercise in urban environmentalism, designed for apartment dwellers with deep pockets. But the reality is that green-covered towers  plantscrapers  are springing up across the globe.

It's no surprise; they're adept at fighting air pollution, reducing energy costs and creating more peaceful places to live. Most of these new-generation "living" towers are wrapped in plants on all sides, and not just two, such as One Central Park. Italian architect Stefano Boeri, whose award-winning plant-covered Bosco Verticale towers in Milan have been shown to be highly effective insulators against heat and cold, has designed an entire city in China enveloped in nature.

An artists rendering of Chinas Liuzhou Forest City, where 30,000 people will live.

By 2020, construction is expected to begin on Liuzhou Forest City, an urban landscape in which offices, houses, hotels, a hospital and two schools will be entirely carpeted in 1 million plants and 40,000 trees. The city aims to be energy self-sufficient through a combination of solar and geothermal energy. Boeri is also working on a foliage-covered social housing project in the Netherlands.
Your father is French, your mother is American, you have dual citizenship. Do you vote in either country?

This week, he talks to Nick Fouquet. The 35-year-old designer has made hats  which can sell for $US7000 each  for celebrities including Bob Dylan, Sia and Madonna. Born in New York City, he spent part of his childhood in France and now lives in Los Angeles.

Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we're told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they're given.

I vote in the US. The last election didn't go my way. I haven't voted in France yet, but I followed a bit of the last presidential election with Emmanuel Macron.

The last US election was one of the most dramatic in living history. What were your feelings going into it?

Anxiety. I was extremely surprised at the outcome, as the world was. I definitely slipped into some sort of minor depression afterwards, and that still arises from time to time. On election night, I went to see a movie and before going in, my friends were like, "This isn't looking so good." I turned off my phone. Afterwards, I was in a state of pure shock. Now we're dealing with a loose cannon.

What concerns you the most as an American: Donald Trump himself and his temperament, or specific policies coming out of his administration?

First of all, it was realising we do still live in a divided nation  and a bit of a racist nation. In terms of policies, one of the biggest things was Trump withdrawing the US from the Paris climate change agreement. I grew up with an environmental background, so this was shocking. I also can't support someone who thinks children should be removed from their parents and put in a cage for a month. Or building a wall to keep immigrants out. And our gun laws are insane. There was a recent fatal shooting in Los Angeles after a gunman took hostages in a local supermarket. Only in America does this shit happen. When I travel to Europe, people ask me, "What are your sentiments about President Trump?" "I'm just embarrassed," is all I can say.
Greens parliamentarian Caroline Le Couteur has called for unused Canberra buildings to be opened to the homeless.

Speaking at a forum called by retirees worried about the cost of housing and homelessness in Canberra, Ms Le Couteur said buildings slated for demolition could be used as temporary shelters.

She pointed to a "pop-up homelessness shelter" scheme in Melbourne, and also to Safe Shelter's use of churches in Canberra for the homeless, but she said the Labor government had originally baulked at changing zoning permission for Safe Shelter's scheme.

The idea was supported by Liberal housing spokesman Mark Parton.

The forum, called by residents of Haydon Retirement Community in Bruce, criticised the ACT government for overcrowding the housing market, federal taxes which incentivised housing investment, low wages and a lack of social services.
A former-Canberra bikie had boiling water mixed with urine poured under his cell door after he quit gang life, he claims.

The ACT Magistrates Court heard on Friday that Alexander Victor Miller, 28, had since been placed in segregation at the Alexander Maconochie Centre for his own protection.

However, the police claim Miller had actually been moved after he threatened another inmate.

Mr Miller, of Theodore, has been locked up since his June arrest on charges of possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition, and possessing a drug of dependence.

He has pleaded not guilty.
You begin the narrative with your two boat journeys from Indonesia, the sinking of the first boat, the battle to stay alive in the ocean, the rescue, and your transfer to Christmas Island  As a witness, you are ruthlessly honest. You observe kindness and cruelty, selflessness and selfishness ... the father weeping in terror, while his wife is ashamed of his tears in their moment of crisis. Were you anxious about the consequences of depicting people as they are, not purely as victims? Loading I'm not a cruel and pessimistic writer. I believe in love, humanity, and acts of selflessness as well  Imagine people who are starving, filled with hunger in an unknown position and, at the same time, they are feeling the presence of death on a broken boat. In a situation like this we can get close to the nature of what it is to be human  It is natural that the people on this boat have different reactions compared to people who have what we may call a 'normal life'. Refugees are not angels and are not devils. Both ideas of refugees come from the same framework, and it is a dehumanising one  In Western culture, there is a deep desire to see refugees ... devoid of complexity. What I am saying is that there are two main discourses around refugees: as terrorists and dangerous people - an overtly racist representation - and a romantic image that many refugee supporters construct and perpetuate. I hope that my book confronts this. There is a shift in the narrative after you are rescued by the British cargo boat and transferred to an Australian naval vessel. For a moment, there is hope. Then the horror begins to sink in. You are being taken from Christmas Island to the plane which is to fly you to Manus  You are called by your numbers, one by one, across the tarmac like criminals, held by the arms between two officers. You are entering a penal system which is there to strip you of hope, of agency and humanity  and, as you say, made to feel like 'A crushed person. Someone extremely degraded. Someone worthless. Can you describe the process by which you recreated such disturbing scenes? And how the reliving of them affected you?

This chapter about the way they exiled us to Manus was one of the hardest parts to write  If you remember, years ago, I wrote a letter to you and complained that I was scared of writing, that I hate writing. You answered me, saying: Behrouz I wrote about my relatives who were killed. Your grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins  I knew that I had to do it to survive. I knew that I could expose this system through these words  I could get back my identity through writing this book and not allowing this system to reduce me to a number. Behrouz, you bear witness to many things, among them the despair and insanity that the Manus detention system generated ... a semi-naked and emaciated man standing in front of a group of officers, the strike force, who are about to overpower him, stamping his feet and crying out: 'You bastards, you bastards, you sons of bitches.  Perhaps the most devastating tale is that of The Father of the Months-Old Child, who is prevented from speaking to his dying father in Iran. You depict the process by which he is finally driven to rage, which in turn leads to his arrest and beating, and his ultimate surrender  He accepts refoulement to the country he had fled in search of asylum. I would like to say that  the [Manus prison] system welcomes violence and creates a situation so that the prisoners  move toward violence and enact violence  I think that the best way to fight against the system  is not to follow the logical outcome which is violence, but instead ... free yourself from the system so that you do not replicate violence. A detainee who has self-harmed is carried from his compound at night in footage from Behrouz Boochani's film with Arash Sarvestani, Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time, released in 2017. The best way to resist is represented by Maysam the Whore  through theatre, satire, humour and performance  singing, dancing and play. Through his playing with the rules, he  continually re-performs a resistance which causes a rupture in the system so that violence is no longer the logical outcome.

There are strong similarities between [Franz Kafka's] The Trial and whats transpiring in the Manus prison. The main character in The Trial finds himself deemed a criminal though he doesnt know what crime he has committed. There are many bosses in The Trial  always someone above the next person handing down orders: and its not clear whos accountable. Im also deeply inspired by Kafkas language  Bachtyar Ali, who I understand as the greatest Kurdish novelist, and his book The Last Pomegranate of the World, which is about the history of Kurdistan, also made a big impression on me ... Another [inspiration] is the great Kurdish poet Sherko Bekas ... Samuel Beckett has deeply affected my work, especially his use of the absurd and satire. 'Resistance is the soul of this book': Behrouz Boochani. Credit:Hoda Afshar Yes, we see Kafka's nightmare in the endless queues  in the intense tropical heat  for food, toilets, telephones, cigarettes, for pills  and for admission to the clinic. When an inmate falls ill, he approaches the gateway to the clinic. Or he is carried there by fellow inmates. This is Kafka not as metaphor, but as reality: First the prisoner becomes ill, because he is stuck in a living hell for a crime he did not commit. And now he must approach the gatekeepers of the clinic to beg for permission to see the doctors and nurses. And to get through, he must prove beyond doubt that he is ill. So then he is driven to scream that he is ill  And if he is successful, and is admitted to the clinic, he is prescribed drugs on which he becomes dependent ... And so on. In contrast, Maysam the Whores uninhibited dancing is, as you write, a gift to his fellow prisoners  These passages are written in the rhythm of a dance. I think they are among the most powerful and exhilarating in the book.

Resistance is the soul of this book  an act of creativity, which challenges the destructive power of the prison. When writing the book, I was aware of this concept of resistance. At the same time  I am sure that the readers will understand that I, as the writer, was not always consciously thinking of this as resistance ... In those moments, when I was writing, I was completely free  those moments were the most exciting  because I found myself out of the prison as a free man. Another space of freedom for you is nature  The rhythm of the sea, just beyond the fence that imprisons you, the presence of the tropical forest, the majestic palm trees, the sounds of the night, and the animal world  There are scenes in which nature becomes a force unto itself. Where did this sensibility come from? How did it evolve on Manus island? Nature imposes itself on the prison, and at the same time the prison is growing; trees are cut down and parts of nature are enveloped by the prison  At times we cannot even separate human and nature  One of those moments is when the character [I call] The Prophet says his wife is living in the coconut tree, and is the coconut tree  as is the prisoner who jumps the fences and seeks asylum in nature, in the beach or jungle. Loading In other parts  there is a complicated competition between prisoners, crabs, and bats and birds for the mango fruits. At these times humans become a part of the ecosystem, and the prison disappears. I think my understanding of nature goes back to my homeland  I describe the nature of Kurdistan in the book.

In writing the book, you fuse poetry, memoir, elements of fiction, social theory, internal monologues, dreams and nightmares, chants and laments. For me, the poetic interludes resonate with the power of a Greek chorus. They reveal the terror of imprisonment from another perspective. I sense a paradox here: that in your isolation, you were free to be true to yourself. We have already had a conversation about borders and the concept of border from my perspective. I explained that I was born on a border and how I passed many cultural and physical borders and boundaries  and ended up in a place where I have found myself as a stateless person. For a long time in this prison I had wanted to listen to music but the authorities did not allow us. Finally, after six months, I could have an MP3 player with classical music. Much of the time in this prison I have listened to Western classical music and Kurdish traditional music  my writing would rise and fall, extend, close in and expand like the music. With music, I experience a world without borders  watching a long queue of men who are waiting to get food or the many prisoners who put their feet on the fences in a remote prison, and Beethoven is playing. November 2017: a gathering outside the National Gallery of Victoria to protest against Wilson Security, which at the time was used by the NGV and had been connected to alleged abuses on Manus. The NGV later dropped the firm. Credit:Darrian Traynor One of the most moving threads in your book is the recurring presence of your mother. Images of her are evoked  as the boat is battered by mountainous waves. You see her 'shedding tears from years of sorrow' but also dancing. You ask: Why is she crying and dancing?  Many pages later, as your narrative reaches its terrifying climax, and as the centre is plunged into darkness, amidst the noise you hear a piercing sound, a word in the Kurdish Feyli dialect: Dalega! - Mother!

Here, perhaps, we arrive at the heart of the injustice, the brutality of isolating over a thousand men in the prime of their lives, so far from their loved ones, so far from their mothers. Motherly love and a motherly connection is, perhaps, the most natural feeling of human beings  the way my mother recurs is based on this feeling  I also think of mothers in an epic way ... in Kurdish culture, when someone dies in war, the funeral is like a mix of celebration and ceremony, dance and crying. Mothers are at the centre of this ceremony. I understand this place [Manus prison] to lack femininity. I mean that involved in the feminine is love, freedom, creation, dancing and music. It is difficult to write this without a return to patriarchy and the question of how and why we define the feminine in a particular way and the lived impact on women, but for me, I feel a deep desire toward the inner feminine  I sense the small beautiful flowers in a corner of the prison and have connection with them, like a big weapon to resist and feel free. The book's climax, the riot, is the culmination of countless moments of humiliation, the daily grind, incidents of self-harm, the brief devastating visit of the Australian immigration minister and his statement of no hope  all leading to a protest fuelled by rage and despair, a collective chant for freedom. But also, inevitably, to that terrifying night when the man you call the Gentle Giant is murdered. When you look back on this protest and rebellion, which took place in February 2014, how does it appear now, in the context of your ongoing exile? We can divide the history of Manus prison into two periods - before the riot and after the riot. After the riot people understood  how profoundly cruel this system is. People in the prison also understood how to disengage from the inherent violence of this system and make challenges against the system in more peaceful ways. We held a big hunger strike in 2016 and again in November 2017, when  we challenged the system in a historically important way.
As well as providing practical succour like water and first aid, he gives holistic support. "Society often talks about physical and mental health, but spiritual doesn't get talked about a lot." Reverend McFarlane says ambulance staff regularly dealt with events that challenged their world view. "Staff are dealing with a lot of death and dying," he said. (The siege, though, ended quietly about 11.30pm, when the man was taken to hospital.) Loading

Earlier at Sydney Ambulance Control Centre in Redfern, Rachel Moran greeted Reverend McFarlane warmly. She first met him after a harrowing call about six years ago. "I was on call for 45 minutes with a baby that wasn't breathing, and doing CPR with parents for a very long time because they lived in a very remote location," she said. The baby was blue and unconscious, very likely dead, but she wouldn't give up until support arrived. When the call ended, Reverend McFarlane was waiting, although she had not asked for help. Reverend Paul McFarlane, senior chaplain for NSW Ambulance service, speaks with Rachel Moran, Dispatch Manager for West and Far West Regions at Sydney Control Centre Credit:Wolter Peeters "He just chatted to me about the process and how it affected me all. It was very comforting. That kind of call is the worst you can get."

Ms Moran started as a call taker, and is now a dispatch supervisor matching ambulance vehicles to patients needs. She also talks to peer support officers  she's now one too. The chaplain's role is different. "The chaplain is: 'I am here for you no matter how you are feeling', and the peer support, is 'I know how you are feeling'," Ms Moran said. It is not religion but Reverend McFarlane's pastoral care that staff want. Jordan Emery, a duty operations manager from Kogarah Ambulance, described himself as a "devout atheist" yet he routinely asked Reverend McFarlane to provide support for his crew. "Paul's support might come from his foundation of religious experience and his faith, but I don't think his ability to provide care is dependent on him imposing that faith on me." Another staff member said the chaplains were there when the "bucket was full, and it tipped over" from a combination of professional and personal stress. Very often it was not the high profile "bloody jobs" that were the worst, but the small ones that reminded them of people they knew.

Reverend Paul McFarlane behind the wheel. Credit:Wolter Peeters Conversations with the chaplains are off the record and discreet, sometimes taking place at homes and coffee shops. Born in Moree to an "ambulance family", Reverend McFarlane's dad warned him off the job telling him "not to be stupid". He studied nursing, and worked in aged care after being told after graduating that there were no nursing jobs. An ordained Anglican minister, he worked in a small town of 2500, but change there was slow. When he was called out to a crash, the self described "adrenaline junkie" found it "immediately rewarding" because he could see he was making a difference. Loading
A NSW police officer is on bail awaiting trial for multiple charges, including sex with a person under 10, dating as far back as 2001.

Senior Constable Scott John Brotherton, 36, is alleged to have had sex with a child who was five or six years old at the time. Court documents allege the offence occurred at some time between 2005 and 2006.

Senior Constable Brotherton is an officer from the Monaro Local Area Command, which oversees Queanbeyan, south to Cooma and Jindabyne, and east to Braidwood.

The senior constable appeared in a Sydney court last week for nine charges.

Do you know more? Get in touch via finbar.omallon@fairfaxmedia.com.au or +61 437 464 126.
A western Sydney father has been charged over the alleged neglect and injury of his baby boy after the seven-week-old suffered brain, eye and spinal injuries that left him with permanent disabilities.

Police were alerted to the boy's condition when he was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead on April 17 with seizures.

A police spokeswoman said that, according to information provided by doctors, the boy's injuries appeared to be caused by someone having shaken him. The seizures that followed "exacerbated" these injuries and led to permanent disabilities.

The man, 30, was arrested at his workplace in Ryde in Sydney's north, about 8.30am on Thursday.
Police have charged a man with impersonating a public officer and drug related offences after being called to an apartment building in Perth's north-east overnight.

Police were called to the apartment complex on Great Eastern Highway in Ascot about 12.30am after reports a person was seen with a firearm.

The man had a small amount of meth in his possession, police will allege. Credit:File image

It will be alleged the man told staff at the apartment complex that he was a cop.

Cannington detectives arrived where they carried out a search of the mans room and vehicle.
Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris has kept her responsibilities, despite controversies in her portfolios this year.

In announcing the ministerial reshuffle, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said changes to the ministry would be modest, with most ministers retaining the bulk of their portfolios and many gaining new responsibilities.

The ACT's new ministry: (back row) Gordon Ramsay, Chris Steel, Rachel Stephen-Smith and Shane Rattenbury. (front row) Meegan Fitzharris, Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry and Mick Gentleman Credit:Elesa Kurtz

"We've wanted to focus on stability and continuity in those key policy areas, but also respond to a range of emerging opportunities for the territory government," Mr Barr said.

Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris had been under fire for recent scandals within the portfolio, including bullying allegations at Calvary Hospital and the potential for the loss of accreditation at Canberra Hospital. Despite this, she has retained Health and Wellbeing, Higher Education, Vocational Education and Skills and will also take on Medical and Health Research.
People on the centre-right, traditional Liberals, find it very difficult to be enthusiastic about us, Abbott continued. The problem is, we dont seem committed to our policies and our policies seems hard to understand. When are we going to get a full report into what happened? he demanded of Turnbull. Dutton didnt say a word. He didnt need to. From the outset, Abbott criticised, baited, tormented and destabilised the Turnbull government. As the new deputy Liberal leader, Josh Frydenberg, told Channel Nine in April: Tony Abbott, I mean, hes is always going to cut across what the prime minister has been saying lately. Malcolm Turnbull faced sustained attack from Tony Abbott. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Abbotts motive was plain  torn down by Turnbull before he could finish his term as prime minister, Abbott was consumed by a visceral, vengeful rage. The Liberals shouldnt have been surprised. Labor had already modelled what happens when a plotter in the ranks destroys an elected prime minister.

Abbotts anger drove him to persist in tormenting Turnbull even when it started to work against him, discrediting him in the eyes of his frustrated colleagues. But Abbotts destabilising was an important precondition to this weeks upending of the Turnbull government. It seemed to work so well for his fellow conservative faction member, Peter Dutton, that some suspected it was a partnership. And when Dutton emerged this week as the initial challenger to Turnbull, there was a surge of suspicion that Dutton was Abbotts stalking horse, opening the way for an Abbott comeback. Its bullshit that Im a stalking horse for Abbott, Dutton said to his colleagues, and Im not a suicide bomber for Abbott. Abbotts numbers in the party are shown by the number of people whod cross the floor on the NEG, or National Energy Guarantee. Theres Craig Kelly, Eric Abetz, Kevin Andrews, about four of them. Tony Abbott exits the party-room meeting on Friday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I told Tony a long time ago that I wouldnt be his stalking horse, Dutton said. I told him a long time ago I dont think hell ever be prime minister again.

Dutton emerged this week as the conservative factions champion in his own right. He had done no deals with Abbott, as both men have attested. Abbotts attacks on Turnbull were compulsive, not career-minded. The former prime minister ended up getting the satisfaction he sought  the destruction of the prime minister who had destroyed his prime ministership. So for Abbott, vengeance has been sealed. Has the cycle of recrimination ended? Not a bit. For the conservative faction, Turnbulls vulnerability this week was the opportunity for a major piece of factional business - to retake control of the party they consider their own. They failed. The moderates rallied around Scott Morrison. By 45 votes to 40, they defied the conservatives. It was left versus right  it came down to that, observes a conservative operative. It certainly wasnt about electability. If the party had made that the top priority it would have elected Julie Bishop, the only contender with the public standing to improve the governments polling. Or, smarter yet, it wouldnt have set about the ugly brutality of publicly destroying another of its own prime ministers. Peter Dutton was his own man in the leadership challenge. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Liberals conservatives justified this weeks political violence by saying that the party needed to move to the right to staunch the flow of votes from the Liberals right to One Nation.

And One Nation agrees that it benefits from exactly such a flow: A lot of Australians have turned to us because the Liberals have gone astray, One Nations strategist, James Ashby, tells me. Dutton is an astute politician  hes noticed and hes planning to try and get them back. But the true appeal of the minor parties is the shocking self-indulgence of the major parties. Its their self-indulgence that has set in motion the revolving door that spins out elected prime ministers on the slightest whim. Ashby says the major parties could adopt identical policies to those of Pauline Hanson and it wouldnt dent One Nations appeal: People dont trust the two big parties. Its not only Liberal voters  a lot of Labor voters are disillusioned too and we will continue to hoover them up. Julie Bishop was the most electable nominee for the leadership. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Thats the true top-line priority  trust. The popular election of a prime minister carries a vast investment of implicit trust. The big parties break it again and again and wonder why voters, despairing, end up resorting to the protest parties. Because they want to protest.

Bob Hawke and John Howard find themselves in agreement in recent years that one of the greatest blights of Australian politics is that the major parties are represented by career apparatchiks, people who enter politics at university and never leave it. They end up in Parliament with no real-world experience. To them, the factional interest and the partisan interest overrides the public interest and the national interest. Turnbull this week called the irresistible pull of factional vendettas a kind of madness. Loading Hes right. It resembles the mass hysteria of the compulsive crazed kind of dancing documented by John Waller in his 2008 book A Time to Dance, A Time to Die, a history of the so-called dancing plague at various times over the last millennium. One person would, inexplicably, start convulsively jerking their limbs as if dancing, and it would spread. "For several months, small bands of wild dancers wandered from place to place, spreading the affliction to local people as if by contagion, Waller writes of an episode in Europe in 1374. Chroniclers tell of thousands of men and women dancing while screeching with pain, leaping into the air, running madly from place to place and calling on the mercy of God and the saints. Outbreaks occurred apparently randomly: "In fact, as many as seven bouts of uncontrollable dancing had occurred inn various parts of western Europe prior to 1518." Waller diagnoses it as a pathological expression of desperation and pious fear." Or, in the contemporary Australian case, partisan and factional fear. I can think of no better metaphor for the madness that seizes Australians political leadership, compelling a self-destructive and apparently irresistible convulsion.
Those behind the half-failed coup might mutter that any year in which Turnbull was personally dragged from power has been a good year. So visceral has been the hatred of Turnbull as a personality, as a party moderate, or as the man who was the beneficiary when Tony Abbott exhausted the patience even of his own ministers. But even as Turnbull was taken out by snipers, the plotters shot themselves in the foot.

Most Australian political leadership contests leave a field strewn with blood, from which the victors declare, piously, that the vanquished must now unite behind them, with everyone, once they have regained their breaths, likely to be better off as a result of the resolution of a problem. Malcolm Turnbull was himself ruthless in twisting the knife in the belly and back of former leaders and no stranger to flesh wounds. He cannot complain about a lack of loyalty, or a sense of being cheated. Whats different about this is that it is difficult to say how the government, or the Liberal Party, is better off as the result of his assassination.

So what was all that about? After a week of self-destruction and the evisceration of a prime minister, Liberal parliamentarians decided, essentially, for more of the same sort of leadership they had had before, or, at the least, against rewarding those plotters against the prime minister. They looked at the abyss on offer from Peter Dutton, the abyss looked back, and they turned and walked away.

That incapacity of supposed party hard men (they are almost always men) to have the numbers right might sum up a chronic problem of the self-styled conservative wing of the Liberal Party. Not only do they believe that they have the right prescriptions for the betterment of the nation, but they believe that the Australian electorate, deep down, agrees with their convictions about the right thing to do. Arguments to the contrary are dismissed as being the self-serving beliefs of a supposedly wishy-washy liberally minded commentariat. The idea that their philosophy mirrors the real attitude of the man in the street is reinforced by an alternative media, little heard by most Australians of shock jocks such as Ray Hadley and Alan Jones, and Sky Television and News Ltd controversialists.

The problem is not that the electorate is mostly composed of moderates. It is rather more that the Australian political temper is inclined towards moderation. Insofar as it is conservative, it does not much appreciate big shocks, and throwing out a prime minister, for the sixth time in eight years, is shock enough. Blameless as Scott Morrison may be in the circumstance that made him the sixth, it is almost inevitable that he is destined to be the shortest serving of these six, and almost inevitably out, for the seventh in nine years, for Bill Shorten, probably in eight months time.

Morrisons task is immense, even given his innocence, because of what the supporters of Peter Dutton did. The plotters had traction because the Turnbull government seemed doomed at the next election, and because Liberals were beginning to panic. Many of the Turnbull governments problems seemed to reside with the personality and approach of Turnbull himself, but many of these came from his willingness to appease the partys conservatives at almost every obstacle, giving the appearance of their having a complete veto over policy. He would argue that his tendency to compromise and his search for consensus within the party was both a necessary product of the narrowness of his majority, and his experience as Opposition leader in 2009. Be that as it may, he was facing not only a difficult and exacting backbench, often openly disloyal, but a collection of critics unlikely to be appeased by any concession, given that they were seeking not to undermine Turnbulls policy, but Turnbull himself.

Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull outside Parliament House the day after the 2018 budget. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Australians expect national leaders to lead. They make generous allowance for blind spots and hobby horses but are deeply critical of self-indulgence. They do not necessarily want visionaries, but they want leaders who have a strong sense of where they are going, and why, and who regularly explain, confirm and reinforce to the public, and to their supporters, their confidence that events still fit within the roadmap. Voters are likely to think that they know and understand their leaders, even if they do not necessarily agree with them about everything, or if they disapprove of something about their past. Character counts, and so, up to a point, is being a character.
It was the moment that convinced the staunchest of Tony Abbott supporters that Malcolm Turnbull had the numbers. The sight of Scott Ryan, Liberal senator for Victoria and parliamentary secretary to Christopher Pyne, lining up behind Malcolm Turnbull for the very public walk to the party room for Monday night's leadership vote.

"Scotty is walking behind Malcolm!," read an SMS sent from one leading Victorian Liberal, watching at home on television. "That's it - Abbott's dead."

The comment almost certainly exaggerates Ryan's role in dislodging Abbott, and his influence over the party more broadly. Yet, the image of the men running the gauntlet past the media pack was symbolic. The animosity between Turnbull and Ryan is, in Liberal Party circles, quite legendary, dating back the fractious emissions trading debate of 2009.

"The dislike for each other is well known," said another leading Liberal figure. "I don't think their character descriptions for each other could be printed in a family newspaper."

But politics makes for strange bedfellows, and thus Scott Ryan and another disciple of former treasurer Peter Costello, Senator Mitch Fifield, joined Turnbull for his walk down a Canberra corridor to the prime ministership.
Tony Abbott might consider today to be a form of political karma. It's been three years since Malcolm Turnbull defeated Abbott in a leadership spill to become prime minister.

The Age looks back at the events leading to Abbott's demise with this article from the archives.

First published in The Age on September 16, 2015

The long road to a quick demise
When the days grow cold and we grow old, who will lay flowers on the political grave of Malcolm Turnbull?

We have had a slew of successive prime ministers in recent years. Yet even those who were there for only a short time will be able to count, for generations to come, on at least one large group of Australians to remember them fondly, to say, on the anniversary of their political deaths, We loved you well, we miss you deeply, we honour you for your singular achievement in ... 

Even John Howards most bitter political enemies acknowledge that he was superb on gun control, and he will long be remembered and thanked by successive generations of Australians for his efforts in that field.

Kevin Rudd at least tried to get movement to combat climate change and his Sorry speech to the Stolen Generations was a masterpiece that went some way to help the nation heal.
Losing control Just last month, Turnbull had worked himself into the best shape he had been in since the election. Labor was under pressure to hold its seats at the Super Saturday byelections. The opinion polls had tightened, with the Coalition behind only 49-51, and Anthony Albanese was readying as an alternative opposition leader to Bill Shorten. In a macro sense, Turnbull had delivered a robust economy and strong jobs growth, and the budget was returning to balance. "Yet that hasn't been good enough for some of his colleagues," Christopher Pyne lamented on Friday. But then, on July 28, everything changed. Labor held its seats easily. The Liberals' primary vote in the north Brisbane seat of Longman collapsed by 9.4 per cent. Voters weren't buying what Turnbull was selling. Malcolm Turnbull and his frontbench on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"When you lose your primary vote, you lose control of your destiny," a federal minister sighed as he processed the shock result. And that was exactly as it transpired for Australia's 29th prime minister. Turnbull was urged to dump the rest of his proposed tax cuts for big business, while Abbott ramped up his attacks on another unresolved policy: the National Energy Guarantee. He brought the focus back to the issue that has divided Australian politics - and destroyed its leaders - for more than a decade: climate change. Why are we legislating an emissions target but not a price target, he asked. "The whole thing's a crock," Abbott told colleagues. Loading The former PM's allies, including younger conservatives who wanted to install someone like Peter Dutton, seized the day. "Abbotts forces saw energy [policy] a mile away," said one Liberal operative. "When we lost Longman, this was always going to happen. There is no way he [Turnbull] was going to get to an election." Blunders didn't help. Turnbull claimed victory when the NEG wasn't killed off by the party room, but days later he was forced to backtrack, and condemned the emissions target to ministerial regulation rather than law. Far from a masterstroke, it alarmed already-sceptical MPs. "That would just hand the keys to the lolly jar to the Labor Party," one feared.

Chaos takes over By this stage, Dutton's leadership tilt was on the front pages. The then home affairs minister issued a tweet on Saturday morning pledging support to the PM, but its necessity and its tardiness betrayed the reality. Pyne and others spent the weekend on the phone to MPs, evaluating the situation. Come Monday, the government junked the emissions target altogether, and a sense of chaos took over. Dutton had a strong contingent of fellow Queenslanders behind him, plus Abbott's allies and a slew of others - but a challenge was not guaranteed. The PM's decision to vacate the leadership and test the numbers on Tuesday morning shocked both sides. "It was an airstrike on his own position," one MP said. He voted for Dutton as a "protest" to how the NEG had been handled. The 48-35 result looked and felt too close for comfort. Commentators on 2GB radio and Sky News declared Turnbull's leadership was terminal. The PM and his supporters portrayed the outcome as "convincing". After all, they argued, Abbott had beaten Turnbull by only one vote back in 2009. Dutton barely disguised his intent to strike again. He outlined a vague policy manifesto of taking action on immigration levels and removing the GST on power bills - a suggestion trashed by Morrison and Turnbull the next day. He confirmed he was calling colleagues to ask for support.

Peter Dutton on the way to a press conference on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen As early as Wednesday morning, there were rumours and reports Alex Hawke - Dutton's assistant minister - and first-term Western Australian MP Ben Morton were doing the numbers for Morrison. Turnbull's camp as late as Friday afternoon dismissed that as conjecture. The reports were quickly hosed down because Morrison instructed them "to make sure that wasn't true". The Treasurer had made it quite clear he would not move for the leadership unless he had Turnbull's blessing. On Wednesday afternoon, Mathias Cormann went to the PM's office flanked by Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield. He told Turnbull he believed the PM had lost the support of his party room. What this was based on remains unclear. Cormann has said cabinet ministers and backbenchers told him they had switched their support to Dutton. But the meeting ended with Turnbull uncertain of his fate. Loading Later, as senior ministers filed in and out of the PM's office, news broke that a petition was doing the rounds calling for another party room meeting. It was a clear sign Dutton's forces believed they had the numbers. But few MPs leaving the building that evening had actually seen it. There had been a lot of "fake news," warned Liberal MP Bert van Manen.

The petition did exist, however. Hastie and Pasin were shopping multiple versions of it around the house. Kelly was one of the first to sign up when it was brought to his office at around 6.30pm. Next door, in Abbott's office, a rowdy party went late into the night, with aides seen ferrying out plastic bags full of empty bottles and wrappers. Come Thursday morning, things moved quickly. About 9.15am, Pyne told MPs at the regular whips' morning tea not to sign, and that he was worried about intimidation. "I would urge you not to sign the petition and then we can all go back to our electorates and let them tell us what they think of our behaviour this week," Pyne said, according to those present. But at exactly the same time, Cormann, Cash and Fifield were back in the PM's office tendering their resignations. At 9.35am, they stood in the Senate courtyard and made it public. Some of Turnbull's backers considered this unnecessary and off-putting. Mitch Fifield, Mathias Cormann and Michaelia Cash announcing their resignation to the media on Thursday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer An exit strategy

Either way, the PM knew immediately he was finished. "He accepted he couldnt form a ministry," a confidant says. Straight away, Turnbull gave Morrison his blessing. Morrison started making calls, along with Hawke, Morton and Stuart Robert, a staunch conservative from Dutton's home state of Queensland but a close friend of Morrison. They were assisted by some of Turnbull's closest moderate allies - Pyne, Paul Fletcher, Simon Birmingham and Trent Zimmerman - who started wrangling votes behind Morrison. > Inside the PM's office Thursday morning were his chief of staff Clive Mathieson, principal private secretary Sally Cray, frontbencher and friend Craig Laundy and his wife Lucy, as well as a revolving door of allies. The discussion turned to Turnbull's legacy and exit strategy. According to one participant, a calm Lucy Turnbull wanted her husband to go with dignity and step down straight away. But Cray was intent on "digging in". Turnbull himself was "calm - remarkably so", another observer said.

In the end, the PM opted to wreak some havoc on the way out. He demanded Dutton's forces bring him 43 names on a petition if there were to be another party room meeting. He set a tentative time of midday Friday, giving Morrison 23 hours to shore up support. He also commissioned advice on Dutton's eligibility under section 44 of the constitution, to be expedited by the Solicitor-General. None of this would seriously alter the course of events. "Thats just him having fun. Hes got that out of his system now," observed one backer. But Turnbull's camp was ready to make good on the threat to end the week without a second meeting. It was on the Dutton crusaders to put up or shut up. The PM went for a walk that afternoon and then left for the Lodge at 5.30pm. Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull at Parliament House on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Meanwhile, on the phones, Morrison's pitch to MPs proved compelling. "I can sell stopping the boats and cutting taxes," he told them. "I can hold the show together and I've got clean hands." Morrison's backers also appealed to their colleagues not to "reward the insurgency". Julie Bishop - having served as a loyal deputy to four leaders - also entered the race, selling herself as an experienced candidate who was actually popular in the electorate. Dutton emphasised he held a marginal seat and he could run a successful marginal seat campaign.

"I want to do whats best for the country," he told MPs. "I want to see us do as well as we can, I want to win at the next election." I can hold the show together Scott Morrison's pitch to colleagues There were accusations of bullying and intimidation by Dutton's army. Turnbull backers alleged Victorian MPs including Sarah Henderson, Julia Banks, Chris Crewther and Jane Hume had their preselections threatened. Henderson said she had been offered a ministry by the Dutton camp as long as she committed what she considered to be "an act of treachery". At the same time, MPs were being inundated with emails from Liberal Party voters livid about what was being wrought by their representatives in Canberra. "As the week went on, the reaction from the community had a big impact in Morrisons favour," one Liberal MP said. "A lot of MPs were just bombarded with Liberal voters saying that Dutton was completely unacceptable."
The Solicitor-General has advised Peter Dutton "is not incapable" of sitting in Parliament but says it was "impossible to state the position with certainty".

Attorney-General Christian Porter asked the Solicitor General, Stephen Donaghue QC, to prepare an advice on Mr Dutton's eligibility, thrown into question this week after questions arose over the former immigration minister's eligibility under section 44 of the constitution.

Section 44 states that any person who has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Commonwealth is ineligible to be chosen or of sitting as a senator or MP.

Legal experts have suggested Mr Dutton has questions to answer about his eligibility. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The key question is whether a childcare business run by Mr Dutton's wife - and owned by a family trust of which he is a beneficiary - are party to an "agreement" with the Commonwealth.
It will go into the next election needing a net gain of seats if it is to retain government. Queensland It is hard to overstate the importance of Queensland for the Coalition. The Coalition holds a disproportionate share of seats in that state  about 20 per cent of Australians live in Queensland but it accounts for 28 per cent of Coalitions seats in the House of Representatives. Peter Dutton leaves a Canberra hotel after losing the leadership spill to Scott Morrison. Credit:Fairfax Media

But five of those electorates are held by the Liberal National Party on wafer-thin margins of 2 per cent or less. One of those is the electorate of Dickson held by the man at the centre of this weeks political mayhem, Peter Dutton. A key part of Duttons failed pitch for the prime ministership this week was the prospect of him saving the Coalition from electoral disaster in Queensland. On Monday, Sky News reported that Gary Spence, the president of the LNP in Queensland, had warned MPs the party would suffer heavy losses if Turnbull remained leader. Loading But a switch to Dutton, Spence reportedly said, would allow the party to hold all its seats in that state and possibly pick up two more: Labors ultra-marginal Townsville-based electorate of Herbert and Bob Katters stronghold of Kennedy in the north of the state.

Paul Williams, a political scientist at Griffith University in Queensland, said Morrison, a social conservative, had the potential to hold seats in Queensland. Hell do better than Malcolm Turnbull but not as well as Dutton in Queensland, he said. But he warned voters might walk away from the Coalition regardless of the leader given the ugly way Turnbull was toppled. We just dont know how this will pan out, he said. It could play into the hands of One Nation. NSW The Liberals lost three seats on Sydneys west and south-west fringe at the last election and the party will be defending a clutch of electorates on tight margins again at the next poll. Some have a very different political complexion to the Coalitions endangered seats in Queensland.

Morrison holds the safe seat of Cook in Sydneys Sutherland Shire and a senior NSW Labor figure said Morrison is a much better political asset in the state than Dutton. Morrison understands Sydney and hell do better in seats in NSW than Dutton would have, he said. Labor holds several marginal seats in NSW that the Coalition will probably need to win if it is to be returned to office. A campaign focussed on issues such as electricity prices and immigration might help the Liberals defend the Central Coast seat of Robertson held with a margin of 1.4 per cent. Morrisons brand of politics may also play well in Lindsay in Sydneys far west, which Labor holds by just 1.1 per cent. But a focus on immigration might create problems for the Liberals in the seat of Banks, the most marginal liberal electorate in Sydney, which takes in Hurstville and Padstow. Around 45 per cent of the population there were born overseas. The nearby inner west electorate of Reid, held by Liberal junior minister Craig Laundy with a margin of 4.7 per cent, has an even bigger proportion born overseas.

The seat of Banks shares a border with Morrisons safe Sutherland Shire electorate of Cook and the local member, David Coleman, will be hoping Morrisons elevation to the prime ministership pays him an electoral dividend. The Liberals also face a tough fight to save the seat of Gilmore on the states south coast. Victoria Loading In recent years Victorias electoral map at the federal level has been relatively stable. But seat redistributions since the last election have not been kind to the Coalition. The Liberal-held seat of Dunkley, in Melbournes south-eastern suburbs, is now notionally in the Labor column. The redrawn boundaries have also made Corangamite, south-west of Melbourne, one of the most marginal electorates in the country. At the next election the Liberal incumbent Sarah Henderson, will be defending a margin of just 0.03 per cent.
Dr Williams said while some leaders who put a lot on the line during the leadership spill may not contest their seat at the next election, Mr Dutton probably would. Hes a political operator, hes not a quitter, hes a fighter, he said. Hes obviously given it all in this leadership stoush so he probably will throw his hat in the ring. Its going to be hard. Dr Williams said only a minority of the population had a strong ideological commitment to comments Mr Dutton has made about Muslims, African crime gangs and immigration numbers. Most people are just plain old 'Hows the government going? How are our kitchen-table economics?', he said.

The really apathetic disengaged voter might be thinking 'the Liberal National government hasnt done much for me', but on top of that, Peter Dutton, hes the guy who stood for leader and lost so hes carrying extra baggage as a second-round loser. Peter Dutton's electorate office atr Strathpine was vandalised the night before the Liberal Party leadership spill. Credit:Darren England/AAP The next federal election was to be held by May 18 next year, but can be called at any time. The last election was July 2, 2016, and Mr Dutton received 44.6 per cent of the first-preference vote . After the distribution of preferences, he held the seat with just 51.6 per cent of the votes. Dr Williams said Mr Dutton would not get a swing to him at the next election.

It's only a 1.6 per cent swing to knock him off so were only talking about hundreds of votes really, he said. Loading Professor Bean said while he believed Mr Dutton could still retain his seat at the next election, he was always in a position that would be difficult. It will be more difficult now, he said. He probably can win it. He will no doubt be on the back bench and be putting a lot of time into personal campaigning when the election is called, but I suspect he will find it very hard going.

On the other hand, there will actually be a group of people who are supporters and feel that they would have preferred him to become the leader and Prime Miniter and that will rally some support for him. But my sense is the balance will be more against him than in favour. Campaigning at Bald Hills with Anthony Albanese prior to the Liberal party room meeting in Canberra, Ms France said Mr Dutton should be concerned about his prospects in Dickson. "This is a marginal seat and the people of Dickson will have a clear choice at the next election between somebody who is going to fight for them on the issues that matter or somebody who is really only concerned about furthering his own career," she said. Labor's Ali France was campaigning with Anthony Albanese at Bald Hills on Friday. Credit:Darren England/AAP

There were mixed reactions from Dickson residents in the wake of the spill. Sharyn Paton said she was sad to see Malcolm Turnbull lose his position, but would still support Mr Dutton at the next election. I was hoping that Malcolm Turnbull would stay because I think hes done a good job, she said. I think its really unfair they stabbed him in the back, hes been a good leader and I dont think its right. I would still vote for (Mr Dutton) at the next election, hes done a lot for the community here.

Michelle Kanoa and Mistie Woodbridge both worked in the same building as Mr Dutton's office. Both identified as Labor voters. "(The Coalition) just need to let whoever is PM serve their time and be done with it, because it's too much change," Ms Kanoa said. Ms Woodbridge said she was glad Mr Dutton was not the prime minister. "There have been a lot of interruptions and I think it's repeating all over again with the Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd stuff," she said. "I think Australia wasn't the same after that and it's going to be the same situation - unsure of what's happening next."

However, there was also a common feeling among Dickson voters that they wanted their prime minister to focus on working for the Australian people again, after a tumultuous few days. Aileen Pratt, who arrived at the Dickson electorate office wearing a Peter Dutton campaign T-shirt, said she had been confident her local member could take out the top job. "I was stunned at first when Scott Morrison won, I was confident he (Mr Dutton) was going to win beforehand ... because I believe he is an honest man who is standing up for what he believes in, she said. I don`t think today`s loss will affect his chances of retaining this seat at the next federal election. I just think all politicians, I don`t care who they are or what they are, should start standing up and working for the people of Australia and not thinking of themselves and their own jobs.
Beijings strategy around technology and power is so different from that of the West, that mature economies must begin to adopt a longer-term perspective if they want to stay competitive with China, according a US cybersecurity executive on visit to Australia.

Unlike Western telco infrastructure companies, Chinese telco companies can forego robust profits if the products they sell give Beijing a geopolitical advantage in digital espionage or soft power influence, FireEye executive vice president John Watters said.

For mature economies, its time to play the long game, Watters told Fairfax Media. We cant be looking at near-term economic advantage and sacrifice the integrity of our communications infrastructure.

Fire-Eye executive vice president John Watters Credit:Fire-Eye

Watters comments come as China responds with disappointment to the Australias government decision to block Chinese company participation in the construction of Australias 5G network.
There will always be hardcore science fans. The circulation of Scientific American magazine is about one million and there are around 10 million people in the US who actively seek out scientific subjects. Personally, I can't understand why more people aren't jumping up and down about science. This is a very exciting time to be alive. What inspired you to take up a scientific career? When I was eight years old, Einstein died, and he was on the front page of what seemed like every publication in the country. I remember reading or hearing that he could not finish his greatest work  what would later became known as the theory of everything. I found it intriguing; I wanted to be part of it. We hardly knew anything about the planet when I was growing up  how nature works, how living things evolved. Is it ironic that we know more about the planet at the very time we're systematically destroying it? Some of our environmental problems will be solved by technological advances this century. We could see the solar age begin as battery and storage capacity increases exponentially.

You've said the key to understanding the future is understanding physics.

Physics teaches us what might or might not be possible. It forces us to understand the limits of science and how much of science fiction could become science fact. Hardly a month goes past now without scientists discovering another rocky planet in our Milky Way galaxy, located inside the Goldilocks Zone (not too hot, not too cold  just right) that can support life. In the Milky Way alone, there are likely to be half a billion Earth-like planets, and even if only a very small percentage of these planets are home to evolved, complex life, that's still a lot of intelligent beings. Do you think we'll trace alien life this century?

Perhaps within the next 50 years, we'll be listening in on a radio communication between alien species. The late Stephen Hawking warned that it might not be such a great idea for us to contact them. Some aliens could be warlike, but there are plenty of uninhabited planets for them to plunder, and it's unlikely we will ever meet because of the vast distances involved. And if they're thousands of years ahead of us, they won't be terribly interested in us  we'd be too primitive. They'd look at us as lower-order creatures  much as humans regard animals on Earth? Exactly. We see squirrels as cute but it doesn't mean we're interested in talking to them for hours. We'd get bored.

Would any conversation with an alien species be in mathematics? Yes, I don't imagine that aliens would care less about Shakespeare, which is for earthlings only. We would be talking in equations. Mathematics is a language  once you master calculus, it gives you an insight into Mother Nature and eternal principles. The other thing Hawking warned us about was artificial intelligence. What's your opinion? We've been brainwashed by Hollywood on this. Our most advanced robot has the intelligence of a cockroach. We can't even get a robot to get out of a car, something a five-year-old can do. We're not likely to see a robot that thinks, and looks and talks like you, uses your voice inflections, until the end of this century. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that up to 800 million workers in 46 countries will lose their jobs to robots by 2030.

Robots are replacing many repetitive jobs. We don't cry about the fact we no longer have blacksmiths and wagon-makers. It's an old chestnut, the worry about new technology destroying jobs. Exactly. Only 15 or 20 years ago, pundits were anguishing about a "digital divide", those without access to technology being the new underclass. It never happened, because access to computers became cheaper and cheaper. The real problem is not access to jobs, but filling them. Plenty of jobs in technology are begging to be filled today, but they require workers with a high level of technical and scientific education. Western governments need to put a lot more emphasis in this area. Do you see religious fanaticism and terrorism as threats to global order in the coming decades? The terrorism of today is temporary and is a reaction to the fact that civilisation is making a transition. Religions come and go, and the current wave of fanaticism is a reaction against modernisation. We are moving to a Type 1 civilisation [where the planet is entirely self-sufficient from energy drawn from the sun] that's scientific and tolerant. Some folk don't want that; they imagine they'll feel more comfortable in a world 1000 years before the rise of science.

Much has been made of social media eroding our faith in democratic institutions. Is democracy under threat from privacy-invading tech? Technology is a double-edged sword. One edge can cut against ignorance, poverty and disease; the other can cut against our freedom and privacy. Democratic institutions are the best we have in the world today and people will fight to protect them. More than 20 years ago you predicted the rise of the "internet of things", in which the web would move into cars, phones, home appliances and security. Now that's happened, what's next? At some stage the internet will be replaced by the brain-net, where you can convey messages and memories rather than just text. You could walk into a room, mentally turn on the lights, the sound system and the heating. In coming years, the internet will disappear more and more into the background. You've said that Moore's Law  the theory that the number of transistors that can be squeezed onto a computer chip will double every two years  is breaking down.

We are already witnessing the slowdown of Moore's Law and it will collapse within 10 years. Computer power simply can't maintain its exponential rise using standard silicon technology. Semiconductor manufacturers are in a massive race to find a successor to silicon. You've written that we have no alternative but to colonise space. We need a back-up plan. The dinosaurs didn't have a space program, and that's why they're not here today. You believe there is likely to be not just one universe but an infinite number of "multiverses"  alternate universes with different laws of physics. Many think our universe is like a bubble  when the bubble bumps into another bubble, a big bang occurs, creating another universe. We'll probably get the answer to this question from orbiting telescopes in the next few decades.

Will science be able to slow the ageing process in the coming years? Yes, we're beginning to identify the genes responsible for ageing. We live twice as long as chimpanzees, but genetically we're 98.5 per cent identical. Which means only a small bunch of genes are responsible for doubling our lifespan. If we can manipulate those genes, we might be able to reset our biological clocks. Children born since 2000 are already expected to live to 100, thanks to advancing medical technology. Do you see longevity being expanded further? Definitely. With advancing genetic engineering, it may be possible to stop the ageing process at the age of 30, say  you stop ageing at that point. Let's hope their maturity levels don't stop at 30, though, otherwise we'll wind up with a society of permanent adolescents. We used to hear a lot about the promise of nanotechnology. What's happening there?
Phnom Penh: A Cambodian courtroom caught a glimpse of Australian James Ricketson's life as a film-maker as he tried to disprove what he said was the "nonsensical proposition" that he was a spy.

A selection of film clips from Ricketsons work  featuring personalities including actor Bryan Brown, director Philip Noyce and snippets from a Werner Herzog film  were presented to the court as the drawn-out case continued on Friday.

There is only one country in the world that equates documentary filmmaking with espionage, and I am in that country now, Ricketson said.
The Popes visit, starting Saturday, comes as the Church in Ireland struggles to find a new place in Irish society and culture, the archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin admitted in June. In recent years the church has lost much of its standing in society, its political influence and  perhaps most seriously  many of its faithful. The last census in 2016 showed, for the first time, a fall in the number of Roman Catholics in the country: 132,000 fewer Irish described themselves as Catholic compared with five years previously. Members of the public celebrate at Dublin Castle, in May after the results of the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution which prohibited abortion. Credit:PA The decline as a percentage of the population dates back much longer: in 1961 almost 95 per cent of the Irish called themselves Roman Catholic, but by 2016 only 78 per cent did.

Many of that 78 per cent are not practising  only half of Irish marriages last year were Catholic compared to over 90 per cent two decades ago, Reuters calculated. Fewer than a third of Catholics go to mass every week  compared with more than 90 per cent in 1972. This year Ireland voted in a referendum by an overwhelming 66 per cent to overturn a ban on abortions. In 2015 more than 62 per cent voted to allow same-sex marriage. In October another referendum is expected to remove the offence of blasphemy from the Irish constitution.

Irelands Association of Catholic Priests conducted a survey in the lead-up to the papal visit, simply asking what do you want to say to Pope Francis about the Irish Church? More than three-quarters of the respondents wanted major reform, including equality for women in the church and a more effective response to clerical abuse and the fallout. The wrongs of the past should never be forgotten, some respondents said. Full disclosures should be made and apologies given. There is a desperate need for Rome to genuinely face up to and acknowledge the horror of the Catholic Churchs blindness to and mismanagement of the perpetrators of sexual abuse. Limited edition Pope dolls for sale during the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin, Ireland. Credit:AP

Irish leader Leo Varadkar has said he will challenge Francis on the issue of same-sex marriage, and he intended to raise Church abuse issues at a reception at Dublin Castle. I will certainly want to express to him the real concerns Irish people have in relation to the legacy of the past, in relation to issues such as the churchs involvement in Magdalene laundries, mother-and-baby homes, and sexual and physical abuse, he said. A passerby looks at an art installation by Mannix Flynn protesting the Pope's visit in Dublin, Ireland. Credit:AP Mr Varadkar, quoted by the BBC, went further, saying: "I think in the past the Catholic Church had too much of a dominant place in our society. I also think (the visit is) an opportunity for us as a republic for us as the Irish state to start a new chapter in our relationship with the Church one that again is very much about having a place for the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland but not one at the centre in the way it was in the past."

Former Irish president Mary McAleese has been particularly critical of the visit, calling the WMOF a right-wing rally designed to get [people] motivated to fight against the tide of same-sex marriage, rights for gays, abortion rights, contraceptive rights. In March, McAleese  a lifelong Catholic with a masters degree in canon law - was barred from a conference on women in the Church at the Vatican. Dr Jane Suiter is associate professor at Dublin City University in the school of communications. All of the radio programs here at the moment are about how the country has completely changed since [John Paul IIs visit in] 1979, she says.

Ireland is shaking off many traditions  the latest Rose of Tralee beauty pageant winner is a mixed race woman which just would have been unheard of before and a few years back it was won by a single mother. Capuchin priest friar Bryan Shortall from Dublin looks out from the wet stage during preparations are underway to build the stage for the Pope in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Credit:PA But it is more than just cultural change. On Monday Francis wrote a letter to the people of God condemning the atrocities of child sex abuse and systematic cover-ups in the church. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them, Francis wrote.

It came a week after a grand jury report in the US described decades of abuse in Pennsylvania, where more than 1000 children had been abused by 300 priests. One cardinal named in the report had been due to attend the Dublin event. The debate over the last week has all been about Pennsylvania, about the report, about whether the Popes letter went far enough, Suiter said. We even had the minister for health coming out this morning saying we need particular measures more than just the wringing of hands. To have a government minister so openly critical of the church shows how much influence it has lost, Suiter says. Some public figures have even offered to give up their place on the podium with Francis for victims of abuse. People feel that its not properly resolved, that there have been apologies but some bishops havent taken it on board, she says.

There is now a lot of talk about a cultural Catholicism, where respect for the church is lost but a personal faith remains. McAleese is seen as someone showing the way to keep the faith while rejecting the institution. Suiter says there has been a lot of speculation about how many Irish will attend the papal mass, compared to the number of international visitors. A recently unveiled waxwork of Pope Francis is carried from the National Wax Museum to be put on a refurbished 1979 Popemobile in Dublin, Ireland. Credit:AP Some Catholics had been hoping for a renewed fight for the church after the blows of the recent referendums but instead they have been left a little bit down and feeling theyre not as represented any more, she says. Now they hope Francis visit will be that fillip they desperately need.

Certainly its what the Vatican hopes for. This week Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vaticans Secretary of State, told Vatican News Francis visit to Ireland would be a sign of hope, and above all of trust. I believe that the Church in Ireland has recognised its failures, its errors, its sins, and at the same time also has adopted a series of measures that can prevent these atrocities from happening again, these horrors, he said. Preparations in readiness for the closing mass for the World Meeting of Families event at Phoenix Park in Dublin which will be attended by Pope Francis as part of his two-day visit to Ireland. Credit:PA But Suiter is sceptical.
London: A British-Iranian woman who has been imprisoned by Iran for more than two years has been released temporarily without explanation.

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said she was granted temporary leave from Evin Prison in Tehran on Thursday.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugs her daughter Gabriella, in Iran. Credit:Campaign/AP

"We are really excited," Ratcliffe told Sky News, adding their lawyer was "hopeful" the three-day release could be extended. He said he spoke to his wife, who was "full of joy", via Skype, moments after she was released.

The Free Nazanin campaign, which is run by Ratcliffe, tweeted a series of pictures of Zaghari-Ratcliffe embracing her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella.
Trump said in a message on Twitter that Pompeo's visit, which was set for next week, now would likely not take place until after Washington has resolved its trade dispute with China. Trump said China was no longer helping on the North Korea issue.

Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had cancelled Secretary of State Mike Pompeos planned trip to North Korea because we are not making sufficient progress toward the goal of denuclearising the Korean peninsula.

Negotiations have stalled since the June summit in Singapore. Pompeo is pressing for tangible steps toward North Koreas abandonment of its nuclear arsenal while Pyongyang is demanding that Washington first make concessions of its own.

"I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said on Twitter.

Trump's statement came just a day after Pompeo announced he would again visit North Korea and would take his new US special representative, Stephen Biegun, with him in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Donald Trump has, for the first time, acknowledged that his landmark meeting with Kim Jong-un has not produced tangible outcomes. Credit:AP

But Trump asked Pompeo not to go to North Korea during a meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon, a senior White House official said.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 71F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 48F. Winds light and variable.
The after-school room is one of those renovated during the third phase in 2018. This room used to be divided into two rooms, but now provides more learning space.
Solar radiation constantly bombards Earth, and Earths magnetic field repels it. According to a new study, our planets protective shield might weaken far more quickly and unpredictably than scientists previously thought.

Like the invisible force shield around the Death Star, Earth's magnetic field surrounds and protects our planet from the hottest, most statically charged particles the sun can throw our way. This shield  the natural product of molten iron swirling around the planet's core  has had our backs for billions of years, and prevented Earth from becoming an irradiated, electrified wasteland. Every now and then, though, that shield lets down its guard.

A few times every million years or so, Earth's magnetic field reverses polarity. Imagine a giant bar magnet inside our planet got flipped upside down; iron atoms in Earth's outer core would switch direction, the magnetic North Pole would become the magnetic South Pole, and the invisible currents of energy that make up our planet's magnetic armor would tangle and break, potentially reducing the shield's protective strength by up to 90 percent, previous studied have suggested. [6 Visions of Earth's Core]

Luckily, full reversals are uncommon and unfold slowly over thousands of years. (The last full reversal occurred about 780,000 years ago.) But according to a new study published Monday (Aug. 20) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, partial or temporary shifts in Earth's magnetic poles can occur much, much faster than was previously thought possible  potentially, within a single human lifetime.

In the new study, an international team of scientists analyzed 16,000 years of geomagnetic history coded into the atoms of an ancient stalagmite in China. This story written in stone told them that once, about 98,000 years ago, the planet's magnetic field suddenly flipped polarity in as little as 100 years  roughly 30 times faster than the generally expected rate, and 10 times faster than what was thought to be the fastest rate possible.

"The record provides important insights into ancient magnetic field behavior, which has turned out to vary much more rapidly than previously thought," study co-author Andrew Roberts, a professor of Earth sciences at Australian National University, said in a statement.

A chaotic history

In their new study, Roberts and a large team of colleagues from China and Taiwan examined about 16,000 previously undocumented years of Earth's magnetic history. For their history teacher, they chose an ancient, yellow stalagmite that grew out of a cave in southwestern China between roughly 91,000 and 107,000 years ago. By dating and analyzing the iron-bearing minerals inside the stalagmite,the team was able to detect periodic variations in the direction in which Earth's magnetic field was flowing at the time those minerals formed.(Magnetic minerals orient themselves in different directions depending on where the Earth's magnetic poles are at the time.)

The team found that Earth's magnetic polarity shifted several times during that 16,000-year period, which was no surprise to them. The shock emerged about 98,000 years ago, when a huge shift in polarity occurred in a period of less than 200 years  possibly within 100 years.

"Such an extremely rapid polarity drift has not been shown before," the researchers wrote in their new study.

Knowing that our planet is capable of such spontaneous magnetic tantrums is important, mainly because our magnetic shield can diminish to about 10-percent effectiveness when it's in the middle of a reversal. Fortunately, that weakening isn't enough to threaten life on Earth; after all, Roberts pointed out, the planet's magnetic field has been reversing periodically for billions of years, and life still persists. Human technology, on the other hand, might have a rougher time coping.

Trillions of dollars in damage

Solar weather events, such as solar flares and solar wind storms, occur when blazing-hot, supercharged particles of energy blast out of the sun's surface and whiz across space on a collision course toward Earth. Even when our planet's magnetic field is at its strongest, a powerful enough solar storm can rip right past those defenses and wreak havoc on anything electrical.

That surge of charged particles can garble radio signals, fry satellite and spacecraft instruments, and overload circuit breakers to take down entire power grids. That's exactly what happened on March 13, 1989, when a massive solar storm crackled through the atmosphere and knocked the power out in Quebec, Canada, for 9 hours. An earlier, even larger solar storm in 1859, known as the Carrington event, reportedly caused telegraph wires to short-circuit all around the United States, throwing off sparks that started fires and electrocuted office workers.

Storms far less powerful than these could cause much more damage if they happened to hit while Earth's magnetic field was in the midst of a reversal, Roberts said. The result would likely be trillions of dollars in damage to our electrical infrastructure, and right now, there's no plan for dealing with an event of that magnitude.

"Hopefully, such an event is a long way in the future and we can develop future technologies to avoid huge damage," Roberts concluded. Keep your fingers (but not your magnetic-field lines) crossed.

Originally published on Live Science.
As a massive star collapses into a black hole, it sends out a brilliant SOS signal in the form of ultrabright gamma-ray bursts. Now, scientists have found something very peculiar about those mysterious signals: They seem to reverse time.

Well, sort of.

A new study, published Aug. 13 in The Astrophysical Journal, has found that these gamma-ray bursts are time-reversed, meaning the brilliant light wave is spit out one way and then sent out again in the opposite order.

The researchers said they have no idea what's causing these time-reversed gamma-ray signals, but they added that the physics around black holes are so strange that nothing can be ruled out. [Supernova Photos: Great Images of Star Explosions]

Last gasps of dying stars

Gamma-ray bursts are some of the highest-energy explosions ever detected, shining brighter than a million trillion times the output of Earth's sun, according to NASA.

"Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous sources known in nature. They produce more energy output than anything else that emits light," said study lead author Jon Hakkila, an astrophysicist and associate dean of the Graduate School at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

When two neutron stars collide, they send out short gamma-ray bursts as they form a black hole. Supernovas, or star explosions, produce longer gamma-ray bursts as the dying stars collapse into black holes. For both types of gamma-ray bursts, "most of their energy comes in the form of pulses," or blips, Hakkila said.

When Hakkila took out the main, brightest pulse from the data to better see the rest of the light signal, he found that "the blip actually had some little side blips," he said. Every pulse, the researchers found, had three distinct peaks where light increased and then decreased in intensity a few times over each pulse.

As the scientists looked at the data, they happened to find that the structure of these peaks looked like reflections in a mirror  the parts of earlier pulses that came out first were coming out last on subsequent pulses.

Residues of an exploding star

While looking at six of the brightest gamma-ray bursts detected by NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory as part of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment in the 1990s, the team found that the bursts contained time-reversed light signatures. In other words, "they all have this signature of brightness that fluctuates and then it turns around and goes backwards in time," Hakkila said. This is true for both short-lived and long-lived gamma-ray bursts, Hakkila said.

To better picture this, imagine if you turned on three light switches: A, then B, then C, and then always turned off C first, then B, then A, Hakkila said. To really see this, the researchers took the entire signal, stretched it and folded it right down the middle like a piece of paper. That "folding" process aligned the rise of the signal with the fall of the signal. The two ends lined up really well.

"A gamma-ray burst represents the formation of a black hole, and there's all sorts of very odd things that happen with both space and time and the relationship between space and time in the vicinity of a black hole," Hakkila said. Though the blast is probably not "reversing time" with some radiation mechanism as it would in a science-fiction movie, "I'm not going to exclude any kind of weird thing," he said.

However, a likelier explanation may come from looking at how a blast wave moves through matter, Hakkila said. When a star explodes, a big blast wave can move outward through material and light it up as it goes. First, it lights up clump A, then clump B, then clump C. To cause the time-reversed signal, the wave would have to somehow go back through those clumps in reverse order, Hakkila said. [7 Surprising Things About the Universe]

"I can only think of two ways to do that," he added. Either the wave must hit some sort of reflective surface, similar to a mirror, which reflects the blast wave backward, or the clumps must be distributed in some bizarre way that makes no sense using ordinary physics. Understanding this process could shed light on how stars die, Hakkila added.

However, not everyone is convinced that time reversal is the best explanation for the gamma-ray burst signals.

"I appreciate the great efforts of the authors. However, the scaffold that the research is built on may be flawed," said Bing Zhang, a professor of high-energy astrophysics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who was not part of the study.

The finding of time-reversed structures is based on the assumption that each gamma-ray burst is "composed of several well-defined pulses," each having a shape described by a mathematical equation.

But the shape and nature of those pulses may be more complicated than the simple mathematical form, so that the triple-peak-pulse residual may not be physically real, he added. "Maybe the mirror hypothesis  is valid after all, but right now, the support to this hypothesis is rather indirect," Zhang told Live Science.

As always, the picture gets stranger the closer we venture to a black hole.

Originally published on Live Science.
An illustration of a potential future layout of the Colorado Air and Space Port, the former Front Range Airport near Denver that received an FAA spaceport license Aug. 17.

WASHINGTON  A Colorado airport has received a commercial spaceport license from the Federal Aviation Administration despite a lack of announced users of the site and concerns about conflicts with aviation.

The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation awarded a launch site operator's license, more commonly known as a spaceport license, to the government of Adams County, Colorado, Aug. 17 for Front Range Airport. The airport will now be known as the Colorado Air and Space Port.

The facility is a general aviation airport east of Denver and about 10 kilometers southeast of Denver International Airport. It currently has two runways, each 2,400 meters long, as well as more than 3,000 acres of property for development. Reaction Engines, a British company working on a hypersonic engine known as SABRE, is building a facility there for testing engine technology.

The license is the culmination of several years of work by airport and local officials to win an FAA license. Advocates of what was previously known as Spaceport Colorado argued that establishing a commercial launch site would help bolster the state's growing space industry.

"Spaceport Colorado will leverage Colorado's leadership in aerospace and space exploration, our well-educated workforce, and our excellent higher learning institutions to attract new businesses and continue pushing the boundaries on what we can learn and accomplish in space," said Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) in a statement. "This spaceport designation brings with it many exciting opportunities, and I look forward to Colorado's continued engagement in the growing commercial space industry."

For now, though, the new spaceport designation only represents opportunity, rather than confirmed launch activity. No commercial launch companies have committed to operating from the spaceport, something its operators acknowledged in the announcement.

"The license from the FAA is an important step in the process, and we're looking forward to partnering with a company that shares our vision for the spaceport and the technological and commercial benefits it brings to Colorado," said Dave Ruppel, director of the Colorado Air and Space Port.

The spaceport's license supports operations of what is known in FAA parlance as "Concept X" vehicles. These are suborbital vehicles that take off from runways under jet power, like a conventional aircraft, and fly to some distance from the airport before igniting a rocket engine for the suborbital spaceflight phase of its mission. The vehicle then returns to make a horizontal landing either as a glider or under jet power.

However, no such vehicles are in active development today. Rocketplane Global was working on such a vehicle nearly a decade ago, called Rocketplane XP, but filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in 2010. Air-launch systems that use a carrier aircraft to release a rocket-powered vehicle, like Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo/SpaceShipTwo system, are known as Concept Z vehicles at the FAA, and were not included in the environmental assessment developed as part of the licensing process.

The spaceport also faced criticism about the potential effects launches there could have on aviation activities at nearby Denver International Airport. The issue came up during a June 26 hearing by the House aviation subcommittee on commercial space transportation regulatory reform.

"I recently met  I won't say who it was  people raising concerns about the proximity of a proposed spaceport that does not have an operator, which is a 'build it and they will come' proximate to Denver International Airport, and the potential for interference with operations there," said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), ranking member of the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, at the hearing.

Tim Canoll, president of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and one of the witnesses at the hearing, said he was concerned that segregating spaceflight and aviation traffic would be an "order of magnitude more difficult" in that situation versus conventional launch sites.

Canoll noted it was difficult for ALPA to assess specific impacts of launches from the spaceport on operations at Denver International because any vehicle that does plan to use the spaceport will have to get a launch license from the FAA, a process that would include separate reviews of how it would affect airport operations. "It's hard for ALPA to comment on one or the other without seeing the full picture concept," he said. "The inability to match the two to one issue is where we're running into problems with giving good comments to the FAA as they consider these."

Lori Garver, the general manager of ALPA and former NASA deputy administrator, also mentioned concerns about launch operations from that proposed spaceport during a commercial space panel discussion at the organization's 2018 Air Safety Forum Aug. 1. "I called the folks that I've worked with over my career and were assured there are no operators planning to fly out of Denver," she said. "But it was hard for us to imagine, then, how they can just get a license."

Colorado Air and Space Port is not alone, though, among spaceports that lack space launches. Of the 10 other spaceports licensed by the FAA, three have yet to conduct a launch under an FAA license or experimental permit: Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida; Ellington Airport in Houston ; and Midland Air and Space Port in Midland, Texas . A fourth, Oklahoma Air and Space Port in Burns Flat, Oklahoma, hosted only three low-altitude test flights under experimental permits by Armadillo Aerospace in 2007.

The lack of activity has not deterred others from either seeking spaceport licenses for existing airports or developing entirely new commercial launch sites. "We're trying to stand up a spaceport. We're in very preliminary talks," said Julie Engel, president of Arizona's Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation, during a space conference held at Arizona State University Aug. 20. She sought advice from the conference's luncheon speaker, Kevin O'Connell, new director of the Office of Space Commerce, on how to work with the government and convey the "seriousness of what we're trying to do."

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
Hurricane Lane began threatening Hawaii on Aug. 22, when a NASA astronaut spotted the storm from the International Space Station.

Hurricane Lane began pummeling Hawaii on Wednesday (Aug. 22), carrying with it strong winds and heavy rains, and space science has not escaped the storm's wrath.

The hurricane has closed some of the most iconic telescopes in operation for two days and has delayed the launch of a mission meant to help NASA practice for visits to distant icy moons.

Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain is home to the iconic twin Keck Observatory telescopes, which were closed yesterday (Aug. 23) to wait out the storm. In a statement posted yesterday, observatory Director Hilton Lewis confirmed that the facility would remain closed today, with no observations taken tonight. [In Photos: Hurricane Lane Photos as Seen from Space]

In the statement, Lewis confirmed that the observatory remains closed because flooding is causing road problems throughout the island, adding that the facility itself hasn't seen any damage from the hurricane.

And it turns out that even missions that skip the rocket launch remain vulnerable to the weather. That's what a team of astrobiologists, microbiologists and geologists is experiencing with Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog, or SUBSEA, an oceanographic mission that was due to set sail yesterday but that has been postponed on account of Hurricane Lane.

See more

When that mission does begin, it will explore the seafloor at Lo'ihi, the volcanic seamount off the coast of the Big Island that will one day become the next Hawaiian island.

Scientists will use remotely operated vehicles to study microbes and geology at the site, which they hope will mirror the environments found deep below the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Of course, there's no evidence of hurricanes on either moon  all the more reason to prioritize safety and wait for the storm to pass before setting off to explore the unknown.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
A newly hired NASA intern recently lost a position at the agency after a vulgar exchange with a famous NASA engineer on Twitter, according to news reports, such as one from USA Today.

The exchange  captured by several news outlets through screenshots  began when the user, who used the handle @NaomiH_official, wrote in all caps, "I got accepted for a NASA internship," adding a sentence with profanity to express excitement.

The post garnered a stern response from Homer Hickam, a former NASA engineer whose memoir "Rocket Boys"  about growing up in a rural coal-mine community during the 1930s Depression while he learned about rocketry  inspired the 1999 Hollywood movie "October Sky." "Language," Hickam replied to the tweet.

@NaomiH_official responded to Hickam with another vulgar tweet, adding at the end of it, "I'm working for NASA." Hickam answered: "And I am on the National Space Council that oversees NASA," referring to his appointment from earlier this year. The conversation quickly went viral on Twitter, garnering thousands of responses from other users.

Following the exchange on social media, Hickam wrote a blog post (which has since been deleted, but is cited in USA Today and other outlets) saying he had heard @NaomiH_official was fired from the internship. Hickam added that he hadn't reached out to the agency about the tweets and that he does not have a say in NASA employment decisions. The agency got wind of the conversation because so many users had responded while tagging NASA, Hickam said.

"It occurred to me that this young person might get in trouble if NASA saw it, so I tweeted to her one word: 'Language' and intended to leave it at that," Hickam wrote in the post, which was cited in several news reports. "Soon, her friends took umbrage and said a lot of unkind things, but long after I was gone, as I immediately deleted my comments and blocked all concerned."

Hickam added that @NaomiH_official apologized for the comments, as did he, and he is doing "all that he can" to find the Twitter user a position in the aerospace industry. Meanwhile, @NaomiH_official made their Twitter profile private, adding in the bio area, "Taking a break from Twitter for a while."

NASA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from USA Today and other news outlets that reached out to the agency.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Secondary craters within Von Karman Crater, the Chang'e 4 landing region. (a) The great elliptic circle that linked the center of the Antoniadi Crater to the selected Chang'e 4 landing site. The base image is from the global mosaic obtained by China's Chang'e-2 mission. (b) Secondary craters within the Chang'e 4 landing region that are delivered by the Antoniadi Crater. White arrows mark the secondaries, and the yellow line is the possible trajectory of ejecta launched by the Antoniadi-forming impact. The location of this area is denoted as the white box in (a). The base image is from Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter.

If all remains on track, a robotic Chinese moon mission called Chang'e 4 will launch late this year to attempt the first landing on the far side of the moon in history.

Chang'e 4 will head for the Von Karman Crater, within the moon's South PoleAitken (SPA) basin. The scientific instruments of this far-side mission, mounted on a lander and a rover, will analyze both the surface and the subsurface of this region.

The SPA basin is the largest known impact structure in the solar system. It is the place to go to answer several important questions about the moon, including its internal structure and thermal evolution, scientists have said. [China's Moon Missions Explained (Infographic)]

The 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Karman Crater lies in the northwestern SPA basin. The topography of the landing region is generally flat.

Secondary craters and ejecta materials cover most of the area's mare (volcanic basalt) unit and can be traced back to at least four source craters: Finsen, Von Karman L, Von Karman L' and Antoniadi. The region also features extensive sinuous ridges and troughs.

New information

A recent paper, led by Jun Huang of the School of Earth Sciences at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, lays out some key characteristics of Chang'e 4's targeted landing zone.

The study presents a detailed 3D geological analysis of the nature and history of the Von Karman Crater. The researchers found that the region contains far-side mare basalts affected by linear features and ejecta material from a wide range of surrounding craters.

The results provide a framework for the Chang'e 4 mission to carry out on-the-spot exploration, the scientists wrote in the study, which was published in May in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

Relay satellite

Already in place for the upcoming mission is the Chinese relay satellite Queqiao. It will enable communications between mission control here on Earth and Chang'e 4, as well as future far-side missions.

Queqiao lifted off in May atop a Long March 4C rocket from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The relay spacecraft has made its way to a halo orbit around the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, a gravitationally stable spot beyond the far side of the moon.

Secondaries within the proposed Chang'e 4 landing region formed by the Von Karman L and Von Karman L' crater-forming impacts. The two source craters are located to the south of the landing region. The great elliptic circles represent possible ballistic trajectories (blue lines) of impact ejecta from the source craters. (a) The NW-SE trending secondaries that are formed by the Von Karman L crater. (b) The NE-SW trending secondaries that are formed by the Von Karman L crater. Both images were obtained by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, operated by Arizona State University. (Image credit: Jun Huang, et al./AGU)

Lander, rover instruments

The Chang'e 4 lander and rover were designed as backups for the successful Chang'e 3 mission, which launched in December 2013 and landed the rover Yutu on the lunar surface. So, some of the science payloads on Chang'e 4 are similar to those of its predecessor, such as a landing camera, a terrain camera, a panoramic camera on the lander and a visible/near-infrared imaging spectrometer, along with two ground-penetrating radars able to reveal the subsurface structure of the landing area.

Additional instruments on the lander are a low-frequency radio spectrometer, which will perform joint space-physics observations with the low-frequency radio spectrometer on the Queqiao relay satellite. [China's Yutu Rover Moon Mission in Photos]

Also onboard Chang'e 4 is a German lunar neutron and radiation dose detector to explore the surface radiation environment of the far side.

A new instrument on the rover is the Swedish neutral atom detector designed to study the interaction between the solar wind and lunar surface materials.

China's Yutu moon rover, photographed on the lunar surface by the Chang'e 3 lander on Dec. 16, 2013. The Chang'e 4 mission to the lunar far side, which is scheduled to launch late this year, was designed as a backup for Chang'e 3. (Image credit: CASC/China Ministry of Defense)

Lunar mini biosphere

In addition, a lunar micro-ecosystem is included for astrobiology experiments and public outreach. According to China's state-run Xinhua news agency, Chang'e 4 will carry a tin containing seeds of potato and arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard. It may also tote along silkworm eggsM.

This "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was designed by 28 Chinese universities, led by southwest China's Chongqing University. The cylindrical tin, made from special aluminum-alloy materials, weighs roughly 7 lbs. (3 kilograms).

The tin also contains water, a nutrient solution and air. A tiny camera and data-transmission system will allow researchers to keep an eye on the seeds and see if they germinate on the moon.

Leonard David is author of "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet," published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of the story published on Space.com.
Within the past couple of days, some media outlets have reported that a "potentially dangerous" asteroid will come "dangerously close" to Earth on Tuesday (Aug. 28)  but unfortunately for sensationalists, this is not true.

It is true that asteroid 2016 NF23 exists. It is true that NASA considers this asteroid a near-Earth object (NEO). It is true that, because of its size and distance from the Earth, it's been labeled a potentially hazardous asteroid. And it is also true that 2016 NF23 poses no threat to our home planet.

Again, asteroid 2016 NF23 poses absolutely no threat to us on this pass.

Asteroid 2016 NF23 will pass by Earth later this month. However, despite what sensationalist reports might say, the object poses no threat to us here on Earth. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

If there is any remaining confusion, Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, had this to say to Space.com in an email: "There is absolutely nothing for concern by this pass of 2016 NF23. This object is merely designated a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) because its orbit over time brings it within 5 million miles (8 million kilometers) of Earth's orbit, but there is nothing hazardous to Earth or even unique about this pass of the asteroid." [NASA Maps Dangerous Asteroids That May Threaten Earth (Photos)]

Some have claimed that the rocky object will "skim past" Earth, but the asteroid is actually very far from us. 2016 NF23 will pass us by on Tuesday (Aug. 28) at 11:38 p.m. ET (3:38 UTC on Aug. 29)at about 13.2 lunar distances (LD). One LD is the distance between Earth and the moon, so 13.2 LD would be more than 3 million miles (5 million km) away  which places 2016 NF23 at a considerable distance from our planet.

An artist's illustration of an asteroid that would pose an actual threat to Earth. Asteroid 2016 NF23 will pass by Earth this month but will not be dangerous for anyone here on our planet. (Image credit: ESA)

NASA estimates that this asteroid is likely between 229 feet and 524 feet (70 and 160 meters) in diameter. So, if it were at the larger end of this measurement, it could be larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza. But this isn't exceptionally large by asteroid standards. Ceres, for instance, is about 590 miles (950 km) across.

A massive, rocky asteroid traveling at around 20,000 mph (32,400 km/h) might seem frightening at first glance. But rocky objects fly by Earth fairly regularly, and often much closer than 2016 NF23. In 2018, there are many objects flying closer than 1 LD to Earth. As of Aug. 23, NASA was aware of 1,912 potentially hazardous asteroids.

In fact, on Wednesday (Aug. 29), NEO 1998 SD9 will pass by Earth  and it will come much closer than 2016 NF23. At about 3:27 a.m. ET, 1998 SD9 will pass by our planet at 4.2 LD at over 23,000 mph (10.7 km/s). This object, which NASA estimates to be between 126 feet and 282 feet (38 and 86 m) in diameter, will come closer than any known potentially hazardous asteroid in the next two months. But even at that close (relatively speaking) distance, we remain perfectly safe from an impact here on Earth.

There are a number of NEOs, including many that will come much closer to Earth than 2016 NF23. But, as Johnson said: "None of these passes will have any effect on Earth."

NEOs can pose a threat to us here on Earth, but remember to do your research before believing rumors about "dangerous" asteroids.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her @chelsea_gohd. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
A cat named Squeakazoid poses with the world's second-largest radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. (Image credit: Alessondra Springmann/ @ObservatoryCats

Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory is the home of the second-largest radio telescope in the world. It's also home to cats  lots of cats.

When Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico last September, destroying tens of thousands of homes and damaging the observatory, staff and other members of the local community sought shelter and supplies at the observatory's visitor center. And the local cats did the same. [The Arecibo Observatory: Puerto Rico's Giant Radio Telescope in Photos]

The Arecibo Observatory has long been known for its felines, and it has become an increasingly popular cat hangout ever since the hurricane hit last year, Flaviane Venditti, a researcher at the observatory, told Space.com. "After the hurricane, many people left the island and, in the process, left their animals behind," Venditti said. "We can see that based on how people-friendly some of the cats are. They might have come to the observatory to shelter during the storm."

In the staff parking lot of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, a cat named Old Tom naps in the driver's seat of a car. Observatory staff members suspect Old Tom is the father of many stray cats around the observatory. (Image credit: Flaviane Venditti)

While no one seems to mind the furry felines loitering in the staff parking lot, napping in people's cars and teasing the local toads and geckos, some staff members worry that the cat population will quickly grow out of control as the resident felines continue to give birth to litters of (very adorable) kittens.

The cat rescue effort at the Arecibo Observatory originally started with Alessondra Springmann, a data analyst who worked with the Planetary Radar Science Group there from 2012 to 2014. Springmann helped to capture, spay and find loving homes for the cats  and created their adorable Twitter account, @ObservatoryCats.

"Since she left, nobody kept helping to take care of the cats," Venditti said. "Because the population was increasing after Hurricane Maria, with the help of colleagues, I had the idea to start doing something about it."

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So, Venditti and fellow staff members who have been feeding the observatory cats have set up a fundraising campaign via GoFundMe to help get the cats spayed and neutered. The campaign has been successful so far, with $1,470 of the $1,600 goal raised as of today (Aug. 24).

Thanks to the outpouring of support, Venditti said, the donations are now also being used to vaccinate and deworm the cats. "Some cats might also need more medical assistance," she said. "I'm buying the food myself, but according to how much we spend with the vets, we could buy food with the help of donations too." She said one of the biggest expenses is boarding the cats as they recover after surgery.

Venditti estimates that eight to 10 cats currently live at Arecibo Observatory, not including two litters of kittens that were born in the past few weeks. Since Hurricane Maria, staff and students have adopted seven observatory cats.

These three kittens were born at the Arecibo Observatory to a cat named Gypsy. Tiger, the tabby in the middle, was adopted by a staff member at the observatory. (Image credit: Flaviane Venditti)

One friendly momma cat named Gypsy and all three of her kittens were adopted over the winter. "Then, in February, we saw another mother with a litter, but the mother was more reserved and, after a couple months, abandoned the kittens," Venditti said. "The kittens  two brothers, Venus and Mars  kept crying out, and we started feeding them, and they have been hanging out at the same spot ever since."

Both Mars and Venus, also known as "the teenagers" around the observatory, have been captured and fixed thanks to help from the GoFundMe campaign. Venus has been released, and Mars is expected to return to the observatory today after recovering from his surgery at the local veterinarian's office, Hospital Veterinario San Francisco de Asis in Hatillo, Puerto Rico.

Observatory cats Mars and Venus hang out in the parking lot the day Venus returned from his surgery. (Image credit: Flaviane Venditti)

"The next one is Old Tom," the cat caught sleeping in the red Jeep above, Venditti said. "We think he's the father of many." Old Tom was also neutered this week and remains boarded at the animal hospital as he recovers from the surgery. Meanwhile, the females with newborn kittens will have to wait until their kittens grow more before they can be spayed, she added.

Venditti said that finding a veterinarian to help with the observatory cats was a struggle at first. "The biggest issue we were having was that clinics here are only by appointment," she said. "This one working with us is the only 24-hour vet clinic around, and they understood that we never know exactly when we'll be able to catch a cat, so they let us bring them whenever we can."

Cats chill in the staff parking lot at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (from left to right: Mars, Venus, Old Tom and Florence). (Image credit: Flaviane Venditti)

Considering the setting of this cat tale, it should come as no surprise that Mars and Venus are not the only observatory cats with out-of-this-world names. A little brown cat was named after the potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis, "as a joke, because he's so tiny and harmless," Venditti said.

Florence, a calico cat with kittens, was named after a triple asteroid system observed at the observatory right before Hurricane Irma," a Category 5 hurricane that hit Puerto Rico about two weeks before Hurricane Maria.

Midas the calico cat was found at the Arecibo Observatory and was adopted by a student. (Image credit: Margaret Allard)

Another cat was named Midas after a near-Earth asteroid called 1981 Midas, which the Arecibo Observatory had recently observed. Midas (the cat) showed up at the observatory this summer and started tailing a group of students, when someone noticed that she was very sick and took her to the vet.

"The cat stayed at the vet for several days and needed lab exams and medication for a while," Venditti said. "Finally, she got healthy, and the summer student decided to adopt it and flew back to the mainland with her at the end of the program."

To donate to their cause, you can visit the GoFundMe page. Venditti said that, after reaching the initial $1,600 required to spay/neuter the cats, she and her fellow cat-loving colleagues will likely continue to need help caring for the cats. "I will definitely keep taking care of them, and there will always be new cats showing up in need of help," she said.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
On Aug. 17, 2018, NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft obtained the first images of its target asteroid, Bennu, from a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km), or almost six times the distance between the Earth and moon.

After a nearly two-year space chase, NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe finally has its asteroid target in sight.

OSIRIS-REx, which launched in September 2016, has captured its first imagery of the 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) space rock Bennu, NASA officials announced today (Aug. 24).

The spacecraft snapped the photos on Aug. 17  the same day it officially began its final approach toward Bennu  from a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million kilometers). [OSIRIS-REx: NASA's Asteroid Sample-Return Mission in Pictures]

"I can't explain enough how much it meant for the team," OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta, of the University of Arizona, told reporters today. "I know Bennu is only a point of light here, but many of us have been working for years and years and years to get this first image down, and it really represents the beginning of the great scientific expedition that is OSIRIS-REx."

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Bennu will loom larger and larger in OSIRIS-REx's crosshairs over the next few months. If everything goes according to plan, the probe will arrive at the space rock on Dec. 3. It will perform a series of close flybys, taking measurements that will establish the asteroid's mass, and then begin circling Bennu on Dec. 31.

That will be no mean feat.

"It's Bennu's size and small mass that make the navigation challenges on this mission unprecedented, really," said Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx flight dynamics system manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "On December 31, when we insert into orbit, then it will become the smallest planetary object to ever be orbited by a spacecraft."

For comparison, the asteroid Ryugu, which Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has been orbiting since late June, is about twice as wide as Bennu, and about six times larger in terms of volume, Lauretta said. (Intriguingly, Bennu seems to share Ryugu's odd "spinning top" shape, he added.)

OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu from orbit for a while, and then spiral down to snag a sizable sample from the rock's surface in the middle of 2020. The spacecraft will depart Bennu in March 2021, and the sample, encased in a special return capsule, will parachute down to Earth in September 2023.

Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid, the type that many scientists think delivered the chemical building blocks of life, along with lots of water, to our planet via impacts long ago. So, analyses of the returned sample in labs around the world could reveal key insights about the early solar system and the origin of life on Earth, mission team members have said.

But the $800 million mission will investigate a variety of other questions as well, as its full name suggests. (OSIRIS-REx is short for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security - Regolith Explorer.")

For example, Bennu is a potentially hazardous asteroid; there's a very slight chance the rock could slam into Earth in the late 22nd century. OSIRIS-REx's observations should help scientists better understand the forces that shape asteroids' paths through space, and therefore better predict where, exactly, dangerous rocks are going, Lauretta said.

And then there's the "resource" aspect. Bennu likely contains lots of water, which space mining companies such as Planetary Resources are extremely interested in. The idea is to split asteroid water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen  the chief components of rocket fuel  and then use this stuff to set up propellant depots off Earth. Voyaging spaceships could then top off their tanks at such gas stations, making space exploration cheaper and more efficient.

OSIRIS-REx's work will reveal how resource-rich Bennu really is. And the probe's precision maneuvers around the rock will demonstrate vital navigation skills, said Lauretta, who serves on Planetary Resources' scientific advisory board.

"Any asteroid mining endeavor is going to have to understand how to do that," he said.

OSIRIS-REx isn't the only asteroid-sampling mission currently underway. Hayabusa2 will grab samples of Ryugu relatively soon, perhaps as early as October; this material is scheduled to come down to Earth in late 2020.

The OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 teams have been working together and will continue to do so, Lauretta said.

"All of the information about the Hayabusa2 spacecraft's interaction with the asteroid surface will also be important for OSIRIS-REx as we time the final touch-and-go [sampling] maneuvers for our mission," he said.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Brian A. Pounds / Brian A. Pounds

After a $4 billion deal by liquor giant Constellation Brands for a Canadian cannabis company, Diageo is chasing multiple investment opportunities north of the border as well, according to Bloomberg.

Diageo is based in London with its North American headquarters in Norwalk, with spirits brands including Crown Royal Canadian whiskey, Johnnie Walker and Don Julio among others.
STAMFORD  A former Stamford Health doctor has been fined after she was accused of coming to work impaired.

Dr. Kim Zeh was reprimanded and fined $7,500 this week by the state Medical Examining Board. Zeh was accused of coming to work at a Stamford Health urgent care center in 2017 impaired, due to alcohol or opiates she ingested to alleviate post-surgical pain, according to state records.

Zeh was sent home and did not see any patients that day. State records did not indicate the name of the Stamford urgent care center.

Results of a chemical dependency evaluation were negative and Zeh was found safe to practice medicine, the order said.

Zeh, who specializes in emergency medicine, did not admit wrongdoing but chose not to contest the accusations, the order said.

According to Christina Scott, a spokeswoman for Stamford Health, Zeh has not worked for the health network since the incident.

"Stamford Health is very concerned about patient safety, so in a case like this, the hospital took swift action," Scott said.

Zeh could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Two other doctors were reprimanded by the medical board this week, including a Norwich physician for failing to keep his prescription pad secure.

In addition to not providing adequate security of his prescription pad, Dr. John Paggioli had pre-signed a blank prescription for a patient and held controlled substances in his office for various patients, a consent order said.

Though he denied any wrongdoing, Paggioli did not contest the allegations, the order said.

"He absolutely learned from this," the doctors Hartford lawyer, Hilary Fisher Nelson, told the board. "He has implemented a system that is safe."

The discipline stemmed from a 2016 investigation by the Drug Control Division of the state Department of Consumer Protection that began when a pharmacist reported a possible forged prescription in Paggiolis name, records show. He has since passed three unannounced state inspections, records show.

In 2016, the medical board fined Paggioli $4,000 for failing to secure his prescription pads, leading to several fraudulent prescriptions being taken to local pharmacies.

The board also reprimanded Dr. Stephen Harris, a Cheshire internal medicine physician, for discarding patient files in a dumpster when he closed his medical practice in Waterbury in January, state records show. An anonymous tip led to the investigation and the state Department of Public Works retrieved the records from the trash that day.

Harris, who did not contest the allegation, will have his license suspended for six months, the order said. He was ordered to take courses in ethics and patient confidentiality during the probation.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (c-hit.org).
BRIDGEPORT  The pastor of the citys largest parish  and right-hand man to Bishop Frank J. Caggiano  has been put on leave for violating the dioceses policies involving contact with children, church officials confirmed Thursday.

Parishioners have been told that The Rev. Frank Gomez is not accused of any immoral or illegal actions, but that he made some poor choices.

The Catholic church is dealing with confirmation that thousands of its priests worldwide have sexually abused children  the latest investigation in Pennsylvania confirmed more than 1,000 children were molested by more than 300 priests over 70 years.

As the result of numerous scandals worldwide, church leadership has put in place policies regarding ministerial contact with children.

Gomezs removal was announced earlier this week to parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Church on East Main Street where he has served as pastor since April 2015.

Late last month, I met with some members of Saint Charles Parish, who raised some concerns about Father Gomez behavior over the last six months that involved boundary violations with minors. While there was no accusation of any immoral or illegal actions on the part of Father Gomez, he had clearly made some decisions that violated the diocesan code of conduct with regards to safe environment policies, the bishop stated in a letter to St. Charles parishioners.

I immediately spoke with Father Gomez, who admitted that he had made some poor choices and indicated that he had been experiencing some personal difficulties, further exacerbated by a demanding workload. Therefore, Fr. Frank was assigned to take up residence at a health care facility for clergy to address certain personal issues while stepping away from active ministry, the letter states.

It comes just days after the bishop, in an open letter to parishioners of the diocese stated he has been made sick to his stomach regarding the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing years of alleged abuse by priests there.

Diocese spokesman Brian Wallace reiterated that there are no allegations that Gomez abused children. He said Gomez is accused of boundary violations, under the diocese Safe Environments policy.

These would include texting minors without parental permission and meeting with minors in small groups without parental supervision. Wallace said the violations of the policy were reported to the state Department of Children and Families which took no action because there were no allegations of abuse.

But Cindy Robinson, whose Bridgeport law firm Tremont & Sheldon successfully represented more than two dozen people in settlements against the diocese for sex abuse claims against priests, said she is troubled by the dioceses phrasing of what Gomez did. She said the grand jury in Pennsylvania criticized that archdiocese for using the same kind of terminology to hide alleged abuse.

Parishioners have a right to know exactly what he did, she said.

In February, Caggiano appointed Gomez the head of the citys 11 parishes and St. Margaret Shrine as part of a diocese reorganization.

May you become another sign of unity and fraternity in the diocese, the bishop said during the installation ceremony.

The Rev. Gomez was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bridgeport, on May 16, 2009.

Bishop Caggiano appointed him pastor of Saint Charles Borromeo Parish, the largest parish in the city, in April 2015. He also serves as the Episcopal Master of Ceremonies/Secretary to the Bishop of Bridgeport.

St. Charles Parish was founded in 1902. It is now the home of a large Spanish-speaking, Brazilian, and Haitian community. The upper church, dedicated in 1925, seats 1,400 worshippers, making it one of the largest in the diocese. It is located at 1279 East Main Street in Bridgeport.
In tone and in substance, Virginia GOP Senate candidate Corey Stewart differed starkly from the man he's trying to unseat, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, during a candidates' forum Friday at Virginia Tech.

Stewart, who has modeled his campaign off President Donald Trump - despite Trump's unpopularity in the state - decried "the cult of political correctness" that he said has taken over university campuses, the government and the media. He urged those who attended the forum in Blacksburg, Virginia, to leave the cult "as soon as possible" and warned that free speech is "under threat today."

Kaine, a popular former governor and lieutenant governor who was Hillary Clinton's vice presidential pick in 2016, said he does not think division within the country is "as bad as it seems."

"I see a lot of common ground," Kaine said, smiling as he praised the "civility" of Virginians he meets on the campaign trail - even those who he said strongly disagree with him.

Kaine holds a comfortable lead over Stewart in most polls, including a 17-point margin in a poll released earlier this week by Roanoke College, which found 51 percent supporting Kaine and 34 percent backing Stewart.

The Democrat also has a massive financial edge over the Republican. Kaine raised $18.2 million to Stewart's $1.1 million, according to the reports filed at the end of June.

Both candidates gave opening statements and fielded questions from the audience during the hour-long forum, which was moderate by The Collegiate Times, a student newspaper at Virginia Tech. The questions, which audience members could text to moderators, touched on everything from how Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, will try to win over moderate Republicans to why someone who is pro-life should support Kaine.

Kaine was joined by several Democratic officials, including state Del. Chris Hurst, a Democrat who represents Blacksburg, and Del. Danica Roem, Virginia's first transgender state lawmaker, who is from Manassas - the heart of Stewart's Prince William County. Also applauding Kaine was Anthony Flaccavento, a farmer and Democrat running for Congress from the district surrounding the Virginia Tech campus, and Kaine's wife, Anne Holton, who is a former Virginia education secretary and the daughter of former Republican Gov. Linwood Holton.

Stewart, an immigration hard-liner who has been associated with white supremacists and whose campaign has been largely abandoned by state party leaders, did not acknowledge any Republican officials in the audience, if there were any. Some of the 11 other Republicans running for Congress from Virginia have said they do not plan to campaign with Stewart, some telling the Post they fear he is a drag on downballot candidates.

"I don't care about politicians," Stewart said after the forum through a spokesman. "I care about the people."

Instead, Stewart offered a sort of rebuke to both parties when asked by an audience member how he will appeal to moderate Republicans who care more about fiscal policy than preserving Confederate statues - which was a theme of Stewart's unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination for governor last year.

Never directly answering the audience member's question, Stewart said America needs free speech.

"I know there are certainly people on the left, within the media and within my own Republican party who are trying to shut me down," he said. "It's important that we have someone who stands against the grain, and that is what I have done, and what I will continue to do."

He then said he disagrees with "radicals" on both sides of the aisle.

Stewart, who has long relished his role as a politically incorrect provocateur, said he wants to go the U.S. Senate to expand nationwide the policy he pushed in Prince William County that directs police to question a person's immigration status after he or she has been arrested. The policy originally called for police to check the immigration status of anyone they stopped, but it was relaxed following opposition, so that checks are performed only after an arrest, and for everyone taken into custody.

"This is a common-sense approach," Stewart said, claiming that it has led to the deportation of more than 8,000 "criminal illegal aliens" from Prince William County.

He said that University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts' death was partly the result of lax immigration policies, repeating a line which has become a popular conservative talking point, and which one member of Tibbett's family called "despicable."

He then falsely claimed that Kaine wants to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Stewart mentioned Kaine by name several times but when Kaine later took the stage, he never directly referred to Stewart.

Kaine emphasized inclusivity, repeatedly saying that his campaign is about better health care, education and jobs "for all" Virginians.

"I'm obsessed with those words," Kaine said, noting they are the final two words of the Pledge of Allegiance. "I worry that we're living in a time when it's about some, a few, and sometimes just for me. I believe in jobs for all, education for all, heallth care for all, security for all . . . We are going to send a message that as Virginians and Americans we still support the 'for all' at the end of the Pledge of Allegiance."

Kaine, who was governor during the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting and describes it as "the worst day of my life", said although there is no "single answer" to ending gun violence, he wants to implement universal background checks and "reasonable limitations", such as the size of magazines, which he said is "completely consistent with the Second Amendment."

Kaine has an F rating from the National Rifle Association, which is headquartered in Virginia; Stewart has an A.

Virginia has long taken pride in its gun culture, but in statewide contests in recent years, residents have increasingly elected politicians promising stronger gun control.

The new survey from Roanoke College showed that for the first time since pollsters began asking the question in 2015, more respondents said gun control was more important than protecting the rights of Americans to own guns. Forty-eight percent of likely voters said it was more important to control guns; 44 percent said it was more important to protect owners.

Asked about abortion, Kaine, who is Catholic, said he lives in accord with the teaching of his church but recognizes that his public duty is different. "I don't think my role as a public official is to mandate the rules of the Catholic Church for everyone."

Earlier, Stewart lambasted Kaine's position, calling it "morally reprehensible." "I believe an unborn child is a child," Stewart said.
I want you to know that many Jewish people in the United Kingdom are seriously contemplating their future here in the event of you becoming Prime Minister. This is because they can see that Labour, a party with a proud tradition of tolerance and inclusiveness, is now a hotbed of feelings against Israel and therefore the Jewish people.

Quietly, discreetly and extremely reluctantly, they are making their contingency plans. And this would be a tragedy. Its not just the contribution that the community has made to our nation. Its also a signal to the world about the state of modern Britain  the Jewish people are the canary in the coalmine. Intolerance breeds intolerance. Closed societies are failing societies.

Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are the same thing. They are two sides of the same coin. Anti-Zionism is the belief that the state of Israel should not exist. That it should be dismantled. This is not the same as saying, quite legitimately, that you disagree with the policies of the current or any other Israeli government; or calling for the reversal of the settlement programme in the West Bank; or demanding a return to earlier borders and the creation of a two-state solution.

Some historical context is important here. Two thousand years ago, at the end of a long and bloody revolt, the Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were dispersed far and wide, across the Roman Empire and beyond. They settled in many places. Some made them welcome for a time. Others less so. Jewish people lived in a constant state of trepidation. Periods of peace and prosperity punctuated by pogroms, inquisition and expulsion.

In Europe, the Holocaust was the crescendo of centuries of rumbling antipathy. Jews sought to escape the horror but the numbers who found refuge were pathetically small. Even the UK only accepted 70,000 Jewish refugees before the Second World War and 10,000 during it.

Andrew Feldman / Stephen Lock /i-Images

Quite simply, there was nowhere for them to go, so six million people perished out of a total global Jewish population of 17 million.

Finally, after this destruction, the world decided that enough was enough. The Jewish people needed their own place to go when things went wrong. And the ancient homeland was chosen. It was to be shared with the Palestinians on lines established by a United Nations resolution in 1948.

This was not the only work for the cartographers after the Second World War. The demise of empire, the calls for national determination and the need for pragmatic solutions brought about the creation of new states in Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere in the Middle East. Lines were drawn on maps. Sometimes they respected geographical, religious and tribal boundaries; sometimes they did not. Everyone was doing the best they could to make sense of the cataclysmic events of the previous decades.

The State of Israel served its purpose. A national homeland for the Jewish people existing alongside the Jewish communities that continued to live around the world. And when things did not go well for some of those communities  in Russia, Iraq, Morocco and elsewhere  it was a place of sanctuary. It accepted refugees in huge numbers without question.

And its important to recognise that the anti-Zionists are very selective in their call for the return to pre-Second World War boundaries. They do not make the same call for the reunification of India and Pakistan; the redrawing of the map in Africa in places such as Rwanda to restore tribal territorial aspirations; or call for a change of the settlement in the Middle East to ensure a fairer distribution of oil wealth. In fact, there is not a single other state in the world that is subject to the same calls for it literally to cease to exist.

"Quietly, discreetly and extremely reluctantly, Jewish people are making their contingency plans"

Which brings me back to you, Mr Corbyn, and some of your supporters in the Labour Party. In associating yourselves with Hamas , Hezbollah and the Iranian leadership, they are aligning you with passionate anti-Zionists who pledge the destruction of an entire nation. You argue that some of your good friends are Jewish  and explain that Israel is different as it is a powerful, military state that behaves badly to its Palestinian neighbours. You cite a few of these Jewish friends in support of this argument.

But these people are representative of nothing. History is littered with self-hating Jews who denounce their own. Torquemada, a man of Jewish descent, who was the most vicious of the inquisitors during the Spanish Inquisition, was one such person. Karl Marx (somewhat closer to your ideological home) was another. The fact that a Jewish person calls for the destruction of Israel doesnt make it any less a case of anti-Semitism  it is more repugnant.

The irony of this must be clear even to you and your most hardened supporters. The State of Israel exists to provide a potential safe haven in a terrible situation where, in the face of a hostile ideology, Jewish people feel that they need to flee. And as much as you may squirm, it is a truth that is impossible to deny. It is time you faced up to this and took aggressive steps to erase anti-Zionism from the Labour Party. A failure to do so would be a stain on the history of the Labour Party, and on the history of the United Kingdom.
H ow woke is your family? Not a question I have ever particularly wanted to answer publicly. But last week, sitting in a soggy corner of Scotland on a family holiday, with ages from nine months to 70, my younger brother and I embarked on a new family quiz, How Woke is Your Family?, to ensure the drawn-out evenings avoided familial arguments.

Much hilarity and confusion ensued. One, hard of hearing, kept asking why in hells name I was blathering on about Woking. (Being woke: at its simplest, becoming aware of the oppression of marginalised groups in society but Google it if youre confused, theres a full spectrum of explanations). As for intersectionality, did I mean the road network around Milton Keynes? But we persevered

Calling out everyday micro- aggressions became a competition  how many could the women spot before lunchtime. Given that I am on crutches and therefore momentarily disabled, I gained bonus points because the men kept trying to sneak off for activities without me  micro and macro aggressions.

Our explanations of more complex theories did fumble after copious refreshments. My brother did brilliantly in gently destroying one persons suggestion that men are too scared to flirt at parties any more. But I had to check the exact historical context of intersectionality again, leading to accusations that I was so not a third-wave feminist. At that point I became paranoid about which wave I was and immediately went onto Amazon to order Meg Wolitzers The Female Persuasion (which Ill be posting on Instagram to prove how completely every-wave-woke feminist I am).

My sister-in-law, meanwhile, insisted she was neo-woke and wouldnt join in. Checking white privilege became fairly exhausting, given the amount of white privilege that was present, but we were making inroads by the end of it.

Our gameplay had a serious endpoint: the consistency of the conversation meant that serious debate was commonplace among the banter. You cant always educate by shouting. Which is where we seem to be today.

Activism has to take many forms, but its got so angry and accusatory, it plays right into the hands of the doubters and deniers, while everyone else switches off. Not a week goes by without another public figure shot down. This week Jamie Oliver and his jerk chicken ; last week Jack Whitehall for being cast as Disneys first gay character . We are living in an era of cripplingly high virtuosity and condemnation. It plays out well on social media. But halos are easily dislodged.

"My brother did brilliantly in gently destroying a suggestion that men are too scared to flirt at parties now"

#MeToos Asia Argento has just fallen hard in the eyes of many. For however convincing the actresss defence, she paid a young man 280,000 after he had accused her of sexual abuse at exactly the time she was attacking Harvey Weinstein for the same. Which is a damn shame. To. Put. It. Mildly.

I suggest trying my silly game whatever side of the argument youre on. Everybody has bias. Lots of people have issues. Im a privileged white girl; Im trying in many small ways. And, I hope, without being either an insensitive or sanctimonious bitch.

Asma shopped while Syria burned

Syria has quietly crept to the corners of our daily news. Each day the war draws closer to its end. Assad is here to stay.

President Putin has started the softly, softly approach of persuading both Syrian leaders and European heads of state to reconcile  he was busy persuading Angela Merkel of his rotten cause this week.

The names of the dead  those disappeared, tortured and murdered in Assads jails  are being released to families desperate to know if their loved ones are still alive and is a first step in the process. We look away. Its a horror story of which we cant change the miserable, wretched ending.

Trump is a better diversion, an easier hate figure, attacking Melania and Ivanka simpler sport. But I keep thinking about Assads wife, who is nearly forgotten. Asma al-Assad, a highly educated banker who used to live near me in Shepherds Bush, and was celebrated in a highly publicised American Vogue spread before we knew the depths of her husbands depravity.

As her people suffocated, she continued to shop, frittering thousands on deliveries from Paris until it was stopped. She has my true vilification. And my curiosity. How did she square all those deaths as she kissed her three children at night, before opening her boxes of tissue-wrapped fashion confectionery?

Dancers at Notting Hill Carnival in 2014 / Marc Gascoigne/Alamy

Yet again I am missing Notting Hill Carnival , the annual scene of some of my happiest, most riotous, fun-filled memories, weekends of dancing non-stop. I never took for granted what an incredible spectacle it was, how lucky I was to be a Londoner.
H ere's a tale of two council taxes: in London I rent a one-bedroom flat in Soho  not too shabby, not at all chic, great services and the rubbish is collected twice a day. My council tax is 500 a year from Westminster council  on a Band E property  plus another 350 for the Greater London Authority.

I also own a cottage in the country, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, which is worth half my London flat, a humble Band C, and yet I pay 1,500 and have my rubbish collected once a fortnight. A grander Band E property would be more than 2,000 a year  four times what I pay in Soho.

How can this be? We are all local: we only see what is immediately on our doorstep and accept it. You have to be in a luxurious position of having keys to two properties, or an avid reader of your parents council tax statements, to spot the scale of the differences.

The Fair Funding Review of the needs and resources of local authorities is under way. This week the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a report with a few suggestions, one of which is that councils such as Westminster might  in my words, not the IFSs  be playing the system.

Councils raise a certain amount from the residents, and are then topped up by the Government. At the moment it looks like Westminster can only pull in a measly 500 from Soho Joy. The Government is sympathetic to Westminster residents meagre revenues so it needs its top-up.

Meanwhile, over in the country, Stroud Joy and her neighbours seem to be able afford 2,000 and so the Government doesnt need to be so generous to a rural council. Is Stroud subsiding Westminster, the rural for the city?

The IFS has said ahem and suggested we should calculate not on what councils bring in but what they are capable of bringing in before deciding central government top-ups.

There are inefficiencies and overspending within councils, and social needs differ, as does the flavour of the local politics. This isnt even a Left-Right division: I fall just into the Cotswold District Council boundary, Conservative through and through. None of this accounts for the 4:1 difference.

When the poll tax was opposed, the slogan was Cant Pay, Wont Pay. Westminster residents, I suggest we invert it  Can Pay, Will Pay. Because Stroud Joy deserves a council tax cut and Westminster Joy deserves a rise.

Trump continues tradition of US political monkey business

As plots go, this one is better than Hollywood. Robert Mueller plays the gumshoe, looking for evidence of Donald Trumps collusion with Russia . Meanwhile, cut to the President, caught with his pants down, being spanked with a magazine with his face on the cover.

It would be the ultimate irony if Trump was brought down not by Russia or business connections but payments to blonde porn star Stormy Daniels through his former lawyer Michael Cohen .

Stormy Daniels / Getty Images

As a result, he would enter into a fine tradition in US politics, from Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to John Edwards, a frontrunner for the Democrat candidacy in 2008, who fathered a child with his lover while his wife was dying of cancer.

The finest, though, was Gary Hart, the 1988 Democratic candidate who was outpolling Republican George Bush Snr. Hart challenged reporters whod suggested he was having an affair to follow me around to prove he wasnt. Reporters from the Miami Herald had a photograph of him with his lover, the actress Donna Rice, sitting on his lap on a yacht called Monkey Business. As was said of Nixon after Watergate, it wasnt the crime, it was the concealment that got him.

Trump stands accused of asking Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels hush money, which would influence the election  a federal crime. To use the old Nixon formula, it wont be the disrobement, it will be the cover-up.

Why Brexit may not go swimmingly

Who knew that a no-deal Brexit would lead to a shortage of Danish sperm?

It turns out that our Scandi brethren provided 3,000 samples to us Brits a year. This was one of the details in the no-deal technical articles released yesterday.

The Times reports in perfectly po-faced language that British men could be called on to make up for the donations.
I DISAGREED with Alex Lawsons comments on childcare in London [Ask any parent  childcare in London needs a total rethink, August 20].

He recommends an Uber-style approach to childcare, where children, like packages, can be dropped at a variety of nurseries. Small children need meaningful, close relationships with adults who look after them, adults who understand them and their families well.

Childcare should be of the highest quality. It needs to be subsidised but it should never, ever be done on the cheap. These first five years are the most important in our lives. When will we recognise this?

Louise Glover

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Louise

AS A father of two young children, I entirely agree that the early years are crucial in shaping their lives. Similarly, childcare should not, and cannot, be done on the cheap.

My point was not to copy Ubers cheapness but its flexibility to allow working parents a back-up. If you had a group of, say, three nurseries in an area co-ordinating their staffing electronically, could it be possible to work out if there were space for another child? That would also be a small enough group of staff to bond with the children. After all, many nurseries use daily agency workers who dont know the kids.

One senior industry figure said my suggestion wasnt workable because most childcare workers are mothers themselves, so cannot offer the flexibility this requires. But theres also a suggestion that retired or lonely people could help to plug the gap, and men also need to be more actively encouraged into childcare.

Ultimately, more funding is needed for an overlooked sector beset by a complex web of issues.

Alex Lawson, Business News Editor

Outdated exams

One has to wonder how much longer we will continue to put our teenagers through this outdated exam practice of testing at 16. With all the sensible and steady rhetoric about grade 9s not being a new A*, pupils should be inoculated against pressure from any quarter to aim for the full house results.

Theres a difference between learning and getting a qualification, and if we understood that better, wed perhaps navigate our understanding through past and current exam controversies less circuitously.

Our GCSEs are, broadly speaking, designed to deliver accountability to government on whether England plc is numerate and literate. They also give an indication of our pupils readiness for the kind of further study they should do post-16. Teach to a test, even a well-designed one, and your teaching will be distorted by the test.

Adam Pettitt

Head, Highgate School

Vive le Francais

Anthony Seldon rightly deplores the decline of French and German in schools [We must try to complete Goves A-level revolution, August 16].

As a retired teacher of these languages, I found French the finest of all languages and a pleasure to learn. It is the most beautiful, the easiest, the most subtle and the most succinct  for example Voila! means There you are, There it is. Dont mention it is simply De rien, while See you on Monday is just A Lundi.

French culture is the worlds most refined. I spent a year at Aix-Marseille Universite on its civilisation Francaise course. I loved the brilliant, inspiring lectures on French history, painting, architecture, philosophy and literature.

My English university courses, at Hull and Oxford, virtually ignored culture. Something really must be done.

Jonathan Smith

Best to adopt pets

Banning the sale of puppies and kittens at pet shops is a welcome move as restrictions on heartless breeders are urgently needed [Puppies and kittens will not be sold in pet shops in clampdown on illegal breeders, August 22].
T HERE will never be a free and united Africa while you still have dictators such as Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda, and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the President of Zimbabwe. Today in Zimbabwe there is going to be a constitutional court challenge, where Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, challenges the outcome of the elections that took place on July 31.

But what chance does a saintly Chamisa have against a reptile  The Crocodile Mnangagwa  in overturning a constitutional court verdict? While men such as him use violence and fraud to remain in power, we will never realise the true potential of Africa.

Bigboy Sibanda

THE flaws within the Zimbabwean justice system are widening. It is clear that the system is mendacious. Ziyambi Ziyambi, the minister of justice, has no constitutional right to decide who should represent Nelson Chamisa, the MDC Alliance leader, in court. Mr Ziyambi should stop putting insurmountable obstacles to try to prevent the natural course of justice prevailing in the court challenge to the recent election result.

This is also why the British MP Kate Hoey, one of the observers at the Zimbabwe elections, is saying the international community should not accept the result since the election was rigged.

Isaac Chawasarira

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Bigboy and Isaac

You are both right, and its important that people continue to speak out after an election which promised so much hope but hasnt  yet  fulfilled it.

I have many Zimbabwean friends and admire Zimbabwe, which, despite terrible torment, has persisted in trying to change things through democratic elections and the rule of law. Both have been subverted, but some faith in the process remains, which is why this weeks court challenge to the election result matters. Its in everyones interests, including President Mnangagwas, that the election be settled through legal means  though like you, Im not sure he will allow it to happen. Britain is home to many Zimbabweans and retains strong links with the country, which is why our governments attitude matters too. Some worry that we have been too quick to endorse the post-Mugabe government in order to trade and step up development aid. Other EU states have been more cautious. Our new Foreign Secretary would do well, I think, to take advice and stand up for the freedoms that Zimbabweans so clearly want.

Julian Glover, Associate Editor (Comment)

May should pick a Brexit trade deal

BREXIT supporters will happily blame the EU if there is no deal rather than owning up to their attempts to undermine the negotiations. The Government has made a mess in moving forward because of in-fighting within its own party.

The EU has made good trade arrangements with Norway, Switzerland, Canada and Japan. Theresa May could easily pick one of these models which, with a few amendments, would suit both Britain and the EU, and get on with finalising the agreement.

Baldev Sharma
A fashion designer who was told he might never walk again after falling down a lift shaft at drama school is hoping to hit the big time as he prepares to unveil his womenswear collection at London Fashion Week.

Hector Maclean, 28, plunged 20ft down the open shaft onto a concrete floor at Rada in Camden, leaving him with two broken legs and a severed artery.

Maclean had already led a team of designers at British label Beulah while juggling a promising catwalk modelling career. But after the accident in March 2014 he spent more than a year recovering from three operations.

He was left with scars that curtailed his modelling work and was unable to get another designer job for more than two years. He sunk into a deep depression and when the modelling cash dried up he was forced to move back in with his mother and claim dole.

But now Maclean is gearing up to debut his new collection at London Fashion Week next month in a bid to become the next great British womenswear designer. He said: I always dreamed Id get to this point but after the accident I was more worried about being told I may never walk again.

Doctors initially told me this but they were able to salvage both legs. The bone had cut an artery. I was 23 and it was meant to be my big break in fashion, my agent was going to take me to Paris but all that was destroyed.

After the lift shaft fall at Rada / Hector Maclean/Facebook

Before the accident he had worked for Vivienne Westwood, J W Anderson and Mark Fast. I lost everything. I lost the money from modelling and had to move back in with my mother and go on the dole. I applied for hundreds of designer jobs but there was a year-long gap in my CV while I was recovering.

Work in the industry is so time-sensitive, that worked against me. I was depressed. I tried to get therapy but I was feeling darker and darker. It felt Id worked my heart out for nothing.

Rada was fined 12,000 for breaching health and safety rules by not securing the lift shaft. Lawyers admitted the oversight posed a risk of death.

Hector before the accident

Last year Maclean began working on new designs, which are being kept under wraps until the show, using compensation he received after the fall.

This year he met Hollywood stars at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles who fell in love with his outfits. He said he hoped they would be at his show at Arundel House off the Strand on September 16. My designs are about empowering women to feel more beautiful than they ever have before, he added. I want them to feel like its the most perfect thing theyve ever put on.
ASOS has long been known as the fashion powerhouse who introduced fast fashion to the online world.

And while fast fashion can sometimes be unethical  the companys ASOS Foundation has proven that they are committed to taking a responsible approach.

The ASOS Foundation has just announced that it's launched The Kujuwa Initiative along with the SOKO Community Trust  who have been a partner of ASOS since 2010 and are a Kenyan clothing manufacturer which provides community training.

The Kujuwa Initiative is a scheme to help young women in Africa who are forced to miss school when they are on their periods due to the lack of menstrual products available.

ASOS will be providing the Trust with the off-cuts of their clothes and this fabric will be used to make reusable sanitary pads for the girls in need.

More specifically, it will be the scraps from the brands Made in Kenya collections that will be used to produce the washable pads that will be distributed in a kit also containing two pairs of cotton underwear, a bar of soap and a wash bag.

The sanitary pads will have removable liners and can last up to three years.

The Kujuwa Initiative  which translates to The Knowledge Initiative  will also provide health education for young women in the Kasigua region of Kenya.

As well as making a significant different to the menstrual health of these young women, the initiative will also give schools in the region access to the WASH Project which provides water tanks and toilets where they are needed  critical for young women who want to change their sanitary pads in private.

Period Poverty is something that affects young women worldwide and means girls are missing school because they do not have adequate access to sanitary care.
T he Notting Hill Carnival returns this weekend for its 53rd time, and over the course of two days, more than a million people are expected to work their way through 25,000 litres of rum and five tonnes of jerk chicken.

The jewel of the Carnival, the world-famous parade, will see hundreds of dancers shimmy and shake in a spectacle to rival Rio.

It perhaps seems curious that a little corner of west London should come to hold such an event, and should  for a weekend at least  be the epicentre for a celebration of Caribbean culture. Its origins are, in a number of ways, remarkable. It starts with the impact of the Second World War, which had devastated Britains working population. In 1948, the country reached out around the world to what were then its colonies, encouraging immigration to sure-up the workforce. Around half a million of those who came over were from the Caribbean, some on HMT Empire Windrush  for which their generation were then named.

By the 1950s, both Notting Hill and Brixton had substantial West Indian populations. In fact, both areas became overcrowded, and conditions were poor: poverty riddled every run-down tenement building. There was no hot water, no electricity, and London was fraught with social unease and racial tension. Working-class whites clashed fiercely with their new neighbours, and in 1958, the Race Riots cracked the area further: from August 30 until September 5, mobs of white Teddy Boys vandalised houses and fought with residents. At the time, both Oswald Mosley's far-right Union Movement, and the White Defence League were both dispiritingly popular.

Later, in 1959, Antiguan carpenter Kelso Cochrane was murdered in a racially motivated attack, which remains unsolved. But the mood began to clear as these provocations proved a catalyst for change, with human rights activist Claudia Jones hosting the first Caribbean Carnival in St Pancras Town Hall. Similar events followed, as Jones, who'd also founded the the West Indian Gazette, worked with husband and wife Edric and Pearl Connor to promote their movement, a celebration of their culture. Later, in 1966, two years after Jones had passed, community activist Rhaune Laslett took the idea outdoors and the first Notting Hill Carnival was born. True to Jones' ideas, its aim was to unwind the unease and promote integration. Notting Hill became, quite literally, a place for Londoners to find common ground.

Notting Hill Carnival 2018 - In pictures 1 /10 Notting Hill Carnival 2018 - In pictures Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Niall Green Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Niall Green Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor

Since then, the Carnival has grown and grown to become what it is today, proudly boasting more than 30 sound systems, countless food stalls, steel and Brazilian bands alike. It is famously Europes biggest street party, and, true to its roots, has long had a diverse crowd dancing together. Old photos show punks with policeman, dub DJs with dancehall stars  flick through the gallery above to see a half century of history.
P opcaan has been revealed as the secret headliner of a free gig at this years Notting Hill Carnival.

The dancehall hero, who plays Wembley Arena in December, will headline the Red Bull Music sound system on Sunday August 26.

He will be joined by Dre Skull, the founder of Mixpak records, as well as Maleek Berry, Lisa Mercedez, Trillary Banks and more.

The sound system will be housed within Emslie Hornimans Pleasance Park, running from midday to 7pm. Entrance is free.

In July, Popcaan dropped his second full-length solo album Forever, cementing his place as an internationally renowned pop icon.

The Red Bull Music sound system is just one of many that will be fuelling the Carnival vibes over bank holiday weekend. You can see a map of them all, as well as the live music stages, here.

Once the music stops at Carnival, the party carries on around the city. Click here for our round-up of the best after parties in London.

For everything else you need to know about Notting Hill Carnival, check out our guide.
British supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has spoken candidly about coping with adult acne, being perceived as cold, and the exploitation of young models in the fashion industry in an interview with Net-a-Porter's digital magazine PorterEdit.

The former Victoria's Secret model and mother-of-one, who has been the face of Burberry and Marks & Spencer, also opened up about her ambition for her new beauty brand Rosie Inc..

Read on for some highlights of the interview.

On suffering with adult acne:

Ive never had perfect skin, but throughout the pregnancy it couldnt have been better. They say boys bring out your beauty and girls steal it! [] Six months after [the birth] the acne started. Its sort of a depressing thing, so mortifying. Im following [skin specialist] Dr Lancers advice, so its a work in progress.

On being rejected for having a personality:

With Victorias Secret, you were celebrated for being a woman and [] for being feminine and having a personality  laughing and being approachable. I would go to castings in my teens and the response that I got from my agent was: They think youre too much of a personality, youre too happy and wholesome, and Id just be like, What? Well, f**k them, I dont want to work with them anyway. So it was great to finally find my home with companies that celebrated those things  Victorias Secret, Marks & Spencer, Burberry.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wears jacket Monse; shirt Vince. Photographed by Zoey Grossmanfor PorterEdit, NET-A-PORTER.COM. All items can be purchased straight from the magazine pagesvia www.net-a-porter.com. / Zoey Grossman/PorterEdit/ NET-A-PORTER.COM

On peoples perception that she is cold:

Perhaps people mistake my protectiveness [of my private life] or nervousness to reach out to an audience as aloofness or standoffishness, and one of the things that I always hear from people who meet me is theyre surprised that Im warmer than they might have thought. People have low expectations, which Im totally fine with.

On the exploitation of models:

I dont think young models are protected enough. There was always this encouragement that you should be free, be wild, the more you relax the more work is going to come your way I look back and I am very lucky that I never had an experience that has left me deeply scarred. There were certain things that were just not OK, comments that were made or expectations that were put on you, and professional lines were crossed.

On her negative modeling experiences:

The sort of conversations that often took place were, Well, he might want to take some photographs of you at his house and it might be a bit sexy so, you know, if youre happy to go along Almost like the looser you were and the more rocknroll you were about things, then that was the way to be. Looking back now, there were a lot of instances where you were unprotected and that really starts with the agents, as people who take a huge commission from young women. I have to scratch my head at times and ask what theyre doing.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wears blazer and pants Roland Mouret; tank Proenza Schouler.Photographed by Zoey Grossman for PorterEdit, NET-A-PORTER.COM. All items can be purchasedstraight from the magazine pages via www.net-a-porter.com. / Zoey Grossman/PorterEdit/ NET-A-PORTER.COM

On why she doesnt want to do photoshoots anymore:

Being photographed [has] become the least fulfilling part of what I do because Ive done it for so many years, she said. If [shoots arent] a collaborative process then Im not really interested, because I dont want to feel like I did for the first 10 years of my career, which is that I was just having stuff done to me.

On how she struggled to do luxury, high-fashion work:

I spent years and years as a catalogue queen. I did so much catalogue work and did all the highstreet brands, brands from all over the world that were much more mainstream. For years I couldnt get a job in high fashion or luxury.

On how commercial-looking models speak to real women:

There came this turning point in the industry, not just for me but for a lot of the commercial models, around that time when social media had started to become a day-to-day experience that we all deal with. I think that editors, brands and magazines started to realize, hang on a minute, these sexy, traditionally more wholesome or commercial-looking girls were actually the girls that could sell and speak to real women.

On taking control of her career:

When youre a model or an actress, a lot of it is waiting for the phone to ring. Youre sort of sitting around and waiting for other people to make the decision to take a chance on you, and I just never felt comfortable sitting back and waiting for other people to make decisions for me. Ive always wanted to be in control of where my life is going.

On her plans to grow her business, Rose Inc.:

Im not going to lay my five-year plan down on the table to you, but Im sure youre smart enough to realize that I have ambition and goals for the site and I have a very clear vision of what I want to create from it. Its really daunting and really scary, but I knew my work couldnt go back to the way it was before [starting a family], just purely because I was on a plane every two weeks and as much as I love to work, your priorities shift massively.

The British model even touched on British reality TV show Love Island:

I downloaded Hulu specifically for it. I was obsessed with [on-screen couple] Jack and Dani.
I went to Notting Hill Carnival for the first time last summer.

Id read the stories in the papers that seemed to repeat themselves about carnival being a hotbed of violent crime and debauchery, so Id presumptively made the decision to be more of a spectator than a participant.

When I finally joined the crowd gathering behind Westbourne Park station, though, I quickly realised I didnt have much of a choice. I was unwillingly dragged into the parades epicentre. Melted chocolate from one of the many Mas bands was being pelted from every angle and, suffice to say, my carefully selected outfit was ruined within five minutes.

Everywhere I looked people were laughing with freedom, hips swaying to the soca music blaring out of the sound systems. Complete strangers were pulling me into the crowd and getting me to dance, and soon enough I was whining with the best of them.

Despite having Jamaican roots, this environment was completely foreign to me. Growing up in the majority-white Kent countryside, Id been shielded from my Jamaican heritage most of my life.

Although Ive always taken an interest in my culture, Id never been confronted with so many aspects of it in one instance, from the sweet and spicy smell of jerk chicken to dancehall music to just being surrounded carefree black people. I loved every minute of it, and its these factors that make the Caribbean and African origins of what is now Europes biggest festival undeniable.

Notting Hill Carnival has served as an expression of Caribbean culture / PA

Dawn-Maria France is a journalist and broadcaster who has written about the history of Notting Hill Carnival. She says that the carnival tradition emanates from the struggle of the Caribbean people.

Upon emancipation, freed African slaves from the Caribbean transformed the old European festival tradition forever, with their mix of African and Caribbean culture," she explains.

"It was a celebration of the end of slavery  the rejoicing in the freedom of enslaved Africans liberated from the evils of forced human labour.

The Caribbean and African take on carnival eventually spread across various countries, including the UK. During the late 50s and early 60s, Notting Hill had one of the most concentrated populations of West Indians in the country after Windrush.

Racial tensions between black and white were running high, eventually igniting the Notting Hill race riots of 1958 - the worst instance of racial violence Britain had ever seen.

Wanting a safe space for the black community, Trinidadian political activist Claudia Jones had the idea of holding a carnival as a celebration of Caribbean culture. In January of 1959, the first carnival was held inside St Pancras Town Hall and televised by the BBC.

Although many people now consider Rhaune Laslett, a white community activist, to have started the first outdoor carnival in 1966, the Caribbean influence and anti-racism stance on which the event was founded still feeds the spirit of the Notting Hill Carnival we know and love today.

The only difference being, perhaps, that the true essence of carnival often gets overshadowed by the focus on crime and disorder.

Last year, grime artist Stormzy hit out at Metropolitan police for linking drug busts in Catford and Lewisham to the Notting Hill carnival.

In a critical tweet, he wrote: How many drugs did you lot seize in the run-up to Glastonbury or we only doing tweets like this for black events.

Such instances of casual racism were unfortunately all too familiar for black Brits and do well to perpetuate stereotypes about us during an event which is supposed to be a celebration of our true selves.

Sorry: Stormzy winning the award for Best RnB, Hip Hop or Grime at The Global Awards / Joel Ryan/PA

Joyann is 27 and has been attending carnival on and off for a number of years. Like me, she feels like carnival is one of the few places she can express herself unapologetically.

I grew up in Trinidad so carnival is part of my culture  its in my blood," she explains.

Being able to experience an event that has a history which directly links to me feels amazing. Its one of the few times I feel welcome in the UK.

Joyanns experiences of belonging cast a poignant reflection of the state of race relations in Britain since the Windrush scandal, during which members of the Windrush generation and their children were wrongly targeted by the governments hostile environment policies.

The debacle was a stark reminder that whilst we were born here and have created a life for ourselves here, to some we are still not considered British.

This is why having a space like carnival is so important for black Brits and why its served as a tradition in many Caribbean families for years.

Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures 1 /40 Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures 1972 Charlie Gillett/Redferns 1975 Richard Braine/PYMCA/Rex 1976 Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1977 Associated Newspaper 1977 Daily Mail 1978 Frank Barratt/Getty Images 1978 Bill Johnson/Associated Newspapers 1978 Frank Barratt/Evening Standard 1980 Stuart Nicol/Evening Standard 1980 Evening Standard 1980 Evening Standard 1983 Peter Anderson/PYMCA/Rex 1984 John Minihan/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1994 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1994 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1995 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2003 Scott Barbour/Getty Images 2004 Graeme Robertson/Getty Images 2005 Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 2005 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2007 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2009 Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 2011 Oli Scarff/Getty Images 2012 Oli Scarff/Getty Images 2015 Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images 2015 Daniel C Sims/Getty Images 2017 Getty Images 2017 Getty Images 2017 Getty Images for RedBull 2017 Getty Images for RedBull 2017 AFP/Getty Images 2018 Getty Images for Redbull 2018 Getty Images 2018 Reuters 2019 Getty Images 2019 Reuters

Kyra is 24 and works in TV production. Shes been going to carnival since she was a baby.

Carnival is life for me. Id go with my Mum, whos Ugandan and my Dad, whose Jamaican and my brother. Id sit on their shoulders watching all of the costumes, colours and dancers go by as well as taking in the sweet smell of Caribbean food cooking up.

I love soca, I love my culture and I love seeing everyone holding their flags representing their roots.

Theres a real sense of community. I literally make friends at carnival all the time. Youll be encouraging a girl you dont even know to give her wickedest whine and its just fun, its like ultimate happiness.

And its this sense of community that attracts 2 million visitors each year, giving people a sense of freedom and belonging that we dont always have the privilege of experiencing on a day-to-day basis.

Talks of moving carnival away from the area following the Grenfell Tower fire last year were thrown out by Sadiq Khan, saying that moving it away risked further damaging community relations.

The mayor wrote: The Notting Hill carnival is one of the biggest street festivals and has become a firm London tradition over many decades. It was born out of the African-Caribbean immigrant community in North Kensington in the 1950s, and its only right that this remains its home."

Whilst final preparations for masquerade floats and parade costumes take place in the run-up to carnival next weekend, Mr Khans words still ring true.
T here are currently no refuges for male survivors of domestic abuse in London, leaving thousands of men in desperate situations each year. The ManKind Initiative and ambassador, Ian McNicholl are among many calling on Sadiq Khan to change the conversation and encourage men to come forward.

I was in total shock, says Ian. She unscrewed the hoover pipe and then just whacked me across the head, like it was a rounders ball.

The 56-year-old is talking about the first time he was assaulted by his then partner Michelle in 2006: There was no remorse, she wiped the blood off the hoover and carried on hoovering.

All Ian had done was laugh when asked a question about an ex-partner of his. He had no idea that this would lead to a torrent of vicious attacks, emotional abuse and manipulation that would last 14 months before police intervened.

Nearly two million people were victims of domestic abuse last year, according to ONS statistics. While the number of domestic abuse victims is predominately made up of women, Ian McNicholl is proof that men also suffer. For every three victims of this kind of abuse, one will be a man.

After 14 months of torment, Ian was rescued by an anonymous call made by a neighbour. I will always be grateful for that phone call, he says. He saved my life, I have no doubt about that.

Ian was subjected to months of violent and emotional abuse before police intervened / Ian McNicholl

The police arrived at the house and arrested Michelle, who was later sentenced to seven years in prison for grievous bodily harm with intent and assault. Her final brutal attack left Ian with painful fractures to his skull, cheekbones and ribs while his arm was so badly beaten it was nearly amputated.

After spending hours in A&E, the police left Ian at a homeless shelter despite being a high risk case. The next morning, he was given just ten minutes notice before being pushed out onto the streets.

Michelle had been bailed to the house that Ian owned and which was no longer safe for the 56-year-old to return to. She had already rinsed his savings and isolated him from friends, leaving him alone and terrified for his life: Within fourteen months, Michelle undid three decades of lifestyle and career choices, he explains.

It took 18 months before he could afford private accommodation and rebuild his life. Unable to work because of his injuries and the trauma he had endured, he was forced to stay in Salvation Army accommodation for more than a year.

Ian was left feeling abandoned by his experiences and the lack of support he received from authorities, which is why he now works to help others in similar situations.

As an ambassador for the ManKind Initiative, Britains first charity dedicated to male domestic abuse victims, he lobbies for more support for men and works with groups including the police to educate them about male victims.

As an ambassador, Ian has worked on projects with groups such as Coronation Street on domestic abuse storylines / Ian McNicholl

Ian sees his work as an informal therapy session that allows him to reflect on his past and help explain why men find it so difficult to speak out: For me, it was very simple, he says. Any attempt to leave and Ill be killed.

Michelle had alienated him, chipping away at his friendships: By fracturing those relationships, I didnt feel as though I could turn to people for help.

Studies by the ManKind Initiative show men are three times less likely to report themselves as victims than women. Mark Brooks, the charitys chairman says society plays a big role in why men dont come forward: For men, they fear that they wont be believed, they dont understand how and why they can be a victim of domestic abuse and they dont know where to get help.

From a societal perspective, there is still a problem and a reluctance to accept that men are victims. Its still seen very much as a womens issue where theyre the victims at the hands of men, rather than a society issue where both men and women can be victims and perpetrators.

More than one million women were victims last year and while it remains crucial that they are granted the help they need, the current one dimensional focus on domestic abuse is causing more harm than good.

Recognising the signs of abuse: Going along with everything their partner says or does

Making excuses about frequent injuries

Regularly missing work or social occasions

Often checking in with their partner to let them know where they are

Showing dramatic personality changes

Having no access to social media

Appearing afraid of or anxious to please their partner

Having limited access to money There are many other characteristics of an abusive relationship

Statistics about female victims dominate coverage of news stories and campaigns with little to no mention of men facing the same battles. Ian McNicholl believes that the terminology surrounding domestic abuse is further proof of this issue. Language is an absolute barrier, he explains. He says the governments Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy is an example of how imbalanced reporting currently is.

The plan works to ensure victims receive the right support and has helped provide new refuge beds, education, life skills training and employment for survivors. But this government initiative also includes men and boys which is unclear from its name, presenting yet another barrier for men trying to access help they need.

The Government is currently working on a landmark Domestic Abuse Bill which will protect and support all victims and make sure agencies effectively respond to domestic abuse. In a bid to improve language use, a Government spokesperson says the Bill will create a legal definition of domestic abuse to ensure it is properly understood, make clear it is not limited to women and girls, and to recognise abuse that happens in all relationships.

The VAWG strategy has already proved effective in helping women and while the Government is looking to strengthen our support for male victims by funding a targeted advice line, more must be done and sooner. The Domestic Abuse Fund claims that women are more in need of refuges", and while this is certainly true, male victims are also struggling to leave abusive relationships because they have nowhere to go. Im not saying we need the same number of refuge spaces for men as we do for women as we clearly dont, insists Ian, but he explains that a proportionate response would help look after those in need.

Statistics gathered by the ManKind Initiative reveal 20,513 men in London were victims of domestic abuse last year, which is why it proposes an equivalent strategy to VAWG aimed at ending intimate violence against men and boys, and is calling on Londons Mayor to do more.

Claire Waxman, Londons first Victims Commissioner, has shown support for the idea and says that tackling domestic violence is a key priority in the Mayors Policing and Crime Plan.

He has provided 2 million of funding for the Pan London Domestic Abuse Service - the biggest of its kind in London - which is open to men and women. Through Survivors UK, the Mayor also supports male victims of rape and sexual abuse with funding to help them receive counselling through one-to-one support and advocacy support should they wish to report to the police and proceed through the criminal justice route.

Clearly, funding cuts to local authorities over recent years have given them no choice but to reduce vital services. We have, and will, continue to lobby the Government to address this funding crisis through its Domestic Abuse Bill.

The Government says they remain entirely committed to ensuring secure, sustainable funding for domestic abuse services, including refuges and is continuing discussions regarding accommodation, but its clear that gendered approaches when offering support are unhelpful.

With a system that currently risks alienating men who are already vulnerable, its crucial that society and authorities work to banish stigmas and see abuse as something that anyone can suffer. Ian explains that what we need is a consistency of approach that is focused on the person and not the gender.
I f you dream of getting away from it all in beautiful surroundings, living amongst nature, and with very little phone signal, then Wyoming should be heading straight to the top of your travel hit list.

The 10th largest state in the US by land area, Wyoming is also the least populated with just over half a million people, meaning theres a whole lot of wide-open space to lose yourself in. With dramatic mountain ranges, sweeping valleys, and plains filled with grazing elk and bison, this is the romantic vision of the Old West you always dreamt of (and perhaps recognise from Brokeback Mountain), plus its also where youll find the incredible Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

With its remote beauty its no wonder that Wyomings become a magnet for the rich and the famous looking to escape it all  Kanye is a regular visitor and recorded his last album here, and Harrison Ford is a resident and has even been known to help local search and rescue teams in his helicopter in emergencies! The town of Jackson has become the state's hotspot destination, a relaxed grid of streets with a buzzing array of restaurants and bars thats mercifully protected from the presence of big chains. Its a great base from which to explore the wider area  heres what you need to know:

Visit Wyoming's steaming hot springs / Joel Porter

Things to do

Aerial Tramway  To get an incredible overview of the area, take the aerial tramway from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to over 10,000 feet with 360 panoramic views. In the winter it transports hundreds of skiers to the start of ski runs but in summer, hikers take the 10-minute ride for the views and to begin the 7 mile trail back down the mountain through beautiful wildflower meadows

Horse riding  This being cowboy country, it seems only right to have a go at horse riding. Up at Spring Creek Ranch you can channel your inner cowboy and take a beautiful ride out over the butte led by experienced guides, even if you have no previous experience.

Unleash your inner cowboy or girl / Joel Porter

Yellowstone  The world-famous national park is within reach of Jackson and easily lives up to its reputation, with beautiful scenery and unique geological features. From the abundance of wildlife to the incredible geysers and hot springs, its well worth two or three days to explore here properly and take a few walks into the backcountry.

Float down the state's famous Snake River / Joel Porter

Snake River Raft Trip  Snake River starts in Yellowstone, snakes its way down to Jackson, bends around into Idaho and finally ends up in Washington - its the regions lifeline, providing food and water for wildlife and people alike. A great way to get out on the river is to take a floating raft trip with the Grand Teton Lodge Company  this 10 mile relaxed float will take you along a beautiful stretch of the river in the shadow of the Teton mountain range for maximum photo ops (see What To Instagram!)

The state's national parks are breathtaking / Joel Porter

Where to stay

Lake Lodge Yellowstone

Although you could stay outside Yellowstone National Park and journey in every day, its much better to stay within the park itself. And the lodging doesnt get much better than at Lake Lodge  located more or less in the centre of the park, it makes for a convenient base from which to explore the sites, and has a picturesque setting looking right over Yellowstone Lake. Rooms are traditional in style but well appointed, with en-suite bathrooms and big comfy beds. If you like the wilderness but youre not ready for camping, this is the place for you.

Amangani

Spring Gulch Suite Bedroom / amangani

For the ultimate luxurious escape, it doesnt get any better than the Aman groups Amangani, its first resort in North America, which opened in 1998. Perched high above the valley about a 10 minute drive from Jackson, the three-story Amangani is discreetly cut into the hillside, made from soft-hued Oklahoma sandstone, Douglas fir, cedar and Pacific redwood, and offers amazing views of the plains and Teton mountains. The suites are large and supremely luxurious, and the views are maximised at every opportunity, from the private balconies right down to the sunken bath tubs right by the bathroom window. Elsewhere theres a beautiful heated pool (so you can swim even in winter), a spa, and a fantastic restaurant.

Spring Creek Ranch

Right next door to Amangani is Spring Creek Ranch, a collection of hotel rooms and homes spread out across the hill. The range of accommodation here is key, with a choice of Inn Rooms, Mountain Villas, and Townhouses meaning theres something to suit all needs  especially handy if youre a large family and are looking to have everyone in one place. The hotels bar, an outdoor terrace looking right over the valley, is the perfect spot to have an early evening cocktail while watching the sun set over the mountains. Just like Amangani, there are the beautiful views, an outdoor pool, a spa, and, being on a wildlife refuge, its a great place to spot the local wildlife including moose, foxes, and elk. The friendly staff are also experts at arranging activities and excursions in the local area and can even build you a personalised multi-day itinerary, making Spring Creek an ideal spot to base yourself for a longer trip.

Beware of the Bison / Joel Porter

What to eat and drink

Glorietta Trattoria

This small Italian restaurant attached to the boutique Anvil hotel brings a bit of hipster Brooklyn cool to Jackson. The interiors, designed by New York-based Studio Tack, are beautiful, with dark wood wall panels, brass light fixtures, and chequered floors. On the menu youll find perfectly crisp arancini in a sweet tomato sauce, fresh tomato and burrata salad, and incredible fresh pastas such as the must-order cavatelli with spicy sausage. Theres also a killer cocktail list and wine selection.

The Kitchen

One of Jacksons fancier options, The Kitchen is run by the Fine Dining Group who also have Bin 22, as well as a brewery, butchers, and grocery store. The Kitchen has a slightly futuristic look, compared to the Old West style of the rest of the town, and this is reflected in the menus too which have a distinctly Asian bent. Start with some sashimi-style fish such as the thinly-sliced hamachi with roasted garlic, and one of the best tomato salads youll ever have, served here with mint and a serrano chilli vinaigrette. For mains, you cant go wrong with the pork, hazelnut rice and lime-szechwan sauce.

Big Hole BBQ

When Kanyes in town this is the only place he eats, so what more do you need to know? Well, maybe that at Big Hole you can sample sweet-smoked brisket layered with pepper jack cheese, soft pulled pork, and epic racks of ribs, all washed down with local Jackson beers.

The Granary

Not only is The Granary the place to try the local specialities elk and bison, it also boasts some incredible views, perched high over the valley. Go all out with starters of wild game tartare and elk tortas before moving on to the bison fillet and elk tenderloin for mains, all the while gazing out over the plains below.

Wyoming is the perfect place to escape it all / Joel Porter

What to Instagram

The views - The area is so jaw-droppingly beautiful, youll be permanently snapping away at the rivers, valleys and mountains. You could even try and replicate the shot of Grand Teton Kanye took on his phone for the cover of his last album, Ye.

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar  This landmark Jackson bar has been around since the 20s and with its huge neon signage, it makes for a classic Insta post.

The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is iconic / Joel Porter

Wildlife  This one is more of a challenge but if you spend enough time walking trails in the back country youre bound to see some amazing wildlife. We saw black bears, elk, moose, bison, and even a grizzly bear  be warned though, dont try and get a selfie with a grizzly, it wont end well.
A fellow gang member of two murdered drill music rappers has been jailed after being caught with a hunting knife and a machete, the Evening Standard can reveal.

Kevin Amon Aka-Kadjo, 19, was sentenced to 14 months in jail for weapons and driving offences three weeks after the death of his friend Sidique Kamara, 23. The pair were members of the Moscow 17 group in south London.

In January they were cleared of murdering Abdirahman Mohamed, 17, whose brother was a member of rival group Zone 2. It had been alleged the teenager was stabbed to death last June in revenge for laughing at Aka-Kadjo, known as Jet Black or JB, after he was arrested for carrying a samurai sword.

Mr Kamara, who rapped under the name Incognito , was fatally stabbed on August 1, yards from his home on the Brandon Estate in Camberwell, where Moscow 17 is based.

Guilty pleas: Kevin Amon Aka-Kadjo (ES Local Feed ) / ES Local Feed

It is feared his death was the latest killing in an escalating gang feud in south London, fuelled by drill music that critics say glamorises violence.

In May another member of Moscow 17, Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, 17, who rapped under the name GB, was shot dead on the Brandon Estate.

On Wednesday, Aka-Kadjo, who lived on the nearby Elmington estate, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

He was also handed an indefinite criminal behaviour order, banning him from entering Camberwell, Peckham, where Zone 2 are based, or Myatts Fields in Brixton, the home of the 410 drill group.

On March 2, less than two months after being cleared of murder at the Old Bailey, Aka-Kadjo was spotted speeding in Clapham in the early hours of the morning. Police pursued his black Peugeot until he stopped the car and tried to flee on foot.

After catching him, officers searched the car and discovered a large hunting knife hidden in the footwell. Aka-Kadjo was charged with possession of a knife, driving dangerously, driving without a licence or insurance and failing to stop for police, and was released on bail.

"He is the type of person we are committed to taking off Londons streets before they do any real damage"

On June 18, while still on bail, Aka-Kadjo was walking in Wyndham Road, Camberwell, with a friend, 17, when a car mounted the pavement and hit the teenager, who was treated for non-serious injuries. A witness told police they had seen Aka-Kadjo remove a machete from his friends waistband and run into a nearby housing estate.

Officers later found the weapon stashed in an abandoned fridge and arrested Aka-Kadjo for possession of an offensive weapon. On being searched in custody, officers found a stolen Freedom Pass in his shoe.

He was charged with possession of a knife and handling stolen goods and remanded into custody on June 19. He pleaded guilty to the charges.
A kind-hearted elderly woman is feared to have been battered to death before her home was set on fire in a south-west London suburb.

The body of Carole Harrison, 73, was found after the blaze at her semi-detached home in Teddington early on Wednesday. A murder investigation was started as she had suffered injuries from a suspected assault. The cause of death has not yet been established.

Detectives have appealed for information from anyone who saw her in Mays Road or spotted anything suspicious in the quiet, tree-lined street.

Mrs Harrison, a former nurse, was a mother of five who had lived alone since the death of her husband some years ago. Her body was found on the first floor after 25 firefighters battled the blaze for more than 90 minutes, having been called at 12.51am.

Neighbour Andrew Connolly, 47, said: Carole was a normal, everyday person. She spoke to people but she kept herself to herself a lot of the time.

Murder inquiry: firefighters found Carole Harrisons body at her house in Twickenham

She would help anyone out and loved the kids. She would always buy them little gifts. She had a kind heart.

She was said to have been treated in hospital for a mild heart attack recently. Her neighbour for over 40 years, Roy, said Mrs Harrison was due to start Bible study with him this week.

He said: She had some health issues and got upset when her medication ran out but she had a heart of gold. We all respected her around here.

She had a panic alarm in case she fell over but hardly ever wore it half the time. Im so sad. Another neighbour added that Mrs Harrison had claimed she had recently inherited 1 million. He said: She offered me 10,000 to go on our family camping trip, but I didnt believe she had it.

Floral tributes were left outside the shell of the two-storey house, which remained under police guard last night. Relatives who visited the scene yesterday were too upset to comment.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said Mrs Harrison was a bit of an eccentric and in the weeks before her death had been seen allowing an unknown man into her home.

Meanwhile a separate murder inquiry has begun after a woman died following a fire at a flat in Finsbury Park. Kaltoun Saleh, 43, spent six weeks in a specialist burns unit but died on Tuesday.

Four children were also taken to hospital but have since been released.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, told the Standard the family had moved in several years ago: They are very good people. I was shocked to hear what happened.

Abdi Quule, 42, was found at the scene and also treated for burns in hospital. He was charged with attempted murder and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Thursday next week.
A young man is fighting for life after being stabbed repeatedly in broad daylight in south London.

Police were called to Roupell Road in Tulse Hill at around 5.15pm on Friday following reports of men fighting.

A 23-year-old man was found suffering a number of stab wounds. He was rushed to a south London hospital where he remained in a critical condition on Friday night.

Police said the suspects had fled the scene by the time officers had arrived, but a knife was recovered at the scene.
I ts the march of the populists: Ukip donor and cheerleader Arron Banks has taken a leaf straight from Momentums playbook as he tries to flood the Conservative Party with his Leave.EU supporters.

Banks regularly boasts about the size of his membership: Leave.EU claims to have a million supporters across social media platforms. And yesterday he followed through on his threats from earlier this week and formally encouraged his supporters to join the Conservative Party.

In a mass email to supporters, Banks wrote: It is likely that a Conservative Party leadership contest will be held in the next three to six months. Whoever wins it will automatically be our Prime Minister. After becoming a Conservative Party member, you will be eligible to vote in the final round of that contest. He told recipients that Theresa Mays Brexit is Brexit in Name Only, which is going to poison and weaken our country for a generation. His email was sprinkled with similarly charged warnings about treachery and sedition: he later referred to Anna Soubry needing to walk the plank and called for a Conservative Grassroots Mutiny.

Earlier this week, Leave.EU paraded photos of the sort of Tories they approve of, not least Jacob Rees-Mogg. The Tories are particularly vulnerable to entryism because their membership  once nearly three million  has dwindled to fewer than 125,000, compared to Labours swelling 550,000.

What is hilarious is the way Banks  from the hard Right  is using the successful tactics of the Left. Momentum, founded after Jeremy Corbyns Labour leadership campaign in 2015, announced in January 2017 that members had to join Labour to retain their Momentum membership. Tom Watson, deputy leader of the party, accused them of entryism. Nick Clegg, former Lib-Dem leader, encouraged centrists to join the Conservatives last October in a bid to reverse Brexit. His initiative had little success  are the hard Brexiteers better organised?

Promises kept... up everyones sleeves

Bill de Blasio, the high-taxing mayor of NYC, just stole my campaign slogan, Donald Trump whined online yesterday. The US President was referring to the catchy phrase Promises Made, Promises Kept, calling the apparent theft not at all nice and claiming that it showed no imagination. Shortly afterwards, former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton stepped in, retweeting her father Bills campaign materials from his re-election bid in the Nineties. It featured the slogan... Promises Made, Promises Kept. Perfect. Simply perfect, she wrote.

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Trouble: Irvine Welsh (Photo by Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images) / Getty Images

Why did director Danny Boyle abandon the new Bond film? Old friend Irvine Welsh says: The studio refused to cast me as the new Bond, arguing that I was too strongly identified with the Mikey Forrester character from Trainspotting. Danny thought I had the dramatic range and held out for me  a true friend. Yes.

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Has Blighty, the Winston Churchill-themed cafe in Finsbury Park chastised for glorifying imperialism, capitulated to its critics? The life-size model of the wartime PM, formerly pride of place, now hides in the rafters. Instead, a cardboard cut-out of a new national treasure has appeared: Danny Dyer, the EastEnders actor.

Comic Sir Lenny joins Spike Lee at Soho screening of BlacKkKlansman

Celebrating: Anita Rani and Sir Lenny Henry at the special screening (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/ Getty Images for Universal Pictures ) / Dave Benett/ Getty Images for Un

Comedy legend Sir Lenny Henry was at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho last night for a screening of BlacKkKlansman  a film about an African-American police officer who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan.

Henry, who is turning 60 next week, is celebrating the milestone with BBC special The Lenny Henry Birthday Show, which airs tonight. Henry is interviewed about his career and life by host Sir Trevor McDonald the broadcaster he parodied as Trevor McDoughnut in the Seventies show Tiswas. We really enjoy each others company, says Henry. The only bit that was missing from the interview was a nice bottle of red wine and a bag of crisps. Spike Lee, the filmmaker behind BlacKkKlansman, was also at the screening, where he was joined by BBC Radio DJ Clara Amfo and presenter Anita Rani.

SW1A

Kate Hoey celebrates 50 years since she was planting coffee at a student camp in solidarity with the Cuban people in Pinar del Rio Province. But the Labour MP, who once lined up with Nigel Farage to campaign for Brexit, said when news came of the Soviet invasion of Prague her view of the Soviet Union changed radically. At the time Jeremy Corbyn was in Jamaica doing voluntary service.

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Labours internal Womens Network have paid tribute to former chair Jo Cox for always dealing with detractors with grace and resilience... Were sad to learn a Labour MP has promoted a click-bait blogger whose inflammatory and untrue comments about Jo seek to divide, not unite us. That refers to Chris Williamson MP, who says it was great to meet Vanessa Beeley. Last year she called Cox a warmongering Blairite.

Quote of the day

Dont worry, my lord Michael Cohen, I have a cunnin plan

Blackadder actor Tony Robinson believes he can help Donald Trumps personal attorney, who could be facing years in jail without parole

Let her eat cake
D irector Spike Lee has teased the Duke of Sussex over his old Facebook account. The iconic auteur behind films such as Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, Get on the Bus and the acclaimed new BlacKkKlansman has discovered that the prince once used his name as a pseudonym for a secret social-media profile.

Lee appeared on an online video for Vice TV yesterday in which he brought up his surprising link with Harry. He had an account from Facebook, something like that, he explained. You know what his name was [on the account]? Spike Lee. Wheres he at?

Lee, who clearly finds the revelation humorous, then looked directly at the camera to joke: Prince, this is Spike Lee. The next time you want to have an account, on Facebook or whatever it is, do not use Spike Lee I have enough problems!

The Duke of Sussexs apparent use of Lees name was discovered earlier this year. Allegedly, he shut down the Facebook account, which he had kept quiet to avoid unwarranted social media attention, in 2012. He had 400 Facebook friends, and shared images of himself with friends and one-time girlfriend Chelsy Davy

The royal family has embraced social media in recent years: Princess Beatrices secret Instagram account  and her 651 followers  was accidentally revealed by model Karlie Kloss last month. Royal author Brian Hoey, meanwhile, claims that even the Queen has a clandestine Facebook account.

The Duchess of Sussex, however, deleted all of her profiles  along with her lifestyle blog, The Tig  before she married Harry in May. Lee no longer has anything to worry about: the Duke has expunged the account from the web. A shame: it could have been the beginning of a beautiful Facebook friendship.

Unwelcome speaker

Jeremy Corbyns speech on the future of media at the Edinburgh TV Festival should never have gone ahead, according to two industry figures. Agent Anita Land and ex-agent Michael Foster, who are both Jewish, have complained to festival chair Phil Edgar-Jones about booking the Labour leader during the anti-Semitism row. Ive never felt as frightened as I do about being Jewish in Britain today, but if youre not Jewish, you just dont understand that, Land told trade publication Broadcast. Its such an insensitive booking for so many people at the festival, and Michael and I are raising issues that others just cant.

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Singsong: Danny Dyer (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images) / Getty Images

We hear that soap star Danny Dyer, currently approaching national treasure status in the UK after his daughter Dani Dyer won Love Island, has signed up to appear in an as-yet-unannounced West End musical this Christmas. This turn will come before he appears in two West End plays, The Dumb Waiter and A Slight Ache, next year.

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SIR Nicholas Soames has chopped fellow Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg down to size. The grandson of Winston Churchill tweeted: The problem with Jacob Rees-Mogg is that people confuse his undoubted fluency and a moderately well-cut suit with wisdom but sadly hes plain wrong. Moderately?

Monobrowed Sophia lines up with the Vogue crowd

On decks: Fabienne Hebrard (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Reserved) / Dave Benett/Getty Images for Res

First Frida Kahlo, now Sophia Hadjipanteli. The Cypriot model has been promoting the monobrow since she had an accident with a bottle of tint that resulted, she claims, in her dyeing the hair not just on her brows but all the hair in between as well.

Unfortunately, the look doesnt please everyone. It has attracted the wrath of social-media trolls who find it disgusting. When people say its disgusting, its like, What is disgusting about hair on your face, or anywhere? Hadjipanteli told New York Magazine. You are probably across the world right now, you will never probably see me in your life. I personally think my face looks better this way. Others disagree, and thats totally cool. Hadjipanteli was with actor and model Amy Jackson and blogger Chidera Eggerue at the Reserved store on Oxford Street last night for a party thrown by British Vogue and featuring a DJ set from Fabienne Hebrard.

SW1A

Jeremy Wright, the new Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, will show hes plugged in to technological advances by appearing at Conference as a hologram. But he is still learning when it comes to digital media. Wright has tweeted a mere 47 times since July 10, which compares rather unfavourably with his predecessor, Matt Hancock, who has racked up 138 tweets in the same period.

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Were told that Boris Johnsons inner circle have started to refer to him jovially as FFS. In this case it doesnt stand for for f***s sake, but former Foreign Secretary. Theresa May once used it to refer to Boris as a fine Foreign Secretary, but those were happier times.

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Nicki Minaj, the American rapper famous for songs including Bang Bang, hosted a radio show last night and at one point gave a surprising endorsement: Shout out to Margaret Thatcher.

More Beard than you might expect

/ Corbis via Getty Images

BBC 2 has commissioned classicist Mary Beard for The Nude Uncovered. The programme will reflect on the changing history of the way people have looked at and understood the naked human form. Beard has expertise in this field. Earlier this year we revealed that she had posed semi-nude for a life-drawing artist while studying at Cambridge.

Completely fond memories but nothing special, Beard recalled to us. It was one of the things you did in shared student houses in the Seventies.

Quote of the day

Ive lived in Britain all my life and I dont need any lessons in history/irony
A ctor Dame Emma Thompson has taken a stand against unachievable beauty standards by insisting that the poster for her latest film remains airbrush-free.

Thompson stars in The Children Act, the new adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel.

It opens in cinemas tomorrow, and the dame has been tipped for an Academy Award nomination  she already has two, one for her role in Howards End and one for writing the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility.

The poster for the new film, which can be found at Tube stations and on billboards across London, is not radically designed, featuring a portrait of Thompson with her co-star Stanley Tucci beside her. But what is unusual is that Thompsons wrinkles have been left in.

We are told that the actor, who turns 60 next year, was vocal in ensuring that the images were airbrush-free. Most film campaigns will iron out the creases on an actors face, a source tells us, especially women.

But Emma, who looks amazing for a woman of her age, would not allow it. Sandra Bullock, 54, and Michelle Pfeiffer, 60, are two actors who have recently been heavily airbrushed for their blockbuster campaigns.

Thompson has long spoken out against unrealistic expectations put on women in the film industry.

When producers asked actor Hayley Atwell  who played her daughter in the 2008 adaptation of Brideshead Revisited  to lose some weight for the role, Thompson was enraged and threatened to quit the film if such a request was repeated.

I said to them, If you speak to her about this again, on any level, I will leave this picture. You are never to do that.

Other actors have made similar stands. Cate Blanchett, 49, appeared on the cover of Intelligent Life magazine with no airbrushing in 2012, and Jameela Jamil, 32, told Virgin Atlantics magazine that she would only appear in the publication if they committed to a Photoshop-free spread.

Syria myth-making

Peter Ford, the former UK ambassador to Syria, has claimed that the protesters against the regime in 2011 were mythical democrats who were like snowflakes in the Middle East sun. Ford was debating campaigner Peter Tatchell on Syria at the Beautiful Days Festival in Devon last weekend, where Labour MP Chris Williamson was in the audience. Tatchell told us: I was absolutely astonished that a former British ambassador to Syria could claim that the Syrian democracy movement was mythical and that his analysis was endorsed by a Left-wing Labour MP, Chris Williamson, when the matter was put to a vote.

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In May, Good Morning Britains Richard Madeley cut off Gavin Williamson for being evasive, snapping: Sorry, minister, interview terminated. The move has had repercussions. That damn T-word follows me around everywhere, Madeley writes in The Spectator. Terminated yer shopping, Rich? taxi drivers shout as I exit the supermarket. You wish to terminate your meal Mr Madeley? knowing waiters ask, with a sly wink.

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One Day author David Nicholls cant do sex scenes. You either sound very technical or you sound crude, he tells podcast How to Fail. Even with 19th-century authors  Thomas Hardy  I feel I know a little bit too much about what he finds attractive.

Ronnie Turners back the clock with a night out at Ike and Tina musical

Decades may have passed since the Swinging Sixties but Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood got a blast from the past last night when he went to see Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.

The rock veteran and his wife, theatre producer Sally Wood, joined actors Adrienne Warren and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who play Tina and Ike Turner, backstage. The Stones enlisted the real-life pair to open for them at concerts in the Sixties. In a recent interview, Tina repeated the claim that she taught Stones frontman Mick Jagger how to dance but said he never gave her credit.

Also in the West End last night was actor Chloe Moretz, at the premiere of her new film The Miseducation of Cameron Post at the Picturehouse Central in Soho. She was joined by Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams and actor Talulah Riley, ex-wife of tech billionaire Elon Musk.

SW1A

Jacob Rees-Mogg gives with one hand and takes with the other. After our story yesterday about Leave.EU encouraging its supporters to join the Conservative Party  and cooing at Rees-Mogg, the North East Somerset MP hit back: Theyre not doing it in my name. But last night he also said Theresa May should chuck her Chequers agreement, adding: We would be out of Europe yet still run by Europe. Bankss original email to Leave.EU referred to those who want us to be controlled by Brussels for ever.

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Gerard Batten, the Ukip leader, has found a new target for scorn  the Metropolitan think-tank the Centre for Cities. The Centre for Cities is metropolitan? You dont say.

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As Jeremy Corbyn announced new proposals for the UK media, Ciaran Jenkins, the reporter who went viral asking him the same question six times, said: Could you start by having your handlers let us ask you more than one question?

Tangled on the web

Is the Conservative Party making a familiar mistake? It has created a website for people who are worried Jeremy Corbyn wont stick to his promises, which includes a quiz outlining some of the Labour leaders policies. But mockery by talking about your opponents plans doesnt always augur well. In 2017 Theresa May used her last PMQs before the general election to tease Corbyn about the I like Corbyn, But... website, a site that answered common worries about the Labour leader. Directing people to look at his policies didnt exactly work out for the Tories then.

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If it sometimes seems as though no one in charge of Brexit actually knows what theyre doing, you may want to take control yourself. Bloomberg has created an online game in which you choose your own Brexit. Has Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab been logging in?

Quote of the Day

I dont think anyone could be stylistically the same as Boris
J eremy Corbyn has been reported to the parliamentary standards watchdog by a Tory MP over a comment he made suggesting British Zionists do not understand "English irony".

Helen Grant argued the comment, which also drew criticism from Jewish Labour members, breached the MPs' code of conduct and brought Parliament into disrepute.

Footage emerged from a conference in 2013 in which Mr Corbyn said: "[British Zionists] clearly have two problems. One is they don't want to study history and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either."

Ms Grant, the Tory vice chair for communities, has written to Kathryn Stone, parliamentary commissioner for standards, asking that Mr Corbyn be investigated over the comments.

Video resurfaces of Jeremy Corbyn saying British Zionists have 'no sense of irony'

The Maidstone MP said the comments had been branded "xenophobic and anti-Semitic" by the chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, and praised by Nick Griffin, the former leader of the far-right British National Party.

She wrote: "Mr Corbyn has undoubtedly brought this House and its members into disrepute.

"This country has rightly always demanded more from our parliamentarians.

"It is clear that Mr Corbyn has not reached the bar set by the Code of Conduct for members, and I therefore ask that you investigate."

Helen Grant said Mr Corbyn 'has undoubtedly brought this House and its members into disrepute' ( Yui Mok/PA) / Yui Mok/PA

In a statement on Friday, Mr Corbyn said he spoke out at a 2013 conference to "defend the Palestinian ambassador in the face of what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations" from people "for whom English was a first language, when it isn't for the ambassador".

Mr Corbyn said: "I described those pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense and not as a euphemism for Jewish people - and that is made clear in the rest of my speech that day.

"I am now more careful with how I might use the term 'Zionist' because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by anti-Semites as code for Jews."

But Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger said the video contained "inexcusable comments" which made her feel "unwelcome in my own party".

She wrote on Twitter: "The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments - defended by a party spokesman - makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party.

Luciana Berger pictured in March during the Parliament Square protest against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party / Yui Mok/PA

"I've lived in Britain all my life and I don't need any lessons in history/irony."

She was supported by fellow Labour backbenchers, with Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell tweeting: "Standing right with you @lucianaberger."

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson wrote: "Right beside you @lucianaberger."

In recent weeks, Mr Corbyn has come under increasing pressure over issues linked to anti-Semitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the party's definition of anti-Semitism, his 2014 visit to a Palestinian cemetery in Tunisia and meetings with those connected to the Palestinian cause.
J ewish families are considering quitting Britain because of the scale of anti-Semitism in the UK, senior figures warned today.

Andrew Feldman, former chairman of the Conservatives, said people are reluctantly making contingency plans in the event that Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister. Others say the rise in anti-Semitism and racism in general is making some groups consider their future in the country.

Mr Corbyn has been dogged by claims of anti-Semitism within Labour and was today condemned by Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger over footage of him in 2013 claiming Zionists have no sense of English irony.

Writing in the Standard today, Lord Feldman, who is Jewish, said: Mr Corbyn, I want you to know that many Jewish people in the United Kingdom are seriously contemplating their future here in the event of you becoming prime minister.

Video resurfaces of Jeremy Corbyn saying British Zionists have 'no sense of irony'

This is because they can see that Labour, a party with a proud tradition of tolerance and inclusiveness, is now a hotbed of feelings against Israel and therefore the Jewish people. Quietly, discreetly and extremely reluctantly they are making their contingency plans. And this would be a tragedy.

Around 250,000 Jewish people live in the UK. The Jewish Agency for Israel said 213 Jews moved from Britain to Israel between January and June this year  up nine per cent on last year.

Lawyer Mark Lewis, 53, who represented the family of murder victim Millie Dowler, plans to move from north London to Israel next year and said: I dont feel welcome in this country any more. His partner Mandy Blumenthal said some of her cousins had already left. Dr Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, also claimed many Jews feel they have no future in Britain because the Labour leadership had failed to take a stronger line on anti-Semitism, but added that he thought the UK remains a safe and welcoming place to be Jewish.

Charity The Community Security Trust recorded 727 anti-Semitic incidents in the first six months of 2018.
J eremy Corbyn is facing a growing backlash led by a Jewish MP after footage emerged of him accusing British Zionists of having no sense of English irony.

Luciana Berger, a former shadow cabinet minister, lashed out over the clip, filmed at a conference in London in 2013, describing the Labour leaders comments in the speech as inexcusable.

The footage emerged as Mr Corbyn faces an ongoing row over anti-Semitism within the Labour party.

Ms Berger took to Twitter to launch an extraordinary attack on the party leader after the clip was published on the Daily Mails website on Thursday.

She wrote: The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments - defended by a party spokesman - makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party.

Ive lived in Britain all my life and I dont need any lessons in history/irony.

In the clip, Mr Corbyn said: [British Zionists] clearly have two problems. One is they don't want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either".

Jeremy Corbyn's remarks in the footage have been described as 'inexcusable' / PA

Marcus Dysch, the head of external affairs at World ORT, a Jewish educational organisation, said it was clear Mr Corbyn's remarks targeted jews. He tweeted: "Unambiguous antisemitic hate from Corbyn, a terrorist-sympathising, purge-orchestrating, fear-mongering, unaccountable, piece of work who should never have been allowed to lead a once-great party. Is it any wonder British Jews despair as this saga drags on?"

"Were this any other person (bar Boris or Trump perhaps - but what company!), talking about any other minority, in any other walk of life, his career would be over. Yet on and on we crawl."

Jamie Susskind, a former speech-writer for Ed Miliband, called on Mr Corbyn to resign. He wrote online: "Just to be clear, in the Daily Mail clip Corbyn is not criticising Israel or supporting Palestinians. He is saying that Zionists (read Jews) who have lived in England their whole lives are somehow not fully English in their sensibilities. He has to go."
N icola Sturgeon has revealed she has been aware of sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond for some time and that it has been extremely difficult to come to terms with.

The Scottish First Minister said she had no role in investigating allegations made against her predecessor, which he denies, and admitted the issue would be upsetting for the SNP.

Mr Salmond, who was First Minister from 2007 to 2014, has branded the claims patently ridiculous and intends to take legal action against the Scottish Government to contest the complaints process activated against him.

Ms Sturgeon said her relationship with Mr Salmond had made the situation extremely difficult to come to terms with.

She added that the claims from two former employees had been made in January. Mr Salmond was informed in March.

Alex Salmond has denied the claims / AFP/Getty Images

The First Minister said: Complaints were made in January relating to Alex Salmond by two individuals.

"These complaints have been considered since then under a procedure covering ministers and former ministers that was agreed by me in December 2017 in the wake of public concern about harassment.

"Although I have been aware for some time of the fact of the investigation - initially from Alex Salmond - I have had no role in the process, and to have referred to it before now would have compromised the integrity of the internal investigation, which I was not prepared to do.

"However, I was informed by the Permanent Secretary earlier this week that she had completed her investigation and that she intended to make the fact of the complaints public.

Ms Sturgeon said complaints made against the former leader could not be ignored or swept under the carpet.

Ms Sturgeon has rubbished media speculation / PA Wire/PA Images

"Alex Salmond is now challenging the Scottish Government's procedure in court. The Scottish Government refutes his criticisms of its process and will defend its position vigorously.

"However, this focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet, she added.

Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary at the Scottish Government, said an internal review was launched last year into the Scottish Government's procedures for handling complaints in the workplace in light of wider concerns about harassment at Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.

As part of that review, a new procedure on handling harassment complaints involving current or former ministers was introduced.

Ms Evans said: "I note that the former first minister has indicated his intention to challenge the actions taken by the Scottish Government. His statement contains significant inaccuracies which will be addressed in those court proceedings. The Scottish Government will defend its position vigorously.

"As the head of the Civil Service in Scotland, I have been consistently clear that there is no place for harassment of any kind in the workplace.

"In line with work already under way in the organisation to tackle inappropriate behaviour, I will consider carefully any issues about culture and working practices highlighted by these complaints."

The Daily Record reported that allegations about his conduct towards two staff members in 2013 - while he was in office - have been handed to Police Scotland, but the force would not comment on any inquiry.

Mr Salmond has denied the claims and said he has been prevented from properly challenging them by Scottish Government procedure.

In a statement, Mr Salmond said: "For many months now, and on the advice of senior counsel, I have attempted to persuade the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government that she is behaving unlawfully in the application of a complaints procedure, introduced by her more than three years after I left office.

"This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence.

"The permanent secretary chose to deny me contact with any current civil servant, many of whom wished to give evidence on my behalf, and access to documentation to allow me to properly challenge the complaints, all of which I refute and some of which were patently ridiculous.

"The procedure as put into operation by the Permanent Secretary is grossly unfair and therefore inevitably will lead to prejudicial outcomes.
Britain would vote to remain in the EU by 53 to 47 per cent if a referendum were held now. In a conventional poll of around 1,000 voters, a six-point gap could be the result of a sampling error. But in YouGovs survey of more than 10,000 people, the risk of sampling fluctuations is far smaller.

Moreover, YouGov polled people who reported their vote at the time of the referendum. This latest survey is able to compare how these same people, who backed Brexit by 52 to 48 per cent then, would vote today. The five-point increase in Remain support, from 48 per cent to 53 per cent today, is real.

The shift towards Remain has been driven by a deep disenchantment with the Governments performance in the Brussels talks. Ominously for Theresa May and Dominic Raab, more people who voted Conservative in last years election (48 per cent) agree rather than disagree (43 per cent) the Government would be to blame for a bad deal.

If the referendum tapped into a widespread public unease with Britains political establishment, the current negotiations have done nothing to dispel that. Only 24 per cent of the public trust the Government to take the right decisions on Brexit, while 63 per cent dont. Once again, the poll contains grim news for the Prime Minister: fewer than half who voted Tory last year trust the Government while an almost identical number distrust it. Nor has Parliaments reputation improved, with 26 per cent of the public trusting it and 61 per cent distrusting it on Brexit.

These findings suggest that a crisis at Westminster this autumn would not just be about the UKs future relationship with the EU. It would also be about something far deeper: the ability of our politicians to lead our country effectively when the stakes are high and the consequences of failure catastrophic.

Peter Kellner is the former president of YouGov
F urious Brexiteers have accused Philip Hammond of launching a "dodgy project fear" after the Chancellor warned a no-deal Brexit could cause major economic damage.

Mr Hammond's warning was published in a letter, just hours after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab released 25 contingency plans to cope with a crisis departure from the European Union.

Brexit-backing Tories attacked the Chancellor after he pointed to disputed provisional analysis, released earlier this year, which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 under a scenario in which Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms due to no agreement with the EU.

Dominic Raab: Government ready to deliver no-deal Brexit

Mr Hammond added this initial January analysis was undergoing a "process of refinement" ahead of a parliamentary vote on any deal, noting scenarios which have higher barriers to trade with the EU are expected to have a "more damaging effect" on the economy and public finances.

He also defended the Government's preferred approach, which was outlined in a white paper following a Cabinet summit at Chequers, by saying the economic and fiscal impacts of this would be "substantially better" than no deal.

Eurosceptic Tories have railed against the Government's proposals, which include a "common rulebook" with the EU on goods, amid fears it could restrict the UK's ability to do trade deals.

Mr Hammond's comments in a letter to Conservative MP Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of the Treasury Select Committee, emerged hours after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab attempted to play down the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit while outlining the impact of such a scenario via a series of technical papers.

Mr Raab admitted: There are potential issues around the border in the worst case scenario" / REUTERS

Mr Raab also cited the risks as "potential short-term disruption" rather than longer-term, contrary to what Mr Hammond outlined.

Tory MP Marcus Fysh, writing on Twitter, referred to the Treasury's previous "dubious" forecasts before adding that the Chancellor seemed "determined to wheel them out again for yet another instalment of dodgy project fear".

Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, added on BBC Two's Newsnight: "I think a free trade deal can be achieved, but that leaving on WTO terms is not as absurdly frightening as the Chancellor of the Exchequer thinks it may be."

He also said: "The Treasury's Brexit panic means you can no longer trust the Treasury's forecasts."

Jacob Rees-Mogg told BBC Newsnight that the Treasury was in a "Brexit panic" / REUTERS

Mr Hammond had written: "This January provisional analysis estimated that in a no-deal/WTO scenario, GDP would be 7.7% lower (range 5.0%-10.3%) relative to a status quo baseline. This represents the potential expected static state around 15 years out from the exit point.

"The analysis did not estimate the path the economy and different sectors might take under no deal and the potential for short-term disruption."

Mr Hammond added: "Under a no-deal/WTO scenario, chemicals, food and drink, clothing, manufacturing, cars, and retail were estimated to be the sectors most affected negatively in the long-run, with the largest negative impacts felt in the North East and Northern Ireland.

"GDP impacts of this magnitude, were they to arise, would have large fiscal consequences. The January analysis estimated that borrowing would be around 80 billion a year higher under a no-deal/WTO scenario by 2033-34, in the absence of mitigating adjustments to spending and/or taxation, relative to a status quo baseline.

"This is because any direct financial savings are outweighed by the indirect fiscal consequences of a smaller economy.

"The initial, January cross-Whitehall analysis is now undergoing a process of refinement in the run-up to a parliamentary vote on the deal.

"However, we expect the analysis to show that for scenarios in which we have higher barriers to trade with the EU there will be a more damaging effect on the economy and public finances."

On the Government's preferred approach, Mr Hammond went on: "It is expected that the economic and fiscal impacts of the white paper model will be substantially better than no deal, protecting jobs and livelihoods and supporting both the UK and EU's commitments to no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland."

Pro-European Mrs Morgan said of the letter: "The Chancellor has confirmed that the Government forecasts a disastrous hit to our economy and living standards in the event of a 'no-deal' Brexit."
T heres a new and growing morning trend Londoners are embracing, and it involves spending a grand before you even get into the office, says the boss of Matchesfashion.com. A gleeful Ulric Jerome reveals that traffic peaks on his luxury clothes website between half-six and eight in the morning, as City workers frantically click to buy Burberry and Belstaff before breakfast. Its addictive, he adds, chuckling.

The entrepreneur says early risers using Matchesfashions express service, which delivers to well-heeled shoppers within 90 minutes, are buying outfits to wear at work on the same day. It is not unusual to have chief executives buying last-minute ties, shirts or heels.

Jerome, himself sporting grey Gucci trousers and a white shirt created by his fashion designer brother Mathieu, is boasting about the growing customer base as he shows off the firms new creative centre in Stratford.

He points out a model being photographed in a Dolce & Gabbana swimming costume and men in Paul Smith suits being filmed on a catwalk. Speaking loudly to compete with Katy Perrys Roar echoing through the building, Jerome says: Every garment we sell comes to this site, where our team upload products online, describe them in detail, and include pictures and videos that we created here. It has been a big investment.

The well-groomed 40-year-old, who has a soft French accent, says continuing to invest at scale is vital. Rival Yoox Net-a-Porter is branching out into childrens clothes, and another opponent, London-headquartered Farfetch , this week unveiled plans to float on the New York stock exchange.

Luxury experts also point out that designer brands, which were slow to go online, are now creating their own digital divisions and attempting to sell direct to consumers.

Jerome remains upbeat though, and thinks there are massive opportunities ahead for the 31-year-old business he has led since 2015. He says more spending is planned, with recruitment drives overseas, and a major new Mayfair townhouse opening next month for customers to use. The chiefs confidence comes after a landmark 12 months for Matchesfashion. The Shard-headquartered firms sales surged 44% to 293 million in the year to January.

The Progress 1000, in partnership with the global bank Citi, is the Evening Standards celebration of the people who make a difference to London life and will be announced on October 10. #Progress1000

Its founders, husband and wife team Ruth and Tom Chapman, started with a store in Wimbledon in 1987 but spotted the digital opportunity more than a decade ago, getting ahead online. They last year banked a rumoured 400 million by selling a majority stake to funds advised by private-equity group Apax Partners. The company today has five shops in the capital, and ships to more than 176 countries.

In Paris-born Jerome, the firms new owner inherited a leader whose background includes fashion and tech. The entrepreneurs mother worked at Vogue magazine in the US, and his father sold fabrics to haute couture houses. Jeromes first weekend job was as a sales assistant at French label Kenzo. He says: I was in direct contact with customers constantly and learned so much know-ledge about the high-end market.

Jerome then switched fashion for finance. He started an economics course in Paris and finished his studies at Canadas Concordia university. Between lectures the self-confessed tech geek set up an online investment fund specialised in options trading. He also launched an online student community that gave universities access to chief executives, with bosses agreeing to do interviews and speeches with the hope of enticing graduates to their companies.

Jerome headed back to France in 2002, where he and a pal set up online electronics retailer Pixmania . Says Jerome: I had seen how massive Amazon was getting in the US but we were yet to see them make waves in Europe. Pixmania made sales of 1 billion within eight years, and was sold to Dixons in 2006 for an undisclosed sum.

That success put Jerome on the radar of bookmaker Paddy Power , which appointed him as a non-executive director. The entrepreneur also caught the attention of one of Matchesfashions backers, Scottish Equity Partners, which in 2012 invited him to lunch to share ideas with the Chapmans.

Jerome speaks rapidly and excitedly as he recalls the meeting at the Arts Club in Mayfair: I asked them about what designers they worked with, the average selling price and margins. I thought wow, maybe we have an opportunity to rewrite a page of ecommerce history.

"I thought wow, maybe we have an opportunity to rewrite a page of ecommerce history"

He moved to London shortly after to join the company as chief operating officer, with the task of helping its online business grow. It was no easy gig, remembers Pierre Denis , the chief executive of high-heels maker Jimmy Choo. Denis says: He joined a small company at that time, in a very competitive world with Net-a-Porter, MyTheresa and Yoox.

But Denis says Jeromes vision and belief helped Matchesfashion win an army of new customers, impressed by a large range of famous and rising star designers, and technology that made buying easy. Italian fashion house Monclers chairman Remo Ruffini is also a fan, and says Jerome has vivid and clever ideas.

Other peers suggest Jerome is no pushover. Anouck Duranteau-Loeper, the deputy chief of Isabel Marant, calls him strong, but fair in business. Ronan Harris, Googles managing director for UK and Ireland, jokes: Sometimes he doesnt listen. Or maybe thats just he sometimes doesnt listen to me.

Jerome became chief three years ago as the Chapmans stepped back. Since then he has opened the new Stratford studio, launched websites in France and South Korea, and signed for a huge new distribution centre in Heathrow, which will allow the firm to stock more goods.

He wont comment on his stake in the company, saying sharply he doesnt communicate that information. But his tone is more friendly as he details new plans such as the opening of 5 Carlos Place in Mayfair, which combines physical and digital shopping.

Customers can buy clothes there, have private style consultations, or head to the top floor, where the team will record podcasts or film interviews with creative chiefs about the latest trends. Says Jerome: This will attract new customers. Nobody has done this before and all eyes are going to be looking at it.

He is also looking to boost revenues by expanding beyond clothes. Matchesfashion has launched a debut homewares range, offering well-heeled shoppers the likes of 150 Anya Hindmarch candles and 375 Roksanda blankets. Further expansion in Asia and the US is also planned.

The new growth plans are coming at the right time as competition heats up, according to Warwick Business Schools luxury goods expert, professor Qing Wang. She says: The pressure for Matchesfashion is its size and growth. She points out: Farfetch is plotting a public listing just 10 years after it was set up, and Yoox Net-a-Porter has global sales of over 2 billion.

Jerome shrugs off competition threats and says the luxury online market is still in its infancy, with plenty of room to grow. That could be why he doesnt appear to have itchy entrepreneurial feet of his own. He says: I am here for the long run. I believe we are still at the beginning of our journey.

Besides, theres no time to get bored because he is too busy, he laughs. The boss, who gets an Uber into London Bridge every morning from his Kensington home, says: Im not good at putting work outside of home, but Im trying to get better and Im working on it.

He now attempts to get back to have dinner with his actress wife Gabriella and say goodnight to their new baby girl. If Jerome does get any spare time, regulars at Chelseas sushi restaurant Oka might spot him. At home he enjoys serving coffee to friends, in his Gucci pot, naturally.
A girl scout is suing the association for 200,000 after she suffered severe burns in a campfire accident.

Camille de Maximy, 18, from south London, was airlifted from Downe village to hospital with burns on her legs, neck and torso after another girl scout allegedly poured methylated spirit on a campfire.

Camille and her 48-year-old mother, Maxine, say she was left permanently scarred from the incident three years ago.

They are demanding a pay-out from the Scout Association after the teenager was allegedly left permanently disfigured and needing multiple operations.

The association is accused of failing in its duty of care.

Camille, from Bromley, was part of the 25th Scout group and was with two friends on the overnight stay when she was burnt.

They were expected to camp for a platinum award with a fire and stove for cooking, but had problems when the flames would not keep burning.

One girl allegedly poured a small quantity of methylated spirit on the fire, causing it to flare and engulf Camille.

Lawyers argue the supervisors did not make sure the girls knew enough about the dangers of the fluid. The stoves were also fuelled by methylated spirit.

The High Court claim reads: The defendant owed to the claimant a duty to provide scouting in a safe manner without risk to health in so far as was reasonably practicable. The scarring and deformity is permanent.

The Scout Association denies negligence and claims Camille was an experienced Scout who had taken part in eight overnight camps before the incident.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  Former Senator Bongbong Marcos downplayed President Rodrigo Duterte's comment for him to succeed the president.

"I think the President is doing all of this tongue-in-cheek," Marcos said in a media briefing in Manila Friday. "I wouldn't take it so seriously, kasi I think he knows kailangan pa rin siyang maging pangulo at marami pang inaasahan sa kanya ang taumbayan [ he still needs to be President and there are plenty more expectations from him]. And I think he knows that."

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said Duterte may step down if Marcos will become his successor. The President had earlier said he wants the likes of Marcos and Senator Chiz Escudero to take his place.

"Pine-playtime lang tayo ni Presidente [The President is just playing with us]," he added.

Vice President Leni Robredo was not in Duterte's options, as the President said she could not handle the job.

Marcos, an ally of Duterte, has a pending electoral protest with Robredo before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET). The tribunal had begun the manual vote recount of the 2016 vice presidential race last April.

The former senator hopes his poll protest will be resolved soon.

"I'm hoping it will be done before the elections of next year," he said.

Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes. The former senator had claimed of ballot fraud.
T he Kent fire chief has backed calls for childrens TV character Fireman Sam to be renamed Firefighter Sam to help attract more females into the rescue services.

Ann Millington, chief executive of Kent Fire and Rescue, said it would challenge the stereotype".

It came as the Home Office launched a campaign for greater diversity in the countrys fire and rescue services. Only 5.2 per cent of firefighters in England are women, and just 3.9 per cent are from an ethnic minority background.

Last year, the creator of Fireman Sam said it was too late to change the name to Firefighter Sam.

But Ms Millington said the name change would work with us in attempts to recruit more female firefighters.

She told Good Morning Britain: We have done research with women asking if they would join us, and we are still picking up that image of: Ive got to be a lot stronger than I am'.

They [female firefighters] do need to be out there being seen for other women to recognise this is a job for them.

Ms Millington, who said she has 70 female firefighters in Kent, added: There are some really entrenched views about what the job is about and also a long, long history of perceiving the job is male.

Ninety-five per cent of the nation's firefighters are male / PA

The same way you say a nurse is female, people say a firefighter is male.

We are missing 50 per cent of the talent we could recruit its that old fashioned image of what the job is about.
A regional political editor became embroiled in a Twitter row with left-wing columnist Owen Jones in which she told him he was "not a qualified journalist."

Jennifer Williams, the politics and investigations editor at the Manchester Evening News, told Mr Jones to stop treating journalists like a bunch of b******* during the spat.

The pair became involved in an argument following Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns controversial speech about media reform, and Mr Joness appearance on Newsnight backing him.

He told the BBC show that journalism is the most socially exclusive profession other than medicine and reporting is seen through the eyes of privileged people.

But Ms Williams tweeted: Feel free to argue with me, Owen Jones, about where my public interest journalism comes from, which mogul is telling me and my colleagues across the country what to do and how to do it and how my relative poshness is a factor.

Because actually heres the thing: you earn your living writing polemic, which is fine, thats a thing. But I earn my living doing public interest journalism. I know more about it.

"And if I sound angry it's because I am. I'm absolutely f****** sick of this."

Mr Jones replied: I've never accused you of being dictated by corrupt media mogul overlords? Where is this even coming from? You're a journalist, why make stuff up? I've said the press is a) largely run by moguls and b) largely editorially backs the Tories, what's that got to do with you?

Ms Williams responded: Stating inequalities in media is not unreasonable and I agree its a problem. What I find deeply irritating is watching someone who - I think Im right in saying - is not a qualified journalist passing their comment continuously on what a bunch of b******* we are.
A deadly black widow spider has been found in a crate which had been transported to Scotland from America.

Workers at the business park in Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, were shocked to discover the arachnid lurking in the crate.

They called the Scottish SPCA on Thursday after finding the spider, whose venom is said to be 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake.

The charity said the spider had to be killed because there was nowhere in Scotland it could be safely kept.

Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: "We can confirm we were alerted to a black widow after it was found in a crate from America.

"Bites from the black widow can be dangerous to humans and can cause severe muscle pain and muscle spasms.

"There is nowhere in Scotland to safely rehome it, and we could not keep it in our centre due to severe health and safety concerns."

It is not the first time a black widow has been found in Scotland.

In May 2013, employees at a company on Kirkhill Industrial Estate in Dyce, Aberdeen, spotted a stowaway in a shipment from the US and contacted the Scottish SPCA.

It was rehomed by someone who ran an exotic animal rescue charity.

Black widows live for about two years and are native to the US.
P ope Francis is due to make a historic visit to Ireland this weekend becoming the first pontiff to do so since Saint Pope John Paul II travelled there in 1979.

The 266th Pope is visiting the country to celebrate the Festival of Families, a Catholic Church celebration, although his tour is expected to be overshadowed by sex abuse scandals within the Catholic church.

Significantly fewer crowds are expected during Pope Francis' tour in a country that has changed drastically since the last pontiff visit.

Whilst he's there, the 81-year-old will have a jam-packed schedule over the two-day visit, including meeting President Michael D Higgins.

Here's everything you need to know about the Pope's visit to Ireland:

Where will the Pope be going on Saturday?

Pope Francis will arrive in Dublin at 10:30 am on Saturday 25 August, kneeling to kiss the ground when he lands as is traditional.

He will then travel to Aras an Uachtarain to meet President Michael D Higgins, spending around half an hour with him and his wife, Sabrina. There are also plans for the pope to plant a tree in the grounds of the Aras.

From there, he will head to Dublin castle to see Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as well as church leaders, the Council of State, Government MEPs, Northern Ireland political party leaders and some members of the judiciary.

After that, he will visit St Marys pro-cathedral before making a private visit to the Capuchin Fathers day centre for homeless families on Arran Quay.

Finally, hell attend the festival of families at Croke Park.

The concert line up will include Andrew Botcelli, Daniel ODonnell, Nathan Carter, Paddy Moloney, Riverdance, Dana Masters, Celine Byrne, Moya Brennan, The Begley Family and The Priests.

A boy gestures as he rides on a truck with wax work figures of Pope Francis and former Pope John Paul II in Dublin, Ireland, August 23, 2018. / REUTERS

What's the Pope's schedule like for Sunday?

With barely any time to rest, on Sunday, he'll visit Knock to say Angelus in front of the Chapel of Knock Shrine.

From there, he'll head back to Dublin for lunch with the Papal delegation before the main event at the Papal Mass in Phoenix Park at 3pm.

Afterwards, the Pope will meet the Irish Bishops at the Convent of the Domincan Sisteres in Cabra, where he will deliver the last of his prepared speeches.

After what would've been a busy weekend, he'll say farewell in a closing ceremony at Dublin airport.

What is the World Meeting of Families?

The World Meeting of Families, or 'The Festival of Families,' is a Catholic church event held every three years that brings families across the world together to celebrate the importance of marriage and the family.

This year, Dublin was chosen by Pope Francis to host the World Meeting of Families, which takes place between 21 August- 26 August.

What is the Popes route during his Ireland visit?

Why is Pope Francis' visit important?

Aside from the fact it will be the first time a Pope has visited Ireland in almost 50 years, it will also be the first visit in light of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.

Allegations of child sex abuse associated with the Catholic church stem as far back as the 1980s and its effects were felt all over the world.

In Ireland, 14 priests have been accused in recent years, four of whom were convicted.

Elsewhere, a landmark investigation last week found more than 1,000 minors had been abused by 300 priests in the US state of Pennsylvania.

Although nothing has officially been said about the Pope meeting abuse victims, the head of Ireland's Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Eamon Martin, has said he expects Pope Francis to do so.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has also said he will not "skirt over" issues of child abuse when he meets the Pope.

Ireland repealed the 8th amendment on abortion after a referendum in June / PA

How will Pope Francis' visit be different from Pope John Paul II?

Granted, Pope Francis will be visiting a radically different Ireland than he would have been 49 years ago.

Back then, almost 1.5 million were in Phoenix Park to visit Pope John Paul II. This weekend, only 500,00 people are expected to attend mass.

The once-strong grip that religion had on Ireland's social policies is also dwindling, demonstrated by the Irish referendum on abortion this year and the 2015 vote to legalise same-sex marriage.
E urope's biggest illegal turtle farm has been shut down on the Spanish island of Mallorca, police say.

Officers seized around 1,100 turtles and 750 eggs, including specimens of some of the most endangered species in the world.

The rare turtles were reportedly being kept in poor conditions on the site.

Two German men were arrested on suspicion of running the farm, as well as the owner of a pet shop in Barcelona.

Packages of turtle eggs seized during an operation in Llucmajor / AFP/Getty Images

Europol says the operation began 18 months ago when authorities seized an illegal shipment of turtles at Mallorca airport.

The pet shop in Barcelona, which specialised in exotic animals, was used to smuggle the turtles out of Spain.

Many of the turtles at the farm were endangered species / AP

Some of the protected species came from the United States, Canada and Mexico.
H undreds of British tourists were being evacuated from a hotel in Egypt today after a "fit and healthy" British couple were found dead in their room.

The daughter of John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire, who died at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, said her parents were "fit and healthy" with "no health problems at all" prior to their holiday.

Kelly Ormerod was on a break with her parents and three children when tragedy struck.

Mr Cooper, 69, died in his room. Mrs Ormerod said her 63-year-old mother, a Thomas Cook employee, then died in an ambulance en route to hospital.

She said the family were in "utter shock" as they awaited results of post-mortem examinations on the couple, who had booked the holiday with Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook has evacuated hundreds of British tourists from the resort of Hurghada in Egypt, pictured / Matzi/Pixabay

In a statement to Lancashire-based radio station 2BR, Mrs Ormerod said: "As a family we are devastated. Mum and Dad meant the world to me and the children, and we are in utter shock over what has happened and what is happening.

"Prior to going on holiday, Mum and Dad were fit and healthy. They had no health problems at all.

"What I want is to clear up some of what is being reported. We have no cause of death, a post-mortem is under way.

The couple were staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada / Steigenberger Aqua Magic

"Dad never went to hospital - he died in the hotel room in front of me. I went to hospital in the ambulance with Mum, where she passed away.

"Thomas Cook have been amazing, we have support from the company and I can't praise them enough for what they've done.

"My focus is on getting my children home. All we want is answers about what has happened and a cause of death.

"I'd also like to thank people at home for their messages of love and support during this horrendous ordeal."

Janette Rawlingson was one of those staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel.

She has been on holiday there with her two children, aged eight and 11.

Speaking to the Victoria Derbyshire programme, she said: Weve been told that they dont know whats happened to the guests at al.

Were very worried about eating or drinking in the hotel. Ive had an upset stomach overnight.

Only because of my persistence they went to a supermarket two get my two children some food because I didnt want them eating in the restaurant, because basically they dont know whats happened at all.

Everybody is really worried.

The lack of answers from Thomas Cook is really disappointing.

We flew out on Tuesday which is the day these poor, poor people passed away and I must say Im really sorry about what happened.

I think we should have been given the option whether to come or not to come and we would have not.

Weve saved hard for a summer holiday for the family.

She said that they considered the option of moving to another hotel but instead will be flying back to the UK.

She said: Wed rather have a full refund, start again and have another holiday. But we wouldnt book through Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook announced that all its holidaymakers would be removed from the hotel as a precaution and would be offered alternative hotels within Hurghada from Friday onwards, as well as giving them the option to return home.

A spokesman said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers that were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

"The circumstances of their deaths are still unclear. We have also received further reports of a raised level of illness among guests.

"Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel."

The spokesman added on Thursday: "For those customers who choose to come home, we have made arrangements to fly them back tomorrow, August 24.

"While we understand this is upsetting for those on holiday, we believe this is the right thing to do.

"We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations.

"The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96%.

"We will be contacting those customers due to travel to the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in the next four weeks to offer alternative holiday options."
A BBC journalist was hit by a falling tree while delivering a radio report on Hurricane Lane in Hawaii.

James Cook was in the middle of his report when a tree suddenly cracked and fell on top of him, leaving his laptop destroyed.

In the audio recording, released by the BBC, he begins by explaining that the eye of the category three storm will skirt round Hawaiis Big Island in 12 hours time.

But he is suddenly interrupted by the sound of a tree breaking amid fierce winds which have already hit the US pacific islands.

He can be heard shouting argh before about five seconds of silence. Mr Cook and his co-workers can then be heard asking each other if they are alright.

Well, that was unexpected, adds the journalist, over the sound of crunching leaves and brunches.

He then asks a colleague to leave the tree and not to try to move it, saying: It will be easier just to climb out.

Its smashed my laptop, he adds.

Hawaii: Hurricane Lane - In pictures 1 /32 Hawaii: Hurricane Lane - In pictures SplashNews.com Waves crash on the coast as Hurricane Lane approaches Ka'u, Hawai Reuters Hurricane Lane from space: Epic scale of storm bearing down on Hawaii revealed in this incredible image Ricky Arnold/Twitter Torrential rains from Hurricane Lane have begun to hit Hawaii Getty Images Families stock up with supplies as Hurricane Lane moves dangerously close to the main Hawaiian islands AP A man takes photos of floodwaters from rainfall on Big Island Getty Images Hurricane Lane approaches Hawaii in dramatic satellite images AFP/Getty Images The images were beamed down by astronauts on the International Space Station Ricky Arnold/Twitter Satellite images mapped the hurricanes progress as it headed towards Hawaii AP Images of the terrifying weather pattern have been shared on social media by astronauts Ricky Arnold/Twitter Contractor David Meyer pushes a plywood board into place over a window in preparation of the approaching strong winds of Hurricane Lane in Honolulu AP A car is stuck partially submerged in floodwaters from Hurricane Lane rainfall on Hawaii's Big Island Getty Images Ian (2nd right) and Lauren Foo (right), owners of HYPR Nalu Hawaii, a surfboard rental outfit, prepare for the approaching Hurricane Lane, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii EPA A long line of cars wait as people fill up their vehicles with gasoline as Hurricane Lane approaches Kauai, Hawai Reuters Residents of Oahu are re-stocking their water and non-perishable food supplies as preparation for the looming threat of Hurricane Lane in Oahu, Hawai AFP/Getty Images Workers from the Kona Seaside Hotel, board the windows of HYPR Nalu Hawaia, a surfboard rental outfit, in preparation for the approaching Hurricane Lane, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii EPA A shopper walks past a monitor displaying hurricane information in several different languages inside a hotel Waikiki in Honolulu AP Vicente Rodriguez of Honolulu covers the windows of his house, as he prepares for Hurricane Lane to impact Hawaii AFP/Getty Images Loren, right, and Ruby Aquino, of Honolulu, load water into their car ahead of Hurricane Lane in Honolulu AP Shoppers get supplies at a local hardware store as Hurricane Lane approaches Honolulu, Hawaii Reuters Jodi Nishida and Sam Delovio push along plyboard they purchased at a City Mill store before the arrival of a hurricane in Honolulu AP University of Hawaii at Manoa students, Madison Flores, 19, and Loreal Walls-Jaime, who bought coolers in hopes of saving the food in their refrigerator at home if the electricity goes out, look over the empty shelves of can goods at Walmart while in preparation for Hurricane Lane in Honolulu Getty Images Great-grandmother, Marie Mattson, Anjie Mattson and her grandnephew, Ocean Camacho, 3, gather a large cart of supplies in preparation for Hurricane Lane at Sam's Club in Honolulu Getty Images Cars queue to fill up with petrol before Hurricane Lane arrives Reuters The Wailuku River flood waters run downstream on the Big Island in Hilo Getty Images Austin Seawright, right, stacks sandbags in front of a closed store in preparation for Hurricane Lane AP A lounge in Daniel K. Inouye International Airport sits mostly empty as Hurricane Lane approaches the island chain in Honolulu, Hawai Getty Images A surfer rides on a strong wave as Hurricane Lane approaches Maui, Hawaii Reuters Map locating forecast track of Hurricane Lane. Reuters Flooding at Wailuku River near Hilo, Hawaii AP A chicken hops through floodwaters in Hilo, Hawaii Reuters The Wailuku River flood waters run downstream on the Big Island in Hilo, Hawaii. v

It came as flash floods and landslides hit Hawaii today as a slow-approaching Hurricane Lane unleashed a torrent of rain and 125mph winds.

The hurricane was downgraded to a category three storm as it approached land, but officials warned of life-threatening conditions and urged people not to travel after a foot of rain fell in 24 hours.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said: Lane, while its been downgraded, is wide and very moist and its going to hang around for a while, because its moving slowly. Thats why were taking so much precaution here.

President Donald Trump had earlier declared a state of emergency amid warnings the storm could be the most powerful to hit Hawaii in more than 25 years.
A police department in the United States has apologised after a mother's frantic 911 call to rescue her baby from a locked hot car went unanswered.

Leaving her grandmother's house in Waterford, Michigan, on Saturday, Lacey Guyton put her two-month-old daughter Raina her car seat - with her diaper bag - and shut the door of the vehicle.

Ms Guyton, 25, was walking around the car when she heard all the doors lock, and realised that her car keys were in the diaper bag, according to ABC News.

The mother said she immediately grabbed a chunk of asphalt and tried to smash the car window as her grandmother called 911.

Her grandmother told police there was an infant in the car, but was informed that the department does not unlock vehicles or break windows - instead offering to send a tow company.

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Ms Guyton said the car was getting hotter by the moment and her daughter was crying, so she did not have time to wait for the truck.

She was then refused help following a second phone call.

Ms Guyton tried to use a window breaker, but said she could not break the glass.

Raina then stopped crying and her eyes started to shut, Ms Guyton said.

She said she didn't "know if she's dying right now or just going to sleep".

Ms Guyton ran to the back windshield and was finally able to shatter it after one or two hits.

She jumped in to grab her daughter, who was safe, and the 15-minute ordeal came to an end.

"It was terrifying. It was like the worst day of my life," Ms Guyton told Fox2. "I was so, like, shocked, [thinking] they aren't coming.

"I have to get her out of here. Nobody's coming to help me."

Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood has since apologised for the incident.

He said: "It's a common sense issue. You know you call 911, you expect for someone to come and give you some help.
A police dog handler has been suspended after a dog he left in a car for six hours died from the heat in South Carolina.

Master Police Officer David Hurt has been suspended for five days, without pay, but will not face criminal charges following the dogs death, Colombia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said.

Mr Hurt said his children had grown to love the dog. Chief Holbrook said: Its like losing a partner or a family member, it is devastating.

Mr Hurt explained he did leave the air conditioning on and left windows open on July 26, but turned off a heat alarm in his car when it was 94 degrees (34C).

The officer also failed to come back to allow the Labrador, Turbo, relieve itself.

Chief Holbrook said this shocked dog handlers, ABC news reported.

Chief Skip Holbrook speaking about the the investigation / AP

He added: He didnt give any logical reason.

Mr Hurt was attending a high school and did not choose to take Turbo inside because of the loud noises and crowds.

Chief Holbrook said that other dog handlers also left dogs inside of vehicles on the day too.

When Mr Hurt returned, Turbo had white foam around his mouth and was listless. The officer immediately recognised the dog was suffering from heat stress and took it to a vet for treatment.
A n asteroid up to 500 feet (160m) in diameter is set to hurtle close past Earth next week.

The giant rock, known as 2016 NF23, is moving towards our corner of the solar system at around 20,000 miles an hour - faster than many rockets.

It is on track to pass nearest to our planet on August 29, according to NASA.

And the asteroid will come close enough for NASA scientists to place the object on the space agency's "potentially hazard asteroid" watch list.

NASA estimates the asteroid to be between 70 and 160 metres (230 to 525 feet) in diameter.

It is expected to pass within 0.03377 astronomical units (about 3 million miles) from Earth.

For comparison, the sun is 93 million miles away.

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) or asteroids must come within 4.6 million miles of Earth to be classified as "potentially hazardous".
A 14-year-old boy has been accused of stabbing a schoolmate in assembly because she wasnt interested in a relationship with him.

The schoolboy, whose name has not been revealed, is alleged to have attacked the 14-year-old girl in Luther High School, in Oklahoma.

The shocking attack is alleged to have happened on August 16 at 8.15am, while the pair were stood next to each other in an assembly. The boy is accused of repeatedly stabbing the schoolgirl in the schools auditorium after he stood up.

Luther Police have confirmed the two youngsters were friends, but Chief David Randall has said the boy wanted a romantic relationship.

Newsok reported that Chief Randall said: There was one point where he approached her in reference... to try to have some type of relationship, to which she said she wasnt interested in it.

Chief Randall has claimed the victim, who is out of hospital and doing well, told the police that.

It is claimed that the boy was turned down by the 14-year-old victim, but he continued to initiate a relationship with her by slipping notes in her locker.

Chief Randall added: She said she liked him as a friend, not anything more and they remained friends.

She had no idea that he was holding any type of ill will towards her, so she was totally shocked that he would do this to her.

In the days following the alleged attack, rumours about bullying were thought to be a motivation behind the stabbing, but the victim told police that wasnt true.

She told Randall she had never been bullied by the boy and that she had never talked negatively about him or did anything towards him in any type of bullying manner.

The girl was taken to hospital following, although she has not returned to lessons yet.
A British couple found dead in a hotel room on a holiday resort in Egypt both died from heart attacks, Egyptian authorities said today.

John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire, were staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada when they became unwell on Tuesday.

Mr Cooper, 69, died in his room. Mrs Ormerod said her 63-year-old mother, a Thomas Cook employee, then died in an ambulance en route to hospital.

Mr Cooper died of sudden failure in the heart muscle and respiratory failure, according to a Hurghada mortuary official, the BBC reported.

It came as Thomas Cook banned holidaymakers from staying at the resort for at least the next month.

The cause of their deaths is currently unclear but the travel provider said it has no evidence to suggest they were caused by Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Thomas Cook has evacuated hundreds of British tourists from the resort of Hurghada in Egypt, pictured / Matzi/Pixabay

Ahmed Abdallah, the governor of Hurghada, said claims about Carbon Monoxide poisoning "were not logical."

He said: "This claim is not logical because the air conditioner of the hotel is central and if there is a leak it would have affected all the 2,500 guests at the hotel.

An evacuation of the hotel is underway with Thomas Cook offering support to 300 holidaymakers forced to find new accommodation overnight, a spokeswoman said.

The company added that they would not allow customer stay in the hotel for at least four weeks.

Some shocked travellers opted to fly back today.

One holidaymaker staying at the resort told the Victoria Derbyshire show: Weve been told that they dont know whats happened to the guests at all.

The couple were staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada / Steigenberger Aqua Magic

Were very worried about eating or drinking in the hotel. Ive had an upset stomach overnight.

Only because of my persistence they went to a supermarket two get my two children some food because I didnt want them eating in the restaurant, because basically they dont know whats happened at all.

Everybody is really worried.

The lack of answers from Thomas Cook is really disappointing.

We flew out on Tuesday which is the day these poor, poor people passed away and I must say Im really sorry about what happened.

I think we should have been given the option whether to come or not to come and we would have not.

Hundreds of Brits evacuated from Egypt holiday resort

Weve saved hard for a summer holiday for the family.

One couple planning a romantic break to the hotel on October 1 told the Standard they were extremely worried about the taking the trip.

Daniella Danridge, 27, and fiance Kimberley Connor, have spent 1,500 on the luxury holiday  planned to be the last before their honeymoon in 2020.

Miss Danridge said: It has made us both feel extremely worried about going now. Especially as no one seems to know what the cause was. We're both very hard working people and this is our last holiday until our honeymoon in 2020 as we now have our wedding to save for so obviously were feeling gutted.

Miss Danridge added that Thomas Cook had told her they were currently only offering those with holidays booked until September 21 alternative accommodation.

James West, 43, from Hampshire is booked to stay at the hotel with his family in December.

He claimed he stood to lose 1,200 if he cancelled the holiday but added: I don't want to commit thousands of pounds taking my family to a hotel until I know it's safe.

Mr West said: We would lose 1,200 if we cancel. I'm upset by the awful news, people have died and no one knows why. I'm furious that Thomas Cook has acknowledged a major problem by closing bookings and evacuating the hotel, but refuses to offer any concession to customers with existing bookings beyond the next few weeks.

I don't want to commit thousands of pounds taking my family to a hotel until I know it's safe. TC can't confirm whether it will be safe, but expects me to pay in full regardless. Why can't I alter the booking given the situation?"

Earlier today, Mr and Mrs Coopers heartbroken daughter Kelly Ormerod who was on holiday with her parents and children when tragedy struck said they were fit and healthy" with "no health problems at all" prior to their holiday.

She added that her family were in "utter shock" as they awaited results of post-mortem examinations on the couple.

Thomas Cook said in statement today: We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers who were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

The circumstances of their deaths remain unclear. We are aware of the speculation in some of todays media that their deaths may have been caused by Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Currently we have no evidence to support this.

A team of 24 Thomas Cook representatives have been supporting our 300 customers in the hotel overnight.

We are offering customers alternative hotels within Hurghada, as well as giving them the option to return home. For those customers who choose to come home, we have made arrangements to fly them back today. While we understand this is upsetting for those on holiday, we believe this is the right thing to do.

We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations. The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96 per cent.

We will be contacting those customers due to travel to the Steigenberger Hotel in Hurghada in the next four weeks to offer alternative holiday options.
A ttorney general Jeff Sessions has fired back at Donald Trump after being blamed for the investigation that led to the presidents implication in a hush-money election scandal .

In a rare rebuke, Mr Sessions insisted the Justice Department would not bow to political pressure from the White House. While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations, he said in a statement.

On Tuesday the presidents former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, said in court that Mr Trump directed him to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the silence of two women who claimed they had affairs with the ex-reality star. Cohen, who admitted campaign finance violations, tax and bank fraud, was prosecuted after Mr Mueller referred the case to New York law officials.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions / Reuters

The president said of Mr Sessions: He took the job and then he said, Im going to recuse myself. I said, What kind of a man is this? Even my enemies say Jeff Sessions should have told you he was going to recuse himself, and then you wouldnt have put him in. He told Fox News: I put in an attorney general that never took control of the justice department.

But in his statement, Mr Sessions declared: I demand the highest standards and where they are not met I take action. No nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States. I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law.

Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations over the payments to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playmate Karen McDougal before the 2016 election. On the same day, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of bank and tax fraud, after indictments filed by the Special Counsel.

Mr Trump claims the Special Counsel would never have been appointed if Mr Sessions had not recused himself and handed control of the Russia probe to his deputy Rod Rosenstein, who made the appointment. One strand of Mr Muellers inquiries involves possible obstruction of justice by Mr Trump for firing FBI Director James Comey after he allegedly refused to halt the Russia inquiry.
Despite denying any sign of a leadership contest just three days ago the Evangelical Christian is now set to replace Malcolm Turnbull as Australias 30th Prime Minister.

Mr Morrison won a leadership bid 45 votes to 40 in the Liberal Party in a bitter battle on Thursday.

Mr Turnbull had been forced to hold the leadership ballot by supporters of challenger Peter Dutton, a former cabinet minister.

Outgoing Australian PM says there was a 'determined insurgency' to remove him

Despite not contesting the challenge, Mr Turnbull condemned Dutton supporters for bringing down his leadership, which he described as an insurgency, branding his opponents as wreckers who had created chaos.

Here is everything you need to know about Australia's new Prime Minister.

When did Scott Morrison begin his political career?

The new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg / REUTERS

Mr Morrison entered Australian politics after a stint setting up New Zealands Office of Tourism and Sport.

In 2001, he took up the job as state director of the New South Wales Liberal Party. He made his first bid for parliament in 2007 running for the safe Liberal seat of Cook. Mr Morrison suffered a crushing blow at the hands of Lebanese Catholic Michael Towke.

He clinched the seat months later and in September 2008 was appointed shadow minister for housing by predecessor Mr Turnbull.

Scott Morrison with outgoing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull / EPA

The new leader rose to public prominence when the conservative coalition government was first elected under Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2013.

He was appointed immigration minister and later worked in social services.

Mr Morrison took over as treasurer when Mr Turnbull ousted leader Mr Abbott in 2016.

Why is Scott Morrison controversial?

Mr Morrison was the man behind a controversial 2006 tourism campaign featuring bikini-clad model Lara Bingle.

It ran with the slogan so where the bloody hell are you? in a bid to attract holidaying Brits but was swiftly banned in the UK because of complaints about the choice of language.

Scott Morrison and deputy Josh Frydenberg attend a swearing in ceremony in Canberra / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Morrison is renowned for this tough stance on immigration.

In 2013, he used his position as immigration and citizenship spokesman to launch Operation Sovereign Borders that stopped asylum seekers from attempting to reach Australian shores by boat.

Australia uses the navy to turn boats back to Indonesia, or banishes refugees to remote immigration camps on the poor Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

The policy has been widely condemned as a callous abrogation of Australia's international obligations to help refugees. Australia's human rights watchdog found in 2014 that Mr Morrison failed to act in the best interests of asylum seeker children in detention.

The new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during the news conference in Canberra / REUTERS

Mr Morrison explained his deep belief in the righteousness of crushing the people-smuggling trade and preserving the safety of people who board rickety boats to take the long and treacherous voyage to Australia.

But his empathy came under question when he criticised a former government's decision in 2010 to pay asylum seekers to fly from a remote Christmas Island camp to Sydney to attend funerals after 48 died in a boat disaster.

In 2017, Mr Morrison was one of just 10 MPs to vote against legalising same-sex marriage.

Explaining the reasons behind his vote, he said: "My view on this topic is as important as everyone elses. That is why we are having a survey on it. My view is, look I am voting no, it is OK to say no and people should know that."

Nonetheless, the bill was overwhelmingly endorsed in a government-commissioned postal survey.

Is Scott Morrison married?

He met his wife Jenny Warren at church when they were both 16 years old and married five years later.

The couple has two daughters together.

New Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison with daughters, Abigail, second from right, and Lily, second from left, and wife Jenny after being sworn in at Government House / AP

What's public opinion like?

Mr Morrison is seen by some as an incongruous mix of a committed Christian who made his name through ratcheting up the refugee policy that many church groups condemned as inhumane.

Some also find his politics confusing - he started his career as a moderate in the ruling conservative Liberal Party and morphed into a conservative.

But as a conservative who respects moderates, voters appear to think Mr Morrison is well placed to heal the civil war within the party that brought him to power.

What has he said about his PM role?

Mr Morrison said he would be working to "bring our party back together which has been bruised and battered this week."

He also mentioned the drought that has been plaguing parts of Australia, describing it as "our most urgent and pressing need right now."

What can we expect from Scott Morrison as PM?

Australians can expect much of Mr Morrison's decisions to be influenced by his religious background.

He has spoken in the past about wanting to ensure greater religious freedoms.
A riana Grande has ended Mamma Mias chart reign by bagging the Number One spot with her new album Sweetener.

The US popstar, 25, said she was so grateful to hit the top spot a week after releasing her hotly anticipated fourth EP.

Thank you so much, she told OfficialCharts.com. Im so grateful! I cant tell you how appreciative I am. I cant wait to see you in September.

Sweetener shifted 45,000 copies to become this weeks biggest record across UK physical sales, downloads and streaming.

Award winner: Ariana Grande at the MTV VMAs earlier this week / PA

It ends Mamma Mia! Here We Go Agains four-week dominance at the top, pushing it down to number two, and bumping The Greatest Showman into third.

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin re-entered the UK Top 40 in the wake of her death, aged 76, from cancer earlier this month.

Ariana Grande back stage with Grandmother at VMAs

Her 1973 offering, Soul Queen, is at Number 15, followed by 30 Greatest Hits at Number 16 and Respect  The Very Best Of at Number 27.

Her songs have also made it into the Top 100 on the Official Singles Chart with her 1968 hit I Say A Little Prayer at 51, R.E.S.P.E.C.T at 63 and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman at 79  marking its first ever chart entry in the UK.

Ariana Grande arrives to MTV VMAs after-party with her Grandma 1 /5 Ariana Grande arrives to MTV VMAs after-party with her Grandma SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com

Grandes chart topping album features her new song Get Well Soon which she made with Pharrell Williams to honour the victims of the Manchester arena bombing. The song features a long silence at the end and has a running time of 5:22 to mark the date: May 22.

Grande opened up about the track in an interview for Paper magazine, telling Troye Sivan she was in a bad place when she penned it.

Overall, [Pharrell] kind of forced it out of me, she said. Because I was in a really bad place mentally. Ive always had anxiety, Ive had anxiety for years. But when I got home from tour it reached a very different, intense peak.
T he next James Bond instalment looks set to be pushed back a year after Danny Boyle dropped out of directing duties earlier this week.

Boyle parted ways with the upcoming film on Tuesday over creative differences, just three months before production was due to begin at Pinewood.

The final film of the Daniel Craig era will miss its November 2019 release date and may not hit theatres until late 2020, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The publication also claims that the release date was in danger of being moved even before Trainspotting head Boyle pulled out.

MGM and EON have been contacted for comment.

The official Bond Twitter account confirmed on Tuesday that Boyle was no longer part of the team overseeing the next movie.

Alongside the iconic 007 image, the tweet read: Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25.

No further information about the decision has been given. Rumoured replacements include Lynne Ramsay - who would be the franchise's first female director - and Christopher Nolan.

Boyle was confirmed for the role back in May, with Wilson and Brocolli confirming the appointment in a social media statement.

It read: We are delighted to announce that the exceptionally talented Danny Boyle will be directing Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as James Bond in the 25th instalment of the franchise.

We will begin shooting Bond 25 at Pinewood Studios in December with our partners at MGM and are thrilled that Universal will be our international distributor.
L iam Payne has spoken out about his split from Cheryl for the first time, insisting that he is feeling okay but it still a bit fragile at times.

The former One Direction star announced his split from the pop star and mother of his child last month after two years of dating.

While neither Payne nor Cheryl have divulged any details about the break-up, Payne has now opened up about the aftermath, while hinting that he wanted to give the relationship another try.

Im good. Im good. You know, a lot of stuff going on at the minute, he said when quizzed about his personal life on the Official Vodafone Big top 40.

Split: Liam Payne and Cheryl dated for two years / @LiamPayne Instagram

Im feeling okay, Im a bit fragile at times. No Im alright you know, its been okay. Obviously theres a lot of stuff Ive still got to sort out with my life.

Talking about having to deal with the split in the public eye, Payne added: Obviously weve broken up and then it was like a couple of days or a couple of weeks before we actually like put the announcement out and thats the bit when it really hits home I guess.

Hot and heavy: Liam Payne and Rita Ora / Instagram/ Liam Payne

But at the same point its like breaking up twice like, we already did this once and now Im having to go through all of that again.

He continued: You know, and I didnt really expect any of this obviously and its difficult.

Kimberley Walsh says Cheryl is doing well after split from Liam Payne

I think sometimes people need to remember that behind all those statements and things there are actually people who are going through the same sort of stuff that you go through whether theyre famous, rich or whatever they are, it doesnt really matter.

In his brand new EP, Payne appears to hint that it was Cheryl who did the dumping after a serious of tense rows.

Lyric include: Howd we get to lying, crying, always fighting like our lives depend on it?

Im not ready yet, theres still a thread left. Give it one last go. I need us to try.

Payne, who was seen looking cosy with fellow pop star Rita Ora at the VMAs,is rumoured to be dating model Cairo Dwek.
V ictoria Beckham shared a sweet snap of her family with close friends The Ramsays as they celebrated Tana Ramsays birthday on Thursday.

In the picture, Victoria has her arms around her son Brooklyn, 19, while David is stood behind Romeo, 15, and Cruz, 13.

Their youngest child, Harper, is being given a piggyback by Tilly Ramsay, 16, while her twin siblings Jack and Holly stand next to proud parents.

The fashion designer captioned the shot: Happy birthday @tanaramsay x We love u so much x kisses from us all!! X VB.

Cake: Victoria Beckham showed off Tana Ramsay's impressive birthday treat / Instagram / Victoria Beckham

Tana, married to TV chef Gordon Ramsay, celebrated her 43rd birthday this week with a lavish celebration including a cake with mini figurines of her family and a pricey bottle of wine.

Beckham shared the extravagant birthday cake on her Instagram stories, showing off the marzipan Ramsays on the tiered cake, complete with lettuce, spaghetti and the beloved family dog.

Adorable video shows Harper Beckham making chocolate

The pictures come just days after the Beckhams returned home from a holiday in Bali, where they kept fans up-to-date with their daily experiences on social media.

Harper beamed for the camera as she spooned melted chocolate into a mould before being joined by her brothers to make more sweet treats.

Both Victoria and David then shared snaps of their daughter horse riding along the picturesque beach.
W ere still a few months away from the official announcement of Googles next smartphone range but it looks like the Google Pixel 3 has been well and truly leaked.

An image of the larger device, the Google Pixel 3XL has been circulating around Russia as a number of bloggers appear to have gotten their hands on the device. As a result, all the details are available online for you to see.

Heres what we know so far about the Google Pixel 3.

Google Pixel 3: inside the box

The Russian blog Rozetked scooped Google with the first huge leak, detailing everything in the phones box.

The phablet-type phone comes with a USB-C charger, a Quick Switch Adapter - to transfer data from a previous phone, and crucially a headphone jack dongle.

This means Google is not bringing back the 3.5mm headphone jack for the Pixel 3 range, following in Apples footsteps.

As well, the box also contains Googles new Pixel buds, which include a dedicated Google Assistant button.

What about the camera?

The camera is a big deal when it comes to smartphones, but unfortunately, it doesnt look like the Pixel 3 is getting much of an upgrade.

Leaks suggest the phone has a 12.2MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture  which denotes the part of the camera that allows light to reach the film or image sensor, with a low number being better. Good specs to see, but these are the same as the Google Pixel 2, last years phone.

It looks like the Google Pixel 3 XL has the same camera as its predecessor, the Pixel 2 XL pictured here / Google

How will the new Google Pixel 3 look?

So far, the Russian leaks are detailing images of the XL device, the higher end model. According to blogger Wylsacom, who apparently says he found the phone in a taxi according to CNET, the phone has the signature two-tone back, with a fingerprint sensor in the middle and only one camera.

This means Google isn't getting into the dual lens hype just yet.

As well, theres an iPhone-esque notch and apparently a high-quality OLED screen that measures 6.2inches, with a screen resolution of 1,440x2960.

Inside the phone, the leaks are suggesting it will be powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor, just like the OnePlus 6, and will come with 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage.

As with all leaks we have to take them with a pinch of salt and wait until the actual launch day to see what the Google Pixel 3 will really be like.
I t used to be that everyone has a book inside them but in 2018 its more likely to be a podcast.

And if you identify as a woman of colour, then Spotify wants to help you get your voice and podcast idea out there.

The Swedish-based tech company is holding its first UK-based Sound Up Bootcamp in London this November, designed and facilitated in partnership with the ShoutOut Network, whose company mission is to find the next generation of voices.

It will be a week-long residential workshop, led by podcast industry experts, and is a chance for aspiring podcasters to learn all about the audio art form, receive mentoring and advice, as well as guidance to find their narrative voice.

The bootcamp will follow the pattern of Spotifys first Sound Up event, held in New York. The course had over 18,000 applicants and the company called it a huge success.

James Cator, head of podcast partnerships, EMEA, for Spotify, said: The UK is a leading light in the world of podcasts, so were expecting to see a similarly enthusiastic response from ambitious podcast creators in the UK.

We are hugely excited to be able to support and promote more diverse and talented voices in the field of podcasting, and to give them a creative platform to share their work with the widest possible audience.

The event will take place between 5  9 November in London. But, if youre interested you need to get your application in soon: Spotify has recently extended the deadline so it closes on 17 September.

Applicants can apply here and fill out the form to submit their podcast idea. Crucially you do not need to have a background in audio and podcasting as the point of the workshop is to amplify voices who may not have had the opportunity to do so before.

Spotify says it will review all the applications, before calling some people in for interviews and whittling it down to the final 10 who will take part in the bootcamp.

At the end of the week, all the participants will take part in a pitch session to a panel of industry experts, with the top three going on to receive support to further develop and record their idea.

Natalie Tulloch, director of content partnerships at Spotify, said: The US Sound Up Bootcamp has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my career. The week was so much more than planned. It was a privilege being in the room with an amazing group of women. During the course of the week, it was more than learning about the business of podcasting, it was therapy, bonding and plenty of laughter.

We could not have done it without the amazing women in the podcast community in NYC that supported the initiative.

According to a survey of 700 news professionals by City University London in 2016, the British journalism industry is 94 per cent white, and 55 per cent male  meaning that so many aspects of UK society are not being heard. Instead, podcasts are a brilliant way to amplify a diverse range of voices in the media, usually ones that arent given the column inches or radio time that their white counterparts are.
Ongoing FEMA has closed some of its Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC), established last month to assist residents and businesses whose property was damaged by Tropical Storm Ida. However, face-to-face assistance is still available. Residents can find their nearest DRC online at fema.gov/drc,...
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Developing and deepening the economic dimension of the Strategic Partnership with the US is extremely important to the government, Deputy Prime Minister for the Implementation of Romania's Strategic Partnerships Ana Birchall on Friday told private broadcaster Antena 3.

Deputy PM Birchall cited in this respect the recently adopted state aid scheme for the film industry.

As for the visas for Romanians traveling to the US, Birchall explained that "important steps" had been taken."We put in great effort and are effectively trying to change the calculation method, because so far the reference is the refusal rate. For instance, someone who erroneously fills in a comma is in for denial of application. We are pushing for the change of the criterion to the number of people who break the law after having obtained the visa. Major steps have been taken in this respect," Birchall added.
The Pro Romania leadership on Thursday had its first national reunion in Constanta with all the county coordinators, on which occasion they established that the first congress of the party will take place on October 20-21, to elect the leadership of the party and its candidates for the elections to the European Parliament.

Pro Romania informed in a release sent to AGERRES on Thursday that the meeting in Constanta was to set the strategic guidelines and the action plan of the party at local and national level.

"I want to build together with you Pro Romania as a serious alternative to the precarious and deficient manner in which the traditional political parties came to make politics. We must bring back decency, competence and professionalism in the public life and we must show people that we are ready and we have projects and concrete solutions to the problems they are facing," stated the Pro Romania leader, Victor Ponta By the time of the congress, Pro Romania wants to establish its territorial structures and organize at least eight regional meetings where the representatives of the leadership to discuss and hold consultations with the members and sympathizers of the party."Moreover, Pro Romania wants to initiate an ample debate to involve the business environment, the civil society, the trade unions and the university environment, to design and promote a series of socioeconomic measures that need to be taken urgently, in order to avoid the disaster Romania is now heading to because of the irresponsibility of Liviu Dragnea and the incompetency of the Dancila government. All these concrete projects will be included with the Good Governance Agenda of the party," shows the same release.
The chief prosecutor of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Felix Banila on Friday announced that on 22 August were found at the western Nadlac border point in a cluster of vehicles the leader of which is a foreign citizen, 5 tonnes of acetic anhydride (precursor to heroin) and 20 kg of 99pct purity cocaine.

"Following a routine check on 22 August by the Border Police at the western Nadlac Border Point, nearly 5 tonnes of acetic anhydride (precursor to heroin) and 20 kg of 99pct purity cocaine were found. From the 5 tonnes one can get 1 tonne of heroin. The said vehicles were to cross Romania. The driver was held in police custody, and the court decided a 30-day pre-trial confinement. (...) It is about a cluster of lorry-type vehicles. The acetic anhydride was stored in 1-tonne containers, while the cocaine was wrapped in plastic bags," the DIICOT head said.

Felix Banila declined to give any further details on the investigation.
The President Klaus Iohannis's move to block the adoption of the first budget rectification negatively affects the economy and the Romanians' fundamental rights, the Goverment specified, in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

"The Romanian Government fully understands its responsibilities it holds to ensure a good governance and will take all necessary measures for the complete and on time payment of pensions, child benefit, wages of the public servants, to ensure the medical services and the safety of the citizens, the good functioning of the state's institutions, despite the attempts of President Klaus Iohannis to bar the adoption of the first budget rectification of this year," the gov't release reads.

According to the Executive, "the president's refusal of immediately summon the Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) to approve the budget rectification draft can endanger not only the incomes of the most vulnerable categories, namely pensioners, mothers and children, but also the access of the patients to medical services."Also, the Government publicly requests the President "to grant the deserved attention to the budget rectification draft for 2018, so as not to bring grave damage in guaranteeing the Romanians' right to health care, pensions, public safety and the good functioning of the state's institutions.President Klaus Iohannis decided to summon the Supreme Council for National Defence on September 4, on the agenda of which will be the analysis of the budget rectification proposals of the institutions with attributes in the field of national security for the year 2018.In the context, the Government specifies that they need "additional funds for pensions and other social rights", "larger resources for health", "extra money for supplying the structures under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) for intervention, maintenance pf helicopters that give out air support, especially during SMURD missions of rescuing human lives, equipment and fuel", to which it is added "additional funds allocated to the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) for "countering the effects of African swine flu, but also "support for agriculture" necessary in ensuring the financing of the agricultural autumn campaign and investments in zootechnics for the poultry sector and also for swine breeding. To this the sums added for "finalizing contracts of financing for the Human Capital Operational Program, worth approximately 1.120 million Euro, of which the EU's contribution is 952 million Euro", "investments in local infrastructure", "essential projects in the transport sector: repair and upkeep works on the national road lines and highways, capital repair works for railway", plus "programs for supporting Romanian entrepreneurs".Finally, "some main credit authorizing officers, of whom the Romanian Cultural Institute, the state secretary for recognizing the merits of the fighters against the communist regime that was installed in Romania during the period of 1945-1989, they do not have the full payment of wages ensured for September, given that through the budget amendment a proposal was made so that personnel costs were to be added. As a result of Romania's president not summoning the CSAT, "there is a risk that employees from these public institutions to not benefit on time from the payment of social contributions," the Government says.
In the industrial production of chlorine, recently special electrodes have been introduced, which consume much less current than conventional systems. The method requires oxygen which is introduced into hot, highly concentrated sodium hydroxide solution, in which it is poorly soluble. It is still unclear how industrial current densities can be achieved under these conditions. In collaboration with engineers from the Technical University of Clausthal, researchers from the Center for Electrochemical Sciences (CES) of the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum have gained new insight into the processes involving these types of electrodes, also referred to as oxygen-depolarised cathodes. The team including Alexander Botz, Denis Ohl and Prof Dr Wolfgang Schuhmann report on their results in the journal Angewandte Chemie, published online on 3 August 2018.

Constantly changing reaction conditions

Chlorine is an important raw material for the chemical industry. It is produced through electrolysis of table salt and water, with sodium hydroxide and hydrogen being produced as by-products in the conventional process. While the oxygen-consuming cathodes require oxygen as the starting material, the by-product hydrogen is eliminated  with an approximately 30 per cent saving in electricity. The reaction occurs at 80 degrees Celsius in highly concentrated sodium hydroxide. Oxygen is very poorly soluble under these conditions. These types of electrodes have been used industrially for years, but we do not understand why they actually work, explains Wolfgang Schuhmann, Head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry and CES.

With their experiments, the researchers showed that reaction conditions change constantly during chlorine production. Three phases meet near the oxygen-consuming cathode, which consists of silver: solid silver particles are bathed in highly concentrated liquid sodium hydroxide, while gaseous oxygen is forced into the system from the back. Thus far, researchers have mainly studied the concentration of the reacting oxygen in the solid-phase environment, developing models that attribute the high current density to this parameter.

Not only oxygen determines current density

For the current study, the Bochum scientists developed a method with which they could also analyse the processes in the liquid phase. They positioned a thin microelectrode  a mere hundredth in thickness of a human hair  directly on the surface of the working oxygen-consuming cathode. With this, they tracked the changes of the water and the hydroxide ions (OH-) concentrations, which arise in the reaction. The result: the concentration of water and hydroxide ions on the electrode surface shows intense fluctuation through the course of the reaction and is not uniform throughout.

We have suspected for years that there must be significant local concentration fluctuations inside the electrode which could contribute to the high current densities, explains Schuhmann.

These drastic changes have not yet been considered in the models reflecting the reaction, says Alexander Botz. The results are tremendously important for the future optimisation of such electrodes.

Binding CO 2
Military prosecutors ordered the forensic probe of the tear gas and irritant incapacitants present in the ammunition and containers taken from the headquarters of the Romanian Gendarmerie as part of ongoing investigations into the gendarmes' use of force during the August 10 protest.

According to a release of the General Prosecutor's Office, the military prosecutors had registered until this Friday 705 complaints filed by people who suffered as a result of the gendarmes intervention at the protest.

"The physico-chemical testing of the irritant and lachrymator agents in the ammunition and containers taken from the headquarters of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie, by experts of the National Forensics Institute, was also ordered," said the General Prosecutor's Office.Military prosecutors started in rem criminal prosecution for abusive conduct, abuse of office and neglect in office in connection with the law enforcement's intervention during the August 10 protest.
Save Romania Union (USR) Deputy of Timis, Catalin Drula, declared, on Friday, in western Timisoara, that Romania is "led by a twice convicted felon, desperate to avoid prison", which determined the launch of the #No convicts in public office civic campaign, that ended in gathering over 1 million signatures.

"In a normal country, such a campaign had no purpose, but unfortunately Romania is led by a twice convicted felon, in a desperate attempt to avoid prison (...) who declares mind-blowing things on television. We come with a counterbalance, with this immense moral force, of over 1 million signatures," said deputy Catalin Drula, in a press conference.

He noticed that people from all over the country and with various professional training, transmitted, through this civic campaign that "We no longer want to be led by thieves!" In his opinion, reality will prove that when good people get together, they are unstoppable in their "taking their country back from the thieves."USR Senator of Timis, Nicu Falcoi, appreciated, in the same context, that the campaign's message is that "Romanians really do not want to be led by convicted felons any longer.""We were able to see on August 10 what happens when our country is led by a convicted felon, that in order to escape clean handed he was willing to set the whole country ablaze, to suppress his own people through force. Things cannot remain like that, there are over 400 people injured after the intervention of the Gendarmerie of that night, there are hundred of complaints. Those who did the abuse need to know right now that even if they're in hiding behind a comfortable majority in Parliament, things will change," Nicu Falcoi declared.The Senator also mentioned that together with his liberal colleague from the defence committee of the Senate they decided to hold hearings on Monday, with the prefect of the Capital City, Speranta Cliseru and Major Laurentiu Cazan, the one who directly led the Gendarmerie's actions in Victoriei Square, to be invited."We await for them to explain and agree on their statements," the USR Senator concluded.
For older generations, work is about stability. For millennials, its about fulfillment. They use the resources the internet provides to be their own boss and dont simply wait for the right job to fall into their lap. The millennial generation teaches us to put ourselves out there and take the risk to make your own success. After all, the biggest regrets we have in life are the things we didnt try, right?
Its also uncertain which Illinois schools have them and which dont. Fewer than one-third of Illinois 852 school districts reported having a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors during the 2016-2017 school year, the most recent year for which data is available. More districts than that keep the devices on hand, but they didnt tell the state, despite a requirement beginning in that school year that they report that information, the Tribune found. Some school officials said they werent aware they were supposed to report the information.
Nothing wrong with shooting as long as the right people get shot.  San Francisco Police Inspector Dirty Harry Callahan, played by Clint Eastwood (Magnum Force, 1973)

The modern world is remarkably blase and hypocritical when is comes to who gets killed, whether by shooting, by sword, or by other means. This is especially true of the bien pensants of the globalist order, who from their perch high atop their moral Mount Olympus are more than happy to set the lumpen straight on when and how killing is good or bad.

For example, government, media, and think tank mouthpieces of the western establishment are quick to scream that the designated Hitler-of-the-month  Milosevic, Hussein, Kaddafi, Assad  is killing his own people and that its a humanitarian duty for the so-called international community to engaging in killing to put a stop to it. On the other hand, cuddly Saudi reformer Mohammad bin Salman kills lots and lots of innocent civilians in Yemen  though admittedly, not his own people  with lavish help from the same governments that in other contexts favor humanitarian killing. (With friends like Mohammad, who needs Yemenis?)

Or consider abortion. Every right-thinking sophisticate knows that innocent unborn children are expendable and that it is a mark of a countrys respect for womens rights to dismiss their lives as worthless (predictably, this video was pulled down). (Also worthless are some children with medical issues like little Alfie Evans, condemned to death by the enlightened conscience of British medicine and jurisprudence; or elderly and others now considered candidates for euthanasia.) Thats why once-Catholic Ireland felt the need in a recent referendum to modify protective language in its constitution so they could be like the rest of the chic free-thinking countries in the European Union, which at the moment still excludes Poland and Malta. (Most of Latin America, including perpetual American betes noires Venezuela and Nicaragua, has strongly protective laws. An exception is Cuba, which approximates the US policy of abortion at any time in pregnancy for any or no reason.)

But when it comes to killing, the hot topic these days is capital punishment in view of Pope Francis recent pronouncement that seemed to change his confessions teaching on the subject. The previous Catechism of the Catholic Church (Paragraph 2267) promulgated by Pope John Paul II held that traditional teaching of the church does not does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. That section now has been modified to read:

Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good. Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption. Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.

One could argue with the rationale for the change. Few who affirm the moral acceptability of capital punishment would suggest that that the dignity of the person is lost because of the commission of very serious crimes. Quite the contrary, some would argue, on very high authority indeed, that it is precisely because of human dignity with its divine origin that death is the proper consequence of murder: Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:6) As Aaron Wolf of Chronicles magazine observes: Capital punishment is necessary to preserve the dignity of man, the honor (marred by sin yet still present) bestowed upon man which distinguishes him from the gibbon and the orangutan and the shrimp and the house cat. Certain crimes against Gods image-bearers have mortal consequences.

Lest one suppose this is a standard laid down only for ancient Israel (though, given to Noah, it preceded the Old Covenant and applied to all postdeluvian humanity), note that the Apostle Paul laid out the godly duty of secular rulers to enact justice by violent means: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Romans 13:3-4)

Theres also a sharp debate on the consequences of the Popes making the change itself and whether it means other seemingly long-settled teachings are up for redefinition, including on matters like homosexuality. As Rod Dreher of The American Conservative comments:

So, today, there is no if about it: Pope Francis has said flat-out that the death penalty is immoral, and has ordered the Catechism to be written to reflect this new teaching.  It seems to me that the Pope has crossed a bright line. He is denying, for the first time in nearly two millennia of Catholic teaching, and in direct contradiction to the Fathers of the Church, that the state has the right to impose capital punishment. Thats a meaningful difference from saying that the state has that right, but shouldnt use it.

Even if you disfavor the death penalty, understand what this means: this Pope has claimed forthrightly that the Catholic Church taught error, but now, at long last, he has set the Church straight. [  ]

Catholic friends keep saying to me how much they hope that the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches can end our thousand-year schism, and reunite. I would love for that to happen myself, but I keep telling them that even if the Orthodox set aside the historical prejudices that stand in the way, there is no way that Orthodoxy is going to take the chance of reunion with the Latin church that is so unstable, liturgically and doctrinally.

However, there are those in the Orthodox Church (as well as in mainstream Protestant denominations, most of which have long supported abolition of capital punishment, along withvarious non-Christian groups) who are thrilled with Francis change and who call for following his lead. Notable is Jim Forest, a principled and passionate advocate for the unborn, the disabled, and the imprisoned, as well as a committed opponent of war as international secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, writing recently in support of the new Roman Catholic position and advocating its adoption by Orthodoxy (POPE FRANCISS CHALLENGE TO ALL CHRISTIANS: END THE DEATH PENALTY).

There are at least three things wrong with Forests article:

First, its placement in Public Orthodoxy, the publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University is problematic . Along with The Wheel and Orthodoxy in Dialogue, Public Orthodoxy seems little more than a vehicle for revisionist academics to stir ecclesial discord and advocate the importation into Orthodoxy of moral pathologies that have wrought havoc among the western confessions and in society at large. (See A Two-Pronged Attack on Orthodoxy and Russia.) Its a questionable venue for someone of Forests quality.

Second, Forest cites the views of a number of early Christian authorities in a manner that implies they said what they did not say . St. Hippolytus of Rome, St. Basil the Great, St. John of Kronstadt, and Athenagoras of Athens  these, like many others throughout the ages, have spoken in favor of mercy, of inducing repentance by the wrongdoer, and of the terrible gravity of taking human life under any circumstances, even accidentally or in self-defense. That attitude is reflected in historic Orthodoxys hesitance to inflict death on criminals (as compared to Western Europe, where in some countries mere thieves were hanged until the 19th century, notably in England). In Byzantium this meant mitigating the many capital offenses in Roman law and even sparing the lives of those guilty of crimes of state, substituting corporal mutilation as a more humane and Christian alternative (And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and  if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off,  for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Matthew 5:29-30). Similarly, until the Bolshevik orgy of slaughter (of course, that wasnt capital punishment but the supreme measure of social prophylaxis!) Imperial Russia made sparing use of the death penalty even for murder, as illustrated in Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment by Rodion Raskolnikovs eight-year sentence for a double murder  something that would unheard of in Europe or America. But mercy and forbearance are quite different from claiming that the death penalty is wrong in and of itself and impermissible in all circumstances, which, as Forest must be aware, no Ecumenical or Regional Synod has ever decreed, nor (to this writers knowledge) has any Church Father ever taught. Certainly one may personally adhere to an abolitionist view just as one can be an absolute pacifist, but it cannot be claimed that is the Churchs position.

Third, misleading references to two important historical episodes refute Forests own argument . Forest cites the action of St. Nicholas of Myra in rushing to the defense of three men condemned to be beheaded by an official, Eustathios, where the holy hierarch took the sword from the executioners hands and threw it to the ground, then ordered that the condemned men be freed, forcing Eustathioss repentance. He also describes how the fierce convert from paganism, Saint Prince Vladimir, Enlightener of Rus, became so meek a Christian that he ceased putting anyone to death.

With respect to St. Nicholas, Forest omits (no doubt inadvertently, since he mentions it elsewhere) one key fact: that the three men were innocent. Hence, not only were they spared death by the saints intervention but all punishment. This account is hardly a basis for arguing that those guilty of terrible crimes should never be executed.

The reference to Saint Prince Vladimir is even more inapt, and Forest has neglected to give us the rest of the story. As related in The Primary Chronicle (or Tale of Bygone Years,   ):

While Vladimir was thus dwelling in the fear of God, the number of bandits increased, and the bishops, calling to his attention the multiplication of robbers, inquired why he did not punish them. The Prince answered that he feared the sin entailed. They replied that he was appointed of God for the chastisement of malefaction and for the practice of mercy toward the righteous, so that it was entirely fitting for him to punish a robber condignly, but only after due process of law. Vladimir accordingly abolished wergild and set out to punish the brigands.

Plainly, the very priests sent from Constantinople to nurture the sprouts of the Christian faith in Vladimirs newly planted land told him in no uncertain terms that the sword on his hip wasnt just a fashion statement. It was Vladimirs job as prince, they admonished him, to go out and use deadly force as justly as he could within the limits of human fallibility, whatever the hazards to his own soul. (The reference to wergild is significant. Even Vladimir-baptized-Basil seemed to prefer the Germanic custom of paying restitution for harm, including even taking a life; he was counseled otherwise by Christian catechists who knew their Saint Paul.)

Contra Forest, and with due respect to Pope Francis, the historic, scriptural, patristic teaching that balances clemency with justice was summarized by the Moscow Patriarchate in its Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church: IX. Crime, punishment, reformation  as posted on Forests website, where it is inaccurately claimed that the death penalty is condemned:

The death penalty as a special punishment was recognised in the Old Testament. There are no indications to the need to abolish it in the New Testament or in the Tradition or in the historical legacy of the Orthodox Church either. At the same time, the Church has often assumed the duty of interceding before the secular authority for those condemned to death, asking it show mercy for them and commute their punishment. Moreover, under Christian moral influence, the negative attitude to the death penalty has been cultivated in peoples consciousness. Thus, in the period from the mid-18th century to the 1905 Revolution in Russia, it was applied on very rare occasions. For the Orthodox church consciousness, the life of a person does not end with his bodily death, therefore the Church continues her care for those condemned to capital punishment. The abolition of death penalty would give more opportunities for pastoral work with those who have stumbled and for the latter to repent. It is also evident that punishment by death cannot be reformatory; it also makes misjudgement irreparable and provokes ambiguous feelings among people. Today many states have either abolished the death penalty by law or stopped practicing it. Keeping in mind that mercy toward a fallen man is always more preferable than revenge, the Church welcomes these steps by state authorities. At the same time, she believes that the decision to abolish or not to apply death penalty should be made by society freely, considering the rate of crime and the state of law-enforcement and judiciary, and even more so, the need to protect the life of its well-intentioned members.

It should be noted that while the Russian Federation has observed a moratorium on capital punishment since 1996, the law still remains on the books. If that changes in the future, either by abolishing the death penalty entirely or by reinstating its use, it should be, as the Social Concept states, a matter to be determined by society freely in light of all the issues involved put into proper context. The same is true for other countries, whether or not they are Orthodox or even Christian.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a good call this week when he said that economic and diplomatic sanctions imposed on his country by the United States are both counterproductive and meaningless.

It was a nice touch, too, when later Russia announced that it would not be halting its exports of titanium metal to the US for the latters aviation industry. Russian trade officials said they would not shoot themselves in the foot by banning a remunerative export business to the US, despite the latters boorish behavior towards Russia. Indeed, why harm oneself over another persons foolishness?

First, lets look at the meaningless side of the equation. The US has imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia since 2014 stemming from the conflict in Ukraine and Russias alleged annexation of Crimea. Another supposed cause for sanctions against Russia is the alleged interference in US elections. Still another purported grievance is the alleged involvement of the Kremlin in the apparent poison-assassination plot against a disgraced former spy living in England.

All these claims are unfounded and, frankly, outlandish, lacking any credible proof. The resultant sanctions are therefore meaningless in the most stark definition of the word. They are based on thin air, nothing more. So, if Russia were to react to these meaningless sanctions in a robust way, it is only tending to give the baseless accusations some undeserved substance. Better to treat something meaningless with the quiet contempt that it deserves. Someone elses delusions only take on a veneer of reality when the delusions are somehow acknowledged.

Secondly, as for the counterproductive side of the equation: US sanctions are intended to do serious harm to Russias economy and society. That is deplorable and ignominious of Washington to wield wanton aggression. Nevertheless, the world has changed since the good-old, bad-old days when American global power indisputably had significant clout. Today, a multipolar world is emerging in which Russia has alternative trading partners and options, such as its growing partnership with China and the rest of Eurasia. Even the European Union is becoming restless from Washingtons abuse of its supposed power, with Germanys foreign minister Heiko Maas this week talking about Europe exploring independent financing mechanisms for its trade relations, to make them immune from US capricious sanctions.

US sanctions against Russia are therefore not just meaningless and counterproductive, they are in fact a sign that evaluates growing American weakness.

This week President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Reuters news agency that he may lift sanctions off Russia if Moscow gives concessions on Ukraine and Syria.

His comments seemed to be orchestrated with those of his national security advisor John Bolton who while visiting Israel made the fatuous comment that Russia was stuck in Syria. Taken together, the comments implied that Russia would be somehow beholden to the US for receiving help.

Nikolai Patrushev, Russias counterpart to Bolton, reportedly reminded him during a subsequent meeting in Geneva on Thursday that it is not Russia that is stuck. Rather, it is the US that has become enfeebled and enmeshed from its illegal wars and subterfuges across the Middle East and North Africa.

Trump and his administration may think he has bargaining power over Moscow for the latter to do Washingtons bidding. Such horse-trading may have worked in the realm of tacky real-estate wheeling-dealing, which was Trumps business before he became a politician. But if the US thinks it can force Russia with such low-ball tactics, then it shows how deluded American rulers are about their presumed power.

The world is changing. Washingtons bullyboy tactics of using sanctions as a stick to intimidate others are a sign that US power has in fact lost its former grip. Russia will not be demeaned by engaging in such futile antics.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed that the UN is deliberately obstructing the process of Syrias reconstruction. According to him, that organizations political affairs department sent out a secret directive to UN agencies banning participation in any efforts to reboot the Syrian economy. The document states that all contributions should be limited to humanitarian aid only. The UN Security Council (UNSC) was not made aware of the directive.

In case anyone has forgotten, that letter was distributed last October when the position of Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs was held by US diplomat Jeffrey Feltman. This is the first time Moscow has publicly questioned the UN Secretary-Generals real authority over the UN agencies. The directive contradicts UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that was adopted in 2015, paragraph 14 of which [u]nderscores the critical need to build conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their home areas and the rehabilitation of affected areas.

According to Sergey Lavrov, the US and its Western allies are making assistance contingent upon a political transition process that limits the reconstruction efforts to only the areas under their control. On July 28, Russia raised the issue of Syrias reconstruction at the council. The Western UNSC members refused to cooperate. On Aug. 15, US Secretary of State Pompeo and UN Special Envoy de Mistura met in Washington to agree that that any discussion of reconstruction was premature before a political resolution could be found.

Moscow is urging the EU to contribute financially to the reconstruction of that war-torn nation in order to stem the flow of refugees to Europe. The return of about six million Syrians to areas where fighting has ended and conditions are improving would help to ease the burden on Europe and other countries. Before meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Aug. 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on European countries to help rebuild Syria so that Syrian refugees could return home, thus mitigating the migrant crisis. The issue is a huge headache for the Europeans, but their contribution to Syrias reconstruction has added up to zilch.

The migrant exodus from Syria has become a pressing problem for the neighboring states. There are about 3.5 million refugees in Turkey, 1.5 million in Lebanon, 670,000 in Jordan, and 250,000 in Iraq. Russia is cooperating with Jordan and Lebanon on the issue. After his meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said the refuges could start returning right now, without waiting for a political settlement. Jordan is weighing Russias plan to repatriate 150,000 Syrians from Jordan by the end of 2018. The proposal includes the establishment of a center near the border with Syria to process the paperwork. Moscow is doing its best to normalize the situation  after all the Western countries are not the only ones who can contribute to the problems solution, and the UN Refugee Agency is not an instrument designed to carry out their political will.

In late July, Turkish President Recep Erdogan came up with a political initiative to arrange a summit on Syria that would draw in Russia, Turkey, France, and Germany. He even set the date  September 7. The prospects for such a summit were discussed during the meeting between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers in Ankara, Aug. 13-14. But the only discussions on Syria mentioned during President Putins visit to Germany and his talks with the chancellor on Aug. 18 were those at a lower level  between experts on the region. On Aug. 17 the Russian press quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovs claim that no four-nation summit will take place. One can only guess what happened, but one thing is certain  neither Ankara nor Moscow wants to be held responsible for any failure.

In a nutshell, there will be no Western participation in the reconstruction efforts until there is some progress in the political process, which actually implies that Bashar Assad should go. But the West has not done anything to make such a political process possible. The UN-brokered talks in Geneva have remained hopelessly stymied, while the Astana process initiated by Russia, Turkey, and Iran has made gains, making it possible to establish extensive areas of ceasefire, among other achievements.

In January, the Russian resort city of Sochi hosted the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which Moscow organized to bring Syrians of every stripe together at a round table to discuss the countrys future. It has led to the formation of the Constitutional Review Commission.

Whether Assad or someone else will lead the country is up to the Syrians, not the Americans or the Europeans, to decide. The peace efforts of Russia and its allies in Syria  Turkey and Iran  have brought about tangible results. Some refugees are beginning to return from exile back to their home country  still only a trickle, but it is a beginning. Europeans have a lot to gain by contributing to the reconstruction efforts in Syria and thus easing their own local refugee burdens. For instance, the return of refugees to Syria would have boosted the popularity of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on shaky ground back home. The EUs attitude toward the reconstruction of Syria is another example of how Europe is sacrificing its national interests to please the United States.
Up to 275 more families in Bay of Plenty will have warm, dry, and secure new homes built over the next four years, as a result of the Governments comprehensive Public Housing Plan released today by Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford.

The Governments fully funded Public Housing Plan will build 6,400 new homes for families in need. says Phil.

The national housing crisis has hurt too many New Zealanders; from those locked out of the Kiwi dream of home ownership, to those left homeless and those suffering the health effects of poor quality housing.

The single most important thing the Government can do to solve the housing crisis is to build more affordable homes, and the best way to tackle homelessness is to build more public housing.

Were making a great start in Bay of Plenty with concrete plans for 250 more public housing places.

On top of this, the Ministry of Social Development will be partnering with Community Housing Providers, developers, Housing New Zealand, councils and others to build around 275 additional homes.

In Bay of Plenty, there are currently 2,661 public housing places, giving families and individuals warm, dry, and safe homes, for as long as they need it.

Public housing is an essential part of helping families and vulnerable people with one of their most basic needs, housing.

It will take bold action to fix the housing crisis created over the past decade and the Public Housing Plan is another step in the right direction. Demand for housing changes all the time, and well constantly monitor whats needed and will continue to invest in places where New Zealanders need public housing the most.

Government announcement

The Government is today announcing locations around New Zealand for 6400 new public housing places being built over the next four years which were funded as part of Budget 2018.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford has released the 2018 Public Housing Plan which outlines the number and size of the homes which will be part of the biggest public housing programme in more than a decade.

The plan will see 3550 new public housing places being made available in Auckland with thousands of much-needed new state houses in regions around New Zealand. This has been fully funded through a combination of:

$234.4 million in operating funding from Budget 2018,

$2.9 billion of Housing New Zealand borrowing from third parties, with a further $900 million from its operations.

Phil says the national housing crisis had hurt too many New Zealanders: From those locked out of the Kiwi dream of home ownership, to those left homeless and those suffering the health effects of poor quality housing.

The single most important thing the Government can do to solve the housing crisis is to build more affordable homes, and the best way to tackle homelessness is to build more public housing.

Nationwide, there are currently 67,228 public housing places, giving families and individuals warm, dry, and safe homes, for as long as they need it.

Over the next four years the Ministry of Social Development will work with Housing New Zealand and community housing providers to build as many additional public housing places as possible, within available funding  this may mean that the number of additional public housing places built by 2022 is more than 6400.
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Stolen passports and getting stuck on a ferry in the middle of the Caspian Sea for three days has failed to deter two Tauranga men from their mission to travel a third of the earth to raise money for Crohns and Colitis New Zealand.

Simon Dawson and Mat Still are taking part in the annual Mongol Rally  an event billed the mother of all adventures  which will see them drive their tiny 1.2L Vauxhall, Colin Oscar Pee, 16,000km across Europe and Central Asia.

The men, taking part under the name Loodicrous Racing, hope to raise $10,000 for Crohns and Colitis New Zealand in honour of Simons sister and Mats wife Renee, who has Crohns disease  a painful inflammatory bowel disease.

The Weekend Sun first caught up with Simon and Mat in May as they were preparing to hit the road. The trip was a year in the making, including swotting up on the experiences of past entrants, and applying for seven visas.

Unfortunately, the pair and fellow traveller Luke Price had their passports stolen in a robbery in the Hungarian capital of Budapest a few days into the rally. While they were able to get the passports replaced, they couldnt replace all of the visas and have had to adjust their planned route.

It hasnt stopped the fun or the adventures though, including racing the car on the world famous Nurburgring track, taking part in the unusual festivities on the Mongol Rally start line in Prague, meeting wild bears on the Transfagarasan highway in Romania and modelling a mankini on Lake Tuz, a salt lake in Turkey.

Simon described the official start line as being straight out of a scene from Mad Max.

Theres cars and buildings patched together or made out of scrap and turned into these crazy creations, he says.

We got to experience some Mongol wrestling, dancing and traditional music along with things like how many people could fit in a Nissan Micra, a tug of war between the Micra drivers and the Fiat Panda owners to determine which car was the best, a fire show, DJs and bands in the Rave Caves, as well as plenty of other weird and wacky things.

With a five-day wait for new passports and three days stuck on a ferry in the middle of the Caspian Sea waiting out a storm, the pair will be pushing it to reach the finish line of the rally in Siberia by September 16. But theyre up for the challenge.

In Uzbekistan, they had to deal not only with heavily potholed roads, but a lack of available petrol.

When we finally found a station that actually sold petrol  everyone runs their cars on propane and methane here  we pulled in and topped up all our tanks, says Simon.

While we were there we noticed that all our rims had flat spots on them from hitting all the potholes, so with a bit of persuasion with the hammer they were good as new!

Simon, Mat and Colin Oscar Pee are currently tackling the mountains of the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, which reach heights of 4500m.

They are still accepting donations for Crohn's and Colitis New Zealand, so head over to their Givealittle page at: givealittle.co.nz/cause/loodicrousracing to donate.
What's most important with any screen is for parents to "not just hand it over without discussion, parameters and expectations," Christine Elgersma of Common Sense Media told me. A parenting editor for the nonprofit, she's also been testing iOS 12 with Screen Time. "When I hand over the iPad to my daughter, I still ask her 'what are you going to do with it?'" she says. She also has rules in place about when a time extension might be acceptable.
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When Eleanor Lima Matos first walked into the Fraser Street Hospice shop for earrings, she could have never imagined she would be walking back out with her ticket to a helicopter tour of the Western Bay of Plenty.

Eleanor, and her husband Rangel, are both the lucky winners of the Waipuna Hospice Bucket List Challenge which meant today the pair were able to take a scenic helicopter flight around the region.

The challenge was run at Waipuna Hospices Awareness Week Road Show, which encouraged the public to come along, learn more about the organisation and complete an entry form detailing their bucket list items.

Through a random draw, Eleanors details were drawn, and with the support of Aerius Helicopters and Waipuna Hospice she has been able to complete her bucket list item of a helicopter flight.

The pair were treated to a half hour flight on board a Robinson 44 travelling about 100 ft above the ground along the coast to Maketu, past Te Puke and the Papamoa Hills, to Greerton, Omokoroa, Matakana Island, Mauao and back to the hangar on Jean Batten Drive.

Eleanor says it was an amazing experience.

I couldnt believe how little space there is between you and the ground below. I loved seeing the colour of the ocean from above and the surfers in the water.

We were so impressed by how beautiful the entire area is, says Rangel.

To make the occasion even more special, the pair are one day off celebrating their first wedding anniversary.

To be celebrating that up in the air was amazing, it just makes it all that more special.

Eleanor says they first met in Wellington, before making the move to Tauranga.

Ive always wanted to do something like this, but Ive never really lived in places where it was an option.

Were both real ocean lovers so to see the sea from the sky was so beautiful, Ill definitely be thinking about how it all looks from above the next time Im swimming in the ocean.

She says shes glad she entered the competition.

My belief is that if you dont put yourself forward for anything, youll never have a chance. If you dont act, you dont achieve  so Im glad I entered.

Aerius manager and pilot Dave Rayner says the pair arent the first to have ticked off a bucket list item with them.

Its quite common and we always find it really valuable helping people to complete their wish list, especially when theyre quite nervous.

Its something not everyone gets to experience so when they do, they end up loving it.

He says for Aerius owners Graeme and Karen McKenzie the decision to come on board and help Eleanor and Waipuna Hospice with the day, was a personal one.

Karens father had been looked after by hospice right before he passed away, so this is their way to give back and a great way to support the people who helped support her family.

Waipuna Hospice provides specialist medical care for patients living with a life-limiting illness, and support services for them and their families.

Its geographical area covers Waihi Beach to Paengaroa and while its focus is on Hospice at Home, it also has a nine-bed Inpatient Unit for short term admissions and a Day Services Clinic. Its services are provided seven days a week, 24-hours a day.

You will often hear the term palliative care which means alleviating without curing, says marketing and communications manager Amandeep Kung. Hospice specialises in providing palliative care  symptom control and pain management where cure is no longer an option.

We also offer support services to patients and their support networks whether this be family, whanau, friends, neighbours, or staff at rest homes and hospital.

Hospice staff and volunteers care for each person as an individual and take into account the persons physical, emotional, social, cultural and spiritual needs.

In addition to palliative nursing care and specialist medical support, it provides respite care, practical support such as meal preparation, loan equipment, bereavement support and a chaplaincy service.

This year we expect to care for 1000 patients and provide support services for their families.

Last year our nurses made more than 14,320 visits and more than 20,000 phone calls to patients in the community.

We have 110 staff working in a variety of roles and around 740 volunteers support all components of our service."

Waipuna Hospice is not funded by government, says Amandeep.

"While some of our services are contracted from the District Health Board. We need to raise $3.7 million in the coming financial year to meet the shortfall in our operating costs. Thats a little over $71,000 per week."
Skaneateles, N.Y. -- A robotic buoy bristling with scientific instruments has joined the fight against toxic algae in Skaneateles Lake.

Scientists from IBM and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute installed the buoy, called a vertical profiler, on July 30. The algae quickly cooperated: A bloom that closed beaches and infiltrated water intake pipes started Aug. 4.

That wasn't necessarily what researchers wanted, said Harry Kolar, an IBM researcher on the project.

"We didn't have a whole lot of baseline data to work with," he said.

The $170,000 profiler, built at RPI, is collecting plenty of data. It records everything from air and water temperature to water clarity to pigments produced by toxic algae, and it does it every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day. It's called a vertical profiler because it measures all the way through the water column, from surface to bottom. It sits above about 60 feet of water just off the Skaneateles Country Club dock.

Scientists hope that by collecting enough data, and running it through complex modeling programs, they can predict when toxic algae blooms will appear.

"That's the Holy Grail science and the community want to know: when and where is the next one," said Rick Relyea, an RPI biology professor.

It's an important question for Skaneateles Lake, the unfiltered drinking water source for about 200,000 residents of Central New York, including the city of Syracuse. Last year, a major algae bloom infiltrated the lake's two intake pipes, and the city scrambled to add more chlorine to keep the algae toxins from getting into drinking water.

This year, Syracuse is conducting more tests. The brief, early August algae bloom showed low levels of the algae toxins, called microcystins, in the intake pipes for a couple of days. More recent tests have shown no microcystins, liver toxins that can sicken humans and kill dogs. (While algae is the common term, the blooms are actually a kind of bacteria known as cyanobacteria.)

The Skaneateles Lake pilot project is a spinoff from the much larger Jefferson Project on Lake George. That project, in its fifth year, deploys 51 sensor platforms with more than 500 individual sensors in the Lake George watershed. Eric Siy, director of The Fund for Lake George, one of the partners in the Jefferson Project, calls Lake George "the world's smartest lake."

Siy said the Lake George data has been used to study road salt infiltration, invasive species, and nutrients, including those that can fuel algae blooms.

Lake George has never had a reported harmful algae bloom - but then, Skaneateles Lake hadn't either before last year.

"It's clear it can happen anywhere," said Relyea, who directs the Jefferson Project.

Relyea calls Skaneateles Lake and Lake George "sister lakes." Both are long, narrow, deep, lakes with low levels of the nutrients that spur algae blooms, he said. The two are also among 12 selected as high priority water bodies in New York state's $65 million toxic algae control program.

Skaneateles Lake is half as long as, and 128 feet deeper than, Lake George, but Skaneateles will be simpler lake to study and model, Relyea said. Lake George's surface area is larger than Skaneateles's, and it has a more varied lake bottom and numerous islands in the middle that alter wind and currents.

Skaneateles Lake, by contrast, "is like a long, skinny bathtub in a valley," he said.

The Skaneateles Lake Association supports the new data collection program, said Executive Director Rachael DeWitt.

"We have a lot we can learn from them," said DeWitt, who started Aug. 1, just in time for this year's algae bloom. "The more data we obtain, the better."









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U.S. Rep. John Katko says Congress may have to prevent President Donald Trump's administration from escalating trade disputes with China and other nations into a battle that harms the U.S. economy.

Katko, R-Camillus, said some of the tactics have been too heavy-handed as the U.S. imposed a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion in Chinese goods and opened negotiations with Mexico over a new NAFTA agreement.

The U.S. has also engaged in a trade war with one of its closest allies, imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada. Canada has responded with $12.5 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods, including consumer products like maple syrup.

Katko said he worries that the Trump administration may be escalating the trade disputes too quickly, without an exit strategy to prevent damage to the U.S. economy.

"You can't take a sledgehammer where a scalpel will do," Katko told the editorial board of Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. "That's why I disagree with some of the strategy." He added, "To have all of these trade wars is scary."

Katko said he has heard from businesses in Central New York, such as Cayuga Milk Ingredients, that are concerned what long-term tariffs may mean to their bottom line.

"By and large they're willing to endure short-term pain if there's long-term gain," Katko said. "But as long as this lingers on, the more concerned they get. The same with me. We've been trying to engage the (Trump) administration to find out what their ultimate plans are."

Companies such as Nucor Steel in Auburn have benefited in the past by taking their disputes to the International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, Katko said. Nucor succeeded in convincing the commission to impose tariffs on cheap steel imported from Turkey and China.

Katko said the process for resolving trade disputes through the commission makes more sense than engaging in a series of retaliatory tariffs.

"There are things that need to be fixed, so I applaud (Trump) for trying to fix them," Katko said. "I just hope he has a plan. If he doesn't have a plan in the near future, we're going to have to take action."

The second-term congressman said he doesn't know what specific remedies Congress will consider, but he said the issue is something that should be considered when the House returns to business this fall.

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, citing a threat to the viability of local newspapers, has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to reduce or eliminate tariffs on imports of Canadian paper.

Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, outlined his concerns in a letter to the International Trade Commission ahead of its meeting next week.

The independent federal agency is expected to rule Aug. 29 whether temporary tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper from Canadian mills should be made permanent. The paper is used by newspapers and the publishing industry as newsprint

Schumer said the tariffs imposed this year have led to a 20 percent increase in the price of newsprint in New York, leading to layoffs and cutbacks at struggling local newspapers.

"Many of these newspapers have informed me that they are not able to absorb costs or pass them along to their customers and have cut back on employees or page numbers," Schumer wrote to the commission.

He told the commission that a national survey from the News Media Alliance of newspapers found about 70 percent of newspapers reduced the number of pages printed, more than 10 percent reduced the frequency of publication, and nearly half of newspapers cut staff because of the duties.

Schumer, who has consistently called for stronger trade laws and tariffs in the past, said this case is an exception because only a single U.S. paper mill (North Pacific Paper Co. in the state of Washington) would benefit from the duties.

In his letter to the commissioner, Schumer said "sustained duties threaten the viability of many local newspapers, which I believe are vital to an informed citizenry and a thriving democracy."

Schumer is among a bipartisan group of more than 100 members of Congress opposed to the tariffs, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.

Ahead of the International Trade Commission meeting, the U.S. Commerce Department recommended making the tariffs permanent but reducing the duties to no more than 16.88 percent.

The Commerce Department says the tariffs will help U.S. paper mills compete against Canadian producers accused of receiving government subsidies and selling their paper at below-market prices to U.S. customers.

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By Dan Herbeck, The Buffalo News, N.Y.

An Allegany County man who claimed he owned half of the social networking giant Facebook and disappeared in 2015 just before his fraud trial in Manhattan federal court began is being held in Ecuador and in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, a Marshals Service spokesman confirmed to The Buffalo News Thursday.

The arrest was also confirmed by Robert Ross Fogg, Ceglia's Buffalo attorney in the criminal case.

"I don't know the circumstances of how he was caught, but I received a copy of a letter from the federal prosecutor in New York City stating that Paul was arrested in Ecuador this morning," Fogg told The News Thursday afternoon. "I understand there will be an extradition hearing in Ecuador within the next 24 hours."

In 2010, Paul Ceglia filed a lawsuit against Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg claiming he owned half of the social networking giant. Ceglia's suit was based on his contention that he and Zuckerberg signed a contract in 2003.

Facebook acknowledges that Zuckerberg signed a contract with Ceglia while a student at Harvard University, but the social media giant contends that the contract had nothing to do with Facebook.

The courts ultimately agreed and, in one ruling, pointed to "overwhelming forensic evidence" that the document was a fake.

Ceglia's lawsuit against Zuckerberg was dismissed. Ceglia was facing a trial on criminal fraud charges in Manhattan in May 2015 when he fled. He was accused of operating a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud Facebook. His trial was set to begin the next month in June 2015 in Manhattan.

WGRZ reported on the news that Ceglia had been taken into custody first. Bloomberg News also reported on the development Thursday.

"When I heard he has been found, my reaction was, 'I hope he and everyone in his family are safe,' " said Fogg, "Paul was a charismatic client, a likable guy. I think that if we had the chance to go to trial on that case, we would win against Mr. Zuckerberg."

Based on his past dealings with Ceglia, Fogg said: "I would not be surprised if he fights extradition ... as part of fighting this case."

He said he has not had contact with Ceglia for more than three years. He said he and Ceglia were in regular contact about the Zuckerberg case "when suddenly, he just disappeared."

After not hearing from Ceglia for a long period of time, "I drove down to his home in Wellsville to check for myself," Fogg recalled. "I got to his house, and it was empty. Paul, his wife, and their two kids were gone," Fogg said. "Even their dog was gone."

Fogg said the Ceglia home was unlocked when he got there to check.

"I figured maybe the U.S. Marshals or someone else in authority had been down there before me, looking for him," Fogg said. "I haven't heard from Paul or anyone in his family since then."

Fogg said he has put in a lot of legal work on Ceglia's behalf and is willing to help Ceglia if the Zuckerberg case ever goes to trial.

"That's the plan at this point, but we'll have to see what develops," the Buffalo attorney said.

Although the lawsuit was dismissed several years ago, Fogg said Ceglia filed an appeal -- which is still pending -- seeking to revive the case.

Another bizarre development in Ceglia's case occurred in August 2016, when he allegedly sent emails to the Bloomberg financial news service claiming that he was running for his life from CIA agents who were trying to kill him because of the CIA's secret involvement in the Facebook site.

According to an August 2016 account in the Daily Mail, a British newspaper, Ceglia claimed that the CIA wanted to kill him because he knew "too much" about Facebook and the government spy agency. Ceglia, his wife Lasia, their two children and dog "Buddy" disappeared from their Wellsville home -- where Ceglia was under house arrest -- in March 2015, the British newspaper reported.

Police went to Ceglia's home looking for him, and instead found his ankle bracelet "connected to a contraption that was designed to make it look like he was walking around his home," the newspaper reported.

"I felt I had no one in government I could trust," Ceglia wrote in one of his emails to the Bloomberg service. "An opportunity presented itself, so I MacGyver'd some things together and started running for my life."

A spokeswoman for Facebook said "I'm not commenting on that" when asked Thursday afternoon about Ceglia's capture.

The U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York, which is handling Ceglia's criminal case, had no immediate comment on his capture late Thursday, but court records show that a prosecutor from that New York City office sent a letter notifying a federal judge that Ceglia is in custody and will face extradition proceedings in Ecuador.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  There's more pressure on the government to come up with alternatives to the nation's ageing and overcrowded main airport which was rendered unusable for days by an airplane mishap last week.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will prioritize the development of at least two projects to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA): the one in Bulacan proposed by San Miguel Holdings Corporation (SMHC) and the Sangley airport of the local government of Cavite.

"The idea of having multiple airports is something that the world's biggest economies do," Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a statement Friday.

The Bulacan airport, an unsolicited proposal submitted by SMHC, includes four parallel runways and a passenger terminal that can accomodate 100 million passengers a year. The project was approved by the National Economic Development Authority board last April 25, but is still undergoing a Swiss challenge where third parties are invited to match or exceed the offer.

The Sangley Airport, on the other hand, still needs to be approved as the Cavite government has yet to submit the legal framework for the project's implementation.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' Business Roundup, Senator JV Ejercito said that the Senate would look into short, medium, and long-term plans to improve the Philippine airport system.

"I think SMC's proposal for the ultra modern airport in Bulacan will be for the long-term because it will take a while for a massive infrastructure project to finish," he said.

A short-term solution, Ejercito suggested, would be to upgrade the country's existing airports. Expanding the Clark airport, he added, would be a medium-term solution.

The Senate will hold a hearing on the state of the NAIA on August 29.
With such offerings as mini-bacon cheeseburgers, French Fries and mini pizzas, those passing by the Annie's Pooch Pops stand at the New York State Fair might first think these offerings are unhealthy for dogs.

Not true, said Chris Ramos, who mans the stand in the Horticulture Building for the Stroudsburg, Pa.-based company.

Debra Loucks, of Oneida, said the peanut butter dog treats look good enough to eat.

"Everything we have on this table is natural with no preservatives or chemicals," he said. "And we bake everything. Nothing is fried. That would be unhealthy."

Debra Loucks, of Oneida, N.Y., was walking by and quickly stopped - looking intently at the peanut butter cannoli.

Ramos readily admits the offerings at this stand are made to look like human food, which is a strong selling point.

"I love cannoli. They look so good that I could eat one," Loucks said, buying a small bag of the treats for her three dogs back home.

Ramos said the peanut butter cannoli are the "crowd favorite" offered by the stand. They're cannoli-shaped and consist of dog biscuits wrapped around peanut butter and baked.

Other offerings include 10 different kinds of dog "cookies," with the following flavors: cheese, honey, bacon, peanut butter, liver, molasses, lamb, ground beef and cheddar, turkey, liver and bacon.

Add to that muttkins (beef bones with collar of baked peanut butter-flavored or cheese biscuits around them) and a "Happy Dog Meal" (cheese French Fries, a bacon cheese burger and yogurt cookies),

The French Fries are actually a combination of dog biscuit and two types of cheese - parmesan and mozzarella - and baked (not fried). Other treats include mini-pizzas (mozzerelli cheese on top of a biscuit), cheesie chicken wrap (chicken jerky with a dog biscuit wrapped around it, topped with cheddar cheese) and hot dogs (a biscuit with liver inside, topped with cheddar cheese).

Melissa Shane, of Cazenovia, N,Y., was accompanied by her beagle, Stevie, who quickly ate a mini-bacon cheeseburger she had just bought.

Ramos readily admits the offerings at this stand are made to look like human food, which is a strong selling point.

Melissa Shane, of Cazenovia, N.Y. bought several mini-bacon cheese burgers (a combination of peanut butter, cheddar cheese and bacon in a biscuit) and peanut butter cannoli for her beagle, Stevie, who was with her on a leash. She then proceeded to feed Stevie one of the mini-bacon cheeseburgers, which was quickly eaten.

Tim Terell, of Santa Fe, N.M., bought two mini-bacon cheeseburgers, two cheesie chicken wraps and two peanut butter cannoli for his mixed breed chihuaha that was back left back in his hotel room while he and his daughter toured the fair.

"That's her reward," he said.

For more on the business, go to its website at www.anniespoochpops.com.
GEDDES, N.Y. -- The first two days of the 2018 New York State Fair shattered attendance records. Tonight could be just as busy.

So what will that mean for drivers?

Two popular shows are slated for the first Friday night of the fair. Lynyrd Skynyrd will play at St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview at 6 p.m. Ludacris will perform at Chevy Court at 8 p.m.

And the two shows -- when combined with sunny, comfortable weather -- could be a recipe for huge crowds and a traffic mess.

Trooper Jack Keller, a New York State Police spokesman, said troopers are expecting a large crowd tonight.

Fair spokesman Dave Bullard agreed.

"The weather is very favorable today," he said. "It's perfect conditions for a big crowd."

Some traffic is inevitable, but the two spokesmen provided tips to help fairgoers to help avoid getting stuck in a jam.

Tip one: Don't drive, don't park at the fair

Do you want to shrink traffic jams near the fairgrounds? Here's Bullard's top tip: If you don't have to, don't drive to the fair.

"Don't park here. Seriously," he said. "Would we love to have your $5 parking fee? Absolutely. It helps us pay the bills. But we'd be happier if you were happier."

Instead, both Bullard and Keller encouraged fairgoers to take advantage of Centro's Park-N-Ride program.

There are 17 Park-N-Ride stops across Central New York. Buses shuttle residents from Onondaga, Cayuga and Oswego counties to and from the Geddes fairgrounds.

There's transportation for Amphitheater concertgoers, too.

Starting at 4 p.m. on concert nights, the Orange Lot shuttle buses concertgoers from the main gate of the fair to the Amphitheater. The shuttle returns attendees back to the fair after shows.

There's plenty of parking spots at the fairgrounds, Bullard said -- particularly with the new Orange Lot. But buses help cut back on the number of drivers trying to "squeeze through the funnel" of Interstate 690, he said.

Tip two: If you have to drive, leave early

Procrastinators beware: Rushing to the fair is not a good plan, especially tonight.

Keller and Bullard both urged people to leave early when heading to the fairgrounds. People hoping to hang out at the fair before Ludacris and Lynyrd Skynyrd should give themselves even more time, Bullard said.

"Book plenty of extra time and assume that everything will take longer than you think it will," he said. "Come way early."

Seeking alternative routes likely won't help. Two-lane roads -- just like the highways near the fair -- will likely clog, Bullard said.

Tip three: Be patient

Traffic inevitably slows or stops when concertgoers leave shows.

So when leaving the fair tonight, Bullard advised attendees to be patient and plan on waiting.

"When you're trying to pass a 17,000-seat arena full of cars, and whatever we have here, that's going to take a while," Bullard said. "Let traffic smooth out."
Why it matters: Seemingly following Facebook and Twitter's lead, Google has purged several accounts with links to Iran on its various platforms. However, the search giant says that this is just the latest in a series of deletions that has been going on for at least a year.

Following hot on the heels of Facebooks banning of 652 accounts and Twitters 284 yesterday, Google announced today that it has removed 58 accounts from YouTube, Blogger, and Google+. It says that all of the records were tied to Iran and that they seemed to be running state-sponsored misinformation campaigns. Of the 58 deleted accounts, 39 were English-speaking YouTube channels, 13 were Google+ profiles, and six were Blogger pages.

According to Googles Vice President of Global Affairs Kent Walker, the nixed accounts appeared to be engaged in politically motivated phishing. They also all appeared to be connected to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), a state-owned media monopoly that acts as Irans propaganda arm. Ownership was determined through analysis of IP addresses connected to the accounts, which all led back to IRIB.

Google, Facebook, and others are concerned that the IRIB and other foreign interests are using their platforms as a way to spread disinformation and influence US elections. According to Walker, this interference by IRIB began as early as January 2017.

We can't go into all the technical details without giving away information that would be helpful to others seeking to abuse our platforms, but we have observed the following: Technical data associated with these actors is strongly linked to the official IRIB IP address space.

Domain ownership information about these actors is strongly linked to IRIB account information.

Account metadata and subscriber information associated with these actors is strongly linked to the corresponding information associated with the IRIB, indicating common ownership and control. These facts, taken together with other technical signals and analysis, indicate that this effort was carried out as part of the overall operations of the IRIB organization, since at least January 2017. This finding is consistent with internet activity we've warned about in recent years from Iran.

The company says that their investigations into these matters are not limited to the IRIB and are ongoing. It points to another recent purge of accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency (IRA), also known as Glavset.

The IRA is a Russian-based, state-sponsored disinformation outlet operating out of Saint Petersburg. Since last year, Google has removed 42 YouTube channels and one blog that were linked to Glavset. It began deleting this accounts last year.

We continue to actively monitor our systems, take prompt action, share intelligence, and remain vigilant about these and other threats, Walker said in closing.
Since acquiring Goose Island in 2011 for close to $40 million, Anheuser-Busch has aggressively expanded the label. Earlier this year, it revealed plans to increase Goose Island's distribution to all 50 states, making it one of the few craft brands with a true national footprint. (Though the Colorado-based Brewers Association doesn't consider Goose Island a craft brand because of its ownership, the company's beer and history is consistent with the craft movement.)
In brief: Microsoft is being investigated by US Federal officials over what could be bribery and corruption related to software sales in Hungary several years ago, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The publication writes that both the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into alleged deals from 2013 and 2014 that saw Microsoft sell its popular software, such as Excel and Word, to middlemen companies in Hungary at steep discounts. These products were then sold on to the Hungarian government at their near full price.

The US probe is trying to find out if the difference between the two prices was given to Hungarian government officials in the form of bribes and kickbacks.

Under the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it is illegal for US firms to pay bribes as a way of securing business overseas.

Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard said the company became aware of potential wrongdoing in its Hungarian subsidiary in 2014 and opened an internal investigation. Four employees were fired, and it terminated business with four of its partners as a result.

"We're committed to ethical business practices and won't compromise these standards, said Howard.

One of those fired was Microsofts country manager for Hungary, Istvan Papp, who told the Journal that he had received only positive feedback from the management.

Microsoft said it changed its discounts system and made it more transparent to government customers in 2014. This requires partners to pass on discounts to these customers and ensures a formal confirmation from the customer that they are aware of the discount, the company said.

Microsoft has been investigated over similar bribery and corruption allegations in the past. In 2013, the Justice Department looked into claims in China, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, and Pakistan.
Why it matters: Facial recognition remains a controversial issue for many people, but the technology is proving its worth at Washington Dulles International Airport. Just three days after it was implemented, the system identified an imposter attempting to make his way into the US using a fake passport.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) writes that a 26-year-old man from Sao Paulo, Brazil, presented a French passport to the CBP officer conducting primary inspections. Thanks to the new facial comparison biometric system, it was discovered that his face didnt match the photo in the passport.

The CBP officer sent the traveler for a comprehensive examination, at which point his authentic Republic of Congo identification card was discovered hidden inside his shoe. He was apprehended, processed, and sent back to Brazil. US officials said this was the first identity scam to be detected using biometric entry and exit comparison, which is now in operation at 14 airports. Dulles first tested the system back in 2015, before fully implementing it on Monday.

Facial recognition technology is an important step forward for CBP in protecting the United States from all types of threats, said Casey Durst, CBP's Director of the Baltimore Field Office. Terrorists and criminals continually look for creative methods to enter the U.S. including using stolen genuine documents. The new facial recognition technology virtually eliminates the ability for someone to use a genuine document that was issued to someone else.

Improved security isnt the only benefit the system brings to airports. Federal officials estimate that it has reduced the average wait time for arriving international passengers by around four minutes. The CBP hopes that facial recognition will ultimately replace boarding passes and IDs.

The main issue people have with the system, of course, is its potential to make mistakes. Customs officials say it has a 99 percent accuracy rate. That's certainly better than one UK police forces facial recognition tech, which once had a 92 percent false positive rate.
Why it matters: Firefighters battling California's largest ever wildfire had their data speeds throttled by Verizon. When they requested that Verizon remove the throttling, Verizon instead tried to sell them a more expensive plan. Legislators want to know why.

Members of the California State Assembly are meeting today in an effort to discover why Verizon throttled the mobile data speeds for firefighters in Santa Clara County. Verizon had previously said it was a customer service error but fire officials and lawmakers aren't buying that. The hearing will include comments from fire department staff and Verizon representatives.

While fighting the Mendocino Complex fire, a Santa Clara Fire Department vehicle had its data speed throttled to 1/200th of its normal speed. Firefighters use this vehicle and cloud service like Google Docs to coordinate response efforts as fire conditions change. The department did have an unlimited plan, but once they went over their 25GB of high-speed data, they were throttled.

Despite requests to Verizon to remove the throttling for public safety purposes, Verizon instead tried to sell the department a more expensive plan without throttling.

The goal of today's hearing is to answer three key questions regarding Verizon's actions. In a statement to local reporters at The Mercury News, Marc Levine, a member of the Select Committee on Natural Disaster, Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding, stated that "we need to know exactly what happened during the Mendocino Complex Fire. We need to know why they were throttled, why it continued and why it was not resolved. The Mendocino Complex Fire was not a fire drill. This was unforgivable.

California legislators are considering new policies to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future. They will also explore whether or not the state of California could have intervened on the department's behalf.

Fire Chief Anthony Bowden believes the Trump Administration's repeal of net neutrality legislation is what allowed Verizon to throttle the connection in the first place. However, Levine likely won't bring up that topic in today's hearing.
A woman found out the hard way that bad things you say on Twitter may backfire, as she lost her chance at a NASA internship.

While there have been some major Twitter changes recently, toxic behavior still prevails in the social media platform. Unfortunately, for the woman, her vulgar language resulted in a lost NASA internship.

Woman's Twitter Language Leads To Lost NASA Internship

A Twitter user who goes by Naomi H expressed her excitement on Twitter over her acceptance as an intern on NASA.

"EVERYONE SHUT THE F*** UP. I GOT ACCEPTED FOR A NASA INTERNSHIP," the woman tweeted. Another Twitter user noted her language, prompting Naomi to issue a sexually vulgar response.

Unfortunately for the woman, the other Twitter user was Homer Hickam, a famed former NASA engineer and a current National Space Council member.

Not long after the exchange, Naomi was informed by NASA that her internship was being revoked. Hickam, however, shot down the speculation that he was the one that triggered the withdrawal of the offer.

Hickam confirmed that the Twitter exchange took place, as Naomi's Twitter account is now set to private. The former NASA engineer explained that he was informed on the social media platform that somebody being accepted into NASA was using the F-word in a tweet.

According to Hickam, he was not offended by the word, but he thought that the person may get in trouble if NASA saw it, so he took notice of it. Hickam later found out that Naomi lost her NASA internship.

Hickam said that the woman reached out to him to apologize, which he accepted, and sent one back in return. After taking a look at Naomi's resume, Hickam believes that she does deserve a spot in the aerospace industry, and is now helping her secure a position that will even be better than a NASA internship.

What's Happening At NASA?

While hope remains for Naomi, NASA is dealing with other major things in space.

NASA and a group of scientists recently found the first evidence of solid ice on the Moon, particularly on its poles. The discovery is expected to lead to further studies on the presence of ice on the Moon's poles, and the role that it plays on the Earth's satellite.

Meanwhile, NASA is growing more worried over the silence of the Opportunity rover, which is currently stuck in the middle of a Martian dust storm. While there remains hope that Opportunity will still be able to wake up once the dust storm subsides, there is a possibility that it sustained too much damage to continue its mission on Mars.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
To ants, survival of the fittest is a sham. A new study has found that instead of competing for resources, working together has evolutionary advantages.

A team of scientists led by Daniel Kronauer, an evolutionary biologist, looked at clonal raider ants, a type of ants that can naturally clone itself, to figure out how a beneficial division of labor emerges within a queenless colony.

Cooperation Is Key

"You would think, if you pair similar individuals from a single species, their function would be redundant," said Kronauer. " If anything, there should be competition between individuals."

However, to clonal raider ants, the opposite seems to take place. Over a 45-day period, the team of scientists monitored how the clonal raider ants divide labor and develop a community.

Groups (ranging from one to 16) of clonal raider ants were placed in Petri dishes lined with hardened plaster where ants individually forage for food, care for eggs, dispose of wastes, and do other tasks.

The scientists found that larger colonies that produced more offsprings experienced greater stability than smaller groups. Even when the ants were extremely similar, these insects somehow eventually specialized in a particular task.

However, even in small groups where there are similar individuals with redundant specialization, a division of labor emerges.

"We show that even small groups of extremely similar individuals can do much better than individuals by themselves, and that division of labor can emerge in a self-organized manner pretty much immediately," he added. "That's not necessarily what I would have expected, and it implies that group living might evolve fairly readily, rather than constitute a major barrier that evolution can rarely overcome."

The study was published in Nature on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

What Humans Can Learn From Ant Colonies

Kronauer, however, warns not to compare the results of the observation from ant colonies to human societies. Ants, unlike humans, exhibit distributed intelligence that together allows the superorganisms to create complex nests or form floating rafts.

He explained that individual ants work more like a single cell in an organism rather than a mirror to humans, who have developed individual cognitive abilities, existing within modern societies.

Scientists still have something to extract from the experiment. The observed behavior of clonal raider ant colonies could uncover how solitary animals evolve into complex societies. The next step of the study is to found out if genetics and ages of ants in each colony would play a part in the emergence of the division of labor.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A team of scientists has genetically engineered new breeds of high-yield varieties of rice, wheat, and other grains that require less fertilizer.

The New Green Revolution

Back in the 50s and 60s, the green revolution, a period when scientists found a way to supercharge agricultural production by adding fertilization, using pesticides, and other management technologies. While the process yielded larger harvests, it came with a cost: the nitrogen fertilizer that supplied the nutrients needed to produce more crops became a threat to the environment and the ecosystem.

A new study led by Xiangdong Fu, a plant geneticist from the Chinese Academy of Science, found a way to reduce the necessity for fertilizer and, therefore, make production more environmentally friendly.

His team surveyed the DNA of 36 rice variety and examined the role of molecules called DELLA, proteins that suppress the absorption of nitrogen in green-revolution crops and make them hungry for more fertilizer. The scientists involved in the study were able to identify two genes that control the nitrogen consumption: one codes the DELLA protein while the other codes for a growth-regulating factor 4 or GRF4 protein.

Fu believes that the GR4, initially thought to increase only grain size and yield, can also counteract the effects of DELLA protein on a plant's ability to absorb and metabolize nitrogen. When they bred the rice to produce more GR4, they came up with short plants with high yields that require significantly less nitrogen.

The findings were published in Nature on Aug. 15.

Toward A More Environmentally-Friendly Future

Xin Zhang, an environmental scientist who is not involved in the study, is excited about the promise of grains requiring less fertilizer and decrease excess nitrogen from wreaking havoc on the environment.

"Human activity is adding too much nitrogen to the planet," Zhang stated. "It's critical to improve the efficiency of the system."

She explained that due to the use of large amounts of fertilizer in farms all over the world, the human race has doubled the amount of excess nitrogen around the world. Zhang also added that saving the world from nitrogen pollution should not end on producing more nitrogen-efficient crops.

Nathan Mueller, an agricultural system expert from the University of California Irving, agreed that farmers should use more precise methods to identify the right amount of nitrogen needed by the crops to avoid excesses.

Jennifer Volk, an environmental-quality specialist from the University of Delaware, shared that the next step should be to introduce methods that lessen the potential environmental damage from agriculture. This includes construction of wetlands with plants that filter excess nitrogen and other nutrients before they end up in streams and rivers.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Doctors are warning the public about Chagas Disease, a parasitic infection transmitted by an insect known as the kissing bug.

The American Heart Association recently published a statement to help medical practitioners diagnose and treat the infection.

Beware Of The Kissing Bug

Chagas disease is most commonly found in Central and South America but in the recent decades, it has started to spread across the world, including the United States. It is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) that lives in the gut of a triatomine insect also known as the kissing bug because it often bites near the mouth of a human.

Paula Stigler-Granados, an assistant professor at the Texas University's School of Health Administration, explains the rather gross process of the transmission of the parasite from the kissing bug to humans.

"If the kissing bug bites you and it has a blood meal and then it defecates, and then you scratch that area and rub it into the wound or rub your eyes, you could become infected," she told Health.

The infection can also be transferred via contaminated food and drink, blood transfusion, organ transplants, or pregnant mothers to their babies. Chagas disease cannot be transmitted through touching or kissing another person.

In the United States, about 300,000 people have already been diagnosed with Chagas. Other countries where cases have been identified include Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Chaga Diseases Symptoms And Treatment

Unfortunately, about 60 to 70 percent of people infected with the T. cruzi parasite will never develop symptoms. The remaining 30 percent might develop serious complications such as heart failure, cardiac arrest, stroke, and life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias.

The key to curing Chagas disease is early detection. People who suspect that they have been bitten by the kissing bug can get a blood test to see if they have been infected. The disease can be cured with medications that have 60 to 90 percent success rate.

"Early detection of Chagas disease is critical, allowing prompt initiation of therapy when the evidence for cure is strong," said statement study co-author Caryn Bern of the University of California in San Francisco.

The AHA says that risk of infection is extremely low for travelers where the disease has been diagnosed. However, they still warn people to avoid sleeping in places with unplastered adobe walls from countries where Chagas disease is prevalent.

The statement from the AHA that summarizes and provides updated information on the diagnosis, screening, and treatment of T. cruzi infection can be found in the journal Circulation.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A man bitten on the leg by a 7-foot shark quickly gets treatment for his wounds. A week later, he suffers from excruciating pain brought about by flesh-eating bacteria.

Shark Bite

In early August, Blaine Shelton from Texas was swimming at Crystal Beach in Houston when he spotted a fin, which he immediately knew was not from a friendly porpoise. He was reportedly about 200 yards from the shore, so he began swimming to get away from the shark. It was then that he was bitten on the thigh, just above his knee. Shelton was able to swim ashore after the bite and was immediately taken to the hospital to be treated for his wounds. He later learns that the shark attack was likely from a 7-foot bull shark.

Unfortunately, Sheltons ordeal did not end after being treated for the substantial shark bite, for he had to go back to the hospital merely a week after being released because he was experiencing severe pain in the area around his wound. There, doctors told him that he had been infected with a flesh-eating bacteria, or necrotizing fasciitis. It even came to a point when the pain was so severe that he could barely walk.

Because of the ordeal, Shelton wants to warn people about the seriousness of flesh-eating bacteria, as he himself did not take the threat of bacteria in the water seriously enough in the past. As such, he advises others to not get in the water if they have a scratch or to clean the wound with alcohol immediately after getting out of the water.

Shelton has set up a GoFundMe page to help with his medical bills.

Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Necrotizing fasciitis, or more commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria, is a rare and serious bacterial infection that affects the tissues under the skin that surrounds muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and fats. It commonly gets into the body through breaks in the skin such as open wounds and may cause loss of limbs or even death if not treated immediately.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acting fast is the key to fighting the infection, as it can spread and destroy tissue very quickly. As such, accurate diagnosis, rapid antibiotic treatment, and immediate surgery to remove infected tissue are very important in treating the infection and stopping it from causing further damage.

Necrotizing fasciitis is considered rare, and people with strong immune system, good and proper wound care, and good hygiene are said to have low chances of contracting the infection. However, people with health issues such as cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease may be more susceptible to contracting the infection because of their compromised immune systems.

To avoid such infections it is important to treat wounds promptly and properly and to avoid spending time in hot tubs or swimming pools and in natural bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and oceans if one has an open wound.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
I dont even know if Ill be able to eat that day, he said. We had customers in tonight and I almost started crying with them. Thats the last thing I think about, what to eat myself, Im more concerned what to make for the people that have been here supporting us for all these years.
The board that oversees Lafayettes public library system hasnt signaled its intentions concerning a Drag Queen Story Time for children thats generated heated controversy and drawn national attention, but the boards president said Friday he doesnt plan to interfere.

Joseph Gordon-Wiltz, who serves as president of the Lafayette Public Library Board of Control, is an appointee of Mayor-President Joel Robideaux. On Tuesday, Robideaux said he will be discussing cancellation of the event. However, that discussion had not happened as of Friday morning, Gordon-Wiltz said in an interview, adding hes not sure if and when it will.

If it doesnt, Gordon-Wiltz said he wont interfere with the librarys plans.

I personally have no intention of placing any item related to this matter on the agenda, Gordon-Wiltz said. I think most if not all the board members completely support the staff and director. We have full faith and confidence in those folks.

Drag Queen Story Time entails a group of male University of Louisiana at Lafayette students reading books to young children while dressed in womens clothing. Library staff will select the books, which are to be appropriate for children ages three to six. It is scheduled for Oct. 6 at the main branch downtown.

The event is like those happening in other cities, but the students putting it on say their effort is not affiliated with the others.

Gordon-Wiltz, the board president, noted that his position is unique in that he is the only one appointed by an individual. The City-Parish Council collectively appoints the other seven members. As such, Gordon-Wiltz said, he feels duty bound to represent Robideauxs agenda, even if he doesnt personally see eye to eye with the mayor-president.

+6 Mayor wants Lafayette drag queen reading event for children at public library canceled Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux wants the public library to cancel Drag Queen Story Time, an event that stirred instant controversy o

I should be his mouthpiece on this matter, but I dont want to give the impression that I completely endorse everything he said in that press release Tuesday, Gordon-Wiltz said.

In addition to discussing cancellation, Robideaux said he would ask the board to review its programming and approval process for taxpayer funded events. The board must ensure programming is both appropriate and serves the needs of Lafayette Parish, Robideaux said.

He also encouraged council members to contact other library board members as he planned to contact Gordon-Wiltz, his appointee to the board.

The statement further implied the event could jeopardize public support for the historically popular library system.

Gordon-Wiltz declined to be specific when asked what part of Robideauxs statement he doesnt endorse. Although he said he would comply with any directive by Robideaux to place the matter on the agenda, Gordon-Wiltz didnt respond directly when asked what he would do if Robideaux instructed him to vote against it.

I dont plan at all to compromise myself in how I vote, Gordon-Wiltz said. I dont plan to impugn the dignity of any citizen of the Parish of Lafayette.

Robideaux did not respond to a query on Friday.

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The issue exploded over the weekend after the library published an item in its newsletter, describing Drag Queen Story Time as an afternoon of books, songs and activities. The stories will center on individuality, openness and acceptance, the newsletter states.

The library director, Teresa Elberson, notified board members of the newsletter item in a Friday, Aug. 17, email. Social media had lit up by the following Monday, and City-Parish Council chambers were at capacity for the regular Tuesday meeting, with people crowded outside. National organizations such as the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Urban Libraries Council voiced their support.

The students putting on the event are members of the provisional UL chapter of the Delta Lambda Phi fraternity, which describes itself as a traditional Greek fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, according to the national organizations website.

The UL provisional chapter started in the spring semester of last year, said the chapter president, senior Jeffrey Sykes. The members expected some reaction to their plans, but not to this extent.

We are still figuring out a lot of things, just as an organization. To have one of our first public events go viral, its like what have we done? Sykes said. This whole week Ive been in a response mode. We have our recruitment week next week, so Im trying not to let that fall by the wayside.

Speakers at the City-Parish Council meeting overwhelmingly supported Drag Queen Story Time, despite a torrent of social media criticism. Rep. Clay Higgins called the event a bizarre stunt in a Facebook post, strongly condemning the students and the library.

The very purpose of this incredibly inappropriate event should be questioned, Higgins said. The inclusion of the LGBQT Drag Queen realm into the Lafayette community, targeting our youngest children within a publicly funded venue, can only reflect the leftist agenda to deconstruct gender across America.

Confronting vitriol wasnt the most stressful part of the week, Sykes said, since he and his fraternity brothers have heard such comments before. Handling the onslaught of phone calls from reporters, organizations and others has been more challenging, especially in the first week of school.

A lot of the comments I see I just respond in my head, Sykes said. We just have to make sure we are keeping our message consistent. We have to make sure we are representing the organization correctly.

The Facebook page for Lafayette Citizens Against Taxes has been one forum for critics, who were largely absent at the City-Parish Council meeting. Michael Lunsford, who helps administer the page as executive director for Citizens for a New Louisiana, said the online critics likely preferred to correspond directly with their elected representatives.

Any time anybody thats relatively conservative shows up at a City Council meeting they are ignored, derided, talked down to or interrupted constantly, Lunsford said.

Lunsford said his group isnt likely to organize a campaign against Drag Queen Story Time, but he criticized the library for inserting itself into a divisive issue. The fundamental problem, Lunsford said, is the library appearing to promote the event by including it in scheduled programming.

Robideaux made a similar point in his statement, noting that anyone can use library space without discrimination, as allowed by law. Now the library has kind of opened a Pandoras box, Lunsford said.

If they vote to cancel the event, they open themselves up to a lawsuit from who knows who, Lunsford said. How do you find middle ground to this? How do you keep both sides happy?
When East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux met Michael Duca on Thursday, the eve of his installation as the new bishop of the Baton Rouge Diocese, Gautreaux reached into his khaki pocket and asked for a special blessing.

A group of Gautreaux's deputies gave him a St. Michael the Archangel coin for his birthday in March. He has carried it constantly since then, but never got it blessed.

+18 'Hope in the Lord:' Future Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca shares motto with new flock Baton Rouge Bishop-designate Michael Duca introduced himself Thursday to hundreds of Catholics across Baton Rouge by telling them his motto is

St. Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of those who protect public safety, and it's common for Catholics to recite a special prayer to him for protection. Gautreaux wears a gold St. Michael the Archangel medal around his neck as well. An inscription on the silver-and-blue coin he carries reads: "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling" from Psalm 91.

Duca reached his hand over the coin and prayed over it before Gautreaux slipped it back into his pocket, where he usually carries a rosary as well. The sheriff said afterward that he seriously contemplated becoming a priest when he was in high school.

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"I thought I was going to be a priest but they got to the celibacy thing and I said, 'No, I don't think I'm called," Gautreaux laughed, as he looked at his wife, Suzi, who stood alongside him.

Both Gautreaux and Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul met Duca on Thursday ahead of a prayer service at St. George Catholic Church. Duca will be installed as the next bishop of Baton Rouge at 2 p.m. Friday at St. Joseph Cathedral in an invitation-only Mass that will be widely live-streamed.

+36 New BR bishop on his priestly calling, Shreveport and stamping out church sex abuse SHREVEPORT  Walk into a Roman Catholic church in this north Louisiana city along the Red River and ask a parishioner, a nun, a priest, a secr

Gautreaux and Paul both said the faith community plays an important role in giving people hope and keeping young people on the right path. Duca spoke at length at his Thursday prayer service about the need for more hope in society.
Baton Rouge Bishop-designate Michael Duca introduced himself Thursday to hundreds of Catholics across Baton Rouge by telling them his motto is hope in the Lord and asking them to spread that message in a world that often seems hopeless.

Duca led a crowd at St. George Catholic Church in a Liturgy of the Hours service Thursday night ahead of his installation Friday as the next bishop of Baton Rouge. Duca has been the bishop of Shreveport for the past 10 years and spent an hour Thursday greeting community and faith leaders from all backgrounds.

There is an answer here, and I do believe it is hope, Duca said during the prayer service, which included Psalm readings in Vietnamese, Spanish, French, German and English.

+36 New BR bishop on his priestly calling, Shreveport and stamping out church sex abuse SHREVEPORT  Walk into a Roman Catholic church in this north Louisiana city along the Red River and ask a parishioner, a nun, a priest, a secr

It is our hope, Duca added. Jesus Christ. And that hope is greater than any problem we will face. The problem is that oftentimes, our hope is too small. Our hope is not big enough to meet the demands of what is asked of us in this life.

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Signifying that hope were hundreds of candles the crowd at the church lit to greet Duca. Bells rang, a choir chanted in Latin, and the aroma of incense wafted through the air as Duca followed a procession into the church, led by faith leaders of all backgrounds, then altar servers and others.

Many of Ducas parishioners in Shreveport spoke in recent interviews about how much they enjoyed listening to him preach, and how his words always struck the right note. He included multiple jokes in his first address to the Baton Rouge crowd, including one about how he has struggled to adjust to telling people hes a Saints fan, rather than a Cowboys loyalist. Duca grew up in Dallas.

Duca also referenced his expectation to be in Baton Rouge for the next 10 years. Duca is 66 and bishops are required to submit their resignation to the pope when they turn 75. Duca is replacing longtime Baton Rouge Bishop Robert Muench, who submitted his resignation late last year upon turning 75.

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+13 Incoming BR Bishop Michael Duca: I accepted appointment with 'no reservations' The next bishop of Baton Rouge told members of his future flock Tuesday that they must recognize the oneness of the church, emphasizing  in S

The incoming bishop also signaled his openness about the sexual abuse revelations that have recently rocked the Catholic Church nationwide. A Pennsylvania grand jury found that more than 300 predator priests there abused more than 1,000 victims while the church hierarchy protected the abusers and tried to cover up the wrongdoing.

We feel, from time to time, a lot of hopelessness, Duca said. We as a church are reeling with this revelation in more detail about the scope of the sexual abuse problem in our church. Its one that strikes your heart and you just want to cry and get angry and yell out and you may wonder, can we come back from this, is it hopeless?

The service also included a special prayer intention for victims of sexual abuse, particularly from clergymen of any rank. Hundreds prayed for healing, hope and for all who have felt betrayed by clergy whom they once trusted.

Duca thanked faith leaders from other backgrounds  including Judaism, Islam, Greek Orthodox and most other Christian denominations  for visiting with him and attending the prayer service. He told them he would happily attend any of their services as well.

Five things to know about new Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca Bishop Michael Gerard Duca, the current bishop of the Diocese of Shreveport, was appointed the new bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and is

And Duca also told other community leaders during meet-and-greets Thursday that he wants to set up time to learn more about them. Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said he expects to meet with Duca soon about various problems facing the community. Paul said all religious leaders can play an important role in stamping out crime.

Duca will officially be installed as Baton Rouges bishop during Mass a 2 p.m. Friday at St. Joseph Cathedral. Tickets are required to attend the Mass, but the installation will also be livestreamed on Catholic TV, Cox Cable Channel 15, Eatel Channel 2, WBRZ and more. An open-to-the-public reception will follow from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Catholic Life Center.
The Rev. Michael Duca was installed Friday as the sixth Roman Catholic bishop of Baton Rouge. His installation Mass at St. Josephs Cathedral drew more than 700 attendees, while a prayer service for him on Thursday evening at St. George Catholic Church drew hundreds more. Duca preached at both events, as he welcomed his new congregants and told them he looks forward to getting to know more about Baton Rouge.

Here are a few underlying themes from Ducas first two homilies.

1) Duca is especially passionate about evangelization

In Ducas homily Friday at his installation Mass, he emphasized that Catholicism is about more than praying and attending Mass. He said members of the church must pick up the mission of Jesus and go out into the world.

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Without the mission, our faith can become self-serving, Duca said. Its the mission that keeps us healthy. Its the mission of going out beyond our walls and bringing the love of Christ to those around us.

He said Catholics should follow Pope Francis advice to go to the fringes of society and preach the gospel.

Our Views: Welcome to Baton Rouge, Bishop Duca Bishop Michael Duca has much work to do as hes formally installed today to lead the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, replacing outgoing Bisho

2) Duca is more willing to address the Catholic Churchs sex abuse problems than some others in the church hierarchy

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In both his Friday installation Mass and Thursday night prayer service, Duca addressed the churchs own failings in protecting the innocent. A recent Pennsylvania grand jury report found that, over a number of decades, more than 300 predator priests there abused more than 1,000 victims, while church bishops and other leaders covered up the wrongdoings. Duca testified at a civil trial in the 1990s about an abusive priest in Dallas who has since been criminally convicted of sexually abusing minors.

On Thursday and Friday, Duca said people need to become more like Christ in their dealings with the abuse scandal. At both services, attendees have prayed specifically for victims of abuse from clergymen.

We as a church are reeling with this revelation in more detail about the scope of the sexual abuse problem in our church, Duca said Thursday. Its one that strikes your heart and you just want to cry and get angry and yell out and you may wonder, can we come back from this? Is it hopeless?

+36 New BR bishop on his priestly calling, Shreveport and stamping out church sex abuse SHREVEPORT  Walk into a Roman Catholic church in this north Louisiana city along the Red River and ask a parishioner, a nun, a priest, a secr

3) Duca wants the church to be as inclusive as possible

The new bishop of Baton Rouge spoke Spanish during his past introductory news conference in Baton Rouge, but that was only the beginning of his gestures to reach out to immigrant communities.

At his installation Mass Friday, Duca had readings said in Spanish, French and English. And during the Thursday prayer service, prayers were said in Vietnamese and German as well.

During the Friday installation Mass, Duca referenced the moment most hope to experience when they die, in which God tells them, well done, good and faithful servant. But Duca said being a faithful Mass goer was not the only path to achieving that goal. He reminded Mass attendees that Jesus asked them to feed the hungry, welcome immigrants and visit prisoners.
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SHREVEPORT  After meeting behind closed doors Friday for about two hours, the Southern University Board of Supervisors upheld the firing of former band director Nathan Haymer.

Haymer's team made a last-gasp bid to save his job by getting 60 days to produce evidence they hoped could undo the firing.

The vote was 6-5 in favor of the motion, but it needed nine votes on the 16-member panel.

The board then voted to adjourn, thereby backing Southern University System President Ray Belton's decision to remove Haymer after four years as band leader.

"I have zero comment," Haymer told a reporter on his way out of the meeting room.

An audit by the Southern University System has questioned why about $300,000 in band camp and other fees ended up in Haymer's personal bank accounts.

Audit: Why did $300K in Southern band fees go to personal accounts of former director? An audit by the Southern University System is questioning why about $300,000 in band camp and other fees wound up in the personal bank account

The findings have been turned over to East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III and Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera.

Haymer has denied wrongdoing.

His attorney, Karl Bernard, of New Orleans, said earlier this month that the money was in Haymer's accounts because he was directed to do so by university officials.

+9 Attorney: Former Southern University band director will be cleared once more records reviewed An attorney for former Southern University band director Nathan Haymer said Friday about $300,000 in band camp and other fees ended up in Haym

The money was then supposed to pay for band equipment and other supplies, he said.

Bernard said that, while the arrangement was unusual, his client is not guilty of any malfeasance or intentional wrongdoing.

School officials said at the time that Haymer had ample opportunity to make his case.

Bernard made a 15-20 minute pitch on behalf of his client during the board's closed-door gathering. But he was not optimistic afterwards and noted that it is hard to override a decision by the system president, who is also chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus.

"We are going to continue to exhaust our efforts to demonstrate to the board that Mr. Haymer deserves a second shot," Bernard said moments after the meeting.

Belton did not speak during the public portion of the meeting and could not be reached for comment afterwards.

In a prepared statement Janene Tate, director of communications for the Southern University System, noted that the board did not grant Haymer's appeal.

"As a public university employee, he has a right to appeal his termination and now it is final," Tate said.

"Southern University is committed to continuing to support our band program on and off the field," she said.

Haymer's appeal was the last item on board's lengthy agenda Friday.

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The panel had already met for about four hours when it reached the band topic.

It then quickly went into special session, clearing the room of board staff and other school officials.

The gathering then resembled a courthouse awaiting a jury verdict.

Officials milled in meeting rooms and hallways while the board discussed the case behind doors blocked by campus security.

Haymer was accompanied by his brother Niles, also an attorney working on the case, and his mother Patricia Haymer Rodgers.

The motion to give Haymer's side 60 more days to make his case was made by board member Tony Clayton.

The aim was for supervisors to then tackle the issue when they meet later this year.

Bernard said earlier Haymer was willing to accept some form of punishment if he could regain a role with the band, known as the Human Jukebox.

The audit came out after Haymer was fired on May 1 following allegations that he sought kickbacks for the Southern University band to appear at an even for schoolchildren.

+5 Southern University fires popular band director, he says he is disappointed with decision Ending days of limbo for its band director, Southern University on Tuesday fired Nathan Haymer, bringing his leadership of the famed Human Juk

He denied the claim.

The audit was sparked by questions that arose after the initial controversy.

The report said that, while about $300,000 in band camp and other fees was found in Haymer's bank accounts, about $74,000 was accounted for.

Officials are trying to account for the other roughly $226,000.

Haymer's firing triggered controversy on the Baton Rouge campus, and an outpouring of support from current and former band members.

+4 Human Jukebox members defend Southern band leader as internal investigation ensues Members of Southern University's famed Human Jukebox crowded into the Southern Board of Supervisors meeting Friday, pleading the case for thei

Earlier in the meeting Julian Jackson, who lives in New Orleans, urged the board to overturn Haymer's firing.

Jackson, a member of the Southern University marching band in the late 1970's, said today's band has new instruments and new uniforms because of Haymer's leadership, and without assistance from the school.

"I will say yes, he made some mistakes. But we all make mistakes. I understand there are clergy on the board. You understand the power of forgiveness."

Jackson said, "I am asking this distinguished board to be fair and open minded. Mr. Haymer deserves an opportunity to do what his passion is. That is leading the Southern University marching band."
The convictions of two high-profile associates of President Donald Trump this week jolted the White House, sending shock waves across the country, but members of Louisianas congressional delegation issued a collective shrug in response to the bombshells.

On Tuesday, Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of tax evasion and bank fraud in federal court in Virginia. Minutes later, Trump's longtime former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to tax evasion and falsifying documents to a bank. Cohen, notably, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to allocating hush money payments to Baton Rouge native and porn star Stormy Daniels and to Karen McDougal, a Playboy model.

Cohen said Trump "directed" him to commit a crime by paying off the two women, who both said they engaged in extra-marital affairs with Trump, in exchange for their silence ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, said Cohen's allegations against Trump are self-serving and should be taken with a grain of salt.

"Mr. Cohen has made an allegation, and the president has denied it. Mr. Cohens credibility will be challenged," Kennedy said in a statement to The Advocate. "Hes trying to get as lenient a sentence as possible. If the prosecutors told Mr. Cohen to stand on one leg and bark like a dog in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue, he would probably do it."

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, suggested Democrats calling for impeachment are reaching.

From day one, resistance Democrats have been grasping at straws trying to satisfy their impeachment fantasies," said spokesman Ty Bofferding. "Senator Cassidy believes strongly in accountability for every elected official, but hes not going to speculate on what may or may not happen, nor let Democrats calling for impeachment distract him from his work to lower health care costs, improve border security, and provide Louisiana workers with opportunities for better pay and better benefits.

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Similarly U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Monroe, dismissed the allegations and pointed to the positive impacts Trump's policies have had on the economy.

"There still has not been any shred of evidence that this administration colluded with Russia," Abraham said. "The fact remains that the policies of this administration have turned our country around and the economy is the best it's been in decades."

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, a Shreveport Republican, said he wouldn't speak on "what the president may or may not have done in his past personal life."

"I will continue to follow developments as they arise, but I have seen no formal charges against the president and will not speculate on hypothetical circumstances."

Republican U.S. Reps. Garret Graves, of Baton Rouge, and Clay Higgins, of Port Barre, did not immediately return calls for comment. Nor did the state's lone elected Democrat in Washington, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, from New Orleans.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-New Orleans, was in New Orleans on Thursday evening with Vice President Mike Pence for a fundraising event, and was not immediately available for comment.

But Louisiana's representatives aren't alone in their support for the president. Even Republicans who have previously criticized Trump were tepid in their remarks this week, saying they failed to see evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

Sometimes critic Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told reporters his own support had not yet declined for the president as a result of the convictions. He added he is waiting for evidence of collusion and a report by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Not every society treats bodies as shameful and sex as offensive, Rough writes. I saw that many of my international friends were raising kids far more likely to have optimal sexual health and self-esteem, better sex lives and more advantages of gender equality than their average American peers. Id gone to see how they accomplished this, and most of all, while my kids were still little, to find out if I could reinvent my own philosophy about sex, clarify my guiding principles and discover approaches more practical and more effective than the old-fashioned birds-and-bees checklist.
Corrections made to fix astronomical levels of lead in the drinking water of Tensas Parish schools appear to have worked, the state health agency reported Thursday.

In the weeks prior to the opening of the two public schools in the impoverished northeast Louisiana parish, the Virginia Tech University lab found one of the fountains was delivering drinking water with lead levels of 402.6 parts per billion  about 27 times the legal limit of 15 ppb.

A Louisiana parish found 27 times the legal limit of lead in its schools' drinking water Students starting school this week in St. Joseph  a town whose entire drinking water system was replaced earlier this year  must carry bottl

Scientists from the Louisiana Department Health came a couple of weeks later and found twice the acceptable amount of lead in the drinking water.

Lead impairs abstract thought, attention and memory.

Local officials were pressed to change out suspect fixtures and flush the lines with water that included chemicals aimed at coating the inside of the pipes to prevent lead from leeching into the drinking water. The hope was the fixes would lower the amount of lead, thus avoid more drastic  and expensive  repairs.

It apparently worked.

The findings released Thursday showed marginal lead readings, well within acceptable levels, in some locations and none in others.

Im cautiously optimistic, Janie Jones, director of St. Joseph Disaster Relief & Research Task Force, said Thursday. The school has done a great job with the temporary fixes.

This has been really worrying, said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the states health officer.

Both schools are in St. Joseph. He had just finished a two-year odyssey of shutting down, then replacing the entire 90-year-old drinking water system for the town of about a thousand residents.

He worried that installing a new system  St. Joes cost Louisiana taxpayers about $10 million  might not solve all the drinking water problems, particularly in state with widespread infrastructure problems.

+4 Some St. Joseph residents still not getting clean drinking water despite taxpayer-funded $10M repairs Louisiana taxpayers ponied up nearly $10 million to replace a system that was delivering lead-laden drinking water in the antebellum town of S

St. Joseph's new system started delivering fresh drinking water in March. But consumers drink the water in buildings that sometimes have ancient and ill-maintained plumbing.

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In the next few weeks, Guidrys office will start sampling drinking water from a dozen schools around the state.

Im pretty sure well find some lead, Guidry said. Well expand that net if we find some problems in those 12 schools.

Health officials are looking for the oldest school houses, determining when classes began, and talking with superintendents about what is needed.

It was pleasant news to receive, Paul Nelson, superintendent of the Tensas Parish School District, said Thursday about the states latest lead readings.

Nelson said the high numbers had come as a surprise.

State health officials and engineers told him that they suspected the readings were so high because the schools water system was shut down for three months over the summer, allowing stagnant water to collect around water fountains and taps that had lead fixtures.

The 500 students were ordered not to drink the water as they returned to school last week. But that wasnt much of a hardship, Nelson said.

Having been brought up in a place where they havent been able to drink the water in their homes, the students havent drunk from school water fountains in years, he said.

Those fountains have just been basically hanging on the wall, Nelson said.

The schools had long ago placed coolers that served Kentwood Spring water around the buildings and used bottled water for cooking in the cafeterias.

The district replaced all the fountains in both schools. The water comes out clean and clear for the first time in years.

But Nelson says he doesnt expect the students to change their habits and start drinking from the fountains.

Were going to keep the Kentwood water coolers around for a while longer, Nelson said.
Bishop Michael Duca of Shreveport will become the bishop of Baton Rouge on August 24. As he moves to south Louisiana, Duca will inherit a Catholic population in Baton Rouge that dwarfs Shreveport's by five times. Catholics in Shreveport described Duca as a bishop of the people, with many of them sharing personal stories about how Duca has taken the time to learn about them on a personal level.
The parents of Faith Fennidy, a young black girl sent home from a Terrytown Catholic school this week because of her hair extensions, will meet with Archdiocese of New Orleans officials on Monday to address the issues raised by the controversy and work out when their daughter can return to her sixth-grade class.

The family held a press conference Friday in Metairie, where Faith's brother Steven Fennidy Jr., who posted the video on Tuesday of his sister leaving Christ the King Elementary School in tears, thanked everyone for their "love, prayers, encouragement and support."

"Faith did not ask to be put in this position, but we are proud at the courage she has shown in standing up for what is right," he said. "It is our hope that through sharing the story of Faiths painful experience that girls of all ethnic backgrounds will no longer be condemned based on their appearance and can be proud of who they are and how they look."

The incident touched off a firestorm on social media and attracted national attention, with supporters of Faith and her family saying the school's policies against hair extensions target black students and are culturally insensitive.

That position made up the basis of a lawsuit filed by Montrelle Fennidy, Faith's mother, and Toyonita Parquet, who is the mother of another young African-American girl sent home from the Terrytown school for the same reason.

On Thursday, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Piper Griffin issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the school from enforcing its policy. The order expires Sept. 6, but the girls' mothers have also asked for a permanent injunction against the school.

Their attorney, James Williams, said at the news conference that the family looks forward "to sitting down with the leadership of the school and the archdiocese, to hopefully come up with a peaceful solution that remedies this injustice.

RaeNell Houston, superintendent of the Office of Catholic Schools, said in a statement late Friday that her office is happy to meet and "we look forward to reaching a resolution. Our goal has always been to welcome the girls back to Christ the King Elementary School as soon as possible."

Houston said her office is reconvening an advisory council to address school policies, "particularly those that might affect cultural differences in school communities, as well as other topics such as racial harmony, social justice and urban Catholic education."

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The Office of Catholic Schools recognizes the importance of engaging parents, faculty and students to gain their input," the statement said. "We remain committed to being a welcoming school community that celebrates our unity and diversity."

The video that Steven Fennidy posted on Instagram quickly drew attention to the Terrytown school's new policy, which stipulates that students must have natural hair.

He said there are practical reasons for hair extensions, noting that they allow his sister to go swimming without having to have her hair redone every night.

Toyonita Parquet, the mother of the other student sent home, said her daughter suffers from medically diagnosed hair loss.

Can't see video below? Click here.

At the news conference, Steven Fennidy said that while his sister was "deeply hurt by the intolerant actions taken by Christ the King School," she has since received "overwhelming support from thousands of people all over the world, ranging from celebrities to children her age living in different countries."

"Please continue to support Faith, use her experience as motivation to fight for change and not remain silent in the face of inequality," he said. "Our family will fight this injustice prayerfully and positively. We will not combat hate with hate but rather with love and peace. We ask that all of Faiths supporters do the same. Thank you again for encouraging Faith during this difficult time."
A growing chorus of parents is complaining that their young special-needs children were mistreated by a teacher at Covington Elementary School last year, and that their complaints were ignored by the administration.

Attorney Charles Branton filed an amendment Friday adding Mary Wright to a lawsuit filed against the St. Tammany Parish School Board in 22nd Judicial District Court. Three other sets of parents are already parties to that litigation.

The parents say that their non-verbal children routinely came home from school with scratches, bruises and other injuries without any incident reports from the school, as required by school policy. When they brought their concerns to the school, the parents say that they were told that some biting and hitting was normal.

The suit names as defendants the School Board; Principal Melissa Eason; Assistant Principal Kristy Winget; the teacher, Tammi Cole; and assistants Cindy Nebe, Sheila Schneider and Rebecca Leidinger Decote.

The teacher and assistants are no longer employed by the school system, a spokeswoman has said. Branton said that the students have all been moved to other schools this year.

A school system spokeswoman declined comment, citing policy on matters under litigation. But in court documents, their attorney has denied the allegations in one of the lawsuits, arguing the plaintiffs lacked proof.

In all, three lawsuits have been filed concerning the class: one in June, that alleges those parents were told that that biting, scratching and bruising were "a normal part of the interaction of young children," and another in mid-August that included two sets of parents. All told, seven sets of parents have sued.

The suit filed in August included photos of the two young students with bite marks and bruises. One of the mothers, Anna Monus, became concerned last September when her son started making unusual noises and moaning and stopped all verbalization and sign language, the suit said.

Then her son came home in October with a bite mark on his back but she was not provided an incident report, the suit said. When she sought a meeting to discuss her son, she asked if there were any other parental complaints and was told there were none, according to the lawsuit.

Monus later obtained her son's full record and found her signature had been forged on multiple daily activity reports for her son that she never received, the suit alleges.

One of the plaintiffs represented by Branton, Kathleen Cannino, sewed a recording device into her young son's clothes on two occasions during the last school year. In copies obtained by The Advocate, teacher, Tammi Cole, can be heard telling the Cannino's child that she wanted to "break his f--king fingers off."

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In another portion of the tape, Cole can be heard telling him, "Don't hit me, nope. Did I just kick him in the face?" Another voice says, "No, you got him in the chest," followed by adults laughing.

Cole could not be reached for comment.

According to the amended petition, Wright's developmentally disabled daughter came home the pre-K class with bruises on her arms, back and face and a black eye, as well as a partial handprint "where she had been struck by an adult near her right buttock." On another occasion, she came home with a knot on her head.

Wright notified the principal, Melissa Eason, of her child's injuries, the suit said. Eason told Wright she would speak to the teacher, Cole, and get back with her, but "did not follow through and did not provide any information to the parents, including Mary Wright, about the injuries sustained by the children while in the care of the defendants," the suit says.

Wright also alleges that when she made complaints to school officials, the school contacted the Department of Child and Family Services and made false allegations against her of child abuse, child neglect and drug use, none of where were validated by the state.

The children suffered physical and emotional injuries and had their development delayed by abuse they suffered, the suit claims. It blames the School Board for failing to appropriately monitor and supervise the teacher and her assistants, and school administratorsfor allowing them to remain as employees after officials were alerted to problems in the classroom.

The amended petition says the doors and windows of Cole's classroom were covered up "so that no one would be able to see what happened to the children."

Branton said that his clients didn't want to resort to litigation but felt they had no other choice because when they tried to work with the school system, their concerns were not adequately addressed. School system officials refused a request to put cameras in the classroom, for example.

"They have no faith in the school system. They are terrified of what might happen because of what has happened," Branton said.

Branton said he thinks a criminal investigation is warranted. Earlier this month, Covington Police Chief Tim Lentz told The Advocate by email that at the end of the school year, the mother of a child complained her son had been abused by special ed teachers, and she brought police an audio recording from a device sewn into his clothes.

"Some of the conversations between the teachers were absolutely inappropriate, but in my opinion didnt rise to the level of a crime," Lentz said. "We turned over all of our paperwork to the DAs Office for their review."

A spokeswoman for 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery said that the office has received a formal request for an opinion and is reviewing the evidence.
A Baton Rouge judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit that aims to upend Louisianas creaking public defense system.

Judge Todd Hernandez of the 19th Judicial District ruled that every poor defendant in Louisiana represented by a public defender is eligible for participation in the lawsuit, with the exception of juveniles and defendants in capital cases.

Hernandezs Aug. 17 ruling was opposed by attorneys for the state, who said that class certification would make far too many people eligible for participation. More than 20,000 poor people face criminal charges at any one time in Louisiana.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said that Louisiana's public defense structure is systematically broken and requires an all-around fix.

The upshot of the judges ruling is that if the lawsuit succeeds, officials will be forced to come up with a statewide plan for funding public defenders, rather than a solution that applies only to the 13 named plaintiffs.

The lawsuit is set for trial on Jan. 28.

'The system is broken': Class-action status sought for suit challenging state public defense system A lawsuit challenging Louisiana's public defense system should be deemed a class action because tens of thousands of poor people accused of cr

The plaintiffs argued in the suit, which was filed in East Baton Rouge Parish in February 2017, that Louisiana systematically shortchanges poor defendants by saddling public defenders with high caseloads.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, members of the Louisiana Public Defender Board and chief state Public Defender James Dixon were named as defendants.

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The lawsuit asks the judge to declare Louisianas current public defender system unconstitutional because poor defendants do not receive equal protection and meaningful assistance of counsel.

The judge cannot order the Legislature to pay more into the system, which is largely supported by court fees from convictions and traffic tickets rather than the states general fund.

However, the judge can appoint a special monitor to oversee changes and threaten to hold state officials in contempt until the system is fixed.

Although Hernandezs decision was an important victory for the plaintiffs, he noted that it was purely procedural rather than a ruling on the merits of the case.

The persons contained within this class all have similar and/or common interests against each of the named defendants" and are so numerous "that it would be impracticable to require each one to individually appear before this court in pursuit of their claims, he said.

The lawsuit is one of two filed against the state's public defense system in recent years. In 2016, the ACLU sued the Orleans Public Defenders and the state board over long waiting lists for access to an attorney.

A district judge dismissed the suit last year, but a panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges heard a request to revive it earlier this month. Their decision is pending.
It doesnt get much worse for a bank to be told that it has a total disregard for the law and regulators. Nor does it get more serious than a senior executive, Andrew Hagger, being called out for behaviour that shows disrespect for the regulator.

Nor does it get much worse for a regulator to be told it lacks authority and panders to the big end of town.

But so it was for National Australia Bank and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in the closing submission from counsel assisting the Hayne royal commission into the fifth round of its inquiry which focussed on superannuation.

The disgust was palpable.
In the sleepy, conservative German town where one of design's most important movements thrived, there is an intriguing hostility to what has become Dessau's greatest tourist draw.

As Bauhaus expert Heiko Gerdes talks to a small group of visitors, two locals pass on motorbikes, blowing their horns to drown him out. The locals don't like the Bauhaus crowd, he explains. There has always been a distance between those from Dessau and outsiders interested in the design movement.

Bauhaus heads and students on the balcony of the Studio Building, 1931/1932. Credit:unbekannt

While much of the world embraced the revolutionary school of art, architecture and design, the movement is not particularly popular in Germany and it's certainly not embraced in Dessau, despite the 100,000 annual visitors who are vital to the town's economy.

"It's fascinating to see how famous Bauhaus is abroad instead of here," says Helga Huskamp, from the town's Bauhaus Foundation. "It has a much more positive image in South America or Israel."
A remarkable thing happened at this year's 35th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT): the stand-out work actually won the major prize. The annual circus of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman may have given me a jaundiced view of art prizes, but it was pleasing that the judges of this year's NATSIAA avoided the perverse temptation to reward a less-than-compelling entry.

The winner, Gunybi Ganambarr, is one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists. In successive exhibitions he has reinvented the discipline of bark painting while remaining utterly orthodox in his imagery and spiritual affiliations.

Tjala Tjukurpa by Yaritji Young. Credit:Merinda Campbell / MAGNT

John Mawurndjul (b.1952), whose retrospective may be seen at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art, is the artist who showed that barks could be painted on a grand scale. Ganambarr (b.1973) is the ground-breaking innovator of a younger generation who realised one need not stick to traditional materials. In place of bark and wood, Ganambarr has put the imagery of his community, the Yolngu, onto sheets of metal, rubber slabs from a conveyor belt, and PVC piping.

Buyku, (Fish Trap) his winning entry in this year's NATSIAA, is a three-metre square of aluminium etched with intricate patterns representing the convergence of different bodies of water. Because the Yolngu are assigned custodianship of different parts of the land at the top of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the piece also represents a coming together of clans from Gadarrpa (Blue Mud Bay) to Gulutji.
It could be argued that the 1975 film clip for Bob Hudson's The Newcastle Song, featuring a hoon called Norm leering out an FJ Holden window on Hunter Street, still somewhat speaks to Newcastle's cultural approbation in the national imagination.

There's the so-called "Newcastle solution" that instigated the state's lock-out laws in response to alcohol-induced violence, and the Newcastle 500, which now sees supercars roar around the historic East End each November.

Core Espresso on Newcastle's Darby Street made international headlines with its 'high-end' Vegemite Toast. Credit:Simon McCarthy

Hunter Street is, however, now being dug up for light rail and, like many other regional post-industrial cities globally, contemporary Newcastle is undergoing a shift. What was once considered a masculine working-class heartland now appears in "listicles" as one of the top five hipster cities in the world.

In our internet era, one of Newcastle's recent claims to fame was a viral image of "deconstructed" Vegemite toast, served in a local cafe. The Vegemite was smeared onto the wooden serving board, alongside a quenelle of butter with a micro herb on top. On social media, locals  or Novocastrians  engaged with this with requisite humour, but in terms of the national response perhaps there was still a similar Bob Hudson jibe going on. I mean nobody blinks an eye if a posh restaurant in Sydney deconstructs a lemon meringue pie, but trust Newcastle to lower the tone.
Tony Abbott, his Trojan Horse Peter Dutton, and their vocal fan club of delusional conservatives will continue to wreck and snipe from the peanut gallery, but now the target will be Scott Morrison instead of Malcolm Turnbull. Adele Homburg, Elsternwick Abbott has gained his revenge, but at what cost? Are you happy now, Tony Abbott? When you lost the prime ministership, you promised (a blatant lie) that there would be "no wrecking, no undermining, no sniping". Many people believe that your actions will be seen as a significant contributing factor to handing the Opposition a victory at the next election. But your primary objective has been achieved: to unseat Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister. Your secondary objective, to win government, seems not to be quite as important as sabotaging your nemesis. This speaks volumes about your priorities.

Rosie Elsass, East Brighton Many MPs have forgotten why they were elected It is a pity the constitution of Australia does not allow the Governor-General to choose at his pleasure, those who would serve as ministers of the Crown. From what Australians have had to put up with due to the machinations of Federal Parliament these past few years, they must have sincerely wished he could have put paid to the ramshackle rabble of dishonest back-stabbers who are infesting the house. Convention will no doubt get in the way and we will see more of the same. There has been a parade of the self-seeking and overly ambitious clambering over each other to look good on television, forgetting that the purpose of their being elected was to serve the people. Alexander Marani-Binks, Skipton

One winner, but many millions of losers Politics and sport: the battle between the greedy and the egotists has been fought and the fans (all Australians) are the losers. Peter Hansford, Elwood THE FORUM We will pay the price

In 2015, Tony Abbott, climate science denier, opponent of same-sex marriage and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, lost the leadership to Malcolm Turnbull. His revenge was to spend the rest of his time in Parliament plotting Mr Turnbull's demise. He has been successful, but how is this in our country's interest? Judith Taylor, Emerald Aussie-style politics I have lived in Australia for roughly 10years, and I have never been confident in our government. This is our fifth abrupt change in prime ministers during that time, and it is doing serious damage to our international reputation. I cannot be proud of my government when it cannot even keep the prime minister for the full term. It is shameful. I sincerely hope this does not become a cycle. Tim Lyddy, Ringwood East

Leaving with dignity There has been much Shakespearean allusion of late, but watching Malcolm Turnbull's farewell speech the one that came to mind was: Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it. I wish him a long and healthy life and thank him for for same-sex marriage outcome that saved the country from ignominy. Liz Levy, Suffolk Park The depressing reality Does anyone really care who is "leader" of the Liberal  or any other  internecine party? Let them have their melees. Instead, would it be too much to ask for any of them to field some compassionate, intelligent, dynamic policy? An early election? Even local and state governments can organise fixed-term poll dates, so why can't the knuckleheads in Canberra? This is a truly limited democracy: unable to vote for a head of state, a head of state's Australian representative or a prime minister. Only free to vote for knuckleheads.

Jack Burchall, Carlton North Who's up next for PM? Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and now Scott Morrison. Next prime minister? Gemma Di Bari, North Balwyn Democracy in action

Australians, and in particular the media, should reflect that many millions of Americans would love to be able to change their national leader by a vote of the majority party in their House of Representatives. Read our constitution. It is working. Phillip Edwards, Churchill Teaching our youth The only way to arm future generations against this mind-numbingly stupid circus of rotating leaders is to pump lots of money into school education so that every 15-year-old can analyse an Alan Jones' radio program, recognise an egoist and ask: "What the heck do you think you're doing?" Sadly the Australian citizenry is poorly educated and is at the mercy of populists, demagogues and owners of fish and chip shops. I will vote for the party that ends the privatisation of school and tertiary education and returns responsibility for all school education to the states.

Julian Golby, Clifton Hill The battle's not over Scott Morrison has beaten Peter Dutton, 45-40. Only three more votes to get, so keep an eye on Tony Abbott and his cohorts. The white-anting will not stop until they have them. Bryan Power, Gisborne End the cruel detention

The first test for Scott Morrison's professed Christianity will be his action regarding the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru. Such immoral, and probably illegal, detention amounts to slow torture, and is destroying its victims, including children. Eric Kennelly, Ballarat Central But who will comfort us? Lucy will comfort Malcolm, just as Margie comforted Tony, Therese comforted Kevin (twice), and Tim comforted Julia. Our nation, however, feels extreme discomfort at the disruptive state of our politics and our consequent inability to prosecute those issues of major importance to us all, such as climate change. Christine Sender, South Yarra

A profound connection Modern politics is broken. The Uluru Statement from the heart of our nation stated clearly that our future is essentially a sovereignty (politics) that has a spiritual (not religious) dimension. Any hopeful future requires humans identifying that scientific connection that exists between them and our planet, which has been understood by our Indigenous brothers and sisters for 60,000-plus years. It's that difficult. And it's that simple. Bernadette Florence, Allans Flat Let's all have a shot at it I like this idea of rotating prime minister every so often. This gives every one a go and no one gets ideas above their station. Scott Morrison may as well have a go, as it will be Bill Shorten's turn in a few weeks. And it will be a hoot when Bob Katter and Richard Di Natale job share the role for a week.

Russell Miles, Preston Same old, same old So Labor's Jason Clare thinks that "whoever ends up winning is going to be leader of a bunch of people who hate each other". Well, yes, but Scott Morrison and his team will also be hated by the people they are supposed to represent. They are heartily sick of the self-interest, sniping, inability to work for the good of the country, and inability to stand for anything at all. Peta Colebatch, Footscray So some still trust MPs

I polled a group of friends regarding the statement "most politicians put their self-interest ahead of what is in the best interests of the country". Nine out of 10 of the respondents agreed, which was a surprise, as I had expected 100per cent. But then again there is always a shock jock lurking somewhere. Kevin Brown, Castlemaine Caring  to some kids Peter Dutton's family trust operates a childcare company. Has anyone else noted the irony in the fact that he is also the man who so callously leaves children suffering untold horrors in offshore detention? Hypocrisy knows no bounds. Geoff Selby, Moorooduc

MPs' illegal strike action? Maybe the politicians could donate their wages to the drought-stricken farmers. After all, not many of them did any of the work they were elected to do this week. Tina Van Wees, Somerville Pity the poor workers Scott Morrison should show a bit of ticker and rescind the disgraceful decision to cut penalty rates to Australia's most vulnerable workers. That is the main reason the Liberal Party is on the nose with voters. It has no chance of winning the next election.

John Nash, Altona The plot was foiled I hope the cameras recorded the Sydney shock jocks and News Corp zombies frothing at the mouth and turning beetroot after their darling Peter Dutton failed to kick a goal. It will make great reality TV, and the rest of the country can have a sad and cynical guffaw. John Laurie, Newport Step down for the nation

It is a great tragedy for the Liberal Party that the most decent man among them has gone. It was not democracy at play that wrecked Malcolm Turnbull's leadership but the political extremism, selfishness and greed for power of some Liberals. One would hope they will leave the party and Parliament for the good of Australia. Bill Mathew, Parkville I can't believed they lied Peter Dutton must be very surprised. He has just discovered that politicians can be duplicitous. Fancy some Liberal MPs telling him he had their vote and then not voting for him. Strange, isn't it? William Wallace, Ascot Park, SA

Trust Peter? Sure can Peter Dutton pledging his loyalty? That must be comforting for the new PM. Philip Henseleit, Glenlee Trust Abbott? Sure can Tony to his secretary: "Find that nice speech from 10 years ago and replace every "Malcolm" with "Scott". We have to make it look as though this is what we wanted."

Helen Kamil, Caulfield South AND ANOTHER THING Canberra Poor fellow my country.

Michael Kino, Caulfield North How much did this squabble cost me, the ordinary taxpayer, for whom the last years have been very lean? Antoinette Trembath, Parkdale The deck chairs have been successfully arranged on the Titanic. Brian Gillespie, Ascot Vale

A pyrrhic victory for Morrison, with the party too weakened by the blood letting to stave off the Labor. Harry Kowalski, Ivanhoe "The adults are in charge"? It's a good job the kids aren't. Audrey Baillie, Golden Square That was a lovely little cuddle Scott gave Malcolm before he knifed him.

Peter Johns, Sorrento With Cleaver Greene in Canberra, what else could you expect? Liz Middleton, Clematis Australia, the coup capital of the world. Mary Walker, Richmond

Bernardi must have been annoyed he couldn't participate in the shenanigans. George Migios, Box Hill We'd hope that like cream in a vat, leaders would rise to the top. Then I looked inside a septic tank. Tom Ward, Eltham Who needs funding for free-to-air TV when we have a gripping soap opera?

Max Sandler, St Kilda East If the Liberals' only policy is "Kill Bill", no wonder they're in a shambles. We're better than this. Patricia Rivett, Ferntree Gully Dutton's Brisbane office must have been targeted by "African gangs" who drove up from Melbourne. Matthew Van Wees, Somerville

Malcolm, take the colleagues who support you and start a new party that I can vote for. Nicholas Wood, East Geelong At primary school, we had monitors who were rolled over weekly. We should do the same with our PMs. David Kitchen, Violet Town The Chinese and the Russians don't have these problems.
Sydney's original power restaurant Machiavelli celebrates its 30th anniversary next week with a star-studded dinner, but not everyone on the guest list is popping corks.

hornery tablet launch
Serial rapist Graham James Kay will walk free from jail after being handed a good behaviour bond for assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Sydney.

The 66-year-old was responsible for a wave of sexual assaults on women aged from 16 to 39 between December 1995 and December 1996 in Balgowlah, Artarmon, Epping, Eastwood and Wollstonecraft.

He was released on parole in February 2015 after serving about 18 years of a 20-year maximum jail sentence. But in 2017 the state applied for, and was granted, extended supervision orders on the basis he remains a high-risk sex offender.

Graham James Kay. Credit:Seven News

But he was jailed again earlier this year after he breached his supervision orders.
Illustration: Simon Letch

On Thursday morning, facing front benches empty of ministers and with the days sitting of Parliament about to be shut down, ALP leader Bill Shorten said: The purpose of government is to uplift the nations vision. Hes right. We all know that hes right. But vision takes courage. And within the Liberal Party  whoever is leading it  courage has long been absent.

It is not just that exiting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull allowed principles and unifying values  and the policies that expressed them  to be snatched one by one by the wreckers until only his job was left and they took that, too. It is also that the Liberals seriously offered us as an initial alternative Peter Dutton, known not for his power to connect or inspire, not for the depth of his thinking or his policy agility, but as an unleashed attack dog whose victims are routinely powerless, marginalised and not-white.

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The Prime Minister-designate, Scott Morrison, may be much cleverer in packaging his partys attitudes but the elevation of these men grimly warns where their broad church is heading.

Flourishing the race card in a country where racial divisiveness is already the primal wound? Ignoring and silencing climate science when theres catastrophic local drought and global warnings? Carrying coal into the Parliament as a stunt? Portraying refugees as a threat to justify their indefinite agony? Redefining sovereignty to mean regressive white-bread nationalism? Regarding it as sport to attack the institutions of middle Australia, including the ABC? If these are the Liberal Party values and behaviours that our nation deserves, it is most certainly not what it needs

In presenting Dutton as their first alternative prime minister, and not merely as master manipulator Tony Abbotts glove puppet, his keenest allies repeatedly pointed to his success at securing our borders. There was also the long-held admiration for turning back the boats, driven by Morrison and accelerated by Dutton. But this is a fear-driven narrative that is also false.
Growing up in suburban Sydney, I broke bread with all kinds. The dismantling of the White Australia policy in the 1960s and 1970s had allowed my parents to bring me from South Africa, aspire to belong and buy a house on a quarter acre block.

My father started a business. Schooled in Islam, he ensured we never ate pork. I went to a public school alongside Aboriginal, Slavic, Italian, Greek and Malay students, as well as Anglos. Embracing the Jesus story, I found mentors in a diverse and welcoming community in Anglican and Baptist churches while still connected to my Muslim family.

Canberra is less diverse, but still very welcoming.

Australian Party Senator Fraser Anning in the Senate chamber. Credit:AAP

Here in the national capital, Senator Fraser Anning made a splash when he called for an end to immigrants who do not reflect the historic European Christian composition of Australian society. Hes been roundly condemned.
Bridie Tedford was entitled to feel protected by her husband, even as their marriage broke down but instead she found herself fighting to survive his violent attack.

Albert Tedford, 77, was sentenced in Melbourne's Supreme Court on Friday to at least six years in jail for the shocking attack in October last year.

Albert Tedford arrives for sentencing at the Supreme Court on Friday. Credit:AAP

Justice John Champion said Tedford's then 62-year-old wife had been caring for her husband in the moments immediately preceding the assault, which left her with 13 stab wounds plus self-defence injuries.

Tedford told her they would both die that night but she responded that while he might, she would not.
Police are hunting for a car with stolen registration plates which rammed a police vehicle and sped off in Melbourne's south-east on Friday morning.

Officers in an unmarked police vehicle were tailing the silver/grey hatchback after flagging the car's stolen plates as it travelled south on Narre Warren North Road just after 9.30.

When the hatchback drove into a car park the officers attempted to intercept it.

But the driver did not stop, crashing into the unmarked police car and making a getaway.

Police believe a man and a woman were inside the hatchback at the time.
Guildenstern: Well, theres lies, damn lies and statistics. Though that is hardly a comfort to anyone. The iron laws of arithmetic are the framework of a democracy, and democracy is nothing without numbers. Forget the finery, that is the nature of it.

Rosencrantz: Yes, but this is the paradox: if a leader is leading an opponent comprehensively, month in, month out, are they not the leader the people want? And yet at the same time, the party of that leader is losing month in, month out. Surely, the replacement should be of the party, not the leader.

Guildenstern: Yes, thats true. But can you imagine a party sacking itself? Right, weve all been less than satisfactory in our roles. In fact, lets face it, were useless. Best we topple ourselves and go back to from whence we came. Sorry to have caused any trouble.

Rosencrantz: And yet here we sit, in this bluster of gales, watching one party sacrifice the leader who is leading for the sake of the party that is losing. Insanity has a new model. Its a mockery of reason.

Guildenstern: True. Its like there is a captain at the wheel, who may not being doing that good a job of steering, but still is preferred by those outside the party to the rival partys choice, but then part of the crew mutiny, throw the captain overboard, put a new man at the wheel - and the ship sinks.
In eschewing the hardline Peter Dutton, Liberals have at least delayed a bullet heading their way from an angry electorate.

But dodge it, they cannot. Not after this.

The former border protection minister who spearheaded the final leadership meltdown, limped away on Friday, his overweening ambition thwarted, his embittered architects roundly outflanked.

Mathias Cormann (left) switched his support from Malcolm Turnbull to Peter Dutton yesterday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In his wake lay a former prime minister to whom all had pledged loyalty, and the smoking ruins of a government which had been closing in the polls, aided by an improving economy. Indeed, just behind in published polls a few weeks back, and according to Malcolm Turnbull, actually ahead of Labor in the Liberal Party's privately commissioned research.
Other cities are a lot better than us, Brendan Deenihan, deputy chief in the detective division, told the Tribune on Thursday. And we have to take ownership for our low clearance rate, and I understand that. And we will do so. However, every single study I have read, the most difficult cases to solve are outside violence with a handgun, gang involvement. And, unfortunately, in the city of Chicago that is the vast number of shootings.
Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg was elected deputy Liberal leader and Mr Morrison said Mr Frydenberg would now become Treasurer, his own former role. Both men stressed they would work together towards a new generation for the Liberal party which would focus on stability. "We have to work as a team. Today, our team needs to look at the events of this week and how that has impacted on them, said Mr Morrison. The ministry and cabinet will be formed over the course of the weekend and will likely sworn in sometime next week.

Mr Morrison also indicated there wouldn't an election "any time soon". At the press conference on Friday afternoon, Mr Morrison thanked Malcolm Turnbull and wished him well in the future. I have known Malcolm for a long time, as you know. He has been a dear friend. He has served his country in a noble, and professional way, he said. Josh and I have watched and worked with him as he has led our cabinets and the achievements we have been proud to serve with him as a government  He is a great Australian who has contributed a great deal to this country and our party and our nation will be very grateful for his contribution. He also thanked Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, describing her as a rock star for the Liberal Party, a driver of foreign policy and advocate for Liberal values.

"I will be talking to her, obviously, about what role she would like to play in the government we will now seek to put together," he said. Illustration: Matt Golding "I also want to thank Peter Dutton for the service he has provided. I actually recommended him for the job as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, after I left it some years ago, and he has served faithfully in that role and home affairs, and I look forward, if he so chooses, for him to be playing a role in the government which I intend to lead." Mr Frydenberg, the new deputy leader of the Liberal party, also thanked Mr Turnbull and Ms Bishop, and noted after a rough few days their contribution will stand them in good stead and be remembered fondly for years to come. The last week has been about us, he said. And from here on, it is about the Australian people.

My message to the Australian people today is that we are here to serve you. And that every waking hour of the Morrison government will be spent delivering for the people of Australia." Mr Morrison visited the Governor-General at Yarralumla and was sworn in as Prime Minister about 6:15pm on Friday. Malcolm Turnbull, with two of his grandchildren, waves after addressing the media as prime minister for the final time. Credit:Dominc Lorrimer Mr Morrison said his first focus would be to address the drought. I will be meeting with Major-General Day as soon as possible to review our drought response plans, and working with him and the Nationals and our regional and rural Liberal members to ensure that we do what is necessary to help our regional communities, our farmers, and all those affected, he said.
Scott Morrison will seek to halt the Coalition governments cycle of revenge by assuring cabinet colleagues there will be no retribution over this weeks leadership chaos after he secured a shock victory to become Prime Minister.

Mr Morrison has set up weekend talks with all sides of the chaotic Liberal Party brawl to tear down Malcolm Turnbull, moving to restore senior cabinet ministers in a sign of good faith to warring sides.

But he faces an immediate challenge to retain the Coalitions hold on power, as Mr Turnbull prepares to quit Parliament and cause a byelection in the inner Sydney seat of Wentworth that sets up the first test of Mr Morrisons appeal to Australian voters.

The former treasurer pledged continuity rather a departure in any major policy including the National Energy Guarantee, the scheme that split the government over cuts to carbon emissions.
Melbournes Lord Mayor Sally Capp has announced $50 million in funding to help mitigate the effects of the West Gate Tunnel.

The funding comes despite the city council having last year spent $750,000 fighting the toll road.

The flyovers to be built in West Melbourne as part of the West Gate Tunnel project. Credit:Western Distributor Authority

The City Council's cash will be matched by another $50 million from the Andrews government.

The money will go towards a range of projects, including upgrading the banks of Moonee Ponds Creek  which will have two major off-ramps built over it as part of the toll road project.
Federal prosecutors have granted immunity to the Trump Organisation's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, in a probe involving President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, several US media outlets reported on Friday.

Weisselberg was called to testify before a federal grand jury earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal said.

Cohen, who admitted this week that he arranged hush money payments before the 2016 US presidential election to at least two women who said they had sex with the married Trump, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to campaign finance violations and other charges.

He said Trump directed him to arrange the payments. Two executives at American Media Inc, which publishes the National Enquirer, a tabloid reportedly involved in making the payments, have also been granted immunity in the investigation. One of the executives is AMI's chief executive David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend.
Washington: US Senator John McCain, from Arizona, will no longer be treated for brain cancer, his family announced on Saturday, a sign that the Republican war hero is most likely entering his final days.

"Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict," the family said in a statement.

"With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."
Augusta: A former US government contractor has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for mailing a classified report to a news organisation.

Prosecutors are calling that the longest sentence ever handed down for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

Reality Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information.

Reality Winner pleaded guilty. Credit:Augusta Chronicle/AP

The former Air Force translator had worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency's office in Augusta, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose. Winner told the FBI she mailed it to an online news outlet.
New York: From his earliest days, David Neiwert knew first-hand about the extensive reach of the American far right. "This is the water I was swimming in," the journalist and author says of his childhood in a rural, predominantly Mormon, town in southern Idaho.

Some members of his family were members of the John Birch Society, an ultra-conservative anti-communist group that believed socialists were infiltrating the US federal government.

Neiwert began his career as a reporter at a newspaper in northern Idaho, just a short drive from the headquarters of a new neo-Nazi group named the Aryan Nations. The group's emergence posed a problem for the paper's staff, who had to decide how much coverage to give to a movement whose views they found repugnant and dangerous. To avoid amplifying their ideas, the paper gave them minimal attention.

The Aryan Nations grew regardless and in the mid-1980s a splinter group, known as The Order, committed million-dollar robberies and killed a Jewish radio host.
My Dealership is Local: Auto Dealers Give Back to the Towns that Support Them

MORE: Local Auto Dealers Support Community; News Archive

By Sheryll Poe, NADA Contributor

Manhattan, Kansasnicknamed by the local chamber of commerce as the Little Applemay not be as glitzy or well-known as its New York counterpart. With a population of only 60,000, the Kansas Manhattan is minuscule in comparison to the 1.6 million crowding the streets of the Big Apple.

However, Manhattan, Kansas is the proud home of Kansas State University; Kansas largest music festival, the annual Country Stampede Music Festival; a 24-foot tall statue of Johnny Kaw, the pioneer of Kansas wheat; and Little Apple Cars auto dealership.

Little Apples owner Tom Holcombe knew that Manhattan, Kansas was a great community when he first visited in 1996 to look at a Toyota/Honda automotive dealership that was for sale.

Despite the fact that the dealership was, as Holcombe puts it, in pretty bad shape and it didnt have a very good reputation, and Kansas was a good deal colder than Texarkana, Texas where Holcombe, his wife and two young daughters lived, he said he had a good feeling about the town itself. I was driving around the town at 10 at night and I noticed that there were ladies out jogging by themselves. I thought, Oh my goodness. Either theyre really brave or this is a very safe town, Holcombe said. I went back to Texas, got my wife. We looked at the town and the schools and we thought, What a wonderful place to raise our girls. And thats exactly what its been.

Pillars of Their Communities

Local dealerships like Little Apple Cars are indispensable anchors of communities across the United States. While economic development boards and local governments are working overtime to attract major corporations to their cities and counties, local dealerships like Little Apple Cars are creating good paying jobs with opportunities for advancement, contributing vast amounts of taxes to state and local coffers, and supporting local groups, charities and hospital boards.

In every community in the United States, car dealers give back more than any other industry or profession, Holcombe said. Its always bothered me that car dealers have a bad reputation, so we go overboard. Ive yet to meet another dealer who is anything but civic minded, honest, and good people who do the right thing and give back.

A Job Creating Engine

There are more than 8,000 dealership companies operating nearly 18,000 dealerships across the country. More than half of those companies own only one store. Another 2,000 own only two stores. So when totaling up the economic impact created by auto dealerships, the numbers are particularly staggering: more than 1.1 million direct jobs, an additional 1.18 million jobs in industries that service and do business with auto retailers.

Little Apple in Manhattan has 61 employees, including some who have been with the dealership before Holcombe bought it 22 years ago. All told, Manhattan has five new-car dealerships, Junction City, which is 20 miles southwest, has three dealerships. Other smaller towns like Wamego, 15 miles west of Manhattan, might have single point dealerships, Holcombe said. Every community of any size usually has four or five different dealerships, Holcombe said. Theyre a huge economic benefit to any community in terms of employment and giving back.

In return, loyal customers like Jen FitzGerald feel a strong sense of connection to their local dealerships, which keeps FitzGerald coming back. Its close to home, its been here for like, 80 years. Im hoping it will be here for another 80 years, FitzGerald said about her local dealership in her MyDealership.org video. I see people I know in the community. Im only a couple of miles away and its nice to know I can just come down the street. If you patronize a local business, a smaller business, someone whos been around a long time, you feel like you are making a difference.

Building Up the Tax Base

Auto dealerships provide unprecedented support to state and federal governments in the form of taxes and fees collected from sales, employees, drivers, and the auto companies themselves. In fact, 15 percent of all state and local tax revenue comes from dealerships. In 2015, new-car dealers contributed $20.3 billion in state and federal income taxes. We pay an enormous amount of property tax. Then theres the sales tax on a vehicle. The amount we send annually to the state is huge. Youve got a sales tax of 8.45 percent on a $20-30-40,000 vehicle. It gets to be a big number, Holcombe said.

For Jodie Tueton, chairman of the American Truck Dealers and vice president of Kenilworth of Louisiana, contributing to the community is just part of the family business. Were a relatively large employer in this community, Tueton said in her MyDealership.org video. We offer high-paying jobs the average job here pays well in excess of $50,000 a year. I looked at some sales tax records and it looks like since the beginning of 2006, we remitted about $3.5 million in tax to both state and local government. What dealerships bring to the local and state economy is crucial.

Honoring Teachers, Helping Military Families

What dealerships bring to their communities in terms of civic engagement and generating good will is also crucial. For example, Holcombe is involved in a variety of community activities, including serving as president of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, serving on the KSU Foundation, and sitting on the board at Mercy Regional Hospital for 10 years. But his proudest civic achievement is his annual Little Apple Teacher Appreciation Day.

Holcombe started his teacher appreciation program 10 years ago, to honor my mother and the work she did. Also, because teachers are the future of our country because they teach the future of our country and theyre not recognized enough and they certainly arent paid enough, Holcombe said. He holds a drawing at both his Manhattan dealership and his Capital City Nissan dealership in Topeka to give away a car to two deserving area teachers.

In early May during National Teacher Appreciation Week, Holcombe and his team empties the lot, clears out the showrooms and invites teachers and students in to enjoy cookies and soft drinks before the big drawing. Holcombe covers the cost of the car, and pays for the license, registration and tax. All they do is drive off. Over the last 10 years, he estimates hes given away 19 vehicles to the tune of around $500,000. Weve missed a couple of years, due to construction or a tornado, Holcombe said. Weve only had one teacher just turn around and trade it in.

Another big part of the Manhattan community is nearby Fort Riley, home of the Armys 1st Infantry Division, aka: the Big Red One. Five of Little Apples current sales employees are Army veteransincluding a former sergeant majorand the staff at Little Apple are hands on in supporting the military families of soldiers who have been deployed. In addition to financial support to pay for education, food or housing needs, many on Little Apples staffparticularly the veterans donate their time and expertise. They go out there and visit with and help, counsel the family on any issues with their vehicles, check on their vehicles and make sure theyre in good shape, Holcombe said. Theyll tell us about any car repairs they need, or sets of tires. whatever issue theyre having.

Good neighbors are just good business, Holcombe said. You do it to try to help your community. You do it primarily because its of interest to you and helps a group of people, and thereby helps the community. The stronger your community, the better off everyone is and the better our business is.
Investigators believe the Jeep was involved in a fatal shooting in the 3100 block of West Arthington Street. Shortly after 5 p.m., Keyontae Chatman, 20, was standing next to a car when someone got out of another vehicle and fired, hitting him several times. He was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 5:34 p.m.
Jacket by Versace, at 647 Fifth Ave. T-shirt by Hanes x Karla, at xkarla.com. Jeans by Jesse Kamm, at jessekamm.world. Photo: ryan pfluger

Everyone gets dressed in the morning, but few people make it look as easy as Justin Bieber. His shoes do not lace; they slide. His baggy bottoms seem to have a pact with gravity (unless belted with a shoestring), and his T-shirts hang at varying lengths of extra-long.

This summer, GQ admiringly declared that Bieber doesnt seem to give one single solitary fuck when it comes to getting dressed, while Vanity Fair concluded that he appeared to try even less hard than his sartorially haphazard contemporaries Jonah Hill and Pete Davidson. It may look like Bieber tripped and fell into his designer clothes, but in fact one woman works very hard to orchestrate this effortlessness. Her name is Karla Welch.

Okay  the hotel slippers Bieber wore on the streets of New York this summer were improvised, but a large percentage of his wardrobe is supplied by Welch and her team  as it has been for the past six years, including for his tours, music videos, and red-carpet appearances. (Yes, Welch will have a hand in Bieber and Hailey Baldwins wedding  whenever that happens  but thats all shell say on the matter.)

What I love about him is that he loves [clothes], Welch says of Bieber, but he isnt thinking about the look after he walks out the door. Hes fearless.

Karla Welchs Best Wrong Right Looks: From left,From left, Tracee Ellis Ross in Michael Kors, Olivia Wilde in Gucci, and Justin Bieber in Fear of God. Photo: Getty Images

Bieber credits Welch for helping him put together authentic outfits. She knows my taste so well and is always introducing me to new brands and styles, he told us in a characteristically effortless email. She is very collaborative.

And then some. When Bieber wanted extra-long T-shirts, Welch had a tailor extend their length by hand  eventually inspiring her collaboration with Hanes. Last summer, an armored car showed up at Welchs studio carrying (almost) the entire Louis Vuitton x Supreme collection, which shed ordered on Biebers behalf. And as for the shoestring belt he recently wore to hold up his $1,540 Vetements pants in DJ Khaleds No Brainer video: That was her doing, too. By the time I arrived at her Hollywood-based studio in July, I didnt need to ask whom the Hawaiian-print shirts piled by her desk were for.

Biebers everyday looks may be the source of public fascination, but hes an exception for Welch. She is emphatically not a real-life stylist. Her 20-plus clients include red-carpet heavy hitters like Tracee Ellis Ross, Sarah Paulson, Amy Poehler, Olivia Wilde, Elisabeth Moss, Ruth Negga, and the musical artist Lorde. A lot of my girls will be like, Should I buy this? and Ill be like, Yeah! But a walk to the coffee shop is not what Im going to do, Welch says.

Instead, she focuses on the moments, to use fashionspeak, that shape the public narrative of a celebrity.

In 2014, Welch says she broke the mold by putting a very pregnant Wilde in a very tight, emerald-green sequined Gucci gown: We got a pregnant woman on the Best Dressed list! Two years later, she helped elevate Negga  a relative unknown at the time  into someone the New York Times called a fashion darling of awards season with a custom Louis Vuitton dress that resembled armor and took 120 hours to make. (Negga is also now one of the faces of Vuitton.) With Bieber, she inspired a new wave of high-fashion merch when she put him in a $1,500 Fear of God Nirvana T-shirt at the 2015 American Music Awards and collaborated on the Metallica-themed Purpose-tour wardrobe.

Karla makes me look like my best self, says Ross, who, with Welchs assistance, has reached something close to icon status (although her vast dad sneaker collection is her own doing). Its not about whats in, whats cool, or whats expected. She makes my childhood fashion dreams come to life. We are never going for a style, we are going for a feeling. Im always asking, What story do I want to tell?, and Karla helps to make it happen.

At the Met Gala, for example, Ross appeared to have ignored the events Catholic theme, wearing a hot-pink Michael Kors gown that made her look like a Day-Glo Jackie O. But Welch explained the thought behind the look on Instagram: On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Cardinals wear pink to prepare for the Coming Joy! (The Coming Joy being Jesuss birth.) Ross didnt land on Vogues Best Dressed list, but no matter: She looked like no one else. I want to be on both: best and worst, Welch says of the red-carpet rankings. I want people to feel something.

From left, Lorde (with Karla) in Monique Lhuillier, Sarah Paulson in Prada, and Ruth Negga in Louis Vuitton. Photo: Getty Images

Welch, who is 43, has always been in the recommendation business, first as a maitre d at a restaurant in her native Canada, then as a sommelier in her early 20s. Growing up, she worked in her fathers menswear haberdashery, dusting the shelves and eventually helping on the buying side. When she realized her passion wasnt in food, fashion was a natural next step. Her big break came in 2006, when Brooke Wall, founder of the Wall Group  a top talent agency  followed her around at Barneys in Los Angeles as she pulled clothes for a client one day. Wall signed her on the spot.

On the day we met, in Los Angeles, Welch was wearing basically the same thing Wall first spotted her in: a cropped T-shirt from her own Hanes x Karla collection, high-waisted flare jeans (she also has a Levis collaboration), and Birkenstock sandals designed by Rick Owens. A self-described Celine woman of the Phoebe Philo era, she has the casualness of Bieber but the refinement of a woman you could spend your life trying to emulate. Her Hanes crop top was within my grasp, though, and after putting one on back home in New York, I viscerally understood the ineffable rightness of Welchs aesthetic. The humble shirt has boxy, masculine sleeves and a high collar but ends half an inch above where my unbecomingly tall pants begin, revealing the tiniest bit of flesh. Perfection in a crop top sounds silly, but there it was. I wore it to the office, which was a risk, but I felt completely at ease, like all my sartorial puzzles had been solved.

Welchs studio is filled with racks and racks of clothing with her clients names on them  none of which will stay longer than a few weeks at a time. The remaining floor space is dedicated to every shape, size, and style of shoe you can imagine, with clutches piled on shelves and hats hanging from the rafters. (Bieber has his own corner by the front door dedicated to Adidas and Vans sneakers.) Before someone arrives for a fitting, Welch does several rounds of edits, usually presenting a racks worth of options. If you expect more, you might want to start looking for another stylist. When [my clients] walk in that door, I already know what I want them to wear, Welch tells me. I dont second-guess myself.

And her clients dont either. Even when Im scared and feel slightly unsure about a particular choice, I always defer to her, Paulson says. And I have never regretted it. Not once.

When Paulson was nominated for two Emmys in 2016, she remembers getting a text message from Welch that read: Where are you right now? I will have your dress in my hands in two hours. I need you to try it on immediately. Its the one. So Paulson got in her car and drove to Welchs studio, where she was presented with a sparkly green Prada confection. When I put it on, we looked at each other and smiled so broadly. And then we both just started crying, Paulson says. It was really moving to me. Our joy was interchangeable.

Part of Welchs job is chasing down the looks she wants, which means keeping up with emerging brands on Instagram, as well as cultivating personal relationships with major fashion designers like Valentinos Pierpaolo Piccioli  something she describes as one of the best parts of the job. This helps her score the gowns every big-name stylist is fighting for and get a newcomer like Negga in brands like Marc Jacobs before shes earned any red-carpet cred. She says she emailed Prada every single day until she got her hands on a slime-green plastic-fringe dress from the fall 2018 collection: I need that dress. It has to be mine. Come onnnnnnnnnn! Paulson wore it to the premiere of Oceans 8.

Welch is a meticulous planner, but her instincts are perhaps most apparent in a pinch. For example, one night in April, she received a text message from the actress Busy Philipps saying that a turquoise bolo tie, which was supposed to go with her hot-pink shirt and blazer, was missing from a trunk Welchs team had sent. I could have easily said, Oh, your look is fine without a bolo tie,  Welch says. But I wanted that fucking bolo tie. So she tracked one down, and it was worth it. Publications like Us Weekly immediately commented on Philippss red-carpet accessory, spurring a mini-trend.

Welch, who last year was ranked No. 1 on The Hollywood Reporters annual power-stylist list, cant articulate exactly how she makes the choices she does. All shell say is that she strives for the nonobvious. Not that theres anything wrong with the traditionally sexy or pretty crowd-pleaser, she hastens to add, but she wants the pink Valentino dress with scalloped edges that transformed Paulson into an elegantly layered cake, or the Chanel disco-ball dress with feather trim that Ross wore to the Emmys last year.

Shell pair suits with sneakers; leather jackets with evening dresses; and crop tops with sequined pants. She loves big sleeves and high necks, with collars buttoned all the way up. The right choice is often the wrong one.

According to THR, the key ingredients for a successful stylist are taste, star power  social-media impact, and relevance in the awards-season conversation. But these things are what Bieber would call no-brainers. What distinguishes Welch is her ability to dress women with personality (and Bieber) in clothes that serve them, as opposed to the other way around. Theyre the most beautiful weirdos in the room. Which makes them, oddly enough, more objects of aspiration than the celebrities who sashay down the red carpet in princess dresses that you forget about the next day.

One reason she attracts such an all-star cast of bold, confident clients may be that Welch herself stands for something  unlike many of her more buttoned-up stylist peers. Welchs Instagram bio reads The Resistance, and in addition to using her feed to promote her clients, she has raised awareness about migrant children recently separated from their families, shared quotes by James Baldwin, and posted instructions on how to call your senator. Her Levis collaboration benefited Everytown for Gun Safety, and she was also an outspoken supporter of Times Up; she applauded her clients decision to wear black to the Golden Globes last year and donated her usual fee to the group.

Im not just going to post shoes, Welch says, before switching from her Canadian niceness to a southern sort of brashness, possibly picked up from years styling a Nashville-based band. Youre damn straight Im going to say what I believe in. If that has consequences, I think the consequences of being quiet are way bigger.

Throughout our day together, Welch would pause to text Ross back about the latest political fiasco to cross her newsfeed. We try stuff on, giggle, play in the clothes, and then we text a lot  like, a lot, Ross says. We are both die-hard feminists who die for fashion. Neither one of us is afraid to go there.

Perhaps, more than slide sandals, thats the secret to dressing without effort: First you have to live without fear.

*This article appears in the August 20, 2018, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!
Its been hard to wake up every day and put clothes on to go outside, appear to be like youve got everything in control, Cowley said. And in a situation like this, you dont know this thing can happen until youre in it. It looks like, you know, youre havin a good time, but you carry with you the loss of your child everywhere you go, in everything that you do.
Rupaul's Drag Race queen Alyssa Edwards is taking stage in a new show coming to Netflix called "Dancing Queen".

Netflix describe the new show as a hilarious docu-series in the dancing, prancing world of the multi-talented, multi-layered Justin Johnson - aka Drag Superstar Alyssa Edwards - as he juggles his dance life, drag life, family life, and love life.

Check out the trailer for the show below:
2 Dead in Tanker-Truck Fire, Explosion on Major LA Freeway

A vehicle fire on the 105 Freeway in Los Angeles forced the closure of all lanes, snarling traffic for miles, according to reports.

The Orange County Register reported that two people died after a tanker truck crashed a fiery accident. The incident took place after 5 a.m. local time.

Capt. Doug Young of the California Highway Patrol said that the tanker hit a center divider and overturned, with one of the tanks exploding into flames, the Register reported. The SUV was involved in the crash.

The tanker-truck driver applied the brakes to avoid hitting the SUV and jackknifed, according to Uber driver Hisaki Shimizu, who was a witness, the Register reported. Gasoline then started flowing like a river from one of the tanks, he stated.

Shimizu said he drove through the gasoline, and a few minutes later, a fire erupted. He tried to motion other drivers to steer clear of the accident.

Since both lanes were closed in both directions, some drivers started turning around and drove the wrong way to find an exit, witnesses told the Los Angles Times.

The eastbound lanes of the 105 Freeway were opened at 8 a.m., but the westbound lanes remained closed, according to the California Highway Patrol in the LA Times report.

According to ABC7, a food truck operated by AC Catering got stuck on the freeway and began feeding drivers at half price. An unnamed catering employee confirmed the details to ABC7.

We saw other people walking down with sandwiches and we were like, Where are we going? Lets go get it. So we just walked up here, and theres a lot of great people and were all hanging out and talking and trying to get through it, said Michael Ullrich, a driver.

Both drivers were killed and coroners officials will determine if anyone else was in the vehicles.

County Fire Department Inspector Joey Marron said that fuel is being carefully removed from a trailer tank that overturned but did not burn.

Officials said in a press conference the condition of the pavement on the westbound side still needs to be assessed. The cause of the collision remains under investigation.

Massive Fire

The fire took down some wires along the Metro Rail Green Line, forcing the closure of the station at the Green Line, the Register reported.

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Jose Ubaldo, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said a bus was sent out to pick up Green Line passengers at the Hawthorne/Lennox, Crenshaw and Vermont/Athens stations. Theyre going to experience delays, but were trying to accommodate people as much as possible, he told the LA Times.

Commuter Felipe Alvarado said that he was trying to get to the airport, which is located nearby.

We were hoping to get out to get our plane, but it looks like were not going to catch our plane, Alvarado told the ABC station. Its crazy. Were taking our son to college, flying to Boston. Needless to say, we missed his flight, but were on a 2 oclock flight this afternoon, so roll with the punches, another driver said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue speaks to Dairy Farmers at Trinity Valley Dairy in Cortland, New York, U.S., August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

US Farm Assistance Details to Be Disclosed Next Week, Agriculture Secretary Says

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says that details of a planned $12 billion assistance package for American farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs by China and other nations will be disclosed on Aug. 27.

The package is seen as a temporary boost to farmers as the United States and China negotiate trade issues.

Perdue, who previously said the plan would include between $7 billion and $8 billion in direct cash relief for farmers, said it was being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.

During a trip to upstate New York, Purdue said he hoped to have the program, which will provide relief exclusively from tariffs, up and running after Labor Day.

Its not going to make everybody whole. Its not going to make everybody happy, he said on Aug. 23 at a dairy farm in Schodack Landing.

The aid package, first announced in July, was expected to include cash for farmers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, and hogs, and include government purchases of fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk for distribution to food banks and nutrition programs.

Perdue has said it would include some $200 million for a trade promotion program to develop new markets.

The preliminary proposal was for a payment rate of $1.65 per bushel to soybean farmers and 1 cent per bushel for corn farmers, trade publication Agri-Pulse reported this week, citing officials close to the decision-making process. Perdue declined to comment on the report.

Based on the USDAs forecast for a soybean crop of 4.586 billion bushels, that would be worth $7.6 billion in aid for soybeans alone.

China has traditionally bought about 60 percent of U.S. soybeans, but has been out of the market since implementing retaliatory tariffs.

Its not going to seem like its equitable, Perdue said of the aid allocation.

He said soybeans, pork and dairy were the three major commodities affected by the tariffs. Other commodities have posted sharp price declines, but were related to overproduction, he noted.

The two nations escalated their trade war on Aug. 23, implementing punitive 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of each others goods, even as mid-level officials from both sides resumed talks in Washington.
Canada Signs Statement Calling for Religious Freedom in China

Canada joined the United States and other countries to sign a statement raising concerns about the Chinese communist regimes repression of religious groups in China and asking China to protect religious freedom.

The statement was signed by Canada, the United States, the U.K., and Kosovo during the first Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom hosted by the United States in late July.

As representatives of the international community, 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, reads the statement.

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.

The statement notes that the groups consistently report being subjected to torture, arbitrary arrest, detention, and harassment. Both registered and unregistered religious groups report repression for practising their religious beliefs and peaceful practices, the statement reads.

The full text of the statement was released by the U.S. State Department on July 26.

Matt DeCourcey, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, represented Canada at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C., from July 24 to 26.

Plenary sessions at the summit allowed official representatives of international organizations to meet with religious leaders and seek out concrete ways to combat religious persecution.

More than 80 foreign delegations and religious leaders from around the world joined the ministerial.

The signatories called on the Chinese regime to protect religious freedom and respect human rights.
China Announces New Propaganda Chief as Beijing Aims to Improve Its Image Abroad

Xu Lin, a trusted aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, has been named to head the State Council Information Office, a central government press center that acts as the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) headquarters for international propaganda.

Xu had been a subordinate to Xi when the latter was party boss of Shanghai. The appointment is the latest indication that Beijing is overhauling its news propaganda apparatus.

Xu will be replaced as head of Chinas internet censorship agency, the Cyberspace Affairs Administration, by Zhuang Rongwen, who is another of Xis confidantes from their days working in Fujian Province.

The appointments, announced Aug. 21, follow recent state media articles that have included thinly veiled criticisms of the way Chinas news propaganda has operatedand confirm some rumors that Xi was planning to clean up collateral damage from the regimes mishandling of the trade war.

Aggressive Rhetoric

In recent years, the Chinese regime has been using aggressive rhetoric to describe its ambitions, including the production of several films boasting of Chinas economic and military prowess.

In addition, Beijing introduced its Made in China 2025 economic policy, a sweeping plan for China to supplant global competitors in 10 key tech sectorswhich alerted the U.S. administration to the regimes motives. In imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, the administration has pointed to the policy as evidence of Beijings plan to steal intellectual property to advance its national goals.

In June, Beijing ordered state media to tone down mentions of the policy; senior officials think it was a mistake for leadership to have pushed the plan so forcefully and publicly because it increased pressure on China, diplomatic sources told Reuters.



Then, for weeks, Xis name failed to appear on the front page of the partys official newspaper, Peoples Daily, even as online criticisms of Xi and Chinas economic policies circulated widely.

Rumors began circulating that an opposition faction in the CCP was displeased with Xi leadership, and that Wang Huning, a key political strategist believed to be the mastermind behind many of Beijings political campaigns, would face punishment as a result.

Change of Plans

The CCPs dissatisfaction with propaganda surrounding the trade war and economic policies was displayed in recent state media articles.

This week, Peoples Daily published a series of articles about how to promote propaganda thought work, criticizing the air of grandiosity in Chinas propaganda.

On Aug. 21, the state-run Xinhua news agency published an article titled, News and public opinion in the eyes of Xi Jinping, which emphasized the importance of state media and propaganda to grasp the political direction and abide by principles that persist in the Partys spirit.

Propaganda personnel changes, along with the recent articles about how to properly do propaganda work, is evidence that the leadership was not pleased at the way Wang Huning did [propaganda] work, an anonymous scholar familiar with Beijings political circles told Radio Free Asia in an interview.

The appointments signal a change in how the CCP would want to present itself, Patricia M. Thornton, a China expert at the University of Oxford, told the South China Morning Post.

There seems to be a general concern the self-congratulatory and hyper-nationalistic rhetoric featured in some corners of Chinas mediasphere has resulted in blowback in the form of recent trade sanctions, she told the Hong Kong newspaper.
Chinese Woman Dies 3 Years After Being Injected With Unknown Drugs: Report

A Chinese prisoner of conscience died after being injected with unknown drugs at the hands of Chinese regime authorities.

Yang Fenglian was arrested in 2011 for refusing to stop practicing Falun Gong, a type of Chinese meditation practice that has been severely persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a traditional body-mind-spirit practice that was made public in 1992 and became widely practiced across China in the 1990s. It is grounded in ancient Chinese philosophies to uphold the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

Yang went on a hunger strike to protest her wrongful imprisonment, and she was injected with unknown drugs by CPP officials, according to Minghui.org, a website dedicated to publishing information about Falun Gong, in a report on Aug. 16.

When her son arrived at the local detention center, he was heartbroken to see her left lying on the ground and unattended. He called a taxi to drive her to Jixi Coalmine Hospital, which declined to take her due to her critical condition, the report stated.

When he was able to get her to Jixi Weixiao Hospital, she was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. After she showed signs of improvement, the report stated, she was taken to a mental hospital.

As soon as Ms. Yang was brought to the mental hospital, she was tied up to a bed. Her husband checked her out of the hospital two days later, as she didnt have any history of mental problems. By then, Ms. Yangs family had spent more than 20,000 yuan in total on her treatments. They didnt try a new hospital afterwards because they had run out of money, Minghui reported.

Yang had trouble keeping food or water down. The injection site kept festering and oozing out fluid. She lived the last three years of her life in extreme pain, Minghui said. She died three years after she was arrested.

Forced Organ Harvesting

In a recent interview with Epoch Times, University of Manitoba associate professor Dr. Maria Cheung, a researcher who published Cold Genocide: Falun Gong in China via Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal, said the Chinese Communist Partys campaign against Falun Gong could be considered a genocide.

For the Falun Gong case, it is not only the physical. The physical cannot be separated from the psychological aspect, the mental aspect, and the social aspect, she said.

Dr. Glynn Gilcrease III, a medical oncologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said that forced organ harvesting is the state-sanctioned practice of removing organs from non-consenting prisoners of conscience, noting that Falun Gong is the main target. This is only done in China, Gilchrist said, according to The Epoch Times.

Last year, human rights organization Freedom House released an exhaustive report on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

The group called the degree of persecution as very high, but it noted that the CCPs attempts to eradicate the spiritual group have failed, and millions of people continue to practice Falun Gong in Chinamostly in secret.

Former CCP dictator Jiang Zemin ordered Chinese security forces to eradicate Falun Gong, and practitioners were harassed and fired from their jobs, sent to slave labor camps, and were tortured in attempts to get them to renounce their practice. Even women in the 60s, 70s, or even in their 80s arent spared from the abuse.
Convicted Felon Tries To Take Deputys Gun, Is Arrested

(Warning: Video may be disturbing for some)

A convicted felon was successfully subdued by deputies in Raleigh County, West Virginia, during a drug raid on Aug. 16. The man allegedly tried to take a deputys weapon after resisting arrest.

He put up quite a fight, Raleigh County Sheriffs Office Captain Jim Bare said, according to the website Blue Lives Matter on Aug. 24.

The incident took place at 7:50 a.m. local time when Raleigh County Sheriffs Office deputies attempted to execute a search warrant at a home in Crab Orchard.

Deputies used a battering ram to force their way into a residence before going to the homes basement. There, they spotted two people hiding under blankets.

One of the suspects became combative after they refused to show their hands, officials said. Deputies first attempted to force his hands behind his back, but were unsuccessful due to his strength and willingness to fight, Sergeant G. Kade said in a police report.

Hes trying to grab my gun! Sergeant R. White said in an arrest report. Another deputy began applying pain compliant strikes to the suspect and seemed to have no effect, the report read.

The deputies were able to subdue the man by holding his head and upper body while another controlled his legs.

According to Blue Lives Matter, no officers were harmed during the incident.

It was later found in this investigation that the male subject involved was David Bruce Gillespie due to the Live Scan machine sending us an alert [with his true identity], an arrest report read. This is a shame, because all of this could have been avoided if you would have just complied with us and told the truth, one of the officials told him

Man, I knew I was wanted and didnt want to go to jail, Gillespie said in the report.

In a now-viral incident (which can be seen below), a Florida man was seen trying to grab a police Taser after an accident before officers opened fire, hitting him in the legs. The suspect, who had just survived a minivan crash, was identified as Jahmal Parker, 29, according to WFLA. Parker allegedly rear-ended another vehicle in the incident. Video footage of the altercation was released in early August.

They approached the driver of the vehicle and, still being uncooperative, the driver reached for the officers electronic control device, also known as a Taser, Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Carlos Rosario told WFLA on Aug. 9. [Parker] removed the Taser from the officers person and pointed it at the officer, said Rosario.

WARNING: Viewers may find the following footage disturbing

Most Dangerous Part of Being an Officer

The National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund (pdf) said that traffic stops are notoriously dangerous for police officers in the United States. The leading causes for officers being shot and killed in 2017 was when they were responding to domestic disturbances and conducting traffic stops, its annual report said.

The leading circumstances of firearms-related fatalities were officers responding to domestic disturbances and conducting traffic stops, the memorial fund stated.

According to the most recent figures published by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, A greater percentage of male drivers (12 percent) than female drivers (8 percent) were stopped by police during 2011. It adds: In 2011, about 3 percent of traffic stops led to a search of the driver, the vehicle, or both. Police were more likely to search male drivers (4 percent) than female drivers (2 percent).
A man looks at a phone during the third annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen town of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, China on Nov. 17, 2016. (Reuters/Aly Song)

Data Dump: China Sees Surge in Personal Information up for Sale

When William Zhangs car insurance was about to expire in March, he didnt need to look far for renewal options. In the two months before the policy was up Zhang received calls almost daily from insurers trying to sell him a new one.

Since his initial policy was from Ping An Insurance Group it was natural the company had been in touch.

What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew about it, said Zhang, a 26-year-old government employee from Shandong. Three other car owners told Reuters that they had experienced the same problem.

Personal data has become widely available in China and can be scooped up for pennies by insurance companies, banks, loan sharks, and scammers alike, according to sellers and financiers interviewed by Reuters.

In May, China introduced its most comprehensive data protection laws to date, tightening restrictions on the sharing of private data held by financial institutions and other firms.

Personal information leaks are risky, said Susan Ning, a partner at the law firm King & Wood Mallesons in Beijing. Such information can facilitate other crimes, she added.

Data Trade

Insurers often buy numbers from shadowy online data sellers, who themselves have acquired the information illegally, according to people in the industry.

Some companies illegally buy information from the department of motor vehicles, car licensing authorities, car sellers, or from police stations, said Michelle Hu, a partner at Boston Consulting Group who has been a consultant on insurance deals.

By entering keywords like personal data or cellphone data, in Chinese, Reuters found more than 30 groups created for the purpose of selling and buying personal information on Tencents instant messaging service QQ and Baidu Incs forum site Tieba.

Baidu declined to comment. In a statement emailed to Reuters, Tencent said it was committed to the protection of user privacy and maintaining data security.

Information sellers post ads in the online groups and negotiate with buyers through private messages on QQ or WeChat.

Five sellers offered to sell Reuters lists from financial institutions of people who need loans, people who need insurance, and Shanghainese men aged between 30 to 50.

The price of such information varied among sellers, ranging from 300 yuan ($43.64) to 2,800 yuan for 100,000 people.

A sample list included individuals birth dates, car and home ownership status, and mortgage information, in addition to names and telephone numbers.

Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the information.

Three loan agents who sell mortgages for three leading Chinese lenders said customer information was often sold by bank employees.

Some internet companies also provide access to sensitive personal information for a fee, according to Reuters communications with two such platforms.

Duoku Technology, a Wuhan-based firm, for example, operates a personal information search platform.

For 5 yuan, Duoku returns the ID picture of any Chinese citizen whose name and ID number are provided. For 3 yuan, the site returns data about a persons cell phone usage.

Reuters verified that both services worked. The person whose ID picture was requested did not know how the services obtained his photo or telephone bills.

When asked where Duoku collected or purchased the information, a spokeswoman at Duoku Technology who identified herself as Ms. Li, said much of the data was bought from online merchants and sold to banks and insurance companies.

Financial institutions use our service for risk management purposes only, she said.

Hours after Reuters first published the story Duoku Technology emailed to say their website has removed the products set out above and in future will not be selling to individuals.

Law and Order

Data privacy has also become a major issue around the world, with companies like Facebook criticized for harvesting and selling users personal data without their explicit consent. Online scammers are also common in other countries.

In China, a proliferation of online financial platforms and users has led to a surge in the sharing of personal data, despite legislative efforts to protect consumers in recent years, experts say.

Under current laws, personal information sellers can face up to seven years in prison and a fine, while buying personal data can be punished by fines and up to three years in prison. Corporations are subject to similar legal punishments.

Despite such censure, around 90 percent of phone scams stem from personal information breaches, according to a Union Pay report in May.

Central to this problem is the high economic benefits associated with personal information trade and the low costs of violating relevant laws, said Ning.

For some individuals with authorization, others personal information is just a few clicks away.

Other reasons behind personal data breaches include a lack of security measures on some websites, and ambiguous terms in certain contracts regarding the use of personal information, said Ning.

China has a large population and data privacy cases cover a broad range, so it can be quite difficult to investigate, Ning said.

New guidelines for companies on handling personal data were issued by regulators in May that included the hiring of compliance officers and getting explicit consent from consumers when collecting personal information.

The European Unions new rules on privacy protection  the General Data Protection Regulation  took effect the same month.

The EU regulations  which will impact Chinese firms whose products or services are sold in the European Union  appears to be more restrictive than the Chinese ones. The Chinese guidelines allow for silent or implied consent, for example, whereas the European rules do not.

By Engen Tham
Former Caseworker Sentenced for Stealing U.S. Funds Intended for Homeless Vets

A former caseworker at an East Bay nonprofit organization has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to one year in prison for stealing $26,300 in federal funds intended to aid homeless veterans with short-term housing.

William Andrews, 50, of Windsor, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco on Aug. 21. Donato also ordered him to pay the government $26,300 in restitution.

Andrews pleaded guilty before Donato on April 25 to one count of theft of U.S. government property and acknowledged stealing a total of $26,300 in 2016.

Andrews formerly worked with the Oakland-based East Bay Community Recovery Project, which provides substance abuse treatment and services. Its services included helping homeless veterans obtain grants from the U.S.Department of Veteran Affairs for short-term rental housing.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing document that Andrews used stolen identities of homeless veterans to funnel grants in their names to his own landlord to pay his own rent.

According to the prosecution document, Andrews used the identities of two veterans for a period of months. The nonprofit group discovered the fraud during an audit when Andrews tried to use the identity of a third homeless veteran.

As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped a second charge of aggravated identity theft, which would have carried a mandatory two-year sentence upon conviction.

Andrews is due to begin serving his sentence on Nov. 16.

By Julia Cheever
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells speaks at an event in London, England on April 17, 2018 (John Phillips/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Former Minister Say Leadership Failed to Back Her Concerns Over Chinas Relations With Pacific

Former International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has called out the Liberal party leadership for failing to support her after she criticised Chinas aid program in the Pacific.

Fierravanti-Wells resigned from the frontbench after supporting former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in the leadership spill on Aug. 21, saying the prime minister had eroded the voice of the partys conservative base.

The senator also said she was dismayed at how she was treated after making comments on Chinas activities in the Pacific earlier this year.

I was disappointed that my frank and forthright comments regarding China were criticised. I am pleased that subsequent events and media scrutiny have fully vindicated me raising these concerns, she wrote in her resignation letter of Aug. 21.

In January, the senator said that China was constructing useless buildings in the Pacific, strapping Pacific countries with unsustainable debt burdens.

We just dont want to build a road that doesnt go anywhere, Fierravanti-Wells told the ABC.

We want to ensure that the infrastructure that you do build is actually productive and is actually going to give some economic benefit or some sort of health benefit.

According to the ABC, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the time neither supported nor criticised the comments.

Fierravanti-Wells told the ABC on Aug. 22 she would have liked more support from her colleagues.

That [I had been hung out to dry] was certainly the perception, and that was certainly my view. And that was the perception of some of my colleagues as well, she said.

Vindication

While some Pacific leaders hit back at the senators comments, she said others had contacted her to offer encouragement.

She said Tongas recent abortive attempt to have Pacific Island countries collectively lobby the Chinese regime to forgive their debts proved she was right to voice the concerns.

When you do see some countries in the Pacific with debt-to-GDP ratios of 50 to 60 percent, these are of concern, she told ABC.

The reality is that subsequent events have vindicated my position and the concerns I raised.

My comments stimulated an international debate, it stimulated a debate in the Pacific  and a growing awareness of the impact of debt.

Fierravanti-Wells noted that since the issue gained traction, Bishop has also adopted a stronger stance.

I am pleased that, eventually, the language I used has also been the language that ultimately the foreign minister also used.

High Debt Burdens in the Pacific

A recent Reuters analysis of the financial books of South Pacific island nations showed Chinas lending programs had gone from almost zero to more than $1.3 billion outstanding in a decade.

The documents show China is now the regions biggest bilateral lender, although Australias significant aid programs mean it remains the largest financial backer in the South Pacific.

The debt burden of small economies with little earning power has stoked fears the region could fall into financial distress and become more susceptible to diplomatic pressure from China.

Chinese loans account for more than 60 percent of Tongas total external debt burden, and almost half the external debt of Vanuatu. In dollar figures, Papua New Guinea has the biggest debt to China, at almost $590 million, representing about one-quarter of its total external debt.

Given the vulnerabilities of their economies, given the very few sources of revenues they have, they tend to be in many cases at high risk of debt distress, World Bank director for the Pacific, Michel Kerf, told Reuters in July in a phone interview.

Their debt is reaching the limit of what would be considered sustainable.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD.tv
Former Youth Pastor Sentenced to 15 Years for Taping Minors

A 40-year-old Oregon man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for covertly recording underage church members undressing in his home, while he was employed as a youth pastor.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the verdict against Donald Courtney Biggs on Aug. 23. It comes not long after a grand jury report released this month accused more than 300 predator priests across Pennsylvania of sexual abuseand the Roman Catholic Church for its decades-long cover-up of the alleged activity.

Biggs first came under investigation in December 2014 after he allegedly sent inappropriate text messages to an underage girl who he worked with at the Mountain Christian Fellowship. According to court documents, authorities found he had exchanged similar text messages with other minors.

Following the discovery, Biggs confessed to church administrators that he also videotaped an adult changing at his house. Police then obtained a warrant to search his home.

During the search, officers found numerous electronic devices that contained video footage of both minors and adults undressing and entering a shower in Biggs Jacksonville, Oregon, home where he hosted youth events. He hid a video camera behind a light switch at his home and also concealed video cameras in bathrooms at other church retreats.

The former pastor later admitted to the secret recordings and also admitted to purposefully designing activities to require youth group members to change clothes or shower.

Biggs was first charged on Nov. 2 last year with nine counts of using or attempting to use a minor to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and three counts of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with a minor for illicit acts involving nine different minor victims.

In February last year, he pleaded guilty to a single count of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with a minor. Biggs will be on supervised release for life.
Funeral Date for Mollie Tibbetts Announced in Obituary

The funeral for Mollie Tibbetts is set for Aug. 26.

Tibbetts, 20, was found dead this week after a weeks-long search was launched when she vanished on July 18, while jogging just outside her hometown of Brooklyn.

Investigators were led to a remote cornfield where her body was placed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico who has been charged with murdering her. Investigators said Mollie Tibbetts cause of death was sharp force injuries.

According to an obituary for Tibbetts, the funeral will be held at 2 p.m. in the gymnasium of the BGM High School in Brooklyn.

The family will receive friends following the service for a reception and continued fellowship, the obituary stated.

The Tibbetts family asked people to contribute to a memorial fund in Mollies name, dedicated to the University of Iowa Stead Family Childrens Hospital.

Request for Photos

After law enforcement officials found her body, her mother Laura Calderwood posted a request on her Facebook page for pictures of her daughter.

Lauras computer crashed and she has lost so many photos of Mollie, the post read, reported the Des Moines Register.

We are asking that you dig deep into your phones and photo albums and share your pictures of you and Mollie Tibbetts so we can put together a video for her memorial.

The family issued a statement after the body was found, saying: Our hearts are broken.

On behalf of Mollies entire family, we thank all of those from around the world who have sent their thoughts and prayers for our girl. We know that many of you will join us as we continue to carry Mollie in our hearts forever, the family said.

At this time, our family asks that we be allowed the time to process our devastating loss and share our grief in private. Again, thank you for the outpouring of love and support that has been shared in Mollies name. We remain forever grateful.

All-American Girl

Many of the law enforcement officials searching for Tibbetts knew the family personally due to the small size of the community.

Poweshiek County Sheriff Thomas Kriegel said he grew up with Mollies mother and watched her and her brothers grow up.

I hate that Mollies family is going through this, and I hate that the community has to go through this, he told The Gazette. Its terrible for the family and terrible for everyone in the community.

Assistant Director of DCI Field Operations Mitchell Mortvedt noted that the community was built on trust, where everyone knew each other.

A lot of us have children, and some of us have children close to Mollies age. Its just very difficult for everyone, he said. Mollie is relatable. She could be anyones daughter, anyones sister, anyones friend. Shes the All-American girl. She was kind and pretty and likable and had everything going for her, and I think her smile captivated the nation.

From NTD.tv
The Goldman Sachs company logo is seen in the company's space on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 17, 2018. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid).

Goldman Sachs opens digital consumer bank in Britain

Goldman Sachs <GS.N> has opened its digital consumer savings platform Marcus to its own staff in Britain ahead of a wider roll-out to the public in the coming weeks, according to an internal memo sent to staff on August 23 and seen by Reuters.

Since its launch in the United States in 2016, the digital bank has accumulated more than $20 billion in deposits, as Goldman seeks to diversify its sources of funding and compete with rival U.S. lenders that have full retail banks.

The bank will offer an online savings account to customers in Britain, Goldman Sachs told staff in the memo, and forms part of the banks strategy to grow its consumer business.

The move pits the U.S. investment banking giant against incumbent British lenders such as HSBC <HSBA.L> and Barclays <BARC.L>, as well as startup digital players such as Atom Bank and Tandem, which also offer savings accounts via mobile apps.

Goldman has said it may seek to expand its consumer bank through acquisitions or even buying a traditional lender.

The U.S. bank got into consumer banking much later than big U.S. banking peers, and analysts have said over the years that acquiring a big retail lender would help even out volatile results from businesses such as trading and investment banking.

Reporting By Lawrence White.
Director Nick Searcy with Sarah Jane Morris and Dean Cain, on the set of the film "Gosnell." (Courtesy of Hat Tip Films)

Gosnell: Why a Film Exposing Americas Most Prolific Serial Killer Is Being Attacked

Ive just produced a movie about the true story of Americas most prolific serial killer. You might think there is nothing unusual or noteworthy about thatstories about serial killers seem to make up an awful lot of movies and prime-time TV these days.

But what if I told you that not only is it about Americas biggest serial killerone most people have never heard ofbut that it also touches on one of the most contentious and divisive issues in America today?

The film is about Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor who is serving several life sentences for murder. And his case has been mostly ignored by a pro-choice media that does not want to report on any story that shines a negative light on abortion.

It seems this is the perfect time for a spotlight to be shone on whats really happening in abortion clinics across the country.

President Donald Trumps Supreme Court pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy means that, for the first time, there might be an abortion-skeptic majority on the bench. This has animated and alarmed abortion supporters. They are determined to stop Justice Brett Kavanaughs nomination. Planned Parenthood has pledged to give over $30 million to pro-choice candidates in the midterm elections. It is going to become one of the hottest topics in an already heated political environment.

So what exactly do abortion lobbyists and Cecile Richards want to preserve? What rights need to be protected from the Kavanaugh grouping? Do we really need fewer, not more, regulations, as abortion advocates maintain?

The fact is, most people know very little about what goes on behind closed doors in the nations abortion clinics. We didnt, either, until we started researching for the film.

Gosnell was a respected doctor in the highly regulated state of Pennsylvania. Gosnell also happened to be a serial killer who kept killing and getting away with it, despite those regulations. Inspections of Gosnells clinic uncovered serious violations and health hazards, but officials took no action and refused to investigate further.

But worse was to come in 1995, when Tom Ridge was elected governor of Pennsylvania as a pro-choice Republican. He won and immediately, in contravention of the law, announced an end to the already cursory annual inspections.

The decision cleared the way for Gosnell to operate what a grand jury would later describe as a baby charnel house while regulators looked the other way.

A Philadelphia jury eventually found Gosnell guilty on three counts of murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. Investigators believed that over the course of 30 years, he killed hundreds, perhaps thousands.

Despite this dramatic evidence, the trial was initially not covered by the mainstream media. Eventually, a social media campaign forced them to send reporters and give the case some coverage.

It seems no one wants to learn from the Gosnell case.

Striking down a Texas law aimed at monitoring abortion clinics, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg described Gosnell as a rogue practitioner. Ginsberg offered little in the way of proof for her claim. But evidence from a pair of recent congressional investigations has revealed what other abortion providers have done behind closed doors despite apparently ironclad laws and regulations.

The Senate judiciary committee and a House select investigative panel looked into claims that Planned Parenthood sold body parts of aborted fetuses to private labs. The probes soon widened to look at the other illegal behaviors of some abortion practitioners. The Senate committee report detailed the practices of a Texas abortionist that bear a striking resemblance to Gosnells grisly work.

According to one employees testimony, every week abortions concerning three to four infants would show signs of life. And just like Gosnell, the doctor would immediately kill them. The employee said he employed Gosnells technique of snipping the infants spinal cord with scissors.

But the investigations most shocking findings detailed how the body-part selling business worked.

One company, Advanced Biosciences Resources (ABR), produced sales orders and invoices that showed they paid Planned Parenthood $55 for a babys brain, then sold it to a researcher for over $3,000a profit of 2,800 percent.

The Senate investigation published invoices that showed ABR bought a fetus from Planned Parenthood for $60. According to their own sales figures, they sold its brain to one customer for $325; both of its eyes for $325 each ($650 total) to a second customer, a portion of its liver for $325 to a third customer; its thymus for $325 and another portion of liver to a fourth customer; and its lung for $325 to a fifth customer.

Another clinic sold the skin of a Down syndrome baby for $325.

Our film does not look at these later investigations. We focus on the Gosnell investigation and how he was allowed to keep killing. We look at the heroes who put him behind bars.

If Kavanaugh becomes a Supreme Court justice, abortion in America will come under a massive spotlight. It is important that the spotlight reveals truths, not myths. Our film is part of that process.

Phelim McAleer is a journalist and film producer. His new film, Gosnell: The Trial of Americas Biggest Serial Killer, will be released nationwide on Oct. 12. For more information, visit GosnellMovie.com
While we are devastated emotionally by this tragedy, we want to assure everyone that no person was hurt in the fire. The Maple Tree Inn has had multiple, successful chapters and there will be many more. Our team of employees is one of the best ever assembled in our 43 years of business and we will rebuild around them. We want to praise the firefighters swift response and work in keeping our neighboring businesses safe and attempting to preserve the character of the building.
Italy Threatens to Cut EU Funding Over Illegal Migrant Standoff

Luigi Di Maio, one of Italys deputy prime ministers, has threatened to take a hard line and not pay into the EUs common coffers unless the bloc agrees to share the burden of migrants who arrive illegally.

The soft line doesnt work, Di Maio said on Italian television on Aug. 24, The hard line will be to withhold funds if they dont listen to us.

Di Maios comments were directed at members of the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, ahead of Fridays emergency meeting in Brussels about the migrant crisis, including what to do with a group of asylum-seekers who were rescued off the coast of Sicily.

Nearly 200 people of unspecified nationality were rescued at sea by the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti on Aug. 15, and about 170 adults remain onboard, docked in the port of Catania, Sicily.

On Aug. 22, 27 unaccompanied minors, mostly from Eritrea, were allowed off the vessel, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, the crisis talks in Brussels ended with no deal.

Spokesperson Alexander Winterstein said the European Commission was working on a solution to ease the burden on point-of-contact countries disproportionately encumbered by illegal migration, but he insisted that the EU would follow its rules on migration, rather than bow to threats.

In Europe, threats are useless and dont get you anywhere. The only way to solve a problem in Europe is to work together in a constructive manner and in good will. This is what the Commission has been trying to facilitate for a long time, Winterstein said.

The European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats.

Deep Divisions on Migrant Policy

The issue of what to do with asylum seekers has been intensely divisive, both in Italy and in the EU as a whole.

Approximately 300 rice ball protesters assembled on Wednesday near the Diciotti and held up arancinitraditional rice snacks offered to hungry guestsand called for the government to allow the migrants to disembark on humanitarian grounds.

Prosecutors have launched an inquiry against unknown individuals suspected of illegal detention of migrants, The Guardian reported, provoking pushback from Italys Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

I heard that the prosecutors office in Agrigento has opened an investigation, tweeted Salvini, who like Di Maio refuses to allow the migrants to disembark unless Brussels commits to distributing them among other EU countries.

I also heard that the suspects are unknown at the moment. But Im not unknown. My name is Matteo Salvini, Im the minister of the interior. Come on, try me too, Im here.

Opponents of illegal migration showed their support, tweeting I stand with Salvini.

Many Italians see their way of life threatened by the chaos of uncontrolled immigration and oppose migrants being allowed on shore without an EU-level burden-sharing arrangement.

The Front Line in Europes Migrant Crisis

Italy has been at the European front line in the migrant crisis, with over 640,000 illegal arrivals hitting its shores since 2014.

In an earlier video posted on Facebook, Di Maio said If tomorrow nothing comes out of a European Commission meeting on redistributing migrants from the Diciotti ship, the 5-Star and I will not be willing to give 20 billion euros each year to the EU.

Meanwhile, Winterstein told a press conference assembly in Brussels that he hoped a resolution would come soon.

Finding a solution for the persons on board is our main priority. That is what we are focused on and that is also what we think everybody else should be focused on. Lets not engage in finger-pointing. And we also believe that unconstructive comments, let alone threats, are not helpful and they will not get us any closer to a solution, he said.

But for many in Italy, as in other countries at the external border of the EU, the consensus-building process in Brussels can seem intolerably long.

So, too, for people on the Diciotti, in limbo since Monday.

Reuters contributed to this report.
John Lennons Killer Denied Parole for the Tenth Time

Mark David Chapman, the man who killed the former Beatles frontman John Lennon, has been denied parole for the 10th time.

Members of a parole board ruled in a closed hearing on Thursday, Aug. 23, that after nearly 38 years behind bars, Chapman was still dangerous.

The panel has determined that your release would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society, a three-member panel of the state board of parole told Chapman in a letter.

Chapman will be eligible to apply again in 2020, the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said, at which time he will be 65 years old.

Lennons assassin is serving 20 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1981.

At his previous parole hearing in August 2016, Chapman said that at the time he killed Lennon he was a sociopath with low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.

He also said he committed the crime because he thought it would make him famous.

I was obsessed on one thing and that was shooting him so that I could be somebody, said Chapman, whose recent prison photo shows a much leaner man than the pudgy 25-year-old with wire-rim glasses who was booked after the murder.

And 35 years later I see what a horrible decision that was and how selfish it was, he added, according to a transcript.

Lennon was gunned down as he returned to his home on Manhattans Upper West Side on Dec. 8, 1980, after a nighttime recording session.

Chapman was waiting for him outside and shot him four times in front of his wife Yoko Ono.

Ono, 85, has steadfastly opposed parole for her husbands killer, who she previously has said poses a risk to her, Lennons two sons, the public, and himself.

While no one persons life is any more valuable than anothers life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world-renowned person and beloved by millions, regardless of the pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends, and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the pain and suffering of others, wrote the parole board, according to the Independent.

The British newspaper reported that in their decision to deny Chapman parole, members of the panel said that releasing him would not only tend to mitigate the seriousness of your crime, but also posed a threat to public safety because someone might try to attack him out of revenge.

Chapman said at previous hearings that he still receives letters from people who are upset about what he did.

Known as inmate 81A3860, Chapman has been held at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, just east of Buffalo, since 2012 when he was transferred from Attica, about 15 miles away.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Leaker of Top Secret Report on Russian Hacking Sentenced to More Than 5 Years

Former U.S. government intelligence contractor Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty to leaking a top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) report on Russian hacking, was sentenced to more than five years in prison by a federal judge on Aug. 23. Prosecutors said the sentence is the longest ever imposed for criminal leaking to the media.

Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June. While working as an NSA contractor, she printed a top-secret report, smuggled it out of the agencys Augusta, Georgia, building in her pantyhose, and mailed it to a news organization that was never publicly identified.

While prosecutors never named the organization, The Intercept published a five-page, top-secret NSA document in an article on June 5, 2017, the same day that Winner was arrested. The NSA report was dated May 5, 2017, the same date as the document described by the prosecutors in the complaint.

Winner made the admission to FBI agents who interviewed her at her home in Augusta.

I felt really hopeless and seeing that information that had been contested back and forth in the public domain for so long, with everything else that keeps getting released, why isnt this getting out there? Why cant this be public? she told the agents at the time, according to an interview transcript that prosecutors made public during the trial.

Winner will receive credit for the time she spent in pre-trial confinement, said one of her attorneys, Titus Nichols. She has already spent more than a year in jail. Winners total term is 63 months, with three years of supervised release, according to the sentencing minutes. The judge also ordered Winner to perform 100 hours of community service within the first year of her release.

During a hearing in Winners hometown of Augusta, Judge James Hall approved her lawyers request for the 63-month sentence followed by three years of supervised release.

The sentence and accompanying plea agreement both reflect that Reality recognizes that actions have consequences and that she has learned from her mistake and is prepared to accept the consequences of her actions, Winners attorneys said in a statement.

Hall also agreed to let Winner be transferred to a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, where she could receive medical services and be closer to her family.

Prosecutors said that Winners tough sentence is appropriate because she had betrayed her colleagues and her country.

Make no mistake: This was not a victimless crime, U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine said in a statement. Winners purposeful violation put our nations security at risk.  She was the quintessential example of an insider threat.

Winner grew up in Kingsville, Texas. After graduating high school, she enlisted in the Air Force, and became a linguist and provided real-time translation to Americans on field missions during her four years at the NSA in Fort Mead, Maryland.

She left the military and became a civilian contractor for the NSA in February 2017. Her job was to translate documents into English from Farsi. Winner worked with Pluribus International Corp., which provides analytical services for intelligence and defense agencies.

The document Winner leaked consisted of five pages detailing several hacking attempts by Russian intelligence operatives from August to November 2016, days before the presidential election. The hackers targeted a voting machine company as well as a list of local government organizations, according to the report.

In a sentencing memo, prosecutors wrote that subject matter experts have assessed that the defendants unauthorized disclosure caused exceptionally grave harm to our national security.

The dates of the hacking attempts detailed in the report leaked by Winner overlap with those in the July 13 indictment this year of 12 Russian intelligence officers by special counsel Robert Mueller, but the activities described dont match up, suggesting that a hacking operation separate from the one alleged by Mueller was active in 2016. The special counsels indictment details an operation that started in March 2016 and similarly lasted through November that year.

During the interview prior to her arrest, Winner expressed hopelessness and frustration with her workplace, detailing how she filed formal complaints about them having Fox News on.

I wasnt trying to be a Snowden or anything, she said.

In arguing for a tough sentence, the prosecutors used Winners words against her in a sentencing memo filed on Aug. 14.

Look, I only say I hate America like 3 times a day, she once wrote to her sister.

When asked, But you dont actually hate America, right? Winner replied, I mean, yeah, I do; its literally the worst thing to happen on the planet.

Avalanche of Leaks

By the time Winner was arrested, the administration of President Donald Trump faced an unprecedented wave of leaks. From Jan. 20 to May 25 last year, the administration suffered 125 leaks of information potentially damaging to national security, a rate of one per day, according to a report by the Senates Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Leaks were occurring at a rate seven times higher than the two previous administrations, according to the report. The majority of the disclosures at the time, 78 in total, were, like Winners, focused on the subject of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

But the leak frenzy has gone far beyond the Kremlin and has extended to other sensitive information that could harm national security, the report stated at the time. President Trumps private conversations with other foreign leaders have shown up in the press, while secret operations targeting Americas most deadly adversaries were exposed in detail.

Winners social-media postings indicated an animus against the president. At the time of her leak, almost every leak reviewed by the senators concerned Trump and his administration. During the comparable period of the Obama era, only half the leaks were about President Barack Obama and his administration.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Man Charged in Assault of 71-Year-Old Sikh Man Being Held in Jail: Report

(Warning: Video potentially disturbing for some viewers)

The man accused of beating a 71-year-old Sikh man who was taking a morning walk in Manteca, California, appeared in court and is still behind bars without bail, according to a report.

The Manteca Bulletin reported that 18-year-old Tyrone McAllister will be arraigned in court on Sept. 10, where he is expected to enter a plea. Hes currently being held in a county jail.

McAllister and another teen, a juvenile who was not been named by police or in the media, are accused of beating the man, kicking him, and spitting on him in mid-August. The incident was captured on a nearby residential security camera.

He was arrested on charges of suspicion of attempted robbery, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon.

Police told CBS News that the motive for the attack appears to be robbery.

When McAllister first appeared in court, he showed two middle fingers to a camera.

As to whether it was just a crime or a hate crime, Im of the opinion that at this point, looking at the videos, that its just a crime committed by some young people, Bobby Bivens, president of the Stockton branch of the NAACP, said in a Fox40 report.

Father Speaks Out

Darryl McAllister, the police chief in Union City, California, said that when he learned of the attack, he and his wife worked with Manteca Police to help track down his son, CBS News reported.

Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci told CBS that the police chief is an effective law enforcement leader in our community.

After the incident, McAllister wrote on the Union City Police Departments Facebook page about the incident, saying he is completely disgusted by the alleged actions of his son. He now faces serious felony charges for which, if convicted, he stands to spend a considerable amount of time in prison, he said.

I received a call from the Manteca PD that the suspect in this horrific crime turns out to be my 18-year old son. He has been estranged from our family and our home for several months now, he wrote on the page.

Words can barely describe how embarrassed, dejected, and hurt my wife, daughters, and I feel right now. Violence and hatred is not what we have taught our children; intolerance for others is not even in our vocabulary, let alone our values. Crime has never been an element of our household, our values, nor the character to which we hold ourselves, he added.

The chief added that my oath is (and always will be) to the law and my vow of integrity guides me through this horrendous difficulty.

McAllister said: My stomach has been churning from the moment I learned this news. Even though my status as a law enforcement leader has no bearing or relation to the case whatsoever, I am nonetheless devastated by how much the nature of my sons actions are such a departure from everything I have stood for in my personal life, and in my 37-year policing career, he wrote, adding that his son began to lose his way a couple years ago, while he was a juvenile, running away and getting involved in a bad crowd.
The river of east of Greenfield near the crash happened. (Map data @2018 Google).

Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated

A man in Monterey County accused of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated was sentenced to 12 years and 8 months in California state prison, prosecutors said on August 21.

The crash, which happened Feb. 2017, involved Nicanor De Jesus Sanchez, 23.

Driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.23 percent, Sanchez crashed through a road closure gate on a bridge east of Greenfield. The car spun out of control striking three pedestrians and throwing them into the Salinas River.

Two of the victims were severely injured but managed to make their way to the riverbank. The third, Julian Lopez, was carried downstream. His body has not been found.

Sanchez entered a plea to all charges during the third day of jury

trial.

By Nuria Marquez.
Menlo Park: Bay Area Task Force Deployed To Hawaii Ahead Of Hurricane Lane

An urban search and rescue task force based in Menlo Park was deployed today to Oahu, Hawaii, ahead of Hurricane Lane, whose outer bands are expected to hit Maui and the big island of Hawaii early morning on Aug. 23, fire and weather officials said.

As of 8:34 p.m., Aug. 22, Hurricane Lane was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Will Pi said.

California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 is sending 36 members to Hawaii.

The U.S. has 28 task forces with eight in California and two in the Bay Area, fire officials said.

The task forces are the Swiss Army knives of technical rescue operations, and this configuration is specific to a smaller, more focused, water rescue capable unit that can operate in a dynamic field environment for 10 to 14 days, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman said in a statement.

Pi said Hurricane Lane is expected to drop 15 to 20 inches of rain on Maui and the west side of Hawaii, while Oahu is expected to get 10 to 15 inches rain.

Nine military pallets loaded with more than 40,000 pounds of technical search and rescue equipment left with the task force members today.

By Keith Burbank.
Mike Pence Calls for Permanent US Presence on Moon

The Trump administrations latest efforts in ramping up American dominance in space came in the form of a planned permanent U.S. presence around and on the moon.

The new move was announced during a speech by Vice President Mike Pence, who on Aug. 23 visited NASAs Johnson Space Center in Texas to discuss the future of space exploration and the agencys plans to return to the moon.

Pence urged staff members at NASAs space center to establish the presence by 2020, before their eventual travel to Mars.

We will open the way for innovators and development and we will lead once again in human exploration, Pence said.

The Trump administration has made the moon a focal point because they recognize its pivotal importance, Pence said, adding that it is the most important precursor to outposts on the moon and the mission to Mars.

THANK YOU, @NASA_Johnson & @JimBridenstine! America will lead mankind to the stars once again. Our admin has restored the moon as the focal point of our national space activities because we recognize its pivotal importanceIt's not a question of if, it's just a question of when. pic.twitter.com/MnlwqZ1pYH  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 23, 2018

It comes after President Donald Trump in June announced the creation of a Space Force that would be the sixth branch of the armed forces. At the time, Trump said the new military branch would be separate, but equal to the Air Force.

Pence said while they are currently shooting for the moon, it does not mean they are just going to leave behind footprints or even to leave it all. He then discussed plans for a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a NASA orbital outpost that would be located nearby the moon.

The new outpost would be used as a staging point for lunar exploration and the proposed Deep Space Transport, a concept that involves a reusable vehicle that uses electric and chemical propulsion. The vehicle would be designed for manned missions to destinations, such as Mars.

Pence said of the gateway, were only a few short years away from launching the gateways first building blocks into space turning science fiction into science fact.

He also mentioned the White House commitment to weaponizing space especially after other countries are ramping up their space productions.

Just this week, the Pentagon released a report showing that China is aggressively weaponizing space. Russia, too, is developing and testing new and dangerous weapons and technologies to counter Americas space capabilities, he said.

Space Force

In July, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine showed his support for Trumps Space Force. Under Trumps executive order, the U.S. military is preparing for its creation.

Every banking transaction requires a GPS signal for timing, Jim Bridenstine told Bloomberg news. You lose the GPS signal and guess what you lose? You lose banking.

He also told Politico in a recent interview his thoughts about it.

A lot of Americans dont know this, how important space is to their everyday lives, he said. The way we navigate, the way we communicate.

He noted that if GPS was shut down, it would have a domino effect that would end banking, then commerce and supply of basic goods in the market, leading to civil unrest, the likes of which we havent seen before.

And the challenge here is youve got some of our near peer competitors, namely China, building their own GPS constellation at the same time theyre developing anti-satellite weapons that now go all the way up to geostationary orbit, Bridenstine said.

And its not just anti-satellite weapons, its co-orbital anti-satellite capabilities, jamming, spoofing, hacking, dazzling, he said.

Joshua Phillip contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  The House of Representatives intends to move the impeachment complaint against seven Supreme Court associate justices as soon as possible, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Friday.

Speaking to the media during an event in Pampanga, the former President said she intends to acknowledge the complaint by the end of the day.

"[The Secretary General] has already transmitted the impeachment charge to my office and then they will send me the transmittal for my signature later... so that I can transmit it also today to the Rules Committee," Arroyo said.

"[This is] so that the Rules Commitee can have it read out on Tuesday," she added. "The most important thing is to expedite it one way or another so that it does not really disturb the legislative agenda."

Opposition lawmakers filed the impeachment raps, saying the justice violated the Constitution when they voted to oust Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto petition.

Four of the respondents were applicants for Chief Justice. Three of them  Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, and Lucas Bersamin  made the shortlist for submission to the President.

An eighth justice, Samuel Martires, also voted to unseat Sereno. He has been appointed Ombudsman and is not part of the complaint.

On top of the impeachment complaint, a private citizen named Rhia Ceralde also wrote to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) opposing the nomination of De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, and Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. as Chief Justice.

In a two-page letter dated August 24, Ceralde said the justices' participation in unseating Sereno and later applying to her position was "grossly unethical behavior." She also argued that the JBC was obligated to hear out the impeachment complaint first, as it could show the judges were unfit to hold office.

"The impeachment (complaint) filed against Associate Justices De Castro, Bersamin, Peralta, and Reyes are tantamount to administrative cases that bar them from being included in the shortlist to be submitted to the President," Ceralde said. "They should be disqualified from nomination to the position of Chief Justice."

Constitutional crisis?

In a statement on Friday, Solicitor General Jose Calida said the complaint "will not see the light of day."

Calida, who filed the quo warranto petition that ousted Sereno, argued that the high court was the final interpreter of the law and their final decision stood. He claimed that the impeachment complaint also endangers dissenting justices.

"This will reduce impeachment to a mere vengeance mechanism, far from (what) it is intended for," said Calida. "The opposition legislators should, by now, come to terms with the Supreme Court's decision in Republic v. Sereno because by constitutional design, this is how our government should work."

Oriental Mindoro Representative Rey Umali also warned of a possible constitutional crisis if the impeachment complaints against seven Supreme Court Justices prospered. Umali previous headed the Justice Committee, which also held hearings on the impeachment of Sereno before the quo warranto petition succeeded in court.

"Kasi (pito ang) finafile-an nila e. So hindi ko alam anong divisions yan. Baka hindi makafunction yang division na iyan kapag under impeachment ang mga miyembro e," said Umali.

[Translation: They're filing cases against seven justices. I don't know what the divisions are, but those divisions might not function if its members are under impeachment.]

However, law expert Tranquil Salvador disagrees. He said that impeachable officials must perform their obligations until they are convicted by the Senate, which would sit as an impeachment court.

"The very reason why the Constitution provides for (the impeachment) process is to protect these impeachable officers so they don't get to be affected by cases here and there," said Salvador. "Until such time (that) the process rolls, they could do their duties... that is why ... I don't think this would affect or hamper the operations of the Supreme Court."

Salvador served as one of the defense lawyers and spokesmen for former Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was impeached in 2011.

Either way, Umali echoed Calida's sentiment that the cases would not prosper at the lower house. He said congress has a lot on its plate before it adjourns ahead of the mid-term elections in May 2019.

"Wala na rin naman palagay kong mangyayari dahil nine months to go, and we will go into election (and) campaign mode shortly after October," he said.

[Translation: I don't even think anything will happen because we have nine months to go, and we will go into election (and) campaign mode shortly after October.]

The congressman also saw nothing unconstitutional in the decision and maintained De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, and Reyes should stay in the running to be the country's top judge.

Salvador agreed, saying that the impeachment complaints were different from administrative or criminal complaints that could disqualify justices from the post.

"While filing of criminal cases and administrative cases against an applicant before the judicial and bar council will automatically disqualify the applicant, to my mind, an impeachment process is different from a criminal proceeding. It is different from an administrative proceeding," he explained. "It is a procedure mandated by the constitution."

However, the lawyer said that he would still defer to the JBC on the matter.

CNN Philippines Correspondents Anjo Alimario and Joyce Ilas contributed to this report.
Two officers responded to a gang disturbance around 10:35 p.m. in the 6400 block of South Maryland Avenue in the Woodlawn neighborhood, police said. As they arrived, one person ran, and the officers followed on foot.
Mollie Tibbetts Cause of Death Was From Sharp Force Injuries, Report Says

A preliminary report has revealed the cause of death for missing Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, saying that she died via sharp force injuries, Fox News reported.

The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner said Aug. 23 that the body found in a cornfield earlier this week is the missing 20-year-old student. A preliminary autopsy was carried out on Aug. 22, and the medical examiners office stated that additional findings might be revealed after another examination, Fox reported.

Her body was found in rural Poweshiek County and was covered in cornstalks. She disappeared in mid-July after going jogging in Brooklyn, Iowa.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, was charged on Aug. 21 with first-degree murder in Tibbettss death, and hes now being held on $5 million cash bond, according to the report.

On Tuesday, officials confirmed that they spotted the car Rivera had been driving on surveillance footage. Rivera later allegedly admitted to killing Tibbetts.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Rivera was in the United States illegally.

It is not clear when Tibbetts was killed or if she knew her alleged murderer.

A motive in the case has not been established.

A prominent Iowa farm family had employed him for the past four years, saying that he had worked under a different name and was a good employee who helped care for cows, according to CBS News.

Our employee is not who he said he was, Dane Lang, the manager of Yarrabee Farms, said at a news conference at the farm, according to CBS. This was shocking to us.

Lang said that Rivera handed them an out-of-state government-issued photo identification card and a Social Security card. His information was analyzed by the Social Security Administrations employment-verification system, and he checked out, according to CBS.

He showed up every day and he did his job. He was patted on his back. They turned a blind eye to the reality of documentation, Riveras attorney, Allan Richards, told CBS.

No Prior Contact

Investigators said there doesnt appear to have been prior contact between Rivera and Tibbetts.

There is nothing that we have come across as of yet that shows they had any type of relationship. And I dont mean intimate datingI mean friendship, acquaintance, what have you, Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, told the Des Moines Register.

He said, He had mentioned, I believe, that he had seen her before. In what contextI dont know if it was just in passing or had seen her in town somewhere, but it sounded like he at least had recognized her.

Rivera told investigators that he pulled over after circling the block a few times, exited the vehicle, and approached Tibbetts, according to the Register. After she threatened to call the police, he became angry and killed her.
The Oklahoma State Capitol is seen in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Sept. 30, 2015. (Reuters/Jon Herskovitz)

Oklahoma Medicaid Tests New Tactic to Curb US Drug Costs

LOS ANGELESA new front in the battle over the cost of expensive medicines in the United States is opening up in Oklahoma, the first state where the governments Medicaid program is negotiating contracts for prescription drugs based on how well they work.

In June, Oklahoma received approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to factor how effective a prescription medicine is into the price it pays to the manufacturer.

The state has signed its first contract under this strategy with Alkermes Plc for injected schizophrenia treatment Aristada, and is close to new agreements for an expensive antibiotic and an epilepsy drug, Nancy Nesser, pharmacy director at the Oklahoma Health Care Authority said.

An Alkermes spokesperson said the arrangement is intended to encourage patients to stay in treatment longer and meet treatment goals. List prices for the long-acting drug, given every month to six weeks, start at about $1,200 a month. Under the one-year contract, the price decreases every other month as long as the prescription is refilled.

The longer the member takes it, the better the rebate, Nesser said.

State-run Medicaid departments are powerful purchasers in the $450 billion U.S. market for prescription medicines. By law, the health program for the poor and disabled receives a mandatory 23 percent discount off drug prices and often negotiates additional rebates for individual medicines.

But state governments have struggled to keep up with steep drug price increases each year, as well as expensive new medications for diseases including hepatitis C and cancer.

President Donald Trump has promised to lower prescription drug prices, and in May unveiled a blueprint with dozens of proposals to deliver on that pledge.

One proposal would allow some state Medicaid departments to exclude certain drugs from reimbursement, a tactic used by private insurers to demand larger discounts and one that would represent a more significant change. But it is not yet clear how states could do so under federal law without losing existing statutory rebates, healthcare experts said.

In the meantime, Oklahomas move can give the state more leverage over drugmakers, state officials say.

Other states are considering whether to follow Oklahomas lead, according to Nesser, who has fielded inquiries from several Medicaid departments.

Michigans Department of Health and Human Serviceswhich spends nearly $2.4 billion annually on drugs for Medicaid memberssaid it will request approval for a program similar to Oklahomas, although details are still being worked out.

This type of arrangement has the potential to improve the quality, value, and efficiency of drug-based treatments, Michigan Department of Health spokesman Bob Wheaton said in an email.

Colorados Department of Health Care Policy and Financing said it is in the early planning stages of a request to pursue value-based Medicaid drug purchasing contracts.

Savings TBD

To be sure, it remains unclear how much money these new value-based programs will save, and whether enough drugmakers will get on board since their participation is voluntary. Oklahoma is working with the University of Oklahoma to study whether the new contracts save money over time.

The state has yet to secure agreements for treatments that take up a major portion of its $650 million in Medicaid spending, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder therapies for children.

In the meantime, the biggest hurdle is just finding pharmaceutical companies that are willing to work with the state, Nesser said. Mostly we are talking to smaller companies. Approaches to cancer drugmakers, in particular, have so far led nowhere: We got the door slammed in our face, Nesser said.

Industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said it supports Medicaid efforts to use value-based contracting for new medicines, but said states need to make sure patients still have access to current prescriptions.

Smaller companies, particularly those with newer drugs, may have more of an incentive to use such deals as a lever against large rivals.

Alkermes sales of Aristada totaled $93.5 million last year, dwarfed by the $3 billion in sales for Johnson & Johnsons long-acting antipsychotics including Risperdal Consta and Invega Sustenna.

The new Medicaid agreement in Oklahoma may help Alkermes in its sales pitch to doctors, including for Aristada Initioapproved last month as the first antipsychotic injection that does not require patients to begin treatment by taking oral pills for several weeks.

Nesser said other rebates under negotiation would be structured differently than the Alkermes deal. They could link the price of a drug to its impact on other costs, such as emergency room visits and hospitalizations, or give higher-rebate products preferential status over similar treatments.

By Deena Beasley
Teachers rally outside the state Capitol on the second day of a teacher walkout to demand higher pay and more funding for education in Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 3, 2018. (Reuters/Nick Oxford)

Oklahoma Starts School Year Short of Teachers Despite Pay Raise

TULSA, Okla.The Oklahoma Board of Education on Aug. 23 approved a record number of emergency teacher certificates to fill a shortfall of qualified faculty that has not eased even as the state enacted its first major pay raise in a decade.

With the school year already under way in most parts of the state, the board approved 916 emergency certificates to allow educators who are not fully accredited to teach, it said. With the new certificates, the total for the current fiscal year is at 2,153, a record high.

Use of the certificates has grown quickly in recent years. In the 2011-12 year, it issued 32 emergency certificates, data showed.

Oklahoma teachers walked off the job in April, seeking more money for schools devastated by years of education funding cuts and to bolster their salaries, which had ranked among the lowest in the nation.

Graphic  Education funding 2008 thru 2015 : https://tmsnrt.rs/2Iumbck

Graphic  U.S. Teacher Salaries in 2017 : https://tmsnrt.rs/2IsvlGa

The strike was part of a wave by teachers in states with some of the lowest per-student spending in the country.

To prevent school closings, the Republican-dominated Oklahoma legislature approved its first tax increase in more than two decades to provide an average pay raise of $6,100 for teachers, which went into effect this month.

Joy Hofmeister, a Republican and state Department of Education superintendent, said the pay raise was a crucial step but more must be done to fix the teacher shortage.

The challenges facing Oklahoma classrooms cannot be remedied by a one-year fix any more than one time on a treadmill makes you ready for the Olympics, she said in a social media post.

Oklahoma teachers have been leaving the state for higher wages and even with the raise, salaries elsewhere remained higher in neighboring states.

In May 2017, the annual mean wage for Oklahoma teachers was $41,880, among the lowest in the country, compared with neighbors Texas at $57,830 and Kansas at $50,470, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Republican Governor Mary Fallin, who leaves office in January due to term limits, said this week she considered the pay raise one of her biggest accomplishments.

But teachers and administrators said it did little to alleviate large class sizes, repair decaying school infrastructure or replace dilapidated text books held together with duct tape.

An Oklahoma State School Boards Association survey this month showed the state would start the school year with about 500 teaching vacancies, even with the record number of emergency certified educators.

By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton
Party Votes in Scott Morrison as Australias Next Prime Minister

Scott Morrison has succeeded in his bid to become Australias 30th prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, ending the nations leadership uncertainty after a tumultuous week of intense debate and lack of confidence in outgoing prime minister Malcolm Turnbulls leadership.

After what has been the second leadership challenge this week, Morrison came out victorious after defeating Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to become prime ministerthe sixth leader Australia has had in the last decade.

Turnbull, who called the leadership meeting after losing the majority support of the party, opted not to contest the vote.

The Liberal party is the senior partner in the ruling centre-right Liberal-National Coalition. The Coalition government has consistently trailed opposition Labor in opinion polls in recent months.

Morrison, who was previously the treasurer, won the leadership ballot against Dutton by a vote of 45 to 40. Bishop was eliminated during the first round of the contest, having only secured 11 votes. Peter Dutton polled 38 votes and Scott Morrison 36. Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has been elected as deputy leader of the party by a majority of votes. Earlier in the meeting, party members also voted 45 to 40 for a spill of the leadership.

Morrison will be sworn in as prime minister by the governor general.

Following the meeting, Dutton congratulated the other contenders to the leadership and pledged his loyalty to Morrison.

The course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison to make sure we win the election and we defeat Bill Shorten, Dutton said.

A Chaotic Week

The nations leadership crisis was sparked when Turnbull called a snap leadership on Aug. 21, challenging opponents to contest him for the top job. Former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton took up the offer but was defeated by a vote of 48 to 35.

Dutton subsequently resigned from his position and spent time throughout the week garnering support from fellow party lawmakers in order to request a second challenge on Turnbulls leadership.

After the Aug. 21 leadership spill, several frontbench and backbench ministers tendered their resignation, expressing their lack of confidence for Turnbull as party leader. So far, 22 lawmakers announced their resignations including Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Trade Minister Steve Ciobo, Health Minister Greg Hunt, and Minister for Jobs and Innovation Senator Michaelia Cash.

Former International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who quit on Aug. 21, said she resigned because she believes the prime minister had eroded the voice of the Liberal partys conservative base.

Amid the political confusion, Turnbull declared at a press conference on Aug. 23 that he would call for a party room meeting if he received a petition with 43 signatures from lawmakerswhich is a majority of the party room. Shortly after noon on Aug. 24, the petition with the required signatures was submitted and the meeting was subsequently called.

Questions about Duttons eligibility to remain in Parliament came to the forefront during the week. Reports that he financially benefited from government funding from two Brisbane childcare centers owned through his family trustnot allowed under the constitutiontriggered uncertainty as to whether Dutton could continue to run for the leadership position.

Attorney-General Christian Porter sought advice regarding the issue from Australias Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue, which was released on Aug. 24. It stated Dutton was not incapable of sitting as a member of the House of Representatives by way of section 44 (v) of the constitution and that there was no agreement between Duttons trust and the government, reported the ABC.

However, Donaghues advice also suggested that the circumstances relating to Duttons eligibility have not been tested in the nations high court. He said the High Court could possibly make a ruling contrary to the advice, rendering Dutton ineligible to sit.

I consider there to be some risk  that the High Court might conclude that there is a conflict between Mr. Duttons duty as a parliamentarian and his personal interests, the advice states.

While I consider the position summarised above to represent the better view, it is impossible to state the position with certainty.

Following the second leadership spill on Aug. 24, Turnbull has not officially announced whether he will resign from parliament. If he resigns, it could mean that the government would lose its majority pending a by-election.

Reuters contributed to this report
New US special representative to North Korea Stephen Biegun speaks after being named by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 23, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Pompeo to Travel to North Korea With New Special Envoy

WASHINGTONU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit North Korea again next week to try to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons, and will take a new U.S. special representative, Stephen Biegun, with him in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Pompeo on Aug. 23 named the Ford Motor Co. executive, a veteran Republican foreign policy hand, as the U.S. special envoy to North Korea.

Steve will direct U.S. policy toward North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Trumps goal of the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Kim Jong Un, Pompeo told reporters, referring to the North Korean leader.

He and I will be traveling to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress toward our objective.

It will be Pompeos fourth trip this year aimed at getting North Korea to scrap a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States and his second since an unprecedented June summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Pompeo had no plans to meet with Kim in Pyongyang.

We dont have that scheduled; we have no expectations of meeting with Chairman Kim. That is not a part of this trip, she told a regular news briefing.

Biegun said of North Korea: The issues are tough and will be tough to resolve. But he added that Trump had created an opening that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea.

Biegun served as vice president of international governmental affairs for Ford for 14 years. Prior to that, he was a senior staffer for former President George W. Bushs national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and he also advised members of Congress on foreign affairs.

Gangster-like Demands

On his last visit to Pyongyang, in July, Pompeo left hailing progress, only for North Korea within hours to denounce his gangster-like demands. He did not meet with Kim on that trip, although he did on his first two visits, which took place before the summit.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Trump defended his efforts to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons, saying he believed North Korea had taken specific steps toward denuclearization. He said he would most likely meet again with Kim.

Kelly Magsamen, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian affairs now at the Center for American Progress, said Bieguns appointment would hopefully bring focus and coherence to U.S. North Korea diplomacy.

Joshua Pollack, a North Korea missile expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, noted that Bieguns background was mostly in Russian issues.

But Pollack said that Pompeo could enhance Bieguns credibility as a negotiator by personally introducing him in Pyongyang. That would allow Pompeo to step back somewhat until more groundwork has been laid in working-level talks, he said.

Bieguns name was floated earlier this year among a list of contenders to replace Trumps then national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, who was ultimately succeeded by John Bolton.
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) arrives for his arraignment at federal court in San Diego, California, U.S. August 23, 2018. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

Rep. Hunter Pleads Not Guilty to Misuse of Campaign Funds

SAN DIEGO/SACRAMENTO, Calif.U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and his wife, Margaret, pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging misuse of $250,000 in campaign funds, in a case that could help Democrats seize control of a traditionally Republican seat.

Bail during the Aug. 23 hearing was set at $15,000 for Hunter; his wifes bond was set at $10,000.

There are serious allegations in the indictment, with a large amount of money stolen from the campaign by both defendants, Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern said of the Hunters, as protesters shouted Shame! Shame! outside the courthouse.

Ashen-faced and wearing a muted plaid sport coat, Hunter spoke quietly in court, saying only not guilty when asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge William Gallo to enter a plea.

The charges against me are politically motivated and without merit, Hunter said in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that was forwarded to Reuters after the hearing. I intend to fight them fully.

In the letter, dated Thursday, Hunter asked Ryan to remove him from his congressional committee assignments, an action Ryan had already said he was planning to take.

While he and Margaret Hunter were inside the courthouse being fingerprinted, protesters outside changed their chant to Lock him up!, a nod to the Trump campaigns rallying cry to imprison Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who was investigated by the FBI for use of a private email server but never charged.

The highly detailed indictment by a grand jury in San Diego alleged that the Hunters used campaign accounts to pay for their childrens private school tuition, lavish travel that included a trip to Italy, and restaurant meals that frequently cost hundreds of dollars.

Hunter, an early supporter of President Donald Trump, is the second Republican member of the House of Representatives to face criminal charges this month. On Aug. 8, Rep. Christopher Collins (R-N.Y.) was charged with taking part in an insider-trading scheme. Collins, who has suspended his re-election campaign, has called the charges baseless.
Space Investors Urged to Get Their Heads in the Clouds

If you know nothing about whats happening kilometers above the clouds, maybe you should.

While investors prefer sectors with nearer-term benefits, space is an area Morgan Stanley anticipates will see significant development. Several recent events support the potential to transition investments in the global space economy from what is mostly the private equity domain to the public equity domain, writes a Morgan Stanley team of analysts, including Adam Jonas and Rajeev Lalwani, in an August 23 note.

These developments include: Space Force potentially becoming the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces; NASA announcing crews for manned flights to the International Space Station on U.S. rockets; rapidly developing space capabilities from China; rising concerns about Russias satellite maneuvers; a number of airplane-borne rocket launchers becoming prevalent, and more.

Space is a more than $350 billion economy, Jonas says, but the industry has room to expand to $1.1 trillion by 2040. The charge is being driven by national security and, more specifically, tech communications, with an upward lift from wireless data usage.

Two-thirds of Morgan Stanleys revenue forecast is derived from the Internet, consumer broadband and ground equipment markets, Jonas wrote in an earlier note, which was reconfirmed by Bloomberg News. All of these underscore Jonas call on 20 stocks poised to leverage the growth of the global space sector: Adobe, Alphabet Inc., Analog Devices, Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Boeing, Facebook Inc., GoDaddy Inc., Honeywell, Inmarsat, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corp. Northrop Grumman, Qualcomm, SES, Shopify, Softbank, United Technologies, XL Group

Add the mounting number of developments and commentary from governments on the subject, and we believe investors cannot be too early in at least understanding this rapidly evolving topic, Jonas wrote in the October 2017 note.

By Kamaron Leach

From Bloomberg
Suspected Killer of Mollie Tibbetts Acted Normal During Weeks-Long Search

The illegal immigrant who confessed to approaching Mollie Tibbetts, blocking his memory, and then finding her dead body in his trunk, acted normally during the weeks-long search for the missing college student, a co-worker said.

Cristhian Rivera, 24, worked and lived at Yarrabee Farms in Iowa near Brooklyn, where Tibbetts, 20, was living and grew up.

A co-worker of Riveras, who asked that her identity not be made public, told CBS that Rivera acted totally normal while the search was going on.

No Anxiety Noticeable

Riveras coworker [said] that someone who would have done something like this would be nervous and not be able to eat and he seemed like nothing was wrong. She said she doesnt want to believe its him, the broadcaster reported.

She also said Riverawho entered the U.S. as a minoris calm, not violent, and a good father.

Rivera has a 3-year-old daughter with an ex-girlfriend. The daughter was born in America. Rivera is from Mexico and in the United States illegally.

Dane Lang, the co-owner of Yarrabee Farms, echoed the sentiment that Rivera appeared to act normally as he went about his job at the dairy farm.

Nobody saw a difference in his demeanor, Lang said at a press conference, reported the Associated Press.

An aunt of Riveras ex-girlfriend told Fox News that Rivera regularly spent time with her family and during the search for Tibbetts, he joined in discussions about it.

We would talk about the situation, and Rivera would comment as well and we would all say that we were surprised and scared because this is a quiet town, she said.

This has never happened around here and we were all sad while awaiting, pleading to God that she would be found alive and that everything would be fine. He never displayed signs for us to suspect that he had anything to do with this.

Riveras Confession

According to a probable cause statement, Rivera confessed to investigators that he spotted Tibbetts as she jogged just outside Brooklyn on July 19.

Rivera was driving a car that he either owned under his fake identity or borrowed from someone, circling around the block several times.

He eventually pulled over, shut off the engine, got out of the car, and jogged behind Tibbetts until he caught up to her. Then, he was running alongside her.

Tibbetts noticed Rivera and got out her phone. Im gonna call the police, she told him, Rivera said.

Rivera said he then panicked and got mad and that he then blocked his memory which is what he does when he gets very upset, investigators stated. He doesnt remember anything after that.

Rivera said the next thing he was conscious of was being back behind the wheel in the car and at an intersection.

He looked in his lap and saw an earpiece from headphones and realized that Tibbetts dead body was in his trunk.

Rivera then dragged Tibbetts on foot from his vehicle to a secluded location in the cornfield and covered her body in some corn leaves, leaving her there face up.

Rivera later led investigators to the location of the body, on Aug. 21. Officials said Tibbetts died from sharp force injuries.

From NTD.tv
But whether it will make a difference in the rhythm of a community that includes Northwestern Memorial and Lurie Childrens hospitals as neighbors remains to be seen. Ald. Brian Hopkins  who told the Tribune last year that his then 2-year-old son had trouble napping because of the noise  hopes the change will at least reduce the frequency of siren noise in his neighborhood during overnight hours.
Teen Admits She Was Also Pursued by Mollie Tibbettss Killer

A teen told the media that her sister was also pursued by Mollie Tibbettss killer, in the same Iowa town, but that she thought nothing of it at the time.

She thinks the similarities between the two incidents are frightening. Suspected killer Cristhian Rivera dropped the issue after his advances were refused by the younger sister of Bailey Gibson, according to Daily Mail.

She told me that a little while ago he drove up to her while she was walking through Brooklyn. He told her she was really pretty and things like that, Gibson told Daily Mail. In the end she was really creeped-out by his behavior. She had to keep telling him she wasnt interested.

Gibson said that Rivera was not a stranger to her 17-year-old sibling, and that this wasnt their first encounter. Gibson said that she knew him too.

I know Cristhian from my sister. She thought he was a nice, well-spoken person. They hung out a few times but nothing really happened romantically.

She revealed that the encounter was odd and that Rivera eventually left her sister alone.

It was more flirty than sexual but my sister is very shy. She didnt appreciate it. Even though she knew him a little she felt unsafe and didnt want to talk to him.

Rivera is accused of killing 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. The case has become a point of controversy, partly because Rivera is a Mexican national in the country illegally. He used a fake name and an I.D. and social security number that didnt belong to him in order to gain employment, Daily Mail reported.

Rivera said he found Tibbetts in the trunk of his car, bleeding from her head, and put her body in a field. He said he doesnt remember attacking her and blacked out at the time.

Surveillance footage showed him driving up to Tibbetts in his car as she ran ahead.

It all clicked when we heard the news. Its so scary to think he did something similar with my sister, said Bailey, via Daily Mail.

Rivera was in court on Aug. 21.

President Trump brought up the case while giving a speech at a West Virginia rally to highlight how U.S. immigration law needs reform, the Des Moines Register reported.

Iowa governor Kim Reynolds also suggested that a broken immigration system played a part in the tragedy.

Apple, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

A 35-year-old man who had reentered the United States from Mexico after an earlier deportation was charged with the Aug. 12 murder of his ex-girlfriend in Shakopee, Minnesota. Fraider Diaz-Carbajal stabbed his ex-girlfriend and then stabbed himself, although not fatally, Fox News reported. He was initially hospitalized in critical condition. A witness told police she saw him slash his own throat and stab himself several times.

ICE officials have already placed an immigration detainer on him, meaning that they will probably take action to deport him when he is released by the Scott County Jail or other local authorities.

From NTD.tv

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An oil pumpjack works at dawn in the Permian Basin oil field on January 20, 2016 in the oil town of Andrews, Texas. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Texas Exports More Oil Than It Imports for First Time in History

Oil production in the United States is continuing its record-breaking streak. Terminals in the port district of Houston-Galveston, Texas, recently started exporting more crude oil than was imported for the first time on record, according to an Aug. 20 report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In April, crude oil exports from Houston-Galveston surpassed crude oil imports by 15,000 barrels per day. In May, the difference between crude oil exports and imports increased even further, to 470,000 barrels per day.

The majority of crude oil imported into the Houston-Galveston port district comes from Mexico, South America, and the Middle East. In terms of exports, most from that facility go to China, Italy, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Efforts to grow infrastructure in crude oil exports at the ports have allowed for increased export flows, according to the EIA. The port district of Houston-Galveston accounted for 12 percent of total U.S. crude oil imports as of May. It came second to the U.S. port district of Chicago, at 19 percent.

Nationwide, crude oil exports rose to a record high of 2 million barrels per day in May, according to the department. But even with upgrades to infrastructure, the full capacity of exports is limited on the Gulf Coast because most cant load the larger crude oil vessels, the EIA said.

The report comes after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in March that the United States will overtake Russia to become the worlds largest oil producer by 2023.

Almost 60 percent of the 6.4 million new barrels of oil pumped every day between now and 2023 will come from the United States, according to the IEA.

And I can tell you our expectations may well need to be revised upwards if prices are higher, Fatih Birol, the IEAs executive director, said.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington on Aug. 24, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Trump Slams Social Media, Says Fake News Is Better Than Censorship

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump is ramping up his criticism of social-media companies, accusing them of silencing and censoring users, especially conservatives.

Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people, the president wrote on Twitter on Aug. 24. Cant do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!

An undercover video released by Project Veritas on Jan. 11 shows Twitter engineers discussing the shadow banning of Trump supporters and other conservatives. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said in a recent CNN interview that his own bias, as well as that of many of the companys employees, is left-leaning.

Shadowbanning is when a social-media platform hides the content of someones posts from showing up on their followers timelines, without the users knowledge. One identified method is to remove the tweets of targeted accounts from search results, unless a default search filter was changed each time a user conducted a search.

Twitter also has restricted or banned some conservative accounts for posting racist content, but seems reticent to do the same to more liberal users, such as New York Times employee Sarah Jeong, who posted hundreds of derogatory tweets about white people.

Trump, who uses Twitter prolifically, posted on July 26, Twitter SHADOW BANNING prominent Republicans. Not good. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.

On July 27, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), whose Twitter account was affected, said he filed a complaint against the company with the Federal Election Commission.

Gaetz is convinced Twitter targeted him intentionally, and consequently gave an advantage to his political opponents.

I am certain there were only four members of Congress who had their voices suppressed on Twitter, he told Fox News Tucker Carlson on July 27. Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, and Devin Nunes. Thatd be one hell of a coincidence.

Gaetz said, if found guilty, Twitter could be fined for illegally making a corporate donation to a political campaignessentially the Democratic opponents.

On the same day, Twitters Dorsey said in a tweet: We want a vibrant and healthy public conversation inclusive of all perspectives, and one thats immediately relevant and valuable. Were always listening to the conversation around this, and we commit to participating more fully in it. Its important to us we get this right.

Dorsey will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Sept. 5 about his companys algorithms and content monitoring, according to a tweet by the committee on Aug. 24.

But Twitter is not the only social-media giant accused of censoring.

On Aug. 6, Google, Facebook, Apple, and Spotify all removed a large part of the InfoWars media run by Alex Jones from their platforms. Jones, a longtime radio host, has faced frequent criticism for making controversial and unverified claims and for his hot-tempered outbursts.

Google blocked The Alex Jones Channel and several other InfoWars official channels around noon on Aug. 6, after Facebook removed four InfoWars pages. Apple removed five InfoWars podcasts from iTunes, and Spotify removed one podcast earlier that day. All four companies cited hate speech as the reason for removing the content. Pinterest and LinkedIn have since removed Joness profiles.

On Aug. 16, Facebook severely penalized PragerU, a nonprofit organization that produces conservative educational videos, by blocking some of its videos, only to remove the penalties and apologize a day later, saying the sanctions were a mistake.

During a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, on Aug. 21, Trump said his administration is standing up to social-media censorship, but didnt elaborate.

I would rather have fake news, than have anybodyincluding liberals, socialists, anythingthan have anybody stopped and censored, he said. But  you cant have censorship. You cant pick one person and say, Well we dont like what hes been saying, hes out.

So well live with fake news. I mean, I hate to say it, but we have no choice. Because thats by far the better alternative.  Because, you know what, it can turn around, it could be them next. We believe in the right of Americans to speak their minds.
A photograph of heroin and fentanyl during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on March 22, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

2 Chinese Nationals Charged With Operating Fentanyl Manufacturing, Distributing Ring, Leading to Deaths of Americans

Two Chinese citizens from Shanghai were charged for running a wide-ranging conspiracy involving operating a criminal enterprise, importing drugs, and money laundering. Prosecutors said the drugs directly led to the overdose deaths of two people in Akron, Ohio.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the unsealing of the 43-count indictment at a federal court in Cleveland, Ohio on Aug. 22, which charged Zheng Fujing, as known as Gordon Jin, 35, and his father, Zheng Guanghua, 62, for manufacturing and shipping fentanyl analogues and 250 other drugs to at least 25 countries and 37 states throughout America, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.

Authorities said that since 2008, the two men operated the Zheng drug trafficking organization (Zheng DTO), under the guises of many companies, such as Global United Biotechnology, Golden Chemicals, Cambridge Chemicals, and others, to manufacture and distribute various synthetic opioids around the world, including fentanyl, which is roughly 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, and the elephant tranquilizer drug carfentanil, a drug 100 times more powerful than fentanyl.

The group also created and maintained numerous websites to advertise and sell illegal drugs in more than 35 languages, according to the indictment. Authorities said that online and in emails, the Zheng DTO boasted about its ability to manufacture custom drugs and avoid detection from customs and law enforcement when shipping the drugs to the United States, Russia, and Europe.

The Zheng ZTO claimed to ship over 16 tonnes of chemicals every month from its own laboratory and to have the capability to synthesize nearly any chemical on a bespoke basis in any quantity, according to the Department of Justice press release.

All told, the Zheng enterprise sent millions of doses of fentanyl, its analogues, and other drugs to the United States and other countries around the world that have led to overdoses.

Federal authorities traced the deaths of two Ohio residents, Thomas Rauh, 37, and Carrie Dobbins, 23, on or about March 21 and 28, 2015, to the Zhengs: they used acetyl fentanyl that was manufactured by the Zheng organization, leading to their overdoses.

The Zheng DTO laundered its drug money using digital currency such as Bitcoin, and transmitted funds in and out of bank accounts in China and Hong Kong.

The two suspects face life imprisonment because the drugs involved resulted in deaths.

This group has shipped deadly fentanyl analogues and other drugs around the globe for a decade. Law enforcement will follow the evidence wherever it leads, including overseas, to stop the flow of drugs that have caused so much heartbreak and destruction in Ohio. said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman in the press release.

Fentanyl and its analogues are the number one killer drug in America today, and most of them come from China, Sessions said in the press release. By cutting off fentanyl and its analogues at the source, we can save American lives.
Two Ex-cons Charged for Death of Restaurant Owner

Two convicted robbers have been charged with special circumstances murder for the death of the owner of a Vietnamese restaurant in Alameda during an attempted robbery in April, prosecutors said on Aug. 23.

Paul Paez, 38, and Donte Holloway, both of Oakland, were arraigned on Aug. 22, for the death of 61-year-old Cindy Le and are scheduled to return to court today to be assigned attorneys and possibly enter pleas.

Alameda police said Le was attacked outside the Pho Anh Dao restaurant at 1919 Webster St. at about 11 p.m. on April 6 and died from her injuries on April 10.

Alameda police Officer Koby Burns wrote in a probable cause statement that surveillance camera footage shows Paez followed Le from a restaurant she owned in Oakland to her restaurant in Alameda.

Burns said that when Paez arrived in Alameda, he tried to take Les purse from her and when she resisted he punched her in the face, causing her to fall and strike her head on the concrete sidewalk.

Burns said Holloway also participated in the attempted robbery and struck Le and her daughters boyfriend, who was trying to defend Le, in the head with a metal pipe.

The officer wrote that Holloway admitted to being at the scene and swinging the metal pipe at unknown individuals.

In addition to murder, Paez and Holloway are charged with two special circumstance clauses: murder by lying in wait and murder during the course of a robbery.

The two men also are charged with attempted second-degree robbery and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

Prosecutors allege that Paez has a prior conviction for second-degree robbery and Holloway has three prior convictions: two for second-degree robbery and one for being an accessory after the fact.

Both men are being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail.

By Jeff Shuttleworth.
Workers load luggage onto an American Airlines aricraft at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on May 11, 2018. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

US Airlines Are Losing Market Share to Their Heavily Subsidized Chinese Competitors

U.S. airlines are losing market share to some Chinese state-backed competitors, which have the benefit of hefty subsidies from central and local governments in China.

Two U.S. airlines recently announced plans to cancel routes to China, according to an Aug. 21 report by Reuters. American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier by passenger volume, said it would drop a route between Chicago and Shanghai, canceling the second direct flight from the U.S. city to China in four months. In May, American had pulled the plug on a ChicagoBeijing route.

The two China routes  have been colossal loss-makers for us, said Vasu Raja, Americans vice president of network and schedule planning, adding that high fuel costs had also made the route unsustainable.

On the same day, Hawaiian Airlines said that after Chinas National Day holiday period (Oct. 1 through Oct. 7 this year), it is suspending its three-times-a-week nonstop service between Honolulu and Beijing, which it originated in 2014, citing slower-than-expected growth in demand.

For the Chinese regime, the number of international flights and the competitiveness of its domestic airlines within the international market is considered a benchmark for the greatness of China.

This was explicitly outlined in the China Civil Aviation Administrations (CAAC) Twelfth Five-Year Plan issued in May 2011. Among the goals outlined in the plan: Chinese airlines should increase their transportation ability as a core of their missiona fundamental requirement for what is a great aviation country. To achieve this goal, the CAAC said airlines should establish easy, smooth domestic and international route networks.

Soon after the plans release, Chinese airliners began expanding their global operations. According to data by the Centre for Aviation (CAPA), an Australia-based market research firm for the aviation and travel industry, published in October 2017, Chinese airlines had established routes to 24 intercontinental destinations by 2013. Now, the number has surpassed 100.

The rapid expansion came as a result of government subsidies. Four of Chinas biggest airlinesChina Southern Airlines, Air China, China Eastern, and Hainan Airlinesreceived a total of 3.213 billion yuan (about $467.8 million) in government subsidies in 2016, an increase of 31.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a Jan. 8 article by Chinese news site Jiemian.

China Eastern, which operates BeijingChicago and ShanghaiChicago routes, received 176 million yuan (about $25.6 million) in subsidies in 2017 and 138.8 million yuan (about $20.2 million) this year, from the CAAC.

Municipal governments also offer subsidies to entice domestic airlines into operating international flights to their cities. That can elevate a citys international reputation, while drawing profits from tourism and potential foreign investors.

One of the Chinese cities that has provided heavy aviation subsidies is Shenzhen, a southern city that borders Hong Kong. According to another article Jiemian published in April, the Shenzhen government offered Hainan Airlines 175.5 million yuan (about $25.6 million) for the next three years to help it operate flights to cities in North America and Europe, including Oslo, Vienna, Tel Aviv, Zurich, and Vancouver.

In addition to Shenzhen, other second-tier Chinese cities have provided subsidies to airlines to try to attract international flights. They include Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in the southwest of China; Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province; Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province; and Qingdao, a city in Shandong Province in the countrys east.
US-China Trade Talks End With No Breakthrough as Tariffs Kick In

WASHINGTON/BEIJINGU.S. and Chinese officials ended two days of talks on Aug. 23 with no major breakthrough as their trade war escalated with activation of another round of dueling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each countrys goods.

We concluded two days of discussions with counterparts from China and exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a brief emailed statement.

The discussions included addressing structural issues in China, including its intellectual property and technology transfer policies, Walters said.

The mid-level Trump administration officials participating in the talks would brief the heads of their agencies on the discussions, she added.

Implementation of the latest 25 percent tariffs on Aug. 23 did not derail the talks, led by U.S. Treasury Under Secretary David Malpass and Chinese Commerce Vice Minister Wang Shouwen. They were the first face-to-face U.S.-China meetings since early June to try to find a way out of a deepening trade conflict and escalating tariffs.

Earlier, a senior Trump administration official downplayed chances for success, saying China had yet to address U.S. complaints about alleged misappropriation of U.S. intellectual property and industrial subsidies.

In order for us to get a positive result out of these engagements, its really critical that they (China) address the fundamental concerns that we have raised, the official said on a press call on the new U.S. security review law for foreign acquisitions. We havent seen that yet, but we are going to continue to encourage them to address problems that we have raised.

In a brief statement on Aug. 24, the Chinese commerce ministry said both sides had a constructive and candid exchange over trade issues, and will stay in touch on the next steps.

Chinas Commerce Ministry said in Beijing that it has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the latest round of U.S. tariffs. The two countries have now targeted $50 billion of each others goods and threatened duties on most of the rest of their bilateral trade, raising concerns that the conflict could dent global economic growth.

Chinas economy has slowed and its stock markets have tumbled since the first set of U.S. tariffs went into effect. Economists predict that the trade war will have a direct impact on Chinas economic growth in 2018 of 0.1 to 0.3 percentage point, and somewhat less for the United States. But the impact will be bigger next year, along with collateral damage for other countries and companies tied into Chinas global supply chains, they added.

Hard Line Rattles Beijing

Business groups expressed hope that the meeting would mark the start of serious negotiations over Chinese trade and economic policy changes demanded by Trump.

However, Trump on Aug. 20 told Reuters in an interview he did not anticipate much from this weeks talks.

His hard line has rattled Beijing and spurred rare criticism within the highest levels of Chinas ruling Communist Party over its handling of the trade dispute, sources have said.

Beijing has denied that it systematically forces the unfair transfer of U.S. technology, despite U.S. and European firms complaints of such practices in China.

Washingtons latest tariffs apply to 279 product categories, including semiconductors, plastics, chemicals, and railway equipment, that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has said benefit from Beijings Made in China 2025 industrial plan to make China competitive in high-tech industries.

Chinas list of 333 U.S. product categories hit with duties includes coal, copper scrap, fuel, steel products, buses, and medical equipment.

Though it is too early for trade damage to show up in much economic data, tariffs are beginning to increase costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Pacific, forcing companies to adjust supply chains and pricing, with some U.S. companies looking to decrease reliance on China.

By David Lawder & Michael Martina
US State Dept Travel Warning Issued After 8 Bodies Found in Cancun

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning after eight people were found dead in Cancun.

The dead bodies were found across the popular Mexican tourist resort city.

The State Department issued a warning labeled Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution for the country of Mexico on Aug. 22.

Travel Warning

Exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime, the department stated. Some areas have increased risk. Violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery, is widespread. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico as U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to these areas.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from intercity travel after dark in many areas of Mexico. U.S. government employees are also not permitted to drive from the U.S.-Mexico border to or from the interior parts of Mexico with the exception of daytime travel on Highway 15 between Nogales and Hermosillo.

The department issues specific warning levels for each state; the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located, along with a number of other popular tourist areas, is under a level 2 warning.

The warning for Quintana Roo is stated as follows: According to Government of Mexico statistics, the state experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred.

While level 2 warnings are issued to travelers to exercise increased caution, there are multiple level 3 warnings, or alerts, to reconsider traveling to those areas, as part of the country-wide alert. For instance, for the Chihuahua state, the level 3 warning includes the detail that there has been an increase in murders during daylight hours in downtown Ciudad Juarez. United States government employees, therefore, have been prohibited from traveling there.

Bodies in Cancun

Prosecutors said on Aug. 21 that they found a total of eight dead bodies on the streets of the Mexican resort city of Cancun, with two bodies dumped at two spots and four others found shot to death individually.

The bodies of a man and a woman were found in an abandoned taxi on Aug. 21, and the dismembered bodies of two men were found in several plastic bags at another spot.

Also that day, one man was found bound and shot to death. The prosecutors office for the state of Quintana Roo said another man was killed while lying in a hammock, yet another was found shot and covered in a plastic bag.

Details of the eighth body were not immediately available.

None of the killings occurred in the citys beach-side hotel zone.

Mexicos Interior Department said in July that murders rose in Mexico by 16 percent to 15,973 during the first half of 2018, the highest since records began in 1997, The Guardian reported.

Mexican officials have blamed the rise in killings on battles between the Jalisco and Sinaloa drug cartels.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

From NTD.tv
Waffle House Shooter Deemed Unfit to Stand Trial

The Waffle House shooter, Travis Reinking, was deemed unfit to stand trial.

Reinking was evaluated by Dr. Rena Isen, a forensic psychologist with the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute. She announced her findings in court on Aug. 22. She said he is schizophrenic, has hallucinations, and doesnt understand the court system, WSMV reported.

General Sessions Judge Mark Fishburn said Reinking needs to stay at a secure mental facility, otherwise, he could cause more harm to the public or hurt himself.

He is ill and he needs help. Im not angry. Im not upset at all. He needs help, said DiAngelo Groves, brother of DeEbony Groves, one of the victims, via WSMV.

Fishburn said the court will check back every six months while Reinking undergoes treatment for mental illness.

Reinking is suspected of killing four people and injuring others after shooting people at an Antioch, Nashville, Tennessee, Waffle House on the early morning hours of April 22. The shooting was brought to an early end when one of the patrons ripped the gun away and wrestled with Reinking. Reinking escaped, but was discovered the next day after a manhunt, NBC News reported.

I was discouraged to hear the current prognosis of the shooter, but I believe Justice will be served, I had to remember patience is a virtue and to walk by faith not by sight everything happens in due time, said the man who stopped the shooter, James Shaw Jr., in a Facebook post.

Shaw described how he ended up at the Antioch Waffle House that night, in an appearance on The Ellen Show. He said passed by Reinking before the shooting occurred. He and a friend left another Waffle House that was too crowded. They had been out at a nightclub.

When Shaw first heard the shooting, he thought the plates stacked up by the dishwasher had come crashing down. Shaw was grazed by a bullet as the suspect shot through the glass before entering the restaurant. Shaw jumped at the shooter when the bullets stopped.

Shaw has had numerous media appearances since the heroic act, as his Facebook page shows. In a press conference the same day as the shooting, via CNN, Shaw said that he didnt jump in the way of danger to save others, but to simply get himself out of Waffle House alive.

Reinking had numerous encounters with law enforcement prior to the shooting, CNN reported. Last year, he was arrested for crossing a White House security barrier and refusing to leave. According to secret service agents, he was looking to meet with the president.

After that incident and a subsequent FBI investigation, his guns were taken away, along with his firearms license. The weapons were returned to Reinkings father, who unlawfully returned them to his son, NBC 4 reported. One of those weapons was used in the Waffle House shooting.

The Tennessean writes that even if Reinking is eventually found fit to stand trial, he would likely plead insanity. It would make sense considering his history of weird behavior and encounters with the law, and it is the very reason he has been found unfit for trial.

The media outlet also writes that public pressure could dissuade the court against such an insanity defense.

From NTD.tv
Supporters said the measure would prevent immigrants from having their legal status used against them if landlords did not comply with building codes and standards. But Rauner said, We should not be tying the hands of any property owners of this state or supporting illegal immigration in that way.
Were on Your Side: Australias New PM Promises to Keep the Nation Strong, Safe, United

Australias new prime minister Scott Morrison declared he is committed to providing stability, unity, and direction for Australia.

Were on your side, Morrison said at his first press conference after the leadership ballot on Aug. 24.

Thats what matters. And were on your side because we share beliefs and values in common.

We will provide the stability, the unity, the direction, and the purpose that the Australian community expects of us as leaders both of our party and of our great nation.

Morrison became the nations 30th prime minister and the leader of the Liberal party after a second leadership battle on Aug. 24. He emerged victorious after defeating former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to become Australias sixth leader in the last decade. He is due to be sworn in later today by the governor general.

Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg was elected as deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

Prime Minister Morrison, who served as treasurer in the previous Turnbull government, reiterated the Liberal partys belief that all Australians deserve a fair go.

If you have a go in this country, youll get a go. Theres a fair go for those who have a go. Thats what fairness in Australia means. This is something we hold very dear to us, he said.

Regardless of our ability or circumstances, we are here to make a contribution rather than take one.

Its why we believe that Australians should keep more of what they earn. Its why we believe that those who have come from so many different parts of the world to create this country and demonstrated that by their very actions.

First Priority, Drought

In his address, Morrison told the nation that the drought was his top priority and that he will turn his attention to the suffering rural communities first.

This is our most urgent and pressing need right now, Morrison said.

As soon as possible, I will review our drought response plans and be working with the Nationals and our regional and rural Liberal members to ensure that we do what is necessary to help our regional communities, our farmers, and all those affected.

We will do what is necessary and co-ordinate with the states and territories.

That will be my first focus, but there are many others.

Turnbull to Resign

The nations leadership crisis was sparked when incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called a snap leadership ballot on Aug. 21, where he maintained his preference as party leader over challenger Dutton 48 to 35.

Amid the partys recent internal struggles resulting from a widening division between the partys conservative and progressive factions, Turnbull eventually conceded to a second ballot on Aug. 24 after being handed a petition of signatures from a majority of the party requesting another vote. A spill motion was passed and Morrison was subsequently elected for the top job.

At a press conference after the meeting, Turnbull reflected on his time as the nations leader and confirmed that he will resign from parliament in the near future.

Ill be leaving the parliament innot before too long. As Ive always said, Ive been very clear about that, its not a secret, Turnbull said.

This decision means the government is at risk of losing its one-seat majority in the lower house pending a by-election.

Turnbull also took the opportunity to take a jab at certain members in the party, blaming them for the intense leadership battle and instability in the party.

The people who chose Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott, who chose to deliberately attack the government from within, they did so because they wanted to bring the government down. They wanted to bring my prime ministership down, he said.

Craig Kelly told the ABC earlier that he disagreed with Turnbull regarding his claims that there was an insurgency, saying that to those on the inside, its always been about differences in policy.

I had some policy issues, Kelly told the ABC. On some things, I was always behind the Prime Minister. On his company tax cuts, I stood up and argued those cases for the PM  The issue I had a little bit of difference on was the energy policy, and I actually this week congratulated the PM for listening.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told the ABC that the reason for the internal challenge was concern over key policy positions. If we want to be as strong and as effective a government as possible, we need to have a united team, and the team clearly as not sufficiently united, Cormann explained. That had to be resolved.

This is not about anger, this is about making judgements.

The party room today formed a judgement that Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg were the best equipped to unite the party moving forward and to provide the strong leadership that our government needs to take our country forward.

Challenges Ahead

The change in leadership for Australia comes less than a year ahead of an election due in May 2019. The new leadership under Morrison will now face the task of uniting the party and winning the approval of the Australian public.

Morrison said he will be considering the formation of his cabinet and ministry over the weekend.

It is important, referring to both the conservative and the liberal traditions of the liberal party, that [this] is reflected in the team which I bring together, he said at the press conference.

Its also important that we provide the stability of government, which we will be able to do.

I think today what the party voted for was the stable choice for moving to a new generation. That means we will have a continuity, but there will be points of direction and emphasis that we will be consulting with our cabinet on.

There are some outstanding issues from the previous government that we will continue to resolve and work through.

Morrison said some of his key early priorities would be in the areas of energy, health, and ensuring a supportive business environment.

Issues such as electricity pricesI mean there is [the] continuation of consideration in that area, he said.

There is healthcare  I am distressed by the challenge of chronic illness in this countryaffordable medicines, aged care, medicaresmall and medium-sized businesses, and to ensure that were continuing to deliver that encouragement and support to that enterprise ethic that exists across our economy.

Prior to the leadership spill, the outgoing Turnbull government struggled in passing key policies relating to energy and company tax, resulting in decisions to backtrack on critical components within both policies. Morrison and Frydenberg were heavily involved in developing the two policies that are likely to influence the results of the next election.

The former prime minister announced on Aug. 20 that the coalition has decided to abandon the emissions reduction target component of the national energy guarantee (NEG), saying the government will no longer seek to include the 26 percent Paris emissions reduction target into legislation or regulation.

Turnbull said that the emissions component of the NEG was shelved because it did not have enough support. Several backbenchers within the Liberal party such as Andrew Hastie have publicly opposed enshrining the emissions reduction target in legislation or regulation.

Turnbull also provided several updates to the reliability of the energy policy aimed at bringing power prices down and ensuring big energy companies dont abuse their market position.

We are doing everything we can to bring your electricity bill down. Our priority is cheaper electricity, Turnbull said.

Morrison confirmed that his government will also be committed to bringing electricity prices down.

Our government is going to put electricity prices down, he said in a press conference on Aug. 24.

We will put in place what we have said from the ACCC report, which is to put in the safety net on price.

We will put the big stick to ensure that the big energy companies to the right thing by you, the customers.

Turnbull also made an announcement during the week to ditch the coalitions plan for corporate tax cuts after it failed to pass the Senate on Aug. 22.

The plan to cut the corporate tax rate from 30 percent to 25 percent for businesses with an annual turnover of more than $50 million was also not able to receive the support needed. At the time, Turnbull said the government would instead consider accelerating tax cuts for small- to medium-sized companies.

We are going to review our enterprise tax plan, in so far as it applies to small and medium businesses and focus on how we can provide enhanced support, or perhaps an acceleration of the tax cuts for the small and medium businesses, he said at a press conference on Aug. 22.

Cathy Zhang contributed to this report.

From NTD.tv
What the Media Is Getting Wrong About DOJ Official Bruce Ohr

News Analysis

The media seems to have taken a sudden interest in downplaying the significance of Justice Department (DOJ) official Bruce Ohr.

An article that ABC News published Aug. 23 said Ohr was operating outside of his chain of command and quoted an unidentified official who said Ohr was a non-figure, a non-entity in all of this.

Despite these characterizations, Ohr wasnt some anonymous, mid-level official.

He held two important positions at the DOJ: associate deputy attorney general, and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.

As associate deputy attorney general, Ohr was just four offices away from then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and he reported directly to her. As director of the task forces, he was in charge of a program described as the centerpiece of the attorney generals drug strategy.

Ohr, one of the highest-ranking officials in the entire DOJ, was also communicating on an ongoing basis with Christopher Steele, author of the infamous dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump.

In late 2016, Ohr began a series of meetings with FBI officials to relay information obtained from Steele. ABC News attempted to downplay these meetings, noting that by the time Ohr provided the so-called dossier to the FBI in late 2016, counterintelligence agents had already received a copy of it.

This description fails to convey what the Steele dossier really wasan ongoing series of 16 memos compiled by Steele beginning on June 20, 2016, and continuing through Dec. 13, 2016.

While the FBI may have received most of the earlier memos directly from Steele, they most likely didnt have possession of the final memos compiled by Steeleincluding one dated Dec. 13, 2016. Ohr was apparently providing the FBI with information from these newly compiled Steele memos, and may have even provided the new memos themselves.

This point is deserving of emphasis. The FBI did have access to Steeles earlier memos. But following a series of disclosures by Steele to the media, the FBI terminated its relationship with Steele in late October or early November 2016. It was at this point that Ohr became the conduit between Steele and the FBI.

Steeles work didnt end with the final Dec. 13, 2016, memo. In late 2016 or early 2017, Steele and Fusion GPS began to work for a new employer, the Penn Quarter Group, run by Daniel Jones, a former intelligence committee staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). As noted above, Ohr remained in contact with Steeleand the FBIuntil at least May 2017.

The Hills John Solomon has documented more than 60 contacts between Ohr and Steele with most occurring during the ramp-up of the TrumpRussia Investigation in 2016 and early 2017. More contacts were discovered through emails obtained by the Washington Examiners Byron York. These emails are a story unto themselves as they establish a link among Steele, Ohr, and Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who Steele appears to have been actively lobbying for in 2016.

The ABC News article notes that following the election of President Trump, Steele met with FBI officials at least twice. While technically correct, it is also misleading. Ohr met with the FBI 12 times between late November 2016 and May 2017.

The dates of these meetings were disclosed in a Feb. 28, 2018, letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Interview dates are to the right. FD-302 dates, which are formal FBI documentation of the interviews, are listed to the left:

Ohr FD-302 12/19/16 (interview date 11/22/16)

Ohr FD-302 12/19/16 (interview date 12/5/16)

Ohr FD-302 12/19/16 (interview date 12/12/16)

Ohr FD-302 12/27/16 (interview date 12/20/16)

Ohr FD-302 1/27/17 (interview date 1/27/17)

Ohr FD-302 1/31/17 (interview date 1/23/17)

Ohr FD-302 1/27/17 (interview date 1/25/17)

Ohr FD-302 2/8/17 (interview date 2/6/17)

Ohr FD-302 2/15/17 (interview date 2/14/17)

Ohr FD-302 5/10/17 (interview date 5/8/17)

Ohr FD-302 5/12/17 (interview date 5/12/17)

Ohr FD-302 5/16/17 (interview date 5/15/17)

It was during these interviews that Ohr transmitted his information to the FBI as noted by Grassley in his letter to Inspector General Horowitz:

These documents have raised several serious questions about the propriety of the FBIs relationship with former British Intelligence agent Christopher Steele, the letter reads. The documents also raise questions about the role of Bruce Ohr, a senior Justice Department official whose wife worked for Fusion GPS, in continuing to pass allegations from Steele and Fusion GPS to the FBI after the FBI had terminated Mr. Steele as a source.

The role of Bruce Ohrs wife, Nellie, is disclosed in the ABC News article, but only in passing references. The Ohrs have known Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, since at least 2010 when they worked together on a report for the DOJ. The Ohrs have known Steele, for an even longer period of timeback to at least 2006. Some sources indicate contact between the Ohrs and Steele goes back to early 2000.

Nellie Ohr, an expert in Russia and Eurasia, went to work for Fusion GPS sometime in the late spring of 2016. She was employed by Fusion during the same period as Steele. An unidentified source in the ABC News article says Nellie Ohr wasnt directly involved in the Dossier projectbut no explanation of her role is provided. A memo from the House Intelligence Committee disputes this assertion and notes the following:

During this same time period, Ohrs wife [Nellie Ohr] was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wifes opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC [FISA Court].

According to testimony from former FBI agent Peter Strzok, he and Ohr met at least five times during 2016 and 2017. Strzok was working directly with then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The ABC News article cited more unnamed sources as saying that some of Strzoks superiors had never even heard of Bruce Ohr until media reports surrounding him began to surface.

Bruce Ohr was one of the highest-ranking officials within the Department of Justice. He interacted directly with Strzok, who had been promoted to deputy assistant director of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division. Strzok reported to Bill Priestap, head of counterintelligence, and Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The chances of Ohr operating completely on his own, without any knowledge from his superiors, or senior FBI officials, seems a dubious prospect, indeed.

As we have detailed in a previous article, Ohrs boss, Deputy AG Sally Yates, signed the original FISA warrant on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page in October 2016, along with the first FISA renewal in January 2017.

Yates was present at a Jan. 5, 2017, meeting with then-President Barack Obama, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and then-national security adviser Susan Rice in the oval office of the White House. That meeting was documented in an email sent by Rice to herself and was disclosed in a letter from Grassley.

According to Grassley, that meeting reportedly included a discussion of the Steele dossier and the FBIs investigation of its claims.

The FD-302s that detail the FBI interviews of Ohr may shed more light on the role that senior Obama officials played in the creation of the FBIs counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaignalong with the ongoing promotion of the TrumpRussia narrative, most of which was based on Steeles information.

Information that came in part directly from Ohr.

He was ultimately demotedtwicefollowing a House intelligence committee investigation. The first demotion came on Dec. 6, 2017, when he was stripped of his associate deputy AG title and ousted from the fourth floor of Main Justice. The second demotion occurred Jan. 8, 2018, when he was stripped of his title as head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.

Ohr is scheduled to testify Aug. 28 in a closed session before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees. Despite obvious attempts to downplay his role, Ohrs testimony is likely to be highly informative and may shed real light on his true role.

Jeff Carlson is a CFA charterholder. He has worked for 20 years as an analyst and portfolio manager in the high-yield bond market. He runs the website TheMarketsWork.com
White House Praises Foreign Investment Risk Legislation That Protects US Technology

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump spoke optimistically at a White House roundtable on Aug. 23 devoted to the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA)legislation passed early this month to protect critical U.S. companies, high technology, and sensitive real estate from coming under foreign control.

Trump described the meeting, attended by members of Congress who were instrumental in passing the act, and Cabinet members, as being partly productive discussion and partly a little bit of a celebration meeting.

The discussion of FIRRMA at the White House was to a great degree about responding to the Chinese regimes predations.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said: Mr. President, as you know, we often talk about this, and Im constantly thanking you for finally standing up to China after far too long of not doing it, as an American government.  Because they seek to replace us in the worldnot to be equal to us, to overtake us. And its almost too late. But finally, someone is standing up to them.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Fla.) pointed out that China doesnt need as much as before to steal American technology, as it could now obtain technology by buying small, innovative American companies.

FIRRMA will allow us to recognize those threats for what they are, and to stop China from buying our most critical technology, Cotton said.

Trump noted how the United States is rising very rapidly and is a hot country. With FIRRMA, U.S. companies and companies moving to the United States will be protected.

Strengthen and Modernize

On a conference call, a senior administration official described FIRRMA as a major legislative victory for the administration, and probably the greatest bipartisan victory by the administration.

The act modernizes the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for the first time in 30 years.

The official said FIRRMA has two main purposes. The first is to deal with some of the significant threats to our national security, from predatory investment policies.

The second is to help to continue to grow the economy. Restrictions on investment, if too strict, might effectively redirect foreign investment to other countries, damaging American growth and innovation. So, the drafters of FIRRMA sought a careful balance between protecting U.S. national security and minimizing harm to the economy.

We really came up with something that we think really hits that golden mean between ensuring that we have national security but, at the same time, that open-investment climate, said the official.

A second senior administration official explained how FIRRMA strengthens and modernizes CFIUS.

FIRRMA gives CFIUS two big buckets of transactions that it didnt previously have jurisdiction over, the official said.

The first of these buckets involves real estate. The failure of CFIUS to have authority over real-estate deals was exposed in 2006 when a Dubai company bid to operate six U.S. ports. This deal came under intense scrutiny from members of Congress who discovered CFIUS didnt have the authority to stop the deal, which the Dubai company eventually dropped under pressure.

FIRRMA reach encompasses ports and real estate near sensitive military installations and, in other ways, expands the jurisdiction to review real-estate transactions.

The second bucket involves partial ownership of companies. A foreign investor might have less than a controlling stake in a company but, through a seat on the companys board, for instance, acquire insight into critical technologies, the ability to make key decisions or participate in decisions with respect to critical infrastructure, and in some cases, access to Americans personally identifiable information, the official said.

In these cases, CFIUS can now review and, if necessary, deny those investments.
ANSONIA-A planned walkout was intended Thursday morning if Mayor David Cassetti showed up to address teachers during their annual convocation before Mondays start of school.

We planned on sending a message, said Matt Hough, president of the 175-member Ansonia Federation of Teachers which is part of the American Federation of Teachers. We wanted to tell the mayor until you listen to us were not listening to you.

Copies of messages sent to teachers indicate the protest was planned in advance. In those messages, teachers were told they are not required to participate but if they do there will be no consequences for employing their first amendment right.

Teachers also were told they could turn their back on him if he speaks but that is not the preferred method.

As it was Cassetti, who said he has addressed the teachers every year since his election, was not invited nor did he show up for the roughly 90-minute orientation at the High School.

Back in June, Cassetti was not invited to speak at the high school graduation.

Superintendent of Schools Carol Merlone said there was no keynote speaker or anyone else from outside the school system during Thursdays teachers meeting. She gave a similar response in June regarding the graduation

All this shows that the wounds are still festering from the Board of Aldermens actions in January removing $600,000 from the school boards budget.

While the aldermen claim the money was a loan to help the board get through the 2017 state budget crisis, the school board says otherwise. They point to state statutes they prevent a municipality from reducing a school boards budget once its approved.

This led to the Board of Education suing for $600,000 return and demanding it be included in future budgets. They are armed with a legal opinion from the State Board of Education warning the city that if the $600,000 is not returned an additional $600,000 penalty will be imposed.

As a result of the budget take back, Hough said 16 teaching positions and one and a half administrative positions were eliminated. Since then eight teachers were re-hired.

All this could lead to some class sizes of more than 30 students.

Meanwhile, Cassetti said he would talked about bullying if he were allowed to speak to the teachers.

Now I feel like Im being bullied, the mayor said.

.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making a bold and risky push to reinvigorate a diplomatic effort with North Korea that is struggling to make progress amid increasingly belligerent rhetoric from Pyongyang. Inside the Trump administration, frustration mounts as officials debate how bad the situation really is and what to do about it.

When Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang next week, alongside his freshly appointed special envoyStephenBiegun, he will be under severe pressure to show tangible evidence that his diplomacy is producing real results. If Pompeo's trip is a failure, skeptics inside the administration and around Washington will push for a change in tactics to acknowledge the reality that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not living up to his promises. It will be the most significant trip of Pompeo's diplomatic career.

Despite his public optimism, President Donald Trump privately has been expressing frustration with the negative publicity surrounding his North Korea diplomacy, according toadministration officials. This week, the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed "grave concern" in a new report that claims Pyongyang is continuing to develop its nuclear capabilities, despite Kim's pledge to denuclearize.

Last week, North Korea's foreign ministry issued a statement blaming unnamed "high-level officials" in the Trump administration for "going against the intention of president Trump" by criticizing the Kim regime's lack of progress. The main goal of Pompeo's trip, officials said, is to reverse the downward trend, set the diplomacy on a positive footing and quiet the critics in Washington, D.C., and Pyongyang.

But Pompeo has few tools to induce more concessions from Kim. And if he takes a harder line, he risks blowing up the negotiations altogether.

"Pompeo is stuck," said one senior administration official who was not authorized to speak. "He's a prisoner of championing a policy that's based on what the president would love to see happen, but not based on reality and the facts on the ground."

In anticipation of Pompeo's trip, Trump sent a letter to Kim. Officials briefed on the letter said it implored Kim to take steps to advance diplomacy while also urging him not to take any more negative steps that might jeopardize this opportunity - what officials called a carrot-and-stick message.

Even the decision to send the letter was a matter of dispute within the Trump team. National security adviser John Bolton, who has taken a hard line internally, argued against sending the letter. Bolton and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have also argued against giving Kim a new concession in the form of a declaration officially ending the Korean War. The Pentagon declined to comment, and a National Security Council spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

The Trump administration has already announced limited sanctions against Chinese and Russian firms helping the Kim regime bust sanctions, but some officials want to see Trump pivot toward a tougher public stance to respond to Kim's misbehavior. The Trump team cannot even agree on how grave the situation is.

"It's now a process designed to measure not how much progress we're making, but how much damage is being done," the senior administration official said.

That confusion leaves Pompeo with the difficult task of reversing the downward trend in the diplomacy without having anything new to offer. His last trip to Pyongyang ended in failure, when Kim refused to meet him and the North Koreans blasted him as soon as he left. He must show something publicly this time to prove to the public, internal administration critics and the president that the diplomacy is not going as badly as it looks.

If the trip is another failure, internal critics and some in Congress will push for more pressure on North Korea, more sanctions, a resumption of U.S.-South Korea military exercises, and other measures to show Kim he can't jerk around the United States. The argument against these measures is that they could create a rift in the U.S.-South Korea alliance and risk sinking the whole process - with the blame falling on the U.S. government.

There are some positive signs. Biegun, though not a North Korea expert per se, is a highly experienced professional who will hopefully add some regularity to U.S. negotiations with Pyongyang. Having the secretary of state fly halfway around the world every time there's a problem isn't sustainable. Pompeo may also be working other angles we just don't know about.

But the fundamental problem with the Trump-Kim scheme remains: Until there is tangible evidence Kim is actually willing to denuclearize, each concession only plays into his strategy to stall for time, relieve financial pressure and normalize his regime's status as a de facto nuclear state.

Unlike Trump, Pompeo has never said he believes Kim is sincere, only that the United States must test that sincerity. Time is almost up for North Korea to pass or fail that test. Pompeo must not return from his fourth trip to Pyongyang empty-handed.
Smoking is detrimental to the health of Illinoisans of all ages, Rauner wrote. It is important that we address the issues caused by tobacco use, especially since many people begin using tobacco at a young age. Unfortunately, this legislation will inhibit the choice of consumers while also not helping keep tobacco products out of the hands of youth.
EDWARDSVILLE  In a case initiated by authorities at Scott Air Base, two men are facing charges of unlawful marijuana trafficking after they allegedly sought to receive a package sent from California to an address in Troy.

Caleb A. Person, 21, and Christopher O. Blake, 21, both of OFallon, were charged with unlawful marijuana trafficking, unlawful possession with intent to deliver marijuana and unlawful possession of marijuana. Bail for Person was set at $100,000. Bail for Blake was set at $175,000.

An agent with the police on the base contacted state police and informed them that Person was suspected of selling drugs to people at the base and in the area around the base.

The agents with the Air Force told police they recovered data from Persons phone that showed photographs of raw marijuana, alprazolam and firearms. The phone search included conversations about marijuana and tracking numbers for United States Postal packages.

On of the tracking numbers matched to a home in the 100 block of Wayland Avenue, Troy. Authorities intercepted the package at the Network Distribution Center in Hazelwood, Mo. The package seemed to be excessively taped, and a trained dog alerted on it as possibly containing drugs.

An agent for the post office delivered the package to the address in Troy. Police placed the home under surveillance, and, eventually, both the suspects showed up there and became involved in an argument, a court document states.

Blake and Person were then tracked to the Troy Police Office, where they inquired about the package. They were arrested at the post office. State police report officers opened the package and found 2,776 grams of marijuana.

The two suspects were charged Aug. 6. Details of the case became public this weeks. The information is included in a court document requesting permission to search the contents of Blakes cell phone.

Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449.
I know that in the closing hours, minutes of his life, that he will continue to show that same courage as he has for his country all his life, Durbin said at an unrelated event in the Loop. John McCain is an American hero.
51 minutes ago

'Nothing else here': Why it's so hard for world to quit coal

DHANBAD, India (AP)  Every day, Raju gets on his bicycle and unwillingly pedals the world a tiny bit closer to climate catastrophe. Every day, he straps half a dozen sacks of coal pilfered from mines  up to 200 kilograms, or 440 pounds  to the reinforced metal frame of his bike.

Read Article
We have been contacted by the Illinois Attorney General and look forward to discussing our policies and procedures related to misconduct issues with her and her office, the statement reads. We have worked cooperatively with the Cook County and Lake County States Attorneys for many years. Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Chicago has reported all abuse allegations to the proper civil authorities  DCFS (in cases involving children) and the appropriate States Attorney.
Emanuel has largely declined to engage directly with those who have announced they will run against him in the February municipal election. But when Vallas scheduled an event last month to highlight what he said was a shortage of ambulances in the Chicago Fire Department, Emanuel pre-emptively announced he was adding five ambulances to the fleet minutes before the Vallas news conference. Collins said the city had just received the ambulances and got them on the street as quickly as possible.
Vallas on Thursday said Emanuel should have used part of a $10.4 million settlement with Uber and Lyft over the companies failure to meet city standards on background checks to reopen six mental health centers he closed as part of his first city budget after his 2011 election. Emanuel announced this month he would use the ride-share money for youth mentoring programs.
My best and greatest hope is in the people of this country, that the government has an important role to play, but not the primary role, Hultgren said. That the most important thing is providing opportunities.  That is what America is all about, is the right to rise. Its not a guarantee. Its not government leveling everybody else off, that no matter how hard you work everybody gets a C in the class. No. Its the opportunity to work hard and do better, and if you fail to learn from it, you come back stronger.
Bank of Thailand working to launch own cryptocurrency

PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has entered into a collaborative project to develop and launch a cryptocurrency that is to be used as a trading platform for transfers between participating banks. The new digital currency is scheduled for launch in Q1 2019.



By The Phuket News

Friday 24 August 2018, 11:23AM

The Bank of Thailand is working on issuing its own cryptocurrency to be used for inter-bank transfers, government bond sales and cross-border transactions. Photo: Post Today / file

The BoT and the participating banks will collaboratively design and develop a proof-of-concept prototype for wholesale funds transfer by issuing wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (Wholesale CBDC).

The prototype will be built on Corda, a DLT platform developed by R3, announced a Bank of Thailand release issued on Tuesday (Aug 21). (See release here.)

The project, called Project Inthanon and led by the BoT, is a collaboration of technology partners R3 and eight participating banks, the release noted.

The participating banks were identified as: Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Thanachart Bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) PCL and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC).

The outcome and insights from Project Inthanon will contribute to the design of Thailands future financial market infrastructure. This is in line with similar projects embarked upon by other central banks such as the Bank of Canada, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said the release.

In addition to Project Inthanon, the BoT is conducting a DLT proof of concept for scriptless government savings bond sale to improve operational efficiency, it added.

Project Inthanon Phase 1 currently underway involves the designing, developing and testing a domestic wholesale funds transfer by using wholesale CBDC.

Key payment functionalities such as liquidity saving mechanism and risk management will also be developed and tested during this phase, said the release.

Project Inthanon Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2019 after which the BOT will publish a project summary accordingly, it added.

Building upon the findings and outcomes from Phase 1, the project participants aim to further develop the capabilities of the prototype for broader functions including third party funds transfer and cross-border funds transfer, the BoT concluded.
Clean the Beach Boot Camp making us all feel a little respect

Whilst loving the world-class beaches we have on offer across the island, its a little difficult at times not to be disappointed at how badly they are maintained and looked after.

CommunityEnvironmentHealth

By David Jacklin

Friday 24 August 2018, 09:00AM

On a recent trip to Panwa, with stunning views from a resort across Chalong Bay, the eye was sadly brought down to the mountain of waste lapping the shoreline, and my spirits with it. As Aretha would sing, All Im askin is for a little respect.

Theres little point just harping on about it. There is reform afoot with business practices and education, but this will take time. What we need is positive action and inspiration at an individual level that brings about immediate change.

A step in the right direction, nay, a true giant leap, are the efforts of Krix Luther and Clean The Beach Boot Camp (CBBC).

The principle is simple. Events are organised on a number of beaches across the island. People turn up for a beach workout with a qualified trainer. They sweat it out on the sand for an hour. After the initial calorie burn, they finish the job by cleaning up the beach of rubbish for another hour. Sounds like a worthwhile local effort? Why not. But after launching the event just over five years ago here in Phuket, CBBC is now operating in nine countries, has conducted over 1,800 clean-ups, collected over 500,000kg of rubbish, and made over 32,500 people a little healthier in both body and spirit.

What drives it to be so successful? My belief is in the simple answer that it is free. No, not because we are all cheapskate conservationists, but because by being free the intention of all involved, from the instructors to the volunteers, is entirely for common good.

Clean The Beach Boot Camp is the brainchild of Krix Luther, a previous Muay Thai champion turned health and fitness specialist and personal trainer. So how did CBBC first come about?

Id started an early morning boot camp on Nai Harn Beach, but there was so much rubbish. It was too dangerous to train. So I asked the group if they could help me clear up the beach for 40 minutes, and Id not charge for the session. They stayed far longer than 40 minutes and we all felt rather good. CBBC was born.

Krix assures me that whilst Boot Camp sounds a little harsh, in reality the sessions are designed to accommodate people at all levels working at their own pace. Initially, as an ice-breaker, people are paired up for a dynamic stretch and movement patterns prior to timed exercises for the main workout, which enables everyone to go at their own pace. A yoga session is used for the cool-down period.

It began as an expat event, but we increasingly get locals, and we now have a Facebook page in Thai language, Krix proudly declared. Good deeds backed by good intentions. Its such a nice way to bring the community together.

CBBC has grown organically in the past few years to other areas of the globe. Inspired by the workouts in Phuket, personal trainers and friends who had re-located started asking if they were able to run events in their environments. From Angola to Kuwait, Bali to Hong Kong the word is spreading and beaches are gleaming once again. So how do people join?

Its as easy as just turning up and getting involved, said Krix. We have a local chapter Facebook page that details the events which happen every two weeks at different locations.

Its very worthwhile mentioning that theres also a donation system on the CBBC website for those that want to support, but perhaps not so physically. All the set up equipment, gloves and rubbish bags are paid for by CBBC, and sponsorship is always welcome to support their not for profit charitable efforts.

Clean The Beach Boot Camp is an incredible effort by one mans goal to make a difference, and a legion of people who not only know, but can feel the effects of what hes bringing about. Theres positivity in the air. Time to look both up and down the beach again with pride.

The Clean The Beach Boot Camp website can be found at www.cleanthebeachbootcamp.com

www.facebook.com/CleanTheBeachBootCamp/
Freeloading official brought to task for demanding free hotel room, abusing staff

PHUKET: A freeloading official has been forced to apologise for intimidating and unloading a tirade of vulgar abuse at staff at a Krabi resort for not getting the room he wanted at the nearly fully booked resort  for free.



By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 24 August 2018, 07:36PM

Than Sintawalai, Chief of the Department of Rural Roads Krabi office, caught on CCTV abusing the staff and demanding a free room at the resort. Screengrab: CCTV

The official caught abusing hotel staff and demanding a free room at the resort was Than Sintawalai, Chief of the Department of Rural Roads Krabi office.

Suthat Prukamonkul, General Manager of Ao Nang Phu Pi Maan Resort and Spa, filed a formal complaint of the incident to the Krabi Governor yesterday (Aug 23).

The complaint was also filed with Office of the Provincial Highways Region 14 office and included CCTV footage of the incident.

Mr Suthat also presented to Damrongsak Kongchuay, Acting Director of the Office of Rural Roads Region 14 office, a request to conduct a disciplinary investigation of Mr Thans behaviour.

The complaint explained that Mr Than had arrived at the resort with family on July 27.

Mr Than asked for a room with a Jacuzzi on the fifth floor of the resort.

Of note, Mr Suthat pointed out, Mr Than had demanded the room for free.

Staff explained that the resort was nearly fully booked with guests, but managed to offer him a room with a Jacuzzi on the fourth floor.

Unhappy, Mr Than unleashed a tirade of verbal abuse at the staff that resort GM Mr Suthat at best described as vulgarity not appropriate for the employees.

Mr Suthat explained that twice he had arranged appointments for Mr Than to come and apologise for his behaviour.

Twice, Mr Than had failed to turn up.

However, Mr Than changed his tune yesterday when Krabi Provincial Police Commander Lt Col ML Kittibordee Prawit called Mr Than to meet hotel representatives to discuss the issue.

Mr Than admitted that he was the person in the CCTV footage seen abusing the staff.

He also apologised to the owner of the hotel for the incident and made an appointment with the hotel management to make his apology, which will also be to the employees

Mr Than said that he wanted to bring the issue to an end.

I had a lot of work and did not have time to meet the hotel to make an apology, he said.

Mr Than added that he was now ready to follow orders.
Hurricane Lane pummels Hawaii with torrential rain

HAWAII: Torrential rains struck Hawaii as Hurricane Lane moved toward the island state, triggering land slides and flash flooding.

weathertourismdisasters

By AFP

Friday 24 August 2018, 03:48PM

Residents of Oahu are restocking their water and non-perishable food supplies as preparation for the looming threat of Hurricane Lane. Photo: AFP

The different parts and structure of a hurricane. Image: AFP

Hurricane Lane is expected to bring up to 30 inches (750mm) of rain to Hawaii in the coming four to five days. Photo: AFP

In Hawaii, residents stocked up on food, water, petrol and emergency supplies as the hurricane approached. Photo: AFP

A car is submerged in floodwaters on Hawaiis Big Island as Hurricane Lane approaches Photo: AFP

At 0600 GMT (1pm today, Aug 24, Phuket time), the National Weather Service said the hurricane was packing winds in excess of 120 miles per hour (195km/h), despite being downgraded to category three.

Currently located some 230 miles south of the capital Honolulu, Hurricane Lane was expected to hit very close to the islands on last night or this morning.

Hurricane Lane is still a dangerous and powerful storm, Governor David Ige told a news conference yesterday afternoon.

Up to 12 inches of rain had already fallen before dawn, federal authorities said, with 30 inches expected in the worst-hit areas over the coming four to five days.

Over two feet of rain have already fallen at a couple of locations on the windward side of the Big Island, the National Hurricane Center said.

Emergency teams have set up 16 evacuation centres, with a further 19 due to open later as President Donald Trump, who has declared a state of emergency, urged Hawaiians to hunker down and prepare for the worst.

Our teams are closely coordinating with the state and local authorities. You are in our thoughts! Trump tweeted.

Panic mode

Brock Long, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said authorities were extremely concerned about the potentials for inland flooding, landslides occurring and damage to the transportation, communications infrastructure.

Residents across the state stocked up on water, food, gasoline and emergency supplies as Lane drew nearer

Last couple of days its been like this  its been busy, said Chris, an employee at a gas station in Haleiwa, on the north shore of Oahu island  the location of the capital Honolulu.

We have been just constantly getting cars filling up. Everybody is in a panic mode right now  everyone is filling up gas, gas cans, propane cans and all that.

Landslides and flooding caused by the first rainstorm partially blocked several roads on Big Island, according to local media.

Sea levels were expected to rise as much as two to four feet above normal tide levels, causing coastal erosion and prompting a storm surge and large and destructive waves.

Surfers could be seen taking advantage of the calm before the storm to get out on their boards one last time before the ocean got too violent.

Flights cancelled

United Airlines said it had cancelled all Friday flights to and from Kahului airport on Maui, the second-largest island.

Honolulu authorities said they were planning to activate a three-minute island-wide outdoor siren warning system at 4pm local time (9am today, Phuket time) to alert the public to the possibility of severe flooding.

Free transport will be available between the capital and Oahu islands evacuation shelters, which had welcomed around 350 people by noon, according to the Maui 24/7 local news portal.

The US Coast Guard said 57,000 US military personnel already stationed in Hawaii were ready to provide logistical and medical support or conduct search and rescue missions operations.

Hurricane Lane is not a well-behaved hurricane, Ige said in a statement as he declared a state of emergency on Tuesday on the Big Island. Ive not seen such dramatic changes in the forecast track as Ive seen with this storm.

Hurricanes rarely make landfall in Hawaii and the last major storm to strike the state was nearly three decades ago, when Hurricane Iniki barrelled into the island of Kauai, leaving six dead and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Federal officials have been working with Hawaiian utility managers to keep a close eye on the power grid, a major vulnerability in Puerto Rico last year when it was hit by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm.

Hurricane-related deaths in Puerto Rico have been estimated at as many as 4,600 people, largely because prolonged and widespread power outages and washed out roads prevented access to health care, US researchers said.
Kamala beachfront business, workers camps warned over illegal wastewater dumping

PHUKET: One beachfront business and two workers camps have been issued formal warnings over illegally releasing untreated wastewater into a canal in Kamala, officials confirmed today (Aug 24).



By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Friday 24 August 2018, 12:33PM

The black, fetid canal before the sand was excavated to allow it to empty onto Kamla Beach last week. Photo: Kamala OrBorTor

The issue came to a head last week when the Kamala Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor) received an onslaught of complaints about the canal, which empties into the sea at the northern end of Kamala Beach, turning black and reeking of the foul stench of sewage.

The complaints, filed through the Pineapple Eyes community network Line Group, spurred the Kamala OrBorTor and the Kathu District Office to have a backhoe excavate a channel last Friday (Aug 17) so that the fetid water could flow across the sand and into the beach water. (See story here).

We found three major sources that release untreated wastewater into the canal. One is a beachfront business beside the canal, the other two are workers camps further upstream, Kamala OrBorTor Deputy Chief Executive Nopporn Karuna told The Phuket News this morning (Aug 24),

The business released sewage into the canal because of it doesnt have a completed wastewater-treatment system yet, he said.

The two workers camps nearby released used wastewater without using grease traps, he added.

The business and the company representatives responsible for maintaining the workers camps have been issued formal warnings giving them seven days from Aug 17 to fix the problems, Mr Nopporn explained.

They have not been charged yet, but they will be punished if we find out that this continues. There will have no more excuses to give us again, he said.

Failure to rectify the problems will see the Kamala OrBorTor order the three companies involved to shut down any activities at the three sites until the wastewater issue has been improved in accordance with municipal law, Mr Nopporn added.

We will return to inspect the wastewater released at these three sites next week, he said.

We are looking forward to a positive result to our warnings, but we will go to inspect the wastewater they are releasing next week and test it through chemical analysis to ensure it complies with environmental regulations, Mr Nopporn said.
Mother protests silence over child rape

BANGKOK: The mother of a 7-year-old boy who claims her son was sexually abused by a high-ranking soldier filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) yesterday (Aug 23), demanding he be formally charged rather than receive a slap on the wrist.

militarysexcrime

By Bangkok Post

Friday 24 August 2018, 09:17AM

Col Winthai Suvaree, army spokesman, says a committee has been set up to investigate whether to pursue the rape charges. Photo: Bangkok Post / file

The 47-year-old woman, whose name was withheld, handed her son's medical examination documents to the CSD as evidence.

The woman said she and her twin boys lived in a house inside a military compound in Trang. It was unclear what connection she had with the military that allowed her to live inside the camp.

The mother took her son to hospital and test results showed evidence of sexual abuse, she said.

The mother then brought the matter to senior officers at the camp, hoping they would conduct an investigation and discipline the man.

Shortly afterwards, a military officer from the camp came to her house and offered B300,000 in damages to settle the matter, she said. She declined.

She then lodged a complaint with the Huai Yot district police. However there has been little progress in the police probe to date, the woman said.

She subsequently decided to raise the matter with the CSD in Bangkok.

The woman said the family has since moved out of the military camp and are staying with relatives for safety reasons'.

Army spokesman Col Winthai Suvaree said yesterday that the unit supervising the accused soldier concluded he had committed a disciplinary violation.

He was jailed for 15 days and has been suspended from service without pay, Col Winthai added.

Read original story here.
Phuket beachgoers warned as surf danger continues

PHUKET: The International Surf Lifesaving Association (ISLA) has issued warning of continuing dangerous surf conditions at beaches along Phukets west coast.

tourismmarineSafety

By The Phuket News

Friday 24 August 2018, 11:45AM

The warning comes as the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) yesterday issued a surf warning for the entire Andaman coast. Image DDPM

The warning was posted on the International Surf Lifesaving Association (ISLA) South East Asia Facebook page. (Click here.)

The warning comes as the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) yesterday issued a surf warning for the entire Andaman coast, including Phuket, Phang, Nga, Krabi, Trang and Satun, for Aug 23-27. (See main image above.)

The surf danger that has been entrenched in Phuket for the last several weeks is forecast to continue. There may, however, be periods of sunshine and lighter winds that will draw visitors to the beaches, ISLA explained in its warning today (Aug 24).

Accordingly, the following warnings issued by the ISLA remain in effect for the next 48 to 72 hours:

High Surf

Severe Channelised Rip Currents

Flash Rip Currents

Dangerous Beach Debris

Eighty percent of Phukets beach drownings are rip current related, and most of these occur under sunny skies, explained the warning.

Dangerous debris such as sharp stakes, broken concrete with rebar protruding, broken glass, etc. are present on the sand and in the water at many west coast beaches, especially Surin. Walkers and swimmers are advised to watch where they swim and step while walking.

Of critical note is that during periods of severe rip current activity, even swimmers in waist-deep water can be overwhelmed by waves and pulled out to sea, ISLA cautioned.

Beach visitors should only swim or wade in safe swimming areas marked by red and yellow flags.

Otherwise, beachgoers should stay out of the water completely, especially in areas marked by red flags, the warning urged.
"I don't think people have lived in an era in recent generations where they felt the impact of SCOTUS decisions to be so personal, in so many ways," said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, using the acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States. "With the recent [Supreme Court] decisions, it was just like bam, bam, bam. And something about that just shook people and made them feel like, 'We've got to stop this.' "
Frank Farrar, former South Dakota governor and GOP statesman, dies

Farrar served as the state's youngest attorney general before winning the governor seat.
Thirty states have legalized marijuana for medical use, with twenty still debating the issue, including South Carolina. The East Cooper Republican Club in Charleston, South Carolina recently hosted a forum to discuss the passage of the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act, with Senator Tom Davis, Representatives Lin Bennett and Nancy Mace, Jill Swing, President, SC Compassionate Care Alliance, and Christopher Pelic, MD Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

According to the act, the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana are cancer, multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease or disorder, sickle cell anemia, glaucoma, PTSD, a condition causing a person to be homebound that includes severe or persistent nausea, or a chronic medical condition causing either severe and persistent muscle spasms or for which an opioid is currently or could be prescribed by a physician based on generally acceptable standards of care. And with the constant news about opioid addiction, with Charleston County the worst in South Carolina for overdoses, proponents of the act make a strong case for medical cannabis, especially as a replacement for addictive opioids.

At the forum, Senator Tom Davis, a proponent of the act, said the case for legalizing marijuana for medical use is based on good medical science. He commented on a specific case where medical marijuana resulted in seizures up to one hundred per hour go down to zero.

Even doctors in the addictions field, such as Christopher Pelic with MUSC, advocate for the use of medical marijuana. As a physician, when it comes to prescribing, he said medical marijuana is something that he would like to have in my arsenal. Some interventions work better than others so he believes this is something that should be in his toolkit as a physician.

Resistance to the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act comes in part from law enforcement and because South Carolina is a conservative state. For some people, it took time for them to do get on board with the act. Representative Lin Bennett admitted she initially was totally against this. In doing her own research, she learned this is a viable solution for patients and encouraged other people to do their own research. This drug helps.

Concerns were raised at the forum by Coroner Rae H. Wooten who said she was troubled by a lot of the loopholes in the bill and believes the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act is a stepping stone to legalization.

It is a legitimate concern. There are still many who view marijuana as a gateway drug to more serious drugs, potentially leading to abuse. In that case, it appears to be just as bad as opioids.

Davis reiterated his stance that this should still be legal for medical use and this would be the most conservative medical cannabis program in the country. Pelic noted it is important to look at risks and benefits and to have protections in place like any other medicine. When prescribed to children, Pelic acknowledged there could be some consequences to a developing child yet also noted untreated seizures do damage to the brain.

Although some argue that CBD is good enough without the THC, Jill Swing of South Carolina Compassionate Care said in her experience, the whole plant derivative including the THC is what worked best for her daughter. She was a different child.

Legalizing cannabis for medical use is also a protection for patients and their caregivers. Once legalized, what goes into it is regulated, benefiting desperate family members who now turn to the black market. They would no longer have to go to the streets to buy it and not know exactly what they are getting.

A regulated plant-based derivative does sound better than chemicals we create in the lab, whether it is opioids or other highly addictive substances. As Bennett said God gave us this. Since a majority of South Carolinians support legalization for medicinal use, it does appear that Bennett could be right. Maybe God really did give this to usto use responsibly.
OXFORD, N.S.A large sink hole that swallowed up a towering spruce tree in a Nova Scotia park appears to be growing by the day, and sparking concerns about a nearby community centre.

Yellow caution tape has been put up around an area at the Oxford and Area Lions Parkland in Oxford because of the widening hole in the ground.

Bruce Selkirk, a member of the nearby Oxford Lions Club, said some trees quickly plunged into the hole when it opened up weeks ago.

It swallowed about an eight-inch maple tree and about a 24-inch spruce tree  40 feet high and it just swallowed it, Selkirk said. It was like flushing a toilet. They were just like, Bumph, theyre gone.

Selkirk said members of the club first noticed the sink hole around the end of July during a wedding reception. He said it continues to grow every day. And now, he says the Lions Club is concerned about their community centre, which is close to the park.

Its not stopping, Selkirk told Global News. We dont know when its going to stop or where its going to stop or what else is going to go.

Read more:

Massive sinkhole opens up in Weston neighbourhood, swallows front half of car

Sinkhole big enough to swallow car opens on Yonge St. near Hwy. 401

Swimming-pool sized sinkhole damages Richmond Hill boulevard

Although maps of the area show the prospect that a sink hole could develop, geologists say theres no way to know when one will open up or when it will stop growing.

We can predict because of the kind of rock underneath that they will occur in the area, but where in the area is sort of similar to putting a thousand people in an open field with steel umbrellas in a lightning storm, said geologist Bob Ryan. You know its likely that one of them is going to get hit with lightning, but (you cant tell) which person.

The Oxford sink hole is the second large such hole to open up in Nova Scotia in less than a year. Last fall, a home in Falmouth started to fall into a sink hole in the middle of the night and had to be demolished.

Its an incident that experts say was unusual.

In my 40 odd years as a geologist, other than the house in Falmouth, any other structures that have been damaged have been small out buildings or barns or something, said Ryan.

Its unclear how much damage the sink hole in Oxford has caused or when the park will reopen.

Ryan said it will remain closed until its safe, but that he doesnt know how long that will be.

It could be in a month, could be in a week, could be in a year. We have no idea, he said.

Read more about:
New food businesses seeking to stand out from the competition are refurbishing retro vehicles into mobile food operations. But the process isnt without its pitfalls. We spoke to five mobile food vendors in the city to hear about the joys and challenges of operating a business out of a vintage vehicle.

Little Havana Cafe

1962 Holiday Rambler

Monica Mustelier has fond childhood memories of waking up to the smell of coffee when visiting her fathers native home in Santiago de Cuba. Although her father, Marcello, has since passed away, Mustelier keeps his spirit alive through the mobile cafe she runs with her husband, Joshua English.

While Mustelier was largely responsible for the cafes branding and menu, English, a former restaurant manager and design consultant, led the trailers refurbishment. After looking at half a dozen trailers in the fall of 2016, the couple landed on a 1962 Holiday Rambler found on Kijiji, located outside of Port Hope, Ont. As soon as we opened the door and walked in, we said, This is it. There was already a stainless-steel counter installed where English envisioned placing an espresso machine.

With the help of woodworker and custom builder Michael Simardone, the two carved out three generous openings on the sides of the vehicle to allow for maximum versatility. Sometimes, well be parked beside another vendor, another food truck or a wall, English says. Simardone happened to have a pair of 100-year-old windows in his workshop, saved from a previous project, that fit Englishs design perfectly. The cafe opened for business in April 2017.

Little Havana Cafe now operates at two markets a week  the SickKids Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Humber Bay Shores on Saturdays  serving up to 400 Cuban-style coffees and beverages a shift. But a five-hour service ends up being a seven-hour workday, since Mustelier and English must pack up nearly all the components inside the trailer before driving away. Everyday we work, its like camping, English says.

Jacked Up Coffee

1973 and 1975 Citroen H Van

Jack Provans six-foot-two frame barely clears the back of his retrofitted Citroen H van-turned coffee truck  something he realized only after driving to Montreal in a snowstorm to scope out the vehicle he found on Kijiji. The head clearance is just enough, Provan says. I think its six-foot-two-and-a-half inches. For the vans other dimensions, Provan blocked off the exact available working space in his basement apartment in three different colours of masking tape to perfect the flow of customers and placement of his equipment.

After a five-month renovation process, Provan pulled his first official espresso on Canada Day 2015, but struggled to find enough foot traffic. That winter, Jacked Up Coffee was invited to participate in the Yorkville Village Holiday Market, and Provan ended up with a somewhat permanent home for his truck in a laneway off Yorkville Ave. owned by retail development group First Capital.

The vehicle has made something of a handyman out of Provan. He recalls a time the truck was moved to place artificial grass on the surface underneath. The brakes jammed up, he says. I had to get under the truck and pry open the brakes with my bare hands. But Jacked Up Coffees success  and his partnership with First Capital  prompted Provan to refurbish another nearly identical vehicle, which began operating in June outside of West Elm in Liberty Village. Provan is searching for a selling location for this second vehicle thats better protected from the elements once cold weather arrives.

Dolcella Gelato

1965 DIVCO Truck

Lisa Wallis, a former dental hygienist, still marvels at the risk she took in January 2014, when she bought the vehicle that eventually became her mobile gelato business. It was a spontaneous purchase, Wallis says. I purchased it in an online auction without even seeing it, which is insane. The vehicle, located in Fort Lauderdale, was a 1965 DIVCO (Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company) truck once used to deliver milk. That kind of fitted what I was making, she says.

After the vehicle was shipped to Walliss home in Barrie, she discovered that the mechanically revamped components werent properly assembled, and so a local mechanic worked on the vehicle over a period of four months. An external generator that Walliss stepfather cleverly rigged on a pulley, to be removed when needed, provides energy to keep the gelato case cool. Dolcellas first scoop was served on Canada Day 2014 at the City of Barries Promenade Days.

Part of the mechanical work involved replacing the engine. Originally these old trucks were not meant to go up past 20 or 30 miles an hour, Wallis says. I take this on the highway all the time. Wallis hasnt put air conditioning in the vehicle, so she drives to and from events (going from Barrie to as far as Mississauga) with the side doors open when it gets hot.

Assembly Chefs Hall Patio Bar

1963 Airstream Safari

Even before Assembly Chefs Hall, a 17-vendor food hall in the Financial District, had any fixtures or furniture, owner Andreas Antoniou had already acquired a 1963 Airstream Safari trailer from a private collection in Muskoka with the intention of refurbishing it as the halls patio bar.

Antoniou recruited the Concord, Ont.-based fabrication firm Defined Designs to restore the trailer. Creative director Dwayne Virag was at the helm of the project. The trailers exterior was already polished and in excellent condition, but the interior needed to be stripped, the subfloor replaced and key welding points in the steel frame reinforced. This required the body to be separated and lifted up off the frame. We wanted to make sure it was up to code and strong enough considering all the weight and equipment that was going to go into it, Virag says.

After structural needs were met, Virags team began the trailers transformation into a bar. The front section became a walk-in fridge to house the draft and soda systems. The lines run through holes cut in the frame and insulation to reach taps at the opposite end. When it came to cutting a functioning service door into the side of the Airstream  something that might take a day on a normal trailer  it took Virags team a week to execute it because of the Airstreams iconic but inconsistent curves. The trailer, which is parked on Assemblys patio, began operating as a bar in June, but Virag attests that once detached from electricity and water hookups, its still fully mobile.

Bar Ape

1982 Piaggio Ape

Eight years ago, James Carnevale was making gelato for another Toronto business but had always dreamed of having his own mobile operation. He was already producing gelato bars in small batches for his employer when he realized how practical the pre-packaged model was. So he purchased a 1982 Piaggio Ape in October 2010 from a Kijiji reseller at Sheppard Ave. W. and Bathurst St., and spent the next three years slowly refurbishing the vehicle with the help of a mechanic that lived three hours away. Bar Ape sold its first gelato bar in the summer of 2013.

Carnevale, along with friend and co-founder Nick Genova, peddled Bar Apes gelato bars in Trinity Bellwoods and other parks. Like other mobile operations, they discovered the challenges of finding suitable places to park and sell. Meanwhile, the pair contended with frequent mechanical breakdowns. I have pushed the vehicle around a whole bunch of times, like 30-minute pushes from wherever I am to get to my house to park it, Carnevale says. Ive jump-started it by myself  ran with it and then jumped inside, popped the gear, turned the key and started it  because it needed a bit of a rolling start to jump.

By 2016, Genova and Carnevale opened a bricks-and-mortar storefront on Rushton Rd., just north of St. Clair Ave. W., which is the primary venue to sell and produce their gelato. They are concentrating their efforts at the storefront, reserving the truck for private hires and events, allowing them to focus on producing new flavours like the yogurt, sage and lemon bar  a recent feature item.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  The Supreme Court (SC) junked Senator Leila de Lima's appeal to join oral argument proceedings on the country's pullout from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Voting 10-3, the court said there were no new arguments from the detained senator.

The court first rejected De Lima's motion to join the oral arguments by a 10-2 vote on August 7.

She said the case was personal to her as a critic of the war on drugs which was under ICC scrutiny.

On March 14, President Duterte said the country would withdraw from the ICC "effective immediately," slamming efforts to use the organization "as a political tool against the Philippines."

Six opposition senators filed a petition on May 16 asking the court to invalidate and render as ineffective the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the ICC "without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate."

Oral arguments were scheduled for August 28.

Not letting up on the appeals

Minority senators filed another appeal, just a day before De Lima's petition was junked.

Senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes IV signed the petition filed August 23, claiming that De Lima could join the proceedings through a live video feed. The detained senator concurred with this plea.

"This will address the Honorable Court's apparent concerns regarding Senator De Lima's current detention. If needed, petitioners-senators can supply the necessary equipment and facilities for this to take place," the petition said.

De Lima is detained at the PNP Custodial Center over drug charges, but the senators are undeterred by this.

"As Senator De Lima is constitutionally presumed innocent, her current detention is no ground for depriving her of the right of self-representation because she has not been tried and convicted of the charges brought against her," the senators said.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
OTTAWACanadian soldiers and their NATO allies in Latvia will help to defend against a simulated invasion of the eastern European nation starting Saturday, even as real tensions flare anew between Moscow and the West.

Billed as Latvias largest war game since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the Namejs 2018 exercise is an attempt to mimic an attack by a country like Russia and test how Latvian and NATO forces respond.

The scenario involves Latvian authorities dealing with enemy cyberattacks and efforts to stir up the local population with misinformation before an all-out assault, at which point the Canadians and their allies will be called upon to help.

Canada has 450 soldiers leading a nine-country NATO battle group in Latvia, one of four such forces deployed to Eastern Europe in recent years following Russias annexation of Crimea and support separatist rebels in Ukraine.

While the exercise officially started on Monday, the Canadian-led battle group wont kick into action until Saturday, at which point it will spend the next week defending an airfield while launching attacks and counterattacks on the invading force.

There is initially in our scenario some instability, there are some forces using infowars, cyber and these things to create more instability inside the country before the push of the conventional forces, said Lt.-Col. Steve MacBeth, the battle groups Canadian commander.

And its when the push of the conventional forces occurs that (the battle group) and the mechanized brigade get involved.

The exercise will involve about 10,000 people, including Latvian police, businesses, volunteers as well as local and international military personnel, in dozens of cities and communities across the country.

While the tactics employed by the invading country reflect what many believe would happen during a Russian invasion, Latvian, Canadian and NATO officials have been careful not to identify Russia as the fictional enemy.

It is not against a specific country, said Latvian Ambassador to Canada Karlis Eihenbaums. Its more to conclude a four-year training cycle and show our general population our ability to act independently, if necessary, and together with our allies.

But Eihenbaums also said Latvian officials did not consider such a massive military exercise necessary until Russia rattled its neighbours with its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for rebels in Ukraines Donbass region.

Crimea was a pure aggression act by a neighbouring country to another neighbour and that was a grabbing of the lands, the ambassador said. How can you feel safe afterwards?

Relations between Moscow and the West have soured since Crimea, but Namejs 2018, which is named after one Latvias most famous medieval leaders, has nonetheless coincided with a new round of verbal sparring between Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO.

During a visit to Finland on Wednesday, Putin accused the military alliance of encroaching upon Russias borders with troops and equipment and that his country needed to respond in kind by increasing its own forces.

NATO officials fired back that it was Russia who was being aggressive and that the decision to deploy the four battle groups into eastern Europe was purely defensive.

The exchange came the same day as Britain said two of its fighter jets were scrambled from Romania to intercept a suspected Russian airplane approaching NATO airspace.

The U.S., meanwhile, says new sanctions on Moscow in relation to the March poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia in the U.K. will take effect on Monday.

And U.S. President Donald Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, affirmed during a visit to Ukraine on Friday that American sanctions on Russia would remain in force until the required change in Russian behaviour.

While the Latvian military and the Canadian-led battle group will attempt to defend the country from invasion, a prominent study by the Rand Corp. think tank in 2016 found that a real Russian attack would sweep through the Baltics in less than three days.

MacBeth doesnt necessarily buy that narrative: Theres an advantage to being the home team, he said, noting Latvias natural features make it easier to defend against a large invader.

If you look at Latvias natural structures, there are thin roads, heavy forests and bad swamps, he said. It pushes everyone into a certain zone where a small force can fight a larger force and be very successful.

Read more about:
HALIFAX Election night 2015 provided a rare sight on Canadas political map: an entire region, down to the last riding, painted red.

From the eastern tip of Newfoundland to the Quebec border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberals began the night with 32 of 32 seats  a good head start on their way to a historic majority. Well-known and well-liked MPs thought to be shoo-ins for re-election fell one-by-one to the Liberal wave.

Its a sight the Conservatives are determined not to see again.

As the party gathers in Halifax for its pre-election policy convention, Conservative sources tell the Star the party considers eight to ten ridings to be in play in 2019. Not enough on its own to unseat the Liberal government, but enough to ensure any losses in the rest of Canada will make Team Trudeau sweat.

Party operatives are placing most of their hope in New Brunswick, but suggest the right candidate could be able to make the difference in traditionally conservative ridings in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Theres been a lot of effort by the Conservative Party of Canada to be visible in the region, first under Rona Ambrose as interim leader and then with Andrew Scheer, said Rob Batherson, Nova Scotias representative on the partys national council and former provincial Progressive Conservative president.

Read more:

Policy convention gives Andrew Scheer a chance to change the channel

Maxime Bernier heaps criticism on Conservatives as he quits party and says he'll start his own

Theres been a tremendously strong effort stay connected to the region. National caucus was here in 2016, and this convention is here so that people know in Nova Scotia, they know in all four Atlantic provinces that the Conservative Party is working tremendously hard to regain the confidence of voters and hopefully see more members of parliament elected here in 2019.

It hasnt been easy maintaining a profile in the region without a single MP. The party conscripted two former MPs in recent years  first Scott Armstrong in Nova Scotia, then Rob Moore in New Brunswick  to advise the party on what issues are resonating with Atlantic voters.

Party insiders, who spoke to the Star on the condition of anonymity, listed off a half dozen seats they consider particularly vulnerable, including:

-Fundy Royal, where Rob Moore will attempt to recapture the seat from Liberal Alaina Lockhart.

-New Brunswick Southwest, where former MP John Williamson is running against Karen Ludwig.

-TobiqueMactaquac, which the party held from 2006 to 2015, and

-Cumberland-Colchester, where Scott Armstrong is expected to run against Bill Casey, a former Conservative-turned-Liberal MP who is something of a folk hero among Nova Scotian political watchers.

There are other seats the party is expected to target, but these have more variables in play, including who the Conservatives attract to carry the banner.

Despite the Conservatives optimism, however, the Trudeau government remains more popular in Atlantic Canada than anywhere else in the country. A June poll by Corporate Research Associates found that while Liberal support was trending down in the region, 49 per cent of decided voters still support the party.

More troubling for Conservative fortunes, however, is the New Democrats performance in Atlantic Canada. The CRA poll found the NDP commanded the support of just 15 per cent of decided voters.

Vote splitting among Atlantic Canadian progressives allowed the Conservatives to come up the middle in some ridings  like South Shore-St. Margarets in Nova Scotia, where Gerald Keddy served as MP from 1997 until 2015.

John Williamson, the former MP for New Brunswick Southwest who will run again in 2019, said issues like the failure of the Energy East pipeline, the Liberals new firearms legislation, and the so-called values test for religious groups seeking funding for summer students are resonating on the ground in Atlantic Canada.

But Williamson and party sources suggest the Liberals proposed carbon pricing scheme is the main sticking point in the region.

The potential explosive issue is the carbon tax, Williamson said.

I think theres a complacency there (for the Liberals in the region). Competition in politics is important the same way in the marketplace. And right now theyve got a product thats not been tested.

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OTTAWAPeter Harder, the Liberal governments representative in the Senate, has rebuffed a call to testify next month in a Montreal mans lawsuit over his lengthy detention in Sudan.

Harder, a former deputy minister of foreign affairs, is invoking his legal privilege as a senator to avoid appearing in court during a parliamentary session after being subpoenaed to answer questions about Abousfian Abdelraziks overseas ordeal.

However, several other parliamentarians who had dealings with the Abdelrazik file, including Sen. Mobina Jaffer, Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, Liberal MP Wayne Easter and Quebec MP Maxime Bernier  who quit the Conservative party Thursday  have signalled a willingness to testify, said Paul Champ, Abdelraziks lawyer.

Lawrence Cannon, a former Conservative foreign affairs minister, is also expected to be a witness, Champ says.

The Sudanese-born Abdelrazik, 56, arrived in Canada from Africa as a refugee in 1990. He became a Canadian citizen five years later.

He was arrested during a 2003 visit to Sudan to see family. While in custody, Abdelrazik was interrogated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about suspected extremist links. He claims he was tortured by Sudanese intelligence officials during two periods of detention, but Canada says it knew nothing of the alleged abuse.

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Abdelrazik denies any involvement in terrorism and is suing the Canadian government in Federal Court for an apology and compensation.

The federal government has chosen to settle lawsuits brought by other Canadians over the federal role in their imprisonment abroad, notably Maher Arar, Omar Khadr, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmed Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin.

It appeared earlier this year that the long-running Abdelrazik matter might also be settled out of court. But the government abruptly cancelled mediation sessions and a trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 17.

As many as 35 witnesses could appear during the eight-week proceedings in Ottawa.

Champ contends the testimony from parliamentarians will show how elected officials were kept in the dark.

Mr Abdelraziks trial will expose the enormous gaps in the oversight of CSIS and the extent to which the Service believes it can destroy the lives of citizens with impunity.

It is particularly disappointing that Harder is unwilling to tell the court what he knew about Abdelraziks detention, Champ said. I hope he changes his mind and follows the moral leadership of his fellow parliamentarians and shows up in court.

In a June 28 letter to Champ, a parliamentary lawyer acting for Harder notes the right of exemption for MPs and senators from being subpoenaed to attend court as a witness during a session of Parliament, as well as for a period before and after the session.

The Parliament of Canada is currently in session and will remain so until the next prorogation or dissolution of Parliament. Senator Harder can therefore avail himself of the above-noted parliamentary privilege and intends to do so in this case.

Days after Abdelraziks second release from prison, in July 2006, his name turned up on a United Nations Security Council blacklist that prevented him from flying back to Canada.

He was granted haven in the Canadian consulate in Khartoum, but Canada refused to issue him a travel document to fly home.

Obhrai, a former parliamentary secretary, spoke with Abdelrazik for an hour in March 2008 when he accompanied Bernier, foreign affairs minister at the time, to Sudan.

A June 27 letter to Champ from a House of Commons lawyer, writing on Obhrais behalf, also mentions the time-honoured privilege of parliamentarians concerning court appearances.

But it says Obhrai is willing to attend court on a day when the Commons is not sitting, or possibly testify by video conference. It may be able to arrange to testify in a manner so as not to impede his abilities to carry out his functions as a member of Parliament and so as not to unnecessarily delay the court process.

Abdelrazik returned to Montreal from Sudan in June 2009 amid a blaze of publicity about his case.

That same month, a Federal Court judge concluded CSIS was complicit in his 2003 detention.

The judge also found that, by mid-2004, Canadian authorities had determined they would not take any active steps to assist Abdelraziks return to Canada, and would consider refusing him a passport to prevent his homecoming.

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If sober minds prevail, Justin Trudeaus Liberals will refrain from uncorking the champagne just yet over Maxime Berniers bid to create a competing conservative party.

The notion that the Beauce MP is about to pave the way to four more Liberal years in power by splitting the conservative vote in next years election presumes that Bernier will succeed where the likes of Preston Manning among others initially failed.

If recent Canadian history teaches anything, it is that setting up a national breakaway party and leading it to a position of significant electoral influence is easier said than done. It has yet to be achieved in less than a single year.

Take the Reform Party. It has gone down in history for its transformative impact on the conservative movement, as well as for having contributed mightily to keeping the federal Liberals in power for the Jean Chretien decade.

But lost in the legend are the arduous beginnings of Mannings political creation. The Reform Partys initial appearance on the federal ballot in 1988 ended with a whimper, not a bang. It barely won two per cent of the vote. The party did not elect a single MP, nor did its appearance on the landscape hinder Brian Mulroneys Tories in their quest for a second majority term.

Mannings big break did come five years later. But he had a lot of outside help.

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By 1993, the ruling Tories had sunk in the polls under the combined weight of divisive constitutional failures and the unpopular introduction of the GST. And the Bloc Quebecois was around to crush the party in Quebec.

By comparison, Bernier is a wannabe polarizing figure in search of a lightning rod to justify a schism.

In essence, in the next election he will be asking his prospective followers to trade a possible Conservative comeback under Andrew Scheer for an uncertain crossing of the desert under his leadership. The last such adventure saw the Canadian Right wander in the opposition wilderness for 13 years.

Bernier is no Manning, and certainly no Lucien Bouchard. Every comparison has its limits but if anything, he is to Quebecs federal Conservatives what Stephane Dion used to be to the provinces Liberals: a politician with negative traction on his home ground.

Like Dion, Berniers defining feature has been a willingness to swim against the mainstream current. But while that has stood him in good stead in some out-of-province conservative quarters, it has been remarkably ineffective at turning the tide on any of the issues that are close to his heart in Quebec.

His unrelenting campaign for the elimination of protectionist agricultural polices, and his call for Bombardier to sink or swim on its own devices have made him persona non grata among his provinces political class, as well as within the Quebec ranks of his former caucus.

He is also a latecomer to the diversity-versus-identity discussion. That Quebec train left the station without him a long time ago.

Quebec is currently the scene of a campaign that could for the first time in decades see a new party come to power. But Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault spent the past seven years getting to where he is today, and he had the foundation of the defunct Action democratique du Quebec to build on.

In a Radio-Canada interview on Friday, Bernier drew a parallel between his own project and French President Emmanuel Macrons success at breaking the mould of his countrys party politics in little more than a year.

It is easy to see the attraction of a presidential system for a political loner such as Bernier. But that does not make Macrons experience readily adaptable to Canadas parliamentary democracy. There is also a dearth of evidence to support Berniers contention that his policies are attractive to a silent plurality of voters.

If he is serious about creating a new conservative party, he has to know that he is almost certainly in for a longer haul than if he had bided his time and waited for another Conservative leadership opening.

It is not a given that he has the stamina to see his project through. It is harder to line up electoral ducks than those involved in winning a leadership campaign and, if his failed bid for the CPC prize (including the loss of his Beauce riding to an out-of-province rival) revealed anything, it is that Bernier has a short organizational attention span.

Chantal Hebert is a columnist based in Ottawa covering politics. Follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert

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CANSO, N.S.The head of a firm hoping to open Canadas only commercial spaceport says they remain on schedule for a slated first satellite launch in 2021, even though provincial authorities have withheld approval pending more information.

In a decision released Thursday, Environment Minister Margaret Miller said the company behind the proposed Canso spaceport needs to prepare a report about the projects potential impacts on water resources, soil, air quality, noise, flora and fauna, fish, protected areas and parks, dangerous goods management, waste management, human health and contingency planning.

The Canso Spaceport Facility, near the small community of Canso in eastern Nova Scotia, would be 20 hectares (50 acres) in size and is aimed at attracting firms that want to put satellites into orbit for commercial purposes.

Miller says Maritime Launch Services Ltd., which submitted its application for an environmental assessment in June, has a year to compile the report and submit it.

President and CEO Stephen Matier says while the decision put a damper on their plans for a groundbreaking later this year, they still plan on beginning construction in the spring.

He says the company intends to finish the report as quickly and correctly as possible so it can remain on track.

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Marijuana legalization is around the corner, but university students may have to think twice before reaching for their joints, pipes and bongs between classes.

Universities across Canada are prepping for legalization on Oct. 17 by crafting policies that limit cannabis use on campus. Multiple schools said they will follow municipal, provincial and federal regulations pertaining to marijuana consumption, adding that harm-reduction efforts are in place to educate students, staff and faculty.

Laurelle LeVert, associate vice-president at the University of New Brunswicks Saint John campus, said the school put together a working group  stacked with staff, students and New Brunswick government officials  to develop guidelines for on-campus marijuana use.

We were all sort of flying blind a little bit, LeVert said. I think all universities have been.

According to Health Canadas Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, cannabis was the most prevalently used illicit drug in the country in 2015, with close to one-third of young adults between the ages of 20 and 24 admitting to trying the substance. According to a 2016 assessment by the American College Health Association, about 40 per cent of post-secondary students in Alberta have tried weed at least once.

LeVert credited students for creating an environment within the universitys working group that led to measured and informed policy deliberations.

They said to us, Dont panic, so we didnt, LeVert said. Their attitude is to take it in stride, its not like this is a substance thats coming in from outer space; this is a substance thats widely in circulation.

In the end, the university didnt codify new polices, opting to release a university-wide statement instead.

The legislation hasnt been passed yet, so theres lots of questions about whats going to happen after Oct. 17, and thats why we havent been going with a policy, LeVert said.

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The publicized statement read that, in adherence with government legislation, the university will not allow consumption of marijuana in public spaces, therefore, the smoking of cannabis will not be permitted anywhere on UNB property.

The same statement said that growing marijuana on campus is prohibited, and the university will defer to internal policies and procedures should a faculty or staff member show up to work intoxicated or impaired.

LeVert didnt know exactly how many students smoke pot at UNB, but said, I would safely say its representative of (Canadas) population.

Tell us what you think:

She emphasized that students who live on campus and are over the age of 19 will be allowed to consume legal non-smoked forms of marijuana in private residence rooms.

The spirit of the legislation is not about restricting access to someone who normally would have access, she said. Our students and residents for whom this is their primary dwelling, and are 19 and older, will be able to engage in private resident rooms or lounges in residence.

Dalhousie University plans to prohibit pot smoking everywhere on campus, said Janet Bryson, a senior communications manager at the institution.

Dalhousie University already has a no-smoking policy, which came into effect on Sept. 1, 2003, Bryson said. The policy prohibits all forms of smoking, including cannabis, in all university buildings, including university residences, on university property and in university vehicles.

She encouraged students to review the Nova Scotia Cannabis Control Act before consuming the drug. Among other things, the act states that legal age in Nova Scotia for cannabis use, possession and purchase is 19.

Students in residence are required to respect and abide by all applicable residence and Dalhousie policies, along with federal, provincial, and municipal laws pertaining to cannabis, she said.

Edmontons Northern Alberta Institute of Technology will also ban cannabis use on campus completely, in line with its existing smoking ban.

Canadian Public Health Association executive director Ian Culbert said whether post-secondary institutions allow students to smoke pot on campus or not, its important that they be proactive in promoting health and safety.

While many students already have experiences with pot, he is worried about novice users who are prone to experimenting in excess before they learn their limits.

That experimentation is a natural part of growing up. So, university administrations and student associations really need to be taking a very proactive approach at getting education materials out to all of the students, especially younger students, and being a very watchful and caring community as legalization takes effect, Culbert said.

Representatives from the students association at Mount Royal University have engaged heavily with staff and faculty to develop harm-reduction strategies at the Calgary-based institution.

Were very excited for the legalization coming up on Oct. 17, but also very aware of how this may affect our student population, said Shayla Breen, the vice-president of student life. At the end of the day, we just want to make sure students can make the safest choices possible when it comes to consumption.

She said that originally, the university developed a beautiful cannabis policy that looked at on-site consumption and harm reduction, but had to revert to standard no-smoking policies to match bylaws in Calgary.

Universities are a public place, so under city bylaws currently, cannabis consumption falls under that, Breen said. For now, it will not be allowed on university property.

She added that the MRU community will keep exploring possible marijuana policies.

This is going to be new for us and the city, as well  for all of Canada, really  so everyone is trying to figure out what this looks like and how we can serve the community, Breen said.

According to Breen, the primary concerns at MRU focus on safe and responsible consumption.

Generally speaking, most staff and faculty understand that the students who want to be smoking cannabis are already doing it, Breen said. To be honest, thats the truth. If students want to (smoke), theyre going to.

She added that the student body is hungry for drug-related education and on-campus support.

The biggest thing Ive heard is the concern from students who are already engaging in cannabis that other students wont know the dangers of cannabis and driving, or cannabis and alcohol, she said.

Student priorities are on accessible education, support on campus, inclusive education, those types of things.

The University of Alberta Students Union in Edmonton  where city council is leaning toward allowing public smoking in most places  plans to roll out a poster campaign in October for students seeking information or help, and will use that to springboard into a broader campaign around addiction.

The unions vice-president external, Adam Brown, said he hopes to see cannabis permitted on campus.

I think its unrealistic having a city that will be so liberal with this law to have a university that would ban it. It doesnt make sense, as students will use it no matter what, Brown said.

Kevin Friese, assistant dean of students with health and wellness, said the U of A will amend existing policies to accommodate legalization rather than developing a specific policy. The university gathered input with an online survey and community town halls earlier this year, and has drafted a recommendation report.

While the report is not yet complete, Friese said its likely that growing and smoking cannabis on residence will be banned. As far as consuming on campus, he said the university will follow the citys public consumption bylaws, which could mean creating designated areas for use.

Schools like the University of British Columbia, York University and MacEwan University havent developed concrete policies around marijuana consumption yet, but said theyre monitoring municipal, provincial and federal legislation closely.

York University currently uses and complies with the provincial smoking legislation and regulations. We will continue to do so, said Gloria Suhasini, a senior media relations officer at York.

We do expect to have a new policy in place this fall, she said.

Clarification  Aug. 24, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that said students over the age of 19, who live on the UNB campus, will be allowed to smoke in private rooms. In fact, students will be allowed to consume legal non-smoked forms of marijuana in private residence rooms.

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CALGARYCalgary is examining four proposed sites where people would be able to consume cannabis in public.

The city announced Friday that it will launch public engagement on Monday to gather input about the several public areas where people will be able to smoke, vape or otherwise consume cannabis, if the sites are approved.

Ward 9 councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said the proposed spaces are in his ward, in the Ogden, Inglewood and Bridgeland neighbourhoods.

I dont know how this is going to work. Im very interested to see what the public reaction is, how people feel, he said.

Under the citys Cannabis Consumption Bylaw, consuming cannabis in public is forbidden, even after legalization. But council passed changes to the bylaw in June that would allow designated consumption areas in public spaces or at festivals and events after an approval process.

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Carra is interested in gauging public interest in spaces where cannabis would be allowed, but hes open to any outcome after getting feedback.

Im not an advocate for these, but Im strongly, philosophically of the opinion that if you have a legal substance but its illegal to consume it, thats an oxymoron, he said. So were going to go out to the public and see what they think.

A city spokesperson said the exact locations of the four proposed spaces in Calgary wont be released until next week. Calgary cannabis legalization project lead Matt Zabloski will also explain the process for choosing and approving the spaces on Monday.

Cannabis is set to be legalized in Canada on Oct. 17.

Rebecca Haines-Saah, an assistant professor of community health services at the University of Calgary, said public spaces for people to use cannabis could help avert neighbourhood conflicts if renters or condo owners dont have private spaces to smoke.

Four (spaces) is interesting. I think that would be a nice pilot  its nothing to panic about. We could see if this is actually needed, she said. Its good that were all being open-minded at this stage to exploring it.

Keith Fagin, the director of advocacy group Calgary420, said the city needs controlled public spaces where people can smoke or otherwise consume cannabis.

Its going to help bring it off the streets, out of the dark alleys, and keep people exposed to proper education about consumption of cannabis  healthy ways to consume it, he said.

Fagin is invested in making sure people have the information they need to make responsible decisions about cannabis, and he says public spaces for consumption can facilitate that.

We need to give people a place to gather, like-minded people, to gather and consume.

Ward 8 councillor Evan Woolley said that while he supports the legalization process and wants people to be able to consume cannabis in public, he wouldnt support cannabis consumption sites in his ward.

Im very cautious about setting up specific locations, particularly in any given neighbourhood, he said.

I was one who thought public consumption should be able to happen in any public space ... so we dont have a clustering effect.

Haines-Saah said that for some people, using cannabis could be a harm-reduction strategy, and its important that there arent barriers for them being able to access that.

You could be in temporary housing like a halfway house or maybe youre accessing the shelter system, and youre vulnerable to getting tickets ... if theres a space you know in your community, youre going to be able to smoke and not get hassled.

Carra said hes heard some preliminary pushback from people who dont think public consumption spaces are a good idea, but he wants to see what comes of the conversation.

Maybe the consensus is ... as much as it would be nice to have a legal public space to consume, that cant happen until the provincial and federal governments create an environment where lounges are legal, he said. I am interested in what the engagement leads to.

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The Ontario government has reversed a funding promise to a Toronto at-risk youth program, sending the community-based initiative into a financial scramble three weeks before the start of the new school year.

The provinces Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport announced last week it had cut the $500,000 funding grant promised last May to Sistema Toronto, an after-school program that teaches musical instruments to children in vulnerable communities.

After-school programming is huge in helping kids stay out of trouble, said Sistemas managing director Hilary Johnson, adding its programs like this that help steer vulnerable kids away from violence.

A spokesperson for Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Sylvia Jones said the funding was hastily announced by the previous government during the election campaign.

Unfortunately, Sistema does not meet the criteria for this grant and is not eligible for funding, Richard Clark said.

Johnson said it was wild to be told the organization is not eligible, especially since they had gone through the application process and been assured they fulfilled all the requirements.

That was quite troubling, she said. Its in direct conflict with what they had told us this whole time, both in writing and in personal meetings.

Sistema currently works with 275 children ages 6 to 12 in the neighbourhoods of Parkdale, Jane-Finch and East Scarborough. She said the majority of kids are from new immigrant families or are part of the foster-care system and many have parents or guardians who work long hours.

She said learning music helps the kids improve their communication skills, empathy and social development, adding that without a learning environment theyd be left wandering in neighbourhoods, killing their time, which would expose them to bad behaviour.

Johnson said the $500,000 grant would have been significant for the organization, which usually operates on an annual budget of around $900,000.

Sistema started assisting children in 2011 and has always operated on funding from various corporations and individual donations. This would have marked the first time the province was involved in its funding.

As back-to-school nears, Johnson said the program will try to continue with its plans, even though they had hoped to increase their reach with the new funding.

Were going to make it work, she said. We are not going to drop any students, were not going to lay off any teachers.

Bhutila Karpoche, NDP MPP for Parkdale-High Park, said the funding cut is very disappointing and called for its immediate reversal.

She said she has seen first-hand the impact of the program in her riding and noted kids in the after-school programs are likely to do well in school.

Everybody knows the root cause of violence is things like poverty, lack of opportunity, lack of affordable housing and programs for kids, she said, calling the decision to cut this funding a backward action.

Instead of investing more in these preventative programs, if we start cutting them, then were going to see it impacting the youth, which would likely lead to increase in them getting involved in violence.
Canadian civil rights leader and trade unionist Bromley Armstrong has died, according to the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, an organization he help found.

Armstrong, who was named to the Order of Canada in 1994, is considered a pivotal figure in the campaign for the nations first anti-discrimination laws. He was 92.

Bromley Armstrongs work was trail-blazing and courageous, and the legacy he leaves in Ontario and across our country is exceptional, Prime Minister Trudeau wrote in a tweet on Thursday.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica on Feb. 9, 1926, Armstrong moved to Canada in 1947, aged 19.

He began his working career as the first Black welder at Massey-Harris in Toronto.

Weve never hired a black welder, Armstrong recalled, in an interview with the Star in 1992, his employer saying.

I decided I was going to be the first black welder.

As a member of the workers union, Armstrong joined other activists in testing discrimination by landlords, restaurants and clubs, often in sting operations involving pairs of people posing as customers, one couple white, the other Black.

Armstrong gained widespread fame for challenging segregation in Dresden, Ont. in the early 1950s. The town, located at the end of the Underground Railroad, was the last stop for people escaping enslavement in the United States. By the mid 20th century, the population of Dresden was 20 per cent Black, but many shop and restaurant owners refused to serve non-white customers.

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In 1954, Armstrong joined other activists and labour leaders in sit-ins to test whether those business owners and landlords would comply with a new anti-discrimination law meant to compel business to serve regardless of race.

We sat there, and nobody would pay any attention to us and the waitress didnt come over, Armstrong recalled in a 2008 story in the Star.

As Armstrong told the story, a restaurant owner, Morley McKay, was in the kitchen at a chopping block with a meat cleaver in his hand.

The more I talked to him, the faster the cleaver was going. And I said, You know, Ive come all the way from Toronto, and Im thirsty and hungry. 

He wasnt served, and McKay became one of the first to be found guilty under the new law.

Its a Rosa Parks story in Canada, said Nigel Barriffe, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.

I cant even imagine being this young Black man going into a hostile city, sitting at a restaurant where he knows theyre not going to serve them and saying I want to order food, knowing that conflict was going to happen.

He put his body on the front line, Barriffe said.

Armstrong would go on to found the Urban Alliance for Race Relations alongside other concerned community leaders in 1975 as a response to racialized violence in Toronto.

He is also responsible for the formation of the Jamaican Canadian Association, the Black Business and Professional Association, and the National Council of Jamaicans and Supportive Organizations.

Audi Dharmalingam recalled Armstrongs commitment to equity for all races: People can call him at any time, and he was willing to participate  if you look at anything that happened in Toronto in the 60s and 70s, he had a role to play.

He was able to reach out to almost all communities, Dharmalingam said. He was comfortable with all of them.

Even after his health failed, hed still come to meetings when he was invited . Were going to miss him, said Dharmalingam.

In 1954, Armstrong joined a delegation to Ottawa, led by Donald Moore, that challenged federal immigration protocols that discriminated heavily against people of colour.

In 1994, Armstrong was made a member of the Order of Canada. He was also recognized with the Order of Distinction in Jamaica, and the Order of Ontario. He was also recognized as an Honourary Doctor of Law at York University.

Armstrong remained a tireless advocate of workers rights throughout his life. He was labour leader for United Auto Workers Local 439.

He is survived by his wife Marlene, to whom he was married for 47 years. He was father to eight children, and a grandfather to eighteen grandchildren.

A visitation for Armstrong will be held on August 28 at McEachnie Funeral Home in Ajax, from 4 to 8 p.m.

Correction- August 24, 2018: This article was updated from a previous version that mistakenly said that Dr. Armstrong led a delegation to Ottawa in 1954. Dr. Armstrong was the youngest member of the delegation, which was led by Donald Willard Moore.
Most judges and scholars agree that some Supreme Court decisions are so fundamental to modern law and life that they are immune from reconsideration  such as Brown v. Board of Education, which banned segregated public schools, and the 1871 ruling that paper money is not unconstitutional. Maybe these decisions did not strictly follow the text of the Constitution or the intent of the Framers, but scrapping them would cause too much trouble to be justified.
All Syrian refugee Shyesh Al-Turki wanted was to get back behind the wheel.

With 15 years of driving experience behind him, Al-Turki was keen to get a job as a deliveryman or as an Uber or taxi driver after he and his family arrived in Canada in 2016. Four months after settling in Mississauga, the 40-year-old Aleppo native had passed his G1 exam and got a G2 licence and hoped to land a job so he could help support his family of 12 in their adopted country.

But Al-Turki soon found out hed have to wait a full year before he could get a restriction-free full licence unless he could provide the transportation ministry with written authentication of his Syrian licence  an impossible demand for someone from a war-torn country where theres no longer a licensing agency to verify the document.

On Friday, Al-Turki will appear before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to argue how the 12-month waiting period for a G2 licence-holder to graduate to a full licence and the requirement of written authentication discriminates against refugee drivers from war-torn countries where such documentation is out of reach.

Changing this policy will help a lot of people find work. Driving is very important for so many refugees and it allows us to be productive, said Al-Turki, who finally got his full licence in March.

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Al-Turki, who fled the civil war in 2012 for Jordan, said because of the rules, he missed out on job opportunities here and the ability to pay back the kind persons who greeted us with respect.

This is an issue well known in the refugee community but nothing has been done about it and the province does not recognize the idiosyncrasy of these refugees experience, said Hassan Ahmad, Al-Turkis lawyer.

At no point are we saying refugees dont have to take the driving test to show they are capable to drive. We do care about road safety.

In Ontario, new drivers must complete a graduated licensing program, which begins with a written exam to obtain a G1 licence. To proceed to the G2, a driver must complete a year of supervised driving experience followed by a driving exam. Another year of driving experience is required before the person is eligible for the full G licence exam unless their previous driving experience is authenticated.

Ahmad said other provinces, including Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia, only require documentary evidence regarding past driving experience when the foreign drivers licence lacks information such as issue date, a photograph or date of birth.

The authentication requirement, he added, also contradicts previous government policy that allowed refugees from Kosovo to swear an affidavit to attest to their driving experience in their home country.

Al-Turki wants the tribunal to order the province to remove the requirement of written authentication of foreign driving experience for refugees and to allow candidates to use a certified French or English translation of their foreign licences as proof.

Ontario should change this needless discriminatory policy that affects some of the most vulnerable members of our society, said Samer Muscati, of the University of Torontos International Human Rights Program.

By changing course and implementing a policy similar to other provinces, Ontario will not only be assisting refugees but also supporting its economy and the trucking industry.
A top Ontario bureaucrat says no directives have been issued banning civil servants from using the words climate change on official government social media accounts and blames false information for reports to the contrary.

The response from acting secretary of cabinet Steven Davidson came Friday after BlogTO reported two separate emails from communications staff in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and at Ontario Parks  who are not Progressive Conservative political staff in the Doug Ford government  advised colleagues the words climate change should be avoided.

The premiers office never provided direction regarding the reference of climate change in social media posts, Davidson said in a memo to deputy ministers in all government departments.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks remains responsible for climate change and it remains a priority for this ministry and this government.

Fords executive director of communications reiterated no such directives against using the term climate change were issued, something she had previously told BlogTO.

The premiers office has never given direction to anyone in the government not to use the term climate change on social media, Laryssa Waler said in an email. To say otherwise is 100 per cent false.

Davidsons memo did not explain how or why the two staff reached the conclusions relayed in their emails but said an investigation is underway to determine how this inaccuracy was released to the media.

A government source told the Star there was a misinterpretation.

Concerns about the supposed ban on using climate change gained momentum on social media Friday, with some commenters slamming the Ford government for scrapping the previous Liberal governments cap-and-trade program to curb greenhouse gas emissions  which cause climate change  without a replacement plan in place.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, the MPP for Guelph, also joined the fray with an open letter to Environment Minister Rod Phillips, saying reports of the ban, if true ... are extreme and unjustified. Government censorship of science is unacceptable in a democracy.

Phillips, who has frequently used the words climate change in the Legislature and committed to a plan that will deliver lower emissions, replied to Schreiner that the email sent to ministry staff was a mistake.

I can assure you that no direction from the premiers office or cabinet office restricting the use of the term climate change on social media was given, Phillips added.

As you are aware, I have introduced Bill 4 that requires us to develop a climate change plan, set emission reduction targets and report on our progress to the public.

The cabinet office is comprised of non-partisan civil servants supporting the work of the premiers office, which is staffed by Progressive Conservatives.

BlogTO reported it had obtained copies of two emails on the ban and posted them online.

One, purportedly from social media co-ordinator Anne MacLachlan at the Ontario Parks office in Peterborough, stated Per premiers office direction, we are not allowed to mention climate change in social media content at this time. Please ensure any staff with access to a park social media account, as well as park superintendents, are aware of this direction.

The second email, identified as coming from the natural resource ministrys communications services director Lisa Sarracini, said PO (premiers office) has indicated they will not be approving any social posts mentioning climate change at this time. Please ensure any of your staff who may prepare social media content are made aware of this direction.

Both women declined to comment when reached by the Star on Friday and referred calls to the natural resource ministrys media desk.

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Taking repeated swipes at incumbent John Tory, mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat laid out a road map for the city she wants to build at the first rally of her Toronto mayoral campaign Thursday night.

The citys former chief planner said she would construct new affordable housing, build new transit faster, tackle climate change, make streets safer for all road users and combat gun violence.

I do confess, I was planning a slightly different summer, said Keesmaat, who jumped into the race just before the deadline to sign up.

It became clear, in recent weeks, that what we need and what you need, and what Toronto needs, is a big change at city hall, she said.

Toronto needs a new mayor.

That Toronto is no longer a laughing stock on late-night talk shows around the world following the previous administration is to Torys credit, Keesmaat told the crowd of enthusiastic supporters.

But I just dont think thats good enough anymore. And I dont think the kind of government weve been getting under John Tory is good enough either, she told a crowd, squeezed into a section of the Paintbox Bistro in the heart of the revitalized Regent Park.

Keesmaat, now running in one of the most uncertain elections in the citys history, characterized Tory as a timid follower and as dithering, low energy and having a lack of bold ideas.

John Tory is just not very good at his job, she said.

I know this because I worked with him.

How David Rider and Jennifer Pagliaro broke the news that Jennifer Keesmaat is running for Toronto mayor. Follow the Toronto Star on social media:

Keesmaat attributed her sudden decision to run to Ontario Premier Doug Fords move last month to cut the size of Toronto council without consulting the electorate and what she says was a lacklustre response to the move from Tory.

Almost a month into the campaign, she has made one major policy announcement: shes set an ambitious target of building 100,000 affordable rental units within a decade. This trumps the 40,000-unit target set by Tory.

Shes expected to roll out more proposals ahead of Labour Day when the municipal campaign kicks into high gear.

On Thursday, she hinted at future planks to her platform. In the midst of a summer of increased violence in the city, she spoke of the need for programs that create more opportunities for vulnerable youth. These include community benefit agreements, as part of every infrastructure project, to ensure local jobs are created.

What do you think?

She also suggested there is a better way to manage stormwater after recent flooding incidents and a stormwater charge developed by city staff that was shelved by Tory and council.

Speaking to reporters after the speech, Keesmaat said she would absolutely look at introducing the stormwater charge.

She said she supports a ban on handguns in the city earlier pushed by council, and a renewed partnership with police and grassroots organizations.

On transit, Keesmaat said solutions must acknowledge how people actually get around in the city and how everyone in this city needs access to excellent transit.

She criticized Tory for seeing no construction of new transit plans started under his watch and said his SmartTrack plan was developed on the back of a napkin. The plan was initiated during his term with Keesmaats support, but has been reduced from the original campaign promise of a 22-stop surface rail subway to just six new GO stations funded by the city.

Read more:

Opinion | Royson James: Jennifer Keesmaat could tell Toronto the truth about transit planning  but will she?

We need bold ideas in this city. Jennifer Keesmaat to run for mayor of Toronto

Jennifer Keesmaats critics told her to take her ideas to voters. Now shes running for mayor

The speech saw Keesmaat sharing pointed personal details, as she referred to her husband Tom and children, Alexandra and Luis.

Her daughter, she said, is not sure if she can afford to live and work in Toronto as she heads off to her first year of university.

And when Keesmaat heard about the Toronto woman who was hit and killed recently on her bicycle at Bloor and St. George Sts, she said she called her husband and told him to put their sons bike away.

I did that because I was scared, she said of a city more dangerous than it was before. And its by design, my friends; its a series of choices that got us here. And we can make different choices . These things do not need to happen by default. But those changes require leadership.

She pitched herself as a businesswoman, who for years worked in the private sector before becoming the citys chief planner. She said she developed a deep concern for local issues, taking cues from planning activist Jane Jacobs.

Following the speech, a statement from Torys campaign accused Keesmaat of empty talk.

Ms. Keesmaat continued to make pronouncements and hollow promises tonight that demonstrate a lack of understanding of what Toronto really needs, it continued.

Residents need to know her plan on taxes. The statement added that Tory is working to keep the city affordable, to build transit across the city right now and to keep Toronto safe.

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SACRAMENTO, CALIF.A former police officer suspected of being Californias elusive Golden State Killer was arraigned Thursday on 13-new rape-related charges along with 13 slayings spanning five counties, a 15-minute-long recitation of offences that one family member called very, very intense.

The Sacramento County Superior Court hearing sets up a trial that prosecutors this week agreed will eventually be held in the state capital, which was among several cities terrorized by the rapes and killings during the 1970s and 1980s.

The statute of limitations has long run out for charging 72-year-old Joseph DeAngelo with the suspected rapes of nearly 50 women. So prosecutors are lodging 13 new related kidnapping to commit robbery charges  four in Contra Costa County and nine in Sacramento County  that arent barred by the passage of time.

He also faces consolidated murder charges previously filed in five other California counties.

The complaint alleges numerous crimes over multiple counties and dates, Judge Michael Sweet said before reading each of the 26 charges.

DeAngelo stood stone-faced and ramrod straight in a courtroom cage, never looking at the courtroom packed with survivors, relatives, reporters and at least a half-dozen armed bailiffs. District attorneys from five of the six counties where the crimes took place were in the courtroom but did not speak.

DAngelo has yet to enter a plea. Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty, but said they will fight his use of a public defender and try to require him to pay for his own defence at his next hearing in December.

His public defender, Diane Howard repeatedly declined comment.

That was very, very intense and really tough, said Jennifer Carole of Santa Cruz, the daughter of victim Lyman Smith, a lawyer who was slain at age 43 in Ventura in 1980. His wife, 33-year-old Charlene Smith, was raped and murdered at the same time.

Even those few words dont begin to summarize what happened during the crimes. They were heinous, what everybody went through was really horrible. So to hear it, that black-and-white, to hear it get listed, it was hard  it was harder than I thought it was going to be, she said. My heart is pounding right now. Im feeling it.

She welcomed having the trial consolidated in Sacramento, which she and prosecutors said would make it easier for victims.

I think its going to be healing for all of us, Carole said. Other survivors and supporters did not comment, but one held a hand-lettered sign reading Remember the Victims toward television cameras as she filed out of the courtroom.

Carole said the number of survivors and family members is growing with each court hearing as they learn to support each other.

Survivors have been told a trial may be five to seven years away, she said, but she said they arent disturbed by the expected legal wrangling.

To me, his life is already over. Its done, she said. The rest of us have moved on. The survivors have done remarkably well.

DeAngelo was arrested in April at his home in Sacramento County after investigators linked him to several of the slayings using DNA evidence.

Prosecutors said a sadistic stalker also known as the East Area Rapist and Visalia Ransacker, among other nicknames, would sneak into suburban homes through windows at night and surprise sleeping victims who ranged in age from 13 to 44.

If the assailant found a couple, he would tie up the man and pile dishes on his back, threatening to kill both victims if he heard plates crash to the floor while he raped the woman. He ransacked homes, taking souvenirs like coins and jewelry, before fleeing.

DeAngelo worked as a police officer in towns near two of the sprees that authorities said terrorized neighbourhoods during a more innocent time when children rode bicycles to school and played outside until dark and people didnt lock their doors at night.
WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump asked his lawyers several weeks ago for their advice on the possibility of pardoning Paul Manafort and other aides accused of crimes, his lawyer said Thursday.

The subject of pardoning Manafort came as Trumps former campaign chairman faced multiple charges of bank fraud and tax evasion in an Alexandria criminal case, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said in an interview.

Trumps lawyers counselled the U.S. president against the idea of pardoning anyone linked to the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election, according to Giuliani, saying Trump should at least wait until special counsel Robert Mueller III has concluded his probe. Giuliani said the president agreed and did not push the issue further.

He said yes, Giuliani said. He agreed with us.

Giuliani said Trump was seeking advice in the wake of a spate of pardons he granted earlier this summer, including for a woman whom Kim Kardashian had lobbied the White House to release. Giuliani said he and fellow personal attorney Jay Sekulow had advised waiting to see whether Mueller delivers a damning report that accuses the president of trying to block a federal probe of his campaigns contacts with Russians.

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday she wasnt aware of any discussions of Trump pardoning Manafort and the topic was not something thats been up for discussion.

On Thursday, in the wake of Giulianis comment, Sanders said the pardon topic is not under active consideration in the White House.

This pardon is not something being discussed in the White House and the president has not made a decision on pardoning Paul Manafort or anyone else, she said in a statement.

The exact timing of the pardon discussion is unclear.

A senior administration official said the president discussed the pros and cons of granting pardons to Manafort and others linked to a probe of his campaign a few weeks ago.

Giuliani initially said he and Trump had the conversation three to five weeks ago, but later corrected his statement to say he believed they discussed it several weeks earlier, in June. Giuliani also clarified in his followup call to the Post that his conversation with Trump was a general discussion about potential pardons for a range of people under investigation, including but not limited to Manafort.

Some experts have argued Trump could expose himself to more legal danger if he were to pardon aides who are witnesses in the Mueller probe, because Mueller is examining the presidents own conduct and whether he sought to obstruct justice.

Giuliani acknowledged that risk.

We sat him down and said youre not considering these other pardons with anybody involved in the investigation. He said yes, absolutely I understand, Giuliani said. The real concern is whether Mueller would turn any pardon into an obstruction charge.

Other Trump associates who have plead guilty as part of Muellers investigation include former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and Trump-campaign aide Rick Gates.

Muellers findings are supposed to be provided in a report to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who would then decide whether any evidence of wrongdoing was serious enough that it should be presented to Congress to consider for impeachment proceedings.

Trump has repeatedly decried the governments treatment of Manafort  who a jury found guilty Tuesday on eight counts of tax- and bank-fraud charges. Manafort refused to co-operate with Mueller investigators seeking his information about the Trump campaign and instead took his chances at trial.

On Tuesday, the president told reporters that Manafort was a good man and that he felt sorry for him.

Trump then tweeted his support of Manafort on Wednesday while criticizing Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank and two campaign finance violations: wilfully causing an illegal corporate contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution.

I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family, Trump tweeted.  Justice took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to break  make up stories in order to get a deal. Such respect for a brave man!

Inside the West Wing, the prospect of a Manafort pardon is met with near universal opposition. Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House counsel Donald McGahn and attorney Emmet Flood are all opposed. Aides are trying to keep Trump from even discussing the matter. After Ainsley Earhardt, the Fox News anchor, said Wednesday night that Trump discussed a pardon while appearing on Fox News, Sanders asked her to clarify her comments that she did not hear Trump say that, according to a person familiar with the matter. Officials are increasingly frustrated with Giuliani inside the West Wing.

Trump has admiringly talked about how Manafort did not flip on him and was ebullient when Judge T.S. Ellis said that the prosecution only wanted to go after Manafort to get him. Asked about a pardon, one senior White House official said: What does it accomplish? You pardon him, it doesnt get rid of the Mueller probe, it causes you more headaches, he still has another trial, you have more Republicans coming after you.

Legally hes entitled to pardon Manafort, said Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard professor that Trump likes to watch on TV. My advice to the president is dont tweet, dont pardon, dont testify, dont fire.

That was a major shift for Trump, who in April called it a national disgrace when federal investigators raided Cohens home and office as part of an investigation into his efforts during the campaign to squelch embarrassing stories about Trump.

Cohen implicated Trump directly in some of his acts when he pleaded guilty Tuesday, saying he arranged to pay off two women to keep their stories of alleged affairs with Trump from becoming public before Election Day  in coordination with the then-candidate.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his anger at how federal prosecutors had beat up and mistreated Manafort. The U.S. presidents critics argue that Trumps public tweets are a thinly-veiled message to Manafort, that he supports his refusal to co-operate with Mueller and is willing to pardon him in the future.

Giuliani said Trumps concern for Manafort is what motivates him to consider a pardon.

He feels Manafort has been mistreated. Nobody in a case like this gets raided in the middle of the night, put in solitary confinement, Giuliani said. They tried to crack him and it didnt work. Over the last two to three weeks, hes expressed anger and frustration about how hes been treated.

manafort-3rdld-writethru

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WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump told Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday that illegal dealers of the opioid fentanyl should be sentenced to death when convicted, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Sessions met Trump at the White House to discuss overhauling prison sentences, hours after Trump again ripped into the attorney general in an interview with Fox News. The meeting was cordial and the two men agreed to delay a push for any criminal justice overhaul until after midterm congressional elections, one of the people said.

Several other administration officials were in the meeting, including Kellyanne Conway, who is overseeing the White Houses opioid response.

Its not the first time Trump has mused about sentencing drug dealers to death. Politico reported in March that the proposal would be included in a plan expected from the White House to combat the opioids crisis.

Under a law signed by President Bill Clinton, people who deal large quantities of drugs or make large amounts of money from the trade can already be sentenced to death. But prosecutors have never sought the penalty out of concern it would be found to be unconstitutional, Politico reported.

Fentanyl is one of the worlds most dangerous and most profitable narcotics, so powerful that its been studied as a chemical weapon, Bloomberg Businessweek reported in May. It kills more people than any other opioid, including heroin, because its so easy to overdose.

The drug or its analogs killed an estimated 29,000 Americans in 2017, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.Two men have received multi-year prison sentences for the beating of a Black man who was left severely injured the day of a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Daily Progress reports that Alex Ramos of Georgia was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday, while Jacob Goodwin of Arkansas was sentenced to eight years.

Both were convicted of malicious wounding in the August 2017 beating of DeAndre Harris.

The attack in a parking garage by a group of men was captured in photos and videos widely shared online.

Prosecutors said Ramos hit Harris in the back of the head and bragged about the attack on Facebook.

A third man was also convicted in the attack, and a fourth has been charged.
LALITPUR, NEPALMan Bahadur Thapa cannot sleep. At home in Lalitpur, a Nepali city of ancient temples, the pricking pain from the shrapnel lodged in his body keeps him awake.

Thapa struggles to walk, so he drags himself out of bed, inching forward on his elbows. Many times, he gives up and sobs in his tiny bedroom. Death would be a respite, he said.

His thoughts often drift to the morning two years ago in Kabul, Afghanistan, when a Taliban bomber blew himself up near a minibus carrying Thapa and other South Asian security contractors to the Canadian Embassy, where they earned about $3 (U.S.) an hour.

Fifteen of the contractors from Nepal and India lost their lives, in one of the deadliest attacks on foreign workers in the Afghan capital. Thapa was so badly mutilated that doctors initially could not identify him.

The contractors, with backgrounds as Gurkha soldiers, thought they were valued fixtures at the embassy. But after the June 2016 bombing left them permanently disabled, five survivors said that they heard almost nothing from Canadian officials, and that representatives of Sabre International, a security firm contracted to manage the guards, stopped communicating with them.

While they underwent painful, expensive treatment for broken bones and head injuries, the men learned their insurance benefits from Sabre had been cut from a cap of $300,000 to $30,000. The men said they found out only after the bombing.

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Trudeau condemns killing of 14 Canadian Embassy security guards in Kabul

In June, dozens of survivors and relatives of the dead filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government and Sabre. They seek millions of dollars in insurance benefits outlined in the original employment contracts, and recognition that newer policies, apparently valid at the time of the bombing, lumped Nepali and Indian workers into a discriminatory and poorly compensated category, third country nationals.

The lawsuit alleges that placing them in a category with fewer benefits breaches Canadian laws against employment discrimination.

Lawyers from Schillings, a law firm in London representing Sabre, did not answer a detailed list of questions. Adam Austen, a spokesman for the Canadian Foreign Ministry, declined to answer questions on the lawsuit, though he said Canada remains grateful for the contribution of these guards.

But Krishna Kumar Deuja, one of those who survived the attack, said: We risked our lives to protect Canadians. And embassy officials didnt even meet us when we were crying in the hospital.

Jobs in poor, mountainous Nepal are scarce. Men leave in large numbers for construction work in the Persian Gulf or security jobs in places like Afghanistan.

Economists estimate that remittances make up a third of Nepals gross domestic product, one of the worlds highest rates.

Some of the Nepali contractors paid labour brokers thousands of dollars just to get interviews at the embassy. Once hired, the men travelled in unarmoured vehicles, without body armour, and were housed separately from white security contractors, according to the lawsuit, filed in an Ontario court.

The men who filed it said their original employment paperwork made no distinction between the 100 or so Nepali and Indian guards and other contractors. A copy of Sabres insurance policy from 2010 and 2011 reviewed by The New York Times appeared to outline a group plan that covered all workers with up to $300,000 in accidental death and permanent disability insurance.

But at some point, the insurance policy covering the men changed, said Joe Fiorante, a Canadian lawyer representing them. A policy that apparently went into effect about a month and a half before the bombing categorized contractors as expatriates, third country nationals or local nationals.

The expatriates, mostly well-paid Western workers, were eligible for $300,000 in accidental death and disability insurance. The third country nationals from Nepal and India, and local nationals from Afghanistan, could claim only $30,000, according to the lawsuit and a copy of a document from Sabre outlining the categories.

After the attack, the men said, only $30,000 was deposited into their bank accounts. The workers said Sabre representatives told them they were not entitled to more under the latest contract. Sabre later stopped answering calls and emails, the men said.

This was the first time any of our clients had ever seen that contract, Fiorante said.

Matthew Handley, an American workers rights lawyer assisting with the case, said it was common for security companies to exploit contractors from poor countries where labour laws are weak. In general, he said, when workers get injured or killed on the job, companies throw them on the plane back to their home country and hope that theyll never hear from them or their families again.

There had been prior signs of trouble for the guards in Kabul. According to the lawsuit, when Sabre did not distribute updated employment contracts a few years ago, contractors reached out to Deborah Lyons, then the Canadian ambassador there.

Sabre organized a meeting and assured them their insurance benefits had not changed, they said, telling them not to raise the issue with the ambassador or other Canadian officials.

Amrit Rokaya Chhetri, another Nepali survivor who is suing, said he complained about safety to Charlie Tourish, then the Afghanistan country manager for Sabre. Chhetri said Tourish threatened to send him back to Nepal.

There was no security at all, Chhetri said. We often had to push the minibus because it used to abruptly stop. We were unarmed. Anyone could have killed us.

Tourish did not respond to a request for comment.

A Nepali contractor currently working at the embassy in Kabul said Sabre was no longer managing Nepali and Indian contractors. A new firm pays them about $32 a day and provides $100,000 in accident insurance, he said.

Global Affairs Canada, a government department that manages diplomatic and consular relations, does not publicly comment on operational security issues, Austen of the Foreign Ministry said. He added that security measures are continuously reviewed at Canadian missions and referred questions about insurance and compensation to the service provider, who is the employer of the contracted security guards.

For five survivors of the bombing, debilitating injuries have destroyed their chances of working regularly, condemning their families to deeper poverty. A sixth survivor has returned to work at the embassy, Thapa said.

But Thapa, 53, spends up to 30 hours a week in physical therapy or a hospital. Deuja, 52, cannot afford to have the shrapnel removed from his head. I am lifeless, he said.

Chitra Kumari Koirala, whose husband was killed, said she could barely reflect on the last few years.

In 2013, she begged him not to leave for Afghanistan. Two years later, while in Kabul, he was on the phone with some of their six children when an earthquake jolted Nepal. A daughter and a son were buried under rubble, among nearly 9,000 people killed in a series of quakes.

After her husband, Madhu Sudan Koirala, returned for their cremations and saw the familys destroyed home and all they had lost, he wrote a song that was widely shared in Nepal, A Wound That Never Heals. The next year, he, too, was dead.

A few weeks after the bombing, the Canadian Embassy erected a monument in Kabul to honour the fallen guards. In a speech, Lyons called the men part of our embassy family and offered her sincere condolences to their relatives. Koirala said she was not invited.

They treated our men like goats, she said. Thats why were suing.

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ARDMORE, PA.Authorities say a model found dead this week in the bedroom of her apartment in Philadelphias affluent Main Line suburb was strangled.

Lower Merion police say officers conducting a wellness check found 36-year-old Christina Carlin-Kraft around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday inside her first-floor unit at the Cambridge Square apartments in Ardmore. Her death has since been ruled a homicide.

A motive for the slaying remains under investigation. But the Montgomery County District Attorneys office says there doesnt appear to be any current concern for area residents.

Neighbours say Carlin-Kraft had just moved into her apartment last week. Her modeling profile lists her credits as photo shoots for Vanity Fair, Victorias Secret, Playboy and Maxim.
Along with the recent removal of Confederate statues in the United States  a recent debate in Victoria was about the removal of a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald. This debate was sponsored by Victoria mayor, who finally got what she wanted by having the statue removed from Victorias city centre.

Its true that Macdonald, Canadas first prime minister, was hardly a saint, especially regarding his views on Indigenous people  but a lot of Canadian PMs in history were racist. Wilfrid Laurier put a punitive head tax on Chinese-Canadian immigration and he said a few times that Asian people were unworthy to come to Canada. Laurier also removed voting rights to Indigenous people living on reserves  and this right was only reestablished in 1960 under Conservative PM John Diefenbaker.

As a child in grade school, I remember studying the likes of Louis Buade de Frontenac, who is a well known colonial figure in Canadian history. He is such an important figure to a city like Kingston that even the local junior hockey team is named after him.

If you read a bit on his life as governor of New France, Frontenac was ruthless in his fight against Native Americans, who were on his path as a military commander or as a part-time mercantilist. He strongly believed that he was the emissary of the French King in the New World, which was a Godlike figure in the French ancien regime. One can compare him to fellow African colonialist undertaker Cecil Rhodes, whose statue in Oxford University was recently the story of a similar statue-removing debate.

The difference, however, is that commemorating Frontenac is seen as something normal in Canada. Cities, electoral districts, metro stations, schools are named after him without any fuss. In the National Assembly in Quebec City, his statue is directly outside parliament house.

Keep the statues of imperialists, however, could be the best way to remember their legacy  for the better or the worse.

Its up to us to judge historical figures based on history and by perhaps updating the plaque next to their statues. Its true that some statues are perhaps better suited for exhibition in a historical museum  but to have a free-for-all in statue removing is a game with sometimes dangerous consequences.

You know where it starts  but you dont know where it ends and erasing parts of history because they dont suit our values of this day and age could be something that has profound unintended consequences.

Mathieu Vaillancourt has a degree in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa.

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Although there have been 10 previous reports by grand juries or attorneys general, nothing comes close to this one for its bristling anger and its willingness to name the abusers and describe their abuse in the most gruesome detail. It is likely to cause prosecutors  and maybe even the Vatican  to seek ways to punish those church leaders who covered up the abuse. The report singles out, among others, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who as Pittsburgh's bishop for nearly 20 years is alleged to have allowed some known predators to remain in the ministry. He is now the archbishop of the Washington diocese. The report will also likely stir up questions, yet again, about what it is about the culture of the Catholic Church that allowed sexual abuse to fester.
U.S. locking Canada out of trade talks, Trump hints, August 17

It has been said that during the Second World War, the Polish army used its cavalry units trying to forestall the invading German tanks  with predictable results. This, of course, turned out to be merely a rumour spread by the German propaganda machine. Still, the image of a charge by sword-wielding horsemen against the phalanx of advancing panzers is an irresistible picture that comes to mind as we watch the Trudeau versus Trump encounter.

We may have the nicest horses, the shiniest swords and the loftiest principles, but they have the tanks. Canadian grandstanding can accomplish nothing against the master of grandstanding on a vastly bigger bully pulpit south of the border. Worse still, just as no power showed up in support of the brave Polish defenders of their homeland, no world leader has come out in support of Canada to back up our sunny prime minister and his cohorts.

As for the NAFTA negotiations and the future of the auto trade agreement, is there anyone outside Ottawa and a few sycophantic media commentators who really believe that the new Mexican president will turn down the opportunity for a deal with Trump just to show solidarity with Trudeau?

The Mexicans seem to understand reality. But our politicians must be on a high with the scent of legalized cannabis wafting around them if they keep ignoring the lessons from the (fictitious but nonetheless educational) history of the Polish cavalry.

Peter Bartha, Aurora, Ont.

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Britain  nothing Great about it lately  is heading for a Brexit so self-destructive that its like a national case of sepsis.

Every day brings worse news about how bad its going to be if theres no deal with the European Union by March or even if there is a deal, how it will be a criminally hasty one.

It will mean chaos. Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, I imagine reluctantly, has sent out 24 of 80 government papers on what life will look like if there is no EU deal  imagine bullet points but with actual bullets  and theyre dire in the extreme. I am plucking the strangest bits out of the BBC and Guardian summaries. They are extraordinary.

The latest bombshell, unexploded until next spring, is the government request that medicine not be hoarded, neither by pharmacies nor patients. They will be kept at normal levels with an extra six weeks tacked on for safety.

What that says to an ill person is, Get all the medication you can and keep it in the fridge. Casually ask your vet if dog medication works on humans.

Shades of the Second World War, drugs with a short shelf life will be flown in, the government says, which sounds as if they mean under the radar, like bombs and food parcels.

Britain imports stem cells, live tissue, loads of Danish sperm (for your taller baby), donated organs, radioisotopes, etc., that require just as much paperwork and speed as other crucial imports. All imports will be crucial though, once they cease.

The government shouldnt have mentioned hoarding in the first place. Everybody had been thinking about food and now this.

U.K. citizens in the EU may lose banking services. Brits at home will pay for more for them. Everything will cost more, everything.

The British organic food industry will wither for at least nine months because EU recertification cant even start till after Brexit. May says shell keep paying farmers the EU subsidies that made organic farming possible, but only until the next election in 2022.

What if the government collapses before then? Business likes certainty, ergo best get out of business now before tariffs show up. And whos to pick organic strawberries when brutally exploited EU pickers leave? The U.S. could happily send dried eggs, evaporated milk and lard by sea as it did in 1941, but Donald Trump wont.

Similarly, May will fund student exchange programs with EU universities, but again only until 2022. The EU will stop funding British non-governmental organizations working on aid projects and May probably wont step up, not for foreign projects. Britain will be shut out of science research grants and infrastructure funding.

Happily, smoking will cost more because Britain will have to replace the EU's illustrated warnings about the Grim Reaper on its cigarette packages

The list goes on. A common theme appears to be the Conservative government playing EU until the next election, placating the nation by handing out the same cash the EU did, which seems to defeat the purpose of Brexit.

Britain is suffering intensely from the Conservative austerity policy that is hacking at the National Health Service and its free medical care, local libraries, schools, affordable housing, university education, welfare, and basically everything established in postwar Britain to make it less medieval in the class sense.

The Conservatives have been doing this for decades, as is their right, and Tony Blairs New Labour did try to repair things, as was their responsibility, but it leaves the nation facing a huge problem. Why did May retain austerity if she knew EU cash handouts would vanish? Its austere austerity. Faux-EU till 22  is that her slogan?

Voters have nowhere to turn. Both Conservatives and Labour favour Brexit, each for their own reasons. The extreme-Brexit wing of the Conservatives is easily as ideological as the hardline Corbynistas on the left. Both seem willing to trash the nation to make a point.

The only thing that sustains the Conservatives is the thought of Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn, a hard-left Labourite caught in the past. In many ways hes like Trump, so sensitive to unfavourable media coverage that he wants to gradually replace the BBC with something Orwellian called the British Digital Corporation, a publicly funded government version of Facebook.

Although calls grow for another referendum on the actual Brexit deal, it might not help. There is no middle ground for reasonable people. Labour and Conservative extremists resemble the Red Guards of Maos Cultural Revolution, if the Red Guards had tweeted.

And this is why Brexit will happen. There is nowhere for Britons to turn to make it not happen. If you dont like Corbyn, stick with May, a nicer Thatcher. Sick of May, vote for a man baked in 1970s macrame populism but with more misogyny. Thats two deplorables.

Brexit is disgracing almost everyone. Meanwhile, there are dozens more warning papers to go, and I do mean downwards.
The voters who are going to be crucial to Canadas Conservatives in 2019 are not the people who have been filling the convention rooms in Halifax this weekend.

When Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer leaves Halifax and puts these past few tumultuous days behind him, he and his party have to find new voters  beyond the diehard base, and the keener partisans who gave up a perfectly pleasant August weekend to debate policy in dark conference rooms.

While its always nice for politicos to hang out with old friends  and certainly Conservatives seemed to be basking in each others company in Halifax  all parties need to keep making new friends, too, and thats especially true for Conservative parties.

Scheer, like all Conservative leaders before him, needs to find people who havent voted for the party before  a coalition like Doug Fords Ford Nation, or Stephen Harpers strong, stable conservatism from 2006 to 2015.

One year away from a federal election and on the heels of Maxime Berniers incendiary departure from the party, its not entirely clear how or whether Scheer can build a coalition like Harper did.

In fact, in big ways, Scheer has not yet amassed the ingredients of Harpers old winning coalition. Moreover, recent events call into question whether he ever can. Harper understood that to succeed, he needed to do three things: expand his reach, respect his base and exercise firm control over his party.

Read more:

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What you need to know about Maxime Berniers bitter farewell to the Conservative Party

In terms of expanding his reach, Harper was known to boast that Canadas Conservatives  unlike conservatives in other nations  had built victory with the help of newcomers to the country.

In this way, the current debate over immigration and minorities, which helped catapult Bernier into the headlines and then out of the party, may not be a slam dunk for Scheer.

The growth of conservatism in Canada, our electoral support, has been largely, not exclusively, but largely by our penetration of immigrant voters  of so-called cultural communities, Harper told Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker on a trip to New York in 2014.

More recently, Scheers campaign manager, Hamish Marshall, was also talking about the need for Conservatives to woo new Canadians, just as the Fords had done with Ford Nation.

Citing how well Ford had performed in some of Torontos most diverse wards in the last mayoral race, Marshall told the Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa in February that there were lessons here for federal Conservatives.

Its a huge potential and that shows that Conservative and the establishment messages can have great appeal with new Canadians, he said. But weve got a lot of work to do.

Half a year later, they may have even more work to do now.

Its hard to imagine how Berniers chain of Twitter rants against radical multiculturalism would have helped Scheer make the Conservatives keep looking attractive to newcomers this last little while.

One might think that Berniers departure is a silver lining on this score. In other words, now that Bernier is gone, presumably to woo voters with a harder line against multiculturalism, the Conservatives can go back to their immigrant-friendly ways, such as they were.

A new poll by EKOS Research shows that may be a questionable strategy in 2018. Frank Graves, head of EKOS, put some new findings on his own Twitter feed this week about how open Conservatives are to visible-minority immigrants. The results were striking.

A full 73 per cent of Conservative respondents to the poll said Canada was taking in too many visible-minority immigrants. Only 12 per cent of Liberal respondents and 17 per cent of New Democrats gave that answer.

For Graves, that finding looks like an opening for any breakaway party that Bernier might want to form, especially if one of its founding sentiments is a hard line against visible minorities or immigration.

Bernier may provide an unambiguous political home for them, Graves wrote on Twitter.

What this means, when it comes right down to it, is that Scheer has to juggle two contradictory messages  an openness to immigrants, in the Harper and Ford tradition, but a hard line on immigration, too, as the new EKOS poll seems to signal on what Conservative voters want.

No matter what happens with Bernier and his new party, this is a problem for Scheer and his hopes of building a Harper-like coalition.

Meanwhile, social conservatism is also a wild card in any future Conservative coalition. Scheer won the leadership in May 2017 with the help of some strong anti-abortion contenders in the race  Brad Trost and Pierre Lemieux  whose supporters flocked to Scheer instead of Bernier in final balloting and probably handed him victory.

Harper didnt have as big an IOU, but he still kept social conservatives at bay in his years in power by simply having no policy at all on those hot-button issues. It was a libertarian approach, giving assurance to those folks that they were free to hold such sentiments but that they would not make it into official Conservative policy.

At the Halifax convention on Friday, Conservative delegates succeeded in getting a resolution on abortion policy to the main voting session on Saturday. Scheer, unlike Harper, is obviously not as successful  at least not yet  in keeping this wing of the party quiet. And the more they talk, the more unfriendly the party looks to a lot of women.

Historically, Conservatives have always had trouble attracting women voters. Flirting with social conservatives hasnt helped.

Sometimes keeping people quiet is the strongest art of coalition building. On that score, power was a good way of enforcing a discipline of silence in the Harper years. MPs knew that if they spoke up or out of turn, they could find themselves on the outs with the powerful Prime Ministers Office.

Scheer, needless to say, does not have many tools to keep troublesome coalition members in line or resources to lure new allies to the fold. Whats more, the new Ford government at Queens Park threatens to rob Ottawa Conservatives of many smart staffers and strategists.

Liberals encountered this, too, when they fell out of power back in 2006  a migration to Toronto and only a skeleton staff on hand around federal politics.

On the other hand, the Ford government is now in a position to lend some support to its federal cousins in Ottawa, which Scheers party will want to borrow as much as possible. At this moment, with its coalition-building abilities looking precarious and fragile, Scheers Conservatives need all the new friends they can find.

Susan Delacourt is a former Star reporter and freelance columnist based in Ottawa. Reach her via email: sdelacourt@bell.net

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We now know the dramatic opening scene of what is certain to be the Oscar winner at the 2022 Academy Awards, The Collapse of the Trump Presidency.

On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after 4 p.m., a young NBC News intern  later dubbed in the media as the lady in the blue dress  was captured by camera crews frantically racing down the steps of a Virginia federal courthouse breathlessly bringing news of the eight guilty verdicts just imposed on Paul Manafort, Donald Trumps former campaign chief.

Separately, but at the same moment, the split screen on Americas news channels was also showing chaotic scenes from a federal court in New York where Michael Cohen, the presidents former personal attorney, ashen and subdued, was confessing to crimes at the direction of Trump himself.

And so began Trumps worst hour as president.

Read more:

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Trump praises Paul Manafort for refusing to break unlike Michael Cohen

It was when America learned conclusively that Trump is an illegitimate president whose election came about through fraud.

But for that reason, we also begin the most dangerous weeks of his presidency.

If Trump wants to shut down Robert Muellers investigation into his Russian ties  and he knows he must  Trump has to do it before the Democrats win back the House of Representatives in Novembers midterm elections. Otherwise, Congress after November will have the power to reinstate Muellers investigation regardless of what he does.

Trump knows that Manaforts conviction on tax and bank fraud provided a powerful boost to the Mueller probe in the face of the presidents unrelenting efforts to discredit it.

But he also knows that Cohens confession really drew blood. Cohen directly implicated Trump in authorizing hush money payments to an adult-film star and a Playboy Playmate just before the November 2016 presidential election.

In other words, this was an illegal effort, virtually on the eve of the vote, to keep these affairs confidential  and to swing a razor-thin presidential election that was ultimately decided by fewer than 80,000 votes in three states.

And this is only the beginning. We are still waiting to hear confirmation from the Mueller probe that Trump engaged in conspiracy with Russian intelligence to undermine the presidential election and committed obstruction of justice by trying to prevent those crimes from becoming public.

As to why Trump has been so beholden to the Russians, it is also known that Mueller is investigating Trumps once-bankrupt business empire on suspicions it has been kept afloat for years by illegal money laundering and investments from the Russian mafia.

Trump obviously feels cornered and is weighing his next move. On Wednesday, he lavished praise on his former campaign chief  I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family, he tweeted  prompting speculation that he may pardon Manafort.

But if he does that, it will only accelerate the inevitable.

Trumps road to ruin as Americas 45thpresident is unavoidable, in my view, even if there are still enormous bumps to come.

In a column a year ago, I predicted he will try to fire Mueller and, in doing so, will trigger a constitutional crisis that will rock its institutions to the core. But, I added, Congress will intervene, and he will eventually resign in exchange for a pardon from his servile vice-president, Mike Pence.

I still believe this is how the Trump crowd will crash and burn, but that really wont be the end of it.

Nearly 63 million Americans voted for Trump, and his approval rating still hovers around 40 per cent.

When he and his family have been driven off the stage  ideally in the direction of a prison cell  the dark side of America and the deep corruption of its political culture that his tenure has so dramatically exposed will still need to be confronted.

Tony Burman , formerly head of CBC News and Al Jazeera English, is a freelance contributor for the Star. He is based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyBurman

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VANCOUVER  Sachiko Charlotte Gyoba was born in 1943 in the Japanese internment camp of New Denver, in southeastern British Columbia, where she said her parents made the best of a tarpaper shack with their four young children.

That reality left the family with a lingering and inordinate fear of the law, Gyoba recalled.

But it wasnt until her arrest on June 30, 2018  while protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline extension  that Gyoba was overwhelmed and understood her familys experience emotionally, not just intellectually.

It was like deja vu when I was handcuffed. I had a sense of what my parents were going through with this injustice, the retired teacher explained in an interview. What I had done was so peaceful and so ultimately mundane.

In that moment, she remembered her mothers words that protesters stood for justice, and without them, her parents would not have become Canadians in 1957.

Major opposition to the pipeline has resulted in a mounting standoff between provinces along with cases before the federal courts. Since March, hundreds of protesters have been blocking access to the Kinder Morgan gates.

There have been more than 220 people arrested, a third of whom are over the age of 60, according to the crown prosecutor.

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Gyoba was one of the protesters who broke a court injunction filed by Kinder Morgan that set limits on how close people could be from the gates. The protesters stood right in front of the gates at one of the Kinder Morgan facilities at the Burnaby Mountain tank farm.

Of the group of nine that faced initial jail time for convictions on July 31, the first to be sentenced was 70-year-old grandmother Laurie Embree. Indigenous elders have also been arrested at the gates.

Meanwhile, the penalties for defying the injunction continue to increase, with the people arrested this week facing a sentence of 14 days in custody from the B.C. Supreme Court.

Gyoba was convicted of criminal contempt of court and sentenced to seven days. She was released Aug. 19  along with four others, all over the age of 65  after four days behind bars in a womens correctional facility.

And she said shes not sorry she did it.

I wont be here much longer, but I worry about what kind of planet the next generation will inherit from us, the 74-year-old said. People have to stand up when they see an injustice. If they dont, then democracy doesnt work for anybody.

The pipeline project will contribute to climate change and it blatantly ignores the rights of Indigenous peoples, she argued.

Gyoba had never been arrested before. But after going to peaceful protests, signing petitions, writing letters, showing up to her MPs office twice and marching up Burnaby mountain, this summer Gyoba decided  with her friend and former B.C. Federation of Teachers president Susan Lambert  that more needed to be done to stop the pipeline.

Thats why they blocked the gates of Kinder Morgans Burnaby tank farm, prepared to end up behind bars. They served their time together, got out together, and even shared a room in lock-up.

They locked me in a cell, which was a toilet with a partial wall and a hard bench, for about five hours. Because I was the first, Gyoba explained. When I was led into a common room where Susan was, I was so indescribably happy to see her. She was already shackled.

They sang I Shall be Released while waiting to exit from behind bars.

Lambert had never been arrested either, though she was an outspoken critic of the former B.C. Liberals government led by Premier Christy Clark.

The rising opposition to the pipeline has been largely generational, Lambert, a 68-year-old grandmother, said. In fact, she said she told her own children to refrain from protesting.

Its going to be a long, hard struggle, she explained. (Our generation) made the mess, not my kids. (And) we have the time.

Though its not fun, Lambert said, jail time is doable.

The federal government purchased the pipeline for $4.5 billion from Kinder Morgan.

While the company had estimated the costs to build the new pipeline at $7.4 billion, financial documents it filed with the United States Security and Exchange Commission suggest the cost could be as much as $9.3 billion, according to previous Star reports.

Lambert questioned what avenue is left in a democracy when all three levels of government have expressed concerns about a project, but The law intercedes on behalf of a corporation.

I recognize that Im not doing enough personally. I drive a car, Lambert acknowledged. But this needs to be governmental change. We need to have regulations that protect our environment to move more of us into being personally responsible.

The feds decision to take on the project was based on facts, evidence and what was in the national interest, said Emerson Vandenberg, acting press secretary for Natural Resource Canada.

We recognize that not everyone agrees with the decision, Vandenberg said, noting the government remains committed to working with provinces, territories and Indigenous peoples.

The right to gather and act in peaceful groups is protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the government respects this right, Vandenberg added.

Lambert said she respects the rule of law and insisted she and her fellow protesters are not criminals.

We have a different political point of view than those we elected, she said. We were political prisoners.

High-profile West Coast politicians have also been arrested, including Kennedy Stewart, Vancouver independent mayoral candidate and former NDP MP for Burnaby South, and federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May. But they did not serve time.

Joining the two retired teachers behind bars was Order of Canada recipient Jean Swanson, 75, who is a long-time anti-poverty advocate and currently a Vancouver city-council candidate.

Swanson had also never been arrested. She spoke to the Star the morning after her release, thrilled to wake up in her own bed.

The mattresses in the jail are about an inch thick and covered in plastic. I managed to get two of them, but it was still really painful to sleep, Swanson said. We were so profoundly affected by the beauty and generosity of the prisoners  For me, it was a choice, for them it was not.

She said inmates showed the protesters how things worked at the facility, shared their toiletries and even made them beaded bracelets.

Swanson sat in court on July 30 when the crown prosecutor argued conditional sentences were not enough deterrence for older protesters, who had been the ones repeatedly violating the injunction. The prosecutor said these activists had made a particularly sinister challenge to the courts authority.

Thats when protesters started being sentenced to serve time.

Swanson subsequently posted a photo captioned sinister seniors on Facebook, which earned more than a 1,000 shares.

Sinister seniors are taking up the cause because its practical, Swanson said.

Seniors dont have jobs or young children. We are really worried about our grandkids and climate change, she explained. A lot of the seniors getting arrested are people who have a history working for justice.

And they will not be deterred, Swanson said.

The cities of Vancouver and Burnaby and some First Nations have raised environmental concerns and publicly opposed the expansion project, which would twin the existing 1,100-kilometre pipeline that runs from Edmonton, triple its flow of diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to a port in Burnaby, and increase tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet sevenfold.

But on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed one outstanding legal challenge  denying the City of Burnaby leave to appeal a National Energy Board ruling that allowed the company to bypass local bylaws during construction of the federally-approved pipeline.

The environment is a visceral issue on the West coast, said Warren Magnusson, University of Victoria professor emeritus of political science. Thats why, he said, its such a specific catalyst for certain generations who are willing to put their bodies on the line.

Thanks to internal migration patterns in Canada, people move out West because of the mountains, sea and forest. The fear of detrimental effects of the pipeline threatens that, Magnusson said.

But out East, theres a tendency to think of environmental concerns as luxury issues, he added.

There is also something connected to the feeling that B.C. is always left out of national calculations, Magnusson said. Weve been detached from the industrial economy that exists in Canada. Having someone in Ottawa decide that their concerns are unimportant seems offensive.

Whats more, Indigenous land rights are at the forefront in because its in the face of the provinces urban centres.

It can cut across the political spectrum. Even people who are on the right, gradually come to realize that you cant ignore these issues, he explained. A government in office can only tolerate so many arrests. If it goes on and respectable people are being arrested, that puts a lot of pressure.

According to BC Civil Liberties Association lawyer Dylan Mazur, many cases that straddle both the public and private sphere lack clarity because they are not spelled out in the criminal code.

This hasnt come around in a generation, he said, pointing to the Clayoquot Sound protests on Vancouver Island in the 1990s, which brought the political struggle over environmental issues into households across the nation. Justice Kenneth Affleck, who presides over the current Trans Mountain court injunction cases, often refers to Clayoquot to defend the use of custodial sentences to deter civil disobedience, Mazur said.

Thats a pressing concern for Joanne Manley, 85, who was handcuffed on Aug. 14 and faces up to 14 days imprisonment. She first appeared in court on Thursday afternoon.

Manley has been arrested before  linking arms at sunrise with protesters before a chain-link fence at the Clayoquot Sound logging facility 25 years ago.

I was scared at first. But a woman had told me her experience and what the police would do, she said.

She was not sentenced to jail time. Instead, Manley paid a $500 fine and was under house arrest for 21 days.

This time, however, she may not be so lucky.

Born in Burnaby, the retired civil servant raised her children blocks away from the Kinder Morgan facility where she was arrested at this month. She retired on Vancouver Island. And thats where she engaged in her first act of civil disobedience with a friend at Clayoquot Sound.

Their actions helped change the political landscape, she said. And thats why when the opportunity arose this month to support those being arrested, Manley said she had to take a stand.

Part of me is scared stiff, but my heart tells me this is the right thing to do, she explained. I have to make a difference and I dont know how else to do it.

Like many others, Manley wrote letters and signed petitions. She is very concerned about righting the wrongs done to First Nations people and the environment.

If it means helping save the oceans, especially the salmon for food, then thats what I must do, Manley said. Im coming to the end of my life and Ive been very lucky. I have a granddaughter and I dont want her to miss out on a clean future.

With files from Ainslie Cruickshank and The Canadian Press

Recollections from behind bars

These four protesters all found themselves facing jail time late in life. StarMetro asked them about their experiences. Heres what they say theyll never forget.

Sachiko Charlotte Gyoba, 74, sentenced seven days in jail on Aug. 15, released after four days.

They took me into a little room. They handcuffed me behind my back, she said. They gave us green sweatsuits for our prison garb ... It seemed like a week. It was a room with two, narrow horizontal windows and bunk beds. The toilet was right out in the open by the door. It was quite degrading.

Susan Lambert, 68, sentenced to seven days in jail on Aug.15, released after four days.

We were put in tight shackles and cuffs into a paddy wagon. These were cages  steel mesh cages  sheathed in plexi glass. We couldnt stand up. We were in a four-by-four cage. Our journey was at least two hours, she said of getting to the prison.

Jean Swanson, 75, sentenced to seven days in jail on Aug. 15, released after four days.

One thing they did was keep all five of us together ... The inmates were so young. They were just so nice to us. You cant use that shampoo in there, take mine. Oh, you cant use that silly black comb they give you, take my brush ... They warned us about little things, like if youre in the bathroom and you have to flush the toilet while someone is in the shower, yell flush, because if you dont they will get scalded, she said.

Joanne Manley, 85, arrested on Aug. 14, awaiting sentencing.

Twenty-five years ago, Manley was arrested on Vancouver Island protesting the logging industry.

I had a friend that I met in the bank one day who wanted to protest but was a parent, so she couldnt be arrested. She drove me there and we slept in the car that night on the side of the road. In the morning, someone came along at 4 a.m. to wake us up, she explained. I went with them and my friend came along later in her car. We stood on the bridge. There were 14 of us, and (we) linked arms ... It was almost holy, I thought. I felt a real connection to what I was doing.

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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP)  Sears Holdings Corp. is closing another 13 Kmart stores and 33 Sears stores as sales shrink and losses grow.

The ailing company said Thursday that liquidation sales at the 46 unprofitable stores marked for closure will start Aug. 30, and the stores will close in November. The company said it informed its workers.

Sears outlets in Jerseyville, Fairview Heights and St. Peters, Mo. were not named. Stores in Bloomington, Illinois and Cape Girardeau, Missouri are among the closings.

The move comes as Sears is considering a bid from CEO Eddie Lamperts hedge fund ESL Investments to acquire its jewel Kenmore appliances from the company for $400 million. The company has put others of its famous brands on the block before.

In January, Sears had said it was closing 100 stores. It announced in May that it was closing another 100. As of May 5, it had about 894 stores, down from about 1,000 at the end of last year. The number of stores peaked in 2012 at 4,000, which included the Sears Canada division that was later spun off. In 2005, when Sears merged with Kmart, it operated 2,200 stores.

The latest closings underscore the deep-rooted problems at Sears, a onetime powerhouse retailer that survived two world wars and the Great Depression but has been calving off pieces of itself as it burns through money.
EDWARDSVILLE  A grand jury Thursday indicted a Godfrey man for allegedly punching a county deputy while in the Madison County Jail, awaiting trial on charges of material support for terrorism and making a terrorist threat.

In the most recent case, Keaun L. Cook, 20, of the 1300 block of Sir Galahad Drive, is accused of injuring a deputy sheriff by punching the officer in the face. Cook had previously been ordered to the custody of the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services to determine his fitness to stand trial.
EDWARDSVILLE - Two men from Harrissburg are facing two counts each of burglary after they allegedly entered two storage units at Budget Mini Storage, 3709 Edwardsville Rd., on July 22.

Charged Thursday were Peni R. Allen, 28, and Michael A. Zentz, 35. Bail was set at $75,000 each.

WOOD RIVER - Robert M. Sauerwein, 39, of the first block of Jennings Avenue, Wood River, was charged Thursday with two counts of unlawful violation of an order of protection.

He allegedly contacted a protected party on Aug. 14 and Aug. 20 after having been convicted of unlawful violation of an order of protection on April 1. Bail was set at $25,000.

WOOD RIVER - Dakota H. Bowman, 24, of Jerseyville, was charged Thursday with burglary for allegedly entering a vehicle in the 1900 block of East Edwardsville Road on Aug. 22. Bail was set at $20,000.

WOOD RIVER - Garrett L. Treadway, 30, of the 100 block of South Central Avenue, Wood River, was charged Wednesday with burglary.

He allegedly entered Walmart, 610 Wesley Dr., on Aug. 18. with intent to commit a theft. Bail was set at $50,000.

WOOD RIVER - Bryan J. Swank, 41, of the 1000 block of Hillcrest Drive, East Alton, was charged Wednesday with residential burglary.

He allegedly entered a home in the 200 block of Picker Avenue on Aug. 5 with the intent to commit a theft. Bail was set at $60,000.

EDWARDSVILLE - Dominic A. Whitton, 24, of Belleville, was charged Wednesday with felony retail theft.

He allegedly took more than $300 worth of alcohol from a Schnucks grocery store, 2222 Troy Rd., on Aug. 21. Bail was set at $20,000.

DORSEY - Christopher S. Crane, 53, of the 7500 block of Renken Road, Dorsey, was charged Wednesday with unlawful failure to register as a sex offender and unlawful residing within a school zone.

He allegedly failed to contact the chief of police within three days of moving into a residence at 228 S. 13 St., which is within 500 feet of Central Grade School, 601 North Chaffer Street, Roxana. Bail was set at $25,000.

ALTON - Brett A. Rudd, 41, of the first block of East Ferguson Avenue, Wood River, was charged Thursday with domestic battery.

He allegedly struck a household member on Aug. 21 after having been convicted of aggravated battery in 2015. Bail was set at $15,000.

ALTON - Isaiah L. Hammonds, 28, of the 2200 block of Washington Avenue, Alton, was charged Thursday with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

He allegedly possessed a firearm on Wednesday after having been convicted in 2012 of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. He also allegedly possessed 10 grams of marijuana. Bail was set at $25,000.

ALTON - Brian P. Olano, 33, of the 1300 block of Fifth Street, Roxana, was charged Thursday with unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

He allegedly possessed less than 15 grams of alprazolam, a sedative, on Wednesday.

ALTON - Lana A. Rider, 33, of the 4200 block of Sheridan Street, Bethalto, was charged Thursday with unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

She allegedly possessed less than five grams of the drug on Thursday. Bail was set at $20,000.

ALTON - Chad R. Cordes, 31, of the 600 block of Giddings, Jerseyville, was charged Thursday with three counts of theft.

He allegedly took an air conditioner from another man on Aug. 20. The unit was valued at more than $500. He also allegedly stole air conditioners from two other people on Aug. 20.

The other two units were worth less than $500. The difference in value would affect the sentence if he is convicted. Bail is set at $30,000.

He was also charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance for allegedly possessing less than 15 grams of fentanyl. Bail in that case was set at $15,000.

ALTON - Brandie C. Johnson, 21, of the 700 block of North Prairie Avenue, Bethalto, was charged Thursday with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

She allegedly carried a loaded firearm in a vehicle, as well as 19 grams of marijuana on Wednesday. Bail was st at $25,000.
SPRINGFIELD  Metro East unemployment rates dropped in July after a sharp increase the previous month, while the states unemployment rate held steady for the third month in a row.

According to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, unemployment in the Metro East dropped to 4.3 percent in July, down from 4.6 percent in June. Statewide the rate held at 4.3 percent.

The St. Louis MSA includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties.

IDES officials also noted that statewide job growth accelerated in the May to July period posting average monthly gains of 9,500 jobs over this three-month period, more than the 6-month average monthly gain of 8,200 jobs between February and July 2018.

The states unemployment rate continued its downward trend in July and stands at its lowest point in 18 years, said IDES Director Jeff Mays. Illinois payroll employment also saw its largest over-the-year gain in more than two years.

The number of employed people increased in all metro areas, which contributed to the decrease in the unemployment rate, Mays said. This has driven the unemployment rate down to near record lows across the state.

Locally, unemployment rates increased to 4.6 percent in June after dropping to 3.8 percent in May. Tony Fuhrmann, director of Madison County Employment and Training, said an increase in the workforce as students left school, and a churning in the warehouse industry contributed to that increase. Both the numbers of employed people, and the number of people in the labor force, have been increasing.

The IDES noted increases in manufacturing (900); wholesale trade (800); retail trade (400); transportation, warehousing and utilities (300) and Leisure and hospitality (200) over the past year.

Decreases were seen in financial activities (-200); educational and health services (100); mining and construction (-100) and other services (-100).

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
VIRGINIA  A special Virginia City Council meeting has been called to discuss the next steps for Virginia Police Chief Wes Helmich, who was cited for driving under the influence after an accident Sunday.

Helmich, 30, of Virginia was traveling on Virginia Road around 7:40 p.m. Sunday when he approached a curve at Old Bethel Church Road on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. According to an Illinois State Police report, Helmichs motorcycle left the road and traveled up an embankment, where it came to a rest.

The police report did not say why Helmichs motorcycle left the road.

Helmich was flown to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield with non-life-threatening injuries. He was treated and released. He said in a phone conversation that he is recovering and didnt suffer any serious injuries.

Helmich was charged with improper lane use and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Virginia Mayor Reg Brunk said he couldnt comment on the situation Thursday, because he didnt have all of the details.

A special meeting to discuss the incident  likely in closed session  will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

Brunk said there likely would be some action taken after the discussion.

It was not clear Thursday whether Helmich would return to work before the meeting. Helmich declined comment Thursday.

Helmich was an officer with the South Jacksonville Police Department in 2017 when Brunk, with the support of Virginias city council, hired him as Virginias police chief. He began that position in December.

Nick Draper can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1223, or on Twitter @nick_draper.
Treatment of the IGs office can be a talisman of ethical intent because in all of city politics, the IG is the rare person over whom the mayor has little control. Once appointed and approved by the City Council, the IG can be removed only for cause during his four-year term. Even the budget is protected by ordinance, meaning a mayor cant even starve an IG into irrelevance  not that any Chicago mayor might ever try such a thing. Right?
Anyone who remembers the 1970s detective series Baretta may recall this line as sung by Sammy Davis Jr.: Dont do the crime if you cant do the time.

When condensed into a nice, rhyming adage, crime and punishment may seem like a rather simple affair. The problem arises when we cant figure out what the actual crime is.

Donald Trumps former lawyer and alleged fixer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty Tuesday to eight federal crimes  including tax evasion, making false statements to banks, and campaign finance violations  as Trumps personal lawyer. Tax evasion and bank fraud charges are not difficult to identify. Its the campaign finance violations that had me scratching my head.

They relate to the payment of $130,000 to the porn star known as Stormy Daniels as part of a contract to secure her silence about an alleged affair she had with Trump. Another $150,000 was paid to Karen McDougal for similar reasons. By taking the payments, the women presumably were agreeing to the terms of the contract.

So where is the campaign finance angle in all of this? I assumed there was some arcane part of the law that makes this kind of arrangement a crime and, as a non-lawyer, I just couldnt disentangle the nuanced nature of the violation. Then I read Alan Dershowitzs article in The Hill, where he also expressed puzzlement about the campaign finance angle.

 I have been reviewing the morass of rules and laws that govern campaign finance. I have been teaching and practicing criminal law for more than a half century, and yet, I have to acknowledge that I am having difficulty understanding the laws as they relate to the allegations made by Cohen against President Trump.

Dershowitz wrote that he voted for Hillary Clinton, campaigned for her and contributed to her campaign, so he did not write his column as a defense of Trump.

I could not see how Trump, using his own money to arrange an agreement with two adult women, was in violation of campaign finance laws if the funds were not drawn from the campaign account. The transactions may be considered unseemly, and the revelation of them may be harmful to Trump politically, but where is the crime?

Dershowitz is clear on this: A candidate is free to contribute to his or her own campaign. It also is not criminal for a candidate to pay hush money to women whose disclosures might endanger his campaign. So, if candidate Trump paid hush money to his two accusers, there would be no violation of any campaign or other laws.

Some writers have gone so far as to claim that Cohen pleaded guilty to committing acts that are not crimes and, so far as we know, those acts are the only ones so far disclosed that have anything to do with Trump.

Dershowitz is not defending Trump so much as he seems to be defending us all against application of overly vague laws that may entrap anyone. He knows what hes talking about.

In the forward to Harvey Silverglates book, Three Felonies a Day, Dershowitz recounts litigating cases in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s: Every Soviet citizen committed at least three felonies a day, because the criminal statutes were written so broadly as to cover ordinary day-to-day activities.

The authorities chose the defendant, then sought out a crime. This reminded me (and Dershowitz) of another aphorism, attributed to Lavrenti Beria, Stalins notorious KGB head: Show me the man and Ill find you the crime.

Jacksonville resident Jay Jamison writes each Friday for this page.
While waiting to meet with a client on death row recently, I was chatting with a corrections officer who had been working at this states notorious maximum security prison for more than two decades. He told me that he preferred working on death row over the prisons general population. The death row prisoners, he said, are the easiest ones to manage. Theyre rarely serial criminals. Theyre not the prisons troublemakers. For the most part, he said, death row is made up of people who made one horrible, tragic mistake.

While it isnt always that simple, this officer sees that the prisoners he interacts with are people  damaged people, but people who can be punished safely and effectively without the government taking their lives. Pope Francis recognized this earlier this month when he announced that the Catholic Church would no longer defend the death penalty in any circumstances, and the church would work with determination to end the practice.

As Pope Francis acknowledged, at its core the death penalty is an affront to human dignity. Our criminal justice system should instead value rehabilitation and redemption. We should not as a society turn our backs on the least among us. Ive seen the power of redemption with my clients who have accepted life sentences to avoid a death sentence. One client obtained a janitorial certification in prison, describing it as his lifes proudest accomplishment. Another, inspired by his Christian faith, creates beautiful works of art and shares them with ministers who visit the prison, to share with their congregants.

Pope Franciss rejection of the death penalty does not absolve people who commit homicide of punishment altogether. He acknowledges rather that there are suitable, safe alternatives to the government taking another life to address the harm to society.

The death penalty in the United States offends human dignity because it cannot be divorced from our countrys legacy of lynching and racial terror. People of color are still disproportionately sentenced to death, especially when the victim is white. And black defendants are still sentenced to death by all-white juries.

The death penalty also offends human dignity because it does not deter. States without the death penalty have lower homicide rates than those that retain it. It should come as no surprise that the cycle of violence  both individual and institutional  perpetuates more violence.

The death penalty also offends human dignity because it has proven an unreliable and failed experiment, where scores of innocent people have been sent to death row for crimes they did not commit  now up to 162, and counting.

Pope Francis did not emerge with this view from a liberal enclave. There is growing conservative opposition to the death penalty in the United States. And of course, the Catholic Church has long taught that the death penalty should be reserved for the rarest of cases, when no other punishment was practicable.

I came to oppose capital punishment from my own Catholic upbringing. As a child, I toured my local parish jail with Sister Margaret McCaffrey, North Louisianas Mother Theresa, as Sister Helen Prejean once described her to me. I saw what so many people never have a chance to see: that the people locked up were  people.

They were brothers, sons, fathers, cousins, neighbors. They were broken, frail people who had made mistakes, sometimes very serious ones. But they were people who were capable of redemption. People who, the church taught us, as the least among us, should be shown love, compassion and dignity.

Pope Francis announcement aligns with the sentiments of a growing number of people in the United States. Prosecutors and jurors across the country continue to reject the death penalty in favor of life sentences, with death sentencing at a record low. Several states have abolished the death penalty in recent years, and politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to introduce new legislation to curb or end its use.

Still, the United States stands alone among Western democracies in its retention and heavy use of the death penalty. Catholics, and all people in the United States, should reflect on this failed government institution, and like Pope Francis teaches us, reject it in all circumstances.

Anna Arceneaux is senior staff attorney for the ACLU Capital Punishment Project. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
In a country divided by unprecedented bitterness and toxic polarisations, this week, in the middle of its own tragedy, Kerala reminded us who we were meant to be as a nationand how far we have drifted from that ideal.

Even in the worst flood in 100 years, the state displayed a mix of understated compassion and courage that have become increasingly rare for the times we live in. Two things especially stood out for me. The first was the fact that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala temporarily called a truce to take an Air Force helicopter together during flood relief. Even if this white flag calling of peace lasted only for a few hours, it establishes a clear example of how we want our politicians to behave in moments of crisis.

Illustration: Bhaskaran

The second extraordinary and unusual aspect of the catastrophe has been the absolute absence of complaints and anger among people. As a reporter who has covered multiple incidents of floods, quakes and famines, it is normal to encounter rage at a broken system or at delays in relief and rescue operations.

In Kerala, the people came together, across all divides of religion, caste and class, to stand united as a community. Naval pilots share inspiring stories of how food packages were actually turned away by those stranded on rooftops and redirected to those who needed them more. Or how, when the chopper could only ferry two people at time, older people would insist that young couples with lives ahead of them should be evacuated first.

Especially stellar has been the role of the states fishermen, who have saved an estimated 7,000 lives. Most of these fishermen declined the offer of compensation from the chief ministers office. One man placed his face in the muddy waters and lay flat, his back forming a bridge over which women could clamber onto the safety of a boat. Thus, the singularly humbling image of an entire neighbourhood standing with folded hands and heads bowed, in tribute to passing fishermen.

Credit must also be given to the response of the state government and official administrative institutions. While, as usual, the armed forces went beyond the call of duty and ran some truly amazing operations, this was not a state where the civilian bureaucracy and the political establishment simply outsourced their entire responsibility to men and women in uniform. From district level collectors to the states finance minister and ruling and opposition legislators, everyone was at the frontline.

The best, of course, has been Keralas scornful response to prejudice and misogyny. When right-wing beef bigots tried to blame the floods on the fact that Malayalis eat cow meat, the state laughed at them. Then, the hate mongers tried to blame women and said this may be the fury of Lord Ayyappa at menstruating women demanding the right to enter the Sabarimala temple. Once again, the state rubbished them. Then, both communism and Christianity were attacked, with low-life trolls asking that donations be made only to the Hindus of Kerala and not its Christians. Once again, it was the people of Kerala who swiftly shut down the hate.

In one of the worst phases of its history, Kerala showed us the way.

editor@theweek.in
Known for clean lines and defining silhouettes, fashion designer Amit Aggarwal made his Couture week debut last month. The designer who has been a part of the industry for 10 years he launched his label Morphe in 2008 talks about launching menswear, highs and lows of his career and his love for structure. His collection will be showcased on August 24 at Lakme Fashion Week (August 22-26), which is being held at St Regis, Mumbai.

This will be a capsule collection featuring both womenswear and menswear. As for the menswear, it will be largely a mix of lounge-wear, athlesiure, western wear and occasion wear with a few bandhgalas and kurtas, Amit says. The varied spread will see reinvention of phulkari embroidery. The designer in past collections has reinvented patola and benarasi weaves. The pure emotions of a mother making bridal finery for her daughter is what echoes in phulkari. And that emotional pull is what moved me to use this particular form of embroidery in this collection, says the designer who debuted the Amazon Couture Week with his Crystalis collection.

The Crystalis collection saw the blending of crystals and chrysalis, inspired by formation of crystals at the molecular level with metallic chrysalis, the pupal stage of butterflies. The collection saw aesthetic influence of the butterflys cocoon. While Crystalis saw use of metallic colours like rose quartz, silver onyx and shades inspired by gemstones like amethyst and emerald, the LFW collection would see colours like white, silver and black.

The designer has known to create garments that have structure and clean lines. The fondness for streamlining he owes to an engineer father, he says. The 2002 NIFT Delhi graduate says he draws inspiration from organisms, flora and fauna around him. When asked about phulkari embroidery that is associated with daintiness on menswear, the Amit says, I dont view fashion or any art form as male or female. For me just the aesthetics of an art form matter. Moreover, when embroidered on khaddar, phulkari comes to its own in a bandhgala, he adds. The designer goes on to say how his current womenswear collection too, veers towards androgyny. Blurring gender lines seems to be what the current generation veers towards; not liked to be put into categorical boxes.

I think it is a matter of choice. Clothing was primarily made to protect and enhance the body. I am happy that the current generation is blurring lines, says Amit. As for trends, he says, I don't believe in trends. I think it is important to understand ones body and factor in comfort.

Amit, who doesnt believe in recollecting set backs says, the couture week has definitely been the high point in his career so far.
The legal risk to Trump is the timing and purpose of 2016 payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. If the money was spent to protect Trumps campaign from embarrassment, these were de facto campaign contributions and should have been treated as such. Cohen on Tuesday pleaded guilty to two violations of campaign finance laws; in doing so he implicated Trump by claiming Trump directed Cohen to make the payments. The president denies the accusation, saying he learned of the deals later on.
Legazpi is a Filipino haven for whale shark interaction, firefly watching, eating chilli ice cream and visiting the Church of Our Lady of the Gate and Cagsawa.

Jump maam jump, said my butading interaction officer (butading is the Bicol term for whale shark) softly but persuasively as I sat on the ledge of the fishermans outrigger boat. I jumped right into the waters of the San Bernardino Strait. I had on a life jacket, snorkeling gear and flippers and held onto the lifeguard rescue can which the officer maneuvered effortlessly.

Maam now put your head inside the water, he instructed a few seconds later. Once again I complied and immediately saw a magnificent whale shark swim right in front of me. It was my first whale shark interaction and Donsol in Philippines had been kind. For a few minutes, I marveled at the beauty of the largest species of fish before heading back to the boat. It was an adrenaline rush seeing her 2 feet away from me.

I babbled at the grace with which the whale shark swam, how she ignored us and how this would be a once in a lifetime experience. The officer, spotter who had spotted the whale shark and two fishermen responsible for steering the boat heard me out, quite used to similar reactions from visitors who choose to experience this activity.

Before getting into the boat, visitors are briefed and shown an orientation video at the registration centre. Throughout the activity they are accompanied by the whale shark interaction officer and spotter. Visitors cannot touch the whale sharks. This is an ethical activity because the sighting is kept natural and the whale sharks are not fed to increase their sighting.

Still excited from my aquatic quest, we drove back to Legazpi for another adventurethis one being a fiery culinary challenge. We stopped at a shop called 1st Colonial Grill which is the pioneer of Sili ice cream. Bird's eye chilly or sili as it is locally known in Legazpi is used to make this blazing handmade ice cream. There are four levels ranging from level one which is mild to level four which is known as the Oragon volcano level.

Whale shark interaction; The Church of Our Lady of the Gate | Khursheed Dinshaw Whale shark interaction; The Church of Our Lady of the Gate | Khursheed Dinshaw

For level 4, half a kilo of chillies are used to make a few scoops. Cream, coconut milk, sugar with chillies are whipped together to form this ice cream whose tagline is: I am hotter than you think, added Rowena Aspe who has curated sili ice cream. While level one is light pink in colour, level four progressed to dark pink and true to its tagline is an eruption of spice in the mouth. The trick to appease the raging taste buds is to immediately drink cold milk.

Rowena has also curated other unusual ice creams that are made from taro, moringa, cucumber, corn, ginger and burnt rice. Each of these ice creams' main ingredient is indigenous to the provinces around Legazpi and is an endeavour to highlight that region. A new flavour called carmelado was introduced on May 27 this year and tasted like our Indian malai kulfi.

I had enough adventure for a day and at night opted for soothing firefly watching on the Ogod river. In the solitude and dark of the night, our fishermans boat glided on the river. The fireflies on the trees on the river bank welcomed us to their territory. Some were solitary while others were in groups. The trees came alive with their flickering bursts of light. A solitary spark here or a congregation there in synchronised rhythm lit up our surroundings.

The next day I walked on the boulevard of Legazpi which has earned the moniker of boulevard of broken dreams because unrequited promises of marriage were made on it. The boulevard sees joggers and walkers early in the morning while the fitness vibe is replaced with satiating hunger pangs and chilling out in the afternoon at its cafes. The citys triathlon is also conducted here, added Liziel Mascarinas, a local guide who accompanied me.

Rowena Aspe with sili ice cream | Khursheed Dinshaw

The town of Cagsawa is a short drive from Legazpi. Founded in 1887, this town was buried under the eruption of Mayon Volcano on February 1, 1814. Today the still standing bell tower is an iconic example of the resilience of its people. Souvenir shops line the bell tower complex and sell abaca bags, printed t-shirts, lava rock fridge magnets and chilli chocolates.

On the way back from Cagsawa, we stopped at The Church of Our Lady of the Gate to pay our respects. This church is also known as the Church of Daraga. Part of it was declared a cultural treasure and it has Mexican and renaissance architecture. Its feast falls in the month of September. A local Filipino tradition of the area has women bringing pieces of rocks while men pile them around the church to symbolise joint effort and faith.
Even as the Supreme Court on Friday refused to intervene on the issue of annulling results of over 20,000 'uncontested' seats in West Bengal's recent panchayat elections, the BJP said it had anticipated the decision.

"Honestly speaking, we had anticipated that the Supreme Court would not interfere in the panchayat election process. But we wanted the Supreme Court to show some direction in the case of uncontested seats where opposition parties would not be able to file nominations due to obstruction and violence. The Supreme Court's ruling has served that purpose," said West Bengal BJP vice president Biswapriya Roychowdhury.

When the news of the Supreme Court ruling came, BJP leaders in West Bengal were busy with the ceremonies associated with immersion of the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee into the Ganga Sagar, the confluence of the Bay of Bengal and Ganga in the state.

The BJP has decided to contest all 20,000 seats of the panchayat polls for which its candidates could not file nominations in the election tribunal courts of the districts and subdivisions of West Bengal.

"We will file petitions in the courts for every case. Let the lower courts handle the situation," said Roychowdhury.

The Supreme Court heard both sidesTrinamool Congress and opposition partiesfollowing petitions from the BJP and CPI(M) two months back. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his concern about the large-scale violence in the panchayat election. More than 30 people died since panchayat election dates were announced in March.

The ruling of the Supreme Court's Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Deepak Mishra said that people who were obstructed from filing their nominations could file their complaint within one month of the declaration of results.

According to a lawyer, the Supreme Court heard many of the cases and found that reasons for non-filing of nominations varied from case to case.

"In such a situation, the Supreme Court would have to hear each and every case, resulting in heavy piling up of cases. So, the Supreme Court found that asking the aggrieved people to knock on doors of the lower courts would be the most reasonable idea, said a lawyer representing an opposition party.

The Supreme Court allowed the state election commission of West Bengal to announce all the results of the uncontested seats, which it had put an embargo on last month, and then asked the opposition parties to move the lower courts with election petitions.

The Supreme Court's ruling brought cheer to the Trinamool Congress.

"I hope after this, they would remain silent forever," said Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee.

The BJP said the major achievement as a result of the Supreme Court hearingapart from having directions for such scenarios in the futurewas that the court had accepted the fact that large-scale violence took place.

"The Supreme Court rebuked the state government from time to time and expressed its shock over the situation. Now, the lower courts would have to hear all of our cases. So, it's a lesson for the state election commission to play an impartial role in the future, said Roychowdhury.
Soumya, 30, the prime accused in the sensational Pinarayi mass murder case in Kerala, committed suicide at the Kannur Women's Prison on Friday.

Soumya, who was accused of poisoning her nine-year-old daughter and aged parents, hanged herself from a cashew tree on the prison campus.

Vannathamveettil Soumya had been remanded and confined in the Kannur Womens Prison in May on charges of murdering her parents, Kamala (65) and Kunhikannan (80), and her daughter in a span of four months this year. Two separate cases have been charged against Soumya.

In her statement to the police, Soumya said she had killed her daughter after the latter came to know of her illicit affairs. She had initially killed the child and later, her parents. She feigned illness and got admitted to a hospital. The police had then questioned Soumya several times. She stuck to the stance that she had nothing to do with the deaths. However, the police called her bluff after the autopsy report indicated the presence of aluminium phosphide, a component of rat poison, in all the bodies.

Gut-wrenching crime trail

The tragic fate of the Vannathamveettil family raised eyebrows when three members of the family died within a span of four months. When Soumya, the last surviving member of the family, was admitted to a hospital with similar symptoms, the locals and the police smelled a rat.

The police were under tremendous pressure to crack the case after the series of mysterious deaths in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's home constituency hogged headlines. The chief minister himself asked the police to give priority to the case.

The familys tragedy started way back in 2012, when Soumyas one-year-old daughter died after a bout of vomiting. The family did not insist on a post-mortem examination as everyone thought it was a natural death.

The womans older daughter Aishwarya died of the same symptoms on January 21 this year. There was no post-mortem for Aishwarya either. However, the death of their grandparents in quick succession sent alarm bells ringing. Kamala died on March 7 and Kunjikkannan died on April 13. All the deceased had showed the same symptoms before they died. The bodies of the aged couple were subjected to post-mortem and the police registered cases of unnatural death. Soumya herself sought treatment in a hospital with the same symptoms on April 10. The police grew suspicious after the doctors said the woman was probably suffering from indigestion.

She confessed to the crime on April 25 after a 11-hour-long grilling by police.

Soumya told the police that she laced her daughters meal with rat poison after the girl caught her in a compromising position. Gotten away with murder, she planned to kill her parents, too. That way she would be free to lead her life the way she wanted. She insisted that she had not killed her younger daughter six years ago. The woman was separated from her husband.
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139ft till August 31, keeping in mind the grave devastation that had taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud considered the Centre's submission that the subcommittee of the Mullaperiyar dam had met on August 23 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level is maintained at 139 feet, which is two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management and said that the decision to lower the water limit in the Mullaperiyar dam has been taken in view of the devastating deluge in Kerala.

The observation came after the Tamil Nadu government alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the Supreme Court's decision fixing the permissible limit for the Mullaperiyar dam.

The Supreme Court bench fixed the matter for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses in the meantime.

The Kerala government had on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

It had said that out of Kerala's total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh, or one-sixth of the population, had been directly affected by the floods.

The Mullaperiyar dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam as the floods in Kerala have created havoc.

The Supreme Court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level.

The direction to consider reducing the water level to 139ft from the existing 142ft had come in the backdrop of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart E.K. Palaniswami seeking lowering of the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam in the interest of its safety.

The Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea with regard to bringing down the water level, saying the current inflow of water into the dam was 20,000cusecs and due to rains, it may not be possible to reduce water level immediately.
The whole country watched, gripped, as the tragedy and horror of the Kerala floods unfolded before their eyes. There were also stories of hope and heroism, and a defining image was the rescue of a heavily pregnant woman, Sajitha Jabil (25), who delivered safely, thanks to the gallantry on display by Naval Commander Vijay Varma and his team. I have been flying for 18 years, but this was the most challenging mission I ever faced, says Varma.



Edited excerpts:

I think you have become a national hero. Everybody is talking about what you did. Are you overwhelmed by the emotions on display?

Yes, it is overwhelming. This [the job] is what were trained for. This is what we do. But, the response has actually taken me by surprise. I was on a mission assigned to me, and I conducted it. It ended wonderfully.

Can you talk a little about that particular moment when you had to winch up Sajitha, a pregnant woman whose water had broken?

Well, the first thing I heard was that there was an emergency rescue mission. When we heard that a medical evacuation had to be carried out for a woman whose water had broken, a sense of urgency set in. When we got the message, we [the team] rushed to the aircraft. There was my co-pilot Lieutenant Chaitanya Bhardwaj; winch operator, Jasbir Singh; free diver LAFD Amit.

We had to search a little bit. The landmarks were not clearly visible. The roads were all inundated, so we could not make out which roads were where. In fact, there was water everywhere. We finally identified the masjid where Sajitha had taken shelter, and that was when the process of decision-making really started. We knew the urgency of the situation, but there was a point at which you have to choosewas it a go or no go?

Then what happened?

There were obstructions all around the place. It was a thickly populated area with a lot of buildings and power lines running through. There was a tree in front. To my right was a minaret, and to my left a power cable. It was a very dangerous, tight spot. If you ask me, under normal conditions, I would have decided against going into such a situation. But we knew the woman was probably in labour, and there was no margin for error. We lowered the winch operator, who informed us of our position. The roof of the masjid itself was a shelter, and there was little space. My winch operator said it seemed very difficult, but I told him that we would go on.

So, I moved in very slowly, with reduced height, making sure that my tail rotor did not hit anything. As I maintained position, my diver told me that if I could hover steadily, it was possible to go in. He said he was sure.

But, as you know, the captain has to take the final call. And I decided to go for it. Also, we had a young doctor with us, and it was his first time in a helicopter. He is a brave man, I would say.

He must have been quite terrified. I can imagine.

But, he didnt hesitate even once. The final part was the most precarious. Because of her condition, we had to ensure there was no jerk or swing when she left the ground. She had to be kept absolutely vertical. I swear to God, I have been flying for 18 years, but this was the most challenging mission I have done. And, trust me, these were the longest 30 minutes of my life. At the end of the day, you know, it comes down to saving one or two lives, or losing four more.

Were you able to speak to her at all? Have you met her?

Yes I did. The entire team went to meet her.

Fantastic.

I am actually thinking of adopting the childas in, he is going to be our flight mascot. We will track his life and would like to be there for the important milestones.

Well, I dont think shes [the mother] ever going to forget you. And then, you had another special moment. All of us have seen the photographs from when you evacuated two other women. There are these 'thank you' messages painted on the roof of a house.

In that operation, we rescued close to 77 people from different rooftops. But I think they were thanking all the helicopter pilots. It was really touching. The people of Kerala appreciated what we did. By the way, I am also a Malayali.

So, this is your home state.

Yes, this is my home state and this is where I belong. It has been heartening to see how the Malayalis reacted to the floods. They have been stellar.

Yes. Its a rare moment when, even in chaos and tragedy, there is such order and compassion.

When we tried to drop food packets, if people had enough, they waved to us to stop and move on to the next person. In another building, there were about fifteen people on the roof. The helicopter was small, so we could take only two. There was an old gentleman who I thought I should give priority to. He refused. He asked me to take a young couple who had a 15-day-old baby. I feel blessed to see how the people of Kerala came together. The state has come a long way. The common Malayalis are heroes for the way they behaved with maturity and dignity. They are well-educated and well-informed, with a strong sense of social responsibility. Kerala is a wonderful place.

Yes, the state showed its best side. Was it emotionally more complicated for you because it was your home?

You have seen the armed forces. We leave our state behind when we wear the uniform. I feel proud as a Malayali, yes. But, it would not affect my decisions if it was my state, or some other state. There are no Malayalis in my crew.
He said the anti-narcotics agency has widened its probe
In a comedy of errors, the best and worst thing can be to have characters from different ethnicities. It, at once, gives you an opportunity to play with a lot of ideas considering how language barriers, value systems and ideologies of people from varied cultures can create confusion and hilarity. In another situation, and in lack of better writing, it can also get too repetitive, become racist in nature, and as a result also fall flat because xenophobic jokes hardly sound funny any more.

It seems to be the latter in the case of Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, an extension of the comic drama and the sleeper hit Happy Bhag Jayegi (2016) about a runaway bride who lands up in Lahore, Pakistan from Amritsar, India.

In the film about mistaken identity, set in China, theres another Happy (Sonakshi Sinha), a horticulturalist. She has reached Shanghai as a professor and on a personal mission to find the whereabouts of his runaway fiancea cross-dressing Aparshakti Khurana. Now, as you deal with Sinhas Punjabi, which she is trying too hard to get right, you become aware that she doesnt want the fiance back. She just wants him to apologise to her papaji (Raja Bundela) for the humiliation he had to go through after his disappearance during the wedding.

But before she could proceed on her mission, a little mix-up has led to her abduction by a gang of goons striving to have a deal with a Pakistani bureaucrat Bilal Ahmed (Abhay Deol in the prequel) in whose house Happy (Diana Penty) from the earlier film had landed in Pakistan. This time around, both the Happys are in the same flight to China. The latter, with her husband (Ali Fazal), a Punjabi pop sensation, or as one of the characters describesthe Justin Biber (thats not a spelling mistake, thats how Bieber is pronounced by an Indian Punjabi, in the film at least) of Punjab.

To make the plot chaotically funny, more characters are a must. So, director Mudassar Aziz has brought in the over-the-top, hammy cop, Afridi (Piyush Mishra) from Pakistan in the earlier film. Mishra continues with his graph, sometimes going even overboard in a deeply un-funny way. However, what still remains intact is his tehzeeb (culture), and the undiluted Urdu. Another permanence is his repartee with Bagga (Jimmy Shergill), the small-time politician from Patiala who Happy had rejected in the last film. If his catchphrase then was, card bantwa diye the; this time, its ghodi pe chad gaye the after being kidnapped by the Chinese goons from his baraat. Its interesting how Shergill has almost revived his career in Hindi films by playing the guy who never gets the girl. Theres even a few jokes on his situation. And even though, he has got typecast, its funny. Some of the jokes delivered by him, are probably, the only ones that land properly.

The other constant is Baggas fight for the girl, in this case Sinhas Happy, with another suitor. So, we have a disillusioned Indian embassy employee, Khushwant Singh aka Khushi (Jassie Gill) into the mix.

The premise, even though illogical on many parts, is decent; the writing and the jokes arent. From a humorous take on India-Pakistan from the earlier one, this has extended to China. However, the China jokes hardly land. All Chinese look the same is repeated over and over till the time that you cant help but frown. Shergills another stock line, yahi bhi sahi hai wants you to go to him and shake him up. And then, theres an effort to play with the name of one of the Muslim characters, Fuh-Q, who believes he is Chinese. It is so recurrent that by the end that his real name is disclosed, the fun is lost. So it is, overall too.

Film: Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi

Director: Mudassar Ali

Starring: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Shergill, Piyush Mishra, Jassi Gill

Rating: 2.5/5
IF THE RAINS had not wreaked havoc in Kodagu, Karnatakas coffee country would be preparing for Kail Murta, a festival in which the Kodavas worship their weapons. But, the district, which got battered by flash floods and landslides that took 12 lives and rendered more than 1,500 families homeless, is now left with just one weapon: resilience.

Unplanned construction has pushed the district to the edge. The authorities are to blame for the influx of tourists and atrocities against nature. - U.M. Poovaiah editor, Brahmagiri

On the midnight of August 15, torrential rains started pounding Kodagu. The hills cracked up and tumbled down, and the rivers swallowed everything on their waycentury-old houses, brand-new homestays, tiny tea shops, lush green paddy fields, vast stretches of coffee plantations, forests, livestock, bridges and vehicles. Incessant rains submerged low-lying areas in Kushalnagar, Somwarpet and Madikeri, pilgrimage centres like Talacauvery and Bhagamandala, and major bridges like Bethri, while landslides along the national highways turned those into death traps.

By the time the district administration launched rescue operations, the communication lines were cut off and most villages had become inaccessible. Heavy rains, tough terrain and scattered habitations made rescue operations a daunting task even for the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force. Many people were hungry and exhausted when the rescue teams finally reached them.

Manu Madappa from Mukkodlu village said around 40 people took refuge in his homestay for three days. But with no help arriving, they decided to trek to Madikeri. We covered a distance of 20km, walking in the rain on a muddied path, and made it to a relief camp in Madikeri, he said.

As many as 51 relief centres have been opened across the district, sheltering 7,594 people as on August 22. NGOs have ensured an uninterrupted flow of relief material to these camps. The Kodava Samaj in Bengaluru and Mysuru are the nerve centres for organising relief material.

Local MP Pratap Simha, who was part of the rescue operations, said the devastation was unimaginable. Incessant rains prevented airlifting of stranded people although three Army choppers were on standby. After I sent an SOS to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Army unit from Karwar was rushed in, he said. The relief centres are working well, and our next big challenge is rehabilitation. We will need huge cash donations to rebuild homes. According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, 1,206 houses and 123 kilometres of roads have been damaged, 58 bridges and culverts have collapsed, 278 government buildings and 3,800 electric poles and transformers have been severely damaged.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who conducted an aerial survey, said the infrastructure damage alone amounted to Rs 3,000 crore. A team of engineers from the Border Roads Organisation and the Army engineering task force have been called in to clear roads and restore them, said Kumaraswamy. A team from the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, is conducting geotechnical studies to ascertain the causes of landslides. We have deputed two IAS probationers to fasten the process of identifying the lands for rebuilding 2,000 temporary homes. he said.

The government has promised Rs 3,800 per family, along with essential groceries as immediate relief. The chief minister has promised the affected people work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and offered to issue provisional documents for those who have lost their Aadhaar and ration cards and title deeds. Rs 5 lakh will be given to the family of the deceased. Special classes and books for children are also being planned, said Kumaraswamy.

The rainfall was unprecedented, but old-timers and environmentalists said the alarming plight of Kodagu was the fallout of the booming tourism industry. G.S. Srinivas Reddy, director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, said Kodagu received 103 per cent more rainfall than normal this year.

U.M. Poovaiah, editor of Brahmagiri, a Kodava weekly, said he had never seen or heard of such devastation in the history of Kodagu. This is the fallout of unregulated tourism that has razed down the hills to make roads to homestays. The riverbed has been encroached upon. Unplanned construction has pushed the district to the edge. The authorities are to blame for the influx of tourists and atrocities against nature in this once-pristine district. We want unlicensed homestays and construction activity to be stopped, said Poovaiah.

The Coorg Wildlife Society, too, blamed the severe stress on Kodagu because of the change in land use and unbridled tourism. In a letter sent last May to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CWS wrote, Kodagu provides almost 50 per cent of the total inflow into Cauvery, which is the lifeline of South India, and provides water to over 80 million people and 600 major industries across the region. The food, water and economic security of southern India hinges largely on Cauvery River. It is therefore in national interest to preserve the Kodagu landscape and protect its ecosystems.

Colonel (retd) C.P. Muthanna, president of CWS and co-ordinator of the Save Kodagu and Cauvery campaign, said more than 2,800 acres of paddy fields, coffee plantations and highlands were converted to residential layouts, sites, commercial complexes and resorts between 2005 and 2015. Kodagus fast-paced urbanisation will turn it into a slum, said Muthanna. Earlier this year, he had urged the Karnataka government to regulate tourism in the region and demanded an audit of water and waste and sewage management in the resorts. While Kodagu has a population of 5.5 lakh, the number of tourists goes up to 13 lakh, he said.

A report by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said massive deforestation and monoculture plantations caused the landslides. Trees hold the top soil and also absorb and regulate the flow of rainwater. But deforestation for construction of roads and power lines have resulted in soil erosion, said T.V. Ramachandra of the centre. If the government wants to avert disasters, it should not take up any mega projects.
The leaders of the pension fund can certainly invest where they want, but I disagree with their reasoning. Congress makes the laws that permit this, not the prisons. Look, if a parent were jailed for committing a crime (breaking immigration laws, robbery, driving drunk, murder) the children would not be locked up with him or her. The parents who are crossing the border illegally are the ones separating families, not the prisons.
WHEN ODISHA WAS hit by the super cyclone in October 1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had just taken oath as prime minister for the third time. While Odisha remembers Vajpayees subsequent contribution in helping rebuild the shattered state, Gujaratis have memories of Vajpayee doling out concessions like a five-year excise duty holiday on items manufactured in quake hit Kutch in 2001. Today, Kerala stands devastated by the floods, and all eyes are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what he can offer.

The Kerala situation could have been handled better if there was an agency which was studying the level of water in the dams and analysing the rainfall predictions. - Shashidhar Reddy former vice chairman, NDMA

It is said there are lessons to be learnt from history. But disaster management experts are wondering if anything has been learnt. When the tsunami hit the Indian coasts in 2004, the United Progressive Alliance government gave a clarion call to recognise disaster management as a national priority. In 2005, the Disaster Management Act was passed unanimously in Parliament, paving way for setting up the National Disaster Management Authority headed by the prime minister. This was followed by state- and district-level disaster management authorities.

General (retd) N.C. Vij, the first vice chairman of NDMA, rued the fact that the apex disaster management body has been reduced in status and authority. The idea was to create a national authority with experts from all fieldslike policy makers, doctors and armed forcesgiving them statutory powers to undertake mitigation measures, capacity building in states and districts and ensuring rules and regulations are followed, he said. The aim was to develop capabilities to handle both natural and manmade disasters and threats from chemical and biological warfare.

Vij said the NDMA was supposed to have at its disposal the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Forces, along with civil defence bodies backed by local communities. Its mandate was to coordinate with all stakeholders like the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Central Water Commission (CWC) and state governments during any disaster, he said.

After the change in government in 2014, the NDMA vice chairman, who enjoyed the rank of cabinet minister, and NDMA members, who had ranks of ministers of state, had to resign from their posts. The apex body was scaled down to just four members, was divested of ministerial positions and powers, and the NDRF became the baby of the disaster management division of the home ministry, under the charge of a joint secretary.

Vij said the exhaustive work done by the NDMA was laid waste today. The world was appreciating Indias efforts post the tsunami, so much so that Pakistan took cue and set up its own NDMA after the 2005 quake, he said.

In 2015-2016, the Centre started looking to Russia to find ways to develop a centralised mechanism to coordinate all disaster related works. The home ministry envisaged a Rs 10 crore project to set up a National Command Structure with Indian Space Research Organisation forecasting capabilities for disaster-related warnings and state-of-the-art communication equipment. A blueprint of the proposal was drawn up by then additional secretary (disaster management) in MHA, Bipin Mallick. However, with Mallick moving out of his post in 2016, the proposal went into cold storage.

According to state disaster experts, this model had federal concerns. Russias EMERCOM, which is a central ministry for civil defence and emergency response, enjoys overriding powers to handle all kinds of disasters and mitigate consequences. India has a federal polity where disaster management is a state subject, said a senior state official handling disaster management. There is a need to help the states create their own emergency response systems instead of creating super structures at the Central level.

According to former NDMA vice chairman Shashidhar Reddy , India already has enough structures and technologies in place, but need to be utilised in the right manner. Clearly, the Kerala situation could have been handled better if there was an agency which was studying the level of water in the dams and analysing the rainfall predictions, he said.

There is a need for high resolution Digital Elevation Maps to be made available to disaster management bodies like the CWC and district authorities for identification of flood-prone areas. Initially, there were national security concerns for these maps with the Survey of India, but one set was made available to the National Database for Emergency Management recently. The state governments should also make an assessment of the area suffering from drainage congestion, and inspect dams and embankments before and after the monsoon.

Before the government decides to revisit its disaster management policy, it needs to take time out to deliver in Kerala. There is a feeling that the Rs 600 crore package announced by Modi is too less and the Centre needs to declare the floods a national disaster. Home ministry officials said there were no guidelines under the Disaster Management Act 2005 to declare any calamity as a national disaster. At the most, when the Central government chooses to label a calamity as a national disaster, it can release funds under the National Disaster Response Fund.

The Kerala government wants a Rs 2,600 crore special package from the Centre for additional relief. If the state disaster response funds fall short, the Centre will need to loosen its purse strings to help the state stand on its feet again. Will Modi deliver a Vajpayee touch in Kerala?
Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil blames the law-flouting state government for the devastation in Kerala. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), headed by Gadgil in 2011, had suggested measures to preserve the ecologically frail Ghats. But, the Kerala government, like the other five states, chose to reject the report. Having suffered such devastation, Gadgil feels that the state should survey the ecologically sensitive zones that have been compromised due to greed-driven development. Stone quarrying and changes in forest land use go unabated, as the political machinery is in the grip of money power, laments Gadgil, who is the founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Excerpts from an interview:

What caused the Kerala floods?

Illegal stone quarrying in ecologically sensitive zones and unrestricted construction caused the landslides and floods. It is partly a man-made calamity. These contributed to the magnitude of the damage.

Deforestation is known to reduce the water yield in rivers. So why did the rivers swell up in Kerala?

Madhav Gadgil

Floods have occurred in response to various changes in river streams and river beds. In Kerala, besides deforestation, the stone quarrying has resulted in huge amounts of rubble, which fell into the water bodies and reduced their water-carrying capacity. This caused flooding. Wetlands have been encroached upon due to unplanned construction and natural water storages have been destroyed, too.

Kerala has witnessed unprecedented rainfall in nearly a century. Can the floods be attributed to heavy rain?

Of the rainfall in the month of August over the last 143 years in Kerala, August 2018 has only the sixth highest. On earlier occasions, it was much more. The rainfall is not unprecedented, but the floods are. Human interventions aggravated the situation.

Your report on the Western Ghats was met with resistance from subsequent governments.

Our recommendations would have been accepted by any society that believes in good governance. Resistance is from the political machinery, which is firmly in the grip of money power. In Kerala, at least 90 per cent of stone quarries are illegal. But, the government is legalising them. Quarries are owned by prominent leaders of every political party. So, they gang up against any rational conservation measure.

What is the way forward?

There are acts passed by Parliament which mandate involving local bodies in decision making. In the Plachimada case [tribals versus Coca-Cola Inc over water rights], the Kerala High Court and legislature upheld the right of the gram panchayat to oppose decisions that are inimical to the interests of their citizens. But, despite an order to give compensation of Rs 160 crore, not a single penny has been paid.

We are amid law-flouting governments across all states. In a democracy, people have the tools to fight it, but have to get organised to fight for their rights peacefully. This can ensure there is environmentally favourable and people-oriented development.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Painting: Binesh Sreedharan

DURING THE 1971 LOK SABHA ELECTIONS, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a star campaigner for the 'grand alliance' of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Congress (O), Swatantra and the Socialists, fighting a charismatic Indira Gandhi. After a delayed road campaign, he had reached the Allahabad railway station just in time to catch a train. A local leader, looking at the dust-covered icon, ruefully remarked that there was no time for a bath. Vajpayee, with his sense of humour intact, quipped in Hindi, Don't worry. I always carry with me the soil of this country.

Vajpayee, who breathed his last on August 16, knew the soil, the water, the air, the language, the food, and the people of India quite intimately. Like the earth accumulating soil every season, he accumulated credibility, and the affection of the nation year after year for more than six decades of his peripatetic public life. It enabled the BJP to campaign successfully on the slogan 'the man India awaits' in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. After Vajpayee lost the trust vote and faced the nation a year later, the BJP spoke of him as 'the man India trusts'.

In 1973, when he rode a bullock cart to Parliament to protest the hike in petroleum prices, the Congress had scoffed that the urbanite school teacher's son had no experience in farming. Vajpayee retorted that he had spent more time with farmers than Indira's entire cabinet. When he became prime minister, he was obsessed with rural road connectivity so that he could realise the farm-to-table chain for agricultural and horticultural crops.

The BJP projected Vajpayee as India's man of destiny, pursuing what was perceived then as 'muscular governance', whether it was testing nuclear bombs or liberating the Kargil heights from Pakistani intruders. He introduced rightist economic polices, rejecting the communist-inspired statism of Indira, who was his rival in contests of politics, economics and charisma. No other Congress leader could provoke and engage Vajpayee like Indira. He disagreed with her socialist and secular prescriptions, and continued to oppose those policies during the five-year tenure of her son Rajiv Gandhi.

Vajpayee might have praised Indira when she crushed Pakistan during the Bangladesh war, but he never forgave her for Emergency and its excesses. He was incarcerated in Bangalore along with L.K. Advani and H.D. Deve Gowda. His kidneys were damaged while he was in jail. It turned out to be a life-long concern for Vajpayee, who roughed it out in his political life, and was also a connoisseur of good food.

End of an era: Bhutan King Jigme Wangchuck, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and senior BJP leader L.K. Advani at the funeral of Atal Bihari Vajpayee on August 17 in Delhi | Arvind Jain

Yet Indira, perhaps unwittingly, through her policies of inclusion and exclusion, helped widen the narrow appeal of Vajpayee and his Hindu right-wing party. Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders of the Congress had made their party a huge umbrella for everyone, and Indira aggressively wooed the rural and urban poor. However, her decision to nationalise banks, insurance firms and coal companies, and her move to introduce excessive controls and taxes alienated the corporate sector. The abolition of royal privileges and privy purses pushed the erstwhile kings towards the opposition.

The purge of the old guard in the Congress through the split in 1969 led to the desperate formation of the 'grand alliance', which was defeated soundly by Indira. The Jana Singh had new friends. Vajpayee worked tirelessly against an all powerful and popular prime minister, bonding with a new icon in Jayaprakash Narayan. As a parliamentarian and chairman of parliamentary committees, he had extensive discussions with economists, scientists, missile and space technologists, human rights activists, diplomats and writers. These exchanges helped him realise what was wrong in governance and what he should do when he came to power.

Merging the Jana Sangh along with other parties of the 'grand alliance' in 1977 to form the Janata Party and fight the post-Emergency elections was traumatic for Vajpayee, Advani and other colleagues as it meant a formal severing of relations with the RSS. There were apprehensions about the loss of ideology and identity, but they felt the party had to first defeat the authoritarian Indira, uphold the Constitution and acquire national legitimacy as a ruling party. Janata's win meant there were erstwhile Jana Sangh members ruling India, although they were not given charge of critical portfolios like home, finance and education. Vajpayee got external affairs and he made a mark by reaching out to the United States and China, moving away from Indira's Soviet-centric policies. He kept on making friends, but many of the old enemies who had been around Indira joined forces with the socialists to prop up Lok Dal leader and home minister Charan Singh, who wanted to unseat prime minister Morarji Desai. They raised the issue of dual membership of the erstwhile Jana Sangh members with the RSS and brought down India's first non-Congress government. Vajpayee and the sangh revived the Jana Sangh as the BJP in 1980.

The triumvirate of Vajpayee, Advani and the future RSS chief Rajendra Singh formulated the strategy of political alliances, aggressive hindutva and liberal economic policies as the three prongs of the march towards power in Delhi. It took 18 years and seven prime ministers before Vajpayee could address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

A film buff, Vajpayee would find time to watch movies with Advani. He liked historical and comedy films. Raj Kapoor's 1967 comedy Around the World, which featured the hero overcoming tremendous odds to traverse the globe with just eight dollars, upset him. Those days, under the draconian foreign exchange laws, Indian citizens were allowed to buy foreign exchange up to the value of only eight dollars. After he became prime minister, Vajpayee allowed Indians to buy up to $25,000. Thanks to Vajpayee and, perhaps, Raj Kapoor, Indians have now become one of the biggest groups of tourists who travel abroad.

Vajpayee agreed with economic reformers of the 1990s like P.V. Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram that economic changes should be speeded up. He pushed for huge investments in infrastructure, opened up restricted areas of private sector, liberalised imports and began the disinvestment of public sector companies, unfazed by criticism from the swadeshi hawks of the RSS.

Vajpayee weathered global sanctions by building strong friendships with western democracies. But, he had a patchy record with Pakistan as his initiatives to do business with a democrat (Nawaz Sharif) and a dictator (Pervez Musharraf) fell through. He also had his share of differences with the party, especially regarding the Gujarat riots in 2002, as the BJP rejected his demand for sacking Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat. The BJP, otherwise, bowed to his superiority on all matters of governance, statecraft, political direction and a liberal outlook.

Vajpayee was the most gifted orator in Hindi in the entire country in the second half of the 20th century. His voice, mastery of the language, poetic flourishes and immaculate homework on every subject mesmerised large audiences who lapped up his speeches in an era where there were no television networks to magnify and distribute the message to the distant parts of the country. He was also a fairly good speaker in English, but the trademark pauses would become longer. He could fill big grounds even in non-Hindi cities. He was a voracious reader, yet preferred to write only poetry, which was also a relief from perpetual speechmaking. There were times when he would address a dozen meetings in a day. Poetry gave him solace from the hurly burly of daily politics. He also loved cooking, spending quality time with his adopted family and playing with his pet Pomeranians.

Vajpayee, the ruler, had an interesting life. But Vajpayee, the political traveller, had an even more lively time as a much loved and admired human being.

Panditjis pet

Jawaharlal Nehru was impressed by Vajpayees oratorical and parliamentary skills. Vajpayee was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957 from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh. Although he was often critical of Nehrus policies, Nehru had praised Vajpayee several times. Once, he is said to have introduced the young parliamentarian to a visiting dignitary as the future prime minister of India. When Vajpayee took over as external affairs minister in 1977, he was upset that Nehrus portrait was removed from the South Block. Vajpayee got it reinstated immediately.

Dads buddy

After completing his BA from Victoria College, Gwalior, Vajpayee joined DAV College in Kanpur for his postgraduate course and to study law, with a scholarship from the maharaja of Gwalior. Soon, his father followed him. Pandit Krishna Biharilal Vajpayee had retired after serving 30 years as a teacher, and then opted to study law. For a while, both father and son were in the same section and stayed in the same hostel room. While Vajpayee did not complete his law degree and moved on to join a PhD programme, his father stayed on and finished his course.

Master chef

After being elected to the Lok Sabha, Vajpayees official residence in Delhi was 30, Rajendra Prasad Road. He shared it with Premjibhai Ashar, a fellow MP from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, who represented the Chiplun constituency in Maharashtra. L.K. Advani also used to stay at the same house. The food was usually prepared by Ashars wife. Vajpayee was also a good cook. Occasionally, he used to prepare delicious dishes for everyone.
New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Nearly 1.2 crore jobs were created in the country in the 10-month period till June this year, as per a Central Statistics Office (CSO) report.

The CSO's employment outlook report is based on the new member enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO, Employees' State Insurance Scheme (ESIC) and NPS.

According to the report, as many as 1,19,66,126 new members joined the health insurance scheme Employers State Insurance (ESI) of the ESIC during September 2017 to June 2018, with highest number of new member enrolments in May this year at 13,18,395.

Similarly, as many as 1,07,54,348 new members joined the Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) while 60,40,616 persons ceased to be its members during the 10-month period.

The estimated total number of new NPS (National Pension Scheme) subscribers during the period is 6,10,573, the report said.

The CSO has released the report on employment outlook covering the period September 2017 to June 2018. It is based on the administrative records available with selected government agencies (EPFO, ESIC and PFRDA) to assess the progress in certain dimensions, an official statement said.

The CSO said the report gives different perspectives on the levels of employment in the formal sector and does not measure employment at a holistic level.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation brought out the first release of employment related statistics in the formal sector in April 2018, covering the period September 2017 to February 2018, using information on the number of subscribers who have availed benefits under three major schemes -- EPFO, ESIC and NPS. PTI KKS ABM
\R London, Aug 24 (PTI) Congress President Rahul Gandhi today said India was facing a "full blown crisis" of unemployment and the Government was refusing to admit it.

"The jobs crisis can be addressed, but India has to first accept that there is a problem," said Gandhi during an interaction programme at the prestigious London School of Economics here.

He said that there is a "full blown job crisis" in India and the Indian Government is in denial".

Comparing China with India, he said: Where China creates 50,000 jobs a day, only 450 jobs are created in a day in India. This is a catastrophe.

During the occasion, the 48-year-old leader said that India has a bigger role to play for the world as the nation is more refined now.

We cant afford to have wars that have been happening for the last many years. Conflict is already operating. We can see the Western Europe, China and other countries changing. We, India, have a role to play, said Gandhi.

Now India is much big and refined. India has its own vision and has a role to play for the world, he said.

India with its non-violent ideas and our ability to show compassion to people who we don't agree with is embedded in our culture, he said.

He said that the degree of violence he witnessed in his life has made him more compassionate.

"As a victim of violence, I condemn any form of violence on anyone. I'm crystal clear about that," he said referring to the assasination of his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi.

Gandhi said he felt sad when he saw the pictures of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's body at a beach in Sri Lanka's Jaffna.

Prabhakaran, who was responsible for the killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was shot dead by Sri Lankan troops in 2009. PTI RUP AKJ

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RUP

RUP
Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) Celebrated designer Gaurang took fashion enthusiasts on a cinematic journey as he showcased his new collection, "Anupama", on the third day of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2018.

With models sashaying down the runway on songs like "Piya aiso jeeya main", "Mudd mudd ke na dekh", "Dil ki nazar se" and "Aye dil hai mushkil", and portraits of yesteryear divas Madhubala, Nutan, Meena Kumari and Vyjayanthimala shining in the background, the designer brought alive the bygone era in a magical way.

The inspiration for the collection came from Gaurang's work on Telugu superstar Savitri's biopic "Mahanati". He had recreated 100 hand-woven looks for the biopic dating back to the '50s to depict the female actors' fashion grandeur.

"This collection is in an extension of my work on 'Mahanati'. Towards the end of the film, I decided that I would work on recreating the '50s looks that includes every detail of textile, designs, textures, and colours. I incorporated everything I learned during the making of the film," Gaurang told PTI.

"Anupama" was a collection of 40 hand-woven garments, including saree, ghagra, and anarkali crafted to perfection in traditional Benarasi.

It took Gaurang eight months to create the whole range which was dominated by pastel shades and colours like wine, red and blue.

The designer's new range may have drawn inspiration from cinema, but he said he has no plans to create costumes for a Hindi film unless the movie matches his aesthetics.

"I won't be making clothes according to the movie, the film has to be according to my clothes. 'Mahanati' was all about sarees. It was the continuation of the work I do. The film has to suit my design sensibilities," he said. PTI SHD BK

BK
Dubai, Aug 24 (PTI) UAE's national carrier Emirates has said it will fly over 175 tonnes of relief material to Kerala, which is facing the deadliest deluge in nearly 100 years.

Unprecedented floods due to incessant rain have created havoc in the state causing immeasurable misery and devastation. As per the official records, since August 8, over 231 people have died and more than 10 lakh have been displaced.

"Emirates SkyCargo will carry flood relief cargo of over 175 tonnes to Kerala, India, joining the UAE community in their support of the people of Kerala," the airlines said in a statement.

The airline said over a dozen flights will transport the relief goods, which have been donated by various UAE-based businesses and organisations, to Thiruvananthapuram - the nearest online Emirates station to the areas most affected by the flood.

"The goods, including lifesaving boats, blankets and dry food items, will be handed over to the local flood relief and aid organisations for distribution," it said. PTI SMJ SMJ

SMJ
As with any animal, care is important. The elk reside in a 17-acre pen. Within that pen is a large grass field that provides them with the food they need. There is also a wooded area, which provides shade and an opportunity to escape attention when needed. There are low wet areas that the elk use as sources of drinking water, as well as to cool themselves, and a source of mud to help deter biting insects. The Forest Preserves provides additional water throughout the year and supplemental feed in the winter months. Animals are given examinations yearly by veterinarians who are also on call should the need arise.
London, April 25 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said that his party would happily co-operate with the BJP if they wish to pass the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.

Speaking during an interaction programme at the prestigious London School of Economics, the 48-year-old leader said that he has sent a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I have sent a message to the Prime Minister, the day he wishes to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, entire Congress party is happy to co-operate with BJP," Gandhi said.

The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Indian Parliament's upper house Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, but has been stalled in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress chief during the occasion also stated that quality of debate in Parliament has deteriorated in the last few decades.

"The quality of debate in the same Parliament in 50s & 60s was high, but if you notice the level of debate in the Indian Parliament today, the quality has decreased. This is because the MPs don't have the power to make laws," said Gandhi.

Gandhi said that over the years minorities have progressed.

"If you look at the history of India for the last 70 years, you would understand that more minorities are able to move forward," said Gandhi. PTI RUP







RUP

RUP
Bangladesh cops to train at Guj Forensic Sciences University

Vadodara, Aug 24 (PTI) Police officials from

Bangladesh will be undergoing training at the Gujarat Forensic

Sciences University (GFSU) in Gandhinagar.

Speaking to reporters here, Bangladesh High

Commissioner SyedMuazzem Ali said a team of police officials

from his country will undergo training at the university from

the next month.

"We want to increase conviction rate in cyber crime

cases, and training of our police officials at GFSU will help

in this," Ali said.

Bangladesh was hit by a major banking fraud in 2016

when hackers stole USD 81 million from Bangladesh Bank's

account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Ali said the investigation into the fraud was going

on.

Bangladesh has inked a memorandum of understanding

with the GFSU, and has been sending its officials to the

varsity for training for the last few years.

Ali attended convocation address by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi at GFSU yesterday.

The high commissioner today visited Maharaja Sayajirao

University (MSU) in Vadodara.

He said he has a personal connection with MSU, as his

uncle had been a research scholar there from 1935 to 1944.

Ali also met MSU chancellor Shubhanginidevi Raje

Gaekwad.

The high commissioner refused to comment on

publication of DraftNational Register of Citizens (NRC) in

Assam and the resultant controversy over illegal migrants. PTI

CORR

KRK KRK
Ahmedabad, Aug 24 (PTI) On the eve of the third anniversary of the quota agitation in Gujarat, Patidar leader Hardik Patel today said that he would proceed on an indefinite hunger strike from tomorrow even if authorities deny him permission for it or the court cancels his bail.

Clashes had broken out during the quota protests led by Patel in August 25, 2015, leading to the death of 14 people and large-scale destruction of public property.

Gandhinagar Collector S K Langa today denied Patel permission to hold the fast at Satyagrah Chhavni area.

Meanwhile, the city sessions court is expected to announce its verdict on Monday on a government plea seeking cancellation of Patel's anticipatory bail in a rioting case.

Speaking to reporters today in the wake of these two developments, Patel said that he would proceed with the fast in jail, in the event of the court cancelling his bail, or at home if government authorities deny him a venue for the protest.

"If the court cancels my bail than I am ready to go to jail. I will sit on hunger strike in jail. I am not afraid of the BJP government or of going behind bars. I am not going to drop my plans out of any intimidation" Patel told reporters here.

Hitting out at the state government, he said, "I am not being allotted a venue (for the fast) because the government is afraid of me. I will sit on hunger strike at my house if need be. However, attempts are being made to stop me from sitting on fast at my house."

Patel claimed that several national leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, may come to Gujarat to support him.

"This hunger strike is not a one-day affair. Thousands across the state would sit on fast and it will continue for days. I have also invited people to come to my house to join me in the fast. This is not about me. It is about numerous people" the Patidar leader said.

Earlier this month, Hardik had announced that he would sit on an indefinite hunger strike from August 25 at a ground in Nikol area here demanding reservations for Patidars and loan waivers for farmers.

After being denied permission for the Nikol venue since it was now a parking lot, Patel approached the Gandhinagar collector seeking Satyagrah Chhavni as an alternate spot for the fast. This, too, was rejected today by the Gandhinagar collector.

"Based on the opinion of the police on law and order and past experiences, we have decided not to grant permission," Collector Langa told reporters today.

Meanwhile, a sessions court here today reserved its order on the state government's plea to cancel Patel's anticipatory bail in a rioting case lodged against him in March 2017 for allegedly creating ruckus outside Vastral BJP corporator Paresh Patel's residence.

While he had obtained anticipatory bail in this case in April last year, the state government had approached the city sessions court seeking its cancellation.

In its plea, the state government had claimed that Patel had violated a bail condition by entering Ramol area.

The court is expected to give its verdict on the government's plea on Monday.

Meanwhile, in another development, Patel, along with another quota leader Lalji Patel and A K Patel, today appeared before a Visnagar court in Mehsana and submitted a High Court order suspending their two-year jail term in a riot case lodged there in 2015. PTI PJT PD BNM RCJ
Agartala, Aug 24 (PTI) Senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat today criticized the central government's decision to refuse flood relief assistance to Kerala from United Arab Emirates (UAE) as "uncalled for" and not the "correct policy".

Karat and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri were on a two-day visit to Tripura since yesterday to attend the Left party's state committee meeting here.

This is the first visit of the two top CPI(M) leaders to Tripura after the party lost power to the BJP in March election, ending their 25 years of rule in row.

The initial flood damage estimate of Kerala government is Rs 20,000 crores. Central government has sanctioned Rs 6,000 crores so far. At this time, UAE, which said they can send Rs 700 crores for relief and rehabilitation. But, the central government has declined this request without consulting the state government This is totally uncalled for, he told reporters.

He said the entire country has stood with flood-hit Kerala by sending material, money and other help.

Karat highlighted that a large number of Indians are working in the UAE, among whom nearly 80 percent are from Kerala.

"They are building UAE with their hard labour. It is natural that they (UAE) will respond by offering this help. Our question is why did the central government refuse the help? We dont think this is a correct policy. We should not stand on false prestige that India is a big super power and we don't need help," Karat shot at the NDA government.

He said people of Kerala need help from all quarters and appealed central government not to stand on false prestige and take necessary steps in consultation with the state government of Kerala.

The centre decided not to accept any foreign donations for flood relief citing a 2004 policy decision by the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh.

Meanwhile, officials in UAE embassy in Delhi today said that no specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala has been finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the state, amid a row over the Centre deciding not to accept any foreign donations for flood relief.

Launching a scathing attack at the BJP-led NDA government, Karat alleged that the countrie's atmosphere was vitiated due to "increasing attacks on women, Dalits, adivasis, mob lynchings, price rise and other factors since NDA government took over in 2014."

CPI(M) farmers and worker trade unions would organize a rally of 2 lakh people at Delhi on September 5 to protest the alleged degeneration of governance, Karat added. PTI JOY SNS RCJ
Kolkata, Aug 24 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress today

welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on panchayat polls in West Bengal as a "victory of democracy" and asked opposition parties to apologise to the people of the state.

The Supreme Court has turned down the pleas of CPI(M) and BJP seeking cancellation of elections on over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal.

All these uncontested seats were won unopposed by candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

"We are very happy. We welcome the verdict of the court. It is a victory of democracy. We have been saying this for a long time," TMC Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee said.

"This is a historic verdict. This is a big lesson for opposition parties. It has been proved that their allegations

are baseless. They should apologise to the people of the

state," Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said.

The state BJP said it has accepted the verdict and would fight the TMC democratically.

"We accept the verdict of the Supreme Court. We'll fight

against TMC democratically in the next Lok Sabha elections.

The people of the state will have the last word," state BJP

president Dilip Ghosh said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress had contended that not a

single candidate approached any court with the grievance that

he or she had been stopped from filing nomination papers.

The Opposition parties -- CPI(M) and BJP -- which have

opposed the contention of the state government, poll panel and the TMC, had alleged that West Bengal did not witness a free and fair election and the candidates of these two parties were stopped from filing nomination papers.

Elections were held in phases for 48,650 posts in Gram

Panchayats, 825 posts in Zilla Parishads and 9,217 posts in

Panchayat Samitis and the TMC won about 34 per cent seats

uncontested. PTI PNT PR DV

DV
Fish traders back in business as Meghalaya lifts import ban

Shillong, Aug 24 (PTI) Fish traders today resumed

full-scale business across Meghalaya, a day after a 30-day ban

on fish import was lifted by the state government.

The food safety authorities had enforced a ban on

sale, storage and distribution of fish from Assam, Andhra

Pradesh and West Bengal following detection of formalin in

imported samples.

Formalin, a toxic solution of formaldehyde, is chiefly

used to preserve biological specimens.

The prohibition was initially imposed for 15 days on

July 23, but was later extended till August 22 in view of the

"fear psychosis" among the consumers, Food Safety Deputy

Commissioner S N Sangma told PTI.

"The government has decided not to extend the ban any

longer but would keep a close eye on the quality of products

being sold to the consumers," Sangma said.

Of the 92 samples tested at a Assam-based laboratory

before July 23, 12 tested positive for formalin, Food Safety

Commissioner P W Ingty said.

"The government will take a stricter call on the

matter in case of fresh detection of unsafe chemicals in fish

in the days to come," he said.

Welcoming the state government's decision to lift the

ban, Khasi Jaintia Wholesaler and Retailer Association

(KJFWRA) president Mitchel Wankhar said they would abide by

the strictures of food safety authorities.

"We do not want to put the health of fish-eaters at

risk. All traders here have decided to go by the strictures of

the food safety authorities," Wankhar said.

Meghalaya Fisheries Minister Comingone Ymbon had

earlier said that the state imports about 21,000 MT fish,

mostly from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam.

"The state produces about 12,330 MT during fiscal

2016-17, while the total requirement stands at 33,000 MT

annually," he had said. PTI JOP

RMS RMS
Police to probe into arrest of Rajasthan scribe

Patna, Aug 24 (PTI) A high-level inquiry has been

ordered into the alleged wrongful arrest of a journalist based

in Rajasthan in connection with a case under the SC & ST Act

lodged in a court here, a top police official said today.

The probe will be done by Inspector General of Police,

Patna zone, Naiyar Hasnain Khan.

I have been asked by the headquarters to inquire into

the reports that have been appeared in the media regarding the

arrest of Barmer resident Durg Singh Rajpurohit, the IG, told

PTI.

It will be an administrative inquiry since the matter

does not relate to Bihar police per se as he was arrested

following a complaint lodged in the court which issued a

warrant, Khan said.

According to reports, a complaint under SC & ST Act was

lodged in the court against Rajpurohit by Rakesh Paswan, a

resident of Digha police station area in the district,on May

31.

Paswan had alleged that he worked for Rajpurohit who

did not pay him wages regularly and beat him up frequently. He

had also alleged that when he returned home, the Barmer scribe

came to his house on May 07 along with some other associates

and thrashed and abused him.

The SC & ST court here, subsequently, issued a warrant

on August 16 following which a police team visited Barmer and

arrested Rajpurohit on August 18. He was brought here and sent

to 14 days in judicial remand vide an order dated August 21.

Media reports have, however, also quoted Rajpurohits

family as having stated that he never visited Patna and that

he had been framed at the instance of a BJP leader in Barmer

who was said to be upset with the scribe.

Some of these reports also claimed that Paswan has disowned

the case lodged in his name and said that he did not know

Rajpurohit.

I have been asked to complete the inquiry in three to

four days. However, much would depend on what facts emerge

during the probe, the IG said. PTI NAC

SNS SNS
New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Congress today sought to defend party chief Rahul Gandhi over his remarks likening the RSS to Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood, saying the comments had been distorted and should not be viewed in isolation.

Gandhi had come under fire from the BJP over his remarks which he made during his tour of the UK and Germany.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said what the party chief had said is true about jobs and Dokalam, but his remarks on ISIS have been "distorted".

"Rahul Gandhi was talking about extreme views and vision, in which he cited many examples including that of exclusion of women. I do not feel anything wrong in this statement, as it cites one of the extreme views of the RSS like many organisations of other religions have.

"If you take one sentence out of context and distort it, then definitely it will be distorted," he told reporters.

Singhvi said Gandhi has in a systematic manner criticised the policies of the government and that is his right as an opposition leader.

"Can it be forgotten that Narendra Modi, in the first six months of his becoming the prime minister had used offensive language abroad, lowering the country's image," he said.

He said the biggest fear of Modi and the BJP is that if all parties in every corner of the country form an alliance then the saffron party will be defeated. "There is an anti-BJP wave all over the country," he claimed.

On Gandhi's remarks about External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, he alleged, "This government is indulging in micro-management and has dictatorial tendencies. It wants to control everything and that is what has happened with the External Affairs Ministry."

"Anybody here can tell me Doklam, any inch of territory area occupied by Chinese has been vacated. I am challenging you and the government to it.

"Just a few weeks ago, we had a report that despite the meetings between the Chinese and the defence minister, the Chinese have not moved anywhere, so what wrong he thinks," he said.PTI SKC AAR
New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate today filed its first charge sheet against RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and others in connection with the IRCTC hotels allotment money laundering case, officials said.

The agency has also named Prasad's son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, his party colleague PC Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, a firm Lara Projects and 10 others in the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court here.

The agency said Prasad and IRCTC officials allegedly misused their position for granting sub-lease of the rights of two railway hotels at Puri and Ranchi to Ms Sujata Hotel Pvt. Ltd. owned by Kochhars.

In lieu of the hotels sub-lease, 358 decimal of prime plot of land in Patna was transferred to Ms Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd (a company owned by family of P C Gupta who is a close associate of Prasad and an MP from RJD) in February 2005 at a rate which was much less than the then prevailing circle rates.

"The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi by way of share purchase at nominal prices.

"The funds used to acquire the land had dubious origin and had been laundered through 151 group of companies belonging to P C Gupta by using an NBFC named Ms Abhishek Finance Company Limited," the agency charged.

Subsequently, the shares of Ms Delight Marketing Company Private Limited, it said, were acquired by Rabri Devi and Tejashwi at less than fair market value.

"It is noteworthy that the funds used for acquisition of shares by Rabri Devi are questionable and individuals from whom Tejashwi had purchased shares denied any knowledge of holding them," it said.

The ED said it has attached assets worth over Rs 44 crore in this case till now.

The CBI too had filed a charge sheet in this case sometime back.

The CBI FIR had alleged that Lalu Prasad, during his tenure as the railway minister in UPA-I government, handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the form of a prime land in Patna through a 'benami' company owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, who was also a former union minister.

The ED registered the criminal case against his family members and others under the PMLA, based on this CBI FIR.

The ED is investigating the alleged "proceeds of crime" generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies, according to the officials.

Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC managing director P.K. Goel.

The CBI FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as "quid pro quo". PTI NES TIR

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New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Delhi Police today donated Rs one crore for rehabilitation work in flood-ravaged Kerala which witnessed one of its worst deluge in close to a century, the police said.

As a humanitarian gesture, all officers and ranks of Delhi Police have come forward and voluntarily contributed for the total amount of Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for aid to the flood victims in Kerala.

In a letter addressed to the Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, the Delhi Police has extended their support to the flood victims of Kerala.

"Major parts of Kerala state have been badly affected by flood rendering countless number of people homeless and destitute. As members of police force of the capital of the country, it is our bounden duty to come forward to donate and contribute to this noble cause," the letter stated.

Heavy rains and flooding have claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon.

As the flood waters started receding, people from relief camps have started returning to their homes although over 10.40 lakh people were still in 2,770 camps across the state. PTI AMP TDS SMN
Neal Sales-Griffin: The fact that people are being driven into bankruptcy  and the long-term negative financial consequences that follow  by unpaid parking fees and fines is a moral failing of our leadership. As mayor, I wont treat regressive fines and fees as revenue streams or a means to bridge our budget gaps. Ill make sure Chicagoans have more time to pay for any outstanding payments owed. In order to be considered for certain jobs with the City of Chicago and sister agencies, one currently must be free of debts to the city. Ill provide more options to pay fees down through community service and job opportunities.
Jammu, Aug 24 (PTI) Naxal activities have declined by 40 per cent over the last three years and the Central Reserve Police Force is opening camps in the core areas of the rebels, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar said today.

He said the force had seen great success in dealing with Naxalism.

"During the last three years, Naxalism has decreased by 40 per cent. Their (Naxalites) activities have decreased greatly in areas where they had dominance," Bhatnagar told reporters.

The CRPF is opening camps in the core areas of Naxalites and successfully conducting regular operations, he said.

Bhatnagar added that the CRPF tries to reach out to people in distress in the various areas where the force operates. The CRPF, he said, provides medical facilities to the people in naxal areas.

"We have also introduced human face of the force and you have seen that in several naxal areas. In a recent case, we hospitalised an injured naxal woman even when she was firing on our troops and our jawan gave blood to save her," he said.

He said the CRPF had good coordination with the J-K Police, Army and other agencies.

The DG said several new technologies had been inducted in a bid to equip the force with latest weapons and to upgrade the troops' operational capabilities and preparedness.

He added the focus was also on better infrastructure for the jawans and steps were being taken for the welfare of the troops and their families.

The CRPF, which has 243 battalions, is a major police force dealing with a variety of situations across the country and it will deliver on whatever challenges it comes across in the future, Bhatnagar said. PTI AB DIV

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New Delhi, Aug 24 (PT) The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today came out with a special issue of monthly journal Yojana on 'employment and self-employment', a development that comes amid opposition criticism of the government over job creation.

The theme of 'employment and self employment' for Yojana was selected based on the recent reports as well as observations by economists that employment related data did not accurately reflect the status of employment and employment generation in the country, an official statement said.

The articles in the journal, released by Secretary Information and Broadcasting Amit Khare, have been authored by secretaries to the government, experts from professional organisations like FICCI and the think tank Niti Aayog, presenting a holistic view about various dimensions of the theme, the statement said.

Various aspects of the theme ranging from need for credible employment data to advantages of payroll reporting, creating livelihood opportunities in urban and rural areas to MSMEs as new engines of employment, entrepreneurship as a key to employment generation to dimensions of the Indian labour market, have all been comprehensively analysed in the issue, it said.

Success stories relating to various programmes like Mudra have also been featured in the issue.

Sadhana Rout, Director General, Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, along with other senior officials of the ministry were also present during the launch event.

Yojana is a widely circulated theme based journal brought out by the Publications Division. Published in 13 languages, the journal has a combined circulation of about 2 lakhs and readership of over 8 lakhs, the statement said.

The Ministry of information and broadcasting had last month written to several ministries, including the labour ministry, seeking data on employment generated in various sectors under them, sources had said.

They had said the ministry has sought the details ostensibly to counter allegations by the opposition parties that the NDA government has failed to generate employment.

The move by the I&B ministry comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected the opposition's charge of lack of employment generation, citing data provided by state governments to ask how the Centre could create joblessness if the states were creating "good numbers of jobs".

He had said that the lack of data on jobs had given the opposition the opportunity "to paint a picture of their choice".

More than lack of jobs, the issue is lack of data on jobs, Modi had said.

The opposition, led by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, has been critical of the Modi government over jobs creation and has alleged that it had failed to fulfil its poll promise of generating employment.

The BJP had come to power in 2014 with job creation being one of its major poll planks. PTI ASK UZM

RCJ
(Eds: updating with HC overturning acquittal of 20 persons)

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today overturned the acquittal of 20 persons in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case while observing that instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes have not abated even after 71 years of Independence.

The high court also upheld the conviction of 13 persons by the trial court and enhanced the punishment of some of the convicts.

A 60-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter were burnt alive by members of the Jat community in Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in April 2010.

With today's verdict, 12 out of 33 convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment for the offences, including murder under the IPC and committing mischief by fire or explosive substance by a member of a community other than SC/ST, intending to cause damage property of a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said 71 years after Independence, instances of "atrocities" against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown "no sign of abating".

"The incidents that took place in Mirchpur between April 19 and 21, 2010 serve as yet another grim reminder of 'the complete absence of two things in Indian society' as noted by Dr B R Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949. One was 'equality' and the other 'fraternity'," the bench said in its 209-page verdict.

The court held that there was deliberate targeting of houses of members of Balmiki community by members of the Jat community and common object in the case was to "teach members of the Balmiki community a lesson and this has been fully achieved by the accused persons."

It said the fine amounts collected from the convicts shall be utilised by the Haryana Government as part of the provision of pecuniary relief and rehabilitation to the victims.

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 13 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community. Two convicted died during pendency of appeals. In October 2012, the 98th accused, who was earlier absconding, was tried and acquitted by the trial court.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. The high court modified the provision and convicted them for the offence of murder under Section 302 IPC.

Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case. PTI SKV HMP RRT RKS SKV DV

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New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) A fresh plea has been moved in the Supreme Court today challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35-A that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

The petitioner, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) 'Ikkjut Jammu', sought quashing of the provision which has been challenged by several others including civil society groups, individuals. There have also been petitions supporting the retention of Article 35-A of the Constitution.

The fresh petition, filed through advocate Sumit R Sharma, says that Article 35-A furthers "two nation theory which is against the theory of secularism".

"It is an enabling provision for the creation of a theological state within secular territory of India. It ensures that the character of J&K's Legislative Assembly shall remain Islamic," the petition stated.

It added that Article 35-A provides absolute powers to the Jammu and Kashmir's legislative assembly to infringe the fundamental rights of Indian citizens.

Earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) had moved the apex court in support of Article 35-A.

The NC had said that the Article serves as an important link between the state and the Union and its people and serves to maintain a fine balance of constitutional federalism.

The apex court is already seized of a batch of petitions in the matter, including the one filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' seeking quashing of the article, which confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC's intervening application, filed through advocate Adeeba Mujhaid, had sought intervention in the 'We the Citizens' petition, saying that the challenge raised in the pending writ petition suffers from gross delays and latches and being raised after more than 60 years and cannot be maintainable.

"Any attempt to tinker with the said balance would ruin the fabric of the federal structure envisaged under the Constitution and jeopardise the avowed special status guaranteed to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, thereby landing a devastating fatal blow to the state and its probe," the petition filed by NC through its provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani had said.

On July 31, CPI(M)'s J-K unit had moved the apex court and said in its petition that it was of the unequivocal opinion that the Article shall in "no circumstance be annulled, modified or repealed".

On May 14, Attorney General K K Venugopal had informed the apex court that the Centre's interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir is currently discussing with all stakeholders the "sensitive" issues relating to the challenge to Article 35-A of the Constitution.

Dineshwar Sharma, former director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was appointed as the Centre's interlocutor for the state on October 23 last year.

Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of J&K and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.

The provision, which leads such women from the state to forfeit their right over property, also applies to their heirs.

Several interlocutory petitions have also been filed in support and against of Article 35-A by various individuals and civil society groups.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir government through its standing counsel Shoeb Alam had referred to two judgments by the constitution benches of the apex court and said the issues raised in the pleas challenging Article 35-A were already covered by these verdicts.

The state government, while defending Article 35-A, had cited two verdicts by the constitution benches of the Supreme Court in 1961 and 1969 which had upheld the powers of the President under Article 370(1)(d) of the Constitution to pass constitutional orders.

The article was incorporated in the Constitution in 1954 by an order of president Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the then Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet.

It empowers the state legislature to frame any law without attracting a challenge on the grounds of violation of the right to equality of people from other states or any other right under the Constitution.

The apex court had on August 14 last year said a constitution bench may examine whether Article 35-A was gender-biased and violative of the basic structure of the Constitution.

The state government had earlier said the issue has already been "prima facie settled" by a full bench of the High Court in its verdict in 2002.

In the case, the high court had, by a majority view, held that a daughter of a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir marrying a non-permanent resident will not lose the status of a permanent resident. PTI MNL URD SJK RKS UK RCJ

RCJ
New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today dismissed the appeal of 15 persons belonging to the dominant Jat community against their conviction and sentencing in a case of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana's Hisar district in 2010.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said even after 71 years of Independence atrocities on Scheduled Castes community has shown no signs of abating.

The court also directed the Haryana government to rehabilitate families belonging to the Dalit community who were displaced after the 2010 incident.

The high court pronounced the verdict on the appeal of 15 persons challenging their conviction and sentence by a trial court in the case.

The victims and the police had also appealed in the high court seeking enhancement of punishment awarded to the convicts and acquittal of others.

The trial court had on September 24, 2011, convicted 15 of 97 men belonging to the Jat community.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010 after a dispute between Jat and Dalit community of the village.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

Five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down jail term of five years for their offences including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims' houses and provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case. PTI SKV HMP URD URD DV

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Italian DJ alleges assault at Hydbad Airport,Air India denies

Hyderabad, Aug 24 (PTI): Olly Esse, an Italian DJ, has

alleged that she was manhandled by an Air India outsourcing

staff at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on August 19,

a charge denied by the national carrier.

M Mahesh, Airport police inspector said they received a

complaint from her on April 19 and booked a case under

Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506

(criminal intimidation) of IPC and were investigating it.

In a video posted in the social media, Esse said she was

travelling on an Air India flight to Delhi, which was delayed

by nine hours. She went to the Air India counter and asked for

help, but the employee at the desk did not respond properly.

"The lady at the desk who was supposed to help me was

rude. At the end of the story she slapped me. I want to

complain to the police, but that was not possible as the guy

(police) who should take the complaint was not there. I feel

violated," she said in the video.

When contacted an AI spokesperson denied the charge and

said the lady whom Esse met at the Air India counter was an

outsourcing employee.

"The person (female employee) is an outsourcing employee.

She did not slap her. That was a false allegation. Esse was

filming the employee with her mobile phone, to which she (the

employee) objected and tried to stop her. In the melee, her

phone slipped from her hand, but did not fall on the ground,"

the Air India official told PTI.

The police official said they verifying the footage and

that investigation was going on. PTI GDK APR

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Chennai to operate battery-run buses on select routes

Chennai, Aug 24 (PTI) Chennai will join the global

network of cities in tackling climate change with the Tamil

Nadu government deciding to introduce low-maintenance,

battery-operated buses on select routes here.

Transport Minister M R Vijayabhaskar told reporters after

chairing a meeting of a delegation from C40 Cities Finance

Facility, UK, which undertook a feasibility study,that issues

faced by other nations in operating such buses were discussed.

The state government then decided to take steps to

operate the battery operated buses on select routes, he said.

The minister said the cost of each bus was high, but they

were low on maintenance unlike diesel operated buses.

"Once the batteries are charged, these buses can run upto

240 km. They can carry 54 passengers and can be operated in

peak hours, reducing travelling time. This is not the case

with diseel run buses", he said.

The UK team was led by head of C40 Cities Finance

Facility, James Alexander and capacity development and

municipal expert Jurgen Baumann.

The C40 website said that "Chennai joins the global

network of cities committed to tackle climate change.

The Greater Chennai Corporation shows its determination

to create low carbon and resilient economies in support of the

Paris Agreement on Climate Change," it said.

The Minister noted that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K

Palaniswami recently flagged off 515 new buses on various

routes across the state.

"Another 500 buses will be put into service for the

public. Steps will be taken to operate the remaining 4,000

buses for the benefit of the public", he said.

There was a good response from the public to buses run

without a conductor and also to those with toilet facilities,

he added. PTI VIJ NVG

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Chandigarh, Aug 24 (PTI) The Haryana government has decided to allow free travel facility to women and their minor children in state roadways buses on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on August 26.

"The free travel facility will be available for women and children for 36-hour period from 12 noon on August 25," Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar said in an official release here today.

This facility would be available only in ordinary buses of state roadways.

"Last year, great rush was experienced on the bus stands to avail this facility. This year also a large number of people are expected to travel in buses on Raksha Bandhan," Panwar said.

"Therefore, to ensure convenience of the passengers, maximum number of buses would be deployed for operation. Adequate staff in uniform would be deployed at the bus stands to guide the public," he said.

Panwar said directions have been issued to all the general managers of the state roadways to get in touch with the district administration for deployment of adequate number of police personnel at the bus stands to ensure security and smooth operation of buses on this day. PTI SUN SNE

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Vedanta to invest $300-400mn to expand Electrosteel's capacity

(Eds: Adding quotes, more details)

Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) Metals and mining giant Vedanta

will spend around USD 300-400 million in recently acquired

Electrosteel Steels to expand its capacity to 2.5 million

tonnes per annum (mtpa), a top company official said.

This investment will be part of the company's overall

USD 8-billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) capex plan over the next

three years, according to Vedanta chairman Navin Agarwal.

"Electrosteel Steels is currently processing at a full

capacity of 1.5 mtpa, and we will soon start work to expand

capacity to 2.5 mtpa at a very nominal capex of USD 300-400

million," Agarwal told reporters on the sideline of the firm's

annual general meeting (AGM) today.

In March, Vedanta acquired assets of Electrosteel

Steels, which marked its entry into steelmaking in India.

"Our acquisition of Electrosteel has lot to do with

the integration of our iron ore business," said Agarwal.

Replying to a query on the firm's troubled copper

smelter at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Agarwal said, "At this

time our endeavour is to restart the copper smelter and

discussion of expanding will happen afterwards."

The Tuticorin plant has been closed since May after 13

people were killed in a police firing during protests against

the plant on allegations of it causing health and

environmental issues.

Meanwhile, the company has chalked out a mega capital

expenditure plans of USD 8 billion over the next three years

on growth projects across its businesses.

The company is looking at growing its oil and gas

business to about 400,000 barrels per day, from the current

200,000 barrels per day.

Similarly, the zinc business will grow to about 1.35

mtpa. The company is also looking at growing its international

zinc business and aluminium and alumina refinery capacities,

the chairman said.

"We will be spending USD 8 billion across all our

businesses. Most of this capex will be funded through internal

accruals as our cash flows stood at Rs 7,900 crore (as on

March 31) and we have reduced our gross debt by Rs 8,500

crore," Agarwal said, adding the company will not opt for

external funding.

Following this expansion, he believes that the firm's

business size will grow by around 50 per cent.

Replying to a query on inorganic growth, Agarwal said,

"We have nothing on the plate on the acquisition side, but if

good opportunity comes, which is synergic to our business, we

will look at it."

Vedanta had posted 2.13 per cent year-on-year rise in

consolidated net profit to Rs 1,533 crore in June quarter,

while its total income increased to Rs 22,624 core.

The company's shares ended 4.26 per cent up at Rs

223.95 apiece on the BSE today, against 0.22 per cent decline

in the benchmark. PTI AP SS

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Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) The Mumbai Police today claimed to have busted a multi-state railway recruitment scam with the arrest of two men, who allegedly took money from unemployed youths by promising them jobs in "railway minister's quota".

The probe of the racket was started on the instructions of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal a few days ago, police today said.

The racket may have spread its tentacles across many states, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhe.

Rufus Dabre (38), a resident of Vasai in neighbouring Thane district, and Manjeetsingh Chilotre (46), a resident of suburban Malad in Mumbai were arrested in the case yesterday, he said.

The Railway Recruitment Board had put out an advertisement for appointment of grade C and D posts of "Railway Defence Candidates" earlier this year.

The accused told jobs aspirants that they could secure jobs for them through "railway minister's quota" on payment of money, the official said.

Chilotre was nabbed from Delhi, said an officer of the MRA Marg Police Station here where the offence has been registered.

Chilotre was scouting for gullible job aspirants in the national capital and the police seized some documents from his possession which he tried to destroy while being arrested, the DCP said.

The railway minister had received an e-mail a few days ago which said there was a scam in the ongoing recruitment of Grade C and D employees, the police official said.

On Goyal's instructions, his personal secretary Pravin Gedam lodged a complaint with city police on August 20.

"We have identified seven members of this racket and arrested two," DCP Trimukhe said.

"During the investigation we found that this gang had duped job seekers of a total of Rs 93 lakh," he said.

Chilotre, an estate agent, was allegedly the mastermind of the scam, he said.

Dabre, who is an insurance agent, had allegedly collected at least Rs 6 to 7 lakh each from seven job aspirants, the DCP said.

Both the accused were produced before a court today which remanded them in police custody till August 30. PTI DC KRK AAR
New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The teachers association of JNU today said the university administration is trying to suppress the voice of elected teacher representatives, a day after the administration issued show-cause notices to 48 teachers for allegedly participating in a day strike on July 31 against the policies implemented by the vice chancellor.

The decision to issue show-cause notices was finalised at the Executive Council meeting of the varsity held yesterday, claimed JNU Professor Ayesha Kidwai.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) today in a statement said that it takes serious note of the extremely hostile attitude of the University Administration towards teachers reflected in the 275th Executive Council Meeting held yesterday.

"After trying to suppress the voice of elected teacher representatives, the Administration pushed for several anti-teacher decisions and ratification of such decisions already made by the Vice-Chancellor. In what must be a record of sorts, illegitimate denial of even stage-change promotions of 4 Assistant Professors were brought to the EC for ratification but no explanation was forthcoming about the grounds on which their outstanding academic records were completely overlooked," it said.

A continued recalcitrant attitude was also reflected towards resolution of the problem of past-service counting which the current JNU Administration has itself created, the statement said.

"Once again, the Vice Chancellor got the EC to approve addition of several names to panels of experts for selection committees without these names being approved by the Centres or even by the Academic Council," it said.

Along with its keenness to wave the stick of naked coercion against teachers, the extremely casual attitude of the Administration towards academics was also on full display, the JNUTA said in the statement.

The decision to have completely online entrance examinations involving 'outside experts' from the coming year itself was steamrolled through without any systematic discussion of its entire ramification  how suitable it is

for assessment of abilities across the range of disciplines and courses of study that JNU admits students to; its impact on access of students across the country to the University; its financial implications, JNUTA said.

"On the other hand, the Administration failed to itself bring on the agenda the issue of a disastrous cut in library grants. When this matter was raised, the Administration admitted to the fact of the cut - from over Rs 8 crores to 1.7 crores - but treated it as if this was a minor matter," it added.

JNUTA would like to remind the JNU Administration and the Vice Chancellor that the teachers of JNU are not going to be intimidated, as they have proved time and time again, it said.

"Actions of the kind taken in the 275th Executive Council will only serve to strengthen their resolve to beat back the concerted attack on the University and its great traditions by its own Administration," it added. PTI UZM RCJ

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Chennai, Aug 24 (PTI) The Madras High Court today appointed a three-member independent committee to suggest experts to examine a nine-year-old boy, whose father had made a plea for the child's passive euthanasia, and file a report.

A division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and S Baskaran appointed a neurosurgeon Dr Reginald, paediatrician Dr P Ramachandran and chief medical officer of Central Government Health Scheme Dr Uma Maheswari as committee members and directed them to suggest experts within two weeks.

The issue pertains to a plea of R Thirumeni, whose son Paavendhan is in Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) since birth in 2008.

The Supreme Court had held that fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to die with dignity.

Paavendhan has not only been in a vegetative state since birth, but also suffers from epileptic seizures, ranging between 10 and 20 times a day when controlled by medicines.

The maximum number of such attacks he had suffered in a single day is 150, petitioners counsel N Kavitha Rameshwar said.

Thirumeni, who is a tailor, has been spending Rs 10,000 per month towards medical expenses of his son all these years with the hope of getting him back to normal, the counsel said.

Since all the doctors he had consulted till date had concurred that there was absolutely no scope of recovery in such a case as the damage to the brain is total, the petitioner wanted the court to permit him to withdraw all forms of food, nutrition and medicine to his son and smoothen his process of dying. PTI COR NVG APR RCJ
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  As if Zaldy Ampatuan's presence was not controversial enough, his daughter's wedding invitation listed the presidential daughter and top aide as principal sponsors.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Friday confirmed she was invited to the wedding last Tuesday night, but said she failed to come.

"We received a written invitation but I was not able to attend the reception," Duterte-Carpio said in a text message to reporters.

Special Assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go said he did not know he was listed as among the 60 godparents, with other former and incumbent government officials.

"Usual practice 'di nagpapaalam, nilalagay name niyo kahit di kayo nag ok (It's usual practice to put your name there without permission)," Go said in another text message.

In Filipino weddings, however, the groom and bride ask potential godparents, even sending them gifts, prior to the ceremony.

The list of wedding sponsors circulated on social media and was condemned by some netizens, with one viral post calling it "one of the most chilling documents" she has ever seen.

Photos of the wedding ceremony gained attention due to the presence of Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and one of the main suspects to the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre that left 58 people dead. The casualties included 32 media workers, some civilians, and some members of the Mangudadatu family  a rival political family of the Ampatuans.

Malacanang on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte was "dismayed" by Ampatuan's temporary release. The Justice Department also said its prosecutors "vigorously opposed" Ampatuan's motion for furlough to attend his daughter's wedding at a five-star luxury hotel in Manila from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. last Tuesday. But the Quezon City Regional Trial Court allowed Ampatuan's temporary release for humanitarian reasons, so Ampatuan could "bring his eldest daughter to the altar."

Some family members of the Maguindanao massacre victims said they were not informed of Ampatuan's appeal, adding they would have done everything to stop it had they known about it.

Only 116 of the 197 original suspects facing multiple murder charges over the Maguindanao massacre have been arrested. Of this number, 107 remain on trial while five were dismissed. Ampatuan's father and co-accused, Andal Ampatuan, Sr. died in 2015 due to complications from liver cancer.

CNN Philippines' Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
PHOTOS Devastating disasters to strike the US

While some places in the United States are less at-risk than others, every state is prone to some type of natural disaster. Whether it's hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, forest fires, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes or heat waves, each state in the union has dealt with a devastating natural phenomenon in the last century or so. These storms and catastrophes loom large in the memories of people who lived through them. But which weather event had the biggest impact? Between loss of life, property damage and historical impact, here are disasters that have made a major impact in each state. (Kaitlin Miller, The Active Times)
Gerard A. Finin's biography "A Good and Noble Thing: The Pioneering Life and Service of Anna Ward Perkins, MD" fills a vital chapter in the history of the Helderbergs. Perkins' medical practice, based in Westerlo, served residents of the Hilltowns from 1928 to 1993. Finin's family lived on Main Street in Rensselaerville, and he attended Greenville Central High School and the University at Albany. After receiving a doctorate at Cornell, he spent 30 years at the University of Hawaii and is now teaching at Cornell.

Q: Like so many of us who grew up in Rensselaerville, you and your family were patients of Dr. Perkins. But she helped you in other ways, didn't she?

A: Yes, she was our family physician, but she also came to dinner from time to time. Later she wrote a letter of recommendation for me for the Peace Corps, which undoubtedly helped me gain acceptance to that program. She wrote to me when I served in the Philippines and was very lonely, giving me news of home. Just a kind and generous person, who always supported me whatever I was doing.

Q: Was she supportive of young people?

A: She was, and that's an interesting point. She believed young people should be taken seriously and not be talked down to. She felt the best way for a young person to come into adulthood was to be treated like an adult from a young age.

Q: What brought Anna Ward Perkins to Westerlo was Edmund N. Huyck's article "The Village Doctor," which publicized the need for physicians in rural areas of upstate New York. Why was this an unlikely choice for the 29-year-old?

A: As you know she went to school in Boston and then Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons so she had plenty of experience in urban areas. But much of what she read in Mr. Huyck's article, she later said, "pictured exactly what I was looking for." I think she was drawn to a place where nature was not only available but abundant. She first arrived in the hamlet of Rensselaerville, which looked very much like the New England of her birth. She took a swim in Lake Myosotis, talked to people, found it very much to her liking, and made her decision. Most important to her was that the people needed medical care and that's what she set out to do.

Q: But what she encountered in the Hilltowns was a world apart from her privileged upper-class background.

A: Yes, but by that time she had decided she didn't want to live that life. She was influenced by the transcendentalists, among whom were her great-grandparents Samuel and Anna Ward. Most revealing here, I think, is the Thoreau quotation Dr. Perkins chose for her 1921 Radcliffe yearbook. "Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!" The beauty of the Hilltowns must have seemed like her own Walden. All of it contributed to her vision of a life based on service and being close to nature. Of course, it helped that there was train service from Albany to Boston so that she could visit her mother and father.

Q: Dr. Perkins always joked that she arrived in Westerlo with three strikes against her. What were those challenges?

A: She was one of few Roman Catholics in the area as well as the only woman doctor for miles around. And in 1928 the Helderbergs was already a Democratic stronghold and she was a Republican. These were challenges, but not insurmountable. She never mentioned her religion, and she realized that many women welcomed being attended by a female doctor, though a few of the men were skeptical. What won the skeptics over was that she was an extremely competent physician, who kept up to date by going to lectures at Albany Medical Center, going on the grand rounds each Thursday. Once they saw her dedication, they realized, as Edwin Hannay Sr. said, "We're just plain lucky that Dr. Perkins settled here and not someplace else."

Q: Certainly an immediate and practical challenge was reaching her patients. You write: "By the mid-1930s Dr. Perkins' house call practice encompassed an area of some 200 square miles." How did she accomplish that?

A: She believed strongly in house calls, but I was surprised when I looked at a map of the distances she covered. Starting on the Albany side, she went down as far as Clarksville ... in Greene County she went to Greenville. She regularly visited a pharmacy in Ravena and had patients in Preston Hollow, Potter Hollow, Cooksburg, Berne, as well as Westerlo and Rensselaerville.

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Q: And only the main roads would have been paved, correct?

More Information "A Good and Noble Thing" is available for purchase in Rensselaerville at the Mill and Library, Kelly's Pharmacy in Greenville, the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, and many local stores. See More Collapse

A: Yes, I've seen photographs of her car covered with mud or dust. She spent 12-18 hours a day "on the circuit."

Q: Some of the most heroic stories of her work as a caregiver are of reaching her patients in winter months: she used snowshoes and during the blizzard of 1958 was flown in by helicopter to rescue Kenneth Lee. Can you tell the story of the shoebox incubator?

A: This was Dr. Perkins' third home delivery on Jan. 30, 1929, and the infant was premature. By Harriet LaGrange Bernard's account of her birth, she "weighed 2 pounds," was wrapped in cotton batting, put in a shoebox, and then on an open oven door to keep warm. Bernard lived in Westerlo for the next 84 years.

Q: You refer to Westerlo's Anna Hannay as the doctor's "aide-de-camp" How so?

A: I never had a conversation with Dr. Perkins's longtime companion, but I would see "the two Annas," as they were called, traveling in Hannay's Corvette, both ladies in their bonnets with the top down. Hannay was an indispensable part of the medical practicebooking patients, keeping the place orderly, and driving on roads she knew much better than the doctor. They worked together shoulder to shoulder for 44 years.

Q: Many of us remember that for a long time Dr. Perkins only charged $2. You tell a story about her accepting a fox pelt as payment for services during the Depression. Was she interested in money?

A: No, no. Money was very peripheral to her life. The fox pelt probably made her cringe because she wasn't a big fan of hunting. On the other hand, I am sure she was sensitive to the fact that the family was giving her that pelt because they had no cash. She always accepted these gifts.
Like many students, Amanda Peckler, a rising junior at Skidmore College perceives her dorm room to be a personal sanctuary. "It's kind of like I may be growing, but I always look back to the same 'Starry Night' painting, my favorite artwork, and my usual maroon bedspread to help me maintain my own little happy place."

As the academic year approaches, college move-in days are bound to be somewhat stressful and expensive for students and parents alike in purchasing items that will help organize new living spaces and make them feel a little more like home. An average student, both undergraduate and graduate, spends around $942.17 on shopping for college, according to the National Retail Federation.

Dorm rooms can vary in terms of decorations from simple to intricate, but a common theme throughout different colleges is outfitting a room that may be smaller than all their items can contain. In conversations with Skidmore undergraduates, many mentioned overpacking, which made adjusting to the smaller space even more challenging. "I definitely had overpacked the first year, so I tried to tone it down for the following years," rising senior Tiffany Kapela-Barlow said.

Mohini Shrivastava, a rising junior, recommended storage boxes (she purchased hers at Target) to make a room look less cluttered. Kapela-Barlow said she used decorative ottoman storage bins "made out of material to store sweaters in... and [I] put them usually above my dresser or under my bed." The boxes were strong enough to support her weight, which was handy when she used them as a stool to get onto her bed.

Jen Richardson, director of Residential Life at the College of Saint Rose, noted that student government helps students donate their clothing and other items at the end of the year. Skidmore and the University at Albany have similar programs.

Carol Perrin, director of residential life at UAlbany, said during summer orientation days, the office encourages the students to get in touch with their roommates prior to move-in day to ensure they do not bring any duplicates of specific items. She also mentioned that incoming students get a reminder of the college checklist with their housing assignment. During move-in-day, Richardson said students assisting with arrivals and residential advisers help families unpack their stuff and ensure that they do not bring in items that may lead to residential violations such as lava lamps and incense.

Most students, especially Peckler and Kapela-Barlow, recommended decorations that carry an emotional connection, such as family photos. "I especially love items that contain a special story and memory I want to hold onto and be reminded of often," Peckler said. Kapela-Barlow also said that she decorated her room with cards from friends, pictures, and artwork from friends, "I have filled it with things that make me feel good and at home," she recalled.

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In terms of items they did not use, Kapela-Barlow mentioned getting rid of her bed caddy, a bedside storage unit with multiple pockets to hold items, functioning as a mini-nightstand. She realized it was not the most useful because "the velcro would come undone and I would have to put it back up again."

Student also mentioned buying string lights, tapestries and artwork to decorate their space and make it comfortable. Kapela-Barlow felt those types of accessories added pops of color to her room and "made the walls look not so bare."

"The lighting in the residence halls is not always the best, so having the string lights adds a nice warm light to the room," she added.

Sanjna Selva, a rising sophomore, reflecting on her first year in college, said that her bedding from Bed, Bath and Beyond made her room feel homier. She explained, "Great bedding will bring you so much comfort in your tumultuous first year." Peckler and Kapela-Barlow both recommended investing in a small fan, mentioning that both their first-year residential halls were not air-conditioned.

For a first year, decorating your first room away from home can be a daunting experience, but it can also be a way for college students to navigate homesickness, adjust to a new environment, and begin the complex process of finding his/her identity independently. For Peckler, her room became more than just a spot to lay her head, but also "A place for healing, writing, and escaping from the world for a bit.

Hadia Bakkar is a rising junior at Skidmore College, majoring in political science and minoring in history, and media and film studies. She was an editorial intern at the Times Union during summer 2018.
The Years Of Living Dangerously,

"Skate Kitchen" is a narrative feature about young women skateboarders in Manhattan. It's directed by Crystal Moselle, the documentarian who made "The Wolfpack," and the new film has some documentary-like qualities. The women in it are skateboarders, and they're part of a real-life group called "Skate Kitchen." And the locations where they all hang out? Those are real, too. The only things not real are the names and the story.

The good thing that might have come from this is a drama with the immediacy of a documentary, but that's not what happens here. Instead, we get the vague, free-floating, fly-on-the-wall feeling of a documentary, while knowing the conversations and the circumstances aren't real. There's no extra information to make sense of or contextualize the filming of these women in the first place. It's just one meaningless scene followed by another.
ALBANY  City police seized guns and drugs while executing two separate search warrants Tuesday, resulting in the arrest of four residents.

At about 8 p.m. Tuesday, detectives in an ongoing investigation executed a warrant at 454 Livingston Ave. and recovered a loaded .44 caliber revolver, 25.6 grams of crack cocaine, 47 glassine envelopes of fentanyl and 60 glassine envelopes of heroin.
Washington

The Education Department said Thursday that it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from educators and Democratic lawmakers.

If approved, the plan would likely generate a lot of controversy at a time when a string of especially deadly school shootings earlier this year led to the rise of a powerful student-led gun control movement.

A senior Trump administration official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the agency is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants to see if the money can be used to procure firearms.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, passed in 2015, does not expressly prohibit or allow the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the purchase of firearms. The official said the agency received several letters asking it to clarify what those funds could be used for and began researching the issue.

DeVos, who chairs a federal commission on school safety, has previously said that schools should have the option to arm teachers. The commission, formed in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, has been criticized for omitting the topic of gun control.

The plan, first reported by The New York Times, prompted swift condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and many educators on Thursday, who accused the Trump administration of wanting to deprive students of much-needed mental health support and other resources in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the idea "one of the most egregious, short-sighted and dangerous executive branch abuses of our education system in modern history."

"Secretary DeVos continues to lead an anti-student and anti-teacher campaign on behalf of special interests and the NRA that rejects proven and effective initiatives to ensure a safe, welcoming school climate for children."

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, which was the site of the Sandy Hook school shooting, swiftly introduced an amendment that would block the Education Department from using the funds to arm schools.

"The secretary of Education cares more about the firearms industry's bottom line than the safety of our kids, and that should scare parents to death," he said.

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Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, accused DeVos of trying "to do the bidding of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers."

"Instead of after-school programs or counselors, programs that are critical for creating safe and welcoming schools and addressing the mental health needs of kids, DeVos wants to turn schools into armed fortresses and make kids and educators less safe," Weingarten said in a statement.

"She wants to turn the U.S. government into an arms dealer for schools. That's insane," she added.

Martin West, associate professor of education at Harvard University, expressed skepticism.

"It seems very hard to imagine that members of Congress drafting Title IV envisioned that the funds would be used to arm teachers," West said.
ALBANY - The teenager who was shot by a police detective after he allegedly ran from them Monday afternoon was charged with felony menacing and misdemeanor weapons possession, police said Friday.

Ellazar Williams, 19, is still receiving medical care after the shooting behind a school on Elk Street and local civil rights leader Alice Green said Friday a bullet that hit him left him paralyzed.

While police said they caught Williams with a knife, they have not said whether the shooting was justified. On Friday, police said only that Williams "fled on foot to the rear of 395 Elk Street where shots were subsequently fired."

Williams was charged with menacing a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon.

Police announced the charges late Friday morning, shortly before civil rights leaders Alice Green held a news conference about the lack of information about the shooting. In recent years, city police leaders have kept Green up to date about police shootings and other potential civil rights matters, but she said such contact was lacking in this case.

Green told reporters at the noon press conference that a bullet had lodged into Williams' spine and he was paralyzed from the waist down, unexpected to ever walk again.

Williams' girlfriend, Katia West, had unsuccessfully been trying for three days to visit him, but was blocked by police, Green said.

Green also has not spoken to Williams and said many details of the shooting were still unknown such as which officer fired, whether that person was still on duty, and why shots had been fired when Ellazar was apparently fleeing.

Green said the lack of information "allows thoughts to run wild" and has led to rampant speculation on social media.

"The community is really concerned because the bullet evidently entered his back," Green said.

Green said she was not sure whether the amount of turnover at the top of the Albany Police Department was to blame for the lack of information.

"I can't answer that question, but it's a departure from what we're used to," Green said.

On Friday morning, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan assured Green that West would be able to visit Williams later in the day, Green said.

Williams is from Albany, not Binghamton as police have stated, according to Green.

More for you Shooting by police follows a clash

Williams was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital after the shooting. Initially, police said he was listed in critical condition but have offered little further information about his medical condition. On Friday, they said he remained at the hospital.

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The shooting unfolded after police were called to reports of a man with a gun at a Central Avenue convenience store at about 4:30 p.m. Monday. A store employee told the Times Union this week that a group of men had been kicked out of the store earlier Monday before they returned with weapons.

The detectives were among the officers who arrived at the scene and chased one of the men.

The shooting happened happened outside the Tony Clement Center for Education on Elk Street in West Hill.

Earlier this week, the Police Department identified the detectives involved as James Olsen, Lawrence Heid and Christopher Cornell.

The way the Police Department is handling public disclosures about Williams' shooting stands in marked contrast to a June 22 police shooting in which patrol officers opened fire on a man who was stabbing his mother.

In that case, Police Chief Robert Sears held a news conference within hours of the incident, explaining in detail what they described as the justifiable shooting of 20-year-old Schuyler Lake at 61 Partridge St. Sears retired last month and the man picked to replace him, Eric Hawkins, the police chief in Southfield, Mich., doesn't start in Albany until early next month.

Michael Basile is Albany's acting police chief.
ALBANY  All complaints of harassment and discrimination at over 100 New York state agencies will soon be directed to the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER) as part of a significant overhaul of workplace protocol for state employees, according to an executive order signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo Thursday.

Diversity officers, previously embedded within individual agencies, will be consolidated into one centralized department at GOER in order to improve efficiency, transparency and effectiveness of the complaint process, said the governor's counsel Alphonso David.

"We have been revamping and thinking about how we can make the process more effective and more efficient," David said. Consolidating the process through GOER also "removes any appearance of influence by the agency itself."

The change goes into effect Dec. 1, and will involve staffing adjustment to ensure that GOER is well-equipped for its investigatory goals. The change will also include updated training on the process for all investigative staff, as well as all agency staff that are involved in addressing claims of discrimination and harassment.

The Times Union has reported extensively on the convoluted complaint process facing state employees who report misconduct and abuse in the workplace and a lack of consistency in the ways in which these complaints are handled.

Former state agency employees and legislative staffers who say their complaints of workplace misconduct were mishandled lauded the administration's effort to enhance protections, but questioned the administration's use of GOER to field complaints.

Patricia Gunning, an former attorney for the state who says her efforts to report a problematic state official at the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs fell on deaf ears, said that having a single agency to investigate allegations is critical.

But, she added "GOER is not independent nor distanced enough from both the governor's office or other state agencies to provide an assurance to those that bring a complaint that they will be handled fairly and without intervention and influence in an effort to protect the state's interests including political optics."

Cuomo's office announced the executive order on Thursday along with a draft of model sexual harassment policy standards that are to be adopted by all public and private sector employers. The public has until Sept. 12 to comment on the proposed guidelines. The state Division of Human Rights and Department of Labor are required to finalize the model policy by October, according to legislation passed in this year's state budget.

These developments come days after Senate Republicans acknowledged the criticisms of seven ex-legislative aides who have formed a "sexual harassment working group," and have been decrying the opaque process through which sexual harassment protections were passed during this year's budget process. The women are calling for a joint legislative hearing on the topic that involves comment from various stakeholders, including victims of workplace harassment.

Rita Pasarell, a member of the working group, called the proposed standards and streamlined reporting process for state employees "an improvement," but said it leaves reporting inconsistent for large number of New Yorkers, including those who work in the legislative and judicial branches of government.

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"For complaints that go to GOER, there remains a problem of lack of neutrality and independence in the reporting process," Pasarell added.

The working group is also questioning the short three-week public comment period, which they say is insufficient and cannot replace public hearings.

Democratic attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout, who has joined the working group's call for public hearings and has vowed to investigate sexual misconduct in government if elected to the statewide office, also noted GOER's lack of independence from the executive branch.

"The solution to the total lack of accountability is not to centralize complaints in the executive branch, which doesn't have an inspiring record of being responsive to victims -- which we all know, and victims know, is political," Teachout said. "We need an independent resource that people can trust."

State employees will continue to have the right to file complaints with the Inspector General's office, which is authorized to conduct investigations into potential fraud, abuse, criminal activity, conflicts of interest, abuses of office, or waste, according to Cuomo's office. State workers may also file civil rights complaints with the state's Division of Human Rights or the EEOC.
WASHINGTON - What the Democratic National Committee this week thought was an attempted hack of its valuable voter file turned out to be a security test organized by a state party, unbeknownst to the national organization.

The committee on Tuesday alerted the FBI to a fake online portal it thought had been set up as an elaborate attempt to trick DNC staff into giving up their log-in credentials - through a hacker technique known as "phishing" - as a way to gain access to the party's VoteBuilder database.
Washington

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday appointed a senior executive with Ford Motor Co. to be his special envoy for North Korea and said the two would visit Pyongyang next week.

Pompeo announced he had chosen Stephen Biegun to handle day-to-day negotiations with the North over dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Pompeo has been leading the effort for President Donald Trump and has already made three trips to Pyongyang since April.

Pompeo said he and Biegun would be travelling to North Korea "to make further diplomatic progress toward our objective" of its full, final and complete denuclearization. Pompeo offered no other details about the trip.

In brief remarks to reporters at the State Department, he and Biegun both noted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had pledged to denuclearize in his historic meeting in June with Trump.

"The issues are tough and they will be tough to resolve," Biegun said. "But the president has created an opening and it's one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea. This begins with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the summit with President Trump in Singapore."

Although the North has ceased nuclear and missile tests and has taken some steps in other areas, it has yet to begin dismantling its nuclear weapons facilities and continues to develop ballistic missiles. Pompeo and other officials have said sanctions will remain on North Korea until denuclearization has been completed and verified but have suggested that other confidence-building measures are possible before then.

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Biegun, Ford's vice president of international governmental affairs, was a White House staffer and aide to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice during President George W. Bush's administration. He was also an adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

His appointment is the latest in a series of special envoy posts filled by Pompeo, who is seeking to tap veteran diplomats and national security officials to run delicate negotiations. Last week, he appointed the State Department's policy planning chief, Brian Hook, to run a group dedicated to Iran issues.

He also named former ambassador James Jeffrey to be special representative for Syria and is expected to appoint another ex-ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, to handle issues related to Afghanistan.
Johannesburg

South Africa's government lashed out at President Donald Trump Thursday after he tweeted that his administration would be looking into alleged seizures of white-owned farms and the "large scale killing of farmers" in the country, an assertion it said was false and "only seeks to divide our nation and remind us of our colonial past."

South Africa is in the throes of a racially charged national debate over land reform, a lawful process that seeks to correct the legacy of decades of white minority rule that stripped blacks of their land. Today, nearly a quarter-century after the first democratic elections, black South Africans comprise 80 percent of the population but own 4 percent of the country's land.

Though the African National Congress has pledged to close that gap, progress has been slow. In July, President Cyril Ramaphosa said his party would amend the constitution so the state could expropriate land without compensation to speed up the land reform process, but that has not yet happened and no land has been seized.

Trump's tweet followed a segment on Fox News Wednesday in which host Tucker Carlson claimed Ramaphosa had already started "seizing land from his own citizens without compensation because they are the wrong skin color," calling the alleged seizures "immoral."

The government said Trump's tweet was based on "false information" and reflected a "narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past." It called a meeting with officials at the U.S. Embassy as it sought to clarify Trump's remarks.

Though no land seizures have occurred, the prospect has sent panic through white farming communities who worry the policy will strip them of their land, cause land prices to plummet or make them the target of potentially violent land seizures.

For years, a small but vocal group of white South Africans have claimed white farmers are the target of violent, racially motivated farm attacks.

Experts say the attacks reflect the country's high crime rate and that there is no evidence connecting them to the victims' race.

Farm murders have been declining since their peak in 2001, according to research by Agri SA, an umbrella group of South African agricultural associations. In 2016-17, there were 74 murders during farm attacks, according to Africa Check , compared to 19,000 murders across the country in the same period.

"People are not being targeted because of their race, but because they are vulnerable and isolated on the farms," said Gareth Newham, head of the crime and justice program at the Institute for Security Studies in the capital, Pretoria.

"There is no white genocide in South Africa," said Julius Malema, leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party. "There is black genocide in the USA; black people are killed every day. There is a black genocide here in South Africa; just recently a farmer was convicted for the murder of a black farmer."

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Trump's tweet did find some supporters.

AfriForum, a group that represents some white South African interests, welcomed his comments. In May, its leaders went to the U.S. to lobby officials about Ramaphosa's proposal to expropriate land and the alleged targeting of white farmers.

Earlier this month the group posted a list of farms it said were earmarked for expropriation, a list the government said is fake.

"Everyone in South Africa should ... hope that the pressure from the USA will lead to the (ruling party) reconsidering the disastrous route that they want to take South Africa on," AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said in a statement Thursday.

AfriForum and other critics say the government's proposal to expropriate land without compensation could lead to economic disaster, pointing to the collapse of the agricultural sector in neighboring Zimbabwe after the government of former President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms, sometimes violently, in 2000.

"We are going to take back the land and we'll do it by any means necessary," said Lindsay Maasdorp, national spokesman for Black First Land First, a group that condones land seizures in South Africa.
ALBANY - New York's local prosecutors said they are prepared to help the state attorney general investigate allegations of abuse by priests. The offer came from Albany County District Attorney David Soares, president of the District Attorneys Association of New York State.

Soares said Attorney General Barbara Underwood's office last week contacted the state's district attorneys to enlist their aid as a preliminary step into investigating sex abuse by Catholic priests in New York. She acted in the wake of a grand jury investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general that revealed more than 300 priests abused over 1,000 children during a 70-year period.

"The horrific findings in Pennsylvania show the need for a similar investigation in New York state," Soares said in a statement released by the district attorneys association. "We owe it to past victims and current victims to fully investigate sexual abuse crimes."

Underwood directed her criminal division to reach out to local district attorneys  who have the power convene a grand jury to investigate these matters  in order to establish a potential partnership on this issue, said Amy Spitalnick, Underwood's communications director and senior policy adviser.

In his statement Soares said: "I have encouraged district attorneys in all counties to work in conjunction with the attorney general's office to investigate all allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and to use district attorneys' power to convene grand juries when necessary. Our victims and our children deserve no less."

Dennis Poust, communications director of the NYS Catholic Conference, issued a statement on the proposed investigation.

"The Pennsylvania grand jury report was sickening to read, and brought home the horror of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and the failures of leadership in the past to address this issue properly. We understand and share the outrage felt by the district attorneys and the attorney general," Poust said.

The Catholic Church has "made major changes in its handling of abuse, we continue to see modern-day stories of abuse and coverups in education, the state foster care system, public university athletic programs and elsewhere," Poust said. "An investigation that is aimed solely at one religion would be insufficient to get to the heart of the crisis."

The Catholic Conference, which represents New York's bishops, urges the district attorneys and the attorney general to expand the scope of the proposed investigation "to include the public sector, other religious institutions and not-for-profits as well. Law enforcement and the Legislature have a duty to protect children and expose coverups, wherever abuse has occurred."

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has an agreement with all 14 district attorneys in its geographic area, spokeswoman Mary De Turris Poust. Under it, the diocese turns over all complaints of sexual abuse when they are received no matter how far back the claim goes.

On Aug. 6, Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger spoke out on the clergy abuse scandal with a statement posted on the diocese's websiste.

Scharfenberger called for the creation of a commission of Catholic lay people to investigate American bishops after Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, proposed that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops create a panel of bishops to look into allegations of sexual misconduct by bishops.

Scharfenberger's urging followed allegations that Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, sexually abused minors and adult seminarians for decades and after Pope Francis removed him from ministry and ordered him to live "a life of prayer and penance" in seclusion.

In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Josh Shapiro convened the grand jury that issued its report on Aug. 14. It named Wuerl as one of the leaders alleged to have systematically covered up child sex abuse by priests in the state, where he led the diocese of Pittsburgh for 18 years before going to Washington in 2006, according to the Washington Post. Wuerl's name is now being removed from a Pittsburgh high school at his request, amid calls for his resignation.

Susan Mehalick and Rob Brill contributed to this article.
A family is one step closer to finding out what happened to a loved one who disappeared more than 26 years ago in East Houston.

A human skull found near a garbage dump Feb. 1, 1992, by a motorist on Port Houston Street was identified as Patricia Ann Castillo using DNA evidence.

Castillo who was 21 at the time, vanished June 1, 1991. She was last seen on Delmar Street near her grandmother's home, said her sister Miranda Moreno.

Castillo's older sister Trina Flores, now 49, submitted a DNA sample to the National Institute of Justice in June of 2017 during the second annual Missing in Harris County Day held by the Harris County's Institute of Forensic Sciences. A little over a year later, the institute called Flores and said the remains belonged to her sister.

COLD CASE: Man charged in murder case that went cold under disgraced Houston detective

"I was just in total shock. I couldn't talk," Flores said."'My sister is dead?' I asked. I was so in shock."

Flores said the medical examiner told her the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Moreno was just five years old when Castillo went missing. Now 32, she remembers her sister as a warm person who loved New Kids On The Block, Cyndi Lauper, and watching MTV. Castillo was lovingly called "Gordie," which is Spanish for chubby, a nickname she got when she was a child.

When their mother Yolanda wasn't able to care for Moreno when she got off the bus after school, Castillo would fill in. One of the most cherished memories Moreno has of her sister was when she took her to the Houston Zoo.

Castillo's disappearance shook her family. Moreno recalled canvassing her neighborhood and local washateria with fliers imploring people to call their home with any information. Moreno's aunt plastered her back windshield with the flier.

Castillo's family never held a funeral for her out of hope that she would come home. Moreno had a hard time believing her remains had been found.

"Never in a million years did I ever imagine that they would only find her skull. I want to know where the rest of her is and what happened," Moreno said. "It was surprising but it wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that the remains have been in Harris County the whole time. I can't understand how she's been there all this time and they couldn't put both stories together."

DNA was recovered from the skull and submitted into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 2004 with no results yielded, said Tricia Bentley, spokeswoman for Harris County's Institute of Forensic Sciences.

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In April of 2018, the University of North Texas (UNT) notified the institute that their laboratory was able to extract a more complete genetic profile of the deceased individual, and the updated profile was consistent with a female, but there was no identification at that time, Bentley said. A second notification was received Aug. 13 from UNT that there were genetic similarities between the DNA extracted from the skull and from Castillo's sister that were sufficient to positively identify the remains, Bentley said.

DNA identification is not an instant process, said J. Todd Matthews, director of case management and communications for the National Missing & Unidentified Persons System, which is a National Institute of Justice program. It is not uncommon for delays to occur due to incomplete or missing records. Obtaining and analyzing DNA was also not a common law enforcement practice until after 1994, Matthews said.

Without the Castillo family DNA sample submission last summer, a match would likely never have happened, Matthews added.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences received and ruled out dozens of possible links between the skull and other missing persons during the years Castillo remained unidentified, Bentley said.

A request for comment has been placed with the Houston Police Department.

A Houston Chronicle article from Feb. 3, 1992, stated that Castillo's body may have been torn apart by animals, but a ground search uncovered no other parts.

Castillo's remains were interred in an unmarked grave in the Harris County Cemetery. Her family now plans on having Castillo exhumed and moved to Fulshear, Texas, where her father is buried.

Fernando Alfonso III covers everything from crime to weird internet trends. Read him on the breaking news site chron.com and the subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | fernando.alfonso@chron.com
Saratoga Springs

It wasn't hard to find Travers hopeful Mendelssohn on Thursday morning.

All you had to do was listen for the yelling. And the 3-year-old colt was doing a lot of that in his first appearance at Saratoga Race Course. Mendelssohn, who won the UAE Derby by a whopping 18 1/2 lengths in Dubai and then flopped to a last-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, was making a ruckus around the grounds after he and his stablemate Seahenge were cleared to hit the track after being in quarantine following a 121/2-hour trip from Ireland.

Mendelssohn, who will run in Saturday's $1.25 million Travers, squealed and hollered when he was on the track and made some more noise when he was being walked back at the quarantine barn.

When asked if Mendelssohn does his screaming because he's happy, T.J. Comerford, the assistant to trainer Aidan O'Brien, almost squealed himself.

"I think he is excited like you would be when you go on your holiday," Comerford said as the two horses walked. "He's doing it here because it's his new surroundings. He just has to get it out of his system."

Mendelssohn has disappointed since his romp in Dubai. After the dud in the Kentucky Derby, the son of Scat Daddy returned to Ireland and then came back to the U.S. for another try. He was third as the favorite in the Grade III one-mile Dwyer, beaten by Firenze Fire and Seven Trumpets, two horses running in Saturday's Allen Jerkens here.

Comerford said he and O'Brien -- who won't be here Saturday -- are hoping Mendelssohn can regain the Dubai form that made him such a danger at the Kentucky Derby. That is, before the race was run.

"We have to try and get him back to that form," he said. "That is why we are coming here. We hope to see that spark again. (UAE Derby) was a real good performance and it's hard to imagine ... was that it? I am sure he can come back to that again. We just have to try."

Ryan Moore, one of the top riders in Europe, will be here to ride both horses on Saturday.

Turf Writers Cup

Jockey Ross Geraghty won his 100th career jump race as Optimus Prime posted a mild upset in the 77th running of the $250,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Steeplechase race.

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"It feels good. It's very nice," Geraghty said. "I've ridden a lot of winners in Ireland but it's a milestone to ride 100 winners here in this country. It's a lot smaller industry over here than it is in Ireland and the U.K."

Optimus Prime, who went off at 7-1 odds and paid $16.40, made his charge down the stretch after the eight-horse field completed its 23/8-mile journey over nine jumps. The pair caught and passed front-runner Iranistan and jockey Darren Nagle and then held off New Member and William McCarthy to win by 11/4 lengths.

The final time was 4:31.83.

"He's a lovely horse," Geraghty said of the 6-year-old who is trained by former jump rider Richard Hendricks. "He did his job really well today and the future is bright for him."

Optimus Prime has now won six times in 19 starts over the hurdles and has six seconds and one third.

twilkin@timesunion.com 518-454-5415 @tjwilkin
All homes and property should be left well secured and locked up prior to departure for Dublin or Knock.

Gardai are advised Tipperary people travelling to the World Meeting of Families at the weekend to ensure that their homes and properties are property secured prior to departure for Dublin and Knock.

It is expected that up to 10,000 Tipperary people will be travelling to see Pope Francis with the final day Mass in the Phoenix Park on Sunday being the main event. However, there will be many Tipperary people in Knock on Sunday and in Croke Park on Saturday evening for the WMOF events also and Gardai have issued a number of advisory points for those leaving their homes and property unoccupied.

Homes should be properly secured with doors and windows locked, alarms turned on and garages also locked. Property such as bicycles etc should be locked away too if homes are going to be unoccupied for long periods. Neighbours are also asked to look out for each others and to report any suspicious activity in localities.

Visitors to the events have been advised to leave plenty of time for travel, wear weather appropriate clothing and be ready for a long day with the possibility of changing weather. Also, valuables should not be left in parked cars and all vehicles should be parked in accordance with regulations.
Clonmel Applefest (Sept 28th  30th) is a brand new festival for Tipperary which aims to celebrate the unique sense of place

emanating from Clonmels special location and mix of industrial and agricultural activities and heritage.

The festival is the brainchild of artists Theresia Guschlbauer and Lyn Mather who last year researched the apple growing traditions of Clonmel. Over the summer 2017, they interviewed a number of local people includingex-Bulmers employees and apple orchard owners and gathered stories and memories which were presented as part of the Apple Treasures exhibition and Tree trail for Culture Night.

Both women are members of Suircan Community Forum, which agreed to support their endeavour to pursue the idea of an Apple Festival for the town. A steering committee was set up and a devoted group of six core members have put together an ambitious programme of free public events, as well as a number of arts-based projects. Funding has been secured from a number of sources including Tipperary County Council, Creative Ireland and the Leader Fund for rural development as well as several private patrons, local partners and business sponsors. Bulmers have kindly agreed to come on board by facilitating the opening of the apple yard where once truckloads of apples were emptied.

With the support of the local apple growing fraternity, in particular the Apple Farm and Longways Cider, the festival is getting off to a good start and hopes that its first foray will secure enough interest and support to grow and thrive into the future. As part of the Leader funding, a dedicated website will go live in early September (www.clonmelapplefest.ie )and a small brochure designed by a recent LIT Clonmel graduate will be available in shops and businesses across the town and further afield.

The Festival Launch will take place in on September 6th. For anyone interested in attending, please email clonmelapplefest@gmail.com For more updates and news, follow the festival Facebook page @clonmelapplefest or Twitter handle @clonmelapplefe1
[August 24, 2018] GROUND Inc. Collaborates with HIT Robot Group, Major Robot Companies in China

TOKYO, Aug. 24, 2018 /CNW/ -- GROUND Inc. (hereinafter "GROUND") announced on August 24 that it will collaborate with HIT Robot Group of China (hereinafter "HRG"), a major in robotics, in a joint demonstration of new solution technology aimed at establishing a next-generation logistics platform linking major cities under the One Belt One Road Initiative. Logo1: GROUND Inc.

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201808237168-O2-6irsKeN4 Logo2: HIT Robot Group

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201808237168-O1-SaGWSl6u Robots and AI are important components of Intelligent Logistics (R) (*), its original concept that GROUND has been advocating and promoting globally to the logistics industry. It aims to optimize logistics operations through analysis of data on stock, resources, and other elements using the logistics AI software, DyAS (R) (*), in addition to the application of state-of-the-art robots for practical operations. In the collaboration, GROUND and HRG will build a logistics platform for Intelligent Logistics Centers (R) (*), which are next-generation logistics facilities that realize Intelligent Logistics (R) (*), and conduct a joint demonstration of logistics technologies such as robots and AI. In the logistics platform that the two companies aim to build, diverse logistics data will be accumulated and utilized, enabling automation and quicker operation by robots while AI ensures proper operations and creates rules. The companies plan to create a new service model, in which data will be linked between companies and between logistics facilities, and logistics assets will be liquidated, thereby enabling both software and hardware to be shared. (Photo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201808237168-O3-19DhGc0r) In addition, given the ongoing rapid growth of the Chinese e-commerce market, sweeping logistics reform is called for in the Chinese city of Yiwu, which is one of the major cities under the One Belt One Road Initiative and one of the largest wholesale markets in Asia. Through the joint demonstration of logistics technologies such as robots and AI and the establishment of a logistics platform, GROUND and HRG will promote the reform of the logistics infrastructure that supports Chinese wholesale markets, including the city of Yiwu, which plays an important role in the One Belt One Road Initiative. The companies aim to contribute to developing the global logistics network, including China, and improving its efficiency in the future. Hiratomo Miyata, CEO at GROUND Inc., says: "At GROUND, we aim to provide new values to the international logistics and distribution industry with Intelligent Logistics (R). It is therefore a great honor for us to collaborate with HRG." Wang Hongbo, CEO at HIT Robot Group, says: "Through this collaboration, HRG will promote the establishment and operation of Intelligent Logistics Centers (R) with the offering of state-of-the-art solutions. Therefore, it will contribute to the creation of a next-generation infrastructure in the logistics and distribution industry of China." GROUND and HRG will share each other's technologies and expertise and strive to play a role in the reform of logistics infrastructure of China.







(*): "Intelligent Logistics Center (R)", "Intelligent Logistics (R)" and "DyAS(R)" are registered trademarks or trademarks of GROUND Inc.

About GROUND Inc. http://groundinc.co.jp/en/

GROUND provides innovative solutions based on the world's most advanced technologies in the logistics and distribution industry (LogiTech), aiming to achieve Intelligent Logistics (R), its original concept that applies the latest technologies such as AI and robotics. About HIT Robot Group http://hitrobotgroup.com/en/

HRG has successfully cultivated 40-plus tech companies with great market potential. These companies range from smart factories and industrial robotics to service robotics and special operation robotics. Adopting a creative incubation model, HRG aims to build a unique robotics biosphere in China and foster a new type of business. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ground-inc-collaborates-with-hit-robot-group-major-robot-companies-in-china-300701941.html SOURCE GROUND Inc., HIT Robot Group

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Prosecutors alleged that after killing his wife, King placed her body on the railroad tracks to make it appear as if something had happened to her while she was out jogging. King told police that he had left the home early that day to pick up the couples three children at their grandmothers house.
[August 24, 2018] Atos Positioned as a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Services, Asia/Pacific

SINGAPORE, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, has been recognized as one of only three Leaders in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Services, Asia/Pacific[1] -- an assessment of the regional providers of data center outsourcing in Asia/Pacific -- with the proven ability to deliver across multiple countries in the region. This is the 4th consecutive year that Atos has been named a Leader in the Asia/Pacific-focused report. Atos' international partnerships in the secured Hybrid Cloud solutions market supplies multi-cloud solutions leveraging integration with AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Additionally, Atos' investments in additional capabilities in ServiceNow, Cybersecurity, automation and communications through strategic acquisitions demonstrates its commitment to strengthening its digital transformation portfolio, while also making a strategic move away from its dependency on the traditional IT outsourcing services. "While cost remains an important factor, especially in some of Atos' key emerging markets, there has been a visible shift from cost-focused outsourcing to value-focused deals. Atos has demonstrated a deep experience in supporting global clients in the Asia/Pacific region with their transformation, growth and run parts of the business across all regions," said Herbert Leung, CEO of Atos in Asia Pacific. Atos was also recognized as a Leader by Gartner in both its June 2018 Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Services for Europe and for North America.







[1] Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Services, Asia/Pacific, by DD Mishra, Fred Ng, To Chee Eng and Stephanie Stoudt-Hansen - July 10, 2018.

Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with approximately 100,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of around EUR12 billion. European number one in Big Data, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Digital Workplace, the Group provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across various business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Energy & Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index. Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180716/2187572-1LOGO SOURCE Atos Information Technology

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Global Automotive Integrated Circuit Market (2018-2025) by Type & Application - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "Automotive Integrated Circuit Market by Type and Application - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global automotive IC market registered a significant growth corresponding to the increase in vehicle production globally.

According to the UK Motor Industry Report, there were 1.75 million vehicles produced in the UK in 2017, 1.67 million of which were passenger vehicles and 78,000 of which were commercial vehicles.

Moreover, government's industrial strategy for the automotive sector focused on the development of ultralow emission, connected, and autonomous vehicles, which fueled the growth of the market.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to register substantial growth during the forecast period, owing to government incentives ncouraging vehicle standards and increase in concerns associated with safety & security of passengers and vehicles in the region.







Market Dynamics

Drivers

Rapid Electrification of Automobiles

Emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) in Integrated Circuits

Growing Adoption of Sensors and Real-Time Tracking System

Restraint

Design Complexities of ICs

Opportunity

Surge in Demand of Intelligent Transportation System

Key Topics Covered

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

Chapter 3: Market Overview

Chapter 4: Global Automotive IC Market, by Type

Chapter 5: Global Automotive IC Market, by Application

Chapter 6: Global Automotive IC Market, by Region

Chapter 7: Company Profiles

Intel (News - Alert) Corporation

Samsung

Robert Bosch

Qualcomm

Renesas Electronics Corporation

Infineon Technologies AG (News - Alert)

Stmicroelectronics N.V.

Rohm Semiconductor

Texas Instruments

NXP Semiconductors N.V.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zpsdxb/global_automotive?w=4

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005097/en/
[August 24, 2018] Plixer Announces Support for VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud

KENNEBUNK, Maine, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plixer, a global leader in network traffic analytics and incident response, is announcing new support for VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud metadata exports. In support of this new capability, VMware will be demonstrating Scrutinizer, Plixers network and security intelligence platform, as part of the NSX SD-WAN Whisper Suites at VMworld 2018 US from August 26th  30th, 2018.

Scrutinizer excels at collecting metadata from all corners of large, multi-vendor networks and cloud deployments to detect, visualize, report, and respond to network and security incidents. The demonstration will showcase Scrutinizers contextual visibility into network traffic, application performance, and security - spanning from the mobile user, through to the software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), and into the cloud. This rich visibility allows customers to combine the flexibility and cost savings of SD-WAN with end-to-end visibility to manage and better secure their business transactions and technology workflows. We are disrupting traditional wide area networking (WAN) routing models by replacing legacy hardware routers with virtualized appliances for the premises and cloud, said Steve Woo, senior director product management, VeloCloud business unit at VMware. We re very pleased to have Plixer as an ecosystem contributor to provide mutual customers with application and traffic visibility extending from the mobile edge, through the SD-WAN, all the way into the cloud. This combined solution allows VMware customers to optimize user experience for virtualized and cloud applications.



VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud is the global leader in software-defined wide area networking technology. It enables the use of wired or wireless broadband internet with or without traditional multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) to create enterprise-grade WANs with increased bandwidth, high performance access to cloud, service insertion, and extensive network visibility. It also delivers low-cost bandwidth, investment protection, expanded bandwidth, increased throughput, greater reliability, exceptional application performance, and better access to cloud applications and services. Plixer is thrilled to be collaborating with VeloCloud, now part of VMware, said Jeff Lindholm, CEO of Plixer. Customers are looking for ways to reduce cost, increase flexibility, and improve security all at the same time. Together, our solution allows them to achieve these goals, all while holding their service providers accountable to their MPLS, internet access, and/or Long-Term Evolution (LTE) service level agreements.

About Plixer

Plixer provides a network and security intelligence platform that supports fast and efficient incident response. The solution allows you to gain visibility into cloud applications, security events, and network traffic. It delivers actionable data to guide you from the detection of network and security events all the way to root-cause analysis and mitigation. Network and security incidents are inevitable. When they occur, Plixer is there to help you quickly return to normal and minimize business disruption. Thousands of organizations rely on Plixer solutions to keep their IT infrastructure running efficiently. Learn more at plixer.com, stay connected with the Plixer blog, and follow us @Plixer. VMware, NSX, VeloCloud and VMworld are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions Media Contact:

Jan Wiedrick-Kozlowski

Eskenzi PR

585-392-7878

jan@eskenzipr.com

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[August 24, 2018] The Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market by Technology and Industry Vertical - A $169.4 Billion Opportunity by 2025 - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "Artificial Intelligence Market by Technology, and Industry Vertical - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global artificial intelligence market size is expected to reach $169,411.8 million in 2025, from $4,065 million in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 55.6% from 2018 to 2025. The AI market is segmented by technology, industry vertical, and geography. The various technologies are sub-divided into machine learning, natural language processing, image processing, and speech recognition. In 2016, the machine learning segment dominated the market, in term of revenue, and is expected to maintain this trend in the coming years, owing to increase in demand for artificial intelligence industry solutions. Based on industry verticals, the market is categorized into media & advertising, retail, telecom & IT, healthcare, automotive & transportation, and others (agriculture, law, educational institutions). The IT & telecom segment is anticipated to dominate he global artificial intelligence market throughout the forecast period.



Geographically, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. In 2017, North America region contributed the highest revenue share in the artificial intelligence market and is anticipated to secure the leading position during forecast period, owing to the presence of key companies and large investment in the AI Market. Market Dynamics

Drivers Increase in Investment in AI Technologies

Growth in Demand for Analyzing & Interpreting Large Amounts of Data

Increased Customer Satisfaction & Increased Adoption of Reliable Cloud Applications Restraint Lack of Trained and Experienced Staff Opportunities Increased Adoption of AI in Developing Regions

Developing Smarter Robots Key Players Profiled Alphabet ( Google (News - Alert) Inc.)

Apple Inc.

Baidu

IBM Corporation

IPsoft

Microsoft Corporation

MicroStrategy (News - Alert) , Inc

NVIDIA

Qlik Technologies Inc

Verint Systems Inc (Next IT Corp). Key Topics Covered Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Executive Summary Chapter 3: Market Overview Chapter 4: Artificial Intelligence Market, by Technology Chapter 5: Artificial Intelligence Market, by Industry Vertical Chapter 6: Artificial Intelligence Market, by Region Chapter 7: Company Profiles For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w7fgk7/the_global?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005182/en/

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[August 24, 2018] A national settlement has been reached to resolve all of the Canadian class actions regarding Microsoft Software, subject to approval of the courts in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

VANCOUVER, Aug. 24, 2018 /CNW/ - LEGAL NOTICE

IF YOU BOUGHT MICROSOFT SOFTWARE OR A COMPUTER WITH MICROSOFT SOFTWARE PRE-INSTALLED BETWEEN DECEMBER 23, 1998 AND MARCH 11, 2010 (INCLUSIVE) YOU MAY HAVE LEGAL RIGHTS IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT What's This About?

Class action proceedings have been certified or authorized by the courts of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec alleging that beginning in 1988, Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive conduct resulting in overcharges for the following Intel-compatible personal computer ("PC") operating systems and Intel-compatible PC applications software: Word, Excel, Office, Works Suite, Home Essentials, MS-DOS, and Windows ("Microsoft Software"). The Settlement

A national settlement has been reached to resolve all of the Canadian class actions regarding Microsoft Software, subject to approval of the courts in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. The Defendants will pay or fund compensation not to exceed CDN $517,331,500 for the benefit of Class Members in exchange for a full release of all claims. The Defendants do not admit any liability or wrong doing. Who is Included?

You are a class member in one of the class actions if you live in Canada as of May 25, 2016 and, between December 23, 1998, and March 11, 2010 (inclusive) you purchased for your own use (not for resale) genuine Microsoft Software or a PC loaded with genuine Microsoft Software from someone other than Microsoft (the "Class Members"). Settlement and Fee Approval Hearings

Hearings to consider approval of the settlement and of claimed counsel fees of an amount not to exceed CDN $107,395,400 of the settlement amount (inclusive of approximately $5 million in disbursements, $97 million in legal fees, and $5 million in taxes) will be heard by the British Columbia Court in the City of Vancouver on September 21, 2018 at 9:00 a.m., the Ontario Court in the City of Toronto on October 18, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., and the Quebec Court in Quebec City on October 25, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. Class Members will be bound by the terms of the settlement agreement if approved by the courts. If you wish to comment on or object to the settlements or the fees being sought by class counsel, you must do so in writing by September 18, 2018. Settlement Distribution

The Settlement Agreement addresses certain aspects of the claims and distribution process. However, the courts will be asked to approve a finalized version of the claims and distribution process at the same time as the hearing seeking approval of the Settlement Agreement. The Distribution Protocol, which will provide detailed information about the distribution process, will be posted on www.cfmlawyers.ca. Class Members should retain all proofs of purchase of Microsoft Operating Systems and Microsoft Applications or a PC loaded with genuine Microsoft Software purchased between December 23, 1998 and March 11, 2010 (inclusive). Where Can I Get More Information?

More information can be found at www.cfmlawyers.ca/microsoft/ or www.bptavocats.com or www.strosbergco.com/class-actions/microsoft/. You can also contact Class counsel at the contact information below. It is strongly recommended that you review the long form of this Legal Notice which can be obtained on Class counsel's websites.







If you are resident in B.C., contact: If you are resident in Quebec, contact: All other Canadian residents, contact: Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman Bouchard,Page,Tremblay, s.e.n.c Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP 400-856 Homer Street, 510-825 boul. Lebourgneuf, 1561 Ouellette Avenue Vancouver, BC V6B 2W5 Quebec, QC, G2J 0B9 Windsor, ON, N8X 1K5 1-800-689-2322 or (604) 689-7555 1-855-768-6667 or (418) 622-6699 1-800-229-5323 extn.8296 www.cfmlawyers.ca/microsoft www.bptavocats.com www.strosbergco.com/class-actions/microsoft/ Attn: Linnae Roach Attn: Maxime L. Blanchard Attn: Heather Rumble Peterson microsoft@cfmlawyers.ca recourscollectifs@bptavocats.com microsoft@strosbergco.com

This notice contains a summary of some of the terms of the settlement agreement in the class actions. If there is a conflict between the provisions of this notice and the settlement agreement, including the schedules to the settlement agreement, the settlement agreement shall prevail. SOURCE Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman

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[August 24, 2018] Viral Launch Names Mitch Black President & COO as It Readies for Rapid Growth

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Indianapolis-based Viral Launch, which helps clients across the country sell products on Amazon, has named Mitch Black its new President and Chief Operating Officer. Black joins the SaaS-platform provider and will have responsibility for the company's go-to-market strategy and the successful execution of planning and scaling the company. The hire is part of Viral Launch's investment in key executive staffing as it prepares for an expected high-growth stage. The company is currently hiring for multiple roles. "As we are preparing for a major growth phase, Mitch has the experience and skillset to make sure we execute effectively on this incredible opportunity," said Viral Launch Co-Founder and CEO Casey Gauss. "We're really excited to have him on board." In January, the company renovated and nearly tripled the size of its offices at 429 Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN. Despite the expansion from 3,500 square-feet to more than 11,000 square-feet, the company is nearly ready to grow its footprint again. Viral Launch has more than doubled its staffing in the past year as it works toward a plan togrow by 250 workers by 2021.



Black has extensive experience in leading growth companies. Most recently he served as the CEO of Author Solutions, a global self-publishing company based in Bloomington, Ind. with more than 1,300 employees. Prior to that, he served for five years as president of MOBI, a cloud-based mobility software company in Indianapolis. Under his leadership, MOBI evolved from start-up to a globally recognized leader and was recognized in 2017 as Techpoint Indiana's Tech Company of the Year. Black spent 25 years in other executive positions with BrightPoint (now Ingram Micro), PCS Wireless and Verizon Wireless.

"I am thrilled and humbled to help lead and grow Viral Launch, that will without a doubt disrupt the Amazon ecosystem as we know it," Black said in a statement. "Casey and his team have built something very special and I hope to assist the organization in moving us to the next level and beyond." About Viral Launch Viral Launch is an end-to-end success platform for Amazon sellers. Based in Indianapolis and founded in 2014, the company has helped more than 10,000 brands maximize their sales and presence on the Amazon platform, driving more than $3 billion in sales. It offers a subscription to software that gives insights into sales data and automates routine tasks like promotions and one-time-use coupons. It also provides professional photography, branding and label design, keyword optimization, and other services designed to help companies succeed on Amazon. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/viral-launch-names-mitch-black-president--coo-as-it-readies-for-rapid-growth-300701871.html SOURCE Viral Launch

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[August 24, 2018] SnapLogic to Present at BoxWorks 2018

SnapLogic, the leader in self-service application and data integration, today announced that the company will present at BoxWorks 2018, taking place August 28-30 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. SnapLogic Vice President Karthik Bandi will discuss how organizations can automate the delivery of information from across the global enterprise into Box (News - Alert) , increasing the productivity and performance of IT teams and business users alike. SnapLogic is proud to be a Silver Sponsor and exhibitor at this year's BoxWorks conference, which will focus on "The Blueprint for the Future of Work." Bandi will present "Automating Enterprise Connectivity with Box and SnapLogic" on opening night, Tuesday, August 28 at 7:40pm in the Attic Theater. Enterprise data gets fragmented into silos across multiple SaaS applications as well as on-premises solutions like Oracle and SAP (News - Alert) . Bandi will explain how organizations can use SnapLogic and Box together to quickly and easily automate the seamless flow of data -- whether structured or unstructured, in the cloud or on-premises -- into Box so users have complete, accurate, real-time visibility into the information required to facilitate data-driven decisions. "Box fundamentally gets how organizations work, and how employees across departments and regions share, access, and collaborate on content to accelerate business productivity and drive better decision-making," said Bandi, Vice President of Field Technical Operations at SnapLogic. "Business users demand easy, timely access to all information, no matter the format, structure or location, and we're excited to work with Box to help organizations centralize information delivery and acces to accelerate their digital strategies and success."



Bandi will join other industry leaders at BoxWorks 2018 who will discuss how to power digital transformation initiatives, drive rapid innovation in technology, and build a modern technology stack. SnapLogic will be exhibiting and demoing how its solution works with the Box platform at Booth S15. Closer Collaboration

SnapLogic and Box have a long history of working together. SnapLogic has offered Snaps, or pre-built intelligent connectors, for the Box platform since 2014. SnapLogic has recently joined the Box Technology Partner Program and the companies are exploring deeper technology integrations and joint go-to-market opportunities. "Seamless connectivity between Box and the hundreds of apps and data sources used in the enterprise today is critical for the success of our customers," said Scott Porter, Vice President of Business Development at Box. "Our users depend on real-time access to information in order to make timely, informed, data-driven decisions, and SnapLogic helps us deliver on this workplace imperative. We're excited to strengthen our ties with SnapLogic and explore exciting new ways to bring the combined value of Box and SnapLogic to our shared customers." A SnapLogic customer since 2015, Box has leveraged the SnapLogic Enterprise Integration Cloud platform internally to connect dozens of applications (such as Salesforce, NetSuite (News - Alert) , Tableau, and Zuora) and process millions of transactions daily, all with only a handful of IT experts to support the project. This has helped the company gain visibility and real-time insights into customer data, boosting productivity, improving decision-making, and uncovering new business opportunities. To read more about Box's use of the SnapLogic platform, download the case study. About SnapLogic SnapLogic is the leader in self-service integration. The company's Enterprise Integration Cloud makes it fast and easy to connect applications, data, APIs, and things. Hundreds of Global 2000 customers - including Adobe, AstraZeneca, Box, GameStop, Verizon (News - Alert) , and Wendy's - rely on SnapLogic to automate business processes, accelerate analytics, and drive digital transformation. SnapLogic was founded by data industry veteran Gaurav Dhillon and is backed by blue-chip investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Capital One, Ignition Partners, Microsoft (News - Alert) , Triangle Peak Partners, and Vitruvian Partners. Learn more at snaplogic.com. Connect with SnapLogic via our Blog, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005052/en/

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[August 24, 2018] CGCC World Chinese Entrepreneurs Summit Explores "Belt & Road" and "Bay Area" Opportunities through Hong Kong's Strengths on Professional Services and Innovation

HONG KONG, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The CGCC World Chinese Entrepreneurs Summit was held on 23 August at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The officiating guests at the Summit were Mr. Gu Shengzu, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Executive Vice Chairman of the China National Democratic Construction Association; Mrs. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR); Mr. Wang Zhimin, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR; Mr. Xu Yousheng, Deputy Director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council; and Mr. Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the HKSAR. The supporting organisations of the Summit included the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the HKSAR Government of the PRC, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the HKSAR. The event was also fully supported by Chinese entrepreneurs organisations from Mainland China and overseas. With the theme of "Belt & Road and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Opportunities", the event attracted over a thousand attendees including Mainland and Hong Kong officials, Chinese entrepreneurs worldwide, professionals, business leaders, experts and academics from around the globe to explore the prospects of the "Belt & Road" and "Bay Area" and Hong Kong's roles in the two development strategies. Exploring New Opportunities for Regional Cooperation Dr. Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC), said in his welcome remarks that China is proactively promoting trade and investment liberalization through the "Belt & Road", the "Bay Area" and other regional cooperation platforms, creating mutual benefits for global partners. The aim of the Summit was to facilitate communication among Chinese entrepreneurs around the world, and to explore new business opportunities by capitalizing on Hong Kong's professional expertise and innovation. Mrs. Carrie Lam suggested in her opening keynote that under the "One Country, Two Systems", Hong Kong can serve as a platform for financial and professional services in the "Belt & Road", and as a bridge connecting Mainland China and overseas economies. The "Bay Area" development would not only facilitate diversification of Hong Kong's economy, but also provide a vast hinterland to help address Hong Kong's issues on housing, aging population and land, thus improving the living quality of local citizens. Mr. Gu Shengzu emphasized that the "Bay Area" development would mark a new milestone in the implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems" in the new era, and would facilitate the country's further opening up to achieve innovation-driven and high-quality development. How to effectively integrate the innovative resources of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and other cities for further regional collaboration and development would be key to building the "Bay Area" into a world-class region for innovative economy. Mr. Xu Yousheng noted in his opening remarks the importance of active participation from governments and societies of "Belt & Road" countries, urging overseas Chinese to proactively promote the initiative's principle of mutual benefits and help Chinese enterprises reach out to the international market. He encouraged Hong Kong Chinese to make profound contribution to the "Belt & Road", the "Bay Area" and the Mainland's new round of opening up. Mr. Xie Feng pointed out that the "Belt & Road" initiative has brought opportunities for countries both along and beyond the routes, and it has become the largest and most popular cooperation platform in the world. On the ongoing trade war, he believed that there would be no winner as it hurt the global common interests, and stressed that only free and open trade would enable the prosperous and sustainable development of all countries. Leveraging Hong Kong's Diverse Strengths to Strengthen Cooperation among Chinese Entrepreneurs The first part of the Summit's morning session, moderated by Mr. Antony Leung, Group Chairman & CEO of Nan Fung Group, focused on the "Belt & Road" initiative. Dr. Bernard Chan and Mr. Rimsky Yuen elaborated on the unique strengths of Hong Kong's professional services in finance, project management and arbitration. They believed that Hong Kong, in particular its professional services sector, plays an unparalleled role in the "Belt & Road" and it should strengthen cooperation with Chinese entrepreneurs worldwide to expand market opportunities. Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont called on Chinese entrepreneurs to enhance connection with Hong Kong and utilize the city's strengths to explore new opportunities for regional cooperation, whereas Mr. Zhang Yansheng also encouraged Chinese entrepreneurs around the world to collaborate with Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao enterprises to seize new opportunities under the "Belt & Road". The second part, moderated by Dr. Jonathan Choi, Chairman of Guangdong-HK-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, focused on the "Bay Area". Mr. Patrick Nip, Dr. Sunny Chai and Mr. Jack Chan discussed from various angles Hong Kong's role in promoting the "Bay Area" development. Mr. Yuan Jun and Prof. Jacky So suggested how Guangdong's comprehensive industry chain, Hong Kong's modern professional services and positioning as a global centre for innovation and technology, and Macao's tourism industry and connection with Portuguese-speaking countries could complement each other to constitute the unique strengths of the "Bay Area". The panellists concurred that movements of people, goods and capital should be further enhanced to catalyze the "Bay Area" development. Leading the Wave of Technological Innovation to Drive Future Economic Growth The afternoon session of the Summit focused on the "New Economy and Opportunities for Business & Professional Services". The first part of the session, "Development of Smart City", was moderated by Mr. Eric Yeung, President of Smart City Consortium, and featured the sharing by Chinese entrepreneurs on promoting technological application and smart city development. Mr. Lin Guangming and Mr. Daniel Hong discussed the experience of Hong Kong's financial services in applying innovative technologies and its development potential. Mr. Ian Chung and Mr. Pek Lian Guan spoke on Hong Kong's strengths in infrastructure projects and architectural design, as well as the experience of Chinese enterprises in promoting innovative technologies and smart city development. Mr. Waynffly Zhong examined the latest trends in the interaction between mobile communications technologies and smart city development. The second part, "New Impetus for Innovation Economy", was moderated by Prof. Tony F Chan, Founding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong and President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Mr. Shang Hailong and Mr. Teoh Kok Lin believed that under the current tech wave, technologies such as big data analysis and artificial intelligence in particular could complement the professional services sector for enhanced efficiency. Dr. Melvin Toh and Mr. Cheung Chun-yin discussed the interactive and organic development of blockchain technology and finance, e-commerce, biomedical healthcare and internet economy, which they suggested would help expand the market for further growth. The Summit was attended by over 1,000 distinguished guests, including Mr. Yuen Mo, Mr. Ricky Tsang, Mr. Brandon Liu, Mr. Tommy Li and Mr. Johnny Yu, Vice-chairmen of CGCC; Mr. Ian Fok and Mr. Lam Ming-sum, Life Honorary Chairmen of CGCC, as well as worldwide Chinese entrepreneurs organisations, celebrities and business representatives, government officials, representatives from central government offices, local consulates, business and professional bodies, CGCC member and the media community. About the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) Founded in 1900, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) is one of the oldest and largest chambers of commerce in Hong Kong. CGCC aims to serve the community and, advancing with time, maintain Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, reaching out to the world with its roots in Hong Kong and backing from the Motherland. Anchored in Hong Kong, CGCC strives to build a business, economic and trading platform and safeguard business interests. CGCC is also committed to promoting national economic infrastructure and maintains close relations with commercial organizations across the border, with a vision of building a "bringing-in and going-out" platform for the country. In recent years, CGCC has made strenuous efforts to reinforce economic interaction between Hong Kong and major economic regions on the Mainland, with particular focus on the Pearl River and Yangtze River Deltas. Meanwhile, CGCC has made a timely response to encourage the Hong Kong business community to participate in the country's strategies such as its free trade zones", Belt and Road" initiative and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Looking ahead, CGCC will continue to move with the times and fortify its network by fostering closer partnership with business organizations at home and abroad, with a view to promoting Hong Kong as a metropolis characterized by high efficiency and close ties with the global market. For further details of the Summit, please visit www.cgcc-wcesummit.org. For more information, please contact:







Hill+Knowlton Strategies Asia Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Joy Tang Kannie Lam Tel: +852 2894 6361 Tel: +852 2525 6385 Email: joy.tang@hkstrategies.com Email: kannie@cgcc.org.hk

This material/event is funded by the Professional Services Advancement Support Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material/any event organized under this project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee of the Professional Services Advancement Support Scheme. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180824/2220257-1-a

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180824/2220257-1-b

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180824/2220257-1-c

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180824/2220257-1-d SOURCE Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC)

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[August 24, 2018] PPG Foundation Invests $20,000 in Alabama Organizations

PPG (NYSE:PPG) today announced that the PPG Foundation recently invested $20,000 in two Alabama organizations in support of educational programs. The grants were made on behalf of PPG's aerospace facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The foundation provided $15,000 to The Schools Foundation in support of its Summer Adventures In Learning (SAIL) program, which reaches 500 low-income students in the school districts of Huntsville, Madison County and Madison City. SAIL combats summer learning loss in math and reading in a camp-like atmosphere. A $5,000 grant to the University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation will provide scholarships for underprivileged girls to attend Girls Science and EngineeringDay. This one-day program is designed to pique interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).



"PPG is proud to support educational programs that provide our young people with the knowledge and skills they need to pursue careers in advanced manufacturing," said Tom Meyer, PPG plant manager, Huntsville. PPG and the PPG Foundation aim to bring color and brightness to PPG communities around the world. We invested more than $10.5 million in 2017, supporting hundreds of community organizations across 29 countries. By investing in educational opportunities, we help grow today's skilled workforce and develop tomorrow's innovators in fields related to coatings and manufacturing. Plus, we empower PPG employees to multiply their impact for causes that are important to them by supporting their volunteer efforts and charitable giving. Learn more at www.ppgcommunities.com.

PPG: WE PROTECT AND BEAUTIFY THE WORLD At PPG (NYSE:PPG), we work every day to develop and deliver the paints, coatings and materials that our customers have trusted for 135 years. Through dedication and creativity, we solve our customers' biggest challenges, collaborating closely to find the right path forward. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, we operate and innovate in more than 70 countries and reported net sales of $14.7 billion in 2017. We serve customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets. To learn more, visit www.ppg.com. We protect and beautify the world is a trademark and the PPG Logo is a registered trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005003/en/

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[August 24, 2018] Snowden Lane Partners Taps Wells Fargo Team

Snowden Lane Partners, an independent, advisor-owned, wealth advisory firm dedicated to providing client-focused advice in a values-driven culture, today announced that the Castleberry Advisory Group has joined the company in its San Antonio office. Keary Castleberry and Lara Sterns, who will establish the Castleberry Advisory Group, join Snowden Lane as a Senior Partner, Managing Director and Senior Registered Client Relationship Manager, respectively, from Wells Fargo (News - Alert) where they advised $126 million in client assets. "While Keary's and Lara's work speaks for itself, their values and dedication to clients are what make this such a great addition to the Snowden Lane team," said Greg Franks, Managing Partner and President of Snowden Lane. "Our firm is excited to continue strategically expanding our regional presence in San Antonio and we couldn't be happier that talented advisors continue to see value in Snowden Lane's model." Castleberry and Sterns will work alongside Snowden Lane's existing teams in the firm's San Antonio office, which include the Hogan Eller Group, who joined in June of this year, and the Strategic Management Group, who established the office in 2017.



Since its founding in 2011, Snowden Lane has rapidly built a national brand, attracting top industry talent from Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, JP Morgan, Raymond James and Wells Fargo, among others. The firm has offices in Pasadena and San Diego, CA (News - Alert) ; New Haven, CT; Pittsburgh, PA; Baltimore, Salisbury and Bethesda, MD; San Antonio, TX; as well as its New York City headquarters. In 2018, the Financial Times (News - Alert) named Snowden Lane to its elite FT 300 list for the fourth straight year, recognizing it as one of the top independent RIA firms in the U.S. A number of the firm's advisors have been recognized as FT 401 Top Retirement advisors, and a number by Forbes/Shook as top state advisors.

About Snowden Lane Partners Snowden Lane is a nationally branded, open-architecture, hybrid registered investment advisor and broker-dealer that provides wealth advisory services to high net worth individuals, families, and institutional clients. Snowden Lane is led by an experienced team of industry executives, including Lyle LaMothe, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rob Mooney, Managing Partner and CEO, and Greg Franks, Managing Partner and President, who are dedicated to building a client-focused, nationally branded, boutique wealth advisory partnership. Snowden Lane is headquartered in New York City and operates an SEC (News - Alert) registered investment adviser and a broker-dealer. Snowden Lane provides a multi-custodian, multi-currency platform, with aggregated performance reporting and leading analytical tools for clients and advisors. It further provides full operational, finance, compliance, human resources, and financial advisor transition support to its financial advisors. For more information about Snowden Lane, please visit www.snowdenlane.com. References to "Snowden Lane" and "Snowden Lane Partners" are references to Snowden Capital Advisors LLC, an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and its affiliated entities. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005377/en/

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The resources are badly needed. Domestic violence is not confined to any socio-economic class, or ethnic or racial group, has many faces and complexities, and is learned, intergenerational behavior. As such, it is a focal point in the Kane County States Attorneys Office. In 2017, for example, one-fourth of all misdemeanor cases we charged were for domestic battery. As trends show decreasing crime in recent years, domestic violence cases remain steady, a troubling trend.
[August 24, 2018] Foresters Offers Emergency Assistance to Members in British Columbia









Who: Foresters Financial, an international financial services provider committed to doing more for families and communities, is offering assistance to its members affected by wildfires in British Columbia. What: Eligible members living in the affected area who are experiencing significant personal hardship as a result of the wildfires can receive grants to help with immediate needs. Disaster relief assistance is one payment per household. Members who are directly affected by the wildfires can contact Foresters toll-free at 800 828 1540 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday, or e-mail Foresters at service@foresters.com.

About Foresters Financial Foresters Financial is an international financial services provider with more than three million clients and members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and total funds under management of $45.1 billion1. With a history of more than 140 years, we provide life insurance, savings, retirement and investment solutions that help families achieve their financial goals, protect their families and improve their communities. For more information, visit foresters.com. Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9) and its subsidiaries. Products offered vary by country. Not all products are available for distribution in all jurisdictions. In the United States, products are offered by The Independent Order of Foresters and its subsidiaries, including Foresters Financial Services, Inc. a registered broker-dealer. Securities, life insurance and annuity products are offered through Foresters Financial Services, Inc. or independent producers. Insurance products are issued by Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company, New York, or The Independent Order of Foresters. Investment advisory products and services are offered through Foresters Advisory Services, LLC, a registered investment adviser. 1in Canadian dollars as of December 31, 2017 416645 CAN (08/18) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005439/en/

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[August 24, 2018] Global Automotive Chip (Analog ICs, Logic ICs, Microcontroller, Memory) Market to 2025

DUBLIN, Aug 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automotive Chip Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component Type (Analog ICs, Logic ICs, Microcontroller, Memory), By Application Type, By Vehicle Type (Passenger, Commercial), And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global automotive chip market size is expected to reach USD 56.24 billion by 2025, exhibiting a CAGR of 10.7% during the forecast period. Rising awareness regarding energy-efficient lighting systems and burgeoning sales of luxury vehicles equipped with navigation and infotainment systems are creating an upswing in the demand for automotive chips. Spiraling demand for commercial and passenger vehicles is driving the automotive chip market. Automotive chip enhances a vehicle's security system and in-vehicle infotainment system. It also ensures safety and comfort of occupants including the driver. For instance, the SYNC technology of Ford enables driver to make hands-free phone calls and lets them control the entire navigation and infotainment system using their voice. These benefits are expected to stoke the growth of the market. However, complex and expensive technology and network challenges in developing economies are estimated to hinder the growth of the market over the forecast period. In the North America region, the automotive chip market is likely to expand at a CAGR of 9.2% over the forecast period. Prominent vendors in the market include Microchip Technology Inc.; Texas Instruments Incorporated; Robert Bosch GmbH; NXP Semiconductors; and Infineon Technologies AG.

Further Key Findings from the Study Suggest: Soaring demand for connectivity and safety features is one of the key trends booting market growth

The passenger car vehicle type segment is anticipated to emerge as the fastest growing segment owing to burgeoning demand for SUVs

On the basis of application, the body electronics segment is poised to hold a prominent position in the market throughout the forecast period due to increasing digitization of vehicles and rising awareness among individuals regarding vehicle electronic accessories

The safety application type segment is likely to post the highest CAGR during the same period due to continuous strengthening of vehicle safety standards

Some of the key companies in the market are Microchip Technology Inc.; Texas Instruments Incorporated; Robert Bosch GmbH; NXP Semiconductors; and Infineon Technologies AG.



Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Methodology and Scope

1.1 Research Methodology

1.2 Research Scope and Assumptions

1.3 List of Data Sources





Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 Automotive Chip Market - Industry Snapshot & Key Buying Criteria, 2014 - 2025

2.2 Automotive Chip Market, 2014 - 2025



Chapter 3 Automotive Chip Market Industry Outlook

3.1 Market Segmentation and Scope

3.2 Market Size & Growth Prospects

3.3 Automotive Chip Market - Value Chain Analysis

3.4 Market Dynamics

3.4.1 Market driver analysis

3.4.1.1 Enhanced operational efficiency

3.4.1.2 Significant increase in adoption of Engine Control Unit (ECU) in modern automobiles

3.4.1.3 Growing focus on vehicle safety systems

3.4.2 Market restraint analysis

3.4.2.1 Network challenges in developing nations

3.4.2.2 Complex and expensive technology

3.5 Automotive Chip Penetration & Growth Prospects Mapping

3.6 Automotive Chip Market Ranking Analysis

3.7 Automotive Chip Market - Porter's Five Forces Analysis

3.8 Automotive Chip Market - PEST Analysis



Chapter 4 Automotive Chip Market Component Type Outlook

4.1 Automotive Chip Market Share By Component Type, 2016 & 2025

4.2 Logic ICs

4.3 Analog ICs

4.4 Microcontrollers & Microprocessors

4.5 Memory



Chapter 5 Automotive Chip Market Application Type Outlook

5.1 Automotive Chip Market Share By Application Type, 2016 & 2025

5.2 Chassis

5.3 Powertrain

5.4 Safety

5.5 Telematics & Infotainment

5.6 Body Electronics



Chapter 6 Automotive Chip Market Vehicle Type Outlook

6.1 Automotive Chip Market Share By Vehicle Type, 2016 & 2025

6.2 Passenger Vehicles

6.3 Commercial Vehicles



Chapter 7 Automotive Chip Market Regional Outlook



Chapter 8 Competitive Landscape

Microchip Technology Incorporated

Texas Instruments Incorporated

Robert Bosch GmbH

NXP Semiconductors

Infineon Technologies AG

Micron Technology, Inc.

NVIDIA CORPORATION

Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.

Renesas Electronics Corporation

STMicroelectronics N.V. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/25zlqg/global_automotive?w=5



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-automotive-chip-analog-ics-logic-ics-microcontroller-memory-market-to-2025-300702078.html SOURCE Research and Markets

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[August 24, 2018] New Orleans Latin Americans to Benefit from $6K Grant

Representatives from Home Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) joined Puentes New Orleans yesterday to award $6,000 in Partnership Grant Program ( PGP (News - Alert) ) funds to the nonprofit, dedicated to helping Latinos in New Orleans overcome the obstacles that often keep them from purchasing homes. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005450/en/ Puentes New Orleans received a $6,000 Partnership Grant Program award from Home Bank and FHLB Dallas to assist Latin American immigrants. (Photo: Business Wire) The grant funds will help Puentes New Orleans in its effort to support its two-year college prep and career planning program designed to increase economic mobility for youth. The grant will support Puentes' two-year college prep and career planning program designed to promote economic mobility for underserved immigrant youth. This program enrolls more than 80 immigrant youth at three area high schools. "Without the PGP, our youth would have fewer resources and opportunities at such a crucial stage in their personal development and education," said Salvador Longoria, executive director of Puentes. "This support oes a long way in helping us build a better and brighter future for them."



FHLB Dallas' PGP awards provide 3:1 matches of member contributions to provide grants up to $12,000 that help promote and strengthen relationships between community-based organizations and FHLB Dallas members. The PGP also complements the development activities fostered by FHLB Dallas' Affordable Housing and Community Investment programs. "Home Bank has found great value in utilizing the PGP over the years," said Brandon Kelly, vice president and CRA officer at Home Bank. "Positively impacting the community through programs such as the PGP is vital to the bank's mission."

In 2018, FHLB Dallas has awarded $300,000 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds through 31 member institutions to assist 32 community-based organizations. Combined with the $114,010 contributed by FHLB Dallas members, a total of $414,010 has been awarded to the organizations. FHLB Dallas Vice President and Affordable Housing Program Manager Bruce Hatton said the Partnership Grant Program is beneficial for all parties involved. "FHLB Dallas' 3:1 match highlights the partnership aspect of the program, making it uniquely beneficial on different levels," said Mr. Hatton. "Home Bank has the opportunity to strengthen its ties with the community and the community benefits from the partnership and funds." To learn more about the PGP, visit fhlb.com/pgp. About Home Bank With 39 locations across South Louisiana and Western Mississippi, Home Bank is committed to serving the needs of its communities. Personal banking has always been Home Bank's trademark, and that tradition continues as the company grows, invests and serves its clients and community. For more information about Home Bank, visit home24bank.com. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $75.9 billion as of June 30, 2018, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 825 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180824005450/en/

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(Image credit: Benny Marty/Shutterstock)

Accounts linked to an Iranian "influence operation" are being removed from major social media platforms. Facebook and Twitter announced their efforts to prevent the operation from levering their platforms earlier this week, and now Google has done the same for several of its sites.

The number of accounts Google removed from YouTube, Blogger and Google+ pales in comparison to the number of accounts Facebook and Twitter removed. Google cut some 39 channels with "13,466 total U.S. views on relevant videos" from YouTube, removed six blogs from Blogger and deleted 13 accounts on the Google+ social network.

Facebook pulled 652 accounts from its platform and Instagram--though some were linked to Russia instead of Iran--and Twitter deleted 248. The disparity makes sense when you consider the amount of effort each platform requires: it's easier to share a link, image, or short message across multiple accounts than it is to produce videos or longer blog posts. And, well, fewer people use Google+ than either Facebook or Twitter.

Google and Facebook both collaborated with the FireEye security company on finding these malicious accounts. FireEye remained careful with its phrasing in the full report on this operation because it still isn't comfortable definitively attributing the efforts to Iran, but all three companies have said that all signs point to this being an Iranian operation that's supposed to sway Western political opinions in the country's favor.

Facebook said earlier this week that it found pages linked to "Liberty Front Press" that it connected "to Iranian state media through publicly available website registration information, as well as the use of related IP addresses and Facebook pages sharing the same admins."

Google said it drew connections between the accounts it removed from its platforms and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The company explained:

Technical data associated with these actors is strongly linked to the official IRIB IP address space.

Domain ownership information about these actors is strongly linked to IRIB account information.

Account metadata and subscriber information associated with these actors is strongly linked to the corresponding information associated with the IRIB, indicating common ownership and control.

Google, like Facebook and FireEye, warned that Iran isn't the only country attempting to sway others via social media. Russia has been repeatedly accused of doing the same thing, and it's not crazy to think that other countries are likely conducting influence operations of their own. You know that comic about nobody on the internet knowing you're a dog? Well, now it seems more like nobody on the internet knows you're a fake account made for political gain.
A 66-year-old convicted felon from Kansas City has been charged in connection with the August 17 murder of Morris "Mack" Clay. The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office said 66-year-old Marshall Celestine has been charged with murder second degree, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
A state board has ruled Independent candidate Greg Orman can stay on the ballot for the Kansas governor's race. An objection was filed earlier in the week. That objection surrounded the validity of Orman's petitions submitted to be an independent candidate. Orman needed 5,000 signatures from registered voters.








Northland Burns Tonight

Fire heavily damages Northland home Thursday afternoon Robin Davis/KMBC SOURCE: Robin Davis/KMBC A fire heavily damaged a home in the Northland Thursday afternoon. Kansas City firefighters were called about 1:25 p.m. to the 1000 block of Northeast 88th Street. Crews battled the fire in a defensive mode. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire has not been released.

Kansas City Downtown BRT Coming Soon

Construction to begin on Downtown portion of Prospect MAX Construction is set to begin next week on the Downtown portion of the Prospect MAX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, the K ansas City Regional Transit Authority announced today. The $55.8 million project will bring enhanced transit service along Kansas City's 10-mile Prospect Avenue corridor from Downtown to 75th Street.

Rock Chalk Police Push Back

Lawrence police officer charged in shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Lawrence, Kansas police officer is facing a charge of aggravated battery for her role in an officer-involved shooting on May 29 in downtown Lawrence. Douglas County, Kansas Prosecutor Charles Branson filed the case Thursday morning against Lawrence Police officer Brindley D. Blood.

Rate Spike Talk

KCP&L to hear from Kansans after requesting rate increase Kansas residents who use Kansas City Power and Light for their electricity may soon see their rates go up. Officials say KCP&L has requested a rate update that could increase a customer's bill by seven-to-nine dollars. The rate increase requested is $26.2 million, which excludes property tax rebasing.

Arty Answer To Blight

Art panels adorn some KC Land Bank houses Kansas City, MO - Artists more used to designing greeting cards have volunteered their talents to help spruce up some distressed houses in Kansas City.Instead of plain plywood, five houses in KC's Land Bank now have painted panels covering doors and windows.

Helping Hand For Kansas City Man In Need

Power of social media assists Kansas City man in need KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Arthur Buford, 68, has lived in his Kansas City home on Chestnut Avenue for more than 20 years. "There's a lot of things I can't do like I used to," Buford said. "I can't even change a light bulb."

$500K For KCMO Artsy Party

What You Need To Know About Open Spaces, Kansas City's Huge New Arts Festival Kansas City's first biennial Open Spaces launches this week. And, like the metropolitan area itself, Open Spaces is sprawling. It stretches 62 days, from August 25 to October 28, with more than 150 performing and visual artists. Organizers hope the arts and cultural event will put the city on a larger map, for visitors from all over to see, experience and buy art.

Lady Gaga is now old school and playing Vegas . . .Closer to home, here's a quick look at news links also worth a peek:And this is thefor right now . . .
City contractor questioned, again, in flooding problems Work continued Wednesday to clean up a flooded business in Waldo at 8306 Wornall Road after heavy rain Sunday. Tom Turgeon, the building's landlord, reached out to KMBC 9 News again, Wednesday, after he said he had difficulty reaching a city contractor and its insurance company.

Follow-up report on 12th & Oak contracts without many checks and balances . . . Read more deets constant local flooding one year after GO BOND infrastructure promises are still mostly unfulfilled . . .
Friends of Africa Family Safari possess excellent knowledge and outstanding familiarity with varied destinations in Southern Tanzania. They offer safari enthusiasts a unique way of exploring the incredible Southern Tanzania Safari at ease!



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From the wildebeest migration to walking to photography or camping, Southern Tanzania safari requires a great deal of dedication, creativity, and expert guided service to fulfill any safari desire. Friends of Africa Family Safari will be with you in every step of the way and have the finest potential to meet your Southern Tanzania safari desire. They have the most up-to-date information and firsthand experience about Southern Tanzania safaris. With the personalized service, they can give you the best trip which is not only unique but meets your travel style.

Friends of Africa Family Safari have a vast experience in the Southern Tanzania Safaris and apply it to provide you with precise safari itinerary for you. They traveled out to each destination what they sell regularly; therefore, their knowledge of Southern Tanzania safari is second to none. Their presentations are so informative and highly recommended! They also help clients to find the best deals possible for the best lodges available. Focusing on unique interests of travelers, Africa Family Safari is dedicated to providing clients with their favorite Southern Tanzania safari experiences. Appointing very experienced tour guides, they allow travel enthusiasts to gain knowledge about travel and wildlife opportunities in Southern Tanzania

Few words from Friends of Africa Family Safari Travel is our passion and our goal is to give you the Tanzania Safari as a lifetime experience because we know the potential of your journey. We have a firsthand experience to manage safaris in Southern Tanzania better than anyone. We know our country from its root and share that knowledge to meet the personal taste and safari experience for all our clients. From the wildebeest migration to walking safaris or from photography to camping safari, we offer you expert guides at every stage of your journey. Our expert team knows the hidden gems and stunning location that is of great value for many and worth of visit. Our team members are always up-to-date on the latest developments in the safari world with a purpose to serve you in a much better way. We do not own or work with a specific group of properties but we just pick what is best for you

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By 2020 every light bulb is supposed to put out 45 lumens per watt. It's a Bush-era regulation that the current government wants to roll back. Incandescent bulbs are an endangered species, so threatened with extinction that artists are mounting them like exhibits in a museum. So of course, the Trump administration is stepping in to slow the LED revolution.

When President George W. Bush brought in energy standards for light bulbs in 2007, nobody quite knew what would replace incandescent bulbs. LEDs couldnt do it yet, so we all got those terrible compact fluorescents. But the legislation promoted innovation and LEDs took over the world with breathtaking speed. It has truly been a revolution, which we followed in real time on TreeHugger. But the Stage 1 in the legislation dealt with type A bulbs, the ones we use at home, that go in that 110 year old Edison base.

 ACEEE report

The Department of Energy was supposed to look at everything else, the decorative bulbs, reflector spots and floods and the rest of the lightbulbs and have new regulations in place by 2020. Of course, they havent done anything and there is no new standard for Stage 2. But even though the drafters of the legislation had no idea where the light bulb efficiencies would come from, they knew that deadlines often get missed, so they put in what is called a backstop, but that I liken to a time bomb: if there are no new regulations, then it is simple: by 2020 all light bulbs must deliver 45 lumens per watt.

I previously wrote that this no longer mattered, that the market has done it already and not even Fox Republicans are buying incandescent bulbs to own the Libs anymore. This particular revolution is over and the LEDs won. I was wrong; there is still a big market for inefficient bulbs, just walk into any hipster restaurant and they are hanging everywhere. Halogen lights are still hugely popular and profitable for the big bulb makers. According to the ACEEE (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) Big Bulb is trying to get this time bomb defused.

Manufacturers supported the original 2007 law. Now, however, the three largest lighting companies GE, Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting), and Sylvania, as represented by their trade association, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association  are lobbying against implementation of the backstop. They want to change the rules of the race. They contend that DOE still has a choice about whether to implement the backstop. In its place, they are lobbying for DOE to leave the stage 1 standards in place for halogens and impose tougher standards only for LEDs. In other words, they want a race where each technology gets a different finish line, some of which have already been crossed. Manufacturers could keep on selling their current highly profitable halogen bulbs and, for some of the additional bulb shapes and sizes not covered by stage 1, even conventional incandescent product lines.

Stage 2 Savings could be bigger than stage 1/ ACEEE/Screen capture

The LED revolution so far is big, but it is really only halfway there with Stage 1. The ACEEE shows that the CO2 emissions reductions, and consumer savings, from Stage 2 are in fact even bigger than those gained from Stage 1. There is no question that we will still get some of these savings; LED bulbs save so much money that consumers and industry will change to them, even if Stage 2 is throttled by Trump and DOE head Rick Perry.

Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

But the rules for Stage 1 unleashed incredible innovation in lighting, and Stage 2 would likely do the same. We have already seen what engineers can do with decorative bulbs, designing LED bulbs that are indistinguishable from those retro incandescents in every hipster coffee shop, bar and izakaya this side of Kyoto. If the rules were in place we would see a lot more of this.

It is not certain that Trump and Perry can pull this off, either. Andrew deLaski, Executive Director, Appliance Standards Awareness Project, notes that the time bomb is pretty powerful:

Because the national appliance standards law forbids a weakening of the standards, either by lowering them or narrowing the range of products covered, any attempt to roll back the 2020 standards will almost assuredly lead to lawsuits. The law also permits states to step in to enforce these standards. With such enormous energy and economic benefits at stake, the effort to protect the 2020 standards will be a top priority.

Time to boycott Big Bulb

 Cree bulb

I previously discussed how Walmart had become the new EPA; now it is time for Big Bulb to become the new DOE and basically comply with Phase 2 regulations on their own, and simply stop selling bulbs that dont meet the 45 lumens per watt standard. We could help give them a nudge and simply stop buying bulbs from GE, Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting), and Sylvania. I personally will be buying Cree instead, after I confirm that they are not part of this evil cabal.

UPDATE: Cree has confirmed that it "is not part of the group working to roll back the legislation."
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Last August 24, on the great American holiday known as National Waffle Day, I got confused and thought it was the Swedish waffle day tradition Vaffeldagen, which falls on March 25th. According to Wikipeidia it actually is an old Christian holiday, Varfrudagen ("Our Lady's Day"), but they got confused because they evidently sound alike, and now celebrate it with waffles. Other sources say that it is a celebration of spring, waffles use a lot of eggs which are a symbol of new life, so there you go. I prefer the confused story.

A reader corrected me and I promised that I would run the story again on the proper date, and correct my previously confused posts about concrete waffle slabs, a technology that gets longer spans out of less concrete. For those who might remember that TreeHugger normally is not fond of concrete, I admit a fondness for older concrete done well.

 National Arts CentreAs for replacing concrete with wood, that is even coming to waffle slabs, with the new addition to National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where they picked up on the existing waffle slab architecture, and have built a waffle slab out of cross-laminated timber, a first. More coverage on that to come.

Here are my two waffle posts, reposted in honour of the upcoming Vaffeldagen.

What Are Waffle Slabs?

Lloyd Alter/ Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/CC BY 2.0

In the Washington Post, they write about How pancakes and waffles divide the nation. I have always preferred waffles to pancakes, which I consider to be limp and formless. Waffles, on the other hand, have form and real substance, structure and rigidity.

It is much the same in architecture. A concrete slab is- just a slab, and a thick one at that, using a lot of concrete to get to the depth it needs to span a significant distance without limply sagging. You don't look at it because it is boring, and the electrical or mechanical services are hanging from it so they are covered with even more boring drywall.

Lloyd Alter/ Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/CC BY 2.0

Waffle slabs are different. They are designed to be thick where you need it, for the structure in the ribs, and thin for the slab. They are designed to be exposed and seen and enjoyed. Today I was walking through the wonderful Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' decorative art collection in the Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion and had trouble looking at the fabulous stuff because I was entranced by the ceiling, layers of the tastiest waffle slabs I had ever seen. The entire structure is there for you to see: nothing but the concrete that it holding itself up.

 Engineering Heritage Australia

Almost nobody really does waffle slabs anymore; they can be expensive, with the reinforcing carefully placed in narrow ribs between forms.

 John B. Parkin

They can be really hard to repair; one of the reasons that Toronto's iconic John Parkin Terminal was demolished was because he built the parking garage with waffle slabs, and one should not put salt on waffles.

But while we are no fan of concrete on TreeHugger, there are good things to say about waffle slabs. They use less concrete, and they look good enough to leave exposed so you use less of everything else.

Lloyd Alter/ National Theatre/CC BY 2.0

Examples of Waffle Slab Architecture

There are wonderful waffles at the National Theatre in Britain;

Lloyd Alter/ Confederation Centre/CC BY 2.0

And really cool ones at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where in one section, they even left off the slab itself and put on great pyramidal skylights.

 Alarcon + Asociados via Designboom

Holedeck has figured out a great way to integrate services into them. Perhaps it is time to say that if we have to use concrete in our buildings, then we should let concrete be concrete, exposed and beautiful through thick and thin. It's time to bring back tasty waffle slabs. Mmmmm.

 Goldstein House/ John Lautner

This post has been corrected to reflect information about Vaffeldagen.

In Sweden, they celebrate Vaffeldagen or Waffle Day on March 25; In America, we waffle a bit and celebrate Waffle Day on August 24, the day the patent on the waffle iron was issued. That's two opportunities to celebrate the tasty waffle slab, a form of construction that used to be popular but has fallen out of flavor or favor or whatever.

Which is a shame; we are not usually fond of concrete because of its carbon footprint, but waffle slabs let designers get much larger spans with less material. They also look so nice as architectural elements that they are left exposed instead of getting covered up with drywall- the structure is the finish. And being concrete, they are durable. We have covered tasty waffles that I have known here, but there are some others worth looking at. I have been criticized for not mentioning some other very famous waffles, starting with John Lautner's Goldstein house in Los Angeles, a rare residential use of waffles. It has been donated to the The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) by its owner so it is likely that it will remain intact and accessible.

 Robarts Library

A number of readers berated me for not including Toronto's Robarts Library in the list; I am a fan of this building and have written about it before, but had forgotten about its waffle slabs.

 Louis Kahn, restored by Polshek Partnership

The Robarts waffles are triangular and appear to be a homage to Louis Kahn, and his Yale Art Gallery, which was recently restored and upgraded by the Polshek Partnership.

 LGA architects

Another demonstration of how well waffle slabs hold up over the years, both aesthetically and functionally, is this renovation of the Kitchener Public Library by LGA architects and Phil Carter; those 1961 vintage waffles still look good.

Lloyd Alter/ Barbican waffles/CC BY 2.0

Waffles can be very dramatic with low ceilings, like these at the Barbican in London. The wonderful housing project, one of the world's best, is full of waffles that also act as light fixtures.

Lloyd Alter/ Lights in Washington Metro platform/CC BY 2.0

Waffles are dramatic high up as well, as shown in the Washington Metro. The trains may not be holding up so well, but the roof certainly is. I did not originally think of this as a waffle slab; I thought of it as a coffered ceiling. But others do not waffle about it, so here it is.

Lloyd Alter/ Fiat factory, Turin/CC BY 1.0

Similarly, I did not include Nervi's Fiat factory in Turin but all the waffle sites do, so I include it here.

Lloyd Alter/ Marcel Breur MET/CC BY 2.0

On this waffle day, spend some time looking up at ceilings. You will see few as beautiful as those waffle slabs; few that have lasted so long. They are at once decorative, structural (though this one by Marcel Breuer at the MET Modern is totally decorative, hanging below the ceiling) and durable, all attributes of green building. Happy Vaffeldagen!

For more waffles, see the waffle slab archive on Tumblr
Back in 2004, before the ICE raids and build that wall! chants, I met a couple. I didnt say at the time their nationality, but I will now: They are Italian. And they came here illegally. And they were found out. To this day, they havent set foot back in America.

Howd you like to be deported Thursday?

As in, Good-bye, America.

No funny stuff here today, folks.

Heres the story, and prepare to get outraged if you believe in human decency.

Now I caution you  this isnt your average news story. I fully admit I dont have all the facts, and my knowledge of immigration law is non-existent.

But I do know the woman who is being deported, and I do know this country is making a horrible mistake in forcing her to go.

Shes been here 20 years. Twenty years. Shes not someone who just popped in. Shes someone who has made a life.

Shes someone who is an American.

Shes married. She has two children. She owns a profitable business (one that I know many of you populate). She owns a house. And shes being tossed out.

How did this happen?

The way it was explained to me, its because she tried to do the right thing.

She tried to become an American citizen, but something went wrong  her lawyer burned her, somehow, and while the facts are hazy, the results are crystal clear.

Immigration descended, told her she had to go, and she got a letter in the mail last week, sealing the deal.

While she and her husband both speak English, neither of them (nor myself) speak lawyer-ese, government-ese, or immigration-ese.

Other lawyers told her case was hopeless; she would have to go back to her home country and apply to get back.

As many foreigners are well aware, its not the easiest thing to get into this country legally.

Id imagine its even tougher after youve already been kicked out.

Now I know theres a fair number of you out there who are saying good riddance to this woman, who say she had no right to be here in the first place, and so on and so forth.

Were talking 20 years, folks. Were talking a woman who learned the language. Were talking a woman who has two teenage daughters. Were talking a woman who owns a business, pays taxes, and wants nothing more than to become a legal American citizen.

And were kicking her out.

Wheres the sense in that? Can someone explain to me how this makes any sense whatsoever?

Let it be known I begged this woman to let me print her name in the paper. She wouldnt, for fear the folks at Immigration would come down hard on her husband, the co-owner of the business, the father to their daughters.

Didnt I mention? Theyre going to kick him out also. Hes waiting for his letter of deportation.
Content of Character

I hope and pray for the day that people are judged by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin. Paraphrasing the words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King. Why, when this is the case, people have a problem with it? Seems pretty clear. Another thing; why do some members of Congress have a problem understanding the difference between Legal and ILLEGAL. Perhaps they should spend some time in N. Korea or China committing crimes, and they will get a better understanding.

As far as murals, maybe THS should have a couple painted there. One of the afore mentioned Dr MLK and being judged by the content of their character, and another of Nelson Mandella with his belief that education is power. These are a couple things that children should grasp and understand.

 A reader

It seems pretty unclear what point youre making, but when people stress legal vs. illegal (especially when they use ALL CAPS) they are implying immigration, if thats the case, it would be nice if people considered that regardless of legal status, people who come into this country are humans worthy of dignity and compassion.

 Ed Note

Thank You!

I want to thank a gentleman who found my wallet in CVS parking lot and turned it in to CVS. I thank him. I cant express how great it is was to find. Thank you very much. God bless him.

 A reader

So few honest folks in the world anymore. Im glad some of them exist still.

 Ed Note

Got something you want to get off your chest? To contribute to Back Talk, call Ed at 609-358-0861 or email him at EdNote@Trentonian.com.
G Parthasarthy

G Parthasarthy

A former diplomat

There has been speculation in India about how to deal with a Pakistan government headed by Imran Khan. It is futile to speculate but one should look at future developments, which will shape his reaction towards domestic and international challenges Pakistan faces.

Imran founded the PTI together with a former ISI chief, Lt Gen Hamid Gul. General Gul invited worldwide attention for his support for radical Islamic outfits in Pakistan, Afghanistan and even Bosnia. Imran himself has supported the Afghan Taliban and other radical Islamic outfits in Pakistan. The PTI provincial government in Peshawar has been forthcoming in funding Maulana Samiul Haq, who is an electoral ally of the party. Samiul Haq, better known as the father of the Taliban, runs Darul Uloom seminary, which hosted the former Taliban (Haqqani Network) leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani. It has also hosted the local head of the Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, Asim Umar, as well as Akhtar Mansoor who succeeded Mullah Omar as the Taliban chief. The seminary has a cozy relationship with Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Jaish-e- Mohammed, who was responsible for several attacks on India, including the attack on Parliament in 2001.

Imrans connections with the military are an open secret. Less than two years back, he sought to destabilise the Nawaz Sharif government, staging a protest to close down the capital Islamabad, with another ISI asset, the Canada-based cleric, Tahir-ul-Qadri. While Imran may ostensibly keep some distance from these radical outfits after assuming office, the contacts of his party with them will continue. He will inevitably back the armys favourite jihadi outfit, the Lashkar-e-Taiba. These outfits operate against both India and Afghanistan, necessitating close cooperation with Afghanistan and the Trump administration, especially in forums like the Financial Action Task Force.

Imran is going to immediately face two major challenges: Pakistans dwindling foreign exchange reserves, now valued at around a mere $10 billion, and the reality that IMF assistance may not be forthcoming, unless details of Pakistans total repayment liabilities to China on CPEC (estimated at around $90 billion) are furnished and examined. US Secretary of State Pompeo has made it clear that no money will be forthcoming from the IMF, if it is used to repay Pakistans debts to China. Moreover, Chinese banks appear to be reluctant to pour money into a bottomless pit. The Saudis will keep a close eye on Imrans explicit desire to build bridges to Iran, though some Saudi banks have expressed their readiness to extend credits up to $4 billion.

With the advent of winter, infiltration in the Kashmir valley will naturally fall. The real test will come after the winter snow melts. There are enough jihadi cheerleaders in Pakistan for Imrans PTI to keep up the anti-India tirade for jihad against India and for Taliban rule in Afghanistan. There are three noted India baiters in Imrans cabinet: foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureishi, human rights minister Shireen Mazari and railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Imrans comments on India have generally been moderate. But, he will be given little space by the army to do or say anything that comes in the way of the armys bleed India with a thousand cuts approach.

India should not rush into uncharted waters by hurriedly engaging in any composite or comprehensive dialogue, wherein terrorism receives scant importance. We should make it clear that the framework for a dialogue already exists under the high-level foreign ministerial-led India-Pakistan Joint Commission set up in 1983, where all issues, including Kashmir, can be discussed. But, no serious dialogue can be held unless Pakistan fulfils the assurance that General Musharraf gave PM Vajpayee in 2004 that territory under Pakistans control would not be used for terrorism against India. Dialogue with Pakistan was resumed only after verifying that Musharraf was abiding by this assurance. A serious back channel discussion on Kashmir followed only after terrorism ended.

In the meantime, discreet official contacts with Pakistan can continue. We should be prepared to upgrade the present conversations between the DGMOs, which discuss prevailing ground issues, to meetings at a higher level between Indias Vice-Chief/Army Commander and Pakistans Chief of General Staff, who wields clout in GHQ Rawalpindi. These contacts can be used to end infiltration and craft CBMs to ensure peace across the border and the LoC (Pakistans DGMO is a relatively junior two star General). We have such mechanisms with other neighbours like China and Myanmar. Like in Myanmar, the army plays the predominant role on security issues and the armys chief of general staff wields far greater clout than its National Security Adviser on security issues, in Pakistan.

Imran is keen on hosting the next SAARC Summit in Islamabad. There is little point in the summit before Pakistan fulfils its obligations on free trade with India under the Free Trade Agreement and provides transit facilities for trade between India and Afghanistan. Since there is no question of China, which is not a South Asian country, becoming a member of SAARC, there should be prior agreement that Pakistan will not raise the issue of Chinas membership.

When the Indian Consulate-General was being set up in Karachi, then External Affairs Minister Vajpayee decreed that visas for those wishing to visit India should be liberally issued. This policy paid remarkable returns in ending the hostility of those brainwashed for three decades. We need to make it clear that our aim is to be unwavering in responding strongly to those who promote terrorism, while keeping the doors open for those who seek understanding to visit India.
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Beijing, August 24

China's alleged refusal to extend the visa of an Indian-origin American journalist has led to a diplomatic spat with the US which expressed deep concern over the extensive restrictions on the media in the Communist nation.

Megha Rajagopalan, who worked for the US news portal BuzzFeed.com, said her journalist visa was not extended by China, apparently due to her critical reporting on the volatile Xinjiang province.

In a statement on Friday, the US Embassy expressed concerned over foreign and domestic journalists facing restrictions in China.

The United States is deeply concerned that foreign and domestic journalists in China continue to face excessive restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs, the statement said, without directly referring to Rajagopalan's visa issue.

The Embassy listed delays in processing foreign journalist visas, travel restrictions and violence at the hands of local authorities among its concerns.

In an apparent reference to the number of Chinese journalists working in the US, the statement said that better access in China was necessary to ensure reciprocity for the open access Chinese media enjoys in America.

Beijing took exception to the US Embassys remarks. "I have noted relevant report. The US embassy in China should know that it should earnestly abide by the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, refrain from activities inconsistent with the status of the embassy and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.

"As for the foreign journalist mentioned by the US Embassy in China, I said yesterday that she is not a resident foreign correspondent in China. As for issues related to visa issuance between China and the United States, the US embassy in China should be well aware of international practices," Lu said.

This is not the first time that a foreign journalist has been denied a new visa in China. Earlier, Beijing had not renewed the visas for other journalists, including that of Al Jazeera television and a French magazine, for their reporting on Xinjiang.

Rajagopalan, who has now been appointed as the world correspondent for BuzzFeed News, based in the Middle East, in a series of tweets, said "It is bittersweet to leave Beijing after spending six wonderful and eye-opening years as a journalist there.

"In May, China's Foreign Ministry declined to issue me a new journalist visa. They say this is a process thing, we are not totally clear why," she tweeted.

In another tweet last month, Megha highlighted her story on "how China's sprawling surveillance state recruits, threatens and intimidates Muslim Uighurs into spying for Beijing and staying silenteven in Europe and the United States. My latest, based on first-hand accounts, text messages and audio recordings".

China blames the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for the violent attacks in the province and spreading Islamic militancy.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCC) said it found treatment to Rajagopalan "extremely regrettable and unacceptable for a government that repeatedly insists it welcomes foreign media to cover the country". "We are attempting to get clarity from the Foreign Ministry on its reasoning for effectively ejecting a credentialed foreign journalist from China," the FCC said in statement. PTI
harinder@tribunemail.com

Washington, August 23

Five illegal Sikh migrants are among eight asylum seekers who have been released on bond from a prison in the US state of Oregon where they were locked up for three months after getting caught in the Trump administrations controversial zero-tolerance policy, immigration lawyers have said.

A group of 52 Indians, mostly Sikhs, has been held at a detention centre in Oregon since May for being part of a large contingent of 124 illegal immigrants seeking asylum.

Five migrants, all in their twenties from India, made their first public appearance on Wednesday after nearly three months at the Oregon prison put them in the centre of a political firestorm.

In the beginning, I had no hope, Karandeep Singh, 24, was quoted as saying by Oregon Live. Now its like a dream. Im so happy. Thank you, all of the people who have helped us.

Many of the Indians are practising Sikhs, a designation they claim subjects them to religious and political persecution in their native land. It also presented problems inside the Sheridan prison, where they were prevented from following some basic Sikh practices, the report said. I dont blame the prison officials, Karandeep said. They probably didnt know how Sikhs pray. Those early days had been bleak, the migrants said.

We were seriously depressed, said Lovpreet Singh, 22, through an interpreter. We couldnt get out of our cells at all, let alone use the phone to call our families. Even the prison officials didnt know who we were. How were our families supposed to help us when they dont know where we are?

More are expected to be released in the coming days, Victoria Bejarano-Muirhead, with the Innovation Law Lab, said. The initial group of men sent to the federal prison at Sheridan came from 16 countries, which include India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

After hearings determine the asylum seekers have a credible fear of being repatriated, they are eligible for release while their asylum applications are processed. The bond amounts typically run from $1,500-5,000 and are usually put up by family or friends, Muirhead said.  PTI
shalender@tribune.com

Sujat Ambedkar, the great grandson of the legendary Babasaheb Ambedkar, recently startled a predominantly Dalit rally by declaring that his privileged upbringing obviated the need for reservation. Sujat has never availed of reservation because, I consider myself most privileged since I got everything from the beginning. He may be a rare but welcome instance of self-abnegation in SC/ST communities which rightly believe that they need to be given slight advantage to offset the centuries of deprivation at the hands of society. Even today, they are deprived of access to temples, churches, schools and basic facilities of life. Dalit grooms cannot ride horses.

This clearly shows that the benefits of reservation have not percolated to a large section of the socially oppressed and the economically weak. Part of the problem is a creamy layer of the reservation-advantaged who elbow out their more deserving SC and ST counterparts. The concept of creamy layer, despite much initial opposition, is now a part of our framework of affirmative action in case of the backwards, wherein candidates whose parents hold constitutional posts in classes I and II government services fall in the creamy layer, which also applies to income of over Rs 6 lakh.

The Supreme Court has recently taken up a government appeal for accelerated promotions for SC\ST employees. As the apex court weighs the legality and desirability of introducing the creamy layer in promotions, this may be an occasion to also examine whether those now ensconced firmly on top of the social pyramid should give way to their brethren from the community who have never tasted the benefits of reservation. There is bound to be opposition to dissecting the SC/ST beneficiaries in jobs and education to find out who is worthy of quota and who is not. Since people who have reached parity with the rest in jobs, education and economic status will not give up voluntarily, the apex courts relook at the 2006 M Nagraj judgment should encourage a stable equilibrium between justice to the depressed and equity among those at the bottom of the pyramid.
editorial@tribune.com

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 24

In a major relief to about 700 families residing in the RA Parade Ground area, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has granted an administrative stay on the eviction of the families.

The Defence Minister has informed Health Minister Anil Vij about the stay through a letter.

Ambala Cantonment Board Vice-President Ajay Baweja told The Tribune: In April last year, we had made a representation before Health Minister Anil Vij regarding the families living in the RA Parade Ground area. Anil Vij had further requested the Ministry of Defence to frame a suitable policy regarding the land occupied by around 700 houses belonging to the weaker sections in the area, after imposing reasonable development charges.

The RA Parade Ground land, about 176.871 acre, belongs to the Ministry of Defence and families have been living there for around 200 years. They were brought here from Uttar Pradesh by the British to grow and supply vegetables to them. From time to time, people were granted agricultural leases and the last lease expired on May 31, 1975, and the land was required for defence purposes. The land was, however, never vacated by the former lessees. Due to the unauthorised occupation of the defence land, action against them was initiated under the PPE Act, 1971, he added.

Baweja said: The Army used to send notices and people living there were not allowed to do any construction. In case any construction was done, it was demolished. After examining the matter, the Defence Minister has granted an administrative stay on the eviction of these families. A letter has been received in this context. Now they will be able to do construction and the board will be able to develop the area.

Baweja said: The Parade Ground problem has been a political issue in Ambala. We are thankful to Anil Vij for raising the matter and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for granting stay.
editorial@tribune.com

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, August 24

Dalits of Mirchpur village in Hisar on Friday stated that the Delhi High Court verdict awarding life term to the guilty in the Mirchpur arson case had reaffirmed their faith in justice. They said the convicts belonging to the Jat community were facing the consequences of what they did to fellow Dalit villagers.

The Delhi High Court upheld the conviction of 13 members of the Jat community for burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter in Mirchpur village in April 2010. It reversed the acquittal of 20 accused for coordinated and premeditated attack on the Balmiki Basti, that forced 254 Balmiki families to flee their homes.

As you sow, so shall you reap. The High Court verdict is the result of the crime they committed over eight years ago. It shows that law and justice prevail in the country. We do not have much hope from the government and political system, but have full faith in the judiciary, said 59-year-old Om Prakash.

He had been putting up at Tanwar farmhouse on the outskirts of Hisar. His nephew Sanjay Kumar, one of the arson victims, died some months after the incident.

Dilbagh Singh, a 46-year-old Dalit who had deposed in court in the case, stated that they were satisfied with the punishment awarded to the convicts.

Before the violence, we were living in peace in the village. The atmosphere got vitiated after the incident. I was employed as safai karamchari on a temporary basis after the incident. I have not visited the village for two years and I do not have a job now. It is better to work as a daily wager in town than to go back to the village, he said.

Satyawan, another witness in the case, said they were satisfied with the decision, but would file a petition against the acquittal of many others. I have talked to many persons living in the village after the decision. They are content with the punishment. The situation is peaceful in the village, he said.

Most members of families of the convicts refused to talk to mediapersons. Tension was palpable in their locality, with streets wearing a deserted look. Some upper caste persons said on the condition of anonymity that the decision had affected many families as their breadwinners would have to go to jail.

These families have been ruined and are in a state of shock. In some families, no male member has been spared, said a villager, blaming the media for creating hype in the aftermath of the incident.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

The Delhi High Court on Friday convicted four men of murder and 28 others from the Jat community of rioting and certain other offences in connection with burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Hisar district of Haryana in April 2010.

A Division Bench headed by Justice S Muralidhar, who dismissed the appeals of the 13 accused against their conviction, also reversed acquittal of 20 accused for coordinate and premeditated attack on the Balmiki basti that forced 254 families to flee their homes. The Bench, which also included Justice IS Mehta, upheld the acquittal of 21 other accused.

The four convicted of murder have been given life imprisonment while the remaining 28 convicts found guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989  have been given varying sentences. The convicts have been imposed fines amount ranging from Rs 1,000 to 10,000 each which will be spent towards victims rehabilitation.

Those convicted of murder are Kulwinder, Ramphal, Rajender and Pawan.

The High Court set aside the trial courts finding that this was not an instance of violence driven by caste hatred, terming it unsustainable and hereby.

The High Court directed that the convicts currently not in jail shall surrender on or before September 1, failing which the SHO of PS Narnaul, Haryana, will take all necessary steps to take them into custody.

In all 103 accused persons were sent up for trial. But five of them being juveniles were tried before the Juvenile Justice Board, Hisar. The trial of the case was shifted to Delhi on the orders of the Supreme Court in December 2010 and a Sessions Court had acquitted 82 of the remaining 98 accused who faced trial. It had convicted 16 accused but three of them died during pendency of their appeals in the Delhi High Court.

Citing a July 8, 2018, report published in The Tribune, the High Court appreciated the Haryana Governments decision to spend Rs.4.56 crore to rehabilitate the Dalits of Mirchpur village in a newly carved town Deen Dayal Puram in Dhandoor village adjoining Hisar town.

it is a sobering fact that the Government of Haryana has sought to rehabilitate the displaced families not in Mirchpur but in a separate township. The question is whether this accords with the constitutional promise of equality, social justice and fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual, the HC said.

The Bench lamented that even 71 years after Independence, instances of atrocities against Scheduled Castes by those belonging to dominant castes have shown no sign of abating.

It said the Mirchpur incident was yet another grim reminder of the complete absence of equality and fraternity in Indian society as noted by Dr BR Ambedkar when he tabled the final draft of the Constitution of India before the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949.

The High Court was deciding cross-appeals filed by the convicts, the State of Haryana and the victims against the September 24 verdict of a Delhi Sessions Court. They were sentenced on October 31, 2011.

The Bench said, There was a deliberate targeting of the houses of the Balmikis by the Jats and an instance of caste-based violence meant to teach the Balmikis a lesson for the perceived insult caused to the Jats on 19th and 21st April 2010.

It held that The Jats had planned their attack in advance and had come to the Balmiki basti well armed with oil cans, rehrisfilled with stones, lathis, gandasis, jellies, etc., and the properties of the Balmikis were burnt and their belongings were damaged/destroyed as is evidenced by the photographs and videograph on record.

The house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in burning alive of the father and daughter on April 21, 2010, after a dispute between the Jat and Dalit communities of the village.

On October 31, 2011, the trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

Five othersBaljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobalwere handed down jail term of five years by the trial court for their offences, including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and putting ablaze victims houses and provisions of the SC/ST (POA) Act. Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the trial court.

Baljeet, Botal and one Rishi died during the pendency of their appeals.
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 24

Congress lawmakers walked out of Vidhan Sabha for the second consecutive day on Friday to protest police force and use of water cannons against Youth Congress activists.

Congress lawmakers, including legislative party leader Mukesh Agnihotri and State Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, sat on the street outside the Vidhan Sabha gate shouting slogans and accusing the state BJP government of trying to crush dissent.

The Vishan Sabha however continued to function despite the Congress walkout.

Police used water cannons on Youth Congress activists protesting rising unemployment, price rise, crime against women and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The protest turned violent after Youth Congress leaders were stopped from entering the Assembly.

The clashes led to injuries on both sides: at least 10 leaders of the Youth Congress and five policemen, among them an assistant superintendent of police, have been wounded.

Both protesters and police accused the other of pelting stones.
gspannu7@gmail.com

Srinagar, August 24

Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday reviewed operational preparedness and security situation in the Valley and Kargil region during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said.

The Army chief visited Kargil Sector and Srinagar today, an Army official said.

He said Gen Rawat reviewed the operational preparedness and the security situation in the Valley and Kargil, and in Ladakh region of the state.

The Army chief complimented all ranks of the Army for their unwavering dedication, selfless devotion and high morale, the official said.  PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 24

In a startling disclosure, the state agriculture department has admitted that the minimum support price (MSP) of all major crops is lower than the production cost in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving farmers in a state of distress.

Even if the farmers get any benefit on their crops, it is paltry, ranging between Rs 5 to Rs 124 per quintal.

This information was shared by the agriculture department in response to an RTI application filed by Kissan Welfare Organisation (KWO) national president Rohit Choudhary.

In 2014-15, the MSP of wheat was Rs 1,450 per quintal while the production cost of Rs 2,735 per quintal forced poor farmers to bear a loss of Rs 1,285 per quintal. Similarly, the MSP of wheat in 2016-17 was Rs 1,625 per quintal against its production cost of Rs 1,630.27 per quintal, said the RTI reply exclusively available with The Tribune.

The department also revealed that the MSP of paddy was Rs 1,410 per quintal in the year 2014-15, while its production was Rs 1,732 per quintal for the year that left farmers to bear a loss of Rs 322 per quintal.

Our farmers are in complete distress and trouble. There is no profitability in farming which is forcing farmers to explore other options to earn their livelihood. Our youth are least interested in farming. We demand that the procurement rate of paddy should be fixed at Rs 6,000 per quintal, Choudhary Dev Raj, president of RS Pura, Basmati Rice Growers Association, said.

The KWO president said, Our crops are of high quality due to lesser pesticides in them. Export houses in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh are showing greater interest in basmati produced in the state. Besides, our farmers are not only bearing the brunt of weather vagaries but also facing high losses due to the hostile neighbour along the borders. Still they do not get much for their crops.

RL Bhagat, Joint Director, Agriculture (Extension), Jammu, said they had taken up the matter with the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices in New Delhi which has assured an increase in the MSP of rabi crops on the pattern of kharif crops. It will compensate the farmers to some extent, he said.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 23

West Pakistani refugees on Thursday organised a protest in the Pargwal area of Akhnoor subdivision against Article 35A. The demonstration was held under the leadership of Sukhdev Singh.

Article 35A grants special privileges and rights to the permanent residents of J&K and debars non-residents from buying land or property, getting government jobs, or voting in the Assembly elections in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, Sukhdev Singh termed Article 35A inhuman and discriminatory. He said those defending the Article were trying to befool the people in the name of special status.

Singh said the Article deprived hundreds of West Pakistani refugee families of their basic human rights.

Cautioning the government against succumbing to the pressure of separatist and other Kashmir-centric parties, Sukhdev Singh said awareness campaigns against Article 35A would be intensified to educate the masses.

Shamsher Singh, Ramesh Singh, Kuldeep Raj, Bishamber Singh, Balbir Raj, Kiran Bala, Geeta Devi, Sushma Devi and others addressed the gathering on the occasion.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Los Angeles, August 24

After Danny Boyles abrupt exit from next James Bond movie, the untitled film is likely to miss its release date of November 8, 2019 in the US.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bond 25 film may not hit theatres until late 2020.

Talks of postponing the movie were doing the rounds even before Boyle left the project due to creative differences.

Early this week, the official James Bond Twitter account shared the news of Boyles departure, saying the filmmaker chose to walk out of the project. He was supposed to start shooting in December.

Michael G Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25, the official James Bond Twitter account tweeted.

The producers are yet to announce a replacement for Boyle.

MGM is handling domestic distribution, while Universal will release the film overseas, which has a UK release date of October 25, 2019.

MGM hasnt confirmed that Bond 25 will be postponed. PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Thane, August 24

A 14-year-old girl was found raped and killed by unidentified people in her house at Bhiwandi near here in Maharashtra, police said on Friday.

The girl was alone at her home in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi at the time of the incident on Thursday afternoon, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said.

An offence under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) had been registered, she said, adding that a manhunt had been launched for the culprits.

However, it was not clear how many people were involved in the crime, which came to light when the victims elder sister returned home in the evening, Narkar said.

The accused entered the house when she was alone and allegedly raped her. They then severely beat her up and drowned her in a water tub, Narkar said.

When the victims sister returned home, she was shocked to see her sibling lying dead. After her parents arrived, they lodged a police complaint, she said.

The body was sent for post-mortem and based on its findings, the police registered the rape and murder offence against unidentified people on Thursday night at the Narpoli police station, Narkar said. PTI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, August 24

Al Jazeera, English television channel, may have to shut down its broadcast in India as the government has withdrawn its security clearance.

As per the Economic Times, no explanation was given, however, the decision seems to have been triggered from a documentary aired by the channel on militancy in Jammu and Kashmir that the government said was biased.

A security clearance from the Home Ministry is required for any channel to broadcast in India, while the licence is attained from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

The security clearance was given to the channel by the Home Ministry on December 3, 2010, and withdrawn on May 29, 2018, as per documents. And now it all depends on the Home Ministry.

Al Jazeera English is run by AJI International Pvt Ltd. Al Jazeera English executives declined to comment, as per ET.

As per ET, the channel told the government in its representation that the documentary on militant networks in Kashmir devoted a substantial 10 minutes to the central governments efforts and the views of its officials.

In 2015, the channel was suspended for five days because it showed an incorrect map of India with respect to Jammu and Kashmir.
shalender@tribune.com

Lucknow, August 24

BJP MLA from Lucknow allegedly misbehaved with the police to help a criminal (against whom non-bailable warrants have been issued) escape on Thursday.

Lucknows Bakshi ka Talab (BKT) MLA Avinash Trivedi and his henchmen clashed with the police so as to let criminal Prashant Mishra escape. Prashant Mishra, a Lucknow University student leader, is wanted in connection with the recent violence on the varsity campus. The high court has repeatedly hauled up the Lucknow police for not being able to arrest Mishra. Soon after former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayees ashes were immersed in the Gomti River at Jhulelal Park on Thursday, Hasanganj police station local intelligence unit (LIU) in charge Abhay Singh spotted Mishra with MLA Trivedi and his henchmen.

When the police tried to arrest Mishra, Trivedi and his henchmen pushed aside policemen thereby facilitating Mishra escape from the scene. BJP spokesperson Chandramohan said the issue would be probed into and the guilty would not be spared.  TNS
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtra Sevika Samitithe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh womens wingon Friday accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of demeaning India on foreign soil.

In remarks that came within hours of Rahul Gandhis accusations that the RSS treated like second-class citizens.

Rashtra Sevika Samitis communications head Sunila Sowani accused of showing his ignorance on foreign soil.

Not only do women participate in Sanghs events but RSS functionaries also participate in ours. Like Sangh, the Samiti is a big organisation with its own standing and functioning. Its that he (Rahul Gandhi) does not know what should be said and where, Sowani said.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party held two press conferences to respond to Gandhis allegations.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed the Congress president of demeaning India, emboldening Pakistan, insulting Indian culture and invoking Guru Nanak Dev for votes.

How can there be women in RSS? It is an organisation comprising men. For women there is Rashtra Sevika Samiti, Are there older people in Congress youth wing, he said, adding that the Congress president was "naadan and nasamajh neta" (immature politician).

Later in the evening, his colleague Sambit Patra held another press conference in Delhi.

His statements show his total disregard for democracy, Patra said, calling Gandhi a contract killer of the idea called India. When you are outside India you should behave like a proud Indian, he said.

Gandhi, who is currently in London, on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for monopolising the Ministry of External Affairs and leaving nothing for foreign minister Sushma Swaraj.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Mumbai, August 24

The first-ever Humboldt penguin, born at Mumbai zoo last week, died here two days ago, an official said here on Friday.

Hatched on August 15, the penguin died on August 22 (Wednesday), shocking the zoo authorities.

An autopsy was performed by a three-member team of the Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, at the zoo hospital.

The preliminary report revealed that the chick suffered from new-born anomalies like yolk sac retention and liver dysfunction resulting in its death.

The Veermata Jijabai Bhonsale Udyan & Zoo authorities said that parents of the chickMr. Molt and Flippertook good care of it after it was hatched, but it failed to survive.

However, it is not clear why the development was kept under wraps by the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for more than two days though the chicks birth had generated huge enthusiasm among Mumbaikars.

After mating in captivity, the penguin pair Mr Molt and Flipper, finally delivered an egg in early-July at the BMCs VJBU, or Mumbai Zoo, proving a big morale-booster for the civic body which had come under heavy fire for importing the endangered flightless birds from South Korea.

Eight Humboldt Penguins, three males, three females and two chickslater named as Dory, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Bubble, Flipper and Mr Moltwere imported here from Seouls COEX Aquarium on July 26, 2016.

However, one female, Dory could not survive and died on October 23 (2016) following a bacterial infection during the period of acclimatization.

After Dorys death, questions were raised on the wisdom of keeping these birds in hot Indian climatic conditions, especially since 2000, as they figure on the Vulnerable category in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature, Switzerland.

The Humboldt penguins have a life-span of around 25 years.  IANS
He told a reporter that his boss each morning would distribute buckets of flowers to Robb and others recruited to sell at intersections in the city and suburbs, with Robb pocketing half the money from his sales. Robb said at the time that before coming to Mount Greenwood, he had been selling flowers at 147th Street and Western Avenue in Harvey.
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, August 24

Some unknown hackers hacked into Hindu Mahasabhas website on Friday to upload a recipe of spicy beef curry.

Hackers who call themselves team of Kerala Cyber Warriors uploaded the recipe with some other messages on the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha website.

The web page has been taken down since.

The development comes after Hindu Mahasabha president Swami Chakrapanis recently controversial remarks during the Kerala rescue operations. Chakrapani called on rescuers to only help those who didnt eat beef, even going to the extent of attributing the states death toll in the floods to beef eating.
shalender@tribune.com

Bengaluru, August 24

The Karnataka cabinet today gave its approval to waiving Rs 30,163 crore farm loans in respect of nationalised or commercial banks, as announced in the budget.

The state government had announced loan waiver in the budget. We have already issued a GO (government order) on a cooperative bank farm loan waiver. In the same way in todays meeting, we approved waiving of loans from nationalised banks and issued a GO, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said.

This waiver of Rs 30,163 crore to benefit about 23 lakh farmers also includes interest to be paid by the government to nationalised banks, he said. The government has limited the loan amount to Rs 2 lakh in this waiver.

The CM said repayment to nationalised banks would be done in six instalments, for which government has already earmarked Rs 6,500 crore for the current year. Earlier this month, the cabinet had given its nod to waiving Rs 9,448.61 crore existing farm loans in respect of cooperative banks, and had issued a GO in this regard.  PTI
gspannu7@gmail.com

Kolkata, August 24

A city court on Friday sentenced a 16-year-old and a man to life imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl, trying the boy as an adult given the heinous nature of the crime.

According to a complaint filed by the victims mother, the girl was kidnapped and gang-raped by the duo on the evening of December 16, 2017.

Judge Jimut Bahan Biswas of Sealdah Court here sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for the remainder of their lives for gang-rape and under provisions of the POCSO Act.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh on each of them. Ninety per cent of the money will be paid to the victim.

It directed the West Bengal Government to pay Rs 3 lakh to the victim as per the POCSO Act. The amount has to be paid to her within 30 days of receipt of the order.

Judge Biswas also directed the joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata police to ensure protection of the victim in the near future.

The court observed that though one of the accused claimed to be 16 years old, he was treated as an adult for punishment in a heinous crime like rape under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Special public prosecutor Vivek Sharma had sought maximum punishment for the accused persons.

He said they had lured the girl with mango juice and took her to a deserted field under Ultadanga police station in the city.

The counsel for the two accused claimed that they had been falsely implicated by the victims mother out of animosity.  PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

London, August 24

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have a deeply thought-out strategy on Pakistan, but acknowledged that it was very difficult to converse with Islamabad as there is no single institution there that holds supremacy.

Addressing the International Institute of Strategic Studies here, Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit, talked about Indo-Pak relations which nosedived following a spate of terror attacks on Indian military bases by Pakistan-based terror groups since January 2016.

India has made it clear that it will not hold dialogue with Pakistan as terrorism and talks cannot go hand-in-hand.

Gandhi said that there is no deeply thought-out strategy by Prime Minister Modi when it comes to Pakistan.

He also said that it was very difficult to deal with Pakistan.

Pakistans powerful military has ruled the country for nearly half of its history since Independence in 1947.

Gandhi said: Its very difficult to converse with Pakistan because there is no one institution that holds supremacy.

So we wait until they come to form a cohesive structure, he said at the London-based think-tank, apparently referring to the new government in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In a letter to Khan on August 18, the day he was sworn in as Pakistans 22nd Prime Minister, Modi expressed Indias resolve to build good neighbourly relations between the two countries.

On July 30, Modi telephoned Khan to congratulate him on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf partys victory in the general elections and expressed hope that both countries will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties.

'Doklam not an isolated issue, Chinese still there'

Speaking on the Doklam standoff with China, Gandhi said it was not an isolated issue but part of a sequence of events and if Prime Minister Modi was carefully watching the process, India could have stopped it.

Gandhi said that Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event.

Doklam is not an isolated issue. It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process.

If he (PM Modi) was carefully watching the process, he couldve stopped it, Gandhi said at the London-based think-tank.

He claimed that the truth is the Chinese are still in Doklam today.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha last month 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 face-off site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area, Singh had said.

Tensions between India and China reached their peak during a 73-day standoff in Doklam near Bhutan over Beijings 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. PTI
shalender@tribune.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

Congress president Rahul Gandhi invited sharp reactions from the BJP when he equated the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood, saying the Opposition would unite in 2019 to fight the Sangh, which was trying to destroy the modern idea of India.

Within moments of Gandhis remarks at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London on Friday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra returned fire, calling him a contract killer for the idea of India and asking if he even knew what Muslim Brotherhood was, while demanding an apology.

In London, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the RSS and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, he said, had monopolised the MEA, pursued an episodic foreign policy, failed to view Doklam as a process and lacked a coherent response to Pakistan.

He reserved some really sharp comments for the RSS. It treats women like second-class citizens and divides people, he said in Berlin on Thursday night, following up in London with the RSS equals Muslim Brotherhood comment.

About PM Modi, he said, Now theres PMOs monopoly on Foreign Ministry and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj really has nothing to do than give people visas.

Answering questions on Indian policy, he called Doklam preventable. Doklam is not an unrelated episode It was a crisis that happened because the government saw it as episodic.

I view Doklam as a process. The PM views it as an event. I am pretty confident Doklam would not have happened. You could have stopped it if you had been carefully watching the processThe truth is the Chinese are still in Doklam, he said while answering a query on how he would have responded differently to Doklam.

Commenting on the RSS, he said: No other organisation tries to capture institutions of India. What we are dealing with is a new idea, an old India being reborn and it is similar to the idea that exists in the Arab world with the Muslim Brotherhood. I would compare it. The idea is that one ideology should run through every single institution. One idea should crush all other ideas.

The Congress chief, on an NRI wooing spree in Europe, also exuded confidence in BJPs defeat in 2019, saying the maths of alliances favoured the Opposition. If theres an Opposition alliance in UP, the BJP cant win five seats there and in Bihar, too. Then 120 seats are gone, said Gandhi candidly, confessing that the Congress 2014 Lok Sabha defeat taught him to listen to people.

Back here, the BJP demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his irresponsible and immature statements, while Sunila Sowani, chief of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti (RSS women wing) said: It is sad to see Rahul Gandhi showing his ignorance on foreign soil. Not only do women participate in sanghs events, but RSS functionaries also participate in ours. Like sangh, the samiti is a big organisation with its own standing. It is sad he does not know what should be said and where.

(With inputs from Vibha Sharma)
shalender@tribune.com

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

Politicians cutting across party lines knelt before Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, people thronged his Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa in droves, and his writ ran not only in Haryana but also in neighbouring states till he was convicted of rape and sentenced to 20-year imprisonment on August 25 last year.

A year on, his Rs 2,000-crore business empire comprising 20-odd manufacturing units, a film production company, a mall, a cinema hall, a top-end hotel, retail shops and his MSG brand of consumer goods and fashion garments lies in tatters.

In the aftermath of the violence that left 36 dead in Panchkula and Sirsa following Ram Rahims conviction, the dera factories were sealed ahead of a search operation by the Punjab and Haryana High Court-appointed Court Commissioner and accounts frozen. Also, the Town and Country Planning served notices for unauthorised constructions.

Deras core committee members have since been arrested or are on the run. Members of the deras top management  chairperson Vipassana Insan and senior vice-chairman Dr PR Nain  are in hiding and the day-to-day affairs of the sect are now being looked after by Shobha Insan who played second fiddle to Vipassana when Ram Rahim was at the helm.

Ram Rahims family, which still lives in the dera, stays away from daily or weekly congregations and is seen only on occasions like birth anniversaries of deras present or former heads.

The political leaders who once bowed before Ram Rahim are no longer keen to be seen alongside his disciples and the dera premises that remained abuzz with activity a year ago has very few visitors these days.

The deras multispecialty hospital that once used to have its own skin bank, blood bank, chemist shops, etc. without statuary licences is now being run under the supervision of the Sirsa Civil Surgeon. A panel constituted by the High Court under the Sirsa DC monitors the accounts of eight educational institutions run by the dera so that its employees get salaries in time.

Sooraj (name changed), who ran a factory in the dera, says barring two units  one manufacturing pickles and a bakery  which were proprietor firms of individuals, all others are shut and their accounts seized on the orders of the High Court.

Sudhir, who runs a grocery shop in Sirsa, and his wife Suman were once followers of Ram Rahim and the conviction came as a jolt for them. For two months, Suman ate just once a day after much convincing. She wouldnt let us turn on the television set for the fear of facing the truth. She gradually reconciled to the fact. We now visit a gurdwara for our spiritual needs, says Sudhir.

An ardent follower, however, claims the number of followers visiting the dera is on a gradual rise. On August 15, which is also the birthday of Guruji (Ram Rahim), people visited the dera in thousands. Gurujis mother and other family members planted trees like the dera chief did in the past. Medical camps were organised where hundreds of people were treated, he says.

Sources say the number of people visiting the dera before conviction was 25,000 to 30,000 a day, while lakhs participated in annual events. Now, the daily gathering, which had fallen to near zero after conviction, stands at 4,000 to 5,000 per day.

Sirsa DC Prabhjot Singh admits there has been a gradual rise in the number of followers visiting the dera, but the administration cant stop them. Unless we see a law and order problem, we dont have any issues. There hasnt been a single incident of violence in the past one year.

Many lying low

Most followers are lying low as probe is still on. No one knows when the police may come and pick them up,  A dera follower
shalender@tribune.com

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

The free fall of the rupee has halted the declining trend in Indias garment exports after almost nine months, with the sector registering around 6% positive growth in July this year as compared to the corresponding period previous year.

The recovery, which is in the rupee term, has given a ray of hope to apparel exporters, particularly from Punjab, Haryana and Noida in Uttar Pradesh, with combined employee base of around 2 million workers. Punjab and Haryana house more than 200 exporters. These northern states had been facing a decline in apparel exports because of high input costs compared to the Tirupur cluster of Tamil Nadu.

In the rupee term, exports for the month of July this year was Rs 8,757.23 crore as against Rs 8,262.94 crore in July 2017. The growth was mainly due to strengthening of dollar against the rupee, the exporters said.

The situation has improved a bit, although Indian garment exporters are facing a stiff competition from countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Ethiopia. To boost the exports, the government should dole out some incentives or devise a mechanism to refund embedded taxes in the GST regime, Apparel Export Promotion Council chairman HKL Magu said.

Ludhiana-based KG Exports Managing Director Harish Dua finds it a temporary phenomenon. To say that exports are now on growth trajectory is not right. The increase in exports in terms of rupee is attributed to strong dollar, he said.

In dollar terms, export of readymade garments, however, remained in the negative territory. It dwindled marginally by 0.60% in July this year as compared to corresponding month of the previous year. The labour-intensive apparel sector is witnessing a continuous decline in exports since October 2017. In dollar terms, the countrys readymade garment exports were to the tune of $1.275 billion in July 2018 against $1.282 billion in July 2017, a decline of 0.56%.

The government must do something to boost exports such as increasing duty drawback rates. In addition to this, it should restrict exports of cotton and viscose yarn to facilitate the domestic exporters, Dua said. The government should promote value addition to the cotton and viscose yarn rather than exporting it as a raw material, he added.

Overall, Indias readymade garment exports in April-July 2018 was to the tune of Rs 35,860 crore, a decline by 10% as compared to corresponding period. In dollar terms, it was $5.321 billion in the first four months of the current financial year, a decline of 13.95% as compared to the same period last fiscal year. During April-July 2017, Indias apparel exports were to the tune of $6.183 billion.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 24

The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing of a petition challenging Article 370 of the Constitution granting special constitutional status to J&K within the Indian Union.

The petition, which was listed for Friday, will come up for hearing in September.

The petition was listed for hearing on Friday but we have been informed by the court that it has been deferred to September, advocate-general DC Raina told The Tribune.

Raina said the petition was deferred by the Supreme Courts roster as important cases like reservation and promotion were pending before the constitutional bench.

The apex court is hearing the petition by Kumari Vijaylakshmi Jha contending that Article 370 was a temporary provision that had automatically lapsed with the dissolution of the J&Ks Constituent Assembly on January 26, 1957. Jhas petition was dismissed by the Delhi High Court in April 2017.

Jha contends that the provisions like citizenship in Article 370 never got assent/approval of the President or Parliament or Government of India and continuing with them amounted to fraud on the basic structure of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court is to hear on August 30 the petitions challenging the validity of Article 35-A of the Constitution which gives permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir certain privileges.

Separatists have called for shutdown in J&K on August 30 and 31 to protest against the petitions challenging the validity of Article 35-A.

I am surprised that separatists have called for shutdown in support of Article 35-A but ignored Article 370. If Article 370 goes, everything goes, remarked a senior officer.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, August 24

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139 feet till August 31 keeping in mind the grave devastation that had taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud considered the Centres submission that the sub-committee of the Mullaperiyar dam had met on August 23 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level was maintained at 139 feet, two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court.

The bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management saying the decision to lower the water limit in the dam had been taken in view of the devastating deluge in Kerala.

The observation came after the Tamil Nadu government alleged that it could be a part of a sinister design to circumvent the apex courts decision fixing the permissible limit.

The bench fixed the matter for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses in the meantime.

The Kerala government had on Thursday told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the devastating deluge in the state.

It had said that out of a population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one sixth of the population of Kerala had been directly affected by the floods.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.

Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the dam as the floods in Kerala had created a havoc.

The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level.

The direction to consider reducing the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet had come in the backdrop of the Kerala Chief Minister writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart EK Palaniswami seeking lowering of the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam in the interest of its safety.

The Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea with regard to bringing down the water level, saying the current inflow of water into the dam was 20,000 cusecs and due to rains, it might not be possible to reduce the water level immediately. PTI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, August 24

In a relief to the Trinamool Congress, whose candidates had won over 20,000 local body seats in West Bengal uncontested, the Supreme Court on Friday turned down the pleas of the CPI(M) and BJP seeking cancellation of the polls on grounds of alleged obstruction in the filing of nomination papers.

The top court, while refusing to set aside the elections to the uncontested seats in the violence-marred panchayat polls, referred to the settled legal principle and said once the election process has commenced, it is trite law that it should not be interdicted mid-stage.

Out of total of 58,692 seats combined for gram panchayats, panchayat samiti and zila parishads, 20,159 seats were uncontested.

The court also set aside the Calcutta High Court order directing the state poll panel to allow filing of nomination papers in panchayat elections through electronic forms, such as e-mails and WhatsApp.

We are of the view that challenges in regard to the validity of the elections to the uncontested seats in the panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads must also be pursued in election petitions under Section 79(1) of the Panchayat Elections Act.

We leave it open to any person aggrieved to raise a dispute in the form of an election petition in accordance with the provisions contained in the Panchayat Elections Act, a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said, observing that a general observation on the uncontested seats cannot be made as it would depend on the evidence in each individual case.

The Bench, however, took note of the allegations and allowed the aggrieved candidates to file election petitions to challenge the polls in the concerned courts.

Exercising the extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution, it directed that the limitation period of 30 days for filing poll petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results.

Earlier, the apex court had termed the situation as grim and grave and asked the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) not to notify the results of those seats which have been won uncontested by ruling party members.

The court rejected the plea of BJP and CPI(M) seeking its intervention on the basis that free and fair elections are a part of the basic feature of the Constitution.

Justice Chandrachud, writing the verdict, said the important consideration which must weigh with the court is that if the above submission is accepted, election results to over 20,000 seats will be set at naught in the absence of the affected parties before the Court.

Once the election process has commenced, it is trite law that it should not be interdicted mid stage. The electoral process is afforded sanctity in a democracy. That is the reason why in a consistent line of precedent, this Court has insisted upon the discipline of the law being followed so that any challenge to the validity of an election has to be addressed by adopting the remedy of an election petition provided under the governing statute....

Setting aside the polls to over 20,000 seats would amount to prejudging the basic issue whether the elections were vitiated by obstructions, caused to candidates from filing nominations, in each constituency, it said.

The veracity of the allegations would depend upon evidence in each individual cases in an election petition, it said, adding that a general assumption cannot be made.

We are emphatically of the view that any challenge to the election must take place in a manner which is known to law, it said, adding that only political parties came to the court and individual aggrieved candidates did not.

It also said the Panchayat Elections Act was a complete code in regard to the conduct of the polls and resolution of disputes concerning the validity of the election.

It, however, said there was grim situation prevailing in the state at the time of local bodies elections as it had compelled the state poll panel to extend the date for filing nomination papers.

Having regard to the seriousness of the allegations and bearing in mind the fact that these proceedings were pending, we are of the view that it would be necessary to exercise the power under Article 142 of the Constitution to extend the period of 30 days for the filing of election petitions in respect of the uncontested seats, it said.

The court accepted the submission that the High Court erred in directing it to accept nomination papers through electronic forms.

We are of the view that the High Court was in error in issuing directions for the acceptance of nominations in the electronic form. The judgement of the High Court would accordingly have to be set aside, it said, adding that the High Court was aware that the state poll panel was constituted under Article 243 K and did not fall in the ambit of the Information Technology Act.

While the High Court may have been guided by a desire to ensure a free and fair election, the direction to accept nominations in the election form has clearly transgressed the permissible area within which the jurisdiction under Article 226 could have been exercised, it said. PTI
Carpenter and Williams fled the Bank of America branch with more than $80,000, but were apprehended a few hours later not far from the bank. Police surrounded an apartment complex the two men were seen running toward after the robbery, and police cleared out tenants and questioned them.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

New York, August 24

The Trump administrations inconsistent immigration policies, including on the H1-B visa for professionals, could disrupt operations of American firms and inflict substantial harm on their competitiveness, CEOs from top US companies have warned.

In a letter to US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, members of the Business Roundtable, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, President and CEO of Mastercard Ajay Banga and Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems Chuck Robbins said that confusion around US immigration policy creates anxiety for employees who follow the law.

The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of Americas leading companies, told Nielsen yesterday that inconsistent government action and uncertainty undermines economic growth and American competitiveness.

Due to a shortage of green cards for workers, many employees find themselves stuck in an immigration process lasting more than a decade, they said.

To avoid unnecessary costs and complications for American businesses, the US government should not change the rules in the middle of the process, the CEOs said, pointing out to the several policy memoranda over the past year by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued that has resulted in arbitrary and inconsistent adjudications.

Companies now do not know whether a work visa petition that was approved last month will be approved when the company submits the identical application to extend the employees status, they said.

In particular, the CEOs said they are worried about changes to the review process for H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, expected changes to the rules for spouses of H-1B employees and planned changes to certain deportation rules.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Employees who qualify for H-1B jobs often hold degrees in science, tech, engineering or math, and are highly sought after by employers, the CEOs said.

The Roundtable members said that a confusing immigration system in the US which threatens to split their families apart, could encourage them to seek employment in a different country. That would put the American economy at a disadvantage.

They also noted that in many cases, the US Labour Department has determined that no qualified US workers are available to do that persons job. President Donald Trump has said that some IT companies were abusing the US work visas to deny jobs to American workers.

As the federal government undertakes its legitimate review of immigration rules, it must avoid making changes that disrupt the lives of thousands of law-abiding and skilled employees, and that inflict substantial harm on US competitiveness, the CEOs noted.

The Business Roundtable will continue to work with Congress to reduce the Green Card backlog, they said.

In the interim, inconsistent immigration policies are unfair and discourage talented and highly skilled individuals from pursuing career opportunities in the United States, they said.

The reality is that few will move their family and settle in a new country if, at any time and without notice, the government can force their immediate departureoften without explanation.

At a time when the number of job vacancies are reaching historic highs due to labour shortages, now is not the time restrict access to talent, the CEOs said.

The group has called for increasing the number of H-1B visas and letting people with advanced STEM degrees from American universities qualify for a green card immediately. Meanwhile, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement the administration has been relentlessly pursuing necessary immigration reforms that move towards a merit-based system.

USCIS is committed to reforming employment based immigrant and non-immigrant immigration programs so they benefit the American people to the greatest extent possible, CNN quoted spokesperson Michael Bars as saying. PTI
gspannu7@gmail.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, August 24

Traders at Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) across Maharashtra are making plans for an indefinite strike after the state government mooted a jail term for those buying produce from farmers at rates below the Minimum Support Price.

According to sources, traders at several places like Solapur, Akola, Latur and Amravati who deal in pulses like Tur, Soyabean and oil seeds are planning to stop purchase of agricultural produce from farmers as prices have plunged below the MSP fixed by the government.

No trader will risk going to jail by paying prices below MSP. But when there is a surplus in any crop, the prices are bound to fall, Chetan Vaishanv, a trader from the Navi Mumbai APMC, said.



As per a Cabinet decision taken by the Maharashtra Government earlier this week, anyone found guilty of purchasing agricultural produce below the MSP would be sentenced to one year in jail and fined Rs 50,000.

Not just traders in the APMCs, but those located anywhere in the state come under the ambit of the new law.

State government sources say, the Devendra Fadnavis government has approved amendments to the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development & Regulation) Act, 1963.

Reports say some commodities like Tur is selling at Rs 3700 as against the MSP of Rs 5675 per quintal.

At present 16 crops, mainly grains, pulses and some cash crops, come under the MSP regime.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, August 24

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission has issued a notice to vice-chancellors of all universities, directing them to ban junk food in college premises.

This comes as a reminder of the advisory issued in November 2016 for banning junk foodin colleges to 'set new standards for healthy food and reduce obesity levels in young learners'.

The UGC, in the advisory, stated that banning junk food in colleges would set new standards for healthy food habits, and subsequently instill a sense of healthy eating and awareness on the same.

UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain noted that although the directive wasn't compulsory, colleges were expected to comply with the guidelines and help create awareness regarding the ill effects of junk food and the impact of the consumption of the same.

"UGC, in the interest of the health of all the students of the universities and colleges, issued an advisory on August 21, which is a reinforcement of an earlier advisory issued on November 10, 2016, where we asked them to sensitise students about the ill-effects of junk food and to adopt healthy food practices. It's not mandatory, but we expect all the universities and colleges to follow it," he said. ANI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, August 24

Veteran Marathi actor Vijay Chavan, known for his comic roles, died on Friday morning at a hospital after a prolonged illness, a hospital official said.

He was 63.

The actor, who has featured in more than 350 films, was reportedly not keeping well for some time and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.

He was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mulund for the past four days as his health had started deteriorating. He passed away on Friday morning at about 5, the hospital official told PTI.

Chavan, who also featured in numerous plays, is best remembered for his comic roles in Marathi films such as Jatra, Zapatlela, Pachadlele, Mumbaicha Dabewala and Shrimanta Damodar Panta, among others.

Moru Chi Mavshi is one of his famous plays in which he was appreciated for portraying a woman. PTI
shalender@tribune.com

Lucknow, August 24

A body has been recovered, six women rescued while search is on for more than 20 villagers reportedly missing after a boat capsized midstream in the Ganga in Bijnor on Friday. A NDRF team has arrived from Ghaziabad to assist the district administration in the rescue operation. The accident occurred near Rajarampur village under Mandawer police station in Sadar tehsil of Bijnor.

The district administration has brought out the body of a woman. Around 30 persons, among them over 20 women, were returning after collecting fodder from the other side of the river when the boat capsized in the river, which is in spate due to the heavy rains.

Three men swam to safety. Of the six women who were swept away and rescued by villagers, three were unconscious and have been admitted to the district hospital for treatment.

Taking cognizance of the mishap, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the district administration to speedily conduct the relief and rescue operation.  TNS
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday thanked the NRIs of Germany for helping form the party government in Punjab and said the Congress was working on the philosophy of Guru Nanak.

Addressing a cheering crowd in Berlin on Thursday night, Gandhi said, Its said a friend in need is a friend indeed. You all helped form a Congress government in Punjab for which I thank you. The Punjab Government is your Government. If you ever find any difficulty there, let me know. My doors are open for you 24 hours.

Present also at the event was former MP Preneet Kaur, who earlier addressed the gathering of Indian Overseas Congress and spoke of the steps Punjab Government had taken for the benefit of NRIs.

Rahul Gandhi referred to Preneet Kaur in his speech and said she was also always available to redress diaspora grievances.

In his speech on Friday, Gandhi spoke of his thought being influenced cent per cent by Guru Nanak and hailed the concept of langar in the Sikh religion equating it with the Congress outlook of reaching the last man in the line.

You said my thoughts appear influenced by Guru Nanaks teachings. Yes they are cent per cent inspired by Guru Nanaks teachings. The Guru spoke of unity in diversity and thats what Congress party believes and fosters. What is langar? Langar means no one should go back hungry no matter how small or weak.

Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of dividing India and spreading hatred and anger and asked the attending Indians, have you ever heard of an Indian going anywhere in a foreign land and spreading anger. Our government is dividing its own people and spreading hatred whereas Congress works to bring everyone together.

Congress president said, Indias competition is with China. Jobs will either go to China or come to us. Chinese government creates 50,000 jobs in 24 hours and Indian government creates 450 jobs in the same time. Farmers are committing suicides, youth see no future. Our government is working in a different way.

Gandhi is in Europe to engage NRIs and raise funds for Congress ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

He will be in London today and will address a gathering at the London School of Economics.
editorial@tribune.com

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

Infighting in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took centre stage on the first day of the monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha on Friday. Former Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira and seven other MLAs of his rebel group chose to sit in the back row after an initiative to resolve differences between the warring groups failed.

Speaker Rana KP Singh told The Tribune that he would decide on the seating arrangement for Khaira on Monday as there was disagreement within the party.

Leader of Opposition Harpal Cheema had written to the Speaker on Thursday, changing Khairas seat. However, in a letter to the Speaker on Friday, he sought continuation of the old seating plan, wherein Khaira used to sit in the front row. However, Khaira reportedly told the Speaker that he would sit at the rear.

Khaira said he would occupy the front seat only if the spokesperson for his group, Kanwar Sandhu, was seated beside him, as per the previous arrangement.

Amid the seat controversy, four MLAs of the official AAP unit went to Khairas residence in a bid to put up a united front against the government in the Assembly. The group, led by former Leader of Opposition HS Phoolka, included partys deputy state convener Aman Arora, Deputy Leader of Opposition Sarabjit Kaur Manuke and womens wing head Rupinder Kaur Ruby.

Phoolka and Manuka told The Tribune that Khaira and the others had agreed to settle the seat issue and asked both groups to meet the Speaker together. Manuke said they reached the Speakers office, but the other group did not turn up. Khaira told mediapersons later that they were all for unity between the MLAs, but it was possible only when the national leadership held a meeting of all legislators with the resolutions passed at the Bathinda convention of AAP volunteers (organised by Khaira) as the basis of the talks. During Cheemas meeting with party MLAs before the session, they agreed that the seat plan should not be an issue. Meanwhile, Phoolka wrote to the Speaker, offering his seat to Khaira. The Speaker did not accept it, saying that it was the prerogative of the Leader of Opposition to request a change of seats of his partys MLAs.

When the session began, the Khaira group came separately and sat at the rear. Phoolka went up to Khaira and managed to bring him to the front row, where the latter sat for a few minutes. Later, he moved back with his group.

During the short session, both groups tried to raise farmers issues and demanded a session lasting at least 10 days. Cheema asked the Speaker to include the names of 126 farmers, who had committed suicide in the state since the previous session, in the obituary references.
editorial@tribune.com

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

The Congress governments efforts to help debt-trapped farmers through stricter laws for arhtiyas (commission agents) in Punjab has evoked sharp reactions, with skeptics pointing to the BJP-led Centres failure to persuade the state to join its e-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture Market) even when the Akali-Dal-BJP alliance was in power.

Punjabs former Development Commissioner MS Gill welcomed the state governments move. He recommended that the government should reduce the arhtiyas commission from 2.5 per cent to 1 per cent.

It was 1 per cent before I moved to the Centre in 1988 and was doubled to 2 per cent because of unethical conduct. I would request the government to roll it back and also review the commission on other crops, said the former Union Minister, who has also served as the Union Agriculture Secretary.

Gill also suggested that kurki (seizure of a farmers property  land, tractors, bullocks etc) on his inability to repay loans should be stopped. Arhtiyas wield clout, so it remains to be seen how far these recommendations are implemented, he said.

Agriculture experts, referring to laws of the 1930s (Punjab Relief Indebtedness Act, 1934; Punjab Debtors Protection Act, 1936; Punjab Money-Lenders Act, 1938), highlighted the failure of subsequent governments to curb the powerful nexus controlling the sector. They say if the Capt Amarinder Singh government wants to help farmers, it should abolish the arhtiya system.

About 20,000 arhtiyas earn Rs 1,000 crore in a year through commission, as per two-year-old figures. If the government is keen to break the unholy nexus, it should abolish the system and use the money to assist farmers, said agriculture expert Devender Sharma.

Experts say the only factor that has changed over the years is the social base of its operators Earlier, they used to be from the traditional trading class, but now they come from the politically connected, landed community, which is abusing the laws while genuine farmers are suffering, they say.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

The SAD-BJP alliance on Thursday demanded the arrest of Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) and Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for allegedly fabricating evidence and leaking a top-secret document (sacrilege probe report) before its submission to the Vidhan Sabha.

In a resolution handed over to Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh, the two parties also demanded the ministers immediate dismissal for his part in the criminal leak of the report. They requested the Speaker to impress upon the Vidhan Sabha to approach the Supreme Court to get a sitting judge appointed to probe cases of sacrilege in Punjab. The parties alleged that Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) had created false evidence while probing incidents of sacrilege.

The resolution came down heavily on the ex-judge for trying to question the existence of the august Sikh institutions, including Akal Takht, and deliberately trying to lower their dignity by launching a Congress-inspired tirade against those in the service of these institutions.

The SAD-BJP legislators also submitted a notice for breach of privilege motion to the Speaker and urged him to take prompt action against all those who could have leaked the Commission report, including the ex-judge himself, Randhawa and AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira.
editorial@tribune.com

Anthony Cuthbertson

Google is rolling out a major new update to its popular Gmail platform, however some users are not happy with the new layout.

The new Gmail update features a snooze email function, a fresh design and a confidential mode that protects outgoing emails.

However, hundreds of Gmail users took to social media to complain about Googles new design. Fortunately for them, there is a way to switch it back to the old version, but only for a limited time.

Approximately 12 weeks after the GA [general availability] announcement in July, any users whove opted out of the new Gmail will be automatically migrated to the new experience, with no option to opt out, Google said in a blogpost announcing the changes.

Users whove already transitioned to the new Gmail will lose the ability to opt out.

To switch back to the previous version of Gmail, users can simply go to the Settings cog in the top right corner and click Go back to classic Gmail.

Reverting back to the more familiar layout still allows the option to change back to the new version. Simply go back to Settings and click Try the new Gmail.

When launching the new Gmail for the first time, users will be able to select default, comfortable and compact mode.

Perhaps the biggest update, beyond the overall look, is the confidential feature, which allows users to put an expiration date on sent emails. This means that after a certain time, the messages will disappear from the recipients inbox.

The email can also not be forwarded or printed and senders have the option to add a passcode in order to access it.

Confidential mode is not set as a default, so, to use it, Gmail users will need to select the confidential mode icon at the bottom of the compose email window.

The snooze emails function allows people to postpone emails to a future date or a time thats more convenient.

Your email will come back to the top of your inbox when you want it to, whether thats tomorrow, next week, or this evening, Google explains. You can find your snoozed items under Snoozed in the Menu.

The new tools are designed to help Gmail users work faster and more efficiently, while also improving their security.

 The Independent
The current national mortgage foreclosure crisis has had devastating effects on the housing markets in many communities of the south suburbs where the correlation between the clustering of high-cost subprime lending and the high rates of defaults/foreclosures and areas of substantial minority homeownership is extremely dramatic, his 2012 report for the White House conference said.
vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Ravinder Makhaik

Solar power tariffs having dropped to a record low are saving many Himalayan river vistas from disappearing, as interest in hydropower development has waned significantly.

Many potential project sites that were allotted a decade ago are being abandoned or surrendered, as competitive tariff loses out to cheaper solar power.

Unable to motivate developers to get started on stalled projects, an anguished chief minister Jai Ram Thakur put up his case at a state power ministers conference that had Union Power Minister RK Singh in attendance as hydropower should get the same priority as solar.

In June the government had nudged developers of 21 stalled projects to submit revised completion schedules. We have asked power producers to expedite work on these projects, said Tarun Kapoor, additional chief secretary (power).

Hydro-electricity vis-a-vis solar energy is so expensive today, who would want to develop a hydropower plant anymore? is how Deepak Sanan, a retired bureaucrat, summed it up.

For over two decades, hydropower generation has been sold as a pipe dream to achieve financial self-sufficiency by the state, but Himachal continues to sink deeper into debt, as the government expenditure keeps ballooning every year.

Besides, taming rivers for hydro-electricity has left scars that have defaced the scenic valley and damaged ecological habitats, as many river stretches disappeared into tunnels.

This cannot be anything but an unmitigated disaster, for a river is not just a flowing mass of water  it is an entire eco-system sustaining human, animal and rich aquatic life within it, is how a Himachal Pradesh High Court-appointed committee had raised concerns about damages to micro-climates being caused by vanishing rivers. The Satluj originates in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar- Mount Kailash peak on the Tibetan plateau, as do the Bhramaputra and the Indus, and enters Himachal at an altitude of 3,000 metres and flows out from Bhakra Dam at about 500 metres.

Bhakra Dam, Kol Dam, Nathpha Jhakri Dam and Karcham Wangtoo Dam have already sliced up the river into parts and if the full hydro potential is developed, the original river will be gone and will only be preserved for small stretches in its current form. For the Ravi, a natural flow of over 70 km has already been broken down by cascading dams and only 3 km of the river now flows in its original bed.

German geographer Alexander Erlewein in his study Disappearing rivers  The limits of environmental assessment for hydropower in India holds that fragmentation of such large rivers that are as old as the Himalayas, has severely damaged habitats of animals and plants that depend upon it for migration and dissemination.

Whereas the Pong, Bhakra and Kol dam projects have disrupted the natural river flows and inundated large tracts of fertile land, others like the Nathpa Jhakri, Karchma Wangtoo and Chamera dams harness electricity by diverting the river into tunnels to create a fall downstream to run turbines at a generation plant.

Studying the impact of hydro-electric project development around the ecologically sensitive Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), which involved construction of roads and associated activities of dam building that involved blasting, dumping and heavy-machine usage, researcher Virat Jolli from Delhi University Environmental Sciences Department in his 2017 paper found that habitat disturbance had significantly affected the diversity, richness and abundance of bird species in the Sanj Valley.
gspannu7@gmail.com

Moscow, August 24

The leader of Chechnya says human rights activists will be barred from visiting his region of Russia once the trial of a prominent activist wraps up.

One of Chechnyas most prominent rights advocates, Oyub Titiyev, is on trial for drug possession. His supporters dismiss the charges against him as a political vendetta.

Speaking at a meeting with law enforcement officials in a video released on Wednesday, Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to make Chechnya a no-go zone for human rights activists, whom he described as terrorists and extremists, after the Titiyev trial ends.

Kadyrov accused the activists, who have shed light on rampant rights abuses in the southern Russian region, of standing in the way of a peaceful life of our people. AP
singhking99@yahoo.com

Solo: An Indonesian civil servant who owed his ex-wife a large alimony has paid back some $10,000 worth of missed payments -- in coins. Dwi Susilarto arrived at court hauling a dozen sacks filled with 153 million rupiah ($10,500) in small change, a hefty payment that weighed in at about 890kg, his lawyer said. A fight nearly broke out between the man and his ex-wifes lawyer, who refused to count the money transported in a wheelbarrow pushed by the 54-year-old and two friends. Susilartos lawyer denied that his client was trying to insult ex-wife Hermi Setyowati. The court ordered its staff to count the money. AFP

Japan gets first woman fighter pilot

Tokyo: Japan on Friday appointed its first female woman pilot, the latest achievement in the national push for greater gender equality in the traditionally male-dominated country. First Lt. Misa Matsushima, 26, joined the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) after graduating from the National Defence Academy in 2014, becoming one of the 13,707 servicewomen who make up a mere 6.1 per cent of all Japanese troops, reports CNN. She finished her training earlier this week and was officially named a fighter pilot in a ceremony on Friday, said the JASDF. IANS

James Bond movie to miss 2019 release date

Los Angeles: With the abrupt exit of director Danny Boyle, the next instalment in the James Bond film franchise will miss its scheduled release date in 2019. The North American release date for the 25th Bond film was November 8, 2019. Its possible the film may not hit theatres until late 2020, hollywoodreporter.com quoted several sources as saying. Even before Boyle departed, there was talk of pushing the movies release to early 2020. The helmers exit over creative differences was revealed in a tweet earlier this week by Bond producers Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson and actor Daniel Craig. IANS
singhking99@yahoo.com

Melbourne, August 24

Scott Morrison on Friday became Australias new prime minister after emerging victorious in a leadership contest for the Liberal Party following a political coup against Malcolm Turnbull, ending days of political chaos in the country.

Morrison, 50, who has been serving as the countrys treasurer, defeated former home affairs minister Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40 at the closed- door leadership vote.

The vote was the second challenge this week to the leadership of Turnbull - who himself assumed office by leading a party revolt in 2015. Morrison is the sixth prime minister of Australia in just over 10 years.

Turnbull stepped down after receiving a petition from a majority of Liberal lawmakers demanding a ballot to select a new leader.

Morrison will lead the conservative party, which is known as the Liberal Party, in a general election expected in the coming months.

The governor-general, Peter Cosgrove, sworn-in Morrison as the 30th PM of Australia.

Morrison promised to bring the Parliament back together. Were an optimistic, we are a passionate, and we are an ambitious people, full of aspiration for ourselves, our families, and for our great nation, Morrison said. He had backed Turnbull, 63, earlier in the week, but he later emerged as a more moderate alternative to Dutton, known for his hard-line stance on immigration.

Turnbull thanked the Australian people and listed his achievements including tax cuts, same-sex marriage and jobs growth. He said his successor had been a very loyal and effective treasurer.

The outgoing PM lashed out at the wreckers he said had created chaos. He said there had been a determined insurgency trying to, if not bring down the government, then bring down my prime ministership.  PTI

Green challenge set to haunt scot Morrison

New PM faces a series of policy decisions that could reopen old wounds within the government, including an impasse on energy, a topic that acted as a catalyst in Turnbulls demise

Turnbull sought to placate conservative anger by stripping needs for reducing greenhouse emissions from his energy policy but the influential right-wing government lawmakers remain opposed to the policy

Morrison will need to find a way to meet Australias commitment to reduce emissions by 26% from 2005 levels by 2030 under the Paris accord without stoking old divisions, a challenge Turnbull said would be tough

Leadership contest
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Harare, August 24

Zimbabwes Constitutional Court confirmed President Emmerson Mnangagwas disputed July 30 election victory on Friday, dismissing an Opposition challenge that had held up his inauguration, which will now be held on Sunday.

In a unanimous ruling of the nine judges of the countrys top court, Chief Justice Luke Malaba said Nelson Chamisa, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had failed to prove allegations of fraud during the presidential vote.

Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is duly declared the winner of the presidential elections held on the 30th of July 2018, Malaba said in his ruling.

The election, in which Mnangagwa and Chamisa were the main contenders, was touted as a crucial step towards economic recovery and shedding Zimbabwes pariah reputation, but instead has left the nation polarised.

An army crackdown in response to post-election violence by opposition supporters left six people dead on Aug. 1, recalling the heavyhanded security tactics that marked the 37-year rule of Robert Mugabe, who was removed in a coup last November.

Mnangagwa now faces the challenge of persuading the international community that the army crackdown and lapses in the election process will not derail his promise of reforms needed to fix the economy.

The president called for peace on his Twitter feed, after the ruling was delivered.

Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us, he said.

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa told Reuters that Mnangagwa would be inaugurated on Sunday.

MDC Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora told reporters outside the court that whatever we do as MDC we are going to act within the law... We want Zimbabweans who want to demonstrate to be allowed to demonstrate. Police blocked roads around the court, a 19th century British colonial building just opposite Mnangagwas offices in central Harare. Vehicles carrying water cannon reappeared on streets near the court house while riot police patrolled the city centre in groups.

A Reuters witness said Harare was calm immediately after the ruling, with people going about their usual business.

In a statement, the European Union urge all parties to call for calm and restraint after the court ruling.

It is important that the new government engages all stakeholders in substantive discussions on the necessary reforms, including on further electoral reforms, the EU said. Reuters
singhking99@yahoo.com

Beijing, August 24

China on Friday lashed out at irresponsible US accusations that Beijing was destabilising cross-Strait relations after El Salvador cut ties with Taiwan in favour of the Asian giant.

The White House also scolded the Central American country in a statement released on Thursday, warning that the decision was made in a non-transparent fashion and affects the economic health and security of the entire Americas region.

Taiwan and China have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition.

The US will continue to oppose Chinas destabilisation of the cross-Strait relationship and political interference in the Western Hemisphere, the White House said.

The El Salvadoran governments receptiveness to Chinas apparent interference in the domestic politics of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a reevaluation of our relationship with El Salvador.

Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday that El Salvadors decision to adhere to the one China principle was right, proper and above-board.

While most countries have established formal ties with Beijing rather than Taipei in recent decades, Taiwan still has unofficial relationships with powerful countries.

Its most important unofficial ally is the US, which remains Taiwans leading arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.  AFP

Indirect slap on face Trump of administration
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24)  The Cebu City police have failed to arrest accused drug lord Peter Lim within the 10-day period ordered by the court.

Central Visayas regional police Director Debold Sinas said they have notified the Makati Regional Trial Court that Lim could not be found in Cebu City.

Lim may be hiding "somewhere in Manila," Sinas said.

"We are verifying it, we are coordinating with national headquarters of Philippine National Police," he added.

He said Lim could probably be in Manila since his lawyers had prepared legal moves prior to the issuance of the arrest order on Lim on August 14.

The court directed the Mabolo Police Station in Cebu City to arrest Lim within 10 days and issued a hold departure order to prevent him from leaving the country. Lim's last known address is in Barangay Mabolo, but his exact whereabouts is unknown since he skipped hearings on his drug cases at the Justice Department.

READ: Where is Peter Lim?

Lim was ordered arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit illegal trading for selling and distributing illegal drugs in the Visayas. His co-accused, self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa, earlier told a Senate hearing that Lim was his supplier.

Lim denied any involvement in illegal drugs, including the allegations made by President Rodrigo Duterte that he is part of a Chinese triad leading illegal drug operations in the Visayas.

Malacanang on Thursday asked Lim to surrender, assuring him he would be given a fair trial.

CNN Philippines' Eimor Santos and Cebu-based journalist Dale Israel contributed to this report.
As their children grew older, Bernie Forrest sold his share of the company because he wanted more time with the boys, his wife said. He went to work for The Long Company, the owner of Holsum Bread Company, and eventually became its president. Sean Forrest said he did not realize the significance of his fathers move at the time, but he later came to appreciate it.
TWO friends were killed and a third man critically injured when he lost control of their car and slammed into a drain off the Uriah Butler Highway in Chaguanas yesterday.

Police said around 8.40 a.m. a Nissan Primera sedan driven by Shawn Martin, 25, with Anthony Grant, 35, in the front passenger seat and Martins nephew Branj Smith, 18, in the backseat, was heading north along the highway when Martin spun out of control as he approached Biljah Road.
Why am I really going to be in Glasgow during COP26?

Its a question that has been asked of me since word got out that I would be here in Glasgow during this historic event.

The default answer that seems to resonate with most is that this is the planets last, best hope to get our climate crisis under control.
Hi everybody,

I would like to let you know my recent experience with the company Australian 4wd hire.

In august 2018 we rented a car with a roof tend while travelling from Brome to Darwin across the Gib River Road.

We always took extra care about the car, driving as if the car was our own car.

As a matter of fact any damages occured and we dropped off the car in good and clean condition.

After two days we got a mail from the company who simply wrote us that the vehicle was returned with serious damage and that they would have kept all the Security Bond of $ AUS 1.500.

Please note that they even did not attach/send us the Repair Invoice. Nothing at all was given us!

We were really very disappointed about the situation and asked for more info.

They told us that according to their GPS Monitoring system we drove at inappropriate speeds for the road condition we were on and that we agreed that the vehicle will not be driven at more than 60km/h when off road.

We asked them for more explanation and we told that we did not accept the charge. They replied us that they will be happy to include us in the Federal Court order againts 2 individuals, for doing exactly what we were attempting to do.

They replied us as follow: "We strongly suggest you seek quality legal advice and stop embarrassing yourself by making ridiculous accusations against our business"

We seriously think that this a fraud: Be careful about this company , or rather stay away from this company.

We had a very bad experience and its a shame because Australian territory and above all Australian people are great people.

We really wonder why this company has not been investigated by the Government or the court yet.

We hope this proof will help you avoiding any possible agreement with the company Australian 4wd hire. Very had a bad and regrettable experience.
Disclaimer: haven't researched this fully, but hoping for basic input on logistics.

Active Couple in our mid 50's headed to Australia to visit our daughter who is currently working in Perth. (LOVES it btw!). She'll be spending 2 weeks in the Sydney office in October. We'll fly in the week of the 8th (coming from San Fran). Spend time in Sydney. She has plans to meet a friend in Melbourne the weekend of the 20th so we'll join her. And we met a lovely couple from Queensland when we were in Venice and hoped to visit them too. Need to be back in SF on the 26th.

We have never been to Australia. Love exploring, anything outdoors is great, the arts, good pubs...pretty much anything goes. While she works during the weekdays we thought we'd venture out - so just trying to figure out the logistics.

Looking at arriving in Sydney morning of 10th - spend time there through weekend.

Head to Queensland to visit friends

Fly to Melbourne for the weekend of the 20th

Maybe head back to Sydney and spend a day or so in Canberra.

Depart out of Sydney.

Too much? More of one and less of another? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
I think most locals avoid Bunbury and Busselton as it is not much different than being in Perth. The appeal of the southwest (to me at least) is experiencing something not found in Perth....and staying somewhere away from crowds. A first time visitor to Bunbury or Busselton will no doubt enjoy those locations because it will be different for them and find they are good bases to explore further so if you find something that fits your criteria then go for it.

It will be busy over Xmas in the MR region and its the only time I wont visit but IMO your ideal location would be Dunsborough....if you can find something. The town is big enough to have a variety of shops and restaurants and the beach is sheltered and shallow.
Hi all!

Next March (2019) my girlfriend and I will visit Costa Rica for 19 days. We will arrive Friday the first of March, and stay until Tuesday the 19th of March.

We allready made an itinerary, but would really appreciate your help! We dont want to rush our time, but do want to see as much as possible from this beautiful country..

We want to rent a car for this trip (4x4 or SUV).

Day 1: Flight from Amsterdam to San Jose

Day 2: From San Jose to La Pavona/Tortuguero

Day 3: Tortuguero

Day 4: Travel from Tortuguero/La Pavona to La Fortuna/Arenal

Day 5: La Fortuna/Arenal

Day 6: Travel from La Fortuna to Rincon de la Vieja

Day 7: Rincon de la Vieja

Day 8: Travel from Rincon de la Vieja to Playa Conchal

Day 9: Playa Conchal

Day 10:Travel from Playa Conchal to Monteverde

Day 11: Monteverde

Day 12: Travel from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio NP

Day 13: Manuel Antonio NP

Day 14: Travel from Manuel Antonio NP to Drake Bay

Day 15: Travel from Drake Bay (Cano Island)

Day 16: From Drake Bay to Corcovado NP

Day 17: Corcovado NP

Day 18: Travel from Corcovado to Uvita

Day 19: Travel from Uvita to San Jose: flight back to Amsterdam

Please let me know what you think about this itinerary: do we miss places we really should visit, are there places where we stay too short or too long?

We do want to know what we should do with our rented car from day 16: is it wise to park the car for 3 days and pick it up on our way back to Uvita/San Jose, or should we bring the car back and plan the rest of the trip with public transport.

(we did take a look at the 14-day itinerary on )

Thank you very much for your input!

Many greetings!
In addition to the replies you got to the similar Currency related post earlier ( ):

We were quoted accommodations prices in US, so we paid in US. Either with a partial deposit in advance, or bringing the agreed upon amount of US cash to check in, as agreed in advance. Some places offer additional discounts for cash payments, some charge extra % for credit card payments.

We used CRC (colones) to pay for buses and for groceries, as well as when eating out. Tours were mostly quoted in US.

When you arrive to SJO, you may want to avoid the currency exchange windows by the arrivals, but you may choose to go to a bank counter on the 2nd fl. (departure level), mid terminal, where you will need to show your passport, but the rate we got there was good. We never bought CRC in Canada. If you have some US cash, bring it, exchange a portion of it into CRC at a bank.

The ATMs we used (not in the airport) gave us a choice of the type of currency to withdraw - US or CRC.

You can google the map of the SJO airport, it will show you the exact location of ATMs.

Edited: 3 years ago
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Please help- travel to Niagara in a day with baggage

Please help- travel to Niagara in a day with baggage

Hi all,

I plan to travel to New York in November with my parents, who want to go to Niagara Falls. Since I have a very tight schedule and budget, i can only manage a day trip, in which I will take an early morning flight to Buffalo airport and need to take a flight in evening to Florida.

I have searched everywhere, but after all attempts have not been able to find best logisitcs to do the following. Am new to US and cant take a rent car. Any other suggestion would be highly highly appreciated:

Logistics needed for (only US side):

From airport, go to the visitor centre since I have 3 big suitcases and they store them

From visitor centre, get to Niagara Falls

From Nigara falls, back to visitor centre

Visitor centre to Airport

Please help!!!!

Edited: 3 years ago
In 2018, the media industry was shaken with the news that John Macharia son of SK Macharia had been involved in a road accident that took his life. The accident occurred on Thursday night, April 26, on the Southern Bypass. The car accident occurred when his 2016 Porsche Cayenne 911 lost control and rammed into a pole. He was with a female companion at the time who escaped with minor injuries. Here is more about Macharia's profile.

For most Kenyans, the name John Macharia was not common until his fatal accident. Besides his businesses and professional inner circles, Macharia kept a low profile. When the accident took place, the first people at the scene did not know John at that time. The fact that those first rescuers did not know John proves how the latter had maintained a low public profile.

READ ALSO: Maina Kageni pens emotional tribute to his cousin, Citizen TV owner's son, Macharia

How John Macharia died

John Macharia's vehicle, which was a Porsche 911, is said to cost anywhere between 8 million to 13 million Kenya shillings, hence it can hit top speeds with ease. A photo of the wreckage of the John Macharia accident showed the speedometer stuck on 200Km/Hr - a speed that is not easily achieved by regular cars. Such a top speed could explain what happened to John Macharia especially because of the impact of the crash.

After the accident, witnesses took John Macharia to Karen Hospital while the lady who survived called her mother and informed her about the accident. Later on in the night, John Macharia died and his body was moved to the mortuary. The following day, people who were searching for "John Macharia dead" were shocked to find out about his demise. Five days later, he was cremated and a private and invite-only memorial service was held in Ndakaini, Muranga - his fathers rural home.

READ ALSO: 9 jaw-dropping photos of grandson to Royal Media Services owner left behind by eldest son

The planning of the memorial service, which focused on privacy further explains why John Macharia photos are challenging to find on the internet. His family members gave John their last respect gestures by observing high-levels of privacy.

John Macharia life

If you search for Kenya news John Macharia, you will find out that he was one of six children born to Royal Media Services owner S. K. Macharia and his wife Purity Gathoni. Much like his father, he was a business entrepreneur who was known for founding Direct Line Assurance Limited and Triple A Capital.

At Direct Line Assurance, the largest public service vehicles underwriters in Kenya, he was the Executive Director. Through Triple A Capital, he introduced insurance premium financing in the country. At the time of his death, he was also the Executive Director at Harbour Capital. According to his company profile, he had over two decades of experience in the financial service industry.

John Macharia closely followed in his fathers footsteps when it came to education. S.K Macharia is a Certified Public Accountant with a degree in accounting and masters in finance and accounting. He had a degree from Trent University Ontario Canada in Computer Science and Economics.

READ ALSO: Son to Royal Media Services owner dies after tragic accident, girlfriend survives

John Macharia net worth

While the net worth of John Macharia is not known, it is safe to say he hailed from a relatively wealthy family. His family has many investments in different areas of the economy.

For instance, his father owns the largest radio station network called Royal Media Services. According to the RMS website, the company has a plethora of popular radio stations in Kiswahili, English, and vernacular. The most popular stations include Radio Citizen, Inooro, and Radio Ramogi FM. Citizen television is also a part of Royal Media Services.

READ ALSO: Like father, like son - SK Macharia's son was a seasoned entrepreneur

John Macharia expensive cars and hobby

John Macharia loved speed and had a number of vehicles including two fast cars and motorbikes. He was involved in another accident in 2016 in which he rammed his Porsche into a Prado at Museum Hill, Nairobi.

It was saddening to lose John Macharia through a road accident because of speeding. Kenyans sent their condolences to his family and the John Macharia accident was another awakening call to avoid speed driving in Kenya. May John Macharia's soul rest in eternal peace.

READ ALSO: Son to Citizen TV owner involved in a ghastly road crash, arrested

Source: Tuko.co.ke
West Africa is located on the west part of the African continent. It is also referred to as Western Africa. West Africa is mostly in the Sub-Saharan Africa. This means that most of the countries in west Africa do not entirely depend on farming for their livelihoods. This is because their lands are most likely to be infertile for farming. However, most west African countries are well endowed with minerals and therefore mining highly contributes to the economies of these countries.

The years in which the West African countries gained their independence are in close range. The main reason for this is because they fought for their independence quite at the same time. The number of west African countries is a total of 6 countries. They were colonized by France and Britain which proves why the main official languages are french and English. The West African people are mainly Muslims or Christians. You may be wondering which are the west African countries, well, we are going to discuss all of the west African countries in full detail in this article.

A list of West African countries

1. Benin

First in our long list of West African countries is Benin. It is also known as the republic of Guinea, this country has a landmass of 114,763 square meters. It is bordered by Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Nigeria. Benin was colonized by the french but later gained their independence in August 1st 1960. The french colonial invasion affected their language and for that reason, the official language today is French.

However, there are other native languages being spoken by the Benin people and this are Fon and Yoruba languages. The population of the Benin inhabitants add up to 10.88 million. Benin capital city is Porto Novo but the economical and many political administrations are situated in Cotonou. Cotonou is the largest city in Benin and inhabits %90 of the Benin people. The citizens main source of employment in Benin is agriculture.

2. Carpe Verde

Carpe verde is sometimes referred to as the Republic of Cape Verde. The most amazing and unique feature in this country is that it is actually an island. The country is made up of 10 islands which are 570 square kilometers off the coast of West Africa. The islands are however are of volcanic origin and therefore they are somehow rocky with a little bit of vegetation. The total population of the people in Cape Verde is half a million and this can only mean that it is the least populated country in West Africa.

The capital city of Cape Verde is praia in which a quarter of the people live in, while only 38% live in the rural areas of Cape Verde. Cape Verde also has few minerals which are limestone and salt.

3. Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is located in the western most side of the west African region. Burkina Faso was formally known as upper Volta. Its landmass takes up to 274,2000 square kilometers of land area with a total population of 17.3 million people. 80 percent of this population work in their farms while the rest are on mining. Burkina Faso is known to produce a number of minerals which include copper, iron, manganese gold and phosphates. In 2011 Burkina Faso was named the largest gold producing country in Africa.

This country was colonized by the french and as a result, their official language is now french. They later achieved their independence in the year 1960. The capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougau is where most of political and economical functions takes place. Burkina Faso has gone through multiple military cops wit the last one being arranged by the current president; president Blaise Campaore. After he took over, he has ever since been arranging elections and in each elections he comes out a winner. Most of the military coups took place between the years 1970s and the 1980s.

4. Cote divoire

This country has a total landmass area of up to 322,463 square kilometers. It is highly populated with 24 million cote dIvoire inhabitants. Although the capital city of Cote dIvoire is yamoussoukro, Abijdan is the city with lots of economical activities happening. This is one of the french speaking west African countries. The inhabitants actually speak a total of 78 languages but french happens to be their official language in the country. In addition it also has the largest economy in the west African region. It is also the largest exporter of cocoa beans.

5. Gambia

This is the smallest country with a total land area of up to 10,689 square kilometers only. The landmass area only does not prove that this is the smallest area but its population too, it has a population of 1.8 million people. This is according to the census taken in 2013. The name Gambia was most probably derived from the fact that the Gambia river flows through the country.

The capital of this country is Banjul. On the map of west African countries, Gambia is mostly surrounded by Senegal. The economy of Gambia is highly dependent on farming, fishing and tourism. Gambia also has gone through political upheavals repeatedly. President Yahya Jammeh formed a military coup in 1994 and took over the government of president Dawda Jawara. In 2013, he was defeated and had accepted but later on, he rejected the results, this reaction had placed the country under economical crisis. This prompted the military intervention and he was thrown into exile by the economic community of west African states.

6. Liberia

This country is situated in a land area of about 111,369 square kilometers and it has a population of up to 4 million people. Liberia was colonized by the British subsequently making it one of the English speaking west African countries. Its climate being hot and equitorial which attracts tourist therefore contributing to the economy of the country.

When talking about west African countries and its capitals, Monrovia cannot be left out, it is the capital city of Liberia. It is bordered by Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cotedvoire. Liberia has seen multiple instances of violence making it the poorest country because of its slow moving economy. It is however the oldest and yet the most modern country in Africa.

READ ALSO: How Many Countries Are There in Africa in 2018?

Mali is a landlocked country which means that it has no close proximity to the ocean. It is bordered by Senegal,Mauritania,Niger,Burkina Faso, Cotedivoire, Guinea and Algeria. It covers 1,240,000 square kilometers of land area making it the 8th largest country in the African continent. Its total population is estimated to be of about 14 million. Mali is also one of the french speaking west African countries. Its capital is in Bamako. It produces gold in large quantities, making it the largest gold producing country in the whole of Africa.

8. Mauritania

This is a country that is highly populated by Arabs and therefore the most popular religion in Mauritania is Islam. Mauritania is situated in the Maghreb region in West Africa. The country occupies an estimated area of 1,030,000 kilometer squared in which only 10 percent is inhabited, the rest of the land is a dessert.

Its capital is in Noukchott in which 90% of it is inhabited by the citizens. Although Mauritania has oil it is highly dependent on agriculture where they get their livelihoods from. Unfortunately, Mauritania still practices slavery whereby about 4% of the people in this country are enslaved against their own will.

9. Niger

This is the largest country in west Africa, its estimated area is 1,270,000 square kilometers. However 80% of this land is occupied by the Sahara desert. The capital of Niger is in the south western part of the country and is known as Namey. Nigers population of 19 million depends on subsistence farming

Nigeria also is a landlocked country that is Bordered by Nigeria, chad, Benin, Burkina faso, Mali Algeria and Libya. The Niger people are commonly situated in the west and southern parts of the country.

10. Nigeria

Nigeria is probably the most famous name of west African countries. It occupies a land area of about 23,760 square meters and holds a population of up to 190 million people. This high population may be the reason why Nigeria stands out in all of the west African countries in this list.

Nigeria is officially known as the federal republic. It is a federal constitutional republic that has 36 states. Its federal capital is Abuja. The country is bordered by chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin in different directions. Nigeria is the highly populated country in Africa and the seventh most populated in the world. This country is the most developed among the west African countries. It has a well developed transport, telecommunication and financial system. Moreover, Nigeria has the second largest stock exchange in Africa. It is also richly endowed with natural resources such as gas, gold, bauxite and also coal.

11. Senegal

Senegal is known to have the most stable democracies in Africa. As a result, it has enjoyed a thriving export market for long. It is situated in a 197,000 kilometer area land. It has a population of 15 million people. Senegal was colonized by the french, it therefore, remained with french as their official language. Its thriving economy relies on food processing, tourism, mining, chemicals and refining petroleum.

12. Sierra Leone

This is an English speaking country that relies mainly on mining diamonds. Making it the largest producer of diamond in the west African region. Unfortunately, Sierra Leone remains to be one of the poorest countries. Its citizens live under the poverty level, living under $1.25 dollars a day. Despite this poverty fact, Sierra Leone boasts of having the largest harbor in Freetown which is the famous queen Elizabeth II quay.

13. Togo

This is also one of small west African countries with a population estimated to be about 6.7 million. It has a very slow growing economy and this results in the high levels of poverty living in the country. Agriculture is the main source of employment for the Togo people. The growing of natural raw materials like coffee and cocoa greatly contributes to a 40% of the total earnings. In spite of this poverty condition, Togo is the largest producer of phosphate in the world. Togo is found on a 57,000 square kilometer of land. It was colonized by the french and so as a result Togos official language became french.

14. Ghana

Ghana was the first country to achieve independence among the west African countries. It has a population of up to 27 million people and is situated on a 238, 635 kilometers of land area. Ghanas capital city is Accra. In the recent past, Ghana has been enjoying a transparent system of government. Ghana also has very spectacular beaches and this attracts tourist revenue for the country.

READ ALSO: Largest country in Africa by size and population

15. Guinea

Guinea occupies an area of 245,860 square kilometers of land area. Guinea has a population of up to 10.5 million people. Majority of this population are Muslims. the country was colonized by the french and so the Guinea people were left speaking french as their official language. However, there are other 24 languages that the people speak apart from speaking french. Some of this languages are their native languages.

The capital of Guinea is Conakry. Guinea is rich in producing minerals and it is currently the second largest bauxite producing country. Guinea also produces gold and diamond from mining.

16. Guinea Bissau

This is a west African country that covers 36, 125 square kilometers of land and has a population of about 1.6 million people which makes it one of the smallest countries in Africa. Guinea Bissau is a poor country with almost two thirds of its population living under poverty level. It was colonized by the Portuguese but only 14% of the Guinea Bissau people actually speak the official language Portuguese. A majority of people of up to 44% speak the Portuguese based creole language while the rest of the population speak the native languages.Guinea Bissau has for a long time enjoyed political stability.

Source: Tuko
EDITOR'S NOTE: Our TUKO.co.ke blogger today is one Milan Kiplagat, a regular commentator on social and political issues. Kiplagat illustrates how NCIC boss Francis ole Kaparo has been unable to expunge ethnic politics from the country. He insists the former National Assembly Speaker was wrongly marched with the NCIC job but expresses optimism the handshake between President Uhuru and Raila will go a long way in unifying the Country

I have stated it many times on this forum that Francis ole Kaparo reign at the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has been equivalent to a toothless bulldog in the backyard.

And so was that of his predecessor Mzalendo Kibunjia. For those who may feel lost, a toothless bulldog is a breed of dog with short hair, muscular body and a fierce look. It will bark, look tough and intimidate when confronted by obvious danger but make no effort to bite; for it cant.

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READ ALSO: President Uhurus silenced weapon thats giving contractors sleepless nights

While this is a rare and honest public admission, it is sadly one that he will have to live with for the rest of his life as his tenure at the commission has come to an end. Photo: NCIC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Police to investigate man exposed on Facebook sleeping with children

I was faulted for being too harsh on the two men when I made this comparison. But I was finally vindicated on Wednesday, August 22, when Kaparo personally confessed that he failed in his duty to end tribalism in Kenya.

I have not succeeded in slaying the dragon of tribalism and Im ashamed of it. I can say the political class is to blame, he stated amid regrets.

READ ALSO: William Ruto goes on wild social media rant, accuses enemies of spreading devil's gospel

While this is a rare and honest public admission, it is sadly one that he will have to live with for the rest of his life as his tenure at the commission has come to an end.

The man who was once dreaded for his Order, order, ooorder roars at unruly MPs is bowing out from the NCIC in shame, having failed to exploit what was a golden opportunity to advocate for harmonious co-existence among Kenyans.

Look. The NCIC was established in 2008 as an outright remedy to the deadly post-election violence that rocked the country earlier that year.

Its mandate was simply to facilitate equality of opportunity, good relations, harmony and peaceful co-existence among Kenyans. Its vision remains that of a peaceful, united, harmonious and integrated society.

The NCIC was established in 2008 as an outright remedy to the deadly post-election violence that rocked the country earlier that year. Photo: NCIC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Ipsos boss explains how Kenyans settled on Ruto, Waiguru as most corrupt leaders

Sadly, both Kibunjia and Kaparo dismally failed in this mission. They both looked the other way as Kenyans continued to freely sow seeds of hatred.

They kept quiet as the political class fueled negative ethnicity by making appallingly inflammatory statements that musicians and the media were all too happy to spread.

The NCIC was nowhere to be seen or heard when the country tittered on the edge at the height of last years divisive general election that saw Kenyans harm their compatriots from the safety of their tribal cocoons.

The countrys ever unpredictable political landscape means we remain delicately yet mutely polarized, waiting for someone to pull the trigger.

Yet, as Kaparo rightly put it, Kenyans have a knack for losing grand opportunities to realise long-lasting national cohesion and integration.

READ ALSO: Kenya is in the super league of corruption - Raila Odinga

The 1963 post-independence period and the 2002 NARC revolutionary era that ended the KANU regime by-passed us, while we rode on the poisoned politics of 2007 to entrench hatred. The 2017 polls did not make the situation any better.

But all is not lost. The handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has renewed hope that Kenyans can co-exist peacefully.

Out of the blues, Kenyans have a godsent opportunity to achieve cohesion and national integration through the Building Bridges Initiative.

The nine-point agenda signed by Uhuru and Raila rightly put ethnic antagonism at the top of the maladies ailing the nation.

Lack of inclusivity and divisive elections are also part of the agenda whose cure is a matter of debate at the national table.

But all is not lost. The handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has renewed hope that Kenyans can co-exist peacefully. Photo: President Uhuru

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: William Ruto sees ODMs hand in opinion poll ranking him as most corrupt leader

It is a once in a lifetime opportunity that the NCIC should not let pass by. First, the architects of the handshake should ensure that this critical constitutional commission has a substantive leader whos well equipped for this task.

The President, as the appointing authority, must see to it that the opening is not used to reward and recycle political cronies, as was the case with ole Kaparo.

Whoever lands the position must then be able to swiftly ride on the spirit of the handshake to right, all the wrongs that have shoved us into an abyss.

They must be ready to forfeit the comfort of their offices and tirelessly traverse the country armed with the One nation One people mantra.

President Uhuru Kenyatta as the appointing authority, must see to it that the opening is not used to reward and recycle political cronies, as was the case with ole Kaparo. Photo: NCIC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: It's clear there's a split between Uhuru and Ruto - MP Otiende Amollo

They should exploit the rare goodwill between the countrys two topmost leaders to uproot polarizing and ethnically-delicate issues as corruption and set future generations free from tribal captivity.

Kaparo defined the job as difficult, most likely because he was not tailor-made for such a sensitive undertaking.

But like me, you and any other ordinary Kenyan, he had a wish that is not impossible with the NCIC in the right hands.

That is the wish to have a Luo elected Governor in Nyeri, a Kikuyu enjoy fanatical support in Kisumu or a Digo elected unopposed in Machakos, all because of their agenda for the people as opposed to their names.

Opinions expressed in this article is solely that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the position of TUKO.co.ke.

TUKO.co.ke welcomes writers, bloggers, photographers and all sorts of noise makers to become a part of our Bloggers network.If you are a seasoned writer or a complete newbie, apply and become Kenyan's next star blogger.

If you have any thoughts, feelings, comments or suggestions on the above article, feel free to shoot us an email on news@tuko.co.ke.

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Nazlin Umar - Ruto Is Behind The Sugar Scandal | TUKO TV.

Source: Tuko
- Remains of about 600 people was discovered in a grave near Lake Turkana

- It is believed to have been built by herders who lived in the area about 5000 years ago

- The grave holds bodies of people of different ages and both sexes

An ancient cemetery containing the remains of nearly 600 people has been discovered at a site near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya

Constructed by the simple herders that inhabited the region 5,000 years ago, the Lothagam North Pillar Site, a cavity in the ground was used for communal burial.

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READ ALSO: Koffi Annan to be laid to rest in Ghana, not Switzerland - Family

Stone pendants and earrings from the communal cemetery of Lothagam North, Kenya. Photo: Carla Klehm.

Source: Depositphotos

READ ALSO: Jambazi wa kike Nairobi aapa kuwa yuko tayari kufa, atuma ujumbe kwa wenzake

The findings published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate people of diverse ages and both sexes were buried there, and ornaments accompanied most individuals.

The journal also indicates Lothagam North Pillar Site was a massive cemetery with megalithic pillars, stone circles, cairns, and a mounded platform ringed by boulders, a 119.5-m2 accommodating an estimated several hundred burials.

READ ALSO: Chaos on Rutos timeline after saying he has a God father not godfather

This kind of monumental architecture has previously been associated with societies governed by strict hierarchies such as ancient Egypt.

However, the East African herders are thought to have, in an egalitarian society, based on the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights.

Monumental architecture is a prime indicator of social complexity, because it requires many people to build a conspicuous structure commemorating shared beliefs.

READ ALSO: Parliament records show MP Oscar Sudi was in primary and secondary school at the same time

In the foreground, the 30m platform contains the mortuary cavity, and is ringed by boulders, with a linear arrangement of pillars on its east side. Photo: PNUS

Source: Depositphotos

"This discovery challenges earlier ideas about monumentality," explained Elizabeth Sawchuk of Stony Brook University, part of the research team behind the discovery.

"Absent other evidence, Lothagam North provides an example of monumentality that is not demonstrably linked to the emergence of hierarchy, forcing us to consider other narratives of social change, she added.

READ ALSO: Deadly Hessy wa Dandora issues tough warning to any youth wearing combat gears

Although the team only excavated a small area of the 120 square metre mortuary cavity, none of the burials appears to have been singled out as particularly special.

The ornaments looking like stone beads which were also found in the cavity too seemed to be shared equally among the graves occupants.

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

Phenny Awiti Story: Meet HIV Positive Mom Raising HIV Negative Kids | Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke
- The White House had earlier announced President Trump will host Uhuru on August 27

- Uhuru and Trump will discuss security cooperation and other broad issues affecting the two nations

- Uhuru is expected back immediately after the meeting to host British Prime Minister Theresa May

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma has led an advance team to the United States (US), ahead of President Uhuru Kenyatta's meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday, August 27.

Juma who arrived on Wednesday, August 22, held talks with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Washington on Thursday, August 23 in a series of meetings which will pave way for Uhuru's arrival.

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READ ALSO: Uhuru, Donald Trump in first ever official meeting at White House

Juma who arrived on Wednesday, August 22, held talks with US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, in Washington

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Jambazi wa kike Nairobi aapa kuwa yuko tayari kufa, atuma ujumbe kwa wenzake

Her meeting was confirmed by a tweet from the State Department saying the Secretary of State had welcomed Juma with a video accompanying the tweet showing the two greeting each other after the meeting.

"This afternoon, Sec Pompeo welcomed Kenyas Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Monica Juma to the State Department.," read the tweet

Besides Pompeo, the CS is also scheduled to meet the special assistant to the president, Cyril Sartor, as well as Tibor Nagy, the assistant secretary of State for African affairs.

READ ALSO: Parliament records show MP Oscar Sudi was in primary and secondary school at the same time

The two leaders last met at the sidelines of a G7 meeting in May 2018.

Source: Twitter

Further reports indicate the head of state is expected to leave the country for the US in the course of Friday, August 24 .

Uhuru's visit to the White House was announced by State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena in an address she made in on Monday, August 6.

The two leaders will discuss good bilateral relationships between the two countries and plans to boost among other sectors, security, trade and investment, she said.

It was later confirmed with a statement from Trumps office saying the meeting will discuss ways to broaden the strategic partnership based on shared democratic values and mutual interests.

READ ALSO: Koffi Annan to be laid to rest in Ghana, not Switzerland - Family

Kenya is a vital partner of the United States, and President Trump looks forward to discussing ways to broaden the strategic partnership based on our shared democratic values and mutual interests, stated White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.

Prior report by TUKO.co.ke indicated the two leaders last met on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in May 2018.

Uhuru is expected to jet back immediately after the meeting with Trump to host United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May on August 30.

The president is then expected to attend the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation to be addressed by Chinese president Xi Jingping on September 3.

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Phenny Awiti Story: Meet HIV Positive Mom Raising HIV Negative Kids | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko
- The suspects are wanted for fraudulent acquisition of public property

- DCI has issued warrants of arrest for the suspects who are directors of five companies under investigation

- Detectives have appealed to members of the public to inform the suspects to surrender

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has issued warrants of arrest against nine individuals suspected to be masterminds of a grand theft at Kenya Power.

The suspects are the directors of five companies under probe over fraudulent acquisition of public property thereby contravening the laws of the land.

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READ ALSO: DCI sleuths arrest 4 notorious computer thieves as search for missing 1,600 school laptops kicks off

READ ALSO: DCI unearths illegal SIM swap centre, arrest foreigners as crackdown intensifies

In a statement seen by TUKO.co.ke on Friday, August 24, the DCI appealed to the public to inform the named persons to present themselves at the Milimani anti-corruption court or the DCI's office.

"Do you know any of these people? DCI detectives investigating the Kenya Power case requests you to inform them to report either at the Milimani anti-corruption court No.1 or DCI-Investigations Branch. Their Warrants of Arrest have already been issued," read a tweet.

The suspects were listed as follows;

1. Catherine Wanjiku Njuguna - Millous Enterprises

2. Christine Nyawara - Millous Enterprises

3. Edwin Macharia Ngamini - Millous Enterprises

4. John Waweru - Kazimix Enterprises

5. Jason Morara - Jake Building and Construction Limited

READ ALSO: Jambazi wa kike Nairobi aapa kuwa yuko tayari kufa, atuma ujumbe kwa wenzake

6. James Ongechi - Jake Building and Construction Limited

7. Jeremiah Onduko - Jake Building and Construction Limited

8. Stephen Njoroge Maina - Wachema Investment Limited

9. Linet Njeri - Pestus Investments Limited

Police on Tuesday, August 21, impounded aluminum conductors, electrical cables, electric poles and transformer accessories valued at over KSh 20 million at a residence in Ruiru sub county.

The police confirmed the materials were destined to a Loiyangalani Kenya Power line in Turkana county.

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Ex-Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Arraigned in Court Over Corruption Charges - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Breaking News Latest
Reading materials are provided to families while they wash and dry their clothes, and posters are hung throughout the laundromat to provide tips on how to make the visit more educational  clothes can be counted, colors discussed, letters identified. Volunteers come in to read to children or talk to families about how to sign up for early childhood programs.
- Western Kenya leaders have signed an MOU to unite all the luhya sub-tribes ahead of 2022 elections

- They remembered the late former vice president Kijana Wamalwa as an icon who united luhyas

- The leaders want Jubilee government to address the economic challenges facing the region

- CS Eugene Wamalwa will present the MOU to President Uhuru Kenyatta

Western Kenya leaders have vowed to support and present one strong candidate who will vie in the 2022 presidential race.

Speaking on Thursday, August 23, during the 15th memorial ceremony of former vice-president Kijana Wamalwa in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, the leaders said its time they come together and work together to clinch the presidency.

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READ ALSO: Margaret Kenyatta na wake wengine warembo wa marais 11 maarufu barani Afrika

Western Kenya leaders have vowed to support and present one competitive candidate who will vie in the 2022 presidential race. Photo: UGC

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: My people come first, not party positions  Jubilee chief whip Washiali

Led by Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi, Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang'ula and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa all together signed a Memorundum of Understanding (MOU) to unite all the luhya sub-tribes.

"We are here to announce to you that Western Kenya is forming a strong bloc that will determine the direction of the country," said the MOU as read by Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo.

Mudavadi asked Jubilee government to address the economic challenges facing Western Kenya before they ask for their support in 2022 elections. Photo: UGC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Mudavadi finally apologises to Wamalwa after his supporters chased him in Vihiga

The MOU was then signed by Mudavadi, Wetangula, Wamalwa, Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka, Governors Ottichilo (Vihiga), Sospeter Ojaamong (Busia) and Wycliffe Wangamati (Bungoma).

Mudavadi asked Jubilee government to address the economic challenges facing Western Kenya before they ask for their support in 2022 elections.

Wetangula said the MOU was the beginning of a new political realignment in the region. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: I avoided Uhuru park because I was against Raila swearing-in - Musalia Mudavadi

"We want to sort out what is pulling us back so that we all work together and move forward as a united community," said Mudavadi.

Wetang'ula said the MOU was the beginning of a new political realignment in the region.

"We must be dedicated and be each others keeper. I am happy to see all our ledaers here because they mean business," said Wetang'ula.

On his side, Wamalwa told the farmers the government had disbursed KSh 1.4 billion to pay them for the maize they sold to government. Photo: UGC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Ruto pleads with Raila, Mudavadi to support his bid in 2022

On his side, Wamalwa told the farmers the government had disbursed KSh 1.4 billion to pay them for the maize they sold to government.

"In memory of the late Vice-President Kijana Wamalwa, we remember that he did politics of unity and not division," said the CS.

The MOU was handed over to Wamalwa who was asked to present it to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

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Phenny Awiti Story: Meet HIV Positive Mom Raising HIV Negative Kids | Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke
- The owner of the bus was boarding it before he tripped and fell under its belly

- The bus which was in motion ran over him killing him on the spot

- Police are now investigating the incident

Police in Mathioya constituency, Murang'a County are investigating an incident where a public service vehicle owner was run over by his own bus killing him on the spot.

TUKO.co.ke gathered the owner of the bus miscalculated his steps while boarding the bus which was in motion and in the process ran over him.

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READ ALSO: Margaret Kenyatta na wake wengine warembo wa marais 11 maarufu barani Afrika

The early morning accident which drained life out of Jeremiah Njuguna Gituma, 55, happened on Thursday, August 23, at Kiamuturi village.

His death was confirmed by Mathioya Deputy County Commissioner Jamlick Mbabu who said the circumstances under which he died remain unclear.

READ ALSO: Foreign affairs CS in US ahead of Uhurus historic meeting with Donald Trump

He further said the driver will be questioned by police to shed more light on how the bus proprietor met his death.

He tripped and fell under the belly of the bus and was run over by the rear wheels of the bus and died instantly," the DCC explained.

The bus is christened Mathome and plies the Mathioya-Muranga- Nairobi route.

Story by Mark Wachira, TUKO.co.ke correspondent

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Phenny Awiti Story: Meet HIV Positive Mom Raising HIV Negative Kids | Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Newspaper
- The mother and her two sons spent the night inside a makeshift tent where residents discovered their bodies

- Area chief suspected the three who hail from Mulaha sub-location in Alego-Usonga sub-county could have suffocated to death

- They were not seen the whole of Wednesday, August 22, only for their bodies to be discovered later

Police in Siaya county have started investigations into the bizarre deaths of a mother and her two sons at a prayer conference in Uhonya village.

The deceased who have been identified as Anna Mwajuma, Dan Onyango, 12 and Lawrence Onyango were found dead inside a makeshift tent on the night of Thursday, August 23.

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READ ALSO: Margaret Kenyatta na wake wengine warembo wa marais 11 maarufu barani Afrika

Residents view the body at Ndori Rarieda Sub-county mortuary. Photo: Standard.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Family's search for missing university student ends as his body is found in Mombasa

Reports received by TUKO.co.ke on Friday, August 24, showed the three spent the night of Tuesday, August 21, inside the tent where a jiko was also discovered.

North West Gem location chief Barrack Opondo confirmed the victims were not seen the whole of Wednesday, August 22, leading to a frantic search among faithful of Gods Last Appeal Church.

They were not seen the whole of Wednesday only for their bodies to be discovered in the tent later at around 9pm, he said.

Opondo further said he suspected the three who hail from Mulaha sub-location in Alego-Usonga sub-county could have suffocated to death.

Investigations are underway.

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Ex-Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Arraigned in Court Over Corruption Charges - On Tuko TV

Source: Kenyan Breaking News
- The officer who was in company of his friend tried to strangle his wife using a iron box cable

- He tied her with a rope in the house leaving her lying unconscious on the floor

- She has been asked to leave the camp house and let the police to sort out the issue

- Gilgil police boss Samuel Waweru said investigations were on

Police in Gilgil have launched a search for their colleague who disappeared after strangling his wife to near-death after she refused to buy him alcohol.

The Anti-Stock Theft (ASTU) officer only identified as Njuguna allegedly attacked his wife, Gladys Wanjiru, on Sunday, August 19, after she refused to give him money for alcohol.

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READ ALSO: Kajiado pastor on the run after clobbering wife

Police in Gilgil have launched a search for their colleague who disappeared after strangling his wife to near-death after she refused to buy him alcohol. Photo: UGC

Source: Depositphotos

READ ALSO: Kenyans demand arrest of husband who beat wife to near death in Bomet

"My husband came back home at 1pm and asked me for money to buy alcohol. I refused and he beat me up with his friend," said Wanjiru as reported by the Standard newspaper.

Wanjiru said the 35-year-old officer tried to strangle her with an iron box cable but she struggled out with him before he tied her with a rope in the house and left her lying unconsciously in the house.

READ ALSO: Lawyer wants Eldoret monster husband who thumped wife badly left to the public for same treatment

"I cried for help but nobody came to help me. He beat me with his friend and left me lying unconscious on the floor of the house," she said.

When she regained her conscious she went to report the matter at Gilgil police station under Occurrence Book Number 43/19/08/2018 but was told to leave the police camp house and let the officers sort out the problem among themselves.

READ ALSO: Makueni man captured on camera viciously beating wife jailed for 12 years

She went to seek for treatment at Gilgil sub county hospital after sustaining severe injuries on her neck, private parts, eyes and limbs.

Gilgil police boss Samuel Waweru said investigations were on and Njuguna is claimed to have gone on a leave after the incident.

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Kenyans demand for the release of Bobi Wine | Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Breaking News
- Zimbabwe's chief justice confirmed Emmerson Mnangagwa as president-elect

- He dismissed the petition filed by the opposition noting it lacked sufficient evidence

- Mnangagwa further extended an olive branch to the opposition leader wile calling for peace

Zimbabwes constitutional court on Friday, August 24, upheld President Emmerson Mnangagwas narrow victory in the July 30, historic election in which the Opposition alleged vote-rigging.

Delivering the verdict, Chief Justice Luke Malaba ruled the Opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), failed to produce sufficient and credible evidence.

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READ ALSO: Robert Mugabe's choice for Zimbabwe president almost winning

Zimbabwes constitutional court upheld President Emmerson Mnangagwas narrow victory in the July 30, historic election

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Violence breaks out in Zimbabwe as Mugabes choice for president cries foul

A report by Washington Post indicated the ruling meant the inauguration will be held within 48 hours as Zimbabwe moves into a new era after Robert Mugabes 37-year rule.

"The best evidence would have been the contents of the ballot boxes themselves," Chief Justice Malaba said.

Mnangagwa took to Twitter to call for peace after the constitutional court upheld his narrow election victory .

READ ALSO: ODM battles claims it fueled post-election violence in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe court confirms Emmerson Mnangagwa as president, dismiss oppositions petition

Source: Facebook

"We were not surprised by the courts decision. The election results were firmly in line with all the pre-election polling, and were entirely consistent with the final tally of ZESN, the largest body of independent observers," wrote Mnangagwa

The Opposition alliance moved to court on Friday, August 10, in a bid to overturn the presidential results, which was used to declare the victory of Mnangagwa.

Chamisa alleged Mnangagwa's slender victory in Zimbabwe's first election since the ousting of Robert Mugabe was rigged by the ruling Zanu-PF party and the election commission.

READ ALSO: Violence breaks out in Zimbabwe as Mugabes choice for president cries foul

He won the presidential race with 50.8% of the vote - just enough to avoid a run-off against the MDC's Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3%.

Chamisa had dismissed the election results terming them as falsified and inflated to ensure Mnangagwa won.

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Kenya News: Kenyans Donate to Street Women | Tuko TV

Source: Breaking News
Are the Safe Zones for those vaccinated against Covid19 really safe? One Opposition MP is raising his concerns as he is calling on the Government to make antigen tests available to the public to guard against those who may have Covid but are not presenting any symptoms including those who are vaccinated.
A trade turnover between Ukraine and the United States of America has increased by 70% for the period of over a year.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this during a meeting with U.S. President's National Security Adviser John Bolton, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Our turnover for this short period of time, a little more than a year, increased by 70%," he said, adding that no country in the world demonstrated such growth.

Poroshenko assured that the increase in trade turnover became possible due to the agreements reached during his meeting with President of the United States Donald Trump at the White House last year.

Trumps National Security Adviser John Bolton visits Ukraine as part of his tour to Europe and the Middle East.

John Bolton also took part in the military parade on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence today.

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Ukraine and the United States have a joint future and are already forming a new in-depth agenda for relations.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this during a meeting with U.S. President's National Security Adviser John Bolton, who visited Ukraine on the occasion of the Independence Day, the Governmental portal reported.

"I am glad to welcome you in Ukraine on such a special day for us. We thank the U.S. Government for your support of our independence and restoration of territorial integrity. We have a great future together. We have something to talk about and we have a basis for further cooperation," Groysman said.

In turn, John Bolton said that it was a great honor for him to be in Kyiv on the Independence Day.

"I look forward to our talks on various issues and see how we can deepen our cooperation," the U.S. presidential adviser said.

During the meeting, the sides touched upon many issues of both bilateral and international cooperation, first of all in the context of cooperation with international financial organizations, strengthening of sanctions pressure on the aggressor and counteraction to the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

ish
Kyiv should consider inviting U.S. companies to extract gas in Ukraine, U.S. President's National Security Adviser John Bolton has stated.

"There are also resources, which will be produced here in Ukraine and which extracts natural gas, as far as I understand, in volumes sufficient to meet Ukraine's own domestic needs for natural gas. Perhaps, American companies or other foreign energy companies will be interested to explore and produce gas in Ukraine," he said.

According to Bolton, he had "a very interesting discussion" with Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman regarding energy resources and Ukraine's role in this area.

He also stressed that "this is a task of the Ukrainian Government to look for alternative energy resources to avoid dependence on Russia."

ish
The world leaders are sending greetings to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence.

The Head of State and the Ukrainian people were congratulated by President of South Korea Moon Jae-in, Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II, King Felipe VI of Spain, King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

"I have great pleasure in sending your Excellency my most sincere congratulations on the occasion of your national holiday, along with the best wishes for the gentle fate and happiness of the people of Ukraine next year," the letter of Elizabeth II reads, the press service of the Ukrainian president reports.

King Felipe VI of Spain also sent congratulations and wished peace and prosperity to the Ukrainian people.

President of South Korea Moon Jae-in noted that over the years, our countries have built close friendship and cooperation in a wide range of issues.

"I sincerely hope that in the future we will be able to strengthen relations between our countries through mutually beneficial and future-oriented cooperation that will contribute to the well-being and happiness of our peoples and deepen our mutual understanding and friendship," Moon Jae-in noted and wished "the never-ending prosperity of Ukraine.

Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri and Emperor of Japan Akihito also congratulated the Head of State on the Day of Independence.

"On the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine, I have great pleasure in sending Your Excellency my heartfelt congratulations and sincere good wishes for your happiness and for the prosperity of the people of your country," the Emperor of Japan noted.

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg expressed sincere wishes for the welfare and prosperity of the Ukrainian nation.

"We are pleased to express to you, Your Excellency, our warmest congratulations on the occasion of the anniversary of Independence Day of your country and send you our sincere wishes for the good health and happiness, and wish development and prosperity to the people and Government of a friendly Ukraine," the letter of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reads.

Congratulations were also received from President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto, President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of Iraq Fuad Masum, President of Benin Patrice Talon, President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba and the leaders of other countries.

The Heads of State wish prosperity and welfare to the friendly Ukrainian nation and express firm commitment to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with Ukraine in favor of mutual development and prosperity.
President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainians on the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence.

"Our relations with the strategic partner of Ukraine strengthen in every sphere and the long-standing friendship between our nations is deepening every day. We are very pleased to observe the mutual will, which we find to bring our cooperation to even higher level. Turkey will continue supporting the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," the letter reads, the press service of the Ukrainian president reports.

Erdogan invited Poroshenko to visit his country to hold the next meeting of the High-Level Strategic Council in autumn.

Erdogan wished the friendly Ukrainian people prosperity and welfare.

ish
Canada congratulates Ukraine on the 27th anniversary of independence and promises to continue to stand with the people of Ukraine in efforts to protect their sovereignty.

This is stated in a statement by Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau on the Independence Day of Ukraine.

"Canada continues to stand with the people of Ukraine in efforts to protect and preserve their sovereignty. We fully support the Ukrainian governments efforts to build a more secure, more prosperous future for people across the country," Trudeau said.

He added that Canada and Ukraine had much in common. "Canada and Ukraine share common values, a commitment to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, and close people-to-people ties. Over one million Canadians of Ukrainian descent live in Canada and contribute to our country every day," the prime minister said.

Trudeau recalled that Canada was the first western country to recognize Ukraines independence, "and today our states are united by a strong relationship." "On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I wish everyone celebrating a happy Independence Day," he stressed.

Slava Ukraini! [Glory to Ukraine] Trudeau added in Ukrainian.

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Published August 23, 2018

WASHINGTON - Congressman Ralph Abraham, M.D., R-Alto, announced Tuesday that the University of Louisiana at Monroe is receiving a nearly $275,000 federal grant to buy new weather satellite equipment.



The National Science Foundation awarded the Major Research Instrumentation award to ULM so that the university can buy a compact, portable Doppler Wind Lidar system. This equipment uses lasers to study atmospheric characteristics such as wind, turbulence and aerosols. It will allow ULM to better research storms and air quality to improve public safety and human health.



Severe weather can develop seemingly without warning. ULM is studying ways we can detect these storms faster and more accurately, and I am pleased that these federal funds will be used to help ULM with its mission of making Louisiana a safer place, said Dr. Abraham, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.



Dr. Abraham has been a strong supporter of ULMs atmospheric science program. In 2016, he worked with the university and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help the university get an operational license for its Doppler weather radar.



ULM President Nick J. Bruno said the new instruments will further the universitys study of dangerous weather.



We are very happy for the successful National Science Foundation grant of nearly $275,000. As the only university in Louisiana with an atmospheric science program, the grant will allow our faculty and students to continue research efforts into danger weather, which could lead to answers in making our citizens safer, Bruno said. I want to thank Congressman Abraham for his support of this grant.



ULM investigators on the grant include principal investigator Dr. Todd Murphy, Dr. Kenneth Leppert, Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee, and Dr. Michael Chenoweth.



We are essentially building out a mobile atmospheric profiling laboratory. The NSF grant will allow us to take our instrumentation to where the active weather is actually happening, instead of just remaining static and hoping the weather moves over you, Murphy said. There are only a handful of such mobile profiling labs across the United States, however, there is a great need in our field to build more of these labs to support new and improved knowledge of atmospheric processes.



With the new grant, the ULM research team will acquire a Halo Photonics Stream Line XR, which is a pulsed Doppler Wind Lidar with an eye-safe laser, high pulse rate, low use energy, and coherent heterodyne detection, according to the grant abstract provided by the NSF. The research team will use the Lidar along with existing instruments such as a microwave radiometer, rawinsonde system, and surface instrumentation so that it can be used both in mobile field study settings or at a fixed location on campus.



The research team will study convective initiation and onset of severe weather, lake and sea breeze circulations and coastal processes, precipitation and cloud physics, and aerosol science and air pollution.
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Published August 24, 2018

The University of Louisiana Monroe has added another significant program to the College of Health Sciences  the Doctor of Physical Therapy. The official announcement came Wednesday at the Board of Regents meeting.

This is another step forward for ULM, said President Nick J. Bruno. This and future programs will be started that will provide professionals needed in our region and state.



Dr. Eric Pani was in Baton Rouge at the meeting when the announcement was made. He said Regent Charles McDonald noted that ULMs breadth of health science programs makes it stand out as a leader in the education of professionals in those fields.



I am very excited about adding this program to ULMs academic portfolio, Pani said. It broadens our health science and doctoral-level professional programs, advancing us toward our strategic vision. But more importantly, the graduates from this program will help alleviate a statewide shortage of physical therapists and will improve the quality of life for Louisianians.



University leaders and Health Sciences faculty have worked several years to achieve this goal, according to Dr. Ken Alford, Interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences.



"This approval by the Board of Regents is the culmination of several years of continuous effort by a group of people at ULM and we are very excited to move forward. Our region has a shortage of qualified physical therapists and the development of the program will help to serve all of Louisiana and provide an excellent professional career path for our students, he said.



We now will begin the task of developing the facility and faculty with the intent to welcome our first class in the summer of 2020, Alford said.



In 2015, the regulations for physical therapists changed. Licensed physical therapists now must hold a clinical Doctor of Physical Therapy, so it is a graduate program.



Alford explained that students will apply to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program after completing a pre-physical therapy major or concentration such as kinesiology or biology. At ULM the concentration is in the kinesiology major, also known as Exercise Science Pre-PT.



The strength of ULMs ESPT concentration is one of the reasons that a Doctor of Physical Therapy program is likely to be very successful here, Alford said. We have our own homegrown pool of strong applicants in addition to those that will come to use worldwide.
A: I recently received an email from a former student who took my class in the spring of 2017. The student wanted to share good news about receiving admission to a four-year college, and he excitedly informed me of his choice of major. He ended the email by saying, "I am eternally thankful for everything you have done to make me a better person." I became a teacher for this very purpose. I genuinely care for my students well being as people, in addition to their learning outcomes, and it is incredibly rewarding to have the opportunity to positively impact the lives of my students in such meaningful ways.
The bill will be registered by September 4.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has pledged to table a bill in parliament to amend Ukraine's Constitution for paving the way for the country's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union.

"I will insist that our aspirations to join the European Union and NATO be sealed in the Constitution. Lawyers have found a formula how to do this in the best possible and quick way," he said in Kyiv on Friday, August 24, addressing the nation on the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

Read alsoPoroshenko at Kyiv parade: Tested by war, economic crisis, Ukraine "builds strong muscles"

"My relevant bill will be registered before the Verkhovna Rada opens its fall session, which is scheduled for September 4," he said.

As UNIAN reported, the National Security Law came into force in Ukraine on July 8. The law, in particular, defines the principles of the country's national security and defense policy.

The fundamental national interests of Ukraine include integration into the European political, economic, security, legal space; membership in the European Union and NATO, the development of equal and mutually beneficial relations with other states.

Poroshenko said then he would ask the parliament to incorporate NATO and EU membership provisions in the nation's Constitution.
Poroshenko said he would ask the parliament to incorporate NATO and EU membership provisions in the nation's Constitution.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stresses the European Union without Ukraine will be an "incomplete project."

"I'd like to emphasize separately  Europe needs us as well, because without us the European Union will not become a completed project. After all, the frontier of modern Europe's civilization lies along the northeastern border of Ukraine," he said in Kyiv on Friday, August 24, addressing the nation on the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

Read alsoPoroshenko to table bill in parliament to amend Constitution for accession to NATO, EU

He stressed that integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic space is a reliable way to ensure security, development of Ukraine and decent living conditions for people.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Poroshenko pledged to table a bill in parliament by September 4 to amend Ukraine's Constitution for paving the way for the country's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union.
The United States is committed to the success of a free and prosperous Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has greeted Ukraine on its Independence Day and wished a peaceful and prosperous year.

"On behalf of President Trump and the American people, congratulations to all Ukrainians on your national day," he said in a statement. "Best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous year."

Read alsoTrade between Ukraine, United States grows by 70% for over a year

According to him, the United States is committed to the success of a free and prosperous Ukraine.

"The friendship between our countries runs deep, and we are committed to the success of a stable, prosperous, democratic, and free Ukraine. We look forward to continuing our partnership and working with Ukraine's leaders and citizens to realize the bright and enduring future Ukraine's people deserve," he said.

In his words, the United States steadfastly supports Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. "We pay tribute to those who have fought and sacrificed for freedom in Ukraine, and we stand behind Ukraine as it adopts transformational reforms to increase prosperity, security, and rule of law."
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland is travelling to Ukraine next week.

Canada has greeted Ukraine on the 27th anniversary of independence on August 24.

"On August 24, 1991, Ukraine declared itself an independent country. Later that year, Canada was the first Western country to recognize Ukraine's independence. In the more than a quarter century that has passed since that day, Canada and Ukraine have built a strong and enduring relationship based on historic and people-to-people ties, and our commitment to advance democracy and the rule of law, as well as to protect the rules-based international order," Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and Canada's Minister of National Defence Harjit S. Sajjan said in a joint statement on Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24.

"Canada supports Ukrainian defence and security forces through its contribution under Operation UNIFIER," the statement said. Canadian troops marched in the Independence Day parade in Kyiv on August 24 a symbol of close defence cooperation and friendship.

Read alsoUkrainian military expected to get Canadian sniper rifles by fall

"On this Ukrainian Independence Day, Canada reaffirms its support for Ukraine's people, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Canada is committed to strengthening its partnership with Ukraine over the long term," the statement said.

"As we mark Ukraine's Independence Day, we join the people of Ukraine and Canadians of Ukrainian descent  who have contributed significantly to shaping Canada and its identity as a diverse and inclusive society  in celebrating the country's history, traditions and culture," it said.

According to the statement, as a further sign of Canada's commitment to this relationship, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will travel to Ukraine next week.

The Canadian government is also looking forward to further supporting the government of Ukraine's reform agenda at the Ukraine Reform Conference that will be held in Canada next year.
They wish Ukraine peace, stability and prosperity.

World leaders greet Ukrainians on their National Day and send official letters to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

In particular, the Ukrainian president's administration reported about greetings from President of South Korea Moon Jae-in, Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II, King Felipe VI of Spain, King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Read alsoCanada greets Ukraine on 27th anniversary of independence, reaffirms support

"I have great pleasure in sending your Excellency my most sincere congratulations on the occasion of your national holiday, along with the best wishes for the gentle fate and happiness of the people of Ukraine next year," the letter of Elizabeth II reads.

King Felipe VI of Spain also sent congratulations and wished peace and prosperity to the Ukrainian people.

President of South Korea Moon Jae-in noted that "over the years, our countries have built close friendship and cooperation in a wide range of issues."

"I sincerely hope that in the future we will be able to strengthen relations between our countries through mutually beneficial and future-oriented cooperation that will contribute to the well-being and happiness of our peoples and deepen our mutual understanding and friendship," Moon Jae-in noted and wished "the never-ending prosperity of Ukraine."

"We are pleased to express to you, Your Excellency, our warmest congratulations on the occasion of the anniversary of Independence Day of your country and send you our sincere wishes for the good health and happiness, and wish development and prosperity to the people and Government of a friendly Ukraine," the letter of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reads.

Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri and Emperor of Japan Akihito also congratulated the Head of State on Independence Day.

"On the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine, I have great pleasure in sending Your Excellency my heartfelt congratulations and sincere good wishes for your happiness and for the prosperity of the people of your country," the Emperor of Japan noted.

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg expressed sincere wishes for the welfare and prosperity of the Ukrainian nation.

Read alsoMacron greets Ukrainians on Independence Day: "You can count on France's support"

The Ukrainian president and the people of Ukraine were also congratulated by President of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE's Armed Forces Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

President of Ethiopia Mulatu Teshome also congratulated the President of Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation on Independence Day.

President of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi noted willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation and wished Ukrainians progress and prosperity.

President of India Ram Nath Kovind noted friendly relations between the two countries based on mutual goodwill and understanding. "We look forward to further strengthening our bilateral ties in the coming years," the letter reads. The President of India wished Ukrainians peace, development and prosperity.

Greetings also came from King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King Philippe of Belgium.

"On the occasion of the national holiday of Ukraine, allow me to express to you, Your Excellency, my congratulations and best wishes for the prosperity of the Ukrainian people. Let me also express my appreciation and praise the consistent and persistent efforts of your government aimed to achieve the truth and justice for the victims of the MH17 tragedy and their close relatives. We value the excellent cooperation between our two countries and other members of the Joint Investigation Team, and we are looking forward to progress in the same spirit," the letter of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands reads.

Also, congratulations to the President of Ukraine were sent by President of the Republic of Latvia Raimonds Vejonis and President of Italy Sergio Mattarella.

"On the occasion of the national holiday, I am pleased to express the fervent wishes of harmony and welfare to the friendly Ukrainian nation on behalf of the Italians and personally. Peace, stability and prosperity in your country remain our sincere wishes and a cause we faithfully support in the efforts that the international community is taking in this direction. The fulfillment of the Minsk Agreements is a goal that must be pursued in the interests of Ukraine and the whole Europe in a spirit of cooperation and political will," Mattarella said.

Mattarella stressed that Italy reaffirms its full support for the principles of international law, as well as the support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and works with the European partners to ensure their full and unconditional provision. "I am convinced that in the near future our strong and fruitful bilateral relations will reach further progress in the framework of an even greater strengthening of the link between Kyiv and the European Union. With these sincere wishes, I convey to you personally and to the friendly Ukrainian people the most sincere wishes of well-being," the President of the Italian Republic said.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite wished Ukraine prosperity, peace and unity. Dalia Grybauskaite noted that 27 years ago, when Ukraine proclaimed its independence, and during the last years of difficult tests, the Ukrainian people demonstrated to the whole world that they care for freedom and are ready to fight for it, taking responsibility for their own future and for the development of the state.

"With such strong, decisive citizens who have a free spirit, your country is and will remain free. In Lithuania, we remember well the worthy struggle of our friends for freedom and unity. I sincerely wish you to preserve this and remain vigilant on a difficult yet very necessary path of reforms. The Lithuanian people will remain your loyal friend and assistant in the development of Ukraine as a successful, independent, European and democratic state on the continent," the letter reads. The President of Lithuania stressed that it is important for Ukraine to continue to unite society for the sake of ensuring economic recovery, prosperity and security of the entire population. "All Ukrainians should feel national success. This is a great responsibility for the future of your state and an accountability to all those who defended the freedom of Ukraine, established and developed it," she said.

"Your people are well aware of the meaning of freedom. Therefore, I wish your national holiday to become a manifestation of unity and willingness to work together. Please accept my assurances of highest respect and best regards from the Lithuanian people. Glory to Ukraine!" the President of Lithuania emphasized.

Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis wished Ukrainians peace and prosperity, reaffirming Romania's continued support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "I want to once again express my support for the European ambitions of your country and their implementation through democratic transformations that all citizens of Ukraine, including those belonging to the Romanian national minority, will be able to enjoy equally," he said.

Bulgarian leader Rumen Radev wished the people of Ukraine peace and prosperity: "Bulgaria will continue to support the European choice of the Ukrainian people, as well as help implement reforms and establish the principles of democracy and the rule of law in your country."

Presidentof Hungary Janos Ader states: "We consistently support the citizens of Ukraine in all their efforts on protecting the territorial unity and sovereignty of the state. We attach great importance to achieving a peaceful settlement of the crisis in the east of Ukraine as soon as possible, so that your entire country could begin its progress on the path to unhindered, peaceful development". According to him, the interest of Hungary is a strong and democratic Ukraine as its neighbor. Janos Ader wished Ukrainians peace and prosperity.

President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic wished Ukrainians security and stability, and noted that Croatia sees and appreciates a significant progress of Ukraine despite numerous challenges, and is ready to share its experience in implementing complex reforms on the European and Euro-Atlantic path.

President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda also congratulated all Ukrainians on the 27th anniversary of their country's independence.

"I would like to assure you of respect for the people of Ukraine, who have steadily been building an independent state and ready for the greatest sacrifice in the face of violations of international law and armed aggression by the neighbor. I would like to extend the continued support of the Republic of Poland for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. This is expressed by initiatives in this field adopted at the forum of the UN Security Council, the OSCE, the European Union and NATO," Duda's letter said.

Duda also mentioned Ukraine's aspirations for accession to NATO and the European Union. "I declare further activities of Poland towards strengthening Ukraine's relations with the EU and NATO, as well as support in the implementation of ambitious domestic reforms that will bring Ukraine closer to the standards adopted by these organizations. Poland and Europe are interested in Ukraine being a modern state with a well-functioning economy that provides a high standard of living for its citizens," the letter said.

Duda is convinced that partnership between the state institutions, systematically growing trade, as well as dynamic development of people-to-people contacts facilitate further rapprochement between Poland and Ukraine.

"I hope to achieve positive results in the dialogue on the tragic pages of our common history as well. I am convinced that the strategic partnership between Poland and Ukraine should be based on the foundation of truth about the past and in the spirit of Christian values professed by both nations," the president of Poland said.

Duda also wished welfare to Ukrainians.

Read alsoU.S. Secretary of State Pompeo greets Ukraine on Independence Day: "We stand behind Ukraine"

President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades wished Ukraine success, prosperity and peace. "I want to reaffirm the consistent and principled position of my Government with regard to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as the full support for your Government's efforts in implementing important reforms that will make your country even closer to your European aspirations," he said.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto wished Ukrainians a peaceful and prosperous future. "Finland continues to condemn the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Together with the international community, we continue the non-recognition policy of the illegally annexed Crimea. Our support to the political association and economic integration of Ukraine to the EU stands firm," the letter reads.

Congratulations on the Independence Day of Ukraine were also sent by Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and HerzegovinaBakir Izetbegovic, Captains Regent of the Republic of San Marino Stefano Palmieri and Matteo Ciacci.

"Allow me to express my belief that friendly and constructive relations between Australia and Ukraine will continue growing," the Governor-General of Australia said in a letter. He expressed strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which is consistently supported by the United Nations and other international forums. "Australia is looking forward to the Ukrainian athletes at the Invictus Games, which will take place in Sydney this October," Peter Cosgrove of Australia said.

The Heads of State wish prosperity to the friendly Ukrainian nation and express their firm commitment to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with Ukraine in favor of mutual development and welfare.

Congratulations have also been received from President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto, President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of Iraq Fuad Masum, President of Benin Patrice Talon, President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, and the leaders of other countries. The heads of state wish prosperity and welfare to the friendly Ukrainian nation and express firm commitment to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with Ukraine in favor of mutual development and prosperity.

Independence Day greetings also came from a number of CIS heads of state.

In particular, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan and Ukraine are linked by traditionally friendly relations: "I believe that the development and deepening of our bilateral and multilateral cooperation will contribute to the prosperity of our countries and nations". Azerbaijani leader wished Ukrainians peace and prosperity.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev noted in his letter: "Over the years of sovereign development, Ukraine has undergone important transformations, achieving significant results in the field of state-building, strengthening economic potential and increasing the country's credibility in the international arena. Astana and Kyiv are bound by strong traditions of friendship and mutual understanding that serve as a solid foundation for the expansion and strengthening of bilateral relations".

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov wished Ukrainians peace, progress and prosperity.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon noted the development of bilateral relations and wished Ukrainians peace, prosperity and welfare.

President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov also sent his greetings to Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said he did not know whether Putin had congratulated Ukraine on Independence Day. "I need to clarify. I do not have information at the moment that such congratulations has been sent," Peskov said, answering a question from an UNIAN correspondent based in Russia.
Ukraine marks the 27th anniversary of its independence on August 24.

Kyiv is hosting a military parade on the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence on August 24.

Some 250 units of military equipment are being showcased during the event, some 4,500 military personnel are taking part in the parade.

Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, the Security Service of Ukraine and other formations are marching along Kyiv's major thoroughfare, Khreshchatyk Street.

This year, female soldiers of the Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University and the Military Telecommunications and Information Institute named after the Heroes of Kruty are taking part in the parade.

Eighteen foreign delegations are attending this official event.

At the military parade, the new official greeting of the Ukrainian Armed Forces "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!" will be officially introduced.

Some 30,000 members of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies are engaged in keeping order during Independence Day events on August 24.

Read alsoPresident says Ukrainian defense industry virtually gets rid of dependence on Russian components

During the parade on Independence Day, the new An-178 transport aircraft will be publicly presented for the first time. Also, the presentation of new models of weapons and military equipment, created by the national defense industry, is expected. Among them there are rocket and artillery weapons: the Sapsan multifunctional missile complex, the Vilkha high-precision system of volley fire, the Verba automated system of volley fire, the 155mm Bohdana self-propelled howitzer, and T-64BV modernized main battle tanks.
Russian-led forces used, among other things, 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, cannons of infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns.

The situation in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, escalated on August 23, five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in action (KIA) and seven were wounded in action (WIA) amid fighting with Russian-led forces the day before Ukraine marks its Independence Day, however the Ukrainian army says the situation remains under control.

In total, the Russian-led forces mounted 42 attacks on the Ukrainian troops, the JFO press service said on Facebook in a morning update on August 24. Of them, proscribed, heavy weapons were used three times.

Read alsoUkraine army eliminates 12 enemy troops in Donbas in past day (Video)

"The Russian occupiers opened fire from 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, cannons of infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms.

The enemy shelled Ukrainian positions near such populated localities in eastern Ukraine as: the villages of Krymske, Novotoshkivske, Troyitske, Luhanske, Pivnichne, Zhelezne, Novhorodske, Pisky, Starohnativka, Hranitne, Chermalyk, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Lebedynske, Vodiane, and Shyrokyne, as well as the towns of Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka.

Krymske and Novotoshkivske in the Luhansk sector were the hottest spots in the past day. The enemy intensively used artillery systems and mortars there, attempting to launch assault operations. Ukraine's Joint Forces units repelled the enemy's attacks, retaining own positions.

Also, the Russian occupation forces shelled Ukrainian positions near Luhanske, Chermalyk, and Lebedynske, using 82mm mortars.

"Since [Friday] midnight, the occupiers have already mounted five attacks on the JFO positions near Krymske, Hnutove, Pavlopil, and Vodiane. At night, Krymske against came under 122mm artillery fire, Pavlopil was under 82mm mortar fire. No Ukrainian army casualties have been reported today [August 24]," the JFO press service added.

According to an updated intelligence report, 12 enemy troops were eliminated, another 20 were wounded in the past day.
Not only civilian houses but also facilities belonging to a local school have been damaged in the attack.

The father of two children has been killed a recent attack by Russian-led forces in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, on the Ukrainian village of Vrubivka in Luhansk region.

The man, 35, died of wounds after one of the seven 152mm artillery shells, which were fired by Russia-controlled terrorists, had hit the yard of his house in the morning of August 24, the press service of the Joint Forces Operation reported on Friday, August 24.

"Having grossly violated the Minsk accords and completely disregarded civilians' lives, the Russian occupation forces on August 24 fired heavy artillery to attack the residential sector of the village of Vrubivka in Luhansk region, which is located 17 km from the contact line. At about 6 o'clock in the morning, six [later reports mentioned "seven"] 152mm rounds hit private yards in the center of the village. Local resident, Andriy Oliynyk, born in 1983, received injuries incompatible with life. The scale of the destruction is being examined," the JFO press service said on Facebook.

He had two children, 7 and 9 years old. "[His] children, 7 and 9, have become orphans," it added.

Not only civilian houses but also facilities belonging to a local school have been damaged in the attack.

Read alsoEscalation in Donbas pending Independence Day: Ukraine reports five KIA's, seven WIA's on Aug 23

The Ukrainian members of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination in Donbas are working on the crime scene jointly with representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, local executive authorities and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine to document the facts of the civilian death.

According to their preliminary report, one house has been ruined, while windows and roofs of about 50 private houses have been damaged.
Washington has imposed economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said on Friday that U.S. sanctions against Russia would remain in place until Moscow changes its behavior.

Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv, Bolton added he had told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Moscow should not meddle in Ukraine's presidential vote next year, Reuters said.

Washington has imposed economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Moscow denies the allegations.

Read alsoTrump names conditions for Russia sanctions lift

As was reported, the U.S. Treasury on August 21 imposed fresh sanctions against Russian actors in connection with the Kremlin's aggressive cyber attacks.

The two newly sanctioned people and firms join three other individuals and five businesses that were accused in June of providing material and technological support to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
Apart from involvement in Russian aggression against Ukraine, he fought in the conflict in Chechnya in the 1990s.

Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin was barred from entering Bosnia on Thursday, August 23, on security grounds, in a move that angered Bosnian Serbs and the Russian Embassy.

Prilepin, who had been due to attend a literature event in the de facto Bosnian Serb capital Banja Luka on Friday, was turned back at the Raca border crossing between Serbia and Bosnia, the Russian embassy said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"The Embassy expresses a concern and deep disappointment because of this incident. We have asked for an explanation from the Foreign Ministry of Bosnia and Herzegovina," it said.

Read alsoRussian writer quits Donbas terrorists' ranks, moves back to Moscow

Prilepin is associated with Russian aggression against Ukraine. Bosnian media reported that the Bosnian Intelligence and Security Agency had issued an entry ban decree in March for him, citing security concerns.

Regional President Milorad Dodik, who is under U.S sanctions over an illegal referendum in the Serb region in 2016, said the entry ban on Prilepin was "shameful, inadmissible and directed against friends of Republika Srpska (Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic)."

Many ethnic Serbs see Russia rather than Western Europe as an ally, partly because of a shared Orthodox religion and culture.

Prilepin received an award for his life achievements in 2017 in Andricgrad, in eastern Bosnia. Apart from involvement in Russian aggression against Ukraine, he fought in the conflict in Chechnya in the 1990s.
The two reconnected in February, when Advocate and the Cubs sponsored a trip for nine young patients and their families to travel to spring training in Mesa, Ariz., the hospital said in a release. In a 10th birthday surprise, Daniel was given a personalized jersey, a VIP experience on the field and tour of the dugout. Almost too good to be true, Contreras hit a home run in his first at bat.
Friday's sanctions highlight the erosion of U.S.-Russian ties.

The U.S. announced details of limited new sanctions against Russia over the March poisoning in the U.K. of a former Russian agent and his daughter, the latest sign relations between the former Cold War foes continue to deteriorate.

Restrictions released by the State Department on Friday target remaining sources of foreign assistance and arms sales to Russia, and deny any U.S. credit to Russia, including through the Export-Import Bank, Bloomberg said.

The announcement follows the Trump administration's decision in March to expel 60 Russian diplomats and shutter a consulate in Seattle.

The latest measures appear far less stringent, though, than proposals being considered in Congress, where lawmakers from both parties have urged the administration to take a tougher stance against Moscow. Friday's announcement also said that waivers to the new sanctions, which are to take effect upon publication in the Federal Register on August 27, were included for "national security" reasons, including for things such as flight safety, wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries, and space flight.

The restrictions follow the U.S. conclusion, reached about five months after the U.K. attack, that "the Russian Federation has used chemical weapons in violation of international law," according to the State Department, which didn't immediately respond to a request for additional details on the scope of sanctions.

The State Department's announcement on August 8 that it would impose new penalties on Moscow signaled that additional and more draconian limits, including restrictions on trade and diplomatic ties, could possibly come about 90 days later.

Friday's sanctions highlight the erosion of U.S.-Russian ties even after Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a joint meeting in Helsinki just over a month ago. Even before the latest announcement there was growing bipartisan support in the Senate for separate pieces of legislation to ramp up pressure on Moscow as evidence emerges of fresh Russian interference ahead of the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.

Among the most stringent measures being proposed in Congress are ones that would impose curbs on Russian sovereign debt sales and tougher limits on some of the country's biggest banks as punishment for election meddling.

John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, met with his Russian counterpart in Geneva on Thursday. The meeting, which Russian media outlet Tass said lasted more than five hours, ended with the two sides refusing to issue a joint statement because of U.S. insistence on including a reference to alleged Russian actions in U.S. elections, according to Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's Security Council.

Read alsoReuters: Bolton says U.S. sanctions to stay until Russia changes behavior

On Friday, Bolton told reporters in Kyiv that existing U.S. sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and actions in eastern Ukraine will remain in force "until there is a required change in Russian behavior."

The Senate held three hearings related to Russia, sanctions and cyber-threats to the U.S. this week.

Also this week, the U.S. sanctioned owners of six Russian ships over claims they are helping transfer refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels in violation of international prohibitions.

The Trump administration has used sanctions to address a widening range of foreign policy crises in countries including Turkey, Venezuela, North Korea, Iran and Russia.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :Air pollution, and fine dust, in particular, is responsible for more than four million deaths each year. Almost 60 per cent of deaths occur as a result of heart diseases.

The large percentage of deaths from cardiovascular disease has prompted an international group of experts from Germany, England, and the USA to analyse the negative effects of air pollution on vascular function in a review article.

Key research questions focused on components of air pollution (particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide) that are particularly damaging to the cardiovascular system and mechanisms that damage the vessels.

The findings have been published in the European Heart Journal.

Professor Thomas Munzel said, "We are especially worried about ultrafine dust. These particles have the size of a virus.

When ultrafine matter is inhaled, it immediately enters the bloodstream through the lungs, is taken up by the vessels, and causes local inflammation.""Ultimately, this causes more atherosclerosis (vascular calcification) and thus leads to more cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmias. Of particular interest is the fact that with regard to the much-discussed diesel exhaust emissions, particulate matter and not nitrogen dioxide (NO2), both of which are produced by burning diesel fuel, have a negative effect on vascular function," Munzel continued.

"The fine dust particles are chemically formed mainly in the atmosphere from emissions from traffic, industry, and agriculture. In order to achieve low, harmless concentrations, emissions from all these sources need to be reduced," commented Professor Jos Lelieveld.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Lieutenant General (Retd) Muzammil Hussain on Friday briefed Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiyar on the ongoing projects related to energy, power and water resources.

The meeting discussed the government's priorities, availability of funds, status of releases and future demands of water, power and energy sectors, said a press release.

The Chairman WAPDA informed the Minister about the progress of ongoing water projects across the country including Diamer Bhasha, Kurram Tangi, Dasu, Mohmand, Reni canal, Kachi canal and Nerlong dams updating him about the current status of the water reservoirs.

Talking on the occasion, the Minister maintained that the government is fully aware of the challenges in water, power and energy sectors and it was ready to provide all resources for the timely completion of all the ongoing projects.

Meanwhile, the Minister stated that the government was planning to take initiatives for the permanent solution of water scarcity and energy crisis. "We are ready to make leaps and bound progress on all fronts engaging all stakeholders to make the country self-reliant as envisioned by Prime Minister Imran Khan", he said.

He also said the government is determined to coup with the challenge of water scarcity and meet energy needs of the country on sustainable basis through coordinated efforts and well thought-out policy devised in collaboration of the experts and stakeholders.

Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiyar said that experts in the government sector need to formulate policies, which make the country self-sufficient in energy sector and steer the country out of water crises and prevent the country from food shortage. He said that experts in the government and private sectors should advise on adopting alternate sources of the energy to create sustainable conditions in this sector. "To effectively counter the challenge of food shortage, we need to work on short-term and long term plans in energy and water sectors", said the Minister.

He urged to expedite the work on the ongoing water and energy projects by utilize all necessary resources in this regards with special focus on human development first.
(@mahnoorsheikh03)

A hearing on suo-moto notice on Lahores mega projects was held in the Supreme Court on Friday.

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News  24th August, 2018) Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has expressed anger over the incompletion of Orange Line Metro Train Project (OLMTP).

A hearing on suo-moto notice on Lahores mega projects was held in the Supreme Court on Friday.

The CJP said in his remarks that Lahore has faced many difficulties. I need a time frame when Lahore will be freed from this ordeal, he said.

The representative of a construction company present in the hearing said that 90 percent work on the project is complete. The remaining work is to be done by the Chinese companies which can take three to four months.

He added that the last two cheques we received were bounced.

To this, CJP Nisar asked to question the finance secretary why the cheques were not cleared.

Talk to the representatives of new government and tell me how long will this project take. I will take an undertaking from you all in how much time the project will be completed. I will not let any contractor back out from the project, the CJP remarked.

CJP Nisar also ordered the finance secretary to appear in the court.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :On special directives of Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan, the Local Government department and Quetta Metropolitan has launched a cleanliness campaign in Quetta City.

The Chief Minister on Friday has taken strict action over complaints received through social media related to the cleanliness situation in Quetta city.

In this regard, a meeting chaired by Commissioner Quetta Muhammad Hashim Ghalzai was held which was also attended by Mayor Quetta Dr.

Kalim Ullah, Deputy Commissioner Quetta and other concerned officials. The meeting discussed the cleanliness drive in the city and devised a comprehensive plan for instant implementation.

The Chief Minister Balochistan also visited different areas of the city on Eid day and inspected the cleanliness situation.

Mayor Quetta, Secretary Local Bodies and Commissioner Quetta monitored the campaign of disposing off animals' waste through heavy machinery.
(@rukhshanmir)

QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Aug, 2018 ) :Frontier Core (FC) Balochistan Thursday inaugurated installation of water solar plant in Killa Abdullah, Killy Halkay Boghra.

Commandant Frontier Core Balochistan Chaman Scouts Karnal Muhammad Usman on behalf of Inspector General FC Balochistan funded installation of water solar plant in Killy Halkay Boghara village for providing clean drinking water to residents of Qilla Abdullah and nearby villagers, a press release issued by FC Balochistan Public Relations Officer.

Tribal elders, civil society members, municipal corporation authority persons and residents were also present on the inauguration ceremony.

This water plant would supply 3,000 gallons of clean drinking water to the residents and villagers.

In the end, Inhabitants expressed gratitude to FC Balochistan for provision of water plant.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :Pilgrims started leaving the holy city of Makkah after performing the farewell tawaf, the last ritual of Haj, on Thursday evening. Several buses, carrying the pilgrims, started leaving for Madinah to visit the Prophet's Mosque.

The first Haj flight from the Haj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah will take off on Friday morning. Essam Bin Fuad Noor, director general of the airport, talking to Saudi Gazette said that all arrangements have been completed for the departure of pilgrims.

More than 13,000 staffers, representing 27 government and private agencies and departments, have been deployed to complete the travel procedures and extending various services for the pilgrims.

Noor said that more than one million pilgrims will leave the Kingdom through the Jeddah airport, of which about half a million will return within a week. The last flight will depart on Muharram 15. Pilgrims who did not visit the Prophet's Mosque will return only after completion of the visit.

Many pilgrims expressed happiness over the completion of the pilgrimage in ease and comfort. They thanked the Saudi authorities for the smooth conduct of a hassle-free Haj, especially the meticulously arranged crowd management system at the Jamarat.

Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh, consul general of India, said that the overall pilgrims' movement part was much better, smoother and timely comparing with the previous years.

"The crowd control mechanism at Jamarat was excellent and the pilgrims could perform the stoning ritual comfortably despite extreme temperatures. The Indian Haj mission received small number of complaints this time and that were mainly related to distribution of precooked meals by some muallims in their Mina tents, and the mission intervened quickly to sort out the issue," he said.

Sheikh said that out of 175,000 pilgrims, only 7,000 stayed back in Mina to perform the stoning ritual on Friday, the last day of Haj. Around 113,000 pilgrims are staying in Aziziyah, which is a few kilometers away from Mina, and this also contributed to their smooth movement.

The first batch of Indian pilgrims will leave on board a Flynas flight from Jeddah to Guwahati on Aug. 27. Indonesian pilgrims will also start to return on Aug. 27, according to the Indonesian Consulate sources.
(@FahadShabbir)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :The authorities in Indian occupied Kashmir arrested the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League (JKML), Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, and placed him under house detention in Islamabad town, today.

According to Kashmir media service, a JKPL spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said that the Indian police took Mukhtar Ahmed Waza into custody when he came out of his residence and put him under house arrest. He strongly denounced the police action terming as the worst human rights violation. He also condemned the use of brute force on peaceful protesters by the Indian police on the day of Eid-UL-Azha.

The spokesman said that the Indian state terrorism would not be able to intimidate the Kashmiris into submission and they would continue their ongoing freedom movement till it reached its logical conclusion.

The spokesman also expressed concern over Indian government's attempts to repeal Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution that guarantees special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

He urged New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir dispute by fulfilling its promises of giving the Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination. He also appealed to the UN to take practical steps towards settlement of the Kashmir dispute by implementing its resolutions.
MINSK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :Belarus and Georgia have hailed constructive cooperation in the parliamentary dimension both in the bilateral format and within international organizations.

The statement was made at a meeting of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Georgia Mikhail Myatlikov with Secretary General of Georgian Parliament Givi Mikanadze, Belarusian embassy in Georgia said.

The parties emphasized a high level of the Belarusian-Georgian cooperation in political, inter-parliamentary, humanitarian, tourism, trade and economic sectors. The parties discussed the upcoming events between the parliaments of Belarus and Georgia.

Thus, in late September, at the initiative of Georgia and with the support of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Society for International Cooperation in Tbilisi, the first conference will take place at the level of the heads of the secretariats of the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The parties confirmed the interest in organizing mutual visits of parliamentary friendship groups and advancing joint parliamentary initiatives to international organizations.
BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) China hopes to speed up talks with neighboring Mongolia on free trade to begin ripping rewards of closer economic ties, its top diplomat said Friday.

"The Chinese side hopes to accelerate consultations on a free trade deal for both countries to rip the benefits as soon as possible," Wang Yi said in a statement carried by the Foreign Ministry.

The diplomat praised Mongolia for being one of the first countries that backed Chinas ambitious belt-and-road project to link its infrastructure to that in Europe.

Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, for his part, praised Chinas economic development and global standing and called a better relationship between the two a priority of his foreign policy.
ULAN BATOR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar here the other day, with both sides agreeing to enhance bilateral cooperation.

Wang said China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers.

Since the formation of a new government, Mongolia has attached greater importance to bilateral relations and has put the relations with China as a priority of its foreign relations, Wang said.

"China fully affirms and highly appreciates this," Wang said.

"In accordance with the concept of 'amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness' in neighborhood diplomacy proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, we should take the opportunity of marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year to push China-Mongolia relations into the fast lane to make new progress continuously," he said.

To this end, China has proposed that the two countries maintain close contacts at all levels, promote the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen bilateral pragmatic cooperation, speed up cooperation between the two countries in the border areas to benefit the two peoples, strengthen cultural exchanges to consolidate the public opinion bases of China-Mongolia friendship, enhance trilateral cooperation between China, Mongolia and Russia, and jointly maintain the rule-based global trade system, he said.

Tsogtbaatar said that developing good-neighborly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with China is a priority in Mongolia's foreign policy.

He said that for a long time, relations between the two countries have developed steadily on the basis of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, adding that the Mongolia-China relationship is a great model of peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between big and small countries.

He expressed his full agreement with Wang's proposal to promote bilateral relations to the next stage, adding that Mongolia is ready to work closely with China to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties next year as an opportunity to strengthen high-level exchanges, expand bilateral pragmatic cooperation, and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

He said that the Mongolian government firmly adheres to the one-China policy and sticks to the position that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of the Chinese territory, which will not change.

Mongolia highly appreciates the Belt and Road Initiative and the neighborhood diplomacy featuring "amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness" proposed by Xi.

Both the initiative and the neighborhood diplomacy concept are conducive to maintaining regional peace and stability, promoting world economic growth, and providing new opportunities for the development of China's neighboring countries and the deepening of Mongolia-China relations, he said.

He thanked China for its long-term assistance and support to Mongolia's economic and social development.
REYKJAVIK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) The organizers of the annual Arctic Circle forum in Reykjavik did not send an official invitation to Russian leadership, but they would be glad if top Russian officials decided to attend the event, Olafur Grimsson, the forum's head and former president of Iceland, told Sputnik on Friday.

"We haven't formally invited [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin to the Arctic Circle assembly, but we will be honored to have him participating. And also the Russian prime minister, the Russian foreign minister, the Russian president - they are always welcome to come to the Arctic Circle assembly in Reykjavik," Grimsson said.

Russia's Murmansk Region governor confirmed his participation in the forum this year with his delegation, and negotiations on the arrival of the Krasnoyarsk Territory delegation are also underway, the ex-president noted.

"We have decided few years ago the interest of making this big international gathering aware of the enormous importance of the different regions of Russia ... Because the Russian Arctic cover seven time zones, thats more than twice the United States so its very important that in the discussion of the Arctic people get a sense of first of all the size, and secondly the importance of the different Russian Arctic," Grimsson explained.

The Arctic region, located in the northernmost part of the Earth, consists of the Arctic Ocean and its adjacent seas, as well as parts of the territories belonging to a number of states. Arctic policy is coordinated by the Arctic Council, which unites eight Arctic nations, and also by the United Nations and NATO.

Olafur Grimsson was the president of Iceland for 20 years, from 1996 to 2016. He gained worldwide fame during the 2010 financial crisis in the country, when he vetoed the decision of the Althing (national parliament) to pay money to foreign investors of Icelands ruined banks. Grimsson referred the matter to a general referendum and the population voted against it. Grimsson is now mainly involved in the affairs of the Arctic Circle, an annual event where politicians and experts discuss the problems of the Arctic.
UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Russia has proof that the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) has been receiving weapons from other countries with the help of foreign security agencies, Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said.

"We have amassed evidence that weapons are being smuggled [to Syria] from outside, including through semi-legal organizations or even under protection of security agencies from other countries," he told the United Nations on Thursday.

Nebenzia said Russia planned to discuss ways of putting an end to weapon deliveries to IS at an international conference on combating illicit arms trafficking, scheduled in Moscow on September 3-4.

The diplomat waned that Islamic militants were about to step up inroads into government-controlled territories, primarily near the northwestern city of Idlib. He added IS did not shy away from using children to stage terror attacks.

Nebenzia also said Russian armed forces had helped free over 1,400 towns and villages in Syria and bring over 96 percent of its territory back under government control, securing the return of over 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
ASTANA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Kazakhstan and India signed a memorandum on the participation of Kazakh peacekeepers as part of Indian force in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, the Kazakh Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Kazakh lawmakers in mid-June backed President Nursultan Nazarbayev's proposal to send up to 120 troops to southern Lebanon to ensure peace in the country in the wake of the 2006 conflict with Israel.

"The signing of a memorandum between the governments of Kazakhstan and India on joint deployment of Kazakh peacekeepers as part of Indian battalion in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon took place at the National Military and Patriotic Center of the Kazakh Armed Forces," the statement read.

The memorandum establishes a legal foundation for Kazakh peacekeepers' participation in the UN mission, according to the statement.
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Edinburgh, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Aug, 2018 ) :The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman being held in prison in Tehran, told AFP on Friday there was "light at the end of the tunnel" after she was released for three days.

She has been in prison for more than two years on sedition charges, but was released from Evin prison on furlough on Thursday following campaigning from her family.

"From a very despondent position where we thought that (it would be) perhaps five years, or even longer, suddenly Nazanin was released," Richard Ratcliffe told AFP in Edinburgh, where a play is being put on highlighting his wife's plight.

"It was a great day yesterday... it feels like there's a light at the end of the tunnel," he added.

The couple talked for the first time in more than two years, and she was reunited with four-year-old daughter Gabriella, who has been living with Nazanin's parents in Iran.

"She slept next to Gabriella for the first time in more than two years," Ratcliffe said.

"Gabriella woke up and said 'oh, it's you mummy, I thought it would be granny', they had breakfast together, Nazanin did her bath, and then brushed her hair.

"They were reading stories together, it's been a long time waiting for that kind of family moment." The charity worker is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition -- a charge she has always denied, claiming she was arrested while on holiday with her daughter.

Her case took a turn for the worse after the Iranian regime pounced on remarks made last year by then foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who said she had been training journalists.

But a new foreign secretary and Britain's commitment to the Iran nuclear deal appear to have improved her chances, said Ratcliffe. "Hopefully, if the politics improve then our (situation) will as well," he said.

Despite spending eight-and-a-half months in solitary confinement and suffering from severe depression, Ratcliffe said his wife appeared to be healthy when they spoke on video calling service Skype.

"She looked well, she looked happy, she looked a little bit thinner but she looked like the Nazanin I remember, a big radiant smile, giggling and in joyful spirits.

"Gabriella said 'you look older than you do in the pictures', which obviously offended her mum hugely," he joked.

"There are ups and downs, she often has panic attacks. But there's nothing like being with your family for picking your spirits up." Ratcliffe is hoping that her release may be extended. "We are still in that celebratory day and we will get to tomorrow... and we will be getting more tentative and checking with the lawyer, has it been extended?"The Free Nazanin campaign said that after several weeks of bureaucracy over her possible temporary release, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told on Thursday morning that she had 10 minutes to get ready because she was being freed.

mmc/jwp/dl
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VILNIUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Lithuania signed a contract with the Swedish Saab company to purchase improved missiles to upgrade its RBS 70 short-range air defense system, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"Lithuania is buying from the Swedish manufacturer RBS 70s of a newer generation greater range, higher altitude coverage and an enhanced effect against armored targets. With improved missiles the RBS 70 system will be even more effective and dangerous to hostile aircraft, and the advanced BORC night sights will allow soldiers to stay operational during the dark part of the day," the statement, published on Thursday, read.

The approximate value of the contracts on the improved missiles and BORC night vision equipment is 9.7 million Euros ($11.2 million), according to the statement. The missiles and night vision equipment will be delivered to the Lithuanian Armed Forces starting from 2019.

In October, Lithuania also bought a NASAMS mid-range air defense system worth 110 million euros from Norway's Kongsberg enterprise that is expected to be delivered by 2021.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed the decision of major EU airline carriers to terminate flights to Iran amid reintroduction of US sanctions.

Earlier in the day, the British Airways, Air France and Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) announced their decisions to suspend flights to Iran citing economic reasons starting from the second half of September.

"It was a terrible deal [Iran nuclear deal] and today we learned that three major carriers, BA, KLM and Air France have discontinued their activity in Iran. That's good. More should follow, more will follow, because Iran should not be rewarded for its aggression in the region, for its attempts to spread terrorism far and wide in the middle East, into Europe as they did the other week and to many other places in the world," Netanyahu said at the meeting with Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis.

Iran is currently facing the reintroduction of US sanctions. Part of the restrictions against Iran came into force earlier this month, while the second portion is expected to take effect in the fall. In May, US President Donald Trump said that the United States would leave Iran's nuclear deal, which stipulated that Tehran should ensure the peaceful nature of its missile program in exchange for gradual lifting of the international sanctions.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Mikhail Babich, the newly-appointed Russian Ambassador to Belarus, has a special status because he will be working in what Russia considers a "special" country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Babich, former plenipotentiary envoy to Russia's Volga Federal District, as the country's new ambassador to Belarus, and as his special representative for trade and economic cooperation with the country.

"Today, a decree was signed ordering that Babich be appointed as our ambassador to Belarus with a status as the president's special representative for trade and economic cooperation with Belarus.

This is a special status, this is a special ambassador to a country that is special for us. This is why Babich was given a special status: due to the importance that the president attaches to the development of the relations and the trade and economic cooperation with the union state of Belarus," Peskov told reporters.

Babich's appointment took place two days after Putin met with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in the Russian resort city of Sochi.
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KOKTEBEL (Crimea) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Crimea has seen 5.3 million tourists come to visit the peninsula so far this year, with this figure being one million higher than the one recorded in August of last year, Crimean Minister of Resorts and Tourism Vadim Volchenko said on Friday.

"As of today, a total of 5,300,000 tourists [visited Crimea in 2018].

Currently, the difference between last August and this August amounts to over one million tourists," Volchenko told journalists at a press conference.

The minister also said that he expected more than six million people to visit Crimea in 2018, adding that so far, over one million vehicles, including 10,000 buses, have traveled across the newly-opened Crimean Bridge.

The road section of the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula with the rest of Russia, was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 15.
KUBINKA (Moscow Region) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) A number of Pakistani companies are planning to sign contracts for the supply of Russias Ansat multipurpose helicopter in the near future, Russian Helicopters told Sputnik on Friday.

"The holding has a number of projects for supplying Ansat helicopters to Pakistan.

We are talking about large companies engaged in corporate passenger transportation. During the tests in the country, Ansat proved to be effective at high temperatures. Pakistani customers are seriously considering purchasing this chopper in the near future," the companys press service said.

Ansat, a light twin-engine turbine helicopter, can be used to carry goods and passengers, as well as for surveillance purposes, search and rescue missions, and medical evacuations.
KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent six trucks with humanitarian aid to the conflict-torn region of Donbas, the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service's press service said on Friday.

"Six vehicles with humanitarian aid - 6.4 tonnes of building materials from the International Committee of the Red Cross - have crossed into temporally occupied territory of Ukraine through the Novotroitske crossing checkpoint," the press release read.

The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup.

In February 2015, the warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords to end the hostilities in the region, but the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
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KUBINKA (Moscow region) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) The forth Army-2018 international defense forum, which is now underway in the town of Kubinka in the Moscow region, has witnessed a record number of arms contracts and unveiled Russia's advanced military and civilian innovations.

The forum has started on August 21 and will last until August 26. The congressional agenda of the event will end on August 25.

The event, supported by the Russian Defense Ministry, combines an arms exhibition with extensive congress agenda and presents a total of 26,000 models of arms and military equipment. Apart from the leading Russian manufacturers, Army-2018 also welcomed participants from Armenia, India, Iran and Kazakhstan. Two NATO members, Slovakia and Turkey, have also joined the exposition.

The Russian Defense Ministry and Russian military enterprises have signed record 32 contracts with a total value of over 130 billion rubles ($1.9 billion) on the sidelines of Army-2018.

In particular, the ministry finalized a long-awaited deal on the purchase of two pre-production prototypes of the Su-57 fifth generation fighter jet. The first of the two aircraft will join the Russian army in 2019. Also, the ministry signed a contract with the United Aircraft Corporation on supply of six new multirole MiG-35 fighters until 2023.

Apart from the aircraft contracts, the ministry signed a deal on obtaining 132 next generation T-14 battle tanks and T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicles based on the Armata military tracked vehicle platform.

According to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko, the Russian army will get its first six serial Armata-based vehicles as early as this year. Up to now, there has been a total of 30 Armata platform vehicles produced, including prototypes first demonstrated at the Victory Day parade in May 2015.

During the forum, the ministry also contracted with the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology on development of the Anchar-RV long-range hypersonic "aerial vehicle." There are no details on the design and timeline of the project as of today. It has not been revealed yet whether the Anchar is an aircraft or a missile, but the institute is famous for its Bulava sea-based ballistic missiles.

The closed section of the exposition showcased Tosochka heavy flamethrower system, which is a new version of the TOS Buratino series. Unlike previous versions, Tosochka is based on the wheeled, not tracked vehicle and designed to be used in desert regions, as the majority of potential consumers of the system are middle East states.

A prototype of the new modification of the Mi-8 helicopter was demonstrated to the top military officials for the first time at the exposition.

The helicopter will be tested during Vostok-2018 war games, which will kick off later in the month, and further elaborated in accordance with the performance during the drills.

The newest Sosna anti-aircraft missile system which will replace the Strela-10M system has also been presented at the exposition. The new complex is capable of operating at any time of the day and night and in conditions of reduced visibility. Targets can be identified both in autonomous mode and manually. The system is armed with 12 Sosna-R anti-aircraft guided missiles, which can hit targets at a distance of up to 6 miles and at an altitude of 3 miles. The system can be based both on wheeled and tracked chassis.

The new developments of the Ratnik infantry combat kit have been showcased at the forum, including a chameleon helmet designed to change color to match the environment and an exoskeleton able to diminish the weight carried by the soldier by up to 110 Pounds.

During the forum, Russian military have held talks with the defense officials of 14 states, including Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates. and secured new partners by signing agreements on defense cooperation with Burundi and the Central African Republic.

Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has managed to sign 15 contracts with a total worth of over 20.3 billion rubles (over $302 million), including deals on supplies of land-based military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare devices and close combat weapons.

The forum participants repeatedly addressed the issue of unfair competition in the defense sector. According to Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev, Russian and its partners actively develop mechanisms to conduct transactions in the national currencies, including Indian rupees, Chinese yuans, UAE Dirhams and Russian rubles.

A special section of the exhibition was given to the Syrian exposition which featured improvised weapons seized by the Syrian military from the Islamic State (IS terror group, banned in Russia) terrorists. The visitors could see explosive devices, small arms, vehicle-borne bombs and hand grenades used by the terrorists in Syria.

Russia's Kalashnikov Concern unveiled its new electric car and motorcycle, as well as a prototype of its new electric supercar which, the manufacturer claimed, could in the future rival with world leaders in this field, including Tesla.

Another Kalashnikov's exhibit was a giant bulletproof Robocop-style robot, dubbed Igorek. The four-meters-tall droid, which according to the manufacturer was designed to carry out engineering and combat tasks, immediately became the subject of various internet memes.
BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) Sweden and Morocco are both reinstating compulsory military service in what seems to be two separate moves, however a closer look at the issue reveals that they have much in common and are actually both driven by attempts to engage the idle and estranged youth in the life of their country amid high unemployment rate and weakening sense of citizenship.

On Monday, the Moroccan government approved the draft law to restore military conscription for boys and girls aged between 19 and 25. The bill is expected to be approved by the parliament in October. The news comes as Sweden is engaged in reintroducing compulsory military service starting this year.

The issue seems even more topical as many other European countries have recently voiced the possibility of reinstating compulsory military service, including France and Serbia.

Average unemployment in the European Union and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries has been stagnating for years at about 10 percent against some 4.5 percent in the United States. Germany has improved, so have Denmark and Sweden, but for the rest the situation is much worse for the youth, especially the offspring of immigrants, even third and fourth generations. In large European cities, the unemployment of the youth is nearly everywhere above 20 percent. In Brussels it was 23.9 percent at the end of 2017 but it improves in line with the economic rebound.

In Sweden, the situation is a bit better for the youngsters, with roughly 18 percent of youth unemployment, but the country is one of the worst hit by the wave of undocumented migrants. There are many refugees, but also young economic migrants who were taken in by the minority socialist government.

In countries such as Morocco, located on the southern periphery of Europe, figures are much worse. Morocco lives partly on the money sent home by Moroccan migrant workers all over Europe. Many families live off the family allowances for children who have never been to Europe or the pension of a retired worker.

In fact, 27.9 percent of Moroccans aged between 15 and 24 neither work nor study. Therefore, the reinstatement of military service similarly seems to be, above all, an opportunity to engage an idle and estranged youth.

SWEDEN FINGERPOINTS AT RUSSIAN THREAT

Sweden had mandatory military service until 2010. In September 2016 the Swedish government announced that it planned to reintroduce gender-neutral conscription in 2018.

The first "new" conscripts this year were chosen from a pool of 13,000 young people born in 1999 and will serve for 12 months. As the relevant age cohort is about 100,000, this means that roughly 4 percent are enlisted. It is noteworthy, that, during the height of the Cold War, about 85 percent of Swedish young men were enlisted. Conscientious objectors in Sweden have the right to choose alternative service.

Explaining its decision to restore military constriction, Stockholm cites the alleged Russian thereat.

"We have been worried lately by Russias military manoeuvres in the Baltic. The return to conscription was prompted by the security change in our neighbourhood, as well as the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Ukraine," Swedish Defense Ministry press secretary Marinette Nyh Radebo told Sputnik.

Helsinkis reference to Russia with regard to the issue seems ludicrous but corresponds to the NATO jargon that cries wolf to obtain budget increases. Sweden is not a NATO member but works closely with the alliance.

BOTH NATIONS SEEK TO REVIVE SENSE OF CITIZENSHIP

Genuine rationales behind the decisions of Sweden and Morocco, meanwhile, seem to be similar, in the sense that both countries have high unemployment among the youth and the lack of patriotic sentiment.

In Sweden, as in most Western countries, political correctness forbids to comment on the lack of integration of young migrants or the drop in patriotic feelings among the Swedish youth. There is a will among older citizens to give the youngsters a shot of patriotism and integrate newly-arrived young migrants at the same time.

A release by the government in Rabat, in contrast, clearly states that "the conscription aims to promote patriotism among young people. This fits within the framework of the coherence between rights and responsibilities of citizenship."

Ahmed Ghayet, a writer and the founder of the association "Marocains pluriels" (Plural Moroccans), suggested that the motive behind the decision to revive the sense of citizenship among the youth.

"The Moroccan army does not need more men. It is 195,000-strong already, but it is a good idea to strengthen the sense of citizenship among young people. So many of our kids are left on the margin of society. Schools and the families have failed, so we have to find a bridge to pass on values, a sense of lost patriotism, discipline, respect. If this military service is designed with intelligence, if the objectives are well defined, if useful training is granted ... it can be a good vector of change," Ghayet told Sputnik.

MOROCCAN KING URGES EXPATS TO RETURN AND JOIN RANKS OF NATIONAL ARMY

On Wednesday, Moroccan King Mohammed VI declared his support for the reintroduction of one-year conscription for all young people between 19 and 25 (disabled are exempt and students, while students can fulfil their military service later). Conscription, by the way, had been abolished in Morocco in 2006 by the same king Mohammed.

This time, the King even calls on young European Moroccans "to return to Morocco to do something for their country and to think more patriotically."

The bill, which still needs to be adopted, does not yet specifically mention the case of dual nationality or birth abroad as grounds for inclusion or exemption from military service. There is no mention of Moroccans living abroad in the law.

But after the Kings speech, urging all young Moroccans abroad to come and give a year to their country of origin, it is certain that the law will be valid for the children of the Moroccan diaspora, mainly in Europe.

In France, Belgium or The Netherlands, where most Moroccan migrants have settled over the years, all youngsters - even second and third generation - have the dual nationality.

There are some 800,000 Moroccans in Belgium, and 500,000 in the Netherlands. According to historian Pierre Vermeren, a specialist of the Maghreb region, there were 2.5 million Moroccans (3 to 4 generations) in France in 2015. It is the first foreign group in France. So the military service that Morocco reintroduces could affect at least tens of thousands of youngsters everywhere in Europe.

WILL MOROCCANS LIVING IN EU HEED CALL?

But will young people of Moroccan origin, with the double nationality, return to their home country for a one-year nearly unpaid military service? There is clearly no enthusiasm.

"I am not too keen going back for a military service. My family comes from the Rif region, where there were troubles and even riots last year. Friends of my family in El Hoceima are fed up with corruption and lack of future for the youth in Morocco. I see my future here in Brussels," Karim Madrane, 22, from the Brussels borough of Schaarbeek, who studies in Brussels to become an electrician, told Sputnik.

Madrane said that his friend, an architect, had gone back with his wife to Morocco and found a good job. Madrane noted that his friend, however, said that "life [in Morocco] is not easy and salaries are much lower than in Europe," and "even with a lower cost of life, it does not compensate."

"But I can understand that for the youngsters here in Brussels who have left school before the end of their secondary studies, do nothing and have strictly no future, it is maybe an opportunity to learn something in the Moroccan army and better know our country of origin. Still, I dont think it will attract many youngsters to go," Madrane added.

By comparison, Turkey has the same issue with Turks abroad, having the double nationality, particularly in Germany.

For young Turks, under the age of 38, the legislation regulating the military service exemption for Turks living abroad is the "Law on the Amendments to the Military Law." It privileged Turkish citizens, who are permanent residents or have work permits abroad, with the right to be exempt from compulsory military service for a reduced fee of 1,000 Euros ($1,160). The majority of young Turks living in Europe pay to avoid the draft, especially since the Turkish army is now involved in combats along the Syrian and Iraqi borders.

So, for Morocco, despite apparent attempts to create a patriotic momentum that would help the authorities quell unrest in several parts of the country, such as the Rif region, most young Moroccans abroad would probably choose to pay in order to avoid the service.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Kabul said on Thursday that it would not attend the multinational conference on the future of Afghanistan, set to be held in Moscow on September 4, claiming that the decision was not related to recent US refusal to take part in the event.

According to a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Moscow conference will take regardless of Kabul's decision. The source claims that the absence of the United States and Afghanistan will not make the negotiations less efficient.

At least four high ranking leaders of the Afghan Taliban movement will reportedly attend the meeting.

Earlier on Thursday, Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi confirmed that Kabul would not attend the meeting on Afghanistan hosted by Moscow.

He said that Afghanistan had taken the decision "independently as a sovereign country," and that it had nothing to do with the US refusal to attend the conference.

"The peace process should be conducted exclusively under the guidance of Afghanistan, of the government of the Republic of Afghanistan. We already have our own peace board, we are working on the negotiations with Taliban. And we will surely continue them. Of course, we will be leading the peace process. By the way, we have very close ties with Russia, and Russia is a big and strong country in the region, and one of our friends," Ahmadi added.

Representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, have been invited to the Moscow consultations on Afghanistan. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the leadership of the Taliban political office in Doha has also been invited.

The United States refused to attend the meeting. A representative of the US Department of State told Sputnik that Washington believed that the conference was "unlikely to yield any progress."

"The decision by the US stresses yet again the false nature of Washingtons rhetoric regarding Afghanistan, where people over the past 17 years have had to endure and are still experiencing so much suffering and losses resulting from US policy toward this country," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry went on to emphasize that the main objective of the meeting was to "enable participating countries to come together in order to facilitate the launch of national reconciliation in Afghanistan and put an end to a fratricidal war there," and that the US move proved that Washington's interests were lying "elsewhere."

TALIBAN MOVEMENT WILL HAVE SPECIAL STATUS

Nikita Mendkovich, an expert from Russia-based Center for Modern Afghanistan Studies, believes that if the Moscow conference is held without participation of Washington and Kabul, then the Taliban movement will have a special status at the meeting.

"In fact, this will be their major diplomatic debut  official or semiofficial communication with the representatives of other countries," Mendkovich said.

According to the expert, the Taliban movement representatives were initially expected to communicate with the Afghan authorities under mediation of other participants.

"And now, without official Kabul, the event will turn into Taliban's self-introduction to the international community, which will be quite a big failure for official Kabul," Mendkovich added.

He went on to say that the Taliban movement representatives would have an opportunity to initiate their "legitimization with no difficulty or loss."

"This is why I believe that Kabul should not refuse to take part in the conference now," Mendkovich added.

Mendkovich believes that if Kabul does not participate in the conference, Russia will not suffer a major reputational loss.

"If the international conference is held without the United States and Afghanistan, this will perhaps make it slightly less representative, but it will still be a serious legitimate event. In this case, official Kabul loses, and Taliban movement wins," he said.

The expert added that Russia was unlikely to cancel the conference.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) The Russian side in the Russian-Turkish commission monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire regime in Syria registered 15 violations over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"Over the last 24 hours, the Russian party of the Russia-Turkey Commission on violations of the Joint Agreement has registered 15 cases of firing in the provinces of Latakia (8) and Aleppo (7)," the ministry's daily bulletin read.

According to the bulletin, 335 Syrians received medical assistance over the past 24 hours.

"Total number of settlements that had signed reconciliation agreements is 2,505. The number of armed formations, which have claimed to observe the ceasefire regime, is 234," the bulletin noted.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations. Russia along with Turkey and Iran are guarantors of the ceasefire regime in Syria.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov on Thursday spoke of the Red Armys role in the successful offensive by US and British troops in Sicily during World War Two, in a show of what cooperation can achieve.

"A fierce resistance of the Red Army that pinned down the majority of German forces greatly contributed to the successful landing of the allied British-American troops in Sicily 4 days after the beginning of the Battle of Kursk," he said.

The diplomat stressed that by looking back at events of the past "we turn back to the times when the Soviet Union and the United States of America were united in an uncompromising struggle against a common enemy.

"

He mentioned Soviet troops using weapons that were partially received through the allied Lend-Lease Act as a factor that contributed to the victory.

Thursday marked 75 years since the Battle of Kursk, a defining moment in the Soviet struggle against the Nazi Germany. An exhibition of unique photographs, copies of award sheets, military leaflets and field maps honoring the battle will open next week at the Russian Cultural Center in Washington, DC.

The ambassador said that such projects were necessary for both nations to remember the importance of joint efforts to preserve peace and avert such tragedies as World War Two.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Ukraine's Right Sector radical group, banned in Russia, wants to kill 50 Russian officials, who were involved in the investigation of the criminal case against Ukrainian citizen Oleksandr Kostenko, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday.

In 2015, a Crimean court sentenced Kostenko to four years and two months in prison over injuring a Ukrainian Berkut officer during protests in Kiev and illegal possession of weapons.

"According to the investigators, out of revenge for lawful conviction of Kostenko, members of the Right Sector's structural department dubbed Central National Court  have instructed all members of the illegal organization Right Sector to carry out murders of 50 officials of Russian state, judicial and law enforcement agencies, who took part in the investigation of the criminal case against Kostenko, as well as sentencing him, in 'convenient time with methods appropriate in concrete cases,'" the committee's spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.

The spokeswoman noted that the Investigative Committee had initiated proceedings over the "death sentence," adding that the investigators would soon take steps to issue international arrest warrants for those involved.
United Nations, United States, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :A UN team of investigators has begun work in Iraq aimed at collecting evidence on the massacres of the Yazidi minority and other atrocities committed by the Islamic State group, according to a letter released Thursday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in the letter sent August 17 that the investigators led by British human rights lawyer Karim Asad Ahmad Khan would begin work on August 20.

The council last year unanimously adopted a resolution setting up the probe to help bring perpetrators of IS crimes to justice -- a cause championed by international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

The Lebanese-British lawyer represents Yazidi women who were taken hostage and used as sex slaves by IS as it swept into Iraq's Sinjar region in August 2014.

The United Nations has described the massacres of the Yazidis as possible genocide and Clooney has made high-profile appearances before the world body to demand action.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled the August 2014 massacre in Sinjar, and UN rights investigations have documented horrific accounts of abuse suffered by women and girls.

Guterres told the council that Khan, who was appointed in February, had made a first mission to Iraq from August 6 to 14.

The investigators will gather evidence on war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide for use in Iraqi courts that will hold trials for IS militants, according to the resolution.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on Friday on the Tanzanian authorities to guarantee that Burundian refugees had a choice on whether to return to their home country or to continue their stay in refugee camps in Tanzania, the UNHCR press service said.

Earlier in the week, local media reported that the Tanzanian authorities had visited refugee camps, claiming that the situation had improved in Burundi and pushing the refugees to return to their home country.

"It is crucial not to pressure Burundian refugees directly or indirectly to influence their decision on return. ... Refugees need to have a meaningful choice and the decision to return must be voluntary, based on facts and ground realities," UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk said, as cited by the press release.

The United Nations estimates that Tanzania hosts more than 250,000 Burundi refugees who fled political unrest in 2015.
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WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is calling on the warring parties to stop the Yemen conflict after another deadly attack on camp for displayed people of which the vast majority of casualties were children, Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement on Friday.

"I - once again - call for the warring parties, those who have influence over them, the UN Security Council and the international community to take action and end this conflict once and for all," Fore said. "The lives of thousands of vulnerable children across Yemen must be a priority for all."

On Thursday, local media reported that airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in the port of Al Hudaydah hit a convoy of internally displaced people killing at least 31 people of which 26 children.

Fore said she had hoped the outrage that followed a previous deadly airstrike in Saada two weeks ago would be a turning point in the conflict.

"Yesterdays reported attacks in Ad-Durayhimi, killing 26 children, indicate that it was not," Fore said.

Earlier in the month, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Yemens northern province of Saada hit a bus carrying children from a summer camp, killing 50 people and injuring 77 others, the majority of which were minors.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi movement. The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.

The situation in Yemen has significantly deteriorated since June, when the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to seize the port of Al Hudaydah. The operation continues despite the United Nations warnings of a possible humanitarian catastrophe.
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REYKJAVIK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) The organizers of the annual Arctic Circle forum in Reykjavik did not send an official invitation to Russian leadership, but they would be glad if top Russian officials decided to attend the event, Olafur Grimsson, the forum's head and former president of Iceland, told Sputnik on Friday.

"We haven't formally invited [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin to the Arctic Circle assembly, but we will be honored to have him participating. And also the Russian prime minister, the Russian foreign minister, the Russian president - they are always welcome to come to the Arctic Circle assembly in Reykjavik," Grimsson said.

Russia's Murmansk Region governor confirmed his participation in the forum this year with his delegation, and negotiations on the arrival of the Krasnoyarsk Territory delegation are also underway, the ex-president noted.

"We have decided few years ago the interest of making this big international gathering aware of the enormous importance of the different regions of Russia ... Because the Russian Arctic cover seven time zones, thats more than twice the United States so its very important that in the discussion of the Arctic people get a sense of first of all the size, and secondly the importance of the different Russian Arctic," Grimsson explained.

The growing importance of the Arctic has become the new pillar on which relations between Iceland and Russia are built, Grimsson noted.

"In the 21st century, I think the growing importance of Arctic has become a new pillar in the cooperation between Iceland and Russia. This is indicated by the strong Russian participation in the Arctic Circle assembly that takes place in Iceland every October, the biggest international annual gathering of the Artic," he said.

This is also confirmed by the regular participation of the Icelandic presidents in The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue conferences in Russia, he continued.

"When I was the president, I attended all The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue conferences that were hosted by then-Prime Minister Putin and the Russian Geographical Society, and my successor president [Gudni] Johannesson attended The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue conference in after years," the ex-president said.

It is the indication of strong relationship between the countries, as well as the importance of the Arctic in cooperation between Iceland and Russia, he said.

Europe is interested in withdrawing from the "war of sanctions" with Russia and building long-term relations with this country, Grimsson noted.

"My personal view is that it is important to find solutions to this conflict and out this tension, it is very important to find a way out the current state of affairs," he said.

Russia is an important part of both Europe and Asia, the ex-president stressed.

"And for economic and political future of Europe it is very important to build constructive lasting relationship with Russia," he concluded.

The Arctic region, located in the northernmost part of the Earth, consists of the Arctic Ocean and its adjacent seas, as well as parts of the territories belonging to a number of states. Arctic policy is coordinated by the Arctic Council, which unites eight Arctic nations, and also by the United Nations and NATO.

Grimsson was the president of Iceland for 20 years, from 1996 to 2016. He gained worldwide fame during the 2010 financial crisis in the country, when he vetoed the decision of the Althing (national parliament) to pay money to foreign investors of Icelands ruined banks. Grimsson referred the matter to a general referendum and the population voted against it. Grimsson is now mainly involved in the affairs of the Arctic Circle, an annual event where politicians and experts discuss the problems of the Arctic.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Windfall profits of major Russian mining and chemical sectors' exporters from the weakening of the ruble are estimated at 700 billion rubles ($10.35 billion), Kremlin aide Andrei Belousov said on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Belousov and First Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met with heads of Russian metal, mining and chemical companies to discuss higher tax rate on their above-average profits. Following the meeting, Siluanov said Russian authorities had told companies that the tax burden would be unchanged.

"The additional 10 rubles per dollar over the last year resulted in today's 67-68 rubles [per dollar], and so this increase provides that windfall profits from Primary exports, excluding oil, gas and coal, and, of course, machine building and metallurgy, amounted to 700 billion rubles. This is a huge resource, part of which, of course, can be directed to the implementation of the agenda, which was discussed today," Belousov told journalists after the meeting with business.

The state expects to receive about 200-300 billion rubles in investments in priority projects from companies that received windfall profits from ruble weakening, Belousov said.

At the same time, in his initial letter to Putin, this figure was set at 514 billion rubles, calculated on the basis of 2017 results.

"Five hundred billion rubles is an upper limit, I think it's realistic that if we find 200-300 billion of resources at the expense of these companies, it will be a very good result," Belousov said.

But there is no unambiguous understanding of what this sum could be, he noted.

"Everything will depend on the set of projects that will be offered, on those support measures and on financial mechanisms that will be chosen during those 1.5 months [the activities of the working group being created]," Kremlin aide added.

Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) head Alexander Shokhin noted that the meeting's participants had also discussed the fact that many of the tools declared and prescribed in the legislation to stimulate investments were "not working well" today.

"One of our tasks is to see how to revive them," Shokhin said.

Russian mining and chemical companies are one of the country's main export earners. The exporters' profits now see some so-called windfall gain due to macroeconomic factors such as ruble's weakening against major currencies, dollar and euro, in which their products are usually priced.

US Dollar strengthened against ruble from a multi-month low at 55.57 rubles in late February to more than a two-year low at 69 rubles on Thursday. It trades at 67.25 rubles as of 8.22 p.m. Moscow time (17:22 GMT) on Friday.
KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) The United States hopes that Serbia and Kosovo will find a "mutually satisfactory" settlement to their territorial dispute, and Washington will certainly support their agreement, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Friday.

Serbia and the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo are currently engaged in a conflict over their borders. In early August, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he favored partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines as a means of avoiding further conflicts. According to this plan, Serbia would give up its southern areas, mostly inhabited by Albanians, for Kosovo's territories where Serbian population prevails. However, Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci rejected the idea.

"We would not stay in their way, and I don't think anybody in Europe would stay in their way if the two parties to the dispute reach the mutually satisfactory settlement," Bolton told reporters in Kiev, adding that the US side was ready to help "from a distance or up-close.

"

He said that the territorial dispute was obviously a "difficult issue," as it would have been resolved "a long time ago," if it was an easy one.

"We don't think we're going to solve it for them, we think they've got to solve it for themselves ... If Kosovo and Serbia reach an agreement that's satisfactory to both of them, I think we would unquestionably support it," Bolton said.

According to him, "finally bringing stability to the Balkans" is important, as this will both boost economy and "help an average person."

Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2008, which over 100 UN member states, including the United States, officially recognized, while Serbia still considers Kosovo its territory.
Jeff Fortenberry, US Congressman from Nebraska and member of the International Catholic Legislators Network, speaks with Vatican News about the relevance of Pope Francis message regarding religious freedom.

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

Pope Francis on Wednesday met the International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN) who are gathered in Rome for their ninth annual meeting. Jeff Fortenberry, a member of ICLN and a member of the US House of Representatives from the state of Nebraskas 1st Congressional District, was present at the papal audience. He spoke with Vatican News afterward regarding the Popes message, the US involvement in reconstructing Christian communities in Iraq, and the importance of religious freedom in the world.

Meeting with Pope Francis

Mr Fortenberry said the audience with Pope Francis was more intimate than usual because they met in a small room and the Pope was sitting near them. He was funny, and human, he said, and even joked with them a bit, apologizing for meeting with them at breakfast time. Mr Fortenberry feels that Pope Francis wanted to convey to them, this idea of this relativistic movement, this tsunami of secularism confronting the world, and the opposite pole being a religious radicalismboth of which are twisted and inconsistent with the good of all human persons.



Mr Fortenberry was impressed being in the Vatican and with Pope Francis, but even more so being with legislators from all over the world, many from Africa. He said that they are in Rome to discuss issues that ought to bind all of humanity, namely, human dignity, conscience, religious freedom, the assaultof secular relativism, and the assault of twisted religious ideology which manifested itself in the most horrific termsin ISIS.

Iraq: ancient religious tapestry

Having recently traveled to northern Iraq at the request of US Vice President Mike Pence, Mr Fortenberry witnessed first-hand how US aid in that area is helping to reconstruct what he calls the ancient area of religious tapestry and a mosaic of religious pluralism that once existed there where persons of various religions lived together. He also met some Christians who have returned to Iraq, including a priest, who had studied in Rome, and 20 young people. Yet, there are still 400,000 Yazidis living in internally displaced camps, and 3,500 Yazidi women who are still held in slavery by Isis.



Ray of Hope

The ray of hope that Mr Fortenberry sees is that people are beginning to return to their homes. Christian communities are beginning to be rebuilt, some with the help of the Knights of Columbus and aid from the US. In order to prevent another ISIS genocide from occurring again, he said that a new type of security footprint is needed, that would integrate local, indigenous people  Christians and Yazidis  into protective structures. If this can happen, the Congressman foresees that the ancient tapestry of religious pluralism will be restored.



Unifying idea is human dignity

Religious freedom, Mr Fortenberry said, taken for granted in the West, is under such grave assault, particularly there, by people who will kill in the name of a dark theology, and people who will also die in the name of their Savior. He also sees a deep hunger on the part of countries throughout the world to acknowledge religious freedom:



If we believe that all of humanity is united because we are made in the image and likeness of God, and that we all share similar desires  our own well-being, the protection of our children, the ability to advance a bit, to have a safe space for the exercise of good choice, our conscience whose ultimate manifestation is religious freedom  this not only appeals to the Catholic world but it appeals to all of humanity.

In a world screaming for meaning, this is the answer, he emphasized. The unifying idea is human dignity and its ability to express itself in conscience, and religious freedom, oriented toward what is noble and higher and good.

Role of a Catholic legislator

Congressman Fortenberry understands his role as a Catholic legislator to be that of light and salt, to invite people to the proposition of what is good, noble, and higher in the midst of real difficulty. He takes Pope Francis final words, be encouraged, back home where that task awaits him.
(CNN)  Former Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton announced Thursday he will again challenge the country's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as party leader, the second such move in three days.

Whether or not a vote for the leadership will take place is still unclear but following the resignation of three high-profile Australian ministers, including Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Turnbull's position is likely untenable.

Turnbull faced down an initial challenge on Monday amid a conservative uprising in the Liberal Party's ranks over climate change policy.

Dutton, a high-profile member of the party's conservative faction, was narrowly defeated by Turnbull 48 to 35 but with only seven votes between them, it made a second challenge likely.

On his official social media account, Dutton said Thursday he had spoken with Turnbull "to advise him I believed the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership. Accordingly, I asked him to convene a party room meeting at which I would challenge for the leadership of the Parliamentary Liberal Party."

If Dutton takes power, he will be Australia's sixth prime minister in just over a decade, amid a revolving door of leadership changes in the country's major parties.

Since 2007, no Australian prime minister has faced two consecutive elections.

Chaotic week

The conservative rebellion in the ruling Liberal Party was sparked by Turnbull's climate change policy, which would have legislated the Paris Agreement targets into law.

In a chaotic week, the Australian leader dropped his policy, as well as all carbon emission targets, in an attempt to quash leadership rumblings.

But the party's right-wing have always viewed Turnbull with suspicion and hostility, given his moderate positions on a number of policies.

Turnbull has long advocated for action on climate change, and supports progressive social issues as well as an Australian Republic.

In comparison, the Liberal Party's vocal conservative faction are calling for greater investment in coal and cuts to immigration.

Soon after the vote Tuesday, Dutton resigned from the cabinet, stepping down from his dual roles as home affairs and immigration minister, which includes oversight of Australia's strict border protection policy.

During his almost two decade in parliament, Dutton has burnished his conservative credentials, often sparking controversy.

He was also one of a small number of politicians who boycotted then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology in 2008 to the Stolen Generations, a name given to the tens of thousands of Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their parents and families by the government between 1910 and 1970.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Dutton calls for second leadership challenge against Australia's Turnbull."
We also try to get our meat from local farmers whom we know. It is the best way to be sure you are getting the best quality. We also get our produce from local farmers. We try to keep within a 150-mile radius when buying meat and produce.


Yesterday, Glowzone Las Vegas hosted the first annual Celebrity & Media Challenge. Participants included Thunder From Down Under, Sexxy Show, Fantasy, Ricardo Laguna, Sunny 106.5/REAL 103.9/I Heart Radio, The Chet Buchanan Show, Anthony Cools, and Micah Jared/Morning Blend/KTNV (Pictured: Cast members of Fantasy at Luxor  Photo credit: Jeff Ragazzo).

Photo credit: Jeff Ragazzo

Ricardo Laguna, Lucas and his team won and Glowzone donated $500 to his charity of choice, Nevada PEP.

Photo credit: Jeff Ragazzo

Also, this weekend at Glowzone, is a Friday night Casting Call with the Miss Silverstate Pageants with Pageant Director, Marissa Castillo. Plus, any one who visits GLOWZONE from 3pm  7pm will benefit the pageant and assist with the women competing and sharing their philanthropy platforms.

The pageant will be held at Tivoli Village on Sept. 22. Join us on Friday, August 24 to support Miss Silver State USA. Mark your calendars now and bring friends.


Local performers Mariah Rivera of FANTASY, Terry Fator, James Davis of Chippendales and Miss Nevada USA 2018 Carolina Urrea will use their love of pizza for a good cause as celebrity judges at TREVI Italian Restaurants fourth annual media pizza making competition on Thursday, Aug. 30 (Pictured: Mariah Rivera  Photo credit: Oscar Picazo).

Local media personalities will compete to raise money for their charity of choice by creating and implementing their own recipe, including choice of ingredients and style to make the tastiest pizza. This years competitors include Rachel Smith, co-host of the MORE Show on FOX 5; Courtney Perna, cohost of Las Vegas NOW on KLAS Ch. 8; Shaun Burgess, Digital Content Producer for Vegas.com; and defending champion Jason Harris, contributor to VEGAS Magazine and Las Vegas Weekly, and the 2017 winner of TREVIs annual charity event.
Jessa Khan, a 16-year-old Cambodian jiu-jitsu athlete, beat Mahra Alhinaai of United Arab Emirates on Friday at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, for Cambodias first gold of these games and in this event, according to the organizers.

The pan-Asian games began on August 18 and end on September 2. China is the gold medal winner so far, with 66, followed by Japan with 29 and the Republic of Korea with 23.

The women's ju-jitsu newaza 49 kg category, which Khan won with the final score of 100-0, was one of the jiu-jitsu matches held from August 24 to August 26. Alhinaai surrendered to a lockdown 2 minutes and 8 seconds before the match ended. She took home a silver. Margarita Ochoa of the Philippines and Thi Thanh Minh Duong of Vietnam each won a bronze.

Jiu-jitsu, one of the worlds best-known martial arts and first introduced in Cambodia about 20 years ago, is gaining more popularity in the country, especially among expatriates. The sport, originally consisting of several Japanese martial arts, was transformed by the Brazilians in the early 1990s. It has quickly become a popular self-defense and combat sport.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday announced he would hold biannual meetings with representatives of 16 of Cambodias opposition parties where they will be able to directly raise issues with the premier.

The Supreme Council of Consultations (SCC), as the forum will be known, will provide a check on the power of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, Hun Sen said, after the party won a landslide victory at the polls on July 29.

Hun Sen made the announcement following a meeting with the parties at the Peace Palace. Four of the 16 political parties invited to attend the event declined, including the League for Democracy Party (LDP), Grassroots Democracy Party (GDP).

Participation will be voluntary for the parties which took part in the 6th mandate elections with the consent from the Prime Minister. Each party will have two delegates appointed by a royal decree proposed by the Prime Minister. The forum leader will take turns monthly according to the party's rank number in the ballot, a post on Hun Sens Facebook page read.

The SCC is the first formal venue for opposition parties without seats in parliament to make policy suggestions to the government.

Phay Siphan, a government spokesman, said the members of the SCC will be accorded a rank equivalent to that of a minister and will have a formal governmental advisory role.

This institution is created by royal decree. So there will be benefits, but no salary, for gasoline, or food for attending the monthly meetings, he said.

The Supreme Court banned Cambodias only sitting opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in November over unsubstantiated claims of a plot to overthrow Hun Sen. Prior to its dissolution the CNRP had held a large minority of 55 seats in the 123-seat National Assembly.

The one-party parliament is due to hold its first session on September 5.

Meas Nee, a political commentator, and an analyst said the move to create the SCC was likely a bid to deflect criticism over the CPPs dismemberment of the opposition and unchallenged position in the Cambodian democratic system.

If this is just for show or to cast a spell on the public to project the image that there is the participation of many political parties ... then it is of no use, he said.

Cambodia drew criticism from the west over its handling of the election and several senior regime officials face limited sanctions as a result of the pre-election crackdown on the CNRP, civil society, and the media.

But China and Russia have lent their support to Hun Sen and the CPP, decreasing the pressure on Phnom Penh.

The European Union, however, is considering removing Cambodia from a preferential trade scheme that allows Cambodian garment exports to enter European markets with little or no tariffs imposed.
In a week that saw two journalists accused of espionage released on bail and four jailed land rights activists pardoned completely in Cambodia, filmmaker James Ricketson remains imprisoned after what had been expected to be the final day of his trial.

The trial of the Australian, who has been held in a Cambodian jail for 14 months on spying charges, though it has never been explained why, plunged to new depths of absurdity at a hearing Friday that ended with yet another delay in the proceedings.

The only evidence presented in court by the prosecution that supports the espionage charges against Ricketson is a series of fairly routine emails between him, a lawyer and former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, as well as some photographs he took of demonstrations.

Ricketson's defense lawyer, Kong Sam Onn, has sought to demonstrate that Ricketson is not a spy but just a filmmaker with decades of experience and a long list of film credits.

To that end, in many ways Friday's court session resembled a filmmaking master class rather than a trial as Ricketson explained how grants he received from film financing groups, such as Screen Australia, were obtained and used for the intended purpose.

"There is only one country in the world that equates documentary filmmaking with espionage and I'm in that country now," an exasperated Ricketson told the Cambodian court. "Frankly, I think it is up to the court to prove I am not a filmmaker."

'This is your life'

Then, in a rare moment of joy for Ricketson over the past 14 months of his incarceration, the hearing transitioned into a self-narrated screening of his extensive career showreel.

"James, this is your life," he quipped as the examples began rolling of the many award-winning films he has made since graduating from the inaugural course of the Australian Film and Television School in 1973.

"That's me when I used to have hair," he joked as photographs of the 69-year-old's formative years as a filmmaker flashed on screen.

A less than enthralled presiding judge Seng Leang at one point buried his head on his desk as the exhaustive showreel rolled on.

Among his many credits around the world, including an acting role in a film by director Werner Hertzog, were productions directly pertinent to Ricketson's case in Cambodia.

For the past 21 years, Ricketson has worked on a film about an impoverished street child named Chanti who he financially supported through school and later helped buy a house.

His credits also include a film he made about child booksellers in Phnom Penh struggling to make enough money to live.

Chanti, who just gave birth to her ninth child, has testified that Ricketson is indeed a humanitarian, and his supporting character witnesses have included director Peter Weir.

Bleak outlook

But despite such endorsements and the near total absence of a case against him, Ricketson's prospects for release do not look good.

On Thursday his cramped cell at Phnom Penh's Prey Sar Prison was raided, with staff seizing documents including evidence, court submissions, a letter to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and his copy of Cambodia's Criminal Code.

Judge Seng Leang defended the action, stating that in prison "they have their own internal rules" and this required authorities to take action.

Ricketson's son, Jesse, said outside the hearing he had "no idea" why the documents  effectively the contents of his case  had been seized.

"There's been discussion here, he's asked the judges to ask the prison authorities to give it back and they've said yes they will ask but they have different bodies so they can't guarantee anything and, I don't know, that's all just a big kind of confusion" he said.

Questionable charges

Jesse Ricketson confirmed his father did have a recent physical altercation with another inmate at Prey Sar Prison but characterized the incident as minor.

"Whether it's violence, whether it's illness, there's always things that can go horribly wrong there and we're constantly terrified about that, we need him out of there as quick as possible," he said.

Ricketson faces up to 10 years if convicted of the charge of gathering information that could jeopardize Cambodia's national defense.

Similar charges were used as the basis for arresting Cambodia's opposition leader, Kem Sokha, and dissolving his Cambodia National Rescue Party in the lead-up to last month's election, in which the ruling party won every seat.

Two former Radio Free Asia reporters who were charged with supplying information to a foreign state, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, were released on bail this week.

Activist Tep Vanny of the Boeung Kak Lake area and three of her fellow protesters also were pardoned of charges related to demonstrations they participated in years ago.

Ricketson's trial resumes Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Friday that U.S. sanctions against Russia would remain in place until Moscow changed its behavior.

Bolton was in Kyiv to show Washington's support for Ukraine which celebrated the 27th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union with a military parade on Friday.

The United States has imposed sanctions against Russia to punish it for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea, support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, and meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, something Moscow denies.

Critics of Trump have accused him of being soft on Russia and there is a bipartisan push in Congress to impose more sanctions on Moscow.

Bolton, speaking before a new round of sanctions announced by the State Department took effect, set out what he cast as a tough approach by the administration to sanctions.

"The sanctions remain in force and will remain in force until the required change in Russian behavior," Bolton told a news conference after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"I underlined what President Trump said in Helsinki to President [Vladimir] Putin that it was the position of the United States that we did not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea," he said, referring to a U.S.-Russia summit in Finland last month.

"Our view and our policy remain as they have been.



'More tension'

The Russian ruble has been pushed steadily lower by U.S. sanctions, the latest of which take effect on Monday, according to a notice posted on Friday in the U.S. Federal Register.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the new sanctions, announced earlier this month over a nerve agent attack in Britain, would only create more tension in bilateral relations, the RIA news agency reported.

In comments likely to anger Moscow, Bolton said that Kyiv had made progress in its efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and advised Ukraine to look for alternatives to Russian natural gas.

Russia strongly opposes NATO expansion towards its western borders and moved to annex Crimea in 2014 after Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's Russia-friendly president, was toppled in a popular revolution.

Bolton said it was important to resolve the Ukraine crisis and that it would be dangerous to leave the situation as it was in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has backed separatists in their conflict with Kyiv.

Ukraine stopped buying gas from Russia in November 2015 and now imports gas mostly via Slovakia. Ukrainian energy firm Naftohaz says the gas is "European in origin." Moscow says the gas is still Russian despite Slovakia's intermediary role.

Bolton mentioned U.S. liquefied natural gas and other possible replacements to Russian supplies.

He said he had told Poroshenko that Moscow should not meddle in Ukraine's presidential vote next year.

"President Poroshenko and I agreed that we will look at steps that the United States and Ukraine could take to look at election meddling here," he said.






Mired in financial woes, Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up $50,000.

Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president.

It's also the latest sign that Cohen is broke.

Trump's former personal lawyer owes at least $1.4 million to the IRS after pleading guilty Tuesday to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and bank fraud, and has racked up millions of dollars in debt. Because of his plea, he's being forced to give up his New York City taxi medallions, which have shrunk in value as Uber and Lyft shake up the industry.

"He's without resources and owes a lot of money," Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in a battery of television interviews on Wednesday.

Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, commented in court on Tuesday that Trump directed him to arrange payments of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election.

While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday that he knew about payments "later on."

By Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe page dubbed the "Michael Cohen Truth Fund" had raised more than $145,000 from about 2,600 donations. Most reaction on social media was incredulous and unsympathetic, but one $5 donor was encouraging, writing: "The USA would love you for your honesty."

Confusion over the web address for the fundraising page, michaelcohentruthfund.com, led someone on Wednesday to anonymously register a shorter version, michaelcohentruth.com, that redirects to Trump's re-election campaign website.

Cohen's crowdfunding campaign, which has a goal of raising $500,000, could be a way for Cohen to bolster his whistleblower status by appealing to Democrats and others who want to see Trump taken down.

It's not the first time someone who felt wronged by Trump has asked the public to pony up. Fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe raked in more than $500,000 in just five days of his legal defense campaign, and Daniels funded her lawsuit against the president with about $500,000 raised from nearly 17,000 donors.

Loans, debt

Cohen could ultimately need much more to wipe his books clean.

Court papers filed in connection with Cohen's guilty plea detailed his precarious financial state, as well as his side gigs as a taxicab magnate, high-interest lender, and broker of real estate and handbag deals.

In one arrangement, according to the papers, Cohen used a line of credit he obtained at 5 percent interest to float a $6 million loan to a Chicago taxi operator at 12 percent interest.

Later, when applying for the $500,000 home equity credit line used to finance the Daniels payment, the papers say Cohen failed to disclose $14 million in medallion-related debt. Cohen and his wife claimed on the loan paperwork that they had a positive net worth of more than $40 million.

In April, transaction records show, Cohen put up his multimillion-dollar Trump Park Avenue home  valued at $9 million  as collateral on some of his taxi-related loans.

The value of medallions, the physical plates affixed to cabs that owners are required to display, have dropped precipitously in recent years from highs of over $1 million apiece in New York just a few years ago to nearly a quarter of that amount today.

Cohen has been involved in the gritty New York City yellow cab industry since the 1990s. He's owned about 30 medallions with his wife and father-in-law, as well as a fleet of 22 cabs in Chicago, records show. Some of them are held through companies with names such as Love Bug Cab Corp. and Tailgater Cab Corp.

In addition to his Trump and taxi work, the court papers say Cohen made $100,000 in 2014 for brokering the sale of a piece of property in a Florida aviation community and $30,000 in 2015 for brokering the sale of a Birkin bag, a highly coveted French handbag.

Davis, who is listed as the creator of Cohen's fundraising page, told The Associated Press last month that Cohen was footing the bill for his defense after pivoting from loyalty to Trump to looking out for himself, but was "thinking of trying to get some help."

Ethical issues

A description on the GoFundMe page describes it as a "transparent trust account, with all donations going to help Michael Cohen and his family" as he goes forward with telling the truth about Trump.

Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson said crowdfunding campaigns raise ethical concerns because they allow people to contribute to a political cause similarly to a campaign contribution, but without the same transparency and regulation.

"Who does the lawyer and client feel grateful to?" Levinson said. "Right now, there is no clear way of finding out."

GoFundMe no longer allows fundraisers to download a list of donor's information such as email addresses, citing new data protection regulations. Fundraisers can communicate with donors through the GoFundMe site. And although there is an option to make donations appear anonymously on the public-facing part of the website, it appears that the fundraiser can still view the name of these donors.

GoFundMe did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The money also could add to Cohen's already sizeable tax bill.

Robert Rizzi, a lawyer specializing in tax and government ethics, said the law is unclear whether Cohen would have to pay taxes on the fundraising proceeds. Taxes would apply if the money counts as income, but not if it's a gift  but gifts must be given "out of detached and disinterested generosity," Rizzi said.

"There would be an irony in being taxed on money he raised to defend himself for tax evasion," Rizzi said.
Cameroon's village defenders  local groups armed to fight off Boko Haram militants  are being accused of turning to crime. As the threat of terrorism and support for self-defense groups declines, many of the armed men villages depended on for security are looking for new ways to make a living.

Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria has in recent years been preoccupied with the threat from Boko Haram. But, earlier this month police arrested 14 members of village defender groups accused of harassing, robbing, and abducting people for ransom.

Ahminu Youssoufa, with the Mora Criminal Research Brigadean armed police group, said as the threat from Boko Haram declined, some defenders formed gangs that prey on locals and business travelers crossing the Nigeria border.



He said authorities are still detaining five individuals who are now helping them with the investigations. They believe it is just a matter of time for the military to dismantle, what he called an entire network.



The self-defense groups were created in 2014 to patrol villages and remote border areas where the military has little or no presence.



They earned no pay but were given supplies of food, money, and equipment from donors and the authorities  that is, until Cameroon started winning the war against Boko Haram.

Gaibai Ousmanou, head of the Village Defender Committee for Mora, said when large-scale attacks by Boko Haram started fading out in 2017, assistance to the groups also dropped off.



But he insisted the groups are still needed for protection. He said although Boko Haram has not staged a full-scale attack with heavy weapons for more than a year, the presence of self-defense groups prevents followers of the Islamist group, who are still present in their communities, from attacking.



Local churches and mosques are taking up some of the slack in supporting the village defenders, said Ousmanou. But that support barely keeps them going, he said, and helps explain why some defenders use arms against those they were supposed to protect.

The governor of Cameroon's far north region, Midjiyawa Bakari, denies a lack of official support. He said the government will continue to assist them by providing motorcycles, bicycles, communication equipment, money and food, to enable them to intercept all those who have decided not to respect the laws.

However, he said just as Boko Haram fighters and suicide bombers were stopped, those defecting to create or join groups of robbers will also be stopped.



As he headed out on patrol, village defender Njibri Bakao acknowledged his gorup now has to defend the area against some of its own.
In other words, Ted is saying that we simple-minded, unintelligent Neanderthals didnt have the mental capacity to judge for ourselves who would be a better commander-in-chief. This utter elitist arrogance is the main reason why the American people have lost all trust and faith in the media and press. His assertion that Obamacare is sound policy is devoid of all facts and reality, How and why does Ted ignore the rising premiums and deductibles caused by Obamacare? How does he ignore the millions who were lied to when they lost their doctor and insurance without a single vote from the opposition party?
Victims of the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal are calling on Pope Francis to take a strong stance against predator priests during his visit to Ireland.



The pope Saturday begins the first papal visit in nearly 40 years to Ireland. The country has changed greatly since Pope John Paul II visited in 1979, becoming much more secular following clerical sexual abuse scandals that began to surface in 2005.

Pope Francis' visit comes at a time when recent sexual abuse crises in the United States, Chile, and Australia have reminded the Irish people of similar scandals at the hands of Irish priests and bishops.



Many abuse victims, their families and supporters are calling on the pope to do more than just hold a private meeting with a select group of survivors. Protesters will gather in Dublin while the pope says Mass on Sunday urging him to take concrete action against sex abuse.



A prominent Irish abuse survivor, Marie Collins, told a Vatican-sponsored conference on Friday that the Catholic Church must put in place "robust structures" to hold abusive clergy accountable.

"Anyone in the Vatican who would stand in the way of proper protection of children should be accountable as well," said Collins, a former member of Pope Francis' abuse advisory board.



The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will be meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse and says he will also visit Saint Mary's Cathedral in Dublin to pray for victims.



The Vatican's chief spokesman Greg Burke told Irish broadcaster RTE on Friday that the sexual abuse scandal is the result of a "cultural problem" that will take time to remedy.



He suggested that the pope would not be announcing specific measures during his trip.



"I think in 36 hours  or 32 hours on the ground  it's hard to change a culture," he said.



"In terms of moving to actions, that will happen. But it doesn't happen overnight  Let's first listen to the pope, and that in itself is an important part of this," Burke said.



This past week, the pope wrote a letter to the world's Catholics, stressing that, "No effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated."



The Catholic Church is much less dominant in public life in Ireland than it once was. The country has recently voted to legalize same-sex marriage and abortion, and has put a gay prime minister in office.



Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he is glad the Church is less influential.



"I think it still has a place in our society but not one that determines public policy or determines our laws," he said.

Pope Francis' visit to Ireland was originally meant to focus on attending and closing the World Meeting of Families, which is held once every three years to discuss matters of importance to the family unit. However, the latest abuse scandals around the world have shifted the focus, in part, to how the Vatican will respond to the matter.

Two U.S. cardinals were scheduled to attend the conference in Dublin but will be absent due to further revelations of clerical sexual abuse at home. They are Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the pope's top adviser on clerical sexual abuse, and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington. Another U.S. cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, was recently forced to resign due to allegations of abuse and misconduct.
As ambient air pollution chokes Jakarta amid hosting the Asian Games, many in Malaysia are accusing Indonesia of being responsible for heightened levels of haze, which they say is because of fires in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island.

A smoky haze from fires, exacerbated by hot, dry conditions as well as the result of deliberate burning of land for agriculture, threatens to spark another diplomatic conflict between Indonesia and its neighbors. A similar rift occurred in 2015, when smoke spread from Kalimantan and Sumatra to blanket Singapore and large parts of Malaysia.

I continue to invite all parties to care for forests and land. Stop hurting nature by burning, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Indonesias minister of Environment and Forestry, tweeted Wednesday. We dont have plan B, because there is NO planet B.

Southeast Asia has experienced annual haze during the dry season since at least 2005, in part because of agricultural producers using burning as a cheap and effective way to clear land.

About 60 to 70 percent of fires in 2015 occurred in degraded peatlands, where burning releases an enormous amount of carbon dioxide, producing a particularly noxious form of smog.

Severe respiratory problems

In a paper published in the journal Respirology last month, Malaysian researchers found that hospitalizations for breathing problems increased significantly during periods of haze. Severe respiratory problems accounted for 4 percent of admissions to intensive care units during times of haze, compared to 2 percent generally.

Malaysian social media has been abuzz with accusations that Indonesia is responsible for increased levels of smog in recent weeks.

According to Global Forest Watch, there were more than 17,000 fire alerts across Kalimantan in the past week, the greatest number of which were in West Kalimantan. Its capital, Pontianak, sits more than 900 kilometers (571 miles) east of Kuala Lumpur and is closer in proximity to many Malaysian cities than it is to Jakarta.

Experts say it is unclear, however, whether heightened levels of air pollution in Malaysia are being caused by Indonesian forest fires.

If there are large fires and the wind is heading that way, theres a possibility. But to be certain, youd need analysis of data, said Dr. Raden Driejana, an air quality expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology. Its dry season [in Indonesia], and also in Malaysia, so there could be fires there, too.

The fires are getting worse in Kalimantan, but they are still far from those in 1982 and 1997, Arief Wijaya, climate and forests senior manager at the World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, told VOA.

The World Health Organization said that exposure to ambient air pollution can cause an array of deadly conditions, such as heart disease, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory infections, in children. More than a half-million Indonesians were estimated to suffer ill health effects from the 2015 blazes.

A study published by scientists from Harvard and Columbia universities in 2016 showed that severe haze in 2015 may have caused more than 100,000 premature deaths in Southeast Asia, a claim downplayed by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Driejana, the air quality expert, said the administration of President Joko Jokowi Widodo has done quite a lot since 2015 to address the problem and has had success in reducing the severity of fires, identifying the sources of haze, enforcing newly introduced laws, and providing a lot of education for the community regarding the risks of fires.

Steps taken

Indonesia arrested several corporate executives in relation to the 2015 haze, and Jokowi later established the Peatland Restoration Agency under a presidential decree in January 2016 and has focused on fire prevention, mitigation and enforcement.

But WRIs Wijaya said, Fires are only a symptom of weak or failed land use governance. While big palm oil or paper plantation companies have largely stopped using burning methods for land clearing, smallholders may have a big role in setting up fires, he said.

You can still see things, but when you go out of the house, you need to wear a mask, Ratri Kusumohartono, a campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, told VOA of the current air quality conditions in Pontianak.

After a week in the city of about 235,000 people, Kusumohartono told VOA in a telephone interview that she had been hospitalized for two days and said doctors had reported increasing numbers of casualty admissions for respiratory conditions.

In the past week, local media reported that at least four farmers who were tending their fields were killed when they became trapped in blazes.

I have also talked with some other NGOs here the past few days and theyre also quite worried that the government is not taking this more seriously, in terms of getting fires out and keeping people safe, because at this point some fires are already a few meters away from peoples housing, Kusumohartono said. Its really time for the government to step up their efforts to manage this.
The Trump administration has cut more than $200 million in economic aid to the Palestinians.

Administration officials said Friday the decision was made after a review of the funding for projects in the West Bank and Gaza to ensure funds are spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and provide value to the U.S. taxpayer.

A senior State Department official said the agency will now direct the funds to "high-priority projects elsewhere."

The official said the decision takes into account the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance to Gaza, where "Hamas control endangers the lives of Gaza's citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation."

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs Gaza, seized the coastal territory in 2007 from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. That led to Israel and Egypt placing severe economic restrictions on the region.

Israel says the economic blockade is needed to contain Hamas, a militant group that seeks Israel's destruction. It has greatly harmed Gaza's economy but failed to oust Hamas or ease the group's hold on power.

Hamas, which doesn't recognize Israel, is negotiating through Egypt to ease the blockade in exchange for a truce to end recent hostilities.

U.S. officials did not give an exact amount of the funds to be cut to the Palestinians.

The U.S. nonprofit group, J Street, which advocates for a peaceful end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, strongly criticized the U.S. decision.

The group's Vice President of Government Affairs Dylan Williams called the move a "moral outrage and a major strategic blunder."

"These cuts will undermine Israel's security by exacerbating Gaza's humanitarian crisis and further destabilizing the difficult situation in the West Bank  increasing the prospects for violence and unrest," he added.
A former lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party has requested asylum in Greece after fleeing Turkey in violation of conditional prison release terms, a police source said Friday.

Leyla Birlik, 44, submitted the request after illegally crossing the border between the two countries on Wednesday, local police told AFP.

The case could put fresh strain on Greece's often fraught relations with Turkey.

Athens and Ankara have lately clashed over Turkish demands that Greece extradite eight Turkish soldiers wanted over the July 2016 attempted coup aimed at unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Birlik is a former MP from the HDP representing Sirnak province in the Kurdish-majority southeast. Sirnak borders Iraq and Syria.

Ankara considers the HDP to have links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies, including the United States and the European Union.

Birlik's parliamentary immunity was lifted in May 2016, on accusations of making "terror propaganda," according to CNN-Turk television.

On Nov. 4, 2016, she was arrested, alongside 13 other HDP MPs on charges of "membership in PKK, making terror propaganda and engaged in activities on behalf of the group," CNN-Turk said.

She was released under judicial control in January 2017, but was placed under an overseas travel ban and had to report to authorities at regular intervals.

A year later, a Sirnak court sentenced Birlik to a year and nine months in prison for "insulting" Erdogan, based on a press statement she had made in 2015.

Turkey had also held for over five months two Greek soldiers on espionage charges after they illegally crossed the border. They were unexpectedly released earlier this month.

Hundreds of Turkish citizens have sought asylum in Greece following the failed coup in 2016.
Thirty-six million people currently live with AIDS, a disease that claimed the lives of nearly 1 million people last year. Experts predict that by 2030, 100 million people will have been infected with the HIV virus.

Despite the alarming numbers, there have been great strides in treatment. HIV is no longer a death sentence, and researchers say people receiving treatment for HIV are able to live normal lives and do not pose a risk to others when they are being treated proactively.

But success carries a price: complacency. Funding for AIDS research and treatment has declined, and in some places, so has government interest.

When we talk to ministers of finance, they always say to me, I thought HIV was over because I dont see anybody dying, said Dr. Deborah Birx, a U.S. Global AIDS coordinator who oversees the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

J. Stephen Morrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, Were not reaching goals. He added, Theres going to be a struggle to hold ground. ... Theres a widening deficit of political will and financial capacity that we face some really daunting challenges in prevention.

Dr. Chris Beyrer, with Johns Hopkins Medicine, predicted that things will get worse if governments and civilians continue their complacency.

We are not done with AIDS, he said. It is much too early to declare victory, and the risks of a resurgent epidemic are real.

Birx, Morrison and Beyrer discussed the challenges in ending AIDS at a program in Washington to evaluate the messages from this years International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam.

New infections are down from 3.4 million a year, but theyre stuck at 1.8 million per year. And there are 17 million people living with HIV who cannot be reached. They are in high risk groups: young women, particularly young African women; men who have sex with men; IV drug users; those in prisons and other closed settings; sex workers and their clients; and transgender people.

Those key populations and young women account for over 50 percent of new infections, and they are really hard to reach, Morrison said.

Though its relatively easy to prevent HIV transmission during childbirth, Beyrer said about 30 percent of all infants born with HIV worldwide are born in Nigeria.

In the U.S., HIV is increasingly an infection in communities with high rates of poverty and in black and Hispanic populations.

The National Institutes of Health announced Aug. 20 that getting these groups into care is critical to ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. NIH also announced an international program to reduce the stigma around the virus so more people with the disease can seek treatment.

Experts agree it is possible to end the HIV pandemic, even without a vaccine. But to do this, governments and communities need to be involved, funding needs to be continued, and everyone with HIV needs to be treated.
The Trump administration says it is re-examining relations with El Salvador after the Central American nation broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China. In a statement, the White House criticized the country's decision as well as Beijing's diplomatic outreach that led to the move.

The El Salvadoran governments receptiveness to Chinas apparent interference in the domestic politics of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a re-evaluation of our relationship with El Salvador, said the White House statement published late Thursday.

WATCH: US Blasts El Salvador for Cutting Ties with Taiwan in Favor of China

The administration's statement is seen as the toughest so far in response to Chinas campaign to isolate Taiwan, and analysts say it is meant to send a message.

It appears this El Salvador case is a wake-up call for the United States and provoked the strongest response that seems to aim at deterring other countries from doing the same, particularly in the U.S. backyard, said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at Center for International and Strategic Studies.

State Department officials said they plan to convey a clear message to governments in the region, including Honduras and Nicaragua, that switching diplomatic ties to China would harm their relationship with the United States.

On Friday, in a Tweet, Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla) said El Salvador will soon find out about the repercussions.





Rubio had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump about ending American aid to El Salvador. Rubio and fellow Republican Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) plan legislation that could downgrade relations or suspend foreign aid to discourage other nations from cutting ties with Taiwan.

El Salvador is the third nation to abandon Taiwan for China this year, following the Dominican Republic, and the West African nation of Burkina Faso. That leaves 17 countries that recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation and, as a result, do not have formal diplomatic relations with China. The United States has maintained unofficial relations with Taiwan since it established formal ties with China in 1979.

Friday, Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs pushed back on the U.S. criticism, saying Washington is interfering in El Salvadors internal affairs.

As far as China, we believe Latin America and the Caribbean Area is an important force of independent and rapid growth in multipolarization and economic globalization. We advise the certain people to respect other countries' rights in making independent decisions on internal and foreign affairs, and stop the actions of hegemony, said spokesperson Lu Kang.

Sharp words from White House

In the past, when countries switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, the United States States had refrained from blunt language.

On June 13, 2017, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert referred to Panamas decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China as an internal matter between the governments of Taiwan and Panama.

The White House statement indicates the U.S. is now shifting that stance.

The United States will continue to oppose Chinas destabilization of the cross-Strait relationship and political interference in the Western Hemisphere, said the White House.

The sharp criticism reflects Washingtons increasing dismay with Beijings actions to further isolate Taiwan, rather than find a way forward in dialogue, according to experts.Many observers also see Washington adopting a more confrontational stance toward Beijing.

I think this does represent a tougher stance by the Trump Administration toward China's behavior in the emerging world as it seeks to use its economic clout to extend its influence and advance its diplomatic agenda, Dennis Wilder from Georgetown University's U.S.-China Initiative told VOA on Friday.

Others pointed out there is broad consensus in the White House that Americas strategic posture towards China is changing on all fronts, with Beijing increasingly viewed as an adversary.

Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest in Washington, told VOA that under such thinking a shift towards helping Taiwan in a much more open way was inevitable. A first step in doing so would be reacting the way the administration did in its tough statement on El Salvador.

Considering Taiwan is a strong democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights, Taipei is deserving of that. China should know this administration thinks of Taiwan very differently  and should be cautious in its actions, Kazianis added.

China has ramped up its campaign to isolate Taiwan diplomatically since Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016, succeeding a more pro-Beijing leader.

Tsai vowed not cave to pressure following El Salvadors diplomatic switch on Tuesday, saying Taiwan is more determined to preserve its self-rule.

A State Department official told VOA Chinas efforts to unilaterally alter the status quo are harmful and do not contribute to regional stability.

Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States considers any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, of grave concern to the United States, said the official.
Rebels in northern Chad attacked government forces this week at the border with Libya, the fighters and two military sources said on Friday, although the government denied an attack had taken place.

A fledgling rebel movement, the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), says it seeks to overthrow President Idriss Deby, as Chad faces threats from jihadists and is trying to prevent the influx of militants fleeing the Libyan conflict.

Deby has been an ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa. He has faced several rebellions since coming to power in 1990 at the head of an insurrection that toppled then president Hissene Habre, but there has been relative calm since 2009.

The CCMSR, which says it has 4,500 fighters, was founded in 2014 and fought its first battle against government forces earlier this month in the mining town of Kouri Bougoudi. Its ranks include former rebels from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan and former political allies of ex-president Habre, who is serving a life sentence in a Senegalese prison for

war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The CCMSR said its fighters attacked Chadian soldiers again in Kouri Bougoudi early on Tuesday morning.

"The valiant fighters ... attacked the enemy once again in the most brutal manner," it said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the enemy preferred to flee in total disarray, leaving behind sheep carcasses and other heaps of food."

Security Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir denied that the rebels had attacked the army, but two Chadian military sources told Reuters there had been fighting. Neither the CCMSR nor the sources provided any information about casualties.

The nascent rebellion is the latest security headache for Chad which closed the border with Libya in January in the hope of barring its militants from entering.

Chad also faces threats from groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which operate across the lawless, semi-arid Sahel band, and from Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants. Deby, 66, has won election five times since coming to power, often amid accusations of fraud. Parliament approved a new constitution in April that expands his powers and could allow him to stay in office until 2033.
Hurricane Lane took aim at the Hawaiian islands on Friday, bringing torrential rains that immersed a city in waist-deep water and forced some residents and tourists to flee flooding homes, while others flocked to Honolulu's famed Waikiki Beach to jump off seawalls with boogie boards into the turbulent ocean.

As many dealt with flooding and even brush fires, swimmers and surfers ignored warnings from authorities and plunged into powerful waves at the closed beach on Oahu  the most populated island.

Emergency officials said repeatedly over loudspeakers, Please get out of the water! It's very dangerous! Honolulu's mayor pleaded with tourists that they were putting themselves in danger as the storm moved closer.

The storm weakened to a Category 1 with winds of 74 to 95 mph as it headed north toward the Hawaiian islands, the National Weather Service said. It was expected to veer west, skirting the islands, but still threatened to bring heavy rains and strong, gusty winds statewide, meteorologist Gavin Shigesato said.

A hurricane watch for Hawaii's westernmost inhabited islands, Kauai and Niihau, was downgraded to a tropical storm watch. Still, the hurricane center warned that Lane's slow movement increases the potential for prolonged heavy rainfall that's expected to cause major flash flooding and landslides.

The outer bands of the hurricane dumped as much as 3 feet (1 meter) of rain on the mostly rural Big Island in 48 hours. The main town of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded Friday with waist-high water as landslides shut down roads.

Margaret Collins, 69, woke up Thursday night to the sound of moving water in her Hilo backyard.

So I got up out of bed and looked out my bedroom window and saw water 3 feet high gushing past my window, she said. And that's when I realized I was standing in water.

She called a neighbor for help, who crawled through bushes to bring her out of the house, half-carrying her as she clutched a plastic bag with medication.

The gushing water knocked down a cement wall and lifted her truck out of the carport, sending it toward her neighbor's house, she said.

My house is completely inundated with mudwater, said Collins, who was told the damage wouldn't be covered by insurance. She hopes she can get federal assistance.

Elsewhere on the Big Island, the National Guard and firefighters rescued six people and a dog from a flooded home, while five California tourists were rescued from another home.

A different type of evacuation took place on Oahu.

Officials with Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources transferred about 2,000 rare Hawaiian snails from a mountain marsh to offices in downtown Honolulu. A staff member will spend the night with them and place ice around snail cages in case the air conditioning quits working.

Some of the snails are literally the last of their kind, like one named George. He's the sole remaining Achatinella apexfulva in captivity. Staff members are trying to keep him safe in case he is able to reproduce.

As flooding hit the Big Island, brush fires broke out in areas of Maui and Oahu susceptible to flames.

Some residents in a shelter on Maui had to flee when a brush fire got too close and another forced people from their homes. A woman got burns on her hands and legs and was flown to Honolulu, Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said. Her condition wasn't clear.

A man posted a video on Instagram showing flames several stories high starting to envelop parked cars. Josh Galinato said he was trying to sleep when he smelled smoke in his apartment in the tourist town of Lahaina.

I opened up my front door, and I just saw the fire spreading and coming downhill, Galinato said. He and neighbors honked horns to alert others to the danger.

Joseph Azam, who is vacationing in Maui with family and friends, hopes that rain from the hurricane arrives before the flames do.

Trying to figure which comes first, the fire or the rain, said Azam, who's from Oakland, California, and is staying at a hotel. We're praying the rain arrives soon.

Others prayed for rain to stay away.

In Waikiki, the man-made Ala Wai Canal is likely to flood if predicted rains arrive, said Ray Alexander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The canal marks the northern boundary of the Waikiki tourist district. Worries that it could overflow in heavy rains have prompted plans to mitigate the risk.

The canal has flooded in the past, and I believe it's safe to say based on the forecast of rainfall it's likely to flood again, the impacts of which we aren't prepared to say at this time, Alexander said.

Major flooding could damage 3,000 structures and cost more than $1 billion in repairs, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper reported, citing corps estimates.

Officials received $345 million last summer to build detention basins, a flood wall and pumping station, beginning in 2020 and expected to be completed in 2023, Alexander said.

Employees have filled sandbags to protect oceanfront hotels from surging surf. Stores along Waikiki's glitzy Kalakaua Avenue stacked sandbags along the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for flash flooding, while residents lined up at stores to stockpile supplies.

Away from the high-rise hotels of Waikiki, Crystal Bowden, a tourist from California, watched powerful waves crash against cliffs on Oahu's southeast coast.

I came in to visit, got here just in time for the hurricane, Bowden said. We're kind of excited.

Almost 16,000 homes and businesses on the islands lost power as the outer edges of the hurricane battered the islands, but service was restored to some, Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said about 2,000 people are in shelters, mostly in Oahu.

The central Pacific gets fewer hurricanes than other regions, with about only four or five named storms a year. Hawaii rarely gets hit. The last major storm to hit was Iniki in 1992. Others have come close in recent years.
Editor's note: We want you to know what's happening, why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

Standing by for Syria return

The U.N. says it's too soon to allow exiled Syrians to return home from neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. "We believe that conditions are not yet ready," an official told VOA.

Eid in absentia

VOA spent the holiday with Muslim refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, one year after their displacement from neighboring Myanmar. Some of the younger residents took a spin on a rustic, wooden Ferris wheel  a moment of respite from what the U.N. recently said is becoming a dire situation for more than 100,000 school-age children. Yet the U.N. believes it's still unsafe for the refugees to return home.

Anyunghaseyo, Summer!

Two generations of Korean-American kids growing up in Minnesota have had an alternative to learning tennis or romping around the backyard. "Korean Culture Camp, when I was a kid, was my favorite week of the year."
Indonesia's jailing of a woman for complaining about the volume of a mosque loudspeaker has sparked a wave of criticism, with a petition calling for her release gaining more than 100,000 supporters.

Rights groups and the Muslim-majority country's biggest religious organization slammed the 18-month blasphemy sentence handed out Tuesday to the defendant, an ethnic Chinese Buddhist, in Medan on Sumatra island.

The 44-year-old woman named Meiliana was found guilty of insulting Islam for asking her neighborhood mosque in 2016 to lower its sound system because it was too loud and "hurt" her ears.

There are hundreds of thousands of mosques across the Southeast Asian archipelago nation, with the five-times-a-day call to prayer heard everywhere in the biggest cities and smallest towns.

An online petition to Indonesian president Joko Widodo calling for the woman's release had more than 115,000 supporters as of Friday evening.

"Eighteen months in prison for asking people to lower the call to prayer volume? Come on!" wrote one petition supporter.

The verdict is likely to aggravate concerns that Indonesia's moderate brand of Islam is coming under threat from increasingly influential radicals.

The case triggered riots two years ago that saw angry Muslim mobs ransack Buddhist temples as some ethnic Chinese fled the area.

Amnesty International has denounced Tuesday's ruling as "ludicrous," while Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's biggest Muslim organization, said the noise complaint "did not constitute blasphemy."

"I don't see it as hate speech or showing animosity toward a certain group or religion," Robikin Emhas, head of the group's legal and human rights division, said in a statement on its website.

Critics of Indonesia's blasphemy laws say they are frequently misused to target ethnic and religious minorities.

"Meiliana is a victim of injustice," Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice chairman of think tank Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, told AFP Friday.

Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, is officially pluralist with six major religions recognized, including Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism. Freedom of expression is guaranteed by law.

But criticizing religion  particularly Islam, which is followed by nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 260 million citizens  can land offenders in jail.

Last year, Jakarta's former governor  the city's first Christian leader of Chinese descent  was sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy for comments he made about a verse in the Quran.
Irans minority Sunni Muslims say authorities of the Shiite-majority nation have prevented some Sunnis from holding communal prayers in the capital, Tehran, to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

The Council of Azeri Sunni Prayer Centers in Tehran and the neighboring province of Alborz issued a statement saying Sunnis were prevented from attending prayers for Wednesdays holiday in four districts of the capital: Khalij-e-Fars, Punak, Resalat and Yaft Abad. The statement appeared in a Thursday report by Iranian state-affiliated news site Shafaqna.

The council said the problems faced by Tehran-based Sunnis wanting to join Eid prayer services were similar to those they have faced in previous years. But it said Iranian authorities permitted Eid services to go ahead in several Sunni prayer centers in Tehran and Alborz.

Iran's main Sunni news site, Sunni Online, published a Thursday report saying Tehran police blocked Sunni prayers in the four above-mentioned districts by deploying at the entrances of the prayer centers and dispersing worshippers. Such centers often are located in homes of Sunnis or in large rooms of other buildings.

Sunni Online quoted police as saying the order to block the entrances of the Sunni prayer centers came from Tehran's provincial security council, which is under the authority of Iran's interior ministry. There was no confirmation of such an order from Iranian officials in state media. But the Iranian government has ordered the closure of several Sunni prayer centers in the country in recent years, alleging they were engaged in extremist activity, an allegation rejected by Sunni community leaders.

Five to 10 percent of Iran's 82 million people are Sunni Muslims, according to the CIA World Factbook. Iranian Sunnis, whose main concentrations are in the country's southeast and northwest, long have complained of discrimination by Shiites who make up an estimated 90 to 95 percent of the population.

In a Friday interview for VOA Persian's NewsHour program, exiled Iranian Sunni and ethnic Baluchi activist Abdol Sattar Doshoki said Iran's Shiite Islamist leaders have opposed large Sunni gatherings in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought them to power.

As Irans diplomatic relations with Sunni Arab powers in the region worsened (in recent decades), its leaders have viewed minority Sunnis as outside of the Iranian social fabric, said Doshoki, who heads the London-based Center for Balochistan Studies. So they perceive large Sunni gatherings in the capital of their Shiite Islamist state as a show of force and a security threat.

Doshoki said Iran wants its Sunni citizens to be invisible. That is why it prefers to keep them in small prayer rooms, he said.

Iranian leaders reject charges of discrimination, pointing to the constitution that promises full respect to schools of Islam other than the official Twelver Ja'afari school, the nations dominant Shiite branch. The constitution lists several other Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam by name, but does not use the terms Shiite or Sunni.

Iranian state media also have asserted that Sunnis have nine mosques at which to pray in Tehran. But many Iranian Sunnis do not consider those to be Sunni mosques and long have sought to build a grand Sunni mosque in the capital. In its Thursday report, Sunni Online said Iran's Shiite Islamist leaders long have denied Sunni requests to establish such a mosque, forcing Sunnis to lease rooms as prayer centers.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Persian Service.
Georgia resident Steve Bailey was 19 when he heard about an experimental cell transplant therapy for Type 1 diabetes hed had since infancy. He asked his parents to donate cells.

And my mom looked at me oddly and said, We need to talk.' I felt as if Id been hit in the gut with a bat.

Later, he hired a private investigator, who discovered Bailey had been born in Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation to a 14-year-old Lakota girl whose name had been cut out of his birth certificate with an X-Acto blade.

I was taken into custody by Catholic Services. I was so young that the clamp was probably still on the umbilical cord. And less than a week later, I turned up in Atlanta, Georgia, and was turned over as a ward of the state.

Bailey said he has reason to suspect he may be the illegitimate son of a pedophile priest who taught at St. Josephs Mission at the time. But unless he finds his mother, hell never know for sure.

A thousand miles west in San Antonio, Texas, Mike Paiz, 37, found out that his father was a Chippewa Indian who had been abducted as an infant from Hill 57, a tiny, impoverished community near Great Falls, Montana. He drove 25 hours to Montana to find his grandmother, only to learn she had died.

When I stepped onto Hill 57, I had such mixed emotions  more painful ones, I guess, because I was crying, he said. I spent days and days trying to find where she was buried but couldnt. I just cant let it go.

Lost Birds

Whether removed from their homes by the government or stolen, these children, now adults, have been dubbed Lost Birds after Zintkala Nuni (Lost Bird), an infant Lakota girl found alive on the battlefield following the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre and adopted by a white Army general.

Today, hundreds of lost birds are looking to find their way back to family and tribe.

Adoption files were usually physically sealed, making it impossible for adoptees to find lost family.

Some states have made it easier to access information. Others wont release it without a court order. Some lost birds turn to the American Indian Adoptees website, authored by journalist, author and adoptee Trace Lee Hentz.

If a person knows their name and tribe and wants to go into reunion with a tribal nation, I first advise them to approach someone outside their birth family who might have known the parents, said Hentz, because a lot of times, we dont know the circumstances.

A growing number of adoptees turn to do-it-yourself DNA tests, hoping to match up with families via online genealogy databases.

I try not to encourage people to do DNA because the databases are not secure, said Hentz, expressing a fear common among Native Americans who mistrust sharing personal information with authorities. Its not a private service.

Hentz frequently refers people to genealogist Karen Vigneault, a member of the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel in California.

There is so much that goes on in the minds, hearts and souls of adoptees, so much pain over the decades, Vigneault said. I feel like some kind of a train conductor, working to round up all these souls and bring them back home.

Vigneault is currently helping a woman adoptee in Iceland find her father, a Native American member of the U.S. military who was stationed in Reykjavik more than 50 years ago.

I was 28 years old when I met my blood mother, Gurun Emilsdottir, 51, said via email. She told me that she and my father had been together for a year and that she didnt see any future in it, which is why she decided to hide her pregnancy from him."

Vigneault arranged for Emilsdottir to take a DNA test. The results showed her to be of Ponca and Ote Missouria heritage. They quickly found her father, now deceased, and may have located a living sister.

My feelings are very mixed, between nervousness and excitement, she said. Im prepared for everything.

Some reunions are happy. Benjamin Browning found both of his biological parents living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Its changed my life 1,000 percent, he said. Im related to probably three-quarters of the tribe  about 20 to 30,000 cousins."

Some reunions are tragic. A 73-year-old man who asked not to be identified discovered he had been born to a Mikmaq mother in a notorious Canadian home for unwed mothers and sold on the black market to a couple from New Jersey.

I found out I have 12 half-siblings, but they feel my existence tarnished their mothers memory, and they refuse to have contact with me.

Sadly, said Vigneault, this experience is all-too-common.

Ive had to tell a few people, Look, Im sorry your mother rejected you again, but at least we know what tribe you are from, and lets just stick with that and work around it.'

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Gurun Emilsdottir's father has been identified, and Karen Vigneault may have located a living sister.
Many of the 150 migrants stranded aboard a coast guard ship for a ninth day began a hunger strike Friday out of frustration that Italy won't let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by Italy's anti-migrant interior minister.

"They can do whatever they believe," Interior Minister Matteo Salvini tweeted, shrugging off the development that migrants were refusing meals aboard the Italian coast guard vessel Diciotti. The ship rescued them on August 16 from a foundering human trafficker's boat in the central Mediterranean, and for days now has been docked in the port of Catania, Sicily.

An opposition lawmaker, Sen. Davide Faraone said that on Friday Catania port officials told him "there's tension" on the ship and that migrants have stopped eating.

Thirteen young children and ailing adults were evacuated from the Diciotti early in the drama. On Wednesday, 27 minors, all teenagers, were allowed to disembark in Catania. Salvini has been adamant that Italy's populist government won't allow any of the 150 adults still aboard the vessel disembark unless other EU nations commit to taking the asylum-seekers.

All but about 18 of those aboard are Eritrean; the others are from Somalia, Syria and Sudan. They have told authorities they suffered months and even years of inhumane treatment in detention in Libya, while waiting to leave that lawless country aboard smugglers' boats.

Another opposition lawmaker who went aboard on Thursday expressed particular concern about 11 women, some as young as 19 or 20, still there.

Appealing to Salvini, Laura Boldrini said: "As a father, they could be your daughter. At least let the young women off" the Diciotti.

Sky TG24 TV said some women aboard ate lunch Friday but the men refused the meal.

But Salvini was staying tough, as was fellow deputy premier, Luigi Di Maio, who heads the senior coalition partner, the euro-skeptic 5-Star Movement.

Di Maio threatened that Italy could withhold some of its yearly 20 billion euro ($23 billion) contribution to the bloc if EU nations didn't make good on promises earlier this year for more solidarity toward the Italians, who have seen more than 600,000 rescued migrants brought to Italian shores in recent years.

If the European Commission meeting doesn't "decide anything about the Diciotti ship and the re-distribution of the migrants, I and all the 5-Star Movement are no longer willing to give 20 billion to the European Union," Di Maio said.

In Brussels, EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein retorted that "the European Union is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats."He urged "all parties involved to work constructively together to find a swift solution."

A meeting in Brussels Friday of lower-officials from 12 countries, including Italy, was grappling with how to share the migrant burden among EU members. The meeting wasn't called to deal with the Diciotti standoff, but was expected to discuss it.
Vice President Mike Pence is in Houston, Texas, to reaffirm the Trump administration's plans to establish an American Space Force by 2020, return Americans to the moon, and set its sight on Mars and beyond.

During a speech Thursday at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Pence said that recent Pentagon reports have shown that China is "aggressively weaponizing space" and that Russia is developing weapons to "counter America's space capabilities."

Pence said the Department of Defense is moving forward to "strengthen American security in space" and that the administration will work with Congress to secure funding and authorization to establish Space Force as a new and separate branch of the armed forces.

Pence also highlighted efforts to move the Lunar Orbital Platform, formerly known as the Deep Space Gateway, from proposal phase to production. NASA, the main U.S. agency for space exploration, and several of its partners, have been developing plans for this lunar-orbit space station that would be used as a staging point for lunar exploration and would have several gateway-to-space features, including a propulsion system, a habitat for the crew, and docking capability.

In its 2019 budget, NASA has requested $504 million in funding for this project, which has yet to be approved by Congress.

There was little new detail in Pence's speech other than reiterating the administration's vision for "American dominance in space." Space Force has been mentioned by Pence on several occasions, and a theme that President Donald Trump often returns to, including during his rally in Charleston, West Virginia, on Tuesday.

Trump first announced the creation of Space Force at the White House in June. He pledged to reclaim U.S. leadership in space, framing it as a national security issue, and saying he does not want "China and Russia and other countries leading us."

Trump's Space Force has triggered debate in military space exploration, as well as legal circles, including whether it may violate international law. The U.S. is a signatory and ratifier of the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967.

The treaty prevents any nation from declaring sovereignty over space or heavenly bodies, and prohibits space-faring countries from blocking other nations from exploring space. There are further restrictions over military presence on heavenly bodies such as the moon, which according to the treaty "shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes."

Last December, Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1, a national space policy directing a government-private partnership with the goal of returning Americans to the moon, followed by missions to Mars and beyond.

The policy calls for the NASA administrator to "lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities."

Pence has been the leading spokesperson for the U.S. space program, delivering remarks about the country's space ambitions on behalf of the president.
One year ago, a great exodus began from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state. Within a few months, 700,000 Rohingya Muslims had fled into neighboring Bangladesh. They gave accounts of rape, murder and villages burned to the ground, all at the hands of Myanmar's security forces. VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer reports that one year later, it is still not safe for them to return home.
The sounds of children screaming and general chaos could easily be mistaken as a bad sign, here in the one of the biggest Rohingya Muslim refugee camps in Coxs Bazar.

This weeks Eid al-Adha religious celebration in Kutupalong refugee camp brings with it a brief moment for family and friends to commemorate the holy month and allow kids to be kids.

Children shout in glee as a team of young men power a makeshift wooden mini Ferris wheel at a festival site within the camp.

But this month also marks the one-year anniversary of a major escalation of the Rohingya crisis in western Myanmar.

A brutal clearance operation was conducted by Myanmar forces after reports of 30 attacks from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a militant Rohingya group in Rakhine state.

Refugee numbers increase

The military campaign resulted in more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing by land and boat into Bangladesh.

Now, close to a million refugees, combining the recent influx with past refugees from decades of displacement, live in jam-packed settlements of bamboo huts nestled into the clear-cut hillsides.

The quick assembly of the shelters to accommodate the huge numbers of refugees increased the risks during the summer months from seasonal flooding, which can lead to landslides and the diseases that come with it.

Even with the dire conditions, aid agencies are recording new arrivals every week.

Families are still arriving from Myanmar into Bangladesh, seeking safety, seeking protection, and that sends a signal to many refugees that currently it is still not safe to return to Myanmar, Carolyn Gluck, a senior public information officer for the UNHCR, explained.

We are very grateful that the government of Bangladesh also considers that forcible relocations, forcible return is not an option, and thats also the stated policy of the government of Myanmar, Gluck added.

WATCH: One Year Later, Rohingya Muslims Who Fled Myanmar Face Troubled Path

During the early days of the exodus last year, many of the new arrivals told of mass rape and torture, and the killings of thousands of their people, including women and children, that they say were committed by the army and militia groups. Myanmar has consistently denied the allegations.

Now, rights groups report harsh restrictions are being imposed on Rohingya still living in Rakhine state, including strict curfews, restricted travel, and the denial of basic rights, such as being allowed to work for their livelihood.

International access for humanitarian workers and media groups is still largely denied, despite repeated requests from the U.N., making follow-up investigations of the allegations almost impossible.

We also need to see real accountability in Myanmar for these atrocity crimes that have been committed by the armed forces and the police in Rakhine state, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia division, said.

Critics of new commission

With the Myanmar government assigning a third commission into the crimes, critics say it is further harming the countrys reputation.

A former member of the second advisory board, retired Thai Ambassador Kobsak Chutikul, who resigned from the committee earlier this year, said too much time has been wasted creating new boards, commissions and committees, while not addressing the core problems.

The time for action is now because the people are suffering, the immediate humanitarian relief needs to be addressed and people need to be offered hope for the future, Chutikul told VOA.

One of the key issues that the group was assigned to assess and implement were the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, a report written by a nine-member panel led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The report was released a day before the army crackdown last year.

The more time that lapses, it will be harder to find solutions, said Chutikul, whose opinion is shared by many observers of the ongoing crisis.

Regarding the new commission, Robertson said, We see it very much as a primitive ploy by the government of Myanmar to try to buy time, to try to deflect attention from the fact-finding commission, and from the very urgent need to take steps to ensure accountability for the crimes against humanity that were committed against the Rohingya.

A Myanmar government spokesman did not return a call from VOA for comments on the creation of the latest commission.

Local Rohingya leaders

As Rohingya victims await justice, leaders within the camps are joining forces to be heard in government discussions about their destiny.

Inside a long bamboo hut in Kutupalong camp, local community leaders gather with key NGO officials to discuss conditions favorable for a return to Myanmar, including recognitions as citizens and exercising the same basic rights as fellow Myanmar people.

But one local leader says there can be no resolution without accountability.

Weve collected data to show the government of Myanmar and the international community that we are the Rohingya from Myanmar, Mohib Bullah, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, said.

The recently formed community group has collected more than 10,000 names of victims allegedly killed by Myanmar forces, both in the 2017 army clearance operation as well as in a previous military crackdown in October 2016.

We collected the data for the violent cases because when we are going to the International Criminal Court for justice, the data is very important, because we cant have success without showing it, Bullah added.

As talks continue, with no signs of a safe return home, the Rohingya Muslims face a troubled path ahead.
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to provide the panel with the translator's notes and other materials from President Donald Trump's Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The senators have requested any cable traffic, memos, notes and policy directives related to the July summit, when Trump and Putin met privately for more than two hours with only translators present. The White House has not provided information on what was said, and even Trump's director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, has said he does not know what happened in the room.

In a letter sent to the State Department Friday morning, the Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said the situation requires "urgent congressional oversight.''



"Russian officials have taken advantage of the lack of communication by the White House to circulate their own, possibly false, readouts of what occurred in this private meeting,'' the senators wrote.

Trump drew widespread criticism from Republican and Democratic leaders for his performance in Helsinki on July 16. At a joint press conference with Putin, Trump spoke favorably of the Russian leader and denied U.S. intelligence findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Trump's statements fueled calls from Democrats for testimony from the American translator who was in the private meeting. Republicans shot down the idea and in the House blocked a Democratic request to issue a subpoena.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said seeking the translator's testimony "does not seem to be to me the appropriate place for us to go.''

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on July 18 said they had not been able to find a precedent for an interpreter being called to testify.
The South African government today apologized to white farmers for poor communication about its possible expropriation of their land to speed up agricultural reform and to put more farmland in black hands.

The apology come at the start of a nationwide public consultation process on land reform. Twenty-four years after the end of apartheid, the vast bulk of the countrys commercial farmland is owned by whites, who make up only about eight percent of the population.

Director-General of Agriculture Mike Mlengana Friday said the proposed constitutional amendment to allow for land expropriation without payment has been misinterpreted as the beginning of a state assault on white farmers.

A gathering of white and black farmers in Limpopo province has highlighted the many land reform projects that are being driven by white farmers. Some have already given their land to black people, and are mentoring them to become fully-fledged commercial food producers.

Mlengana says its a pity that the African National Congress government has up until now been ignorant of most of these white-driven initiatives.

He revealed that Minister of Agriculture Senzeni Zokwana has chastised state officials for not allaying white farmers fears that their land is about to be taken.

And the minister stands up [and says] You government officials, why have you not gone out and speak (spoken) to the farmers? There is no thing like that! Where does it come from that we are coming with guns blazing to take white commercial land?

Mlengana also said a list circulating identifying 139 white-owned farms to be taken by the government has been misinterpreted.

He says the 139 white landowners are simply asking the government to pay too much for their land, so the state will ask a court to determine a fair price for the farms.

Mlengana emphasized that white farmers have a future in South Africa.

Those who are going overseas (emigrating) and doing all that, they are destroying the future of this country. You are killing this country (if you emigrate). The day your friends up there (who have emigrated) kill this country, they are killing the economy of this country. Where are you going to live? Even if you go overseas and say, Im running to Australia; Im running (away), they will distrust you! Because whenever theres a debate (in your new country), your first interest, not the national interest [will] matter more.

The director-general said the future of agriculture in South Africa is white and black farmers working together, funded by government.

At this point you have been using your (own) money (for land reform); at this point you have been trying to get there (to achieve real land reform). There is (state) money available that Im trying to channel towards that partnership.

In the midst of allegations of widespread corruption within the land reform process, Mlengana said the Department of Agriculture is committed to better administration and has to manage taxpayer funds much better.

White farmers at the gathering have cried as they pledged to correct the wrongs of the countrys apartheid past. As one put it:

Our fathers stole the land, and if we are given the chance, we will give it back But only to skilled black farmers who are dedicated to producing food for the country."
The Taliban insurgency claimed Friday that U.S. airstrikes killed 16 of its fighters in eastern Afghanistan who were battling militants loyal to the rival Islamic State.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, asserted Friday that Taliban fighters were carrying out attacks against Islamic State bases in eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, when they came under fire by U.S. drones. He said the U.S. repeatedly bombed "our positions, vehicles and defense lines and inflicted casualties on the Taliban fighters.

The Pentagon has not commented on the claim.

The accusations came a day after Russia alleged unidentified helicopters were ferrying ammunition and arms to Islamic State fighters in a northern province of Afghanistan and demanded explanations from local as well as their NATO-led foreign military partners.

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that unidentified helicopters are conducting military missions in support of terrorists linked to the Islamic State faction in the northern Afghan province of Sar-e-Pul.

We note that this is happening in the direct vicinity of Central Asian states borders and many ISIS (Islamic State) militants in Afghanistan hail from these countries, said Maria Zakharova.

She said that Moscow was awaiting a reaction from Afghan security agencies and the U.S.-led international forces deployed in the country.

The Taliban and Russia have accused the U.S. military of helping Islamic State fighters in the past, charges that Washington has rejected as "completely untrue." Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai first suggested in 2009 that the United States was secretly helping the Taliban in an effort to prolong the war. The allegation came at a time of fraying relations between Karzai's government and Washington, and U.S. officials have long said there is no basis for the claim.

U.S. officials have also criticized Moscow for maintaining ties with the Taliban on the pretext of fighting terrorist groups in Afghanistan, saying Moscow's policy undermines international gains in the war-shattered country.

Moscow conference on Afghanistan

Meanwhile, Russian officials have urged Kabul to attend next months multi-nation consultative conference in Moscow on the future of Afghanistan, where Taliban envoys will also be in attendance.

The Afghan government has refused to participate in the meeting unless Taliban negotiators agree to direct bilateral talks with its delegates on the sidelines of the September 4 gathering in the Russian capital.

In a statement issued Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry defended the event as an important step toward a comprehensive Afghan settlement.

The purpose of inviting Taliban representatives to the Moscow meeting is to deliver a collective appeal to restore peace in Afghanistan directly to the armed Afghan opposition. We expect representatives of Kabul to take part in the Moscow format meeting, it said.

Washington has also declined an invitation to attend the Moscow conference because U.S. officials maintain any peace and reconciliation effort will have to be led by the Afghan government.

VOA national security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
Ethiopia and Eritrea have taken major steps toward peace in the past month, resuming flights, reopening telephone links, and allowing families to meet after more than 20 years of separation.

But the Horn of Africa neighbors still have issues on the security front, especially in regard to the troops stationed along their 1,000-kilometer-long shared border.

In July, Eritrean media said troops have withdrawn from the border, but that has yet to be independently confirmed.

Political expert Awol Allo says the issue can be resolved if the two governments can muster enough political will.

"Well, that's two countries that were on a war footing for the last 30 or 20 years. It is one of the most complex security problems you can imagine," he said. "But, at the same time, it is really a security problem that can easily be resolved  in the sense that once the underlying political disagreements and political problems are addressed, the security problems are not that complicated."

Between 1998 and 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a war over disputed territory on the border that claimed an estimated 70,000 lives.

Since the war, the East Africa neighbors have accused each other of supporting rebel movements and opposition groups in each other's territory.

But in June, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his government was ready to respect a 2002 boundaries commission ruling that gave the disputed town of Badme to Eritrea.

However, the countries are still wary of each other, says Meressa Dessu, a senior researcher with the Institute of Security Studies.

"It's a cautious relation among them," Dessu said.

The strength of the newfound peace will be judged by how the countries can manage their border issues, according to Allo.

"Security, as I said, is the primary [issue] ... and demilitarizing the border is one of the key  measure[s] by which people can judge that the two countries are moving forward," Allo said.

Before the border war, Eritrea fought a long war for independence from Ethiopia, which it achieved in 1993.
President Donald Trump escalated his long-running feud with Attorney General Jeff Sessions Friday, calling on him to probe a litany of recurring complaints against those investigating his administration and Democrats.

Responding to Sessions' declaration that he would not be influenced by politics, Trump tweeted that Sessions must look into all of the corruption on the other side," later adding: Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!

The president's pushback marked the second day of highly public smack down between Trump and his beleaguered attorney general.

Earlier this week, Trump, concerned by the legal downfall of two former advisers, accused Sessions of failing to take control of the Justice Department. Sessions punched back Thursday, saying that he and his department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.

Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal fixer Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if flipping  cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment were illegal because people cooperating with the government just make up lies to get favorable treatment.

On Twitter Friday, Trump also complained about the five-year sentence given to a former government contractor convicted of mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization.

Trump said this is small potatoes compared to what Hillary Clinton did. Prosecutors are calling that sentence handed down to 26-year-old Reality Winner the longest sentence imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

In the wide-ranging Fox interview, Trump also defended himself against talk of impeachment  the market would crash ... everybody would be very poor  tried to distance himself from Cohen  I would see him sometimes  and said anew that he hadn't known in advance about Cohen's hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman.

Trump's latest shots against law enforcement came as he appeared increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations after this week's one-two punch of Cohen's plea deal and the conviction of Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort.

Trump has spent more than a year publicly and privately venting over Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal Russia-collusion investigation because he'd worked on Trump's campaign. Trump, who blames that decision for the eventual appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, told Fox and Friends host Ainsley Earhardt that Sessions never took control of the Justice Department and it's a sort of an incredible thing.

What kind of man is this? Trump said.

You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter, Trump said of Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse Trump's bid.

Sessions has made clear to associates that he has no intention of leaving his job voluntarily despite Trump's constant criticism. But his tone in his statement on Thursday made clear he is tired of the president's attacks.

I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda. Then he declared, that while he's attorney general the actions of the department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action.

In New York, meanwhile, it was reported that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to David Pecker, the publisher of National Enquirer, which bought and killed the stories of two women. And people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the publication kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 election.

Allies, including Republican members of Congress have long advised Trump that firing Sessions  especially before the upcoming midterm elections  would be deeply damaging to the party.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who in March said firing Sessions would blow up the Judiciary Committee, has been shifting his tone.

I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice, he told reporters on Thursday. Clearly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesn't have the confidence of the president.

Others stood by Sessions.

Republican Ben Sasse of Nebraska told Senate colleagues, Everybody in this body knows that Jeff Sessions is doing his job honorably, and the attorney general of the United States should not be fired for acting honorably and for being faithful to the rule of law. He said it would be really difficult to confirm a successor if he is fired because he is executing his job rather that choosing to act as a partisan hack.

People close to the president said they were not aware of any immediate plans to dismiss Sessions, at least before the November congressional elections.

Cohen's claims that Trump orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who claimed he had affairs with them has shaken the White House and the president, who has expressed worry and frustration behind closed doors that a man intimately familiar with his political, personal and business dealings for more than a decade had turned on him.

His anger was palpable overnight as he bellowed to the world in an all-caps tweet at 1:10 a.m.: NO COLLUSION - RIGGED WITCH HUNT!

In his interview with Fox & Friends, which was taped at the White House on Wednesday and aired Thursday, Trump railed against Cohen for flipping. That arrangement almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair, Trump said, adding that it creates an incentive to say bad things about somebody ... just make up lies.

That drew immediate rebukes from the legal community.

Neal Katyal, Supreme Court lawyer and former acting solicitor general, compared Trump's comments in a tweet to what one expects from a mobster, not the President of the United States. He later said it was outrageous that Trump had decided to condemn the entire practice of flipping nationwide, which is essential to law enforcement operations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned against a possible Syrian government offensive in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib, saying a military solution "would be a disaster," not just for the area, but for all of Syria. Cavusoglu made his comments in Moscow as Syrian forces backed by Russia massed ahead of an expected offensive against Idlib.

"We should continue to work together to maintain the cease-fire in Syria, under the Astana Process," Cavusoglu said at a Moscow press conference with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Cavusoglu also cited the risk to the region's large civilian population, saying, "Civilians will be harmed."

Lavrov, for his part, said, "We agreed to continue our joint efforts to stabilize the situation in the region [Syria] and to create safe conditions for Syrian refugees to return home."

The Astana Process calls for Russia and Iran, the main supporters of the Syrian government, to work with Turkey, one of the chief backers of the rebels, to end Syria's civil war. Idlib is one of the so-called "de-escalation zones" created under Astana, in which rebels and their families moved to areas protected by a cease-fire; however, Syrian government forces backed by Russian airpower have overrun all the zones except for Idlib.

More than 2 million Syrians, along with an estimated 100,000 or more rebels, are holed up in Idlib, which borders Turkey. Ankara has set up 12 military observation posts as part of an agreement with Tehran and Moscow. In June, a senior Turkish presidential adviser, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity, warned that Ankara would not allow Idlib to be overrun.

"This is a ticking bomb that needs to be taken care of, right now," said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served across the region.

Turkey is vowing to resist any military incursion. The government in Ankara fears a major humanitarian disaster, with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing across the border if the Syrian government captures Idlib. Analysts warn such an exodus would pose security threats, given some rebels' affiliation with the Islamic State and al-Qaida groups. Turkey currently hosts more than 3 million Syrian refugees.

Military presence

Syrian government forces are steadily building up their forces around Idlib, with helicopters reportedly dropping leaflets warning of an imminent operation.

"Once the summer heat and the Bayram [Religious Eid holiday, which ends Friday] holiday passes, I do anticipate a Syrian offensive and Assad militia to start harassing Turkey's monitoring posts in the north of the province of Idlib," said political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. By Assad, he was referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In the past few weeks, Turkish military forces have been reinforcing their military presence in Idlib, including deploying anti-aircraft missile systems. Large numbers of tanks also have been sent to the Turkish border with Idlib.

Former diplomat Selcen noted that with the strength of Turkish forces in Idlib, and the support of the local population in the province, "Idlib can be defended against Syrian armed forces and Damascus-affiliated militias, militarily speaking."

"While Ankara insists it will not allow this [Idlib operation] to happen, Moscow could be the key player," said Huseyin Bagci, professor of international relations at Ankara's Middle East Technical University.

Role of Russia

Russia controls Syrian airspace with its sophisticated S-400 anti-aircraft missile system.

"Without the Russians allowing Turkey to use Syrian airspace, Turkey could not have done the two operations it did in Syria," said international relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has University. Turkish forces have conducted two major military operations against a Syrian Kurdish militia. Turkey now controls a broad swath of northern Syria.

Ankara's growing cooperation with Moscow in Syria has been a springboard for deepening ties between the traditional regional rivals, much to the unease of Turkey's NATO allies.

With Russia, one of the main backers of Syrian, and Ankara opposing a Syrian government attack on Idlib, analysts say Moscow faces a diplomatic conundrum. "There was always going to be a limit to Turkey's relationship with Moscow," Ozel said.

"Yes, it can put a strain on Turkish-Russian relations; that's why [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin is working so hard diplomatically. That is why Russia is quite active to solve this diplomatically," Selcen said.

Separately, Turkey's defense and intelligence chiefs, Hulusi Akar and Hakan Fidan, also were in Moscow on Friday for discussions with senior Russian officials, including President Putin, at the Kremlin.

Observers suggest Moscow could be looking for Ankara to use its influence over the Syrian rebel forces to facilitate a peaceful handover of Idlib to Syrian government forces and avert a humanitarian crisis and exodus into Turkey.

Ankara reportedly has countered by proposing to differentiate radical and moderate rebel forces as a means to allow part of Idlib to remain under opposition control. Analysts say maintaining rebel control of a portion of Syria is a strategic necessity for Ankara.

"We can't allow Assad to reconquer all of Syria because for the very simple reason we have 3.6 million Syrians in Turkey and the Turks don't want them," analyst Yesilada said. "It's becoming a major burden for the AKP. Even AKP voters are complaining about Syrians," he said, referring to Turkey's ruling party.

"Turkey needs to hold some portion of Syria and pose a credible threat to Assad," Yesilada added, "to force Assad into a peace agreement that will accept these refugees back."
The U.N. refugee agency said on Friday it was gravely concerned about a deterioration in conditions for migrants held in Libyan detention centers that had led to riots and hunger strikes.

Many migrants are taken to the centers after being intercepted by Libya's EU-backed coast guard as they try to reach Europe by sea, a policy that has been criticized by human rights groups.

An estimated 8,000 migrants are currently held in 18 detention centers linked to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, according to UNHCR.

Those detained make up a small fraction of the several hundred thousand migrants residing in Libya or passing through the North African country.

Humanitarian workers have limited access to the centers.

"In recent weeks, UNHCR has witnessed a critical worsening in conditions in detention centers, due to the increasing overcrowding and lack of basic living standards," the agency said in a statement.

"As a consequence, riots and hunger strikes by refugees inside detention centers are taking place, demanding a resolution to their bleak living conditions.

"This has led to a number of serious security incidents, where UNHCR front line staff have been placed at physical risk."

Libyan officials have blamed poor conditions at detention centers on a lack of resources, and have said migrants are detained for their own protection.

Departures of mainly sub-Saharan African migrants from Libya to Italy peaked between 2014 and 2017 as the country slid further into turmoil following a NATO-backed uprising seven years ago.

Last summer smuggler networks were disrupted under heavy pressure from Italy, and Libya's coast guard stepped up interceptions.

So far this year, 12,174 migrants have landed in Italy from Libya  nearly 87 percent fewer than during the same period in 2017, according to Italian interior ministry statistics.

There are nearly 55,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered in Libya, where they face limited chances of resettlement, according to UNHCR.
Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes now-rescinded offer to resign less than halfway into his term follows increased anger about the persistence of corruption, rebel violence and skepticism of an alliance with China, say experts who follow the country closely.

The leader said this month he would quit, but later reversed his opinion, according to Philippine news media and a statement on the Senate website.

While Duterte is not expected to leave  Filipinos say he often talks tougher than he acts  analysts say his comment reflects trouble overcoming long-term problems in the Southeast Asian country despite an agenda to solve them.

He particularly wants to stop corruption and drug dealing, disarm rebel insurgencies and work with China on infrastructure development, they say.

I think Dutertes rather volatile temperament, coupled with what appears to be his growing frustration with the lack of progress on several of his key initiatives like his anti-drug campaign, peace initiatives with both Muslim and communist separatists  is the primary reason for his outbursts about resigning before his presidential term ends in 2022, Carl Baker, director of programs with the think tank Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu, said.

Duterte thought he could complete more of his agenda, with less work, sooner in his term, some analysts say.

No plans to quit

Duterte, who took office in June 2016, has talked before of resigning well before the end of his six-year term.

He vowed two years ago that he would resign if he could not rid the country of drugs and criminality after three to six months, Philippine Sen. Leila de Lima noted in an Aug. 22 news release.

Duterte, the 73-year-old former mayor of the second-largest Philippine city, Davao, also raised the topic in July but said his own people, not the separately elected vice president, should replace him.

Hes just his usual self, hes thinking out loud, said Antonio Contreras, political scientist at De La Salle University in the Philippines. My honest assessment is that hes not serious about it.

Crime and corruption

Although many Filipinos say they feel safer in the streets under Duterte than before, the president says the illegal drug problem might worsen before his term ends in 2022.

He has made a name worldwide, drawing rebukes from Western governments and foreign nongovernmental organizations, by using what they call extrajudicial killings to stop illegal drug sales. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines estimates 13,000 killings linked to the campaign.

(The threat to resign is) not really something new, except in this case it has underscored frustration over his failure to end the drug problem, even saying that the illegal drug problem would probably get worse before end of his term, and thats despite thousands that they have killed, said Renato Reyes, secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabaya alliance of social causes in Manila.

Corruption remains an issue partly because people in Dutertes administration perpetuate it, Reyes said.

Duterte vowed in his July state of the nation address to keep fighting graft. He has fired at least 24 people, but news website Rappler.com says four of them were reappointed and 20 have yet to face charges.

Rebel insurgencies

Duterte also frets over an impasse with the occasionally violent, 50-year-old New Peoples Army communist insurgency, said Herman Kraft, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Metro Manila. The insurgency clashed with troops outside Manila in late July as the government pressed them for talks.

He doesnt see why the communists are still pursuing their agenda through an armed insurgency, Kraft said. The main point, I think from his perspective, is that if you want to do politics, do it the proper way, run for office, work with the government.

Last month the president got his way when congress passed a bill that raises the level of Muslim autonomy in the south, where about 120,000 have died because of a decadeslong insurgency. Muslims there believe the countrys Christian majority controls too many resources.

But not every Muslim group backs the bill, said Rhona Canoy, president of an international school on the southern island Mindanao. Satisfaction depends on which political faction youre with, she said. The bill offers autonomy to a region of Mindanao but does not specify which groups will run it.

On other issues, Duterte still struggles for widespread acceptance of a budding friendship with China despite an unresolved maritime sovereignty dispute. People in the armed forces particularly distrust Beijing.

I think hes just getting really tired of everything that hes doing being opposed every step of the way, Canoy said.
The U.S. State Department says that U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed South Africa's land reform. A spokesperson said Thursday that the president asked Pompeo to investigate reports that the South African government is expropriating land owned by white farmers without compensation. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports Pretoria has reacted angrily to Trump's tweet citing "large scale killing of farmers."
The United States on Thursday attacked El Salvador's decision to ditch diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, saying the change was of grave concern to Washington and warning that China was offering economic inducements to seek domination.

Self-ruled Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 countries, almost all of them small and less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen this week vowed to fight China's "increasingly out of control" behavior as El Salvador became the third country to switch allegiance to Beijing this year. China views Taiwan as a wayward province, with no right to state-to-state ties.

In a statement likely to inflame already strained relations with Beijing, the White House said El Salvador's government had made the decision "in a non-transparent fashion only months before they leave office."

"The El Salvadoran government's receptiveness to China's apparent interference in the domestic politics of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a re-evaluation of our relationship with El Salvador," it said.

Countries wanting to open or expand ties with China to get state-directed investment for short-term economic growth and infrastructure may be disappointed in the long run, the White House said.

"Around the world, governments are waking up to the fact that China's economic inducements facilitate economic dependency and domination, not partnership," it said.

Taiwan has accused China of luring its friends away with offers of generous aid packages. China denies that.

There was no immediate response in Taipei or Beijing to the White House statement.

Washington does not have diplomatic relations with Taipei, but is the democratic island's main arms supplier and strongest international backer.

China's hostility to Taiwan has grown since Tsai's election two years ago as Beijing fears she wishes to push for the island's formal independence, a red line for China.

She says she wants to maintain the status quo but will defend Taiwan's democracy.

China has stepped up efforts to restrict Taiwan's international presence, including ordering foreign airlines to list Taiwan as part of China on their websites, and has been conducting regular military exercises near the island.

The White House added that the United States will continue to oppose China's "destabilization of the cross-Strait relationship and political interference in the Western Hemisphere."

'Big deal'

The U.S. criticism came as U.S. and Chinese officials ended two days of trade talks with no major breakthrough as their bitter trade dispute escalated with activation of another round of dueling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country's goods.

The U.S. statement was issued about 12 hours after U.S. President Donald Trump met lawmakers about the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), aimed at beefing up protection against foreign trade-secret poaching, as well as reviewing real estate transactions near ports or U.S. military installations or other sensitive government sites.

Trump was in congratulatory mode over what he considers to be a positive trajectory on U.S. efforts to crack down on such intrusions.

"This is a very big deal," he said.

Previously, Trump said, there were few safeguards.

"We had, in many cases, no safeguards. Now we have probably the best there is in the world. We'll see if that's good enough," he said.

"When we see something we don't like, some country is buying something we don't want them to be buying, we stop it. We now have the right to stop it."

John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, praised the moves.

"Mr. President, in your administration you are finally taking the big step to oppose the national security threat posed by China," Cornyn said.
As South Korea extends its engagement with North Korea, there appears to be a widening rift between Washington and Seoul over how to achieve North Koreas denuclearization.

South Korea is pushing a series of economic undertakings with North Korea with the goal of improving inter-Korean relations, according to analysts, while Washington is stressing the need for continuing the maximum-pressure campaign of international sanctions on Pyongyang.

In a lively televised speech marking the 73rd anniversary of the Korean liberation from 35 years of Japanese occupation, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called the nations attention to the governments plans to improve relations with the North through reconciliation and economic projects.

Developments in inter-Korean relations are not the by-effects of progress in the relationship between the North and the United States, Moon said in last weeks speech. Rather, advancement in inter-Korean relations is the driving force behind denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon stressed that the revenue from inter-Korean economic cooperation is estimated to reach 70 trillion won at a minimum over the next 30 years, citing research by a state-run organization. The amount is equivalent to approximately $62.4 billion.

Moon said inter-Korean economic projects that will result in the expected sum include building railroads that would connect North and South Korea and resuming tours of North Koreas Mount Kumgang, and re-opening Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea. All would generate much needed foreign currency for Pyongyang, which, as of now, could funnel the funds into its nuclear weapons program.

The Mount Kumgang was a popular destination for South Koreans from elsewhere between 1998 and 2008, and came to symbolize unification. The area has long been celebrated by artists for its natural beauty and holds an indelible place in the Korean identity, but the tours stopped July 12, 2008, one day after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a 53-year-old South Korean tourist.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex, inside North Korea near the demilitarized zone, was launched in 2004 and largely financed by Seoul. The joint economic zone, which allowed South Korean manufacturers to use cheap North Korean labor, closed in 2016 in response to the Norths fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch.

Earlier this month, the two Koreas agreed to hold their third summit in Pyongyang next month to discuss inter-Korean cooperation further. No date has been set.

US stands by sanctions

However, the U.S. remains cautious, and in response to the upcoming summit, the State Department said the progress of inter-Korean developments should be tied to denuclearization.

As President Moon stated, the improvement of relations between North and South Korea cannot advance separately from resolving North Koreas nuclear program, said a State Department official who in an email message to VOAs Korean Service.

Washington also stressed the need for maintaining the maximum pressure campaign in response to the possibility of resuming the Mount Kumgang tours.

Sanctions remain in full effect until North Korea takes concrete action to denuclearize, the State Department official said.

The U.S. also expressed its opposition to the idea of reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

The State Department official said, We support the 2016 decision to shut down the Kaesong Complex in the face of the [North Koreas] destabilizing and provocative actions.

Rift forming between allies

Evans Revere, a former State Department official who has negotiated with North Korea, said there is a rift forming between Seoul and Washington on how to achieve denuclearization of the North.

Washingtons priority continues to be denuclearization and the removal of North Koreas WMD (weapons of mass destruction) threat, while Seoul has been largely focused on building ties, encouraging cooperation and exchange, and creating an atmosphere in which South-North relations can flourish, said Revere, adding that denuclearization has been a lower priority for Seoul.

Ken Gause, director at the International Affairs Group at the Center for Naval Analyses, believes Washington and Seoul are taking two fundamentally different point of view  on what gets North Korea to take serious steps to denuclearization.

Seoul favors engaging the North whereas Washington prefers maintaining a pressure campaign.

Scott Snyder, the director of the U.S.-Korea policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the relaxation of sanctions should occur in tandem with progress on denuclearization.

Snyder said, Preparations for many of [inter-Korean] projects can only proceed under the premise that North Korea undertakes concrete steps toward denuclearization.

South Korea announced this week that it will open a joint liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea, as a step toward establishing a formal diplomatic mission in Pyongyang.

Baik Sung-won of the VOA Korean Service contributed to this report.
The United States and the Taliban are reported to be in the early stages of discussions for the first time since 2012. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Christopher Kolenda, who fought in Afghanistan and later served as a senior Pentagon adviser, was instrumental in helping set up those talks  in part through his own discussion with Taliban officials in Qatar. He spoke with VOAs William Gallo about where he sees the peace process going, especially in light of a recent surge in violence. This interview was condensed for clarity.

William Gallo: How would you characterize the current U.S.-Taliban talks?

Christopher Kolenda: Weve had a situation in which each of the three main parties  the Afghan government, the Taliban, and the United States  have all been wanting talks but have put conditions on starting talks that the other side cant meet.

So this effort for a conversation between the U.S. government and the Taliban, which has happened in full coordination with the Afghan government, is meant as an icebreaker to lead to a negotiating process in which the Taliban and the Afghan government begin discussions about the political future of Afghanistan. Because only Afghans can solve that.

Gallo: Is there any indication these talks have moved into more advanced stages?

Kolenda: Not to my knowledge. It seems there was a discussion and then things are on hold a bit. Theres rumored to be another round of U.S.-Taliban talks in Doha in early September.

Gallo: From your discussions, which included former U.S. Ambassador Robin Raphel, what do you sense the Taliban wants?

Kolenda: Well, the bottom line is they want an end to the occupation. The occupation  thats what they call it. They dont want international combat troops targeting them anymore. And once the occupation is finished, then they say they can begin to have negotiations with the Afghan government on a political settlement.

Gallo: Your discussions were with the Taliban political commission in Qatar. Do you sense that this office actually has the authority to negotiate these things?

Kolenda: Ive been at this for a while. I was the secretary of defenses representative in the exploratory talks with the Taliban from 2010 to 2012. Ive been following this very, very closely ever since. And the Taliban, for their part, have been very consistent that their political representatives in Doha are the people they have designated to engage in these talks and to engage with international actors. In some ways, these are the Talibans version of diplomats. They are there as people who represent the point of view of the senior leadership.

Certainly, as in any organization, there are certain divisions. But at the end of the day, what weve seen from the Taliban, particularly reflected during a cease-fire at the last Eid, was a level of political cohesion that surprised many people. So through my engagement on these issues, I am fairly well convinced that the political office is who they say they are.

Gallo: There were reports that during your talks with the Taliban that they expressed an openness to a continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. What can you tell us about that?

Kolenda: Theres a lot of nuance here that I think is very important. What theyve said consistently, and this goes back to 2010, is that if a government formed after a political settlement, which presumably would include Taliban leaders, decides that they would like international troops to train Afghan security forces, then thats a decision that a legitimate, inclusive government can take.

Now the corollary to that, which is also very important, is that if a government, post-political settlement, said, We dont want foreign troops here at all, then there would be an expectation that foreign countries would respect that decision and their foreign troops would go.

So I think its really important to understand this more holistic point of view. Their No. 1 reason for war  their casus belli, if you will  is the occupation. So theyre not going to just simply say, Were OK with U.S. combat troops running around Afghanistan. Because thats what theyre fighting to prevent, from their point of view.

Gallo: Do you think this is something the U.S., and in particular the Trump administration, could accept?

Kolenda: Look, at the end of the day, if theres no terrorist threat from Afghanistan to the United States, the United States has no reason to keep troops there. I mean, I love Afghanistan. I love Afghans. I have genuinely enjoyed all of the time that Ive spent in Afghanistan. But for a country to want to station combat troops in a landlocked country half a world away that is surrounded by powers that dont want you there, that is not an enviable position for any country.

Gallo: Since these U.S.-Taliban talks began, there has been an enormous surge in violence. Is that because the Taliban are fighting to improve their bargaining position?

Kolenda: The Taliban dont expect theyll be able to overthrow the Afghan government while the current levels of international support remain. And they are not in a position to be forced to sue for peace while they have the current levels of local and international support that they enjoy. So thats part of the motivation for them to begin to explore peace talks.

There are other motivations as well, including their worry about Afghanistan becoming the next Syria. And theres probably an expectation or a belief on their part that their leverage is getting about as good as its going to get. So strategically its a decent time for them to negotiate.

So certainly violence is leverage and its leverage for all sides. But probably more so for the Taliban. And so in these exploratory phases, the Taliban can be perfectly serious about peace, but still engaging in these major operations, because theyre trying to improve their leverage.

Gallo: For a lot of people who follow Afghanistan, I think we get tired sometimes of every development, whether good or bad, being interpreted as progress. Isnt it possible that this latest violence is just the Taliban continuing to fight the war its been fighting for the last 17 years?

Kolenda: There has been remarkable progress in Afghanistan in many, many respects. People talk a lot about the economic progress and political formation and raising the Afghan security forces. And those are all tremendous. The progress on human rights and the impact on women, and of women, has been so significant that even the Taliban have been issuing statements over the last several years talking about the importance of human rights and womens role in Afghanistan. The Taliban seem to sense they have to keep pace with these social changes and expectations in order to remain relevant.

When you look at the battlefield, certainly since the end of the Obama administration, the Taliban have made major gains. And you have situations like Ghazni where they prove they can surround a major city and conduct major operations into it. At the same time, theyre not able to hold that territory. So all of these things suggest theres a strategic stalemate.

Another reason why talks are very important: When you look at the policy positions among the combatants on some of the major issues, frankly theres not a whole lot of daylight between them. Now all of this needs to be tested, of course. But it suggests that each party is willing to recognize some of the major war aims of the other. And when youre in that position, theres a responsibility to pursue a way to bring the conflict to a conclusion.
Ashwaq Haji Hami, a Yazidi from Iraq's Sinjar region, still shudders at the memory of being accosted on a street in Germany by the man who had held her as a sex slave for six months.

Hami was 15 years old when she was kidnapped along with dozens of family members  including five brothers, sisters, uncles and cousins  during the Islamic State group's genocidal rampage through the Sinjar region in 2014, she recounted in a Skype interview with VOA's Kurdish service.

At least 10,000 Yazidis were either killed or abducted during the attack, according to the United Nations. Hami was among the more than 6,400 people, mostly women and children, who were enslaved rather than killed.

Safety shattered

Purchased by an IS militant she knew as Abu Hammam al-Iraqi, she was forced to live with him for six months before escaping and eventually making her way to what she thought was a secure new home in Germany.

But, she told VOA, the illusion of safety was shattered in 2016 when a man she thought to be Abu Hammam saw her on a street and followed her home. Finding it hard to believe such a man could have been allowed to live in Germany, she put her fears aside and decided she must have been mistaken.

But then this year, she saw him again, and this time there was no doubt. Hami said Abu Hammam pulled up next to her in a white car and tried to talk to her.

"He spoke in German and asked me if I was Ashwaq. I denied [it]. He said that I am Ashwaq," Hami said.

Hami reported the incident to German authorities, who confirm they are investigating but say they have been unable to find Abu Hammam and doubt that is even his real name.

Comfort of family

Terrified of encountering him again, Hami returned to the Kurdistan area of Iraq, where she still fears for her safety but enjoys the comfort of being close to her family.

"Half of Abu Hammam's family live in Baghdad, and he lives in Germany. Being here is not safer compared to Germany, but at least if anything bad happens to me, I will be with my family and not by myself," Hami said.

"During my captivity in Iraq, he always used to threaten me and tell me that he would follow me wherever I go," she added.

Hami added that she is not alone. She said other Yazidi women in Germany have also seen their former IS captors but have not come forward because they are too frightened and doubt that anyone would believe them.

German investigation

That is not so, VOA was told by Frauke Koehler, spokesperson for federal prosecutors at the Federal Court of Justice in Germany.

Koehler emphasized in an interview that German officials are taking Hami's claims seriously and will carry out a thorough investigation. But, she said, the investigation is hampered because Hami returned to Iraq without providing "precise information" that would help identify her former captor.

"The federal prosecutor would like to have questioned the witness [Hami]. However, the witness had already left Germany when the federal prosecutor's office had taken over the investigation in June 2018," Koehler said.

"Even the name [Abu Hammam] could not be traced back to a real person [living in Germany]," Koehler said, adding that the collection of evidence from traumatized victims is always challenging.

If the man is ever found, however, Hami says she is ready to return to Germany to testify against him.

"I am ready to confront this man in court. I will do whatever it takes to have justice, even if my follow-up of the issue takes 1,000 years," she said.

Genocide

The trauma of the 2014 attack remains fresh in the minds of most Yazidis, members of a religious minority whom the IS extremists regarded as "devil worshippers" who must either renounce their religious views or die.

The United States, United Nations, European Union and Canada, among others, maintain that the assault on their homeland four years ago this month amounted to genocide.

The U.N. agency has said the Yazidi situation remains desperate and that the perpetrators have not been brought to justice, despite having been driven out of most of Iraq and Syria.

"The ideology of [IS] can only be truly defeated if survivors receive justice and redress for the crimes they have suffered, and reconciliation can only occur if the missing are found," Pramila Patten, U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said earlier this month.

Yazidi rights groups estimate 3,000 women and children remain missing, while thousands live under dire conditions in refugee camps.
With the Constitutional Court hearing now out of the way, and Zimbabwes incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the duly-elected president, plans for his inauguration are now underway, as stipulated by the countrys constitution.

Inauguration has to be held within 48-hours of the announcement of the decision, said Zanu-PF Secretary for Legal Affairs, Paul Mangwana. Which means that the inauguration has to be held at least by Sunday, noted Mangwana, who was also a member of Mnangagwas legal team.

Echoing a tweet from Mnangagwa applauding the nine-member legal team for the unanimous ruling, Mangwana said his party felt vindicated by the judicial process, which was aired live by the state broadcaster, ZBC.

We have seen our new Constitution at work, we have seen the Constitutional Court reviewing and endorsing the election of President Mnangagwa, we are very happy about that as Zanu-PF, said Mangwana.

While the ruling Zanu-PF party celebrated its court victory, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance which lodged the formal challenge to President Mnangagwas July 30th election victory, alleging that the election was rigged, was not.

The party rejects the results very clearly, said Nkululeko Sibanda, spokesperson for the 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, who gave Mnangagwa the stiffest competition of all the 23 presidential candidates.

The party knows very well that (MDC-T) president Nelson Chamisa won this election by 2.6-million votes, and that Mnangagwa lost it with two million votes, said Sibanda.

With no legal recourse left however, given that the Constitutional Court ruling is final, analysts say Mnangagwas victory is yet to pass the legitimacy test of the countrys citizens, many of whom believe his victory was facilitated by the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC), which adjusted the election results three time, before the final ruling.

Zimbabwean constitutional lawyer and lecturer at Kent University in the UK, Alex Magaisa, said the changing of results has tainted the electoral body and by extension, Mnangagwas victory. Magaisa said the Constitutional Courts failure to press ZEC on these changes, further compromised its ruling.

If an electoral authority is going to change electoral results three times after it has made a declaration  which is illegal, you expect the court to raise issues and to interrogate the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the manner in which it conducted the election, said Magaisa.

Despite losing the court challenge, Magaisa, who served as the advisor to the late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, during his five-year tenure as prime minister in the Government of National Unity, said the MDC Alliance put up a stately, courageous and valiant performance, that exposed the weaknesses of the process.

Magaisa said an objective court would have considered their evidence.

I believe that sufficient information and evidence was placed before the court in order to come to that conclusion, but of course the MDC (Alliance) is complaining that this was a pre-determined decision, said Magaisa.

Lead advocate for the MDC Alliance, Thabani Mpofu, who spoke to the media after the ruling, too alluded to the Courts lack of objectivity, saying the process had serious legitimacy issue, and left it to the court of public opinion.

The good thing is that the people followed through the proceedings, and they are entitled by law to come up with their own conclusion.

Meantime, Magaisa said more than just appeasing the Zimbabwean citizens, Mnangagwa and his government now have to earn the respect and trust of the international community, particularly countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, which are critical to Zimbabwes economic revival.

You must remember that Mr. Mnangagwa has won this election according to the court, by a very slender majority, which means that half the country is ostracized. The challenge for them is how do they see the bigger picture, how do they get everybody working together in order to achieve the bigger process, said Magaisa, adding, I think it is important for Mr. Mnangagwa, Mr. Chamisa and other people who are concerned with the welfare of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans to find a way out of this lockjam that we are facing.

In one of the several tweets that he sent out after the ruling, President-elect Mnangagwa appealed for peace and invited Chamisa to join him in moving the country forward.

I once again reiterate my call for peace and unity above all. Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us. It is time to move forward together, tweeted Mnangagwa.

However, not all of Zanu-PF members are in tune with this message. Speaking on VOA Studio 7s Livetalk show, one of the members of Mnangagwas legal team, Tinomudaishe Chinyoka, dismissed the need to appease the international community or the opposition, saying the Constitutional Court outcome was transparent enough.

We dont run our country based on who likes us, said Chinyoka, insisting that the world should now meet Zimbabwe on its own terms, since it has fulfilled its commitment to a democratic process.
Haworth collected over 4,000 still images and over 350 videos over the course of several years of child pornography including numerous visual depictions of infants and toddlers engaging in sexually explicit conduct and child pornography depicting torture and violence against children, the release states.
The Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe has declared incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa duly elected president following lack of evidence of electoral fraud in the just-held presidential election.

Chief Justice Luke Malaba delivered the ruling of the full bench of the Constitutional Court Thursday following a hearing of the case Wednesday in which Nelson Chamisa was seeking the nullification of the election, claiming massive electoral fraud.

Malaba said the nine-member bench reached this unanimous decision due to lack of primary evidence derived from ballot boxes.

Malaba said the applicant made generalized claims about the results of the election.

He said the change in figures of the final results had no effect on the outcome of the presidential election.

Without access to the sealed residue, he said, this just remained simply an allegation.

Justice Malaba noted that the same applied to claims that 40,000 teachers were not given a chance to vote and as such there was no sufficient and credible evidence.

More details to follow 
Speaking after the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court ruled in favor of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, after dismissing MDC Alliance claims of fraud, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Patrick Chinamasa said the 2018 election was the 'most transparent, most credible' the country has had.
A policeman guarding Qhubani Moyo of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been shot and injured at the commissioners house.

Moyo told VOA Studio last night that he was not in a position to comment on the matter promising to talk to you tomorrow as the situation is not good right now.

He posted a message on his Facebook page expressing sadness over the shooting.

Sad developments at my house where a member of the police protection unit is lying in a pool blood after gunshots. Motive unknown!!!.

Moyo would not elaborate on the shooting.

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Charity Charamba said she was not aware of the shooting.

I have not been informed about that (shooting), said Charamba.

A few hours before the incident, Qhubani wrote on his Facebook page, Thanks to the ConCourt for confirmation that ZEC ran elections in terms of the law. We always knew we were right & thanks to all who gave us support!!!

The Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed with costs an election petition filed by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa seeking to nullify results of the July 30 presidential election saying it lacked credible evidence.

The court said the MDC Alliance was supposed to get evidence from sealed ballot boxes instead of relying on unsubstantiated material said to have been derived from ZEC.

Some Zimbabweans following Moyos Facebook thread expressed sympathy over the shooting of the policemen while other claimed that the shooting may have been committed by suspected individuals linked to the ruling party.

Busani Maqumbeqaleke wrote, Yu (you, Moyo) are not the one who made the ConCourt decision (ruling on MDC Alliance petition).

Another Zimbabwean, Peter Khuboni Maseko, posted a message on Moyos Facebook page claiming that this was an inside job.

But Q (Qhubani) you know better. It's ZANU bafo (my brother). Killing is nothing for them and they can sacrifice their own and act victim. Now they want it to look like the Opposition lost in Con Court and are now attacking ZEC officials. Don't trust the Junta  I hope you are safe  Remember your kind are worth nothing to ZanuPf as history has shown.

(ZEC chairperson Priscilla) Chigumba is safe from, but you are disposable. Remember even up to today ZANU blames Nkomo and ZAPU for provocation and subsequent Gukurahundi Massacres. Stay safe. I feel sad for that officer who's been attacked 

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo was not reachable for comment as he was not responding to calls. Presidential spokesperson George Charamba was not also not available for comment.
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The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) wants Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport renamed, saying the former president was no longer fit to have the airport named after him. ZNLWVA spokesman Douglas Mahiya said Tuesday the name would offend tourists.
After hitting Salgados trailer, Shanahan swerved off the roadway and went into a ditch, causing the trailer to separate from the tractor, Wojas said. While the trailer stayed upright, the tractor overturned and caused Shanahan to be trapped, the release states. Shanahan was extricated by Merrillville fire and taken to Methodist Hospital Southlake where he died of his injuries, Wojas said.
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One deleted a provision that could have been interpreted as giving the estate of a board member who dies a claim to the position. Another clarified that when the board creates subcommittees to advise it on specific issues, members of those committees do not vote on whatever action the board ultimately takes.
Additionally, each year a number of celebrities also attended Burning Man. Kathy Baird, who this year will be participating in her eighth Burning Man, said their presence doesnt diminish the overall spirit and experience on the playa. My hope is that regardless of who you are and where you come from, that you could come to an experience like Burning Man  and walk away and be a better human being as a result of your time there, she said. Whether youre Paris Hilton or whether youre Joe-Schmo from Indiana  I think the idea that the culture of Burning Man transcends your status in society is true, Baird said.
A plane to catch. The National Book Festival is just a week away. (Look for our special guide in The Post on Aug. 26.) One of the many highlights for me at the festival will be talking with Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion, The Interestings and The Wife, which has just been adapted into a movie starring Glenn Close. Wolitzer tells me that her new Hollywood life has been full of thrills  and a little heartache: I was all set to fly to L.A. for the premiere of The Wife, when my plane was grounded for mechanical failure, and there wasnt a single seat available on any other plane. The crew was sitting around waiting for word, and I went up to them and asked if they thought we would take off in the near future, because I had something I really didnt want to miss in L.A., and I told them what it was. Six hours later, we did finally take off, and one of the flight attendants came up to me and said she hoped I made it in time for at least some of the evening. And she said that they had googled my film, and the whole crew had sat watching the trailer together, and it looked great. As it turned out, I missed the red carpet and the movie itself, but I did make it there in time for the party afterward, and I made it a point to have an excellent time.
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The application, which has been in preparation by the Gary Redevelopment Commission for nearly two months, was incomplete at the authoritys meeting Aug. 22 and could not be voted on. The authoritys next scheduled meeting is in the third week of September.
Thats only to be expected. A museum of humor, if it were comprehensive and unflinching in its catalogue of all the things that once made us giggle, would be no laughing matter. In his 1900 Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, the French philosopher Henri Bergson pointed to three fundamental characteristics of humor: It is limited to the realm of the human; it is intellectual, meaning things are funny without reference to feelings; and it is fundamentally social and requires an audience. The second of these, that it is primarily intellectual, is perhaps the most important of his insights. Bergson says of laughter, Indifference is its natural environment, for laughter has no greater foe than emotion.
The lone complaint Ive ever heard about this Sperryville sensation concerns the challenge of securing a table. I just got in  in October, a grateful friend emailed recently. The hardest ticket around is open just three dinners a week, seats no more than 20 diners, and is cooked and served by a team of four, plus a dishwasher. (Co-owners John and Diane MacPherson are the hosts with the most.) Everyone eats the same five-course meal at the same time, although special requests are taken into consideration. Vegetarians, youre welcome. As March gave way to April, diners sat down to some lovely hors doeuvres (French onion soup rethought as a crouton!) and a perfectly paced meal of trout set on a sauce of yogurt and leeks, a carrot flattered with bright coins of kumquat and a crumble of pistachio and chile, purse-like manti stuffed with goat cheese  well, you get my drift. The dreamy dinner feels of the moment (burnt onion syrup with the fish, spruce oil to enliven the pasta) and closes with hazelnut genoise and toasted buckwheat ice cream. Pro tip: Thursdays are slightly easier to reserve than Friday or Saturday, and wannabe diners can book out as far as 203 days (29 weeks). Worth the trip? Definitely  worth any hassle, too.
The moral of the story: Dont give up on those old bottles of wine. Heres something I hear several times a year: An acquaintance has a special bottle of sentimental value, given to her years ago by a favorite relative or wine-loving friend. Or maybe she purchased it during a romantic fling in Europe. The bottle has followed her across the country, maybe even around the world, as she changed jobs and cities. It has been kept under beds, on top of refrigerators and spent some considerable time forgotten in the back of a linen closet. Every time she finds it, she is reminded of her long-ago benefactor or lover and the good times they shared. But shes reluctant to open it and drink the wine; no occasion seems special enough, or she doesnt feel comfortable since, after all, she doesnt consider herself expert enough about wine to appreciate it.
Klaus Wittauer Selection, imported by Select Wines and Siema, distributed by Siema in the District, Maryland and most of Virginia, by Select Wines in Northern Virginia: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Wagshals (Massachusetts Avenue, New Mexico Avenue), Wardman Wines; on the list at Cafe Berlin. Available in Maryland at Cranberry Liquors in Westminster, Dunkirk Wine & Spirits in Dunkirk, Hop N Grape in Bethesda, Orion Wine & Spirits in Frederick, Town & Country Wine Liquor Etc. and Wishing Well Liquors in Easton, Wine Bin in Ellicott City. Available in Virginia at Bon Vivant Wine & Brew in Smithfield, Capital Wine in Fredericksburg, Chain Bridge Cellars in McLean, Foods of All Nations and Tastings of Charlottesville in Charlottesville, Great Bottles in Suffolk, Little Washington Winery in Washington, Oakton Wine Shop in Oakton, Screwtop Wine Bar & Cheese Shop in Arlington, Unwined (Alexandria, Belleview), Vienna Vintner in Vienna, Vino Market in Midlothian; on the list at Metzger Bar & Butchery in Richmond, Rincome in Arlington, Tavola in Charlottesville, Trummers Coffee & Wine Bar in Gainesville, Trummers on Main in Clifton.
As a middle-aged woman, I am used to being marginalized, but I think that, during the last three years, the problem has become acute. I'm not invisible: I'm reviled and demeaned, both by employers and single men. These days you have to look like a porn model to even get by.
Smaller papers are feeling the bite, too. The twice-weekly Storm Lake Times in Iowa (circulation 3,000) has seen its newsprint and printing bills rise by about 13 percent since the start of the year, according to Art Cullen, the papers editor. The Times, which won a Pulitzer Prize last year for editorial writing, is still running the same amount of copy, he said, but it has trimmed the size of its TV magazine, cut back on color printing and consolidated sections.
Essentially, the vines primary purpose is to propagate itself. It does so by making its fruit as rosy and sweet and aromatic as it can, to attract birds. The birds  recall Prossers warning about robins appetites  consume the grapes, seeds and all, and may travel miles away while the seed is moving through the digestive tract, awaiting deposit in the soil.
Since they are not live feed, what are we doing? one mother asked. Can we put another person on the bus so . . . that the bus driver is not left alone with children for one minute, two minutes, because obviously these people that have this mentality dont need anything but five seconds to fondle, touch or do anything to these children.
Regarding shirtless pictures, Fleming said that he had worked as a model some years ago and has a number of posed photos that show his torso. A few years ago, he said, he shared one with male students to make a point about body imagery in a poem. He said a superior told him not to do that again. Within the past year, he acknowledged, he sent a partial flex shot  not a full torso  as a meme to students without thinking about it. He said that it showed about 1/8 of my body with a flexed arm and that he often uses the term flex in class to refer to a topic sentence.
The commission said the $862,727 SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will help pay for new firefighters for three years. The positions can be filled immediately after the hiring process concludes.
The fuel was believed to have spilled during a delivery. Maggiolo said that he didnt know why the fuel was being delivered but added that it could be used to run generators or other equipment at the facility.
Miller, 75, knows when the world is shifting around him and how to get in front of it, according to interviews with more than 20 people who have worked with and against him over the years. He is an avid student of history, simultaneously reading as many as four biographies, and believes theres nothing that happens in politics that hasnt happened somewhere, sometime before.
Andersons case is the first major sexual harassment allegation to be addressed by the General Assembly since the #MeToo movement began and the legislature adopted new procedures to deal with what some female legislators and staff members have called a pervasive culture of sexual harassment. Before last fall, the General Assembly had no method of tracking sexual harassment complaints against legislators.
The judge denied the motion to exclude the witness identification of Wint, noting that the person saw Wint in broad daylight and there was no reason to question their credibility. Moreover, McKenna said, this witness account could demonstrate that Wint had been to the neighborhood before, which is significant because he does not live in the area.
That was the largest service weve had since Ive been at the church, she said, as she spoke on research about the value black churches add to neighborhoods. For four hours, people just coming and going. Why? Because you have to meet the needs. You have to be relevant.
I dont think people have lived in an era in recent generations where they felt the impact of SCOTUS decisions to be so personal, in so many ways, said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum, using the acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States. With the recent [Supreme Court] decisions, it was just like bam, bam, bam. And something about that just shook people and made them feel like, Weve got to stop this. 
Stewart, who has long relished his role as a politically incorrect provocateur, said he wants to go to the U.S. Senate to expand nationwide the policy he pushed in Prince William County that directs police to question a persons immigration status after he or she has been arrested. The policy originally called for police to check the immigration status of anyone they stopped, but it was relaxed following opposition, so that checks are performed only after an arrest, and for everyone taken into custody.
The stakes around the case have been mounting. Wilsons family recently filed a claim against Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) for not protecting the Wilson sisters. And on Wednesday, prosecutors said they added a special circumstance of lying in wait to Cowells murder charge, an allegation used when a suspect watches a victim for a period of time immediately before killing the person. Prosecutors did not explain why they enhanced the charge or whether they would seek the death penalty if Cowell is convicted.
Any trial in which a defendant is charged with murder carries a heavy burden of proof, but a case as old as the one against James Hill, 55, will include additional obstacles for both the prosecution and defense, said Frances Watson, a professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
So far, Redfield said, it is not necessary to test travelers at U.S. ports of entry, in part because there are no direct flights to the United States from the affected region and screening of outgoing travelers is being conducted. Four years ago, debate raged about whether to cut off all travel from West Africa to the United States. President Trump, then a private citizen, was an outspoken advocate of that position, tweeting that the United States should not allow two infected American missionaries back into the country for treatment.
Not all the damage done was physical, though. At the middle school where she was a science teacher, Donovan felt overwhelmed by the challenges many of her students were facing after Harvey. One girl detailed how her father had to punch a hole in the attic to get them out and how they then huddled under a makeshift tent on the roof waiting for rescuers.
Mr. Yang had clearly touched a third rail by raising even the slightest bit of doubt about whether the party was worth the expense. His ouster is another sign of a campaign being undertaken across academia in China to squelch freedom of expression and inquiry. These are at the heart of learning and scholarship, and China will be the loser for undermining them. According to China Change, the professor, shorn of his ability to speak out, turned to Twitter. His first tweet said: The more I think, the more distressed I become. Its hard to pursue the truth; its hard to speak the truth; and its hard to be a truthful person. Being able to freely express ourselves, without terror, is our dream.
A consultant will be available day-to-day with expertise that can answer questions about operations or conditions that need to be in place for the secondary facility, Swiderski said. The department and its overseeing board need someone available so it can make educated decisions about the dark site, Swiderski said.
Sadly, some faith leaders know full well that Trump and religions moral values dont mix, but they stand by him anyway. In their embrace of Trumps backward-looking social policies and coddling of white-supremacist marchers, his openly stated preference for immigrants from countries with mostly white populations (welcome, Norwegians!) and his putting down African American athletes and members of Congress as low-IQ, they also look past his embodiment of six of the seven deadly sins. Trumps well-documented behavior speaks to his lust, gluttony and greed; his uncontrolled and venomous attacks on critics demonstrates his wrath; his outsize desire to garner the respect bestowed upon past presidents reveals his envy; and his excessive view of himself, his pride. From a religious perspective, he is in a complete state of sin.
One thing you dont see in Polish cities  at least not in Warsaw, Lodz and Krakow, certainly not if youre visiting as a guest of the foreign ministry  is many homeless people. National estimates have varied widely in the past decade, from a few thousand to more than 100,000. But one does not see homeless people living on sidewalks two and three blocks from Parliament or the Presidential Palace, as they do in the District, near the U.S. Capitol and the White House.
To be clear, were a long way from returning to the days when enrollments were tiny, and cutting-edge technology firms were founded by ambitious machinists rather than Harvard dropouts. But our reverence for the college diploma is a social norm, not an economic necessity, as economist Bryan Caplan cogently argued in his recent book, The Case Against Education. There are better ways, such as apprenticeships or management training programs, to sort out workers who are bright and conscientious  especially given the barriers this throws up for talented people without the financial or social capital to obtain a four-year degree.
Williams, who served as an resource officer at the high school for six years, bristled at the charges from Alaniz and Porter. Williams said there has been confusion over the new resource policy, and, he said there was only one time when he pulled SROs out of schools, for maybe an hour, last year due to problems with a district-wide computer program that tracks students grades and other information.
Trump is under credible threat of impeachment for crimes allegedly committed at his direction in service of his election. A special counsel is probing his campaigns possible cooperation with a hostile foreign nation. As that storm and others rage, Trump has nominated an Article II maximalist to the Supreme Court  a man who may well have been selected specifically for his antipathy to prosecution or even investigation of any sitting president. There is no need to hurry. The slowly mounting chorus of senators calling for a pause in Kavanaughs confirmation would have resonated strongly with the framers. Their views cannot rule us from the grave, but the structure they created has served us well.
If not for the witch hunt, in other words, everything would have rocked along in its usual fashion. No special counsel, no probe, no trials, juries or guilty verdicts. Nothing but high-fives in Trump world. But, of course, things turned out as they did not because of Mueller but because of Trump, who seems to surround himself with people of poor character and criminal minds  notable exceptions notwithstanding.
A few days earlier, Trump had referred to John Dean, the White House counsel whose truth-telling was instrumental in President Richard M. Nixons downfall, as a RAT. And during a Fox News interview broadcast Thursday, he complained at length about defendants who flip and inform on higher-ups in exchange for leniency at sentencing: This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years I have been watching flippers. Everythings wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go. It almost ought to be outlawed.
I will not pretend this has been an easy time for me or my family, and I will defend myself against any allegation of wrongdoing, stemming from either the Cohen matter or the Russia probe. But the only way this ends well is through a full and fair airing of the facts. Large portions of the country would question the legitimacy of my presidency if it were not for the independence that the Justice Departments leaders, whom I am proud to have nominated, have shown. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was right to recuse himself from matters involving the Russia investigation and anything relating to my 2016 campaign. He was too involved in that campaign to credibly oversee investigations touching it. Luckily, Mr. Sessions chose a solid second-in-command in Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, a fine career Justice Department lawyer. And Mr. Rosenstein could not have picked a more reputable special counsel to investigate Russias clear attack on our democracy in 2016  and anyone who helped the Kremlin.
Fairness also demands that we examine the vast power weve given prosecutors, who through unreviewable and usually opaque charging decisions can have even more authority than judges over a defendants sentence. Federal prosecutors could flip Cohen because they had broad discretion to charge him with dozens of crimes or none; they alone decided how sweet a deal to offer and how ugly the alternative was. The federal sentencing guidelines contribute to that phenomenon and to prosecutorial power. Few Americans realize that it made little difference that Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted on only eight of the 18 counts against him: Under the strange alchemy of sentencing guidelines, his recommended sentence may not be significantly lower than it would have been if he were found guilty on all 18. And by deciding what information to provide to the court and the probation office that drafts the pre-sentence report, prosecutors can further guide the sentencing outcome, further increasing their power to coerce pleas and cooperation.
But Trump then ticked off a list of issues that he said Sessions should be investigating, including Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state; the alleged lies & leaks of former FBI director James B. Comey; the alleged conflicts of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III; the anti-Trump texts sent by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page; and the alleged illegal surveillance of Trumps campaign in 2016, a claim that has been largely discredited.
I fear the continued battering of the attorney general almost makes it like commonplace, something to be expected between a president and his attorney general, said Gonzales, who was forced to resign as attorney general in 2007 following a political uproar over the firing of U.S. attorneys. It does undermine the credibility of the attorney general. If we ever got to a place where it was routine or common for the president to question the judgment of the attorney general, that would not be a good place.
During a brief public hearing before the plan commission, several residents spoke in favor of the plan for cottage homes, noting they will get development rolling again. One resident, Joe Trendowski, was against the idea, saying he and his wife looked at similar subdivisions before buying their home in Falling Waters and none comparable had a retirement community in the middle of it. His main concern, he said, is the other people in the subdivision are large property owners and the subdivision will become over-built.
I think he is receptive to some parts or aspects of the sentencing reform being fused on the prison reform, Scott said Thursday morning. I think he is sympathetic to first-time offenders. I think hes sympathetic to nonviolent offenders. I think he wants the right sentence for the crime, and I think he is not sympathetic to fentanyl folks, those who sell fentanyl.
In court papers, they argued that her romantic relationship with a 56-year-old American political operative was duplicitous and that she had at least once offered sex to someone else in exchange for a position within a special interest organization. Prosecutors said she also had expressed disdain about having to live with the operative, who has been identified as South Dakota-based consultant Paul Erickson.
You can tell from the statement its not just about Taiwan, its about Chinese political interference, operations and activities in many countries around the world and particularly concern about what the U.S. considers its backyard, said Bonnie Glaser, a China analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Its a very sharply worded statement, and it is clearly signaling to China that this kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated.
John McCain took his last vote in the Senate in December, just before a sudden hospitalization and weeks after he had started to become noticeably more frail. But even in absence, McCain hardly withdrew from the public sphere, delivering occasional but stinging rebukes of President Trump  a leader who, during the 2016 presidential campaign, had mocked McCains service as a naval aviator and then went on to attack McCains 2017 Senate vote that tanked a Trump-backed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
On Friday, he did not spell out his next step but told his supporters on Twitter that he would consult them on the course of action to be taken to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption & dishonesty.
Moreover, recent public statements by U.S. officials and private meetings between Taliban representatives and U.S. diplomats seemed to signal a breakthrough in a long-standing impasse to peace talks. The Taliban has always insisted that it wants to negotiate with the United States, while Washington has maintained that only Afghans can be involved. Lately, though, U.S. officials have indicated they would be willing to participate in such talks.
According to the minutes of a June 5 Site Review Committee meeting on the plan, the BZA could potentially require variances for the halfway house for both the number of residents and the size of the building, as well as the lot width, among other variances, though Peters said, I dont know if it will need all of those.
In his own remarks, the Argentine-born pontiff said he was committed to eliminating the scourge in the church at any cost. But he also said that steps taken by his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, continue to serve as an incentive in ending abuse. In 2010, Benedict wrote a letter to Irish Catholics in which he said he was truly sorry for the sinful and criminal acts that happened in Ireland. The letter, though, was widely criticized in Ireland because it did not mention the Vaticans culpability.
The administration has resisted a push by lawmakers for even more stringent sanctions, as President Trump has called for more cooperation with Russia on a range of foreign policy issues. But Trump, in an interview with Reuters this week, said he has no intention of lifting existing sanctions. White House national security adviser John Bolton said on a visit to Ukraine that the sanctions remain in force and will remain in force until the required change in Russian behavior.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, said the administration was using cheap blackmail as a political tool. . . . There is no glory in constantly bullying and punishing a people under occupation, she said. The U.S. administration has already demonstrated meanness of spirit in its collusion with the Israeli occupation and its theft of land and resources; now it is exercising economic meanness by punishing the Palestinian victims.
The presidents tweets marked an abrupt shift in his public posture after he insisted for weeks that progress was being made after his landmark meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June. Trump has repeatedly hailed that meeting as an unqualified success, declaring that there was no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea and citing the return of what are thought to be 55 sets of remains of U.S. service members killed in the Korean War. He has decried critics who cited a lack of firm commitments required of North Korea in the Singapore agreement.
A new defense law links the refueling to the administrations ability to certify that Saudi Arabia and its allies are taking steps to protect civilians and end the war. Legislators from both parties have voiced mounting exasperation with the conflict and its toll on Yemenis  both from the air campaign and a sharp increase in poverty, malnutrition and disease.
There was a standard operating procedure where tattoos were not to be visible and, if an officer did have them, they would have to cover them up. They would either have to wear long sleeves or body makeup to hide them from public view, Hamady said.
It was a very pleasant surprise to me that he went about managing the economy in a way that I would have done it, said Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, who was Nicaraguas foreign minister in a period before Ortega retook the presidency. But what we did also notice is that he was tightening his control on the National Assembly, he was tightening his control on the judicial power, and right at the very top the Supreme Court. He had completely taken control of the electoral power at that point.
The sudden resignation of AGL chief executive Andy Vesey is the best outcome for the energy provider and its shareholders after his relationship with the federal government broke down, his predecessor, Michael Fraser, says.

Mr Vesey's departure, announced on Friday, comes after more than a year of butting heads with the federal government over energy policy and climate change.

Andy Vesey is stepping down after almost four years in the role. Credit:Louie Douvis

Mr Fraser said Mr Vesey's unwillingness to compromise with the government over the scheduled closure of AGL's Hunter Valley-based Liddell coal-fired power plant in 2022 was behind his exit.

At the end of the day, there was no flexibility shown by Andy," Mr Fraser told Fairfax Media.
Rohan Arnold allowed himself a wry smile as he sat in the witness box contemplating how to answer the question: What is your occupation?

Company director, he replied.

What is your current residential address? Long Bay jail, replied Mr Arnold who was extradited from Serbia in March after being arrested in January over one of the largest cocaine importations ever seized in Australia.

Rohan Arnold was arrested in January over one of the largest cocaine importations ever seized in Australia. Credit:radfordcollegians.com.au

The 44-year-old Murrumbateman businessman was being grilled in the Federal Court on behalf of the liquidators of Hartford Investments who are trying to recoup millions of dollars that went out of the company prior to its collapse in 2016.
In working with our school resource officer, we have seen the highest rate of use of these products by kids at the south campus, police chief Brian Budds said. During the 2017-18 school year, we had over 50 incidents of minors in possession of e-cigarettes, the most we have seen, and it is a big concern for us.
The Australian dollar is seen dropping to a more-than-two-year low of US70 as infighting in Canberra threatens to create policy paralysis.

The Aussie tumbled on Thursday as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull fought to stave off the challenge from the conservative wing of his party. Already the nation's sixth leader since 2007, Turnbull said he would only step aside if Peter Dutton proves he has enough support to unseat him.

The Aussie dollar is suffering as investors worry the political Hunger Games in Canberra will lead to policy paralysis. Credit:Fairfax Media

"What we're seeing in the forex markets reflects a crisis of confidence in the ability of Australia's political class to deliver sensible economic outcomes that ensure our future prosperity," said Stephen Miller, an adviser at Grant Samuel Funds Management and former head of fixed income at BlackRock Investment Management Australia.

"I can see the Aussie testing 70 US cents at some stage before year's end."
The man accused of murdering the woman whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Perth's Swan River has claimed in court he'd been "dragged" into the situation by his daughter, who also stands charged with murder.

Tiffany Yiting Wan, 25, and her father Ah Ping Ban, 65, are both on trial in the WA Supreme Court accused of murdering 58-year-old Annabelle Chen, who was allegedly bludgeoned to death at her Mosman Park home in 2016.

Annabelle Chen's only daughter and her ex-husband have been charged with her murder.

Mr Ban is Ms Chen's former husband, while Ms Wan is her daughter.

Both deny the murder charges brought against them.
A motorcyclist has died after a crash in Lathlain early on Friday morning. The crash happened just after 7.30am on the Graham Farmer Freeway near the Great Eastern Highway intersection. The RAC rescue helicopter helped at the Warnbro crash scene. Credit:File image The male rider was taken to Royal Perth Hospital but has since died. Police are also investigating a separate crash overnight in Perth's southern suburbs.

The crash happened in Warnbro shortly after 7:30pm when a green Ford sedan was travelling south on Ennis Avenue. As the driver turned into Royal Palm Drive the vehicle collided with a Subaru Outback travelling north on Ennis Avenue. The impact of the collision caused the Outback to roll several times before coming to rest on a median strip. The driver of the Ford, a 46-year-old woman, was taken to Rockingham Hospital as a precaution. The 37-year-old male driver of the Outback was flown to Royal Perth Hospital by the RAC Rescue Helicopter with serious injuries.
Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has been elected deputy Liberal leader. Mr Frydenberg will take over from Ms Bishop who had served as deputy Liberal leader under Mr Turnbull and Tony Abbott.

The decision capped off a week of turmoil in Canberra that began after Mr Dutton declared his intention to force Malcolm Turnbull from the prime ministership, saying the party needed to make a change if it was to win the forthcoming federal election, due before May 18 next year.

Mr Morrison defeated Peter Dutton 45 votes to 40 in the secret ballot. Leadership candidate Julie Bishop was knocked out in the first round.

Mr Turnbull, who became prime minister in 2015 following a spill against Mr Abbott, stood aside on Friday after receiving a petition from a majority of Liberal MPs demanding a ballot to select a new leader. He confirmed he will resign from Parliament "not before too long", forcing a byelection in his seat of Wentworth.

At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Mr Turnbull said there had been "a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by voices, powerful voices, in the media, really to bring - no, not bring down the government certainly, bring down my prime ministership".

"It was extraordinary. It was described as madness by many, and I think it's difficult to describe it in any other way," Mr Turnbull said.

Malcolm Turnbull, pictured with his family, speaks to the media after his party room loss on Friday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"The critical thing is, with politics, it's not about the politicians. That's why this week has been so dispiriting, because it just appears to be, you know, vengeance, personal ambition. You know, factional feuding, however you describe it.
BinaryHearts became an official school club in January after operating as an independent club since its founding, has almost 40 members and has donated more than 60 rehabilitated computers to needy students. Dozens of other computers have been salvaged for usable parts, and the few parts that cant be used are safely recycled with the help of the school, Altman said.
GREENWICH  With the start of school less than a week away, North Mianus School Assistant Principal Kathleen Brunswick announced she leaving.

Brunswick has accepted a special education teaching position at Tokeneke Elementary School in Darien after two years at North Mianus.

Her departure marks an increasing cohort of educators who are leaving town. Overall, there have been seven vacancies and 11 transfers this year, as Greenwich school district reviews and restructures its organization.

My time at North Mianus and with the Greenwich Public Schools has been filled with wonderful memories that I will take with me forever, Brunswick said in a statement. The staff at NMS and those colleagues with whom I have worked across the district are truly one in a million and some of the best educators I have ever worked with. They each bring a strength and skill set to this district, which benefits the students of the Greenwich Public Schools.

The search for an assistant principal for North Mianus School will begin immediately, according to Kim Eves, director of communications for Greenwich Public Schools.

North Mianus School parents and staff found Brunswick to be caring and dedicated, Principal Angela Schmidt said in a statement.

Brunswick introduced North Mianus Cares, which gives students the chance to help in their community by making lunches for the homeless and visiting local nursing homes, among other projects.

Kat is a consummate professional who always put the needs of children first, Schmidt said. Kat helped students live the Vision of the Graduate and develop the skills needed to become citizens of the world. She will be greatly missed by our whole school community.

Brunswick has a strong background and experience in meeting the needs of all learners, Eves said in a statement.

She has been a special education teacher since 2004. She began teaching in Greenwich in 2007 as a special education teacher for Parkway School before moving to Glenville School in 2011. She also served as a site administrator for the GPS Summer School Program from 2013 to 2016.

Brunswick is the second assistant principal to resign this summer, after Abby Ostruzka of Old Greenwich School left for Clinton schools.

Among the elementary schools, the assistant principals from Cos Cob, North Street and Glenville schools swapped places, causing parents to protest the changes.

Also, when former Eastern Middle School Ralph Mayo accepted the position of interim superintendent after Jill Gildeas sudden departure after one year, the district made a succession of transfers.

Former GHS Headmaster Chris Winters accepted a position as the head of Greenwich Country Day Upper School, and his assistant, Richard Rick Piotrzkowski, succeeded him. The district is still searching for Piotrzkowksis replacement.

Greenwich Public Schools also eliminated two positions after two administrators accepted positions outside the district.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
WESTPORT  To recount Bill Taibes history in the food industry is to take a tour of the frontlines of the American food scene over the last 20 years.

Chef and owner of Westport restaurants The Whelk, Kawa Ni and Jesup Hall, Taibe, 42, a Weston resident, forged an unlikely path to haute cuisine. Raised in the small town of Patterson, N.Y., Taibe said a big night out to dinner with his family meant a trip to the Red Lobster in Danbury.

I was just the worst student ever in high school, Taibe said. Fortunately for Taibe, his friends uncle owned a catering company and offered him a job with the company after high school.

Food just started to make sense to me and it was a way for me to control my mind and use my hands and be creative, Taibe said.

From the time Taibe was 14 and began working in a butcher shop in Patterson, it felt natural for him to break down chicken and deer, but he never thought food could be a career.

Twenty-five years ago, people were not talking about being chefs in this country, so for me, there was no real path, at least one that I understood, Taibe said.

Nonetheless, Taibe enrolled in the culinary program at Baltimore International College, where he excelled.

For someone who could barely make his way through high school, I graduated second in my class at culinary school, Taibe said.

From Baltimore, Taibe moved to New York City to intern for Larry Forgione at his restaurant An American Place. The godfather of American cuisine, Forgione created a third space for casual American restaurants at a time when the only two options for NYC restaurantgoers were fine-dining French restaurants or neighborhood eateries, Taibe said.

It was a real tribute to farmers and chefs and artisans, Taibe said of Forgiones food, largely sourced from the Hudson Valley.

After a year with Forgione, Taibe hoped to escape the expense of the city, so he opened the Zagat restaurant guide and found La Panetiere, a highly-rated classic French restaurant in Rye, N.Y.

It was the most stressful experience Ive ever had in my life. It was intense and hard and there was a lot of screaming and hot, but it was a great experience, Taibe said of his 10-month stint at La Penetiere.

Always chasing the next challenge, Taibe then worked at the Port Chester restaurant Two Moons, which made southwestern American cuisine.

I had a pretty good head on my shoulders and I was focused and knew what I wanted to do, so when I got to Two Moons I worked really hard and there was a great chef there. But a couple months in, the owners approached me and asked if I would take over, Taibe said.

He was only 23, yet Taibe was the head chef at a respected restaurant. After two years, however, Taibe took a position as a sous chef at the Greenwich restaurant Wildfire. There, he met his wife Rachel, who was a bookkeeper at the restaurant. She still does the finances for all of Taibes restaurants, and the couple has two teenage sons.

Like at Two Moons, Taibe was promoted to head chef at Wildfire but left to work under Nicola Zanghi at the Italian restaurant Zhangis in Stamford. A year later, Taibe was approached to work as the opening head chef the new restaurant Grand in Stamford. Grand was a wacky place with modern American food and and adjoining nightclub, Taibe said.

It kind of took over Fairfield County. People didnt know what to do with it. There were hundreds of people at this restaurant, lines out the door, Taibe said of Grand.

After Grand, and about 13 years ago, Taibe opened Relish in South Norwalk. We started changing peoples minds about what can happen here in Fairfield County with food, Taibe said of his time at Relish, which he said had aggressively loud music and dark lighting.

The bistro American food at Relish won praise in a New York Times review. However, Taibe said his business partner one night ordered movers to empty the restaurant of everything inside so he could pay personal debt.

We lost everything and it took us some time to get back. I didnt want to be back in restaurants. I was done. I put so much energy into that restaurant and then woke up one morning and everything was gone, Taibe said.

A friend soon recruited Taibe to help open the Burger Bar in South Norwalk. But before he could open the restaurant, Taibe said he got a call from Stamford restaurateur Mary Schaffer, who asked him to be head chef at Napa & Co., an American restaurant in Stamford sourced by all local farmers, many of whom Taibe sustains close relationships as president of the Westport Farmers Market.

Two years into his time at Napa & Co., Taibe was ready to open another restaurant and discovered a location in Westport  small, forgotten and in disarray.

I fell in love with the size and what I knew Id be able to do with it, Taibe said. Almost a decade ago, Taibe opened the 36-seat Le Farm restaurant at the location and trusted the towns cultured, wealthy and intelligent community would help make the restaurant a success  which it did.

After six years, Taibe said he grew out of Le Farm, so he sold it to a friend, who opened The Cottage at the location. In the meantime, Taibe opened another restaurant in town, The Whelk, an oyster bar, and followed that up a few years later with Kawa Ni, a Japanese bar-food-style restaurant.

Going forward, Taibe said he plans to open more Kawa Ni restaurants, perhaps in Port Chester, N.Y., and West Hartford. He is done opening restaurants in Westport, but Taibe said the town will always be his home base.

Reflecting upon his impact on the states food scene, Taibe said, We were on the front line of creating a Connecticut restaurant scene. Im proud that now theres many more people involved in it and theres many other great restaurants, but Im really proud we were there in the beginning, pushing this thing forward.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1
In Pilsen, art is more than art: it can nurture a future, offer an outlet, kindle a dialogue, according to Zamora-Rojas. In the planning stages of the mural, she and Sentrock met with the students, welcomed them to the Gabriel Project, and opened the way for their vision of the final design. We were able to  engage with their vision and what they want to continue to do and share Gabriels story and the familys story, Sentrock said. And to not see (Gabriel's story) as taboo or something negative, but something to have a conversation around, using art.
Include a visit to The Dark Side of F Street in your Halloween hauntings! Take some canned foods and grocery ...

When you see the flags flying at schools, you dont generally think about who put them up or how they...
CHICAGO 

In his second run for alderman of the 15th ward that includes Back of the Yards and Brighton Park, Rafael Yanez says his police experience in the South Side gives him special insight into the ways gang violence plays out; hes ready to push for reforms to the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and for City Council to designate more resources to build up neighborhoods of color.
The Mexican festival of San Juan de Dios celebrates a man who is said to have rescued hundreds of people from a blazing hospital without suffering a single burn; he is the patron saint of pyrotechnics.

This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Mexican festival of San Juan de Dios celebrates a man who is said to have rescued hundreds of people from a blazing hospital without suffering a single burn; he is the patron saint of pyrotechnics.

If that sounds like a specialized saint, you havent visited Tultepec, where three-quarters of the population makes fireworks for a living.

Brimstone & Glory, an unusual and oddly gripping documentary by German director Viktor Jakovleski in his feature-length debut, follows the townspeople as they prepare for what is officially known as the National Pyrotechnic Festival, especially its two main events: the Castles of Fire, and the Burning of the Bulls.

When the pyrotechnics begin, some people run, while others stay and dance in the sparks. (Oscilloscope)

Theres no real narrative, no talking heads.

Movie review Click to Expand Brimstone & Glory  Directed by Viktor Jakovleski  In Spanish, with English subtitles  Cinematheque, to Aug. 31  67 minutes 1/2 out of five

This isnt a film about the festival per se, nor is it about how pyrotechnics are created; the cameras capture the matter-of-fact business of daily work in a deadly trade  done by people who have little choice in the matter  as well as the passionate devotion to the craft of pyrotechnics and its thrilling, awe-inspiring results.

"Since were not chemists, our measurements arent perfect," says one man. "A handful of this, a handful of that."

This uncertainty, this sense of danger, is felt in almost every scene; you may find yourself holding your breath as you watch people, sporting industrial masks, gingerly mixing potent chemicals and gunpowder, or casually holding lit cigarettes near fuses.

The local bomberos (firefighters) are always on the lookout for smoke from explosions, some minor, some tragic.

No one seems to think twice about having to extinguish a lawn fire by hurling buckets of water through a fence.

Brimstone & Glory takes audiences to Tultepec, Mexico, where fireworks are a way of life for the town's passionate inhabitants. (Oscilloscope)

The film is refreshingly undidactic, presenting, without comment, a scene of a man using his fingerless stump to pack powder into a firecracker; his other hand is missing its thumb.

Another GoPro shot, more truly terrifying than any of the CGI effects in the Dwayne Johnson blockbuster Skyscraper, catches the multiple burn scars on a mans arms as he climbs up 25 metres of rickety scaffolding, without a harness, to work on his "castle," a towering structure with many moving features that will fling fireworks into the night sky,

If the film has a star, its little Santi, a shining-eyed boy of 10 or 11 who has "gunpowder in the blood"  something to be celebrated but also lamented by his poor mother. His healthy fear of injury is clearly in a battle with his fascination for fire, and in a town where something is always burning, its clear which one will win out.

Both eager and nervous, he trails around behind the hotshot pyrotechnic teams, who clearly have the respect of the whole town for the elaborate structures they design for the festival.

Fireworks rain down on the crowd during the Burning of the Bulls. (Oscilloscope)

As the main event nears, the police force readies for chaos in the streets, and EMTs are instructed to give priority to the severely burned  let the drunks and the merely singed wait their turn. (This warning is not misplaced; many people will be seriously injured during the fest.)

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The films balance of terror and elation comes to a head during the climactic event, quema de toros  the burning of the bulls. These stunning creations are made of papier-mache affixed to a wire frame in the shape of a bull and mounted on wheels so they can barrel through the dark streets, spraying fire. Some are so massive that their papier-mache testicles are larger than the head of the men pushing them.

Their brightly painted bodies are festooned with artfully placed firecrackers; when lit, they pinwheel off in all directions, creating a scene of glorious mayhem thats like the running of the bulls, but with the added danger of fiery projectiles. "Everything that hits you burns," says one participant.

OSCILLOSCOPE A papier-mache toro is lit during the Burning of the Bulls. (Oscilloscope)

The cinematography  some by drones, some created with a Phantom High Speed Camera  is astonishing, giving us hypnotic slow-motion views of incendiary devices exploding and glorious nighttime scenes of dancers stamping wildly and flailing as sparks shower down on them, the whistling sound of rockets overhead.

Paired with an evocative score by Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer (Beasts of the Southern Wild), its an unforgettable scene of ecstasy, a dance that affirms life in the face of the constant threat of death, and an abiding faith that the dancer will emerge from the fire unscathed.

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @dedaumier
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Decades of trauma broke over remote Fox Lake Cree Nation this week like a tsunami.

Leaders with Makeso Sakahikan Inninuwak discussed the aftermath Thursday, and their hopes for a new future where the First Nation's position and influence is restored in the northern Manitoba town of Gillam, some 765 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

It was their first media interview since the province abruptly released a damning report that contained historic allegations of sexual abuse, discrimination and racism by Manitoba Hydro workers over a half-century of development in the north.

"I wish the province would have called before all of this," Chief Walter Spence said. "We were overwhelmed by it.

"There was no heads-up. And instead of being angry, it reopened the wounds, the experiences of our members who passed on and the ones still (here)."

Spence and Robert Wavey -- chief executive officer of Fox Lake Cree Nation and a former deputy minister of aboriginal affairs with the province -- and band councillor Sophie Lockhart took part in a wide-ranging conference call Thursday.

Lockhart is an elder who testified before the Clean Environment Commission (an arm's-length provincial agency) about construction workers sexually abusing her and her friends, after getting them inebriated in bouts of abuse 40 years ago.

Testimony from residents of Fox Lake was among the most shocking in the CEC's review of the regional cumulative effects for hydroelectric developments on the Nelson, Burntwood and Churchill river systems.

Four of Manitoba Hydros generating stations and supporting infrastructure are located within a 100-km stretch of the Nelson River, within Fox Lake traditional territory.

The impact was so severe, one elder compared it to the horrors of residential schools.

Remarkably, Fox Lake was almost left out of the report. Its leaders disclosed the commission was close to completing its work last year, when Fox Lake reminded the CEC it had not yet testified.

"We didnt catch it until they wrote us that they were compiling their report. So I asked, What about us?" Wavey recalled.

The result was a Jan. 19 special hearing at a Winnipeg hotel, with the commission flying in a dozen community members spanning three generations. "We organized it to explain our cumulative effects by generation," Wavey said.

Despite strides in their relationships with Manitoba Hydro as a business partner, Fox Lake residents say they are still the targets of discrimination and abuse.

"Its still going on. Not to the extent it was back... in the 60s. But, certainly, it still happens. Thats the point that everyone missed in this whole testimony: its still happening," Wavey said.

Gillam, with a population of roughly 1,000, is a primary staging area for northern hydro development, and is a mecca for temporary workers.

Manitoba Hydro offered a comment Thursday on the ongoing nature of its efforts to create a safe workplace environment and protect community members. Nearly half its workforce is Indigenous, it said.

"Today, with the full involvement of our partners, all Hydro and contractor staff have to undergo cross-cultural training as part of their employment on the Keeyask (generating station) project," Hydro spokesman Scott Powell said.

Lockhart testified in January how sexual assault nearly destroyed her life, and her children's lives. It's taken decades to regain her balance, she said.

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"At the dams... I was abused in a lot of ways, along with my friends. Then, I drank so much that my children were apprehended. I knew I had to do something about my drinking because of the all issues Ive been carrying... Oct. 13, 1985, was my sobriety date. Ill have 33 years in this year."

Five months ago, she saw her first great-grandchild, a girl, born.

"What I would like to see is a treatment centre (in the Fox Lake area), for all the issues, sexual abuse, addiction, everything," Lockhart said.

After the report broke this week, Fox Lake invited Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister to a private meeting with the community.

"When you look at the history of First Nations, in Fox Lake, theres been a unique situation. We were the most impacted, with hydroelectric projects... as well, we were impacted with residential schools and with... the 60s Scoop. We need the two levels of government to come here, to work on a process to rebuild our community," the chief said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
The head of a volunteer advocacy organization that documented two decades ago the upheaval northern First Nations experienced in the wake of Manitoba Hydro's mega-projects was shaken this week, when a new round of allegations of abuse were revealed.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of a volunteer advocacy organization that documented two decades ago the upheaval northern First Nations experienced in the wake of Manitoba Hydro's mega-projects was shaken this week, when a new round of allegations of abuse were revealed.

Will Braun said Thursday he wishes the Interchurch Council on Hydropower, which prepared a report in 2001, jointly with the Manitoba Aboriginal Rights Coalition, had pushed harder to raise awareness of the physical and sexual abuse Fox Lake Cree Nation members faced dating to the 1960s.

"Now I look back and say, why didnt we bug people in 2001? Like the RCMP or whoever. Why didnt we push harder for this to be pursued in some significant way?" said Braun, who was Interchurchs project co-ordinator.

"I mean, we were guilty as well of saying, Thats what happens up north. I guess theres not much that can be done.'"

During five days of hearings in June 1999 for the Interchurch Inquiry into Northern Hydro Development, presenters included former provincial Tory minister of northern affairs David Newman and community members from Fox Lake.

The Fox Lake members who presented -- former chief Tom Nepetaypo, Franklin Arthurson and Conway Arthurson -- spoke of Hydro invading their homeland in the 1960s.

"I was there when they burnt the houses. I was there when they bulldozed the houses. I was there when they (Fox Lake Cree) were refused land to live on and they were classified as squatters in their own homeland. I was there when my friends died due to alcohol and drownings and murders. I was there when the women were abused. I seen it," Franklin Arthurson said in 1999.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Will Braun, who was the co-ordinator of the Interchurch Council on Hydropower, says reports of Hydro's social impact problems in the north have been around since 1975.

"I was there when they built the first dam and the water came up within hours. It rose 100 feet. Our traditional territory is under 100 feet of water today, and has been for the past 30 years."

Newman said Thursday the group did not present on the same day as him and, as far as he recalls, he did not hear about their testimony afterward.

The Manitoba Aboriginal Rights Coalition assembled its findings from the hearings in a report titled Let Justice Flow, presented two years later to the then-NDP provincial government.

But regardless of what and when government knew about historical allegations of abuse happening at the hands of Manitoba Hydro workers reported by members of Fox Lake Cree Nation, politicians of the day should be treating these concerns as a top priority, Newman said.

Cultural sensitivity training mandatory for Keeyask crews: Hydro Manitoba Hydro makes cross-cultural training mandatory for all workers on its current Keeyask generation station project on the lower Nelson River. Located 725 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Keeyask comprises partnerships with Hydro and four First Nations: Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake, York Factory, and Fox Lake Cree Nation. click to read more Manitoba Hydro makes cross-cultural training mandatory for all workers on its current Keeyask generation station project on the lower Nelson River. Located 725 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Keeyask comprises partnerships with Hydro and four First Nations: Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake, York Factory, and Fox Lake Cree Nation. The Free Press asked for an interview with someone who conducts the cultural training Thursday, but was given a prepared statement instead. Scott Powell, Hydro's director of corporate communications, emphasized how much has changed at the Crown corporation since the 1960s, when the incidents of racism and violence reported to have happened in the north originally occurred. He also noted almost 50 per cent of Hydro's northern staff now identify as Indigenous, and almost 20 per cent of staff corporation-wide. Offering "a respectful, safe and welcoming workplace to all of our employees is a critical priority for us," Powell said. In 2018, Hydro's staff training involves talks about the world view of Indigenous peoples, their connection to the land, and why Hydro must respect those views, Powell said. "This is in addition to ongoing cultural awareness and respectful-workplace standards that are an integral part of day-to-day operations at site. Also, partner communities all have on site community liaison staff in place to assist their members with any issues that may arise," Hydro's statement said. "We work extremely closely with our partners to ensure all workers feel safe and welcomed at our project sites. Counsellors are also on site at Keeyask to help any Hydro or contractor employee with any issues they wish to talk about. Similar programs were in place on the Keewatinohk converter station project for Bipole III (transmission line), with that training run by Fox Lake Cree Nation." Hydro offers a two-day Indigenous cultural awareness workshop for all employees, Powell said, which includes conversations on Indigenous history in Manitoba and Canada. The workshop is mandatory for all supervisors and managers in northern Manitoba, but not all employees. Hydro also hosts Indigenous sharing circles on a quarterly basis, and an Indigenous Awareness Week each spring. -- Jessica Botelho-Urbanski Close

Newman, who helmed the northern affairs portfolio from January 1997 until October 1999, said he was not aware of any testimony coming out of Fox Lake about racism or sexual abuse from Hydro staff during his time in cabinet. He said, had he been aware, he would have acted immediately.

"If this had come on my desk, I would have jumped on it. Because this would have been seen to be... a matter of grave concern because it was a Crown corporation," Newman said.

"If these kinds of situations are not treated amongst the most important things that happen in our province  any assault, any hurt inflicted on Indigenous peoples by virtue of abuses of power  should be dealt with amongst the highest priorities in our province."

Braun said there's now a lot more attention paid to Indigenous issues in southern Manitoba, hence why Fox Lake's repeated calls for action are being heard resoundingly this week.

"Theres, obviously, still ongoing suffering. Manitoba Hydro and government officials would repeatedly  and they still do  refer to damage in the past, and it is still today damage in the present," he said.

Calls to former NDP northern affairs and Hydro minister Eric Robinson and former NDP premier Greg Selinger (who was also responsible for Hydro for about nine years) were not returned by deadline Thursday.

Premier Brian Pallister was unavailable to comment Wednesday and Thursday. According to his press secretary, the premier is on holiday in Costa Rica for the first time since January. Pallister is away for two weeks, and will be back at work next week, he said.

First Nations leaders, including Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas and Fox Lake Chief Walter Spence, have been calling on Pallister to take action and meet with them.

On Wednesday, Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires said a formal apology to the northern communities negatively impacted by Hydro development is coming in short order.

"The question everyone should be asking is this: as a cabinet minister responsible for Hydro, why didnt (Robinson) do anything about it? Why didnt the NDP, who has represented this part of the province and the affected people for over 50 years, do anything while in government when they were well-aware of these allegations?" the premier's press secretary said by email.

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"This is a situation that the current government inherited, and the CEC report was conducted by our appointees to the commission. We received the report on June 14, we have released the report and we will be acting on it."

Newman said it isn't only the Tories who should be acting on the Clean Environment Commission's findings.

"This kind of issue should be dealt with on a non-partisan basis, and not whos right and whos wrong," he said.

"Because the reality is, everybody was wrong out of arrogance and ignorance in the past, and weve got to accept that, move on and do the right thing collectively  not be bickering between political parties, not be bickering between levels of government and passing the buck."

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu
A longtime Winnipeg pastor, who allegedly arranged to meet for sex with a police officer who was posing as a 15-year-old girl in California, has pleaded not guilty and was released on US$25,000 bail.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/8/2018 (1164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A longtime Winnipeg pastor, who allegedly arranged to meet for sex with a police officer who was posing as a 15-year-old girl in California, has pleaded not guilty and was released on US$25,000 bail.

Nathan George Rieger, 53, was arrested on Aug. 10 in Arroyo Grande, Calif., and charged with one count of arranging to meet a minor for a sexual act and one count of meeting a minor for a sexual act, police documents show.

Arroyo Grande Police Department Nathan Rieger

His arrest was the culmination of a four-day undercover sting operation, an Arroyo Grande police spokesman told the Free Press.

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During that time, Rieger had been communicating online with a undercover cop, who had created an avatar of a 15-year-old girl, police said on Friday.

Rieger entered the plea on Thursday, and is scheduled to be in court on Aug. 30. No conditions were placed on his release, police said.

Before his arrest, Rieger had served nearly 20 years as pastoral executive for the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Church at 782 Main St. The church is part of a global evangelical mission that has more than 2,500 congregations on six continents.

After his arrest, he voluntarily stepped down from his position, which hed held since 1999, church officials announced at the Aug. 19 service.

Rieger was reportedly in California on vacation with his family at the time of his arrest. His arrest record indicated he was initially held in the local county jail.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg police sex crimes investigators are looking for two men who raped an 18-year-old woman Tuesday in a vicious and brazen daylight attack on the walking path along the Assiniboine River not far from The Forks.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police sex crimes investigators are looking for two men who raped an 18-year-old woman Tuesday in a vicious and brazen daylight attack on the walking path along the Assiniboine River not far from The Forks.

The woman had been walking along the river when she was approached by two men, just off the staircase that leads to Main Street east of Bonnycastle Park, police said.

ANDREW RYAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A man and a woman ride their bicycles along the Assiniboine River near Bonnycastle Park, where police say an 18-year-old woman was sexually assaulted on Tuesday.

The victim, who has not been identified, told police the men pushed her, grabbed her backpack and then assaulted her.

Both proceeded to "seriously sexually assault" the woman, police said using a term law enforcement agencies use to characterize attacks consistent with rape.

'It's so shocking that it's almost hard to believe; she's so young.'  Danielle Friesen

Const. Tammy Skrabek said officers were surprised the attack was carried out in such a public area during the evening rush hour.

The incident took place at about 5:45 p.m., when commuting traffic is heavy in the area.

"That was our perception, that you would think there would be people around, witnesses around," Skrabek said. "But the reality is that you're at risk any time of day  particularly when you're going under bridges or going into secluded areas," Skrabek said.

On Thursday, about 15 people walked or biked by the area where the attack happened  which is a short distance from The Forks portion of the river walk  in a 20-minute period beginning shortly after 3 p.m.

Danielle Friesen, 21, who lives in the area, was sitting alone on a river walk bench not far from where the attack occurred. She said she often heads to the spot and has never before felt unsafe there, in part because there are always other people around.

She was shocked when told of the attack, saying it was "terrible" even hearing about it, adding that she hoped the victim is recovering as well as can be expected.

"It's so shocking that it's almost hard to believe; she's so young," Friesen said. "I guess I'm lucky that I've never had anything happen to me down here. I've never felt unsafe or anything like that.

"Something like that shouldn't happen to anyone, anywhere, period. But especially down here, where there are usually people around in the early evening. I mean, this is summer, it's the time Winnipeggers come out to places like this and enjoy the outdoors."

Investigators searched for clues for hours after the attack, Skrabek said. They passed along some of the information gathered to the WPS public information office Tuesday night in order to get a press release out Wednesday morning.

The release did not include sketches of the suspects; investigators are giving the woman some breathing room.

"We pursue the investigation as much as we can, even without the victim's involvement at first if necessary," Skrabek said.

"They don't want to re-traumatize her, so they will give her time if she needs it. Then, at some point, they will sit down with her and re-interview her when she's more able. That may include bringing a sketch artist in or potentially having her look at a photo package."

Chelsea Thomson, manager of marketing and communications for the Forks North Portage Corp., which governs the historic site, said there would be interest in installing panic buttons or emergency alert beacons along the river walk, as is the case in Minneapolis along the Midtown Greenway trail.

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"There would need to be discussions and co-operation between The Forks, the City of Winnipeg and Parks Canada for something like that to be installed all along the river walk," she said.

"But we'd certainly be open to discussing whatever would be best for the river walk and for the safety of everyone who uses it."

The first suspect is described as a man in his 30s with dark skin, approximately five-foot-10, with short brown hair and a beard. The second man was described as in his 20s, with light skin and dirty-blond hair.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the sex crimes unit at 204-986-6245.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every year, tens of thousands of Canadians end up sick from infections.

Infections  both bacterial and viral  are among the top five reasons Canadians end up in a hospital emergency department or in their doctors waiting room.

Thats because infections are at the root of any number of serious and not-so-serious diseases, ranging from the common cold and norovirus to methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and influenza.

In addition to leaving many people sick, infections take a toll on the economy, costing billions of dollars every year in terms of lost production and treatment for those who fall ill.

And yet, many of the infections that afflict most people are quite preventable. They only continue to flourish, in part, because many people dont realize how easily the germs can spread.

Cold and influenza viruses are good examples. Both viruses are transmitted through the air in tiny droplets whenever an infected person coughs or sneezes. And while most people know not to stand next to someone who has symptoms such as a runny nose or cough, they sometimes forget they can also catch the flu or a cold virus in other ways, such as touching a contaminated surface and then touching their eyes, hands or mouth.

Studies show these viruses can survive on surfaces for 24 to 48 hours. So, if an infected person coughs into their hand and then touches a door knob at the office, a lunch counter at the mall, or a handrail on a bus, chances are they will leave behind germs that can be picked up by the next person. In some cases, people can spread a virus without even knowing it. People carrying the flu virus, for example, are most contagious before they experience any symptoms.

Its not just the common cold or influenza viruses than can cause you grief. Germs are everywhere, and while some may be beneficial (such as those found in our digestive tracts), others can be very harmful.

Take norovirus. Every year in Manitoba, hundreds of people become infected with this virus, also known as the stomach flu. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain or discomfort and a low-grade fever. In serious cases, it can even cause death.

Norovirus can be found in the stool or vomit of an infected person and is easily spread by physical touch. Unlike some germs, norovirus can hang around on various surfaces for days to weeks, making it difficult to contain. Thats why it tends to be found in areas where people are in close contact, including daycares, personal care homes, schools and cruise ships.

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MRSA is another deceptively troublesome infection, particularly for those who are ill. It can complicate treatment for patients who have multiple health issues, and can be potentially fatal. Yet some healthy individual infected with MRSA may not have any signs or symptoms (no infection). This is called MRSA colonization. So although these people are healthy, they can still spread MRSA to others.

Here are a few tips to protect yourself from infections:

 Clean your hands: You may clean your hands in the morning, but by the time you get to work, you may have touched a half-dozen surfaces that could be contaminated with one germ or another. It is important to clean your hands frequently during the day, using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Both are equally effective, but if your hands are soiled, you should use soap and water.

 Dont cough into your hands: If you must cough, do so in the crook of your elbow or use a tissue. And if you use a tissue, wash your hands as soon as possible. If you cough into your hand, you can spread your germs to others by touching surfaces, such as door knobs, computer keyboards, elevator buttons or telephones.

 Dont visit anyone in the hospital if you are sick. Hospital patients are vulnerable to infections. And even if you are not ill, take care to clean your hands frequently. Remember, you could be carrying harmful germs without showing any symptoms. Likewise, stay away from work or school when you feel ill. Cleaning your hands might just save a life.

Chantelle Riddle-Yarycky is a community infection control professional with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authoritys Infection, Prevention and Control Program.
A disgraced former University of Manitoba music professor who retired 14 months ago amid allegations of sexual harassment received more money in his last half-year of employment than he did for the entire previous year.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A disgraced former University of Manitoba music professor who retired 14 months ago amid allegations of sexual harassment received more money in his last half-year of employment than he did for the entire previous year.

According to the U of M's compensation disclosure report, Steve Kirby earned $155,944 in salary and benefits in 2017, compared with $134,255 in 2016. He left the university in late-June last year.

Kirby, a U.S.-born jazz bassist and academic, joined the U of M in 2003, later receiving tenure. On Thursday, the university confirmed that he had been on leave for the first half of 2017.

The university wouldn't comment on the nature of the leave.

John Danakas, a university spokesman, would not provide details of Kirby's 2017 compensation, including how much of it consisted of severance.

The university has been silent about the circumstances surrounding Kirby's departure since the Free Press first reported on it last September.

SUPPLIED Steve Kirby, the former director of jazz studies at the University of Manitoba, left in 2017 for reasons the university did not specify.

'The university's response has been despicable. They gave him that power. They're responsible for what he did with it'  local musician Daniel Jordan, who returned his University of Manitoba music diploma in protest of the school's handling of the Kirby affair

Daniel Jordan, a local musician who alleged Kirby bullied him as a student, said it appears that the university "just paid him off" while refusing to publicly acknowledge any wrongdoing on the former professor's part.

"The university's response has been despicable," Jordan said Thursday. "They gave him that power. They're responsible for what he did with it."

Last fall, Jordan, a member of the folk trio Red Moon Road, packed up his U of M music diploma and mailed it back to the institution because it hadn't properly apologized to female students who were harassed by Kirby.

Jordan referred to the 2017 payments to Kirby as "gross insult upon injury." He said he is especially frustrated by the university's silence in the matter.

"They need to be held accountable," he said. "And so far they haven't admitted any wrongdoing  or a problem."

Jazz pianist and composer Michelle Gregoire told the Free Press last November that Kirby bullied her so much that she opted to relocate to Calgary, where she remains. She said there was nothing sexual in Kirby's comments or bullying towards her. Much of the time, it was character assassination, she said, in which he would tell somebody in the jazz community a lie about her. Other times he belittled her in person.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Steve Kirby performs for kids at the Sinclair Park Community Centre in 2015 as part of the Jazz on Wheels program.

Reached Thursday, Gregoire preferred not to comment on the amount of money Kirby received from the U of M last year because she said she lacked details as to the circumstances surrounding the compensation.

"I'm really just glad that he's out of there (U of M)," she said.

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After he left the U of M, Kirby landed a job at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. However, when the college learned about the allegations against him in Manitoba he was immediately placed on leave.

In a statement Thursday, Danakas said the U of M "cannot speak to any specific complaint or investigation" of sexual abuse. However, last fall the Free Press spoke to a source who said the university met with several female students to look into concerns before the start of that term's classes.

The university has said under its respectful work and learning environment policy and its sexual assault policy, it cannot confirm whether a complaint has been made, or whether it is investigating a staff member, to protect the confidentiality of all parties.

On Thursday, Danakas said the university took steps last academic term to "listen closely" to music faculty students. Sessions were held with faculty members and students to discuss the policies and the importance of maintaining a respectful culture within the faculty, he said. "The University has also done a review of best practices and has received a number of recommendations that are now being considered," he added.

In the upcoming fall term, the music faculty will organize three sessions on health and wellness, hold monthly meetings with student groups to discuss student issues and concerns, and have a committee of students and faculty examine the university's policies, Danakas said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
VANCOUVER  In case you were wondering, this is what climate change looks like.

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This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER  In case you were wondering, this is what climate change looks like.

It was nearly 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, about an hour after the official sunrise and the sun was still having trouble announcing its arrival.

I was on the first ferry out from Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island to the Tsawwassen terminal on the mainland. As I reached the observation deck near the bow of the Coastal Celebration, I was immediately struck by how eerily dusky and dark the sky remained at this hour of the morning. It didn't take long to see why.

Off the starboard side of the ferry, the sun hung in the sky like a glowing, neon orange penlight. It was a fraction of its normal size, lacking any of its daybreak intensity or warmth. A faint orange tail reflected off the water as it struggled to produce daylight.

The British Columbia government has declared a provincial state of emergency to support the response to the wildfires burning across the province. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press Files)

It's at that point that I started to put two and two together. This wasn't some sort of late summer astronomical phenomenon. It was the smoke.

My eyes stung, my sinuses throbbed and thick phlegm churned in the back of my throat. Even here, on the open water of the Strait of Georgia  still 30 minutes away from Tsawwassen  the smoke from nearly 600 wildfires was present and imposing its formidable will to produce what can only be described as a partial eclipse of the sun.

Even if they don't read newspapers or watch TV news, most Manitobans know about the B.C. and Alberta wildfires that have raged this summer, largely because the smoke has been so thick and pervasive it has blown all the way across the Prairies and polluted the air in our province. And while that has been no picnic, it's nothing like the experience of being near the source of the smoke.

British Columbians are still stunned by the extent and willpower of the smoke and accompanying drought. The province has issued a state of emergency due to the virulent nature of the fires. Reduced visibility and declining air quality have cancelled flights in and out of the Lower Mainland, and have triggered a rash of respiratory problems, threatening the health of vulnerable populations such as the homeless.

More than 20,000 people have been evacuated or are on evacuation notice. The B.C. government has spent more than $200 million fighting this season's wildfires and expects that to climb considerably higher before cooler fall temperatures, and perhaps some rain, bring some relief.

The smoke from nearly 600 wildfires made it appear like a partial eclipse of the sun was occurring. (Dan Lett / Winnipeg Free Press)

And while Vancouver and other coastal communities are suffering, it doesn't compare to the density of the smoke inland. On a day trip through Abbotsford, which is about 90 kilometres east of Vancouver, the smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see the coastal mountains on either side of the highway.

The source of this grief is most definitely the smoke from the wildfires, but the underlying cause is climate change.

Naysayers will dispute the role that climate change has played in this slow, painful natural disaster. They will point out that wildfires are nothing new, and that these blazes are nature's way of burning off decaying forests and replacing them with new and more resilient ones.

Those folks need to wake up and smell the forest fire smoke.

This is the third summer in the last four where wildfires have hammered B.C., a period marked by a pandemic of similar disasters around the world.

Reduced visibility and declining air quality have cancelled flights in and out of the Lower Mainland of B.C., and have triggered a rash of respiratory problems. (Jeff Bassett / The Canadian Press)

Researchers at the University of Alberta say there are now regularly twice as many wildfires in Canada as occurred in the 1970s, a trend caused by slowly increasing temperatures and regular drought conditions brought on by declining precipitation.

It's a pattern repeated all over the world, where the number of fires, and the amount of land being consumed by them, has also doubled. The fires come at a time when hot and dry conditions are becoming the norm all over the globe. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the number of heat records set around the world this summer number in the thousands.

Wildfires are of particular concern and not just because their effects can be felt thousands of kilometres away. The fine particulates that are forced into the atmosphere from a wildfire create what climate scientists call a "feedback loop." This occurs when the smoke and the dangerous particulates it spews into the air trap even more heat in the atmosphere and thus amplify the effect of climate change.

The result is more heat, more drought, more fires. Disaster begets more disaster until, as scientists have warned us, we reach a point of no return. Travelling through British Columbia this past week, it's hard not to think that we're already there.

In fairness, there are quite a few people in this country, and around the world, who insist there is no calamitous environmental threat, even with the wildfire smoke slapping them across the face.

Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Thick smoke from wildfires fills the air and blocks out the sun as horses stand on a ranch just before 6 p.m. in Vanderhoof, B.C., on Wednesday. According to Environment Canada, sunset in the town on Wednesday was at 8:30 p.m. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

Premiers in Saskatchewan and Ontario continue to rail on about the federal carbon tax as a crime against the economy. Neither seems to worry that carbon pricing, as imperfect a solution as it is, will not fix our planet. We'd need to do much more painful, more profound things to slow and possibly reverse the warming of the planet.

The real danger of condemning any and all attempts to price carbon  and thereby force us to adopt carbon-free options  is that it provides quiet comfort to those people who are living in the comforting swaddle of ignorance.

During a recent Saturday, in the middle of our last heatwave, I went out to do some errands. I started counting the number of people I saw sitting in their cars, windows up, engine idling so they could keep the air conditioning going full bore. In most instances, they were parked within a few feet of a building that was air-conditioned. The final count was 13 during a two-hour errand run.

There are few better ways to show our complete disdain for the realities of climate change than leaving our cars idling unnecessarily so we can cool ourselves off from the extreme heat that is, in large part, a result of climate change.

Continue idling if you must. Ignore the record-setting heat, the drought conditions, the smoke from the wildfires. But just remember, this is what climate change looks like. And you all saw it coming.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Two Winnipeg Police Service officers and four security guards were assaulted in a string of incidents this week.

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This article was published 24/8/2018 (1164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Winnipeg Police Service officers and four security guards were assaulted in a string of incidents this week.

Around 4:25 a.m. on Friday, while investigating reports of a man attempting to break into vehicles, an officer was dragged behind a stolen pickup truck after conducting a traffic stop on the 2500 block of Waverley Street. The officer was reportedly dragged "a significant distance" as the truck sped off, suffering "painful" but non-life-threatening injuries, police said. He remains in hospital in stable condition.

Major crimes unit investigators are searching for the truck  a Toyota Tacoma double cab with Manitoba licence plate HJW 249  as well as a male suspect described as Caucasian and wearing a dark hat and glasses.

Hours earlier, around midnight, an officer was reported to be assaulted after police stopped a man riding a bike on the sidewalk in the William Whyte area. The man fled to a backyard on the 300 block of Alfred Avenue. The man, believed to be high on meth, allegedly resisted arrest and assaulted one of the officers.

"We face a number of significant challenges when it comes to users of methamphetamine. These are unpredictable encounters. Officers train for a myriad of scenarios, but when youre dealing with an individual like this, every encounter is different," Const. Jay Murray said on Friday.

Nicholas James Lilke, 31, of Winnipeg, has been charged with two offences and detained in custody.

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Meanwhile, four security guards were attacked in two separate incidents.

At 5:50 p.m. on Thursday, a woman  believed to be high on meth  was allegedly seen shoplifting from a store at Portage Place shopping centre. When confronted, she reportedly threatened to stab a security guard, then punched him. She was detained, and allegedly spat at the face of a second security guard twice. Police arrived and arrested the woman.

Amber Leah Thompson, 28, of Winnipeg, faces a number of charges and was detained in custody.

Around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, a man walked into the Health Sciences Centre after leaving his bike at the entrance. He wandered around the complex and reportedly entered a womens staff washroom. Security guards confronted him. He allegedly threatened to kill the security guards while being escorted outside. Once outside, he allegedly grabbed his bike and hurled it at the security guards, hitting them. A struggle ensued, and the suspect was detained until police arrived. One of the guards suffered minor injuries.

Necho Debbin Bittern, 26, of Winnipeg, faces a number of charges and was detained in custody.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe
The idea of a basic income for citizens is one of the most talked-about policy ideas in the world. So, its no surprise that some governments, including in Canada, have experimented with ways of delivering a guaranteed annual income.

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This article was published 24/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

The idea of a basic income for citizens is one of the most talked-about policy ideas in the world. So, its no surprise that some governments, including in Canada, have experimented with ways of delivering a guaranteed annual income.

In the simplest terms, basic income is an unconditional transfer of cash from governments to individuals that allows them to make decisions for themselves and their families, whether that is to stay at home with kids, go back to school or support themselves while starting a new business.

Nothing is expected in return; everyone, simply by virtue of being citizens, can expect governments to bring them up to a required minimum income every month if they do not make that amount themselves.

The proposal may feel utopian, but pilots similar to the Ontario experiment show that a basic income can have a range of benefits for the well-being of citizens. Further, while expensive, the simplicity of the basic income can also save on the vast administrative and delivery costs associated with other anti-poverty programs. But, as academics like to say: more evidence is needed.

In 2016, Ontario initiated a basic income experiment, which continued until last week, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancelled the experiment without much warning or even a reasonable explanation for cancelling it. Fords decision represents a squandered opportunity to use evidence to inform future public policy decisions.

While the cancellation of the Ontario pilot is unfortunate, it represents an opportunity for Manitoba to pick up where Ontario has failed. There are four reasons to think this.

First, Manitoba has history on its side. From 1974 to 78, Manitoba entered into a cost-sharing agreement with the federal government to design and implement a $17-million experiment known as "Mincome" to emphasize "minimum income."

Why does history matter? Because the research design and data collection during the Mincome experiment generated considerable capacity amongst scholars at the University of Manitoba and elsewhere, to both study and advance understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of basic income. This capacity spans several disciplines, from economics to social work to health. Indeed, several U of M academics have written extensively on Mincome specifically and basic income generally. Moreover, the archived data from Mincome is housed at the U of M.

Second, Greg Mason of the U of M, who consulted on the Ontario experiment, has since argued that the execution of that particular pilot was flawed in several crucial ways. Manitoba is in a good position to learn from these mistakes and patch them before a local equivalent experiment takes off.

Third, Premier Brian Pallister has openly commented about the possibility of deploying basic income in response to persistent poverty here in the Keystone Province. Further, upon coming into office, Pallister repeatedly emphasized that he wants public policy that yields better outcomes.

Generating better outcomes, however, means having good evidence to work with. Designing and implementing a pilot experiment to test the impacts of basic income in Manitoba will provide a treasure chest of such evidence.

Lastly, from a political perspective, an experiment of this kind could be good for the "Red Tory" brand in both Manitoba and Canada. The election of populist conservatives such as U.S. President Donald Trump and Ford suggests that populists are overrunning responsible conservatism. And the contemporary left, caught up in its own internecine battles that are of little interest to anyone beyond university campuses or Twitter, often seem powerless to stop them.

Pallister has already distinguished himself from the Tory pack in some key ways. The most important example is related to climate change and a Manitoba carbon tax.

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With Fords recent election in Ontario, Manitoba is surrounded by provinces with conservative governments that have refused to introduce a provincial carbon tax. Jason Kenneys possible election as premier of Alberta next year may add another Tory government that is standing firm against the federal governments call for such taxes on emissions.

Pallisters government, in contrast, has already introduced a "made in Manitoba" carbon tax. This suggests that Pallister is, at the very least, willing to buck the prevailing trends in Canadian conservative politics.

And while minimum-income schemes have plenty of proponents on the left, there are also advocates on the right. Former Tory senator Hugh Segal, for example, is a longtime forceful advocate of a basic income.

The right-wing Adam Smith Institute has embraced a basic income as a way to simplify the process of transferring funds to those who need them most by cutting down on administrative costs, an argument that will surely appeal to Manitobas cost-conscious premier.

The cancellation of Ontarios basic income is a shame, but its an opportunity for Manitoba. We hope the provincial government grabs it.

Royce Koop and Karine Levasseur are associate professors in the department of political studies at the University of Manitoba.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/8/2018 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

"Unindicted co-conspirator."

Its a term with a haunting lilt, having first been elevated into common parlance during U.S. politics Watergate scandal of the mid-1970s.

Then-president Richard Nixon, who would eventually resign from office in order to avoid impeachment proceedings that had been made inevitable by the accumulated evidence of Oval Office wrongdoing, was named an unindicted co-conspirator in charges stemming from the investigation of the Watergate break-in and subsequent coverup.

Mr. Nixon remained unindicted because of uncertainty over whether a sitting president could be indicted for a crime, or was shielded by executive privilege. Despite not being charged, however, Mr. Nixons presidency was fatally wounded and the legacy of "Tricky Dick" was forever tarnished.

Which brings us, of course, to the worst week (so far) in the presidency of Donald J. Trump, who had the "unindicted co-conspirator" label attached to him on Tuesday after former lawyer and "fixer" Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in New York to eight criminal charges. Two of them included admissions by Mr. Cohen that he acted "in co-ordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office (Mr. Trump)" when he made illegal payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women who had sexual relationships with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007.

Mr. Cohens courtroom statement also included the observation that the payments were made to buy the womens silence "with the purpose of influencing the election."

The former Trump lawyers plea directly implicates the current U.S. president in the commission of two felony offences. The other six charges to which Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty involve tax evasion and bank fraud and are unrelated to Mr. Trumps political activities.

As the next round of speculation over Mr. Trumps legal exposure begins and debates restart about the extent to which executive privilege can be invoked, the most damaging elements of Mr. Cohens inside knowledge of Trump-world machinations might still be to come.

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In an exhaustive round of television interviews on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, Mr. Cohens lawyer, Lanny Davis, stated several times that his client has information regarding a "conspiracy to corrupt American democracy by the Russians" that would be of great interest to special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion with members of the Trump campaign.

Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight offences Tuesday. (Mary Altaffer / The Associated Press files)

The Cohen pleas were only half of what made Tuesday bleak for the president. Almost simultaneous to Mr. Cohens admissions of guilt in New York was the verdict in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was found guilty in a Virginia courtroom of eight (of 18) financial-crimes charges, including tax fraud, bank fraud and concealing foreign bank accounts.

Mr. Manafort faces a second trial in Washington, D.C., on charges of money laundering and failing to register his foreign lobbying activities in relation to work he did for Ukrainian officials with ties to Russia.

Mr. Trump, not surprisingly, remained defiant on Tuesday night at a rally in West Virginia, making little mention of the Manafort trial or Mr. Cohens pleas while unleashing the usual stream of populist slogans, crowd-baiting incitements and "Russian witch hunt" denials.

"Where is the collusion? You know, they are still looking for collusion," Mr. Trump offered, an oblique reference to Tuesdays courtroom revelations. "Where is collusion? Find the collusion. We want to find the collusion."

One has the distinct impression Mr. Mueller is working, quietly but feverishly, to do just that.
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Jones Energy, Inc., an independent oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties in the mid-continent United States. It owns leasehold interests in oil and natural gas producing properties, as well as in undeveloped acreage located in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas. As of December 31, 2017, the company's total estimated proved reserves included 104.8 million barrels of oil equivalent. Jones Energy, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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Legg Mason, Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides investment management and related services to company-sponsored mutual funds and other investment vehicles including pension funds, foundations, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, private banks, family offices, individuals, as well as to global, institutional, and retail clients. It launches and manages equity, fixed income, and multi-asset customized portfolios through its subsidiaries. The firm also launches and manages mutual funds and exchange traded funds for its clients through its subsidiaries. It invests in private and public equity, fixed income, and multi asset markets across the globe through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm also invests in alternative markets. It also employs a combination of fundamental and quantitative research to make its investments through its subsidiaries. Legg Mason, Inc. was founded in 1899 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

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The following companies are subsidiares of PerkinElmer: Analytica of Branford, Applied Biosystems, Arnel Inc., ArtusLabs, Beijing Huaan Magnech Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Longrun Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Testing Lab Co. Ltd., Beijing OUMENG Biotechnology Co. Ltd., Bio Evolution SAS, Bioo Scientific Corporation, Biosense Picolabs Inc., Biosense Technologies Pvt Ltd., Caliper Life Sciences, Caliper Life Sciences Inc., Cambridge Research & Instrumentation Inc., CambridgeSoft, Ceiba Solutions, Chengdu PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Chromo G.A. SAS, CisBio US Inc., Cisbio Asia Pacific Ltd, Cisbio Bioassays SAS, Cisbio China Ltd., Cisbio Group SAS, Cisbio KK, Cisbio.com, DNA Laboratories Sdn. Bhd., Dani Analitica S.r.l., Dexela, EUROIMMUN (Hangzhou) Medical Laboratory Diagnostics Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN (South East Asia) Pte Ltd., EUROIMMUN (Tianjin) Medical Diagnostic Technology Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN AG, EUROIMMUN Brasil Medicina Diagnostica Ltda., EUROIMMUN Diagnostics Espana S.L.U., EUROIMMUN France SAS, EUROIMMUN Italia Diagnostica Medica S.r.l., EUROIMMUN Japan Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics (China) Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics Canada Inc., EUROIMMUN Medical Laboratory Diagnostics South Africa (Pty) Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medizinische Labordiagnostika AG, EUROIMMUN Polska Spolka z o.o., EUROIMMUN Portugal Unipessoal Lda., EUROIMMUN Schweiz AG, EUROIMMUN Turkey Tibbi Laboratuar Teshisleri A.S., EUROIMMUN UK Ltd., EUROIMMUN US Inc., EUROIMMUN US Real Estate LLC, Geospiza, Guangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Hangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Horizon Discovery, Immunodiagnostic Systems, Integromics S.L., Jiangsu Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., LabMetrix Technologies, Labtronics, ManCell SAS, Nexcelom Bioscience, NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation, Opto Technology, Orchid Biomedical Systems Pvt Ltd., Oxford Immunotec, Pediatrix Medical Group - Newborn Metabolic Screening Business, Perkin Elmer Chile Ltda., Perkin Elmer Italia SpA, Perkin Elmer Sdn. Bhd., Perkin Elmer Yuhan Hoesa, Perkin Elmer de Mexico S.A., Perkin-Elmer Argentina S.R.L., Perkin-Elmer Instruments (Philippines) Corporation, PerkinElmer (Hong Kong) Ltd., PerkinElmer (India) Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer (Ireland) Ltd., PerkinElmer (Schweiz) AG, PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund L.P., PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer (UK) Holdings Ltd., PerkinElmer Analytical Solutions B.V., PerkinElmer Automotive Research Inc., PerkinElmer BVBA, PerkinElmer CV Holdings LLC, PerkinElmer Cellular Technologies Germany GmbH, PerkinElmer Danmark A/S, PerkinElmer Diagnostics Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Diagnostics Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Espana S.L., PerkinElmer Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Finland Oy, PerkinElmer Genetics Inc., PerkinElmer Germany Diagnostics GmbH, PerkinElmer Global Diagnostics S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Financing S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Health Sciences (Australia) Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer Health Sciences B.V., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Canada Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences FZ-LLC, PerkinElmer Health Sciences Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer Healthcare Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Holding Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Holdings Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer IVD Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer Inc., PerkinElmer Informatics Inc., PerkinElmer Instruments (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer International C.V., PerkinElmer Investments Ky, PerkinElmer Israel Ltd., PerkinElmer Japan Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer LAS (Germany) GmbH, PerkinElmer LAS (UK) Ltd., PerkinElmer Life Sciences International Holdings, PerkinElmer Limited, PerkinElmer Ltd., PerkinElmer Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Nederland B.V., PerkinElmer Norge AS, PerkinElmer Oy, PerkinElmer Polska Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer SAS, PerkinElmer Saglk ve Cevre Bilimleri Ltd., PerkinElmer Shared Services Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Singapore Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PerkinElmer Sverige AB, PerkinElmer Sweden Health Sciences Holdings AB, PerkinElmer Taiwan Corporation, PerkinElmer VertriebsgmbH, PerkinElmer chemagen Technologie GmbH, PerkinElmer do Brasil Ltda., Perten Instruments, Perten Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Perten Instruments AB, Perten Instruments France SASU, Perten Instruments GmbH, Perten Instruments Italia S.r.l., Perten Instruments of Australia Pty Ltd., RHS Ltd, RayAl Ltd., Shandong Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Haoyuan Biotech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Signature Genomic Laboratories, Solus Scientific Solutions Inc., Solus Scientific Solutions Ltd., Surendra Genetic Labs, Suzhou PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Suzhou Sym-Bio LifeScience, Suzhou Sym-Bio Lifescience Co. Ltd., Tulip Diagnostics, Tulip Diagnostics Pvt Ltd., Vanadis Diagnostics, Vanadis Diagnostics AB, ViaCell, ViaCord LLC, VisEn Medical, VisEn Medical Inc., Wallac Oy, Wellesley B.V., Xenogen Corporation, ZeLab SAS, and chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie AG.
Harris Corporation provides technology-based solutions that solve government and commercial customers' mission-critical challenges in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems, and Space and Intelligence Systems. It designs, develops, and manufactures radio communications products and systems, including single channel ground and airborne radio systems, multiband manpack and handheld radios, multi-channel manpack and airborne radios, and single-channel airborne radios, as well as wideband rifleman team, ground, and high frequency manpack radios. The company also offers vision-enhancing products; wireless communications systems; and Internet protocol based voice and data communications systems, as well as single-band land mobile radio terminals and multiband radios comprising a handheld radio and a full-spectrum mobile radio for vehicles. In addition, it provides electronic warfare, avionics, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions for defense and classified customers; and mission-critical communication systems for civil and military aviation and other customers. Further, the company offers intelligence, space protection, geospatial, earth observation, exploration, positioning, navigation and timing, and environmental solutions using advanced sensors, antennas, and payloads, as well as ground processing and information analytics for national security, defense, civil and commercial customers. Harris Corporation was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.

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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.

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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.
William Lyon Homes (NYSE:WLH) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November, 6th. The construction company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks' consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. The construction company had revenue of $466.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.15 million. William Lyon Homes had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 3.04%. William Lyon Homes's quarterly revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share.

View William Lyon Homes' earnings history.
The Interpublic Group of Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.95%. The Interpublic Group of Companies has been increasing its dividend for 9 consecutive years, indicating the company has a new, but growing committment to grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio of The Interpublic Group of Companies is 62.43%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, The Interpublic Group of Companies will have a dividend payout ratio of 40.75% next year. This indicates that The Interpublic Group of Companies will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

View The Interpublic Group of Companies' dividend history.
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 Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.

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Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. engages in the management of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It operates through the following segments: Asset Management, Real Estate, Renewable Power, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Residential Development, and Corporate Activities. The Asset Management segment includes the management of its listed partnerships, private funds and public securities. The Real Estate segment is comprised of the ownership, operation and development of core office, core retail, LP investments and other properties. The Renewable Power segment encompasses the ownership, operation and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, storage and other power generating facilities. The Infrastructure segment consists of the ownership, operation and development of utilities, transport, energy, data infrastructure and sustainable resource assets. The Private Equity segment refers to the broad range of industries, and is mostly focused on business services, infrastructure services and industrials. The Residential Development segment represents homebuilding, condominium development and land development. The Corporate Activiti

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Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Legal & General Retirement (LGR), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Legal & General Insurance (LGI). The LGR segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; longevity insurance products for company pension schemes; lifetime mortgages; lifetime care plans; and retirement interest only mortgages. The LGIM segment provides index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real estate funds. The LGC segment offers investment strategy and implementation, and direct investment and structuring services. The LGI segment provides protection products, such as health, disability, critical illness, and accident; individual term assurance; reinsurance; savings and death benefits; and annuities. The company is also involved in the unit trust and institutional fund management, mortgage finance, treasury, building project and modular housing development, general insurance, and open-ended investment businesses, as well as manufacture of sheds. It also engages in the real estate investment, operation, management, and trading, fund general partner, fund trustee, commercial lending, venture capital investing, contractual scheme, management, pension tracing and transfer, investor alternative investment fund, collective asset-management, and investment management activities; and provision of investment advisory, business information consultancy, and technology services. The company was founded in 1836 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates 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.

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You are here: Arts

An exhibition showcasing ancient Chinese pastry molds was held in Beijing's 798 art district during the National Day holiday last October.



Now, 10 months later, the man behind that exhibition, Yu Jinjiang, has published the results of his four-year journey in a new book called Small Pastry, Great Culture.

Yu, who was born in 1975 in Zhoukou in Henan province, is also the founder of Yuxiaoguo, a brand that focuses on Chinese pastries, and the co-founder of Xiaoguan Tea (small-bottled tea).

Yu fell in love with pastries when he was presented a souvenir from Japanan exquisite and unconventional box of wagashi (a traditional Japanese pastry). He was then inspired to explore traditional Chinese pastries.

When he began his quest, he started by seeking stories about traditional Chinese pastries, and later shifted focus on how to present them in a contemporary way. "Why don't we eat pastries when drinking tea?" he wonders.

To find the answers, he set off a journey of 100,000 kilometers, visiting numerous pastry stores and museums around the country.

His findings ranged from customs in Beijing and festival pastries in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, to compounds in Pingyao, Shanxi province, and ancestral halls built a century ago in Fujian province, where pastries were made.

In the course of his travels, Yu collected more than 4,000 pastry molds.

"Not all the pastry molds are round. They are often related to legends of gods, ghosts, solar terms and marriage," Yu says.

Last year's exhibition featured molds from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) until today.

Among Yu's finds are a mooncake mold from the Tang Dynasty, and a peony-shaped mold from the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

"People think they are inconsequential, so no one collects them and studies them," says Yu.

"Over time, people made different molds to celebrate, be it a promotion or a marriage. This lets us understand more about our food and our history."

Yu's book, published by Guangxi Normal University Press, also features traditional Chinese-pastry molds according to the 24 solar terms.

The book is divided into five themes, focusing on history, flavors, celebrations, solar terms and the future of Chinese pastries.

"In ancient China, pastries were made in the shape of Chinese characters that meant happiness, affluence and longevity," he says.

Yu uses the molds he has collected as inspirations for Yuxiaoguo's pastry products. He intends to teach young people about Chinese pastries using the molds.

Yuxiaoguo also plans to open a museum and a research center about Chinese pastry molds.

Du Guoying, the other co-founder of Xiaoguan Tea, says he is impressed by Yu's love of traditional culture.

"Chinese pastries and Chinese tea are alike, and the book has shown me that Chinese pastries have a future," says Du.
16 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Deutsche Wohnen in the last year. There are currently 9 hold ratings and 7 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" Deutsche Wohnen stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in DWNI, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

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Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Reinsurance, International, Bermuda, and Insurance. The U.S. Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S. The International segment offers foreign property and casualty reinsurance through Everest Re's branches in Canada and Singapore and through offices in Brazil, Miami, and New Jersey. The Bermuda segment comprises reinsurance and insurance to worldwide property and casualty markets through brokers and directly with ceding companies from its Bermuda office and reinsurance to the United Kingdom and European markets through its UK branch and Ireland Re. The Insurance segment writes property and casualty insurance directly and through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents within the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartere

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HDFC Bank Ltd. engages in the provision of banking and financial services, including commercial banking and treasury operations. The firm also provides financial services to upper and middle income individuals and corporations in India. It operates through the following segments: Treasury, Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking and Other Banking Operations. The Treasury segment consists of bank's investment portfolio, money market borrowing and lending, investment operations and trading in foreign exchange and derivative contracts. The Retail Banking segment provides loans and other services to customers through a branch network and other delivery channels. The Wholesale Banking segment provides loans, non-fund facilities and transaction services to large corporates, emerging corporates, public sector units, government bodies, financial institutions, and medium scale enterprises. The Other Banking Business segment includes income from para banking activities such as credit cards, debit cards, third party product distribution, primary dealership business, and the associated costs. The company was founded by Aditya Tapishwar Puri in August 1994 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India.

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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.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Boston Scientific: 34 Biomedical Merger Corp., 9357-1867 Quebec Inc., Acurate Industria e Comercio Ltda., Advanced Bionics, Advanced Stent Technologies, American Medical Systems, American Medical Systems Europe B.V., Apama Medical, Apama Medical Inc., Asthmatx, Atritech, Augmenix, Augmenix Inc., Augmenix K.K., BSC International Medical Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BSC Medical Device Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BTG, BTG Australasia Pty Ltd, BTG Europe B.V., BTG IM Holdings Ltd., BTG International (Holdings) Limited, BTG International Asia Limited, BTG International Canada Inc., BTG International Germany GmbH, BTG International Healthcare Inc., BTG International Healthcare LLC, BTG International Healthcare Limited, BTG International Inc., BTG International Limited, BTG Limited, BTG Management Services Limited, BTG Medikal Limited Sirketi, Bard Electrophysiology, Barosense, Biocompatibles Inc., Biocompatibles International Limited, Biocompatibles UK Limited, Boston Scientific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Boston Scientific (South Africa) Proprietary Limited, Boston Scientific (Thailand) Ltd., Boston Scientific (UK) Limited, Boston Scientific AG, Boston Scientific Argentina S.A., Boston Scientific Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Boston Scientific Benelux NV, Boston Scientific Canada Limited, Boston Scientific Ceska republika s.r.o., Boston Scientific Chile SpA, Boston Scientific Colombia Limitada, Boston Scientific Comercial de Costa Rica BSCR S.R.L., Boston Scientific Far East B.V., Boston Scientific Gesellschaft m.b.H., Boston Scientific Group plc, Boston Scientific Hellas S.A., Boston Scientific Hong Kong Limited, Boston Scientific Iberica S.A., Boston Scientific India Private Limited, Boston Scientific International B.V., Boston Scientific International Finance Limited, Boston Scientific International S.A., Boston Scientific Israel Ltd., Boston Scientific Japan K.K., Boston Scientific Korea Co. Ltd., Boston Scientific Lebanon SAL, Boston Scientific Limited, Boston Scientific Ltd., Boston Scientific Medical Device, Boston Scientific Medical Device Limited, Boston Scientific Medizintechnik GmbH, Boston Scientific Middle East FZ-LLC, Boston Scientific Middle East SAL, Boston Scientific Nederland B.V., Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation, Boston Scientific New Zealand Limited, Boston Scientific Nordic AB, Boston Scientific Peru S.A.C., Boston Scientific Philippines Inc., Boston Scientific Polska Sp. z o.o., Boston Scientific Portugal - Dispositivos Medicos Lda, Boston Scientific Pty Ltd, Boston Scientific Romania S.R.L., Boston Scientific S.A.S., Boston Scientific S.p.A., Boston Scientific Scimed, Boston Scientific Scimed Inc., Boston Scientific Services Private Limited, Boston Scientific TIP Gerecleri Limited Sirketi, Boston Scientific Technology & Engineering Services Private Limited, Boston Scientific Uruguay S.A., Boston Scientific Vietnam Company Limited, Boston Scientific de Costa Rica S.R.L., Boston Scientific de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Boston Scientific del Caribe Inc., Boston Scientific do Brasil Ltda., Bravo Bidco Limited, BridgePoint Medical, Cameron Health, Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., Cardiac Pathways Corp, Catheter Innovations, Claret Medical, Claret Medical Inc., Cosman Medical, Cosman Medical LLC, CryoCor, Cryterion Medical, Cryterion Medical Inc., Cryterion Medical Ireland Limited, EKOS LLC, EMcision, EMcision International Inc., EP Technologies, EP Technologies Inc., Electron Acquisition Corporation, EndoChoice, EndoChoice Holdings Inc., EndoChoice Inc., EndoChoice Innovation Center Ltd., EndoChoice Israel Ltd., Endotex, Enteric Medical Technologies, Galil Medical Inc., Galil Medical Ltd., Galil Medical UK Limited, Guidant, Guidant Delaware Holding Corporation, Guidant Europe NV, Guidant Puerto Rico B.V., Hong Kong Medtech Trading Limited, Intelect Medical, Millipede, Millipede Inc., NXT Merger Corp., Notebook Merger Sub Ltd., Novate Medical Limited, NxThera, NxThera Inc., PT Boston Scientific Indonesia, PneumRx GmbH, PneumRx LLC, PneumRx Liimited, Protherics Medicines Development B.V., Protherics Medicines Development Limited, Protherics UK Limited, Provensis Limited, RMI Acquisition Corp., Remon Medical Technologies, Rhythmia Medical, Robert S. Smith M.D. Inc., Roxwood Medical Inc., SNS Merger Corp, Sadra Medical, Sadra Medical Inc., Securus Medical Group, Securus Medical Group Inc., Special K Merger Corp., StarMedTec, Stream Enterprises LLC, Symetis, Symetis SA, Target Therapeutics, Target Therapeutics Inc., The LumenR Tissue Retractor System, Veniti, Veniti Inc., VertiFlex, Vertiflex Inc., Vessix Vascular, Xlumena, Zuma Investment Pty Ltd, iogyn, nVision Medical, and nVision Medical Corporation.
The year 2018 marks a new beginning for the China Cultural Heritage Foundation. To celebrate the past 10 years of journey the foundation has gone through, an art exhibition on the theme of "learning from trees" was unveiled at Beijing-based Prince Kung's Mansion on Wednesday.

Geng Jing, the foundation's general-director, delivered the keynote speech and expressed her gratitude to all the guests present for their love and support.

"As a national-level foundation, China Cultural Heritage Foundation has been steadily promoting cultural heritage undertaking in China, and has launched more than 50 programs on the rescue and protection of cultural heritage. Also, the foundation has conducted international cultural exchanges and visited more than 10 countries in the past years," she said.

On why trees were chosen as the focus of the art exhibition, the foundation's chairman as well as artist Geng Ying said that her favorite plant in nature is tree.

"A single tree can stand still, and make itself a team. It can block the sand and storm for humanity. Selfless and dedicated, trees set a good example for human beings. The spirit of trees is worthy for human to ponder over and learn from."

A total of 120 paintings are on display at the exhibition. More than 200 guests from all walks of life attended the opening ceremony, and the exhibition lasts until August 30.

During the ceremony, a donation was also held. Li Wei, president of Contemporary Education (Wuhan) Co, Ltd donated to the China Cultural Heritage Foundation for the "Little Light Bulb" public welfare project, which will be used for the five-year educational support for more than 200 red army primary schools nationwide.








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.

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Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. is an international offshore energy company. It focuses on subsea construction, maintenance and salvage services to the offshore natural gas and oil industry. The firm also provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on well intervention and robotics operations. The company operates through three segments: Well Intervention, Robotics and Production Facilities. The Well Intervention segment offers vessels and related equipment that are used to perform well intervention services primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea regions. The Robotics segment involves four chartered vessels and also includes ROVs, trenchers and ROVDrills designed to complement offshore construction and well intervention services. The Production Facilities segment includes its investment in the Helix Producer I and Kommandor LLC. Helix Energy Solutions Group was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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Wall Street analysts have given Vanguard FTSE Europe 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 Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

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1 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for iShares North American Tech ETF in the last twelve months. There are currently 1 hold rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" iShares North American Tech ETF stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in IGM, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

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You are here: Business

China on Thursday filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against U.S. tariffs on 16 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese goods under the Section 301 investigation, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
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.

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China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday expressed serious concern about 5G security rules published by the Australian government, calling the move "a wrong decision."

An MOC spokesperson said in a statement that the rules will exert negative influence on the interest of both Chinese and Australian companies.

The Australian government has issued an order to expand its security regulations on the 5G network, which will block Chinese telecom equipment producers from the Australian market, according to media reports.

"Australia should look at the big picture of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, rather than easily interfere with and restrict normal business activities in the name of national security," the spokesperson said.

China hopes Australia will uphold the principles of fairness and openness to create a sound business environment for Chinese companies, according to the spokesperson.
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.
CA, Inc., doing business as CA technologies, develops, markets, delivers, and licenses software products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Mainframe Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Services. The Mainframe Solutions segment offers solutions for the IBM z Systems platform, which runs various mission critical business applications. Its mainframe solutions enable customers enhance economics by increasing throughput and lowering cost per transaction; increasing business agility through DevOps tooling and processes; increasing reliability and availability of operations through machine intelligence and automation solutions; and protecting enterprise data with security and compliance. The Enterprise Solutions segment provides a range of software planning, development, and management tools for mobile, cloud, and distributed computing environments. It primarily provides customers secure application development, infrastructure management, automation, and identity-centric security solutions. The Services segment offers various services, such as consulting, implementation, application management, education, and support services to commercial and government customers for implementation and adoption of its software solutions. The company serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, information technology service providers, telecommunication providers, transportation companies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through various partner channels comprising resellers, service providers, system integrators, managed service providers, and technology partners. The company was formerly known as Computer Associates International, Inc. and changed its name to CA, Inc. in 2006. CA, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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